“And you're sure you haven't seen anypony matching this description or requesting that type of broadhead?” I asked the Equestrian Army warehouse guard.
She gave me an irritated look. “Yes, like I said the last six times you asked. Now, will you go away? I have work to do.”
Knight Gaze came out of the warehouse just as the Army Guard went back in. “All of their type fourteen broadhead crossbow bolts are right where they should be. Wherever they got the crossbow bolts, it wasn’t here.”
“Sergeant Arrow won’t be happy to hear that,” I sighed. “Come on, we should go tell him that we didn’t find anything.” I turned to leave the warehouse with KG beside me.
The search for the orange pony with the mangled wing and where the crossbow bolt came from were coming up dry. Earlier today we had gone by Tall Hope Hospital and all of the free clinics around the city. No doctor in the city had any record of a pegasus with a mangled wing.
It was getting late by the time we returned to the Guard Complex; the night shift guards would be taking over soon. We headed up to Sergeant Arrow’s office. He was forelegs deep in files.
“Let me guess, nothing was missing?” he asked without looking up.
“Yes Sergeant and none of the doctors in the city had a record of treating a mangled wing,” KG reported.
Arrow put his hooves to his face and groaned with frustration. “First we had to get clearance from the Royal Medical Advisor in Canterlot to even ask the hospitals for access to their records, which took a week. Then, the soldiers over at the army outpost wouldn't let us in without written permission from our commander, who isn’t here. So that took just as long to sort out.” He spun around in his chair waving his hooves around. “And now we still haven't found anything to move forward in this investigation!”
Once he finished he sat there quiet looking at the ceiling. Knight Gaze and I stood there waiting for him to say something but he just sat there, huffing through his nostrils like an angry minotaur. An idea suddenly struck me. “Sergeant, what about Vanhoover?”
Arrow’s eyes shot open and he leaned forward in his chair. “Say again?”
I started explaining. “The Army outpost in Vanhoover, they have warehouses up there right? It’s not terribly far from here by flight, and with all the weather up there, nopony would notice a warehouse break-in.”
Sergeant Arrow thought on my words for a moment. “It’s a good idea. I’ll need to talk to the First Sergeant before I leave to get clearance for the Army outpost.” He picked up a pen in his mouth and wrote down some notes.
“Excuse me, Sergeant…” KG cut in, “but don’t you mean ‘us’?”
“No, I want you two here in case the First Sergeant needs you,” he replied. “I can handle this, I’m just taking the train to Vanhoover, checking on their warehouse, and coming back. I’ll be back in a day or two.” He got up from his chair and moved around his desk. “Go about your business until you’re needed. Matter of fact, maybe you two could hit the weights in the yard.”
Arrow trotted out of his office across the hall and into Aurora’s office. KG and I made our way out to the yard. “So what do you wanna do? I asked.
“Dunno. Nyx is in Fillydelphia for a conference on law practice for the next couple of days,” KG said looking around the yard for something to do.
“Well, I’m gonna go take a nap,” I yawned, starting toward the dorm. This investigation had been cutting into my sleep schedule, that and my nights spent with Aurora.
“Actually that sounds good,” KG followed after me.
After walking up the stairs to the third floor and down the hall to our room, KG opened the door. He made a beeline for his bed. I closed the door behind me. After fighting with the straps, I removed my armor for the night.
I rolled onto my bed to get comfortable and shut my eyes for a good long sleep. As if planned, somepony knocked on our door. “Not it,” KG said from his pillow.
“Dammit,” I grumbled getting back up. I moved over to the door and opened it. A normal Guard was standing there. “What?” I asked grumpily.
“The First Sergeant wants to see you right now. Just You. She said don’t bother putting your armor on.” She started back down the hall.
I could hear KG quietly laughing at me from his bed. I’d have to come up with ways to annoy him later as payback. I closed the door and made my way back down and into the sergeant’s offices. I stopped outside Aurora’s office and knocked three times.
“Enter!” she called from inside.
I walked inside and stood at attention. “You asked to see me, Sergeant?”
“Sort of,” she said cryptically.
“Technically I did.” I heard my brother’s voice from behind me. I broke my composure to see Orion sitting on Aurora’s office couch. “What’s up?” he grinned at me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
He got up from the couch and walked over to me. “Oh, wow. I'm gone at Wonderbolt training for a few weeks and you get all hostile toward your family?” Orion asked, playfully offended.
I breathed a quick sigh. “You're right, I'm sorry.” I hugged him. “How have you been?”
“Good. I can't wait to tell you all about Wonderbolt training. It was insane.”
“He already told me. It's quite the tale,” Aurora jumped in.
I quickly remembered that I was supposed to be at attention and snapped back.
“Easy, Strider we can drop the formality for a minute.” Aurora gave me a smirk that I returned as I relaxed.
“Woah, how long has this been going on?” Orion was looking back and forth between Aurora and me.
“What?” Aurora asked looking away.
“You two. How long? Come on, I can keep a secret,” Orion grinned.
I glared at my brother. “How do you do that? This was exactly why the rest of us never had marefriends back in school.”
“It's a gift. Anyway, not why I'm here. I have two more days before I go back on duty, and tomorrow you and I are going to go watch the Best Young Flyers Competition in Cloudsdale,” he said, putting a wing over my shoulders as he finished.
“Can't, I got work here to do,” I tried to protest.
“No, he doesn't. His NCO is away until the day after tomorrow. If you have him back before then it will be like he was never gone,” Aurora said, moving back behind her desk.
“Are you sure you don't need him? Stride here won't leave unless he's sure you don't need him,” Orion said bumping my shoulder.
Aurora giggled a bit. “I have all the help I need now that the other guards here are acting like real guards instead of maggots. Go on Strider, just be back before Sergeant Arrow.”
I groaned. “Fine. Let's go.”
“Awesome!” He started pulling me towards the door. “Come on, we gotta go!”
“I’ll try not to get ambushed this time,” I called to Aurora as Orion dashed ahead.
“Just go before I change my mind,” she laughed going back to the papers on her desk.
Orion practically pulled me out of the compound, much to my humiliation. We took flight and began following the train tracks out of the city. Along the way, he started telling me about his time at the Wonderbolt Academy.
“—then after the Dragon Ambassador left with the Wyvern carcass, things went back to business as usual as far as training goes,” Orion finished.
We had swung north after clearing the mountains and were approaching Cloudsdale as we talked.
“Great, now feral versions of dragons are a thing. Because that's not terrifying at all,” I commented with as much sarcasm as possible.
“Yeah. Oh, hey did you hear? Captain Spitfire is actually doing a major expansion of the Wonderbolts,” he said with enthusiasm.
“Really? How big?” I asked as we passed the first set of residential cloud homes.
“Well, we already have squads Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. She's expanding to include an additional 23 squads, going all the way to Zulu,” he announced, doing a backflip mid-flight.
“Wow, and that's four ponies in each squad. They'll be able to do a show in every city while having some of the squads off,” I said as I did the math in my head. “That'll be one hundred and four Wonderbolts altogether.”
“I know right? I hope they pick me to be in one of the squads.”
“There's a lot of ponies in the Wonderbolt Reserve already, brother,” I pointed out. “You’d have to make a good impression on them to get ahead of the others.”
“Thank you, Mr. Doubtful. Shut up and let me dream will you?”
I chuckled. “Fine, fine. But when your dreams come crashing down, I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so’.”
We landed and entered a navy officer housing. “We're here. I set up a canvas hammock like the one back at mom’s,” Orion told me. We entered his quarters and went to his room. “I know you don't fancy normal beds. Goodnight, we have to get there early to get good seats.” He got under the covers of his large mattress and fell silent.
I flew up to the hammock my brother was kind enough to set up for me. I suppose a day with my brother would be good for me. I closed my eyes for my needed rest.
“Come on! I know just the place to sit!” Orion said bumping me mid air before flying ahead.
I followed quietly, and let Orion lead. We ended up on a cloud just to the right of where the judges sit.
“Why are we sitting here?” I asked.
“For reasons. Besides, it's the closest to the action.”
“I find that answer vague and unconvincing,” I said raising an eyebrow. “And I thought we liked to sit close to the snack bar? When did this become a thing?”
“Since you became a grump like Thasus?” Orion rolled his eyes. “Come on, try to enjoy yourself. If I promise to get you one of those lemon ice malts later, will you at least pretend to be happy?”
Purposely I flipped my mood. “Yup, I'm holding you to that.” I patted his head. “How long till it starts?”
Orion looked around as ponies filled the stadium. “Shouldn't be much longer now.”
We waited patiently for the stadium to fill up and for ponies to take their seats. It wasn't long before the announcer came in on a cloud.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts!” he started. “Please rise and join me in welcoming our beloved Princess Celestia!”
He pointed to the sky to call attention to the Princess flanked by two of Celestia's House Guards. The crowd cheered as the Princess took her seat and offered a wave to the cheering throngs below.
The announcer waited for the crowd to calm a bit before continuing. “Please welcome our celebrity judges for the Best Young Flyers Competition. The Wonderbolts!”
He pointed to they sky calling attention to the six Wonderbolts flying over trailing storm clouds. The turned upward in a line and started a tight inward spiral. They whirled around several times, then broke apart as a show of fireworks depicting the Wonderbolt emblem burst from their midst. Both Orion and I joined in the enthusiastic cheering and whistling as the Wonderbolts landed on the row of seats in front of us.
Once again the announcer waiting for the crowd to calm some. “Now let's find out who’s this year's Best Young Flyer!” he finished moving out of the center of the stadium.
As I waited for the first contestant to come out of the curtain, I turned to Orion but caught him and Lieutenant Commander Fleetfoot in a wordless conversation. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Fleetfoot turned and winked at my brother and then returned her attention forward.
“No wonder you didn't care about me and Aurora,” I chuckled. “You're getting busy with the Lieutenant Commander there.”
Orion quickly put a hoof around my muzzle. “Shut up, dude” He gave a rather irritated sigh. “Yes, but it’s not what you think. Besides, I don't expect it to last long. I think she has her eyes on another stallion anyway.”
The first act started but I was in annoying little brother mode. “Is she any good?” I asked with a grin.
“Oh, I'm telling her you said that,” Orion grumbled, jabbing me in the chest. “Now shut up and pay attention, you might learn something.”
I turned my attention forward and let it be for now. The show was awesome, one pony did fifteen barrel rolls in a row, some did complex aerial dances while others merely timed themselves doing laps around the stadium.
The end of the competition was drawing to a close and I was scraping the bottom of my lemon ice malt cup with a plastic spoon I held in my wing.
“What’s taking so long with contestant fifteen?” Orion wondered. “Stage fright maybe?”
I licked the lemon flavor off my lips before responding. “Dunno. But what happened to contestant number four? After number three they all started coming out of order.”
“Yeah, something’s not right.” Orion looked at Fleetfoot over on the judges’ cloud. She caught his eye and he gave her a querying look. She returned it with a shrug of her own and focused her attention forward again.
I looked up at the Princess who had her undivided attention focused on the curtain. I was beginning to wonder why Princess Luna wasn't attending. I recalled reading a newspaper article some weeks ago that said that Princess Luna preferred nighttime events. Which I suppose made sense, considering her name and position.
“And now for our final competitor of the day, contestant number fifteen!” the announcer called as a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane nervously flew her way out of the curtain.
There was a great gasp from the crowd as she was followed out by a white unicorn with large butterfly wings, all dolled up in fancy makeup. “A-and apparently contestant number four.” the announcer stammered as the pair took to the field.
I glanced back and forth between the two contestants. “Well this is unusual,” I commented.
“Isn’t that one of the six that were in the newspapers a while back?” Orion asked. “From Ponyville?
I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the pegasus. “I think you may be right.”
We waited and watched for their performance. After the unicorn whispered something into some instrumental music began to play and the unicorn started doing some fancy aerial ballet. Orion and I looked at each other and shook our heads together and turned our attention to the Pegasus.
The pegasus had started weaving her way through some cloud pillars at impressive speeds. It looked as if she was going to make it all the way through but she hit the last pillar and ricocheted into the cloud wall. Some ponies nearby were laughing at her as she recovered and moved on to her next trick.
“How are you liking these two so far?” I asked Orion.
“Well I’m not much one for dance,” Orion shrugged, his eyes on the Pegasus. “I’m liking rainbow mane, though.”
“Translation: you like her butt,” I smirked.
Orion shrugged. “Hey, it’s not my fault I like pegasus mares. You obviously have a type. I don't get what is so appealing about that unicorn horn.”
I shoved him with a wing. “Shut up and watch.”
The pegasus had moved on to spinning clouds. She was making them spin pretty fast too. I was getting dizzy watching her. As she was on her second cloud a piece of one flew off and hit her. When she lost control the cloud spun like a top toward the stadium and impacted the cloud wall just above the Princess, causing her to duck.
She paused a moment just as number four started flying upward, then quickly followed.
I watched as contestant four put herself in front of the sun, shining colorful light upon the stadium and started shouting something.
“What'd she say?” Orion asked me.
I shrugged. “Dunno, she’s too far away.”
Contestant Fifteen was much farther up in the sky than Contestant Four. Suddenly, her wings disappeared in a puff of smoke, disintegrated by the sun. She hung in midair for a moment, then fell with a shriek.
She was falling fast I was about to try and help but the Wonderbolts flew to action first. As they got closer to the flying unicorn, her flailing legs struck all three of them across the head, knocking them out and causing them to fall alongside her.
I looked to Orion who was standing ready to move. But contestant fifteen flew down through the bottom of the stadium at breakneck speeds. “Hang on, Rarity!” I heard her shout. “I’m coming!”
I observed as an air cone formed around the pegasus. “What is she doing?”
“I don't know.” Orion leaned over the cloud.
A dazzling explosion of colors erupted from cyan pegasus as she burst the cone, accompanied by a tremendous eruption. My jaw went slack. The legendary Sonic Rainboom, a myth no longer. A pony just pulled it off, right before my eyes! Aside from a slight ringing in my ears, that was- words fail to describe it.
I looked at Orion, who was just as awestruck as I was. “I know you saw that.”
“Seeing. Still working on believing, I'll get back to you,” Orion mumbled, unable to move his eyes.
“She has to have won. Come on, pulling off a Sonic Rainboom! How many ponies can do that?”
Orion finally looked at me. “By my count, one. That one.” He pointed a hoof at the mare coming in for a landing carrying all three Wonderbolts on her back and the unicorn in her hooves.
“Come on, let's go help,” I said jumping off the cloud. Orion regained his wits and followed.
We started carrying the Wonderbolts off the mare, who looked simultaneously exhausted and thrilled. I struggled to lift Commander Soarin off her back and on my own. “Ooff… what does he eat?” I asked, straining against his weight.
“From what Fleetfoot told me, pie. Lots, and lots of pie,” Orion said holding an unconscious Fleetfoot.
I put Soarin down rather hastily as rainbow mane was mobbed a group of her friends. He weighed a lot, especially for a pegasus. “So what's next on today's agenda?” I asked.
Orion was sitting with Fleetfoot. “Well, once Fleetfoot wakes up, I wanted to go get lunch.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I waited off to the side.
I have to hoof it to Orion. Coming here was definitely worth the time.
We were out of the stadium. And in a Cloudsdale diner. Fleetfoot was now out of uniform and in incognito mode with a coat and sunglasses.
“Gotta say that I wasn't expecting to see you when I woke up back there,” Fleetfoot commented. I was still trying to get over the fact that she had a rather adorable lisp.
“And who were you expecting?” Orion questioned.
“Spitfire yelling,” Fleetfoot said before taking another sip of a protein shake. “Now you still haven't properly introduced me to your brother.”
I smirked at my brother from across the booth table. “Yeah, Orion, how rude of you.”
Orion looked at Fleetfoot with a raised brow. “What? You’re famous. I still have to?”
“Bro, of course.”
“He's right,” Fleetfoot cracked a sinister grin.
“Whose side are you on bro?” Orion asked me.
“She outranks me,” I tried.
“What was it you said to us when you graduated? ‘Separate Branch’ was it?” Orion challenged.
That was months ago amid conversation, how did he remember that? “Darn.”
“Okay, fine. You forced this,” Fleetfoot started. “I'm your marefriend, introduce me properly.”
Orion rolled his eyes. “Fine. Fleetfoot, this is my little brother Flame Strider. Strider, this is my marefriend Fleetfoot. Are you two happy now?”
I nodded and sipped my shake.
“Much.” Fleetfoot bumped Orion playfully. “So, Strider. Orion tells me you're stationed in Tall Tale. Anything exciting happening?”
“I can't discuss ongoing investigations, but I can tell you what's been happening around the compound.”
Orion and Fleetfoot waited for me to continue.
“Well, it's no longer where the worst guards go for career suicide. Now the worst go there for training part two. Our First Sergeant slash acting commander is turning the Guard there into a well-oiled machine.”
“What do you mean?” Fleetfoot asked.
“Well guards used to be getting drunk on duty while patrolling the streets, others were getting fat and lazy, some were just doing stupid stuff like getting too close to The Cage and riling the prisoners,” I told her. “Now the Tall Tale Guard are making a hard turn around. First Sergeant Aurora even sent at least five guards back to training in Canterlot.”
“That’s a serious rework. I heard it was mostly third class guards there?”
“It is.”
“Wow,” Fleetfoot mused. “Maybe I could ask Navy command to send some assistance provided your First Sergeant wants it.”
“She might take it actually. I’ll give her the idea.” I looked over at a clock on the wall behind the counter. Four forty-five. “I need to be heading back to Tall Tale actually. My NCO is returning tomorrow and we have work to do.”
“Oh well, have a safe flight,” Fleetfoot said leaning back in her seat.
Orion stood as I did and gave me a hug. “Stay safe, brother. What's the saying that grandfather used to say to us?”
“Let the clouds hide us from harm, and the winds take you further.” I hugged Orion tighter. “The same to you brother.”
“You two are cheesy,” Fleetfoot smirked. “Should I give you some space?”
I stuck my tongue out at Fleetfoot. “Give us a break, I got shot the other week.”
Orion pulled back. “Wait! What?!”
I took a step back from him. “It was just a scratch. I'm fine, cool your jets, bro. Bye Fleetfoot, it was a pleasure meeting you.”
“Same, If I’m ever in Tall Tale, I'll swing by.” She smiled.
I waved a wing as I exited the diner and took wing. Yup, Orion was right, I needed this. A slice of the old times.