Ghost Lights

by Winston

Chapter 18

Ghost Lights

Chapter 18

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Mid-morning two days later found us both back on the beach again. Azure's strained muscles were sufficiently healed and she was ready to continue her efforts at learning the art of flight. The spell she used to turn herself into a pegasus was a fairly involved piece of work and demanded all her attention, so I stood at a distance and let her focus quietly.

Azure closed her eyes and concentrated. Her horn began to glow pale blue, and after a brief time the aura of that magic widened to engulf her whole body. Before too much longer, there was a bright flash, which obscured her from sight but quickly faded. When it was gone she was once again hornless and bearing wings, the same pegasus form I remembered from a few days ago.

She looked herself over and briefly fluttered her wings a little bit, testing them. "Ready," she announced, satisfied that they functioned. "So where do we start today?"

"Remember what I taught you last time about flapping?" I asked.

"Yep." Azure nodded.

"Well, we'll keep going with that," I said. I moved closer and stood next to her. "Let's start out slow for a few minutes to warm up and stretch out, then we'll start working on improving your speed..."

We began, following that plan of action. For the next two hours we kept at it, although at a slower pace with more time to rest between exercises than on that first day. Azure did well. Much as before, she kept getting faster and better with practice.

Her progress surprised me, in fact. Maybe it shouldn't have. She has a very determined spirit, which I already knew, but I was still finding out just how deep that ran. I didn't really expect her to get into the air on just her second day, but eventually, she was finally at a point where I knew success was close to imminent. She'd developed about enough skill to be dangerous. It was just a matter of getting lucky on one of her next few attempts.

Azure herself was also starting to be able to tell it was close, and that seemed to only be driving her onward even harder. "I can feel the lift pulling me up and taking all the weight off my hooves. I think I'm almost there," she said.

I thought about it for a second. She probably just needed some sort of little extra boost to break over the edge. There was something I could think of that might do to get her started, so I had her try it. "You know what? Try jumping," I advised her. "Just jump as high as you can. Time it with your first good, powerful downstroke and then keep flapping as fast as your wings will go. Remember, smooth motions, like you've been practicing."

Azure readied herself, tensing up like a cat before it pounces. She spread her wings as wide as she could, holding them high, and then did what I said, leaping into the air and stroking downward hard when she started flapping frantically.

I wasn't expecting it to happen the very first time around with this particular technique, a stationary jumping takeoff, but everything was right on the mark and somehow it all came together. Beginner's luck, I guess. The combined forces of upward momentum from her jump and lift from her wings pulled her higher, and then the force of her next downward flap pulled her higher still. She remained airborne and with every subsequent flap she rose slightly, until she was hovering unsteadily about two pony heights above the beach.

"I'm doing it! I'm doing it!!" Azure shouted like a little filly enraptured in happy amazement. She smiled more widely than I think I'd ever seen before that moment.

Her glorious first flight lasted all of the next seven seconds, after which she lost the rhythm and dropped abruptly. She flailed in the air and thumped down in the sand, landing on her flank.

After falling, she sat there on her haunches, silent except for her panting. Her eyes were wide and huge looking, her wings were still spread out, and an elated smile was plastered on her face.

She finally looked up at me. "Did... did I just fly? For real?" she asked.

"Yeah," I confirmed for her. "Yeah, you did. For real."

Azure tilted her head back. "YEEEESSSS!!" She let out a triumphant yell.

This sudden contrast to the quiet and reserved princess's student I'd always known her as was something I'd never really seen in her before, and it caught me by surprise. At the same time, though, I understood. I think it was just about on par with my own reaction, back when I was a little filly and I did it all by myself for the first time. I just smiled at her and nodded. I was glad that she was enjoying herself.

After a few seconds of silence, she looked at me. "...How'd I do?" she asked, much more quietly. She was still breathing heavily.

"Oh, about how I expected," I answered her.

"So, good or bad for a first time?" she asked.

"Was the first spell you ever cast good or bad?" I asked her.

"Heh. Terrible." Azure smirked, apparently remembering it clearly enough.

"But you had to start somewhere, so did it really matter how good that one was as long as the next one was better?"

"I guess not." Azure shook her head.

"Well, there you go," I said. "Now, let's see if you can do that again. Longer this time."

The look on Azure's face became serious as she slowly stood back up. "Right." She nodded. She took a deep breath, spread her wings, and readied herself for the next effort.

---

Another two hours went by and numerous successful attempts to hover were accomplished. Azure's control over her stability and the length of time she was able to remain in the air kept improving. On her final try, she attained nearly the entire height of the Seawall in altitude and was well on track with learning how to make fine adjustments in vertical position by controlling the speed and angular pitch of her wings while she was flapping. Her landings also started getting better, which was possibly her most important area of development. Flying doesn't do a lot of good to a pony that can't get back on the ground again safely.

I called it a day a couple hours sooner than that first training session. We'd gotten a lot done by then, and I didn't want as severe a repeat of the consequences.

Once again, we headed for the freshwater stream to bathe. This time Azure got there and stepped in first. I waded into the ocean and splashed myself with cool seawater while I waited.

"That was exciting," Azure said. She was smiling, and sighed in a satisfied way. Her eyes were closed while she enjoyed the falling water washing over her back. "It's fun to be up in the air, even if I'm not even any good yet. I feel like I could do that every day."

I felt like she was trying to tell me through that hint how often she wanted me to teach and practice with her. In the aftermath of having gotten her first taste and finding that she liked it, I guess it was natural that she wanted more. I would have, too. I sympathized with her eagerness. On the other hoof, though, I knew that this was a dangerous time: the period where she'd just started feeling her abilities but didn't fully know her limits. Now that I'd let her start, I knew it was my responsibility to guide her correctly.

"No." I shook my head. "I don't think that often would be good for you. You'll grind yourself down. You don't have that kind of experience or endurance yet."

"Hmmm?" Azure opened her eyes and looked at me, her smile fading just a little.

"Every other day at most, for now," I continued, "and on report days, the report gets sent in before you use your transforming spell. Getting the job done that you were sent here for as a unicorn has to be the first priority."

"Well, of course." Azure nodded.

"And on days I say you need to rest, you rest," I continued. "No training. It's too easy to get hurt as it is, and overdoing it and working when you're too tired is practically a guarantee that something's gonna go wrong eventually."

"Alright, I understand," Azure said. "Any other rules?"

"Hmmm... well... that's it for now," I said. "I'll keep making them up as I go along whenever the need presents itself, though."

"Gotcha." Azure nodded and smiled back at me again. She continued bathing in silence for the next couple minutes.

Eventually, she stepped out of the stream of water and started to dry herself off.

I stepped in and began to take my turn showering. I stood and let it rush over me, sweeping away sweat and dirt. The pressure of the falling water scrubbing me off felt good.

"Who taught you how to fly?" Azure asked me after a little while.

"My dad, mostly," I said.

"Did you also go to flight camp in summer, and things like that?" Azure asked.

"Nah." I shook my head. "Most of the time while I was growing up, I lived in a pretty small town on the ground. Flight camps are all up around Cloudsdale, so it would have been too far. It didn't really hold me back me not to go, though. My dad was a really good teacher so I didn't miss much. Besides, my mom was... I don't know. She didn't like the idea of things like flight camps, I guess."

"Why not?"

"Just doesn't understand the whole flying thing, I think," I said. "She always worried about me when I took to the air."

"A pegasus that doesn't like flying?" Azure wondered. "That seems unusual."

"It might be, except that she's not a pegasus," I said. "She's an earth pony."

"Oh." Azure's eyes widened a bit in slight surprise. "I... uh... didn't realize. Guess those must be your father's wings, then."

"Him and his side of the family, yep." I nodded. "They're wings to be proud of."

"So they're strong fliers on his side?"

"You have no idea," I mumbled almost inaudibly.

"What was that?" Azure leaned in closer to me, trying to hear better.

"Nothing." I shook my head, speaking more loudly now. "Yes, my dad's family is all from Cloudsdale. All good fliers."

"Anypony I'd have heard of?" Azure asked.

"Heard of how?" I asked.

"I dunno." Azure shrugged. "High ranking military officers? Or ponies that got famous for their flying? Explorers? Stuntmares? Anything like that? ... Wonderbolts, maybe?"

I bit my lower lip and cringed for a second at that last one. I turned my head and hid it, using the stream of water falling over me. For as much as I was reluctant to reveal anything about that, however, I also didn't quite have it in me to lie outright to deflect her. I also wondered why Azure was asking. Was she just a lucky guesser or had she picked up on something somehow? I was hoping it was just a shot in the dark and that she would interpret silence as an implied negative response and move on to talking about something else.

Alas, she read my hesitation and lack of a response with an accuracy that was the opposite of what I would have liked.

"C'mon, who is it?" She smiled a little bit, in a way that said she could tell she was on to something.

"Nothing." I shook my head and continued washing off.

"Hmm... doesn't seem like nothing..." Azure said in a voice deliberately filled with a pondering tone.

"Yeah, alright, fine," I sighed. "There's a Wonderbolt. My aunt."

"Oh. Interesting," Azure said. "Who?"

I stayed silent and just continued standing in the water.

"Gimme a hint or something at least," Azure pressed me. "Or I can try to guess for clues, if you'd prefer. Does her name start with 'S' and end in 'pitfire'?"

At that point, I could only assume she'd managed to get hold of some inside information. I let out an exasperated groan. "How did you know?" I asked.

"I didn't know before, but I do now," Azure laughed. "Wait, seriously? You're Spitfire's niece? Or are you just messing with me?" She looked at me with one eyebrow half raised.

Well, never let it be said that Azure Sky isn't clever. Having been beaten by that trick, I decided I might as well just yield and get it over with. "No. It's true." I nodded reluctantly. "My father's sister. So yeah."

"Oh, wow!" Azure seemed surprised. "That was just a guess because I thought you looked like you had her mane and coat colors, but I never actually... Ha! Looks like I did pretty well in picking my flight teacher, didn't I?"

"I don't know about that, I'm just a mere pegasus," I said, shaking my head. "So is she, contrary to some of the popular myths."

"Does Captain Dash know?" Azure asked. "She's such a huge Wonderbolts fan, and she's told me more than once that Spitfire was her favorite. She'd completely flip out if she knew you were related, especially when you've been there in the palace as a guard for so many years right under her nose."

"Yeah. Her and a lot of ponies would treat me completely differently if they knew," I said. "Which is why I don't talk about it. I... umm... look, I know it probably seems interesting and all, and it's kinda my fault because I shouldn't have let it slip, but honestly, I'd actually really appreciate it if you could keep this to yourself. When we get back, I mean."

The smile on Azure' face slowly faded away into a much more thoughtful expression as she looked down at the ground.

"Yeah," she said, nodding slightly. "I understand. Being the student of a princess, sometimes ponies have treated me in some weird ways, too. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have needled that out of you if you didn't want to talk about it."

"Oh, no harm done." I stepped out of the little waterfall. "I know it gets lonely and boring out here. Gotta talk about something, right?"

"I'll keep it to just whining about the weather and stuff like that from now on," Azure said, still not looking at me.

"No, really, it's alright," I said. "I think I wouldn't have told you if I didn't trust you. I just don't like to make a big deal about it, that's all."

I shook myself out and started drying off. With a couple quick flaps, I threw most of the remaining drops of beaded water off my wings.

"It means a lot to me that you'd trust me that much," Azure said softly.

"We're out here alone together," I told Azure. "Trust needs to be a two-way street or we're in big trouble. You have to trust me a lot to let me teach you how to fly, so I guess it seems like it's only fair."

"Still, it's just that I know you prefer to keep to yourself most of the time," Azure said.

"Yes, I suppose I do," I agreed. "But... sharing isn't always a bad thing, is it?"

"No." Azure finally smiled a little bit. "No, it's not."

Seeing that Azure felt better about things now, I decided I'd get a move on the maintenance my plumage undoubtedly needed. I unfurled my left wing and stuck my face into it, starting the process of preening.

"Hey, can I ask you one more thing?" Azure inquired after a little while went by silently as I worked.

"What is it?"

"As long as you're already at it anyway, can you show me how to take care of these?" Azure asked, while she fluttered her wings briefly. "Since I still have a couple hours left with them, I might as well use it to learn."

"Alright, sure," I agreed. "There's really no special tricks to it. Just use your teeth but be gentle and remember to comb your feathers, not pull on them. Old feathers come out on their own when they're ready, and plucking yourself too much is a bad habit that'll hurt your performance. Every pegasus kinda has their own pattern and whatever feels best to you is fine, but I usually start from the base and work my way out toward the wingtips. I like to do primaries first and then continue on with all the rest of the layers in an ascending order. That way you won't waste any time messing up feathers in upper layers again trying to get to the feathers down in lower ones..."

Azure started rifling through her own wings, following my hints, and we preened ourselves side by side in a comfortable silence. A little to my surprise I realized I was really glad she was there with me, sharing that time grooming. It felt good. This was a rare thing for me. I didn't know how long it had been since the last time I'd been preening alongside another pegasus before then.

It's a little odd to think that being isolated in the middle of nowhere was where I found myself feeling the most social I'd been in a long time, but the company made all the difference.

Comments

[the frank]

This deserves more reads.

[Winston]

5516431 Oh, I wish it was getting more. I am glad it seems to have at least a few devoted fans who keep reading the chapters as they publish, though.

[DjentDelaCroix]

I didn't really expect her to get into the air on just her second day, but eventually, she was finally at a point where I knew success was close to imminent, because she'd developed about enough skill to be dangerous.

Run-on.

Most of the time I while was growing up, I lived in a pretty small town on the ground.

There's a couple of errors like this one, but I'm on mobile, so I can not find them all.

[Winston]

5518492 Sheesh. No matter how many times you proofread...

Well, those are corrected now. Thanks!

[Unbridled Dolly]

Somewhere at the top there's a "took me by surprise" where the "y" in "by" is replaced by an "e". (Sorry that's so vague.)