Necessary Roughness

The night skies of Saddle Arabia, to the untrained eye, would seem very empty, save for a few clouds. However, even most observant native would notice that a few puffy clouds in the night sky was an oddity in this region, especially considering that they were large enough to actually generate some shade.

On this cloud, a small group of ponies and griffons sat, silently keeping vigil. The ponies were in dark blue uniforms with dark yellow streaks of lightning across the sides. At the flanks where their cutie marks would have been was a uniform mark; a thunderbolt sprouting two pegasus wings.

The griffons had dark purple body armor with matching helmets, their head feathers dyed a midnight blue. On the side of their armor was the griffon national flag in greyscale. Anxiously they scanned the skies, their pony counterparts noticeabley more laxly gazing towards the ground.

"Where are they?" one of the griffons asked with a clearly worried tone, "Antoine should have returned by now."

"Hold yer feathers, they prolly came up with a compromise," one of the ponies casually suggested.

The griffon turned to look to the pony with a questioning look. "Compromise? I would be shocked if the Saddle Arabians decided to let us take care of this Qada group. That's the only compromise I see possible."

"Yeah well, that's why you're not the diplomat." Another griffon joked while chuckling, "Antoine was sent for a reason."

"Reason my flight feathers Jester." The first griffon turned around towards his companion, skepticism becoming a scowl, "The king just wanted a prince for political, not logical, reasons."

"For zee recod, sir," a third griffon spoke up, "Twould be mozt undezirable to start'n a war rights about now. Our forcez are still in Komodia with zee Equestrians azz alliez. Terrible shame if'ns they become enmiez."

"Cackoo is right, we need a tough stance, but until those damn Komodians are pacified, a war would just make our lives more difficult." Jester shifted slightly under the gaze of the first griffon for a few moments before the first griffon returned to looking to the skies, still scowling.

"Our spat is not with the Equestrians, it's with this Qada group and their protectors, the Saddle Arabian royalty. If you were to ask me, we should have just V5 horned bombed a city a day until they surrendered the groups responsible to us."

At this point another one of the ponies now stopped looking towards the ground and shot a look towards the first griffon. "Shepherd, that kind of dialogue is entirely the reason the Saddle Arabians fear for their lives to begin with, and why we have to be out here to make sure you lot go straight 'ome and not make any detours to Agra'Bah on your way ou'."

"Even if we were to stop by for some sheep?" Jester offered, sounding quite serious, "Lamb is pretty expensive back home."

"The Saddle Arabians were furious when we ate the lambs during the War, imagine how they would be if we took a few souvenirs," Shepherd sighed, "Not to mention they probably would poison them just to spite us."

"Not all zee Arabianza despize us," Cackoo flapped his wings eagerly, "Zey don't herd zee sheep for zee converzation or zee sex ya know."

A caw rang out into the night air, interrupting the conversation. One of the pegasus sighed in relief as a large group of griffons made landfall on the cloud.

"Antoine!" Shepherd smiled wide, and made room for the Prince and his entourage in the middle of the cloud, "So, how did it go?"

Antoine was silent for a moment, as if contemplating his choice of answer. He glanced over the eager audience for several minutes before starting. "Equestria has offered to deal with Qada in our place. If Celestia gives her approval of Onyx's suggestion, then we will give the Equestrians time to handle this before we directly intervene."

Shepherd seemed aghast at this, as were the five ponies on the cloud.

"What? Allow the Equestrians to handle it? Bolt, explain to this griffon why that is madness!"

"Celestia would never give the approval," Bolt insisted, "We are still dealing with fallout from helping you lot in Komodia, sticking our necks out again on your behalf seem like bad diplomacy."

"It's the only diplomacy," Antoine pointed out, "Griffons are practically lining up for a chance to have a Saddle Arabian barbecue. Nothing short of military action from someone is going to be accepted back home. I promised that I would try to find a middle ground, but those damn Saddle Arabians are playing hard with their entire race's lives."

"That's their gamble." Bolt spread his wings and looked about at their surroundings, "But we should get going. A no fly zone is likely going to be enforced if Celestia goes through with this, just to make sure no griffon accidentally slips in."

Antoine and Shepherd chuckle, spread their wings, and take to the air. Soon enough, the pegasi and griffons followed, the cloud that they had previously been resting on swiftly beginning to evaporate, despite the cooler temperatures in the air. In formation, the pegasi flew in a V, while the griffons flew something akin to a W, there being nearly twice as many of them as there were ponies. A brief silence preceded a shift in conversation.

"So, Bolt, where are Ditzy and Greystrike?" Antoine looked towards Bolt. "I was looking forward to asking Greystrike about that new move he was supposed to show me that would put all of Griffia to shame."

"They are on a different mission since, you know, we already have enough ponies here escorting you bunch." Bolt looked upwards with a wide smile. "Probably still bored out of their minds right about now..."

A wide open space generally meant a lack of civilization. By extension, a trailer out in the middle of a wide open space meant that whoever owned the trailer liked to be left to their own devices, especially in a land such as Equestria.

Unfortunately, a few clouds dotted the sky not for fluffy cloud reasons, but for surveillance. Ditzy and Greystrike, right wing and team leader respectively, had been staking out the trailer for what felt like months. Ditzy swore that she could have been impregnated and given birth before their target actually left the trailer. The two pegasi had broken for lunch, another meal of hayburgers silently keeping their respective mouths occupied while they waited. They were in Wonderbolt uniforms, but to be frank, it would have almost been better just to be in their Shadowbolt uniforms; even in broad daylight, pegasi had a terrible habit of recognizing the blue uniforms, and explaining that they were on business and not shirking duty ranged from a matter of dismissal to threats of harm if the offenders did not scram.

Ditzy's grey-scale rainbow mane did not go with this uniform at all. Greystrike's namesake grey mane, previously buzz cut but having grown slightly unkept in the stakeout, also failed to match the uniform's general requirements of vibrantly colored manes.

The stallion munched away with a studious look, ears flicking here and again as static occasionally broke the monotony. Between the two of them, a small ham radio seemed to be content to fill the void with static rather than music or chatter, its masters uninterested in tuning it to a more entertaining frequency.

"Sir, I think Imma die of boredom before this stallion leaves his damn trailer." Ditzy downed the last bites of her hayburger with just a single bite.

Swallowing his own bite, Greystrike sighed heavily. "This would have been far easier if this stallion had went back to a life of crime; then we could just barge in and arrest him. But no, we have to wait for him to violate parole and leave his trailer. Even the delivery ponies find it kind of weird."

Stakeouts were not by design exciting, but as Ditzy crumpled up her Hayburger aluminum foil wrap and added it to her partner's small pile between them, she had to question the logic in putting two well trained combat ponies on what amounted to a two-pony vigil. While the rest of the team got to escort griffons in and out of Saddle Arabia, the two of them were stuck watching this damn trailer for any sign of movement. It had felt like months, but in truth, evidenced by the lack of waste products strewn about the ground surrounding the trailer, they had not been here for more than a few days.

The trailer gently rocked and the front door opened, revealing a large magenta unicorn with sleepy eyes. Cautiously he looked about, as if the prairie would be hiding anything in its short grass, and gently brought a hoof down to the bottommost step of the trailer. Greystrike tensed, wings open and ready for the takedown. One more step with that bracelet attachment hoof and it would sound, giving them their cue.

Perhaps the stallion would have taken that step, but something convinced him to, quite urgently, return to the trailer, slamming the door and most likely bolting it shut. Greystrike relaxed and let out a breath of exasperation. Ditzy had not even bothered to anticipate, for a part of her had already suspected that he would find some asinine reason to turn back. However, her eyes caught sight of a figure in a bright white cloak trotting towards the trailer.

Greystrike noticed it too, and tilted his head to the side. "You don't think-"

"Prolly."

Even from the ground, the stallion had likely seen the newcomer coming a mile away; a white cloak in a field of green tended to stick out on the ground. He was not too eager to see this visitor, which meant that it might finally be high time to act. Greystrike brought a hoof to one of the larger knobs on the radio, turning it until the static became clear.

"Rat, does a bright white cloak on a pony raise any red flags for you?"

A few moments of silence before Greystrike went answered by a less than chipper voice. "White wut?"

"Bright. White. Cloak. Any red flags?"

By this point the newcomer had made surprising progress, and already was at the steps of the trailer. Extending a hoof to knock revealed the coat color to be orange.

"None prior, but I'll double check just to be safe."

Ditzy looked to Greystrike with a raised eyebrow before sliding her goggles down over her eyes. "Not even sure why you bothered asking."

Greystrike shrugged, eyes trained in on the unmoving trailer as he put on his own flight goggles, "Better to be safe than sorry. If Magestone barricaded himself into that trailer, I suspect we may have an answer as to why he has actually been keeping out of Manehatten."

A few more minutes passed before the pony shouted something at the trailer. The words were indiscernible, but the brief rise of the cloak at the flanks suggested that the pony might be a pegasus and thus prone to flight.

A loud blaring noise akin to a fire alarm caused the pony to jump back from the trailer. From the back, however, Magestone, in a bright green cloak, had already taken off, the sound of his tracking device soon to give away his position to his visitor as well.

"Be advised, target is in flight with an unknown in pursuit!" Greystrike set aside the final bite of his hayburger, eyeing the now alert pony who took off running after the stallion. "Moving in to engage. Let's go Ditzy!"

Without waiting for confirmation or another word, Ditzy and Greystrike took off from the cloud. The great thing about the prairie was that there was hardly anywhere to hide, especially from a purser in the air. The bad thing about prairies was that their targets would easily hear and see the coming with enough time to decide whether they wanted to fight or flight. A minute into the chase and the white cloaked pony had taken to the air, Magestone leaving behind bits of grass as he trailed ahead of his previously on hoof pursuer. The blaring alarm made it clear that hiding outside of his trailer was not an option; it rang out for perhaps miles, and as Ditzy got closer, she could tell that among the first things to be shut off had to be that alarm.

Naturally, when the newcomer decided to take to the air, the white cloak fell away, revealing an orange pegasus of relatively lean build. Only just now picking up speed, the orange pegasus' ears flicked backwards at the sound of the approaching Wonderbolts.

"Ditzy, take the orange one, I am going to bring in Magestone!"

Ditzy  slowed down slightly, Greystrike definitively pulling ahead at this point while Ditzy focused in on the orange pegasus. The pegasus, rather than attempting to continue pursuit, veered off to the left. "You there, orange pegasus, halt!"

It was a vain order, Ditzy knew by the increased flapping of the pegasus' wings, but she felt it was worth a shot. Though the pegasus was fast, he/she simply could not outfly, particularly in a straight line, Ditzy, especially with her having such a starting speed advantage. Flying just a few feet higher in altitude, Ditzy noticed the slight shift in the wings in time to intercept the pony before he/she could full turn around to confront her. Slamming the orange pegasus into the ground, Ditzy swooped back up into the air, eyeing the rolling orange pegasus on the ground. Before her target could get back up, she swooped back down towards the ground, buffeted him/her with a gust of wind, and then landed gracefully to the side of the stunned pegasus.

Though from a distance it could have passed for a mare or a stallion, upon closer inspection, Ditzy confirmed stallion before pressing a hoof to his stomach. Eyes derped and uncoordinated in his already wild flailing, the stallion would have been better off just surrendering after first contact,  a sharp jab to the gut correcting both conditions.

"Alright, so who are ya and what are ya doing here?" Ditzy shouting, still needing to be heard over the resounding alarm that only got louder as Greystrike no doubt brought the unicorn closer to her position. "More importantly, why did ya keep flying away when I told ya to halt?"

Shaking his head, the stallion focused his gaze in on Ditzy, sizing her up as if that would determine the thoroughness of his answer. He too raised his voice, but only just enough to be heard over the alarm. "Just checking up on an old friend is all, nothing more."

Ditzy chuckled, though it was the sarcastic sort of chuckle brought out when serious comments came off more as jokes than responses. "Right. That stallion stayed in his trailer for days on end just to bust out trying to get away from you. What kind of rapist runs from a friend coming to visit him anyways?"

The pegaus attempted to force himself up, but Ditzy's hold proved more formidable than he had counted on. The blaring finally came to a halt, and with it, a welcome peace.  "Guess that means Mage got caught. My buddy has a bad habit of being flighty, if you read his police record."

"To be convicted of rape in Manehatten is to auto forfeit a decent payin' job in the town, so I can't blame 'im for trying to jump ship and get to Maretonia." Pressing harder on the pegasus' stomach, Ditzy sneered. "What's your excuse?"

"I aint got one miss." Though the stallion was attempting to do an impression of somepony from the Westerns, his scrunched up face made it too obvious to sell. "But I reckon an innocent pony don't need one."

"Innocent huh?" Graystrike, with an unconscious Magestone on his back, landed to Ditzy's left. "I think when Magestone comes to he will have a different story to tell. My partner get a name out of you yet?"

"Lucky," the pegasus responded, " The most fortunate Lucky."

Greystrike seemed confused for a moment before deciding to inspect the pony's flank for his cutie mark.  "A heart broken into two pieces. Sounds like they should have named you heartbreak instead of Lucky."

"That would have been hitting the joke a bit hard there."

The two stallions chuckled, and though Ditzy could find nothing to laugh about, she uneasily chuckled as well.

"So Lucky, what were you doing out here?" Greystrike seemed to maintain a light tone, but it was clear that he had returned to the matter at hand. "It's clear you and Magestone have had at least one run-in in the past, since he didn't try to use any of his tricks on you and just broke out running. Probably didn't think you would fall for any of them."

"Yeah well, can I go now?" Lucky grunted and once again tried to rise, but Ditzy held firm.

Greystrike shook his head, setting Magestone gently down into the grass. "Too many coincidences to just let you off scot free, not to mention you did not answer my question. Now hold still, this will only take a second."

Already Lucky had proven to be a poor orders taker, so when Greystrike started using his wings to rub at his uniform and sparking, it was no surprise to Ditzy that Lucky began squirming even more. When Greystrike's mane stood on end with flowing electricity, Ditzy lightened her hold in preparation to draw back. Sensing opportunity, Lucky attempted to throw Ditzy outright off of him, rising to his hooves just in time to get a shocking smack on the rear from Greystrike. First Lucky's lower half crumpled, soon followed by the rest of his body as he plopped to the ground, joining Magestone in figurative dreamland.

"I didn't know you could fully charge your shock in under a minute." Ditzy smiled approvingly. "You have been holding out."

"Actually, I do not even really need to 'charge' that attack, just prepare it." Greystrike looked as flashing lights in the distance signaled the approaching Manehatten police force. "You learn some pretty useful things when you're on weather teams. Anyways, you fly back to our spot and get that radio; I will deal with the little transfer here."

Ditzy nodded and took to the air, flying straight to the cloud that they had been using for stakeout purposes. Originally only one of them was supposed to fly down, but because there had been two of them, both of them had abandoned the post; while skeptical that in such a short time someone would steal the radio, it was better safe than sorry to have it accounted for. The cloud had not been touched since they had left, but the radio still buzzed with feed.

"Ditzy, Greystrike, dammit, one of you answer me!" Rat's voice was frantic, and seemed rife with urgency, a stark contrast from the sleepy demeanor from earlier.

"Read ya loud and clear Rat, what's ya problem?"

"Princess Celestia herself wants to see you two back in Canterlot as soon as physically possible. She didn't specify what it was about."

Ditzy frowned, even though there was nopony around to see it. "What about our investigation? You know, the last direct mission that she gave us?"

"Do you want me to tell her to pick some other ponies instead?" Rat halfway seemed like he would tell her such a thing, so Ditzy had to take the question seriously. Yes, they needed to go ahead and interrogate both ponies and get what information that they could. On the other hand, if the situation was terribly urgent and they passed up on it, then they were going to likely get chewed out at some point.

Before Ditzy could make the call, Greystrike landed on the cloud with an impatient look, as if he had given her plenty of time to retrieve the radio and return by now. Which he had not. "Ditzy, whatever happened to grabbing the radio-"

"Greystrike, Princess Celestia wants to see you and Ditzy as soon as physically possible!"

Greystrike seemed surprised, but he did not have near as much hesitance in responding as Ditzy did. "Very well then, tell her that we are on our way."

"Make sure that you bring any intelligence that you find with you." Instead of Rat's voice, it was Princess Celestia's. Both Ditzy and Greystrike instinctively went to attention, only to recall that she was not actually present and return to ease.  "Bring Magestone with you if you must."

"Princess Celestia, a pegasus named Lucky is now involved," Greystrike said, "Bring him also?"

"If there is sufficient cause to keep him detained for a few days, then yes, bring him also. If not, release him and bring me only the pony that I asked for."

"Yes ma'am. Ya can count on us."

And with that, there once again was static over the feed. Greystrike drooped somewhat. "Detain him for a few days. Can we hold a pony without charges for that kind of time?"

"I dunno, but it sounds like whatever Celestia wants, it's really urgent." Ditzy hummed lightly. "I guess we are gonna have to cut Lucky loose."

"Hold on, maybe we can make something up. Maybe resisting arrest would be enough?"

"To hold him for a few days? Unless Magestone gives us a reason, we have no reason to keep Lucky."

"Got it!" Greystrike smiled and brought his hooves together. "Partner in crime. Friends with a rapist, potential collaborator in a future crime. As long as Lucky stays unconscious on our trip back, the royal guard will take our word over his."

The plan seemed solid, though Ditzy felt that there had to have been something that they were not accounting for. All the same, she did not have much of a better idea, so she nodded in compliance. "Sounds like a plan. Ya plan on taking the trash?"

Greystrike unraveled the last bite of his hayburger, ate it, and then gathered up all the trash in a pile. "We might as well travel by cloud; I sure as hell am not flying that stallion all the way to Canterlot. It'll take a few hours to get there even with cloud transport, so might as well ease the load."

"Except that unicorns do not naturally lay well on clouds." Ditzy smirked to see Greystrike, for just a moment, freeze as the potential problem presented itself. However, he soon after relaxed and returned the smirk. "I will just have that Manehatten unicorn officer cast the walking on clouds spell on him. I presume he knows it."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Well, then we will find some unicorn on the force who does, or just plop him into an enchanted basket and make sure he doesn't fall out. Piece of cake."