Several days later Derpy, Hammer, Scootaloo, and Sereb sit on the couch together watching television. Derpy turns to Hammer.
“You okay with this?”
Hammer sighs. “I don’t know. Even before I met Arc I wasn’t much for meeting people. My sisters always told me I had too much personality.”
Scootaloo raises an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
“That I scare people away, what with being so open and whatnot.”
Sereb raises an eyebrow. “We are not afraid of you.”
“Well, I suppose that might be because you and Arc beat me on several occasions before.”
She grins and snaps her fingers.
“That might be the solution!”
Derpy appears confused. “Oh?”
“I’ll just have Arc’s childhood friends beat me up first!”
Scootaloo frowns. “That probably isn’t a good idea.”
Sereb grins. “Sounds good to me.”
Derpy shakes her head. “Considering Shelly’s personality and condition, I don’t think she’s capable of harming anyone.”
“But it could work!”
Sereb chuckles. “As much as I would like to observe such an experiment, I do not believe Arc would approve of it.”
Hammer groans. “Fine. But let’s not forget the idea entirely.”
A short time later Sereb pricks up his ears and turns to Derpy.
“They are here.”
Derpy stands up quickly. “Let’s get ready, everyone!”
They all put on their coats and boots. Heading out the front door the group watches as Arc’s Jeep slowly pulls into the driveway and stops. Arc gets out and pops the back hatch before turning his attention to people waiting for him just inside the back door.
“Lily and I will get Shelly inside. Everyone else grab the stuff in the back please.”
He opens the door as Lily unbuckles their friend. Shelly turns her head and smiles at them weakly.
“I’m sorry you two.”
Arc shakes his head as he puts an arm under her legs and behind her back. “Don’t be. I was the one who wanted to take you to the store.”
Lily sighs. “That might have been a bit too much for you, Shelly.”
“Yes. But I loved it very much.”
Picking Shelly up, Arc turns and carefully carries her toward the house. The others grab numerous bags of groceries as well as several suitcases underneath. Sereb holds the door open with his backside as Arc passes him and heads for the couch. Setting his friend down on it he turns to the others following them.
“Take the groceries to the kitchen, Hammer.”
“On it!”
“And the suitcases go in the guest room.”
Derpy and Scootaloo nod as they head upstairs. Arc kneels down to remove Shelly’s boots as Lily carefully removes the young woman’s coat. Shelly looks over at the door as it clicks shut. Shelly appears impressed.
“Sereb closed the door?”
“Yes. It’s a very useful trick.”
Lily smiles. “I’ll say.”
Arc motions to Sereb with a point. Nodding, he walks over to Shelly and hops up onto the couch with her. She winces in pain causing Sereb to jump back as Lily turns to her friend along with Arc.
“Shelly?! What happened?!”
“I think I know what it is.”
Removing his friend’s socks, he points to her swollen feet. Lily sighs.
“I told you not to walk the isles.”
Shelly nods sadly. “Yes. But I won’t be able to do that for much longer, if at all.”
Arc smiles at her. “It’s okay, Shelly. We’ll take care of it.”
Hammer returns from the kitchen. Arc turns to her.
“Can you get me a couple pillows from the basement, please?”
“Sure.”
She turns and heads downstairs as Arc turns back to his friends. Lily appears confused.
“Arc, who is that woman?”
“A former client of mine. I’ll introduce you to her when she gets back.”
Returning, Hammer hands Arc two pillows. Putting them under Shelly’s head, he takes the throw pillows and uses them to elevate her feet. She smiles weakly as Arc looks to her.
“How’s that?”
“Much better, thank you.”
“Shelly… Lily… this is Hammer. She’s been staying with us for a while now after I finished her case.”
Hammer waves nervously. "H-hi there."
Lily forces a smile. “H-hello.”
Shelly nods weakly and extends a hand. “How do you do?”
Hammer takes Shelly’s hand and shakes it vigorously. Shelly winces in pain as Arc stops her.
“Remember, you have to be careful with Shelly!”
“I thought I was.”
Lily frowns. “Treat her limbs like they were made of eggs. Too much pressure there especially hurts her a lot.”
“Sorry about that.”
Shelly smiles weakly. “It’s… okay.”
“So you were one of Arc’s clients?”
Hammer nods. “Sure was! He got my cases done lickety-split though!”
Arc shrugs. “I got a few lucky breaks.”
Shelly appears interested. “What was it about?”
Hammer turns to Arc. “Can I tell them?”
“You were the client, so it’s up to you.”
“Well then, my first case was for him to find out what my sisters were up to. At the time I thought they were being blackmailed, or something.”
“Oh my!”
“Are they all right?!”
Hammer gives a thumbs up. “Sure are! Turns out the whole thing was just one big misunderstanding!”
Lily breathes a sigh of relief. “Were there other cases?”
Hammer nods. “Yeah. But those are kinda sensitive. They were about my sisters again. But this time my gut was right.”
Arc frowns. “I don’t know if they’d want someone talking about it though.”
“Right. So I’d better keep what happened to myself.”
Shelly appears hopeful. “But they’re safe, right?”
Hammer sighs. “Kinda.”
Arc clears his throat loudly. “In any case, Hammer helped me out of a bind on another investigation. Because of that thought she’s on the run.”
Lily gasps. “From whom?”
“My… old boss.”
Shelly turns to Arc. “Can Marshal Raynor help?”
“I don’t think so. It’s just important that she stays under wraps until this thing blows over.”
Lily frowns. “How long will that take?”
Arc shrugs. “No idea. I’m trying to figure out something a bit more permanent for her though.”
Shelly smiles. “Well, I for one thank you for helping our friend, Hammer.”
“It was my pleasure. Especially after all he did for me.”
Dinky runs in the front door. She smiles widely as she spies Shelly and Lily.
“Miss Shelly! Miss Lily! “
Running over to Lily, she throws her arms around the young woman’s waist. Sereb hops off the couch and moves to close the front door as the little girl looks up at Lily.
“Are you really going to spend the entire week with us?!”
Lily smiles and nods. “Shelly’s health permitting, yes.”
“YAY!”
Shelly giggles. “What would you like to do first, Daisy?”
Dinky pats the young woman’s hand. “Help you feel better.”
Arc gestures to the kitchen. “How about we cook everyone a nice lunch, Lily? Shelly’s feet should recover by then.”
“Sure. Is there anything special you’d like to eat, Shelly?”
“No, Lily. Whatever you and Arc want to cook is fine with me. But I think I’d like to lie down upstairs and take a little nap before lunch.”
Arc nos. “Sure. I’ll carry you.”
Hammer raises a hand. “I can handle that.”
Lily appears suddenly nervous. “Well, that might not be the best idea…”
Shelly interrupts. “Thank you, miss. I’d like that.”
Hammer nods and carefully picks Shelly up. Carrying her toward the stairs Sereb gets up and follows the pair. Shrugging, Arc and Lily head for the kitchen together. Meanwhile, Derpy and Scootaloo finish unpacking their guest’s suitcases. Closing the last drawer Derpy turns to Scootaloo.
“That’s everything.”
Scootaloo sighs. “Yeah.”
Derpy turns to the little girl. “Scootaloo?”
“Miss Derpy, can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“When Big Brother and I saw your father in his last days he sounded really sorry for what he did to you.”
Derpy looks away. “You would know better than I would.”
“Was what he did to you really that bad?”
“Yes. Every day was spent trying to keep away from him. Even the servants, seeing how much he hated me, chose to mistreat me. And every time I thought someone cared they soon proved me wrong.”
“And did you hate him for that?”
“No, dear.”
“Why not?”
Derpy closes her eyes and smiles. “Because… above all else… I didn’t want to grow up to be like him.”
“What kept you going?”
“The thought that I at one time had a mother whom loved me enough to give her life to create mine. Tell me something, Scootaloo. Did your mother love you?”
“I… want to believe she did, yes. But I don’t really know. She… sometimes would look at me nervously when she thought I didn’t notice.”
“And why was that?”
“Because she knew I was a monster inside.”
“A monster?”
Scootaloo nods sadly. “You’ve seen what Big Brother and I turn into at the sight of the full moon! Neither of us is normal!”
“Did she still care for you?”
“Care for…?”
“Cook for you. Clean you up. Keep you safe from…”
“Yes.”
“Then what makes you think she didn’t care about you?”
“Because… um… she… she was always just so… weak.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whenever my dad wanted… a certain something she would just give it to him. No matter how much pain she was in.”
Derpy smiles. “But did her weakness mean she didn’t love you?
“I must’ve!”
“Could it have meant that she just didn’t know what else to do?”
Scootaloo appears confused. “What do you mean?”
Derpy turns and looks out the window. “I remember when I first found out I was pregnant with Dinky. While I so very desperately wanted to be a good mother to her, I knew that I didn’t know how.”
“Didn’t know how? How to what?”
“Love.”
“I don’t… how do you learn something like that?!”
Derpy giggles and turns as she looks the little girl in the eye. “From watching others.”
“Big Brother?”
Derpy nods. “Yes. He showed me what love was. While I learned much from Twilight and her friends while he was in Tartarus, he was the one whom showed me the basics.”
Scootaloo puts a finger to her chin thoughtfully. “My mom didn’t know how to love?”
“I believe you have some thinking to do. Why don’t you go to your room and do that?”
“What about Big Brother…?”
Derpy smiles at her. “Don’t worry. I’ll explain it to him.”
“Okay. Thanks, Miss Derpy.”
Hammer enters the bedroom carrying Shelly. She looks to Derpy and Scootaloo.
“I have someone here who needs to take a nap.”
Derpy nods. “Okay. We were just finishing up here.”
“Y-yeah.”
Scootaloo walks out of the room with Derpy and down the hall as the woman heads downstairs. Reaching Arc’s old room she flops down on the bed and stares at the ceiling.
“Mom… I… I never ever considered…”
Meanwhile, Hammer lays Shelly on the bed.
“I hope I didn’t hurt you this time.”
Shelly smiles. “Not at all. You were very gentle.”
Hammer appears suddenly nervous. “Sorry about before.”
“It’s alright. But I have to admit, you’re a lot stronger than I originally thought.”
“I was in the military. My sisters and I are a lot stronger than we first appear. Well, Stingray and I, that is.”
Shelly lowers her voice. “Is… does Arc know about that?”
“About what?”
“You being in the military.”
Hammer raises an eyebrow. “Uh… yeah. What’s wrong with that?”
Shelly sighs. “He’s never been too fond of that particular organization.”
“Really? Why’s that?”
“Let’s just say it’s something from his past and leave it at that.”
Hammer frowns. “What’s the…?!”
“Please. You need to hear it from him.”
“It’s never been brought up before.”
Shelly appears relieved. “Then I guess Arc’s finally gotten over it.”
“Over what?!”
“He’ll tell you when he’s ready.”
Hammer groans. “Great. Say, are you okay?”
Shelly winces as she looks down at her legs. “Muscular problems. It’ll pass.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
“My legs tighten up like this when I overexert myself. Do you think you could massage them for me? You don’t have to if that’s a bit weird for you.”
“No problem.”
Sitting down on the bed next to Shelly, Hammer begins massaging her calves.
“Just let me know if I’m being too rough.”
Shelly winces. “A bit harder please. They’re really tight.”
“I can feel that. What exactly did you do? Try to run a marathon through the store?”
“Just walking.”
“All day?”
“Half an hour.”
“Well, your muscles are really small. No offense, mind you.”
“None taken. They’ve always been that way.”
“Can’t you exercise, or something? Work up to something a bit more normal?”
Sereb growls from the doorway. Shelly looks over to him and smiles.
“It’s alright, Sereb.”
She looks back to Hammer before continuing.
“But to answer your question, not really. The best I can do is to walk around my apartment to get food and head for the toilet.”
“I… have some friends that might be able to help you with some… experimental treatments.”
Shelly shakes her head. “Thank you, but no.”
“You sure about that? After all, wouldn’t you like to be able to keep up with Arc and Lily?”
“I would, yes. But at this point my body is too far-gone.”
She sighs before continuing.
“That and I don’t want to give Arc and Lily a false hope that I’ll be okay.”
“Is that really what you want?”
“Ultimately, yes. I would like to stay with them as long as I can with what I am.”
Hammer frowns. “You don’t want to be something better?”
Shelly shakes her head. “That’s not my goal.”
“Then what is?”
“To spend as much time as I can with them before my eventual death next year.”
Hammer gasps. “Next YEAR?!”
Shelly nods. “Yes. The doctors said this is going to be my last Christmas. Arc wanted to make this one special for me.”
“He’s… quite a guy.”
Shelly giggles. “That he is.”
Hammer muses to herself as she continues massaging the young woman’s legs.
“There’s gotta be something I can do for her.”
A few minutes later a smile spreads across her face as a thought enters her mind.
“And I think I know just what it is.”
Meanwhile, Arc and Lily began cooking downstairs.
“It’s been too long since we did this, Arc.”
“That it has. By the way, when was the last time?”
“Last Christmas.”
Arc chuckles. “It really has been awhile then. Sorry for not being around more though.”
“We understand. Shelly and I know just how hard you’re working to become a successful member of society.”
Cherry calls out to him, giggling. “If she only knew just how much you’ve already accomplished.”
“Let’s not give her a heart attack.”
“Agreed.”
Arc continues. “Nothing worth doing is ever easy.”
“I suppose not.”
“How are you and Shelly doing though?”
“Alright. She’s becoming more and more work though.”
“Do you need help with that?”
Lily shakes her head. “You already do enough. That and to me it’s so enjoyable.”
“Is it?”
“Yes. It’s like… like caring for a small child. She needs to be bathed, clothed, taken to the doctor, and consoled like a baby some days.”
“Consoled?”
Lily sighs. “Shelly has been asking to be put in a nursing home for a while now.”
“What?! Why?!”
“She wants me to be free of caring for her.”
“I do remember her saying as much to me a while back.”
“What did she say?”
“Shelly asked how you and I put up with her needs. Why we didn’t just put her in a home and live out our lives.”
Lily gasps. “Because we both love and cherish her!”
“Right. “
“If we didn’t there’s no way we’d have done as much as we have.”
“We’ve both had to help her go to the bathroom more times than I can count.”
“And clean her up if we didn’t make it.”
Arc sighs. “The first time I had to do that when she moved in with me… I thought it would be the most disgusting thing imaginable. But it wasn’t.”
“Oh?”
“I mean… it did smell awful. But that was okay because Shelly deserved better than sitting in her own waste. And I wanted to help her feel the love and dignity that she deserved.”
Lily shakes her head. “Dignity. Something I don’t think she’d get in a nursing home.”
Arc sighs. “Not if what’s on the news is to be believed.”
“She always puts on a strong front for us. And I just accepted the fact that she was a bit frail. But… but now…”
Derpy walks into the kitchen.
“Sco… I mean Scarlet will be down later.”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “Oh? Is something wrong?”
“She just needed some time to think. So I came down to help myself.”
“Um… okay.”
Derpy turns to Lily. “So what are we making?”
“Homemade chicken noodle soup and biscuits.”
Arc looks to Derpy. “Can you make up some dough for the latter, Dawn?”
“Sure.”
Walking to the cupboard she pulls out a bag of flour and begins measuring. Sighing inwardly, she frowns.
“You need to let others help you, Scootaloo. If you don’t you’ll never be able to open your heart to others.”