Ditzy Falls

by LDSocrates


Tick Tock

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock…

Fluttershy glanced up at the clock. Twenty-four minutes; Ditzy was twenty-four minutes late and still counting. She sighed and leaned forward in her seat, cheek meeting hoof as she leaned her head on it.

“Want another cupcake?” Pinkie asked, appearing beside her table as if from the aether.

Fluttershy looked down at the wrappers of all the cupcakes that had already met their delicious end by her hoof. “No thank you,” she said, looking up at the party pony. “I’m full, anyway.”

“There’s always room for more sugar, silly!” Pinkie chirped. “It’s all on me!”

Before Fluttershy could protest, another cupcake was already in front of her. Red velvet with chocolate frosting; way too tempting. She twiddled her hooves before saying, “Well… I guess one more wouldn’t hurt.” She unwrapped it and took a bite; her already bloating stomach disagreed, but the taste was too good to resist.

“Where’s your date, anyway?” Pinkie asked.

Fluttershy gagged mid-swallow. Thankfully choking down cake was easy. “She is not my date, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said after she cleared her throat. “She’s just a new friend.”

“It’s just a figure of speech, Flutters,” Pinkie said with a wave of her hoof.

“Um… no, I’m pretty sure it isn’t,” Fluttershy said with a raised brow. “There’s only one way to take what you just said.”

“It isn’t? Oh well!” Pinkie shrugged, smile never wavering. “But it’s great that you’re making a new friend!”

“I suppose,” Fluttershy mumbled, contemplating her cupcake instead of eating it.

“Ohhh no, that’s the look of a troubled pony,” Pinkie said warily, pulling up a chair out of thin air and sitting down. “What’s eating at ya?”

“Nothing,” Fluttershy said softly with a nibble of her snack.

Pinkie frowned and raised an eyebrow. “Flutters, you’re lying so bad that you’d set my pants on fire if I were wearing any.”

Fluttershy looked around with nervous glances before letting out a sigh. “Okay, fine. I’m… I don’t know. I’m not sure how to feel about Ditzy.”

“How come?” Pinkie asked through a mouthful of cupcake that was suddenly in her hoof.

Fluttershy’s brow furrowed in thought, a frown on her muzzle. “I… I don’t know how to explain it. I guess I’d say that I feel… too comfortable around her? I’ve barely known her for a day, but I’ve already talked to her about how I, well… like mares,” she explained.

“I don’t get how that’s a bad thing,” Pinkie said with an amused smile.

“It’s supposed to be a big secret, Pinkie,” Fluttershy fretted. “I haven’t told anypony but you and the girls!”

“I don’t get why though. I’ve been pan and proud for years!” Pinkie said before shoving the rest of her cupcake in her mouth.

“It’s just not that easy for me,” Fluttershy sighed. “But I was just fine talking about it with Ditzy. I think it’s her smile. It’s just so… disarming. It’s a little scary.”

“I think somepony has a crush~” Pinkie almost sang.

“I do not,” Fluttershy pouted. “Well, I do, just not on Ditzy.”

“Still planning on asking out Little Miss Rainboom?” Pinkie teased with a flutter of her eyelashes.

“I’ll get around to it! Eventually. Someday,” she mumbled, wiggling in her seat.

Pinkie giggled and patted Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Might wanna hop to it; if you wait too long, some hottie with a tight Wonderbolts uniform is gonna sweep her off her hooves and into the sunset!”

“Pinkie, don’t even joke about that,” Fluttershy grumbled.

“Fine, fine,” Pinkie said with a little roll of her eyes. “I just find it all a bit silly. If you want to ask a pony out, ask them out. Every day you don’t is one less day of love you could be getting.”

“A lot of ponies aren’t as open as you are, Pinkie. And I’m still nervous about what she might think.” Fluttershy sighed and shook her head. “Can we change the subject?”

“Okay then, let’s talk more about your crush on Ditzy!” Pinkie said with a smile.

“It is not a crush,” Fluttershy said as firmly as she could. Which is to say about as firmly as sponge cake. “Though I think she might have a crush on me…”

“Ohhhh?” Pinkie said with a grin and cocked eyebrow.

“I don’t really know,” she admitted, “but I think she does. Called me cute and brushed my mane out of my face… it made me feel more than a bit uncomfortable.”

“And because of your crush on Rainbow, you want her to back off,” Pinkie said with a knowing nod.

“Yes,” Fluttershy sighed. “I just think it’d be really rude to say anything out of the blue, though. I mean, what if she doesn’t have a crush on me? I’d just look paranoid.”

“Then just wait and see if she does something like that again. If she does, tell her that that’s no good and that you want her to stop. If she doesn’t, no problem!” Pinkie said.

“Sounds simple enough.” Fluttershy smiled and nuzzled her friend. “Thanks for listening, Pinkie.”

“No problem!” Pinkie said with a little bounce and a grin.

As if on cue, the front door burst open and in cantered a tired looking Ditzy Doo. She still looked pretty beat up from yesterday’s fall, but had fresh bandages on the worst of her injuries. “I am so sorry I’m late! There was a bit of a situation at home that I had to take care of,” she explained with a weary sigh.

“And that’s my cue to leave. Have fun!” Pinkie dove under the table and vanished.

Ditzy blinked and lifted up the tablecloth. “Where did she-”

“It’s Pinkie; you learn not to question it,” Fluttershy assured. “Is everything okay? Nopony’s hurt, are they?”

“Well… not exactly,” Ditzy said, taking the other seat. “Sparkler, my oldest, came home from school crying.”

“Oh no, what happened?” Fluttershy said.

“Her first break-up. I won’t name any names, but the colt she was dating was… how can I put this nicely… a typical teenage colt,” she said with a small scowl. “After I calmed her down, we had a long talk about relationships and when to recognize red flags.”

“He didn’t hurt her, did he?” Fluttershy gasped.

“No, thankfully. He just dropped her because he found some mare he thought was prettier, and told her that to her face. If I were her age, I would’ve given him a broken nose.” Ditzy paused and added, “Okay, I would’ve cried, then given him a broken nose the next day.”

“You didn’t tell your daughter to do that, did you?” Fluttershy asked with a furrowed brow.

Ditzy’s ears perked up in alarm. “Of course not! I have to be a responsible parent now. Violence isn’t suppose to be an option.” She paused a little and smirked that smile of hers. “Though between you and me, there was this one time my youngest, Dinky, got into a fight. Said that she was being made fun of for having an… ‘R-word-ed’ mom, and kicked the other filly right in the face. I may have kind of taken her out for some ice cream after the parent-teacher conference.”

Fluttershy’s ears flattened. “The other kids make fun of them because of…?” She trailed off, unable to say it.

“Because of my eyes,” Ditzy finished for her with a nod and a sigh. “Not so much anymore, though. The other kids learned not to make fun of mom after Dinky knocked that filly’s teeth out – don’t worry, they used a potion to grow them back – but I don’t know about Sparkler. She’s at that age where she doesn’t really talk about her life with dear old mom anymore, so she could still be bullied over it or not at all. I can’t really force her to tell me anything.”

Fluttershy looked down and twiddled her hooves. “I remember being that age. I was very quiet, spent most of my time in my room, got bullied at school because I was an easy target… well, when Rainbow Dash wasn’t around, anyway.”

“Rainbow Dash? She protected you from bullies?” Ditzy asked, incredulous.

Fluttershy blinked in surprise. “Um, yes? Is that a problem?”

“I just never thought she would be the type, is all,” she said with a deep, unhappy frown. “She’s one of those ponies who still calls me Derpy and gets really offended when I tell her to stop.”

“That doesn’t sound like the Rainbow I know,” Fluttershy said softly.

“Well, it’s the Rainbow I know,” Ditzy grumbled with an angry twitch of her ears.

Fluttershy cast her eyes down and gently shook her head. “The Rainbow I know is the one that helped me get over my fears of being made fun of. If you couldn’t tell by how I did at Rainbow Falls, I’m not that good of a flier, either,” she said, spreading her wings a little. “I used to be petrified of flying in public because I thought that everypony would laugh at me, since my wings are so weak. And when Rainbow was counting on me to help with that big tornado last year, she tried to encourage me…” She giggled, a smile on her muzzle. “She wasn’t very good at it; she’s never been good at that sort of thing. But she tried, because she didn’t want me to feel so bad, wanted me to be more confident. That’s the Rainbow I know.”

When Fluttershy looked back up, Ditzy’s eyes were a lot softer, a small smile on her face. That charming, disarming smile. “She sounds like she’s a real good friend of yours,” she said, bitterness gone from her voice.

“She is,” Fluttershy nodded. “We have been for a long time.”

Ditzy’s smile grew shy as she said, “I hope I can be there to support you too, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy didn’t notice Ditzy’s hoof until it was right on top of hers. Heat rushed to her face as she pulled her own hoof back. “As a friend,” she said hastily. She noticed Ditzy’s shocked expression and repeated more calmly, “As a friend… right?”

Ditzy squirmed a bit in her seat, her eyes darting around nervously and her cheeks bright pink. “Yeah… as a friend.” She shook her head and looked up at the clock. “Look, I better go. It was… it was really nice getting to talk to you.”

“It was nice talking to you too,” Fluttershy muttered, taking cover behind her mane. “Um… see you around, Ditzy.”

“Yeah… seeya.” Ditzy slinked out, an almost tangible feel of dejection to her gait as she trotted out of Sugarcube Corner.

There was a short silence before Pinkie peeked her head out from under the table. “Oh yeah. She has it for you bad.”

“Had, it looks like,” Fluttershy mumbled, practically wilting. “I hope I didn’t hurt her feelings too badly.”

“Hey, it was just a crush, right? She should get over it,” Pinkie assured as she climbed out from under the table.

“Yeah… just a crush.” She sighed before wondering aloud, “Should I have given her a chance?”

“Hey, don’t ask me,” Pinkie said as she brushed herself off. “I don’t have my crystal ball with me.”

Fluttershy furrowed her brow in thought before ultimately shaking her head and getting up to leave. “Too late now, I suppose…”