//------------------------------//
// Chapter Seven 
// Story: Bubbles: Derpy's Return 
// by RoxyMoronNERDy 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Seven


"Dinky, come on, it's time for the race!" A voice called, sounding like Dinky was underwater and there was somepony calling her from above. Dinky's eyes fluttered open, and saw she had slept with the picture of her and Mommy. Again. Dinky gasped and fumbled with it as she rushed to put it on the window sill. She looked at the picture and kissed her hoof and then placed her hoof on the part of the frame where Mommy was smiled, her crooked eyes seeming to shimmer in the sepia-colored morning.
"Good morning, Mommy." Dinky whispered as she rushed out of her room, which now had a real bed in it. Ms. Sparkle had her friend Apple Jack make it for her, even though Dinky said it was okay by her to sleep on a regular mattress. Dinky bumped into Ms. Sparkle as she was galloping out the door.
"Oh my gosh, Dinky, are you alright?!" She said to Dinky in a scared voice as she bent down to help Dinky up. Dinky giggled.
"Sorry, I galloped. Yes, I'm alright." Dinky said, blushing. Ms. Sparkle reminds her all the time not to gallop in the library, even though she does it sometimes when she's looking for something, like a lost book or a letter from the Princess that Spike burped out but it got lost in the clutter of books and scrolls of science things. (Ms. Sparkle does a lot of liquid-mixing and potion-making sometimes) Ms. Sparkle laughed and sighed.
"Come on, we're going to be late." She said, leading Dinky out the door, where Spike was waiting, tapping her foot. When he saw Dinky and Ms. Sparkle, he sighed the way Dinky does when Ms. Sparkle tells her to do her homework.
"Finally!" He said. "I need to get there early to help Pinkie with the announcing!" He ran to get a little ahead of them and then would slow down after a while and speed up again. He did that a lot when he was excited.
Finally, they got to the Running of the Leaves race. Dinky was going to watch Ms. Sparkle run and Spike said it was okay for her to ride in the balloon with Spike and Pinkie Pie. Dinky was super excited. She felt a fluttery feeling in her stomach. It was the same feeling she got when she was going to be in the talent show. But she wasn't scared. Why did she have this feeling?
"Um... Ms. Sparkle?" Dinky asked, trying not to let her voice quiver. Ms. Sparkle looked down at Dinky, with a slight "Hm?" as she did so.
"Dinky," She said, laughing slightly. "You can call me Twilight! You don't have to address me so formally." She smiled down at Dinky. Dinky tuned out Spike's practicing for the race. She wondered if Ms. Spar- uh, Twilight was doing the same thing.
"Oh, okay... um... TWILIGHT." Dinky giggled at herself. The words sounded foreign, like something you've always wanted to say but could never really say because it's never happened to you, like saying "I broke my wing once" or, "I was sick at the hospital." Dinky could almost TASTE the funny words.
"What's this funny feeling in my tummy? I'm not scared... Why is it so fluttery?" Dinky wondered to Twilight.
"Oh, you're just excited! That's something a lot of ponies call 'butterflies'. They say they have butterflies in their tummy when they're scared or excited!" Twilight said in her soft, intelligent voice. Dinky's eyes widened.
"But, I never swallowed-" She stopped herself. She remembered just the other day Ms. Cherilee taught the class about different figurative language. What was this one again...?
"It's kind of like... a metaphor, right?" Dinky asked.
"Well, yes. I suppose it is. But remember, a real metaphor is when you use 'is' to describe something." Twilight mentioned to Dinky, teaching her without knowing yet again.
Dinky and Twilight stopped at the edge of White-Tail wood in a shock. Nopony was there! Dinky's butterflies only grew, and she felt sick-ish now. She was so excited towatch Twilight run, but why was it that big of a deal? Suddenly she remembered. Her and Mommy would always come to watch the leaves fall.
"W-where is everypony?" Spike asked, clearly looking for Pinkie's balloon.
"I dont know! this is the right day, isn't it?" Twilight asked in her scared voice. Dinky sat on the ground. She was tired from walking. White-Tail Wood is kind of a long walk from the library. Suddenly, Dinky saw a carraige coming into the area. Dinky knew that carraige, and she recognized the two guards. Dinky gasped and ran into the nearby bush. Twilight looked in the general direction. 
"Dinky, what are you doing?" She asked, confused. Dinky tried not move and didn't reply to Twilight's question. Dinky saw Celestia's carraige ride in next to Twilight. 
"Twilight Sparkle, what are you doing here?" The Princess asked, concerned. "The race was cancelled today due to weather issues." Twilight looked up at the sky, as well as Dinky. The sun was shining beautifully.
"But there's hardly a cloud in the sky!" Twilight said, and Dinky could tell she was hiding giggles. Dinky looked at the Princess for clarification through the bush, and then the Princess turned in the general direction. Suddenly, The princess was levitating Dinky out of the bush. Dinky fought and fought, but she was no match for Celestia's magic.
"Dinky, what in Equestria were you doing?" Celestia asked, laughing. Dinky laughed along, trying to look like it WAS funny, when in reality she was actually hiding from the Princess.
"I was... um..." Dinky couldnt think of an excuse, but she felt Twilight knew. Princess Celestia probably knew too, but acted like she didn't. Dinky and Twilight looked at the Princess for clarification on why the race was cancelled. Celestia cleared her throat.
"The Pegasi declared that there was a cold front coming in, and cloudsdale had too much spare water. So a snow storm was scheduled today." She said, pointing her hoof behind the two ponies. Dinky and Twilight (Spike did as well, on Twilight's back) turned to see a dark grey patch of clouds coming in. Dinky's butterflies grew even more, and se suddenly felt sick. She was about to moan, but stopped herself.
"But what about the leaves?" Twilight asked, motioning toward the White-Tail woods that still had trees covered in leaves.
"That's what I came here for." Celestia said, making her horn glow. Dinky watched in awe as the Princess' horn glowed a faint yellow glow, and suddenly a harsh wind blew Dinky off her feet. Dinky got close to the ground and Twilight carried here to a nearby picnic table, which they huddled nder. Twilight, Dinky and Spike huddled underneath it and watched the Princess' wind carry through the area, knocking the leaves off the branches of every bush, tree and shrub in the town. Each leaf was caught in a wirlwind surrounding the Princess, and she finally started flying upward, the leaves still surrounding her. Even the gaurds couldn't refrain themselves from watching her. Finally, a big explosion sent the leaves flying in all different directions, and the wind knocked the guards off their feet. 
"That's taken care of. I await your next letter on friendship!" Celestia said in her warm voice as she took off on her carriage. Dinky came out from the table and watched Princess Celestia disappear in the distance. Dinky was now aware that if she ever wanted her mommy back, she had a lot of strength to compete with.