Earning Your Wings
by DesireToFly
First published
Two talented pegasus colts are given a second chance to live an honest life.
Ace and Bolt are two young colts that have no family or money, just each other. They are forced to steal food to survive on the streets of Manehattan until authorities receive complaints about the two miscreants. Ace and Bolt are eventually left with no other decision, but to continue their living someplace else. However, along the way, they are stopped and forced to recompense to the community for their crimes. During their time of paying back to the community, Ace and Bolt discover their meaning of existence and the whereabouts of their past. Only by earning the right to have such gifted wings will they understand their true talent as gifted pegasi.
Survival
It was early, about 6 am. The sun was just breaking over the tall buildings of Manehattan and warming the countryside. The streets were empty and almost all of the ponies were still sound asleep, it being the weekend and all. However, one pony, still yawning, managed her way out of her apartment building and headed off to her bakery, about five blocks away.
In an across from the bakery were two young talented Pegasus colts, both at the young age of 10, as of today. Ace was a very calm, quiet, and relaxed colt that could out fly any pony, as least that he knew of. He was best known for never being caught while stealing. Bolt, on the other hoof, was smart, more observant, and talkative than Ace. He knew exactly what to do in any situation. Bolt was also a very gifted flyer, but he was in no comparison to Ace. Bolt had a long straight white mane and a dark yellow coat white white tipped feathers. Ace had a long wavy black mane and a dark navy blue coat with white tipped feathers as well.
As far as they knew, they had no father, mother, brother, sister, or any relative for that matter. Their memory of family , from when they were even younger, was completely blank. In fact, Ace and Bolt didn’t even know their real names. They simply gave one another the names “Ace” and “Bolt,” based on what they were good at.
They’ve been together for as long as they can remember. What was very unusual about these colts, is that they had yet to discover their super special talent. Yes, neither one of them had their cuttie mark.
Ace and Bolt were huddled together for warmth in a box in an alley. It was a cloudless night, so sleeping on the ground was the only option for the two pegasi. Bolt was easily woken by the sound of keys jingling as the young pony, leaving her apartment, walked by the alley that sheltered them for the night.
“Ace…Ace! Common wake up, we’re gonna miss our opportunity,” said Bolt. “Forget it, just let me sleep,” Ace mumbled. “Common Ace, we’re just in time, look!” Bolt pulled Ace to his hooves and pointed out their target as she was getting ready to open her shop. “If we’re gonna celebrate our birthday, we’re gonna need a cake right?” Bolt egging Ace on. “Do you really think that robbing a lady on our birthday will cheer me up after waking me so early.” Ace mumbled as he dropped back into the pile of newspapers. “Well course, it’s early, she’s probably really tired and there’s no other pony in sight, this is the perfect chance.”
Ace never liked the idea of robbing another pony, unless it was for food. A strong sense of injustice would always come over him before he made a robbery. He becoming quite use to thieving, but in a moral sense, it just didn’t seem right. Ace was almost ashamed of having wings for this specific reason.
Ace slowly lifted his head from the crumbled up newspaper bed and stared up at Bolt, who was eyeing the pony across the street. The two colts peeked their heads out and around the wall corner and stared at the pony shuffling through her keys to open the shop’s door. “Can’t we at least go for a swim first, this alleys filthy, and I think I have something stuck in my ear,” Ace complained. “Nonsense, look, just stick to the plan that I told you last night, and we’ll have ourselves a tasty meal …It’s been a while since we’ve had a good meal and I’m tired of having to scavenge for apple cores in dumpster after dumpster late at night when we should be asleep. Please Ace, let this be my birthday present to you.” Bolt’s voice became softer and more sincere as he tried to convince his brother. Ace hugged his beloved brother to comfort him, “The only thing I need is you, to watch my back and never leave me. To me, that would be the best birthday present I could ever recive.” Bolt smiled as a small tear rolled down his cheek. He shook his head trying to hide his emotion and returned the smile with another to Ace.
The bakery mare was now at the front door of her shop. Ace and Bolt stealthily stepped out from the alley and stretched out their wings in the warm morning sun, getting ready to go through with their plan. Bolt ran into the street just after Ace snuck around the bakery to work his way in some bushes in the front. The second she opened the door with her keys, Bolt yelled out “Please miss I need your help! My friend hurt himself and he’s not moving, please follow me!” The mare, without hesitation, left her shop open and unattended as she rushed to follow Bolt. Bolt lead her around the street corner and took her several blocks away, giving Ace plenty of time to make his move.
Ace quickly flew into the bakery and picked out a fresh batch of cupcakes and the biggest cake he could find. He lifted the cake carefully and balanced it on his back while he held onto the cupcakes with his hooves. He flew as fast as he could out the door, without dropping anything, and made his way to the roof of the tall bank building across the street.
Meanwhile, Bolt lead the pony behind him far enough from the bakery of what he thought was necessary. He quickly ditched her in the street and bolted around another building to hide behind. The bakery mare stopped in the middle of the street, puzzled of where the young colt went. Bolt figured that Ace should’ve had plenty of time to steal something as he slowly snuck away to go meet his brother.
Ace and Bolt meet each other on the roof of the city bank and gazed at the delicious looking treats.“Hahaha, we’re getting too good at this!” Bolt sunk his face into the delicious chocolate cake and flapped his wings with excitement. Ace stared at Bolt’s wings as they flapped, only to be reminded of what they were using their wings for. Ace looked at his own wings and was ashamed of eating something that didn’t belong to him. But couldn’t refuse something so tasty, especially since this was the first full meal for over three days. Ace looked forward only to notice that Bolt had stopped eating, only to be looking at him with confused look. “You gonna eat that?” Bolt asked. Ace simply smiled and ate his share, trying to forget about what they had done.
Ace and Bolt continued their trickery over and over again on unsuspecting ponies working fruit and vegetable stands . As weeks passed, their expertise in robbery grew strong. However, city authorities started receiving complaints of these two miscreants and eventually put out a for the two ponies offering a small, but satisfying reward for their capture. It wasn’t long until Bolt’s keen eye caught sight of these drawings of what vaguely looked them on light posts and carriage pick-up stops. Bolt suggested that they needed to leave Manehattan as soon as possible and continue their thieving someplace else. Ace couldn’t of cared less, because he believed that he was invincible to the authorities. Ace was never a pony for arguments so he agreed with Bolt.
Late one night, Bolt opened a map of Equestria that he had stool from a tourist earlier, to look over with Ace. Ace had trouble sounding out some of the cities, but Bolt helped him with that. One town, in the center of the map, caught their eye in particular. “We’ve never been there, how bout it?” Suggest Bolt. Ace simply smiled and nodded yes. It was decided, they would leave for Ponyville early in the morning, undetected.
It was still dark when Ace and Bolt left early the next morning to make their way to Ponyville. As they walked on for a couple of hours through the forest separating Manehatten and Ponyville, the sun finally broke over the mountains to warm the earth. However, the forest trees shaded the colts from the warm morning sun. Flying over them wasn’t an option, because they feared they would be seen. “It’s ffre freeezzing… I didn’t th th think Ponyville was th this far ffrrrrom Manehatan.” Complained Bolt. They both walked on for a little longer until they were able to make out a small clearing in the path that lead out of the forest.
Once they reached the end of the path that lead out of the forest, they stopped to gaze at the beautiful scenery that surrounded Ponyville. The mountains, hills, lakes, and meadows looked as if they were pulled straight out of a story book. Bolt’s mouth hung open as if he was staring at the gates of heaven. Ace simply wondered ,’why hadn’t he journeyed here earlier?’ Living here was bound to be more pleasant than in the dirty streets of Manehattan. “I’ve made up my mind Bolt, from here on out, we will never rob another pony again.” Ace declared. Bolt frowned as he came back to. “I wish it could be that way, but how in the world are we going to pay for food?” “I don’t care, I’m done with having to resort to crime to simply get by in life. There’s more than one of us, so there’s gotta be something we can do to earn money. We’ll find jobs if that’s what it takes to earn a living. Plus we’ll have a fresh start, we won’t have to hide from everypony.” Bolt agreed, but only because he had never heard Ace say so much at one time.
Ponyville was now in clear view and the two colts grew very excited . “Hey!” yelled an unknown voice. Bolt stopped in his tracks while Ace turned to see who it was. The voice came from a tall and broad stallion that was wearing a heavy suit of armor. “You two look familiar, stay right there.” Order the guard. Ace and Bolt froze with fear, as the stallion walked over to them.
Capture
Ace and Bolt stopped dead in their tracks at the guard's orders. Not once have they ever seen such authority and strength from one stallion. "We were just on our way to Ponyville, don't mind us hehe." Ace eyed the guard’s every step that he took towards them. Bolt scooted himself close to Ace to whisper in his ear. “I’ll take off for the woods, go on ahead to Ponyville. If we split up, he’ll never be able to catch us.” Ace just nodded his, still eyeing the guard. " I have a lot of questions to ask you, don't move," ordered the guard. Bolt ignored the orders and took off, headed towards the woods. Ace did the same, but only off towards Ponyville. The guard stood in disbelief for a moment, then sounded a horn that he carrier around his neck.
Bolt flew into the woods looking for a place to hide. He took cover in a thick bush to avoid being seen. The guard that had sounded the horn earlier was now accompanied with two other guards. Bolt was careful not to make a sound and kept himself low to the ground as the guards passed him by. As Bolt slowly turned around to sneak away, he accidently stepped on a snake. The snake reacted immediately and sunk its fangs into Bolt's hoof. Bolt yelled out in pain as he shook his leg violently to get the snake off of him.
Ace quickly took off in the opposite direction of Bolt, heading towards Ponyville. Ace quickly glanced to his right, only to noticed a number of similar looking pegasi guards coming from a distant could, an odd looking cloud. It seemed much larger than the rest in the sky and had large distinct rectangular shapes that casted shadows of what seemed to look like building structures. Ace looked forward and learned that he was now entering the streets of Ponyville.
Ace made his way around several houses heading off to the Western part of town. Before he knew it, there were at least ten guards trailing less than fifty feet behind. Ace had never been chased by ponies with such skill and strength. Ace panicked and darted for the center of town, where it was the most crowed. Every pony in town was out shopping, running their daily errands. Soon, crowds of ponies were staring at the young pony as he darted his way around the ponies in his way. He was hoping to eventually slow down and blend in with the crowd in chance to lose the guards behind him.
The second Ace started to slow down to ditch the guards every pony backed away from him and stared, avoiding any close contact with him. As he flapped his wings to take off again, one guard rushed towards Ace and bit down on his tail. Ace flinched in pain and crashed underneath the guards weight. The guard tumbled behind him and . Once Ace came to a stop, one of the other guards landed on Ace's wing only to give Ace immense pain. He shrieked with agony and refused to forth any more effort to get away. It just wasn't possible, this couldn't be happening, he was caught.
"I've got him, he's not going anywhere." said the guard on top of Ace. "You’re a fast little guy aren't cha?" teased the injured pegasus guard that brought him down. "We have word that your companion has already been caught, you're in quite a lot of trouble." Ace was enraged and struggled with all his might despite the pain in his wing. It didn't matter, the guards were strong and twice his size. Ace started to cry as he grasped the fact that he was utterly helpless. He had no strength left in him, it was over.
The little fillies of Cloudsdale were practicing their flying techniques, and Rainbow Dash was showing off her moves in front of everyone, as usual. Even Fluttershy was out today, struggling to stay airborne. Rainbow Dash stopped as she noticed to colts bullying her innocent friend Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash flew over to confront the bullies. "Leave her alone," she ordered. "Ohhh, whataya goona do Rainbow Crash?" Hoops said mockingly. "Keep makin fun of her and find out," Dash retaliated. "You think ur such a big shot, why don'tcha prove it?" Dumbbell commanded. "Whadaya have in mind?" she said with confidence.
The three fillies made their way over to the small obstacle course made for the young ponies at the camp. They took their positions at the starting line and waited for Fluttershy to wave the flag to signal the start of the race. "Ur goin down," said Hoops. "In history mabey!" Dash said excitedly. Young spectators crowded around to watch the race. Dash could only lick her lips with excitement, waiting for the race to begin. Fluttershy lifter her head and waved the flag to signal the start. All three ponies took off as fast as they could to the first ring.
After the first major turn, Dumbbell failed to properly maneuver through the fourth flight gate and crashed into a sky pillar. Dash had never flown like this before, it was unlike anything she had ever felt. The adrenaline and the wind in her main only fueled the fire of her excitement for flying. After Dash passed through the eleventh flight ring, Hoops purposely hit Dash from behind, causing her to lose the lead. "Later Rainbow Crash," yelled Hoops. She was furious but continued on and accelerated faster and faster with each passing ring. Dash flew to the final flight ring located all the way at ground level. Flying as fast as she was while flying down only increased her speed to the very limit.
She was filled with happiness and she felt the desire for speed consumed her train of thought. Dash blew past Hoops while reaching almost impossible speeds. A mach cone surrounded her body and ripped through the sound barrier. She had performed the legendary sonic rainboom as she went through the final ring. The blast of static rainbow stretched out from the point where Dash broke the sound barrier and blew across all of Cloudsdale. The blast went for miles and headed for Ponyville.
Ace was laid helpless on the ground. The guards surrounding him were getting ready to take him to who knows where.
The wave of warm colored energy rushed towards the town. Everypony stood in awe as the wave of war color rushed past them. The guards lowered their heads to prepare themselves for the unknown. The wave engulfed Ace's worn out body and gave him what felt like new life. He opened his eyes wide with anticipation. The new sensation was indescribable. He felt a warn powerful energy that oddly enough made him feel happy. It charged every cell of his body. This was his chance to escape.
The guard, still on top of him, was dazed by the blast and unaware for what was about to happen. Ace wiggled out from under the guard, just enough to have the chance to bite down on his leg. The guard yelled out in pain as he pulled his leg off of Ace's wings. Ace rolled over onto his hooves to flap his wings. Even the pain in his right wing seemed to have subsided after the unknown blast.
He darted off and slipped between two nearby houses to start his get-away. He weaved around house after house hoping to shake the guards off of his tail. Eventually, he soon after found himself leaving Ponyville. He looked back, only to see that the well trained guards were still following him, not too far behind. The experienced guards had dealt with criminals before, but no pony had ever escaped their hooves quite like this
Ace suddenly started to feel his hind legs stretch from the rest of his body and noticed a change in wind pattern around his body. A cone of air had taken shape and grew in size as he accelerated. Ace didn't even bother looking back to see if the guards were still there. Nothing in Equestria could stop him now.
As Ace continued on, he slowly started feel the immense pain coming back to his wing. Ace was putting too much force on his already injured wing. Flying as fast as he was wasn't helping. He didn't care though, losing the guards for good and finding his brother were his only priorities. Ace glanced back, horrified to see that the guards were gaining on him. The guards were going to make Ace tire himself by forcing him to use all of his energy to get away. After all, they did had the biggest advantage, endurance. Ace had incredible speed, but he could only maintain it for a short time.
As Ace's pain grew, the cone of air faded away. He was becoming exhausted, and his newly attained energy seemed to have vanished. He slowly started to lose altitude as he gave up his escape. His body had had enough and wouldn't let him carry on any longer.
Ace plummeted to earth, almost unconscious at this point. Even flapping his wings to keep himself in the air was too difficult of a task.
A yellow light suddenly covered his body and halted him in mid air. His eyes were barely open, but he could definitely tell that somepony was using magic to stop him. Ace was slowly lowered to the ground and placed in front of a radiant pony. Ace couldn't see too well, but he could tell that she had both wings and a horn and was even taller than the guards.
The guards landed just behind Ace to confirm the capture and confront their princess. Ace knew that he had to get away, but he just too weak to resist any longer. "Rest now young colt," said the bright pony in front of him. He was calmed by this mother-like voice and gave in by closing his eyes. The magic coating his body felt like a warm blanket that made him sleepy. The image his brother was the last thing that went through his mind before the young worn out colt fell asleep. Maybe this itself was a dream, or as he saw it, a terrible nightmare.