The breeze tickled Pixyglitter's mane as she and Cloud Blazer soared high above the ground. Bad weather had compelled them to fly to Cloudsdale before turning to Manehattan. This made the trip much longer, but it was certainly safer than flying into a lightning storm. It was a bit of work keeping Cloud Blazer in the air, but she was glad to do it. Flying at this altitude was much more blissful, because the course corrections he issued were much fewer and farther between. They had done enough practice that she trusted him completely. A fleeting desire passed through her, a longing to see the view. She pushed it from her mind.
"How's it going over there, Fluttershy?" Cloud Blazer called out.
"I'm okay," the wind carried her delicate voice back to them.
Pixyglitter would never have admitted it, but she was quite relieved when they'd decided to take a rest in Cloudsdale to get food. While the rations were as small as what they were accustomed to in Ponyville, it was good to have a little more than what they had packed that morning. A noise from behind them caught Pixyglitter's attention.
"What was that?" she asked.
Cloud Blazer let out a gasp as a magical energy, a sort of tearing sound, could be heard in the distance.
"What?"
"Just keep flying," he said.
Fluttershy squealed in fear.
"What is it?"
"Cloudsdale is under attack," he replied flatly.
"What? How?"
"Changelings. They have actually come out to fight us themselves," he said.
"Shouldn't we do something?" Fluttershy sounded as if she would be afraid of the answer to her own question.
"No," Cloud Blazer answered firmly. "They have plenty of soldiers to defend the city. Besides, we're in no condition get into a fight."
Pixyglitter agreed wholeheartedly with that assessment. It was difficult enough to fly blind by Cloud Blazer's orders alone; flying into a battle would be madness. She could feel him turning frequently to either side to look behind them.
"See anything?" Pixyglitter asked.
"Nothing we can worry about," he replied.
They continued on, and the sounds of battle were nearly lost to the wind. However, he kept turning to look back so frequently that it was making Pixyglitter nervous.
"Let's increase our speed," Cloud Blazer said finally. "Fluttershy, give it all you've got. Straight ahead for Manehattan!"
"Don't we need to pace ourselves?" Pixyglitter asked.
He answered, his voice containing a slight quiver, "I think if we don't pick up some speed, there won't be a return journey to save our strength for."
Fluttershy protested, "But I can't leave you two."
“Just trust me on this. That's why we're here. You have to get Rarity back to Ponyville. Twilight and all of the other princesses are depending on you, not us. Now go!"
"Oh, my goodness," she cried out through a flurry of tears as she sped away from them.
She wasn't fast, but she could certainly outrun Pixyglitter, laden as she was.
”That's good Fluttershy, keep it up! Increase speed, Pixyglitter.”
“Pixy, you can call me Pixy.”
“Okay, Pixy.”
They went ahead even faster. The wind rushed through her mane and in her ears. Pixyglitter could feel her heart pounding as some unseen threat was at her very tail. As she hurried along, Cloud Blazer began issuing course corrections much more frequently. This was a great concern, as each time they did this, it would cost them speed. She was pushing herself harder and harder, trying to outrun whatever was behind without giving in to panic when he shouted.
"Hard left!"
Without question, Pixyglitter obeyed the command. A sizzle shot through the air, and she thought something pulled on her tail.
"What was that?" she shouted back.
"You're fine; pull up!"
She again obeyed without question, and they turned back right to continue following after Fluttershy.
"Bank right!"
Another magical blast sizzled through the air past them.
"This is no good," Cloud Blazer said. "Only a matter of time before... pull up!"
She struggled to push straight up into the sky, the air hissing again with magic. Moisture enveloped the tandem pair for a moment, then she could feel the sun on her face.
"This might work," he said, his words the product of a racing mind.
"Clouds?" she asked.
”Yeah; we might be able to lose him."
Pixyglitter was trying to stay focused and keep her wings beating as she listened for the next command.
They darted to their right into another cloud and then changed direction. She glided smoothly through it; they silently listened for the changeling. It screeched from somewhere above and the mare turned hard right. She felt the wind as the enemy passed beside them, far too close for comfort. At Cloud Blazer's command, they increased speed, vaulting up into another set of clouds, trying again to lose their unwanted guest.
The changeling proved to be far too determined to catch them. They continued evading, darting from one set of clouds to another, changing direction, dropping down, pulling up, and hiding. They were being hunted. They did eventually manage to get some distance, but still hadn't been able to lose their foe.
Pixyglitter and Cloud Blazer were soaked from the moisture through which they had been flying, and this made her efforts that much more difficult.
“There’s some clouds here that will do nicely, pull up.”
She went into a climb through the clouds. Already at a high altitude, they were pushing her upper vertical limit.
"Keep gaining altitude. Good."
His voice was clear of any fear now, but his tone contained no nonsense whatsoever.
"Give me a slow right roll and keep climbing... that's great... get ready for a quick dive and a hard left."
"Quick dive, hard left, ready,” she answered, almost mechanically as her aching wings beat furiously to continue climbing at high speed.
The moment seemed to stretch out into minutes as the air began to grow thinner and thinner, making her have to push even harder to increase altitude. Her body ached as she pressed onward.
"Now!" he shouted.
Pixyglitter folded her wings, nose diving into a free-fall just long enough for her to face down, and then spread them out again, pulling hard left as ordered. Another shot of magic electrified the air, passing by harmlessly. She felt a snap, like something had broken. She became disoriented, tumbling wildly through the air; there was a crashing noise nearby and a grunt. Pixyglitter had never been scared of losing control in flight, and she expertly worked the air with her wings until she had stabilized herself. Something didn't feel quite right.
"What's up? Did we lose them?"
There was no answer.
"Cloud Blazer!" she shouted.
Panic flooded the teal pegasus as she realized what was wrong. She was not carrying a passenger anymore; she was alone. Pixyglitter went into a slow right turn, trying to listen for anything that might give a clue to his whereabouts as she examined the harness by touch. It was intact; Cloud Blazer must have pulled the quick release and dropped himself. He didn’t have a parachute, and it would be impossible to survive a fall from her current altitude.
The jumbled feelings that flooded through Pixyglitter at this moment were varied, but it was mostly fear. Even if she were able to safely land, what then? She'd never find her way to safety. The emotion quickly resolved itself as a complete despair. Without another thought, she folded her wings and let herself fall, pointing her nose to the ground and picking up more and more velocity.
The wind blasted her ears, obscuring any other sound but her own thoughts. The sorrow at the loss of her friend only grew greater until it was powerful enough that she made up her mind. She would not arrest this fall; she would let the ground do that for her.
Pixyglitter had lost something even more important than her eyesight; she had lost hope. The only comfort was the possibility that Fluttershy may have managed to escape. No sound betrayed her elevation, but the air felt a little warmer as it blew past her. She fell down, down, down.
Pixyglitter felt her ears perk as they caught something. It sounded like a shout. She strained to hear. There it was again. Like a yell just barely audible over the wind. She turned toward where she thought it had come from, but continued falling as the faintest spark of a hope was rekindled. Then she heard it again, still from below. She was getting closer and made herself as streamlined as possible to dive even faster; it was Cloud Blazer.
"Keep coming!" he shouted to her.
She now understood what he had done. He knew they couldn't escape, so he put her into a maneuver than must have shot him directly at the changeling when he’d pulled the quick-release.
"A little more!" Cloud Blazer shouted. He was much closer now. "To your right; sorry, other right!"
She corrected left.
"Okay, up now... perfect," his voice betrayed no small amount of terror. It was a frightening tone as he spoke, "Get ready to pull up as hard as you can!"
"How close?"
"Just be ready!" he shouted back.
A few moments later, something bumped her nose, and then he was pawing at her harness. She heard a distinctive click.
"Up! Up! Up!" Cloud Blazer shouted fervently, "Pull up!"
Pixyglitter spread her wings into the air, which tore at her body now. They were falling like a meteor. The wind was fighting her attempt to change direction.
"Give it all you've got! By Celestia, pull up!" he screamed into the torrential breeze.
Pixyglitter sucked in a final breath and poured all of her strength into the maneuver; it felt like her wings would be ripped from her body as the forces mounted pushing her against momentum. She was overcoming it, and the tandem pair were definitely turning now, but she couldn't tell if it was fast enough. For a moment, everything seemed far away as if she would pass out.
"Now bank right... harder... harder!" he shouted, sounding distant.
She managed to do so. Their speed was finally beginning to reduce as they leveled off and began gaining altitude again. The heavy pulling from the change in direction waned, and Pixyglitter's remaining four senses sharpened again.
"Up," he said, gasping for air. "Take us up," with what passed for a sigh.
He sounded rattled.
"How close to the ground are we?" Pixyglitter asked.
No reply came.
"Cloud Blazer?"
The stallion let out something that almost sounded like a laugh, but it was unlike any the mare had ever heard before. It was hollow and unearthly, consumed with relief. He still didn't answer, but as they gained altitude, she decided that he didn't need to. Below them, and not far, she could hear forest birds singing.