Glorious sketch of Canary from the talented Vincher!
NightLight wandered through the cloudy terrain, his grey coat melding seamlessly with the somnial clouds. He was a lone unicorn in this aphotic realm. If I could only get my magic to do what I wanted it to do . . .
His face screwed up in concentration as he focused on an image of his horn lighting up. NightLight felt his body begin to shake at the mental strain of bringing the image into reality. The horn began glowing faintly, hardly enough to see beyond his hoof. Whisps of shadows began circling his horn like moths by a lantern, eating at the light he was generating.
Come on! he thought, I need more light! Despair was poisoning his concentration: it seemed the more effort he poured into the spell, the more the shadows ate at his light. NightLight yelled out in a final burst of energy and his horn flared up. For a moment, it illuminated his midnight blue mane and the hill around him, but it quickly fizzled out, consumed by darkness. NightLight released the spell entirely and dropped his head in exhaustion. Though his horn faintly glowed, the shadows blocked out nearly all of its light.
A faint rustle sounded behind him. NightLight spun around to see hundreds of misty beings standing in the distance: a hoard of dark creatures set to destroy. The army charged in silence. Eyes wide in panic, NightLight summoned the remainder of his energy, releasing it in one last burst. Like a bubble popping, the glowing ceased, and the unicorn collapsed to the ground. His eyes slid shut just as the denizens beset him.
Aether's primary feathers twitched, signalling an oncoming wind.
“BEAR RIGHT, CIRRUS! BEAR RIGHT!!”
As calculated, the oncoming burst of wind arrived and nearly sent the steely grey mare hurdling into the cliff face. A sharp adjustment on her part just saved her from crashing, instead landing her on the cliff face on all fours. Blitz had pulled in his wings to drop out of the way, now gliding easily below.
Since Cirrus had joined them, other pegasi began trickling in from the town. Several had come in scepticism, like Blitz, but many came out of hope. Their trio had expanded over the past few months into a small band of fliers, just over a dozen. Though it felt awkward at first, flight was finally beginning to feel natural for the newcomers.
Since she had first flown three months ago, Aether had spent each waking hour (and then some) at the cliffs, perfecting her form and learning new skills. Canary sometimes worried for her friend: she hardly slept and would often forget to eat. In response, Canary regularly packed her saddlebags with food, carrying it up to her friend to make sure she ate. Everyone had to admit though: Aether was a spectacle. No one could even come close to her flying prowess.
Feeling a slight warmth from below, Aether nodded towards the flock of five hovering to her left.
“Got it.” replied Canary. Taking aim, she dove down to the flock and shouted commands. The mess of pegasi scrambled to regain control as the warm undercurrents threw them around.
Though flight was impossible without them, the winds had grown no kinder since Canary's first flight. The icy north and arid south both sent winds which battled over Woodburn, leaving chaos in their wake. The town was always on the brink of a storm, and the winds showed it.
Noting the start of a cool breeze, Aether called all of the fledgling pegasi into a cove, out of the wind's attacks. She motioned for the twelve pegasi to sit in a circle and beamed at her newfound followers. “You're all progressing wonderfully; you've learned so much! Just think: a few months ago, you didn't even believe it possible you could fly! Aria,” the light-blue mare ducked her head in embarrassment. “Just a few days ago, you were crashing through the forest, but look at you now! You're flying!”
“But I'm still eons behind all of you!” she protested, “I keep losing control; I can't even tell an updraft from a downdraft!”
Aether shook her head. “Look. If you want to progress, then don't compare yourself to others; only compare yourself to your old self: how you are and how you were. Nothing else matters. Imagine yourself, just a few weeks ago. What did you think when you felt the wind?”
Confusion flashed over her face. “I guess I felt a bit annoyed. They bothered me, so I tried to avoid them.”
“And what do you think now?”
Aria grimaced. “Worried I won't ever get it down.”
Aether beamed. “See how your thoughts changed? You're thinking of flying when you feel the wind; you want to progress and get better!”
A smile grew at Aria's lips.
“You see, progression is the mark of a true flier, and you're certainly becoming one.” Aether again addressed the rest of the group. “You all are. But you're mostly working on your own power right now; you're not using the wind fully. You need to trust it with your life.”
Blitz spoke up. “How can we! That's crazy! One gust the wrong way and we would all die!” The others nodded in agreement.
Aether nodded slowly. “And that's why you need to start listening for it. Right now, you're only trying to listen to it.” Aether paused to let the thought sink in. “You're so worried about the wind that every time you feel it, you panic, which slows down your reaction time. You need to be listening for it actively.”
With equal interest and annoyance Chartreuse piped up. “You tell that to us nearly every day, but what does it even mean? We're all listening for it! What makes you so different?”
“I'm not different; I . . . ” Aether paused, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. Scanning over the small group, she barked: “Everyone! Open your wings, as wide as you can!”
The group lifted their wings hesitantly, wing tips crossing over their neighbour's.
“Now open them wider,” she commanded.
A few faces winced from exertion as their wings unfurled a feather farther.
Aether shook her head. “Relax. If you had opened them as wide as you could the first time, you wouldn't have been able to open them any wider. This is rule number one: give it all you have. If you really want to get good at flying, you can't hold anything back.”
Cirrus and Aria nodded in determination while the others made like gestures.
Circling in the opposite direction, Aether continued. “Okay. Lesson two.” Aether motioned for Canary to stand up. Addressing the rest, she ordered, “Let your wings open now, comfortably. Close your eyes and listen.” Aether and Canary walked around the circle, flapping gusts of wind at each of the pegasi's wings, making their feathers flutter in response.
“Now whenever I blow on your wing,” Aether continued, “I want you to stroke back with the same wing, with the same force. Push back the bursts of air as they come.”
Aether and Canary waved gusts of air at each of the pegasi's wings. As their feathers twitched in response, they moved their wings in sync with their instructors, paddling the air between them in a gentle rhythm.
Satisfied, Aether allowed them to open their eyes. “This is listening for the wind. If you really want to soar, train yourself to listen for the winds so your response to their fluctuations comes naturally. Only once you hear the gust of the wind over the shouting of the city are you ready for true flight.”
Coral and Cirrus smiled, along with the few other pegasi who were getting it. Reactions around the rest of the circle varied from Aria's confusion to Blitz's frustration. StormChaser exchanged glances with Skye, checking that they were equally confused.
“What I'm saying is that rather than just responding to the winds when they shake you, you need to make it your focus in life to be one with them. Try going through an entire day with your wings open—keep them spread, listening for even the slightest whisper of a wind. Any time you sense its push, try and respond to its promptings. If it blows you left, go left! If it blows you right, go right! Move where the wind directs.”
Blitz's eyebrow was so high, it could have left his face. “Are you crazy? What if it blows you off a cliff‽ Are we still supposed to follow it?”
“Yes.” Aether hesitated. “Well . . . You see, Avondale has a mind of its own—a sort of consciousness to it. If you listen carefully with your heart, you'll feel it, but if you keep resisting the wind, you'll be exhausted, and miss your chances to fly. We're not trying to fly in spite of the wind, we're flying because of the wind. Ignoring the wind makes you exhausted from fighting it, but trying to fly without the wind will also exhaust you. You'll only reach your ultimate potential when you're working as one with Avondale.”
“But we can't be the same calibre as the bats are. Is it really even worth that much effort?”
Aether motioned towards Canary, who grabbed something from her saddlebag.
“Canary has something to show you all, which should open your eyes a bit,” Aether said.
The yellow pegasus moved centre circle, holding a leather-bound book under her right wing.
“Is that a book!? Where did you get that from?!” Cirrus padded forwards. “I thought the Cloud had destroyed them all!”
Canary held out the book for them to see. “My grandfather hid it away—it wasn't easy to find, but I got it!” Canary smiled with glee. “Aether and I have been studying it over the past few weeks. It's my great-great-grandfather's journal, which dates back before the bats rose to power.”
Feathers ruffled in excitement. “Before? Weren't they always in power?” asked Coral.
Canary beamed. “The way my grandfather writes, it seems like they'd never even seen bats before! He hardly even mentions them earlier on, just in this excerpt.” Canary smiled to herself and read from a few pages in:
“At lunchtime, Icicle and I saw Lou trying to drink her chocolate milk through her nose—what a freak! So Ice called her batty, and she started crying. Ahaha
It was funny until we heard Ms. Flourish behind us. She tried to get him to apologize, but geez, who's cares? I say we've never even had bats at our school. It doesn't matter, she says, it's still not nice. Then Ice asks if she's even ever met a bat! No, I don't think so, he says. But that didn't help.
We both had to stay after school and write a paragraph about respecting cultures. At least he didn't call her a leatherwing or Ms. Flourish would makes us write a whole paper!”
“Though it may sound blasphemous, leatherwing used to be an insult!” Canary held back her laughter. “So it sounds like the bats kept to themselves before the war. Even then, he only writes in some rumours of bats attacking from the Northern Mountains, probably from Dusk.”
Aether interjected. “But that's not even the best part! He kept record of aerial battles, fought by pegasi!!”
The group collectively gasped and checked if they had heard right.
“Pegasi?”
“They were flying before?” Cirrus asked.
Canary nodded. “And it wasn't just one or two flyers! The battles were massive! Get this:
'Hundreds of pegasi have been drafted for the battle of Breeze—'”
“Breeze?”
Aether waved her hoof dismissively. “It's a town a bit to the south. Probably a coastal town.”
Canary picked up. “So as his journal goes, it sounds like they're winning the war, despite the heavy casualties. They think it's nearly over until the first bat comes.” Canary flipped open to a spot halfway through the journal.
A trio of bats landed in city centre today. Bats! Of all the things in Avondale . . . They wore a bright silvery armour, with the same insignia as their flag: a shield on a crescent moon. Probably some splinter group from the main bat colonies.
They demanded surrender and said they'd 'destroy us' if we didn't.
Said they'd destroyed Breeze and would do the same to us. Please, their wings hardly get them off the ground. They're way too flimsy to be any good. We could destroy them in a heartbeat.
Canary grimaced. “Two days later, the entire Cloud comes through.”
First tens, then hundreds—the sky went black with bats.
We had no choice but surrender.
They call it a 'Revolution', but it's just a slaughter.
Aether piped up again. “And he doesn't even mention the war afterwards! The bats must have completely wiped the board!”
Canary nodded. “We figured that since the towns were fighting between themselves, it must've been a struggle to even stay alive. The bats would have been able to take them out in a single advance.”
“That's when they start trying to control us,” Aether growled. “It wasn't just physically—it was mentally too.” Aether waved for Canary to read on.
Their demands are completely unreasonable! They think we'll just give up flight? Like that'll happen. Then I suppose they'll get us to stop eating and breathing?
“But they do give it up,” Canary commented, flipping forwards a few pages. “They have to, because—”
Anyone who insisted on flying was put to death. Those that speak up disappear. The bats say they've been sent to Corporis: some underground prison apparently. Loads think they're just killing them off, but I'm sure the bats would do it publicly, like the martyrs before.
My bet is that it's some sort of mindwashing facility: try and torture the flight out of them. No one has come back yet to tell, so we can't know. Maybe we never will. One of those things.
“What!” Chartreuse yelled out, wide-eyed. “What are we doing flying then! It's not safe!”
Aether smiled. “Oh, this was nearly a century ago! Besides, what matters more to you? Which feeling would you prefer: flying or fear?”
“Are you kidding? Angel and I have a family! You can't expect us to really put flight above that!”
“If you care anything about your family, then you'll want them to fly! There's nothing better in the whole world! How can you keep them from their destiny—it's what we were made for!”
Angel stomped her hoof, standing with her husband. “They could be hurt! You can't expect us to stay here if it endangers them!”
Canary placed her hoof over Aether's opening mouth and intervened, “Family should be first. If we want to help them be as happy as possible, then they'll need to embrace their destiny. The purpose of life is not for it to be easy; it's not to be pure. The purpose of life is to learn and grow! They'll have to leave the cradle. They'll have bad times, yes, but they're what allow you to have your best times. Ups and downs are how we live life—without them, we'd have no heartbeat.”
Before anyone else could raise arguments, Aether shouted out, “The batponies have suppressed our flight for too long! It's time we reject their lies and live the way Avondale designed us to live: Flying!!”
The small band whooped in harmony. Skye and Lilac bumped hooves while Angel and Cirrus fluttered their wings in excitement. Aether smiled as a wind blew past them, as if Avondale were voicing its excitement.
Canary closed her book and held it to her side like a baby. “So what will we call ourselves?”
Aether looked out on the horizon towards dark clouds looming in the east. “The Storm.” Determination was tattooed on her face. “The bats have reigned for too long in this world. It's time for a second revolution.”
Glorious sketch of Canary from the talented Vincher!