Chapter 6

"Derpy? I heard quite a few ponies were looking for you," said Twilight Sparkle as the grey pony suddenly landed in front of the library.

Derpy merely stared at the purple unicorn in silence for a few moments. Twilight smiled nervously as she waited for a response. Or Derpy to leave. Or anything but standing here being stared at in awkward silence.

"Oh? A whole load of ponies looking for little old me?" asked Derpy in a deeper than usual tone. "You mean they actually want to see me this time? They aren't just going to lie to me and send me away?"

"I don't…know?" said Twilight, finding herself double checking that she was actually talking to Derpy Hooves, kind if accident prone pony of Ponyville. Maybe the rumours about an imposter pony appearing weren't quite as a silly as she had first thought.

"Twilight Sparkle I have a question," said Derpy in a monotone voice.

"Sure thing," said Twilight uneasily, not wanting to say anything that might set off the pony.

"Rainbow Dash. Where is she?" almost growled Derpy. "I need to…speak with her."

The Pegasus pony's jaw was clenched as she spoke, eyes wide open and nostrils flared. From this close range Twilight could see that her once kind eyes were now bloodshot and far more lifeless.

"Rainbow Dash? She hasn't been here since she borrowed a book yesterday. I'm not sure where she might be, but she's probably sleeping on a cloud somewhere- she often does that. Wait I shouldn't have told you about the book."

"Well thank you Twilight Sparkle. I guess I have to go cloud watching now don't I?"

"Well have fun with that Derpy," said Twilight, still not liking the tone of Derpy's voice.

She paused for a moment, trying to ignore the itching question that scratched at her brain like Opalescence at a ball of expensive yarn- but she had to ask.

"Why do you want to find Rainbow Dash? What do you want to do?" she asked.

"Oh I just want to talk," said Derpy before strutting off and flying away.

Twilight found herself doubting the full honesty of Derpy's words.

"I better go find Rainbow Dash myself."

After it had become pretty obvious Derpy wasn't returning, the fillies found themselves realizing that they were going to have to venture back into Ponyville and continue…no start their search all over again. Apple Bloom's hooves ached, she wondered how often she had walked from one side of Ponyville to the other today.

"Well if not Rarity or Twilight Sparkle, how about talking to Pinkie Pie?" asked Sweetie Belle, trying to convince Scootaloo that it was time to seek an adult's help. "She might just think that it's all some kind of game."

"No, we can do this by ourselves, we don't need any help!" said Scootaloo.

"You've been saying that all day and it's got us nowhere!" said Sweetie Belle squeaking.

"I know what I'm doing do yo-,"

"No you don't! It was your stupid building thing that caused all of this to happen!"

"Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle…," started Apple Bloom.

"Well, she only crashed because of your magic Sweetie Belle! If you were an Earth or Pegasus pony this would never have happened!"

"I only used my magic because you told me to! You said it was safe, that there'd be no problem. You said it was science!"

"I wouldn't expect a chicken to understand," said the now flushed Scootaloo, rolling her eyes slightly. "You were too scared to help out from the beginning!"

"Girls please," pleaded Apple Bloom.

"Well-well I'd rather be a chicken than an idiot!" said Sweetie Belle turning her head away.

"Well go away and talk to Rarity then, I'm sure she's really smart!" said Scootaloo, both ponies caught up in their tantrum.

"Maybe I will- she'd probably have far better ideas than you!" said Sweetie Belle, and with no further words turned and walked away.

"What just happened?" groaned Apple Bloom. They had had arguments before, but she had never seen Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle get quite so animated. Maybe the stress of catching Derpy had got to them. She hoped that that was the case- she didn't want to have to start playing peacekeeper tomorrow.

"Come on Apple Bloom, forget her let's go," said Scootaloo.

On another day Apple Bloom would have probably insisted on following Sweetie Belle and trying to work things out. But for now they had more important things to worry about. They had to try and catch up with and catch Derpy again. It was quite obvious that whatever had happened to Derpy was their fault and so now it was their responsibility to fix everything. Including Derpy hopefully.

"I said, come on let's go," said Scootaloo. "We need to find Derpy quickly."

Apple Bloom noticed the strong hint of guilt in her friend's voice, but said nothing. Once again they found themselves sharing the same wavelength. And the only way they would be able to sleep tonight was if they found and helped Derpy first.

"Let's go get her," said Apple Bloom.

"Which one?"

"Derpy of course- but later Sweetie Belle too."

"So she just kicked the stall stand down, totally unprovoked?" asked Twilight, sitting in the Cake family's shop. Behind her the Cake family were busy working, but it was the other side of the table she sat at that her attention was directed towards. In front of her sat Pinkie, with a plate of goodies in front of her.

"Yeah, apparently she just kicked it and took muffins and went all yum yum yum, but didn't pay and then flew away."

"Did you actually see her? Speak with her?"

"Don't be silly Twilight! I work inside, not outside. Oooo that reminds me my break will be over soon."

"Did Derpy say anything memorable? Anything odd that seemed out of place?" asked Twilight.

"How would I know silly, I was inside."

"But I heard you joined the group outside," said Twilight biting her lower lip. "You were out there when the other ponies were talking about what had happened."

"Yeah, they talked about how Derpy destroyed the cake stand- say isn't that strange?"

"Yes, we've already gone over this," said Twilight as her faced slammed into the table. "Owww."

"What'd you do that for Twilight? The tables aren't for eating…yet."

Twilight slowly lifted her head, crumbs covering her face.

"Was there anypony else that might have any idea of what happened…is happening?"

"Well Apple Bloom and her friends were all there. They all seemed worried and it looked like they had something to do or they were looking for somepony. Oh and they didn't seem surprised at all when they heard about Derpy."

"Those little ponies?" asked Twilight suspiciously. "I see."

"Hey it sounds like you're plotting something!"

"I'm just investigating," said Twilight. "But if you see any of that group can you tell them that I'm looking for them?"

"Sure thing Twilight, I'll let 'em know right away!"

"Thanks Pinkie. Oh and if you see Rainbow Dash tell her the same thing."

"Tell Rainbow Dash you're looking for Apple Bloom and her friends?" asked Pinkie Pie blankly.

"No, tell her that I'm looking for her."

"Oh sure, I can do that too!" said Pinkie Pie. "How about I tell that to everypony?"

"That won't be necessary."

"Can I meet you later?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"If you want to I guess."

"Cool!"

Twilight thanked her friend for treating her to a cake slice, and left the colourful building as Pinkie Pie hopped back to work. With no idea of where to start looking, or how to see through the clouds Twilight guessed that for now she could hang around near the library and hope somepony else came by with more information.