Author's Note

This might feel a little rushed so sorry for that, I was trying to finish it quickly, but I do have a full story pretty much planned out.

The Falling Man

June 12th, 1902

Ponyville Equestria

The village's stone houses were slowly going dark as the candles and lamps were blown out and windows were shut. A day's work had ended and so did the dinners shared among the families. The night was cool and windy, little creatures scurried around the empty village pathways, shown visibly by the bright full moon above as a young woman walked down the pathways stopping and caring for each animal individually. Feeding them food from a basket she carried in the crook of her arm.

She was Fluttershy, a young woman in her early twenties with fair skin clear of blemishes, her head covered flowing pink hair that went down her back in a long braid. She stood fairly short at just over five feet and wore a long green dress that was just above the ground revealing her bare feet. She was shy and while she did enjoy the daylight, she mostly only came into town at night unless she needed some supplies.

She made her home in a small cottage on the edge of town where she lived mostly among only animals, feeding and caring for the ones she kept at home and the ones who came by during the day from the nearby forest. She finished her feedings and made her way to the edge of town and back to her stone cottage with its thatched roof and the moss-covered cobble walls that housed her small living quarters.

She opened the rounded wooden door into the one-room cottage, it was sparse with a simple round table at the center and a single cushioned chair. On the eastern wall sat a wood-burning stove, at the southern end stood a wooden bed below a large window. On the western side were several places where animals stayed, including her white bunny Angel. She shut the wooden door behind her and placed her wicker basket on the wooden floor.

She drew in a deep yet quiet breath and let it free slowly, pushing it through her teeth. She moved her hand up to her chest and began to release the laces that held on her dress, untying each slowly before they all sat loose of her chest. She let the dress collapse to the ground, exposing her bare body to the cool air coming through her open window. As soon as the dress hits the floor she stretches out her wings.

A great mass of feathers spanned over near the whole width of her home, casting a shadow in the moonlight as they were stretched as wide as they could go. The young woman was a Pegasus, but unlike most, she lived on the ground instead of one of the many floating cities of Equestria and kept them covered during the day. Fluttershy seldom flew, she was far more comfortable on the ground, her fear of heights insured this.

Yes, she was unique among the other Pegasi, being afraid of heights yet being born with wings that were capable of flight, it earned her much ridicule in her childhood home of Cloudsdale, it surely was no surprise the day she left for the comfort of solid ground. She lived like an Earthling, with no horn to produce helpful magic and not using her wings to soar above the clouds, but she was happy with her quaint life on the edge of town.

She crossed the small cottage and climbed into her bed, wrapping her bare form in the white cotton blankets and resting her head on the thick pillow. Sleep did not come easy for her, restlessness was covering her like the blanket she slept under. Her yellow feathered wings twitched as if they were trying to break free from her back. The young Pegasus finally had enough, throwing the covers off her nude body she climbed from the bed and stood up on her feet.

She looked to the open window, a bright full moon's light shone in through its open form. Fluttershy stepped onto her bed and out onto the window ledge and then onto the grass-covered ground below. She walked away from the house with light steps towards the dark Everfree Forest beyond her house. At around halfway between the two she stopped, her wings opened full spread, casting a great shadow across the outer wall of her cottage.

She unbraided her long hair, put her legs together, closed her eyes, and raised her head before drawing in a deep breath of the cool night air. With the speed of lightning, her wings pushed her off from the ground and into the star-filled night sky. Feeling the cold wind rush past her, the pink-haired girl slowly opened her eyes, looking to the sky as the dark gray clouds of the night approached her. A shy smile crept across her face as her heart raced in her chest, not out of fear but excitement and exhilaration.

She broke the clouds, their fluffed shapes turning to ethereal-looking dust in her wake. Her shy smile broke into a full-on grin as the cool air brought chills of pure thrill across her body as she continued to rise until the clouds were but a blur beneath her. She slowed herself to a stop, slowly flapping her majestic wings to hold herself still in the cool air. She moved around, gazing at the stars that covered the sky like drops of glowing water that had been placed in the sky.

The young pegasus was bathed in the pale light of the full moon, her skin was warm with a sense of euphoria at the now calming sight. She did not feel a single prickle of cold on her skin as she floated high above Equestria, she found herself at peace at this moment. The calming peace was interrupted when she spotted something off in the distance. She could see something passing across the horizon just beneath the moon, a small object that was blurred by distance.

Should I go see it? she thought, a childlike curiosity seemed to wash over her at that moment, mixed with concern. What if it's an animal in distress? it seemed stupid, but birds flying above the clouds were not illogical, maybe a bird had become injured and was falling. She wasted no time and began flapping her wings furiously towards what was possibly a bird in distress.

The cold wind of the sky battered her face, it felt like ice on her face but she didn't care, all that mattered was she could rescue this animal if not to just see what it was. She continued her approach, traveling what must have been a mile, the object not growing in size. Still, she pressed on no matter how her wings ached, she still flew to the object of her curiosity. She grew nearer and nearer, then she slowed her approach.

She spotted something, a meteor-like something surrounded by black fire, invisible if not for the deep blue that surrounded its edges and the white flame coming from its front that glowed brightly like that of a small star. Fluttershy did not stop, she continued on her approach, determined to see what it was. The object fell through the clouds, cutting a round hole in their form like a leather punch before they filled the hole in again with their whispy semblance.

Fluttershy quickly dove into the clouds after it, still quite some distance away. Upon breaking from the clouds she began flying directly towards the curious meteor-like entity yet again. The thing showed no signs of slowing as it quickly approached the ground. Still the pegasus dove, her hair flowing behind her. She was now close enough she could make out the shape of the object.

It was shaped like a man, charred black with arms and legs stretched in front of its form. It was not a pegasus, there was no evidence of wings on the blackened form. It was huge, far larger than any man she had seen, even bigger than Big Macintosh, the brother of her friend Applejack, who himself stood six and a half feet tall. This thing looked more like a giant than a human. Then it set in, if a man was to fall from the sky there would need to be something terribly wrong, especially an Earthling.

Dread began to wash over her like the water of a river she had dived into. This dread turned to awareness, she looked down at the fastly approaching forest beneath. Then it hit her like a cannonball, the fear of heights, the dizziness and terror she got from flying. It all hit her at once and she clenched her eyes shut, and covered them with her hands. She stabilized herself, stopping her descent and returning to a state of hovering.

She slowly crept her eyes open for a brief moment, catching a glimpse of the man-shaped meteor as it crashed into the solid earth below. It was like time slowed as earth and dust began to erupt from the ground. It came from where the meteor had struck and risen from the ground in a wall of earth and rock and dust and fire that towered over the now hovering Fluttershy. Her gaze averted down to the world beneath and spotted the horrifying sight of the very earth being raised beneath her.

She wasted no time as she began racing back in what she thought was the direction of her home. As she fled, a loud, thunderous boom that was louder than anything she had ever heard, it was as if she was standing inside of a cannon as it fired. A great gust of wind came over her, growing more and more powerful until the rush pushed her forward fast as a bullet from a rifle. The pink-haired girl tumbled through the air like she had been tossed down a hill, catching glimpses of trees flattening in the wind.

She was continuously struck by debris as it flew past her, rocks trees, even animals that had been thrown by the blast. Everything went black for her in a near-instant as she was slammed into the window frame of her cottage, she was home. She bounced off of the bed and landed with a loud thump on the hard wooden floors, bruised and battered, knocked out cold. Her house shook and groaned as the force of the meteors wind crashed against its simple structure.

The thatching was ripped from her house and stones from the walls were torn away, a cacophony of destruction swirled around the unconscious girl. Then there was peace, the winds stopped and silence came over the land. The destruction had stopped and it felt like the world had paused, stillness covered the land. Then the sounds of nature returned, the croaking of frogs and singing of crickets came back like nothing had happened that night.

Fluttershy was slowly awoken to something small licking her face, it was her bunny Angel. She smiled as she stood up, hurting all over her body but not appearing to have any serious injuries, surprising due to her previous night. She gawked horrified at the state of her house, the sun was shining over its open top and it seemed half of the walls had been knocked over. Luckily most of the interior, including where her animals stayed, had not been damaged.

The walls would be easy enough to repair, but her animals were something else. A bell's ringing was carried over the air, it seemed out of place but she knew what it was. An emergency she thought to herself, she grabbed the green dress off of the floor and slipped the now dirty garment over her form, and ran through the broken doorway. She ran fast and hard to reach the village. She entered from the southern side to find a militia of armed men standing at the ready holding cap-lock rifles and repeaters among other weapons.

They were hiding behind a makeshift barricade of overturned carts and market stalls mixed with other bits of debris, all hastily prepared. They all held their guns at the ready as if preparing to jump from behind their barricades. Fluttershy put her back to the wall of a house and slid along it, peeking around the corner to see what the fuss was about. There stood a man, a lone man who stood at least seven and a half feet tall wearing dark gray colors.

A gray trench coat stretched past his knees and over his broad form. His right sleeve had been torn off and replaced with an arm that looked be made of black flexible plates of steel like a knight's armor in its place. It was adorned with worn patches, one showed what might have been a blue cross on a red field with stars that looked have started falling off, a patch on the chest showing faded and illegible numbers. The coat hung open revealing a strange armor that seemed to be made from segments of a matte gray material connected by thick black leather that covered his chest and abdomen.

He wore trousers made from an indiscernible material that was dark gray in color tucked into dark brown laced boots. A hat sat on his head, it was black and largely concealed his face which was shown to have a thick beard of graying black. The hulking beast that was this man had been looking down, standing in total silence and stillness, until he looked up. His emerald green eyes flashed against the light as he gazed at the barricades, an expression that lacked emotion on his face.

With that, the militia came up from their hiding spots, all aiming their guns at the man.

"FIRE!" was all that was shouted, and he disappeared into a thick cloud of gray smoke and the thunderous roar of guns.