Author's Note

Here's the new chapter that I'm pretty you guys couldn't wait for. The chapter where our adventurer learns how to fly. Enjoy & happy reading!!!

And one more thing, green text indicates what’s going on in a different place at the time from where Xavier is. Red text will indicate what happened in a different place at an earlier time from where Xavier is, but red text won’t appear until later in the story. And the orange text is a re-edit for all words with image/video links that I’ll take care of soon.

Chapter 7: Flight Basics 101 & Fast Learning

I woke up the next day feeling excited, for I was gonna learn to fly.

Getting antsy, I quickly showered up, got some clothes on, but kept on the sweater from yesterday, since it's the only clothing item I have that I can fit my wings through (I'd have to make a quick stop to Rarity's to drop off all my shirts, sweaters, & coats, so Rarity can also modify those to where I can open my wings while wearing them still), got some breakfast, brushed my teeth, & left a note for Fluttershy on the table.

In the note, I wrote: Dear Fluttershy,

If you're reading this, I have already left to ask Rainbow Dash if she could teach me how to fly(and drop off all my shirts, sweaters, & coats at Rarity's so she could also modify those so I can open up my wings while wearing them). So good morning to you, I made breakfast again, it's sitting over on the stove, I'll see you later.

Sincerely, Xavier

Once I was all ready, I went & grabbed my pajama shirt I wore last night, put back in the box labeled shirts, jackets, & winter coat, grabbed the box, walked out the door & went towards Ponyville to run a quick errand, & went to find Rainbow Dash.

As I came up to the door of the Carousel Boutique, I put down the box and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" asked Rarity.

"It's Xavier," I reply.

She then opens the door & says "Come right in, Xavier."

I pick up the box & stepped inside where I put the box off to the side, out of the way of the door. Whereupon entering, as Rarity closed the door, she asks me "Do you need anything, dear?"

"In fact, I do," I answer. "You see, I was wondering if you could modify the rest of the shirts, jackets, & coat you had made me like you did my sweater last night." I opened up my wings as I finished my last sentence, to show her what I mean.

"Ah, of course, I can, Xavier darling," Rarity replies. "It shouldn't take me no longer than half an hour. Just come back within that time period & I'll be finished with modifying the rest of your shirts, jackets & coat."

"Cool,” I tell her, “thank you." Then I head out the door to find Rainbow.

I first looked for her at the rundown shack near AJ's farm, but she was nowhere to be found. So I started looking around at places that might be a 'cool' hangout for ponies like her, but alas, nowhere in sight.

Then I went to look for her around town. But when I looked up at the clock tower, it had been half an hour. So I went to Rarity's to pick up my box of shirts, jackets, and..... ah, you get the idea. I've already said it too many times already, and you're probably getting tired of me saying it over and over.

Anyways, I went back over to Rarity's to pick up my box of shirts & whatnot that she had finished modifying. But when I got there, guess who I had finally found, just standing up against the wall spacing out?........That's right. Rainbow Dash!

"Ah, there you are, Rainbow!" I exclaimed.

Snapping back to the present, Rainbow jumped a bit when she heard me call her name.

"JEEZ MAN!" she yells. "I already apologized to you for almost making you crap yourself, but do you seriously have to try to get me back for it?!”

I chuckled a bit before I replied.

“No, I’m not trying to get you back for it. I’m just quickly making a stop here to pick up my box of shirts & whatnot,” I tell her. “Though I probably should’ve taken a few seconds to think through of how I should’ve spoken. Sorry for scaring you.”

She smiles, then said, “Ah, okay. Apology accepted.”

With that, she starts heading off.

Before she could get far, I quickly call out, “Oh, hey wait, Rainbow!”

“Yeah?” she turns & looks at me with a curious look.

“After I pick up my shirts & whatnot & drop them off at Fluttershy’s. I was wondering if you could maybe teach me how to fly?” I ask her.

“Yeah, sure,” she replies with a smirk. “Did Fluttershy say that she didn’t have the time to teach you when you asked her?” she asked.

The moment she said that it suddenly hit me.

(My face when I suddenly realize)

“OH SHIT. I...I.. didn’t even think of asking her first,” I tell Rainbow.

“OH SHIT! HOW’S FLUTTERSHY GOING TO REACT WHEN SHE READS MY NOTE? SHE’S PROBABLY GONNA THINK THAT I THOUGHT THAT SHE’S PROBABLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH OF A TEACHER!” I thought to myself.

Looking at the clock tower, I told Rainbow that I had to quickly get back to Fluttershy's.

But as I walked away, she had said, "By the way, next time you go looking for me, try looking up every few minutes or so, it's where I’ll be if I’m not on the ground."

Hearing that made me stop in my tracks.

“How’d you know that I was looking for you this whole time?” I ask her curiously.

“Easy,” she replied while giggling. “I catalog everything whenever I fly. A good flyer should always be aware of all of their surroundings.”

I told her that that’s good advice & that I’ll keep that in mind. Then I ran the fastest I’ve ever run in my life back to Fluttershy’s cottage.

When I got to the cottage, I couldn’t hear the sound of Fluttershy crying. “Maybe she took it a lot better than I anticipated?,” I thought. But when I opened the door, I heard the faint sound of crying. “Or not.”

So I opened the door further to peer in. From the corner of my eye, I saw Fluttershy sitting over on the couch, sniveling up a storm.

Next to her sat a white bunny with what seemed like a sympathetic expression. But when it saw me, the expression changed from sympathy to anger.

“I don’t like this bunny,” I thought. “He can do facial expressions. So this bunny actually KNOWS emotions. And I don’t wanna know what else it knows, or how smart it is.”

I opened the door the rest of the way as I entered the room, closing the door behind me as I walked over to the sniffling Fluttershy.

"Hey Fluttershy, I'm ba--," I started saying before she interjected.

"Well? Did she agree to teach you, Xavier?" she asked through a little sniveling fit as she blew her nose upon finishing her question.

"Uh, not exactly. You see she --," I said before Fluttershy interjected again.

"Well, then. Who're you gonna ask next?" she asked. "Cross-eyed Derpy? Thunderlane? Cloud Chaser? Flitter? WHO!?"

"You," I tell her.

She suddenly ceased her sniveling as she looked at me with a curious expression.

"Me?" she asked. "But from your note, I thought that you didn't think I'd be able to, so why me?"

I then explained to her that I never thought that, but merely forgot to think a few things over before I acted. And it wasn't until Rainbow Dash mentioned something about her being too busy to teach me when I realized what a dick-headed move I made & quickly rushed back over to apologize.

When I finished explaining, her sniveling had almost stopped as she brought me in for a hug.

"Thank you for realizing your mistake & making up for it," she told me as I returned her embrace by hugging her back.

"Your welcome. I'm really sorry for hurting your feelings like that," I apologized. "I promise I'll keep your feelings in mind whenever I make a choice."

"That would be great, Xavier," she replied. "Apology accepted."

She held the hug for a little longer than expected. As I waited for her to end the hug, I felt a little, friend, of mine, heat up a bit.

"NO!" I exclaimed in my head. "Nonono, Not now! Stop it, boner! Stopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopit! GO AWAY!"

The heat finally diminished as I kept thinking those thoughts.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed in relief in my head.

Just when we were about to end our embrace, we got surprised out of our wits when we heard a voice.

"Are you two lovebirds done with your mushy hug yet, or am I gonna have to wait a few minutes longer?" asked Rainbow Dash, who was peering in through the window.

"DAAAH!" Fluttershy & I exclaim.

"How long have you been there, Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked.

"Long enough to hear the entire conversation," Rainbow replied.

"Okay. I have 2 questions for you Rainbow," I tell Rainbow. "One, did you seriously follow me here? Second, you're not gonna make a game out this to see who can get scared the most, are you?"

Laughing her ass off, Rainbow replies "Yes, I did. And no, I'm not."

Meanwhile, in Canterlot, where Celestial & Luna have been watching the whole thing through some sort of magic ball of some sorts.

"I didn't know how humorous he can make things without even trying,"
Luna giggled.

"Same here, dear sister," Celestial smirked. "He has a way of cracking jokes without even realizing."

"Let's keep watching & see what'll happen next," says Luna.

Happy with Rainbow's answer, I tell her that she doesn't have to teach me any more if she doesn't want to. But then Fluttershy suggests an idea that we all could benefit from.

"Maybe both me & Rainbow could teach you, Xavier," she said.

Curious, I ask "How exactly?"

"Well, there are some days where I am really busy taking care of the animals," Fluttershy starts out. "So I was thinking that maybe on the days where I'm really busy tending the animals, Rainbow Dash could teach you. And when I'm not so busy, I could teach you. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan, Stan," I reply with a comedic accent, earning some giggles.

"Yeah," Rainbow responds. "That sounds like a great plan. I can even help give pointers & whatnot when Fluttershy's teaching."

"Alright. Let's get started then. Cute bunny by the way Fluttershy," I said as I stood up & looked down at the bunny, looking at me with a smile.

"Thank you," she replies. "His name's Angel. He's one of the many pet animals I have. But that doesn't mean that all the animals that I take care of actually live here, just so you know."

"Cool," I respond. "Alright, let's go."

And from that, we got started on teaching me to fly in a wide open area where I'd have plenty of space.

"Okay. We're gonna start with the basics," Fluttershy told me. "Start with a simple hover. Shouldn't be too hard, Xavier."

I flapped my wings & began hovering.

"Done & done," I said.

Fluttershy & Rainbow giggled. "Okay. Now from hovering," Fluttershy states. "Moving in any direction, forward, backward, sideways, & up and down, should be pretty easy to know."

"Yeah," I reply. "Up, flap down harder. Down, flap up harder. Forward, flap in forwarding motion. Backward, flap in a backward motion. Turning, shift bodyweight to either side you want to turn."

I then do each maneuver as listed, I almost got each one right away without fail. The only one I epically failed at was the forward flap, gave it too much power. Ended up rolling forward & landing hard on my ass.

Fluttershy & Rainbow Dash both chuckled a bit at my epically failed first attempt.

"Oh yeah. Just laugh it up. Hahaha, really funny," I tell them using my comedic accent, smiling myself afterward.

Just then, I saw Twilight come in, wearing a schoolgirl outfit.

"Hey, Twilight. Morning, " I tell her.

"Morning Xavier," she replies. "What's going on here?" she asks.

"Rainbow and I are helping to teach Xavier how to fly," Fluttershy answered.

"Ah, I see," Twilight responds. "I just wanted to check in to see how Xavier's getting by. And I see that he's doing fine. But before I go, is it alright if I ask you a quick question Fluttershy?"

"Sure Twilight," replied Fluttershy.

"Can an owl's pellets be used to make good compost for potting plants?" Twilight asked.

"Of course," Fluttershy answers. "It's biodegradable due to its diet of mice and other rodents about as small as a mouse."

"Alright," Twilight responds. Then says to me, "Oh, hey. Like I did a few days ago with all the info you have about your world & showed the others, I could do it again with the knowledge of how to fly from both Fluttershy & Rainbow Dash, & show it to you Xavier. If it's alright with you three."

Thinking it over for a minute, I ask Fluttershy & Rainbow, "Would you two be alright with that?"

They whisper to each other for a moment or two. Then Fluttershy responds "We don't mind if you want to or not. We'll leave it up to you."

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Yeah. We're sure," Rainbow replied.

Thinking, I decided “Alright, I think I’ll go with it.”

With a few words, Twilight did the memory scan on Fluttershy & Rainbow for the knowledge of flying, & then come over to me & transferred it to my brain.

Once finished, I tested it out to make sure it worked by doing a bunch of complicated hovering maneuvers then did flight maneuvers like an expert. Doing barrel rolls, aerial front flips, downward corkscrews, & whatnot.

When I finished, I landed back on the ground & said: “Why girls, I think I’ve got it!”

They all giggled at that remark as they told me that they are happy for me.

“So what do we do now, girls?” I ask. “Any ideas?”

“You could probably get started on finding a job or something to earn bits,” Twilight suggested.

“Oh, yeah,” I reply. “Can’t just put it off. I better get started. Oh, but before I do. There’s something I’m curious about.”

Twilight asks “What’re you curious about?”

“So I already found out that you & Fluttershy have pets. But I’m wondering if Rainbow & the others have pets,” I answer her question.

“Rarity, Applejack, & Pinkie Pie have pets, but I don’t have one,” replied Rainbow. “But I might consider getting one sometime soon.”

“Cool,” I reply. “What pets do Rare, AJ, & Pinkie have?”

“Applejack has her female dog, Winona. Pinkie has her toothless baby alligator Gummy. And Rarity has her she-cat Opalescence,” Fluttershy answers my question.

“Huh, makes sense in a way,” I reply. “AJ’s dog for like herding farm animals. Pinkie’s alligator for, whatever unpredictable reasons she has. And Rarity’s cat, which I’m guessing is a Persian cat, for its natural beauty & grace.”

They all seemed to ponder that for a bit, then Twilight spoke.

“Hmm. Never thought of it like that,” she said. “Kinda puts it in perspective.”

“Yeah, it kinda does,” I reply back. “Wanna know a fun fact about cats?” I ask Twi, Rainbow, & Flutters.

“Sure,” they all reply in unison.

“Cats are afraid of cucumbers,” I tell them with a matter-of-factly expression. “The reactions the cats make always get some good laughs.”

“Interesting,” said Twilight.

I could have carried on the conversation, but I had important things to do. So I told them that I’d better get going & that I’d see them later as I made my way to Ponyville.