Around the Bellerophon Armada, with the near-hundred airships floating under the sea of cloud and over the forest of city towers, orange streaks blazed through the air like comets. Only a few dozen phoenixes were out, but they screeched and chirped to each other, some briefly coming together for synchronized flights, others seizing each other and twirling under the force of gravity like upside-down ballerinas. Many of the flock were content to trace orbits around the ships, occasionally veering across and towards the swollen balloons, the slight sways of the rigging, and the creaking hulls overshadowed by the red sky.
Fluttershy peeked out of the porthole, following the flights of the nearest birds. A phoenix flashed by the thick glass, tracing purple streaks of afterglow in her eyes which she blinked out.
Behind her, the rest of the squad were standing around the office, ignoring even the opposite portholes and focusing entirely on the desk. Despite being apparently distracted, her left ear was cocked that way in a don’t-mind-me-I’m-casual fashion that deceived nobody.
“Whoa. And after it made its escape, what did you do then?” said Lieutenant General Soarin.
Rainbow Dash was standing to attention right before his desk, almost lifting her own hooves off the floorboards. She was frowning. Not with any particular irritation or uncertainty, but because she’d be darned if she wasn’t going to look the part of a captain.
“We searched the area for signs, sir,” she said to the wall behind Soarin. “I briefly brought Raindrops and Thunderlane up to speed, and then set up a perimeter with everyone except Fluttershy. I sent her out as a runner to the nearest base for backup. By the time they arrived, we’d completed our search.”
The squad exchanged tentative glances. At least Rainbow had been tactful enough to leave out the shouting, whining, and general noise that had littered itself all over an otherwise glowing account.
Soarin peered over his desk with concern. “Not even a sign of the pegasus being chased?”
“No sir. The backup squad took our statements, and then sent us away. I thought it best to keep you in the loop, sir.”
“Hmmm.” At this, Soarin spread his forelimbs in an expansive gesture. “Well, fair's fair. It could have gone a lot worse. Well done, guys. You did a good job, especially with that chimaera. That could have been nasty.”
But we managed to make it even nastier, thought Fluttershy, shuddering. The sudden image of Rainbow Dash struggling against the snake's coils, inches from a sabre-toothed maw, grinned at her as a cruel reminder.
On telling Soarin, Rainbow had been a little bendy with the truth. Part of Fluttershy didn't blame her. There were some things that should not be relived in the telling.
Finally, Fluttershy turned around.
Surrounding the desk in a semi-circle, the squad stood a little straighter than before. Among them, Lightning Dust barely suppressed a grin, and Derpy and Meadow Flower didn’t even try. It hardly mattered that Rainbow’s account made it sound like the figure had simply flashed past them; any balm for sores was all right by them, and Soarin saying “Well done” was worth a weekend at the spa.
She slipped in between the ranks, waiting for her cue. Flashes of light crossed her mind. Good as her memory was, it was shaking with stage fright.
I’ll just wait until they mention it, she thought, and then I’ll put a hoof up politely. That’s all. It’s not a crime to talk to everybody, not even the Lieutenant General.
“This pegasus, though,” said Soarin to the room at large. “Could anyone identify her?”
There was a general shaking of heads, though Raindrops and Thunderlane simply stared off into space. Derpy, though, had let her ears droop. Blank as her face now was, it was easy to tell what she was thinking through her ears. They could’ve written poetry, they were that expressive.
The Lieutenant General shrugged. “Never mind. Sickly and green; I'm sure she won’t get far. I bet the ground squads are getting an ID from the tower anyway. More to the point is our mystery perp. The masked figure.”
Rainbow reached for the saddlebag on the floor and then held up the threads cupped in one hoof. “Fluttershy found these on the ground. They must’ve ripped out when Gilda grabbed the cape. Could be a clue, sir.”
“Not bad. Body shape?”
“It looked like a pegasus,” said Cloudchaser. “But it moved so fast –”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” said Gilda. “It could’ve been a changeling, or a short griffon.”
“Yeah, but it looked pegasine,” said Lightning Dust. “None of us saw it fly, though. If it had wings, then they were tucked under the cape the whole time.”
Fluttershy coughed quietly. “I think it’s a unicorn.”
All of them stared at her. Seeking authority, she focused on Soarin’s surprised eyes, and then looked up to his right ear when her own eyes watered.
“What makes you say that, Shy?” said Soarin.
“When it moved so fast, there was a flash on its head like a unicorn horn,” Fluttershy continued. “It did it once before we started, and then again when Rainbow Dash tried to block it.”
“That’s ridiculous,” said Cloudchaser, shaking her head. “Unicorns can’t move like that thing did. That thing had pegasine speed.”
“Ahem,” said Gilda.
“Oh, come off it. I don’t have to keep adding ‘And griffon speed too.’ You know what I mean.”
Gilda gave her a sidelong glower, beak turned up.
“Maybe. But then again, maybe not. Maybe you were mistaken?” said Raindrops. “Maybe in all the chaos, you just thought you saw a flash?”
“I know what I saw,” said Fluttershy insistently. “It was magic. That’s how it disappeared at the end. With a spell.”
“YOU SURE?” said Bulk Biceps, cocking his head.
“Yes. I’ve seen unicorn magic before. I’d know if it I saw it again.”
“When was that?” said Thunderlane.
Fluttershy didn’t respond. She didn’t dare look at Rainbow Dash.
This generated some murmuring, but Soarin nodded. “That's keen observation, Shy. It looks like we’ve got a lead. There are some unicorns in the city, but not many. We have to keep tabs on them, given the power issues and security risks, but I don't remember them being a problem before now.”
“How many unicorns is ‘many’, sir?” said Rainbow Dash.
“Off the top of my head? It's been a while. I think four are officially registered within the city bureau, and two of them live together. A fifth one technically lives outside our jurisdiction, but they're close enough to unofficially count. Unicorns aren’t exactly a common species, even globally. At least our list of suspects will be short.”
“Uh, yeah, but then,” said Meadow Flower, “what about unregistered ones?”
“Baby steps, Meadows. Baby steps. OK, take the rest of your shore leave off, people. I’ll hand this over to Spitfire, and she can decide –”
Lightning Dust nudged Rainbow in the ribs. After a quick mutual glance, Rainbow said, “With your permission, sir, I’d like to continue the investigation with my squad.”
Despite the groans this generated, Soarin peered over his desk at her with concern. “Wait, really? Even on shore leave?”
“Yes, sir. We got the ball rolling, sir. I wanna be there when it stops. Besides, we’re the ones with the headstart, and we know what it’s capable of. Right now, we’ve got an advantage, and we’re faster than the ground-based squads.”
Besides, Fluttershy was thinking, most of us are at the bottom of the pack; what does it matter if we lose out on time off? And it’ll look good if Captain Rainbow Dash gets there first. She suspected the same thoughts were lighting up the insides of Rainbow's mind. Certainly, she looked a lot more puffed-up than usual, and on a pegasus with feathery wings, that was no small thing.
Soarin gave a slight grin. “Neat. You’re that keen, are you?”
“Yes, sir.” Rainbow saluted. Lightning Dust grinned and nodded.
“In that case, I’ll spare the other squads an untimely recall for now. You understand I'll still have to inform General Spitfire about this? All right. Lieutenants, step forwards.”
Lightning Dust, Thunderlane, and Raindrops stepped smartly forwards, forming a line on either side of Rainbow Dash. Lightning had a side all to herself.
At this, Fluttershy glanced away. She could feel the stares burning into the back of her head, and it was a while before she realized she was staring at her left hoof.
A few seconds of muttering and murmuring began to rise up. Her cheeks burned.
“OK,” said Soarin without missing a beat, “I’ll bet the ground squads are already looking over the tower after that disturbance, so that just leaves us with one missing pegasus and one mystery masquerader to deal with. We could always send out a city-wide search for the perps, which I'll take care of. In the meantime, the obvious suspects are your targets for now. We could check in on those unicorns to start off the investigation. And since that festival’s starting up tonight” – here, he glanced out the window at the streaks of orange burning past – “try and keep it discreet, guys. OK?”
They nodded.
“Right on! Lieutenant Lightning Dust, you take Private Meadow Flower for unicorn number one. Lieutenant Thunderlane, you take Private Cloudchaser for unicorn number two. Lieutenant Raindrops, you take Private Derpy and Private Bulk Biceps for numbers three and four, since they live together. Now, we’re not throwing around accusations yet. That's not how it goes. Just get their statements, ask about their recent activities, see if you can get their aural hue while you're at it –”
“AURAL HUE?” said Bulk Biceps.
Soarin chuckled. “Don't worry, Bulks. Lieutenant Drops, if you’d be so kind?”
Behind Raindrops, Gilda sniggered and waggled her talons in imitation of a chatterbox.
Raindrops herself breathed in cheerfully. “Gladly, sir! All unicorns have a signature colour whenever their horns light up to perform magic. It’s not always easy to spot, but no two unicorns have the same hue, so it shouldn’t be too hard to identify each one.”
Swiftly, she glanced around. Gilda's talons dropped fast and the griffon suddenly radiated utter innocence.
Glaring at the latter and then beaming at the former, Soarin nodded. “Textbook answer. Shy? Did you get the colour?”
Fluttershy coughed and looked up. “I think it was purple-ish? But it could’ve just been the fabric.”
“It was wearing a purple hat, to be fair,” said Meadow Flower helpfully.
“OK, then. And watch your six. If you see anything suspicious,” said Soarin, drawing himself up, “then report it immediately. No glory-hounds, understand?”
Gilda raised a hand. “Uh, sir? What do I do?”
“Hm?” Soarin raised an eyebrow. “Oh yes, there was a fifth unicorn, wasn’t there? You and Private Fluttershy can take care of that one, if you don’t mind.”
Private, Private, Private. The words of doom echoed all around. She heard them under the whispers and the murmurs. Private? Private! Private.
Fluttershy almost staggered. How could he have just blurted it out like that? How could she face them now?
And now she was stuck with Gilda.
Gilda glared at Fluttershy, who turned away and was suddenly dreading the next few minutes. It couldn’t be delayed long enough. It wouldn't be delayed long enough, not if she had all eternity to delay it. She'd probably drop dead of fright. She was trying not to tremble, because Wonderbolts didn't tremble and she wasn't going to fall now, she wasn't going to faint, she wasn't going to crack. She couldn't. She mustn't. She shouldn't.
“I’ll go with them,” said Rainbow Dash quickly.
Fluttershy looked up at once, and found to her horror that her own vision was blurred. Hastily, she blinked herself clear.
Unfortunately, Soarin shook his head. “Sorry, Rainbow. As captain, it’s your duty to write up the report for the incident tonight.”
A look of horror crossed Rainbow’s face. “Report? Me?”
“That’s how it works up top. Someone’s got to do the paperwork, and it was your squad acting. Everyone here is under the Leucippus. If it helps, you can use this desk, but it has to be in either my tray or Major Fleetfoot’s tray before dawn tomorrow. Trust me. It's best to get it out of the way.”
Rainbow cast about urgently for an escape. “But – can’t I just write it up after –?”
“While it’s fresh on your memory, Captain.” He drew up a pen and a form, and laid them down on the desk. “In the meantime, I’ve got business to attend to. Save for Captain Rainbow Dash, you’re all dismissed.”
They saluted and turned away. While the squad ambled, shuffled, stumbled, or scurried out, Fluttershy felt herself shrink away as Gilda sullenly fell into step beside her, not so accidentally budging her aside as they approached the door.
Fluttershy whimpered. She waited patiently for Gilda’s tail to disappear, and then took one last look at Rainbow hunched moodily over the desk before Soarin stepped in the way and she hurried out, hoping she wouldn’t have a heart attack.
It was small level work for a small level squad. The Leucippus crew – even the likes of Lightning Dust – weren’t the cream of the crop. No member was there who didn’t have a serious flaw to their character somewhere.
All the same, there was an electric feeling in the air. The squad buzzed with excitement. Stuff was happening. They were getting involved!
And there’d be Dash, back from a campaign of excitement and forced to write reports. That was her idea of torture.
In fact, Rainbow seemed strangely gloomy and quiet, she noticed. But Fluttershy felt duty tugging at her neck like a leash, and reluctantly threw herself off the deck and began gliding over the oily fires of the city, the shrieks of the phoenixes crisscrossing her mind.