An Altostratus Sky

by RangerOfRhudaur

Open the Armory

The armory was a long, squat hall near one of the stables, attended by an anxious-looking woman in full plate. She ushered them in after Soarin explained their mission, directing them to the section where the gear for the reserves and volunteers like them lay.

Ranks upon ranks of armored mannequins greeted them, along with shelves of compacted staffs and shields. The lonely light overhead bathed them in a dusty orange light, though the arms themselves were almost spotless. Though the armory seemed sad and shabby, someone had taken care to make sure its inhabitants didn't turn out the same.

"There should be something that fits you here," Soarin said, looking around. "Look around, see what you can find."

---

AJ wriggled her way into another mail shirt, finding that this one actually fit her; the first one she'd tried had hung from her like she was a baby, while the second one had been too tight for her to climb into. This one, though, hugged her like a jacket, resting gently on her skin as she tugged the sleeves down to her wrists and the hem down to just above her knees. Giving a nod in satisfaction, she grabbed the pair of leggings she'd picked out and stepped out of her boots to try them on.

She'd asked Soarin if they needed to change out of their regular clothes, if the armor couldn't be worn over them, and he'd told her that it was actually recommended to wear something under them, both to prevent chafing and to offer at least some weak protection if the armor itself was breached. That probably wouldn't happen, though; made using Gleaming Shield's 'foam-mail' design and the almost alchemical materials of the High North, the armor would turn almost any slash aside and absorb most of the force from a direct blow. Soarin's description of how it worked mostly went over her head (far over it), but from what she understood the mail was like a solid wall of water, turning any attempt to break through it using sheer force into harmless ripples ringing across its surface. It wasn't invincible, it could be overloaded with ripples or pierced by a small or sharp enough blade, but it was very strong.

She finished dragging the leggings (which thankfully fit) on and lashed the two pieces of armor together with a belt, the staff and shield she'd chosen hanging compact from it. Stepping back into her boots and putting on a pair of gloves, she looked at herself admiringly in a dusty mirror.

"You said it's fine to sleep in this, right Soarin?" she asked, fiddling with the hem of her coat.

"I'd recommend it," he replied, helping Fluttershy put her hair into a ponytail. "We don't know when those things will strike again, and we don't know how long a fight against them will take when we do. Getting acclimated to that," he turned and nodded at AJ's armor. "would be a very good idea, and wearing that to bed will help with that as well as make sure you're ready when trouble comes."

"Good thing we're just goin' with this an' not plate, then," she chuckled. "Bet it's pretty hard to sleep in that."

"You don't sleep in plate," Soarin said. "It's meant to come on and off as needed, not stay on all the time like this. Think of it like a jacket, not a shirt like mail is; one you wear not to be naked, the other you wear if it gets too cold."

"But what if it comes off while you're fightin'?" AJ asked as she gave herself a final review. "If you can put some'n' on easily, stands to reason someone else can take it off just as quick."

"It's easy to put on in peace," Soarin corrected himself. "On the battlefield, trying to slip a kig of heavy plate off of someone isn't as simple."

"And trying to do so would leave them vulnerable," Fluttershy added as Soarin finished teasing her hair into shape. "either to you or your allies. It's faster and safer to try to work around plate. And it will be possible; no wall is perfect, and plate is simply a mobile wall. No matter how strong, there will always be a gap or flaw somewhere in it, something a dagger or lucky strike can slip through. Even Grief Giver had his weakness."

AJ stared at her, jaw dropped; Fluttershy wore her mail like it was a steel dress, its skirt elegantly flowing down to her silver-clad knees. She stood ramrod-straight, one gloved hand resting on her collapsed staff. The ponytail Soarin had helped her tie her hair into was lashed with a strand of rope, floating behind her stern face and fiery eyes.

"Guess she wasn't expecting that, Flutters," Platinum smirked as she finished gearing up.

"Why would I?" AJ asked defensively. "Back at CHS, Shy di'n't have any interest in fightin'. Heck, she tried to stop one if it looked like it was startin'."

"I've always had an interest in fighting, Applejack," Fluttershy replied. "just like a doctor has an interest in diseases. I know about war, especially its costs; Cloudsdale has no shortage of war stories, or laments for the dead. Not all wars are just, but all wars have losses, families broken forever by the fighting. That's why I try to stop fights; unless I know for certain that they're just, I can't view them as anything other than sources of unnecessary suffering, unnecessary death. My interest in war doesn't contradict my pacifism, Applejack, it supports it: I know how to wield a brand, which lets me know when it's wise to keep it sheathed."

"But what 'bout the way you were actin' on the way here?" AJ asked. "Seemed like you were spoilin' for a fight to me."

"There is a difference between trying to fight and trying to frighten," Fluttershy replied. "I wasn't trying to start a fight with you, I was trying to daunt you, stop you from digging up Platinum's secrets or using those you'd already learned. If I'd really thought a fight with you was worth the cost, you would have known."

"What 'bout Sunset in the old days?" AJ raised a brow. "Seems to me that fightin' her would've been worth it."

Fluttershy smiled sicklily at that. "Not all fighting is done with staffs and strength," she whispered. "If the Formal hadn't turned out so... strange, Sunset Shimmer would still have been toppled from her tyrant's seat. Celestia and Luna, contrary to her expectations, are not blind, nor were the other teachers; they'd been watching her since she broke her first friendship. They were not blind, nor stupid, and neither was I the pushover she thought I was. That too many think I am.

"I know what they think of me; kind, sweet, gentle, quiet, meek, pliable, delicate, weak. They think of me like a cute animal, a bunny like Angel perhaps; cute, sweet, non-threatening, easy to bully. But even bunnies still have claws and teeth, though they may choose not to use them. Fleeing from a fight might be the better option for them, not because they're afraid, but because they know the costs of fighting, and know that a given fight isn't worth it. If it is, though, they will still flee, but from fear, not fighting.

"I hear all that the old Sunset Shimmers say about me, Applejack, and I endure them, but do not think that that means I simply pardon them. I endure them because I know that trying to resist, to fight, oftentimes isn't worth it: saying mean things once or twice isn't enough to justify the suffering fighting will inflict. I endure, and try to understand why they do the things they do, but I do not pardon them: understanding is not absolution, it is simply awareness. And if what I become aware of seems to be worse than a simple foul mood or personal problem, if whoever is trying to bully me doesn't respond to time, empathy, or daunting, then they learn why I don't like fighting.

"I endured the old Sunset's reign of terror, protesting either feebly or not at all, because every tyranny of her's, every time she bullied me, was another arrow in my quiver. Celestia and Luna were trying to build a case against her, and every day would give me more evidence to give them. By the Fall Formal, if we were willing to weaponize secrets like she did, we could have forced her to do whatever we wished. I may not have fought her as flashily as you would have liked, Applejack, but I still fought her, and if it hadn't been for Twilight my blow would have needed none to follow it."

"But," AJ stammered. "but you are kind an' sweet an'-an' shy an' all."

"I try to be kind, sweet, and such, yes," Fluttershy admitted. "and I am shy on the stage, I will admit. But if it's the battlefield, not the stage, then I can't afford to be shy; if I let my fear rule me there, then I'll fail in kindness, fail in caring for those I love. I am shy sometimes, yes, but if it comes down to staying shy or kind, I'll choose kind every time."

"Huh," AJ furrowed her brow after a few seconds of silence. "Never thought of it that way before. Interestin' way of lookin' at it, though."

Fluttershy nodded, then said, "And now, kindness requires us to do more than simply navel-gaze in here." Then, she began marching out, her gait confident, a confidence born of need. The others followed her, the same need driving them.

---

The quartermaster signed their gear out, gave them a brief, wavering speech about how their equipment wasn't toys or a license of to do whatever they wanted, then sent them back out into the lightless dusk. The gloom had thickened while they were inside, and AJ thought that the clouds hung lower, but it was hard to tell in the darkness: she could barely see ten meters, let alone the sky.

"Head back to the governor's keep," Soarin told her, Platinum, and Fluttershy. "The guards should let you in, and if they don't ask for Clear Sky, she'll clear things up. We'll go see if we can't scrounge up any messengers."

AJ nodded, then watched the Skies soldiers vanish into the dark, swallowed up by the dimness. She wondered how many of them would end up swallowed by the coming war. And what about her and her friends? Would any of them make it through the storm?

A hand crinkled the mail on her shoulder, and she turned to see Platinum's eyes sloped with sympathy. "Worrying does no good," she murmured. "Come on; we should get heading back."

AJ nodded again, then followed her friends back through the empty city streets, back towards the central keep. While they walked, though, thunder rumbled overhead, booming rolls crashing over them. The sea of clouds above was roiling, churning and roaring like a sea in a storm. Fear began clawing up AJ's throat; it sounded like the clouds were about to burst, and once they did, the beasts Thunderlane had described would come with it, and twin storms of rain and war would swallowed up her and her friends.

But, though she and the others stood frozen, or perhaps stricken was the better word, for several minutes, the clouds never burst, only impotently rumbled and thundered. Eventually, the spell of fear they'd laid on her fell away, and she unclenched her hands. She breathed in deep, then exhaled. "If those clouds ain't gonna rain," she grumbled. "least they could do is be quiet."

Another booming crack of thunder showed what the clouds thought of that, shortly followed by a sharp gust of wind. As she tried to hold her ground against the wind, though, AJ could've sworn that she had laughing, shrill and cruel, the storm laughing at her anger at it.

"We need to keep moving," Fluttershy said as the wind tapered off. "before the storm decides that you're right, and that it doesn't want to be quiet."

More thunder rolled as they continued on their way.

Comments

[Eroraf86]

Good old Fluttershy, silk hiding steel.

[RangerOfRhudaur]

10889204

"I know what they think of me; kind, sweet, gentle, quiet, meek, pliable, delicate, weak. They think of me like a cute animal, a bunny like Angel perhaps; cute, sweet, non-threatening, easy to bully. But even bunnies still have claws and teeth, though they may choose not to use them. Fleeing from a fight might be the better option for them, not because they're afraid, but because they know the costs of fighting, and know that a given fight isn't worth it. If it is, though, they will still flee, but from fear, not fighting."

“I am not blind, nor deaf. I know you all believe me weak, frightened, feeble. Your father knew me better. Oberyn was ever the viper. Deadly, dangerous, unpredictable. No man dared tread on him. I was the grass. Pleasant, complaisant, sweet-smelling, swaying with every breeze. Who fears to walk upon the grass? But it is the grass that hides the viper from his enemies and shelters him until he strikes.”

— Doran Martell, A Dance with Dragons (Source: Quote Catalog)

[Pete100]

She'd asked Soarin if they needed to change out of their regular clothes, if the armor couldn't be worn over them, and he'd told her that it was actually recommended to wear something under them, both to prevent chafing and to offer at least some weak protection if the armor itself was breached. That probably wouldn't happen, though; made using Gleaming Shield's 'foam-mail' design and the almost alchemical materials of the High North, the armor would turn almost any slash aside and absorb most of the force from a direct blow. Soarin's description of how it worked mostly went over her head (far over it), but from what she understood the mail was like a solid wall of water, turning any attempt to break through it using sheer force into harmless ripples ringing across its surface. It wasn't invincible, it could be overloaded with ripples or pierced by a small or sharp enough blade, but it was very strong.

Who’s gleaming shield?

"And trying to do so would leave them vulnerable," Fluttershy added as Soarin finished teasing her hair into shape. "either to you or your allies. It's faster and safer to try to work around plate. And it will be possible; no wall is perfect, and plate is simply a mobile wall. No matter how strong, there will always be a gap or flaw somewhere in it, something a dagger or lucky strike can slip through. Even Grief Giver had his weakness."

Grief Giver?

"There is a difference between trying to fight and trying to frighten," Fluttershy replied. "I wasn't trying to start a fight with you, I was trying to daunt you, stop you from digging up Platinum's secrets or using those you'd already learned. If I'd really thought a fight with you was worth the cost, you would have known."

Well, frightening didn’t work.

"What 'bout Sunset in the old days?" AJ raised a brow. "Seems to me that fightin' her would've been worth it."

Why didn’t you?

Fluttershy smiled sicklily at that. "Not all fighting is done with staffs and strength," she whispered. "If the Formal hadn't turned out so... strange, Sunset Shimmer would still have been toppled from her tyrant's seat. Celestia and Luna, contrary to her expectations, are not blind, nor were the other teachers; they'd been watching her since she broke her first friendship. They were not blind, nor stupid, and neither was I the pushover she thought I was. That too many think I am.

Yeah, f*ck that. Sometimes you gotta run them hands. Speaking of running them hands, that’s exactly what celestia, luna, and the other teachers need to do.

"I endured the old Sunset's reign of terror, protesting either feebly or not at all, because every tyranny of her's, every time she bullied me, was another arrow in my quiver. Celestia and Luna were trying to build a case against her, and every day would give me more evidence to give them. By the Fall Formal, if we were willing to weaponize secrets like she did, we could have forced her to do whatever we wished. I may not have fought her as flashily as you would have liked, Applejack, but I still fought her, and if it hadn't been for Twilight my blow would have needed none to follow it."

I’m not so sure.

"Huh," AJ furrowed her brow after a few seconds of silence. "Never thought of it that way before. Interestin' way of lookin' at it, though."

I don’t, but it might be because I have f*cked up morals.

"Head back to the governor's keep," Soarin told her, Platinum, and Fluttershy. "The guards should let you in, and if they don't ask for Clear Sky, she'll clear things up. We'll go see if we can't scrounge up any messengers."

Who’s clear sky?

[RangerOfRhudaur]

10935105

Who’s gleaming shield?

The most common name I've encountered for Shining Armor's R63 (genderbent) counterpart, included here as a little reference to some of those works that I've enjoyed (namely the tragically hiatused Dear...Princess Celestia? and The Other Side) that use the genderbent characters.

Grief Giver?

A possible origin for the name Achilles is a compound of achos (sorrow, distress, grief) and laos (people), resulting in Akhi-lauos, "he who has the people distressed"/"he whose people have distress." Either way, this potential root indicates that Achilles is a bringer of sorrow-in other words, a Grief Giver. Grief Giver is thus a ponification of Achilles, though a very poor one, and the weakness in question their Achilles Heel (though Homestria calls it a Grief's Heel).

Why didn’t you?

In my headcanon, the main way Sunset seized power wasn't by simply bullying everyone into submission; instead, she conducted disinformation campaigns in order to break up friendships and tear down her opponents' reputations, carefully orchestrating it while making sure to cover her tracks or at least give herself plausible deniability. For example, she didn't bully Rarity and Fluttershy into stopping being friends; instead, she worked to seed doubt and mistrust between them through the careful release of information and some faked communications, giving them the tools to fight amongst themselves, doing her job for her. This meant that, while pretty much everyone had a suspicion that Sunset was up to something, none of the students felt that they could definitively pin anything on her. The teachers had more evidence, but even they were uncertain; they knew she was acting antisocially, but to what extent they couldn't tell, and her reign's positive effect on cheating and other bullies (mentioned back in Ms. Shimmer Goes to Castellot) made it hard for them to tell whether she was a bully or simply someone who occasionally had bad-day-influenced episodes of antisocial action. This period of her life is one of the weakest in my headcanon, at least to me, primarily due to the aforementioned story; those journal entries praising what Sunset was doing in her bad old days make hard to justify Celestia and Luna keeping an eye on her to the degree that Fluttershy describes here, as either they would have commented in their private journals about their suspicions or wouldn't have kept so keen an eye on her.

Basically, Sunset managed to cover her tracks to the degree that no one could prove that she'd really done anything, (a degree of political competency that makes her lack of political performance in her current arc a bit questionable; the best explanation I can think of is that Sunset thinks that politics shouldn't threaten the response to an emergency situation, combined with wanting to distance herself from as much of her old self as possible, no matter how useful it might be) so if Applejack fought her it would look like she struck first.

Yeah, f*yay* that. Sometimes you gotta run them hands. Speaking of running them hands, that’s exactly what celestia, luna, and the other teachers need to do.

Sometimes, yes, but not here; there were other ways they could've dealt with Sunset, ways which, while nonviolent, would still have been able to deal her ambitions a heavy blow. Also, regarding that last sentence, do you mean what they should've done in the past or what they need to do now? If the second, against who? Starlight?

I’m not so sure.

You might be surprised.

I don’t, but it might be because I have f*yay*ed up morals.

Two things:

1. Who says that they're wrong? What proof do they have that they are?
2. Even if they are, the fact that you recognize that is a very positive sign. Recognition is the first step on the road to change, after all.

Who’s clear sky?

The person they encountered with Wind Rider, the steward.