//------------------------------// // Bliss // Story: I'll never forget // by Johnfreemanwepon //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Bliss Dinky heard her mother still sobbing, and her heart got the best of her- once more she walked into her mother's room, but this time she saw Derpy sobbing in her sleep, but smiling at the same time. This made no sense to her- in the space of just 20 minutes, her mom had gone from very, very happy, to very, very sad, and back again. The dream Derpy was having was obviously emotionally complicated, if nothing else. For the 3rd time today, Dinky smiled and returned to making breakfast. 'The pancakes are almost done, so Momma'd better wake up soon!' *** Derpy woke up- mainly from the shifting pony still held in her arms, but also due to the fact that she wakes up early to go to her early job. Charity had only just woken up, so he was just as tired as she was. Derpy was about to call in sick, but Charity, already fixing breakfast, would have none of it- in order to keep her safe and prevent her from being tired, he would follow her on her route and help her carry the heavier packages. This was a pleasant surprise to Derpy, who graciously accepted- but really, he wasn't asking. After a quick breakfast, and an even quicker shower, Derpy was ready to go. Charity, having taken a shower the night before, was also ready just in the nick of time. As they walked to the Ponyville Post office; however, Derpy was approached by another stallion, who was one of her great tormentors from the Junior Speedsters Flight academy. Thankfully, after only a few insults and jeers, Charity stepped in and the other stallion backed off. Today took a bit longer- neither wanted to leave the others' side to deliver to two different parts of the route, and they were talking about what happened over the past few days. “When did you fall for me?” Derpy asked, hoping she had said the right thing. After a few moments, Charity replied “.... I suppose it was when I saw you the day after you were insulted on your route... I saw you, smiley and happy as always, delivering your mail like nothing ever happened. I needed someone like you, someone who could bounce back. I knew that you were the most remarkable pony I had ever seen, and it killed me that others couldn't see how special you are. You're unique, Derpy. Always willing to give a second chance, always working your hardest.” Derpy smiled at the fact that even the most simple things she did were admired by her new-found lover. After several minutes of chatting (no way you could shut the two of them up NOW,) Charity finally asked; “umm... Derpy? I have to ask you the same question... When did you... fall for me?” Pondering the question much the same way Charity did, she finally answered “it was the night I came back. I was so sorry for what I had said, that I just knew you would never take me back as a friend. I saw you forgive me and apologize for yourself- even though you did nothing wrong. You wanted me to be happy, with all your heart. And that's what love is. Real love. It's when you can love someone and want them to be happy, even at your own expense. I knew then, you were someone special. I will never let go of that.” Tears of joy spread across Charity's eyes, and he kissed Derpy, right in the town square. Some people, who were friends of either Charity or Derpy, came over and started staring. Some people made the cliché “get a room” remark, and still others just walked on by. None of them mattered. All that mattered was that Derpy was in Charity's arms, and Charity in Derpy's. He broke away at long last, Derpy struggling not to pull him back with renewed fervor, they went on with delivering the mail, before being stopped again by Rainbow Dash. “Hi you guys!” said the tomboyish voice of the Cyan colored pony “Hi Rainbow” they said, both of them at once. “What're you, twins?” all three of them chuckled. “So, what's up?” asked Charity after all of them stopped chuckling at the (admittedly) bad joke. “I just saw your stunt in the town square,” remarked Rainbow, adding “are you two an item now?” Derpy and Charity both looked at each other and nodded slightly, Derpy finally saying “Yes, yes we are.” “Well, I'm really happy for you guys. Can I talk to Charity for a minute?” answered Rainbow, glaring at him, as if sizing him up. He returned the glare, accepting her challenge “ummm... I-” said Derpy, before being interrupted by Charity's “Sure.” It was her turn to smile. She was happy that Charity trusted rainbow, and visa-versa. Pulling Charity to the side, and out of earshot of Derpy, Dash whispered harshly “You'd better watch yourself, pal- Derpy's my friend, and I've seen her pushed around by more ponies than you can shake a stick at. I swear, if you hurt her-” “I won't. And if you two were so chummy, why don't you ever help Derpy when she's being pushed around? Every day, I watched Derpy getting insulted verbally and nearly be physically assaulted by ponies who can't accept differences between themselves and other ponies,” interrupted Charity, with an annoyed edge in his voice. He continued: “And I'll have you know, I love Derpy Hooves with every fiber of my being- I can't live without her. I won't let a FLEA like you stand in the way of me and her, and if you try anything I swear to Celestia it'll be the last thing you ever do. Mark my words.” Slightly taken aback by his sudden outburst, Rainbow smiled. “Consider them marked. That's the kind of thing I want to hear” she said, enjoying the confused look that she was getting from him. “I've seen ponies pretend to love her to the point where she thought she would marry them- only for them to let her down hard to try and see her break. And eventually, even stones break if hit to hard, to much.” While slightly annoyed by the comparison of Derpy Hooves, the love of his life, to a stone, he let it slide, simply nodding and saying “I've seen her ability to bounce back- I know she can take some thing better than others. That doesn't matter though, this is real. I won't let her go. Ever.” with renewed zeal, he simply stated “now if you'll excuse me, I have mail to deliver with Derpy.” Rainbow let him pass, even though she knew she didn't have to. She knew he was telling the truth. Still, she was slightly tentative. She had seen ponies lie, even to her. If he did let her down, and let her down hard, she would be there- waiting to comfort Derpy. She watched as the couple continued on their merry way, chatting and delivering mail. She smiled, and flew away to keep practicing some flight moves. *** After they finished Derpy's route for the day, they retired (this time) to Derpy's house, as Derpy hadn't been there for over 2 days. When they did, they found it locked, just as Derpy left it. However, when they went inside, they saw that the lights were off and the shades drawn, and there were strange silhouettes lining the walls. Suddenly, the lights flicked on and a crowd of ponies yelled out- “SURPRISE!” Derpy blinked for a few moments before looking at Charity, who simply smiled. Seemingly out of nowhere, a pink pony walked up to both of them, saying “HI I'm Pinkie Pie and I threw this party JUST FOR YOU! I heard that you were a new couple, and I was more excited than... well... omygosh I've never been so excited except for... well EVER! But really, what could top Ponyville's latest COUPLE?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a smile. “But enough chit-chat! LEET'S PARTY!!!” a white unicorn started the music, and “Ponyville's latest couple” headed over to the drink table. On their way there, Derpy said “So... she heard about us from... who exactly?” Stammering slightly, with a nervous smile on his face Charity replied “uh.... Fluttershy... I told her, while you were asleep on my couch, that you and I had finally met and hit it off... It almost got ruined when you stormed out like that, so Fluttershy helped me get you back. Also, I didn't really know if I would be able to tell you until you came back and... well... it carried on from there.” Derpy smiled at his apologetic attitude and grabbed two cups for them both, and, after a long wait for a purple pony who was filling multiple cups (Who could blame her? It's Berry Punch, after all!) for seemingly no one but herself, they finally got a cup of punch for each of them, and then walked over to the sweet-filled table. “Oh, and what did Rainbow want?” asked Derpy. “It was... Strange... when she pulled you aside like that... she's never done THAT before.” “Oh, she just wanted to make sure I wasn't trying to hurt you” he said flatly. He couldn't lie to this mare. Derpy looked rather taken aback, but she eventually said, with an apparent hint of sadness in her voice “oh.... yeah.... y-you aren't... are you?” He couldn't stand to see her like this- he hugged her tightly and kissed her passionately. “I'm alive, aren't I? You're damn lucky you have a friend like Rainbow.” He stared her straight in the eyes and smiled. Derpy melted in his arms and nuzzled against his shoulder, drawing many “Awww”s from the crowd. Like before, this didn't matter to either of them. They were together, and while they were together, nothing ever went wrong they couldn't fix. There wasn't any bad in the world, only them. Them and their love. The thunderous applause from everypony in the room- which was just about every pony in Ponyville- broke their trance, and they turned and blushed, before they broke apart and smiled nervously. After the applause died down, and the music resumed playing, Charity turned to Derpy and asked her, “do you want to dance?” “Okay” Derpy replied, softly. Overhearing this, and due to her Pinkie sense, Pinkie Pie immediately walked over to the DJ and whispered for her to play some slow music. Derpy and Charity, hearing this, stared at each other. Derpy whispered “this was the song you were humming when I stayed over for the first night....” Listening closely, Charity finally said “Yes... it is.... you have an ear for music, do you know that?” Derpy blushed, and Charity bowed, asking “May I have this dance, madame?” causing another massive blush to escape from Derpy. She curtsied, replying “Absolutely” With that, Charity took her into his forehooves, staring straight into her eyes, and beginning to waltz. The world stopped. Everypony moved out of the way to watch this couple, entwined in each other, dance across the floor to the music- now playing for a second time- and staring at each other with a passion that made even the most stalwart, macho stallion break down into tears. Pinkie Pie had to step out due to the torrent of happy tears falling out of her eyes. The spotlight was fixed on the two, and they danced for hours, staring at each other, never breaking their gaze. Everypony was so transfixed they didn't even notice the cyan pony walking in the front door, fully prepared to fire off more questions to Charity. She never got the chance. What she saw in front of her answered them all. *** Derpy was still sleeping contently, dreaming of her past. Dinky was growing impatient, but the smile on her mothers face and her humming the waltz made her not wake her. What were a few more minutes? Cooled muffins were still muffins, Derpy always said. *** While Pinkie was still cleaning the party, Derpy decided to follow Charity back to his house. There, they lay on the sofa in his living room, entwined with each other for some time before Charity decided to get up. Derpy was at first a bit annoyed, but then she saw him get on one hind leg and a look of realization flashed across her face before she squeed and smiled. He pulled out a small box, opened it and asked one question: “Derpy Hooves, I know we haven't been together very long, but it doesn't take very long to know that you are the love of my life. Derpy, you bring me more happiness than I thought possible... and I guess what I'm trying to say is.... Derpy Hooves, will you marry me?” Derpy simply lunged at him and kissed him. Hard. He smiled, and mentally he was bouncing against the walls. After she broke the kiss, she uttered one word: “Yes.” *** On their wedding day, they both wrote their own vows- but both got cold feet and only read them after the wedding, in the privacy of their (new) home. They had both moved their houses on to one lot and connected them into one big house out in the country. Charity was the first one to read the vows he wrote. After both had read, they were in each others arms, crying and kissing. They went up to their new master bedroom- with a new, king sized bed- and lay down, cuddling in their wedding clothes. Derpy looked absolutely stunning- they had gone to the local dress shop, where the pony there (named “Rarity” or something like that) went completely nuts over all the romantic details and the fact they had chosen her to make the dress AND suit for their occasion. She ended up doing it for less than half of the original cost. Derpy's dress has pearls and topaz (“It simply makes your eyes look so fantastic!”) in it for her special day. For Charity, however, she had stuck with the “Southern Gentleman” look. (“a man in gems? Not for a wedding!”) Before things... ahem... escalated, they undressed and hung their clothes up carefully. Pinkie had outdone herself for the after-party, and it was dark by the time they left for their house. They lay in the bed, kissing and cuddling- not a care in the world but for their own love. If Derpy hadn't taken all her personal days for a year for the honeymoon, (which Charity owed her for...) she would definitely need to call in sick tomorrow. *** The next day, they woke up extremely late for them- nearly noon. They took their afternoon walk immediately after brunch, which Derpy and Charity had prepared in minutes. They were in heaven. While they were out on their walk, Derpy and Charity were approached by dozens of well wishers and friends. There was ONE, however, who was completely out of the blue- the same stallion Charity told off a couple weeks ago- who came up to them and said “Derpy and Charity, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” Charity responded with a hoof to the mouth. He turned to Derpy and quickly apologized for his outbreak, to which Derpy responded with a kiss and a hug. “It's ok. Some ponies need to get a good smack once in a while.” All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash landed and said “Hey guys! Oh, and nice moves Charity!” she said, pumping her hooves as if boxing. Charity blushed and responded by saying “I won't let anyone make fun of my wife in front of me. Even if I have to do something like... like what I just did.” Derpy, hearing the despair in her husband's voice, walked over and nuzzled him. “Don't worry. I know it was a one time thing.” Even though they both were pacifists, there were some things neither of them could let slide. Rainbow pulled Charity aside again, but this time she didn't have an edge on her voice. She simply said “Thank you.” “For what?” asked Charity. “For loving her.” Rainbow flew away without looking back. Charity smiled and returned to Derpy, who asked “what was that about?” “She... she wanted to thank me,” he responded. “For what?” “For actually loving you” She giggled “really?” “Yes.” Charity put his foreleg around Derpy's shoulder and they continued walking. *** “Yes.” was the simple word that made both Derpy's and Charity's hearts skyrocket. “So.. we.... we're gonna have a foal?” asked Charity “Yes,” answered Nurse Redheart. She smiled at them as she said that, and Charity looked Derpy in the eyes before hugging her and kissing her. Nurse Redheart walked away to visit other patients, and came back to the couple smiling in each others' arms. “You're free to go, if you want,” the Nurse told them. Charity turned to Derpy and said “Let's go make some muffins.” They always made muffins when something happened, good or bad. Derpy loved muffins, as did Charity. They made everything seem better- it was muffins that brought them together, and it is muffins that makes them happier than anything. As they walked home, Pinkie Pie bounced up to them and said “HEY! How is Derpy? Is she having a little baby Hooves?” she said excitedly. Sometimes, that Pinkie sense of hers was insanely accurate- they hadn't even told her that they were getting a test for that. “Uh... yeah” Derpy replied, smiling. Pinkie gasped loudly, and then said “OOOH! You know what a good name is? DINKY! It's like Derpy and Pinkie mixed together!” That actually WAS a good name, thought Charity. He may have to consider that. Pinkie gasped again, saying “HEY! Do you know what this calls for? A PARTY!” She bounced off, presumably to set up the baby shower. Both Derpy and Charity hoped they would actually be told WHEN the party was this time. They continued walking until they reached their doorstep. Suddenly, Charity had a brainwave. He stood on both hind legs, grabbed Derpy in his forehooves and carried her inside, kissing her. He laid her down on the couch, sitting next to her. Even after 5 months, they still felt like they met yesterday, and they still loved each other more than anything in the world. Whenever they fought, they ended up in each others arms after making apology muffins and a bout of crying. Whenever something good happened, like a promotion or just a great day, they made muffins and ended up in each others arms, kissing, and eventually sleeping. The stallion who tormented her throughout flight academy finally took a hint, and left her alone. Life was good. *** It was 3 months later, and Derpy was showing- but she was loving every minute of it. She was pampered beyond belief by her beloved husband and her friends when they were around, and loved having a little baby foal in her belly. Charity was having an equally fantastic time, keeping Derpy happy was his favorite thing in the world. He loved making muffins and then sitting down with a plate, snuggling up against Derpy and feeling their child. They still went on walks- it was good for Derpy to stay active as much as possible, and every so often Rainbow Dash would give them a demonstration of her new moves. Rainbow was a surprisingly good flier, and constantly left them smiling in awe of what she could accomplish. Speaking of Rainbow, while she was happy about her friends enjoying the show, was especially happy about Derpy finally finding someone. She deserved it. After their walk one day, they headed home to find the lights off and the curtains drawn. This time, they took the hint and braced themselves for what was about to happen. They walked in, and the crowd yelled “Surprise!” A familiar pink pony was already at their side, and she had already directed Derpy at the pile of gifts people had brought for her. Derpy, being Derpy, opened the smallest first- it was a pacifier, made by hand from one of their new friends, Rarity. It had small red rubys in the shape of a heart inlaid around the pacifier's outside handle. She thanked her friend and hugged her tightly, opening the next biggest until she reached the end. All of them were heartfelt and in the end, there were smiles and tears of joy all around. Suddenly, everypony was chanting for Derpy and Charity to dance- their song was playing, and the floor had been cleared for the guests of honor. They couldn't resist, and soon were dancing across the floor, again hypnotizing the crowd with their passion, still burning as hotly as it did those many months ago. To be continued.