The Derpy Protocol: Twilight in the Shadows

by Mockingbirb

Whistling Through the Graveyard

Far Flying reached to open the graveyard's low metal gate, and let the other ponies through, closing it after everypony.

Bubbles said wide-eyed, "You don't think she somehow did a sonic rainboom from beyond the grave, do you?"

Twilight replied, "I don't see how that would be possible. But I have seen a lot of things, and we ARE talking about Rainbow Dash. If there IS a way to do a sonic rainboom after you die, maybe she would be the pony to do it."

The ponies walked along paths between grassy expanses and trees, looking at the gravestones all around. "Wow," Bubbles said, "I never thought about how many dead ponies there are."

"Ponies have lived in Equestria for thousands of years," Twilight replied. "That's a lot of generations of ponies who came before us."

Far gestured with a forehoof. "I think we can see most of the graveyard, if we go to the top of that hill."

A bit of the fur on Twilight's back twitched. She felt like she was being watched.

Twilight looked around carefully. She noticed some birds flying in big lazy circles far above.

If they'd been vultures, that might be a sign of somecreature dying, or maybe of carrion that might have large carnivores gathered around it. But these birds were not scavengers. They weren't even hawks or crows riding a rising thermal. What were they doing?

The three ponies crested the hill. Partway down the slope on the other side, a yellow pony with a pink mane and tail sat on a big gravestone. She had a tiny smirk on her face, and a cutie mark of three butterflies on her hindquarters.

Twilight felt a shock of...recognition? No, that was hardly likely, she thought. Twilight lit up her horn in a series of small explosions of light. "Pop pop pop fizzzzzzz ZAP pop pop POP! ZZARK!" Partway through the pyrotechnics, there was a moment when the sitting pony lit up from inside like an X-ray photo. Beside Twilight, Far Flying's horn glowed with the subtle gleam of a changeling detection spell.

Fluttershy looked at the three ponies with perhaps a trace of disappointment. "Well," she said in a small, quiet voice, "I guess that's one way to say hello."

Twilight started to laugh. "Sorry, Fluttershy. I REALLY wasn't expecting to find you here. But you really do seem to be you. Do you have any idea where I can find Rainbow Dash?"

Fluttershy said, "She isn't here."

"Do you know where she's gone? I think we really need to talk with her."

Fluttershy answered, "She had to go to the distant West about a month ago, on a special mission. So she couldn't meet you. She sent me here in her place."

Twilight sputtered. "So who did the sonic rainboom?"

Fluttershy smiled proudly. "Me."

"Wow," Bubbles said.

Twilight remarked, "I never would have expected it. I had no idea you could do such a thing."

Fluttershy grinned. "Several years ago, I had no idea I'd ever be able to do it either." One of her wings twitched. "Twi, these last several years, you and I have only seen each other briefly, to help with urgent crises. Save Equestria on a tight deadline, that sort of thing. There's some stuff in my life you haven't heard much about."

"Well," Twilight said, "I knew you'd been taking classes in counseling. And since then, you've been working as a counselor. I guess it's become part of your whole kindness thing."

Twilight turned towards Far Flying and Bubbles. "These last few years, there have been times when Fluttershy talked to some villain, and helped the villain see how they could get what they REALLY wanted, deep inside, WITHOUT destroying Equestria or turning all of ponykind into oppressed serfs or a mind-controlled army of zombies. I can never say how much I appreciate when Fluttershy can do that. It REALLY cuts down on the collateral damage. And it's nice to find a happy ending for everypony, or everycreature, instead of having to send somepony to ask Celestia to lock up some defeated villain in Tartarus. Or even worse."

Fluttershy looked serene. "I suppose a job well done is its own reward."

"But tell us about the rainboom!" Bubbles enthused.

"Well," Fluttershy said, "being close friends with Rainbow Dash, I got curious about what it takes to do sports well, and sports training and coaching. And I had an idea."

"Tell us!" Bubbles demanded. "What was your idea?"

"Some colts think counseling and talking about feelings are just some sissy thing for fillies and mares. Like soppy books about mares crying into their tea."

Twilight half-stifled a laugh. "That DOES remind me of...some guys I know. Guys who would agree with that misconception, I mean."

Fluttershy smiled. "Twilight, if at first you wanted to say it reminded you of Rarity, that's okay. We both know her and love her as a dear friend."

"I MIGHT have thought about Rarity at first, a little," Twilight sheepishly admitted. "But the misconception reminds me of a LOT of ponies. Mostly some colts and stallions, like I said, because they might believe it."

"Of course," Fluttershy said. "We were talking about macho colts and stallions who don't want to talk about their feelings."

Fluttershy continued, "But a lot of colts want to be good at sports. And usually, part of being good at sports is about feelings. Can you keep doing your training on the right schedule, in the right way, or do you prefer to slack off? Do you believe you can do it, or are you going to just give up without giving it a proper try? Can you believe in yourself? Or should you maybe even change to a different sport that you might like better and be better at?"

Twilight grinned. "At least you don't sound exactly like Iron Will."

Fluttershy said, "Part of being good at sports is making good decisions. And part of making good decisions is being in touch with yourself. In touch with your insides, and in touch with your outsides, and in touch with what's outside you in the world around you. And being a good teammate is about relationships."

Fluttershy smiled. "So by doing sports coaching and training with Rainbow, I can bring counseling to ponies who might never have thought to ask for it."

"The way you say it, it all seems to make so much sense," Twilight remarked. "So at what point do the colts start reading teary romance novels and crying in each other's tea?"

Fluttershy laughed. "The tea and the novels are just tools. A lot of ponies don't need them, and that's okay.

"Who needs tea and novels," Fluttershy said with a smile, "when you have sports?"

Twilight chuckled. "Was that a joke?"

Fluttershy kept smiling.

Twilight remarked, "I guess it was. Is that another counseling thing?"

Fluttershy nodded. "If you're sensitive about when and how you use jokes, they can really help."

Twilight said, "But enough about your counseling work. How did you learn to do a sonic rainboom, of all things?"

Fluttershy answered, "I was studying sports coaching pretty seriously. Rainbow Dash and I learned a lot about it together. Also, a friend of mine said, since I have so many bird friends, why don't I ask them for advice on how to fly better and faster? And she was right. They really helped me a lot."

"Hmm," Twilight said. "Who was this friend, anyway? She sounds very sensible."

Fluttershy smiled. "Her name is..." Fluttershy chirped and trilled several notes. "In Ponish, it would be something about a magpie gathering shiny metal fasteners. She's very smart, and gives really good advice. She's the one who originally helped inspire me to try working with ponies, instead of only animals."

"So," Twilight said, "sports coaching and listening to birds was how you learned to do a sonic rainboom."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Well, I can't give away ALL my secrets. But have you ever watched a monarch butterfly?"

Twilight snarked, "I've watched butterflies before, but I don't think they know how to do a sonic rainboom. They look like it would take them all day just to fly a mile or two."

Fluttershy said, "But maybe you HAVE read that every year, they migrate south and southwest, sometimes flying thousands of miles. And back again, all in the same year. And that's just in the time they aren't using for eating and sleeping and egglaying and other things."

Twilight said. "You're right. That sounds completely insane, if I THINK about it. How do they do it?"

Fluttershy looked stern. "The details are secret. I promised never to let the world know."

Twilight snorted. "This is so crazy, you're starting to remind me of Pinkie Pie."

Fluttershy said gently, "I take that as a compliment."

Twilight smiled. "I guess you should."

"Pinkie's an amazing mare. I feel lucky to know her, just like I feel lucky to be friends with you."

Twilight nodded. "We should. We are and we should." Twilight took a deep breath. "But you know, as pleasant as it is to talk about Pinkie and Dashie and Rarity and other absent friends, that's not what brought us here today. We do have something else important to take care of."

Fluttershy said, "I guess you mean...what are your names, pony friends?"

Far Flying said, "Far Flying!"

The teenage pegasus said, "Tiny Bubbles."

Far Flying whispered, "You used to know us as Dinky Doo Hooves and Derpy Doo Hooves. But we've been hiding out for ten years under new names, disguised by the age exchange spell Twilight cast on us. Maybe you remember, because of all the clumsy mistakes Derpy made, Foal Protective Services thought Derpy was a danger to everypony around her. They wanted to take me away from her and maybe put her in a dungeon cell, because they thought they needed to keep me safe from her."

Fluttershy replied, "I don't think I could ever forget. Could you?"

Far Flying and Tiny Bubbles agreed, "Never!"

Fluttershy turned away from them, to slowly look around the graveyard. She whistled a bit of birdsong. Twilight thought, to many ponies Fluttershy might seem simply to be having a sudden fit of shyness. Which might be partly true. But Twilight thought she also recognized a pony keeping an eye on potentially dangerous surroundings.

FInally the yellow pegasus turned back towards the little family. "Do you feel any differently about it now than you used to?"

Far Flying said, "You know, that was ten years ago. And because of the age exchange spell, I was twenty years younger. It was really a long time ago, but in some ways longer ago for me than for everypony else."

Fluttershy nodded.

Far Flying continued, "In some ways, I'm not sure what to think. I think I understand some of what had FPS so worried. But I think it sounded worse from far away, to somepony who didn't really know Derpy."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Is that all that you think about it?"

Far Flying looked a little embarrassed. "But since then, I've gained some new perspectives. I'd only ever been a foal, not a mother. Even an adoptive mother is still a real mother, you know."

"Definitely," Fluttershy agreed.

"Now," Far said, blushing, "if I heard that somepony was as dangerously clumsy as Derpy was back then, I might be afraid to even let that pony foalsit my daughter for one minute. I'm so sorry, Bubbles, to talk like that! To even think like that!"

Bubbles said, "Aww, it's okay. You just worry about me because you love me. I know what it's like to be a mother too, you know."

Fluttershy gently encouraged the unusual family to talk about their lives. Sometimes the yellow pegasus mare asked questions, but mostly she simply showed interest, acceptance, and kindness. Fluttershy seemed to very much enjoy hearing the stories the mother and daughter (or daughter and mother) shared.