Author's Note

I enjoyed this. Took a few turns I didn't see coming, but I was happy with it.

I hope you all enjoy it too!

The Hunt

Spitfire and the rest of her team flew off to Las Pegasus that day, and in a few hours, they had landed. They had to ask a few times for directions on how to get to the street on which the store was located, but after a while they found it.

It was midday, and the sun was out, beating down on the residents of the city. All of the Wonderbolts were incredibly hot and understandably tired after their long journey, but they had had a singular mind in this case. They would not rest until they knew where their teammate was. Spitfire led the pack, carrying the receipt. She entered the store first, and the rest of her team trailed her. They looked around. There were diapers, toys, clothes, accessories- literally everything one could need to take care of a foal, though it was all sized up for adults. For a moment, the other Wonderbolts stared in awe, but Spitfire was unfazed. She marched right up to the front counter. The cashier smiled at her.

“Welcome to Forever Foal. My name is Gentle Breeze. Can I help you?”

“Yes ma’am. We’re trying to find a friend of ours, and we thought he might be here. Have you seen him? His name is Thunderlane.” She said. She pulled out a photo of him she had taken from his room. Gentle Breeze eyed it for a moment.

“I recognize him. He’s been here before, but I’m sorry to say I haven’t seen him here in a while. My apologies.”

Spitfire nodded. “That’s alright. Thank you.”

“I hope he’s okay, wherever he is. He always seems so nervous when he comes in here. The only time he didn’t seem nearly as bad was after our owner talked to him one day.”

“Owner?”

Gentle Breeze nodded. “Yes. Miss Mesma.” Gentle Breeze pointed to a picture behind her, of a mare with pink eyes and a pink and white striped mane. Spitfire’s eyes widened, and she immediately dug around in her saddlebag and pulled out the drawing Thunderlane had done of his “Mommy”. It was her. There was no doubt in her mind that it was her.

Spitfire smiled. “Can I talk to her?” She asked.

Gentle Breeze shook her head. “I’m sorry, no. She’s on sabbatical at the moment.”

“Do you know where she is?”

“I’m afraid not, Miss.”

Spitfire nodded. Already, her sharp mind had formulated a plan. “Thank you very much for your help, ma’am.”

“You’re welcome.”

With that, Spitfire took off into the boiling heat. She knew exactly what to do. The Wonderbolts gave a collective sigh at having to go back out into the heat, but they followed her. They would not leave when a teammate was in danger. Together, they all flew, until they reached Ponyville.

They landed in front of Twilight Sparkle’s castle, and it was Rainbow who knocked on the door.

The front door opened, by Twilight herself in fact, and she smiled at her friend.

“Rainbow! What can I do for you.”

“We need your help. Please.” Said Rainbow. Twilight looked further to see all of the Wonderbolts standing there. She nodded.

“Please, come in.”

Twilight led them to the throne room and they all sat down. Twilight in her throne, Rainbow in hers, and the rest of them in others.

Spitfire spoke up. “We need you to help us to find property records on a pony named Mesma.”

Twilight blinked. Of everything she could have been expecting to come out of her mouth, that was definitely not it. “I’m sorry?”

“Twilight, Thunderlane has been foalnapped! We went to his house to try and find him because he missed practice, and he wasn’t there! And the window was open! We know something happened to him, and our investigation and some of what Thunderlane told us before he was gone leads us to believe that it was Mesma. Please, we need to find her and him before something really bad happens!” Rainbow said.

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She wasn’t sure how to reply. But she knew Rainbow. Rainbow wouldn’t give up until she got what she wanted. Twilight nodded. “The records would be in Canterlot. I’ll see if I can have the Princess send them to me.” She said, before calling for Spike.

The young dragon hurried into the room and took a letter to Princess Celestia for Twilight, who told of the current situation and whom all was here. With a breath of green fire, the letter was sent. Now all they could do was wait.

Thankfully the wait didn’t last very long. Spike soon belched out a letter from the princess that contained property records for the mysterious Mesma. Spitfire was the one who opened the scroll and started reading.

“She’s got three properties. The Forever Foal store, a house in Las Pegasus, and one in the countryside of Trottingham.”

“We know the store is out. We already looked there.” Said Soarin.

“And there’s no way she’d risk taking him to the city with how he was.” Added Rainbow Dash.

“That leaves Trottingham.” Said Spitfire.

Rainbow looked to Twilight. “Twi, do you mind if we eat something here? It’s gonna be a long, long flight and we need to refuel.”

“I don’t mind at all.” She said, smiling. “Anything to help.”

So they spent the next hour and a half hour resting and eating. They tried to prepare for what they might find, but they weren’t all too sure what that would be. They didn’t know her end game.

Finally, it came time for takeoff. They all thanked Twilight for her hospitality and help, and then they left, promising to bring Mesma back for some well earned justice.

The flight lasted for most of the day, and they were all exhausted. A few times some pony would ask for a food break or a bathroom break, And the bathroom breaks were the only ones that Spitfire actually listened to requests for. But when they did stop, she was extremely irritable, often snapping at them to hurry up and get their flanks moving. It was somewhat akin to her behavior as a drill instructor at the academy, but this was different. Her disciplinarian style at the academy was for motivation of cadets. But this, this was genuine anger, raw anger, and unfiltered anger. They all took comfort in the fact that the anger wasn’t truly directed at them, but it was still somewhat frightening nonetheless.

By the time they made it to Trottingham at the address listed, the sun was beginning to set.

Spitfire tried the front door and was surprised to find it unlocked. Must have thought no pony would come around here. She thought. She entered the home, the team at her tail. Upon entering, she knew Thunderlane was here. The adult high chair was freshly cleaned, and there were dishes in the sink. Spitfire went further in, and down a hall, looking for signs of him. She found one by hearing. It was a childish giggle.

She opened the door to see Thunderlane banging a stuffed toy that jingled on the floor, pacifier in his mouth, and a diaper on his flank.