Trial and Error: Second Edition

Chapter the Twenty-Fifth: Take to the Skies

Kai shivered with anticipation. If there were any doubts that his wings could carry him, now was the time to voice them. He remained silent, however, and swallowed his fear. This day had been a long time coming, and it was time for him to fly.

"Are you ready?" asked Twilight, hopping into the balloon with Kai. "We can put this off if you want."

Kai shook his head. "This is the culmination of my life's work. If I back out now, I'll never live it down. Let's go."

The balloon floated up into the air. Kai took several deep breaths. He had revealed his wings to Twilight and one other pony. He still didn't want to include any unnecessary ponies in his plans, but Fluttershy had insisted that these two could be trusted. Twilight was ideal to bring in, because she could bring Kai and his wings into the clouds for training. She also apparently knew a spell that would let him walk on clouds.

They arrived in the clouds over a meadow. The other new pony, a pegasus, had organized the clouds in such a way as to block out prying eyes. The balloon came to a stop.

"Are you nervous?" asked Twilight, casting the cloud-walking spell on both of them.

Kai swallowed hard. "Very. There's a lot of firsts here. I've only had wings for four days, now."

She patted his shoulder. "Cheer up. You're going to be fine. Rainbow Dash is arguably the best flier in all of Equestria. She wouldn't ever let you fall."

Kai nodded. Fluttershy had said much the same.

"Besides, you won't fall through the clouds." Twilight leaped out of the balloon onto the clouds. "Even if you crash, the clouds will provide a nice cushion, so you won't be injured."

Kai slowly stepped out of the balloon, gingerly stepping onto the cloud layer. When he didn't fall through, he grew a bit more confident. He walked out into the middle of the cloud layer. Suddenly, a blue blur rushed by him, spun around, and landed in front of him.

"Glad to know you didn't chicken out," chuckled Rainbow. "I hoped you were the kind of pony who keeps his goals locked in his sights, even when the going get's tough."

"Hardly worth backing out now," said Kai, visibly trembling.

"You scared?"

"I am. You?"

"Not even close," smirked Rainbow. "If anything, you should feel excited. Not many unicorns ever have the chance to fly like the pegasi do. You're very lucky, Kai."

"Don't I know it..."

For the next three hours, Kai practiced his landings. He also worked on his take-offs, despite the fact that he was already becoming fairly adept. He had only barely managed to stay upright for some of his landings, and everything else had been a crash. Even with Rainbow coaching him, his landings were only improving slowly.

"Alright, I think that's enough for now," said Rainbow after a particularly shameful crash. "Take five for lunch!"

Kai was disappointed in himself. He had hoped that he would have been able to complete at least one landing by now. He let out an exasperated sigh and returned to the balloon, where Twilight was waiting with a picnic.

"Don't look so glum," smiled Twilight. "You're improving. It takes most pegasi a few months to land properly. Nopony expects you to master this in a day."

"Yeah," chuckled Rainbow. "Even with how awesome I am, it still took me a few days to learn how to land. If you managed to land on the first day, you'd be automatically listed next to me as one of the best."

Kai nodded in acceptance, but their encouragement didn't improve his mood. He had been crashing into the ground for almost seven years. Sure, he hadn't had these wings, and in several cases he had relinquished control of his legs whilst in the air, but that didn't stop him from cursing himself under his breath.

After lunch, Kai was ready to try again. With little to no prompting, He galloped across the clouds, leaped into the air and kept himself aloft for several moments before descending into a landing. As his hooves were about to touch down, a rouge gust of wind suddenly blew him off course, and he fell through a particularly thin wisp of cloud. The shock of falling through caused his heart to race, and his muscles froze. He saw the ground below and felt himself falling towards it. He felt as though the cold fingers of death had grasped loosely around his neck.

Realizing that he only had one chance at survival, he closed his eyes and took as deep a breath as he could. When he opened his eyes, he was facing upward, and Rainbow was diving after him. 'Be brave,' he thought to himself. 'Do what Rainbow Dash would do.'

He righted himself. The ground was approaching fast. He would have to act quickly. He spread his wings wide. He had evened out, but he was completely vertical. He began to adjust his pitch. The first twenty degrees was the hardest. When he managed that, he pulled up another twenty, and then another. The next pitch shift required that he start flapping. This speed had been the fastest he had ever gone. The wind whistling in his ears was deafening.

Finally, he managed to even out. He could feel the pine boughs slapping hard against his chest as he began to pull up. He started climbing. He didn't look at the world around him, as he knew he needed to focus on his altitude. After a long, steady climb, he held his wings open in a steady glide and looked around. He saw that the meadow he had been above had disappeared. He had flown over the Everfree forest, and was headed in the direction of Canterlot.

"Are you even listening to me?"

He looked to his left. Rainbow had accompanied him the entire way. "No, I'm sorry. I was too focused on keeping myself aloft. What'd you say?"

"I said, we need to turn back now. We're about to pass over Whinnyapolis, and you said you didn't want anypony to see your wings."

Kai nodded. "Okay. Do we break formation or hold it?"

"Hold. When you're ready, bank left towards me. I'll adjust accordingly."

"Right. Here goes nothing." Kai slowly shifted his wings to bank left. In the middle of his turn, he saw the trees drop out of the way, and the city of Whinnyapolis revealed itself to him. His breath was taken away by the view from up here. He swiveled his head around. He could see for miles. Even looking straight down, he could see how quickly the ground was moving beneath him. For the first time in his entire life, he felt the freedom he had been craving for so long.

When Rainbow confirmed that they were back on course, Kai propelled himself forward with renewed vigor. His eyes lit up with every flap of his wings. He was so joyful that he was able to completely ignore the soreness that he had felt in his shoulders since the surgery.

It wasn't long at all before the two ponies returned to the runway that Rainbow had made this morning. With a bit more altitude, Kai was set for his approach.

"Don't worry about landing this one," shouted Rainbow. "This is the longest sustained flight you've had all day. You've spent almost two hours up here already, so just make sure you end up in the clouds, and not plummeting towards the ground again."

Kai nodded. He felt so alive, there wasn't any space for him to be worried. He stretched out his front hooves, ready to set himself down. He looked off to the side of the field of cloud he was set to land on and found that Fluttershy and Usu were there, watching him come in. Twilight was also there, having brought them up in her balloon. He couldn't wait to tell them the news about his first flight.

He slid in over the clouds. He pushed his hooves out in front of him and slowed his speed, letting his weight bring him down. As his hooves touched down, he thought he was moving too fast, and his skid turned into a full gallop. Luckily, this put into his head the idea that he could land without stopping, and he tried to do so. His wings acted as brakes while his legs kept pushing him forward, until he was no longer relying on his wings to keep him moving. With his wings firmly folded behind his back, he slowed his pace and turned around. His companions were running toward him, and more importantly, he had made his first successful landing.