I had been training to fly again as often as Rose would allow. I had become pretty good at hovering and was getting very close to be able to fly for more than a few minutes at a time again.

The wing Rose had made we was slowly starting to rust from how much it was exposed to the elements. Rose had set about making me another one but progress was slow since we didn’t have many things to melt down into material for my wing.

Rose had given me a note a day or so ago telling me that we would be going to a professional to get me a wing that would last for a much longer time. The trip would take us a couple of days assuming we weren’t attacked by bandits.

The day had progressed along and the sun was about to set. We had to make sure our house was secured as best as we could make it with what we had. Truthfully I had very low hopes for the defenses we put up. Most ponies would be able to give a good buck to the door and it would fly off it’s hinges.

I gave a not very hopeful look to Rose. She returned my gaze before tossing me a snack cake.

“Thanks.” I smiled a little as I unwrapped it and ate it. Rose nodded her head a little before turning and trotting off.

We trotted through the night and into the early morning before we stopped. What little food we had left had been gathered up for the trip. Over the years of living together Rose had somehow managed to obtain thousands of caps while she watched over me. I had no clue how she had managed to gather so many since she never let me out of her sight.

Our breakfast was a quick one but did give me time to relax. Walking for so long straight was not a fun task. I knew it would be worth it if I could get a wing that would last me for a long time. All I could think to myself was that one day I would be able to fly like I used to. I would be able to conquer the skies and get away from anything that tried to hurt me.

I smiled a little bit. Rose tilted her head backwards. I had lived with her long enough to know she was offering me a ride on her back. I nodded and jumped on her back. She whimpered a little. I had grown a lot heavier since the last time she carried me.

“Sorry. I forgot I’ve gotten bigger.” She smiled for a second before shaking her head and began to trot again.

I don’t know how long we had been walking but before too long had passed I fell asleep. I slept through most of the day for when I awoke the sun was about to go down.

“Wow.” I yawned. “How long was I asleep? Also where are we?”

“Welcome kid this is the place where you are going to get yourself a new wing.” I jumped backwards. My instincts had fully returned to me and I was in the air.

“Well almost seems like you don’t need a new wing at all. Seems the one you’ve got works just fine. But seeing as how you traveled all this way only seems fair to at least try to make you a new one. Come on in.” The stallion wore a black cloak that covered most of his body.

The stallion trotted off. Rose was sitting nearby. She looked like she was about to fall unconscious. She pointed in the direction of the smith and smiled. I smiled back and headed inside.

It took me a few seconds to catch up with the full grown stallion.

“Well kid. I have been tasked with making you a wing that isn’t going to rust. I figure that if you are paying for it I might as well make you what you want. Now the lady outside has already paid me to make you a wing much like your own. Except I will make your next one out of skysteel. It is much better and lighter for stuff like this. Now I am going to need your wing so I can make another like it.” He grabbed my wing and took it off.

“Now you can stay and watch me make this or you can go explore for a little while. You seem mature enough not to buck anything up.” He grabbed a key and unlocked the door in front of us.

“I think I would like to stay and watch you make it. I always wanted to be able to do stuff like that.” I stayed close.

He trotted over to a small table with what looked like a cloud on it. He pointed at a chair and I went over and sat down.

“Now I’m not going to explain everything to you just what you might need to know if you need to make something like this someday. We start with raw clouds. Trade secret on the type so just experiment if you get the chance. Next we pound this bit down by hoof until it is hard enough to withstand many things. Now give me a few minutes to work and then you can see what it looks like as we progress.” He continued working.

I sat quietly and watched him turn the cloud into something that generally resembled a wing. Every now and then he would show his work to me before returning to his craft.

After an hour or so he presented me the final design. “Now kid you need to be careful with this. It is made of skysteel and it has some pretty cool properties. For one it should be much lighter than that old iron wing you had so take it easy with flying until you get used to the weight. Secondly there is a sword blade here on the end. Your guardian or whatever she is asked me to make it so you had a way to defend yourself. Because apparently your magic is let’s say not fully under control. Let me help you to put this thing on.”

The metal touched my flesh. I was surprised that it was actually not burning me when I touched it.

“It’s a fine piece of work and should serve you well for a long time to come. Now I've got a question for you. Have you ever heard of the magic pegasi use?” He stood up.

“You mean the magic that makes us fly? I have heard of that. Rose taught me stuff that I should know.” I was still looking at my new wing.

“Well that isn’t the magic I was referring to. I was referring to empatha.” The stallion began trotting back towards where we had left Rose.

“Em.. Empatha?” I stopped looking at my wing to stare at him.

“Pegasi have special magic that allows them to do some very cool things. If you work at it you can make ice or fire pretty easily. Lighting is a hard one to do but you might be able to do that someday. Back to the point. This wing of yours will allow you to channel your empatha into it. This could potentially light it on fire or some other interesting things. So be careful and try not to get angry. I can’t have my name been tarnished because some kid that light himself on fire with one of my creations. Understand?” The stallion stopped.

I was too busy looking in amazement at my new wing.

“Hey kid.” He tapped one of his hooves on the ground.

I snapped out of it. “Yes sir. Understood.”

“Good. Now why don’t you go to Rose was it? And we can see about getting you to a place to stay for the night.” We resumed our trot.

“Ok. Thank you sir.” I glanced back at my wing as I folded it back to my side.

I threw myself into a hug around one of the stallion's legs.

“Little personal don’t you think?” He tried to pry me off.

“Oh sorry. I’m just so happy that my wing won’t rust anymore.” I didn’t let go.

“Yeah you're welcome kid. Now if you would refrain from doing something like that again that would be great.” He finally pried me free.

“Why? Do you not like hugs? I didn’t think that was possible.” I stared at him.

“It’s not that. Rose over there is giving me the death glare. I don’t think she is comfortable with you hugging me like that. Run along.” He pointed to her.

“Ok.” I returned to Rose.

She smiled warmly like she always did whenever I was happy.

“Thank you. Please don’t hurt him. It was me. I promise you that he wasn’t doing anything.” I gave Rose a hug.

She shook her head a little bit before yawning.

“The stallion said we could sleep here for the night if we like. I think we should. You seem really tired.” I grabbed one of her hooves.

For once I was the one to look into her eyes and not be the one who was subdued. She nodded tiredly before turning to the stallion.

“We have the barracks this way. It isn’t exactly the comfiest place but it’s all we’ve got left. So if you will follow me this way.” He turned to go and we followed him.

The barracks were small but had enough room that we would be able to sleep comfortably.

Rose flopped down onto one of the beds. I giggled for a few seconds thinking that was what I looked like everyday.

Another thought jumped into my mind. I reached into one of my saddlebags with my magic. I pulled out a book that I had always loved reading before bed.

I crawled up on Rose’s bed and presented the book to her. She looked at me a little bit confused.

“Would you like me to read for you. It always helps me to go asleep. I figure it might help since we’re in a place you aren’t use to.” She smiled at me and nodded.

“Ok. Chapter 1.” I smiled and looked to see she had fallen asleep. “The end. Goodnight Rose.” I curled up close to her and slowly drifted off to sleep.