Daring Yet Ditzy

Chapters

CHAPTER 1: Who Are You?
CHAPTER 2: Welcome Home
CHAPTER 3: This Is Who I Am
CHAPTER 4: Alone
CHAPTER 5: Hey There
CHAPTER 6: Soil Blossom
CHAPTER 7: Clumsy Adventuring

CHAPTER 1: Who Are You?

Another mission successful, thanks to Rainbow Dash and Daring Do, secretly known as A.K. Yearling.
“Man, Dee! That was awesome!” Dash exclaimed, zipping around Daring Do.
Daring Do chuckled to herself. “Yeah. Also, don’t call me Dee.” She replied lightheartedly.
“What?! Why not, Dee?” Rainbow Dash teased. Daring Do smirked as they walked back to Ponyville.

As she was walking, Daring Do spotted what seemed to be a grey mare, way out of her territory, chasing a butterfly with crooked eyes.
“Uh.. Dash..?” Daring Do spoke, looking up to Rainbow Dash in confusion, since she knows that Rainbow Dash is more familiar with ponies than she is.

“Oh. That’s just Derpy. She must’ve gotten lost while .. looking at a butterfly, I suppose. But don’t worry, she’s no harm.” Rainbow Dash zipped over to Derpy and snapped her out of her trance “HEY DERPY!” She yelled.

Derpy squealed and the butterfly flew away. She shook her head and looked up to Rainbow Dash with wide eyes. “Oh, hi Rainbow Dash! What are you doing all the way out here?”
Dash gave Daring Do a look of “see what I mean?”
Daring Do walked up to the unsuspecting pony. “What the real question is- what are you doing out here? Isn’t this a little far from home?” Daring asked her.
Derpy looked around at her surroundings, seeing that she was nowhere near Ponyville, or anywhere that looked familiar for that matter. “Whoopsies..” Derpy said meekly “I guess that butterfly I chased got me lost..”

“Hey, don’t worry Derpy! You’re not lost! You got us!” Rainbow Dash said as she playfully elbowed Derpy in her side. Derpy smiled widely. “Gee, thanks!”
They all started walking back. Daring Do was worried about Derpy knowing that Daring Do was real, but judging by her demeanor and the fact she hasn’t said anything about it yet, she presumed she was in the clear. At least Rainbow Dash trusts her, Daring reassured herself.

Derpy walked beside the both of them happily, humming a made up tune to herself. She then looked to Daring Do and smiled. “Hi!”
“Uh, Hi..” Daring Do smiled back.
“What’s your name?” Derpy asked curiously. Daring Do nearly burst out laughing, which just came out in a short snort. “Do you.. Do you really not know who I am?” Daring asked surprisingly, knowing she was quite the icon in Ponyville.
Rainbow Dash cranked her head back to answer Derpy’s question for her. “She’s not super big in literature.” Rainbow Dash clarified.
“Yeah..” Derpy agreed. “The words get all fumbled whenever I try to read and it makes no sense. But I like audio books!” Derpy smiled widely again. It made sense how she didn’t know of the series, though. She might’ve seen it around, but there hasn’t been an audio book made of it yet.
“Wait!” Derpy gasped with realization. “Does that mean.. you make books?!” Daring Do smiled “You could say that..”

“THAT’S SO COOL!” Derpy beamed. “What kind of books?” She looked onto Daring Do with wide and curious eyes.
Man, she really does not know, does she? Daring thought to herself. She looked up to Rainbow Dash with a look that’s asking “Should I..?” Rainbow Dash nodded. “We can trust her!” Rainbow Dash zipped around a put an arm around Derpy. “You can keep a secret, right?”
“Of course!” Derpy nodded. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my— OW!” Derpy exclaimed as she jammed her hoof into her eye. Daring Do smiled endearingly.

“Well, not many ponies know this, which is why you gotta keep it a secret.” Daring Do whispered to Derpy for dramatic effect. Derpy nodded and did a “zipped lips” gesture.

Daring Do started to explain the entire thing to Derpy, how she goes on regular adventures and writes about them, but disguises herself as an author writing about a fictional character, so that’s what people believe. Then went on to tell her a few of her adventures briefly. Derpy looked at Daring Do with absolute awe and amazement. “WOWIE! You’re some kind of.. uh.. ADVENTURER PONY!” Derpy excitedly yelled as her wings flapped happily.

“Yeah, I am. Hopefully there’ll be an audio book done sometime, so you can read the books!” Daring replied enthusiastically. Derpy looked to her curiously again. “Why would I need to read the books when I got the real deal right here?!”
Daring Do laughed a bit to herself. She never minded fan attention, but this was different. Derpy had no idea who Daring Do was and is still absolutely fascinated by her. She found it, sort of cute.
They got to the outskirts of Ponyville, ready to depart as Daring Do walks to her recluse house to write another book.

“See ya, Dash! It was nice talking to you, Derpy. Hopefully we meet again.” Daring Do smiled as she walked back.
“See you, Dee!!!” Dash yelled back teasingly. She put an arm around Derpy again and looked at her. “Come on, Derpy. Let’s go home now. Do you know where it is from here?” She asked before Derpy ran off after Daring Do.

“WAIT! WAIT!” Derpy called out. Daring Do looked surprisingly to her, as she was taking off her hat. “I.. I wanna..” Derpy was out of breath, but took a second to catch it. “I wanna know more! Please!!! You’re, like, the most interesting pony ever!!! I can’t just leave!”
Daring Do mildly blushed and looked down. “I.. I guess if you won’t tell anypony-“
“I WON’T!” Derpy blurted out, shyly smiling after realizing she interrupted. Daring Do looked up to Rainbow Dash, who looked very confused, and smiled. “I suppose you can come along..” Derpy squealed with joy and skipped along the path with Daring.

Rainbow Dash shrugged, she just thought it was Derpy being excited, nothing would really come out of it, and flew back into Ponyville.

CHAPTER 2: Welcome Home

Daring Do and Derpy began walking along the path back to Daring’s secluded house, Derpy hummed happily while Daring stayed quiet, just enjoying her company.

“You really sure you wanna come with me?” Daring asked again. “We’re still close enough for you to go back easily.” Derpy shook her head. “Nuh-uh! I wanna know more about you!”. Daring endearingly rolled her eyes in a “Well, if you insist..” type of way.

After walking off-path, they came into a more forested area. “Wowie zowie!” Derpy exclaimed. Daring chuckled a bit at the shout. “What?” “It’s.. so.. pretty!!!” Derpy said happily, her wings flapping as she looked around their newish environment. “What? You’ve been through forests before.” Daring inquired. “Yes, but..” Derpy’s cross eyes darted all over the place, seeming to grow in size the more she saw. “I never payed attention..”

Derpy seemed to be impressed by the smallest things, but Daring found that admirable. With her living a life of thrills and dangers, it’s nice to stop and look at the way the sun shone through a big oak tree sometimes. She smiled warmly as Derpy flew around, enamored with her surroundings. “You live here??” She asked. “Well, we’re not exactly there, yet, but..” Daring replied. Derpy suddenly zipped down and looked at her in fascination. “Take me!” Daring laughed a bit from surprise and motioned her hoof along. “Follow me, then.”

After a bit of walking, and Derpy stopping to take in what she’s seeing, they arrived. Though, deep down, Daring was dreading this very moment. Her house was very run-down and kind of lame compared to everything else about her. She was afraid to lose any of Derpy’s enthusiasm.
“We’re here.” Daring called out. Derpy looked over from where she was looking on a bug on a rock and her eyes widened seeing Daring Do’s house. Daring Do blushed a bit out of embarrassment, pulling her hat over her face so Derpy doesn’t see. “I know it’s not a great house or anything, but-“ “ARE YOU KIDDING? IT’S SO COZY!” Derpy yelled out happily.
She seemed to take a real liking to forests. She’s always only lived in either Cloudsdale or Ponyville, and hasn’t ever intentionally explored any area like this before. Especially with the closest forest nearby being the infamous Everfree Forest.

Daring scoffed a bit. “Really? You like it?”
“Yeah!!!” Derpy answered, lowering her voice after she realized she was yelling.
Derpy followed Daring Do as she opened the door. “Sorry, things are kind of cluttered.” Derpy walked in and looked at things with amazement. Daring Do would never understand how Derpy found this old place so cool, but this was a place unlike anything that Derpy had ever seen before, and she loved it.

Daring sighed as she took off her Daring Do outfit, then transitioning into her A.K. Yearling self while Derpy was distracted. “Finally, clothes I’m comfortable in.” A.K. muttered to herself.
Derpy looked behind her and seemed a bit surprised. “Oh, uh.. I didn’t realize there would be other ponies here!” A.K. chuckled and took off her big goofy hat and glasses. “It’s still me, Derpy.”

Derpy gasped “Wow, Daring! I hardly recognized ya!” A.K. smiled. “Remember all that stuff me and Dash told you about, with me being an undercover author? Well, this is my regular civilian look. I’m A.K. Yearling.”
Derpy shook A.K.’s hoof as if it was their first time meeting again. “That’s really cool!”
Derpy stopped for a moment and thought. “Ay.. Kay..?”

CHAPTER 3: This Is Who I Am

“It stands for..” A.K. sighed a bit, as she usually doesn’t tell ponies this unless they directly ask. “Acorn Kernel..” She admitted embarrassingly.

“You see, I grew up in a family of nut farmers, and I was destined to be one as well. Though, I wanted to choose my own destiny.”
Derpy sat down in front of her, as if this was a story-time at a library.
A.K. smiled.
“The place we lived in was sort of obscure. Our shipments were usually to far-away, more populated lands..” A.K. described.
“Places more familiar to you, like Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, or sometimes.. even Ponyville. While me and my cousins took the long process of delivering out shipments of our nuts across lands, I took notice of Ponyville.. It always had a sort of charm to it that I couldn’t resist.”
“So, why don’t you live there now?” Derpy asked.

A.K. held up a hoof, “Hold on, not done yet.” She said teasingly.
She continued, “Eventually I couldn’t handle it anymore. I was a young and dumb prepubescent pony who wanted more thrill out of life. I was going to run away.”
Derpy gasped, as if this was a shocking new development in the story.

“I proposed the idea to my most trusted family members, but they all called me crazy. That’s when I knew I was alone in all this. I had wanted to fly out and live in Ponyville, but, like I said, our farm was located in a really obscure part of Equestria. None of us have ever traveled out into that unknown place before. I said goodbye to my family and set off, and let me tell you, there are some real creepy things out there.” A.K. told Derpy, placing a hoof on her shoulder.
Derpy looked up and nodded, as if she had experienced seeing the things that A.K. had seen up close before.
She continued, “I found myself alone in an extremely strange place. A lot of it was empty but, there was something out there. And I knew I was their next target. I wasn’t sure how to react, at the time, I was just a regular nut farmer searching for a new life, but.. I was ready to take a challenge.” She smiled daringly.
Derpy looked invested in the story. “Well, who was it?”
“Not a who, more like a what. I came across this land that I had never even heard of before. I thought it was a way back to civilization, so I asked for help.” A.K. explained.
“Though, their culture didn’t take kindly to a random pegasus walking on in. I was shot at with arrows! Can you believe that?! Anyway, it’s a long story..” A.K. was about to stop there but saw Derpy’s enthusiasm, and sighed happily. She was truly born to be a storyteller.

After a full explanation of Daring Do’s first ever adventure, Derpy clapped as if it was the end of a movie. “That’s awesome!!! Did you make that a book?” She asked.
A.K. gently shook her head. “That was back when I didn’t want to write about my adventures.. yet. Eventually when I got more skilled at doing what I did, being rebellious and whatnot, I started publishing books in my spare time. They gained quite a lot of traction, so the house I was planning to buy in Ponyville didn’t work out.”
“It didn’t? How come?” Derpy asked.
A.K. shrugged. “I didn’t like much attention to my name, and since the book was popular in Ponyville, I didn’t want many fan interactions. But, I found this old abandoned house in a perfect spot. Right at the end of Ponyville but also near my adventuring. I cleaned it up.. sorta.. and here we are today.”

“That’s really cool!” Derpy exclaimed. “You know, I have a secret name too!”
“Ya do?” A.K. looked to her.
“Yup! My real name isn’t Derpy Hooves. It’s Ditzy Doo! When I was a little filly, everypony called me Derpy Hooves whenever I tripped, and I liked the name so it eventually stuck!”

“Oh..” A.K. looked a bit shocked.
The name she regularly uses now derived from bullying?
“Der- Di- Uh- You know they were bullying you, right?”

“Eventually, I figured it out, but I still like the name either way. I know the only way to combat bullying is to not care! And I don’t!” Derpy smiled. A.K. smiled back.

“That’s really admirable. But, for the time being, mind if I call ya Ditzy instead?”
Ditzy nodded. “Can I call you Acorn?”
Acorn scoffed a bit and sighed. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

CHAPTER 4: Alone

After talking and enjoying Ditzy’s company for a few hours, Acorn decided to let her go home as she was winding up for the evening.

“Are you sure?” Ditzy pleaded. “I can help out with anything you need!”
“Really, Ditzy. I’m okay. You’ve been here long enough, you can go back home now.”
Ditzy sighed and stepped out.
“Do you promise we’ll hang out again?” Ditzy asked as she walked back into the forest.
“I promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, yadda yadda- all that jazz.” Acorn replied jokingly but with genuine intent.

Ditzy nodded. “Bye, Acorn!!!” She called. Acorn waved back and closed the door with a heart-stopping thud. Ditzy stood outside her house for a moment before flying away.

Ditzy Doo technically had two houses.
One in Cloudsdale which actually belonged to her parents, and her own in Ponyville. Since Ditzy grew up in Cloudsdale, she knew it best. The once beautiful and vibrant forest she fell in love with not too long ago had become dark and eerie. Ditzy went the only way she knew how, up.

Eventually she reached Cloudsdale and marveled at all the warm houses seen around her. So many families eating dinner or spending time together. So many homes filled with love and comfort.

It wasn’t everyday Ditzy made a friend.

A lot of ponies assume Ditzy to just be a silly and clumsy pony without any depth, but as Ditzy walked back to her empty house, she wished someone was there to greet her. Someone who didn’t just see a clumsy pegasus.
Of course Ditzy had made friends in the past, quite a few, but she felt as if they only saw her like everypony else sees her- a clutz. Was that all she was to ponies? A clutz?

Ditzy had met one very kind stallion in the past before, and Acorn actually reminded her of him. He treated her normally and saw past her clumsy demeanor. She thought she finally found a pony who would understand her. Though, he was from another dimension and eventually had to return back once he figured out how. He told Ditzy that he’d never forget her and the things that she did for him, but she bet that he did forget. At least a little. She’s not one that’s very memorable.

Ditzy walked to her bed and laid there, staring up at the ceiling, with it blurring and contorting a bit because of her eye impairment.
Ditzy hoped- really, really hoped- that Acorn wouldn’t forget her. Or, at least wouldn’t see her as everyone else does. She felt a connection with her that she didn’t feel with many other ponies.

Acorn was an estranged pony too. Acorn didn’t like being the center of attention either. Acorn was different too!
She absolutely adored being over at her cozy house, and just forgetting the world around them as they chatted. Acorn did all these amazing and significant ventures almost daily. Ditzy wondered what she contributed.

“I’m a mailpony. I get ponies their mail.” Ditzy told herself, though it seemed to seriously dull in comparison to Acorn’s feats. Especially since it wasn’t a full-time job.

Ditzy turned to her side and closed her eyes.
Even Rainbow Dash, a pony she’s known since she was a filly doesn’t seem like someone she could confide in. Of course they were friends, but were they really? Does Rainbow Dash ever go out of her way to say hi or hang out with Ditzy?
She’s kind of just there, always there.

Eventually Ditzy drifted away to sleep, dreaming that she started going on adventures with Acorn. Of course, with a few dreamy elements here and there, like Acorn and Derpy riding clouds (even though they can fly) and all the enemies being giant kittens.
When Ditzy awoke, it was morning. She sat up in her bed and looked outside the window beside her.
That’s what I want to do. That’s how I want to contribute. Ditzy thought. She didn’t know how, she’s never even fought somepony before.
She wasn’t very sharp, and her vision definitely didn’t do her any good, but she knew that more than anything, she wanted to help Acorn, even if she might be apposed to the idea.

CHAPTER 5: Hey There

Ditzy made some toast and grabbed it in her mouth as she flew down to Ponyville.
“Hey, Derpy!” Rainbow Dash called out to her as she was, of course, in the skies as well.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash.” Ditzy replied in her usual friendly tone.
“Sooo, how was it? Awesome, right?” Rainbow Dash asked, gently elbowing Ditzy in her side.

It took Ditzy a moment to realize what she was referring to. “Oh! It was great! Acorn is a really good friend.”
“Acorn?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Ditzy panicked and put her hooves over her mouth. I revealed her secret name! she thought.
Rainbow Dash simply snorted, seeming to laugh at Ditzy and not with her. “You mean A.K.?” she asked.
“Uh- yeah.” Ditzy replied, relieved internally. Rainbow Dash laughed a bit.
“Ah, classic Derpy.” Rainbow Dash said as she pat Ditzy on the back. “Never change.” and then flew off in a blink, leaving behind a fading rainbow trail.
Funny you say that, Rainbow Dash. Ditzy thought. I want to change. More than anything.

Ditzy flew down slowly and saw a pony she knew well out and about, and decided to walk up to them.
“Carrot Top, hi!” Ditzy called out to the yellow pony. She turned around and waved. She was sitting at one of the tables outside a diner, sipping coffee and reading the daily newspaper. Ditzy walked and sat next to her.
“What’s going on in recent events?” Ditzy asked her. “Grab your own.” Carrot Top replied, seeming distracted. “But you know I’m not good with fine prin-“ before Ditzy could finish, Carrot soon realized her mistake and jolted upwards. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Derpy! I’ve been so tired lately is all.”
“It’s okay, Carrot Top. We all get tired.” Ditzy replied sympathetically.
“Uhm, well not much is going on recently. The usual. Celestia has a planned visit this April, watch out for parasprites this seasons, yeah, yeah. I only read this shlock so I can know what’s going on.” Ditzy nodded, wishing she could understand the struggle of not wanting to read a boring newspaper yet needing to in order to stay up-to-date.

“Oh, and apparently this author- A.K. Yearling.. you know her?” Ditzy’s ears perked up and she tried not to act over-enthusiastic. “Yeah!”
“Huh. I never would’ve pegged you as a book fan.” Carrot Top said bluntly, not realizing how that rude sounded.
“Apparently she’s going on an indefinite hiatus from books.”
“What???” Ditzy tried to read the section, even though she knew she couldn’t. It was way too small.
“Does it say why?” Carrot Top took a second to read and then shrugged. “But, but it has to say a reason! Right?” Ditzy desperately asked. “No offense, Derpy, but I kinda didn’t want company this morning. As I said, I’m tired.” Carrot Top said, glaring at her and being more than obvious.
“Oh.” Ditzy simply said and left the table.

She couldn’t help but worry about what was wrong with Acorn. She worried if her visit affected her publishing schedule, or if she was sick.
Ditzy seemed lost in thought, and accidentally ran into a pony crossing the street. “Oh, dear! I’m so sorry!” Ditzy professed before she even saw the pony.
She opened her eyes and it was Acorn. It was a different disguise than her usual author one, but Ditzy recognized her somehow.
“Acor-“ Ditzy was about to ask before Acorn pulled them out of the street.

“What are you doing here???” Ditzy finally asked.
“I need a vacation.” Acorn truthfully replied. Ditzy’s stomach dropped.

CHAPTER 6: Soil Blossom

“A vacation???” Ditzy repeated in shock.

Acorn’s new disguise consisted of big and dark sunglasses, a bucket hat similar to her Daring Do one, but just one solid color- green, with polka dots. She had her hair pinned back inside the hat styled in a way where it swept across her face subtly. She also wore a stereotypical Hawaiian shirt with some khaki shorts. Overall, she looked like a grandad visiting the tropics.
Acorn nodded. “I rented a small house by the lake.”
Ditzy was following her closely as she walked through town. “But, why???”
“Your talk with me made me realize that I desperately need some time off to appreciate the smaller things. I gotta appreciate Ponyville while it’s here.” Acorn replied, looking around Ponyville with appreciation.
“Wh- No you don’t! You gotta go out there and be-“ Ditzy’s voice dropped to a whisper. “And be Daring Do.”
“I know you’re excited by my life, Ditzy, but I’ve been all thrills for years. Seeing you take in the smaller things made me realize I need to as well.”
“No you don’t!” Ditzy protested. “The small things suck!!!” Acorn smiled endearingly at the grey mare. “If you want, I can show you my house for the time being. You can visit anytime.”
“What about the old one???” Ditzy asked.
“Eh, it’s not going anywhere. Follow me.” Acorn replied as she lead the way to a path off-road that looked like somewhere Applejack would hang out.

“How did you manage to get all of this done overnight?” Ditzy asked as she looked around the fields on the path.
“You can get a lot of things done when you’re famous.” Acorn replied, half sarcastic, half serious. “Also, my pseudonym here is Soil Blossom. Uncreative, I know, but as you said, I only had a short amount of time.”
“Pseudo-whatty?” Ditzy asked confusingly.
“A fake name.” Acorn assured.
“So, just call me that from now on.”
“But Acor-“ Ditzy cleared her throat. “But, uh… Soil. Are you sure you wanna do this?”
“Yup. I can’t be talked out of it. I’ve been adventuring and writing books for years. I need a break. Anyway, here we are.”

A small house. Around the same size as her old home, but bigger, and obviously a lot neater. Right by the lakeside too. “You staying? Cause, no offense I’d rather get settled right now.” Acorn spoke, looking back at Ditzy with tired eyes under her shades. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Oh, yeah. I get it.” Ditzy slowly replied.
“We’ll hang out later, okay?” Acorn said as she flew into her new vacation home, without so much as a goodbye.
Ditzy sighed. She really had hoped Acorn would be different. But here she was, being dismissed by a so-called-friend again.

She walked back down the path and decided to just sit in the grass field alone for a while. She needed time, and a backup plan.

CHAPTER 7: Clumsy Adventuring

“Alright, I’m ready,” Ditzy said to herself.

She was wearing a get-up which seemed to be somewhat of an imitation of Daring Do.
Instead of the adventurer’s hat and shirt, she got the next best thing: what her closet could offer. Her hat was a sports cap from an old Wonderbolts show, and her shirt was a cheesy novelty shirt that she bought three years ago at an event that said “I’M ONLY HERE FOR THE FOOD”.

Ditzy looked at herself in the mirror. Even she could tell how dumb she looked. She sighed to herself, “It’ll have to do…”
She opened the door of her house, the one in Ponyville, and walked out. “Time to be…” she paused dramatically. “DARING DITZY!”

She waltzed out confidently, most ponies not giving her a second look. Ditzy wasn’t one unfamiliar to odd outfits- her costumes for Nightmare Night proving that.
Ditzy searched around the town for danger, but seemingly, everything was perfectly fine. Seemingly. Ditzy wanted someone to save, someone that needed her. She wanted to be the big and cool hero now!
Ditzy spots Vinyl walking by, headphones blasting.
She walks up to her. “Vinyl! Everything okay?” Ditzy asked. Vinyl nodded, though she might’ve just been bobbing her head to the music, and walked off. Ditzy sighed and continued searching.

Suddenly, she heard a scream in the distance and jumped to her hooves. She flew as fast as she could before tripping on some unexpected wind that hit her and crashing in front of the one who screamed. “What happened? What’s wrong?!” Ditzy slurred as she jumps to her hooves, the hat drooping over her eyes. “Oh, just the worst possible thing!!!” A pony cried. Ditzy lifted her hat. It was Daisy at her flower shop, with Lily and Rose looking as equally horrified behind her.
They were staring at… a dead bee.
“Now who will pollinate our flowers?!” cried out Lily.
Ditzy sighed out of relief. She knew she couldn’t bring something back to life, but she did have another idea!

“Can I help?” Ditzy chirped in, fixing her hat. Rose looked over to her. “But, what could you possibly do?”
“You’ll see! I promise it’ll help loads!” Ditzy called out as she flew off, leaving the flower ponies very confused amongst themselves.
Ditzy was hatching a plan. Not a good one, but it was a plan.
“Now to find a beehive…” she mischievously whispered under her breath.

After flying up and down every tree she could find close by, she couldn’t seem to find any. Even when she smeared honey on her hoof. She gasped and panted out of exhaustion as she slid her hooves across the pathway through Ponyville. As she looked up, she could discern Applejack walking by. Applejack was a farm pony, she would know!

“Hey! Applejack!” Ditzy called as she runs over.
“Well, howdy Derpy! What can I do for ya?”
“WHERE ARE ALL… THE BEES?!?” Ditzy unintentionally yelled out of exhaustion and determination.
“The… bees?” Applejack looked at her with pure confusion, cocking her head to the side. “What the hay are you goin’ on about?”
“There used to be bees! Beehives! Everywhere! Where’d they all go???” Ditzy eccentrically explained.
“Oh. ‘Ah think some beekeeper ponies took quite a few down due to seasonal allergies and complaints from some townsfolk.” Applejack explained. “‘Ah wouldn’t know much ‘bout all that, though. ‘Ah suggest you go on and ask Fluttershy. If ‘ah can recall, she was talkin’ about this back when it happened.”
“Fluttershy! Got it!” Ditzy exclaimed as if she just got an order from an army general. “Any idea where she is?”
“Last I checked, prob’ly in her cottage. How come you’re so interested in this anyway, Derpy? No offense, but I never pegged ya for a nature-y type.”

Oh no! Ditzy thought. I can’t let her know my super-secret-plan!
“Uhhh… Yup! I love nature, actually!” she eventually blurted out, grimacing slightly as she waited for a response.
“Oh. Neat. Have a nice day, then.” Applejack replied as she walked off. Ditzy sighed a huge breath of relief and started to make her way to her next destination: Fluttershy’s cottage.
Ditzy had only been around there once, but she bet she could remember it. I mean, it did kind of stand out. She flew to the outer estranged parts of Ponyville and followed some trees.

Soon, Ditzy was deep into a forest. She looked around and didn’t recognize her surroundings. “Fluttershy?” she attempted to call out. Of course nothing answered. Until, Ditzy heard the slightest, the smallest, the saddest attempt of a buzz.

She followed the noise and found an injured bee on a rock, and above, she finally saw a beehive,
“Aww, did you fall out, little guy?” Ditzy asked the bee, carefully picking it up off its rock.
“Can we make a deal? If I bring you back to your hive, can I take one of your bee friends back to Ponyville with me?”
The bee simply buzzed slightly.
“I’ll take that as a yes!”

Ditzy flew up to the beehive, shoving her hoof in front of it. “In you go! … Oh, wait, that’s right, you can’t fly. Hm.” Ditzy thought for a moment. “Maybe I can try to alert them?” She tapped on the hive, but it was stronger than she realized and the hive fell down. “Oops!” she exclaimed. Almost immediately, a swarm of bees flew out and started rushing after Ditzy. “Oh no! That’s too many!”
Ditzy started to fly away as fast as she could before crash-landing head-first into a tree.

She lost consciousness for a few minutes but slowly opened her eyes as she lay on the grass, her head spinning.

“Ditzy? Ditzy?”

Ditzy could swear she could hear someone calling her name, but she couldn’t tell.
Soon enough, an orange pegasus stood over Ditzy, looking down at her.
“What are you doing?”

Author's Note

from now on, im going to try to make chapters longer and more fleshed out! hope you all enjoy the story :twilightsheepish: