Broken Sky

by Fyn16

Dawn

Dawn

Nimbus looked around, confused. His entire world was fading back into view, shifting from darkness to gray details, and finally to color, but his surroundings were unfamiliar. Looking down, he saw soft, green grass blowing gently in the wind. He was back home, or at least near his home, standing on a peak in the mountain range surrounding Hollow Shades.

Glancing down, he was impressed to see that, despite the clouds above, the valley was clear of fog, and he could see his house.

“Not bad,” he breathed, watching his breath roll out in white clouds. He paced around for a moment, considering heading back down the mountain, before a thought occurred to him.

“Am I dead?”

He didn’t feel dead, but then again, he realized he didn’t know what death actually felt like. He couldn’t really be dead, not now- there was so much left to do! Was Nightmare Moon ruling Equestria now, or had she been stopped? Nimbus sat down, his head spinning with questions.

“Confused?” a voice sounded from behind him.

Nimbus raised his head and looked back. When he saw who had addressed him, he did a double-take.

“Princess Celestia?” he said, “is that you?”

The pony changed shape, growing smaller until it took on the form of Whirlwind. Then Whirlwind changed color and grew taller until he was an exact copy of Nimbus.

“I am who you want me to be, Nimbus. I’m you.”

“Well this is weird,” Nimbus said, somewhat anticlimactically.

The other Nimbus shook his head, “that’s probably an understatement. Do you know where you are?”

“Back home? Dead? I don’t know,” Nimbus answered, “care to shed some light on that subject… me?”

The pony paced back and forth within a few inches of the peak’s ledge. “You’re not dead, if that helps. We’re inside your mind. Or rather, our mind. I guess you could say I am your grasp on life. I am your heart, your lungs, your will to live… ultimately, I am responsible for whether you live or die.”

“Wonderful,” Nimbus said, “so I take it there’s a reason I’m seeing you right now?”

The other Nimbus smirked. “You took an eight-story nose dive onto the Canterlot Palace courtyard and didn’t think you’d get a visit from me? Nimbus, even as a Pegasus, that’s going to leave a mark.”

“So why am I not dead?” Nimbus asked, standing and looking off the ledge, “why this conversation?”

“Because this is your choice.” The other Nimbus shifted again, turning into Spitfire. “Nimbus, I’m not the one responsible for snapping you out of this. You are.”

“Snapping me out of what, exactly?” Nimbus said hesitantly.

“Your coma, of course.”

“I’m in a coma?!” Nimbus’s breath came in short gasps as the realization hit him. “But that means-“

“It means your hold on life is quite delicate right now. This, Nimbus, is a milestone occasion. It’s where you decide whether you live or die. The fact that you even have this choice puts a great deal of power in your hooves.”

“Well my answer is life!” Nimbus said immediately, “what kind of a choice is that?”

“You’ll be returning in bad shape,” Spitfire said, “Unfortunately, I can’t give you exact details on what happened, but I’m receiving signals that the eight story drop you survived took its toll.”

“But Pegasi can survive falls like that,” Nimbus said, “we have reinforced skeletons!”

“The body can only take so much,” Spitfire said, shifting once again into Whirlwind, “are you sure you want to go back? Death, after all, is an end to the troubles you’ll face back in your world. No more responsibilities, no more pressure, no more need to break your back to impress others…”

Nimbus looked down at his little brother, sizing him up. With the exception of his coat color, the little guy was shaping up to be a lot like himself. He smiled. Death would certainly be an easy way out, but since when had he ever taken the easy way? Besides, he had a family, and most importantly, a little brother depending on him to return. Who was he to say no? Turning to Whirlwind, he smiled.

“I’m ready to go back,” he said, “no matter what condition I’m in when I return. If I’m a little beaten up, so be it. I’ll live. I have a family and friends waiting for me up there, and I won’t just give up on them.”

Whirlwind grinned, “I knew you’d say that.” He shifted once more back into Nimbus, staring him in the eyes. “And that’s the kind of pony you’re meant to be. Now get back up there and show everyone how you can persevere!”

Nimbus lay back in the grass as his world began to darken. He hoped he was actually headed back to consciousness, and not dying regardless of his choice. Either way, the blackness overtook him and he felt a wave of warmth and peace was over him. Then everything was still.

…

“Beep, beep, beep…”

Nimbus opened his eyes slowly as the steady electronic tone droned on. Like before, his world began to fade into color as he cracked his eyes open, but this time he had sensation. His eyelids felt heavy and sore, and as he opened them, he became aware that his surroundings were much more different now. There was a fluorescent light strip directly over his head, and a strange array of machines on either side of him. He was clearly on a bed, and as more details came into focus, he could see that he was practically covered in tubes and casts. He tried turning his head and found that he couldn’t. A plaster cast extended from the back of his neck almost all the way to the top of his head. It was becoming clearer now where he was.

“I’m in the hospital,” he croaked, wincing as the words passed through his dry and cracked mouth. At the conclusion of his statement, he heard hurried hoofsteps and a rhythmic whooshing noise… wingbeats? He tried again to crane his neck, but to no avail. Then a grey blur shot over his head and looped around, coming to a stop in a hover two feet away from his chest. It was Whirlwind, and his little brother wasted no time in proclaiming the news of Nimbus’s recovery.

“He’s awake!” he whooped, “I told you guys he’d wake up!”

“Whirly? Wha-?” Nimbus was dumbfounded as his parents appeared out of the corner of his eye, smiling with a few tears on their faces.

“Hey there, Nimbus,” Updraft said, giving his son a curt nod. Nimbus could see he was trying his best to hold back relief. How bad was his condition? Comet Stream, too, maintained her composure, smiling at her son.

“Hey guys,” Nimbus rasped, “what’s going on? Why am I in the hospital?”

“Nimbus, we’re so proud of you,” Comet said, tears falling again. “I- I can’t even explain to you what you did. That’s best left to your peers, but…” she looked over at Updraft, “our son is a hero, can you believe it? A hero!”

“Yeah, a hero!” Whirlwind cheered, doing a full loop that terminated a few inches away from Nimbus’s face.

“Hey, now what’s this hero stuff all about?” Nimbus asked, his voice starting to return to a somewhat more normal tone, “Whirly? What happened?”

Then the memories came rushing back. Canterlot, the Awakening, Nightmare Moon’s return, the air battle… all ending with Sun Blaze’s shocking betrayal. Nimbus’s eyes widened. “Oh, you can’t be talking about that,” he said, “I’m not a hero. You… I…” he had no idea what to say. Humility was trying to kick in, but he couldn’t find a way of effectively downplaying his role in the air battle. He decided instead to change the subject.

“Where am I?”

“Caring Hooves Trauma Center, in Canterlot,” Updraft said, “you were in pretty bad shape when you fell out of the sky. The doctors here are miracle workers- really, they are-“ Nimbus caught hesitation in his voice, and latched onto it.

“What else is there?” he said, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

“They said… you killed just about every nerve ending in your right wing towards the end of the battle.”

Nimbus remembered firing his CAL-2 at close range into the Reavite crystal. The tingling in his wing hadn’t just been harmless static- it had evidently been close enough to damage his wing itself.

“Okay,” he said finally, “so how bad is it?”

“You fell on your wing when you hit the ground,” Comet said, “they said you’d fractured every bone in it, and that without magical treatment of the highest degree, you’d probably never fly again.”

“Highest degree meaning-?” Nimbus said, his heart rate increasing. He could tell, too, as a heartbeat monitor next to his bed began increasing its pace.

Updraft cleared his throat. “We would need-“

“An Alicorn.”

Nimbus caught a new voice from the front of the room- one he would recognize anywhere. It was the voice he’d heard in his head during the battle, and the voice he’d spoken with only moments ago in his dream. It was Princess Celestia. Slowly, gracefully she stepped into view, seeming to light the room with her radiance. Whirlwind darted away from his hover over Nimbus and dove to the ground, wrapping his front hooves around Celestia’s leg. The entire room went silent. Nopony touched Princess Celestia. It simply wasn’t done. Nimbus’s eyes went wide, and his heart not only skipped a beat- his heartbeat monitor flatlined for a full second before resuming.

“Please fix my brother’s wing,” Whirlwind said, looking up at Celestia with his dark, round child’s eyes. Celestia gazed back calmly, and smiled.

“Hello, Whirlwind,” she said, “how are you enjoying Canterlot?”

“It’s pretty big,” Whirlwind admitted, “but… what about Nimbus’s wing?”

Celestia rubbed Whirlwind’s head with her hoof. “Don’t worry about your brother, Whirlwind. He’ll be just fine.” She raised her head and turned to Nimbus’s parents who were standing as still as statues, mouths agape, staring at the Princess.

“May I have a few words alone with Nimbus?” she asked.

“Certainly, um, ma’am,” Updraft said, trotting towards Whirlwind and looking as if he’d seen a ghost, “come on, Whirly. We’ll visit Nimbus later.”

“Goodbye, Whirlwind,” Celestia said, waving with her hoof to the little colt as he and his parents exited. When the door closed, she walked over to Nimbus.

“I believe thanks are in order,” she said finally. Nimbus stared up at her.

“Thanks, Princess Celestia? I didn’t really do anything-“

“Please-“ the Alicorn said, “it’s just ‘Celestia’ right now. And don’t try to tell me you did nothing, Nimbus. I was there, after all. You saved me, and more importantly- you helped me to save my sister.”

“Luna?” Nimbus said, “you mean she’s not-“

“Nightmare Moon? No. She was freed the night of the air battle. There are other congratulations I must give for that accomplishment- it’s actually the reason I’ll be headed to Ponyville after this- but enough of that. Nimbus, thank you so much for what you did that night. I can’t stress enough how important your role was in reuniting me with my sister. And speaking of which…”

Princess Celestia looked back at the door. “There’s somepony else I’d like you to meet, as well. Luna? We’re alone now.”

The door slowly creaked open and a shadow flew in, materializing itself as a dark blue Alicorn. Smaller in height than Celestia, she was no less magnificent. Her mane and tail shone with the light of the night sky, and her head was lowered, humbly. She looked up at Nimbus, shyly smiling.

“Thank thee, Nimbus. Without thine help, we would still be lost, and our sister would not be standing beside us.”

“I’m glad I could help,” Nimbus said, smiling at Luna. He couldn’t even believe now, looking at her, that he’d ever considered waging his little school year investigation against her.

“Her speech needs a little modernization,” Celestia said, moving next to her sister and smiling, “but we’ll work on it together.” She was silent for a few moments, gazing out the few windows in the room. The sunlight was streaming in, catching particles in the air and throwing majestic rays from wall to wall. She turned back, looking deep into Nimbus’s eyes, as if to read his thoughts.

“I was made aware of the past few years of your life by several sources while I was on my way here. Apparently there are many ponies out there that wanted me to know exactly the kind of pony I’d be meeting, including Spitfire- the captain of the Wonderbolts. You met her during your time at the Academy, if I understand correctly.”

“Yes ma’am,” Nimbus said, “and if I’m to be honest, she’s the reason I’m even here right now. I made a promise to her, once, that I’d find a way to get back into the air and serve Equestria, despite my failure at the Academy.”

“You’ve come a long way since then,” Celestia said, “it takes a great degree of perseverance to look at such an occasion as your disenrollment and return stronger from it. Your actions on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration were purely selfless. If I could tell your superiors to commission you now, I would. Unfortunately, that’s where military tradition gets in the way. You still technically have one week of school left until you graduate and commission, and I can’t interfere with that.”

“It’s alright,” Nimbus said, “I wouldn’t expect you to. Besides, I’d rather graduate alongside my classmates.”

“Spoken like a true Aviator,” Celestia said, smiling, “and I have no doubt there are great things in your future as one.”

“Thank you,” Nimbus said. He was about to ask about the whereabouts of Storm Runner and Polaris when he remembered what his family had said about his wing at the conclusion of Celestia’s statement. Being an Aviator required the full use of both wings, and if his right wing was practically unusable… feeling was returning to his body now, and he began stretching to ease the tension that had built up in him. He tried moving his wing- perhaps the doctors had been wrong about it. Nothing happened. His wing remained limp on the bed behind his back. He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying again. Celestia took note of this.

“Nimbus, I probably don’t need to tell you that you received a terrible injury helping me. I wish there was something I could do-“

“Forgive me for being direct,” Nimbus said, “but aren't you able to heal this?”

Celestia shook her head. “The damage may not look bad, but not much of your wing remains intact beneath the surface. If there were some way-“

“There is, sister,” Luna said, stepping forward and shaking her mane out of her eyes. For the first time since she’d entered the room, she looked confident. “It is the least we can do to repay him. Combined, we believe our magic will be strong enough to heal him.”

“Of course,” Celestia mused, “Nimbus, would you accept this?”

Nimbus’s eyes watered. He was being given the chance, even a slight one at that, to return to the air. He couldn’t refuse. “I would be honored. It would be the best gift I’ve ever received.”

Celestia and Luna stepped forward, placing their horns on the exposed wing. Magic flowed down each one, wrapping around the twisted and broken extremity, until a golden glow surrounded the wing. To Nimbus, it felt as if someone had wrapped his wing in a warm blanket. He could hear bones shifting and cracking, but felt no pain. The sisters finally drew back, the light fading away.

“Now only one thing remains,” Luna said, eyes twinkling with excitement, “thou must try it.”

Nimbus looked down at his wing, still behind his back. “Come again?” he said, rather unceremoniously. He looked at the IV tubes and monitors connected to him. “With all due respect, my wing wasn’t my only problem.”

“Ah yes, I suppose you’ll want to be rid of all this medical equipment as well,” Celestia said, magically removing the IV tubes and monitor pads. Nimbus looked down in shock. While he didn’t consider himself a doctor, he was almost certain removing everything at once wasn’t usually a recommended course of action.

“There we are,” Celestia said when the equipment was clear, “now get up and give it a test.”

“Get up?” Nimbus said, “Princess Celestia, I think I need to wait for doctor’s orders before-“

“Our sister knows what she is doing,” Luna said, the echo of a smile playing about your face, “thou may rise.”

Cautiously, Nimbus rolled out of the bed and landed on all four hooves, surprisingly steadily. He braced himself for the inevitable pain, but none came. Slowly, he raised his left wing and moved it. Everything seemed in order. Now for the moment he’d been dreading. He tried moving his right wing. To his surprise, it rose and moved like a well-oiled machine. Nimbus’s face broke into a tremendous grin.

“Thank you so much!” he whooped, dancing up and down, “I can fly again! Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, I can’t even thank you enough!”

“There is no need for thanks,” Luna said, turning to her sister and smiling, “thou hast given us the chance to be family again. We could ask for nothing better.”

“Now,” Celestia said, looking up at a clock on the wall, “I believe there’s somewhere you need to be.”

“There is?” Nimbus said, confused.

“Well, you are competing in the Cloudsdale Meet, are you not?”

Nimbus’s face turned from an expression of pure joy to one of shock. “That’s today? You mean they didn’t cancel it. Oh dear Celes-“ he looked up at Celestia, rethinking his choice of words, “I mean good grief- I had no idea! I have to get up to Cloudsdale! And my family-“

“On their way,” Celestia said, “a carriage was waiting for them when they left your room.”

“How am I going to get there in time?” Nimbus asked, frantically running through his options.

“Stand still,” Celestia said. Nimbus did as he was told.

“I’m not sure I understand,” he said, “what is standing still going to do for-“

“Relax,” Celestia said, “good luck at the Meet, Nimbus. My sister and I are needed in Ponyville. I sincerely hope we can speak again.”

Celestia pointed her horn straight at Nimbus and his world flashed white, then refocused. He was standing on a cloud, overlooking Equestria. He raised his eyebrows, confused, then turned around and received the shock of his life. He was standing on the edge of Cloudsdale. The massive floating city stretched before him in all its glory, and directly in front of him was the Cloudsdale Coliseum- the site of the Meet. Nimbus wasted no time in stretching his wings and flying to the event. He rushed inside, trying to remember the instructions he’d been given days earlier on how to get to the competitors’ room. He had a competition to win today, and he wasn’t about to be late for it.

Author's Note:

This is a revised version of my old chapter, "Cliff's Edge." I realized that several parts of the chapter were rushed, and that Nimbus was presented with a situation that I found to be almost contradictory to his nature. To that end, parts of this chapter were revised to a setting that I feel reflects Nimbus's story better. Enjoy!

Comments

[Fyn16]

3397529

Very true, thank you!

[Fyn16]

3397593

Problem is now solved. I should really look into sending these chapters through a pre-reader first...

[Itchy]

3397600

Ya know that if ya need one I'm just a quick click/email away man!