Off the clock

Derecho took a final bite of her vegetable and tuna wrap in my Royal Equestria Security Forces (RESF) dreamscape. The cool pocket of her portage vest had kept the sandwich sort of cool, but an afternoon and evening of flying in the muggy Ft. Trotterdale summertime air had left it the worse for wear.

However the quality of her food was more than made up by the awesome view she had. She was currently sitting on a small cumulus cloud about 2,500ft above the city. Although you couldn't see much of city due to a dense layer of low level stratus clouds that just left tops of the tallest buildings jutting up through the even blanket of thick grey. The numerous safety lights on the tops of the buildings created pools of red or green light around them.

The weather tonight had been funky. From the ground up to about 600ft the air had been clear. Then there was a ceiling of low clouds for a few hundred of feet. Above that was various patches of small cumulus clouds. It was one of these clouds that the turquoise green mare had picked out to partake of her evening meal. Besides it was cooler up here than down at ground level. There was just enough wind to be refreshing with no fear of your lunch being blown away. The young mare had carefully unrolled a small thin sheet of structural cloud to set her food on so it wouldn't plummet through the cloud and to the ground below.

Derecho was finishing the last of her bottle of lemonade when her phone started chiming in the upper right front pocket of her portage vest. She wasn't taking anymore jobs tonight. Glancing down at her multi-function sport/smart watch she recognized the number as being Hail Storm's. Hail Storm was her roommate, friend, and casual sex partner. With a grin she tapped the side of her wireless headset and took the call. Link

"Hey wassup?"

On the other end she heard the calm almost droning voice of the pegasus stallion. "Hey there. You still working?"

"Nope!" The mare said while thrusting her arms above her head and doing some stretches. "I'm off the clock! What are you callin' for?"

The mare had to listen the stallion chew on something for a few seconds before they spoke again. "Oh. I was calling to let you know I won a free large pizza from Stomper's weekly drawing, and if you want some I'll save some for you?"

"What's the toppins?"

"Um, black olives, caramelized onions, shredded fresh basil, with smoked gouda cheese, and barbecue sauce."

"Sounds better than the wrap I just ate. Yeah. Save me some. I'll be home in a bit. Besides the latest expansion pack for Masters of Fate II dropped earlier today. So I can eat some pizza while kicking your ass. Again!"

There was a soft chuckle on the other end. "Oh you wish. See you in a bit?"

"Yeah I'll be bailin' from here in just a sec!"

Derecho heard the phone go dead. Giggling the mare stuffed the empty lemonade bottle and the wrapper from her sandwich back into the lined cool pocket of her portage vest. Dropping your trash over the side of a cloud was considered one of the rudest things a pegasus could do to ponies below. Right up there with plop bombing. Rolling up and stowing her sheet of structural cloud the young mare sauntered over to the edge of the cloud.

Almost directly below her the top of the Citadel Bank building emerged like an dark mountainous island from the surrounding low clouds. The bank was the tallest building in Ft. Trotterdale. Looking down at it the young mare knew exactly laid below it when it came to the street grid and the numerous buildings and power lines. Lowering her goggles over her eyes the mare grinned and gracefully dove off the edge of the cloud.

Plunging headfirst toward the roof of the Citadel Bank building the mare adjusted her course slightly as she dove into the clouds she was just about 10ft from the edge of the building. For a couple of seconds she plummeted through a damp, black void. Then suddenly she burst out of the low hanging clouds to see the lights, buildings and streets of Ft. Trotterdale rushing toward her.

Still she had time to grin at her reflection in the windows of the bank as she raced past them. The floors were a blur as she fell towards the earth. Most of the lights were off in the building, but as she went past one floor the lights were on. The evening cleaning crew were at work doing their job, but just by chance one of the crew was staring out the window as she rocketed by. For just an instant their eyes met. The old stallion standing by the floor refinisher had a fraction of a second to parse her upside down smile and then she was gone.

Derecho let out a holler as she started pulling up from her nose dive. She obtained level flight about 40ft off the deck. Still doing well over a hundred miles per hour she tore down Princess Blvd. Bobbing over and under the various power lines above the street. Laughing the mare headed for home, video games, and pizza.