Derpy and the Pegasi Express Race

by TheReaderAndWriter

Band On The Run

Derpy had never experienced such a rush! The wind was blowing in her mane, her hooves running across the sun-scorched pavement and her wings flapping like a humming-bird. Without having to constantly adjust and adapt to the winds, she could just spend all her energy on moving straight forward. Sometimes, just for the joy of it, she would leap into the air and glide the rest of the way down, covering a sizable distance.

She wasn't just in the race, she didn't just have a chance, all doubt was gone and she was having fun.

As she followed the empty road eastward, towards the borders of the city, she finally caught up to some of the racers up above, the least experienced ones, or the more casual fliers, and managed to race past them.

She waved to them, almost losing her balance, before she rushed ahead. Not only did her style of running look ridiculous, it was also even harder to run on uneven terrain than she had thought. Tiny changes in terrain that once wouldn't have been an issue were suddenly huge problems, but she was sure she'd learn as long as she could keep it up. It only took minutes for them to completely leave Vanhoover behind, and it wasn't long before the paved roads under her hooves were replaced with soft grasslands.

Fresh air was absolutely what she needed, and having the horizon of skyscrapers and homes be replaced by the mountains, forests and the ever distant Canterlot peeking out from between the mountaintops gave her this amazing, wonderful sense that the whole world had opened up to her.

But, where in the world was she actually going?

She slowed down, barely able to open her backpack and bring out Time Turner's folder. Inside was a stack of papers, and a map. Just looking at the map forced her to make a full stop. She didn't know how to read it, and she didn't have a compass. There was a lot of arrows, notes, heights, lows, all kinds of stuff she just wasn't sure about how to interpret.

Well, Vanhoover is to the east... I think. Yeah, yeah it has to be! she thought. All I need to do right now is go west, and find the train tracks somehow... She wasn't quite sure how to get to the railway from her current position, but then she got an idea. All she had to do, at least for a start, was to follow the other racers. They were bound to know where the first checkpoint was. Without wasting more time, she took off in a sprint yet again.

High, high above she could barely make out a few fliers. They were graceful, quick, dealing with the strong winds like professionals. Even if Derpy would have had her flight back, there was no way she could have been flying on their level, in any sense of the word; the winds would have been too much for somepony like her.

Of course, when she looked ahead again, she was reminded that she had her own fair share of obstacles to face. A large dead tree was lying right in her path, and it was just barely that she jumped and cleared it.

That's when she noticed the ravine right behind it.

"No no no!" she screamed, spreading her wings on instinct to glide upwards. She cramped, and fell.

Fortunately, she didn't fall very far, but far enough. With a thud, she hit the moss on the bottom. For a moment, she was just lying there, but before long she sat up, still dizzy.

"Oow," she groaned. With a gasp her mind cleared, and she immediately took out her backpack and checked inside. It was with a huge sigh of relief that she found the package: unharmed. "Losing before I even really got started? What would Dinky and Doc think?"

While one disaster had been avoided, another reared its ugly head: how in the world was she going to get out? She was practically in a pit, and the sides were far too steep, even with her wings to give her at least some lift.

"Hello? Anyone!?" yelled Derpy. "Can anyone help me, please?! Pretty please!"

In the distance, she heard a familiar sound of wings flapping. Above, she could see dozens upon dozens of racers fly past.

"Hello! I'm trapped! Can anyone of you help me?! Hello?! Where are you going?!" she asked, but she was ignored by all of them. Maybe they assumed someone else would help? Maybe they were really into the race? Maybe they just didn't care. In any case, nopony stopped... except for one.

"What are you even doing?!" asked a voice, one she had heard that same day. Just above, a griffon landed next to the edge. "Just fly out!" It had been the grouchy griffon Derpy had seen in the town hall. The lean light brown creature peered down on her, with suspicious narrow eyes.

"I would if I could, but my wings don't work properly!" said Derpy. "Could you please help me?"

She was surprised to see the griffon grin smugly. "Did you really think I would fall for such an obvious trap?"

"What? This is just a hole, and I got unlucky," she responded. "I'm Derpy, what's your name?"

"None of your business!" said the griffon.

"Won't you help me out? Why do you think it's a trap?" asked Derpy.

"2000 bits on the line, and you don't think some would cheat a little?" asked the griffon.

"Wait, I don't get it. You and I must be the very last in this race by now, right?" asked Derpy.

"Riiight?"

"And we're both low, so no high-speed high-altitude flying for us, right?"

"Right."

"So, if this is a trick, all I would have done would be to take out competition that would have been the least of my worries to begin with."

Maybe the griffon wasn't very smart, maybe the guy was applying one-hundred-and-one percent of his brain to come up with an excuse that wouldn't make him sound stupid, whatever the case, his eyes and face practically allowed one to see the gears turning.

Eventually, he just shook his head. "I'm still not coming down there."

"Please, mister griffon! If I can't finish this race, I won't get my job as mailmare back!" said Derpy, and held up her hat.

The griffon moved closer out of curiosity, and then the dirt beneath his talon gave way. He fell down, and landed right on top of her.

Once he was finished groaning, he lifted his head up. "This is a very bad start."

"I'm happy to say it's the best race I've ever been in! Except for maybe that one time!"

Derpy shot up, throwing the griffon off her as she looked around in a panic. "Where's the package?!"

The griffon suddenly looked in his backpack, it was open. "Where's mine!?"

Derpy found it, still perfectly fine, in fact, both of the packages were! Her pupils got very small very quickly. Which package was hers?

"Oh come on!" said the griffon.

Without wasting a second, Derpy picked them both up to compare. They were practically exactly the same, not even her years of experience could tell them apart. Same size, same material, same weight, same balance. "Those amazing ponies made sure it would be equally fair for all racers, that's so nice!" Had she been a harsher pony, or Time Turner, she would have followed up with 'IDIOTS!'

"Was this your plan?!" asked the griffon.

"Of course not! What kind of plan is this? If I don't deliver the right package I'll get disqualified!"

The griffon shook his head, and lifted his talon to give a gesture to stop. "Fine! I'll fly you out of here! Looks like we're stuck together until we figure this out," He grabbed hold of Derpy, holding the packages, and within a short moment they were free.

His feathers fluffed up out of frustration. "What are we going-" he stopped himself, for the first time actually noticing something about Derpy's face. He quickly shook his head, took a deep breath and started over. "What are we going to do now, you stupid pony?"

"I don't know, you meanie griffon!" said Derpy, thinking. "I guess we should continue to the next checkpoint? Maybe they'll have some idea how to fix it? Maybe they've thought ahead?"

"I don't think they can open the packages anymore than we can. It's the first year, they didn't think stuff like this would happen, or they did and thought disqualification would be apt for idiots like us! Listen, Bubbles, if you're the reason I lose the prize money-!"

Suddenly, their argument was cut short as something caught on the dead tree's branch, spinning around it to then collide and smash the branch to pieces. They turned to look, and just over the hill three ponies and two griffons, big ones, scary ones, were rapidly approaching, the griffons readying freaking bolas.

"Duck!" said Derpy and grabbed the griffon, dragging him behind the thick trunk. Several more bolas hit the wood, the heavy weights more than capable of breaking bones.

"Oh no, oh sweet feathers of my fathers, they found me! They actually found me! It was way worse than I thought!" said the griffon, terrified.

"What is going on!" asked Derpy.

"It's the Big Bills!" said the griffon.

"Who?!"

"The griffon mafia! They're like the pony mafia, but actually dangerous!" said the griffon.

"Why are they throwing bolas at us?!" asked Derpy. This was more of an adventure than she had bargained for.

The griffon gave her an awkward look and chuckled nervously. "I- I might owe them a little bit of money. I was hoping the prize would cover it and then some. Don't get caught by them, you won't like it."

First Derpy made sure to put both the packages in her backpack. A part of Derpy, not being an adventurer, simply wanted to leave. This was his mess, and she was just caught up in it.

"Hey, Bills! The mare's got nothing to do with this! Let her go, alright?!" yelled the griffon.

Good! If she left now then she could keep out of trouble, just call the royal guards and have them help him.

"No witnesses! Catch them both!" said one of the criminals.

Right.

"This is crazy!" said Derpy. "We need to run!" She grabbed hold of him. Within moments, she was running across the grass with her wings quickly flapping, bolas narrowly missing. Derpy let go of the griffon, and he immediately started to follow her, gliding on her current. Soon enough, thankfully, they were out of range.

"What was your name again?" asked the griffon.

"I'm Derpy Hooves!"

"Geld Greifen."

***

Having spent most of the remaining day running, not willing to stop, too afraid to stop, they reached the first checkpoint, the first sign of civilization other than the railroads. Tired, hungry and thirsty, they stopped next to an old but still mostly active rail yard next to a small village. They were not too far from the middle of Unicorn Range.

"Hey, you!" said Geld to an earth pony working on the railway. "Where's the checkpoint to the Pegasi Express Race?"

"Where do you think?" asked the pony and rolled his eyes- no, actually he just looked upwards.

High above, one could see some lonely but large clouds, completely still. Derpy recognized it as the handwork of weather ponies.

"Oh, right," said Geld, looking at Derpy. "I guess making a checkpoint and camp out of clouds would be a lot cheaper. Smart."

"Um, Geld, could you please help me get up there?" asked Derpy.

"Oh? Oh. Sure... for a few bits I could-"

"Nope," said Derpy. "You've been flying on my current all day. If anything, you should be giving money to me."

"Well- I- But... Fine." He got off the ground, grabbed hold around Derpy's front legs with his arms, and pulled her all the way up to the skies, where they softly landed on the thick cumulus.

A lot of the big white fluff had been shaped into something akin to a shanty town for the racers. There were tents everywhere, with beds filled with resting racers, and Derpy immediately noticed a makeshift kitchen.

Thanks goodness, because no matter how much stamina she saved by her wing-running, anyone would need a break after running as much as she had. She was dripping with sweat, and she really hoped they had a basic shower set up, she would even take a rain cloud. Geld wasn't in great shape either.

"Hey, um... Bubbles," said Geld. They hadn't talked much to each other during the entire run, a few short words at best, usually to talk about directions, but ultimately too nervous for chitchat. Perhaps, it was time for an actual conversation, and most importantly to call out for...

"Hey, guards!" said Derpy, but Geld grabbed hold of her wings, causing them both to fall flat on the cloud.

"Wait, Bubbles! We need to have a talk first, please!" said Geld.

"But I can see guards right there! They can help us!"

"Listen, please listen to me before we do anything else! Let's get some food and talk first, alright? Please, should be safe with the guards around."

Derpy looked to the guards, and then Geld, then back to the guards, then back to Geld... it continued like that for a while. Eventually, she decided to give him a chance.

"Alright, let's get some food, then we'll talk. I'm starving!" said Derpy.

The kitchen still had a young chef working, and it was late enough for most ponies to have already eaten and gone to rest, so he wasn't busy; it didn't take long for them to get something to eat.

Derpy was happy to receive some steamed vegetables, along with some wheat and oats. Geld had the same thing, but with much less enthusiasm.

"Ugh, I know you're vegetarian, but can't you ponies at least make fake-meat?" he said as they sat down at the table. A hot meal felt quite nice with the nice cool evening air. It was just past dusk, and the very first stars could be seen if one peered closely.

Geld produced a spoon from his bag and started to eat. "So, Bubbles, I-"

"Geld, please don't call me Bubbles. I like 'Derpy', and I don't need my name to be even longer."

"Alright. Derpy, I think I owe you an explanation. Well, actually, I did explain. I loaned a little bit of money, and the Big Bills apparently wasn't going to wait for me to pay. I knew they weren't nice, but I never knew they would be this extreme."

"I just want to know why you don't call the guards. I would."

"Normally, I would too, but Derpy, if we call the guards, if we bring attention to the fact we've got a criminal organization after us, imagine how that will affect our position in the race." He leaned closer across the table to her. "We need to both reach Manehattan if we want to ensure a win, and The Big Bills are kind of a big thing in the griffon kingdom, if the guards here suspect us of anything, they will disqualify us, they have that power. It's in the rule book that the contestants can't be associated with criminals, but I'm not an associate, I'm just a victim!"

"Well, I guess being disqualified could be problem?" Derpy looked at him, curious. "But why do you still want to race instead of calling the guards?"

"Think of the prize money! We covered a lot of distance today. As you said, I've been sailing on your wind almost the whole time, flying low like this can work! Do you realize that we can actually win?"

Derpy looked at him, waiting... and then she cocked her head slightly when he stayed silent. "Is that it? That's what you wanted to talk about?" She immediately stood up. "We are dead last in the race! For all I know that might be literal soon! Winning should be the last thing on your mind! Geld, I don't care about the prize money! I just want to finish the race so I can get my job back! Is it really worth dealing with the griffon mafia?"

She immediately got up. "Now, I'm going to call the guards. My former boss is fair, and she'll understand. I am sure I can convince her to let me try the run on my own once the race is over..." but... was that really true? She hadn't suggested Derpy to fully heal, in fact, she was probably counting on Derpy failing, just to make sure the Ponyville post office would stay open. Could she finish the race anyway? It would prove that she was a capable delivery mare, that not wind, rain, snow, ice, nor organized crime would be able to stop her delivery.

She might have stopped on her own from trotting over to the nearest guard, but Geld stopped her even before that.

"Derpy, wait!" said Geld. He had lunged over the table just to put his talon on her shoulder. "T-there is more. I didn't want to say it, because it's a family matter, and we griffons don't like to share stuff like that."

"What?" asked Derpy, turning around. The way Geld spoke, the obvious tone of shame and reluctance in his voice made her concerned. If there was one thing she knew, aside from post, it was family.

Geld looked at her, relieved his words had reached her. "Back in my home, I have a little brother, and he's very sick. I needed money for his treatment. The Big Bills didn't loan me enough, but with some of the money I could get here. This race is his chance, his last chance, for a better life."

"Oh my goodness, Geld, I didn't know."

"As I said, we griffons don't like to share. It makes us... it makes us feel weak," he said, and looking away. He tried to stifle a chuckle. "Funny thing is, that if he had lived here in Equestria the healthcare would have been free. You don't know how good you have it."

Derpy sat back down. If she had been in a similar situation, if their roles had been reversed, she might never have stopped running until the finish line.

"I... I'm sorry I got you into this, and if you want to get out of it, you can still just talk to a guard. I can't actually stop you. Just- I'm begging you. If I do this race on my own and finish it, only to realize I have your package, I will fail. But if we do it together, and just happen to hand them over at the same time in Manehattan, we can still win. I need your help. I can't risk my brother's health on a 50/50 chance," He looked down at the table. "I'm also sorry that I'm asking this of you."

"No, I'll help you. We'll race together," said Derpy.

"You will? We will?"

"Yes. I still need my job back, and you need to help your brother. Even without this mess up with the boxes, we'd still be able to help each other," said Derpy.

"Great!" said Geld.

"Hang on, Geld. If you're to glide on my wind current, you save a lot of stamina and can keep a decent speed without as much work, so you're going to have to help me in some way. I'm pretty sure that without directions, I would still have been trying to find my way here... and I would need help just to get up to Cloudsdale. If every checkpoint is in the air, and I'm guessing most will be, someone's going to have to carry me up there."

"Yes- yes! Of course, I'll be your- your co-flier, so to speak. Derpy, thank you."

"Also, since you're going to be higher than me, you'll make sure the terrain ahead is clear, to keep a lookout, to read the map, and to fly me over anything that gets in the way."

"Yes, absolutely, I can do that."

"Okay! It's a deal! Let's save your brother!" said Derpy.

"And get your job back!" said Geld.

"Yeah!"

"Let's finish our meal, make sure we're registered at the checkpoint, and then let's continue the race immediately!"

"Yeah- wait, what?"

"Derpy, if we're going to have a chance to win this race, we're going to need to race like the professionals do it, by getting those extra few miles and camp out in the wilds. Not to mention that the Big Bills are probably going to visit most checkpoints by train, which means none of them are safe for us to stay in for very long. Even the guards have to sleep sometime. No criminals will be able to find us out in the wilderness."

Derpy looked at him with great doubt. "Geld, I know they want to catch you, and probably me at this point, but do you really think they would go to such lengths?"

"They went to enough lengths to seek me out on the other side of Equestria, didn't they? I'd rather not take any chances."

"Well, okay, but I'm not comfortable with letting criminals walk around Equestria just like that. We should at least write a note to the guards. If the guards are looking for the Big Bills, it could make things easier for us."

"That's a good point."

"Excuse me, have you seen two racers?" asked a pegasi to the cook nearby. It was mostly empty in the tent, so overhearing it wasn't too hard. The pegasi in question didn't look too welcoming: large, dark gray, strong, with a notable piece of his ear missing, and he was accompanied by two even larger griffons. Both seemed to be more lion than bird, big muscles, small beaks. They didn't seem worried about any guards, as the immediate area was completely free of them.

"I may have," said the chef. They noticed a little bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"No, I mean, have you seen a gray pony, yellow mane, with a lazy eye? Travels with a light brown griffin, with a thick beak?"

By the time the chef pointed towards their table, they were already gone.

***

"I didn't think they would be that fast!" said Geld as they ran around, looking for the checkpoint. "I thought we would at least have a few hours!"

"There it is!" said Derpy, pointing towards the side, seeing a tent with a single pegasus stallion attending a desk.

They both ran up to the desk, wheezing after a long day.

"Welcome! May I see your bags?" asked the pegasus. With no fuzz they both quickly handed them over. It only took looking at some papers, looking at a tag sewn onto the bag and seeing the packages inside, and writing down their signatures and times, and they were set.

"Excuse me, sir, I was just wondering. Is there way to identify which package belongs to which racer?" asked Derpy.

"Sure, once they are delivered to Manehattan, we can confirm it."

"Yes, but, if it were necessary, could one identify them sooner?" asked Geld, trying and failing to make the question seem casual.

"No, that's impossible without being disqualified. Has something happened?" asked the pony.

"No, no, no, no," they both insisted. Geld grabbed his bag from the desk. "We were just talking, and started to wonder what we should do if we find another racer's box."

"If you find a lost package, do please bring them with you to the nearest checkpoint. These are actual deliveries after all."

Derpy did a salute. "Yes, sir!"

Geld shook his head. "Alright, seems fair," he said, keeping a cool expression. Derpy could swear she could read curse words in his eyes.

They quickly left the checkpoint, in fact they left the entire cloud, both gliding down side by side, heading for the small town. Derpy made absolutely sure her wings were stiff as boards, as just the slightest maneuver could cause another cramp.

"I guess the plan is still in effect," said Geld as they landed. "Handing them over together in Manehattan and hoping nopony notices any irregularities. It's a bit of a gamble, but it's the only shot we've got."

"Alright," said Derpy. "I think that now we should... hurry into town, get a little bit of camping equipment, get our water flasks all filled up, and of course write our note and post it somewhere a guard will see it. Then, we just keep running until we get tired. Which way to Cloudsdale? That's the next stop, isn't it?"

"Did you say you have a map?" asked Geld. Once Derpy handed it over, he took a look. "Oh, alright, um... according to this, we should head mostly southeast, but not too far towards the mountains, and then we'll have smooth plains to run on the rest of the way. Who made this map? It's amazing. They even pointed out great spots to rest at."

"A very good friend," said Derpy, before they ran off, disappearing into the night.

Author's Note:

This might be the last update before the holidays, going away soon and it's hard to write a decent story on a phone. I hope you're enjoying the story so far.

Oh hey, look, an original character. Don't worry, canon characters should make an appearance quite soon.

Comments

[Ri2]

For some reason, I'm skeptical he actually has a brother.

[DavisSentoV5]

Oh great, just what Derpy needs... A mafia after her cuz of a stupid idiot... *Note my sarcasm*

[chaoticevl]

Why doesnt this have any likes. Its good so far can't wait for more.

[Gyro Pony]

Deserves more likes.

I like your world-building.