//------------------------------// // Flying the Dream Part 2 // Story: Student of Friendship // by zalla661 //------------------------------// For the next several days and nights Starlight Glimmer worked long and hard. She looked up all sorts of transfiguration spells, potions, shapeshifting spells derived from changeling magic (courtesy of Thorax), and even specialized flying devices for ponies like hang gliders or ornithopters. Now, she was in her own personal lab with various devices and vials of potions she’d been making for the last few days. The labs was littered with notes and papers, inkwells, and old quills that had been so overused they had been discarded without much thought. The entire lab was in chaos as Starlight trotted around throwing papers away as she read through a large stack of them. She had the papers in her magical aura along with three vials of green, blue, and clear liquid. She poured the green and blue vials together and stirred them until the liquids mixed, thus becoming a dark pink. Starlight nodded examining the pink vial. She then turned back to her notes. She quickly scanned the pages and flipped through a few of them before settling on one page in particular. She read over it quickly. Once she read over the page she floated the papers away from her vision, still holding them, and looked at the two vials she had left. She examined the pink one which was now turning a lighter tint of milk pink. Quickly but slowly, Starlight applied three small droplets of the clear liquid into the pink one and mixed it by swirling the vial around several times as it slowly turned sky blue. Starlight then watched dropping the papers to the floor, waiting to see what would happen. The seconds ticked by and nothing happened. She continued to watch and wait until a whole minute passed. When she had finally given up and was about to throw the vial away she noticed a faint glow coming from it. Her eyes shot back on the vial as it became clear like water. Starlight smiled and hopped around the room cheering for her success. Days and nights of no sleep had finally paid off. Quickly she scribbled down some notes and ran to a small cage at the corner of the lab. Starlight looked into the tiny cage and and tapped it gently. Inside the cage was a small wooden hut, a food bowl, and a water canister for a small animal. From the hut came out a small chinchilla. The furry animal poked his head out from his hut and yawned stretching his body and arms. Starlight giggled at her cute furry friend as he rubbed his tired eyes and looked up at her smiling on his tiny face. “Aww, hello there Spitz. How are you today?” She asked the chinchilla. The little animal rubbed his belly fur. Starlight giggled at him levitating a small piece of dry hay to him. The chinchilla perked up and ran to the wall of the cage as the door glowed and opened. He stood at the edge sticking his tiny head out trying to reach for the hay as Starlight magically gave it to him. Taking it he nibbled it bit by bit as she watched him. Once he finished he looked up at her expectantly as she offered the vial to him. “I know you’ve been through alot lately little, Spitz, but can you take one more sip for mommy?” Starlight asked him. The chinchilla stuck his nose up and crossed his tiny arms. Starlight gave a light chuckle. “Okay, I know I promised the last one would be it. So, I guess that leave only one option left…” Starlight declared looking back dramatically. ------ Guiding Wind was walking alone through the castle hallways during her rounds, and keeping an eye out for the elusive Starlight Glimmer. She passed by the kitchen doors as a group of maids passed by bowing to her. She nodded to them and continued as Golden Claw happened upon her. “Greetings Guiding Wind,” the griffin addressed to her. Guiding Wind bowed at him. “Greetings, Sir Golden Claw.” She greeted him with a kind smile and continued on her way,griffin alone. Not far behind her a pony lurked in the shadows, stalking close behind her but keeping out of sight. Guiding Wind continued her rounds, never noticing the shadow tailing her, until she came upon a glass of water sitting in the middle of one of the many hallways in the castle. She looked around wondering if one of the maids or butlers had left it by mistake. Seeing nobody around she magically lifted the glass and turned to return it to the kitchen. From around the corner the pony who was following her poked its head out as Guiding Wind passed and shot a magical beam at the back of the mare's head. Guiding Wind felt a sharp pinch on the back of her head. She stopped to rub it when she suddenly felt very thirsty, so suddenly that it made her feel uneasy. She looked at the glass of water, her mouth becoming dry with each passing moment. Licking her lips, Guiding Wind looked around once more to make sure nopony was around. Seeing that she was alone she took the glass in her magic and quickly drank it in a few gulps. “Whew, refreshing,” She said inspecting the glass. “Water tasted kinda funny…” With her thirst satisfied Guiding Wind continued on her way to the kitchen. When she got about halfway back Guiding Wind began to feel weird back pains. He sides felt like they were burning and her magic was becoming weaker. It finally got to the point where she could barely move. Finally she collapsed in the hallway. The glass shattered on the floor near her. She lay there undisturbed until Golden Claw by chance found her unconscious on the floor. The griffin saw the downed mare and quickly acted. He gathered up to poor mare feeling an intense heat coming from her head. Golden Claw pressed his claw over the mare's head and could feel she was burning up. He quickly took her back to her room after getting a pony to clean up the mess left behind. Guiding Wind awoke shortly after being placed in bed. The mare looked up at the griffin weakly, squinting her eyes as though she were straining to see him. “Golden Claw?” Golden Claw got a wet cloth and laid it over the mares forehead. He gently pushed her head down making it rest on the pillow. Guiding Wind groaned at the sore feeling in her back and kept rolling from side to side. Golden Claw tried to get her to stop by pushing her down gently. “Guiding Wind, you need to stop moving. You won’t get any better if you keep moving.” “Ugh, but my back… it’s so painful…” “Your back?” Claw asked, rolling her onto her side to look at her back. The griffin gasped at what he saw. There attached to Guiding Winds back was a pair of majestic wings. Folded on themselves, it looked like she was laying on them in an awkward fashion. So he adjusted the mare to lay her not directly on the wings, by spreading the new wings apart slightly. Guiding Wind giggled lightly at the touch, wondering why her back was so ticklish so suddenly. “Holy bird feathers, Guiding Wind,” Golden Claw said shocked. Guiding Wind craned her neck trying to see what the shocked griffin was talking about, when her eyes laid upon a set of orange wings attached to her back. She instinctively flexed one out without much effort, but had trouble controlling it. The wings flapped uselessly around as she looked them over completely shocked at the sight of them. “I… I have wings?” She asked touching them with her shaking hooves. “I… how?” Golden Claw got up and laid the mare down again saying he would go get some help and darted off leaving Guiding Wind alone. The earth pony turned pegasus was now on her belly looking back at her wings. They were fully grown majestic wings. Large, healthy, and well preened. She wondered what could have caused this to happen. She thought hard about what she edid in the last few days, and wondered what caused this. Did she get struck by a stray spell by Twilight or Starlight Glimmer? She was sure if she did she would have known then and there, so that wasn’t it. Was it something she ate? She didn’t think anything she consumed was out of the ordinary. The only thing was the glass of water she had that found and suddenly got very thirsty. She thought it was odd that she found a glass of water right as she got very thirsty, then she suddenly had wings? She was sure that had to be it, but who would do this to her? She was sure it was a mistake. Perhaps it was a potion that Starlight or Twilight left behind on accident? Guiding Wind chuckled lightly. Those two unicorns, as smart as they were could be such airhead at times. She loved them though and would do anything if it meant making them happy. As a servant it was her calling to bend to the will of others. If she could make other ponies happy then she was happy, and that was good enough for her. She knew in a matter of minutes Golden Claw would find either Princess twilight of Starlight Glimmer and this will all be fixed up in no time. As she thought the wait wasn’t long before Starlight Glimmer approached her in the room with Golden Claw at the door. Starlight walked over to the mare in bed and looked her over. “How are you feeling Guiding Wind?” Starlight asked as she checked the mares vitals. “I feel fine, young miss. Do you know what happened to me?” Guiding WInd asked. The maid pony didn’t catch the playful glint in Starlight's eyes after she asked her question. “I do actually,” Starlight said rubbing the mare's head with a damp towel to bring down her slight fever. “I was working on a potion to transform a pony into a pegasus for about two to three days. I lost it a while ago when I went to get a glass to put it in, but I ran into a… friend of mine and accidentally left it somewhere. Guess you found it.” Starlight hid her lie well. Guiding Wind didn’t even notice the change in her voice as the mare went on explaining what happened. Instead she smiled and nodded at Starlight’s tale. “-and it is going to wear off quickly, since it was only made to be temporary,” Starlight said checking the wings. “Looks good. The Potion worked well.” Yes, it did,” Guiding Wind agreed. “They feel like I’ve always had them. I can move them, not easily but I can.” The mare flexed her new wings like she always had them, but still couldn't control them well. The wing snapped out and smacked Starlight in the face, making the mare yelp and rub her snout. “Oh! Right in the nose!” “Oh, I’m sorry young miss! I don’t know what went wrong! They just… move on their own it seems!” Guiding Wind said apologetically to Starlight pulling her wing back with her hooves. Starlight smiled rubbing her nose. She then leaned over Guiding Wind and took hold of her hoof and rubbed it trying to calm her. Guiding Wind felt her anxiousness melt away as Starlight rubbed her hooves with her own, making the mare feel at ease. “Don’t worry I’ll be fine. If hanging with Rainbow Dash has taught me anything it’s that you can't hold it against a pony when they do something to you.” Starlight said, and Guiding Wind agreed with her. “You should be fine, I would recommend going to the hospital to get a quick checkup. Nothing bad should have occurred during the transformation, i spent weeks on this potion, but I want you there as soon as possible so you can get the checkup.” Starlight put a hint of urgency in her voice hoping Guiding Wind would act quicker. The maid mare nodded to Starlight acknowledging what she said and laid back down as the unicorn finished checking her. Once Starlight finished she gathered up her stuff and rubbed Guiding Winds back gently. “Be careful going to the hospital. If you want I can go with you to make sure you get there,” Starlight offered, helping Guiding Wind out of bed. “I would like that very much, young Starlight,” Guiding Wind cooed. With that the two mares were off to the hospital. The journey didn’t take more than a few minutes before Starlight and Guiding WInd entered Ponyville Hospital. Starlight entered with Guiding Wind behind her and was greeted by none other than nurse Red Heart. “Oh, hello there again Starlight!” Redheart greeted the mare. “How are you?” “I’m fine Redheart, but my friend need an emergency check up,” Starlight stepped to the side and gently pulled guiding Wind forward. Redheart gasped at the new mare she’d never seen before. She looked over Guiding Wind, looking to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. “Oh, what happened?” Red Heart asked finding nothing wrong with Guiding Wind. “She consumed a potion that was suppose to transform a pony into a pegasus. I wanted to try it myself in a controlled environment, but I lost it and Guiding Wind accidentally consumed it. I’m sure of it,” Starlight explained. Seeing the skeptical look on nurse Redhearts face Starlight quickly amended, “She was an earth pony before, trust me, I’m sure she drank it.” Nurse Redheart shook her head. “Very well, come along dear. We’re a bit full so i’ll have to check you in the same room with Rainbow Dash-” Guiding Wind felt her wings shoot upright on her as she blushed at the mention of Rainbow Dash. She didn’t realize what had happened, and the ponies staring at her. Starlight chuckled awkwardly and used her magic to gently push down the stiff wings as they went along with  Redheart into one of the exam rooms. There they entered a small room, and sitting there was Rainbow Dash with a cast on her left arm. The rainbow maned pegasus looked up to see the newcomers. She recognized Starlight and Redheart but not eh orange pegasus. Yet, the orange pony seemed familiar to her but she couldn’t place where. “Hey Starlight!” Rainbow glared at Redheart. “Nurse.” Redheart scoffed. “Brute,” She then turned to Guiding Wind and Starlight. “I’ll need to get some equipment, I’ll be back to check up on Guiding Wind shortly.” “Thank Redheart,” Starlight said as the nurse left. Starlight watched at the white mare exited closing the door behind her. As the door shut and clicked Starlight hid her grin, as she watched Rainbow gawk at Guiding Wind, who was now blushing and trying to hide herself from sight as Rainbow looked her over. “Guiding Wind? Is that really you?” Rainbow Dash asked looking at the mare, and her new wings. “Yes, miss Dash. It’s me, Guiding Wind,” The maid pony said in a low embarrassed tone. She played with her skirt feeling her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she tried to keep her wings at her side. “Do… do you like my new wings?” There was a million things that could have been said and done at this very moment. The awkward levels were through the roof and Starlight watched with great amusement, hidden of course, as the two mares tried not to outright stare at each other, and all rainbow managed to say was one simple word. “Sexy.”