//------------------------------//
// Chapter IV 
// Story: Before Ditzy's Eyes 
// by DerpyHD 
//------------------------------//

	As Ditzy soared through the cloudless sky, she took a moment to not only acknowledge the Pegasus ponies for doing such a good job at keeping the skies clear, but to notice how beautiful the day was.  Looking around she saw the beautiful sky, trees and small ponies on the ground.  She was surprised – she never really knew how insignificant things were from the sky.
“Beautiful…” she whispered to herself.  Just then, Soarin shot past her, leaving her behind.  Ditzy blinked to get rid of the dust in her eyes before looking up and seeing a small dot on the horizon.  Ditzy knew she had to push herself to win, and put on that extra burst of speed, shooting off towards Soarin, but she was very quickly disappointed when she saw Soarin begin to descend.  She had been defeated.  She landed next to Soarin and looked down disappointedly.  
“Oh, it’s alright!” Soarin said, trying to reassure her, hoofing one of her fore-legs lightly.  She looked up at him and smiled.  
“It’s just a race; of course it’s alright!” Ditzy replied, hoofing Soarin, although much harder.  Soarin did his best to avoid showing pain, but dramatically failed and in the end, had to cover up with laughing, but then ended up choking on his laugh, making him look like a total tool.  Ditzy laughed and apologized, and then the pair proceeded to sit down on a mat that Soarin had already seemed to have laid out.  He then grabbed the basket from his back between his teeth and set it down on the mat, before pushing the flaps on top open with his hoof and pulling out a couple of grass sandwiches.  
Soon the pair were eating, and even though neither had said anything, the grass was bitter and the bread tough.  There seemed to be something uncomfortable about the general atmosphere, that is, until Soarin opened up a compartment in the picnic basket that Ditzy had not seen before and pulled out something that she had never seen before.  It had a cylindrical bottom, then opened up at the top like a flower, and it was huge.  It had to weigh at least half a kilogram.  She wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.
Soarin smiled and took a bite out of his.
Ooh… so it’s a kind of food? Ditzy thought.
She sniffed it and eyed it from all angles, before taking a cautious nibble at it.
Ditzy’s eyes widened.  Her view became blurred for a second, and for an instant, she was extremely scared, before she realized it was her own tears making her vision blurry.  She moved this new food around her tongue and savored the taste as if it were the last thing she would ever eat.  Soarin was quick to react, instantly leaning forward and looking her up and down, searching for some sign of what had caused Ditzy any pain.
“Ditzy?  Ditzy!  Are you alright?”  Soarin asked, reaching over her shoulders with his hooves.  He then began to shake her lightly as if to get her attention.  Ditzy looked dazed. 
“Ye-yes…  I think that I’m quite alright… This… this is beautiful!  This is the most wonderful-est thing I’ve ever eaten.  It… it’s… its-“
“Ditzy,” Soarin interrupted.  “It’s just a muffin!”
“If it’s JUST a muffin,” Ditzy demanded, “Then why have I never heard of this before?”  Soarin just threw his hooves up into the air in defeat, then smiled at her.   
“I wanted these to be special, so I asked a really friendly Ponyvillian, Pinkie Pie, who is well known for her cakes and pastries, to make the biggest and sweetest muffins that she ever did, and by the looks of it, I guess she succeeded.”
“Ooh!  I know Pinkie Pie!” She exclaimed.
“Yeah, when I asked her to make her sweetest, she kind of leaned into me and said that the sweetest was so sweet, it would kill anypony who ate it,” Soarin laughed.  Ditzy giggled and looked into Soarin’s eyes.  Soarin looked into Ditzy’s eyes.
“So,” Soarin continued, and never for a minute taking his eyes off of the beautiful Ditzy Doo, “When she asked how sweet I wanted them to be, had I told her ‘As sweet as the heart of Ditzy Doo’”
That’s when she couldn’t contain her feelings any longer.  She jumped (or flew, or launched) herself to Soarin and embraced him, and planted a kiss on his cheek.  She felt Soarin’s face get hot, and she also felt him recoil slightly, but he soon decided that it was much nicer to be in Ditzy’s embrace than anywhere else.
“Ditzy, I know we’ve only known each other for a day or so, but I think I’m falling for you,” Soarin said softly into Ditzy’s ear.  His voice was trembling and the short bursts of warm air tickled Ditzy’s ear.
“You know what I love about you most, Ms Doo?” Soarin asked.
“What would that be, Mr Soarin?” she asked back.
“Your beautiful eyes.  They kind of match the sunset.”
“Wha-“
Ditzy turned away and saw that the sun was slowly setting over the horizon.
“Oh my goodness!  I’m going to have a lot of mail to deliver tomorrow!”
“Don’t worry about tomorrow,” Soarin said soothingly.  
“Look, Soarin, I’d love to stay with you, but I’ve really got to get home,” Ditzy said quietly.  Soarin looked down at his hooves.
“No problem.  May I accompany you?”
“What a gentlecolt” Ditzy joked.  “I would love that.”  Soarin’s mood seemed to lighten up somewhat and he looked up and smiled.
“Race you,” he grinned.