My front hooves dangled over the edge of the island, a cool breeze playing with my mane as my primaries flutter slightly in the cool breeze. My home, a lovely little cottage with pale walls and a rusty tin roof that stood alone upon the floating island. I’d only recently learned how to make a bed out of the clouds but I found myself using one a lot more often, within the confines of my home of course.
The years had seemed to float by with little to no tension as I stared out at the same scenery I’d seen since I was a foal. My mother had always said that she wished she could stay as long as possible so that I wouldn't get lonely but I had found company in the few merchants who’d come by occasionally in their weird flying machines.
There were a few times I was asked to come along, to see what the rest of the world was like, but I’d always turned down the offer in favor of my home and the only family I’d ever known. Now that my family was gone and my home was in shambles it only seemed natural to want to move on. I only had to wait until another island came into view and the time was right.
As I stood I flexed my wings out, relishing in the feeling of the wind passing over my feathers as I looked to the empty expanse beneath me. The sky surrounded my home on all sides, nothing obscuring the view besides the occasional cloud in the distance, including a rather large one that had been there for quite some time. My house felt like the one and only thing I knew in this world but as time ticked on I had grown less fond of staying.
I let my wings droop slightly, the very tips tracing along the ground as I headed back inside, running a wing over the telescope perched at the edge of the island. My mother had always told me that I was special, but that’s just what mothers do, right?
Every single day that passed only further increased an agitation I barely knew I’d had.
My wings are larger than normal, is what my mother once told me. She said that they were related to my cutie-mark of a looking glass, that the reason that I grew restless was because I was meant to explore.
How could I? This was the only place I’d ever known. I couldn't just abandon it. No matter how many times I told myself the same thing there is always that yearning to leave, to see what lies beyond the sky I see. Each day I went out, circling my home but always making sure it stayed in sight.
I just had to know what was out there. So every day I went out slightly further, my wings easily carrying me as I looked out across the eternal sky. The merchants, they’d all had their stories. They spoke of islands where the buildings reached even further into the sky than any of their machines could hope to go. Of lands where plants and animals took care of themselves, without the aid of ponies.
It was these stories that compelled me to look into the telescope as my ear twitched. I may as well have heard a pin drop, but I heard it all the same. It sounded like thunder, far off in the distance, but close enough to garner my attention.
After all, something had changed. Hurriedly I held onto the telescope, turning it in the direction of the noise. I looked over every single patch of sky and found nothing. I could spot a merchant from a thousand miles away but still I couldn't see where the noise had come from.
My wings drooped further and I kicked at the ground. “It’s been years since the last island came into view, why am I deluding myself?” Of course, even if I had great eyesight I could not see through the clouds. Especially not the one that took up a large portion of the sky. Imagine my surprise when I heard a loud chime permeate the air around me.
All of my attention was ripped from the ground and turned towards the cloud as another chime rang through. Four more chimes and my mouth hung open slightly as I saw a huge clock peeking out over the edge of the cloud.
The clock resembled the one I had in the living room, except it was just so… big. The thing must’ve been about twenty times the size of my house! My hooves were firmly planted in the ground as the edge of the new isle came into view and I realized the clock was even bigger than I thought!
I could see a whole city over there, huge buildings made of stones and brick littered the enormous plane and as soon as my eye was once more glued to my telescope I could see them, ponies! Sure there were some other races as well but I hadn't seen a pony merchant since I could barely fly as the gryphons had apparently run them out of business.
Packing was the least of my priorities as I launched myself over the edge of the island, my wings fanning out to their full length as I pushed myself through the air, after all I could just come back later right? First I wanted to have a look around.
The sky that once seemed so empty now had substance, the bustling city quickly coming into view along with the many citizens it contained. I had never seen so many ponies before in my life, the sight of it had me awestruck. I really should have paid more attention.
It’s not really my fault right? I was just so caught up in the prospect of meeting new ponies that I didn't look hard enough. I didn't notice as they ran scared into their houses down below. I didn't notice as guards marched onto some of the rooftops.
What I did notice however was the huge spear that was launched into the air so close by me I almost stalled.
You see, I saw the ponies but I didn't see them. I saw the unicorns, I saw the earth ponies, I saw the zebras, the gryphons, the minotaurs and the buffalo. But I didn't see any Pegasi. I only realized later, after I had plummeted out of the sky, that that was because there were none to see.
I was in a state of panic and I did the only thing I could think of: I went home. More spears whizzed past me and I beat my wings harder, fear etched onto my face while my thoughts only ran over the same few words. “I have to get home!”
If there was anything I would've changed, it would be that I didn't bring any bits. Even though my life had changed I still wouldn't go back and rewrite any of it. So as that fateful spear clipped the edge of my wing my thoughts quickly turned to the only thing I knew.
My wings instinctively tucked into my sides while I curled up. I was panicking okay? I had no idea I wasn't that badly injured. For all I knew my wing had been torn off. That would have to be the luckiest day of my life though, because I had fallen to the safest place in Equus.
A grunt escaped me as I landed on one of the many roofs, only this one was fairly larger. The next few moments were a blur as I shivered in place, shouts coming from all around me until I was picked up with a pair of talons and brought inside, my body shutting down as the adrenaline slowly wore off.
The next morning I awoke to a ceiling I’d never seen before in a bed I’d never slept in. Confusion gripped me as my attention focused on the edge of my right wing, a few of my feathers out of place while some had obviously been roughed up slightly.
I occupied myself with some preening as my memories slowly returned and I made my very first friend. She was a very quiet Unicorn mare, shyly pushing open the door with a quiet “Good morning” as she laid a tray of food on my bedside table with her magic, something the few unicorn merchants that had visited loved to show off..
Needless to say I was at a loss for words, I had just been attacked and woke up in a strange place but for some insane reason I wanted to make a good first impression. “U-um…. hello.” Okay, I was pretty terrified.
“Are you feeling better? That was a pretty big tumble you took.” She was so… nice. She had this warm-hearted feeling that seemed to emanate from every fibre of her being. It kind of reminded me of my mother.
“Y-yes t-thank you. It really wasn't that bad of a tumble, though; I've been through worse.” My teenage years had only begun recently after all and it was fun to test your limits every so often.
“Glad to hear it, now make sure you eat everything on your tray, alright?” She gave me one of the kindest smiles I’d ever seen, it almost pained me to interrupt her as she was leaving.
“Wait! Can I… um… can I ask you something?”
She really didn't seem to mind though as she kept up with that lovely smile. “Anything.”
“Where am I?” It was a pretty genuine concern, after all it’s only natural to want to know where you are.
A pleasant giggle escaped her as her magic took hold of the window shutters. “Welcome to Fillydelphia, fifth largest city this side of the equator.” I was in awe as she opened those shutters.
The world outside was so different to the one I had known all my life. I could see a community, all of them working together to help each other as they went about their lives. There were foals playing around the streets as a bulky box with wheels (I later learned was called a tram) rolled down the middle, gates on either side of the track popping up a few hundred meters ahead of it as it went along. At this point I didn't really know about the other side of this community but I’ll save that for later.
As I looked up I saw the houses, each maintaining its individuality through its heritage even as they held similar designs. A few of the houses even had flowers growing up the side, a stallion across the road waving to me as he watered his own. Cautiously I returned the wave as my sight kept going higher and I saw the rooftops, the sky merely a backdrop to what looked down from above. Who knew the sky could seem so small?
I gulped audibly as I turned back to her. “A-and where am I specifically?”
“Oh of course, how silly of me to forget.” She gave a slight bow before that smile returned in full force. “My name is Miserly Health, and welcome to the Merchants Guild. Now may I ask for yours?”
It took a few seconds for her words to register and a few more until I sputtered out my own name, after all, I could trust her? Right? “Oh I’m Drifted Wings, nice to meet you!”
“Very well then Drifted, there are some ponies downstairs who would like to talk to you, when you’re ready you can head straight down if you like.” Her smile was so…. smiley? Okay I know I could've thought of something better.
After giving me another one of her signature smiles, Miserly quietly left the room while I looked over the food she’d brought. A sandwich with some sort of plant in it I later identified as hay and a glass of water. I was pretty cautious of the food, especially after the… encounter I had yesterday, but my stomach chose that moment to gurgle loudly and I sighed as I took a careful sip of water.
Next came the sandwich. At this point I’d only heard of hay, having mostly lived of the daisies my mother and I had planted in the garden beside the house, so this would definitely be a new experience.
I gulped loudly before picking the sandwich up between my hooves and raising it to my muzzle. Newly found common sense reminded me that I shouldn't take food from strangers, but my stomach clearly had other plans. Reluctantly I took a bite from the sandwich.
Dear sweet mother this was fantastic! Pretty soon I took a few more bites and without realizing it the whole thing was gone. My new found disappointment left pretty quickly as my stomach now felt content, so I hopped out of bed.
My hooves hit the wooden floor pretty heavily and I stumbled slightly as I inspected the room closer. The wooden was polished to a shine, the curtains seemed almost new and the rest of the decor spoke volumes of the interior decorator as everything looked perfect where it was. So much so that the now messed up bed I had left looked out of place.
I used my wings to fix it up as well as I could before giving a quick nod of appreciation, everything looked great now! At this point I was pretty proud of myself, and shortly later I was groaning as I tripped over my unfolded wing with a loud “Oof!”
Really, I needed to pay more attention to things. With that I shook off the newly acquired pain in my nose as I walked out the door, quickly greeted by a hallway that matched my room in its perfection,. I was starting to think whoever cleaned the place might have a problem.
Hurriedly I shook off the curiosity at finding out who had gone cleaning crazy as I walked down the hall and came across a flight of stairs. Okay, don’t laugh alright? This wasn’t my proudest moment, especially considering it was the first time I’d even seen stairs outside of a picture book.
Okay yes I fell down them! Just one misplaced step and I suddenly found myself nursing new wounds at the bottom of the stairs. Apparently this amused the two foals and a calf peeking their heads around a corner to see what all the noise was about.
I grumbled at them slightly and picked myself up, folding my wings back to my sides as they had been splayed out a fair bit. One of the now misplaced feathers irked me a bit so I smoothed it back into place, only to see another problem, followed by another, and another.
Pretty soon I was preening my wings back into shape and the three foals, two colts and one filly, decided that watching me clean myself up was interesting. I had no idea why, so, with a raised eyebrow, I asked. “What are you three doing?”
“Watching” said the minotaur-colt, he stood a full head taller than the other two and even though he was probably around the same age as the other two he seemed like he could easily outmatch them.
“And why are you watching?” My irritation was starting on a steady climb as I finished preening and looked down at the three, folding my wings back in.
“Because we've never even seen a pony with wi-” The poor calf was cut off as the youngest one,an earth pony colt, interrupted him, speaking at a rate which led me to utter confusion.
“Why do you have wings anyway? Are you some sort of genetic experiment? Maybe they’re one of the synthetic ones the uppers are working on for unicorns or mayb-” He gasped loudly and I took the moment to gather my thoughts, though the brief respite was merely that, brief. “What if you stole those wings from somepony?! Are you a spy? But if they’re a super secret project then that would make you a super secret spy who’s good at his job and always gets it done! Are you on a super secret super spy mission right now?! Can we help? Please oh please oh ple-”
Oh thank goodness. Oh sweet merciful goodness. I could barely take any more. Luckily the bright pink colt had been stopped in his crusade against my right to think straight when the unicorn filly of the group had stuck a hoof to his mouth. “Calm down Puff, we haven’t even said hello yet.”
Suddenly the one called Puff somehow managed to gasp through the hoof, trying to talk through it as well with much less success and a lot more saliva. “Hello there, my name is Calm Storms and these are Thunder Stride and Cot-”
“I’m Cotton Puff!”
The middle sister frowned at him before rolling her eyes and turning back to me. “Sorry sir, we were only curious because nopony else has wings besides the gryphons.”
She somehow managed to fuse politeness and adorability into a dangerous cocktail that shouldn't be legal for anypony under forty. Unfortunately I was unable to answer as I was cut off by a large crash elsewhere in the… house? I wasn't too sure as I hadn't gotten a good look.
The three of them decided to flee up the stairs quickly and I shook my head before heading around to see what the noise was about. I peeked my head inside the closest open door, ears folded back slightly as I saw the room was filled with a unit of unicorns, an erratic entourage of earth ponies, many muscular minotaurs and a greatly grizzled gryphon.
“What we need to do is get the winged one somewhere safe, we can’t have him just lying about until the guards break the doors in. I suggest that Captain Jaquel takes him to the port and allows him to hide amongst her crew until we can secure a royal pardon.” The gryphon spoke clearly to the room, making eye contact with each and every creature there as they came into his gaze.
I, on the other hoof, ducked down to avoid it, really I wasn't used to predators at all. Only a few gryphons ever came by and they had very little to say when some of them weren't boasting. They were always quick to catch a compliment and would turn on me or my mother if we said something behind their backs. This one though… he sat there like those sorts of things were beneath him.
“Are ya sure Glifen? That one looks like he mightn't be the kind to lay low when there’s danger ‘round. What kinda pony flies ‘round a place where everypony is afraid of the Pegasi?” The zebra mare, who I had guessed was Jaquel, really had no idea how wrong she was when it came to not laying low. Especially since I may as well have been eating the floorboards at this point.
My attention turned towards the voice I’d known belonged to Miserly, who had decided to put in her two bits. “He had no idea what kind of place this was Jacky, he looked so starstruck just staring out the window that I think it’s fair to say he’s never been anywhere like this.” Miserly was way too observant, for all I know she could just be a spy for the ones that tried to attack me.
Honestly though I would have a hard time believing it. Her words also seemed to hold a certain weight to them as the unicorn who had spoken out now nodded in agreement. “Fine, but if that’un thinks he can lollygag on mah ship, then he’s got another thing comin’.”
“That’s not the only thing he’s got coming.” Said one of the Earth ponies close by, his back to me as he addressed the room. “Word is the guards spotted where he came from. It doesn't take much thought to know what they’re going to do once it’s in range.”
Some of the others nodded solemnly at this while my own damned curiosity got in the way. I stood up slowly, my voice shaking as I took a few steps into the room. “Wh-what are they going to do?” The entire room whirled around to face me, only Glifen and Miserly were the only ones that didn’t seem too surprised.
One of the unicorns was about to say something until Glifen clamped his talons over the poor colts muzzle. “I’ll ask you a few questions first, then this one here will tell you what the guards will most likely do. Deal?” At his words he shook the unicorn gently before letting go, the poor guy rubbing his muzzle.
I really didn’t have much of a choice here, I had to find out what the ‘Guards’ planned to do to my home. So I simply nodded, getting a quick nod in return from Glifen. “First question; what is your name?”
Phew, an easy question to start with. “M-my name is Drifted Wings.” Cautiously, I took a few more steps into the room, some of those gathered around the table clearing a space as I mustered up the courage to stand between them.
“Good, second question; do you own the island currently floating towards Fillydelphian airspace?”
Own? I’d never really thought about that before. Since Mom has passed does that mean I own the island? I was planning on leaving anyway but I suppose since I live there then technically I did own it. “Well… yes, I suppose.”
He nodded before continuing on. “Do you know about the Tale of Separation?”
“The what?” It sounded like a book for foals. I barely had any books at all so of course I wouldn’t have heard about it. Now that I think about it though, one of the merchants may have mentioned it to my mother once behind my back…
Jaquel calmed down somewhat at this as well as some of the others. Glifen himself still kept the same composure he’d had since I looked into this room. Now that I was in here though, the place looked more like a dining table than a conference room of some sort.
“I see… That brings me to my final question then. Do you know the effect a one-by-two hoof dragon-breath crystal can have on a small house such as yours?”
“What?” That sounded like complete nonsense. The downcast looks of some of the gathered however brought me into panic mode.
Then the unicorn from earlier spoke up and all the fears I didn't know I had came true. “I’m… I’m sorry to say this Drifted…. but the guards are going to bomb your house.”
Bomb? What does that mean? It can’t be anything too bad, maybe it’s like throwing a birthday party for somepony.... only for houses… which don’t have birthdays. I fearfully looked towards Miserly who appeared utterly downtrodden. “I’m so sorry Drifted.”
She pointed a hoof towards one of the windows and I shakily made my way towards it. It couldn't be that bad now could it? Maybe dragon-breath was a fancy way of saying they were going to plant a new garden?
I was just deluding myself. Of course it was bad. I knew that much. But to actually see what was happening first-hoof? It was a nightmare. Apparently my timing was impeccable as well because just as my little island in the sky came into view between the roofs of the building next to this one there was a loud bang.
It seemed so small from this distance, I could barely make out the telescope on the edge. The thing flying towards it was even smaller, only it glowed slightly so it stood out far better against the vast blue sky.
When the two collided my heart fell to pieces as the sky itself seemed to light up a brilliant blue-green. My hooves pushed against the window and I screamed “NO!” as my home, my tiny little island in the sky, burst into flames.
Author's Note
Sorry if this one is a tad boring folks! I need some sort of build up before the adventuring begins ya know?
Big ol' thanks to Midnight for pretty much every name used so far.
Ugh, sorry 'bout all those short paragraphs too, hadn't realised how many there were.
Edit: No idea why there are now two 'Author Notes' boxes and I can't get rid of them sorry.
