Starlight

by ThePrinceOfTheNorth

Chapter 5: Free

I looked over at my calendar. July 20th.

I know I'd told Double that today was the day I'd be leaving Baldy Mountain for Winnipeg, but I somehow have quite a few cans of food left, enough for a few more weeks, at least.

I called him.

"Dauphin Tower, come in Dauphin Tower," I called over the CB. Since I'd gotten here, Double had taken the initiative to move all the supplies he had, including the rest of the radio equipment, to Dauphin Airport's old Air Traffic Control Tower, which really was just an abandoned old building in this day and age. Still, the communications tower had been left there, so it was as good a place as any.

"This is Dauphin Tower," came Double's reply, "We hear you loud and clear, Baldy Mountain. You packed yet?"

"There's been a change of plans," I said, "Evacuation has been rescheduled for August fifth. Repeat, August fifth."

"Understood, Baldy Mountain," Double replied, "I'll make sure I'm still here when you come down from those hills. Over and out."

I put down the CB. Truth be told, I had actually been hearing small bits of a message. All I could tell so far was that it was from a place called Ponytown, and there were others there. I honestly hope they respond soon.

I looked off to the west. The smoke was closer today.

Back in May, there had been hundreds of forest fires out in Saskatchewan. I figured that was where the smoke was coming from. Without any more fire crews to deal with the blaze, the fires were burning across the countryside unchecked. Perhaps a good rain might but them out.

I sighed, as the likelihood of that was the likelihood that I'd ever be human again, though I'd rather be disappointed if that happened.

I turned my mind from those depressing thoughts, and looked at the observation tower. Over the last week or two, I had taken to jumping from it, trying to teach myself to fly. The fact I don't sleep as much anymore, coupled with the fact I have nothing else better to do, had resulted in a lot of progress.

For the first few days, I'd fallen like a rock, right into a bed of long grass I'd put together to serve as a cushion. Thank god that actually worked, otherwise....

I shuddered, not wanting to go there.

After a few days, and a few hundred falls, which I decided I'd never tell anyone about, I managed to glide down....only to get a muzzle full of dirt and grass.

I could have landed in the road. THAT would have been much worse.

After another hundred tries of that, at which point I noticed I was sweating, but still wasn't tired, I managed a successful landing.

Today, though, I don't plan to glide.

Gliding won't get me to Winnipeg safely.

Flying will.

So, just as I had every other day, I climbed the observation tower. The wood creaked below my hooves, creaking and moaning under my weight, a weight they'd probably seen too much of in the last two weeks or so. But still, after much careful climbing I reached the top, only for the staircase behind me to collapse.

"I guess this really is make or break time," I said aloud, trying to bolster my confidence.

Slowly, I crept to the railing of the tower, it's moaning and groaning becoming ever more apparent every time I moved a bit further. And, after what seemed like forever, I reached he edge. I put my hoof on the railing, but had to rear back as it gave way so I didn't go down with it.

Again, I approached the edge, and looked down. Today, if I fell, there was no soft cushion to protect me. Below, Teacup looked at me, an expression on his face I've never seen before.

Worry. Teacup looked worried for me. I realized then that, if I died, he wouldn't last more than a few days. So far, he'd kept the wild animals at bay. Without, without the thing he was keeping the wild animals from, would he end up just like them if I-

"No," I said aloud, "I won't fail. Not this time....not anymore."

I opened my wings, my confidence beginning to wane. I shook my head. "I can do this....I can do this....I can do this."

I crouched down, and leapt, closing my eyes so tightly I thought I might never see again, and tried, tried so hard to do with my wings what I'd seen birds do with their own, a slow, flapping motion. One that kept them aloft.

It felt like an eternity had passed before I noticed I didn't feel like I was going down; like the wind was ripping past and the ground rushing up to meet me.

I opened my eyes.

And I gasped at what I saw.

I was flying.

Below me was the whole of all I had once knew. I could see forever from up here. I saw Ethelbert, my old home. I saw Dauphin. I could even make out, far in the distance, the trailer where I used to live. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but it had only been two months. Still, it seemed like forever. I hovered there, just taking in the beauty, before I turned around.

The fire.

While it was still so very far away, it was getting closer. I could see a town from here, and I thought the flames would be upon it within the next week. Those fires, so very far away, still looked so huge. I could see their orange flames, burning across farmland once tended to by people now long gone. Seeing this, I knew I only had a few more weeks here at Baldy Mountain before I had to leave. There was no way around it. If me and Teacup stayed, we would die, one way or another.

I decided to turn my attention to other things, like actually flying.

Now that I was up here, it really wasn't that hard. Keep my legs tucked in, angle my wings so I went where I wanted to go. The more I angled them, the more I had to flap to say aloft, but the faster I went. I was up there for the rest of the day, flying circles around the tower. It wasn't until the sun was setting until I decided I'd done enough flying for today, and came in for a landing.

Muzzle full of dirt and grass....again.

Still, being up there, high in they sky, it felt great, like there was nothing left to stop me. No obstacles to obstruct me, especially with the fact there were no more planes.

If I had to choose I single word to describe how I felt up there, I would tell you that, up there, soaring though the clouds, I felt free.

Author's Note:

Take note, I was listening to Fly by Eurobeat Brony when I wrote this. At the moment of the writing, this is the only chapter that happens on a single day, to be written in a single sitting, as it had more than 1,000 words in a single sitting.

Comments

[Seeking Dusk]

Do you know what the range on an air traffic control tower's radio would be?

[StarzGecko]

Where is this town from?

[Dances With Unicorns]

Perhaps a good rain might but them out.
Perhaps a good rain might put them out.