Chapter Nine
The air pulled at his feathers, digging in its claws and trying to thrust him back towards the Republic. Swaddled to his chest was his nephew Cloud Jumper, and bound to his sister-in-law was his niece Silentwings, both too young to fly. Angelwings still carried the leftover weight from her pregnancy as well, but she didn't stop. She tucked her head and beat her wings, forcing herself through the thinning clouds.
Rumble's breath came out trembling. He couldn't hold back the growing fear spreading through him. Once the Starlight Police found out he'd abandoned the Republic, he'd be a wanted stallion. Princess Luna wouldn't allow any information to leak from the N.L.R.'s borders, and he knew he'd be killed if he was caught. Angelwings too. Her children wouldn't be, but they'd be without any family and be raised by somepony else.
That doesn't matter now, he thought as he glanced over his shoulder to see the fading lights of the Republic. A waning moon watched him go, emitting a soft and forlorn light. All that matters is finding Thunderlane.
"Do you need to rest?" he called to Angel, who had begun to lag behind, gasping for breath.
"No," Angelwings panted, gently wrapping a foreleg over her chest as if to feel if her daughter was still attached to her. "It's nothing... I've flown further than this before."
"You probably weren't carrying extra weight then," he replied, ducking closer and brushing his wing against hers. "We can rest if you need to. I can protect us."
Angel didn't reply, but her cerulean eyes glistened with tears. He gently guided her down towards the ground, hovering close ahead to make sure her landing was steady and the earth was clear of traps. He didn't know exactly where they were; he had a general sense as to which direction they'd gone, but he wasn't positive they had left the Republic entirely. The sky had pale purples and lighter pinks swirling in the distance. Hues of green and blue dusted around the faintly glittering stars, but the moon was still visible, adding her light to the foliage.
Silentwings began to cry. The noise was sudden enough to make Rumble and Angel flinch. Angel gently unraveled the foal and held her close in her legs.
Rumble patted Cloud Jumper, for he had been sound asleep for the whole flight. He wondered if the colt found solace in his erratic heartbeat.
A twinge wormed into his skull near his eyes. He rubbed at his muzzle and furrowed his brow. He'd felt this pressure in the Republic for nearly the entire time he'd lived there, but this was different somehow. It burned with cold intensity more than it hurt.
The crying softened, and eventually became nearly silent babbling. Angel cooed to her foal.
"Do you think this was the wrong choice to make?" Rumble asked. "Should we have stayed?"
"I'm not sure, hun," Angel said after a long moment. Her eyes caught the distant moonlight and the stars. "When I was much younger, I probably would have stayed in the Republic. I was never a courageous filly."
"You joined the Wonderbolt Reserves though." Rumble unwrapped his nephew from his chest, bouncing him gently. "I'd say that took some courage."
"Until they disbanded of course," she chuckled sadly. "Celestia didn't appreciate a powerful pegasus air force within her territory. They were exiled, or broken down to pages, yeah?"
Silentwings burbled her thoughts on the matter. Cloud Jumper replied back from Rumble's forelegs and waved a hoof. Rumble and Angel shared a short laugh and he shuffled closer to her. They set the foals on the ground next to each other and watched them.
"Do you think Thunderlane is still alive?" Rumble whispered.
"I have hope," she said. "That's all I'm able to do at this point." She wrapped a wing around Rumble and began to go through their limited belongings. "We'll be safe once we get to the Northwestern Lunar Sea, with the Star Isles being neutral ground. We just have to cross through the Stellar Alliance's outer borders, but it wouldn't be abnormal if they saw us, right?"
"I'm not sure," Rumble admitted. "I am… I was only a cadet. I never left the Republic once Thunderlane enlisted, and as a pegasus, I was training mostly for aerial offense and defense, and due to the Solar Empire's lack of pegasi fighters, we… it wasn't top priority to learn their methods when the Alliance had a much more devastating arsenal."
He furrowed his brow when Angelwings didn't say anything. He turned his head away and watched his niece and nephew wrestle each other in the foliage. He remembered all the photos and illustrations of the Stellar Sentinels, some covered in waves of blood, their wings like giant swords, and dark ghoulish eyes. He remembered the ponies that came back from the Alliance battles. Bones shattered and protruding every which way. Lacerations deep enough to see inside. Missing limbs, missing eyes. Blood, blood, and more blood. Stories warning them of how nothing readily available could penetrate the sentinels' hides, and how they could crush and kill a pony with minimal effort.
Rumble shuddered and stood up, pulling away from his family. He hoisted his spear and looked to the stars above.
"Rumble? What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he lied. He gave his sister-in-law a smile. "I'm just gonna patrol. Try to set up a small camp further under the canopy. I'm going to see how close to the Alliance's borders we are, and try to see how long it'll be until we reach the Star Isles. I want us to be as safe and out of sight as possible."
"Oh… all right." She nudged the foals along and hefted their possessions onto her back. "Just come back safe." She hugged him close and paced off further into the woods, Cloud Jumper and Silentwings trailing close behind, excitedly buzzing their wings.
"I will."
Rumble took flight, beating his wings until he was soaring quietly over the trees. The air seemed to have calmed a bit, no longer trying to throw him off his course and instead guiding him gently through the unseasonably crisp night.
Aria's words echoed in his head. He could never go home, he would never see Apple Bloom again, or his fellow cadets. He'd have to live in fear until the war was over, or until they reached the Isles. He hoped if he made it to neutral territory his transgressions would be ignored. But the thought of him receiving punishment regardless scared him.
As it should, he told himself. But this is worth it. Thunderlane needs us.
He dove to the ground. His hooves connected with gravel and loose dirt, and he winced from the sound. Rumble sighed. He had landed near the Queen's River. It was clouded with blood and mud and pollution, its origins coming straight from the peak of Mt. Reinier's glacier. Celestia had a continuous pour of blood and gore into the river from Canterlot, potentially in hopes of dehydrating the southern nations. It was working for the most part, but in the Republic they resorted to wells and underground lakes, so they did their best to ignore the rivers.
Rumble shook his head. He couldn't think about the Republic anymore. He could only think of Thunderlane, Angel, and their foals. They were all that mattered now. He took note of his position and took off once more, heading back towards Angelwings. They had a four day flight to the islands, not including resting points.
A glint of light caught his attention to his left. He flared his wings to slow down and lowered himself closer to the trees. Rumble's heart nearly stopped as his eyes focused on the light.
A Stellar Sentinel was flying parallel to him, its head staring straight forward. The light from the nebulas and the distant moon were glistening off its heavily armored body. It didn't seem to have noticed Rumble, and he forced himself beneath the canopy. His entire body trembled as he quietly walked through the dark forest. The stories were true, not that he had doubted them. The infamous Sentinels patrolled the borders of the Alliance like owls on the hunt. Swift wings and silent breaths, it was almost as if they were corpses.
Rumble leaned against a tree as his legs gave out. He was panting, cold sweat coating his body. He'd never seen a Sentinel in the flesh. It had been far away enough that the thin clouds more than likely obscured him, but the mere idea that he could've died right then made the weight of the war press firmly down on his back. He was always going to be in danger. He could never let his guard down. He had to be the warrior for Angel, Silentwings and Cloud Jumper. It was up to Rumble to protect them.
He staggered up and proceeded to trudge his way back to his family. The pain in his skull grew significantly worse with each step until finally he collapsed. His head connected with a rock protruding from the dirt.
Bright light clouded his mind. Flashes of red. Screaming. The overwhelming thought that he deserved whatever he experienced. The feeling of insignificance. Blazing fire in a whirlwind of moonlight.
Rumble gasped awake, shivering. The pain was gone. His mind flowed peacefully, as if a dam had burst open between his consciences.
He struggled to his hooves and tore off his Lunar uniform. He threw his spear to the dirt. He glared at them before walking away into the forest.
He would never turn another thought to them again. They no longer deserved to be remembered.