//------------------------------// // ch.4 // Story: Second Place // by Pecan Pallet //------------------------------// Ch.4 It was slowly getting later and later in the day. The evening sun was slowly drifting down, the orange glow reflecting on the untouched snow and hitting my eyes. It was like a winter beach sunset, the snow sparkling like moving water. I swallow the bite of my daisy sandwich, picking a petal out of my teeth. I glance over to Ditzy, who was shoving another muffin in her mouth. I laugh softly as I watched the many ponies under me. We were sitting on top of Ponyville’s clock tower, watching the town bellow. I’ve been hunting for Rainbow dash for a while, so I thought it would be a good time to take a break. With the two of us hungry, went to Ponyville’s bakery to get some food. The owners of the shop must have known Ditzy, because they already had a batch of muffins for her. I tried to buy my own things, but Ditzy insisted to pay for everything, which was smart because she was getting a discount. I got myself some donuts, a daisy sandwich and some bread with this jelly in it. Cherry, I think. As I finished up with the last bite of my sandwich, I leaning back, listening to the gears as they moved in the tower. The loud clicks of the gears going into place, the echoing boom of the hands moving. “This is great!” Ditzy says, holding up another muffin as if she was talking to it. I glance over at her, “What, the muffin?” she looks at me with her eyes. “no, silly! Hanging out with you.” She makes a qwarky smile. I huff, letting out a little grin as I puffed out clouds of hot air. We don’t get to hang out much, do we, Ditzy? Most of the time, Ditzy’s job requires her services, being a mail pegasi and all… and half the time, when she is free, I have work. I place my hoof on her head, ruffling her mane, she giggles as she lightly swats my hoof away. A few minutes passed, maybe thirty or so. Ditzy was saving her last muffin and I pretty much finished everything I had. We were just sitting there, talking mostly. Chatting about anything that came to mind. Work, money, how our lives are doing... things we wanted to do or see… that kind of stuff. She even talked about some animal she saw the other day. But after a while, we simply ran out of things to say. I was staring at my hoofs when Ditzy asked, “Lightning… do you like anypony?” I remember just keeping my head down, not looking at her. I never told her I was a fillyfooler, and it just never felt right to tell her. She was my best friend, but I could never… I guess I just don’t want her to think I’m … I make a fake laugh, “Ha, you kidding me?” I keep my eye away. “what makes you think that?...” she sits quiet for a little. I take a quick glance at her, she was looking down too. “…I don’t know…just asking.” She looks up again, puffing out smoke. I shrug, I wonder where that came from…She holds her muffin, rotating it and examining it. “Hay, lightning, can I have my scarf back?” Ditzy asks, “it’s kinda cold.” “oh, ya sure.” I take the scarf off slowly, the chill running down my neck. I forgot how cold it was today. As I fold it once, I held it out to her. “Thanks, light-” As she reached out and took it, a gust of wind blows by, picking the scarf right from her hoofs. “opps…” she watches as the scarf drifts down. I sigh, “Ditzy…” she looks back at me with dotty eyes. “I’m sorry…” I chuckle, “come on, let’s get that scarf.” I carefully opened my wings, the wind pushing me off the tower and lifting me in the air. Ditzy stumbles a bit, regaining balance as she floats down. I follow her down, stepping onto a roof. Ditzy flies above the lanes, scanning the cobblestone streets. “hay, Why aren’t you looking on the roof?” I move, the clumps of snow sliding off the roof and falling into the streets. “it fell over here…” she says as she flies ahead of me, going down to the streets and looking on the ground. She moves to an intersection, turning in circles, her eyes going this way and that. As I watched her trot around, I had a random thought… I wonder if Ditzy can see more with eyes like that… just think, she can look at two things at once… maybe that’s why I can’t play splitscreen video games with her… “Peanut!” Ditzy dashes off around a corner, out of my line of site. Peanut? What kind of name is that? I move across the roof till I was looking over the ally she ran too. I could see her standing next to somepony, the two talking to each other. The pony’s coat was an Ivory white, the snow barely visible on his coat. The pony’s tail and mane was thick and black, a gray Newsboy hat sitting on his head. The cold had golden hazel eyes, somewhat close to Ditzy Doo’s. His cutie mark had some painting thing and a brush that had red, yellow, and blue on it. He had a gray, plaid scarf around him and wore some thick boots. In the colt’s hoofs was Ditzy’s yellow scarf. I flew down, interrupting them. The snow splashes as slush stuck wet on my coat. “-I kind of figured it was yours, it smelled like a muffin.” The colt says, handing it back to her. “But it smelled a little…” he looks over at me, stopping and staring at me with his yellow eyes. I grunt at him, intimidating him so he looks away. Ditzy rubs her scarf on her muzzle, her cheeks rosy. “Thank you, Peanut!” she giggles to herself. The colt nods his head, “um…No problem, Ditzy…” he looks over at me again. “What?” I respond. He takes a step back, but Ditzy cuts in. “oh, Peanut, This is my best friend, Lightning Bolt.” She points to me, “Lightning, this is Peanut.” I stare at the colt, who felt uneasy. “um… so your lightning bolt,” he lifts his hoof. “it’s nice to meet you… Ditzy talks about you.” I stare at him, not wanting to touch him. He retracts his handshake, not making it easy on him. “….o-k.” “Is it really Peanut? Because it would be a dumb name.” I state, not interested in being friendly. “It’s just a nick name Ditzy gave me, I’m Pecan Pallet.” He adjusts his hat. Ditzy jumps up and hugs the both of us with her hoofs, bringing us awkwardly close. “yay, best friends together!” she exclaims as we both beg her to let go. I tried to pull her hoofs away, but she had a strong grip. After a moment, she released us both. “wow, *cough* you’r a lot stronger than you look, Ditzy.” Pecan says, adjusting his scarf. Ditzy giggles to herself as she gentally took out the muffin she was saving, “I saved this for you!” she holds it out for the colt. He looks at it, but shakes his head and pushes it away. “Oh, thanks, but no thanks. I had some food already.” He says, adjusting his hat again. “I had an apple fritter earlier when I was at AJ’s place.” “aaaaw…” she looks down, making the colt sigh. “But I can still take it, thanks.” Ditzy smiles again, her ears perking up again. I chuckle a little, “softie.” “Um… what’s an AJ?’ Ditzy Doo tilts her head, her eyes rolling like a marble. “oh, you know … AppleJack… she has that funny round hat,” the colt moves his hoofs to mimic the size of it, “…um… she lives in a barn…she’s Rainbow Dash’s friend, the one with the orange coat and yellow mane.” My lungs jump out of my throat for a second. Did he say Rainbow Dash? “oh, ya! Big Mac’s sister! ” Ditzy says, puffing her cheeks. That’s right, Big mac’s sister is Applejack, and she’s friends with Rainbow Dash. That’s it! She must be at Big Mac’s place! The colt nods his head, “Correct… I was just following them for a bit.” The colt looks past Ditzy, “Hay… where’s your friend going?” by the time she turned around, I was already taking off into the sky. ~~~~ “Ditzy… Is lightning always that… um… unfriendly?” Pecan Pallet asks her as they walked the snowy streets. Ditzy floats beside him, paddling the air like a dog. “What do you mean?” Pallet sighs, “…Nothing Ditzy… I guess I was just uncomfortable.” Pecan trots along the cold ground, bringing up the muffin and taking a small bit. “Mmm, blueberry…”