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The ponies followed their griffin guide and escorts into the small clearing in my Equestria dreamscape. The Live Oak trees and the grass around this small grove of trees had been scorched in a recent fire. Amongst the charred grass one could see there was also the remnants of a campsite.

Sun Claw looked back at the ponies he and his brother were escorting. The two intel ponies he'd been talking with for the last couple of days. The deputy he'd met before. Although he looked like he'd had a wild night. The 3 other mares were strangers to him. Although they all had the smell of hunters like him, and they had the look of those who'd seen battle.

Half-cock smiled and looked around clearing. Only the fact that this was a crime scene spoiled this beautiful morning in her eyes. She'd grown up in country like this and she loved it. The rolling chaparral with the great expanses golden grass dotted with dark green groves of oaks. This was the kind of country just made for galloping freely with the wind in your mane and the sun on your coat.

However more grim matters pulled her back to the moment. Nitpick one of the intel ponies came trotting over to her and started pointing out details. "M'am as you can see, the griffins had set up their camp here. The fire began in their tent. Two griffins were sleeping in it. One of them never made it out of the tent. The second griffin made it out of the tent but appears to have been on fire. They were then attacked by one or more of the assailants."

The Mare-in-waiting looked over at Nitpick. "How do you know there was more than one attacker?"

"There are at least two different sizes of drake footprints around the scene of the crime." Said the female unicorn. "Possibly three although Green Leaf is still trying to determine that."

"Have him talk to Squall. The mare is an excellent tracker."

Said pegasus was carefully hovering over the ground of the crime scene looking intently at the ground below her. Hovering alongside her was the griffin Sighing Trees. The two hunters had been swapping opinions nonstop since they'd met. From moment she'd arrived at the clearing there had been something that had been bothering her.

"Hey Sighing! It had rained pretty good here before the attack by the looks of things."

The female griffin looked over at the pegasus. "Yes. We routinely get showers in the early evening around this time of the year. It's one of reasons why the fire didn't spread beyond the scene of the attack."

Squall flew back the charred remains of the tent and landed. Gingerly she stepped around the area as she lowered her head down and looked at the tracks. Of particular interest to her were the much larger reptilian tracks. She went over to where there were griffin tracks as well. She sat down on her haunches and pulled her flask and took a swig while she kept staring intently at the tracks. Finally Sighing Trees landed beside her. Without a word the pegasus offered the griffin the flask. The griffin took it and then proceeded to take a sip from it. Then she handed it back.

"Okay I know that look." Said the griffin as she adjusted a string of polished agate beads that hung around her neck. "Something is wrong here. You know it. Speak!"

Squall stowed her flask and strolled over one of drake tracks then pointed at it with a front hoof.

"Ya know that drakes weigh a lot more than either ponies or griffins right ? Well I'm looking at all these tracks. Both griffin and drake and what's bugging me is that they're both the same depth in dirt. I've seen drake tracks like this and with how wet the ground had ta have been that night I'd expect the drakes of this size ta leave much deeper looking tracks, but there not even as deep as the griffin tracks here."

She looked back at her fellow hunter. "That just doesn't seem right."

The sound of clinking pottery caught Squall's attention. Looking up the violet mare saw the other intel pony Green Leaf carefully pulling some broken shards of pottery from the remains of the demolished tent. The stallion looked up as Squall came trotting over.

"Whatcha got?" Asked the Scale Bearer.

"Found these shards m'am at what would been at the back of the tent. I was starting to catalog them. Apparently it was a small pot filled with some kind of resinous substance. There's still trace amounts here and here." The earth pony pointed to some charred residue on a shard. "It smell really nasty. There's this sharp almost petroleum smell to it. What use would a griffin have for this at a campsite? A fire starter perhaps?"

Squall shook her head. "Nope! Any griffin hunter who couldn't start a fire would've been the laughingstock of their clan! They wouldn't use something fancy like that! Even with the rains."

The pegasus mare pushed her bowler back on her head. Then she flipped the broken piece over and looked at the equally charred exterior of the shard. However there was still an area where decorative bands and shapes were visible. They had been pressed into the clay when it was still moist. Squall stared at this for a moment and then called out for Sighing Trees. She tossed the griffin the piece of pottery.

"Hey Sighing! When did the Gold Feathers make peace with the damn Blackbill clan?"

Sighing Trees glared at the mare. "We haven't! We've had no trade with them for years!"

"Then why did one of yer hunters have a damn pot made by them? Answer that!"

The griffin continued to stare at the shard confused. Squall stepped back and then turned around stared at would've been the entrance of the tent. Then she got down and started poking and sniffing dirt. Green Leaf came over.

"What are you doing?"

Squall picked a bit of dirt and put it in her mouth and sucked on it and then spat it out. Quickly she took a chug from her canteen swished it around in her mouth. Then she spat the water out as well. She was now glaring at remains of the burnt tent.

"No damn dragon worth its scales set that tent on fire! A dragon's breath leaves a very distinctive stink in the area where they've used it! Trust me I'm familiar with it!" She pointed down at the dragon tracks she was standing between. "That thing was a standing right here when it torched this tent. If it had used its breath it would've lowered its damn head and shot right in through the opening!"

She scooped up some of the dirt with a front hoof and then tossed it back on the ground. "I can't taste or smell nothing! Even the rains wouldn't have washed it away! Something just don't add up here!"

While Squall was making her discovery, Long Shot was slowly patrolling the perimeter of the clearing. Keeping her company was deputy Purple Sage. He hadn't said much all morning. He'd shown up about 30 minutes after Half-cock had come trotting into the sheriff's office with a rarely seen grin on her face. When the deputy finally arrived he looked like he'd lost a fight with a tornado. At least his hat had been facing the right direction on his head.

Like Half-cock and Squall she loved this type of country. She felt at ease here. Much more than in the bustle of cities like Canterlot. Lots of wide open spaces. Good shooting country she thought.

As she let her mind just drift along her eyes slowly swept the countryside constantly. From close up to out where the distant hills faded into the early morning light. However as she made a sweep she spied a movement about 800yds away. It was subtle but it caught her attention. Then she saw it again. This time she recognized it for what it was. She noted it and with a bit more attention she started slowly scanning around the area looking for anything else. After a minute she started slowly moseying back toward the crime scene. As she did she let loose a series of sharp, quick whistles. Half-cock heard this and came sauntering over.

"Whatcha want?"

Long Shot casually tossed her head to one side. "I thought you might want to know there's a drake watching us from that first set of hills."

To be continued.

Upvotes at import: 69 | Stars at import: 44
Posted previously at: 2019-06-18T16:11:58 | Posted previously by: dontebell