Clover Clues and the Fugitive Fawn

Sergeant Patty Cake accompanied Laser Focus and me to a small clearing outside the City. Although Laser refused, Sgt. Cake insisted that he carry her bags. "Really Miss Focus, it's the least I could do. You're on a mission for the Princess herself! I would go with you if they'd let me."

Laser smiled at the big earth pony despite her annoyance. "Well then thank you, Sergeant. But again, you don't have to do this."

Sgt. Cake set down the luggage. "Ach, the matter is behind us now. We're here."

I checked the skies for our transportation. "Do you think they're late?"

Cake squinted seriously at the clouds "I doubt it. These pegasi are Wonderbolt Reserve; they're probably circling above the clouds to avoid being seen." As if on cue, a team of five pegasi pulling a sleek chariot burst through the clouds. They landed with practiced grace, and the lead pony in front unharnassed himself. He walked over to our group and gave a sharp salute.

"Gentlemen and, aaah, lady. Captain Aileron and the 6th Wonderbolts Flight Squad are ready for duty. Are you, aaah, ready to depart?" The pony was dressed in a sky blue flight suit and goggles, as were his squadmates.

"We are, Captain. Thank you for coming on such short notice. Your speed will be crucial to the success of this mission." As we talked, the Sergeant loaded our luggage onto the chariot.

Aileron gave two quick nods. "We will be travelling nonstop from here, aaah, to the capital city of Neighpon. Once we are there, the squad will remain with you for transportation and, aaah, extraction as needed. Do you both know how to cast a flare spell?"

Laser hmmed for a moment. "Well, I haven't tried it in the field, but it's just a light spell propelled as high as possible, correct?"

The Captain grinned roguishly. "That it is, ma'am. Let off one of those and, aaah, we'll be there at a moment's notice. You two are priority number one, even over retrieval of the Vestments."

Laser and I smiled and looked at one another. "I'm suddenly feeling more confident about all this."

I put up a hoof. "And don't forget, Neighponese Intelligence will also be assisting us with the investigation."

"I'm sure they will," agreed Laser. "They want the items returned as much as we do. If somepony starts using them, they will be the first ones in harm's way."

Captain Aileron motioned towards the chariot. "Let's get going you two. We, aaah, have a long flight ahead of us."

We climbed into the chariot and took off without much preamble. Sgt. Cake waved at us as we disappeared into the clouds. Once we stopped our ascent and levelled off, the chime of an intercom system came from a small speaker mounted to the front of the chariot's cabin. "This is your Captain speaking. We are, aaah, currently flying at an altitude of eight thousand feet. We will remain at this altitude to take advantage of the cloud cover. Today's flight time should be about fourteen hours and, aaah, one minute."

I pushed the talk button on the intercom. "Whoah, you have it down to the minute?"

The Captain turned to look back at us and winked. "We've, aaah, been doing this a long time. This isn't our first trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, and this isn't our first retrieval and extraction operation. You're in good hooves, Detective."

"That's good to hear," said Laser.

"Just, aaah, snuggle up and relax, because this will be the last bit of downtime you'll have before we touch down."

"Right." Laser nodded and, to my surprise, nestled her head on my shoulder. I nervously put my hoof around her, and she gave a small sound of contentment. I held her tighter.