Chapters The Beginning of a Journey (Prologue)
I used to think that everything I knew would last forever…that all of the gifts I had been given were going to just sit there and wait for me to appreciate them. I was sadly mistaken.
My life has been slightly less pleasant than many ponies I know. I don’t have it as bad as some others do, but I also don’t have what I used to. You know how they say that you don’t truly realize how good you’ve got it until it’s all gone? That lesson is one I’ve had to learn the hard way on more than several occasions.
I’m standing over these headstones, the ones I’ve visited many times, and yet they’re the very ones I never thought I’d have to stand over. All of this is my fault, because I wasn’t there when they needed me. I wasn’t there when the time came. I wasn’t there for any of them, and now they’re gone.
But that’s going to change. I’m going to be a better pegasus. I’m going to be who he was, who I should’ve been all along. I owe him that much at least. The kindness that he showed me, how he cared for everyone…who he was in my life, is who I now strive to be. I also strive to be like her, the one at the front of that dazzling rainbow stretching over the face of that same horizon.
I won’t be there too late next time, I promise. I won’t be there too late to save anyone, too late to help them. I’m going to be faster, stronger, and better than every last one of them if it kills me!
Whatever it takes…
Some of you may be wondering just who I am. I mean, you can’t really relate to someone until you’ve gotten a chance to know them.
My name isn’t important. But my story is, and I guess that’s what really matters, right?
Let’s get started, shall we? I suppose I should start at the beginning, before any of this happened…
It was a cold April morning. It was still dark outside, yet the birds were awake and chirping, their mothers already out to catch that elusive morning worm. The sun was mere minutes from rising, and a child was mere seconds from birth.
“Push!” yelled a young nurse mare. Around her stood six more ponies, three of which were doctors and the other two nurses, and the last one the baby’s father, a young stallion with a dark green coat. They were awaiting the same thing the delivering pony was.
The light teal mare on the bed was screaming in pain, and although this was no doubt the most excruciating, tiresome day of her entire life, it was also the happiest. For today, her son was born.
“Come on, you’re almost there, you’ve got this!” one of the nurses shouted, her hooves grasping the mare’s right one.
The father stood back, partly because the doctors needed room to deliver, partly because he was afraid the mare on the bed might strangle him if he came close enough.
“It’s crowning! I can see the head!” the primary doctor said. Perhaps this was what gave her the extra strength to make it through, what gave her a real reason to keep going. When everything hangs in the balance, all you have left to do is push, right?
The teal mare writhed in agony, one final push finally sending the foal on its way. The doctors sucked the remaining fluid from its mouth. After the nurses made the incision, they placed it into the blanket in the doctor’s hooves. He quickly wrapped it tight into a bundle of cotton-covered warmth, which was a surprisingly difficult task if one was not properly trained. The ponies with free hooves applauded, giving short cheers and hugs. The mare on the bed fell backwards, her head hitting the pillow in exhaustion. She was breathing heavily. It was over.
“Congratulations.” he said, “It’s a pegasus colt.” And with one final fold of the blanket, he carried it over to the mother. She looked up, sitting upright and resting on the back of the delivery bed. All of this hard work and effort…she needed to see her one and only son. The father approached, his eyes locked onto this marvel that was in front of him. The doctors and nurses then proceeded to leave and give them some time alone.
The couple remained fixated upon this miraculous creature before them: A son. It began to sink in that they had done this; they had made something incredible; something that would grow and feel and think.
The father was the first to speak.
“He’s…beautiful, Tangent.”
The mare was silent for a second, still looking upon the sleeping foal wrapped tightly in her hooves.
“Yes. Yes, he is, Metallic.”
The foal's eyes were closed, so they did not yet know his iris color. His fur was a dark grey, his mane brilliant lavender purple, darkening as it reached his coat.
The stallion leaned down and kissed the mare on the forehead.
“What would you like to name him?” he asked.
“I was kind of thinking you’d know.” she responded with heavy breaths.
“Well, my father’s name was Crimson Lightning…” he suggested, “and my mother’s name is Cloud Mach.” It was obvious that he wanted his son to turn out to be a racer, just like his side of the family. After all, his son was a pegasus, so he might as well be like him.
“My father’s name is Thundering Fluorescence. I’ve always loved that name. And my mother’s is Indigo Sky.” she replied wearily.
After a minute of thinking, the stallion spoke.
“Thundermach.” he said.
“What?” she asked.
“His name…Thundermach.”
She took it in for a moment, repeating it and getting her mouth used to the name. She liked the way it sounded.
“I guess it’s my turn, then.” She thought for a moment, bringing another word to her lips.
“Skycloud...Skycloud.” she spoke. He said it a couple of times in his head. He liked it.
Just then one of the nurses came in with a birth certificate. She had a joyous grin on her face. Her name-tag read “Tally Redheart.”
“Have you come up with a name yet?” she asked.
Tangent and Metallic looked at one another and smiled. Tangent spoke up.
“Thundermach…Thundermach Skycloud.”
The sky was a radiant cyan blue, with a hint of turquoise on the horizon. There was nothing that could ruin this beautiful day. The clouds were gleaming white, fresh from the weather factory, and soon to be filled with rain to pour across the land, delivering water followed closely by life and sunshine afterward. The sun was high in the sky, shining brilliant rays of pure golden warmth onto everything it touched. Several miles in one direction was the wealthy and majestic Canterlot Castle, a city on the north face of a steep luscious green mountain side. There was even a wondrous waterfall flowing, or falling rather, directly into a giant pool of water. This water served as the city moat, and was used throughout the city, kept in the fountains and other such places. It flowed most directly through a pathway cut into the mountain, which flowed under the city's main entrance, a bridge overlooking the nearby drop-off, where a second and third waterfall formed. Past this decorative moat and the city walls lay Equestria's most royal abode, Canterlot. The city was covered in famous figures and wealth among other things, and the ponies who lived here were of the utmost class and upbringing, a majority being of the unicorn race. And although this was fun to describe, the city of interest here is not Canterlot, but another city; one higher up than the mountains.
About a mile above the ground sat a floating, white metropolis, frivolous and stuffed with beauty, grace, art, invention, economy, politics, potential, and sometimes water. Within were nearly unlimited things that could easily make this the best place in all of Equestria. The city was nothing short of a giant hunk of legendary architecture, even if it was made of clouds. Great pillars and archways with spectacular art filling them side to side lined the many historic buildings and landmarks that stood just as tall--if not taller--than they did when they were first constructed (although maybe a little dryer), and even had new additions being made. Liquid rainbows and various waterfalls flowed out of the sides of the cloud city, making it a glorious sight to behold. In the town square lay a massive marketplace, where hundreds upon hundreds of pegasi gathered to arrange business, trade, and heartwarming celebrations if the time was right. This was a place where everypony enjoyed each day to the fullest, and always wore a smile on their faces. This was the metropolitan capital of the pegasi. This...was the city of Cloudsdale.
With the weather as welcoming and gleeful as it was, practically every pegasus in the city was outside for a chance of some time to bathe underneath Celestia's beautiful sun. They picnicked in the puffy white clouds around and above the city, enjoying delightful food and conversation. To each of them, the daytime was miraculous and lovely, a time to frolic and play after their work was done. However, lazing around was not all that there was to occupy a bored pony's time. There was a race track where skilled pegasi could really strut their stuff and compete, or if one was in the mood for adventure, then he or she could simply take a carriage ride to another city or exciting place. The trips didn't usually take over an hour, and there were always fun things to do while waiting. But, if one seeks true unmatched excitement, then the stadium will sure to be packed with pegasi awaiting none other than the amazing, the daring, the incredible, the super-ultra-extreme-awesomazing WONDERBOLTS! Although on a regular day, the citizens of this floating metropolis would love nothing better to do than to fly. All pegasi but the youngest (and a certain chicken you're all familiar with) are fully capable of flight, and tend to have only the best time simply flying around and enjoying the day.
Near this city is a fairly large cloud, and on top of this cloud is a house, and inside this house, one lazy pegasus sleeps to his heart's content.
"THUNDERMACH!!! I'm gonna' KILL YOU!!!" His eyes shot open, awake, and he already knew that in a couple of seconds he may or may not be so far away from getting the biggest pounding he had ever received.
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A Day in the Life of a Screw-up (Chapter One)
His sister nearly kicked the door off of its hinges as she came into his room. Her mane, instead of its natural electric blue was now a mucky looking tan color. She was dripping wet, fresh out of the shower. The previous night, his mischievous side took over, and he put hair dye in her shampoo bottles. She must have mixed them together, and now ended up with something looking unusually close to a giant dirt clod on top of her head.
By now he was out of bed and at the window sill, saddlepack strapped and ready, pulling upwards on the bottom part of the window frame frantically, trying to open it to provide an emergency exit. However, she was halfway across the room storming towards him, her eyes filled with rage and her hair-straightener in hoof. She held it as one would hold a baseball bat when getting ready to hit a game-winning homerun. He screamed, furiously shaking the window for a way out. Just as she was about to hammer him with all of her enraged might, the window flew open with a loud thud! He made a leap for it, and got out just in time, laughing hysterically as he dropped out of the window and straight over the edge of Cloudsdale.
He caught himself midair and positioned his body at an angle, flapping his wings and pulling out of the free-fall with one swift motion. He hovered there for a second, ecstatic at how good he was getting at this. It had been about a year and a half ago that he had his first flight. However, he was excelling at his abilities, and though there were others that were better than him, he just enjoyed the feeling of the graceful wind through his wings, along with the frequent rush of adrenaline here and there. Maybe he could grow up to be somepony great one day, or even the best flyer in Equestria! Nah! he thought.
The sound of a chuckling pegasus behind him awoke him from his momentary daydream. He turned around to see Wind Twirler, another young colt about his age, but nearly twice his size. He was perched on a nearby cloud, obviously knowing that Thundermach would be there.
Best friends since young colthood, they’d known each other for their entire lives. Wherever one was, rest assured the other would not be far behind. They were two peas in a pod, and yet they were complete and utter opposites. Wind Twirler was large, bulky, and quiet for the most part, whereas Thundermach was usually loud and obnoxious, and though he was in very good shape, he was still a bit on the skinny side. In more than a couple instances, Wind ended up having to get Thundermach’s sorry plot out of trouble, whether it was childish bets he never paid off, late homework assignments, or even making sure his daily chores and responsibilities were kept up with. In a way, he was an older brother to the reckless pegasus, and kept him in check…or, at least he tried.
“Oh, hey Windie!” Thundermach greeted. “Windie” was a pet name that he would give his friend just to annoy him, although now it had become accepted between the two of them.
“You do know that you’re almost late for school, don’t you?” he replied in his low, quiet voice.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he cleared his throat, “I just have a mild habit of sleeping in a bit late.”
“A bit.” Wind repeated. He opened his wings, and floated for a moment before motioning his head to Cloudsdale. “Come on,” he said, and together they ventured off to school.
As they flew side-by-side, they didn’t talk as much as they usually did, possibly because it was too early, or it could’ve just been that nothing had really happened to talk about yet, besides Thundermach’s “wake-up call”. As they flew nearer to the main part of the city, they passed a familiar house. Mrs. Penny, the mare out in the front yard, was an elderly lady. She often greeted Thundermach when he was passing by.
"Oh, hello, boys!" she shouted gleefully, "How are you two doing today?"
"Hi, Mrs. Penny! We're good. We were just going to school." he giddily replied. "This is my friend, Wind." Wind waved his hoof modestly.
"Well, it's nice to meet 'ya, Wind!" she said with her Camanedian accent. "Would you two care for a cookie? I've just got a fresh batch outta' the oven!" Thundermach looked at Wind, a small grin on his face.
"Trust me," he said, "you're gonna' want to try these." Wind shrugged, figuring it couldn't be too much trouble...as long as it only took a minute or two.
As they neared the red-brick building with the blue, orange, and red letters CFA (Cloudsdale Flight Academy) standing proudly at the top of the building, something didn’t seem quite…right. The school was huge compared to some in other regions and cities in Equestria, and taught the same pegasi for years 1-12, meaning that each year the school had at least 1,500 to 2,500 students filling the hallways each day. However, now there were no pegasi in the area. The numerous groups of them that would usually be occupying every square inch of the main entrance with noise and activity…were absent. Then it hit the two confused seventh-year fliers. They looked slowly at each other before their eyes darted to the clock hanging above the doors. 10:15!
They looked at one another, shock and horror on their faces.
Without a second of hesitation, they both darted in opposite directions, not even bothering to say good-bye. Thundermach flashed down the hallways as fast as possible, and at this point he didn’t even care about the “No indoor flying!” signs that littered the school walls. The only thing that mattered was that he stayed out of view and reached his class with as much speed as he could muster. As he whizzed down the long winding halls and staircases, he realized just how fast he was going. It was rather impressive, the time he was making, but there was no way to think about anything else than reaching first period.
He almost ran headfirst into the door of his class, but managed to stop just a couple of feet short, leaving long hoof-made skid marks in the floor where he grinded to a halt. Oh no! Mr. Peck’s gonna’ kill me! Slowly opening the door and trying to regulate his breaths, Thundermach poked his head inside of the classroom to almost immediately come face-to-face with the gryphon. He stood at least 3 feet taller than him, and wore an overly large monocle which seemed to magnify his right eye by at least 2 times its regular size, making his glare hilariously terrifying. Behind his teacher, several of the pegasi in his class stifled laughter. He looked up to see that he hadn’t even fixed his hair this morning, and now his ridiculous bedhead had his mane in some sort of misshaped mess.
“Sorry. I…uh…I had a, um…uh…” he gave up and took his seat.
The rest of the day was, for the most part, uneventful, if you don’t count the unexpected explosion of a party cannon from halfway across the courtyard. It was, of course, the senior classmen messing around again. Actually, whenever this kind of stuff happened, it was almost always the same pony. She had a snow-white coat, with a weird-looking yellow mane, and only ever seemed to laugh or smile. From what he’d heard, she often bordered obsessive partying, something he never really thought somepony could do. And although he couldn’t ever remember her name, she was always managing to attract his--and everypony else's--attention somehow.
After school, his older sister approached him and handed him some of her spare books from the day. She told him to tell their parents that she would be going to the new Cloudsdale Mall for the afternoon, and to remember to do his homework and behave himself.
“Okay.” he said. Pssht! As if!
He met up with Wind a couple of minutes later, who, as usual, looked completely calm. Nothing really stirred him up, not even the end of a school week, whereas Thundermach got more and more excited as the weekend approached.
“Hey Thundermach,” he said, “Ready to go?”
“Ugh! More than ever!” Thundermach replied, “I’m dying to get out of here!” They began flying at a steady pace, the noise and cacaphony of voices dying down as they left the school grounds. They were flying for a little while before one of them spoke.
“So...did--who was it again? Mr. Gooseberry?--notice when you came in?” Thundermach asked.
“No,” Wind answered, “What about you? Mr. Peck was sure to notice you. You do tend to have...dramatic entrances.”
“Ha! Boy did he ever. I swear, it’s like he knew I was comi--” he was interrupted by a sudden flash that sped past them both. Thundermach yelped, almost falling when the air wave hit him, and Wind just stood there, unmoved by the ridiculously fast pegasi that just sped right in front of them. They were headed downwards through the clouds, obviously racing.
“Stupid seniors.” Thundermach said. He looked to Wind. Something was wrong.
“Wind?” he asked, only to no response. His friend's eyes were wide, and he looked...well, Thundermach couldn’t quite put his hoof on it, but he could tell that there was some sort of issue. He waved a hoof in front of the colt’s face. It was as if he was in some sort of hypnotic trance.
“Is everything alright...hellooo? WIND?!” This snapped him out of it. His friend looked around for a second before turning back to Thundermach.
“Y-Yeah,” he said, “it was...nothing. That just looked like...I thought I saw...nevermind.”
Thundermach laughed. “I think the sun’s gettin’ to ya’, buddy!”
“Yeah...” he agreed quietly. There was a mix of confusion, contemplation, and anxiety on his face.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked. Wind paused, and before replying, he stared at the hole in a nearby cloud the older pegasi had left in their wake.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
The white puff quickly regained its composure after a second or two, and the duo once again took flight, beginning their route home.
A Night to Forget (Chapter Two)
"Are you sure you're going to be okay here all by yourself?" his mother asked. She was dressed from ear to hoof with fine clothing. Even for a pegasus family with somewhat little money, they usually did well with maintaining the illusion of great wealth in their image. Their mother made sure of that. She had been to Canterlot on numerous occasions, and thus knew all of the latest fashions and sophisticated lifestyles, which also helped to impress the employers she searched out.
"Mom, I'm not a colt anymore! I can handle myself just fine!" he griped.
She finished putting on her earrings, and joined her husband as a carriage arrived out in front of their house. Tonight was a very special night. It was the grand opening of a so-far successful corporation that Thundermach's father was a part of. The company was just recently kicking off, and was sure to have a boost to its profit now that the HQ was right in the center of Cloudsdale.
As his parents headed out the door, they said their good-byes and departed in the carriage. Thundermach was in for one interesting night. He just didn't know it yet.
As he closed the door, he stood there wondering what to do. For a few seconds he remained motionless with a stupid look on his face. Was there even anything to do at this time of night? He decided he'd think of the answer to a nice bite of food, along with some cider or something. He went to open the refrigerator and noticed that the last piece of appleloosa pie he was looking for was gone. He searched the shelves for a second, and then he saw it. Down towards the bottom, below the door of the freezer, there was a small pink piece of paper. He leaned down to pick it up, and read the note on front aloud.
"Turn around..."
He followed the directions. On the wall behind him, there was another note. He approached slowly, taking it off the wall and holding it on his hoof. He followed suspiciously, reading aloud as he went.
"Go forward, turn left--no, the other left. Oh, wait, no, you were right the first time. Now go forward again..."
By now the paper was leading him through his living room and back towards his bedroom.
"Now stop. Aaaaaand...turn around again...." he read sarcastically.
As he turned, h--
"HI!"
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he squealed like a little filly.
"My name's Surprise! What's yours?" It was her, the white pegasus with the weird hair! But how did she get in here? None of this was making sense. What was she doing in his hallway?
"Sweet Celestia! Wh--How did you get into my house?!" he screamed.
"Oh, it was simple. Your window was open, so I went to close it, but then I saw you inside, and remembered you from today at school. You were staring at me, and I was thinking 'I wonder who that could be' but then I remembered that I also saw you flying REALLY fast through the hallway this morning and I was like 'WOAH!', so then I came inside and I may have had just a teensy weensy bit to eat, and then I wrote directions on that sheet of paper and set up that confetti shooter," she pointed at a small barrel taped to the ceiling.
BAM! Before she could say anything else, it blew 3 short rounds of confetti straight into his face. After wiping some of the paper shredding from his eyes, she continued.
"Wow, THAT went off late. Anyway, so as I was sayi--" he stopped her, planting a hoof in her mouth mid-sentence.
"Why are you here? Surprise, WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE?!"
"To give you this." She handed him another piece of paper. In brightly illuminated letters read the words Dj Pon-3 at Cloudsdale - This Friday from 10 PM to 2 AM. Be there, or be jealous you weren't! Why hadn’t anypony else invited him already? “I just thought that you look a little lonely. I mean, the only pony you hang out with is that big guy…is he your dad? Oh! I know! Maybe he’s your long-lost brother and you two are secretly connected but you don’t know it yet! You know, I have a long-lost cousin I’ve been looking for! Maybe we could all be long-lost brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins together!”
“Uh-huh…well…okay.” Could she get any weirder? “I’ve just gotta’ take one more look at this.”
He read it a couple of times, going over each word carefully and making sure he understood correctly, and that it wasn’t going to be a stupid prank or something. The paper was in the standard condition of a poster, shiny and thick.
"Well..." she started, "Are you coming or not?"
"I guess...oh wait, no, my parents said that I'm not allowed to go out after 11. Well, I suppose I could just leave around 10:30 and make it back in ti--".
"Great!" she cut in, "Let's go!" She suddenly grabbed his foreleg and yanked him out the window, closing it behind her. They flew together for a while.
"Do you even know where this thing is?" he asked after about 10 minutes of flight.
"Of course I do, silly!" she said playfully, "Why would I bring you to something if I didn't even know where it was? That would be kinda' weird, don't ya' think?"
"Yeah...weird..." he repeated.
After another 5 minutes or so of flying and occasionally passing another pegasus or two, Thundermach began to hear music. It had quite a beat to it, and even though it must've been at least a full kilometer away, it had enough bass for him to feel it in his chest!
Cloudsdale was now a couple of miles behind them. However, up ahead, something was bright and lighting up a portion of the sky. They passed a couple more clouds, and that's when he saw it: A huge club absolutely packed with hundreds of pegasi. The music got louder and louder, the bass heavier and heavier. When they finally landed on the main cloud set, the puffs of evaporated water themselves were shaking from the wubs being emitted. Surprise, before running off with some friends, told him to have a good time, and gave him a brief hug. Yeah, this was going to be a fun night...
He walked around for a couple of minutes, unable to really get a clear view of anything due to the sheer number of ponies moving around him. When he got the wing-room, he flew up above the crowd and landed on a small white puff which was being turned into various colors by the lights in the center of the party. He decided it was time for a closer look. He flew even higher, where the air was crisper and a cool breeze was drafting around him. It felt nice, being accompanied by Luna's beautiful moonlight. He looked down and noticed that pegasi weren't the only ponies down on the cloud level, but also unicorns and earth ponies. But how did they even get up here? They couldn't stand on clouds, so there must be some other explanation. That's right! How could he not have noticed?
In the middle of the party was a massive stage with giant speakers in between the bars attached to the sides. Tied around those were two columns of string rising up over the leveled off platform, forming the largest cloud of balloons that Thundermach had ever seen. Never once had so many balloons been in one place that he could remember. He simply stared in awe as the stage began to float higher until it was right below him.
Suddenly, from behind him, he heard a familiar chuckle. He whipped around to find none other than Wind Twirler standing on another cloud bridging the back of his. His best friend stepped across, a calm grin on his face. He stopped next to him.
"I figured you might be down here," he said in his low voice.
"You mean you've known about this? Dude, you didn't even tell me! Why not?"
"Didn't want you to get in trouble."
"Aw, dude, whatever! I never get in trouble."
He raised an eyebrow, "Uh-huh...never ..."
Thundermach scoffed, obviously pretending to be taken back by his friend's lack of confidence in him.
After a moment of silence, he said something that would change the entire course of this night. With a swift glance at Wind, he said....
"Hey. You wanna' get a drink?"
"...And so we WOund uP GeTTing kickEd outTA ThiS blace 'guz hE," he pointed drunkenly to a sober Wind, "din't HaVE hIS haIr cut ShORt enough!" Then, without another word or a moment for anypony to realize what he was doing, he got up from their table of about 13 ponies to a nearby game booth. It was the Balloon Darts game. He walked up, reached inside his mane and emptied out an unusually large amount of bits. He set them down on the table beside the pony up front, and took the remaining darts.
"ThAngz!" he said to the prize teddy bear on the counter.
Before anypony could figure out what he was up to, he threw one of the darts. It wasn't in the direction of anypony specific, but it might as well have been. He threw high and hard. All of a sudden, there was a pop . And then another pop .
"LoOk guys! I'm hittin' all the balloonzes!" He turned back around and continued.
It was then that Wind realized what Thundermach was doing. He was popping the balloons, yes, but not the right ones. Just then, the stage started leaning in on one side.
"Thundermach, stop!" Wind yelled. His friend could not hear his hollering, and kept at his dart-chucking with some kind of drunken precision, each one taking out a minimum of 5 balloons or more as it passed through. By now he had to have taken out at least 50 of them! Wind ran over to his friend and slapped the darts out of his hooves.
"WhADDYa do THat fOr?" Thundermach said with a confused look.
The stage was now noticeably tilting. Nopony knew what was happening, although some of them were beginning to slip around. Panic was starting to spread. Some of the earth and unicorn ponies were getting back into their hot-air balloons that they used to get to the stage once it got airborne.
"Thundermach. I think it's time we took you home." Wind was more serious than usual.
"WhyYy? I's not like it's gONna CollAPSE 'er something!" He patted Wind on the head, "Silly filly."
From the stage, they heard a loud CRACK! . They turned and looked, and saw something positively horrifying. Shrill shrieks and screams of panic and chaos filled the air with piercing decibals as the entire line of strings holding the left side of the stage afloat suddenly snapped, and the whole thing...just dropped. Fear and panic now surged through the crowd as the majority of the pegasi--including Wind--dove off of the clouds to save the falling ponies. Thundermach leaned over the edge, brought out of the drunken stupor by the sudden rush of adrenaline. He watched as the pegasi who dove off to save others returned with at least one each, some with two, dropping them off on any of the available hot-air balloons. Meanwhile, the stage inflated and deployed its emergency balloon supply, which caught it and leveled it out once more. Wind, returning with 3 ponies total, dropped them off in some of the available "parking", which was now almost filled up with panic-stricken earth and unicorn ponies, and looked back at the cloud his best friend had been standing on. He looked towards Cloudsdale, and with the aid of the moonlight, saw a small pegasus flying away in a rather off-balance fashion.
"Thundermach..." he whispered.
By the time he got home, it was about 1:30 in the morning. Hopefully his parents weren't home. However, when he noticed the lights on, he assumed otherwise...he assumed. When the door opened, it always made a loud squee sound for some reason. As he closed it behind him, he saw a silhouette--no, he saw two silhouettes--standing in the middle of the hallway, their expressions a frown from what he could tell from the dim illumination of the moon, their hooves crossed. When he saw their faces with better light, he realized that they were those of Surprise and Wind, both standing silently, both staring. Surprise was first to break the silence.
"Wait, why are we angry again?"
"Ugh!" Wind sighed, "He just almost caused a catastrophe. Thundermach! What if somepony had gotten hurt? How would you feel?"
"Hey!" Surprise cut in, "I'm sure he didn't mean it! That BerryPunch Wildcard juice can really make a pony do some funny stuff! I've seen it a bunch of times!"
"How did you even get here before me?" His comment was ignored.
"There's nothing 'funny' about this, Surprise, and that's not the point." Wind's deep, calm voice was now more audible and much more intense. "The point is that he almost got somepony seriously hurt, maybe even killed! What do you have to say for yourself?"
Thundermach took a moment to think before responding.
"Good-night." And with that, he fell face-first and cross-eyed right into the carpet.
Good Morning (Chapter Three)
Thundermach awoke to a massive, pounding headache. He moaned, lifting his head and sitting upright. He was in his bed. The fur on his back was drenched in sweat, and everything else above his hooves felt so hot it could melt. He got up, wobbling and fumbling around, his vision and memory of the previous night a complete blur. He could hardly see now, even when he squinted. The morning light seemed ten times brighter than usual, and caused a dull ache to top the after-effects of the night before. After what seemed like several minutes of stumbling and knocking into things, he finally reached his doorknob. He turned it slowly, holding it partially to keep his balance which was soon lost again.
He was a dreadful sight, and the manner in which the door was opening characterized a scene in a horror movie where the monster is revealed. Only this monster was about 2 feet tall, sweaty, baggy-eyed and armed with a terrible hangover. Not to mention uncoordinated to the point of insanity.
He stood there feeling stupid in between one of the intervals of jumbled hoofsteps.
"Wanna' get a drink?" he repeated from the previous night, "Idiot."
As he walked down the hall, he felt a sudden breeze go through the house, as if a door had just been opened. The wind was chilling and relaxing for Thundermach's fur, which still clung to its dampness. He kept walking—or trying to walk, rather. The draft was getting stronger as he neared the washer room. He turned and leaned his head around the frame of the doorway, almost losing his balance.
Nopony there.
The window, as expected, was wide open, much to the dismay of his eyesight. Light flooded in through the opening, as if it were breaching the only barrier in the threshold. He suspected his parents may have opened it. No, that couldn't be right. If his parents were home, he would have been able to hear them. Besides, he only felt the sudden breeze as he was halfway down the hall. He remembered last night, when he and Surprise had dragged him out of the window to the party. She shut it behind them though; he watched her as she did. That was another window though. Urgh! All of this thinking was making his head hurt. He just needed to lie down an--
"Hiya!" Surprise yelled once again. Her confetti shooters were working properly now.
Thundermach was not frightened, he was not startled, and he was most certainly not oriented with his surroundings or himself. However, with confetti now covering his sweat-soaked fur, it really couldn't get any better. Instead of jumping or even replying, he just simply stood there and stared, eyes half-open and uneven. He sighed, and continued walking down the hallway. Each step was a challenge alone. All he wanted was to get to the kitchen, take some pain-killer herbs, and hope to Celestia that his head didn't explode.
"Good morning," she said happily. She flew upside-down, her nose just in front of his. "I just thought I'd drop by for a little bit and see how it was going. You had a pretty crazy night, you know. How ya' feeling?"
"How does it look?" he replied.
"Well, not too bad, except for your mane is a mess, and your eyes are all weird." She spoke like his ridiculous appearance was just slightly less than normal.
"Well, thanks for checking up on me," he said, "but I'm doing just fine without any help. Besides," his head sent a jolt of pain through his temple, "you really don't have to sneak in here every time you come over." He continued his steady pace to the kitchen. To Thundermach, getting those herbs was number-one priority.
After a few hours of lying on the couch with a nauseating body-ache, Surprise finally left, and Thundermach got up to get some water. As he was drinking, however, he noticed that there was something odd about both the quality of the liquid, and its color—or should I say, colors. He counted a total of six different hues. It reminded him of —
"Wait a second," he thought for a moment, "Oh, sweet mother of —" His throat lit up in flame.
Thundermach flew out of the bathroom, screaming and gasping in a fit of hysteric pain. From across the hall he heard his sister laughing wildly.
"Urg! Sunset!" He knew he only had a couple of seconds before he would be nothing but a spicy mushroom cloud. He rushed to the kitchen sink, turning the faucet and gulping ravenously.
Never once in his life had he been so thankful for common drinking water. The lukewarm tap was heaven from his lips to the very pit of his stomach. He let out a relieved sigh, then gasped and returned his head to the sink when the glorious heat returned. When the pain settled, he turned around and found his sister staring at him, a hoof over her mouth, trying to stifle laughter.
"And I thought I had it bad when MY hair was a mess," she said.
He looked at her. Even with her mane a mix between dirt-brown and her natural electric blue, she was still a beautiful filly, and he wanted the best for her. One day, she would find the stallion of her dreams and have foals like he knew she would. She was his little sister, and he loved her so much, even when they fought or she made him angry.
"Now we're even," she said with a grin. With that said and done, she went back to her room to finish getting ready for the day.
To say that I would be lying when I say that this was exactly the kind of morning Thundermach wished so dearly he could wake up to every day--hungover, confetti-cannoned, annoyed, and with a burnt, multicolored mouth--would be the largest understatement imaginable. However, this was one of those mornings, so he would have to deal with it.
He left the house after brushing his teeth with Colgate paste and wiping off the remaining confetti pieces from his fur. He felt much better than he did when he woke up, although a dull pain still lingered, and his nose kind of hurt. What happened last night? he asked himself. He tried to remember, but just saw a few blurry images, one with a teddy bear sitting in front of some balloons.
He walked to the edge of his family's cloud. The drop-off never ceased to amaze him. He felt like he could attack the world with one death-defying leap. He stood in the cool wind for a few moments longer, and then leapt off into a perfect free-fall. He could only hear the air now as it rushed past his ears and around his face. His heart began to pump like crazy, the blood racing through his veins; and yet he felt the utmost calm. His mane and tail whipped furiously behind him.
For some reason, Thundermach never felt as free as when he was falling. Within the adrenaline, he found tranquility, and though he was doubtful in his true speed, he never felt fear to do what he did. To him, this was comfort; to him, this was being alive, and when he did this, nothing could stand in his way.
Clouds passed by him at rapid velocity. In between one of the waves of air current, a place where atmospheric decompression would happen (he called these "dead spots"), he opened his wings and began beating, propelling himself downwards at even greater speeds. He pointed his nose toward the ground, like a falling arrow. The wind suddenly got much thicker and condensed. He beat his wings harder and harder. He could feel the strength of his drop increasing. But then, something began to happen...something he had never seen before.
The air was forming a distinct arc in front of his head. It was louder than ever now. His eyes were watering, and his mane felt like it could fly off. What was he doing? He'd never gone this fast before, and yet he knew somehow that if he stopped, he wouldn't get this chance again. Something was going to happen, and soon.
However, not soon enough, as the ground was now approaching faster than he would have time for if he didn't want to break his wings and end up as a pegasus pancake. He tucked in his wings and got into a spread-eagle position, slowing him down enough to re-open his wings and pull out of the free-fall. He leaned forward slightly, and made a surprisingly hard pull-out.
"Horseapples..." he cursed, "I almost got there!" He didn't know what "there" even was, but now he was almost desperate to see. It would have to wait, though. He pulled up, and began to glide.
A good enough height above the ground, he flew at a steady pace, trying to conserve enough energy to make it back to Cloudsdale. But meanwhile, he glided evenly and gazed into the canopy of the forest below. He passed a mountain, rounded back, and landed on one of its ledges. He closed his wings, savoring the momentary relaxation of muscle. One day, when he grew old, he wouldn't be able to do the things he did now. Maybe that was the reason he loved to be daring and adventurous. Maybe it wasn't.
He spotted a pathway leading off from the ledge. Was it pony-made or natural? The protrusions from a mountain cliff were all the same to him. As he followed the path, he noticed that it ran up the mountain, rather than down it. The small dirt road had many chunks missing from it, probably from where rocks had fallen and taken out bits of the path with them.
There were a few small stone archways that ran along the way. As Thundermach walked under them, he noticed that they looked ancient, and had depictions of ponies on them doing many different things. The royal cutie marks were also depicted; the sun of Celestia and the crescent moon of Luna. They were usually shown on opposite pillars of each archway. Under the marks showed what each of them stood for and how Equestrian life was affected under each's rule. These were made long before Nightmare Moon, as the event, along with any devices created within the past millenium, was never portrayed among the depictions.
"This must have been made by pegasi thousands of years ago!" he said aloud. "Ponies didn't have hot-air balloons back then. I might just be standing on an ancient ruin site." He looked down and lifted his hooves. After examining the dirt beneath him, he continued to study for a little longer, and then got back to walking down—or up, as it were—the path. The slow walk was rather nice after flying for as long as he had been before he landed. Cloudsdale was not going to be a quick trip back. It had taken long enough getting here alone.
He hadn't noticed that he was on the dark side of the mountain, because when he rounded a turn, he was struck with the dazzling orange light of the sun setting on the horizon. His eyes hurt like crazy for a second, and then adjusted to the brilliant rays. Directly above was the highest point on the mountain, the peak. He would finish his walk, and fly home from there.
He unfurled his wings and flew up to the ledge. Once he was up, he turned back around to face the view. His eyes grew wide and he gasped. It was indescribable. He looked to the end of the scenery, to the farthest he could see. I wonder what’s out there, he thought. After taking another couple of seconds to get used to the brightness, he looked down to the spectacular view laid out in front of him. It was breathtaking, and was almost too much to take in on first glance.
"Wow, Celestia. You've really outdone yourself this time." He stood in amazement, surveying the landscape; the valleys, the open sky. What wonders lay beyond the horizon?
"You really think so?" he heard from behind him.
Thundermach spun around. Every bone in his body seized up, terrified. It was her—the one and only…
"P-P-Princess...C-Celestia?"
Royal Introductions (Chapter Four)
He stood there, paralyzed. She was...tall! At most, he could reach the mid-joint on her front leg! However, he was still young, and had some growing to do. "I-I..." he couldn't find anything to say, and so instead he kneeled in a humble genuflect.
"I see that my sunsets do not go completely unnoticed by all of my subjects." she said softly. "Don't be afraid. I come to this place often. I don't usually have very many visitors when I do though." She walked forward calmly. Thundermach stood up quickly, preparing himself to fly as fast as possible.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I didn't mean to, um, intrude. My deepest apologies." he began to back up, ready to gallop for his life.
"Please," she said, "join me." She motioned her head, her magnificent wavy mane flowing to the side.
Thundermach instantly obeyed, walking up to her side and avoiding any kind of direct eye-contact.
"Don't be frightened. It's not a crime to be here, so I technically can't banish you." she joked. It didn't help. "You know, I've almost always had a sort of admiration for ponies like you."
He was caught off guard by what she said.
"W-What do you mean?" he asked quietly. She giggled.
"You're so free of burden." she spoke lovingly, "You are still very young. You have yet so many adventures to be had. Actually, if I didn't know better, I might even say that I'm, well, a little bit envious." she winked.
Her ? Princess Celestia, envious ?
"But...why?" They were now sitting beside one another. "I'm nothing special. I'm a screw-up. I barely even have any friends. How...how could YOU be envious of that?"
She took a moment before responding. A sudden ire crept into her eyes, her expression becoming stern. After looking out to her sun setting on the horizon for a short time, she said something that Thundermach would never forget.
"Because you will die." She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
He had no idea how to respond. He was shocked, puzzled, and a little bit creeped out.
"What?"
"Because you will die." she repeated, looking back to the horizon, her tears gathering in her eyes.
"I-I don't understand. W-Why would you--"
"Because you can know peace!" she suddenly shouted. It startled him, causing him to jump slightly. She looked at him with a gaze that, had he not been so on edge, would've made him cry. Her eyes glistened with the burning resentment of her past. "After your life has been lived, and you have had all of your adventures, you will pass on and be separated from the tragedy of this world!" she was crying now. "I do not have that luxury. No, instead, I must watch as my friends, my family, all of those who I loved dearly besides my sister, leave me! I must live forever with the mistakes I have made in my life! Everyone I have ever held close to me is gone, and I will never see them again. You have the only true, guaranteed promise in life: That one day you may see your loved ones again; that one day...you will die."
It was all starting to make sense to him. She has no escape. She's got to live with all of the memories of her friends who have had to leave, not for a long time, but forever. She's alone.
"I'm sorry, Princess."
She stared at him for a moment, and then looked back. Her face then settled into its tender, graceful posture once again. She let out a heavy sigh, and giggled a little bit.
"Please," she said, wiping her tears, "it's not your fault. I'm sorry about my sudden outburst. Who am I to put such thoughts on a handsome, young colt like yourself? Besides, it's through our mistakes that we learn the lessons that define how we live our lives." she continued to wipe her tears, eventually materializing a tissue to do the job.
"You're the Princess of the Sun . I really don't mind." he replied.
She smiled at that. "Thank you...um..."
"Thundermach," he said, "Thundermach Skycloud." He extended a hoof in greeting.
"It's a pleasure making your aquaintance, Thundermach. It has been far too long since I have confided in somepony as deeply as I have with you." She reached out and shook the hoof gracefully. "Oh, and one more thing..."
"Yes, Princess?" he inquired.
"Call me 'Tia'."
The next couple of hours were spent talking to the princess. Celestia had been so in-depth in the conversation that the sun remained on the horizon line for much longer than it should have. She told him story after story of her countless adventures with her friends throughout the ages, all the ponies she knew in her lifetime, and about her rule over the land. In Thundermach's eyes, royal obligations seemed like a huge pain in the flank, rather than what the common misguided statements of regal jurisdiction held. However, she would aslo tell him about her old friends and the lessons she learned through her friendships, and other such endeavors. Thundermach just sat, amazed as she retold stories of her past, asking the occasional question here and there.
But if it wasn't enough that he was getting the chance of a lifetime by even talking to her, he was also getting to know her on a personal level...even more rare.
She asked him about his personal life as well. When she would finish one of her many stories, she would stop and ask him a question that would lead him to delve deeper into his own personality and cause him to express himself in a much more passionate way. He talked about his school, his sister and the pranks, and, of course, about Wind. The only thing he left out was the previous night.
However, there was a point in the conversation when Princess Celestia mentioned something that Thundermach had never really taken serious thought to. He politely stopped her.
“Um...your Highne--I mean, Tia?”
“Yes?”
“What was that thing you mentioned before? Did you say ‘time-travel’?”
“Yes, what about it?” she said it as if it were nothing; some common aspect of life.
“Well...isn’t it supposed to be just...make believe? You know, things that ponies use to stretch your imagination or have fun talks with each other?”
“The only thing stopping imagination from becoming reality is yourself. It’s how all of Equestria’s greatest legends got their reputations, including myself.” she was looking deep into his eyes, giving him the same piece of advice she had probably given to countless others. “If you truly believe you can, then anything is possible. It’s all up here,” she gently touched his head, “and most importantly, it’s in here,” she placed her hoof flat against his chest.
Celestia suddenly looked up, her ears perked. It seemed she was listening for something. She relaxed, and looked behind them, Thundermach following her gaze.
“Thundermach? Remember when I said that it’s not often that I have guests up here? Well, I don’t, save for my sister.” When she said this, he felt his heart sink. They watched as a dark mare alicorn appeared from the path. She quickly ran up to the Sun Princess as soon as she saw her.
"Sis! What are you doing? It’s been dusk for 3 hours! We’re starting to get complaints, and everypony thinks something is wrong! Do you need any help wit--woah!” She seemed astonished at Thundermach’s presence. Was it possible that they didn’t talk to mortals very often?
Celestia spoke with her soothing voice. She was beginning to remind him of a female, brighter-colored Wind.
“Luna!” she said with a slight hint of surprise, looking at the sun again and lowering it. “I’m sorry, I must’ve forgotten the time! It really does tend to get away from me more nowadays.” Without delay, she stood up and greeted her younger sister.
Barely even noticing the welcoming embrace, the Princess of the Night’s eyes locked onto Thundermach’s, sending a jolt of fear throughout his body. They reminded him of the cold frozen nights in Winter, or the icy frost that settled upon the grass and the trees in early Spring. He shivered.
“Tia...who is this,” she began suspiciously, “and why is he here?”
“Oh, my apologies. Luna. This is Thundermach. He comes from Cloudsdale, and is a 7th year student at the CFA. You remember our opening speech for the Academy.” Luna’s expression lightened up, yet her eyes remained on his, piercing his soul for what seemed like hours.
“Yes...” she said, her gaze still upon him, “I remember.” She moved from Celestia’s side, approaching him slowly.
“We were just having quite the conversation.” Celestia said, “Interesting things, mostly. Dragons, old myths, time-travel...” she gave Thundermach a wink, and Luna shot her a look. She turned back around to the young, dark grey pegasus in front of her.
“How do you do?” her younger sister asked abruptly as she walked nearer.
“F-Fine, your Majesty.” he said. Fine? Is that the best you could come up with? Stupid, stupid...
“There is no need to fear me,” she said as she stood above him, a little bit shorter than her sister, but still much taller than him. He instinctively bowed. “I have had enough trouble with that recently than I have adjusting to the new ways of the land. Much has changed, has it not?”
“Y-Yes, your Majesty.” Oh, for the love of!
“Thundermach, is it?” her voice was suddenly much more calm. He looked up to see that she had extended her hoof in greeting. He got up slowly, shaking it in the most regal manner he knew.
“Yes, your Highness.”
“Oh, please. You’re obviously not a threat, and any friend of my sister’s is a friend of mine.” She smiled lightly. It was a smile, nonetheless. “Call me ‘Luna’.”
As the hoofshake ended, Celestia spoke with an aura of relief. “It appears that you have made yet another friend, Luna.”
Friend?
“Yes, sister, it appears I have.” She looked to Thundermach.
“Thank you...Luna.” he humbly replied.
She nodded, and turned around. “Well, I suppose that we should get to work.” Her horn suddenly began to glow with a dark purple light. She unfurled her magnificent wings, taking flight with little effort. As she flew upwards, Thundermach noticed that the sky, on one end, was growing lighter than the other. Although this light was more...ambient than the sun, and less bright. It held a soft blue-ish and white tint to it. It was the moon. He had heard stories about this as a child, even watching quite a few moonrises himself. But never like this.
She was graceful and elegant, and as the midnight alicorn rose higher, so did her moon.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?” Celestia said. He hadn’t heard her walk up next to him, and was startled a little bit.
“Yes. She is.” he agreed.
“I love her very much. She’s my little sister, and she means the world to me. I regret what I did all of those years ago. I always have.” She was getting to some kind of a point. “Thundermach?” she asked.
“Yes, Princess.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded, and then turned back to watch Luna as she raised her glorious moon and stars. “It’s an honor, Princess.”
“Oh, and one more thing,” she started, “As a favor to me, would it be alright if we kept our little chat earlier exclusively to us?” Was she asking him to do her a favor? He hoped that this was all real, and not a dream.
“Of course. And thank you.” he said.
“Oh? And what for?” she asked curiously.
He turned back to her. “For calling me ‘friend’.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” she replied.
And they both turned their heads as Luna lit up the night with the most dazzling array of stars and moonlight that Thundermach had ever seen.
Thundermach’s “encounter” with the Princesses yesterday wasn’t an everyday occurrence, which left him thinking about it a lot. He never expected that she would just...open up to him like she did. Oh, well, I guess that’s what pent-up feelings do. he thought to himself.
In a way, he pitied her. She was the ruler of Equestria. She could have anything she wanted, with practically hundreds of ponies lining up to tend to her every whim, and yet she lacked the most ensured principle of life: Death; mortality. It was a strange concept to him. Although he couldn’t exactly talk about it, especially since Princess Celestia had shared a very personal part of herself and her past with him. Besides, death was a taboo topic of conversation.
She thinks of me as a friend, he thought, I have to honor her request.
“I’ll just keep it quiet.” he said aloud, “I’ll see her again sometime, and I won’t even mention it.”
“See who again?” asked Sunset. She was standing in the doorway, a look of interest appearing on her face.
“Ugh! Sunset! I told you not to eavesdrop!”
She cocked her head. “Aw, does Thundy have a fillyfriend?”
He got up to go and teach her a lesson, when she yelled for their mother. He stopped, and when she answered, Sunset said, “Oh, nothing, nevermind!”
“One of these days...” he said.
“We’ll see,” she replied boldly.
He slammed the door. He hated being teased about having a fillyfriend, mostly due to the fact that he had never really been able to get a fillyfriend in the first place, but also because of the fact that this “filly” was a mare, and not just any mare; the Mare of the Sun herself! Not to mention her younger sister.
He was still amazed. He, Thundermach, had just yesterday met the Princesses of Equestria. For one, he was still dumbfounded. A pony was lucky if they could even see one of the Princesses from a distance, and he had personally met both!
“Thunder! Dinner is ready!” his mother called.
“Coming!” he answered back.
This was going to be occupying his thoughts for a while.