//------------------------------// // ==Part Six: Underworlding== // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Steam rose against the glaring moonlight as Rainbow Dash coasted down over the rooftops of eastern Fillydelphia. She coughed once or twice, waving the polluted fumes away from her muzzle. Before her, an urban sprawl of brown warehouses and rusted rooftops stretched along the southern bank of a winding river. Along the murky waters, several large platforms stood, atop of which zeppelins could be seen in various states of construction. Even further along the sprawl, Rainbow saw giant structures blotting the starlight along the eastern horizon. She judged that they were hangars, inside which the larger aircraft of Equestria were commonly built. Taking a steady breath, she peered down, squinting through the darkness in sight of her target. It took several flyby’s before Rainbow Dash saw anything. Her limbs shivered from the frost of morning, and she feared that she might go past the scheduled appointment time. Stealing a glance inside her saddlebag, she found a clock telling her that she still had twenty minutes until three in the morning. A loud horn echoed from the distance. Rainbow gasped in midair, flinging a glance east. She saw a freight ship travelling into port along the river, loading a midnight supply of zeppelin parts before an array of tall metal cranes. The color of the mechanical structures was bright yellow, and they almost jumped out at her… again and again. Rainbow Dash stopped to hover in midair. She rubbed her eyes, grumbling to herself. After a moment of shuddering, she reopened her eyes, blinking wearily into the fuzz of night. It’d been less than twenty-four hours since she’d taken Zecora’s new brew. So far, everything had gone without a mishap, but the pegasus could only guess when or where a spontaneous hallucination might debilitate her. All of her life, the pegasus had been in total control of her faculties. The idea of losing her mental grip never once occurred to her. As a result, it wasn’t something she ever feared--until now. Just what was her head capable of making her experience? Would she feel spiders or snakes crawling all over her? Would she get a visit from her zombie parents or a vampiric ex marefriend? Would Nightmare Moon crawl out of her showerdrain or cause the sky to melt away like a painted ceiling? Or perhaps nothing would happen at all? There were tons of ponies with horrible mental conditions all across Equestria--but perhaps none of them were lucky enough to be as awesome as Rainbow Dash. The pegasus smirked. With a warm breath of confidence, she skimmed the warehouses much closer. It was a few minutes into this venture that she finally spotted a hint of gold. Along the river bank, beside a series of rickety wooden docks, a brown building with a gold stripe across its northern wall and rooftop shingles stood in the moonlight. Rainbow Dash held her breath. She looked in her saddlebag. It was less than a minute ‘til 3 o’clock. Gritting her teeth, Rainbow zipped her satchel shut and dove swiftly towards the building. As she did so, her vision caught a shadow standing right at the southwest corner of the building, almost blended with the haze of night. When Rainbow touched down with four scraping hooves, the figure jumped in shock--something the pegasus didn’t expect. It quietly amused her. “Ahem…” Rainbow Dash cleared her throat and stood tall. Somehow, it felt even chillier at sea level. Rainbow blamed the proximity of the river running through the city. “Hey there. ‘Sup?” An equine shape looked back at her, its features obscured by a dark hood. In fact, a large and suspiciously black cloak hid every limb and square inch of coat hairs that the pony had to give. At last, a voice rasped out from beneath the hood, sounding definitely masculine. “Really? This is it?” Rainbow’s brow furrowed. “Stamps sent me.” “Yeah, I bet he did.” Silence. “So… uhm…” Rainbow Dash rubbed her rear leg with a front forelimb. “Do you have a name or…?” “No,” the stallion grunted. There was a hint of a gray muzzle in the moonlight. “And neither do you.” “But--” “But nothing. If you’re here, then you’re here to make bits. Bits that somepony like Stamps can’t give you.” The muzzle beneath the hood tightened into a frown. “You may be a rambunctious pony who thinks she deserves more money than she gets or a wild maverick who gets bored easily with daily routine. We’re not here to cater to either.” “Who’s we?” “Never you mind. Are you ready to do deliveries without question, without cowardice, without second glances?” Rainbow Dash winced slightly. “I’ll have you know, I’m a pony who’s loyal to her friends…” Her eyes narrowed. “And her Princess.” “We’re secretive, not stupid,” the stallion grunted. “There’s stuff too hot for even us to touch, and we certainly wouldn’t ask for help outside the moon’s shadow for it.” “Moon’s… shadow…?” “Do you want this opportunity or not?” “I gotta level with you, bro, I’ve got a ton of questions.” “Here, you’ll be finding no answers. Only bits--provided you perform your deliveries hastily and with professionalism. A pony like you wouldn’t be here unless you needed a job like what we can provide.” “Okay…” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “Sounds like a smexy enough challenge. Lay it on me.” “It is you who will be doing the ‘laying on,’” the stallion said. He reached under his cloak and produced a large white notecard, spitting it towards her. She grasped it in two forelimbs, blinking with surprise at the ease with which her usually-numb limbs caught the thing. “On this, you’ll find pairs of addresses and scheduled times numbered one through three. Acquire a wagon. Fly to the first numbered address. Receive the package. Deliver it to the other marked address by the time given. Once that is done, go on to the next place and schedule--” “Wait…” Rainbow Dash squinted. “I don’t sign anything?” She gritted her teeth. “I don’t accept any bits?!” “These deliveries have already been paid for. We are in rapid communication with the clients. The only thing we can’t transfer easily is physical materials.” A gray hoof pointed out from under the cloak. “Once the deliveries have been made, fly back here at any given time. We’ll know if you’ve performed your task or not, and you’ll find your payment hidden within the northwest corner stone of this building.” “But--” “If you do not perform your tasks, you do not get your payments. It is that simple.” The stallion’s nostrils flared. “If you wish to continue business, then show up here again next Tuesday morning. We’ll have twice as many deliveries for you.” “Pffft… Yeah, whatever, Cryptoquine.” Rainbow Dash looked back to stash the notecard back into her saddlebag. “Still, I can’t figure out why you gotta be all mysterious about--” She looked forward again. The stallion was gone. Rainbow blinked. Her ears folded. “Hrmmmph… I swear, if all along I’m hallucinating him, I’m calling bullcrap, author.” Nevertheless she twitched, then reached into her saddlebag to feel the physical notecard. With a silly breath of relief, she took off and flew back along the dark horizon from which she came. Part Six: Underworlding (Where the Quest Towards Dashing Apples Turns Weird)