> Learning to Fly
>  by Tom Ink
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Learning to Fly
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The drop is just in front of me. Just a dozen meters separate me from the ground. I get myself into position: I lower my head, I bend my hooves, wings plastered against my body, and I dash forward. I run faster and faster, I feel less grass under my hooves, my field of view is reduced, and I’m getting closer from the void: ten feet, five feet, two feet….

And I jump. I spread my wings, and I dive into the unwelcoming ground, getting back into a good position at the last moment. I fly, I fly, I fly! I beat my wings at a steady rhythm. The sun warms up my wings, the wind whistles in my ears, passing under my mane at every loop. I’m getting confident, and I even try to fly dangerously close to the ground, shaving the grass that burns behind me, while leaving a steaming drag. Here comes the grand finale: the Sonic Rainboom. I remember seeing it a dozen times, all made by Rainbow Dash, the greatest Wonderbolt in the world. I’m getting higher and higher, above all the clouds. And I go, beating my wings as fast as I can, before folding them to my sides due to the G-Force. The wall of sound is resisting me. It’s the last barrier. I just need to push myself a little more and I will succeed. Just… a little…. more….

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP

My eyes opens and carry me back to the cruel reality of my bed. No Sonic Rainboom, no stroll in the air, no wings. Just me. Surf Wind, a white earth pony with a blue mane, stuck to the ground with an anemometer cutie mark, and with only my dreams to go beyond the atmosphere. 

And I dream a lot, even during the day. Ever since I was a little colt, I’ve dreamt of flying. I’m one of the Wonderbolts’ biggest fans, and I’m there at every show. Well, when they're not performing in Cloudsdale.

Cloudsdale...

That’s where everything started. I was very young when I went, but I remember everything. Flying on my grandpa’s back, walking on clouds with one of those special necklaces there were selling at the time, feeling the cold of the higher skies…. I would like to get back there one day. I hope that day will come soon. But then, I’m no longer a featherweight who can climb onto a pegasus who’ll take me up there. Well, it’s true that I need to lose some weight. But when I imagine being up there, I feel lighter than air.

I work in Ponyville on the weather team. Not bad for a non-pegasus, is it? I work on the weather schedule doing the paperwork, and I conduct my own research on pegasus anatomy. I must know even more than them about wings, aerodynamics, the movements of every muscle, the feathers…. The number of books I have on them could make even Princess Twilight jealous. Even my name could be that of a pegasus. In fact, I’m almost like them: the color, the cutie mark, the name. Everything except the wings.

My home decor? Wonderbolts posters. My friends? All pegasi. My favorite song? Learning to Fly, from Pony Floyd. Every time I hear it, I think that song was written for me. The needle of my gramophone eventually wore through the vinyl of my first copy, and now, I have a dozen others. It’s my morning ritual after I wake up: get in front of the window, close my eyes and listen to the lyrics. I even have a fan to feel the wind and ease my imagination.

A flight of fancy, on a windswept field

Feel the wind in my mane, in an windswept field.

Fatal attraction is holding me fast, how can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Bloody gravity. Who invented this stupid thing? Even a pegasus must struggle with this enemy.

Can’t keep my eyes from the circling skies. Tongue-tied and twisted. Just an earth-bound misfit, I

Eyes up in the skies, that’s where I’m the best. But I’m just someone with his hooves stuck on the ground. And here comes the line that sums up my life:

The soul intention is learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try

I should hang those words everywhere in my house. It sounds so much better than “Home Sweet Home”.

There’s no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, a state of bliss

Can’t keep my mind from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted
Just an earth bound misfit, I

The apotheosis. Nothing like this, as if my vital organs stop working in a sudden instant of sheer bliss. I would love to feel it, and not just imagine it. Well, sure, I’ve already heard about ponies that built flying machines, but it’s not the same. Driving a vehicle is nothing like the feeling of beating wings. Even if - I must admit - that ride in the helicopter was alright.



“Everypony’s here? If you’re missing, raise your hoof.”

“Very funny, Surf. You’re lucky we didn’t hire you for your sense of humor,” Flitter jokes. The first thing in the morning, at the weather station, we go over the weather schedule for the day. I have to deal with the farms’ requests, the balance of rainfall, and I have to take care of the storms from the Everfree. If there was just one reason I chose this job, it was to get close to what a pegasus could feel when he takes care of the weather. Except that my job isn’t something I do outside, but in an office. Still better than nothing.

Thunderlane and his brother Rumble, Flitter, Cloudchaser, Blossomforth, Cerulean Skies, Cloud Kicker… Everypony’s here. The weather team of Ponyville. The one who had the luck to have Rainbow Dash back in the day. Her triumphant face in her Wonderbolts flight suit inspires us at almost every corner of the building. For some pegasi, it’s a full-time job, and for others, just a hobby. But they all do their job with the same level of intensity when it’s time to do their work. I’ve often heard about the day when the Ponyville pegasi carried all the water to Cloudsdale. It was magical, it was wonderful, and it was amazing. I would have loved to see that.

“So, the schedule for the day is simple: rain on the south orchard of Sweet Apples Acres and sun for the rest. Thunderlane, Cloudchaser, I’ll leave you on charge of the farm. Flitter and Rumble, you clean the skies, and the others, patrol the area to find any weather problems. Okay?”

“Sir yes sir!” They all shout in chorus. I like to see my team with this level of motivation. Motivation: you need it to stay behind in an office all day while your friends go outside without you. I never talk about my dream of flying with them. For an earth pony (earth pony, I hate those words), it’s a dream that can seem silly. They must think I love spending my life between four walls. It’s true that I like that, but I would give up everything to fly, even for just a few minutes.

The team breaks up quickly, and I watch them take off to their mission. Another day of work begins.



And after a few long hours, it’s been another successful day. The fields are watered, the sky is filled with blue, and no wild cloud have been seen. It’s time to go and head back home. Tonight: a good night’s sleep and a night where I will dream of flying again. Leaving, I pass in front of the Rainbow Dash poster. I salute with both respect and envy.

“See you tomorrow, captain,” I say while setting down my hoof.

I leave the building, lock the door, and turn toward the road, head down, ready to go back to my house. With my hooves.

“SURPRISE!”

What? I instantly raise my head, and they’re all here, waiting for me outside my office. My whole team and… Rainbow Dash! The one i just saluted on the poster just a few seconds ago. And she’s standing right in front of me. In her Wonderbolts flight suit. She must have come just now.

I don’t understand. Why is she here? What are they all doing here?

“It’s great to see you Rainbow, but to what do I owe the honor of your visit??" I ask, totally taken aback.

“What? You seriously don’t know?” Thunderlane asks in disbelief. “Today, it’s been five years since you started managing the Ponyville weather station!” He pulls a funny hat from nowhere and places it on my head. “Tonight, we celebrate!”

I have no time to react before they take me by my hooves and carry me to Berry Punch’s bar. Nopony’s here, except for a streamer saying “Surf Wind, Our Favorite Boss!” My eyes water a little. I feel like I’m flying, all things considered. And this time, no need for alcohol. I really have great friends. Friends which I hide my dreams from. Maybe I can talk to them about it one day. But not tonight. Tonight, we celebrate my… how much? Five years? 

Five years behind a desk. Five years at….

“Hey, Equestria to Surf!” Flitter shouts while patting my shoulder. I’m also the best at having my head in the clouds, even better than a pegasus.

All night, the grateful speeches go one by one, we drink (sparingly - there’s nothing worse than a drunk pegasus at night, and Rainbow knows it), we dance…. It’s like a Pinkie Pie party. My friends even give me some hugs to show how much they care for me. 

I love giving hugs to a pegasus. I can feel the feathers tickle my nose, and I can even touch them sometimes. It sounds weird when I say it like that, though. My ex-marefriends - all pegasi, as you can guess, i’m 100% pegasexual - found this feather thing quite disturbing. It’s mostly because of that they left me. One of them even said one day: “You love my feathers more than me!” She wasn’t totally wrong, maybe. But tonight, my pegasus friends are all pleased to give me hugs. And I love that.

Late in the evening, Rainbow Dash talks about her new life. Soon, she’ll be the new captain of the Wonderbolts, after Spitfire departs. She’s pregnant or something like that. The conversation goes quickly to the first competition she won, the Young Fliers Competition. I listen distractedly, my muzzle in a drink.

“I was there, doing my figures when I heard a big shout, like ‘AAAAHHHHHH!!’ I turned my head, and it was Rarity, who’d burnt her wings and was falling to the ground!” Rainbow Dash explains while mimicking the scene like she’s reliving it again.

Wait…. Burnt her wings? Rarity? The fashionista?

“Rainbow, why are you saying Rarity had wings?” The others are laughing while they hear me ask the question. I feel like I’m an idiot.

“Seriously? You’ve never heard this story?” Blossomforth asks me. I shake my head. “So. Basically, Rarity has asked Twilight to make her grow wings to fly to Cloudsdale and support Rainbow. But she decided to enter the competition, and she burnt her wings while flying too close to the sun.”

“Yeah, and that’s when the awesome Rainbow Dash dove to save her, while making a Sonic Rainbow that impressed the Wonderbolts and Princess Celestia!” Rainbow added. “Oh, and I totally won the competition," she finishes while puffing her chest.

I stay stuck on Blossomforth’s words. Magical wings? I’ve already heard about it before, but they were too fragile to do anything at all, and Twilight never cast that spell again. But the idea…. Wings that appear on a wingless pony…. Wings made from nothing…. From nothing… 

EUREKA! If I were in a cartoon, a little light bulb would light up over my head. But this is reality, not one of those silly cartoons.

I have the idea. I just need to shape it. Finally, I’m gonna fly. I need to start now. I need to make the plans. I need to…

“Hey, Surf, are you up for a hoof-wrestle?”

Well, in a while. I’m unbeatable against a Pegasus at a hoof-wrestling. All their strength is in their wings. Beat a Wonderbolt, and I’ll have a great new picture for my office.



After returning home on three hooves - Rainbow practically broke the other one - I start to work immediately. Make the plans, see what I need… It will be a hard work, and it will take me a lot of time, in addition to my job in the weather team. It needs to work, it really needs….

After a night full of dreams of flying, as always, the routine stays the same: wake up, music, work, sleep. It goes on for weeks, but there’s a lot more work and a lot less sleep.  It takes me weeks to get everything ready. Do the math, train, sew, buy the stuff. 

And now the result is here, in front of my eyes.

Wings made by my own hooves. Two long pieces of tissue with clips for my front hooves, glued to iron rods that imitate the muscles of birds, like if I had wings attached to my hooves. It looks like a backpack that unfolds when I jump, but I calculated that if I flapped them quite quickly, I will fly. I studied everything: the canopy, the tissue, the wind resistance. It seems crazy, but it can work. I will need to launch myself from a higher point. After that… it’s up to me. I might succeed, or I might fail, and I might even crash into the lake below. I pray to Celestia I won’t get hurt. There is a risk that I might die, but I want to fly so badly, just a few minutes, so badly that I’m willing to take the risk.

I just need to wait for the right moment.



Being the chief of the weather team has its perks. I know the weather before everypony else, as well as when the winds will be good. And the day has come: wind from the Everfree, with a constant speed of three knots. Enough to make me take off and soar for a good moment, before landing softly. As soon as my preparations are done, I walk to my takeoff point.

I’m alone. I didn’t speak to anyone about this. I wrote a letter in case everything goes wrong, though. But this isn’t time to step back. It’s now or never, all or nothing.

I feel like I’m in a dream when I’m close to the drop, wings tied to my hooves. But this is reality. And if my wings fail, reality will remind me exactly who she is. I stretch my hooves, bend my neck and visualize my flight. I hope everything will be fine, I hope everything will be fine….

I raise my head. The sky is clear, and the wind is on my back. If I die, it will be under the sun, at least. Die. I’ve tried not to think of that word every week since I started working towards this flight, but now, I can’t get off of my mind. Stay positive, positive…. You’re gonna do it, you’re gonna do it. You will fly, like in your dreams. It’s been your dream since yo were a colt. Come on.

It’s the last bit of encouragement I need. I bend my neck and my hooves. The system will unfold only during the flight, if everything goes smoothly. I run faster and faster, I feel less grass under my hooves, I’m getting closer, my field of view is reduced, I’m getting closer from the void, ten feet, five feet, two feet….

And I jump.

I should be panicked, but I’m still calm. The wings system is unfolding and I’m starting to shake frantically my hooves. I’m flying, I’m flying…..

… for five seconds, at least, before reality make an impressive come-back. Gravity pulls me, irresistibly attracted by the earth pony in me. I keep flapping my artificial wings, but it’s useless. The wing is torn, and the iron rods are twisted, leaving me with no hope for what happens next. 
I’m going to crash. Oh, Celestia, I’m going to crash! All that work, all those plans and all those long nights. Everything for just five seconds of flying. Was it all worth it? Well, maybe, if I’m still alive after in five seconds.

The ground is getting closer. Twenty feet…. Ten feet…. I close my eyes, getting ready for the impact with the water. At this speed, it will be like falling on a brick wall. I curl myself in a tiny ball, in a desperate hope to save my life. My ears are whistling, my mane blows with the wind, but it’s not like I imagine. Goodbye cruel world. I had a good life for an earth pony….

….

….

….

???

I thought I was gonna feel a huge impact, but there’s nothing. I feel like an angel is carrying me. I even have the sensation of flying. For real. I feel it, this moment of sheer bliss. I force myself to open one eye to see if it’s all real, or if I’m dreaming in the other world.

I crack an eye open and see an orange figure with a purple mane who carries me in her hooves. A pegasus. A beautiful pegasus that I know. Scootaloo. I already saw her training in Ponyville, but she hasn’t been a part of the weather team for a long time. She flies solo and works hard to be like Rainbow Dash - being a Wonderbolt. But what is she doing here? How did she save me? It doesn’t matter now. I’m alive, and I’m flying in the hooves of a pegasus. Take that, stupid death!
When she sees that I’m awake, she starts to glide down and land in a nearby field. Ironically, that’s where I launched myself just a few moments ago. She lets me down, out of her hooves. I never thought that, one day, I will love so much the feeling of the grass on my coat. I turn back to her. She seems tired and tries to take her breath. When she raise her head, I expect to hear an angelic voice from her mouth. At this moment, she’s like an angel: her face, her body, and even the sun that glows behind her.

“WHAT THE BUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!?”

Well, let’s forget the angelic voice.

I’m here, sheepish in front of the mare who saved my life after I’ve done something really stupid. I would like to have had this clear-sightedness before. “I… I….," I stutter, unable to find an excuse.

“IDIOT! You’re really lucky that I was here to save you!” she shouts. “Why did you do that? Why?”

Bam. I can’t hide myself now. The truth must come out. At least there’s no risk of crashing from this side. Just the risk of dying from embarrassment.

“I… I…. I wanted to…. fly…," I gulp. I even start to cry a little. “I wanted to fly, okay? It’s been my dream since I was a colt. I think about it every night and day. It eats me, it’s my obsession, and I can’t do it cause I’m Surf Wind, the earth pony with his hooves stuck on the ground! I did this thing," I turn to the rest of my machine, which lies pitifully on the ground, “to try to feel the same thing of that only a pegasus can feel. Feel the wind in my mane, feel it whistle in my ears, soar above everything! I… I…” That’s it. The flood is coming, and I break down in front of her. She seems quite taken aback, but she still has some empathy in her eyes when I look upon them. But I can’t see her through my watering eyes. Time flies between us, with only the sounds of my cries. My eyes are so wet that I don’t see her getting closer to me. She sits next to me and spreads her wing to wrap it around me. It’s been a long time since a pegasus has done this to me. It’s…. good, warm and sweet. I love this feeling, and it helps me to collect my thoughts.

She finally speaks after she lifts up my chin. “I…. I think I can understand how you feel.”

WHAT? Her, a pegasus, who can fly, can understand what a pony stuck to the ground like me can feel. She’s making fun of me or what?

“How can you understand? You’re not like me, an earth pony who watches the others fly and is unable to follow them. You can’t understand, you can’t….," I say, disappointed, more sharply that I want.

She doesn’t flinch and answers quickly. “Do you know who I am?”

“Of course I know who you are. You’re Scootaloo, the new Rainbow Dash, you’re gonna be a Wonderbolt, just like her…” She smiles when I say this, and she even sneer a little.

“Thanks," she says while puffing her chest. “But do you know who I was before?”

“Before? Before what? What do you mean?” I frown, like she’s playing a joke. She gets a bit closer, like she wants me to be very close to her for her tale.

“Let me tell you the story of Scootaloo, the pegasus who couldn’t fly," she says while raising her hoof. “Before, I was like you. I mean, I was stuck to the ground. My wings were too small to carry me, and I was unable to fly. Some of the other ponies would make fun of me: they said I would  never be able to fly. And it… scared me. I thought it was true. That I will be like an earth pony for my whole life… err, no offense," she says, turning back to me.

“None taken," I said flatly, while wiping my tears with my hoof.

“So, I couldn’t fly, and it got me down all the time. Get it? Hey, I cried a ton when I was a kid. I had friends that tried cheering me on, saying it wasn’t so bad if I never flew. But for a pegasus, being unable to fly? It’s awful. I mean, we’re born for this, it’s what makes us special. And seeing the others fly when you can’t? It’s frustrating, it’s… depressing, it’s….”

“Hopeless?”

“Yeah! Exactly!” She smiles. “Then one day, Rainbow Dash, the best pegasus in the whole world, said the same thing. ‘It’s not bad if you don’t fly, because you’ll still be awesome!’ That’s when I understood. You don’t need to fly to be someone great. Many ponies are awesome and don’t have wings. What counts is what you are. We’re all awesome in many different ways. You understand?”

Yeah, I understood. At least more than at the start of her story. But at this time, I’m just able to nod.

“And one day, I finally flew. It was the best day of my life, and it was also because it’s the day I got my cutie mark.” She turns her head to her flank. Just a pair of wings.

“Yeah, but now, you’re flying. And me, I… well, I’m still here, stuck to the ground," I answer, not entirely convinced.

“Listen, you’re an earth pony. Sure you can’t fly, but it doesn’t stop you from being awesome. You’re Surf Wind, the guy that manages the weather team of Ponyville, right? It’s so cool!”

“Yes, that’s cool…. For someone who can’t fly.”

“What’s your problem with all this flying stuff? You think you can’t be someone good because you don’t have wings?” she asks directly. “You’re awesome. And if it’s the awesome Scootaloo that says it, it’s the truth. Even after you did that stupid thing with the fake wings," she sneers. I feel like she wants to make fun of me, but there’s a sincerity in her voice that lift up my spirits.

“By the way… thanks," I simply say. “Thanks for saving me.” It was time.

“You’re welcome, but don’t do that kind of stupid thing again. But… you really want to fly so badly?” she questions, as if the answer was still unclear.

“Don’t you see what I was ready to do to make it happen?” I answer while reaching out my hoof, pointing again at what remains of my broken dream. She turns back to me and bites her lip, like she’s about to say something she’ll instantly regret. She finally talks after a long time of heavy silence.

“Get on my back.”

“What?”

“I said, ‘Get on my back’.”

My eyes widen. It’s official, this mare is crazy. “Are you nuts? To do what?”

She rolls her eyes. “Duh… to get you to fly. Get on my back and we’ll go for a ride in the sky.” She says it as if it’s something obvious. 

I look at her, raising an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

“But I’m too heavy for a pegasus.” I could add, ‘even with my sculpted body’, but it ain’t the right moment to boast.

“So what? I carry heavier things than you on my back. Touch my muscles." She reaches out her left hoof. I reach out mine, more hesitant. She nods, and I touch it. True, I rarely see a pegasus with all this strength. Except that Bulk Biceps, but he’s unique.

“So? Yes or no?” She snaps after some seconds spent pawing at her muscles. I blush a bit while retract my hoof. I look at her from top to bottom. Yeah, it can work. It can’t be as bad as before, anyway.

“Yes.”

“Great. Get up," she commands while bending her legs to get closer to the ground. “Come on, ease on up and hook your hooves around my chest.” The simple idea makes me blush harder.

“But… if I…”

“You want to fly or not?” she repeats, a little bit annoyed this time.

“Yes, yes, of course!” I say, barely able to contain my enthusiasm.

“So, climb onto my back and don’t ask any questions.” I climb over her, and she raises herself slowly, while I hook my hooves around her chest and her thighs. I must contain myself and not laugh, because her feathers tickle me. I’ve never seen - or felt - them so closely since a long time. She really has beautiful wings, and I’m an expert.

“Ready?” she asks.

“Y… Yeah…" I said, doing my best to not hurt her.

“Then here we go!” she shouts to me. She starts to run in the field, like we’re playing the previous scene all over again. We run faster and faster, we’re getting closer to the void, ten feet…. five feet…. and….



I flew. I finally flew. I felt the wind whistle in my ears, under my mane at every loop, the sun warming my coat, the feeling of pure bliss up there, above the clouds. It was marvelous. And I didn’t need wings for that. Just a brave pegasus who saved me and helped me to achieve my dream.

I often come to see Scootaloo training. She seems to like me. Anyway, I already like her. She doesn’t think I’m some kind of weird stallion with a crazy dream. Just someone who likes to have his head in the clouds and see higher, like her. She knows what I feel. She often offers to let me climb on her back and fly with her. Sometimes, we even hold each other’s hooves, and when I’m back to the void, my body is stuck to her. Hey, we could make an awesome flying team. It could be something worthy of the Wonderbolts. A pegasus who flies with an earth pony.

That’s not exactly what I dreamed, but it’s enough for now. I saw death too closely to try something crazy like that again. And now, I don’t dream of flying solo. I dream that I fly with Scootaloo. I feel like we’re an item when we’re together in the sky. Well, sometimes, I’m still scared when I fly above the clouds, but I know she’ll never let me fall.

And when I watch her fly, I feel like I’m flying with her. Even when I’m on the ground, with the grass on my hooves. This indescribable sensation, as the time stops, I feel it without leaving the earth. And I really feel for real the last lyrics of my favorite song. Oh, and did I mention it was her favorite, too?

There’s no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, A state of bliss
Can’t keep my mind from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I

THE END