Blooming Talent 2: The Apple Falls Far

"Alright, fillies!" Scootaloo shouted. "Rollcall! Bulk Biceps!"

"YEAH!" The bulky pegasus shouted in response, puffing his chest out in pride.

"That's 'yeah, ma'am', Bulk!" The orange pony with the purple mane told him sternly.

"YEAH, MA'AM!" He corrected.

"Lightning Dust!"

"Here, ma'am!" Lightning Dust proclaimed.

"Rumble!"

"Uh, yes, ma'am!" The light gray pegasus stuttered.

"Clean your drool up, Private Rumble, you'll soil your uniform." Scootaloo teased him; she laughed on the inside watching him wipe his mouth, which, as it happened, had had a bit of spit on it.

She continued down the list of those she had assembled. "Featherweight!"

"Present, ma'am!" The thin, almost nerdy looking white pegasus replied curtly.

Good, everypony was here on time. Scootaloo looked down at her watch and took a quick glance over to the barracks; the Cloudsdale military base was not the most sturdy looking building one might find, what with it being made mostly of clouds, but it was definitely regal in appearance and gave the impression of honor. Out here on the cloud fields though, that really didn't matter. What did matter was whyshe'd brought them together; these pegasi she'd hoof picked to be her strike team.

"Ok, Wonderbolts," she began. "if you haven't heard this from somewhere else, and I doubt you have, allow me to explain why you've been summoned here."

The four Wonderbolts all stood at attention, waiting to hear what the major had to say.

"Princess Luna herself has tasked us with a very important, and possibly dangerous job." She continued. "We have reason to believe that somepony in our own homeland is conspiring against the Princess. We have no names as of yet, and almost zero leads. Notice, Wonderbolts, I said almost."

Scootaloo pulled out a folder from her rucksack, which was sitting organized with it's contents beside her on the field.

"This report by the Royal Guardspony, Flash Sentry, states that there were suspicious talks of mutiny against the crown in Canterlot itself." She told them, opening the file to the report page. "These conversations were overheard by Sergeant Sentry in the residential area on the east side of Canterlot; where some of the higher up ponies live."

She handed the file over to Bulk and nodded for him to read and pass it down once he was done to the other Wonderbolts in the line-up. They looked it over carefully, but kept their ears focused on Scootaloo.

"I must tell you, that we have been given permission to use as much force as is necessary should we find the conspirators, so no holding back; understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The four ponies hollered in reply.

"That's right, Scootaloo...no holding back...even...even if we do find Rainbow Dash guilty..." She thought to herself.

"Ma'am, I have a question." Rumble announced suddenly.

"No, I won't go to dinner with you, Private Rumble." Scootaloo jabbed, earning some quieted snickers from Bulk and Lightning Dust.

"That's...that's not it, ma'am.." He said as confidently as he could all the while growing red in the face. "I was just wondering...why aren't the police forces handling this if it's a street operation, ma'am?"

That was a good question; why was Luna using one of the most elite branches of Equestria's military to find some conspirators if she didn't know who they were? Surely it wouldn't take the Wonderbolts to take down some everyday-pony that might have delusions of grandeur. Unless, that was the reason; perhaps she was doing it because she felt it could be anypony...or..maybe she wasn't as in the dark as she had said..

Scootaloo started to think of Rainbow Dash and that worried look of hers when Derpy had delivered that summons; if Rainbow Dash was indeed one of those Luna might know of or maybe suspect...

Thinking of all of this made the major's head hurt, so she focused on the task at hoof for the moment. There was no use worrying about something that wasn't sure to happen yet, right?

"Alright, Wonderbolts!" She shouted out, snapping the four other to attention. "Time to move out for Canterlot! Let's get there quick and find out what's going on!"

"YES, MA'AM!"

***

The heat from the desert sun once again beat down on Apple Bloom and company as they trudged throughout the dunes. Kona had mentioned several times how flying would be so much better, to which Apple Bloom confirmed she couldn't risk it, and Wrath stated he could not. This had just gotten curses and angry mumbles from the already agitated hippogryph.

Apple Bloom estimated it had been at leas two hours since they'd left the encampment, and she had already drank quite a bit out of one of the three canteens...she decided that since she didn't know how far was left, she shouldn't drink anymore unless it was unavoidable.

"Do you even know where you're going or what you're looking for, princess?" Wrath grumbled, wiping his brow clean of the heavy sweat upon it.

Kona gave him a sneer. "Of course I know, mutt!"

"Then why does it feel like you're just walking aimlessly?" He argued. "You aren't even making any signs of trying to track something. You look more lost then anything."

"I am not lost!" Kona snapped. "The spirits will take me where I need to go."

"The spirits...here we go again.."

"You dare to insult the great spirits?" The young hippogryph questioned, stopping and turning to look full on into Wrath's eyes.

"Yes. Following an imaginary trail isn't going to get you anywhere; you need to know what to look for...or in my case, what to smell for. You have to have an idea of where you're headed before you randomly walk off."

"He has a bit of a point, Kona." Apple Bloom sighed tiredly, sweat pouring off of her as well. "I too have noticed you don't seem to really know where your going.."

"Both of you, stop speaking!" Kona shouted.

Her voice might have echoed...if there was anything for it to echo off of. But the three were standing in the middle of a vast expanse of shifting sands with no clear structure, natural or otherwise, in sight.

"I have faith the spirits will deliver me to my destination. It is my destiny."

"Destiny?" Wrath said, unbelievingly. "There's no such thing as destiny, princess.  If you've been living your life by waiting for things to happen rather than making them happen, I'm surprised you got this far in it."

"And I'm surprised you have with such a free tongue."

"Kona..Wrath...please stop..this isn't getting us anywhere..." Apple Bloom interjected.

Kona huffed and turned her head away at the end of Apple Bloom's sentence; obviously, she was still very unhappy about having them tag along.

Apple Bloom herself had to admit that this was a bit unfortunate; if they stayed out here much longer with a 'dust-in-the-wind' type like Kona, she was sure to die of the Legacy Killer before she made it to the Rift. There had to be some way to speed things up. Her eyes brightened a little as she thought of an idea.

"Wrath.." She said. "How good is your nose at tracking things from very long distances?"

The young pup looked offended by the question. "I can smell for miles, as long as I know what I'm smelling for. Everything has a scent; you tell me what it is, and I'll track it."

She turned her attention to Kona. "Kona..what exactly is the task you have to do?"

"Why should I tell you, outsider?"

"Just humor me...I'm a dumb outsider who isn't very familiar with this place..I might do with a little..guidance from a native.."

The smooth talk seemed to ease Kona up just a little bit, and she turned around to face the southern anthro.

"You have a point, outsider." She said with a smug grin. "If you must know, the task is for me to retrieve a special type of egg from a cave somewhere here in the desert."

"What type of egg is it?"

"It's a Sand Leviathan egg." Kona answered. "I must bring it back to my father to complete the task."

"That doesn't sound so hard. Some honorable rite of passage." Wrath said mockingly.

Kona shot him a brief look before explaining. "It is not retrieving the egg itself that is the difficult part. The reason it is in a cave is because of the Rithiu."

Apple Bloom and Wrath both looked confused and lost at the name. The hippogryph rolled her eyes, seeing she was going to have to say more.

"The Rithiu are giant lizard creatures who steal Sand Leviathan eggs while the adults are away." She told them. "They have the ability to cloak themselves and their spiritual energy so they are undetectable."

Spiritual energy? Apple Bloom wondered if maybe that was the same as her sensing somepony's ki.

"Are you saying you can sense their..uh, spiritual energy, Kona?" She asked to confirm.

"Of course I can; all of our tribe can sense the spiritual energy of all living things." Kona affirmed. "Just like I know yours is wavering, and the mutt's isn't too impressive."

"What'd you say?!" Wrath grumbled loudly, his face contorting hilariously in offended rage.

"I said you're weak." Kona flat out told him.

Wrath seemed to have steam exploding from his long droopy ears. "Why don't we go a few rounds and we'll see who's weak, princess!"

"Believe me, I'd love to silence you, but my father wouldn't much like that." She said simply.

So, the hippogryphs could sense ki as well in the form of spiritual energy; that just made it even more confusing why Kona was walking around like she was lost. If she could sense power levels, why didn't she just lock onto the Rithiu and follow that.

She then remembered what Kona had said about them; they could mask their power level as well as their bodies. That meant Apple Bloom wouldn't be able to find them either. It was a good thing they had Wrath around, because her original plan was still very much applicable, at least she hoped.

She walked up to the till fuming and almost pouting Wrath, and knelt down to speak to him.

"You think you might be able to track the scent of the Sand Leviathan egg, Wrath?" She asked.

The canine's temper didn't diminish much, but he seemed more amiable now he knew he was needed. "Well, I've smelled Sand Leviathan before, so the egg should have a similar scent. Let me see if..."

He began to sniff the air and walk strangely in a few directions. After a few minutes of this display, he halted, sniffed a few more times, and then pointed off in the direction of the setting sun; west.

"I can smell Sand Leviathan scent over here, but it's slightly different and has a gross tinge to it." He stated. "Either I'm smelling a sick adult, or that's an egg."

"Hey, I'm the one leading this journey, mutt. Don't go making up stories just to feel important." Kona brashly said.

"Well, princess, seeing as how you just said you can't detect Rithiu, this is out best shot at finding them; unless you have a nose like mine, you're gonna have to follow me."

"I can't just--!"

Kona was interrupted by Apple Bloom's hand on her shoulder. The anthro was smiling wearily down at the hippogryph.

"Kona...we know this is important to you, and I understand you want to be the big hero who does this quest. But you can trust Wrath and I for he simple reason that we want to get this over with as well. We have no reason to deter you." She explained calmly.

The brown-feathered hippogryph with no cutie mark gritted her teeth and kicked at the sand beneath her. Apple Bloom chuckled under breath and nodded for Wrath to lead the way. As they moved out, Wrath fell back to walk beside Apple Bloom for a minute.

"Yknow, lady," He said quietly. "I may not like it very much, but I'm glad you can talk about all that mushy trust gunk."

"It's not gunk." She replied. "She can trust us, because I trust you."

"I don't see why you trust me. For all you know, I might be leading you away. We are going opposite the way we want to right now; away from the Temporal Rift..."

She nodded, already knowing. "Yes...but, like you said, you need me to get you there when it comes to the other parts of the journey, so I have faith you won't just let me die."

"At least not yet." Wrath added.

"Right. At least not yet." She repeated with a strange smile.