It had been a long day when I arrived home. I walked in the door, dropping my bag as soon as I got in. I let out a heavy sigh.

“Dashie! Dashie, I'm home!” I called out, getting no response. “Dashie?” I called again, making my way to the bedroom to find her.

As I got closer, I heard the sound of an electric fan whirring, and Dashie's friend Birdy, chirping loudly. I opened the door to her room, finding it empty. The sound was coming from my bedroom. I opened the door and stepped in, only to see my large electric fan spinning at full speed, while Dashie stood up in front of it bracing herself, her eyes clenched shut, as she leant into the wind. Her wings were flapping violently, blowing about from the force as she struggled to keep them open.

I quickly reached to the plug socket and turned it off. As I did so, Dashie opened her eyes, bemused at why the fan had stopped. She walked close to it to try and work out why, when I coughed to get her attention. She turned with a start at seeing me, before trotting over smiling.

“Hi Daddy! How was your day?” she asked happily, all the while her wings were twitching upon her back.

“Fine, thank you Dashie. How was yours? what are you up to in here?” I asked her.

“It was fun Daddy, me and Birdy were bored so we decided to play explorers!” she said gleefully, as she trotted over to Birdy's cage, grabbing the handle of the cart it sat on, and began pulling it behind her.

I had bought a cart to stand  the cage on so Dashie could move her friend around the house with her, but it was something I was starting to regret. She had been taking her everywhere. Dashie began pulling the cart behind her into the living room, trotting away happily. I checked nothing had been broken in my room, and followed her back into the living room, as she stopped the cart by the sofa and sat down on her chair.

“What were you up to with the fan Dashie? It's a dangerous thing, not a toy to be played with.”

She looked at me and blinked, her lips slowly lowering into a frown. She turned away from me, before turning the TV on using the remote, pressing the button gingerly using her hoof. She sat down and focused intently on the TV. I walked over and sat down next to Dashie, turning the TV off before putting the remote in my pocket.

“Dashie. Were you trying to learn to fly, is that it?” I asked outright. She suddenly turned straight to face me and stared. “Well?” I said as she kept on staring, her wings still twitching all the while.

“Yes Daddy. I thought maybe it could make my wings stronger if I stood in front of it,” she said timidly.

“Did it work? I notice your wings are twitching a lot more than usual!”

Dashie stopped and looked at her wings before stretching them out on her back, flapping them vigorously, she began to blow some of her pieces of drawing paper off the coffee table and around the room. Her wings emitted a sharp whooshing noise as they cut through the air. I reached out and patted her head to get her to stop.

“Well done Dashie! That's amazing!” I said, as I squeezed her tightly in a warm embrace, she smiled brightly as I did so.

“Thanks Daddy!” she said, her voice squeaking highly. “I've been trying to learn to fly for a few weeks now, but I still can't fly completely.” She lowered her head and folded her wings away.  

“Why didn't you tell me Dashie? I could have helped you, or made sure you stayed safe!” I said, feeling heavily concerned for the risks she might have been taking.

“I'm sorry Daddy,” she said. “I didn't say as I didn't want to upset you in case I couldn't do it. But Birdy made me want to fly more, so I kept on trying.”

I felt saddened she had felt the need to hide it from me, but I was glad she hadn't hurt herself before now. I decided I had to help her master flight, as she kept her head lowered sadly, and decided I had to help her out.

“Wait here Dashie, I'm going to get you some safety equipment.” I got up and went to the bedroom, fetching my duvet and pillows, I placed them on the living room floor, as well as a few sofa cushions. “Let's get some more practice in, shall we?” I asked, only to see her nod happily and jump off the sofa, landing next to me on the floor.

I moved Birdy to the kitchen so she wouldn't get hurt during our attempts. I then returned to Dashie, who was sat on the floor, flapping her wings with reluctance.

“What's the matter Dashie? I thought you were excited to try this?”

She looked up at me, her eyes dropping. “What If I get it wrong Daddy?” she replied meekly. I bent down and picked her up in my arms, holding her tightly.

“Hey, you won't get it wrong Dashie. And it doesn't matter if you do, as you'll have tried your best, and I can't ask for any more from you than that. Don't worry Dashie, you'll be safe with me, and you won't have a scratch on you. I promise.”

I smiled at her in my arms, and she smiled back, nodding her head. I bent down and put her back on the floor. She soon began stretching her wings with more confidence than before, smiling eagerly as she did so.

“Ready Dashie?” I asked, to which she nodded back at me. I bent down and picked Dashie up under the stomach, and lifted her up about four foot off the floor, over the cushions below. “Now, I want you to flap your wings, and I'll slowly lower my hands, okay? I'll catch you if you fall, so don't panic!”

Dashie nodded, took a deep breath, and opened her wings as wide as she could. They were still small, but looked big enough to support her weight. She then began to flap her wings while I held onto her. She giggled loudly as she flapped harder and harder, the breeze blowing her mane about, a blur of colours trailing behind her, all the while I struggled to keep my eyes focused as she flapped hard, the wind blowing into my eyes.

“That's it Dashie, keep going!” I said, raising my voice to be heard. She flapped harder and harder still, until I realised I was no longer holding Dashie's weight, but holding her down, stopping her from flying out of my grip.

As she kept flapping, I slowly loosened my grip so I wasn't touching Dashie's body any more, but had them ready to catch her if she fell. As I let go, she began to lift higher than I had been holding her, before slowly flying in place. I lowered my hands entirely, and she still remained aloft. It was nerve wrecking, I felt my heart racing a mile a minute as Dashie flew by herself, four feet off the ground, without any help. My heart was in my mouth, my stomach churned, I was drenched in sweat as I stood ready to catch her in case she fell.

But she never did. She kept flying and giggling, so I decided to show her she was doing it on her own. I cautiously walked around and stood in front of her, and smiled widely at her as she kept flapping her wings. She saw me, and a look of panic and confusion washed across her face. She looked down to see I definitely wasn't holding her. I panicked at that point, afraid she'd get scared and stop flapping, falling suddenly.

Instead she smiled even wider than before, and giggled loudly. “Daddy! I'm flying!” She cheered, as she kicked her hooves freely in the air below her.

“You sure are Dashie! I'm so proud of you!” I said, fighting back the tears that were streaming down my cheeks.

She didn't look tired, and kept flapping her wings, before leaning forward. She began to fly towards the hall, slowly learning how to manoeuvre in the air. I followed her hurriedly, ready to catch her if she got it wrong, but she still managed to keep herself up. I followed her around the house for another five minutes, my heart racing, before she decided to land slowly on my bed.

As soon as she touched down, she exhaled heavily and sharply. She had been as nervous as me, but she hadn't shown it. I leapt onto the bed and lay down next to her, gripping her in my arms, hugging her as tight as I could without hurting her. I never wanted to let her go.

“Hehe, Daddy! I flew!” she cheered, and all I could do was to smile on at her, tears still running down my cheeks. “Daddy? What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?” she said sadly, after seeing the tears streaming down my face.

“No, Dashie. Not at all. You just did so brilliantly, and I'm so happy for you right now!” I said, no longer trying to hide the tears. I was too happy right at that moment. “I'm so proud of you. Come on, let's go get you a special treat!”

I picked her up, and carried her to the living room, replacing the sofa cushions before setting her down. I went to the kitchen and prepared her the largest bowl of ice cream possible, and sat down next to her again. I put the bowl in front of her, only to see her look up at me, wide eyed and beaming.

“Is this all for me, Daddy?” she asked inquisitively.

“Yes Dashie. Every last drop. You earnt it today for flying so brilliantly. I'm just so proud of you right now!” I rubbed her head, and she smiled happily before eagerly plunging head first into the bowl of ice cream before her.

I sat next to her, gently stroking her tail and massaging her wings while she ate her ice cream. I wanted to make sure she was well rested after her first flight. My heart rate slowly lowered, but I still felt like it was going a mile a minute. She lifted her head up to look at me, smiling wide, ice cream all over her face. I knew I'd have to wash her later, but I didn't mind at all.

“I'm so proud of you Dashie. Just promise you'll never fly outside without me around, okay?”

“Yes Daddy!” she said cheerfully. “I will only fly when you're here, I don't want to get blown away!” she giggled and went head first back into her ice cream, licking the bowl clean.

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