Upon My Wings

I yawned and sat up, before stretching and rising to my feet. It had taken more insistance, but I finally managed to get Dash to agree to sleep on the couch, whilst I slept on the floor across the room. She had woken me up once in the night because she though I had died or something. I guess that proves that Oscen really are heavy sleepers.

I cracked my neck and shot one more glance at the sleeping figure of Rainbow Dash across the room from me. I quietly snuck across the room and made my way outside. The rain had lightened considerably, now it was no more than a light drizzle. The once menacing black clouds above me were now a puffy grey. I felt my mood rise, and I broke out into a jog as I made my way into the woods outside of town.

And by woods, I mean jungle. It was ridiculously thick. The trees had vines snaking from then, and I was constantly stumbling over roots. Had I not casted a spell of night vision, I probably would be blundering around in absolute shadows, tripping over the many roots I could see lying across the ground. I had gone into the thicker part of the woods, but I decided that I'd rather take a partial challenge than no challenge at all. The adrenaline I experienced when fighting dragons was still left unmatched, but it was nice to experience at least a thrill every now and then. I stretched my wings, relieved that they had finally dried off and could finally suspend me without effort. I continued to jog, and though I could her the occasional rustle in the bushes as I walked, nothing made itself known to me. The short trip did wonders, and I felt my mind not only cleared but also prepared for whatever the day could throw at me.

I decided to do my morning routine after that.

I made my way to a lighter part of the forest, where I leapt through the gap in the canopy, flapping my wings to gain altitude. Oscen's wings are considerably large in comparison to their bodies. Though I was about seven feet tall, my wings were a good five feet long- each. I flapped them harder and harder as I gained more and more altitude, finally stopping at an altitude of... Well, I enjoyed the view, so I could honestly care less for the altitude. I just knew I was at the perfect height to practice. I let my breathing slow, and I could feel the lack of oxygen this high in the atmosphere. It was bone-chillingly cold, but my armour made it bearable. I felt my two arcane magicks flowing through me, and I stretched the magic flow from the epicentre to the tips of my fingertips. The spells started slowly, a few sparks connecting between my fingers on my right hand, and faint frost gathering on my left. I stretched my arms and focused my magical energy, sending wave after wave of my very essence coursing into my fingertips. Suddenly a bolt of lightning envelped my right hand, and the frost of my left soon formed into a swirling fog. I quickly wrapped my wings against myself, feeling the embrace of freefall for a few seconds.

After twirling for a slight duration, I regained my balance and straightened my body out as flat as I could, though I still kept flapping my wings to increase the acceleration. I had made especially sure to handcraft my armour so that it was aerodynamic, as the little burst of extra speed I would gain from flying proved invaluable at times. And, if Phobos were just a little faster at flying, he wouldn't be part vampire right now. It`s a long story, don't ask. Now, if I'm travelling at about sixty miles per hour, with an average acceleration at about and increase of five miles per hour every three seconds... I need to step up my game! I realized, flapping my wings even harder.

My magicks were still increasing in potency, and I was now trailing a pale sliver and a blue-purple tail from my arms, the length of them increasing as I steadily approached a much higher speed. Now I'm travelling at about... three hundred miles per hour. Now, at terminal velocity, wind resistance is going to be an absolute pain in the ass. So, I'll just need to go faster... Now, to break the sound barrier I'll need to calculate the approximate speed of sound, at the moment. I paused for a second, and I sent out a breif mental pulse that scanned the immediate area. The temperature is... 22 degrees Centigrade, but thanks to my frost spell It's been dropped to about 17. I can remember from classes on Osefie that sound travels slower in colder temperatures. I also remember that at average temperature sound travels at about 343.6 metres per second. And, that translated into miles per hour, is roughly about... 750 mph, which means... I quickly checked my speed again. I'm at seven hundred already? Wow, I'll never doubt my wings again! I could feel the energy from my electricity starting to envelop me, and I was preparing for the perfect moment to dispel the... well, spells. I had long since tensed my mucles, cutting off blood flow to unnessacary part of my body for this brief exercise, as to not black out. I could feel the energy forming into a cone around me, and I felt a strange state of bliss as I reached the speed needed.

I could hear a quiet whistling, and as I heard the boom I shot the lightning spell, and at that perfect moment I created a wonderful and exotic burst of plasma, lighting up the rainy morning. I started pulling up, removing all drag as I made myself paralell to the ground. With my wings stretched to my sides, I could show off my increased wingspan whilst keeping to a speedy glide. I could see the ponies below me coming out of their homes as I rocketed over them, and I had recasted my lightning spell, if only for aesthetics. The long tail trailing after me made me feel like comet, and that was quite an interesting feeling. I could almost feel the gazes watching me as I angled myself downwards once more and skimmed the rooftops. I had left just enough room to maneuver my wings so I wouldn't collide with anything. I twirled between chimneys, and I slowly turned myself and flew my way to the outskirts of town. I was still travelling extremely fast, and I slowly angled myself so I was making a full circle around the town. The first thing I passed over was an apple orchard, and I could see another mare standing there, pointing at me with someone who looked like her little sister. She was covered in orange fur, and she was wearing a brown stetson to cover her long, blonde hair. I pulled my arm away from my side, waving at them as I passed. I smiled as they waved back, with the younger one grinning excitedly. I focused in front of me again, and I angled myself at the library. Now came the tricky part.

I flared my wings, and I felt a jolt of pain shoot through me at the sudden resistance my wings felt. I quickly calculated the upcoming trajectory, and I felt my eyes widen as I realized I wouldn't have enough room to come to a complete stop before impacting the library, though my speed had dropped to about one tenth of what the sound barrier had been. I came up with one idea, and I felt stupid for even imagining it could work. I quickly pulled into a veritcal shape, to catch more wind in my wings. I knew I didn't have enough time already, so I quickly locked my wings to my back whilst suddenly dropping to the ground. Good ol' friction. I grunted as I collided with the ground, flailing as I unintentionally bounced. I bounced about three times before I managed to pull out my longsword and drive it into the ground, pulling me to a sudden stop. I lay there for a second, panting at the aftermath of the pysical exertion. I slowly stood up, wiped the dirt from my armor, and pulled my sword out of the ground before sheathing it.

I had attracted a small crowd, and they were all watching me cautiously. I slowly raised my hand and waved, and I relaxed when they all started waving back. A pink one near the front of the crowd suddenly gasped and shot off, how she did it so fast and what she possibly meant to do baffled me. Insanely baffled me. I decided to just shrug it off as I made my way back to Twilight's. The crowd disbanded into quiet whispers. I could tell, even at this distance, that they were all of either admiration or curiosity. No hostility, no suspicion, and no sourness. Maybe this is the world we've been waiting for? I thought quickly, smiling under my helmet. I placed my ear against the door, and I could hear the worried voices of Twilight and Rainbow inside. They were talking about me and the recent explosion outside of town. I opened the door and they both gawked at me for a second, before I could sense ther relief.

"Aether! Why did you run off like that?" Dash scolded me.

"I just-" I was cut off as Dash continued.

"Yesterday night you were saying that that might be the last time we ever saw each other and..." She trailed off.

Twilight looked dumbfounded. "Is there something you two aren't telling me?" She asked rather seriously. I just snorted at the implication.

"Me and Rainbow did a little bonding last night, and not like that. We just found out that we both have... Similar childhood problems." I told Twi, remembering just in time that Rainbow had consoled in me to not tell anyone. I took off my helmet and shot them a smile. "Don't even worry about it. I've killed plenty of dragons in my time, and I'm sure that it'll take a little more than just a few creatures from the forest near town and a sonic boom to kill me." I stated, putting my helmet down on a table in the middle of the room. I heard a knocking on the door. I sighed and put my helmet back on, sitting on the table I had recently mentioned. There was a wooden unicorn carving in the middle, and I rested my head against that. Twilight opened the door. I could hear a voice coming from outside, and I recognized it instantly.

"Hello, do you know anything about the person who made the explosion just out of town? I'm with the royal guard, and I'd like to ask you a few-" The voice was cut off when I interrupted.

"Phobos! Drop the act, these guys know." I shouted out. I saw him walk into the room, and he took off his helmet. He stretched his black wings and smiled.

"Aether, when you didn't come back last night, I had to go through so much torment just to make sure that Blaise didn't chase after you. You owe me." He replied, giving me a good natured scowl.

He glanced up and looked around the room for the first time, noticing a mirror on the far side. He smiled at me, as if he was asking me if he could. I gave him a slight nod. You remember when I mentioned that he was part vampire? Well, he could still go out in the day, but he still had to feed on blood. He preferred dragon blood, which made us an exceptional team. Blaise was part pheonix, and that made him intersting to be around. It also explained his tendencies to set himself on fire. As Phobos stood in front of the mirror, he let a slight smile out as he gazed at where his reflection should be. Not even his armour was visible, nevermind the lance he held between his wings. He didn't have a shadow in the first place, but, oddly enough, no one seemed to notice that. It made him the stealthy nerd of the group. He was still badass, though.

Twilight started talking again. "So, you must be Aether's brother. He told us about you, and...." She trailed off as she noticed Phobos didn't have a reflection. The look of utter confusion on her face made me burst into laughter. Phobos glanced over at us, flashing us a toothy grin. His fangs were clearly visible. The poor ladies screamed before Phobos hid his fangs again.

"Sorry, that just never gets old." He told them, chuckling quietly.

I stood up and added in. "He's part vampire, but he's still got a heart, don't worry.

Phobos shrugged before he glanced over at Twilight. "Again, sorry for startling you. You already know I'm Phobos, what's your name?" He asked softly. Twilight smiled.

"Twilight Sparkle. Please, though, just call me Twilight or Twi. All my friends do." She stated, flashing us a smile. I suddenly remembered something.

"Phobos, Twilight is a scientist and you are our current arcane expert, so why don't you two go and... Compare notes or something?" I suggested, and the two aquaintances gasped before Twilight led Phobos upstairs.

I honestly didn't think that would work. I thought.