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Familiar Embrace

by Ink Stroke

Chapter 8: Newsflash

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Chapter 8

Newsflash

Perched atop a fluffy alabaster cloud in the heavens of the sky laid Rainbow Dash, snoozing away without a single care in the world as she was bathed by the magnificent beauty of the twilight hour's pastel rays. She was lost in the subconscious machinations of her mind as they crafted her perfect reality within the confines of the Dreamscape, a skybound world fueled by the drive to win in which she was the top mare, bursting through the chromatic array of clouds that dared to try and hinder her supersonic flight. Her cyan wings fluttered lightly as her dream-self executed maneuvers that would be impossible in the waking world.

Her splendid nap had gone uninterrupted the entire day, something that was about to change...really soon.

Ditzy Doo corkscrewed awkwardly through the air in a manner that would lead many to ask themselves how she was even able to keep herself in the air, in dutiful search for the first of the five mares the express packages in her trusty mailbag belonged to. Originally, she had set out towards the confectionary-themed candyland of Sugarcube Corner first, considering it was the closest residential building one of the packages was addressed to, but her priorities shifted when she spotted the unmistakable rainbow-colored mane of Rainbow Dash on a nearby cloud cluster.

The mailmare set herself on a coordinated crash course with a spot directly next to the sleeping speedster, intent on landing gracefully next to her old schoolfriend. It was a plan that was, you guessed it, doomed from the very beginning. Ditzy's unique pair of golden eyes messed with her depth perception, making it seem as if Rainbow Dash was slumbering on a spot a little to the left of her landing point, and it was something the wall-eyed pegasus realized only after she had slammed straight onto the cyan mare's stomach.

Dash's magenta eyes snapped open as she was forcibly ripped away from her dreams by the shockwave of pain spreading throughout her entire body, her hooves immediately flying to clutch her soft underbelly as she bolted to a sitting position, unknowingly tossing Derpy off of herself and over the cloud's edge. A pained groan escaped her throat, using what little air she had left in her poor lungs.

"Damn it, that hurt!" Rainbow's brash voice echoed throughout the relatively empty skies above Ponyville as she screamed at nopony in particular, "What the hay hit me?"

She didn't even need to hear a confession as the perpetrator ascended into her field of vision, the sheepish smile on her grey muzzle more than enough to let her know that she was behind her rude awakening.

"Uhm, h-hi, Rainbow Dash."

"Ditzy, why in the name of Luna's moon did you go and hit me on the stomach?" Slight irritation laced her tone of voice as The Dash spoke, but she could never bring herself to be truly angry at her old friend, both out of understanding sympathy towards her optical illness and her inability to help herself from being softened up by the almost childlike joy the mailmare seemed to carry herself with.

"Well, you see, I was flying like this," Ditzy's hooves began zooming around wildly in front of her as she depicted her tale through her surprisingly skilled appendages, somehow miming a corkscrew at the climax of her presentation, "and then I tried to land on a cloud that turned out to be your belly, and then you accidentally threw me off of the cloud and yelled, and then I came up here and you asked me why I hit you, and now we're here...talking about stuff that already happened."

"Okay then...did you wanna ask me something, or were you just swinging by?" The urge to return to her interrupted nap was gradually gnawing away at Rainbow's patience, and she had to keep herself from yawning in her old friend's face. Ditzy's unusually aligned golden eyes widened in surprise at how easily her job had slipped her mind before she steeled her expression into that of a loyal member of the workforce, one that backfired humorously on her.

"Oh, yeah!" The bubble-flanked pegasus reached into her mailbag and pulled out a small rectangular box, one that looked exactly like the other five in her bag, and passed it over to the rainbow-maned mare, "Special delivery from Canterlot."

Rainbow Dash, in every single sense of the word, destroyed the feeble packaging hiding the package within its confines, leaving nothing behind but a pristine newspaper rolled up with a string holding it closed. Her sight impairment combined with her point of view made it nearly impossible to get a good look at the newspaper once Rainbow opened it, but curiosity drove her to try her best. Rainbow Dash on the other hoof skimmed the newspaper with lazy disinterest painting her features, a look that was wiped clean off her face the second her magenta eyes found the main article and the story behind it. Ditzy craned her neck to read the page the blushing cerulean pegasus was on, her childlike curiosity peaked by her friend's unexpected reaction, but her worthy effort was shattered when Rainbow Dash blasted away from the cloud and tore through the sky in a split-second.

The lofty cloud was scattered by the rainbow pegasus' hasty exit, leaving Ditzy to hover in the air on her own with disappointment tinging her exuberant happiness. The grey mare shook her head to clear her mind of any lingering distractions to assume the role of Ponyville's steadfast mailmare once again, a renewed resolve to complete her task coursing through her as she flew towards the confectionery wonderland of Sugarcube Corner.

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"Aaannnddd, done!" Pinkie's exuberant voice nearly blended in seamlessly with the telltale ding of one of the various pastry ovens lining her home's kitchen. She slipped on a couple of hoof-mittens she pulled out of seemingly nowhere before retrieving a piping hot tray from the sweltering heat within the cooking appliance, upon which rested a shapely apple pie birthed by the union of Pinkie Pie's mastery over the confectionary arts and the ancient recipe the Apple Family had spent generations refining until sweet perfection was achieved. Two members of that very same family oversaw the creation of the steaming apple-scented pastry, one younge and orange and the other lime-green in her twilight years.

"Not bad at all, if Ah do say so myself, Pinkie." Applejack's compliment was more than well received by the bubbly baker as she inspected the external appearance of the fresh pie with critical green eyes.

"Now now, ya'll can't just judge an apple pie by its looks, especially not an Apple Family apple pie. Lets all just have ourselves a seat and dig into this here pastry and see if looks is all its got." said the elderly mare, slowly making her way towards one of the restaurant's booths.

Granny Smith proceeded to cut up the pie in thee equal pieces and distribute them, but just as Applejack was about to eat her slice, the lime mare slapped her hoof with on of the spoons on the table, a stern expression, that was not usually seen, on her face.

"Where are your manners, missy, we pray before we eat our meals, you should know that already." Granny Smith's voice was coated in an undertone of disappointing created to lecture her granddaughter.

"Ahm sorry Granny, it must have slipped my mind, I'll start us off." apologized the orange mare with a slightly downtrodden look in her face.

Pinkie had heard about religious groups, but she never really paid them any mind due to how secretive ponies were about them, never really exposing their beliefs to the public. It was a bit of a surprise that Applejack's family belonged to one of those religions, so she had to mouth along the prayer since she didn't know it.

At the end of the small ritual, Granny Smith took a small bite from her slice of pie, taking in every delicate detail from the pie.

"Ah gotta admit, this here pie is pretty well made, heck, I'd believe it was baked by Applejack there if you hadn't told me it was you." praised the elder mare to Pinkie Pie, prompting a smile from the latter.

"Thanks Granny Smith, I tried my best with this one."

The smiling party pony and the two apple mares dined on the pie pieces that were given to them, enjoying the silence that shrouded their meal. As the group finished their meal, a knock sounded from the doorway to Pinkie's residence, and the pink pony sprung into action, bolting to the door. Pinkie opened the door to find Ditzy Doo with a package in her mouth, that she spit onto the ground in order to speak.

"Special delivery from Ca-" Began the mailmare, only to be interrupted by her client.

"From Canterlot, right?" asked Pinkie, with a knowing smile on her muzzle.

"Uh, yeah, how did you know?" asked a bemused Ditzy.

"My Pinkie Sense told me an hour ago that I would get something from Canterlot, it also said that Applejack would get something too. Isn't she?" answered and asked Pinkie.

"What ahm I gettin' from Canterlot?" Applejack had joined Pinkie at the doorway upon hearing her name, curious about the whatever it was she was receiving.

"Yeah, here, I've got another package, this one is for you Applejack." answered Ditzy, happy that two of her clients were found in the same place, before pulling out a package identical to the other two she had already taken out.

"Well thank ya kindly, Ditzy, y'all have a good day now." said Applejack before taking her package back inside with her.

"Bye, Ditzy, it was nice to see you again!" exclaimed Pinkie before taking her package inside and closing the door behind herself.

'Darn it, Ditzy, you should have asked them what was in those packages!'

After Ditzy mentally berated herself, she took off into the sky again, catching sight of a fluttering yellow pegasus in the distance who was tending to the park's tree nests, and clumsily making her way over to her next client.

Back inside of Sugarcube Corner, Applejack and Pinkie began to unwrap their respective packages, only to find that they each had an identical sheet of newspaper. Upon reading the paper, Pinkie's eyes lit up with a glint of childish excitement, and Applejack just deadpanned at the newspaper, until she heard Granny Smith call out from behind her, causing her blood to freeze in fear.

"What are y'all readin'? Can ah please see yours, Applejack." softly asked the lime mare, and Applejack could do nothing as her body seemingly moved on its own and hoofed over the paper to her grandma. Applejack shuddered in fear at the look growing in her grandma's eyes as she silently read the newspaper, a look that she had only seen once before, and that look was the only thing that stayed constant even as she ripped the paper to shreds.

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"There-there, don't worry little birdie, your wing will just take a few days to heal itself, just remember to eat plenty of seeds and don't overexert yourself, okay?" Fluttershy tended to the injured bird, nursing it back to health.

The bird chirped in response to his vet's question, prompting a warm and motherly smile from her before she descended back onto the floor and put her saddlebags back on. Fluttershy began to make her way back towards her cottage, content with her day's work, but was stopped short when Ditzy landed straight in front of her, causing her to jump inside a hollow tree, her head peeking through the entrance.

"O-oh my, you sc-cared me Ditzy." stuttered softly Fluttershy, with a look of sheer terror slowly fading from her expression. The sight causing Ditzy to gain another sheepish smile on her face.

"Hehe, sorry Fluttershy, I forgot that you get scared easily." nervously chuckled the grey pegasus.

"Its okay, Ditzy, just let me get out of this tree."

Fluttershy began to squirm inside the tree trunk, having some difficulty on getting out. Ditzy saw her problem and went forward to pull her out. With a pop, Fluttershy squeezed out of the tree and toppled over Ditzy, causing them to roll over a few times until they stopped at the bottom of the small hill. The pegasi giggled for a while before Ditzy spoke up again.

"Ah, here you go Fluttershy, before I forget."

The mailmare pulled out yet another package from her trusty mailbag, and hoofed it over to the shy pegasus vet. Fluttershy carefully opened up the box, as if it were made of peanut brittle, and found a newspaper inside. The yellow mare opened up the newspaper roll and began to read the main article, but as she read on her cheeks became a deep shade of crimson and her heartbeat began to pick up to try and make up for all the blood that had made its way to her face.

"Hey, what does it say Fluttershy." asked Ditzy, desperate to know what all her clients had been receiving in the papers so far.

"Uhm, oh my, its nothing I mean, EEP!" Fluttershy's will broke under the pressure and embarrassment of the situation, and she took off with speed she didn't know she had, headed straight to her cottage, sputtering apologies for leaving so suddenly along the way.

'DANG IT, I really want to know what was in that newspaper!'

Ditzy considered opening the final sealed package, but it was an idea that she quickly crushed with her sense of morality. With a slightly frustrated huff, Ditzy took off once again, and began to make her way to her final stop for the day.

As she flew through the sky, she could make out a blur in the distance, and from the direction it was coming from, she could tell that it was one of the final trains from Canterlot. Ditzy sifted her gaze back to the carnival-themed building that marked her final client's residence.

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Rarity was lost in a whirlwind of ribbons, gems, and chromatic threads of silk as she weaved together a magnificent dress on one of her maniquies, a dress that the designer still looked at as if it were an old piece of cloth. The white mare had been able to clear up most of the guilt from having to put a stop to Spike's dream and was mostly back on her regular schedule again. Still, she couldn't help but feel a little creeped out from the little dragon's affections, as flattering as they were;

"He'll get over me someday, they always do" mused the designer to herself, "But, it was a little more than weird that he believed that a pony and a dragon could actually fall in love, I'm surprised Twilight never taught him about this sort of things. Its just not right, ponies are destined to be with ponies, and dragons with dragons, there is no grey area."

Rarity found that her monologues usually helped her alleviate the trace amounts of guilt she still had in her, so with her head clear again, she returned to her fine stitching.

The Carousel Boutique's door bell rung out as a slightly frazzled Ditzy Doo entered the establishment, holding a package in her mouth. The pegasus mare's curiosity was driving her to the point of desperation, so she wanted this package to be opened, immediately. Ditzy put down the package in front of the designer mare and began her delivery protocol.

"Special delivery from Canterlot."

"Oh, from Canterlot? My, who could have sent me something."

Rarity began to open the package with her telekinesis, with Ditzy craning her neck to an absurd degree as she tried to read the article.

'A newspaper, hmm, maybe my latest summer line has caught on, or maybe I came out as designer of the year, or may-'

Rarity's internal conversation was cut short as her eyes fell upon the images in the newspaper, images of a certain lavender bookworm and her dragon assistant in a full-blown make-out session. Rarity's eye began to twitch at the intake of information.

'Spike a-and Twilight are...are..'

Rarity's eyes rolled into the back of her head and, with a forehoof pressed to her forehead, she fell backwards, unconscious. Ditzy only had one second to think about helping the white unicorn before her desperation got the better of her and she snatched up the newspaper and her crossed-eyes began to take in what the article held. Unbeknownst to her, her crossed eyes didn't allow her to see the reality behind the images she thought she was seeing. With a shrug and a bemused expression on her face, Ditzy spoke again,

"What, its just Twilight and Spike hugging."

Next Chapter: Homecoming Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 48 Minutes
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Familiar Embrace

Mature Rated Fiction

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