//------------------------------// // Crashing In // Story: Ditzy Falls // by LDSocrates //------------------------------// Ditzy had crashed before. Ditzy had crashed many times. It came with the territory of being an infamously clumsy flier. Her eye condition certainly didn’t help. So when she found herself waking up without a memory of going to sleep, her back on the grass and pain in her everything, she knew right away that she had hit something, hard. Before she could wonder what she hit, or where she’d been flying in the first place, or even open her eyes, she noticed the pressure of bandages on her face, her legs, her back… “Oh thank goodness you’re okay!” a worried voice said, snapping her out of her thoughts. Ditzy finally got around to opening her eyes. A butter yellow face with big cyan eyes was there to greet her gaze. “Fluttershy?” she groaned, rubbing her aching head and wincing. She started to sit upright when a pair of hooves gently pushed her back down. “Don’t strain yourself; you took a pretty bad fall,” Fluttershy fretted. “I can tell,” Ditzy grumbled. She tilted her head up and looked around. Fluttershy was leaning over her, a first aid kit open by her side. Ditzy was indeed covered in bandages. Judging by the stinging, each one covered a pretty nasty cut. She sat up nonetheless, shrugging Fluttershy off with a little flinch. “It’s fine; I’ve had worse.” “If you’re sure,” Fluttershy said softly. She fiddled with her front hooves, looking Ditzy up and down. “How’re you feeling? Do you have any memory loss?” “Gimme a second to remember,” Ditzy half joked. She ran a hoof through her mane as the past few minutes came back to her. “No, no, I remember just fine. I was almost here until I ran into an updraft that knocked me off course. Ran into a tree.” “Well… I guessed that,” Fluttershy said, looking to the side. Ditzy followed her gaze to see the tree that she’d run into. The trunk was frayed and splintered along the gash where it’d almost broken in half, the branches dipped into the stream that ran by Fluttershy’s house. “Um… oops,” Ditzy smiled sheepishly. “Thank Celestia none of my animal friends live in that tree,” Fluttershy sighed in relief with a smile. “And thank Celestia that you’re okay!” “Funny definition of okay,” Ditzy said, trying to stretch and only getting a jolt of pain in return. “I think I’m going to be grounded for a few days.” She groaned and buried her head in her hooves. “I was just trying to be nice and return your luggage…” She paused and her head snapped up. “Your luggage!” Ditzy looked around frantically before she spotted Fluttershy’s bags. They were further down the hill, half submerged in the stream. “Oh no…!” Ditzy groaned. “I am so, so sorry Fluttershy!” “It’s okay; it wasn’t your fault,” Fluttershy said as she trotted over and pulled her suitcase out of the water. “They’re just things. Things can be replaced; ponies can’t. As long as you’re okay, it isn’t a big loss.” She pulled out her other bags and looked up to Ditzy with a truly radiant smile, cyan eyes and alabaster teeth shining in the sunlight. A little heat graced Ditzy’s face as she gave a shy smile in return. “Thanks, Fluttershy…” “No, thank you for being so kind. You really didn’t have to return them,” Fluttershy said, her own cheeks a little pink as she returned to Ditzy’s side. “I really shouldn’t have run off like that, anyway. I’m just… really timid, to be honest.” Ditzy giggled through a forming smirk. “I hadn’t noticed.” Fluttershy blinked before giggling herself. “Okay, I suppose you already guessed that. Still, sorry about running off. I normally don’t tell anypony but really close friends about my… interests… and I guess I panicked just a teensy little bit.” “You’re far from the only one in Ponyville, you know,” Ditzy chuckled. “That’s into the same sex, that is. There are a lot more gay couples around here than in most towns this size!” “I know, I know, it’s just… I try not to make it anypony else’s business, I suppose,” Fluttershy admitted, hiding a bit behind her mane. Ditzy’s ears lowered, but in the end she nodded. “I can respect that.” Fluttershy’s ears perked up, and she looked Ditzy in the eye again. “Really? My friends keep telling me I should be, erm, ‘out and proud’…” Ditzy waved her hoof as if to brush the other mare’s concerns away. “It’s not for everypony, trust me. Your personal life is your business and nopony else’s. I’m bi myself, and I’m not about to tell you how to be queer.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened a bit. “Oh, I didn’t know you were… not that I have a problem with that! I just thought that since you had a foal, that you were…” She cleared her throat. “Erm, bad assumption. Sorry.” Ditzy couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. “It’s fine! At least you’re sorry about it. Can’t tell you how many ponies insist that I can’t be bi because I obviously once slept with a stallion and haven’t with a mare.” Fluttershy tilted her head. “That… doesn’t make sense, though.” “Try explaining that to them,” Ditzy snorted. “Dumb opinions like that make it pretty hard to get a good date. Not many ponies are willing to date a single mother, anyway.” She scowled, ears lowering. “Besides the ones that think I’m… well…” “Yes?” Fluttershy prompted, looking a bit worried about what she’d say. It was a bit cute, if Ditzy were to be honest. “Easy,” she finally said with a little groan. “Oh! …oh.” Fluttershy’s cheeks went straight past pink to red. “Yeah,” Ditzy grumbled. “It’s a reputation that’s hard to shake.” “Well, erm… even if you were, I wouldn’t think any less of you,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “It doesn’t really matter either way, does it?” Ditzy found herself grinning ear to ear. “You know, not a lot of ponies have ever said that to me.” “It’s true,” Fluttershy said timidly, twiddling her front hooves. “And the ones that do,” Ditzy continued, “I usually consider friends. Would that be a step too far, or…?” She looked at Fluttershy expectantly. “Oh, not at all! You already did a lot for me, returning my bags and all, and you seem like a really nice mare, so… yes, I’d say you’re a friend,” Fluttershy said with a smile and the cutest little dimples Ditzy had ever seen. “Do you… want to hang out sometime?” Ditzy asked hopefully. “I normally eat lunch with Blossomforth, Cloud Kicker, Bulk when he can get away from his kid, and Time Turner when he can show up.” Fluttershy froze up and shook her head. “No, um… I’m really not good with crowds, especially with ponies I don’t know. Do you think it could be just us?” Ditzy raised an eyebrow. “Sure, I guess. Where do you usually hang out?” Fluttershy blinked a few times before scratching her head. “Um… no place in particular, really. I usually go to the spa with Rarity… do you want to go there?” Ditzy cast an eye up at her own messy bangs. “Do I really look like the spa sort of mare?” Fluttershy giggled behind her hoof. “I guess not. How about… Sugarcube Corner? My friend Pinkie lives and works there.” “Okay, sounds good to me!” she nodded with a big grin. “As I said, I’ll be grounded for a day or two, so…” “Oh, right! Are you sure you’ll be okay? You won’t get in trouble at work, will you?” Fluttershy fretted. “I’ll be fine; I have good health insurance,” Ditzy brushed off. “Can I at least walk you home? Give you somepony to lean on?” she offered with a worried frown. Ditzy looked Fluttershy up and down, taking in every nuance and curve. Especially the curves. “No, I’m good. Besides, if Cloud Kicker saw me walking through town with a cute mare like you hanging off of my wing, she’d never stop teasing me.” Fluttershy was suddenly as red as when she ran off the train. Instead of running away, she just hid behind her mane. “O-oh, um, thanks, but… I’m not really that, er… cute…” Ditzy gently brushed Fluttershy’s mane away and gave her a bright smile. “You totally are; no use in denying it.” Fluttershy shrank away, and Ditzy jolted her hoof back. “I-I’ll see you tomorrow. Does three sound good? Three sounds great. Bye!” Fluttershy took off, her front door slamming behind her before Ditzy could get another word out. “Great going, Ditzy,” she grumbled to herself. “Way to respect her space.” She got on all fours and looked at Fluttershy’s bags lying dejectedly on the lawn. She let out a little sigh, stretching and wincing, before dragging the timid mare’s luggage up to her doorstep. She eyed the doorbell. She eyed the doorbell for a good while. Then with a shake of her head and another sigh, she turned tail and set off for home.