Another Update for Fireflies · 4:02am Jun 14th, 2013

This time with 1,759,174% more content! (Guaranteed or your money back!)

Things are going well, word count is at 7,972, and there's still plenty to go. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the two little things I've got for you.

First off, a snippet of what I've got for Fireflies:

As you can see, I've got plenty written, and more still to come. Dunno why I'm sharing that pic, but I did, so there.

Just as a note: DJ GarV has done a ton to help out with this, and his contributions to the first version of the prologue WILL be used. Just... Not yet. So, if you're reading this, DJ, keep working. It'll get in there.

And, now, without further ado, a preview of the prologue:

The wind was just strong enough to force me to correct for it with each beat of my wings. My father was nearby, standing on a cloud with several of the other pegasi whom had come to witness the first test of the Slipstream Flight Aid, or SFA for short. I already had the prototype strapped to my back and I could feel the tiniest eddies of the air on my primaries as the minutely unstable magics did their work. For nearly an hour now I had watched as my father described the intricacies of the magical device to several prospective entrepreneurs and philanthropists. My wings itched to fly the skies, but I knew that the demonstration was swiftly approaching.
The sprawling city of Manehattan was still visible in the distance, but our height made it a large grey smudge on the ground. Three of the local guards had decided to come and witness the event, more because they knew my father and I than because they had a genuine interest in the invention. The captain of the watch, though, was interested in the invention, and the three others had volunteered to come to watch me. Scabbard, my only real friend in the guard, slowly moved to my side, his own wings maintaining a slightly slower beat than my own. “So, Icarus, you ready to break some records?”
I scoffed and waved a hand at him. “Hardly. Dad tuned the whole thing down several levels from full power. I’ll top out at two hundred. Two-fifty tops.”
“That’s still pretty good. For you, at least.” He snorted as a wide smile came to his face. “I mean, your top speed is, what, again?”
“One seventy. But that was measured with a strong headwind. Like you’re any better, though.”
He shrugged, his grin only widening. “Any excuse, right? ‘Sides, I get one seventy five with my armor on. So I think I’ve still got you beat. Anyway, I doubt that thing will help you to break records, now that I’m thinking about it. Some girl over in Cloudsdale did a Sonic Rainboom some years ago. Now that’s a record.”
“Pegasi can’t go that fast, Scabbard. I mean, come on. The math just... It doesn’t work at those speeds.”
Scabbard was about to respond when my father called me over. I lazily drifted over before my father gave me a warm smile. “And this is my son, Icarus, the man who will be demonstrating the capabilities of the SFA. As you can see the device sits comfortably between the wings with small leads running along the wings. The encasing material for the magical flux core is naturally resistant to the magics utilized in a pegasus’ wings, so there’s no interference in that regard.”
“Enough talk, Daedalus, we already know the specifications. Let’s see this creation of yours in action. I, for one, am most interested to see if this device can do all that you claim.”
“All that and more, Quark. For the sake of safety, though, the device has been turned back to just forty percent of it’s maximum capabilities.” My father turned to look at me and he gave me a small nod. “Now, if you can get going, Icarus? And remember, keep it reasonable. This is a prototype after all.”
I let a smile come to my face as I flashed a small mocking salute to my father. “Right away, dad.” I flew lazily through the skies as I gained some altitude and headed towards the cloud that Scabbard had moved to where I was set to start from. The flight took only a few minutes but the butterflies in my stomach made it seem quite a bit longer. I knew all the math behind the creation strapped to my back, but that made it no easier to realize that I was, literally, the first pegasus to actually utilize some device to facilitate the flight that came to us as easily as breathing.
“Relax, Icarus. Your dad may be crazy, but he’s the good kind of crazy.” Scabbard’s normally cocky attitude was in abeyance as he looked over the device on my back once again. “Seriously, though, this thing’s really fucking scary.”
“Don’t remind me. He swears he worked out ‘all’ of the kinks, but I know that’s bull. If he had done that he wouldn’t have waited so long to test it.” I settled onto the cloud, fanning my wings a few times to make sure they were fully limber for what was about to come. “Flip the main breaker on the back, and let’s get this shit done. Time waits for no man, no matter how great.”
I felt Scabbard mess with the device for a few moments before he slapped me on the shoulder. “Any last words?” His cocky grin was back in place, but the concern was still in his eyes.
“Always match your leathers? No... Forty-two? Overdone... Ah, I know. Experience is the most brutal of teachers. But you learn. By the Creator, do you learn.” With a little hop I leapt from the cloud, my wings remaining staunchly closed until gravity had done all the work it could. Once I felt that I was going fast enough I snapped my wings open, the sudden change in direction sending a spike of adrenaline through my body. Each beat of my wings felt more powerful than the last, and soon I was topping out for my natural speed.