Inside the throne room of the Canterlot Castle, the alicorn of the sun, Princess Celestia is anxiously pacing back and forth as her sister, Princess Luna, watches.

“Is she ready?” The massive white alicorn asks to her younger sister, “Luna, are you sure Twilight had the dream?”

“Of course,” Luna replies, shaking her head in embarrassment, “I was there in her dream, she’s ready.”

“What if it was just a weird dream you had?”

“Why are you so worried? She’s ready; she’s old enough to take on the world.”

“I know, I know, but she’s been like my daughter after all of these years, I’m afraid she might get hurt.”

“She’ll be alright; Twilight’s friends will be with her.”

“You’re right, you’re right, she can’t be in there forever,”

“I’d expect this type of anxiety from Twilight, but never from you.”

“Well what do you expect sister?”

“Hello?” Twilight’s voice echoes into the throne room. The purple alicorn enters through the massive doors and is greeted by Luna and her flowing mane glowing of the night sky.

“Ah, Twilight,” Luna, turns around and greets her, “I see you have been mastering your teleportation spells.”

“Yeah, so is this about the dream I had, are there multiple worlds out there?”

“No, this is about your dream, just something else. However, your theory could mean multiple signs.”

“Like what?”

“It could be something involving your new form of magic or possibly a sign that something extraordinary might come to Equestria.”

“I see, I’ll keep note of it Luna.”

“You should, but for now, it’s best you address the matter of hoof with my sister.”

“Okay, Princess Celestia.” Celestia snaps out of her pacing and greets Twilight,

“Hello Twilight, sorry you had to see that, just a bit nervous,”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just something I want you to see and help with.”

“Okay,” Celestia walks up behind the large throne and magically opens two doors hidden in the stonework, revealing a long dark hallway.

“Follow me.” Twilight trots to the princess’ side as they stroll into the secret path as the doors close behind them. “Twilight, you know that all ponies have some form of inherit magic?”

“Wait, I thought only unicorns possess magic.”

“That’s partly true, unicorns have evolved their magic so they can project it through their horn and perform more tasks with this skill. Pegasi possess a less noticeable form of magic, able to manipulate the clouds, weather, and other things that only pegasi can do.”

“What about Earth Ponies and Crystal Ponies?”

“Earth Ponies and Crystal Ponies have more internal magic, making them seem plain to the casual eye. Your friend Applejack has magic that increases her strength, and she might not even know she holds magic. Pinkie Pie’s a bit more, ‘public’ with her internal magic.”

“I see, so what does this have to do with what’s going on?”

“There’s another species of pony that nopony’s heard of, one that doesn’t hold any form of magic, some aren’t even able to speak.”

“Who are they?”

“They’re called No-Ponies, and they’re very shy around normal ponies, throughout my life, I’ve only seen these ponies a couple of times. However, on one faithful night, I came across her on another royal duty. I shortly realized that she was a No-Pony, and to make things worse, she was blind and lost.”

“What did you do?”

“I took her in, trained her to speak our language and raised her for many years, away from the public eye so she wouldn’t be frightened or get hurt. She named herself Raindrop, as it was the first word she spoken.”

“So where do I come in?”

“Since it has been months after any incidents have struck Equestria, and since me, Luna, and Cadence are occupied with heavy royal duties,”

“You want me to take care of this Raindrop?”

“I want you to show her the world under you and your friends’ watchful eye. She has been in this secret room for most of her life for safety and I believe its time she enters the world and we might be able to learn on how to help the No-Ponies.”

“Why have we stopped walking?”

“Just taking a moment, for this might be the last time I walk down this pathway to greet my student.”

“I promise you Princess; I will take care of Raindrop with my life and bring her back to you.”

“Okay,” Celestia and Twilight walk into a bright light, blinding Twilight for a second, but then sees a massive room with various utilities laying around and a large window in the back of the room, showing the vast fields behind the mountain that Canterlot rests on. As she looks around, she sees a sky-blue figure resting on the large veiled bed. From the intervals in which the wind shifts the large pink veils, Twilight could see that the mare had a long mane and tail gleaming with a turquoise and white, but what she also saw inspired a question,

“Where’s her cutie mark? Her flank is completely blank,”

“She doesn’t, I’ve never seen a No-Pony with a cutie mark before.”

“But, how do you know what their talent or calling in life is?”

“I don’t, that’s why we need Raindrop into the world, to help find and understand them.”

“I see,” Celestia walks up to the bed and whispers into the pony’s exposed ear,

“Raindrop, time to wake up.” The ball of shining fur begins to shutter and wriggle as the alicorn princesses step back and watch. Raindrop wakes up and stretches, with Twilight observing that Raindrop’s quite skinny, despite being merely slightly shorter than Twilight. The awaken pony opens her sleepy eyes, two beautiful sea-blue eyes that have been covered in a white haze. “Good morning,”

“Good morning,” she responds, with a voice even more graceful than Fluttershy’s in Twilight’s perspective, “what’s today’s lesson?”

“Today will be different, for today, you’re going to experience the world outside the castle.”

“Really? I thought you said it was too dangerous for me and you were too busy doing your royal duties.”

“It has been months since any danger has struck, and I now believe it’s time for you to witness it yourself my little pony. And I have a friend right here that’ll help you in the real world.”

“Who is it?”

“That would be me,” Twilight replies and steps forward in front of Raindrop, “hi, I’m-“

“Twilight Sparkle I presume?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“Celestia has told me all about you, and it only appeared to be that you are the most trusted one of Celestia that was available.”

“Wow you’re, incredibly smart.”

“I’ve learned from the best for nearly all of my life.”

“I see, so are you ready?”

“I’m not really sure, what should I know, what must I do, what should I bring for this journey?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll learn as we go along and my friends will assist you in every need.”

“Okay,” the pony turns to Celestia despite being blind, “will I see you again?”

“Oh course,” the princess responds, “think of it as merely a field trip, an experience, go and enjoy it.” Raindrop gallops into Celestia’s fluorescent mane and rubs alongside her, as a sign of farewell.

“See you later.”

“Before you go Twilight,” Celestia picks up two jeweled saddles and places them onto Twilight and Raindrop. “These are linked by magic Twilight Sparkle, Raindrop shall sense and know where you are and you will not lose track of her as it pulses the binding into your body.”

“Thanks,” Twilight cheers as her and the small mare head into the hallway, “I will never take this off.”

“Good luck you two.” The two slip into the darkness back to the main castle as Princess Celestia turns around and begins fixing up Raindrop’s room.

Outside in the Canterlot market, the duo proceed to take in the sounds, smells, and textures of the open Equestria. Twilight asks, “So Raindrop, how are you able to navigate your entire room? It’s huge.”

“Simple,” she replies, “Celestia set up the room so I can remember easily where everything is, it also helps that I have a great memory. I have a question for you, what’s it like to see for you?”

“Well uh…” Twilight stops for a second, trying to create an answer she’ll understand. “It’s like a memory.”

“A memory?”

“Yes, a memory, like how you remember the layout of your room. Imagine how your layout appears in your mind,”

“Okay,”

“Now add the textures of the floors, the walls, your bed, and everything else to the map,”

“I’m trying…”

“And, do you see something?”

“No,”

“Think inside your mind, not though your eyes, see something yet?”

“Not sure,”

“Is there something besides emptiness in your mind?”

“Kind of,”

“You’re using your imagination, kinda like vision.”

“This is very similar to what I experience in dreams.”

“Does Princess Luna see these dreams?”

“Yes, but she claims that it’s nothing she’s ever seen before, said it had no colours, odd visuals, and the sense of utter nothingness.”

“Well usually dreams are based from what you’ve sensed while awake, so being blind might lead to apparently odd dreams.” As they head into the heavier populated area of the market, small whispers and clamor echo through the crowd as they watch from the fancier shops and the streets, focused on the alicorn and No-Pony. As they continue their walk, their voices grow more and more louder in curiosity.

“Do you hear that?”

“What? It’s just normal chatter.”

“No, do you hear what they’re saying?”

“No, it’s too quiet, and besides, it’s not wise to eavesdrop.”

“But they’re talking about us, ‘Who is that small pony?’, ‘Why does she not have a cutie mark?’, ‘Why is Twilight with her?’, ‘What’s wrong with her eyes?’, and some are even following us.”

“They’re probably just timid; we should be going to my home, Ponyville.” As they squeeze through the crowd to the train station, Twilight starts to concentrate on the various voices and she too begins to hear them more and more clearly. Soon, her head fills with the voices of the citizens, so many questions about Raindrop, so many beginning to follow behind them chattering, so many rumors begin to surf along the streets as the duo pick up speed. “You still there Raindrop?”

“Right behind you,” the clamoring of hooves upon the pavement provides Raindrop with an idea of where everypony is and uses the magical tingle of the saddle to follow Twilight. They make it to the train station and on to the whistling steam train in a rush. The doors shut behind them as they sigh with relief and sit together on one of the large green seats.

“Sorry for that back there,” Twilight pants and regains her breathe, “Ponies tend to do that when coming across something new, but I promise, at Ponyville, things will be a lot nicer there,”

“It certainly was an adventure,”

“How were you able to navigate that crowd so well? I was almost bumping into several of them,”

“I use the sounds of their hooves hitting the road so I can track where they are and where they’re going.”

“But don’t you get confused; there were hundreds of them and four times the hooves,”

“Celestia has trained me in mastering my other senses in order to protect myself in the event that she’s disappeared.”

“What does it feel like?”

“Feel what?”

“Feel like at any moment, Celestia and Luna might disappear and you’d be left alone in your chamber for the rest of your life, knowing the world outside might be in peril,”

“At first I was extremely nervous, but Celestia comforts me by saying that it is a very low chance of her disappearing. And even if she does, she’d go to the ends of the world and back just for me.” The train whistles once more as a large jolt pierces through the carts.

“Here we go, off to Ponyville.” The train whistles once more and the train cars begins to slowly accelerate as it heads down from Canterlot, drifting slowly away from Celestia and the castle that Raindrop has lived in for as long as she remembers.