Chapters Hey, Dude, Bro! Check This Out!
Prologue: Pegasi Master Race
My name is Dequan. Blackest name in history I know, but what can you do? Anyway, I'm just your typical lazy, unproductive 19 year old. I don't know how I believed I could coast through life without a single solitary purpose to my name, but here I am. Nineteen and still living with my mom. It's sad, yes, but it has its perks. In exchange for doing whatever my parents tell me, I get to goof off in my room for most of the day.
I play video games, browse the web, watch Netflix, you know the drill. I'm usually in there all the time, simply waiting patiently for either my parents to call me, or for my natural instincts to get the better of me and force me to eat.
You see, I have the ability to ignore myself as long as i'm doing something I'm interested in. If i'm watching Limitless I can go a whole day without eating if I let myself.
Unfortunately, and perhaps fortunately as well, I have my parents, the few people besides myself whose job it is to make sure I don't die of hunger.
They usually do that by knocking on my door and breaking me out of my blissfully ignorant stupor long enough to let me realize my own body is trying to tell me something.
Of course the fact that their visits usually mean I have to get up and do something is not a welcome exchange. I like lying in bed. In fact, I could go to sleep several more times after waking up before I even get an inkling of a desire to move.
Now, there are some good points to this whole thing. Usually, I wake up before my parents, which means I have the house to myself for as long as I can stay quiet. Of course they do wake up by themselves, I can't stop human biology, but I prefer to think that if I don't make a noise they won't move. Kinda like zombies, but with way worse consequences.
Now, I only have a few responsibilities. Ones which I prefer to do alone. Clean the kitchen, clean my room and bathroom, and take out the trash. Out of all of these, the only one I hate is cleaning the kitchen.
Not because I can't just plug my earphones in and drown out the world, but because I constantly have to do it. If my mom cooks, you better believe i'm cleaning the kitchen, regardless of when it is, who cooked, or who dirtied it up.
Speaking of the kitchen, that's where I currently was, planning out my morning meal using leftovers from the other night.
I put them in the microwave, heat them up, and take them to the table, where I sat and began my meal.
There was no meat present on my pate, as we had decided to try going vegan after one of my relatives so kindly informed us of a certain video.
Speaking of lifestyle changes, one was coming up for me very soon. I had finally decided to get my life straight after 19 years of pure and utter laziness, only to be presented with what I now believe to be a blessing from god. This program, another thing brought to us by those same relatives, was supposed to help me get my life right by offering a training program that would guarantee a job in a year's time. I was confused about it at first, and spent days mulling it over, but I finally decided to move with the idea. I needed it after all.
Anyway, enough of my life story. I'm eating my food, enjoying the taste of rice on my tongue as I watch Netflix on the TV, when, just as I'm cycling through shows to find what i'm looking for I spot it.
My Little Pony. All six seasons of it, here in one place. It had been a while since I'd seen that show, and I only watched it because I never finished watching it the first time I tried, which was because I didn't understand why guys didn't like it.
I liked it, but then I stopped watching it, only to come back and finish it, and realize I loved it. It was literally the first thing i'd ever been passionate about in my life. I loved everything about it.
I decided to watch it, just for nostalgia's sake. I turned on season one and began my long journey down the list until I made it to season four, at which point I had to pause it and hide it away because my parents were awake.
You see, I still consider myself a closet brony, even if the only one who knows is my mother.
I will watch this show to the end of life and back if I could, but i'm getting off track again.
Yet another perk of being 19 is I get to stay home alone, and my parents were going to be out for a long time, so I ha plenty of time to binge watch the whole thing.
And that's just what I did. It felt so good to refresh my memory of all the goodness this show possessed.
I had even seen the movies, and I was surprised when sunset and starlight appeared the first EQG movie and the season six premiere respectively.
Of course, that was the first time. I had seen it before, so this was all just recap. That is until the most amazing and terrifying thing I have ever seen happened.
It seemed starlight's time bending magic was a little brighter than usual. It felt like I was right there, seeing it happen in person.
That is until I realized that the TV was slowly brightening as she charged her magic. I, in my ever oblivious state, believed I must have put on 3D glasses at some point, until I realized that this show was and has never been in 3D, even if I had.
As a last precaution, I touched my face near my nose, just to make absolutely sure I wasn't wearing them.
Unfortunately by then it was already too late. As I brought my hand up to my face, I was to bear witness to her magic as it lit up the whole living room, followed by scooping me up in the vortex that was now present on the TV. I screamed as I was lifted against my will and yanked into the screen, never to be seen again.
My everything hurt. My entire body ached and I was sure that if I sat up, I'd get one hell of a headache.
Fortunately I was familiar with that particular pain and decided to do it anyway. I sat up, and, just as I thought, I was assaulted with mind crushing pain.
It soon passed though, and I was left to sort through my state of affairs to make sure I didn't need to go to the hospital. Not that I knew where one was.
I tried to stand, but my bum hurt so bad I couldn't get up.
As my hand fell from its place around my knees and hit the ground, I immediately noticed that I wasn't touching carpet. Nor was I touching marble or hardwood of any kind. I immediately shot up, much to the disappointment of my back, which had teamed up with my bum to express that sentiment by delivering a stab of pain to my nerves as I stood, righting myself and brushing off whatever dirt had gotten on me. I had been sitting on grass.
I was just glad I didn't cry like last time this happened.
When I stood up and looked around, I also noticed that my point of view was much lower to the ground than before. Knowing that it was nigh impossible to get shorter over the course of however long I had been out cold, I immediately knew something was wrong. Especially considering that my rapid ascent along with my proximity to the ground had given me a bad case of vertigo.
I was now attempting to pick myself up off the ground while my head was spinning and I was lightheaded at the same time. Not a good idea.
My head fell to the ground again and I stayed that way for a long time, waiting for my head to clear up enough for me to be upright without wanting to throw up my lunch.
When I was finally okay, I stood up again. 'Okay. First things first. I need to figure out why I suddenly lost so much height. Ha! Not that I was tall to begin with.'
It was true. 5'2" does not a tall person make.
I made my way around wherever I was, looking for a way to figure out what had happened to me. As I did, I thought of how all this could possibly have happened.
"But why would the TV send me to the forest? That's not right. The TV is supposed to send me to the future. Going backwards in time to when TV's didn't exist will get me nowhere."
I talked to myself as I made my way through the forest. Soon, I came upon a clearing with a pond. I nearly ran to it.
In fact, I did. I ran all the way to the edge of the pond before I realized that I wasn't hearing footsteps. Instead, the frantic clip clopping of hooves sounded in my ears.
I slowed my pace and stopped. "Why do I hear hooves? Are there horses around here? Oh, maybe I can find one!"
I looked around, and even stepped a little bit outside of the clearing just to see if there were any horses around.
When I saw none, I concluded that... "Hmm, If no horses are around, then I must be the horse." I gasped. "But that would mean...!"
I trotted back into the clearing and over to the pond. I looked at the water and saw the reflection. But what was staring back at me, was not me. I was a horse, after all. But not just any horse.
"I'm a pony?!"
Yes, I was a pony. A pony with a dark brown coat and a black mane that reached my shoulders to be exact.
Then I heard a nearby sound of "Fwoosh!" and my eyes popped open. I looked back into the water to find that not only was I a pony. I had wings, too.
"I have wings?! But wait, that means....!"
I lower myself to the ground, which I had no idea I had been standing on with my hind hooves, and smirked. I took a deep breath, punched a hoof into the air, and yelled to the sky,
"Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing Mr. Maximilian Peeeeeeegasus!"
I was back on my hind hooves at this point. Which was a bad move considering that as soon as I opened my eyes and realized what was happening, I was already falling back. With a scream of fear and a painful exclamation, I hit my head and was knocked unconscious.
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As my eyes slowly opened to present me with blurry vision and yet another bout of the worst headache imaginable, I once again realized that I was not sitting on the same surface I previously was. In fact, I wasn't sitting at all.
I was lying down on a bed. And as my vision finally cleared up enough to let me properly view my surroundings, I realized that I wasn't just on a bed. I was in someone's home.
I sat up and was not surprised to find that that action simply made it worse than it had been, but like I said, I was used to this sort of thing.
I began to look around at all the things in the room. It was surprisingly less like a room, and more like a tent or hut of some kind.
It had within it several strange items. From totem masks and decorative horns to bottles filled with several different, and no doubt odd, liquids. But even with all this around me, none of it took my attention like the large black cauldron in the center of the place.
It glowed like fireflies in the dim light of the candles in the room, and bubbles floated out of it every now and then.
Either I was kidnapped by the wicked witch of the west or something was very, very wrong here.
"Ugh...where am I?"
"Ah, I see you are awake. I was just wondering how long it would take."
I nearly had a heart attack.
"Who's there?! Answer me!" I looked around, and into my vision came a zebra. It was standing on its hind legs and carefully stirring the pot of boiling whatever-it-was with a spoon. I noticed it was holding the spoon with its hooves. It turned its head to look at me over its shoulder.
"Relax, oh weary traveler, please calm down. It is I who carried you from your place on the ground."
Wait, what?
"So wait. You helped me?"
"Indeed. I carried you on my back and brought you here that way, for if you had stayed out there, you would not have lasted a day."
"So this is your place? Here in this hut?"
"Why yes it is, sir. Though the forest I do roam, I will always call this hut, my home."
I looked around the place and couldn't help but say, "Aha! Witch doctor!"
"I go by many names, one of them you have spoken." She places a bowl in front of me, gesturing for me to eat. "But my true name is Zecora- And no chewing with your mouth open!"
She cuts herself off mid sentence to point a hoof at me and point out my mistake.
I quickly close my mouth and eat properly, laughing to myself at the fact that I now have to eat with my face in a way.
I chew and swallow. "Sorry ma'am I must've forgotten my manners."
"It is of no concern, I simply noticed it, now please continue eating, before it goes wasted."
I do as she said, not wanting the food to go cold while we sat talking. Then, I remember something she said.
"you said your name was Zecora right?"
"Yes, zecora is my name. Now would you do me the honor of telling me the same?"
"Oh of course I can. My name is..." I trailed off. I had to think about this. 'Ok so, based off how I now look, and if this zebra's name is anything to go by, I can be pretty sure this is Equestria. And if that's the case, I can't tell her my real name. Human names sound weird here. Let's see...'
"...You can call me Bronze Feather."
"Well met, fair pony. Now, it is of your travels you will tell me. Why were you wandering in this forest? Are you not aware of the dangers within it?"
"Oh, sorry. I'm lost. I have no idea where I am right now."
"That, my friend, is plain to see. You are in the Everfree."
"You know, if you keep rhyming like that, someone might just make you famous."
"Whatever are you talking about? I am not one to try and stand out."
"I'm telling you, it might happen. Now, you said I was in the Everfree? That would mean Ponyville is...where?"
"If you wish to leave this location, I could lead you to your destination."
"Well, then lets go! What are we waiting for?"
"Hold on, my eager friend. To, you, my aid, i must lend. You still have bruises from your fall and I have not tended you at all. You must stay here for the night. In the morning, it will all be alright."
I put a hoof to my chin. What she said made sense. Perhaps it would be best If I spent the night here. I most certainly had no idea it was this dark before. And I did still kind of hurt.
"you've got a deal, Zecora."
And with that, I slept, immediately passing out on the spot as soon as my head hit the pillow. I never realized I was this tired. But maybe stress accumulated over several days will do that to you.
She slept as well, though I don't know where. I just hope this bed doesn't mess up my hair. Great, now she has me rhyming.
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Now that I knew where I was, it was only a matter of finding out how I got here. Of course, that would have to wait until my new zebra friend and I made it to Ponyville.
When asked how exactly I knew the name of the village we were heading toward, I simply told her that I was indeed a traveler like she had originally thought, and that I had been to the village before, but simply could not remember the route I had taken to arrive there.
Hey, I know I lied, but I couldn't tell her that I know her because i'm from another world where her kind are considered fictional and where she and all those like her are the brainchild of one of our world's storytellers.
Anyway, as we made our way down the path to Ponyville, I found myself wondering just what other ponies would think of me when I had officially arrived. Would they think i'm some stranger who showed up out of nowhere? Would they think i'm some poor, lost beggar? Or would they think i'm some wanderer, not worth their time and effort?
Wait, the fact is, i'm all of that and more. I came from another world and if it wasn't for the fact that I was now a pony, i'd stick out like a sore thumb and probably attract a lot of unwanted attention. I've also just come out of the forest, side by side with the village witch doctor, and I'm broke and have no idea how I got here. The only thing I have to me now is my name, and that's not even my real name. I just made it up to satisfy Zecora.
I'm also a real wanderer now. I've been walking with a random Zebra whose technically still a stranger to me. I know nothing about her, have no ties to her or anyone else here, and i've been doing nothing but going around blind until she showed up to help.
Still, if this place was as big on friendship as their opening song says, I should be fine.
Emphasis on should be. What if I piss off a local, or get in with some strange people? Then what? Do I just avoid everything until I get caught and thrown in jail? But then I'll have a criminal record, and I don't want to have that. Five minutes and i'm already on a wanted poster? No sir. God knows that wouldn't sit right with anyone else I tried to make friends with around here.
As i'm thinking, I'm keeping an eye out for my surroundings, making sure nothing surprises me. I could guess we've been walking for at least three hours, but I must've really been caught up, because a hoof tapping my shoulder brings me out of my reverie to find that i'm looking out over a cliff, down at a little town just below it. I look over to Zecora.
"Is that it?"
"Yes, that is the town you so desire, now I mist go, and tend to my fires."
"Wait, you're leaving me so soon?"
"My home is within the Everfree. And right now, I can here it calling to me. Do not worry, traveler. We will meet again, for this day we have shared, has made us both friends."
With that said, she waved a hoof and left. For a moment, I watched her trot away, her brown cloak flapping in the wind behind her. Just before I turned my head back towards the village, I saw her pull a hood over her head.
As I stared down over the cliff at the village, I became startlingly aware of the fact that I was on a cliff, as well as the possibility of me falling off said cliff.
But, luckily for me I was also aware of my wings. I was a pegasus, after all, so maybe I could fly down?
As I readied my wings, yet another realization slapped me in the face.
"Wait, I've never had wings before. What made me think I could use them?!"
My wings flared up in fear as I suddenly got hit with another bout of vertigo and I nearly fell over the edge of the cliff. I backed up quickly and landed on my bum once again. But with that nearly fatal accident out of my immediate vicinity, I felt a little better. My vertigo was also leaving quicker now. Of course, I had to swallow just to feel right again, but it was worth it to not lose my lunch. I had barely eaten since I got here, and I didn't want to waste Zecora's cooking by launching it across the grass in front of me.
I stood up straight on my hooves now, a look of determination on my face. I was going to do this. So what if I never learned? Now was as good a time as any to give it a go.
I flared my wings again, and galloped forward, jumping and flapping them as hard as I could.
At first, I was scared. What if I fell? What if I broke something? Would someone take me to the hospital? Would I be left there to die from internal bleeding?
But, all of that was stopped as I felt the wind beneath my wings.
I opened my eyes to find that I was no longer touching solid ground, but for some reason, that didn't scare me. I was in the sky. I was actually doing it. I was flying. I would've had more time to enjoy this, of course, if it wasn't for the fact that as soon as I turned my head away from the ground to focus back on where I was flying, I saw another pegasus rushing toward me.
I tried to move out of the wy, but I didn't have enough time, and she bumped into me.
We tumbled over each other in mid-air for a bit before we each finally managed to break free of the other's grip.
She continued going for a while, but I heard her stop flapping long enough to turn to look at me. She waved at me and said, "Sorry about that. I guess i need to watch where i'm going." With that she sped off in the other direction, leaving me to stare at her retreating form.
She had a gray coat and a blond mane and tail.
While I was watching her, I had become aware of a small change in my state of affairs. Well, big to me. Small to others.
I had stopped flapping my wings.
I dared a look down, and saw that, unfortunately, I was very high off the ground at this point. This was going to hurt. Bad.
I dropped like a stone.
But I didn't hit the ground.
For the longest time, I was afraid to open my eyes, but when I finally did, I was amazed at what I saw. Turns out, someone had caught me.
And judging by the rainbow contrail that was following behind us I had a pretty good idea who it was.
We landed a few feet away from where I would've dropped had she not caught me in mid-air. She saet me down and I dusted myself off once I got on my hooves. She looked at me.
"Hey! Be more careful next time! You could've gotten seriously hurt back there!"
I was turned away, and for some reason, didn't want to turn and look at her, so I simply said, "Yeah... My bad. I'll try and keep an eye out next time. I promise."
I finally turned around, and she did the same, turning her muzzle to the sky. "you'd better. I know flying can make you seem like you're the only one in the world and all, but you need to be more aware of others too, ya know?"
With that, she flew off into the distance, leaving me to continue my, now slightly embarrassing, trek through Ponyville.
I was on my way through the market, when I was suddenly bombarded by a voice so high and so sudden that I nearly flew ten feet in the air. Again.
"Hiya! I'm Pinkie Pie! Who are you? I've never seen you around here. you must be new to ponyville. That means I can throw you a welcome to ponyville party! Oh I need to get ready!"
She was bouncing up and down, but just before she could go, I said, "Wait. My...My name is...Bronze Feather."
The whole scared for my life thing had taken the breath out of me.
She stopped to think, putting a hoof to her chin. "Hmm...never heard of you. You must be new after all!"
She suddenly gasped. "You're the one my Pinkie sense told me about! The one who almost fell out of the sky!"
I sighed. "Yeah, that's me."
"That's no good, mister! We need to make sure that you don't hurt yourself up there! And I know just the pony! I'm the one who told her about you after all!"
As she said this, she grabbed hold of my face with her hooves and got mere inches away from me. When she finally released me, I was able to think about what she had just said.
'Wait. So she told Rainbow Dash about me and had her rescue me from falling to what could possibly have been my untimely death. It also makes since that she would bring me to her to teach me about proper flying, seeing as she was the fastest pegasus in all of equestria. But that just leaves one question.'
"How did you manage to get up in the sky, and remain there long enough to tell her about me?"
She was mere inches away from me once again, tapping her elbow? Her knee? against my shoulder.
"I have my ways." She winked at me.
I smiled and she got back on all fours. I couldn't help thinking,
'It is pinkie after all...'
We made our way through the market once again, searching the skies for any sign of Rainbow Dash. We soon found her sleeping the day away on a cloud right above the center of the marketplace.
Pinkie put her hooves near her mouth and shouted from below,
"Rainbow Dash!"
At this point the entire marketplace had turned to stare at us because of how impossibly loud she was, but one thing was for sure.
Rainbow Dash heard us, and came down as well, no less.
When I finally stopped sheepishly smiling my way out of being considered an accessory to whatever ear damage Pinkie's Royal Canterlot Voice-esque screaming caused, I looked towards my front to see none other than Rainbow Dash, picking at her ears with a hoof and giving Pinkie a piece of her mind at the same time.
Pinkie herself was now the one smiling nervously, apologizing to her friend.
But then Rainbow spotted me, and stopped dead. "Hey, aren't you...?"
Pinkie piped up. Oh, right! "I forgot to introduce you! New guy, this is Rainbow Dash, Rainbow, this is the new pony I told you about."
"You mean the one who nearly fell out of the sky?"
"Yes, that was me! Now can we please move on from my screw ups!" I yelled back at them. I took a deep breath and sighed, looking back up at them as my eyes had been closed.
"My name is Bronze Feather. It's nice to meet the both of you."
Pinkie looked at Rainbow. "Bronze here needs to learn how to fly properly. I thought no one would be a better teacher than you, the fastest flyer in Equestria."
"But aren't you a pegasus too? Shouldn't you know how to fly already?" came Rainbow's reply.
"It's a long story. Suffice it to say I never learned okay?"
"That's fine. Anyway, I may be the fastest flyer in Equestria, but even I had to start somewhere. I may not be able to teach you, but I know someone who can. Follow me.
With that, Rainbow and I flew off towards Cloudsdale, me being surprised that I could even fly long enough to make it there.
Pinkie had left, turning toward us so that she could wave goodbye before heading off back to Sugar Cube Corner.
Little did I know, I was in for some serious surprises/
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As we were making our way towards Cloudsdale and my soon to be teacher, a feat I was surprised I could pull off at first with no formal training, Rainbow Dash thought it was about time she made conversation.
"Hey, so...what did you mean when you said you never learned how to fly?"
I looked over at her and spoke. "It's like I said. I just never learned."
"But that's impossible." came Rainbow's reply. "Every pegasus learns how to fly as a foal. Either their parents teach them or they go to flight camp, like me."
"Flight camp?" I was intrigued. Of course, I knew what flight camp was, but telling her that now along with the fact that I already said I never learned would raise too many questions.
"You know, the program where pegasus foals enter to get better at flying? I'm proud to say that I was first in the best young fliers competition."
I inwardly smirked. Typical Rainbow Dash. "Nope. Doesn't ring a bell."
"Wow. You were serious. You really never learned."
"That is what I said."
She suddenly came close to me, and put a hoof over my shoulder. "Well, Don't you worry, Bronze. Where we're going, we'll have you in peak flying condition in no time at all."
"I hope you're right, Dash." I gave her a nervous smile. After my little accident last time, I was a little reluctant to get back up there.
"Of course I am. You'll do just fine."
I may be brony, but never in my pointless, purposeless, sorry excuse of an existence did I ever think I would come to equestria.
Much less actually see the sights here. The Wonderbolts academy was even more amazing up close. From its massive flight track and its breathtakingly large main building, to its hardworking recruits, all flying in a chillingly cold wind that seemed to call to me as we got closer, as if it was beckoning me.
see, a perk of being me, is that you don't get cold easily. Well, I do now, but back when I was younger, the cold didn't seem to affect me as much as other people.
Mainly my mom. She can't stand the cold. I, on the other hand, was and in fact, still am it seems, okay with it. She once joked about me having snake skin, which now that I think about it makes no sense.
Anyway, back to the story. We touched down on the clouds of the academy -I still can't believe I'm walking on a cloud- and she led me towards a flame maned mare who I was one hundred percent sure was Spitfire.
As we made our way towards her, I decided to ask what I was thinking "Hey, uh, Dash? Are you sure I'll be alright? I still can't believe I was able to make it up here."
Rainbow looked at me and smiled. "Relax, Bronze. Any pegasus can fly in a straight line. And with Spitfire teaching you, I'm sure you'll do great."
I pointed in a hoof in Spitfire's direction. "Is that her?"
"Yep! How'd you know?"
"I dunno. I just guessed."
"I get you. Anyway, You'll do fine. Go out there and be awesome. Be careful though. Spitfire likes to yell at all the newbies."
"I'll, uh...keep that in mind."
With that, we made our way towards her. When we got to her, Rainbow Dash spoke up.
"Hey, Spitfire!"
The orange pony turned her head to look at us. "Dash! It's good to see you." She looks at me. "And who is this I see. Is he a new colt friend or something?"
Dash blushed, and flew in front of me, blocking me from Spit's view. "No. No, no ,no, it's not like that at all! He's-He's just..."
Spit simply stared at her. Rainbow stopped flying and hugged herself with a hoof, blushing furiously.
"Relax, Dash, i'm kidding." Immediately Dash perked up at that.
Spit walked around Dash to look at me. After a while she said, "Noow that I get a good look at you, I don't think i've seen you around here before. Who are you?"
"My name is Bronze Feather."
Rainbow Dash, filled in the rest, causing us both to look at her as she spoke. "He's here to learn to fly. He says he's never learned."
"But that's impossible. How could he not know how?" came Spit's response to this news.
"I said the same thing." came Dash's own reply. "But he doesn't even know about flight camp. Not to mention there was that incident."
Spitfire looked at me. "What incident?"
I closed my eyes and sighed, silently cursing whatever fate kept forcing me to relive that moment.
"I, kinda...nearly died trying to fly down to Ponyville. I accidentally stopped flying and ended up almost dropping to the ground. If it wasn't for Dash I would be in the hospital now."
Spitfire simply stared at me. Then she burst out laughing, causing me to give Dash a look that said, "Why did you have to tell her?"
Dash gave me a sheepish look and waved her hoof at me in a silent apology.
I looked back at Spitfire as she finally finished shaming me in front of the entire academy.
"Oh...oh, oh my Celestia, kid. That was the funniest thing I've heard all day. I can't believe you did that."
"I can't either." I looked away, but then I felt a hoof on my shoulder. It was Spitfire.
"Sure, kid. I'll help ya. We'll have to start slow, but I think I can get you up and flying in about a week."
"Really? A week?" I nearly jumped into the air right then.
"Whoa there, kid. Hold your horses. I said I can help, but you're way behind all the other pegasi if you don't even know how to hover. You'll have to be ready to put in some real effort If you want to catch up in just a week. Are you sure you're ready to learn?"
I thought for a moment. While the idea of hard work did not appeal to me at all, I did want to learn how to fly. My entire life I was nothing but a lazy, good-for-nothing fool with no direction in life. I spent day after day lazing about and doing whatever I felt like for as long as I could. It was about time I learned the value of something I earned for myself instead of having it handed to me. Here it was. My dream, laid out in front of me, just within my grasp. All I had to do was reach out and take it.
I looked up at her, determination shining in my eyes for the first time in my life.
"I'm ready. I'll learn how to fly, and i'll do it in a week. You'll see."
Spitfire smiled. "Good choice, kid. I like your determination, too. I'll train you personally. I'll help you in whatever way I can, but from here on out, Its all up to you."
I saluted. "Yes, ma'am."
She let out a laugh. "Don't call me ma'am. I'm not that old. Meet me here tomorrow. I have a few things to do first, but I'll be there to help you. I'm gonna make sure you work hard, so be prepared to sweat, kid!"
"I understand." I yelled back to her as she trotted away.
"Wha..?" Rainbow was surprised. She came up to me. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Get Spitfire to like you?!"
"What do you mean?" I fixed her with a confused look.
"It took me years of hard training, and several flight tests just to get Spitfire to make me a Wonderbolt, and she still yells and shouts and screams at me just as much as the rest of them. And she's never offered to personally train anypony before! So how did you, of all ponies, get Spitfire to show interest in you?"
I looked at her like she was talking complete nonsense for about ten seconds, and then her question hit home. "Oh! That. I don't know. It just happened."
"Things like that don't just happen, Bronze! You have to tell me how you did it. I need to get her to stop bursting my eardrums with that stupid megaphone!"
I laughed out loud at that. "Hahaha. Sorry, Dash. I don't know either. That's just how it's always been."
"It's always been like that for you?"
"Yep. All adults are my friends. I guess it's like...a special talent of mine."
"Wow. I wish I had that talent. But where's your Cutie Mark?"
"My...cutie mark?"
"Yeah, your cutie mark. If your talent is to easily make friends, then shouldn't you have your cutie mark by now?"
"Oh yeah, that. About that. You don't know anyone with multiple talents?"
"Well, I do, but even then, their cutie marks show them both."
"I see. I guess you guys really are different from me."
"What do you mean, Bronze?"
"Oh. It's nothing. It's just that, where I come from, some people can have inner talents. Like for example. What you just saw. I don't know why, but I've always been able to make good friends with adults. I'm also smart and good at writing, but those are outer talents. You've never heard of inner talents before now?"
"Nope."
"Wow."
We started flying back to Ponyville. I looked over at Dash.
"Hey, what kinds of things does Spitfire do When she trains her recruits? I wanna be prepared for any possibility."
"Well, I know how she trains us, but you're getting trained by her personally Plus she wants to finish your training in a week, so I doubt she'll train you the same way as us."
"I understand. Looks like i'll just have to wait then."
"Don't worry. It's like I said. You'll be great. Anyone who can make Spitfire show genuine interest in them has to be great."
I laughed again. "Wonderful. And Dash? One more thing?"
"What is it, Bronze?"
"Why do you keep using my name so often. I mean I know it's a weird question, as you kind of have to but..."
"Oh that?" Rainbow Dash actually blushed. "I like it. It's...fitting."
With that, we touched down in Ponyville, a comfortable silence in the air around us.
Hey, Dude, Bro! Check This Out!
Author's Note
Finally got back to this. Enjoy the chapter guys!
A Dream Come True
As the next day came around, I found myself waking up with a smile on my face. I had more energy and was more excited than I had been in a long time. Today was the day I would begin my training on how to fly. I sat up to find no pain for the first time since I got here. The day was already looking up if I felt this good.
I looked up to find myself surrounded by clouds, clouds, and more clouds, arranged in such a way as to fashion a ceiling.
After we made it back to ponyville, Rainbow asked me where my house was. After I told her I didn't have one, she offered to let me stay with her until I found one.
So there I was, in Rainbow's home, on the day of my training, with nothing to do until then but laze around, so that's what I was gonna do. After I ate of course.
I looked around for Rainbow. Yes, I was hungry. I was damn near starving, but I couldn't just go in her fridge without permission.
That is the number one rule in any home. Never eat someone's food before asking unless they serve it themselves. I was gonna head off in the direction of her room, but I caught her in the hall.
"Hi, Rainbow! How'd you sleep?"
"Hi! Eh, I could've used a few more minutes, but i'm good. What about you?"
"I had a wonderful sleep. I haven't felt this good in a long time."
"I see. So, you ready for your lessons?"
"You know it? Do we have to go now or something?"
"Nah, i'd say in about another..." She looks out the window. 'Hour or so? Yeah."
"You can tell the time just by looking out the window?"
"Yup. Besides being a wonderbolt, I'm a weather pony. We are trained to be able to tell the time of day simply by the sky alone. It's how we know when to do certain things with the weather."
"That is so cool."
"I know right? It's so awesome. You wanna get something to eat?"
"That's funny. I came out here to ask you that exact question."
"Well then what are we waiting for?"
With that she made her way downstairs and to her fridge where she pulls out what is no doubt four salads and placed them on the table.
I'm glad I didn't look in. She probably would've thought I tried to eat them.
I sit down in front of the right two, and she sits down in front of the left.
According to Rainbow, i'll leave to train in an hour, It's already 6: 40. Our little chat no doubt took ten minutes if that was the case.
"Wow, I can't believe I woke up at six thirty." I say as we eat.
"What time do you usually wake up?"
"Oh it's nothing too different really. I just wake up at seven. A good thirty minutes later."
"I see. Well, Like I said, i''m a wonderbolt. We have to get up early to practice."
"You have something important coming up?"
"Yeah. The wonderbolts are performers. We have a show next Monday"
"I see. Just in time for after my training then?"
"Oh, really? Yeah, it looks like it. You're getting personalized training after all. She wouldn't have said yes if it would get in the way."
"Yeah, this is Spitfire we're talking about, after all."
"You've met her before? Then why didn't you say so?! Is that why she was so nice to you? Were you her coltfriend?"
"No! Why does everyone keep saying that?"
"Oh? So you're not dating her." She sighed in what sounded like relief(?), and said, "S-sorry about that. A-anyway, Let's eat, yeah?"
"Y-yeah...let's eat."
The hour passed by quickly after that, and soon, Rainbow and I were heading back up to the Wonderbolts Academy, searching for Spitfire.
I spoke up first, voicing what I was sure was both our concerns. "Where is she?"
"I dunno." Rainbow said as she kept pace with me on our little impromptu search party situation. "Maybe she's late?"
I didn't want to think a mare like Spitfire, with her whole leader of a flying team thing, would be one to be late, but it was true that she hadn't shown up yet. I opted to sit down and wait instead of spend energy on continuing this endeavor.
"Hey, Dash?"
"Yeah?"
"You think she decided not to train me?"
"If I know Spitfire, then once she's decided on something, she won't let up on it, especially if she's personally committed to it."
I had to think for a second. 'Personally committed huh?'
We fell into a comfortable silence, both of us no doubt wondering where she could be. But just as we were about to give up and go back to her house, we heard a slightly gravelly, yet obviously feminine voice say,
"Hey there, you two!"
I looked up to see Spitfire coming towards us, a smirk adorning her features.
''Where were you? We thought you were late." I asked, standing up on my hooves to look at her.
She gave me a wider smirk. "Relax, kid. Believe it or not I actually got here way before you two did."
We both looked at her in slight shock. "You did?"
"Yep. Look up there." She turned and pointed off into the sky. We turned our heads in to the direction she was pointing, and saw something that made our mouths drop to the cloud floor.
"Pretty awesome right. I made it myself."
Awesome was an understatement. The course was dominated by could rings, with tricky, if not tight hurdles in between. The cloud rings followed an upward path, and turned sharply at several points. The whole thing spanned the entire space between the academy itself, and the very end of the cloud track.
Seeing our stunned faces, Spitfire let out a small laugh. "Ha! You guys should see your faces right now. Comedy gold."
We both righted ourselves, a light blush staining our cheeks.
Spitfire came up to me and put a hoof around my shoulders. "This, kid, is your training course, specially built to train you to be the best flyer you can be. The rings are meant to test your accuracy and help you to learn to fly straight. The hurdles are meant to test your reaction time. The turns are meant to test your speed and control, while the very last bit at the end is meant to test your hovering skill. Teach you how to make a safe landing, you know?"
"Wow, you really did think of everything!"
"Not really. I just used what I usually train the wonderbolts on along with the information about that little incident of yours to create this track."
"How did you pull all that from my incident?"
"Simple, kid. First time flyers are always the same. They get caught up in the moment and think they're on top of the world. They like the feel of the air in their manes, the speed, the height. All of that. Your incident has actually happened several times before, and I knew just what to do to help you gain some skill to go with your enthusiasm."
"Wow. Um..thanks, Spitfire."
"Well, i am captain of the wonderbolts, after all. Don't go getting your wings in a twist though, you still have to be taught how to hover before you can try it in real time. If you were to finish the course like this, as difficult as that will be, you'll just fall once you stop. Let's try it a few times first."
"Alright."
"Good. Now flap your wings just enough to get you a few feet off the ground."
I do as she says, flapping my wings until I'm ten feet off the ground. The wind is in my mane once again, and I want so badly to take off, but I have to hold off on that for now.
"Good! Now flap your wings one last time, but stop just as they curve inward."
I didn't quite understand it, and I didn't have enough faith in my wing control to do it properly, but I did as she said.
I flapped my wings, stopped them, and curved them. Annnd I could immediately feel myself tipping over, I closed my eyes and prepared for the fall.
But it never came. I opened my eyes and looked around. I had indeed tipped over, but I had stopeed just short of flipping onto my back, and was now upright in the air.
I heard Spitfire's voice close to me. "Good Job, kid. That's how you hover. Your wings'll catch the air easier like this, letting you hover in the air for as long as you want. Just don't-"
I was so happy to hear that I was hovering, not that I wasn't listening, of course, that I let my wings fold back to my sides, and I flipped over entirely.
"-Relax your muscles too much." She sighed and flew down to catch me before I hit the ground.
After that little incident, my training started in earnest. I flew up in to the air and through the rings, catching my wing on the side of the third one at least five times before I managed to learn how to maneuver them. This was followed by flying face first into several hurdles and bursting through the turns in the rings many times after that. Long story short, I needed to make that week count. But, it was not without progress.
By the end of my first few training sessions, I could make it past one hurdle. Then I could make it past both and reach the turns, which took me another few session to figure out. then I had to use all of that several times in repeated trials followed by trying not to hit the ground face first, helped a lot by Spitfire, who offered to be my safety net.
Rainbow was surprised by this, but I just saw it as another nice thing to do. By the time my final test came around, I had the entire course down, now I just had to fly it perfectly.
Hey, Dude, Bro! Check This Out!
The Flash, Pegasus Version
Sunday. The enemy of college students and workers alike. No matter, what we're doing, or why, we all hate Sunday. Not to be confused with sundaes, which, everyone loves. I mean, who doesn't love ice cream, right?
Anyway, today is Sunday. The last day of my training and my last chance to prove to Spitfire that I can fly well, not that she was disappointed, of course.
Over the course of the week, Spitfire had been there by my side along with Rainbow, cheering me on and giving me encouragement.
Of course, this was still Spitfire, so every little screw up came with the pointing out of a flaw or two and the ever present, "Now get back out there and try it again!"
The thing about that is, it also came with the occasional affectionate nuzzle(?) Something I was quite fond of, to be honest.
Spitfire seemed to enjoy giving me pep talks and supporting me as much as she could, and I myself enjoyed her company as well.
She had already pointed out my slight swerving in the rings, my delayed reactions on the hurdles and my use of too much speed on the rings.
Now she was pointing out the fiver points of hovering, such as gliding, and "rising."
She had even told me about the fact that those same techniques can be used to make flight smoother, which was the only reason I had made it this far, if i'm willing to admit it.
I was currently in front of the first ring of the course, glaring at it with fake anger as I pretended to be in a staring contest with it. It won, obviously.
Spitfire's voice came to me from below. "What are ya doing up there, kid? You're not scared are ya?!"
Spitfire's tone was mocking, but there was a slight hint of worry there as well. She wouldn't like it if I fell and hurt myself, that's for sure. I called back down.
"I'm fine, Mom! Just gimme a second!" I said the third word with a similarly mocking tone, but something about the silence I received in return felt...off, as If I had triggered something in the atmosphere.
I brushed it aside and focused on the course. It was time.
I flared my wings and took a stance, shooting forward at a speed I was unaware I could reach. A speed I probably wasn't ready for.
I shot past the rings, completed the hurdles, and aced the turns. I smiled at that. I was doing good. But this was just the beginning.
A part of the course I failed to mention was the several feet of rings that did nothing but stretch on and on in an upward motion. Simply looking up made my head hurt slightly, but I continued onward.
And that's when it happened. Everything else around me stopped. I couldn't hear the wind, nor could I hear the cheers of the two mares below me. The only thing that existed in that moment, was the course, and myself, and, I believe, not even that.
I couldn't even tell where I was going anymore. I could still see, but I wasn't paying attention. I was just going through the motions, as if my body was on complete autopilot. I continued to sail upwards, my body moving smoothly and seamlessly through the exact center of the rings in a perfectly straight line.
Then, as if I had been underwater and was just now coming up for air, all the sound came back to me. The rush of the wind, the cheers of the mares, the full view of the course.
All of it, everything, every single solitary sensation was heightened to a degree I was absolutely sure I should not be capable of.
Everything was in clear focus. I could hear better, see better. Heck, I could even feel better. Everything was at full strength at this point, and it felt amazing.
I was just coming up on the sharp turn that signaled the last leg of the course. I came upon it faster than I expected, but something about this told me I was ready. A smirk adorned my face as I flapped my wings as hard as I could.
'I can do this!' I thought as I reached the pinnacle of the rings...
Only to turn almost immediately in the fastest pivot I had ever done in my human, now pony, life.
What I had yet to realize, even as I blasted through the rest of the turns and came out on the other side, was that all the rings behind me were slowly disappearing, evaporating, being blown away by the fact that my wings were on fire!
As I ripped past the finish line and glided down to the ground, I felt a sudden urge and struck a pose, flaring my wings out, and unknowingly taking my flames with them, as they sat on the tips of my wings.
I ended the pose and looked at the two mares, only to see them with their jaws on the floor.
I looked at them in clear confusion as I asked, "Hey, you two. What's wrong? Did something cool happen?"
Immediately Rainbow flew over to me and got so close that our muzzles were touching.
"Cool? Try awesome! Dude, your wings are on fire!"
"What?"
I looked behind me, and immediately took notice of what Rainbow meant.
Sitting on the tips of my wings were bright orange and red flames, dancing wildly around my spread wings as I spied a trail of flames burning the very air behind me.
They didn't burn. In fact they didn't hurt at all, and they seemed to not be going away despite the fact that I noticed they were there. Of course, I didn't know that at the time, so I did the only thing I knew to do in that situation.
In a loud voice I said, "Stop, drop and roll!" and dove to the ground.
Hey, Dude, Bro! Check This Out!
Author's Note
Inspired to revive this fic by someone. Thought i'd give this another try. Enjoy!
Small Mistakes
"Uh...what is he doing?" Rainbow asked as she watched me rolling on the cloud floor like a puppy asking for belly rubs.
Spitfire simply simply shrugged. "I dunno."
Eventually I stopped my rolling, and stood up. After checking to see that my wings had in fact, stopped flaming, I looked back at them.
"That...was...awesome!" I hugged them both tightly, nearly knocking them over in my excitement.
"Did you guys see that? My wings caught fire! I looked back, and the very air was on fire! How cool is that?!"
Rainbow stepped forward and put a hoof on my shoulder. "See, I told you you'd do fine. But..."
"But what?" I asked, not knowing what she meant.
"Now we have to figure out what to do about all the flames burning in the academy."
I looked back and saw what she meant. "Oh, right."
I thought for a moment, and then an idea came to me. Upon my return to standing on all fours, I had time to assess the previous situation, and recalled that my flames didn't hurt me. Nor did they spread anywhere but at the tips of my wings, not counting the huge mess I made of course. So...
"Hold on, you two. I want to try something."
As I looked back at them, I saw that they had slightly worried expressions on their faces. Understandable, considering I caused this.
Spitfire spoke up. "But how are you gonna put out all these fires by yourself?"
"If my plan works, you'll see soon enough."
I turned back to the roaring flames, and, flying up into the air to face the inferno, I summoned whatever strange magic caused me to do this, and beat my wings hard.
I opened my eyes, which had been closed in prayer that my plan would work, and saw that it indeed, had worked. My magic had listened to me, and didn't fan the flames any further. Instead, as I kept beating my wings as hard as I could, I watched as the wind I generated blew away the flames as quickly as they had sprung up. When I was done, I glided back down, and alighted in front of the mares.
"Whoa..." Was the response of an awestruck Rainbow Dash.
"Talk about a fire fighter..." came Spit's reply, her mouth agape in amazement.
"What? What's wrong, you two? I put out the fire. I put it out so there's no danger anymo-. Um...why are you staring at me?"
Without another word from me, Spitfire zipped over to me, catching me in a tight hug.
When she finally let go of me, she looked at me and said, "You are one of the most interesting Pegasi I've ever met, kid. And that's saying something."
I gave her an awkward look. "Uh...thank you!" I was genuinely grateful for the compliment, but this felt a little unwarranted.
I realized she was still holding onto me, and said, "Um...Spitfire?"
"Whah? Oh, right! My bad, kid. Guess I got a little...um..." She blushed and backed away, looking anywhere but at me as she did so.
I couldn't believe it. Spitfire, was blushing. I repeat. Spitfire, was blushing. I stood there dumbfounded at this new information, and before I could stop my self, the words, "Too cute." rolled out of my mouth.
Spitfire turned even redder. "C-cute! I-i'm not...cute...i'm....i'm..." She said nothing else, opting to keep silent for now.
I laughed, thinking I had done something wrong, and walked back to Dash, who just looked at me like I was some kind of Idol of some kind.
"You...just who are you?" Rainbow said, giving me a smile and walking away with me back to ponyville.
Unbeknownst to me, my little fire ball did not go unnoticed.
Castle Friendship, just before my Blaze of Glory
"Spike! What's for breakfast?" A purple unicorn mare asked her assistant, pressing a hoof against her head as she battled with a morning headache. She got her answer as she made her way down the crystal steps of her castle.
"Oh, just the usual. Rose and Cherry Sandwiches for you. Gem cereal for me."
"Oh, by Celestia I could really go for some of that right now." She said, her stomach rumbling in agreement. "And get the medicine potions. This headache is gonna kill me..."
"Right away!"
With that, Spike sped off to do his job, and left Twilight to her own devices. She sat down at the table and patiently waited for Spike to return with the medicine.
When that got boring, she starting trotting in circles around the table, just to give her legs something to do while she waited.
When even that got boring, she started raiding the fridge in search of her promised Rose and Cherry sandwiches.
She found them, and immediately snatched them up and sat down at the table. She wasted no time in ripping open one of the delicious, juicy morsels and digging into it.
It tasted wonderful. The refreshing juiciness of the cherries combined with the sweetness and soft texture of the roses was almost enough to make her headache go away all on its own.
And so she dug in, not even stopping to chew her food.
"Where the heck are those Luna damned potions!" Spike yelled as he searched high and low for the medicine to bring to Twilight. He had been searching all over and still couldn't find them.
He was currently in the storage room, looking on the shelves, he had already checked the most obvious places. The medicine cabinet in the bathroom, under the sink, in the shower, under her bed, in her closet. It was as if some invisible force was keeping it from him.
But then, just as he was about to give up, he remembered.
"The kitchen!"
With that, he ran back into the dining room, only to see Twilight chowing down without him.
"Aww, come on Twi! Couldn't you have waited?"
Twilight paused in her eating, no, inhaling, for a moment to look up at Spike. She inmediately put the food down and gave him an apologetic look.
"Sorry, Spike. I get bored and started looking around for the food. You know how much I love this stuff. Can you forgive me. Just this once?"
Spike sighed as he looked at her. The look of indignation on his face changed to a smile. "You know I can't stay mad at you."
The two shared a smile before Twilight said, "So did you find the medicine?"
"Yep!" Spike said triumphantly, zipping off into the kitchen and opening the pantry, only to come back with the bottle.
"Tada! One bottle, for your headache."
"Thanks Spike. What would I do without you?"
"Yeah, You're welcome. Here, take it."
"Don't mind if I do." With that she took the bottle of potion and popped the cork on it, tipping it over into her mouth, only for...nothing...to come out?
"Spike. What's going on?" Twilight said, a slightly annoyed edge in her voice.
Spike picked up on it, and immediately asked, "What do you mean, Twilight?"
"I mean why is the potion empty!" she yelled back, her anger rising. "Did you drink it all again? I know it taste like gems, but its not a drink! This is medicine! For my headaches, not something you can chug like cider!"
"Wait, Twilight, please! I...I didn't drink it, I swear!"
"Oh? Then who did? I don't see any other ponies in here with us?"
"I'm telling you I didn't do it!"
"So who did it, Spike? Huh? was it the map? Because last time I check, maps didn't have mouths! Let alone a craving for gems!"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
Twilight jumped, taken aback by her assistant's harsh tone.
"Listen, Twi. I don't know who did it, but It wasn't me. Maybe you just...used up the rest of it at some point. These headaches of yours did start over a week ago, you know?"
Twilight sat down, and thought about what she had just heard. She couldn't believe she had blown up on him like that. She loved Spike like a son. What kind of mother didn't trust their own child?
"S-sorry, Spike. I...overreacted. Maybe I did use it all up sometime before."
They sat there in silence for a moment, not daring to look at each other.
Then Twilight spoke up. "Wanna...go to the market with me to buy some more?"
Spike thought for a moment before saying, "Y-yeah....yeah...i'd like that."
then his stomach rumbled, interrupting their moment.
"Just...let me eat first."
At that, they both laughed, sitting at the table together with their food.
When Spike was done eating, they finally made their way to the market. Twilight had made quick work of finding the shop vendor that sold her potions. Of course, with that shop owner being Zecora, the only Zebra in all of ponyville, she didn't have to worry too much about that.
They parted ways with a cheerful wave and Twilight and Spike made their way back to the castle.
But, before they could get there, Spike was stopped by a sight coming from above.
"Twilight, you might wanna see this."
"What is it Spike?"
Spike said nothing, simply lifting a claw in the direction of the sky. Following his claw, Twilight saw that something was indeed wrong.
"The sky...its burning!"