Ponyville was quiet now, as it was on most nights. There wasn't a light on in any building, home, or business. Not even the tavern. Perhaps the tavern on the outskirts of town, but even there it was quiet. Everypony was asleep. Every pony. But not every one.
Within Princess Twilight's castle, two creatures remained awake. One of them was an owl, and thus was awake by his nature. The other however, his friend, tended to be very deep in the realm of slumber at this late hour. Dragons loved sleeping, and this one would do it for much longer if he could at his age, and if he didn't have responsibilities during the day as Twilight's assistant. Tonight though, this dragon was awake by his own choice. A choice he had been making frequently in the recent nights.
Spike stood before an open window, staring out over the view of the town at night. Though his attention was mostly on the sky. There was a cool, light breeze tonight, carrying with it weak scents of the town. But with his nose, Spike could get a clearer sense of the smells.
He took a slow, deep breath, taking in all that the wind carried. The intermingling of the scents of flowers throughout the town. What remained of the odor of food from nearby restaurants. The somewhat stronger hint of baked goods from Sugarcube Corner. Even the weakest whiff of rainwater from the clouds. But what he noticed most of all, as he tended to recently, was the clear air. This he caught the most due to the high altitude of the castle. He found it nice. And it was going to get better.
"I can trust you not to rat on me tonight, same as the other nights. Right, Owlowiscious?" Spike asked as he turned to regard his avian friend.
Owlowiscious knew how much this new activity brought Spike joy. Not wanting to sully it, even with playful banter, he opted on a simple nod rather than his usual Who.
"Thanks, man."
Spike turned his attention back to the space beyond the window. He raised his foot to place it on the windowsill, gripped the sides with his hands, and placed his tail next to his foot. He tensed his muscles, put on a determined face, and began taking deep breaths. With a last deep inhale, he took three quick breaths. And then he used his prepared limbs to launch himself out the window.
As he had practiced the previous times, he launched himself in a way that turned him into an arrow, his arms locked the way they'd been after his push. He had also made sure to aim downward at an angle, sending him speeding towards the ground face first, eyes closed. His heart beat faster, though not as much as when he first tried this. He was calmer with this part now. It allowed him to feel the rush of the wind on his face. He wasn't totally reckless of course, counting down the time he had memorized. He had done it like this before, making him confident, and rightfully so. He knew he was about to face plant in the worst way.
He thrust his wings out to their full span.
As before, thanks to the speed of his descent and the manner of his deployment, his wings became like a parachute. The undersides puffed in as they caught the air, pushing the young dragon high into the air like the upturn of a roller coaster.
Spike had to restrain an exclamation of joy, as usual, so as not to alert Twilight of what he was doing. If she found out about this, she would kill me.
He almost didn't care.
Just a brief moment ago, he was at the same level as just below the roof of a house. Now, he was soaring above them, almost at the level of the midpoint of the castle's giant star structure. The gift of a flight- Actually, calling it a gift felt like underselling it. Blessing felt a bit much, but perhaps something halfway between the two. He could see why Rainbow Dash did it all the time.
He went around the town, looking down at the buildings in wonder. They seemed like toy houses. And the castle, it didn't appear grander than when gazing at it from the ground, but from the air, it was definitely a very good kind of different. He gazed at the world below only for a time, facing his head forward.
He soared through the air, only beating his wings on the air occasionally, letting the wind carry his not too heavy body. One of the few benefits to remaining the size he had been for years. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of being where he was, the wind freshly caressing him. He angled himself upward, putting him into the path of a scarce amount of clouds. He flew through some of them, feeling something between mist and fog. He was grateful not to have feathers that could be weighed down by moisture. He flew just above them, and used his feet to push off a few, just to make sure again. It eased him knowing he wouldn't fall through any cloud floors from now on.
Naturally, once he really got the hang of flying, Rainbow Dash had challenged him to a race. And then another. And another. He never won, of course, even the first time when she went easy on him. He wasn't fond of her somewhat condescending assurances that he would improve, to maybe come kind of close to beating her. Though, he really didn't care, even about losing and surely continuing to lose to her. He wouldn't let Rainbow's need to instigate competition to satisfy her winning addiction sour this for him. He knew she meant no harm of course. Still though.
He had found a new kind of serenity. And he wouldn't let anything or anyone take away his enjoyment of this. In fact, this thought brought back memories of a song he heard some time ago. It made him want to say a specific verse from it.
"You can't take the sky from me."
And speaking of the sky.
Calm soaring was great and all, but Spike didn't fail to recognize the appeal of the thrill that Rainbow so often sought. So he made his way to the castle, but he didn't enter it. Instead he went for the outside, latching on with his claws. He remained hanging, allowing his wings a moment of rest. And then he started to rapidly scale the height of the castle. It got to the point where he was almost launching himself upward with his eager climbing.
When he reached the highest part of the star structure with sufficient space to continue as he had, he repeated his earlier launch, though a tad differently. He gave a much harder push, also coiling his tail to use like a spring. Before he could begin to fall, he spread his wings and began to beat them on the air as hard as he could, putting his whole body into it, resembling an otter as it swam. He climbed and climbed high into the air, as far as he could, past the tip of the top star arm, past the clouds, until he began to feel the air get a bit thinner.
He gave a final push with all of his strength, his ascent slowing as he reached the highest point he could. In that moment he wished he could see himself, becoming a silhouette against the light of the full moon. As he began to fall, he positioned himself belly down, and used his arms and legs to move through the air as if swimming. Free fall was a different experience from flying, but none the less exhilarating.
Eventually, he ceased his air swimming and made himself into an arrow again. This time he was pointed stright down, his nictitating membranes blinked over his eyes to shield them from the rushing wind. The ground was approaching much faster than when he first leaped out the window. He simply smirked. It seemed Rainbow's behavior had rubbed off on him recently.
Right before he was certain he was gonna make contact, he unleashed his wings at an angle, and he speedily soared back up into the air as if forming a U. It was such a rush! Danger of lengthy scolding from Twilight be damned. He thrust his arms up and let it out.
"YEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH! HA HA HAAA! WHOO HOOOOO!
"WATCH HOW I SOAR!"
Spike stretched his arms out to the side, wearing a large smile as he quickly glided over the town. He felt like he could out fly a whole army of rocs himself.
He had only a small bit of embarrassment attached to his exultation. Small because it seemed he didn't wake anyone. He supposed the altitude and the wide open space allowed his shouts not to sound too loud to the town below. Nopony was up and yelling at him to shut up and go to sleep. He decided that was enough shouting anyway, and just enjoyed the rest of his flight.
Back in the castle, Owlowiscious put a wing over his beak in a silent laugh at his friend's behavior. Someone else joined in with a chuckle.
"He really does love flying, doesn't he?"
Twilight watched her assistant with a smile on her face. It brought her great joy to see Spike so happy. Maybe happier than when Rariy kissed his cheek.
To Owlowiscious's credit, he had kept his silent word and not revealed Spike's nightly activities to his owner. She had discovered it all on her own. One night, she was getting in another late study session while Spike believed she was asleep. She had been walking to the kitchen for a beverage when she caught something in the corner of her eye, something flying by the window.
Naturally, her panicked breathing at what she discovered nearly caused her to have a stroke. Thankfully, Owlowiscious had helped to calm her down. He received a scolding for his part in keeping Spike's secret, though he made no apology for being a good friend to the dragon.
Twilight kept a close eye on Spike that night, and some nights following. Eventually, she decided to cast some protection spells in case he were to ever make a mistake one night. This allowed her to get her sleep when she needed it, though it wasn't as peaceful. Now, whenever she came out to watch Spike, it was simply to feel happy for his happiness, with a bit of cautionary observation. She planned on joining him in the future a few times, but for now decided he should have some time to himself.
”You'll come get me if anything happens, right?" Twilight asked Owlowiscious. She received the same answer given to Spike earlier. She began to return to her bedroom before stopping, and taking a last look back through the window, catching a glimpse of Spike in flight. With a smile, she said "You soar well, Spike. You really do."
Some time later, Spike allowed himself to glide toward the window, not slowing his speed. He flew through and allowed himself to hit the floor and tumble. He chuckled as he rolled across the floor before stopping himself, still laughing. He figured out how to master a gentle crash landing. After the first handful of times. Owlowiscious flew down to stand beside Spike and gave him a somewhat disapproving glare, his wings on his hips.
"Oh come on, Owlowiscious. You know I can handle a little tumble. Plus, my scales got tougher after my molt. I bet Applejack could give me a good....half hard buck to the chest and I could take it" Spike said as he stood and pounded a fist against himself. Owlowiscious gave his eyes an exaggerated roll. "Aw, go hunt some mice or rabbits in the woods." Owlowiscious silently laughed before flying off to do as Spike said. He was nocturnal after all.
"Good night," Spike called to his friend, who gave him a nod in response before flying out. Spike began stretching his wings, rotating them one at a time, and curling and uncurling them. He was still getting used to the strain.
He folded his wings behind his back and proceeded to his room as quietly as he could. He crawled into his bed and only pulled the blanket over his lower half. He found that his wings could be quite warm, though they couldn't cover his whole body. Sometimes he'd wake up and find his blanket discarded.
He soon drifted off to sleep, into the dream world. His dreams had been different recently. He was surprised not to experience one of himself in his knight Adonis form with wings. Instead, he experienced something he never thought would enter a pleasant dream. His giant, greed induced form from years ago, with wings.
He would be flying with others of his kind, during the Great Dragon Migration. He was not a monstrous, greedy brute. He was simply himself, making a pleasant journey. Sometimes he would be accompanied by smaller dragons, who themselves would sometimes be dragon/pony hybrids. Their mother was never clear, but she was always there with them. Regardless, it would make him smile as he slept, his wings pressing closer, as if comfortable in their place.
