(Here you go. Do enjoy, and let me know what you think.)
Consciousness comes to you slowly, practically teasing the edges of your awareness. The warmth pulled tight to your chest was the first sensation to assault your slowly waking mind, and with that warmth came the comfort of companionship. You noted with only half formed thoughts that the mare’s hooves were wrapped around you, and that minor revelation brought a smile to your face. Sadly, though, with the return to the land of wakefulness came the responsibilities of living.
You slowly wriggled out of Twilight’s grasp, but before you could escape you saw one of her eyes crack open. She met your gaze for a full minute before either of you did anything. During that minute you could see the blush on Twilight’s cheeks grow by the second, and when she finally looks away she simply pulls you closer and she buries her muzzle in the soft fur of your chest. A content sigh escapes the mare, and you figure that a few more minutes won’t hurt anypony.
As the minutes dragged on you felt the familiar pull of sleep tugging at your mind, and it was only through pure force of will that you managed to stave off the semiconscious state that is sleep. With a groan you finally come to the conclusion that you do need to get up, and so you begin extricating yourself from Twilight’s grasp once again. This time, you meet with success, and you crawled out of bed. Twilight opened one eye as you turned to give her a quick kiss before you went to the bathroom, and when you saw her eye open you stopped.
She smiled at you before she gave you a quick kiss. After the kiss she pulled the covers up to cover the spot where you had been and she let out a content sigh. Your trip to the bathroom was much like any other, and after you finished you ran a hoof through your mane quickly, getting it to look just right. When you returned to the bedroom you noticed the Twilight shaped lump beneath the covers hadn’t moved at all, and so you felt a tiny smile crawl onto your face.
You slowly crept up beside the bed where the mare was still softly slumbering, and then you gently climbed onto the bed, making sure to distribute your weight evenly so that the mare wouldn’t feel something moving. With your hooves now placed around her, you lowered your face to hers, and you planted a quick kiss, just soft enough to be felt, but not enough to wake her. You waited for a moment to see if she would wake, and when she didn’t you repeated the process once again, in a different spot.
Just like last time, she didn’t wake, but a smile began forming on her lips. After planting a few more kisses in the same fashion you finally placed a hoof on her cheek, before you turned her head to look at you. The contact was enough to rouse her, and she slowly opened her eyes to finally welcome the new day, and the small smile on her lips widened as she saw you were the first thing she saw.
After staring into your eyes for a minute, the mare finally pulled you into an embrace. You welcomed it, and after a moment she released you before she crawled out of bed. As she headed to the bathroom to freshen up you decided that you’d make some breakfast for the two of you. Oddly enough, Spike never showed up last night, and so you had no idea where he was. You figured that there wasn’t likely anything amiss, since Ponyville was a pleasant enough place that he’d probably ended up staying the night with some other pony.
You settled on simple fare for breakfast, opting to just fry a few of eggs for you and Twilight to split, along with some toast. Just a couple minutes before you finish Twilight enters the kitchen, her appearance having improved drastically from how she looked when she had climbed out of bed. She came over to the counter to help, but you simply pointed at the table you had prepared, and she sat down at the place you pointed to, a small pout on her face.
“Twi, don’t give me that look. It won’t work.” The pout only intensifies in response, and you roll your eyes. “Seriously, it won’t work.” When you finally finish the food, and set it down before her you note with a casual glance that she’d stopped with the look. The meal was done with quickly, and before you had a chance to get up and help Twilight began taking care of it with her magic. Within a matter of minutes the table had been cleared, and all of the dishes had been cleaned.
After finishing the meal you and Twilight moved into the study, where each of you took a seat. Twilight grabbed the book relating to the pegasus nervous system, and so you decided that you’d browse her collection some, and see if she did have the book you thought you might give to her. It took you a few minutes to finally comprehend the ordering system that Twilight had implemented, but once you understood it you were able to quickly ascertain the fact that Twilight did not actually have the book you were thinking of, and you allowed yourself a small cry of success.
Although you were pleased to see that Twilight didn’t have the book back in the study, you still needed to find out if she had it in the library’s main room. While the mare was busy in her book you found that you had plenty of time to sneak out and examine the larger book shelves. This took a bit longer to do, not only because there were more shelves, but also because the books were arranged in a different manner. Luckily, this one was easier to understand, and so you soon found that she didn’t have the book here either.
You let out another cry of victory, but it was cut short when you heard a gentle knocking come from the front door. You trotted over slowly, and just as you opened the door you felt a fist land on your leg. You looked down to see Spike had landed his small fist on your leg, clearly having missed the door in his attempt to knock once again. You couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the situation. The purple dragon simply stared at you for a moment, before he rolled his eyes and walked past you, mumbling something about adults and their antics.
You don’t mind, though, as you’re busy recovering your breath. Once you finally manage to take a deep enough breath to stave off imminent asphyxiation you close the door to the library, and head back to the study. Twilight, were it not for the fact that you knew what page she had been on, and what page she was on now, looked as if she hadn’t moved a muscle. You glanced at the material presented on the page, and you found that only one in every ten words was one that you knew, and of those few words you knew, only half of them made sense in the context you assumed they were in.
The mare let out an exasperated sigh as she turned the page. You looked at this page as well, and thankfully there was a picture present that you not only understood, but had seen before. It was a diagram of a pegasus wing, with each of the major muscle groups laid out, named, and their point in flying described. You had spent quite some time learning that picture, since it had aided you greatly in your workouts for wing endurance.
A shrill cry of victory shattered the silence, and then Twilight looked at you with a huge smile plastered on her face. “Well, I think that I might be able to heal the rest of the damage that has been done to your wings. Although I am slightly hesitant to attempt this part, since the procedure requires a degree of precision that I’m not entirely sure I can pull off.”
“What do you mean? You’re Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic. Surely you of all ponies can do it.”
The mare smiles, but shakes her head. “It’s not that I lack the prowess to perform the process, it’s that I don’t think I can pinpoint exactly where I’ll need to focus my magic. In order to avoid damaging your nervous system any further, the spell I’m going to use requires immense precision.”
“So, it’s not a matter of power, so much as it is a matter of accuracy?”
“Exactly. And it just so happens that I know several other unicorns that would be perfectly suited for this process.” Twilight levitates the immense tome onto the table beside her chair, and then she moves out of the seat. “Rarity is one unicorn who I know would be able to help with the process. Lyra is also an option, and if neither of them can do it, I think that Colgate should be able to do it. But I suggest we go to Rarity first.”
You nod in agreement, and soon the two of you are at the front door, about to leave. You grab the handle to the door, and just as you are pushing it open you hear Twilight let out a sharp gasp. You quickly turn to look at her, and you notice that she’s looking over at Spike, who had just emerged from the kitchen. She rushes over to the baby dragon before she pulls him into an embrace.
“Spike, where were you? Normally you send a quick letter to me if you’re spending the night somewhere else!” The dragon struggles in the embrace for a moment before Twilight lets go of him.
“Jeez, Twi, I’m old enough to look after myself from time to time. Anyway, I did send a letter to you. A little while after the sun set I sent it to you.” Twilight looks at the dragon for a moment before you step in.
“Perhaps it arrived just as we teleported here. It could be sitting atop that hill we were on, having appeared just as we were leaving.” The mare thinks for a moment, before she shrugs.
“That must be it, since Spike’s dragon fire can’t miss the targeted pony.”
“Well, now that we’ve got that settled, shall we head out, Twi. I’m just a bit eager to finally have my wings in proper working order once again. Since, you know, without my wings neither my cutie mark nor my name, make much sense.”
“Alright, we’ll get going. Now Spike, just watch the library while I’m gone. I shouldn’t be too long, but if I am feel free to help yourself to some lunch if you like.” Twilight heads back to the door, and you follow. The door opens at your touch, and soon you have stepped through. Twilight follows behind you, and soon the two of you are heading down the road towards the Carousel Boutique. The conversation between you and Twilight flits from topic to topic, never lingering longer than was necessary.
As the boutique came into view you felt a small rise of nervousness in your gut, almost like it knew something you didn’t. You shook the feeling off, knowing that with Twilight’s magic, and Rarity’s precision, there was little chance of something going amiss. You allowed Twilight to knock upon the door, and moments later Rarity emerged from the depths of the building, her mane looking just as beautiful as always.
“Oh, Twilight, do come in. It’s so nice to have some visitors…” She trails off for a moment, before she looks at the two of you once again, a slightly different look in her eyes. “Unless, of course, you’re here to shop?”
“Not today, Rarity. I was actually hoping that you could help me with a magical procedure that I’m trying to do. You see, our flightless pegasus here has control over the primary flight muscles in his wings, but not the secondary muscles.” Through Twilight’s explanation Rarity had brought the two of you in, and into the back room, where you spotted an uncomfortable looking unicorn sporting a half completed tuxedo. You approached him slowly, and he just gave you a small smile.
“Your that unicorn who came with the Princess, right?” The stallion nods quickly, before he replies.
“Yeah, that was me. Although I’m going to be here for a while, so I suppose some introductions are in order?” You nod, and the unicorn holds out a hoof. “My name’s Quill. I used to live in a town not far from Canterlot, but a series of circumstances led me here.”
“Oh? What could’ve happened that would get the attention of the Princess?” You pause for a moment, before you realize that you hadn’t introduced yourself. “My name is-”
“Could you come here for a minute, I need to show Rarity something for your wing.” You look at the unicorn with an apologetic smile on your face, and he just smiles back.
“No worries. I’m sure we’ll have another chance. I’ll just stay here. And wait.” You quickly trot over to the two mares who had continued their conversation about you in your absence. You felt a familiar tug on your wing as you approached, and you did your best to fight it. That is, you fought it until you noticed Twilight’s horn glowing softly.
“I just need to show Rarity exactly what she’ll be doing, since it’s easier to show her than it is to explain it.” As your wing reaches full extension you watch as Twilight and Rarity both come closer to inspect. “So, I’ll need you to get a fix on the nerves here, here, and here.” Each ‘here’ was accompanied by a soft touch, and a tingle of magic. Rarity moved closer to your side as she began inspecting, and then you felt a familiar, but still different, tingle run through your body as Rarity’s horn began to glow.
Several minutes passed as Rarity examined the extent of the nerve damage, and when she finally finished she had a small frown on her face. “Twilight, you do realize just how much I’ll have to do, yes? That’s quite a bit to do, and I’m concerned that I might accidentally hurt this fine stallion.”
“I’ll be here to help, Rarity. And it’s not quite as bad as it seems. Once you get into the rhythm fixing the nerves is quite a bit like weaving. You just need to weave the nerves close enough together for the healing spell to join them back together.”
“Well, if you’re sure.” Despite Twilight’s comforting words the white unicorn still didn’t sound entirely confident in her abilities. You decided that you’d offer some advice as well, since she would be working with your body.
“Don’t worry, Rarity. I have confidence in you. And besides, if you do something wrong I’ll be sure to let you know.”
“You’re so… encouraging.”
“I like to do my best.” You let out a soft chuckle, and soon the mood returns to one of less jovial nature. Soon enough you are led to the center of the room, and Rarity turns on several other lights so that she might be able to see better. Through all of this you were a bit perturbed to see that the unicorn atop the small pedestal hadn’t moved an inch, and were it not for the gentle motion of his chest you’d have assumed he was dead. Your attention is quickly brought back to the two mares, though, as you feel the magic begin to intensify along your side.
Rarity had closed the distance to your wing quite a bit, and her horn now rested mere inches from your wing. The glow about her horn had increased in intensity, and it was now difficult to look at for more than a few moments at a stretch. You begin to feel a different kind of tingling run through your body, and every few moments the tingle peaks, reaching a nearly painful intensity. You keep yourself from moving, though, and after what feels like hours the white unicorn’s horn stops glowing. She moves a hoof across her brow, and she looks at it with just the slightest hint of disgust.
She only pauses for a minute, though, and soon enough she’s at it once again. This process is repeated several times, and after nearly an hour she finally moves away from the side opposite the one she started on, her breathing coming in gasps. Even with Twilight’s immense reserves of magic to supplement what Rarity already had it proved to be an immense undertaking. Still, she backed away from your side with a smile on her face.
“I do believe that that’s the last of the damage that you pointed out Twilight. Now, if you don’t mind I have a suit to finish.” Rarity moves back over to the unicorn with the beginnings of a suit. You, however, have your attention focused on your wings. Twilight’s magic still surrounds them, and so you are unable to move them. The two of you move outside, and once you go through the door to the exterior Twilight finally releases your wings from her magical hold.
The first sensation to reach you from your wings, as you move them, is that of biting pain, as the muscles had cramped up some due to their positions. You simply stretched them out, though, and soon they were moving without any pain. You quickly made the adjustments to them that would let you hover effortlessly, and to your delight they curved just as you desired.
As you beat them several times you were rewarded with prompt lift, and your hooves left the ground. However, you didn’t celebrate just yet, as you needed to see if you had full control, or if this was just another stepping stone. You increased your flapping pace some, and then you began adjusting as much as you could in the finer muscles, adjusting your wings several dozen times per flap, keeping yourself perfectly in place, despite the breeze, and at the exact same altitude.
After about a dozen flaps you picked up the pace on your flaps, and you took to the skies, appearing as a blur to all the earthbound ponies that cared to look in your direction. You could fly again, and there was no sensation that could ever hope to compare. At least, that’s what you thought for a few moments, before you flipped over before entering a steep dive. You knew something that could compare to the joy of flight. Something better, even.
You landed beside the mare, her smile almost big enough to match yours. Without hesitation, you scooped the mare onto your back, and you snapped either wing out to the side. “Twilight, I’d like you to join me on my first real flight. It’s already a special flight, I want you here to make it unforgettable.”
(I nearly revealed your name in this chapter, believe it or not. Next chapter, though, you can expect to finally learn your name.)