Chapter Four: Share the Load
“You're a changeling!?”
“What?” Ditzy blurted out, while staring at the bewildered Rainbow Dash.
For Applejack's part, she was busy using a hoof to rub one of her ears, even as the other ear folded flat against her head “Ya mind tonin' it down there, Dash? Before Ah go deaf, perhaps?”
“But she-” The pegasus began.
“And Ah don't see what the big problem is. Just earlier today, you were tellin' everypony about how 'cool' ya are with changelings.” The Earth pony reminded her friend, before readjusting her hat.
“This is Derpy!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, while gesturing with both hooves towards the bemused mailmare. Shaking her head for a moment, before setting down and bringing a hoof to rub her head “I mean, it's like- it's like-...I don't know! She's too weird to be a changeling!”
“What?” Ditzy again had to ask, as she furrowed a brow and gave a questioning look at that.
“Rainbow Dash, I really don't see what the problem is.” Twilight eventually spoke up, stepping forward so as to garner her athletic friend's attention “I mean, when you think things over, it does make a certain amount of sense. Especially after Phyll's explanation about the post-”
“Twilight...she can't be a changeling!”
“Uhm, I'm not.”
“...Huh?” Rainbow Dash blurted out, as she turned towards the frowning Ditzy Doo.
“I'm not a changeling.” Ditzy reiterated for the pegasus, giving a tilt of her head as she did so.
“Yer not?” AJ followed up in a more sedate, though no less surprised manner than anypony else.
The mailmare actually sighed at this point, before nodding “I'm pretty sure I would know if I was.”
“So...just pretty sure?” Rainbow Dash slowly inquired, openly scrutinizing the grey mare up-and-down, evidently still doubtful “I mean, you are sure that you're not, like...forgetting that you're a changeling or something?”
“What.” Ditzy flatly replied.
RD gave a shrug at that, before tilting her head “I'm just saying, you did forget which way was South that one time.”
At this, the grey mare furrowed her brows, as she gave her fellow pegasus a very pointedly annoyed look. One that Rainbow Dash entirely failed to decipher, as she blankly stared back at Ditzy “Are ya trying to remember if you're a changeling or not?”
“I'm not a changeling!!!” Ditzy eventually loudly exclaimed, before settling into an agitated pout.
“She really isn't.” Phyll agreed in a much more measured tone.
Applejack trotted over at that, tilting her head in consideration for a moment, before glancing towards the mailmare “Well...Hold on a sec. If Ditzy here ain't a changeling, then just how is it she happens to know that you're...you?”
“It does kind of raise more questions than it answers...” Twilight admitted, rubbing her chin with her hoof as she considered things.
The three friends all turned as one towards Phyll, all sharing fairly similar questioning looks for the disguised changeling. Letting out his own sigh, the changeling turned his own gaze towards Ditzy Doo “...It's really not my place to say.”
“Wha- why is everypony looking at me?” Ditzy blurted out as everyone's collective attention turned towards her, distracting her from her earlier agitation.
At that, Phyll cleared his throat before gesturing a hoof to himself “Is is not my place to explain how you are acquainted with changelings.”
“...'Kay?” The grey mare replied with a tilt of her head.
The changeling let out a breath at that, as he prepared to elaborate “While it is not my place, it could be your place to explain things, if you so chose.”
“Oh...Oh! You're saying- Wait. Am I allowed to talk about that?” Ditzy asked of Phyll.
Phyll nodded “With the level of trust that has been placed in you, you may speak of anything you deem fit.”
The mailmare blinked at that before raising a hoof to rub her chin as she mulled that over “Huh. That sounds like I should take it pretty seriously...”
Rainbow Dash interrupted this with a loudly huffed out sigh “Will someone please explain what's going on?”
“Okay, okay!” Ditzy exclaimed, while holding a hoof to forestall anymore from the cyan pegasus. Pausing for a moment, as if preparing to speak, the mailmare gave one more look towards Phyll “You're sure I'm allowed to-”
“Derpy!”
The grey mare ducked her head in embarrassment at that, before bringing a hoof to the back of her head “Sorry, I-”
“Ms. Doo is doing precisely what she was entrusted to do, Ms. Dash.” Phyll abruptly interjected, while sending a harsh look towards Rainbow Dash.
A bit surprised by his tone, RD has to lean back with uncharacteristic uncertainty “I, uh-”
“It's fine, Phyll.” Ditzy interjected before Rainbow Dash could give any sort of response to the changeling's words. Bringing the hoof that was rubbing the back of her head to her chin, the mailmare turned towards Twilight “So, uhm...it's kinda hard to explain.”
Briefly glancing between everyone present, the young alicorn settled for giving an encouraging smile to the mailmare “It's alright. Just try explaining it in any way you can.”
“Right, so...I'm kinda like a friend to the changelings.” Ditzy haltingly explained. A few moments later she gave a tilt of her head as a thought occurred to her “Officially, I mean. Like, I'm officially a friend to the changelings.”
Everypony there stared for a few more seconds, most everypony expecting her to elaborate on that, before AJ stepped forward with a gesture of her hoof “Uh, Ditzy? Ah'm not quite sure we're gettin' what yer trying to say.”
“Oh! It's- well, I kinda helped out some changelings before and they really appreciated it and thought I was very, uhm- what's the word-...virtuous? Yeah, virtuous. And their Queen liked my virtues.” The wall-eyed mare explained, with a noticeable lack of detail.
Rainbow Dash ended up rolling her eyes at this, earning another look of annoyance from Phyll, before she gestured with her hoof for Ditzy to continue “Alright. Virtues. What else?”
“What do you mean?”
Before Rainbow Dash could answer, Twilight stepped forward, intent on approaching things in a more mature manner “When exactly did this happen? How is it you actually found out about the changelings?”
Ditzy gave a nod at that, understanding now what was being asked “Oh, this was years ago. Before I had Dinky and came to Ponyville.”
“I see?” The Pony Princess prompted.
“This all happened when I traveled down to the Featherscale Jungles in Zebrica. I used to be a private courier, you see? And-” The mailmare started to explain.
“Did you just say the Featherscale Jungles?” Rainbow Dash blurted out.
Ditzy gave a confused blink at that “Yeah?”
“The Featherscale Jungles? Like in the latest Daring Do book! You've been there?! It's real?!” The cyan pegasus exclaimed, going from confused to incredibly excited in a few seconds.
The grey pegasus had to frown at that “I guess...Wait. She didn't write about all of that, did she? I mean, they already didn't like her-”
“Uh, hold on a sec. What's goin' on here and what's the big deal about some jungles?” AJ spoke-up, not being quite so familiar as her friend with the Daring Do serials.
Twilight was the one to volunteer the needed context, giving a gesture of her hoof as she did so “Daring Do is a series of books that Rainbow Dash and I read a lot of. The latest one mostly took place in the Featherscale Jungles.”
“Huh.” Applejack replied simply, before giving a nod towards their blue friend “So, what's that got to do with anything?”
“It's probably just a coincidence.” Twilight confidently replied, before turning towards the disguised changeling still at her side “Right, Phyll?”
Phyll merely let an eyebrow climb upwards, as he turned towards the purple princess. Before Twilight could question this, Rainbow Dash took to the air before settling in the airspace around Ditzy Doo.
“So, you've actually been there?! What's it like? Did you get to see the Living City of Golden Beasts? The Wandering Flower Groves?..Oh my gosh! Tell me you saw Serpent Temple Plateau! Please tell me that's an actual place!” Rainbow Dash demanded, as her fanatical devotion to the series compelled her to ask every question that came to mind out of sheer excitement.
For Ditzy's part, the mailmare only stared at the hovering pegasus with bemusement and growing concern “Oh...that's not good at all.”
“What? How can any of that not be good? It's soo~ooo awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“Yeah, but...I don't think she was really allowed to write about any of that.” Ditzy hesitantly explained. Leaning away from RD to look towards the changeling at Twilight's side “You don't think they'll be angry with her?”
“I couldn't say.” Phyll said with an apologetic shake of his head.
Twilight gave her own shake of her head at this exchange “Are you talking about A.K. Yearling? Did she-”
“Oh My Gosh! You know A.K. Yearling?! The A.K. Yearling!”
Directing one of her eyes in a look of confusion for the excited Rainbow Dash, Ditzy gave a tilt of her head “Who?”
The aforementioned hovering blue pegasus spent several seconds staring blankly. Briefly raising a hoof as if she were about to say something, she let it drop before she could get any words out.
“Are you-” Ditzy began.
She didn't get to finish her question, before the mare she was addressing was replaced by a polychromatic blur trailing its way out of the post office. It took everyone a moment to register the accompanying 'whoosh' of sound and realize that Rainbow Dash had just abruptly flown off.
“Uh, where is Rainbow Dash goin' in such a hurry?” Applejack asked of everyone present.
“I haven't the foggiest clue.” Phyll replied, as he watched the rainbow trail fading away. Turning back towards the others, he gestured a hoof for the door “But perhaps it's for the best if we go ahead without-”
Before he could finish his thought, the door to the post office was burst open again by a similar rainbow trail that quickly resolved itself into the form of Rainbow Dash. Before anyone could comment, Dash pulled out a book that Twilight recognized, as she opened up the cover and presented it to the bewildered Ditzy Doo.
Pointing a blue hoof to the picture on the inner jacket of the book for Ditzy's benefit, the high-speed flyer declared “That is A.K Yearling. Who's only the greatest writer that ever lived! Author of the Daring Do series and all-around the most awesome egghead around!...No offense, Twilight.”
Twilight gave an annoyed look at that “Why would I-”
“I didn't know she had a nom de plume.” Ditzy observed, before taking the presented book in her own hooves. Looking over the picture herself more closely, the mailmare peeked her nose over the top of the book “Why is she dressed so frumpily?”
“She's not frumpy! She's just-...uh, help me out here, Twi.” Rainbow Dash called over to her friend, who responded to the request with an annoyed pout.
“Uhm, so...she didn't write anything about any changelings in this book, did she?” Ditzy asked, drawing both Twilight's and Rainbow Dash's attention back towards her.
“Why would there be anything about changelings in there?” The young princess asked.
“Rainbow Dash did mention all that other stuff earlier. I'm guessing that all shows up here in this book, right?” The grey mare asked.
“Well, yeah. What's that got to do with any changelings?” Rainbow Dash asked the obvious question.
“Uhm...Am I allowed to talk about this stuff?” Ditzy again asked Phyll with a tilt of her head. Seeing the changeling give another nod, Ditzy nodded in turn before once more facing the expectant Rainbow Dash “Well...the changelings are the ones that took us to all those places.”
“Wait...they took you?” Rainbow Dash blurted out, goggle-eyed at the statement.
To which Ditzy gave a nod “Yep. This was after they caught us though and demanded that we help them catch that strange, blue cat-fellow.”
“Ahuizotl?!” Rainbow Dash blurted out.
“That's the one.” Ditzy replied with a point of her hoof.
While a certain blue pegasus was hovering mid-air for several seconds, trying to process this, Twilight stepped between them to address the mailmare directly “Ditzy...When you said 'us' who did you mean?”
“Me and Daring Do, of course.” The grey mare responded easily.
“Daring Do is real!?!?!?!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
Ditzy, after having flinched back from that loud exclamation, blinked as a thought visibly occurred to her. Bringing a hoof to her chin, the grey pegasus furrowed her brow in thought “Oh, wait...I'm not sure I was allowed to talk about that either.”
“Wha- But, how could- and the- with-” Dash gibbered for several seconds, gesturing wildly with her hooves at the bemused Ditzy.
A bit more in control of herself than her friend, Twilight managed to settle for just swallowing down the majority of her questions for the moment “Ditzy...you were there, in the Featherscale Jungles with Daring Do, when you were captured by changelings?”
"Kinda.”
“And you helped them chase Ahuizotl, who is also real, to the actual Living City of Golden Beasts to stop him from harnessing its power?”
“Well...he wasn't ever going to be able to harness that place, since only the original residents could control it. We were just trying to stop him from re-awakening the place before it could go on a rampage...But, he didn't know about that part.” Ditzy casually explained. Pausing for a moment, she gave a tilt of her head before adding “...at first.”
Twilight was now in a similar state of shock to the hovering Rainbow Dash, having read the same book as her friend and being familiar enough with the contents of the story to recognize them.
Cue Applejack pursing her lips, as she observed the strange reactions from her two friends. Resisting the temptation to hang her hat off of the stock-still Twilight like a coat-rack, AJ turned towards the unassuming Ditzy “So, uh, ya did all that and that Queen Chrysalis decided to let her changelings know that you were a friend and all that?”
Ditzy gave a shake of her head at that “Oh, no. I've never even met Queen Chrysalis.”
Broken from her own stupor by the ongoing conversation, Rainbow Dash gave a vigorous shake of her head before setting down “Wait! Didn't you say something about Chrysalis liking your virtue or something just a minute ago?”
“Nope. That was Queen Vespi.”
“Queen Vespi?...She's the one that decided that changelings should trust you?” Rainbow Dash repeated.
Ditzy gave a nod at that, before pursing her lips in thought “Well...Queen Vespi did have to run it by Hyacinth too. She's the other Queen down in-...Oh, wait. I'm definitely not-so-sure that I should have said that.”
Phyll just shrugged, before gesturing with his hoof for her to go on.
Twilight turned her head from Ditzy to Phyll and then back to Ditzy “So there really is more than one Changeling Queen?!”
“Uhm, yes. Technically, there's more than two more, I think. Cause there's three.” Ditzy pointed out.
Rainbow Dash again got the mailmare's attention, when she re-landed in front of her “So, not only is Daring Do real, she's friends with two Changeling Queens?!”
“What? No. No, they don't like Daring at all.” Ditzy quickly denied.
“What?! Why wouldn't they like her?!” RD demanded, bewildered and outraged at the very notion.
Leaning back a bit before tilting her head from one side to the other, her eyes shifting about in different directions, Ditzy looked back towards the three ponies “Uhm, do we really have time for all of this?”
“What?” Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash blurted out.
“It's just, we're already behind on our work here and I've still got to deliver all of those messages for Phyll. Right, Phyll?” The mailmare explained, before giving a tilt of her head towards the quiet changeling.
“If it's not too much trouble.” The disguised changeling agreed with a nod.
“Not after all of the favors you guys have done for me.” Ditzy replied with a big grin. Turning back around and clambering over the pile of packages, she started making her way towards the backroom “I just gotta let Exact Postage know I'm heading out to do my route.”
“By all means.” Phyll replied with a patient nod.
“I'll be right back.” The mailmare replied before ducking away.
Both changeling and Earth pony watched as the wall-eyed mare disappeared, before turning their shared attention to the still dumbstruck faces of Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Clearing her throat briefly, Applejack leaned over towards Phyll, before using her hoof to cover her mouth “So, uh...ya think they're gonna be alright?”
“We can leave them here, if not.” The changeling sagely noted.
AJ gave a tilt of her head at that, before turning fully towards the stallion “So...Ah guess Ditzy knew about you guys the whole time?”
“Pretty much.”
“And there's other Changeling Queens out there?”
“Quite evidently.”
“And Ditzy's been on all kinds of crazy adventures?”
“Just the one, as far as I know.”
“And whoever that Daring Do character is, she's real Ah'm guessing?”
“Yes.”
“Huh...that's all pretty neat, Ah suppose.” Applejack noted with a nod, pursing her lips as she turned back towards her friends “Kinda wishin' she mentioned some o' that stuff before now, but what are ya gonna do?”
“Daring Do is real!?!?!” Rainbow Dash abruptly shouted, finally breaking her silence while wildly gesturing her hooves in the direction Ditzy had gone.
Twilight, after jumping in mild fright at her friend's sudden yelling, gave a shake of her head to reorient herself “You don't need to shout, Rainbow Dash. And I'm as surprised as-”
“Twilight...It's Derpy! How is this even-” Rainbow Dash began.
“Could you please stop using that.” Phyll sharply interjected.
“Huh?” The pegasus cleverly replied, before landing.
Now very apparently frowning, the disguised changeling furrowed his brow before speaking “That name. You don't need to understand it, but Ms. Doo has earned the trust and respect of changelings as a whole. And my tolerating your little nickname for her is failing to adhere to that.”
“What are you- It's just a-” Rainbow Dash began, before coming to a brief pause as she noticed the failure of both Twilight and Applejack to leap to her defense. Indeed, both seemed a bit hesitant to look her way. Giving a vigorous shake of her head and a gesture of her hooves “It's just a goofy little nickname! I mean, it's not like I mean anything by it! It's just, you know...a friendly-”
“Rainbow Crash.” Phyll sternly uttered, his eyes narrowing slightly.
There was a visible effect upon Rainbow Dash, as she briefly tensed up, before sagging as she grasped the implications of what the stallion had just reminded her of. Apparently distressed for a moment, the pegasus briefly looked down, before bringing a hoof to the back of her head “I-uh...I never meant-”
“Ah was gonna try to bring that up with ya, Dash. Like when we had a second...” AJ admitted, looking a bit sheepish herself.
RD gave an upset grimace at that, before stepping a bit closer to Phyll “You don't think she-”
Before the conversation could be carried on any further, everypony's attention was drawn to the backroom by a loud series of crashes and thuds.
“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! My hat slipped down and-” Ditzy's distressed voice called out.
Only to be cut-off by the gruff, long-suffering voice of a stallion “It's fine. Just get on your route. It's fine.”
“Are you sure, Postage? I didn't mean-”
“It's fine. I hadn't really sorted that pile anyway. Just go on your route.”
“Alright then! I'll be back in a couple of hours!”
Cue Ditzy Doo backing out through the doorway waving a farewell to the unseen Exact Postage. She was now sporting a rather snazzy dark blue postal uniform, completed with shiny bronze buttons, a mailbag on each side, and a round cap the same color as the uniform sitting atop her head.
Turning around with a cheery smile, Ditzy made a point of adjusting her postal saddlebags, patting them with her hoof before turning back to the waiting group “Okay! Everything's ready, Phyll. I've got all of your special messages right here.”
The disguised changeling nodded, before taking a step forward “Excellent. But, before you go, there is one more point I need to mention.”
The mailmare looked up at that, plainly curious “Hm? What's that?”
“You know Pinkie Pie, yes?” Phyll asked, waiting for a nod before nodding in turn. Giving out a sigh, he gestured a hoof in the general direction of the library “Well, as it turns out, she's throwing some manner of party for all of us. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, but could you-”
“Warn them? Sure. I'm actually way ahead of you.” Ditzy replied with a smile before tapping her hoof against her saddlebags again.
Blinking at this turn of events, Phyll gave a tilt of his head as he responded “How so?”
“Well, Pinkie Pie stopped by here this morning with this package here.” The mailmare explained, as she dug out a simple parcel out of her bag. Setting it down revealed that it was already open and filled with colorful, glitter-specked paper cards “She was really hoping I could get all of these delivered today anyway.”
“Are those...party invitations?” The changeling asked.
“Yep!” Ditzy replied, before taking one in her mouth and presenting it to everyone present.
It was Applejack that trotted forward and took the card in hoof and began reading it aloud “Let's see here...Time to Pony-Up and Party Down at the totally non-Secret Goin'-Away Party fer Nopony Cause Nopony is Goin'-Away Party...Wink-wink. Get ready fer fun, snacks, and games, even though nopony is definitely goin' away, cause it's a secret and we can't tell anypony about it, even though it's definitely happenin' at the Golden Oaks Library...And there are definitely not going to be any changelings there. Wink-wink.”
“Pinkie managed to fit all of that on one card?” Twilight blurted out, bemused by the long, meandering message. Pausing for a moment as another thought occurred to her, the young princess leaned into look at the card “And did Pinkie actually write out that she was winking?”
“Yep. Pretty subtle by Pinkie's standards, Ah gotta say.” AJ admitted, turning the card in her hooves to look it over.
Phyll let out a sigh, before turning and pointing a hoof to the box of invitations “And am I to assume that Pinkie Pie brought exactly enough invitations for every changeling in town? Even though it should be impossible for her to know how many she would need?”
“Uhm, counting yours? Yep.” Ditzy replied, while pointing a hoof towards the invitation that the others were still scrutinizing. Pausing for a moment, the grey mare brought a hoof to her chin “Hold on...I think I might not be allowed to talk about that...”
“What?” Phyll asked.
Ditzy was clearly trying to ponder something apart “Well...she did make me make a Pinkie Promise that I wouldn't ruin the surprise for everyone. But, hold on...wouldn't the invitations kind of ruin the surprise? So, how would I deliver the invitations without anyone finding out about the party?”
“Huh...maybe what Pinkie meant is that them finding out some way other than through an invitation could ruin the surprise for them?” Twilight offered.
“Maybe...” Ditzy hesitantly replied.
Phyll briefly had to look up to the ceiling before taking in a deep breath “Well, if that's not the case you can assign myself any of the blame. As curious as I am about this, we may as well use Pinkie's invitations.”
Stowing the package away back in her saddlebags, Ditzy Doo used a hoof to adjust her mailmare cap again, before taking to the air “Alright then, well I'll be off then. Shouldn't take me too long to-”
“Hold on!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, as she flew up to block the grey mare's flight path. Setting back down, after forestalling Ditzy's exit, the blue pegasus cleared her throat before turning to the others “Maybe, somepony should go with her. To, you know, lend her a hoof if something goes wrong or something?”
“Uhm...I'm not gonna get lost, Rainbow Dash. I do this route every week.” Ditzy pointed out, looking a touch defensive at the idea of needing help with this, to her, simple task.
Dash actually cringed a bit at that remark, having an idea of how Ditzy thought she had reached that conclusion “No, wait. I mean, I'm just saying if you need any help with finding the changelings-”
Pulling out a small list from inside her uniform, Ditzy held it up for all to see “I've got a list for all of them, with their names and their addresses on it. Plus, I know most of them anyway.”
“I, uh-...huh.” Rainbow Dash sputtered to a halt, her ears drooping a bit at being stymied so easily.
Seeing her friend looking down at this, Twilight spared a glance between the two pegasi before clearing her throat “Actually, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea if Rainbow Dash went with you, Ditzy.”
“What?” The mailmare replied with a furrowed brow.
“I mean, I'm sure you'll have everything well-in-hoof, but this is a somewhat stranger day than normal. If somethings does go wrong, it might be good if there's someone there that can come let us know while you take care of things.” Twilight offered to the grey mare.
“Plus, with Dash going with ya, ya don't have to be worried about gettin' slowed down on yer route.” AJ added a moment later, picking up on what her purple friend was attempting.
Ditzy still gave a small frown, clearly still thinking it over, before turning towards Phyll “Well, if you think it's a good idea, I guess she could tagalong...”
Before AJ or Twilight could attempt to send any pleading looks towards the changeling to help them with this, Phyll gave a shrug “I can see no problem with it.”
“Okay, then. I guess.” Ditzy replied, before looking back towards Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be trying to put on an enthusiastic smile for the mailmare “Uhm, we don't really have any spare uniforms, so-”
“That's okay! I mean, I've never really been one for uniforms anyway.” RD quickly reassured.
The grey mare furrowed her brow at that and pursed her lips “I thought you wanted to be a Wonderbolt? Don't they wear uniforms a lot?”
“Well, uh- yeah, but...Off we go then! Can't keep those changelings waiting.” Dash quickly declared before flying towards the door and opening it for their departure. Ditzy just shrugged before flying at a more sedate pace out the door, with Rainbow Dash following a few moments later, letting the door close behind them.
Turning back to the changeling at her side, Twilight gave a thankful look his way “Thanks for letting Rainbow Dash have that chance.”
“Seemed easier than arguing.”
“Oh.” Twilight replied with a bit of disappointment at the cynical response.
AJ just shrugged “Well, he's not wrong. So then, Ah'm kinda wonderin' how many changelings that leaves us to talk to?”
“Ditzy's mostly taking care of those that work here anyway or who could otherwise easily beg off from work today. It's about a sixty-fourty split at this point, leaving about a dozen for us.” Phyll calmly explained as he made his way towards the exit.
“So, we'll be visiting the rest of them personally then? Is that the plan?” Twilight asked as she trotted after the changeling. The princess briefly came up short before turning back towards the post office's counter and the pile of packages left behind it. Letting her horn glow for a moment, her magic engulfed the pile and saw to stacking the numerous parcels in a fairly neat manner on the counter over the course of several seconds. She didn't know the proper method for organizing all of those deliveries, but she could at least pick them up off the floor.
Briefly letting an eyebrow climb upwards, as he watched Twilight neaten things up, the stallion gave a shake of his head “More or less. Quite a few changelings are kept quite busy here in Ponyville and are a bit harder to coordinate with.”
“You guys must really trust Ditzy to be having her help with all of this.” Twilight noted.
“That's been established.”
Twilight gave an awkward chuckle at that “Right. It's just...more of a surprise than I was entirely ready for.”
“Seems like the right day for that sorta thing. Ah gotta say, based on what Ah've heard, Ah didn't really think you changelings could think of so well of somepony.” AJ chimed in.
“It's an older tradition.” Phyll noted, as he moved to the post office's exit. Holding the door open for the two mares, the stallion gave a gesture with his hoof “It's not something a Changeling Queen declares often. But when it is, it's expected that others listen.”
AJ nodded at that, before stepping through the door, while Twilight briefly stopped, curious about the subject still “How often is not often?”
Phyll briefly cast his gaze upwards, as he visibly thought about the question, even as he continued to hold the door “There are perhaps...three individuals that I know of that carry that status these days.”
“Ditzy, obviously.” The young alicorn noted, before bringing a hoof to her chin as she pondered recent events “And I'm guessing Princess Celestia too?”
Phyll just nodded.
“Okay. Can you tell me who this third pony is? Or is that not allowed?” Twilight asked as she stepped over the threshold, her attention still on the changeling.
“It's allowed, or it might as well be at this point. But it's not a pony.” Phyll said as he moved to follow Twilight, letting the door close behind them.
“Oh?”
“There's this donkey...”
“So...this is what you do every day?”
Ditzy glanced back to take in the sight of a bored looking Rainbow Dash hovering over the street, the blue pegasus sending a skeptical look her way. Rolling her good eye a bit, the mailmare slid another letter into its rightful mailbox before giving a flap of her wings “No, not everyday. Just on days that I do the Ponyville routes.”
“And when you're not doing that?” Rainbow Dash asked, as she trailed through the air behind Ditzy, her hooves hanging limply in the air.
Adjusting her cap for a moment, Ditzy took a turn down a street before responding “Mostly I just help sort things at the post office.”
“Huh.” The poly-chromatic pegasus grunted.
“And Exact Postage will sometimes send me on some of the long-distance courier stuff when he thinks-” Ditzy began.
Rainbow Dash immediately perked up at that, as she recalled a part of their earlier conversation “Hey, yeah! Didn't you mention something about being a courier when you met Daring Do?”
The grey pegasus gave a heavy sigh at that, having expected their conversation to lead back to this “I was a private courier then, but...yeah.”
“I, uh-...Right. So...” Rainbow Dash hedged for a few moments, frowning at the somewhat less than enthusiastic reaction her question had earned. Scratching the back of her head a moment and glancing to the side, RD had to take a moment to restrain herself “...So, I guess it must be pretty weird working at the post office these days?”
“What?”
“You know, what with you and that Postage guy being the only ponies there.” RD clarified.
Ditzy gave a confused glance at that, as she dropped off her current parcel “Uhm, we're not the only ponies that work there, Dash.”
“Err, wait. So, then why wasn't there anypony else at the post office?” Rainbow Dash asked, giving a tilt of her head.
“Because there's a flu going around? Didn't you guys see the letter?” The wall-eyed mare replied, giving a skeptical look to her traveling companion.
“Oh...I thought everypony was just faking it or something. Cause they were changeling or whatever?”
“Nope.” Ditzy gave a shake of her head, before flying off once more, leaving Rainbow Dash to follow after her.
Following behind her for a few moments, Rainbow Dash frowned to herself, as she tried to figure out how she wanted to bring up the topic she needed to address. She had to admit to being a bit embarrassed with herself; a pony as awesome as herself should be able to just come out and say what she wanted. No muss, no fuss.
It's not like she hadn't already learned her lesson about judging others too quickly. But thinking about that in the context of Derp-...Ditzy was just plain weird. And it wasn't like she disliked the grey pegasus and it wasn't like it was the worst nickname in the world to-
Rainbow Dash let out a heavy sigh, as she realized how she was trying to make herself feel better about all of this.
“Hey, Ditzy? What I really wanted to-” The blue pegasus began, letting her head hang a bit, as she decided to just be awesome and clear the air.
Which was why it was unfortunate that Ditzy was nowhere in sight.
“Uh, Ditzy?” Rainbow Dash asked aloud, before giving a flap of her wings to get a bit of altitude. Darting about for a few seconds, looking to and fro, her eyes finally landed on the uniformed postal mare a ways down the street.
Zipping down, before settling on the street again, Rainbow Dash trotted up behind the mailmare “Like I was saying-”
“What?” Ditzy blurted out, before turning to send a curious glance Dash's way, revealing the mailbox that had previously been holding her attention.
The Wonderbolts wannabe had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at this “What exactly are you even doing over here?”
Raising an eyebrow curiously at that question, Ditzy gestured her own hoof towards the mailbox and its contents “My job?”
“...Oh, right. That.” Rainbow Dash cleverly replied, as she recalled that they were out there for a reason. Tilting to the side and sparing a moment to take in the sight of the open mailbox, the blue pegasus had to blink is surprise, as she noticed a glitter-covered party invitation. Looking up and taking in the sight of the small, simple house in front of her, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but blurt out “Wait...a changeling lives here?”
“Yes?”
“...Huh. Kinda didn't think it would look so normal.” Rainbow Dash noted, pointedly glancing to the not dissimilar buildings on each side of this simple home “You know? Like it would be kinda more obvious when you knew what to look for or whatever.”
Ditzy gave a shrug at that “I guess not.”
“Yeah...” Dash slowly replied, feeling the conversation dragging down once more, as things were overcome with awkwardness again. Swallowing a bit, as she tried to figure out how to take a hold of things from here, RD found herself tapping her hooves a bit anxiously.
“Uhm, was there something you wanted to ask me about, Rainbow Dash?” The wall-eyed mare asked, sending an inquiring look Rainbow Dash's way.
“Er, yeah. Actually, I did.”
“Is it about Daring Do?” Ditzy asked, already seeming like she was fairly sure what the answer was.
“I, uh-...” Rainbow Dash trailed off at that question, as she tried to process just what that question meant to her. After all, it wasn't like it wasn't true that she had dozens of different questions buzzing in her head about Daring Do being real that she wanted to ask. But that was almost definitely not why she decided she needed to talk to Ditzy. Right?
Sure, Ditzy suddenly seemed almost a hundred times cooler than Rainbow Dash had ever thought before now, but it's not like that was the only reason she wanted to be there. She was there so she could apologize for how un-cool she used to think Ditzy was and-...
...Oh.
“Dash? Uhm, are you in there? Hello?” Ditzy asked, leaning in and waving a hoof in front of Rainbow Dash's face to get her attention.
Shaking her head to clear away the tangle of thoughts that had taken root, she had to push her multi-colored mane out of her eyes before responding “Uh, yeah, I-...sorry about that. I was just sorta thinking and- uh...”
“Is everything alright?”
“I-...uh, no. Not really.” Rainbow Dash admitted, eliciting a concerned look from the grey mare. One that RD quickly tried to disarm with a self-deprecating laugh, while sweeping her hoof through her mane “Don't worry about it, Ditzy. I just, uh, thought of something and I'm feeling kind of embarrassed about it.”
Ditzy furrowed her brow at that, before off-hoofedly adjusting her cap again “What are you feeling embarrassed about?”
“It's just...I've known you for years now and it's pretty obvious that I don't really know anything about you. We've never, you know, hung out or anything.” Rainbow Dash explained.
“I didn't think you wanted to hang out or anything.” Ditzy replied with a frown, clearly a bit skeptical of this. Glancing to the side for a second, she focused one of her eyes back on Rainbow Dash again “I mean, I can just tell you about Daring Do now, if you-”
Rainbow Dash gave a vigorous shake of her head at that “Nah. Forget about Daring Do...I mean, not literally, cause I would totally love to hear everything about her. Just, you know, some other time.”
“Oh. Well, okay, what did you want to know about me?”
RD gave a shrug at that, before responding “I don't know. Just whatever. Like...I mean, you're a mom, right? That's a thing.”
“You want to know about Dinky?”
“Sure. I hang out with Scootaloo all the time, so it's not like I don't like kids. Or we could talk about you and the changelings. I bet that must have been a pretty weird day, right?” Rainbow Dash continued on, intent on trying to learn more about Ditzy now. Even the less than super-awesomely amazing stuff.
“I guess we could talk about that...I mean, they are all moving now.” The mailmare mused.
Rainbow Dash gave an encouraging nod at that, before gesturing with a hoof to continue “Right? I'm guessing you were pretty freaked out, when you started noticing all of these guys lurking around Ponyville, huh?”
“Not really.” Ditzy easily replied, turning to head down the street now. Rainbow Dash was a bit pleased to note that the grey mare still seemed interested in talking, instead of darting off without her noticing “I kind of think they might have been more nervous than I was.”
“Really? I can see that, I guess.”
“Yeah. Especially when they ended up abducting me.” Ditzy casually added.
“Wait...they what?!” Rainbow Dash suddenly exclaimed, immediately drawing the attention of several other pedestrians going along this particular street. Smiling for the benefit of the curious onlookers, the blue pegasus gave an awkward wave before zipping up into the air. Turning around in mid-air, having reached an altitude where they could talk in relative private, Rainbow Dash soon found herself waving for Ditzy to come join her.
Flying up at a more sedate pace, the mailmare tried holding up her hooves to forestall what was coming “I know what you're going to say.”
“They abducted you?!”
“Just a little bit.” Ditzy replied, bring her two forehooves together to demonstrate.
Rainbow Dash had to blink at that and shake her head “How do you abduct somepony just a little? And I thought changelings didn't do that sort of thing?!”
“It wasn't really all that bad. They were just worried that I was going to reveal them, so they showed up at my house.” Ditzy calmly explained. Taking a moment to shift her saddlebags about and tip her cap back a bit, she turned back to the still somewhat bewildered pegasus in front of her “I mean, they weren't really sure how I found out about them. So, I think they wanted to take me away while they figured out things.”
“Take you away?”
“Yeah, it was kind of awkward at first, mostly cause they had gagged me at the time. Then it got just a bit more awkward when Dinky came home from school that day.” Ditzy calmly explained.
“...Dinky saw them trying to abduct you? How are you so calm about that? Shouldn't you have been freaking out?”
“I guess. Really, it was Phyll and his friends that were freaking out. Mostly cause I don't think they wanted to freak out Dinky. Honestly, you should have seen their faces!” The mailmare exclaimed before letting out her own string of titters. Smiling up at the bemused Rainbow Dash, one eye gazing off to the side, but still cheerful “I mean, it can be kinda hard reading changelings, but they were definitely on the verge of panicking.”
“So...Dinky knows too.”
“Mm-hmm. But it's never been a problem, I don't think. She's very mature for her age.” Ditzy added with a touch of pride. Shaking away her maternal delight “Anyway, I managed to get the gag out when everyone was staring at Dinky.”
“And I'm guessing you didn't start calling for help?” Rainbow Dash queried.
The mailmare gave a shake of her head at that “Nope. I let her know that I was just having a chat with some of mommy's friends, and then I sent her into the kitchen to get her after-school snack and to start on her homework.”
“And that worked? Didn't they still have you tied up?”
Ditzy ended up tilting her head one way and then the other, as she considered how to answer that, almost dislodging her cap in the process “Yeah, but I think Phyll decided to go along with what I was saying for Dinky's benefit; I don't think he wanted to drag me off when a little filly was home.”
“Really?”
“Yep. And once Dinky was in the kitchen, I mentioned the whole thing with Cinthi and Vespi naming me a friend to changelings and that pretty much fixed everything.” Ditzy explained a bit more, before being given some pause, as a thought occurred to her. The wall-eyed mare pursed her lips in thought, before giving a nod of her head “Well, not quite everything. After that, Phyll did spend a good ten minutes chewing out poor Ditto, for forgetting about Dinky.”
Rainbow Dash again found herself staring, her mouth a little bit agape.
“Anyway, once they heard me say that, it didn't take them long before agreeing to find out if I was telling the truth. I mean, they still weren't quite ready to let me go...but it was kind of a nice vacation.” Ditzy noted.
“Vacation?”
“Yeah. Zebrica's pretty far off, so it took them over a week to get word back. I ended up just staying home the whole time, while Phyll had someone filling in for me.” Ditzy explained in that same entirely too casual manner of hers. Giving another cheerful smile at those memories “Like I said, it was actually a pretty nice week overall. And Dinky got along great with the changelings Phyll had staying with us.”
Rainbow Dash had to close her eyes for a few seconds, bringing her hooves to hold her head. Letting her forehooves drop and focusing back on Ditzy again “How? How is it I didn't know about any of this?”
Ditzy blinked at the question, taking a moment to use her own hoof to rub her head, before shrugging “Uhm, I'm not really sure, Dash.”
“It's just- I mean, I've never even heard of this stuff.” Rainbow Dash eventually asked, managing to articulate the overriding feelings she's had since the post office “It's like there's all this stuff going on with you and it's just...you, you know?”
“Uhm, not really.” The mailmare replied, looking a bit embarrassed. Looking down for a moment, as she thought it over, Ditzy eventually focused one of her eyes back on Dash “I guess everyone's got their own stories, huh?”
“Huh. I guess so...” RD noted to herself, even as she lightly chewed the inside of her cheek in thought. Before she could ponder that over for too long, Dash found herself briefly dropping through the air, as she suddenly felt some new burden on her back. Correcting herself in the air, she quickly turned back to see that Ditzy had taken advantage of her momentary introspection to toss a set of saddlebags over her back “Uhhhh, what are you doing?”
“Well, I think we might be kinda falling behind a bit, so I figured we'd split up the workload.” Ditzy cheerfully explained, as she tightened the straps on the saddlebags. Adjusting her own shoulder bag, the mailmare pulled out a piece of paper before handing it to the bemused Rainbow Dash “Here's a list of the addresses for these deliveries. Just put all the parcels with the same address in the mail slots and it should be fine.”
Hesitantly taking the list in hoof, the blue pegasus glanced back up towards the wall-eyed mare “Uhm, Ditzy? I'm not sure that I-”
“Oh right!” Ditzy exclaimed before fishing a hoof about in her shoulder bag once more. After rooting around for a few seconds, she pulled forth another slip of paper. Fiddling with it in her hooves for a moment, she then turned and pressed a hoof to Rainbow Dash's chest without warning “There we go!”
“What are you-” The blue pegasus started to blurt out, before looking down. Rainbow Dash was brought to a pause, as she noticed the sticker that had been stuck to her, sporting what looked to be a stylized pegasus foal in flight “Uh, what?”
“I now dub you an official Junior Postal Courier!” Ditzy happily declared.
“What?”
“Just take your time and I'm sure you'll do fine.” The now-senior mailmare helpfully advised.
“...What?”
“Alright then. We'll meet back up at the post office as soon as we're both done.” Ditzy added with a smile, before abruptly turning and flying back down towards town.
This left Rainbow Dash staring after her, not really sure what she was supposed to do now. Frowning to herself, she cast her gaze once more to the sticker now adorning her front. Idly brushing a hoof against it, trying to pull the paper from her coat, she quickly realized her efforts were to no avail.
“Huh...that's on there pretty good.”
So, hopefully that was fun for everyone. We'll be focusing more on Twilight, Applejack, and Phyll in the next one meeting a bunch of changelings around town in the next one. Kinda wanted to focus on a theme I strive for with my stuff. Everyone's got their own stories.
Anyway, I'l probably be doing a blog filling in some of the details about the other changelings int he world, cause I'm sure I raised some questions there.
And here's a pic of Ditzy rocking her postal uniform:
I hope everyone enjoys this latest update. As always, I welcome any questions or criticisms.
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GOD I love Derpy. And she certainly does rock that uniform.
This bit actually did feel a bit like something one might see on an animated show such as MLP. I liked it, it drives home just how weird Ponyville really is, as explored in episode 100 of canon.
Are you setting up a hook for a story involving the incidents with Ditzy and the changelings? Because if you are, I would read the heck out of that.
7448664 I've been considering do something for that her down the line. The broadstrokes of such a story a story are already in my head, and it'd be a while, but I do have the ideas up there for an Indiana Jones-esque adventure involving Ditzy, Daring, the Changelings and Ahuizotl. Let me flesh out some thoughts on that and finish up some other stories and we'll go from there.
7448373 Yeah, I wanted to get an idea how she might look in a uniform, but I didn't think it would be so snazzy.
7448501 This chapter was a bit of an ode to the 100th episode, both integrating some of the ideas there and embracing the idea it presented, which is one I've agreed with for a while. Essentially, everyone is the hero in their own story.
love the chapter.
and muffins rocks.
7448926
Well, that, sure, but also Ponies in general and those in Ponyville in particular are weird by human standards.
Because they aren't humans and they don't live on Earth.
That was a great chapter. You always do a great job with Rainbow, and the conversation between her and Derpy was great.
7448926 Honestly, I think it might be more fun to do a changeling perspective on Derpy's "abduction" than the actual adventure. It sounds like a barrel of cute shenanigans all the way around, and I am particularly curious to hear about what happened between them and Dinky.
My apologies for taking so long to reply. Internet was out.
7450436 True. The whole MLP setting lends itself to being a World of Adventure. It'd be hard living in that world and not running into something fantastical or bizarre, by our standards.
7448977 I'm glad you enjoyed it.
7450731 I might do something like that down the line, or perhaps I could have that serve as a sort of epilogue to the whole DItzy/Daring/Changeling adventure. There's already some interest in the story behind Ditzy's travels in Zebrica.
Anyway, like I mentioned in the AN, I'm gonna write up a blogpost on the topic of other changelings in the world, before getting onto the work of getting into the next chapter.
I personally prefer Derpy being the real name and Ditzy being the nickname, but that's just me.
I also thought part of RD's conversation with her was going to be about the nickname.
Lastly, while this is an entertaining story, I'm curious as to why it doesn't have the AU tag on it, seeing as it doesn't take place in a potential future scenario for the series, and it can't fit within what's currently established (since RD and Twilight didn't already know about A.K. Yearling being Daring Do).
7458450 Most of my stories all sit in the same continuity, starting with my first story Advanced Lessons, which I wrote shortly after the arrival of Twilicorn. While, I would agree that it technically is an AU, as 80% of fanfics are, I still draw on canon sources and such, to the point it didn't seem justify tagging it as a full AU. It's not quite at the same level as "What if Nightmare Moon won 1000 years ago?" or "What if Rainbow Dash was Celestia's student?"
I've considered starting to tag my stories as AU, but I'm still not sure if they really fit in that range yet.
7459002 Fair enough.
Estee uses the same logic for not tagging his stories AU, so I guess it could apply here too.
Though I've actually come across stories with the opposite situation, in that they have the AU tag on them, yet the story itself can actually fit into main canon seamlessly.
7459021 I suppose it really is a very subjective thing. Like I said, I've considered it myself, but it kinda feels like a story should have a serious point of divergence in either the setting or the roles of the characters. Really, I've always struggled a bit when it comes to figuring out how to tag my stories; I spent a fair amount of time just considering whether or not this story should be tagged as "Slice of Life".
Also, I don't think I've seen this Estee's work before? Are they good?
7459042 Fair enough.
The way I personally see it is that if a story has events that diverge from the current canon should get the AU tag, but that's just me.
And yeah, I'd say Estee's work is pretty good. Most of the stories take place in a single quasi-AU, but the majority of them don't require prior reading of the other stories to understand them.
7480611 Yeah, that was one of the first things I honed in on as needing an explanation in that episode. So, I reasoned, she didn't really want to get rid of the Elements or their bearers.
Hahah, that was awesome. Your Derpy is great too.
it is feeling as if this story needs a little loving.