//------------------------------//
// The Sun 
// Story: Flight 
// by wkblack 
//------------------------------//

	It was dark at first, but a familiar voice arrested her attention. 
“Can pegasi fly?” 
Iris stood before her, grasping Canary's final feather. 
“Please—Stop!” 
“Answer! Can pegasi fly!” 
“Echo! Help!”
Iris stood level to Canary's eyes and smiled. In a green flash, Echo now stood before her. 
“Echo‽ What are you doing‽” 
The changeling responded in the sickly sweet voice of Iris. “You will never escape me!” Echo bit her final feather and tore it from her wing. 

Canary woke with a jolt, rustling the bed of leaves which cradled her. The scar on her left wing shone white in the starlight, reminding her of how lucky she was to have it. A few feathers peeked through her skin—it would take months before they could sustain her weight again. She stretched out her wing and smiled at the maneuverability: it stretched nearly as far as her right. Still, limited movement was better than nothing. Her savior slept across from her, on the opposite wall. She could never thank him enough for what he did. 
Canary moved to the cave's mouth and leaned against its cool wall. The northern mountains looked nearly identical as they did from Woodburn. We must be close, she thought to herself. Her thoughts drifted back to Aether and the rest of the Storm. Echo said it was his fault for them being in there… How could it really be his fault? Her stomach twisted at the thought, making her shudder. She tried to shake the thought from her head. I just have to save them. It doesn't matter what Echo did—he's different now. Still, the question kept returning, bringing with it a thousand others. What did he do? 
“What's bothering you?” 
Canary jumped at how close Echo's voice was behind her. “Nothing!” 
Echo's eyebrow rose. “You're terrified and determined. You wouldn't have the two at once unless you'd planned something rash. And in your current state, doing anything dangerous is a bad idea. Plus,” he added, “you just lied to me.” 
Stupid changeling mind reading powers. 
“Look Canary—I want to help, but you have to be honest with me. Please?”
Canary nodded. 
“So what's on your mind?” 
Canary frowned at the rock under her hooves. “I'm not sure how to ask this, but—you said you put my friends in prison? What did you do?” 
She glanced back to see Echo pawing the ground behind her. “Please don't hate me for it.” 
“I couldn't.” 
Echo took a deep breath. “Korporis wasn't the first time I took your form. When I was—” 
“You used my body to get us caught‽”
“I know it was wrong, but I—” 
Canary stamped her hoof. “Don't you realize what this means‽” 
Echo blinked twice. 
“They'll all think that I betrayed them! Me!” 
Echo's mouth opened. 
“They probably all hate me! They need to know it wasn't me!” Canary stamped her hoof. “Echo, take me back to Korporis. Now!” 
The changeling frowned. “To be captured again? It's suicide!” 
“Fine! I'll go on my own if I have to!” Canary leapt out the cave's mouth onto a large rock just outside and headed down the rocky slope. 
Echo buzzed out of the cave's mouth and hovered in front of Canary, blocking her path. “You're scaring me Canary—slow down and think this through! I want to get them out too, but this is ridiculous!” 
Canary jumped to the side, trying to outflank Echo, but he was too quick. “They have to know I didn't betray them! Changelings aren't the only creatures that can feel emotions—we can tell when others hate us!” 
Canary took a step back then leapt forwards. Echo dodged the blow to his stomach and caught Canary before she fell onto the rocks below. His wings worked double-time to lift the added weight. Canary growled but let the changeling lift her. 
“I can't let them think I'm the enemy!” 
“Please, just hear me out,” Echo pleaded. He lighted on the cave floor and set her before himself so their eyes could meet. “Life is too short to waste your energy fighting the inevitable. You need to find the battles you can make a difference in and fight those. Fight winning fights.” 
“You and I escaped! It's possible! And now we have an entire hive to back us up! We could free all the prisoners of Korporis!” 
Echo shook his head. “Our escape was nothing short of a miracle—we won't fool the Cloud twice. Now that we've escaped, they'll double the guard. We wouldn't have a wisp of a chance.” 
“You could at least turn into a bug and get a message through!” 
The changeling blinked. After a moment's thought, he shook his head. “It's too risky. When I escaped, they could have figured out I could change into a something smaller. Snapdragon is pretty bright—he was the guard I took out to get you through. Between him and the guards who saw me fly out as a bird, they could have put two and two together. If so, they won't let a fly through. It'd be a miracle to get in, let alone get out.” 
“But they're my friends! I have to try!” 
Echo sighed. “Believe me: it's impossible. If Aether finds a way to escape then good for her, but we'll do her more good outside of Korporis than inside.” 
Canary's frown deepened. “There has to be something we can do!” 
Echo examined Canary's eyes. “You're not going to let this go, are you?” The changeling sighed. “Fine, we'll ask Libra for her help, but I'm telling you: this is a deathtrap! The entire hive would be putting its neck on the line for a one-in-a-million chance!” 
Canary stared vacantly out at the mountains as her mind flailed around for a plan. 
“Come on, you're in no condition to leave the hive. Just lie down and relax.” 
Her muscles tensed. The distant mountains seemed so cruel—so close to home yet out of reach. Korporis lay beyond, tormenting her friends. Canary spun around and yelled, “How can I relax! My friends are being tortured because of me!” 
“Look up Canary! You're missing the sunrise for the mountains!” 
Canary shifted her gaze rightwards and saw a yellow sun rising in the burnt orange sky. The shadowy mountains were taking on color as their darkness turned to light. 
Her heart skipped a beat—she hadn't seen the sun rise in months. “That is—” Canary choked on her words as her eyes moistened. After a minute of silence, she whispered “Thank you.”  
Echo nodded, enjoying the scene at her side. “NightFlower loved sunrises. Her grandmother Rosemary went blind a few years ago and loved her visits. When Rosemary went blind, she missed watching the sunrise more than anything, so she asked NightFlower to describe them to her. NightFlower loved painting the scenes for her, letting Rosemary see through her eyes. 
“When Rosemary moved on, NightFlower kept watching sunrises—they reminded her that she always could be grateful, at least for her sight.” A sad smile crossed Echo's face. “Even when NightFlower herself was about to die, she still got a little rush of happiness each time she saw the sun.” 
Echo turned to Canary. “Life will keep giving you mountains. You can't choose how they're shaped, but you can choose how you climb them. If you let the mountain block out the sunrise, you'll miss the joy of the climb. Your goal may be the summit, but you don't have to wait until then to be happy.” 
Canary sighed. “So what should I do?” 
“You'll climb the fastest using your wings. Take it easy until then and we'll find another way up the mountain—metaphorically speaking.” 
Echo lay next to Canary in the cave, wishing he had a better answer. A leaf blew by which sparked an idea. “Tell you what. You're so determined to regain your strength—come running with me! If you can keep up, I'll consider going back with you.” 
Canary smiled weakly. “I can live with that.” 


« ~ »


The wind ran through Canary's hair as she breathed hard to keep up pace. Her muscles screamed but she couldn't stop beaming—it must have been over a year since she'd gone running with Aether. Once Aether discovered flight, she barely touched the ground. Canary missed her morning runs: the snapping twigs, the crunching leaves, her pounding heart, her mind bridling her body. 
“Are you okay?” 
Canary looked up at Echo, who still wasn't breaking a sweat. 
“I'm fine—Just need—to keep—going!” 
Echo shook his head. Even though his speed was halved, Canary was wheezing and starting to run off-balance. Echo slowed to a walk and allowed Canary to catch up. She was shaking—her muscles complained at being used so arduously. 
“Ha!” Canary said between breaths. “I—win!” 
Echo smiled. “I'm surprised you can even walk at all after all those months in Korporis.” 
Canary's smile decayed to a grimace as her thoughts returned to that hell. They padded on in silence, allowing a thought to bubble up. 
“Echo? I've been wondering: how did you escape?” 
“Huh, I forgot you didn't know. Escaping wasn't nearly as hard as keeping the bats off your trail.” Echo looked upward in thought. “I suppose I'll begin after our first escape attempt. From the moment you threw that rock, I started working on an escape plan. They had to think they'd trapped me, so I let them put me away. 
“They put me into a small cage, where a mouse could hardly fit between bars.” Echo smirked. “They drastically underestimated my shapeshifting. Though it's easier to change into creatures our own size—” In a series of flashes, Echo changed into a mouse, a bird, a rock, and back into himself. Panting, he continued. “With enough energy, we can turn into anything. Ha! They must have thought I could only turn into other guards.” 
“I wasn't in the cell for long before I felt your jump in emotions and shapeshifted out of there.” 
Canary nodded. “And then you freed me. But why didn't you escape with me? Why wait?”
“I had to keep the guards down in the prison core, so they wouldn't go looking for you.” 
“So you changed into me?” 
Echo nodded happily. “I locked myself up in your cell, so they wouldn't go looking for you. The Cloud stormed in, blades gleaming, expecting dozens of prisoners having escaped. But the prison of course was empty. They searched each of the cells but found no one missing. I threw my voice into the corridor, pointing out that no one had entered besides us guards, and no one had exited. They started getting suspicious—they'd ran in in such fury, they couldn't remember who all went in and began to question each other!” He smiled at the deception. “It was seconds before they were at each others necks.” 
Canary smiled in vengeance. 
“So the vote fell on Iris—she had been the only guard in the prison core when the rest of the guards entered. They were pretty convinced she was the changeling, and had put a pair of hobbles on her legs. It was about then that I felt your surge in happiness which I figured was your escape. I had a narrow time window then, since the guards were on their way back out. I flashed into a bird and zipped out of there as fast as I could. I heard shouting behind me, which must have been them realizing the two of us were gone.
“Once I was out of the caves, I had to find you. I morphed into a wolf and chased after your emotional ping. Your signal was fading, but it was pretty focused. I found you halfway to the hive—you know the rest of the story.” 
“When I found myself hanging upside down in green goo.” 
Echo nodded happily. “To heal you.” 
“Yeah,” Canary said with a hint of distress. “Some forewarning would have been nice.” 
“In comparison to escaping, it really wasn't an important detail.” 
Canary smiled lightly and shook her head. Her gaze wandered over to Echo, who was glistening in the leaf-filtered light. Though she hadn't seen it in him before, the changeling looked strong, even noble in his natural form. Canary sidled up to him, her coat barely brushing against his side. 
“Thank you so much for saving me, Echo.” 
The hive emerged through thinning trees and they slowed to a halt. Its rocky front was so pocketed with caves, Canary couldn't believe it was still standing. She couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but it hummed with a peculiar energy—it made her feel so… happy. 
Echo looked at Canary with his deep emerald eyes. “Life has no purpose without love.” 
Canary wanted to live. Leaning in, their lips met, sending a tremor of energy through her body. She felt like a wave hitting the shore, bursting into a shower of joy. 
Aether, I've finally found my drive.