Skyblaze

by Darkest Night

Run Proudly with the Buffalo

It had been three days since he’d crashed into anything, and he wasn’t about to set a new record for Canterlot tranquility.

For the record, it should be said that Skyblaze never intentionally crashed. Crashing wasn’t very fun—at least usually it wasn’t—and he’d broken a few bones and sprained a few limbs over his year or so illustrious career as the most dangerous pegasus in Canterlot to windows, flower pots, window boxes, shutters, signs, lamp posts, stacked boxes and crates, carts, stands, wooden gates, fences, and walls. He’d even lost teeth, necessitating multiple visits to a dentist to have them magically regrafted back into his mouth. The worst crash he’d ever suffered was the broken wing, when he lost it coming out of Doom Gulley and crashed into the pennant pole atop one of the palace towers, then faceplanted himself on one of the balconies, very nearly hitting Princess Luna.

As crashes went, today’s crash was tame, nearly boring, but the upside of it was that he once again managed to crash on the palace grounds. He never minded crashing on the grounds. For one, he never broke anything…except for the wooden poles atop the towers. There wasn’t much to hit on the grounds except for a really big building, a wall, fence, some trees and bushes, flower beds, and the statues and fountains in the big garden behind the palace. For another, it never failed to seem to amuse Princess Celestia, and if he could make his beloved ruler happy, then so much the better. So, when Skyblaze cartwheeled over the wall of the palace grounds with a loud “whhhaaaaooooo,” bounced off the grass, then rolled to a painful and jarring stop against the wall of the palace, he felt that his reputation had been upheld in a satisfactory manner, and Canterlot could sigh in relief. Skyblaze had crashed into something, and that meant that all was well and normal in the city.

And he got to say hello to Princess Celestia. She looked down at him with that amused expression as he sorted himself out, since his back hooves were in his face and his tail was making him sneeze, managing to flop over on his side against the pristine white wall of the palace, get his legs under him, then shake his head a little as he got back on his hooves. Princess Celestia even gave a little giggle when he gave her a rueful look. “Sorry, your Highness. New route,” he told her.

“So I see,” she said in a light, gentle voice. “And how go your preparations for the competition?” she asked as he started his wings up and picked his hooves up off the ground.

“I redid my routine, ma’am, because Scootaloo’s competing. It’s more flashy now,” he said, which made her smile. She started walking, and he hovered along beside her. “It’s gonna have to be spectacular to beat her.”

“I’m sure you’ll do just fine, Skyblaze. You’ll uphold the honor of Canterlot in the competition.”

“I sure hope so. Then again, if anyone from Canterlot goes, they’ll expect to see me crash into something.”

“It is what you’re known for,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes as she looked over at him.

“A pegasus does have to uphold the honor of his reputation, your Highness,” he said haughtily, which made her laugh. Princess Luna landed in front of them, and he landed and bowed to her. “Your Highness,” he said. He didn’t talk to Princess Luna very often, so he made sure to mind his manners.

“And are the statues and trees safe for another day, sister?” she asked. Skyblaze gave her a surprised look, then laughed ruefully.

“They are safe for another day, sister,” she nodded. “He crashed into the wall today.”

“Well, I was aiming at the lawn just on the other side of the fence, but I came in too high,” he said, which made both of them give him amused looks. “Crashing into walls isn’t as fun as it looks.”

“Practice makes perfect, Skyblaze,” Luna said lightly, making him laugh again.

He again picked himself up into the air. “With your permission, I’d better go, your Highnesses. I think my parents will send me out today. They got in those star amethysts yesterday, and I think they’ll have other important materials they’ll need. I don’t know much about making jewelry, but given how rare those amethysts are, they must be working on something pretty awesome. That means I’ll be running around half of Equestria gathering up materials..”

“Ah, yes, I hope that means they’ve started on my commission.”

“They always do yours first, your Highness,” he told her.

“I would ask that you keep what you gather to yourself, Skyblaze. I want those pieces to be a surprise.”

“I never talk about that kind of stuff with anyone that doesn’t need to know, Princess Celestia,” he assured her. “But you and Princess Luna always need to know. You’re the Princesses, after all.”

They both gave him a smile. “I’ll make sure they don’t keep you so busy that you can’t practice.”

“I appreciate that, ma’am,” he said honestly. “I lost all of yesterday to a long trip and Gedwin and Gwendi coming to visit.”

“The griffons?” Princess Luna asked him.

He nodded.

“Did you invite them to come to the competition, Skyblaze?” Princess Celestia asked.

“Yes ma’am, they’re going to sit with my family.”

“Well, I look forward to meeting them, then,” she said with a gentle smile. “Now, we have some things to do ourselves, my daring little pegasus, so we should all get started on the day’s business. Be careful out there today.”

“Yes ma’am. Nice seeing you again, Princess Luna,” he said with a little bob in the air, then he turned and flew out over the wall, heading home.

He was right about having another delivery, and it was a long one. “I need you to go to Appleloosa,” his father said as he picked up his saddlebags from the peg by the counter. “We need some turquoise, so we need to make a bargain with the roaming buffalo. So, son, I want you to go out and find them and make a deal.”

“You want me to make the deal?”

He nodded. “I couldn’t find turquoise anywhere using the usual channels, so we can only get it from the source. Buffalo are very polite and fair, Skyblaze. Just be honest and you should do fine.”

“How much do I need to get?”

“Enough to fill one of your saddlebags,” he replied. “We’ll give you some other gems and some cash to offer in trade.”

“Okay, but I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“We know, but we’re positive you’ll do just fine, dear,” Shimmergem said from her bench.

“Well, I’ll give it a shot,” he said as he buckled his saddlebags on. His father filled one bag with a pouch of assorted gems and the other with a bag of bit coins, weighing him down a little bit. That would make the five hour flight to Appleloosa even longer, not counting the time he’d have to invest in finding the nomadic buffalo and striking the deal. He might not even get back to Canterlot by nightfall. He said as much to his father, which made him nod.

“We know. If you have to stay somewhere overnight, you stay in a town, Skyblaze. No sleeping on clouds overnight. That’s too close to dragon territory, and they’ll smell the gems you’ll be carrying if they come within twenty miles of you. Unlike anything else, the dragons can get to you if you’re sleeping on a cloud.”

He nodded in understanding as his father locked his saddlebags. “I’ll be careful, so you don’t have to tell me.”

His father laughed. “I’m going to say it anyway. Be careful, Skyblaze.”

After eating a hearty breakfast, he started out. Appleloosa was south-southwest of Canterlot, a five and a half hour flight if he was unburdened, but with his load slowing him down he was looking at maybe six, six and a half hours to get to the small frontier town. It and Dodge Junction were symbols of Equestrian expansion into the unclaimed lands to the south, pushing the boundaries of Equestria and bringing the ponies of his homeland closer and closer to the wild dragon lands even further south of the deserts and rocky badlands down there. He flew out over the beautiful green of central Equestria, and watched the terrain under him slowly change, becoming drier, more rocky, more expansive and grand. The dangerous Ghastly Gulch went by under him, a signpost of sorts for him to adjust his course a little more westerly, and he flew out over the dry prairies, grasslands, and deserts of southern Equestria. There weren’t many pegasi down here because dry climates didn’t take much in the way of overseeing. They just pushed an occasional shower down into the region to replenish the arid plantlife, which actually wouldn’t do as well if they got a lot of water. It was a little past noon when he landed on the dusty main street of Appleloosa, a town completely dominated by earth ponies. He stopped the nearest one, an overly friendly young stallion who introduced himself as Braeburn, enduring the most energetic hoofshake he’d ever experienced. He actually pulled himself into the air to get a tiny bit of distance from the fellow. “I’m looking for the roaming buffalo. Have you seen them lately?”

“Why sure!” he replied. “Last I saw of ‘em, they were out that way,” he said, pointing to the west.

“Thanks,” he said, then he beat a hasty retreat.

He had a good lunch before heading out, flying high over the western prairies, searching for the nomadic buffalo. It took him three hours of scanning the land below, flying in ever-widening circles around Appleloosa to finally spot them, a large herd galloping to the north, moving towards a distant small river that snaked down from the rugged hills southeast of Las Pegasus. He descended and matched speed with the herd, lowering down until his head was level with one of the buffalo running at the edge of the herd. “Excuse me!” he shouted over the thunder of their hooves. “Could I talk to you for a minute?”

“Buffalo don’t stop,” he replied firmly. “You want to talk, you talk.”

“Okay,” he called loudly, coughing a little from the dust. “I was sent here to trade with you for some turquoise. Do you have any to spare?”

The buffalo looked at him. “That’s Chief Stronghorn’s business,” he said. “Chief leads us in our great run. Go talk to him.”

“Thank you kindly,” he said with a nod, then he rose up and slowly advanced over the galloping herd of buffalo. He spotted their chief, resplendent with his tassled feather headdress, then again slowly descended down until he was just over and beside him. “Excuse me, Mister Chief Stronghorn sir,” he shouted. “One of your herd said I needed to speak to you.”

“Speak, flying one,” he said without breaking stride.

“I was sent here by my family to trade with your herd for some turquoise. Do you have any to spare?”

“We can trade, but only when we stop,” he replied. “We run until sundown, ancient buffalo tradition. If you keep up, we trade.”

“I can—“

“You run,” he said adamantly.

“Then I’ll run,” he said, swooping down and churning his legs, and executing a fairly tricky running landing. He folded his wings and lowered his head, and he matched strides with the huge, proud buffalo chieftain…for maybe two minutes.

Running, he discovered, was nowhere near the same as flying. His legs were actually a little weak since he flew almost all the time, and it was barely an hour before he had fallen through the large herd and was coughing and choking on the dust they churned up in front of him. He tried his hardest to match their pace, but he just couldn’t do it. They were used to running long distances every day, where he was used to flying long distances every day. His heart and his lungs had the endurance thanks to his flying, but his legs just weren’t used to that kind of extended activity. He found himself well behind the herd, among the herd’s foals, with a dozen or so of the largest buffalo running behind them to keep them all gathered in. But Skyblaze was not a pony that backed down from a challenge, so he gritted his teeth and matched strides with a lanky young buffalo, a young bull that grinned at him as they ran together.

“You don’t run much, but you have a strong heart,” he noted.

“I fly almost all the time, and that’s just as hard as running,” he panted. “My legs aren’t used to this, but my family’s counting on me.”

“If you run for your family, then your legs will carry you,” he said confidently.

He had no idea how, but he somehow kept up with the slower foals the rest of the afternoon. They finally came to a stop in a camp of teepees erected by a small river, and Skyblaze literally collapsed when the younglings galloped into the campsite, his legs feeling like he’d carried a boulder on his back all day. He slid to a stop with his chin on the ground, tufts of dust blowing away with his breaths, then he struggled on trembling legs to his hooves and started up his wings, picking himself up off the ground. His legs hung limply under him, so tired that he couldn’t even pull them up, which earned him a grin from the young bull buffalo that had been running with him, his presence actually bolstering Skyblaze and giving him the determination to keep going.

“I told you, your legs would carry you if you run for your family,” he said. “What brings you to our lands, winged one?”

He felt much better when he had his weight off his legs. “I’m here to trade for turquoise,” he answered. “Your chief said if I could keep up, he’d trade with me.”

“I did,” Chief Stronghorn announced, trotting up to him. “You have weak legs, but a strong heart, Redfeather,” he declared.

“I think this proved to me that I shouldn’t spend all my time flying,” he panted. “I need to start running too.”

The chief smiled slightly and nodded. “You want to trade for turquoise?”

He nodded and landed again, his legs wobbling dangerously. “I have pony money and some other gems to offer in trade,” he replied, unlocking one of his saddlebags.

They were kind enough to give him dinner, bowls of strange mashed plants, juices, and foraged cactus flesh, and it was both very delicious and surprisingly spicy as he and the chief, Stronghorn, bartered over a large bowl of turquoise that he’d had brought to the fire. After they reached a bargain, he had Skyblaze draw pictures of the jewelry that his family made in the dirt by the fire, drawing necklaces and bracelets, earchains and brooches. “My family takes quality metals like silver and gold and uses them with the gems to create things like this,” he explained as he drew a necklace his mother had made recently. Though he was poor at making jewelry, he wasn’t bad when it came to drawing. “I’m terrible at it, so I work in the shop as the delivery pony, going out and bringing back what my family needs to do their work. The more time they have to do their work, the better they can make things. I do the wingwork so they can focus on the jewelry making.”

Stronghorn nodded as another bowl of that spicy brown stuff was put in front of him. “It is good that you honor your family by doing what you can for them,” he said as a buffalo poured the turquoise he’d bartered into a beaded pouch, then offered it to him, as well as wincingly offered up the one thing the chief wouldn’t budge on, two of Skyblaze’s dusky red feathers, and not two of his small ones. He had to surrender two of his secondary flight feathers, the smaller layer just under the primary feathers, which were the big ones that Skyblaze could move and control. Those feathers filled the gaps at the bases of his primary feathers, helping provide lift and control, and while they weren’t critical to his ability to fly, they were still fairly important. The buffalo were a little surprised when he flinched and gave a yipe when the buffalo took the feather in his teeth and plucked it. “Are you well?”

“Yeah, that just stings a whole lot,” he said, rubbing his wing vigorously to get the sharp bite out of it. “Those feathers are really deeply set. They don’t come out easy.”

“We didn’t know this,” Stronghorn said in concern. “You should have said something. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I’ve had worse in practice,” he replied with a brave grin as he turned the other way and presented his other wing. “And don’t worry, they’ll grow back in a week tops. Okay, go ahead, just make sure you get this particular one so I have some symmetry in my wings,” he said, spreading the two primary feathers between the corresponding feather on that side. After another stinging feather extraction, he shivered his wing as he put the beaded satchel in his saddlebag, and the chief’s aide took the bits, gems, and two large red feathers he’d given in trade into a teepee. Skyblaze got the turquoise his family needed, and they got some bits to use to buy supplies from Appleloosa, feathers to add to Stronghorn’s headdress, and gems that weren’t common in their range to be made into their own jewelry. “Well, that’ll throw off my flying for a while, but they’ll grow back. I need to work on my running anyway,” he said absently, flexing his wings as he looked back at the gap between his top two primary flight feathers and the ones below.

“You are a brave pony to offer something so valuable,” Stronghorn said with a nod of respect.

“Like I said, I’ve had worse just in flying practice, Chief Stronghorn,” he grinned. “And they’ll grow back in a week, those feathers regrow really fast.”

“Let it never be said that the roaming buffalo of the great plains do not honor the worth of that which is willingly given,” he said strongly. “For giving up something so dear to you, you deserve two pouches of turquoise to honor your sacrifice.”

“You don’t have to go that far,” Skyblaze protested.

“And neither did you,” he replied simply. “You gave much of yourself for the needs of your family. Such devotion to the sacred bonds of family must be honored.”

“Well, if you insist, I guess I can’t say no,” he said as another beaded bag was brought out, and it was filled with pieces of turquoise. The buffalo then put it straight into his other saddlebag. “Anyway, I should get going, Chief. It’s a good clip back to Appleloosa, and I need to find a hotel to stay the night. Thank you so very much for the dinner, it was nothing like anything I’ve ever had before, and it was fantastic. I never knew spicy could taste so good,” he said earnestly, which made quite a few buffalo smile in his direction. “I don’t want to impose on you anymore.”

“A friend never imposes,” he said grandly. “You mentioned that you will stay overnight and return home in the morning. We welcome you to our fire this night, Redfeather.”

“I accept,” he said immediately.

Hanging out with the buffalo all night was awesome. After they got the business out of the way, he found out that a tribe of buffalo loved to party. They played drums and horns, singing and dancing well into the night, and Skyblaze learned a few buffalo dance steps. He found that while they looked a little imposing, they were all warm, friendly, generous, and enjoyed life with the kind of zest that a pegasus could appreciate. He also found that in a way, the buffalo were a kindred spirit to him. He loved to fly, fly fast, fly far, to roam the skyways seeking the simple of joy of the wind in his mane and the land spread out before him like a vast blanket of beauty. He loved to fly not to visit other places—not entirely, but to enjoy the journey of it, to fly to those destination. Seeing what was behind the next mountain was as much fun for him as it was to fly over the mountain to see what was there. The buffalo loved to run for many of the same reasons, the wind in their faces, the grand panoramas, the joy of traveling for the sake of traveling, an eternal journey with no destination. There was a great deal of poetry in the outlook of the buffalo, and a pegasus could appreciate what it meant to enjoy the journey, to live the journey.

Skyblaze’s legs got even more exhausted as he danced with the tribe around the campfire, then he told stories of living in Canterlot and his rather unique life as a pegasus in a world of unicorns, who flew to the far corners of Equestria in his work for his family business. He heard stories of the proud past and traditions of the buffalo in return, listening to their old tales and legends, each with a moral that taught a young buffalo the values of their tribe. He made several new friends among the roaming tribe, mainly among the young, bandy-legged adolescents close to his own age.

After falling asleep some time after midnight, he woke up with several other buffalo around the main campfire of the encampment. When the night was beautiful, the buffalo liked to sleep outside, under the stars, so he was surrounded by dozing buffalo as a few wisps of smoke rose up from the ashes of the campfire. His legs were achy, sore, and a little rubbery as he got up and stretched, then he went and got his saddlebags from the teepee where they’d allowed him to store them as the others started to stir, including the chief. He landed beside the huge leader as he yawned and got up onto his hooves, stretching a little. “I’d better get started back for Canterlot, Chief Stronghorn. Thank you for a wonderful night. I learned a whole lot.”

“Then it was a good night, for both of us,” he said with a craggy smile, displaying his headdress proudly, which now sported Skyblaze’s two dusky red wingfeathers in it, each one just over the chief’s eyes. “When you need turqoise again, Redfeather, come to us.”

“When I can find you, Chief, I certainly will,” he said as his wings picked him up off the ground. “And I promise to add running to my training regimen from now on,” he said. “I will keep up with you the next time I visit. I will run proudly with the buffalo.”

He grinned. “Then I look forward to your next appearance, Redfeather. Travel well and enjoy your journey,” he replied with a nod of farewell.

“Travel well, Chief Stronghorn,” he replied, learning what to say the night before, then he turned and ascended into the morning sky.

Missing two secondary flight feathers really screwed up his flying. He almost lost control just doing basic turns a few times, until he worked out how it was different, then he adjusted and marshaled himself for his flight back. The loss of the two primary feathers had been worth it to get the turquoise his family needed, and he was honest about how fast they’d grow back. Since those feathers were so important to a pegasus’ ability to fly, they grew back almost ridiculously fast when they were plucked or clipped. In a week, they’d be fully grown and his wings would be back to normal. It would put a dent in his practice and preparation for the competition, but he could practice in other ways while they grew back, and that would help when the competition arrived. For that matter, losing them would help teach him how to control his flight while at a disadvantage.

It wasn’t a disadvantage, it was a challenge.

His father noticed immediately when he got back to the shop just after lunch. “There’s something…I don’t know. Off,” he said, looking critically at Skyblaze’s wing.

He opened his wings and displayed them, making the gap where his missing feathers had been obvious. “Chief Stronghorn demanded two feathers from my wings for his headdress as part of the trade,” he answered. “Don’t worry, Dad, they grow back fast.”

“He made you give up your feathers?” Shimmergem gasped. “That’s…cruel!”

“He didn’t know how much it hurts to pluck those feathers,” he shrugged. “And they do grow back, Mom. So I was willing to part with a couple of them, cause I got this,” he said, unbuckling and offering his saddlebags. “Double what you asked for, Dad. They filled my saddlebags when they realized that losing the feathers they wanted wasn’t like plucking a down feather off the top.”

They gave him startled looks. “But, but your practice, without your—“

“I’ll be fine, Dad,” he said easily. “Really. A week and they’ll be back, and that still gives me ten days to get ready for the competition. I’ve done worse to myself just crashing into stuff around town,” he added lightly. “Besides, I have something else to work on while they grow back,” he said as Gold Ring opened the bags and pulled out the two beaded bags, then poured a large amount of turquoise out over the counter.

“What’s that, son?” Shimmergem asked, reaching out with a hoof and tentatively touching his dusky red wing.

“Keeping up with a herd of buffalo on the ground,” he chuckled, then told them the story of how he had to earn the right to bargain with the herd for the gems, by running with them. “I have the endurance from my flights, but it’s my wings that are used to that kind of distance, not my legs,” he laughed. “I fell over when they finally let me stop.”

“Son, you didn’t have to go that far, not just for a bag of gems,” Silverchain said seriously. “I could have found some somewhere, it would have just taken a little longer.”

“You said we needed them, and I wasn’t going to let you down, Dad. And I told you, I didn’t do anything or give anything that I wasn’t willing to. I saw the run as a challenge, something new I’ve never done before, and the feathers do grow back.”

“But with the competition coming up, you’re going to lose practice time!” Silverchain protested. He knew enough about pegasi to know that losing two of those feathers would make flying more difficult, affecting his ability to control himself in the air.

“A competition is just that, Dad, a sporting event. This is about the shop,” he said simply but strongly. “I may be the world’s worst jewelry maker, but I’m proud of my family’s business and I’ll do what I can where I can to help.”

Both his parents gave him a fierce hug, almost embarrassing him a little. “You go straight upstairs and I’ll come up and make you anything you want for lunch,” Shimmergem said, sniffling a little.

“Woah…you’re going to cook lunch? For me? Quick, Dad, pull out a couple more, I might get lunch for a whole week!”