"Ok, because your wings are on the big size, you would need twice the force to move them up in the air, so you want to conserve your energy. Don't waste your time with fast and repeated movements. Use your own momentum to your advantage. You want long and slow flaps." Soarin explained to the moms and kids as he demonstrated moving his wings as he instructed a couple of times. Meanwhile, after offering to bring some refreshments, Spitfire, her mom, and Rainbow Dash went to a nearby cafe across from the park they were at at the moment, no doubt in an attempt to continue dodging the looming confrontation.
Said plaza wasn't as vast or imposing as cumulus park but still rather large, with a pretty and well-kept playground for kids to use. One big tree stood tall in its center, and there, the prince was impressed by what he could only describe as a greek treehouse, and instead of being made of wood or built in a humble, straightforward design, this one had Greecian pillars covered by vines arranged so the kids could swing on them. A larger house structure rested on top, making it look more like a temple as kids flew about and played around it. At first, he was confused by the lack of stairs, but then he remembered that everyone has wings, so adding them seemed pointless.
"As for you, Scoots, don't worry. I know how you have been having problems staying in the air before, and I have the perfect solution for your situation."
"You do?" Scootaloo asked, equal parts surprised and hopeful at Soarin's word, as he smiles and nodded. "Rainbow has told us about how good you are with your scooter and a ramp. You can execute one of the sickest of tricks, is that right?"
"Oh yeah, give a scooter, and I can show you how to shred." She exclaimed in pride. "I might not be good at flight, but my wings help me gain a lot of speed."
"That's great! Because that is exactly what you can use to reach the skies properly." Soarin mentioned earning her complete attention. "The key factor to achieving flight is for you to be comfortable while doing so, in order to fly, we are going to put you on familiar ground. This is what I want you to do, close your eyes and visualize yourself on a ramp with your scoot..." As the wonder bolt kept giving her some pointers on how to fly, Blue Yonder didn't pay too much attention as his focus wandered back at the cafe with some concern until another nudge from his mother and a shake of her head caught his attention.
"It's not our place to interfere," She whispered before directing his attention to Soarin once again, who was helping Scootaloo and her mom maintain balance as she kept hovering in the air for a couple of seconds before having to stop and fall, only to be caught by her mom, both looked particularly happy with the progress that was made in the lesson.
With a sigh, Yonder nodded, and they both went towards Soarin and waited for him to finish his improvised lesson with Scootaloo. "That is it! Keep it up, remember that sensation and picture yourself about to reach the edge of the ramp and push forward. Let your wings guide you." He kept encouraging her. The jumps Scootaloo made were getting higher and higher to her credit, and she seems to be gaining more momentum in the air before coming back down.
Yeah…yeah! she's right! I'm not here to fix other's problems. This is supposed to be our day off. Those two are grown up mares. What right do I have to be messing with them? I need to focus on why I came here, which is learning to fly!… Then I'll see if I can help them out! Yonder nod to himself as he look with determination at the Wonderbolt
"Now for you, how is your wing holding up Yonder? Still sore?" Soarin asked in concern, "We can start with just slow flaps if you want."
"No, it's ok, really! My wing doesn't even hurt anymore. I think I'm ready to try."
"Great! In that case, follow my lead and remember slow flaps. I want you to lean down and start by making some practice wing flaps, get familiar with the motion, and don't worry about lifting off. We will cover that later. For now, just repeat my motions." He instructed before demonstrating by making the motion for Yonder to copy.
Following his example, Blue Yonder placed his barrel to the cloud ground and, after closing his eyes, focused on the motion of his extremities. Listening to Soarin's attentive guidance, he could feel strong wind starting to rush away by his sides. The experience was oddly calming, as the sensation on his wings were beginning to give him an odd phantom feeling of having arms again. Though now they were covered in a comfortable blanket. "That is it! Keep it up, get familiar with your senses, and don't forget to open your eyes." Soarin kept teaching, occasionally counting to help him time his movements. Blue Yonder felt how the Wonderbolt helped him put his goggles back on, making him open his eyes again as he continued, focusing on the instruction.
On occasion, he would start to feel the middle of his back beginning to rise involuntarily as he unconsciously started to flap harder, as his body began to act on pure instinct.
"Nice! It seems like we are ready for the fun part!" Soarin exclaimed before turning to look at Sunshine, catching her by surprise. "Hooves in the air, miss Sunshine, trust me, you want to be there for what will happen next." He enthusiastically stated before going back to Blue Yonder. "Ok, kid, at the count of three, I want you to give me one strong flap and a jump at the same time. Think you can do that?"
Yonder was so focused that rather than answer, he simply nodded and watched as Soarin took to the air with his mother. "Ok then, in that case. On my mark, one…" All the muscles in Blue Yonder's body tensed in anticipation "…two" he planted his hooves on the cloud as hard he could. He leaned back, closing his eyes once more "…three!"
In that second, the colt leapt off the ground and became weightless, the air between his wings was tenderly stroking each feather-like smooth velvet, and he felt in complete control. Opening his eyes, he once again, could see the full splendor of Clouddale in the distance with the clouds and the multicolored ponies flying to and fro, and in the middle of it all was none other than his aunt with her hoof extended as he approached. Getting closer, he could even see past her disguise and see the princess still looking at him with the proudest smile he has ever seen. He could have sworn that tears were forming in the corners of her eyes before being embraced in her hug as the two spun in the middle of the sky.
"I did it. I flew. I'm flying on my own!" Blue Yonder shouted at the top of his lungs, still recovering from what he achieved, with a grin from ear to ear.
"You were great, sweetie! I'm so proud of you, my little knight, you!" She exclaimed, barely containing her own excitement, while Blue was practically shaking, not out of fear but instead still absorbing all the sensations and emotions that were passing through his mind at that moment, joy, exhilaration, adrenaline, peace, anxiety, want. All of them swirling around at the same time and making his brain work overtime. He didn't fully comprehend it now, but there was something that he was sure of. He just got a taste of how it felt to fly…and he wanted to do it again as soon as possible.
Is this what skydivers feel? No, what pilots think? Maybe a fusion of the two? Whatever the case, now I understand why they love it so much...and I want more!
"The first time is always magical, isn't it?" Soarin chuckled as he approached the pair once they were done spinning. By then, Blue Yonder had calmed down enough to stop shaking and looked at him, although he was still speechless from the adrenaline rush. "You're a natural kid. That was an incredible first try. Usually, it takes three to five tries before kids your age manage to get the hang of lift-off, but you handled yourself quite well back there."
"Careful Soarin" The voice of Spitfire caught everyone's attention as she and the rest came back with the drinks. "When it comes to kids, the last thing you want to do is to let their ego go to their heads, well kids and Rainbow Dash."
"Hey!" Rainbow looked at her offended, Spits only chuckled and gave her a light shove. "Relax, I'm just joking."
"Rainbow, look!" Scootaloo didn't waste any time and rushed to her side before jumping and hovering in mid-air. "I'm flying! Soarin's advice helped! Now I know how I can fly!" She babbled in excitement before descending into the ground, visibly shaking from the excitement.
"Woah there, I wouldn't go that far yet." The Wonderbolt voiced his concern as he and the rest of the group took up their drinks. "I'm only saying that you two are making headway with the lesson. You both are quick learners, mastering lift off, but flying for real? There are still pointers that you two need."
The kids looked down in disappointment until Spitfire spoke up.
"But you are almost there, and from what I see, you are ready for your first Wonderbolt trick lesson!" That did the trick as they perked up again.
"Who wants to learn how to do a mid-air backflip?"
The question made both moms do a double-take and almost spat their coffees as they look at the captain in surprise and with just a hint of fear.
"I do!"
"I do!" They responded at the same time.
"Awesome, then let's warm-up first, do a couple of lift-offs, and I will be with you in a moment. Let's see what you got."
They both nod and ran towards the center of the park with their worried parents not too far behind as they start to bounce around once again. Yonder even noticed what Scoots meant by flying. Unlike him, who merely needed to flap his wings once. Scoot's movements were far too rapid for him to see them clearly. Managing not only to lift off but also move sideways and up and down, resembling a hummingbird. More than rising in the sky, Scoots seemed to be jumping on the atmosphere.
Ah, I get it now. She was exploiting the momentum of her jumps. Instead of exerting herself keeping her wings moving, she uses them as power boosts while positioning her body in the direction she wants to go, reorienting herself in the direction she wants to go. She found the rhythm for her wings that saves energy while keeping her in the air. It is similar to the principle of a rocket.
"Tree branch" Vision out of nowhere appeared in front of the colt, startling him and making him back away and lose control until he found himself tangled inside a tree for not paying attention.
"Yonder!" Sunshine went to help him up and started to push away. "Are you ok? Nothing broke?"
"Everything's cool, mom. Nothing happened, just got distracted, that all."
"Oh, Blue, you need to pay more attention to where you are going, especially when flying." She gently reprimanded him in between bites as she removed the vines.
"Sorry, I will try to keep it in mind," He chuckled, trying to help until they hear the Wonderbolt captain talking, unaware of their presence.
"I hope you know what you are doing, Spitfire," Her mom voiced her concern looking at her daughter with a neutral expression. "You are going so far just to avoid the subject at hoof."
"I don't know what you mean, mom," The captain replied sheepishly.
"Spits, come on! As Soarin said, we only want to help you. So please stop with the distractions and tell us what is on your mind already." Dash pleaded with her captain.
"How many times do I have to keep telling you? I'm fine." Spitfire quickly replied defensively. "Why don't you believe me?"
"Because since the lockdown was lifted, you have been acting strange, Spit!" Rainbow confronted her, getting angrier. "Before all that mess, you were so outgoing and energetic. You were the team's soul and always knew what to say or how to lift our spirits. But now it's like you've been on autopilot with your team and keep trying to distract yourself with more work. For Celestia sake, you have practically move into your office?! I'm starting to fear you barely have slept as well! It always work and dismissing concern with you! Spitfire, please, I beg of you, what happened at that party? What made you become this obsess with work yourself to the bone?"
For her part, Spitfire remained silent before looking down. "I let two idiots beat up the prince." She finally confessed, holding back tears and her voice full of guilt, catching everyone listening off guard.
"Spits" Soaring tried to approach her, but she swiped his hoof away. "Don't! Don't you dare say I didn't do anything because that is exactly what led to that mess, nothing! I was in way over my head and left my guard down. No, I did worse, as the freaking prince was being cut, beaten, and humiliated in front of all of Equestria. Where was I? Passed out like a fan mare, I didn't even know what was happening until hours later! Hours, Dash! Me! The captain of the Wonderbolts, the fastest team ever, arrived late! Do you have any idea how much that stings?! To know that if only you had taken your job a little more seriously, none of that would have happened? That night, I failed as a Wonderbolt, a servant to the crown, and as a friend. That is a mistake I will not repeat. Do you hear me? Never again!"
After her outburst, she turned around and marched away from the group after taking a deep breath.
"Now, let go. Before the kids get impatient, we have a job to finish." The captain said, forcing a smile on as she flew toward Scoots and Allman.
"Spits, wait up!" Soarin called for her, and soon the rest gave chase after her. Once free, both Sunshine and Yonder glided down to the base of the tree, watching her go with concern before turning to his mom.
"Mom, I know what you are gonna say, but that duel, I was the one that…"
"Blue," Sunshine interrupted him before he could continue and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "I stand by what I said earlier. All of our subjects deserve their right to privacy, and we can't just fix every single one of their problems when they present themselves. They need to learn their lessons on their own. Otherwise, they will just become dependent and incapable of fending for themselves." She professed neutrally, dampening the mood as he looked down in sadness.
"…that being said, there's no harm in giving a small nudge in the right direction." His ears perked up the moment he heard that, and he looked up in shock. He saw her smiling kindly at him.
"So that means…?" He ask hopefully as his smile was slowly returning
Before finishing, she nodded slowly before getting closer. "But only if you do as I say, understood? This is their personal lives we are talking about, so we will only help them put things into perspective. That is all, are we clear?"
He nodded eagerly. "Thank you, auntie. I promise I will listen to all of your instructions. Oh, this is great. I will finally be able to put all of aunt Luna's lessons into practice."
"Ahem," Celestia cleared her throat and regarded him with a rising eyebrow. "While following your example, and without getting too involved in the process, of course," He continued with a sheepish smile.
"That is better, and you better pay attention, dear. Because I am going to teach you how to approach these situations the right way, with the delicacy they require, so just for now, follow my lead, observe and most importantly of all, gather as many clues and pieces of information as possible." She instructed before they joined the rest of the group.
"You got it, auntie" He nodded in determination as he focused on Spitfire while Sunshine internally ruminated on what could have happened.
I might not know the captain personally, but Rainbow Dash is right. Of all the times we have seen each other, there have only been a hoofful of ponies that have been more outgoing and carefree than Spitfire has been. There is no way that a single mistake would bring her spirits this low. Something else happened during that time. What are you not telling us, Spitfire? What's made you feel such guilt and self-loathing?
She kept pondering as they marched and steeled herself, determined to find what caused the Wonderbolt captain to think so little of herself.