Baltimare Has Fallen: Black Talon's Story.

"I dunno! It was a joke!" Rainbow snapped back, easily swatting away Fluttershy's hoof. With a quick leap from her perch, the cyan Pegasus floated down to face the farm mare, their muzzles practically touching. Her rose colored eyes were narrowed as he lips curled back in a mock growl, as if impersonating a feline.

"Girls! There is no time to fight! We need to get to Celestia to find out why she has summoned us." Twilight interrupted the two, forcing herself in between them. Rainbowdash's hooves reluctantly slid along the dirt road as she was pushed away, her eyes still narrowed.

Once the fight was broken up, Twilight led the ponies toward the castle. It was not long before they reached the large doors that led into the massive building.

Two guards were stationed outside, their weapons held close to their sides. As soon as they saw the approaching ponies, they quickly used their magic to open the door.

Nodding a quick thank you, Twilight was the first to enter the castle's interior. The rest of the ponies quickly followed.

To Twilight's surprise, Celestia was already at the staircase, waiting for their arrival. As soon as she saw Twilight and her friends, a look of relief flooded over her.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. There is a dire situation I need your help with." The sun princess began, her voice tired and stressed.

"What is it princess?" Twilight asked as she reached Celestia's side, her eyes wide with confusion.

"Baltimare has fallen..." The princess put grimly, her head hanging low in shame. Several of the gathered ponies gasped in shock, some of them whispering to the others.

"How could a whole city fall just like that?" Dash whispered to Rarity, who simply shrugged in reply.

"The Griffons from the Griffon Kingdom has began their march on Equestria, starting with Baltimare. They have captured most of the ponies there, but one managed to escape and get news to us." Celestia continued, glancing over toward another hall, as if signalling where this pony was. "I need you to question her. We need as much information as we can get." She added abruptly.

"Question her?" Twilight echoed. "But, isn't that the guards' job?" She asked, her eyes still filled with confusion and surprise.

"She is refusing to talk to anypony with armor who anypony that is royalty." Celestia responded with a long sigh as her eyes wondered around the room. "I was hoping Applejack and Rainbowdash would be able to talk to her."

"Us? Why us?" Dash asked as she began floating up the stairs. "Why not Fluttershy?" Signalling with a hoof down the stairs, the cyan Pegasus pointed toward the mare that was hiding behind Rarity. She obviously did not want a part of this.

"I would think you two would make for great questioners. All I need is the number of Griffons and their leaders name. That is all I need." Celestia seemed to be begging now as she turned toward the farm pony and the wannabe Wonderbolt.

Dash still looked unsure as she too turned toward Applejack.

"Fine. I'm in." Rainbowdash decided, turning back toward Celestia.

"Thank you both. She is in the last room to the right." Pointing down the hall to show where she was directing the ponies. Nodding toward Applejack, Rainbow began floating down the hall, waving goodbye to the others.

"Have the Griffons ever attempted to attack Equestria before?" Twilight asked.

"Not like this. There have been minor attacks on the coastal cities, but never one of this stature." Celestia answered grimly, shaking her head slightly.

"Don't worry, princess. As long as we are together, we can take care of this!" Twilight spoke reassuringly.

[hr][hr]

"So you don't have a colt-friend?" Dash asked as she landed next to Applejack. "Do you have a mare-friend, then?" She added, giving the farm pony a sly smirk.

"It was just a question." Dash replied softly, raising her front hooves as if to show that she was done. As she lowered her hooves, she decided she was tired of walking before lifting off the ground.

"This hall is so long! It is almost as big as my house!" The cyan Pegasus pointed out with a slight chuckle. "I could do so many tricks in here without having to worry 'bout hitting the roof." She seemed to lower her voice, as if she was now pondering to herself.

"This is the room right here," Dash noted as she landed in front of the door, pointing a hoof toward it. "And it looks like our guest does not want to be disturbed..." Her pointed hoof lowered to the doorknob, which had a 'Do Not Enter' tag hanging from it.

Giving the door a loud knock, Dash declared her presence before opening the door.

"We are here to ask you some-" She cut herself at what she saw. The room was completely empty, the furniture untouched. At the very back of the room a window was left open, allowing the curtains to lazily drift along the breeze.

Trotting further into the room, Dash realized that there was a small piece of paper taped to headboard of the bed.

Quickly floating up to snatch it from it's resting spot, her ruby eyes scanned the paper.

"If you want this pony to live, you will do what you can to supply Baltimare with what is on this list." Dash read aloud as she hovered beside Applejack.

Dash continued to read what was on the list to Applejack as the two ponies began galloping back to the staircase. The list consisted of several items Dash did not know, but most of them were self explanatory.

[hr][hr]

"What is taking those ponies so long?" Twilight had begun pacing the floor at the bottom of the staircase, Rarity and Celestia sitting and watching. "How long does it take to question a pony?" She asked, getting no reply from the other ponies.

"Considering they have only been gone for two minutes, I would give them at least another two minutes before becoming worried, Darling..." Rarity pointed out in a casual voice, though a roll of her eyes stated a different emotion.

Nodding in reply, Dash leaped forward and spread her wings, soaring down the hall toward the staircase. The cyan Pegasus nearly crashed into the railing as she swerved down toward the entrance of the castle.

Twilight let out a gasp of surprise as Rainbow barreled into her side, the two mares toppling over each other until they came to a stop, Dash ending up on top.

Twilight, dazed and confused, shouted at the Pegasus angrily. Dash just let out a chuckle and a smirk before winking at the mare below her.

"I bet you don't have this happen often." The cyan coated mare joked.

Again, before she could continue with her joking, Dash was pulled away by Fluttershy before getting a stern rasping from the angry librarian.

"Why did you do that?!" Dash shouted as she wriggled free from Fluttershy's grasp. The pink maned Pegasus just squeaked in reply before hiding behind her mane.

"Did you have any luck with the pony?" Celestia decided to interrupt the ponies with her question as she stood up.

"She wasn't there. Some Griffon must have taken her through the window." Dash explained to the princess, handing her the small note.

Reading over the list quickly, Celestia was shocked to see such items on a list. "What does the Griffons want with such items?" She asked herself, a low 'hmm' escaping her mouth.

"She went to find who took the pony. By the way she was moving, I would say she is close to the train station by now." Dash answered Pinkie's question, her mood still slightly sour as she stared at Fluttershy. Twice had this Pegasus stopped her from making jokingly insulting comments. Twice. If she did not know any better, Dash would say that Flutters was trying to prevent her from jabbing at her friends.

It would make since... Or... Dash's eyes narrowed slightly in thought, making the yellow coated Pegasus uncomfortable.

"Do you have a colt-friend?" Dash asked bluntly, stepping closer to the cowering mare. Fluttershy could only manage a meek shake of her head in answer.

"What about a mare-friend?" Same answer.

"A crush?" That was it. Fluttershy stalled at the thought as Dash was now towering over her, a snide smirk crossing her face. The only thing the shy Pegasus could do was nod. Fluttershy was afraid Dash would ask who she had a crush on, but it did not seem like the cyan Pegasus was going to poke that far.

Instead, Dash backed away before turning, a slight flick of her multi-colored tail nicking Fluttershy's nose.

"What should we do about the Griffons' demands?" Twilight asked Celestia, her voice filled with urgency.

"We give it to them." The princess answered softly, her head hung low as the parchment dangled in her magical grip.

"What...?" Twilight seemed shock at Celestia's decision, her ears slightly drooping.

"We give them what they want," she repeated, another long sigh coming from her throat. "and a little more." She added.

"A little more?" The purple coated Alicorn echoed, sudden confusion rolling over her.

"I need you and your friends to sneak into Baltimare with the supplies I am sending." Celestia explained.

"When I had visited the Griffon Kingdom not too long ago, they did not seem to have known who you were, as they did not react when I mentioned the Elements." Celestia replied to Pinkie's question before turning to Twilight.

"This is the only way we can get information of Baltimare's condition. I am counting on all of you to see that these Griffons are driven back to their land." The sun princess spoke loudly as she addressed the five ponies gathered around her.

"You can count on us, Celestia. Right, girls?" Twilight turned toward her friends, a look of hope crossing her smile. Rarity, Fluttershy and Dash all nodded in reply.

"Applejack will be on board as well. She's seems to be a little busy at the moment." Dash spoke up from above the ponies, as she had started hovering tirelessly.

"Thank you, young ponies. The train with the shipment will be leaving in the morning. I must write a letter to Baltimare immediately." With one final nod of goodbye, Celestia turned toward the hall and galloped away, leaving the five ponies to converse about the mission.

"How many Griffons do you think could successfully take a whole city with only one pony escaping?" Rarity asked an undirected question.

"Not many high ranked Griffons would attempt such a dangerous act. Most of the Griffons believe in peace and offering, not war and territorial attacks." Twilight replied as she began pacing the floor again.

Upon being asked that question, Twilight began listing off the Griffon Kingdom's leaders and the land they owned.

"Then there is Black Talon," The purple coated Alicorn's voice seemed to change from informative to sour as she uttered his name. "He owns a very small portion of a town near the ocean dividing Equestria from the Griffon Kingdom. Many times has he asked for more land, and many times was his pleads shot down." Twilight added, her voice now fighting off a growl.

"If any Griffon wants to take Equestria, it would be him." Twilight spoke firmly

"If he owns such a small piece of land, where did he get enough Griffons to take a whole city?" Dash interrupted as she floated down to Twilight's side.

"Over the course of his ruling, many Griffons from other towns agreed with his pleads of territory. Many of them even gave their home's deed to him just to make a point to the higher ranked Griffons." Twilight answered grimly.

"We would be lucky if he hadn't brought those Griffons along. But..." Twilight's voice trailed off as her head dipped, her ears and tail drooping. "If he did, there will be no way in Equestria we can take back Baltimare."

"I have read books about him, yes, and this sounds like something he would do." Twilight answered both of Pinkie's questions before continuing her pacing. "He wanted land so bad, he even attacked one of the Kingdom's wealthiest cities. He himself was never found at the city, but the Griffons there praised Black Talon before it was reclaimed by the other Griffon rulers." The purple Alicorn continued with Black Talon's story as if teaching a school of fillies and colts about the history of a country other than their own.

"This guy sounds dangerous. Are we sure we want to do this? I mean, Baltimare is such a small town." Fluttershy meekly suggested, a hopeful yet shy smile crossing her lips.

"It is the third biggest city in all of Equestria..." Twilight responded, rolling her eyes slightly.