Lilac
I groaned and slumped at the counter. I knew I needed to get up, be focused and attentive. Something like that.
Sweet Celestia I wanted a nap...
I was covering a shift for Muffins, and while I was glad for the extra money It did mean that I had been sitting behind this desk for 5 and half hours after doing 6 hours of weather maintenance.
I tried to psych myself up. I had a responsibility after all. I had a duty as a mail griffon to get people's letters and packages to their doors and let neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor whatever sadistic precipitation the folks in weather orientation could dream up stop me!
It didn't work. I sighed and returned to staring at the clock, silently begging for it to move faster so I could go home to a nice cup of tea and a book.
I used to be allowed to read when I was tending the post office, on account of a lot of it was sitting at a desk waiting for people to ask for stuff once the mail was sorted. But eventually the management cracked down on that. They weren't entirely unjustified. I had to admit, sometimes my coworkers I read when there was actually something else we could be doing so...
I actually got really depressed thinking about that. I'd finished like fifty books in the past month. Was I lazy, or just too stressed out to deal with reality? Dangit I didn't want to be a parasite! My laziness ended right now! I was going to sit at this post and be vigilant.
I stood at attention and stared at the door. A customer was bound to arrive soon!
Any second...
Just keep staring!
And staring...
And staring...
I was seriously considering just leaping out the window when a prismatic blur burst into the office.
Of all people my other boss, Rainbow Blitz, was standing in front of me with a pile of fliers. He looked beat and he was glancing around the room nervously.
I raised an eyebrow. "Uh... Can I help you?"
The Stallion blinked. "Yeah, have you seen... Wait, Trent? What are you doing here?"
I looked to the side sheepishly. "I... Sort of picked up a part time job, I needed the extra money."
He tilted his head. "Huh? I mean, that's fine and all, I just though weather work paid well enough that you... You know what, it's not important right now. Have you seen Dusk?"
Actually I wasn't a bad person to ask. I'd had an early weather shift, so I'd had a bird's eye view (no pun intended) of Ponyville for a good chunk of the day. I thought back. "Um... I might have seen he- him at the train station earlier, maybe he went out of town?"
I winced That was waaay too close.
Blitz didn't even notice. He let out a breath. "Oh thank Celestia... But where did he go? Why wouldn't he tell us! He doesn't even know about the attack."
My eyes went wide. "Attack? There was an Attack? What kind? Is everyone okay?"
He held up a hoof. "It's okay, don't panic. We've got the guard on it and everyone that was hurt is getting care..."
I actually squawked with fear. "What?! Who was hurt?"
He facehoofed. "I am really bad with this 'reassure the public" stuff. Look, Elusive was attacked, he's in the hospital getting checked out. AJ's a bit banged up too, but you know him, he just rushed off back to the farm..." He shivered. "I... I don't know how that would have gone down if he wasn't there."
He shook himself. "Anyway, the guard is posting sketches." He passed me a flyer. "If you see those guys, or that damn Mare especially, get the heck out of there and call the authorities." He paused. "Although... I'll be honest, you're probably not their target."
I nodded, looking at the flier. "Okay, Sweet Boreas this is messed up..." The flier described it as a "Hate Crime" I gulped.
"Yeah," He returned. "It's... It's all pretty messed up. Anyway, that's why I was so worried about Dusk being missing. I'll talk to you later. Keep safe okay?"
That said he turned around, went for the door and... Stopped.
He turned around. "I almost forgot! Do you have any packages in for me? That's sort of why I came in the first place. Not that your detective skills aren't appreciated."
I gave him a weak smile and checked behind the desk. He, in fact, had two packages, one from a Cloudsdale address and one from... The Griffon Kingdom? Where had I seen that address before?
I didn't want to pry anyway. I passed the packages over to Blitz. He tore open the first one right in front of me, tearing into it like a starving man. It contained a very nice sweater. He pushed that aside and ripped the packaging on the other.
He pulled out a small bottle from inside.
My eyes were good... I knew what it was.
Oh shit...
Before I could say anything he was out the door.
My professionalism evaporated and I closed early.
#
Lilac
I flew to Blitz's place as fast as my wings could carry me... Which I'll admit wasn't very fast. I was a pretty good heavy lifter when it came to flight, and I was stable as heck, but I would never be a racer.
As I arrived at his (her??) cloud home I realized I had absolutely no idea what I was going to say. If he was actually a trans woman, then confiscating those bottles would be depriving her of her hormones and she'd be as likely to give them up as a bear would her cub. But if he was a he then he might just be full on smuggling the stuff and he'd try to ensure my silence... Or make me disappear.
I shivered. I had a lot of scary boy strength, and I was bigger than him, but he was seriously ripped and basically a combat veteran on top of that. If he was going to try and take me out I had no doubt he could do it.
Which begged the question, why the buck did you come alone!
Because if she's trans then she'd want to keep it quiet.
And if he's a drug smuggler he'll put us in the ground! Twilight's trans and she has wings and all that alicorn magic! Why didn't you bring her!
"Because she's not in town!" I snapped.
"Uh... Trent?" Blitz asked.
"Gah!" Rainbow was standing right behind me. I was backed into his locked front door. I was pinned!
"Um... Hu- Hi Rainbow Blitz!" I managed. "G-Great weather we've been having huh?"
He/she blinked. "Uh... Yeah... We made it. Can, I help you with someth-?"
"The pills are bad!" I blurted.
Blitz blanched. "What! I- I mean," He took a step back, "I mean, I don't know what you're talking about!" he stammered.
I grit my beak... There was nowhere to go. No turning back now. "The estradiol. It's bad. And you shouldn't buy from that guy he hurts people! He..." I gripped the cloud beneath me. "He hurt me..."
Blitz's eyes went wide. "Oh shit. I... Have I been poisoned? Am I going to die?"
Her then. I let out a breath if it was for personal use she wasn't smuggling. "No," I said, "It's just a crappy dosage... At least that's what it was last time."
There was a moment of slience.
Finally Rainbow spoke up. "So... Do you want to come inside? I really think we should talk."
That said, she walked through the cloud wall behind me.
I squeezed at the completely optionally solid surface behind me. Oh, right.
#
Rarity
"You shouldn't be here! What are you thinking?" Driver asked.
I didn't even put down my pincushion. "I was thinking I could move, and if I could move I could work." The damage wasn't that bad anyway. I was covered in bruises, and I'd twisted a couple ankles, but amazingly nothing was broken.
"That's not what I mean!" He went on. "That fucking monster..."
Bleeding, broken, crying...
I shook my head. I didn't want to fight any monster that cried...
He stood in front of me. "Rarity you need to talk about this! If you're pissed at me, I get it, I really do, but you need to talk to someone!"
I blinked, that explained the fruit basket and this little outburst. I put a hoof on his shoulder. "Driver, you arre the last pony in the world that I'm angry that about all this. You had nothing to-"
He cut me off. "I have everything to do with this! I left you alone! Late at night! Right after we had a long conversation about how dangerous it was. I'm one of those stallions that put's girls in danger, I'm a-"
I kissed him.
Finally, magically, he shut up.