[Ponyville] Flying Lessons for Royalty [closed - ask for invite]

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash let out a slightly-less-than-modest, "Naaaaaah, it was real quick. Fog's easy."

Granted, it also had required her to get *up* early, which was something she hated more than almost anything else. She hated seeing the sunrise from this angle - after waking up. Sunrises were lots better when they were a signal that you'd been up too late and it was time to get to sleep. And man, those clouds looked *real* comfy...

She shook her head quickly. "You're gonna have to do regular exercises, Twi, so add that into your daily schedule. Wing-ups, mostly, for a start. Start off with ... oh ... 20. Once you've got that down, then do 30. Once you've got that, start doing 20, take a short break, then do another 20. And after that, just keep adding a rep of 20 after each - it's better to do several sets of reps instead of doing them all at once. Build up that wing strength and endurance! You've got great wings there, make sure you can use them! Heck, a few decades of practice and you might even be able to go faster than me!"

She grinned and lifted up into the air. "First trick is takeoff. Now, a lot of this is in the mind. Wing theory tells us that it's not just our wings that let us fly. I'd guess that it's not just that fancy horn that lets you do magic, either. It's attitude! We need them healthy, we can't just ignore them ... they're vital to flight and we can't fly without them - but our attitude drives our innate magic and lifts us from the ground. So first thing you need to do is think confident! You are GOING to win! You are GOING to fly! You are GOING to take off! Then you crouch, lift your wings high, then jump and push down with your wings, and you should lift off!"

While she explained, she was circling around the two ponies still on the ground. She caught one cloud and kicked it so that it came to a stop right in front of Fluttershy, then took another cloud in her own forehooves. "You ready, Twi? Cause I'm ready to see you flying!" Some ponies never took off their first try. Other ponies went flying high into the sky, then forgot how to actually float and came falling back down flailing wildly. Others were naturals... Dash wondered which Twi would be, but best to have that cloud ready, just in case!

​

[Corsair]

Fluttershy watched Rainbow as she coached the new flyer. She was actually rather good at this! Fluttershy wished her flight coaches had been like this. None of her coaches had been harsh or mean, really, but none of them had the enthusiasm that Rainbow did about her flying. She did wince, however, at the exercise regimen that Rainbow recommended. She'd been flying for years at this point, but Fluttershy knew she couldn't do that many wing-ups, every day!

When Rainbow started talking about the mental part of flying, Fluttershy nodded her head in agreement. "Oh yes!" she added. "You have to be confident and and sure! That's, um, that's what I had the most problems with... Well that, and muscle tone... and coordination... and fear of heights..." she finished in a low, mumbling voice. Fluttershy shook her head, banishing the memories. "A-anyway, I'm sure you'll be a natural, Twilight!" She said encouragingly. "But, Rainbow and I will be here, in case something happens." Fluttershy paused, as a thought occurred to her. "Um, Twilight, you can walk on clouds now, right? Or do you still need your cloudwalking spell?"

​

[SteelEagle]

Rainbow Dash had quite the regimen planned out for Twilight, but the Princess didn't mind it much at all. In fact, she relished the chance to have a physical challenge to steady herself by. In many ways Twilight thought of scheduling and plans and workouts of mind and body as the essential kickstarts to her day and in the grand course of things, her very life. That was why keeping up with her studies even when there was little left to study was so vital to her. At all times and in all things push herself, and Rainbow's regimen played quite nicely with that desire. Twenty wingups followed by thirty, then a break. Then do reps of twenty, adding over time. Easier said than done for a mare who still sometimes forgot she had a beautiful pair hanging off of her sometimes, but quite doable. She had to smirk at Dash's belief that it would Twilight decades to match her, when in all honesty Twilight doubted she'd be able to match her friend with even a century of work. But that discussion was for another day.

"That should work fine, Rainbow. I'm sure that by the time I get through this my wing power will be considerable, though I doubt I'll ever have as much as you," Twilight complimented her friend as she kicked a cloud in front of Twilight and Fluttershy as she finished discussing the preparations for takeoff. Much of a pony's magic did, in fact, come from 'attitude'. Scientifically it was the aura that surrounded any magically altered fragment of the natural order and the transmitter- horn- or tool- wing- from which it came. A pony's mental state had a diverse array of effects on an aura, which in turn could have a cascading effect on magic. She was writing a paper on it. But for now, attitude would suffice. Besides, sound state of mind and a sense of confidence helped even when magic wasn't directly involved. Twilight nodded confidently.

"I didn't agree to this believing I would fail, Rainbow. I have no doubt!" which didn't seem to go hoof in hoof with Fluttershy, who recounted a small list of her problems regarding flying. Poor mare was so timid that even as she flew through the air Twilight was surprised she didn't lock up, which made Fluttershy's bouts of courage all the more heroic. It was nice to know that they would both be here for her which could only add to Twilight's sense of confidence. Speaking of, she stepped on the cloud in front of the pair without a second guess.

"I'm an alicorn now, Fluttershy. That gives me the properties of earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi on every level. I'll be fine," She smiled and nodded, preparing herself mentally for takeoff. And then she prepared herself physically.

A small half-jog over the short available space of the cloud and then she leapt into the air, soaring momentarily without her wings deployed before they came out in a flash like a secret weapon. Powerful wing thrusts- too powerful! She went up swiftly into the sky before punching through a cloud. Just as quickly her errant wings sent her down, doing a sidewise roll as her wings folded up before she slammed into a soft, fluffy cloud with an almost inaudible ooomph.

The important thing was that she had taken off.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash patted Fluttershy reassuringly on the shoulder, but her main attention was on Twilight, as the new royal pony got herself ready. Yes, that's right, pump yourself up, mentally and physically, and...

"WOO! That was awesome!" Rainbow cried, giving a kick to one of the clouds scattered about so that it'd go skidding across the top of the thin fog bank and catch Twilight properly. "Looks like your work'll be cut out for you, Fluttershy! Get one of those clouds and get ready to scamper around down below!"

She crouched down, her wings flared out, then took off into the sky with a rush of motion. She followed Twilight's arcing path, through the hole still in the cloud, turned over in mid-air, and then corkscrewed down through the air towards Twilight, her wings flaring out and breaking the fall right at the end, bringing her out to a hover just above the purple princess.

"You got the right idea! Keep the power going, and control will come with practice! But you got the right idea! I like to make that first wing-thrust right as I'm taking off, to me it helps a bit with control. You gotta find your own style, of course, but for now you can copy mine." She shined her hoof on her chest modestly.

​

[Corsair]

Fluttershy smiled slightly at Rainbow, accepting the comforting gesture. Fluttershy really had gotten over most of her insecurities about flying after Tornado Duty, but those flight school memories still brought a pang.

At Twilight's reassurance, the yellow pegasus took to the air, and selected a small patch of cloud. She could move it around easily, but it was still big enough to catch Twilight if she should fall. She gave Twilight an encouraging smile as the alicorn spread her lavender wings. Then, the alicorn took off like a rocket! Fluttershy only had had time for a worried squeak before Twilight rolled to one side and began to fall. Fluttershy raced in that direction with her cloud, but Rainbow had already kicked one into position. Well, it certainly appeared that Twilight had plenty of confidence and motivation. Her control, however, was going to take some work. Fluttershy's heart was already beating fast from that first fall... Rainbow was right; It looked like this could turn out to be a long day...

​

[SteelEagle]

It took her a few moments to regain her windshorne senses as she fell against the cloud and recouped from her first dramatic, or not so dramatic, flight. All told she considered it a relative success, just as casting some basic spells and then reigning them in was excellent experience early on during her magical training. It didn't hurt that both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had reacted quickly, ensuring a soft fall. It felt oddly comforting to have ponies around to help you out on things so basic, oddly enough like a foal being taught by her parents. Odd to think of it that way, but it was accurate. Of course Rainbow Dash wouldn't have the mindset to take things slow and easy at first but then again Twilight wasn't wanting to do the same for long either. She had a whole lot to do in a short time, and wanted to learn as quickly as possible.

"Thanks, Rainbow. Good to see I'm living up to expectations so far," she smirked, jumping off of the cloud and gliding lazily to the ground with a silent patter of hooves. Dash's performance was swift and precise, everything Twilight wasn't rolled up into a single package. It would take something special to see it doubled. Twilight didn't think she was at that level yet but you never got far by playing it safe. Challenges bred successful mares, or so her life had told her and shown her. She looked at Rainbow's moves and nodded, a slightly cocky grin slapping itself on her face.

"Well, let's see how I can do at your style," she wasted no time, repeating her steps before of a small half-jog over the short available space of the cloud and then she leapt into the air, soaring momentarily without her wings deployed before they came out in a flash like a secret weapon. Powerful wing thrusts- this time controlled better. She cut through the sky in an upward arc, cracking through the same cloud with precision. As she went to turn the same way Rainbow did, her left wing folded in and she tumbled out of the sky in a terrible acrobatic maneuver, pinwheeling in excessive speed through the sky towards her friends!

[Corsair]

Fluttershy watched the pair of fliers overhead carefully, tensed to move. She'd never be able to to forgive herself if Twilight managed to get hurt because she wasn't fast enough.

Fluttershy was certainly a better flier that she'd been before Tornado Duty, but she wasn't going to fool herself into thinking she was as fast as most pegusii, let alone Rainbow Dash. Rainbow's flying style was aggressive, to say the least, and it worried Fluttershy a little that she was encouraging Twilight to emulate her. Oh! She didn't mean to imply that she didn't trust Rainbow! Fluttershy's face dropped in consternation at her own thoughts. She really did trust Rainbow, but...

Lost in her confusion, Fluttershy almost missed Twilight beginning to fall! The alicorn's left wing had folded, unused to the load it was under, but her right wing was still extended, throwing her into a roll! Fluttershy grabbed onto her cloud hard, and zoomed in the direction of the falling lavender pony. She flew looking over her back, trying to keep ahead of Twilight's erratic trajectory. Even after the alicorn had impacted, it took Fluttershy a moment to bring herself and the cloud to a stop.

Breathing hard, she looked over the pony she had caught. "Twilight!" she called out, "Are... you... ok??"

Looking up at Rainbow, Fluttershy asked her, "Um, Rainbow Dash, maybe Twilight should work on hovering first? That's how I usually start with the baby birds..."

​

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash let out a delighted cry as she saw Twilight take off in such a dramatic manner, soaring up into the air to try to duplicate her stunt. It was a very brave and eager move, and she approved mightily! She was also very familiar with crashing, and saw that crash happening from way in advance, but her skilled eye saw Fluttershy moving to catch and she wasn't worried. If there was anything Fluttershy was good at, it was taking care of those in need.

She floated over to hover over the cloud, laughing merrily. "That ... was ... AWESOME!" she squeeked, her voice cracking on the last word. "Nice determination, Twilight! But when I said you should copy my style, I didn't mean you should copy my *moves*. Those are waaaay too advanced for a beginner like you. But it was *awesome* of you to give it a shot! Nice work!"

She landed lightly on the edge of the cloud Fluttershy had caught Twilight on, all four hooves together as she peered over. "I actually find that gliding is easier than hovering... that way, the wind evens you out. But you're right, she does need to try the easier stuff first. Take off first, of course, but looks like Twilight got that down pretty good! You ready to glide, Twilight?"

​

[SteelEagle]

In retrospect, it had been a bad idea. You didn't want to go pinwheeling through the sky at terrible speeds because you were doing something right or were following the laws of aerodynamic flight. No, you went pinwheeling through the air because you overstepped your capabilities and tried to fly outside your station. The same rule applied in magic- don't try a really difficult spell when you were just learning. Crawl before you walk, walk before you gallop. Same rule applied in life. But she had wanted to show her friends something impressive, something to earn just enough respect so as to not be treated like a foal. She wanted to show maybe a little bit of flair but in the process had looked like a fool. And so she pinwheeled across the sky towards her friends before impacting with a soft gasp of air as she was pushed several feet deep into the cloud, which fit snugly around her and seemingly held her in place for a few seconds in the shape of her crash. She came out with a light popping sound and immediately started flapping her wings, hovering in mid-air in between her savior and coach.

"Ahh, uggh, I'm fine, Fluttershy. Thank you for the save. I had no idea you could fly so fast in such a pinch," Twilight said, hugging her friend. She moved fast when somepony needed her, which made her normal timidity less vexing and more calming. When the chips were down, Fluttershy would be there for you so if she was calm you should be too. Opposite end of the calm spectrum was Rainbow dash, who was just excited to see Twilight try. Fail, but she liked the effort. That also made Twilight feel loads better about failing.

"Well Rainbow Dash, I'm not so sure that me flailing about in the air and crashing is such a great thing, but thanks for the encouragement...it DID feel good for a few seconds, though," She nodded, squeeing with a smile before her wings flapped incoherently for a second. She dropped a few yards before regaining herself and hovering back up as her friends discussed what to try next.

Twilight could hover. That hadn't been the best show of it but she could. It didn't surprise her than an active pegasus such as Rainbow Dash found gliding easier, but for Twilight's bits she would take hovering. It was easier to transition to trotting from it as it negated the need for a landing at speed, but what else could one expect from the mistress of speed herself?

"I think I can hover well...most of the time, anyway. Gliding would be a nice challenge, Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy, how do my wings look?"

[Bellosh]

“You know, my mom always used to say that gliding is plummeting from the sky with grace.” Such words of inspiration came from a disembodied source; one the two pegasi and one alicorn on the scene would not have been able to see at first. A few seconds later, the head of a blonde ditsy-eyed pegasus poked through the cloud layer to smile at the trio. After spitting a puff of cloud out of her mouth, Derpy Hooves pulled the rest of her body onto the cloud to offer a happy greeting; “Hi everypony! Couldn’t help but notice that it looks like flight school over here.”

Derpy was supposed to be on the job, scouting out clouds to make sure they didn’t condense into unauthorized thunderstorms. From a distance, it appeared to the mare with the googly eyes that Rainbow Dash’s cloud formation could have been grouping up together. Upon closer inspection, it was simply a training area set aside for Rainbow and two of her friends. So naturally, Miss Hooves figured the best thing to do was eavesdrop on the three ponies around.

Now that Derpy Hooves revealed herself, she remembered to ask her Weather Team chief; “Hey uhh Rainbow Dash, are these clouds supposed to be here? I didn’t see anything in today’s schedule about having a batch over here.....”

​

[Bramble Rose]

(( OOC: OK, the mental image of Derpy spitting cloud out as if it was water is just too adorable. ))

Rainbow Dash blinked as Derpy's head popped up out of the cloud, and groaned, pressing one forehoof between her eyes. Of course. 'Cause she'd specifically scheduled Derpy for the *other* side of the town. She could only hope that Cloudchaser had been keeping on top of things like usual. Yeah, she had a good team. They knew Derpy. No doubt they'd adjusted their patrols accordingly.

Well, no need to dwell on it. "That's good initiative, Derpy! Checking for areas outside of your patrol! And a good eye to spot this! Yeah, I didn't really put this on the schedule because I wanted to keep it a bit ... y'know. *private*. Didn't want anyone seeing Princess Twi here tumbling face-first into some clouds with her tail hanging out, and suddenly it's on the front page of some paper. I was gonna clean it up when I was done!"

​

[Bellosh]

OOC: I have a Derpy post due today, so here's an earlier-than-scheduled reply.

Ah, so Rainbow Dash wanted to keep this cloud formation private, huh? That made sense to Derpy Hooves in a way; some ponies (like Twilight Sparkle apparently) liked to practice skills like flying away from the eyes of everypony else. Yet one thing perplexed the googly-eyed pegasus… if these clouds were supposed to be private, then why didn’t Rainbow Dash do more to hide them from sight? Anypony in the area could see what was going on!

Of course, Derpy felt compelled to solve that little problem. “You know,” she eagerly requested of her boss; “If you don’t want other ponies to see the training area, I could grab some high fog to obscure the area!” What better way to cast a veil of secrecy than with some fog?

​

[Corsair]

Fluttershy gasped as she saw Twilight disappear into the depths of the cloud. She quickly landed at the edge of the depression the alicorn had made before ducking her head in. She looked around frantically for a moment, looking for any sign of lavender coat or feathers. In that moment, Twilight managed to free herself with an almost comical pop. Fluttershy held a hoof to her chest, breathing a sigh or relief as she saw her friend once more on the wing. She blushed a bit as Twilight complemented her quick movement. "Oh, um, it was no problem. And, I've, um, been practicing more since tornado duty..." she said, demurely.

The yellow pegasus glanced over Twilight's wings, giving them a quick assessment. "Well, some of your contour feathers are out of place, and you may have lost a few coverts on your left side, but nothing too bad," she told the alicorn.

Fluttershy looked up in surprise as a voice issued from the clouds. Hadn't Rainbow said they would be alone out here? When a familiar gray mare poked out her head, Fluttershy relaxed a bit because she recognized the pony, but immediately became nervous again because she recognized the pony...

Derpy Hooves was one of the ponies on Rainbow's weather team, While Fluttershy hadn't really interacted much with the other mare, she had heard plenty or stories from Rainbow, and everypony in town still remembered the incident with the Town Hall... Derpy seemed like a nice pony, but she was, to put it mildly, accident prone.

Fluttershy listened as Rainbow talked to Derpy. They had tried to keep this session private. As Equestria's newest Princess, Twilight was under a lot scrutiny. It would be rather embarrassing for Twilight if some paparazzi got pictures of her first stuttering attempts at flight. She looked over at the alicorn and asked "Um, do you think we should keep going? I mean, if Derpy found us, somepony else could too!"

​

[SteelEagle]

Derpy made a sudden appearance from beneath them momentarily taking the Princess off guard. It could have been worse of course. If it had been a reporter just snapping photos of her the whole time and waiting for just the right time to scoot off and sell the pictures for publication in any one of the many Canterlot tabloids that lived and died based on whatever scandal or gossip they could villainously use to slander her. Luckily, it had just been Derpy. Or perhaps fortune was crueler. Derpy was a wonderfully nice pegasus with a lot of good intention who just so happened to be legendarily clumsy and unfortunate to such a degree that it interfered terribly with almost anypony she spent significant time around. That made her presence during such a delicate procedure something of an alarming note since she could just as easily send somepony to the hospital unintentionally as she could be of any help. Still, none of that meant she had to be mean or rude.

"It's nice to see you, Derpy. Good on you for checking for odd weather outside your patrol!" Twilight joined in Dash's feint, seeing no need to dent Derpy's pride or ego. She then nodded along with Rainbow Dash somewhat sheepishly before continuing.

"That's right. Just starting to learn how to use these," She said with a smile, emphasizing with a flap. Derpy did bring up a good point, but it was simply the wrong pony to bring it up. Derpy and any vision obscuring effect had to be kept away from one another for many simple and obvious reasons. "That'll be fine Derpy. The chances of others happening upon us aren't that significant. We can manage without the fog, thank you," Twilight continued as Fluttershy checked her feathers. Good, so no real damage and nothing to be concerned about. That was as clean a bill a health as she could have reasonably expected. And Fluttershy did bring up a point of concern, but Twilight wasn't prepared to stop for her own neurosis nor the well placed fears of others.

"Well, I still feel like we should continue. What do you think, Rainbow?"

[Bramble Rose]

"Yeah, high fog would probably attract attention, even. Don't worry, we'll be fine! No one out just now except the weather patrols!" Rainbow Dash nodded firmly to Derpy. "No need to worry. We're all good!"

She patted Twilight on the shoulder. "Course you're ready! You're Twilight Sparkle! You're always ready!" She nosed into her wings to put some feathers into place properly - blushing a little at doing this in public, but wanting to show Twilight what she was supposed to do. She grabbed one bluefeather in her teeth and gave it a yank, pulling it free, and tucked it behind Twilight's ear. "There's nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it!"

She circled around below the cloud and planted her hooves, quickly lifting it high into the air, with Twilight and Derpy along for the ride. "Grab another cloud, Fluttershy! And Derpy, might as well give me the morning report while you're here!" While listening to Derpy, she got the cloud up nice and high, and let it float there while she flit around to come up top. "Gliding's like balancing - it's easier if you keep moving and don't think about it too much. Just stick your wings out flat, and lean forward a bit. If you start moving too fast, lean back just a smidge. If you stall out, just pull your wings in, duck your head down, and then start over. Easy as that!" She hopped off the cloud, flared her wings, and went into a nice, easy glide, to demonstrate for Twilight.

​

[Bellosh]

"No need to worry. We're all good!"

Ah, it looks like the others could do just fine without Derpy’s assistance; “Roger that! Thanks for letting me know, Rainbow!!!” Sensing that the three were going back to what they were doing before she arrived on the scene, Miss Hooves felt she needed to get back onto her duties pronto. Without saying another word, the young mare flapped her wings to-

​

"Derpy, might as well give me the morning report while you're here!"

The airborne Derpy skidded to a complete halt before facing her boss once more. “Morning report huh?” the blonde pegasus scratched the back of her head; “There’s not much to say, everything to the east looks clear. Is there anything else you’d like to know?” Whatever Rainbow's question, Derpy was sure of her ability to answer it as comprehensively as possible!

​

[SteelEagle]

Rainbow Dash cleaned herself up as she prepared to give a demonstration on how to glide effectively. Twilight paid close attention to how exactly she preened herself, ignoring the blush entirely. This was a clinical exercise and not some bawdy display after all, an important act she would need to conquer if she were to live her extended lifespan equally comfortable in the air. And then just as quickly she put a blue feather behind Twilight's ear which came with the blush that had once adorned her fresh face. It was Twilight's turn to look shy if only for a moment before the cloud moved directions under Rainbow's leadership, taking them to a higher level as they prepared for extreme gliding action or something similar.

Well, Rainbow did it and fireworks did not go off. Her explanation made perfect sense ad in action her method was enough to replicate. That was often the hardest part of transferring a teacher's skill and knowledge to a student's ability as methods were often personalized in small ways. As an astute flyer however Rainbow's method was sound and, most encouragingly to Twilight, repeatable like any scientific formula. And as the little blue hair above her ear reminded her, she could do anything if she put her mind to it. And she decided to put her mind to the task at hoof, nodding at derpy excitedly after Rainbow was finished. She leaned forward and her wings shout out as she fell of, the gliding motion easily taking control as her finely preened feathers worked wonderfully. She even managed a few turns, small, gentle turns at that. Her confidence grew as she lnded on the ground softly, sticking it with aplomb. Gliding had been easy!

"You're a fantastic teacher, Rainbow Dash! How'd I look from up there Fluttershy? Derpy?"

[Bramble Rose]

Dash looked to Derpy with a resigned expression at the report. "Derpy, you do realize we're currently west of town, right? Where exactly have you been patrolling?"

Thank goodness to get past all the boring stuff - time for some doing! As excited as she was, though, she was biting at her hooves as Twilight leapt off the cloud. Dash followed not far from Twilight Sparkle, coasting to the side as she carefully watched her student's glide, and twitched several times to try to dart towards her and help when she saw her shift one way or another that could turn out poorly ... but thank Celestia, never did!

All the same, her nerves half-shot by the time they settled through the fog to the ground, several strands of her rainbow mane pointing out in entirely the wrong directions. Why had no one told her that teaching someone to fly was so stressful! All she could keep thinking of was all the ways it could go wrong if Twilight made a mistake when nopony was around to catch her!

"Not bad, Twilight Sparkle! Not bad at all!" she said enthusiastically, working to hide that stress. "Didn't stall out or dive too fast at all! Now, how about we head up to the cloud again, and this time, I'll buffet you with winds while you glide, to see how you respond to that!"

Yeah, that was the ticket! Push her to her absolute limits now, in a controlled environment, so that she was ready for anything! She could start off with some breezes... then a good strong gust... shift up to a good strong power-breeze... and if she made it through all of those, see how she responded to a nice mini-tornado!

​

[Bellosh]

"Derpy, you do realize we're currently west of town, right? Where exactly have you been patrolling?"

Doubt entering the weather specialist’s mind, Derpy tepidly answered Rainbow Dash’s question; “I’ve been flying overwatch over the Whitetail Woods of course. And like I said, no strange weather there today. The trees however looked creepier than usual, I did not see any deer like usual, and I got chased by a flock of grouchy harpies on the way over here. It was like I was flying over the Everfree Forest instead.” The most simplest answer for this contradiction: Miss Hooves confused the Everfree for the Whitetail. It wouldn’t have been the first time it happened due to mental distractions.

​

"You're a fantastic teacher, Rainbow Dash! How'd I look from up there Fluttershy? Derpy?"

Twilight's glide honestly looked very good! "If I had a claw," Derpy remarked with excitement; "I'd give you a thumbs up. I've seen griffons give thumbs up before, and they look really cool when they do it. And apparently, griffons give thumbs up when they see something cool! Like what you just did, Twilight."

​

[Corsair]

Following Rainbow's direction, Fluttershy grabbed another small cloud... one that didn't have the impression of an alicorn in it. She watched as Rainbow spoke to Derpy and took the grey mare's report. After all the time the two of them had lived in Ponyville, something still struck Fluttershy as odd; watching Rainbow Dash the daredevil become Rainbow Dash, the manager. As much as she loved Rainbow as a friend, the colorful pegasus gave off the impression that she was irresponsible. But while Rainbow didn't always think everything through, the weather team she ran was recognized as one of the best in Equestria. That's why the team and Ponyville had been selected for Tornado duty in the first place. Rainbow just had an innate ability to inspire ponies, and, of course, she was extremely loyal to her team mates.

Fluttershy broke herself out of her thoughts when Rainbow explained the next exercise to Twilight. Gliding. Fluttershy's back and wings tensed as Twilight dropped from the cloud above. She had to race to keep her cloud-cushion beneath the alicorn as she wound her way unsteadily to the ground. She let out a relieved breath when Twilight landed safely. Climbing on top of the cloud, she looked down at Twilight, smiling. Since you couldn't hoof stomp properly from a cloud, Fluttershy clapped her hooves together and yet out an enthusiastic "Yay!"

Ok, that time hadn't been so bad. Now, if Rainbow just took it easy on Twilight, she might be able to relax a little bi...

​
"Now, how about we head up to the cloud again, and this time, I'll buffet you with winds while you glide, to see how you respond to that!"

Fluttershy shot a worried look up at Rainbow Dash. "Oh dear..." she muttered, dreading what might happen next...

​

[SteelEagle]

Twilight snapped off a quick appreciating nod towards Rainbow Dash. It was good to get her approval in these little steps towards flight reliability. The worst thing that could happen was to have her confidence artificially fluffed and buffeted to provide a sense of bravado that covered up terrible flaws in her patterns. Then she would crash and be an immobile Princess. Fables created to warn foals of the dangers of hubris would be told throughout time. Luckily, Rainbow Dash was a harsh mistress when she needed be a gentle teacher when ot behooved her as well. Twilight wasn't worried about any potential problems as long as the pace they kept at kept going. No doubt sooner rather than later she'd be competent enough to not need such help. Until then, she would be bolstered on the wings of friends and was there any better fallback option than that most Equestrian of relationships?

Twilight was buffeted by the winds as she flew back up and found herself having to brace against the current, stiffer than before. Thanks to that though she cut it up on the way back to the top, unsettled but focused enough to deal with what was instead of what may be. Once on top, she turned around and stared back down at the ground and the clouds, Rainbow's wind going strong and Fluttershy worried. No doubt for good cause- Twilight could guess that with the loss of wing power due to no flapping that she would be far less able to control what she was doing. Twilight hated not being in control of situations and then outside forces moving in on her. Reminded her of a youth spent in the library testing the bounds only to be reigned in by elders. Now here she was, a grown mare and a Princess, and she felt the same. It was almost upsetting! Luckily, the one method she had back then still worked now. She would just need to dive into it, literally.

"Here I go!" Twilight yelled with great enthusiasm before jumping off and attempting to glide. Immediately the wind made it more difficult than she could have imagined. Rainbow Dash produced more than she could have dreamed and Twilight's form was battered by it. For a few seconds she was able to keep up with it but it eventually started to push her off course, forcing her to flap wildly for a few seconds as her blood and panic rise. Luckily, she got under control and landed a full ten feet above where she had meant to land at first. She sighed- it was the safe landing but a failure under any other name was still a failure.

"Arrgh! So close, too. I guess we'll try again!"

[Bramble Rose]

Dash gave a soft sigh to Derpy. "That's because it was the Everfree, Derpy." She rolled her eyes and ruffled Derpy's mane. "You are such a goob, sometimes," she said fondly. Derpy sure could be frustrating, but she was loyal and always tried her hardest, and Dash knew that hard work was way more valuable than natural talent. Which is why Rainbow Dash pushed herself so hard - she couldn't just glide on her natural talent! Not that anypony had RECOGNIZED her natural talent early on, what with her crashing and difficulty flying and all that. But she'd known she had talent, and she made everyone else recognize it with her hard work! But that was why she couldn't get angry at Derpy, because she knew Derpy kept trying so hard. "Now, get over there and set up a cross-breeze to help test the Princess!"

As Twilight went on another gliding test, Dash grinned. It was easy to fall into a trap of thinking you were a good flyer because you never ran into anything to challenge that idea... but the pegasus ponies of Cloudsdale knew that you learned faster and better through adversity than by making it easy! Fight! Conquer! WIN! She worried, of course, as Twilight bobbed and stumbled, even in these small breezes, and a few times she almost stopped and dove down to catch her - but she trusted Fluttershy to catch her, and she knew her own responsibility. She couldn't let Twilight down!

"Almost?!" Dash asked, laughing, as Twilight pulled off a passable four-point landing. "You didn't crash and you made a safe landing! I'd say that's a good second glide!" But she grinned happily at her friend and snugged an arm round her shoulder. She understood. Even if nopony could ever be truly perfect, that didn't mean one stopped trying! "But darn right you're going to try again! You never know what the wind's going to do, and the only way to be ready for it is by practice. Pure repetition and daily practice, that's the key!"

​

[Bellosh]

Blast it! Derpy Hooves wanted to call herself foolish for not figuring that she had been flying over the Everfree Forest. But could she really blame herself for the mixup between the two forests? Only a year ago, flying over the Everfree was practically asking for a grave, instant misfortune. Nearly everyone who had trespassed into the forbidden forest, whether by land or air, never returned to tell the tale. Granted, Everfree was still a very bad place to hang around, but whatever Twilight Sparkle and her friends did to that place, it sure was no longer a synonym for Inevitable Doom. Still, it was still taking time to adjust to this new pleasant reality.

Rainbow Dash gave Derpy a new task to do, one that’d help Princess Twilight further to fly as good as the rest of the pegasi race. Saluting, the googly-eyed mare affirmed; “Yes ma’am, I’ll do my part ma’am!” Flying to her assigned station, Derpy commenced to increase her rate of wing-flaps a minute to a huge degree, which of course allowed a pegasus to generate wind. As ordered by Rainbow, Miss Hooves aimed her breeze, a slightly strong one, square at the purple alicorn.

​

[Corsair]

Fluttershy's heart thundered in her chest as Twilight lined up for her next glide. She could feel the conflicting crosswinds that Rainbow and Derpy were producing, but kept her eyes fixed on the lavender alicorn. She hoped Rainbow wouldn't do anything too rough, but Derpy was a bigger worry. The grey pegasus had a bit of a reputation for... clumsiness after the incident with the town hall. Reaching out blindly with a hoof, Fluttershy grabbed a piece of a nearby cloud to make her cushion a bit bigger, just in case...

Once again, Fluttershy carefully maneuvered under Twilight as the alicorn took to the air. When she saw that Twilight was loosing altitude, Fluttershy put on a burst of speed to make sure she was in the right spot. Thankfully, Twilight got control, but Fluttershy didn't. Her momentum, plus the momentum of the larger cloud, was making it hard to stop! She shot over Twilight's head, heading right toward the cloud wall! Fluttershy back-winged desperately, trying to drag the cloud to a stop. Unfortunately, that was right when she flew into the crosswind being generated by the other pegusii. She let out an "Eeeeep!" as she found herself spinning around until she hit the cloud wall, tail first, disappearing to the white.

When the yellow pegasus' head poked back out of the cloud, some of it was hanging off of her chin, making it look like she had a long white beard. "Um, does somepony else want to be on cloud duty?" she asked the others, weakly...

​

[SteelEagle]

Twilight put her hoof to her mouth as she watched the aftermath of Fluttershy's crash, if only for a moment before it was made clear that she was okay. In an odd sort of way, seeing Fluttershy herself struggle with the crosswinds and her control made Twilight feel a little better about her own not-so well developed skills. If a pegasus, even one who didn't really take much pride in her flying, was having similar problems then not all hope was lost for the erstwhile Princess with determination. It wasn't schadenfreude per se, but close enough. In any case, it was good to see Fluttershy and make sure she was okay. She seemed a bit taken back by the event though, and Twilight couldn't blame her! It wasn't fun crashing and in this crosswind a bad crash could turn into a mini-disaster swiftly. Twilight nodded along with Fluttershy even as she felt Rainbow's positive proclamations try to fight through.

After all, she really did want to go again. She needed to practice in order to master what was now a third of who she was, a vital part of her biology and character that until completed left her feeling less than whole. It was odd thinking that by adding to who she was she could somehow feel less, but there were times when that ugly specter of failure loomed over her and made her feel as though her efforts were more harried than they would have been otherwise. Even as a filly that fear had at times shaken her and while she had learned to be above such things in the pursuit of magical perfection, this was different. Failure was a real possibility and a real thing for her to fear in public as a Princess. The price of it dealt more with the royalty's important public image than anything of flesh and blood, but it was something she still feared. For all of her experience in friendship she was a pony who couldn't deal well with dislike, especially borne of her own personal failings. She wanted to improve. But not at the cost of making Fluttershy uncomfortable. Dash could likely handle Twilight all on her own and Derpy was a lovely if potential hazardous aid, but without Fluttershy they were an incomplete foursome.

And so Twilight launched herself, going through the same course in a slight daze as she focused her attention on Fluttershy. Without her mind twisting itself into clots at the thought of beating back against the dreaded wind knots, Twilight fought the wind leisurely without thinking beating it easily. Her wings fitted and formed in a perfect glide as the alicorn princess cut through the sky as easily as if it were a slide. In a few nonplussed seconds Twilight reached her pegasus friend unaware that by doing so she had reached the course's end. Twilight hovered down and wiped Fluttershy's beard off.

"Are you sure you're okay? We can take a break for a bit. Or talk about advanced flight theory using the Lightning-Bose model. Or we could take a break and we can tackle gliding a different day so we don't have to protect the...course.... huh," Twilight finally looked up, seeing she had conquered that one rather easily. That was unexpected, but still very pleasant! "Oh. Haha," she laughed and smiled, rubbing the back of her neck with a bit of embarassment at having done so without really studying. Big failure on her part!