The Giant that holds up the Sky

by Snowlight

A Celestial Intervention

It had been almost 12 hours since the now dubbed ‘Fallstreak Effect’ had happened. And yet, everypony went on their merry way, doing their jobs. The sun had melted the snow before anyone noticed and this was good, there would be no questions, no panic, and this meant a day to think with what to do with this stallion; with Stratos.

Twilight did not know very much about him besides the fact he was an incredibly paranoid, humble, introvert. He didn’t like ponies bowing in front of him, which she could relate to, and based on what she already does know, his talent is relative with the sky in some form of magic she has yet heard of.

Which was incredibly exciting.

It was so exciting, in fact, that she began to search up everything she could on anything related to the male Alicorn. Upon him falling asleep, she was already on her way to the library; wall to wall the vast quantities of information graced its shelves. And with last weeks ‘re-shelving’ day, she knew exactly where to look for anything ‘sky’ related.

Her magic took down book after book, so carefully alphabetized, and began to lay them down on the table in front of her; everything about the sky, clouds, alicorn history, and the atmosphere itself were contained in these books. She opened the first set and began to quickly read each page, seeing if she could spot anything she didn’t already know.

Page after page, word after word, her expression began to grow more and more grim. He didn’t seem to be appearing anywhere in these books. There was nothing similar to the sky breaking apart, nothing about any anomalies in magic suggested towards massive beams of white light. With each passing page it just grew more and more into the Pegasus side of how they controlled the seasons and the fundamentals of cloud creation.

It was like he didn’t exist, he was never around to make a scene. Even the books she had received from Princess Celestias Library held no information. Or maybe they just haven’t been delivered yet… She ran a hoof under her chin, her curiosity growing more and more. Stratos Fallstreak. He didn’t seem all that old, but Alicorns did seem to age incredibly slowly; and with his knowledge on magic, she made a heavily judged assumption that he MAY have come from the same generation as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

It was incredibly far-fetched, but maybe they personally knew something about him. She bit her lower lip, thinking on how to approach this. He seemed incredibly set on his
choice of remaining hidden, but she couldn’t just let him go. From what she saw, his magic could be incredibly beneficial as it could be just as equally be detrimental.

She had to take the risk. He would understand what position she was forced in when he arrived.

“SPIKE!” She called out.

She heard the sound of little feet jogging on the floor and turned her head to see the purple dragon skid to a halt beside her, “Here!”

“I need you to write a letter to Princess Celestia.” She stated.

“Is it about the new guy?”

Twilight nodded, “I can’t find anything in my books about him, I am wondering if they happen to know anything about him.”

Spike nodded in understanding, “You got it.” He pulled out a quill and scroll, each table in the Library had one.

“Ready?”

“Ready.” He pressed the quill to the paper.

Twilight cleared her throat, “Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, I am sure you have heard of or even seen the events that had taken place over Ponyville. I am having this letter written in the find of a new Alicorn. He claims to go by the name of ‘Stratos Fallstreak’ though I can’t find anything about him. Would you happen to know anything about him? Please write back if you do, at your earliest convenience. –Twilight.”

Spike rolled the scroll and tied it together, holding it up and blowing it away in smoke and green fire as it was whisked away to Princess Celestia.

Twilight watched as the smoke left, a feeling in her stomach making her wonder if it was in excitement, or if she made the wrong decision to tell them. She immediately covered this feeling when she heard hoofsteps enter the Library.

“Stratos!” Twilight reflexively began to try and make herself seem preoccupied “You’re up early!”

He seemed confused, staring at her with a raised eyebrow, “It is… the late afternoon though…” He looked out the large window at the end of the library, the sun past the peak point of the afternoon.

“Oh… So it is…” She ran a hoof behind her head, laughing nervously.

“Are you feeling alright? You seem more… jittery than usual.”

Just looking at him made her feel worse about sending that letter. But she couldn’t let him know, “Oh… you know, a lot has happened today…” She didn’t technically lie, a lot really HAD happened today, and it was enough to ease off any suspicion.

And it worked. Stratos actually seemed to be embarrassed, looking off at the floor, “That is true…” He gave off his now signature sigh, and walked up to her. “I wish to make up for that; with what I promised you earlier in fact.”

This caught Twilights attention, he had only made one promise, and she felt a rush of optimism course through her, “You mean…”

Stratos smiled and nodded, finishing her sentence, “Yes, the spell I promised to teach you.” Though in his mind, he was thinking exactly which of his spells he should teach her. She had made it certain that she wanted to learn one of HIS spells, and not any other.

His thoughts were stopped with the sound of glee from a happy mare as he watched Twilight hop up from her seat into the air, “Woo~!” her optimism was surely something; it really showed her pursuit of knowledge.

Twilight ran up to him, “So what kind of magic is it? I want to know EVERYTHING.”

“That you do…” He muttered under his breath before taking a step back for personal space and giving her a casual glance, “Though that was not a part of the promise, I only stated that I would teach you a spell and that was it.”

Twilight frowned and gave him a glare, “You also said you would do ‘Anything’”.

“Which was the spell that I originally didn’t want to teach you.” He smiled, leaning in and giving her the returning glare, purple against blue. He realized he had won the argument when he watched Twilight huff and cross her hooves in frustration, turning her head away from him. “Though you will learn what kind of magic the spell is anyways so it is a win win situation.”

Twilight proceeded to give Stratos the most soul freezing glare he had received since his first attempt of trying to lose Love Dust. He shivered, his mane gaining volume as it stood on end and a small static charge dissipating from it so it returned back to normal.

“Then why did you argue you wouldn’t tell me?” She grunted.

“Because I did not appreciate your cruel need to get me to tell you why I was in the Everfree Forest.” He huffed.

Twilight grumbled, she had mixed feelings about it and decided to give him this one. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind of the stress caused by his point and looked back at him, “Let’s get back on subject. The spell.”

He nodded and looked around, “You wouldn’t happen to have a training area or large spacious room by any chance, would you?”

Twilight gave him a perky smile, “As a matter of fact, I do! I’ll take us there.” With that finished sentence, the two of them began to be surrounded by a bubble of Twilights magic, pulsating as a link was made and they both teleported to a room two stories up; just as Stratos had requested.

Though he seemed to be a little shaken by the teleporting, causing Twilight to realize she hadn’t given a warning, again. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He shook his head and rubbed his temple, looking about and then his hooves, “Even the new ones are masters of it…”

“Masters of what?” Twilight stared at him in curiosity.

“Teleportation.” He put great emphasis on the word, practically hissing it.

“What? But it is so eas-“ She stopped herself as his head seemed to droop down along with his self-esteem, his mane turning to a dark gray. It seemed to be a touchy subject around him… Though if he really WAS that hurt just by the thought of it…

“Stratos… Would you like to learn how to Teleport better?“

“I would love to learn it better, but I am very short on time… I can only teach you the spell I promised.” She watched him turn and walk to the center of the room, turning around and staring at her with his azure eyes.

“Why would you be short on ti-“ She started.

“Now, the first thing you want to do is concentrate” He stopped her, his eyes closing and his horn glowing a sky blue, “Slowly begin the spell to form a barrier.” His magic slowly started to surround him, the shining bubble of a barrier beginning to form. “But when it begins to take shape, break the bonds and layer it.” The barrier began to grow fuzzy and seem to drift away from him though still retain its spherical form. “Can you do this for me?”

“But it is just a regular barrier. And from what you said, it seems incredibly weak too.” Twilight continued to watch as the barrier seemed to disappear from him.

Stratos smiled, “That is true when it comes to physical hits, but try to hit the barrier with magic. It doesn’t have to be anything grand, just… magic, a beam of some sort will do.”

“But I don’t want to hurt you…”

“You won’t! Now. Attack me. A simple paralyzing spell or something of the other, it doesn’t matter which.” He stood at the ready, head held high.

Twilight didn’t feel too certain of this, but he seemed to be quite confident that this… barrier… would work. “If you say so…” Her horn began to glow its vibrant lavender glow, intensifying with each second as she conjured a spell to use on him. She slowly tilted her head down and aimed, directly at the center of his chest, and fired. A precise beam shot from her horn at a blinding pace, and as she raised her head, she could have sworn Stratos’s ears fell back as he truly braced for an oncoming attack.

But it never happened; the beam seemed to slow down a foot before it would have hit him and seemed to trail around and slowly get absorbed by an invisible force. He opened his eyes and looked as the fuchsia magic disappeared and he stood triumphantly, “S-see? Absolutely nothing to worry about.” He let out a sigh of relief. “It can block most magical attacks.”

Twilight stared; unlike the solid barriers, that can break under a beam of precision magic, this barrier just seemed to redirect it and absorb it. It was a wondrous use of improvising common magic into something more. “Why most?” She asked at the end of his explanation.

“Magic is graded in power, levels, as you know. One to Five. Depending on the power of the unicorn, or…” He looked her up then down, “Alicorn. It can be a little bit...Shifty”

“Shifty?”

“Unstable. It was created with magic and absorbs any magic that hits against its shell, and can break down if it isn't maintained properly.”

“Why would you need such a spell though?”

Stratos looked up at the ceiling, “It is rather important, you look at this spell every day and every night.”

It took Twilight a moment or two to realize what he was talking about before she realized his obvious gesture. The sky, it made sense now, an invisible force that protected from the outside.

He just taught her how to create an atmosphere. But it was so easy to learn she almost couldn’t believe it.

“I am afraid I can’t clarify it anymore though.” He stated.

*BANG*

This brought Twilight out of her thoughts, staring at him as he sat in the middle of the room. “What do you mean?”

“Well. It would not take very long for that letter you sent to the Princesses to reach them and come and take me.” He stared at her, “But I am sure you meant no harm towards me when you wanted to know more about me.”

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat as she turned her head to see two of Canterlots Royal Guards rush through, donned in heavy gold armor, followed by another two, and another. She turned back to him, not believing what was going on. “Y-you heard?”

He nodded, looking at each guard as they aimed their pikes at him, “I was about to enter the room when I heard you recite the letter to your dragon. I realized that I could no longer escape once it was sent.” The pair of hoofsteps could be heard down the hallway, “I have already sent Love Dust away so she wouldn’t get involved in this…” He sighed, “Which she probably will….”

The familiar body of the Princess of the Night walked in the room, giving Stratos a cold look. Behind her, Princess Celestia walked in, staring at Stratos with the same glare.

Twilight almost couldn’t handle this, and looked at her former teacher, “P-princess Celestia, what is going on?”

Princess Luna stepped ahead and cleared her throat, “Stratos Fallstreak, you are hereby under arrest for the aid and escape of King Sombra, the disappearance of the Crystal Empire, and freezing the entire artic hemisphere, 1000 years ago.”

Stratos looked down at the ground in sorrow as Twilight stared at him in shock. Aiding King Sombra? The King of Darkness, the tyrannical and brutal dictator that threatened the Crystal Empire more than once that had almost succeeded in taking it again? She shook her head and took a few steps back.

Stratos looked up at Luna and gave her a frown, “You know I never did that inten-“

“Quiet.” She ordered, without looking at him. “Guards, take him.” She waited for the guards to escort him out of the room before she followed them out, keeping a close eye on the cloud maned stallion.

Twilight walked up to Princess Celestia, “Princess… How could he…”

She looked down at her with a soft and warming smile, “It will all be explained in time, Princess. For now, we need to take him to Canterlot and be sure he won’t escape before he explains himself.”

“B-but how could he commit such evil?” Twilight exclaimed; from when she first met Stratos she knew he was a bit of an introvert, but his personality was always kind and humble, with the respect of wanting to keep secrets, secrets. But to think he was one to aid King Sombra; one with no good in his heart, one of pure darkness. You would have to be just as evil as him to help him.

“We will all be hearing that from the stallion himself.” Princess Celestia turned to Twilight and looked down upon her with a more stern facial expression, “I request that you bring your friends with you, as we may need you if he decides to make an escape.”

Twilight hesitantly nodded her head as she followed Princess Celestia out of her castle. Upon exiting the main foyer to the castle grounds, she could see a crowd of ponies watch from a distance as a group of guards and Princess Luna escorted Stratos to a chariot, though he seemed to be calm about all of this.

Until he stopped.

Princess Luna stared at Stratos and her horn glowed, “We request that you walk forward to the chariot. We would not like to make any additional scenes, would we?”

Stratos held up a hoof, closing his eyes, “One moment.”

“There will be no moments!” Luna bellowed, pushing him forward. It was hard to see, but Twilight could have sworn the moment he was pushed, his horn pulsed its blue magic. Though it didn’t seem to register to anypony else as he was pushed to the cart where two guards bound his hooves and placed a magic restraint around his horn. Upon the restraints being placed, the air around him shimmered and broke outward in swirling magical residue as his spell was cancelled. He was then placed in the chariot where two guards sat to either side of him, looking forward.

Luna smiled at this and walked to her chariot, where she awaited the signal from her sister.

Princess Celestia proceeded to walk over to her chariot and stepped on, where she turned to Twilight, “We will see you at the castle. Do not worry Twilight, everything will be explained.” She nodded to her sister where they both took flight, with Stratos’s chariot in the middle where he didn’t move, didn’t speak, or do anything of the sort besides sit there.

Which made the guards uneasy.

Stratos closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep, taking a deep inhale, then exhale. While the restraint made it difficult to do anything, he could faintly see a little cloud that was following close behind the chariot.

Twilight watched as they left and as the dust settled from where they once were, revealing five silhouettes that cleared into five familiar mares. They all walked up to Twilight, each with the same look of confusion at what just happened.

The orange one with a loosely tied mane walked up first, staring up at the 3 now dwindling chariots as they flew off to Canterlot. She turned back to Twilight and gave her a confused look as she motioned back at where the Chariots had been flying, “Uhm… Care to explain Sugarcube?”

Twilight had been watching as well before her attention was drawn back to the group of waiting silence and confusion. She had nodded and began to explain, “Basically, that was another Alicorn.”

The group gasped, all except Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be a bit more casual about the surprising news. Though Rainbow Dash did manage to pipe up, “He really didn’t seem all that special; did you see how slow he runs?”

Twilight could understand the speed issue, ever since she had become an alicorn she found the wings to be heavy and slowing and flying for too long tended to exhaust her. “Not all ponies are athletes Rainbow Dash. Though back on subject, yes, he is an Alicorn, and based off of his magic, he is either incredibly powerful, or he is incredibly resourceful. But now… I am not sure what to think of him.”

“Whatever do you mean darling?” Rarity inquired.

“Yeah! Aren’t Alicorns supposed to be around for some ‘higher purpose’?” Rainbow stated, the group now growing closer.

They all wanted to know what was going on. And they deserved to know, just as much as she did. Twilight took a deep breath and cleared her thoughts so she could explain with utmost clarity from the moment she met him, to where he was arrested. “His name is Stratos Fallstreak. And yes Rainbow Dash, he has a purpose just like Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Cadence and I. From what I have gathered, he controls the sky. The one who maintains it”

They all looked up towards the sky, Pinkie Pie jumping, “Wow! That’s amazing!”

“I agree, and with such colors spreading through day and night in the most wonderful shades of blue, red, and yellow, I find it very inspiring.” Rarity lifted the primary curl of her mane.

“When you say ‘Maintains it’ it makes him sound like a janitor.” Rainbow Dash laughed, imagining the cloudy Alicorn squeegeeing the sky with a spray bottle and rag.

Applejack stepped up, “This conversation is gettin’ off track.” She looked at Twilight with a firm, yet gentle gaze, “Why was he taken away bound in chains, Twilight?”

Twilights ears fell back, the words Luna recited to Stratos before he was arrested echoing in her head. To add to the pressure, all five of them were expecting an answer, and by no means did they want anything else but what she knew.

She looked at each of her friends, “Stratos was arrested for the aid and escape of King Sombra before the disappearance of the Crystal Empire.” Her eyes gazed upon the dirt.

Everone gasped, this was surprising news. “How!?” They all said in unison.

Twilight retreated a few steps back from the deafening question. She could see their mixed emotions, curiosity intertwined with each facial expression, they still awaited the next answer.

One she could not give.

“I am actually heading off to Canterlot to find out now.” Twilight sat up straight and held her head high, “And I am going to need each of you to come with me. I know not all of you personally got to know him, though you will be able to when he explains how he could have committed such a crime. He will surely give his side as well to a thorough explanation of what the Princesses saw.”

“Ah have a feelin’ this’ll be a bit one sided…” Applejack spoke up, lowering her hat, “Ah don’t really think the Princesses’ll give him much room to make a defendin’ statement worth their while. This IS King Sombra we’re talkin’ about, the one who terrorized the Crystal Empire ah’n almost took it over again before Spike saved the day?”

Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy seemed to agree with Applejack, nodding sadly. Though Pinkie Pie looked at them and shook her head.

“No waaay. From what Twilight said, he has a supermundo important job! The Princesses will definitely give him a chance!” She hopped around the group, “It’ll be fair.”

They each mumbled to themselves, half and half towards him being forgiven. Though it never settled right with Twilight, Stratos was always keeping his distance, would this be why? Could he have been friends with King Sombra, or was it a mistake and he wanted to stay away not to let it ever happen again? There were many possibilities running through her mind, and it was about time she and her friends get to Canterlot to learn it.

“Pack your bags girls; we’re getting on the next train to Canterlot.” Twilight said. After hearing a sequence of ‘Woo’s from them she watched as each of them went away to their homes. She went back into her castle foyer to gather a few books that may help him. She felt Applejack may be right and this entire prosecution may be one sided. It was only fair to make it fair.

Stratos watched as the castle came into view, it hasn’t changed since his last nonformal visit. The massive engraved towers that graced the sun so carefully, the gold leaf that was embroidered into the trim; it complimented itself.

Magestic. That was the word he liked to use. He watched the castle grounds come up, each blade of grass pristine and cut evenly. He took a deep breath of the fresh air, leaning back with a smile. It was enlightening, and it made him feel like his old self again. He turned his head to the guard on his left, a white Pegasus stallion, then on his right, a white Pegasus mare, both with golden manes.

They didn’t move a muscle, stared straight ahead, and didn’t bat an eye. He shifted slightly in discomfort and looked down at the chains that were welded down to the floor of the chariot, not allowing him much room to move. He began to clink them around, trying to release some of the tension. He began to make a little beat in his head before the rattling was stopped by two pikes being locked into the chains and preventing them from moving anymore.

He stared up to see the two guards staring at him, their military discipline showing through their eyes as though they were born as soldiers.

“So you aren’t statues after all.” He smiled at the two of them. “I apologize, I didn’t mean to bother you two at all. It just seemed unnaturally quiet and it is such a beautiful day that there should be smiles and joy.”

The mare looked about, as though just now noticing the sunny day and the blue skies. She turned her head to the stallion and motioned him to look, “It is a good day out today.”

“He is trying to trick you into lowering your guard. You remember what the Princesses said.” He whispered to her, barely audible over the wind.

“R-right.” She sat up straight and went back to looking ahead

Stratos frowned, he almost started a proper conversation. It was the first time in a long while he could actually interact with ponies and feel comfortable about it.

Of course, being arrested shouldn’t have anything comforting about it… maybe it was because he no longer had to run and hide from everypony. He felt that was the closest reason to his unveiling emotions, as though a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

It felt relieving.

He looked back ahead and watched as the Princesses chariots landed first, ever so gently landing on the grass and crumpling each blade beneath it. Each of their heads turned and waited for his to land on the ground. They grew closer and closer until his chariot landed with a heafty thud, which was a bit heavier than intended, causing Stratos and the two guards to fall over on top of one another. It was awkward as the chains prevented him from falling over completely; his upper body at a 30 degree angle and tugging at his restraints. The weight from the two guards landing on his back made it worse for him and he winced.

As the guards got up and fixed their armor, Stratos let out a happy, relieving exhale. He couldn’t rub his hooves in attempt to ease the now throbbing pain, but it was better than having them feel like they were going to break.

Princess Luna walked past the drivers who seemed to be embarrassed at the more than subtle landing, looking at the two guards, “Escort him inside.”

The guards nodded, saluted, and unlatched the chains holding him to the chariot. As they were about to push him forward, he ruffled his feathers and walked forward to show his complete acceptance to the order and not risk making any more trouble than he already made with Luna and the discomfort relative to the guards. He followed the stallion in front of him, the mare behind him, and proceeded to walk inside the castle.

Luna and Celestia stared at him, both curious as to why he has yet to make any attempt to escape. Maybe he was planning something. They looked at eachother and nodded, turning to the guards that were dismounting from the chariots to go back to their stations.

“Lieutenant Thunderhoof.” Celestia spoke up, a bit demanding.

A gray unicorn turned around immediately and gave the two Princesses and salute, “Yes Princess?”

“We are placing you and two of your guards in charge of Stratos and to assist the others guarding him, make sure he doesn’t do anything until he is taken to court.”

Thunderhoof nodded and turned to two other guards who were collecting harnesses and rope that were tied to the chariot, “You two, once you are done with your job, come with me.”

“Yes, sir!” They spoke in unison.