Flights of Fantasy: A First Readers Book for Young Pegasi

by NoPonysLand

Flying High: an Introduction to the Seventh Edition by Windy Rhyme

Flying High: an Introduction to the Seventh Edition by Windy Rhyme

Friends, readers, I am proud to present to you the now completed seventh edition of the much loved Flights of Fantasy collection. I can not begin to express the honor I felt when I was offered the opportunity to write this introduction. My early foal hood memories are filled with the adventures of ponies past, of tales of kings and great dragons, of the quirky Starbuck and the sharp Spring. My days were spent, in large part, in the pages of the sixth edition, and I would have never thought that one day I could write my own stories. Here I am, thirty-five years later, author of two bestselling series, finally getting to do the one thing I had always wanted to: get my words into this collection.

The seventh edition of Flights of Fantasy carries with it the tradition of the past six iterations, with stories to excite the mind and get our new generation of little pegasi reading. The intention of this collection is not, and never has been, to teach our foals to read. It is to instill into them the love of reading itself, the greatest gift one can give in my opinion. It exists to show our children (yes, fillies and colts, that's you) that reading can be as exciting and wonderful an experience as any other activity, not simply a tool to be used for scholarship. Contained in these pages are tales of excitement, love, loss, and fear; of success, failure, pain, and pleasure; there is something in these pages which every foal will love, cherish, and grow with.

I am also pleased to announce that the seventh edition has followed in the hoofsteps of the sixth by continuing to branch out in the types of stories collected. Nearly half of the stories contained in these pages come from outside Equestria's borders, bringing fresh and wonderful new styles to the collection. Unfortunately, a few of the stories from the previous editions could not make it, but they still exist in the old books. We can keep our memories, but I for one welcome the new stories into the collection, to be presented alongside those which have been included from the very beginning.

A note to the reader: these are stories. Some involve real historical figures, such as Discord or Celestia or Firewind or Spring, but all are fictional. I was embarrassed more than once in history class in my youth due to quoting facts about historical figures who never did what I had claimed, or never existed in the first place. Heed my advice, and keep the history to the history books.

This collection exists to be enjoyed in any way that best suits its readers. That, I've come to realize, is the most important thing, after all: to show you, readers, that reading is, above all else, fun. Go have an adventure.

Windy Rhyme,

author of the Farlander and Days Long Past series.