Rarity slowly sipped her tea, her eyes watching the alicorn before her. “Well, Diamond, I must admit. Your water bending is quite good.” She then glanced to her sister, who nodded back.
Diamond's cheeks flared. “Really?”
“Oh, indeed. It is far from perfect, but you seem to have quite a bit of power and your control, while lacking in some areas, is strong in many others. Your talent seems to lie in ice over straight water, accordingly.”
Diamond nodded, slowly sipping her own tea. “So uhhhh... that means you'll help train me then, right?”
“I was going to help train you anyway, dear. That's part of the reason I'm here. We have yet to have found any sign of Meadowbrook, so it is in all of our best interest to have you as powerful as we can by the time we leave.” She sipped her tea again. “Although, I won't be your direct teacher.”
“W-what? Why not?”
“I'm afraid that my bending skills were... how shall we put it... a bit more varied. I developed more of a fusion with my innate magical talents and my bending. Your style, in particular, is more similar to my sister's. But worry not, my sister has always been an extremely talented bender and I have no doubt she will make an excellent teacher for you.”
Sweetie blushed and shook her head. “Awww, you don't have to say it like that. Your bending is amazing, Rarity!”
The eldest mare chuckled. “It's good, dear. But you always had far more talent with it than I did and there's no point in lying about it. I'm mature enough to accept my weaknesses and I would expect you to be aware of your strengths. Now, my sister is an amazing water bender, so I expect she will have plenty to teach you. However...” She glanced to the alicorn's horn. “If what I've heard is correct, you're unable to do unicorn magic. Correct?”
Diamond's cheeks flared again. Her gaze lowered quickly. “N-no, I'm not. It's just... it well...”
“It's quite alright, dear,” Rarity said with a shake of her head. “Twilight never had the true endurance of a natural earth pony, nor was she quite able to get up to the speed and precision of a pegasus. Nor did she have any of their rather... more subtle magic. Just because you're the Avatar doesn't mean we should expect you to do everything.”
“R-right. But I uhhh... well...”
“Yes?”
“You're the Water Lord. Aren't you supposed to be the greatest water bender around?”
“Hardly,” Rarity said with a wave of her hoof. “I can name quite a few who are better. I just happen to fight the dirtiest. Aside from perhaps Vinyl.”
Diamond blinked and stared at the mare before her. The epitome of refinement, beauty and grace. Not a hair out of place, her coat perfectly glimmering. “Fight... dirty? You?”
Sweetiebelle giggled, covering her mouth.
“Oh, yes darling. Would you like a demonstration?”
Diamond opened her mouth to agree, but then froze. She thought back to Rainbow and Applejack before giving a shudder. “You know what? I'm going to take your word for it.”
“Mmmm. The important thing to remember, dear, is that you likely will fight those stronger than you. Faster, sometimes even smarter. When the time comes you must use whatever means are available. In my case, I used a rather... unique weapon for unicorns. I also developed other techniques to give myself an edge when I needed them.” She paused. “Very few of which I would use against you in a training match.” A small smile spread across her lips. “But the way of water is... different than the other elements. We poke and prod, we find the weakness. Then when we find it... we use it to break something apart. Our nation, for the longest time, operated in such a way. We may have looked as if we were... allies on the front, in fact many ponies believed the Water Nation was a unified whole. But the fact of the matter was, we were so often at each other's throats, constantly trying to destroy each other. It... teaches a pony many unsavory methods and skills. As well as quite a few unique ones.” She took another breath before sipping her tea. “However, with pure water bending and your sizable power, my sister would be your best bet.”
Diamond nodded and looked to Sweetie, who was currently in the midst of stuffing a few of the pastries into her mouth. She bowed her head. “Well then, miss Belle, it'll be a pleasure to train under you. I hope I can do a good job.”
“You'ff be fin',” Sweetie said with a mouth full of pastries. She coughed and covered her mouth. “Err, 'scuse me.” She got to her hooves. “So, how about you come with me, we'll go and get a little practice in, see what you can do, the whole nine yards.”
“Of course,” she said before trotting after the mare.
------
Silver hummed softly before she tapped on the box. “This... was quite a bit faster than I expected,” she said.
“We already had most the work done, it's really simple to develop,” the coated pony said as he tapped the small crate. “It was mostly just an issue of reducing the mass in the center so they weigh less. Really, compared to the artificial wing we had to craft for Hornclipper, this was just a simple modification. However...” The pony adjusted his super science goggles. “We'll need a pony who can test it. Finding one won't be--”
“Oh, don't worry. I'm going to get Scootaloo to do it.”
The scientist blanched. “T-the council mare? But she--”
“Meh, it'll be easy. If nothing else, I know Hornclipper wouldn't let her say no. I'll go tell her the good news.” She turned and started to trot off. “I'm sure she'll be ecstatic.”
“O-of course. Ma'am, we'll still need to have her submit to some tests to make sure they work properly! We don't have much information on--”
“It's fine, don't worry. She'll do it, I'm sure.”
“If you say so, ma'am.” He coughed into his hoof. “Err, if you don't mind me asking one more question?”
“Hmmm?”
“Has there been any news on when Dr. Alicity will return?”
She froze, before giving a sigh. “Of course. He'll return when the routes between the Fire Tribes and Manehatten are secure. So I'd say a month, maybe two, knowing daddy. I'm in charge until then.”
“O-of course, ma'am. I just was curious. That's all.”
“Uh huh,” she mumbled softly, before glancing back. “You don't have a problem with that, do you?” she asked bitterly.
“What? No, of course not.”
She narrowed her eyes on him, before turning back towards the exit. “Good. Because I can handle this until my daddy is back. I've done it before, I'll do it now.”
“Of course, ma'am. I never meant to imply that you couldn't.”
“Good!” she snapped, before storming out of the room. She then paused and sighed, before slowly turning back and propping the door open. “Hey...?”
The pony froze. “Yes ma'am?”
“Sorry. That wasn't fair. I know you weren't implying... just the extra work has me on edge and well... ugh, it's not an excuse. Sorry for that.”
The stallion looked shocked, but slowly nodded. “Of course, ma'am. It's quite alright.”
Silver rolled her eyes and walked off, shaking her head before pausing. She reached up and rubbed the amulet and sighed. “Just because daddy doesn't think you can handle it, doesn't mean nopony else does. No tantrums, no screaming. No threatening to mangle some innocent pony just because they mildly annoyed you. Calm. Relaxed. Responsible.” She took a slow, deep breath before smiling. “Okay. Scootaloo isn't going to know what hit her!”
------
“Eep! Eep! Eep eep!” Diamond said as she tried to avoid the thrusting ice needles of Sweetie. The unicorn moved in subtle, smooth movements, almost like a dance rather than a fight. However, her movements were very quick, making the needles of ice skewer and slash with ease, forcing Diamond to run and jump to avoid their onslaught. She let out a yelp when suddenly something grabbed her hoof and yanked it from under her. She quickly covered her head and yelped. After a moment she opened her eyes and saw the flurry of ice hovering just over her.
“Hmmm. Not bad, but you put a bit too much weight on your hooves when you move. You've learned air bending, haven't you?”
“Y-yeah.”
“I'd work on that a bit more. Honestly, you just go a little too full force when you fight.”
The alicorn nodded and got to her hooves once the spikes retracted. “I know. Prism said the same thing when I first started training with him and a lot of other ponies seem to agree.”
Sweetie nodded and moved to stand besides her. “Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. Now, come on. Just follow my movements.”
Diamond nodded and slowly moved her hooves around, following the gentle movements of the other mare.
“See? With water bending, it's about gentle, subtle movements. We don't block, dodge or destroy. We redirect. Make your attack miss by just enough that we don't have to move. Guiding, control. That's what you need to work on.”
The alicorn nodded. “Right.”
“But don't worry if it takes you a while to get it. I couldn't imagine trying to learn all four elements. At least your fire bending has to be pretty good, fighting like that. Right?”
“Not really. He says I'm a bit too aggressive there, too.” She paused for a moment, missing a step. “Sweetie? Did you ever train with Twilight?”
“No, not really. I fought her a few times, won once, but we never really...” Sweetie gave a soft sigh. “Her and I weren't exactly... close.”
“Did she not... like you?”
“I think she liked me just fine,” Sweetie said gently. “In fact, she forgave me for... far more than I ever deserved. After all the horrible, horrible things I did and tried to do, it would have been only natural for her to despise me. The ways I made her suffer. But she didn't. Her heart was... quite big. She was able to forgive most of the ponies who wronged her. And... tolerate those she couldn't.”
Diamond nodded a few times. “I see. She was... quite the amazing pony, wasn't she?”
“I don't know of many ponies who could have done even half of what she did. Stopping us wasn't... easy. Saving us on top of it? Not something many could do. Defeating Discord, a creature that seemed almost... omnipotent, doubly so. I can't imagine what methodology it is that determines each Avatar, but we were truly lucky to have it succeed so magnificently.”
“Yeah. She was definitely something else. I... do you think I'll ever be able to be like her?”
Sweetie shrugged. “Maybe. I've heard you've come quite far since you first got here. Scootaloo said you were... quite the little brat.”
Diamond's cheeks turned red. “Y-yeah. I was. I guess I kinda learned after a while. Heh, at least I picked up on those things fast enough.” She then gave a soft sigh. “So do you think... I'll be able to do what Twilight did?”
“No. Frankly, I don't think you are supposed to,” Sweetie said with a shrug. “Nopony wants another war. Nopony wants to keep fighting and fighting and fighting. Now is a time for peace and prosperity. There are different ponies out there who want to cause problems, but I don't think they're really the same kind of thing that Twilight had to deal with.”
Diamond nodded. “I... I guess you're right. She probably would have wiped them out from the get go.”
Sweetie snickered and shook her head. “How long have you been in Harmony?”
“Huh?”
“How long has it been since you first came here?”
Diamond frowned and then tried to mentally calculate. She blinked. “I'm... not sure? A few months, I guess. It feels like it's been years, though.”
“Exactly. A year ago, there was no Avatar. At least, very few ponies knew where you were, who you were. Your journey is only just beginning. Don't get so focused on Twilight's journey that you forget your own.” She gave a sigh, her steps faltering slightly. “Trust me. Comparing where you are, to where someone else ended up... it's not the best way to go through life.”
Diamond blinked a few times, before nodding. “Right.”
“Now, how about we do a bit more practice, okay? Let's see how you use those movements. Focus on the ones I showed you, okay? Don't worry about speed, just precision for now. Speed will come with time.”
“Right.”
------
Silver hummed softly before reaching out and lightly knocking on the door. It was only a few moments before it opened and revealed the form of Hornclipper. The stallion stared at her for a few moments, his eyes partially closed in a suspicious glare. “Did your father send you?”
“No,” she said, confusion filling her voice.
“Very well. You may come in,” he said before stepping aside.
She chuckled softly. “Still haven't forgiven him for the wings?”
The stallion just glared.
“Aaaaaanyway. Is Scootaloo here? I need to speak with her.”
“What about?” a voice said from the door. Scootaloo stood in the door frame, wearing a robe with her hair all wet. “I was just getting out of the shower, need to head down to work soon. Can you make it quick? I assume this pertains to the council?”
“Not this time, it's something more of a personal matter. It shouldn't take long, though. You can go finish getting ready, if you like. I'll wait.”
“Okay,” Scootaloo said before trotting off.
Silver sat down on the couch, glancing over towards Hornclipper. He stood, a frown on his face and staring down at her. “You know, you'd make an excellent scarecrow.”
He didn't even chuckle.
She gave a sigh. “You know, sometimes I wonder about you. You don't have to always act so cold.”
He didn't answer, just eyed her.
“Soooo... have the wings been giving you any problems?”
“They're fine. More than I deserve.”
She shook her head. “And always with the self-deprivation. Truly a barrel of laughs. You know, if you tried laughing or at least smiling more often, Tittering wouldn't constantly try to find ways to prank you.”
He just glared back at her.
“Or you can just keep being all mopey mope.”
“Done!” Scootaloo said as she trotted back out, her coat dry and her mane a little wild but would be good enough. “So, Silver, what can I do for you today?”
“Actually, it's more what I can do for you.”
The mare blinked, before sighing and face hoofing. “Gosh darn it, by the stars. What did Alicity do now? How much property damage are we talking now?”
“W-what?”
“Whenever he comes here with one of his 'it's what I can do for you!' it's usually some strange plan of his. Like pipes that funnel tooth paste to every home in the city.”
Silver coughed and then shook her head. “Yeah... it's not something like that. It's about your wings, actually.”
Scootaloo blinked, a frown creasing her face. “What about them?”
“Well, your husband's wings were our first real attempt at... repairing such problems. While the difficulty you experience is fundamentally different, well... I think we can fix it.”
The pegasus shuddered a little bit, but slowly trotted towards her. “Go on.”
“Well, your problem with flight has to do with a genetic default, correct? An inability to control and manipulate the magic in the air with your wings?”
“Uh huh...”
“Well, our alicorn wings have been developed to get around that for non-bending ponies. We're improving almost constantly. Creating attachments that will work on your wings shouldn't be difficult. As a matter of fact, we already have a prototype ready to test. We'd just need you to come and test it out. If you'd be willing to swing by the compound after your time with the council today, we could work on having it fitted.”
Scootaloo stared at her for a few moments, before her eyes lowered. “Thanks. I appreciate it, really I do. But I don't think--”
“She'll do it,” Hornclipper said suddenly.
The mare blinked, then glared back. “I never--”
“She'll come by after her meetings are done. Even if I have to drag her myself,” he said firmly.
Scootaloo blinked, then rolled her eyes. “Ugh, fine. Let it never be said I'm as stubborn as you.” She turned to Silver. “I'll see you tonight, okay?”
“No worries. Come by any time, I'll make sure that the guards know where to take you if I'm not available at the time. It shouldn't take very long at all,” Silver said with a wave of her hoof. “That's really all I had to discuss with you, so thanks for your time. Bye.” She turned and trotted out the door before the other mare could raise some objections. As the door to the home closed behind her, she let out a soft sigh and put a hoof to her heart. She couldn't keep the smile off her lips.
------
“Well, you're doing better, Diamond,” Sweetie said with a nod. “You still have a while to go until you'll be a water bending master, but you've definitely got the talent.”
The alicorn chuckled and gave a nod. “Thank you. I uhhh... well, I've had some good teachers. I'm starting to realize just how good...” A frown creased her face.
“Yeah, hindsight is always twenty-twenty,” Sweetie said with a shrug. “You're doing fine.”
“Not half bad from what I saw,” Rainbow said.
Diamond grinned and turned towards the doorway, seeing the other mare. “Rainbow! You're here!”
“Of course I am,” she said with a shrug. “You didn't think I'd miss out on all this fun, did you?”
The alicorn shook her head. “I was going to come find you next, actually. How did you know I was here?”
“I saw Rarity earlier. The two of us had a little talk, she told me where I could find you,” she said with a little wave of her hoof. “How goes your practice?”
“Pretty good. I've got a long way to go, but I'm getting there. I'm not sure who's more likely to kill me, you or Applejack.”
Rainbow snickered and walked up, waving to Sweetie. “You mind if I steal her for a bit?”
“Go right ahead. I was just finishing up. Diamond, make sure to keep practicing those motions I showed you. If you need any more one on one practice, feel free to come find me anytime. Otherwise, meet me back here at the end of the week.”
Diamond nodded, before turning to Rainbow. She stepped forward, before pausing. “Wait. Was that a joke when you first got here?” She frowned. “That's... in horrible taste.”
“Oh, come on. Where's the fun in being blind if you can't make a few jokes out of it?” she asked with a shake of her head. “I just hope you can fly faster than you can catch my puns. Come on, Chickenwings.”
The alicorn rolled her eyes and trotted after her. “Another long, break neck flight?”
“More or less. We're going to see how well you can dodge, too. You're really kind of slow, to be honest. The way you fly, I can sometimes barely believe you're even an air bender.”
Diamond sighed and shook her head. “We can't all be like you, Rainbow.”
“Doesn't mean you can't try!”
------
Diamond laid on her back, staring at the darkening sky as she panted with exertion. She couldn't be sure if the lights she was seeing were stars, or if she was on the verge of passing out. Rainbow chuckled as she sat by her. “Feeling the burn?”
The alicorn tried to speak, but it took a few moments before she could get the words out her throat. “E-evil...” she said weakly.
“Yeah, a little bit. But it was good for you, though! See, the others? They'll probably go easy on you. I don't know the meaning of the word,” she said with a chuckle. “One way or another, we're going to make an awesome fighter out of you. Nothing short of a raging herd of minotaurs is going to take you down.”
Diamond groaned and tried to lift a wing, it practically screamed in anger back at her. “C-completely... utterly evil...”
Rainbow snickered and laid back shrugging. “Eh. So, Diamond? Have you talked to Twilight since we got back?”
The alicorn laid there for a few more moments, sucking in air. Finally, she felt the ability to speak. “No. Can't.”
“Why?”
“Hard. Need to rest between... talks. Don't want to... waste them,” she said softly, her breath slowly returning. She was so thankful she was an earth pony before all this. If she was a unicorn she was pretty sure she'd be dead by now.
“Ah. Well... next time you see her, let her know her kids are okay, got it? I don't want her... worrying or anything.”
Diamond blinked a few times before glancing over. “Don't... think she was.”
“Oh, she was, trust me.”
“Why?”
“She's a mom. Every mom worries about their kid.” She paused for a moment before shrugging. “Well, every mom worth a buck. Guess I met enough horrible ones I can't say all of them. It's a beautiful night, huh?”
“Yeah. Shame you can't see it.”
Rainbow chuckled softly. “Eh, I've seen plenty in my life. I still see a lot, just not the same as I used to.”
The alicorn blinked a little before glancing over. “What's... it like?”
“Hm?”
“Losing your... eyes?”
Rainbow went still for a moment before sighing. “It... was weird, I guess. I mean... well, to be honest? I was lucky. It was gradual. I was blinded for a bit, then everything was just... blurry. I had to wear goggles, and that was cool. They made me look awesome. But even that wasn't permanent. It didn't fix the problem, it just kind of... made it more tolerable.”
“Do you regret it?”
The pegasus snickered. “Of course I regret it! I mean, I charged face first at Nightmare Moon and I had to get saved by RARITY of all ponies. That was embarrassing. I've seen her get freaked out by a soiled napkin.” She chuckled, before sighing. “But like... I guess. Of course I regret it. Who wouldn't? I got hurt. But it happens, you know? Ponies get hurt all the time. I survived and... honestly, it's not the worst thing I've ever lost. Besides, if it came down to it... I'd give it up a second time if it meant we got to succeed.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Diamond, I know it might seem... odd now, but you weren't there during those times. You didn't see what was going on. There was war. Real war. Ponies were dying. We tried to keep the casualties down, but there were so many times there was nothing we could do. Nightmare Moon was literally raining the stars themselves down on us. That's not even counting the other stuff she did.” She shook her head. “My sight was a small price to pay for what we eventually managed to do. Sure, if I was given a second chance I wouldn't have flown in blindly. I was pissed. But hey...” Her hoof moved to rest on her stomach. “Sometimes you get second chances, sometimes you don't. Besides, not like it really slowed me down. I still became one of the most awesome Wonderbolts of all time. Mastered the sonic rainboom. Had... an amazing kid. Had a wonderful husband. Going blind is like... the least important thing to have happened in my life, it'll barely be a hoofnote when they write down the stories of my pure awesome for years to come.”
Diamond chuckled, before nodding. “I guess... that doesn't make it seem so bad.”
“Buck, losing Fluttershy was a lot worse than losing my sight.” She then sat up. “Things happen, ponies get hurt. I won't lie. There were a LOT of times I thought my life was over. That being blind meant I was done. But you know what? When you get hurt, mope as much as you want. But when you're done, try to do what you can. You should remember this more than anypony else.”
“What? Why?”
“You're the Avatar. By the time your journey is done, you're almost guaranteed to suffer worse than going blind.”
Diamond shuddered, her hoof going up to her chest. “I... I guess. Twilight... suffered, didn't she?”
“Twilight probably suffered more than any of us.” Rainbow shook her head. “When she... came to us, the war had just started for her. She'd been locked up for a hundred years. Her friends, family, all dead. Her people, gone. The dragons, thought to be extinct. Even the sun and moon were wrong. Anything and everything she knew had disappeared. She could have collapsed, she could have broken down. Buck, I don't think anypony could have objected to it. The one thing that remained from her time, the Great Dragon, died too. She had more reason to break than any of us. But you know what? She cried, freaked out and then kept fighting. She kept working at it. She never gave up even when all hope seemed lost and it seemed as if we were finally going to be beat.” She then snickered. “Though we had to beat sense into her a few times. And beat a spirit out of her, once. That was interesting. Probably funner than it should have been.”
Diamond suddenly felt a little annoyed, she didn't know why. She nodded none the less. “Yeah. She... was something else. I uhh... I think I'm going to head home, get some sleep. You should come by sometime. Hang out with Prism a bit. I'm sure he'd love to see you more.”
Rainbow sighed and gave a shrug. “I'm not really one for all that... touchy feely cuddly junk, you know?” She then smiled at her. “But I'll make sure to come by sometime. Buck, I'm in the city, I'm not going to just ignore my son.”
“Okay. I'll see you later,” Diamond said before flying off, her exhausted wings making the flight slow and awkward.
Rainbow hummed for a few moments, before sighing. “So, Daring, you planning to hide there all night, or going to come out and say something?”
“What? You knew?!” the mare asked, before popping out of a nearby tree.
“Of course I knew. I could feel you coming a mile away.”
“Oh, sorry. You two just seemed to be having a big talk and--”
“I know, I know. Don't worry. It was nice. The two of us just had to have a little talk. So, how's being a Shadowbolt working for you?”
Daring flew up and landed on the cloud by her. “Eh, it's alright. I kind of imagined it being more awesome, though. More adventure and fighting off hordes of benders. Today we stopped a wagon thief. Wasn't even really a wagon thief, was just a confused stallion who grabbed the wrong wagon,” she said flatly.
Rainbow snickered and shook her head. “Yeah, that kind of stuff can happen sometimes. We had this one mare who I swear was at almost every town we went, and always somehow her muffin stand would be at the wrong place and get clobbered. Probably a whole family of them or something,” she said with a wave of her hoof. “It can't always be fun and adventures, though.”
“Yeah, but it's just so boring. Also, one of my squadmates? Like... wow. He's just sooooo lame. He flies so slow and runs out of breath at the drop of a hoof. He can barely keep up and he keeps slowing us down. Did you have to go through that in the Wonderbolts?”
“Nahhhhh. The Wonderbolts were the best of the best, the most elite fliers in the world. I was faster than a lot of them, but we could all fly for days and fly at speeds that most pegasi could only dream of. Buck, I even occasionally learned a thing or two from some of them. Sometimes.”
Daring sighed and shook her head. “I think the Shadowbolts accept just about anypony. He's just like... ugh.” She shuddered. “My teacher is awesome, though! He fights even better than Ironwing. He took me down in like, three seconds. He even used this one like... I don't remember what he called it, but he used his wing for cover and then BAM! Hoof strike! It was sooooo cool.”
Rainbow snickered and gave a shrug. “I wouldn't worry too much about it. If he's really that bad, he'll probably drop out. Besides, I heard they switch up teams all the time, so you'll probably be sent to a better team soon enough. One that can keep up.”
“Ughhhhh. I hope so. I didn't come here to be held back. I wanna go out, do things like my mom did! Fight a bunch of bad guys and stuff,” she said with a chuckle. “Could you imagine being held up while all the interesting stuff happened?”
“Well... to be honest, I kind of got thrown into it by your mom. Buck, back home there weren't really any more air benders aside from me. Most of them had been taken to Cloudsdale for the war. I was just too young at the time and couldn't go on my own, didn't really know the way. Probably would have frozen to death, too.” She gave a shudder. “Kinda hard to believe how cold it was back then.”
“Cold?”
“Oh yeah. No sun meant not much heat. We had clouds to try and keep the warmth in but... well, it only did so much. If Twilight hadn't risen the sun... I don't know what would have happened to the world. Might be coated in ice by now. Who knows how many ponies would have died from that alone?”
Daring shrugged. “No idea.” She tapped the cloud, staring at the sky. “So... I've been writing more of my little stories down, all the adventures.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Scootaloo said she'll see if she can get them into the right hooves. Ironwing said a lot of ponies might like to hear them. I uhhhh... I've been writing some books about mom, too. On the side. I thought... well, you know. It'd be cool to show everypony what she was like. With us. Sunset and I.”
“I think she'd like that. Twilight always did love a good book. Maybe I'll read them sometime.”
Daring snickered. “You're incorrigible, aren't you?”
“Always.”
------
Scootaloo frowned as she slowly spread her wings out. “They're heavy.” The metal wrapped around the outer and inner edges as well as the top, leaving the bottom bare. It connected in a small breast plate with a red gem.
“Of course they're heavy,” Silver said with a roll of her eyes. “They're fake wings. Made of metal.”
“I don't know if I like them. I'm not sure I could fight with these.”
“You've never really flown before, do you think you could fly with them anyway? Just think of them as... really big wing blades.”
“Really big wing blades that just feel awkward. I don't like this, at all. I've never even liked wing blades. Not only that, they're kind of... they tingle.”
Silver's eyes gleamed. “Really? They tingle?”
“Errr... yes? Is that a good thing?”
“Yes! It means they're fusing with your skin and permanently binding with you!”
“WHAT?” Scootaloo screamed before reaching up to try and yank them off. She then noticed the smirk on Silver's face. “You're bucking with me.”
“Indeed.”
“What does the tingling really mean?”
“Most likely it's the sensation of magical flow along your wings. Now, normally you probably wouldn't notice and, gradually, I doubt you will. However, you've never experienced it like a normal pegasus, so it probably feels brand new. Think of it like... walking on a flat surface after walking on something with lots of bumps. At first you'll notice how flat it is. But after a while you don't even notice unless anything changes.”
“But I've always had wings...”
“Yes, but your magic has always been disrupted and blocked. A small handicap, but a handicap none the less. This should fix it. Now, I want you to slowly spread your wings and try flapping them.”
Scootaloo began to extend them, before closing them up again. “I'm not sure this is a good idea, it--” She was cut off by Silver's hoof on either side of her face.
“Scootaloo, I understand. You've never been able to fly before, you're scared if you get your hopes up, you'll just be disappointed. Or worse, you'll just fail and never be able to do it. You hope if you don't try, it'll all just go away.” She took a slow, deep breath. “But it's not going to. Because if you don't do this, I am going straight to your husband. If that fails, I'm going straight to Ironwing. And those two will whine. And nag. And bug. And complain. And spend every day of their lives making you as miserable as I'm sure Secretary is during tax season. Until you relent. Now, what is it going to be. Are you going to spread your wings and fly, or endure a few weeks of constant nagging from the moping brigade and THEN spread your wings and fly?”
Scootaloo just stared flatly at her, before shaking her head. “You're pure evil.”
“I have been called that, yes. So you'll try?”
“F-fine. Whatever. It's not like I care or anything.” She pulled back from Silver and took a slow, deep breath. She gingerly spread her wings out, twitching them back and forth just a little bit. “Just... a few flaps, okay? I mean, I doubt this'll work but...”
“It's the first trial. This is mostly just for test data. Now go.” Silver stepped to the side.
Scootaloo took a slow, deep breath before galloping forward. She quickly picked up speed before leaping into the air. Her wings spread out and she felt them gently cutting through the magic in the air. Her heart beat rapidly and, for a moment, she felt herself gliding along the air, her wings supporting her full weight. A gentle hum came from her chest and she realized with an excited squeak that she wasn't gliding down. She was keeping level. She flapped her wings once and rose a few inches, shrieking. The gem in her chest began to vibrate and the air seemed to get softer. She flailed her hoofs wildly moments before the support on her wings gave out and she tumbled towards the ground.
She stopped inches from it before being, gently, deposited on the ground. She let out a sigh of relief, before turning to Silver. The mare trotted over, her metal horn glowing before the gem was plucked out. “Huh. Interesting.”
“What? What's wrong? Did I mess up?”
“What? No, you're fine.” She held up the gem and showed a few hairline cracks around the edge. “See, here's the problem, there's not enough balancing.”
“What?”
“How to put it... okay. My wings?” The metal moved up, spreading out. “They're pure metal, nothing but metal. So they do all the work. Now, on your husband's wings? The metal is there, but the stump still exists. So the wings are attached to the stump. This alters things as the magic that allows him to fly as a pegasus is still there, so we just had to have it be conductive, allowing the magic to flow through the metal. It makes them lighter, but more flimsy than these.”
Scootaloo felt her spirits fall. “So... it... can't be done for me?” As much as she wanted to deny it, she could feel herself wanting to start crying.
“What? Oh, no. Of course we can do it,” Silver said with a roll of her eyes. “Do you really think I'd have wasted you time if I wasn't a hundred percent sure I could get this to work?”
“... Yes.”
“Okay, I would, but this? This is fixable.” Her artificial horn glowed for a moment before she unstrapped the outfit, drawing it off her. “The information is stored in the gem, anyway. See, the big problem is you're somewhere in between.”
“In between?”
“Yes. You have the magic of a pegasus, such as cloud walking. But your wings don't work properly. Now, the initial assumption was we could just attach our normal wings to yours and it would allow you to cut through the magic. But here.” She showed the gem again, showing where it cracked on the top. “This right here? Your magic did that.”
“Sorry?”
“It's no need to be sorry. You do have some flight power, though.”
“W-what?!” Scootaloo snapped. “I-impossible, I've been trying to fly for years and--”
“Some, I said,” Silver interrupted. “Namely, your wings can affect the magic in the air. But you can't properly cut through it. Think of it like...” She rubbed her chin. “Ah. Think of it as the difference between water and steam. For most ponies, the water is just solid enough they could swim through it. However, steam isn't solid enough. A pony might be able to get the tiniest bit of lift from steam, but not enough to hold them in the air for any definite period without the proper tools. But they could use the steam in other ways, perhaps for sideways propulsion.”
Scootaloo nodded. “So... that means...”
“We'll need to adjust the gem so it can still affect the magic in the air, but also allow it to flow with your own magic so the two aren't fighting. I should have another prototype in... oh, a few days. It shouldn't take long at all.”
The pegasus nodded. “I uhhh... I guess I'll see you then, then. It was... well... I ummmm...”
“Lady Scootaloo?”
“Yes?”
“It's okay to be excited,” Silver said with a chuckle. “I won't tell anypony.”
She blushed and squirmed. “I'm fine. It's fine. I'd rather hold my excitement until I know if it works.”
Silver nodded. “Okay. Thank you for enduring my tests. I'll see you later, I hope.”
“Of course,” Scootaloo said before trotting out the door. Once she heard it shut, she grinned. “Eeeeeeee!” she squealed with delight before trotting off.
From the other side of the door, Silver pulled her ear off the door, a grin on her own face. “Knew she'd love it." Now she just hoped the mare wouldn't chicken out before the meeting. If Scootaloo didn't think she'd follow through on the threats to tell her husband... well, she'd regret it soon enough.