//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: A Ditzy Distraction // Story: Light The Candles // by Salohcin-Silverwing //------------------------------// Chapter 5 - A Ditzy Distraction Applejack trotted away from Sweet Apple Acres as fast as she could. Her workload for the day was longer than expected, and she was almost an hour late for meeting in Twilight's library. Ah don't know why Twilight was so anxious for all of us ta meet in her library, but it sounded real important! ******** Shocked gasps echoed from the ponies' mouths across the library. Their eyes were wide with curiosity at the mention of "Plan D." Rarity was the first to speak up. "But Twilight, we haven't fully prepared for this yet." "Yeah," piqued Rainbow Dash. "There's no telling what might happen if you do this." Fluttershy turned towards Twilight with a concerned look on her face. "Isn't there another way?" "No, there isn't. We need to buy more time!" Twilight rushed over to the desk and started to write a letter using her magic. "Spike's already making his way back, and Applejack still hasn't made it h-"SLAM!! "Somepony say mah name?" Applejack burst into the library, obviously out of breath. "Sorry…it took me so long…had to…work extra today." Applejack collapsed on a pile of books in an attempt to catch her breath. All of the ponies had finally gathered. "Well, now that we're all here, I can tell you the rest of the plan." Twilight put down her quill and parchment and began pacing around the room. The other four ponies took their seats and listened intently. "Applejack just got here, so it's too late to send her out to take care of Spike. So our only option is Plan D." Applejack stared at Twilight with a quizzical look on her face. Rarity leaned over and whispered to her the details of "Plan D." As soon as she finished, Applejack leapt from her seat. "Ditzy Doo? Are you nuts, Twilight?! Why, Ah don' think that wall-eyed pony could handle a-" "Trust me on this one," interrupted Twilight. "I know you may think Ditzy isn't up to the task, but I can assure you that this is all taken care of. You may be surprised about what she can do." The other ponies continued to give Twilight worried faces. But the time for arguing was over; Twilight had already finished her letter and with a flash of magic, it disappeared. ********** Ditzy Doo sat in the middle of her room above the Ponyville Post Office, doing what she always did when there was nothing to do: sort the mail into neat little piles. Of course, they had already been sorted a first time, but Ditzy took it upon herself to do it the right way. With a faint pop, a bright spark filled the room, and a rolled up scroll of parchment fell neatly on top of the piles of mail. Ditzy quickly unfurled the parchment. It read: Remember what we talked about yesterday: don't let Spike near the library! We're counting on you to stall him. Once you have Spike distracted, head over to the library, but don't let him know where you're going! ~Twilight PS: I know you can do it "Comprende," saluted the Mailmare to nopony in particular. Ditzy immediately rolled up the scroll. Indeed, she did remember about Twilight's plan. She quickly filled her mailbag and zoomed out the window, heading straight for the birthday dragon. ************ It's wasn't the work that made him mad; Spike was more than used to running errands. To a point, Spike wasn't that mad that the ponies around town forgot his birthday. What Spike was really starting to get mad about was that Twilight hasn't even once said something nice to him, not even one of her charming smiles. Had she already forgotten the promi- WHOOSH! Spike's thoughts were interrupted by a yellow and grey flash. When he stopped to blink, there stood Ditzy Doo, right in his path, her bright yellow eyes in their usual cross-eyed position. "Wow, Derpy. You scared me!" The resulting death glare from the mailmare made Spike cringe. Right…avoid the nickname. "So…um…" The young dragon tried to move out of her way, but Ditzy kept following him, her eyes (or at least one of them) never leaving him for a second. "…can I help you?" Almost too enthusiastically, Ditzy's eyes widened in anticipation. "So glad you asked, Spike." Out of nowhere, she struck a heroic pose, raising her hoof into the air. Spike couldn't help but let out a giggle. Unfazed by her silliness, Ditzy continued to point to the sky as she announced dramatically, "This is a tale of a heroic grey mare who continues to fight for the freedom of the Equestrian Postal Service. A tale of overcoming impossible odds and thwarting the evils of postage procrastination! We shall leave no package unsent! No mailbox left unfilled! No stamp left unlicked!" Spike tried to carefully tiptoe his way out of Ditzy's frequent over-the-top speeches, but he soon found himself dragged across the waist by the energetic mare's grasp. "And I need your help, Spike! Your assistance is invaluable in averting this great crisis!" Spike tried to free himself of Ditzy's grasp, but she held tight. "I don't think that's going to work, Ditzy. I kinda have something important I wanna talk to Twili-" For the umpteenth time, Spike found himself stopping mid-sentence thanks to the confounded sad eyes of a pleading pony. Although he was confident that he would soon have an immunity to regular sad eyes, Spike found it impossible to resist the improbably devastating look Ditzy casted upon him. Her derpyfied sad eyes would make even the hardest of resolves melt like a chocolate bar in the middle of the Summer Sun Celebration. "Alright, fine. But I have to get back to the library so-WOAH!" As soon as Spike responded, Ditzy flung him on her back and took to the skies, flying back to the Post Office at over 50 feet in the air. The poor acrophobic dragon clung to her neck tightly. "Ditzy…are you sure this is safe?!" Before Spike could even finish his question, the enthusiastic mailmare gently let him down upon the front door to the Ponyville Post Office. He stared dumbfounded at the grey Pegasus. "But…I…you…We were all the way across town just now! How'd you get here so fast?!" Ditzy held her head proudly. "Muffin button."