Waking up in a bed for the first time in weeks seemed like too much like a dream. It wasn’t until I rolled off the bed and ended up in a pile of feathers, blankets and pillows on the floor that I realized that the last two days were not a dream. I rolled on the floor for a bit cuddling the blankets and pillows in wonderful bliss.
Picking myself up off the floor, I grabbed the clutter on the floor and fixed my bed. Turning around, I noticed a couple of my primaries had fallen out of my wings. Kneeling down, I picked up both feathers off the floor. Laying one of my feathers on the desk and twirling the other feather in my fingers, admiring the beauty of it. It shimmered in the early morning sun, almost like a crystal. I may have never been fond of my wings because of others treating them like a mark against normalcy, but I always found them stunningly gorgeous. I placed it down on the desk and walked over to the closet.
I walked over to the mirror on the closet door and took a look at myself. I sighed and unfurled my wings to their full extent. They were a little smaller that they were supposed to be, but fifteen years of my wings being bound and strapped to my back did the job. Apparently, my adoptive parents decided that it was best to make sure i couldn’t get away. Must have gotten the idea from my caretakers at the orphanage.
My wings had grown a lot over the last year and a half and they were still growing. Usually a peg’s wings grow the most between the ages of 13 to 15, but with the binding, they started growing only this past winter. It’s getting harder and harder to keep them hidden, but after so many years of conditioning and manipulation, I had been convinced that they were a disgrace.
Whelp, Saturday morning and Dash said she would be back later around 1. So I guess no shopping until after she gets back, since I still do not have a key. I walked over to my desk and turned on my computer. Guess I could get some recording done before she gets back. Means I can actually sing for a bit. Something to get my nerves out of the way. I opened the door and walked into the kitchen.
“Hey Dash” I yawned. Dash, sitting at the table with her small laptop and a bowl of cereal, sat there just looking at me with a bewildered look on my face, silently mouthing words that I couldn’t figure out..
“What?” I asked, confused by her expression. “I didn’t walk out without pants on.” I looked down and sighed in relief seeing that I was, indeed, still wearing pants, but I had forgotten to put on a shirt. I could feel my eyes widen and my heart start to race. My wings were out and spread in their full glory. Sweating and panicking, I started back pedalling out of the kitchen area and slammed into the couch, flipping over it.
The next thing I knew, Dash was hovering over me with a huge smile.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you were a peg?”
“I'm not really ok with showing off my wings, my family wasn’t really big on the whole flying nonsense as they called it. It’s kind of been like that my entire life. Also, I’m not really from an area that likes pegs and unis. Pretty much the only ones that I could even bring around my family and not worry about them getting harrassed are Pinkie, AJ, Rarity and Tavi.”
Dash laughed at me “Well, let me tell you where you are wrong on a few accounts. One, Rarity is a uni. She uses her magic a bit more practically than Twilight, but she has some power. Also don't get on her bad side. She may be very proper but she’d kick your ass from here to our hometown. Pinkie seems to have this weird control over physics as she likes to break them. It’s why she is studying it. Also has this sixth sense about random occurrences that we have all just come to accept. AJ is brash and would not tolerate anything bad being said about anyone. Tavi? Yeah she’d be fine since she is pretty much like Twilight without magic.”
I start to get up and immediately get pinned down by the tiny peg, now sitting on top of my chest. “Also, do not think that we are like your family or home town. We don't give a shit what you are. I mean did you not realize that Spike isn't a uni or a peg, but he can use fire magics at will? No one knows what he is exactly, but he definitely is not normal, by any means. His family didn't want him when they found out, so the Sparkles took him in and he is basically Twilight’s little brother.”
Dash started to hover above me as she finally allowed me to get up. She pulled me up into the air and I start to hover as well. “And it doesn't matter where you came from, just embrace yourself.”
I look down to the side. It’s weird for me to think of anything besides a failure. An orphan that was teased for having wings. I would try to fly away but every time I did, the caretakers would lock me in the solitary room. I never knew anything good to come from my wings and I really could not see it starting now.
She sighed heavily at me. “Alright, look, if you don't want anyone to know I won't say anything. I pinkie promise.”
“Pinkie Promise?”
She landed on the couch and struck a pose and recited what seemed to be a very well known phrase. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She recited following the motions. “Means that I will never say anything to anyone, But right now you are gonna put me in an awkward place. So I'm going to make you make a pinkie promise with me. Promise me that you will tell the others when you are ready. Especially Pinkie, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity and AJ. Everyone has their secrets, but somethings are better out in the open.”
“Don't worry, I’ll keep your secret too.” A voice from the closet seem to say. I jumped over to the closet panicking about who it was. Throwing open the door, I was crushed under a pile of pink and lavender hair.
“Pinkie! What are you doing here? And why are you in the broom closet with Twilight?”
Pinkie and Dash giggled as Twilight, blushing, got off of me and brushed off her pajamas and explained how she was working on a mass teleportation spell but Pinkie had jumped onto her in the middle of the cast, which caused her to lose focus on her landing point. Instead of appearing in the park, ended up in a small cramped space. It was a wonder that we didn't hear anything but all they heard was Dash recite the promise and they peaked out and to see why.
“Anyway” Twilight continued, “Why do you hide your wings, it must be a hassle to keep something like those things a secret.” She started to blush “and could you please go put on some more sturdy pants. Something else is deciding to show itself in this morning.”
Blushing a deep red as deep as Apple Bloom's ribbon, I bolted over to my door and stated as I shut the door, “Its a rare thing for girls to be on top of me so forgive me if something gets a little excited.”
After a couple minutes, I walked out of my room with a shirt, and a pair of jeans, hiding and binding the two things that have so already caused much trouble today. Pinkie Pie had turned on the tv and started watching a cartoon she said she watched with the kids of the Cakes. She explained then how she worked at the Corner with BonBon and was the pastry chef while BonBon did the deli side. Twilight had pulled out a tablet and Dash was back at the table, finishing her cereal. I walked over and grabbed some cereal and sat down on the chair and watched the show.
About ten minutes passed in complete silence from the three girls and me in my living room. That is until Twilight jumped up out of her seat with a quizzical look on her face, directed straight at me. “Crisp, I have been meaning to ask you something and I know just how to get my answer. Can you stand over next to Dash? Make sure you have your wings out to their full extent.”
I looked at Twilight quizzically, but complied. As soon as I was standing next to Dash, she started zooming around my wings, running her hands over the feathers, tugging lightly on the bones and plucking a feather out and twirling it in her hands. Twilight then pulled out a pair of calipers and started to take measurements. She pulled Dash over to her and in a low whisper asked her questions. Dash, then in turn, did almost the same movements and examinations that Twilight had performed, but with a little less finesse. She jerked and pulled at my wing bones. While she was ruffling up my feathers, I was starting to get rather annoyed. This had been the first time in almost 4 years anyone had seen my wings (save Vinyl) and even longer since someone had touched them. The way Dash was handling my wings started to bring back memories of my days on the farm, where my mother had broken my left wing when I had accidentally broken some of her dinnerware. My temper was rising quickly and I knew I had to get out of there before I snapped.
“Your wings are a bit small for your size, and the bones felt like they had been broken a few times. Probably mistreatment of them” she stated as she slapped me upside the head “You have to take care of these!”
Greatly irritated by the smack to the head, I looked Dash right in the eyes and stated as calmly as I could muster, but my temper was rising quickly, “I know how to take care of my wings. My adoptive parents and the caretakers at the orphanage bound my wings for years, broke them even to keep me grounded. Convinced me they are something to be ashamed about. Every day I was reminded of how I was a lesser being than them because so if you excuse me, I need to leave for a bit. I will be back later. If you would be so kind as to give me my key.” I growled the last part through gritted teeth, visibly holding back my anger.
Dash looked at me with a slight fear in her eyes. As she drew the extra key out of her pocket, she looked down at the ground. Pinkie and Twilight were sitting on the couch looking equally terrified, as they understood what my tone was. I went to my room and grabbed my coat and stormed out in a slight rage.