//------------------------------// // The Meet // Story: Broken Sky // by Fyn16 //------------------------------// The Meet Nimbus pushed himself through the locker room, racing for the Royal Equestrian Air College station. Around him, he could see other ponies, mostly Aviators, receiving their gear for the match. Many of them were preoccupied with slipping on jerseys or checking the color of their marker paint, but a few stopped and watched him as he ran past. Nimbus didn’t know how quickly word traveled amongst the Aviator community, but from some of the confused looks he was getting, he assumed it had to travel fast. He galloped on, getting more worried with every hoofstep. He hadn’t spotted Polaris yet, but if Princess Celestia had bothered to arrange for his family to be here, wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume she’d done the same for Polaris? He kept his head on a swivel, looking frantically left and right… there! Ahead he spotted a very familiar Pegasus casting an analytic eye on the competitors. It was Polaris, and beside him stood Storm Runner. “Storm!” Nimbus called above the noise of the crowded room. The blue Pegasus turned slightly, then opened his eyes wide as he recognized his friend. He nudged Polaris and the old Pegasus turned around. “Come on, Nimbus!” he said, “no time to waste! The competitors will be on the field in minutes! What took you so long?” Typical Polaris- always right down to business. Nimbus smiled and shook his head. “I’ve got no excuse, sir.” Polaris grinned and slapped his student on the back. “I’m just kidding, Nimbus. You’ve been through a lot. Are you sure you want to go out there?” Nimbus glanced over at the competitors making their way towards the entrance to the Coliseum. “Are you kidding?” he said finally, “this is what I’ve been waiting all year for!” “Alright, then let’s get you suited up!” Storm Runner said, putting a blue jersey over Nimbus. “You’re not curious about anything that happened to me?” Nimbus asked, a little surprised, “nothing at all?” “Oh we’re curious,” Polaris said, “but you’ll be an Aviator in just over a week. The mission always comes first. And today, this is your mission.” He checked over Nimbus and painted his hooves with his blue marker paint, “now get out there and score REAC’s reputation back!” Nimbus winked, regaining his competitive mindset. “You’ve got it, coach.” As he fell into line with the others, Nimbus mused at how strange the past few hours had been. Just earlier, he’d woken up from days of unconsciousness. Before that, he’d defied royal orders and taken off to defend Canterlot airspace. Now here he was, waiting in line to step out onto the famous Cloudsdale Coliseum as if nothing had happened. It was strange how quickly life moved on. A tall, white Pegasus with dark glasses walked up to Nimbus, checking a clipboard. “Nimbus, let’s see… representing the Royal Equestrian Air College?” “Yes sir,” Nimbus replied. “Alright then,” the pony said, make your way to the- hang on.” He squinted his eyes at Nimbus, looking him over. “I recognize your voice. You weren’t one of the Pegasi in that Thunderbolt unit, were you?” Nimbus was impressed. Despite the radio’s tendency to garble words just enough to hide the speakers’ identities, this pony recognized him. Then a feeling of worry washed over him. “Yes,” he said hesitantly, not sure whether to expect a reprimand or congratulations. Though all was right in Celestia’s eyes, he felt there must certainly be others who felt he should have simply obeyed his orders a few nights back. “I was at the gates of the palace that night,” the pony said, “I normally serve as a Royal Guard. We were under attack and three Aviators swooped in to the rescue. Let your unit know they have my thanks,” he winked, “even if ‘Thunderbolt’ isn’t actually an official squadron name.” Nimbus nodded, grinning, “I certainly will, sir.” He paused, then added, “do they… do the ponies out there know I participated in that battle?” “No, I don’t think so,” the pony said, “everything happened pretty fast when Nightmare Moon came down. The only ponies who know would have to be the ones that took you away.” “And who was that?” “Well, your squadron of course.” Nimbus nodded, a slight smile on his face, “ well, that’s good. I think I’d prefer it that way if you don’t mind.” The guard nodded, “I won’t tell a soul. Guard’s honor.” “Thanks,” Nimbus said. The guard showed him to the Coliseum entrance with a bit of spring in his step now. “I'm looking forward to see how you perform today,” he added, “just head up the stairs to the Coliseum floor. When the announcer’s countdown is over, the dogfight begins. Good luck.” “Thank you!” Nimbus called out as he walked up the steps and onto the puffy, white Coliseum floor. Other competitors were circling up around the center and Nimbus took his place next to two Aviators. “Fillies and Gentlecolts!” an enthusiastic voice rang out from above, “welcome to this year’s Cloudsdale Meet, where the best of the best come to demonstrate the prowess of the ponies that guard our skies every day! Below me, you can see a circle of the finest fliers Equestria’s military has to offer. Each one is a representative of…” The speaker’s voice droned away as Nimbus looked around the circle at his competitors. Most looked fresh, ready for the day. He felt comparatively rushed, but tried not to let it phase him. Across the circle, he spotted Corona Flash. He smiled and nodded, and Corona returned the gesture. It was a polite exchange, but also an agreement that neither would hold back in the next few minutes. Nimbus shivered with excitement. The game was on. “…and now, without further ado, let us begin!” Nimbus spied the announcer- a light blue pony wearing a headset. He held up his hoof, starting a countdown. “Five, four, three, two, one-“ he dropped his hoof sharply, “takeoff!” The moment was only a fraction of a second, but it seemed to last forever. Nimbus tensed his back legs and pushed himself straight up vertically like a spring. At the same time, he snapped his wings open and rolled, righting himself a few inches off the cloud floor. He knew the others would be going for targets that had blindly flown straight up- easy prey. On the other side of the field, Corona knew better. A passing shadow was the only indication Nimbus received, but it was enough. Corona planted himself firmly behind him as Nimbus climbed up into the swirling cloud of Pegasi. His head was constantly moving, looking back at his pursuer and all around as ponies passed within inches of him, too occupied with their own small chases to tap him with a hoof. Nimbus reached up and planted his hooves on one particular Pegasus that exited a roll right in front of him. He flew down and out of the fight, retiring to the Coliseum floor. Finally, he punched through the fray and leveled off above the majority of the fighting, taking a few precious seconds to get his bearings. He’d lost Corona, it seemed. The Pegasus was nowhere in sight. Below, the fight was thinning out rapidoy as others dropped out. He almost didn’t see it. From seemingly out of nowhere, Corona rushed Nimbus, barely avoiding him as Nimbus dropped several feet and recovered. “Good to see you’re doing okay!” Corona called back, “but that doesn’t mean I’m going easy on you!” Corona rolled in inverted and tried sneaking under Nimbus, but Nimbus was ready for him. He stopped quickly and reversed direction as he dropped farther down, pulling out of his maneuver on Corona’s tail. “I’d have it no other way, sir!” he said, beaming. Two more Pegasi came down on him from above, but Nimbus deftly slipped to the side as they shot past. Unfortunately, he once again lost Corona. Nimbus focused on the ponies that had made an attempt to mark him. They were below, and had called off their attack- completely oblivious. He tucked in his wings and dropped quickly down towards the cloud floor and snapped his wings open, quickly gaining on the others. He flew towards one and planted his hooves on his back, marking him, and rebounded from the impact, marking the pony beside him. Two down. He looked up- many more to go. “Yeah, Nimbus!” Nimbus looked down in surprise. He’d just flown right past Whirlwind, who was standing on his hind legs and waving his hooves wildly in the air. In response, he executed a tight snap roll, which practically drove Whirlwind into a frenzy. “Behind you!” Nimbus shook himself out of his daze and broke left as another pony shot past. Immediately the aggressor began to turn, lining up for another pass. Nimbus shifted his wings and turned inside the other pony’s radius, catching him just above the shoulders as he exited his turn. At the conclusion of his maneuver, Nimbus followed up with a tight climb, marking another pony that passed overhead. Then his heart beat faster- out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of gold tracking him: Spitfire. He had only fractions of a second to react, dropping altitude as she roared by overhead. Bleeding off airspeed, he climbed and banked left and right, eventually ending up on her tail. Spitfire noticed this instantly and performed a slow barrel roll. Nimbus hadn’t anticipated this, and tried his best to track the maneuver. As he rotated through the turn, he felt a sharp twinge in his wing, which promptly locked up. Nimbus instantly dropped out of the chase and fluttered slowly to the ground. The crowd went silent, despite the fierce competition raging above. Aiming for a soft cumulus patch, Nimbus tucked in his hurt wing and rolled to a stop on the clouds as a few Pegasi wearing red medical vests flew to his aid. I guess healing magic takes time, too, he thought. His wing had been completely mangled, to say the least; he considered himself lucky he was even flying at all. The safety ponies were coming closer, and Nimbus took the time to glance upward. There were very few competitors left in the sky. Spitfire and Corona Shine were locked in combat, and the others were practically revolving around them, diving in when they saw an opening, like hawks looking for prey. “Hey, you alright?” Nimbus turned around; one of the safety ponies was standing behind him with a medical bag at the ready. Standing up, Nimbus flexed his wing. The twinge was gone, but by hitting the cloud deck he’d forfeited the match… hadn’t he? “A twinge in my wing,” he said, “I’m fine now. You wouldn’t believe how I got it if I told you.” “Well you realize that until you get tagged you’ll be fair game for the others, right?” “What do you mean?” Nimbus said, confused, “aren’t I out?” The medical pony shook his head. “Nope. You could have spent your entire dogfight on the ground if you chose. You’d just be a really easy target if you did. The real question is- are you sure you’re okay?” Nimbus thought about this for a moment. He could duck out now, but with so much at stake… the Royal Equestrian Air College finally had a shot at the title, after all. Who was he to just let something like that go? “I’m going back in,” he said, smiling. The medical pony slapped him on the shoulder. “That’s the spirit. Go kick flank for REAC! I graduated from there, you know.” “Hay yeah, sir!” Nimbus said, launching himself straight off the cloud deck with enough force to kick up a wave of puffy white cloud matter around him. Nimbus got his bearings and barreled straight into a pony headed for Corona, knocking him off course and pasting blue paint across his back. Corona took the opportunity and performed a sharp rolling scissors maneuver*, taking Spitfire by surprise and marking her. The golden pony nodded in respect and left the dogfight. Nimbus circled up into a slow loop- only three ponies left, including Corona. He decided to keep his eye on Corona Flash, but moved to engage one of the others, diving down from above in the pony’s blindspot. He was focused on Corona, who had just engaged and taken down the other pony. The mistake cost him his position, and it wasn’t long before he left the arena, trailing blue marker paint. Corona, meanwhile, had downed his own target. They were the only two ponies left in the sky. Circling one another, each locked eyes. “How about it, Nimbus?” Corona said, “I’ve made it to the finals. That’s all I could ever ask for. We can end this right now. On the other hoof, I’ve never won one of these before, so…” Nimbus watched Corona’s wings as the Pegasus babbled. Every so often they would twitch, as if he was setting up for a sharp snap roll. He decided not to indicate that he knew what was going on, playing dumb. “I don’t know, Corona,” Nimbus said, “are you up for a dogfight? I’d sure love to bring home a big fat trophy for REAC, that’s for sure.” “Now now, Nimbus,” Corona said, “you’ve just made your first mistake. Always be aware of your-“ Corona rolled towards Nimbus, paint-covered hooves extended for the strike. Deftly, Nimbus flew up and over Corona’s attack, diving back down as soon as he was in position to do so. “-surroundings,” Corona finished, diving back towards the cloud floor. Nimbus followed him, feeling his cheeks pull back as Corona poured on more and more speed. They snapped level just above the surface, and Nimbus fought to maintain a relatively steady breathing rate as the G-forces pressed down on him. Trained for situations like this, Corona was faring better. He took in sharp, steady breaths, keeping his focus and vision clear as he pulled up into a loop. Nimbus shook himself out of his daze only to find Corona bearing down on him once more. He slipped to the right, dodging once more, but Corona stayed behind him. The Aviator was gaining rapidly as they climbed towards the top of the Coliseum. Nimbus was running out of options quickly. What else did he have in his bag of tricks? “Ponychev’s Cobra…” he mumbled to himself. The Cobra was a hypothetic al air combat maneuver that would supposedly be nearly uncounterable, putting a pursued Pegasus out of harm’s way and on the tail of his pursuer. It was supposed to be accomplished by snapping sharply upward while holding a hover and rapidly decreasing forward airspeed until the attacker overshot. Several ponies had attempted it, and all had suffered wing dislocations at the very least. Such forces were generally unfriendly to the average skeleton. But that’s basically what I used to stop myself on the Dizzitron… Nimbus thought, jinking left as Corona made a sharp jab in his direction. It was worth a shot, he supposed. Taking a deep breath, he descended, faking a dive. Corona followed as expected. “Here goes nothing,” Nimbus said through gritted teeth. He flared his wings completely, rotating his body and turning it into a huge airbrake. The pain was immense- it felt as if his skeleton was going to simply give way from the strain. The crowd went completely silent as Corona overshot, a faint streak of Nimbus’s blue marker paint on his shoulder. Nimbus checked his back hooves as he disengaged, panting. Corona’s gold paint was on his left back hoof as well. It was a draw. “Fillies and Gentlecolts,” the announcer called out, “I can scarcely believe what I saw, but it looks like the representative from the Royal Equestrian Air College just successfully completed Ponychev’s Cobra maneuver, and in doing so has won the Cloudsdale Meet!” Two Pegasi came down from the stands with a traditional victor’s wreath to place around Nimbus’s neck. He watched as Corona alighted on the ground, nodding at him in respect. Suddenly, Nimbus knew what he had to do. “I’m not the winner,” he said as the Pegasi made ready to place the wreath. He showed the two ponies his back leg with the gold mark on it. The announcer trotted over to inspect for himself. “You’re certainly marked,” he said, “and I value your integrity. If there was some way for me to-“ “Give the wreath to Corona Shine,” Nimbus said, “he’s been looking for a chance to win this thing for a while now.” The announcer smiled, turning to the audience. “Can I have Lieutenant Corona Shine come forward, please?” Perplexed, Corona turned around and trotted towards Nimbus and the announcer, taking his place at Nimbus’s side. “This year’s Cloudsdale Meet, it seems, has ended in a draw. Both ponies displayed superior situational awareness and dogfighting prowess.” He handed the wreath over to Corona, “therefore, I present to you both winners of this year’s Cloudsdale Meet- Nimbus and Corona Shine!” The roar of the crowd was a nearly devastating wave of sound, and Nimbus almost cringed. He felt that he would have actually flinched if the pride of his accomplishment wasn’t forcing him to stand straight upright, bathing in the glorious sound of victory. “I really appreciate this, Nimbus,” Corona said, “well played out there. Thank you.” Nimbus winked as the sound of the crowd slowly began to die down and they prepared to exit the Coliseum, “I learned from the best.” As the two walked side-by-side out of the arena, Nimbus prepared to be embraced by the waiting crowd just outside. He was in no hurry to be smothered by a gaggle of ponies, but such things were probably unavoidable now. A familiar grey colt pushed his way out of the crowd. It was Whirlwind, and he was dragging Nimbus’s parents behind him like a pony possessed. Nimbus raced forward and embraced his parents and brother, tears of joy trickling down his cheeks in tiny streams. “I did it,” he whispered to his family, “I actually did it.” “And nothing could make us prouder, Nimbus,” Comet Stream said, giving her son one last tight hug and following it up with a kiss on the cheek. Whirlwind stuck out his tongue and scrunched up his face. “You’re gonna get cooties, Nimbus,” he said, “my friends said so.” Nimbus playfully rubbed his little brother’s mane. “Your friends, eh? Well, you let your friends know that Aviators don’t get cooties. We’re completely immune!” “Really?” Whirlwind’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates, “that’s cool!” Updraft gave his son a quick punch to the shoulder. “That was a good match, Nimbus. Best flying I’ve ever seen, in fact. You should be very proud of this day.” “Thanks,” Nimbus said, “I certainly will be.” Remembering something, he turned one last time to face Corona as they began to walk away. “Good match, Corona!” he called back. The stallion smiled and waved as Nimbus turned away glancing up at the sky as he and his family left the Coliseum. The few clouds above were finally starting to clear away, leaving only small clumps here and there- a perfect broken sky. He’d never thought this day would come. He’d gone from a Wonderbolt Academy reject to a champion through simply believing he could, and now, looking back on his life, he didn’t regret a single moment of it. As his family climbed into a waiting carriage, he took one last glance back at the towering cloud formations of Cloudsdale, feeling emotion stir within him at the sight of the awe-inspiring floating city. Today, finally, he was becoming the pony he was meant to be, and as he looked at his family and the fields and mountains of Equestria below, he realized that there wasn’t a single other place in the world he’d rather be right now.