I'm getting frustrated with this dream. I know I'm being shown what happened. But getting owned so badly by Discord is pretty disheartening. Once again I'm in blackness and Lightning Dust comes up to me.
"Are we going to fight, Lightning?"
She pauses for a moment. "I don't want to fight you. That would be me fighting me. You are me, I am you."
I look at her through narrowed eyes. I flex my fingers. "Are you still insistent on going back to Equestria?"
She looks down. "I've thought about what you said, and what you said during the day today. You really don't know how to get back home?"
"I am home Lightning."
This earns a glare, "You know what I mean!" she says acidly.
"I do not know how to get to Equestria."
"If you were given the chance to get there, would you?"
I think about it for a minute. "I don't know."
"What about all the ponies that are spread out all over your world? What about them? Do you remember your oath as a Wonderbolt?"
Memories start flooding my mind, along with a piercing pain. I grab my head with my hands and end up on my knees. I howl in pain. After what feels like an eternity of this pain, it’s gone as though it was never there. I look at her. "I'll help any pony I can help. I have resources, I have the ability to help. I will do everything I can."
"I know that." Her body is starting to fade. Her voice gets an ephemeral quality. "If Rainbow Dash hadn't gotten the element of Loyalty, I'm pretty sure it would have chosen us. We won't let the ponies down, just like we won't let our family down. We will save Equestria. Equestria isn't the land. Equestria is the ponies that live there. The land may be lost, but so long as the ponies exist, Equestria exists." She's fading faster now. And I can feel…something. I look down, light blue hooves, I feel wings extend. I'm in control. I am Michael Shaw, I am Lightning Dust. We are one. Our goals are the same. Now one pony exists in this dream, our goals aren't different, in fact, they never were. We will be the protectors of Equestria, even if it's here, on this Earth. We will help these ponies. Though I'll admit, I can feel the desire to kick Discord's flank from here back to the Everfree forest. I smile as I fade from the dream myself.
My eyes open, I glance at the clock, it's five in the morning. I am a pony now. I am Lightning. I smile and I feel electricity crackle along my body, lighting up the room. I don't do anything with it, I just fondle the power inside me. "I will protect the ponies." I smile as I let sleep take me once again, I am a Wonderbolt. We are so much more than a performance team, we are more than athletes, we are the tip of the spear. First into danger. Our bodies against the desolation of war. No matter what form it takes, we will be there.
***
The morning sun lights up my room. I'm feeling pretty well rested. I look over at my wife. She is still just as beautiful as the day I married her. I frown for a moment. I remember growing up in Baltimare. I remember growing up in Corpus Christi. I remember my parents. And after thinking, I know two sets of parents, human and pony. I have her memories, at least some of them. I'm thinking it will be a while before everything is integrated together. I look down. Yes, I'm a pony. Memories from the night flood into me. I smile again. At least her memories on flying are there. I need to practice. I lean over and kiss my wife, she murmurs happily in her sleep. I shift the covers and try to stand up. Only to firmly plant my face on the floor. Okay, now I have to master walking on four legs. I think for a moment and move slowly. Left front, right rear, right front, left rear, repeat… After several shaky steps I am able to shamble from one side of the room to the other. After about ten minutes muscle memory is starting to take effect. I walked like this for over twenty years, I can do it again. I try thinking about other things while I'm walking. And amazingly, it has the desired effect. I can trot. Then I have to concentrate to avoid the centipede conundrum, don't think about it, and it will happen. After a bit I trot over to Soarin's room. A knock and I use a hoof to open the door, thanking God that I had specified lever type door handles in the house when it was built. He's awake.
"Morning Soarin." I smile at him. "You are now one hundred percent genuine pegasus pony."
He looks at me. "Don't I know it. How are you walking? I tried to walk and ended up on my face. It was horrible trying to get back into bed."
I smile. "So did I, but remember, we were ponies before we came here. The programming is still inside our skulls, we just have to figure out how to access it. C'mon." I use my teeth to grab the covers and yank them off the bed. "Today, we are going to fly."
Fear. "Are you sure we can?"
"Of course we can, Soarin, we did before Discord banished us, let’s figure it out and get busy flying. I've got a new pair of wings, and I'm dying to try them out." I extend my wings and feel my power. I play with it again, and the power crackles among my feathers, causing Soarin to shrink back.
"What the hell are you doing?"
I smile. "I don't know if we will have to deal with fighting anypony, but I will be ready. You remember when Dad taught you how to fire a gun, despite you hating using them?"
He nods.
"Same principle, better to be ready for the worst and have the best happen, than prepare for the best, and have the worst happen. We are going to fly today, Soarin. Let's go."
With a sigh, Soaring hops out of bed and trots to the door. Then a look of wonder crosses his face. "Hey, I'm doing it… ooof," he says as his legs get tangled and he goes down. He looks at me sheepishly. "Note to self, don't think, just do. It's natural."
"Exactly."
After successfully navigating the stairs, Soaring creeping down the stairs slowly, and me taking a running leap over the railing and half way gliding to the floor. We laugh as we enter the kitchen.
"Hi Dad, Hi Uncle Soarin." My son has a bowl of cereal and milk in his hand.
"Hey Dylan, want to do some driving?"
This gets a big smile, my son has been bugging me to start driving for months. I've taught him the basics, and he's pretty good with it, but he's still clueless with a manual transmission. I'm going to have to work on that with him, but for now…
"Breakfast first?"
***
Due to my son's inability to drive stick shift, we take my wife's SUV. In about half an hour of driving, we are in the middle of nowhere. Soarin and I hop out of the SUV.
"So, Lightning, how do we fly?"
"Umm, I don't know," I extend my wings. "Can't be that hard, birds do it, other pegasi do it. We can do it." I give myself an experimental flap. Nothing.
I hold my wings out and look at Soarin. "Come on college girl, did you take aerodynamic theory in school?"
Soaring gives me a dirty look. "I wasn't a hard science major, I was a business and computer major, I didn't take all those science classes." He flaps his wings a few times. "Damn it, I have his memories of flying, but they aren't on how to fly, just flying."
I sigh. "Same here."
Well, I understand the basic mechanics of flight. The stuff you learn in grade school. I examine my extended wings, marveling at how my neck is long enough to allow me to examine my wings so well. Oh crap, am I going to have to preen these things? Memories of wing care surface. Well, at least Lightning remembers the specifics of wing maintenance. I feel the way they move, and it's a completely new sensation to me. I experiment for a while, ignoring the chuckling from my son.
After a bit his laughing gets the better of me, I look at him. "Keep yukking it up, kiddo, and I'll tell 'Uncle' Soarin how fascinated you were with your feet as a baby." That gets him to shut up. But it doesn't stop him smiling.
"Dad, it really is funny to see you move your wings around like that." He comes forward and gently presses my wings, pushing them into a better airfoil shape. Once they are in that shape, it suddenly feels natural. I smile at him as I flap my wings. I feel the ground recede from my hooves. Dylan moves over to Soarin and does the same with him. In moments we are both in the air.
Flying around in circles is pretty nice and all, but let's see what else I can do. I was a stunt pony, hell, we were stunt ponies. I call over to Soarin, "Race you to that cloud!" He looks over where I'm pointing, about a mile away and about a thousand feet above us is a nice sized cloud.
"You're on!"
We streak off, I can hear my son whooping and hollering as we gain altitude and accelerate. Well, if I have to become a pony, a pegasus is the right pony to be. I'm howling in delight as we get to the cloud. I wonder if pegasi can land on clouds here in this world. Let's find out. I'm letting my muscle memories take over as I backpedal my wings and slow down. It's not a perfect landing, but I'm on all fours, on the cloud. I trot around what feels like firm fluff to me. I turn to Soarin, who's hovering above the cloud.
"I see it, Lightning, but I don't believe it."
"Dude, we are pegasi, we are masters of the weather. Cloud walking? That's foals play." I grin hugely as I sit comfortably on the cloud.
"Well, I have to give this a shot." He gingerly sets a hoof on the cloud, after sinking in an inch or two, it holds his weight.
"Awesome!"
"I know, right?"
"I'm not done flying yet."
Soarin smiles. "I thought you would say that Lightning, let's enjoy this."
For most of the day, Soarin and I keep flying.
Finally, we end up back on the ground.
"Dylan, you go ahead and drive home, we'll meet you there."
"Dad, I need someone old enough to drive in the car with me."
That gives me pause, I want to keep flying. I look at Soarin. "Wanna ride back bro?"
He sighs. "Yeah, I can use a break, you've always been in the air more than I have. I do remember that."
They load in the vehicle and Dylan slowly drives off. I spread my wings. I love this, I've got to fly. I take off and head straight up. In moments I can see town. I can also feel the magnetic north. As a human my sense of direction was excellent, and now, it's ten times better. I streak north, heading for town. I see the SUV from above. I swoop down and buzz my son and Soarin. I get a honk for my trouble. Then I really take off, I look back, I've got the same trail behind me that I saw in my episodes on the show. This is how you fly. I perform a barrel roll, flying. Lightning is back.
***
Landing in the back yard, I trot inside the house.
"I'm home," I call out.
"Where is your son and brother?" my wife asks me.
I smile. "Driving back."
That stops her, it takes her mind a minute to reboot. "You flew?"
I spread my wings and did a classic Rainbow Dash pose, big grin, head down, legs spread in an aggressive stance. "You know it." I then, I swear to God, squeed, just like a character from the show.
"Was it fun, honey?"
"Oh my God, it was so fun. I'm really glad I can fly now."
"I'll tell you, I'm starving. Flying all morning really worked up an appetite." I flap my wings gently and hover. I like this. I can hover around the house now. I head for the kitchen. "Any leftovers from dinner?"
She looks uncertain for a moment as she follows me into the kitchen. "Uhhh, yes."
I nose open the fridge and see the glass pan on the shelf, grabbing it carefully in my teeth, I transfer it to the counter. Then I'm stuck. How do I get some of that delicious food onto a plate? I'm standing there with my brain locked up. What the fuck do I do? Then a pale hand with a spatula spoons out some dinner and puts in on a plate. I look at my wife gratefully.
"I love you honey."
She smiles back at me as she turns on the microwave.
I notice the smells wafting from the cooking food in the microwave, my mouth waters."Yup."
As my now brother and son enter the kitchen, I'm polishing the plate, forgoing utensils, I simply lapped up the enchiladas. That was good.
"Honey, you are a pony now, right?"
I frown. "Yes."
"And ponies are herbivores?"
"Yes."
"You just ate chicken, were you aware of that?"
I pause, looking at the licked clean plate, then back at my wife. I take a moment to think. "It was good."
Soarin looks at my wife. "There isn't much grazing when flying over water, Helen, it's a nice thing to be a pegasus."
I look at my brother, and back at my wife. A big smile on my face. "I can still eat meat." Another squee from me.
Soarin looks sharply at me. "Did you just squee like in the show?"
I just do it again.
I hear the electric chime of a phone. It's not mine.
My brother trots over to his phone.
"I just got a text." He runs his hoof over the screen, with no response. "Argh, how the heck can I use my phone? I don't have fingers anymore."
I glance at my son. "You still have a DS? You have the stylus from it?"
My son nods and runs to his room, in moments my brother is holding the stylus in his mouth as he checks the message.
"It's from Jim, he must have gotten Chuck to give him my new number. He's in Montana. He needs my help."
"Jim?" I look to my wife. "Texting would be faster if you do the typing honey."
She takes the phone and asks where he is.
In moments the phone beeps again. "The rest stop between Billings and Miles City on I-94"
My brother looks at me. "How long will it take to get there?"
I think for a moment. "Us, flying, about half an hour if we fly fast without pushing too hard. By car, about an hour and a half. You know what we are going through, can you tell him to bug off?"
I get a sharp look for that. "Lightning, I've known Jim for years. College, remember? I'm not going to abandon a friend in need."
I look over to my wife. "Can you follow us in the car? We can fly ahead and meet you there." I trot to my bedroom, after a few minutes of searching, I come up with the strap on phone case that my daughter got for me to strap my phone to when running. I get the phone in it, and slide a stylus under the strap. In moments I'm ready to go.
We both take off and head for our destination. We can talk while flying. That's a nice thing.
"Soarin, I don't think you've mentioned Jim very much. I know I've heard the name before, but what's he like?"
"He's a fun guy, smart, lively. Very fun to be around."
"How old is he?"
Soarin thinks for a moment, "I think he's my age?"
"Is it possible he's twenty five and just turned a few days ago?"
"Are you saying he's turned into a pony?"
"I'm thinking we can't discount the possibility. But we need to be careful, we'll land nearby, and walk in."
We continue flying in silence, shortly we are over the highway, those silly humans, confined to the road while the pegasi can fly wherever we wish. I grin at that. I notice the sun, it's on its way down to the horizon. We will be getting there around sundown. That is perfect. I spot the rest stop and point to a good landing point. We are going to have to walk through some trees. Good cover for ponies.
Landing softly I look over at Soarin. "You saw where it is, I'll circle to the west, you to the east. We'll meet in the middle. Be ready. I don't know what this Jim will think of us being ponies. If I wave you off, we'll just wait for my wife to arrive, keeping an eye on him."
"Why do you think he might be a pony like us?"
“You remember the rhyme? Five Score divided by Four. That is the number twenty five."
"I know that, but you are ten years older than that.”
I smile at Soarin as the sun finally sets, "Yeah, and I just tried to push him a decade out of time, and I was the one pushed instead. If anypony is going to be turning, they will likely be twenty five, with a birthday around May First."
Soarin looks thoughtful. "Sounds about right, pretty smart Lightning." He trots off.
It takes about ten minutes, but I find myself in the trees around the rest area. I swivel my ears around. Trotting through the trees I wade through the snow, one nice thing about snow is it muffles sounds when it's pretty deep. Especially when the pony isn't trotting, but hovering. I eventually notice a figure in a hoodie and heavy jacket. I look over to the east, I see Soarin coming in. The figure is intently looking at the entrance. Not paying attention around him. I'm almost close enough to touch him. I smile.
"Five score Divided by Four" I say loudly.
"Holy shit!" The figure falls to the ground and scrambles away from me.
I land and trot up to him. "Are you Jim?"
Too large eyes widen. I smile, I was right. I wave Soarin over.
"M-Maddie?"
I smirk. "Wrong sibling."
Soarin speaks up. "I was Maddie, I'm Soarin now."
There is nothing but fear from this almost pony. "I was Mike, now I'm Lightning Dust."
He lifts a protohoof. "So, you." He points at me. "Were Mike, and now you are the mare, Lightning Dust. And you," His hoof shifts to Soarin, "were Maddie, and now you are Soarin, a stallion?"
We both nod.
"And you are?"
He looks down. "I was Jim. But I am not anymore. I'm Lightning Flash."
The name makes me sit down heavily. "The Wonderbolt reservist, Lightning Flash?"
He looks unsure and nods.
He's bowled over in a hug from me. "You helped me in the battle against Discord! I sent you lightning bolts for you to direct back at him so we could attack from both sides at once."
"Are you sure? I mean I've had some pretty vivid dreams the last few nights."
"Dude, those weren't dreams, they were memories" Soarin says.
"Huh, that actually happened?" Flash looks confused.
"Best as we can determine, yes." I respond. "I mean, I talked to my pony self after seeing the battle."
"I did something similar. That's how I learned my name."
I look at him. "Lightning Flash, I know you guys were in the battle, how did you make it another day?"
He looks down. "When you, Lightning Dust, and you, Soarin, along with Spitfire, were hit by Discord, we had to scatter. There was nothing we could do. He was just too powerful. You know the other magic user pegasus?"
We nod.
"His was hit right after Spitfire. With the loss of you four, we had no choice." I see tears starting to form. "He was so powerful." He sits down in the snow. "I lasted most of a day until Discord finally got me. I will never forget that feeling knowing I was a fly looking at a fly swatter coming at me."
I put a hoof on his shoulder. "We will make this work." I'm interrupted by the headlights of a vehicle exiting the highway into the rest area. I know the sound of that vehicle. "It's my wife."
"What does she think of what's happening to you, Dust?"
I sigh. "She doesn't like it, but it's not like we have any choice. We love each other, so we are going to stay together."
"What about when you go back to Equestria?"
"I don't know if I'm going back, I don't even know if we can get back. My goal is to find as many ponies as we can find, and we will protect them."
"That's you, Lightning Dust, ever the protector." This earns a glare from me as my wife pulls into a parking space.
"Your wings aren't ready to fly yet, Flash. Soarin here will teach you how to fly tomorrow."
"What will you be doing tomorrow Dust?" Flash asks.
"Me? I'm going to work," I say as I hover over to my wife and give her a kiss. "Take care of him for me honey, I'm going to fly home." I look at him, he's smiling, but I can see the fear on his face. I get close to my wife and murmur, "I can tell he's terrified. Let's get him home, and fed. And tomorrow we can talk more to him and find out what's been going on."
She nods and smiles a knowing smile. "And listen in to everything he says to Maddie?"
"I know why I married you."
I get a hand cupping my muzzle. "In case you don't remember honey, I chose you."
I laugh as they all pile in the car. I take off. I have to think while I fly home.