*Chapter 11: Flight
Chapter 11: Flight
“Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth/And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;”
From “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
Entry Eight:
Wings! I have wings. Flight is within my grasp. I have wings! They’re why my shoulders were itching and hurting over the past couple of days. They woke me up this morning; my whole back was burning with pain, like someone was breathing dragon’s fire on me. The pain was excruciating. It had me in tears at one point. Ever so slowly, it passed, and was replaced by a duller pain, as if something was being pressed against my spine. I tried to tear off the bandage, but it was tougher than it looked. Instead, I ran to the medical tent to have Dr. Advallan remove it. He cut it away. Then got really still, before clearing his throat, and telling me I had wings.
I didn’t believe him at first. How could I have wings? He set up some mirrors to show them to me. I jumped for joy and went running right out. I may have woken up the whole camp; I was cheering so loudly. Sure, I’d always wanted to fly, but only in the past week or so has it become a burning wish. Horseapples, I need to fly. Need, funny that word should pop up as I am writing this. Drake is still recovering, a.k.a sleeping, so I haven’t talked to him about my wings, yet. Then again, he might not be able to tell me anything one way or the other. Now that I’m thinking about it, Need is probably why I have these wings. I can’t really control them, maybe they aren’t fully developed, but soon I’ll need some flying lessons. Drake or one of the griffins should be able to teach me. It is still early in the day and the camp is busy with activity so I am going to see if there is anything I can do to help.
-Spike
Entry: Nine
Today has been a fury of activity, but to understand why that is I need to tell you a bit more about what happened after yesterday’s entry.
Drake woke up sometime around noon and must have been feeling much better because he found me and together we went looking for the Cider Twins, as we have taken to calling them. As we looked, I showed Drake my new wings. He seemed pretty happy, even a little bit excited about them. I still can’t use them any, although I am beginning to have some feeling in them today. Drake mentioned that this might be something to write home about, or maybe I should challenge Rainbow to a race for when I get back, with the condition that she can’t use her wings. After that suggestion he came awfully close to maniacal laughter; to say Drake has a slightly twisted sense of humor would be a bit of an understatement. Regardless, his suggestion does have some merit; it would be pretty funny to see her reaction.
Anyway we found Flim and Flam working on the SSCS 6000, which was looking worse for wear. Drake lay down near them and I sat down opposite him. He began telling us about this weird dream he had the other day and how he was trying to get the griffins to lead us to this ruin and join us. About the time he finished regaling us, Eagle-eye and Swiftwing landed in the middle of our circle facing Drake. Drake asked if they’d come with his answer.
Eagle-eye and Swiftwing glanced at one another. I’m pretty sure that I saw her give him slight nod before Eagle-eye looked back at Drake and said, “Despite some reservations we’ve decided that the McFarweathers will accompany you to the ruin you asked about. However, if we are going to guide you there, we need you to promise that you’ll do everything in your power to keep our Family safe.”
Drake said nothing for a moment. Then he spoke in a tone I’d never heard him use before. It sounded somewhere along the lines of respectfully and sincere; with other things mixed in I am not sure about. Using this tone, Drake said, “You have my word on all that I am. I will do my utmost to ensure that every single griffin now alive in this camp survives, and prove to you that this alliance between us will be to everyone’s benefit.”
Eagle-eye looked a little shocked by what Drake had said. I don’t know why. I mean, he’d thrown him, the Cider Twins, and me into a battle and nearly died to save these guys already. He nodded then took off, saying he had much to do and little time to do it in. Swiftwing looked Drake over, as if reevaluating her opinion of him, before leaving as well. After that, Drake told us to do whatever we needed to be ready to move. Flim and Flam went back to working on the SSCS 6000. I stayed and helped them for a little bit before going off to see if any of the Griffins needed help.
So, that is what happened yesterday. Today the whole camp was broken down and every griffin began to form up near what had been the entrance. All the griffins had a bundle with them, some had several, and a few even had carts resting next to them. Swiftwing and her warriors combed the skies with bows out and ready in case something got in its mind to attack the McFarweathers. Off on the horizon, I’m pretty sure I saw a couple of griffin scouts keeping an eye on our intended route out of here. Drake and Eagle-eye stood side by side at the front of the assemblage. Once everyone had arrived they spoke to the gathering.
“Friends, Family,” Eagle-eye began, “We are moving to investigate a ruin.” At those words shock ran through the crowd and several cried out it was foolish, or forbidden. Drake silenced them with a roar allowing Eagle-eye to continue. “I am aware of the reputation of the ruins, but this one is not infested by Fallen. Our friend Drake, who fought alongside us, risking death when he could have left us, believes that it may be made safe. Safe from the Harpies. Safe from the Diamond Dogs. I too am skeptical of this, but change is in the air. Harpies are becoming more aggressive and the Dogs are assembling into larger hosts than we have ever seen. Today we take a step to protect ourselves. If it proves untamable, we’ll know it is not an option. If we are successful, we may gain a valuable prize.”
Over the course of his speech, the mood of the crowd shifted from nervous and angry to anxious and maybe even a little bit hopeful. “On my signal all who can fly will take off and travel as the vanguard to tonight’s campsite, the rest of us will follow on the ground. Be watchful for anything that may be of use to us this next week.”
With a wave of his arm the whole host moved roughly two hundred and fifty griffins lurched into motion. Those that could took to the skies, joining a squad of warriors, before heading off to the west. The rest of us moved south out of the camp to get away from the mountains before we were to turn west and follow the fliers. Drake stayed on the ground and led the way forward.
And that is when near disaster struck. As soon as we had left sight of the camp Drake disappeared in a cloud of dust. For several moments, we heard nothing but sounds of lightning and thunder, Barks and yelps, claw and steel, and then nothing. The dust cleared, and we saw Drake at the bottom of a sink pit. The corpses of Diamond Dogs littered its floor and the entryway to several tunnels.
“Damn Dogs! They must’ve been building these since that battle,” said Drake as he began trying to climb out of the pit. The battle had added some new bruises and cuts to him. With the old injuries they, made it near impossible from him to scale the walls. Fortunately Flam and Flim lent their magic and helped pull him out.
After that, everyone was really careful about the path we took. Guards were stationed along the perimeter and within the column. We didn’t hit anymore sink pit, but there were a couple cases of dogs popping up from underground. They were shot the moment they surfaced.
The sun was halfway past the horizon when we made it to the camp the vanguard had set up. The mood of the McFarweathers is subdued. At the same time, I think they are hopeful as well. It is going to take a week to reach the ruin that Drake calls Forum. While there is still time for something to go wrong, if we all work together it will be fine. Drake said we’ve been slacking on training, and that it is finally time to start working on Greed. We will see what happens, but I think things are finally look up after the past couple of days.
-Spike
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Twilight had a busy day out at the exercise track. She’d enjoyed it though. Not only did she get to help her friend; she had a chance to learn more about pegusi in general. The only down side had been Fluttershy’s reaction. Of course, bringing Scootaloo along to help her in Spike’s place might not have helped things either. Looking back she realized that it had been a very bad decision. Fluttershy’s stage fright combined with Scootaloo’s reactions to each wing power number was a recipe for disaster. Nonetheless, it was done. Now, she and Rainbow Dash were out at a cozy little café. Two friends grabbing dinner and discussing the day’s results.
“Thanks for helping out Twi,” Rainbow said between bites of her lasagna filled with mushrooms, pepper, tomato sauce, eggplant and cheeses. “I knew you’d be the perfect person to help me with getting Ponyville’s pegusi into shape.
“Glad to do it,” Twilight replied. Her grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup sat mostly untouched as she was spending most of her time talking. “I’m just happy you trust me enough to help. I figured that you would go looking for somepony more athletically inclined.”
“I know all the athletic stuff. What I needed was somepony with the book smarts to make sure my training plan wasn’t too much for the rest of these ponies.” Rainbow paused to take of sip of her drink. “After all, not everypony can keep up with my awesomeness.”
It was at that point in the meal a letter appeared between the two friends. Twilight was surprised to get another so quickly, and Rainbow, who Twilight had shown the last one, was worried something even worse had happened. Even more surprising for them both was when Twilight unrolled to letter and another, addressed to Rainbow Dash, fell out. Passing it to her, they both read their respective letters.
Dear Twilight,
“Hey Twilight. Guess what! I have wings now. Wings! I can fly! Well not yet. But soon, I’ll be in the sky, and get to see what Rainbow finds so great about it. On that note, don’t tell her I have wings. I’m sure she’ll show you her letter, but you can’t let her know I have wings. Tell anypony you want except her, but anypony you tell has to Pinkie Promise not to tell her.
On another note I still miss Hyde, but I talked to some people about it. While I didn’t understand what they said at first I do now. I’m going to be fine it’ll just take some time. Take care and stay safe.
Love,
Spike.
Twilight smiled, at first, but became more and more curious about what Spike meant, right up until Rainbow shoved her letter in Twilights face. “Read this Twilight. Spike must be doing ok. Tartarus, he even has the guts to challenge me to a race when he comes home.”
Dear Rainbow,
‘Hey Rainbow. I’m growing a lot out here, and was talking to Drake when he mentioned I should test myself when I get home. This sounds like a great idea, so I challenge you to a race. You, me, and any course you want. Loser owes the winner one task of their choosing. There’s one condition though. Just to be fair, you can’t use your wings. Same as your race against Applejack during the running of the leaves. If you accept, send a reply through Twilight.
Bring it,
Spike
“He’s going down. I don’t care what kind of changes he is going through. If he’s getting cocky, I’m going to knock him down a peg.” Rainbow continued to rant as realization grasped Twilight. Spike as setting Rainbow up. She wasn’t sure why he was doing this, it seemed kinda mean, but then again maybe it was just to get a laugh. Of course, if that was what he found funny maybe these changes wouldn’t be for the best. Before Twilight to go any farther down the rabbit hole, Rainbow brought her back.
“Hey! Equestria to Twilight, Equestria to Twilight. Did you hear me? Tell Spike he’s going down next time you send him something.” Twilight assured Rainbow she would. As they resumed their meal, worry and elation both vyed for Twilight’s attention.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
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1854752 i agree
on this chapter
and are we the only ones commenting
Nope you aren't, keep this a secret but I'm commenting to.
5185775
Hokay, I just need stop here for a moment.
The story is interesting and the character interactions are rich and generally very smooth, which are always wonderful bits of the story's entire concept. However, the numerous run-on sentences, slight spelling mistakes, and the nearly ridiculous amount of punctuation mistakes are piling up into something that makes the story a bit of a chore to read. This can be fixed with the help of prereaders and an editor(or editors). Again, I love the characters and how well they interact with each other, but for now I'm going to take a break and read more of this at another time.
You have amazing potential, but without extremely thorough editing, the story seems to fall a little flat. I hope you've found my comment worthwhile and informative.
5191457
Too