Chapter 4: Blastula
Fluttershy smiled and opened the door, looking out to see a familiar shade of grey, "Ditzy! You made it!" she said, opening the door fully to let the other mare in.
"I came as soon as I could, Fluttershy, is my sister okay?" the new arrival asked, worry etched across her features, amber eyes focused intently on her old friend's face. Ditzy always worried heavily about her younger sister. Younger by 30 seconds, but she was still the older of the two, and hadn't had the propensity for head trauma while learning to fly, instead managing to land on her legs or side and not her face.
"She seems to be cheering up a little. I just thought she should have some family around right now. I'm not the best at dealing with other ponies..." the yellow pegasus replied, hiding her blushing face behind her mane, "I asked Twilight, but after Rainbow's accident... She's so busy."
"I heard about that, is there any chance she'll see again?"
Fluttershy shook her head and started to respond when the door to the guest room swung open and she heard her house guest shout, "YOU!" down the hall. The poor mare made a soft squeak and hid behind Ditzy from surprise. For her part, Ditzy turned toward her sister and smiled widely.
"Derpy! I'm so glad to see you're alright!" she exclaimed, blonde mane bouncing as she ran toward her sister.
"Deedee! Oh, I'm so happy to see you," her twin replied, surging forward until they collided in a tangle of limbs and tails, hugging each other tight as only sisters can.
Fluttershy took a deep breath and sighed, thanking Celestia that it was a happy cry and not an angry one. It seemed calling Derpy's twin sister had been a good idea. She looked at the two as they stood up and returned to the main area of her small cottage, "So, um, Ditzy, would you like to stay for lunch? I was about to make some for Derpy and I, but I can make some for you too, that is, if it's alright..."
"I'd love to, Fluttershy. I need to have a long talk with my sister anyway," Ditzy said, smiling between the two. The three quickly adjourned to the small combination kitchen and dining area that Fluttershy didn't actually use as much as she should, tending to eat out or just munch on some of the fresh veggies she kept around for her animals.
It took some rummaging, but the pink-haired mare finally managed to find enough stuff to put together a decent lunch for the three of them. Soft daisy sandwiches, some fried potatoes, and a few freshly cut cucumbers with just a pinch of salt and pepper were soon laid out on the table. As the mare took her seat across from the twins, she finally noticed just how much those two were alike. Their manes laid the same way along their neck, their feathers were the same length and shade of grey. Even their cutie marks were the same. How that happened, she just had to know, but to broach the subject she would have to admit that she'd been staring at their flanks. A blush spread over her cheeks as she nibbled softly on her sandwich.
"Um... How did you two end up with the same cutie mark? If you don't mind my asking, you don't have to answer if you don't want to..." she said in barely more than a whisper.
Ditzy tilted her head and smiled, while Derpy mirrored the action, save for her wandering amber eyes. The younger mare blushed slightly as well, before looking at Ditzy and nodding, "You tell it better, sis."
"Darn tootin I do, Derps," she said with a smile and quickly took a few drinks of the juice that was offered, "Well, back when were just fillies in flight school, we had a lesson in cloud formation. It turned out we were both naturals for making and reading the puffs used for long distance communication so, we got out cutie marks. I'm the interpreter in Cloudsdale, and Derpy's the interpreter here."
Her sister nodded, "Even with my eyes like this, I can still see way far away."
"Oh, that's good. So, why do you do the mail then?" Fluttershy asked, still confused.
"Well they don't send messages that way every day, silly! I have to get paid somehow," Derpy replied, smiling.
Fluttershy shook her head softly and giggled a little at the two as they bumped noses. Her mind wandered back to her own foalhood. Other than the day she got her cutie mark, there weren't really any other happy memories surrounding flight school. Well, other than that one night they camped out near the Everfree Forest. Thinking about that, she blushed a little more, and wondered if Derpy remembered.
A storm had come up out of nowhere and Fluttershy had nearly panicked enough to fly straight back to Cloudsdale. She was sharing a tent with both of the Doo sisters and her whimpering must have woken up Derpy because she offered to cuddle. She had never felt so warm and safe outside of her mother's hooves. Something unknown was tickling deep at her heart that night as well. A look across the table revealed that the other two pegasi were staring at her with small grins and a little bit of confusion.
Derpy was the first to speak up, "You okay, Shy? You drifted off like one of my eyes for a bit there."
Her blush only got deeper, "I'm sorry, I was just thinking about... Well, it was... Um... It's... I should... Oh my..."
Ditzy giggled, "Mind wandered pretty far, then. Well, Derpy, I just came by to make sure you were going to be okay. I sent a message along to Sparkler and Dinky, so they know to come here when they're done with summer vacation. Are you going to be alright?"
Derpy nodded and then scooted over to put a foreleg around Fluttershy's shoulders, who only tried to sink further into her seat, "I'll be fine, Deedee. I have Fluttershy to take care of me. We'll be fine, right?" she asked, turning her amber eyes to the yellow pegasus trying desperately to become invisible.
Fluttershy could only sort of squeal and whimper before nodding. In a whisper that could be easily overpowered by a pin dropping, the mare gave her answer, "I... I am the town midwife a-after all..."
"Then it's settled! I'll be sure to drop by regularly to make sure you're taking good care of my sister, okay?" Ditzy laughed and gave Fluttershy a wink.
Could she know? Was the huge blush and shrinking that much of a clue? She certainly hoped not as she nodded her agreement and stood to see them to the door, "Oh, I just don't know where the fillies will stay... I only have the one guest bedroom..."
Derpy smiled again, eyes tracking the two other mares seperately, "We'll make do! See you again soon, sis?"
"As soon as I can!" Ditzy said with another huge smile before beating her wings a few times and taking off back towards Cloudsdale.
Derpy put her forelegs around Fluttershy in a hug again, "Thanks for letting her know, Fluttershy. I needed that."
"Y-you're welcome, Derpy..." the yellow mare replied, returning the hug. That odd tickle at the bottom of her heart showed up again as she breathed in the scent of the mare in her arms. Soft, slightly vanilla, with a distinct breeze of fresh air. This moment was great, and she hoped it would not end. Like all good things, it did far too soon, "I h-have to take care of the animals. Would you like to help, if you don't mind, I mean, I can do it myself and all but, another pair of hooves is always a help if you have time..."
Derpy smiled that wonderful smile of hers, and Fluttershy's heart jumped a bit, "Sure thing! Just tell me what to do."
"Oh thank you so so much. It will go so much faster with the two of us."
With that, the two mares left the house and moved into the back yard to clean and feed all the animals that Fluttershy had living in the area. Far above them, hiding behind a cloud, was Ditzy. She looked down at the pair and smiled.
"Fluttershy will treat you right, sis... I know it," she said to no one in particular before finally winging her way back towards home.