The morning rain was extremely refreshing as Concorde flew over the town towards the apartment Hurricane was renting while he was in Whitbay, following a night of celebratory drinks. Hurricane had said he was only planning on staying in Whitbay for a few days while running auditions, but seeing as he now had Concorde to train he was planning on staying longer.
Besides being told where and when to meet him, Concorde hadn’t heard from the older Pegasus since. Upon returning home, his father and Maffett’s father Astrolabe had thrown an impromptu party though between the drinking they rarely shut up about how awesome the Red Hawks used to be.
Every time somepony mentioned the Red Hawks, the matter of why they disbanded raised its hooded head. It seemed nopony knew why they disbanded so Maffett offered to look into it once she’d sobered up.
The apartments were part of a recent development on the outskirts of the town, built to support the ever expanding Weather Control workforce which usually came to town from Cloudsdale. Weather Control was a massive industry in a port town and Cloudsdale, being the heart of all Equestria’s weather, always produced the best Pegasi for the job.
Once Concorde got inside the apartment block and shook himself dry (to the annoyance of the cleaner), he made his way up to the right apartment and knocked.
“Come in.” Came Hurricane’s almost disinterested voice through the door, so Concorde pushed it open.
Hurricane looked up from the opposite side of a table where he was sat shuffling a deck of cards.
“You’re late.” He said casually as Concorde entered, pulling a card and laying it down next to three others in a line.
“It’s only 3 minutes past.” Concorde pointed out, looking at the clock on the wall as he knocked the door shut with his hind hoof.
“That’s still late. I would’ve tried to arrive 3 minutes early if it was my first day.”
“Looks like you were already expecting me to be late, seeing as you’re playing solitaire.”
“These aren’t playing cards.” Hurricane said, holding up the deck so Concorde could see that the image was actually a formation of 4 ponies.
“What are they?” He asked, sitting opposite Hurricane.
“They’re cards with different manoeuvres and stunts drawn on them. I’ve been trying to work out a potential routine for two ponies and thought I’d start with something random.” Hurricane replied as he reshuffled the deck, pulled a new card and put it aside after a moment’s thought as it was a stunt for 3 ponies.
Concorde looked at the upside down cards laid out before Hurricane. The first showed two ponies in formation, one of which had an ‘L’ on their flank, which he assumed meant ‘leader’ and the words ‘Duo Entrance’ written at the bottom. The next showed what the caption stated was a slow formation roll, followed by a formation loop and a ‘Duo Split’. Not exactly the calibre of performance Concorde was expecting to see after listening to his dad the night before.
“Struggling a bit?” Concorde asked, looking up at Hurricane.
“There arn’t many of these cards for 2 and let’s not forget I still have to train you.”
“That’s true. When are we going to get started?”
“Not until this weather clears up a bit. For now, we may as well see what you may be able to do.”
“Last I heard that’s not for another 3 days.”
Hurricane paused and looked up from the table at Concorde, looking sceptical.
“Doesn’t this wee town employ an army of Weather Controllers?” He asked.
“It does but they’re more wind controllers as supposed to weather controllers. Drop of rain doesn’t bother many ponies ‘round here.”
Hurricane sighed, pulling another card from the deck and laying it down. This one showing two ponies reforming with an arrow pointing up next to them. The caption stated it was a ‘Vertical Duo Reform’.
After a lengthy silence, Concorde figured he may as well ask:
“What’s all this about the Red Hawks disbanding, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Hurricane froze for a moment. He did anticipate the question cropping up at some stage, though he was at least hoping it wouldn’t.
He lay down the deck of cards and regarded Concorde, contemplating what exactly to tell him. He didn’t think Concorde had been born when it happened, but it wasn’t a subject he liked discussing.
“It’s exactly as it sounds.” Hurricane stated “The Red Hawks disbanded a long time ago. I was about half your age at the time, I think.”
“They just disbanded for the sake of it?” Concorde pressed with a raised eyebrow. Hurricane hoped he wasn’t going to question every answer he gave.
“No. There was a personal spat between” Hurricane paused for a moment, searching for a reasonable term “two members of the team. The others took sides, it got messy and the team just split up.”
“A personal spat? What about?”
“Well it didn’t start as a spat. It started more as placing blame and it got out of hoof. We were a close knit group, so if one bad thing suddenly surfaces, plenty more quickly follow. Afterwards, no pony could stand each other so we just fell apart.”
Concorde opened his mouth, likely about to ask more that Hurricane didn’t feel like answering before somepony knocked at the door and spared the older Pegasus.
“Would you mind getting the door?” Hurricane asked, picking the deck back up.
“Sure thing, boss.” Concorde smiled, saluting before doing as he asked.
Concorde opened the door to find himself looking at the town mayor, who was somewhere way down the list of ponies he was expecting to see. The mayor was an old, weathered Earth pony with his body, mane and tail long since having turned silver. His well built body still held up well after many years working aboard various ships, though.
“Mornin’, Concorde.” He said simply. “I understand Hurricane of the Red Hawks is here.”
“He is, sir.” Concorde smiled, stepping aside so the mayor and Hurricane could see each other.
“Can I help you?” Hurricane asked before noticing the gold chain with medallion around the Earth pony’s neck, signifying his position as mayor.
“There is.” The mayor said, entering the room and looking around for a moment. “Is there only two of you?”
“Aye.” Hurricane replied with a straight face.
“Seriously?”
“Aye.”
Concorde looked surprised as well. He had thought earlier Hurricane was looking at displays for two for training purposes, not because there literally were only two of them.
The mayor sighed. “Well, regardless, I have a proposition for you.”
He looked at Concorde for a moment. The young stallion was known to him, if mainly as he was the son of one of the town’s most famous current figures. He’d been made aware of the restraining order keeping him from entering Windy Valley Raceway the day before and had spent the rest of the afternoon demanding why the police chief had signed the order. The police were there to make sure the goods that made their way through Whitbay weren’t stolen, not to assist in family disputes.
The mayor looked back at Hurricane, figuring he may as well get to the point.
“It’s the anniversary of the birth of this town’s most famous figure in two weeks time. The Wonderbolts were scheduled to perform during the festivities but they’ve cancelled after they were apparently injured fighting a dragon in some place called Ponyville and I need a replacement.”
Hurricane shrugged.
“Sounds like quite the pickle.” He remarked.
The Mayor scowled at him. He wanted a yes or no now as he had other business to attend to.
“Who’s birth are you celebrating?” Hurricane asked after a moment. Such celebrations weren’t uncommon in Equestria though they were more commonly in honour of the town’s founder on the date of the town’s founding.
“Captain Trotter.” The Mayor answered, indicating to a picture on the wall that Hurricane hadn’t taken a blind bit of notice of while he’d been there. It showed a blue Earth pony, wearing a navy blue jacket, white ruffle shirt and what looked like a white wig, sat studying what appeared to be a map.
The caption stated the name; while Hurricane noticed the dates stating when Captain Trotter had lived were 500 years ago “He charted most of Equestria, the Griffon and Reindeer lands to the north as well as the southern seas, discovering Marsupia in the process. He pretty much put this town on the map in the first place.”
“Well he did write them.” Concorde pointed out.
“Have to admit, I’ve not heard of him.” Hurricane said, reshuffling the deck again. “How much are you offering?”
“500 bits.” The Mayor said simply.
“Is that what you offered the Wonderbolts too?” Hurricane enquired. The Mayor seemed to visibly bristle, not in the mood for haggling.
“A thousand, then.” The mayor almost spat. Hurricane leaned back in his chair, seemingly considering the offer for a moment before replying:
“Deal.”
“I’ll have my aids send you a schedule, you just make sure you can fly as well as you used to.” The Mayor said simply before leaving, slamming the door behind him.
Concorde looked at Hurricane.
“Two weeks.” He stated, starting to get slightly worried already.
“Then we’d better get started with your training.” Hurricane replied.