When Fluttershy and I finally let each other free from our embrace, we finally notice that the other ponies are asking all sorts of questions, but the one everypony is focusing the most on, is where Fluttershy knows me from.
“We went to kindergarten together in Cloudsdale, but got separated about 2 weeks before Rainbow dash’s first sonic rainboom” Fluttershy said while smiling at her friends.
“Yeah, it’s a bummer that flight school made you so busy. I really missed you since I wasn’t exactly qualified to go there” I said with a light chuckle.
Fluttershy’s smile faded away as she got reminded about the state of my wings. I don’t blame her for forgetting. It’s been a long time after all. After a few seconds, she finally breaks the silence.“So… how are your wings? Have they fully healed? Can you fly now?” she asks, hiding her face in her mane as she often does. She truly hasn’t changed a bit in that regard.
“No, I still can’t fly, and I will probably never be able to. My wings have healed as much as they can and I can unfold them, but if I try to flap them they start to ache and have a high risk of dislocating.” I shudder as I mention this, getting reminded of the horrifying pain my little “experiment” brought me last time I tried to flap my wings.
As everypony searches for words to say, a blue Pegasus with a colorful rainbow mane looks at me with a face which only shows signs of pity and sadness. I remember seeing her clearing the skies while I was eating my lunch. I’d imagine that with the acrobatic display she did in the sky, most of her life must involve flying, so hearing about a permanently grounded Pegasus must hit her somewhat hard.“You… you can’t fly? How come?” the blue Pegasus asks, droplets of tears beginning to form in her eyes.
“And where have you been all these years? I went to Cloudsdale a few times to look for you, but you were nowhere to be found.” Fluttershy added. As I feel a little overwhelmed by the wave of questions, I try to get back on track.
“I will tell you all about it later, but first I must find Pinkamena. I have important news for her” I say, trying to push these questions aside for later.
“Pinkie Pie is very busy today. The bakery she works and lives at got an order for a wedding, and they need to finish up tonight. The couple mentioned that they wanted to get married during full moon. We can probably catch her once the bakery closes, which it does in three hours.” A purple unicorn quickly says, clearly curious about knowing the answers to my past. With magic, she quickly pulls a table and 6 chairs to the center of the library, and sends her small purple dragon to get us all something to drink.
“While we’re waiting for Sugar Cube Corner to close for the day, you simply must tell us your story darling” I hear the white unicorn say.
As I see no way to delay my story, I simply sigh and tell them the whole thing.
** ** ** **
The accident that destroyed my wings happened when I was about three months old, so I only know that story as my mother used to tell it to me. I was a baby foal, and my parents were as happy as can be. After all, they had a healthy colt and one of the largest houses in all of Glacier Summit. The city was named after its founder, Storming Glacier, who was a retired Wonderbolt. It was not a large city. In fact, it was small enough to be called a town just 2 years earlier. It was a classic mountain city, but for a Pegasus city it was rather strange. It had no houses built out of cloud. The weather simply didn’t allow it. There was also the danger of unnecessary construction causing an avalanche, since building houses from different cloud types usually had a chance of causing thunderstorms.
Only my mother and I were home during the day, as my father was a very busy weather pony. The weather in this land didn’t always bend itself to Pegasi will and hooves, so there was a lot to be done to keep snow storms under control. Mother had no problems with her having to stay at home and watch me. She had plenty of stuff to do during the day. If she wasn’t cleaning or cooking, one of her big hobbies was cloud sculpting. Every toy I’ve ever owned was hoof made by my mother and some of the furniture in the living room was made of cloud. I remember nothing from Glacier Summit myself, but it all sounded like a happy and wonderful life. On the day of the accident, my father was busy as always with weather related work, and my mother was making something nice out of cloud, to bring a smile to his face after a hard day’s work.
As she was in deep concentration, a loud thunderous roar sounded from outside. When she went to the window to see if she could figure out what was roaring, she heard a knock on the door. As she opened it, a sweaty, frightened weather Pegasus told her that there’s an avalanche on its way down the mountain, and it would eventually hit the city dead on. He flew off, telling mother that her husband was on his way, and she might want to pack up our belongings and prepare to evacuate. Panicked by all of this, my mother started packing up important things and memories, hoping to be ready to leave Glacier Summit when her husband finally came home. She had only packed food, diapers and pacifiers when the entire house started shaking. The avalanche had stopped before it reached half way through the city, but it still managed to hit our house slightly. The force of the impact sent my mother flying into a wall, the crib where I lay was knocked over, and our fine, very old and very heavy china cabinet fell. The china cabinet landed right beside me. It didn’t crush me, but a foal’s scream was heard nonetheless. When my mother finally got back up on her feet, she could see that the cabinet had landed on my wings, and it had broken them. Panicking even more than before, she started to comfort me while she tried to lift the heavy cabinet to get me free.
She quickly found out that she wasn’t strong enough to lift it, and then started singing me to ease until my father finally barged in. he quickly told his wife that there was a second avalanche coming, this one being much bigger than the one that had just hit the house. My mother started to fear for the fate of her child once she realized that not even the big stallion she married could lift the cabinet even an inch from the ground. They almost got into a heated fight about how to get me free, as none of them seemed to have a good plan. If they were to simply pull me out, the cabinet might rip my wings off.
My father started franticly kicking the wooden object, and my mother kept checking on me. Tears were brought to the eyes of the two Pegasi, as they could hear small bones crack with every kick. After several torturous minutes of kicking the cabinet, I was free. My parents were horrified at what they saw. My wings were stripped of almost every feather, they were bleeding heavily, and had lost their original shape since the bones no longer had a certain structure. Ignoring every piece of their belongings, they rushed me to Cloudsdale hospital.
They had never been so nervous in their lives. The time they had to wait in the hallway seemed to pass by mercilessly slow. The doctors kept working on me for the rest of the night, to try to shape my wings back into something that looked like Pegasus wings. After thirteen cruel hours, a doctor finally came out to my parents to tell them about my condition. My mother went pale and broke down, and my father fumed with rage. The doctor told them that in order to save me, he might have to amputate my wings. After settling down the angry stallion, the couple asked whether amputation was the only way. There was an experimental practice involving high risk magic which might allow me to keep my wings, but there wasn’t but a 15 percent chance for it to fully restore them. There was also, as always, chance of the result being my death. After a long time talking back and forth, my parents agreed to try the magic procedure.
** ** ** **
Before I could finish my story, the blue Pegasus interrupted me.
“So, what happened? Did it work?” she asked, her forehead being pressed against mine as if she thought that might rush out some answers. This mare surprises me. She seemed so rough and tough before, but now she’s crying more than anypony has ever done while hearing my story. Fluttershy and the purple maned white unicorn have tears in their eyes, but this mare is bawling her eyes out. Feeling sorry for her I grant her wish, and the story reaches its conclusion.
“It worked… but not entirely. While it was effective enough to restore the bones in my wings, the tissue was severely damaged, and the spell they had used was mainly focused on bone manipulation. It was not very good for restoring tissue. There was a chance of my wings healing completely over time, but that has never happened and it probably never will. I’ve learned to live with it though.” I said with a heavy sigh.
As everypony is searching for the words to break the tensing silence, Fluttershy is the first one to open her mouth.
“I’ve often wondered this. When did you leave Cloudsdale? I’ve tried to look you up every time I’ve been there, but there were no signs as to whether you still lived there or had moved.”
“That might be a story for another time. I haven’t even tasted the tea which this Spike guy made yet” I say, hoping to avoid telling more sad stories for now.
As I take my first sip of the tea, which is delicious by the way, I can feel something working its way up my tail. I tend to get shivers a lot, so I just ignore it and continue to drink my tea. The shivers suddenly feel more like something small running along my back, and it isn’t until I feel a small but forceful kick to the back of my head, that I’m starting to wonder what’s on my back.
“Angel! That’s no way to treat people.” I hear Fluttershy say in a motherly tone.
I direct my eyes upwards, and I see this small white rabbit tapping its feet on my mane with a look of anticipation and wonder in his eyes.
“Aw, what a cute little fella.” I can’t help but say with a bright smile.
“I’m so sorry, he’s usually not this rude to people he’s never met before. I wonder why he’s acting like this.” Fluttershy says.
“Maybe he’s just hungry. He always kicks when he’s hungry.” Applejack chuckles.
The white rabbit shakes his head and jumps down onto the table. He then grabs the book the purple unicorn, who I now know goes by the name of Twilight Sparkle, was writing notes in.
“Hey, give that back you little fur ball.” Twilight commands.
The bunny just points his tongue towards twilight, turns towards me and slams the book up to my face. He frequently points towards the notes Twilight has written while I was telling my story.
“I think the little darling cannot wait to hear more of your story dear” rarity laughs, trying to hide her mouth with her hoof.
Angel then drops the book and gives Rarity a big hug
.
“I have to say, we still have about an hour to spend until Pinkie is done for the day at the bakery, and I think we are all just as curious as Angel about what happens next” twilight says, looking at the white ball of fur with a forgiving look on her face.
As everypony seems interested in why I left Cloudsdale, I give a submitting sigh. “Fine. You win, Angel.” I smile at the rabbit.
Clapping his paws together in delight, Angel takes his place just in front of me on the table, and waits with anticipation.
“I didn’t ever want to leave Cloudsdale, but an unexpected turn of events pretty much forced me to do so.” I continue my story.
** ** ** **
During my treatment at the Cloudsdale hospital, my parents had decided that it was best for our family to live close by, so that if any further treatment was needed we would always be close to the Hospital. As it turned out, no further treatments were needed for my wings to heal, or rather, nothing more could be done.
We all had a good life in Cloudsdale. My mother had gotten back to her cloud sculpturing since Cloudsdale had more clouds than Glacier Summit. In fact, she ran her own store in Cloudsdale and our apartment was on the top floor. My father started working in the weather factory, since the Pegasi in Cloudsdale found his knowledge about snow and blizzards to be intriguing. I myself had started in Cloudsdale kindergarten, and that was just what I needed to get my mood up. Every day in kindergarten was a blast. I played so much with the other kids, that my wings were the least of my worries. Even though some of the other foals could fly, my best friend, a certain yellow Pegasus, couldn’t. This connection held us close until she was sent to flight school. I for good reasons could not follow her.
The longer she stayed at the flight school, the more time passed between her visits. In fact, after the pretty rainbow colored explosion a year ago, she stopped coming by completely. My guess was at the time that her father had forbidden her to talk to me. He was never very fond of me. He was also the meanest doctor in the hospital, and I hated it every time he was the one who did my monthly checkups. I have nothing personal against Cloudsdale’s best doctor, but he did say that Fluttershy had to see more ponies that could fly, as she never flew when she spent time with me. For the moment I had no friends, and my mother’s sculpting could not cheer me up anymore.
For my 7th birthday, my parents had both taken the day off to celebrate with me. Not only were we celebrating my birthday, but the fact that I after 3 years of daily exercise was finally able to stretch out my wings. My parents had their way of making every little feat of strength seem like a big deal. While we were eating cake, a knock on the door occurred.
“Who’s there?” my mother asked.
“The royal guard, miss” an official sounding voice said.
My mother rushed to the door, wondering why the guard was here. “on my way sir.”
When my mother opened the door, her voice changed to an even more serious tone. “Boltwing? What are you doing here?”
“Long time no see, eh? It’s good to see you again, Featherchill” the guard said. “Nice armor, huh? I’ve become a big shot in the royal guard in Canterlot, so I’m making a lot more bits then when we were dating. That’s the real reason why you left me, right?” the stallion blurted out, unaware of this fact hitting me and my father like a punch in the gut. “If you’re not busy, can I take you out sometime? I’ve changed a lot, I promise. I have my own house now, I’m not rude any more, I’ve taken anger management classes, and I’ve not had a cup of cider in 5 years.” The Pegasus continues, puffing his chest out.
“I am certainly glad you have changed to the better, Boltwing. Come in and have a piece of cake. We’re in the middle of celebrating our son’s birthday.” My mother says with a smile on her face.
This Pegasus seemed to take this “son” word the wrong way. “I… I have….. a son? How come you didn’t tell me?” His jaw is almost dislocating at this point.
My mother quickly reacts to this. “No no, he’s not your son, Boltwing. Remember my friend Frostbite, who used to try and help you quit drinking? After I couldn’t handle you anymore, I moved out, and after 2 years I’d started dating him. We’re married now and this is our son, Breeze.” She points a hoof towards us.
I felt bad for the Pegasus at the time. While kind and caring towards me and my dad, my mother could be rather bold towards strangers, and especially Pegasi she hadn’t seen in years.
“I… Iwonacpts…” the Pegasus mumbled something we couldn’t understand at first.
“Excuse me, but we didn’t hear that.” My father said.
“I… won’t accept this” the stallion now said more clearly. This guy scared me a lot. His face which was full of excitement before, was not completely stripped of all emotion, and his eyes seemed empty and shallow. “I was here on official business, but I decided to just come by and take you back into my life. If you won’t come by yourself, I have other means of making you mine. You have unpaid taxes. It’s only for one month, but I can always tell the captain that you simply refused to pay. Silver Armor might be a good leader, but he’s also pretty gullible, so I can keep you in the dungeon for a long time. In the dungeon you will always be mine and no one can do anything about it except-“ the stallion got cut short by another pegasus charging into his chest with his forehead.
“ME!” my father yelled.
I was surprised by this. Not only did this guard refuse to stand down, but he was weighing my father down as well. They kept fighting for a while until my father’s legs gave up and he lost his balance.My mother’s ex saw an opportunity and reached for his sword with his mouth.
I tried to yell “Look out, Daddy!”, but before I could react the stallions sword was already piercing my father’s neck. When I saw the light of life leave my father’s eyes, I could feel my heart rip into pieces as well as my mother’s heart getting crushed. If my father got sliced down by such a guard, then what were the chances for me and my mother?
“We will find a way” my mother kept saying, tears streaming down her coat.
I saw the guard turn his head now, and his expression had changed from a expressionless mannequin to a wide smile of psychotic glee. With a chuckle he started to walk towards us. “Now the only thing separating our happy life together is this little colt. We can’t have a happily ever after wile this piece of trash’s offspring still breathes, can we? That’s not how fairytales are, he he…” The way he talked was something you cannot forget. It was a middle part between crying, yelling and singing.
I suddenly felt my mother’s hind legs kick me out of the back door. “RUN BREEZE! Run and don’t look behind you.”
I of course protested to this. “But mom – “
“GO!!!!! I’ll be fine, I promise. If I don’t do anything, none of us will get away from here. I will always love you Breeze, now GO!!!”
As I turn around, my voice starts cracking. I know deep inside that what I’m about to say is a lie. “See you soon, mommy. We will finish the cake when you find me.”
When I was almost out on the street, my mother shouted her final words to me.
“Happy birthday, Breeze”
I cared little about where I was going, so I just kept running. I just wanted to escape alive. I had forgotten how close we lived to the edge of Cloudsdale, so without looking towards where I was going, I fell off the edge.
** ** ** **
“How did a colt who can’t fly survive that fall? Oh, and sorry about your parents” the cyan Pegasus interrupted my story once again.
“I had recently learned to spread my wings and hold them stretched out. It was a bit hard at first, but I had other things to worry about.” I explain. “When your life depends on it, you can glide a fair distance with damaged wings, and I discovered that I was rather good at gliding. In fact, when I landed I had received my Cutiemark.”
Fascinated by the gliding theory, Twilight almost shouts “So THAT’S why your cutie mark is a snowflake blowing in the wind. I’ve been pondering that since I saw it.”
“Yes, that’s right.” I say rolling my eyes a bit. Getting interrupted while telling stories can be annoying.
“Where have you lived all these years?” Fluttershy asks curious.
“well, after gliding for what seemed like an eternity I crash landed in a barn. The owner of the barn took me in for treatment, and him and his wife decided to adopt me. Their own daughters had left the rock farm some time ago, the first one being Pinkamena.”
Applejack is taken aback by this. “So, you live with Pinkie’s birth parents?”
“yes. And I have a very important message for Pinkamena, so can we soon get going? I love sitting here and chatting with all of you, but the message I have for her is urgent.” I state, trying to get the focus from me onto something more important.
“I’m sure she’s finishing up by now, so we can go there soon.” The white unicorn assures me.
Fluttershy suddenly takes air. “Oh my goodness, I forgot Angels lunch. I’ll be back in two minutes. Can you please take care of him while I’m gone, Breeze?”
I turn my head and look at the sleeping bunny on the table, and I smile back a t Fluttershy. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”
The next expression on Fluttershy’s face puts my mind to a calm state in which it hasn’t been for years. She smiles at me. She even made that cute squeaky sound I’ve not heard in years, as soon as she’s gone, I start to remember all the funny things we did when we were small kids. Her teaching me everything about medication, playing doctor with her and even hoof racing with her. She wasn’t much for hoof racing, but even she thought that playing doctor all the time could be boring. We also used to just lie on the cloudy grass in my garden and look at the skies and what the weather Pegasi did with them. I feel a warmth on my cheeks. It’s good that my coat is a dark grey color, because if it wasn’t, the other ponies might be able to see that my cheeks were rosy.
I must have dozed off in my thoughts for longer than I thought, because the next thing I saw was Fluttershy feeding Angel.
“Well, if everypony’s ready, let’s head for Sugar cube corner.” The lavender unicorn sais eagerly.
“You guys go ahead. I have something I need to give Breeze in private” Fluttershy grins softly. As soon as the other ponies are out of the library, Fluttershy reaches down in her saddlebags which had contained Angles lunch. She then pulled something out of it and put it on the table in front of me. “I’ve had this in ages, but I think you can make better use of it than I can.” She sais while giving me a friendly hug.
My mouth is wide agape and droplets of liquid start forming in the corners of my eyes. “how long have you had this?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“I’ve had it since the day before I left for flight school. It has cheered me up a lot looking at this and it has helped me remember the good old times. After hearing about what happened in Cloudsdale, I simply had to give this to you.” Fluttershy said softly.
I can’t help but weeping tears of joy. I’d never thought that such a thing existed anymore. I’ve not smiled this much in months.
“Thank you, Fluttershy. It’s lovely.”