Chapter 19 - The Shore
Seagulls are gliding through the strong wind the ocean was carrying. Each were talking in their own special language that only they could understand. The slowly rising sun is starting to paint the sky of its morning. Thin wisps of clouds slowly roll through the sky.
The calm waves of the ocean calmly rushes to the sandy golden shore, and retreats. It has repeated the process for Celestia knows how long, and it has existed to see and hear every events that happened in the world. Now however, the ocean is about to witness another story, as it quietly touched the unconscious changeling that was lying on the shoreline.
The shore, aside from the sea, is surrounded by two large boulders, and the trees of the nearby forest. A large bluish crab is busily picking up food near the head of the unconscious changeling. It is completely unaware of the threat of the beast, if ever it wakes up, and also a poorly made butterfly net that was already hanging above the crab.
Sticking his tongue out, and with eyes focused on the target, a young pegasus with a coat as blue as the sea, and a short yet messy mane and tail as white as the clouds, he struggled to keep the mouth of the net over the large crab as he balanced himself on top of the boulder. Finally, the crab moved a few inches away from the black obstacle. In a quick scoop, the crab found itself floating in midair. The pegasus had captured the crab successfully, and he cheered.
"Yes!"
He shouted as he pulled the mouth of the net closer to him.
"Oh, this is going to be worth a lot of Bits!"
His excitement was put to a halt after realizing that the black thing, which at first he thought as a rock, or wood, or cloth, was actually a creature that he was all too familiar with. Sadly, it seemed like it was dead.
He shrugged. Not that he'll care, anyway. What was important was that he caught a big crab that he could sell when---
The black creature coughed...a lot, removing the water that entered its lungs. The young pegasus was startled, though only a bit. The creature groaned weakly, as it turned to lie on its back, taking deep breaths to ease itself.
"I'm..." it quietly said, "...alive..."
It smiled, though he coughed again and again. Each cough were painful for its lungs.
"Guh..." he whispered.
It quietly settled on simply lying there for a moment, gazing quietly on the soft blue sky. His vision was suddenly blocked by a big blue pony face, with deep-green eyes.
"AH!"
The black creature yelled as it quickly got to its feet and give itself some distance from the pony. It was about to go into its defensive stance when the pony chuckled. Realizing that the pony poses no threat, its brain immediately told the creature of how weak its knees were. It settled into a sitting position.
"Sorry to startle ya, bud."
Said the blue pegasus colt.
"Didn't mean it, honest."
He smiled.
"Yes," the creature replied, "quite..."
It took deep breaths to calm itself.
"So, you saved me?"
"Heh, I wish." he chuckled once more.
"I just found you here though. Thought you were dead."
"I should have been..."
The creature bitterly whispered as he lowered his gaze down on the sand.
Having a sharp sense of hearing, he heard the quiet whisper of the creature.
His smiling face turned into a frown.
"Hey, hey," he began, making the creature look at him, "that's not a good thing to say, bud."
"Please excuse me," it replied, "but I am not 'bud'."
The blue pony, though looking serious, chuckled.
"Well, t-that's how I call everypony that I don't know."
He shrugged, "It's just my way to be friendly with other ponies."
The black creature made no action and simply listened to the pony as he spoke.
"Sorry," it shook his head slightly, "but I am not a pony."
"Doesn't matter," he smiled, "you're kinda friendly, despite looking really scary."
He felt his net became light all the sudden. He turned to his net and found the strings were broken.
"Oh no!" he yelled as he saw the large blue crab crawling towards the nearby forest, "Oh no you don't!"
He gave chase.
The black creature blinked right before the pony was hidden behind the trees and bushes. It shook his head and turned to the ocean.
'So I am washed ashore. I was flying for two days. How many days was I floating to get here? No, where in the world am I?'
He looked around his surrounding, and took notice that he is within a hidden area of the shore, where two large boulders and trees blocked his vision to see the other parts of the shore.
'I need to know where I am...'
It stretched its thin almost-transparent wings, but after fully stretching them, a powerful force of pain ran from his back, consuming all of his mind as he collapsed to the sandy ground.
'Oh hell! Ack...' it took a large breath to try and ease the pain running through his body.
"You okay, bud?"
Asked the blue pegasus colt as he got outside the treelines, carrying a stick where an entangled crab was tied on the other end of the long stick.
He walked and stopped beside the black creature.
"You don't look okay."
"Spare the obvious..."
It said with a pained tone on its voice as it got back into a sitting position. It then turned to the colt as it tried to ease its expression to neutral.
"I-I need to know where I am..."
The blue pony smiled. Finally, a question! It's the beginning of friendship, he could tell!
"Well, we're on a beach."
"I ain't in the mood for jokes, kid."
The black creature said with an annoyed tone, yet its expression was neutral.
"Let's do this again..."
"Okay, well, we're on a beach."
He smiled.
"Look," it said, its green eyes are furious now, "ah, nevermind."
It stood up and began walking towards the forest.
The creature stopped from its tracks when the blue pony ran and stopped in front of it.
"Look, bud, I'm sorry, 'kay?"
He said with a hopeful smile.
"Sorry if I was messing with you earlier..."
"More like a few seconds ago..."
It whispered.
"It's just that, things here are really boring, ya know? So I got used to being silly at times just to enjoy myself, and to let others smile, too."
'If what you are saying is true, then you have a good reason to be acting like a complete idiot...'
The creature thought.
"Pl---"
"We're in White Tail Beach, by the way."
The pony said with an apologetic smile.
"I live in a small fishing village nearby."
He continued, but his smile became wide and hopeful when an idea sprang in his head.
"H-hey! I know! Why don't y---"
"No," the creature said, cutting the pony off.
"What?" the pony asked, completely surprised in disbelief.
"B-but why? Oh! I forgot! Introductions!"
He brought a hoof up and hit his forehead with a little force.
"Silly me, how could I forget!"
'It's a mystery...'
He extends a hoof towards the creature.
"Name's Blue Sky, but you can call me Blue, or Sky."
He shrugged while still extending a hoof.
"Whichever you find comfortable for yah, bud."
"Blue Sky..." the creature whispered.
It stared at the extended hoof. It shrugged mentally. Their union will only be for a short while, anyway.
"Cloth," he replied as he brought one of his front foot to connect with the extended hoof of the blue pegasus pony, careful not to dig his claws on the pony's hoof, "and I'm a changeling."
'And hopefully, you'll run away.'
"Changeling?" Blue repeated as he tilted his head after returning his hoof back on the sand.
"What's a changeling?"
Cloth gasped.
'Changelings are known all around! How the heck could HE not know!? Wait, no...'
"Is this one of your jokes?"
Blue chuckled.
"Damn, you got me," he admitted with a nod, "but yeah, I know what changelings are."
"And...you're not intimidated?"
Blue shrugged.
"Dunno. Should I be?"
Cloth narrowed his eyes.
"You're joking again..."
Blue scratched his nape as he chuckled.
"Yep, hahah," Cloth sighed as Blue returned his hoof on the ground, "but seriously though, I know what changelings are and what you guys can do," he shrugged, "but meh, I know not all changelings are the same."
Cloth arched an eyebrow.
"Whatever."
He then used his magic and changed his disguise to a black earth pony.
"Aw..." Blue said, disappointed, "seriously, an earth pony? Everypony in the village are earth ponies..."
"Are you saying that you're the only pegasus pony?"
Blue nodded with a disappointed look.
"Yep, and it's really sad. Nopony could teach me how to fly..."
Cloth arched an eyebrow, again.
"You're joking..."
Blue sighed.
"Well, that's one downside for being silly. Nopony took me seriously..."
He sighed yet again, looking at the horizon.
"But it's the truth. I can flap my wings, sure, and I can even lift myself a few inches off the ground, but..."
He slowly turned back to Cloth, who was looking at him, expressionless.
"...I don't know how to fly, as in, soar, glide, things a pegasus should be able to do..."
Cloth then sprung black wings, though he kept them folded on his back. He received a weak smile from the blue pony.
"But I am not fit for flying at the moment."
"Hey, no biggie," his smile grew, "and you could even stay with me in my house, if you'd like."
"I already answered that inquiry, and it will still be a 'no'."
Blue rolled his eyes with a smirk.
"Like ya got a choice."
Another eyebrow was arched.
"And what exactly do you mean by that?"
"Well, wait, take note, this ain't a joke. If you can't fly, then it would mean that you're rather be safe near the village."
He turned to the forest. "Unless you suddenly wanted to be forest food, then sure, you can go."
He then turned to the changeling.
"Even the path from the village to the train tracks miles away is dangerous if you're alone or not careful."
"You forgot that I'm a changeling."
"Yep, one changeling."
Blue smiled, wider.
Cloth was not liking whatever the blue pony has in mind if he stays. And he indeed needs to rest to recover. Lie or not, he could sense the danger inside the forest.
"So why did you enter the forest then, simply to retrieve a...crab...?"
He wanted to add that ponies are herbivours, but decided against it.
Blue looked over his shoulder, and saw the crab was still in place, already tired from struggling to set itself free.
"Well, life in the village is tough."
He turned back to Cloth.
"Everypony needs to get a nice catch to earn Bits. This here crab will give me plenty o' Bits for that griffin gal comin' later this afternoon."
---
"...and then the landsharks swam all over the place, but it was a good thing that the ponies and I were wearing the rockhooves so they could not sense the heat on our hooves, and then..."
Blue Sky has been yapping ever since he and Cloth began walking back towards the village. It was farther than Cloth imagined, and he was already desperate to get there, with the hope to shut the mouth of the blabbering blue pegasus colt. Cloth even reached a point of envying the crab on Blue Sky's stick, where it could, maybe, hide its ears inside its shell, to save itself from its blabbering captor.
In the distance, the two could already see the small settlement by the shore. It had shed a tiny glimmer of hope to shut the pony up, but that tiny spect of light was quickly washed out when Blue kept on talking.
Cloth, at this point, already gritted his teeth, narrowed his eyes, and hung his head low as he continued to tail the yapping pegasus.
"...and then one of them suddenly jumped out from the sand, but I quickly swung my mallet and hit the bastard's skull and sent him flying to Tartarus! But then more jumped out, in every corner of town! But as what I did, the other ponies swung their weapons and hit the sharks..."
Cloth let out a groan, much louder than he had expected, but it was still completely drowned from the loud voice of the pegasus in front of him.
"...and then the sharks finally swam away, and everypony cheered!"
Cloth quickly caught the second of momentary pause.
"The end. End of story."
He quickly said as he walked beside him, glaring at the smiling pony.
"Now for heaven's sake. Shut up."
He hissed.
Blue blinked twice while still holding a cheerful smile.
"Have I ever to---"
"No more stories."
Cloth calmly said despite his angry glare.
"Later, then!"
Blue Sky declared cheerfully as he turned his head forward and saw five ponies around his age rushing towards them.
Cloth was about to say something when he saw the blue pegasus was tackled and thrown back a few feet, and other ponies started jumping and landing on top of him, except for one, creating a pile of laughing ponies.
He heard something slicing the air above. He tilted his head up, and caught the middle of the swirling stick with his mouth.
As the ponies got themselves out of the pile, Blue got up and dusted the sand off of his coat as he smiled at everypony around him.
"Damn it guys," Blue said with a cheery smile, "keep that up and I'll certainly die one of these days."
He and the other ponies laughed while Cloth rolled his eyes. The ponies were busy chatting for a minute or so until Blue cleared his throat, silencing the others.
"Ahem, anyway guys," Blue said, turning towards Cloth as he extends a hoof at him, "this here's Cloth," the other ponies turned and smiled at him, "and he's a friend."
Cloth said nothing as he took the stick to his hooves from his mouth. Blue smiled.
"Aw com'on, Cloth. Say somethin'."
Cloth forced himself to hold a sigh. He bowed.
"A pleasure to meet you all. My name's Cloth."
The ponies were having mixed reactions. One of them thought he was weird. One was envious of how well-mannered he was. One simply and slightly bowed back. One shyly turned her head away. And one playfully punched Blue's shoulder.
"Well, I think we have a room for another weirdo."
Said a dark-orange earth colt.
"Right, guys?" he asked as he turned to them, receiving both agreement and pointed about his harsh choice of words. He only replied with a chuckle as he turned back to Cloth.
"Name's Sand Stone," and he received a nod from the black pegasus.
"Well, I certainly love the new dude's manners and stuff."
A dark-grey earth colt said, as Blue and Sand rolled their eyes as both whispered the word 'boring'. He rolled his eyes at them.
"Aw well," he slightly bowed, "my name is Ash Shore. Call me Ash."
And he received a bow from Cloth.
"My name's Earth Current," said a bluish-green earth colt as they started walking towards the small settlement. "but my friends call me 'Easy', 'cause, ya know, letters 'E' and 'C' on my name. Heh." Easy shrugged, and Cloth bowed his head at him.
Cloth then turned his head to a pale-orange earth filly, who was walking beside Easy.
"Hello there Cloth," she said with a smile, "my friends and family call me 'Dandy', so yeah."
She and the others chuckled.
"Just call me Dandy and things won't turn into a nightmare for ya."
She said with an evil smirk and wink.
Cloth simply nodded and turned his head over his shoulder to see the other pale-green earth filly who was walking behind the group. She saw him, blushed, and turned her gaze away. He felt a hoof on his other shoulder. He turned and saw Dandy staring at him with a sad smile.
"She's Gentle Leaf," she looked at her for a moment and then back at Cloth, "and...she's mute."
Cloth blinked. He then turned his head to Gentle Leaf, who still had her gaze on the edge of the forest with a small smile. Feeling that he needed to let her know that he knows her, he called her attention, and she slowly turned her head at him. Cloth slightly bowed his head at her.
"It is nice to know you, Gentle Leaf," he said with a small smile.
Leaf quickly returned her gaze at the forest as a blush build up on her cheeks, and slowly made a small nod.
"Hahah, don't worry," Dandy said, catching Cloth's attention, "she's always like that."
She then brought a hoof on her chin.
"Hm... Well, except for us, and her parents..."
She returned her hoof as she nodded.
Cloth wanted to know how she is able to communicate with them, but decided not to press the question out of his mouth. Talking about someone behind their back, unless necessary, is wrong, especially if the one they're talking about is just right behind them within hearing range.
"Welcome to White Tail Village!"
Blue declared as he turned around and threw his forehooves in the air with a big grin.
White Tail Village is a small settlement near the shore and the edge of the forest. Houses are made of brown wood, with ropes running from the wooden roofs to large rocks near each house, probably to hold the houses against strong winds. Wooden sailboats are lying on the shore, where earth ponies were busy either preparing to set sail or already putting their caught fishes in wooden barrels. The center of the settlement has a small circular clearing where small fillies were playing around. Near one edge of the village were a group of griffins and minotaurs, busy with the fish business.
"Oh," Blue exclaimed, "can I have my crab back, bud?"
"Stop calling me 'bud..."
Cloth said flatly as he gave the stick to the blue smiling pegasus.
"I'll think about that," he replied as he turned around, "nah~!"
And he walked towards the group of griffins.
Dandy went to Ash and the two chatted. As a changeling, Cloth sensed something between the two ponies.
"They really need to just say how much they love each other..."
Easy whispered after he got beside Cloth, and Sand Stone following him.
"I mean, seriously," he continued, turning his gaze at the two ponies a few feet in front of them.
Gentle Leaf quietly stood behind the three, and was simply staring at the two soon-to-be-couple ponies.
"Both of them insist that they're just friends," Sand Stone whispered, "and they insist that they don't like each other more than just friends."
'Young love...'
Cloth thought as he restrained himself from rolling his eyes.
The four then formed a small circle and started chatting.
"So Cloth," said Sand Stone, "where are you from?"
He quickly lifted his hoof to stop the black pegasus from anwering.
"Wait, no. First, is it okay for you to be...ya know..." he said while drawing a circle in the air with his extende hoof, "...to be talking to us? I mean, you're an adult, while we're just teenagers... So uh...yeah."
"I don't see a problem," Cloth simply replied calmly, "and if I'm correct, White Tail is located in the western edge of Equestria."
He received the three ponies' nods.
"Then I'm from the far east of Equestria."
"Oh, you're a traveller?" Easy excitedly asked.
He and the other two became very interested.
"So you surely have seen lots of places!"
Cloth nodded.
"I have, yes."
Easy was about to ask something when Gentle Leaf started gesturing with her hooves. After a while, Easy understood what she was trying to say.
"I think Leaf here is asking if you were travelling by hoof or by wing."
He received a nod from the filly.
"Both, actually," Cloth replied, "whatever fits the situation."
Meanwhile, Blue finally found the griffin he was looking for. She was seated on the edge of the forest, staring impatient at the incoming blue pegasus.
"Took you a while..." she said with a bored look.
"I was about to fly home, you know."
"Eheheheh..." Blue scratched his nape, "s-sorry Griselda."
He then showed her the blue crab he caught.
Griselda's eyes glittered, but only for a moment.
"Only one?"
"Hey," Blue said with a hurt smile, "blue crabs are rare, ya know!"
Griselda sighed.
"Fine. How much?"
---
The ponyfolks of White Tail Village doesn't seem to mind having Cloth around. Some either greeted him or didn't care at all. Every pony were too busy with fishing for them to earn enough Bits for the market day tomorrow.
The sky has already welcomed the evening, where the moon was half and the stars were glittering like pearls in the sea of darkness. Most ponies were already preparing for the night, while some were double-checking their boats.
"Twice a week," Blue said to Cloth while eating some wheat bread.
The two and their other pony friends were seated around the fire near the edge of the village, and everypony, except for Cloth, were eating bread and hay.
"...there are groups of ponies coming here to sell us stuff, like fruits and wares, and some other things business ponies bring with them around." Blue continued.
"Our little town is far away from any market place," said Sand Stone, "so ponies coming to town to sell us stuff is convenient."
"They're mostly accompanied by unicorns," said Dandy, "'cause unicorns can use their magic to fend off those bloody forest wolves."
"Forest wolves?" Cloth echoed, receiving nods from the ponies.
"Yep," Blue said with a small smile, "but they're smart enough not to stir trouble here in the village."
Gentle Leaf waved a hoof to get everypony's attention. She then moved her hooves around, which Easy easily understood.
"Oh yeah," Easy said, smiling at Gentle Leaf, "Leaf is telling us that some ponies in the village also provide additional protection to the business ponies arriving."
"Oh yeah," Sand Stone agreed, "tomorrow, my dad and my uncle will be joining the aid team."
"The aid team?" Cloth asked.
"The aid team is a group of ponies who will go through the forest path to meet the business ponies in the train station." Dandy said.
---
Hours passed by, and they kept on telling stories and jokes. All in all, everypony enjoyed their usual evening hang-out. All except for Cloth, who simply listened to them. As the hours went by however, the ponies grew tired of fighting the sleep that has been consuming them, and one by one, they excused themselves to head back home, until Blue, Gentle and Cloth were the only ones left after Easy stood and greeted them goodnight before he walked back home.
"Well," Blue said after a yawn, "suppose it's time to hit the hay, ei?"
He smiled at Cloth, who simply stared at the small fire, and Leaf, who was in the middle of a yawn.
"Com'on Leaf. Let me take ya home," he said as he stood up.
Gentle Leaf blushed a bit as she nodded her head. She then stood up and nodded goodnight to Cloth, which the black pegasus returned with a nod as well.
"I'll be right back, Cloth."
Blue said over his shoulder as he and Leaf started walking to the village.
Cloth opened his mouth to respond, but stopped himself. He took a breath and let out a quiet sigh, and he settled on simply staring at the fire in front of him. After a few minutes, he decided to try and stretch his wings. While doing so, he didn't feel any pain, not until he was about to fully stretch both his wings when a powerful wave of pain ran through his body. He gasped and dropped himself on the ground.
"Hey hey!" A voice shouted, followed by sounds of running hooves on sand.
Blue stopped beside the black pegasus.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked, his voice a mix of worried and tired.
"I'm fine..." Cloth said after recovering a bit.
He stood up and shook his head a bit as he folded his wings back to his sides.
'I suppose I am stuck here for a while...'
A wolf's howl echoed in the evening. The two pegasus turned their gazes on the forest.
"Well, I don't wanna become wolf chow..."
Blue said as he turned to Cloth.
"Come on. My house is big enough for the two of us."
"Shouldn't you be asking for your parent's permission, first?"
Cloth quickly replied, in an attempt for him not to be with the pegasus.
Blue frowned after hearing Cloth's words, and he quickly turned his attention away from the black pegasus.
Cloth sensed the sudden shift of emotion from the pegasus. He then quickly formed some words in his mind.
"I'm sorry," Cloth quietly said.
Blue, still looking elsewhere, closed his eyes as he sighed.
"Nah," he then faced the black pegasus, "you did nothing, so no need for apologizing."
He weakly smiled as he motioned with his head to follow him.
"And com'on. If you're really sorry, at least take my offer of resting in my place."
Protesting would be useless now. The evening is a bit cold, and the forest is dangerous, from what he is sensing.
"It cannot be helped then," Cloth sighed, "lead the way."
---
The quiet and melodic atmosphere of the sea floor -- where fishes swam in schools, shells and corals lie dormant on the sandy floor, starfishes and crabs go their daily routines, and eels and octopuses await in their burrows -- were broken after a series of splashes echoed in the area, as ponies of different colors dived down from their wooden boats from the surface of the water.
A blue pony swam towards the floor with the aid of both his hooves and wings. He pulls an end of a net with his teeth as he swims down. A few hooves away is another pony who has a hold of the other end of the net. After finding a sturdy coral, the two ponies tied the net around it, and after satisfied with their work, they turned to each other and nodded their heads before swimming back up.
While other ponies did the same, the others carried small knives on their mouth, and after reaching a few large yet closed shells, they brought the knives on their hooves and began to push the knife inside the closed mouth of the shell to pull it open.
On one of the wooden boats was a black pegasus pony, staring blankly at the horizon, where a few rays of the sun were already showing up. Instead of admiring the beautiful mixture of darkblue and golden orange colors in the horizon, the pegasus' thoughts were elsewhere. Even so, he is still aware of his surroundings.
"I ask of you not to do what you are planning of doing."
Cloth calmly said, without even moving.
"Aw..."
Blue said sadly. Instead of stealthily splashing water to the still-dry black pegasus, he instead began climbing back on the wooden boat.
"You're no fun, ya know that?"
"I believe I'm aware of that, yes."
Cloth replied as he turned to him.
Blue took a piece of towel and started drying himself. Cloth turned his attention back to the horizon.
"Hey, tell me somethin'..."
Blue said as he is rubbing his hooves.
"...after you're healed and all, where are ya goin' next?"
"It..."
'I honestly do not know...
"It's...none of your concern."
"Why?"
Cloth took a few seconds to think for a moment.
"Because..."
He suddenly remembered the hour when he woke up earlier. Blue was asleep on his wooden bed inside a small circular hut. Cloth slept on the other end of the bed, after a lot of insisting from a certain blue pegasus. The blue pegasus is young, and still has a lot of years ahead of him. He was mumbling something, but Cloth could not make out the words. Somehow, the sleeping pegasus made him remember a certain yellow earth pony mare...
"...you're still young."
"Young for what?"
"Young for..." Cloth sighed as he turned to him.
"Look, I'm not going around places for the sake of travel."
"Then why are you going around places?"
"Like I said, it's none of your concern."
Cloth quickly replied and hoped that the conversation will end as he turned back to the horizon.
Blue, after he was done drying himself, placed the towel on a wooden crate.
"Now, that ain't fair," he complained, "I gave ye a place to sleep... I introduced ye to my friends, and...uh...Cloth?"
He stopped when Cloth turned to him with a neutral expression, but his eyes told him something deep: something he couldn't dare put a hoof at.
"I think it's fair," Cloth quietly said.
"I don't know you and your past, and you don't know me either."
Cloth turned back to the rising sun.
"If you want me to repay you for your hospitality, then simply name it and I'll do it."
Blue opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out when Cloth quickly turned to face him.
"With exceptions."
Cloth added.
"Tsk... You're no fun..."
Blue sighed as he thought of something. Seconds later, and he had an idea in mind as his lips curved into a smile and his eyes brightened.
Cloth slightly narrowed his eyes.
"Well, yeah, I guess there's one thing I really wanna do," Blue said with a smile, "and I think you can help me."
Cloth was doubtful, but he already gave his word. He might as well hear it first then.
"Then what is it?"
---
"Remind me again why we are doing this?"
Cloth asked as he tried to stand tall.
"'cause ya owe me. Simple as that."
Blue smiled as he wobbled about, trying to collect some balance as he stood on Cloth's back.
"Now hold still!"
"Need I remind you that I have done nothing else but to stand and talk?"
Though clearly angered, annoyed, and tired, Cloth managed to reply with a calm voice.
The two were on top of a boulder where Cloth was washed ashore. Finally, after Blue was satisfied, he slowly started spreading his wings. After fully extending both his wings, he started flapping them slowly.
"Have I ever told you that this boulder could provide you enough height for your flying practice?"
Cloth said, preparing to brace himself for whatever disaster would strike.
"Yeah," Blue replied as he began flapping his wings faster, "seventeen times, actually."
After a few seconds, Blue began to furiously flap his wings. A few more seconds, and Cloth could actually feel his back was already hoof-free. He turned over his shoulder, and saw the blue pegasus. Blue was tightly closing his eyes, concentrating all his senses on his wings.
Feeling like an eternity has passed, although it was barely a minute when his hooves left Cloth's back, Blue let out a frustrated sigh as he opened his eyes. Much to his horror, he found himself high above the air. Losing his sense of concentration, which was immediately replaced by fear, his wings went frozen-still, and his boy began to fall as he screamed from fear.
Blue was certain that he would feel his butt either hit the hard solid boulder, or the not-so-solid-but-still-will-be-quite-painful-to-land-on sand. But before he could land on either one of those, Cloth jumped and caught him on his back, but the impact made him fall to the ground first, cushioning the blue pegasus' fall.
Blue was still screaming, until he felt like it was taking forever for him to get a painful landing. Quieting down as he opened his eyes, he found himself on the ground again, or on the back of a grunting changeling.
"Get..." it was painful to even breath, "off..."
He is aware that his wings are in pain. The base of his wings were aching and painful from the impact.
Blue quickly got off of the green-eyed changeling. He helped him get back on his four feet.
"S-sorry 'bout that, bud..."
"I..." Cloth quietly said as he rubbed his head, "feel like having a pony for breakfast all of a sudden."
He said as he stared daggers at the weakly-smiling pegasus. He took deep breaths to ease the pain he's feeling.
It took a few minutes for Cloth to recover. As he brushed the sand on his body, Blue sighed in frustration for another failed attempt at flying.
"Maybe I am stuck here on earth like an earth pony..."
He whispered quietly, though it still managed to reach the ears of the changeling.
"That is because," Cloth began as he turned his full attention at the blue pegasus, "you don't know the basics."
Blue fell into a sitting position, "I don't even know the basics!"
He cried as he brought his hooves over his eyes, sniffing.
Cloth rolled his eyes.
"You're over-acting," he said, lamely.
Blue chuckled a bit as he brought his hooves back on the ground.
"S-sorry," he smiled weakly, "though I am really disappointed at myself..."
"Then let me teach you."
The blue pegasus was surprised after hearing the changeling's offer.
"R-really!? You'd do that!?"
He asked with glittering eyes of hope.
'I have nothing else to do... And the aid team already left...'
Cloth held himself from rolling his eyes again.
"First, stand tall."
"Aye aye, cap'n!"
Blue yelled as he stood on all four, standing tall and head high.
Cloth took a few steps back to have a better view.
"Extend your wings," the changeling ordered, and the blue pegasus did as what he was asked.
"Flap them," and the blue pegasus complied.
Blue began flapping his wings, and Cloth was observing him.
"Stop!"
Blue froze in place, uncertain of what he did wrong. Cloth approached him and walked around him, scanning the pegasus' posture.
"Winged ponies are no different than my brown-eyed cousins..."
Cloth whispered to himself as he touched the tip of Blue's wing.
"Notice the angle of your wing," he said, and Blue turned over his shoulder, "and flap them slowly."
Blue very slowly flapped his wings, and tried to see his error, but after a few flaps, he gave up.
Cloth took notice, and sighed.
"You should flap your wings downward."
Noticing that the pegasus didn't understood, he sighed again.
"You were flapping your wings at different angles..."
Now that he was provided with clearer information, Blue turned his attention on one of wings again and started flapping at a more faster speed than before, and he did notice that he flaps them in different angles.
"Oh... Uh... Is that why I couldn't fly?" he asked, still studying his flapping wings.
"No, you can fly," Cloth replied, "but if you are flapping like that, then you cannot stay airborne for very long."
Blue stared at him for a moment before nodding his head.
"So, all I need'a do is to flap my wings straight down?"
"To pull yourself in the air, yes."
Cloth nodded as Blue started concentrating on flapping his wings in one angle.
"Once you master that, I'm sure you can learn the rest with ease."
Blue smiled as he nodded his head.
"Thanks."
---
A train is slowing down as it approached a small platform of nowhere. The place however, is not deserted, for it was full of ponies with wagons. The said ponies were mostly earth ponies, while unicorns are in a small group of circle, talking to each other.
The train has finally stopped, and its doors opened only for a number of ponies to exit the mechanical transport. One of them was a young adult red earth pony, with a green apple as his cutie mark. He went to the cargo car and retrieved his wooden cart as he was assisted by the earth pony conductor, and the red stallion's companions: a green pegasus stallion and a blue earth mare.
The wagon was full of crates, which was full of jars of Zap Apple Jam. The blue mare jumped on the wagon and made herself comfortable on a few spaces available. The two stallions then installed the harness which was attached to the wagon, and both then started pulling it out of the cargo car.
As they work their way towards the small crowd of ponies, they saw a group of earth ponies who were walking towards them as they walk on the narrow forest path.
"Are you always delivering these here, Mac?"
Pearl asked as she was curiously scanning a jar of Zap Apple Jam on her hooves.
"Eeyup. A few weeks after winter."
The red stallion replied calmly. Their apple orchard were just starting to regrow their leaves. It was a good thing that they had an over-supply of the jam.
"The Apple Family sell these jams to the ponyfolks in White Tail Village ev'ry year."
Henry was quiet as he pulled the wagon and used his magic to levitate his notebook and quill. He's taking down notes for the fourth book of the Daring Do series, where he plans that the yellow pegasus adventurer wakes up on the shore after barely escaping the underwater city of Atlantis from the third book.
"They're really colorful..."
Pearl whispered, examining the different colors inside the transparent glass jar, where the colors of the jam refuse to mix together.
After reaching the other ponies, Big Macintosh and Henry had a small conversation with the other business ponies for a few minutes until the village's aid team caught everyponies' attention. They announced their warm welcome and thanks, and they then led the business ponies towards their village.