In the small pegasi town of Skysian, life was slow and life was mundane for Nimbus Storm until one day she witnessed a monster in the skies.
In the small pegasi town of Skysian, life was slow and life was mundane for Nimbus Storm until one day she witnessed a monster in the skies. The monster made an awful puttering noise and upon seeing what it really was, Nimbus chose to prove that her magic was more than a match for the monster born out of progress. An entry for the Equestria at War 2022 writeoff
The wind blew in though an open window as a voice called out: “Would you be a dear and close that for me? When you get to be my age, even the slightest draft can chill you to the bone.” Sitting beside a roaring fire was a navy blue pegasus, her mahogany eyes watching her grandfoal enter the room. As he shut her window, the rain pattered on the pane.
“Thank you Gusty,” she said as a warm smile slighted itself on her lips. She shivered beneath her blanket, but was grateful that the draft was gone.
“You’re welcome Grandmare Nimbus.” He replied while making sure she was warm enough. “Honey with your tea again, Grandmare?” He asked her before going back to the kitchen. She nodded and added to her request:
“And would you please put the radio on? I don’t want to miss the Canterlot Orchestra. They always play the most beautiful songs.” Gusty nodded and turned on her radio as the strings of a cello began to fill the room: Nimbus’s eyes closed as she moved her head to the melody.
He went into the kitchen, wondering why she never upgraded her appliances to more modern ones, and began boiling water. The stove is an old magic one, in fact most of her appliances were still magic, as opposed to the new electrical ones. What could be done in less than five minutes now would take at least ten. He let out a sigh and muttered to himself: “I really wish you weren’t so stuck in the past Granny…I have my game tonight and can’t be stuck here all night again.” While waiting for the water to boil he began looking around at various things she had on her shelves. There were trinkets from all over Equestria and places he never heard of alongside a photo of Nimbus and his grandstallion which he had seen dozens of throughout her home. He glanced over these trinkets, similar stuff she had around her home from her younger days. Despite it being older than almost all of her knick-knacks, one thing caught his eye. A photo taken with one of the older magic dust cameras, black and white, depicting Nimbus in her youth wearing a pair of goggles and a leather cap on her head.
“What have we here…” He said while picking it up off the shelf. “Granny was a…pilot?” He questioned, staring at the photo, his mind running rampant with questions before being interrupted by the piercing sound of the kettle.
He flinched and cupped his ears and took the kettle off the stove, realizing he dropped the photo upon a cracking sound on the floor.
“Nonononono she’s going to tan my flank for this!” He exclaimed in a panic before picking up the pieces of the frame and putting it on the counter. “Stupid old bird!” He cried out in frustration as he got cut by the glass while picking up the pieces of this old photo before wrapping his hoof as best he could before hauling her tea off to her.
As he entered the room, her eyes opened and a smile went over her face. Upon seeing her grandcolt’s wrapped foreleg, she felt a frown replace her smile.
“What happened to you, Gusty?”
Upon her asking, he snapped at her. “Nothing, I’m fine. Here’s your tea.”
Which he set down on the table beside her rocking chair. He sat down on her couch in silence as she sipped on her tea while the radio continued its broadcast. A voice came over the radio and began to say:
“The second half of the Royal Canterlot Orchestra’s performance is sponsored by the Wonderbolt School of Aviation…” which caused her to become silent and allow the frown to grow. Gusty looked up at her and tilted his head. He never saw his grandmare in a slump like this, not even when his grandstallion passed away. A look went over her eyes of hurt and sadness, looking down at the floor at a distant memory.
“Grand…mare? Grandmare Nimbus? Is everything okay?”
She shook her head and snapped out of her daydream. She then raised her head to meet her grandcolt’s, who now had a look of worry on his face. A smile slowly returned to her face, even if he knew it wasn’t a real one.
“I’ll be fine dear, just old ghosts I suppose.” She said while pulling the blanket up to her neck.
A lump formed in his throat as he witnessed this shift in her demeanor; He wanted to leave her and go home, but he knew it wasn’t right to leave her this way. The look of his grandmare and his guilt boiled over and he admitted:
“Granny…I'm sorry. I broke one of your photos.”
She looked at him and blinked as he went to get the broken frame and photo. She took her hooves out from under the blanket and held it gently before looking up at Gusty.
“It’s okay my child,” she began, “accidents happen but I wish you told me sooner.”
She carefully removed the photo from its frame and inspected it, with a smile going over her face when she saw it hadn’t been damaged.
“Um…G-Granny?” Gusty stammered.
“Yes, my child?” Nimbus replied.
“Was that really you?” He said while motioning to the photo in her hooves. A massive, heartfelt smile crawled on her face as she looked at the dusty old photo.
“It sure was, and still is.” She pulled the blanket down from her neck and folded it over her lap revealing a small box. She opened it up and pulled out a pair of goggles, feeling them in her hooves before looking up at Gusty. “If you would be a dear and put wood on the fire, I’ll tell you about the day magic began to die and monsters ruled the land."
Gusty complied and got more wood for the fire then she began: " It started when I was a young mare no older than you…”
In the skies over Equestria, where the pegasi call home, lies the rural town of Skysian where life was boring and slow: then the world below challenged it. While most ponies here didn’t mind the slow, yet repetitive, routine, yet there were those who wanted to take flight and see where the world took them. These fliers performed aerial acrobatics through homemade cloud courses, allowing their hearts to soar beyond their mundane and the boring lives. These competitions, while not as flashy as those in Cloudsdale, were the biggest source of entertainment in towns like these and attracted many would-be free fliers. Unable to muster the courage to compete, one mare watched on the sidelines as her friends competed for glory that didn’t exist. A smile curled over her face and wonder filled her eyes as she watched their bodies dance in the sky until she heard a voice yell out:
“Nimbus Storm! What do you think you’re doing here? You have chores to do, young mare!”
Her muzzle scrunched and her ears folded back as the form of her father, Lightning Strike, came closer. Knowing that her father would give her the talk of how her future relied on working in the new factory in Cloudsdale, or the weather mines of the Western Equestrian skies, she ran. With her father closing in on her, she weighed her options and took off to the world below. She spread her wings and fell into a freefall, until she caught a gust of wind and glided. She felt the breeze on her face, every sound was drowned out by the whistle of the wind, and she closed her eyes in bliss. She opened her eyes and weaved between the clouds, looped through holes in clouds and attempted to replicate every trick she just witnessed in the competition. Here she was at peace, but that peace would be disrupted by a strange puttering below her. Her curiosity peaked and she went to investigate, only to see the dark form of a monster on the ground. Her eyes widened in terror as she saw this form glide over the ground and take off into the sky.
Nimbus froze in fear at first but, as the form got closer, she pushed off her paralysis long enough to fly home. She flew faster than she ever had and collapsed in a wheezing pile when she entered her home, questioning what she just saw.
“Home so soon Nimbus?” A voice rang out from the living room.
When she looked through the doorway, she saw her parents on the sofa. She saw the disgruntled form of her father peering at her from over a newspaper and, sitting beside him, was her mother, Coldfront Blizzard. Her mother was currently repairing a quilt but had a much calmer demeanor than Lightning did. A lump formed in her throat and she froze in her tracks, shifting her gaze away in embarrassment. He folded his newspaper over and spoke.
“Well? Why so soon? Normally you’re gone for the whole day when you run off.”
As he spoke, his wife gave him a dirty look and said,
“What your father meant to say…” putting bite into her words, ”... is that we’re happy you’re home safe. How was it?”
Lighting rolled his eyes and muttered about Coldfront coddling her before going back to his paper. Nimbus began to speak:
“It was fine. There was a monster though. It was coming off the ground…”
“Monsters? Hah!” Her father teased: “There hasn’t been a monster in the skies since the olden days.”
“Lightning, that’s enough!” Coldfront snapped at him.
She looked at her husband, then at Nimbus. “Nimbus dear, would you excuse us for a moment? Your father and I need to have a chat…”
At that, she knew a fight was coming and quickly ascended the stairs, closing the bedroom door behind her. Through the floor she could hear yelling and, even though she couldn’t make out the words, it broke her heart hearing them argue.
A thought occurred to her while hearing them argue below: if the townsfolk saw the monster, then maybe her father would listen to reason. She wanted to track down this monster, but looking out her window she saw that the sun was set and night was dangerous for a little pony by herself. She paced, planned and prepared for the next day’s adventure for she knew that to prove herself to her father she had to catch this beast.
The following day came and when she left her home, that strange sound, that awful puttering made itself known. She peaked over the side of her family’s cloud yard and saw the black beast flying ascending closer than it was yesterday. It leveled out and, while she couldn’t see exactly what it was, she saw strange markings on it including stripes and circles within circles. The meaning of these markings was lost to Nimbus. So, she ran inside to get her parents. When she finally got her father outside, it was gone, much to his annoyance.
“You’re jumping at things that don’t exist, Nimbus. It’s time to grow up and get a job like the rest of us. Weather doesn’t create itself!”
Adjusting his suspenders, he turned and went back into their home leaving her alone with her mother. Nimbus stared in disbelief that the monster was gone without a trace, but Coldfront believed in her daughter. Putting a hoof on her shoulder she said:
“If you see the monster again, come find me Nimbus, okay?” Before giving a smile and going back inside, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
Nimbus started down the road to the cloud courses, kicking a tuft of cloud along the way. She huffed and thought to herself: Maybe Pa is right. Maybe I should just give up and find honest work. There’s no sense in chasing after something I can’t even prove.
While walking to the courses, she kept weighing her options of letting her heart soar or being chained to the mundane life to which Skysian was accustomed. When she arrived at the courses, they were empty much to her surprise. She looked around and spread her wings, stretched her back, then took flight. She felt the rush of the wind in her mane and attempted tricks that she saw other ponies doing the day before. Unfortunately for her, she ended up getting stuck in a cloud while attempting a looping maneuver. She sighed and thought:
Now you’re really done it, Nimbus. You’ve gone and got yourself stuck… Wait, what’s that noise?
Upon realizing what she was hearing, her eyes widened in fear. It was that puttering sound again getting closer to her as the seconds ticked by. She struggled to free herself, panicking as the sound drew near, eventually letting her slip free. Then the monster appeared.
It tore its way through the cloud ground, much to the horror of Nimbus and the ponies going through their daily routine. Heads snapped and eyes stared as this creature swam through the air, buzzing past houses and causing a stir. When she got a glimpse of this creature, she realized it was not a living creature at all. The creature was made of wood, its wings were made of canvas, and sitting inside it was a…pony? The pony in the contraption noticed the attention he was getting, and began to showboat. He performed tricks including nosedives, jackknifes through clouds and spinning to name a few. Nimbus recognized these tricks as staples of the pegasi competitions throughout the land. The contraption made its way to the world below, prompting the townsfolk to follow him to ask about what they witnessed.
The pony exited the contraption and noticed the curious eyes staring at him, not that he minded the attention. He removed his goggles and flashed the townsfolk a smile.
“Good afternoon, everypony!” He spoke with a silver tongue. “I see you all took a liking to my contraption here. I built it myself, after all.”
The townsponies murmured to themselves before one piped up: “How did you do that? How can you fly?”
The strange pony’s smile widened and he began, “Well it’s quite obvious, actually. You see, traditionally pegasi are the only creatures with the magic to fly and live in the sky. But why should they have all the fun? We take a little bit of magic, put it through an engine, let the propeller spin and eureka! Flight!”
The townsponies murmured to themselves again before another voice spoke. “Well the sky is ours so you can stay out of it!” The other ponies began to murmur but in an agreeing tone.
The stranger’s smile dropped and a more sinister tone and expression overtook him. “I wouldn't be too closed minded, friend. All across Equestria, earth ponies are fascinated with the idea of inventing these flying contraptions, planes as they are called, and taking to the skies.” His smile began to curl into a smile again at this. “Your magic is limited, pegasi. Soon enough you’ll be outdated and every pony will be able to fly like you can. And all that pegasi pride will be for naught.” He saw the pegasi getting hostile at his words, some expressions going straight to anger, others of confusion, and some wings shot open as if they were ready to strike. He assessed the situation and began, “Now now friends! I may seem like the bearer of bad news but I am a fair pony after all. Tell you what, I’ve watched some of those races you have up there while tinkering with this beauty and I think I have a proposition. One race, my plane against one of you with bonus points for style. If I win I get rights to your airspace. If you win then I admit that your magic is better than my creation. Do I have any takers?”
A singular navy blue hoof rose from the crowd and a voice called out “You’re on, monster!”
The crowd looked at the hoof and as gasps were heard, a voice yelled out:
“Nimbus no!” As a stallion wandered through the crowd. He looked down at his daughter, his hard expression glared down at her as his voice boomed: “Young mare, this is not how you make it in the world! Besides, we can't put the fate of our home on one inexperienced mare. Tell her, Coldfront.”
Coldfront made her way carefully through the crowd of ponies before coming face to face with her daughter, then eying up the stranger. “Nimbus, sweetheart. You know we care about you and want you to do what’s right in your heart…” She looked up at her husband then back to her. A smile began to form as she whispered the words “Beat him for us, sweetheart.” This of course was to her father’s disappointment and disgust.
Nimbus turned to face the stranger and held out her hoof. “Mister, you have a deal. One fair race. Our magic versus your flying machine to see what is better.”
The stranger smiled and shook her hoof. “Then I believe we have a deal. Meet here in exactly one day and we shall settle this. Don’t be late.”
At this he got back in his plane and took off, leaving the townsfolk in the dust and silence. The young mare flew up to the cloud courses with the townsfolk in cautious tow, watching what she did next and waited for her to speak. She hopped on a cloud and addressed the crowd:
“Skysians listen to me! I know a lot of you don’t know me, but I know a lot of you. I’ve watched from the sidelines many times and I’ve seen what all of you can do. Now it’s my turn to show you what I can do! We need a massive course like this one so we can show that pony who the true masters of the sky are and that we don’t need his technology! Now who's with me!?” Her heart broke at what followed next, townsfolk looked away while others remained silent.
Suddenly, she heard from the crowd:
“I’m with you.”
When her eyes looked over she saw her father, shocked by what he said. She gave him a questioning look to which he repeated: “I am with you, Nimbus.” A slight smirk went over his face and one appeared on hers.
Hearing one pony stand with Nimbus prompted others to do the same and soon enough, the entire town was with her. With a short amount of time until the race, the townsfolk constructed a race course several times bigger than the main one in town. This course would be what Nimbus and the stranger race on, giving Nimbus time to practice. One by one the town’s frequent fliers gave her advice on things ranging from tricks to her agility and speed in an attempt to give her the basics she needed to beat the stranger’s plane. She spent the majority of her day practicing what she witnessed others do hundreds of times. Before she knew it, it was time for the big race.
The stranger was waiting below for Nimbus and the townsfolk to show up. His nonchalant nature and overall coolness of the situation added to Nimbus’s anxiety, making her internally want to throw up. Even more worrisome, however, were the two ponies standing beside the stranger and his plane: a unicorn and an earth pony. A smile cracked on his lips as he spoke.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the little pegasus who thinks she can beat my machine. I hope you brought your a-game today. I sure brought mine. I also brought some judges along to make sure you didn't try to cheat.” As he said this, he tapped a hoof against the engine of his plane. “This engine can take the magic power of ten pegasi then convert it to one for extended flights, top speed, and of course doing a few tricks here and there. This is your last chance, little mare, I’d take it while you can.” As he finished his sentence, a Cheshire smile flashed at Nimbus.
She shook her head in disagreement and began to speak: “A deal is a deal. We’re racing to see if your machine is a match for my magic. If you lose, then you admit that you were bested by magic. You better get a speech ready.” As he was about to reply to her, she turned and walked to her parents who had just arrived with a small box.
“Nimbus,” her father started, “I know I’ve always been hard on you. I will continue to be because I want you to succeed in life. What you’re doing is brave, but stupid. But if you’re going to be brave and stupid you should be safe.” He then opened the box and inside she saw a leather cap and a pair of flying goggles. The smell of mildew and leather filled her nose as her father began again. “These were mine a long time ago. Before I met your mother I was quite the stuntpony, until you were born. The day you were born I hung up my goggles to care for you. Now the choice is yours. Do you follow in my hoofsteps, or my wings?” He handed her the box, tears welling in her eyes and shock plastered her face.
“Pa, I-”
“It’s okay Nimbus, put them on. They suit you. You’re a knight of the sky like I was before you, it’s in your blood and our heritage to fight for what’s right. And a knight needs a helmet.” He secured the leather flight cap to his daughter’s head then placed the goggles on her head. “Now make us proud and slay this monster.”
Nimbus shook off her nerves, thanks to the pep talk her father gave her, and went to the starting line next to the stranger’s plane. He smirked at her and muttered,
“Good luck little mare. You’ll need it.”
Not as much as you will. This will be the last time you look down at us, she thought to herself.
The town elder stood before the two of them with his wing held high.
“Racers, on your mark. Get ready. Get set. Go!”
When he swung his wing down, Nimbus took off and the stranger was left behind. The ponies around began murmuring at the fact he didn’t leave yet.
“Oh no, whatever shall I do?” He said with a smirk as he turned on his engine.
Magic began flowing through it, and the machine took flight. The lead Nimbus had was quickly fading as the stranger came barreling up to her rear. Seconds passed and he was flying alongside her, taunting her.
“Did you miss me? I’m not going to miss you when I use your skies.”
Before Nimbus had a chance to react, the plane zoomed past her, causing her to lag behind prompting gasps from the townsfolk.
This is not how it ends, I will beat you monster. For my home, for myself and for the magic within me I will beat you. Her heart pounded as she flapped her wings harder than she ever had in her life. It was do or die in this race and she had to do everything she could to get ahead.
In front of her, the pilot started to showboat with his tricks. He pulled off maneuvers that Nimbus struggled with. But she knew she had to try: all eyes were on her, including her father's. She felt her heart beat in unison with the townsfolk as she went around the clouds in an effort to slingshot herself ahead. Cloud by cloud, she went and began closing in on the wooden frame. With her teeth grit and her jaw clenched, she pushed herself to the limit as the feeling of fatigue enraptured her. Despite her physical ailments and the strain she felt, she reached deep inside herself to find the magic she knew was there, the thing that allowed her to fly to begin with. Come on Nimbus, you got this. Everyone is counting on you.
Ascending to the Jetstream, Nimbus spread her wings and let the wind take her to close the gap between her and the plane. In an effort to strut her stuff, she attempted to barrel roll through the Jetstream with disastrous results. Her wings hadn't been at an even angle which sent her spiraling out of it and caused her to plummet a few hundred feet. She began to blackout and heard faint laughter of the pilot.
When she came to, she was getting close to the treeline and pulled up out of her nosedive two thousand feet above the ground. She felt the tears well in her eyes when a voice spoke out. It told her:
"Nimbus, we're so proud of you! You need to keep going!"
When she looked, it was her mother yelling from down below: not far behind Coldfront was Lightning. He started yelling up to her but with the adrenaline, and realization she was far behind, she flew as fast as her wings would take her. Luckily for her, the stranger was more interested in showing off than actually winning and decided he was going to fly through an incoming storm front. Seeing Nimbus was gaining in him he let out a laugh.
"Catch me if you can, little mare!" He began. "Let's see how good your magic really is!" And at that, he confidently flew into the storm.
Nimbus had a choice to make and only a few seconds to make it. She could finish the race here and now, or she could make sure the stranger knew that his plane was no match for her. Whatever her reason was, Nimbus flew into the storm and out of sight of the spectators. In the storm, winds blew in many directions, lightning cracked, and the rain would not let up. She secured her goggles while the stranger fooled around with the gadgets he had on his dashboard. The biggest instruments he messed with were a compass and a vague of sorts to tell him how high he was, but he would quickly learn how unreliable these were. Nimbus, however, had none of these and relied on herself and what she learned growing up. Lighting cracked around the racers, lighting up the darkness if just for a moment. She knew the push and pull of the wind, letting it glide over her and allowing it to move her. The pilot however had no clue how to fly through a storm, or any weather besides cloudy for that manner, and relied on his instruments. Towards the eye of the storm the racers flew side by side for a brief moment.
The stranger smirked and said "Well my dear it's been fun, but we both know how this race will end. I look forward to flying around your town."
"The race isn't over yet and neither am I!" Nimbus roared as lightning and thunder cracked the sky.
The two racers broke out of the storm in opposite directions.What the pilot didn't know was that his instruments turned him around. The pull of the storm was too great for his simple compass and as the storm turned internally so did he. Nimbus however, knew how to rely on herself and that old pegasi magic to get her safely through the storm.
The stranger, however, realized his mistake and turned around. By then, it was too late. Nimbus was closing in on the finish line and he was not about to lose to some random pony of just flesh, blood and magic. He put his engine into overdrive and smoke began to billow from it. The puttering of the engine turned into screeching as he barreled down to the finish line. When he looked at the damage, he saw that lightning had struck his engine in the storm and caused internal damage he couldn’t see. This caused a rattling in the engine followed by magic fueling the engine to ignite, sending the dying machine to the ground. It skid across the earth, hot on Nimbus’s tail, and gained ground on her. The force sent soil, rock, and anything in the plane’s path flying in several directions, including forward at Nimbus. She leveled herself in her descent, but debris struck her in the side and she began tumbling towards the line, a cloud of dust coating the finish line.
Her grandcolt was on the edge of his seat, hanging onto her every word with wide eyes. “Well, who won? It was the plane wasn’t it?”
“Patience my child, my tale is just about over. When we tumbled past the finish line there was an audible gasp at the sight of the wrecked plane, myself and the pilot. Townsfolk and judges alike ran over to us to make sure we weren’t severely injured. Thankfully we weren’t but, when the townsfolk looked at our positions, I had slid past the finish line where the plane had fallen a yard short.” A beam of pride overtook Nimbus as her grandcolt looked at her with a thousand questions.
Gusty then asked: “What happened then? Surely the pilot didn’t take it lying down.” Being a competitive pony himself, Gusty knew that losing something as big as that would make somepony bitter and mean.
That familiar smirk was on Nimbus’s face when she told Gusty, “You’re darn right he was upset about it!” She let out a hearty chuckle just remembering his face. “His exact words were ‘You’re a cheating little mare! I want a rematch! I don’t know how long it’ll be but one day I'll be back and you’ll be sorry!’ Then he sauntered off dragging whatever parts he could salvage.”
“Did he ever come back Granny?” Gusty inquired.
“Of course he did! He came back with an even fancier plane based off of a pegasus. He never did understand how our magic worked. It took him three years to come back, and plenty of other hotshot ponies from the ground who wanted to fly like we do. Same stakes as before but this time I was able to keep up with him. I was older, stronger, and had more wingtime than before. His new plane was newer, faster. It had a similar engine as before but this time it also had wings that bend like our wings do.”
Gusty then exclaimed, “He won that race didn’t he? Machine over magic, no chance.”
Nimbus let out a hearty laugh before replying: “No no child, it was a tie. He demanded one more race, so I humored him. He said he would return in a year and he did, but this time his plane was made of metal rather than wood. It had an engine that revved instead of puttered, and for this race he heightened the stakes. ‘One more race. Instead of using your skies if I win I would like to take you on a date. If you win you never see me again.’”
A disgusted look went over Gusty’s face and as he gagged he replied: “Ew Granny, I don’t want to hear about your old boyfriends.”
She smiled and looked at a picture over the fireplace of her and her late husband. “Yeah, old boyfriend.”
“Hey Granny…”
“Yes, my child?”
“Did you ever stop flying?”
“No, my child,” she said through a smile, “Nothing ever stopped me. Not my father, not when I was swept off my feet by that pilot, not when I flew for Equestria in the war against the Changelings, not when we got married and had your mother and not when your grandfather’s Wonderbolt Squadron had the accident that took him from us. Nothing ever stopped me.” She lifted her head and saw the storm had stopped. “But that’s a story for another day, my child. The sun is coming out and there’s plenty of world to explore.”
“Are you sure you’re okay to fly, Granny?” He asked her cautiously.
“Of course I’m fine to fly! If I were you I'd stretch if you want to keep up with me.” She went back to the box, took out an antique flight cap, and placed it on Gusty’s head. “Perfect fit! Now, my little knight, let's use that old magic to go for a fly.”