Karyn took a knick-knack off the shelf and wrapped it in newspaper, then slipped it into the plastic box. She had gotten up at daybreak to make sure that she was finished before Derpy arrived, but still was having trouble keeping to a schedule. As she moved past a wall shelf with books on it, she got distracted by one of the titles. She was still reading when Derpy warped into the room.
“Karyn!” she said, “Are you ready?”
“Ready?”
“Yes. My spell hasn’t broken. It’s not raining. You’re here alone. You don’t hate me. There’s nothing to stop us this time. I’m getting my fly-over of the city today, no question.”
“Oh. Yeah, let’s do that right away. It does seem like it’s a cursed project.”
Derpy trotted to the window and opened it. “Sometimes it goes that way, doesn’t it? You plan something, then it keeps getting pushed back, canceled, and rescheduled, and then you get ornery and you want to force it to happen.”
“I find that when you do, it’s never as fun as you anticipate,” said Karyn.
“Maybe not, but we’ll do our best today. Now, mount up. I’ve got some new spells to show off.”
Karyn got on Derpy’s back. She still felt awkward being on top of her friend, but she was getting used to it. Derpy never seemed to mind. “OK, first off, I had Twilight craft a double invisibility spell for us, so no worries about being spotted.”
“So, I finally get to be invisible? Sweet!”
Derpy switched on a spell. “There we go.”
“Derpy! I can’t see! I need the light to actually hit my retinas instead of passing through, or I’m blind!”
“What?! Hang on, I’ll turn it off.”
Karyn laughed. “Nah, I was just fooling with you.”
“Mean joke!” Derpy said, but she had a smile in her voice.
“I had to do it. It’s one of those ideas that pedantic humans have about magic. I don’t know why I can see when light passes through me, but the magic takes care of that, I guess.”
“Of course it does. Twilight can probably explain it to you. Anyway, since you’re pranking me, what’s good for the mare is good for the stallion. I’m not telling you what this next one does.” Derpy activated another spell. “Ready to go?”
“Ready!”
The window was a tight squeeze for Derpy with Karyn on her back, but she got through and took off. They rose high over Karyn’s dormitory. People were walking around all over the campus, but none of them looked up. Karyn felt a small thrill of voyeurism.
“OK, which way should we go first?” asked Derpy.
“Hmm. Let’s go toward the park. That’s the part you know. It’s that way.”
Derpy started a lazy flight in the direction Karyn had indicated. Karyn herself was thinking about which route she should have them take and what landmarks to show. All of a sudden, she felt herself lose her balance.
“Uh-oh! Air pocket!” cried Derpy, and she rolled to her side. Karyn was too panicked to grab on, but she didn’t fall. Derpy laughed. “Gotcha! That second spell was a safety that keeps you stuck to me until we turn it off. You can’t fall unless I do, and I can’t fall.”
Derpy righted herself, and Karyn put a hand to her chest. “Not cool,” she said.
“Sorry. OK, you’re the tour guide. Which way am I flying?”
“Head south. I’ll show you the major roads we use to get around, and how the spur roads connect. It should be interesting for you to see how it is when you can’t go directly to your destination.”
Derpy swung around and flew as she was told. Karyn started to point out landmarks and routes that she would take to get to her classes or other events. But then she drifted off and was silent.
“Hey, what’s going on?” asked Derpy. “Equestria to Karyn, come in!”
“Oh, sorry, Derpy. It’s just that flying up here, I never realized how many undeveloped areas there are around here. Look at all the trees.”
“It looks pretty developed to me. Flying over Ponyville, you’d see much more uncleared country, although you might get fooled because of the grass roofs.”
“True,” said Karyn, “but when you’re on the ground, at least here, you don’t see it. You drive from one road to the other and you get fooled by the distance, not realizing that there might be a whole ecosystem between the two. Trees that have been there for hundreds of years before the roads came, and animals that have no idea of what’s going on around them. I’m not saying that humans haven’t done more than their share of damage to the Earth, but there’s a lot of it left.”
“Maybe more humans should see it from the air.”
“Yeah, that would work. Derpy Hooves’s Invisible Flying Tours. A new outlook on life, plus lunch, all for only twenty bucks.” Karyn laughed at her joke.
A minute later, a clock chimed out the hour. “You’ve got clock towers here?” asked Derpy. “I suppose it’s been ringing every time I’ve been here, but I haven’t paid attention because I’m so used to the sound.”
“Sure, we do. It’s over there. Oh, wait. You can’t see where I’m pointing. It’s at eight o’clock.”
“No, it just chimed nine.”
“Yes, but I mean, fly at eight o’clock,” said Karyn.
“I don’t have a time travel spell. Did you mean eight tonight?”
“No! You don’t have that method? OK, twelve o’clock is straight ahead, six is behind—you know what, just make a left turn and you’ll see it.”
Derpy banked left and pumped her wings, then came to a landing on the clock tower. “This is nice,” she said. “You can see most of your school from here, and some of the trees as well. You don’t need flying tours, as much fun as it is. People can just come up here and see.”
“Yeah, they don’t let you come up here either. Very few buildings will allow you on the roof, and with the clock, there’s a lot of sensitive and dangerous equipment.”
“So what?”
Karyn sighed. “People aren’t as trusting as ponies. Probably with good reason. They’re also not as smart. If people were allowed up here, someone would probably break the clock just for fun, or someone would fall off and get hurt, and then the college would have to pay them money.”
“That doesn’t seem right. Look at what’s being missed.”
Karyn looked around. The sun was shining off the tops of trees, off the tops of buildings, off the sunglasses and phones of people walking below. “You’re right,” she said.
“What’s going on over there?” Derpy asked.
“Where?”
“At, um, June twenty-fifth.”
“Huh?”
“I figured if there was a clock system, there might be a calendar system as well. Hang on.” Derpy flew over the quad where there was a bunch of people in long robes.
“Ah, I see what you’re talking about. They’re rehearsing for graduation next week.”
“You’ll have to tell me about that.”
“Actually, I’ll have to tell you more than that. But let’s watch a moment.”
Derpy and Karyn watched as the students got themselves into formation and were told what would happen at the event. Derpy admired the long robes, and she thought they looked somewhat like simple pony dresses. Karyn was more concerned with how hot it was. She had worn a robe like that a year prior, and remembered the discomfort.
When the rehearsal broke up, Karyn said, “So, that’s where I’m hoping to be in three years. But after next week, it’s summer vacation, which means we have to find a new place to meet up. Like, where I live.”
“Haven’t I been coming to where you live?”
“No. Well, yes, but not my primary address. Even though I live here more than there. Look, the point is that I’m going to be somewhere else for the next three months.”
“Why didn’t you just say so?” said Derpy. “Show me where!”
“OK. Let’s find a map or something.”
“No, no. Just give me a direction.”
“You want to go now? But I don’t have to be there for a week,” said Karyn.
“But I need to know where it is now. Come on, I want a chance to stretch my wings out as well, and you should see more from the air. Is it this way?” Derpy started flying in a random direction.
Karyn resigned herself. “Not quite. Bear right along that road. I’m not sure I can figure out how to go there straight. I’ve only come by car.”
Derpy flew to Karyn’s direction. She was a little irked that Karyn constantly told her to change course, but then she started to get into it. It was a little like doing her mail route back at home. As they flew, Karyn told her more about the ceremony they had seen.
“The way we do it when we’re finished from school is to dress up in those fancy robes and get a diploma that says that you graduated. They call it a commencement because you’re supposed to be starting your career or something. What do you do when somepony graduates?”
“We’re not nearly so formal,” said Derpy. “We just throw the pony a party. A few more years and I’ll have one for Dinky.”
“We do that too, but only after the ceremony.”
They flew over the road, and Karyn started to gain a sense of direction. The tall buildings thinned out, and there were more strip malls and parking lots. She guided Derpy in a straight line, and then even the malls were gone. There were only houses, but they were nothing like what Derpy knew in Ponyville. Derpy was fascinated by the pitched roofs and the overall shapes.
“Look at the grass!” she said. “You guys must really eat well.”
“No, Derpy.”
“Oh, that’s right, I forgot. I just looked at the lawns and got awfully hungry.”
“You probably don’t want to eat that grass,” said Karyn. “They put a lot of chemicals and weird stuff on it. Anyway, head toward that yellow one over there.”
“How do you make a yellow house, anyway?”
Karyn thought for a second. “I guess it’s something in the aluminum siding. They probably dye it with chemicals.”
“The same ones they use on the grass?”
“Not quite. The chemical industry is mysterious and not something that people pay attention to.”
Derpy lit onto the roof of Karyn’s house and looked around. The neighborhood was a good one. The streets were clean and children were playing hockey in the streets. At the end of the road, there was a cul-de-sac with some really fancy, three-story houses. Karyn’s only had two, but Derpy thought it compared well to her own.
“Karyn, what do your parents do?”
“Mom’s a teacher, like Cheerilee. Dad’s job is more complicated. I don’t think they have pension fund managers in Equestria.”
“No, I don’t know what that is. OK, I need to go straight up as high as I can go to get my bearings and make sure I can get back here next time. Do you want to come with?”
Karyn looked around. “Can you let me off? I’m better with flying, but I still don’t really like it.”
“Not a problem at all. Let me find the stick spell and undo it.”
Karyn was free and invisible on top of her roof. It was a new experience for her, and while Derpy soared to the sky, she sat on the edge and watched the suburbanites enjoying their Sunday.
Derpy kept herself level and flapped her way up. This was more difficult that flying forward, but it was important for orienteering. Most pegasi didn’t have to do this often, but they all learned how in school. Once she was at her maximum height, she could get directions in her head. She closed her eyes so that they didn’t interfere and took the mental picture. Now, if she were anywhere in the cone of which she was the apex, she could find Karyn’s house.
She dove straight down in free fall. When she was just above the roof, she leveled out and found herself a few houses down, so she made her way back to Karyn and made herself known.
“Derpy, I think my parents are out of the house. Do you want to take a tour?”
“Sure! I like being a tourist.”
“I’m not sure this qualifies. But my upstairs window is open. Let’s go in and get visible.”
They flew in the window, which was an even tighter squeeze than at the dorm. Derpy looked over Karyn’s room. It was much more feminine than her room at college. She had a four-post bed made of beautiful white wood, with a pale lavender cover and pillows with frilly edges.
“This is so nice!” said Derpy. “But before we go on. . . “
“Yes?”
“Can we get something to eat? I’m hungry after so much flying.”
“Oh, of course! I’m sorry, you always have to carry me.”
They went down to the kitchen. Karyn opened the fridge.
“I guess anything oat-based is out of the question,” said Derpy.
“Um. . . we might have toasted oat cereal. Let me look in the pantry. My folks aren’t vegetarians, so don’t eat anything without checking the ingredients. Here we go. I guess you can’t use a spoon, but you’re clean enough.”
Karyn poured out two bowls of cereal and added sugar to hers. Derpy cautiously put her head down and munched.
“It’s not bad,” she said.
“You want a glass of water?” asked Karyn.
“Sure.”
Karyn got two glasses and filled them from the tap. She put Derpy’s down next to her and was about to put her own on the table, when she heard the sound of a car door slamming shut.
“Oh, no! It’s my parents!” Karyn said, and as she looked up, the glass tipped. She reached for it, but it fell the rest of the way and spilled on the table and started dripping on the floor. “We are so dead. Derpy, get away or invisible! How am I going to explain why I’m not at school? And why I have two bowls out. Wait, I can hide one. Derpy, think of a good excuse I can use!”
“Don’t panic, Karyn. I think I can buy us some time.” The front door opened.
“No, don’t try anything! Just get away!”
Derpy was rooting through her saddlebag while Karyn desperately tore off paper towels from a roll and started to blot up the water. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Derpy heading toward the front door. “Not that way!”
Derpy ignored Karyn and charged into the foyer with one of her spells in her hooves. Karyn dropped the paper towels and ran after her. She saw her parents carrying grocery bags into the house. Derpy turned her hoof in the spell.
Karyn winced as she prepared for the worst. In a moment, her parents would see her and Derpy. They would freak out just as Mike had. She tried to think quickly. Maybe she could pretend that Derpy was some kind of rampaging animal who had broken in to the house and stole the cereal. No, she thought, that still doesn’t explain why I’m here, unless the problems cancel out and they forget to ask me that while they’re panicked. I couldn’t be so lucky.
But when she looked again, her parents weren’t panicking. They weren’t doing much of anything at all. “Derpy, what did you do?”
“Time-freezing spell. Locks any humans in the area so that I have the time to take care of any problems.”
“And they can’t see or hear us now?”
“Nope. We’re safe. Unless of course someone else shows up.”
Karyn ran to the front door, slammed it shut, and turned the deadbolt. She turned back to Derpy. “Wait, if it freezes all humans in the area, why didn’t it affect me?”
Derpy looked at her bag. “It took me about ten minutes to find the spot cancellation spell. You sure are funny-looking when you’re stuck with a panicked look on your face!”
“Between you messing with me and going to Equestria every other week, it’s a wonder that I don’t have to keep resetting my clocks all the time. Come on, let’s go clean up the kitchen.”
No longer being rushed, they took their time and wiped up the spilled water. Then Karyn washed the dishes in the sink while Derpy dried.
“What should we do with all these paper towels?” Derpy asked.
“I’ll take them to the outside trash bins. It’s very important, when faking a scene, to take care of little details like that.”
If Derpy had worn glasses, she would have looked over the top of them at Karyn. “Have you faked a lot of scenes?”
“I wasn’t always a goody two-shoes,” she said. “I’ve snuck a few cookies when I wasn’t looking or watched television when I wasn’t supposed to.”
“I guess that’s not so bad. You’re not actually committing crimes.”
“No, but I’ve gotten caught plenty of times. I wasn’t thinking today. I should have figured that they’d be home sooner or later. You really saved me.”
“I guess I know what you mean,” Derpy said. “I’ve caught Dinky in mischief once or twice, but I never knew how many times she got away with something. Of course, if I found out that she used a time-freeze spell on me, I’d probably be pretty mad. Well, I’m never mad at her, just disappointed.”
“That’s not very reassuring. Let’s get this done quick.”
They finished their cleanup and went upstairs. Preparing to leave, Derpy re-activated the invisibility and safety-glue spells. “Ready to re-start time?” she asked.
“That’s not a question I ever thought I’d have to answer. Go ahead.”
They heard the sound of Karyn’s parents below putting away the groceries. When there was no indication that they’d been discovered, they took off through the window.
“All right, don’t guide me now,” said Derpy. “Let me see if I can make it back to your school on my own. If I can do that, I can find you next week.”
Derpy hovered and closed her eyes, picturing the map in her head. She picked what she believed was the right direction and gained speed. “You’ve got it right,” Karyn said.
Daylight was waning by the time they reached the college, and Derpy sped up even more to make sure they weren’t caught in the air where they couldn’t see.
The night was misty and cool. They landed on the roof of the dorm, and Karyn dismounted.
“Well,” she said, “I don’t know how much fun we had today, but at least we can get together next—“
She was cut off by a bright flash and loud noise. Derpy went wide-eyed and smiled. “Ooh, fireworks!” she said.
Karyn turned around. She saw the fading sparkles of the firecracker that had been set off. “It’s early for the Fourth. They must be setting them off for the end of term. Pretty, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. What’s the fourth?” Derpy asked, not looking at Karyn, still staring at the sky.
“Just a human holiday. Not even all humans, just the ones in this country.”
“That’s like at home. You almost never see fireworks outside of Canterlot.”
They sat on the roof and watched the show. A multicolored starburst dotted the sky.
“Rainbow Dash wouldn’t like them infringing on her trademark, would she?” asked Karyn.
“She’d probably say that she could do it better.”
The fireworks continued on. Karyn liked the ones that left a trail as they ascended, and then rained down silver tears of starlight. Derpy preferred the perfectly spherical blues and yellows, and said they reminded her of blowing dandelion puffs into the wind.
“It’s really beautiful,” Karyn said, “and all the more so for what it represents. All those people who are finished with school forever. It makes me eager. But at the same time, these past weeks have been something special for me. I’m awfully glad to have met you, Derpy.”
“Me too. I mean, glad to have met you, not glad to have met me. I knew me already. I just think it’s funny.”
“What is?”
“That you run your school according to the seasons. It’s a time of change back in Equestria as well. Spring is over. The Summer Sun Celebration is coming up. Things start to relax until autumn, when everything kicks back up for harvest season. Of course, as a mail pony, my days are mostly the same all year round, but I see it in the faces of the ponies I know, watch them grow like the flowers in the fields.
“You’ve got a bit of that look about you as well.”
“A lot of pony has been rubbing off on me, I guess,” Karyn said. “Pretty soon I’ll start grazing on the lawn.”
“But you said they had chemicals and things.”
“I was just joking.”
They leaned back and watched more of the firework show. Karyn felt like she could fall asleep on the roof. Everything was perfect. She looked over at Derpy, whose gaze was still pointed at the sky. It had indeed been a heck of a semester. And the summer was yet to come.