The Little Curiosities

by Comma Typer


Forever Blowing Bubbles

Derpy takes a long sip of her own milkshake. It’s very sweet, even by her standards. Then again, in a magic world where a bakery called Sugarcube Corner is helped up by none other than this world’s Pinkie Pie, that is to be expected.

She puts the diabetes-inducing drink on the table, looking as best as she can at the pony across the table. “Oh, I just don’t know what to do after high school.”

Mailpony Derpy blinks at her high school self. “That sounds a lot like a cutie mark problem! I know the Cutie Mark Crusaders! They can help you with that.”

“I thought of going to them,” says the student. “But, when Sunset told me that I had a pony version of myself here, adult with a job and all… why go to some cutie mark specialists when I can go to my older self? She has a job, she has her own house, and her life’s all stable. If you’re like that, then maybe doing the mail is my destiny.”

The mailpony takes a sip of her own milkshake and puts it aside. “Oh, I don’t know about that….”

“But we have the same cutie marks!” the student retorts. “We have the same names, we have the same voice, same personality….”

“I don’t think so,” Derpy answers with a shake of the head. “I know we’re very similar, but I grew up with ponies in a village with magic all over, you grew up with humans in a city with, um, not magic all over. Those are two very different places to grow up in.”

“Uh-huh… but we’re both ponies, you look like me, and we have the same cutie marks. So if you’re a mailpony, does this mean we have the same destiny?”

Derpy shakes her head again, her hat bobbing here and there. “I guess that means you didn’t blow bubbles when you were a foal, did you?”

“Um… yeah, I did! But not as a foal, of course… just as a kid.”

“Wow! I didn’t know you call your young by goat children!”

The student just blinks at that. “Okay… but what about bubbles? That’s what our cutie marks are, right?”

“But have you ever wondered how I got my bubble cutie mark?” Without waiting for an answer, the mailpony jumps in: “Once upon a time, when I was a foal, I blew bubbles. One day, I made a bubble so big, I got inside and I flew everywhere in my bubble! When it popped, they told me that I got my cutie mark! It was bubbles! Story finished!”

The student blinks again in amazement. “But that doesn’t make sense. You’re a mailpony now, not some professional bubble blower. I don’t even know how bubbles relate to mail.”

Derpy the mailpony lets out an airy giggle. “I hear lots of used-to-be humans like you make that mistake, but that’s okay—all this magic stuff can be very confusing.

“’Cause, actually, cutie marks don’t predict what your job is. The job thing’s just a bonus. What they really tell you is what makes you unique and special.”

A look of confusion is the only look the student could make. “So if it’s not literal bubble-blowing, then what does your cutie mark mean?”

The smile on the mailpony’s face, coupled with her askew eyes, make her tremendously cute. “Glad you asked!”

She scours for something from her bag, and takes out a soda-flavored bubble blower with her mouth. Her wings unscrew it, and she dips the blower into the bottle—now it’s wet with bubble solution.

A breath later and bubbles fly, hovering over the table and their heads. They capture the attention of both Derpys, wowing them and keeping their jaws dropped in child-like wonder.

Then they pop, sending the student back to reality. She looks to her natural-pony counterpart. “Um… why? Why did you do that?”

The mailpony raises a hoof to the air, pointing at where the bubbles had been. “When I got my cutie mark, I never thought about becoming a mailpony. Actually, being a mailpony’s new for me. I used to do heavy-duty delivery for Crafty Crate, helped out with the Ponyville team for the Equestria Games, even bottled some homemade cola for a pony who attacked Canterlot!… yeah, life’s weird like that sometimes.

“And that’s the beauty, Derpy. Coming here, I thought you wouldn’t worry a lot… ‘cause I don’t.”

The student’s hind legs squirm at that. “Yeah, I don’t worry too much… usually. But, you know, now we’re going back to school, and it won’t be too long before I graduate. I’m not sure where to go to college, or even if I should go to college or just get a job already… and I don’t know what kind of job I’d get! And it’s not like many of my classmates are so sure of their lives too….”

Then, her ears perk up. Something on her shoulders. A pat on her shoulders?

Yes, a pat on her shoulders, from none other than her adult mailpony self who flew to her side of the seat.

“High school me… are bubbles beautiful?”

The student cheers up at the question. “Oh, they’re so beautiful!”

“And how long do they last?”

“… well, not for long.”

And the mailpony nods. “Bubbles don’t last long, but they’re beautiful and so fun to look at!

“Each day’s like that.”

She blows another bubble. This time, it settles down gently on her upraised hoof.

“I live each day like it’s a pretty bubble, and each day is a surprise. Isn’t always a wonderful surprise, but they’re here one day, gone the next.”

The peering-in head of the student approaches the tiny bubble. “So… what are you telling me?”

The mailpony claps her hooves and the bubble pops with it.

“Live life!” the older Derpy declares. “Worrying too much about my past or my future never helped me grow taller or live longer or be cool with the friends I do have. I make plans, but even my plans can change the next day!” She looks out the window and flies to it, enjoying the sunshine. “So, here’s today’s bubble. I’ll enjoy it and see where it takes me.”

The student forms a little smile of her own. “So… it’s okay if I’m not a mailpony?”

“I’m more than okay with that! You’ll never know where the bubbles will take you… but it will be exciting, isn’t it? And there’ll always be something beautiful and pretty in it, right?”

The student blushes as she scratches the back of her head. “Yeah. I guess it is comforting when you put it that way.”

The mailpony ganders at the menu. “Hey, after one more milkshake, I’d like to come over to your world! You’ve got anything to do?”

“Um… me and my band will practice tonight—”

“Wait, you have a band?”

The student—and musician—could not contain her glee. “Yeah! It’s the Pony Pickers! I play the saw.”

“Cool! I play the triangle!”

The glee explodes in the student’s heart. “You play the triangle?! We already have one triangulist… but two in the same band? We can rule the world if we team up! Down for a duet?!”

“I’m down for a duet!”


The Rainbooms and a few other Canterlot High pupils sit down in the school auditorium, watching the Pony Pickers play with their musical saw, their cowbell, and their two triangles. Most notably, two Derpys are front and center instead of one, sawing and triangulating to their hearts’ content.

Rainbow Dash’s ears twitch at the avant-garde music blessing her ears. “Sunset, tell me again why we’re doing this.”

“’Cause why not?” Sunset says with a shrug, rocking her head to the beat. “Not a lot of ponies can say they’ve attended a Pony Pickers concert, right? And support and all that.

“And, come on, they’re having lots of fun too! Not even PostCrush smile like that when they play.”