Chapter 31:

'Attack on The Wonderbolts Academy'

Celestia slowly paced back and forth in the throne room as she continued to ponder on what the Iron Empire was up to. While Luna, Dusk and Black Lance were present, Magister Freed was in Ponyville keeping an eye on the Cutie Mark Crusaders, while everypony else was back at the dining hall listening to Luster Shield's story of how he ended up in Dalkia. Though Luna was interested in hearing the Magister's story, she knew that the situation with the Iron Empire was far more important and her counsel was needed.

"Our guards returned last night and reported seeing no suspicious activity in the Smokey Mountain, are you absolutely sure that the Iron Empire has a stronghold set up there Dusk?" Luna said as she faced the gold armoured Prince.

Dusk sighed. "I'm quite positive. Your guards clearly didn't look hard enough."

Luna refrained from lashing out at him and took a moment to calm herself before replying. "We will send them out to search again, and we will tell them to double their efforts."

Black Lance chuckled. Luna glared at him and said, "What do you find so funny Black Lance?"

The Magister faced her and smirked behind his helmet. "If your guards were unable to find the Iron Empire's stronghold in the Smokey Mountain then it'd be pointless to send them again. Clearly they're too incompetent to get the job done, telling them to double their efforts is just a waste of time."

These words earned the Magister a large number of angry glares from both the Celestial and Lunar Guards that stood in the throne room.

Luna narrowed her eyes at him. "Our guards are more than capable of carrying out any task, I highly suggest you think carefully on what you say about them."

Black Lance scoffed at her reply. "Those Guards of yours would be more suited to serving tea to those snotty nobles in the city. By the time they enter battle, the Iron Empire forces would slaughter them in mere seconds."

At the corner of her eye, Luna could see that her Guards were getting really angry at the black armoured Magister's words and once again spoke to defend them. "Our Guards are loyal and they follow all of their orders without hesitation. They go out of their way to satisfy our expectations and they have done so numerous times in the past and will continue to do so in the future. I am well aware that the troops in the Iron Empire are experienced killers as you yourself boldly stated, but rest assured, our Guards are more than capable of clashing against them."

"That's what you think." Black Lance replied.

Luna let out a quiet growl and took a small step towards the black armoured Unicorn. "Perhaps you would like to see for yourself just how capable they are Black Lance." She said in a threatening tone.

Black Lance slowly took a step towards her, his smirk lowering into a scowl. "Is that a challenge?"

"That's enough! Both of you!" Celestia shouted, stopping the both of them in their tracks.

Thankfully the two of them did stop and immediately walked away from each other. Celestia let out a quiet sigh and turned to the outside balcony where she could see the clear blue sky. Ever since Dusk and his troops arrived in Canterlot, Luna and Black Lance had been at each others throats and their hatred towards each other only increased with every passing second. Despite this, she had to keep a level head and do her best to keep things under control, the last thing she needed was everypony fighting each other, when they should really be focusing on fighting the real enemy, the Iron Empire.

As she continued to stare at the sky, she noticed something in the distance approaching the castle. It was a Pegasus. It wasn't one of hers or Luna's Guards, and she was starting to wonder if it was an enemy scout.

The thought was immediately pushed aside when the Pegasus was almost at the Castle and Celestia was able to make out the Wonderbolts Outfit he was wearing.

Upon reaching the castle, The Wonderbolt crashed onto the balcony and slid across the floor and into the throne room, leaving a trail of blood behind him as he stopped the Princess's hoofs. Celestia and Luna gasped at the bloodied Wonderbolt and quickly rushed to help him, while Dusk and Black Lance stared in confusion.

"Guards! Get a doctor! Quickly!" Celestia shouted.

Several Guards nodded and rushed out of the throne room to get help.

Celestia turned back to The Wonderbolt and let out a quiet horrified gasp as she examined all of the wounds on his body. His outfit was torn and there were several large gashes all over his body, blood continued to leak from the wounds but most of it poured from the large opening in his chest. Luna placed her hoofs over the Wonderbolts chest in an attempt to stop him from losing too much blood, while Celestia used her magic to try and heal most of his wounds, but her efforts had little to no effect.

The Wonderbolt coughed up blood as he attempted to speak, Luna put a little more pressure on his wound and attempted to comfort him. "It's okay, just hold on, help will be here in just a moment! Tell us, what happened?" She said softly.

Again, The Wonderbolt coughed as he tried to reply. "W-We...we were...a-attacked..." He muttered out weakly.

Celestia's eyes widened. "Attacked?! Attacked by who?!"

The Wonderbolt felt his strength leaving him and mustered up what energy he had left to reply. "W-Wonderbolts...Academy...I-Iron...Em...pire." His head fell and hit floor with a soft thud.

Celestia cradled the dead Wonderbolt in her forelegs and attempted to hold in the tears that were threatening to show in her eyes, but she failed.

As the white Alicorn shed her tears, Luna slowly removed her forehoof from the dead Wonderbolts chest and stood up. She turned to the Celestial and Lunar Guards and shouted out in her Royal Canterlot Voice. "ROYAL GUARD, READY THYSELVES AND PREPARE TO MOVE OUT! OUR ENEMY IS AT THE WONDERBOLTS ACADEMY!"

________________________________________________________________________________________

Twenty Minutes Earlier...

Spitfire shuffled through various letters that were scattered over her desk and stacked them up at the side in a neatly organized bundle. More cadets came into the Academy everyday, attempting to prove themselves worthy of being a Wonderbolt, and while she slightly admired their determination, they weren't exactly doing a good job so far. A good majority of letters that were stacked in front of her were the reports on each cadets progress, only atleast two were decent, the rest, she couldn't even bear to look, they were that bad.

Letting out a loud sigh, she went back to stacking up the cadets progress reports, from good to bad. As she went through the letters, she pondered on the rumours that she had been hearing of not too long ago. The rumours that some large force was invading Equestria, and these rumours were further proved when she heard how Canterlot was apparently infiltrated by hostile Ponies from that same force.

Though she was curious, Spitfire eventually pushed the thoughts aside. Even if there was some force out there, she was confident that the Princesses would be capable of dealing with it just like they did with Equestria's past threats.

That didn't mean she wouldn't help. If by some chance the Princesses asked her and her Wonderbolts to assist them, she'd gladly do so, after all, Equestria was her home too, and she'd gladly defend it. The Wonderbolts weren't just skilled acrobats, they were also experienced at combat, they were trained fighters and were on par with the royal guard in Canterlot, sometimes they proved that they were even more capable than the guard.

After sorting out the last set of reports, Spitfire decided to get up and go for a walk, she grabbed her glasses and her whistle and put it around her neck before going over to her door. After brushing a forehoof over her fiery mane and checking to make sure her blue outfit was okay, she opened the door and stepped out into the corridor. As she left her office, two Pegasi were approaching from her left. They were both wearing their Wonderbolts outfits, one was a Stallion with a light blue coat, which Spitfire could tell from the exposed muzzle and ears, his goggles were resting over his forehead which allowed her to see his dark brown eyes and he had a dark blue mane and tail. The other Pegasus had a light arctic blue coat, she had white mane and tail and, just like the Stallion next to her, her goggles were resting on her forehead, revealing her pink eyes.

"Wave Chill..." Spitfire said to the Stallion before turning to Mare next to him. "Fleetfoot. Something up?"

Fleetfoot shook her head. "Nothing Spitfire, we just came by to see if you were interested in checking out the new cadets that just came in."

Spitfire sighed. "Another bunch of newbies I bet. Whatever, it's not as if I have anything else to do right now, let's go." She replied before walking down the corridor, Fleetfoot and Wave Chill followed.

"You never know Captain, one of them might be Wonderbolt material." Wave Chill said.

Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Sure Wave Chill. You said that about the last thirty groups and all of them couldn't even get a decent score on the Dizzitron."

Wave Chill chuckled. "I seem to recall atleast a few Pegasi who got some pretty good scores."

"Whatever you say Wave Chill." Spitfire replied as they reached the end of the corridor. The Pegasus opened the doors in front of her and walked outside, followed by the two Wonderbolts who were looking around at some of the other cadets that were flying around the academy. Most were pretty slow, while others were quite fast, though their flying however was sloppy despite their speed, and even then, their technique was all wrong. A few cadets noticed Spitfire and were so focused on her presence that they ended up crashing into each other and fell to the ground, causing Spitfire to roll her eyes.

The Wonderbolts reached a group of cadets that were lined up and, upon seeing Spitfire approaching, the cadets quickly stood at attention. Standing in front of them all was another Wonderbolt. Just like Fleetfoot and Wave Chill, he was wearing his Wonderbolts outfit. His coat was a pale light blue colour, his mane and tail were both a darker shade of blue and his eyes were a bright emerald green colour. Just like his fellow Wonderbolts, his goggles were also resting over his forehead.

"Hey Captain, I take it you came to check out the new recruits?" Soarin asked as he turned to the fiery gold coloured Pegasus.

Spitfire looked at the line of cadets. To her slight disappointment, none of them looked like they were Wonderbolt material, but she was willing to give the benefit of the doubt, hoping that one of them would surprise her, though she didn't have her hopes up for the bunch.

"Alright, listen up!" Spitfire started. "If you all think you have what it takes to be a Wonderbolt then don't get your hopes up! The Wonderbolts consist of the best elite fliers in Equestria, we're looking for Ponies who are fast, skilled, determined and willing to push themselves to their limits! But just know one thing..." She took a moment to glance at the line of cadets, who were all slightly shaking in fear of her. Smirking slightly, Spitfire continued. "When you're willing push yourself as hard as you can, always make sure you push yourself in the right direction also. Most of the things we do can be dangerous, and you should never push yourself to the point of causing harm to your fellow Ponies. A certain Pegasus showed me that some time ago."

Soarin smiled slightly, he knew exactly which Pegasus Spitfire was talking about.

Spitfire held her head high as she walked back and forth in front of the cadets. "Now, I think a few hundred laps would be a good way to start off..." A few cadets groaned at her words. "If you think for a second that we're gonna be starting things off easy, you're wrong!" She said as she glared at three cadets. "Like I said, we're looking for the most elite fliers in all of Equestria! If you really believe that you have what it takes to be an elite flier, then a few hundred laps should be nothing you can't handle! If you don't like that then you can just get up and leave right now!"

The cadets all shook in fear at her tone. Spitfire walked over to one of them and looked him in the eye. "Do you want to be a Wonderbolt?" She asked.

Nodding nervously, the cadet said. "Yes..."

Spitfire narrowed her eyes at him before walking over to another cadet, a short Pegasus. "Do you want to be a Wonderbolt?"

The short Pegasus shook in fear and tried to keep his confidence up as he replied. "Y-Yes ma'am."

Spitfire turned and walked a few steps away from the cadets. "Well then...if you all want to be Wonderbolts..." She swiftly turned around and shouted at them. "THEN GET UP THERE AND START FLYING! NOW!" She blew into her whistle and immediately all of the cadets jumped in the air and started flying.

Fleetfoot chuckled. "Wow, look at them go."

Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Sloppy. I'll be surprised if they even manage a hundred laps."

Wave Chill chuckled. "Gotta give them credit though, they do look determined a little."

Soarin smiled at his fellow Wonderbolts, but just as he was about to add his own opinion on the cadets, something caught his eye. He could see something flying towards them. "Hey, what's that?"

Spitfire and the others turned their attention to the small object that was heading in their direction. As soon as it got closer, they were able to make it out. A Pegasus.

The Pegasus bolted down towards them at an amazing speed and circled around them before touching down on solid ground. He was a silver Pegasus with a bright silver spiky mane and tail, and his cutie mark was a silver lightning bolt. He looked up from the ground and smirked at The Wonderbolts as they stared back at him. "Well, this place looks just like I expected it to..." He said.

Spitfire narrowed her eyes at him. "Who are you? Another cadet looking to try out for The Wonderbolts? Because if so you're already off to a bad start showing up late."

The Pegasus chuckled. "I'm not here to try out for some acrobatics group, I'm too good for that."

If there was one thing Spitfire hated, it was a Pegasus with a massive ego. "You think you're too good for The Wonderbolts huh?"

The Pegasus's smirk widened when he set his eyes on Spitfire. "I'm gonna take a wild that you're Spitfire, am I right?"

"Who's asking?" Spitfire replied.

Grinning, the Pegasus said, "My name is Blitz Bolt. Lieutenant of the Iron Empire, and loyal officer of lord Metal Wing."

Spitfire gave him a confused look. She knew she heard those names before, she couldn't exactly remember where though. Suddenly, just as she was piecing everything together, she heard a loud explosion behind her.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Soarin shouted as he and the others turned around. Their eyes all widened in horror when they saw a large number of black armoured Pegasi approaching the Academy from above. Not just Pegasi though, but Griffin aswell. Most of them were wielding various weapons such as swords, spears, bows and even crossbows. The rest of the Griffin however were carrying black armoured Unicorns who were firing their magic at everything in sight.

All of the cadets were already attempting to fly away but because the sky was surrounded, there was nowhere for them to run. "INSIDE! GET INSIDE NOW!" Fleetfoot shouted as she attempted to gather all of the cadets together, though her efforts were in vain as she ended up getting attacked and pinned by a few Griffin.

The Academy was completely surrounded, all of the cadets that attempted to get inside the main building were caught and taken captive by the Iron Empire troops, other Wonderbolts were attempting to fight back, while some were trying to get away due to being outnumbered. A majority of the Academy's security Ponies were brought down by the rain of arrows and bolts fired from the bows and crossbows the Iron Guards were wielding, much to Spitfire's horror.

Soarin and Wave Chill glared at Blitz Bolt, who was standing not far from them, watching everything happen with a proud smirk. "You're behind this?!"

Blitz Bolt raised a hoof. "Guilty as charged."

"Why you!" Wave Chill flew towards him but before he could even reach the silver Pegasus, two large Iron Guards had blocked his path and knocked him to the ground.

"WAVE CHILL!" Spitfire ripped her whistle and glasses off and flew in to help, followed by Soarin.

The two Pegasi were about to collide with the Iron Guards but the two black armoured Pegasi saw them coming and ducked quickly, barely dodging the Wonderbolts hits.

Spitfire landed on the ground and swiftly turned to glare at Blitz Bolt. "What do you think you're doing?! Who do you think you are attacking this Academy?!"

Blitz Bolt chuckled. "Don't take it personal Spitfire, lord Metal Wing just doesn't want you and your Wonderbolts allying yourselves with Celestia and Luna. If you did, that would make the Iron Empire's job of conquering Equestria a lot more difficult, and we certainly can't have that now."

Spitfire's eyes widened. It all made sense now. The rumours she heard, the rumours of some large force invading Equestria, it was the Iron Empire. Narrowing her eyes at Blitz Bolt, Spitfire said, "You're a member of the Iron Empire?"

"Absolutely." Blitz Bolt said before pointing at something. "And so is she."

Raising a brow in confusion, Spitfire turned around, only for her eyes to widen in horror as she found herself staring at the last Pegasus she ever expected to see again. "L-Lightning Dust?"

Lightning Dust just glared at her. "Good to see again Spitfire."

Before she could reply, Spitfire and Soarin were knocked to the ground and were pinned by a few Iron Guards. "Lightning Dust! You're in on this too?! ARE YOU INSANE?!"

Lightning Dust slowly approached Spitfire and said, "Insane? That's pretty funny coming from the same Pegasus who kicked me out of this very Academy."

Spitfire growled and attempted to lunge at the cyan Pegasus but she was overpowered and held in place by the two black armoured Griffins. "I CAN SEE I MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE TOO! I KNEW YOU WERE RECKLESS BUT THIS IS LOW EVEN FOR YOU!"

Lightning Dust winced a little but regained her composure before replying. "Reckless? I don't see what's reckless about being better than others. That's why you kicked me out of this Academy Spitfire. You knew I was too good, in fact, you were afraid that I'd prove to be better than even you so you decided to kick me out and stop me from doing the one thing I wanted to do the most. You had this coming."

Spitfire narrowed her eyes at her. "Yeah, you were good Lightning Dust. But I kicked you out because despite how good you were, you put others lives at risk and your continuous attempts at showing off ended up nearly hurting other Ponies. Even if you did prove yourself to be Wonderbolt material, it didn't mean a thing if you had to injure other Ponies just to prove it!"

Lightning Dust slapped her forehoof across Spitfire's face. "Shut up!" She shouted, earning an angry glare from the Wonderbolts Captain. "You don't know anything Spitfire! I worked my tail off and instead of rewarding me for it, you just threw me aside like trash, all out of jealousy and favouritism. You favoured Rainbow Dash over everypony else just because she was sucking up to you like some fanfilly, and just because she couldn't prove to be better than me, you decided to kick me out and gave what was mine to her. You're nothing but a hypocrite!"

Spitfire just glared at her. "...The Lightning Dust I knew some time ago wouldn't have sunk this low..."

Lightning Dust glared back at her before turning away. "You never knew me..." She said before walking over to Blitz Bolt.

Sighing, Spitfire looked up to see her fellow Wonderbolts, Soarin, Fleetfoot, Wave Chill and a few others being held by Iron Guards. Looking ahead, she could see all of the cadets were rounded up and were currently being held aswell. Things were definitely not looking good right now, and she was wondering if there was even a way to get out of this situation.

Blitz Bolt paced in front of the captive Wonderbolts and smirked. "You know, I always thought about what you Wonderbolts were like. Now that I've actually seen you all now, I realise there's nothing special about any of you. You're all just a bunch of Pegasi like every other Pegasus in Equestria, only a little faster." He stood in front of Soarin and said, "Do you think you're the fastest in the world?"

Soarin narrowed his eyes at him. "I know I'm fast, but I'm not egotistical to think something like that!"

Blitz Bolt rolled his eyes and walked in front of Spitfire. "So tell me Spitfire, did you ever plan on joining up with Celestia and Luna? Did you plan on allying your Wonderbolts to their side if they asked for your help?"

Spitfire frowned at him. "You bet I did. Now that I've seen just what kind of Ponies..." She looked at the Griffins. "And Griffins you all are, my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner." She attempted to move but she was still being restrained by two large Iron Guards.

Shrugging, Blitz Bolt walked on. "Oh well, that's too bad. I'm sure lord Metal Wing would have found a good use for all of you." He stopped in front of another Wonderbolt and continued. "If you really did plan helping Celestia and Luna then I guess it's a good thing we attacked this Academy. Getting rid of you Wonderbolts should ensure things remain relatively easy for us." He lowered his head until he was face to face with the Wonderbolt. "Wouldn't you agr-" Before he could finish, the Wonderbolt spat in his face.

"Rapidfire!" Soarin shouted out to the Wonderbolt.

Blitz Bolt growled as he stepped back to wipe his face, Rapidfire was pushed to the ground and received a few strikes from the two Iron Guards that had restrained him.

After wiping his face clean, Blitz Bolt glared daggers at the Wonderbolt. "You..."

Lightning Dust took a step back and watched nervously as things started to get much more serious than it was already was.

"If you're gonna kill us then just hurry up and get it over and done with. I'd rather die now than have to listen to an idiot like you." Rapidfire said.

Blitz Bolt started to grow angry, but just as he was about to reply, one of the Iron Guards next to him spoke up. "Lieutenant Blitz Bolt, you cannot let that stand. He must Pay The Iron Price."

Blitz Bolt's eyes widened as he turned to the Iron Guard. "W-What?"

The Iron Guard just nodded. Blitz Bolt looked back at Rapidfire before replying. "I'll just have him and the rest of them rot in a dungeon until-"

"No sir!" The Iron Guard interrupted him, approaching the silver Pegasus and began whispering to him. "How can you possibly prove your potential as a future Commander if you can't even set an example?"

While Lightning Dust watched on in confusion, Blitz Bolt just stared into the Iron Guard's eyes for a moment, letting his words sink in before making his decision. He turned to Rapidfire and said, "Very well, if you want to die, then I'll happily oblige!"

"NO! RAPIDFIRE!" Fleetfoot attempted to break free from the Iron Guards that held her but failed.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Spitfire shouted.

The Iron Guard waved his hoof and immediately, Rapidfire was dragged away from his Wonderbolts, all who were shouting for Blitz Bolt to let him go.

Two Griffins held his forelegs and positioned him so his head was leaning forward. After receiving a sword from the Iron Guard, Blitz Bolt slowly made his way over to Rapidfire.

Lightning Dust's eyes widened as she slowly started to realise what was about to happen, but in her head, she was hoping that it wasn't.

Blitz Bolt stood at Rapidfire's side and held the sword out. "Any last words Wonderbolt?"

Rapidfire slowly looked up at him. "It doesn't matter how many troops you have, it doesn't matter how powerful you are, the Princesses will stop you."

As they continued to glare at each other, Spitfire once again tried to break free from the Iron Guards that held her, but like the rest of her Wonderbolts, she failed. "LET HIM GO BLITZ BOLT!"

Ignoring her words, Blitz Bolt slowly raised the sword into the air and, after hesitating for a few seconds, finally swung it down on Rapidfire's neck. The sword failed to cut through, and Blitz Bolt, angered that he botched the execution, raised the sword and swung it into Rapidfire's neck again. Everypony, mostly the cadets, all screamed in horror and turned away, unable to watch as blood sprayed on the ground and Rapidfire weakly coughed out blood as the sword struck his neck again. Blitz Bolt let out a low growl as he still didn't succeed in beheading Rapidfire. Acting quickly, Blitz Bolt swung the sword down once more. Seeing that he still failed, Blitz Bolt, out of frustration, pulled the sword back and then hammered a forehoof into Rapidfire's limp head and finally succeeded in knocking it off.

Spitfire and her Wonderbolts all watched in horror as the head of their fellow Wonderbolt landed on the ground, his motionless body then followed, landing a pool of blood. Even Lightning Dust was unable to look away. She was expecting a lot of death to come, but not like this. To her, this was madness, and now she was more afraid than she was confident. It was too late for her to turn back now though.

Blitz Bolt just stared at the body of the headless Wonderbolt and breathed heavily after realising what he had just done. Despite how long he had been with the Iron Empire, this had been his very first time beheading somepony, and while he was angry that he botched it, he was more nervous than satisfied. In all honesty, he didn't want to kill the Wonderbolt, but he had to set an example just like the Iron Guard said, and the Wonderbolt brought that fate on himself the moment he decided to spit in Blitz Bolt's face.

"LET THAT BE A LESSON TO ALL THOSE WHO DARE OPPOSE THE IRON EMPIRE!" Blitz Bolt shouted as he dropped the sword.

Spitfire slowly moved her horrified gaze from Rapidfire's headless corpse to Blitz Bolt. "You...monster..."

Blitz Bolt turned his back to her. "I'm just following orders."

Spitfire narrowed her eyes at him. "Then kill me too. I dare you..."

"NO!" Soarin shouted as he turned to his Captain. "Don't provoke him Captain! He WILL do it!"

Shaking her head, Spitfire turned back to Blitz Bolt and said, "Come on. Unless you're afraid..."

Lightning Dust cast a worried glance at the silver Pegasus.

Blitz Bolt sighed and said, "Set her up."

The two Iron Guards that held Spitfire slowly dragged her forward just like Rapidfire and held her forelegs while positioning her so her head was leaning forward.

Blitz Bolt slowly walked back over to her and picked up the sword at his hoofs. "I may aswell kill you right now anyway, since you're the leader of The Wonderbolts. Atleast it'll send a message, and warn the rest of you not to interfere in this war."

Spitfire slowly looked up at him. "You'll die a slow and painful death for what you've done, I swear you will."

Blitz Bolt stepped back in fear for a moment but quickly regained his confidence before raising the sword into the air.

This was it, Spitfire was finally about to get what was coming to her, atleast that's what Lightning Dust was thinking at first. Now, she just wanted all of this to end right now.

Just as Blitz Bolt was about to bring the sword down, he was stopped by one of the Griffins. "Lieutenant Blitz Bolt!"

"What is it?" Blitz Bolt replied as he turned around.

He immediately wished he hadn't.

The moment he turned and looked up at the sky where the Griffin was pointing, he saw a large crowd of Royal Guards from Canterlot flying towards them. And leading them, was Celestia and Luna.

"What the...HOW DID THEY KNOW WE WERE HERE?!" Blitz Bolt shouted.

Taking advantage of their distraction, Spitfire successfully yanked her forelegs out of the Iron Guards grips and swung her hind leg against both of their legs, quickly bringing them to the ground.

Seeing her making her move, Soarin and the rest of The Wonderbolts then joined in, successfully breaking free and taking down the ones who held them.

"WONDERBOLTS! ATTACK!" Spitfire shouted.

Blitz Bolt's eyes widened as he heard the Pegasus and was surprised when he turned to see all of The Wonderbolts and the cadets fighting back against the Iron Guards. Their efforts were in vain at first, but the moment the Royal Guards landed to assist them, everything erupted into a massive free for all.

"Uh-oh..." Blitz Bolt backed away until he was at Lightning Dust's side. "I think it's time we get-" He didn't get to finish as he was literally tackled to the ground by Spitfire.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR KILLING RAPIDFIRE!" Spitfire shouted as she punched Blitz Bolt repeatedly.

Blitz Bolt growled as he shielded his face with his forelegs, though it didn't help much.

Celestia and Luna touched down on solid ground and looked around at the horror around them. While the Royal Guards and The Wonderbolts were clashing against the Iron Guards, Fleetfoot and Wave Chill were trying to get the cadets to safety, some of them were fighting of course but the majority of them just weren't trained fighters.

Lightning Dust quickly tackled Spitfire off of Blitz Bolt and rushed back to help the silver Pegasus up. "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" Blitz Bolt snapped as he glared at Spitfire who was getting back to her hoofs.

"Retreat!"

"Pull back!"

Blitz Bolt's eyes widened when he heard those shouts echo in the air. He turned around just in time to see a majority of the Iron Guards flying away from the Academy. Any Iron Guards who had stayed behind were caught or killed, though Celestia and Luna were trying their best to keep as much death from happening as possible.

By the time the fighting died down, everything finally went quiet and Blitz Bolt and Lightning Dust now found themselves facing down Celestia, Luna, Spitfire, the Royal Guards and The Wonderbolts. All other Iron Guards had run away, any others, were currently being held by a few of the Lunar Guards.

Celestia and Luna slowly approached and stopped next to Spitfire. "Captain Spitfire, please calm down..." Celestia said upon noticing the angry expression on Spitfire's face.

Spitfire growled. "He murdered one of my Wonderbolts, calming down is the last thing on my mind."

"There's already been enough killing, don't let anger cloud your better judgment, please." Celestia said softly.

Heeding the Princesses words, Spitfire took a few deep breaths before finally calming down, not by much though.

Celestia turned to Blitz Bolt and said, "Why did you attack this Academy Blitz Bolt? The Wonderbolts are not your enemy."

Blitz Bolt narrowed his eyes at her. "Everypony who is loyal to the two of you is our enemy."

Upon setting her sights on Lightning Dust, Celestia let out a soft gasp. "Are you converting others to your side aswell now?"

"Lightning Dust joined us of her own free will! She was mistreated here so she joined up with us! Unlike Spitfire and that egotistical Rainbow Dash, we respect her and admire her talent for being a great flier, and she most certainly will prove a capable officer of the Iron Empire!" Blitz Bolt said.

Luna frowned slightly at him. "You're taking advantage of her! That's all you're doing!" She turned to Lightning Dust. "Lightning Dust, surely thou does not truly wish to join up with the Iron Empire."

Lightning Dust just looked away, unable to meet the Princess's gaze. Blitz Bolt rolled his eyes and stepped in front of her. "Enough of that. Lightning Dust is on our side, she's made her choice. Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be taking our leave now."

Celestia spoke up. "Blitz Bolt, there's no need for any of this, if we can merely speak with Metal Wing then perhaps we can end this without any more bloodshed."

Blitz Bolt laughed. "Ha! Yeah right! You persuade me to talk lord Metal Wing into meeting up with you, and when he does show up you ambush him with your stupid little Elements of Harmony, sorry, but that's not happening."

Luna narrowed her eyes at him. "How dare you assume we would do such a deceitful thing!" She charged up her horn. "Besides, you're not exactly in any position to be going anywhere, what makes you think we will just let you leave?"

Blitz Bolt smirked. "Good question."

Before another word could be said, a large blue light appeared behind the Princesses. Jumping out of the light, was the blind and silent Unicorn, Vanisher.

Vanisher leaped through the air and passed between the Princesses. While in the air, he charged up his horn and fired two beams of magic at them. Because Celestia and Luna were not expecting him to show, they had no time to defend themselves from the stun beams he fired at them.

Everypony watched in shock as both Princesses were dropped to the ground by the two blasts of magic.

Vanisher landed in front of Blitz Bolt and immediately charged up his horn again. A new blue light reappeared behind them.

Blitz Bolt chuckled. "You know Vanisher, your Warp Gate spell really comes in handy." He turned to the Princesses and said, "Until next time Princesses!" He laughed as he jumped through the Warp Gate, followed then by Lightning Dust.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" Spitfire shouted as she flew towards Vanisher.

Seeing her approach, Vanisher quickly jumped backwards into his Warp Gate and disappeared along with the spell.

Spitfire slid across the ground and looked back to see the light was indeed gone, all she could see now were the stunned faces of the Wonderbolts, the Princesses and their Royal Guards.

So much had just happened in a short amount of time. Feeling like there was nothing she could do, Spitfire did the only thing she could right now and screamed up at the sky.