Chapter 1: The Sound of Rain
The soft patter of rain echoed in the small kitchen as the first drops of water hit the window pane. Dark grey clouds hovered ominously in the sky, heralding the raging storm that was to come as the night swallowed the day. A pegasus, her coat as grey as slate, sat at the kitchen table. A dozen or so different documents were laid out before her and each was adorned with a different letterhead, but each said the same thing: give us our bits. Ditzy Doo stared at each paper in turn as she punched calculations into her calculator and wrote sums on a notepad, pencil held between her teeth. The mare kept punching in the same numbers, adding up the same figures in the vain hope she had missed something, but she had not. At this point the grey pony almost wished she was a dumb as everypony in town seemed to think she was, then maybe she'd be too blissfully unaware to realize she was going to come up short again this month on her bills. She kept staring at the notepad in front of her, covered in scribbles, willing the numbers to change. The grey letters remained as they were however, uncompromising and final.
The patter of the rain was turning into a dull roar as tears escaped from the golden eyes of the grey mare and fell onto the pages before her, their sound eaten up by that of the downpour outside. Her vision was becoming blurry from tears when suddenly it became doubled. Ditzy cursed silently under her breath as her right eye drifted off to stare at the ceiling. She closed her eyelids and tried to concentrate on repositioning her rebellious eye as she breathed in deeply. After a few seconds she opened her eyes. Two images still presented themselves to her brain. This was too much for the grey mare to take and she slammed her forehooves onto the hardwood table and cried out in frustration. The soft clopping of hooves did not reach the pegasus as the sound was drowned out by the storm and her own worries buzzing inside her head. Ditzy Doo jumped as a light yellow hoof was placed gently on her shoulder.
"Oh, I'm sorry Ditzy, I didn't mean to startle you." Said a soft voice that Ditzy recognized as belonging to her best friend Carrot Top. "Are you ok?"
"I-it's alright, and I'm fine." Ditzy turned around to face her friend and gave a weak smile, trying to dismiss the doubt present on the orange maned earth pony who was staring at her intently. After a few seconds Carrot Top turned away and sighed deeply.
"So, how much do you owe?" She asked as she walked over to the fridge and opened it. Ditzy stared at her friend in shock. How did she know she was in debt? She never shared information on her finances with anypony, even her best friend.
"I don't know what your talking about." The grey pony said, trying to sound oblivious. The orange earth mare just turned around, a basket of vegetables now in hoof and a disbelieving look on her face.
"Ditzy please don't try to play dumb with me. I can see you have your bills on the table and judging by your eye acting up I can tell thing's aren't going so well." The lazy eyed mare could not deny her friend's logic. For as long as she could remember her right eye would take on a mind of its own whenever she got stressed, though on rare occasion even when she wasn't stressed it would disobey her anyway.
When Ditzy only looked down and sighed in response Carrot Top winced. "That bad huh?" Her grey friend nodded slightly and looked down at her hooves, eyes once again welling with tears.
"Why don'y you ever tell me these things? I can help you!" Carrot Top asked as she set down her basket on the kitchen counter, sounding a bit more demanding than she intended. "I have some extra bits in my savings account that I can-"
She was immediately cut off by an angry glare from Ditzy which startled her. "Do I look like a charity? I'll find a way to pay them all. If I can take on an extra shift at the post office I'll be able to pay my half of the rent this month at least." She went back to making calculations at the table but stopped upon realizing her vision was still off. She closed her eyes for the second time and was finally able to focus enough to set them both straight. When Carrot Top tried to speak up again she was cut off by another stare. "I can take care of myself AND my daughter just fine. I don't need handouts so don't mention it again."
Carrot Top groaned in frustration as Ditzy went back to her work, both mares silently fuming. For as long as Carrot Top had known Ditzy Doo the grey pegasus had been a quiet, kind, and very personal pony. However the yellow mare had learned that when pushed Ditzy had an impressive temper, and an annoyingly strong stubborn streak; both of which Carrot Top attributed to Ditzy's hard-flanked father.
"Another shift at the post office won't be enough and you know it! If you'd let your pride go for just a moment you'd see that you don't have to do this alone anymore!" Ditzy Doo's only response was silence and the scribble of her pencil. "Are you even listening to me?" The sound of the splashing rain and a cold shoulder were the only things her outburst received.
The gardener was about to renew her verbal assault when she noticed her friend's face. It had changed from wearing a look of grim determination and defiance to one of abject defeat. Carrot Top decided now was not the time for chastising the pegasus and instead trotted over to Ditzy and put a comforting hoof around her. The earth pony looked down at the page of calculations. Rent, food, clothing, Dinky's school, bank loans and various other expenses had been tabulated against the insufficient funds of Ditzy's paycheck. Carrot Top was taken aback for a moment, she had not realized how dire her friend's situation had become. After a lifetime of scorn and mockery Ditzy was unwilling to open herself up to more pain by asking other's for help and exposing her weaknesses, even with her best friend.
"At this rate I'll need to get a second job just to make end meet." Ditzy sniffed as tears ran freely from her eyes. She shivered slightly as her cries turned into sobs and she gave up trying to hold all her fears and worries in. She wrapped both her forelegs around her best friend and let all her emotion flow freely into the shoulder of the understanding earth pony.
For several minutes they remained locked together as Ditzy gave into her sadness. Carrot Top, while gently stroking Ditzy's straw gold mane, was trying to think of how to help her friend. The pegasus' words rolled around in her head as the yellow pony weighed various plans in her head. Suddenly something clicked and a light bulb went on in Carrot Tops brain; she had the solution to her friend's financial woes. She decided to wait until Ditzy was finished however before voicing them. After several more minutes had passed the flood of tears had finally been dammed. Ditzy pulled away, sniffled once more, and wiped her eyes of the remaining teardrops.
"I'm sorry about that."
"Don't apologize, that's what friends are for. Besides, I think I may have come up with a way for you to pay your bills!"
"Really?" Ditzy asked skeptically. She trusted Carrot Top, but didn't wish to cling to false hope; it had let her down too many times before.
"Yeah! Actually you came up with the idea yourself." Ditzy just continued to stare disbelievingly so Carrot Top continued on. "You should get a second job!" The yellow earth pony beamed at her brilliant idea, but Ditzy just sighed.
"I can't get a second job. I don't have any useful talents and I never went to college. Besides, what job would let me juggle taking care of Dinky and tending to my mail duties?"
"The Weather Patrol!" Carrot Top answered. "I have a customer on the Patrol, Cloudy Skies, and she said they were looking for new employees! You don't need any previous experience or a degree in anything, you just need to know how to fly. On top of that you'd only work in short spurts throughout the day, clearing clouds here and setting up storms there, so you could deliver letters in between breaks!"
The kitchen grew silent again once Carrot Top had finished speaking. Ditzy weighed the few options left to her. She could accept her friend's charity and admit she was a failure; this was something her pride would not concede to. She could go bankrupt and live on the street, but that was no life for her daughter to have and was not a choice worth considering. The only thing it seemed she could do was get a second job on the Weather Patrol. When her eyes stayed put Ditzy Doo was a decent flyer and she still remembered her basic cloud handling techniques from flight school.
And yet Ditzy was hesitant to agree to her friend's plan. She felt she barely saw enough of Dinky as it was, and if she took a second job who would care for her and show her the proper love she needed? Carrot Top of course would volunteer, but deep down Ditzy knew that wasn't enough for her daughter. The earth pony was her best friend, but Dinky needed, no, deserved somepony more than just a best friend.
However before Ditzy could pursue this new line of thinking the sky outside the windows lit up and a second later a tremendous crack rent the sky, shaking the small house to its foundations. From upstairs both mares could hear the startled cry of a young filly who had been shockingly woken from her slumber.
"MOMMA!" From one of the two bedrooms at the top of the stairs a foal’s cry pierced the night, her shrill voice nearly as loud as the thunder which had awoken her. Ditzy's motherly instincts kicked in a soon as she heard her daughter call out and she galloped up the stairs and into her daughter's room.
On the bed she found the distressed filly hiding under her threadbare blanket, her tiny horn the only part of her head visible above the shivering sheets.
“I’m here Dinky.” Ditzy calmly spoke as she slipped onto the bed next to the quaking bump under the blanket. She gently wrapped a hoof around her daughter and with the other pulled the blanket off, exposing her tear stained face. “It’s ok.”
Her safety blanket removed, the little unicorn flung her arms around her mother as tears streaked down her cheeks. Ditzy just held on to the scared filly and gently stroked her straw colored mane. A few minutes of soothing whispers and gentle rocking later Dinky had finally calmed down, the flow of tears stemmed by her mother’s gentle care.
“I-I’m sorry momma. I j-just got sc-scared.” Ditzy managed to stutter out into her mother’s soft and familiar chest.
“You don’t need to apologize, it’s okay to be scared Dinky. Everypony gets scared.” Ditzy explained. Dinky looked up into the matching gold eyes of her mother.
“Really? Even you momma?” The filly asked with disbelief.
Ditzy’s smile faltered an imperceptible amount. She envied her daughter’s blissfully ignorant view of her single parent. It seemed to Ditzy that all she did these days was worry, her life a mess of stress and fear. How could she balance being a single mom and a mailmare? Would she be able to pay her half of the rent on time? Could she afford to take a day off to spend with her daughter? Was Dinky happy? Could she give her filly a happy foalhood? The grey pegasus did not voice these concerns however, she just went on smiling.
“Yes dear, even me. The important part is not IF you get scared, but HOW you face your fears.” The young foal starred wide eyed at her mother in awe of her wisdom “And besides, you don’t need to fear the weather, because from now on your Momma’s going to be looking after the it, and I would never let anything hurt you- on the ground, or in the sky.” Ditzy had said it so calmly and without thinking- words meant solely to comfort her daughter- but as soon as the words were out Ditzy realized she had already made up her mind. She was going to join the Weather Patrol.
Dinky smiled brightly at her mother, her fears washed away by Ditzy’s reassurances. Suddenly a flash of light illuminated the room and the sky was rent by cacophonous crashing, louder than the one that had come before. Dinky jumped in her mother’s arms and quickly buried her head back in her mother’s soft chest.
“Shhh, it’s ok, it’s ok. You can sleep with me tonight, I just need to tidy up downstairs first. Come along.” Ditzy made to pull her foal off the bed, but Dinky resisted. She looked up, removing her face from her mother, eyes full of resolve and mouth set in a grim line.
“N-no. I’ll sleep in my bed. I c-can do this.” Her voice belied her fear, but she would not budge from her place on the bed.
A genuine smile lit up Ditzy’s face and her heart swelled with pride. Until recently Dinky and her mom had shared this bedroom. Dinky, upon learning none of her friends slept with their parents anymore, had asked to have the room to herself. Every night however Dinky had woken up crying, unused to sleeping alone and Ditzy had shared the bed with her daughter once again. For the filly to not only face her fear of sleeping alone, but also that of the thunderstorm, was a very brave act indeed.
“Alright muffin.” The grey mare kissed her daughter lightly on the head and then slid off the bed. “I’m so proud of you.” A weak but heartfelt smile grew on the unicorn’s lips at her mother’s compliment. “I’ll see you in the morning, but don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything. Goodnight.” With her final parting she slipped out of the bedroom, leaving the door open just a crack.
The grey pegasus quietly walked down the stairs to the awaiting earth pony and stood in front of her.
"Alright, I'll give it a shot."
While her daughter slept contentedly sleep did not come easy for her mother. As there were only two bedrooms in the house Ditzy slept on a makeshift bad she and Carrot Top had set up in the gardener's room. For hours the pegasus tossed and turned, sleep eluding her. She missed the warm lump of her daughter between her hooves that had been present for the last six years, ever since Dinky was born. From behind her head she grabbed a pillow and held it instead. It was a poor proxy for her little muffin, but it did the trick and eventually Ditzy's eyes closed and darkness took her.
Her dreams however were not as peaceful. A jumble of images invaded her sleeping mind. A tax collector yelling at her, her father slamming a door in her face, her daughter looking at her with wide eyes, asking for food Ditzy knew she could not provide.
And fire.
The hellish orange glow of the fire that had burned down her dreams of a normal life. The fire which followed her everywhere in the back of her mind, its roar screaming her guilt for the death of her fiancé.
The dreams played out all night and tormented her until morning's first light.
The sun was peaking over the mountains surrounding Ponyville, illuminating the still waking town. In contrast to the violent storm that had battered the town the night prior the sky in the morning was cloudless and calm. It was the perfect day for flying, which was why the Weather Patrol had chosen that day to train their new recruits in the basics of weather handling, from cloud bucking to blizzard prevention. The entire day was going to be gorgeous from end to end.
Ditzy Doo flew towards the Weather Patrol head quarters on the edge of town. Carrot Top had told her that there was a training session being held today for potential recruits and so Ditzy had decided to go.
As the grey mare neared the Weather Patrol headquarters on the edge of town she could see a small crowd of ponies milling about in a field adjacent to the building, and behind them what appeared to be a set of trials set up for hooves on instruction.
She landed at the edge of the group, few ponies giving her any notice, and sat on the cool grass waiting for their lessons to begin. She looked up at the sun and judged that it was nearly time to begin.
After several minutes the quiet murmur of the gathered pegasi, about two dozen in total, had begun to grow from to a nervous buzz. Ditzy held back from the crowd and just enjoyed the sun warming her coat and melting away her stresses. The butterflies in her stomach had settled and she was content to bask in the glow of Celestia's sun.
Finally, as the conversation reached a fervent pitch, their instructor for the day flew into the field, only a second shy of being late. All talk ceased and nervous anticipation hung thick in the air. Dtizy Doo gulped.
From the confident stride to the cocky grin to the narrowed, judging eyes the golden maned mare knew she wasn't going to have an easy time with this mare. She reminded the pegasus of the many bullies she had had to deal with growing up. As much as she'd like to just blend into the crowd as she usually did Ditzy knew she had to stand out and prove she was up to par with the instructor's expectations or else she would be shown the door. She felt her right eye twitch as it threatened to look around by itself but Ditzy concentrated for a few moments and kept it in check. She had to keep her nerves in check. For Dinky.
After sizing up the group for a good thirty seconds their instructor finally spoke.
"Welcome to the Weather Patrol training day. I'm Rainbow Dash."
Author's Notes: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it is the first of many many more! In regards to the Ditzy/Derpy debate I decided to go with Ditzy as her name and Derpy as a cruel nickname. I've never written a ship fic so please be kind but don't hesitate to give me constructive criticism or point out any mistakes. I am my own editor and I am not perfect so feel free to point out any errors you see. Thanks for reading!
