I've just wanted to see the world.
Ever since I was a filly, I've been blind. Blind as a bat in a blindfold. The other ponies at my school made fun of me and talked behind my back. They thought that since I was blind, I couldn't hear. But as being blind, my hearing is sharper, more refined one might say. I've been harassed and bullied everywhere I turn. On my eleventh birthday, I heard my parents talking about it. Even they are skeptical.
~~~~~~(|)~~~~~~
"Now, you've got your walking stick?" My father asked as he tightened my saddle bag.
"Yes, father." I moaned. I was off to see the princess up in Canterlot, a long ways away from our village farther north. Luckily, there is a train.
"Good, now get going!" he said, pushing me to the door. Before I left, he grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around."Make sure you do this. If you succeed, you'll make this village a hotspot." He said. He then pushed me out the door.
By now, I was very disorientated from his spinning, but a few nudges with my trusty walking stick and I found my way. The village was small, so small that the train station was almost just a ramp of dirt. I made my way to the station, ignoring the sly remarks of those around me. I heard familiar galloping behind me, and I jumped to the side.
"Aw, no fair!" Snowball said, nudging me on the shoulder. She began trotting beside me, a slight spring in her step. Snowball was a pegasus, and enjoys night rides in the clouds with her friend, Springleaf. I'm earth pony, so I can't do all that much. If I was born a unicorn, I would most likely be in Princess Celestia's Royal Class, as everypony knows; blind unicorns are more powerful than any other. Did you know Starswirl the Bearded was half-blind? Fact.
"So, where you heading?" Snowball asked, returning to a normal trot.
"Canterlot." I answered plainly. I heard her stop in her tracks.
"Canterlot? As in Royal-Family-Castley Canterlot?" She exclaimed, excitement filling her voice. "What for?"
"To tell the princesses about the material we discovered in the mines. Stuff can withstand over 400,000 pounds of pressure, and it barely weighs a thing."
"Can I come with?" She asked, eagerness radiating from her. She's always had this fascination with going to new places. Must be why her cutie mark is a compass, as she told me. She also told me that mine was, strangely, the morning horizon. Funny, really. Never done a thing that included the sun or horizon in my life. She also told me that my coat was a fiery orange. Similar to this "Spitfire" She admired so much. My mother told me that my eyes used to be the same brilliant orange of my coat, but grayed when I lost vision.
"No, Snow. Trains to expensive."
"Come on, Set! I can get Spring in on this!. I know she's got money!" She said. I looked at her, feeling my face turn to that of defeat.
"Fine, be at the train station in five minutes!"
"I'll be back in three!" She said. I heard her wings give a mighty push, and she was off. I turned around and kept walking, once again ignoring the whispers of groups. I reached the station and sat on one of the lonely benches on the platform. I heard hoofsteps drawing close.
"Ah, young Summerset. Where are we goin' now?" The old ticketpony said in his raspy voice.
"Canterlot." I replied blankly.
"Canterlot, eh? Got the bits for a ticket?"
"Three, actually. but the money will be arriving shortly."
I heard the beating of two pairs of wings above, and smiled. "And here they are."
"Ah, Snowball and Springleaf. Traveling with your pal here?"
"Yep." Snow and Spring replied at the same time, which made us all snicker, and inevitably ended in us laughing.
"All right, hand me the money and I'll get you three tickets to Canterlot." He said, snickering slightly. I heard the jingle of bits and the rustling of paper.
"Alright now, have a nice trip!" He called to us as he walked away. We all sat on the bench and chatted until the train arrived. It steamed to a halt, the massive thing. This wasn't your normal "Happy Sunshine" trains from closer to Canterlot. No, this one was the beast. A giant hulk of greasy and blacks, similar to those Human "Locomotives" that were in those story books. And yes, Snow described the train to me. We climbed on board and were immediately greeted by a, what sounded like giant, pony.
"Tickets please." He asked. Spring stepped forwards and handed the tickets over. I heard magic, so he was a unicorn.
"Welcome aboard." He said, moving to the side. We climbed the rest of the stairs and took our seats. I heard Snow give a little gasp and felt her tap my shoulder.
"Um… Set, we're-"
"Yes, Snow. I noticed." I replied, completely relaxed. The train was facing north, the opposite way we want to go. And the only thing north is the Crystal Empire and beyond that….
Nothing. Just Ice Forever.
"We should really get off and wait for the next train." Spring said, standing. I simply blocked her.
"This is the only train." I responded. We felt a jolt, knocking Spring back into her seat. The train started moving.
"What are we going to do?" Snow asked.
"The only thing we can do." Spring replied. "Wait."
"Wait? That'll take forever!"
"Maybe you should have thought of that before you went on this trip."
"Well maybe I shouldn't have asked you to come!"
"You wouldn't be able to come if it weren't for me!"
"Well-"
"How 'bout you both shut up and sleep. Maybe play a game of chess?" I said, effectively shutting them up. They gave each other dirty glares and proceeds to take out a game of chess which was stored in the siding along with a few other games.
With these two, it'll be a long trip.
"You can't move the knight there! That's only three spaces!" Spring said.
"Fine, there. Happy?"
"No, you moved him over one of my guys."
"So?"
"So. It's against the rules."
"Fine, I'll…(Fades to mumbling)"
And now I lye there, sleeping like a baby.
~~~~~~(|)~~~~~~
I awoke with the jolt of the train. I heard other disturbed voices across the isle, so I knew Spring and snow were awake.
"Where are we now?" I asked them.
"Outside the Crystal Empire. Well, supposedly. there's nothing there." Spring replied.
"That's because it's a few miles east of here." I said, settling back in my seat. I heard heavy hoofsteps coming down the isle. Must be that big guy again.
"Ticket please." He asked.
"Gave you them, we're heading to Canterlot." I replied.
"Sorry, but one ticket equals one trip. Either buy more, or get off." He said sternly.
"Hey, buzz off! We bought tickets to Canterlot and that's where we're going!" I heard Snow shout angrily.
"Just doing my job, ma'am. Now either pay, or get off."
"No." Spring replied.
"Do I have to call security?" He warned.
"I think you might." Snow retorted. I heard the static of a walkie-talkie turning on.
"Hey!" I heard a female voice I had never heard call."Just because their not famous doesn't mean they have to pay extra."
I heard Snow and Spring gasp in awe.
"Y-Yes ma'am." He said.
"Now shove off." She said. I heard the stomping of hooves and the conductor was off. I heard lighter hooves, like a pegasus's, move and sat in the seat behind me.
"You girls all right?" She asked. I could tell Snow and Spring were to in-awe to speak, so I did.
"We're fine, thanks to you. Who are you, by the way?"
"You don't recognize me?" She said curiously.
"I can't recognize you. I'm blind." I replied simply.
"Oh, you poor thing, where are you heading?" She asked.
"Well, we're-"
"We're heading to Canterlot!" Snow and Spring interrupted me at the same time. Then they started yammering on about which Wonderbolt was the best and how Snow liked Spitfire (The mare who joined us) and Spring liked Fleetfoot and yada yada yada. Spitfire glanced at me nervously.
"I think they've watched a few to many Wonderbolt Derbies." I whispered, just audible to Spitfire, who giggled. We felt a jolt, and the train began to move again, this time to the south.
"So where you from?" Spitfire asked.
"We're all from a small village with no name to the south of here, the last village before the Ice Plains." I answered. Spitfire nodded slowly. "Now, where are you going?"
"Well, I'm returning home with the rest of the Wonderbolts from a performance up here in the Crystal Empire."
"Wait, there are more of you?!" I heard Snow say.
"Well, yeah. there in the back of the train, in the reserve car."
"Sweet! Can we go meet them?" Spring asked excitedly.
"Go nuts. Just tell them Spits sent you." Spitfire answered. Snow and Spring made a little squee and ran off. "Now, lets talk."
And me and Spitfire had a lovely conversation all the way to Canterlot, where me, Snow, and Spring got off and said our goodbyes.
"If you ever get the chance, find me up in Cloudsdale!" Spitfire called from the train as she waved. We waved back. The train gave a loud 'Huff' and shot off, leaving us in the large crowd at the platform, Snow and Spring giggling like two small fillies who just had a pie. We began walking towards the marble spires in the distant that marked the castle.
"So, how were the Wonderbolts?" I asked, almost teasingly
"Everything we imagined them to be. Awesome, cool, epic." Snow replied.
"And Soarin' said he had this thing for pies. Don't know why though." Spring said. A pony bumped into me, nearly knocking me over. Luckily, Snow was there to put me back on my hooves.
"We got to be careful here, girls. We could get lost very easily." I warned.
"Maybe to easily!" A snide voice yelled, snatching me up, shoving me into a sack, and galloping away. I heard Snow and Spiring's combined gasps and their fluttering of wings. A soft, warm sensation filled my body, like I was sitting next to a furnace. Then there was a loud pop and the sounds of the city disappeared and we were nowhere, floating in a drift of nothing. Then the pop sounded again, and we hit a solid object, a floor, perhaps. Whoever this was, he had just teleported somewhere, thus making him a unicorn.
"Welcome to my,Heh Heh, humble abode!" He yelled, his nasally voice echoing off what felt like stone walls.
"What do you want with me?" I yelled. He simply snickered in response.
Then I heard it. The moans of pain and distant screams filtering in from somewhere nearby.
"The secrets of immortality don't come easily, you know." He said, chuckling evilly. He picked me up by the hooves and slammed me down on a table, strapping me to it.
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. "You monster…" I said, basically on the verge of tears.
"Not a monster, but a Scientist! There is a difference, you know." He said with a cruel smile. "Now, on with, heh heh, The Experiment."
I couldn't hear my own screams over the sound of the saw.
~~~~~~(|)~~~~~~
"We have to find her!" Spring yelled, running through the streets.
"But where could she be in this city? It's massive!" I yelled back.
"Anywhere, just keep looking!" She yelled back. We ran around, asking ponies if they've seen anypony that looks like her, but none said they did. One asked if we were from 'The Country' and we replied "Yes, why?" That busted our luck. No pony would even speak to us. One even spat in my face!
"That's it!" I yelled in frustration, sitting down hard against a wall.
"Don't give up now, Snow, there's always a chance!" Spring encouraged.
"Even if that chance is nearly nothing." I answered bluntly. A gleam of Hope dawned upon Spring's face.
"Come on, I have a plan!" She yelled, grabbing me by the arm and tugging me behind her.
"Where are we going?" I yelled at her.
"You'll see!"
She tugged me up and down through Canterlot, and finally we reached her goal; Canterlot Castle, Home of Princess Celestia and, more recently, Princess Luna. She dragged me through the large double-doors and into the castle. We stopped once, asking for directions to the throne room and continued on our way. We reached the giant throne room double-doors, and Spring burst them open. There sat the, a bit disturbed, Princess Celestia.
"Princess Celestia!" Spring called, releasing my arm, causing me to face-plant from momentum. "We need your help!"
The Princess raised an eyebrow at this. " In what matter would require me?" She asked,
"Our friend, she's been ponynapped by a crazy stallion!" I yelled. The princess sighed, resting her head on her hoof.
"I'm afraid I can't help you with that. The Mad Doctor can not be stopped, nor can he be located."
"Wait, this has happened before?" Spring said.
"Yes, many times. The Mad Doctor has been attempting to discover the secrets of immortality for a little more than a month now. He will stop at nothing to discover it." The Princess replied
"Well, why can he not be found?" I asked, standing up.
"He uses a device that can eliminate his traces of magic when he teleports away."
"Can't you just track the victim?"
"No, there are to many ponies here in Canterlot with to many of the same features."
"What if I told you that our friend was blind?" I said, a smile appearing on my face, and one on hers.
"Lets go find us some Doctor."
~~~~~~(|)~~~~~~
I moaned in pain when I awoke. I felt a stitch on my chest, and my insides were tumbling around.
"You failed again Doctor. You should have known that molecular compound wouldn't work." He said, pacing. His hoofsteps were very loud.
"Oh no, it wasn't my fault. You were the one that administrated it!" He said again. Apparently, this guy had a split personality, two halves of himself. There was a knock somewhere, probably from a door.
"Now who could that be at this hour?" He said, trotting to the door. I heard the squeak of the door. "Who are you and what do you wa-Hnnnggghhh!" He grunted. I heard him cough and then a thud followed by several hoofsteps.
"Summerset!" I heard Snow call from somewhere. My mouth was dry, and all I managed was a crinkly gasp.
"She's over here!" Spring yelled, galloping towards my cage. "How do I open this thing?"
I heard the loud crunch of metal and it falling on the floor. "Thank you." Spring said. She opened the door, and I basically fell into her arms.
"Set? Set, Speak to me!" She yelled at me. I couldn't speak, to weak to even move. "We need to get her to the hospital!"
"I'm afraid there's no hope for her." An unfamiliar voice said.
"Theres always a chance." Snow said. I felt myself being hoisted onto of a stretcher of some kind and carried off. I heard the joyful cheers of some ponies who were leaking down and finding loved ones.
~~~~~~(|)~~~~~~
"S-Snow?' I moaned.
"Set! Your awake!" She cried, hugging me.
"Wha..What happened?" I asked.
"You were, experimented on by a bad pony." She said. "We got everything sorted out with the Princess."
"I'm…So tired." I said, falling back to the bed.
"Rest now, Set. You'll be fine."
~~~~~~(|)~~~~~~
I opened my eyes slowly, blinking a few times. I spun around in bed, facing what appeared to be a window. I sat up, letting light seep into my eyes.I looked over at the mirror, and saw my eyes glowing a brilliant orange. Apparently, failed eternal life can help. I looked out the window, smiling.
Good Morning
Stories are getting longer!