Appledashery

by Just Essay

These Amber Eyes

Early early Tuesday morning, Rainbow Dash flew over the polluted riverbanks of Fillydelphia. She carefully eyed the warehouses from above. When she reached her destination—sure enough—she wasn't the first one there. The sight of a mangy griffon sent a jolt through her heart, and she instantly ducked low, hiding behind an adjacent building's brick corner. She peered around the edge, staring across the nightlit space between where she stood and where a heated argument was continuing to rage on.

"—of course I'm upset!" Romulus spat, his beak rattling. "I've had red drakes chasing me day-in and day-out! I've not dealt with this much heat since the parasprite delivery! You owe me an explanation, night-blood!"

"I owe you nothing, Romulus!" The pony retorted, a frowning muzzle appearing from beneath his hood. "If you had kept ahold of your missive like the professional you claim to be, you'll have noticed I warned you about Aatxe's brood from the get-go! A griffon like you would easily have been able to prepare!"

"And I'm telling you, I was robbed!" Romulus hollered, his hawk-like shrieks echoing against the nearby building fronts. "Someone deliberately took the job from me, and now I'm taking the blame for the failure!"

"Why won't you stop being a coward and own up to the fact that you simply lost the directions I personally gave you?!"

"Are you insinuating that—"

"Romulus, do not test me," the pony hissed. "I know when you are lying, and I especially know when you're trying to cover up for a pathetic, rookie mistake."

"Grrrrnngh..." The griffon's talons raked against the concrete. "You're barking up the wrong tree, buddy."

"And you're testing all of our patience," the stallion replied. "Face it, Romulus. You're losing your edge. You've long lost your edge, and each attempt you make to cover your mistakes only gets more and more pathetic."

"Well, what am I supposed to do?!" Romulus shrugged wildly. "So long as dragons live, I'm a huge bloody target!"

"You still have enough cunning left to stay alive. You want my advice? Fly back to the griffon lands. You'll be safer there, especially if you do the wise thing and hang up the talons."

"Hang... up...?"

"Live a normal life, Romulus," the stallion grunted. "Both you and I know that we're stupidly lucky to have existed as long as we have, especially in this business. I know when to call it quits, and so should you."

"Wait..." Romulus leaned back, flinching in disbelief. "Does... does this mean...?"

"We're laying low for a while," the stallion said. "We'll be sticking to the shadows for as long as it takes to assess this situation."

"What... what if Aatxe, the brood mother, was to be neutralized?"

"Like you have any chance of doing that anytime soon. You're already a big enough target as it is."

"But... but..."

"It's not all your fault, Romulus. This job was cutting it too close to the Royal Palace. Something was bound to go wrong. Perhaps, in truth, you are the lucky one."

Romulus frowned, his talons forming little fists as he flapped his wings. "I swear... if I find out who did this—"

"You won't," the stallion. "Neither will anypony find out anything about you."

"Even still—"

"That's how it works, Romulus. You know that." The stallion pointed a hoof out from his robe. "And if you challenge it, believe me, red drakes will be the least of your worries."

Romulus merely scowled at that. "Feh..." He flew up on moonlit wings. "Friggin' soft-feathers, the whole lot of you. Thanks for nothing, pal!"

Rainbow Dash watched as the griffon took off. With a gaping muzzle, she turned towards the warehouse with the golden streak across it.

Sighing, the robed stallion trotted towards the door leading into the structure. Before he could touch the doorknob with his hoof, a petite body touched down directly in front of him.

"Trouble at the ranch?" Rainbow's voice cracked.

Chiiiing! A forelimb-mounted scimitar immediately slid out from his sleeve, its tip stopping at the nape of her neck. "How..." The stallion's jaw clenched tight. "...did you sneak up on me?"

"I... uh..." Rainbow Dash sweated, but nevertheless kept her cool. "Faster than lightning, dude! Speaking of..." She bravely placed a hoof on the flat of his blade and tilted it aside. "...why was Creepy McJerkazoid so ruffled?"

"You're a great deal too nosy for your own good," the stallion said, sheathing his blade within the confines of his robe. "If you came here for work again, your determination is admirable, but fruitless. We have no more need for you this week than we did last week."

"Well, that's a shame," Rainbow Dash said, watching as he trotted around her and towards the door. "Because I'm working for you one way or another."

"You're naive, which can be a useful trait, which is precisely why I haven't knocked you unconscious yet," he said as he turned the doorknob. "But you seriously do not know what you are getting into. I doubt a pony of your nature would desire to become like one of us in a few years."

"Hey, I'm not in it for the ego-rush! I just need bits, and you happen to pay with lots of them!"

"Not now, we won't be. Not after this most recent setback."

"What setback?" Rainbow fidgeted, desperate to continue the conversation. "It... wouldn't have anything to do with red dragons, would it?"

"I don't know what you think you heard, but it's none of your business, and neither is our organization." He opened the door and slid inside the building. "Not for another few months, at least—"

"Hey!" Desperate, Rainbow Dash shouted, "It's my business now, Noir!"

In a single second, the pony soared back out, plowing Rainbow Dash to the ground and pressing a dagger to her chest. She barely had the chance to breathe before he was already hissing down at her. "How did you find out that name?! Tell me!"

"Grkkk!" Rainbow hissed, sputtering beneath his weight. "Okay... so I l-lied! It's not all about the bits!"

"Who sent you?! Was it Celestia?! Cadance?!""

"Who the fuzz is 'Cadance?!'"

"Speak!"

"I've got a better idea!" Rainbow Dash twirled her tail up, wrapped it around his rear leg, then yanked hard with her flank. "Hnnng!"

Caught off balance, the stallion stumbled to the side.

Rainbow Dash sprung up, backflipped, and twirled about in mid-air. Her hoof knocked the dagger out of his grip. Then, with flapping wings, she flew forward, shoving him to the ground. She applied all of her weight against his four limbs. "Hah!" She panted and sweated, grinning. "Bangarang! Some slippery shadow stranger you are now, half-pint!"

"Gnnngh!" The stallion's hood slipped free. A coat of midnight velvet glistened in the moonlight while a pair of slitted amber eyes stared up at her. "How..." Fangs showed as he spoke. "H-how did you—?!"

"Pffft. Seriously?" Rainbow smirked. "You've never heard of me? Never heard of my sonic rainbooming, dragon kicking, diamond dog bucking life? Also, there's this wicked sick god-power lightning bolt pendant thingy with my name on it and—" She did a double-take. "Whoah! Dude! You're... like... one of those bat ponies!"

"I abhor that term!" Noir snarled, his flared ears folding back like a cat. "Almost as much as I detest pegasi working under false pretenses!"

"Hey!" Rainbow frowned. "What you see is what you get, bucko! I've been perfectly upfront with you—at least until you decided to stop playing ball last week!"

"Last week...?" The stallion gasped, his slitted eyes narrowing even more. "It was you..."

"Buh?"

He stammered, "You were the one who took on the delivery in Romulus' stead!"

"Well, duh!" Rainbow stifled a chuckle. "You think for a dude with talons, he'd keep a better grip of his envelope—"

Whump! Noir shoved her off.

Rainbow backflipped, landed in a slide, and reared her forelimbs, ready for battle.

It never started. Noir limped to his forelimbs and shuddered, staring off into the muddy Fillydelphian river. "That explains why the delivery never made it to its destination..."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Rainbow sputtered, eyeing the stallion warily. "I brought the stuff to the pits of Tartarus!" She gulped. "Well, almost every part..."

He turned to glare at her. "What do you mean almost every part?"

"I... uhm..." Rainbow fidgeted. "I ran into a murderous bunch of red dragons along the way. My chariot shattered, and I had to scramble to pick up all of the pieces of the delivery. I... uh... m-might have accidentally put a granite horn into my saddlebag by mistake."

Noir took a deep, deep breath. "A horn, you say?"

"Pretty sure it's not a toenail. It wasn't that big of a granite statue."

"That explains it..." Noir's nostrils flared as he glared off into the urban night. "Without the whole, the Tartarusian spell backfired, and the pieces landed back in Canterlot."

"They what?!" Rainbow Dash did a double-take.

Noir looked at her. "The horn that was in your possession. It disappeared, right?"

"Uhhh..." Rainbow gulped. "No?"

Noir's fanged mouth hung agape. "No?!"

"Why, is that a bad thing?"

"I... I-I do not know..." Noir fiddled with the sleeves of his loosened robe. "I've never expected this. It goes against everything in the Chaotician Chronicles..."

"The Whatician What?"

"This is bigger than anything I've ever dealt with," he muttered. "We can't speak of this out here. We must..." He squirmed, glancing nervously towards the building. "...we must speak somewhere that's safer."

"You mean...?"

He opened the door wide and motioned in. "Quick. Come inside."

She merely squinted at him.

His eyes narrowed in earnest. "It's for your safety as well as mine!"

"Dude, you just pulled a bunch of blades on me. That's not exactly housewarming material."

"I am not in the business of killing," Noir hissed. "Why do you think I've taken on this shadowy occupation instead?"

"I dunno. I mean, judging from the eyes and ears, you seem kind of photosensitive."

"Very amusing," he droned. "I promise, by the Lunar Code, that I will not harm you."

"The... Lunar Code?"

"I'll explain that as well." He motioned once again as he entered the building. "So long as you have faith in me. I'm showing faith by even letting you in here."

Rainbow flung one look at the night's sky over the nearby smokestacks, then turned back towards him. "Would you let Romulus in there?"

"Blazes, no."

"Well, alright!" Rainbow smirked and trotted after him. "I don't suppose you have any cheese sandwiches?"

He stifled a groan and shut the cold black door behind them.

Comments

[Tchernobog]

Grilled cheese sandwiches?

[Autumn Rush]

Uhhh...

Well, this is definitely getting to be even more interesting. And now tomorrow we await!

[zaponator]

Ah, so they work for Luna.
...not the mob.
...
Aww.

PS
*looks up at chapter title*
I understand that reference.

[Lightning Bearer]

Huh. It never occurred to me that he might be a bat pony. But I dig bat ponies, so that's cool.

It'll be interesting to see just how privy Luna is, if at all, to all this jazz.

[Aatxe360]

4224566

Making me hungry.

[Lilith Evanson]

She's got a lot of luck on her side.

[TwilightUCrazy]

For those who don't know: "Noir" is the name of SS&E's gary-stu from his long-ass Teen Titans fic years ago.

[Future Regret]

Where's Zaid

[Metal Aura]

5141437 You are just grilling Just Essay with these questions.

[arancaytar]

4224566
I see what you zaid there.

[arancaytar]

"I... I-I do not know..." Noir fiddled with the sleeves of his loosened robe. "I've never expected this. It goes against everything in the Chaotician Chronicles..."

Oh great, so Dashie does have a mysterious Discord chaos possession thing going on now? Austrae it ain't soh...

[God Praiser]

Early early Tuesday morning, Rainbow Dash flew over the polluted riverbanks of Fillydelphia.

Could’ve sworn it said Fillyppines.