What's in a Name

by Comma-Kazie

Month 3, Part 2 - or, Going Groundside

The search for a ground-house went about as well as Ditzy thought it would.

It had been an exercise in frustration: most of the houses for sale were well outside of her price range, and what she could find that came close usually didn’t last long on the market. Things quickly fell into an ugly, infuriating cycle: stay up late writing notes to potential sellers, wake up early and eat breakfast on the fly, swing by whatever houses she could find on her checklist and drop off the notes, go to work, nap through lunch, head back to Rainbow’s house to see if anypony had replied to her notes.

On a good day, nopony would reply to her, leaving her evenings open to sort through the new housings notices Rainbow brought home after she got off work, and—if any of them fit her price range—write more notes asking for a tour. Sometimes she’d get a few replies, which meant trying to set aside time from work and her appointments with Nurse Redheart for a tour. She quickly learned to temper her excitement about getting a reply with a healthy dose of realism; four times out of five she showed up only for the seller to tell her that somepony else had already closed a deal. The fifth time usually ended with a crushing sense of disappointment at the disparity between description and reality, only barely hidden under a bubbly smile. Happy as she was to see her new hometown growing, she was getting tired of being left in the dust.

As the month wore on, she found herself becoming increasingly frustrated. As the days began to grow shorter and shorter, she had less and less time after work to look over real estate, and her body’s demands for rest seemed more insistent once Celestia laid the sun to rest. For a few days, she tried powering through her lunch break to tour a house, but ended up so drained from the lack of rest that her supervisor had sent her home early.

After that, she and Cloud had started pooling their efforts. Ditzy would take care of applicant letters for both of them while Cloud Kicker would inspect the houses for both of them. It didn’t occur to her until later how relieved she was that she didn’t have to go through them herself. In addition to the sheer time commitment, she was more than a little wary of some of the ponies selling the properties as much as the properties themselves. Cloud Kicker could more than take care of herself, and even if she didn’t need the extra rest, Ditzy felt more than a little apprehensive about looking at empty houses with strange ponies on her own.

Finally, their efforts paid off. Ditzy noticed that almost a dozen of the houses she had been looking at were all owned by one pony and decided to cut out the middlemare by writing to him directly. It took a few days, but she finally got a letter back from him: the stallion, a pony by the name of Idle Rich, agreed to hold the one remaining property in her price range for an extra day—if she could manage a lunchtime tour. She put the reply in his mailbox that evening, then turned in early to give herself a little more energy for the next day.

After a morning shift which, appropriately for a Monday, casually violated the laws of time to stretch on endlessly, Ditzy finally clocked out for lunch and bolted into the air. The property in question was only half a mile out by air, allowing her to get there with time to spare.

...which turned out to be something of a mixed blessing. She fished her checklist out of her saddlebags and checked it over twice, then gave the property a quick once-over. Thick grey shades obscured the interior, but even from a cursory glance, she could see the wood rotting out from under the chipping paint. She idly weighed replacing the fence versus tearing it out entirely before remembering that the property wasn’t hers to worry about one way or the other. Yet. She tapped her hoof, eager to see the place and decide one way or another.

Finally, after almost twenty minutes, Idle Rich cantered up to the property, simultaneously confirming his name and eliminating any self-image issues Ditzy suspected she would face for the next few months. The tan earthy pony held up a placating hoof, leaning against the gate as he wheezed. A sharp crack sounded as the flimsy picket fence gave way, the ornate lounge chair on his flank wobbling like a gelatinous billboard as he briefly went head-over-hooves.

Ditzy managed to bite back a giggle as the hapless stallion scrambled back to his hooves, adjusted the tie around his neck to cover where the buttons had popped off of his long-suffering shirt.

“Yuh … you ...” he huffed, “must be Ditzy Doo. Sorry … ‘bout the wait.” He took one last gulp of air before plunging his head into his saddlebags, pulling out a clipboard. “I’ll just … mark that … as preexisting, then.”

“Right.” Ditzy raised an eyebrow as he scribbled something on his clipboard. “So, can I see the house?”

“One second, please … okay, got it.” He bent down and gingerly moved what was left of the gate off of the pathway, half-setting it back into place once Ditzy set hoof onto the property. Grass padded their hoofsteps as they made their way to the front door, the once-tightly-packed cobblestone loose and overgrown with grass high enough to tickle their fetlocks. She waited patiently as he fumbled with a large keyring, trying several keys before one finally fit the lock, audibly groaning. Ditzy watched him pull against the door while jiggling the key for a few minutes before it snapped in the lock. Idle swore under his breath as he leaned against the door in defeat.

He stumbled a little bit as the door swung inward, groaning in protest. “Right. After you.”

Ditzy stepped forward and gingerly pushed the door, which swung open with a piercing metallic groan. She shuddered at the sound, laying her ears flat on her head to try and block out as much of it as she could. Finally, mercifully, the rusty hinges fell silent. Ditzy paused in place until she heard Idle scribbling on his list again, grumbling to himself about maintenance. “This place is an old rental I’m looking to sell,” the stallion murmured, as if that would excuse the neglect. “Tenants really made a mess of the place. You know how it is.”

Technically, keeping the place up was his responsibility while still on the market, but she decided not to say anything so long as Idle marked down the damage. Ditzy merely made a mental note to be very, very thorough in checking the list before signing her name to anything.

As she stepped into the house, it quickly became apparent why something so large had been listed for so little: most of the floorboards in the mudroom squeaked under her hooves, and a few puffs of dust billowed up from the gaps. A quick glance around further indicated Idle’s level of dedication to the premises. The wooden trim in the main living room was so coated with dust that it almost blended with the cream-colored walls. A large sliding door leading to the back patio was in a little better condition, though Ditzy did notice that the shade seemed to have been in place for a while. The carpeting itself seemed to be in fair condition, but one look at the tiling in the kitchen revealed a large stain where an icebox had obviously once stood.

The window frame above the sink and counter beneath it had both seen happier days. Faint stains from the previous owner almost blended in with the faux-granite material, and a close examination of the stove revealed food flecks blocking the main burner. By the looks of things, it might not have taken more than a good scrubbing to clear out, but since it was directly connected to a gas line, Ditzy asked Idle to make a note to have that burner replaced.

Once they had taken the time to mark down the damage—or rather, Idle marked it down with a huff whenever Ditzy pointed something out to him—they went back through the living room and down the hallway. This was the least affected part of the house so far. The carpet had a bit of a grimy feel to it, but compared to replacing floorboards, scrubbing down a hallway seemed like it would be simple.

The first room to the left was either a fair-sized storage room or, judging from the coat closet, a modest bedroom. It actually looked like it was in reasonably good shape—aside from a few empty boxes tucked away in a corner, the only thing she could see that needed work was a broken hanger bar in the closet. That would have to be replaced, but that could wait for later.

A trot across the hall revealed a more pressing concern: the window in the master bedroom wasn’t properly sealed. The windowsill itself seemed to be in pretty good shape, but the whole frame would need to be re-sealed and repainted. The attached bathroom was largely intact, though a faint odor of mold from the oversized bathtub made Ditzy suspect that a thorough application of bleach wouldn’t go amiss for the tub. Or the sink. Or the toilet, for that matter.

With the tour complete, Idle very, very hastily escorted Ditzy out of the building, cutting two fresh trails of hoofprints through an increasingly-disturbed layer of dust. Ditzy felt the dust work its way into her sinuses, but somehow managed to stifle a sneeze until after she got outside. Idle wasn’t in much better shape--he grumbled to himself as his eyes watered, causing his pencil to scratch wildly on the clipboard in his hooves.

When her head finally cleared, Ditzy shook her head and trotted next to him, watching over his shoulder and tapping a hoof while ignoring the increasingly-demanding rumbles from her stomach. It wasn’t easy; the stallion’s hoofwriting was atrocious. More than a few times Idle would hem and haw as he tried to decipher the words he’d just put to paper.

“Mil’ew … in ... ‘ashroom,” he murmured, filling in the last bit of blank space on the long-suffering list. “All right, I believe that’s the last of it.” Feeling Ditzy’s eyes watching his every stroke of his pen, he carefully double-checked his math and didn’t quite keep his face from falling as the deposit amount continually shrank. Idle licked his lips as he flipped the pages of the purchase contract over; there were more notes than white space on most of them, and the few gaps left belonged to areas set aside for signatures. The concessions and price cuts he had to make left him with an offer that was barely a third of what he had started with. He half-tucked the pencil into his coat pocket with a growl, not noticing when it slipped out.

“If you do decide you’d like the property, come back to me with the down payment and the signed contract.” He puffed out his chest slightly, adding even more strain to the long-suffering buttons on his shirt. “I do have a few other ponies looking into this house, though.”

Ditzy nodded politely, ignoring the subtle-as-a-Rainboom attempt to press for a decision. “It looks like it could be a really nice home,” she offered, tucking the contract into her saddlebag with a flick of her wing. “There are a couple other places I’ve had my eye on, but I’ll hang onto this and let you know.”

She shook Idle’s hoof and turned to go. Ditzy had flashbacks to her old Daring Do novels as she waded through the suburban jungle, feeling rather than seeing the cobblestone path in front of her despite the path she and Idle had carved earlier. Getting past the gate was a little less hazardous, though only because it had slid down and out of the way sometime during her tour of the house. She idly stepped over the long-suffering wood and turned down the street. A quick gallop gave her enough speed to get off the ground and back on her way to Rainbow’s cloud-house.

The flight up wasn’t a long one by any stretch. In fact, she suspected that it was due to more than her imagination that the trip seemed a little easier every day, but between the growing shadows beneath her and the fact that she had already passed up her afternoon nap waiting for Idle Rich, her wings ached for relief. Even after Rainbow’s porch came into sight, it felt like she would have had an easier time flying back to Canterlot. Hay, even dodging and weaving the rooftops to the Doo Manor seemed easy.

A quick shake of her head banished that though. Her wings flapped harder than ever, as if trying to push the thought behind her like an air current. She wasn’t going on a trip, she was going home to go take a nap.

Finally—mercifully—she made it back. Ditzy didn’t even bother with the door, instead heading straight through a window. Remembering her close encounter with Pinkie Pie from the beginning of the month, she flared her wings and cut her speed as soon as she cleared the wall, her hooves scrambling beneath her to come to a halt just a ponylength away from the kitchen table.

Rainbow put aside a bottle of cider, idly stepping over a small rut worn into the clouds behind her seat as she got up. “Took you long enough,” she grumbled, helping her take off her saddlebags. “Was everything alright with the place? That creep didn’t make you kneel down to check everything yourself did he? ‘Cause he seems like the creepy kind of pony that’d do that.”

“Everything went fine, Rainbow. Honestly, that was probably the best place I’ve looked at so far.” She gently pushed Rainbow aside to dig out the heavily marked contract. “It’s still gonna take some work, but I think it could work out.”

Rainbow stepped beside her, her eyes darting over the mess of hoofwriting. “Jeez, another one from Idle Rich? You think he’d get off that airship of a plot of his and actually do something with the places he owns in town.”

Ditzy cocked an eyebrow. “He owns more places like that? I guess that’d explain a bit about it...”

“Lemme guess: run-down?” Rainbow didn’t wait for an answer. The paper in her hooves told her everything she needed to know about the state of the building. “Don’t kid yourself thinking he’s running ragged trying to keep up with all of the places he has. Idle deals with the places nopony else wants. He’s just smart enough to know how to make them presentableish without putting too much effort into it.” She snorted as she flipped the contract over, bringing it rightside-up. “You’d think he’d at least take the time to learn to write.”

“I noticed he spells ‘mildew’ with two Ls,” Ditzy agreed with a nod. “It’s only a few times, but it’s still not really good for a legal contract.”

Rainbow blinked. “You can read this mess? It looks like something a foal put together, or else one of those butt-ugly paintsplosions ponies pass off as art.” She put a thoughtful hoof to her chin. “Hmm... actually, that’d explain a lot about modern art.”

“Postmodern,” Ditzy corrected, stifling a yawn.

“Eh, same difference.” Rainbow shrugged. “I mean—c’mon, it’s so boring you’re bored just thinking about it.”

Ditzy shook her head and giggled. “I just need a nap, is all. The tour took a little bit longer than I thought it would.”

“Seeing how much work that useless lunk’s left for you would take that outta anypony. Tell ya what, I’ll pick over the paperwork. You go park your pregnant plot with a plate of pickles.” Rainbow blinked. “Aaand I’ve gotta stop hanging around that crazy pink pony. Anyway... what I mean is, go chillax. I’ll see how much of this I can read over for you, okay?”

“You really want to read over a contract?”

“Eh, it’s no big,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “I’ve gotta read legal stuff anyway, ‘cause of liability stuff that the weather team’s gotta stay on top of. It keeps us all from getting in trouble if somepony just up and lightninged a building while goofing off, or something like that. I’ll get this, you just go take a nap.”

Ditzy nodded and got up, grabbing an apple from the ice-cloud before making her way up to Rainbow’s guest room. Rainbow stared at the contract for a few minutes, then got up and pulled another bottle of cider out of her ice-cloud. She went back, set the bottle on the table, and spread her wings to head upstairs. She casually trotted past the guest room, as if taking a quick break to head to the washroom. Turning right at the end of the hall, she instead went into her bedroom and pressed an ear to the permeable cloud wall. Usually, the only time she spied on her friends was when she was setting them up for a prank; this time, though, it was a lot more personal.

There were several brief, juicy crunches as Ditzy finished off her apple, followed by a few muffled flops and grumbles as she settled into place. She didn’t quite snore, but the slow, steady rhythm of her breathing was hard to mistake. Rainbow listened for another minute to make sure her friend was out for keeps before she went to her own bed, reaching into it and carefully fishing out a small vinyl case. Her prize in hoof, she quietly bolted out the window and back down to the kitchen, choosing not to go past the guest room a second time.

She glanced left, then to the right, then back again before pulling open the case to pull out a tiny pair of reading glasses. Her vision was totally super-awesome and stuff; it was just that some ponies needed to re-learn how to write. Especially when the best they could do was the kind of chickenscratch Idle had left them with. eyes just had a hard time making out hoofwriting--especially Idle’s hoofwriting. It made her eyes hurt. One eye more than the other.

Rainbow instinctively glanced upstairs again, then pushed her glasses into place. Why didn’t anypony make reading sunglasses? That way she’d be able to read stupid hoofwriting while still being radical. Not that there was much radicalness in a real estate contract, but still.

---

Rainbow woke up the next morning feeling a little off. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on it, at first. Wrapped up in a comfortable cloud? Check. Well rested after a good night’s sleep? Check. Plans to extend said sleep into several revitalizing power naps through the day? Check. Joints primed and ready? She took a second to arch her back, then extended her forelegs out in front of her, carefully popping her vertebrae from her tail to her neck, then back up her wings. Aaah, check.

With that out of the way, her higher functions started kicking in. The skies were clear enough, so it looked like the feral weather from the Everfree Forest had stayed put over the night, and a quick glance at the sundial she’d sculpted into the wall told her that she had plenty of time before she had to be up. Or at least, she was pretty sure she did—she couldn’t quite remember if the Solstice Timesavings Day had come yet, and … was it spring back, fall forward?

Eh, feather it. She had the day off today anyway to go—and she couldn’t help but cringe a little bit at the thought—shopping. Still, it wasn’t all bad; she wasn’t getting dragged to some prissy clothes boutique or anything like that, thank Celestia. Nah, they were grabbing stuff for Ditzy’s new ground-house. It was … kinda strange, when she thought about it. Really, having a house where she couldn’t just pull grab a chunk of cloud and and make it into whatever she needed, like a seat or something, was just weird. Instead, Ditzy’d have to go out and spend hard-earned money on a seat-cushion, money that she could be saving for important stuff like cider or Wonderbolts tickets or whatever other cool thing happened to catch her eye.

Or maybe stuff for her foal, too. That could also be important.

But, details. Ditzy’s bouncing baby was barely a bump in her bubble-belly, so she had plenty of time to stock up on the important stuff before she needed to worry about the other important stuff. Like food, for example. Rainbow heard a small gurgle come from her stomach, and suddenly realized what had woken her up in the first place. She scratched her flank with a wing as she clambered out of bed, idly heading towards the washroom. She waved to Ditzy, who was standing guard over the lightning cloud Rainbow used for cooking. By the time her higher functions caught up to the fact that Ditzy and lightning clouds had thus far not mixed very well, it was already too late to scramble for cover.

“Morning, Rainbow!” Ditzy called out. “Go on back to bed—I’ll bring this to you!”

“Uh, I kinda gotta take a leak, Ditzy.”

Ditzy paused, then shrugged and turned her attention back to the food cooking in front of her. “Well, take care of that, then go back to bed. Oh, and don’t forget to wash your hooves!”

“Yes, Mom,” Rainbow said under her breath. It didn’t really make too much sense to her, since she pretty much walked on her hooves everywhere anyway. Seriously, she got Celestia-knew-what on her hooves every time she put a hoof down on the ground, so what was one more buncha gunk anyway?

Either way, Rainbow took extra time to wash off her forehooves after relieving herself. Ditzy was going out of her way for her, so she guessed that it made sense for her to go the extra step for her. Hay, Rainbow even hovered the whole way back to her bed, just to make sure her hooves stayed clear of the clouds. She settled back into place on her bed, pulling a little bit of cloud over herself before tucking her forelegs behind her head. She wasn’t quite sure what had prompted the breakfast-in-bed treatment, but whatever it was, she hoped to do it at least one more time before Ditzy moved out.

Speaking of whom, it wasn’t long before a certain houseguest let herself into Rainbow’s room. Ditzy had somehow managed to balance a large, somewhat-dusty tray on her back that Rainbow had no idea she’d even owned. The fact that it didn’t fall through her cloud-bed meant that it was definitely thunderforged steel, but she couldn’t remember the first thing about it. She could kind of see an old, old, old emblem etched into the tray—a symbol from way back when, back when it was just more than Ditzy and Cloud’s families as the two big names in pegasi clans. Come to think of it, Rainbow was pretty sure it was an emblem from her family, or at least some crazy-distant branch of it on her mom’s side. Which mom it was didn’t really matter at the time, as her brain scrambled to place the name that went the long-forgotten symbol: Cello, Cheering, Chengar, Chargin... Charger! That was it.

As much as the crazy-old piece thunderforged steel had stood up to already, Rainbow quietly hoped it’d last one more breakfast with her friend. Plates clattered haphazardly as Ditzy arranged things in front of Rainbow. “I know you usually like your granola-and-protein stuff for breakfast, but I wanted to do something nice since you’ve really gone out of your way for me.” All it took was one glance at those hopeful, derpy, golden eyes, and Rainbow knew there was no way she could weasel out of it. Not that she really wanted to anyway, but again. Details. “I’ve got pancakes with two kinds of syrup, milk, juice, toast with that really good jam from the apple stand, coffee on the way—ooh, and muffins, too!”

Rainbow found herself at a loss for words for the feast before her. The rare occasions when she actually took time to make her own breakfast, it was almost never anything bigger than a smoothie or homemade granola bar—if she wanted grub like this, she’d have to drop in on Applejack and family, or else make the flight back to Cloudsdale to her family. And... Rainbow hated to say it, but outside of holidays or really special events, she could only take her parents in small doses. She shook her head, instead focusing on the massive smorgasbord laid out for her. Everything looked awesome, from the flapjacks to the toast to the … wait a minute. Hadn’t Ditzy mentioned muffins too?

A quick check for crumbs came up empty, which meant that if she had succumbed to a sudden craving on the arduous journey from the bottom floor to the upper one, she’d scoffed every last bit. More likely, she’d just run out of room and left them downstairs. “Check out these muffins,” Rainbow said, pretending to pick one up off of the tray. “The legendary Air Muffin. So light and smooth you’d hardly know you ate anything at all.”

“Yes, yes.” Ditzy nudged her good-naturedly with a wing. “I didn’t get those in until last. Well.... I got them in first, and were actually really nice!”

“‘Were’?”

Ditzy nodded. “‘Were.’” She stroked her belly with a wing. “Somepony got hungry along the way.”

Rainbow tapped her chin thoughtfully, jutting her chin out in faux deliberation. “I guess I’ll let you off the hook. This time.” Her ears perked as another, more serious thought occurred to her. “Muffins are still on the menu, right?”

“You bet!”

“So there’s another batch on the way?”

Ditzy nodded.

“In the oven?” Rainbow pressed.

“Well, in the little cooker that you use on a cooking cloud, but yes.”

“Right now?”

Ditzy opened her mouth to speak, paused, then nodded. “I should probably go check on it, huh?”

“Yeah, probably.” Rainbow doubted that Equestria even had fire insurance for clouds, but if there was ever one pegasus that could provide a market for it...

“It’s okay!” Ditzy said, hastily clearing food off of the old tray. “The coffee’s probably ready anyway!” With the last of the food safely balanced on Rainbow’s bed, the grey mare bolted out of the bedroom and back to the stove. She came back in a moment later, laden once again with breakfast—this time, a batch of slightly darkened muffins and a percolator. “I’m pretty sure the smoke in the kitchen’ll clear out by the time we’re done.”

Rainbow waved a hoof. “S’long as the coffee’s okay, I think I can let it pass.”

Ditzy nodded in sage agreement. “Daddy always said that coffee wasn’t ready until a horseshoe could stand up straight in the pot.” A metallic clang echoed through the room as she filled a mug for Rainbow. “Which reminds me--I should probably take it out of the percolator now, huh?”

Rainbow sighed with pained resignation, vowing to try and make the most of the breakfast forced upon her.

---

After cleaning up from the surprisingly uneventful breakfast, Rainbow and Ditzy took off and made their way groundward. The two mares bobbed and weaved through the clouds, careful to stay well above the rooftops until they drew closer to the downtown hub. The myriad of brightly colored houses had become easier and easier for Ditzy to navigate as she spent more and more time in Ponyville. By now, she was familiar enough with the landmark buildings to be able to keep her bearings, even when on the ground.

Rainbow banked left and angled downwards, with Ditzy trailing close behind in her wake. “Hey Ditzy!” she called out. “I can see your house from here!”

Ditzy followed her friend’s hoof as it singled out a neighborhood a few blocks from a large tree near the center of town. A low brown roof was nearly engulfed by the taller houses around it, and even from this distance she could see the weathered look of the tiles compared to the adjacent buildings. In spite of this, and the memories of the other projects she’d need to take care of, her heart beat just a little faster in excitement: it was going to be her house. Something about that just sounded … right.

Their flight path brought them to a city block several streets away from her soon-to-be home. Shops and stores lined both sides of the streets as they converged on the main town square. Ditzy ignored her growling stomach as they circled over the ever-present apple cart set up at the edge of the square, and was about to land when Rainbow made a sideways chopping motion with a foreleg—the in-air signal for the other fliers behind a lead pegasus to wait and circle. While Ditzy couldn’t hear what she was saying, she watched her nosedive to the ground and start shooing ponies out of the way.

“Awright, move it!” Rainbow barked, zipping from one end of the street to the other as she ‘helped’ merchants and customers alike step aside. She braced her head against one stallion in particular and tried to push him out of the way. “Got somepony comin’ in for a landing, so get outta the way!”

Big Macintosh looked behind him, a smile on his lips as Rainbow’s hooves dug trenches into the ground while she tried to push him aside. He stood in place for a moment longer, then quietly shook his head as he trotted to his cart. It wasn’t until he was back behind his stand that Rainbow let up.

“Okay, Ditzy!” Rainbow called out, scanning the air for her friend. “I got things cleared for you!”

“Thanks, Rainbow!”

From that day forward, Rainbow maintained that Macintosh suddenly appeared beneath her, and that she in no way jumped onto his shoulders at the sound of Ditzy’s voice. Rainbow found it a little strange to suddenly be looking down at Dizty, all four hooves firmly planted between Big Macintosh’s shoulder blades as she hastily regained her composure.

“Um, you’re welcome!” she said, flaring her wings to help balance on the stallion’s back. “I was just up here making sure you had a clear path for landing. ‘Cause, y’know, you needed, um … space? To land, I mean?”

Ditzy looked up at her, frowning slightly. “Are you calling me fat?”

“What? No!” Rainbow leapt to the ground, instantly in front of Ditzy as she placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “I’d never say that about you. I mean—you’re not even showing yet! Except where you’re showing.”

“Smooth,” Big Macintosh muttered. Rainbow shot him a look, but he had already turned to greet a customer. She turned back to Ditzy, who was already making her way to the store, wings spread wide to either side.

“Gangway, everypony!” Ditzy called out mock-seriously. “Wide load, coming through!”

Ponies in the vicinity chuckled and nodded to her, though they did clear a path with an encouraging smile when she passed by them. Rainbow cantered after her, her cheeks burning as she caught up.

“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled good-naturedly. “I thought pregnant pegasi needed space to land.”

Ditzy closed her wings and let Rainbow trot up next to her. “That’s an old mares’ tale, Rainbow. I only need the extra room to take off or land if I’m weighed down, like any other pegasus.”

Rainbow cast a glance at Ditzy’s side. “Well, you are kinda weighed down already—and that’s only gonna get bigger as time goes on.”

“Now you are calling me fat,” Ditzy accused with a smile.

“And you’re just putting words in my mouth.” Rainbow rolled her eyes as she opened the door to the local furniture store.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s a door handle.”

Rainbow groaned, but held the entrance open for Ditzy. The store was largely barren of customers, with only a few ponies gathered in one corner. A tan earth pony stallion excused himself from the gathering and hurried over to greet them.

“Welcome to Davenport’s Sofas and Quills,” he said with a smile. “My name is Davenport, and I’m the proprietor of this shop. I understand you’re looking for furniture for a ground-house?”

Ditzy shook the proffered hoof. “Um, yeah. How’d you know?”

Davenport waved a hoof at the other ponies in the store. “Your friends have been here for a few minutes already. They told me to expect you.”

Both mares were more than a little surprised to see Fluttershy trot up alongside him. “That’s right. Mr. Davenport’s been very helpful to us already.”

Rainbow was the first to recover. “Hey—um, nice to see you again, Fluttershy.”

“Yeah.” Ditzy shook her head to clear the cobwebs. “Not that I’m complaining, but what’re you doing here?"

Fluttershy tried not to glance behind her. “Well, for the moment, I’m trying to have you two look at me for just a few more seconds.”

“Why?” both of her friends asked simultaneously.

“Well, I’m supposed to be distracting you.”

“Eepy...” Cloud Kicker’s facehoof was audible from across the room.

“Distract me from wha—?” Ditzy’s question died half-formed on her lips when she saw who else had come to the store with them. A grey pegasus stallion peeked over Cloud Kicker’s shoulder, his blue eyes briefly darting around before locking onto her.

“Cirrus!” Ditzy shot between Davenport and Fluttershy, covering ground in record time as she tackle-hugged her brother, sending him stumbling back a step as she wrapped her forelegs and wings around him.

“Careful, Dee!” he chided, though he hugged her back almost as tightly. “It’s more than just you now, ya goof.” A few warm, wet droplets fell onto Ditzy’s neck. “I’ve m-missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, bro,” she sniffed, strands of blonde mane tickling her nose. “I’ve missed you, too.”

The other ponies shuffled away from the store to give them a moment together. The two siblings just held each other, each shaking in the others’ embrace. Each of them extended a wing to hide the other’s face, allowing them a moment of relative privacy.

Ditzy nuzzled Cirrus’s mane one more time and stepped back, keeping her wing around him. She turned to the other ponies in the room, giving her brother a small squeeze. Fluttershy wiped her eyes with a wingtip, while Rainbow’s wings snapped back to her side. Cloud Kicker watched them with a neutral expression, her gaze not leaving the stallion.

“S-so—” Dizty cleared her throat. “Um, Fluttershy—Cloud—I guess you’ve met my brother already?”

“We’ve met,” Cloud said coolly.

If the underlying acid in her tone bothered him, Cirrus didn’t let it show. “Yeah, we’ve been talking a bit ‘fore you two got here. Good to see you again, Rainbow.”

“Hey, Cirrus. Glad you could drop by.”

“You and me both.” He idly looked around the store at the many, many items clearly not meant for a cloud-house. “What all are we picking up today? Your letter about the house was a little sparse.”

“So’s the house.” Ditzy reached into her saddlebag and pulled out her list. “I dunno what happened to the last tenants, but the only thing that they left was the kitchen table and the icebox.”

“That’s how it is when a pony’s on a budget,” Cloud Kicker said, shrugging her wings.

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “What do we need to look for?”

“A lot. The table’s still good, but the seat-cushions and sofa are a total loss—”

“On it!” Rainbow was off in a flash, leaving the other ponies’ manes trailing in her wake.”

Ditzy glanced at the paper in her hoof and continued as if nothing had happened. “There’s also plates, diningware, sheets, a bed frame and a mattress.” She frowned at the last item; getting a used mattress sounded dubious, budget or not, a new one could be pricey depending on the size of whatever frame was available.

“I know a decent place to go to for the plates and flatware,” Cloud Kicker offered. “I’m guessing we want cheap and sturdy?”

“This stuff’s gotta last me a while. Fine china’s not really an option.”

Cirrus gave her a playful, though careful, nudge. “It never really was with you, anyway.”

Any retort was cut off by Rainbow’s reappearance. “Ditzy, you’re gonna love these!” She flew back in, a pair of seat-cushions tucked in her forelegs which she proudly displayed for the group. One of them was a loud, cushy rainbow-colored affair, while the other was more of a bean bag design with a faded logo from a long-dissolved pegasus racing team. Ditzy opened and closed her mouth several times, searching for the right words for such a find.

Cloud Kicker beat her to it, facehoofing audibly. “Really, Rainbow?”

“What? They were twenty percent … off. Also, cool. And this one,” she zipped back and returned with a cream-colored cushion, “has a coffee stain the exact shape of the Wonderbolts’ starburst maneuver!”

Cirrus picked up the cushion and gave it a tentative sniff. “Are you sure that’s coffee?” He asked through a gag.

Rainbow wagged a wing. “Eh, fifty-fifty.”

“Uh, thanks Rainbow,” Ditzy said slowly. “But ... were there any more?”

“Yeah but, they were boring.”

“Boring’s fine,” Cloud interrupted. “We’re looking for substance over style. Derpy just needs something comfortable to park her plot on.”

Rainbow snorted. “What would you know about either, Kicker?” The good-natured tease earned her an annoyed grimace from Cloud Kicker. “Fiiine. “I’ll get something boring. And, uh, sturdy. Ditzy’s plot needs a lotta support.”

“Your empathy knows no bounds,” Ditzy said dryly.

“Comfortable too,” Cloud Kicker added as Rainbow turned to continue her search. “Make sure the cushions are actually still cushion-y.”

Rainbow waved a hoof back at them as she flew off again. “Yeah, yeah, cushion-y. Got it.”

Ditzy shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. “Cirrus, you wanna see what bed frames are in stock here? I’d rather avoid a used mattress, so I need to know what size I’ll be picking up.”

Cirrus nodded and started heading towards the back of the store, though he paused to let Fluttershy pass him. She pulled a box out from under her wing and offered it to Ditzy. “I found this box of flatware. I think it’s good, but I can put it back if you don’t like it.”

“Let’s see.” She fished out a small, earth-red plate. It was a far cry from the tarnished steel in Rainbow’s house or the pristine white dining ware from the Doo Manor, but a closer examination showed it to be made from high-grade ceramic. “Wow, how’d you find a whole box? These are really good!”

“So are they you-proof?” Cirrus called to her.

She snorted and put the box to one side. “They’re at least as thick as you!”

The stallion grinned. “You’re in good shape, then.”

Ditzy put the plate back with the rest and gently set the box to one side. “Thanks again, Fluttershy.”

“Yeah, um...” Cloud Kicker hesitantly stepped forward. “Nice work, Eepy.”

Fluttershy blushed and turned away, mumbling something about seeing another box somewhere nearby. Cloud Kicker bit her lip, and after a second’s thought stood up to follow her—

“Hey, Kicker! Catch!”

—only to have a high-velocity cushion plow into her face. She took a string of deep breaths before pulling the pillow off of her muzzle.

“Ha! Too slow.” Rainbow trotted back into the room, a half-dozen seat cushions of varying sizes and fabrics balanced on her wings. She hefted a truly hideous tassled specimen of silk, testing its weight. “Okay, I got some really cushion-y cushions. They’re in pretty good shape—nice, soft, bouncy. Also either frilly or boring as heck.” She hurled the monstrosity in her hooves at Cloud Kicker, who effortlessly batted it aside with a wing.

“At least you know which ones to throw out this time around.” She motioned for Ditzy to join her as she looked over the rest of the selection. The two of them made quick work picking through them until only two dark red cushions were left. Cloud Kicker flashed a knowing grin as she put the survivor in her hooves onto Rainbow’s back once again. “These two seem pretty good, but there’s only one way to make sure. Care to take them for a test-sit, Derpy?”

“Sure!” Ditzy winked back, her wall-eye giving the impression she was staring at the ceiling. She briefly circled in the air before coming in for a precision landing. Onto Rainbow’s back.

“You could wait until I get them off my back and on the floor,” Rainbow grumbled, once breath returned to her lungs.

“What’s the matter, Rainbow?” Cloud Kicker asked, not even trying to hide her smile. “Too much for you to handle?”

Rainbow glowered at her. “Hey, there’s nothing I can’t handle! But, uh, you know it’s just manners not to sit on another pony’s back without permission and stuff.” She coughed and shifted her wing to center the cushion on her back. “And um, I’d rather not have Ditzy’s pregnant butt on me.”

“So you’re just going to make big ol’ me stand all day?” Ditzy stuck her tongue out, though she carefully flitted off of Rainbow’s back.

Cloud Kicker stepped out of the way to let Davenport pass her. “It’s fine, Rainbow. Some ponies just can’t handle another pony’s weight like that. Nopony is gonna think less of you for being a wuss.”

Rainbow snorted and opened her mouth to retort, but paused and instead offered a scheming grin “Soo … are you calling her fat?”

“Nah,” Cloud Kicker said with a nonchalant shrug. “I bet you couldn’t carry a feather around on your back all day, let alone Derpy.”

“I could too!”

“Prove it.”

Rainbow stomped and pawed the ground. “I betcha I can carry all this stuff back!”

“Stuff. Cute.” Cloud Kicker rolled her eyes and pointed to the mare between them. “The challenge was Derpy.”

A call from the back of the store interrupted them. “Hey, Dee?” Cirrus shouted. “You have a second?”

Sensing an opportunity, Rainbow looked around and snatched the cushion out of Ditzy’s hooves, setting it it between her wings. “Then I’ll carry Ditzy! You just see if you can carry the shame of your defeat!”

Needless to say, Ditzy was less than prepared for what happened next. “Can I wait a tic? I’ll be right baAAACK Rainbowputmedown!” She suddenly found herself much closer to the ceiling as Rainbow slid underneath her and used her wings to guide her rear end onto the cushion.

“Chillax, Ditzy, I got ya.” There was only a brief pause as Rainbow shifted to balance her load. “So … we got cushions and flatware checked off. Next up is a bed frame, right?”

Ditzy nodded as her ‘mount’ began to move. “Bed frame, couch, and maybe a coffee table if one’s around.”

After a few hesitant steps, Rainbow settled into a steady pace, actually managing to skirt a few sharp turns rather easily. “Aww, yeah! Eat it, CK!”

Cloud Kicker shrugged. “You’re okay for now, but the challenge was for the rest of the day.” A wicked grin played on her lips as an old memory resurfaced. “You never got used to lugging around a hundred pounds of kit and armor.”

“I got used to lugging your sorry weight during our pranking missions. Principle’s the same.” Rainbow’s shrug was largely muted by the mare on her back, doing little more than jostling Ditzy in place.

Fluttershy had somehow appeared alongside them, watching Ditzy like a particularly fretful hawk. “Um, Rainbow Dash? I’m not sure this is a good idea...”

“Relax, I’ve got her.” The small film of sweat on her forehead was totally due to how hot it was in the store. “She’s light as a feather! A really, really big feather. With another feather in it.”

Cloud Kicker looked up. “I think she just called you fat, Derpy.”

“I think she did too,” Ditzy agreed.

“Nuh-uh! I just said you were ... um,” Rainbow bit her lip, searching for the right word. “Really, really big.”

Cloud Kicker shook her head, avoiding a metal rack that Rainbow’s tail ‘accidentally‘ flicked in her way. “Smooth, Rainbow. Real smooth.”

“She is a smooth ride.” Ditzy scooted aside and patted a bare section of cushion beside her. “You should try it.”

The two mares traded a knowing smile before Cloud Kicker turned to Rainbow. “You up for it, Dash?”

Rainbow’s gulp was inaudible. Almost. “Y-yeah, totally!”

“I dunno, Cloud, she might not be able to handle being ridden by both of us at the same time.”

“Hey!” Rainbow’s head snapped around to face her passenger. “I could totally take both of you!”

Cloud Kicker cocked her head, sensing a rare opportunity that would likely not present itself again. “So, you want us both to ride you. At the same time. ‘Cause you could totally take care of both of us at once.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow made a show of puffing out her chest, causing Ditzy to rebalance on her back. “And I could even handle Fluttershy too!”

“Ooo, Kinky! Mind if I head back to my place to get some toys before we get started?”

“Toys? What the hay are yo—” Rainbow’s face flushed deep crimson as everything fell into place. “CLOUD KICKER!!!”

Laughter erupted from Ditzy like a dam. “Took you long enough!”

Cloud Kicker idly flitted onto Rainbow’s back, taking a fair bit of time to settle into place beside Ditzy. “Well, we don’t love Rainbow for her brains. Now hyah, mule!”

Rainbow started as Cloud’s hoof smacked her rump. “I’d so buck you off if Ditzy wasn’t back there too.”

“Anything would be an improvement over what you’re doing right now. This is the least-sexy pony ride I’ve had in a long time. Just saying.”

“Nopony’s...” Rainbow had to pause and take a few deep breaths. “Nopony’s making you stay on, cloud-for-brains.”

Ditzy settled in a little closer against her companion. “I dunno, Cloud, I’m having fun. This is the fastest she’s let me travel in weeks.”

The two of them dodged as Rainbow didn’t quite clear the doorframe leading into the back. Cloud Kicker let out a giggle and idly swatted Rainbow’s rump with her tail. “Oh, don’t be like that, Dash. It doesn’t have to be a sexy pony ride to be a fun one.” Cloud Kicker shot a sultry smile at Ditzy and ran a hoof over shoulder. “Though really, the sexy ones are the best kind. Maybe you should come by my place sometime, and let me—” She caught herself, withdrawing her hoof and letting out an embarrassed laugh. “Sorry, force of habit.”

Rainbow tried to offer some commentary of her own on the matter, but her brain was having a bit of difficulty focusing on anything other than how incredibly heavy the two full-grown mares on her back were. Even if her mind hadn’t been so preoccupied, she couldn’t spare any breath for talking at the moment. Cirrus, however, had been close enough to hear his sister getting hit on, and as an older brother he was genetically obligated to disapprove. The stallion very loudly cleared his throat and shot a rather pointed look at the mare who dared to speak to his sister that way. For her part, Cloud Kicker made a point of politely ignoring Cirrus Doo’s existence.

Ditzy nervously looked between the two ponies, struggling to think of some way to prevent the budding confrontation from spilling over. Salvation arrived in the most unlikely form imaginable, as Davenport tactlessly announced, “Huh. Never thought that dream would actually happen.”

Cirrus shifted his attention to Davenport. “Hey now—s’my sister you’re talking about there.”

Davenport’s ears when flat as he let out a very sheepish chuckle. ‘Um, right. Sorry, sir.”

Though she would never admit it, Rainbow had finally reached the furthest she could go with two ponies on her back. She shook her back gently, hoping to hide her trembling knees. “Hokay, last stop. Everyoponyoffthankyou!”

Cloud Kicker snorted as she helped Ditzy to the ground. “Didn’t even last five minutes, Rainbow. I’m disappointed—usually only stallions have that problem.”

“Oh shaddap,” Rainbow grumbled, leaning against a nearby table.

Ditzy grinned and shook her head as she trotted past. “Hey, Cirrus. What’d you need?”

The grey stallion shifted to give her some space amid the maze of furniture. “How big’s your bedroom?

“Decent-sized. Why?”

Cirrus nodded to a large, disassembled bed frame in front of them. “This thing’s the only one left, and it’s … fairly large.”

Ditzy’s eyes went wide as she got a better look. The frame was an old, large structure; the back headboard came up to Cirrus’ wing-joint and was at least a fully bodylength wide, carved from a dark wood that sounded fairly solid when she experimentally tapped a hoof against it. The rest of the frame was made up of the same material, assembled into a near-perfect square that barely came up to their knees. A quick glance at the price tag made her heart leap into her throat. She briefly wondered how much more it would have cost if it was new.

“At least it’s going to be sturdy,” she murmured to herself. “We’ll have to take it apart to get it out the front door, though.”

“This is going to be a three-pony job, at least for a bit,” Davenport confirmed, digging through a toolbag.

Cloud Kicker nodded. “Well, that’s what I—”

“I’m sure between me, Rainbow, and Davenport, we can handle getting it to the cart,” Cirrus interrupted. He ignored Cloud Kicker’s disgruntled glower and instead turned to Fluttershy. “First things first: Rainbow, you wanna grab an allen wrench?”

For her part, Rainbow shot Cirrus a dubious look. “You named your wrench Allen? Seriously? What kind of a name is that, anyway?”

Cloud couldn’t help herself. “Every stallion has a name for their tool, Rainbow.”

Davenport tactfully ignored her and withdrew his hoof, tossed Rainbow a small, L-shaped piece of metal. Rainbow juggled it with her wingtips for a moment and caught it effortlessly, then held it in front of her eyes. “So... Is this Allen?” She shook her head and looked over the many, many openings that it might fit into. “I dunno, I still think a cloud bed is best.”

“Yeah, you just have to hope you don’t move around a lot when you sleep,” Cloud Kicker chimed in, idly looking over an old couch across the room. “Accidentally dispersing your own cloud bed is not fun.”

Everypony but Davenport nodded in agreement—that was a lesson young pegasi learned fairly quickly. Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, how comfortable could a bunch of springs and fluff and stuff be?”

“Good enough?” Ditzy said hesitantly. “I mean, we’ve got—” She caught herself. “I had some pretty good ones back in Canterlot.”

Cirrus briefly looked up from his work on the frame. “Those were like a thousand bits, Dee. Each.”

Rainbow looked between them like they’d just grown horns. “You guys spent a thousand bits on a bed?! Do you know how many Wonderbolt shows you could go to with that kind of money?”

“All of them?” Ditzy asked, a sheepish grin on her face.

“Augh!” Rainbow threw up her hooves, sending her tool flying. “Some ponies … no sense of priorities at all.”

“You’d understand if you ever tried one,” Cirrus explained, grumbling in annoyance as the tiny projectile whizzed by his ear.

Rainbow looked over the frame suspiciously, running a hoof across the horizontal slats before unceremoniously setting her rear down on it. “Huh. Not feeling it.”

“It helps if you get the mattress first,” Cirrus pointed out. “And box springs. And whatever else kind of support a frame needs, depending on the bed.” Rainbow waved a hoof and muttered something about details before flying off to find her lost allen wrench.

Ditzy’s eyes darted around the room in sudden realization. “Feathers, I knew I’d forgotten something.” She took off and scoured the room for a few minutes, then finally landed back near Davenport. Is this ... everything you have in stock for beds?”

“Sorry.” Davenport shook his head. “I don’t have anything in stock for a bed that large.” He bit his lip contemplatively. “The Tress Brothers’re having a going-out-of-business sale on the other side of the city square. Try talking to Mat.”

Cirrus stopped and looked up incredulously. “Really? Who comes up with these names for their kids?!”

“You should meet the Mayor,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “She’s gonna have to change her name if she ever loses an election.”

Ditzy sat down, and watched them work for a while, occasionally shifting or moving to try and find a more comfortable seat. Conversation was largely muted, with talk largely limited to either gathering screws or the occasional, annoyed grunt when an allen wrench inevitably fell from their grasp. For some reason, she thought back to watching her father work on his model airships, in silent concentration as he put every tiny piece into place.

She murmured something about dust in her eye and excused herself to the washroom, hurriedly going to one of the sinks. Cool water traced over Ditzy’s face and down her muzzle as she let out a shaky breath. A few minutes passed before she felt collected enough to try and reach for a towel. She was almost done drying off her muzzle when it registered that somepony had actually given it to her.

She jumped in place with a small yelp, prompting a similar response from the other pony. Fluttershy ignored the fallen towel, instead sitting down next to Ditzy. “Um, is everything okay?”

Ditzy’s cheeks strained to force a smile. “Yeah! My friends are here, my brother’s here, we’re picking stuff out for my new house... Just...” A quick pass of the towel over her face bought her a second to think. “Hormones. Yeah.”

Two green eyes narrowed as doubt mingled with concern. Ditzy’s smile faltered slightly to try and keep up the facade. “We’re all here. So it’s ... nice?”

“If you’re sure about that.” The skepticism in Fluttershy’s voice was about as well hidden as Rainbow Dash’s ego.

Ditzy let out a shaky sigh. “I’ve finally got everypony I wa—almost everypony here I could want,” she quickly corrected, feeling her eyes sting again. “But it just … feels like another mess I’ve made.”

“Oh Ditzy, it really isn’t that bad.” A yellow hoof stroked her back encouragingly, but Ditzy remained unconvinced.

“Cirrus and Cloud’re pretty much ignoring each other, and it’s just a matter of time before that stops. I don’t get why they’re so snippy with each other.”

“Did something happen between them?” Fluttershy asked. Her face furrowed in thought for a moment before turning a deep crimson. “Um ... they didn’t...?”

A familiar sense of nausea surged through the grey mare that was in no way related to her foal. “Aaaaaaaugh, ew ew ewew eeeeeew!” That was a side of her brother Ditzy never wanted to think about! She rubbed her face with a hoof, willing away the thoughts. “No, they haven’t.”

“Oh. That’s ... good.” There was something in Fluttershy’s voice that Ditzy couldn’t quite put her hoof on... Relief? Satisfaction?

She took the safer route and decided not to dwell on it. “I don’t get it. Though the only time they’ve ever met before was after … well, you know.”

“What happened?”

A few minutes passed in silence as Ditzy idly twisted the towel in her hooves. That whole period of her life was one she had put a lot of effort into forgetting—or, at least not thinking about. Even now, so so long after Camp, thinking about it... She shook her head, trying to will away the old memories.

She was more than a little surprised when Fluttershy gently nudged her out of her reverie. “Ditzy?”

There was no way out of it if she of all ponies wasn’t going to let it go. Ditzy sighed, and didn’t quite meet her eyes. “After I knew everypony was okay, I just ... wanted to forget about that whole mess. Rainbow got so hurt, and hearing her say something like that about Cloud shook me. I didn’t want to believe her, but after I heard you and she had done that at your ages, some nagging, stupid part of me wouldn’t let that go.” She held up a forestalling hoof as Fluttershy opened her mouth. “Yeah, yeah, she didn’t do that to you, I know. But something about me wouldn’t let that go, so when Cloud came by one time, I rather—uh, didn’t take it too well.”

She scuffed a hoof awkwardly, feeling rather than seeing Fluttershy’s disapproving frown. “Mum and Dad didn’t want me to have anything to do with her, and when I heard it was Cloud ... everything just came flooding back to me. I panicked, Cirrus went to answer the door for me, then came back and … said...” Ditzy sighed and facehoofed as everything fell into place. “He said she’d changed her mind. Which Cloud didn’t, knowing her, so he probably just closed the door in her face. I didn’t even think about it again, or her, for that matter, until I came to town.”

“That might explain why they don’t like each other,” Fluttershy offered neutrally.

“It’s a miracle they haven’t taken things outside already,” Ditzy grumbled, running a hoof over her face. “I’m an idiot.”

“No you’re not, Ditzy. It’s my fault she got hurt—and even after she moved to Ponyville we don’t ever really...” Fluttershy squirmed uncomfortably in place.

“You don’t?” Ditzy wasn’t able to keep the surprise out of her voice. “But you’ve been around her a lot lately.”

“Well, when you’re around, it’s...” Fluttershy pawed the ground, biting her lip. “We both want to help you.”

Ditzy chewed her lip as she led the way out of the washroom. It wouldn’t have meant too much coming from anypony else, but for her of all ponies, spending time around ponies she’d rather avoid... Maybe, maybe there was a chance of fixing this whole mess after all.

---

The rest of their time at the store flew by fairly quickly. Ditzy and Fluttershy only had a few minutes to finish picking through the assorted seat cushions, setting aside most of what they found in favor of a pair of nice, dark red (and more importantly, clean) pillows that they brought to the front. They put them with the rest of the odds and ends the group had found for her new home.

The bed frame was in three separate pieces when the two of them rejoined the group. Davenport scoured the floor for any loose screws, while Cloud Kicker patiently waited for him to finish.

“Somepony up front want to get the door, please?” Cirrus’s voice was a little strained as he carefully stepped out of the back, awkwardly balancing the large headboard with Rainbow Dash on the other end. Rainbow nodded to Ditzy and Fluttershy as she passed them by, no doubt unable to resist drawing her head up to show off her incredible bed-frame-carrying abilities.

Davenport and Cloud followed behind them with another part of the frame balanced between then. “Did anypony here bring a cart?”

Cirrus stopped short at the door, and lightly thudded his head against the bed frame in his forelegs. “Um, kinda slipped my mind. I only got in an hour ago.”

“Lucky for us, I thought to plan ahead,” Cloud snapped. “I have a cart out front.”

Ditzy didn’t miss the condescension in her voice. She opted to ignore it to try and salve things, hurrying to the front to get the door. She nodded to each pony as they passed her. Cirrus and Rainbow were the first ones out and strained a little bit to get their section of the bed frame onto the wide, two-pony cart. Her ears perked at the sound of things already inside it being shuffled around, and she moved to help.

Unfortunately, not everypony had cleared the doorway yet. Cloud Kicker winced as the door smacked her in the rump, and she ignored at Ditzy’s attempts at an apology.

Rainbow snickered and glanced back. “Got banged again, Kicker?”

“Not in the mood, Rainbow,” Cloud grumbled. Fluttershy tried to hide a worried look by hastily moving paint cans, buckets, and cleaning supplies around to make room for the furniture.

Ditzy’s mind raced, scrambling to find a way to salvage things. Here she had the happiest day in her life in months, and old history was tearing it apart in her hooves. “Um... Cloud?” She licked her lips, hoping not to set her off. “Is this going to be big enough for a sofa too? There’s a pretty nice one in the back I was looking at.”

“I rented one big enough to handle furniture.” Cloud offered her a weak grin. “Kinda need to get one that big when we’re furniture shopping.”

Ditzy held up a placating hoof. “Just making sure.”

“Hey, I’m the planner of this little group.” Cloud sighed and put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. “S’my job to think of stuff like that ahead of time. So, let’s get this stuff loaded up.”

Rainbow nodded “Cool. I’ll get the plates and stuff!”

Cirrus bit down on her tail as she revved up to head inside. He spat out a few multichromatic hairs before speaking. “Pthew. You wanna grab some of those sofa cushions instead?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get those too.” Rainbow waved a hoof.

“First?”

“I could get the cushions instead,” Fluttershy offered.

Rainbow wasn’t having any of it, though. “Chillax. I can get it all faster’n you can blink!”

Ditzy grinned. “Rainbow’s zooming will make for a good stress test, at least.”

Cirrus adamantly shook his head. “Yeah, no. Could somepony else grab the dinnerware, please? I’m not sure I want the stabbity stuff coming my way at Mach 5.” He ignored Rainbow as she blew a raspberry at him.

“Really, I could get it,” Fluttershy insisted. “It’s no trouble at all.”

Ditzy nodded. “Thanks, Fluttershy.” She and Cloud accompanied their friend back into the store and gathered up the last of their purchases. It only took a few minutes to secure everything in the back of the cart before heading to the front.

Cloud went to the front of the cart, only to stop short when she saw Cirrus already strapping himself into it. She watched with a neutral expression as he finished, then looked around to see who would take the other half of the yoke, casually examining her hoof when his gaze fell onto her. Cirrus grumbled quietly, then looked over his shoulder.

Rainbow had sprawled herself out on top of the jumble of furniture, cushions, and boxes while somehow not disturbing a single thing. She arched her back, popped her neck, and settled into place. A few seconds passed before she felt Cirrus’s eyes on her. “What?”

Cirrus arched an eyebrow. “Think you could help me out here?”

“Oh, I know I could.” Rainbow tucked her forelegs behind her head, grinning. “I just wanna watch you try to get it by yourself.” Cloud didn’t quite conceal an amused snort.

The stallion’s eyes narrowed at the two of them, then closed as he heaved against his harness. Ditzy’s eyes narrowed and actually came together in a rare moment of alignment as she glowered at her friends. She was about ready to go and push when Fluttershy finally spoke up.

“I could help.”

The self-amused smirks on the other mares’ faces died down a bit. Ditzy chewed her tongue as she tried to find the gentlest way to let her down. “It’s all right, Fluttershy, you—you’ve been so much help already.”

Fluttershy shuffled on her hooves in a way that would have come across as false modesty from anypony else. “Oh, I haven’t done anything that important. Rainbow Dash and Cloud Kicker did so much more than I have.”

“You’ve done a lot. You’ve, um, helped me with the cutlery, and the seat cushions, and...” Ditzy sighed and put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder to bar her from the yoke. “And I don’t think you’re strong enough to pull it.” She looked around to find something Fluttershy could do to feel appreciated. “You can still help! We’ll need to make sure there’s enough room ahead.”

“Which would be great if the cart could, y’know—move,” Cirrus grumbled.

Ditzy didn’t think he’d mean to come across as angrily as he did, but even she was starting to get fed up. “Rainbow? Do you think you could help Cirrus?”

Rainbow shifted on top of the pile of furniture, not unlike a cat forcing itself to be comfortable in order to inconvenience its owner. “Sorry Ditzy, I’m on inventory control. Make Kicker do it.”

One of Ditzy’s ears flicked in annoyance. She turned to Cloud Kicker with a forced smile that she suspected would get a lot of use once her foal came into the world. “Please? It’s just for a few blocks.”

“Only for you, Derpy.” Cloud sighed with the resignation of a pony being led to the gallows and strapped herself into the other side of the yoke without a word. Cirrus seemed content to return the gesture, all but ignoring the mare beside him until she finished. The two of them traded a look, as if waiting for the other to give first and check whether they were ready.

Rainbow rolled her eyes at the pair of them, more bored than anything else. “If you two go at it any more, I’m gonna make you get married. Now let’s get moving. Hyah mules, hyah!” She cracked an invisible whip at Cloud Kicker, grinning at the chance to throw her words in her face.

Both ponies shot her a glance that could have frozen the sun in place, then shook their heads in almost comical unison and began pulling. Ditzy and Fluttershy fell into step alongside the cart, as much to trade a worried look as to make sure that nothing fell off.

The journey itself presented a welcome break; even if the tension was thick enough to pave the road with, they were at least making some kind of progress. Still... if every visit was going to be like this, Ditzy almost wished that fewer ponies would come to see her next time around. This didn’t feel like flitting near a thunderhead so much as poking a sleeping manticore. They hadn’t insulted each other openly yet, but she knew from experience that quiet resentment could be more damaging in the long run. She’d only seen Cloud this agitated once, back when they’d passed Sticks and Stones at the clinic—and while she doubted that Cloud held quite the same kind of contempt for her brother, it wasn’t too much of a stretch that she was waiting for him to say or do just the wrong thing...

She willed that thought away. Things were tense enough already, and the last thing she wanted to do was jinx things by thinking about how bad they could get. Given her luck, she might reignite the old Doo/Kicker feud before lunch.

In spite of her concerns, the five of them managed the entire trip without incident. They also managed it without a word between the two cart pullers, but it was a small price to pay if it meant some level of amicability. The journey wasn’t terribly long, as it was late enough in the morning that the streets were largely clear of crowds. The only pony who wasn’t either in a rush or working on the cobblestone road was one green mare that waved at Cloud Kicker as the party passed her, and Ditzy couldn’t help but wince at the out-and-out odd way she leaned against the back of the bench. Even if she hadn’t been pregnant, she very much doubted that her wings would even let her try sitting like that.

When they stopped in front of the house, Ditzy wasn’t surprised to find the ruined gate on the ground, still in place where she’d left it after the tour. She saw her brother open and close his mouth several times, then settle on a wing-shrug that was slightly obstructed by his harness. Fluttershy’s eyes drank in the scene as well, quietly looking over the telltale signs of work that needed to be done to make the house liveable. Finally, they both settled on the kindest assessment they could:

“It looks … nice,” they said together. Ditzy knew she’d gotten her house at a good price, but that judgement told her just how much work she had ahead of her. While nowhere near as spoiled or stuck-up as some of the other nobility, neither she nor Cirrus really had ever wanted for anything growing up and didn’t really have a point of comparison, but Fluttershy was a more—well, down-to-earth pony. Calling something ‘nice’ was about the closest she’d come to saying something negative about it.

“Home sweet home, I guess?” Ditzy chuckled awkwardly, trying to put a better spin on things.

A soft snore from the cart helped break the tension. Ditzy’s laughter was much less forced this time around: Rainbow had fallen asleep during the trip. She gently shook the stacked furniture with a foreleg. “Rainbow, we’re here.”

“Five more minutes...” Rainbow grumbled, somehow rolling over without losing her balance.

Cloud Kicker’s sigh was slightly muffled as she hurried to unharness herself. “Fluttershy? Do me a favor and smack Rainbow.”

“Oh dear...” Fluttershy brought herself face-to-face with the sleeping mare and tentatively poked her. “Um, Rainbow? I know that’s probably really comfortable for you … somehow … but we’ve stopped at Ditzy’s house. Could you please get up so we can unload?”

A blue hoof flailed around momentarily, searching for the source of the unwelcome disturbance. It founds its mark dead between Fluttershy’s ears “Snooze,” Rainbow mumbled. “Stupidclock.” She rolled over and gave a tiny little snore. “Hmm, yeah? Yeah Spitfire, you bet I’m the best you’ve ever seen...”

Ditzy shook her head incredulously. “I’ve lived with her for two months, and I still have no idea how she gets to work on time.”

“My guess?” Cloud offered. “Somehow, against all odds, her sense of duty overrides her laziness.”

“My guess was time travel,” Ditzy said with a shrug.

Rainbow rolled over again, still mumbling to herself. She yawned and arched her back, popping her joints one at a time, from her wingtips to her neck. Once done, she glanced around. “Oh, hey. We’re here. Why didn’t somepony wake me?”

Fluttershy sighed and walked to the pathway, mumbling something about making sure it was clear.

Cloud finally unhitched herself from the cart and walked away from the yoke at a brisk trot, quite happy to put some space between herself and a certain stallion. Cirrus, for his part, wiggled out of the harness and made a quick flight around the house. A frown grew on his face as he checked over the small lawn, and he jerked around to land on the roof. His demeanour brightened a little bit after he checked it over, and he flew back to start unloading.

“Esh looksh ... ‘omely,” he offered through a mouthful of rope.

“Best place Derpy could afford,” Cloud said neutrally, spotting the cargo beside him.

Cirrus spat out the rope. “With some help.”

Whether through providence or simple luck, Rainbow corkscrewed down and landed between the two of them. “Yeah, I helped her find the place. Not too shabby, huh?”

“Welllll...” Cloud offered a weak smile. “Technically it is a little shabby. Nothing we can’t fix up, though.”

“Well, I still found it. So that counts for something.”

Cloud nodded her agreement. “Yup. It earns you one public display of affection. Derpy, care to do the honors?”

“Sure thing!” Ditzy trotted over and wrapped her forelegs around her friend in a bone-crushing hug. “Thank you, Rainbow!”

“Careful, Dee,” Cirrus said. “I think she’s turning blue.”

Cloud raised an amused eyebrow. “She’s already blue.”

“Blue-er,” the stallion replied with a wave of his hoof.

Some red began mixing in with the blue as Rainbow began blushing. “Ditzyyyyyyyyyy,” she whined, squirming in her grasp. “C’mon, quittit! Everypony’s looking at us.”

“Well, yeah! That’s the point of a public display of affection.” She held on for a second longer, then let go. She ignored Rainbow’s loud, dramatic gasps and stepped around her. “Okay, let’s see if we can get all of this cleaned and set up.”

Each of them grabbed a seat cushion from the cart and followed Ditzy to the front door, where Fluttershy was waiting for them. After fumbling with the key for a moment, the front door swung open to reveal the inside. The dust layer kicked up from her previous visit had largely gone untouched, leaving clear trails of hoofprints around the building. “Shoot. I should’ve grabbed cleaning stuff for the floors.”

Rainbow’s face lit up. “Eh, no worries. Hey, big guy—catch!” She haphazardly tossed her seat-cushion to Cirrus, who had just enough time to turn his head and catch it. With his face. An apology was drowned out by a cackle as Rainbow shot skyward; she came back a second later with a cloud just a little larger than she was. “Ya don’t need to get to the cleaning stuff. Instant mop, right here!”

“So, clean first, then move in the furniture?” Cloud nodded. “Easier that way.”

Fluttershy nodded as well. “You should probably start with things that need to be painted. That way, they’ll be dry for later.”

Cirrus took a chunk of cloud and trotted in. “I’ll start with the kitchen.”

“I’ll get the main bedroom, then,” Cloud said. Ditzy didn’t think that it was a coincidence that the two rooms were on opposite sides of the building, but she opted against saying anything.

“Dibs on the other bedroom!” Rainbow shouted. She paused just long enough to leave a piece of cloud for Fluttershy before bolting off down the hall. Fluttershy traded an amused look with Ditzy and started working on the living room floor.

With everypony having taken a role, Ditzy suddenly found herself without anything to do. Not content to merely sit back and supervise, she went back outside to get what she could from the cart. The paint cans were trapped beneath the larger sections of the bed, so there wasn’t much she could do to get to them on her own. Leaving those be for the moment, she instead made a couple of trips to and from the cart, grouping the rest of the seat cushions, silverware, and anything else she could carry on her own in a small pile outside of the front door.

With that done, the grey mare grabbed a few rags and went back inside to see how things were going. There was enough dust still on the floor that she didn’t want to stir it up by flying over the clean section of living room, so she tip-hoofed past Fluttershy on her way to the kitchen. She put the rags in the sink and got the water running, then turned her attention to the silverware drawers. Her first thought was to simply open them up and just scrub out what she could find, but merely opening the first drawer covered caused an explosion of, quelle surprise, dust.

Ditzy jumped back with a violent sneeze. She heard her brother cough off to the side of her and scramble out of the way. They fought through the haze and somehow managed to open a window above the sink. It took a few minutes for everything to die down, leaving both Doo siblings with manes as grey at their coats.

Cirrus coughed again. “Jeez Dee, you just can’t help but make a mess, huh?”

“You’ll get over it,” Ditzy deadpanned, brushing her mane with a foreleg.

“No love, no love at all,” her brother grumbled good-naturedly. He made a few more passes, then turned to take his now-black cloud outside, only to be stopped by a familiar blue face.

“Slowpoke,” Rainbow chided, clicking her tongue in chastisement. “I got my room cleaned in fifteen seconds! Who’s awesome?”

“You are!” Ditzy wing-fived her friend, sending up a fresh cloud of dust from their pinions. “Um.. think you can do it twice?”

“In my sleep! Why?”

“Aller-jeez?” Ditzy faked a cough, which turned into a real one quickly enough.

Rainbow frowned and narrowed her eyes. “But I already cleaned that room. What’s the point in doing it again?”

Cirrus snorted and took her soiled cloud from her. “Ooh, you do not want to be the one to ask that question where I work,” he said as he made his way to the door.

That got a curious look from Ditzy. Her brother was far from a belligerent pony, but she was pretty sure she’d heard him tell stories about worse comebacks than that from his times with the Canterlot Choir. She put it aside for later and turned back to her friend. “To make sure you got everything? Please, Rainbow?”

Rainbow waved her hoof dismissively. “‘Course I got everything!”

“So you won’t mind if we check it?” Cirrus called over his shoulder.

“‘Course not. Just be prepared to be amazed by what an awesome job I did!”

“If you say so.” Ditzy rolled her eyes, briefly bringing them into alignment. “Cirrus, when you get back in, could you get the cabinets please?”

She didn’t wait for a reply, and instead followed Rainbow into the back of the house. Cloud Kicker waved to the two of them as they passed by the master bedroom, getting a nod in reply from both mares. Rainbow bolted ahead, hoof at the ready on the door handle and a smug grin on her face.

“Ta-daaa!” She threw the door open. “So ... am I awesome, or am I awesome?”

Ditzy struggled to find the right words; in Rainbow’s defence, the room was a lot better than it had been. The worst of the free-floating dust was gone, the peeling paint on the windowsill had been mostly pulled away to reveal the wood beneath it. However, plenty of dust remained clumped together, especially in the corners, and the drying droplets of water on the floor were stained black with grime. “It’s … a good start?” she offered weakly.

Rainbow sputtered indignantly. “Huh? No way! I know I got the cloud over everything!” She hastily stepped on a small pile of gunk beside her foreleg.

“It’s a good first pass.” Ditzy nuzzled her, then used her wing to point out a small bit Rainbow had missed on her first past. “I’ll, uh ... let you just get that really quickly. And that. And that. And—um, yeah.”

“Oh, it is on!” Rainbow opened the window, vanishing just long enough to grab a new cloud before coming back in. She circled the room in a rainbow-colored whirlwind which Ditzy could only avoid being sucked into by leaning against the wall. By the time the mini-twister had ended, most of the paint had been torn from the walls, and now coated the ground in small, fine strips. Rainbow’s vortex had been strong enough to pick up every speck of dust in the room—even the ones still trapped in the water from her first attempt at cleaning—and a small dust devil spun idly for a moment before another gust from Rainbow’s wings blew it out of the open window. “C’mon, now. Who’s the best house-cleaning pony around?”

“Um, you are. I’ll go check on the others.” Ditzy shook her head, partially in amazement and partially in an attempt to get her mane to lay flat again. She briefly pondered a quick stop in her new bathroom, as she hadn’t actually relieved herself while at Davenport’s, but one look at the state of things convinced her that she would need to clean things very thoroughly before using them. The growing pressure in her bladder wouldn’t go ignored forever, though, and she sincerely hoped that Cloud had made some more (albeit less destructive) headway on the bathroom in the master bedroom. She walked into the room, and was instantly hit with the smell of paint stripper. Swallowing back a mild feeling of nausea, she trotted over to Cloud Kicker, who was hard at work at the windowsill.

“Oof, smells like brain damage in here. Sure you don’t wanna open that thing?”

Cloud rolled her eyes. “Oh, shush. I’m doing just fine. How’s it going with everypony else?”

“Looks good so far, I think we can get a lot of this done by the end of the afternoon.” She opened the window and started fanning out some of the fumes. “Thanks again for your help. I’d be—well, kinda doing this myself without you.”

Her friend wiped her brow, smearing a small fleck of paint on her forehead. “That’s why we’re doing it, Derpy. Not gonna leave you hanging.”

Ditzy gave her a brief nuzzle. “I couldn’t ask for better friends.”

“Thanks, Derpy. I’m just glad—watch out for the paint can!”

“What paint can!?” Ditzy jumped back in shock, and felt her hoof tip something over. Cloud closed her eyes and gave a pained sigh; Ditzy let out a weak, awkward chuckle in reply. “Eheheh ... my bad. I’ll, um, go get another can for you. And a cloud.”

Cloud took another deep breath. “Thanks, Derpy. I’d appreciate if you could take care of the paint spill. Kinda busy.” She paused, a worried frown growing on her face. “That’s not gonna a problem for you with the kid, is it?”

“I--” Ditzy’s mouth opened and closed several times as her mental gears churned. “...don’t know, to be honest. Um, I’ll get somepony pronto.” She hurried to the doorway and poked her head out. “”Is anypony done with their cloud?” she called out.

“I can drop it for a sec,” Cirrus’s voice echoed in reply. “What’s up?”

Ditzy waved a paint-covered hoof to an empty hallway. “Me. Paint can. Gravity.”

Her brother’s facehoof was audible from the other side of the house. “Dee...”

“I got it!” Rainbow blasted out of her room, proudly displaying a cloud covered in dust, paint chips, and the odd bit of wood and plaster. “Just did another awesome room-cleaning. What’s going on? I’m totally done with my cloud!”

“Me, paint can, gravity,” Ditzy said again. “Can I borrow your cloud for a minute?”

“Chillax, Ditzy, I got it.”

“I just need a minute, Rainbow, it’s—”

Rainbow wasn’t having any of it. She dropped her cloud, and gingerly picked Ditzy up instead, carrying her into the living room over her squeals of surprise and indignation. Fluttershy shot her a look as they came into the room, but obligingly scooped up a seat-cushion and set it beneath the grey mare. “There.” Rainbow gently plopped Ditzy’s derriere on the cushion. “Just sit there and ... um ... make sure Cirrus doesn’t slack off.”

Ditzy snorted indignantly. “I’m pregnant, not invalid!” Rainbow half-acknowledged her with a wave of her hoof as she flew back to help Cloud Kicker.

Cirrus poked his head around the corner. “Hey, Dee? Hush up and enjoy a day off.”

The reply to her brother took time to form in her mind as Ditzy took an extra moment to properly convey herself: she stuck her tongue out at him. “Phhhbt.”

Cirrus’s reply was no less eloquent. “Phhhbt. “

“Phhhbt.”

“Phhhbt.”

“Phhhbt.”

“Don’t make me throw a pillow at you, Dee.”

“I’ve already got one,” Ditzy shot back.

“Cirrus!” Fluttershy barked from the living room. “You can’t throw things at Derpy in her condition!”

“It’s just a pillow,” the stallion murmured, sounding like he just realized he’d been kicking a baby seal.

“But if something went wrong...” Fluttershy trailed off.

“What could possibly go wrong with just pill—” he cut himself short as a sudden look of realization crossed his face. “Y’know what? You’re right. Let’s play it safe. Probably a good idea not to throw any pillows Dee’s way. Or cotton. Or bedsheets. Or—y’know what?” He turned to his sister, tapping his chin thoughfully. “Are you sure there’s nothing else I can get you while you’re there? A fire suppression spell, maybe?”

Ditzy crossed her forelegs in front of her chest. “Hush up and scrub, bub.”

“I would so throw a pillow at you if you weren’t pregnant,” Cirrus grumbled.

Author's Note:

Phew! Well, that only took long enough to publish. Thank you all so for much for your patience with me, and thanks (as always) to my tireless team of proofreaders and collaborators.

Comments

[Chengar Qordath]

Gotta love all that friendbonding. Also, the reference to Lunar Rebellion is appreciated.

[OddDreams]

You have no idea how hard it was to keep from waking up my roommate while reading this.

There should be laws against this amount of humor late at night x3

[BadLuck_Derpy]

Which mom it was didn’t really matter at the time, as her brain scrambled to place the name that went the long-forgotten symbol: Cello, Cheering, Chengar, Chargin... Charger! That was it.

Oh, I see what you did there

[INACTIVE_ACCOUNT]

2955700 I don't...

[BadLuck_Derpy]

2955860
Chengar Qordath is the one who started the whole Winning-Verse (at least as far as I know ), and this story is part of it, so I take it as a little reference to him

[Darkarma]

Well at least Derpy hasn't taken out a load bearing wall yet... But isn't that in her future?

Anyways excellent work Comma, for once I'm not crying myself sick either. Nice and fluffy with some sweetness thrown in.

[INACTIVE_ACCOUNT]

2955986 Oh.

[punzil504]

Idle Rich... Stinkin's son/Filthy's dad? I like it... looks like sometimes certain family traits skip a generation...

Somepony actually bought a sofa from Davenport in a story. That's got to be a first.

[Web of Hope]

Glad to see more of the wonder trio snarking eachother's heads off. Throwing Flutters and Cirrus in the mix is a fun bonus too.

[Bookmark88]

Please don't make us wait so long for the next part.

[Forevermore]

Cello, Cheering, Chengar, Chargin

Really?

[djthomp]

I really, really liked the bit with Dash "snoozing" Fluttershy.

Also, Charger for Dash's historical clan? Interesting, and at the very least the name fits with her usual "everything worth doing is worth doing at top speed" approach to life.

[Swiftest]

There's just something about picturing Rainbow Dash with reading glasses that is just appealing. This chapter was just full of those nice and funny moments.

Anyway, brilliant chapter, and I look forward to seeing the next one... however long that will take .

[Psykosis]

Oof, smells like brain damage in here.

For some reason, the more I look at that line the funnier it gets.

[621Chopsuey]

That was a nice chapter. Simple slice of life and bonding with a side of humor and a hint of tension. Love it!

Really, having a house where she couldn’t just pull grab a chunk of cloud and and make it into whatever she needed,

Pull or Grab? And one too many 'and's.

“Gangway, everypony!” Ditzy called out mock-seriously. “Wide load, coming through!”

Wide load! Beep beep beep!
content7.flixster.com/question/42/23/35/4223357_std.jpg

“My guess was time travel,” Ditzy said with a shrug.

Maybe overthinking it, but I want to say that was a nod to Whooves.

[Xerzes]

They picked out a pair of red cushions twice.

[FanOfMostEverything]

You answered a question I hadn't even thought to ask: Dash's place among the bygone clans of Pegasopolis. Neat.
Also, it's very nice to see Winningverse Ditzy being her usual bubbly self, no cancer or face-punching to be found. Thanks for that.

[Zytharros]

Awesome.
Funny.

Yep. Another chapter worth waitng for.

[621Chopsuey]

2956842 Eeyup.

[Ponibius]

Great chapter for this story. Always nice to see the ponies interacting with one another.

[eleanorawesome]

t'was nice

[Batbrony]

Yay, a "What's in a Name" update!!! Excellent chapter Comma-Kazie, and glad to see you're still working on this story! Can't wait for the next chapter!

[derpyhooves15]

Things are going really well for Ditzy ....

.... wait....

.... thats never a good thing. Oh God, what have you got planned if things are going this well?

[KibaWR]

nice! Already thought this fic was dead^^ good to see that I was wrong^^ Looking forward to Cloud and Cirrus' interactions in later chaps^^

[Ogrepony]

waiting for the next installment

[HolyOrdersOtaku]

A sure fire way to make be smile uncontrollably is the times when I see a new chapter to this story. Can't wait for the next chapter!

[HolyOrdersOtaku]

2967499

You ever seen Clannad?

[Flynt Coal]

I don't know why, but the fact that Equestria doesn't have universal health care in this story is distracting me more than it should. Guess I'm too used to living in Canada!

[Blue_Paladin42]

Not much to say really, that hasn't already been said, so have some more Rainbow kissy faces. And Eepysqueak.

[Fixit Wrenches]

eeyep.

Ditzy, what are you doing.... Ditzy.... uh.... Ditzy Ditzy stahp....

[derpyhooves15]

2970592 Sorry, never even heard of it

[Paton Pendeng]

... nice.

[Comment if Necessary]

I love this story. Finally someone calling her Ditzy Doo aswell. Great job!

[Noradora]

Cloud and Cirrus had a beef back then, huh? That'll be interesting.

...And, uh... I think I have even less to say here than the times I'm worried about having hardly anything to say... Lol. But this is a good chapter, well worth the wait. I'd love to see more of this time in Derpy's life (complete with more Cloud, of course), so please try and avoid making us wait so long for the next chapter.

And just btw, I noticed a couple small errors here and there, I think. I should've copypasta'd them to show you... But ah well.

[Comma-Kazie]

3113052

If you see something, please--let me know!

[Noradora]

3113185

Alright, here's everything I saw. Some of it is just things I'm wary of that might be fine, but I'm pretty sure most of it is actual clear errors.

The tan earthy pony
was in a little better condition, ("slightly better" might be more appropriate, yes? )
left them with. eyes just had a hard time
She had the day off today anyway to go (flows a little odd, but may be fine)
she couldn’t just pull grab
when it was just more than Ditzy and Cloud’s families (more than just?)
place the name that went the long-forgotten symbol
the crazy-old piece thunderforged steel
Dizty
getting a used mattress sounded dubious, budget or not, a new one could be pricey (another bit that just seems a little odd. Could use a sentence break, perhaps?)
“Fiiine. “I’ll
and after a second’s thought stood up to follow her— (this is just after Cloud takes a step forward, so she'd already be standing up. just a thought, lol)
“Can I wait a tic? (I presume that's supposed to be "it." lol)
and withdrew his hoof, tossed Rainbow a small, L-shaped piece of metal. (the "and" seems misplaced)
near Davenport. Is this ... (missing ")
she ignored at Ditzy’s attempts at an apology.
on her first past. (pass?)

[Mares Guyver]

You asked for a comment on your story, so here's my comment on your story--hope it lives up to your expectations . . .

There are many things that I like about What's in a Name?. For one, the way you write the various characters--their mannerisms, their quirks, their various expressions and reactions--is remarkably consistent with their portrayals in other "Winning Pony" stories, which allows this story to fit seamlessly into the larger Winningverse. They feel the same, but at the same time your writing carries its own flavor very well, such that it doesn't feel like a copy of Chengar Qordath's or any of the various other Winningverse authors' writing styles.

Another element of this story that I like is the realism. The problems that Ditzy faces in trying to find a home, set it up appropriately, and pay for everything after being cut off from her family financial support are very well executed and explained. This kind of realism makes it easier (for me) to connect with both the story and the emotions of the characters than might otherwise be possible in a less fleshed-out or more fantastical work. At the same time, while the problems faced by Ditzy and her friends are enormous, they do not feel insurmountable or dragged out in a constant stream of angst. This is an issue I have with other stories (including The Life and Times of a Winning Pony) where the conflict ball is always getting tossed around, and new ones constantly added to the mix, such that no possible resolution (good or otherwise) is ever in sight.

Then there's the characterization--I love how you write Ditzy Doo. Given that she's one of my favorite MLP: FIM characters, I've seen many different portrayals of her throughout the fandom. Sometimes she's a lovable klutz, sometimes she's a mentally-handicapped woobie, and sometimes she's a blithering idiot who can say nothing but "Muffins" as she carelessly causes wanton destruction throughout Ponyville. Your take on Ditzy, consistent with her portrayal in the greater Winningverse, is probably one of the best. Intelligent, somewhat snarky, a bit naive and (true to her name) ditzy, fiercely determined, and possessing a heart as big the moon. Her emotions throughout the story so far feel real, and I appreciate the way her various relationships with characters like Rainbow Dash, Cloud Kicker, and her brother Cirrus are shown to play out. All of the characters shine in their own ways, and as such make for a fun, interesting, and heartfelt dynamic when viewed as a whole.

Issues that I might have with this story are few. Others have pointed out some of the grammar and writing errors that are present, so I won't repeat them, particularly because I don't find them to be a distraction. I was a bit curious about how much of an active participant Fluttershy was in helping Ditzy, given the presence of Cloud Kicker at the same times and places. The Life and Times of a Winning Pony had led me to believe that Fluttershy avoided Cloud Kicker like the plague until their reconciliation, but then again this may be an artifact of unreliable narrator given that "Winning Pony" is told in first-person from Cloud Kicker's perspective. I can also imagine that Fluttershy's desire to help her friend Ditzy and general nurturing personality would allow her to ignore her unease towards Cloud Kicker, which would also be consistent with her canon characterization. Again, not a big issue, but something I noted nonetheless.

All in all, I am thoroughly enjoying this story, and look forward to seeing what comes next for Ditzy as well as the eventual birth of Dinky. Keep up the good work!

[Ponycycle]

This story has been in my Read Later queue for quite some time, and I just got to it now - and it's ... adorable? That's not quite the word I'm looking for, but I love it. :P Hoping for more if and when you get a chance!

[sklease]

MOAR

[Lost_Marbles]

Will this be updated?

[Lost_Marbles]

4072483
I really hope CK and CQ do update it. This is my favorite side story in the Winningverse. (Well, the one without Time Turner)

However, it looks like if there are going to be any installments, it might be a while. It is a joint project and it is possible one of them lost interest. All we can do is let them know that we are interested, add to our favorites and patiently wait.

[Lost_Marbles]

4072483
A quick look into his blog posts shows that he hasn't quit on this or Changes! So we all can stop holding our breaths!

[finalsight]

I really hope that this gets some updates soon.

[sklease]

recently reread this

might read up on necromancy need to revive this story

[Zathras]

This is a great story. Hopefully it gets updated.

[burisalt]

Aw dang. I didn't know this was a few years old when I started reading a week ago. I hope it gets picked back up!

[Nostromo_Crew]

We miss you C-K. Is Chengar over working you with his Freeport stuff?

[Comma-Kazie]

7296445

Among other big projects, yes.

I promise, I will come back to this story. Someday. Soon. I hope.

[xXshaydXx]

Caught up and now my watch begins