Gift of Flight

by Skylas

Rating: teen
Tags: Sad, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 2847

Some never truly understood what the freedom of flight brings to a pegasus. So what about one that can't?

The story of Sugar, a Pegasus born without the ability to fly due to her wings growing improperly.
A simple story of the struggle and success of her finding her own way to fly.

Genetics isn't something quite often explored by pony kind, but one that was very under-researched was mutations. When medical and magical advancements weren't ready for a pony like Sugar, she had seemed doomed to not fly... or was she?

Inspired by Rob Gasser & Laura Brehm's - Vertigo

Published 2016-11-06 01:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-12-18 10:50:22 UTC

Taking a Chance

“You two have fun you hear? I can meet you back at the house.” said Sugar’s mother, sliding a finished milkshake to the center of the table the trio had sat. Red sat there, staring in near disbelief, watching her prance away quite daintily from the table.

“Yeesh, how does that mare keep up with herself… or not have brain freeze.” said Red, who peered over at Sugar.

Sugar stared up at the sky, watching the faint and subtle movements that each cloud gave, even though they couldn’t move without pegasi assistance, they still shuddered and shaped themselves slightly. Sugar was pulled out of her trancelike state by a poke on the shoulder. Realizing that the treat Red had bought her was steadily melting in front of her.

“Heya, you awake in there?” queried Red, who proceeded to take a sip from her milkshake.

“Yeah, just… day dreaming.” replied Sugar, slowly gazing up at the clouds again, until Red’s hoof pressed against Sugar’s nose and slowly pushed her gaze back down.

“Alright, missy.” Red took another sip from her milkshake, “Your mother is gone now so you can tell me. Were you thinking about trying again?” Sugar slowly looked down and stuffed her mouth full of ice cream, as to try and avoid answering the question, quickly regretting it as brain freeze quickly took over.

“Ack! Oh gosh, it hurts…” Putting her head on the table, clutching her own head, secretly hoping Red would stop the line of questioning.

“Sugar.” huffed Red in a moment of rare seriousness.

“Okay fine, maybe.” Sugar quietly replied, keeping her face buried in her forehooves.

“Sugar…” Red slowly peered into Sugar’s eyes.

“Yes! Okay!? I wanted to try. Is that what you wanted?” Sugar grumbled, feeling now more than ever wanting to bury her face in the ice cream.

“Yes.” replied Red with a smirk, before she finished her milkshake with a slow but consistent pace, smiling as she tugged Sugar away gently.

Sugar gave a soft yelp as she was tugged away, quickly matching pace with Red instead of being dragged.

“Alright. Where are we going now Red?” Sugar questioned, peering over at her friend with a bit of drag in her voice.

“Up.” stated Red, before grasping Sugar underneath her forelegs and taking off, taking Sugar with her.

“RED! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO WARN ME WHEN YOU’RE GOING TO DO THIS!” screamed Sugar, quickly losing control of her breath and huffing, wiggling. As they drifted over the layer of clouds beneath them and went over the ground, vertigo slammed through her skull quicker than lightning. Losing her fight, fainting and becoming limp in Red’s forehooves.

A quiet lull had taken over Sugar’s mind, she felt as if she was drifting slowly through the sky, much like in many of her dreams. Feeling her wings slowly stretch outwards and catch the wind, feeling so real in her dream, gliding. Perhaps it wasn’t flight, but she dreamed she could perfect it.

“Sugar!” shouted Red, which quickly snapped Sugar back to reality, looking about, feeling her wings catching the wind, despite still being carried by Red, “I need you to focus, okay? I’m trying to help. Remember what I told you. Breathe.” Red’s voice soothed Sugar’s mind.

Sugar peered down, giving a slight nod, noticing they were circling a thick blanket of clouds, and giving a soft sigh of relief.

“Alright, keep your pose, it’s perfect. Like a super pony right?” Red directed, reaching down and posing out Sugar’s forehooves for her, and slowly circling around the edge of the massive cloud. “Don’t look down again.” Red’s hoof snapped to Sugar’s chin, pushing her head up.

The pair drifted over ground again, then circled back over the cloud. Unbeknownst to Sugar, Red had gently removed her assistance from Sugar. Sugar’s wings taking her own weight, gliding above the clouds.

“D-Don’t let go Red! I-I need you!” cried Sugar, who hadn’t quite yet noticed.

“Too late!” replied Red with a widening grin.

“Wha-” Sugar looked above her and her eyes widened as she saw Red flying above and beside her, quickly peering down below her and watching the cloud drifting beneath her, her lungs filling with air, her wings suddenly having the natural urge to flap.

“Don’t flap! Just keep your wings steady!” coached Red from above, who couldn’t help but break out in glorified laughter, “You’re doing it Sugar! Just don’t-”

Sugar’s eyes couldn’t go away from the cloud moving beneath her, staring at it in awe, almost unable to believe she was using her wings… The wings she thought useless. In the middle of Red’s sentence, she drifted over the cloud. Over land.

The dizziness hitting her instantly, she heard a shout from Red, unable to hear it as white noise filled her ears.

Her wings snapped to her sides, her vision fading.

Then she fell.

Anger

The fall seemed to last an eternity in Sugar’s mind, even while she wasn’t conscious for most of it. A mass of confusion and thoughts burning into her mind, accepting the end she was most likely inevitably plummeting towards. Dreaming about her brief moment of hope, feeling like she had died already when her thoughts drifted towards how her wings weren’t the useless part of her… Her mind was, something as simple as peering over land would make her sick to her stomach. How could she call herself a pegasus, she thought.

Then her thoughts and and fears snapped back to consciousness, letting out a gasp as she had feared she had just collided with the ground, quickly feeling about, her head and body. Finally realizing she had awoken in her bed. Quickly trying to get up when she groaned, her wings feeling sore, they had never taken the full brunt of carrying her body. Laying back down, she looked over, towards the door, realizing that Red was laying on the floor nearby, her coat looked extremely ragged around her eyes.

Frowning, Sugar had slowly rolled out of the bed, walking around and laying a hoof on Red’s head, which was responded with sleepy talking from Red, muttering something about peanut butter.

“Ah… Red… Even asleep you make me feel ten times better…” Sugar calmly stated, padding gently out of her room, and into the hallway about to start down the stairs when she heard a voice coming from below, hearing her name, and then a rather gruff voice responded. Slowly making her way down the stairs, stopping halfway as she could clearly hear the voices now.

“Listen, Hon. I am sure Red is telling the truth.” the rough voice echoed softly to Sugar’s ears, before a quiet, yet clearly panicked voice responded.

“Blitz… You know how she is, Red is nice but, I don’t think Sugar would try something that insane unless she wanted to… not make it!” Sugar’s mother responded, clearly struggling to keep quiet.

“Listen to me, Honey Sweet. She’s got a level head on her, Sugar is just trying to test her limits, maybe she really is capable.” Blitz stated, getting a smile from Sugar, happy to hear her father’s confidence in her. It didn’t last once Honey spoke again.

“She hasn’t even tried that until today! T-To jump to such a step was bound to go badly, if she’s so smart, she would have known she wouldn’t be able to handle it.” the sound of hooves stepping about quite wildly sounded through the halls, “I think we should get her to a doctor.”

“Now now, there’s no need for that. Red said it was her idea, she was only trying to help-” Blitz didn’t get quite far in his statement.

“Help! Help what?! Get our daughter killed!? If she gets another crazy idea like that she won’t see Sugar again! If it isn’t her fault, then i’ll make sure it isn’t!” the shouting echoed through the home at this point, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I… Well you know how I feel…”

Sugar had slowly started to backpedal up the stairs, hearing one last thing before she had gotten out of earshot.

“I know Hon. Neither of us had a choice, neither did she. It’s not our fault. You need to remember that, now more than ever.”

Sugar took in a deep breath, carefully stepping back to her room, and into her bed. After all, she was still incredibly tired.

The day had really only just begun once Sugar awoke once more, groaning as she felt her wings sore from strain still. Her first instinct was to check for Red once more, who seemed to not be present anymore, however she spotted a small note on her dresser. Grunting as she exited the bed, Sugar made her way over to the dresser and peered over at the note.

“Sugar, I am incredibly sorry for what I did, I understand if you don’t want to see me for awhile. I would have waited for you to wake up but your mother insisted I leave. Hoping you still want to see me. From Red.” muttered Sugar to herself, sighing. “I’d better go find her.”

Stretching and grimacing as she stretched out her body, her muscles still feeling weak, before snorting, quickly trotting down the stairs, trying to pass by her mother quickly, but getting snagged by her tail.

“Sorry sweetie, but I don’t think you should go outside today.” said Honey Sweet after she spat out her daughter’s tail.

“Why not?” questioned Sugar, who turned to answer.

“Listen, what happened could have been a lot worse, I just don’t think you should be outside for a bit while you recover from what happened.”

“I’m out of bed aren’t I? Listen, I really need to find Red-” Sugar was interrupted as soon as the name left her lips.

“Oh no you WON’T! There’s no way she’s going anywhere near you for a long time!” through gritted teeth Honey Sweet spoke, her posture tilted forward, almost threateningly.

“Listen, it wasn’t her fault, she didn’t know I would faint!” Standing tall on all four of her legs, Sugar peered down at her mother.

“Oh and I suppose that makes it alright that she threw a FLIGHTLESS pegasus off a cloud!” Nose to nose, the pair stood, staring into eachother’s eyes with a similar passion burning in their eyes.

Silence had built quickly before Sugar moved back a bit, sighing and speaking slowly.

“Mom, I need to find her. Please.” stated Sugar, which was met by a cold stare from her mother.

“Fine.” said quite simply, Honey Sweet, as she turned tail and walked off without another word.

Sugar rushed outside, giving a shiver as the cold air hit her quite hard. Beginning her search for her friend.

Limits

Gift of Flight

The breath of the air touched her lips, becoming cold from her licking them in anticipation, peering over the edge of the cloud she was perched upon and staring out at the endless expanse of land, as well as the layers of clouds beneath her.

“Breathe.” muttered the mare.

After a sharp inhale, her breathing slowly returned to normal, taking a step back and slowly letting her wings unfurl, catching the wind beneath them. Tilting left and right with them, feeling the bones strain slightly from the tilting with a soft grimace. She had become used to the soft pain of trying to flap what couldn’t. Keeping her breath in tempo with the wind, she took a step forward and stared down once more, feeling an intense vertigo take over her for a short moment before looking up, breathing. The feeling in her gut had told her she could jump and be free, but logic told her she wasn’t able to.

“Sugar!? Where are you!?” called a mare from behind Sugar. Giving a soft sigh, her wings furled nicely against her body once more, as they had nearly always been.

“Coming!” responded Sugar, turning and galloping along the cloud constructed path back to her parents. Observing and watching all the other pegasi, and while some unicorns were capable of flight, the skies truly were their domain. Peering up at the others who seemed so free and happy to be among the clouds, feeling her thoughts slowly plummet to a darker place.

When she arrived, she had collided headfirst into the chest of her mother, who had quickly wrapped her forehooves around her.

“Oh my sweet Celestia, you know how worried I get when you disappear like that! I was about to check the net. Goodness knows what you were doing all the way near the edge.” a mixture of scolding and love filled her voice, much to Sugar’s dismay.

“I’m fine… I told you that I-”

“Upup! It’s okay, I can take you to town to look around soon, just stay right there, I’ll go get my bags and we can head out!” The stream of words left her mother’s mouth faster than she could quite keep up. Before she could respond her mother had turned and entered the home.

Sugar gave a sigh, simply turning and watching the sky and the area around the home. The area typically was quiet, given her condition the home was one of the few directly connected to the main areas of the city, typically reserved for upper class ponies. The outer reaches of Cloudsdale were places without physical connections, where the average pegasi lived. This only really served to remind Sugar of her longstanding condition. Sugar observed the plants that her mother had purchased.

“A way to get used to what you’ll see on the ground some day!~” sneered and mimicked Sugar, being a bit louder than she had intended, a simple reply coming from above her.

“Pft what?”

Sugar quickly peered up, coming nearly nose to nose with another pegasus, who had quickly turned and landed in front of her with a rather wide smile. Recognizing the mare who had intruded on her quiet time, Sugar gave a soft giggle, smiling herself.

“Heya Red.” huffed Sugar with a slowly fading smile, shuffling her legs beneath her.

“Ayo!” barked the grey pegasus behind a widening grin, who slowly started flapping her wings and drifted upside down. “Ah come on, before I turn you upside down too, I can see the frown coming.” Sugar kept her soft smile, until of course Red’s hoof extended out and pushed against Sugar’s snout softy, “Boop.” snickered Red, which had finally gotten a bit of laughter and a bit of a brighter smile from Sugar.

“Hmheh… Thanks. I really don’t know how you always know when I’ve got bad thoughts on my mind.” huffed Sugar, who watched Red land back on her feet and lay down.

“It’s a bit easy, you always look through me instead of at me.”

“What? How do you look -through- someone?” questioned Sugar.

“Like this!” Red stared at Sugar, her pupils slowly widening, continuing until Sugar’s hoof pressed against the center of Red’s face and pushed it away gently. “What’s wrooong?! That’s how you look when you’re freakin’ out inside.”

“I doubt it… I can still see you staring!” snickered Sugar, who looked down and removed her hoof. “Hey, my mother’s taking me out to the stores soon, wanna come with?”

“Huhm~ Do pegasus fly?” smiled Red… Who had quickly realized her mistake and coughed, “I-I uhm I mean d-do uh-”

“It’s fine Red, in most situations that would have worked perfectly. Gotta remember i’m not exactly uh… normal.” Sugar’s wings stretched out, tilting them the half inch they would tilt.

“Ugh, now it’s my fault you’re thinking bad things! Yes, i’ll come, but now I owe you ice cream!” groaned Red who rolled onto her back and wiggled her legs into the air.

“Red, you don’t have to get me anything. It’s fine really.” as she finished her sentence, Red’s nose was pressed quite firmly between Sugar’s eyes as she stared.

“I’m going to buy you the biggest tub of ice cream they have.” Red stated firmly.

“Fine.” sighed Sugar.

The sound of hoofs pitter pattering behind Sugar alerted her to the presence of her mother, turning and standing to face her with a soft smile. Her mother had donned a simple bag, as well as what seemed like a quick layer of makeup, the one thing her mother didn’t seem to do quickly.

“Hey, is it alright if Red joins us? She said she wants to buy me ice cream.” Sugar said with a look that her mother had seen lots of times, which basically meant, Red is insisting again.

“Alright~ That sounds lovely.” chuckled Sugar’s mother as she gave Sugar a pat.

The trio set off towards the main city, walking as they always did. A conversation between Red and Sugar’s mother had quickly started as they walked, leaving Sugar with her thoughts as she stared up at the layers of clouds above her.

“Can a pegasus truly be a pegasus if she is bound to the ground? I suppose I have to figure that one out by myself.”