“Hey, Dash? What’s it like to fly?”

A single question. A single question can fuel an obsession. But, fuel only goes so far. The answer to that question can spark the fire.

“It’s nothing like you’ve ever experienced before, greater than any achievement you’ve ever accomplished, and above all else? It’s pretty damn awesome.”

Twilight had always wondered what it was like to fly. She had asked the princesses and Fluttershy about it, but they never had such great answers. Flying was Dash’s one real passion, and that was obvious in her response. That passion bled through the words and infected Twilight with the want- no, the need- to fly. To soar on her own wings.

The question that really needed an answer, though, was how?

“Spike, get me all of our books involving advanced transformation magics, even the ones in the restricted area, I have some research to do.” Twilight said to her assistant.

That night, probably a night that would never happen again, Dash and Twilight were staring at the clouds. They didn’t talk much, instead pointing out random shapes and objects the clouds made. It was interesting because it was nighttime, yet the clouds somehow made themselves prominent in the sky. It’s amazing, really, how a simple activity like that could lead to this obsession. The question was just something that popped into her head that night, and now she had dozens of books open around her.

After a week of it, her friends began to worry. Spike had managed to reassure them that it was just one of her normal tangents where she got into her research, but even that was far-fetched when it hit the one month mark.

No matter who said what, the only thing Twilight could think about was trying to find a way to soar through the sky on her own wings. She could use illusion magic to make herself look like she had wings, but that wouldn’t work in the least.

She could transform her body into something with wings, but they wouldn’t be her wings on her body and it’d only be temporary.

She could use magic to create wings, but that had the same problem as the last method.

Dash started visiting every day once she figured out what the obsession was about. She seemed to be the only one to make her stop obsessing over it. The first few days, Dash had to literally drag the lavender pony away from her books and scrub her clean. It was a miracle Spike had managed to get her to eat.

One day, though, Twilight was hospitalized because of a major heart attack. She had become a true insomniac, in two months’ time she slept maybe five hours total. All of that exhaustion mixed with the mental strain of constant research finally got to her.

Even in the Hospital, she refused to get up. She had Spike do what research he could in her place. Dash visited her in the hospital one day and found her on her hooves, begging the nurse to be let out. The nurse retorted that she couldn’t take another ‘research session’ but Dash had an Idea.

“I’ll look after her, I’ll make sure she does more than research.” Dash said to the nurse in her most convincing voice. After some discussion, she was allowed to take Twilight out for a few hours a day. Dash wouldn’t let the unicorn go near the library. Twilight complained and begged, of course, but Dash wouldn’t have it.

“Why are you so obsessed with flying?” Dash finally asked after the umpteenth time the unicorn begged to continue her research.

“Because it’s nothing like I’ve ever experienced, and I want to experience it. With you.” Twilight had replied. Dash didn’t know what to do about the flying part, but the ‘with you’ part she was completely baffled. When asked, Twilight told her how close she had felt they were becoming.
After being coaxed and begged to explain, literally for days on end, Twilight finally admitted a deep seated affection for the pegasus.

She never said anything, though, because she wanted to tell her while she was flying next to her, soaring on wings of her own.

Dash may not be an egghead, but she was creative.

“Hop on my back” She said to the Lavender pony. After their discussion, Twilight had hesitated, but she soon got over it. Dash leaped into the air and soared through the skies.

“They may not be your wings you’re soaring on, but they might as well be. So, tell me about this affection?” The colorful pegasus had said to the lavender unicorn riding atop her back.

Soon it was love, and the research forgotten, because they were not her own wings on which she soared. instead, it was far greater, they were the wings of someone she trusted, someone she loved. She felt safe, and she felt secure, but most of all she felt the rush. She experienced what she had never experienced before, soaring through the skies on wings not quite her own.

That is, until the Princess caught wind, and heard of her most faithful student’s plight. In a puff of green smoke, something amazing arrived. A book, which had seen better days, with a letter signed ‘princess celestia’

‘I trust that you know what to do at this point, but know that fate is only chosen once. leave it alone, or amend what you will, be confident in your choice no matter the result. I trust you, my most faithful student, and know that you will always be my student and a friend.’

Twilight read with curiosity ablaze. She opened the book to random page and, almost as if it was a coincidence, found that this magic was old and potent.

‘Ascension to a different race’ She saw on the top of the page. For hours, she read and learned the spell. She sat and thought, long and hard, and refused the company of even her other. It was a week before she made her choice, the choice that would decide who she would become. She met with Dash and the rest of their friends, and before their eyes changed her life.
“So, what’s it like to fly?” The colorful pegasus had asked.

“I’d say it’s pretty damn awesome.” Replied the other, soaring on lavender wings of her own.