Stars of the night slowly faded away from sight. Flowers bloomed from their sleep and even birds slowly chirped awake. Dawn approached as the sun rose slowly far on the horizon, revealing the orchard of Sweet Apple Acres and the quiet town of Ponyville. Somewhere in a cloudhome on the eastern outskirts of Ponyville, a young pegasus was still deep in his slumber. His mouth was slightly open, breathing from it, and also drooling a little onto his pillow. Cold morning breeze was also blowing in from an oval-shaped hole on the wall. It was the window.
“Sky…wake up!” A soft voice was calling for the young Pegasus to awake from his slumber. It was his dad. “It is morning already.”
Skyrider, who was buried under his blanket replied, “Ten more…minutes…”
Another voice came from the kitchen, “Sky, I’ve prepared your favorite breakfast, pancakes with syrup and orange juice!” His mom said in a soft and gentle voice.
Skyrider immediately hopped out of his bed and dashed pass his dad into the kitchen after hearing from his mom that she had prepared his favorite breakfast.
“Here you go.” His mom chuckled as she put three stacks of pancakes with syrup on top and a cup of fresh cold orange juice for Skyrider. “Eat up now, your dad has a special plan for you today.”
“What plan is it?” Skyrider asked curiously while chewing on his pancakes.
“You’ll just have to wait an-…” Before his dad could finish his sentence, the young pegasus had already finished his meal and he had a big grin and an excited look on his face. “Oh alright…” He chuckled. “…follow me.”
Skyrider followed his dad outside of their cloudhome. The door opened up to a bright morning sky and the young pegasus was feeling as excited as ever. His dad knew that it was time for him to be with the sky, and it was time for him to feel what he had been waiting for a long time.
“Now listen, Sky. I know you’re very excited, and I am as well. And remember, never give up no matter what happens. I believe in you.” And with a smile, his dad took off into the sky and waited for the young pegasus. His mom flew to the rooftop of their cloudhome, folded her hooves and sat down comfortably, waiting to see the magic in her young colt.
And for the young pegasus, he was feeling nervous and impatient at the same time. Nothing was standing in his way now from reaching for the dream that was standing right in front of him. The sky was quiet, and the clouds were floating slowly. The young pegasus stood at the edge of the cloudhome and took in a deep breath as he gazed at the distance. Slowly and steadily, the wind of a sudden became so inviting in its promise of flight and freedom, it gave one’s spirit the feeling to soar! Skyrider spread his wings wide and leaped off his cloudhome. He flapped his wings as hard as he can, and after months of practice and waiting, he was finally able to carry himself with his own wings in the clear blue sky for the very first time. It happened like it was natural and he did not had much trouble getting used with his wings.
The young Pegasus was now very excited and happy, he beat his wings, taking him higher into the sky while feeling the wind in his face. He let his feelings control his actions and motions as he soared higher. As soon as he reached high enough on a certain point in the sky, he could see a spectacular view of the magical land of Equestria around him. There was a feeling, one that is so different for the first time that he could not describe with words, it left him floating high up in the sky just staring at the horizon.
“Whooaa, this is amazing! Wooooooooo!” Skyrider shouted as loud as he can with all his heart.
But that feeling did not last long. Suddenly, Skyrider lost control of his wings and he began to fall. His body was being flipped around by the strong wave of wind that was blowing. He tried to flap his wings to balance himself, but his effort was futile.
“Come on, you can do this Sky!” His dad muttered. He was watching him from a distance on a cloud where he could dive in and save the young pegasus at any time, but he remained still at where he was and wanted him to try and get himself out of this situation by himself.
Skyrider was in a panic state as he continued to struggle to control his body in mid air. It had seemed that he could not do a thing and had almost wanted to give up trying. As he was falling, his eyes caught the view of the blue sky above. Skyrider then remembered his dream of becoming a great flier and also the words that his dad had said to him before taking off. He told himself in his heart that should he fail to fly himself out of this situation, chasing his dreams would just be a waste of time.
“I can do this, I will!” Skyrider said to himself.
With determination and confidence building up inside of the young Pegasus, Skyrider closed his eyes, folded his wings and tried to calm himself down. Using only the wind and gravity, he positioned himself to fall head first. He was now in a free fall and was controlling his body to not sway too much. He was also aware that he does not have much time as the ground was approaching fast. The young pegasus had only one shot at this, and he cannot afford to fail.
By now, Skyrider’s mind was fully calm and relax. His wings were still shut as he was just waiting for the right time to unfurl his wings. The air blowing was slow and quiet where suddenly, a strong wave of wind began to blow. This was it. The young pegasus opened his eyes and spreads his feathery wings as wide as he can and just remained wide open without flapping them. The wind flowed underneath of his wings and changed his fall into a swift curve, carrying the young pegasus back up into the sky. This time, Skyrider wasn’t afraid of anything anymore. He went higher and beyond the point where he lost control of his wings. As he continued to go higher into the sky, a whole new world appeared before his eyes, a sea of clouds revealed itself, and a long awaited dream had been achieved.
“Dad, I did it! I did it!” Feeling very happy to what just happened and what he just did, Skyrider immediately dashed towards his dad from above and gave him a big hug.
“I knew you could do it, Sky! I’m so proud of you!” His dad replied and returned the hug with a huge smile.
“Hey mom, did you see that?” The young Pegasus shouted from the cloud that was a distance away from their cloudhome. And just when Skyrider was about to take off, his dad smirked and unexpectedly nudged him off the cloud they were standing on.
The young pegasus fell off the cloud. But even by doing that, he managed to reposition himself in mid air and control his fall in just a second. Before he decided to fly back up, he was even brave enough to try something new. A lake was waiting below and his wings were still closed up. He made a decision to unfurl his wings almost at the last second of the fall. Skyrider was falling fast and the lake got closer and closer. Even with full focus and concentration, he released his wings a bit early, but it was to ensure that he would be safe since it was only his first day flying. The moment his wings spread wide open, his fall swiftly changed into a horizontal flight as he glided above the lake. His heartbeat was fast and the adrenaline was pumping, all from the excitement and the joy of finally being able to fly. The young pegasus laid his right hoof above the surface of the lake, feeling the water rushing on his hoof as he laughed happily. He then pulled his body backward and flew back to his cloudhome where his mom was waiting for a hug.
Skyrider landed slowly on the rooftop of his cloudhome and leaped forward, hugging his mom.
“You did really well Sky, I’m really happy for you as well!” said his mom with also a smile on her face. “Come inside and rest for now. You can go out and play with your friends later.” She winks.
“But I wanna go and play now!” Skyrider replied.
“I have some extra orange juice left for you.” His mom cleverly distracted his attention and managed to convince the young pegasus to get some rest before heading back out again.
Skyrider, along with his mom and dad, then headed back into their cloudhome with happy smiles on their faces. It was the day where Skyrider finally got the taste of freedom and the feeling of the joy of flight. His dream of becoming a great flier was also a step closer to him. And it was also an event where Skyrider would never ever forget and he would treasure the memories of it for the rest of his life.
Chasing dreams can sometimes be difficult, tough and requires a lot of patience, determination and endurance. Skyrider would soon learn about the importance of each of those aspects.
It was a few days later where the young pegasus was outside cruising around in the sky. It had seemed to be a fine sunny afternoon, but not for long. Skyrider was soaring around, enjoying his time in the sky without realizing that he had gone far away from home. His playfulness leaded him to Shatterwood Forest that was located somewhere in an outlying part of the land of Equestria. He was also not aware about what was going to happen as he continued to playfully glide and soar around the quiet forest. His attention was also distracted by a flock of birds that were flying into the forest. Skyrider followed them and he was now inside of the land with tall trees around him. From down there, he could not get a clear view of the blue sky that was starting to get darker. A thunderstorm was approaching slowly. The young pegasus then realized that something was happening as he landed on the ground, trying to look at the sky from below. Very strong gust of wind started to blow, causing trees to sway from left to right, large group of dark clouds were getting closer, almost casting on the whole of Shatterwood Forest below. In the vast field of the dark clouds, a lightning leaped from one cloud to another, letting out the sound of a thunder that made the young pegasus became aware that he had to get back home fast before a very heavy downpour begins. Otherwise, he will be in great trouble trying to get to somewhere safe.
Without anymore hesitation, Skyrider spread his wings and took flight. The moment the young pegasus was back in between the forest below and the storm above, Cloudsdale was nowhere in sight. He knew of the direction of Cloudsdale, but the view from above looked like it would be an endless flight. Hesitation would only waste his time. Thus, he immediately flew as fast as he could. Just when it seemed that he had flew far away from the storm, a strong air current blew against him as he struggled to get a hold of his body. When he got back to an upright position, he found himself still right below of the storm. It then began to rain heavily with strong waves of winds. Since he was small and light, the young pegasus was being flipped around in mid air by the strong wave of wind but he managed to hold himself on top of a tree. The moment he regained his balance on the top of the tree, Skyrider dashed forward again, trying to fly out of the thunderstorm. His wings got heavier as the rain water soaked his feathers which he had to use more energy to fly. Not only that but flying against the wind was also taking up most of his strength. He could only hope that the wind would stop blowing, just to give him enough time to fly out of the thunderstorm. Unfortunately, it did not happen. Another strong wave of wind blew again. He was once again pushed back into the thunderstorm and was going to crash down onto the thick forest below.
Just when he thought that he was going to collide into the trees below, his dad dashed in quickly and caught the young Pegasus with both hooves. He held the young pegasus tightly in his forearms as he flapped his wings hard to slow down their fall. And with a hard stomp on the ground with both of his back legs, they both came to a hard landing. Earlier, his dad saw that the young pegasus was going further and further away, and had expected him to come back after awhile but he didn’t. He had also noticed the change of wind and guessed that a thunderstorm was going to approach where Skyrider was, and luckily, he was right. With no time wasted, he immediately set out to search for him, where he made it in time to catch his fall.
“Sky! Sky! Are you alright?” His dad called out to him with a worried face.
Skyrider looked at his dad and quickly hugged him.
“Dad, I’m scared…” The young pegasus replied.
“Don’t worry, Sky. I’m here...and we’re gonna get back home safely, I promise.” His dad sighed with relieve after seeing that Skyrider was safe and unhurt. “Come on, let’s get out of here. Can you still fly?”
“Y-yeah.”
“If you can’t go on, let me know alright?”
The young pegasus nodded and they both began to fly out of the thunderstorm. The forest was dark, and they decided to try to get out of the thunderstorm by flying in the dark forest. They cannot move fast enough because the range of their vision was limited and they had no choice but to move with limited speed. Suddenly, a thunder struck a tree ahead of the two pegasus which sent it tumbling down on the ground. Both Skyrider and his dad instantly came to a halt.
His dad then told the young pegasus, “Flying in the forest is too dangerous. We gotta try flying above the forest…”
“No dad,” Skyrider interrupted, “I’ve tried but the wind blowing is just too strong.”
“Right. Uhh, wait right here Sky.” His dad replied as he flew to the top of the forest, looking around for a place that they could go for the moment. He then spotted a cave northeast of their current position and instantly headed back down to the young pegasus.
“There is a cave nearby, we’ll go there for now and think of something.” He told Skyrider.
The both of them spread their wings and started making their way toward the cave as fast as they can in the thunderstorm and in the dark forest. The rough thunderstorm caused another lightning to strike a tree behind them, but as it tumbled down, it crashed onto another tree beside them and another in front.
“Stay close to me Sky, and follow my lead!” His dad shouted in the thunderstorm, telling the young pegasus to be careful as they dodge the falling trees, moving swiftly from one tree to another.
The thunderstorm showed no sign of stopping and it continued to rain heavily. The flash of the lightning was bright enough that it helped lit the path for the two pegasus even if it was just for a split second. Soon, both Skyrider and his dad managed to reach the cave and quickly went inside just before a large tree fell at the entrance of the cave. If another tree were to fall, it would block the entrance and they would be trap there.
“Dad...I don’t think we can get out of the thunderstorm…” Skyrider panted as he stared outside at the heavy rain.
His dad remained silent while thinking of a way out. But it was just a few seconds later that he thought of an exit.
“There is one way. It is a bit dangerous, but I think we can do it.” He told his colt.
“I…I don’t know, I’m not sure if I can. I…” The young pegasus replied with indecision. The rough and stormy environment outside had affected his will to escape.
“Sky...” The older pegasus walked up to Skyrider. He placed his hoof under Skyrider’s chin and pushed his head up. “You are an amazing flier, Sky. You are also the greatest colt I could ever have. What happened to the wild and lively Skyrider? The colt that I know would not let this thunderstorm make him give up that easily, would he?” He said with a smile.
“No…” Skyrider responded while shuffling his hooves.
“I promise you that we will get back home safely no matter what happens,” His dad said confidently with his wings spread wide open in front of the young pegasus. “And I will always be here to protect you!”
Skyrider replied with a nod and a smile that was filled with confidence and hope. His wings were also spread wide open, signifying that he was ready for the challenge.
“Now, stay very close to me like before, stay right below me, and follow my lead, alright?” His dad advised him.
“Okay!” The young pegasus replied nodding.
Without anymore hesitation, they both once again head back into the sky where they would escape the thunderstorm from high above. The wind would not be as strong as it was, but there was also a danger that they might fly toward a lightning. It was a risk they had to take, but Skyrider believed in his dad at the decision he made since he had more flying experience than himself.
As they approach the dark thunderstorm clouds, the young pegasus stayed close, just right behind at his dad’s tail. The two pegasus continued to soar higher as they dodge lightning that leaped from one cloud to another, flying pass charged clouds with their exceptional flying skills together. Like stallion like colt, their flight patterns were much synchronized to each other. The rhythm of their wings and the way that they flew were very much the same. And soon, an exit became visible. There was a ray of light that was shining in from a hole in the thunderstorm clouds which would lead their way to safety.
“We’re almost there, Sky! Just a bit more further.” He said.
However, Skyrider had reached his limit and was too tired to continue. His wings stopped flapping and he began to fall. The rhythm of the synchronized flying broke which made his dad realized that the young pegasus was not following him anymore at the back of his tail.
“Sky!” His dad shouted and quickly turns back around with a quick dive towards him.
With a swift curve, he caught the young Pegasus with his hooves and continued to fly toward the exit. They don’t have much time as charged lightning clouds were slowly closing up the exit above. His dad flew with full speed ahead and with all his strength as the hole got smaller and smaller. The stallion gave one strong beat of his wings and then folded them in. At the very last second when the clouds sealed the exit, Skyrider and his dad shot out high into the bright sky, successfully escaped from the terrifying thunderstorm below. The warm sunlight greeted them as they shook the water off from their body, mane and tail. Skyrider, who was in his dad’s hooves, looked up at him where he saw a warm smile.
“Did…did we make it?” The young pegasus asked softly.
“Look!” His dad replied as he turned his head looking at the warm sun that was shining.
Skyrider smiled again as he closed his eyes, resting in the warm arms of his dad. Their bodies might be cold, but their hearts were warm like the sun. They both then made their way back to their cloudhome with warm hearts and smiles on their face, relieved and happy that they managed to escape from the thunderstorm.
Back home, Skyrider’s mom was sitting at the front door, gazing at the two pegasus approaching from the distance. She stood up and slowly walked towards them when they arrived. His dad put the young pegasus down gently; he was able to stand on his own. Skyrider dried his wings by flapping them a few times before tucking them back in. He then looked up at his mom, greeting her with a huge smile. Tears rolled down her cheek as she pulled the young pegasus into a tight hug. Her warm wings wrapped around the young pegasus tightly as a teardrop dripped onto his mane. She was really worried for their safety and was now very happy to see that they were both back home safely. His dad joined in the hug, laying his head over the mare’s mane where their cold bodies were now covered with warmth. And soon enough, they all head into their warm and cozy home for a much needed rest to recover. It was a long and tiring day for the young colt, and it had been an adventure and experience that would he would not mind doing it all over again at all.
Even after that incident, the young pegasus was still outside in the blue sky, flying everyday to improve his flight skills, gaining more and different abilities as he practiced. After all that he had gone through in Shatterwood Forest with his dad, giving up was now never an option to the young pegasus. But the adventure for this young pegasus was not over yet. All that time, he was being watched by another mysterious pegasus who remained in the shadows high above on the clouds. Who was that pegasus and why was he lurking from above the cloud? The story and adventure will continue for this young, wild and free pegasus as he will find out the identity of the mysterious pegasus who had been following him.
