Flight
I shakily climb upward, legs quivering enough to loosely rattle the pebbles near my hooves. Fierce will forces each step constantly battling the overwhelming urge to turn back and flee, flee back to safety.
As i climb, i think back to the circumstances which brought me here. So many elements drove me to climb this ledge. One by one they cycle through my head...
My school. For as long as I could remember I have been subject to a torrent of cruel insults, demeaning jokes, and malevolent names. I cant pretend to be the lone victim of this treatment, but it still hurts keenly. Blank flank, chicken, flightless, failure... On and on they went.
My friends. Day after day they serve as a repellent to the misery of our school. They would brush off any unkind word directed to me, and just as quickly jump to my defense. How often they encouraged me on my road to my hidden talent and with it, my cutie mark. On my more solitary journey to flight, they were just as uplifting. I am incredibly thankful for them each day.
My parents. Both were upstanding citizens of Ponyville, though they were more often in Cloudsdale as high ranking members of the Weather Directors, so they were usually out attending meetings or celebrations with the elite class. Hey were good parents, they didn't mean to neglect me. I knew they both loved me very much, but they were too busy to properly be there for me.
My idol, Rainbow Dash. Fast, confident, awesome Rainbow Dash. For as long as i could remember i have worshipped that pegasus; she was everything i wanted to be- bold, talented, terrific, and the best flyer ever. In the absence of my parents, Rainbow had stepped up to the plate. She had been with me for quite a while; we had explored all the nooks and crannies of Ponyville together, had trekked over and through the surrounding hills and fields, and finally, with the help of Rainbow's wings, I had seen what the world looked like from the sky.
Dash had always been very vocal in her support of my flight, or attempts of flight anyways. Always encouraging, often giving advice, she always be counted on to lend a hoof whenever i wanted to try to fly, and, perhaps best of all, never once had she remarked of how every time I did try, I failed.
I looked down, and the view broke me from my parade of memories. Instinctively my hooves carried me back two steps. The sheer cliff face dropped straight down, no outcroppings to break a fall. If I fell now, I wouldn't be getting back up.
Gathering what courage I had from the farthest corners of my being, I stepped back to the edge. As I looked over the brink, I thought back to the many times my wings had failed me. Jumping off trees, rocks, roofs even, I had yet to soar through the sky. I had come to this place to end my journey one way or another, but former resolutions were shaken at this sight. The prospect of final eternity caused my resolve to waver.
Unbidden, my mind brought forth a memory. It was one of many countless failures at flying, and one of my most recent. I had jumped from a tree, only to fall to the chilly pond underneath. I was unhurt, but I was soaked, cold, and discouraged. I had burst into tears, tearing away from the place of my latest failure, away from Rainbow's calls of reassurance, pleas of returning. I had ran, ran on and on until I had curled up under a canopy of low-hanging bushes, utterly defeated.
After what felt like forever, Rainbow had found me, alone, not a tear left in my body. Without a word, she had laid beside me, curling her wings protectively around me. For such a simple action. It carries much meaning behind it; it is the ultimate gesture of comfort and consolation among pegasi. She began to clean the grass and dirt from my unruly mane and coat, a meticulous and grinding task. As soon as she was finished, she moved on to drying the still sopping hair with the feathers of her precious wings, warming my shivering form with her own body. Caring for me, as she always had.
Finally, she had picked me up across her back and carried me back to Ponyville. She had walked the entire way, taking the time to pick her way around briar patches and across stretches of marsh. Never once did she use her wings, despite how easy and effortless it would've been, or how much i knew she infinitely preferred flying to walking.
When we finally reached my house, my parents were predictably not home. Rainbow had carried me to my room and gently laid me on my bed and tucked the sheets over me; she had stayed at my bedside until my parents had returned quite late into the night.
I hadn't remained awake the entire time, exhausted as i was. However, as i had sunk into slumber, one single phrase had penetrated the haze- "You can do it."
That was it. Not the typical reassurance she would offer, or the promise that one day i would get it, just the singular statement. Not an encouragement, but rather a declaration that I could, that i already held the ability within me, but I wasn't using it.
As the words of my idol echoed through my mind, I looked hesitantly back at my small wings. They unfurled instantly, standing tall and proud, ready to command the wind.
I took one final look over the expanse before me, no longer intimidated by the drop or size. As I looked far out into the distance, I saw the faint hues of a rainbow against the mist.
"You can do it."
I took a deep breath, out, in again-
And I jumped.
Author's Note
First time I've published on this website, so this was a new experience for me! This was my first story about MLP that i felt was ready to publish, and i know it's short, but I don't do well with long stories. I lose focus, the story unravels, it becomes a mess D: So, that's all i can think to ramble about, so enjoy the story! /)