When I Consider How My Light is Spent

by Cynewulf

Thousands at his bidding speed

Twilight was on her right and Mac was on her left. Rainbow stood before her.

“Okay… if you’re ready, we can start. Are you sure?”

She nodded.

“Okay. I’ve kinda only heard about this secondhand, so…” Rainbow sighed. “But we can make it work. I’ll make it work. Right, Twi, you’re gonna hold this thing up with your magic. It’s this thing, Shy. I’m holding up a… stick. Thing. It’s a stick thing, I don’t know. But Twi and Mac are gonna keep it level. Rarity, you ready?”

“I’m here, dear.”

“Be ready to trade in if Twilight gets tired. Or if something happens.”

“Of course.”

“So Rarity is gonna spot you, and I’m gonna guide everypony, and Applejack is gonna watch I guess--”

“Well, ain’t much else I can do. You can do it, Fluttershy. Right eager to see you airborne again.”

“--and Pinkie--”

“I’m over here!”

“Pinkie’s gonna make noise, I guess.”

“I’m cheering, duh!”

“Right.”

“So, I’m placing my hooves… on the ‘stick thing’.”

“It’s more of a bar than a stick,” Twilight cut in.

“Ugh, it doesn’t matter. Yeah,” Rainbow said. “You push on it and try to sorta hover-fly. It’s gonna feel wobbly, but you’ll manage. It’s like normal hovering but more… awkward, honestly.”

“You’re not helping, Rainbow,” Rarity said from behind her.

Fluttershy smiled. “It’s fine. Ready?”

They were ready. She stepped forward and felt for the bar. Deep breath. Twilight and Mac moved away to give her room to flap her wings, and she did once, twice to test them. Another deep breath.

She rose off the ground, her forelegs coming up to touch the bar before she leaned on it. Visions of flight camp danced in her head but she pressed on. Whether it was tactful or not, Rainbow had been right: it was awkward, trying to hover but in a way she was not familiar with.

“There you go, Shy-shy! Awesome! You’re flying again.”

“Y-yeah,” she breathed.

Minutes passed. Her wings were sore from lack of use, but she pressed forward. Even in Fluttershy, there sang the old blood of Hurricane, and the sky was as much her inheritance as any Rainbow Dash.

“So, what does this do again?” Mac asked.

“Pegasi hover,” Rainbow said. “You learn how to do it when you’re small, so it’s second nature. Problem is, Shy can’t see to navigate, right? Well, until she manages to do it by air and sound, which takes forever, she can get started learning to hover again in a safe way.”

“What was that, with the wind and the sound?” Applejack inquired from somewhere behind her. She wondered if they were following on hoof. She wished she could see them.

“Blind pegasi can learn to navigate by air and sound,” Rainbow said. “It’s complicated, I can’t even do it well yet. You know how they have that way you can read with the bumps and you feel it with the frog of your hoof? It’s kinda like that. Not precise, either, but it gets you from point A to point B.”

“Seems… suspect,” Rarity said.

“Eh, it’s magic, don’t really understand it. C’mon, Shy, you’re doing great. Okay, the point here is to keep yourself going slow. You gotta be more cautious now in the air. Can’t fly freely like you used to, because you’re gonna run face first into Applejack’s barn and she’ll get pissy ‘bout it.”

“Har de har har.”

Fluttershy giggled. “That sounds unpleasant, so I’ll try not to do that.”

“First step is to learn how to be slow. Then we can try to learn how to be free again, okay?”

“Okay.”

Comments

[Lurks-no-More]

You're being a good friend, Rainbow.