The Last Cutie Mark Crusader

by Jatheus

33 - Darkness, Part 5 of 6

The wind beneath Pixyglitter's wings was invigorating. Her body ached from one end to the other from all the flight practice she'd been doing with Cloud Blazer, but it was the only thing that made her feel almost whole again, if only for a short time. In the days since their first brief attempt, they had practiced as much as she was physically able, and it was taking its toll. Crash landings in the water were still common, but Pixyglitter didn't let it dampen her spirits. Communication seemed to be the key to any success they had. They certainly both knew the terms to describe flight maneuvers, but it was a foreign thing for her to learn how to perform them blind and immediately upon command.

"Bank left," Cloud Blazer said.

Pixyglitter gently turned to her left. Once they had mastered hovering in place, they started working on figure eight patterns. Bank left would always be followed by straightening out and then banking right. Sometimes he would have her adjust altitude just to mix things up. It was tiring to get back into shape.

"Straighten out," he said right on time. "Halt, hover in place."

Pixyglitter reduced forward momentum, but she was still having trouble at slower speeds. Without the use of her eyes, it was difficult to make certain she wasn't moving.

"Nicely done!" his voice praised her. "You want to try a landing?"

Fear was a constant companion with landings, and this suggestion was no exception.

"I'm not ready for that," she replied.

"I mean in the water. What if we drop down, just enough to get my hooves wet? I can't think of a safer way to practice."

"Okay," she answered, still feeling uncertain. "I'm ready when you are."

"Descend!" his voice came with complete confidence.

Slowing her wings, the descent began.

"Arrest speed, descend; that's good. Hover in place... okay, descend."

Pixyglitter tried her best to keep up with him, but it was quite a challenge. Putting complete trust in somepony else wasn't easy.

"Looking great, standby to hover on my mark... four... three... two... one... mark!"

She could hear the sound of splashing as she began hovering again. Sweetie Belle started cheering from the shore, and Cloud Blazer started laughing.

"Outstanding!" he praised. "You've got a slight drift to the left, but otherwise perfect."

She corrected right slightly to stop drifting.

"You want to practice some more, or are you tired yet?" he asked.

All pretense had fled already from the hours of practice they'd put in together. As much as she wanted to go on, Pixyglitter had no strength to continue any longer. Her body was in need of rest, and it was time to give in to that fact.

"I'm done for today," she said.

"Sounds good; descend!"

Slowly going down, Cloud Blazer pulled his release as soon as her hooves were in the water. He made a splash and paddled out from under her; she was in the water in a few seconds. It was cool and refreshing, rinsing the sweat from her body.

"Great job you guys!" Sweetie Belle sang from the shore.

Cloud Blazer began swimming that way. There was something else also. A sound on the air that was familiar, but Pixyglitter couldn't place it.

"Hey, look at that!" Sweetie Belle called out.

"Oh, wow," Cloud Blazer said.

"What is it?" Pixyglitter asked as she swam slowly toward the shore.

"Looks like about a hundred pegasi flying overhead," he replied. "I wonder where they're going.”

"South!" Sweetie Belle answered.

Cloud Blazer scoffed, "Thanks, Sweetie Belle, I can see that much."

She giggled as he came out of the water. Pixyglitter stayed in for a while, just resting in the pond. Her stomach growled. All of the flying was making her far more hungry than usual. She felt herself smile. It was totally worth it.

...

Duster could see them, coming out from under trees, going over hills, and always running. The timberwolves were moving south in droves. At least two-thousand were in the pack they had spotted near Ponyville, but it was as if they had purposefully gone around the town. That seemingly willful avoidance somehow made this feel wrong.

"It's just strange," Rolling Thunder said.

Quickbeam would have had a snappy remark to add to that. Rolling Thunder and Duster were the only two from their squad that had been assigned to a massive reconnaissance move, as the other members of their squad couldn't fly. Duster continually found himself distracted by the events of the past few days. Moonsliver and Quickbeam were gone, dead. It could have just as easily been him, but it wasn't. Sorting out his own emotions was becoming more difficult by the day.

"Look, there's another pack!" Rolling Thunder said as he pointed.

Duster looked and saw what had to be another five-hundred timberwolves, also heading south.

"Looks like they'll meet up at White Tail Woods," Rolling Thunder added. "Hey, are you alright? You haven't said two words since we left."

"Sorry," Duster replied, but wasn't sure what to say. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to confide in anypony about his thoughts, but he took a breath and continued, "I was thinking about Moonsliver... Quickbeam... and Doff."

"Oh," Rolling Thunder answered solemnly. "Yeah, it was a raw deal for all of them."

"How can I be so helpless?" Duster heard himself ask. He felt it wiser to be silent, but it was as if he couldn't stop. "I was right by them, both of them, and I couldn't save them." Now he was choking back tears.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Rolling Thunder popped back. "We are soldiers. Soldiers die; that's our dance."

Duster was confused enough by that to ask, “Dance? What are you talking about?"

”The dance with death," came the answer in a tone that chilled Duster. "Whether it is a fast, violent dance like a soldier, or a slow ambling movement of a farmer, we all dance in step with death. Ultimately, none of us will survive it. But when everything goes bad, you either keep moving or lay down and die. I feel bad about the others too, but there'll be time for that later. Right now, we have a job to do."

Duster nodded as they flew over the small mountain range below. It ran from the White Tail Woods all the way back to Ponyville. The sprawling countryside to the south lay just ahead. What he saw when it came into view was unbelievable. Before them, spread across the countryside were timberwolves beyond numbering. There could have been hundreds of thousands of them. Duster felt his blood run cold at the sight of them.

Comments

[OmalleyCaboose5]

”The dance with death," came the answer in a tone that chilled Duster. "Whether it is a fast, violent dance like a soldier, or a slow ambling movement of a farmer, we all dance in step with death. Ultimately, none of us will survive it. But when everything goes bad, you either keep moving or lay down and die. I feel bad about the others too, but there'll be time for that later. Right now, we have a job to do."

You aren't an optimist are you.

[Jatheus]

8746427
I am an optimist!

[Emperor]

Sounds like the Timberwolves are gathering together to just try and overrun Equestria now. Doesn't matter if they're all destroyed in the end: with a pack of hundreds of thousands, I'm sure they could destroy quite a few towns and cities before finally vanquished.

[Jatheus]

8782478
I guess they could call that operation steamroller!

Also, thanks for all the comments and spending the evening with me! I've had a great time reading the comments and replying.

Has OmalleyCaboose5 started on your stories yet? He's great at leaving comments.

[TheLocalCannon]

Duster nodded as they flew over the small mountain range below. It ran from the White Tail Woods all the way back to Ponyville. The sprawling countryside to the south lay just ahead. What he saw when it came into view was unbelievable. Before them, spread across the countryside were timberwolves beyond numbering. There could have been hundreds of thousands of them. Duster felt his blood run cold at the sight of them.

Careful with your Molotov’s, I’d advise you simply helicorn them all to hell with at least two brigades of helicorns