I was awake at the crack of dawn, just like I always was. I debated on waking up Sapphire, but I figured she'd want to sleep a little longer. I stood in the mirror, taking in the horrible mess that was my mane. I levitated a brush and swept it through my black and blue mane, pushing it out of my face and revealing my lust red eyes.
"Good morning." said Sapphire from behind me.
"Don't see what's so good about it." I said, her coat bright yellow nonetheless.
"What are we going to do today?" she asked.
"We're going to school." I said. "As much as I abhor that wretched place, I need it…"
"What do you mean, 'you need it'?"
"I have a…problem that can only be resolved at the school. I would like to skip, but the sooner I learn how to fly, the sooner I'll be able to leave."
"Wait, you can't fly?" she asked, smirking a little.
"What, can you?" I asked defensively.
"I would be able to, had my wing not been snapped previously."
"Almost slipped my mind" I said, moving closer to her, "Come here, I can fix your wing with my magic."
"Um…" she said, backing away uneasily. "Is it going to be like last time?"
"No. This should actually feel quite pleasant, like a massage of sorts."
"Are you lying to me?"
"No. Have I lied to you before?"
"No, but you have forced me to agree to something under false pretenses. How do I know that you're not going to do it twice? Swear that this won't hurt."
"Swear? On what?"
"Something important." she said.
"Like what? Nothing is very important to me."
"Swear on your mother." she said jokingly.
"Seriously?" I asked. "Fine. I swear to Mother that this will not hurt."
"I can't believe you actually did it", she said as she closed her eyes, "I completely trust you." I pointed my horn at her broken wing and willed my horn to glow, bathing her in red aura.
"How does it feel?" I asked.
"Oooooh! This actually feels good. It's a little tingly!"
"See? I'm not going to hurt you anymore."
"Okay. Can I ask you a question?"
"I don't understand. Are you asking me if you have the ability or if you have permission?" I said jokingly.
"A simple 'yes' would have sufficed. My question was what do you plan to do after you learn to fly? What are our long-term goals?"
"I suppose, if you're going to help me, you should at least know what I'm planning." I said. "After I learn to fly, we're leaving this pit of Tartaus to free my mother, Nightmare Moon, from her imprisonment on the moon. Any other questions?"
"Where are we going after we leave here?"
"Er… I don't know." I said. "We'll figure something out. Anything else?"
"Isn't Ms. Dawn going to find it suspicious how quickly my wing healed? I'm pretty sure that the only category that spell could fall under is 'shadow magic',"
"She has too much on her mind to worry about what we're doing. I doubt she'll even notice. Just like at the school. Just walk in and nopony will pay you any mind."
"That doesn't really sound like a good idea, but you're the boss. Let's go." I handed her a brush to let her tidy up her mane a little. She looked at me confusedly, then she began to glow. Her coat lit up and her mane straightened and adjusted itself.
"How do you have magic?" I asked.
"I don't know. Crystal magic?"
"I've never seen crystal energy that works like that. It better have more uses than just for mane-styling. Why are we still here? We should get moving."
I led her out through the back door and we made our way towards the schoolhouse. Schoolhouse was not an appropriate term. It looked more like a school-mansion. Or maybe even a school-warehouse. To me, it was more of a school-torture chamber.
"Welcome to my agony away from home." I said, walking into the building. "Since I can already bench-press twice my weight and I'm a master of magic, I don't have much use for the Earth Pony and Unicorn sections of the school."
"Master of magic? Then how did you screw up your spell so bad?"
"That's different!" I said, trotting up the stairs. "I was trying to do magic that nopony in history could pull off! Not even Celestia could do that on her own."
"Relax." she said, coat glowing red. "I was teasing."
"Sorry. Look, we're here and we're almost late." We snuck over and hid among the small fillies that were also learning to fly.
"Everypony who wishes to fly will listen to everything I say to a T." said the Pegasus teacher, Ms. Ariel, I think her name is. "You will not stay in the sky for longer than five seconds if you are not of fast mind and sharp wit. You must focus on staying in the air, but at the same time, you must focus on staying upright. Who would like to give it a try?"
"I would." said Sapphire waving her hoof.
"What are you doing?" I whispered. "You don't know how to fly!"
"Give me a shot." she said, stepping forward, her coat glowed lavender purple.
"Name." asked Ariel.
"Sapphire Sparks, ma'am."
"A Crystal pony? Your kind isn't known to fly, only look pretty. I've also never seen a Crystal pony with wings in all my years of teaching."
"Well then that shows that I'm no ordinary Crystal pony."
"Bold words. Hope you're not all talk. Why don't you do a quick lap around and show us what a little filly like you can do."
"Sapphire" I whispered to myself. "What in Tartarus do you think you're doing?" She flapped her wings a few times to test them, and then she forced her wings downwards, lifting herself into the air. She flapped her wings and soared through the air. She leaned forward and zoomed through the sky, looping all the way around the school. She swooped and landed into a trotting walk, stopping perpendicular to of Ariel.
"How was that?" asked Sapphire.
"You did well, considering you've probably never been in the air before." said Ariel, watching her with respect. "I want everypony to do a quick lap around the school, just like Sapphire. In the air! Now!"
"What'd you think?" asked Sapphire, walking over to me.
"You did well, considering." I said. "I suppose that now it's time for me to get in the air." I slapped my wings hard, rising in the air slowly. I flapped my wings with all my might, but I simply could not get into the sky. My hooves dangled a few inches off the ground as I dragged myself through the air, falling pitifully at Ariel's hooves.
"Pathetic." she said, turning away. "I've never seen a less capable flier."
"It's okay." said Sapphire, coat glowing deep red. "I'll help you."
"No, it's not okay!" I said angrily. "I can't fly! You've been here for a maximum of 15 hours and you can fly circles around me!"
"It's no big deal." said Sapphire. "I'm sure you're better than me."
"Don't patronize me. I can't even get off the ground."
"That's not your fault. Alicorns may have wings, but they don't have the anatomy of a Pegasus."
"What do you mean? What more is there to a Pegasi's anatomy than wings?"
"Well, Pegasi have thin, light, hollow bones. Since you're an Alicorn, and therefore have the traits of all three races, you inherited the heavy skeleton of an Earth pony. It takes much more strength and skill to get into the air as an Alicorn."
"How are you so smart?" I asked, confused.
"I owe that to you. You made me, right? All my knowledge comes from you."
"Do you have cotton in your ears?" asked Ariel. "In the sky!"
"Come on, Onyx." she said, grabbing my hoof. "You can do it!"
"No, I can't."
"How are you going to rescue your Mother if you can't fly?"
"Hm."
"Onyx. You are powerful, smart, and all-around amazing! You can get in the air if you put your mind to it. Who can bench press twice their weight? Who's a master of magic? Let's add ace flier to that list of accomplishments."
"Okay!" I said, will returning back into my body. "I can do this! Right?"
"That's the spirit! Come on, let's get up there!"
"Yeah!" I spouted, flapping my wings. I rose through the air unsteadily, soaring to a unfathomable height of four feet from the ground before I fell to the on my face. Sapphire's coat shined fuchsia pink, and then converted into a deep crimson.
"Are you okay?" she asked. "At least you stayed in the air longer this time around."
"This going to be a long day..."