Derpy and the Pegasi Express Race

by TheReaderAndWriter

Canterlot Conflict

It had merely been a day's journey, a quick and uneventful trip all the way to the capital of Equestria. They had reached Canterlot, but it would only be a short visit. Derpy didn't land gracefully upon the paved streets, but she quickly shook that off while Rainbow Dash and Geld touched down next to her.

"I honestly can't believe you got this far by looking so silly, Derpy," said Rainbow Dash. "But I've got to say it seems to be working, I don't think we're in the lead, but we've got to be at least in the top 20."

Geld looked around as they walked, trying to not bump into anypony on the busy streets. "I've only been in Canterlot once, and that wasn't long and didn't end well. Where are we going?"

"The checkpoint should be right in front of the gates to the castle," said Rainbow Dash. "So, what happened?"

"What?" asked Geld.

"You said it didn't end well. What happened, exactly?" asked Rainbow.

"I- Well-"

"I think Geld told me some griffons had a bit of a grudge against him, some... bar-brawl?" said Derpy, hoping she sounded convincing. Making up excuses in case Rainbow Dash got in any trouble had been on her mind the entire trip from Cloudsdale.

"Y- yeah! Nasty guys, might still be around. Keep an eye out in case anyone gives me the stink-eye, alright? And if there's trouble, you should just continue with the race. I'll deal with my own messes."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Sure, I guess." Suddenly something grabbed all of her attention, something right up ahead.

Derpy instantly saw the standard tent used for the checkpoints while Geld immediately started to scan the surroundings for any shady characters. Rainbow Dash, however, just noticed the hot air balloon that was sitting by the path up to the tent, along with the not insignificant crowd.

"And what's this? It seems yet another few racers are coming up to the gates!" said a unicorn in the balloon. It was Play-By-Play. "Can you believe these racers, folks? I took all transportation available to get here, and they've all still kept up with me." Derpy hadn't actually seen him before, but once they got closer to the castle gates, and the tent, they got a good look.

While Derpy had known him to be extravagant and lively in his broadcasts, she had still expected a dry, dull and professional sportscaster. Play-By-Play was anything but. His fur was bright pink, and his mane was blue, with glitter in it. On top of it all he was wearing huge stylized star-shaped glasses.

While Derpy and Geld both intentionally veered, trying to avoid the inquisitive looks of the crowd and further attention, Rainbow Dash didn't pay the two any mind and went straight for Play-By-Play.

Play-By-Play reached over the side of the basket with a microphone in hoof. "And one of the contestants is walking up to me right now, folks! It's none other than the famous member of the Wonderbolts: Rainbow Dash! Tell me, Rainbow Dash, how is the race going?" he asked and reached the microphone down to her.

"Well, Play-By-Play, it's going amazing. We've got a good thing going, I've got a good rhythm. To nopony's surprise, I'm awesome! Since Cloudsdale I've even been flying low."

"Low, you say? Isn't that supposed to be inefficient for the race?"

"Most of the time, but my friend over there has been running like the wind! I've saved some energy by flying on her current," said Rainbow Dash, gesturing over to Derpy and Geld. Everyone turned, looking at the two standing just beyond the crowd.

"Oh no," said Geld. "Let's not bring attention to ourselves."

"Don't be shy, you two! Come over here, how about a quick interview?" asked Play-By-Play.

"We- we could- we would, but we've got a race to finish," said Geld awkwardly, pointing over to the tent.

"These racers are true professionals, folks. They've got racing in their blood, and wind in their steps! They won't be interviewed. And would you believe it, folks. It's the fan favorite gray pegasus, the nicknamed Running Start."

Derpy froze. "Uh oh."

"Ponies may have laughed, but whatever she's been doing it sure seems to be working! Tell me, Rainbow Dash, what is her name, and has she been running the entire way? She's got some fans that are dying to find out!"

While Rainbow Dash gladly answered any question asked of her, Geld and Derpy hurried over to the tent.

"That was a live broadcast," said Derpy. "This isn't good, is it? They might figure out exactly who I am."

"Don't worry, it's fine," said Geld as they got checked in at the checkpoint. "The Big Bills don't know for sure that it's you. They've got your description, okay, but they can't know with just your name. Also, as long as they don't realize that you're still actually traveling with me, you've got nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?" said Derpy as they quickly hurried away from the tent and out of sight.

"Positive."

"There they are! Get them!" yelled someone from behind.

Both of them glanced backwards, seeing a large griffon pointing his claw towards them, with five other nasty-looking brutes by his side.

"Run. Get guards," said Geld.

"But you said-" said Derpy.

"I know what I said; it's not worth it anymore!" said Geld and bolted into an alleyway. Derpy immediately took off, galloping down the street. With streets filled with ponies, obstacles and just tight turns, she couldn't use her wings for any extra speed.

"Don't let them get away!"

Guards guards guards guards guards, Derpy thought, desperately looking around, but all she found was civilians, all of which were either fleeing from the chaos or taking cover.

Derpy noticed a shadow hanging over her, getting larger. At the very last second she jumped out of the way, as a griffon landed where she had just been. Barely escaping his reach, she ran into a narrow alley, too narrow for whichever of them might have taken to the sky. Just moments later she exited out to another street, one filled to the brim with ponies who were blissfully unaware of her problems.

There! Just slightly to the right across the street, two guards were idly standing by their post.

Derpy pushed through the crowds, almost getting hit by a large cart, before she reached them. "Guards!"

"What's the matter, miss? Is there a problem?" asked the guard on the right.

"You bet there is a problem," said a gruff dark voice behind Derpy, who felt a subtle gripping of talons around her bag. "But don't worry, we're going to sort it out." She turned around only to see the biggest griffon she'd ever seen. His feathers and fur were bright and warm, but his eyes could have frozen Princess Celestia.

"Wow," said the guard on the left. "I'm sorry, Sir, but you could not have sounded more ominous if you tried."

"Help! They are going to hurt me!" shouted Derpy. She felt fear, but fortunately didn't panic. He was alone, his gang were nowhere to be seen, and she was very much in public, the guards were taking it seriously. There was hope.

The griffon leaned in, very close, to the guards, looking them straight in the eyes. "By the way, do you know what my name is?"

"Um, no?"

"Oh no, how shall I ever escape the consequences of my actions," he said, dryly. Then he grabbed the two ponies by their helmets and smashed them together hard enough to make a dent in the metal. They fell down on the spot, knocked out. Then the griffon effortlessly picked a struggling Derpy up with his front claws, threw her across his shoulder, and quite easily walked on his hind-legs back towards the alley, through panicking ponies.

"Let go of me!" said Derpy.

"You would be surprised how many ponies tell me that. You would not be surprised by the amount of times I've said no." The griffon then went into a sprint back through the alley. Derpy could see the rest of his gang waiting on the other side, and from what she could tell nopony was coming to her rescue.

Okay, okay, how do I get out of this? she thought to herself, almost panicking. Can't fly. Can't run. So what do I do? Suddenly, images of a tree or two popped up in her mind, and in a moment of desperation she grabbed hold of the griffon as tightly as she could, and then flapped her wings with outmost effort.

Her maneuver worked better than she could have hoped for. The griffon got a burst of speed, inadvertently tackling his companions and shooting straight into a thick stone garden wall. Derpy fell down on the ground, quickly getting up on her hooves before running away.

"Sorry!" she shouted back to the griffons, before running off to find a guard.

***

While this was definitely a worst case scenario for Geld, he had to admit he'd been lucky. Not a single griffon had managed to keep up with him. Sure, he wasn't a particularly good athlete, but he knew how to get out of trouble, at least almost as well as getting into it.

For the moment, he quietly sneaked his way through Canterlot, keeping his eyes on the sky. While he had spotted a few griffons, no doubt Big Bills, he had yet to see any guards.

Suddenly, someone tugged on his wing. He jumped with a bird cry, not unlike that of a panicked chicken. Turning around in fear, he calmed down when he noticed it was just Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, Geld, where's Derpy? Is she in trouble?"

"I want to find her and get out of here. Have you called any guards?" asked Geld.

"Well, yeah. Obviously. I'm not going to have a bunch of violent dudes running around in Canterlot."

"Good," said Geld, looking around for any trouble. "Listen, I just want to get out of here with her. Do you know a good place to take off?"

"Well, there is the airship harbor... place, to the southeast."

"Well, if you see her first, tell her to meet me there."

"Wait, I'm coming with!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash, maybe it would be better if you just stayed out of this. You could get into trouble otherwise."

She gave him a suspicious look. "This isn't about a bar-brawl, is it? Who are these griffons, really?"

Geld didn't want to answer, and to other ponies he probably wouldn't have, but Rainbow Dash gave him such a piercing, unrelenting glare. "It's the Big Bills, alright!?"

Calling Rainbow Dash surprised would have been an understatement. "Th- the Big Bills? You two have gotten yourself involved with the griffon mob!?"

Geld hushed her. "Please, not so loud!"

"How is Derpy even- Did you-" She then just stopped, her face turned stoic and with a deep breath started over. "You're an idiot. Get Derpy out of this mess right this instant."

"It's a bit more complex than that?" he said, shrugging awkwardly.

Rainbow Dash immediately zoomed right up to his big beak. "If Derpy gets hurt because you decided to make her a target, there is nothing in the world that will hide you from me." She then walked away from him. "I'm finding Derpy, but Geld, fix this." Then, taking flight, she left him there on the street.

Suddenly, something large bumped into him, pushing him up against a nearby wall. An entire forearm pinned his neck to the cold hard stone behind him.

"Hello, Geld," said a large dark griffon.

"H- hey, Brick! How's it going?" he asked.

Brick ignored him pushed hard into him. "You're going to tell us what we want to know." At the word 'us', Geld realized he wasn't alone. At least a dozen members surrounded them, griffons, stallions and mares. All clearly very annoyed with him, all getting very close.

"I'll pay you back, I swear! I'm a little light on change right now, but come on! If I get any of the prize money I'll easily pay-"

With little patience Brick almost started to choke him. "We don't care about your money, Geld! Tell us where to look!"

"L-l-l-look for what?"

"Geld!" yelled Derpy.

Geld, the Big Bills, everyone turned to look. Far away, at the very end of the street, one could see Derpy standing, looking concerned.

Without a care in the world, Brick let go of Geld and without delay he then pointed towards Derpy. "That's the target! Get her!" And just like that the Big Bills might as well have forgotten Geld existed.

"What?!" said Geld.

"This is not a good day!" said Derpy as she turned tail and ran. While she could endure long runs after all her years in the postal service, she wasn't graceful enough to quickly dash through the confused or oblivious crowds. Suddenly, her hooves lost contact with the street. For a moment, she thought one of the Big Bills had caught her and was hauling her off to a terrible dungeon, but one look upwards made her smile. It was Rainbow Dash.

"Got ya, Derpy!" said Rainbow Dash, with the wind in her mane and a confident smirk on her face.

"Thanks, Rainbow Dash!"

They both glanced back as they soared above the rooftops, seeing several Big Bills following them at top speed, all looking ready to pluck them good.

"So these guys are actually after you? What did you do this time?!"

"I don't know what I did!" said Derpy. She looked ahead, and to her relief spotted several winged guards approaching. Before she could call out to them, something collided with her. Brick, being quite fast for someone with such a large body, had managed to make Rainbow lose her grip. He might have failed to catch her, but he did grab Derpy's bag with his deadly talons.

In a moment of failed heroics, Geld had flown to try to hit Brick, but instead he got knocked far away with just a strong swing of the criminal's wing.

In that moment, most ponies would have simply given up the bag, leaving it to instead glide to safety, but not Derpy. She absolutely refused to let go of the package she had a sacred duty to deliver. They could do whatever they wanted to her, but they were not going to make her fail. Too much was at stake: her job, Geld's brother and her pride as a mailmare.

"You've given us quite some headaches, pony!" said Brick, turning around to get away from the guards and Rainbow Dash, once she had regained her balance.

Derpy clung to the strap, keeping her attention on Brick and her bag. "What do you want with me?!"

Brick looked down, clearly surprised. He started to violently shake the bag. "Just let go! Give us the blasted package!"

"No!" yelled Derpy. In one swift motion that took all of her strength, she pulled herself up and bit Brick on his talon.

He immediately dropped it, and Derpy started to tumble towards the hard streets below. There had not been enough to correct herself and glide to safety, but to everyone's relief Rainbow Dash caught her, and from their slow descent Derpy could clearly see Brick and the other Big Bills retreat, being chased by the guards.

They were safe. For now.

"Derpy! Rainbow Dash!" yelled Geld, flying over to glide beside them. "Are you okay?!"

"Chill. We're fine," said Rainbow Dash. "But wow, that guy hit like a brick."

"That's literally his name," said Geld, then turning to look at Derpy. "I- I don't get this! Why would they be after you, Derpy? What could someone like you have possibly-"

"They wanted my package," said Derpy, holding her bag tightly.

"Let's land and get somewhere safe, then we can figure out what to do next," said Rainbow Dash.

"Sure- yeah, sure!" said Geld.

Derpy, however, just kept quiet for the rest of the descent. All she did was trying to imagine what sort of thing would make the griffon mafia literally chase her across Equestria. What was in the package?

Comments

[DavisSentoV5]

Oh dear God, if Derpy gets hurt by the mafia for whatever is in that package, hell is gonna break loose!