My Little Investigations: Wonderbolts Under Fire

by Metool Bard

Friendly Rivals United

When I got out to the landing strip, I got the feeling that Honor Bound had the same idea I did. It wasn't just him and the three frontrunners of the Proud Pride coming in, but the entire team. I smiled. That made it a lot easier to coordinate with them.

My smile faded, however, when I noticed that Kierra looked rather dejected. I took that as a sign that Honor Bound didn't believe her report about the tengu. I drew in a sharp breath through my teeth. This, was gonna get ugly.

Honor Bound touched down before me and bowed. I made sure to do the same, and quickly prodded Blaze when she didn't follow suit. Honor Bound didn't seem to notice this breech in protocol; most likely because he had more important things on his mind.

"Welcome, Ambassador," I said. "I take it you've gotten Kierra's report?"

"I have," said Honor Bound.

"And?"

"I find it hard to believe, but I cannot dismiss it outright," said Honor Bound thoughtfully. "So, I'd like to hear from you, Captain Spitfire. Is Kierra's report accurate?"

"It is," I said automatically. "I can vouch for Kierra personally. I even have the assassin under guard in the infirmary if you want to talk to him."

"In the infirmary?" asked Pierre, raising an eyebrow. "Why not a detention cell?"

"What detention cell?" asked Blaze.

Pierre looked flabbergasted. "You, don't have a detention block here?"

"We never had a need for one before," I said with a shrug. "I usually deal with insubordination personally."

"I, see," said Pierre, placing a talon to his beak. It looked like he was fighting the urge to berate me for this and act superior. Good. If he were to try, he'd just come off as pathetic.

"Ambassador, Ms. Spitfire wouldn't lie about something like this. She has no reason to," said Kierra. "Surely you believe me now."

"I see no reason to doubt Captain Spitfire's integrity, Kierra. Nor your own, for that matter," said Honor Bound. "Still, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. When we're done here, Captain Spitfire, I wish to see this tengu for myself."

"Understood, Ambassador," I said with a bow. I breathed an inward sigh of relief. That went a lot better than it could have.

"So, why's the gang all here?" asked Blaze.

Honor Bound's expression darkened. "There is one point of Kierra's report that I find most troubling, Captain Spitfire. She said you believe that there will be an attack at the Ghastly Gorge Gauntlet."

"There's no doubt in my mind, Ambassador," I said.

"What are you basing this on?"

I adjusted my shades before responding. "At least two of the attacks inflicted on the Wonderbolts in the past week were designed to drive a wedge between ponies and griffons. If the same were to happen at the Ghastly Gorge Gauntlet, the political backlash would be catastrophic."

"But didn't you say you already caught the assassin?" asked Pierre.

I lowered my shades. "Captain le Grand, are you honestly telling me that you believe one dock-hole conducted all of the attacks on the Wonderbolts and the Griffon Kingdom?"

Pierre's eyes narrowed as his cheeks turned red. "Why must you continue to make me look stupid, Capitaine Spitfire?"

"It's not on purpose, I assure you," I said. "Anyway, let's get back to the matter at hand. These attacks aren't random, Ambassador. They have a purpose. The tengu are aiming to conquer Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom in one fell swoop, and it's gonna be pretty hard to stop them if we're at each other's throats."

"Indeed, Kierra has come to the same conclusion," said Honor Bound. "I brought the rest of the Proud Pride here on her recommendation. Tengu or no, we must be ready to confront this threat together."

I smiled. "Great minds do indeed think alike, Ambassador," said I. "Which is why I ask that the Proud Pride spend the day training alongside the Wonderbolts."

Pierre snorted. "This we cannot do, Capitaine Spitfire. We are supposed to be opponents."

I sighed. "Will you forget about the race for two seconds and actually consider the implications, Captain le Grand? Who wins the race doesn't matter. It never mattered."

"I know that," Pierre snarled. "But, wouldn't our enemy get suspicious if we were to train side by side? You just said they were trying to drive us apart."

I blushed. I guess Pierre le Grand finally decided to shape up and I didn't notice. Boy, did I feel dumb.

"I, apologize for that," I said, clearing my throat. "That's a good point, Captain le Grand. If this is gonna work, we can't let the tengu know we're onto them."

"Maybe we can include some sparring exercises," suggested Blaze. "That way, it'll look like we're fighting when we really aren't."

"That might be too risky," said Kierra. "We don't want a repeat of what happened to Drake and Fleetfoot."

I paused to think for a moment. "We actually might not have to worry about that," I said. "The Tengu Empress is probably too busy setting things up at Ghastly Gorge to personally interfere with us here. I say we go with Blaze's idea and give whatever spies might be lingering in our airspace a bit of a show."

Pierre stroked his chin a bit before nodding. "I suppose that is fair, Capitaine Spitfire," said he. "Very well, we accept your invitation."

"Good," I said, adjusting my shades. "Let me just introduce the Ambassador to Pine Talon, and we can get started. Blaze, get all of the Wonderbolts out here ASAP. I want everypony to be ready to fly by the time I return."

"You got it, Sis!" said Blaze with a salute. With that, she darted off while I led Honor Bound to the infirmary.

I wasted no time leading Ambassador Honor Bound to Pine Talon's room. Fast Clip and Whiplash were at first skeptical about letting the Hippogriff Ambassador enter, but I assured them that it was okay.

"Pine Talon?" I called out.

Pine Talon turned his head. "Ah, young Spitfire. So good to hear you again. Tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I want to introduce you to someone," I said. "Pine Talon, this is Ambassador Honor Bound of the Griffon Kingdom. Ambassador, this is Pine Talon, the assassin responsible for the attacks on the Wonderbolts."

Honor Bound walked up to Pine Talon and looked him over with a critical eye. His expression was very hard to read.

"What, are you?" he asked.

"A tengu, Ambassador," said Pine Talon. "Though only in a biological sense. You'll find that my brethren are not as pleasant as I."

Honor Bound nodded. "Hmm. It seems I owe Kierra an apology," he mused. "Her report was accurate after all."

Pine Talon tilted his head. "Did you really doubt young Spitfire, Ambassador?"

"Not per se. It's just that, we always thought the Tengu Dynasty was a myth," said Honor Bound.

"Sadly, no. It's not," said Pine Talon. "I should know. I lived through it. Is that all you wished to see me for, young Spitfire?"

"Yes," I said.

"In that case, may I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you really plan to fight the Tengu Empress?"

Well, that was a no-brainer. "I do indeed. We're gonna make her pay for everything she's done."

Pine Talon snickered. "You're that confident, are you? The Wind's Mandate is not some mere scepter, young Spitfire. You've seen for yourself what it can do."

"That's true," I said. "But I'm not going down without a fight."

"Nor should you," said Pine Talon sagely. "May the winds sing of your victory, young Spitfire."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence," I said as Honor Bound and I left.

"I must say, I find myself surprised," said Honor Bound.

"How so?" I inquired.

"I was under the impression that you wouldn't be on friendly terms with the assassin who tried to kill your team."

I breathed a deep sigh. "I suggest taking another look at Kierra's report, Ambassador. It's a bit more complicated than that. Besides, we've got bigger clouds to clear at the moment..."

The rest of the day was spent training with the Proud Pride and formulating strategies for the upcoming battle. Kierra was more than helpful with the latter, as her knowledge of the tengu happened to include their preferred battle tactics. As Blaze suggested, we held a few sparring matches in the sky to keep the spies entertained while other forms of training were done at a lower altitude. Crescent Moon ran himself ragged recording all of our results and making sure everything was running smoothly. At the end of the day, we were all exhausted, but at the same time, we felt ready. We knew what we were going to do, and we were in the right physical condition and state of mind to do it.

I didn't bother to tell Kierra about the Tengu Empress's true identity. For one, I didn't know how she'd take the news. She had an important job to do, and we couldn't afford any unnecessary distractions. But more importantly, I just didn't get it. What would possess Gypsy Moth, a humble alchemist, to become a cruel tyrant? Why was she trying to bring back the Tengu Dynasty? I couldn't answer those questions, and I knew Kierra would ask them if I told her.

I guess I was wrong before. Not all of the mysteries had been solved yet. I still had one last question to answer before declaring this case officially closed. And one way or another, I was gonna get that answer tomorrow.

At the Ghastly Gorge Gauntlet.