Several pairs of eyes could be felt upon the two night guards as they guided the carriage to a stop in a small clearing in the trees. While most ponies would have wilted from the gaze of half a dozen griffins, they remained at attention and steadfast.
The first light of the sun could be seen as the sky began to brighten, bringing its color to a deep dark blue. The day was approaching but it was still dark, still within the realm of the night.
All at once, several of the griffins pounced on the two before they could even disconnect themselves from the chariot, taking them both to the ground but for the most part leaving them unharmed. A pair of griffins for each, holding them pinned to the ground by their wings as they struggled against them.
As Luna's eyes widened at the display of aggression from her seat in the cart. She noticed one of the griffins, slightly smaller than the others, stood at the side of the vehicle. He was a lighter shade of gold than the others and wore a pair of round lensed glasses. By his looks, Luna deduced that this was most likely the griffin ambassador.
“I must say, this is quite the welcome you have prepared for us.” She said, disdain in every word.
“We wish it didn't have to come down to this, but our claws are tied.” He frowned a little. “We would appreciate it if you would come quietly and not put up any resistance. Do so and you have my word that neither of your guards will be harmed. We would like them to report back to your land of your capture anyway.” The statement made both of the said guards renew their struggling against their captors.
It would seem that her instincts had been right, though it was strange that they decided to escalate things so quickly. She still didn't even know why it was they were acting so hostile to them.
“Fine.” She said evenly. “But I would like to know why it is exactly that you are doing this. The griffins, while known for your quick tempers and brutish manners, have always been a proud and honorable race. The tribes from a thousand years ago would never have stooped to something like kidnapping in order to make a point. So why now? Have we done something to offend the nation of Griffinia?”
Some of the surrounding griffins balked at her words. It looks like things haven't changed in the last thousand years. Griffins were big on honor and justice. Maybe she could just reason with them and avoid this whole thing. “I would be happy to help resolve any problems between us in any way I can.”
“You talk as if you don't know!” One of the griffins that had been standing back by the ambassador lashed out, his face contorted in rage. “For the past three months every river that once flowed through the valley and our lands have dried up and have become void of water. Its come to the point where there is no longer enough to go around. Every griffin here has a family back home that is threatened by this. And now that the main river has been dammed and dried up there is no longer time to play fair. A nation as big as Equestria would be impossible to start a war with. If this is what it takes for our families to be safe, then it is a dishonor we are willing to bear.”
All of the griffins seemed to steady themselves at his words showing that they were, in fact, more than willing to do what it took.
The griffin ambassador held up a wing for silence from his group and turned his attention back to the princess of the night.“There is no way that you could not have known. We sent many letters to the city behind the border about our plea to halt the building of those dams. None of them were ever responded to and some of our messengers were even turned away at the border before they could even deliver them. It wasn't until we sent an official envoy for a meeting that we even got any response from either of Equestria's two princesses.”
Somepony must have been intercepting the letters and keeping them quiet. This wasn't good, not only were they ready for a fight but they had a good reason to as well. They were just protecting themselves and their families. But she wouldn't let herself get captured here, she had to get back and tell her sister what was happening. She had to try again, this could still be resolved without violence.
“Equestria is a vast land. We cannot see everything that happens in our kingdom, especially when it occurs at the edges. I cannot speak for my sister but I never received any of the letters that may have been sent. You don't have to do this, we will personally see to it that this wrong is righted. I can talk to my sister and we can fix this.”
“I'm sorry, but its too late for that. We need a princess as a captive in order to ensure that the dams get torn down. To be honest, I didn't really expect one of the princesses to come here so freely. But now that you are here, this will make sure that we have at least one bargaining chip, even if the others fail.”
“Others?” Her eyes narrowed at the griffin. “What others?!”
“Well, we couldn't just put all of our faith that one of you would show up here tonight.” He said simply. “So we sent a group to Canterlot in order to make sure we succeeded.”
Canterlot! They were after her sister too?!
“You foals! This is not the way to fix this!” This would only cause unrest among the public and make more problems. And if they did succeed, then there would be no saving face. Dark deeds should not be responded to with more of the same, especially if her sister and her played no hoof in this transgression to begin with.
“Maybe not... but its the path we've chosen.” He said finally. “Take her.”
The two griffins that flanked the leader moved to restrain her but as soon as they went to take hold of of the midnight alicorn, their talons passed right through her and the princess seemed to blink out of existence.
“Its an illusion!” Cried one of them.
“Where is she?!” The short griffin growled out.
The surrounding griffins began to panic as several root-like tentacles shot out of the earth, causing the earth to splinter around the two downed night guards, the griffins holding them broke away to create distance between them and now thrashing giant roots.
Luna didn't have nearly as much magic in her as Celestia, but she knew how to use what she did have and use it effectively. In the time that she had returned she had gotten much better at her illusions from all the preparation for nightmare night. After all, her illusions worked well in frightening the children during her escapades.
The two guards, now free from their holds, broke away from the large roots and formed around the princess. The said princess had now appeared behind the roots that were protecting them, having dropped invisibility spell that she was using to cloak herself until now. Two of the griffins that had been behind them, on the opposite side of her line of roots, were now charging at her in an effort to disrupt her magic.
Before they could even get close, they found themselves blocked by her two guards. The first griffin lunged at Stardust, who used her bat-like wings to draw back, causing the griffin to fall on his face, then pounced on him with her forehooves, with caused the griffin to screech out before going unconscious. The other, after getting distracted by watching his partner get downed in one hit, didn't see as Nightwing's backhooves connected with his jaw, and was bucked a few into a nearby tree and collapse limply.
Neither of them had been seriously hurt. Before they got to the clearing the princess had told them of the plan and specifically not to hurt the griffins more than what was required for them to escape. They didn't want any deaths on their hooves in this fight, it would only cause them more trouble later on.
With a clear path to the treeline, they promptly made a dash towards it. If they made it into the forest they could evade the griffins more effectively and escape, griffins had more of an advantage in the open space. But as they approached the trees, several more griffins appeared from them, almost as if they were waiting for them to make a break for the forest.
The sudden appearance of the new threat caused them to back off, unable to follow through with their plan. Just as they found themselves blocked off, the other griffins that had been held back until now behind the rampaging roots had found that they were just illusions created by magic and held no actual physical form.
Illusions work best in confusion, and now the griffins knew that her magic was not able to physically impede them, they began to form up and surround the three ponies. The last of their worries passed as they walked through one of the still whipping roots as if it was not even there.
Now that her illusions were seen through, she let her magic disperse from the roots, not wanting to waste her energy on them. As soon as the connection faded so did the roots, they slowly dissolved away to nothing and the ground flattened back out.
Both of her guards were being pushed back from the numbers coming at them. Even if they were good at their job, they had their limits. And going against such large numbers was impossible for just two of them.
“Princess, please escape.” Stardust said quickly, finding that they were being driven into the open.
“We will hold them off so long enough for you to get to safety. Take to the sky and escape back to Canterlot. You can come back and get us once this is all sorted out.” Nightwing added in, his eyes darting between numeral assailants.
Luna risked a glance at the two next to her. Both held looks of determination in their eyes.
They had given their trust to her and even though she had failed to get them out, they still wished to protect her. But she couldn't just leave them behind, there had to be a way to get out of this successfully still.
“That won't be happening.” Came a voice from her her side, the griffin from earlier was now approaching them once again. Then she noticed that several griffins, that must have been hiding in the treeline until now, had taken up positions in the air. Now they were completely surrounded in an ever closing ring of aggressors.
Luna gritted her teeth in frustration. What she needed right now was a teleportation spell, with it she could get out of this situation easily. It was times like this that she hated herself for not practicing teleportation magic more over the last three years. She ran her head over how she might get all three of them out of this together but, now that the griffins had seen through her illusions, her most valuable asset in their escape was now rendered useless.
“There's no need to drag this out any further princess.” The small griffin said, taking a few more steps towards them. “Those were some very convincing images you made, but this game ends here.” He smirked as the griffins around them drew another step closer around them.
But before they could get any closer to the trio of ponies, a wild wisp of black mist began to quickly wrap around them. It was thin like a fabric but changed form frequently as it moved.
Starting from the bottom it wrapped around them moving upward until it had fully encased them, almost like a barrier. But as it unraveled behind itself and carried off into the night sky, the ponies that had been inside had vanished.
The griffins began to scour the area for them thinking it was just another illusion, but they were nowhere to be found.
“Not that I'm ungrateful for you getting us out of there princess-” Nightwing said panting for breath as the mist finally landed in a small peaceful clearing, setting them down gently and unraveling around them. “But if you could always do that, why didn't you do so sooner?”
Luna remained silent, not answering.
The thing was, she didn't do that. She wasn't good enough at teleportation spells to take them more than just a few yards in distance. And that wasn't teleportation, it was something else. She wasn't sure why, but it felt so familiar to her, the feeling of the wind passing through her and the sparkling darkness that had surrounded them as it carried them through the sky.
As the last wisps of dark magic dissipated she looked around for whoever it was that had gotten them out of there, but except for her and the two guards, they remained alone in the clearing.
How many could have even known that she was even there meeting with the griffins? Did somepony somehow find out about the griffins’ problem and follow her here in case this happened? This pony, assuming it was one, also had enough magical prowess to move them a good distance from where they were. Maybe Celly had sent someone from the academy to watch over her and pull her out of danger if it popped up? But why not show their self to her now that it was over?
It bugged her that she didn't know who it was that had intervened but she was glad that whoever it was, was willing to help. She didn't have any time to further ponder this as the sky was now taking on a light blue hue, signaling that a new day was about to come forth.
“Nightwing, Stardust. Are you both alright?”
Both of them shifted back to their hooves. “A little bruised your highness, but yes, I think we'll survive.” The stallion replied giving a weak, roguish smile to his partner, the mare giving a weak smile of her own.
“Good. I want you both to follow one of the nearby rivers and find out just who is behind all this. Do whatever it takes to figure out what exactly is going on around here at the border. I must hurry back to Canterlot; my sister could be in danger right this very moment and I need to warn her.”
Both nightguards gaped at the princess. “But it at least a day's journey from here, even by wings.”
Luna could only smile back at the pair.
“I don't suppose I ever told either of you...” She said, spreading her wings out at her sides. “But I've always been better at flying than my sister.”
In a sudden gust of air she took off of the ground flapping her wings in powerful sweeps, and in one great push took off into the sky - creating a wave of force behind her, almost like sonic rainboom but much more elegant. Instead of a forceful shock wave of rainbow colors, a burst of sparkling lights shot out in a small ring as she broke through the air. They seemed to blend in to the early morning sky and the few stars still in it.
She prayed that she would make it in time to warn her sister but dawn was approaching quickly and even at these speeds, it would take her some time to cross half of Equestria. The guards in the castle couldn't have eyes everywhere, and the griffins would surely attack when her sister was alone. She could only hope that Twilight was still keeping her sister company while visiting and had not gone home early. With the captain away, Twilight was the only thing stopping them.
I'm coming sister... Twilight, please keep my sister safe.