Unfurling The Ribbon

“I can’t believe this is happening!”  I giggle, striking another pose in the mirror.  The cream mare in the mirror smiled wider.  With one more pose I remembered those wings.  I almost forgot about them!  Knowing that the bathroom was too small to stretch them I decided on moving rooms.  Putting one foot, err make that one hoof in front of the other I leave the tiny area.  With every step I felt better about walking.  So good in fact that soon I didn’t have to think about it.  Passing under the threshold into my living room I remembered what the name for that feeling was.

~Second Nature~

Easily flicking the switch to illuminate the room, I took a moment to look around.  My dream world must have shifted with my new self, because all of this furniture was perfect for my size.  The coffee table, covered in comics and more drawing pads, was about a foot and a half up from the floor, a single pillow next to it.  The couch sat against the far wall, the television mounted on the wall opposite.  The gap in my blinds let me look out past my balcony to the world beyond.  "Not bad, dreams," I say aloud, becoming more use to the voice I hear.  The detail between what was on my table down to the taxi passing on the road below was astounding.  My focus on the world outside was broken when I noticed my reflection in the glass, recalling why i came here.  I took a few steps backwards, and after nearly falling on my flank I was centered in the room.  I closed my eyes again, focusing on the extra limbs behind me.  Feeling them open again I stretched them out completely, trying to remember my old anatomy classes.  First came the axilla, or the 'shoulder', right where the wing connected to my body.  Keeping my eyes shut I rotated the feathered limbs to figure out their range of movement.  Feeling confident I brought them up as I moved on to the next few joints.  Bending the margin and carpal joints, or the "elbow and wrist" respectively, brought the wing slowly in.  Dropping the tension in my shoulder I could feel the wings return to their closed state, noting now both how natural and relaxing it felt.  Focusing on the opposite brought the back to their full glory.  after a few more reps of this I wanted more.  As I shifted the muscles in my shoulders I could feel the wings pick up speed.

Once I felt the resistance on my new joints I pushed even harder, squeezing my eyes shut tight.  The sudden feeling of weightlessness was a bit of a shock, but I kept my focus,  Opening a slow eye while keeping the limbs behind me in a smooth, oscillating motion was a mistake.  With an excited gasp I cried out "I'm flying!"  That was mistake one.  In my excitement my mind came off of the focus I had built earlier, and my wings stopped their movement as well.  Mistake number two was going to hurt.  Much to my relief this hover only took me a couple of inches from the ground, but the shock of falling even that far was enough to land my on my rear.  Unlike myself, my excitement was much harder to bring down. "I was really flying!" I squeal aloud, ready to try again.  After finding myself back on the floor two more times, my fourth attempt was more of a success.  After holding the hover for what felt like 5 minutes, I opened my eyes again.  Instead of betraying me, this time they kept me aloft as I felt a smile of accomplishment slide on my face.  I was quick to discover that by changing how often or not I flap my wings that I could change how high I could go, where simple weight shifts allowed moment horizontally.  I was lost in the enjoyment of this that I forgot what time it was.  While passing over the couch a surprise growl from my belly broke my thoughts, sending me into the pillows below.  I glanced over towards the cable box, and suddenly realized why I was hungry.  It was almost 5 in the morning!