When an hour had passed since taking in Derpy, it felt more like an eternity.
Doctor Whooves was pain-stricken to see Derpy in the condition she was as they held her while a doctor and nurse scurried toward them with a stretcher. They placed her on it and quickly asked what had happened before taking her in.
Her injuries sliced deep, and her face highlighted the agony she felt. Words could not describe the sympathy he felt for her, the concern for her condition. He placed a hoof on hers, feeling for her heartbeat. It was weak, but the fact there was one gave him faith as they took her into the back.
Dinky trotted up to the the Doctor and hugged his foreleg once the panic calmed ever so slightly. He wrapped a hoof around her shoulder and noticed she wasn't crying. Her eyes, however, told him she was trying to be strong. He just nodded at her. They were both told to wait patiently in the waiting room while they looked over her injuries and critical condition.
When Dinky asked if her sister would be okay, the nurse behind the counter just said, “We can't be sure right now, but don't worry, little filly. Somepony will let you know as soon as possible.”
Dinky nodded her head slowly but accepted this, sitting down in a red seat with the Doctor next to her. Worry burned in her large eyes as she kept looking over at the hallway that led to all the hospital rooms. She was very strangely quiet, unresponsive. At first, Doctor Whooves wished he knew what the little filly was thinking. He couldn't imagine what it felt like to have a sister beat up so brutally as Derpy was...
The Doctor leaned down to her and whispered, “It'll be alright, Dinky.”
Dinky sniffled “I know. She's a strong pony, so I know she'll be fine soon. B-but... I just wonder why ponies would be so mean to her. Yes, she can be rude and smokes and drinks a lot, but she's my sister,” Dinky said, tears leaking down her face. “It's not fair.”
“It'll be okay, Dinky. They're in deep trouble for hurting your sister,” he said to comfort her. He gave her a somber look.“So this wasn't gone unpunished.”
Dinky smiled a little, somewhat happy with this response.
Most of the ponies who came in for Derpy gradually left after staying for so long. They held on for about half an hour, with jobs to handle and families to get to, they had to put aside any empathy for the injured Pegasus to deal with their own lives. Even Fluttershy, who had cried into Rarity's shoulder when they took Derpy into the back, eventually departed to take care of her critters. While the Doctor and Dinky understood that, they had decided to stay the entire time. After all, they had no where else to go but home after this, and without Derpy, it just wouldn't be the same.
Not to mention that Doctor Whooves still wasn't quite sure where to go after this. He had finally decided on an apartment by Sugarcube Corner, but he didn't want to leave these two mares all alone. It felt like it would be wrong to do. He didn't want to leave them—at least, not just yet.
He tried to keep optimistic, but there was that seed of doubt inside him—and oh, how he despised that little part of him.
She would be alright, she would be alright...
But the sight of those shards digging into her skin, blood dripping onto the library floor and even trailing across Ponyville, sickened him.
She would be fine, she was going to be fine...
The Doctor and Dinky kept themselves occupied just barely. While he read magazines and newspapers of the past month, Dinky found small enjoyment with whatever friend of hers that visited Derpy in concern. He just kept to himself, since he was not exactly friends with anypony in Ponyville quite yet.
At the time Dinky was alone and drawing with crayons and paper the Crusaders gave to her to pass the time and while Doctor Whooves just stared disinterestedly at the ceiling, somepony cleared his throat, earning both of their attention. Standing before them was a doctor whose name tag read Dr. Aid. His intent stares at both Dinky and the Doctor confirmed who he was there for.
“Is Ditzy going to get better?” Dinky asked immediately, jumping up from her seat to look up at the white furred doctor.
Doctor Whooves had no time to feel any fears of the worst, because Dr. Aid was quick to the punch. “She has several stitches from the wounds on her back and quite a few bruises, but after we patched her up, nothing looks too severe. However, she will need to take things carefully for the next few weeks, maybe even a few months. Give her a day or two here to rest before she goes home, alright?” he advised. “We've just given her some medicine to put her to sleep so she can let her wounds settle a little, but if you want to see her, you may.”
Dinky's head bobbed quickly. She followed Dr. Aid down the white walled hallway, Doctor Whooves in the rear of them. While passing where Dinky sat to draw, several of her pictures caught his attnetion.
Every picture, the Doctor noted, had a gray coated Pegasus standing by a pale coated unicorn, and both were smiling.
However, he couldn't blame her. He hadn't even read those articles before his eyes. He had skimmed through them with scarcely a thought. All he could think about was Derpy in that emergency room, getting treatment for her severe wounds.
He shook his head and walked the rest of the way, finding Aid opening a door on the right for Dinky to enter. She nearly ran in the room, and the second she spotted an occupied bed, her face lit up.
Derpy lay in the cot, her eyes wide open—the left one gazing to her side while the other stared at the ceiling. No noticeable marks were on her besides the few bruises that still lingered on her face. When Dinky ran up to her, she did not smile. “Dinks, calm down. I got a headache, alright?” she said in a small growl.
Dinky nodded her little head and took a step back, letting Doctor Whooves stand next to her. “How are you, Derpy?” Doctor Whooves asked.
“Like I got the shit bet outta me by three ponies—what do you think I'd feel like?” Derpy grumbled, eyebrows narrowing. She groaned, rubbing a side of her body where pain burned. “Damn it, I can usually kick ass, but this is just pathetic.”
“It was three against one—you couldn't do anything about it,” he noted. There was a pause where Derpy glared at the side. He couldn't be quite sure who she was angry at, but he had an idea. He decided to end the subject for now. “So the doctors said that even when you leave, you still need to be careful doing things for a bit. And if
Though he tried his best to make his statement reasonable and calm, Derpy still frowned at the idea. As if he should have expected anything else. “I can take care of myself. I'm not some weak bitch who can't handle getting beat up,” Derpy growled under her breath, but audible enough for him to hear.
He just sighed, now able to take her temperamental statements; having been stuck with her for four days just had that effect. However, he refused to let her win her side of the argument. Her stubbornness was getting nowhere. His eyes traveled down to Dinky, solemnly smiling and watching her sister, and he got an idea.
“Well, you won't be able to take care of Dinky while you're laid up. I could watch over her for the next few days until you can come home,” the Doctor said.
The unicorn filly beamed. “That's a great idea.
Derpy grit her teeth. “Dinky can learn to take care of herself.”
“Do everything by herself?”
Derpy's hesitance spoke a million words. Then she massaged her head with another growl. “Ugh, fine.”
The Doctor nodded, but not before she asked something. “Why do you care?” Derpy asked with a grimace. Catching the earth stallion's confused expression, with an irritated groan, she added, “Why do you care about me and my sister so much?”
That stumped him. He couldn't respond immediately, because that was a really good question. He had to mull over that for a whole minute, much to Derpy's irritation. He could leave right now and let her handle herself like she wanted. She had other friends to help her and Dinky, as well, friends that knew her longer than he ever did. He still needed to find a place to stay, because he didn't want to just take the couch in Derpy's house.
“I wish I knew,” he said.
Derpy said nothing. She just glowered at him for a good few moments, wondering what the hell that meant. However, for just a second, her hardened eyes grew soft, even though it left as quickly as it came. Her face scrunched, and she turned to her side, readjusting her blankets. “Whatever...” she mumbled.
A nurse with light fur popped her green maned head into the room, then stepped in, glancing at the Doctor. “If you don't mind, our visiting hours are over. She's had an exhausting time, so needs her rest, as do you two. You can come back tomorrow, if you want,” advised the nurse in a sweet tone.
The two other ponies nodded. Dinky peeked up at Derpy, who had already fallen to sleep, her chest heaving lightly. She smiled at her sister and said, “Get better, Ditzy.” She kissed her cheek and walked away.
The Doctor stared at Derpy, whose face for once looked peaceful while in sleep's deep trace. He couldn't help but feel something pull his mouth up into a smile. His hoof lingered on hers for a few extra seconds before he left the room.
Dinky watched the whole thing by the doorway. When he joined her in walking down the hallway, she asked, “You alright, Doctor? You look... funny.”
He couldn't imagine how he looked that seemed funny, though he certainly felt his cheeks burn. “I-I'm fine, Dinky.” He cleared his throat to compose himself. “Let's go home. She'll be fine soon. I know it.”
It took several days, but finally, the Doctor was informed that Derpy could be taken out, and that the doctors preferred that somepony help her home. Even though she did not know this, she did not rage when Doctor Whooves arrived to pick her up while Dinky was at school.
However, that doesn't mean she accepted it so easily. "It's not like I'm crippled. I don't need a damn guide to take me home," she said to him with a snarl curling her lips down.
They had already gone outside, and the only reason Derpy accepted the Doctor getting her out was because she hated the hospital and wanted more than anything to leave. However, even as she walked toward her house with him at her side, she detested the idea.
Stitches and wraps covered her back, with only small red spots of blood remaining from several days ago. Away from the wrappings, her wings were still out in the open as they walked to her place. Could she still fly? He couldn't be certain.
Other than the bandages on her back and a few remaining bruises, it looked as if she had barely been touched. Her eyes still burned with a temper of a manticore, an aura of irritation about her. She still looked like she would beat up anypony who messed with her, and he wouldn't be surprised that, as soon as they got home, she'd head to her bedroom for a smoke.
"They just want to make sure you get home alright. I'm just doing what they thought best," he tried to explain. While she tried to brave off her wounds, he doubted she could walk straight with ease and without feeling any sort of pain.
Sure enough, she sucked in a breath as a stab of pain dug into her back. She had to stop altogether to take a deep breath. Though her house was now in plain sight, that would have to wait a bit.
"Where does it still hurt? Your back?" he guessed, reaching out a hoof just in case.
She raised her own to stop his. "I'm fine... Damn it, I hope those three rot in hell."
He didn't need to know the names to know who she was talking about, or where they were now. He stared at her with a somber look and said, "Well, right now, they are in prison for beating you up so horribly, so you don't need to worry about them."
“Good,” she said with a glower in the direction of the library where the scene unfolded. They continue walking at a slow pace, slow for Derpy's sake.
"We were all quite worried about you. Your sister, your friends, especially me," he said, not quite sure where especially came from—or where this new conversation began at all. At this point, he resigned on figuring out what his mind was coming up with. "But we shouldn't have," he went on, grinning. "You're a tough on, Derpy. You'll bounce back up."
Derpy nodded curtly. "Damn right. I won't let these injuries interfere with my work."
"Can you still fly? Your wings look pretty out of shape, too."
She waved a hoof to dismiss the topic, her house before their faces. “I got it handled, alright, Doc? Just let it the buck go,” she snapped in an exasperated tone.
Derpy used her keys to open the locked door, which he had locked when he left. She opened the door to her house, and she went in first, the Doctor following. He closed the door behind them with a gentle push.
Stepping in however, Derpy had already found a reason to yell out at him.
"Hey! If you plan on staying here for a few days, the least you can do is clean your damn dishes," shouted Derpy with an angry gesture at the kitchen.
The Doctor remembered breakfast, wincing as he recalled taking Dinky to school. They had gotten up late, so he hadn't thought to get the dishes done. He would have done them as soon as he got back, but he was told Derpy could get out soon, so he had completely forgotten about the kitchen. Noting Derpy's irritation, he told himself to never to that again.
But then something else came to him, his ears flickering into the air. "Pardon?" Did she just say...
Staying here...
"I didn't speak a foreign language, did I, Doc?" Derpy remarked. Again, she pointed at the kitchen with a long grimace. "Clean up your own bucking mess."
"No, no, I-I got that. I just... did you say stay here?"
The Pegasus rolled her eyes. "Yeah, what's your point?”
"What made you change your mind, if I may ask?" the earth stallion asked.
She shrugged. "Hell if I know. I'm just trying to figure you out."
An eyebrow rose on Doctor Whooves' forehead. Of all the answers he anticipated, that was certainly not one of them. "What do you mean by that?"
"You've known me for, what, only a damn week? And you're so bucking nuts about helping me and my sister, it's almost pathetic." She let out a dark, abrupt laugh before continuing. "What's up with that, anyway?"
He smiled at her. "You and your sister took me in for the storm. I feel I should return the favor."
"Well, I hope your worth the extra weight in this house, cause if not," Derpy added, eyebrows narrowed, "I can easily kick your ass out of here. Got it?"
Much to Derpy's anger, the Doctor chuckled, long used to her threats—which shouldn't have been done with as much ease as he did. "That's fair enough.”
Their eyes locked for the shortest second, blue irises meeting gold. Nothing was said, and their expressions were hard to distinguish. They were both interrupted by a door opening, revealing behind it a small unicorn filly.
The filly jumped upon seeing Derpy, running up to her and hugging her. "Ditzy!"
Derpy grinned with a low chuckle at Dinky as she slipped her sister from a surprisingly tight grasp. She took a few steps back. She smirked. "I'm heading upstairs. There's no smoking in the hospital, so I have been craving something to smoke for a while.” She disappeared upstairs, leaving her sister and Doctor Whooves to themselves.
They both just smiled at each other.
*****
Derpy opened her golden eyes and yawned, moving the blue bed sheets and comforter she had on her body away from her. She grunted from a small pain in her side as she took a deep breath and exhaled out, looking at the tan colored clock that was suspended on the wall to her right. Seeing that was already one o’ clock p.m., she gritted her teeth and blinked.
With another yawn, she got up from the bed and by habit, grabbed a cigarette that lay on her brown oak nightstand to her right. Using her tail to grab a match, she lit it as well as the tip of her smoke. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled out her nose. With a sigh, she planted her four hooves onto her wooden floor and trotted towards her bedroom door.
She went into her bathroom and brushed her mane with a red brush with her tail, promising to brush her teeth later tonight. She went and urinated in the toilet before flushing it down with a hoof, washing her hooves and trotted out the bathroom. All the while, she still smoked her cigarette.
Walking down the stairs, Derpy saw Dinky and the Doctor praying over their breakfast. With a roll of her eyes, she trotted towards the fridge and, with her right wing, took out a carton of orange juice, which she drank without hesitation as the two finished with their prayer and looked at the older mare. She burped loudly, put the carton back and walked over to where her sister and guest sat.
She saw the Doctor had made cinnamon pancakes with blueberry syrup. She smiled, impressed that he could cook well. She took one last drag of her cigarette she had in her tail before putting it out on the green ashtray in front of her. She dug into her food, ignoring the Doctor’s angered glare and Dinky’s small frown as they quietly ate as well.
While they ate, Dinky kept having a smile on her snout, annoying Derpy to no end. She looked at her sister, her right eye set in a glare as her left went upwards.
“What, why are you so happy, Dinks? It’s just a normal day. Shouldn't you be in school?” she growled.
Dinky frowned, her eyes looking as if they were about to tear up. “You’re right, Ditzy. It’s Friday, but... you always let me have a day off of school on my birthday,” she whispered, earning widened eyes from her sister.
She almost spat out the orange juice the Doctor had given her. She had forgotten it was her little sister’s thirteen birthday; what kind of sister was she?
“Shit,” Derpy hissed to herself, mentally slapping herself in the face. She had never forgotten Dinky’s birthday, not once. Maybe she had been too absorbed in her own problems, especially with the pain she had been in, that her mind had slipped from one of the most important days of Dinky’s life.
The silence was so awkward not even a dragon destroying the house could snap them from it. Derpy rubbed her forehead with a hoof, having no clue what to say. The Doctor cleared his throat, not wanting for Dinky to cry or Derpy to snap at him.
“I… I think that it would be best if you would go upstairs, so your sister and I could talk about your party this afternoon, Dinks,” he said with a smile.
The filly’s face light up in surprise. “I’m getting a party?” she asked in a loud squeal, making the Doctor laugh and nod. She hugged both him and her sister, and without a word, ran up to her room.
Derpy sighed, glaring at him, a stare he was used to by now, even though it did unnerve him a bit still. “Great for telling her shit that may not even happen, Doc,” she spat.
The Doctor merely rolled his eyes. “Derpy, it’s perfectly understandable that you would not remember after you were horribly injured as you were-”
“Are you calling me weak, cherry boy? I’ll kick your ass right now to prove that I’m not-”
“You’re missing my point, Derpy. With everything that has been going on with you, it’s no wonder you forgot your sister’s birthday. Luckily for you, I took a few extra steps to ensure things would go smoothly, planned with the help of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, of course. Though for some strange reason, Rarity also insisted she help with the plan. The party will be today at four, as far as I know. I got-”
“You remembered not to get anything with coconut, right? Dinks is allergic to coconut. Her face swells up like an angry, red balloon. Damn, one time-”
“Derpy, focus alright? This is important. We need to get the party set up, and we can’t have Dinky finding out too soon about her surprise party, so I need you to stall her until it’s time. When I go up the stairs and say, “It’s a nice day out,” that will be your cue to bring her out, alright?” he advised.
Derpy smirked, a dark, evil smirk as though she had leverage over the stallion. “Stall her, huh? Hmmm… fine, I guess I can do that. Damn, you really thought ahead with this shit, hun Doc? How did you know it was my sister’s birthday anyway?”
“She said it ten times this week,” he deadpanned.
She facehoofed and sighed loudly. “Of course she did. Alright, I’ll do what I can, but no promises. Dinky can get really sneaky when she wants to; I taught her well,” Derpy bragged puffing put her chest a little as the Doctor facehoofed himself this time.
With that, the two parted ways, the Doctor to get the party set up while as Derpy went up the stairs. She was surprised the Doctor was really helping her sister out with something that really did not concerned him.
Maybe I really had misjudged the poor bastard. Never had a stallion help us out like he did. Could he honestly care about the two of us? If so… it’s kind of nice to be taken care of so well, not that I can’t do shit myself, she thought with a small smile before going into Dinky’s room and knocking on the door.
“Just a second,” Dinky yelled.
Derpy rolled her eyes and barged in, not caring what her little sister said. She saw the filly on her bed with her hind legs spread and her left hoof in between them. She yelped and quickly covered herself up with her red blanket.
“I said just a second Ditzy. What the buck?!” she shouted, her eyes narrowed in anger.
Derpy blinked in shock before a dark grin formed on her muzzle. “Well, well, well, so little Miss Prayer is not as innocent as I thought… of course, you’re old enough to have a bit of… fun.” She laughed as Dinky blushed, not making eye contact with her.
“So….who's the colt?” she asked before trotting into the room, closing the door behind her with a hoof.
Dinky looking at her older sibling in surprise. “Y…you mean you’re not shocked or surprised or embarrassed-”
“Girl, please, I've been doing the same thing when I was your age. There is not nothing in my life I have not seen or done,” she replied with a wink. She sat on the edge of Dinky’s bed, ignoring the smell of the younger mare’s odor.
“I… I would have thought-”
“Dinks, I’m your sister, not your mother. It’s natural for fillies your age to have…urges. So tell me again; who’s the colt? And how long you been doing this?” She smirked.
Dinky sighed. “It…I've been only doing it for a week, when I’m really… pent up,” she said embarrassingly. Derpy nodded, a bored expression on her face as she waited for Dinky to continue. “And the colt is…well, Rumble,” she whispered.
Derpy blinked in surprise. “Ah… Thunderlane’s brother. Can’t deny that their family is hard not to want to tackle to the ground and-”
“I’m not going to Tartarus for this… am I, Derpy?” Dinky interrupted, not wanting to know more about Derpy’s sexual experience for a lifetime.
Derpy only sighed loudly. She scowled, knowing how into church and prayer her little sister was, but having no clue how to answer, not giving a damn about Dinky’s Gods.
“I’m sure it’s nothing that can’t be forgiven, little sis. Long as you don’t travel down the darker path like I did, I think… the Gods will forgive you. Just, you know, keep your door lock when you need to… relieve stress and then pray for forgiveness afterwards. I’m sure even the Gods had to get rid of sexual tension,” Derpy answered as Dinky blushed.
There was an awkward silence between the two before Dinky asked what was on her mind.
“Would you… would you pray with me, to get rid of this guilt weighting on my soul?” she asked.
Derpy scowled. “You know me Dinks. I don’t do prayer, but if you want, I can give you the talk of the birds and the bees again,” she snickered.
Dinky shook her head and chuckled. “No, no I’m good. Last time you said that to me, I was seven and you ended it with, “And then the bird ripped the bee’s body in half with her beak.” How was that supposed to help me again?” she giggled, to which Derpy rolled her eyes.
“Kept you from getting into the more dirty stuff, that’s for sure. So yeah, do your thing. I’ll be right here waiting,” she said with a grin.
Dinky frowned, but then nodded and put her forehooves together before bowing her head and praying… loudly.
“Dear Celestia, I have sinned. I am sorry my Princess for performing an act that is not right in your eyes and I ask that you forgive me. My body is reacting in a way that is now unusual to me, and I pray that you please keep me from doing so again. And if it does happen and I have no control, I ask that you please forgive me and see your humble servant before you, serving you and the Gods until the day I die. Thank you, my lady. May the Gods forgive me, amen,” she ended, her face set in content. She sighed loudly and smiled at her sister, who only frowned.
Silence was all that the room held as Derpy took a deep breath with a loud huff. She wanted a smoke but was not sure if she wanted her sister’s room to have the odor her own room always held.
“It’s ok, I don’t mind if you smoke. My body has gotten used to the smell ever since I was seven. I don’t mind,” Dinky told her quietly.
Derpy smirked and nodded before getting a cigarette from her left ear. She held it in and a match from her right as she lit the match on her side, igniting the tip and inhaling a large lungful of the nicotine before exhaling it out of her mouth with a loud breath of relief.
Dinky looked at the cigarette in her sister’s mouth as if she had never seen it before. After a moment, she asked quietly. “Can... can I have a drag?”
Derpy shook her head. “One sin at a time, little mare. Clopping every once in a while I don’t care about, but this… nah. This I don’t want you to try… ever,” Derpy stated firmly.
Dinky nodded her head quickly, a bit afraid of her older sister.
“I don’t want you to be like me, Dinks. I have been through so much shit in my life that it’s not even funny. I had my first smoke when I was your age. Got into drugs when I was fifteen and became a complete and total mess when I was seventeen. Uncontrollable, untamed and just… heh, just a monster really. You knew that mom was always the one to go to church and take you along, while dad always stayed at the house and drank. Guess which life I chose? To be honest, as much as it annoys me, I’m glad you chose mom’s path. It makes you the more innocent of the two of us. So if I ever catch you drinking from my alcohol or trying to have a drag of my smokes, I’ll break your horn off with my bare hooves, got it?” she growled.
Dinky’s eyes widen and she nodded her head rapidly, knowing that Derpy was not joking. “So um… where is the Doctor?” she asked in a lower tone.
Derpy took another drag of her smoke and blew it out her nose with a shrug. “How should I know? I’m not his bucking babysitter. He can do whatever he wants for all I care long as he does not bring a mare into my house and sleep with her on my couch, otherwise I’ll snap both their necks and use them for firewood.” She replied with a grin as Dinky rolled her eyes.
“You know that tough mare act does not work on me, right?” she said.
Derpy snorted. “Damn, thought it would for a little while. Oh well.” She laughed making Dinky smile.
Then her face fell. “Ditzy, why is it when we visit mom and dad’s grave, you only talk to mom and put a white rose on her grave?” she wondered aloud, earning a scowl from her sister.
She inhaled another drag before exhaling it out her mouth. “Because mom was the only one in our family I loved, Dinks. Thought you would have known that by now,” Derpy answered.
Dinky blinked before speaking, ignoring the smoke that Derpy had accidentally blown her way. “But Pastor Heartstrings always said that we are to love our family and friends, and forgive them for any wrong doing they may have done as the Gods will and forgive and love us, for we may-”
“Dinks, first of all, tell Lyra to cram it where the sun doesn’t shine. Second, I would never forgive dad for the shit he has done to any of us. He does not deserve it. You’re too young to know it, and with you, you’ll just look at all the good he has done for you, but he was a monster, a brute, nothing more than a piece of trash… and I became just like him growing up,” she whispered so quietly that Dinky almost did not hear her.
“That’s not true. You’re honest… a little too honest. And you’re caring, when you want to be, and-”
“Dinky, stop while you’re ahead. Let’s just….agree to disagree, ok?” she cut her off.
Dinky was quite for a few seconds before she nodded.
With a sigh, Derpy put out her cigarette in her hoof, wincing at the pain before she threw it away in her sister’s green trashcan, ignoring the many Wonderbolts posters all over her room, covering her blue wallpaper that had clouds all over. She looked at the cloak suspended above her wall to the left, seeing that the green clock read three thirty. She chuckled.
“Alright, bonding time is over, Little Muffin. Go take a shower, then head down stairs. Think the Doctor might have come back from his trip now,” Derpy said.
Dinky only nodded, removing her covers and turning to get off the bed, being sure to grab a tan colored towel. Derpy got up from her bed and trotted towards the door before stopping.
“And Dinky,” she called out, causing the filly to turn her head and look at her, confused. “Happy birthday.” She left the unicorn to herself.
Dinky blinked, tears in the corner of her eyes as she said softly. “She hasn't called me Little Muffin since I was seven.”
As Dinky went to take her shower, Derpy trotted down the stairs and scowled seeing all the guest in her house. This included Dinky’s best friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, as well as their sisters—or idol—and Rumble’s brother, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Thunderlane. Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Lyra with her wife, Bon-Bon, and several more guest were with them as well as Dinky’s teacher, Miss Cheerlie with her coltfriend, Big Macintosh.
Derpy narrowed her eyes upon seeing Rarity and Lyra. She hated Rarity; she thought she was a bitch who flirted with every stallion in town and had her nose so deep up her own ass that she could not see pass her selfishness. However, she calmed a bit as she saw Fluttershy softly wrap an arm around the mare and knew that as much as she did not like her, for Fluttershy’s sake, she could tolerate her… unless she did something to hurt the mare. Then she would tear her horn off and shove it so far down her throat she would shit out blood. The thought made Derpy smile. She was about to think another dark thought for Lyra Heartstrings, but her mental picture was cut off as she saw the Doctor trot up to her with a large smile.
“Hey, thank you very much for keeping Dinky distracted while I got everything set up. It means a lot to me… so where is the birthday girl? And thought I told you to wait until I came up,” he asked with a chuckle.
Derpy explained that she was taking a shower and that she did tell him no promises.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What for? Didn’t she take one this morning?” he asked, making Derpy chuckle, saying not to worry about it.
As the Doctor blinked and nodded, Carrot Top trotted towards the two and smiled at Derpy. “Oh, it’s so good to see little Dinky be a teenager. She’s going to have a bit of a struggle with growing up, but we will be there every hoofstep of the way, right Derpy?” she said as Derpy rolled her eyes and merely grunted, causing Carrot Top to frown but not speak.
The Doctor ushered the two to their hiding spots. Derpy was about to punch the Doctor in the face for touching her flank with his head when she heard her sister trot down the steps slowly and hid.
Just as Dinky reached the last step and asked where Derpy was, they all came out yelling surprise, causing the filly to jump in fright.
Derpy had a large grin on her face seeing her little sister jump for joy as she spotted her friends and everypony she knew, going towards her fellow Crusaders and hugging them. She blushed when Rumble hugged her, making Derpy smirk.
“And just to let you know, there is no alcohol in the party,” the Doctor muttered.
She rolled her eyes before punching him in the left shoulder with a hoof. “Don’t need it, Doc… but if you tell me I can’t smoke in my own house, I’ll throw you off a cliff,” she sneered, making him chuckle.
“Jeez, thanks, that’s how I always wanted to die,” he replied.
Derpy smiled before looking and seeing her sister have the time of her life with those she cared about, dancing with her friends and chatting with fellow reliable ponies making her sigh, ignoring the ponies who tried to chat with her before going out the back down to her house, making sure to grab her a cigarette and a single match. The Doctor followed her out.
“You know, you really outdid yourself, Doc. I’m impressed… thank you,” Derpy murmured and looked at the clouds in the blue sky above her.
The Doctor smiled. “Anytime, Derpy. I’m just helping a fellow friend out… I would have done the same for you,” he answered.
Derpy rolled her eyes. Then, turning her head to the right, she gave his cheek a soft kiss, making him blink in shock and surprise. She smirked, lighting a cigarette and inhaling deeply, watching as he held a hoof to his face and smiled.
“What….what was that-?”
“Don’t play stupid, Doctor Whooves. You know what it was for… guess you can say you deserve it… and you’re not so bad looking,” she answered, still with a somewhat snappish tone.
He grinned and quietly wrapped his left arm around her, making her freeze in shock before slowly leaning into the embrace.
“You’re not pulling away. I’m impressed,” he whispered, receiving a chuckle from her.
“To be honest, I don’t really care. Besides, maybe it’s time I got a stallion back in my life,” she said quietly making him gasp. She sighed before punching him hard in the stomach.
He went to the ground wheezing as she rolled her eyes, inhaling the nicotine before exhaling it out her mouth.
“So I like you more than a friend and want to date you. But if you try to put a dress on me or sneak into my bed when I don’t approve of it, and I’ll throw you to the Timberwolves,” she threatened into his left ear as he coughed.
She gave him a gentle peck on his check again, turning around and walking back into the party, leaving the Doctor coughing in pain but with a smile gracing his face.
She really was not a soft, caring, gentle mare like many he knew, but that did not mean she did not care about him. Derpy was different, more than any mare he had ever met in his life, and though he might be able to persuade her to give up drinking, though knowing she would rather die than give up her cigarettes. He prayed to the Gods that maybe one day, Derpy would be the mare that would stay by his side for the rest of their days.
The Doctor got up and looked into the kitchen window to see her carrying Dinky around on her back, her cigarette still in her mouth as she laughed at something the filly said to her, which made him smile. Despite her faults, there was something about the mare that made him really want to be with her and one day, heal her heart from the sins that dwelled within her.