//------------------------------// // Wings // Story: Zinnias // by Serinity Southerland //------------------------------// “Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen…”  “Four… Five… Six…” “Twenty two, twenty three, twenty four…” “Seven…”  “Thirty! How many you got left in the set, Z?” Rainbow asked excitedly as she stood up to face me. “Ergh… Eight!” I panted, struggling to complete the exercise. Push ups were one thing, but wing push ups? I could feel my face burning with exertion and my wings and withers ached as I struggled. “Seriously? Only eight left? Yesterday you could only do nine!”  “N-nine! Oof…” My wings shuddered and wobbled as I poured the last of my strength into pushing myself off the ground, just barely able to finish the push up before I collapsed into a pile in the dirt. “Looks like… Nine is… All I have…” “Oh. I guess maybe bumping you up to thirty was a little too much too soon, huh?” Rainbow said with a sigh. She held out a hoof to help me up, though I hesitated for a moment before taking it. The dirt felt cool and refreshing against my belly, and I was loath to remove myself from it.  “Ya think?” I gasped as I caught my breath. I could feel sweat beginning to drip down my brow as I reached for her hoof. “How are you not even winded? You just did thirty like it was nothing!”  “Psht, because I normally warm up with at least fifty.”  “FIFTY?!” I shouted, causing some of the other ponies in the park to look our way. “That’s so many!” “Nah, it’s just the first set. I try to do at least four sets a day.” She said as though it was something every pegasus did before breakfast. I stared at her, my jaw dropped in disbelief as I stood shakily on my hooves. She tilted her head a little in response, “What?” “There’s no way that’s right! That’s two hundred wing ups! I can only do nine! I mean, I only started flying last week, but still, that’s insane!” I thought to myself, still staring at the rainbow maned athlete in front of me. “What?” She asked again, looking a little more worried. We stared at each other for a few moments before a third party broke the silence.  “Hiya, Dashie! Hiya, Zinni! What are you two up to? OH! A staring contest! I love staring contests! Who’s winning? I bet it’s Zinnia, because she’s had a lot of practice with all the staring off into space she does when she thinks nopony is watching! She’s like, a stare master or something!” Pinkie rattled off as she bounced her way towards us. “Wait, what? What do you mean, ‘when she thinks nopony is watching?’” I asked, finally broken out of my astonished stupor by Pinkie and her comment.  “Oh! You blinked! Rainbow wins! Me next, me next!” She blinked rapidly a few times before fixing her blue eyes on me and stared me down with the intensity of a cat staring at a laser pointer.  “Uhh…” I wasn’t sure what to do at this point. Thoroughly confused, I turned to Rainbow Dash, who just shrugged.  Pinkie groaned from behind me as I turned back to see her looking a little deflated. “Aww! That’s no fun! You didn’t even try that time! That’s ok though, we can have a rematch later since you and Rainbow are supposed to be training right now and staring at other ponies isn’t going to get those wings a’ flappin’!”  “It’s ok, Pinkie. Zinnia and I just finished our warm ups, so we can take a quick break before we start with today’s training.” Rainbow said as she did a quick stretch. “You call running twenty laps around the park and doing all those wing ups a ‘warm up?’” I asked. I definitely wasn’t out of shape, in fact I was probably in the best condition of my life since I started working at Sweet Apple Acres and training with Dash. But an athlete I was not, and trying to keep up with one was taking its toll on me.  “Duh! What else would it be, Silly?” Pinkie Pie pitched in, much to my dismay.  “Ok… Either I am actually out of shape for a pony, somehow, or she’s poking fun at me. Either way I feel like I’m being attacked.” “So, Pinkie, why’d you decide to come see us out here?” Rainbow asked. “Oh, right! I came to ask you two if you could help me put up a banner near the town hall.” Pinkie replied cheerfully. “A banner? Is there some kind of holiday coming up?” I asked, now curious about what Pinkie was planning.  “Nope! No Holidays yet! It’s just a little something I wanted to throw together for later.” “Is it another party?” Rainbow asked, just as confused as I was. “Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe! It’s a surprise!”  “How do you not know what it’s going to be if you’re the one setting it up?” I asked.  Pinkie just shrugged and returned her trademark smile, waiting for us to consider her request.  Rainbow and I traded a bewildered glance. Pinkie would forever be a mystery to me, and I was glad to see that even her closest friends were just as lost as I was with her. “Sure, Pinkie. We can help you out. We’ll just make it a part of today’s exercise since Zinnia needs to practice her control with low speeds and hovering anyway.” Rainbow said, accepting her friend’s request.  “Great! I already have everything over at the town hall! I’ll meet you over there as soon as I find my accordion, streamers, and that extra large, super soft pillow I left at Rarity’s boutique! Bye!” In a flash, Pinkie was bouncing back into town headed towards Sugarcube Corner.  “Let me guess, it’s just Pinkie being Pinkie?” I deadpanned to Rainbow as we watched her quickly disappear into town.  “Uh huh. See, told ya you were a fast learner.” She snickered. “C’mon, let’s finish this up before we head to the flight camp.”  “Ok. Are you sure I can handle the obstacle course already though? That tornado looked pretty difficult.” I asked as I flared my wings.  “Totally!” She said as she took to the sky with a single flap of her wings. “I bet by the end of the day you’ll be able to fly the course blindfolded!”  It was hard not to smile at her confidence. Her boundless enthusiasm and endless encouragement was contagious, and I couldn’t help but feel my anxiety being brushed away whenever she was nearby cheering me on. Not only was I lucky to have her as a coach, but she was irreplaceable as a friend.  I took a deep breath and gave my wings a quick test to make sure they were still working properly, feeling the feathers settling into place and the sun warming them. Satisfied with their condition, I bent my knees and flapped my wings a few times, gathering the wind beneath me and lifting into the air. Rainbow beamed at me while I approached her, positively dripping with pride.  I was still a bit awkward as I flew. I was slow, my turns weren’t very sharp yet, I had a hard time slowing down or speeding up quickly, and my landings were…less than stellar, but I was still amazed that in one week I had gone from gliding to being able to take off under my own power. It was a freeing feeling, and one that I’d come to love. It wasn’t long before Rainbow and I glided down to town hall, where Pinkie was already waiting for us to arrive. She waved to us as we flew down and pointed us to the banner she needed to set up. It was a large white fabric banner with the words “Welcome Home” written in large colorful letters and a wooden pole tied to each end. I wasn’t sure who she was welcoming back to town, but I figured we’d figure that out soon enough as Pinkie’s parties were open to the public and everypony was welcome.  Rainbow and I went about setting up the banner, whilst Pinkie directed us in between putting together several tables around the immediate area. Each table had balloons and streamers that were dark yellow and blue, and had plates and cutlery set out for some sort of meal. Whoever she was throwing this party for was sure to have a good time. “Come to think of it, wasn’t she supposed to throw me a party a while ago? Whatever happened to that?” I pushed that thought from my mind as Rainbow and I held the banner in place while Pinkie set the poles in the ground. I noticed that while we were working that some of the locals had started running around. At first I thought they were just excited, or busy with some other preparations that Pinkie had requested of them. But after the banner was set and I had a chance to look more closely, I realized that the citizens weren’t excited, but rather panicked.  “Uhh, Rainbow? I think something’s wrong.” I said, pointing to a group of three mares who all had flower related cutie marks and were running around and shouting dramatically. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie stopped what they were doing to look as well, a look of worry slowly growing across their faces.  “Hold up, girls. I’d better go find Twilight.” Rainbow said before she quickly became a prismatic blur, darting in between buildings and headed towards the large tree shaped building I’d seen Twilight leaving once or twice before. In less than a minute, both Twilight and Rainbow Dash had returned.  “What’s going on?” Twilight asked as she ran up to Pinkie and me with Rainbow close behind her.  “I-I don’t know! Dash, Zinnia, and I were setting up a surprise party for a surprise pony when all of a sudden everypony started running around like there was a fire!” Pinkie explained, as an older mare with a gray mane came running up to us looking very worried.  “Mayor Mare!” Twilight called out as the mare stopped in front of us. “Oh, thank Celestia you’re here! We have a problem!” She said in a panic. Her mane and tail were out of place from having been running around and she panted slightly as she looked to Twilight for help.  “What happened? Why’s everypony freaking out?” Rainbow asked as another group of ponies, galloped by shouting something.  “Aquamarine told Cheerilee that one of the colts in her class went into the Everfree Forest!” Mayor Mare exclaimed between winded breaths. “What!? Why would a foal willingly go there by themselves? Doesn’t he know how dangerous it is there?” I asked. “I’m not sure, but apparently he’s been in there since early this morning and nopony’s seen or heard from him since!” Mayor Mare explained, causing Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow to gasp in horror.  “We need to gather a search party and find him before he gets hurt! Rainbow Dash, I need you to get Applejack and Fluttershy. Pinkie, go get Rarity. Have everypony meet me back here as quickly as you can. Mayor Mare, gather anypony willing to join the search and have them meet us near Fluttershy’s cottage in ten minutes.” Twilight ordered, to which everypony obeyed. “Zinnia, I’m sorry, but if you could stay here with May-” Twilight paused, looking around for me, but I was nowhere to be seen. “Zinnia!?” I had already left and was nearly out of earshot of Twilight as she called after me. Whatever Twilight wanted to say to me wasn’t as important as the foal who’s life could have been in danger that very moment. I forced my wings to fly as fast as they could as I raced towards the edge of the woods in hopes of finding the lost colt loitering around the edge.  As I neared the Everfree Forest’s entrance near Fluttershy’s cottage, I could see Dash dragging her out of her home by a hoof and tearing across the sky back towards town. I cursed myself, wishing I were fast like Dash. I knew first hand how dangerous it was out there, and all I could think about was finding that colt before those timberwolves did.  But as I circled the woods my confidence waned. There were no colts in sight on the outskirts of the forest, which only meant one thing. “Ok. Ok, calm down. Focus, Zinnia. Panicking leads to bad decision making, remember how you ended up here in the first place? There’s a foal out there who needs you. Now think, how am I going to track him down…” I said to myself as I paced back and forth in midair, still scanning the edge of the woods. My eyes traced the tree line to the entrance where a path exited the forest and led into town when a thought hit me.  “Track him down. He went in early this morning, meaning his trail will still be fresh. All I need to do is remember my survival training! Everything leaves a trail, no matter how small. I just have to find it!” I exclaimed, heading into a dive towards the entrance of the woods and forgetting I didn’t know how to stop. The ground was quick to remind me that I lacked that skill as I hit the dirt a lot harder than I had intended. I groaned as I laid there in the dirt trying to regain the breath I had knocked out of myself. “Ugh, pony feathers! I’m still barely able to fly. How am I supposed to help when I can barely help myself?” I pounded the dirt with a hoof, feeling frustrated, when something caught my eye. A tuft of blue hair hung from a bush just inside the entrance to the forest. I struggled to my hooves and shakily made my way towards the clue when I heard shouting from behind me. “Zinnia! Please, wait!” Twilight shouted in the distance as she and the rest of her friends came racing towards me.  Rainbow was the first to reach me, which unfortunately for me meant receiving a swift kick to the rear. “What the hay were you thinking, running off all by yourself like that?” “Ow! Buck, that hurts!”  “Yeah? You know what hurts more? Getting torn apart by an angry timberwolf! Or losing one of your friends before you even get a chance to get to know her!” Rainbow retorted angrily as she glared at me.  “Rainbow! Now ain’t the time!” Applejack shouted at Rainbow as she approached, “Zinnia, I know you’re just as worried about First Base as the rest of us, but you don’t even know what he looks like, do you?”  “Honestly, I didn’t even know his name was First Base, but I bet he has blue hair.” I said, pointing at the piece of mane hanging from the nearby bush. “That’s definitely the same color.” Rarity pointed out, “though I’m surprised you found his trail so quickly.” “It’s part of my special talent, or whatever. But that’s not important. We need to find First Base before the timberwolves do.” I pressed, “Every moment we spend standing here talking is decreasing our chances of finding him.” “She’s right, girls.” Fluttershy said as she put on a brave face.  “Twilight, don’t you know a tracking spell?” Rarity asked, but Twilight shook her head in response. “I do, but it could take some time to cast since I’d only have a little piece of him to use as an anchor for the spell. We might not have that kind of time.” She explained as she levitated the tuft of mane over for her to examine, “I can try, but we need to get inside and search for him in case the spell fails.” “Leave that to me,” I said, turning towards the forest entrance.  Twilight and her friends looked at each other, unsure if it was the right decision. I wasn’t about to let them tell me ‘no’ though, and I was through with wasting time. I galloped into the dark woods, delving back into the place that once almost killed me.  “Zinnia!” Pinkie Pie shouted out above the others, but I didn’t turn around. Instead, I focused my attention on the task at hand. I followed the trail into the woods as far as it led. The path wound around trees and rocks and across the stream where I could make out small hoofprints in the soft mud near the edges of the water. I didn’t need to look very hard to tell they were made recently, as the outer edges of the waterlogged soil rose up cleanly around the print, indicating very little weathering had taken place since they were made. The prints themselves traveled along at a walking pace as well; First Base didn’t seem to be in any hurry as he made his way along the path. The trail continued on for a little while before I could make out a familiar clearing in the distance. The sound of rushing water greeted my ears as I left the forest’s edge to be greeted by the ravine I had nearly leapt into just over a month ago. My mind raced back to that moment in time, and I could almost feel my leg beginning to throb again as I replayed the chase. I remembered how terrifying it was, to be the prey, and how that poor colt must feel being out here alone and in danger of the same thing. “I have to find him.” It was much harder to pick up his tracks in the clearing. There weren’t any muddy patches or branches that could have been snapped to tip me off to which way he went, but there was grass. Tall grasses will be trampled down by passersby, which can be just as obvious as leaving behind a painted line on a sidewalk if one knows what to look for. I took to the skies again, sure enough finding a line of grass that had been trampled, heading further up the ravine. It was almost as if he were following the path I had taken in reverse. Right towards the wolves territory.  The trail meandered about in the clearing for a while. It seemed like he could have been looking for something in the grass for a while, but from my position in the sky I could see where a second trail of trampled grass exited the woods. That trail moved straight to where the first had stood before converging with it and heading off into the woods to the left. Whatever had left the second path of trampled grass was much larger than a pony, as it swallowed the smaller trail and widened it by nearly triple its original size. Something big had found him, and was following him. I was running out of time.  “No no no…” I chanted as I flew closer to the ground, following the trail into the woods. I barely registered the sticks and twigs that grasped at my mane and tail and I flew through the dense trees and growing gloom. In the sparse rays of light that beamed through the heavy canopy I could make out a set of small hoof prints that appeared to have picked up their pace from a walk to a run, as well as a second set of prints that threatened to hide them as their owner plodded behind. These weren’t timberwolf prints though, as they weren't even remotely canine in appearance. They looked closer to that of a big cat. All I could do was follow the trail and hope beyond hope that I wasn’t too late, though the prospect of finding First Base alive was looking worse by the minute. The area I flew through was painfully familiar now. I’d been here before, the same path that I had taken to escape the wolves. That means that just ahead was… I burst through into a smaller clearing right next to the stream. The water burbled happily, almost as though it were welcoming me back to my very first “home” in Equestria. The ring of stones I had made to house my campfire still lay undisturbed, save for a large and very well weathered paw print in the middle of it. A testament to my past. I shuddered as I remembered that night, that dream, and that following morning.  “Focus, Z! Now’s not the time! Where’s the trail lead from here…” I asked myself, trying to redouble my efforts, but the trail had run cold. I could see where the large feline prints milled around the site for a bit before moving on deeper into the woods, but there didn’t appear to be any signs of struggle. No blood, hair, or bones. So where did First Base go? He couldn’t have just disappeared…could he? “Oh…buck. He couldn’t have found a portal…Dear Celestia, please tell me he didn’t wander through a portal.” If he had, then there was no telling where he could be. There was no guarantee that that could have happened, since I hadn’t seen any signs of them since I had arrived, but I couldn’t rule it out either.  And if that happened, there was no guarantee that the portal would take him back to Earth. It could have taken him literally anywhere…I mean, I ended up in a world filled with pastel ponies after all, who’s to say he wouldn’t find himself in some desert world with giant sand worms or something. I searched around desperately, hoping to find some trace of him, but to no avail. He had just…vanished.  I could feel tears welling up behind my eyes and my face flushed with frustration. “No…” I couldn’t see well enough to fly with the river of tears beginning to fall, so I lowered myself slowly to the ground, kicking a shard of old broken pottery as I landed.  “He’s not even my responsibility. I don’t know this foal, and yet, here I am weeping like I just lost my own. But I can’t help it. Nopony deserves what happened to me. No one deserves to be thrust into a world they can’t understand, especially not a child. What would happen if he did get sent to earth? What if he’s injured? What if he got sent to the arctic, or to the middle of the ocean? How am I supposed to explain this to Twilight?” I cried bitter tears for the both of us and cursed whatever foul deity that deigned it suitable to torment us so. I wept, wishing that First Base was safe but knowing he wasn’t. Blinded by my tears, I could only see the worst fate possible. Until I felt a small hoof touch my foreleg. “Miss? Are you lost too?” A little voice spoke from my side, startling me from my despair.  “No bucking way! You’re alive! You didn’t get eaten or sent away to an alien world in a galaxy far, far away?!” I shouted as I wiped my eyes. There stood a little colt, no older than Applebloom, with a messy blue mane and a baseball and bat cutie mark on his flank. “Umm…what are you talking about, Miss?” He asked, before I wrapped him in a hug and squeezed him tightly. “Miss! I can’t breathe!” “Sorry! Sorry, I just thought…nevermind. You’re safe, and that’s all that matters,” I said, now crying tears of joy as I brushed a tattered lock of mane from his face with a smile. “Hey, why did you come out here all by yourself? Don’t you know how dangerous it is out here?” First Base looked away, the guilt he felt written clearly across his face. “I know…but a unicorn took my favorite baseball and used their magic to throw it as far out here as they could. I was too embarrassed to ask for help because I wasn’t supposed to bring it to school since it was a gift from my dad’s dad, so I came out here to find it myself. That’s when I heard some big scary monster and hid in that hole filled with leaves over there.” He said, pointing a hoof to the little den I had made myself back when I was lost. “Why in the wide wide world of Equestria would you be embarrassed about a bully? You should have come to somepony for help.” I chided. “Because I can’t replace grandpa’s ball if I lose it. It’s because of him that I got my cutie mark, and it’s part of who I am. If I lose it, it’s like losing a little bit of both of us.” He said, tearing up. I softly pet his blue maned head, “I know that your grandpa’s ball is important to you, Base. But that ball isn’t what makes you special. It’s who you are as an individual that makes you special. I know it hurts to lose something that’s so close to you, but you are more important. How do you think your parents or your friends would feel if you didn’t come back?”  He thought about it for a moment before responding tearfully, “They’d be really sad.”  “Mhmm. Everypony would be, Base. Can you promise me that if you need help, that you’ll ask somepony first, even if it’s embarrassing?” I asked the little colt. “O-ok. I promise,” he said, crossing his heart and sticking his hoof in his eye.  “Was that a Pinkie Promise?”  I reached my head down to his and gave him a quick nuzzle before standing up. “Ok, now let’s get you home. Everypony’s worried about you.”  First Base smiled happily at me with a sparkle in his eye, but it didn’t last for long, as his happy smile melted into fear. “M-M-M…” he stammered as he pointed a hoof behind me, clinging onto me for dear life with the other.  “Oh…buck me…” An ear splitting roar erupted from the edge of the tiny clearing we sat in, shaking the ground and threatening to burst our eardrums as the angry monstrosity announced its presence. I quickly turned my head to assess what kind of monster would be trying to eat me today, but what I saw confused and terrified me.  Charging at us was an amalgamation of different animals, smashed into one chimeric beast filled with hunger and rage. Its feline body’s muscles rippled as it sprinted towards us, bearing teeth the length of sabers from its leonid face. Its large, leathery, bat-like wings pumped as it attempted to push itself towards us as quickly as it could muster with its scorpion-like tail thrashing about, leaking venom as it flailed. “OH, BUCK THAT!” I screamed as it lunged at us. I was able to dive out of the way with Base just in time to avoid its razor sharp claws. Its massive body careened into a nearby tree, toppling it over and revealing a bit of the blue sky above. I saw the chance to escape, but before I could get my wings to unclasp themselves from my sides the beast had begun its charge once again. I dodged a second time, leaping into the old fire pit which kicked up a cloud of old ash into the air, making it difficult for all three of us to breath.  The creature coughed and sputtered as I gathered up First Base as close to my chest as I could manage. “Hold onto me! We’re going up!”  “Up?! What do you mean u-AHHHH!” I mustered the strength I could bare and with a single flap we rocketed into the air towards the gap in the trees, though my angle was too low to clear the canopy without contact. I curled up and rolled onto my back while wrapping my wings around First Base to protect him from the branches as we blasted through the toppled tree tops and into the sky above.  “Ahhhhh! I’m afraid of heights!” He shouted as he attempted to crush my neck in a vice-like grip for his little life. “And I’m afraid of that!” I croaked as I pointed back towards the angry living death-machine below us as its roar echoed through the forest.  “Okay, yeah! Me too!” He agreed as we flew up and away from the forest.  “Zinnia!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy called as they spotted me zipping across the Everfree at a respectable speed but I didn’t stop, instead, opting to ferry my precious little package back to Fluttershy’s cottage, much to the chagrin of my wings, who were now a bit banged up from the beat down the tree limbs gave them.  “Twilight! I found her! She’s heading back to Shy’s cottage!” Rainbow called down into the forest, to which she responded with a magical flare and within minutes the girls were all gathered together again, before a single bright flash caused them to disappear.  First Base and I zoomed over the edge of the Everfree and plummeted towards Fluttershy’s house. I tried to slow up our descent but my wings screamed at me when I attempted to slow down. I closed my eyes as the house came up to greet us just as quickly as we were coming to meet it when a warm feeling surrounded me. After a few moments of weightlessness (and not being hit by a whole house) I opened my eyes to see us slowly floating down to the ground below. Twilight’s horn was glowing a bright, blazing lavender as we landed, after which the warmth faded from around me and she quickly blew on her horn to cool it off.  “Zinnia, darling! Whatever in the world possessed you to leave us behind! You could have gotten yourself killed!” Rarity exclaimed as she ran towards me. “Yeah! What she said!” Pinkie piled on. “I ought to come over there and buck the stupid outta ya!” AJ said angrily as she followed closely behind her friends. “I know I said you make just make bad decisions sometimes, but that was beyond stupid!” Twilight chided as she winced, still trying to cool her smoking horn.  “You. Could. Have. Died!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew in my face to berate me.  But none of them had noticed who I was carrying. I threw on my best mischievous grin I could muster and looked Dash right in the face. “But did I die?” “W-wha? No, but…!” “Girls, look!” Fluttershy said excitedly as she flew next to me.  I uncurled my body to reveal a terrified, but very much alive colt who still was trying his best to crush my windpipe. “Y-you found him!?” Twilight gasped, astonished, “How did you know where to look?” “I didn’t, I just followed his tracks.” I said as I attempted to pry him off of me with little luck. My wings ached every time I made a move, so I just sat back and allowed him to do his thing.  “That’s…wow, Zinnia.” Twilight responded before taking on a curious look, “But what was all that noise then?” “A m-m-m-manticore!” Base stammered out as he shuddered against my chest.  “You took on a manticore? All by yourself?! Oh, you are SO wonderbolt material!” Rainbow Dash said as she slapped my back, causing me to shout in pain. “Ohmygosh! I’m sorry, what happened? Are you hurt anywhere?” “Oh my…” Fluttershy said quietly. “It’s her wings again.” All six of my friends were quiet for a moment before each one simultaneously winced and “Ooo”’d. “They aren’t broken are they? I just got them back last week!” I mewled as I chanced to look at my wings, which were already beginning to show signs of bruising and were sitting at a funny angle. “Umm…well…” Fluttershy mumbled. “Let’s just say that you’ll probably be needing some bed rest.” Twilight said as she gave me a pitious smile.  “And another spa day. Oh dear, look at all those split ends! Your beautiful hair is simply atrocious! And your feathers are in dire need of a good preening, you poor thing!” Rarity cried. “Let’s just get First Base back home. We can worry about all of that later.” I said with a sigh, to which everypony nodded in agreement.  Twilight made her way to Mayor Mare to call off the search and let Ponyville know that First Base was alright. Rarity and Fluttershy helped get Base and myself to the hospital to have us looked over. Base ended up only having a single bruise on his knee where he hit a stone as we dove into the fire pit. I, however… “Two weeks?!” I nearly shouted at Dr. Horse as he went over the paperwork. “Yes. You aren’t to perform any heavy lifting, excessive activity, or attempt flying for two weeks while your wings heal. You really are the luckiest pony in Ponyville, maybe even Equestria at this point. If you hadn’t protected yourself and First Base the way you did, he might have come out a lot worse for wear, and you may have ended up with two broken wings instead of just a sprain.”  “Ughh! I was just getting the hang of them too!” I complained, to which he chuckled. “And you can continue to practice and improve, in two weeks.”  After being released from the hospital with a brand new set of bandages that kept my wings bound and safe from harm, Rarity and Fluttershy asked me to follow them back into town. I attempted to protest, as all I wanted to do was pass out back at Sweet Apple Acres, but they wouldn’t have it. “Oh, it’ll only take a few minutes. I promise that when we’re done you can sleep as much as you like.” Rarity said as we neared town hall. It was almost impossible to argue her out of a position once she had her mind set, so I begrudgingly relented and followed her. However, I wasn’t expecting to find what was there.  As we approached the town, I noticed a large group of ponies gathered around the outside of the town hall. Even at a distance I could hear them chatting and laughing amongst each other as they milled around, seemingly waiting for something. I soon found out that that something, was me. “Ladies, and Gentlecolts!” Mayor Mare announced as she stood at a podium on the stairs of the town hall. “I want to congratulate each and every pony gathered here and thank you for coming together in a time of need. Today, because of your efforts, one of our little ponies was rescued from the Everfree Forest and returned to us safe and sound!” The crowd gathered around the town hall cheered for a few moments before allowing the mayor to continue. “It was no small task, and each and every one of you did your part to help us find First Base. But there is one pony in particular who went above and beyond the call of duty. A pony, who only one month ago found herself in a very similar circumstance. A pony, who since her arrival has given selflessly to help our citizens,” Mayor Mare pointed a hoof to Applejack and Granny Smith, who waved at the crowd, “and proved her outstanding character to all of us. “It is with great honor, and great thanks, that I give the Ponyville Prized Pony award to our first ever non-citizen of Ponyville. Zinnia!” Mayor Mare waved her hoof above the podium and the crowd erupted into applause, turning to me as Rarity and now Twilight are walking beside me and guiding me towards the podium. I could see Fluttershy standing in the crowd nearby, the attention from the gathering must have been too much for her to bear.  I could feel that familiar clinch in my chest again as everypony’s eyes were on me. Part of me wanted to run away, while another part refused to believe they were talking about me, but as we approached the podium the reality of the situation sank in.  “Please accept this award as a token of our thanks for being a shining example of courageousness and dedication to your fellow ponies.” Mayor Mare said to me as I approached. A large golden trophy with a statuette of a pegasus rearing up on its hind legs with its wings outstretched adoring the top stood beside her.  I looked at Rarity and Twilight, both of whom nodded to me. “You earned it, Darling.” Rarity said, encouragingly.  “I…I don’t know what to say. I honestly don’t feel like I deserve this,” I started, garnering some confused looks from the crowd, “I mean, since I’ve arrived here, everypony has been so kind and welcoming to me. You’ve gone out of your way to make me feel like I’m welcomed and have given me so much. I feel as though the real ponies who deserve this award are my friends who helped me.” I said, pointing out AJ, Rainbow, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy. “So…while I appreciate the thought, I can’t accept the award. I, instead, would like to share it with those who welcomed me, and made me feel as though I had a home here.” The crowd was silent and filled with confused faces. “But you do have a home here, Zinnia.” Mayor Mare responded.  “What do you mean?” I asked, it now being my turn to be confused.  “While you were being treated for your injuries, the townspoines all came together and had a vote. On top of offering you the award of Ponyville’s Prize Pony, we would also like to officially welcome you as an official citizen of our little town!” The crowd nodded and cheered, everypony smiling at me happily.  “A…home? Is that ok? For me to call this place my home?” I thought to myself as I looked out at the many faces that made up the community here, all of whom seemed to accept me as I was without questioning who I was or where I was from. A memory from a recent dream came to mind,  “You?” The voice sighed and took on a softer tone. “You, who arrived in a world so strange to you. You, who instead of running away from it, chose to fight. You, who could have chosen to hide from those who wished to help, but instead welcomed them. You, who offered of your own free will to aid another whom you do not know. Selfless, caring, kind, courageous. That isn’t you?”  “What you look like on the outside isn’t what’s important, little one. It is who you are inside that matters.” Tears began to fall onto the podium as I looked out across the crowd. I was at a loss for words. “Home…” Six familiar ponies walked up to me and I turned to face them, barely able to recognize them through the sea of emotions. They all circled around me and gave me a warm hug as I broke down on stage in front of at least one hundred other ponies and uttered two words that would change my life in Equestria forever.  “Welcome Home.”