It was a beautiful day out. Celestia's bright summer sun shone with its usual regal glory, bathing Ponyville and her citizens in a warm golden glow. The calm breeze accompanying the weather was perfect; just tame enough to offset the summer heat without becoming uncomfortable. The air was alive with dozens of summer scents and sounds; from the enticing smell of treats in the middle of baking over at Sugarcube Corner, to the excited shouts of fillies and colts playing in the town square, to the distant chirping of the cicadas. You couldn't ask for a more picturesque portrait of the season.
Ditzy Doo however, was particularly aware of the smell of daffodils, as her face was currently buried in a small patch of them, the rest of her body mangled up behind her. While far from her worst landing ever, it certainly could have gone better. Behind her she could hear the familiar giggling of her friends, her antics never failing to cause a few laughs at her expense. While she knew that they meant no harm, Ditzy was still grateful that her face was out of view, not having to worry about her friends spotting her bright red cheeks.
She took a moment to compose herself before getting up with an exaggerated start, using the opportunity to play out the scene a bit more for comedic effect. She slowly got up on her hooves, making sure to accentuate an apparent difficulty of keeping her balance. Bon Bon was the first one to get her giggling under control and ask the logical question,
"You OK, Ditzy?"
She swayed a few more times before slowly turning her head around to meet Bon Bon's gaze,
"Huh…who put that there?"
The joke wasn't particularly funny, but it didn't need to be. Her lazy eye combined with the slow head turn was enough to send Bon Bon and the others into stitches again. Lyra nearly lost her balance as she grabbed onto Golden Harvest to keep from falling over.
Ditzy couldn't help but put on an awkward smile at the sight playing out in front of her. She loved her friends, and was always willing to take a bit of harmless abuse if it meant making them happy.
Still though, it wasn't as if she was doing all these things on purpose, not exactly. While essentially filling the role of the practical joker among her small social circle, everypony in town knew that Ditzy was a little bit…different. She did her best to roll with the punches and put on an air of confidence and indifference, but still, she couldn't help but wonder if their laughter wasn't at least partially targeted at her.
Ditzy did her best to put the niggling thought out of her head as she joined up with her friends and took a seat with them on the large blanket draped over the grass. It was Sunday, which not only meant that there was no mail for her to deliver, but it was also the day that her friends had all decided to meet up for a picnic. Rainbow Dash had assured them that the weather would be perfect, and she hadn't been wrong.
The food spread out over the blanket was an odd mix. Everypony had their own personal tastes, which when gathered together didn't mesh all that well. Golden Harvest had brought some fresh crops from her garden, a bountiful mix of carrots, lettuce leaves, celery sticks, and sliced tomatoes, as well as a few loaves of bread for putting together sandwiches. Conversely, Bon Bon had brought a dazzling assortment of chocolates and candies from her shop, all precisely arranged by size, shape, and flavor in a variety of colored boxes. It was obvious that she had spent some time preparing the snacks, and she eagerly passed out samples to all of her friends.
Lyra on the other hoof simply brought a party size bag of hayfries. She seemed to have forgotten about preparing anything until the last minute, as she still had the plastic bag from the convenience store where she got them. No doubt Bon Bon had guilted her into picking up something on their way over as soon as she realized the mint mare had dropped the ball.
And Ditzy of course had brought a plate full of muffins. The first thing she checked after getting up from her crash landing was to make sure her delicious cargo was intact. And while they were a little beat up, the plastic wrap over the plate had held, keeping them from spilling all over the summer grass. She quickly plopped down next to Golden Harvest and immediately popped the biggest one into her mouth, chewing rather obnoxiously. Her friends knew better than to try and grab one off the plate: Ditzy had every intention to share, but her obsession meant that the whole plate would be gone within minutes without her even realizing it.
Lyra let out an exaggerated groan as she stretched, using the opportunity to kick her rear hooves up on BonBon's back, who was sitting more traditionally to her left. The yellow mare sighed with a look of disgust on her face but put up no protest, knowing any breath toward the cause would be wasted. Lyra grinned at her minor victory and opened up the large bag of hayfries, going back and forth between stuffing hoof-fulls of them in down her throat, and tapping Bon Bon on the shoulder with one of her propped up hooves, prompting her to pass a piece of candy.
Golden Harvest looked up from spreading some hummus on a celery and tomato sandwich at the scene taking place before her, realizing she was the only one attempting to maintain a healthy diet. "Lyra...how can you go back and forth from something so salty to something so sugary?"
Lyra stopped for a minute, hoof in mid scoop of more hayfries and mouth still stuffed with candy as she pondered for a second. She finally swallowed loudly as she came to a conclusion:
"Practice."
She seemed content with leaving her response at that and resumed gobbling up more fries. Golden Harvest sighed and shook her head, muttering something about such a diet being bad for your health, but the point was lost on Lyra, the orange mare's voice drowned out by her own loud crunching of hayfries.
Ditzy barely took time to breathe before she began sucking down muffin #4, half the plate already cleared. She was about to grab number five when she noticed a box of dark chocolates sitting by Bon Bon. Suddenly craving a change of pace, she ooh'd softly at the sight of the treats.
"Hey Bon Bon...think I can try a couple of those?"
Bon Bon grinned, "Of course Ditzy, that's what they're here for!"
She went to grab a few, but Lyra stopped her. "Hold on, I got an idea. Hey Derpy, catch!" Lyra then levitated one of the chocolates with her magic and tossed it towards Ditzy. Ditzy went to grab it with her mouth, but misjudged the distance a bit as the chocolate bounced off her forehead with an audible *thunk*
"Lyra!" Bon Bon scolded, bucking Lyra's hooves off her back, causing her to drop some of her candies.
"What?! It wasn't on purpose! Just tryin to have some fun!" The mint unicorn scowled at the loss of her hoofrest privileges.
Bon Bon ignored her and returned her attention to Ditzy, "Are you OK?"
Ditzy blinked slowly, taking a moment before smiling, "Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"
Golden Harvest looked at Lyra dryly, "C'mon Lyra, just pass her a chocolate."
"Its OK!" Derpy interjected, "this is kinda fun."
"Yeah Carrot Top!" Lyra sneered as she raised a few more candies, "Fun! Go long Derpy!"
Golden Harvest scowled and looked to Bon Bon to reel Lyra in, who just responded with a helpless, apologetic shrug. She had long since given up on trying to keep her marefriend in check, and at times like this had to take a moment to remember just exactly why she continued to constantly put up with her antics in the first place. Golden Harvest once again shook her head as she unwound a bit, and took a bite out of her now completed sandwich. Lyra took particular pleasure in any opportunity to address Golden Harvest by the pet name she had given her, knowing full well that she didn't approve. The orange maned mare did her best not to give Lyra any visual cues that her little nickname was getting just the response she wanted. Ditzy had a pet name as well of course, but she didn't mind 'Derpy' nearly as much as Golden Harvest did of hers. After all, Lyra had an odd habit of giving a pet name to all her close friends.
Well...everypony except Bon Bon. Because, really, where else can you go from there?
Ditzy snapped out of her thoughts when another chocolate hit her on the head. "C'mon Derpy, I thought you were into this!"
Ditzy grinned, "Sorry!"
The grey mare tried unsuccessfully another five times to catch one of the chocolates, Lyra becoming a bit more generous in her delivery with each pitch. Regardless, Ditzy just couldn't seem to get the trajectory right, and soon enough the ground around her was littered with treats.
"Geez Derpy!" Lyra giggled, "Those googly eyes of your must really need some work! I don't think I could've given you a clearer shot than that!"
Golden Harvest gave Lyra another cold stare for bringing up Ditzy's eyes, and Ditzy couldn't help but let a small smile escape in response. Out of all of her friends, Golden Harvest was the one most sensitive to Ditzy's issues, and never hesitated to come to her aid when someone called her out on it, regardless of who it was.
Lyra, however, was too busy rolling all over the grass to notice her visual chastising. "And...and now...you're surrounded by a candy graveyard! Oh man!"
Ditzy looked around her at the collection of chocolates, beginning to feel bad for wasting so much of BonBon's hard work on her account. She looked over at the cream colored mare. Bon Bon didn't look all that upset, more concerned with Ditzy, who at this point was starting to wear her discomfort on her face. Realizing this, Ditzy immediately perked up and let out a small laugh.
"It's OK Lyra, sometimes these things just need a little extra seasoning!"
She then gobbled up two of the closest candies, dirt and all, in rapid succession. Even with the taste of earth, Ditzy could still recognize BonBon's usual skill in preparing candies. They still weren't half bad.
Bon Bon gasped. "D-Ditzy! What are you doing?!"
"Well I can't let all your amazing work go to waste now, can I?"
She quickly ate another one.
Golden Harvest finally was able to get her jaw off the ground. "But...surely Ditzy, you can't be serious. They're covered in dirt!"
Lyra was still rolling on the ground in stitches, she gasped for breath before butting in "Says the one who brought nothing but vegetables with her! Where did you get all those from again?"
Bon Bon and Ditzy both let out a small giggle at the irony, leaving Golden Harvest flustered. "I'll let all of you know I clean my crops thoroughly before serving them to anypony, especially my friends!"
The three friends all shared a good laugh, with Golden Harvest blushing sharply before giving in to some slight giggles herself. Ditzy mentally breathed a sigh of relief. Her antics may have been a bit demeaning, but they had gotten her friends off of the subject of her eyes. Try as she might, she just couldn't help but be a bit sensitive concerning the subject. She knew Lyra meant no harm, but the fact that she still hadn't been able to compensate for her vision, even when attempting such a simple task just left her feeling...vulnerable.
And nopony was a fan of that.
Golden Harvest grabbed a few slices of lettuce, carrots, and a sampling of complimentary condiments, throwing them together hastily between two pieces of bread. She then slowly got up and sat down next to her friend, "Here Ditzy, have a little something healthy for a change."
Ditzy took a moment to examine the sandwich before taking it from Golden Harvest, no doubt checking it for tomatoes. Golden Harvest knew she didn't like them.
Which was a shame, because the selection today had been ripened to perfection.
Come to think of it, Golden Harvest knew a lot about Ditzy, not all of which as obvious as her dislike of tomatoes. Nopony else seemed to pick up on her subtle signs of discomfort whenever she was the butt of a joke, or when she made a fool of herself. They seemed to just pass it off as Ditzy being Ditzy. Golden Harvest could tell that there was more going on though. The subtle way she would tilt her head to the left, just for a second, when a particular comment struck home. The fraction of a second of pain in between hearing something said about her, and her beaming and totally rolling with it. Golden Harvest saw it all, and secretly hurt for the grey pegasus. Ditzy's pain made her hurt too, and she wanted nothing more than to embrace the mare when she saw her suffering like that and know that everything was fine, and that she was better than petty talk like that.
Golden Harvest suddenly blushed at the idea, realizing she was staring whilst lost in thought. Luckily, Lyra and Bon Bon were too busy bickering to notice, and Ditzy was engrossed in her sandwich.
Golden Harvest broke eye contact, instead staring at the ground. She wasn't sure why she even felt this way about Ditzy. It certainly wasn't pity, Golden Harvest never saw her "condition" as a condition at all. Sure she was clumsy, but everypony is now and then. Ditzy was just a bit more inclined to it than others. And her eyes? They never really bothered her. Yes, she laughed from time to time when Ditzy made a joke out of them, but that was just it. It was a joke. She never thought less of Ditzy because of it. If anything, she thought even more of her for being able to take it in stride like she did, even if it was mostly just an act.
She just didn't get it.
"Hey! It's good!"
Golden Harvest was stirred from her thoughts as Ditzy began wolfing down the sandwich she had made for her. The earth pony fiddled with her hooves, trying to get her mind back into reality and pull off an adequate response.
"I-I'm glad you think so, Ditzy. No tomatoes, just the way you like it."
"Aww...you remembered! Don't take it personally, I bet your tomatoes are awesome!"
The golden haired pegasus closed her eyes and smiled as best she could while chewing. Despite the combination being rather awkward, Golden Harvest still blushed at the compliment. Why though? she wondered. Why was she so sensitive to the clumsy pegasus? She was her friend, of course, and she respected all of her friends' opinions, and was thrilled to please them, but Golden Harvest never felt this way when she was complimented by Bon Bon or Lyra.
Actually, she couldn't remember the last time, if ever, that Lyra gave her a serious compliment. Golden Harvest was pretty sure it still wouldn't be the same, though.
And so that left Ditzy Doo. The clumsy pegasus who, for some reason or another, made her crazy.
Huh, Golden Harvest thought with a chuckle, that sure didn't come out right...
She smiled as she quicky snuck another peek over at the grey mare. Ditzy's crossed eyes were once again bright and carefree, cleansed of the discomfort unintentionally caused by Lyra. Now she was lost in her sandwich, only half paying attention to the conversation Lyra and Bon Bon were trying to pull her into.
Golden Harvest shifted her hooves uncomfortably and broke her stare once again, pretending to have noticed something of interest on her plate of celery. How is it that Ditzy Doo could cause her to feel so confused? She was a great friend, and Golden Harvest wanted to be there for her as much as possible. Yet the fact that she felt so strongly about making the grey mare happy was just perplexing. Not that she didn't want to care about Ditzy, it was just that the length to which she seemed to consider her friend's well being seemed a bit odd. And the lack of familiarity left Golden Harvest feeling...vulnerable.
And nopony was a fan of that.
