Spitfire gave a low growl in the back of her throat as she rocketed through the sky after the fleeing griffon, turning her wings at a slight angle to slice cleanly through the clouds around her. This bitch was not going to get away. A trail of lightning and a line of light blue wind zipped above her head, and Spitfire gave a pleased nod. Her wingmares were getting in position for a diving assault on the griffon; all Spitfire needed to do was keep her attention.

“Stop in the name of the Celestial Sisters!” she snarled loudly, the voice modulation enchantment in her armor sending it clearly down to the fleeing griffon.

Spitfire and her team had been on patrol when they had spotted the griffon sneaking through the cordon around Cloudsdale General; an invisibility charm keeping her out of sight… until she breached Princess Sparkle’s Anti-charm Array. Trying to stop her for questioning had left Soarin’ with a nasty cut across the cheek, and left the rest of the Wonderbolts enraged and in pursuit.

“We’re ready, ma’am!” Fleetfoot called over the radio, “Execute Meteor Maneuver?”

“Take her down,” Spitfire growled back, tucking her wings in for a dive as the griffon suddenly banked for a nearby nimbus.

Spitfire was built for endurance and power, with larger wings than most pegasi, but Fleetfoot and Lightning Dust were speed incarnate; their dual contrails merged together as they blasted out of the high clouds they had been hiding in, flight-claws outstretched to clip the fleeing griffon. Sensing the attack, the griffon suddenly flipped onto her back, and Spitfire paled.

“Disengage, she’s armed!”

The blunderbuss was a new form of musket technology used in the Griffon Kingdoms; a gun that fired a cloud of small pellets at close range. The deep boom was swept away by the wind, but the cloud of pellets slammed into Lightning with a red mist. Her agonized scream cut across the comm, and Spitfire’s stomach dropped as the pegasi began to cart-wheel through the air.

“Fle-”

“Get Lightning, Boss! I’ve got her!”

Nodding once, Spitfire folded her wings to her side, zooming down to the flailing, bleeding Lightning Dust and snatching her close to her chest before spreading her wings once more to catch her momentum. Lightning was alive, for the moment, but her uniform was quickly soaking through with blood, and one wing was fluffed and peppered by the pellets that had struck it. Her amber eyes, cloudy with pain, looked up at Spitfire weakly.

“C-captain…”

Get her Lightning. Spitfire had another friend to save.
************************

Oh, this bitch was dead. She was oh so very dead. Fleetfoot hissed a bit as she dived through the nimbus clouds, feeling the static cling to every inch of her wings and fur. The blades on her hooves were sparking and crackling with it, and Fleetfoot was quite eager to jam them into that damned griffon. The gap between them was fading quickly, and Fleetfoot could see the griffon’s sides were rising and falling rapidly. She was exhausted! Good enough for Fleetfoot. With a cry and a flap of her speed-built wings, she raised her blades over her head, stabbing them into the cloud with all her might.

Though the deceleration was jarring, probably tweaking a few muscles in her back, the results were worth it. The world turned white for a split second, then blew apart. The almighty lightning bolt slammed into the griffon with full force, forcing her wings to extend and burning off a great deal of her feathers and fur. The agonized cry rose to meet Fleetfoot… just as she descended with a snarl, spinning so her back hooves smashed into the griffon’s right wing, which snapped with a resounding crack. The unconscious griffon tumbled end over end out of the nimbus cloud… just in time to caught by several waiting pegasi of the First Air Wing, all holding muskets and halberds.

Fleetfoot sighed in relief at the sight of her comrades… and turned about, powering back towards the hospital. She had to see to Lightning Dust.
********************

Rainbow Dash watched with awe as the three Princesses sat around Lightning Dust, their horns glowing softly, magical auras mingling across the unconscious pony. Dash’s room had gotten very busy, rather quickly. She’d been curled up with her uniform- and a new copy of Daring Do, courtesy of Twilight, when a team of doctors had wheeled a badly bleeding Lightning Dust into the room. Rainbow had been… stunned. She hadn’t seen Lightning Dust since Academy! How had she gotten injured? Did it have to do with that big lightning bolt? With a soft wince, Rainbow Dash buried her questions deep and looked down at her bed. It wasn’t her place to ask that. Let the Princesses do their job.

A soft wing gently folded over Rainbow’s side, and she jerked her head up in surprise. Spitfire. She was smiling softly at Rainbow, hair slicked back from what had to be some extreme flying. A pang of jealousy fluttered across Rainbow’s heart, but something… else was there. Something she hadn’t felt since… flight school… Heartwing? Gah! No no no! No, nope, she could not be getting feelings for Spitfire! If there was anypony that deserved better, it was her! Been even with that screaming in her mind, Rainbow shyly leaned into the wing-hug, a blush lighting her cheeks.

“You okay, kid?” she whispered softly, and Rainbow’s ear splayed immediately.

“I-I… yes! Y-yeah, everything’s… everything’s fine…”

Her eyes peered back over at Lightning.

“I-is… she gonna be o-okay?” she asked worriedly, sniffling.

She may not have exactly seen eye to eye with Lightning Dust at the Academy, but… they certainly weren’t enemies. Rivals, maybe, but… Rainbow looked up and squeaked at Spitfire’s sorrowful expression.

“Dunno, kid. She took… a real bad hit. But with the Princesses here…”

Spitfire shook her head, shaggy mane going every which way.

“We’ll just have to see.”

The door slid open, and Fleetfoot carefully crept past the working alicorns, peeking sheepishly at Spitfire and Rainbow. To Dash’s surprise, the second-best flier in the Wonderbolts hopped up on her other side, her right wing extending to cover Rainbow protectively. Looking between them with wide eyes, Rainbow shyly settled down onto her belly, body warming as the other two pegasi settled down with her. It was like the most comfortable blanket in the world, and she couldn’t help me smile a bit. This… was nice. Very nice. Her eyes crept back to Lightning Dust; she was breathing a bit easier now, and her fur was a healthier color. Come on Twilight… Celestia… Luna… please.
*****************

It had been several hours since they had worked to save the young Lightning Dust, and Princess Luna was not a happy alicorn. She paced slowly in front of the bound and shackled griffon, face locked into that of intense concentration as she studied her captive. Her glowing eyes and flowing mane, combined with the pure darkness of the interrogation room and the deep snorts of her Night Guards tended to do well to unnerve the captives. It also gave Luna time to study her. The griffon was female of about middle age, badly burned and sporting a broken wing. Her injuries had been treated thoroughly, but not gently, and she was rather bruised up.

“L-look just… I-I can’t tell you anything, just… p-put me in prison,” the griffon muttered after a moment, and Luna couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

“For the attempted murder of the members of the Wonderbolts? Beast, prison is the least of your worries.”

The griffon honestly looked surprised, then terrified.

“W-wait,” she managed shakily, “P-ponies don’t have the death penalty!”

“Says your government. I’d pray to Death that she does not take Our soldier.”

Interesting. The griffon was certainly no assassin; her paleness and shaking spoke volumes. She had been here for another reason.

“Are you a member of the Griffon military? Was this an act of war on their part?”

“N-no!” the griffon yelled immediately, eyes wide.

“Then who are you, beast?”

She winced, trembling faintly.

“M-my name is Heshra Prou-... j-just Heshra.”

Foal. Luna laughed inwardly at the misspoken word. Proudfeather. She knew the clan well; a noble clan from North Griffonia. But of course, she couldn’t let the griffon know she had spotted the mistake. Her horn’s glow, disguised by the darkness of the room, conjured up dozens of gleaming eyes and teeth, snarls and roars berating the shaking griffon.

“I will call you whatever I wish to call you, Beast.”

And with a soft pop, she teleported out of the room, leaving Heshra with the imaginary monsters. Luna reappeared in front of a cold Celestia and a shaking, fiery Twilight; she nodded slightly to them both.

“North Griffonia. I do not believe she was here to kill Rainbow Dash. But capture again? Possibly. I will be back for the griffon soon.”

Celestia nodded tersely, wings flaring.

“I will muster our military on the borders of North Griffonia. We must stop anything like this from happening again. Ever again…”