//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Of Bubbles and Books // by Bunnybooze79 //------------------------------// Saturday morning, the early hours. The grey pegasus mare entered Ponyville’s post office. After a few moments of blindly fumbling around with one hoof she found the lightswitch on the wall next to the door. It was Fall in Equestria and the early morning breeze sent a chill through the open door. The pegasus did not mind the chill as her coat kept her warm in far colder weather. She blinked a few times to adjust to the sudden brightness in the small office. Her golden wall eyed gaze focused on the task before her. In the corner of the room her already packed saddle bags were waiting, packed to the brim with mail for the residents of this quiet peaceful town. They had been packed the day before by the post master. A kind elderly earth pony stallion named Stamps. He took care of all the business in the office and made sure to sort the incoming mail. All the pegasus had to do was to deliver the mail, something she liked doing very much. Sometimes she would deliver mail to other cities as well if it was important and had to arrive at its destination on time. That she did not like doing all that much, as the larger cities often confused the mare and made her lose her way. The relatively small town of Ponyville was much easier to navigate. She grunted in surprise as she lifted her saddle bags off the floor. They were much heavier than before. Confused she opened them and looked inside. Two large parcels were crammed in amongst the letters and cards. Carefully she took them out at looked at the address that they were meant for. One was for Rainbow Dash, the other for Twilight Sparkle. The mailmare put them back and mentally went through her route. It was best if she delivered the parcels first, that way she would not tire out so soon. With a happy smile she closed her bags once more and turned around to begin her day and promptly smacked her head against the wooden beam in the middle of the room. Like she did every morning. Thankfully Stamps had tied a pillow around the beam, after it became clear that the mailmare was accident prone and seemed to often drift off into her own world not paying attention to her surroundings. She shook her head a few times to refocus on the task before her and left the office. Then she entered again and switched off the light. Outside she smiled at the accomplishment of remembering to switch off the light and flared her wings open. With strong flaps the grey mare gained altitude and took course for the cloudhome of Rainbow Dash. _________________________________________________________________________ In said cloudhome the multicolor maned resident was just finishing her early morning breakfast. Cornflakes, milk and the last of the strawberries she had left. Ever since Scootaloo had been staying with her every once in a while she had upgraded her morning breakfast from Pop-Tarts to something more healthy. This was a Scootaloo-free weekend, the filly was staying at Rarity’s with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. Strangely Rainbow Dash found the silent morning a bit too silent. She mused over the fact that she had grown accustomed to the sounds that the filly had brought into her silent home. Before she could dwell of that thought any longer the unmistakable sound of something impacting a cloud snapped her out of her musings. She glanced over to the table to see if Tank was still sitting there. Indeed the tortoise was there slowly munching on a piece of cucumber. She looked out of the window thinking that a rouge cloud may have been blown into her house by a gust of wind. The slowly brightening day outside revealed no wind whatsoever and the clouds that were there just hung in the sky like tufts of cotton. Puzzled Rainbow Dash perked her ears up awaiting any further noises. After a few seconds she heard something that could have been a grunt. Rainbow Dash left her bowl in the sink and trotted out of the kitchen into the living room. Perhaps something had fallen over or the spells that enabled her furniture to stand on clouds had somehow failed. A quick glance revealed nothing out of the ordinary and she then carefully scanned the walls in case she had missed anything. Wonderbolt poster, bookshelf, front door, Derpy’s head, scarf rack, another Wonderbolt poster….wait what? Rainbow Dash looked back to the front door. Indeed there next to it a sheepishly grinning grey head with a blonde mane was looking at her. The golden eyes blinking and looking in different directions at the same time. “Oopsie! Hello Rainbow Dash!” Derpy exclaimed with her usual cheerful tone. “Derpy? What happened?” Rainbow Dash asked while trotting over to the new wall ornament. She was not really worried that the mailmare could have been hurt. From her own experience she knew full well that impacting a cloud did not hurt and was more like falling into a very comfy pillow. Yet she still asked: “Are you ok?” “I think I’m stuck.” With a chuckle Rainbow Dash opened her front door and went outside to help the trapped mare. She wrapped her forelegs around the other ponies rump and pulled. With a muffled –Whoof- she managed to pull her free at the cost of some the wall breaking up. Derpy shook her head clear and glanced over to the gaping hole in the wall. Saddened she folded her ears back and let her head hang low. “I’m sorry about that Rainbow Dash. I kinda misjudged the landing.” “Hey, don’t sweat it.” The cyan Pegasus replied and put a hoof on the mailmares shoulder while giving her a friendly smile. “It’s just a bit of cloud. I can fix that in ten seconds flat.” Derpy smiled at the other mare, feeling better that she did not cause any serious damage. “So what brings you up here anyway? You usually just drop my mail by my mailbox on the ground.” Rainbow Dash inquired while measuring up the hole in her wall. Her experience with clouds told her that she would only need one medium sized cloud to patch up the hole. “Oh! I have a special delivery for you today.” Derpy said and opened one of her saddlebags. With a little bit of effort she pulled free one of the parcels. Rainbow Dash’s eyes grew wide at the sight. She knew full well what that book shaped parcel was and what book was inside. Something she had been waiting for a long time. None other than the latest Daring Do story. “Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!” Slightly startling Derpy she snatched the parcel from her hooves and could not wait to start reading. She zoomed back inside and carefully placed it onto the living room table. “Ok, ok, ok…. I need something to snack on, something to drink and then I can get this party started!” she said to herself while hopping in place from sheer excitement. “Uhm… I still need you to sign this, Rainbow Dash!” Derpy said while holding up a piece of paper for Rainbow Dash to sign and confirm that she had received her delivery. “Yeah, sure.” The cyan Pegasus quickly signed the receipt and flew into her kitchen to prepare for her reading session. Derpy carefully placed the signed receipt into her saddlebag and left Rainbow Dash alone with her delivery. With a smile she took off and headed towards the towns library. She would deliver the mail for the houses that were on her way there and hopefully Twilight Sparkle would be up by the time she arrived. Meanwhile a positively giddy Rainbow Dash was hopping around in her kitchen unsure of where to begin with preparing for her day of reading. As she looked out of the window she froze in mid-hop. It suddenly dawned on her that she still had to work today. With a loud groan she halted her preparations and with a longing look at the still wrapped book she knew that it would have to wait. Of all days today also was supposed to be a day with slight rain in specific areas. That meant she could not simply smash all clouds in record time, but instead had to reposition them in their needed locations. Other ponies might have cut corners, but not Rainbow Dash. With a sigh she left her home through the hole in the wall and took off to her sector of the sky. She had a job to do and she sure as hay took her duties seriously. The prospect of settling down with a hopefully awesome book made her smile as she took hold of the first cloud and ferried it towards Sweet Apple Acres. _____________________________________________________________________ Derpy arrived at the library at around eight o’clock. On her way she had not encountered any ponies apart from Rainbow Dash of course. It was the weekend after all and most ponies only got up at around this time. Her landing this time was more controlled meaning that she only crashed into the bush outside of the library and not into the library itself. Carefully she got up and brushed a few remnants of the bush out of her mane before knocking. Twilight Sparkle had just sat down with a book about the theories of impractical magic, hoping to find a way to turn them into practical magic, when she heard the knock at the door. A quick glance at the clock on the wall told her that it was too early for anypony interested in getting a book. If it had been any emergency the knocking would have been more frantic she assumed. “Spike? Could you get that please?” “Seriously?” the dragon said in a flat voice. Twilight looked over to her number one assistant and then looked up to where the dragon currently was. On top of a long ladder the purple dragon was dangerously balancing himself and a large stack of books that needed to be filed away. Twilight gave a small chuckle. “I’ll get that then.” The friendly smiling face that greeted her when she opened the door was not one she had reckoned with. “Delivery for Twilight Sparkle!” Derpy happily exclaimed and held the announced item towards Twilight. The unicorn only shortly glanced at the parcel and immediately knew that it was a book. Which one however was a mystery as she frequently ordered new books. “Thanks… you.” Twilight suddenly realized that she didn’t even know the mailmares name who currently was looking at her with one eye while the other seemed oddly interested at something above the doorframe. Before she had time to ask the mare held a receipt towards Twilight and asked for a signature. She signed the paper as asked and took hold of the parcel in her magic. “Have a nice day!” Derpy said and took off on her route, not giving Twilight a chance to ask her anything. “Err… you too!” she called out to the Pegasus who turned a bit in midair and waved at the unicorn standing in the doorway. Twilight closed the door and deposited the parcel on the table in the center of the room. Spike would take care of unwrapping it later. She would have done it, but her studies on her current book came first. “Who was it?” Spike asked, still putting away books into the topmost shelf. “Just the mailmare.” Twilight stopped and looked over to Spike. With a burst of magic she held the ladder in place making Spike’s job a bit easier. “Oh. Thanks Twilight! What did she want?” “Just dropped off a book. We can look at it later, but first I have to get back to my studies.” With that she sat down in front of her opened book and carefully took a sip of tea from her nearby cup. In the back of her mind the question about the mailmares name briefly surfaced, but she ignored it for now as studies came first. She would ask Spike about her name later. ______________________________________________________________________ Derpy trotted from one mailbox to the next on her final route. Overall the day had not been bad, even though it had started raining in a few locations. She had not talked to anypony apart from Rainbow Dash and very briefly Twilight Sparkle. Other ponies she met merely said “Thanks.” or “Good morning.” to her before going about their business. Derpy didn’t mind. At least they were friendly to her, not like some ponies in other cities she had lived in. Here in Ponyville they left her in peace and didn't judge her. Like Pinkie Pie who always had a muffin ready for her to pick up around her breakfast break. Or like Fluttershy who true to her name was rather shy, but always had some kind words for Derpy when she brought her the subscription of Pet Care Monthly. Her mind still wandering around in the events of this morning she did not realize until it was too late. With a –Thud- she slammed into the door of the post office. It happened all the time that she was so lost in her thoughts that she became oblivious to her surroundings. Groggily she shook her head and carefully opened the door. “Thought it might have been you.” The old stallion said with a chuckle as Derpy entered the office. “Hiya Stamps! Anything exciting happen?” she asked and shook off her saddle bags and carefully put them back into the corner where she picked them up from that morning. And just like that morning she slammed her head against the wooden beam again while turning around. “I think I am going to have to put a bigger pillow there. Are you ok?” he asked with concern. “Yeah, sure!” Derpy replied while trying to focus her eyes on the stallion, currently the right one was looking at the ceiling and the left at the floor. After a brief shake of her head they very briefly both looked at Stamps, before the left one decided to look over to the far wall. The old stallion was used to her unique eyes and paid no attention to them anymore. In the beginning he was unsure how she would be able to do her job with her visual problems, but after a while he knew that she was the right mare for the job. “Well I have received another package just a few moments ago. An express delivery for Diamond Tiara. I think you had better put on your cap for that delivery.” He explained and pointed a hoof towards a parcel the size of a fillies head. Stickers indicating that the contents were fragile were plastered all around. Derpy took the small blue cap with the logo of Equestrias Postal Service off the hook next to the door and put it on. She sighed at the prospect of having to deliver something to the Filthy Rich household. They were not the nicest of ponies in this otherwise friendly town. Carefully she took the package in her hooves and stuck it under a wing. Fragile things she rather delivered on hoof than flying. “I’ll deliver this then and call it a day.” She said and gave Stamps a friendly smile which he returned. “You do that. Have a nice weekend Derpy.” He called out to her as she left the building. With a steady trot she made her way towards the home of the Rich family. ____________________________________________________________________ A blur of cyan sped across the skies of Ponyville trailing a multicolored trail behind it. Its target was the cloudhome on the edge of town. Rainbow Dash slowed down suddenly as she remembered that she still had a huge gaping hole in the wall of her home. Scanning around she saw a perfectly sized cloud that could be used to fix the damage. Nopony would be missing that cloud out here so she didn’t have second thoughts about taking it. At a slower speed she took off again towards her home pushing the cloud ahead of her. Using her skills she condensed the cloud into a more solid state and pressed it into the hole. With quick movements of her hooves she mixed the new cloud into the old clouds that composed her home. The entire process had taken exactly ten seconds. With no further obstacles in her way she entered her home and raced to the parcel on the table. She held it aloft with her forelegs like Daring Do would do with a relic she had found in another dungeon. It was at this moment that her attention drifted to the name on the parcel indicating who the recipient was. Twilight Sparkle. “Nooooooooooooooooooo!” ______________________________________________________________________ For the second time that day a cyan blur raced across the skies of Ponyville. This time it was heading towards the library. Rainbow Dash eyed her destination carefully as she zoomed towards it, looking for an open window she could use as an entrance. Unfortunately all of them were closed, so she had to resort to the much less cooler way of entering Twilight’s home via the front door. A quick series of knocks on the front door later, she now was pacing in front of the building hoping that she was right with her assumption that Derpy simply had switched the deliveries by accident and that Twilight now had her precious book. She was just about to assault the door once more with a series of knocks when it swung open. “Hey Rainbow Dash.” Spike greeted the mare with a surprised look on his face. “You know that during the opening hours you can simply come in without having to knock, right?” Rainbow Dash gave him a blank stare. “Opening hours? You have that?” her knowledge of the library’s function was sketchy at best. For her it was just the place Twilight and Spike lived at. She knew that ponies could borrow books here, but she had thought they just came by whenever they needed something and didn’t think they had to do that at specific times. “Is Twilight here?” she asked and peered past the small dragon. “Of course. Come in and make yourself at home. Twilight should be in the kitchen.” Rainbow Dash simply jumped over the dragon and quickly trotted towards the kitchen, the parcel she had brought carefully clamped under a wing. The Pegasus found her friend in the middle of preparing a fresh batch of herbal tea. Carefully Twilight scooped out the herbs with a small sieve. She gave the Pegasus a friendly smile as soon as she spotted her coming in the kitchen. “Hello Rainbow Dash! What brings you here?” “My wings of course!” the Pegasus mare chuckled at her lame joke. “Did you receive a parcel by any chance this morning?” “Yes I did. It’s on the table in the main room. I didn’t have the chance to open it yet. Why do you ask?” “I think there may have been a mix up. ‘Cause I have a parcel here addressed to you.” She explained and nudged her head towards the mentioned object currently still under her wing. “Oh? Well these things happen. Let’s have a look and see if you are right.” Grabbing the now finished pot of tea in her magic, Twilight walked past Rainbow Dash into the main room. Carefully she put down the pot on the table in the center of the room and picked up the still wrapped book instead. A quick glance confirmed Rainbow’s suspicions. “You are right. Seems like I got your delivery by mistake.” With blinding speed two cyan hooves darted forward and snatched the parcel from Twilight’s magical grip. Startled the unicorn backed up a few paces and raised a questioning eyebrow at the joyous expression on her friends face. “Awesome! Here is your parcel.” Rainbow Dash said and quickly put the other package from under her wing onto the table. “Can’t talk, gotta do something really really important.” Without giving Twilight a chance to reply her rainbow maned friend dashed past Spike and out the front door. “She could have closed the door after using it.” He grumbled and walked towards the open door. “What was that all about?” Twilight did not reply, but smiled instead. From the top of her head she could only think of one thing that would make her friend so excited about a book shaped delivery. She contemplated briefly whether she should stop her current studies for a bit of light reading with an adventure novel about Daring Do, but then decided that her studies came first. With that in mind she left it up to her assistant to unwrap the parcel and after pouring herself a cup of freshly brewed tea, she sat back down at her reading place and focused her attention of the open book in front of her. Rainbow Dash arrived back at her home in record time. She quickly prepared some snacks for herself and for Tank before returning to her couch in the living room. “Ok Rainbow, now it’s time!” she said and rubbed her front hooves together in anticipation. “I have snacks, drinks, plenty of light and all the time I need.” Carefully she reached towards the wrapped book in front of her. Just like before she held it aloft like a sacred relic. She checked the name on the parcel and confirmed that it was indeed hers. “And now….it’s time for the unveiling! DUN DUN DAAAAAAAAAA!” with one swift motion she ripped the brown paper wrapping off. Her eyes grew double in size while her lips curled upwards into a huge smile. She was almost salivating at the object in her hooves. “Daring Do and the Mystery of Snake Mountain!” she remained frozen for a moment in time, wanting to savor the anticipation of diving into the possibly best book ever, in her opinion at least. “So…awesome…” ____________________________________________________________________ Derpy arrived at the mansion of Filthy Rich. The ridiculous lawn ornaments scattered about the gigantic garden made her roll her eyes, more so than they usually did anyway. She disliked the obvious display of money about the entire place. It sent an obvious message, that of being better off than anypony else in this town. The same message was lived by the residents of this estate. Derpy hoped not having to deal with them directly. While she did not really have all that much to do with the family, she still disliked their attitude towards other ponies. Carefully she pressed the doorbell and patiently waited. After a minute the door opened and revealed the butler of the Rich family, a yellow stallion unicorn with slicked back black hair and wearing a suit of some kind. He eyed the mailmare with a bored expression. “Can I help you?” he asked in a monotone voice. “Delivery for Diamond Tiara!” Derpy said cheerfully and very carefully put the package down in front of the butler. Without another word he signed the receipt and after picking up the package in his magical grip, slammed the door in Derpy’s face. “Yeah…have a nice day yourself.” Derpy said to the closed door in an annoyed tone. Her spirits rose however once she realized that her job for the day was now over. That meant she could go and do her shopping for groceries now or relax in a nice hot bath. Maybe she could go and pick up a fresh batch of muffins from Sugarcube Corner. As various scenarios played out in her mind she did not pay any attention to where she was going and crashed into one of the garish lawn ornaments. Other ponies sometimes would put a hot pink flamingo in their gardens. This ornament was also a flamingo, but unlike the others not made out of pink plastic but rather solid gold. Derpy shook her head clear and continued shaking it out of plain dislike for the obvious display of wealth. Focusing back on her plans for the day, she left the Rich’s family estate and flew into town. ___________________________________________________________________ Meanwhile inside the huge mansion the butler scrunched up his nose at the package in his magical grasp. No doubt it would be another massively overpriced tiara or something of that sort. Another thing he would have to polish daily to appease the masters of the house. With a small amount of disgust he levitated it over to the table in the foyer. Not paying too much attention to what he was doing he simply dropped the package onto the table. Something shattered inside. In wide eyed shock he carefully picked it up again and tilted it. Judging by the sounds emanating from within whatever had been inside was now in various pieces. He was glad that he was currently alone in the mansion and nopony had seen or heard his mistake. He carefully placed it back on the table deciding to claim that it had already arrived in this condition. The mailmare had a reputation of destruction after all and it was better to blame her instead of having his flawless reputation stained by this blunder. Not sparing it any further thought he went back to prepare for the return of his employers.