Redheart arrived at the hospital early Saturday morning with a skip in her step. The other nurse’s noticed and decided they wanted to tease poor Redheart. She figured she would come into work, because she had nothing to do all day and didn’t mind getting some more vacation time. The hospital always needed more helping hooves.
“What’s got you smilin’ about huh? You’re never this excited to be at work. Especially on a weekend.” One of Redheart’s girlfriends, Soft Touch, asked with a sly smile.
“Oh nothing much-” Redheart deadpanned before smiling broadly and raising her voice much more than necessary, “-just that I got a date!” Soft Touch gave an evil look that implied she needed all the gossip Redheart could dish out. She was the gossip centre of the hospital, if you needed info Soft would have it.
“Ooh, you must tell me! Who’s the lucky stallion, what’s he like? I must know everything!” Soft was pulling Redheart toward the nurse’s lounge rather quickly. When they finally stopped Redheart looked at her hooves with a nervous half smile.
“Well SHE is named Derpy Hooves, she is always so happy about everything. She came in the other day with a broken wing and went on about how she would be able to make muffins, can you believe that? She’s super cute and clumsy, and it’s the best thing ever. We’re going to a fancy party later, DJ-Pon3’ll be there, are you coming?”
“Well I just have to meet your marefriend now, don’t I? So yeah, of course I’m coming, The party’s for Oak, right?” Redheart nodded and then tilted her head a little.
“You don’t care that I like a mare? I mean you’re my best friend, so, I hoped not, but still…” Redheart scuffed a hoof against the linoleum as she talked softly.
“Pshh, why would I care? You like her, she likes you, that's good enough for me.”
“Thanks Soft, now I’m going to get to work, hopefully the day goes by quick.” Soft Touch and Nurse Redheart got to work and the day went on.
***
Derpy didn’t work today, she wandered from store to store looking for formal attire to wear to the party. She didn’t know the first thing about fashion and figured there was only one pony able enough to help her. Rarity.
Rarity scared her, she was always so eccentric when it came to fashion. She would yell all the time and was always making sudden movements, much like Pinkie but with less physics bending.
She was at the pathway up to the door but hesitated to move her hooves, after a few nervous moments Derpy steeled her resolve and made her way up to the front door. She tapped it lightly and almost called out ‘mail service’. A shout of, ‘Come in!’ was heard from inside and Derpy obliged.
The pony greeting her was a thin alabaster unicorn with a perfectly coiffed purple mane and tail. “Good morning, Derpy, I didn’t know they delivered mail on Sunday’s.”
“Oh, no. I’m on a break for a bit, I hurt my wing again,” She turned and showed Rarity her bandaged appendage. “I was actually here to get your help on finding a suit, or a dress.” She spoke softly and nervously but Rarity was as happy as could be.
She turned and waved a hoof as she moved further into the boutique, implying that Derpy should follow. The Carousel Boutique was very pretty, it had long drapes over the windows and lounging furniture spaced out across the room. Everything was organized and clean, as it should be.
When they reached the workroom however…
“Sorry about the mess, hehe. I really should clean this room better.” There was cloth everywhere, anything and everything was sprawled out all across the room from buttons to clips to ribbons. Anything that was clothing related was somewhere on the floor. Desks had plans and shredded cloth lain purposefully across them and containers of tools were open and spilling. The only things relatively clean in the room were a rack of several different beautiful clothing items and a small column with three mirrors in front of it.
Derpy didn’t mind the mess too much, she often found her room to look the same, for different reasons however. Co-ordination was not one of Derpy’s strong suits. Rarity broke her analyzation of the room by speaking up.
“What is the event dear? I need to know so I can make something just perfect.”
“Oh, right. I’m going on a date to a fancy party, In Canterlot.” Rarity nodded and went sifting through dresses to find something that matched Derpy perfectly. As Derpy watched her look through dresses she didn’t particularly like any of them. Not that they weren’t just absolutely fetching, she just wasn’t very frilly.
“I think I would like a suit better, my date will probably have a dress and I’m not very comfortable wearing dresses.” Rarity took a second to analyze the statement.
“Your date will have a dress? It’s a mare?” Derpy expected this reaction from most ponies. She shuffled lightly on her hooves stroking them across the small column she stood upon.
“Y-yeah.” She said, now nervous of Rarity’s reaction. All she could do was wait for the tsunami
“Not that I particularly agree, but I won’t stop love. A suit it is then, do you know what type of dress she’s wearing?” Derpy simply shook her head and Rarity scoffed lightly. “Of course not.” she muttered under her breath, unbeknownst to Derpy.
Rarity went from material to material in search of the perfect match. “Aha!” She said muzzle deep in a pit of cloth. When she popped out she had a slick black material in her magic. I’ll use this and it will be perfect~” she sang ‘perfect’ in a beautiful tone that rang delicately within the small room.
Derpy just stood still and let Rarity do her work, she didn’t particularly like being touched but she let the mare do her job.
Hours later Derpy had a black tuxedo on with a golden undershirt that matched her eyes beautifully. It wrapped delicately around her form, just tight enough to define her curves. The cuffs went down to the fetlocks on her forelegs. She wore a black bow-tie right on the collar of the undershirt. The seams were wonderfully done, and the tail sat just halfway down her back legs. She had her hair done, so it wasn’t so rampant, her bangs hang over her face as usual, but the rest was in a ponytail behind her ears.
Rarity sat, content with her work and tallied up a price. “70 bits. I think it’s fair don’t you?” Derpy had no reference points to know if it was fair or not, she just assumed Rarity was being nice and paid the pretty pony.
It was nearly 15:00 by the time she was done. “Did I really just spend seven hours getting clothes?” She thought to herself as she walked to Sugarcube Corner, enjoying the afternoon sun. She went inside and was ambushed by a pink blur, again.
“Oh, you look so nice! This is gonna be great, let me get a picture.” Pinkie pulled a camera out of her mane and aligned it toward Derpy. Derpy smiled and waved at the camera as it flashed and slowly spit out an image. “Tada!” Pinkie exclaimed as she showed Derpy her photo.
Derpy did look rather dapper if she said so herself, which she did. Pinkie looked at her with a proud smile. “My little Derpy is finally growing up!” She said with a tear. She wiped it away with a handkerchief she kept in her mane and put it back, really, what else did she have in there?
“Pinkie aren’t we almost the same age?”
“That's beside the point. You are finally putting yourself out there, and that's like super neat. Anywho, it’s nearly time for your date you should get ready.” Derpy cocked her head in confusion.
“How did you kno-”
“Not important! Go get ready you stud!” Pinkie’s annoyingly high pitched voice was giving Derpy a headache, so she decided it best to leave with that. It was only by the time that Derpy made it into the back room that she realized she was already prepared for the night. She sat in the room finding herself, again, watching the clock tick slowly by…
Derpy stood carefully and moved over to the cabinet, in which held trays and doilies, and grabbed a small muffin wrapper. As she waited she lay on her back with the wrapper on her face, blowing it into the air and catching it on her snout, again and again, when suddenly the bell on the door jingled.
She jumped up from where she sat and nearly darted over to the front counter with a speed that would put Rainbow Dash to shame. Panting, she stood as tall as possible at the front desk awaiting her date. What stepped through the door wasn’t Redheart, it was a goddess.
She had on the most elegant red dress with small flares of pink accentuating her body. It pulled down just above the floor near her hind legs with deep scarlet fabric trimmed with gold. Her hair was pulled from its usual bun and was flowing in curls behind her ears, her bangs were kept the same but with a small heart pendant right next to her ear.
As Redheart looked at Derpy she seemed to tremble slightly. “You look so nice, if it weren’t for your bandaged wing I don’t know if I would recognise you.”
“Uhm, you… you’re really pretty.” Derpy stuttered, feeling like she would collapse if she didn’t do something. Her blush couldn’t be any deeper if she drilled a hole in it.
“Well I suppose we should get going, the train will be leaving soon.” Redheart talked with such calmness, but her appearance would tell otherwise. She was blushing and fumbling over her hooves but kept it together enough to make her way to the door. Derpy opened said door and waved Redheart through.
As they walked Derpy was carefully focusing on not tripping and ruining her new suit. Redheart looked at her and watched as she focused on her steps. She giggled lightly and moved closer to Derpy’s side, she leaned into her eliciting a gasp of surprise from her focused counterpart. Derpy quickly relaxed and returned the gesture, leaning into Redheart and forgetting her worries.
The train station approached and they stopped leaning on each other to avoid dirty looks, as kind as most ponies were, some didn’t take kindly to mare on mare relationships.
Redheart made her way to the train and delicately gave the tickets to the burly conductor. He looked the tickets over, punched them and handed them back. Redheart pulled Derpy into the train, much to the mail pony’s dismay.
“Aww, but the train is so pretty!”
Redheart laughed lightly at Derpy’s statement and sat down, patting the seat next to her to signal Derpy to sit.
“You can look all you want later, for now, sit and enjoy the ride.” Derpy did as she was told and sat next to her marefriend. However, she was disappointed she didn’t get the window seat.
“C-can I get the window seat? Please?” Her hooves rolled over each other in embarrassment to the foalish question. Redheart giggled and moved to allow Derpy to scoot toward the window. “Thanks!” Right away she forced her face into the glass and watched as houses and trees rolled past the rumbling locomotive. Redheart looked at the cute shenanigans of her beloved and smiled, it was hard not to with her muzzle smushed againt the glass like that.
Redheart leaned her head into Derpy’s side and lay there peacefully. The mailmare turned away from the window and looked down at the nurse leaning against her.
“Oh I’m sorry, I should have asked.” Redheart blushed and pulled away, feeling especially cold without the cuddling warmth of Derpy.
“No! No, it’s fine. It’s… nice.” Derpy was blushing but smiled lovingly at Redheart. Redheart leaned again into the crook under Derpy’s chin and felt her lean into it as well. Derpy wrapped her right wing around Redheart and let it sit comfortably around her side. They both found themselves at peace and drifted off into a nap.
***
The mighty roar of the train whistle and shouts of ‘All departing, All aboard’ awoke the couple from their comfortable sleep. They reluctantly separated and pulled out of the booth losing each other’s comforting warmth. They stepped out of the train and into the cold night.
Derpy had the advantage of being used to the cold, what with flying high in the air most of the time. But Redheart wasn’t so lucky, especially in her dress.
“Brr, it’s chillier than I thought it would be. I should’ve brought a sweater.” Redheart said with a shiver.
Derpy moved next to her and pulled a wing over her side again. She thought nothing of it, she wasn’t cold and Redheart was. They could share warmth. “Better?”
“Much,” Redheart curled under the wing enjoying the physical, and emotional, warmth radiating off of the cute pegasus. Even just this would be enough for her to fall in love again and again with Derpy. The uppity joy she brought everywhere, her cute little stumbles when walking, and especially how she was just nice out of habit.
Derpy’s thoughts were elsewhere however. Somewhere between what snacks the party will have, and if she remembered to water her plants or not. Not to say she wasn’t enjoying having Redheart under her wing, the small nurse giving a small shiver every now and then due to the cold.
After careful navigation, and possibly getting lost a few times, Redheart was able to lead Derpy to the place of their dining. It was a fancy little restaurant, much different than what Derpy was used to. Ponies walked to and fro inside, tending tables no doubt.
They walked in and were greeted by a well dressed pony in a suit. By now the couple weren’t standing so close, due to the rather large population of rude snobs who wouldn’t hesitate to show their distaste of their relationship.
They made their way to the table and ordered their meals. They dined and had small conversation, nothing truly eventful. After their small dinner was paid for they left, Derpy holding Redheart like before while they made their way to the party.
The place of the party was anything but small and compared to what Derpy was used to, although she rarely attended parties. Enormous pillars stood at the front, towering nearly 20 feet to a balcony. The whole exterior was made of pearl white granite, it must have cost a few fortunes.
Derpy stood still for a moment, locked in place by pure awe, to take in the huge structure that seemed to already have a hundred guests, while in reality there were no more than 40. She felt Redheart nudge her side and turned to look at her.
“Will you be alright? If you want to leave that’s okay, I understand.”
Derpy shook her head and smiled. “It’s fine, it’s just way more ponies than I’m used to. I’ll be okay.” She smiled as earnestly as she could, but she was trembling with fear on the inside. She never really was one for crowds.
Redheart pulled Derpy into the building and found the small buffet of snacks and beverages. She had hoped to find her friends and introduce Derpy, but she didn’t see them. She would wait by the table, her friends would visit this area at least once.She felt Derpy shudder slightly as several ponies moved past, pushing into her and not bothering to apologize. “Argh! Bucking snobs!” She mentally swore. hoping not to draw attention to her displeasure, she moved out of the way.
The thumping music in the other room had several dancing to the brash sounds of DJ-Pon3. The afamed Disk Jockey could get pretty much any gig if she tried hard enough, even fancy ones. Although her music was much more fit to a nightclub.
“Nurse Redheart? Is that you hiding in the corner? I knew I would find you by the food.” The voice was Soft Touch, and she was making her way over to the table.
After many moments of scowling, Redheart softened and smiled at her friend. “Oh, Soft, glad you could make it! Allow me to introduce Derpy Hooves, my… uh, companion?” She looked to Derpy who was now much happier, to have a distraction from the menacing crowds of ponies.
“Nah, I’m her marefriend and she knows it,” she drew a leg around Redheart’s neck and smiled. Soft arched an eyebrow and smirked at Redheart. “And you are?”
“Name’s Soft Touch. Redheart sure knows how to pick ‘em, huh?” The usually white Redheart was now only a few shades lighter than scarlet. “Eh, I’m just teasin’. Have fun you two. Oh and I think I saw Diamond Heart around here somewhere” She gave a kind wave and was off to do whatever it was she did.
“She was nice!” Derpy exclaimed brightly. “Are all your friends like that? ‘Cause I would sure like to meet them.”
“No, Soft is about as good as it gets. The rest are how should I say… snobby. Especially Diamond, you really don’t want to meet her.” Derpy seemed to deflate a little but still smiled.
“Hmm, you want to go on the balcony? I’m sure it’s real pretty!”
“Sure, that sounds nice.” Redheart started to make her way toward the steps, but noticed Derpy wasn’t following her. She turned to see why she wasn’t following.
She found the muffins.
Her eyes nearly glistened in mirth as she devoured muffin after muffin, the poor treats didn’t stand a chance against the ravenous goliath. Crumbs flew and blueberries squished as every muffin on the plate was torn to ruin in the mail mare’s wake. She really liked those muffins.
She slowed to a stop as she saw several ponies watching her. “Oh, uh… hehe, gotta go!” She zipped over to the stairs and to the balcony, not after falling and hitting her chin on the steps however.
She managed to hit the still healing burn, and cried out in pain. She hurt her legs as well, but not as much. “Oof, ow. Ow. Ow.” Every step she took was punctuated by another ‘ow’ as she left view. The ponies just turned to each other and carried on with their activities.
Redheart rushed to the balcony, without tripping on the steps, to see Derpy sitting alone with a few tears streaking her face. “Oh, my. Are you okay? Let me see it.”
Derpy lifted her chin, and smiled. She would be fine, but it still really hurt. While she looked up to show her owie to the nurse, she ‘oohed’ at the stars.
Each one was beautiful, none of them were the same and yet they shone in perfect harmony with each other. Like an intricate dance of light, stopped only by the moon shining with a crescent, breaking a small gap in the stars to show that it was the lead of the dance. And the night sky was their dancefloor.
Soon Redheart looked up as well, met with the same expression as Derpy. Utter awe. She came to the conclusion that Derpy would be fine, and just leaned into her right side, looking at the stars.
Derpy turned her head and looked down at the smaller mare. Redheart had the stars reflecting in her eyes as the shining globes looked to Derpy with the most fond emotion of love.
Redheart giggled at the crumbs still lingering on Derpy’s face and rose a hoof to wipe them off. When she brought it back, Derpy still had the look of longing in her eyes. Like she never wanted to let go of her.
“Y’know you’re my first real friend other than The Doctor. I’m so glad we can be much more. I- I’m not the best with words but… I… I love you Redheart.” Redheart managed to become cuter as Derpy confessed her love which didn’t even seem possible.
“I know,” and with that she leaned in and met her lips with her own.
Derpy stumbled at first in surprise, making Redheart pull back. “I’m so sorry, I should ha-”
She was silenced with another kiss from Derpy. It lasted mere seconds, but they could have sworn it was a lifetime. They were locked in each other's embrace for the longest time, just enjoying the warm feeling of being together. They heard steps from behind them.
“Hey you two, the party’s over. You lovebirds oughta get a room.” Of course Soft just had to ruin the moment.
Derpy pulled a muffin that she smuggled into her pocket, and threw it at Soft Touch. She dodged it with ease, but it was the thought that spoke volumes.
“Okay, jeez. But it’s not my house, you can’t stay here,” and with that she left.
“Come on, my little lovebird. We should get back to the train it should be leaving soon.”
They stood together and moved to the top of the steps. Derpy stopped to pick something up, but followed soon after.
“No point in letting a perfectly good muffin go to waste,” she said as she wiped it off and stuffed it in her mouth.
While, slightly disgusted, Redheart was amused at the same time. A thought crossed her mind as she watched her love nom her muffin.
“All because she fell from the sky, like a fallen angel”