The pegasi came from all directions and all at once. Airheart had no possible reaction save to watch as they exploded out of the nearby clouds, and even then she didn’t do a particularly good job. She counted three, but judging by the colors of the blurs there must have been at least two more. They moved to fast and in too hard-to-follow a motion for Airheart to be sure. She was only able to get a good count once they finally made their attack.
Four ponies in total converged on Lightning Flash simultaneously. The unicorn had already drawn his crossbow, and had even managed to fire a bolt at one of the charging pegasi, but by then it was too late. While the pony that Lightning Flash had fired on was forced to move out of the way, the other three pegasi hit their target head on and effectively crushed him between the combined force of their hooves.
Of course now that the enemies were in clear view, Airheart was free to attack. Additionally, since they had made their intentions abundantly clear, the mare had no qualms about tearing them apart. The first one she tackled evidently hadn’t expected her, because it was foal’s play to tear the goggles off his face. Airheart was forced to pause once she had removed the goggles though. Watching as the pegasus she had just attacked dissolved was too distracting for her to think about anything else for a moment.
Airheart had remembered Lightning Flash’s story about the disappearing pegasus from before. That was why she had gone for the goggles in the first place. However, she had expected it to be more instantaneous, or at least less painful. Airheart was positive she saw the pegasus struggle as he faded away, though he never made another sound.
“Brolly!” one of the other pegasi screamed.
Airheart decided to remember that as she tightened her grip on his goggles. Along with his name, she repeated his features in her mind. “Brolly: white pegasus, blue mane, umbrella cutie mark.”
Unfortunately this unnecessary repetition distracted Airheart from the battle, and now the attacking pegasi were just as hostile towards her as they were towards Lightning Flash. Airheart was brought back to this fight as painfully as possible courtesy of a hoof that struck her right in the face. The pegasus managed to right herself before she crashed into the clouds, primarily because her foe had struck her with an uppercut. After that, she lost hold of the goggles, but returned to her senses.
Immediately after Airheart recovered, she looked straight back toward the battlefield. Only one of the three remaining ponies was charging her. The other two were busy in struggles with Strawberry Sunrise and Lightning Flash. The pegasus stopped just short of her and raised his hooves. This one was a pink pegasus with a dark blue mane. Airheart couldn’t quite make out his eyes through the blurry goggles, but she recognized the raindrop cutie mark on his flank.
“Serenity, that’s your name right?” Airheart asked.
The other pegasus nodded. “And you’re Airheart right? Why are you helping that monster?”
Airheart glanced down toward Lightning Flash. He, along with Strawberry, was busy dodging the blows of one of the remaining pegasi. “What do you mean,” she asked, glancing back at Serenity.
Serenity snickered and shook his head. “You don’t even know him do you? You’re just with him because he’s the only other pony you’ve met.” Airheart shied backwards a tad after this. Serenity was right, but at the same time she still hadn’t seen him do anything wrong. “He’s killed two pegasi, Airheart!”
Airheart shook her head and floated forward. “It was in self-defense,” she shouted back, “Your friends attacked him!”
Serenity balked briefly at this accusation, but only briefly. In a moment he had calmed himself and started talking again. “Are you sure about that? Did you see the fights yourself?” Airheart shied back again and paused. She took another look at the stallion below her. He was fighting viciously. The pegasus glanced back up to see that Serenity had lowered his hooves to his side. Airheart felt the tears begin to well up again.
Then Airheart glanced down again, this time at Strawberry. The yellow pegasus was fighting every bit as viciously as Lightning Flash. In fact, if the smile on her face was any indication, she was actually enjoying it more. Airheart suddenly felt her vigor rekindle, and she turned back to Serenity. “One question,” she stated firmly. Serenity once again balked slightly at her tone. “Who is the queen?”
Immediately after Airheart uttered her final word, the sympathetic look left Serenity’s face and he charged. Airheart was ready for him when he came; she knew his weak-point after all. It was a simple punch with her right hoof that cracked the goggles and caused Serenity to rapidly fade away. The fade away set in quickly enough for the pegasus to simply pass straight through both Airheart and the goggles. She didn’t feel a thing.
Airheart didn’t cry this time as she tossed the new pair of wrecked goggles around her neck. She hadn’t known Serenity well, but she was confident that whatever she had talked to hadn’t been him. She still felt like she had to keep the goggles though. They still served as a good memorial for her, even if it wasn’t quite accurate. “Serenity: pink pegasus, blue mane, three raindrops,” she thought aloud.
“Are you okay Airheart?” Airheart was shaken from her thoughts more gently this time, thanks to Strawberry’s call. After a moment she looked back down to see that both of the other pegasi had been dealt with. They weren’t there anymore in any case.
“I’m okay,” Airheart relayed as she floated down to join her companions. Strawberry appeared to be okay, so her first instinct once she landed was to find Lightning Flash. She did quickly as the unicorn was dusting himself off only a few feet away from where she settled down.
Lightning Flash’s look initially frightened her. His mane was up and his coat was mildly scorched, just like it had been when she had dropped him not more than an hour ago. However, Airheart’s fright waned quickly one she saw his face. He was wearing his prideful smile as he dusted the soot off. This time he actually did look funny, and Airheart found that the image did cheer her up. “Well that was certainly a trial,” the unicorn said as he lowered his mane, his gleam of pride completely undiminished.
Airheart actually had to hold in a chuckle for fear of insulting Lightning Flash after this statement. In the end she had to replace it with a sentence and attempt to pass it off as a stutter. “S-so, is everypony okay then?” she asked.
“I’m just fine over here,” Strawberry chuckled as she threw a hoof around Airheart. “And as you can see, you’re coltfriend over there is fine too.” Airheart blushed and turned away. She hadn’t even realized that the way she had looked at Lightning Flash could be misconstrued as admiration. Once she had cleared her blush and turned back, she saw that the unicorn was now looking at her with his prideful smile.
Rather than express her annoyance at this expression being aimed at her, primarily because doing so would inevitably lead to an argument, Airheart chose to change the subject. “So how far is town hall from here Strawberry?” she asked as she floated up from the cloud.
“Not far,” Strawberry responded as she joined Airheart. The sly smile didn’t leave her face though. She merely pointed it at Lightning Flash rather than her fellow pegasus. The unicorn’s response was to simply shrug and get back to walking.
The three were able to make it to town hall without incident after that. It was less than a minute’s flight from where they had dealt with the four pegasi. Even with Lightning Flash’s ardent refusal to be carried, it only took them about ten minutes to make it there. Of course, the trio was forced to stop before even coming into dashing range of the main door.
“I count two guards,” Lightning Flash said once the trio had ducked behind another building. “So at least that means we’re on the right track.”
“They wouldn’t guard a building if somepony important wasn’t inside right?” Strawberry clarified.
Both Lightning Flash and Airheart shot Strawberry a mildly annoyed look once she’d finished. For Airheart it was because she didn’t feel the need for clarification. However, when Lightning Flash continued speaking, it was clear that he was more annoyed by the interruption than anything else. “That’s right,” he said, “So that means we have to get in there.”
“We should avoid combat until we get inside if possible,” AIrheart interjected. “If we do have to fight, it’s better to get pegasi in enclosed spaces anyway, so if we can’t talk the queen down, we’ll be in a better position.”
Lightning Flash rolled his eyes when Airheart mentioned talking the queen down, but he did nod in the end. “If we can get inside and finish their leader first, then I have a feeling we’ll win.” The unicorn trotted to the edge of their hideout and took another look at the building. “I think we can go in through the window. Airheart, I’ll need you to carry me again.”
Airheart nodded in response before once more remembering that Lightning Flash couldn’t see her at the moment. “I can handle it,” she said.
“I guess I should go in first then,” Strawberry said cheerfully as she floated above the clouds. “I’ll move around to the other side. We can enter at the same time.” With that the pegasus shot Airheart a wink and flew off. Airheart found herself blushing once more.
Lightning Flash held his breath as he watched Strawberry fly off around the building. He only let it out once she was safely out of sight. “Alright Airheart,” he said, “Before we take off I need something from you.” Airheart nodded. “Good. I need you to put my bow in your saddlebag.”
Airheart paused before nodding for this one. “What for?” she asked. She couldn’t understand why Lightning Flash would want to go unarmed.
“Just trust me,” Lightning Flash responded as he trotted toward her. At this, Airheart did nod. She wasn’t sure whether or not he was trustworthy, but all the unicorn was doing was disarming himself after all. Lightning Flash nodded in response and calmly levitated the weapon into Airheart’s right-hoof bag. With that, Lightning turned around and nodded for Airheart to lift him.
The trip was quick. It had to be; otherwise the pair might have been seen. Airheart stopped just short of the building’s right window. The window was shaded though, so she couldn’t make out the pegasus on the other side of the building. “I suppose we’ll just have to enter right away,” Lightning Flash grunted. “Don’t worry, she’ll hear the breaking glass.” Airheart nodded and charged in.
What the pair saw surprised them somewhat. Inside the town hall wasn’t an army of any sort. Only one pegasus stood before them. That pegasus Airheart recognized as none other than Rainbow Dash. She was wearing a pair of goggles, just like everypony else. “Hey you guys finally made it,” the colorful mare said from her perch at the balcony, “It’s about time.”
Airheart stared blankly at Rainbow Dash as she floated down to the town hall floor and set her companion down. She looked like the same Rainbow Dash that Airheart remembered. The only thing new about her was the lightning bolt necklace around her neck. “Rainbow Dash what are you doing here?” Airheart asked. She was mostly thinking out loud, but it was a question that needed asking.
Unfortunately, before she could get her answer Airheart was grabbed from behind, and her mouth was covered by a yellow hoof. She immediately knew who it belonged to, even before her captor spoke. “Sorry dear,” Strawberry chuckled, “It’s not my fault you wouldn’t listen to reason.”
Airheart would have moved to struggle, but before she could even try she heard a loud twang come from her bag. Airheart wasn’t terribly surprised when Strawberry’s hooves began to fade away, but she was disturbed. There was no way that a bolt from her saddlebag could only have severed Strawberry’s goggles.
“Airheart help!” Lightning Flash shouted from across the room. Before Airheart could fall into her newest existential crisis, she turned her attention back to the unicorn. Lightning Flash was locked in a struggle with Rainbow Dash, and he was losing badly. Rainbow Dash had lifted him into the air and was doing her best to throw him into one of the nearby storm clouds. The only thing that was keeping her from picking up speed and breaking the unicorn’s grip was Lightning’s constant barrage of crossbow bolts. Airheart wasn’t sure how many of those he had, but she knew that they probably wouldn’t last him much longer.
Airheart steeled herself again and charged the enemy. Rather than attack Rainbow Dash though, a fight she was fairly certain she’d lose, Airheart aimed straight for Lightning Flash. Catching the unicorn wasn’t difficult; Rainbow Dash wasn’t expecting another pegasus to intervene. However, once Airheart had managed to get a good grip on Lightning Flash, she was completely unsure where to go from there.
Airheart hovered for a moment to look for an exit. Unfortunately for her, and Lightning Flash, a moment’s hesitation was all Rainbow Dash needed to regain her advantage. With a single punch, the colorful pegasus sent Airheart and Lightning Flash crashing through the wall of the building. Somehow Airheart managed to keep her grip on the unicorn the whole time. Perhaps the shock causing her muscles to seize up actually helped.
Airheart managed to recover just in time to avoid striking another storm cloud, but not in time to avoid another strike from Rainbow Dash. This time the pegasus was unable to hold her grip on Lightning Flash, but that was mostly because she didn’t intend to. Rainbow Dash had sent Airheart rocketing into the air with this latest punch, so she was happy that he was now relatively safe on the ground.
Of course, once Airheart managed to recover, she saw that relatively safety was still hardly safe. A good distance below her Lightning Flash was now locked in a battle with two pegasi, and she still had his weapon.
“Stop right there Airheart,” Airheart paused just short of throwing the crossbow to her companion upon hearing Rainbow Dash. When Airheart glanced back upwards she saw that the pegasus was floating in front of her, her hooves raised in a gesture of good will. “We don’t need to hurt eachother,” she said.
Airheart paused and lowered the crossbow. She took another glance downward before answering. “Then why are you and your friends attacking us?” Airheart shot the mare across from her a glare when she’d finished.
“Let me rephrase that,” Rainbow Dash said with a wave of her hoof. “You and I don’t need to hurt eachother. That guy down there; he needs to die.”
Airheart shook her head and glanced down again. This time for another reason though. Just as she’d suspected, Lightning Flash’s crossbow was still loaded. There were two bolts left. She made sure to take a look at the unicorn himself as well of course. He was holding up well.
“Why does he have to die?” Airheart demanded as she watched the fight below her and quietly searched for the crossbow’s trigger.
“I’m not gonna lie, I don’t really know.” Confused, Airheart glanced back at Rainbow Dash. She was shrugging. “All I know for sure is that the princess said that he’s responsible for this whole situation.” Again Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Well him and five other ponies anyway.”
“How is that possible?” Airheart asked. Her grip of the crossbow loosened slightly, and she took another glance at Lightning Flash.
“Don’t ask me. I’m just here to clean up the mess.”
“No,” Airheart interrupted, “How is it possible for the princess to tell you this.” Airheart looked back up at Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t speaking. In fact she seemed confused by the question. Airheart tightened her grip on the bow, and slowly moved it upward. Rainbow Dash was too busy shaking her head to notice.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Rainbow Dash mumbled once she finally calmed down. Her hooves were rubbing her head though. “When did Twilight tell me?” Airheart had a clear shot now, but she hesitated. Rainbow Dash seemed sincerely confused and worried. Maybe she could still be reasoned with.
“Tell them to stop, Rainbow Dash,” Airheart said with a nod downward. Rainbow Dash responded by lowering her arms. At first Airheart assumed she was doing it in capitulation; then she noticed that Rainbow Dash’s goggles had fogged up.
Airheart was confused before the pegasus charged her. Luckily she still had the bow at the ready. It only took one hit to crack the lenses and cause Rainbow Dash to fade away, but Airheart had to fire both bolts in order to score that hit. Once she did though, she was sure it was over. She caught both the necklace and the broken goggles as they continued to fly towards her. Rainbow Dash, or what was left of her anyway, simply passed through.
Airheart began to cry again as she gripped the accessories. “Strawberry Sunrise: yellow pegasus, pink mane, strawberry mark,” she thought aloud. She didn’t get to Rainbow Dash though. Before she could she saw a new threat looming in the distance. It was too far away to make out, but it was clearly very large.
Airheart calmed herself down and flew back to Lightning Flash. The unicorn was a tired mess now, but he was alive. Both of the other pegasi were gone now. Either they’d vanished along with Rainbow Dash, or Lightning Flash had taken them out himself. Airheart honestly wasn’t sure which was more likely but it didn’t matter.
After a moment Lighting Strike turned up to Airheart and raised a hoof. “Not yet Airheart,” he said, “Take off the goggles first.” The expression he wore was not one of pride, but worry. Airheart noticed he had a few crossbow bolts left, and all of them were pointed at her.
Airheart quietly nodded and felt the tears take over again. She had wondered why the crossbow was put in her bag. There was no way that Lightning Flash could have predicted that Strawberry would grab her in just the right way. Silently, Airheart dropped the bow and lifted her goggles off with her now free hoof. Once she had, Lightning Flash sheathed his bolts and his bow with a smile on his face.
“Nice work out there,” Lightning Flash commented. The prideful smile was back. “So did you learn anything when you were up there talking with their leader?”
Airheart shook her head and put her goggles back. “The only thing I learned is that she wasn’t really their leader.” Airheart tearfully glanced to the pendant. Rainbow Dash had been controlled somehow, but not as strongly. She couldn’t help but wonder if this thing had something to do with it.
“Is that thing important?” Lightning Flash asked.
Airheart nodded. “I’m not sure how, but yeah. I think so.”
As soon as Airheart nodded the necklace floated out of her hoof and wrapped itself around Lightning Flash’s neck. “I think I’d better watch this one. I have a feeling you’ve already got your hooves full with the goggles after all.” Airheart stare at him blankly for just a moment. Then she nodded and threw Rainbow Dash’s goggles over her head. She didn’t want to risk upsetting Lightning now that she knew how willing he was to kill her. She did start to cry again though. She had never been a very good actor.
Lightning didn’t notice however. In fact Airheart herself hardly noticed. Both of them were suddenly distracted by a loud bellow the came from above them. When Ariheart looked up, she saw an actual hippogryph flying towards them. She suddenly remembered the shadow from earlier. That it might be something like this had never even crossed her mind. “Wha,” Lightning uttered as the beast approached.
Their confusion only grew once the hippogryph flew closer. This was primarily because the creature didn’t appear to be hostile, then it was because the creature appeared to be coming in for a gentle landing, and finally it reached its peak when Airheart and Lightning spotted the pair of ponies sitting on the beast’s back.
“See lazy, I told you I saw some ponies flying around over here,” one of the ponies said. This one was a mare that Airheart had never seen before; an earth pony with a white coat and a red mane. Somehow this made the fact that she was riding a hippogryph even more confusing.
The lazy she referred to was somepony Airheart did recognize however. His name was Spectrum, he worked at the weather factory, and he seemed strangely nonchalant from his seat on the flying hippo. He did show a reaction once he saw Airheart however. “It’s good to see that somepony else is still alive,” he said. It wasn’t much, but at least it confirmed that he wasn’t sleeping.
“We were just about to head to that castle in the distance before we saw you guys,” the mare spoke up again. “If you and your coltfriend want, I think Hipster’s got a little extra room.” The mare smiled the entire time she spoke. She struck Airheart as strangely happy, considering the situation they were in. As a result the pegasus was hesitant to approach.
Lightning on the other hoof approached gladly and hopped onto the back of the hippogryph instantly. Airheart thought this was a touch strange for him, until she realized where he’d chosen to seat himself. He was about one pony’s length from Spectrum, who sat behind the mare. “Don’t worry, Airheart, they won’t hurt us,” the unicorn said with a prideful smile.
Airheart nodded and floated up to take a seat on the beast, making sure to squeeze herself between Spectrum and this new mare. “Thank you very much,” she said.
“Ah it’s no problem,” the mare responded. Then with another roar the hippogryph took off. “I’m Stinger by the way.” Stinger flourish her right hoof as she spoke, revealing a bracelets that seemed to match her name.
“I’m Airheart,” Airheart responded. “And that guy in the back is Lightning.” Stinger smiled back to Airheart for a moment before turning away. It was the most normal smile she’d seen that whole day. “By the way,” Airheart decided to finish before she started tearing up again, “He’s not my coltfriend."