Chapter 7 – Revelations
The setting sun burned the sky a vibrant mix of orange and red as below in a clearing, a group of friends gathered in close around simple bowls filled with various greens and a couple carrots. Cloudhammer, sitting a short distance away, munched idly on a mouthful as he watched the others chatter excitedly, their earlier unease and tension seemingly forgotten. He swallowed, and bent over to get another bite of the salad. He was honestly surprised the girls had handled themselves as well as they had; though for civilians they had seen and dealt with things that would normally be handled by the Royal Guard anyway. He sighed, and then looked down at his injured leg, flexing it experimentally. It still hurt when he put weight on it, but between the skilled bandaging and the potion Zecora gave him, even that pain was no more a dull ache. He made a note to ask the zebra for the recipe for the potion later, the Guard’s medical unicorns would give their right front legs to be able to use that in the field.
“How are you feeling?” The voice broke Cloudhammer from his line of thought, looking up, he saw Fluttershy had finished eating and come over. The yellow pegasus’ expression was benign, though a shadow of concern shadowed her eyes as she looked at his leg.
“Much better, the bandaging and stitching is excellent work. I take it I have you to thank for it?” He replied, seeing her face blush scarlet at the compliment.
“O-oh no, I only bandaged your leg. Rarity a-actually did the stitching, I’m afraid I get too afraid around blood.” Fluttershy replied meekly, hiding behind her mane.
“Well, thank you all the same, at this rate I’ll be able to walk comfortably on it when we depart in the morning.” Cloudhammer replied, an actual smile creasing his muzzle, but his eyes remained as hard as ever.
“T-thank you sir.” With a shy squeak, Fluttershy turned and trotted quickly to her things, putting them away and getting ready for bed.
Rarity, having finished her dinner and observed the exchange, smiled a bit at her friend’s behavior and made her way over to Cloudhammer. “Alright my dear, I need you to lift your right leg, I want to check your stitches there and your chest wound as well. Don’t want them getting infected now do we?” The unicorn tried to laugh but it sounded a little forced.
“So, I hear that from Miss Fluttershy you were the one to sew me shut?” Cloudhammer tried to keep the smile on his face, but his jaw muscles were a little sore and he let it slide into the usual deadpan expression.
“Oh! Why yes… I suppose sewing ponies isn’t all that different from sewing dresses… just a lot messier.” The white unicorn shuddered and closed her eyes at the memory, having not enjoyed at all the frenzy of stitching together the pegasus’ wounds. Her hooves getting stained red despite her best efforts as she needed to hold the wounds closed to let her magic focus on keeping the needle steady. She started to feel ill just remembering it, when she felt a hoof lift her chin up. She opened her eyes to see the captain’s looking at her with an almost… understanding expression?
“You did just fine, Miss Rarity, as good a job as any of the medical unicorns in the Guard. Thank you.” Cloudhammer forced another smile onto his muzzle, though this time it seemed to come a little easier.
Rarity smiled back, it wasn’t often that her clients thanked her for her work. Sure her friends did, which helped out some, but she often caught herself wishing that her clients could be a little nicer. “Well, you are very welcome Captain.”
“Cloudhammer.”
“Excuse me?” Rarity looked at him confusedly.
“Anypony who gets my blood on their hooves can call me by my name. So you can omit the rank… same goes for Fluttershy.” Cloudhammer ignored the little twitch in his cheek as his jaw complained from all the smiling.
“Well, then you are very welcome… Cloudhammer.” Her horn lit with a blue glow as she levitated the bandages off his leg and set them to the side. Bending closer, she could see that while the skin around the stitches was red, it didn’t appear to be from infection, only irritation. Nodding in satisfaction, she levitated some more strips of cloth from her saddlebag and re-bound his leg. Lifting her gaze to his chest, she repeated the procedure and before long Cloudhammer took an experimental poke at his leg, the limb now bound in multi-hued fabric that had obviously come from a dress.
“I apologize for your having to sacrifice one of your dresses Miss Rarity.” Cloudhammer said, the apology automatic, but surprisingly he found himself meaning it.
“Oh, it’s quite alright, I was thinking to retire that dress anyway, it was made for a particular fashion trend that’s long since ended. I just brought it along for nostalgia’s sake. And Cloudhammer, if I can refer to you by your first name, I ask that you offer me the same courtesy. Calling me ‘Miss Rarity’ when you are older than I makes me feel like a shriveled old prune of a mare.” She laughed at her own comparison, the sound much more natural than before.
Cloudhammer sighed in resignation. “Very well… Rarity.” The last word seemed to need some effort on his part to make it out of his mouth, but he managed to say it anyway.
“Thank you my dear. Now I’m afraid I need to go get some sleep. If I don’t get a reasonable amount, my mane and coat will be absolutely frazzled in the morning.” With that, she made her way back to the neatly laid out mat that she had laid out and carefully settled down onto it.
Cloudhammer watched her and the others finish settling down, apparently having had some sort of conversation while he was talking with Fluttershy and Rarity, and laid down too, hoping that at least tonight his dreams would be better than last night's.
…
While Fluttershy and Rarity occupied themselves with checking on Cloudhammer’s injuries, Twilight and the others focused on cleaning up from dinner and settling their dispute with Rainbow Dash from earlier. They had honestly been surprised that she had shown up and volunteered herself for the night watch again, but supposed that Cloudhammer and her own innate loyalty to her friends had something to do with it.
“So Rainbow, what did he say to you up there? I bet he was mad. He was mad wasn’t he? Huh huh huh?” Pinkie Pie’s usual bouncy self was back, which was a relief to everypony present. They hated seeing the normally sprightly earth pony fall into depression, especially given her behavior the last time when she thought they were all abandoning her as friends.
“Well, he didn’t yell at me, but I think he wanted to. Told me a story and then left.” Rainbow admitted, not sure how to explain it very well.
“A story, what about?” Twilight asked, her eyes now lit up with the prospect of learning another bit of information about the captain.
“Well, it was about some pegasus Guard who was up for promotion to Captain, and to make them prove their loyalty, they had six other pegasus Guards beat them up to almost passing out, then asked them if they would surrender. They said no, so they kept beating them until they blacked out.”
Twilight was astonished. “That’s awful! What in the world is that supposed to prove?”
“That’s what I thought too, but then he said the pegasus woke up in their bed, all fixed up, and a note left for them. Turns out the point of the test was to see how they’d react to putting their life on the line, and if you back down, you can’t ever become a Captain. Then he said that if I say I’ll do something, to make sure I’ll go all the way to finish it.” Rainbow shook her head as she finished the tale. “I think they’re all crazy, ‘cuz that means that Cloudhammer over there went through the same thing.”
Twilight frowned, her brain working overtime to process everything that Rainbow had just said. She resolved to try and talk to him tonight, if she got the chance.
Applejack smiled a little. “Well, ah’m just glad you learned a little sumthin’ Rainbow. Though nex’ time, don’t go ‘volunteering’ other ponies for jobs without askin’ first, ‘kay?”
“Deal.” Almost in unison, Rainbow and Applejack both spit into their hooves and smacked them together, making Twilight wince. Spike and Pinkie both started laughing at her discomfort before they all realized that the sun had slid far enough below the horizon that they could go to sleep comfortably.
…
For the eight hundredth time, Twilight told her brain to quiet down and let her go to sleep. However, her mind refused to slow down and instead continued to agonize over the tidbits she had learned about Cloudhammer. She knew that he wasn’t telling them everything, that there was something more to why Celestia had chosen him to accompany them over any other Captain; why, when he had whispered into her ear back in Canterlot she had looked so sad as they had left. She knew for a fact that there was more to the helmet than he had let on, and she wanted to know why he had felt the need to hide it. She remembered when he had been sleeping after the attack, his fitful dreaming and mumbled cries for Star something or other. The pieces were there, dancing in front of her and if only she could figure out how to connect them, she’d know everything. She rolled onto her back, looking up at the night sky, letting the slow rhythm of the stars and moon slow her frantic thoughts down. She’d always enjoyed stargazing, and wished she and her friends got to do so more often, not just when a meteor shower was due. She felt herself drifting off to sleep, but right before her eyes sealed themselves she heard a slight clank of armor and looked over to see Cloudhammer stiffly getting to his hooves. She stayed still and watched as he made his way to the fallen tree on the edge of the clearing. Getting to her hooves herself, she saw Rainbow looking at her quizzically, and inclined her head towards Cloudhammer. Getting to her hooves, she nearly shrieked as she felt a hoof poke her side, and looked behind her to see Applejack looking at her, then to the captain. She nodded, and together they joined Rainbow and walked up behind the captain, who was staring up into the sky, an unreadable expression on his face.
“What do you want?” Cloudhammer asked without turning around.
“Look, I know there’s more than you’re letting on, both about what made you come on this mission, and what’s been bothering you. Last night while you were sleeping, you kept mentioning somepony named Star Dancer. Now, we want you to tell us the truth.” Twilight said firmly.
“And just why should I do that? I’ve only known you all personally for 3 days now. What makes you think that I’m just going to open myself up and share things that are only known to 3 ponies in all of Equestria? Things that if I tell them, will only bring more hurt to a family that’s already carried more than its fair share!” Cloudhammer barely even realized that he was starting to shout, until he saw that the three in front of him had taken a step back and the others were starting to wake up. He shook his head and turned back to staring at the night sky.
“Look, I know it’s hard to talk about some things, but you’ve already trusted us once, with the secret of Royal Guard armor. If you’re willing to share information like that with us, then how does our word change for something like this?” Twilight pressed; determination on her face as Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Zecora and Spike all stumbled over, blearily rubbing sleep from their eyes.
Cloudhammer shut his eyes as his mind raged against itself. For all his life, ever since his father had told him the truth, he had kept it secret from all save the Princess, his wife and to a certain extent his son. But he couldn’t deny the tiny thought stubbornly holding on that maybe it was time for the curtains to be pulled back, for the secrets and lies to finally end. The thought terrified him to an extent he didn’t think possible, feeling the weight of his entire family bearing down on his shoulders. He hung his head low, trying desperately to find some purchase, something that would serve as an anchor in the maelstrom of his own thoughts. Suddenly, he felt a hoof touch his side, and looking, he saw a pink face with cyan eyes staring back; the happy-go-lucky look they usually held replaced with utter conviction.
Pinkie Pie stared at the captain levelly, speaking in a completely calm, serious tone her friends had rarely heard from her before. “I can tell you’re sad, and scared. But don’t worry, we’re your friends now, you can tell us stuff and we won’t tell anypony else. Right?” She didn’t look toward her friends, but the way she asked the question gave the impression that anything less than an affirmative would be unwise.
“Of course. You can count on us.” Twilight said softly.
“Ah never tell tha secrets of anypony.” Applejack stamped her hoof in emphasis
“Give us some credit, we’d never let a friend down.” Rainbow added.
“I’d never dream of such a barbaric thing.” Zecora stated firmly.
“Cloudhammer, you know you can tell us anything at all that’s bothering you.” Rarity’s face was dead serious as she moved to stand side by side with her friends.
“I’d never even think to do something so mean to another pony.” Fluttershy seemed to have picked up a bit of confidence from her friends.
“Of course I’m not gonna say anything. Us guys gotta watch out for each other, right?” Spike asked with a partially sarcastic tone.
Cloudhammer looked at the eight resolute faces standing in front of him, and after a few more agonizing minutes, finally broke and made his decision. Raising a hoof, he lightly ran it across the blade of his helmet, drawing a thin cut across the bottom. A small line of blood welled up, and he held it out expectantly. “If I’m going to share this, I want your word on my blood that it will never leave this circle tonight. Should it do so, I will personally find you and make you regret it.” The look in his eyes made that promise iron-clad. After looking at each other nervously, the friends nodded to each other. Fluttershy, surprisingly, went first, lightly touching her hoof to his, leaving a thin red stain on her yellow coat. She stared into Cloudhammer’s eyes for a moment until he nodded, then sprinted for the river to wash her hoof. Soon, everypony present plus Spike had repeated the gesture, and he sighed heavily, rubbing his hoof on the ground absently.
“Alright, for me to explain the history of my family, it’s necessary to go back over a thousand years ago. To the time when Princess Luna had not yet become Nightmare Moon. My ancestor, Skysong, was a pegasus guard for Celestia. He wasn’t well known, or even a very good fighter, but he was utterly loyal to the Princesses and Equestria. He served for many years, found a wife, and had a son, who looked up to his father for what he did every day. As time went on, Skysong, like so many others, saw what Luna was turning into and tried to convince Celestia to act. However, it was too little too late and Nightmare Moon soon arose. When she finally launched her attack against the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, it wasn’t just her that attacked, there were monsters from the Everfree Forest, as well as corrupted ponies of all types that she had swayed to her cause. The fighting was… terrible, according to the few records from that time. Never before and after had pony fought pony with such hatred. Skysong watched pegasi duels between fathers and sons, brothers and sisters, while unicorns blasted spells everywhere, leveling a good deal of the surrounding forest. Above it all, Nightmare Moon and Celestia fought with everything at their disposal. Power the likes of which Equestria has not seen since was thrown casually around, killing the fighters of both sides indiscriminately. Eventually, Skysong and a few other pegasi were able to break free and approach the battle between the two alicorns. The others hung back, unsure if there would ever be an opening they could exploit to relieve Celestia.”
Cloudhammer took a breath before continuing. “Skysong, in his anger at the devastation and the fighting below, thought he saw an opening and charged in, planning to cut Nightmare Moon’s wing muscles and maybe give Celestia a chance to strike. But it was just a trick, Nightmare Moon knew the whole time and turned to mist just as the attack was about to hit, reforming a second later to seize Skysong with her magic. Taking her time, she slowly tore his wings from his body, before incinerating them and throwing him to the ground below. Turning back to her sister, the fight resumed with newfound intensity, ascending higher and higher before fading from sight. Skysong survived, caught by the members of his unit, who were horrified at the loss of his wings, and despite the efforts of the unicorn medics present, they could not give him his wings back. As dawn broke, both sides stopped fighting to look to the sky as the flashes of magic ceased. Eventually, Celestia floated down from the sky, battered and bruised, but clearly alive and victorious. After surveying the damage to the forest and the castle, she spotted Skysong and wept to see the suffering the pegasus had gone through for her. Skysong struggled to rise to his hooves, and saluted wearily before passing out again. Once he had recovered, Celestia awarded him with a citation for his bravery and pledged to look in on the family from time to time, no matter how far they may spread.”
The eight assembled listeners were awestruck. Records of the time when Nightmare Moon had risen were virtually nonexistent, whether from direct action by Celestia, or just the ravages of time. On top of that, the bravery the captain’s ancestor had shown humbled even Rainbow, who shuddered at the thought of a pegasus willing to sacrifice their wings for anything.
Taking another deep breath, Cloudhammer continued. “At the same ceremony for Skysong’s bravery, his son, Leaf Whisper, stepped forward, his father’s helmet in his hooves. He asked Celestia for a single favor, and once she nodded, requested that he be allowed to take his father’s place in the Guard, to continue the tradition of loyal service to Equestria. Celestia granted this request, and as Leaf Whisper grew and proved himself through his own deeds, his son joined the Guard to take up his father’s helmet. Thus, the helmet that I wear today is the same helmet from back then. It’s been repaired now and again down the centuries, but it is the very same helmet that Skysong wore on that fateful day. The family tradition has always been that the firstborn son will follow his father into the Guard, and it has been that way for one thousand years.” He hung his head, exhausted from talking for so long, as well as finally sharing the story of his family’s history with somepony other than his wife or his son.
The tiny audience to his story was speechless for a few minutes, before they started to finally find their voices. Rainbow Dash, understanding all too well the depths of loyalty Cloudhammer had spoken of, stuck her hoof out towards him. “For Skysong.” She looked expectantly at the others, who in turn put their hooves into the middle. Even Spike reached up and managed to put a claw into the ring
Cloudhammer looked at each of them in turn, his eyes coming dangerously close to showing emotion, and he finally lifted his injured leg and placed his hoof onto the others. The forest itself seemed to grow quiet, as though waiting for the captain’s response.
“For Equestria.”