When Me and Rainbow Dash walked inside the Wonderbolt facility, we expected to see a bunch of Pegasi flying around, working out or training in some ways for their upcoming shows.

However, that was not the case. When we walked in, we saw either empty areas or ponies sitting at a table looking sad. I even saw a few hugging each other while they cried and tried to comfort each other.

Guess they got the bad news with Gust Gale.

We were walking in some hallway near the locker rooms, when I saw a wonderbolt mare come up to us. From the shows I’ve seen(yes, I’ve seen a few Wonderbolt shows with a few family members of mine over the years), this was Fleetfoot. She had a light arctic blue coat, a light grayish mane, and had a cutie mark of a horseshoe falling rapidly toward the ground. I saw that she looked pretty down as well.

“I was just gonna call you, Crash. Practice is canceled today. And we’re gonna take a few days off.” She said to her.

“I know. Shadow Haze and I are working together on it.” She said.

Fleetfoot looked surprised. “You mean, you know what happened?” She asked.

As Dash nodded, I levitated my badge out to her. “Yes, we do. And you heard right. Dash is working with me to solve Gust Gale’s rape and murder. I’m Detective Shadow Haze. I’m very sorry for your loss.” I told her.

“Wait.” Fleetfoot said. “Crash is working with you on a murder investigation?” She asked as I heard the lisp come out of her mouth.

“It’s a long story and a part of a deal I have with how my job goes.” I said to her. She looked confused.

“Anyway, Miss Fleetfoot, yes I know who you are, I’ve seen you perform at your shows, I’d like to ask you some questions, however I would first like to talk with your captain. Miss Spitfire. Where can I find her?” I asked.

She frowned sadly and pointed toward an office door. It said CAPTAIN SPITFIRE on it. Convenient I guess.

“She’s in there right now with Soarin.” She said, sighing sadly. “She’s taking it really hard.”

I saw Dash look sad too. “Oh man.” She said. Fleet foot then came over and hugged Dash. I saw them both let out a few tears. They weren’t sobbing uncontrollably, but it still looked sad to see. Gust Gale must’ve been a really good pony to them.

They let go of each other. As Fleetfoot walked away, she turned back to me and said, “I’ll be in the cafeteria if you wanna ask questions, Mister Shadow Haze.”

I nodded. “Thanks. I’ll talk with you in a little bit.” I said to her as me and Dash walked over to the office door.

Before I even knocked, I heard crying from the inside. There was even a silhouette in the glass frame on the door of a pony with her head buried in another pony’s shoulder. It looked like the pony giving comfort had his wing wrapped around the crying pony.

When I knocked on the door, I heard a stallions voice say, “Come in.”

As I opened the door, I saw what was silhouetted in the glass frame actually happening. The two Wonderbolt ponies were behind a desk with a big swivel chair. I’ve seen these two perform many times during Wonderbolt shows as well.

The stallion was named Soarin. He had a long and wavy dark blue mane with a very light blue coat. His cutie mark was a pair of wings with a lightning bolt in between them.

He had his wing wrapped around a mare he was sitting with. He even nuzzled her and kissed her on her forehead. I guess these two are a couple.

Speaking of the mare, this one, obviously, I knew. I saw her at a few shows years back. She was the Captain of the Wonderbolts. You would even see this with the attire she was wearing, as it appeared to look like a drill sergeant.
Spitfire was her name. She had a golden coat with an orange mane that had some amber stripes in it. Glad to see somepony have tints or stripes in their manes. Looks good to me.

However, I wasn’t looking at a drill sergeant right now. I was looking at a crying mare, who apparently got the news that one of her cadets(one she, from what Rainbow Dash had just told me, personally took under her wing) was now not only dead, but had been raped and murdered. She had every right to cry. I couldn’t imagine what she was going through right now.

Thankfully, she appears to have a caring boyfriend who is there for her when she feels weak. Or needs comfort in a time like this.

Rainbow Dash came over and put a hoof on her boss’ shoulder, showing comfort as well. Soarin smiled at her, as he wiped at his eyes as well. He looked to have been crying too, but not as much as Spitfire was.

As I got closer to the desk, I levitated my badge out to her. She did lift her head off of Soarin’s shoulder to look at me. “Miss Spitfire, I’m Detective Shadow Haze. I know that this is a very difficult time for you right now, but I need to ask you some questions. Can you do that for me?” I asked her in the most compassionate tone I tried to do. And I mean I really tried, meaning not trying to make myself sound emotionless as I usually am.

Spitfire breathed in a big sigh to try and calm herself down. Soarin reached into one of the drawers in the desk, and handed out a tissue for her. She smiled at his kindness. She took it and wiped away the fresh tears as best as she could. Both Soarin and Rainbow Dash had hooves on her back for moral support.

She cleared her throat as I got out my notepad and pen. “I-I’ll do w-what I can, Detective.” She said with a sniffle in her voice.

Like I said before: This job never gets easy. No matter how long you’ve done it.

“When did Gust Gale first start with the Wonderbolts?” I asked her.

“About two years ago. Maybe a bit longer than that. She was only 19 when she started.” She said.

“And in those two years or so, how was she with her Wonderbolt associates? Did she get along with them? Did she make any enemies?”

She chuckled as she shook her head. “I can’t tell you one pony who had a problem with her. She got along with every pony here from when I was around her.” She said.

Soarin nodded. “Yeah. She was very respectful and never had any type of argument with anypony here. Especially not me and Spitfire.” He told me as he as scooted closer to Spitfire and wrapped his wing around her again. She appreciated that from what I saw.

After I wrote that down, I asked her, “So, Rainbow Dash told me, Miss Spitfire, that you personally took Gust Gale under your wing. You know, helped teach her how to hang with the Wonderbolts. Why did you take an interest in her?”

“Well Soarin here” She tilted her head at him “told me that she and I look so much alike. We both have similar coat and mane colors. Only difference was that I was better looking.” She said, now turning her head toward him a smirk on her face.

He shrugged. “What? It was a compliment. And it was true.” He said.

She shook her head, with still that smirk on her face. “Anyway, I don’t know why, but I guess I just saw a little bit of myself in her. She had that passion to be a Wonderbolt, but she didn’t exactly have the same personality as me. So, I kinda wanted to help bring it out of her so she could have fun.” She said.

Before I asked my next question, Rainbow Dash chimed in. “Yeah, she was kinda shy when it came to meet n greats. Or other charity events. She wasn’t the most sociable. Let’s say that.”

I nodded at her as I wrote that down. Next question. “Now, Miss Spitfire, when I came to the crime scene, it appeared Gust Gale had a romantic dinner with somepony. And she even looked like she got dolled up for something. Did you know if she had a boyfriend or not?” I asked her.

That was when I saw her face turn into a frown. I even heard a low growl from her. “Yeah. But I didn’t trust that guy as far as I could throw him.” She said. I saw a similar look on both Soarin and Rainbow Dash’s faces. Looks like Dash was telling the truth earlier.

“Why is that?” I asked her.

“I have no idea. I just had this feeling in my gut. It’s like I knew him from somewhere some time ago. Someone I knew and just couldn’t stand.” She said.

“Someone you know? Who was this pony knew by any chance?” I asked.

Soarin then stepped in. “Well me and Spitfire have been a couple for about 5 going on 6 years now-“

“I’m surprised you know how long.” Spitfire said teasingly.

“-hey, I keep track of things. Anyway, we first started dating in our sophomore year of high school. While that was going on, there was this creep ass dude who constantly hit on Spitfire. Sometimes right in front of me. He was some tubby looking Pegasus. An ugly brown coat with a greasy dirty blonde mane. And he had a protractor for a cutie mark. The guy was an ugly nerd.” He said.

Spitfire now looked cross having to remember this. “His name was Skyler Storms. The dude just wouldn’t leave me my alone. Like, he’d buy me flowers I didn’t even like, he’d buy me chocolates, which I don’t even like, I’m a candy type girl. He’d want to walk me to class like all the time, even when I had Soarin with me, and he’d always have this stupid fucking looking fedora with him. Says it makes him look like a gentlecolt. I can’t even count how many times the dude asked me out. And every time I said No, he would get all pissy and whiny and bitchy about how “Soarin isn’t as nice a guy as I am. You should dump him and be with a guy who’ll treat you like you’re the most important pony in his life.” He was one of those nice guys that just wanted to get into my pants. Plus, he was NOT attractive in the slightest. In fact, he was pretty ugly. Ugh, it was so fucking stressful.” She ranted to me. Immediately after that, she rubbed her head as if she was staring to get a migraine.

“It must’ve been.” I said to her, writing all this shit down. Rainbow Dash went over to the coffee machine that was in her room and started to make her a cup. Guess she’s a good friend for her boss.

“Now, did you ever see this Skyler Storms ever again? After you graduated high school and went to Wonderbolt camp?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately yes.” She said, now groaning with her hooves on her head. I heard a ding, which meant the coffee was done. Rainbow Dash quickly got it and gave it to her.

“You’re such a good friend, Crash.” She said, immediately taking a sip. Guess she needs it.

“Where was I?” She asked herself, trying to get back on track. She got it almost instantly.

“Oh yeah. So, when you go to Wonderbolt camp, you gotta go through a lot, and I mean A LOT of training exercises. They test you based on speed, agility, endurance, physical and mental toughness, and most of all, how good you can fly. They also look at how you can handle things under pressure. How to time your flying abilities. And, the biggest one of all, how to work together as a team. Cause, the Wonderbolts are a team sport, Shadow. That’s what you can expect when you wanna be a Wonderbolt.” She explained to me.

Huh. This is getting me somewhere. “So, how did this Skyler Storms do at Wonderbolt camp?” I asked.

After I asked that, both Soarin and Spitfire started to laugh. Rainbow Dash laughed along with them, even if she may not have known what she was talking about.

“The dude sucked balls at almost everything.” Soarin said with a chuckle. “He couldn’t fly fast worth a shit, he couldn’t be agile to save his life, he could barely last an hour, and he was a wuss when it came to injuries. Detective, I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but I once did a whole 2 week tour in Manechester with a torn muscle in my left wing.” Hmm. That is impressive. I’ve heard of professional wrestlers who work hurt all the time, and I guess he’s no different.

“Not even just that. He was difficult to work as a team with, he’d always try and be a captain when he didn’t know what the hell he was doing, he didn’t handle pressure very well, and worst of all, he was so disrespectful to our captains and leaders at that time. Those guys were Legends in Wonderbolt history. And he thought he knew more than them. That’s why they kicked him to the curb not too long after he joined. Heh, loser.” Spitfire told me.

“I mean there’s arrogant, and then there’s that, Shadow.” Rainbow told me.

I nodded my head. “Sounds like he was more narcissistic then arrogant.” I said.

“Hmph.” Spitfire grunted. “You can say that again.”

“Now, going back to what I was asking earlier, when did Gust Gale meet this guy, and what was it about him that made you think of this Skyler Storms?” I asked.

“We have a fan mail bag in the mailroom downstairs. We get like over 200 letters everyday. Some of them are nice letters showing how much of a fan they are, some of them are from little kids who dream of becoming a Wonderbolt someday and how much of an inspiration we are, and some are from family members.” Spitfire said.

“Do you get any letters that come off as romantic in a way? Any letters that may be stalkerish in a sense?” I asked.

She paused a moment before speaking again. “There have been some inappropriate letters sent to us. Like just 3 weeks ago, there was this guy who sent a letter to one of our teammates. Sky Stinger. Him and Vapor Trail are dating, and he was getting these letters from some mare that dreamed of having sex with him. From what he told me, they were extremely graphic. That’s why whenever she sends one now, we just tear it up immediately.” Spitfire said.

“So, is that how Gust Gale met this stallion? Through fan mail?” I asked.

She nodded. “There was a stallion named Corkscrew who sent her these love letters. It was totally sappy, but she loved them. She wanted to meet him, cause he signed them “Your Secret Admirer”, before he revealed himself after a show a year and a half ago. He was a skinny looking dude, but looked in okay shape. Not much. He had a yellow coat, a bleach blonde mane and a calculator cutie mark. ” Spitfire told me. I’m thankful she gave a description on both of our apparent suspects. Although, Corkscrew is way more of a suspect than this Skyler Storms is. That’s for sure.

“And when you saw this stallion, named Corkscrew, you instantly thought of Skyler Storms when you saw him?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“And you Soarin? Rainbow Dash?” I asked both of them.

“I never knew the story until now. I just went by what Spitfire told me.” Rainbow Dash said.

However, Soarin looked cross like how Spitfire was just now. “I had a feeling the guy looked familiar. Like I seen him somewhere before. I just wasn’t sure.” He told me.

“What can any of you tell me about Corkscrew?” I asked them.

Now, all three of them shrugged. “I don’t know. He never was around us. He might’ve been around others, but I’m not so sure.” Spitfire said.

I finally finished writing my notes down. Man this was quite an interview.

“Thank you Miss Spitfire. You’ve been a big help. You both too. And I promise, me and Rainbow Dash are gonna find the Son of a Bitch that did this to your friend. You have my word.” I told her.

She nodded. “Thanks Detective.” She said, getting up. Soarin followed her.

“Hey, you wanna get lunch? I’m buying.” He asked her.

“You wanna get a spicy sub?” She asked.

“Sure.” Soarin said, as they left the office. I noticed they’re tails were intertwined. Man, those two must be a pretty serious couple.

“Hey.” I heard Rainbow Dash say to me.

I turned to her and answered, “Yes?”

“Thanks for not badgering her. I can tell she’s been through a lot.” She said.

“That’s not my job. That’s for a bullshit lawyer to do when someone is on stand in court.” I said to her as we left the office.

When we were outside, she asked me, “So, are we gonna ask around now?”

I nodded. “Yes. Every pony here must know at least SOMETHING about Gust Gale and her relationship. Let’s get started.” I told her.

“Right.” She nodded as we walked into the hallway to find and ask any Wonderbolt some questions.

This looks like it’ll take a while.

Author's Note

If you guys like this chapter, make sure to comment, like, favorite and follow my account for future updates. Also, make sure to leave a comment for a story idea for any upcoming Stephen King type story involving MLP:FiM that I plan on doing.

Thank you all and goodnight everybody.