Freefall Into Happenstance - Excerpt from Ch1

She smiled, taking the scroll from her bag. "I've flown once in a hot air balloon, so this'll be my second go around. First time with a set of wings though." She winked. After a moment she cleared her throat, concentrating on the scroll. She stared at it for some time while mumbling to herself, and suddenly her horn came to life. It fizzled and popped, and her brow was wet with sweat. Her hair began to whir around her and she was encapsulated in a soft glow. Then just as suddenly as the spell began, it was finished and the light flickered out.

She reached up to wipe her forehead, and landed a smack in the face. "Ow..." she slowly lifted her hoof up to try again. “Well, I think it worked. My foreleg is a lot lighter than it should be..." her face flushed in embarrassment.

Approaching her, Light couldn't really tell there was much different with her, but he was so enthralled with the process of the spell that he didn't really study the before and after effects. There was, however, one way to test it out. "Do you mind?" He asked, and upon receiving her acknowledgement, he carefully placed his forehooves under her belly and lifted her up...and up she went! Not really thinking about the spell, he used all his strength to lift her, and ended up flinging her in the air about 12 ft.

Rory let out a yelp as she went careening across the field, landing -oh- so gracefully on her back. "AH! GENTLY PLEASE?!?" She yelled, sitting up and rubbing her sore rump. "I really hope I don't regret this." Shaking her head and standing on all fours (carefully) she began walking back to Light. She stopped a moment, before crouching and leaping into the air and landing with the same poise as her earlier fall.

Face flushed, Light scooped her up in his forelegs as he leaped into the air."I know this may be a bit, well, intimate, for just meeting, but if you wrap your hooves around my neck, this shouldn't be a problem at all. That spell has literally made you about as heavy as a sack of potatoes." His wings worked gracefully through the night as he turned upward about 45 degrees, and heading back toward the direction of Ponyville. After a while, helped Rory shift around so that she was riding piggy-back, making it a little easier for him to navigate (though he still held her forelegs for extra security). He turned his head down slightly to catch her eye, an ear dropped as he quietly said "Sorry about that, forgot about the spell I suppose. Are you OK?"

Still clinging for dear life around his neck, Rory sighed, burying her face in his long mane. She stayed like that for a moment before working up the courage to look down again. "It's alright. I might be a little sore tomorrow, but nothing serious." She couldn't put her finger on his scent, but it was relaxing. Peering over his shoulder to the ground below, she could see tiny lights as they made their way up to the clouds. Eyes wide with wonder, she carefully let one hoof go for a moment, touching the soft white bodies flying past them. "Wow...." she felt a slight jolt and quickly jerked her leg back around his neck.

Light Heart smiled as he could sense her wonder at the sensation she was probably feeling. Even though he preferred to walk around everywhere in towns, he truly loved flying, and can only imagine what it must have felt like for her. He slowed his ascent slightly as he took a small detour to skim the cloud tops, letting the poofy balls of fluff hover just below them. He tightened his grip on her, feeling that she wouldn't mind the extra security despite how intimate the contact was. He said softly to her. "Let a hoof down, and drop it into the cloud. Let it meander, using the tip of your hoof to carve into the cloud tops. You are an artist, let's see what you can do...just tell me when and where to turn..."

Her face flushed a bit, but she did as she was instructed. She gently dipped a hoof in, squealing in delight, and her smile was so wide it almost hurt. Instructing him to take a few slight curves and dips, she got a little more adventurous as she was immersed in her work. She shaped and 'carved' her way round and finally when she thought she was done, she wrapped her hoof back around him. "Fly straight down, I want you to see it."

He nodded and changed direction once more and once they were well below her creation, he stopped. Looking up, Rory had created a crude image of Princess Luna in the clouds, her mane flowing organically as the white fluffy masses, with stars overhead twinkling in various patches, just as if it were her real mane. Satisfied, Rory smiled. "I wish I had a camera for this... I don't know that I'll ever get to make anything like this again."

"Just do what I do when I see beautiful things up here in the night sky. Take a nice, long, look. Pull in everything: The design you created, the stars above it, and the moonlight cascading down around it. Take it all in. Then close your eyes. Remember it. Burn it into your brain, but don't open your eyes again. Then, you just leave..." He watched her carefully, and saw that she was complying with him as he softly spoke the instructions. As her eyes closed, he resumed his original flight path, cutting through her amazing creation straight through Luna’s eye.

She didn't know this however, as he too, followed his instructions. It was nothing short of stunning, and he knew that he would probably never again see anything quite like it. But he wouldn't let this scene be forgotten. And part of that scene, in the corner of /his/ image, was her face, beaming in delight.

With her eyes closed, all her other senses heightened. The cool rush of wind blowing past them as Light picked up speed, and their manes flicking around and tickling her nose... the fresh, damp smell and soft texture of the clouds touching her coat, the near-silence and peace that came with the absolute solitude. She finally opened her eyes again at all the twinkling town lights below them, the rivers and streams all looked like a toy model. And above her there was a view of the stars the likes of which she'd never seen before. Breathtaking was an understatement. Her heart raced in her chest, her ears perked and her eyes were wide.

"Thank you..." She whispered, unsure if he'd even hear her.