//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Sky Tribe // Story: Tales of Old Equestria: 1st Saga // by Pending Storm //------------------------------// A minute passed; the cloud was nearly fully converted into a storm. It had become dark grey; lightning flashed throughout the body. Pending Storm withdrew her hooves from the fluff of the cloud; the rest would take care of itself. She looked down at her hooves, still charged with electricity. She shook her hooves until the electricity dissipated. Glancing at the monstrous storm cloud, then at her hooves, she was reminded of her powers’ potential for destruction if they were to be misused. My powers, if they were ever wielded by the wrong hooves, could certainly be used for evil, she thought. It’s a good thing nopony else has these powers besides me, a pony with zero evil ambitions... Or do I? Heh heh… Nah, I don’t. Probably. Yeah, I don’t. I think. Why aren’t I sure?! Her thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like voices, coming from inside the cloud. It was brief; she waited a moment to hear the sound again, but she could only hear the rumbling of thunder. Beginning to wonder if she was just imagining things, she flew around to the other side of the cloud to see if she could find the source of the sound from there. Pending put her ear near the cloud, waiting for the sound to come again. She heard a voice from inside the cloud, again, this time more clearly than the last. Pending gasped. There was a pony inside! It sounded like a single voice, possibly feminine, yelling something indistinct. Is she yelling for help? Pending wondered. “Hello? Can you hear me?” The voice got louder for a brief moment, then suddenly silenced. Worried that she might be in trouble, Pending began to dig into the cloud in an attempt to rescue the pony, but there was no telling how far she’d have to dig to reach the stranger. “Hey, if you can hear me, just stay calm! I’ll get you out in a-” Storm was interrupted by what sounded like the yelling of many ponies from inside the cloud. She paused for a moment as the yelling got louder. The cloud suddenly burst beneath Pending, hurling her backwards. Bits of crackling cloud pelted her. She opened her eyes, only to see Cloudsdale rushing toward her. She flapped desperately, trying to reverse her momentum, but to no avail. She struck a house hard, the cloud walls giving way to her. She tumbled, painfully crashing through several more homes before crashing into a hardened support column, coming to a final stop with a horrible cracking sound. She hoped that wasn’t something of hers. Pending Storm glanced upward, her vision swimming with pain. A spiderweb of cracks was quickly running through the column. Chips of hardened cloud began to fall away, as the great column began to groan forward. Pending dragged herself to her hooves, desperate to get out from under the imminent collapse. A blue colt was standing nearby, staring at Pending and the descending pillar. Pending fought against the pain and dizziness, hurling herself forward and tackled the colt out of the way. The two rolled across the loose cloud as the great column crashed to the ground where they had been a moment before. Storm collapsed, nearly passing out from pain and exhaustion. The young blue pegasus stood, staring down. “Wow, Pending! You saved me!” said the colt. His name was Blue Flash; Pending had known him since he was baby, and they became friends when he had gotten older and more mature. Unlike some adult ponies, he wasn’t annoyed by her sometimes silly mannerisms. Most of the time, anyway... Storm struggled to get up. “Ugh... Yeah, no problem, Little Blue,” she said, calling him by the nickname she had given him years ago. “Are you okay?” “Am I okay? If anything, I should be asking you that!” he said. “Are you okay?” She groaned and looked back at her wings. “Maybe... I dunno. Could you help me up?” As Blue Flash went to help Pending up, Star Storm appeared, following the path of destruction left by Pending, leading clear through to the lesser used lower levels of Cloudsdale. “Pending! You got blasted away!” he said, with weary incredulity. “Yes, dad... I was there.” “Are you okay? What happened back there?” Star asked. Pending looked back and tried to spread her wings, but it caused intense pain. She flinched, then looked back at her father. “My wings hurt really bad, especially the left one,” she said. “And I don’t know what the hay happened back there!” “Well, you’re lucky. If those houses hadn’t slowed you down, it would have been a lot worse.” Star turned his head to the side. “There’s something you need to see, Pending.” The three ponies trotted over to where they could get a good view of the cloud. Pending’s eyes widened: there was a gaping hole in the side of the cloud where Pending had been. “...What?” she said, barely audible to the others. “We’re all as confused as you are,” her father said. “What happened before the cloud… Blew open?” She looked down. “I heard a voice… From inside the cloud.” Blue and Star glanced at each other, eyebrows raised. “Then… I got blown back to Cloudsdale.” “Something else must have happened,” said Star Storm. “What?” “Are you sure you didn’t use too much lightning on a single area or something?” he said. “Yes, dad. I’m sure.” “Um, guys?” asked Blue Flash. “Uh, yeah, you sure about that? Cause I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what happened. Sometimes you aren’t very careful.” “That’s not what happened, dad, I’m sure,” she said irritably. Flash raised his hoof to them. “Guys-?” “I’m not convinced, Pending. We all remember what happened three years ago because you weren’t being careful.” “Ugh! Again with that? When are you going to let that go?” she said, raising her voice. “Guys, look!” Blue Flash yelled. “You need to calm down. It has been my observation that you sometimes aren’t careful when it comes to weather-related activities,” Star replied. “Don’t tell me to calm down! You’re constantly bringing that up over every little thing! I make one mistake and all of the sudden I’m reckless with the weather!” Blue Flash flew up to their height and smacked them both in the face. At first they were simply surprised, then they turned to him in anger. “Blue Flash!” Flash pointed. “Look!” The Storms turned to the large cloud, and their jaws dropped. From the hole, dozens upon dozens of armored pegasi were pouring out, right into Cloudsdale. Within moments, armed forces were in the streets, forcing ponies to the ground at spear point. The three of them had gone unnoticed so far, the shadows and supports of the lower levels shielding them from some careless glance, but that luck wouldn’t hold out. “Wh-What is happening?” Flash asked anxiously. Pending watched as the soldiers intercepted a group of ponies attempting to flee. “This is... an-” “An invasion,” her father finished grimly. “We need to go! Now!” the green pony declared. The three ponies took off into the air, but Pending immediately fell down after a surge of pain from her wings. Star and Blue flew back to her and attempted to pick her up, but she pushed them away. “Go! I... I’ll only slow you down!” she cried. “I’m not leaving my daughter in the middle of an invasion,” Star declared plainly. “Do it for Blue! He needs you! I’m not going anywhere with these wings,” Pending pleaded remorsefully. “Then what are you going to do?” he asked. “I don’t know. I’ll be fine... Probably. Maybe…” Star Storm hesitated for a moment. “Come on! Yah gotta go! They’re gonna get you! Both of you, go!” she exclaimed frantically. He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head and turned around. “We’ll all see each other again soon... Flash, come on!” The two of them flew off out of sight. Pending was alone. There were soldiers all over the sky now. She looked around at the ensuing chaos, frantically wondering what to do. Slowpoke! I should make sure he’s okay, she thought. Pending started running toward her house, a haze of pain and concern for the sloth pushing away any considerations of stealth from her mind. She could see her house up ahead. Slowpoke lay in the window, watching Cloudsdale descend into chaos. The sloth saw Pending Storm heading towards the house, and lifted its long arms up to get its owner’s attention. Don’t worry, Slowpoke. I’m coming. She was almost at the door, when suddenly a soldier dropped down in front of her. Pending slid to a halt just before crashing into the armored pegasus. “Halt!” said the intimidating stallion, with a voice like dusty gravel. He was taller than Storm, not made any smaller by his silver and black armor. He pointed a spear at her. “You’re coming with me.” “To where?” Pending inquired nervously. “To the plaza,” the soldier replied. He prodded her roughly with the spear. “Now go.” With no other choice, she turned around and started walking toward the plaza. She glanced behind her and saw Slowpoke still by the window. It slowly ran its claws on the glass for its owner, but the sloth was helpless to do anything for her as she was escorted away. Pending Storm saw the crowd of ponies as she neared the plaza. Nearly all the citizens of Cloudsdale had been grouped up in the middle, surrounded by many soldiers. Fear pervaded the crowd, made even worse by the dull thunder of the massive storm just outside the city. The soldier escorting Pending shoved her roughly into the throng. She winced as her wing banged into other ponies in the crowd, though they didn’t seem to notice. Storm looked around, sad to see so many of her friends and neighbors caught in this uncertain situation. She glanced around at the many pegasi soldiers that surrounded them. They all had their eyes on the gathered ponies, waiting for somepony to try to flee. Looking at their faces, Pending realized, to her horror, that she recognized some of the weather ponies among the soldiers. Are they traitors? she wondered. Or were they infiltrators all along? Pending thought she saw a flash of a seafoam green coat somewhere deep in the crowd. She began to push through the ocean of ponies, hoping she was wrong. Her heart sank as her suspicions were confirmed. “Oh, no,” said Pending. “You hadn’t left yet…” Aria Sympony turned around after hearing her friend’s voice. Her expression made it clear she was terrified. “Pending? What’s going on?” Aria asked, her eyes glancing nervously from side to side. “Remember when you told me to get a job from my dad? Well, he asked me to make that cloud over there-” She pointed toward the storm cloud in the distance. “-into a storm. Turns out, it was an egg, full of mean armored ponies, and I hatched it. Now they’re invading. Good times.” “...What do they want?” “I dunno, maybe we should ask them?” Both mares looked up at one of the soldiers. He noticed their gaze, and glared back at them. The mares looked away immediately. “Or not.” Aria covered her eyes. “Ugh, no... And I had originally planned to leave yesterday!” “I guess my laziness has rubbed off on you, heh?” Pending said with an uneasy smile. Aria stared at her, wide-eyed, for a moment. “Sorry, just trying to ease the tension.” “Oh, don’t be sorry,” said Aria. “It’s just... I’m scared.” “It’s fine. I think we all are.” “Where’s your dad?” Pending glanced around the crowd to see if she could spot her father. “It seems he and Blue Flash were able to escape after all; that’s good. I couldn’t go with them after my wings got hurt, but it makes me feel better that they were able to make it to safety.” She smiled, but it was bittersweet. Aria returned the smile. Something caught her eye to the left, and her smile disappeared. “Pending... I’m sorry…Look.” She pointed to what she was looking at. Pending turned and saw what it was. Two soldiers flew toward the herd, carrying two other ponies. Much to Storm’s dismay, the one’s being escorted were Blue Flash and her father; they clearly had failed to escape. The soldiers flew up to another who had been guarding the crowd. “We found these two attempting to escape the area,” one of them said. “Add them to the assemblage. The commander is about to begin her address,” the guard said. The soldiers dropped the prisoners into the other side of the crowd from Pending. They didn’t seem hurt, thankfully. A purple pony in distinctive gold and ebony armor glided down to the fountain in the center of the plaza. Though normally a beautiful display of waterworks, the fountain now sat dry. “Pegasi of Cloudsdale! We demand your attention!” Silence fell as all eyes turned to him. “The great and honorable Commander shall address you. Disrespect or attempts to escape will no longer be tolerated as of now.” He stepped to the side and saluted. A large mare descended rapidly from above, landing next to her subordinate with a force that caused the very cloud beneath Pending’s hooves to shudder. The armored pegasus stood to her full height, her black and gold armor glittering in the sun. She moved seamlessly in her armor, as if she and it were one weapon, made for war. Her eyes scanned the assembly, their piercing yellow stare seeming to dare somepony to make a move. After several long moments, she broke the silence. “Greetings, pegasi of Cloudsdale. I am Commander Sky Fury. This-,” she said, nodding in the direction of her saluting subordinate, “is Captain Inclement, my second-in-command. We are the Sky Tribe.” Some ponies in the audience gasped at the mention of the name, though Pending wasn’t sure why. She didn’t remember hearing anything about a Sky Tribe. The Commander raised her head. “I see we have a reputation around here. At least some of you remember the pegasi who stood against the princesses when they demanded we leave our culture behind, and were exiled for it. Forced to live in the cold north because we refused to abandon our values as warriors. And all because they signed a peace treaty with the griffons...” The Commander glared at her audience. “A peace treaty!” She exclaimed, stomping her hoof. “With the griffons: sworn enemies of the pegasi! They’re the reason pegasi are warriors. And Princess Celestia and Princess Luna just expected us to leave that all in the past? To just forgive the griffons for the countless wars? No…” Pending Storm remembered learning about the treaty with the griffons in school, but she didn’t remember hearing anything about the Sky Tribe. Then again, she often fell asleep during class. It did make sense to her, though; even in Cloudsdale, some pegasi didn’t seem to like griffons too much. “After having to form our own settlement, we named ourselves the Sky Tribe, and swore we would never abandon the old ways of the pegasi.” Sky Fury said, with Captain Inclement nodding his head in agreement. “...While the rest of you stayed here and allowed yourselves to be assimilated into their culture of ‘peace’ and ‘harmony’. To be honest, I had expected more of a resistance against our takeover. Only a few of you fought back, and those that did…” She turned toward a couple of stallions in the front of the crowd, bruised and beaten. “-didn’t stand a chance. It truly is embarrassing just how weak and pathetic you’ve all become during our absence. I intend on fixing that when this is all over...” Out of the corner of her eye, the Commander saw two Sky Tribe warriors pushing what appeared to be a wooden stall with a spinning rotor on top, somehow keeping itself airborne. “What are you two doing? What is that... thing?’” Commander Sky Fury asked with razor sharpness. The two warriors immediately turned and saluted. “We found an earth pony hiding in this thing. He calls it an ‘air shop’.” Roswell’s head popped up from behind the counter. “Though the store name is ‘Roswell Rations’! Remember: low prices, high quality! It’s also a flying store, how cool is that? I mean, come on.” It was clear he had no idea how dire the situation was. Commander Sky Fury eyes were wide open; she seemed disturbed. She slowly walked up to the stall, while Roswell looked around and grinned nervously. The Commander observed the air shop from top to bottom with a troubled expression. After a few moments, she finally spoke. “This thing is offensive,” she said. Roswell looked puzzled. “Well, sure, it may not be the prettiest shop... But it’s pretty amazing, no?” Sky Fury glared at him. “No! Loathsome ground-dweller... The sky belongs to pegasi alone!” The Commander swung her hoof outwards, extending a long blade from her bracer. “Return to the dirt, where your kind belongs.” “U-uh okay! Let me just get on the controls here and, uh, l-lower the stall’s altitude and then I’ll-” Commander Sky Fury swung her blade at the shop’s rotor, slicing right through it. The stall plummeted down, straight through the cloud below, and disappeared from sight. The crowd gasped, listening to the fading sounds of Roswell’s unfinished plea, as the soldiers only laughed. “Roswell!” Pending shouted in dismay. Sky Fury turned around to face the crowd. “That’s what happens when dirt-dwellers invade our skies.” She gave a short thrust of her blade upward, retracting it, returning to her previous spot next to Captain Inclement. “You’re a cruel monster!” said a young voice from the crowd. It was Blue Flash, staring directly at the Commander of the Sky Tribe. Blue Flash, no! Pending Storm thought. He never knows when he should keep his muzzle shut. Captain Inclement stepped forth. “Insolent little brat! That will not go unpunished!” Commander Sky Fury raised her hoof. “Stand down, it is fine.” Inclement backed off, though he continued glaring at the blue colt. “It’s only understandable. They’ve been convinced by the Princesses that earth ponies and unicorns are their equals, but they’ll come around, and eventually join us.” Sky Fury turned to the crowd. “Or they can look forward to spending the rest of their days in a cell.” Blue Flash continued. “How do you expect to get away with this? Do you really think Princess Celestia is going to allow you to just take over Cloudsdale?” The Commander raised an eyebrow, slightly annoyed. “I was actually getting to that.” She turns to face the rest of crowd. “That’d be a good point, if we had only planned on taking Cloudsdale. But this is only the first step in our plan to liberate Equestria from the tyranny of alicorns.” Pending was still thinking about how the Commander killed Roswell. Nopony could survive a fall from Cloudsdale, stall or no stall. She wasn’t the only one in the crowd grieving for the earth pony. Sky Fury continued her speech. “This land will only be safe once pegasi are in control of it. Since Celestia and Luna became leaders of Equestria, our land has been under threat time and time again. The Princesses couldn’t stop King Sombra from casting the spell that made the Crystal Empire vanish from existence. Countless beings have attempted to take over Equestria over the years because they see it as a vulnerable kingdom ruled by weak leadership, especially after one of the Princesses had to be banished.” “Equestria needs strong leadership, one that rules through fear and domination. The pegasi need to take their place as rulers over the lesser ponies. For these reasons, I plan on personally dethroning Celestia.” The crowd gasped once again, some ponies even with tears in their eyes. Many of them couldn’t imagine losing Princess Celestia; she had been a protector of Equestria for so many years and was beloved by many. Blue Flash wasn’t done yet. “Your plan won't work! Somepony will get the news to her of what you’ve done!” Star Storm gave him a slight kick as a sign to knock it off before he got in real trouble. Unexpectedly, Sky Fury smirked. It was surprisingly just as intimidating as her frown. “I guarantee you, my little pony... That won't happen. We have made sure of it.” Blue Flash was at a loss for words, though it was probably for the best. “We’d be accepting recruits, but there’s the issue of trust, and now is far too crucial a time for us to be taking any risks. Besides, I wasn’t exactly impressed with your ‘defense’ of Cloudsdale. We had expected a bit more resistance, which is why we created the Shroud.” Commander Sky Fury glanced back at the massive storm cloud behind her; it was completely dark, lightning flashed from it, and rain poured from the bottom. “... But now it is clear it was a waste of time. Speaking of which…” The Commander glared around at the crowd. “One of you knew we were in there, and somehow turned the entire Shroud into a cloud of lighting and thunder. Who is responsible?” Almost everypony looked around at each other, unsure. Star Storm and Blue Flash gave each other a nervous look, while Pending tried to act casual. After a few moments and no reply, Sky Fury grew increasingly impatient. “I will have an answer...” Again, there was no response. Furious, she reached into the crowd, grabbed Blue Flash, and held him up in the air. A blade extended from the armor of her other hoof. “Confess now! Or the foal will suffer for your cowardice!” Pending Storm now knew she couldn’t keep quiet any longer. She had to turn herself in, before Commander Sky Fury took any more lives. She was just about to speak up when... “It was me. I did it.” All eyes turned to the confessor: Star Storm. His hoof was raised so that all knew who had spoken. Pending just stood there, stunned. Sky Fury lowered Flash, staring at Star Storm, an eyebrow raised. “It was you, old stallion?” she asked with a hint of skepticism. “Yes,” he said, as he left the crowd to stand before the Commander. “How?” “It’s just my special talent. My last name is Storm, after all.” This much was true, as most of the Storm family had at least some talent with creating storms. She simply stared at him. “I don’t believe you. You only wish to save the colt.” She turns to address the crowd. “For lack of responsibility, as well as his failed attempt at deception, these two will both suffer.” The Commander lifted Blue Flash up again, and prepared to strike with her blade. Many ponies in the crowd either gasped in horror, or averted their eyes. Pending raised her hoof. “Wait! Stop! It was me!” Everyone turned to her. Sky Fury then stared at her, just as skeptical of this confession. The green mare slowly made her way through the crowd toward the Commander. It took much of her willpower to resist her urge to cry. “It was me, I swear! I made the Shroud into a storm cloud… But it was an accident! I had no idea you were in there! I’m sorry!” The Commander found this confession to be a bit more convincing. She looked up at one of the Sky Tribe warriors floating above, as he had been undercover as a weather pony for years and knew almost all the ponies with any connection to weather or storms. “What say you, Private Cyclone?” The Private was startled from being suddenly called on. “That’s Pending Storm, that old stallion’s daughter. She also has a talent for making storms, but it far surpasses any weather pony I know of. If anypony could have done it, it’s her, ma’am.” Sky Fury thought to herself for a moment. “... I see. Well, then… Normally, you’d pay dearly for such a mistake, but... Considering my potential uses for your talent, I’ll allow you to live. And since you claimed responsibility…” She tossed Blue Flash back into the crowd. He landed on his stomach, though he wasn’t seriously hurt. “The colt lives.” Pending breathed a sigh of relief. “However…” The tall pegasus commander turned to Star Storm. “You, on the other hoof, attempted to deceive me, and I will not tolerate that from anypony, for any reason.” Pending’s eyes widened. “Wait, no!” She moved toward them to intervene. Commander Sky Fury swatted her away with her hoof, sending Pending flying back several feet. “Silence, mare! Your father must pay for his sin!” Once again, she readied her blade. Pending lay on the ground, biting back the renewed pain in her side. She could only watch helplessly as the deadly blade lifted... She reached out toward them. “No!” A lightning bolt suddenly shot from Pending’s hoof, knocking Commander Sky Fury off her hooves with a great CLANG. Pending was shocked. Everypony just stared, mouths agape, even Captain Inclement. Not only had she not meant to use her powers, not only had she never used her powers to harm anypony before, but now everypony in Cloudsdale knew her biggest secret. “What the... Seize her!” barked Captain Inclement. The dozens of Sky Tribe warriors already in the air readied their weapons. Pending backed up, and noticed the crowd pressing to keep their distance from her. She bolted, running as fast she could, as the crowd made way for her. It crossed her mind that she could try throwing lightning at the pursuers, but there were too many of them, and she wasn’t confident enough in her powers. She turned the corner, and suddenly two Sky Tribe warriors landed right in front of her. Pending gritted her teeth, recognizing one of them as the same one who captured her before. “Halt!” he yelled. “No!” She yelled, extending her front legs out in defense. Two lightning bolts struck the warriors, blasting them aside. Pending glanced at them as they lay on the ground; they appeared to be stunned. She continued running until she had reached the edge of Cloudsdale. Pending looked down; they were thousands of feet in the air. Dang it! With my wing injured... No, I have to try! She thought to herself. Pending pushed herself to fly, trying to ignore the unbearable pain, but without success. She tried again, willing her wing to flap, but the pain weighed it down like a lead weight. Hearing the flap of pegasi wings, Pending turned around. The pursuing warriors had caught up to her, pointing their spears at the little green pony. Pending sat up and raised her hooves at them. They backed off a little, wary of the power their leader and comrades had just been taken down by. Commander Sky Fury dropped out of the sky next to Pending, per her typical dramatic entrance. She didn’t appear to have been seriously harmed by the lightning. Her eyes were filled with rage. “You! How did you do that?!” She walked closer to Storm. Pending, scared for her life, pointed her hooves right at the Commander. “Stay back!” She yelled. Sky Fury struck out, kicking Pending hard off the edge of the cloud, strongly desiring to avoid being struck by lightning a second time. The Commander glanced over the edge of the cloud, wanting to see where her quarry would try to fly off to. To her surprise, the green pony simply plummeted. The fool must have been knocked out when she kicked her. The Commander watched as Pending disappeared into the distance below. There was no way a pony could survive a fall like that. Inclement caught up to her. “Commander, what happened?” he asked. “That freak of nature is dead,” she said coldly, walking past the Captain. “I see... So, shall we proceed with the plan, ma’am?” “Yes. Incarcerate the Cloudsdale pegasi. Then, we capture Groundsdale.” To be continued...