//------------------------------// // Running Late // Story: Top Speed // by BloodBunny67 //------------------------------// “Late!?” Red Line exclaimed, falling off the wooden booth that had served as his makeshift bed in his haste. He landed on the sticky floorboards of the Lazy Wing with a crash. What are we still doing at the Wing? Red's mind slowly cleared and he remembered Mach insisting that they couldn’t fly in their condition, offering to let them stay the night at the pub, which just so happens to be all the way across town from the train station. Dung. Wincing more from the pounding within his skull than from the fall, Red floundered amidst the waste-strewn floor as he tried assuming a sitting position. He was immediately punished for his ambition when rose up into a beam of daylight streaming in through the pub's dirty windows; the throbbing ache in his head instantly transforming into a sharp, blinding pain. “What do you mean we're late!?” “I mean Spec's brilliant idea to do shots last night was, in fact, a terrible idea! Now get your flank up, we have fifteen minutes before the train leaves!” Wild Fire yelled over her shoulder as she frantically rummaged through the mugs and shot glasses on the table. “Buck!” Red shouted as he jolted upright, bashing the back of his head on the underside of the table as he stood. “Buck!” He shouted again at the searing pain and exploding stars which filled his vision at the impact. “Where is Spec?” “I don't know! I just woke up and now I can't find my—Yes!” She exclaimed as lifted her bronze medal from underneath the clutter. “It'll be a cold day in Tartarus when I get turned away at the Canterlot Derby gates cause I couldn't find my bucking medal!” “Great, now where is Spec?” Red repeated as he dashed from booth to booth looking for the lavender stallion. His search revealing nothing, Red took flight and dashed up into the lounge area. Searching frantically, he began to hear the soft, nasally metronome of a pony snoring. Rushing toward the noise, Red finally located his missing friend sleeping soundly underneath one of the cloud tables. Not wasting time on niceties, Red grabbed one of the half finished drinks sitting on the table and doused his friends head with the liquid. A soft moan was the sleeping stallion's only response. Red growled in frustration. “Fi, get up here, I found him. Give me a hand!” Wild Fire bolted up to join him and together they dragged the unconscious stallion out from under the table. When calling his name and shaking the sleeping pegasus yielded no results, Wild Fire attempted a more direct method. “Wake up ya lazy drunk!” She screamed as she hoof-slapped Spectrum hard across the face. The stallion ceased his snoring but remained limp and insensible. Red scrunched his nose, taking a closer look at Spectrum's sleeping form. “Is it possible to knock somepony out while they're already unconscious? Because I think you just knocked him out.” Red chuckled, poking a hoof into his prone friend's side. “Not helping Red!” “I'm just saying—” A venomous glare stilled Red Line's laughter. Scratching the back of his mane with a wing, Red stood up straight and let out a breath. “Well this obviously isn’t working.” He said, grabbing Wild Fire's hoof before she could give their friend another smack. Wild Fire stood up as well, throwing her wings up in frustration. “Well then what do you think we should do then, Doctor Red Line?” Red looked thoughtfully down at his friend for a moment before answering. “OK, Grab him.” “There has got to be a better way to do this,” Wild Fire groaned, shifting slightly to adjust her grip on the load she carried between her hooves. “I think that we've established that there is no good way for two pegasi to carry an unconscious body through the air, Fi.” Red's eyes rolled with his sardonic reply, and the lapse in concentration caused him to dip dangerously before recovering. Wild Fire started to speak, but was rewarded with a mouthful of hair from Spectrum's tail. Spitting furiously to rid herself of the errant strands, she tried again, “easy for you to say, your not stuck with the back end! Why don't we try side by side again?” “Because our wings were fouling each other so bad we could hardly take off, remember?” Red said with a frustrated sigh. “Just keep flapping, we need to get all the way across town and we only have ten minutes.” The two friends were moving at an admirable speed considering the awkward nature of their cargo. The pegasi stuck closer to the ground than usual during their flight, zipping through the streets of Fillydelphia just above the heads of the pedestrians. They had learned their lesson after fumbling their hold and dropping Spectrum during the first minute of their flight. Luckily, a low-hanging cloud had been underneath them at the time, saving their friend from serious injury, but they were not brave enough to try high altitude flight again. This slowed them down as they had to dart around and in-between the city's buildings and other tall structures. Rounding another corner, Red noticed their path suddenly blocked by a dense flock of fellow pegasi hovering in a near frenzy above a crowded news stand. Not a lot of time to slow down and no room to go around. This....may hurt, Red gritted his teeth as he tried to plot a course which would result in the fewest collisions possible. “Hold on Fi! This may get a little … impact-y!” “What?!” Wild Fire's vision was entirely obstructed by the light-grey stallion ahead of her. She stretched her neck off to the side so she could see the coming danger. In a situation where a pegasus is on an unavoidable collision course with an object, there are many reasonable actions one can take in an attempt to minimize the chance for injury. A cautious pegasus would slow down as much as they could, reducing the speed of the impact. A virtuous pegasus may attempt a crash landing rather than risk hitting any bystanders. A highly skilled trick-flying pegasus may attempt a desperate and dangerous maneuver in an attempt to dodge past the obstruction. Wild Fire, however, was a different sort of pegasus. “Bring it on!” Wild Fire yelled in challenge as she began pumping all her rather impressive strength into her wings, their strange formation lurching forward due to her increased effort. They began picking up speed at an impressive rate as they rocketed toward the press of pegasi ahead of them. “Fi wait, what the buck do you think your—hey watch out!” Red threw a hoof up in front of his face as they plowed into the crowd. The three friends violently jostled through a storm of wings, legs, and hooves as the disturbed masses shouted some less-than-supportive remarks their way. Blowing past and emerging on the other side of the mob, Red Line checked himself for serious injury as he angrily called back to his companion, “please Fi, for the sake of Celestia, never do that again!” “What? I got us through, didn't I?” She shrugged as she responded, feigning nonchalance despite the adrenaline that had flooded her system during her impromptu maneuver. “Somehow, I doubt us making it had anything to do with the suicide attempt you just forced me to go though. More likely it was divine intervention. I can't believe we didn’t smash straight into anypony,” Red said, trying to calm his pounding heart as he spoke. “Nah, folks tend to get out of the way when you make it obvious you're not gonna stop for 'em. Self preservation and all that,” Wild Fire said with a smirk. “Yeah, can you believe those suckers, what with their wanting to live and all?” Red's sarcasm was met only with another casual shrug. “What is going on today anyway? That’s the third news stand we've passed that’s been completely mobbed.” Red Line's eyes brightened suddenly with a thought. “Do you think its because of my record? I bet it already made it to the front page!” “Ugh, that probably is why,” Wild Fire muttered under her breath. “Sorry, what was that?” Red turned his head toward her with a smile. “I said if we just crashed though a flock of pegasi because someone put your name in the paper, I'm going to kick your flank!” She snapped with fire in her words. “Hey, its not my fault I'm front page materi— Dung! There’s the train!” Red exclaimed, pointing Wild Fire's attention toward a steam engine which had just left the station's boarding platform. Seeing the train picking up speed, she snarled in frustration, “Argh! What are we gonna do now?” Red thought for half a second before answering her. He turned his head again, his features painted with a mischievous grin. “You got anything left in the tank?” “You want to try and land on a moving train?” Wild Fire's eyes widened in surprise, but only for a moment. “Alright, lets do this!” Determination took the place of surprise on her face as she shouted her reply. The two pegasi fell silent as they directed all the strength and energy they had left to their wings. Red watched anxiously as the steam engine picked up speed, we are only going to get one shot at this. The pair were pumping their wings as only professional racers could, cutting through the air as smoothly as possible considering the cargo they carried in their hooves. Red made a slight adjustment to their altitude, lining up perfectly with the roof of the caboose. Just like when he was competing on the track, he felt the world around him drop away; his focus sharpened and directed to his goal. All the whirls and eddies of wind ruffling under his wings were felt and adjusted for. Behind him he could hear the steady breathing and rhythmic wing beats that told him Wild Fire was in a similar state of concentration. The pegasi had matched the speed of the train and were creeping ever closer to the cab. Close enough to clearly see the square access hatch on its roof, Red made it his target. Flying like a perfectly oiled and calibrated machine, Red watched as their straining muscles brought them near enough that he could almost reach down and grab on to the hatch's handle. Just a little closer, almost got it …. almost... Reds concentration was unshakable as he prepared for the landing. “Red, may I ask what we are doing and why Wild Fire is hugging my flank up to her face?” The weight resting between Red Lines hooves suddenly looked up as it spoke. “Gah!” The two burdened pegasi cried out in unison, startled out of their concentration by the sudden actions of their load. Losing control completely as their wing beats fell out of sync, the trio careened down onto the roof of the caboose, smashing through the wooden hatch and landing in a tangled mess of fur and feathers on the floor of the cab. Silence reigned as the dust settled in the dark cabin of the caboose. The three ponies laid still for several minutes in the extended quiet, mutely thanking the princesses that they had fallen into the train car rather than off it. Red was the first to break the grateful silence. “Well, we made it. Everyone OK?” Mumbled confirmation was heard from the other pegasi. Several seconds passed without conversation before someone again broke the still quiet. “Wild Fire?” “Yes Spec?” “... you can let go of my flank now.” “Argh!” Wild Fire snarled as she kicked down with a hoof, not caring particularly which of her friends she struck.