Chapters Angel Skylight: How Angels Fall and Fly Again
-(-Prologue-)- The Incident
"Seriously? That's one of the most hardest tricks in the book. You really wont be able to pull it off. Only one Pegasus has, and that's Rainbow. Do you really want to try and beat her?" Rain Maker questioned him. She was his best, and really only, friend. She didn't want to bare guilt just because he literally jumped off a cloud and died. But Angel wasn't having any of it.
"She was just lucky, i'm sure everypony can do it, just they haven't tried. Heheh, i'll show 'em. Sonic Rainbooms ain't just for her."
He readied himself on the edge of a large cloud hanging above the town of Ponyville.
"Here I go!" He exclaims as he flies upwards a few flaps, the flips himself and plummets down towards the quiet, sleepy town below him. Clouds whizzed past him as he started accelerating and was closing in on the sound barrier, ready to be broken any point now. A sudden thought rushed though his near empty brain.
"Oh Celestia..." He was closing in on the earthy soil much too early. In a desperate attempt and near reflex move, he snapped his wings open in hopes he could just stop falling and go home. That wasn't the case. The sudden drag caused both wings to rupture and fall limp. Pain shot though his body and he didn't care for his fate anymore. Gravity caused him to hit the ground with tremendous force.
Thankfully, that same drag that caused his wings to break also just saved his life. Just. Four eventless months later, he awoke from the coma he developed from the crash. He was alive. And boy, did it feel good back then. But a crash like that dosn't come without its downsides. His entire left wing as named "unsaveable" and in turn, had to be amputated. At first, Angel didn't feel a thing, but the pain kicked in a short time afterwards. His parents explained the whole accident and what had to be done.
"But... H-how am I meant to... You know... Become a r-racer now?" Angel asked anxiously, he already knew the answer, but he wanted to be sure. His mother then confirmed the words that probably changed his life from that point.
"You... Can't"
Angel's eyes teared up as he embraced his mother. He always wanted to become a famous racer or to become a Wonderbolt. Maybe both. Now that was clearly something he was never going to achieve. His mother always told him to dream big and work hard so you achieve the said dream. However, this was probably his wrong doing.
After he awoken from his four monthly slumber, he had to stay for another few weeks so he could regain strength and for some other tests to be done. Other relatives and friends visited him while he was in hospital, but his best friend, Rain, never visited him and he wondered why. This question was answered when he returned to the city among the clouds. Apparently she had left shortly after the incident. Why? He didn't know.
From beyond this point he tried continuing a normal pegasus life, in a flightless body. He attended school, visited the library, did homework, on course for good grades. Even though he always thought to himself that he was normal and he was living a good life.
The incident will be forever engraved in his memories.
Author's Note
Yay Prologue!
Angel Skylight: How Angels Fall and Fly Again
-(- Chapter 1 -)- New Homes and New Foods
From that point onwards, Angel tried having a normal pegasus life. But, since he had only a single wing on his body and lived in pegasus-only Cloudsdale, he had much trouble getting from point A to point B so as he needed his parents help to get to school, visit the doctor and such. Since he was born a pegasus, he still retained the ability to stand and manipulate clouds, but that didn't come in to much use very often.
After some rough years, he managed to live on to the age of 19 years old. And he saw it fit that his parents couldn't chauffeur him around Cloudsdale all his life. So, to make nearly everypony's life easier, he decided to move to the small town of Ponyville. He didn't really see any other reason to live anywhere else. Canterlot was way expensive, Manehatten was too claustrophobic as he wasn't much of a big city stallion, and anywhere else was just really far away. So, nearby Ponyville seemed to fit the bill.
"Hey! Careful with that!" He snatched a box from one of the home-mover ponies and opened to still see if what was inside was still there. As expected, it was. He walked into his new little cottage on the outskirts of the town and placed it carefully on a mantelpiece. He watched as the mover earth ponies dragged and lugged furniture from the van outside into the home. Angel had to have it all perfect as he was a perfectionist like that. Always have to finish details to the best it can be.
He payed the earth ponies with what little Bits he could spare and they went on their way, leaving a near Bit-less Angel and a old cottage behind them. Angel set to work rearranging the furniture so try were all in their most effective positions, or at least where he thought they would fit best.
After what seemed like two hours of wood shifting and ornament tweaking, he finally was finished with the task. And boy, was it annoying. One lamp wouldn't light up the entirety of a desk he placed, and it took him much more time than it should of to get the positioning of it perfect. But, alas, if he didn't do it, it would bug him until he actually did it. And that would just be irritating for something so linear to still be in his mind when he was hanging out at the local tavern, or out at a restaurant. Speaking of restaurants, Angel was absolutely famished.
Since his fridge wasn't properly hooked up yet, he had to go and grab a bite to eat from the locals. Since he didn't know the town at all, he figured he'd just walk around and hope he stumbles into a stall or a cafe. So that's what he did. Not many other ponies were out today, apart from three little fillies racing around on a wagon. They seemed to have fun, and they were laughing a lot. Angel decided to not be a pervert however and he kept walking down the unfamiliar roads.
"Hey, uh, excuse me? Mister?" A tiny hoof tapped his hind leg, and he spun around to see one of the fillies that was racing around just then was now in front of him, She had spiky mauve hair, and an orange coat.
"Oh, hello there squirt, Whaddya want?" Angel reviewed his statement in his mind and realized he sounded a bit rude, but she was only... what, 10 years old? She probably didn't notice , Angel reassured himself.
"Are you a pegasus? Like me?" She fluttered her tiny wings and gave a small smile.
"Uh... yes? Why would you be asking me that?" A bit of confusion swept over him. The little filly stopped flapping her wings and pointed to his wingless side with her hoof, a face of thought over her.
"You only have one wing. Pegasi have two. Are you like some really freaky alicorn or something?"
"What? No, I'm not an alicorn... it was an acci-" He was cut short when a earth filly wearing a big red bow ran the corner and looked at them both. She called out,
"Scootaloo! Come on! We have another idea to get our Cutie Marks, Professional Hide-and-Seekers! Sweetie Belle is hiding, come on!" The tiny orange pegasus, apparantly called Scootaloo, jumped up and followed her companion, using her wings to try to get faster. Angel shook his head, and continued with his journey to find food.
After some dead ends, a bump with a strange mail-mare, and a lot of corner turns, he ends up staring upon a large house. Well, its made of sweets, so I suppose its edible? Angel thought for a second, but remembered, it's a house, somepony probably lives there. Maybe they bake or something. He decided that, out of sparing his empty stomach another long trek, he'd see what was up. Maybe whoever lives there can direct him to a restaurant. He poked his head into the giant gingerbread home and called out,
"Hello? Um... This house is made of food, so I assumed it's a serve-yourself buffet." The room inside was a brightly lit goldmine of cakes, muffins and cookies all lined up behind a counter. Angel looked around the rest of the room to see a till, much more tasty goodies on display and a few tables and chairs with a baby sitting on it. Wait a second, a baby? The foal reached his teeny tiny hooves up at Angel and laughed a high pitched giggle.
Suddenly, a tall slender stallion rushed in and scooped him up, muttering, "Oh Pound, you really ought to not go around climbing on things!" He acknowledged Angel as he started trotting towards a flight of stairs. "Oh, a customer, er.. I'll be there in a second." He then walked upstairs, carrying 'Pound' over his shoulders. He soon after walked back down, "Don't worry, Pinkie's got them cov... oh, I haven't seen your face before, new-comer?"
"Uh, yeah, I got a place near the edge of town. These treats are for sale, right?"
The stallion nodded and shook his hoof, "I'm Carrot Cake, I run Sugercube Corner, with the missus. Me and you will be seeing each other a lot, by the way. Pinkies always throwing parties up in her room. She invites every pony. So, what will you have?"
Angel pointed to a cookie he had been eyeing his entire visit. "I'm Angel Skylight. No one special"
Mr. Cake looked at his wingless side and chuckled nervously, "Uh... Right." He passes him a bag with the Sugercube Corner logo printed on, half a dozen cookies inside. "That'll be eight Bits please."
Angel payed what was needed and left, using his wing as a hand to munch on one of the delicious chocolate cookie he had received as he headed back home for rest.
Angel Skylight: How Angels Fall and Fly Again
-(- Chapter 2 -)- Rude Awakening
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
Oh in the name of Celestia! Who would be knocking at this time in the damn morning? Angel, still slow from sleep, walked down the stairs to meet his early greeter, nearly tripping as he goes. He unbolted the door and it was suddenly thrown open and a pink mare with a bouncy mane jumped through and toppled Angel over. She started crying into his chest and bumbled nonsense.
"Agh, hey, what the hell are you doing? Get off me!" Angel growled as he picked himself up from the floor. "Why would you be visiting me this early in the day? Surely it could of waited..."
The mare looked up at him with tears in her eyes and bawled out, " I'm sooo ssoooooorrrrrrryyyyyy! Please don't hate me! It was Gummy's 'first-ever-carrot-soup' party and I totally forgot about yoouuuu!" She continued to cry on the floor of Angel's house.
"What? What do you mean, 'you forgot me'? And... how do you know where I live?..." Angel asked as he helped the mare to her hooves. He, of course had no idea what she was on about. He never even met her before.
"I forgot to throw you a 'Welcome-to-Ponyville' party! And I give everypony a 'Welcome-to-Ponyville' party on the night they arrive! But not you! Now you must feel so lonely and now you don't have any friends and you don't know where everywhere is and it all my faaaauuuuulllltt!" She started again and wrapped her hooves around his neck, crying over his shoulder. Angel stood her upright and started to calm her down.
"Look, if you really want to throw me a... party, then do it tonight instead. I don't mind, and I'm sure it'll be just as great as if it was yesterday."
The mare stopped crying in an immediate instance. She instantly had a smile on her face and all tears seemed to disappear. "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She jumped into the air and confetti burst every where from behind her. "Oh its going to be the best 'Welcome-to-Ponyville' party ever! The name is Pinkie Pie, friend! See ya later!" She bounded out of the door in her usual skip, jumping in the air every leap. As she left the garden, she stared mumbling and said something about inviting some 'Scratch' and 'asking a cheese sandwich to come along' too.
Of course, Angel had no clue on what she was on about, and just though maybe she is a bit loopy in the head. But for the sake of not being woken up at about five thirty in the morning again, he would at least show up. He never liked to break promises as he had a good heart like that.
Since this was Angel's second day, he decided he would familiarize himself with the town. I mean, what's the point in living in a town you know nothing of, right? Angel asked himself in his head. He had a great memory when it came to directions, so he already knew where Sugurcube Corner resided. He used that very same building as a starting point. He wandered around the town, making mental notes on where certain building where, or if there where any specific differences in the road. Eventually, after what seemed like going around all of the town, he had a mental map in his mind on where everything roughly was. Like a home made from natural materials off near a big dark forest, and a farm nearby that, and a big round building called the 'Carousel Boutique'. He probably would not go in there however. From the looks of it, it was a clothes shop, and he didn't need to waste Bits on that sort of thing right now.
As he trotted along the winding streets, he eventually stumbled upon a large tree with windows and a door in it. According to the sign outside, it was a library. Back in Cloudsdale, he loved to visit the library there and just read to his hearts content. Although he doesn't as read as often as he did back when he was a colt, he still enjoyed the odd book. He decided to peek in, check a book out and read it later on. He poked his head into the building and was greeted with a large circular room, with books stacked and shelved in notches under a staircase. The collection wasn't particularly large, compared to Cloudsdale Public Library, but it was enough to be considered a 'library'.
"Uhh... any pony home?" He stepped into the tree trunk building and glanced around. Most of the books seemed to be in alright condition. He pulled out a black book that seemed to stand out from the other books on that shelf and, using his wing to hold in up, read what was on the books cover. "The Rainbow Factory? Pfft... Probably some little colt's story."
"Actually, you'd be kinda surprised. Its really dark. Gave me nightmares for two weeks straight." Angel jumped at the voice of the new speaker. He turned, with the book still in his wing, to be greeted to a small, purple dragon. He placed some scrolls onto a table and tided them up as he spoke, "You may like it, you new in town?"
Angel nodded in response and asked, "Are you the Liberian here? You seem awfully... Small. Uh... No offence."
"No, Twilight is. Of a sort. I'll go get her." As he said this, the dragon skipped upstairs. Angel flipped though the book to a page in the middle and immediately saw why it gave the dragon nightmares. The page had a picture of a claw holding a earth pony to a harness and a large needle pointing her way. He stared at it for a moment, then shut the book. If that was whats in it he didn't want to read on. He slid it back to roughly where he found it and looked back to the staircase as a lavender pegasus descended the steps.
"Oh, hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle, you are?"
Angel blushed and looked away. He chuckled nervously and answered, "Uh... Angel. Yeah, I know. Strange name. Heheh..." His voice trailed off. He looked at the pony before him and gasped quietly. He hadn't noticed that she also adorned a unicorn horn. She was an alicorn princess, and he didn't even notice. He fell down to a bow and spluttered, "Oh... I'm s-so sorry, your... uh... highness. Please don't kill me."
Twilight at first looked at him with confusion, but remembered her status. "Its quite alright, please, stand. You don't need to be so formal." Angel rose as she finished her sentence. "I haven't seen you about before, and since you gave quite the introduction, you must be new to Ponyville," Angel nodded. He realized this was probably the most asked question. He was growing a bit tried of it, but what can you do , he thought to himself. "This is Golden Oaks Library. Any book you want to borrow, just come see me. Spike can help too, can't you?" She turned to the dragon, who was now sorting a few books on a shelf. He replied with a not-caring 'yeah' and nearly fell over as he reached for a book.
Author's Note
Finished. Sorry for stopping halfway though. But its done now and its in the past. ^-^
Angel Skylight: How Angels Fall and Fly Again
-(- Chapter 4 -)- P-A-R-T-Y
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Angel Skylight: How Angels Fall and Fly Again
-(- Chapter 3 -)- Finding Solutions and Making Friends
"So, I presume your here for a book?" The princess asked innocently. She knew the answer already, as stranger wouldn't really go into the library for any other reason.
"Uh... Yeah, I suppose. Recommend anything? I do like an adventure, if you have something of the sort." Angel answered back. He looked into the princess's purple eyes, which were almost entrancing. He had to admit, she was sort of cute. For a Princess, of course. He knew, however, that a future with her would be a stone too far. Eighty-seven stones to be exact. It's very rare for a commoner like himself to have a proper relationship with someone as high and mighty as a Princess. To even get properly noticed, one would have to have a very important status, like the Captain of the Guard, Spymaster or other royalty positions.
But the chances of a random guard popping out of nowhere saying "Oh Angel Skylight, you are our only hope and you must be the greatest hero of all time to defeat a entire Changeling hive single-hoofed and single-winged and only using hoof-to-hoof combat." are very, very, very slim. He shook his head to remove to thought. He didn't want to get any further, otherwise he would end up highly embarrassing himself in front of the high and mighty. He finally returned to the real world and turned to Twilight looking at a hard-back book suspended in the air in a pink magic hold. She clearly was having a good time explaining to him what the book was about, or something similar.
"-brilliant story that I'm sure you will love. I like the series myself, and Rainbow Dash too. I wonder if-" She was cut short by an exclamation from Angel,
"Wait... Rainbow Dash? The Rainbow Dash? With the rainbow mane and everything?" he asked with high interest. He was surprised that the filly that caused his incident, technically, knew this Princess.
"Well, yes, Rainbow Dash. Why, do you know her?"
"Yes. A lot. You've probably noticed my wingless side, right? " As he said this he unfolded his wing to show her. "She was partly the reason behind it. I'm just surprised to hear her name once more. Then again I should of known better. She was destined for greatness."
"What? Rainbow couldn't of done that. I know she is competitive but she wouldn't actually hurt any pony to win... Are you sure it was Rainbow Dash?" She exclaimed with near shocked interest
"Wha... No, no. She didn't actually cause it... I don't think she was even there when it happened. You see, I wanted to prove to everypony that any pegasus could preform a Sonic Rainboom, but something went... Wrong... And well, I guess you can figure out what happened after. So, I'm ground-bound for the rest of my life. Fun while it lasted." Angel explained.
Twilight looked at his wingless side of his body in thought. after a few more seconds, she gave an exclaimed 'Aha!' and a burst of magic pulled out a seemingly new book from a shelf. The cover bound a cogwheel on the front and inside were hundreds of pictures depicting works of machinery and maths equations scribbled in corners. All of it seemed advanced for this time, even if it's all steampunk, but every single contraption seemed possible one way or another with the help of magic on their sides. Eventually, Twilight stopped on a page depicting a male unicorn wearing a strange harness with metal wings sicking out of it
"I think that could help solve your flight problem. We can build one of those and strap it onto you and your good to go, flying around like all the other pegasi." Twilight said with a smile of genius.
"Wow, are you serious? I can... Fly again using this thing?" Angel asked, pointing his hoof to the picture. Twilight nodded and replied,
"Exactly! Of course, we would have to build it, which may take a while, but I'm sure it will be worth the wait!" she said with another gleam.
The book Twilight obtained earlier was named Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone. Angel got it recorded in the Library's book log and, seeing he had nothing more to consult with the librarian, he started to head home. He was a little skeptical over the story, as it appeared to be a bit below his age range. He was always one for a good adventure story however, so he pushed the thought to the dark, unused area in his brain and left the library with a thanks.
"She was nice. I hope this isn't a foals book though." He said aloud, glancing at the cover. He held in his only wing, since he didn't bring any saddlebags with him and continued throughout his little journey with the town.
He trotted around a while longer, noting other places of interest. He found the town hall and saw a delivery truck outside a home a few doors away from it, being loaded with boxes of unknown things. One gray mare with a blonde mane was carrying these rather large boxes and she looked like she was struggling. Since Angel always was a good stallion to heart, he'd thought he would at least ask if she needed a helping hoof.
"Uh... Hey. You need any help with that? You look like your struggling a bit." He asked as he moved closer to her.
The mare grunted as she lifted another box and answered, "Umm... No, I... Ugh... I'm fine! Thank you! They aren't really...That heavy...Wo-woah!"
She tripped over a rock and fell flat on the floor. The box she was carrying flew into the air and landed with a sickening smash. Whatever was in there seemed to be glass. Or was, since gravity had taken a hold of the situation.
She gasped and turned to the raised stone that caused the accident, "Oh stupid rock! Ugh!" She returned to the box and opened it up, revealing some plates and cups were inside. The once beautiful porcelain was now in pieces
"Oh... I'm sorry..." Angel said quietly. He really didn't mean for it to happen, even if he didn't really cause it. The mare looked at him in the eyes, revealing her right pupil to be looking upwards instead of directly at him.
"It's okay, I suppose. It wasn't anything expensive. Thank you anyway." Angel helped her up and she picked up a smaller box and placed it into the truck's back. "My name is Ditzy Doo, but my friends call me Derpy. If you want, you can help me put away some other boxes. Nopony really help me much. They think I'm weird..."
"Well I don't think your weird, I mean, it was just a tumble. Where should I put this?" He pointed to the box containing the broken plates and cups. Derpy turned to him as he dropped the Daring Do book onto a different box and started to pick up the broken one.
She pointed to a nearby bin with her hoof. "Over there... Just empty it out, I suppose." She said as she continued to pile an assortment of things into the truck's back.
"So... uh... why are you putting stuff in a truck, exactly? You moving home?
"Sort of. I'm not leaving town, just over to Leaf Fall Road. The rent here is getting a bit hard to control and my elder daughter, Sparkler, is coming home from Manehatten. This old place doesn't have enough room for all three of us." She answered. A little gray filly jumped out of the home as Derpy finished her sentence and raced to her, hugged her and saying,
"Ooh.. I can't wait! Its so exciting!" She pulled way from her mother then took out the Daring Do book Angel had just placed in one of the boxes with a burst of pale yellow magic."Is this mine? Oh thank you!" She exclaimed as she darted indoors again, the book suspended above her. Derpy called after to tell her it wasn't hers, but she stopped midway as she knew she wasn't going to be heard.
"I'm sorry, she assumes things too quickly. Introduce yourself before you get the book back, she may be scared when you meet her.." She chuckled nervously as she continued with her task.
Since it wasn't his book, Angel didn't really want it in other pony's hooves for too long. He strided into Derpy's soon-to-not-be home and looked around. Most of the larger furniture was still in place, but the quaint home was still seemed bare. Giggling was heard from upstairs, and he called out, "Hello? Erm... I think you took my book. I'd like it back." For a few moments were silence, but shuffling was heard from upstairs like she was getting up and the quiet tiny hooves tapping on the wooden floors coming closer to the landing.
The filly's gray head popped out and stared at him with a cautious look. "Oh. Hi, did my mom let you in?" She asked with a little stammer. It was only then that Angel realized that what he was doing was creepy, walking into some stranger's home to take a book from a filly.
"Uh... yeah. Could I have my book? I was helping your mom pack some boxes and you kinda... took it." Angel replied nervously.
The filly stared at Angel, judging him as if she was deciding on her course of action. She then ran down the hall and returned a moment later with the Daring Do book in her magical grasp.
"Is this it?" She asked innocently.
Angel nodded and she bounded down the stairs in front of him. He took it in his mouth and tucked it in his wing.
The filly studied his wingless side and asked as he was leaving, "Hey, if you have a wing on one side, why don't you have another?"
"A... uh... incident." He said, as memories came flooding back once more. He didn't particularly like answering the question. He always wanted to just let it disappear one day. But asking something like that is quite the task. He sighed and continued for the door. "Well, I've got to go, Miss Ditzy. I'm sorry I can't be of much more help."
Derpy looked at him with a smile, "Oh it's okay. You gave me some help and that's what matters...I think" He waved her goodbye to his new friend with his hoof and continued home. He remembered some pink mare called 'Pinkie' was throwing a party for him, and he may as well conserve any strength for it. How it will turn out, he didn't have a clue. But he knew it was probably going to be tiresome, for better or for worse.
