Chapter Two: Derpy’s Days
Derpy woke up with a slight feeling of guilt. “I can’t believe I just left Whirl alone at the hospital…” she thought as she slumped out of bed. “I am sure he will be fine though, he knows what this change means to me. I know he will be fine.”
She got her blue uniform on and placed her hat on her head gently before strapping it on. “Peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast! Yum!” she thought as she put her saddle bag on, before heading to the kitchen to whip up her breakfast. As she took her first bite she saw Whirl’s photo album on the table and frowned. “I never thought I would feel so bad without him…” she thought as she continued to eat.
Once she was done eating she headed out to work. Her stride was confident as she walked into the post office just as dawn broke over the hills. “Good morning everypony, has anypony seen the boss?”
“He just went into his office Derpy, why do you ask?” Raindrops, a yellow pegasus with rain droplets for a cutie mark asked.
“Today is the day I get that promotion I have been wanting.” Derpy replied confidently as she strode into his office. “Morning Boxer, I need to talk to you for a moment.”
Boxer, a large gray earth pony with a package cutie mark, turned around in his chair with a smile. “What do you need Miss Ditzy Doo?” he asked kindly.
“Boxer, I have asked you to call me Derpy like everypony does, I like that name. Anyway, I have to ask you again about that promotion.” Derpy said confidently.
“Listen, Derpy, I wanted to give you that promotion but then we had to deny you because of your condition. We just feel like we would be putting too much strain on you given the circumstances, and you agreed.” Boxer explained.
“But things are different now! My eyes are better!” Derpy said happily as she walked up to his desk.
Boxer let out a sigh. “Derpy, you said that you couldn’t ever have your eyes fixed, that it was genetic.” He said a bit irritably.
“Princess Celestia herself fixed them as a favor to Whirl Wind, you know who that is?” Derpy said with a grin. “He is the pony who killed King Sombra, he is the one who is personal friends with the princesses and he is the one who is going to be my husband soon. I just want to be able to support our new family as best I can and that promotion is the only way I can do it.”
Boxer let out another sigh and put his fore hooves on his head. “Okay, I already sent in my report to the head office in Canterlot, but here is what I can do. I can put you up for review a month early; if you do well this month I can give you the promotion hooves down. However there is a risk, if you don’t do well you will be put a month behind in your overall review putting you at risk for termination.” Boxer explained sternly.
“Termination? You mean I could get fired?!” Derpy asked worriedly.
“Yes, you could get fired but it is the only way you can get this promotion.” Boxer explained.
Derpy took a moment to think about it, she was putting her whole lively hood at risk. “I’ll do it. Put me up for review.” She said nervously.
“Alright, I will start it today. Good luck Derpy.” Boxer said as he pulled out the appropriate paper work.
Derpy turned around and walked out of the office. Raindrops smiled widely. “So how did it go?” she asked excitedly.
“I am up for review as of now. If I do well I will get the promotion, if I do badly… I get fired.” Derpy said nervously.
“Fired?! You can’t get fired! If you get fired I won’t have anypony to talk to in the office before work! Are you sure that is what he said?” Raindrops asked frantically.
“It’s going to be okay, I won’t get fired. I have an ace in the hole with this promotion.” Derpy said as she put her bag up on the desk to be filled with mail.
“But what about…” Raindrops said as she leaned towards Derpy. “Your eyes?” she whispered.
“They won’t be a problem for me anymore, they are cured.” Derpy whispered back.
Raindrops just stared at her slack-jawed. Derpy picked up her mail bag and gave Raindrops a quick hug before heading out on her mail route. “I think I messed her up a bit today.” Derpy thought with a giggle.
She soon arrived at her first house and delivered the mail swiftly before heading to the next. “This is going to be the best month ever!” She thought as she ran about Ponyville delivering mail faster than she ever had.
At the end of her route she slowed down a bit to catch her breath. Not once did she have to stop to wait for her eyes to readjust and that made her smile. She trotted up to her last house, Whirl Wind’s. Her heart felt heavy as she pulled out his backed up mail. She let out a sigh as she slipped it through the mail slot on his door. “Why do I feel so bad? I am in line for a promotion! I have done so much better today than I ever had! All I can think about is him, alone in the hospital. It’s the beginning of the week and everypony is busy with work, no one will visit him. What if he feels abandoned by his friends? What if he runs away?!” she thought frantically as she ran back to the post office.
When she arrived she punched out quickly before flying as fast as she could to Ponyville’s hospital. She turned a corner and collided with somepony much bigger than her with a loud thud. There was a commotion, a clatter of metal, and Derpy found herself being pinned down by two guards. “Release her.” Princess Celesia’s voice sounded.
The two guards let her up and Derpy saw who she had collided with, Princess Celestia. Derpy bowed deeply. “I am so sorry your highness, I was in a hurry to visit Whirl Wind in the hospital and my mind has been worrying about all different kinds of things and I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and…” Derpy said frantically.
“It’s quite alright Miss Ditzy. I was heading to the hospital as well, would you care to join me?” Celestia asked with a smile.
Derpy stood back up with a nervous look on her face. “Yes your majesty.” She said as she walked up beside Princess Celestia.
“No need to be so nervous Miss Ditzy. You are not in any trouble.” Celestia said kindly.
Derpy kept her head down as they walked. “It’s not that, I am just nervous about Whirl being alone in the hospital. What if something happened while I was gone?” she asked worriedly.
“Whirl is fine. Twilight told me that she visited him earlier today. He was mostly worried about Rumble and how he will be treated in school with a black eye.” Celestia said with a giggle.
“He is really caring of foals…” Derpy said quietly. “It is a relief to know that somepony visited him; I wouldn’t want him to feel abandoned or anything.”
“I think he knows better now; although it is a possibility. These are the first friends he has had and he sure isn’t used to not having them around yet. Twilight did mention that he requested an odd book about alicorns, but I guess that could just be out of curiosity.” Celestia explained.
“Why would he need to know about alicorns?” Derpy asked in a confused tone.
“Princess Luna has informed me about Shadow Wind having a horn now. Whirl must be curious on how he did it.”
“That monster can do magic now?!” Derpy asked angrily.
“It would appear so. My sister and I have been doing some research into it and we think that King Sombra is the cause. Shadow Wind mentioned that he left the horn behind as a gift, but we didn’t know how that was possible.” Celestia responded calmly as they arrived at the hospital.
They quickly walked to Whirl’s room and the guards waited just outside. Whirl saw them walk in and smiled as he readjusted his bed to a better position for talking. “Hey, good to see you two.” He said happily. “You just missed Twilight; she was only here ten minutes ago.”
Derpy ran up to him and hugged him tightly. “Oh Whirl! Today’s work was so much fun! I did so well and if I keep it up for a month I am getting promoted!” she said happily.
Whirl was a bit winded from the hug. “That’s great dear. A promotion sound great for you.” He said happily.
“What have you learned about alicorns Whirl?” Celestia asked suddenly.
“Not much; all the book says is that you, Luna and Princess Cadance are the only three known to exist. Not much to go on.” Whirl said in a disappointed tone.
“That is all you need to know. Alicorns are a very secretive.” Celestia said calmly.
“But I need to know what I can about Shadow Wind’s new power as I can. I need to know how to fight him.” Whirl said stubbornly.
“You won’t be fighting him. You need to leave that to the military.” Celestia said sternly.
“Then where do I sign up?! I want to do my part!” Whirl said as sternly as Celestia.
“Whirl what are you saying?! You can’t just leave!” Derpy said worriedly.
“I need to stop him; this is my chance to pay back everypony I hurt during the war!” Whirl said with a frown.
“What about our wedding? What about our future?” Derpy asked sadly.
“I regret to inform you that we cannot accept you into our ranks at this time Whirl; you are too much of a liability right now.” Celestia said with her same stern voice.
“A liability?! How am I a liability?!” Whirl asked angrily. His heart monitor started to go crazy and he started to tense up.
Nurse Red Heart was at the door being blocked by the guards. “Whirl you need to calm down!” she shouted through the door frantically.
Whirl laid his head down and let out a deep breath. “I n-need to s-stop him!” he shouted in anger.
“It is not your responsibility to stop him. Please just calm down.” Derpy said sadly.
Whirl’s heart monitor started to slow down and he started to relax. “He needs to pay for what he has done…” he said weakly.
“He will dear, I promise. But you don’t need to be the one to make him pay, let the princesses take over from here. You have done your part.” Derpy said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Ditzy is right Whirl, you have done enough for Equestria. Take care of your own life now; do not worry about Shadow Wind.” Celestia said calmly.
“How can I not worry about him? He ruined everypony’s life…” Whirl said with a weaker voice.
“And he will face justice for it. We will find him.” Celestia responded with a smile. “I must take my leave. Whirl, Ditzy, it was nice to see you again.” She said as she walked out of the room.
Nurse Red Heart walked in with a frustrated expression. “Won’t even let me see my own patient my hoof.” She said under her breath as she tended to Whirl. Whirl was a bit pale and he was breathing heavily. “Mr. Wind, I need you to take a few deep, slow breaths, okay?”
Whirl rolled over in his bed to face away from the two ponies in the room. He continued to breathe heavily and a little bit tense.
“Whirl… what’s wrong?” Derpy asked softly.
Whirl coughed a few times and pulled his blankets up to his neck. “So cold…” he said weakly as he curled up into a ball.
Nurse Red Heart put her hoof on Whirl’s forehead. “He’s freezing cold! But it is warm in here, how is this possible?” she asked worriedly as she pulled the blanket off of the other bed and draped it over Whirl.
“Shadow Wind must be somewhere cold right now… but… oh my gosh.” Derpy said as she ran out of the room. “Princess Celestia!” she called out as she ran down the hall.
Princess Celestia was boarding her carriage when Derpy ran out of the door screaming her name. “What is it Ditzy?” Celestia asked worriedly.
“Shadow Wind is heading towards the Crystal Empire! Whirl Wind is freezing cold because of him and it is summer! The only place he could be is the north!” Derpy shouted frantically.
“I will have it investigated and warn Princess Cadance. Thank you Ditzy.” Celestia said with a smile.
“Call me Derpy please, I prefer it.” Derpy said as she tried to catch her breath.
“Very well then Derpy, until we meet again.” Celestia said as she took off.
Derpy quickly went back into the hospital and into Whirl’s room. Nurse Red Heart was wrapping his head and neck with hot rags as she walked in. “We need to get him warmer before he suffers from hypothermia.” Nurse Red Heart said worriedly.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Derpy asked worriedly.
“Just stand back and let me work. Sorry I can’t have you do anything.” Nurse Red Heart said as she darted out of the room.
Derpy walked around the bed to face Whirl. “Hey, hang in there honey. The nurse is going to warm you up.”
Whirl was shuddering as he spoke. “I d-d-don’t think she can. Sh-sh-shadow Wind must be up north.” He said weakly.
“I told the princess before she left. She is going to have Princess Cadance look into it.” Derpy said as she put a hoof on his face.
“Y-y-you are warm.” Whirl said with a half-smile.
“Are the rags warm?” Derpy asked worriedly.
“N-n-no…” Whirl said as he shook his head.
Derpy rubbed his neck slowly. “Is your neck warmer?” she asked with a smile.
“Yes it is…”
Derpy nodded with a smile. Nurse Red Heart came back into the room with more warm rags. “Those aren’t working, but this is.” Derpy said as she rubbed his neck some more.
“K-k-keep going.” Whirl said with a smile.
Nurse Red Heart put the rags down. “Derpy, get in bed with him and warm him up.” She said with a blush.
“What?” Derpy asked in surprise.
“You are the only thing warming him up. It has to be one of us and I thought you would be the best choice. Think of it this way, now you can help out.” Nurse Red Heart explained.
Derpy blushed a bit but didn’t think much about it. She hopped into the bed with Whirl and snuggled up against him. “Warmer?” she asked with a smile.
Whirl let out a moan of pleasure. “Like I just sat down in a hot tub.” He said happily.
Nurse Red Heart checked his temperature. “Normal, great, now all you have to do it stay there until he can be warm on his own.”
“What?! How long will that be?” Derpy asked worriedly.
“I don’t know…” Nurse Red Heart said quietly.
“Don’t you dare stay here and miss work.” Whirl said sternly.
“But if I leave you could get hypothermia.” Derpy said softly.
“I don’t care, you can’t miss work.” Whirl said even more sternly.
“Whirl, I won’t leave you to get sick.” Derpy said sadly.
“Call Sonic Flare, he owes me one. He will take your place if he needs to.” Whirl told Derpy.
“I can inform him for you, just tell me where he lives and I will send a message.” Nurse Red Heart said with a smile.
“Just outside Ponyville’s east side next to Whim’s Rock Farm.” Whirl said calmly.
“You are telling me that Sonic will get in this bed and hold you?” Derpy said with a giggle.
“He and I are like brothers, he will do it.” Whirl explained. Nurse Red Heart giggled and trotted out of the room. “Why is this so funny?” Whirl asked with a slightly irritated voice.
“It’s just kind of funny you and Flare would be so willing to share a bed. Hey, you said you had not shared a bed with anypony before.” Derpy said skeptically.
“I haven’t, but I know Flare would do it for me if I explained it was to save my life.” Whirl explained with a chuckle.
“Oh, well that makes sense I guess.” Derpy said with a giggle.
Whirl let out a sigh of sorrow. “I just thought of something… if we ever have foals… what do I tell them about my family?” he asked sadly.
“Just tell them that they… well… tell them a story of heroics. Tell them that they fought against King Sombra in hoof to hoof combat but they couldn’t do it alone.” Derpy suggested.
“Lie to them? I am not sure I can do that.” Whirl said sadly. “What if they found out later on? Do I just tell them that they died by my hoof? Our foals will hate me…”
Derpy rubbed her hoof on Whirl’s face. “Shhh, don’t say stuff like that. If we do have foals I am sure that they would love you no matter what, you would be their father.” She said softly.
Whirl rolled over in his bed to face Derpy. Frosted tears covered parts of his face as he spoke. “I love you so much…” he said with a half-smiled.
Derpy wrapped her hooves around him and pulled them together. “I love you too. Now warm up so you can get better.” She said happily.
“Sorry you can’t be at home…” Whirl said guiltily.
Derpy let out a small laugh. “There is nowhere else I would rather be right now. I actually wanted to be here all day, but you know how work can be. I was so worried about you today.”
“I was alright, just a little restless. It’s good to have you here now though and not just because you are keeping me warm.” Whirl said with a chuckle.
“It’s just a bonus then?” Derpy asked jokingly.
“Just a bonus.” Whirl said with a yawn.
“Are you tired? It’s only three o’clock.” Derpy said as she looked at the clock.
Whirl was already asleep when Derpy turned back around to look at him. “Goodnight Whirl.” Derpy said softly as she kissed his forehead.
****
Shadow Wind was pushing through the snow the best he could as he trekked further north. A twinge of pain hit his left fore-hoof and he let out a grunt of pain. “How many shots are they going to give him?!” he thought angrily as he pushed on. The sun was setting quickly as he pushed onwards. “I won’t last much longer out here if I keep going like this… I need to find shelter...” He looked around to see if he could find a place to rest for the night. A hole in the ice stood out as he looked around. He ran as fast as he could over to it and dove down without hesitation. The hole was purely dark, but it was warmer than being out in the open.
“You don’t have to do this you know.” Whirl’s voice echoed in his mind.
“What would you know? All you know is love and caring, I was tortured and punished by the very princesses you know and love.” Shadow Wind thought as he found a place to sleep.
“Those were all lies created by your so called king.”
“Lies or not, it is all I know… I will make them pay for what they did…”
“What about what you did? You killed thousands of innocent ponies, including our parents.”
“They followed the evil of your princesses… they were threatening all I knew!”
“What if you are wrong? What if you could be redeemed? What if you could live in happiness instead of hate?”
“That part of me lies within you… I have no happiness…”
“You can have it again… If you surrender to me I can make sure you get your redemption.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“I can come alone. Just read my thoughts, you will sense no deception.”
Shadow Wind went through Whirl’s thoughts and memories. “It’s a trick. You would never willingly let me live.”
“You are me, I am you; if you were in my situation what would you do?”
“Make peace… but I am not you!”
“Think of what you could gain, a home, a purpose, a life. If you continue your plans to take over Equestria you will only find death. King Sombra had the alicorn amulet and even he lost. You are fighting a war you cannot win.”
Shadow Wind thought intensely on Whirl’s words. “Where do we meet?”
“Meet me at Zecora’s hut. I know that it is a significant turnaround for you, but you don’t want me to know exactly where you are.”
“I can’t trust that witch! We must meet somewhere else!”
“You can trust me. When we meet, Zecora will not be there I promise.”
“Very well, we shall meet in three days.”
****
Whirl opened his eyes and was met with Derpy lying in front of him. He kissed her forehead and carefully got out of bed. He disconnected himself from the heart monitor and hooked Derpy up to it so he would not cause a commotion. Looking around the room he found a piece of paper and a pencil and wrote a note for Derpy and the doctor before flying out the window and into the Everfree.
He quickly arrived at Zecora’s hut and knocked on the door. It took a while but Zecora eventually opened the door. “Whirl, what are you doing here? I did not expect you to appear.” She said sleepily.
“S-s-sorry for waking you so early in the morning Zecora, but I need to talk to you.” Whirl explained with a shudder.
“Come on inside and we will talk about what you hide.” Zecora said as she moved to let Whirl inside.
Whirl walked inside and took a seat; shivering the whole time. “Ignore me shaking, Shadow Wind is in the north right now. He will be here soon.”
“Shadow Wind is coming here? There is more to this situation than there appears. How do you know he is going to arrive? How do you know he will make it alive?” Zecora asked worriedly.
“He is as strong as I am, he will make it. I invited him to come, he can still be redeemed. But you need to follow my instructions to the letter. I need to borrow your hut while he is here and I need you not to tell anypony where I am. I also need you to leave when he gets here, he does not trust you. This will be my only chance to talk to him face to face and I need you to trust me.” Whirl explained.
Zecora poured some tea for them as she thought about Whirl’s plan. “How do you know you can trust that pony? He could just be a phony.”
“I am willing to take that risk. So what do you say? Are you willing to let me try?” Whirl asked curiously.
Zecora sipped her tea and sat down. “I am willing to let you try. I must pack now and say goodbye.”
Whirl smiled and sipped his tea. “Thank you Zecora, I think you are the only one who understands what is really going on here.”
Zecora merely smiled and went into the other room. She came back out with her cloak on and her saddle bag. “I am ready to go, I will be at Ponyville’s inn if there is more I should know.” She said as she walked out the door.
Whirl sipped his tea again as he was a bit confused on why she left with so few words. Whirl shrugged it off and laid down on a blanket on the floor. “This had better pay off… I am risking a lot.” He thought as he fell asleep again.
****
Derpy awoke with a yawn and reached out to hold Whirl. When she didn’t feel him her eyes snapped fully open and she threw the blankets off the bed. “NURSE! NURSE! WHIRL IS GONE!” she yelled frantically. Nurse Red Heart ran into the room and gasped. Derpy jumped down from the bed and saw the note on the side table next to the bed.
My dearest Derpy,
I am sorry to do this to you so close to our marriage, but there is something important I need to do. I will only be gone for a couple of weeks and I will miss you every moment I am gone. I am going to meet Shadow Wind in an undisclosed location to negotiate his surrender. If you feel inclined to inform the princesses then you may do so, but you must tell them not to interfere if this is going to work. I need you to trust me when I say that I will be safe and I will return to you as soon as I can. I love you so much.
Love,
Whirl Wind.
Derpy was crying by the time she was done reading the letter. Nurse Red Heart was searching the room still for signs of where he went. “He’s gone… What are the chances something bad will happen to him if he is not here?”
“If he stays cold like he was last night he could be dead within days. I don’t know what else to do; he didn’t leave any other trace of where he went.” Nurse Red Heart said sadly. She walked over to the door and waited for a moment. “I’ll inform the doctors and the authorities to see if we can find him…”
Derpy followed her out after grabbing her saddle bag. “I’ll… I’ll just go to work then…” she said with tears in her eyes as she left the room. Her mind was racing as she walked through the hospital, about how Whirl just left without warning, about how she couldn’t do anything about it until Sunday, about where Whirl could have gone.
When she got outside the sun was just starting to crack over the mountains. She let out a depressed sigh and started to walk towards the post office. Raindrops was waiting outside with Derpy’s mail all ready to go. “Come on Derpy, you are late!”
Derpy let out another depressed sigh and took the mail bag from Raindrops. “I know… it’s just… Whirl is gone!” she said as she broke down crying.
“What? Where did he go?” Raindrops asked worriedly.
Derpy hoofed her the letter and then started on her route crying her eyes out. Her work day went just as well as yesterday, except she couldn’t stop crying and worrying about Whirl. A couple of ponies tried to console her when they saw her crying but they didn’t help at all. The last stop she had today was Sweet Apple Acres. When she arrived she slipped the mail into the box and started to trot back to the post office.
“Hey Derpy!” Applejack shouted as she ran up to her from her barn. Derpy picked up her pace because she didn’t want to talk to anypony right now. Applejack doubled her speed and caught up to Derpy quickly. “Hey sugar cube, ah heard what happened. Is there anything ah can do to help?”
Derpy shook her head, sending tears flying off her face. “Not unless you can tell me where Whirl is…” she said sadly.
“Ah don’t know that hun, but if ah did ah would tell you in an instant.”
“I know you would…” Derpy said as she came to a halt. “Why would he do this? What could be so important that he risks his life?”
“Ah don’t know what he is up to, but have you ever seen Whirl make a bad decision?”
“Not that I can recall…”
“Sometimes ponies do things for the good of everypony, even if that means making a few ponies sad in the process. Where ever Whirl is, he is working on our behalf to keep us safe.”
“You think so?”
“I know so sugar cube. Why don’t you come on over this afternoon for some dinner? We would love ta have you.”
Derpy sniffled and smiled. “That sounds nice…” she said happily. “I need to go punch out at the post office first though.”
“Take your time; dinner should be good and ready by the time you get back.”
Derpy continued her way back to the post office with a smile, but her mind was still stuck on Whirl. “He is doing something to protect us all… he knew Princess Celestia would never let him join the military, so he left to go wage war on his own…” she thought sadly as she arrived at the post office. Raindrops ran over to her and gave her a hug.
“They’ll find him, I am sure they will.” Raindrops said as she hugged Derpy tighter.
Derpy lifted Raindrops off of her and smiled. “Thank you Raindrops, but if you hug me for much longer I will break down and start crying again.” She said softly.
Raindrops smiled and nodded. “Okay, I understand. Have a great day Derpy.” She said happily as she walked out of the post office.
Derpy quickly punched out before heading back to Sweet Apple Acres. She was greeted with a warm reception by the Apple family and they invited her in just as the sun was setting. “Thank you all for waiting for me. Sorry it took so long to get back.” Derpy said with a smile.
“That’s alright, we are happy to have ya here tonight.” Applebloom said happily.
“Yall don’t need to worry about a thing, just have a seat and we will serve ya up.” Applejack added with a smile.
Derpy walked over to the table and took a seat, right where Whirl had sat. “It kind of feels like I have been here before…” she said quietly.
Applejack smiled at Derpy’s statement. “Yall must have a very good connection with Whirl Wind, that’s where he sat when we had him over for breakfast. Hopefully we won’t have as much of a mess this time, right Applebloom?” she asked sternly.
“Hey, it was an accident! Besides, Whirl was the one who did it first.” Applebloom said in protest.
“Yes, but he didn’t make a mess with it.” Big Macintosh said with a laugh.
“Will yall stop jabberin and serve us up some grub?” Granny Smith asked as she took a seat at the table.
“Hold yer horses Granny Smith, our guest gets the first plate.” Applejack said sternly.
“Well move yer caboose, I want to eat today.” Granny Smith said with a swipe of her hoof.
Applejack brought over a tray of sandwiches. “Do yall like apple caramel sandwiches Derpy?” she asked as she sat the tray down.
“I love them, thank you.” Derpy responded as Applejack set a sandwich on her plate.
Applejack served up everypony else before setting an sandwich on her plate. “Dig in yall.” She said happily as she took a bite.
Derpy took a bite as well just as Applebloom slammed down on her plate, subsequently sending her sandwich sailing right into her face. “Applebloom, what did ah say?” Applejack said angrily.
“Whut? I need to practice if I am ever going to get my entertainment cutie mark!” Applebloom said as she tried to scrape the caramel off her face.
“Get upstairs and clean up, then get on yer homework.” Applejack said sternly.
“But what about dinner?” Applebloom asked sadly.
“Yall should have thought about that before you decided to smear it all over yer face.” Applejack said slyly
.
Derpy just let out a giggle and set her sandwich down. “Did Whirl Wind show you my trick?” she said as she slammed her hoof down on her plate. Her sandwich flew into the air and she caught it in her mouth before munching it down whole. “I was the one who showed him how to do that.”
“You did? That’s might kind of ya, Granny Smith here can do that too, can’t you Granny Smith?” Applejack asked with a smile.
“Yer darn tootin.” Granny Smith said as she slammed her hoof down on the table too. The sandwich flew directly into Applejack’s face. “Now then, you go whip up some new ones for me and Applebloom, alright?”
Applejack let out a sigh as she wiped what she could off her coat. “Sorry about all this disruptions Derpy, not the best example of a happy family.”
“Seems like you all know how to have a good time, I am having a ton of fun.” Derpy said happily as she took a sip of the cider Applejack had put on the table. “In fact, you made everything a lot happier for me.”
“How did we do that?” Applejack said sadly.
“You made me see what Whirl is fighting for; the happiness and well being of everypony.” Derpy said happily. Everypony at the table was silent as Derpy spoke.
“Well of course he is; he is a wonderfully nice pony.” Granny Smith said happily.
“You got that right Granny Smith, he is one of the nicest ponies ah have ever met.” Applejack said in agreement. “Isn’t that right Big Macintosh.”
“Eeyup.” Big Macintosh said happily.
The remainder of the evening went very well as they all talked and reminisced. Derpy went home later that night and continued her work the next day. Derpy kept her head up during the weeks that followed, doing her job with pride and diligence as Whirl would have done if he were in her horseshoes.