37 - Faux Pas, Part 8 of 8
Pixyglitter’s equilibrium had mostly restored itself from their little brawl, and she wasn't wobbling anymore as she stood.
"Time to go," Cloud Blazer reached the same conclusion that she had. "I just wish I had a white flag."
He backed up to her, and she fastened the harnesses together. Pixyglitter flapped her wings, once again taking flight. Her shins hurt; she was pretty sure they were bleeding.
"Bank right," Cloud Blazer said. "Increase altitude."
There was something strangely comforting about receiving commands from him this time. It was kind of funny to think that only months before, she’d have rather died than been so dependent on anypony. Sure, she’d been growing accustomed to their arrangement, but what they’d been through on their flight had help break down even more of her barriers where he was concerned.
Other thoughts took her attention. They flew with the wind at their left, flying neither toward nor away from Manehatten.
"Who were those ponies?" Pixyglitter asked.
"EUP deserters," Cloud Blazer answered.
That certainly explained why they couldn’t risk being discovered. The worst criminal offenses in Equestria had been met with banishment since antiquity. Everypony had heard of Shining Armor’s recent order to execute ponies for desertion from EUP duties. Though it had been met with shock by the populace that such a thing would even be considered, the prince hadn’t budged.
The pair continued climbing higher into the sky as the sounds of battle became closer.
"Now that is a sight to see," Cloud Blazer remarked. "A wave of soldiers is hitting the timberwolves head on. Alternating blasts from unicorns hit first, then the earth ponies are pushing into the gaps. Looks like we’re winning." He paused for a moment and then added, "Now if we could just get to the city without getting shot down."
"Any ideas?" Pixyglitter asked him.
"I don’t know," he replied. “If we’re lucky a CAP will escort us in. If anypony starts shouting at us, we're going to do as they say.”
"Deal."
It was a mere shadow of a moment later when a serious voice called from above.
"Attention! Hold your course and do as directed. Any deviation from my commands and we will fire!"
"We understand!" Cloud Blazer yelled back. "We surrender; don’t shoot!"
"Follow me in," another voice said.
"Will do!" Cloud Blazer replied. Then he began giving instructions to Pixyglitter, "Bank left... good, now straighten out. Begin descending. Not so fast!"
It took several minutes of the stallion throwing orders at her in far more precise detail than normal to get them safely to the ground. By sound alone, Pixyglitter knew that they were surrounded by soldiers that had their crossbows trained on them. She stood perfectly still. In a flash, soldiers had taken positions on either side of them and began feeling her up and down, neck to flank, presumably checking for weapons. Her instinct was to become offended at this, but she tried to swallow her pride and just let them do their duty.
"What’s this?" one of them said as he unfolded a piece of paper.
"Looks like travel orders," a mare said.
Pixyglitter heard the click of the harness release.
"You, come with us," a stallion said.
"Yes, sir, whatever you need," Cloud Blazer said.
Becoming separated from him was frightening.
As he was drawing farther away, he called back, "Pixy, tell them anything they want to know, just be honest!"
Panic was flooding the mare, and she wanted to answer Cloud Blazer, but one of the other soldiers held her back as another one spoke. She decided to omit anything about the princesses.
“Stand still; this may sting a bit."
Pixyglitter was then bathed in magic. It almost burned, but she knew what it was. They were testing to make certain she wasn’t a changeling.
"All clear, she’s a pony," a mare said.
"Okay, escort her to the others for debriefing and processing," a stallion ordered.
"This way ma’am, and we apologize for the inconvenience," the mare said. "Do you need assistance?"
Although it was against her nature, Pixyglitter replied through gritted teeth, "Yes."
She would have been able to follow unaided, but it might be best to make them think she was helpless without Cloud Blazer. The other mare guided Pixyglitter’s right fore hoof to a shoulder, and the pair walked away from the sounds of combat toward the rear, and presumably in the direction of Manehattan.
"What’s going on?" Pixyglitter asked as innocently as she could.
"Heavy fighting all up the line," the mare replied. "The changelings hit us in force last night, and that’s after they had punched through our lines and chased us all the way back to the city. If half of what I heard is true, we lost Baltimare and Las Pegasus in the night, and VanHoover is overrun. But I don’t know how much of that can be trusted. We had initially heard that our entire southern army was defeated near Apple Loosa, and that Canterlot and Filly Delphia had also been lost, but reports this morning cleared that up. What I do know for certain is that they hit Manehattan hard last night, and we’re pushing them back.”
"The southern army?" Pixyglitter asked, remembering that Cloud Blazer’s friends and some of the family that was staying at Sweet Apple Acres were with that corps.
"Yes, like I said: I only know for sure what happened here," the mare replied. "We got all sorts of crazy information about the entire command getting wiped out in a surprise attack and other insane things. Frankly, I find that very unlikely. Every report we’ve heard is consistent in one respect. Whatever happened in Apple Loosa yesterday, it was bad."
They walked for a few minutes before stopping. Pixyglitter was guided to a seat that must have been in a makeshift tent. She was shaded, but the wind was freely blowing through. Her ears reported quite a lot of movement. One voice stood out as it drew nearer.
"Alright, we’re getting ready to move again. The front has advanced another mile, and we need to keep up."
The stallion that spoke had a baritone voice. He approached and sat across from her.
"I am Sergeant Frond Dapper," he said. "I have no time for games, so let’s make this quick."
"Yes, sir," Pixyglitter replied.
"They tell me you were flying behind enemy lines. Wait, are you blind?" he asked.
"Yes, sir, completely," she answered.
“And you were doing the actual flying?”
“Yes, sir. The stallion that was with me talks me through what I need to do.”
"Wow... What are you doing in this area?"
"My friend, Cloud Blazer, and I were traveling to Manehattan, sir."
"Are you EUP?"
"Yes, sir. I was blinded in combat at Las Pegasus. I’m officially on extended medical leave, but I expect I’ll be officially discharged when the fighting calms down."
His voice seemed to take a more respectful tone, "Your travel permit indicated that there were four of you?"
"Yes, sir," she tried to maintain an innocent demeanor. “Well, technically three of us. Fluttershy was the third. We got separated when a changeling attacked us. We had just left Cloudsdale, and since I fly tandem, we couldn’t outrun it. Cloud Blazer talked me through some maneuvers to try to lose it in the clouds, but we ended up having to kill it to get away. We are picking up the fourth member on the pass in Manehattan.“
"You killed it?" he asked, apparently shocked.
"Well, Cloud Blazer did the actual fighting," she answered, feeling a little bashful at his surprise. “He’d be able to give you better details on that.”
"I see. You’ll be glad to know that your stories match up.” Sergeant Frond Dapper replied, his tone suggesting that his previous surprise had been feigned. “Wild as it is, nopony would make up and memorize a lie that ludicrous. I believe you. Blossom Posy," he said to the mare that had escorted Pixyglitter, "bring up her friends."
"Yes, sir!" Blossom Posy replied before trotting away.
"I don’t suppose there is anything you can tell me about the deserters you happened upon?" the sergeant probed.
Pixyglitter shrugged, "The one in charge had a very smooth voice, but I don’t think he survived. They were hiding in a farm house near a small hill with three large boulders on it. Cloud Blazer could show you the place."
"He’s drawing a map."
The mare took note of the phrase that had been used and felt the need to ask a follow up question.
"Did you say, ‘friends’?"
"Yes, I did," Frond Dapper replied dryly. "It seems that we found your friend, Fluttershy, attempting to enter Manehattan this morning. She didn’t have travel papers, and we couldn’t corroborate her story until the two of you arrived. We’ve kept her under guard, but she’s no worse for the wear. You’re bleeding; I’ll get a medic to take a look at your legs.“
Pixyglitter smiled her thanks; she was elated by the news. Despite their setbacks, she and Cloud Blazer would be able to continue their mission. Now they just had to find that other pony named Rarity and return to Ponyville. A few setbacks aside, things seemed to be falling into place.
Right in time for Christmas, a happy ending to the chapter!
May you all have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy Hearthswarming! 
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Merry Christmas
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And to you! Merry Christmas!
Well, finally, something went right
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Besides, if things has kept going as wrong as they had been, we’d be out characters. 
Well, it is Christmas.
Ohhh
Does this made know that she is talking about the
CELESTIA DAMNED ELEMENT OF KINDNESS, PART OF ONE OF EQUESTRIAS GREATEST WEAPON AND MEMBER OF TWILIGHT SPARKLE, ONE OF THE NATIONS FOUR MAJOR LEADERS, PERSONAL CABINET. This should be common knowledge. It always bothered me in the show how unknown they were sometimes
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1)
2) Yeah... even by season 4, I should have written them a little more well known (but man it blew up even more after they published the friendship journal and all of that stuff). You get a cookie for that one. 🍪
Well, looks like Equestria is holding up at least, though they certainly have taken a pounding. It would seem I was correct with my deduction the ponies from the chapter previous were deserters.