Derpy woke up with a start, blearily peering around the darkening room. She was wrapped in a toasty little burrito of blankets and fluffy rugs, her mane all mussed and her eyes heavy. A little known fact about Derpy Hooves: she was the bemused owner of a near-perfect internal body clock, which in this case meant she knew exactly what time it was and just how late she was for her evening shift.
Oh, horse-apples...
One perfectly graceful leap from the bed and near simultaneous faceplant later, she came floor to face with a note on the oaken floorboards (pleasing to the aesthetics, but not at all to the face when encountered at high velocity ) which must have fluttered off the bedside table with the cool breeze pervading the room. Rubbing her reddening muzzle, and thanking Luna that Dash hadn't been there to see, she squinted at the note through her still-sleep thickened eyes:
Hey Derps,
Don't freak out if you wake up and get this, okay? You were pretty tired, so I should be back before you wake up. Don't worry about your shift, I got it covered. I've just got some business to take care of, but I'll be back soon.
Dashie
Derpy broke into a broad smile upon reading the note, and a pink blush crept across her cheeks as she re-read the note before climbing to her feet and making a mental note to invest in some rugs. Preferably thick ones, for safety, because, uh, floorboards are slippery and that could be dangerous for somepony if they weren't paying attention. Yeah, that was it.
I can't believe I slept through my shift! It was sweet of Dashie to go in and cover my shift. And... I won't forget what she said to me! I''ll take it to heart! After all, I'm ashamed of her either, and I won't let this change the way I feel. I can't believe I was so silly. She's worth more than that...
All the same, I should bring something for the mares at work to apologise... like muffins! Everyone loves muffins, right? And I can save some for Dashie, she was amazing today...
She began to walk into the kitchen, stifling a slight yawn, but perking up and already mentally running through her ingredients list to determine what she could make- or rather, what she couldn't make. It wasn't Zap Apple season, so her Zap Apple Splat Muffins were out, and while she'd always wanted to try it, her Poison Joke Surprise Muffins could probably wait until Halloween, even if Twilight had said something about not being able to distribute potentially harmful substances to the townspeople without their consent...
Flour and sugar began to fly around the kitchen as Derpy worked her magic in the kitchen as only she could, improvising what all of Ponyville would wager their share of Apple Family cider would be amazing muffins, which begged the question as to why she had a recipe collection at all...
And as Derpy was occupied with her masterpieces in the kitchen, the breeze that was now picking up and blowing stronger throughout the whole house tugged a little note out from where it was partially tucked under the woven doormat of her porch. Thunder (and the sound of Derpy's mixer) began to rumble through the town, citizens closed their doors and windows, and the handwritten note blew out through the streets, rising, writhing and falling again with the wind's embrace, until it became wedged in a tree outside the Town Hall. There as the rain began to fall, its words were blurred and obscured by the heavy drops:
Derpy:
One of our mailmares heard about today, and we're all so sorry about what happened. We've got that new stallion taking your shift for you, so you don't need to come in. I hope that you're feeling all right after the incident, and we'd just like to say that we here at the Post Office all consider you and that sweet (if sometime erratic) mare you live with to be valuable and cherished members of our community
Sincerely,
(An illegible scrawl)
...
Dash was walking along the streets of Ponyville's wealthiest suburb: along each side of her were the country residences of the Canterlot Elite, such as Fleur de Lis and Fancy Pants (an extravagant villa of many marble columns and balconies), and of the local noveau riche who attempted to imitate them. Her usually friendly and open expression was darker than the thunderclouds massing above her head, and ponies who met her eye hurried to cross to the other side of the street so quickly that some of them tripped over their own tails.
She was in the kind of mood which would have seen her flying through the storm despite the strong and unpredictable thermal updrafts and risk of electrocution, but she also reasoned that if she were injured she'd be unable to do anything about that little brat with those parents she was going to have some stern words with in the very, very near future.
In fact, she was torn between having words with her parents and hefting a series of very large rocks through their front, double height windows imported from Germaney. A smirk that would have sent a cockatrice scuttling back into the undergrowth crossed her muzzle as she wondered just how well their triple glazing would stand up to the combined force of gravity acting on a heavy object and the strength of one very pissed off fillyfooler.
However, Dash could envision with uncanny accuracy the expression on Derpy's face if she heard that Dash had acted so vindictively, and that was enough to stop her. A brief, rebellious thought-it's not like she'd have to know- crossed her mind before she brushed it away. Something about Derpy just made her want to be better, to be kinder and gentler, to be a good pony. Something that was strong enough to counteract the dark urges running through her mind.
Suddenly, just as the clouds overhead were massing so thickly that they had all but obscured sun, letting only the weakest rays slip through to assure ponies that it was, in fact, still the day, Dash came to an abrupt stop facing the Rich mansion, home of Filthy Rich, erstwhile home of Spoilt Rich (nee Rotten), and their progeny, Diamond Tiara.
Otherwise known as a royal pain in the...
Gripping the gold-plated knocker, she raised it and brought it down aggressively three times, each time growing easier (despite its ridiculous weight) as her anger re-doubled her determination. The echoes of her knocking reverberated through the massive halls and galleries hidden behind the door, and then there was silence.
And silence...
And an almost imperceptible tapping of hoofsteps on stone floors, muffled by the thickness of the teak door, engraved and highlighted with gold leaf accents.
And then the door was wrenched open inwards, and the speech that Dash had rehearsed in her head through her resentful march up here was lost in her head as she saw the state of the pony on the threshold. Filthy Rich was clearly inebriated, supporting himself on the door frame, eyes red-rimmed and sagging. Seeing, her, he began to close the door just as soon as it had opened wide enough to register her presence, slurring:
"Look, whatever it is you're selling, I don't give a Royal-"
Rainbow all but smashed her hoof into the door, keeping it open despite his (admittedly weak) attempt to close it.
"Filthy Rich. I'm not here to sell you anything, but I think that perhaps I could enlighten you as to certain aspects of your daughter's behavior which I- and Equestria's law- believe are unacceptable and you have a responsibility to change, unless you want to have a talk with the Princess of Friendship. And I can assure you that she will be a good deal less friendly than her name might suggest."
Her firm voice seemed to spark some sort of recognition within him, and he looked her in the face for the first time, becoming more sober under her purposeful gaze. A small clatter of hoofsteps behind him broke their eye contact, and the door slammed in her face again.
Standing on the porch, Dash had a horrible feeling in her stomach, a nausea that seemed to paralyze her whole body, except for her breathing which was getting faster and louder, until she could hear it.
Sweet Luna, what have I done?
From behind the door, she heard a bellow of
" My REPUTATION, you little- ", a smash and a shrill scream.
The scream jolted her leaden limbs into action, and her wings flared automatically before she consciously commanded them to. Within a split second she'd left the porch and was streaking along the side of the house, the rainbow light in her wake illuminated by the flashes splitting the sky.
A window, she needed a window. A sudden thought struck her, and she rose above the house. there it was- a skylight running the length of the house. Through it, she could see the mezzanine level housing the families' bedrooms, and to the side and below it, the double-height gallery. Along it, a dark, unsteady shadow was lurching with an eerie calmness, but between the sonorous thunder, she could make out snatches of what he was screaming, and for a second her eyes unfocused and she dropped a few feet in the air as she remembered a different house, a different time, but a sickeningly similar scenario.
Focusing again, she searched feverishly for the small form she knew would be making her way up the stairs-foals always hide where they feel safe- and into the bedrooms. Into one, particular, abandoned bedroom. There! At the head of the stairs, a glint of metal.
She's still wearing that tiara. Her mother gave it to her.
And then, in slow motion she saw that at the other end of the mezzanine, in symmetry with his daughter, another figure at the head of another set of stairs. He had known where his daughter would go. This has happened before. This has happened before.. Looking down, feeling like she was freefalling without her wings, Dash saw the little face of Diamond Tiara looking up at the sky. A flash of lightning lit the tableaux, and all Rainbow could see was Diamond's face, blanched by the harsh light. Not fear, not terror. Not even helplessness, but a small, sad smile, like she could see into Dash's past and share all of her pain. Like she , rather than a filly desperately in need of a savior, was there to save Rainbow.
Filthy Rich began to advance on his daughter, and the scene fell into darkness once again. Without considering, without thinking, Dash dropped out of the sky. She felt as if she had rehearsed this a hundred times, and a strange calmness stole over her as she realised that she knew exactly what to do: it would be easy to get into the house. There was only one way that she could get back out. She couldn't trust her eyes not to confuse her in the storm, so she closed them as with a CRASH she broke the sound barrier, barely before sweeping through the skylight, where, seconds before, an intact pane of industrial-strength glass had blocked her path.
Rainbow angled slightly so as to slow herself down, and she could feel her ligaments protesting and tearing as her wings bore the brunt of the force of her rapid deceleration. She could see in her minds eye Diamond's position, and she hoped- she trusted in Celestia- that the filly hadn't moved from the top of the stairs.
And she skimmed the floor with her underline as she scooped a small weight into her arms, rolled onto her back so that the filly was shielded, and with a second ear-splitting BOOM shattered every window in the house as the sky opened, a deluge of rain plummeted from the clouds, and Dash flew out through the cloud of shard and powder that had been a triple-glazed, double- height window imported from Germaney.
...
Derpy, worried by her mare-friend's prolonged absence, opened the door with a smile and a teasing scold dying on her lips as she took in her soaked special somepony: cuts all down her sides, wings limp, and a small, quivering bundle in her arms. Without needing an explanation, without questioning the iron look in Dash's eyes, she folded them both into her warm arms and pulled all three inside, closing the door against the raging storm with her back hoof. There was a smell of fresh cinnamon apples muffins in the air, and in the brief moment when she looked outside before closing the door, there was a Double Rainboom reflected in her eyes.