The Winged Ones

High above the clouds is the Realm of the Winged Ones. Graceful, beautiful creatures, wild and free, forever soaring the skies beneath a golden sun. These are no tame horses with wings, these are Pegasi.

Stratuus is the sentry who guards this realm and its inhabitants from those who would do them harm and most importantly, those who do not believe.

You look off into the distance, and there she was. A pegasus. High upon the mountain peak she stood, the wind whipping her mane about. She spread her feathered wings and launched herself into the air, soaring silently to land softly by your side. Her horn and hooves shone gold in the sunlight, her coat a silvery white. She stood so near, so real, you were afraid to breath, that you would wake up only to discover that this was only a dream.

When she spoke, it was like the tinkling of a thousand crystal bells. And though she said not a word you could hear her in your mind. "Greeting Traveller, I am WindChaser. The Guardian of the Realm has asked me to take you to the Winged Ones."

She lowered her wing and allowed you to mount. If you've ever ridden a horse over a jump it felt something like that, only you didn't come down on the other side, you just kept going up. You could feel the powerful muscles of her back move with each beat of her wings. The ground rushed away at an amazing rate and soon you had to stop looking down or you would get so dizzy you would probably fall off.

When you felt you could go no higher you were surrounded in the white fog of the clouds. It was cool to the touch and soon you were quite wet from the moisture. And then the sun broke through and the world was a bright white and blue. WindChaser glided for a while, then finding a suitable cloud, landed and allowed you to dismount. You were a little unsure of your footing, but the cloud held your weight. It was kind of like walking on a giant marshmallow.

And then the Winged One left. Without a word of instruction for what you should do next, you were left stranded.

But not alone for long.

Three small and terribly cute foal come galloping by. The first two ran across the clouds, the third trailed behind in the air, doing her best to keep up. The black colt notices you first and changes his direction to meet this stranger to his world. The two fillies were quick to join him.

"Hi, I'm Reala. And this is my sister Mika and our friend Jesse." Their voices were like the giggling of children. Jesse smiles shyly, still hovering with her butterfly wings. Mika was more outgoing, nuzzling, touching and finally tasting you. She beams, "It doesn't have any wings!" Then she nudges you forcefully and announces, "You're it!" and the three of the take off. You had no hopes of catching them, but the fresh, clean air just made you want to run anyway. Even when you stumbled, the ground was so soft you could almost bounce. When you finally stopped to catch your breath the three Winged Ones were out of sight.

"Who are you?"

You turn around to see not a horse with feathered wing, not even one with butterfly wings. This one had the wings of a dragonfly.

You explain your presence and introduce yourself. The slim stallion replies, "I am DelicateDragon. Is there no one here to guide you?" You explain how WindChaser left you alone. He snorts, "She is the best flier here, and has an ego to match. Probably couldn't be bothered to play nursemaid. Will I suffice?" You were a little shocked that such magical creatures didn't all live in perfect harmony and that some even had human failings. It was a little disappointing, but then again, this was real after all....or at least it seemed that way.

While you debated with yourself whether or not this was a dream another buttefly winged pegasus fluttered by. A gentle whicker by DelicateDragon brought her over. "This is WhisperedSecrets."

The little mare floated about you, her wings lazily moving in the breeze to keep her from drifting away. She seemed only marginally interested in your presence here, maybe she had seen humans before. Eventually she let a large gust of wind blow her away and she glided along with it till she was out of sight.

DelicateDragon had some trouble with his tour as you could only jump clouds where they actually touched each other. You just couldn't brind yourself to jump the gap when you could see all the way down. And it was ALL the way down. WindChaser had flown so quickly you hadn't realized how high up you had actually gone. So it took a while to encounter the next Winged One, a stallion with a powerful presence.

DelicateDragon stopped a respectful distance away. He spoke quietly to you, obviously trying not to bother the stallion, "This is Yberran, a sorceror of great powers." But Yberran had noticed you and indicated that you should approach. DelicateDragon flitted about nervously. When he spoke his voice was deep and it overwhelmed your mind without being loud, "I see a power within you, deep within you. Many mortals have this power, they just do not know it, or do not believe in it. I can see that you are close to finding it. Sometimes one must journey within to see the wonders of the world without." With a graceful bow, the large stallion took to the skies once more, leaving you to wonder what kind of power he meant.

You followed DelicateDragon as you pondered Yberran's words. You were so focused on your thoughts that suddenly you were falling! By not paying attention you had fallen from the edge of a cloud. DelicateDragon couldn't do much but slow your descent, his dragonfly wings were not strong enough to support you.

You land with a soft thump in a patch of grass. Better a thump than a thud or splat, though you were sure you'd be bruised and wouldn't be able to sit properly for a couple of days. You get up stiffly and notice a movement of something disappearing behind a nearby tree. The tree was not large enough to hide both ends of the young Winged One. She glanced at you shyly.

It was nightfall in this quiet glade. "This is GentleSpring, as gentle as she is shy." She stepped out from behind the tree, her coat almost glowing in the darkness. She appeared almost elfin with her large ears and eyes. "Though this is usually the realm of the Horned Ones, the Winged Ones sometimes come to the ground to graze and play in the green grasses or just to explore the world below." As DelicateDragon spoke, GentleSpring came closer and allowed you to stoke her silken mane.

This was what magic was all about.

It felt like you had always been there, even long after GentleSpring had returned to the clouds above. Then a large gust of wind blows brings you back to the present. You look around to find the source and see a brown pegasus stallion landing nearby. You could never get over the grace of the winged horse, both on the ground and in the air. Not for the first time, you wished you had wings to soar with them.

DelicateDragon reappeared. "That's Braelan. He's one of the pegasi trained to guard our realm from all dangers, mortals and immortals alike. We don't need many of them as we are very safe here, but one never knows when a creature from the dark realm finds its way here." DelicateDragon shudders at the thought. "I asked if he would assist in bringing you back to our Realm as I obviously cannot.

The large stallion kneels to allow you to climb upon his powerful back. His voice was deep and powerful as that of Yberran's, though it did not resonate with the same magical influence, it was just about strength. "Where would you like me to take you? I could bring you to meet Elidan or I could just leave you on the nearest cloud."

Text © SunBlind
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