Rainbow streaks crossed the sky with incredible speed as the usual suspects sat in the fields of Ponyville to watch the cyan mare tear up the clouds and deliver death-defying stunts to the oohs and aahs of the crowd. As the rainbow pony finished up her morning routine, the crowd started to disperse, leaving only the most dedicated of fans staring from below. Scootaloo stared up at the sky, her hero nothing but a speck as she darted from cloud to cloud, gathering more and more moisture around her.
The filly on the ground stood as tall as her little hooves could push her, her amethyst eyes sparkling as Rainbow Dash raced through the sky, whispers of a barrier forming around her as she rapidly started her descent. Scootaloo could see the streaks of water streaming off Rainbow’s body, forming into miniature rainbows, the droplets ripping apart into a light spectrum as the fearsome mach cone tore the water to mist. Scootaloo was on the edge of her hooves, her wings buzzing angrily at her sides. Rainbow Dash was going to do something spectacular! She knew she would - there was never any doubt!
“Delivery for Scootaloo!”
“Huhn?” Scootaloo whipped about, tearing her eyes from Rainbow Dash to see Ponyville’s friendliest mail and weather pony, Derpy Hooves. The charismatic if not downright eccentric pegasus was smiling through a wad of letters in her mouth, the scent of baked goods wafting from her green saddlebag. “Oh, hi Derpy. I’m just watching Rainbow Da-”
A crack and an amazing shockwave tore through the sky as Scootaloo snapped her attention to the sky, a rippling display of color fading quickly. Dash hadn’t produced a rainboom, but rather the pegasus could be seen riding the rebound force of the sonic cone as her repulsion point had exploded like a firework, cascading down in a rain of rainbow colors.
And Scootaloo had missed the pivotal point. “Aw, man!” Scootaloo complained as Dash continued off into the direction of her cloud home. Wheeling about, the orange filly looked up at the patient mailmare. The gray pegasus’ wall eye tracked Rainbow Dash through the sky, while her more focused one gazed cheerily down at Scootaloo.
“That Rainbow Dash is sure somethin’!” Derpy exclaimed in awe, much to the chagrin of the filly before her. Scootaloo decided she’d rather not think about it - or how the letters were somehow staying inside the mare’s mouth.
“Yeah, uh,” Scootaloo coughed. Derpy smiled back down at her, completely ignoring Scootaloo’s expectant stare. “You said you had a delivery for me?”
Derpy shuddered, a letter inexplicably falling from behind her ear and landing next to Scootaloo’s hooves. “Sorry ‘bout that, Scootaloo! Sometimes I get distracted.” Grinning from ear to ear, the ditsy blonde made to turn around, the loose straps on her saddlebag trailing behind her. Unfortunately, she didn’t get very far. In mid stride, the strip of fabric caught between her hooves, throwing the pegasus into a stumble as letters spilled everywhere. “Whoopsie daisy!”
Scootaloo made as if to help the mailmare, but her hoof caught the letter at her feet. Easily making out her name addressed on the side, she picked the parchment up and took off running, hardly remembering to call out, “Sorry Derpy can’t stop to talk gotta get home bye and thank you!”
Charging through Ponyville, the filly buzzed her wings like a humming bird as she arched over her scooter - a mishap with the wagon and the other Crusaders had left the filly pegasus with a bent steering rod, which made turning difficult. Regardless of this handicap, the orange pony felt the rush of the wind in her mane, scooting around ponies and under tables, letter clenched firmly in her teeth.
As Scootaloo turned her scooter to take a sharp turn on the home stretch, the steering column clipped into the ground. Realizing a moment too late as her handles spun dangerously, the bent scooter dug into the ground. The padded metal handle knocked into the side of Scootaloo’s face and sent her out into the open air. All at once the filly buzzed her wings to life, but as hard as she buzzed, Scootaloo couldn’t stay airborne. Spinning uncontrollably through the air, she braced for impact. It never came.
With a jerk and a roll, the orange filly felt herself caught up in a flash of sky blue, Scootaloo opened her eyes immediately to look up at the confident smirk of Rainbow Dash, the speedster setting her much more gently upon the ground than her scooter would have. “Whoa there, Scoots, that was a heckuva wipeout!”
Scootaloo shook her head violently, her face flushed in embarrassment. “It wasn’t really my fault, Dash! My scooter’s kinda busted and it hit the grass. And then I tried to fly but-” The outburst was cut short by a chuckle and a well-placed hoof.
“It’s no big deal, Scoots! Wipeouts happen, what you gotta do is just pick yourself up and keep on going.” Dash beamed down at the filly. Looking up at her idol, Scootaloo returned the smile, swallowing her sincerity.
“Th-thanks Rainbow Dash.” The slight buzz of Scootaloo’s wings as they attempted to force the filly to talk about them fell on deaf ears, with both pegasi failing to notice them. “I’ll be more careful next time.” Shaking her head quickly, Scootaloo’s pace quickened. “Right after I finish picking myself up, heh heh!” As she chuckled, her eyes drew away from her hero as her letter blew over her hooves, landing neatly between them. Looking down, Scootaloo realized she was in a hurry, her head snapping back up to Dash. “Oh! I have-” Her wings started kicking up again, a couple orange feathers coming off as she looked about. “Things.”
“Scoots? You okay?” Dash looked behind Scootaloo, but she had already snapped up the letter. “What’s up with your wings?”
“Nothing! Just, I have to go!” Scootaloo retrieved her scooter from the ground and got set to take off. “Thanks for saving me, Rainbow Dash!” Kicking off the ground, the buzzing wings started to catch air, propelling the pegasus away from her fellow pony, leaving the perplexed Rainbow Dash to puzzle over her.
Nearby, Ponyville’s mailmare soared overhead, her good eye watching the scene below with mild befuddlement.
Rushing through the door of her house, Scootaloo slammed open the door to her bedroom. She threw the letter on her bed, and then proceeded to fling her little body into the sheets, nuzzling through the mess of fabric. Peeking out of a red, quilted comforter full of pegasi down, her hooves shot out from her cocoon, seizing the letter once more. Ripping open the scroll, Scootaloo soon found herself in a comfortable enough position to read it.
“Dear Loo-Loo...” Scootaloo’s face contorted, her eyes flung back into her head as she let loose a groan. “Daaaaaad.” Even from Canterlot, the stallion could still embarrass her.
Dear Loo-Loo,
Daddy here, I hope you’re doing good. I hear you’ve made some friends in school, and that you’re causing quite a fracas in Ponyville. I’ve been told to reprimand you, but we both know that I can only give it half-heartedly. Your mother and I were quite the little devils when we were young and growing up. The things we’d do looking for our cutie marks.
I do hope I haven’t missed the day you found your special talent, sweetie. Working as part of Celestia’s Guard has long hours, and it’s been something else to just try to find time off now that Luna hasn’t hired a full Guard yet. I still am sharing duties with the other Captains, Uncle Iron Hoof and Shining Armor. I hear Shining Armor’s sister lives in Ponyville now. Do say hello to her sometime. Twilight Sparkle. I’m sure you’ve heard of her by now. She lives in a library. Which reminds me, I do hope you’ve kept up on your reading. I feel like our discussions on the latest Daring Do adventure books is the only thing keeping me young these days. These foals in the guard know nothing about a good read.
Scootaloo, I’m sorry I cannot be home more often. However, I promise, as soon as I can I will find time off work and visit you, if only for a day. It breaks my heart that I cannot have you here, but the streets of Canterlot can be dangerous without a guardian, and at least you are surrounded by those who care about you nearly as much as I do. Hopefully one day I can come home for good, and we can live off the retirement bits for the rest of our lives. Wouldn’t that be something, Loo-Loo?
- Daddy
Aerial Ace
P.S. Give your mother a hug for me.
Scootaloo’s eyes scanned the letter, once, twice, thrice. Her daddy wasn’t coming home, and he didn’t seem to have any clue when he might be able to. Sliding the note numbly to her left, the filly slid deeper into her fortress of feathers. Daddy wanted her to hug mom, and she hadn’t in a while.
Kicking the sheets around, Scootaloo’s hooves got entangled in the mass. Making a last ditch effort to free herself from her prison of fluff, she hopped into the air, her wings popping out of the sheets with a buzz. Scootaloo felt her hooves start to tug against the weight of the down comforter. With a yelp and one last defiant push against gravity, Scootaloo’s face soon made friends with the ground.
A minute of grumbling and snout rubbing later, the pegasus trudged out of her room, dragging a sheet behind her. Kicking it off, Scootaloo made her way to her parents’ bedroom. Peeking her head through the door, Scootaloo smiled as she spotted her mother. “Hey Mom, got a letter from Dad.” Pushing open the door, Scootaloo walked over to the window, feeling her mother’s gaze as she looked out to Ponyville. “He can’t make it back anytime soon. I know you said he needed to come home a lot more, but he really is trying hard for me out there. I still find bits in the bank waiting for me every week.” Greeted with silence, the filly walked over to her mom’s side of the bed. Hesitantly, she allowed herself to look at the empty sheets. With a sigh, she looked over to the bedstand, in which sat a black urn. “I don’t mind. I miss him, but you’re still here, keeping an eye on me.” Sniffing loudly, Scoolaloo swallowed hard, her smile wavering just for a moment. “It’s hard to miss you if I still feel you here.” Putting a hoof around the metal figure, she squeezed the jar against her in a hug.
“Not that I don’t miss you,” Scootaloo admitted, her voice cracking as she shook her head. “O-Oh! I-I spoke with Rainbow Dash today! I didn’t get to ask her if she could teach me how to fly, but, I think I’m getting close! I’ll be a really good flyer someday, Mom, I know I will! Then I can go see Dad myself, and we can talk all about...” Scootaloo’s voice faded as she looked away.
Sweetie Belle once said talking to lost loves ones was ‘There a flu tick’ or whatever, but even though it felt nice, it just wasn’t the same unless they could talk back. Releasing the urn, Scootaloo looked away. “A-anyway Mom, I should get going. The Crusaders want to crusade today, so... I should write Dad a reply and see if I can get that mailmare, Derpy Hooves, to send it back by the end of the day.” Moving away from her parents’ bedroom, Scootaloo’s head hung from her shoulders. “Bye Mom.” Walking through the empty halls, she returned to her room. Taking a quill up in her mouth, Scootaloo stared hard at the blank paper in front of her.
Scootaloo’s patience didn’t last long. No words came to her, and she was losing daylight. Spitting the quill out, Scootaloo stowed the paper in her saddlebag. “I’ll just write something later. I got a long day of crusading to get to.” The voice in the back of her mind protested, but she didn’t listen to it. Slowly reaching out, Scootaloo stuffed her quill in her bag as well. “Besides, if I get my cutie mark, then I’ll have something to say to him.”
“Aw, what do you mean you can’t go crusading today?” Scootaloo lamented, her friends looking sheepish as they traded excuses.
“Rarity said she got us tickets to go see The Mare on the Moon in the Ponyville theatre tonight, and she really wanted to go with me!” Sweetie Belle shook her head, her mane tossing from side to side. “I think she just wants me to get interested in acting.”
“Ah don’t really want to go back on stage,” Apple Bloom spoke up, her eyes glazing over in memory. “I think Ah’m just fine with helping stage props than falootin’ about on stage.” Returning her gaze back to her pegasus friend, Apple Bloom’s tone turned apologetic. “Applejack says that Granny’s gettin’ on in years and she wanted me to help her with learning some of her chores so we can keep the farm running once she passes.” A pause followed as Apple Bloom stared about the clubhouse, her eyes catching sight of a Wonderbolts over Canterlot poster. “Oh, uh, Celestia forbid.”
“Celestia what?” Sweetie Belle echoed. Scootaloo shrugged in response, a quizzical look over her face.
“Ah ain’t quite sure, but Applejack says it whenever we bring up somepony passing on.” Scootaloo opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. “Anyhow, Applejack says it’ll take the weekend to go over tha’ basics, but Ah think Ah’ll be finished ‘fore long. Maybe we can go crusading tomorrow?”
Scootaloo nodded numbly as she took in the new information. “Yeah, that’s... fine. I have stuff to do anyway that I was putting off.”
“That’s perfect!” Sweetie interrupted, catching Scootaloo off guard. “Now you can stop procrastinating and we’ll all be set to crusade all of tomorrow!”
Scootaloo shook her head, her eyes fixing on Sweetie Belle. “Pro-what now?” Scootaloo echoed.
The filly in question sheepishly shrugged her shoulders. “Oh, um, it means doing other stuff to keep from doing other, important stuff.”
Apple Bloom chuckled and shook her head as she made for the door. “Ah swear Sweetie Belle, Rarity must hit ya with a dictionary every mornin’.”
“It’s not my fault. She says I need to be more sophisticated, with a hair of class or something.” Kicking her hooves as she walked out the door with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle shrugged. “I don’t even know how to style my mane.”
Scootaloo exhaled loudly, her hair bouncing back into place as she drew out her letter and pen. Placing the paper on the desk and staring at it’s empty mask, Scootaloo sat down for an extended session of letter writing. Nothing was going to get in her way.
Scratches? Check. Mud? Check. Inexplicably covered in tree sap and feathers that don’t even belong to her? Check. Scootaloo groaned as she barreled out of a prickly bush just outside the treehouse, reflexively checking her wings for injury and her flank for a mark. Sighing through her nose, the filly made her way back towards the clubhouse. As she reached the wooden balcony, she gave a seething look toward the spot where she had jumped. She had desperately hoped that a sense of danger would kick her flying skills into gear.
She was wrong. Hence, sap.
Instead, Scootaloo mumbled grade school curses under her breath as her stomach growled loudly. Walking into the clubhouse, she trotted towards the lone desk in the treehouse, giving the blank paper on the table a loathsome stare. Scootaloo’s tail whipped at a crumpled ball, sending the offending failure of a letter out the window. Grunting, the filly exasperated as her face hit the the page. “Why can’t I think of anything to write to dad!?”
Lifting her head off the paper, the filly looked around where she sat. Haphazardly crushed bundles of paper were strewn about, black lines of clichéd greetings and stilted words meant to appease her father peeked over the paper mounds, judging the little filly as their numbers grew. Maybe it was because she didn’t go crusading today. “Yeah, that must be it. Nothing cool is happening without Rainbow Dash around. Grass is green, water is blue, everypony can fly except Scootaloo. Nothing’s changed.”
With a huff of frustration, Scootaloo bolted from the room once more, her wings buzzing at her sides as she looked again at her liftoff point. Lip curled in contempt, she glared at the grass and dirt below. She saw her scooter; her crash earlier hadn’t exactly helped the handlebar. Should she write to her dad about her crash? No, that would be stupid. “Stop being stupid. Ugh!”
Anger bubbled and hissed in her belly as hot tears threatened her eyes. “Why... why can’t I fly!?” She’d seen other pegasi start flying in her grade. Their wings took the wind and pushed it, but her wings continued to buzz uselessly at her sides. Scootaloo felt her legs start to feel like jelly, and she collapsed onto the balcony, her wings coming to rest against her sides as she curled into a ball.
“Dad... Why can’t I do anything right?” Scootaloo heaved into her tail, covering her eyes from the tyranny of the sunlight. In a voice barely higher than a whisper, Scootaloo muttered, “Mommy... why couldn’t you teach me?”
“Package for Scootaloo!”
The orange pegasus looked up, her eyes red as she looked about. “Wh-what?” Sniffing hard, Scootaloo tried to spot where the offending voice had come from. “Who’s there?”
“Scoota-yoohoo-loo!” the voice called again in a singsong pattern. Looking over the edge, Scootaloo could see Derpy Hooves again, standing at the bottom of the ramp. A glowing smile on her face, Derpy had a small, pale green box hung from a string with her, dangling loosely as if it could fall open at any moment. “I have a package for youuuu!”
Scootaloo removed her head from sight, turning away from the mailmare as she shook her head. Straightening herself, Scootaloo tilted her head as she called back. “J-just leave it there, Derpy! I’m busy with... stuff! I’ll come get it l-later.” Stamping her foot down, the little filly muttered under her breath as punishment for stuttering. “I’m strong. I don’t cry. Big fillies aren’t weak.” Yet all her mind would chant back to her was “I’m weak. I cry about my mommy. I can’t even fly.”
“Hmm. But you’re only up there! Oh! Don’t worry, I’ll bring it up to you!” Before Scootaloo could protest, the gray mailmare had already closed the distance, her wings taking a great breadth of air and rocketing up towards Scootaloo. The filly only had a moment to duck before Derpy came to a halt somewhere behind her, the clumsy pegasus crashing into the piles of paper. “Whoops!”
Scootaloo sighed, a small giggle escaping her despite her attempts to conceal it. “Derpy! I said-” The mailmare popped out of the paper pile with her unyielding smile, the pale box hanging from her mouth with gleeful abandon. The sight was enough to cause Scootaloo to giggle again, her hoof slamming against her mouth in protest of a good mood.
“Wow! It’s so cool up here, Scootaloo! Dinky wants a treehouse so bad. I might have to make her one like this.” One eye scoured the walls, taking in the various paraphernalia that lined the clubhouse, while the other focused on the little filly before her. “I just don’t know where to begin!”
Scootaloo sighed, shrugging her shoulders. “Don’t look at me. Apple Bloom was the one who fixed this place up.” At the thought of Derpy trying to build a treehouse for her daughter, Scootaloo visibly cringed. Her eyes stared at the box that Derpy held, before gesturing towards it. “So, um, you said that’s for me?” Scootaloo could feel her heart in her throat, her head strained forward as if her proximity may reveal what the contents will be.
“Oh!” Derpy exclaimed, her focused eye looking downward. “It is!” Exploding forth from her pile, the Derpy tracked balls of paper across the room as she bounded toward Scootaloo, Derpy dropping the package in front of the filly with a giant grin.
Scootaloo looked down, her eyes searching the parcel with wonder. “Thanks Derpy, I-”
Derpy slumped on her rump, watching Scootaloo in anticipation with her good eye. Scootaloo could hardly believe that Derpy’s tail was actually wagging around in suspense. “Go on, Scootaloo! Open it up!”
Puzzled, Scootaloo put a hoof on the box and scooted it towards her, taking cautionary glances upward at Derpy. She continued to smile down at her, wads of paper still sticking out from underneath her wings. “So you’re just gonna...?” Derpy made no effort to move. “Okay, whatever.” Ripping a loose strand from the hemp tie around the box, the knot that contained it finally gave way, leaving just the lid to be undone. Reaching a hoof tentatively, Scootaloo first gave the lid a little tip, before ripping it off in one move.
Sitting in the middle of the small box was a single blueberry muffin.
“Muffin!” Derpy cheered, her smile widening.
“A... muffin?” Scootaloo echoed, looking up at the elder pegasus. “You got me a muffin?”
“Uh-huh!” Derpy smiled, standing up on all fours as she headed to a corner of the clubhouse, her expression changing to one of mild confusion. “I was flying all about today on my mail route, doing super good about not losing any letters today! And then I saw you watching Rainbow Dash fly around and your wings were all buzzzzzz.” Scootaloo’s face turned bright red as Derpy started to buzz her wings as well. “And I was thinking to myself, ‘Oh Derpy! That was like you when you were a little small filly!’ Those times were rough because it’s really hard to be a flightless pegasus.”
“Tell me about it,” Scootaloo chimed in, her eyes rolling.
Derpy wheeled on Scootaloo, pointing a hoof toward the filly. “So then I gave you your letter and you looked like it was really important, and your wings went buzzzzzz and I felt real bad because I know how much I just wanted to fly home sometimes.” There was a moment’s silence as Derpy’s voice cracked, her head turned down. “Sometimes the other pegasi would tell me I was doing it wrong and would laugh at me.”
Scootaloo opened her mouth, but not a word came out. Even Featherweight could fly, and he had wings that were so tiny! She heard him joke once about it, albeit halfheartedly. Sighing through her nose, the filly’s rump hit the floor. “Yeah...”
“But then I saw you scoot-scoot-scootalooing through Ponyville and your wings were all buzzzzzz but it was making you move so fast and you were really cool to watch! But then you took that nasty fall and Rainbow caught you and your wings were still buzzzzzz.” Derpy fell silent as her butt hit the ground again, her own wings outstretched as she turned her head so she could see all of Scootaloo with her focused eye. “Then I saw you were sad.” Scootaloo looked up and stared at Derpy, her lip quivering.
“Then I was flying over to Sweet Apple Acres and I saw you trying to fly out here, and I had just made up a batch of muffins for Dinky and her friends, so I went back home and got you a muffin to bring to you!” As she had spoke, the pegasus had risen back to her hooves once and and trotted over to Scootaloo, her smile returned.
“You brought me a muffin,” Scootaloo murmured, the gray pegasus nodding enthusiastically. “‘Cause you thought I was sad.”
“Yep! Whenever I was sad, a muffin would cheer me right up! Frown did a flip for a blueberry muffin trip!” Derpy looked over Scootaloo a moment before smiling. “You’ll be a good flyer!”
“What!?” Scootaloo spat, Derpy taking a step back, her face muddled in confusion. “I’ll be a good flyer? Where did that come from?” Standing on her hooves, Scootaloo glared down the well-meaning mailmare and took a step forward. “You said yourself all I do is buzz! That’s not flying! It’s crashing! I’ll always be great at crashing!” Her voice choked out of her as she took one last, slow step toward Derpy, her head starting to hang as the tears threatened to return. “It might as well be my special talent.”
Giggling. Scootaloo could hear giggling. She hated hearing giggling. Looking up, she could see the wall-eyed Derpy holding a hoof to her mouth as she shook her head at Scootaloo, doing her best to contain her mirth. “Your special talent?” Scootaloo’s face contorted into befuddlement as Derpy kept giggling. “I know I’m not the brightest pony. I make mistakes like everypony else.” Derpy turned her head to one side, her face filled with a sudden sorrow. “But I make a lot more mistakes.”
Scootaloo again found herself at a loss for words. Derpy’s mistakes were legendary around Ponyville. Suddenly, Derpy’s face brightened into a smile, banishing the dark mood before it could take hold. “But I don’t mind! I always try to help when I’ve done wrong. And I keep a smile and a lot of muffins around for when things get bad!” Nosing the box forward, Derpy offered the muffin to Scootaloo again. “‘Cause it always gets better!”
Scootaloo looked between Derpy and the muffin, her stomach growling once again. “W-well, I am hungry.”
“So am I!” Derpy exclaimed, reaching into her saddlebag and producing another box. Scootaloo had no doubt on their contents. “Dinky didn’t finish all of her muffins, but I had already wrapped that one up for you.” Derpy revealed that, unlike Scootaloo’s gift, the muffins in her box were smooshed together. She didn’t seem to mind, though, taking the crumbling morsels into her mouth with gleeful abandon. With an amused smile, Scootaloo took up her gift and took a bit bite, chewing thoughtfully. She made no notice of the few tears that fell down her face as she thanked Derpy.
“Thanks, Derpy.” Scootaloo sniffed, dragging her forehoof across her nose. “This is a really good muffin.”
Derpy stopped her muffin annihilation. Looking up, she gave Scootaloo a warm smile. “Dinky isn’t a pegasus, so she can’t fly like her mommy.” Scootaloo turned her head to the side, confused on what Derpy was getting at. “I can’t teach Dinky to fly like most mommies can do, but... maybe I can teach you?” Drawing herself back up to her full height, Derpy outstretched her wings and gave them an experimental flap. “Then your wings won’t go buzzzzzz all the time, but only on your scooter when you want to be cool like Rainbow Dash!”
“Cool like Rainbow Dash!?” Scootaloo exclaimed, before her mind started to tick into place. “Wait, y-you can teach me to fly?”
Derpy nodded emphatically. “Uh-huh! I said my wings used to go buzzzzzz too! But I didn’t have a scooter, so I used them to swim! I went to the old pond by Carousel Boutique and would buzz around the water!” With a giggle, Derpy closed her eyes and reflected on the memory with a knowing smile. “I made so many bubbles!”
“Swimming! I never thought to use my wings in water to swim!” Scootaloo chimed in, leading Derpy to giggle as she dove back into her muffins. “I’m liking this idea!”
Four weeks had passed and the skies over Canterlot were clear and sunny, perfect weather for the mailmare to spiral about through the skies as she approached the Equestrian capital. Spinning around stone spires and looping through bridges, her blonde mane felt the rush of the air as she cleared just inches over the Royal Guard’s heads, sprinkling letters addressed to them as she passed by. Other ponies watched behind her, taking note of the pegasus’ extra charge that day.
Derpy swung towards the guard’s tower, waving at various ponies as she did. She loved coming to Canterlot, taking in the royal colors of the banners about the town, and letting her hooves drag across the cobblestone streets, bumping along every tiny crack. She enjoyed the vibration. Slipping up back into the sky, Derpy made double sure her extra package was still with her today as she approached her destination. Derpy had a super special package to deliver today.
Approaching the castle, Derpy stopped at the gates, waving towards the gatekeeper with a giant smile on her face. The old, brown stallion greeted her with gusto, handing the young mare a muffin for her troubles before opening the gate. It was a wonder why Derpy always waited by the gate instead of flying over, but she always did, no matter the weather, day, or time.
Striding through the halls of the great Canterlot Castle, Derpy always took in the awe of the glorious standing mosaics, and silently let her eyes wander on her own. This was the one place she felt like she outclassed any other pony, where she could see everything at once and enjoy it. Sure she got a headache after a while, but it was worth it.
“Derpy!” a voice called out, prompting the pegasus to smile at the approaching stallion.
“Hello there, Shining Armor! I have letters for the guards today!” Derpy paused, before adding, “And one really important one.”
Shining Armor paused, before realizing what Derpy referred to. “Oh! Is that - okay! No problem. He’s on the west entrance. Good to see you, Derpy!”
“You too, Shining Armor!” Leaving the married stallion to his royal devices, Derpy took to the sky, heading due west through the castle’s giant corridors. It didn’t take her long before she found the west entrance up in the sky. It was an ornate cluster, with fluffy columns and hard-packed clouds making balconies and holding up royal banners. Derpy loved coming to the west entrance of the Castle because it reminded her of Cloudsdale.
“Excuuuuse meee!” Derpy called out, landing neatly on the clouds as she looked among the guards. “I’m looking for the Cap’n! Priority one package, coming through!”
“Derpy, must I tell you to call me Ace? Cap’n is so...” A stallion appeared from behind a few pillars, his smoky red coat hiding vague scars from a career guardpony. The slicked back blue mane was almost customary of Royal Guards, and this one was no different. Aerial Ace looked the mare up and down. “I assume you have a letter from my daughter? How is she doing?”
“I have a letter right here!” Derpy said, reaching for her bag. There was a rustling sound as she searched for it, but soon Derpy returned her attention back to Ace. “Hm. I don’t know where it went...”
“Derpy...” Ace stepped forward, his voice taking a harder edge. “Did you lose my daughter’s letter?”
Derpy looked saddened, but her expression changed in a flash as she perked up. “Oh! I know! I think my assistant has it!”
Ace stared. “Assistant?”
“Come on up!” Derpy called behind her, and there was just the slightest sound of a buzz before it faded. Instead the rush of powerful, air bending wings could be heard as Ace went to the edge of the west entrance. “She’s really a powerful flyer!”
“Daddy!” Scootaloo shouted, her wings pumping air with purpose as she rocketed to the sky. The red stallion hadn’t a moment to prepare before the little filly tackled him, pushing him into the cloud in a hurricane of hugs and laughter.
Derpy watched as a number of the other pegasus guards started to peek in on the scene, the mailmare announcing proudly, “Package for Aerial Ace!”
