Top Wing

by LCranston

Chapter 5 - The Enemy Within

Half an hour later, Spitfire and Soarin completed yet another wide circle. They prepared to do so again. Neither one wanted to admit it, but they were almost wishing the griffons would attack. That way they could know where the griffons were. Not seeing anything at all was unnerving.

Soarin thought he saw something out of the corner of his eyes. Turning his head, he saw a pair of griffons hopping from cloud to cloud at a moderate pace.

The stallion communicated using official protocol, making sure his flight leader understood his tension.

“Bolt-One, Bolt-One. Contact four o’clock five hundred feet. Two griffons cloud hopping towards sector six.”

Spitfire turned to her right, Soarin matching her path. She spotted the griffons and frowned.

“Bolt-Two, I see two griffons at cruising speed heading south-south-west.”

Soarin affirmed, “Rodger, that’s them.”

Spitfire groused, “They can see us but they’re not reacting. What’s wrong with them?”

The dark-maned Wonderbolt smiled and replied, “Why don’t we go ask them?”

The pair turned to face the griffons. They continued to fly at the same speed, not wanting to tip off the potential enemies.

Suddenly, the griffons leapt off their clouds, spread their wings, and soared quickly towards the south, ignoring any other clouds.

Soarin called out, “Spitfire!”

She replied hotly, “I see them. Go!”

The pair turned around and accelerated to catch up to the griffons. They flapped their wings hard, slowly catching up to the griffons.

Spitfire growled, “This would be easier without the armor!”

Suddenly, both Wonderbolts heard a battle cry from below. Another pair of griffons were flying upwards from below, their wingblades extended.

Both pegasi rolled to their right, putting their back armor to the blades. The harsh shriek of metal on metal sounded as the griffons’ attacks skittered off the armor.

The first pair then turned around, extending their wingblades.

The biggest griffon declared, “Finish off all of the ponies first! We can’t fly the statue back if there’s a single one of these Wonderbolts in the sky!”

Over in sector six, Fleetfoot and Rapidfire had just completed another full circle. They looked around, trying to see anything out of the ordinary. They both saw several dots at the edge of their vision to the north.

Rapidfire called out, “Who’s that with Spitfire and Soarin?”

Fleetfoot broke formation to fly towards the group. He narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on the shapes.

His partner called out, “You’re breaking formation!”

Fleetfoot replied, “If there’s only two Wonderbolts out there, the rest have to be griffons, right?”

Rapidfire pulled away to form up with his partner. His logic made sense. They increased their speed to meet up with the others.

After a minute, the shapes got bigger and better defined.

Rapidfire replied, “Bolt-Four, confirmed four griffons engaged with Wonderbolts. Let’s move in and help out.”

Fleetfoot clenched his teeth and replied, “Rodger that.”

As the miles ticked by, Spitfire and Soarin turned away from their pursuers to meet up with Fleetfoot and Rapidfire.

A shrill war cry echoed from above. All four pegasi gasped and looked up. A griffon dove from above, wingblades extended.

A sharp pain erupted from Fleetfoot’s left side and he cried out in agony. He felt both hot and cold at the same time. He spread his wings wide on reflex, trying to glide down controlled rather than crashing.

Rapidfire called out, “Wrong, make it five!!”

Upon hearing the report, Thunder Boss turned away from the window to stare in shock at Crystal Gaze. He asked, “That’s FIVE?!”

The unicorn mare continued to gaze into her crystal ball with detached interest. Her voice sounded far away as she answered, “Yes, sir.”

Soarin turned sharply to the left, right into the path of an approaching griffon. He raised his front hooves and thrust the forward in an attack. The griffon closed her wings around herself, spoiling her lift. She plummeted beneath the attack.

Spitfire turned to the right, spiraling to draw attention to herself. Two griffons flew after her.

Rapidfire saw this ploy and made ramming speed. He lowered his head and bounced his body off the lead griffon’s back. The glancing blow shook the enemy from Spitfire’s tail but did not incapacitate him.

From above, a griffon shrieked a war cry and swung his wingblade with savage fury. The blade caught on the neck armor and was deflected away. A second griffon flew up and punched the Wonderbolt in the belly. The griffon followed up by stabbing Rapidfire in the lung.

As the breath left him, Rapidfire’s eyes closed. Consciousness tried to flee but the Wonderbolt forced his wings to spread wide to try to glide down. His body gracefully obeyed the call of gravity.

Crystal Gaze’s eyes snapped wide open at the images that flashed before her inner sight. She yelled, “Fleetfoot and Rapidfire have fallen! They’re bleeding badly!”

Shocked, everypony in the control room began whispering concernedly to each other, except one.

Thunder Boss leaped over to the speaking tube. He barked his orders loud and clear.

On the flight deck, Rainbow Dash was beginning to cramp up. She wished that there was more action. The voice of Thunder Boss barked loud and clear.

“LAUNCH RAINBOW DASH ON ALERT-ONE!”

The blue pegasus was surprised for only a second. She steeled her nerve and tensed her muscles for the takeoff. The voice barked another order.

“SEND THE RESCUE TEAMS TO PICK UP FLEETFOOT AND RAPIDFIRE! SECTOR SEVEN!”

Rainbow Dash’s brain worked in overdrive. She thought, Sector seven? That means they left sector six to help Soarin and Spitfire…and may have gotten killed.

She thought about the images of griffons standing over the corpses of Twilight and Applejack. The blue pegasus felt fear creep into her spine…and then she squashed it with a surge of willpower.

She mentally declared, My friends need me!! I am NOT gonna chicken out!!

She tensed her whole body and raced down the runway as fast as she could. Leaping into the air, she spread her wings and pumped them up and down as hard as she could. She needed to build up speed early to cover distance quickly.

Not forgetting her orders, she headed due west for sector six. She pumped her wings harder and harder. She mused that it must not be her lucky day. The very air was resisting her by forming a bubble right in front of her.

In due time, she reached the expected path into the Everfree Forest. She could not see the caravan but she did see Ethereal Curtain’s group of unicorns, ready to combine their powers to teleport the entire caravan directly to Canterlot Castle and to safety.

Satisfied that everything was under control, she flapped her wings extra hard and turned sharply to the right. Offended by anything that stood in her way, she pushed right through that accursed air barrier to reach her teammates.

The caravan could clearly see the edge of the Everfree Forest ahead. It was only about fifty feet away.

Twilight gave a final blast of magic to stun the mind of the statue. She vowed to take up knitting if she never had to cast that spell ever again.

Applejack started to slow down. Her breathing doubled in its intensity. She had stopped sweating, which was a bad sign.

Stratum wished he could give her his water, but he already did that miles ago. He said, “We can’t stop now!”

The farm pony sharply retorted, “Easy fer you ta say, bookworm! You try haulin’ this here mountain all by yerself!”

Twilight consoled her, “Just make it to those unicorns, Applejack. Then I’ll personally treat you to Canterlot’s finest restaurants and swimming pools.”

The orange pony stopped, no longer able to contain the painful heartbeat in her chest. Unable to respond with words, she just ignored the others.

BOOM!

Everypony looked up to see a multi-colored ring expand across the sky.

Stratum shook with anxiety and asked, “Wh-what does th-that mean?”

Twilight smiled and pointed up at the sky, explaining, “That means a good friend of ours has finally accomplished her life’s dream.”

Applejack remembered the first sonic rainboom she ever saw as a filly. New hoped filled her as she stood up and braced herself against the harness.

She declared, “If’n Rainbow Dash can join the Wonderbolts, then I can haul this here hunk o’ rock a few more feet. Everypony git behind me and push!”

Crystal Gaze looked deep into her crystal ball and reported, “Rainbow Dash has cleared sector six and is approaching the battle.”

Thunder Boss didn’t say anything. He just moved the marker on the map representing Rainbow Dash towards the cluster of griffons and two pegasi.

When the blue pegasus arrived at the battle, she took in the sight of Soarin and Spitfire flying like mad to avoid six griffons.

She summed up the situation, “Oh, horseapples.”

Two griffons noticed the new arrival. The leader of the griffons called out, “Keep these two pinned or else!” He gestured to the griffon hovering next to him.

The pair of winged attackers flew off to meet the blue pegasus. The leader immediately flew upwards to gain altitude, the other circled around to the left to try to get behind the new armored pegasus.

Rainbow Dash noticed the griffon circling around behind her at close range. She mimicked the griffon’s attack pattern. Soon the two were circling each other only a few dozen feet apart.

The griffon taunted, “Hey, Rainbow Crash! Did you come out to play?”

Dash replied fiercely, “I came out here to pluck every last one of your sorry butts outta the sky!”

The griffon stated, “Oh, I’m so scared of a tin can. Come over here and say that.”

The blue pegasus demanded, “Why did you do it, Gilda? You were hardcore, but not a murderer. Ponies might die because of this!”

Gilda just frowned and answered, “A girl’s gotta eat, Dashie. Would you desert Celestia for the reward of exile and starvation?”

Rainbow Dash declared, “I would never maim or kill just to eat! That’s the coward’s excuse!”

From high above, the griffon leader shrieked and slammed himself into the left side of the blue pegasus.

Rainbow Dash’s wing bent awkwardly, making it numb. The pegasus spun around like a top and began to fall out of the sky.

Spitfire banked left and yelled, “Soarin! Plan Bravo!”

Soarin grunted in frustration and said, “I hate Plan Bravo!”

He turned to the left, coming to face Spitfire.

The two pegasi flew right towards each other at the same altitude. They flew so close that they could see the dents in each other’s armor. They both banked slightly left and then flew straight up.

The following griffons tried to bank left and then corrected right. They saw the ponies fly up and tried to follow. Suddenly, all four griffons squawked in panic and then scattered in different directions to avoid a four-way head-on collision.

Flying upwards a mere few inches between their bellies, Soarin complained nervously, “This is why I hate Plan Bravo! We almost crashed!”

Spitfire smiled faintly and said, “Well, we’ll just have to practice more.”

A glint of metal caught her eye. Looking down, she saw the blue pegasus’s predicament.

She said, “No! Rainbow Dash!”

Soarin looked around and saw the griffons re-forming into a two-pronged attack.

He barked, “We got our own problems.”

Crystal Gaze reported, “Rainbow Dash got hit. She’s falling in a spin.”

Thunder Boss did not reply.

The world spun around Rainbow Dash. Her left wing was no longer numb. Now it hurt. Pain blossomed like fire in her veins.

She tried to flap her wings to establish lift, but it was no good. She couldn’t move her wings correctly in the swirling vortex of wind in the flat spin. She knew if she didn’t try something different, she’d die.

Blinking back moisture in her eyes, she pitched nose downward, accepting whatever fate would befall her.

Then she flared her wings wide. The wind caught her and leveled her out. The pain died down, allowing her to flap her wings and gain altitude.

Looking around, she saw Spitfire and Soarin being chased on two sides by griffons into the last two griffons. They were doomed. She would be next.

She turned away and headed back to sector six. She told herself, I gotta protect my friends. I’m not really a Wonderbolt. I failed the test. They’ll understand.

Crystal Gaze sighed and reported, her voice heavy with disappointment, “Rainbow Dash is fleeing to sector six.”

Thunder Boss roared, “I KNEW IT!! That filly is a COWARD!” He bucked the wall powerfully.

CRACK! His hooves kicked a hole big enough for a foal to walk through.

Seething in rage, he exclaimed, “DAMN IT!”

Spitfire saw the retreating pegasus. Her mouth melted into a frown.

Soarin kept his gaze stoic. He counted the griffons and tried to come up with a plan to buy the caravan enough time with their deaths.

Rainbow Dash’s conscience screamed at her with every inch she flew.

Her ego tried to rationalize her choice.

She just couldn’t see any way to win. She didn’t sign up to die. She just wanted everyone to live and go home. Why did everything have to be so hard? She really wanted to nap in a tree and wake up to a treat from Sugarcube Corner.

Rainbow Dash realized that if she fled, there might not be a Sugarcube Corner. If she returned, then the others would have to go to Sugarcube Corner without her ever again.

She whispered, “I just don’t know what to do.” Tears welled up in her eyes. She fought them bitterly, but they kept coming.

She begged out loud, “Talk to me, ‘Shy. Tell me what to do.”

Deep down inside herself, Rainbow Dash felt worthless.

A gentle voice echoed in her mind from the depths of her memory, Why, if I had just a drop of your courage, I could save all of Equestria every day!

The blue pegasus opened her eyes, asking, “Fluttershy?”

The sight of her friend, smiling and waiting for her, filled the blue pegasus with new hope. Rainbow Dash turned around and flapped her wings as hard as she could.

She headed back to the battle.

Crystal Gaze happily chirped, “Rainbow Dash is returning to battle!”

The despair in the control room lifted. Ponies whispered to each other about their chances of winning.

Thunder Boss lowered his mirrored sunglasses and stared at the crystal ball as if trying to see for himself.

Surrounded by griffons, Spitfire and Soarin hovered in place. They did not show how scared they were.

The griffons laughed cruelly and brandished their wingblades.

The leader of the griffons taunted, “Well, well, well. It’s been a hard time, but I’ve finally finished off all of the Wonderbolts. My liege will reward me well.”

Spitfire challenged, “The Wonderbolts are not finished! My teammates are still alive and they’ll recruit more!”

The griffon leader replied haughtily, “They’ll never fly the same again! Without the two of you, any new recruits won’t be trained as well. The time of the Wonderbolts is over!”

He reared back with his wingblade, ready to stab the pony in her exposed belly.

“Think again, featherhead!” SLAM! CRUNCH!

Rainbow Dash rammed herself directly into the griffon leader’s ribs and shoulder. His wing bones snapped as well as three ribs. Robbed of breath, he glided down to the ground in defeat.

Knowing a chance to escape when they saw it, the Wonderbolts reacted. Soarin flapped his wings and moved straight up, taking two griffons with him. Spitfire stopped flapping her wings and mock-saluted her captors. Falling down, she tumbled and spread her wings. Two griffons chased her.

The remaining griffon slashed horizontally with his wingblade at Rainbow Dash. She lowered her gaze and allowed the blade to crash against her helmet.

The griffon slashed downward at her wing. The blue pegasus folded her wings inward. The blade clanged against the metal covering her wing bones.

Rainbow Dash tumbled forward in a somersault and brought her hind legs up. She bucked hard, slamming her hooves into the griffon’s face. The griffon fell, the wind opening his wings. The creature glided to a cloud and collapsed.

Soarin called out, “That’s another one down. It’s four-to-three.”

Spitfire replied, “Then let’s even the odds. Plan Delta!”

The two Wonderbolts turned towards each other, head on. The griffons anticipated this maneuver. They slowed down and spread out.

Soarin and Spitfire rotated to their right side and passed by each other at high speed. They even zoomed by each other’s pursuing griffons.

Each flight of pursuing griffons gave each other a wide birth, only to realize they lost their quarry. Looking around, they saw the Wonderbolts flying in a tight circle above them.

Squealing in rage, they flapped their wings to ascend. When they rose to the same altitude as the pegasi, they brandished their wingblades.

Seeing the unafraid looks in the eyes of their quarry, the griffons snarled.

Gilda threatened, “You’re outnumbered.”

Spitfire replied, “No, we’re not.”

WHAM! Rainbow Dash flew up from below, slamming her front hooves in a powerful attack to a griffon’s chest. Every creature in the sky heard the crunching of bone as the griffon’s ribs collapsed.

The injury made the griffon’s flight muscles useless. He chose to glide to the ground painfully.

The remaining griffons saw that they no longer outnumbered the ponies and now they were surrounded on two sides.

One of the griffons asked fretfully, “What’ll we do, Gilda?”

She looked at Rainbow Dash and said, “Dash, it doesn’t have to be like this.”

The armored blue pegasus hotly replied, “You’re right. You can FLEE!”

She launched herself at Gilda with fury.

Gilda dove to gain speed and turned northward.

She called out, “Retreat! Our flight leader has failed us! Leave him!” The other two griffons followed her back to the Griffon Kingdom.

Spitfire ordered, “Rainbow Dash! Let them go! We’ve got a job to do!”

Crystal Gaze recovered her distant, calm composure. She reported, “Three griffons fell. The remaining griffons are fleeing.”

Everypony in the control room went wild cheering. Everypony was hugging and high-hoofing the pony next to them.

The middle-aged mare smugly asked Thunder Boss, “Are you happy, sir?”

The powerful stallion stopped mid-dance at his place by the hole in the wall.

He recovered his composure and said calmly, “Um, yes. Thank you, Miss Gaze.”

Thunder Boss turned to a desk near the map. Upon it was a warm cup of coffee. It was steaming hot earlier, but that was before the battle.

Still, coffee was coffee. The strong stallion lifted the cup in his hoof and brought it to his lips.

A trio of armored pegasi rapidly approached the top level of the castle and flew by it at top speed.

The wake of the pegasi’s passing shook the cloud walls and floor of the control room.

The coffee sloshed in the cup and spilled all over Thunder Boss’s chest.

Frustrated, he stuck his head out of the window and saw a fluttering multi-colored mane heading away from him.

Shaking his hoof at the retreating form he screamed, “RAINBOW DASH!!!”