Settling in

by Honest Wisdom

The Temple of Truth

I soared over the clouds, the sunlight casting a shadow. The two fillies on my back gazed down in wonder at the size of the world beneath them. i notice a flash out of the corner of my eye and turn to them. "You okay back there?"

"Are you kidding?!?" Scoots threw her forelegs up in the air. "This amazing! No Pegasus I know can fly this high up!" She grins sheepishly. "You... uh... don't think you could teach me?"

Pride wells up in my chest and I smiled. "I'd be honored."

"Look! Sweetie Belle and Discord are falling behind!" I looked past Scoots and Applebloom and see that they were at least a mile behind. I bank right and fly towards them. "What's wrong?"

"He's probably just used to teleporting everywhere." I Slow down and fly beside him. "You Okay, Discord?"

He laughs. "Never better!" He wheezed.

I scowl. he was in worse shape than I thought. "We're going to take a break and eat some lunch. You should Take a break too." I feel Applebloom cling tighter to my fur a split second before I dive.

I bank left and circle the ledge. The minute my talons touched the ground Scoots jumped off my back and stretched. "When can we start? Can you teach me some tricks? Or maybe how to fly against the air currents?" She starts bouncing in a circle around me in excitment.

I laugh and stop her with a claw. "Slow down there. Applebloom, Why don't you start setting up camp?" I turn back to Scoots. "We should start with the basics." I open my wings and Angle them. "First, Never be too confident, a good Flyer knows their limits..."

---

The Flight Instructor smiled happily at me even as I collapsed on the ground. "You're doing Great! You're still flapping way too fast, you're exhausting too much Energy. Try again."

I open my tiny wings and took a deep breath. Three years of practice and training has lead to this moment. I start flapping, slow and steady. I grin, Extra dessert was so close, I could practically taste it. I bring my wings down as hard as I could. I felt myself rocket up towards the ceiling. My grin widens and I angle my wings forward. "I'm doing it!" I'm so excited I forget to flap. I whoop and notice I'm falling.

The flight instructor catches and hugs me and laughs. "Try to remember to flap your wings, Sometime."

---

I demonstrate for Scootaloo the proper way to take off. When she tries it she falls flat on her face. I help her up and point out where she went wrong. While laughing my Flank off too. "Don't Worry Scoots, You'll get the hang of it. It took me three Years to learn." I laugh at her Horrified expression. "Don't worry, you'll probably do it a lot quicker. You're parents did start teaching you right?"

"Umm, no. They can't, My Dad has to run the store and my mom is an Earth Pony." I frown. No matter how busy someone is they should always make time to help their children succeed. "Rainbow Dash promised to teach me once she gets the time."

I frown and place a Wing over her protectively. "Let's break for lunch." I lead her toward Camp and smile down at her. "Why didn't you ask me sooner? I never have anything better to do." I eye her wings, they were a bit small for her age, probably just from misuse. Something catches my eye. "Hey Scoots?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever wanted to see the world? Blaze a trail, see just how big this world is?" She nods. "Look at your flank." I manage, barely able to contain my excitement for the Filly.

Her eyes widen in shock. "What, How!?!"

I scoop her up and hug her. "I knew you were destined for greatness! I'm so proud of you!" I fly towards the camp and halt sharply. I grin at the Two fillies warring over the last sunflower while Discord slowly inched to take it. "Great news Every pony! Scoots got her Cutie Mark." The Girls stared wide-eyed as I point out the Mark on Scootaloo's flank. It was a map halfway-filled in by a quill with a jar of ink sitting next to it on the filled side. Discord munches on the flower, completely un-amused about the event. "Discord?"

"Huh?"

"This is a very important Moment in a young Fillies life."

"So?"

"Be Excited." I deadpan.

He sighs and looks at Scootaloo. "Here." He Snaps his Fingers and a bunch books on Geography and survival. "When we get back we'll give you a proper cutecinera." He yawns and relaxes in his imaginary hammock. I face-claw.

---

The next day I fly at the same speed as Discord. If only to let the girls Talk about Scoots' Cutie Mark. "This is so cool!"

"I always thought you were the bravest of all of us Scoots."

I toned them out and watch the ground. We were passing over the mountain range and I was certain we'd find the Temple in a few hours. I was nervous about the temple, I could only remember a few details and most of them involved the fact that it was a remnant of some Ancient Gryphon Religion. Silvertounge was very interested in a certain Goddess, What's-her-name. He said there were prophecies about her return. Most of them involved destroying the world and building it anew.

"Hello? Equis to Wisdom?"

"Huh? Wha?" I crane my neck to look around.

Scoots points at my wings. "What are you doing? You're not flapping."

I look at my wings. "Sustained air gust, It let's me glide without losing altitude."

Her eyes widened. "That is sooo... Awesome!" She grinned. "Can you teach me that?"

"Of course, I'm no Rainbow Dash but once I'm done teaching you you'll be pulling Tricks off like you were born flying." I return my gaze to the ground below us. I noticed what looked like a wall protruding from the peak of the nearest mountain. "Hold on!" I power a Magic Gust into my wings and tear off towards the mountain. Discord attempts to keep up. I summon a gust to speed him up and turn to him. "The girls and I will go ahead and start packing everything up."

I disappear around the other side of the mountain before he has a chance to Argue. I slow to let my Passengers get a good look. The building itself was crumbling and pillars hold up nothing. It was obvious that the builders had put a lot of work into it. The pillars sport worn away designs and glyphs from a dead language. There were thread bare tapestries that hold four symbol set in a circle. It was old but held a certain mysterious beauty to it, sort of like 'I've been here for centuries before you existed and I'll be here long after you're gone'.

"Whoa!" Scoots says.

"Well I'll be," Applebloom gasps.

I Smile at them. "Welcome, To the Temple of Truth."

Comments

[Tennis Match Fan]

Interesting.

[damnaion]

14# hummmm