Earthbound

Earthbound found himself thinking back on the events from that day, when Discord accidentally changed his entire life.

===

You see, Earthbound is a Pegasus. But back then… He didn’t have wings. When he was born, the doctors didn’t pay much attention to his lack of flight appendages.  After all, it wasn’t uncommon for Pegasi to develop wings in the second or third month. The problem surfaced when Earthbound had his first birthday and still hasn’t grown them. His parents took him to the best doctors in Cloudsdale, but none could help. They wrote it off as a very rare genetic illness.

The fact that he had to live without wings, forced his parents to abandon the skies and look for help amongst the earth pony and unicorn doctors. They spent all their lives, traveling from town to town, looking for experts, leads, cures to help their disabled son.

The latest lead was a genetic specialist, passing through Ponyville.  With renewed hope, Earthbound traveled to the small town to ask for help. He kept his hopes up through the entire meeting, but at the end succumbed to sad thoughts. This lead was another dead end.

The wingless Pegasus left the small office that the doctor occupied and started to walk around without a purpose, sulking. ‘It’s useless.’ he thought. ‘I’ll never be able to fly. How am I supposed to live on the ground?’ After all his entire life was traveling from doctor to doctor, changing schools as he changed cities. He didn’t have friends or any place to settle and start looking for work.

His thoughts were disturbed by rain. It took him some time to notice something peculiar about the rain. It was… chocolate rain? And when he looked up he saw a pink cloud. ‘Is that… cotton candy?’

In the next second the cloud was swept away by a rainbow blur. He recognized the blur immediately. It was the same cyan Pegasus that he saw when he was a foal. It was the rainbow- maned mare that he thought about in desperate times, as he recollected her bravery.

At that time they lived nearby Cloudsdale. He always thought about himself as a sickly earth pony, that’s why he had to constantly visit the doctors. But that day he overheard his parents talking about him. When he heard that he was a wingless Pegasus, his life shattered. He ran away from home and sat on a nearby field to idly watch the clouds.

It was then when he saw the filly, racing against bigger Pegasi. And she did something amazing – he saw her accelerate faster than it was ever possible, as she produced a Sonic Rainboom. It was a sight fitting the tales he heard about it. But those were legends, and she did the impossible. So if she could, why couldn’t he grow wings against all odds?

Earthbound snapped back to the present time as he watched the cyan Pegasus fly away. Looking at her shrinking figure as she was getting away and away, he finally realized something he was withholding all the time – he had fallen in love with the mare.

‘There’s no way she would notice me, ever.’ He thought, his sadness growing in his heart. Once again, he ran away. He wasn’t looking where he was going until half an hour later he hit a tree. He looked around and noticed with growing panic that he somehow ended up in the Everfree forest. ‘My dark thoughts are suitable for this place’ he thought to himself.

He sat on a nearby fallen tree, deciding to ponder about himself. His life was very unfortunate. His constant crying had left him with a permanent frown on his face. He tried judging himself, looking at the gray hooves and playing with his dark gray mane. He was such a gray and unimportant pony… but the worst was his cutie mark. When he realized he was stuck on the ground forever, a rock bound by chains appeared on his flank. They say that obtaining a cutie mark should bring you joy, but the only thing it meant for Earthbound was a constant reminder of his disability.

He didn’t like crying in front of his parents so now that he was alone he could let it all out. He put his hooves on his eyes as they watered and silently began to sob. His self-pitying was cut short by a sudden thunderstorm. He looked up to the sky and once again saw the mare he admired.

But something was wrong. She was devoid of her usual colors, and she was flying as if she didn’t see her surroundings. Suddenly a lightning hit her, followed by a loud thundery noise. He saw her start to pike as she unconsciously fell down. He started galloping to the place where she would crash.

Constantly looking at her position, he noticed that her current trajectory would make her crash in a ravine. He quickened his pace and caught her as she went beyond the edge. He turned around in midair to shield her from any harm the fall might cause. He expected the pain but he didn’t expect it to come so soon. His vision darkened and he lost consciousness.

===

When he woke up, the mare next to him was still out. He carefully checked her for damage, ignoring his own sharp pains. She was fine. He sat above her, contemplating her. She was simply beautiful. Her muscular but slender body, suited for speed, her strong wings, with magnificent blue feathers, her rainbow mane. All the details seemed to burn into his eyes. She probably wouldn’t remember him for long.  From what he gathered she was proud and brash.

Judging that he spent enough time examining the mare, he took a quick look around. They were on a shelf in the ravine, and he had no way to get himself out, especially with an unconscious Pegasus on his back. The wall behind them was smooth and didn’t offer any support. They were stuck.

He turned around to a rustling noise and saw the cyan Pegasus rise, her magenta eyes opening slowly. But then something weird happened - she lost her colors. She turned around and looked at him with unseeing eyes.

“I must get to Cloudsdale fast!” she shouted and immediately took off, leaving Earthbound stranded on the shelf they crashed on.

Once again he looked at her figure getting smaller as she once again flew away. ‘Figured she wouldn’t bother too much but something was strange about her.’ he thought. He tried to stand up but then a sudden pain brought him down as he once more drifted into unconsciousness.

===

When he woke up again he noticed he didn’t feel the pain anymore. He took a quick moment to analyze his surroundings. He was in some kind of a white room, with many beds, some of them hidden behind curtains. Earthbound realized that he was in a hospital room. ‘So somepony found me after all. Maybe it was even the cyan mare that got me help?’

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the nurse.

“Hello there! My name’s Nurse Redheart and I am your nurse. How do you feel?” she asked.

“Better, at least I can breathe without problems” I replied.

“No wonder, when you were brought here you were almost dying but luckily the doctors saved you. Oh, and it seems you have a guest waiting in the corridor. I’ll let them in.” she said, walking to the doors and opening them.

What he saw made him hold his breath. Through the door walked the rainbow-maned mare that he saved, the one that abandoned him all alone.

“Ummm…. Hiya there! Name’s Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria, what’s yours?” she said

“Earthbound…” he muttered.

“What kind of name is… well never mind it. From what I remember it seems you saved my life.”

“Yeah, and you left me there alone!” The words seemed to hurt her a lot.

“I’m really… sorry. I’m not good with apologies… but… I wasn’t myself at the time. You see there was this Discord guy, a powerful draconequus, spirit of chaos. And he kind of twisted the personalities of me and my best friends. Normally I am the embodiment of loyalty and would never leave you hanging. But he did something and I couldn’t think straight. Sorry…”

“It’s okay… I kind of hoped you would come back.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, surprised.

“Well I admire your bravery and you are kind of my idol so… it’s not like I can be mad at you for long!”

“Oh, didn’t realize you were a fan…. Well anyway I need to be going, catch you later!” she said, leaving the room quickly.

===

Over the course of the next two weeks Rainbow Dash visited many times, sometimes alone and sometimes with one or more of her friends. He got to know her and her friends better and he had to admit they were friends to die for. He learned that they were the embodiments of the Elements of Harmony ad that the purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle was Princess Celestia’s student. He also met the dragon Spike, which Twilight was raising.

Finally, when Earthbound was getting out, Rainbow Dash was waiting once again, but this time accompanied with two Royal Guards. ‘Oh Celestia, did I do something wrong?’ he though. He exited anyway.

“Hi” he said to the cyan Pegasus. “What’s up with the escort?”

“Hi, they’re taking us to Canterlot, princess Celestia wants to see you”

His eyes widened as his brain processed the information.

“What would the ruler of Equestria want with a simple pony like me?”

“Well you see, I was kind of telling her all about you and she wants to meet the one that saved me”

He sighed. They both got on the chariot and it took off in the direction of Canterlot. Earthbound was looking around curiously. It was his first time flying, even if he couldn’t fly on his own. Rainbow Dash noticed the look in his eyes.

“Don’t worry, that’s why we are taking you to Princess Celestia” she said.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

“You’ll see” she said with a smile and left Earthbound to ponder for the rest of the uneventful trip to Canterlot.

===

When they arrived, Rainbow Dash led him around the castle. He realized that they were headed for one of the towers. When they arrived and passed through the door, he froze. Standing before him was Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria and allicorn of the Sun.

“Your majesty” he said while bowing deeply.

“Please Earthbound, rise” she said.

He did as told and had a chance to take a look around. He was in some sort of an office. The room was large and oval, meaning they were in one of the towers of the Canterlot castle. Every inch of the walls was covered with bookshelves and filing cabinets. In the middle, right behind Princess Celestia, there stood an antique-looking desk, accompanied by a grandfather clock and a mirror. The room was filled with Rainbow’s friends.

“So… umm… you wanted to see me, Princess?” he asked.

“Yes, Rainbow was telling me how you risked your life to save her, and I would like to thank the pony that saved one of my little ponies. And for that I would also like to grant you a gift.”

“A gift?” he asked surprised. “But I only did what anypony in my place would do”

“I’m not sure about you but I don’t know many ponies that would jump into a ravine to rescue another pony” said Rainbow.

“And that is why you deserve this gift” said the Princess. “From Rainbow Dash’s tale I gathered information about your… condition.”

“You mean my lack of wings?”

“Yes. And after some research with my faithful student Twilight, I believe I have found a way to grant you wings.”

Earthbound suddenly sat down. It was like a dream come true. Finally after all these years he could fly. But usually such offers have a double bottom. ‘There must be a catch’ he thought.

“Let’s consider that we go through with this. Are there any… unforeseen consequences awaiting?” he asked.

“Nopony has used this spell for centuries. There is no telling what effects it will have.”

He started thinking about it. Anything would be fine as long as he got to fly in the end.

“Very well, let’s do this.” he decided.

The Princess came closer, her horn suddenly glowing with pink magic. She lowered her head and touched his side with the horn. At first there was no reaction and Earthbound thought the spell failed. But then he felt an enormous pain in his side. Right, the wing had to grow out from under developed skin. It was a painful process and he found himself fading into unconscious once again.

He awoke minutes later, feeling better. He looked around the room and saw everypony shocked, including the Princess. ‘What could have shocked them so much?’ he though, turning around to the mirror. In there he saw what had shocked the group. His once gray fur was now pure white, and his mane was light blue. He also noticed the wings, which he still couldn’t move, pushed against his sides. But the biggest surprise came from his cutie mark. In place where once there was a rock and chain, now existed a cloud made of light blue feathers. He turned to the Princess.

“Thank you! Finally I can live a normal life!” he said.

“Considering this change… there is another change that must be done it seems. You cannot have your name after this change. It does not fit you. Your name from now on will be… Sky High.” said the Princess.

===

Outside the Castle, the group said their goodbyes. Everypony went back to Ponyville to resume their lives. Earth… no, Sky High noticed that Rainbow was waiting for him.

“So, we will be seeing each other quite often now, don’t you think?” she said.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked, getting a bit red.

“Gee, you sure like that question. Of course I will be repaying you for saving my life by giving yo free flight lessons! It’s not every day that somepony gets to get lessons from the fastest flier in Equestria and future Wonderbolt!” she exclaimed enthusiastically. “You’ll be flying in no time!”

“Thank you Rainbow” he said, finally having a reason to look forward to the future.

===

The end?