PyraohXBlaze - Lol. Can't say I'd mind having a pet timberwolf... or an otter.
MortBlackthorn - Lol more like making Applejack nervous when a Princess suggests some girl-on-girl ;)
xel101 - Hmm... what indeed...?
killer43penguin - Lol neither did Blake :P
Ponified Bacon Boss - Anyone who says Blake isn't above bad humor is lyin to ya :P
DragonLovingBrony - Lol yup, timberwolves are awesome... when they're not trying to eat our favorite ponies at least ;)
TurnupGrain43 - I don't think anyone would be brave enough to threaten Blake or his family with Aurora around...
PBJFanFiction - Lol keeping an eye on Pinkie is worse than herding cats
UnknownHero55 - Possibly... or is there perhaps another reason...
Fusion Blitz - Happy belated Birthday! I'm sorry your birthday sucked, but I'm glad that my story helped at least :D And I do care about my readers
bobfromsiam99 - I thought it was good too :D
Killerbeast - I'm glad you like the story. But you'll just hafta wait like everyone else for the new updates ;)
KillerWoW - Did I really forget to answer your review last week?! I'm sorry! To answer your question, its actually a bit more complicated than just blood type, but I think I'll let her explain it in a chapter ;)
Kyguy - Lol who doesn't?
DragonLord RyuKizoku - Can't say I've ever read a fic with either one either
HYBRID BATTLESHIP INFINITY210 - Is there anything we wouldn't do?
Mikalzilla - How indeed...
A/N - Howdy everypony! Well, the good news is that I managed to fix my keyboard, hopefully it stays fixed... but the not so good news is that I came down with something that seems to be affecting my body's ability to process oxygen, to the point that even walking around the house leaves me winded. I don't forsee that affecting my writing though, so that's good news for you guys :D As always, don't forget to follow/favorite, review, and most importantly; enjoy!
"Do you really have to go Daddy?"
I knelt down and rested a hand on the downtrodden filly's shoulder. "Sorry Dinks, I wouldn't ask someone else to put themselves in danger for my sake."
"What about us? Ain't we gonna be in danger too?"
I looked over to AJ. "Well… yeah, but I'm not asking you to go in my place; in fact, you volunteered for this, I didn't ask you at all."
The country belle tipped her hat a little lower. "Heh heh… Oh yeah, Ah fergot. So, y'all sure ya got everything?"
I gave her a quick nod. "What do you think I spent the last three hours doing? I'd rather not get out into the middle of the Everfree and realize I forgot something."
"Ya sure pardner? Ah don't see that fancy sword o' yers anywhere…"
I patted my left side near my belt. "I decided not to bring it; it's heavy, unwieldy, and I doubt I could use it properly with this pack on, if I could even unsheathe it. No, I brought my gun along instead."
I felt Luna's presence as she walked up next to me. "Are you sure you will be capable of wielding that properly?"
I turned and gave her a light hug. "Sure I'm sure; I can see just as well in the darkness as I can in the light, plus I've figured out how to add another five meters to my aurasight's range. This particular style of gun isn't really easy to use much beyond that anyway." I stood up and brushed a hand across her cheek gently; I didn't want to leave everyone for so long, but I knew it had to be done if I was going to have any hope of seeing again. "Are you sure you'll be alright helping Derpy take care of Scootaloo and Dinky? You know they can be a han- err, hoofful…"
"Heeey! We can behave ourselves just fine! Right Dinky?"
The purple filly's mane started going everywhere as she nodded her head vigorously in agreement. "That's right! We'll be extra good for Princess Luna, you'll see!"
"Good, you two had better, or I'll be really mad when I get back. And I'll be able to see again when I do, so you little munchkins won't be able to just run out of my sight range anymore." I almost chuckled as I thought back on the previous day's game of hide-and-seek, where the girls hadn't actually hidden, just stayed far enough away from me and called out to me. They quickly figured out that my aurasight let me see through objects, so hiding in conventional spots didn't really work too well for them.
I knelt down and the fillies tackled me in a hug. "You better come back safe Papa! I love you and I don't want you to get hurt."
I squeezed them both a little tighter. "Don't worry you two, I'm coming back safe and sound, you'll see."
Luna walked over and nuzzled me. "You had better my love; do not forget, you are my fiancé now, and I intend to marry you… if you get yourself hurt, it will be nothing compared to what I will do to you." She whispered into my ear so the others couldn't hear.
I smirked and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Promises promises…" I chuckled as she punched me lightly.
"Y'all 'bout ready Sugarcube? Tha sooner we get ta movin', tha sooner we get our rumps back ta our families."
The two of us turned and I waved to the remainder of my family as we headed for the library to get Twilight, who was no doubt going over the checklist concerning the checklist that listed everything she was going to need for the trip. "Don't forget Daddy, you promised to show Scootaloo and me some magic tricks when you get back!"
"Don't worry Dinks, you'll get to see all kinds of cool stuff when I get back."
AJ chuckled next to me. "'Magic tricks', huh? Ya know this whole world runs on magic, dontcha?"
I smirked at her. "Oh I know, but these tricks won't be using any actual magic; they're basically just neat things you can do with physics."
Her long mane swished back and forth as she shook her head. "Ah think Ah'll take yer word fer it Sweetheart."
"Suit yourself." I gave her a slight shrug. "You'd be more than welcome to watch and see for yourself though."
"Nah, all that stuff sounds like it'd be way over this country mare's head."
"Aww c'mon AJ, you're smarter than you give yourself credit for."
She bumped me playfully. "That may be true, but Ah know Ah'll never be able ta do all that fancy math like you 'n Twilight." We both stopped in front of a familiar tree. "Speakin' o' which, looks like we're here already…"
I was about to knock on the door to the library, but never got the chance, as said door promptly swung open and into my face. I groaned from my new spot on the ground as I saw a certain baby dragon fleeing through my former assailant with what looked like a saddlebag in his little claws. "SPIKE! BRING THAT BACK!" I started picking myself up of the ground as an annoyed-sounding Twilight stormed after him.
Her horn flared to life, and Spike was suddenly in front of her, continuing to run from her in a futile effort as she repeatedly teleported him back in front of her. "No! You can't have it back! If you don't have your stuff, you can't go with that jerk out into the Everfree!"
Twilight groaned and levitated him up so they were eye-to-eye. "I thought we were done with this Spike; I told you that what happened wasn't his fault. I made the mistake, and he was right to be mad at me." She looked away from the little drake, apparently still somehow oblivious to our presence. "Besides… I… I still love him, even if he doesn't feel the same anymore…"
Spike struggled in Twilight's magical grip. "And I told you; I don't trust him, and I'm not going to let you get hurt again!"
Applejack and I watched silently as Twilight actually growled at her assistant. "Now you listen here Spike! Blake went blind making sure that neither of us got hurt. Blind, Spike! Do you even have any idea what that must be like for him?! Do you really think he'd hurt me after sacrificing something so precious as his ability to see just to make sure I didn't get hurt!?"
Spike gulped and looked away from Twilight's glare. I was tempted to intervene, since her normally placid aura was starting to billow slightly with her anger. "N-no…" He took a deep breath and looked back to Twilight, whose aura almost immediately started to calm down. "You're right Twilight… I promised I wouldn't act like this anymore… I'm sorry."
Twilight pulled him in and gave him a hug. "It's alright Spike, I forgive you. Now, can I have my saddlebags back please?" He handed them over and Twilight fastened them to her back. "Now, can I trust you… to… Oh! When did you two get here?"
I chuckled and patted her on the back. "We've been here long enough for the door to attack me."
Twilight looked away. "So… you heard all that, huh?"
"'Fraid so Sugarcube; gotta say though, Ah'm mighty proud o' ya fer keepin' yer cool like that."
Twilight let out a sigh. "I don't feel very proud of myself… after all this time, I still can't get Spike to trust Blake; he'll seem ok for a while, but then he'll act like that out of nowhere, and I can't seem to figure out why…"
"Don't worry Twi, he's still young, he'll come out of it eventually. Besides, it's not like I'm gonna be blind forever; heck, we're literally on what will hopefully just be an extended hike out to get a plant that will take care of that."
Twilight was silent as we walked out of town and towards the ever-gloomy and dangerous Everfree forest. We stopped right at the edge to the forest and simply stared at it. "Well, this is it y'all… if yer havin' second thoughts, now'd be tha time ta say so…"
I gave her a sidelong smirk. "Oh, you know I'm ready!"
Twi nodded with a determined grunt. "Me too! I'm not about to chicken out when one of my friends needs me!"
With no more words between us, the three of us headed into the forest, and I for one was glad that we had plenty of daylight ahead of us; I wouldn't have looked forward to getting adjusted to the eerie feel of the forest during the evening or night, even if on the best of its days it was still dark and creepy at noon.
As much as I didn't want to, I was relying on my aurasight as little as possible, wanting to save it in case I really needed it in the dangerous forest. I had talked to Applejack and Twilight about doing just that beforehand, and I was relieved to hear that the pair didn't mind giving me a helping hoof getting around when I could have done so myself.
It wasn't long before I felt Applejack stop, and I flicked my aurasight on for just a moment to see a familiar tree with various tribal decorations adorning it. "Hold up girls; we should let Zecora know what's going on, after all, it'd be rude to just drop in unannounced and ask her to make… well, whatever it is this plant's supposed to make." I walked over and knocked lightly on the door to Zecora's tree-home.
"Now who could this be, knocking on the door to my tree?" I let out a huge grin at the sound of my old friend's voice. The door opened and Zecora took a quick glance at the three of us before smiling herself. "Greetings you three, what brings you so far into the Everfree?" The potion-maker stepped aside and beckoned us into her home.
Once she had us all settled down with a cup of one of her strange but delicious teas, we started explaining what was going on.
Zecora remained silent the entire time we talked, only moving to take a sip of her tea. When we were finished, she set her empty teacup down on its saucer and heaved a big sigh. "I am aware of the plant of which you speak, though I know nothing of this temple that you seek…"
"That's ok Zecora; we have a pretty good idea where to look for it. I mostly wanted to stop by and let you know what was going on and see if you were willing to help us."
The zebra pseudo-shaman collected our empty cups and saucers. "Lending my aid to you would be a pleasure; you are my friend, and your wellbeing I greatly treasure."
I got up and helped her with the teacups. "Thanks Zecora, you've always been a good friend, I'm just sorry we don't get to see each other more often..." I chuckled as a thought came to me. "Or under better circumstances for that matter."
"We have often met under dire straits of late, though I suppose that is our fate." She turned and started shooing us out of her house. "Now, on your quest you must not tarry; and of the dangers of this forest, you must be wary." We said our goodbyes to the ever charming and elusive Zecora and started back on the trail, making our way even deeper into the gloomy forest.
"Ah still don't get how she c'n stand ta live way out in a place like this…"
I shrugged, though I had stopped using my aurasight, so I had no idea whether or not she noticed it. "Well, she is pretty secretive… for all we know, this place is like where she came from. Or… maybe it's an improvement."
I heard Twilight giggle from AJ's other side. "I remember when you and I had this talk Blake; you brought up the point that she's an herbalist, and there really isn't a much better place to get the kinds of herbs she needs than right here in the Everfree."
"Ah get that part… Ah just don't get why she can't live near tha forest instead of inside it… seems like it might be safer fer 'er that way."
"Well, she seems safe enough. Who knows what kinds of herbal mixtures she uses to keep all the critters in here away from her. Besides, as far as I can tell, she really enjoys her life out here."
We did our best to keep up the small talk, none of us wanting to deal with the eerie silence in the forest if we didn't have to. My own anxiety was exacerbated by the fact that I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched that I got every time I set foot into this infernal place.
The rest of the day's walk was fortunately fairly boring, with none of us so much as hearing anything more dangerous than a woodpecker. We passed the ancient castle sometime in the early afternoon, judging by how long we'd been walking; I had left my pocket watch at home out of fear of it disappearing in this strange place.
I could tell when we passed Sunny Town later that day, as I could feel Twilight shudder from the same bad vibes that radiated from the town that I felt. I couldn't help but find it odd that I hadn't noticed the feeling the first time I had visited the town full of sentient undead.
I had also left the dagger Luna had given me at home, safe and out of the reach of a certain pair of curious fillies; I knew this journey was going to be taxing enough as it was, and the last thing I wanted was to make it worse. I had however, made a promise to myself to come back and free poor Mitta from her millennia of suffering as soon as I could see again.
I eventually felt the air around us begin to cool even more than it had been throughout the day, signaling the coming of nightfall. "Hey, this looks like a good place to set up camp!"
I chanced turning on my aurasight to inspect the area for myself. I almost immediately shook my head. "No, this won't do…"
"Wh-wha… why not?" Twilight sounded oddly downtrodden.
"Well, for starters, we're still on the trail; a trail this far into the woods could have only been made by its inhabitants, and if we camp on it, we'll be practically ringing the dinner bell. It also doesn't help that I can hear water running off in the distance, which means that this area is likely frequently traveled as a way to get to said water. I suggest we look for a spot that's a short way off the trail, that way we'll be less noticeable. We should also leave markers as we go so we can easily find our way back in the morning."
I listened as hoofsteps picked up off to my left. "Sounds ta me like y'all done this b'fore Sugarcube. Anythin' else we oughta look for?"
"Yeah, someplace open enough for a small fire, but not much bigger than that. And make sure the canopy is high enough that it wouldn't set the forest on fire; an open canopy would be best, but I doubt we'll find one in a place like this..."
Twilight and AJ headed off together after we came to the decision that they could see farther than I could, and would be more likely to come across a suitable spot. I busied myself by heading in behind them, searching out deadwood for a fire, using strips of bright, orange cloth that I'd had Rarity make as trail markers to identify them as firewood. They were all but invisible to me, but I knew that Applejack and Twilight would have no trouble seeing the stark contrast of the neon orange from the dull browns that one would usually expect to see in a forest.
"Hey Blake! I think we found a good spot!" I cringed at the volume of Twilight's voice.
I heard Applejack hiss from the same direction, though significantly quieter than Twilight had been. "SHH! Do y'all wanna rile up every critter in tha forest?!"
Twilight's nervous giggle followed a moment later. "Sorry…"
I walked over in the direction the voices had come from, keeping my aurasight to a minimum, lessening the mental strain that still accompanied using it and keeping me from ramming into every tree in the forest at the same time.
It took less than two minutes to come upon the spot where Applejack was standing, though I didn't see Twilight. "She went ta grab that wood y'all found and tie some o' them markers up so we c'n find tha trail tomorrow."
"Thanks AJ." I released my focus on my aurasight and allowed it to return to its spherical iteration to inspect the area. "This looks like a good spot... Why don't we start setting up camp while she's off doing that? I imagine it'll be night before long, and it wouldn't be any fun for you two to be doing this in the dark."
We started doing just that; I started on the tent while AJ hunted down some rocks to use as a fire circle. "So uh… Ah been meanin' ta ask… what's that spell o' yers like?"
I kept my focus on setting up the tent. "Well… it's nowhere near as good as being able to see. I mean, it's not really seeing at all; it's more like I can feel whatever's around me, and my mind tries to make sense of it, but the best it can do is try to visualize what's going on. Everything is colorless, and there's not really a whole lot of detail… heck, I can't even see the irises or pupils of a pony's eyes, they're just… blank…" I was quiet for a moment as I thought how better to describe it. "Imagine that everypony you can see is a statue made of glass, glass that's entirely the color of their coat; you can only see very basic details of them unless you look really hard, and everything else around them is just blank, like it doesn't exist at all… and any inanimate objects are just clear glass; you can see what they look like, but at the same time, you can see straight through them like they're not really there… Now try to imagine that you're not really seeing any of that, it's just your mind trying to cope with something it never learned how to handle."
Applejack paused in the middle of arranging some of the stones she'd found. "That… that sounds terrible Sugarcube… Ah don't think Ah'd do too well with that…"
I gave her a shrug as I finished cinching down the last guyline for our tent, which I had originally bought for family outings. "It's been tough, I'll admit that, but it's been a lot easier than it could have been thanks to all you girls… besides, at least I have this spell; people go blind all the time back on Earth, and they have to just learn to deal with it… no spells or anything."
I heard shuffling as AJ started rearranging the rocks again. "That sounds rough, Ah guess us pony-folk got it good, what with unicorns and pegasuses around."
I was about to say something about how the Apple clan seemed to get along just fine without magic, but the second I opened my mouth, a faint pulse of magical pressure pressed against me, and I noticed what looked like an inkwell floating in front of me, along with a scroll. I grabbed the objects out of the air and unfurled the scroll, surprised that I could actually see writing on its surface. "D' y'all need me ta read that fer ya Hon?"
I shook my head even as I started to read for myself. "No thanks AJ, looks like Luna came through with that magical ink… and this is just a test letter of sorts to make sure I can actually read it before she orders more."
"Why would she do that though?" I looked up from the letter to see Twilight standing near the fire pit with three smallish trees suspended in her magic. "I mean, if we're literally out here to get the medicine that will bring your sight back, what's the point of having ink that you can still read while you're blind?"
I thought about it for a moment. "Well, it never hurts to be prepared Twi… there's always the chance that something might go wrong… plus, I can think of a few reasons to have something like that around; for one, if she wants to send me a message in the middle of the night, I wouldn't have to turn on a light to read it. I could also use it as a sort of glow-in-the-dark kind of thing for… well, whatever I might need that for…"
Applejack walked up next to me and rested her head lightly on my shoulder. "Looks like y'all could use it fer secret love letters Sugarcube…" AJ's voice was playful, but I could also hear a twinge of some other emotion I couldn't quite pin down. "There ain't no words on this paper…"
I smirked as a memory sprang to mind. "Heh heh… didn't you tell me you pranked Celestia once with some invisible ink Twi?"
Both mares laughed. "Well, it was Rainbow Dash's idea, but I was the one that had Spike send the ink. Hee hee… I don't think she ever figured out that we pranked her either!"
I chuckled as I continued reading the letter. "Hmm… Speaking of Celly…" I ignored the disapproving look Twilight shot me, the same one she gave me every time I referred to her mentor by a nickname. "It looks like Lulu told her what's going on, and she's going to ask Shiny and Cadance to come back so they can train me some more once I can see again. Well, isn't that nice of ol' Sunbutt?" I suddenly wasn't sure if Twilight was going to murder me or have a stroke before she got the chance.
"I… you… how could…" I could have sworn I heard the sound of glass cracking coming seemingly from nowhere.
"Oh relax Twi… Believe it or not, she actually likes it when I give her nicknames like that; it helps her feel like just another pony for a change." Twilight shook her head and gave me a quizzical look. "Think about it; she has to act all regal and proper all day long with everyone bowing and walking on eggshells around her, so she never really gets to be herself around anyone but her sister."
"I guess I never really thought about it like that… I can't say I'd want ponies treating me like that if I were royalty…"
AJ walked over to the pile of trees that Twilight had set down next to the fire ring and started stomping them into shorter bits. "Hay, Ah can't see ya wantin' ta be royalty at all Sugarcube…"
While she spoke, I rummaged around in my pack for my fire kit before tossing the pack into a corner of the tent. "Gotta agree with Applejack there, Twi… No offense, you're crazy smart and you know how to be a good leader, but I just don't see you as the 'royal' type."
Twilight started breaking out the cooking gear while I started getting things ready for a fire. "Yeah…"
I let out a low laugh "I bet Rarity would flip her top if one of her friends did suddenly become royalty though."
Applejack did her best to stifle a laugh. "She'd pro'bly want ta design some fancy-pants dresses fer whoever it was…"
With everything finally set up, I pulled my firesteel and tinder out of the kit and cut an end off of the length of straw, exposing the soaked cotton within the sealed tube. Twilight sniffed the air and covered her nose. "Whew! What is that?! It smells really strong…"
I pulled the cotton out with my pliers and set it under the kindling pile. "It's a cotton ball soaked in some one hundred and eighty proof alcohol that I got from the bar. According to what Derpy read off the label for me, it's some kind of minotaur drink." I set striker to steel and sparked the soaked cotton to life. "Lord knows I'll never drink that stuff, so I may as well do something constructive with it…"
