The Day Dreamer Series

How to Fly

It was a calm morning as the Pegasuses were moving the clouds into position. Twilight and Sunstone were sitting atop a hill reading a book. Sunstone was looking at the Pegasuses while Twilight was reading out loud something about magic. He watched the Pegasuses flying around, some doing their weather jobs, others playing around, zipping in and out of the clouds.

"Pay attention, this is important!" declared Twilight, snapping Sunstone out of his trance.
"What, I'm listening, I'm listening!" he said spinning his head toward her.
"Mmhmm, yea. Then tell me what was I just reading," she drilled him, not believing a word he said.
"Eh, um, you were reading about, um, the effect of magic on ponies?" he answered grinning nervously.

She squinted her eyes, looking hard at him. He just grinned bigger, getting more nervous. "Good," she said slowly, finally responding, still squinting her eyes as she slowly turned back to her book. As she resumed reading, she smiled. "Now this spell is good for..." she started to read. Sunstone let out a small sigh as he began to lose interest and returned to the Pegasuses finishing their morning tasks.

After a few minutes of reading, Twilight felt something brush up against her back. Still looking at her book looking annoyed, she said in frustration, "Can you stop that, this part is very Important!" Sunstone quickly turned his head from the sky, looking puzzled, "I'm not doing anything." "Oh, really? We'll see about that." She turned her head to see what it was. What she saw made her jump off the grass in fright. With her sudden reaction Sunstone did the same, "What?! What's there?!" She was now able to see what it was more clearly and, looking surprised, pointed at Sunstone, "Your back!" Immediately he began circling around, freaking out, "Get it off me! Get it off me!"

Feeling exhausted after several times spinning around panicking, he came to a stop. "Is it gone," Sunstone said gasping for air. "No." Twilight answered calmly, "look.". He finally looked at his back to see what Twilight was talking about. His eyes widened with shock at what he saw: "Wings?!"

-theme song-

Back at the library Twilight and Sunstone were now with the rest of the gang. They were all looking amazed by the new adaptation to the stallion's back. The extended wings were bigger than a normal Pegasus' wings but smaller than the Alicorn's. They were golden, like his body, and extended outward.

"How did you acquire such wonderful wings?" asked Rarity, gawking at his wings. "Uh, I was looking at some Pegasus doing the weather, I imagined that I was flying with them soaring thought the clouds. So, I guess, they materialized while I was daydreaming, "he answered, rubbing his head as he looked at the wings. "Well, we had our laughs and frights but now it's time to put them away," said Twilight as she approached him getting ready her magic.

"Hold on!" he said as he took a step back, "This is a once in an lifetime opportunity!"
"What do you mean?" she asked looking puzzled.
"To fly! Ever since I was young I always wanted to fly. To zip through the clouds, to feel the wind flowing though my mane!" he exclaimed with great joy.
"I don't know, you know how your magic is. It's still a bit unpredictable. You don't know what else can pop out," said Twilight looking concerned.
"You're such a kill-joy," blurted out Rainbow Dash, "If he wants to fly then he will fly! And what better way to learn to fly than with the best flier in all of Equestria!" She stood proudly trying to point out herself.
"Celestia?" asked Fluttershy quietly.
Rainbow looked puzzled, "No! Me!"
"Of course," declared Applejack, not surprised.
"I can just see it now," she wrapped her arm around Sunstone's head, pressing her cheek to his as she pointed to the air, "You, me, and the Wonderbolts, performing in front of thousands. Showing off new and dazzling tricks like the Zip Lopa, the Falling Star, and the Fire of Sound. Then I'll fly high into the air to do one of my signature moves, the..."
"Um, Dash?" interrupted Sunstone, snapping Rainbow Dash out of her daydream. She looked around now, several feet off the ground still holding him by the head. "That sounds wonderful and all, but first I just need to learn how to fly first."

She stared blankly. Dropping him she asked, a little puzzled, "How to fly what?" After a moment of silence she regained her thoughts. "Oh yea, sorry. Well then, we better get started," she zoomed down and picked him back up by his front legs.

"Hold on you two," Twilight said lifting her hoof up to stop them. Rainbow stopped, dropping Sunstone with a thud. "I have a feeling that this is a prediction of things to come," Sunstone said laying on the ground. "What's wrong Twilight?" he asked peeling himself of the ground. "This isn't some magic wings like I did for Rarity. They're real, as far as your magic goes. You can get hurt, or worse," Twilight said, looking a little concerned. "Come on, please!" Sunstone begged her going to his knees, "I promise I'll study harder after this, please!" She looked down at him now grabbing her leg still pleading. Twilight raised a hoof to her face and let out a strong sigh, "Fine." He sprung up, jumping for joy. "But make sure no one sees you, you kind of look like you're related to the princess and I don't what to have any commotions, understated?" she said strongly. "Yea, yea, yea, everything will be fine. He's with me," Rainbow Dash said as she scooped up Sunstone again. "That's what I'm afraid about." replied Twilight looking serious.

She flew to the front door carrying him. As soon as she went through the door, Sunstone's extended wings got caught by the door frame resulting in Rainbow Dash letting go. He bounced back into the library, hitting a book shelf and making the books fall on top of him. Looking a little dazed Sunstone spoke, "Maybe I need to learn how to close these wings first."

Next thing he knew he was looking down from a tall cliff taking a large gulp, questioning what he got himself into. "Are you sure that this is the best way to learn how to fly?" he question backing away from the edge of the cliff. "Best? Fastest is the best way, so let's get started," Rainbow Dash said, picking Sunstone up and putting him into position. "Now all you have to do is jump off."
"Um, I think I hear my life calling, excuse me," he said, trying to slip away.
"Nonsense," she said, smiling and grabbing him," Your life can wait, time to fly!"
"Is there anything else I need to know that will help me to fly, like flapping or landing or anything like that? You know, something that will prevent me from dying." he asked, nervous.
"Um... oh that's right, keep your wings straight and you'll do fine."
"Thanks," he responded sarcastically, feeling a bit uneasy about her response.

He took a few steps back, swallowing a large lump in his throat, and tried to prepare himself. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and... just stood there. "You know what, I change my mind, I don't really need to know how to fly now. I have all my life to do this and..." "There's no time like now!" interrupted Rainbow Dash smacking him on his butt. He neighed as he galloped forward. His wings were still extended, still not knowing how to move them, and his eyes were closed as he ran off the cliff. Soon enough he could feel the wind in his mane as the air blew past his face. Joy began to grow from inside him as he realized he was flying. "I'm flying... I'm flying, I'm really flying!" he yelled in pure excitement.

"No, you're falling," he heard Rainbow Dash's voice from above him. He eminently opened his eyes, now to find himself falling head first. He screamed in terror, flailing his legs about, "Help, what do I do, what do I do?!" he said panicky. "Keep calm and lift yourself up," she said calmly as she coasted above. "How do I do that?!" he asked trying to calm himself down. "You move with your head, so if you lift your head up, your body will follow," she replied looking more relaxed than concerned. He tucked his legs in and started to lift his head in hope that his body would follow. With a large grunt he lifted his body, just missing the ground. After several panicky breaths he realized what he was doing. "I'm flying, I'm flying, I'm really flying!" he cheered happily again. "No, you're gliding," Rainbow Dash corrected him, above him flying on her back looking relaxed. "Oh, well, this is still fantastic," he said, all proud of himself.

Suddenly he crashed into a tree and fell to the ground landing on his back. "I'm landing, I'm landing," he said in a daze, covered in branches and leaves. You could hear Rainbow Dash giggling up in the tree, sitting on a branch, "No, ha-ha, you crashed." "Oh, okie-dokie." He tried to get up but was too dizzy to walk straight. "I think I should go a bit slower this time, maybe I'll go check on Fluttershy for a bit, okay?" He walked off trying to keep himself up as Rainbow Dash laughed in the distance.

He and Fluttershy stood together, getting ready for a lesson about flying from her. "I'm sorry your first attempt with Rainbow Dash did not go as well as you hoped, I'm sure she was trying her best," she said softly letting out a small smile. "Yea, anyway, can you remind me what are we doing here again?" he asked, as he looked down a little puzzled. "Oh, sorry, you're going to learn how to glide," she answered softly.

He lifted an eyebrow and looked at her, "Um, is this really necessary?" She then began to sink into herself, "Oh, um, well, if you don't want to do it... then it's fine... we can do, um, something else."
"No. it's not that, it's just that it's, how do I put it... small," he said quickly, trying not to hurt her feelings.
"Of course, it's wise to start small, right?" she said, as she slowly regained some of her self-esteem.
He sighed, "Yes."
"Good," she immediately perked up, "First we must extend our wings."
She opened her wings to their full extent, as he looked at his own. He still had not learned how to even close them, let alone move them. "Good, now on the count of three we jump forward, okay?" she looked at him smiling. He lowered his eyelids, looking forward, "Yea." "Good, now a one, and a two, and a one two threeeee!" She leaped forward closing her eyes and letting out a small squeal. Sunstone kept looking straight with half lowered eyelids as he took a step down a very small pump on the ground.

"Um Fluttershy, not that this isn't great and all but can you teach me how to move these wings first before we attempt to do more jumping over, um, hills today?" Fluttershy turned around and just smiled back, "Oh, okay, if that's what you want."

Twilight came walking up to Fluttershy's house. She walked up to Fluttershy's door and gave it a knock. She stood there for a moment before knocking again. She lifted her hoof up to her chin, rubbing it. "Maybe she's in the back taking care of the animals again?" she asked herself. She left the front door and began to walk around to the back. "I hope she's not doing more massages like last time." she said feeling nervous.

As she got around to the other side of the house she saw some rope lying on the ground. She followed it until she notices that there was rope everywhere, on the trees, the bushes, and the ground. As she kept going she could hear some noises from a nearby tree. Looking up she spotted two ponies dangling, all tied up. Sunstone was upside down with his legs bound and Fluttershy was in knots hanging by one hind leg as both ponies struggled to get themselves free.

"What in Celestia's name is going on here?!" she shouted in shock. Sunstone looked down at Twilight, looking a little surprised, "Oh, um, hi Twilight, uh, how are you this fine day?" he said, as if nothing had happened, letting out a nervous smile. "Uh, good?" she answered looking confused as she approached the two ponies, "and you?" He struggled a little bit looking at the rope around his legs then back to Twilight. "Oh you know, hanging." he answered with a large grin. Looking face to face he could see she was not amused. "Okay, fine, that was a bad joke. I really have to get better at that."

"Okay, what's going on here?" Twilight declared. "Well, we were..." he suddenly stopped as his face went blank. After a few moments, he turned head his toward Fluttershy and asked, "What were we doing again?" After a few struggling grunts, Fluttershy answered. "You were, um, trying to learn how to move your wings," she answered as she spun around, "Oh dear." "Oh yea, see, I can move them now!" he said looking at his wings moving them. The rope wrapped around his wings restricted most of his movement as he did so. Sunstone then turned back to Twilight, smiling.

After a few moments of silence Sunstone spoke up as he was spinning around. "Um, all of the blood it going to my head, so can you help us get down, please?" he asked, still smiling at Twilight. She looked at him intently before doing anything. She used her magic to untangle Sunstone's rope, making him drop to the floor with a thud. "Ow, thanks," he said on his back. She then went to Fluttershy, doing the same but putting her down gently. After Fluttershy thanked her, she went back to Sunstone, now up on his legs.

"Okay, that's it, you had your fun, but I think it's time to head back to the library now." Twilight commanded.
"Oh come on, I just got the hang of it. Do I have to." Sunstone complained.
"Yes, it's getting late, and I don't want to see you get hurt, or somepony else for that matter." Twilight said strongly as she started to head back to the library.
"Fine," he said with a huff following her, "Bye Fluttershy, I had fun, and thanks for helping me." He said smiling, waving back at Fluttershy with his wings. She waved back smiling in response, "Your welcome!" She then looked down and saw all the rope all over the place, "Oh dear."

Sunstone and Twilight walked back to the Library together. He was looking at his wings as he opened and closed them. He then stopped what he was doing and looked at Twilight, "Anyway, why did you come to Fluttershy's place anyway?"
"Oh yea, I totally forgot, I received a letter from Princess Celestia. She invited me and my friends to come and celebrate her and her sister's birthday next spring!"
"Really? Wow, I never get invited to anything, especially the Princess' birthday, this is so exciting!" He cheered as he extended his wings outward with excitement.
"Well, about that, she did not invite you," Twilight said as she looked at him seriously.
"Wha?" Sunstone excitement fell as his wings dropped to the ground.
"She only sent seven invites, one is for Spike."
"Oh," he replied sounding depressed.
"So that's why I sent a letter asking for one more invitation," Twilight grinned happily.

Twilight was suddenly picked up off her hoofs, being hugged strongly. "Yes! Thank you Twilight!" he hugged her as tightly as he could. "Too tight!" she said, trying to breathe. "Sorry," he let her go, "but really, I can come?!" Catching her breath, she nodded, "Yes, I explained it to the Princess and she agreed, but her response was a little strange." His wings extended with excitement. He jumped for joy, going higher than normal. "This is so exciting, I can't wait!"

As the two were discussing about the party, they unknowingly walked walking into town. Scaring them, they heard a screeching scream from behind. "A prince!" yelled a pony. "Who, what, where?" cried out Sunstone looking frantically all around him. "Where?!" yelled another pony appearing out of the front door of one of the houses. "A prince?" two more popped out from around another building

"I think we should go, NOW!" yelled Twilight running into town. Without saying another word, Sunstone bolted, following Twilight. Soon enough a horde of ponies were chasing them around town, as Sunstone and Twilight tried everything they could think of to elude the crowd.
-Kooky chase music-

The mob of ponies ran past a water fountain. Sunstone was on top standing on his rear legs with his wings extended, spitting out water, and Twilight was at the base holding a vase pouring water. They looked at the passed crowd then ran the other direction.

The mob now ran past a wedding store. Standing in place of the models, Sunstone was wearing a black suit and a top hat and Twilight was wearing a white wedding dress. After the group moved on they bolted away jumping out of the clothes.

Twilight and Sunstone were running until they came to a stoplight at an intersection. It turned red and they both came to a screeching stopped. As they watched, a gray Pegasus with a yellow mane and crossed eyes slowly fluttered by. As soon as it passed the light changed back to green and they resumed their escape.

As the two ran another street merged into theirs. They were joined by a caramel pony with a brown mane and the mark of three blue horseshoes. He ran beside the two ponies looking frightened. "What's your problem?" Sunstone asked the caramel pony who was breathing hard. He looked at Sunstone, "Broke a Pinky promise!" They both looked back at a raging pink pony chasing the caramel pony. "You?" the caramel pony asked, looking back at Sunstone. "They think I'm a alicorn." Sunstone answered as both looked at the group of ponies behind him. "Lucky you." The street soon forked and they continued on their separate chases.

"Do you hear that?" Sunstone asked Twilight as he looked around, still running from the mob. "Hear what?" she answered. "Kooky chase music, don't you hear it?!" Looking a little concerned, she answered, "No, why does it matter?!" "Oh no reason, just confirming something."

Not knowing where they were running, they soon came to a cliff. The two stopped inches away from the edge. "Why in Celestia's name is there a cliff in Ponyville?!" panicked Sunstone, looking back at the mob of ponies. "What do we do?" Twilight asked looking at Sunstone. He looked over the cliff then looked at the oncoming ponies, then back again.

"Get on me," Sunstone said, facing the edge of the cliff.
"What, why?!" she turned her head quickly at him in shock.
"Oh no, no, no, no, no," Twilight said quickly shaking her head.
"Just get on me!" he said kneeling. She looked at him then looked at the cliff, "You can't fly!"
"It's now or never." looking at her and grinned. She looked at the mob then back at Sunstone. She gulped as she got on his back. "This is a bad idea." she thought.

He stood up as she held on tight. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply as he prepared himself. He snapped his eyes open and leapt forward just escaping the oncoming ponies. He plunged downward as Twilight screamed. He tucked his legs in and extended his wings to their fullest. He lifted his head swooping himself up just missing the ground. He flew up into the sky, away from the ponies and the ground.

Twilight still screaming in terror, Sunstone cheered as he looked around, "We're flying, we're flying, ha-ha!". Sunstone now turned to Twilight trying to calm her down., "You can stop now, we're fine." She slowly stopped and one by one she opened each eye. Looking down, she let out a squeal of fright, "How are you doing this?" as she held on tighter. "Help from Dash and Fluttershy, and from observing Pegasuses for a long time." He answered grinning for joy.

He soared high into the sky, passing through the clouds, only flapping to keep going. "Um, Sunstone?" Twilight said, looking down, "Don't you think this is high enough? We are already safe from the..." She stopped as she looked at Sunstone, his eyes closed and smiling. He was enjoying every moment of the experience and was oblivious to everything. She smiled as she decided to enjoy the ride.

He soared over the clouds, heading towards the lowering sun. After a few moments of bliss Sunstone spoke. "It's exactly how I dreamed it would be," he said slowly opening his eyes and looking at the sun, "How it feels, how it looks, the sensation is just, wow!" "Yes, it is beautiful," she said, as she smiled looking at the setting sun as she laid her head on top of his, sighing. He blushed looking up at Twilight, then looking back at the horizon letting out a small smile "Yea."

They flew a bit over Ponyville and now passed Apple Acres. Sunstone looked around, fascinated with how the world looked from above, and Twilight, as she never had time to just enjoy flying, just relaxed on Sunstone. Every once in a while a Pegasus would pass by, waving a hello to them as Sunstone tried to hide his horn so as not to cause another commotion.

As they both relaxed watching the sun and flying ever higher, there was a sudden jerk from Sunstone that almost knocked off Twilight. "What just happened?!" Twilight asked, holding tight to Sunstone and looking around him. Sunstone, also looking around, looked back at her in fear, "I don't know!"

Suddenly there was another jerk as they lost some altitude while Sunstone began to feel funny around his wings. He looked behind to see what was going on, "My wings!" Twilight looked at his wings and fear filled her face. Sunstone's wings were fading in and out of reality. "We've got to land now!" she commanded him, starting to panic. "I'm trying but I can't move my wings anymore!" Soon enough his wings then disappeared altogether and both ponies looked at each other with wide eyes. They both hugged each other, screaming as they began to fall.

Twilight and Sunstone were screaming flailing their legs about. "Sunstone, do something!" yelled Twilight.
"Why me, why can't you just teleport us out of this?!" Sunstone screamed.
"I can't, if I do that we would still be falling!" she tried to explain through her terror. "You have to conjure up something to catch us!"

He stopped flailing about and looked down, then looked at Twilight. "What if I don't conjure up the right thing?" He said as he began to doubt himself. "You'll do fine. You have been training for the last several months and you have greatly improved. You just have to believe in yourself as I believe in you, now concentrate!" Twilight said putting a hoof to his cheek looking into his eyes. He smiled at her, then looked down at the approaching ground. He closed his eyes and concentrated. His horn glowed blue when suddenly a pair of old boots appeared. He open his eyes, "Nope." He concentrated again and this time a long flute appeared, "Nope." Trying again he got a grapefruit, "Nope." he repeated displeased.

"Um, Sunstone," Twilight spoke up, looking at the ground, "Hurry up!" "I'm trying, I'm trying!" he answered as a large root appeared. He thought hard of what he could do, looking down and seeing the ground getting now dangerously close.

Sunstone suddenly had an idea and concentrated as hard as he could on it. His horn glowed brighter and brighter as he concentrated on the thought. Suddenly on the ground a giant rubber duck appeared. They both landed on it with a loud squeak as they bounced up and down on it before landing on the ground safely. The duck then disappeared soon after with a flash of light.

They both sat there for a bit before looking at each other. They started to laughed. "A rubber duck?" Twilight blurted out. "It's all I could think of that might work," Sunstone answered having a hard time breathing as he fell to the ground.

They laughed for some time before they could catch their breath.
"This will be an interesting story to tell Princess Celestia." Twilight said wiping a tear from her eyes.
"Yea," he responded as he got off the ground.
"It's getting late, we really should be heading back before it gets dark," she said as she stood up.
"Yea. This will be one heck of a story to tell the others," said Sunstone.

Twilight and Sunstone were in the Library with all of their friends discussing the day's activates. Twilight was acting out her experience while the others were laughing. Sunstone was sitting nearby just smiling, reflecting on the events of the day. "This was one wonderful day, I actually got to fly! But I also learned a few things too. It's great to get things that you wish for but it's better when you realize what you have," he said as he looked at his friends laughing. "It's also important to accept who you are and not wish to be something else. Also you learn what's important when you are falling to your death! Like what is really important," He thought as he looked at Twilight, his eyes began to fill with dread, "I just hope there is still some time left."