I slowly awoke with a groan, my head fiercely buzzing. The sun shone in through a window as I moved my head, nearly blinding me and only intensifying my headache as I let out another groan.
"Morning, Aurora." Twilight's voice greeted my ears as a cool cup met my lips; I reflexively opened them and swallowed the sweet ambrosia that was cold water. "It seems that you really like Applejack's hard cider, you're a bit of a lightweight though. You were pretty far gone, and I'm afraid you might've gotten onto Rarity's bad side just a little bit. Doing that while she's drunk is a sure way to get knocked out."
I grunted a reply, enjoying the cooling sensation left behind by the water as I felt Twilight rest her horn on my forehead. "Now, fair warning, this may sting just a bit. You'll thank me for it, though." she let a spell loose into my head moments later, and it felt like the one time I'd stuck a fork in an electrical socket as a kid on a dare. Not very pleasant. Neither was the broomstick they hit me with afterwards. However, moments later the pain subsided, and I was left with amazing clarity as the headache and minor nausea disappeared.
"Oh, wow..." I sat up and noticed that I was in a different room than normal. "Magical hangover cure... I definitely need to learn magic as quickly as possible now! That's bloody brilliant!" I let out a gleeful squeal, hangovers were one of my few nemeses that always pounded me into the ground when we met.
Twilight inquisitively looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "I take it there's no analogue to this back on Earth?" she pulled open the curtains the rest of the way, absolutely flooding the room with light. The sun sat well over the horizon at this point, but was still low enough to be visible through the windows.
I nodded my head as I hopped out of bed, looking around for the bathroom. "Nope, not a thing. There's so-called remedies, but none of them really work very well. The best one I've found so far is a Prairie Oyster. You take an egg, break it whole into a glass. After that, you add some worchester sauce, hot sauce, salt and black pepper. Absolutely disgusting, but it works a little bit." My roving eyes settled on an open door that led to what looked like a bathroom. Before Twilight could even get a word in, I shot into it.
"Ah, much better." I said as I walked back into the room, pausing in the middle to stretch my legs and wings. "So, what's the plan today, Twi?" I slowly poked at my left wing, trying to recall what Twilight had said about preening as I attempted it again on my own.
Twilight sighed, pulling some papers from the æther as she began to look over them. "Well, my friends are all coming back to the castle in a few hours, and the only planned event is dinner with everypony." she rustled the papers around some more, looking through them before continuing. "I'd really like to get started on flight fundamentals; just like magic it's an integral part of you, so the sooner you learn it the better."
I spat a feather out of my mouth as I closed my wings and looked at Twilight. "Sounds good to me, that's something I've actually been looking forward to." I flexed my wings a few times, moving them around in any direction I could to show that I'd remembered a few of her pointers. "Definitely something I've always wanted to do, and now that I can, well... can't learn soon enough, I say!"
Twilight let out a laugh, which only became stronger when my stomach let out a large rumble. "Well, first thing's first, Aurora. Food, then flight." I followed her out of the room, this time we went directly to the kitchen to pick up our breakfast.
As Twilight opened the door, my jaw nearly hit the floor. This kitchen was... impressive isn't a good enough word. It was hard to tell from this vantage point, but it looked like the back wall was a solid fifty feet away, if not more, and the length of the room just as huge. Ponies and gryphons alike were bustling back and forth, pots, pans, ingredients and tools all over the place.
As I was busy staring in awe, Twilight walked up to one gryphon and quietly exchanged words with them. The gryphon nodded and walked off for a minute, returning with a tray which Twilight took in her magic. She poked me in the side a few times, drawing my attention from the cooking back to her. "Aurora, ready?"
I spared one last look at the kitchen, hesitantly following her out. "Twilight, I think I'm in love... I've never seen a kitchen that huge before." I hurried and caught up to her side, trying to peek at the tray to see what breakfast was.
"Like cooking?" I nodded in reply, noticing with dismay that the tray was covered. Twilight laughed before continuing as I followed her down the hall. "That's one thing I don't have much talent for. Spike was always going on about how I should stay out of the kitchen and leave it to him..." she trailed off, some longing in her voice.
"I doubt your attempts at cooking were that bad. I mean, yeah you can mess things up, but only so far. I've had my fair share of inedible meals that I've made." I shrugged my shoulders as we turned a corner, continuing with a question. "Who's Spike? You really haven't mentioned him before."
"He's... I don't know, sometimes. My brother? My son? A friend? Maybe a combination of all three, really just depends on when you ask, really. He's a dragon I hatched from an egg as a filly when I took my test, it's how I became Celestia's student." she sighed as we walked out into what looked to be almost like a sports field, heading for a table. "Now though, he's out on a trip, something about self-discovery I believe is what he claimed. He's been gone for awhile now, and even though we keep in touch with letters, it just isn't the same."
"I see, I think..." I trailed off as we took a seat, Twilight setting the food down on the table. "I'm guessing you raised him, too?" she nodded as she began passing out the food. "Well, can't say I have much experience there, but... everyone at some point has to figure out who they are, and no one can help them but themselves. I know I went through that growing up."
Twilight merely nodded again, foregoing talking as we began to eat breakfast. It was a simple one of eggs, toast and hay with some orange juice. It was a pleasant meal, and the warmth of the sun shining down on us was a nice feeling on top of it, too. I spent most of the meal trying to remember what happened last night, as parts of it were filled with black.
"Twilight... what exactly did I do last night to annoy Rarity? I'm trying to recall, but I can't remember right now." I savored the taste of the orange juice; still enjoying just how much better everything tasted here.
"Well... you managed to strike two of her nerves at once. You claimed she 'over-dramaticized' everything, and then brought up how you wanted to be a seventh element. The first, well, you can usually get away with. The other thing though..." she just whistled, shaking her head. "Let's just say that Celestia decided to prank all six of us one time, mentioning how the Elements wouldn't work any longer, at least not until we found the bearer of the seventh element."
"Oh?" I asked, wanting to hear more about this. I needed to get a good idea of what might happen, once Celestia decided I was fair game again. She'd told me that she wasn't going to try and prank me anytime soon, as it would be 'too easy' given that I was still adjusting to my new body. "Sounds like there's a good story behind that... I think we have time for it, right?"
Twilight sighed, setting her empty dishes on the tray. "Well, it was shortly after we defeated Discord. You recall what I've said about Discord, right?" I nodded my head in reply, and she promptly continued. "Celestia came to us and said that unless we found the bearer of the seventh element, Discord would break free at the end of a month. Of course, I'd never even read about a seventh one, much less heard of it, so I was thoroughly freaking out. Celestia said that the fifth element was the key to finding the bearer, another issue I had.
"To make a long story short, after spending days looking for the fifth element, and still only coming up with the basic four; earth, water, wind and fire... I had a freakout at Rarity's house. Sorta destroyed most of her fabric collection." I cringed, even thinking about something that big hurt, as what little I'd seen of Rarity told me not to fuck with her work stuff. "Yeah, it was about that bad, and then some. Celestia let it go on for almost a week... we were so furious with her when she told us it was all a joke. At least we got a free vacation out of it."
I laughed, standing up and stretching in the warm sun. "She felt bad, eh?" I went through the full range of motions, also remembering my wings in the process. I'll admit it was still a bit odd stretching as a pony, but it felt pretty nice. On top of it, I was still rather loose after that massage from Rarity the day before, even if she was the one responsible for knocking me out. I do remember that much, now that Twilight had told me about it. Spock would be proud of her.
"I think that would be an understatement. She somewhat forgot about the whole 'enough magic to level a town' bit, I think. Since then, Celestia hasn't tried pranking us again." Twilight joined me in stretching, and I paused to admire her form. As a pony, I found her much more attractive, and I knew what it was that was enjoyable to stare at. A quick glare from her sent my eyes back forward though, and I finished stretching.
"Hey! Watch out below!" A voice screamed from above, and my eyes darted towards the sky, looking for whoever it was. Twilight just sighed and I saw a cyan blur caught within her magic; which was then lowered gently to the ground. "Thanks, Twi. Didn't mean to come in so hot." Dash said, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof in what looked to be embarrassment.
"Hey, Dash. What brings you by?" I asked politely, wondering why the ego-filled pony would be up this early. The sun hadn't been up for very long, and the impression that I'd had of her was sheer laziness. Twilight had mentioned how they had always had to track her down and wake her up from her naps up in the clouds. "Here to teach me how to fly or something?"
Dash snorted, then fell to the ground, pounding it with a hoof. I merely raised an eyebrow at the display, she was acting as if I'd told her the world's funniest joke. Twilight simply walked over to a small open area of the field as I waited on Dash to calm down.
Finally, the laughter turned into chuckles, which then turned into gasps for air. "Oh boy, now that was funny, Aurora! Me, the world's fastest pegasus, teach you to fly?" she snorted again, stomping her hoof on the ground. "Nope, no way. Twi's the one who's going to teach you. I just want to see you eat dirt!"
I glared at Dash as she turned and walked to one of the tables, hopping up onto the surface and getting comfortable. "You coming, Aurora?" Twilight called out, and I turned my attention to her and walked over, still fuming. "Just ignore her," she began once I was close to her, making sure that Dash couldn't hear, "she gets like that at times. You should've seen her teaching me, it was bad. Had to get Fluttershy after the first thirty minutes to teach me instead." she just shook her head.
"So!" Twilight cheerily began, "the first important step, now that you have a good use of your wings, is the freefall test!" she grinned, motioning towards a cloud high in the sky. I merely gulped, putting two and two together and arriving at an answer I didn't like.
"Uh, isn't there something else that we can start with, Twilight?" I asked, slowly backing away. She reached out and wrapped a hoof around my side, cheerily smiling.
"Nope!" With a pop, I suddenly found myself buffeted by a slight wind, the horizon now well below me. Looking down, I noticed my hooves resting on the cloud, and gently bounced up and down, noticing how I barely moved at all. I hesitantly moved one hoof around, noticing that it felt relatively firm, yet giving at the same time.
"Now," Twilight said, grabbing my attention, "here's the deal. The best way to learn is by doing. I'm a pretty good flyer now, so I'll be able to catch you, and so will Dash. Although to be honest, even if you were to hit the ground from here, the worst you'd get would be a bruise... to your ego." she laughed, although I didn't find the humor in it.
I slowly edged my way to the side of the cloud, peering down at the ground below us. We were definitely a fair distance up in the air, as I could see a blue speck that was Dash. I also noted how there were quite a few pegasi out and about, some in armor and others not. I turned my attention back to Twilight, who had also come up beside me. "Uh huh, don't you even think about it," I began, inching my way back to the center of the cloud.
"Now, when you're descending, here's some things to keep in mind, Aurora. You're going to want to snap your wings to your sides... don't. Try to keep them extended the whole time, you should be able to smoothly glide down. At this height you've got, oh..." Twilight looked over the edge, running some mental calculations if I knew her at all, "Probably a minute and then some, if you decide to fall like a rock. If you can get any semblance of gliding going, that will be a lot longer though."
"Good to know, Twilight. Still not doing it." I refused to budge, no way in hell was I going to learn by having her drop me from a cloud. It just wasn't on the list of things that I wanted to experience in life. Twilight let out a giant sigh of exasperation, simply moving next to me.
"Are you sure, Aurora? I mean, I can get you down, I'd just rather have you go of your own power, you know?" she asked me, managing to keep a level voice even though I knew that I was frustrating her with my current outlook.
"Yup. I'm pretty certain that I have no desire to plummet to the ground at terminal velocity. No matter how you paint it, that's not 'teaching.' It's cruelty, plain and simple." I stated, now in the dead center of the cloud.
"Well... don't say I didn't try. Besides, it's how Luna eventually taught me, since Fluttershy wasn't much help." Twilight let out a slightly sad smile before lighting up her horn. Moments later I felt a lack of support, and began to plummet.
"Oh shit oh shit oh shit" I yelled as I fell just like a rock, spinning in the air. My wings were snapped to my sides, and they were pretty much the last thing on my mind as I hit terminal velocity. I began screaming, although the wind buffeting around me ate the sound of my voice.
I don't know how long I fell for, all that I know is that I was in a panic the entire time. It seemed like I was about to meet the ground when a cyan blur hit my side, although instead of completely stopping my momentum she let go after slowing me down. I hit the ground with a nice thud, kicking up a small pile of dirt.
I shakily got up to all four hooves, my entire coat covered in a fine layer of dirt. Next to me, Rainbow was laughing her ass off. "Oh man, oh, wow... You fell just like a rock! You should've seen yourself, you looked like you were going to piss yourself!" Although one of Twilight's friends, and having claimed that I was 'cool' in her book... she was quickly wearing on my nerves.
Sadly, I was too busy trying to keep from stumbling to really do anything about it. Even if I had gone to take action, I felt the familiar pull of teleportation before I found myself right back on the cloud, the hole that Twilight had opened up repaired already.
Tsking, Twilight looked at me. A quick flare of her horn and all the dirt on me floated off, carried away by the wind. "I did warn you, Aurora. You can't let yourself panic like that, you've got to focus on extending your wings and catching the air as you fall. Then you can begin to try and make minor adjustments to them to alter your flight path. Again."
Twilight didn't give me much reprieve before removing the cloud from underneath my hooves again. This time, although the adrenaline was still pumping heavily through my system, I managed to keep a level head; at least enough to begin fighting myself to open my wings. With the wind buffeting me, it was a slight challenge to spread them, although once I got them from my sides the wind did the rest.
I felt sensations running through every feather in my wing, the feedback being sent to my brain nearly overwhelming me at first. Unbidden, I could tell just how fast I was falling, the temperature of the air, the wind's speed and direction... It was an amazing thing. My speed slowly decreased as I began to glide, my wings fully open and catching the air.
I overcompensated as I tried altering the glide, sending myself into a corkscrew that lasted a few seconds. I glided for a few seconds, trying to clear my head. The second time around, I barely adjusted my wingtip, causing me to turn ever so slightly. I laughed, now gliding what seemed to be at least ten feet for every one that I dropped.
Twilight came up next to me, keeping a cautious distance away. She motioned for me to try and follow her as she gently banked to the left. I very slowly adjusted my wings until I finally turned the way I wanted to, and took off behind her. Thinking about flapping my wings, I quickly threw that thought away... there was no need to get myself hurt, as was surely to happen.
I glided, following Twilight, for the next four or five minutes. It was a thrill, even though I wasn't quite flying yet, it was close enough. I'd always dreamed of it, and now I was well on my way to doing so of my own power.
I landed, rolling to a stop as I made contact with the ground. I heard more laughter from Dash, although at the moment I really didn't care about that. Twilight giggled, offering me a hoof which I gladly accepted. "Not bad once you remembered to open your wings, Aurora. Not bad at all." she smiled as she spoke, making me feel proud of myself.
I winced as I moved a wing, I didn't realize how sore I could get so quickly. Twilight took notice of my wince and moved to my side. "Sore?" I nodded, and she hummed as she began to examine my wings. "Well, it just seems that we won't be able to cover as much as I thought we would. It could've been from your first fall, or just being used finally, but they're just strained slightly. Nothing some rest for a day or two won't fix, and then it'll be right back into the sky."
The entire time Twilight spoke, I wore a massive grin on my face. I let out a few sighs as she massaged a few points on my wings as she looked them over, it was an amazing feeling. "Sorry, Dash, but we're done here!" Twilight called out, and I heard a whoosh as Dash took off.
"Twilight?" I asked, turning my head to look her in the eyes. "Fair warning. If you ever dump me from a cloud again, I will conspire with Celestia to ruin your day. I don't know how or why, but I will." she looked at me with an odd expression, and I continued on, "Now, thank you very much for that. The feeling alone was just... wow."
I received a light punch to my shoulder from Twilight. "I don't think I'll need to dump you from a cloud again, after that I'm guessing you'll be willing to get off it of your own power. Besides, it was for a good cause, right?" Twilight questioned, and I had to grudgingly agree that it was a good thing, even if it did make me scared as hell. Plus... flying!
I carefully folded my wings up and followed Twilight inside, ready for another day. After this morning, I felt ready for anything that life could throw at me. As a matter of fact, I was ready to face anything head on and just obliterate it if it dared stand in my way!
Twilight and I chatted back and forth, no real destination in mind. Since it was still so early, the general atmosphere of the castle was relatively calm, ponies were just getting around to having their breakfast.
"And then I say to the whorse, you'll finish what you started, you're the one who wanted to kiss royalty!" A loud voice echoed through the halls, and Twilight immediately halted in her tracks.
"What is it, Twilight?" I asked, also stopped next to her. The voice sounded like a pure snob and somewhat of an asshole, was that why she stopped? Either way, she looked more annoyed than anything else, and she began looking around us.
"Well, you see, there's this one pony that–" Twilight began, although she cut herself off as a snobbish looking unicorn rounded the corner. His coat was pretty damn white, and he had a blonde mane and tail. Hah, blonde. I wonder if the correlation is the same here?
"Oh, my..." he began, that snobbish voice grating against my ears already, "what do we have here? You, madam, are looking most wonderful..."
As he walked up to me, I slowly stepped back, not liking him already. I flared my wings slightly, causing his eyes to widen, although as I looked, they appeared to be sizing me up as if I were a slab of meat. It was the same look I gave to those juicy, medium-rare steaks before murdering them with a knife and fork. Not good, not good at all. "Whoever the fuck you are, stay back. Don't make me do something I'll regret." I warned, standing my ground as I rose to my full height, and then tried adding a few more inches.
"Why, I am the most illustrious Prince Blueblood the Third, son of Duke Blueblood. And you, my dear alicorn princess, are looking most fabulous." he slunk his way ever closer, creeping me out. This guy just yelled total pervert, and I could see why his dad had warned me about him.
Another thing to note, I still had the windswept look going on, my mane was a pretty big mess right now. My tail was still undisturbed because of the braid Rarity had put in it, and for some reason I subconsciously straightened my mane. Sadly, he took it as a positive and continued his advance.
"Now see here, Blueblood, you know damn well–" Twilight began before Blueblood rudely cut her off.
"Princess Twilight," he nearly hissed her title, "why, it's so wonderful to see you. Might I ask who your lovely friend is on this fine morning?" he asked, completely oblivious of my raised hoof, ready to strike his lame ass down.
Twilight stepped in first, sadly, so I pulled my hoof back. "This is my herd member Aurora. Aurora, this pile of slime is Blueblood." his face lit up red, he was so angry I could just imagine the smoke pouring from his ears. However, he quickly composed himself and walked up in front of me, completely ignoring Twilight's words.
I decided that I'd had enough. If Celestia took an issue with my next actions, well... so be it. "Not interested." I calmly spoke, before smoothly executing a one hundred and eighty degree turn and sending both of my hooves crashing right into his face. I felt him go airborne, and smugly smiled to myself. "Coming, Twilight?" I asked, not even bothering to turn around and see the damage I'd done.
Yup, nothing could ruin my day!