Rainbow Dash and I walked down to the cafeteria where Miss Fleetfoot said she was gonna be. Now, like before, normally when somepony is in a cafeteria with a lot of ponies, there would be a lot of commotion and noise floating around the place. You would see this especially in schools with rowdy colts and fillies.

However, that wasn’t the case here. Yes there was a few conversations here and there between fellow Wonderbolts, but overall it was mostly quiet here.

Another thing I noticed was no pony here was wearing their uniforms. Well, guess I understand that. No point in wearing it if you aren’t gonna use it for a few days.

Anyway, we walked inside and saw Miss Fleetfoot sitting at a table that was kind of near the entrance where me and Rainbow entered. She was sitting with a few of her teammates. One was a white coated mare with a long spiky blonde mane and raspberry colored eyes. Another one was a light gray coated mare with a shaggy cobalt mane. Lastly, there was a light arctic blue coated mare with a pale olive coat.

The four of them were eating what was on the menu. Looking sad and depressed for their fallen friend. With the shaggy maned mare looking especially sad. She barely was eating her food.

“Hey guys.” Rainbow Dash said to all of them. They all responded with a “Hey” toward her.

I levitated my badge toward them. “Hello ladies. I’m Detective Shadow Haze. I know this is a really hard time for you all, but I’d like to ask you all some questions regarding Gust Gale, if you don’t mind.” I told them, while the shaggy maned mare shuttered. Huh, she looked especially emotional right now.

Fleetfoot instantly spoke up. “Ask away Detective. By the way, if you don’t know, this is Surprise, High Winds, and Misty Fly.” She said, apparently introducing me to them.

“Good to meet you three. Are you okay with answering some questions?” I asked them.

Misty Fly nodded, while looking cross. “Yeah. If it means getting that fucker that did that to Gust Gale.” She said.

“I’ll do my best, Detective.” Surprise said, still looking sad.

However, High Winds stood up from her seat, her lip quivering and eyes starting to water.

“I can’t do this.” She said emotionally, flying away from the cafeteria and into a hallway somewhere.

Both Surprise and Misty Fly had their heads down in compassionate sadness. With Misty rubbing Surprise’s back with her wing.

“What’s wrong with her?” I asked them.

Fleetfoot sighed sadly. “Her and Gust Gale were best friends. She’s probably taking it worse than Captain Spitfire.” She told me.

Okay, now I’m gonna have to ask High Winds later.

We now all sat at the table with each other. As I brought out my notepad, I saw a few Wonderbolts looking at us. Maybe they know they’ll be interviewed soon by me.

However, that’ll have to wait.

I levitated my badge for every pony to see. “Every pony, please stand back. I’ll ask all of you some questions after I’m down with Miss Fleetfoot, Misty Fly and Surprise. You will have to wait. Now, please take your lunches and leave the cafeteria.” I called out to every pony.

One of the Wonderbolts was about to call out something. He had a goldish gray coat, purple eyes, and a bluish gray mane and tail. He apparently didn’t want to leave, until one of his comrades put a hoof up to stop him. He had a bluish gray coat, golden eyes, and a light turquoise opal gray mane and tail. He shook his head at that pony, letting him know that this was the time to listen to me. Good.

After that, all the Wonderbolts grabbed their food trays and left. Now, I could concentrate.

On to the questions.

“So, how well did all of you get along with Gust Gale?”

“Every pony here liked her. She was just the sweetest mare you’d ever meet. I only wish YOU could’ve met her Detective.” Surprise said.

“She didn’t make any enemies with anypony here? Didn’t rub anypony the wrong way?” I asked.

All three of them shook their heads No. Hopefully, after I interview all the others they’ll say the same thing.

“So, since you all say that every pony here got along with her, what can you tell me about her? Meaning personality wise. What she liked to do when she wasn’t flying with you guys.” I told them, getting my notepad ready.

Misty Fly spoke first. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that were pretty famous. And whenever we get done with a show, sometimes we go out and party. Especially Surprise.” She said, pointing her wing at her. She blushed and rubbed the back of her head with her wing.

“Well, it’s in my name. What do you expect?” Surprise asked sheepishly.

I nodded while writing that down. “Did Gust Gale like to party?” I asked.

Fleetfoot chuckled a little bit. “Later on when Spitfire took her under her wing. Before that, she was pretty shy. Didn’t really drink as much as Surprise does.” She said.

Surprise gave a cross look. “What is this? Talk crap about Surprise day?” She asked.

I saw Rainbow Dash snicker. “You know it’s true Slowpoke.” She said, causing Fleetfoot and Misty Fly to laugh along with her. Surprise just blushed again and looked down in annoyance.

“How about when it came to stallions?” I asked.

“Pfft.” Fleetfoot snorted. “As if. She was really awkward around stallions.” She sighed sadly after she said that.

“Guess I can get why she felt so lonely.” She said with sadness in her voice. Every pony else must’ve been effected by it at our table.

“She was lonely? Why?” I asked.

Surprise spoke next. “Well, Detective, I think you can probably guess that most of us are in relationships. Not to brag, but when you’re famous, you can almost guarantee that somepony will develop feelings for you. Even fellow teammates. Obviously Captain Spitfire and Soarin. Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail. Thunderlane and Blossomforth. And even me and Misty Fly here have boyfriends.” She explained to me. She was right about the famous part. Frankly, when you were famous, it’s almost a certainty that the mares and the stallions could fly, no pun intended, right to you.

“But, that doesn’t mean that ALL of us are in relationships.” She finished saying.

“So, that’s why she was feeling lonely? She wanted a boyfriend like you and a lot of the others?” I asked.

They all, including Rainbow Dash, nodded in agreement. “I felt kinda bad for her. We even tried setting up dates for her, but she didn’t do so well.” Dash said.

“Do you think an of them would have wanted to hurt Gust after these dates she had?” I asked.

“Nah.” Misty Fly said. “Those all were good ponies. Plus, it was only like two or three dates. It wasn’t much of anything.”

After I wrote all this down, I felt like now it was time to really ask tough questions.

“Now, was it true that Gust had gotten love letters from a secret admirer, which turned out to be a stallion named Corkscrew?” I asked them.

Their expressions now changed. “Yeah. I don’t get why she liked them. They were really sappy and weird.” Misty told me, crossing her hooves.

“You mean, you have them on you?” I asked.

Fleetfoot shook her head. “No. They are in her locker for sure.” She said. Okay, I’ll have to get those when I’m done.

“According to Captain Spitfire, she says that Gust Gale and Corkscrew met after a show and that’s where their relationship started. She also says that she immediately felt untrustworthy of this stallion. Did any of you guys as well as the others feel that way as well?” I asked them.

Fleetfoot nodded. “I just knew I recognized him from somewhere. Back when I was in high school with Soarin and Spitfire.” She said.

Oh, this’ll get me somewhere.

“Oh, you went to high school with Soarin and Spitfire?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. We were all best friends.”

“So, you know about Skyler Storms then?” I asked.

“Yeah. That dude was a CLB. Creepy Little Bastard. The way he hit on Spitfire constantly, the narcissism, the annoying way he spoke. It just drove us nuts. And that’s what I thought of when I saw him.” Fleetfoot told me. She apparently looked all worked up when I told her all this.

“Me and Surprise just knew that there was something off about him. High Winds even persuaded her to break up with him, but Gust wouldn’t listen.” Misty told me.

Seems High Winds really cared about her friend. A lot.

“Why did Miss High Winds do that?” I asked them.

“Because of how she changed.” Surprise said. “She started wearing make up. She NEVER wore make up before. Ask High Winds, she’ll tell you. She also started to style her mane to look like Captain Spitfire. She even started acting, or tried to I should say, like her. She didn’t do that before until she started dating Corkscrew.”

This was all starting to get interesting.

“Did you ever meet this Corkscrew guy?” I asked them.

“Only a few times.” Fleetfoot said. “One thing that was weird is how whenever Gust was out with Spitfire, he’d somehow show up.”

“You mean, he’d meet up with Gust Gale and all of when you were out partying, only when Captain Spitfire was there?” I asked.

She nodded. “Spitfire doesn’t party to often now. She does a lot of paperwork, since she’s the Captain.”

This felt kinda weird. “How would Corkscrew know whenever Spitfire was available for partying or not?” I asked.

“I think Gust told him.” Fleetfoot said. “Because Corkscrew even said he’s a HUGE Spitfire fan. I think Gust did it to please him.”

Hmm. Seems Corkscrew ALSO likes being around Captain Spitfire. Like that Skyler Storms from so long ago.

“One last question for you Miss Fleetfoot. You said that Corkscrew reminded you of Skyler Storms. Well, what can you tell me about him?”

Fleetfoot scoffed. “He was some big time actress’s son. I forgot her name, but he was a pretty wealthy kid. You’ll have to ask Spitfire about that part. Anyway, he would never leave her alone. He was getting to a point of harassing her. Hell, Her and her Mom Stormy Flare even threatened to expel him if he didn’t leave her alone. From what I heard, he even tried to get Mommy to try and get them to put the charges away. But, she didn’t even pay him no mind.” She rolled her eyes after she said that.

“So, he left her alone. Until after we all graduated. He followed us to Wonderbolt camp to try and get with her. Although, he failed in the first few weeks so badly, that the guys who were in charge at that time just cut him cause they didn’t want to have to deal with him. Hah, I was glad to see the loser go. Cause that’s what he is.” Fleetfoot finally finished.

Seems she was just as annoyed at this Skyler Storms as Spitfire and Soarin were. Guess I can’t blame them. The dude sounds like a freak.

After I wrote all that shit down, I stood up from my seat. “Thank you all. You’ve been a big help. I promise you me and Rainbow Dash here will find the pony that did this to Gust Gale.” I said to them.

They all nodded to me. “Thank you Detective.” Surprise said. “And hey, if you are gonna interview High Winds, please go easy on her. She’s really sensitive.” She told me.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I said as I walked out of the cafeteria with Rainbow Dash.

-/-With Thunderlane-/-

“I had a feeling that Corkscrew was gonna do something to her at some point.” He said, putting away something in his locker.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked the black coated, bluish silver maned stallion.

“I think he was trying to control her. Make her do things she wouldn’t normally do.” He said, now shutting his locker door.

“How would you say he was controlling of her?” I asked.

“I saw one day she came in with her mane all styled up. And she had makeup on. She always went natural before she got with Corkscrew.” He told me.

Hmm. This is getting more interesting by the minute.

“How would you describe her mane style if you could?” I asked.

“It looked almost like Captain Spitfire’s. Except a little frizzier. It was weird.” He said.

Indeed it was. It was like she was trying to mirror exactly what Spitfire looked like.

But why would she want to do that? Or, did she even want to at all?

-/- With Sky Stinger & Vapor Trail -/-

“Something was just off about that dude. I have no idea what Gust saw in him.” Said the cerulean coated, light sea green maned stallion. He was currently massaging his apparent girlfriend’s shoulders as he told me this.

This mare had a light greenish gray coat and an emerald green mane. As she was having her shoulders rubbed, she just looked so down in the dumps having to hear all this. Guess she was friends with Gust as well.

“What in your opinion was off about him?” I asked, notepad ready to be written upon.

“Well, some of our teammates have boyfriends and girlfriends that aren’t Wonderbolts, as I’m sure you probably were told.” Sky Stinger said to me.

I quickly nodded. “I was.”

“Well, after we get done with a show, we always go and party at a bar somewhere. It could be in Vanhoover, Manehatten, New Colt City, Baltimare, you name it.” He said, going through a quick list of places they apparently have performed in.

“Right.” I quickly said.

“When we’re in a certain city, and it’s in one of our teammates’ special someponies home town, they get invited to a bar or someplace after the show. Meet all of us or hang out. You know what I’m saying right?” He said, now finishing up with the massage.

“Need me to do you now?” Vapor Trail asked him.

He nodded. “Yeah, that’d help.” He said, sitting down on the bench, while Vapor stared to give him a massage now.

I was about to ask a question before Rainbow Dash chimed in.

“He’s right, ya know? I remember this one time, after a show in Fillydelphia, Blaze invited her boyfriend Hurricane to a bar called Uncle Uno’s. He got to meet all of us. Dude probably could’ve been a Wonderbolt if he wanted to.” She said.

Probably didn’t need an example, but I guess it’s good that I got one.

“So, what does all this have to do with Corkscrew?” I asked.

Sky Stinger shook his head. “Well, he apparently lives here in Cloudsdale. And he would always come to this big bar after the shows. It’s called Drought Season.” He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Ironic name, huh?” He asked.

“Yes, it is. So, when you saw him at this bar, what did he do that made him look suspicious to you?” I asked.

This time it was Vapor Trail who spoke. “Well, Captain Spitfire, even if she is tough and takes her role as Captain seriously, she also likes to party. You should see her. It’s like she the life of the party.” She said, while rubbing her boyfriend’s shoulders.

“Okay. And?” I said, urging her to keep going.

She sighed sadly. “Corkscrew would constantly be checking her out. Sometimes, Spitfire would sing karaoke, not all that great I may add-“ She said with a little humor in her tone. I kinda chuckled a bit.

“-and he would look at her all weird. Like, he was mentally undressing her or something. Even though he was dating Gust. It felt uncomfortable to me.” She said, now massaging Sky’s neck.

This was all starting to get me somewhere. “Did Gust know anything about this?” I asked.

Vapor sighed sadly again. “I think she did deep down, but you gotta understand Detective. She never had a boyfriend before. Even in high school, she was so awkward around boys, from what I heard from High Winds. So, I guess, she just let him do it because she didn’t want to lose her first love. If you would call it that.” She said, now looking cross.

“Pfft. That ain’t love.” Sky said.

“How well did Gust and High Winds know each other?” I asked them.

“They were best friends. Really close. I feel so bad for her.” Vapor said.

Sky snorted a quick laugh. “I think ole’ Hoof-in-Mouth wanted more than that.” He said, which was immediately followed by a small yelp.

Looks like Vapor Trail pinched Sky Stinger’s shoulder. I could see that little comment didn’t set well with her, as I saw Vapor now look very unamused with him.

“Now is not a good time for that.” Vapor said crossly to her boyfriend.

Sky blushed in embarrassment. “I was just trying to lighten the mood a little.” He said. That looked like it didn’t work, cause Vapor still didn’t look happy with him.

-/- High Winds -/-

After we got done with Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail, we went around asking other Wonderbolts about Gust Gale. They all were pretty much the same as what every pony else has been saying. About Gust’s shyness, her relationships with Spitfire, High Winds, Corkscrew, and every pony else.

I contacted the Cloudsdale Detention Center and asked them to get me as much information on Corkscrew as they can. I even asked for Skyler Storms as well. I don’t know if he was even involved in this, but it can’t hurt to rule out any suspects.

Anyway, me and Rainbow walked over to the big room where all the Wonderbolts sleep. I thought they would get their own room. But, I was wrong due to the very large place where there appeared to be over two dozen beds. Feels like I’m in a boot camp or something.

When we walked in, I saw High Winds sitting on what appeared to be her bed. She was covered in a blanket from head to hoof. As we approached her closely, we could hear the light sobs from the Wonderbolt mare. Then, when we were close enough to see her face, I saw something REALLY depressing.

High Winds had a framed picture of her and Gust Gale. They were both smiling wide, happy grins at the camera. Looking happy to be in each other’s presence.

We both saw how heartbroken she was looking at the picture. I saw a few light tears in her eyes. Guess she had gotten done a little while ago from a serious crying.

Rainbow Dash sat next to her on her bed and draped her wing over High Winds’ body.

“Hey, you feel okay to talk now?” Dash asked her in the most compassionate tone I ever heard from her.

I guess maybe there could be more to this mare then what I heard from Twilight and rumors from other Ponyville folk.

High Winds shuttered as she stood up. Rainbow hugged her as a source of comfort.

“I-I guess I’m ready.” High Winds said, now looking over at me. “I’m sorry I couldn’t talk earlier Detective. I was just really emotional.” She then picked up a tissue and wiped at the leftover tears on her face.

“No need to apologize. I understand completely what it’s like to lose a friend.” I told her. I felt a sort of warmth in my heart as I saw her smile at me.

“Now, I’ve gone around and asked your fellow Wonderbolt teammates about how close you and Gust were. How close would you say you and her were?” I asked.

She sniffed a little bit. “She was my best friend. Even though Captain Spitfire took her under her wing, Gust ALWAYS came to me if she needed to talk about something. We always traveled together. We roomed together. We even shared secrets like sisters with each other.” She said, breathing in a big sigh as Rainbow rubbed her back with her wing, trying to keep her under control.

“So, did Gust ever talk to you about Corkscrew? Any problems with their relationship?” I asked her.

Now, High Winds just had her head down in shame. “I told her so many times that that guy was bad news. That he didn’t really look like he loved her. He only wanted to meet the Wonderbolts. Especially Spitfire. The way he’d look at her.” She kinda ranted toward me.

“Did you notice any changes in her during her relationship with Corkscrew?” I asked.

She nodded, looking cross. “She started wearing makeup and styling her mane to look a bit like Spitfire. She even stated to act like her and try to simulate what she did. It was like she was trying to BE Captain Spitfire. And she just wasn’t as charismatic as her, so it just came across as weird.” High Winds said. “I thought her relationship was unhealthy, so I told her a few times to break it off with him. But, she just kept making excuses.”

“What else can you tell me about Corkscrew? Other than what I’ve already heard.” I asked her.

She thought for a moment. “Well, I only saw this once, but I know I saw him write down something on a notepad after he got finished talking with Surprise one time at Drought Season. It was weird.” She said.

Huh. I never heard that before. I’ll have to look into that.

I put my pen and notepad into my pocket of my trench coat. “Thanks Miss High Winds. You’ve been a big help. I promise I’m gonna find the piece of shit that did this to your friend. You have my word.” I told her.

She nodded. “Thank you Detective. And you too Crash.” She said, getting out of bed. I guess she’s done crying for now.

-/- Outside -/-

Before we left, me and Rainbow looked in Gust Gale’s locker. We found those love letters that Fleetfoot was talking about. I’ll have to look over those later on.

However, I noticed her uniform wasn’t here either. I wonder where it could be?

Possibly, with the suspect. Yeah, that’s what I’m hypothesizing.

Then, my cell phone rang. It was Cadaver.

“Yeah?” I answered.

He told me he needed to see us right away. It was more information on Gust Gale’s murder. He gave us his location. It sounds urgent from his tone of voice.

“On our way.” I said, hangin up.

I looked over at Rainbow Dash. “We need to head over to the morgue.” I told her, while lifting up my hooves.

She smirked at me. “Okay with me flying you around now, huh?” She asked all arrogant like.

“Pfft.” I snorted. “I’m more a fan of not plummeting to my death. Thank you. Now hurry up and let’s go.” I told her.

She rolled her eyes at me before she scooped me up and proceeded to fly us over to the morgue.

I suddenly felt a weird feeling. Why did I feel like this case was gonna get more difficult for me on a personal level? That’s happened before, but I didn’t think it was necessary for me to feel like this for this case. It was odd for me. Very odd.

All I know is I have to keep going. To find justice for Gust Gale. And her friends and loved ones.

Hopefully, I can find it sooner than later.

Author's Note

Sorry this was so late, I had some ideas that I though would work, but didn’t after I wrote them down. There was also work and everything else.

So, if you liked this chapter, then comment, like and favorite this story for future updates. Thank you all and goodnight everybody.