Appledashery

by Just Essay

Ruffled

When the next Tuesday finally rolled around, Rainbow Dash was in a pleasant mood. So much so, that she was humming during her flight—even in the turbulent moments when she pushed against the wind. Waves of smog pelted her figure, but she held her breath at all the right instances, and soon she was clearing her way through the dark clouds and descending in the warehouses of Fillydelphia.

Moonlight found a patch of clean riverwater to reflect off of, illuminating the shorefront buildings. At last, Rainbow once again found the brown building with the yellow streak. She knew that she was arriving on time, so it was with little surprise that she already saw her shadowy figure'd friend. What did surprise her, however, was the presence of another figure, this one considerably larger than her business contact.

"What... the... McFuzz...?" Rainbow's voice cracked out of a crooked grimace. She couldn't help herself; the pegasus accelerated, landing on the ground with a clap of all four hooves. "Whoahhh! Hey there! Since when did this become a party of three?"

Schhiiiing! A fan of knives suddenly appeared, contacting Rainbow's gulping throat. The larger figure glared at her through a bright yellow eye.

"No!" Her previous contact reached in, lowering the second figure's arm with a fuzzy fetlock. "Don't gut her. She's new, and potentially profitable."

"Yeah... a-and awesome!" Rainbow squeaked, trying her best not to sweat in the moonlight. Failing. A heavy gulp: "Don't forget that!"

"Hrmmmnngh..." As the blades lowered from view, Rainbow saw talons, feathers, and an almond colored beak—scarred in several places. "Friggin' soft-hooves. I smell Cloudsdale's garbage on your breath."

"Yeah, well, those methane cumulonimbus mists never leave ya for a second." Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes over a frown. "You a griffon or a really, really moth-eaten pegasus?"

"I'm the one whose beak they'll be printing in the papers for your murder if you don't shut your muzzle trap!" the stranger grunted.

"Don't make this more complicated than it is," the pony in the cloak grunted, commanding the griffon's attention. "Stamps sent her. She may be chatty and stupid, but she delivers on time."

"Hey!" Rainbow barked.

The griffon ignored her, glaring at the other figure. "And I don't?!"

"I'm only picking you for this one because you have experience," the pony said, only his muzzle showing in the moonlight from beneath his hood. "But if you screw it up again by dicing innocent clients along the way—"

"Innocent clients?!" The griffon snarled. "They attacked me! Four to one!"

"Only because you insulted their friend's mustache. How many times have I warned you how temperamental sea serpents can be?"

"Heh... it was still worth it for the teeth I know hang over the mantlepiece."

"This is no joke, Romulus." The pony pointed his hoof into the griffon's feathery chest. "Deliver parcel, not organs, or our partnership is off."

Romulus' beak snapped in anger. "How dare you use my name in front of another—"

"You've broken code ten times more than any of us did," the pony retorted. "You'd better fly right on this mission, or we'll expose you. You know that we can."

"Mrmmmf..." Romulus spat on the ground. "Read ya loud and clear. Swear to my mother's gizzard—the day I get threatened by a soft-hoof is the day I know I've absolutely lost it..."

"Sooooooooooooooo...!" Rainbow clapped her forelimbs together with a bright grin. "Nice as always to meet a new friend! Whelp..." She extended her hooves towards the cloaked equine. "I'll be taking my delivery assignments now!"

"There's only one delivery assignment this week," the stallion droned. "And it's going to Romulus."

"Huzza-What?!" Rainbow's muzzle gaped. "Are you saddling me?! I thought we had a deal!"

"What you had last week was an opportunity. Regardless of how you performed, it's up to us to make or break deals. Romulus has experience that you don't, and this job requires him and him alone."

"What's he got that I don't got?!" Rainbow stammered through a frown.

"I can think of two things, lady," Romulus uttered through a smirk.

Rainbow growled fearlessly into his beak. "And I know of a million ways to make you pass them my way, buddy!"

"There is no need to fight," the stallion said. "Romulus gets the job and that's that."

"But... but what about me?" Rainbow asked. "I'm here! I'm fast! I'm awesome!"

"We don't need you this week."

"But what about next week?"

"We shall see..."

"'We shall see?!'" Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof. "Dude! Don't starve me like this! I need the money! You have no idea how much my future depends on it!"

"That is not my problem." The stallion handed a white envelope to the griffon before shuffling back into the shadows beyond the warehouse door. "Come back next week, or don't come back at all. That is your choice."

"Well, it's a pretty sucky choice!" Rainbow found herself grunting into a slammed door. "Sonuvabiscuiteater!" She kicked at the ground.

"Take my advice, soft-hooves..." Romulus leaned into her, tapping her muzzle with the edge of the envelope. "Get lost before I make you impossible to find." He tucked the envelope away, turned around, and thwapped her muzzle with the tip of his lion's tail. "You wouldn't last long in this sort of an enterprise anyways. So go back to your tea parties and dress-up sessions."

"You know, it's bird-brains like you who give griffons a bad name!" Rainbow shouted. She suddenly blinked, rubbing her muzzle in adorable thought. "Then again, every griffon I've met has given griffons a bad name..." She snarled once more to the polluted night's sky. "So who became king and decided to stuff, roast, and eat all the good griffons, huh?!"

"Go drown yourself in oats, ya colon-twisted freak!" With that, the griffon flew in a sharp twist, heading south.

Rainbow Dash sighed, plopping down on her haunches. "Dang it. I shoulda brought Twilight along. She woulda turned him into... an apricot, or something. I dunno." With forlorn eyes, she gazed back up at the sky.

The griffon hit a patch of low altitude turbulence. Instead of waiting the gust of wind out, he decided to twist and drill his body against the air. As a result, his body spun... and something conspiculously bright, flimsy, and envelope-shape fell out of his cloak.

Rainbow's eyes twitched.

The envelope fluttered, fell, fluttered... and drifted towards the far end of the airship yard. Romulus flew on, completely ignorant.

Rainbow blinked. Slowly, an icy smile formed across her face. She stood up, flapped her wings, and lifted off the ground. "Now I know I've lived a long life." She fought the urge to chuckle as she soared towards where the fallen message was. "For one, I'm happy to pick up bird droppings..."

Comments

[Autumn Rush]

Oh dear, Rainbow.

What are you about to get yourself into this time?

[Lightning Bearer]

This will either be a very good thing, or a very bad thing. Or, more likely, one followed by the other.

Regardless, fortuitous wind is fortuitous.

[zaponator]

H'oh shit, things are getting serious. I thought these dudes were some sorta fetish shop after Shiney's, ahem, delivery.
But no! Now they've got death threats and whatcrap!
Maybe I was right with my first instinct. Maybe it's the mob.

[Full-time_Introvert]

Why oh why is dashie so stupid.

[MellowMabari]

Well, crap. But also - yay! I'm conflicted.

Onward!

[Gammahoof]

She ded

[Metal Aura]

Things are never easy for RD. Every book written by this author shares that same theme.

[arancaytar]

This is fine.

I'm okay with the events that are unfolding currently.