Chapter 9: Pinkie Pie, Expert Tracker
Buck sighed as he filled out his daily report. The trainees were getting notably fatigued, and they had made barely any progress in the first place. He cringed as he wrote the name, 'Rainbow Dash' in his notable flyers list. He hated her with a passion, but it was the truth that she was one of the best flyers in Equestria.
"Buck."
Hearing his name called, he raised his head to look up. His eyes met with those of his Captain, and he instantly stood at attention.
"Sir!"
Shadow laughed and stated, "As you were."
"Yes sir, just filling out my report. Would you like me to give it to you now?"
Storm shook his head and remarked, "No thanks, I'm fine. You're pretty dedicated Sergeant, especially to be working this late. I'll be sure to put a note in my next report to RAF command."
Buck smiled and replied, "Thank you sir."
Shadow walked slowly over to the window and stared out into the orange sky, as the sun began to set.
"Sergeant, take tomorrow off."
Buck turned and looked curiously at Storm.
Shadow smiled and explained, "You've worked bloody hard enough, and you've earned a day off. I'll get Sergeant Cloud to manage training tomorrow."
"But sir..." Buck said, trailing off.
"That's an order Sergeant. Now finish your report and get your plot home," Storm commanded, his eyes slightly angry looking.
Buck nodded and quickly finished his report. The Sergeant gave a last salute to Shadow and left, leaving Storm alone in the command centre. Shadow stared out at the sunset, contemplating everything, for the next few minutes. His thoughts were broken by a door opening, and a humming voice he knew all too well.
He turned and saw Pinkie come bouncing up the hallway and into the command centre.
Shadow smiled and asked, "What do you have to report Pinkie?"
Pinkie took a deep breath and began, "Well this Cloud guy was easy to follow, because all he does is follow you and watch what you're doing so I watched him, and then I followed him following you all day and then at the end of the day he met this guy who was all serious and sinister looking and he was like 'Anything of note to report' and the other guy was like 'No sir' and then they left and that's pretty much it."
Pinkie panted as she came to a close, her breath running out at the end of her rapid sentence. Shadow took everything in slowly and thought about each aspect of her report. After thinking for nearly a minute he finally responded.
"Good job Pinkie. Your services have been invaluable."
Pinkie smiled and replied, "Yes indeedy!"
Shadow started for the door and stated, "Thanks again, I'll see you around."
Storm found himself outside and flying towards Ponyville. His thoughts were preoccupied now, especially with his new intelligence on Cloud. He landed at the town square and sat down, planning and analyzing his situation, and attempting to figure out why Cloud would be keeping tabs on him.
A sudden memory popped into Storm's head; "We'll be watching your career closely."
'They couldn't be...' Storm debated in his mind, 'Would they? Why? How? Is it because of my former proximity to changelings?'
Storm had always heard stories but never believed them fully. As Shadow made his way home, he pondered all that had occurred. As he arrived at his house, he prepared to launch upwards and land at the front door. A quick glance to the side grabbed his attention to a rare sight; he had mail.
He grabbed the contents of the mailbox with his mouth and dashed into his house. Within a few seconds he was in his bedroom, staring at a small envelope. Opening it up, he swallowed with slight anxiety. As he concluded reading the letter, he rested his face in his hooves with a sigh.
'This is going to be awkward...'