Aerial: My Soul to Keep

With the bell having struck a third time, everypony had retreated toward their respective classrooms in preparation for the day's final examination.

Through the barren halls, both father and daughter trotted slowly side by side, Graze wheezing out his heart as he did so with flowing beads of sweat and a flushed expression. "S-Slow down, Aerial... everything's just a bit all blurry right now," he begged, forcing the words through a quick breath.

"Sorry, dad. I just want to get this day over with, ya know?" Aerial apologized, placing one of her father's forehooves around her neck. "Is it your heart again?"

The stallion couldn't help but give a slow nod and a sheepish smile to that. "I know you're going to nag me just like my sister, 'You shouldn't overexert yourself like that!'" He jokingly mocked with a high pitched voice. "But it was either you or a five minute break, and I think I chose wisely."

Even through his constant coughing and exasperated breaths, he drew a smile, graciously knowing his daughter was there to help him. Aerial, however, was zoned out, haunted by the traumatic experience as it flashed through her mind. She looked up to her father in hopes to mimic his cheerful mood, something to ease her mind, but the words of his past self refused anything but.

"You may fly like one of us, but you're still a unicorn."

She held back everything at that line; every tear, every brutal word, every broken nerve, but through their silent trot, she finally looked passed it and called him out on it. "I won't have needed you there if I was a real pegasus." Graze's light cyan ears flickered upon her words, catching on as their lengthy trot to the principal's office finally came to a halt. "If I could control this spell on a whim--No, if I had wings, I wouldn't have needed you there to catch me."

"If I had permanent wings, I would sleep on clouds without the worry of falling when they timed out. If I had wings, I could've gone to flight school, probably join the Wonderbolts if I really would have amounted to it, but I guess we would never find that out now, could we? If I had wings--and for the most of it--I could've recovered from that fall... I won't have needed you there.I can't always rely on daddy when things go to shit."

I'm going to let that one pass Graze quickly thought to himself.

"But no... you're right," she quaked, "I am just like any other unicorn. A unicorn whose dreams of flying i-is... is like--"

"A disabled bird?" The stallion gave his daughter a stoic look, straining to reach his daughter's height with a kneel. "That disabled bird we tried saving? Is that what this is about?"

"Yes and no," she sniffled, allowing Graze to sway her mane from the tears. "It's relevant, though. Why does life try to be so unfair to us. It gives us these things it knows we can't deal with. Why give me wings?"

"It's not unfair. Sometimes we just forget because it's not relevant at that point of time, but since you're probably feeling what that little bird felt; desperation, loss of hope, you just may finally get it... also, your hair is all messy, allow me to fix it?"

With a silent nod and a wipe away of her tears, she turned around, permitting Graze to tend to her midnight blue mane.

"Ten years ago, I remember this filly--awful 'lot resembling you--came screaming at me, poofy sad eyes as she came banging on my door asking for help. Now, I've never seen anypony so scared in my life, so I bowed down to her and tended to her worries--

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Graze worriedly asked in a rush. "Are you hurt?!" He begged to find out, watching as the energetic filly unicorn of the sky hopped continuously to gather his attention.

"Dadtheresalittlebirdwhoneedsourhelpandshe'sdyingandIcan'tevenfindthemother. PLEASE HELP IT!" The filly Aerial yelled.

Bewildered at what he suppose was the Equestrian language, Graze profusely blinked, astonished at the words that came from his eight year old daughter. "I'm not sure where you learnt that word, but I think I'm going to have to soap your mouth again." He evilly smiled with a glare. "If you tried slowing down your speech, I maybe able to understand and help, okay?" Aerial then nodded and widened her mouth agape. "Nuh-uh," Graze smiled, hushing Aerial before the next onslaught of incomprehensible words. "Deep breath. Speak words slowly and daddy will help you."

"Mhmm!" The filly determinedly nodded as she took a lengthy, deep breath. Upon exhale, she instantaneously grabbed her father's cheeks and stared him down with bright scarlet eyes. "Bird. Dead. Outside. Mother nowhere to be found! Please help!"

Without any further excuse, Graze knelt to his filly, letting his wing down onto which Aerial struggled to crawl upon and onto his back. "Giddy up, Dad, we need to hurry!"

~One hop, skip and a jump later~

Finally, the two had arrived, a saddening sight was bestowed upon the father and his daughter. Before them laid two chicks had taking shade underneath a tree from Celestia's blazing sun, one peeping in distress for its mother and the other struggling to breathe, its miniature chest expanding every so often... even then, it had become a rare sight.

"Look, daddy! He's not breathing, go help it, give it CPR or something!" Aerial begged with a demand.

With a grim expression, he looked at his daughter and knew that she was going to disprove of every word he was going to say. "I can't help..."

"Wh-what? Why?! You promised you'd help him!" Aerial shouted, as he had expected.

"Look carefully, Aerial... not even the mother wants any part of this." Graze nodded his head toward a third larger bird, comforting Aerial for what was about to come.

The mother bird hopped to the side of the livelier one, feeding it as it blatantly ignored the existence of the other. "W-Why, is she ignoring the other one..." Aerial stuttered, detesting the mother dove.

"They aren't like us, Aerial... the mother knows he is about to die, so she just--"

"Left him for dead?" Aerial responded for him. "T-that's not right... that's not how it's supposed to be. When I'm sick, you've never left me, so how is this any different? Why is she being so unfair?" Aerial questioned, nearing the disabled baby bird as the two others flew away, frightened by the larger creature.

"It's not her who is unfair... it's just the way of life," Graze stated.

"Then why is life so unfair? Aerial inquired. She stared down the chick, hopelessness becoming a recognized member of the disheartening moment.

Graze shared the silence, accepting it as time moved onward, each passing second closing the doors of fate upon the struggling chick. The sun was setting upon their hill, shadows of the three stretching toward the two story house.

"In memory of him, should we prepare a burial?" He spoke with uncertainty in his words.

"No! No no no! He still has a fighting chance, and we can help! All we have to do is just--I don't know... magic?" Now even Aerial herself was unsure of what to do. "I just... I just can't let him die knowing we could've done so much more, please?" She begged, tugging at his coat.

"Aerial..."

"Please, daddy! We need to do this! It will haunt my conscience forever and I will grow up to become a rebel if we don't do this." She threatened him... or so she thought.

Bemused, he gave a lengthy sigh with the outcome already set in his mind, but deep down in his mind he knew she wouldn't have let this down for years to come. "Fine... but on one condition!" Aerial's ears cocked up on this with a gleeful smile.

"Yes, yes! What is it?" She enthusiastically begged for it.

"You must practice your magic on this one; Telekinesis for the least. You have your level 3 Magic course coming up and I don't want you to fail, understood?"

"Mhmm! I have something better in mind, though... I've been through your library of books on unicorn spells and magic." She paused with a sheepish smile, Graze raising an interested brow to that. "Ehehe, sorry... but I think with this spell, I'd more than pass my exam and save this bird!"

"Oh really, and what spell is that? Better yet, what level of magic is that?" He gave her a mindful glare, knowing that she had broken his personal space through break-in and entering his room, as well as his study.

"It's a level two spell," the uncourageous filly answered with a cough, preparing for even the better half of her answer. "And the spell is... urhm, well... you know... that spell." She coughed again with a mumble. "F..ht."

"Excuse me?" Graze pardoned her, bringing his ear in closer for a better understanding.

"It's Fl..ht."

"Louder, Aerial," he demanded.

"It's flight, okay? It's the flight spell, because I feel a bit lonely at home sometimes after school, and you're always out on work up in the clouds and I just wanna visit you but I can't because I'm a unicorn and you're a pegasus and I really wanna just get this done and please please please don't be mad at me! Please dad, I'm sorry! Last week was "Bring your Filly to Work Day" and I was practicing this spell just for that but I couldn't make it time and I was jealous that everypony else got to see where their father worked and I didn't!" She exclaimed in one quick go. "But, maybe if I can use it on the bird, it can fly with its mommy again!"

Graze was astounded by her outburst, just all of it. Never in his life did he think his daughter felt this way that it came to a point where she desperately wanted to change her way of life. "I didn't know all this, darling... why didn't you tell me? Heck, I didn't even know it was that day last week. How did you know?"

"Oh, I went through your mail!" Aerial beamed, ignoring her father's infamous bemuse look.

"Alright, give it your best shot, but after this we're going to have a talk about personal space, okay?" He informed to which Aerial gladly nodded, getting her way. "Have you been into my closet?" For once, Aerial finally shook her head. "Good. Well, let's go to it, then."

"Alright." The filly Aerial anchored her tiny hooves into the dirt, mumbling some words as she tried recalling the spell. Although, it was a level higher for her, Graze just stood back and watched his daughter proudly with high hopes for a successful cast of wings on the chick.

Sparks of magic flew from her horn, dancing in the air as the beads of sweat through furious concentration beat down her brow. She clenched her teeth, scrunching her face as an orb of light illuminated the evening even brighter appeared before her. Luckily for her, the opportunity that presented itself came with a smaller creature rather than herself, and the amount of magic to be used, even though it was of a higher level, would in turn cost much less.

Something was wrong, the orb of light began to fade and Graze, even through all the excitement, kept a careful eye on his daughter. Blood began to drip from her snout, and all she had to do was aim for the flightless bird. A gusty wind almost blew his mane back, as dirt, grass and stone began to pitch from the epicenter of the spell. "That's enough, Aerial, let it go!"

Things were getting worse and worse with each passing second. She had lost all control and hell was now breaking loose. "NO! I CAN DO THIS!" Her voice tried to overcome the raging storm around her. "I CAN SAVE HIM!" She took aim for the bird and shot the haywire spell.

The storm finally subsided with the spell complete, Aerial now laying peacefully on the floor as she fell unconscious through the straneous task. She was unable to reap the benefit of success or failure, passing out before the outcome had revealed itself... even though if it was horrendous for the most.

The chick had imploded, its blood smeared upon the tree's bark, staining the grass and even Aerial's coat. Graze, however, was unmoved by the chick's status or the blood that was on their hooves, all that was on his mind was the safety of his little girl.

He rushed to her side and placed an ear upon her chest, his heart put to rest as he heard hers. "Thank Celestia," he exclaimed a appraisal to the Gods for the greatest of mercies he was blessed with. However, things could have gone much worse than an imploded bird, a nose bleed, a tainted yard and to his surprise, a cutie mark; A golden wing that laid upon the side of Aerial's sky blue flank.

One failure closer to the perfected spell that soon became her special talent; Flight.

"--so you see, Aerial," Graze ended his story, tying her mane to its usual style. "Life isn't unfair, it gives back to us in the process. If it wasn't for that small bird, you wouldn't have gotten your cutie mark. Life acts unfair to teach us what fairness is, so that one day, we won't act unfair to others... y'know, like what you told me of you not needing me there to rescue your hardback flank when you actually did." He playfully winked at her with a pat on the back. "Well, your hair is done, and I must say, it is a masterpiece! Just look at your reflection, even I'm jealous of how good looking you are!"

Through the reflection of the mirror, Aerial took a sneak peek at her dad's so-called "perfected hairstyle". In five words or less, it was a complete disaster, a braid on the right side of her mane, a bald patch through the top and a pig tail on the right with her red hair band no where to be found.

She looked back to her father and embraced him lovingly to his surprise. "Thank you, Dad... I love it."

"Don't worry, Aerial, even though you may not always need me, I'd be there whether you like it or not... it's my job." He ended the embrace and stared her in the eyes for something a bit more relevant to what she wanted to hear.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier... maybe you truly are a pegasus, but I never did consider those wings yours, to be honest. I just pictured it as... the little bird giving them to you; Nature's way of saying that maybe you are meant to be a pegasus through earning it, rather than being born one. Do you know why?" he inquired, to which she shook off. "It's because you have potential, you'd appreciate it more and it was life's way of being fair to you. No matter who says what, even if it maybe me, you are more a pegasus than anyone, because you've achieved something great like that."

And with that being said, he alone walked towards the Principal's office to deal with their unwanted business, to finally find the culprit of his daughter's attempted murder.

With a vibrant smile on her face and a final sniffle to wipe away the bonding moment between the two, she followed in his footsteps but came to a sudden halt as a voice reached out to her.

It whispered, "That stallion cannot be trusted. He is a murderer and a thief. You must ask yourself this, Aerial, why does a pegasus who works at a cloud factory need books of unicorn spells? Heed my warning and stay away from that stallion."

Oh yeah? And why should I listen to you! You tried to kill me! Aerial hissed a thought in her mind.

"Pftch, it was just a test and you passed!" The mysterious feminine voice responded with no worry. "Look, I'm no killer like your dad, I have more faith in you than him!"

Stop saying that! He's my dad and I won't allow you to bad mouth a good stallion like that! Aerial commanded. Ugh, look at me... talking to a voice in my head. She facehoof'd.

"Yes, a good stallion you know absolutely nothing about his past or present. Look, kid, it's your birthday, right? I know it's your birthday, you don't even have to answer that one... but, how about I give you a little 'I'm sorry I tried to murder you' and a birthday gift? I think it's time you earned your wings."

If you try anything funny on me, my dad will not hesitate to kill you! Aerial snapped with a warning.

"Don't worry, I know he'd *try** to. That's what I'm counting on, to show you what kind of pony he really is."*