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Description

          It was a rainy day in Ponyville, and boy was it coming down. Fortunately, everypony always knew when the Pegasus ponies had some inclement weather scheduled and could make plans accordingly. For example, on this day, Spike, the six, and I had decided to keep dry in Twilight’s house and re-tell some of our best stories. But, of course, we couldn’t begin without Rainbow Dash, who was in charge of the weather for Ponyville.

          *CRASH*

          Rainbow had made her entrance, and not in the most subtle of ways. The Pegasus flew right into Twilight’s face.

          “Twilight, you gotta help!”

          “What in tarnation,” Applejack complained, “you almost knocked the door off its hinges.”

          “I’m sorry, but this is a big problem.”

          “Then tell us what’s wrong,” Twilight implored.

          “They’re recalling Derpy to Cloudsdale.”

          Derpy Hooves was another Pegasus who helped with the weather every now and then. She was mostly known in town for being a massive klutz and often causing accidents, never maliciously or on purpose, but not always appreciated.

          “Who are ‘they’,” I asked, quite perplexed.

          “All the weather teams in Equestria report to a coordinator in Cloudsdale,” Rainbow explained, “they make sure the correct weather happens when it should happen, where it should happen.”

          “But why would they recall Derpy,” Fluttershy said, “that almost never happens.”

          “I don’t know why exactly. All I know is that I got a letter from the command center in Cloudsdale telling me to make sure that Derpy got there tomorrow. Command never asks for a non-leader pony unless they are in big trouble.”

          “What kind of trouble could Derpy be in,” I asked, “whatever Command knows, you must know too.”

          “Well there was that time last week when Derpy pushed a cluster of clouds south when they were supposed to go north. And the time the week before that where she made the wind gust too strongly. But, I mean, that’s nothing worse than any other time Derpy has messed up. Why would they recall her now?”

          “Calm down, Rainbow,” Twilight reassured, “you, Fluttershy, and I will go with Derpy to Cloudsdale. I’m sure we can figure something out.”

          “And we’ll all come too,” Pinkie said, “the more the merrier.”

          “But Cloudsdale is a Pegasus city,” I said, “only they can walk on the clouds.”

          “Well then it’s a good thing we know Twilight.”

          …

          The next day, eight ponies, including Derpy, took off for Cloudsdale. The four ponies who couldn’t fly took Pinkie’s pink and purple hot air balloon. Once we got up there, Pinkie showed no hesitation in showing me that Twilight’s ‘walk-in-the-clouds’ spell worked. Soon, we were all following Rainbow to the weather command center.

          As its name would suggest, Cloudsdale is a city made of clouds. Everything, the roads, the houses, everything is built from the material. The others had all been to the city once previously to see Rainbow compete in, and win, the Best Young Flyer’s competition. I, on the other hoof, marveled at the just the sheer ingenuity necessary to make such large structures hold up.

          Eventually, we made it to the weather center, literally the place where all the weather in Equestria is created. Every cloud, every snowflake, every raindrop went through this building. Rainbow led us high up the structure to a large office space that overlooked the entire operation. The name ‘Capt. Typhoon’ was written on a plaque on the door.

          “Captain Typhoon,” Rainbow began, “Rainbow Dash and Derpy from Ponyville reporting.”

          “Good to see you made it here promptly,” a stern voice said from behind the desk. The chair swung around to reveal a very large, black, Pegasus with a matching, slicked back, mane.

          “Yes, sir. Why have you called us here?”

          “Before I get to that, who are these ground ponies?”

          “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria. I, along with these other ponies, are personal friends of both Rainbow Dash and Derpy Hooves, and we are here to speak to their characters, if need be.”

          “Hmph, usually I would take offense to seeing ground ponies here in Cloudsdale, but I suppose I can’t argue with the princess. Now where was I?”

          “You were about to tell us why we are here,” Rainbow reminded him.

          “As I was about to say, Rainbow Dash, you should know better than anypony why you are here. You cannot deny that Derpy has given both you and me more grief than we care to remember.”

          “I wouldn’t say that,” Rarity said.

          “That’s not how I would put it,” Applejack spoke up.

          “You are quite mistaken,” I agreed.

          “But Rarity,” Pinkie Pie interjected, “what about the time Derpy flew right through your bedroom window? And Applejack, what about the time Derpy accidentally struck one of the apple trees down with a bolt of lightning?”

          “Pinkie Pie,” we all yelled.

          “Oh, right, yeah, what they all said.”

          “Regardless,” Typhoon said, “Whether or not Derpy does things by accident and whether or not what happens injuries anypony, I cannot take those risks.”

          “And what exactly would she do in Cloudsdale,” I asked the captain, “I mean, it’s not like anything you are worried about her possibly doing in Ponyville couldn’t also occur in this city.”

          “Oh how wrong you are. I’m sure you’ve noticed the structures in Cloudsdale are made of clouds. Unlike on the ground, where she can destroy physical buildings or objects, no such occurrence can happen up here. If she flies straight through a tall building, so what? She’ll just leave a giant hole which can be patched up in no time at all. Everypony will be much safer if Derpy remains here. Besides, what do you know about anything? You’re not a Pegasus, you’re a Unicorn.”

          “Oh, you’re asking Art Colter what he knows about the weather! Ha! Well, to be completely honest, you’re probably right. What do I know? But how about this, how about we hear what Derpy has to say on the matter?”

          We all looked at Derpy, who had listened to this whole exchange without moving a muscle. She tilted her head and those little crossed eyes of hers, and then tilted it back the other way.

          “I’m sorry if I ever hurt anypony,” Derpy said at last, “I don’t want to hurt anypony, but I don’t want to live in Cloudsdale. I like Ponyville. Everypony there is my friend.”

          “This isn’t about what you like,” Typhoon said, a little annoyed, “this is about what is best for you. And what is best for you is to come back to Cloudsdale where you will stay out of trouble.”

          “What is best for her,” Rainbow snapped, flying right into the captain’s face, “What is best for her is being somewhere where nopony makes fun of her, and nopony calls her names, or tells her she’s a moron, or anything. I remember when we were little fillies here in Cloudsdale. Fluttershy may have been the worst flyer-- no offense, Fluttershy,

          “None taken, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said.

          “And she may have been made fun of all the time. But nopony was made fun of more than Derpy. I protected Derpy then, and I’m going to protect her now.”

          “Watch your tone, you little filly,” Typhoon snapped back.

          “It’s OK, Dashie,” Derpy spoke up again, “You don’t have to protect me anymore. I’ll just tell the captain what I should have told him a long time ago. Captain, I know I’m not any good at helping with the weather, and I hate doing it. I’m going back to Ponyville, and I’m quitting the Pegasus ponies.”

          “You’re going to do what!? You’re a Pegasus. The only Pegasus that can get away with not helping with the weather is Fluttershy over here. As a matter of fact, you should quit. It’ll get you out of my mane and off of my mind. But don’t come flapping to me when you can’t get work doing anything else. Now get out of my office!”

          We all left the office and began to make our way to the edge of Cloudsdale where the balloon was parked.

          “Are you sure you’re going to be OK, Derpy,” Rainbow said worryingly, “You didn’t have to quit, we could have thought of a different way.”

          “Sure I’m sure. I haven’t been this happy in a long time.”

          “I think this calls for a party when we get back home,” Pinkie cheered.

          “But the captain did make a good point,” Twilight pointed out, “What are you going to do for work, Derpy?”

          “I’m not sure right now,” the Pegasus answered.

          “Well I reckon everypony in town will pitch in with ideas,” Applejack reassured, “There’s bound to be something that you’ll enjoy doing.”

          When we made it back to Ponyville, we did indeed have the party that Pinkie had alluded to. During the party, all seven of us went around to see if we could find a new job for Derpy. Then, as other ponies heard of her plight, they started searching as well. Soon, everypony in town knew Derpy’s story and were acting on it.

          Our first thought was to take advantage of Derpy’s well-known love of muffins. Unfortunately, no matter how much Pinkie taught her, she just wasn’t good at baking muffins. Then we tried all manner of things that might be related her cutie mark, three bubbles. Rarity and Fluttershy tried to get her a job at the spa, Pinkie and Twilight though it meant she should work at a daycare, and Rainbow and Applejack had her try her hoof at window washing. None of these panned out. I guess her cutie mark just meant that she was a ditz. Then, I came up with the winning idea.

          “Derpy, you know everypony in town, don’t you?”

          “Sure Art.”

          “And you know where everypony lives, right?”

          “Yeah. But I don’t understand how that helps.”

          “Me either,” Rainbow whined, “Plenty of ponies know all that.”

          “But those ponies don’t need jobs. My idea is for Derpy to work with the Ponyville Postal Service making special deliveries.”

          “Really?”

          “Yeah. She knows where all the ponies live, and since she can fly, she can deliver to anypony anywhere in town much quicker than an Earth pony could.”

          “Art, that’s so crazy it just might work.”

          Rainbow, Derpy, and I dashed over the post office to talk to the pony in charge. It took some expert wordsmanship on my part, and some begging from Rainbow, but they took Derpy on as a special delivery pony. And while it sometimes took her longer than expected to make a delivery or she sometimes forgot to have ponies fill in the right paperwork, she never lost a single package.

          “Thank you guys so much,” Derpy said, throwing her arms around Rainbow and me.
          “Hey,” Rainbow said, “what are friends for?”

Description

          It was a rainy day in Ponyville, and boy was it coming down. Fortunately, everypony always knew when the Pegasus ponies had some inclement weather scheduled and could make plans accordingly. For example, on this day, Spike, the six, and I had decided to keep dry in Twilight’s house and re-tell some of our best stories. But, of course, we couldn’t begin without Rainbow Dash, who was in charge of the weather for Ponyville.

          *CRASH*

          Rainbow had made her entrance, and not in the most subtle of ways. The Pegasus flew right into Twilight’s face.

          “Twilight, you gotta help!”

          “What in tarnation,” Applejack complained, “you almost knocked the door off its hinges.”

          “I’m sorry, but this is a big problem.”

          “Then tell us what’s wrong,” Twilight implored.

          “They’re recalling Derpy to Cloudsdale.”

          Derpy Hooves was another Pegasus who helped with the weather every now and then. She was mostly known in town for being a massive klutz and often causing accidents, never maliciously or on purpose, but not always appreciated.

          “Who are ‘they’,” I asked, quite perplexed.

          “All the weather teams in Equestria report to a coordinator in Cloudsdale,” Rainbow explained, “they make sure the correct weather happens when it should happen, where it should happen.”

          “But why would they recall Derpy,” Fluttershy said, “that almost never happens.”

          “I don’t know why exactly. All I know is that I got a letter from the command center in Cloudsdale telling me to make sure that Derpy got there tomorrow. Command never asks for a non-leader pony unless they are in big trouble.”

          “What kind of trouble could Derpy be in,” I asked, “whatever Command knows, you must know too.”

          “Well there was that time last week when Derpy pushed a cluster of clouds south when they were supposed to go north. And the time the week before that where she made the wind gust too strongly. But, I mean, that’s nothing worse than any other time Derpy has messed up. Why would they recall her now?”

          “Calm down, Rainbow,” Twilight reassured, “you, Fluttershy, and I will go with Derpy to Cloudsdale. I’m sure we can figure something out.”

          “And we’ll all come too,” Pinkie said, “the more the merrier.”

          “But Cloudsdale is a Pegasus city,” I said, “only they can walk on the clouds.”

          “Well then it’s a good thing we know Twilight.”

          …

          The next day, eight ponies, including Derpy, took off for Cloudsdale. The four ponies who couldn’t fly took Pinkie’s pink and purple hot air balloon. Once we got up there, Pinkie showed no hesitation in showing me that Twilight’s ‘walk-in-the-clouds’ spell worked. Soon, we were all following Rainbow to the weather command center.

          As its name would suggest, Cloudsdale is a city made of clouds. Everything, the roads, the houses, everything is built from the material. The others had all been to the city once previously to see Rainbow compete in, and win, the Best Young Flyer’s competition. I, on the other hoof, marveled at the just the sheer ingenuity necessary to make such large structures hold up.

          Eventually, we made it to the weather center, literally the place where all the weather in Equestria is created. Every cloud, every snowflake, every raindrop went through this building. Rainbow led us high up the structure to a large office space that overlooked the entire operation. The name ‘Capt. Typhoon’ was written on a plaque on the door.

          “Captain Typhoon,” Rainbow began, “Rainbow Dash and Derpy from Ponyville reporting.”

          “Good to see you made it here promptly,” a stern voice said from behind the desk. The chair swung around to reveal a very large, black, Pegasus with a matching, slicked back, mane.

          “Yes, sir. Why have you called us here?”

          “Before I get to that, who are these ground ponies?”

          “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria. I, along with these other ponies, are personal friends of both Rainbow Dash and Derpy Hooves, and we are here to speak to their characters, if need be.”

          “Hmph, usually I would take offense to seeing ground ponies here in Cloudsdale, but I suppose I can’t argue with the princess. Now where was I?”

          “You were about to tell us why we are here,” Rainbow reminded him.

          “As I was about to say, Rainbow Dash, you should know better than anypony why you are here. You cannot deny that Derpy has given both you and me more grief than we care to remember.”

          “I wouldn’t say that,” Rarity said.

          “That’s not how I would put it,” Applejack spoke up.

          “You are quite mistaken,” I agreed.

          “But Rarity,” Pinkie Pie interjected, “what about the time Derpy flew right through your bedroom window? And Applejack, what about the time Derpy accidentally struck one of the apple trees down with a bolt of lightning?”

          “Pinkie Pie,” we all yelled.

          “Oh, right, yeah, what they all said.”

          “Regardless,” Typhoon said, “Whether or not Derpy does things by accident and whether or not what happens injuries anypony, I cannot take those risks.”

          “And what exactly would she do in Cloudsdale,” I asked the captain, “I mean, it’s not like anything you are worried about her possibly doing in Ponyville couldn’t also occur in this city.”

          “Oh how wrong you are. I’m sure you’ve noticed the structures in Cloudsdale are made of clouds. Unlike on the ground, where she can destroy physical buildings or objects, no such occurrence can happen up here. If she flies straight through a tall building, so what? She’ll just leave a giant hole which can be patched up in no time at all. Everypony will be much safer if Derpy remains here. Besides, what do you know about anything? You’re not a Pegasus, you’re a Unicorn.”

          “Oh, you’re asking Art Colter what he knows about the weather! Ha! Well, to be completely honest, you’re probably right. What do I know? But how about this, how about we hear what Derpy has to say on the matter?”

          We all looked at Derpy, who had listened to this whole exchange without moving a muscle. She tilted her head and those little crossed eyes of hers, and then tilted it back the other way.

          “I’m sorry if I ever hurt anypony,” Derpy said at last, “I don’t want to hurt anypony, but I don’t want to live in Cloudsdale. I like Ponyville. Everypony there is my friend.”

          “This isn’t about what you like,” Typhoon said, a little annoyed, “this is about what is best for you. And what is best for you is to come back to Cloudsdale where you will stay out of trouble.”

          “What is best for her,” Rainbow snapped, flying right into the captain’s face, “What is best for her is being somewhere where nopony makes fun of her, and nopony calls her names, or tells her she’s a moron, or anything. I remember when we were little fillies here in Cloudsdale. Fluttershy may have been the worst flyer-- no offense, Fluttershy,

          “None taken, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said.

          “And she may have been made fun of all the time. But nopony was made fun of more than Derpy. I protected Derpy then, and I’m going to protect her now.”

          “Watch your tone, you little filly,” Typhoon snapped back.

          “It’s OK, Dashie,” Derpy spoke up again, “You don’t have to protect me anymore. I’ll just tell the captain what I should have told him a long time ago. Captain, I know I’m not any good at helping with the weather, and I hate doing it. I’m going back to Ponyville, and I’m quitting the Pegasus ponies.”

          “You’re going to do what!? You’re a Pegasus. The only Pegasus that can get away with not helping with the weather is Fluttershy over here. As a matter of fact, you should quit. It’ll get you out of my mane and off of my mind. But don’t come flapping to me when you can’t get work doing anything else. Now get out of my office!”

          We all left the office and began to make our way to the edge of Cloudsdale where the balloon was parked.

          “Are you sure you’re going to be OK, Derpy,” Rainbow said worryingly, “You didn’t have to quit, we could have thought of a different way.”

          “Sure I’m sure. I haven’t been this happy in a long time.”

          “I think this calls for a party when we get back home,” Pinkie cheered.

          “But the captain did make a good point,” Twilight pointed out, “What are you going to do for work, Derpy?”

          “I’m not sure right now,” the Pegasus answered.

          “Well I reckon everypony in town will pitch in with ideas,” Applejack reassured, “There’s bound to be something that you’ll enjoy doing.”

          When we made it back to Ponyville, we did indeed have the party that Pinkie had alluded to. During the party, all seven of us went around to see if we could find a new job for Derpy. Then, as other ponies heard of her plight, they started searching as well. Soon, everypony in town knew Derpy’s story and were acting on it.

          Our first thought was to take advantage of Derpy’s well-known love of muffins. Unfortunately, no matter how much Pinkie taught her, she just wasn’t good at baking muffins. Then we tried all manner of things that might be related her cutie mark, three bubbles. Rarity and Fluttershy tried to get her a job at the spa, Pinkie and Twilight though it meant she should work at a daycare, and Rainbow and Applejack had her try her hoof at window washing. None of these panned out. I guess her cutie mark just meant that she was a ditz. Then, I came up with the winning idea.

          “Derpy, you know everypony in town, don’t you?”

          “Sure Art.”

          “And you know where everypony lives, right?”

          “Yeah. But I don’t understand how that helps.”

          “Me either,” Rainbow whined, “Plenty of ponies know all that.”

          “But those ponies don’t need jobs. My idea is for Derpy to work with the Ponyville Postal Service making special deliveries.”

          “Really?”

          “Yeah. She knows where all the ponies live, and since she can fly, she can deliver to anypony anywhere in town much quicker than an Earth pony could.”

          “Art, that’s so crazy it just might work.”

          Rainbow, Derpy, and I dashed over the post office to talk to the pony in charge. It took some expert wordsmanship on my part, and some begging from Rainbow, but they took Derpy on as a special delivery pony. And while it sometimes took her longer than expected to make a delivery or she sometimes forgot to have ponies fill in the right paperwork, she never lost a single package.

          “Thank you guys so much,” Derpy said, throwing her arms around Rainbow and me.
          “Hey,” Rainbow said, “what are friends for?”