//------------------------------//
// 2- In which the actions of Derpy Hooves (however honorably intended) are of an imperiling sort 
// Story: That Shrinking Feeling 
// by Professor_Blue 
//------------------------------//


~2~

In which the actions of Derpy Hooves (however honorably intended) are of an imperiling sort


Rainbow Dash flew above the canopy of the grass, looking out to the surroundings of Skipper Meadows. True to the estimation of Twilight, their carefree walk from Ponyville had now become quite the long trek to cover. It was then that Rainbow had a small imagining moment- if all her friends were pegasi like her, how useful that would be in alleviating their dilemma. That would be, assuming Twilight as a pegasus would also be able to perform magic. As she came to think of it, if Twilight was not a unicorn they wouldn’t be in their mess in the first place. Partially annoyed by her mind’s diatribe and satisfied with her observation, Rainbow flew low again to the collapsed backpack and three other ponies.

“Ponyville is this way.” said Rainbow Dash, hovering in front and pointing her hoof. Rarity began following towards Dash, but Fluttershy began considering their course.

“How will we know we’re still headed in the right direction?” she said.

“I had a compass in my pack, but I don’t think it’ll be much use anymore.” replied Twilight, looking at the pack and the immovable books inside. The compass was visible in the darkened opening of the bag, and it was larger than the four of them put together. They all looked around at the forest of fine green- thick as the Everfree, no landmarks could be seen through the foliage. It would be easy to get lost without a good continual indicator of direction. A thought occurred to Twilight. “Rainbow, if you just hover above us, we can just follow you back to Ponyville.” she said with a smile.

“That’ll work,” said Dash, excited at the leaderly opportunity. “C’mon!” She flew back up to the tips of the grass and began flying at a slow pace, aiming herself towards the nearest building of Ponyville. She looked down and saw her three other friends, still quite visible through the colorized shade cast by the greenery, and beginning on their own way following under her shadow. In all irony, Rainbow figured that while flying high over them, the expression that they ‘all looked like ants’ was so perfect that she would have to use it as a witty joke sometime in the near future, before they managed to return to proper size. Quietly below her, she could hear Twilight and the others starting to converse some more, which let her small comfort in how quickly they were adjusting to a happenstance that lesser ponies would have lost their heads over. The thought made her realize how quickly she got so angry with Twilight. Justifiable perhaps, she reasoned, but definitely not a necessary anger. With little else to do and nothing but thoughts to distract, she began theorizing possible social situations which she could use for the ‘ants’ remark.

“Hel~looo? Rainbow Dash, anypony home?”

Derpy Hooves was perched on a window of Rainbow’s house, peering inside hoping to spot a blue pegasus. With no success, she lifted her hooves away and began hovering away from the misty home. Her hooves had made two small indentations into the pillowy surface of the window sill- two amongst about a dozen others made into similar window sills by similar attempts to look inside.

“Aw, nuts.” The gray pegasus said to herself, “She promised I could help her with the drizzle today, and then she doesn’t even show up!” To her own mind, a countering opinion said that perhaps Dash had been delayed somehow, by another chore or a favor. “Maybe she forgot…” she said aloud in rebuttal. The possibility silenced both her voice and thoughts sadly. She began flying away from Rainbow’s house and back towards Ponyville, mulling over her disheartening conclusions. Her thoughts were such a thorough engagement that Derpy lost attention to where she was going and plowed gently into a low lying cloud, impaling her head into the rounded folds. She pulled herself out with a pop! and shook herself, clearing the evidencing droplets of moisture off her face. An ever-so spiteful expression shaped her mouth and misaligned eyes with a sudden idea.

“Rainbow’s not around for the rain.. Maybe I’ll just do it myself!” she continued in thought with the reasoning that maybe if she did a good enough job of the rain today, then maybe Rainbow Dash would feel all the worse for having forgotten in the first place! It would serve the double purpose of doing the work Dash had neglected, and help her be a better friend.
Her logic was infallible.

Derpy flew higher, using her knowledge and speed to its utmost to push around some smaller rain clouds into a bigger one, making it grow in size and deepen in shade. She sped this way and that, gathering up other wispy little puffs and rather flimsy clouds, which all solidified into a much stronger, more pronounced raincloud. In no time at all she had constructed a grand looking cumulus with a thick grayish blue look to it, sized much larger than a barn. Pleased with her hoofwork, she began pushing it upwards towards the center of Ponyville. However the edges lagged and bended as she pressed into it, and eventually it buckled:  as gently as cookie dough, the cloud split into two smaller rainclouds. The one half she tried to stay with, while the other drifted on its own accord before gently it slowed to a stationary position high over the town square.

“Oh. Well, that shouldn’t be a problem.” Derpy said to herself.

Initially she tried to push the two halves back together, but the small static charge of their lightning potential would have none of being reunited and repulsed whenever they neared each other. Repeating her efforts from earlier, she managed to revive the two sub-sized clouds into two large ones by adding and mixing smaller clouds. And again, trying to move them by pushing against the middle only caused them to split. Within a few more minutes, she had both successfully made seven large rainclouds (pushed quite far from one another) and successfully convinced herself that none of them were going to be a problem.
The Town Hall clock struck the hour and Derpy realized that she’d better start the precipitation post-haste. She hopped on top of the nearest cloud and gave it a few bounces from the top, initiating a pressure that immediately began pouring water out of the rain cloud, as if it were a bowl that suddenly became a colander. The sound of the rain was a great confirmation for her effort, and Derpy sped off to another cloud, instantly making for some more hopping to continue starting the rain.
By the time she initiated the fifth cloud, she looked at how much water was being disgorged, and how wet the parts of town and surrounding areas were that lay in their effective shadow. She jumped up and down, starting the cloud but with a slower intention. It occurred to her that perhaps she had prepared too much rain. Then it struck her: oh yes, she had. She was supposed to take one large one and bring it down to a lower level –a two pegasi job- so that it dispersed and flattened out. Not keep big ones high up- that would both bring heavy glob-like droplets and make the rain more uncomfortable, and also make the rainfall’s coverage patchy.

“Whelp, Dash says you gotta finish what you start…” she said aloud, “Besides, since when did a little rain hurt anypony?”

Over the meadow, rain quickly faded from small falling mist into thick droplets that plummeted as tenderly as ping-pong balls. An enormous bead of water struck Rainbow in her left wing.

“Gah!” she exclaimed. The impact was only as painful as a large water balloon, but it was as unwelcome as it was unexpected. She was sent spinning towards the grassy ground, barely able to remain stable as she crumpled face-first into the forgiving bloom of some clover, a short distance away from the others.

“Rainbow!”

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy, Rarity and Twilight quickly rushed nearer to Dash’s crash.

“Look out-!”

Rainbow was cut off by the plop of another raindrop splattering directly in between her and her friends. The droplets of rain exploded against the ground, throwing hoof-sized globules of muck in all directions whenever they struck. Rainbow jumped out of the clover, looking upwards. With a yelp of surprise and a splash! Fluttershy was suddenly entirely wet and half covered in mud. Another droplet landed directly beside Twilight, and the force of water pushed her against one of the blades of grass, and speckled with grime similar to Fluttershy. Rarity shrieked and ran at the sudden barrage of what appeared to be her worst imaginable nightmare come to life; dirt grenades wherever the rain impacted. Not taking the time to have a more logical reproach, Twilight and Fluttershy ran after her trying to avoid the rain, and Rainbow Dash sped off after them through the bristling grass. Color began to fade slightly as the sky became foggy with the falling of water, and clouds above began to disperse over much of the sky, shading the world in a softer and fainter light. They were cast into darkness as they ran on, the height of the grass becoming taller and throwing more shadow. Their visibility became like night, against the cool sky’s illumination, the rain and the thickening forest of the meadow.
As Rarity ran, a droplet threw a few small blotches of dirt on her. She screamed again at the cold, damp and unwanted sensation on her flank, and she sprinted all the harder. What came into view startled her even more, and she locked up her front hooves to stop. Sliding forwards nearer and nearer through the darkened loam of the ground, Rarity finally slowed to a standstill on the thinnest edge of the mud patch she avoided earlier, the front of her legs partially buried in the bunched up edge of mire. Twilight’s mis-stepped hoofprint could still be seen in the shape of the mud, but it was fading as the rain pelted down, melting the shapes of the mud slowly into a soggy puddle that was gathering depth.

“Aaah! Yuck!” she jumped away and stomped her hooves. The motion shook the mud off, its meniscus peeling easily. Before Rarity could even muster a reaction to how happy she was with removing the filth so quickly, Fluttershy careened into her knocking both of them off center, and Twilight ran into them both.

Rainbow Dash flew above and witnessed the spectacular sight of all three ponies flying through the air and into the dark miniature pond with a mucky splash. Rarity popped out of the sullying water with a loud gasp and a wail, followed by the two others.

“Gah! MUD!”

Rainbow landed near the pond and watched for a moment as they struggled to get their bearings at a little less than neck’s depth in the thick black water, with mud still over their eyelids and inhibited from seeing into the poor night-like visibility the puddle’s hollow formed. She opened her mouth to call them towards her, but a rustle interrupted her thought.
She looked behind and suddenly leapt out of the way as a wild snake appeared out of the tall grass, with its mouth open wide and lunging at her.

“Rainbow Dash! Where are you?” called Twilight’s voice. Rainbow ascended and hovered over the puddle. She glanced down to see the disoriented unawares of the lavender unicorn, one eye partially open and trying to seek her out, and her vague mud-covered shape being the her only visibility against the puddle. “Where’s the shore!” Rainbow Dash watched the snake look directly back at her- it seemed like it was having just as difficult seeing in the lack of light as she was.

“Twilight! Rarity, Fluttershy, stay in the water, there’s a snake!”

“A snake? Where?!” they all became even more agitated but not daring to run without being able to see. Twilight and Rarity hugged and trembled in fear as Fluttershy stood out.

“What does it look like?” said the other pegasus.

Dash squinted at the shadows, looking at the snake whose camouflage fit well. Its tongue flicked in the air.

“It’s really dark gray…” said Rainbow, “And has black ziggy-zag line from its head to its tail.”

“Is it poisonous?!” said Rarity, quivering.

“How should I know?!” retorted Dash.

“Does it have a color or shape on its head?” replied Fluttershy, tranquil despite being unable to see nor speak directly towards Dash. Twilight and Rarity calmed at Fluttershy’s serene voice through the sound of the rain catching on the tall grass around and above.

“It looks like a little V-shape pointing towards its mouth.” replied the blue pegasus.

“Is it poisonous!?” Rarity asked again, grabbing Fluttershy with a shake. The snake began approaching Rainbow into the puddle. She gasped and flew closer to the edge of the puddle, away from being directly over her friends. The snake followed her movements, not approaching any closer to the three huddled ponies.

“That sounds like it’s a common Field Adder.” remarked Fluttershy.

“What do I do?” said Dash, still hovering continuously away from the snake. It slithered to the side and began crawling up a small leafy plant, quickly approaching her height. “It’s following me- I can’t distract it forever!”

“We can run! Then Rainbow can catch up to us after she loses the snake.” said Twilight, finally managing to wipe the mud from her eyes. She began helping Rarity with the sludge over hers.

“No!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “The snake would feel us running through vibrations in the ground.”

“Why doesn’t it feel us now?”

“Because we’re in water.” noticed Twilight. The three ponies in the puddle watched as Rainbow Dash backed away from the reptile’s snaking through the grass, supporting itself by tightly clenching the stalks while trying to approach what it saw to be the tiny colorful morsel of Rainbow Dash. Twilight noticed the flick of its tongue and an idea abruptly became clear. All of a sudden, the snake jerked forwards in another leap towards Dash. Rainbow shot upwards and was hit by a smaller raindrop that had managed to descend through the tall grass. The snake fell down to the puddle’s shore, its attack failed. Rainbow re-gathered her stability and hovered, looking down at the snake that seemed to have lost focus of its prey.

“Rainbow Dash, head down here! Hurry!” called Twilight.

“What?” 

“It can’t smell you if you’re covered in mud! Jump in!” Fluttershy smiled at Twilight’s cleverness and rejoined.

“C’mon Rainbow, in the water!”

Dash held back, looking at the vague shapes of her muck-covered friends in the puddle and the snake looking around and unaware, directly below her. She frowned, grit her teeth and flew down to the puddle, slowing just before she contacted the surface, then dropping the tiny distance into the water, past her head with her eyes pressed shut. She bobbed back up and was pulled close by Fluttershy, who wiped her eyes clear. The four friends watched as the snake sniffed the air with its tongue, confused at how the delectable scent of bite-sized pegasus had disappeared. It let out an annoyed hiss and slithered farther into the shadows. The ponies held still, holding their breath in patience and anxiousness, until the coast seemed clear.
After what seemed to them a few minutes, Dash cautiously crept out of the water and onto the shore of the puddle. She jumped upwards but her dreck-covered wings offered no lift. Still, she peered out at the space around the puddle and the between the grass roots and concluded,

“It looks safe. C’mon.” she gestured towards herself. Twilight and Fluttershy walked out of the water but Rarity ran, shaking and trying to escape the mud that clung to her mane.

“Gah! Ifh! Getitoff-getitoff-getitoff!” she cried, darting around in hatred of the uncleanliness.

“I thought you liked mud baths.” joked Twilight. Rarity stared daggers at the other unicorn.

“Calm down Rarity.” ordered Rainbow Dash. She walked to a small gravelly patch and pointed at the ground. “Stand here, I’ll get the mud off.” Rarity did so, heeding Dash at a sullen loss of constitution and quivering with impropriety. Dash gave a strong buck with her rear hooves to the stem of a nearby plant and Rarity suddenly was drenched with smaller droplets of dew falling from a fern leaf above her. The mud washed clean easily and she gasped at the cold trickle. She slowly trod away, her frown dampened at being clean.

“Thank you, Rainbow.” Rarity said flatly. Fluttershy and Twilight formed up in a similar position under a different leaf. Dash kicked the stem again and lept over to where the other two were standing, catching the fall of small droplets. The four made much cleaner, sat down with their wet manes, Rainbow Dash and Rarity with negative dispositions.

“Still think we should make the best of it?” said Rainbow spitefully.

“Well…” began Twilight.

“Don’t you start,” interrupted Rainbow. “This is all still your fault.”

“Wasn’t today supposed to be sunny?” Rarity said, cutting Rainbow off. Her voice carried an inflection of irritation. “If you’re not doing the weather, who is?” Rainbow turned to face her, but as she did her face changed from annoyed response to remembrance.

“Oh…”

“‘Oh’ what?”

“Derpy was gonna help me today with what was supposed to be a light drizzle over Sweet Apple Acres. Clearly she prepared a bit too much rain.” Dash said in an accusing voice.

“Was that supposed to be before or after we did some practice with the harrier?” Fluttershy inquired innocently. Rainbow inhaled to reply but she stopped herself as she considered her answer, and all that came out was,

“…Uh.”

“You forgot about your weather duty?” Rarity charged, “Now who’s to blame, hmm?”

“Girls! This isn’t helping, we need to stop arguing and keep heading to the Library.” exclaimed Twilight. Rarity and Rainbow exchanged icy stares before looking at Twilight. That shrinking feeling Twilight had when she felt the strenuousness of their ire returned, forming a pit in her stomach as she looked at the prosecuting eyes of her two frustrated friends. “Everypony makes mistakes. Forgive and forget.” She said with a crackled confidence, partly trying to convince herself of the validity of the virtue.

Rarity’s mind wound around the suggestion, and her generosity towards Twilight made her the first to soften her expression.

“You’re right, Twilight.” Rarity’s look went back to Dash. “Everypony makes mistakes- As long as you learn from them.” Rainbow returned her look, still seeming quite bothered- so much so that she did not want to speak. Rarity looked back at the other unicorn. “I forgive you, Twilight. Just, please be more careful with your magic in the future.”

“..Thank you, Rarity.” said Twilight meekly, through her eyes that still told of how much guilt she was still thinking about.

“And I forgive you too, Rainbow Dash. On such a lovely day as it was, anypony could easily forget about chores.” Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrow at the offer. “Even so, I’d have to wash my mane even if we hadn’t thrashed about in the mud.”

“Pbbbhpt-” Rainbow stuck her tongue out. “You would’ve washed your mane even if we went through a soap factory.” She retorted with a humored shrug.

“Yes I would,” said Rarity, matter-of-factly. “Dry soap would make my hair all-”

“Rarity.”  interrupted Twilight.

“Yes- well.. I forgive you, Dash.”

“…Thanks, I guess.”

“And thank you for being so brave in front of that poisonous snake.” Fluttershy said, light as her namesake.

“IT WAS POISONOUS?!” shouted Rarity, shocked.

“Heh… I guess I’m braver than I know.” said Dash, with a retrospective fear hidden by a face that declared she knew all along. Color started to restore to the little bog they stood beside, as sunlight began to filter through the thin translucent leaves, bathing their scene in an amiable natural green.

“The rain’s stopped.” observed Twilight.

“If Derpy did what I think she did, there’s no way the rain shower would’ve lasted much longer. The sky will probably clear up to a sunnier day than it was earlier though. That downpour woulda’ changed the humidity.”

“Then let’s be on our way,” said Rarity, a confidence in their journey restored. “And hopefully we’ll be able to secure some lunch before too long.”

“Yeah.” replied Dash, taking flight, “I’ve had enough of almost being a snack for someone else for a long time.”

They continued on their way into the grass following under Rainbow Dash. The forest of Skipper Meadows presently thinned and shortened, bringing back direct exposure of the sun to the ground, and with the sunlight finally reaching forth to the four little ponies, their moods brightened as their environment did.


~
Impending upon Chapter 3: Rarity succumbs to pastry because of Pinkie Pie’s doing