Sixteen years earlier.
The skies over Canterlot darkened as multiple weather teams scrambled to assemble the final parts of the rainstorm that was now weeks overdue. A blue pegasus stallion with a clipboard hovered amidst the bluster of activity making notes as he directed the placement of dark storm clouds, heavily laden with rain.
“Bright Skies!” He yelled as he checked his clipboard, “You and your team need to get those cumulonimbus into position pronto, we’re running out of time!” A pink pegasus mare with a curly violet mane and matching colored eyes struggled with two other pegasi to maneuver said clouds into position
“We’re trying Straight Shot!” She shouted in order to be heard over the wind, “But this storm is beginning to get out of hoof!”
“Plus it doesn’t help that these clouds are charged with enough energy to fry our feathers!” Added the yellow stallion to her left, “What was the weather factory thinking?!” The manager sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his muzzle with one hoof.
“I know, I know,” came the exasperated response. “I warned the city council that it was a bad idea to delay the system for so long. But nooo, every stinking noble had to have back to back garden parties for the start of Spring.” A collection of commiserate groans and utterances came from the gathered pegasi before they pressed on in their assigned tasks until it was finally complete, after which the two-dozen or so members gathered around Straight Shot for the final check-in.
“Alright, good job everypony!” He shouted to his teams. “Let’s make sure we clear out befor-” He was cut off by a loud, booming noise in the dark skies above them. Everypony looked up to stare in confusion as a sphere of multicolored lights suddenly appeared among the storm clouds. With a sudden contraction and a loud ‘bang’, the sphere vanished in a flash as quickly as it had appeared, the resulting concussion of energy it emitted triggered all of the storm clouds into venting their contents all at once. At the same time, in the area where the mysterious sphere had appeared, a small figure had been left in its place. It remained suspended in the air for only a second before beginning to plummet to the city far below. The weather teams scattered as wind, lighting, and torrential rain began to fly in all directions in an explosion of chaotic energy.
“HEY!” Bright Skies shielded her eyes before diving after the falling figure. She wasn’t even sure what it was but from the looks of things, she may have been the only one to have seen it. That, and she could have sworn she heard a faint cry emanate from it over the noise of the storm. The wind tore at her mane and wings as she powered into her dive after the falling creature, the blowing rain stinging her eyes and soaking her coat. Her efforts paid off, however, as she rushed upon what she could now see was indeed a small creature flailing its tiny limbs and crying out as it tumbled through the air.
What in Equestria?! Bright Skies put the questions racing through her mind aside as she put on another burst of speed, catching the tiny thing in her forelimbs. She could now hear its shuddering sobs as it wrapped its tiny limbs around her neck, small appendages gripping desperately at her mane.
No sooner had Bright Skies made the catch, when her whole world went white with pain and a clap of deafening noise. A tremendous bolt of lighting had arced from one of the clouds as she raced past it, striking her square in the back between her wings, stunning her. Pegasi of course have a natural, magical resistance to lightning and, like all ponies, are fairly durable in general thanks to the magic coursing through them. But even they were not completely immune to injury from particularly powerful blasts of it, especially when it’s a direct hit. Bright Skies fell limply through the air, trailing some smoke as she fell. The creature’s cries had gone silent. She coughed once while she blearily opened her eyes, only to see the streets of Canterlot rushing up to greet her.
Her eyes snapped open and she immediately tried to do the same with her wings. She winced in agony as her left wing, badly burnt from the intense lighting strike, refused to cooperate. With only her right wing opening, she spiraled to the ground like a sparrow with a broken wing. Bright Skies tightened her grip around the creature in her forelimbs, “C’mon wings, work with me here…” She grit her teeth as she tried to force her injured wing open, only 100 feet remained between her and a big mess for Canterlot’s street cleaners. “C’mon…” 50 feet…“COME ON!!!” With herculean effort, her left wing finally snapped open; she forced as much of her flight magic as she could down the ruined feathers, clawing at the air for support as she veered up from the pavement, zigzagging in a chaotic pattern down the street in a desperate attempt to bleed off some speed.
Ponies who were still moving along the streets to get out of the sudden downpour now scrambled to move out of the speeding pegasus’ way. A lone fruit vendor was too late in pushing his wooden cart clear. Oh, horsefeathers…Bright Skies tucked her body protectively around the small figure she was carrying as her body collided at high speed with the obstruction, reducing it in an instant to splinters and fruit salad. A world of pain greeted her as she bounced several times along the pavement before grinding to a halt, her body aching from every direction as steam rose from her coat. Oh Celestia… She groaned as she attempted to shake the stars from her vision. Ignoring her many scrapes and bruises, she instead looked down to the small creature she was holding. What in Equestria are you, little one? It was alien, a quadruped that looked like a miniature, hairless chimp save for a small tuft of black hair on its tiny head. It was so odd in appearance, and yet, had a certain cuteness to it. It was also wearing some type of clothing which was now smoking and full of holes from the lightning strike, it lay completely still in her hooves.
“Oh no,” she murmured, “Oh please don’t be dead.” Bright Skies leaned her cheek close to the creature’s nostrils and was relieved to feel the slightest breathing. “Oh, thank Celestia.” She looked up to see many of the citizens of Canterlot staring at her through the rain from the shop awnings they had taken shelter under. “Somepony call a doctor!” She screamed. She looked back down at the small creature and whispered, “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”
The normally quiet ER of Canterlot General was presently doing its best imitation of an overturned anthill as nurses and orderlies scrambled to tend to their two newest admissions. Not that all of them were needed mind you, with most of them crowding outside of the closer of the two rooms, straining to catch a glimpse of the strange creature now being tended to by an entire team of doctors and nurses. Bright Skies was in the adjacent room, doing her best to ignore the chaos outside as a nurse bandaged her wing and tended to her numerous other scrapes and bruises. There was a Canterlot guard, a slate grey unicorn in silver armor, in the room with her, busily scribbling on a notepad as he took her statement on what had happened. She now stared off into the distance as she sat on the edge of the hospital bed, her thoughts wrapped up in what had happened along with a growing desperation of wanting to know if the creature she had saved was going to be alright.
“Okay, that should be about all I need for now,” The guard said looking up from his notepad. “Are you sure you didn’t see anything before this,” he glanced at his notes, “’Sphere of light’ appeared in the sky?” Bright Skies shook her head, her curls bouncing slightly.
“Only the storm clouds…” she responded in a distracted tone. The creature had clung to her, it had been crying. It was afraid, so scared…The nurse, a yellow earth pony with a brown mane and tail, finished applying the final plaster to a small cut on her shoulder.
“Be sure to change that wing wrap in a few days, and try not fly for at least a week and even then, take it easy.” She said as she gathered up her equipment on a medical tray.
“Mm-hmm, thanks.” Bright responded absentmindedly. The nurse nodded and took her leave from the room. I wonder what will happen to it? It seemed only a foal... A flood of unbidden memories from just over a year prior were now dancing through her mind. The preparations she had made as an expectant mother, the joy and excitement that she and her coltfriend had shared together, only for it to be crushed when she had tragically lost the pregnancy. His outrage, the pain of not only losing the foal, but also discovering that she would never be able to conceive again. In their combined grief, rash words were exchanged and it wasn’t long before he had left her. It was one of the most painful moment of her life. But with the help of family and friends, she had persevered through it. Life went on, and the pain had begun to heal. But what had never left, like an itch that couldn’t be scratched, was the longing to be a mother.
That longing had awakened anew as Bright Skies ran the memory of the small creature desperately clinging to her through her head over and over again. To say that the experience had not triggered her maternal instincts, would be like saying the intense storm, presently pounding the windows of her hospital room, was a just little rain. She had considered adoption many times before, but had always lost her nerve when giving it serious thought. Now, for a reason she could not explain, she was feeling a growing connection to this little one. Her hooves sank to her lower belly as she hugged herself. Could it be done? Would they even let me? I still have the nursery after all. We never took it down after…She shook her head as the idea began to gain traction. She was interrupted from her thoughts by a flash of lighting followed by a crash of thunder that rattled the windows. It was followed by a piercing cry from the neighboring room; wailing, that sounded exactly like a newborn foal.
Bright Skies sprang off the bed, ignoring the immediate discomfort of her injuries caused by the sudden movement as she moved quickly past the startled guard and out of the room. The crying grew in intensity as she pushed past some of the lingering hospital staff and into the next room. There, sitting on a gurney, the little creature was pitifully clinging to the sheets, its tiny face bright red with the strain of its cries as tears poured down its cheeks. A doctor was there with a nurse at his side, their ears flat against their heads as the latter attempted unsuccessfully to calm the crying infant down with gentle ‘shushes’. Without hesitating, Bright Skies trotted right over to the bed between the two medical professionals and propped her forelimbs up on the bed in front of the baby.
Better to ask for forgiveness than permission…“Hey,” She whispered softly, smiling gently with sad eyes. The creature hiccupped and blinked at her before reaching out and clinging to her, burying its tiny face into her chest fluff as it resumed its muffled wailing. Before anypony could object, she hopped up onto the mattress and pulled the child close to her, gently stroking its back as she whispered soft reassurances to it. The doctor and nurse gaped as her ministrations had an immediate effect, the creature began to calm down as its cries were reduced to soft whimpers. The creature’s ruined clothing had been removed, but a fresh diaper had been placed on it. Bright Skies marveled at how remarkably smooth its skin was as she continued stroking its back. She looked at the doctor, a light-green unicorn with a brown mane.
“Have you given it anything to eat?” The doctor cleared his throat, “Uh, well, no, not yet.” He replied. “It just now woke up because of that thunder.” The nurse, a purple unicorn with a blue and red-striped mane held up a bottle in her magic.
“We were going to try this, its just milk because, well, as far as we can tell, this creature is still a baby.” Bright Skies reached out and took the offered bottle from the nurse who added, “And, we’re pretty sure it’s a ‘he.’”
“I see,” She said as she coaxed the child to turn its face away from her chest. “Come on, look! I’ve got something for you.” It immediately seemed to recognize what the bottle was and desperately reached out to it with both limbs, latching onto the nipple as it hungrily gulped down the liquid with little grunts. Bright Skies shifted to a sitting position, cradling the infant as it fed, staring up at her with large, curious eyes. “Well,” She chuckled, “It seems its not the first time he’s seen one of these.” She looked back to the doctor, “Have you been able to figure out what he is?” The doctor shook his head.
“Not a clue, I’ve never read of or heard of such a creature in my entire life.” He said. “But there’s good news! We’ve been informed that an expert of sorts has been dispatched from the castle and is currently on their way here.” Bright Skies frowned slightly in confusion.
“How did they know to send somepony?” She asked, “Did you call them?” Both unicorns looked at each other for a second before looking back at her.
“Well, we were going to,” the nurse replied. “But they called us. They seemed to already be aware of the situation, probably because they felt it like we did.” The nurse said.
“Right before you were both brought here, every unicorn felt a powerful surge of magic go through the air.” The doctor said as he tapped his horn for emphasis. “We think that it had something to do with this creature’s arrival, that and we found something on it.”
“Which was?” Bright Skies inquired. The doctor paused for a beat.
“Best we wait until the expert gets here.” He finally said.
“That would be me,” Came a haughty, feminine voice from the doorway. They all turned and looked to see a bright orange unicorn with an intense, fire-burst mane and tail with teal-colored eyes; her cutie mark was that of a two-toned yellow and red sun. “Name’s Sunset Shimmer, now that introductions are over let’s see what we have here!” She said as she confidently trotted right up to Bright Skies with an excited look on her face. The baby stopped sucking on the bottle, turning with wide eyes to gape at the vibrantly colored pony. “Thanks, I’ll take it from here.” Bright Skies frowned, annoyed by the mare’s forwardness and obvious, smug attitude.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You may.” Bright Skies glared in outrage,
Oh sister, it is on…She opened her mouth to retort when a sudden commotion springing up once more at the entrance to the room caught her attention. Ponies were gasping and scrambling to get out of somepony’s way, many of them bowing as two Royal Guards in their signature golden armor, both pegasi, stepped into the room followed shortly by the Solar Princess and Ruler of Equestria herself.
“Princess Celestia!” Said the doctor, nurse, and Bright Skies in unison; the two former immediately bowing to the floor. The Alicorn smiled warmly,
“Rise my little ponies, no need for that now.” She said. “And Sunset, I would ask again that you remember your manners,” She added gently, causing said pony to flush slightly in embarrassment. The Princess seemed to have sensed the tension in the room and instinctively understood what had transpired before stepping inside.
“Of-of course, your highness.” She stammered with a nervous smile, “I was just eager to begin the examination is all.” Bright Skies stared at Princess Celestia, this was the first time she had ever seen the ageless Alicorn up close, and she truly was a sight to behold with her immaculate white coat and her multicolored mane flowing with seemingly otherworldly power. The very air itself seemed to hum with energy around her. She gulped nervously as the princess approached, unable to find her voice at first.
“Your Highness,” She managed to squeak as she coughed to clear her throat. Celestia smiled as she looked down upon her and the baby who, with a burble of glee, reached out with one limb in an attempt to grasp at the princess’s flowing mane.
“You must be the one who rescued our mysterious little visitor here,” She said as she leaned down to examine the creature more closely, remaining just out of reach of its grasping appendages. “What is your name dear?”
“Bright Skies, your Highness.” She said quickly.
“That was very brave of you Bright Skies, thank you for your quick thinking.”
“Th-thank you!”
“And thank you all,” Celestia continued as she looked back around the room, “For your good work in such an, unusual situation.” Turning back to the pair of patients, she said, “Now, as my assistant may have informed you, she is here to help us better understand what this creature is and where it came from. I promise you, no harm will come to him.” Bright Skies nodded before gently lifting the infant creature and setting him down gently next to her in a sitting position; thankfully he remained calm. She scooted a few inches away to give the princess’ protege some room.
“Finally,” she said as she propped her forelimbs up on the bed to get a closer look. The creature responded with a ‘geh!’ of excitement and immediately grasped onto Sunset’s muzzle, causing her to go cross-eyed at the surprise boop; Bright Skies chuckled into her foreleg. Sunset shook her head slightly, wrinkling her muzzle as she pulled away. “Well, he’s certainly not a shy one.” She said, trying to regain some of her dignity. Her horn lit up with crimson magic as an aura of the same color began to surround the creature. The next few moments were silent except for the scratch of Sunset’s quill as she took notes and the occasional ‘coo’ from the baby as he stared in fascination at the light surrounding his limbs. “Fascinating…” she murmured before looking up, the light from her horn going out.
“Well Sunset,” Celestia said stepping next to her, “What have you learned? The unicorn was silent for a few more moments before looking up from her notes.
“Well, I ran several types of analytical scans.” She stated. “First off, an age analysis. This creature is indeed a baby, only about ten months old by my estimate. Second, I discovered that its brain, while underdeveloped, has very similar patterns to our own. There is no doubt that it comes from an intelligent species.” Celestia nodded,
“And magical abilities, did you discover any?”
“That’s the strangest part,” Sunset replied, “It is indeed giving off a magical signature, but the magic is that of a pegasus!” The gathered ponies in the room murmured in collective surprise. Sunset turned her gaze to Bright Skies, “I wonder…do you mind?” Bright Skies shook her head before the unicorn lit up her horn once more, scanning the pink pegasus.
“What did you learn?” She asked as Sunset Shimmer finished, her eyes widened in surprise.
“There’s no doubt about it, not only is it reading as a pegasus, but more specifically, with your exact magical signature!” Bright Skies mouth dropped open, she looked down in wonder at the baby who was now crawling to be in between her forelimbs. Sunset continued, “Could you please recount for me exactly what happened when he appeared?”
So Bright Skies quickly explained, in detail, what had occurred from the moment the mysterious light flashed in the sky to when the bolt of lighting had struck her after making the catch. Sunset scribbled furiously on her notepad while she spoke, occasionally interjecting with a question about one detail or another.
“Princess Celestia,” Sunset Shimmer said after Bright Skies had finished, “I don’t know if this creature possessed any kind of magic prior to the incident, but as of now, it seems to have taken on this particular mare’s inherent magic. I can only surmise that it had something to do with the lightning strike.” She looked at the child with an all-too excited grin, “Oh, I can’t wait to run more tests!” Celestia smiled and rested a hoof on her student’s shoulder.
“I’m sure there will be time for that later, Sunset.” She said gently, “But these ponies have had a long day, is there anything else we should know?” The unicorn nodded.
“There is one more thing, a faint magical energy, like the kind we all felt is still lingering on him.” She said.
“I may have an explanation for that,” the doctor said as he stepped forward. The eyes of all turned now to focus on him. With his magic, the doctor removed from the inside of his white coat a silver chain with some sort of stone, about the size of an acorn, attached to it. It looked like a round gem, held within a silver fitting, but it possessed no definite color. Instead it shimmered and swirled in a constantly changing constellation of them. “I found this around the child’s neck when we were examining him.” He said as Celestia took the item from him in her own golden magic.
She scrutinized it closely, her eyes narrowed before widening slightly in seeming recognition. “Princess Celestia,” said Sunset, “What is that thing?” The said item vanished from sight as Celestia teleported it away.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” she replied to which Sunset seemed about to object to but, thinking better of it, simply nodded. “For now, we need to decide what to do with our little visitor.” She said while gesturing to the baby who had now snuggled up to Bright Skies’ chest, looking at them all with large eyes. This sparked a small debate between Sunset Shimmer, the doctor, and the princess on what available options there might be and how best to proceed.
Bright Skies shut out the drone of the conversation as she nuzzled the top of the child’s head. She noticed that his hair, which had been dark, was beginning to gain silver-colored highlights. Looking into his blue eyes, she saw that streaks of violet had begun to appear, the same color as her own eyes. Intentionally or not, she had left her mark on this child; she was a part of him, and he a part of her. At that moment, in her heart, she knew what she had to do, what she wanted to do.
“Princess Celestia,” a voice rang out bringing the conversation in the room to a complete standstill, all eyes looked towards Bright Skies. “If I may, your highness, I would like to be placed in charge of this child’s care.” Sunset Shimmer immediately frowned.
“Don’t be ridiculous, you can’t possibly expect to-” Celestia extended a hoof in front of her, cutting her off.
“Please, Bright Skies, do continue.” Celestia said with an unreadable expression. Bright Skies swallowed before continuing.
“For good or ill, I have now directly affected the future of this child. I feel responsible for it, and I want to help to ensure that his future will be a bright one. I already have everything I need at my home in Cloudsdale to begin caring for him. I have no doubt that you could provide all the care he needs, but what this child needs now most of all is a mother. Please, with your permission, can I be that for him? At least until we find his real parents? I would be happy to provide you with regular updates on his growth and development,” she looked at Sunset, “And I would even welcome regular visits and inquiries from your student.”
Celestia’s face broke into a warm smile, “I think,” She said as she stepped forward, gently brushing the infant’s cheek with her hoof. “That this is a very wise and selfless decision my little pony.” Bright Skies blushed at the praise and dipped her head. “I will see to it that you have full and lawful custody of this little one, until that time should come that we do locate his true family. Until then, consider him your own.” Tears brimmed in Bright’s eyes as gratitude flooded her heart.
“Th-thank you, your highness.” She sniffed before looking down at the child, her child, giving him a tender squeeze. Sunset Shimmer let out an audible huff as she turned and trotted out of the room.
“Is there anything at this time that you need?” Celestia asked. Bright skies looked over her shoulder, lifting her injured wing slightly.
“Um, I could use some help getting home, seeing that I can’t really fly at the moment.” Celestia smiled in response as a golden glow enveloped her elegant horn. Bright Skies felt warmth suffuse her entire being, a sense of euphoria coming over her as all of her injuries began to rapidly heal until she was made whole once more. She gaped as the bandages fell from her wing; she gave it a few tentative flexes, it looked and felt even better than new. She looked back at Celestia, “Thank you Princess, so much! Thank you for everything!” She said as she bowed her head. Celestia smiled and nodded in response.
“Now get some rest my dear, I look forward to hearing more about how our special guest does under your loving care.” With that, the Solar Princess gave her farewells and departed with her entourage in tow. After exchanging a few more words with the doctor about being kept overnight for observation, the rest of the room cleared out to give the newly adoptive mother and her child some privacy, the lights being shut off as they left. Bright Skies lay on her back, having drawn the blanket up over them. The baby lying on her chest snuggled into her warm fluff, his little arms tightly gripping her as he gave a big yawn, his eyes slowly drifting lower. She continued to stroke his back softly as she tenderly nuzzled the top of his soft head.
My baby…Her mind felt tired and a bit stunned as she tried to absorb all that had happened in the last several hours. It was utterly amazing how unpredictable life could be at times. It reminded her of what her mother had always told her growing up, “No matter what life throws at you, good or bad, let it only change you for the better!” Bright Skies smiled at the memory, and at the thought that her mother would be proud if she could see her now. Her cutie mark, a bright sun peaking out from behind a white cloud, symbolized her special talent of always being able to brighten ponies’ spirits. She exhaled slowly as she felt sleep creeping up on her.
“Wow, little guy.” She whispered to him, “You just came into my life in a flash.” Her eyes snapped back open as a chime seemed to sound in her heart and mind. “And you know what? I think that’s what I’m going to call you, Flash. Flash Skies.” Little Flash gave a faint smile in his sleep as the two hearts, beating as one, drifted off in peace, completely ignoring the storm which raged outside.