“
We’re trotting along our way, we are trotting night and day!
We’re feasting on swell hay, goin’ wherever the wind may sway.
We’re strolling around lovely fields, see what our adventure yields,
We’re bringing the strongest shields, feel how our marching feels,
We’re galloping on ancient rails, swinging our brightly tails.
We’re gonna tip the mighty scales, following these nightly trails.
We’re climbing mountain’s height, pushing through the cloudy white.
We’re gonna rest in the night, until it’s morning’s bright.
And in the morning, we are going to bath in light.
And in the evening, we watch the coming night.
From the mountains, far and high.
From the valleys, deep and wide.
Our hearts are beating, to the drum’s old chords.
We are marching, with our silvern swords.
“
“Pinkie, deary, in all honesty. I don’t think that is a very fitting song.”
Although the song was an old classic, Rarity didn’t want it to spoil the atmosphere. Now that she thought about it though, it was awfully silent without it. Well, it wouldn’t be that much of a difference, now that they were almost in the village. It had been almost half a day of walking and Pinkie had sung songs for the entire day. It was incredible how enduring Pinkie was with singing. Although her own voice was a bit more professional with her singing, even she could not sing that long, but Pinkie’s many talents had long stopped surprising her.
Even more impressive was Applejack’s durability though, as she was carrying the heavy Changeling for the entire day without even falling behind. Nasty beasts, those things, yet still not as infuriating as they seemed to be for dear Twilight. No, her alicorn friend seemed to almost rage against those things and she could partially understand that, but the amount of hatred that Twilight expressed was just too much.
It was a good feeling when the first houses passed by on their way. This village was slightly bigger than most others, but still small compared to any other big city. The people here were all more like Applejack, unappreciative of the beauty that nature can contain within. They were just trying to get whatever they could out of the earth around them and use it to their advantage. Drinking clear water was nothing that she could condemn though.
It would be so wonderful to have a nice, clear, cold, lovely glass of water right now. She could almost imagine the wet liquid running through her dry throat, spreading refreshment throughout their entire body. Just a teeny tiny glass of water, dripping and dropping and trippling and troppling down, droplet after droplet.
“Rarity?”
It seemed that without even having noticed it, Rarity had entered some state of dehydrated trance and stopped in her tracks. While the others had decided to just move on, Fluttershy had turned around and was now staring at her in confusion. Slightly ashamed of her own behaviour, she decided it would be best to play it down.
“What is it, sweetie, have you discovered something of importance?”
“Ermm… No… Not really… but-but-but I justwantedtotellyouwearemeetinginthdncnmanticr”
The “Dancing Manticore”, at least Rarity hoped that was what Fluttershy had said, was a small village pub in the middle of this small oasis town. They would probably discuss what to do with the living sack of old potatoes that was currently being carried by the only pony strong enough to carry such a heavy weight. Without losing further time, standing around in the middle of the street like a dumbfounded maniac, contemplating whatever incredible new nonsense could be applied to their unbelievably inconceivably well thought out master plan. It was simply time to drink a bit of water. Or maybe, if they were lucky, even cider.
The place was great and so much stuff was happening and everypony laughed and drank and made a giant party and it was probably one of the best times of my life! It was one giant house made for parteys, and everypony was in party mood. The beer maidens danced on the tables, the pegasi made an air show, the unicorns projected dancing colors into the air, filling the room with the super-duper-awesomeness that was this giant party. Everypony in this pub was partying… well, except for her friends. Even though the sweet melodies of fast rhythmic music swept through the air, her friends voices were cold and hard when speaking about the broken Changeling.
The broken Changeling, at least that is how I like to call him, had been the cause of our distraction and misery. We weren’t even participating in this giant party just because we had to argue about the Changeling. To be quite honest with you, I have no idea why the whole thing even had to be discussed. We had met another pony, the pony felt threatened and made wrong decisions, and when we needed his help, he helped. And now, because of this help he is hurt rather badly. So why was there even a discussion about helping him back? Well, Twilight couldn’t bring it over herself to simply help him. Usually Pinkie would have just laughed and shrugged at the ignorance presented to her. She never made much of ignorance and just tried to avoid it wherever she could. Life is about fun, not about having some stupid stereotype and following it all your life, making you hate other ponies and unable to experience the fun of difference and getting to know other styles of life, other ways to achieve the only true achievement in life: A happy life. Of course some can’t be just happy like me, that is my own special talent, but with enough effort, you can make everypony smile! The thing about stereotypes though is, that it is much harder to get rid of them than to acquire them. Twilight couldn’t enjoy the happy atmosphere due to her hate towards Changelings… and now she was spreading the unhappiness throughout their entire corner. Everypony seemed so angry and it made me sick.
“Cheer up, everypony. It’s not the end of the world if we don’t agree on all things.”
I just threw it in there to stop the silence that had ensued after Twilight had screamed at Applejack to be too caring when dropping the poor thing into a bed.
“Not now, Pinkie Pie!”
The sharp response came from Rainbow Dash, not from Twilight. It seemed as if the disease of anger had spread throughout them all, leaving nopony untouched, no happiness left inside. It was a dangerous virus, a terrible harbinger of misfortune. An infection anchoring so deeply into ones mind that it changes their life. Nothing can come from it but unhappiness and disharmony.
“Let’s just leave him here, then we won’t have to argue about it anymore.”
This time, it was Rarity stating this preposterous idea. She had also become infected just like everypony else. I couldn’t just let her idea stand in the room like that.
“We can’t just leave him here. He helped us and now we should help him!”
“He helped us by luring us into a dragon cave, nearly killing us all?! He is nothing but a monster! For one second in your entire life, be reasonable! He wants to kill us all, no second in his life has he been truthful, no second in his life has he been doing something right, he is just fooling you all, trying to make you comply with his false ideals, lure you into trusting him and then he is going to backstab you. He is going to try to kill us all. HE IS INSANE!”
Twilight had caused almost the entire room to go silent. When she noticed the reactions to her outburst, she just stormed out of the pub, screaming: “DO WHAT YOU WANT!” Within seconds, she slammed the heavy wooden door behind her. Shortly after the loud sound spread through the pub, the musicians started playing again. Everypony wanted to go after Twilight, but somehow no pony could bring themselves to get up and face her anger. Something had to be said.
“Girls… I know that nopony wanted this to happen and we are all just tired. But please, be true to yourselves: Can we just let an innocent die because we’ve had bad experiences with others from his race?”
Although the expression on their faces didn’t change, it was obvious to me that they were thinking about what I had just said. Hopefully they would come to the same conclusion as I had… And then we could have fun together again.
It had been just an average conversation about some boring stuff like food rationing and such, when for some reason somepony had mentioned flying. Probably wanting to express the possibility that they could send her to the next village to grab some food or something like that. From that moment on, Rainbow Dash had listened a bit more closely, up from a rather comfortable cloud. The clouds in these lands were rougher since they had been given more time to develop, but this one was perfectly fine. Twilight had calmed down a bit, and she seemed far more relaxed than before:
“...and if Rainbow Dash can’t carry it all, we -”
“Hey! Of course I can carry it all!”
“Okay. In the hypothetical scenario that there was an overwhelming enemy in the air, for example a dragon and you would be limited in the capability of fighting the dragon and carrying the supplies at the same time, it could be good to send more than one pony, just to help you along a bit. We could send Fluttershy… and Ethereal.”
It didn’t even surprise Dash that Twilight would try to spend the least time possible with Ethereal and get rid of him whenever she could. Man, she really hated that guy for some reason. Of course she wouldn’t need the help in the hypothetical scenario and they both would be dead weight to her, but as long as that could prevent conflicts, she was fine with it. Preserving the friendship was much more important than her own pride.
“Sure. As long as they don’t hold me back too much…”
“I can’t fly.”
Wait, what? Had Ethereal just said he couldn’t fly?
“You got wings, dude. Of course you can fly.”
“No I can’t, I have no idea how to use these.”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t stop herself from giving a glance over to Twilight, who she had helped to learn to fly just a couple of months ago. Of course, Twilight’s flying ability was still more than lacking, but Dash had done wonders on a lost cause. Maybe she could… Of course she could! She was one of the strongest and best flyers in all of Equestria. If she couldn’t teach this Changeling how to fly, nopony could. She would prove herself, show that she was not only among the elite flyers in all of Equestria, but also one of the best flight trainers. Something that would only be fitting for the lead pony in a Wonderbolt’s flight squadron.
With a single, fluid movement, she jumped into the air, her wings tightly by her side, then with one big burst opened them both up, flapping one time to propel herself backwards, causing her body to rotate two times, before softly stopping her momentum by turning her wings in a particular manner, that allowed them to catch the air. A double backflip was one of her favorite choices as it was both quick and incredibly stylish.
“Ethereal, come over here.”
Even though his expression showed confusion and just a bit of awe, he still reacted quickly and without unnecessary motion. It was important to have the full control over one’s body when flying and this one seemed to be fit for the task as his wing muscles were strong and his mind seemed clear.
“Okay, now open your wings.”
While he seemed to try to make his backbone jump a salto and his legs tangle themselves, her friends turned around and resumed their boring talk. Seeing how it was obviously not necessary to participate in the conversation anymore and the obvious struggles of the Changeling, she decided it would be best to find a place for better training.
“I can’t do it. I have no idea how.”
“It’s… not a problem. Let’s just go somewhere, where not the entire village is watching your… attempts.”
The Changeling started blushing and quickly followed her lead. Of course she glided through the air instead of using her hooves. Flight was such a wonderful thing, to be able to just roam freely and go wherever you might want to without much effort. To simply feel the airflow around oneself when diving into the deepest cavities, to feel the sun burning brightly and yet feeling the cold air rushing by you at the same time. To hear the roaring thunder of a mighty storm and still feel powerful enough to conquer the winds themselves, to fight a battle of superiority, always with the possibility to fall and yet risking it every time. To sense the world around you and to sense yourself, that was the art of flight.
“Okay, here is fine.”
Although they had not ventured too far, this area still seemed to be fine for training. There was a steep cliff before them, just some hundred hooves, but enough for a good flight lesson. All of it behind a ‘wall’ of big black stones, aligning perfectly to hide them from the village, if they didn’t fly up too high.
“So, you are telling me you have no idea how to flap your wings?”
“Yes.”
This would prove difficult, but it wasn’t the first time that she had met somepony with supposedly paralyzed wings. It was all about the right feeling.
Without saying a world, Dash rushed towards the Changeling, quickly pushing herself into his side. The reaction went just as she had expected. He almost lost his balance, desperately trying to change the center of mass, spreading limbs and … his wings. It was a basic test to verify if wings were really paralyzed or if the pony was just unable to control them properly. A truly wing-paralyzed pegasus wouldn’t have been able to move their wings to balance themselves. It was a basic reaction to tense all of your muscles in face of the danger of falling over, so the spreading of his wings had been an instinctive reaction.
“See, you can flap your wings.”
She couldn’t help but to put more pride into those words than she had planned to. If she could get him to make his first flight on this day already, she would prove her skill!
“Okay, so let me just…”
With these quick words, she approached Ethereal again, but not to throw him over, but instead to touch his wings. They were well cared for, in excellent shape, at least as far as she could tell for non feathered wings. She slowly moved his wings around, inspecting them carefully. Then, suddenly she pushed it as far upwards as she could.
“OUCH! Why?! Argh!”
Exactly the reaction she had hoped for. She quickly released the pressure and the wing snapped back into its original position. He definitely had a feeling in his wings!
“Okay, so where does it hurt?”
“In my back, because you nearly ripped my wings off!”
“No, where exactly does it hurt?”
Surprised by the question, Ethereal took more time to contemplate about the possible meaning of it. She could see him concentrate on where the pain might come from. After a short moment of hesitation, he finally answered.
“Right under my shoulders.”
That was actually quite interesting. Unlike pegasi, who had their flight muscles attached right on the connection of wing to body, this Changeling seemed to have his muscle strings attach inside of his body. That was probably the reason why they could switch between the state of having their wings attached to their body and the state where they could fly easily.
“Okay, now try to tense up your muscle on that particular spot.”
“But my wings are much further d-”
“Just do it!”
His face changed into an image of ambition and quickly after that into exhaustion, but with feathertip after feathertip he pushed his wings… backwards for some reason. After about 5 feathertips, his wings suddenly pushed outwards with one rather nasty noise. It sounded as if Ethereal had just broken his bones or something, but he didn’t make any sound.
“Ethereal, I think you can stop now.”
The confused Changeling turned around, then screamed in shock. Yes, he literally screamed in shock of his own wings. Don’t ask me why. He just did.
“Okay, now, see if you can… I don’t know, move your muscles up and down… I guess.”
It was much harder describing the whole process than just doing it. What were you really doing when you were flapping your wings? You push them up like you push your hand up. I mean, could you describe how eating works if they didn’t know about their own mouth muscles? It is so weird even to think about it, that somepony with wings couldn’t simply control them. I mean, she had seen it before, but it still weirded her out.
The sun had almost sunk behind the horizon, when his wings finally opened on his first try. The thick air quickly slowed his downward motion and allowed him to push himself up further. Then, he quickly pulled his wings upwards, slightly tilted to the side so that he wouldn’t push himself downwards again, pushing his wings down again, which in turn lifted himself up, just to repeat the whole process again and again.
It was an incredibly difficult task to just keep on flapping without stopping for a second, as the deep valley below him greeted him with death. He gave it all, slowly crawling upwards hoof after hoof. His teacher, the rainbow colored pegasus was flying saltos and barrel rolls in the air in the meanwhile. To see the ease in her flight made him a bit envious, seeing as he could only push himself up with greatest efforts. Still, that was a giant leap from yesterday, where he had not even known that he would ever be able to fly. Now, he still couldn’t really fly well, but he could move those wings. It was freedom, even if under such a big price.
“Don’t worry Ethereal,” Rainbow Dash yelled down from her height “training makes mastery. Just keep on trying and maybe one day you will be able to fly properly.”
He once again doubled his efforts and gained height more quickly. He had trained the whole process of flapping his wings for the entirety of the noon and afternoon, until in the early evening, they had started to try out the cliff. The first try had run horrible, just crashing into the walls and barely able to stop himself. As the hours went by though, he quickly got the hang of the basics. He still had major problems in tilting his wings to let the air pass by in the right moment, but holy Ostia, he was able to fly! A flying unicorn, that’s not something you see every day!
With the quick succession of three particularly strong pushes, he gained enough momentum to barely reach over the cliff and land on the side, exhausted, but also proud. He had mastered flight! He was the master of all elements now, defying the very nature of gravity, controlling the forces around him, doing the impossible! He had done it! Take that, mother nature! Take that, you damned winds! Take that, you damn desert! Either it was this feeling of ecstasy and pride or it was the simple fact that walking on three legs painfully reminded himself of what was missing, but he decided to fly the way back home.
Of course Rainbow Dash always pushed ahead, giving him always just enough time to barely catch up, until she zoomed through the landscape again. Her Rainbow Mane was shining brightly in the red light of the descending sun, giving it an almost ethereal look. Her eyes were filled with pride and joy and ambition, so full of life like he had never seen before. She was… beautiful.
The early sun had just risen over the horizon and yet Fluttershy noticed that the Changeling was already missing from their room. For the entire last day he had been training with Rainbow Dash and it seemed as if they both were out again. She would probably be able to find them at the cavity later, but for now there was a journey that had to be prepared. It would be an act of kindness to just let them both train, while she and her friends would care for everything else. The Changeling really seemed to quite enjoy flying… and for some reason she could understand that, even though she would probably never enjoy it that much herself. It wasn’t the fear from the past… not anymore. Still, every time she flapped her wings, it seemed as if she was stuck in some sticky goo, struggling for her life to get up. She was strong enough to defy gravity, to freely roam through the air and yet it all presented no joy to her.
Fluttershy decided to meet up with the others outside, but when she opened the door, she realized that Twilight had already prepared everything over the night, assembling hills of food supplies and gadgets to be used right in the middle of the road, blocking several villagers in their way to work. Twilight had shown her overly punctual behavior before, but this? She probably just wanted to get this all over with. Still, that would leave a question for her: What was she supposed to do now? Well… There was one thing she still wanted to do: Meeting the rare desert animals would be a fantastic way to start the long, lifeless journey. To find the small critters however would be a rather difficult task as most animals had adapted to the desert so well that they were almost impossible to see - which was something she had read in books about exotic animals. Fluttershy could only wonder about the inhabitants of this black desert though.
Without even venturing out too far, Fluttershy noticed a rather strange creature cowering between the rocks. Although she had trained eyes when it came to small critters, this one had almost been squashed by her hooves. Much similar to a tiny snake, this black cuteling had no legs, but due to its black dull skin, it was incredibly well hidden in the rocky area. Fluttershy decided to pull out some of the leaves she had gathered a couple of days ago. By now, the beautiful color had faded anyway. Nature’s beauty can’t last forever, nothing can. Still, it was a shame to have lost such beauty. Now it would serve as possible food for the little thing. Fluttershy was quite surprised when the small black creature jumped up to her saddlebag, starting to feast upon the entirety of her assemblance. All the wonderful things she had gathered throughout their journey were lost in a matter of seconds. The earth from Ponyville, the dust from Appaloosa, the stones from the macintosh hills, and the dead wood from the Lycantare jungle was all that was left after the little guy was done with the contents of her bag.
“Quite hungry, are we?” Fluttershy couldn’t help but to smile at the insatiable hunger of the little thing. She had seen lots of wild creatures, but never one this… strange.
It got even weirder when the creature seemed to make some kind of… nest inside of her bag. Being quite honest though, she really didn’t mind it, as it was an excellent opportunity to study the lifestyle of these animals. The way it quickly crawled around in her bag made her wonder how it could move like that. Of course she knew how snakes moved, but she had never seen one this quick and agile. Its body seemed to unnaturally just go wherever it wanted, defying every law of physics. Something about it though was cute. In a way she would never be able to explain, she adored the little thing. Then again, she also adored cutesy little spiderses, so why shouldn’t she adore this? For it to come with her though, it would need a name… While Fluttershy’s mind rumbled like an ancient mechanism in mossy stone that would unlock doors to tremendous treasury, she slowly made her way back to the village. They were all probably already waiting for her so they could finally begin their journey.