Pegasi train for flight, and a select few train to fly high above the clouds. Navigators use the movements of the stars to find their way, for themselves and for their comrades. But the stars are distant, and for one navigator, one special note will call him to his true home.
A short poem-fic originally written for the Quills N' Sofa's "Palate Cleanser" contest. Cover art by theuser. Original editing, and substantial help with iambic pentameter ("Read through the line, would it sound like that?" "OK, OK, fine.") by the poetic and dearly missed LevelDasher (RIP).
I thought about fixing this up for the Thousand Words contest, but missed the deadline. I was nonetheless encouraged to post this by the members of an Open Read & Critique circle at EFNW 2023 - special thanks to Dreadnought, Danatron1, GaryOak, Caligari87, and the indomitable AdmiralBiscuit for their words of encouragement.
Story Notes, Everfree travelogue, etc. in this week's MT File.
EDIT 11/25/2023: Now with an Audio Reading by Midnight of Pony & Wolf Productions! Thank you so much!
This was easily one of my favorite stories at the Open Read & Critique. Honestly, you should make an actual audio reading of it, because the cadence of the words was wonderful. I got chills hearing you read it then, and I got chills reading it again now.
I love the way you set the scene, pulling the reader into an immersive second-person narrative, actually using the perspective in an interesting way. As I said before; the transition from cold technical loneliness to tender emotion hits like a ton of bricks and makes me feel in a way few stories have.
Excellent work, easy fave.
Pegasus navigator. Would you say "To A Unicorns Navigator"?
11675011
Pegasi Navigator. As in "a navigator of Pegasi."
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
(Well, that and "Pegasi" sounded more poetic.)
11676493
Unicorn herder. As in "a herder of unicorns".
The poem is quite quaint, a quiet quotient of quiescential qi to flow with beauty.
Absolutely starking story and poetry in sum and whole together.
11758368
Just heard this reading. I love the voice they brought to the narrator, and the lilt in the accent made it all the sweeter. This story is very personal to me, and I am so glad they chose it to narrate!
EDIT: Corrected... Whoever this narrator is, they don't have an account? Strange. Whoever narrated this, thanks!
11758377
Wasn’t me who narrated it, but your welcome
11758383
In any event, thanks for posting it!