Before Flight

by wkblack

Looming Thunder

THUMP. A batpony landed in front of Town Hall. His coat was such a dark red, pegasi often mistook it for black. His demon yellow eyes popped out in stark contrast. The silver breastplate he wore was sleek: both aesthetic and functional. It left plenty of room for his wings to move in combat. The plate matched his light grey mane well—it even had a white streak running through, matching the sun's reflection off his breastplate. Two of his commanders landed behind him, each blazing the Cloud's emblem. The shield engulfed in an eclipse symbolized the bats' invulnerability, a standard they lived up well to.

'Guardian of the City', was technically NightWing's title, but the pegasi of Woodburn titled him 'The Terror'. Though Aether hadn't seen any revolts herself, stories of his brutality in putting them down were often murmured between the older pegasi. They refused to detail what happened, only ever talking about “the poor foals . . . ” Seeing the look in NightWing's eyes, Aether's didn't doubt them; NightWing watched the growing crowd as he would a swarm of cockroaches.

“Ponies of Woodburn!” he barked out. “I am NightWing, general of the Northern District.”

“As if he needed to introduce himself~” Aether murmured to herself. A visit from a commander was rare, but a general visiting was unheard of. The entire population of Woodburn was already out, crowded around city centre.

NightWing spoke in the precise dialect of the Cloud's capitol: slowly and carefully, as if he were giving someone time to record his speech. “Our district is larger than the Eastern and Western districts combined, and we have always prided ourselves in our autonomy and security. Any threat to these objectives will be put down without hesitation.”

The general began pacing. “We have received word that certain citizens of Woodburn have been teaching flight.”

Aether strained her neck to see, stuck behind the gathering crowd.

“As your guardians, we cannot allow this to continue.” Narrowing his eyes, he added, “It is, of course, heresy. Only we of the Cloud can fly; you have no right nor power to do so. Your feathery wings would catch too much wind—it's a fatal mutation.”

Aether felt sick looking around the nodding crowd. How could they believe that!? That's the very reason we can fly!

“As Guardians of the City, we cannot allow any one to be hurt. Flight is illegal, and may not be practised. Any one teaching contrary will be halted,” he turned to look Aether straight in the eyes. “Permanently.”

The poison of his final word spread silence over the crowd. Aether became suddenly aware that her face was set in a fierce glare. She hesitated for a moment, about to feign innocence, but tightened her expression, glowering through her eyebrows. So what if they try and stop me? Flight is all I live for! I can't let them scare that away! Aether intensified her glare to melt rock.

NightWing broke eye contact and strolled along the edge of the crowd. “A street patrol will be instituted, as well as regular inquisitions. All sympathizers to flight will be removed.” His tone shifted to a higher tone, though poison was in his voice. “This is, I remind you, for your safety. Flight is a dangerous power which must be controlled—otherwise it will destroy you,” he finished with a grimace, eyes piercing the crowd's spirit.

As abruptly as he landed, NightWing rocketed back into the sky, followed closely by the two guards. With the bats gone the tension broke, and the pent up conversations released. Aether caught snippets of their conversations as she darted through the crowd, searching for Canary.

Passing by a group of youth, she smiled at their conversation: “But if flight is impossible, why is it illegal?”

Several shopowners were chatting about the Codex: “I thought the stories were just moral. You don't suppose they could be literal, do you?”

A rusted old voice said to its neighbour, “I knew those ponies were up to no good; spreading rumours of flight, pulling away the youngsters . . . ”

Finally, Aether reached Canary.

“This isn't good,” Canary noted with a worried expression.

Aether agreed. “This isn't just about flight—our freedom is what's really on the line here.” She stared angrily at a pebble sitting between her hooves. “They're trying to scare us out of flight. They want to chain us down again! We can't let them do this!” She crushed the pebble into the dirt as she finished her sentence.

Excitement shone in Canary's eyes. “We're really going to start a rebellion?”

Aether barked out a quick laugh. “We already have. Let's blow their wings off.”

Wind howled through the trees, as if voicing its assent. “Absolutely,” Canary affirmed, voice solid as stone.

The leaves rustled happily from the warm wind. The soft green glow of leaf-filtered light made the air feel vibrant and healthy in the enclosure. Aether sat under a walnut tree with Canary at her side. Aether had called an emergency meeting to discuss the Cloud's threat. The clearing was actually a short walk into the forest from Woodburn, but was still far enough away that they wouldn't be accidentally found or overheard. Aether nodded. It would be a good place for future meetings.

Chartreuse and Angel Grace came in, along with Purple Skies and Lilac Shores. Blitz and Coral followed close behind. As the rest filed in, Aether smiled at the twelve, speech bursting at her lips.

“You've all chosen flight over fear. NightWing's speech made their intentions clear. We can't let them keep flight from us! They're just trying to keep up under them. Mental control . . . it's despicable.” Aether paced in a wide circle around her followers. “If we just submit, then we are weak. We can't let them suppress us like that! We can't give in, no matter what!”

Chartreuse interjected, “But what if someone turns us in?”

Aether shook her head. “You're letting your fear control your actions. You need to control your fear! We're fighting a war of beliefs, and beliefs can't be killed.” She began pacing. “But just wanting freedom from the bats isn't enough; we have to make it a desire: It needs to be a burning, driving motive in our lives. And if we want this desire to stay alive, then we'll need more than a temporary motivation—we'll need an eternal drive.”

Blitz interjected, “What's that supposed to mean?”

“An eternal drive is a motivation that can't die,” Aether explained. “It's an allegiance to something greater than this world: an idea, a concept, a principle—something immortal. You see, fighting someone only motivates you while they're alive, but fighting for a belief can motivate you beyond death.

“You can't be motivated out of fear—they Cloud could promise an end to their violence or threats if we sacrifice flight. But flight is more than flying—it's our freedom! It's a truth! An end of oppression! We can't sacrifice it to remove fears. We'll lose the fight forever!

“We can't act for reward either. They could offer us anything from food to technology to carts full of gold. But compared to those, flight is so much more!”

Most of the Storm were nodding, though several still scrunched their eyebrows in thought.

“Truth and freedom are worth more than the world! Worldly gifts are nothing compared to flight! The things they'd offer could appease us for a short time, yes, but flight is our destiny! Nothing can replace it!”

Aether grimaced “It can't be out of duty either—it won't last. I'll die some day, and the next leader of the Storm may not win your loyalty. Even the great Echelon was abandoned in the moment of peril. Or the ruler herself could become corrupt. Loyalties can shift with the wind.

Aether began drawing a head-sized circle in the dirt below her. “It can't even be for yourself, for in the midst of agony, even the strongest souls betray themselves.” Aether moved on to drawing a skeletal wing attached to the circle's right. “Self-preservation is limited in its power, so you have to detach yourself from these earth-based motives. You must redirect your passions to a love of flight!” Aether started on the mirroring wing. “Our children need to know the truth, so their children can feel this joy. We're not fighting a physical battle; we're fighting for an ideal.” Aether smiled down at the insignia she'd created.

“It must be for a love of flight. Only this will motivate us to victory! Detach yourself from the world and join the rising Storm!” A cheer arose as Aether stood atop the winged circle, wings flared open to mirror it.

As the cheer died down, Cirrus piped up: “But realistically, how can we beat them? It's a nation of warriors against a dozen of us normal pegasi. The odds aren't great.” The lithe grey pegasus looked on intently.

Canary picked up the dialogue. “We may not be able to attack them directly, but there's more than one way to fight. If we can convince the rest of Woodburn to join us, we can start a revolution! We just need to shift their mindsets.”

Aether jumped in. “We just need to feed them truths as often as we can. Tell them how great flight is—tell them it's possible!”

Canary carried on. “It doesn't even need to be that blatant. A word here, a smile there—they'll start to see the truth about flight, just from our faces.”

Aether closed: “Flight is our purpose—our destiny. It doesn't matter what they threaten. We will fly. If we give up flight, we may as well give up living. You live your life for what you'd die for. If you love nothing more than your own life, you'll live for nothing.”