"I really don't wanna do this..." Rainbow Dash sighed. She turned her head and frowned at Twilight who walked beside her as they made their through the busy streets of Ponyville.
Twilight squinted in the bright morning sun, "But you promised her you would, Rainbow."
"I know, but it's just that...well," Dash muttered, gently flapping her wings so she could float beside her friend.
Twilight glared at her disapprovingly before saying, "Just because she's a bit different doesn't mean you two can't have fun together. Besides, you wouldn't break a promise would you?"
Rainbow sighed even louder, "You're right!"
"Oh and look who it is." Twilight smiled and pointed her hoof at a gray Pegasus, excitedly pushing her way through a crowd of angered ponies.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" she yelled, skidding to a halt and nearly crashing into them.
"Hey, Derpy," Rainbow responded, attempting to smile.
"Oh, I'm just so excited to spend today with you!" Derpy yelled, her golden eyes filled with joy.
Dash scratched her mane and muttered, "Yeah...me too." The gray mare wrapped her hooves around the dull sounding Pegasus and squeezed. Rainbow's eyes looked as though they might pop out of her sockets at any moment. Twilight shook her head and Dash noticed a smirk appear on her face. She blushed and blew her multicolored mane away from her eyes.
"Well, have fun you two," Twilight said, her smirk turning into a serious glare. "I have to go and buy some more quills. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Twilight!" Derpy exclaimed, letting go of her victim and vigorously waving her hoof through the air.
"So...what should we do today?" Rainbow Dash asked, placing her hoof on Derpy's so she would pay attention.
"I love muffins," she responded, turning to face Rainbow, her eyes seemingly even more displaced than usual.
"Huh?" Dash questioned.
"Let's go have a muffin!"
"Oh...yeah, that sounds good. I'm kinda hungry anyways," Rainbow responded, her stomach letting out a gurgle.
Derpy giggled at the sound and turned to head off towards Sugarcube Corner. "Pretty nice out today huh?" she stated.
"Thanks to me," Dash said, raising her head high into the air. "I cleared out all the clouds earlier this morning."
Derpy smiled, "Awe, thanks!"
"No problem," Rainbow Dash stated and returned the smile.
"Oh, look," Derpy said after a stretch of silence, her eyes attempting to follow a small beetle's flight path as it passed by in front of them. She made a quick turn and staring into the air, stumbled across the street after it. Passing ponies stopped to gawk and giggle at the sight.
Dash pressed her hoof against her head and mumbled, "Come on, let's go." The intrigued Pegasus watched as the beetle she was observing landed on the leaf of a small bush, not paying any attention to the world around her. Rainbow's eyes darted back and forth, staring at the chuckling ponies around her. Her cheeks turned a light hue of pink as she yelled, "Come on, Derpy! I said let's go!"
Derpy turned her head and frowned, "Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's fine, let's just go get those muffins, okay?" Dash asked, raising her voice.
"Okay...but come look at her real quick," Derpy responded. The angered Pegasus let out a grunt before walking up to the bush. "Look," Derpy muttered quietly and nodded her head at the bug. Dash looked down at the shining beetle, its black color contrasting against the bright green leaf which it rested on and noticed that one of its wings was mangled and sticking out of its shell. "No wonder you weren't flying very good," Derpy said to it. "Don't worry, I'm not a very good flyer either. It's because of my eyes. Why don't you have any beetle friends to keep you company? It's because you're different huh? I'm different too. I'll be your friend." She gently scooped the beetle up with her hoof and smiled at it. Rainbow stood silent and still, lost in thought. A frown appeared on her face as her eyes slowly filled with tears.
"You okay, Rainbow Dash?" Derpy asked, a look of concern on her face.
Rainbow sniffled, "I'm-uh...fine."
Derpy grinned, "Okay, good. I don't like it when somepony is sad." She watched as the beetle flapped its wings and struggled into the air. "Goodbye, pal."
"Now, let's go get those muffins," Dash said and patted her hoof upon the gray pony's back.
"I wonder what being a bug would be like." Derpy mumbled as they trotted up to Sugar Cube Corner. "Everything would be so big!"
"Hmm," Rainbow mumbled, beginning to smile. "Now that would be interesting."
Pinkie Pie quickly looked up as she heard the familiar jingle of the bells on the front door. "Hey Dashie. Hey Derpy," she greeted warmly as she watched the two enter. "What can I getcha?"
"Muffins!" Derpy yelled, excitedly stomping her hoofs against the floor.
Pinkie grinned, "Ohhh yum! What kind?" Dash opened her mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted by her bouncy pink friend. "I got it! How about a variety pack? I'll give you a bunch of different yummy flavors, mmm!" she said, licking her lips.
"Mmm!" Derpy repeated.
"So, what are you two doing today?" Pinkie asked them before picking up a blueberry muffin and dropping it into a small paper bag.
"Um, we're not really sure yet." Rainbow said, turning to Derpy.
"Well, it’s a perfect day to go out in the field..." Pinkie suggested after placing another muffin into the bag. "and since you're both Pegasi, you can go flying!"
"That sounds like a lot of fun," Derpy said, beaming her teeth at Rainbow Dash.
"I don't know...not sure if you could keep up," Rainbow stated, dusting her chest. Derpy frowned, her eyes growing huge. "Oh okay, I guess we can," she sighed.
"Thanks!" Derpy yelled and wrapped her hooves tightly around Rainbow Dash. Rainbow shook her head and quickly wrapped one hoof around the pony and squeezed before pushing her away.
"Aww!" Pinkie said through her teeth as she placed the paper bag on the counter. "These are on me."
"Thanks Pinkie," Rainbow stated before picking up the bag in her mouth.
"No problemo!" she responded. "Have fun!"
"She's so nice," Derpy said as they started walking down the street.
"She isth," Rainbow struggled to say through her teeth.
Derpy laughed, "You sound funny!" Dash rolled her eyes and let out a chuckle.
"She sounds funny?" asked a brown colt walking towards them, followed by two other ponies. "More like you do." He pointed his hoof at Derpy. "You sound funny duh!" he taunted, crossing his eyes.
"She looks funny too!" said a blue colt standing behind him.
Rainbow noticed a stream of tears wetting the side Derpy's face and huffed fiercely, letting the bag of muffins fall to the ground, creating a loud crunch. "Really! Back off!" she yelled, glaring at the young ponies, her face burning red.
"What are you gonna do about it?" the brown colt asked.
Dash raised her eyebrow and stomped her hoof forcefully against the ground, "You better run home to mommy before I show you!" she yelled, lunging at the colts.
"O-okay..." the brown colt muttered, backing away with his friends. “d-don't hurt us...we're just foals."
"There, all better," Rainbow said and brushed her hooves together with a confident smile but quickly realized that Derpy was still crying. "Hey," she mumbled, wrapping her wing around the gray mare and pulling her close. "Don't listen to them. They're just foals...and stupid little flankholes!"
A tear rolled down her face and soaked into the already darkened fur around her eyes as she looked up. "It's not just them...nopony likes me." she mumbled.
Rainbow's entire body tensed as she heard the statement. "I like you and I don't understand why anypony else wouldn't," she grumbled. "Just don't listen to them okay? Now come on, we have a full day ahead of us and I promise it'll be fun."
"Okay..." Derpy said, wiping the tears from her eyes. Rainbow picked up the bag and the two trotted silently down the street. Lost in thought, Dash barely even heard the sound of the birds chirping around them or even her own hooves as they collided with the ground beneath them.
***
The sweet scent of flowers filled the two mares’ noses as they trotted through the soft, green grass of the field. Although a subtle breeze played with their manes, it was not enough to subdue the heat of the sun. So, they headed for the cover of a small grove of trees.
“Uh oh!” Derpy exclaimed as they entered the shade, breaking the silence, “We forgot a blanky.”
Rainbow Dash set down the bag of muffins and shrugged before speaking in a cool tone, “No worries, the grass’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Derpy said, plopping her flank down on the grass beneath her. “It tickles,” she giggled.
Rainbow smiled and giggled back. “You’re one silly Pegasus, you know that?”
“Uh huh,” Derpy mumbled as she opened the bag and peered inside.
“So, uh…what’s your favorite kind of muffin?” Dash asked, watching the mare sniff the bag.
Derpy looked up at Rainbow with her wall-eyes as she thought, “Hmm, now that’s a hard choice…umm, chocolate chip….blueberry…oh, I just can’t choose! Maybe you can help?” She pulled out both a blueberry and chocolate chip muffin and set them in front of Rainbow Dash.
Dash speedily picked up the blueberry muffin and bit out a large chunk. “Mmm, no wonder you like these things so much!” she said as she chewed. “I forgot how good they are.” Derpy grinned and pulled another muffin from the bag, this time for herself.
“Did you know that the only difference between a muffin and a cupcake is the batter?” Derpy asked after swallowing. “…uh, that and the icing, but I guess somepony could have an iced muffin if they wanted.”
“You know some pretty interesting facts there, Derpy,” Rainbow chuckled, scarfing down her second muffin.
“Thanks,” Derpy responded. “So, best muffin?”
“You’re right, it’s too hard to choose,” Rainbow sighed, readjusting her sitting position in the grass.
Derpy nodded her head in agreement. “We can save the other ones for later. I wanna go flying,” she said, finishing her muffin.
“Sure!” Rainbow exclaimed and jumped up, unfurling her wings.
“Oh,” Derpy mumbled, laying down beside a seeding dandelion and staring at it.
Rainbow Dash sighed and let her wings snap back to her sides, “You get distracted really easily, huh?” She watched as the Pegasus opened her mouth and plopped it over top of the flower then reopened it and blew, pushing the seeds out. Derpy sat in silence and smiled, watching the seeds meander through the air. “Derpy, I thought you wanted to fly!” Rainbow whined, impatiently shifting her hooves back and forth. Derpy didn't seem to hear her friend's whine and continued to watch. Dash growled angrily and opened her mouth to yell but quickly stopped herself. "No...today is her day...and it's already been rough." she mumbled to herself before laying down beside the mare. She observed Derpy repeat the process with another flower then watched the seeds float into the air and get caught by a gust of wind. The seeds glinted in the sun as they traveled far into the distance before gently gliding down into the grass below them. "Hmm, kinda peaceful," she commented.
"You try," Derpy responded, turning and pointing her hoof at a dandelion near Rainbow's hooves.
"Uh...okay," Dash said hesitantly. Blushing, she leaned down and closed her mouth around the flower.
Derpy snickered as Rainbow lifted her head and pushed the seeds from her mouth with a strong huff. "See, it’s fun."
"Yeah," Rainbow admitted, trying to act coolly, barely able to stop the smile on her face from growing larger.
"Okay, now we can fly," Derpy responded.
"Awesome!" Dash yelled with excitement, standing up and letting her wings spread once more.
Derpy gently pushed herself into the air and muttered shamefully, "Now, I'm not really too good at this...and not too fast." She frowned and turned her head in fear of how Rainbow would react.
"It's cool," Rainbow responded, a warm smile on her face.
"Really?" Derpy questioned, her frown now forming into a grin.
"Yeah-" Rainbow began but was quickly muffled by Derpy's joyful squeals.
"Thank you so much, Rainbow Dash!"
No problem, now lets get started," Dash said, tilting her head forward.
The two Pegasi gently climbed higher and higher into the air until they reached the first layer of scattered, light, puffy cumulus clouds. Rainbow Dash smiled as they began to move forward. The cold, harsh wind brushing against her was a nice escape from the warm day below and the beautiful rolling hills beneath them along with the dramatic peaks in the distance were a site to behold. She looked over at Derpy who seemed to be flying just fine, a look of intense determination on her face. "You're not half as bad as you said you were."
"Thanks," Derpy responded, the tip of her tongue now protruding from her mouth. Rainbow chuckled at the sight but briskly ceased and waited for the mare to continue. "I'm pretty okay with flying slow like this...when I pay attention but when things start getting fast, I-I just can't. It's my stupid eyes..."
"Hey, they're not stupid," Rainbow said, shaking her head. "Besides, flying slow like this is kinda nice. I never really do it.
"But I wanna fly fast...like you," Derpy sighed.
"Oh yeah?" Dash asked and began to think. "Let's see what we can do." She wrapped her hoof tightly around Derpy's. "Don't worry, I gotcha," she said flapping her wings furiously to pull the extra weight forward. Rainbow noticed a look of bliss come over Derpy and could almost feel it radiating from her body as they propelled themselves forward. The strong wind pushing against them became more and more ferocious as it fought back against their speed. Derpy's wings struggled to keep the pace and push ahead but with determination and the strong pull of Rainbow Dash, she continued. "What do you think? Pretty awesome huh?" Rainbow yelled over the wind.
Derpy gazed at the seemingly small world below as it passed beneath them. "...Wow!" she finally uttered.
A smirk appeared on Rainbow's face. "Yeah, I hear that a lot when I'm around!" she yelled. Her smirk turned into a full smile as she tugged the Pegasus ahead, going even faster. "You're doing great!"
Derpy turned her head, revealing her rosy red cheeks. "Thanks!" she yelled. Rainbow stared back into her golden eyes, her speed meandering down to a sluggish crawl. "You okay?" the gray mare asked, a small frown appearing on her face.
"Uh...yeah...it's just that well, we're getting pretty far from Ponyville... we should probably start heading back," Rainbow stammered. She tilted her body to the left and leisurely turned in a half circle until they faced the opposite direction.
“Aww already?” Derpy asked sadly. “We're gonna go fast again, right?”
“Yeah, don’t worry, this’ll be just as awesome!” she exclaimed before plummeting downward. Derpy gasped and covered her eyes with her free hoof. “I gotcha,” Rainbow said comfortingly. “Just look, trust me.”
Derpy slowly lifted her hoof away from her eyes and grimaced at the fast approaching land. Dash felt the mare’s grip tighten and could hear her small but continual squeals slowly becoming louder. Only a few feet before slamming into the ground, Rainbow let her legs drop down and used her wings to thrust the two upward once more, letting the grass below brush against their stomachs.
“Cool huh?” Rainbow asked, picking up speed once again.
Derpy smiled, “Uh, yeah! Kinda scary but yeah.”
“Time for some more fun,” Dash said, making the two veer off towards the trees where they had eaten their muffins earlier. Derpy let out a yelp when she realized they were headed right for one of the trees’ thick, hard trunks but soon after, a sigh of relief as Rainbow easily maneuvered them around it.
“Do it again!” the excited pony screamed with delight. Dash tilted her body and zoomed by the opposite side of the next tree, repeating this again and again in a snake like pattern.
Derpy squealed excitedly as they passed by the last of the trees, “You’re so good, Rainbow Dash!”
“I know,” Rainbow responded.
“C-can I try?” Derpy asked, turning back to face the trees. “…all by myself?”
“Uh…I don’t know,” Dash said, hesitantly shaking her head.
“I’m not good enough…am I?” the gray Pegasus asked, her eyes growing wide and filling with tears.
“No, it’s not that,” Rainbow sighed. “It’s just that I’m worried about you, okay?”
“Aww, sweet,” Derpy mumbled, beginning to blush. “I’ll be really happy if you let me.”
“…alright,” Rainbow agreed, releasing her grip around the pony’s hoof.
“Thanks, Dash,” Derpy said before bursting away.
Rainbow trailed close behind, yelling, “Be careful, Derpy!” and let out a “phew,” as she watched the Pegasus slip through the trees.
“Look at-” Derpy began to yell back but was interrupted by a loud shout from Rainbow Dash. She quickly turned her head forward but it was too late. She tilted her body, attempting to dodge the tree in front of her but cuffed her wing harshly against it before she slammed into the ground.
“Oh no!” Rainbow yelled, landing beside her. “Please…just please be okay.”
Groaning, Derpy pushed herself to her feet, her ruffled wing flopped down to the side.
Rainbow used her hoof to lift up Derpy’s wing. “Here, let me check,” she mumbled worriedly.
“I think I’m okay,” Derpy said, watching Rainbow’s pink eyes slowly glide back and forth across the wing in close examination.
“Yeah I think you’re good,” Dash repeated, bending the wing back and forth. “Probably just some bruising and your feathers are kinda messy. Here, let me help.” She sat down and motioned for Derpy to do the same.
As Derpy sat, Rainbow began to nibble and lick at her messy feathers, grooming the wing back to its original shape. She paused, realizing what an affectionate act she was preforming but shook her head and continued.
"Rainbow Dash?" Derpy asked as the Pegasus finished grooming her wing.
"What’s up?" Rainbow responded.
Derpy turned around and placed her hoof on Rainbow's as she laid down in front of her. "Thanks so much for today...it was one of the bestest days I've ever had. We ate tasty muffins, flew fast, almost crashed into the ground, dodged trees, made my wing look pretty again...and best of all we were just together. I've wanted to hang with you forever and ever. But, the icing on the muffin was you protecting me and telling me that I'm okay just the way I am and… you like me."
"You're more than just fine, Derpy. You're special, the best kind of special there is," Rainbow stated, staring into the pony's eyes.
"Aww, thanks, pal," Derpy squealed and pressed her muzzle against Rainbows chest.
Rainbow rested her chin on Derpy's head and said, "I'll admit that I really wasn't looking forward to hanging with you at all earlier this morning but, I was totally wrong. You're so awesome to hang with." Derpy raised her head, causing Rainbow to move her own.
She looked up at Dash with a trembling frown and mumbled, "You're just saying that...you're just gonna forget about today then pretend it never ever happened and won't hang out with me anymore...just like everypony else I've ever done stuff with," she mumbled.
Rainbow pushed her hoof under Derpy's chin and smiled before saying, "Derpy, I'm being completely serious, no joke. I haven't had this much fun in a while. We need to hang out again soon...really soon, maybe tomorrow?"
Derpy giggled and stared lovingly back into Rainbow's eyes, her cheeks turning pink. Before she could act, Rainbow Dash felt the mare's lips press against her own, wrinkling her muzzle. Her eyes grew wide with surprise. "I-I'm super sorry...it's just that nopony's ever liked me and cared for me so much," Derpy murmured, staring shyly at the grass beneath her.
"No...it’s okay," Rainbow responded, raising the mare's head. She tilted her head and leaned forward, cupping her lips around Derpy's. Derpy responded with a moan and closed her eyes, letting Rainbow continue. Dash pulled away and nuzzled her head against Derpy's. "Yeah, I just made your day even better," she mumbled, wrapping her hooves tightly around the Pegasus' neck.
Derpy smiled and nuzzled back. "You're so awesome," she said quietly.
"And so are you, a really special kind of awesome," Rainbow responded, kissing Derpy once more.
"I-I can't believe it...any of it. It’s like an old pony tale," Derpy said joyfully.
"Yeah...I definitely wasn't expecting the day to turn out like this," Rainbow sighed. "I don't care what anypony else is gonna think. We'll make it work."
"Really?" Derpy asked.
"Yeah," Rainbow said lovingly, snuggling up to the Pegasus. "Let's just stay here a while. She smiled and fondled Derpy's ear with her hoof and then brushed it through her yellow mane. Derpy moaned, wrapped her hoof around Rainbow, and nuzzled her head into her fur.
***
"There you two are," Twilight said, noticing Derpy and Rainbow Dash walking close beside each other as she strolled back to the library. "You were out for a while," she declared, looking at the sun, now low in the sky. "Did you have a good day?"
"The best!" Derpy yelled excitedly and turned to grin at Dash.
Blushing, Rainbow smiled back and said, "Yeah, it totally was." She wrapped her wing around Derpy and pulled her close, pushing their bodies together. Twilight raised her eyebrow at the affection. Dash winked at her friend before turning back to Derpy and kissing her.
Twilight blushed, her eyes nervously darting back and forth. "Uh...okay then...I'll just leave you two alone," she stumbled to let out and laughed anxiously before trotting off to the library. She looked back over her shoulder and mumbled, "Um...glad to see that you two had good time?"