A New Age

"Okay, Twilight. You gotta keep it together now. You've done everything anyone can expect. Your calculations are on-point, the wind is exactly what you need it to be, all adjustments are made. Nothing...nothing should go wrong here." Her words were, of course, meant to calm and reassure her, but even in the face of that it was hard to feel anything but nervous, especially given her current circumstances. Standing atop the roof of her home, Twilight's great invention, her pony-made wings, were strapped to her back, with goggles upon her face. This was a mare who was ready to cross that threshold and prove that what she'd made was not just fantasy, but a new step forward for ponykind. However, there was the natural concern of being on the literal edge, looking down and feeling, just for a moment, that a single mistake on her part could spell a pretty bad end for her. But then, her eyes drifted upwards, to the far edge of the village, and what she saw galvanised her certainty of what she must do. The royal procession was here, as was the whole village. All eyes were gathered, and her creation was ready to be seen. Taking a deep breath, she spoke to herself one last time. "Well, you know what they say...fortune favours the bold."

And so, with all the boldness she could muster, Twilight shut her eyes tightly and took that step. She could feel it going on around her, the wind rushing past her mane, the sense of nothing underneath her to catch her. Her heart raced, and in this moment of adrenaline, she felt that fear again, the doubt that something would go wrong and that this decision would lead to no good. But in the end, that dreaded impact never came, even when she knew enough time would have passed for her to reach the ground. Slowly, she cracked one eye open, and then the other. Her eyes were not deceiving her. This was no dream. She was actually suspended in mid-air. Her head darted all over, especially to over her shoulder, where her wooden wings were flapping with all their might, creating the exact same motion that genuine pegasi wings would to keep their owners up and hovering. Her breathing was erratic, as one would expect, but through all that, she actually managed to smile, looking ahead at the sky, which at long last was hers to be a part of. "I...I did it." Her smile widened to one of utter joy. "I DID IT!!!"

With the excitement of youth, she actually did something she'd been hoping to do with this invention for a while now. She did a flip. Granted, it was wobbly and led to a great deal of creaking on the part of her wings, but she did it all the same, resulting in a happy laugh from her. "This is...this is the most mazing thing ever! I'm flying! Really, truly flying! Oh, I can't wait to show Spike and everyone else..." Her words trailed off, and she realised that, in her excitement, she'd completely forgotten what she was going to do once her wings were shown to work. Looking ahead, she again laid eyes on the massive crowd, and her smile returned. "Alright...time to show them then." With a great flap of her new artificial appendages, she launched herself forward, her ears almost deafened by the loud sound of wind from the effort. It was definitely a gusty day, which was exactly what she needed, and it worked in her favour as it took no time whatsoever for her to bring herself more-or-less to where she knew the other ponies could see her. "I can't wait to see the looks on their faces!"

Squinting her eyes, she looked through what she could make out of the crowd, and after a while she spotted two mares in the distance, surrounded by soldiers, who looked like exactly who she needed to meet. "Ah, those must be the two prince...sses?" Her words had trailed off when something new caught her eye. A light of many colours, that only when it was too late did she realise was magic. Some sort of shot that, whether known or not, had been fired by those on the ground straight towards her. Utterly caught off-guard by this, Twilight tried with all effort to turn herself and her contraption to avoid beign struck, but her actions were in vain. The blast hit her, though thankfully not on any flesh. Only her wings were hit, but even that was small comfort when, as expected, this caused them to suddenly malfunction, flapping in uneven ways and sending her hurling off in the wrong direction. And if that wasn't bad enough, it was at that exact moment when the weather turned, bringing a massive gust her way that caused her to veer off-course.

"Oh no...oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!" Her words were the exact same thing, over and over again, but up here and in this situation, there was no chance of any real help. To make matters worse, the movements of her wings had become so random and erratic that she was spinning all over the place, becoming dizzy as her sight struggled to get a grip on what was up or down. Her ears, however, picked up panic in the crowd she had seen, as her being there had no doubt caused a ruckus, especially with this incident. On and on she spun, and after a while only one thing filled her field of vision. A vast amount of green, which immediately caused worry in her. Falling was one thing, but if she was going to land where she thought she was, it was going to be even worse for her. But fall she did, and her attention was drawn to a number of whacks all across her body and face as she collided with numerous tree branches on the way down.

And when that ground finally approached hard and fast, the only thing she could make out was a singe sound. A call from the village being made in a familiar voice. "TWILIGHT!!!"