//------------------------------// // Flight. // Story: Ascend // by xTSGx //------------------------------// For copyright/disclaimer information, see Chapter One. Version 1.1 Published 10/27/12 Chapter Five: Flight. “T...Twilight, what's going on?” 'Lie! Tell her it's Discord! Or that Nightmare Moon is corrupting you! Or the Smooze! Anything! Just don't tell her—' “I-I'm an alicorn, Dash.” 'the truth.' Dash's confused expression deepened. “Alicorn?” “Yes, an alicorn. Formally the name for the substance a unicorn's horn is made of, the word was adopted in AN 403 by the Arcane Magic Council to refer to ponies who have both a natural horn and wings when the Council determined that 'pegacorn' sounded like 'peg of corn' and they couldn't unhear it.” “Wait, as in the Princesses?” Twilight reluctantly nodded. 'Oh please don't bring this up.' “So, you're a—” Dash gulped as mental images of all the times she pranked Twilight or gave her a hard time flashed through her head, “You know, Twi, that I've always had your best interes—” “No! Just stop that right now! I'm not a Princess. I'm still the same old eggheaded Twilight, just with wings now.” Twilight extended her wings for emphasis. 'And increased magical abilities, and more stamina, and neigh invulnerability...' Dash came closer and examined the alicorn's wings, causing her to blush. “Wow, those are some real nice puppies you got there Twilight. Feathers are crisp and healthy,” Dash poked Twilight's withers and upper back, “excellent muscular build, no signs of Flutter Soars or other diseases, easily thirty percent more lift capacity then an average pegasus wing. It's like you've been training for months!” “B-B-But, I just got them yesterday! How could they have developed that much?” Dash's jaw dropped. “What?! There's no way you could have just gotten them. That kind of fitness requires painstaking effort. How did you 'just get them' anyway, 'cause if you're holding back some kind of super awesome 'ascend to godhood' spell from me then I want to know.” Dash's eyes glazed over as she imagined flying at supersonic speeds with her new-and-improved alicorn wings while resurrecting zompony pegasi using the Dark Magic she now possessed before Twilight snapped her back to reality. “I don't know how I got them. I went to bed and woke up with them!” Dash gave her a disbelieving look. “That sounds even more unlikely then Daring Do climbing into a fridge to escape a—” “Well that's what happened. It's not my fault it doesn't make any sense.” Dash held up her forelegs. “Easy Twilight. There's no reason to get all stressed out.” In the background, Spike let out a cheer. “That's what I've been trying to tell her. You'd think she'd start to listen to me after the whole 'Smartypants Incide—'” Twilight glared at him. “Spike, go make us breakfast.” But I—” The glare intensified. He swatted a hand toward Twilight dismissively. “Fine! It's not like I wanted to talk about my dream of growing wings and learning how to fly anyway.” The dragon pouted as he left to go make food. Twilight calmly returned her attention to Dash. “Now, what do you mean there's no reason to stress out!” Dash was nearly blown off her hooves by the loudness of Twilight's voice. “It's not like this is going to change anything.” Twilight's eye twitched in response to that statement, “I mean, you said it yourself, you're still the same old Twilight. You just suddenly...got...wings!” Dash's face lit up. She gave a sly look, “Say, Twilight.” 'I don't like that look. That's the 'I'm gonna have fun doing something reckless' look.' “Y-Yes, Dash?” “You said you just got those wings, right?” “Um...yes?” “And you haven't really used them yet, have you?” 'She better not be headed where I think she's headed.' “Only for a few seconds.” Dash suddenly flew up and grabbed Twilight by her shoulders. “Do you know what that means?” “...that I'm glad I didn't crash into a bookcase causing myself severe injuries?” “No! That you need to—” Dash licked her lips in anticipation, “learn how to fly.” 'No! No, no, no, no, no!' ********** “I don't know why I even bother trying to stop her from going insane.” Spike placed the three slices of buttered bread into the hot pan. “It's like it's in her DNA to go insane.” As the bread began to crispen, he placed the Amareican cheese and another slice of bread onto it. “I should just go on vacation—'Bye Twilight, have fun.'—and see how long it takes for that Exclusion Zone to be established.” He used the metal spatula in his hand to expertly flip the sandwiches over, allowing their other halves to darken as well. “I bet it wouldn't take more than a week.” He turned his attention to the simmering tomato soup, which he stirred to prevent burning. “The way things are going, it won't take more than a week with me around.” He was jostled by sudden yelling coming from upstairs. “No, Dash! Absolutely not!” “Oh come on, Twi! It'll be fun.” The bedroom door opened and the two arguing ponies made their way downstairs. “Yeah, fun for you. I can't even if I wanted to. It's the middle of broad daylight; everypony would be able to spot me from a mile away.” “They're gonna find out anyway.” Twilight abruptly stopped and stared at the cyan pegasus, a dangerous look in her eyes. “And just how are they going to find out? Hmm?” Dash saw she should tread carefully; unfortunately, the words “Rainbow Dash” and “careful” don't exactly go together. “Well, I thought I could—” Dash was cut off as Twilight rushed up, startling her and knocking her on her back. “No! You're not going to tell anypony.” “Just let me—” “No!” “But what abo—” “Absolutely not.” Dash pouted. “Alright, alright, fine. I won't tell anypony.” She smirked, confident she had found a loophole. 'Oh no you don't.' “None of that syntax abuse either, Dash. I don't want any living thing finding out about this, is that clear?” Dash's pout deepened and she crossed her forelegs. “Yeah, fine. But if I can't tell anyone, you gotta at least let me teach ya how to fly.” 'You have to learn eventually. Better it be by one of your friends then some snooty Canterlot court official.' Twilight smiled lightly. “Okay, Dash. You win.” Dash shot into the air. “Yes!” Spike smiled at the scene of the excited pegasus and growing-happier-by-the-minute alicorn, before he smelled something burning. “Shoot! I forgot about the sandwiches!” ********** After eating the heavy (and burnt) breakfast, hastily cleaning up the library, and casting her wing-be-gone spell, Twilight departed with Dash to begin training, leaving Spike in charge of the library for the day. “We're gonna train where?” “Near the Everfree Forest, Twilight.” “But that's gotta be the worst possible place to learn how to fl—” The purple unicorn let out a short “eep” before she stuck a hoof in her mouth. 'Yeah, that's a great idea, talk about this as loudly as you can as we walk down the main street of the town, for everypony to hear.' “You're the one who said it was too risky to do it at the Cloudsdale Flight Practice Area, or at night, or near a body of water.” “Water's even riskier than land, you drown in water.” “Why can't you just use your changeling magic to—” “First: it's not 'changeling magic'; it's a modified changeling spell. Second: my wing-be-gone spell is called that for a reason. It's been tailor made for one thing: getting rid of these wings. Modifying it takes extreme effort and time.” “Well then, there. The area near the Everfree Forest is the only place we can go. Everypony's too scared to go near it.” “Well, it's still just about the worst possible place to practice, Dash. What if you crash? Or you get lost? Or a cult devoted to Nightmare Moon foalnaps you?” “Why is that stuff going to happen to me? What about you? You're the one who sees all the action.” Twilight scoffed. “Knowing you, you'd dive headlong into the cultists only for them to knock you out with a stick or something.” “Hey! I would know if I was getting in over my head.” “And you're not the most patient of ponies and so would probably become wildly lost after growing frustrated and running in a random direction.” “I could just fly out and—” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “And what about crashing?” “I'm workin' on it. Those kinds of things take time.” The two laughed as they walked out of Ponyville and towards the Forest's border. “It's gonna be so much fun, Twilight. You'll see.” ********** Twilight and Dash stood in a meadow that just straddled the Everfree Forest. “Now, it's very important to stretch yourself before you begin flying. If you don't, your wings could cramp up, sending you hurtling and screaming toward a messy fate.” 'Why did I agree to this again?' “It's also important to be relaxed when you're flying. If you're too tense, you risk over-straining your muscles, causing them to rip or herniate.” 'Yeah, 'relaxed', that perfectly describes me.' “Don't try and do too much at once. Flying isn't like doing magic. It's far more dangerous and complicated.” 'Horn Rot, Sudden Spell Backfire Syndrome, Telekinetically Induced Neurological Decay Disorder, Mana Poisoning, Acute Cranial Magic Discharge, Mana Migraines, Magical Incontinence, Extremity Calcification—these all pale in comparison to the horrifying dangers of...gravity.' “Let's start with the stretching.” Twilight's mood improved. She retrieved a book from the saddlebag she brought with her. “Great! I just got Pandiculation: One Thousand Two Hundred and Eighty-four Ways to Stretch and—” Dash knocked the book from Twilight's telekinesis. “No, Twilight! We don't need a stupid book for this. We can just et alii it.” Twilight furrowed her brow. “Yah like it? You said I should spruce up my vocabulary, so I did.” Dash puffed up her chest. “That's all well and good, Dash, but that's the wro—” “And don't worry about anypony finding out. I'll be sure we're in flagrante delicto.” Twilight groaned and facehooved. ----- “Are we done stretching yet, Dash? It's been at least a half-an-hour already and we haven't even left the ground.” Dash smirked. “And you say I'm impatient.” Twilight grunted. “I could cast my wing-be-gone spell right now and head home.” “Okay, okay. Let's start with the basics.” Dash glanced skyward and saw a puffy cumulus cloud meandering overhead, “Try to fly to that cloud up there.” She pointed at the cloud. Twilight looked up. “Dash, that's a cumulus cloud. It's at least fifteen hundred feet up there. There's no way I can fly that high. I mean, what if I cramped up and hurtled to my gristly death? Or a gust of wind caused me to spiral out of control? Or the lighter air caused a blood clot to...” Dash rolled her eyes. “Now I know how Spike feels.” she mumbled to herself. “...then the tree bifurcated me vertically?” “Or what if you fly up to the cloud and land safely without any injury?" Twilight stared at Dash. “Fine then. But if I get killed, I'm going to haunt your dreams, slowly driving you to the point of madness.” Dash scoffed. “Pssh. What would you do? Read a dictionary to me?” Twilight grinned evilly. “All one million, seven hundred and four thousand entries. In order.” Dash gulped before regaining her fortitude. “Just get up to the cloud, Twilight.” The alicorn shakily flapped her wings. She gradually felt herself become lighter until she was off the ground. “Good. Now, increase those beats per minute and you'll be up to that cloud in no time.” Dash took off and joined Twilight several feet into the air. Twilight was rocking back and forth as she continued to rise. “Try using your tail like a rudder to help stabilize yourself. And don't forget about your hooves too. They can help to redistribute weight and make things less shaky as well.” ----- After a few minutes of slowly gaining altitude, Twilight and Dash were safely on top of the cloud. “See, Twilight? No grisly death, no spiraling out of control, no bicipitalate.” “Bifurcate. And you're right. I do need to stop worrying as much.” Dash smiled. “That's the spirit. Maybe you could even send the Princess a lett—” Fear filled Twilight. 'No! Worrying's good. You need to worry.' “What did Spike tell you?” Dash gave a confused look. “He didn't tell me anything.” “A likely story. I'm not sending the Princess any letter.” “Alright, jeez. A few months ago you were freaking out about not sending her a letter. Now you don't want to?” “She doesn't need to concern herself with my—” Twilight paused for a moment to remember her wording, “trivial problems. It's irrelevant anyway. The NDC's getting paranoid, again—” 'I really need to talk to Shining Armor about that.' “and they don't want her using dragonfire.” “And how do you know this?” “Spike got a letter from her last night.” 'He thought he could hide it from me. It's a good thing I had to pee last night and there wasn't any toilet paper or I'd never have found it.' “Huh. Well, guess she won't be getting that friendship report from you then. Oh well.” Dash shrugged before continuing, “You've done really good so far, Twilight. Now for the easy stuff. Let's see how well you can glide.” “Glide?” “Yeah, why did you think I wanted you to come up to this cloud? Don't worry; it's a lot easier getting down from here then it is coming up.” Dash hopped off the cloud and hovered in midair. “All you have to do is relax and fully extend your wings.” Dash demonstrated while she talked, “Then you just angle your wings in the direction you want to glide and use your tail and body's weight to stabilize yourself.” She glided down a few hundred feet before returning to Twilight. “Now you try.” “Alright.” Twilight stood up, relaxed, extended her wings, and slid off the cloud. She began to slowly drift toward the ground, Dash gliding beside her. “You're right Dash, this is eas—” An unexpected thermal caught her off guard. While Dash hit the thermal head on and soared up several hundred feet, Twilight caught the edge of it and careened wildly out of control, tumbling end over end. “Oh no! How could I forget to tell her about thermals!? Stupid Dash! Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Dash dislodged herself from the thermal and hastily flew towards the somersaulting alicorn. “Hang on, Twilight! I'll save you.” Twilight couldn't hear Dash over the wind in her ears. Her screaming at the top of her lungs didn't help the hearing issues either. 'I knew this was going to end horribly. At least there aren't any trees to bifurcate me.' A few of the Everfree Forest's outlying trees appeared in Twilight's disoriented vision. 'Oh, joy. Well, if there was ever a time not to stay calm and to panic, it's now.' With the ground rapidly approaching, Dash closed in on Twilight, but just as she was about to grab her, the flailing alicorn instinctively cast a teleport spell in a last ditch effort of self-preservation, taking her out of reach of Dash's help. Unfortunately, Twilight's instincts forgot one important rule of teleportation: it doesn't counteract inertia. Twilight teleported several feet above the ground, and slammed into it sideways at eighty miles an hour. A cloud of dust was kicked up as she skidded across the ground. To say Dash was horrified would be a gross understatement. “Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no.” Dash flew down to the impact site as fast as she could. As the dust cleared, Dash saw Twilight laying on her side inside of a twenty foot long trench her body dug into the ground. “No, I-I c-couldn't have k-k-kill—” Before Dash could finish her thought, she saw Twilight's chest rising up and down. She had only been knocked unconscious by the impact. Dash tried to regain some composure. “O-Okay, j-just stay calm, Dash. Y-You just have to pick her up and get help. But what if she broke her neck?! You're not supposed to move injured ponies, or else they might get hurt more.” Dash looked at Twilight and saw small splotches of blood begin to form around the alicorn's body, “No! Twilight needs help now and can't wait—even for Equestria's fastest pegasus.” Dash carefully checked Twilight for obvious injuries before she gently hoisted her onto her back and ran off as fast as she could to find the nearest help. *********** Fluttershy removed her surgical mask. “There you go, Mr. Quackers. I told you it wouldn't be so bad. Now why don't you show me that smile?” The duck gave a large, toothy grin. “How did a duck have teeth?” was a question the Ministry of the Interior's Environmental Division had been asking the Manehatten Chemical Corporation for several years. “Now, remember to watch the tarter build up. If it starts to happen again, then just come back and we can get it cleaned, okay?” Mr. Quackers nodded before he jumped off the table and waddled toward the back door's doggy entrance. Fluttershy turned her attention to the front door when she heard hoofsteps run up to it, followed by somepony banging on it loudly. “Fluttershy, you have to help! Twilight's gotten hurt.” “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.” Fluttershy scrambled to the door and opened it. She saw Dash standing there, panting, with an unconscious Twilight draped over her back. Twilight's side was severely scraped, with much of its fur missing, and the skin raw and bleeding. Fluttershy's eyes widened in shock as she saw Twilight's wing, now missing most of its feathers, and bent at an unnatural angle with a bone protruding out of it. “Please, you gotta help her.” End of Chapter Five.