“Last day of winter,” Ditzy sighs as she turns to you.
“Yeah, hard to believe it went by so fast,” you reply, looking deeply into her eyes. It’s been about three months since you told Ditzy you loved her and she told you she loved you back. You may have been unsure before if those feelings were real, but now you knew with every fiber in your being that she was the only mare for you.
The sun had just started to peek over the horizon as you and Ditzy sat on the roof of her house, watching it rise. You had to wake up early for Winter Wrap-Up anyway, so you both decided it would be more romantic to watch the sunrise all by yourselves. You inhale the cool fresh breeze, shivering slightly as it wakes you up and invigorates you. There was a thick layer of snowfall still on the ground and on the tops of buildings. If you were to fly above the town, you would only see a pure white blanket, as though Ponyville were buried under the snow, which was not far from the truth. Today would be a difficult Winter Wrap-Up.
“Say it again, please?” Ditzy asked.
“What, you didn’t believe me the other times?” you responded with a chuckle.
“No, it’s just good to hear you say it.”
Locking gazes, you tell her without hesitation, “I love you.” She smiles back at you, nuzzling her head under your neck. You could feel her cheek becoming warmer after you gave her a delicate kiss on the top of her head.
Giggling slightly, she kisses you on cheek and whispers, “I love you too.” Curling up together for warmth, you bring out the letter you received from your dad so that Ditzy can read it as well.
Son,
I am so happy you found your special somepony. Telling her you loved her on Hearth's Warming Eve, it reminds me of myself. I hope that one day you can introduce us, I can’t wait to meet her. Did you know that I told your mother I loved her during the winter as well?
It was a cold night in Fillydelphia where we were staying for work after being transferred from Cloudsdale. Unintended storm clouds trapped us inside our residence with blizzard winds and blinding ice. We had no idea what to do. Do we go out to try to calm the storm, or do we stay inside and wait it out?
Your mother wanted to go out and help protect the town from the storm. It was her way, always putting herself in danger to help ponies she never knew. But I convinced her to stay, convinced her that it was too dangerous, convinced her that if she got hurt I couldn’t live anymore. She looked at me with a shocked expression and asked me to explain myself. I wasn’t expecting to say that, it just slipped out. I always got flustered around your mother before we were married. After extensive prodding and interrogating, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I reached out and kissed her. I told her that I loved her more than life itself and then I asked if she felt the same way. But I guess you know how that turned out. One month later I proposed, and two months after that we got married. I hope you feel the same way I did about your mother. You may not believe this, but I love you and Wingsley. I can’t imagine what I would be without you.
Love,
Dad
“That was one of the sweetest stories I’ve ever read, and I’m so sorry…” Ditzy trailed off. Taken aback, you feel determined to understand why she feels like this.
“Ditzy? What are you sorry about?” you ask her in a gentle tone.
“I can tell how much she meant to him, and after she passed...” she sniffled a little before continuing. “I’m so sorry about what he did to you two. I’m so sorry that she had to go. I’m so sorry that it scared Wingsley. I’m sorry that, in a dark way, I’m glad that it happened so that I could meet you.” Eyes watering, she muttered so softly that you could barely hear it, “I’m sorry...”
Bringing her into a tight embrace, you hold her and let her cry it out. “Hey, it’s alright, it’s alright,” you whisper, trying to calm her down. “You don’t need to cry. You have no reason to be sorry, it’s all in the past. We were meant to find each other, it would have happened one way or another.” You lay on your back and bring her close to you, holding her in place and gently stroking her hair, watching the new day rise.
_________________________________________________________________
The first order of the day was to get Wingsley, Dinky, and Sparkler fitted into tasks that would be best suited to them. Wingsley begged to be part of the weather team, but he was still new to his wings and wasn’t yet suited for the strenuous task of weather management, so you had him stay with the girls despite his objections.
You had a feeling you knew where Ditzy and yourself were destined to be assigned, but it was for the sake of order that you approached the organizer and asked, “Morning Twilight, what’s the order of the day?”
Twilight jumped a little after you spoke, causing her to catch her breath. “Sorry, you startled me.”
“Sorry, my bad,” you offer cheerfully.
“It’s fine,” she replies, blushing. “So you want to know where you’re going to be working?”
“Well not just me, Ditzy as well.” Ditzy waves from behind you.
“Oh.” Twilight lets out a small breath. “Well, based on the experience you two have, I’ve assigned you under Rainbow Dash in the skies.”
“Alright, thanks Twi,” you call back to her with a smile.
“Oh, looks like you two are here. We need some help getting rid of the clouds in the north and Derpy needs to go and get the birds as she normally does. Try not to get lost this time, okay?”
“Hey Rainbow Dash? Would you mind if I go with Ditzy to keep her on track?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Maybe for once we can get those birds here before summer.” She turned to Ditzy, adding “You hear that, Derpy? He’s going with you.”
“Yeah, I got it. You can count on me,” you reply, giving a small salute. Turning to you, Ditzy asked quietly, “Does she know about us?”
“If she does, she probably forgot about it,” you say, giving a meaningful smirk, which Ditzy mimics. “Shall we?” you ask, motioning to the southern horizon.
Flying through the air, with you in the lead and Ditzy a couple feet behind, you both look out over the beautiful landscape. Trees, lightly brushed with snow, are visible down below. Question in mind, you turn around and ask Ditzy, “So why do they always send you to get the birds?”
“Is this about my lack of direction?” she responds in a heartbeat. Before you can stumble out that it wasn’t what you were implying, she goes on, “They always pick me because I’m the only one that can get the birds to fly. They tried sending a few ponies some other time, two were hospitalized with pecking injuries and we never saw the third again. They had to send me in to deal with the birds. I’m not as good as Fluttershy is, but no other pony can seem to do it.”
“Wow, I had no idea. And for the record, that wasn’t what I meant.”
“Sure it wasn’t,” she says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
You noticed the landscape beneath you, but as you move into areas already transformed into spring, the full beauty of Equestria hits you. You were flying through a valley caught between two mountain ranges. The mountains, still capped with white snow, seemed to go forever into the horizon. They were creating a path for you and Ditzy to follow, similar to how a river flows down a streambed. The mountains were not jagged; rather, they were ramped on the sides with what looked like lush green grass. Descending below the clouds with Ditzy, you see that the grass is actually trees, thousands of trees. A forest growing on the side of a mountain. Ditzy notices how entranced you are by the landscape and shouts to you as you were fly along. “You know why I always get lost?” she asks rhetorically. “Because I always get distracted with this beautiful landscape. There is always so much to see, I spot something in the distance and before you know it I’m all turned around.”
“It’s all so...” You can’t finish your sentence as you gaze over the ground.
“Beautiful?” Ditzy offers. “I’m always doing this alone, I never have anypony to share it with.” Looking at you she smiles. “I’m glad I can share it with you. Come on, I want to show you something,” she calls before flying off. You follow without hesitation.
A few more minutes of flying along the mountain path and you come across an enormous lake. The lake was in the center of two mountains, both smooth and without fault. There was no shore around the lake; instead, it was as if the ground had exploded upwards and water rushed into crater. “This is one of my favorite places,” explains Ditzy. “It’s called Starswirl’s Lake. This is where Starswirl the Bearded fought the dragon, Bormahal.”
“I never thought of you as someone who liked history.”
“I surprise a lot of ponies like that,” she responds, laughing. “They like to think I’m a feather-brain because of my eye. I let them because I don’t need to prove anything. The only one I care about how they think of me is you.”
Flying upwards to a cloud, you land on it and motion for Ditzy to join you. “Why don’t we take a break for a little while? I mean, we’re making great time and they don’t expect us back for awhile.”
Ditzy looks at you with knowing eyes as she sits next to you. “What are you suggesting?” Ditzy asks as you lean in and kiss her.
“I think you know exactly what I’m suggesting,” you say with a smile.
“And if I say ‘no?’” she asks playfully. At which point you kiss her on the cheek and up to her ear, making her moan unintentionally, a little quirk you found out about her later on in your relationship.
“Well, are you going to say ‘no?’” you counter, putting your forelegs around her.
“No...” she replies. You lay her down on the cloud, kissing her passionately. Both giggling and nervous about what you are going to do next, you take the time to whisper sweet nothings to each other. You made love to Ditzy up high in the clouds, holding her close the entire time. Not letting the troubles of the world interfere in your minds.
________________________________________________________________
Ditzy rested in your embrace, but you both knew that you couldn’t stay there long. You had used up all of your extra time with each other and now you had to complete your task. Moving to get up, you hear moans of discontent from Ditzy. “Do we have to go?”
“Yes, come on.” You look at her, smiling. “We have work to do.”
She looks back at you and pouts in her adorable way. “Can’t it wait?”
“No, as much as I want it to, it can’t.”
“Fine,” she sighs. “Let’s get those damn birds.”
Flying through the air, Ditzy points out other landmarks. After a while, you start recounting stories to each other. Mostly light humorous stories about daily life, but it starts to get interesting when you begin talking about Cloudsdale.
“So I actually went to Cloudsdale once,” Ditzy tells you as you keep talking.
“Oh really? Not just for a deliveries?”
“Well, I flew up there one time when they were having a competition.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Was the competition for the ‘Greatest Young Flyers in Equestria?’”
“Yeah, why?”
“I was in the stands that day! I saw you perform!”
“No, really?” Ditzy asked, astonished. “Well how did you like it? My performance that is.”
“I remember I liked it. Hang on, I’m trying to remember all of the attractive pegasi I saw that day,” you tell her, hoping to get a reaction, pretending to think about all of the contestants.
“Hey, watch it buster,” Ditzy scolds, bumping you mid-flight.
“I kid, I kid,” you cry, throwing up your hooves in mock surrender while laughing slightly. “But seriously, I can’t believe that you were in that and I didn’t realize it. Say, how did your routine go again?”
“You want to see it? I mean, I still remember it, but are you sure?” she asks, blushing.
“Of course I want to see it.”
Resting atop a cloud, you sat ready to watch her. She flew through the air, rolling, diving, and showing off her abilities. You faintly noticed her trying to remember parts of it, but you still watched intently from your perch. She was having fun, that was evident. As you watched her, memories of the day flow back to you. You saw the pegasi of your dreams way back when you were still in Cloudsdale. It was a comical thought, it really was a small world after all.
After you finish watching her perform, you decide to do a small performance yourself, just for the fun of it. You twist and turn and roll in the air over her. Flying suddenly from underneath her, you grab her hoof mid-flight and guide her up over the clouds. Slowing down slightly, you take her other hoof and begin dancing in mid-air. ‘The Most Dangerous Dance’ as many non-pegasi have called it. It is a traditional pegasus dance done at high speeds in one direction. Because of the speed of the participants and their movements, it seems like in a flash, one could be ejected and thrown to their demise. Because of pegasi coordination, this is not the case. While beautiful to watch, it has very few true choreographed movements, and most of the motions are improvised. You and Ditzy fly through the sky, leaving a visible trail behind you. You always seem to have the most fun when you’re dancing with Ditzy. But to be perfectly fair, dancing was pretty bucking fun no matter what.
As the dance came to a close, you could see the bird sanctuary just a short distance away, a sunny plateau in the middle of the mountains. “Well it looks like we’re finally here, maybe Rainbow Dash won’t get on our case when we get back,” you say jokingly. Ditzy nods solemnly, though it seemed as if her mind was troubled. “Hey, what’s going on?” you ask, the concern evident in your voice. “Are you okay? You look…” You stammer for a moment to find the correct word until you found it. “...distraught.”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine. When you just mentioned Rainbow Dash, it just got me thinking. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine,” she tells you, avoiding eye-contact.
“You don’t look fine.” You move in closer, reaching your hoof over her and drawing her in. “You can tell me. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Okay,” she sighs, “but let’s get to the ground first.” Following her lead, you dive to the ground, pulling up only at the end. You look over at Ditzy as she sat down and gazed at the horizon. “Did I ever tell you why they call me ‘Derpy Hooves?’”
You shake your head. “No, never.”
“Are you sure you want to hear this?”
“Of course. I love you. I want to hear what you want to say.”
“So you can understand, I first need to go back a little further in time and start from the very beginning.” She sighed a little before continuing. “Everything started back when I moved to Ponyville from Fillydelphia. I had just adopted Sparkler from a family that I was good friends with before they...” Ditzy cleared her throat. “Passed on. Sparkler was just a little filly and I was barely a mare myself. She didn’t understand what had happened. I was already like a mom to her, so she trusted me. She was fine when we had to move. I wanted to take her away from that place, away from what happened. No filly should have to know those things.”
“Does she know, now that she’s older?” you ask.
“No, I’m going to have to tell her everything at some point. She knows a little, but not the whole truth.” You nod your head in acknowledgement and she continues with the story. “So after we moved to Ponyville, I started looking for a way to support me and Sparkler. That’s when I first came across Carrot Top. She was the first to welcome me to Ponyville, and soon we became fast friends. She told me that the post office was in need of help, so I applied and got the job. It was a good life, a simple life, but you know that it doesn’t matter when your colt or filly is happy. But after working in that post office for a few months, everything changed when he showed up.”
“Who?” you ask, confused.
“Dinky’s biological dad,” she said, putting emphasis on the last two words, “Some ‘dad’ he was. He came into the post office, proud and bold. I had never seen anypony like him. After he finished his business, he winked at me; remember, I was young, very young. I blushed after he left, slightly infatuated. As you know, that wasn’t the last I saw of him. He wooed me with his influence, his money, his charm.” You could see her grinding her teeth beneath her closed mouth. “He was so important, so full of himself, it seemed like no-pony could touch him. Because of that I let him get away with certain things. Because I thought he loved me I didn’t object when he got angry at me, when he yelled at me, when he...” she trailed off. “I had my eye condition even back then, and he thought it was funny and gave me a nickname. He was the first pony to call me ‘Derpy’. He never stopped calling me ‘Derpy,’ even when he introduced me to strangers. I tried to correct them, to tell them that my name was really was Ditzy, but it never worked. The nickname stuck, and soon enough the entire town was calling me ‘Derpy,’ but not as a nickname. They thought my name was actually ‘Derpy’ because of him. And because we were always together, ponies started calling me ‘Derpy Hooves’ because of his last name. I was his, I was his property. True I liked him, but I could never imagine spending my life with him. After a while, I stopped fighting and I even started calling myself ‘Derpy.’ I mentioned how young I was at the time, how weak and bendable I was. He took advantage of me, and soon enough, I was pregnant. After that, he showed his true colors. I faced him head-on later, and that was the last time I ever called myself Derpy.” After she had finished her story, you could see the ancient pain reflected in Ditzy’s eyes.
“I see, I’m so sorry for what he did to you.”
“Don’t be, you weren’t there, it's not your fault.”
“Why are you okay with them calling you ‘Derpy?’” you ask, curious.
“Because that would force me to acknowledge that ‘he’ still has an effect on my life. The only good thing he did was give me Dinky before getting out of my life. Other than that, he can go buck himself.” Wrapping her in your hooves, you kiss her and hold her for a moment, letting her feel your presence. “Thank you for listening,” she mumbles.
“No problem,” you whisper back.
“Let’s get done with this,” Ditzy said. “I think we’ve done enough to deserve a little break.”
_______________________________________________________________
Winter Wrap-up was a massive success this year. Everything was completed with the help of Twilight Sparkle. You and Ditzy relaxed in front of a roaring fire with the rest of your family seated next to you. As they all slept, you decide now would be a great time to write your dad.
Dear Dad,
Winter-wrap up was today. I’m exhausted with the amount of work I had to put in. Ditzy is starting to open up to me more, I’m excited where my relationship takes me. I wonder if this is exactly how you felt around mom. Wingsley is still doing great and is becoming an extraordinary flier, you would be proud of him.
I’m anxious to hear from you. You never tell me what’s going on in Cloudsdale. I’m tired of just talking to you about what’s happening with me, I need to know how you are doing. I love you Dad, and I expect to hear from you in your next letter. I know I’m going to get you to come out of your shell eventually, and when you do, you are flying down here to meet Ditzy. I know you’ll love her.
With love, your son.