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// Special Someponies 
// Story: For the Love of Derpy Book 1: Smitten 
// by DrakoGlyph 
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	When I opened my eyes, I found myself floating in the air. I looked around, and I saw Thunderstorm lodged deep in the cloud he was trying to bust. I wanted to keep from laughing, and it was supremely hard. My eyes began to water as I suppressed the urges I had to even chortle at my rival.
“I do believe this means that Mrs. Storm’s class wins, by an impressive show of the swoop,” Cloud Wing said. “I think you’ve got Cloud Busting down, my young colt.” My smile only got bigger as I realized that our team had completed our task victoriously.
“Congratulations, Sky Bolt!” said Derpy, as she gave me a galloping hug. The rest of the team gave similar cheers before joining the group hug. I finally felt like I belonged to a group, not like Orchestra camp, or hoofball, or summer camp. I winced a little when I thought about summer camp.
But above all, I wanted to be in Derpy’s arms. That felt like the best place to me. It was warm, both on my body, and in my chest. There was this feeling, I still didn’t quite understand, that arose in me when Derpy was near. I never wanted to leave her embrace, but I knew I would have to. How else was I going to eat?
Thunderstorm was furious when they took him out of the cloud. He was also giving me that look as though he would set me on fire if he had the magic ability to. I chose to smile back and walk off, wing in wing with my best friends.
We met up at the Mess Hall and crowded around the round table. With trays of food, this was beginning to not fit. We consolidated the trays and merrily ate what we wanted—Derpy got the muffins, while the rest of us divided the rest of the victuals. 
“That was awesome, Sky Bolt!” North Breeze said. “I can’t believe I ever thought you weren’t cool! That was the coolest thing I have seen ever!”
“You’re pretty cool, Sky Bolt. And a great leader. I hope that you won’t forget us when you’re up in Canterlot!” Sunny Skies said.
“Me? In Canterlot?” I reply.
“That may not be the Royal Guard cutie mark,” North said, “but I can assure you, you’re going to be guarding something that’s going to be very important one day.”
“That certainly is an interesting cutie mark,” Alto said. She contemplated it some more. “I think I know a story that relates to it.”
“Oh? What are you talking about, Alto?” Derpy asked.
“There’s this story my mom used to tell me before bedtime. It begins with this little filly.
“She was alone in the world, having set out from her parents’ house. She wandered her way through Equestria, often finding herself in danger.”
“I think I’ve heard this story too,” North Breeze said, “but when I heard it, it was about a colt who set out to find his calling.”
“There are many different versions of the story,” Sunny said. “I’ve heard a few myself. But a few things remain the same in all of them. First, there is a foal who has wandered away from home. It doesn’t matter why, but they have. The second thing is that this foal was always getting into trouble. He, or she, was constantly getting bullied, or picked on, or put in situations that she could only hope to get out of with a little help. But she had run away.”
The azure filly next to Sunny spoke up, “One day, she got into a confrontation with the big mean school bully. He was about to push her, when all of a sudden, a gust of wind knocked him backward. Nopony knew who it was, or where it came from. No pony except that little mare. She had seen a pony of glowing light and a cutie mark just like that one. She called him the Guardian Pegasus.
“No pony else ever saw him, but when she was in trouble, he was always there to help her. And one day, she sought to help repay the Guardian Pegasus by doing all she could to help other ponies.” 
“That’s the most I’ve ever heard you talk in one sitting, Morning Dew.”
“I think I’ve seen the Guardian Pegasus before, when I was a really young filly.” She looked up and out the high windows in the mess hall. “I was being teased by the bullies from school, and they were about to knock me off the clouds. They didn’t mean to, but I felt this hoof, almost, pulling me back. When I turned around, all I saw was this glow.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t a unicorn’s magic?”
“Up in Pegastopolis? I don’t think that Unicorns ever go up there.”
“Maybe it was an alicorn?”
“Maybe, but again, I doubt it. It really felt like there was a hoof reaching out and grabbing for me.” She continued to look out across the sky.
“That’s a great story, Morning Dew,” Derpy said, finally knowing what her newest friend’s name was. “But what does it mean for Sky Bolt here?”
“It means he’s going to guard ponies,” North Breeze said, coming to the only logical conclusion. “I don’t know how he’ll do it yet, but I bet you it will save all of Equestria.”
It was only now that Thunderstorm walked in, alone. The others that he had on his team from Storm Wrangling were scowling at him from outside the door, trying to put distance between them and him. He gave me a glare after he got his food and sat at an empty table. He kept glowering at me as I tried to enjoy lunch, but it was no use. That upset expression from Thunderstorm kept me from even smiling. When Derpy noticed, she had to say something.
“What’s wrong, Muffin?” She gave me a questioning look.
“It’s Thunderstorm. He keeps giving me this look.”
“Well, there are just some ponies who can’t admit defeat. We just have to make sure he doesn’t come between all of us, and hope that we can make it through the rest of flight camp without further problems.”
The posse of Thunderstorm’s former followers came walking in the door. They all stopped at the table, all except Strata, who proceeded straight to Thunderstorm. Each one of them introduced themselves, gave their apologies for being so mean, then complimented us for our excellent teamwork and my awesome swoop. They then sat at the table next to ours, but all the while, giving longing glances over our way. This was especially of the older fillies, who had to have been at least Derpy’s age, which I would guess would have made them about a year older than me.
They gave me the same kinds of looks that I saw Strata give Thunderstorm earlier, the ‘come here, there’s something I want with you,’ kind of looks. I really didn’t want to find out what that something was, though.
The afternoon was free time. I suppose that was on the account that we had gone through all the various types of training that they had for us, and we were getting some time off. I went straight to cloud crafting and decided that my best friends needed some stuff. Derpy went with me over there. She was very interested in learning to cloud craft, but I was only a beginner at it myself.
“I don’t know if I can actually teach you anything, Derpy. It’s more knowing what you’re doing without really thinking about it.”
“That’s fine. I guess I can just watch you make something.” She sat down in front of me, and watched as I made a small little cloud violin. I figured Alto would love this kind of thing. It was convenient that Alto walked up when she did.
“I figured I would find you here,” Alto said as I hid the project behind my back. I wanted the reveal to be a complete surprise. She smiled. “What are you hiding behind your back?” She craned her neck either way around me. “Is it something for me?”
I couldn’t bear the suspense, and I was the one creating it. I held out the miniature violin for her. She squeed and gave me a tight hug. “I love it, Sky Bolt! You’re the best friend I’ve ever had!” Derpy smiled bright. It was clear to me that she was just as happy about making Alto happy as I was.
Together, the three of us went down to the lake, where we found North Breeze, Sunny Skies, and Morning Dew. They were all happily splashing and swimming, and beckoned us to come down and join them. As we splashed and played together, I noticed a familiar figure over by the cabin. It was Thunderstorm.
He only shot me one sharp look before entering the cabin. I really didn’t like what that look meant. He was planning something, and it wasn’t going to be pretty for me, or any of my friends. For now, though, there was nothing I could do. I was certain that Thunderstorm would avoid me if I tried to talk to him, so I would wait until the one time when he couldn’t avoid me.
I got out of the water and let the shining sun dry my coat. When I turned, I saw Derpy climbing out of the water, her mane soaked and hanging low across her face. I had never seen anything that I’d attribute with the word ‘beautiful’ quite like that moment with that mare. There was just some aspect about her that gave me this warmth inside.
And that was when it happened. My wings grew stiff and I couldn’t fold them down. I began to wonder what was wrong with them, and I could only imagine what the other foals might think if they saw them. I chose to lie back on the grass, so that my outstretched wings would appear to be just lying there, trying to soak up the sun’s rays to dry themselves.
“That looks like fun,” Derpy said. I noticed that her wings were flared up too, but she didn’t seem to notice. She gave me a cute look and lay on her back next to me. I looked over to her and I could feel something inside me as the water glistened in her golden mane. There was something in my chest that I couldn’t explain. Some feeling, some unknown sensation. With Derpy was the first time I had ever felt it, this growing feeling. Alto climbed out of the lake and lay on my other side. Her pink mane drenched and radiant as well, but it didn’t elicit the same reaction inside of me.
North Breeze was staying put in the water. I could notice his face was growing read as something stirred the water behind him. He was slightly older than me, so he must have known what this sensation was. What did it exactly mean when you can’t fold down your wings? I hoped that it wasn’t anything wrong with my wings.
“Aren’t you coming out, North Breeze?” Alto asked, looking toward the colt still in the water. There was a vehement shaking of North Breeze’s head before he sunk a little lower in the water. He seemed a little embarrassed at whatever was going on.
“What’s wrong?” Derpy asked. She raised her head, topped with shining blonde hair, to look at the green-and-scarlet foal in the lake still. She took a moment and rubbed her left wing, then returned her gaze to North.
“No, nothing’s wrong,” he said before giggling nervously. “Nothing at all.”
“Then why aren’t you coming out of the water?” Alto asked. Sunny Skies swam up behind him and bumped into something, which I supposed was his right wing. He blushed a scarlet to match his mane. Sunny Skies only blushed as she realized what was going on. I just wish somepony would explain to me why I couldn’t fold down my wings. For that matter, why was North so embarrassed about it that he wouldn’t risk exposing it to Alto, Derpy, or I, even though we all knew what was happening.
“Perhaps I… I should… yeah,” Sunny Skies said, paddling backward. She was as red as North, and she made a hasty retreat.
I never had this problem before. My wings always obeyed me when I wanted them to fold or to flap or to do something more complex. I mean, I remember seeing some of the other foals with their wings in the air back in elementary, but I never understood why they turned beet red when it did, or why they always tried to excuse themselves from class when it did happen.
My parents had told me that it was just a natural part of a Pegasus’s life. It was something that happened to all of us. They never told me what it meant or why it was so embarrassing, and I supposed I never really needed to know before, especially since it never happened to me before.
The only other time something like this even remotely happened, come to think about it, was in Derpy’s company. It was when she gave me that ‘kiss.’ My wings had risen, but they never felt this stiff, and certainly they had never disobeyed me this bad. I began to get worried. Were my wings malfunctioning? And if so, was North’s too? How could this possibly be normal for anypony?
I was broken from my anxiety when a familiar call came from the center of camp.
“Mail call! Come to the center of camp to fetch your mail!”
Oh horsefeathers! This meant that everypony in this camp would come past him with his wings like this. If it was so embarrassing for somepony like North Breeze, then it had to be something worth being embarrassed about. I tried frivolously to fold them, but they wouldn’t follow my orders. It almost hurt as I tried to put them back in place with my hooves. This was when I noticed Derpy, Alto, and North all staring at me.
“You got a problem there?” Derpy asked. I knew she hadn’t meant it in a mean or unkind way, but I grew even more embarrassed that it had happened.
“I… I don’t know.”
“It’s natural,” Alto said, reassuring me. “It’s something that happens to us all,” she said, giving a look to North Breeze. “Why, it happens to me when I look at him, and look at Derpy.” I was trying not to, as far as I could tell, it was me looking at Derpy that made them so insubordinate. I needed them to just fold down, and I could hear the impending doom of the campers trotting over to meet the Mail Pony.
“Just relax,” Derpy said. I look at her and her wings were unfolded as well. She was looking at me as her right eye wandered over to the left. “It’ll be fine, I promise.” With that I resolved to be brave about facing whatever situation that would befall me due to my wings being so… stuck.
North Breeze had stayed in the water. “You really mean what you said, Alto?” he asked nervously, “about it happening to you when you look at me?”
“Of course,” she said with a grand smile. She stood up and walked over to the lakeshore, wings rigid. “I… I kinda felt the same about you when I was with you. I just didn’t really know how to express it.” She gave a sideways glance to Derpy and I. “I mean, I thought I always wanted someone a little older, and cooler… and that one stallion with the rainbow mane… I just couldn’t help myself, I wanted to at least say hello to him.
“I just never realized until I saw Derpy and Sky Bolt together,” she said, smiling at us, “how much I really cared for you, North.” She held out a hoof to reach for him.
“I—I didn’t know… I thought I was the only one, especially after how I treated everypony.” He gave a big sigh. “It’s such a relief,” he said, coming out of the water and taking her hoof, “I figured I was loving somepony that didn’t love me back.”
“You know what this means?” Alto asked.
I was baffled. It just meant that we were all really good friends. Isn’t that what ‘love’ meant? As the parade of foals came by, I could only ponder about what Alto was trying to get at. They all assumed positions in line as down from the sky came the familiar Mail Stallion, bags laden with possibly more mail than Wednesday. He landed on the podium and began to hand out mail to the foals before him.
Derpy, unlike the last time she had seen her father, didn’t dart up to the front of the line. Instead, she wrapped a wing around me, pulled me close, and we walked to the back of the line, followed by Alto and North Breeze.
“What did you mean, Alto?” I ask as we get in line.
“It means that North is my Special Somepony, and Derpy is yours,” she said with a smile on her face. It was only now that I connected all the dots. I had never heard the terms ‘Fillyfriend’ or ‘Coltfriend’ before, and the term ‘love’ was ambiguous at best for me, but the term ‘Special Somepony’ was something I had heard since the first Hearts and Hooves day I ever remembered.
I wasn’t certain about it yet, but I was pretty secure in thinking that ‘love’ meant something to do with that holiday. It had to mean something, since I always associated somehow the word ‘love’ with a heart. 
It never occurred to me why we did that, either. When my mom wrote “I love you” on notes and stuff, she would generally make the ‘o’ in love a heart. But what did the shape have to do with the word? And how did it really make any difference at all? Why would the shape mean anything special when it came to Hearts and Hooves day? While I was on that tangent, why was it Hearts and Hooves day? What did either of them have to do with love?
I would have to write mom and dad to see if they understood it at all.
Regardless,  ‘Special Somepony’ was a mention of something deeper than friendship. I didn’t know everything about it, but I did know that it meant Derpy and I were more than friends. And that coupled with the fondness, and the use of the word ‘love’ was enough to draw my suspicion. 
Then my thoughts turned to the day that Strata pushed us together. I had only ever seen ponies that close when… I made an audible gasp.
“What is it?” Derpy asked. She was a bit taken aback by my sudden inhalation. “Is there something wrong, Muffin?”
“I think… I think I just realized something…” I said.
“Is it a bad thing?” her countenance fell a little as I finished my sentence, and a little more as I took some time to complete my thoughts.
I had only ever seen adults use the word ‘love’ to anypony that they weren’t related to. That was only because I remembered seeing somepony’s dad say ‘I love you’ to a mare that I didn’t remember seeing before then, despite seeing him at all the parent-teacher conferences. Love was reserved for something I couldn’t quite put my hoof on, but it was something big. That much I knew.
My parents certainly didn’t say it all wild and care-free. They had only a set number of ponies they ever said it to. Those were the ponies that I had spent my entire life around: mom, dad, me, and my uncle. They never said it to any other pony I had ever met.
I just wish I knew what it meant.
Derpy and I had made it to the front of the line and Mr. Doo gave her a grand smile. “How’s my little princess?” he asked.
“Very good,” she said, not bothering to hide her wings flared out wide. Her father took quick notice to all four of us, all with wings stiffly in the air. He gave us a look that mimicked a bit of embarrassment and a bit of modesty.
“Ditzy, what did I tell you about your wings doing that?” he said in a hushed tone. Derpy only gave a puzzled look as she tried to remember.  She ended up giving her father a clueless look and a shrug. “It’s not something you let show to the entire world, Ditzy. It’s a bit embarrassing.”
“Why? You walked around the house all the time when I was young with your wings like this. You always told me to be proud of your wings, and they will take care of you.”
The cheeks on Mr. Doo’s face turned bright red. His eyes nervously darted back and forth as he tried to come up with something to say.
“I… I don’t… well… that is to… Ditzy! You don’t need to show that off to the whole camp!” He fished out the mail for the four of us, handing Derpy a letter, and handing me one from my parents. North got a box of stuff and Alto retrieved a letter as well. None of us had the comfort of putting it under our wings due to their elevated state.
Not that any of us cared as we went back to the Mess Hall for dinner.