Thunder Grays – Origins of the Flightless Pegasus
My name is Thunder Grays and I am a Pegasus pony living in Cloudsdale. I am only four years old and live with my foster mother, another Pegasus, in a little cottage near two of my best friends, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy, Rainbow, and I all do everything together and are always hanging out. My mother doesn't mind it since I've been through a lot in only four years of life. Anyway, me and Rainbow love to race each other to see which of us is faster. Our races are pretty much even but I believe that I'm faster than she is; I just let her win from time to time.
We are actually getting ready to race again right now. Rainbow and I are setting up at the starting line while Fluttershy, a pony I really like but never bothered to tell her, is at the finish line to act as referee. I turn to Rainbow and kindly ask if she's ready to go.
"I'm ready to record my awesomeness in the history books!" She answers.
"You always say that and it always ends up with me winning just by a hoof or two." I respond.
"Whatever," she scoffs, "this time it's gonna be different!"
"To each their own, I guess."
We get ready and count down together to start. After both of us say "go," I bolt out the starting line and immediately take a huge lead on Rainbow. I love to fly through the air this fast. My blue mane flowing in the wind is what I love the most along with the adrenaline that comes with flying this fast. Anyway, I look back to see where Rainbow is and to my surprise, I don't see her at all, something that rarely ever happens. I turn back around and notice someone flying at me in the air, making no motion to avoid me! As we get closer, I notice that the figure has the head of a pony and the body of many other animals. Remembering what that was from my history books, his name came to me instantaneously. I knew that his name was Discord, the evil ruler of chaos. He was mentioned in history books as our ruler, Princess Celestia, and her sister, Princess Luna, brought him down and turned into stone. I don't know how he freed himself from the stone but he did somehow.
Trying to avoid him, Discord grabbed my wings and cast a spell on them, at least that's what it felt like. "I'll be taking those!" He told me before disappearing into the sky.
I didn't know what he meant, but I soon found out. As I was flying away, I noticed that it was becoming harder for me to flap my wings and stay airborne. Eventually, I plummeted to the ground, managing to look up while that was happening. I saw Rainbow fly by and tried to call out to her but she didn't hear me. I hit the ground hard and had passed out.
…...
A few hours later, I finally woke up. I looked around for a while, not knowing where I was. I started walking in one direction and managed to find a zebra. I asked the zebra if they could point me in the direction of the nearest town.
"Why, child," the zebra started, "town is over that way. But why are you here, I must say?"
I'm not too much of a talker but I did tell the zebra the entire story.
"Discord, you say?" The zebra asked. "Well I'll be, you should've stayed away. His magic is ferocious, this is true. It is also mostly atrocious!"
"I know." I answered. "Well thanks for telling me which way town is, uh..."
"Zecora." The zebra answered.
"Thanks, Zecora." I said as I began to walk in the direction she pointed me in.
I walked for about ten minutes before I found the town. As I walked into town, I saw an orange Earth pony. I asked them where I was and they kindly answered back that I was in Ponyville.
"What's your name, partner?" They asked.
"My name is Thunder Grays, and as you can see, I am a Pegasus pony. How about you?"
"The name's Applejack." She answered back. "How come you ain't usin' your wings to get to where you need to go?"
"It hurts to flap them." I replied. "Discord did something to them and I don't know what."
Applejack shivered when I said that name. She then asked me if I was headed on home.
"No," I answered meekly, "I can't return home since I can't fly..."
"You wanna come with me and you can sleep over at my place?"
"If it's not too much trouble..." I answered.
"Not at all!" She replied.
I followed Applejack to her home and stood their for the night. The next morning, I was in extreme pain and could not move. Applejack's brother, Big Macintosh, helped me over to the hospital. An hour or so had passed before I was taken into a room to be examined in. The doctor asked me what I had done the previous day and so I explained the whole story again.
"I'm sorry, son," one of the doctors said, "did you say 'Discord?'"
I started to nod my head but was stopped by the excruciating pain. Instead, I managed to mumble out a "yes."
"And after he touched your wings, you had trouble flying?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Son, where are your parents?"
I turned to the doctor and tears started flowing from my eyes. Finally, I answered his question. "They're dead."
"I'm sorry for asking..." He replied.
After some time, they started to perform some tests on me. They gave me this sort of gas thing, which managed to put me to sleep. When I woke up, I was in a completely different room and Applejack and Big Macintosh were standing by my side. A few minutes passed and the doctor had stepped into the room, asking Applejack and Big Macintosh to leave for just a minute so he can talk to me privately. Once they had left, the doctor started telling me why I was having trouble flying.
"We believe that Discord paralyzed your wings with his magic, making you unable to fly."
"What do you mean?" I asked through my pain.
"Son," he started, "your wings are paralyzed."
"Para-what?"
"Paralyzed, meaning that you can't use them anymore. We're sorry."
I started to cry after I heard the news. The doctor started walking out the room and Applejack and Big Macintosh walked back in.
"What's the matter, Thunder?" Applejack asked.
"The doctor told me my wings are paralyzed." I answered. "I can't use them ever again..."
"Is that true?" Applejack said, looking at her big brother.
"Eeyup." answered Big Macintosh.
"Oh, Thunder," Applejack started, "I'm so very sorry to hear that..."
I looked at Applejack and Big Macintosh, then slowly looked away. I was hurt by the doctor's words and had nopony to go to for comfort. My foster mom was up in Cloudsdale and had no idea as to where I was.
…...
A few hours had passed and Applejack and Big Macintosh had both left. I was channel surfing through the TV, trying to find something good to watch. As I was surfing through the channels, I noticed my name on a news network and had stopped to listen to what was happening.
"...still no sign of the young Pegasus, Thunder Grays. Last time this young colt was seen was with his friends, who have both asked to be kept anonymous. Searches continue to find this lost pony but officials are having no luck. If you have any information as to the whereabouts of Thunder, please call the number on the screen."
I'm right here in Ponyville... I said to myself. It was heartbreaking to see all those Pegasi trying to find me and having no luck, not thinking to look for me on the ground.
…...
A couple of days had passed since the news and I'm still in the hospital here in Ponyville. Applejack has come to see me just about every day, occasionally with her brother, Big Mac (as they call him). I knew that Applejack wasn't coming today since she had to help out with the Apple Bucking season, something she says helps out her family through the winter. Applejack didn't really explain that much to me since she rushed out the door yesterday but by the sound of it, it must be a pretty big thing that her family does.
Anyway, I was watching the news to see if there was anything extra about the search they were conducting in Cloudsdale for me. I managed to catch the news just as it was about to end and heard some of the most devastating words ever spoken.
"Officials have ended the search, coming to the conclusion that Thunder Grays, a young Pegasus, has died. There are no traces of his body and whereabouts and officials have had no luck in trying to locate the missing colt. When asked about what they were doing the day Thunder disappeared, his friends had this to say."
I saw Rainbow and Fluttershy on TV and they were telling the reporters what we were doing that day.
"We were racing and she was at the finish line to see who won." Rainbow said. "I got their first but Thunder never showed. We went to his foster mother and told her that he was gone. She looked all over Cloudsdale for him but..." Rainbow stopped as tears were coming down her eyes. Fluttershy was there and hugged Rainbow as they both started crying about my disappearance.
The news reporter continued, "Thunder Grays, at age four, is presumed dead, officials say. It is a tragic day for the friends and family of this colt and our thoughts and prayers are with them as they go through this horrific time."
I turned off the TV and started crying. My family and friends all thought that I had died and had no idea to look for me here in Ponyville.
…...
About a week after the news reported me as dead, I was released from the hospital. With nowhere to go, Applejack an her family took me in and cared for me. As a way to show my gratitude, I had started helping them out on Sweet Apple Acres, since it was the least I could do. I looked up into the sky and had one thing on my mind: revenge. I wanted to get revenge on Discord for taking away my ability to fly but knew that that was never going to come.
One day, I thought, we will meet again and you will pay, Discord!
…...
Almost ten years had passed since I was presumed dead. I am now thirteen years old and have my very own home here in Ponyville. I am also very grateful that Applejack and her family took care of me and looked after me for almost ten years, knowing quite well that they didn't have to do that.
I have met many ponies since I've lived in Ponyville and am now good friends with another Earth pony named Pinkie Pie and a unicorn named Rarity. As I am walking through the streets of Ponyville to go meet Pinkie Pie, I look up and notice a Pegasus flying through the air, having a coat that looks identical to the one Fluttershy had. I followed the Pegasus to where it was going until it finally landed. When it landed, there stood another Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane; it was Rainbow Dash!
"Rainbow Dash?" I called. Both ponies spun around and looked at me.
"Thunder?" They both said.
I ran up to both of them and hugged each of them tightly. It had been a long time since I've seen either Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash and they both thought that I was dead. We hugged each other for quite some time and when it was done, I told each of them what had happened and how I lived here for almost ten years.
"We're so glad to see you after all these years!" Fluttershy said. I really missed her sweet, angelic voice.
"Same here!" I said, embracing them both in another hug.
"Friends until the very end!" Rainbow said. "And the end is no where in sight!"
"You can say that again!" I answered.
They then hovered in the air and hoof-bumped each other. I tried to do the same but remembered that my wings were paralyzed and that I couldn't fly.
"Come on, Thunder." Rainbow said.
"I can't since my wings are paralyzed, remember?" I replied.
"Oh, right..."
So they put their hooves on the ground so I can be a part of their hoof-bump. I told them that Discord paralyzed me during the race, which led to everything that had happened and that one day, I'll get my revenge on that beast and overcome all odds and fly once more.
…...
My name is Thunder Grays, and I am a flightless Pegasus.
END
