Cloud Blazer awoke.
The morning arrived without any more dreams. The smells of breakfast wafted under the door as pale rays of sunlight began peaking through the window. Cloud Blazer opened his eyes to see that Big McIntosh had already left to begin his morning chores, and Thunderfly was also gone. Rustling out of his makeshift bed and getting onto his hooves, the all too familiar pain from his injuries gnawed at the stallion.
He slowly stretched in every way that he was able without hurting himself. It was a time-consuming process, but he had found that the day would be much more easily met if he started this way. Leaving the bedroom and completing his morning rituals in the bathroom, he creaked his way down to the kitchen; the scent of breakfast became more clear. Toast with zap apple jam; also, the sound of a vivacious one-sided conversation could be heard. He found Apple Bloom doing the cooking while Glitterdust was assisting her. She had either a bored or sleepy look on her face. Pixyglitter was seated at the table with Pinky Pie.
"So that's how the barn raising actually turned out to be a barn razing," Pinkie Pie was saying as the others giggled at her antics. "I don't think I've ever seen anypony so mad in all my life!"
"How didn't you die?" Pixyglitter seemed fully invested in the story.
"Hey, Cloud Blazer!" Pinkie Pie greeted with her usual exuberance.
"It's kinda like a sixth sense," Apple Bloom said without looking back.
Continuing into the room, he replied as heartily as he could through the sleepiness, "Good morning!"
"Hungry?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Are you kidding?" he replied. His stomach growled loudly, almost as if on cue.
"Wow, even your tummy's talking!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a giggle.
Cloud Blazer took a seat at the table. The relief that came from letting the weight off of his mending leg was wonderful. It was then that he noticed Pixyglitter was already wearing her flight harness.
"You up for an early flight?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied, turning toward him. "They said it's going to rain later, and I don't want to skip today."
He grinned and said, "You're the boss."
She smiled back at him, almost as if she had read his expression despite her inability to see it. Glitterdust set a plate in front of him. The meager portion of a single half piece of toast coated with a thin layer of jam looked like a feast. There was a time when this wouldn't have even been suitable for an afternoon snack... The toast had been fried in butter, a delightful treat that Cloud Blazer had only ever had at the Apple's. The flavor washed over him as he took a tiny bite. It was always best to savor food when the opportunity presented itself.
Sparklefly's mother, Twinklestar, entered the room carrying Shimmerpuff, the youngest filly. Her demeanor seemed rather uplifted.
"We got a letter," she said. "I didn't notice it when the mail came yesterday."
"Who's it from?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Oh! I love guessing games!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
Twinklestar replied, “It's from Sparklefly.”
"Aw, no fair!" Pinkie Pie lamented. "I didn't even get to make one guess."
Glitterdust rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchen.
“Don’t you want to listen?" her mother asked.
"Later," the sullen filly replied gloomily over her shoulder, "I have chores to do."
Looks of concern came over everypony, but none said anything before Pixyglitter broke the silence.
"I'd love to hear it.”
Taking the last empty chair, Twinklestar sat with Shimmerpuff on her lap and opened the letter. Thunderfly, his mane unkempt and the look of freshly disturbed sleep on his face, followed her in and stood behind his mother. He had apparently found more sleep after leaving Cloud Blazer’s room. When she began to speak, Cloud Blazer was reminded somewhat of his own mother. She had a kind and appropriately motherly voice.
"Dear family," Twinklestar read aloud. "I know I don't write as often as I should, but my new duties keep me even more busy than before. While I still can't talk about the particular nature of my assignment, I can say that we are facing the enemy daily now and that our campaign is going well. I have been constantly amazed by the stalwart dedication and fierce fighting abilities of my companions. They are intelligent and effective. I could never have imagined a force so capable to the mission with which we have been tasked. I can't say just yet when I will have leave, but I trust that I'll get to see you all again soon. I've had an idea for the south field at Sweet Apple Acres. From a correspondence I had with Applejack about this, it seems that a slightly different approach to the irrigation will make a drastic improvement. I'm sure it will be a big job, but with both of our families working together, I know we can handle it. Scootaloo wanted me to send her greeting. I hope this finds you well, and that we'll be reunited soon. Missing you, Sparklefly."
Cloud Blazer knew he wasn't over Scootaloo, but keeping her out of his mind was nigh impossible. The mere mention of her had sent his emotions into turmoil. It was good to hear that his friends were well; a sigh of relief was the first indication that he'd been holding his breath. Looking out the window, the desperate wish that he hadn't been injured plagued the stallion. If only he could still be out there to help his friends... He let the thought fade away.
"I always like to get good news," Apple Bloom said.
She busied herself cleaning up, and before long, everypony was off to tend to their daily duties. Cloud Blazer got into his harness as swiftly as he was able. The lifejackets were beginning to seem overly cautious at this point, but they decided to keep wearing them for the time being. Pixyglitter had become rather adept at landings, and the duration of their flights had been steadily increasing as her strength returned. If only his leg would heal as quickly; in his current state, the stallion couldn't even run.
The morning flight around Ponyville brought back memories of better times. Back then he'd be up to welcome the dawn, but today the sun was already out and about. The wind in his mane was refreshing. It was almost enough to make him forget, if only for a moment, the pain he constantly felt in his body. He and Pixyglitter didn't make conversation while they were flying. She had to focus and be ready to act on his every command.
This left him time to think when nopony else could distract him. She probably did the same, but he doubted if she could actually concentrate on anything other than listening for his voice. His mind was on trips much further afield than Ponyville, eventually. If they were ever going to fly farther or higher than near the lake, they'd really need some parachutes. As they turned east, the morning rays of the sun were transforming from the golden sunrise into the bright rays of daytime. Cloud Blazer found himself wondering if Sparklefly and Scootaloo were somewhere that they could see the sunrise.
Looking back down, he noticed that they were now near the castle. The CAP flew by them, as they often did on the morning flights. One of the wing-ponies waved, which Cloud Blazer returned.
"Slow descent," he said to Pixyglitter.
She responded without hesitation, making his will her action.
"Bank right," he ordered as they passed the castle.
They began coming down in a spiral course that brought them eventually to the ground near the military headquarters. Through his commands and her compliance, they made a soft and efficient touchdown. Gentle as it was, Cloud Blazer's leg ached. Only moments later, they were unhooked from each other and safely on the ground.
"We're not on the farm," Pixyglitter said.
"No, we're in town."
"Are you tired of flying?"
Cloud Blazer couldn't help but smile, "Never. I just remembered that I wanted to try to get us some parachutes."
"Good thinking.”
It was much quieter with only minimal forces remaining in Ponyville. When several divisions had been stationed here, it always seemed full to bursting. The stillness reminded Cloud Blazer a little of how it had been before. With Pixyglitter following, he walked into the castle. The guard barely even acknowledged them as they passed. This seemed a little odd, but Cloud Blazer dismissed it; they had likely been observed all over town by the soldiers, and it was doubtful anypony of great importance was inside.
After only a few twists and turns, they located the quartermaster. The room he was in had been modified for the war. The high vaulted ceiling was completely obscured by a quickly built wooden structure that had shelves and additional floors to make all of the storage accessible. The area that Cloud Blazer could see looked sparsely stocked. As they walked in, the quartermaster was on the right, behind a small desk. He was busily writing down something in a ledger and didn't seem to notice the pair.
"Excuse me," Cloud Blazer began.
"Excuse yourself," came a curt reply.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Yes you did," the quartermaster said flatly without looking up. "Why else would you talk to me when I'm busy?"
Cloud Blazer wasn't sure what to say to that; he suddenly felt out of his depth.
"You're from up north," Pixyglitter spoke up.
"How observant," the quartermaster replied, still focused on his ledger.
“You’re not; that was a poor choice of words," the mare answered.
With a sigh, the quartermaster put down his pen and looked up. He had a rather detached gaze that felt cold to Cloud Blazer.
"I guess it was," the quartermaster finally admitted while looking at the blind mare. "Well? You've got my attention; what do you want?"
"Parachutes," Cloud Blazer blurted out.
"Oh, is that all?" came a reply that bordered on sarcasm. "We're out of those."
Beginning to feel somewhat irritated, Cloud Blazer asked, "You don't have any?"
"Not one. I wonder what happened to them. Oh, I know, you might have heard; there's a war on."
"I think we'd know more about that than you would," Pixyglitter shot back, her tone sounding rather hot.
The quartermaster regarded them for a moment before saying, "I suspect you would." Another moment of silence was followed by a final thought as the he began scribbling something on another piece of paper, "Used and damaged equipment gets put in the basement until it can be repaired. Help yourself."
Cloud Blazer took the paper that was offered and said, "Thanks."
The quartermaster grunted and immediately went back to his ledger. With Pixyglitter following, the pair left the supply room and worked their way through the castle hallways toward the basement.
"Charming fellow," Cloud Blazer said softly.
"You just have to know how to talk to ponies from up north," Pixyglitter answered. "They're a bit more direct, and they don't tend to use polite phrases if they don't really mean it."
Locating the basement, Cloud Blazer announced, "We're here."
There was a gruff-looking guard standing stiffly in front of the door. He appeared as if he had jumped to that position upon hearing their approach. Cloud Blazer slowly walked up and showed him the paper the quartermaster had given him. The guard read over it carefully before standing aside.
The pair walked down the stairs into the dungeon-like chamber. It certainly didn't seem to be an inviting place. It was dark, but the air was noticeably cooler as they reached the bottom. The room was dimly lit by a soft pink light that seemed to be coming from one of the corners. Broken things were strewn from one end to the other. Rummaging around, Cloud Blazer found himself trying to be quiet, although he wasn't certain why. There were many harnesses and crossbows among the odds and ends that lay about, but none of them were in working order.
Cloud Blazer sighed, "This is a trash heap."
"Do you feel that?" Pixyglitter asked.
"Feel what?" he replied, looking up at her. She was facing the corner from which the dim pink light was emanating. “That’s the light. You can feel that?"
"No... well yes," she seemed to be struggling to find the right words. “I mean, I can’t feel light. It's more like a presence."
Standing up again, Cloud Blazer hobbled over to the corner. On a pedestal was a small pink glowing orb, about the size of a bowling ball. A giddy, almost queasy feeling washed over the stallion as he drew close. It was a tingling at first, but somehow he felt compelled to go closer.
Whatever the magical light was made of, it had secured his attention with near totality. It seemed to be moving. No, it was still on the pedestal. It was as if the space between him and the orb was expanding as he continued drawing closer. As the room stretched on, growing darker, a burst of sparks came out, exploding slowly and hanging in the air, much like a field of stars in the night sky.
Pixyglitter said something, but he couldn't hear her anymore. His senses had been consumed by the orb. All of his perception began to melt away: the room, the junk, Pixyglitter; all of it seemed like something from a different life or from a dream. He could hear Pixyglitter talking, or was she shouting? It was muffled and far away, almost like when listening to someone speaking from the shore while under water. Then he couldn't hear her anymore. He decided to respond so Pixyglitter wouldn’t worry.
“It’s okay, I’m just looking at the stars.”
Sounding only as muffled gibberish to his own ears, the stallion decided that his words hadn’t come out as he had intended. Within moments, he didn’t have the presence of mind to care. Everything else, emotions, thoughts, desires, and his very self faded into a sort of euphoria, which also was gone within mere moments. Only one sensation remained. Cloud Blazer was falling toward the magical artifact as quickly as it was expanding away from him, but there was no fear.