Chapters Prelude: Unidentified Flying Objects
Somewhere on the Western Sea, a giant metal ship cruised through the night.
“This is USS Kenneighdy. Heading to port, about 2 clicks out, over.”
“Roger that. Welcome to Equestria, Kenneighdy.”
The pony operating the Kenneighdy’s radio unslung his headset and stretched, leaning back in his chair. He yawned and spun around, turning to face a pegasus standing at the radio. “What are you going to do when we dock?” Asked the pony.
The pegasus shrugged. “Dunno. I hear Canterlot’s got these really nice historic buildings, might check those out.” His companion rolled his eyes. “History? Come on, dude. There’s gotta be something there that doesn’t suck.” The pegasus sighed and shook his head.
“Equestria is a historic place. There’s not much else to say.”
The pony groaned and spun in his chair again. “Booooooring.”
The pegasus just chuckled, grabbing his coffee. “At least act like you’re an elite Amareican Naval Officer.” The radar suddenly began beeping. The pony perked up.
“What’s up?” The pegasus began pressing buttons on his computer, typing at the keyboard. “Object detected. Airborn, flying close to us.”
The pony rubbed his chin. “A pegasus flying this far from land?” The pegasus furrowed his brow and began to type more frantically.
“Not a pegasus. It’s flying way too fast. Skipper!” On call, a unicorn trotted over.
“What the situation?” asked the unicorn in a serious tone.
“Unknown object, 1 click out but closing in fast.”
The captain frowned and glanced at the pony. “This is open airspace, but I’ve never heard of anyone flying out here at this hour. Whatever it is has got to have a radio. Get it on comms, now.”
“Aye sir!” The pony threw on his headset. “Unknown object, this is the USS Kenneighdy. You are flying on a direct course toward us. Adjust your course now.”
The captain reached for the phone. “Lieutenant, put the gun crews on standby. We’ve got an unknown object coming right towards us.” After hanging up, he shouted to another pony. “Spotlights on!”
“Aye, aye, sir!” The air above the Steadfast was suddenly illuminated with bright lights.
“Sir! 0.5 clicks and closing in fast!” Cried the pegasus.
“Unknown object! Be advised, we will open fire if you do not adjust your course!” The pony shook his head. “They’re not responding, sir!”
The captain swore and grabbed the phone again. “All hoofs! All hoofs! General quarters!” Alarms began ringing on the ship, and ponies began scrambling into different positions. The Kenneighdy’s giant cannons began to swerve into place, the gunners ready to fire at a moment’s notice.
The pegasus’s jaw dropped as he checked the radar again. “Sir, it- it’s moving too fast! We can’t get a bead on it! I’ve never seen anything like this!”
The captain frowned, looking over the pegasus’s shoulder. “How far is it now?”
“Right on top of us!” Replied the pegasus. The captain’s eyes shot up through the cabin’s window.
“There!” The searchlights illuminated a metallic beast, flying at a low altitude and headed straight for the Kenneighdy’s main deck. In the glow of the searchlights the crew made out some sort of creature, with two long, grey wings, and a spinning object at its front, the entire thing buzzing and whirring. The captain’s eyes widened. “Incoming!”
The beast slammed into the deck, skidding several feet while sending bits of debris flying in every direction. The Kenneighdy rocked a little, but the massive ship quickly regained its balance.
“My God!” swore the captain. “Everyone alright?” There were nods from the other crew members. The pony at the radio suddenly stood up, pressing a hoof against his headset.
“Say again?” He listened for a moment, and all eyes in the cabin turned to him. “Sir… Deck’s saying there’s a pony inside that thing.”
The captain gazed upon the burning wreck that lay on his ship. Squinting, he made out a gold lightning bolt with white wings flanking it emblazoned on the rear.
“That symbol… Call Equestria. And someone get me Captain Spitfire. Now.”
--x FDI Canterlot x--
Author's Note
Notice a typo? Have a question? Is this story even worth writing? Having a bad day and want to yell at and/or insult me for no particular reason? Whatever the case, let me know!
The sentry stifled a yawn. Guard duty was always a bore, even with all the activity that had happened last night. His eyes gazed over the newspaper in his hooves. He scoffed at a recruiting poster plastered on the front page of the Equestria Daily. “Join the army, they said. You can fight for fame and glory, they said. It’d be fun, they said. Hmph. Been here for 4 months and I haven’t seen any bit of combat,” the green earth pony muttered to himself.
“And if you’re smart, you’ll keep it that way.”
The pony jolted up. Four ponies stood in front of him: a creme earth pony, a coal black pegasus, a dark blue unicorn, and a grey unicorn. All were dressed in suits and sunglasses except for the grey unicorn, who was wearing a black windbreaker. “Hey! This is a restricted area, you can’t be here,” shouted the sentry as he reached for his rifle.
The creme earth pony pulled out a gold badge. “I wouldn’t go for that rifle, Corporal, unless you want to answer to Celestia herself. We’re FDI.”
The sentry blinked. The grey unicorn gave an impatient sigh before speaking in a monotone voice. “Federal Division of Investigations? Maybe you’ve heard of us. We’re here to investigate what happened on the USS Kenneighdy.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure, come on in,” replied the sentry as he opened the gates. He reached for his radio. “Hey Cap, FDI’s here.”
“Bout time. Send ‘em to Dock 4.” The sentry nodded and turned to the four agents.
“Let me get visitor’s auth for you guys. Who should I write these out to?”
“Agents Bon Bon, Wire Tap, Cover Story, and Dr. Graves.” The sentry scribbled the names onto a piece of paper and handed them out.
“The crew’s waiting for you at Dock 4, we held them overnight.”
Agent Bon Bon nodded, and the group passed through. “Oh, we have one more agent coming in later.”
The sentry nodded, his tan helmet bobbing up and down. “Yes ma’am, I’ll keep an eye out for him.”
“Where is Cowpony, anyways?” asked Wire Tap, the pegasus.
“Celestia knows at this point,” replied Cover Story, the blue unicorn.
“Don’t worry about him, he’ll get here eventually. Come on now, we’ve got a case to solve.”
--
“Damn!” The four ponies were in awe as they arrived in Dock 4. The USS Kenneighdy sat in the dock, safely moored and docked. Glinting in the sunlight, the Kenneighdy was an impressive sight. The massive guns were aimed forward, and could have blown a massive hole in the base if it wanted. On the main deck, a tangled mess of metal and wood lay, the only thing that stood out from the warship’s impressive frame.
“Good afternoon, Ma’am.” The base commander had trotted over to them.
“Afternoon, commander. Any idea what happened?” The commander shrugged.
“No, Ma’am. That’s a question better suited for the captain.” The commander pointed to a unicorn in a white naval uniform, pacing the deck. He looked up as the agents descended the stairs towards the ship.
“Captain? I’m Special Agent Bon Bon, Federal Division of Investigations, and these are Agents Wire Tap and Cover Story, and our ME Doc Graves.” The captain gave them a tired smile.
“Captain Easterly, Amareican Navy.” Cover Story pulled out a notebook and pen in his magic.
“Can you tell us what happened?”
Captain Easterly nodded, and the group walked towards the wreck. “Yes. At about 23:16 an object was detected heading towards us at a high speed. We tried but failed to communicate with it, and it plowed into the deck.”
Cover Story scribbled in his notebook. “Any casualties?”
Captain Easterly shook his head. “Some injuries, but we have corpsponies with them. Nothing serious. After the crash, I made contact with Equestria and steered the ship here, under escort.”
Wire Tap spoke up. “Captain Easterly, you and your crew are Amareicans, correct?”
Easterly nodded. “We were escorting a dignitary over here. He’s pretty shaken up about it, but he’s alright.”
Wire Tap raised an eyebrow as they passed one of the cannons. “Seems to be a pretty heavy escort for a dignitary.”
Easterly gave a sly smile. “Well, don’t you know there’s a war going on, Agent?”
Bon Bon rolled her eyes. Amareicans were more paranoid then everything. “What happened next, Captain?”
“When my crew approached the… thing, they saw a pony inside. A corpspony declared him dead a few minutes after. Agent… do you have any idea what that thing is?”
The group had arrived at the foot of the wreckage. The other sailors clustered in groups, keeping their distance while whispering amongst themselves. “I could venture a guess.”
Dr. Graves pulled on a pair of gloves. “Glass shattered,” he noted as he climbed the wreckage. A pony was slumped over inside the cockpit, lifeless and unmoving.
“Yes. We couldn’t figure out how to get him out, so we just broke the glass.” Dr. Graves nodded and shone a light into the wreck.
“Hmm. Body’s moved, most likely by the corpsponies. Shouldn’t affect our investigation too much.”
“Captain, if we could speak with your comms and radar officers?” Easterly nodded and turned to the crew.
“Search Light, Call Sign! Front and center! The rest of you, back to your quarters!” he barked.
“Sir, yes, Sir!” shotued the crew as they moved into the interior of the ship. A white earth pony and orange pegasus trotted over.”
“Wire, finish up with the captain. Cove, take the pony, I got the pegasus. Cowpony will help me when he gets here.” The other two agents nodded and trotted off.
“Petty Officer Search Light, Ma’am,” the pegasus said as he saluted.
“You are the Kenneighdy’s radar officer, correct?” asked Bon Bon as she pulled out a notebook and pen.
“Well… I detected an object flying towards us at an incredibly high velocity. I called the Captain, and he said that we were in open waters, but he never heard of a pegasus flying this far from land. I thought that it was going too fast to be a pegasus, but Captain said that they should have a radio. Call Sign tried to raise them, but said there was no response. Captain ordered gunners to take aim, but the thing was moving so fast our gun’s couldn’t lock on. Then it crashed right into the deck.”
Bon Bon nodded, scribbling thoughtfully. “Thank you, Petty Officer.” The pegasus hesitated.
“Ma’am… is that machine one of those ‘planes’ that we’ve been hearing about?” Bon Bon’s pencil froze. “They say that one of those can outfly any pegasus, ma’am.” Bon Bon chuckled.
“You’re dismissed, Petty Officer. Go back to your quarters.” The pegasus saluted.
“Yes ma’am. Oh, and also… do you have any, er…. Recommendations of things to do in Canterlot?”
Meanwhile, a yellow earth pony had trotted down the stairs. A soldier trotted after him. “Sir! Who let you in here?!”
The pony, wearing a brown vest over a white dress shirt and a brown cowpony hat, rolled his eyes. He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a gold badge. “Special Agent Apple, FDI. Yer sentry let me in.” The soldier raised an eyebrow, his eyes running over the pony. There was no way this stallion was a federal agent. Before the soldier could speak, Wire Tap had flown over.
“Braeburn! Bout time you got here.” Wire Tap glanced at the soldier. “Is there a problem, private?” The soldier slowly backed away.
“No, sir. Sorry, sir.” Wire Tap shrugged.
“Glad you’re here, Cowpony. We’ve got a case on our hands.”
“Morning, Doc!” Dr. Graves looked up from his work.
“Ah, hello Braeburn.” Braeburn trotted to his side.
“What’ve we got?” he asked as the other agents approached the wreck.
“Well, it seems our young aviator here was killed from blunt force trauma, most likely from his head hitting the dashboard.” Graves gestured to a blood stain inside the cockpit.
“That helmet didn’t help now, did it?” Questioned Braeburn.
“It would seem not, judging by the dent. Then again, I believe that the helmet, much like this machine, is purely experimental. Our pilot was most likely testing the plane when he encountered a fatal accident.” Braeburn nodded, narrowing his eyes.
“So we thinkin’ accident?” Dr. Graves shrugged.
“Ah, now that is hard to say. I’m afraid I do not know much about these… airplanes. I can not say with certainty if anything has been tampered with.” Braeburn nodded as he gazed into the cockpit.
“That cut there is pretty clean. Looks like someone did that by hoof,” Braeburn observed. His eyes followed the wire to the plane’s radio. “Hey Bon, look at this. Seems like somepony cut the radio wire. Radio officer say they couldn’t raise it?”
Bon Bon nodded. “Yep, we thinking sabotage?”
Braeburn nodded thoughtfully. “Could be. We know who this plane belongs to yet?”
“It’s ours, agent. And I will have to ask you to step away.” A new voice caused the agent’s heads to turn. A group of pegasi dressed in navy blue uniforms landed on the deck. “That’s Wonderbolt property, and we’re here to take it back.”
Braeburn smirked, and the other agents exchanged glances. “Wonderbolts, eh?”
The lead pegasus, an orange coated mare with a fiery mane, nodded. “Affirmative. I’m Captain Spitfire.”
“Special Agent Braeburn.”
The white coated pegasus to the left of Spitfire scoffed. “You? A special agent?”
“Wanna see my badge?”
“We don’t have time for this, Lieutenant. Agent Braeburn, please step away.”
Braeburn chuckled, shaking his head. “Don’t worry, Captain. You can have your plane back.”
Two of the pegasi attempted to walk past, but Braeburn held up his hoof. “When we’re done with our investigation, of course.”
Underneath her sunglasses, Spitfire narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think you understand, Agent.” She spat out the last word. “I am ordering you to withdraw.”
“All due respect, captain, I’m not a Wonderbolt. I don’t answer to you. No, I answer to the SAIC, my director, the princesses, and my granny. Get one of ‘em to say it and I’d gladly stand down.” The Wonderbolts exchanged glances.
“Agent-”
Braeburn cut her off. “Tell me, Captain. Do the Wonderbolts have a dedicated investigations team, able to work around the clock on this case? Do they have a morgue, or even an autopsy room?”
Spitfire opened her maw and then shut it again. “Now before you start, Captain, just know that I could spot a liar a mile away,” Braeburn smirked, gazing down at the pegasi through his sunglasses.
“Fine. What say a joint investigation, then?” A smirk formed on the captain’s lips. “If not, I could call my boss and you could call yours, and they could duke it out up top while that body gets colder and colder.¨
“Joint investigation? Captain, I wasn’t aware the Wonderbolts had an investigation team,” Braeburn said, narrowing his eyes.
“We don’t. Soarin?” A white coated pegasus with a blue mane perked up.
“Yeah, Spits?”
“You’ll accompany the federal agents in their investigation. Anything you need, agent, just ask the Lieutenant. And agent, make sure that you report everything to him. And I mean everything.”
Cover Story and Wire Tap exchanged glances. Braeburn’s face was unreadable underneath his sunglasses. Spitfire’s expression was equally unguessable, the only tell being a smirk on her maw. “Well, sounds good captain,” Braeburn said, extending a hoof. The two shook, and Spitfire turned to the other pegasi.
“Alright, let’s leave them to it.” As the other Wonderbolts took flight, Spitfire whispered something into Soarin’s ear before flying after them. As she left, Soarin was left on the deck, with four agents gazing at him through their tinted sunglasses.
The fact that he had four strangers staring at him didn’t seem to deter him. Instead, Soarin flashed a broad smile. “Well, don’t let me keep you, gentlecolts.” Wire Tap cleared his throat and spoke to Braeburn.
“Captain’s asking if we could release his men. They’ve already sworn to keep their silence about what they’ve saw, and they’ve been out at sea for months now.” Braeburn nodded.
“Fine, tell the Captain his men are free to go once we get the plane out of here.” Braeburn pulled out his radio, while trotting over to the bow of the ship.
“Who you callin?” Asked Soarin, following him.
“Damage control team. We need to get this back to base for further examination.” Bon Bon called from the wreckage.
“Hey Lt! We got some questions for you!” In a flash, Soarin was in front of her. Braeburn chuckled, shaking his head.
“You know anything about these things, Lt?” asked Bon Bon.
“Sure! What’s up?”
Cover pointed to the suspicious wire. “That normal on a plane?” Soarin leaned in for a better look.
“I’d hope not, that’s the radio wire.” Bon Bon nodded to Wire Tap.
“With a cut radio wire, it’d be impossible to get help.” The situation was looking less like an accident every minute.
Braeburn returned to the group. “Okay, the Damage Control ponies are on their way. Doc, you good to move the body?”
Dr. Graves nodded, stepping down from the corpse. “I’m afraid there’s not much we can do for the poor lad here. I’ll know more when we get him to autopsy.”
Braeburn nodded. “Alright then fellas. Let’s head back to base.”
Soarin cleared his throat. “Uh… where is your base, anyways?”
Braeburn smikred. “Why, exactly where’d you expect it, Lt.”
“Huh.” Wire Tap rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He glanced a Cover Story, who was doing his best to stifle a groan. The pegasus's eyes were glued to his monitor, but Wire Tap could detect a slight twitch under his right eye. Soarin was spinning in a chair in the center of the room, talking aloud. “You know, I passed this building once. Didn’t know it was RDI, though.”
The RDI building was a large one, placed in the middle of Canterlot. The building had a high-security presence, but little markings or signage indicating its purpose. In other words, it was the exact building expected for secret agents.
Soarin stood up from his chair, a bank of large monitors catching his eyes. “Say, what are these for?”
Wire Tap sighed, dropping his pencil from his hoof. “Those are radars, designed to monitor large amounts of magical energy. It helps us detect catastrophes or attacks involving magic.”
Soarin nodded, reading the labels aloud. “Canterlot, Manehattan… Ponyville?” Wire Tap chuckled.
“You’d be amazed at what goes on in that town, Lt.”
“Wire! Cove! What’ve you guys got?” Bon Bon had trotted into the room.
“Wonderbolts sent over the flight plans. Our victim was flying a Class A Eagle Fighter. Or a test model of that, anyways. The rest of the intel is classified, but Captain Spitfire might give us access.” Wire Tap tossed the folder over to Bon Bon.
“Got an ID. The pilot was Corporal Sand Storm. He test piloted a lot for the Wonderbolts on the ground, this was his first major incident. And last, unfortunately.” Bon Bon nodded, putting a file onto her own desk and pulling out the chair.
“Alright. Lt, how many ponies do you think we should look at?” Soarin stopped spinning in his chair and cleared his throat.
“Well… I’d say the chief engineer, the ATC on duty, and the chief of security.”
“Back up, ATC?” questioned Wire Tap.
“Air Traffic Controller, he’s responsible for maintaining radio contact with the plane.”
Bon Bon grabbed a pen. “You got a name?”
“Yeah, think his name was Barrel Roll.”
“Hmph. He’s not useless after all.”
Soarin raised a hoof to his chest. “Hey! I’m offended!”
Bon Bon ignored him. “We’re headed over to the air base. Wire, you and Cove talk with Spitfire. Get the rest of those files. Braeburn and I will interview Barrel Roll.” Wire Tap and Cover Story nodded. The two pulled open drawers under their desks, removing a sleek black pistol. Cover Story gripped the gun in his magic while Wire Tap used his hoofs. Soarin glanced over and noticed that Bon Bon had never removed her gun.
Soarin leaned in to whisper into Wire Tap’s ear. “I thought the other dude was in charge?”
Wire Tap glanced at him, confused. “Huh?”
“Braeburn, I thought he was in charge?” Wire Tap shrugged.
“Never really thought about that.” Soarin frowned.
“So Bon Bon’s in charge? I don’t get it, why are they both ordering you guys around?”
Cover Story laughed. “Well, technically neither of them are ‘in charge.’ All of us have the same rank, Special Agent. The ponies in charge of us are the Special Agent in Charge, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Senior Special Agent, and the Supervisory Special Agent. Right now they’re busy with another case, so they leave us to our own affairs.”
“Huh. Then why do you listen to those two?”
Wire Tap shrugged again. “What can I say? They’re good leaders.”
“Braeburn knows what to say, Bon Bon knows where to look. I’d say they’re both pretty cut out to be leaders.” Cover Story stood up. “Braeburn will join us once he’s done in autopsy.”
Soarin froze. “A-Autopsy?”
“I am afraid I won’t be able to give you much,” Dr. Graves said as he levitated a tray over to the side of the morgue slab.
“At this point, anythin’ would help, Doc,” responded Braeburn.
“Yes, I’m sure it would. Well, our airpony is in excellent physical condition. I observed several bumps and bruises on his body, most likely formed from the crash. On another note, I also found bruising on his hooves.”
Braeburn sighed, removing his hat. “His hooves, huh?” For a moment, Braeburn gazed into the deceased pilot’s face. He imagined the panic he must have felt, resorting to banging on the glass, shouting into a radio that didn’t work, screaming, with nopony to hear him.
“Yes. Most likely an attempt to shatter the glass, though I can’t say that would have helped him much.” Braeburn nodded, replacing his hat. “One more thing. I detected the presence of an unknown substance in our airpony’s body.”
“Drugs?”
“Likely. I am currently awaiting Test Tube’s toxicology report to be certain.” Braeburn scribbled something in his notebook before sticking it in his vest pocket.
“Well, we’re off to the airbase now. Keep me updated if you find anything,” Braeburn said as he trotted out the door. Dr. Graves nodded, levitating a bloody scalpel into the sink.
“Of course. You know… a few years ago, I never would have thought that one-day earth ponies could fly.” The doctor gazed sadly at the corpse in front of him. “I wonder how it felt for you? The transition of adrenaline to panic, the realization that you were doomed… Hm. That is a feeling I would wish upon no one, my friend.”
“This base is a little smaller then I expected it to be, Captain,” remarked Cover Story as he trotted next to Spitfire.
“Well, this isn’t the full base. The majority of the buildings are up in the clouds. We had to get the ground base constructed for the plane hangars and unicorn and earth pony training. Easier than having to invest in cloud walking spells,” Spitfire replied. She nodded as some earth ponies saluted her as they trotted past. “What could I help you with, Agents?”
Wire Tap spoke up. “We need access to the files of the Class A Eagle Fighters.” Spitfire scoffed.
“Yeah? Good luck with that. Even I don’t understand those schematics. Trust me, I doubt they’d help you out much.”
“They would still help in our case, captain. At this point, we’re looking for evidence of sabotage. It’s hard to find anything when we don’t know what the plane’s supposed to look like.”
Spitfire sighed. “Yeah, I see that. I can get you some instruction manuals and flight plans… hell, I could even give you the pony who wrote them. He’s an old friend of mine, I’ll have him send you guys whatever you need.”
Wire Tap nodded. “Thank you, Captain. Also, can you think of anypony in the crew who would want to sabotage the test?” Spitfire shrugged.
“I don’t know, all the recruits are supposed to be vetted by the Equestrian Air Force. I didn’t have a hoof in that.” The Wonderbolts captain scoffed. “I do know that some of the pegasi are getting antsy. Think the earth ponies are intruding on their territory and what not. Anything else I can help you with?”
Cover Story shook his head. “That’s all for now, Captain. We’ll shout if we need you.”
Spitfire nodded and spread her wings, flying off towards the clouds. Wire Tap sighed. “Just the pegasi, huh? That doesn’t narrow down our suspect list much.”
Cover Story shrugged. “Hey, it’s better than nothing. Come on, let’s go find the others.”
The hangar was filled with movement. Ponies of all types were scurrying about, carrying tools and shouting to each other. Braeburn and Bon Bon stood by the entrance, listening as a sky blue pegasus spoke to them. The pegasus was dressed in a field uniform, wearing a bright orange vest and white helmet, with a clipboard tucked underneath her wing.
“This is where the magic happens, so to speak. The planes are kept in here for maintenance and check-ups if they’re not out for testing or flight. This hangar houses the Eagle Fighters.” Braeburn nodded, scribbling something in his notepad.
“An’ how often do you fly them?”
“Yesterday was the first time, actually.” Bon Bon frowned.
“Who has access to this hangar?” The pegasus shrugged.
“A few ponies. I’m in here a lot, and so are the other engineers. The pilots like to stop by sometimes, too. If you’ll excuse me, I have to finish maintenance on the Griffin Fighters before they take off in an hour.”
“We’ll call if we need you. Thank you, Chief Wing Span.” The pegasus nodded and left the hangar. Bon Bon ran a hoof along the cockpit of a parked plane.
“Ah wouldn’t know. What ah do know is that our suspect list hasn’t been narrowed down, at all.” Braeburn sighed, something catching his eye.
“Hey, we got security cameras in here. Ah’ll drop by the security offices an’ get the tapes.” Bon Bon nodded, and the cowpony strode out of the hangar. Bon Bon sighed, marveling the beast of metal that sat in front of her.
It was amazing how technology was changing Equestria. A decade ago, the ideas of earth ponies flying would be laughable. The pegasi owned the sky, and there was no question about it. But now, it seemed that with enough skill, an earth pony could outmaneuver a pegasus in their own territory. “Hey, Bon. Spitfire said she’d send over some a pony to look at our wreck.” Bon Bon was pulled from her thoughts by Cover Story’s voice. “Interview Barrel Roll yet?”
“Nope. He hasn’t reported for work today, Lt. Soarin is trying to find him right… now.” Bon Bon narrowed her eyes at the back of the hangar. A pegasus was shuffling near the rear. Her eyes shifted around, and she shifted her weight constantly. She was fidgeting with a wrench in her hooves when she looked up.
“What’s up, Bon?” For a moment, the agent and the pegasus locked eyes. Then, the wrench fell from the pegasus’s hooves with a clatter, and the pegasus sprinted out the rear door. Bon Bon drew her pistol, cursing.
“We’ve got a runner! Yellow pegasus, out the rear door!” Bon Bon barked. In a flash, she was running after the pegasus, Cover Story right behind her, and Wire Tap rushing out the main doors to flank around.
“Cowpony, we’ve got a suspect on the run. Headed out the rear entrance of hanger 4,” Cover Story reported into his radio.
“Copy!” Bon Bon pushed open the door, catching the pegasus out of the corner of her eye.
“Freeze! Royal Agents!” she commanded. The pegasus spread her wings, beating them frantically.
“Stop that mare!” Cover Story drew his pistol, but Bon Bon stuck out her hoof. Like a bullet, Wire Tap shot out, tackling the pegasus in mid-air. The two pegasi went crashing onto the hangar roof.
As Wire Tap made contact with the pegasi, he heard her grunt in surprise. Wire Tap took the brunt of the fall, the other pegasi ending up on top of him. She reacted quickly, scrambling to her hooves and spreading her wings. Wire Tap reached for his gun, but the roof’s access door flew open.
Braeburn ran through, gun in hoof. “If you wanna keep yer wings, ah wouldn’t try it!” barked Braeburn. The pegasus hesitated, her eyes darting between the two agents. She began to tuck her wings in, hanging her head in defeat.
“Get on the ground, hooves on your head.” Wire Tap holstered his weapon and pulled out a pair of zip cuffs. Bon Bon and Cover Story trotted through the door.
“Why’d she run?” Inquired Cover Story.
“Don’t know, but she’d better have a damn good reason.”
“H-hello? Is anypony there?” The pegasi tapped her hoof against the table, squirming in her seat.
Behind the one way mirror, Cover Story, Wire Tap, and Soarin observed the uncomfortable mare. “You know her, Lt?” Asked Wire Tap, sipping from his styrofoam cup.
“Uh, I’ve seen her. Think her name’s… Tropo Sphere?” Soarin sighed. “What’d she do?”
Cover Story shrugged. “That’s what we’re here to figure out. You find Barrel Roll yet?”
“He has a… doctor’s appointment, of sorts.” Wire Tap and Cover Story exchanged a glance.
“Of sorts, huh?” Soarin gave a frustrated sigh.
“It’s not what you think. Do you know how traumatic it is to listen to a pony die and know you can’t do anything about it?”
Before either agent could answer, the door to the interrogation room opened, and Braeburn and Bon Bon entered. Bon Bon took a seat opposite Tropo Sphere while Braeburn slammed the door shut. Tropo Sphere flinched, and Braeburn smirked.
“So. Tell me, PFC Tropo Sphere. Why’d you run?” The pegasus didn’t answer, fiddling with her hooves. Braeburn leaned in, until his face was nearly opposite of her’s.
“Mare asked you a question.” The pegasus hesitated.
“I… don’t know. I guess you scared me. The way you were staring at me agent....”
“Bon Bon. And if you have nothing to hide, why were you scared?”
Soarin pressed his face against the glass. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to watch an interrogation!” He exclaimed. “What’s their tactic? Good Cop Bad Cop?”
“Um… more like Bad Cop Worse Cop,” replied Wire Tap. He exchanged a glance with Cover Story, who just shrugged.
“So tell me, PFC Sphere. What are you hidin’?” Questioned Braeburn in a casual tone.
“Nothing!”
“You just have somewhere to be?”
The pegasus nodded frantically. “Yes! I was late for a meeting!”
Braeburn suddenly slammed his hoof onto to the table. “Bullshit! You just said you were scared off by her stare!” The pegasus shrunk back in her seat.
“Wha- what?”
Bon Bon chuckled. “I wouldn’t get cute here, Private. This is a murder investigation, after all.”
“Cut the crap. Why’d you kill Sand Storm?”
“I didn’t kill him! He was my friend!” Braeburn threw his hooves in the air, backing up.
“Oh, did you hear that, Agent Bon Bon? They were friends!”
“So they were, Agent Braeburn!” Bon Bon replied, matching his sarcastic tone.
“Why, ah guess we’ll have to let her go then!”
“Well, Agent Braeburn, perhaps something occurred to compromise their friendship? Or maybe their relationship wasn’t a classic friendship.”
Braeburn reached into his vest pocket and produced an evidence bag, slamming it onto the table. “Ah had the pleasure of going through Sand Storm’s personal effects earlier. Care to explain the pill bottle?”
Bon Bon flipped some pages on her clipboard before sliding it across to the mare. “Our Medical Examiner also found traces of drugs in Sand Storm’s system. Stimulants. Take that and the pills and put two and two together.”
“What- what does this have to do with me?”
Bon Bon leaned back in her chair. “Well, you’re a corpspony, PFC Sphere. That means you have access to all types of medications from the sick bay. Tell me, if we were to do an inventory, how many drugs would we find missing?”
Tropo Sphere slumped over in her chair.
“Got her,” said Wire Tap, smirking at Cover Story. “Broken already. I win the bet.” Cover Story grumbled to himself before pulling out some bits and tossing them over to Wire Tap.
“Okay. Look, flying these things causes a lot of stress, okay?” The pegasus sighed, her eyes darting from Braeburn to Bon Bon. “The pressure these guys face is unreal. There are, like, a bajillion things they have to keep an eye on when in the air, and the training schedule barely gives them enough time to sleep.”
Bon Bon tapped the evidence bag. “That where the drugs come in?”
“Look, Sand Storm asked me, okay? This was his idea. He said that he needed a little something to keep alert in the cockpit. I said no, but he kept bugging me, then he offered me cash-”
“How much?” questioned Braeburn.
“I didn’t want to! It’s just, he was getting aggressive, and-”
Braeburn shot up, sending his chair crashing to the ground. The impact caused Tropo Sphere to jump.
“How many bits, soldier?!” He barked.
“Awful lot for a corporal,” commented Bon Bon.
“They were paying him more for volunteering as a test pilot, ma’am!”
Braeburn nodded, and Bon Bon closed her folder. “Thank you, private. I think we’re done here.”
“At ease, soldier,” Braeburn said as he opened the door.
“Sir- Agent Braeburn, am I going to get in trouble for this?” Braeburn shrugged. “That’s not my decision, PFC Sphere.” Braeburn pulled the door opened, and Spitfire walked in, followed by two other pegasi in uniforms. “It’s up to your bosses.”
Trop Sphere sunk down in her chair. “Crap.”
“Hm… Looks like the main power routers are operational. Don’t see a problem with the propellers, or the hydraulics for that matter. Doesn’t make sense. Any problems should have been caught during the pre-flight check. But if it was this minor, I guess it would be missed. Huh.”
The elevator doors dinged open, and Braeburn and Bon Bon walked out. Bon Bon raised an eyebrow, observing the pegasus that was currently pacing around the salvaged wreck, muttering to himself. “Cowpony, who in Celestia’s name is in our evidence garage?” came a voice from behind them.
A red pegasus was eyeing the stranger, more amused than concerned. “Hey, Lock. That’s Sky Sailor,” answered Cover Story as he trotted over. “He’s a former Wonderbolts Technician, here to check out our wreck and find evidence of sabotage.”
The pegasus chuckled. “He any good?”
“He better be, he wrote the damn flight manual for half our air force,” interjected Soarin as he joined the group, followed by Wire Tap.
“Don’t believe we met. Assistant Special Agent in Charge Lock Heed. You are?”
“First Lieutenant Soarin, Wonderbolts,” answered Soarin. “So you’re their boss, huh?”
“Sure, you could say that. You guys working that sabotage case, huh?” Braeburn nodded.
“Yep. Well, tryin’ to. We don’t have much to go on. Security footage has been scrubbed, and we still can’t find the damn ATC.”
“So you’re looking for somepony on the inside.”
Bon Bon sighed. “Yeah. Doesn’t help, though. It could be any one of dozens of engineers.”
“Agent? I think I have an answer,” called Sky Sailor.
The group surrounded the wreck, listening as the engineer spoke. “I’ll explain this as simply as I can. This right here is the liquid cooling system. It works to keep the engine from overheating. Now. I’ve examined the ducts connecting it to the engine, and I’ve discovered several cuts.” The pegasus pointed out several tiny nicks in the piping.
“One small leak brought this whole plane down?” Questioned Lock Heed.
“One leak isn’t a problem. Several leaks is another story,” Sky Sailor answered. “These leaks prevented the cooling system from doing its job. As a result, the engine overheated, and, well I guess you know the rest.”
“Well, why didn’t he alert the Control Tower there was a problem? Aren’t they supposed to remain in contact?” asked Bon Bon. Sky Sailor shared a glance with Soarin.
“Covert mission,” responded Soarin. “Standard op is to hold radio silence unless there’s an emergency.”
“And in this case, the radio was busted, so he couldn’t call for help and the tower thought everything was fine,” observed Cover Story grimly.
The elevator dinged, and a gray unicorn stuck his head through the doors. “Hey, you fellas working that sabotage case, or are you standing around like a bunch of statues?”
“Hey, boss. We were just going over the wreck.” The unicorn sighed.
“Well, you’ve got another wreck to go over. We had a Code Blue over Canterlot 5 minutes ago.”
Soarin furrowed his eyebrows. “Code Blue? What’s that?”
“Well, we usually use that when there’s a vehicle in trouble,” replied Cover Story. “Like a wagon, a boat, or-”
“-an airplane. Come on, let’s roll. I’m not holding this elevator forever.”
Several Canterlot Police ponies had formed a perimeter around the scene, encouraging curious ponies to keep their distance. Soon, two carriages appeared, pulled by earth ponies dressed in navy blue windbreakers with ‘RDI’ printed on the back. “So, that’s all you’ve got?” mused the unicorn.
Bon Bon nodded. “Yup. We didn’t have much to go on, to begin with.” Special Agent in Charge Dead Drop sighed, closing the case file.
“It’s a start.” The carriages stopped, and the team jumped out. Each pony was wearing a windbreaker over their usual suits, along with caps and sunglasses. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”
A smoldering wreckage lay in front of them, several firefighters observing it carefully. Dead Drop frowned as he watched two paramedics reload an empty gurney into the carriage. “They wanted to take the body, but I figured we shouldn’t disturb the wreck until you guys got here,” an officer was saying.
“A wise decision,” commented Dr. Graves. “I can’t say how many cases have been hindered by ruined crime scenes.” The officer nodded, his eyes still on the wreck.
“Can’t say we’ve ever had one of these before. Lucky it didn’t go down in the middle of town.”
“Lucky for us, not so much for the pilot,” observed Braeburn.
“Braeburn, Bon Bon, witness statements. Cover Story, sketch and shoot. Wire Tap, get with Soarin and find Captain Spitfire. Lock Heed, with me.” The agents nodded, carrying out their orders.”Where’s Fire Fight?”
Lock Heed shrugged. “I don’t know, probably back at base. I’ll make a call, see where he’s at.”
As Lock Heed pulled out his radio, Dead Drop watched Dr. Graves advance to the body. “Lock, tell Fire to find that Sky Sailor pony and hold him. We’re going to need him again.”
Dr. Graves shined his flashlight into the damaged cockpit. “Hm. At first glance, I’d say blunt force trauma, but I can’t say for sure.”
“Hey, boss,” called Braeburn as he trotted over. “Done with the interviews. Not many ponies saw it go down, mostly ponies just saw it hit the ground. Bon Bon’s looking for any security footage from cameras, but ah doubt we’ll find any.”
Dead Drop nodded, kneeling next to Dr. Graves. “Time of death, doc?”
Dr. Graves gave a small smile. “Nearly there, my friend. Give me time.” From his bag, the unicorn removed a liver probe. As he was about to insert it, he froze. “Wait. Something’s-”
Before he could finish, the pilot’s eyes suddenly flew open, the pony gasping for breath. Dr. Graves cried out in shock, recoiling from the cockpit. Braeburn instinctively drew his pistol, before realizing there was no threat. Dead Drop whirled around and shouted at the direction of the ambulance. “Unload that gurney! Now! He’s still alive!”
“Find Sky Sailor, Fire! It shouldn’t be that hard!” The orange pegasus grumbled to himself, running a hoof through his fiery mane. “Damn those Wonderbolts, he’s probably halfway to Cloudsdale already.” The elevator doors dinged open, and the pegasus darted out. As he passed the squad room he muttered under his breath. “He’s not in the evidence garage, not in the canteen, might be in the Director’s Office, but no way in hell I’m checking that…”
“...So I’ve got the three C-24’s sitting on the runway, and I’ve got another A-10 landing. I’m going around trying to sort all of that, then out of nowhere, I get a pony whining on the radio. She goes, “Hell, what’s taking so long? At this rate, it’d be faster if we used our damned wings instead of these things.” Assistant Special Agent in Charge Fire Fight’s ear twitched, and the pegasus doubled back, eyes wide.
“Then my boss says, ‘This line is for official contact only. Would the pilot that just spoke please identify themselves.’ The only answer is ‘Aw hell, I’m impatient, not stupid.” Sky Sailor rolled his eyes as the green earth pony he was talking to chuckled.
“And those pilots wonder why we never thought much of them,” the pony said. “Oh, hey Fire.”
Fire Fight nodded at the pony. “Lock Pick. Mr. Sailor, I was looking for you. Thought you would have flown away already.” Sky Sailor’s eyes fell.
“Erm… I can’t exactly fly anymore.” He gestured to his left wing. Fire Fight’s eyes widened when he saw that the wing was wrapped in bandages.
“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-” Sky waved his hoof in the air dismissively.
“Ah, it’s fine. Old war injury. Can I help you?”
Fire Fight cleared his throat. “You’re a Wonderbolts engineer, right?” Sky Sailor stood up, shaking his head.
“Former ‘Bolt, really. What can I do for you?”
“We’ve got another wreck for you to look at.” Sky frowned.
“Oh. Well, I’ll be around.” Fire Fight nodded, then turned to Lock Pick.
“Keep an eye on him, Lock.”
“Will do, Fire.”
“YOU THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD?!” Cover Story winced as Dr. Graves’s voice carried over the carriages. A paramedic (a new one, judging from the way he was cowering behind the firewagon) was stammering nervously, attempting to explain how a pony that was declared dead on the scene suddenly woke up.
“Yeesh. Don’t feel bad for that fellow.” Wire Tap rolled his eyes, flipping open his notebook.
“Anything?” asked Dead Drop.
“Not much. The plane started smoking, a pedestrian noticed and called the LEO’s, the plane hit the ground, and that was that,” reported Wire Tap as he flipped the notebook closed again. “I’d better go reel in Doc before he kills that pony.”
Dead Drop chuckled, shaking his head. “Thoughts?”
Bon Bon shook her head, removing her sunglasses. “Well, one’s sabotage, two’s a conspiracy.”
“Sure looks that way. Alright, let’s get this wreck back home.”
“Boss! Ah got somethin’!” Called Braeburn from the plane wreck.
As Dead Drop drew closer, Braeburn held up a white feather in a gloved hoof. “Doesn’t belong to the pilot, he’s an earth pony,” he noted. Dead Drop nodded.
“Bag it.” Cover Story scoffed.
“Great. A white feather. Do you know how many pegasi in Equestria have white feathers?”
“Too many,” replied Dead Drop. “But right now I’m only worried about two.”
“Trop Sphere has yellow feathers, and she’s been in our custody since last night,” Bon Bon mused.
“And you know who else has white feathers?” Said Cover Story.
“The Lt.’s good friend, Sky Sailor,” finished Dead Drop. “Where is the Lt anyways?”
“Right here,” answered Soarin as he landed. “Had to make some calls. This plane is a Griffin C-6 Fighter. Nothing special, it’s been used in the Air Force for some time now. Pilot’s name is Spare Clip, been flying for a while.” Dead Drop nodded.
“Lt. I need you to tell me everything you know about Sky Sailor.”
“What are you doing?” Cover Story groaned as he slammed his desk in frustration.
“Pressing the damn buttons he told me to!” Lock Heed sighed and rolled his eyes. “Well, you’re clearly not, because I don’t see the files up on that screen.” Cover Story typed something into his keyboard, only to have the monitor in front of him flash red with an error message.
“Okay, first of all, you won’t see much since this is an audio recording. Second of all, I think I’m going to kill Wire Tap.”
“Not my fault you’re technologically incompetent,” answered the pegasus as he tossed a brown back onto his desk. “Dig in.” Cover Story reached for the bag, but Lock Heed swatted at his hoof.
“You figure out the monitor before the boss gets here. Then you eat.” Cover Story hung his head and went back to slamming at the keyboard.
Lock Heed reached into the bag and pulled out a sandwich, wrapped in a napkin. “Heads up!” he called as he tossed the food over to Bon Bon, who caught it with one hoof. “Where’s Cowpony?” asked Lock Heed as he tossed a sandwich in his hooves.
“Evidence Garage, hopefully getting answers,” replied Dead Drop as he trotted into the squad room. “Speaking of answers, I hope you found some before you decided to break for lunch.”
Wire Tap sighed and shoved Cover Story aside, typing at the keyboard. The computer beeped and chirped, and the screen went black. “Alright, boss. We got the radio records from the control tower and the doomed plane.” Wire Tap pressed another button, and the recording began to play.
After a burst of static, the recording began.
“- checks out, not quite sure what happened there.” Wire Tap spoke up.
“That’s most likely the pilot speaking.”
“Roger that, Red-4. I’m calling it anyway.” Cover Story reached for a file folder and flipped it open.
“Uh, that’s the squadron leader, boss. Looks like our victim reported engine trouble, and the squad leader decided to scrub the mission.”
The squad leader’s voice came on the recording again. “Tower, this is Red-1. Red-4’s got engine problems, we’re gonna land it.”
“Roger that, Red-1, you can take the main.”
“We really scrubbing, sir?”
“10-4, Red-3. Don’t want to risk anything after Eagle-1.” Dead Drop narrowed his eyes.
“Hmph. Word gets around quickly.” Cover Story turned a page and identified the speakers.
“Red-3 is another fighter, and the other voice is the control tower.”
The recording continued in silence until it was interrupted by a loud noise. “What the hell was that?”
“Red-4! You’re smoking!”
“Crap! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is Red-4, lost my engine! I’m going down, fast!” Wire Tap stood up.
“This is the accident part.” The transmissions were garbled for a second, as the pilot’s voices overlapped.
“- his tail’s on fire, sir!”
“He’s not making it.”
“Everyone shut up!”
“Copy that, Red-4,” the tower replied, the pony speaking frantically. “Uh, turn left two eight oh, the runway’s a mile out.”
“Unable! I’m too low, losing main power!” A beeping could be heard as the plane’s warning systems kicked in. “Come on, come on… aux power’s not coming on!”
“Red-2, Red-5, pull back. Red-4 is on fire, I repeat, Red-4 is on fire.”
“Copy, uh, Red-4 do you want to-”
“Warning! Warning!” the warning system chimed. “Terrain! Pull up!”
“Can’t! Too low! Sir, I’m going to - “
The message was abruptly cut short. “Shit! He’s down, repeat, Red-4 is down.”
Dead Drop nodded to Wire Tap, who turned the recording off. “Well. That was… something. Can’t say it tells us much, though.” After a moment of silence, the agent continued.
“Alright. Identify everypony who was on the radio, and get them in here.” Cover Story blinked, then nodded, grabbing a sandwich and settling into his chair. Wire Tap nodded as well, returning to his desk. Dead Drop turned his eyes to Bon Bon, who had remained silent throughout the recording. “Bon? You alright?”
Bon Bon blinked, pulled from her thoughts. “What? Uh, yeah. It’s just… I can’t imagine that, listening to a pony right before they die.” Dead Drop and Lock Heed exchanged glances.
“Yeah, must be terrible. By the way, boss, they tracked down Barrel Roll, he’s coming in,” Lock Heed said. The stallion nodded, trotting towards the elevators.
“Hey, trust me, Bon, it’s tough. But don’t let it get to you,” Lock Heed said, resting a hoof on her shoulder.
“Yeah… Thanks, Lock.” Bon Bon smiled at the stallion before returning to her desk. Lock Heed watched, then sighed as a memory of his past flashed through his mind. Shaking it off, Lock Heed trotted after his boss.
“Oh, hey boss,” Braeburn said as Dead Drop entered the evidence garage. “Plane looks the same as the other wreck. Few wires cut, cooling system went out.”
Dead Drop nodded, grabbing an evidence bag. “What about the feather?”
“Test Tube’s got it, but Ah don’t think there’s much she can tell us about it, other than it belongs to a pegasus with white feathers,” replied the stallion
Lock Heed spoke up. “Spoke with the hospital earlier, boss. The pilot’s fine, but he’s been put in a medically induced coma. I don’t think he knows much anyways.”
Dead Drop tossed the bag back onto the desk. “Sky Sailor. Find him and get him to interrogation.” Lock Heed nodded and trotted to the elevators. “Is there anything you want to say, Cowpony?”
Braeburn narrowed his eyes. “Sir… is there another case going on that we should be aware of?”
Dead Drop matched his gaze. “What makes you think that?”
“This mornin’, sir. ‘Ah was surprised to see that none of the senior team was there.” Dead Drop gave a wry chuckle.
“You are experienced ponies. We don’t need to be present at all of your cases.”
“Then why did you drop in right after we got started?”
Dead Drop was silent for a moment. “What exactly are you implying, Cowpony?”
“Nothing, sir. Ah just don’t like starting somethin’ if it just gets yanked out of mah hooves.” Dead Drop’s face betrayed nothing, his eyes observing the stallion. Underneath the stare, Braeburn didn’t falter. “Sir, is there anythin’ goin on that we should know about?”
“No.” With that, the Special Agent in Charged turned and walked to the elevators. It wasn’t a convincing lie, but it wasn’t meant to be. Braeburn could spot a liar from a mile away regardless.