Wings of Ikaros

Wings of Ikaros:

The Logbook of Neon Splash

Chapter 1

As a young unicorn, my mother (a flightless Pegasus) would tell me stories of her brave hero. Somepony capable of great flights and stunts, until one went terribly wrong, ending her adventures. I remember the wistful look she would have whenever she spoke of the times her hero flew her around during some of her safer stunts. How much she longed to be able to soar alongside that pony. Alas, after her hero's death, her will and hope faded. Slowly and painfully, she began losing her light. week by week it got worse. My only thoughts as I sat helplessly watching the shine fade from her coat, and the hope disappear from her eyes, was that if she were only able to fly like her hero, that it might not have hurt her so much to feel alone again. She eventually had forgotten about me sitting there, trying to bring her smile back, and she faded from me as her hero from her. Left alone for the first time, I too sat in darkness thinking, wishing dreaming.

I tried seeking information on my father. I figured he at least would like to know of the end of mother. Alas, no pony had any information on him. At least not the few who were willing to talk to me. Most avoided me as if i were plagued. As if mere eye contact would cause them great harm. Being so young, I had no clue why everypony had been avoiding me. Everypony accept the prince. for some reason or another, he kept trying to get close to me, asking me questions about my family. At one point i had asked him why he kept digging into my past, and all he said was that I interested him and wanted me for his collection. That statement made no sense at the time, not to somepony who just lost their mother. So after that I chose to avoid him accept when i needed to go to the Library.

On my way to the library one day, like any other, to escape the torments of reality Passing the smiling faces of friends in the street, friends of different species, some flying, some carrying things with magic or talons. Griffins, Dragons, Ponies of every type. Diamond dogs walking with crossbreeds. Their happiness was both heartwarming, and sickening at once. I reached the library right as it's keeper was locking up for another of his research outings, but he let me in alone anyway, as he would rather someone be there than to leave the tree's security to a basic lock. He told me of a new book that was unearthed in the old Canterlot Libraries, where his mother used to stay, and offered me the first read. The title was “Fable's of the Lost Age”. From what I was able to gather from the introduction, it was a collection of stories from when ponies were just starting to understand the science behind things.

Most of the stories were dated around the peak of the Holy Equites Empire, whereas the other were slightly older or not dated at all. Out of all of them however, one stood strong in my mind. The Tale of Ikaros. Inside of it detailed the many attempts of a young earth pony trying to craft wings like his father's. Sadly he couldn't wrap his mind around the flight science and never truly succeeded, but it got my mind working on something, something that would have made my mother smile. Wings for the wingless! If I could perfect the theories of Ikaros, then anypony could fly or glide if they wanted. Ponies like my mother would have a chance at happiness. I knew I had to succeed. As soon as Alter returned I left in a rush with as many flight books as my magic could carry. My job as a Mechanic gave me access to all sorts of materials, and bits weren't a problem as carts and other things often broke down in the kingdom. With so much hoof traffic all the time, there was never a dull moment and never a lack of things to fix. My biggest jobs would appear whenever Aerial Ace (a very reckless Pegasus) would fly through the  town. He had a bad habit of crashing into things and other ponies not fast enough to get out of the way. More often than not I was repairing the same thing over and over because of one crash or another.

As I was running back to my workshop I ran into one of the ponies that tried to befriend me when my mother passed. Apple Eden was here name. I found her to be a rather odd filly. She was normally a very quite pony that  was rather meek whenever she was around anypony else, however the day of the funeral, she came up to me and kept trying to talk to me as if she had known me forever. I found it rather unnerving seeing as everypony else hardly acknowledged my existence half the time.

“Where are you headed in such a rush?”

“It's not important” I said and continued running with my books. I didn't mean to sound rude, but i had something to do. Hopefully she would understand. It probably would have helped my conscious if i had at least apologized, but I couldn't be bothered to waste any more time. I was onto something, something truly important.

As soon as I made it home, I set to work. Taking a few notes from the fable, I started testing a set of wax wings.  The feathers I had gathered were able to hold together well with the light wax I received from the local apiary. I noticed a few flaws in the design right away. Whenever the wings were exposed to heat, they would start to melt, so I had the thought to test some gliding in the coolest area of the kingdom, a breezy hill. I figured that the wind would keep the wings solid long enough to travel a few yards. Being naturally competitive, Aerial Ace came out to see how things went, Apple Eden came with him as her chores for the farm were done for the day.

“Are you should you should do this?” Eden asked.

“It's not a matter of if I should. I need to. There's no choice in the matter.”

Ace pipped up “ If you crash I have some health potions for you.”

“Neither of you had to come by, it's not like I actually know you.”

“This seemed fun and I had nothing better to do. What about you Eden?”

She shrank back a bit, “Well, I just thought, since my chores are done I could help.” she got quieter “Besides, nopony should do something so dangerous by themselves.” she said in something only slightly louder than a whisper.

“Whatever,” I said “so long as your both entertained it doesn't matter, I need to get this to work.” I pulled my goggles over my eyes and prepared to launch. Using my magic I attached the wings to the harness and started flapping them. The other two walked back a bit to give me room as I started to run off the ramp I made.

“Please be careful”  came another whisper. I outstretched the wings as I started to fall a bit. The breeze going through my mane and the wind rushing past my ears. I began gliding! Slowly drifting towards the Everfree Forest. To think I would have succeeded already! The thought was so exciting that I hardly could contain my joy. But like all good things,  something happens to ruin it. A loud, sharp snap rang in my ears. Looking back the wax was cracking off the frame work. The breeze had over chilled them and had become brittle! Chunks of feather and framework started falling off  piece by piece as the forest's trees began to loom ever closer, my speed increasing with every second as the glider fell apart. The last thing I heard was a loud snap and voices screaming my name. Their owners searching for me in the dark foliage. My eyes closed, and my consciousness faded to black.