My nostrils flared, taking in the cool, slightly damp pre-sunrise air. Leaning forward, not unlike a cat, I stretched out all my tired and eager muscles at once. As I got back up, I rolled my head about, causing my neck to crack loudly. A quick check over each shoulder confirmed that both wings were indeed ready and eager to take to the air. No preening was necessary this morning. I smiled cheerily as I looked up, into the empty, peach-colored sky. I could tell by instinct that the pegasi were right, today would be a nice day, with only a few puffy ‘napping’ clouds in the sky. That knowledge was all I needed. With a quick nod, I took a few bounding steps forward and threw myself off the stone balcony, and into the air, whipping my dark, earthy mane to free it of most of the bed-head that I had acquired the night before. I reveled in the feeling of the wind blowing through my long hair, as I defied gravity. I thought if I lived another century, it would never get old!
Raising my chin, my mighty wings flared even larger than they had appeared before and I began to rise ever higher. Everfree below faded slowly. The metropolis and her defenses melded into a grey splotch, the fields of wheat blended into a bed of gold, and the forests at the feet of the mountains became little more than green fur for the grey peaks that towered into the sky. Looking to the golden horizon, I redoubled my efforts, racing to meet the sun. Up and up I went, passing cloud after cloud, until there were no more. So I continued, rising until I reached the coldest air that I had ever felt and only then, when the air became too thin to support even the lightest of clouds, did I know that I had risen as far as I could.
Momentum was all that carried me upward as I pulled my wings in tight against my body. At this height, flapping my wings was pointless, I would generate no more lift, only waste energy. Thus, I rolled slowly, lazily onto my back. The sky above was no longer blue, but black as night. Tilting my head back, downward toward the ground below, the earth fell away to either side. I regarded the sun as it sat low in the distant horizon, taking its time to slowly rise to crest the Equestrian horizon far below. Once, a long time past, Equestria was a much different place. The sun and moon rose, and fell, upon their own accord. The weather needed no regulation. Magic flowed through all things. Ponykind lived much closer to nature. And I? Well I hadn’t a care in the world…
“Oh, my friend, why do you hang upside down?” I chuckled as much in humor, as from the tickle of the ice-crystals forming about my muzzle and along my chest, where the morning light failed to land. Passing the apex of this flight, I felt gravity once again asserting its hold over me… “Well, it seems that our time today is at an end. I will see you below!”
With a whoop of ecstasy, I threw my legs forward and forced my roll to continue. By the time my nose once again pointed toward ground, my descent was quickening steadily. From this height, everything was still little more than an abstract painting – sweeping strokes of blue, green and grey, under a sea of white clouds. For several long minutes, I fell faster than any living being had any right falling.
Finally, as I neared the upper-most layer of clouds, I slowly opened my wings little by little, fighting the building air pressure. At that moment, magic and air fought for control over my form, heating my flight feathers hotter than any forge I had ever laid eyes on. Though I could not dare a glance backward, I knew that they were red-hot. If any of my winged kin had tried such a maneuver, they would not have wings at the moment. It made me thankful for that particular gift, of my singular heritage.
The faint whipsnap crack of air, indicated that I was now low enough to the ground to hear my own echo, as my large wings vainly continued to slow my equally large form from supersonic flight. However, I was not yet ready to slow to a complete stop. Though these upper-clouds looked comfortable, I needed the thicker, moisture laden clouds below to cool my scalding wings. These thin, icy clouds would only fizzle into nothingness…so I shifted my weight to dive once more!
The final leg of my flight was composed of long, winding, split-S maneuvers. This allowed me to fly through the largest, coolest clouds I could find. Their moisture was a welcome relief to the muscles that now burned with a gentle ache of exertion. After a few passes, I was joined by a dark-purple stallion, with a fiery-blue mane and piercing grey eyes. The smaller pony flew circles around me, metaphorically, before coming in to glide off my right wing-tip.
“Starfire.” I greeted him as a close friend would, simply and without embellishment.
“How long until sun-up?” He asked me playfully, glancing straight up from whence I came.
“Maybe an hour? Probably less...” I remarked, beginning a slow turn toward a particularly comfortable looking cloud and Starfire turned to follow.
At lower altitudes, maneuvering was a chore that required much more effort than flying high-up. There were a few ponies that trained to fly high, trying to emulate myself, but none of them quite managed the extremes that I could. Most of my winged kin prefered to stay low to the ground, where the thicker air allowed them to maneuver more easily. For me, my mass made the same dreadfully difficult.
I flapped my large wings hard, before bellying down in a particularly bulbous, fluffy cloud and relaxed into the makeshift, floating pillow. My still hot primary feathers hissed for a long moment with diffused heat. It was only whence they ceased their audible complaints that I lifted them to see that they had returned to their usual coppery-crimson appearance. I patted the surface of the cloud a few times, before pulling a great deal up against my sides, so that I might completely relax my wings in a half open position, as I awaited the rising sun with lidded eyes.
Below me was the world into which I was thrust, the land that was known as Equestria - the land of the equine, and within that, was the Everfree Plateau. It was same that the settlers ended up in soon after arriving from the distant ‘Lands Beyond’ the Rainbow Bridge. Of these settlers, there were three-tribes... The majestic Sky Kings, heirs to the Great Pegasus himself; the sagely unicorns, perhaps the most noble and ancient breed; and finally, the industrious earthbound, a simple and hard working, humble folk.
In those days, all ponies could use magic in some form or another. Unicorns studied the nature of magic itself and its many applications. Through practice and discipline, they channeled mana through their horns to shape the world around them in whatever way they saw fit. The Sky Kings felt magic like none other, the air itself was their instrument and through pure force of will, using both voice and emotion, they manipulated their environment. Earthbound ponies, lacking both wings and horns, were forced into using the very earth that they are bound to for their magic; with both iconography and glyphs, they could summon the earth itself to do their bidding! Moving soil and stone with the same ease that they nurtured plants into magnificent feats beyond mere tending. It was with the combination of these magics that the three tribes formed a magnificent pact, joining them eternally. The sharing of magic also meant the sharing of blood. If one tribe were to suffer, the prodigy of the others would be born as the ailing cast, thus maintaining balance. Never again would they stand apart...never again could they stand apart. If any of the three tribes ever tried to usurp the others, the magic of their bond would work against them, hobbling their efforts and returning order. Thus the first great peace was born, the Pax Equestria.
Several minutes passed before Starfire completed his own morning routine and the muted rustle of feathers and a slight shift in the balance of the cloud revealed that he had joined me. The smaller stallion prodded the underside of my wings with his own wingtip.
“No, I will not stop doing so…yes, the heat is uncomfortable, and you of all ponies should know that I can feel your thoughts.” I grumbled before he could speak.
“Indomite, can anypony surprise you?” He asked me incredulously.
I opened one emerald eye to regard the stallion. “If any can, none have yet to do so.” I stated matter-of-factly, “I’m not sure if that would make them a master of deception, fooling me into thinking I can’t be...or highly inept for not actually doing so?” I mused.
He snorted dismissively at my antics. “Yeah, yeah…”
I pondered the thought in silence, while enjoying the familiar company of one of my most intimate companions. The decades since my crowning had long since turned into centuries. Memory prompted me to look down, over the edge of the cloud. Below flowed the same river I was found floating on, in a wicker basket as a foal. An aging pegasus mare and an equally aged unicorn stallion, had wandered down to the water’s edge near where the herds had stopped to rest.
The elderly white mare’s name was Cloud Walker, a rather ironic name, all things considered. She had been born into captivity in the Lands Beyond and because of her bindings as a filly, she was rendered flightless. Her small, delicate, porcelain-looking wings sat ever motionless at her side. It was only by chance that she was freed by one of her captors during the Equestrian-Uprising, when all of ponydom rose up against their would be oppressors and captors, known as the Conundrum Creatures.
The unicorn stallion was Starswirl the Bearded. He had been a wanderer of sorts and never really spoke of his past, beyond his interest in time magic. He had one true passion in his life and that was his study of magic, one that he would cultivate to a lesser extent in his adopted son.
All the mares and stallions, fillies and colts gawked at my young form. After all, I was the first of my kind they had ever known; neither unicorn, sky king, nor earthbound. A little of each, but at the same time, neither. The three tribes’ debate as to my origins and what should become of my young self, quickly turned into a squabble and then into an all out shouting match. Hooves would’ve likely followed, if it weren’t for the deafening cries of one baby alicorn. Never before had they been so quickly and effectively silenced, and the ponies took it as an omen. It was then and there that the three tribes decided to set down roots and build their first city; the city of Everfree – a defiant proclamation against their past.
A hoof prodded me in the barrel, jolting me back to the present. “Indomite, are you alright?” Starfire asked with some concern.
I nodded softly. “Just slipped into memory, that’s all.”
“Nostalgic, are we?” He sniped playfully.
I merely snorted and rolled my eyes, with a gentle shake of my head. “I am more than six times your age.”
“Sometimes you have to remind us of that fact.”
“Oh, do I?” I chirped, “Come ‘ere!” With that, I pulled him close with a wing and held him tight, as I ruffled his mane with a hoof, “Noogie! Noogie!”
He chortled with laughter, as he vainly tried to fight off my hooves atop his scalp. Finally, after several moments, I relinquished my grasp on him and allowed him to jump back. He shook his head, trying to subdue a smile, but I knew it was there, even if he didn’t show it. Rather than fix his mane, as I had assumed he would, he leapt at me, tackling me roughly off of my comfortable spot and into the air.
“Didn’t see that one coming, eh, did you?” He cackled as he came to float next to me as I righted myself.
“Burst!” I barked.
He did not sense the magic imbued in my voice until it was too late, recognizing his peril just in time to look up as the cloud above him ripped open and poured its contents upon his head. By the time the localized downpour had stopped, he could only hover in place, looking like a wet dog. I, of course, broke into a fit of laughter…
“Oh, you’re gonna get it for that!” He growled playfully.
“Only if you can catch me…” I trilled back.
“It’s on!” He declared, before lunging at me.
Given that I am admittedly not the fastest pony in wing, nor the most agile, owing to my larger size, I would otherwise be at a huge disadvantage against a Sky King at low altitude. Save one fact, my larger wings allowed me to dive and climb in a dramatic fashion that none of my kin could ever hope to match! What ensued, was a fantastic game of cat and mouse. Only that in this case, the mouse was larger than the cat and more interested in taunting his competitive friend.
When we both settled down on the clouds at the outskirts of Pegasopolis, the majestic cloud city of arches and pillars, we shared a good laugh. Both of us enjoyed a good challenge and neither of us ever failed to deliver. I think that’s what made him so endearing.
“Well, I have a class to preside over. You know, standing like a statue for hours on end…” He complained, in that serious tone that he only ever used to taunt me.
“Come on,” I said, ruffling his mane with my much larger wing, before he batted it away with his own, “...it’s so exciting!” I exclaimed jovially, my wings twitching unconsciously, “Ooh, I can’t wait!”
“Yes, yes, today is flight day…” He finally conceded and returned with a grin of his own, before looking thoughtful, “I wonder how many stallions will join the Manticores?”
“Is that all you can think of? Your air-wing and your future soldiers?” I glared at him, a slight twinge of chastisement in my tone, “What of the fact that these youngsters will embrace the air and take on their mantle as the future Sky Kings?”
“Isn’t it the young whom are to be idealistic and romanticize flight?” He enquired, “Sometimes I wonder if I am not the old sire and thou the young stallion?”
“If the years have taught me anything, it’s to never grow old. The day you stop enjoying life, is the day you die.” I remarked sagely.
He snorted, giving me a hoof to the shoulder, which he could only barely reach. “There’s the old stallion.”
“Har-har.” I pretended to chuckle.
“Aren’t you going to join me?”
“Shortly.” I replied enigmatically.
He shook his head and sighed, long since having learned that trying to find out what I had planned would be fruitless. “Alright...I’ll see you before long?” I responded to his question with a nod before he took flight, leaving me alone upon the edge of the cloud city.
“I’m sure that standing stoic before that many potential recruits must be terribly difficult for him...” I chuckled to myself.
I regarded the golden horizon with a bittersweet remembrance. Centuries of life give a stallion much to remember. The losses never became any easier, they never do…but there are always reasons to not only continue to exist, but to enjoy life. Such as the anticipation of days like today. It’s truly days like these that make life worth living!
* * *
Though Starfire kept his stoic façade as he watched dozens of young pegasi - the future students of the junior flight academy - take to the skies one at a time for their first flight, he couldn’t help but feel giddy. He would never admit it to his friend, but seeing all those colts and fillies take to the skies brought him no end of reassurance. So long as his kin continued to produce healthy young fliers, none could hope to eclipse the majesty of the sky-kings. Truly, though he staunchly denied it, he was a hopeless romantic like his ageless friend…
“Commander?” One of the mare instructors that stood next to him, whispered in his ear.
He glanced to her, before following her eyes to a lanky, tan colt that stood shaking next to the edge of the clouds, not daring to look over them. The poor boy was so frightened that he never heard the larger, warrior stallion trot up next to him.
“What’s the matter?” Starfire asked gently, his sudden appearance causing the young one to jump a little, “You’re not afraid, are you?”
The tan pegasus’ eyes glanced back and forth quickly, before looking up into his elder’s. “Y-yes…” He mumbled, before averting his eyes out of shame.
“You want to know a secret?” Starfire bent down a little and whispered to the colt, earning a cautious nod of his head, “I was terrified too.”
“Really?” The colt gasped in shock; even at his young age, he knew of Commander Starfire, he was perhaps the bravest pegasi since Commander Hurricane himself!
The Commander simply nodded his head. Though it was a bold faced lie – he had been the first in his class to jump into the air – he knew that knowing others shared your fear, often helped to overcome it yourself. He also knew that’s what courage was, not the lack of fear, but the conquering of it. He too had swallowed his fear and joined with his wingmates to topple a Manticore when his time had come. Such was what it meant to wear the leather armor of the air-wing, to be a Manticore!
“Will you spread your wings with me?” Starfire asked in a straightforward manner.
The timid colt looked back to his wings, small as they were, with trepidation. Then, casting aside all fears, he looked up to his elder with a determined twinkle in his eye. “Yes.” He stated determinedly.
Attaboy. “Well then?” Starfire flared his wings, looking to his junior, who glanced back at him blankly for a moment.
“Right.” The colt finally nodded and opened his wings.
“Axios!” The two shouted, diving off the clouds’ edge in unison.
Starfire glanced over his shoulder, as he adjusted his speed to match the youngster’s. If the colt’s smile was any indication, he was positively ecstatic! It took him almost a dozen flaps before he had a halfway stable flight profile, but when he did, he glanced over to his right at Starfire and nearly went sputtering out of the air. Instantly, Starfire snapped his head to the side to see Indomite flying in formation beside him with a huge grin that ran from ear to ear – not literally of course.
“Axios.” The alicorn nodded, before playfully swatting his wingtip with his own and rolling over the two, to end up beside the young colt.
That morning, the winged ponies shared their love of the air with the many young colts and fillies. To the ponies of the Kingdom of Everfree, Indomite was not only their god-king, but the embodiment of the kinship that flowed through all ponies, of all races. To them, he symbolized everything that they were; Kindness, Wisdom, Strength. Defending, encouraging and enlightening his subjects. For the sky-kings he was a reminder that so long as they had their wings, they were their only masters. Such is it to be a sky-king…forever free.