//------------------------------//
// Feeling of Freedom 
// Story: Young Skyrider 
// by Skyrider 
//------------------------------//

	Stars of the night slowly faded away from sight. Flowers bloomed from their sleep and even birds slowly chirped awake. Dawn approached as the sun rose slowly far on the horizon, revealing the orchard of Sweet Apple Acres and the quiet town of Ponyville. Somewhere in a cloudhome on the eastern outskirts of Ponyville, a young pegasus was still deep in his slumber. His mouth was slightly open, breathing from it, and also drooling a little onto his pillow. Cold morning breeze was also blowing in from an oval-shaped hole on the wall. It was the window. 

“Sky…wake up!” A soft voice was calling for the young Pegasus to awake from his slumber. It was his dad. “It is morning already.” 

Skyrider, who was buried under his blanket replied, “Ten more…minutes…”

Another voice came from the kitchen, “Sky, I’ve prepared your favorite breakfast, pancakes with syrup and orange juice!” His mom said in a soft and gentle voice.

Skyrider immediately hopped out of his bed and dashed pass his dad into the kitchen after hearing from his mom that she had prepared his favorite breakfast.

“Here you go.” His mom chuckled as she put three stacks of pancakes with syrup on top and a cup of fresh cold orange juice for Skyrider. “Eat up now, your dad has a special plan for you today.”

“What plan is it?” Skyrider asked curiously while chewing on his pancakes.

“You’ll just have to wait an-…” Before his dad could finish his sentence, the young pegasus had already finished his meal and he had a big grin and an excited look on his face. “Oh alright…” He chuckled. “…follow me.”

Skyrider followed his dad outside of their cloudhome. The door opened up to a bright morning sky and the young pegasus was feeling as excited as ever. His dad knew that it was time for him to be with the sky, and it was time for him to feel what he had been waiting for a long time.

“Now listen, Sky. I know you’re very excited, and I am as well. And remember, never give up no matter what happens. I believe in you.” And with a smile, his dad took off into the sky and waited for the young pegasus. His mom flew to the rooftop of their cloudhome, folded her hooves and sat down comfortably, waiting to see the magic in her young colt.

And for the young pegasus, he was feeling nervous and impatient at the same time. Nothing was standing in his way now from reaching for the dream that was standing right in front of him. The sky was quiet, and the clouds were floating slowly. The young pegasus stood at the edge of the cloudhome and took in a deep breath as he gazed at the distance. Slowly and steadily, the wind of a sudden became so inviting in its promise of flight and freedom, it gave one’s spirit the feeling to soar! Skyrider spread his wings wide and leaped off his cloudhome. He flapped his wings as hard as he can, and after months of practice and waiting, he was finally able to carry himself with his own wings in the clear blue sky for the very first time. It happened like it was natural and he did not had much trouble getting used with his wings. 

The young Pegasus was now very excited and happy, he beat his wings, taking him higher into the sky while feeling the wind in his face. He let his feelings control his actions and motions as he soared higher. As soon as he reached high enough on a certain point in the sky, he could see a spectacular view of the magical land of Equestria around him. There was a feeling, one that is so different for the first time that he could not describe with words, it left him floating high up in the sky just staring at the horizon.

“Whooaa, this is amazing! Wooooooooo!” Skyrider shouted as loud as he can with all his heart.

But that feeling did not last long. Suddenly, Skyrider lost control of his wings and he began to fall. His body was being flipped around by the strong wave of wind that was blowing. He tried to flap his wings to balance himself, but his effort was futile. 

“Come on, you can do this Sky!” His dad muttered. He was watching him from a distance on a cloud where he could dive in and save the young pegasus at any time, but he remained still at where he was and wanted him to try and get himself out of this situation by himself.

Skyrider was in a panic state as he continued to struggle to control his body in mid air. It had seemed that he could not do a thing and had almost wanted to give up trying. As he was falling, his eyes caught the view of the blue sky above. Skyrider then remembered his dream of becoming a great flier and also the words that his dad had said to him before taking off. He told himself in his heart that should he fail to fly himself out of this situation, chasing his dreams would just be a waste of time.

“I can do this, I will!” Skyrider said to himself.

With determination and confidence building up inside of the young Pegasus, Skyrider closed his eyes, folded his wings and tried to calm himself down. Using only the wind and gravity, he positioned himself to fall head first. He was now in a free fall and was controlling his body to not sway too much. He was also aware that he does not have much time as the ground was approaching fast. The young pegasus had only one shot at this, and he cannot afford to fail. 

By now, Skyrider’s mind was fully calm and relax. His wings were still shut as he was just waiting for the right time to unfurl his wings. The air blowing was slow and quiet where suddenly, a strong wave of wind began to blow. This was it. The young pegasus opened his eyes and spreads his feathery wings as wide as he can and just remained wide open without flapping them. The wind flowed underneath of his wings and changed his fall into a swift curve, carrying the young pegasus back up into the sky. This time, Skyrider wasn’t afraid of anything anymore. He went higher and beyond the point where he lost control of his wings. As he continued to go higher into the sky, a whole new world appeared before his eyes, a sea of clouds revealed itself, and a long awaited dream had been achieved. 

“Dad, I did it! I did it!” Feeling very happy to what just happened and what he just did, Skyrider immediately dashed towards his dad from above and gave him a big hug.

“I knew you could do it, Sky! I’m so proud of you!” His dad replied and returned the hug with a huge smile. 

“Hey mom, did you see that?” The young Pegasus shouted from the cloud that was a distance away from their cloudhome. And just when Skyrider was about to take off, his dad smirked and unexpectedly nudged him off the cloud they were standing on.

The young pegasus fell off the cloud. But even by doing that, he managed to reposition himself in mid air and control his fall in just a second. Before he decided to fly back up, he was even brave enough to try something new. A lake was waiting below and his wings were still closed up.  He made a decision to unfurl his wings almost at the last second of the fall. Skyrider was falling fast and the lake got closer and closer. Even with full focus and concentration, he released his wings a bit early, but it was to ensure that he would be safe since it was only his first day flying. The moment his wings spread wide open, his fall swiftly changed into a horizontal flight as he glided above the lake. His heartbeat was fast and the adrenaline was pumping, all from the excitement and the joy of finally being able to fly. The young pegasus laid his right hoof above the surface of the lake, feeling the water rushing on his hoof as he laughed happily. He then pulled his body backward and flew back to his cloudhome where his mom was waiting for a hug.

Skyrider landed slowly on the rooftop of his cloudhome and leaped forward, hugging his mom.

“You did really well Sky, I’m really happy for you as well!” said his mom with also a smile on her face. “Come inside and rest for now. You can go out and play with your friends later.” She winks.

“But I wanna go and play now!” Skyrider replied.

“I have some extra orange juice left for you.” His mom cleverly distracted his attention and managed to convince the young pegasus to get some rest before heading back out again.

Skyrider, along with his mom and dad, then headed back into their cloudhome with happy smiles on their faces. It was the day where Skyrider finally got the taste of freedom and the feeling of the joy of flight. His dream of becoming a great flier was also a step closer to him. And it was also an event where Skyrider would never ever forget and he would treasure the memories of it for the rest of his life.