The Northern Sky

by DashTillDawn

The Reunion

"So... why did you run off, North?" Twilight asked, finally breaking the awkward silence that had fallen since I ran off. Everypony looked to me, hoping I would finally be willing to speak.

"It's just... I've just been really stressed out lately." I admitted, only half-lying. Starlight opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself.

"Well, if anypony can help you deal with stress, Twilight's the pony to talk to. She's been buried in Princess Paperwork lately, but she's always got a smile on her face when we need her." Rarity spoke up from within the airship.

"Yeah..." I trailed.

"Are ya sure stress is the only thing bothering ya, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"Honestly, I don't know anymore. I used to be a nopony, and now I'm practically royalty. I'm still getting used to the transition, I guess." I explained before bumping into the balloon, not paying attention to where I was going.

"Well, you obviously weren't a nopony. You're an alicorn, for Celestia's sakes! That's freaking awesome for a nopony." Rainbow Dash said while helping me recover from my collision.

"That's just it, though. Back when I was a colt, becoming an alicorn was as common as earning your Cutie Mark. Every day you heard about a new pony earning their wings, horn, or both. Now the only ponies capable of ascending become royalty. I must be the first alicorn to not be dubbed as a prince or princess in centuries." I added, becoming nostalgic with memories of my past. Twilight conjured a piece of paper and a quill, wrote something, and made them both disappear again.

"You never did tell us much of your past, North." Twilight seized the opportunity to gain knowledge.

"There's not much to tell. Almost everything I grew up with is gone. I didn't even see my hometown on the map of Equestria." I muttered.

"Where are you from?" Twilight asked.

"The city was named after the land: Equestria. Aside from Canterlot, it was the largest city around, and it was also know as the 'City of Alicorns,' because it was where almost every alicorn lived. I would imagine that when all the alicorns vanished, the city fell into disarray shortly after."

"That can't be right. A city like that couldn't just disappear." Twilight mused.

"I'm sure we could help you find it." Rainbow Dash offered.

"That won't be possible. The City of Alicorns is long gone. The few survivors of the Ascension left within days, and the city was completely abandoned. I went back years later, or tried to anyway, but it was gone." Red put in. I looked to Midnight for confirmation, and got a solemn nod. He had refused to speak entirely since the day we rid him of the Darkness. It was his way of punishing himself. I tried getting him to speak the next day, but that unicorn was determined to discipline himself beyond what anypony else was willing to do.

"An entire city just vanished? How?" Twilight asked, writing notes vigorously.

"I can't really explain what happened. It was there when I left, and gone when I came back. Maybe it just fell apart."

"It would take hundreds of years for a city to crumble unaided. When did you go back?"

"About the time I realized I had 'Earth Powers,' and the immortality that comes with it. Maybe fifty years later. That was right before I started traveling the world." Red now had the burden of thoughts he didn't want to remember, as his voice was beginning to fade, much like my own had.

"That doesn't make sense..." Twilight scribbled more on the page floating in front of her. Sensing that Red needed a change of subject, Fluttershy pitched a new question.

"So, umm, Red, why did you travel the world? Where did you go?"

"I had spent years trying to build a new life in Canterlot when I left the City of Alicorns, but nothing seemed to last. Eventually, I realized that the few friends I had were growing old, but I wasn't aging with them. Traveling was my way of passing the time, and taking my mind off of the past. I started with visiting nearby cities, before going on a full-blown expedition. I saw Manehattan, Baltimare, Las Pegasus. You name it, I've seen it. I left Equestria a few times to visit neighboring lands like Gryphonstone. I even had a chance to see the Castle of the Two Sisters when it was in it's prime. Finally, I settled down in Ponyville, looking for a chance to live a semi-normal life. Look where that got me." He gestured to the balloon.

A part of me wondered what Midnight had done in the thousand years since I had seen him last, but I doubted he would ever tell me.

"We're in the presence of one of the greatest adventures in history, and not a single pony knows of his voyages." Twilight announced in awe, finally taking her nose away from the page she had been writing on.

"I don't know about the greatest adventurer ever, but he's pretty cool." Rainbow Dash refused to swallow her ego. The rest of us just chuckled at her.

"What?" She shot.

"So, what did you do through all the years, North? I would imagine we must have met at least once before if you're from my time." Red inquired.

"I was frozen in ice. Only within the past month did somepony find me." I stated blatantly.

"You were stuck in ice for a thousand years? No way."

"It's true. Starlight and I are the ones who dug him out." Twilight confirmed, finally putting the paper and quill away.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know." Red mumbled.

"It's fine. It beats doing nothing for that long. It just felt like I fell asleep taking an ice bath. I closed my eyes for centuries, but it only felt like a few minutes."

"I never did fully document how the ice was able put your body in a state of hibernation. I'll need to study that when I-" She stopped herself when she noticed my aggravated expression.

"I'm rambling, aren't I? Never mind. Unimportant. Please continue."

"I've found that occasionally reminiscing about the past can help you let go. You should tell us about what you miss the most." Red told me, showing the most concern for me that he had ever shown.

"There's a lot, really. There was my friends- though I had only a few. There was my home. There was-" I stopped, realizing I would never see her again. Thinking about her hurt too much.

"What? What is it?" Red asked.

"I don't what to think about her. It brings back too many memories."

"Only by talking about her can you truly learn to forget."

I let out a long, pained sigh of submission.

"Stormy... Stormy Wind; that was her name. She was the most beautiful pegasus I had ever met... and now she's gone." I choked the words out, again bumping into the balloon, too distracted to even notice. My eyes clouded as I recalled my ex-marefriend.

"I still remember the day we met. I had earned my wings only days prior, and I was trying to teach myself how to fly. I can't remember exactly what, but something caught my eye, and I got distracted. When I looked forward again, there was a mare right in front of me. I couldn't avoid the collision. She managed to recover, but I careened to the ground. She was by my side in an instant, helping me to my feet. Once I dusted off, we formally introduced ourselves. I was only a young colt at the time, and we were close ever since. We were there for each other, no matter what. She taught me how to fly, and I helped her work at becoming an alicorn. Eventually, time started to draw us apart. The day I froze was also the day she finally broke us apart, claiming I was too focused on work. I planned on trying to make it up to her when I got back. I guess that'll never happen now."

Then I looked directly at Starlight. Though she refused to make eye contact, I knew she could hear me.

"That's the real reason that I'm afraid to get into a new relationship. I worry that I'll just lose her like I lost Stormy. Heartbreak never gets any easier, no matter how many times you go through it."

I expected an answer from Starlight, but it was Fluttershy who spoke up next.

"So, umm, what did she look like?"

"She was gorgeous. Her beauty could measure up to Rarity's."

"She must have been stunning." Rarity cut in, slightly agitated by my comparison, or maybe jealous.

"She had a coat the color of storm clouds, with a sapphire blue mane. There was a streak of yellow running through her mane like lightning, matching her electric eyes. Her muzzle was a lighter grey than the rest, and her Cutie Mark was a raincloud. When it rained, she would always stay dry. She could climb out of our swimming hole and be dry without even shaking off, which was a shame, because she could definitely pull off the wet-mane look. There's only one pony who I've ever thought was better-looking than Stormy."

"And who might that be?" Rarity spoke up again.

"She knows who she is, and that's all that matters." Saying this made Starlight's ears stiffen, but she continued to stare at passing clouds, of which we had just become level with. We would be upon Cloudsdale soon, which was a relief. My wings were getting tired.

Though I wasn't looking at Midnight, I had a feeling that the unicorn was trying to get my attention. I looked over to him, and found he was shaking his head at me. I contemplated asking him what that meant, but knew I would never get an answer. Whatever it was couldn't have been too important; though he had taken a vow of silence, I had a feeling that he would break it in order to save a life. Hopefully.

"Just out of curiosity: does anypony actually know what we're going to do when we get to Cloudsdale?" I pitched.

"We're looking for a pegasus who's..." Twilight tried.

"Exactly. Luckily, I have a few ideas. This pegasus has been here for a thousand years, so they're bound to be a more prominent figure in the community. Rainbow Dash, do you remember anypony like that?" I asked.

"There was this one pegasus, but I can't remember her name. I was always told to just call her Windy. My mom and her got along well, so she used the same name as her to confuse ponies. It was always funny hearing them mess with ponies looking for Windy."

"Could you lead us to her place? She's our first lead."

"Sure."

We were just pulling up alongside Cloudsdale. Pinkie was the first off the balloon, and I caught her just in time. She started to fall through the cloud, but I grabbed her by the hoof.

"Don't worry, I've got this." Twilight said, just before casting a spell on the ponies without wings. At first I was puzzled, but when Applejack hopped onto the clouds without falling through, I understood what Twilight had done. They must have been here before, as everypony seemed to know what Twilight was doing before I did.

Not wasting any time, Rainbow Dash was already headed for the center of town. We followed her down street after cloud-lined street, finally stopping in front of a house of clouds slightly larger than the ones on either side. If the size of the home indicated anything about the status of the pony living in it, then this was a pony who had been around for some time.

"Here it is. Windy's home, who's real name I can't remember for the life of me. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't spit it out." Rainbow announced.

I walked up and knocked on the door. A voice that I vaguely recognized called back.

"Just a minute!" Followed by hoofsteps.

Rainbow looked like she had just had an epiphany.

"North! I remember now! Her name is-" The door opened.

"Stormy?"

Comments

[DashTillDawn]

8508599
I'm glad you're enjoying it. I was afraid people wouldn't take to kindly to an OC ship like that...

[Witchrblizzad]

"Stormy?"

i litarly looked away from my screen, glance around my room for a full min, only then did i look back at my screen and think OF COURCE! ITS NOT LIKE I WANT TO KEEP THE NORTHLIGHT SHIP FROM SINKING!