I could only presume I would be leading a delivery, and spent a good amount of time developing routes and detours, checking them against the map book I had bought when working with Crossroads.
I was so full of energy by the time the evening of the appointed day arrived, I found myself dancing on the edge of my hooves. Dressed as Grimoire, I left our shared apartment near midnight once I'd ensured through the peephole that nopony haunted the shared hallways. At an easy trot, I would make it to the meetup point, not breaking a sweat.
I stopped outside the apartment lobby. Post boxes with metal doors lined one wall, with metal cubbies below for packages that couldn't fit. I noted I had a delivery as I passed through the glass and metal entrance doors, letting the security lock latch behind me. I noticed a shadow separate from the darkness, despite my eyes being accustomed to the bluish interior lights.
My body cooled as my subconscious reminded me I dealt with dangerous things these days.
I froze, ears swiveling toward the tree-filled northern part of the courtyard. In retrospect, nonchalance was called for. My limbs grew icy, but annoyingly I began to sweat. Instinct had me cue up Force, for all the good the worthless spell did me most days. I let the equations balance and set the vectors for the wood bench with the rusty scrollwork back in that direction, then let Levitate begin to queue since they shared aspects of the same spell arcana and I might switch them rapidly.
I whispered to myself, "You know this is going to be embarrassing if it's the high school couple smooching or the grandma in 2C looking for her cat again."
I trotted down the three brick stairs and onto the cobble path unconvinced, considering the time of night. If I could make it past the buildings to the street...
A mare sneered, "Gelding? Yeah, that's her. The foal who thinks her name is a verb. The bitch looks a bit less feminine than when I last saw her, though."
Oh, yeah. "Mustang." I recognized her, too. "I live with your former colt friend. He thinks I'm a pretty fine piece of—"
The earth pony leapt over the bench into the lamp light. "Yeah, sure, let's talk trash." She stretched her neck, making a popping sound. "Please, give me an excuse."
Something dark inside wanted me to light her mane on fire the way I had blasted The Monster's tail. Instead, I gritted my teeth and asked, "Why are you here, Mustang?" I made her name sound like an epitaph.
"Your assignment, obviously."
I stopped my slow and steady approach into striking distance. "You're part of my team?"
She spat. "Your team? See how she thinks highly of herself? No."
"Good. I'd just assume hand you your flank on a platter as work with you."
It might have been my imagination, but her eyes seemed to flash red. Her face colored in the lamp light, and she pawed the cobblestones with a steel horseshoe. I knew it was steel, because the strike issued a spark. Her muscles bunched at her shoulders as her tail began to swish.
I'd come close enough that if she charged, I'd Push her upward as I reared in with her initial lunge, then clock her jaw with a right and put her down with a left to the temple.
Instead, I said, "Does your friend really want you to pick a fight with me? I'm sure the pony didn't accompany you to scrape you off the sidewalk."
A hard to miss flinch separated a silhouette from the brick wall of the apartment block, in front of some bushes near the corner. Mustang jerked into her right mind, blinking, and stepped back. I took the opportunity to grab her co-conspirator and drag him forward.
The dark red stallion stumbled toward me with a surprised whinny. His brown comb-back emphasized a prematurely receding maneline. With my eyes adjusted, I saw the earth pony was one of those taller fine-boned types with a pointy muzzle. Not particularly muscled nor fat either. His eyes sparked caramel-colored as he walked just far enough into the light to illuminate him. I saw... anger.
Thirty, maybe?
I asked, "With whom am I having the pleasure of making an acquaintance?"
My switch to polite mode stopped whatever he was about to excoriate me with. He coughed, cleared his throat, and said, "You are as crazy as she said."
"Mustang! You told him I was a crazy-pony? How considerate!"
His eyebrow raised.
I mimicked his expression.
Mustang growled. "Watch your mouth—"
"And if I don't?" I asked, catching his eyes and holding them without blinking. I have good peripheral vision, and saw Mustang look back and forth between him and me. I took the moment of safety to queue two Push spells, one for each pony.
When Mr. Nopony blinked, I said, "You know, and I'm certain at least Miss snotty-pony does, that I've got to get going to work. I'd be really angry if I got chastised for arriving late, and you really don't want to see me angry." My voice lowered as I spoke. In that I felt it sounded more masculine, I resolved to keep my voice in that register.
Mr. Nopony said with an edge of authority, "Mustang."
She looked to him. He looked back.
What was going on here? I didn't like that Mustang had glommed onto a more powerful pony, nor that they... What exactly was going on?
I swiveled my ears about, which both noticed and Mustang smirked. Weakness, I was sure passed through her mind.
Nevertheless, I scanned everything with my ears. I heard naught but passing wagon traffic on the street beyond the buildings.
I began working up Teleport, even as it forced me to drop both the Levitate-related spells. Once could get me back into the lobby, where I might be able to throw packages. Twice—and I could cast it twice without a stumble—I could also make it to the street.
I didn't like being spooked.
"Enough, already," I said, exasperated. "Either tell me what you want, or punch me, but get it over with."
Mustang reached a hoof into her saddlebags.
I tensed. A throwing knife?
She took out a long, skinny cardboard package the length of her canon bone. She said, "For you."
"A present?" I'd meant it to be sarcastic; it came out worried.
"It's what you're carrying tonight."
"What!? I'm no mule. I. Do. Not. Carry product. That's the deal!"
Mustang said, "How the mighty have fallen." She brayed like a mule. At me.
Teleport spun warmly ready, spitting red digits like comets through my vision. I need only make a wish. Carefully, as she brayed some more, I queued up Levitate, also, and prepared to juggle the spells. A unicorn fighter might have guessed why I took so long to respond and attacked.
My need to concentrate fading, I addressed Mr. Nopony. "I had a deal to join this organization. Is somepony breaking our contract?"
He snorted. "Contract? You join the herd, you take the orders."
"I gather by you, you mean me?"
"Just take the stupid package. You got paid, right?"
"In gold bits."
Mustang looked narrowly at her boss, who said, "Do the work."
"Make me."
"Do you really want to disappoint Her?" Carne Asada, obviously.
As my heartbeat sped up, I took the moment to look around as if I were thinking. Could this be another test? Did they want to see how pliant I was? Had Carne Asada herself decided to break me?
Not that I would allow her to break me.
Or had Mustang poisoned the well at a much lower level?
"Was that a threat?" I asked.
"No," he said, scrunching his muzzle so obviously that even a foal could see he was lying.
"That's good, because I could disappear and She would lose a valuable asset. That might make her unhappy." I put up a hoof when Mr. Nopony looked ready to retort. "Sure, she could retaliate against Trigger, but do you think I care? He wasn't of much use. Coach can take care of himself. As for the others, do I really look like I'm the sort to make friends? I'm in it solely for the bits, considering the piss-poor ability of the magic tutors you've offered me, but I have my limits."
Mustang took my last words as acceptance. She tossed the long box at me, possibly to break my spell concentration and to stick it to me.
I was a prize fighter and adrenaline, my life blood, coursed in my veins. I grabbed for it, intentionally doing what I'd bet she'd hoped for. I caught it hoof-lengths from the ground, then sent it on a chaotic path past my flank, then under my barrel, then up before my face, juggling it in half pony length jerks, then letting it spin lengthwise back at her face. Specifically at her eyes.
She gasped and ducked.
I started laughing. Yeah. Let's play a game.
I waited long enough for Mustang to release her cringe, and for Mr. Nopony's face to redden just enough that he was about to shout at me with a full head of steam.
I teleported with the package...
Into the lobby with a bang that rattled the post boxes.
Still laughing, I re-queued my expended spells on the scaffolding of the equations and transformable vectors.
I pulled. I pushed. I closed a silvery metal door with a number on a brass plate.
Less than 5 seconds passed, but it was just enough to complete transforming the spell and short enough that non-magical ponies might think a teleport really took that long between in and out.
I teleported.
I reappeared between the two buildings on the west side of the courtyard, two-dozen pony lengths from the bench and the two gangsters. I made a point of laughing as I had when I first disappeared, juggling the package as I had then, too, with it as far away from me and moving exactly as it had.
This time my juggling it was no joke. Who had increased the gravity by a factor of two? It felt like I'd just gotten up from a hot bath and that my saddlebags carried lead rather than a change of clothes and some makeup compacts. I barely kept my Levitate spinning. As the pop from my in-teleport stopped echoing, lights snapped on in windows from the first floor to the top floor in all the buildings. I laughed loudly, but gasped for breath at the same time.
Enough show time.
With no spring in my step, I trotted toward the street as Mustang and Mr. Nopony retreated into shadow. I made a show of lifting my dark cape to expose my grimoire cutie mark in the lamp light, then swiftly packed the package in my saddle bag.
I turned the corner and was gone.