A story in which Doctor Whooves portrays the famous Sherlock Holmes of his time
Derpy Hooves has never seen the Detective in action even if he's her special somepony. She's read the newspapers and heard the wild rumors of the great Detective cracking cases wide open when no evidence, or clues could be found. However when a Wonderbolts show goes array with a freak flying accident, the Detective is inclined to believe it was more than just a accident.
It was a cloudless warm sunny day. The weather team had all but cleared the sky early today in anticipation for the up coming wonderbolts show. Under the pristine blue sky skipped a young gray mare with blonde hair. She was humming along to her favorite mystery theme while skipping lightly along the roads of ponyville. Her wings were tucked in holding a bag of her favorite muffins she saved for lunch. She was on her way to Sugar Cube Corner for a very special lunch date.
Outside of sugar cube corner sat a young stallion sipping a warm drink. His light brown coat was shining in the warm sun, his dark brown hair spiked up and back just like how he liked it. He wore a red tie and from time to time adjusted it while reading the afternoon papers. While reading an article about the wonderbolts he was surprised to hear familiar humming one that he could pinpoint to a special mare.
Around corner skipped Derpy Hooves eyes closed with a large smile on her face, seeming almost weightless in her stride. The Stallion smiled and let out a soft giggle, folded the paper neatly and set them on the table next to his tea. He looked up to see the mare had taken notice of him and yelled something.
"Detective!" she yelled across the way.
The Detective smiled and watched as the mare began to run to where he sat. He removed his glasses and shook his head with a grin. He looked up to see how close she was to him now. However as she kept running the colt noticed that she was neither stopping nor slowing down. She kept the same pace as she did when she began to run. A small frown came across his face then a small panic as the Detective realized that she was not going to stop.
"Derpy no-!" was all the Detective could say before the gray mare jumped at him all the while giggling, and in a jumble of grey and brown both fell to the ground.
The detective groaned and opened his eyes to see Derpy laughing as she laid on top of him.
"Derpy what was that for?" The detective asked in a somewhat pained voice. Groaning as he lifted his head.
"I missed you Detective!" Derpy said as she laughed laying her head on his chest to feel his warm fur.
She paused a bit and realized her position above the stallion. She then used her nose to give the Detective a loving nuzzle on his. The Detective cheeks turned a bright red as his hooves went to his nose.
"Derpy. Not in public." The Detective said as he looked around for near by patrons.
However everyone nearby seemed to be enjoying the sight of the lovely couple smiling and awwing as they passed by. "Oh Whooves you're silly." Derpy said with a laugh as she rolled off of him and helped him up with a hoof.
Detective Whooves patted his coat and fixed his tie before the two sat down once again to enjoy their lunch date.
"I take it that you got off work early today?" The Detective started. "Yea since today's the Wonderbolts show the mail office closed early." Derpy replied as she started to munch down on her delightful muffins.
The Detective re opened his paper with a snap to continue reading his article. "Speaking of which." The Detective said slowly while casually reading
Derpy stopped with a mouth full of muffin to look at the Detective.
"I happen to know one of the show coordinates for the wonderbolts. Great lad, however he always wants to challenge people to pointless things including his show secrets." Continued the Detective
Derpy was now enticed by what the Detective was trying to convey. She swallowed the remainder of the muffin in her mouth, and set all of her attention to what she believed the Detective was trying to say.
"He gave me pass to his latest show because I'm the one pony who has yet to be stumped by him. I always end up figuring out his secrets." The Detective said with a smile as he remembered his friends astounded looks when he figured out the secret behind wonderbolts "Rainbow Comet" since then the pony had invited him to most of his shows. Stating bravely that this'll be the one to stump him.
Derpys mouth dropped. "You have a ticket to see the wonderbolts show!" Derpy was shocked. The show had been sold out for weeks.
"Oh yes I do. I decided to accept his challenge on one condition." He continued while on the inside laughing at the face Derpy was making.
Derpy although a never strong flyer loved to watch ariel shows, especially by the wonderbolts.
"What was the condition?!" Derpy asked about to fly out of her own chair in anticipation.
"That I get to bring a special somepony with me." He said looking up from his paper with a smug look on his grin. He then pulled out of the newspaper two name tags with a string attached to them as a neckless. The first read "Detective Whooves, private detective" in large black bold letter. The second read "Derpy Hooves, detective assitant"
"YES!!!" Derpy yelled as she leaped into the sky flying in circles chanting repeatedly how she had the best stallion in all of Equestria.
The Detective gave a chuckle before walking underneath Derpy flight circle "I'll take that as a yes."
"Oh Detective you're the best." Derpy said before descending from her excited flight.
"Well of course I am. Wait Derpy no-!" Once again the Detectives sentence being halted by a grey mare landing on him.
The two arrived at the entrance of large stadium that show was suppose to take place in. Outside the entrance was a line seeming endless in length. Ponies stacked outside the door and those impatient, and yelling to take their seat.
"Golly that's long!" Derpy said in surprise. flying up to see the long line extending all the way to the entrance. The Detective walking casually along beside the line, took a glance at it and the ponies waiting.
"Hmm. Glad I'm not them." The Detective said before skipping the entire line and walking to the entrance.
"Wait Detective!" Derpy yelled trying to stop the colt from angering hundreds of ponies.
Once Derpy caught up to the Detective he had already cut in front of the first pony in line with his and her name tag in hand.
"I need to get in for 2." The Detective said in a rather casual voice.
"HEY BUD WAIT YOUR TURN!" Yelled a Stallion boiling in anger.
"ARE YOU DAFT? THIS LINE IS WAY TO LONG!" The Detective yelled in return.
Derpy gave a facehoof as she saw her wonderful colt present their passes to the two guards standing at the entrance. To her surprise and everyone else's the guards urged them forward.
With a nod the Detective walked right on in. Passing the large guards leaving many ponies irritated at the unfair treatment. The two walking past lines to get their seat went up stairs to the box seats. where once again they had to show their ID's
Upon entering the room Derpy was over taken by the sheer effort put into the one room. One side of the room wasn't even a wall it was a large window over looking the entire stadium. At the back of the room was a large open bar and all around the room where TV's that displayed the current events of the stadium. Along the window where rows of seats with few patrons sitting in them.
"Whooves!" Yelled a Stallion sitting on one of the many seats facing the window.
Derpy snapped out of her daze and looked to see the Stallion that had called his name. The Stallion was in the least ostentatious
His Yellow coat along with his obviously dyed golden mane was blinding in the least. He wore sunglasses lined with gold and walked with a sense of pride and ego.
"Derpy I would like to introduce you to Golden Play. He is the pony responsible for the Wonderbolts routines, and the famous fiery geyser." The Detective finished while shaking hooves with the excited Stallion.
"Wait that was you!" Derpy said in surprise.
"That was one of my favorite shows!" Derpy clapped her hooves in glee.
"Yea and this is the Colt who figured out how I did it.... And won a good chunk of bits from it too." Golden said as he slapped the Detectives shoulder.
"It wasn't that complicated. Just a simple misdirection and a simple concept of embedding." The Detective said with a wave of his hoof.
Derpy stood slightly awkward not quite catching what they where saying. As friendly gestures were exchanged while Derpy seemed to be left behind.
"HAHAH you say the wierdest stuff Doc." Golden said while laughing hysterically.
"I told you I'm not a Doctor I'm a Detective." Whooves said with an annoyed look.
After Golden regained control of himself he extended a hoof toward Derpy.
"And who is this?" Golden asked.
Derpy accepted the hoof and shook firmly.
"My name is Derpy Hooves, please to meet you." Derpy gave her best smile despite her nerves underneath. She had never meet any of the Detectives friends or been a part of his works life for that matter.
"Oooooo Whooves you diamond dog you. You didn't tell me you had a wife?" Golden said once gain slapping him on the shoulder.
The two blushed and where quick to correct.
"No that not its." Derpy said before taking the time to think her words out. A blush appearing on her cheeks
"She's." The Detective attempted to finish.
"Yea I'm a....." Derpy still attempting to finish the conversation.
"Marefriend?" Golden said trying give direction to the confused ponies.
"No that's not it either." The Detective corrected
"Right that's not the right word." Derpy said this time hot and imaging scenes with the Detective within her head.
"Well what are you two?" Golden asked with a raised eyebrow.
The two looked at each other before both replying. "It's complicated." The two finally finished together.
Golden attempting to avoid any other awkward moment asked them to join him for some cider before the show began. The three sat at the bar enjoying the wide ranges of age and flavors of cider taking the drinks sip by sip avoiding getting drunk before the show even began. The Detective and Golden shared stories of wild parties in which the Detective seemed to be the life of whether he attempted to be or not, and wide ranges of cases that seemed impossible to even conceive.
" Hey DOC!" Said Golden in a burst.
"I said I'm not-" Whooves attempted to finish but again being interrupted by the ecstatic pony.
"Do you still do that think where you read people's mind?!" Golden yelled out. At the mention of reading minds few other ponies attentions where caught.
"Its not reading minds. It's just series of observations." The Detective said as he pointed to his eyes.
Derpy sat their confused and rather annoyed. What was Golden talking about? Nothing the Detective ever did gave her the idea he could read minds.
"Do it right now then." Golden called out, obviously having drunk to much cider.
The Detective looked around the room for other ponies then back at the two.
"Okay what do you want to know?" he asked casually.
Golden looked around until finding a suitable pony.
"Him." Golden said while pointing toward a large Stallion sitting at the edge of the bar.
The Detective was about to begin talking until this time Derpy interrupted him.
"What do you mean by observation Detective?" Derpy asked confused to what was even happening.
The Detective excited to teach and allow others to learn focused his attention on Derpy.
"Elementary my dear Derpy. When you meet somepony new we automatically make assumptions on them by their appearances and actions."
Derpy didn't seem to understand what he had meant by this. The Detective thought it be best to try rather than explain. He pointed at the same Stallion at the edge of the bar.
"What do you notice about him?" He asked.
"Uuuummm." There was a noticeable crease between Derpy's eyes as she tried her best to see what the Detective was trying to insinuate.
The Detective chuckled enjoying how adorable Derpy looked. "Simple observations Derpy, separate fact from assumptions."
Derpy looked again this time relaxing a little, shoulders now sagging. "Oh! He's a military pony!" She said realizing the Stallion was wearing Dog Tags around his neck.
"Good. Now can you tell me where he has been or what branch he's from?" The Detective inquired.
Derpy once again strained her eyes, but after awhile shook her head wondering how could any pony know where he's been or which branch. He didn't have a uniform on to discern branch or anything.
"He's a Marine. From the looks of it he just came back from a deployment from the middle east. Most likely not his first." The Detective said before finishing his cider in one last gulp.
Derpy shocked by what the Detective just said looked back at their military pony still had no idea where he could have gotten those from. The Detective noticing her perplexed look started to explain.
"The first question was where he is from. His tan could easily tell you that it was someplace hot and sunny. Second was how sleepy he is. Judging from how sleepy he is means that he must have come from somewhere far from here. In fact so far that he would be asleep by this time of day." The Detective said before pouring himself a second glass.
"The Second question the branch. First is back to the tanline. They stop at his forehoof. meaning he most likely rolled his sleeve. That factors out army since they don't roll their sleeves. Also his mane, that style is one that marines pride themselves in, although some select few in other branches still wear that style." The Detective finished.
"But what about Navy or Airforce?" Asked Derpy.
"Well he isn't a Pegasus so Air force is less likely. After that it was a 50/50 chance so I went for it."
"How did you know that this wasn't his first time oversea's?" Derpy asked.
"Simple. Our bodies build tolerance to alcohol. The more we drink, the more we can drink more next time. However if you go places where drinking is unacceptable your body losses this tolerance." The Detective then pointed to the marines drink.
"Some privates make the mistake after their first deployment of getting absolutely drunk. They don't realize after the second bottle they've already passed out. He however has been nursing that single bottle, realizing that anymore would put him on his flank." The Detective finished
With a smile the Detective began to drink his cider before spitting it back into the glass. "Agh what flavor was that?" The Detective asked in a disgusted voice. Golden Play picked up the bottle to read the label. "Pear, why?" Golden asked before taking a swig himself. "tastes fine to me, a little sweet maybe." he finished "Agh I hate pears." Said the Detective through disgusted expression. Derpy laughed as she remembered when she asked him to try out her pear muffins without realizing he hated pears.
A loud cheer roared out before the three looked toward the window realizing the Wonderbolts had walked onto the field and the crows cheering for the team. Derpy looked at one of the screens to see a close up shot of the Wonderbolts waving too the crowd.
"Oh you have Soarin, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot this time." The Detective said in glee. "Big trick planned?" He asked Golden. "Oh yea, One of my most dangerous finishes yet. I need my best flyers to do it." Golden said crossing his hoofs proud of his upcoming work. "Do you have a name for it?" The Detective asked always curious at what new inventive name he created for of his tricks.
"The buccaneer blitz." Golden said in a proud voice.
The crowd went into a deafening roar as the Wonderbolts took off in flight. Ponies stomping their hooves to the point where the stadium felt that it might buckle under the tremor. The Wonderbolt flying above the crowd the lucky few touching their hooves.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Derpy yelled as she jumped excitedly up and down in her seat.
Derpy then jumped out of her seat to race to the glass window looking down at the stadium looking for her favorite performers. She was rewarded by Spitfire, the captain of the team flying and hovering in front of the glass before waving to her and taking off with a stream of lighting.
Derpy practically fainted into the chair behind her. The other two colts decided to join her to watch the beginning of the show. The Detective had to admit, although Golden has yet to stump him, that colt is able to put on one heck of a show. The Wonderbolts flying across the stadium as if the distance meant nothing, doing loops and drops that would scare a mother half to death.
Derpy watching being a Pegasus knew all to well how much effort sustained flight and loops did to the wings. She herself had attempted to do such a thing but the strain on her wings caused by such events where all to much for her small frame. To be a Wonderbolt one had to a natural born flyer.
The show went on in a spectacular lights and tricks, incorporating classic loops and tricks only possible with modern magic and technology. lights and flashes filled the stadium along with loud music. She could even recognize some of the tricks by name, the rainbow comet, the duel plunder, the lightning jet blaze, the..... Well she couldn't recognize the others but still loved to watch them appear.
At some point they began to launch shirts and other souvenirs into the crowd. Derpy although a little hurt that she would never be able to catch them due to the glass still enjoyed the watching the fillies colts receive these items.
Golden looked down up at the clock in his room to check how long the show had been going on.
"About time for a break." He said to himself.
"I agree." Nodded the Detective.
Derpy looked with a concerned look. "Is it over?" She said almost pained that the show may be coming to an end.
"Haha, No, you see my flyers as much as I believe and trust their abilities still require a break. It's just half time." Golden said as he stood up to head to the bathroom.
Derpy gave a small sigh of relief.
"Enjoying the show Derpy?" The Detective asked.
Derpy nodded her head with enthusiasm. "Its the best show yet!" She said in excitement clapping her hooves together.
Derpy watched as the Wonderbolts went into a dug out to rest themselves. She looked up at the TV screen to see that a cameraman was recording the team stretching out and drink water. She even noticed some of them talking to their family members. Fleetfoot was simply stretching out and taking sips of his water. Soarin was hugging a pink mare who seemed to be his wife, as they hugged a small filly came between them a spitting image of the mother with her fathers navy blue hair Soarins daughter was adorable, watching her give her father a bottle of water to drink from. Spitfire shared a quick kiss with a pony who was most likely her coltfriend.
Seeing the action Derpy gave a glance at the Detective who seemed to be engrossed in another TV watching the Wonderbolt on their break too. Derpy looked down at her hooves on the floor contemplating an action that to her seemed slightly embarrassing, however she felt this was the best way to thank him for this wonderful day.
Closing her eyes Derpy turned her head to plant a kiss on the Detectives cheek. As soon as she leaned forward Derpy felt a strange sensation along her lips. Not really the feeling of a cheek, but something she couldn't describe. Derpy opened her eyes wondering what the sensation was, when she opened her eyes her eyes meet with a pair of light blue eyes, the Detectives eyes.
Blush flooded Derpy cheeks as she realized that she had locked lips with the Detective. Quickly pulling away Derpy hid her face with her hooves. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" Derpy yelled extremely embarrassed at what had just conspired.
The Detective in absolute shock had no idea how to respond. instead he gave incoherent sentences. "Agh. Uuh. Umm." Was all that the Detective could say. Before another voice interrupted
"WOW! Whooves you dog! I thought you said that she wasn't your marefriend?" A glance at each other and the two seemed to agree to talk about this at a later time.
The show went on as the Wonderbolts continued to perform. The second half of the show was more directed as a homage to the weather ponies that constantly watch over the weather.
The tricks and stunts this time revolved around using clouds and playing with wind currents. Unicorns using two bizarre looking machines to create pure white clouds for the Wonderbolts to shape and mold. The Detective took a quick glance to Golden who seemed to be enjoying himself as his work came together. The looked to his other side to see how Derpy was doing. Although she seemed to be enjoying the show rather thoroughly, she still seemed to show slight hints of blush on her cheeks.
Time flew by as they enjoyed the show and all of its wonders.
"Its about time." Golden said looking at the clock on the wall.
The Detective placed all of his focus on the show not wanting to miss a single thing. He looked down at the field to see more unicorns gathered around the machine pumping it with magic as the glow from their horns entered the machine through a large funnel.
After pumping it with magic the unicorn all bolted back to the safety. The Detective raised an eyebrow wondering what trick could have caused unicorns to run for safety. While a quick safety spell should cover them from most dangers
His question was answered quickly when the machines let out a dark almost black cloud floating along every so slowly. Even from a far he could see the dark almost threatening cloud, was loaded with electrons ready to fire out in the form of lightning.
It was no surprise that the unicorns ran, with their magic being the source of the electrons the lightning would be attracted to them like a lightning rod. Something even a safety spell might have trouble with.
The Wonderbolts hovered in place until waiting for the clouds to reach them rather than dashing for the cloud. Once the cloud came close enough the Wonderbolts went to work.
Pushing the cloud into either sides of the stadium and with a nod to the other they started. The two Wonderbolts Soarin and Spitfire started to rapidly fly around the the cloud causing the cloud to shrink and concentrate smaller and smaller the faster they flew.
The Detective could already see how dangerous the trick was, the lightning in the cloud at the moment might not be enough to kill a pony, but it was more than enough to cause damage. However what happened after made him question his friend integrity.
The ponies came out again and pumped more magic into the machine and firing more cloud into the stadium. Where Fleetfoot caught the clouds and sent them from side to side where the Spitfire and Soarin added to their own cloud they kept spinning. After what felt like forever the machine stopped and retreated.
The two Wonderbolt stopped spinning and hovered behind their cloud, a obvious nervous look on both of their faces, especially Soarin who was now looking far from stable, slightly staggering in his flight. The two nodded as a signal and flew over cloud creating a current for the clouds to follow speeding the clouds toward each other.
As soon as the clouds came within inches of each other arcs of electricity where passed between the two. Then Fleetfoot flew around the cloud same as the other two did except this time to accompany the two large clouds flying in a larger circle.
The arcs of became more and more violent as the arcs began to strike with more ferocity. Finally when it seemed like the arcs where going off every second. Fleetfoot flew away with one large stroke with his wings as the cloud released lightning in all directions. Flashes of lightning along with loud snaps filled the stadium. The overwhelming light caused every pony to shield their eyes, all except Golden who wore his sunglasses.
When the light faded their in the center of the field floated two Wonderbolts before landing on the ground. Spitfire and Fleetfoot both panting and smiling at each other finally finishing the show. The crowd all stood in an uproar stomping their hooves with all their might. Pegasus flying high in the sky, and unicorns conjuring flowers to throw. The buccaneer blitz although slightly blinding was a fantastic light show.
However as loud as the crowd was there was also a gasp and worried yells. As the Wonderbolts realized that out of the two one was missing from taking their time in the spotlight. Soarin was still missing. The two looked around frantically until they saw a small figure lying in the ground far off to one side of the stadium.
The Wonderbolts sprinted to what they could only hope was mirage, a symptom of their fatigue. Yet as the came closer to the figure they could easily see the Navy blue mane with burnt grass underneath him.
The Detective could see from the TV the horror that the Wonderbolts may have been going through. Soarin lying on his side holding his left forearm as if he had injured it. From his chest and skin tight suit it was obvious that his breathing was ragged and coming in bursts.
Soon the medical team rushed to the field with kits and lifts to carry him off the field. As the team was rushing a light pink figure ran right past them. Recognizable from the halftime break the Wonderbolts took the mare was probably his wife. A light pink coat and sleek green mane tied into a pony tail. She rushed to her poor husband teeth gritted, and tears flowing out.
First medical to arrive she took ponies vitals speaking rapidly what was probably questions and vital checks. She looked into his eyes and listened to his heart placing her head on his chest.
Once the medical team arrived she was already performing CPR on him. Pushing down on his chest where his heart should be and placing her mouth over his to breath air into him.
The camera was quickly cut and stream ended. Golden stood out his chair as if snapped out of a daze and ran out the door.
"Come on!" The Detective yelled as he ran after him.
The three all ran to the back gate as Soarin was carted into a chariot for the hospital. The wife climbing on crying as she sat awkwardly moving her saddlebag bag to accompany the small space.
Soon after the chariot took off for the hospital, and its wake stood a group of ponies made up of the Wonderbolt team and staff and the two guests invited by Golden Play. A silence as the chariot seemed to fade in the distance and disappearing completely as it turned a corner.
"Get back to work!" yelled Golden. The staff with a groan went back inside. Derpy slightly winced at his cold angry tone.
The Wonderbolts left too as they looked at Golden who didn't seem to care for their poor friends injuries. After everyone left and only the three that came with Golden left standing. The Detective left Derpy's side and walked over to Golden standing alone and whispered in his ear.
"They're gone." He said quietly.
Golden as soon as he heard those words collapsed to his knees. Stomping the ground as hard as he could. The Stallion with a eccentric personality wept loudly all fashions of facade in cold heart forgotten. He even threw his sunglasses to the side wiping his eyes as more tears flowed. Derpy taking in this scene watching as the Detective placed a hoof over the weeping colt. Celestia's golden sun setting in front of them, bathing the scene in a beautiful glow reflecting of their coats, and tears falling shining like crystals as they hit the concrete. She's known the Detective to comfort her when she was put into such a state, but was always to busy as to never truly observe him. The calm composure he had on his face. his eyes looking down at him un-moving focused on the task at hand. Although he kept a stern look on his face, his eyes told the story of a thousand comforting words. His endless light blue eyes a gateway to his caring heart. After what seemed like forever. Golden had let out his final tear and went to his discarded sunglasses to pick replace them onto his eyes.
The three walked silently back to their box seats to retrieve their belongings and to call it a day. Golden walking ahead as the Detective and Derpy followed at a distance to give him space. No words to describe what Derpy was feeling, she followed the floor with her eyes as to reflect on the day. She looked ahead to see Golden once again walking with that stride he had to reflect his nature. Something she now saw as facade for work.
She looked at the Detective walking beside her to see he was lost in his own thoughts. She wondered about him too. She had never seen him at work, since his work tended to move from client to client, but did he have a facade he kept up on his own. How was he when he talked to client that required his service? Thinking back on the day and his ability to observe. Did he ever "observe" her?
The emotional turmoil was to much for and she became nauseous at the conflicting thoughts. She was about to ask the Detective what he was thinking about when the Detective got out a question first.
"Derpy? Do the Wonderbolts have any rivals?" He asked quickly unwilling to add a bases for his question or why he even needed an answer.
Derpy stuttered at the sudden question but answered never the less. "Umm. Yea they may be the first official ariel performers but they're not the only ones. They're plenty like the Flight Fancy, the Winged Warriors, and even smaller ones like Pegasus Party. Of course though the Wonderbolt are the most well known." She said finishing still wondering why the Detective ever needed the information.
The Detective stared into space lost in his thoughts.
"Why?" Derpy asked starting to worry at what the Detective was thinking.
Instead of an answer Derpy was given another question.
"Derpy your mother use to be a nurse correct?" The Detective asked, athough failed to let Derpy answer.
"What are reasons for a pony to go into cardiac arrest?" He asked quickly
Derpy now realizing this was a string of events answered without pause. "Well lets see." Depry said looking up trying to recall what her mother taught her.
"Bad health, lack of exercise, electrocution, eating the wro-" Derpy was suddenly cut off as the Detective yelled.
"EXCELLENT! THATS IT!" He yelled. Attaining a slight "eep" from Derpy and attracting the attention of Golden.
"Whats it!?" Derpy yelled trying to snap the Detective from his thoughts. Tired of being ignored.
"Golden!" The Detective yelled out.
"Whooves please I'm a little expended form today's events. I don't need to know you have already figured out my buccaneer blitz. That acursed trick may have cost me one of my Wonderbolts. Poor Soarin. All those calculations for nothing" He replied in a sad tone.
"NO! Something doesn't add up!" He yelled back.
"No Whooves! This isn't one of your cases. This is my fault and my fault alone, I am the one who made routine with full idea of what may happen if things went wrong." Golden replied ready to accept his failure and the backlash of his intentions. In all his years he has never had a flyer hurt so badly. Sure they where the cuts and bruises and even the occasional tumbles due to his oversight, but nothing this serious
"Buck it Golden! This is something beyond your show now!" Derpy and Golden both looked at the Detective not used to him using such language.
"This is about the truth! This was not your fault!" He yelled stamping his hoof to the ground letting out a large thud.
Golden let out a sigh and a shake of his head continued walking to the box seats by himself.
"Damn it." The Detective whispered to himself. He turned around and sprinted the other way. Derpy quickly following wondering where the heck they where going.
"Don't let anyone clean up!" He yelled back hoping Golden would follow his directions.
The two arrived at the bottom of the stadium standing in front of a large grass field. Where about and hour ago the stadium was filled with ponies and cameras.
Derpy panting to get her air back saw the Detective standing tall at the entrance to the field. The same entrance the Wonderbolts entered and exited.
He turned around to look at Derpy.
"Derpy this is the scene of the event. This is where we start." He said in a proud voice.
"Start what Detective?" She asked still a little confused with what they where doing.
"An hour ago, somepony, somehow sabotaged the Wonderbolts show. And they did it in front of thousands of ponies watching.... Its up to me to reveal who and how." The Detective said to Derpy.
pausing and looking back at the field "This is the start of our case."
The Stadium was lit by the lights reserved for night shows by upon the request of Golden Play who at the moment had allowed the Detective to go about with his lunacy.
"Umm Detective what are you talking about?" Derpy asked with a rather confused look.
"Why do you think somepony had sabotaged the Wonderbolts show?" She asked.
"Do you remember the video of Soarin injured Derpy? Do you remember what forehoof he was holding?" The Detective asked in return.
"The left one." She answered. "But injuries like that are common, especially considering he probably crashed."
"Did you notice his breathing?" The Detective asked. Derpy gave this a hard thought but failed to recall the manner of his breathing, to panicked by the injured athlete to remember the smaller details.
"Jagged and unsteady. That combined with his left hoof in pain, its possible that he was in a cardiac arrest." He finished.
"Then why are we here detective? Shouldn't we go to the hospital to confirm that it was a heart attack?" Derpy asked, slightly taken with the idea that a healthy stallion in the wonderbolts none the less had a heart attack.
"To confirm something I saw, or rather something I didn't see" He said before the two walked to where Soarin was first found. A small patch of burnt grass confirmed that this was the location. The Detective looked around to see that this was the location that Soarin began to accumulate the clouds for the buccaneer blitz, looking for the box seats he had observed from.
"Derpy what do you take from this burnt patch of grass?" The Detective asked.
Derpy gave a questioning look, the answer seeming to obvious."That Soarin was hit with a lightning bolt?" The Detective nodded his head confirming her answer.
"Well doesn't that explain the heart attack then? Soarin landed here and was then shocked causing the cardiac arrest." Derpy said almost too easy. At this the Detective shook his head.
"Right before the main cloud in the trick went off did you notice Fleetfoot fly straight up?" Derpy nodded her head.
"This is to get away from potential lightning bolts, like the one that hit Soarin. You see in order to complete the current and cause harm to a pegasus he or she must be close enough to either the ground, or something touching the ground. That's why they flew high and far away from objects as possible." Derpy tilted her head unable to grasp how this had to anything to do with Soarin being struck from a lightning bolt he clearly did not prevent.
"So if Soarin was aware of such a dangerous risk. Why did he get close enough to the ground to let a current flow through." The Detective finished. "Maybe he got dizzy from the trick and crashed?" Derpy asked recalling that the trick required them to spin around a cloud at a high rate of speed.
"Well Derpy did you notice the ground around you?" The Detective asked in a curious voice pointing a hoof at the ground underneath them.
Derpy looked around the area at the ground beneath her. This time determined to find what the Detective was hinting at even letting out a grunt of effort as she focused her eyes for an unseen clue. After a few moments the Detective continued talking.
"None of the dirt or ground is disturbed. He never crashed, he simply fell from his spot. After sending the clouds on a crash course with each other, the pegasus went to his position to fly away, but had a heart attack and fell straight down. Where a lightning bolt had hit him transferring into the ground causing the burnt marks." The Detective finished.
Derpy realized the mistake in her theory and surprised in herself that she hadn't made the coloration. "When we imagine events in our mind, our brain tends to fill in gaps, or ignore them all together. Because of that we overlook crucial details. In this case the difference between what caused the heart attack." The Detective finished before starting to look around the stadium. He found what he was looking for when he saw the dugout. The location of the wonderbolts break area and the location of where the family stayed.
The two walking into the dug out turned on the lights and began searching. Looking underneath tables and opening already opened lockers. Taking care as to not rub off any hoof prints. It was obvious no one had touched the dugout since trash littered the area and dirty hoof prints scattered on the floor.
Derpy also attempted to look, however had trouble understanding what she was looking for.
"Where is it!?" The Detective yelled causing Derpy to let out a surprised gasp.
The Detective noticed he had frightened Derpy and gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry its just..... Why isn't it here?" He asked no pony in particular.
"What are you looking for?" She asked hoping to lay down some stress in his mind.
"How the Saboteur induced the poison." He said quietly.
Derpy was surprised. Poison? Why would it be poison and why would anypony want to do that to Soarin
"There are three common ways poison is introduced to the body: By ingestion, by skin, and by injury from an open wound. If it where by skin or injury we would need to go to the hospital but what about ingestion?" The Detective asked.
"A poison like that could have been put into his breakfast his lunch or what I had theorized was his water. Yet his bottle is no where to be found." He finished putting a hoof on his chin.
"Well why not ask the family? Maybe they know what he ate?" Said Derpy.
"Yes but what about the bottle?" The Detective mentioned.
"I doubt his bottle was even touched considering that this is an closed off area. Pretty much only the coaches are allowed near the bottles and equipment." Derpy said remembering watching them train at one point.
The Detective sighed. "Still I hoped for some sort of clue here."
The Detective took a look at the dirt on the floor. The tracks left by the cloud machine along with hoof prints. The Detective inspected each closely but seemed to disappointed at his discovery. He then came upon a small spill of a black dirt. He pushed the dirt around then took some in his hoof to smell it. Then a tongue protruded from his mouth as he lifted the dirt closer to his mouth.
"Detective! What are you doing? That's dirty!?" Derpy yelled
The Detective payed no attention to his companion as he licked a small speck of the dirt tasting the sample.
Derpy was repulsed and quickly went to go find some water. Yet looking around could only find two bottles. Decorated with the wonder bolts cutie marks. The bottle where neatly placed inside a sink shelf waiting to be used or cleaned.
"Detective what about this?" Derpy yelled pointing at the green container that held the cutie marks.
The Detective spat the dirt out and walked over to the green bottles and inspected each taking the lids off and looking inside for any substances or marks and the smelling inside of the bottles. "I doubt these are linked directly to the case but we can make an assumptions from these two." He replaced them back into their spot before turning the cutie marks outwards.
"What assumption is that?" Derpy asked.
"This was directed towards Soarin specifically." He then pointed at the bottles. "Think if you where in the saboteur position. If you wanted to interrupt an entire show the best way would be to either cripple the team leader which here is spitfire, either that or poison all of the bottles. Not only was Soarin the only one to be poisoned his bottle is the only one missing." The Doctor pointed out.
As he spoke Derpy noticed black smudges along the Detectives teeth. "Detective? You have that black dirt all over your teeth." She said slightly disgusted and annoyed the Detective did not take heed of her comment before.
"Is there now?" He licked his teeth attempting to clean it up. "Hmm still no flavor." He said quietly
"Derpy this concludes our time here." He said
He began walking towards the door as Derpy followed. "I'm quite glad you are here Derpy this is much more enjoyable with you here." The Detective said with a smile.
Derpy was happy although wondered how any of this was enjoyable when it seemed that a pony had intentionally given Soarin a heart attack. "I mean spending time with you is enjoyable! Not that I like having anypony hurt, its uuu." The Detective had taken noticed Derpys confused look and attempted to fix what Derpy thought of him, however ended with sentence that had gotten away from him.
Derpy let out a giggle. She thought it was cute when the Detective lost control of his sentence, usually causing him to make undignified noises. "So what now Detective?" Derpy asked.
"We have to talk to Soarin, perhaps he can tell us something." The Detective said as he walked out of the Stadium.
"But we will do that tomorrow. Its late and Soarin could use some rest, l'm beginning to doubt that this was meant to sabotage the wonderbolts show." The Detective said quietly.