Chapter 3: The Sky is Falling
Glassy eyes filled his vision, staring at him with unseeing eyes. His brother was dead. This one thing echoed in Cloud’s mind, but he refused to acknowledge it. His brother’s eyes stared at him, almost as if they were asking Cloud something. Tears began to drip onto his brother’s corpse, and soak into the clouds beneath him. Cloud tried to stop the tears, but there was no end to them. Other pegasi gathered around them, muttering amongst themselves, but Cloud didn’t notice them. The only thing in his world that mattered had just been taken away from him, as quick as that flash of light. He looked back into the sky, and a scream ripped from his throat as he sobbed over his brother.
Sky was always the cautious one, always trying something hesitantly before actually doing it. He had always been a relaxed pony, always one to listen with both ears if you had a problem, and help you with it if he could. Cloud couldn’t stand his twin’s consoling tone and smile whenever Sky had used it. He never really got along with his brother, being the near-opposite of him. But the constant bickering and fighting had drawn them even closer together, and they held a close bond. But now that bond had been cut, and Sky was gone.
He howled his anguish to the sky once more, and then was enveloped in a veil of darkness as unconsciousness took him into its unfeeling grasp.
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Cloud sat in his workshop, tinkering away on the small pieces of metal in front of him. Each small piece needed to be handled with care, as they took forever to make. Cloud remembered casting every piece, and how frustrating it was when they came out of the process with imperfections. They were so small, that if they were dropped into the grass, it would take Cloud longer to find it than to cast it again. He recalled with frustration the entire day he had lost searching for a small pin that was needed for the button mechanism.
Sky burst into the room, sending light into the dim workshop. Cloud spun around and received a blast of bright light in his face. Blinded, Cloud stumbled forward and slammed the door shut, trying to slap his brother with a wing. When his vision cleared, he saw Sky standing a small distance away from him, anger in his eyes.
“What are you doing in here Cloud?” His brother’s quiet voice held a small hint of anger, and betrayal. “What is it that you are working on here?” Cloud watched as his brother made his way over to his worktable, and the small pieces of metal that were glinting there in the dim light. Finally coming to his senses, Cloud leapt at his brother, hoping to take him away from the project. What he didn’t expect was the back hoof that came up to intercept him mid-leap. He flew into the opposite wall, groaning at the pain in his now-bruised chest. His brother had a strong buck.
Unable to stand, Cloud watched helplessly as his brother stared at each individual piece of metal, trying to understand what the different pieces were meant to do. Sky walked around the table, squinting at the strange pieces, and he came across a rag on the table. Cloud could do nothing as he saw Sky smile and rip the cloth from the table. Underneath was a working, if imperfect, prototype that Cloud had created. Sky looked at him with accusing eyes, tears welling up in them. Cloud rolled over and stood, the pain subsiding a small amount. He limped over to his brother, and put a hoof on his shoulder, which was then shrugged off.
“Why didn't you tell me Cloud?” The hurt in his brother’s voice cut at his heart. “I thought we were going to do this together. We both want to join them.” Sky turned to him, tears beginning to flow down his face. “I thought we would have no secrets! Why didn’t you tell me? Why?” His brother launched himself at Cloud. Cloud expected to be attacked, and would have accepted every blow, but his brother had only wrapped his hooves around Cloud, sobbing into his mane. Cloud stood in the dim workshop, and wrapped his hooves around the sobbing pegasus.
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Cloud sat up from where he was sprawled on the clouds. He was surrounded by sad-looking pegasi, who were gazing in horror at something next to his side. Cloud looked down, and reality slammed into him like a brick wall. Sky really was dead, and there was no bringing him back. He wanted to tear away from reality again, but he stood there, anchored to the real world. Soon, the pain began to leak through the numbness of it all. Agony began to rip his heart as he screamed his twin’s name into the sky, the clouds themselves vibrating with the force of his anguished screams.
The ponies that surrounded him began to move closer, concern in their eyes. Cloud slammed his hoof onto the slicer’s button and held his hoof out as the blade extended. They wouldn’t take his brother from him, not until he died. They backed away, hesitant about approaching the sword-waving pegasus. Cloud took advantage of their hesitation, and launched himself and his brother over the edge of the cloud. He barreled with his brother down to earth, feeling the wind tug at his coat with the force of his dive. Pain gripped his mind, and blackness began to creep into his vision. He felt his body suddenly stop, and he saw a flash of steel-plated wings. Unable to stay conscious any longer, Cloud succumbed to the blackness.
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Sky pulled away from him, sniffling and wiping a hoof across his face. Cloud placed his hoof on his brother’s shoulder again, and was relieved that it wasn’t shrugged off. Cloud led his brother over to the table, and placed a cloth over the table. He turned back to his brother, drawing him back from the table. “Now listen, Sky, we can’t tell anypony about this. Not even Mom.” He waited until Sky nodded before continuing, “You remember how she reacted when we said we wanted to join the army.” Sky shuddered with the memory, and rubbed at his flank in remembrance.
“Well, I still want to come and help. If I don’t tell, will you make me one too?” His brother’s hopeful voice made Cloud’s will crumble, and he nodded. Sky started to cheer, but had a hoof shoved promptly in his mouth by Cloud, hissing at him to be quiet. Sky nodded, and Cloud walked out of the shop, his brother behind him. He heard Sky whisper to him from behind, “I love ya Cloud.”
“Love ya too Sky.”
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He felt a sharp pain cross the right side his face, and then on the other side. He shot up, and the iron-clad hoof stopped inches from hitting his face again. He looked up into the eyes of his attacker, which were filled with pity. He scrambled back and shot up from the clouds. Almost instantly, he fell back down, getting a mouthful of clouds in the process. Spitting out the puffs of white, he looked again at the pony before him.
She was standing stock still, as if she didn’t want him flying off again. She was clad in plate armor, uncommon for pegasi to have. Normally, soldiers took to wearing leather as their primary armor, only wearing chainmail if they needed additional protection. This particular plate mail was jet black, and streaked with slashes of bright white and blue. It was the uniform of the War Wings, the Royal Family’s personal pegasi force.
The small pieces of her that the armor didn’t cover were a pure white, and her eyes were a dark blue. She frowned at him, and held out a hoof. Hauling to his feet, Cloud saw a brief flash of anger in her eyes, and felt himself being tossed into the air. Shocked, Cloud fell back down without trying to fly, and crashed into an iron-plated hoof that she held up. Landing on the cloud heavily, Cloud coughed violently, blood staining the cloud.
“You flew off of a cloud, after a fight, and after having your only brother killed. That was for your stupidity.” She turned around, and began to flap her wings to take to the sky. “I will leave you to mourn your loss now. Don’t do anything stupid. ” She flapped away, leaving him there on the street.
Cloud, mind still fogged with pain, began to crawl towards his brother’s corpse. Lifting Sky on his back, Cloud set off to the Cloudasium with a grim heart and tears in his eyes.