Swift Wing casually dipped his sponge into the bucket of cleaning solution, before bringing it back to the window and scrubbing again. He smiled proudly as he noticed the visible improvement in his dexterity. He was now capable of standing on his hind legs and manipulating his front legs like arms, making washing the window a breeze. It had taken him a while to get the sponge strap onto his hoof, but he'd managed to do it. He felt happy with his progress, even if he wasn't fully passing for a normal pony yet. That would come in time.
His joyful mood faded as he recalled his time with Rarity and Fluttershy earlier today. He prayed he hadn't aroused their suspicions with his actions. They might run to Twilight, or worse...actually, scratch that. He couldn't think of anything worse than Twilight figuring out his true nature. Because she'd immediately write to Celestia about it. The very thought of it threatened to overwhelm his mind and leave him a crumbling mess. Swift, with a great deal of effort, forced the idea to the back of his mind. He had to focus on his work right now.
As he continued scrubbing the window, removing the blemishes he'd accidentally pressed into the glass, Swift found himself grateful that the Ponyville bank didn't have any windows above ground level. He'd dreaded telling his new employers that he couldn't fly, as that would only spark questions he wasn't capable of answering. Finishing off the window, Swift thought about potential solutions to that particular problem. There was one he could think of, but it was risky, and could come back to bite him. Not to mention, there was always the chance she couldn't (or wouldn't, it wasn't like she owed him anything) do it. At least it was summer vacation, so there was no chance her work at the School of Friendship would interfere with it.
Placing the sponge in the bucket and picking it up by placing the handle in his mouth, he carried it away from the bank, back to the storage shed he'd been given for his work. Once there, he emptied the bucket into the grass, before replacing it and the sponge in the shed. Then he closed and locked it. Turning around, he trotted back to the city council building, where his supervisor, Hard Hoof, waited for him.
"Good job today, kid," said the larger earth pony, passing over a pile of bits. Swift took the bits, placing them into his saddlebags. "I'll see you here at nine, tomorrow. I'll see what I can do about getting you a bit of a raise."
"Thanks, sir," replied Swift, genuinely happy.
"No problem," said Hard, "you seem like a good pony. You work hard. Anything I can do to help you get on your hooves in this town, I'm willing to do."
Swift blinked in surprise. "Uh, wow," he muttered. "That's...actually really nice of you. Are you sure you can do that? I mean, it's not like you have any obligations towards me or—"
Hard waved it off with his hoof. "Don't worry about that, kid. Here in Ponyville, we try to help everypony we come across. When everypony's happy and has it together, the community's stronger. That's just how it is."
Swift felt as though a large weight had been lifted off his back. He hadn't been sure that Equestria would be as friendly as it was portrayed in the show, but so far, that seemed to be the case. Ponies here genuinely cared about each other, and they were perfectly willing to do what they could for a simple stranger who'd wandered into town looking for a place to stay. He felt relieved enough to sing, if he weren't completely tone-deaf.
"Thank you, sir," he replied, simply. "I guess I'll see you in the morning."
Hard nodded to him, and the two ponies went their separate ways. Swift took a moment to count his bits again, before he looked at the nearby cafe. A quick look at the menu informed him that he had just enough bits for a daisy sandwich, which he supposed would serve as a good enough dinner. In addition, he was curious to see what flowers actually tasted like, now that he had a digestive system that could actually process them. Stepping inside, he placed his order and sat down at a table.
Soon enough, the sandwich arrived, along with a glass of water, and Swift found himself faced with another dexterity issue: he wasn't sure how to pick it up. He mentally kicked himself for not paying enough attention to how ponies held things in the show. Deciding to take a small gamble, he glanced around at the other ponies in the cafe, paying close attention to how they were eating. The unicorns, of course, just levitated everything, which was obviously out. Pegasi and earth ponies sort of clamped objects between their front hooves, almost the same way humans used their hands, before lifting it towards their mouths. Sometimes, they simply left the items laying on the plate, and bent down to take bites out, but that wasn't really the way to eat a sandwich. The pegasi also wrapped the tips of their wings around their glasses so they could drink, something Swift definitely wasn't ready for. He quietly groaned to himself, wishing he could ask somepony how to do to this without looking out of place.
Resigning himself to a pretty steep learning curve, Swift reached for the sandwich, placing his hooves flat against both sides. He pushed inwards, trying to get a sort of vice grip on the sandwich, before he carefully lifted it off the plate. The bread crumbled a tiny bit, and a few flowers fell out from between the slices, but by and large, the sandwich held. Swift then carefully pulled it towards his muzzle and bit into it, chewing and swallowing like normal.
As he felt the flowers touch his tongue, Swift was surprised by how sweet they tasted. It was almost like sugar, except this somehow felt more natural. He wondered briefly if horses on Earth tasted flowers like this as well. Satisfied with his choice in meal, he chewed through the rest of the sandwich in record time.
The glass of water proved to be a much larger pain in the rear, as Swift also had to balance it between his two front hooves so that the liquid didn't spill everywhere. He eventually did manage to get the water into his mouth, though it required a great deal of leaning backwards and tilting his muzzle upwards. Nopony bothered to look towards his table, thankfully.
Satisfied, Swift left a small tip for his waiter, and went back to the Humble Hoof Inn, going straight to bed.
Swift woke up much earlier the next morning, long before his shift was scheduled to start, because there was something he needed to do. His control over his wings was improving, but he knew it was only a matter of time before his employers started asking him to do pegasus things. Thus, he needed to figure out whether or not he could teach himself enough to get off the ground.
He made his way to an empty field on the outskirts of Ponyville, with a few mountains off in the distance, and Celestia's sun starting to creep over the horizon. Swift's mind briefly wandered to the fact that the celestial bodies were moved by magical ponies in this world. He was no scientist, but the idea was still ridiculous.
Moving back to his objective, Swift planted all four hooves firmly on the ground and spread his wings. Making sure there were no obstructions in his path, he tensed up, then charged forward, his legs properly galloping this time. He made sure to keep his tail raised, just to be certain it didn't trip him. He raised his wings upwards, and with one heavy flap, he managed to take off, his hooves leaving the ground completely.
This was a new experience for him. Ever since becoming a pegasus, the air around him had felt...different, for lack of a better word. Currents of wind seemed much more prominent, and it was like he could determine the speed and direction before the wind fully formed. It probably had something to do with the pegasus ability to control the weather. Now that he was in the air, those feelings intensified, and his senses took in all the movement of the air around him. He flapped his wings as a feeling of euphoria washed over him. Flying was truly an amazing feeling, one of freedom, one that made him feel alive.
It was a feeling that came to an end as he plummeted like a rock, slamming chest-first into the earth, knocking the wind out of him. Swift grunted as he climbed back to his hooves. "Painful, but not unexpected," he said to himself, shaking the dirt off his body. "I never thought I'd be able to get it down in one try, anyway."
Taking note, he made a second attempt, this time flapping his wings harder to stay airborne. He did manage to hang in there for a couple of seconds, but wasn't able to get himself to rise any higher. More attempts yielded similar results.
Swift sighed after he got back on his hooves, looking down at his wings. "I guess that's it, then," he muttered. "No other choice but to bite the bullet."
He headed off to work, filled with fear over his plan.
Immediately upon the beginning of his break, Swift headed straight across Ponyville, stopping only to grab another apple fritter from Applejack. He messily devoured it on the way, having no time to stop and savor it.
Soon enough, he'd reached the edge of Fluttershy's animal sanctuary, where the yellow pegasus was preparing to depart, Angel in tow.
"Fluttershy! Hey, Fluttershy!" yelled Swift, waving his front hooves. The mare jumped, startled at the noise, but calmed down upon seeing who spoke to her. Angel briefly glared at him, but the stallion ignored the rabbit.
"Oh, hello, Swift," she replied. "I was just getting ready to—"
"Listen, can I ask if you know where Rainbow Dash is?" Swift Wing cut her off. "There's something really important I need to ask her. I'm really hoping she's in Ponyville today, and not off on Wonderbolt business, but I figured you might know."
Fluttershy blinked, apparently surprised, but she answered anyway. "Well, I know she didn't have anything to do today. If she's not napping on a cloud, she's usually hanging around the pond." Then, realization crossed her face, and Swift swallowed, guessing what had caused it. "Hey, Swift? There was something I wanted to ask you about yesterday—"
"Sorry, but I've gotta run! Break isn't too long, you know?" Swift interrupted again. "We'll talk some other time!" With that, he turned on one hoof, rushing off and leaving Fluttershy in the dust.
As he galloped towards the pond, Swift silently cursed himself for doing something else that would only raise Fluttershy's suspicions. Then again, perhaps she'd only think he had some sort of hard life before he came to Ponyville. Maybe that would be okay. Of course, he'd have to come up with a convincing story to keep her from digging too deep. He made a mental note to get started on that at the end of the day.
Once he'd finally reached the pond, Swift noticed, to his delight, that Rainbow Dash was indeed there, catching some rays. The pegasus had a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes, and her forehooves crossed behind her head. Swift, aware that his next action could potentially put him at risk, approached her.
"H-hey, Rainbow?" he ventured, his voice wavering and nervous.
Rainbow Dash raised her glasses, looking over and noticing the stallion. "Oh hey...what was your name...Swift Wing, right! I remember you."
Swift gave her a skeptical look, which caused Rainbow to burst out laughing. After a while, Swift couldn't help but join in, and the two ponies chuckled for a while.
"Anyway," Rainbow managed to gasp out, after reaching the end of her laugh track, "did you need something?"
Swift froze where he stood, awkwardly biting his tongue. This was a plunge he was terrified to take, and for good reason. He was pretty sure he could come up with a reasonable story for his problem, but if Rainbow told anypony else...
He shut that thought down. It wasn't like he had a variety of other options to chose from. He didn't know other pegasi in town well enough to consider taking this risk with them. Besides, Rainbow Dash wasn't a huge gossip like Rarity. He could probably trust her to keep a secret. Element of Loyalty, and all that.
"Listen, Rainbow," he started, "this is really private, so I need you to promise you won't repeat it to anypony."
Rainbow looked a little perplexed, probably due to the fact that he was asking a pony he didn't know that well, but she eventually nodded in response.
"See, I can't...fly," continued Swift, spreading his wings as if to demonstrate. "I was hoping you could teach me? Please?"