Flash Sentry was the first messenger in the garage that day, the Friday before, and every day since he first landed the job. It was a simple strategy: Get there early, fill his quota, and go home while his colleagues were trying to beat the clock to make their minimum quotas.
"Sentry! your workstation is a fucking mess!" His boss yelled. Flash apologized and gave it a quick clean-up. Even before the clean up, his little work table was cleaner than the rest of the company. Before Flash had the opportunity to have the pick of any of the deliveries, his boss came storming back in the garage
"I got an assignment for you, Flash! Take this package to 55th & 3rd and there will be a bonus for you. It needs to be in the client's hands in thirty minutes."
Only thirty minutes? Oh, this will be too easy!
"You got it, chief!" Flash said as he took the small package and work order slip from his hands. He was out in the streets in less than a minute, the package on the satchel strapped to his back.
The many streets of the city were a deadly place for bikers if they weren't careful at all times, so Flash was always looking out for motorist. They had a job to get to and money to make, so the life of a fellow human being was less as important as their paycheck, and it showed.
In the cell phone pouch in the strap, he felt the vibration of his phone, and the beeping from the bluetooth wedged in his ear. Even when facing possibly his biggest delivery in his career, he would still risk life and limb to hear her voice.
"Morning, Sweetie."
"Good Morning! How is work?" Rarity asked. At that moment she was in her "studio", which was basically a workroom within her luxury apartment that overlooked the bay.
"Well, I haven't been run over yet, so I guess good?"
"Seriously, Darling, You should work at something more… safer."
"But that's no fun. Besides, I feel like I am only a few months away from a manager position."
She sighed. "I guess…"
"So, want to hang out tonight?"
"I'm sorry Flash: I am heading back home for Sweetie Belle's eighteenth, so I won't be back in the city until tomorrow."
"Its fine. Hey, I have to go, I have to keep my eyes out."
"Ok, Mr. Dedication. Love you."
"Love you too."
Flash was distracted long enough not to spot the woman getting out of the taxi, her door creating an impassable wall for him. He only had a second to react.
"Oh shi-!"
He immediately swerved out of the way, and ended up into traffic,caught in the middle of the many taxis and town cars on the busy street, where any error would have himself and his bike trapped between two cars. A last second squeeze between two taxis had him back between the parked cars and the moving ones, the "safe zone".
* * *
With the headphones blasting at full volume, Sunset Shimmer walked from her apartment building and on the busy sidewalk on her way to the subway station with one eye on her phone, and another on her surroundings. Even in daylight, you still had to be careful for creepers, along with the general dangers of walking the city streets, most often it was the cars that were the ones that would seriously fuck up your day.
As she filed into the packed tunnel with the rest of the morning rush, Sunset clicked on one app, in particular, one that she renamed: in case her roommates happen to find her phone. Normally, Sunset would not have trouble finding a date back in high school… Then again, most of the guys there would date/fuck anything with an ass, no matter what gender it was. The city dating scene was complicated, to say the least, mostly because it was an eternal struggle between people just wanting sex and people wanting relationships. But, luck would have it Sunset was in a conversation with this one guy on the online dating site called OKDating. He was about two years older (better than the men aged 50+ trying to get into her pants), a decent job, and seemed like he had a good head on his shoulder.
He was a dispatcher for some government agency, so it seemed like he was replying all the time, especially this early in the morning. The conversation at that point was about wine, which eased Sunset's mind while trying to cram herself into a subway car.
All of a sudden, she felt movement on her rump in the packed subway. At first: it was rough, like the back of the hand. After a few passes with it, it became smoother, like the palm of a hand. Pretty soon, it was constant: someone was feeling her up. Sunset was quiet, not drawing attention to herself or the perpetrator, but she did slip her hand down one of the open compartments of her purse. Her stun gun had a safety cap, which she took off and waited for the opportunity to strike. The man became bolder, and tried to reach under the skirt.
His boldness was rewarded with a electric bolt going up his arm. He screamed in pain and collapsed on the floor, cursing her. By the time a subway cop arrived to take him away, Sunset was back to talking to her new possible date.
* * *
"Which is why if anyone says that the hadron collider we are running tonight will cause a strangelet and turn all of Earth into a lump of goo, I will personally print your college thesis and and take a shit all over it!"
This again?
"Thank you for your opinion, and if there's no one else, can we call this a meeting?"
When it came to the weekly DARPA meetings, everyone seemed to be a character, and not in a good way. Then again, that is what you expected when you are lumped with a pool of researchers that chose their research over actual socialization, you tend to realize how normal you really are.
Still, the money was worth it, especially when you can afford the apartment and the entire basement to have as your personal, high security, laboratory, but chose to have roommates to have MORE money available and the companionship of actual people.
Her laboratory was state of the art, expensive, and was secured by a high-tech security system and 1 inch of steel reinforced concrete in a large apartment building in the heart of the largest city in the nation. Her experiments were delicate, but they were essential for the betterment of mankind, which was why she was in this in the agency the first place.
Still, she made friends and at one time a lover, so it made it all worth it.
"One last thing," one of the senior researchers said in the video conference.
"Yes?"
"I know it has been talked to death, but we need to discuss the real possibility of a deep sea monster attack on Manehatten, especially with the unprecedentedly powerful underwater current that is flowing next to the city this week."
Everyone in the meeting groaned audibly, some began to whistle the theme to the "x-files". For the last six months, the same researcher was bringing up the same question in the bi-monthly meetings. Even if everyone thought it was inconceivable, he still had a voice since he was a senior researcher.
The head of the meeting: A buzzcut, stern looking senior member of Equestria's defense force replied.
"Twilight Sparkle, what is your opinion?"
"Sir? I'm just a physis-"
"I remember that you and Blossoming Jewel were closer to Doctor Mshauri than anyone in this call. Did he mention evidence for this claim and was it why he developed the Machinka project?"
Twilight looked at Blossoming Jewel, the only other young woman in the chat, and shrugged her shoulders.
"Personally, I think the good doctor developed it based on a superstitious nonsense from a prophecy that came from his Somali roots. At worse, the current will send dead deep sea animals ashore."
"I see. Well, that's it for this meeting. Same time in two weeks." The soldier had replied before his screen went black. Everyone left the call almost instantaneously, except for Blossom. Twilight Sparkle had only two friends in the program throughout her carrer : Blossom Jewel and the doctor. The doctor was pure genius, no matter what problem was ahead of him, he would be able to solve it with unorthodox solutions. He had that mentality, all the way up to his untimely death, when he abandoned all of his projects to assist the united kingdoms of the world in their mission to help his native Somali nation and their civil war. He was trying to research ways to make plenty the reason for the war: water. Killed by the his people, the people he was attempting to save.
As for that fling with the project's government liaison, it was only a one night fling.
"You think the doctor might be right?" The soft, mouse-voiced Blossoming Jewel asked.
"C'mon, we both agreed it was a bit batshit."
"Yea, but what If we go to the hangar and run a tune up for Machinka? Better safe than sorry."
"Blossom…"
"We haven't seen each other in a few months, and it will be just like old times!" she rebutted with her puppy eyes.
"Sigh, fineeee."
"Great! And bring Spike! I have to run, 9am?"
"Sure, night Blossom."
* * *
It took little to startle Twilight, which came as no surprise she jumped when Flash Sentry almost busted down the door waving a hundred dollar bill in his hand just as she was about to head downstairs to buy things for that night's dinner
"Make us something good!"
It was a hour after than when Sunset came home, exhausted from the mental demands her job required. She walked past her and Flash cooking in the kitchen and collapsed on the couch, watching the television without a care of what was on.
"Sunset, honey, how was your day?" Twilight asked.
"Job sucked. Got felt up by a fuck boy in the sub this morning so I had to give him the stun gun."
Flash laughed. "Nice!"
"Good Job, but can you help us cut the mushrooms?"
Sunset got up and walked to the kitchen, and looked at the outrageous amount of work they had put in… And the bottle of wine as well.
"Whats the occasion?"
"I quit my job today. The company I delivered to apparently has heard of my reputation of being good at my job, so they wanted me to head their 'green shipping' department. I start in a few days."
Sunset grabbed Flash into a huge hug
"Good job, man! just remember you cannot leave us."
"Yea Flash! we want the less rent."
"Thanks, girls, I see how it is."
They had their meal but not before using the wine to toast on Flash's new venture. Even with three alcohol drinkers, the wine refused to go empty, but eventually was when they decided to spend the rest of the night sharing it while doing a movie marathon.
"Unlike you losers, I have real work tomorrow. Night!" Sunset said as she got off the couch and was hit by a playful slap on the rear by Twilight on her way out.
Sunset charged her cell phone on her desk, killed the lights, and went to sleep, knowing she would have to repeat the process all over again in eight hours.