Your Wings Were Made For Angels

by Still Breeze

The Seventh Element

Chapter 4: The seventh element

“Where are we?” Jak asked, staring at nothingness. Nothing but total blank whiteness stretching out endlessly in all directions.

“The space between our two universes.” Celestia confirmed.

“Wh- what do we do now?” Asked a slightly nervous Jak. He felt scared by the enormity of what they were both doing, but found much strength by Celestia’s side. If he were alone, the case would be very different.

“Now… we wait.” The princess gently replied, turning her head to check for something that blatantly wasn't going to be there.

“For what?” The human enquired, following the large mare's gaze with an off frown of confusion as to what exactly she was staring at.

“For the two universes to cross." Celestia replied, promptly turning her head back to face the teenager. "Then we can enter Equestria.”

“Well how long will that take?” Jak asked with a sense of urgency, not because he was impatient, even though it was in his personality, but because he felt rather ill from his very first teleportation experience and didn’t want to have to do anything like that for some time. Also, the two appeared to be… floating. Not weightless, but standing on… nothing… To say the least, the experience was odd; only adding to the mix of uneasy feelings within his stomach.

“Honestly… I don’t know…” Answered Celestia glumly. “It could be a couple of minutes, maybe a couple of hours. It may even take a few days!”

“A few days!?” Jak repeated, then he sighed loudly.

“At a worst case scenario. I estimate we will have to wait two or three hours at the most. Auroras are quite frequent over Equestria.”

“Wait, what? Auroras?” Jak asked, half confused, but balanced with relief that he had enough time to get all of his questions answered, or at least the ones that mattered anyway.

“Ah, yes. You see, when our two universes cross, auroras are seen in the sky-“

“Wait, wait, wait. Auroras are created by solar winds hitting the atmosphere.” Jak interrupted, butCelestia didn’t take offense. After all, their two worlds were very different and there was much to discuss: the two were very alike. Strange, how they became instant friends after knowing each other for barely an hour. Both Jak and Celestia enjoyed greatly conveying their ideas of a ‘larger perspective’ of life and what mysteries could never be answered, but it was still nice to wonder.

“Solar… winds?” Celestia asked, puzzled by this new terminology.

“Yeah. Do you not have those in Equestria?”

Celestia shook her head. “What are they?”

“Well,” Jak started, unsure as to why he felt like such a preacher, “A solar wind is where magnetically charged particles hit the planet’s atmosphere and collide with other particles in the atmosphere, causing coloured lights in the sky. These are the auroras on Earth, anyway. But they only really appear to the North of the planet...” Celestia stared blankly, and Jak stared back, slightly at his knowledge on the subject. “Is that not how it works in Equestria?” only after saying it did he realise what a stupid question it was. For one, Celestia had already declared her lack of knowledge concerning the Northern Lights and judging by her expression, had no idea what he was talking about in the first place.

Before she could reply, Jak answered bashfully for her. “I guess not, huh…”

Celestia chuckled softly. By now, it was dawning on them both how astounding all of this seemed; conversation, breathing, existing. But no matter, trying to understand something like this was way out of both of their leagues.

Jak found himself aware of what a majestic moment this was to begin with: standing here, next to a creature of mere fantasy. There were countless others who would give their lives and more to be where he was right now; he probably didn't deserve this - yet the solitary young man had refined being left alone - in a sense, practiced being on his own on regular occasions.

This thought delta was becoming too vast for Jak to handle, so the conversation quickly turned back to its source.

“So,” Celestia began, her voice spiking to redraw attention to the conversation. “What questions would you like to ask?”

“Uh, well…” Jak thought only for two seconds – or what two seconds would be, if time existed – before consulting: “What will happen to me when we get into Equestria?”

“What do you mean?”

“Will I stay like this, or will I change into a pony?”

“I can’t be sure. But, if such a thing were to happen…”

“Yes…”

Celestia looked down – or was it up – in thought. “You’re The Rife.”

“The Rife?” Jak looked puzzled

“I am sorry. I’ll explain everything…”

The princess recited the story in depth before explaining the legend in a dialect somepony could actually understand. She then told him what had happened the day she left.

“But… they’re okay, Twilight and her friends I mean, or they will be when we stop that… what was it?”

“Kerous.”

“Kerous. Right.”

“Well…” The white equine muttered. Here comes the multiverse theory again, Celestia thought with a sigh...

...

“So… Equestria was destroyed?” Jak asked sorrowfully.

“Yes and no.” Answered Celestia nonchalantly. “In another reality Equestria was destroyed. But we’re going back to a time way before that. To change the future of the reality that will survive.”

“And just when is that?” Jak enquired.

“A little over a year before Kerous arrives.”

“Is that before, or after Discord?”

Deciding not to grill Jak over his knowledge about one of the most devious foes Equestria had encountered, Celestia . “Just short of a year after Discord. It’ll be mid-Autumn, personally my favourite season.” She smiled, remembering the colours, smells and harvest that her fall delivered.

“What kind of pony will I be?” Asked Jak with the anticipated excitement of a child on the eve of their birthday.

“You’re The Rife. Most definitely, you will become an alicorn like me, that is, if you change at all.”

Jak gasped in amazement. He would be… a god! Celestia was happy that he was overjoyed about the whole situation. SHe was self-assured that the human would deteste losing his current body with which he had become rather accustomed, but judging by his reaction, the situation was clearly that of the opposite.

“That reminds me…” Celestia used her magic to withdraw some sort of beige garment from her flowing pink, green and blue mane.

“What’s this?” Asked Jak, eyeing the piece of material shrouded in a pearlescent aura accusingly.

Celestia went to laugh, but reminded herself that articles of quadruped clothing were slightly different to the ones… He was used to. “Pardon me for asking, and please don’t take offence to this but… what actually are you?”

“Huh?”

“What I mean is; I’m a pony. And you’re a…”

“Oh. I’m human.”

“Hm, interesting…” The princess stared thoughtfully at another corner of nothingness. “Anyhow, another alicorn sighted in Equestria will certainly turn some heads, and maybe some of the wrong ones, and I won’t be there when you arrive... I’m sorry.”

“You won’t be there?” Jak asked dumbfoundedly.

“I’ll be in Equestria, but we won’t have met.” The princess explained.

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m from the future; I don’t ‘belong’ in the past.”

“So, where do I go?” Jak asked, taking the piece of equine clothing from Celestia’s magical grasp.

“That is a vest.” Said the celestial mare. Jak held it at arm’s length and inspected it, rotating it to different angles as if he was trying to expose its secrets. “It’s elasticated, as I don’t know how big you will be. I had a pony named Rarity make it for me: it is of the highest quality. If you change, put it on to cover your wings. If one of my guards saw another alicorn anywhere near Canterlot, he may think you are threatening my throne.” Jak furrowed his brow in the fact that he would never even dream of doing such a thing.

“As for where you go when you arrive…” the princess put together a plan quickly. “Go and see a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. She lives in an enormous hollowed out tree that serves as the library in a town called Ponyville. You can’t miss it.” Jak didn’t need to be told this; “Go see Twilight” would have done. “She’ll point you in the direction of my castle and could maybe get you inside.” Celestia finished.

“Right. Got it.” Jak replied, satisfied. “I just have one more question…”

“Anything.” Celestia answered.

“What if I don’t change?”

The princess frowned thoughtfully, though her eyes were narrowed and her pupils were sharp, she still maintained a persona of the kind and caring princess everypony knew and loved. “Go with the same plan. Twilight Sparkle will want to bring you to me. Let’s just hope that you do transform into a pony; it will save a lot of confusion and hassle.”

And it would be awesome… Jak mumbled in his thoughts.

What felt like two hours of deep conversation had passed before a sound that wasn’t the princess, or her companion was heard. It had probably been a lot longer, but neither of the two characters seemed to notice.

“What was that?” Asked Jak, shaking slightly in lieu of the unusual sound.

“It’s time.” Celestia replied sharply, becoming alert to her bleak surroundings. The sound in question was the single, sweet chime of a crystal bell. The chimes became faster and faster, like the timer on a bomb before becoming a single ringing noise. It was deafening, and at a ridiculous frequency. Both Jak and Celestia covered their ears to prevent the pain increasing on both sides of their head.

Jak’s Earthly clothes panicked in a strong ‘wind’ that blew towards them, at each side and behind them. Other sounds like hushed whispers in the night joined their thoughts, almost inaudible over the screeching of that damn bell.

“WHAT’S GOING ON!?” Jak screamed towards Celestia, failing to become louder than the sounds that bombarded both their heads.

All of a sudden, the voices, the bell and the ‘wind’ stopped. Dead. There had never been such a silence. The human and the pony released the hands and hooves that were clamped as tight as vices against their heads and looked questionably at each other, trying to find answers in one another’s eyes.

Just then, before either of them could say a word, two enormous scars of colour and light ripped across the space in front of them, making both Jak and Celestia recoil at the proximity of the slashes.

Not allowing Jak to awe at the beauty of the view inside the rips in space, Celestia forcefully pushed him towards, but not into the reality.

“What do I do!?” Jak cried, turning to face the princess as the wind that had sprung from the gap scratched at his clothes once more.

“Find yourself! You’ll know exactly what to do once you’re there! Speak to Twilight!” She shouted over the roaring of the rushing wind as she drew herself up level with Jak. “On three, jump!”

“WHAT!?” Jak cried.

“Trust me!” The princess shot back dramatically.

A moment of tender eye-contact was shared. Jak could see the truth behind Celestia’s eyes. He said nothing, simply biting his lip and nodding nervously in agreement before turning his gaze back to the huge rip in front of him.

“One…” Celestia began. Jak tensed, ready to jump through the hole.

“Two…” She continued. Jak raised his arms into a fighting stance, grasping the thin vest tightly in his right fist.

“Three!” both Jak and Celestia leapt into the tear as it proceeded to re-seal it’s self from the other end. His white trainer barely made it through before the opening shut tight behind him, leaving nothing the way it was.

From white to black, he found himself falling. Or at least, that similar sensation. He looked to his right, and then to his left. Celestia was nowhere to be seen. After a while light and air began to materialise around him. He could see the stars, the enormous white moon and a rolling landscape, blanketed by a shroud of night. Only after marvelling at the feeling of flight, the human realised he was in fact falling. And fast. He tried to slow his decent the best he could; spreading out eagle to try and glide or ‘float’. This was a futile attempt and he quickly convinced himself that he was going to die. As the earth below quickened on him, he could faintly make out the pathway separating what looked like trees into a grid like formation. If he were to land in one of those trees, maybe he would have a chance.

As he tried his best to position himself above one of the larger looking trees, he felt a strange sensation atop his back. Well, rather two strange feelings, as if someone was lightly pulling on his skin. He turned his focus from the tree line to the sky and was barely able to question to himself: “Wings?” before he plummeted head-first into the top of the tree.

Branches snapped and twigs whipped at his entire body he felt his decent painfully slow down before feeling a heavy smack on the back of his head. And everything went black.

His eyelids peeled open to reveal lush green grass, amber leaves and sticks everywhere. The sky above him boasted early signs of dawn, a powerful pink glowed over the horizon, forcing the purple night to retreat to the west. These beautiful colours stretched across the sky, uninterrupted as there was not a cloud in sight. He could feel a throbbing pain to the rear of his brain and his body felt heavy with post-unconscious tiredness. He groaned, shaking the sleep from his head and trying to remember what happened. But when he tried to stand, his arm collapsed underneath him and crumpled under his weight.

He allowed a “What the-?” from his lips before examining his hand. He almost feinted out of shock when he found himself looking down upon a brilliant-white, fingerless hoof!

Jaw agape, he darted his eyes over to his other arm. The same sight as his right hand greeted him. That was all the wake-up call he needed. And a memory jog was complimentary too. He remembered leaping through a tear in total whiteness with Celestia. And then he was falling. And then everything went dark. Celestia wasn’t here now though, he confirmed as he scoured his surroundings. He remembered the conversation they had had before she left him. “She didn’t ‘belong’ in the past.” That’s what she told him. It wasn’t the first time he felt alone. But it was one of the rare times he felt bad about it.

He attempted to raise his body from the soft, but prickly grass again, and this time, with much more ease. He carefully placed the flat side of his… hoof… on the ground in front of him and the other beside it. Then he started to push and ‘walk’ with his back legs until he was standing. Just. Other debris from the fall and bits of leaves fell from his back as he raised himself from the floor. It felt strange to be on all fours, but at the same time, so natural. He then went one step further and tried to walk forward. Right foreleg out… left back leg in… left. Right. Left. Right. He stopped after another three steps. Walking, done. Though there were many improvements to be made.

Step two, what was he? He craned his neck around and gaped in awe at two enormous wings that fell carelessly at his sides and dragged along the floor. Though strewn with orange leaves, and collapsed limply, he still found himself very proud of them. Now, if he could just… yes! Somehow, he found the muscles required for movement in his wings and he raised them valiantly as high as they would go. To say they were ‘big’ would be a huge understatement. These wings were gargantuan! They easily rose three times the height of the pony they belonged to and stretched further than he ever imagined possible.

Lord knows how long he stood there, admiring his two new appendages before he remembered what Celestia had said: “You’re The Rife. You will most likely be an alicorn, like me.” He let his wings deflate and they naturally fell into a neat fold on each of his pure white sides. He felt atop his head, searching for a third, magical appendage, remembering that another alicorn sighting could get him into big trouble.

After several moments rummaging through a forest of scraggly light-brown hair atop his forehead, and a few times, returning his front hoof to the stability of the ground to prevent himself toppling over, his fingerless hoof struck something as hard as bone. With wonder in his eyes, he brought his white hoof along the length of his ‘horn’ from the base to the tip. It was rather large, no less than a foot – or was it a hoof here? – long.

The reality finally dawned on him, as did the orange ball of fire as is peeked over the side of a mountain on the horizon, spreading its first beams of warming light across the land and dying the sky a rich red. He, stood there by the side of a broken tree, gazing at the sunrise of an alien world, no, an alien universe.

He had finally done it. He allowed a tear of serene happiness and joy to run down his cheek – something he hadn’t done for a long time – and thought things through. He was in Equestria. He was a pony. He had no more mortal things to worry about like school and homework and his frustrating home life. He was living the dream as a brony. But dreams didn’t come true...

Did they? Maybe they do. Maybe everyone has their heart’s desires granted, whatever that may be. Was it down to destiny? Luck? Or was it a need? A longing. The desperation to be somewhere where you felt you belong…

It was true. He felt more at home here in the few minutes he had been awake than he did in the sixteen long years he spent on Earth. He always felt like he didn’t belong. Maybe it was because he didn’t…

Recalling Celestia’s warning, he remembered the vest she had given him. He hadn’t dropped it when he fell. He remembered clutching it tighter than anything as he plummeted to the very ground he stood on. He returned to the tree he landed in only a few moments ago. It wasn’t hard to tell which one it was. All the trees formed a long, uniform row, except for one that had a huge path of broken branches straight through it, nearly all of the leaves were missing and it had splintered at the base ever so slightly where the human-pony had landed on it. His eyes scanned the area before resting on a high branch a little out of his reach. Perched on the end of it was the light coffee coloured vest waving carelessly in the breeze.

He gingerly walked to the tree, stopping right underneath the garment and eying it up. What he did next was ridiculous. He had barely learned to walk and now he was standing on his hind legs frantically making swipes at the vest. Walking on two legs was involuntary for a human and it was one of those things you do without thinking about it. The same can’t be said for ponies unfortunately, as after four or five failed snatches his weight shifted behind him and he fell backwards, outstretching his wings as all of his limbs a they sought something to grab hold of. There was nothing that could be done to prevent the fall, and he landed on his back on the floor with a thud and an “Oof!”

The vest continued to flutter in the wind, staring down onto the white pony, mocking him with its inaccessibility. The pony grunted, rolled over and returned himself to all fours. If he was going to get this thing to cover his wings, he first needed to use them.

Anxious, and indeed a little excited, the alicorn flapped his enormous wings gently at first, to get the feel of the muscle alignment and how much force was needed. Surprised at how his body felt significantly lighter with even the faintest wing beat, he pushed a little harder next time and caught a few inches of air before falling softly back to the dirt. He looked up menacingly at the article of clothing.

“You’re mine…” he affirmed playfully. Harder, he flapped his great wings, and every time, he became closer to the vest until, finally, with one hard push of his wings, he batted the simple fabric from the tree branch. He landed again, following the garment as it fluttered peacefully to the floor. “Yes!” He cried triumphantly to himself, slowly walking over to his defeated opponent. Now, how to put it on…

Most ponies with magical abilities would dress themselves with magic – or that would seem the logical thing to do, at least. But he only had one vest. And he didn’t want to risk breaking it with a new ability that he didn’t have the slightest clue how to use. He slid the tip of his hoof underneath the vest and brought his left arm up in front of his face, letting it drape halfway down it. Forgetting how to stand, he brought his other foreleg to meet the vest, falling flat on his face as a consequence.

Shaken from the unexpected fall, and amused at his own clumsiness, he returned to his feet. He retried picking the vest up, first rotating it on the ground so he knew he had it the right way up. He then slid his hoof into the waist of the fabric. Happily, he could feel soft cotton on both sides of his hoof and he continued to slide his right foreleg deeper into the garment.

To his amazement, he pushed his hoof through the correct sized hole, designated for a foreleg.

With his right shoulder buried in the ground, he stood up, remembering to keep his clothed arm raised so as to prevent it from slipping off. Though classed as a vest, the article had very short sleeves that clung tightly around the top of his right foreleg. Next in was his head, along with his other arm. He found doing this easier sprawled on the floor. Soon, his head popped through the tight opening and he breathed a sigh of relief as he guided his left forearm into the other sleeve.

Right. That was that done, now just to cover the wings… easier said than done. The waist of the vest had become bunched up around the front of his wings. He rubbed at the brown material uselessly before eventually finding grip on the right side of his body somehow. As he slowly, but surely pulled the garment over his right wing, he pressed both of the feathered appendages tightly against his back, the left side of the vest fell to the halfway point of his wing as he smoothed the vest over his right flank, that he only just realised now that it was bare; he had no cutie mark. That may also turn a few heads: a sixteen year old stallion with no cutie mark.

“Well, at least the vest covers part of it…” he thought to himself as he dragged the piece of fabric on the left of his body and smoothed it down over half of his blank flank.

His wings felt restricted, uncomfortable in being compressed to the side of his body. He examined his hide. Two thick lumps sprouted from his back, they could be easily passed off as some sort of pocket or cushion, he was sure he would find some sort of excuse, the white pony was a fast thinker like that.

After somehow managing to waste ten minutes putting on a single article of clothing, the disguised alicorn was finally ready to set off into a proper adventure! First of all where actually was he? It didn’t take him long to realise that the woods he stood in was Sweet Apple Acres, judging from the rows upon rows of grid like Autumnal trees.

Down the pathway he stood in the middle of, no matter how hard he squinted and leaned forward from the spot he was standing in, he couldn’t possibly see the other end without at first walking. So that is just what he did. Taking care not to step on rotting apples, smothered by late wasps and bees, he set off in a straight line.

"Every great journey begins with a single step" He mused to himself as he begun. Unsure as to who actually said that, the white coated pony became self-assured of the quote's significance, and promptly took his first step.

It mattered not where he went, just that he found some sort of civilisation. But not the farm. If Applejack or any of the others saw a strange new figure skulking around their orchard… He gulped nervously as the thought of being chased by a tank like Big Macintosh washed over him. He had barely learned to walk, let alone run for his life. Though he was sure Applejack and the rest of her family would be keen to make friends, the princess specifically told him to see Twilight first; she would know what to do. He would need to find a hill, or a valley; any glimpse of Ponyville would be a massive point in the right direction.

And as the sun rose and brought out ever-lightening shades of pink to pale blue in the morning sky above the amber leaves, the white alicorn stopped in the orchard pretty much before he had even started. Something was chafing the front of his firm neck… pulling the elastic collar out with his right forehoof and bowing his head to see what was causing the problem, he let out an annoyed, but still humoured “Damn it!” as he gazed down at a little silver tag, the opposite side to where it should be, and the simple grey fabric smiled straight back at him. Mocking him…

Comments

[mrmayortheiv]

SOOOOO AWESOME

[Lord Etters]

I sharted when I saw the part about the tag

[Seizure Specialist]

They appear in the Southern Hemisphere too! Aurora Australis people!

[Science-Mare]

The tags. They mock us

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

That tag, it does the troll!

[Zapper Frost]

I feel like Jak forgot to ask one very important question to Celestia; what is going to happen to her?