ET: Ch. 2 The First Flight

                                 The Equestrian Tales

                                      Chapter 2

Episode 0.5: The First Flight

A bright light struck my face arousing me from my slumber. I awoke to find myself laying on a pile of book, my head resting on the pages of one of them. I wiped the drool from my mouth as I surveyed my surroundings to let the memories of yesterday catch up with me.

I was in a town called Ponyville in the body of an alicorn calling myself Storm Rider with no memory of what I really was or what my real name was. I spent all of yesterday reading books with magic. As I glanced over the pile of books beneath me, I noticed I had accidently drooled onto one I fell asleep on. I quickly used my magic to clean the book and checked for damage. Satisfied the book was unharmed; I finally heard my stomach rumble loudly. I realized I didn’t eat at all yesterday, well as far as I knew.

I searched the pile of books for the one that had the cleaning spells. I pulled the book from the bottom of the pile with my magic. I read a lot of interesting books yesterday. There were ice spells, wind spells, teleportation spells, levitation spells, and transfiguration spells. I found the transfiguration spells very interesting for some reason. I found books on multiple different creatures, but nothing seemed familiar. I still didn’t know what I was. I even found a book on the art of the to-do list. I had no idea who would want to read that. I didn’t find any books on alicorns. I learned a lot, but none of the things I found were what I was looking to find.

I flipped through the cleaning spell book again with my magic. Using a spell from the book, my magic enveloped all of the books in the pile and sent them zooming back to the shelves where they came from.

“Well those spells will certainly come in handy,” I commented to myself. My stomach rumbled again to remind me of my hunger. I didn’t find any food in the library yesterday, so I was going to have to buy some. That raised a new question. How was I going to pay for it?

I glanced over to my suitcase which I hadn’t touched since I came to the library. I walked over and opened the suitcase. At first, I thought it was full of clothes. However there was a large piece that looked different from the rest. I poked at it only to hear the jingle of metal. I realized I had opened it upside down. I closed it back and flipped it over. As I reopened the suitcase, the contents surprised me. I carefully pulled each item out with my magic: a sword with a gleaming white scabbard and gold hilt, leather bound book, a folded up saddle bag, what looked like formal clothes, a large pull string bag, and a single scroll placed at the top. I pawed the bag open with my hoof and used my magic to removed two gold coins from the bag. I guessed it was a form of currency. I turned back to the scroll. It was odd that there was only one and nothing to write with. It almost seemed like a note. I unrolled it to find it was just that. I began to read the note:

Dear Traveler,
You may be very confused as to what has happened to you. You may have also noticed a lack of memories. I assure you. Those will return in time. You may or may not have noticed this is not your world and the form you currently are in is not your own. While I cannot tell you what you are or where you are from, I can promise I am working to return you from where you came. However I am not able to send you back at this time. For now you are an alicorn known as Storm Rider. However alicorns are rare, so you may want to try and hide that fact. Your plight troubles me, so I have provided a few things you may need. While my realm is peaceful, there are still dangers in the uncharted regions. I hope this sword serves you well. You may have noticed that other ponies do not often wear clothes, but there are occasions where formal attire is called for. I hope these clothes are to your liking. I have also you provided you with a sack of bits or coins that is our standard currency. As long as do not go crazy with your spending, it should last you for a while. You will find a book in the suitcase. This book may contain a few answers you seek. However I must advise that this book is for your eyes only. No pony else is to see the contents of this book except you, not even me. Finally, the train you are on should bring you to a town called Ponyville. There is a tree library there. You may feel free to stay there as long as you like. For all of this I only ask for one thing. My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, will be arriving there in a few days with her assistant the baby dragon Spike. She will also be staying in the library. I would ask that you watch over my student and any friends she might make in Ponyville. In return, I will find a way to send you home as soon as I can. I wish you the best of luck in your adventures.
                                                                         Respectfully,
                                                                     Princess Celestia

I let the scroll roll back up as the information sank in. The letter did not answer any questions, but it did confirm a few things I had already guessed at. I didn’t feel like I had read the letter before, but then how did I know some of what it said. If I was supposed to stay in the library, maybe the loft was supposed to be mine. That wasn’t right. I then wondered maybe that was where this Twilight Sparkle and Spike slept. This felt right, but how did I know that. The letter mentioned the book might have answered. Before I could open it, my stomach reminded me of the current problem at hand.

I removed a few coins from the bag and tucked them into my wing. I then cleaned my mess by using a spell to return everything neatly back to the suitcase. I used my magic to pick up the suitcase and headed down stairs with the bag in tow. I found the second bedroom and tossed the suitcase on the bed. The book would have to wait for now. I then proceeded back up the stairs. I ran a hoof through my mane to hide my horn before finally heading out the door.

Well on the bright side, I had gotten off at the right stop. However this posed a different problem. Even though I was headed for Ponyville, I hadn’t been expected. This meant I didn’t know anyone in town, so I wondered how I was going to find anything. I began to wonder through town. The smell of food soon entered my nostrils. I followed the scent until I saw a building with large glass windows. A large sign stood atop of it depicting a drink and a form of burger. My mouth instantly began to water.

I fought the urge to run inside. As I entered, I spied ponies of all kinds eating around small round tables. The ponies would order from a central counter and then seat themselves. This must be their version of fast food. The unicorns were carrying their trays with magic. Everyone else had a tray connected to a harness around their necks. I walked up to the counter and asset the menu, specifically the prices. The main item seemed to be a hay burger. Well when in Rome, I thought. Wait. Where did that phrase come from? I wasn’t in Rome, or was I? I shook off my confusion and checked the number of coins I had brought. I managed to unfold my wing in a way to set all of the coins on the counter. I ordered as much food as it would buy me, which happened to be a fair amount. The pony behind the counter brought back a tray harness with two hay burgers, three orders of fries in the shape of horse shoes, and a drink.

I slipped the harness over my head and proceed to one of the empty tables away from the windows. Effortlessly I freed myself from the harness and eyed the food. I tentatively picked up one of the hay burgers between my hooves. The burger was just hay, lettuce, tomato, and what I thought was cheese between a pair of buns. A red sauce dripped from the strange confection. I took a small nibble unsure of what would happen. The growl of my stomach immediately began to lessen. Seeing as my system did not instantly reject the new food, I took a little bit bigger bite to really taste it. It was definitely something I had never tried before. It wasn’t too bad. I accounted it to the new horse taste buds. In any case, it was satisfying my hunger. At that point, my ravenous hunger took over, and I practically inhaled the rest of the food. My plate was clean in a minute. I followed up by sucking up my drink in a single gulp.

I sighed with relief having filled my belly. I felt a burp well up inside me. I began to take deep breaths. I did not know why I was doing that. I felt the burp bubble up. It swelled within me until it erupted from my mouth. The burp was so loud it almost shook the entire restaurant. I couldn’t help but double over in laughter at the sheer volume of the burp. I then noticed I was the only one laughing. I straighten back up and gave an embarrass apology struggling to not continue laughing. I gathered up my trash, threw is away, and nervously left still fighting back the giggles.

As I stepped back outside, I tried to decide on my next course of action. The book of possible answers laid in wait for me back in the library. However while my stomach was full now, that would not be true later. I needed to store up at least a little food.

As I debated my next move, a grey pegasus flew by. I could have sworn her yellow eyes that matched her mane were looking in two different directions. Of course that might have explained her goofy smile and hap hazard flying. My thoughts drifted back to my own wings. I had managed to use them, but I wasn’t sure how. I didn’t know how they worked, so I still couldn’t fly. I remembered I promised that blue pegasus a race. If I was going to hide as a pegasus, I needed to learn how to fly. The other stuff would have to wait.

I set off on a road leading out of town. A pegasus of my age learning to fly would draw too much attention. I needed to find some place where there weren’t a lot of ponies around. I wasn’t far outside of town when I came across row upon row of apple trees. They were fenced off from the road. It was a farm, a large apple farm.

As I admired the delicious looking apples, I heard a pair of grunts. I peered through the trees to see who making the noise. Among the trees, I saw an orange mare with her golden mane and tail tied at the tips. She removed her brown cowboy hat and wiped the sweat from her brow. Replacing the hat, she kicked at one of the trees with her powerful legs. Apples fell from the tree into baskets at the base of the tree. I knew I wasn’t a pony, but once again I was captivated by a mare.

My attention was broken by a huskier grunt. I turned to see a red stallion. His short orange mane ruffled as lifted one leg and kicked a tree. Nearly all of the apples fell out of the tree. I had to admit that was impressive. A yellow blur then caught my eye. It was a little filly. Her red mane bobbed as she zipped about assisting the other two. I had to admit she was kind of cute with the big pink bow in her mane. The trio looked busy. I thought it was better not to disturb them, and continued on my way.

I came across a small clearing. A mountain ridge rose up behind the trees. A few woodland creatures scurried about, but I didn’t see another pony. I was alone for the most part. I glanced back at my wings and began to wonder how wings even worked.

“Well, a bird has the same type of bones that move relatively the same way as a quadruped and biped,” I muttered off to myself. “Well if that’s true, they should work just like my front legs. I just have six limbs instead of four.” I concentrated on moving my wings like I did my front legs. They turned out to be very easy to control, but how did I fly. How does a bird fly? “Well a bird’s wing is shaped so that the fast moving air under the wing and slow moving air above the wing creates lift,” I muttered off as if answering my own question. “A bird flying is just a series of catches and falls using the moving and warm rising air to stay aloft and move about in the air,” I continued. “Pretty much, birds, sort of, swim through the air. Wow,” I exclaimed. “I know the anatomy of birds and basic aeronautics, but I still don’t know my own name. How ironic,” I sarcastically commented.

Armed with this new knowledge, I decided to give it a try. I needed moving air. I might get enough if I jumped. I hadn’t used much energy to move about, so I wasn’t sure how strong I was. If my neck was any indication, I should have plenty of strength in my legs. I backed up to the edge of the clearing to get a running start. I shook out all six limbs to get them loose. Taking a deep breath, I crouched down and letting my muscles coil up tight ready to spring. I took another deep breath extending my wings and leveling them with ground. I took one final deep breath to steady myself. I uncoiled my muscles and shot forward like a bullet. As I neared the opposite edge of the clearing, I gave a small hop. In the air, I raised my wings high and tucked my legs close to me. As I touched down, I jumped as hard as I could while bringing my wings back down. I wasn’t holding anything back.

I was lifted off the ground but barely missed the tree tops. I pumped my wings trying to gain speed. My legs kicked in tune with my wings trying to run on air. I tilted to my side and banked around to face the clearing. I dove for the clearing to increase my speed. I pulled out of the dive at even greater speed. I pumped my wings hard, but I wasn’t gaining enough altitude. I felt a column of warm air near me. I extended my wings and drifted into the rising air. I circled higher and higher riding the column of air like an elevator. I rose above the ridge before slipping off and circled above the clearing. I had only been up for a minute, but my wings and lungs already burned from exhaustion.

I spotted a single white cloud hovering in the air. I glided over and plopped down on it. I was breathing heavily while my wings laid motionless next to me. Rainbow made this look so easy. Even that grey pegasus made it look easy. I licked my lips and took a deep breath as I sat up. What were they doing that I wasn’t doing. As I wiped the sweat from my brow, I remembered my horn. I had used magic by channeling a power within me through the horn. Could the pegasus have a similar power that they channeled through their wings instead of a horn? It was worth a shot.

I took another deep breath to center myself. I began to feel the power within me. I noticed a second power within me. This one was much different. It seemed almost out of place in this world. At the same time, it felt pure and somehow familiar. I would have to explore it later. I focused on the first one. But instead of channeling it into my horn, I focused it to my wings. The burn of my wings began to subside. With one final breath, I closed my eyes and pushed off from the cloud and beat my wings.

As I opened my eyes, I found myself hovering above the cloud to my surprise. I began to circle the clearing. I found it much easier this time. In fact, I was flying faster. I wondered what the extent of my aerial acrobatics was. I tilted part of each wing which sent me into a spin. I then tried midair back flips. With each one, I made the loop tighter and tighter. Now that I was channeling the power through my wings, my knowledge of aeronautics made me very agile in the air. I practiced a few midair kicks using the momentum of my flight. I spotted the cloud again and dove for it. As I neared it, I straightened my wing and sliced right through it. The two halves popped in a puff and disappeared. Now I was just having fun. I spotted a small cluster of clouds even higher up. Licking my lips, I dove down a little before pulling up and aiming for the center of the cluster. I was going to hit them from below.

As I neared them, I went into a corkscrew spin churning the air around me. As I passed, the vortex I created pulled the cluster together into one big cloud. I spread my wings and dropped down on it. I immediately plopped down on my back relaxing on my new comfy bed.

Then a thought occurred to me. Clouds were merely water vapor that condensed in the cold air of higher altitude before it gathered together and got heavy enough to fall back to earth. So how was able to sit on one? I then remembered that anything that could fly in this world could sit on a cloud. I grunted in frustration. How did I know all this but not my own name?

I gave a deep sigh as I started to mull over everything I had learned so far. I was in a world ruled by ponies of four types: pegasus, unicorns, alicorns, and earth ponies. Where did that last one come from? Those with horns could use magic, and those with wings could fly. I wasn’t really an alicorn, but I wasn’t sure what I was. I seemed to have a lot of scientific knowledge in a variety of fields. I thought like a scientist, but I moved like an athlete of some kind. Despite not being from this world, I seemed to know a lot about it. Many of these names seemed familiar: Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, Rainbow Dash, and Ponyville. These places also looked familiar too. But if I was from a different world, how did I know about them. It was almost as if I had seen them before.

Then something clicked in my mind. I had seen them before. It was a show called “My Little Pony.” I watched it when I was human. That meant I was in Equestria. As the gravity of this truth sank in, other things became clearer. I recognized the two ponies I had ogled and the mare I had snubbed.

“Wow,” I commented to myself, “Celestia asked me to look after Twi and her friends, and I ogled Dash and AJ, challenged Dash to a race, and snubbed Rarity. Oh this is definitely going to be interesting. I really hope Dash forgot having that race. I also hope subbing Rarity doesn’t come back to haunt to me.” I took stock of my body. Remembering I was human didn’t make me freak out while looking at my new body, but it did make moving easier.

As I looked over my body, I spied the symbol on my flank. I remembered it was called a cutie mark. This mark represented an individual’s talent and destiny. As I looked at it, I remembered I had drawn it. However, I didn’t design it for this world. I made it for when I became a storm rider. “Oh now I get it,” I exclaimed chuckling at the cosmic joke. I remembered that storm riders liked to challenge themselves and others in terms of speed and acrobatics and liked to soar. Well based on my previous performance, that was definitely true for me except for the racing. However if speed was my thing, I wondered if I was fast enough to pull of a sonic boom, more commonly known in Equestria as a sonic rainboom.

I pushed the cloud up very high above the ridge. On one side of the ridge laid a Ponyville. A sea of trees laid on the other side. The sun felt so close I immediately thought of Icarus from Greek mythology. I just hoped I didn’t crash like him. I decided to aim for the sea of trees. If I was successful, no pony would see the rainboom even if they heard it. The sonic rainboom was a legendary move that very few pegasus had ever accomplished, and Rainbow Dash had only done it once. It would still be some time before she would learn how to do it again. The odds were against me, but it wasn’t impossible. I had to at least try. Even if I failed, I wouldn’t give up without a fight.

I landed on the cloud and shook my limbs. What I was about to attempt was insane for a novice flyer. It was crazy even for an advance flyer, but it was going to be a lot of fun. I took a few deep breaths to center myself and contain the excitement building inside of me. I coiled my legs and leaped off the cloud. I flapped my wing to gain a little more altitude before hurtling myself toward the ground. I tucked my legs close to my body to reduce resistance. I also kept my wings close, only extending them enough to keep me on target.

The ground was coming up fast. The air in front of me began to compress. I made a few quick flaps to increase me speed. Through the whipping winds, my horn peaked through my mane. Green energy crackled around it. As I passed the ridge line, instinct took over. I needed one more really good flap to push through. Struggling against the G-forces, I pulled my wings forward and flapped as hard as I could. With that flap, I broke through the sound barrier causing a massive boom. A rainbow colored ring emanated from the blast.

An actual rainbow trailed behind me after I broke through, and my speed increased even more. I managed to fan my wings and pulled out of the dive just above the tree line. I zipped by narrowly dodging a few extra tall trees. I screamed with joy. I was enjoying every moment. I went into a corkscrew and looked back to see the twist in the rainbow.

It was then that I noticed my entire body was engulfed in green flames. I angled myself up and flew into a cloud bank. I used the upward momentum to slow me down. I broke through the cloud and landed back on it. The flames were mostly out. I blew out a couple stray flames on each wing. I then licked my hoof and put out the last flame in my mane. I inspected my body, but I wasn’t even singed.  The flames had not hurt me. Although, the fact I was on fire did explain why I still had a cutie mark with flames. I looked down below the clouds at the fading rainbow. Even if no pony saw the ring from rainboom, the sound of the explosion that went with it along with a rainbow bending up might draw more attention than I wanted. Using the clouds, I snuck back to town.

I gave a sigh of relief when I finally made it back inside the library. My little stunt didn’t seem to raise any alarms, but it was probably better if I didn’t do that that again anytime soon. It was a lot of fun, but it would draw way more attention than I wanted. I mulled over my next move.

The letter said Twilight would be arriving in a few days. I didn’t know how much time I had before she arrived. The letter seemed like it should have been read before I got on the train or during the train ride. There was no telling when it was written. However, the fact that she wasn’t here told me the story I knew had not started yet. As I thought about it, I couldn’t remember what was supposed to happen. Now seemed like a good time to check out the book in my suitcase. My stomach rumbled to suggest a different course of action. I built up an appetite doing all that flying. I retrieved the saddle bag from the suitcase along with a few more coins. I secured the saddle bag to me and ran a hoof through my mane to make sure the horn was hidden before heading out the door again.

I wandered around town until I found the market. Ponies had a variety of stands set up. Most were run by ponies without horns or wings, which were more commonly referred to as earth ponies. The name always seemed a little redundant to me. Most of the stalls also sold fruits and vegetables. I spied an apple stand among the stalls and headed straight for it. My mouth watered at the sight of all the juicy apples. Most of the apples were a crimson red. My concentration was broken when a feminine voice greeted me,

“Well howdy there.” I turned to see the orange mare I had been staring at, Apple Jack. I really hoped she hadn’t seen me. “What can I do for ya?” Her southern country accent was thick. My stomach rumbled to answer her question. ”Sounds like ya came to the right place. These here apples came from the Apple Family farm right here in Ponyville. Bucked em’ myself tis mornin’, so there nice and fresh.”

“Sounds great,” I replied trying not to drool over the apples. I was doing my best to control myself with the apples and Apple Jack. She may have been a pony, but then again so was I at the moment. I chalked up my attraction to my new alicorn body and my taste in women. “How much?”

“Well we got a lot today. I can give ya half a dozen for three bits.” I checked the number of coins I brought.

“Okay. Give me two dozen,” I answered. She looked at me a little surprised.

“Wow. That’s sum appetite. You fixin’ to sharin’ all of those.”

"Nah, they’re all for me. I’ve got a pretty big appetite.”

“I’ll say. Don’t reckon I’ve seen you around these parts.”

“You could say I just moved here.”

“Well welcome to Ponyville. Name’s Apple Jack. What’s yours?” She asked extending a hoof. I shook her hoof and replied,

“Just call me Storm Rider, or Rider for short.”

"Well it’s mighty nice meetin’ ya,” she said filling my saddle bag with apples. “That’ll be…”

“Twelve bits,” I finished for her. “Sorry. Math is my specialty,” looking back at my cutie mark I added, “among other things.” I retrieved the coins and paid her. As I started to walk away she called out to me,

“You gave me fourteen bits!”

“I know,” I called back. “Keep the change.” I continued on without looking back again. On my way back, my path was blocked by a yellow pegasus. Her long pink mane was barely off the ground as she knelt forward while walking backwards. She had a voice like silk as she guided a mother duck and her ducklings. She was so focused on the ducks she didn’t even notice me, which was fine with me. I moved around the procession and headed back to the library. As I opened the door, I began muttering to myself,

“first Dash then Rarity, AJ and now Fluttershy. I’ve seen everyone except, PINKIE!” I shouted in surprise. Upon closing the door, I had turned to have a pink earth pony inches from my face. Her pink mane was very poofy and a darker shade than her coat. A big grin was plastered on her face. Her light blue eyes sparkled with large volumes of hyperactive energy dwelling within her.

“HELLO!” She greeted back at the same volume as I had shouted. She lowered her voice back down and said, “That’s so amazing that you knew my name even though we’ve never met before. I should know, because I know everypony in town. But I don’t know who you are, so you must new in town. If you’re new in town, then you might not have any friends yet. You could be my friend, because I’m friends with everypony in town. But you already mentioned a few pony names, so you might have already made a few friends even though you’ve only been here a few days. But then again, you knew my name, and we hadn’t met yet.” She gasped loudly. “Are you psychic? That’s so cool. I have a Pinkie sense, but it’s only good for vague random events. I’ve never met a real psychic before. How did you become a psychic? Were you born with it or did you learn it or was it a tragic accident that altered your mind, and while it gave you your power threatens to drive you insane? So how’d you do it? How’d you do it?” She spoke at a speed that most would only catch every fifth word. Due to my own hyperactive nature, I caught the whole sepal.

“Actually I’m empathetic, not psychic,” I corrected.

“You don’t look pathetic to me. You really look pretty cute for a stallion and a pegasus. Although most ponies don’t see themselves that way, they need some other pony to cheer them up. That’s where I come in. I like to put a smile on every pony’s face.”

"Right, but I said empathetic, not pathetic,” I corrected.

“Ooh, what’s that?”

“It means I can feel the emotions of others around me. I also just got lucky with the name. You surprised me, and you are covered head to hoof in pink. I did just meet you so there is no way I could have known your name.” It was only a partial lie. I knew her alright. However it would cause too much trouble if my reason for knowing got out.

“I guess you’re right. I did surprise you and I am mostly pink. I guess that’s why my parents named me Pinkamena Diana Pie, but my friends call me Pinkie Pie. Do you want to be friends? Then you can call me Pinkie Pie too or just Pinkie.” I fought back my laughter as I replied,

“Sure you can call me Storm Rider or just Rider.” There was no sense in using my real name. I doubted anyone in this world had any name similar. Plus the letter did say I was an alicorn named Storm Rider.

“Okay Just Rider. Do you want to go have some fun?” The rumble of my stomach answered her question.

“Right now I need to eat and get started on some studies. Why don’t you go home and make a list of fun things to do? This studying will take a couple of days. But when I’m done, we can do everything on that list.”

"Okey-dokey-lokey,” she spouted before running off. I had only taken a couple of steps before she came out of the bookcase next to me. “So what kind of things should we put on the fun list?”

“I don’t know: sky diving, swimming, baking, or rock climbing for example. Just put on there anything you think would be fun to try. Go crazy,” I answered her. I wondered if my last words were a good idea.

“Will do,” she saluted before running off again.

“I’ve got to be really careful with that one around. That pony could appear out of nowhere, quite literally in some cases. I ventured back down to my subterranean room. Setting my saddle bag full of apples aside, I used an ice spell on it to keep the apples fresh. I moved the suitcase and laid down on the bed myself. Using my magic, I pulled the book from the suitcase and brought an apple to me. I began munching on the apple as I started reading the most important book I would ever read.