Passing With Flying Hazards

by The Grey Pegasus

Fight and Flight, Part II

*Alright Starbuck, listen closely. Initial report on what you're going to have to contend with,* Comet's voice rang in Starbuck's head. After a pause for observtions, his brother spoke up again. *Okay, so I've got some kind of good news…*

"It's possible to have good news?" Starbuck retorted.

*If you consider the fact that there's only one Wonderbolt in the air, yes. As opposed to the remaining seven also being ace fliers, this gives you a more definite chance of winning. On the downside, they decided to launch Fleetfoot in first. Probably hoping for a swift and quick kill.*

"'Kill'… reassuring."

*Figure of speech, alright? Anyways, in the time we were talking, he's already closed a third of the distance,* Comet informed him. *Seeing that you're already flying in the cloud layer, I suggest you keep flying in it but change your course. As far as I can tell, the last reference as to your whereabouts is the direction you started in. Changing your heading slightly should aid in your… longevity.*

Starbuck complied. "And stop making it sound like I'm going to die. It's counter-active."

*What do you want me to say? 'Survival'?*

The flying pegasus contemplated it, and found the most appropriate answer. "How about 'escape'? Or 'victory'?" He thought about it for a little more. "Alright, you know what? I'm just going to go with whatever you say, since I didn't really put myself in the most favorable of situations."

*Glad we could agree on something. Anyway, have you changed course?*

*Yeah, I sensed him turn a couple seconds ago,* Spark confirmed.

*Okay, well your first order of business is to get the hay out of there. Anywhere out of the direction of the Guard. From that point, you can fly in hiding for at least a couple minutes. It should give us time to think of a good strategy.*

*You'd better think fast, because my magic tells me they've almost closed the gap. They haven't seemed to notice him yet though.*

"Alright guys, what do you want me to do?" Starbuck asked his two helpers.

*Well, you seem to be approaching the arena perimeter. You've flown askew enough from your original heading so that you're no longer on the same path as the others. I'd say turn it around and go parallel to your original flight path,* the unicorn calculated.

"Alright, I'm on it." The flying pegasus did as told and kept within the clouds while turning back. "I've just turned around-"

*Yeah, yeah, I know. My magic can sense that, you know? Go on.*

After rolling his eyes, the grey pegasus continued. "Okay. Now, I know that the Royal Guard isn't stupid, and will eventually spread out to find me. What should I do then?"

His brother answered him. *Well, to be honest, we'd have to cross that bridge when we get there. I'm not sure how they're going to go about that. They'll either fly in their combat formations or going on a search pattern. With the first option, I'd advise you to get away as fast as possible, since you'll have to take on at least two at the same time. While not entirely impossible, it nearly is. It is impossible if they're flying in any larger group number.*

*They just turned around.*

*How are they flying?*

*They've sent out the Wonderbolt and three others alone. The other four are in groups of two.*

Starbuck listened in to the conversation, and decided to add input. "That's good, right? Now I can take them on if I need to."

*Actually, Spark, how spread out are they? And where, relative to him?* Comet asked.

*Hmmm...* he hummed in thought. *Okay. Fleetfoot is flying nowhere near Starbuck, one of the Royal Guard pairs is running wider that Fleetfoot, the other is also running wide, but in the other direction. As for the remaining three, by the time one reaches his general area, they'd be somewhere near above the stadium, with the other two some distance away, by an estimation of at least half a mile.*

*Alright, Starbuck, new plan. When Spark tells you to, get off the defensive. You're going in for the first takedown.*

"Are you serious? How am I going to do that?!"

*I don't know. Don't tackle. That would involve an engagement of a considerable length of time. Go for something quick. Shock him or something.*

"Right... So all I have to do is adjust the voltage output of the cloud when I kick it, right?"

*As long as you don't kill him. Heck, you don't even have to knock him out-*

*Quarter mile gap remaining,* the unicorn informed both pegasi.

Starbuck analyzed the matter a bit more. After a little bit of reasoning, he came to another idea. "Hey, none of them actually know where I am yet, right?"

*No, not yet. Why? What are you planning? You can't run, er, fly away the whole time.*

"No, no, but they don't know where I am yet, and if I let off that lightning, the sound's basically like me saying 'Hey, I'm over here! Come and get me!', and, of course, that won't end well."

*So what are you planning, Buck?* Comet inquired.

"Never thought I'd use it, but how about giving him a nice chunk of ice in the face?"

*Well if you think it'll work, do it now. He's practically right above you now,* Spark updated him.

Starbuck's heart rate sped up. If he screwed up, he could have eight pegasi after him, and he was nearly surrounded in this case. He poked his head up slightly out of the cloud layer, and saw that the Royal Guard pony was in a slow flight, his head swiveling back and forth, in case any signs of the challenger arose.

"Spark," he mentally called. "I'm going for hitting him with some hailstones. Tell me if my flight angle is right." At that, he flew down, then directly at the base of the cloud.

*Adjust it a little shallower... more... slightly more...*

Thump. Starbuck's front hooves made contact with the cloud, while he mentally told his inherent pegasi magic to let out elements of winter. Non-sharpened, that is. A second or two, new impacts were heard, and a little bit after that, a body fell from above right in front of the grey pegasus. Whoa! Glad he didn't land on me, he thought. "Alright, I think he's out cold."

*No doubt he's out cold. Guess the face-full of ice was effective after all. Didn't hear a thing down here," his brother remarked.

Starbuck idly hovered and peered down to where his opponent fell. A long way above the ground, the guardspony was caught by medical personnel that quickly carried him over to be treated. "Well, at least he'll be alright."

*You're gonna want to bust out of there Star, since they're going to be looking in your general area... right about-"

An announcer's voice boomed up from the stadium. "We've just received word on the fallen pegasus. It appears that it was not the flyer Starbuck, and was presumably knocked unconscious by said pegasus. As to adhere to the challenge, we cannot disclose where exactly he fell. It appears that Starbuck may have enough merit to stay in the air a little longer. Guess we will have a fairly exciting event today, folks!"

Starbuck had already flown farther from the general area of the stadium, but he was still able to hear the cheers of the spectators. "Heh, I don't think it's just my wits. Thanks for the help so far guys."

*Don't mention it. We'd hate to see you fail and or go down in flames.*

"Was that supposed to be in a figurative manner?"

His brother spoke up. *Do you think that under the circumstances, that it was meant to be figurative?*

"Right..."

*Anyways,* Spark said, *You've been up for around five or six minutes. That's around ten more to go before you're given the clear to land. Unfortunately, by that time, you're probably going to be spotted. That knock-out really riled those guards up. Their on the hunt now.*

*Yeah, because of that, expect that you won't come in at exactly fifteen minutes. You'll probably be holed up in the sky by them for a couple more minutes. Anything from keeping you from reaching the landing zone. And on the note of 'them', they've sent in a replacement for the one you took out, and he's actually going in your direction with a fierce manner.*

"Oh goodie. I can run, but I can't hide forever. This should be fun..."

Comments

[The Grey Pegasus]

New chapter because I needed a break from writing the next chapter for my other story.