My Little Investigations: Wonderbolts Under Fire

by Metool Bard

Legendary Gossip

January 16, 05:40
Wonderbolt Academy Airspace
***

Once again, I chose to sleep out in the cold rather than in the barracks. Even after the festival, I still couldn't get much sleep, and I desperately needed just one morning without a splitting migraine. Luckily, I seemed to be getting my wish. It was ten minutes after the call of reveille, and I didn't hear a peep from Surprise.

"Boop!"

Until just now when she poked my nose. Hey, I'll take that over a migraine any day.

"Mmph. Surprise?" I mumbled, slowly stirring from my restless slumber. "What are you doing up here?"

"Wow, Cap. We are so in sync," said Surprise with a wide grin. "I was just gonna ask you the same thing!"

I groaned. "Surprise, do you really not know?"

"Well, kinda. I know you haven't been sleeping well, but I need to be here today," said Surprise. "I'm supposed to be setting up the surprise for the big meanie, remember?"

That was, actually a good answer. You've probably figured this out by now, but Surprise isn't as ditzy as she appears. Although, it is sometimes easy to forget that.

"Right, sorry," I said, stretching myself out and yawning.

"It's kay-o, Cap," said Surprise. "I'll just let you know when everything is ready."

"Good," I said, giving Surprise a salute before flying down to the barracks. I didn't bother asking her what she had in mind. I already knew the answer to that one: "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise!" That's Surprise for you, I guess. She's somehow able to be predictable and unpredictable at the same time. Figure that one out on your own; it's actually not that hard once you think about it.

***
January 16, 06:00
Wonderbolt Academy
Mess Hall
***

After a quick shower, I flew over to the mess hall to get my breakfast. As I filled up my tray, I noticed that High Winds was behind me. She was giving me these strange looks for, some reason. I turned to face her.

"Good morning, High Winds," I said.

High Winds jumped. "O-oh! 'M-morning, ma'am," she stammered. "S-sorry, I just didn't know you'd be here today."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be here?"

High Winds blushed and began twiddling her hooves. "W-well, I thought you flew back to Ponyville to stay with Soarin'."

I let out an exasperated sigh. The things I put up with sometimes. You might not believe it, but this is pretty typical for High Winds. What do I mean by that? Well, let's just say that romance is to High Winds what pie is to Soarin'.

I hesitate to go so far as to call her a completely incurable romantic because I know that she knows restraint. After all, it's not like she's trying to play matchmaker for all of the Wonderbolts or anything. No, it's just that she's really into those fairy tale love stories where the dashing prince or princess saves his or her true love from certain doom and all that jazz. But that's not the annoying part. The annoying part is that she thinks Soarin' and I are an item, and nothing has been able to convince her otherwise.

Why does she think this? Because Soarin' and I are childhood friends. It's true; we've known each other since we were foals. You notice how he calls me by a nickname instead of "Yes, ma'am" or whatever? I let him get away with that because I've known him for a long time, and I know he likes to call me that. But in High Winds's mind, it means that he's my special somepony. Whether that's true or not is none of her business (and for the record, it's none of yours, either), but either way, it's one of those things that gets on my nerves.

"High Winds, I think I have more important things to worry about than just Soarin' right now," I said frankly. "Besides, the doctors said he was going to be okay."

"Oh, really?" said High Winds, still twiddling her hooves and casting her eyes downward. "That must've been a relief."

"Considering all the crap I've been through, yeah. It really was," I said.

"Mmm," said High Winds with a nod as she got her own food. "I can understand that, ma'am. I thought the festival would be a good reprieve, but boy, was I wrong."

"You don't need to tell me, High Winds. I was there," I said, rolling my eyes.

"R-right. Sorry, ma'am," said High Winds sheepishly. "Well, it wasn't a total loss. I managed to learn a bit about this new Proud Pride team. They're actually pretty nice."

The gears in my head began to turn. High Winds was excited to talk to the Proud Pride, so I'd expect that she somehow managed to do just that. Maybe she knew something about what was going on in the Griffon Kingdom.

"I, actually didn't get much of a chance to talk to them. Other than Captain le Grand, I mean," said I.

"Oh. Well, let's have breakfast together then. I'll tell you all about it," said High Winds with a smile.

"Okay, sounds good." I said as we made our way to an unoccupied table. "So, who did you talk to?"

"Kierra, mainly," said High Winds. "She was the one most eager to talk. Well, her and that Drake guy, but he's not much of a conversationalist. Something about losing his tongue. I didn't bother to ask."

"Honestly, neither did I when I first met him," I said. "So, what did you and Kierra talk about?"

"Oh, y'know. This and that," said High Winds with a shrug as she started in on her food. "She says that she's not allowed to talk about the Proud Pride all that much, but she told me a lot about herself."

"Like what?"

"Well, she did tell me about this hippogriff playwright in the Griffon Kingdom that she's a fan of. He has written a lot of plays based on his own experience with having parents of two different species," said High Winds with a whimsical sigh. "It sounds romantic, doesn't it?"

Okay, this wasn't getting anywhere. "Um, yeah. I guess," I said with a shrug. "So, that's all you talked about?"

"Oh, no. Not at all," said High Winds with a laugh. "Kierra also told me how excited she is about the Ghastly Gorge Gauntlet. She's really looking forward to strengthening our relations."

"Does she think they need strengthening?"

"She just said things could be better," said High Winds. "I don't see how; I think they're pretty good right now."

"Ambassador Honor Bound told me the same thing at the Wonderbolt Derby a couple of days ago," I said. "He said there was more to it, but it's all classified."

"Huh. Weird," said High Winds. "But not as weird as the other stories Kierra told me."

"Other stories?"

"Yeah. Like, have you ever heard of the Tengu Dynasty?"

I shook my head. "Can't say that I have," I said.

"Apparently, it's this ancient civilization of warriors from the east," said High Winds. "I've never heard of it myself, but Kierra insists that it's real. She says she was a traveling historian before joining the Proud Pride, and the land of the Tengu Dynasty was one of the places she visited."

"Well, maybe it's something only griffons have discovered," I said.

"I thought so, too," said High Winds. "But other members of the Proud Pride listening to our conversation said that Kierra's delusional, and that there's no such thing as a tengu."

I knitted my brow. I wasn't sure if any of this was related or not, but from my limited experience, Kierra didn't seem like the delusional type. Then again, some people have a way of hiding that kind of thing.

"Well, what exactly is a tengu?" I asked.

"The way Kierra described it, it's very weird," said High Winds. "It's like this really tall bird with two sets of talons and a long nose. Or maybe that's just a mask; Kierra was a bit unclear about that. Anyway, they apparently had a leader who controlled the wind, just like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna control the sun and the moon."

Maybe it's because I'm a pegasus, but manipulating wind doesn't sound all that special to me. Ah well, different culture, I guess. That is, if this culture existed.

"So, what happened to them?" I inquired.

"Beats me," said High Winds with a shrug. "Kierra doesn't know, either. She thinks they're still around, though. They just don't have their own nation right now."

"Hmm. Interesting story," I mused.

"I suppose," said High Winds. "Personally, I think the romantic plays are way better. I wonder if they have any copies in the Crystal Empire library?"

And that was all I was going to get out of High Winds. Not that it was much. This just sounded like some sort of fairy tale from the Griffon Kingdom. I don't see what it has to do with the assassin, Mare-Do-Well, or the Proud Pride, aside from the fact that Kierra apparently thinks the story is real. The only other connection I could make was the attack on Rapidfire at the Wonderbolt Derby, where wind was manipulated to make Fleetfoot ram him. But, that was pretty tenuous.

I finished my breakfast and bid High Winds farewell before heading to my office. I still had a lot to do, and a lot to look out for. Hopefully, I was going to solve at least one mystery today. At least, that's the goal I'm setting for myself. Knowing my track record these past few days, I'm not entirely sure I'm gonna reach it. Oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Comments

[MariusIoannesP]

Why do I sense this Tengu Dynasty thing might be important?

[Godiswithus3]

Hmm. This new backstory is very eye-catching.

First High Winds. So..............she's easy going, a conversationalist and a shipper.........she would get a long with the majority of the MLP fandom. Yay (sarcasm). At least I finally have a personality about her.

Kierra..........maybe I'm wrong and she's not the assassin. She's seems heavily invested in strengthening the pony-griffon relations and even admires a hippogriff playwright who promotes the harmony between the two species. Plus, a traveling historian, huh. As a history major, I can appreciate someone like that.

Now, learning about this Tengu Dynasty..............while the connection is definitely weak, I bet my boots that THEY are the ones making the Griffons nervous and THEY are the ones attacking the wonderbolts, probably as a means to sabotage the Gauntlet Race. Hmm. I have a strong suspicion that the tengu has infiltrated the Proud Pride and is hiding in plain sight.

Spitfire needs to have a chat with Keira and show the latter the red cloth. She most likely will identify it and give us some answers.

[SilverDiamond]

Bull... I bet this cloth will be either old, or really rare, or it's possible to make in this day, but simply not made... And it's part of the outfit. So, clouds, slicey-dicey and the wind. And this mythical NEW tribe is responsible? I call bull.