The Sound of Mind

by BloomBoy06

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Raindrops, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Rainbow Dash, Derpy Hooves
Length: 6200

There are times when everyone says to get out and think, but what if you've had too much to think about? More importantly for Ditzy Doo, how can all these thoughts pass when words fail?

Ditzy Doo has been teased once again, but in her traditional fashion, she puts off these taunts and continues on her route. The final delivery will bring her to somepony who can aid in her personal dilemma in a fashion that no therapist could provide.
Inspired by this meme and the original Ditzy Doo/Derpy saga, a concept I've had for at least months, and I hope you all enjoy the story.
[Although I recommend everyone read it, I'm labeling it teen to be safe because of certain themes (using Arbarano's story "Loyalty" as the basis for the rating)]

Published 2013-03-19 16:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-19 16:00:02 UTC

So Many Thoughts to Say...

Even though Ditzy Doo would always deliver packages and mail, she would always receive something in return: ridicule. Whether early or late, and some days, even on time, she would always be told off over something she had no control over.

Case in point, the other day. She had a few letters for Golden Grape, a resident of Ponyville, a town she always loved to visit. They were all addressed from somepony named Firecracker Burst; Ditzy would normally not notice return addresses of private residences, but she seemed to have remembered this path of letters from the months of what could only be described as love letters. Although she would never peek into anypony’s mail, she remained curious as to what its contents really were.

Normally, she would place any mail in the appropriate mailbox, but despite being a solo house, Golden Grape only had a mail slot on his front door. Ditzy approached the porch, and even though she placed the letters in the slot, she still sought to knock on the door. She was always somepony who adored conversation, and after a few fraps upon the door, she waited for a response.

Easily, she waited a minute, but she believed he must have been in the bathroom or something. Having waited long enough and not heard anything, she hollered toward the perceived inside, opening the mail slot, “Have a nice day, sir,” and proceeded outward toward her remaining route.

Before prepping her wings for a soft, low flight, the voice of a strong, yellow colt poked out from behind a slight door opening, “Thanks, mailpony.”

Ditzy retracted her wings, and peered around. She recognized this colt and vice versa, but she wanted to remind him of the formalities of friendship, “Sorry, Golden Grape, I hope you didn’t forget my name.”

“Of course I didn’t, Derpy.”

Ditzy wanted to retort, but his blue friend came out from the television room and intervened, “Hey Gold, is it old crosseyes again?”

“I tell you,” she replied, “I can see fine. The vision’s been corrected.”

That comment could have been spoken to the clouds themselves by the way Golden responded, “Yep, that’s her. Dumped an entire moving truck on Twilight last year.”

“And I’ve told you ever since, the company took partial blame for that. Sure I dropped the flower pot, but you can’t blame me nor Raindrops for all that. The balance for that thing was off from the start, and it only corrected itself after the piano fell.”

That didn’t stop the two so-called stallions from taunting in their manner, “Derpy, Derpy, so stupid and quirky.”

“Just stop it! It’s not like I’ve done any of the same actions,” yet she stayed grounded for reasons even she didn’t know.

She could tell those two were stirring up trouble to make fun of her again. They took advantage of the unwritten law of songs, do not interrupt, no matter how wrong or demeaning. Thus, they proceeded to chant their insults*:

Derpy, Derpy, with your eyes askew

Flight dismayed into a crash

Too often the skull was bashed

Derpy, Derpy, whatever should we do?

We should run her out of town

So we never see her ‘round

Derpy, Derpy, better leave us be.

Added to that was the sing-song laughter of dismay toward the grey pegasus, and she decided to use those wings to her advantage. Although she darted up toward the sky, she felt that even her fastest pace would remain outrun by their jest. To her, the lowest level of clouds was just enough. She debated a thick layer of fog in addition to mask the clouds to block their sight, but realized that the layer of clouds had been thicker than usual. Not to mention that a team of five pegasai would be needed to simply fog up a pond, so Ditzy figured finishing off her two remaining deliveries would make the best method to eventually avoid torment’s return.

A nice town-cloud niche of a house was the second-to-last destination of the afternoon, to an old friend she’d grown close to over the years. Ditzy rang the doorbell, which chimed its tune that Ditzy strangely didn’t recognize; perhaps the previous chime had lost is charm, but either way it provided a welcome distraction from the day. As she gazed around, her eyes – both of them – focused on the clearer upward sky. Despite the layer protecting the view of the ground, the sky above was a typically blue. The only reason Ditzy Doo skewed her head to the side was due to the cirrus clouds. It never made sense to have added clouds if nopony could see them. Ditzy had to wonder if –

“Glad to see both of your eyes are gazing off in the same direction,” a yellow-coated pony jested. Apparently, Ditzy had been astray in her thoughts, and failed to see a friendly pegasus on the other end.
Snapping back to the now open door, she replied, “Hey, Raindrops! What’s your new doorbell about, anyway? New one I take it?”

“Of course. It’s set to the opening chorus of ‘Winter Wrap-Up’.”

“Winter what?”

“Wait, were you here at the end of last winter?”

After some light thinking, Ditzy remembered, “I think that was the time I left Ponyville to fetch the southern birds.”

“Okay, that would explain it. Apparently, there was a whole impromptu number where everypony sang and danced to that tune. I had no idea what I was singing, so I just lip-synced my time on camera. Got featured on the news and all that. Sorry you had to miss out, but at least you returned with the southern birds.”

While her attempt at encouragement to her friend was appreciated, it seemed to spiral Ditzy into a crummy mood, “Don’t be sorry. I mean, it’s not like I was told the direction I was heading in was wrong. I had a compass they knew was defunct, yet they insisted on me using it anyway. I should thank the griffons who stopped me before I went too far North. On my journey back southward, THEY had the nerve to say that it was all MY fault!! Not just that either! I’m tired of when-”

“It happened again today, didn’t it?” the friend calmly intervened.

For a moment, Ditzy remained silent, but she knew Raindrops had been the only pony she’d vented such things out to before, “It was Golden Grape again. I know he’s not the only pony to have done it, but it keeps happening and happening and – well, you get the point. But if it wasn’t for flight camp…” Tears weren’t falling, but her friend wouldn’t have known from the clenched eyes of Ditzy’s anguish.

“There’s nothing you could have done,” soothed the pegasus, “It wasn’t your fault. Sorry for being abrupt in changing the subject, but was there a reason you came here for aside from telling me of your troubles?”

She’d nearly forgotten. Of course, when you’re trying to cope with hurtful memories, duties tend to fall low on that list, “My fault there, just a letter,” she mentioned, poking her head in the saddle bag briefly to pull out a letter.

Though it wasn’t packaged in any special envelope, Raindrops was quite pleased with the return address, “Thank, Ditzy! I’ve been waiting for a reply from the Wonderbolts for the longest time.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember you mentioning something about the academy and whatnot,” although Ditzy was still dismayed, her anger heavily diminished as she pondered the letter of her friend, “what is it about though?”

“If it is what I think,” as she ripped the envelope for its contents, “it’s their reply to my application to become a member of the official team that I sent after the academy.”

“How much does it cost to, you know, apply?” there was some hope in her voice at a favorable answer.

“Well, it was included in the cost of the academy, so…”

“Oh…never mind then,” came the sighing reply, realizing another potential opt-out to positive attention was out of her reach.

As the letter was first read, Raindrops vocally read the letter for the minor public audience:

Dear Raindrops,

We have taken the liberty of reviewing your post-academy application, and would like to congratulate you on what you have done during your time. Unfortunately, as you are well aware, numerous other candidates with a higher level of qualification. As great of a candidate as you would be at this time, the Wonderbolts are not in need of the services you would provideto us. We will keep your application on file in case new openings arrive, and we are grateful that you have advanced as far as you have in the ranks of the Wonderbolts.

Stay Strong,

Captain Spitfire

“Oh, well,” the weatherpony merrily sighed, “Guess I’ll just go to my day job again tomorrow.”

“Quite sorry about that, I feel bad for you, Rainy.”

“What’s there to be sorry about?” she asked in confusion, “I figured that I may not have had a shot anyway, but I figured I may as well, if for no other reason than to see how it goes. I’ll admit, it kind of pains me to see rejection, though it’s not as bad as when stallions do it.”

At least Ditzy could chuckle at that, “I suppose that’s true.”

“Any other deliveries before you’re done with the day? The sky’s starting to turn red from the sunset, shouldn’t that mean you’re done?”

Ditzy pulled the final two letters from her mail bag with her wings, “Just these two, both for Rainbow Dash.”

“Would it be too intrusive to know who’s sending her letters?”

“As long as you don’t open it,” Ditzy jested, “One’s from Soarin’ and the other’s from the academy itself. I figure the two must be related somehow, but I’m not sure how.”

“Ah, I don’t need to peek in, it must be her acceptance letter into the Wonderbolts, you remember all I've told you about what she did at the academy. She must have been admitted, though I’ll admit, Soarin’s letter’s got me a little curious. Has he sent anything before?”

“I’m not supposed to keep track of mail in that manner,” Ditzy admitted, but faltered, “though he doesn’t usually send out mail to many ponies. As for Rainbow, haven’t seen any mail aside from bills delivered to her; an occasional letter from Pinkie Pie here and there, but not many in return.”

“Must be because they always hang out together,” Raindrops pondered, “Rainbow always seems so tame compared to Pinkie, but at least her thoughts can fit in one sentence.”

“I suppose. You…wouldn’t happen to know where she is, though, would you? I was looking for her in the morning, but couldn’t find her, not even at her house.”

“Try again,” came the hopeful advice, “but I’m of no help either. Haven’t seen her at all today, said she was sick and didn’t come in with the other weatherponies. I suppose that’s partly why we haven’t cleared all the clouds, though.”

Taking the sign to look down as a cue, she noticed that the clouds, though growing lighter, still surrounded the downward direction, “I best be heading off to find her. I may just stay up here because I’ve already checked below in Ponyville, so I may as well check above Ponyville and in Cloudsdale.”

“But what if she’s elsewhere?”

“My general area doesn’t include outside those areas. I’ll wait until tomorrow if I can’t find her.” After prepping her wings, she saluted her friend and bid farewell, “I hope to catch you soon, but I must head out before supper time,” and the final waves of both parties made the departure official. Ditzy flapped her wings and flew onward to find the lost pegasus; It musn’t be too hard to find somepony with that many colors, she pondered.

Looking up to the sky, she noticed the cirrus cloud again. Looking diagonally upward, the new scene perplexed her. These weren’t the type of clouds that appeared on a habitual basis. What Ditzy saw was the thinnest type of cloud, yet she recalled the only instance she had ever been that high in the skies. As a filly, her parents brought her up to a different cirrus cloud, but as amazing as Ditzy believed it to be, she remembered her parents were much more somber about the visit. She never recalled the exact reason for the trip, but it had been after the recent passing of her grandfather. In retrospect, she regretted not having cared as much, but she gathered that it had been better in her parents’ minds that she remained as innocent as she had over the years.

The cross-eyed pegasus had to shake her head at the multiple paths her mind had crossed. She had been pondering the morbid thoughts too often recently, Golden Grape’s torment was not the only instance, nor the only pony to have done it. There were too many ponies who had put unjust blame and false blame upon her. The town hall had been in need of repairs well before Applejack’s send-off for the rodeo, and many calls for its restoration had been made well before that day. Rainbow Dash was actually the pony who gave Ditzy the position in the first place to help decorate the Town Hall. Sure, she had attracted a storm cloud, but at least she attempted to clear it.

Apologizing to most of the ponies didn’t work, Rainbow Dash was the only one to listen. Granted, most of the times, she didn’t reply, but at least the belief was moreso, ‘Derpy being Derpy’ as opposed to the ‘Derpy! Stop being Derpy! We Hate You!’ response that was typical on her end. She was grateful for what Rainbow did, but would be more grateful if she could find her. So she continued to scan the cloudscape…

…that was, until she got top-swiped by a multi-colored dart.

Author's Note

* To the tune of "Babs Seed", just a clarification here.

...Not Enough Ways to Express Them

Even though Ditzy had been briefly unconscious, she had been knocked out so many times that her pain now had only been a headache. Despite being hit, she felt an overwhelming need to apologize profusely, “Sorry, sorry sorrysorrysorry!” It didn’t matter who it would have been, she wanted to cover her bases.

In her excessive back-tracking, she almost forgot who else was part of the collision. A cyan pegasus lay upon the clouds that acted as dirt, dazed, but not confused. The rainbow pony did, however, appear more lost than usual, though Ditzy overlooked this detail. Although Rainbow was bruised, there was her physical pain of pride that was more present. Having opened her eyes with her head sideways, she saw that grey pegasus at 90-degrees, which prompted her to sit up on the cloud she had landed upon. She held out her left hoof, and twisted it in amazement, studying it for a good while. Slowly, she lifted her right hoof, and clicked it upon the opposing leg.

There was sound.
This wouldn’t be a special moment in life, but Ditzy seemed to notice how much it must have mesmerized Rainbow Dash. After placing the two forelegs back on the cloud again, she gazed out toward the grey pegasus’s direction. She tilted her head slightly to the right; though now confused, she managed to ask, “D-Derpy? Is that you?”

Ditzy took a sigh of relief, but replied with a hint of pity, “Well, normally, I prefer to go by Ditzy Doo, but I suppose at least you didn’t get amnesia from that hit. Sorry about that, though.”

“No, my bad,” snapped Rainbow. Realizing that may have come out a little too quick, she slowed her pace in her following words, “I… my mind hasn’t been on a straight path for a while now.”

“I’d say you had your head in the clouds, but that might be a little soft of an explanation.”

Dashie briefly smiled at the comment, “I suppose,” but her façade went back to confusion, “but, what exactly are you doing up here?”

“Mind me asking you that question first? I was looking for you in the first place, I had some…” she would have continued had she not noticed the cloud below Rainbow had become a little more saturated. The cloud being sat upon was gaining water from the minor tears of the typically steadfast pony. She hadn’t thought her tone was harsh, but could tell it struck something in Rainbow Dash, and softened her tone, “Are you alright, Rainbow? I’m not used to seeing you down like this.”

She at least heard the inquiry, but it took her a few sniffles before replying, “Yeah…I’m fine.”

“No. You’re not.”

“I said I’m fine,” she grumbled again.

“Trust me, you’re not.”

Now, the multicolored pony showed the most of her red, “HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?! I SAID I WAS FINE!!”

Taken aback at first, Ditzy mumbled, “I’m familiar with this.”

“But HOW?” Rainbow screeched on the verge of tears, “You barely know me, how would you know what I’m feeling now?”

Taking a deep sigh, Ditzy took the most profound step she recalled ever making, “You may be right, I might not know what you’re dealing with, but how can I know for sure if you never tell me what’s got you so high on yourself.” Although the cyan mare didn’t reject the claim entirely, she winced at the idea of revealing anything haunting her. “I promise I’ll never tell,” coaxed Ditzy, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye; you’re sanity deserves secrecy.”

Rainbow may have been dismayed by whatever was troubling her, but she seemed most shocked that somepony wanted to listen to her side of the story, “Why do you want to know, anyway?”

“If there’s anything I’ve learned from talking to my friend, Raindrops, it’s that a good vent can help blow steam.”

“You aren’t going to tell her about this, are you?” Rainbow snapped.

“I won’t, I Pinkie promised,” Ditzy reminded, “It does, however, sound like you’re a little hesitant to tell the story.”

“It’s…a little… embarrassing,” she managed to squeak out.

“Not as embarrassing as crashing and destroying town hall.”

Although Rainbow’s eyes remained wet, she still had to put a smile on, “The town hall was defunct well before we tried sprucing it up, no blame on you.”

“But I’m sure you get my point, we each have events we wish would be rewound by magic or something. Too bad we’re just pegasai, though.”

Rainbow Dash knew that was only a point of joke, and even though she had doubts as to how the situation would play out in the aftermath, she needed to tell her side of the story to a neutral entity, “Alright, I’ll tell you. I want to ask a seemingly random question before I go on though, have you heard of me having gone to slumber parties.”

At least she warned her of the off-kilter nature of the question, “Well, I’ve never heard of any stories on your end, though I can gather that’s where your story’s going to start.”

Phewf, at least I can start from the start and not from the point of the incident, sighed Rainbow Dash, and thus, she presented her side:

“Well, Twilight held a slumber party about a year or so ago and invited my other friends as well. Rarity decided to invite Golden Grape and whoever his friends were at the time. Fluttershy initially rejected those old gold boy bands, and I thought it was weird to have agreed with Fluttershy, but we were alone. Big Mac was with those four guys, so Applejack had to be for it. Pinkie Pie, of course, used her, ‘the more the merrier’ argument she always uses for her parties. I tried reasoning with Twilight, but she had no opposition to it, since he ‘hadn’t done anything.’ Yet.”

“Trust me,” Ditzy interrupted, “if you knew what he did, Twilight would have some reasons.”

The cyan pegasus took this intermission from the story in perplexity, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ditzy felt obligated to provide a reason since the break was upon her blame, “Golden Grape’s pestered me ever since I moved to Ponyville. For example, he was apparently the one who gave me a bad compass for Winter Wrap-Up that led me north. Even today, I’m still teased for that day at flight camp. He’s an earth pony and even he reminds me of that day; must have a pegasus friend or something, I was the victim no less. The way my eyes have been has been the ridicule of years.”

“But. Not. Like. This! Rarity insisted we play spin the bottle, and by this point, I was the only one reluctant to even stay there. I got guilted into their lousy game, but I at least knew how to play, not like I haven’t played party games like that before. I took the first spin and the bottle landed pointing to Pinkie Pie. My first dare to her was to eat a page from one of Twilight’s books – though I at least told the bookworm she could choose which page. She picked a random page from some romance novel, and Pinkie chomped it up. Must have been one Rarity loved since she darted to the book to see which one it was. Sure enough, it was some cheap romance. She raged about it because page 69, ‘where the most intriguing events happen’ in the story. Pinkie just shrugged it off by saying ‘At least it’s not the only one,’ but Rarity held a grudge against me for the night.

“Next Pinkie spun the bottle, and after a few rotations, it landed on Rarity; ‘karma’, I told her, ‘anger against useless stuff won’t work.’ I’m sure she would have magic-struck me with something if Pinkie didn’t intervene. Pinkie said that she hadn’t seen Rarity with Golden Grape, her boyfriend at the time, so her dare was to kiss the colt. Rarity thought it absurd, despite having no problem kissing him upon arriving to the party. Anyway, I had a fine laugh when it happened, and actually for a few minutes afterward. That was, until I realized the bottle spun and faced me.

“Rarity then decided that my dare would also be to kiss somepony else. She worded it funkily, though, saying that I shouldn’t kiss anypony she hadn’t dated yet. Quickly – and foolishly – I knocked out all the guys there, and with as much quickness and foolishness, I pecked Applejack on what I presumed to be her lips and for presumably more time than Rarity’s moment. My friends joked with me, saying how they didn’t know how I loved mares. I defended myself, saying how I thought Rarity dated all of the guys. Many laughed, but I thought that problem would be over after that night.

“I suspect that it must have been in Rarity’s diary because a week after that, the Foal Free Press ran its ‘Gabby Gums’ articles. There were two against me; the first one focused on my trip to the spa. I didn’t want all of Equestria knowing I was a sissy, so I snatched up every copy I could, and even that wasn’t enough. I’d like to believe the story after that was the dirty raisin’s doing; little fillies that young don’t even need to know such a story. ‘How’s the Rainbow Taste?: Dashie’s Uncouth Life.’”

Even after the constant explanation, it was the mention of that article that let the waterfall commence again, “I…how…why? I mean, I know why, but over the time since then, they began spreading rumors that I was dating everypony; stallion or mare, adult or - to some sickos – foals, and when…when they ran out of ponies, they went to objects.” Rainbow seemed the most furious at her words to follow, “I just bought a watermelon last summer! A WATERMELLON!! And they still had the nerve to ship me with it!”

“Wow,” gasped Ditzy Doo, “Everything but the kitchen sink.”

A prolonged sniffle preceded her next statement, “Yeah…about that…”

“Even the kitchen sink?”

“Even the sink. That was actually one of the first jokes, so no one couldn’t use that saying with me.”

Ditzy had let the rainbow maned pony’s story run out and waited until a lull in the tears. By this point, if the cloud the depressed pegasus sat upon was a mood ring, it had turned black by depression, though not enough tears had been shed to create an oversaturated air platform. Ditzy sought to make the situation better, “Remember what I said, about a similar situation.”

No words protruded from Dashie, but a nod was all Ditzy needed.

“Well, you see my eyes?” Although confused, the listener nodded again – though lightly this time – and Ditzy Doo continued, “My eyes had been straight when I was young, but because of my glasses, I had always been ridiculed since I enrolled.

“Granted, I was always clumsy, but at least they only attributed it to my name, ‘Ditzy’ Doo. As we were practicing at the cloud coliseum, we were doing flying laps, but… I was rammed into the wall by one of my bullies.”

“Is that how the eyes are like that? Clouds are soft, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, but I was too shocked, and I fell down to the ground like Fluttershy had during your race. One of the teachers darted after me, and managed to grab me halfway, but that only managed to stop my fall briefly halfway down. I crashed head-first, no butterflies for me, but my next waking moment was in a hospital room. Apparently, that hit had misaligned my eyes, which, for some strange reason, corrected my vision so I didn’t need glasses anymore. Raindrops was my first friend to visit, and in my bed, I had to joke with her about how it all seemed like a near-death experience; that, though, was when the doctor told me about the incident. He basically said to thank the teacher. A fall from coliseum height, which could have even been deadly to even an adult, would have splattered a foal along the ground. By being halted halfway, that softened my crash to dazed concussion at worst. I suppose a naturally thick skull helps as well.”

At first, the words didn’t help, Dashie, “You were lucky, so what?”

Now, Ditzy had to cement her argument, “Yeah, sure, I was lucky to be alive, but at times, I didn’t feel so lucky. When I first arrived back at school, even when the students were warned about the condition, one of the first things they did was to give me nicknames. I overheard a few in class: crosseyes, skewball, and a heard a few others. The one I missed ended up being the one constantly used at the playground. Left eye up, right eye down, they said my eyes were ‘derped’, and thus, the ‘original’ name of ‘Derpy’ stuck. No matter how hard I tried to shake the nickname forced upon me, it still remained. Even as I grew older, the blame put upon me spanned beyond the eyes.

“I was blamed for everything! They gave me a broken compass and blamed me when I went north to fetch the southern birds! You remember that town hall fracas I hope! I was told where to put the items on the moving truck, and even though I mentioned my concerns for the placement of those items, they never listened. When all those items fell on Twilight, guess who was blamed? ME!” she never teared up, but with each word she spoke, it became more deflated, “They find a blame for everything, even…even something that doesn’t exist. Apparently, I got blamed for ‘ruining Applejack’s episode’. How do I steal an episode in real life? Being blamed for fruit stand collisions, broken mailboxes, even holes in the ground – whether dug or by hoofprints – they’ve found a way to put blame upon me.”

Rainbow assumed Ditzy was going to conclude her story by some other ending statement, but a prolonged moment of silence prevented any explanation. She wanted to respond, but wanted to take in those words as well. Although Ditzy had been in a different class, the two had been the same age. As simple of a concept as it stood, Rainbow stared back upward toward the wisp of a cloud in the sky. She took a few lengthened breaths in pondering before asking one word, “How?”

Ditzy forgot she had been talking to somepony other than Raindrops about her problems. She wasn’t used to having questions asked about her stories, so naturally, she had to inquire about the question, “How what?”

“How have you stayed alive all this time?”

The question easily offended Ditzy, “‘How have I stayed alive?’ How am I here?! You may as well ask why I haven’t killed myself! That sounds like the stupidest thought to ever come across.” But as Ditzy realized her friend had drooped as a pancake on the cloud, she figured there must have been a reason for asking that.

Dashie pointed upward with her left hoof in the direction of the art in the sky, “Do you have any idea what a ‘cirrus salute’ is, Ditzy?”

In an attempt to understand, Ditzy landed on her stomach, next to Rainbow Dash, and pointed in the same direction, “Like this?”

It may have been brief, but Rainbow’s laughter provided a necessary warmth, “Not quite. Haven’t had to deal with it at all, have you?”

“If I have, I don’t remember it.”

“Well…It’s a tradition for pegasai. When a close friend or family member dies, they usually climb up to the highest level a pegasus can fly and create a cloud worthy of honoring a that member.”

“Well, that explains why my family and I went all that time ago; I was never explained why we went that high up. We were honoring my grandfather. All I remember my dad saying about it was about how wide the expanse of clouds had been at the time.”

“Yeah,” sighed Rainbow Dash, “The farther out the clouds cross the skyline, the more ponies who have designed a tribute to that pegasus.”

“So I presume you were creating one for somepony.”

“Yep, myself.”

“WHAT!!! You’re the Element of Loyalty, how have you even considered this in the first place!?”

“And thus, why I ask you how you’ve made it through all these years. I mean, there are days where it feels like my ‘elementness’ is my only motivation to play along, but that doesn’t seem to be enough nowadays. I want to show my friends I care, but this isn’t something I want to bring up with them.”

“Have they been mean to you?” Asked Ditzy as she put her right wing in a soft hug around Rainbow Dash.

“Well, I’ve been too shy to bring it up to them. They teased me at the start, and I haven’t felt comfortable enough to bring it up to them since.”

Although the grey pegasus could never understand the emotional state of Rainbow, she at least had a point to bring up to her, “But you don’t just give loyalty, you evoke loyalty. Maybe you’re just too ashamed of the event to realize it, but seeing how the other elements are your friends, they should remain loyal to your true self. They’ll never listen to tabloid rumors if you’re honest with them and tell your side. That’s how Raindrops has been my friend because I’ve told her about my problems. You’re the one who’s lucky; you have those five friends to confess to. I just have one. It grows tiresome every now and then to tell the same problems to just one pony.

“But the most important fact I should tell you is that we all have the choice who to remain loyal to. That’s why I’ve stayed loyal to life, as much as it’s pained me. For as many ponies that would be glad I was gone, there’s at least five who wouldn’t know what to do if I departed. Lyra wouldn’t have anypony else to listen to her idea of anthropology, Bonbon wouldn’t have somepony to release the stress Lyra brings to her, Raindrops would lose her friend, Time Turner wouldn’t have a valuable companion, and, I guess you wouldn’t have anypony to vent out to.”

Rainbow didn’t know what to do first, there was still an air of confusion as to whether she was in Equestria or the heaven of the afterlife. Ditzy seemed to notice the façade, and decided to clear the only black cloud in the sky, below Dash herself. Below was the sight of Ponyville itself, Carousel Boutique, Sugarcube Corner, Sweet Apple Acres, every landmark across the land remained unchanged.

This time, Rainbow Dash simply smiled and said, “Thank you, I needed to talk to somepony,” and then proceded to thrust her forelegs around Ditzy Doo.

The embrace hung on with hefty strength, but Ditzy had to briefly interrupt the sentimental moment, “Don’t hug me just yet, you’ve got mail to open first.”

The cyan pony obliged, and would have questioned the sudden shift in message had she not seen who wrote one of the letters, “Soarin’?” She snatched the letter from the Wonderbolts athlete and read its contents, but the tone of the letter perplexed her:

Hey Rainbow Dash,

Spitfire told me about the last letter she sent, and I suppose it’s my turn to talk. Since you need someone to tell you the basics, I’ve volunteered to be in that position. Call it a date if you want, but you should probably come before it becomes official. Look forward to my time with you - hope Friday at the Blooming Daisy for a noon lunch will work – both now and in the future.

Best of luck,

Soarin’

Any emotions Rainbow had were placed on hold as she contemplated the letter, “Why would Soarin’ send me this? It seems to be the most informal date invitation, not to mention the most abrupt.”

“I was gonna give you this letter first,” Ditzy explained, placing the Wonderbolts letter in her friend’s hand as if handing fine glassware, “but you had to snatch the letter from the colt before the organization. So, you like him or something?”

Rainbow ignored the quip and slowly opened the simply ornate envelope which was from the team of her dreams. She read the letter, though, unlike Raindrops, this reading was silent, so Ditzy had no way to know if the words were great or traumatic. After a minute of waiting for a response, Ditzy asked, “Rainbow, what is the letter about?”

There was no need for a reply; she could see the tears swell up again. Although Rainbow Dash simply mouthed the words, it was all Ditzy needed to know everything was going to be fine, I….got….in. She then thrust both wings open and held tight to Ditzy. The klutzy pegasus felt water down her coat, but she couldn’t care less right now, she was happy for her friend, and wanted to comfort her in the aftermath of the revival of opportunity. Long minutes passed between any exchanged words, and as Rainbow’s sobs lessened Ditzy felt a need to sing a lighthearted tune*:

Dashie, It’ll be okay,

And I’ll be there, for your coming days.

To see where you might go

To see how you will do

No matter what’s been through

You can show them you’ve come anew

A few more sniffles mellowed out as Rainbow grew more confidence. Again, she graced her friend, “I needed that.”

“You know what else we need to do? Clear away the cloud. As splendid as it looks, we don’t want ponies to think one of their own has perished.”

“I suppose not,” Rainbow replied, “Maybe it was too light to say my head was in the clouds, but I think it was safe to say that my mind was beyond spaced out space.”

At least Ditzy had to laugh at that, “Come on, astronaut Dash, we need to retrieve the cloud comrade.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Dash saluted, and went outward to clear it away. Even then, she left with a stronger frame of mind, ironically from the most fragile of ponies. Although the night seemed to have arrived early, the blood of the sunset had vanished from the skyline, and Luna’s serenity was present. After clearing the cloud, Ditzy noticed that Rainbow had an invigorated energy in her. Although she tried singing the tune to herself, Ditzy was glad to overhear her friend’s internal melody**:

My life is gonna be awesome

With all the colors that’ll shine

‘Cause We know for absolute certain

That everything is gonna be fine.

Author's Note

* Tuned to Celestia's Ballad
** From Life in Equestria/Morning in Ponyville, take your pick