Space Captain Pinkie Pie

by terrycloth

6: Research, Pegasus Style

“We’ve trained hard,” Rainbow Dash said to the assembled crowd of pegasi. It wasn’t nearly as large as the crowd she’d drawn when Ponyville was going for the Tornado record, but then this meeting wasn’t mandatory. “The ponies here have shown that they’re the best of the best that Ponyville has to offer.”

“Are you sure they’re the best of the best?” Pinkie Pie asked, from the corner. “I mean, you only did one round of elimination so that would make them the best of the ponies who showed up.”

“Well, only the best ponies showed up, okay?” Rainbow Dash said. “If you aren’t even willing to try, then that’s worse than washing out. No offense Fluttershy… um… Fluttershy?” Dash did a double take as she noticed the shy yellow Pegasus sitting next to Pinkie Pie. “Did you change your mind about helping?”

“Um… no…” Fluttershy said, looking down.

“Well,” Rainbow Dash said, pausing a little too long, “good. I couldn’t play favorites anyway, since you skipped the trials. Wait – you’re not here about Tank, are you?”

“No…” Fluttershy said, “I was just wondering…”

“Right. Well, if you’re here to cheer for the winners, I’ve got the list right here,” she said, tapping a hoof against the covered easel.

“…if it wouldn’t be too much trouble…” Fluttershy continued.

“Now before I show the results,” Rainbow Dash said, pacing back and forth in front of the crowd, “I want you to know that I’m considering only relevant factors here – wingpower to weight ratio, endurance…”

“…would it be possible if you could…” Fluttershy said, getting softer and softer as no one seemed to be paying any attention to her.

“…radicalness, style, and of course, spirit!” Rainbow Dash finished. “Twilight helped me come up with a formula to weight all your scores. And might have helped a little with the math. So if you don’t agree with the standings, you should go complain to her.”

“…get around to – you know, when you have time – thinking about maybe…”

“That said, our number one flier in Ponyville, leader of the ‘A’ team for the Jelly Jar, is… me!” Rainbow flipped up the cover to show a picture of her own face.

“Get on with it already!” complained a blue and yellow Pegasus from the middle of the crowd. “Who’d you pick to go with you?”

“…giving me back my wagon?” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Not you,” Rainbow Dash said. “Sorry, Raindrops. I just couldn’t get past your mane. It really screams ‘phys ed teacher’, and that’s not the image I’m looking for to take on the first ever Pegasus-powered moon voyage.”

“I mean… you’re not using it anymore? And I’d be really really grateful…” Fluttershy added, under the laughter of the crowd.

“The number TWO flier,” Rainbow Dash said, flipping to the next sheet, “surprising us all by actually putting forth an effort for once in his life, Thunder Lane!” That, finally, was met with some real cheers and congratulations as he pranced to the front of the room to stand next to Rainbow Dash.

“I have to make twice as many trips to the forest without a wagon,” Fluttershy said.

“The number three flier, who scored amazingly high in the endurance test, and showed some real spirit cheering the rest of you on, is… Derpy!”

“Woo! Thanks Rainbow Dash!” said the gray and yellow Pegasus as she hovered up out of the crowd and made her way towards the easel, kicking several other ponies in the head as she passed. “Sorry!” She bumped the easel as she landed, and Rainbow Dash had to steady it with a wing. “My bad,” she said.

Twilight Sparkle opened the door to the library, and after a quick look around, quietly made her way over to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie offered her some popcorn.

“Did I miss anything?” Twilight asked.

“Yep,” said Pinkie Pie, not taking her eyes off the stage.

“And our last place winner, for spirit, style, and some really radical muffins, Ditzy Doo!”

Another gray and yellow Pegasus, with an identical bubble cutie mark flew out of the crowd and did a quick circle around the room before landing next to Derpy.

“Wait,” Twilight Sparkle said quietly, so as not to interrupt Rainbow Dash, who was explaining the mission in more detail, “we’re taking Ditzy Doo on our team?”

“Uh huh,” Pinkie Pie said.

Twilight took a bite of her popcorn. “Who’s the, um… the other one.”

“Derpy,” Fluttershy said. “And, um, hi Twilight.”

Twilight stared at them. “Derpy and Ditzy are two different pegasi.”

“Uh huh,” Pinkie Pie said.

Twilight leaned forwards and rubbed her eyes. “Who look exactly the same, and have the same cutie mark.”

“There’s actually six of them,” Fluttershy said. “But Daffodil, Daydream, Dizzy, and Dandelion still live in Cloudsdale. They were all sitting together to cheer Ditzy on during the young fliers’ competition.”

“…so if you look up a couple nights from now, and see a really bright falling star – catch us!” Rainbow Dash finished, to the laughter of the crowd.

“I’m surprised to see you here, Fluttershy,” Twilight Sparkle said, as the crowd started to break up. “Did you change your mind about coming along? It’d be crowded, but we could probably fit in *one* more pony as a passenger…”

“No… I just wanted…” Fluttershy started, looking down and scraping at the floor with her hoof. “I just wanted to cheer everypony on,” she finished, with a smile.

Comments

[Rowyn]

Awww, poor Fluttershy. *petpets*

And I guess that's one way to reconcile the Ditzy/Derpy name discrepancy. n.n

[horizon]

Even if I get nothing else out of this story, the notion that Derpy and Ditzy are separate ponies has made it worth my time. So far, ambitious and subtly funny. I plan to read more.

Congratulations on the Seattle's Angels feature!

[LittleSallyDigby]

“…giving me back my wagon?” Fluttershy squeaked.

Oh god, somepony is in trouble. And being in trouble with Fluttershy is the worst kind of trouble, because either you get the Stare (and it's fixed almost immediately but you have to live with the memory of that for the rest of your life) or she just quietly shuts up about it (and you kind of feel like you're not in trouble anymore but every time you close your eyes you see her sad little face).

[LittleSallyDigby]

... or you could be Rainbow Dash.