More than a Memory
A What if story
Parallel Universe of I love this Bar and Room for Rent
Chapter 1 Learn to Fly
“Wings, he has wings,” that thought just kept running through my mind.
Princess Celestia decided to grant me a little time off so I could help him get used to using his wings, and well to life being a pony. Bryant followed along behind me, and I could see the vast improvement over his attempts to walk earlier. It had taken all of us explaining to him that he didn’t need to think about it.
Still, even when he tried to let his body do what should come naturally to it he ended up falling a couple of times. Instead of giving up, or moping he did what I had come to expect of him. He picked himself up, laughed, and tried again. We stopped at the stop of a small hill, and I turned toward him giving him my best smile. I patted the ground next to me with my hoof and he trotted up to see the small valley there.
“Bryant, being a Pegasus means that you’re gonna have to fly. I’m going to teach you the basics of it, and I want you to follow my lead. We’re starting off with this small hill, right now, but we will be moving to deeper canyons later,” I said.
He walked up to the side and looked down. I expected him to flinch, show some hesitation, or maybe even ask a question or two. What I didn’t expect was for him to back up, his wings to open, and him to run and jump. I jumped after him and watched as he tried to gain some lift. He flapped his wings, struggling against the fall, and then he hit the ground in a roll. I winced as he came to a stop.
I had been on this end of things before. My dad had the sense to start off with a small hill because he knew there was every chance that a fall could be fatal. I landed near Bryant and watched as he struggled to his hooves. He looked disoriented, he was dusty, and there were grass stains all over his coat and wings, but at least he wasn’t hurt.
He coughed a couple of times, and then smiled sheepishly at me.
“Guess that was a bit too soon huh?” he asked.
“Just a little,” I replied.
We walked toward the top of the hill and this time he waited for a moment.
“Okay, this is kind of like the walking, and kind of not like it. Your body should know what to do, but you’ve got to learn how to tell it when to do it. The running and jumping is good, but you have to either angle your wings right or start flapping before you go into a fall. Flapping in a fall will slow your decent, but it’s not going to stop you. It’s kind of like those parachutes on Earth. Good for slowing down, but that’s about it,” I said.
“Okay, so flap on takeoff, flapping while falling will slow me down, but not stop me. Wait, what about how some birds can flap while falling and actually start to fly?” he asked.
“Good question, and the answer is fairly simple. Most birds don’t weigh as much as we do. Gravity, while still affecting them, is less likely to keep a hold on them. If you could produce enough thrust from your wings in a fall you could turn slowing down to climbing, and I’ve seen two pegasi do it before, but both of them were so tired afterward that they had to rest for a couple of days,” I answered.
“So, if I am to try that then it needs to be in a dire emergency right?” he asked.
I nodded. My dad had been one of those Pegasi, and the reason he had done it was because I had tried to prove that I could pull out of a half mile dive before I had been taught how to do it. He had barely caught me, and then he flapped like crazy to try and stop. Instead of stopping he had actually started to lift back into the air, and he flew us back up to our house.
When he got back into the house Dad collapsed onto the floor, and Mom punished me by making her help Dad for the next couple of days. It had been rough, but I understood how much what I did had hurt him, and I had so much more respect for my Dad after that. He might not have been hard like Mom, but he was just as strong, and I knew that he was willing to do anything for me.
I felt a wing over me, pulling me into a hug, and I nuzzled against Bryant’s neck.
“What’s got you so deep in thought huh?” he asked.
“I was just thinking about someone you remind me of a little,” I said.
We finally broke our hug and I smiled as I took a run, flapped my wings, and began to lift off. He watched as I glided a little, circled, and then hovered in the air.
“Okay, how are you doing that?” he asked.
“Oh, this? Well, I’ll tell you how to do it after you can show me that you can fly for more than a few minutes,” I replied.
He looked at me, then at the top of the hill, and once more at me. He began to gallop toward the top, and I got ready to swoop down and help slow his fall if he did start to fall. Instead I watched as he began flapping his wings, hard, and when he jumped he began to gain some lift. It was beautiful. Seeing his wings extended, his legs still moving as if he was trying to run, and his wings working together to keep him in the air. He stopped flapping after a moment and I watched as he simply glided on the air current.
He made a wide turn, flew back toward me, and flapped lightly making him lift higher into the air. I followed him as he neared the limit of what a first time flier could go, and then he broke it. His large wings easily rode the current of air, and I flew near him.
“You’re doing awesome!” I shouted.
“Want to try to go higher?!” he shouted back.
I nodded and watched as he flapped a little. He seemed to climb the air currents with ease. I was amazed at how easy it was for him to climb. He was a natural at it, but he didn’t fly fast. It seemed that he was a long distance flyer, not a speedster.
I took note of his movements, his natural abilities, and then my eyes narrowed as a couple of other mares flew closer to us.
“Well hello handsome. What’s a gorgeous stallion like you doing in our neck of the woods?” one of them asked.
“He’s flying with me,” I said trying to remain somewhat civil.
“Oh? Wouldn’t you rather fly with me?” one of the mares asked.
I growled, and I was ready to fight off these two when Bryant cleared his throat, and shook his head.
“Sorry, but like she said I’m here with her. Thanks for the offer, and while I’m sure the both of are you very nice mares I’m happy as is,” he said.
“Okay, but if you ever decide to try something that hasn’t been passed around like an old whorse shoe let us know,” one said before they shot off.
Despite his insistence that I don’t let them rile me I flew after them both. I caught up to them and heard them laughing.
“Oh that was so good Flitter!” one of them said.
“I know! Dash should stick to mares, and leave the stallions to the rest of us,” Flitter said.
“Or she should just kick your flanks right here and now!” I shouted.
Both of them turned to look at me. I watched as they tried to our fly me, but they weren’t the fastest flyer in Equestria. I was ready to deal with them, but a voice stopped me. I turned to see Bryant flying as fast as he could toward me. I hovered, crossed my forelegs and glared at him.
“What?! Did you hear what they said about me?!” I seethed.
“Yeah, and I don’t care. I’m here with you, because of I feel for you. I don’t care what other folks say about you. I’m sure you heard at least a story or two about me from Ned, and did it change what you thought about me?” he asked.
“No,” I answered.
“Then what do you care about them being a couple of assholes? Everyplace has them. The best thing to do is not let them get to you,” he said.
I grinned as we hovered there.
“You’re doing it by the way,” I said.
“Huh?” he asked.
I pointed down and he looked around. A big dopey grin spread across his muzzle. He then looked around again.
“So, how exactly do we land?” he asked.