Rainbow Dash dropped me off at my home, telling me she was going to be busy on weather duty for the next week or so because of the fast approaching spring. After that we could begin my flying lessons. I couldn’t wait.
When my grandmare asked me how it went I exploded into conversation. I was so happy I couldn’t think to lower my voice. The most amazing pony in the world wanted to be my big sister and teach me how to fly. How could things get any better?
I decided to ask my grandmare to take me to the doctor to have my wings checked again before we began my training. I felt really hopeful that I was almost cured. I unfurled my wings with pride, letting them be measured and x-rayed.
I was talking with my grandmare leisurely when the doctor came back, putting my x-ray up on the board. “So how is it, doc? Am I going to be flying very soon?”
He continued studying the chart, facing away from me, and didn’t respond. When he finally turned around I felt some of my joy leave me as he wasn’t smiling. “Have you been using your wings a lot recently?” he asked.
“Yeah. I can’t fly yet, but I use them to help me with my scooter riding.”
“I see.” He was silent for a little while, but then he finally said, “I’m sorry, but according to your chart your stunted wing has gotten worse, not better.”
“WHAT?” I said, feeling all the happiness in me leave. “B-but… b-b-but…”
“It seems that using your wings so excessively has exacerbated your condition. I don’t like to say this but your time is running out. You only have so long before your natural growth spurt and your wings finish their development cycle. If you can’t find the money to have the surgery done by that time then soon after that you will completely lose the use of your wings even for simple tasks.”
It was like being hit in the stomach and being thrown into a freezing cold lake. My body contracted so hard I wound up in a ball. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My stomach felt like it had rocks in it. Tremors racked my body as I started sobbing.
So this was it. I was forever going to be an earthbound pony. It was the end of all my hopes and dreams. I had believed so hard that I could be just like Rainbow Dash. It was the only thing that had kept me going throughout everything. Now I wouldn’t be able to use my wings even to help me with my riding, the one thing I thought would let me catch up to her. Now even that hope was gone. I would never be able to stand at her side like she wanted.
Just like the last time I had heard horrible news at the doctor I felt like I couldn’t just stay in one place. I uncurled myself, running out of the office. I didn’t know where I was going to go but I knew I couldn’t ever show my face in front of Rainbow Dash again. It would just hurt too much.
I heard a voice above me say, “Gotcha!” I didn’t even have time to think as I felt someone grab me and throw me up into the air. I landed on something hard, and the next thing I knew the ground was drifting away below me.
“Rain… bow… Dash...,” I said slowly. Our first few meetings had been purely accidental, but even this seemed like she had way too good timing, getting me right after I had left.
“You got some bad news, huh?” she asked somberly.
Ordinarily I would have been thrilled to have Rainbow Dash give me a ride, but… not today. “Yeah.”
“You have a smart grandmare, you know that?”
“I do?”
“She asked me to stay nearby when she took you to the doctor just in case things didn’t go as you hoped. Just in case you wanted to talk.”
I looked down again. Way too far to jump. Ordinarily I also would have been thrilled to see Rainbow Dash at all, but… not today. Not today of all days. I felt too ashamed. A pegasus who couldn’t fly was like a unicorn who couldn’t do magic, or an earth pony who was extremely weak.
“Let me down,” I finally said.
“I don’t think so,” she responded firmly. “I think you should tell me what happened.”
I leaned over, putting my head on her neck because I just didn’t feel any energy. It wasn’t like I could go anywhere else. “My condition got worse! And he told me that if I can’t get the surgery by my normal growth spurt then my wings will just stay the same size or grow in wrong and I won’t be able to use them at all then.”
I felt tears coming down my eyes again as I grabbed her neck, holding it hard, the shaking starting again. “I don’t get it!” I heard my voice crack. “All I EVER wanted was to be like you! Why? Why can’t I have that? What did I do to deserve this?”
I saw Rainbow Dash glance at me, a sad look on her face. “Well, kid… you may never fly, but how would you like to see what it’s like to be Rainbow Dash for a day?”
I didn’t know what she meant, and I didn’t know if I even cared. Even so, I told her, “Okay.”
She told me to hold on tight, and when I did she started racing to the ground. She started pulling off all sorts of tricks. I did feel a sort-of happiness from being along for the ride, but it was still outweighed by my sadness that I could never do it myself.
After a few minutes she turned around to me again. I just stared back at her, still feeling torn up. “Stubborn, huh?” she said. “Just like me. I guess I’m going to have to bring out the big guns!” With that she let out a sly laugh, heading back to the ground. She got some rope, and went to Rarity’s boutique. With Rarity’s magic she helped tie my back legs to Rainbow’s front legs, explaining that she was going to do something complicated and didn’t want to worry about me falling off.
She went outside, hovering as she tested out her control of her front legs. I felt my hooves move with hers. She asked where my house was, and I wearily told her. When we got there she grabbed my helmet and goggles, instructing me to put them on. I didn’t know where all of this was going but I didn’t have the strength to try to dissuade her.
“Alright, kid!” she said, a rising excitement in her voice. “Get ready for the flight of your life!” She started laughing as she flew straight upwards.
Higher and higher we went until the whole town looked miniscule. We flew so high that I saw the stadium where the Best Young Flier’s competition had been held not long ago. I found myself wondering how high she was going to go. For the “flight of my life” simply heading straight up wasn’t exactly high on the list of things that would qualify.
When she finally stopped she said, “Give me a countdown and hold on tight, kid!” Her voice was full of unbridled glee.
I sighed. I felt like this was all so pointless. Nothing was going to cheer me up. Not even Rainbow Dash could do that. I decided to just play along. It wasn’t like I could do anything else, being so high up in the air and my legs attached to hers. I had to fight to keep a massive sarcastic tone out of my voice as I said, “Three… two… one… go.” I tried to emphasize the “go” part but it just didn’t come out that way.
The next thing I knew we were heading diagonally to the ground, much faster than we had gone up. Faster and faster I heard Rainbow’s wings going. At first I felt nothing. This was still not doing anything for me. Now we were just heading downward instead of upward.
My mind quickly changed though as she continued on. My eyes widened and I felt a combination of intense fear and anticipation when I saw that same warping of air I had noticed at the competition. Even in my depressed state that caught my attention entirely. No… she wasn’t… surely she wasn’t about to… there was no way she was going to-
I didn’t get to finish that thought. I only had just enough time to tighten my grip before the entire world seemed to warp around us like an arrow. Everything seemed to slow down for a few moments in time despite the intense speed we were going. The things around the side of us seemed to curve in, and I saw up close and personal the sonic shockwave seemingly erupt from her own body.
The next thing I knew it was like we had jumped to another space entirely, like time had caught back up with us, and suddenly everything looked so much closer than it did a second ago. I felt the wind ripping at me, and I was glad I had goggles on or I probably wouldn’t have been able to see. I squeezed Rainbow like my life depended on it, scared of what would happen if I lost my grip on her. The sheer speed of it and the air blowing around us forced my wings open, and I couldn’t get them closed again no matter how hard I tried.
The ride was much gentler, though still quite intense, after that first jump. We were coming up near the ground, and with her natural skill and extreme precision she pulled herself up just in time, and now we were headed back up into the sky, a rainbow following us all the way.
“Let me show you a trick I’ve been working on, Scootaloo.” She turned her head toward me, but I could still barely hear her over the sound of the wind. “It’s a trick I haven’t shown anyone else, and you’ll be the first to experience it. Mini rainboom barrage!”
Mini rainboom barrage? What in the world was that! I didn’t know how much more I could take but Rainbow Dash didn’t look like she was going to stop anytime soon.
Rainbow Dash had that determined, confident look on her face that had made me admire her in the first place. She turned her head forward again and I made sure to tighten my grip, as hard as I could.
With that she put on bursts of speed, each one causing a small boom, and as I looked behind us I could see circles of rainbow booms erupting on the path of the rainbow. Each time my heart jumped from the sudden acceleration.
She was racing back toward the ground again, slowing down. The rainbow following us began to vanish.
When we hit the ground I couldn’t figure out why we were still going. At least, I thought we were. The whole world appeared to be spinning. I felt nauseous in a good way, my heart was going a mile a minute, and even though Rainbow Dash had done all the work I was the one who felt exhausted. All four of my legs and my wings ached but I had absolutely no complaints. It had been such a rush, such an unbelievable experience. That was what it was like to be Rainbow Dash? Woooow. I’d take that any day.
I tried to speak several times, but I couldn’t get my mouth to work. All that came out when I tried were little gasps and wheezy, giddy laughs. When I tried to raise my head off her neck my head swam so bad I had to close my eyes and settle back down. Rainbow Dash got somepony to untie the ropes around my legs. As soon as my legs were free I instantly fell off her back and onto the ground, trying to get my bearings.
I still felt like we were flying. I couldn’t move at all. What a ride!
“You alright there, kid?” I could see Rainbow Dash above me. “Don’t feel too bad. Not everybody can handle the awesomeness that is Rainbow Dash.”
I felt lightheaded as I nodded, like I was half-asleep. The few things I could see on the ground still looked like they had that warped appearance to them.
Even after about ten minutes I still hadn’t recovered enough to get up, so eventually Rainbow Dash just picked me up in her hooves and took me home herself. She set me in my bed and told me to rest before she left.
My grandmare came in right after that, sitting next to me and rubbing her hoof through my mane. “Well, you certainly look like you’ve been through the ringer. Are you okay?”
I nodded to her, and thankfully I didn’t feel as lightheaded this time. I finally found my voice. “I… I got to go on the most amazing ride. Rainbow Dash let me experience that sonic rainboom thing I told you about. You wouldn’t believe it. Watching it was cool, but being on her back when she did it was beyond anything else.”
“I was right, then. I knew if anyone could help you out of your funk it would be her.”
Her comment felt like an emotional punch in the gut. I struggled to get up, fighting off my dizzyness, and hugged her. “I don’t want you to feel bad. You’re really special to me too.”
“I know,” she said, pushing me back down. “I wouldn’t advise getting up at the moment. You don’t look so good.”
In the end, it took another hour before I felt back to normal. The pure adrenaline that had run through my body was extreme. That feeling of sheer speed, of the world passing by you in an instant; the feelings I experienced were beyond what I could put into words, but I did my best to tell her. I could still see it in my mind.
Following that day me and my scooter were inseparable again. I knew it had made my condition worse before but I didn’t see the point in not doing it. It came out to the same thing either way. The doctor had told me that if I couldn’t get the surgery before I started my growth spurt that I was going to lose the use of my wings for good. If that was the case I was going to get all the use out of them I could while I was able to.
Four months went by before I noticed it, my body growing at a greater rate than normal, and I knew that time had finally run out.
I went to the doctor one last time. I had told my grandmare she didn’t need to bother Rainbow Dash this time. I didn’t have the false hope I did before. It wasn’t that I gave up, but more that I had resigned myself to the news. We hadn’t even come close to raising the money for that surgery, so I just had to accept it. I knew now that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t turn me away just because I couldn’t fly.
If anything, I was at least somewhat thankful for my condition. After all, Rainbow Dash was the only one who had ever pulled off a sonic rainboom. I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it even without stunted wing. It was only because of this disability that I was able to experience what it was like. That memory still stood out to me, more vivid than any other in my life.
Just like before they measured my wings and took x-rays. I guess I should have been more upset, but I really felt nothing at all when he returned. He had a look of shock on his face, scratching his head as he walked in. He seemed to be talking to himself. “I’ve never seen anything like this. I just can’t understand how… this is…” He seemed to remember we were there, suddenly looking up.
“That bad, huh?” I said with a laugh, even though there was nothing funny about it.
He shook his head, before putting up two x-rays on the board. Placing a hoof on his neck he scratched it while saying, “Well, I don’t even know how to begin to explain this but… you’re cured.”
His words penetrated my brain, and I fought back the feelings of relief that attempted to come out. “What do you mean I’m cured?” I asked.
“Exactly what I said.” He pointed to the two x-rays. “This first one here is from your last wing examination, and this one here is the one we just took. As you may be able to notice your wing structure is considerably straighter and more expanded.”
I still didn’t dare to hope. I didn’t want to hope. Not after I had worked so hard to accept that I would never be able to fly. “Oh, come on,” I said lightly, nonchalantly shaking my hoof in his direction. “You probably just have the wrong chart… mixed them up with another pegasus.”
“That’s impossible. You’re the only pegasus in for exams right now.”
In my mind I was telling him to stop. To stop. To stop it! Stop it! I felt a rising feeling of belief that I tried to crush. I didn’t want to hear it! I didn’t want to start believing only to have my hopes dashed to pieces again. “Rainbow Dash said that stunted wing can sometimes correct itself as the pony grows up.”
“That… is true. However, the damage was too great. I’ve never seen a pegasus with that level of damage recover like this.”
“Well, then there’s a problem with your machine!” I said, getting angry and upset as I jumped out of my seat. “You told me that using my wings was what made my condition worse in the first place. Since you said I was going to lose the use of them anyway when I hit the growth spurt I’m going through right now I’ve been using them all the time. It can’t be true. It’s all a big mistake! Nothing’s changed! And I-”
Something came to me then, everything else fading away. Rainbow Dash… taking me on a sonic rainboom ride, my wings being forced open with the supersonic speeds. The numerous powerful jumps of her mini rainboom barrage, each one pulling at my wings painfully. Was it possible? Could it be possible that the pressure she created on my wings was enough to straighten my wing muscles out?
I said what I was thinking, and the doctor just looked more perplexed. “Well, it’s certainly not something we could test. Rainbow Dash is the only pony who’s ever pulled off that move.
“Oh, yes. From what we saw of your wing measurement they’ve grown in a little more, to the smaller side of what would be expected of your age group, but going from what I can see your wings should grow in just fine. No telling when you’ll be able to use them to fly, but that option is now available to you again.”
I couldn’t hold it back anymore, the feeling of happiness rising up in me. I let out a happy scream.
When we left I stared open-mouthed at the group gathered outside. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, and, most important of all, Rainbow Dash. I turned toward my grandmare, and she looked back at me sheepishly. “Well, I know what you said, but I still felt that bad news feels easier to take when it’s shared with all the people you love.”
I smiled at her. I wasn’t mad. How could I be mad? My dreams were being born anew. I could still be what I was meant to be.
I told all of them the good news, and they were all just as happy as I was. I turned to Pinkie Pie. “Hey, Pinkie. You know what news like this is good for?”
Pinkie gasped as she hopped into the air. “PARTY! Gimme five minutes!” With that she raced away so fast I was surprised she didn’t create the earth pony version of a sonic rainboom.
“Gosh, Rainbow Dash. I think Pinkie Pie may be the only one to beat you in speed… at least when it comes to parties.”
She laughed at that. “I don’t think any pony in Equestria can match up to Pinkie Pie when she gets excited.”
We all walked to Sugarcube Corner, me beaming all the way. Colors seemed so much brighter. The sound of birds chirping was like the most beautiful music, the sun felt so warm, the grass so soft, the breeze so refreshing.
The party went on for hours, lasting until the night. At one point my grandmare bid us goodnight and told me happily to come home whenever I was ready. I hadn’t felt this good all year. It hadn’t ended. I could still one day be the best flier or the best scooterist or whatever.
The next day after school Rainbow Dash came to visit my house. She had a much more serious look on her face than I’d ever seen on her before. She wore a hat and whistle. “Scootaloo!” she said sharply. “Do you still want to fly?”
“Of course!” I said, though with a touch of anxiousness from the way she was glaring at me.
“No matter what it takes?”
“Oh, yes!”
“Well, then, let’s go.” She turned around and began walking away without a second look. I quickly gave a hurried goodbye to my grandmare before running after her.
She took me up to a hill, telling me to sit down. When I did she said, “I’m warning you right now, Scootaloo. This is not playtime. This is training. If you want to try to be as awesome a flier as me some day then I’m not going to baby you. I’m not going to take it easy on you. If you want it I’m going to make you work for it, harder than you’ve ever worked before. Do you understand that?”
I nodded. So that was why she seemed so different. She was trying to get into coaching mode. Whatever it was I felt I could handle it. I would handle it. I was finally receiving direct instruction from my idol and I didn’t want to let her down.
She instructed me in stretching my wings so they wouldn’t get cramped, then about breathing in a steady rhythm and focusing. Then it was time to try to fly. She took me over to a small cliff overlooking the ground below. It was only about five feet down.
“Okay, squirt. Show me what you’ve learned.”
“Right, Rainbow Dash.” I opened my wings, rotating them in their sockets and clenching them to get them warmed up. After that I began the breathing pattern she taught me.
“Good so far. Now what you have to focus on is your wing tempo. Make sure you keep both wings going at the same pace or you’ll fall. It may seem obvious since you’re used to riding your scooter but flying is a whole other matter. When you get nervous you’ll panic and that’s when your wings can get out of sync.”
I nodded. This wasn’t so bad. Backing up for a running start I jumped off the cliff, flapping my wings hard. I got about three feet before crashing into the dirt below. It hurt a little bit, but nothing too serious. I’d just sit here for a little bit until I recovered, and then I’d give it another shot.
A sharp whistle blast rang in my ears. “What are you doing, Scootaloo? Get up!”
Well, scratch that plan. I forced myself up, heading back to the top of the hill. I laughed awkwardly. “I’ll try to do better next time.”
She gave me a slight smack that more got my attention than hurt. “I don’t want this wishy-washy garbage! Don’t tell me you’ll 'try' to do better next time. Either work to actually do it better or just go home!”
I winced a little. “Yes, Rainbow Dash.” I headed back to the top of the hill. I gave myself more of a running start, jumping as hard as I could, hoping that it would give me a better shot. I flapped my wings as hard as I could.
It was a total failure! I crashed right into the ground again. My stomach already hurt a little from before, and now it hurt a little more from the increased height.
Rainbow Dash flew down to me. “Hey! Lazy bones! Get up!”
I groaned a little. “J-just give me a second.”
“I’ll give you even more if you don’t get your lazy flank up right now! I'll give you all the time in the world to learn to fly by yourself.”
I felt a stab of panic. I didn't want to let her down this early! Ignoring my pain I got back up on my hooves.
“Clearly you don’t have any flying talent, so I guess we’ll have to start with the kiddy exercises first, Baby-loo.”
That one stung. “I… I can handle it!”
“Clearly you can’t! Your pathetic wings aren’t going to get you off the ground any time soon, especially with your weak work ethic. Sheesh, I almost want to just give up here. You’re barely trying!”
This went on for the rest of the hour. I tried to get off the ground, fell, and then get scolded and snapped at. She certainly wasn’t kidding. Rainbow Dash was relentless. I barely got off the ground for more than a few seconds at any given time before I crashed. She didn’t accept excuses, and only gave me a short period of bearing with the pain from a crash before she snapped at me to get up and continue. I thought she was being a little too critical. It was only my first time, after all. We couldn’t all be experts like she was right away.
But… I also knew it was pointless to say anything. She had told me from the beginning that this was the way it was going to be. I only had myself to blame if I didn’t realize what “not babying” and “not taking it easy” meant.
We had training once a week, with Rainbow Dash giving me homework of wing stretches and wing-ups every few hours to get more accustomed to using my wings and to strengthen my wing muscles.
My second session was hardly better than my first. She was even harsher in her criticism, like she expected that one week of practice was supposed to have been sufficient for me to have developed to the standard she was looking for.
My third, fourth, and fifth sessions were basically the same. I did everything she asked me to, but every time I thought I was getting close to what she wanted it felt like she moved the goal a few steps away from me. It was like she was hovering success over my head and daring me to take it, then yanking it away when I tried to grab it.
I began avoiding her during the week because I thought she didn’t really like me anymore. I felt so pathetic. Here I was with the best teacher I could have, and all I could do was fall, and fall, and fall. I guess I deserve all her insults if I was this lame.
I was slowly getting more frustrated with her. Why wouldn’t she cut me a break? I know she had said it would be hard but I was still a filly for goodness sake. It felt like all she did was complain about me. She never praised me for my small accomplishments. I had actually managed to learn to glide but she wasn’t satisfied with that either because it wasn’t flying. I felt halfway to just giving up on those lessons of hers and just learning to fly on my own.
In the next few weeks it felt like all I remembered of my lessons were the insults. “That sucked! Can’t you do better?”
“Ugh! Why are you so lazy? Why don’t you work harder?”
“This is barely worth my time. I should just go take a nap. It won’t make any difference. You’ll still be the lame flightless filly you are now when I wake up.”
One day, after yet another crash, I heard the familiar voice, blowing her whistle and yelling, “Let’s go, let’s go! Up, up, up! It’s training time. Sleep on your own time!”
And for the first time ever I lost my temper on her. “NO!” I snapped. “I’m not getting up. I’m happier right here. I quit!”
“Quit? QUIT! You can’t quit!”
“I can’t take it anymore! All you ever do is yell and scream and hurt my feelings. Fine, then. If I’m a baby, I’m a baby. I don’t want to work with you anymore!” I started to cry, hiding my face behind my hooves.
I expected more yelling and demeaning comments on how I was weak, but she didn’t say anything at all. Instead she walked over to me and sat down in front of me. In a calm voice she said, “You’re a tough little filly, Scootaloo. You’ve had to deal with things that most pegasi never have to deal with. To be honest, I lied. I never had stunted wing.” I looked up at her slightly, more curious than surprised or angry. “I just didn’t want to see you give up back then, and I thought it was the best way to keep you going and living a happy life, believing you would be okay.
“And that hasn’t changed. I don’t want to see you give up. I’m a pretty good judge of other pony’s talents. I couldn’t be the captain of the weather team and a good athlete if I wasn’t. I pushed you hard, harder than I know you would have liked, but I was never trying to be cruel. I wouldn’t push you so hard if I didn’t truly believe in my heart that you could handle it. You are my sister, after all." She mussed up my mane a little.
That made me feel a little bit better.
"It seems I got too far into the act of the tough coach, and I forgot to give you praise along the way. It was my own stupid way of trying to get you to work harder. I wanted you to think what you did wasn’t enough. I didn’t want you to simply be satisfied with gliding. I wanted you flying.
“You had an excuse before, because of your stunted wing, but you don’t anymore. So, darn it, I want to get you airborne! I want to help you achieve your dreams. I never had a sister before, and so I’m still learning too about what is going too far and what’s acceptable, and for that I’m sorry, Scootaloo. Please don’t quit. I can tell that you’re getting close. Having been raised by an earth pony you probably don’t even realize yourself how far you’ve come in your training.” A sheepish look came to her face. “Well, I was saving this for when you actually flew for the first time, but I guess now is as good a time as any.” To my surprise a tear came down her eye. “I’m proud of you, Scootaloo!”
I blinked happy tears out of my eyes. I couldn’t stay mad at her. The whole time she was still the same old Rainbow Dash I knew and loved. I got up and sat next to her, and she put a wing around me. “I… I’m not gonna quit!” I said strongly. “Rainbow Dash never quits, and I won’t either. I just… I mean… you know… ” I looked up at her, trying to articulate my feelings.
“I know,” she said. “I won’t relent on you during training time because I know you can take it, but after training is over I’ll make sure to throw in a few compliments and rewards for your hard work. Okay?”
I nodded. That was fine.
The next three months were among the most difficult of my life. As she said, while we were working she was still shamelessly critical, forcing me to new heights and full of complaints, but after we called it quits for the day she’d talk about all the things I had done right and improved on, then bought me a treat from Sugarcube Corner.
Now that I knew why she so tough on me, and with the promise of a reward at the end of our sessions, I came to look forward to my flying lessons. I always went home feeling sore for a few days, but with all the practice at home I was doing I could just feel it. I could feel my wings becoming stronger.
Finally, the day arrived. I took a running start, heading for the small hill that had withstood all my efforts, like the space right in front of it had a much higher gravity and was determined to pull me down to the ground.
I jumped, flapping my wings, closing my eyes and almost waiting for the pain that always awaited me, but it didn’t come. I looked down, and to my surprise I wasn’t heading towards the ground. I was heading in a straight line, keeping a steady pace. I let out a victorious laugh, looking at my wings.
“Scootaloo! Eyes up front!” came a worried voice. I looked back in front of me, and I froze up as I was about to crash headfirst into a tree. The next thing I knew Rainbow Dash was in front of me, grabbing me. She helped me to the ground.
“Way to go, kid!” Rainbow Dash said, letting out a whoop, obvious pride in her voice. “But do make sure you watch where you’re flying. You could have gotten hurt.”
“Yeah,” I said awkwardly. “Not the best way to kick off a celebration.”
“This deserves a reward! Where do you want to go? Anywhere you want.”
With a determined look I said, “Back to the top of the hill! Practice isn’t over yet for another thirty minutes.” I gave her chest a light smack with my hoof. “And you! You’re not supposed to take it easy on me. What were you thinking trying to end practice early, huh?”
At first she looked surprised, but then a slowly expanding grin came to her lips. With a mighty blow on her whistle her eyes narrowed. “Alright! What’s with all the yapping? You think one lucky time qualifies as flying? Back to work you lazy filly!”
“Yes, ma’am!” I said, running to the top of the hill. As I looked out upon the ground below I felt confident. If I could do it once then I could do it twice, then three times, then four times, and-
I shook my head as another whistle blast went off. I was getting distracted. I backed up enough for a running start then ran forward, unfurling my wings and giving them a few small flaps before I jumped.
I looked at the ground beneath me as I continued flapping. Once again the ground stayed steady beneath me. This time I made sure to look in front of me to avoid a possible accident. I felt like a master of the sky… at least for the next hundred feet. I lost my rhythm as one of my wings got out of sync with the other, and I found myself heading to the ground.
It hurt, of course, but not like before. It felt like almost nothing compared to my progress. The day I had finally made it off the ground.
Over the next two months, now that I had actually progressed to getting off the ground, I was given a whole slew of new moves to master: spinning, twirling, flying upside-down, cloud manipulation, sharp turns, dives and pull-ups, and a bunch of other ones. When I brought up to her that feeling of her moving the goal posts she didn’t even try to deny it. She confirmed it, and confirmed it hard. She told me that learning and growing never stops. There is no final goal post, because every time you reached your goal there was always another goal right in front of it to attempt. If I stopped at a goal, then I’d cease to improve.
Most of my home training consisted of straining to hover as long as possible. The whole goal of that was to teach me better wing control. She said that I should only head back towards the floor out of tiredness, not because I lost control of my wing tempo.
During our training sessions together she tried to get me to learn to fight gravity and get as much air as possible, because I tended to only stay a few feet off the ground at most, just in case. She promised to catch me if I fell, so I did what she asked. I’m sure the numerous times she had to stop me from crashing to the ground were from nerves and thinking too hard about my wings, as over time I had stopped having trouble with just basic flying in a straight line. Now I was trying to add in turns and adjusting height. That was a whole lot more complicated and required even more wing control and fine-tuning turns and shifts in body weight to the direction I wanted to go.
It was kinda nice to have my living safety net beneath me, but I also felt it was holding me back. What had pushed me before was partly the simple fact that if I missed the jump I was headed to the ground and pain. At the same time, a simple ten foot crash was nothing to thinking of losing control from fifty feet in the air.
Little by little, bit by bit, my weak wings fighting me every step of the way as I pushed them to new heights, I steadily improved. I was no Rainbow Dash, but I wasn’t the helpless case I had been. Rainbow Dash had become much more forthcoming with her praise, not being nearly as harsh and critical as she had been at the beginning.
One day when I got home from my latest session I noticed that for the first time, despite how hard I had worked, that my wings weren’t throbbing and burning like they usually did. I guess it was just a sign of how far I had come.
I went to my room to wind down, my grandmare bringing me some water to drink as I told her about how things had gone. She told me how proud she was of me. I sat in her lap and just dozed as she rubbed my back.