//------------------------------// // 5. Blossoming Friendships // Story: Address Unknown // by remedy //------------------------------// Chapter 5 – Blossoming Friendships Derpy woke with a stretch and a rather wide yawn. She blinked out the sleepy haze of a pleasantly peaceful night of sleep and swept her eyes around her room. The bleary letters of her charts glared back at her, but she paid them no mind. In the morning light, her makeshift wallpaper always seemed less intimidating than at night, and she usually made no additional effort to study them when she woke. Perhaps she had always subconsciously wished that magically, when she woke, her sight would be all better, but the more likely reason was that she needed to haul herself out of bed and get ready for work. Her mind played back to her subconscious wish though, and she thought that maybe, just maybe, one of these days she would have a magical restoration of vision thanks to her violet friend. She still didn’t expect that of course, but the idea brightened her morning and made her even more eager to return to the earthbound mail center. She hopped out of her cloudy bed, sinking slightly into the wispy floor and wobbling slightly. Living on clouds was natural for pegasi, and she enjoyed the feeling of the soft cushion of fluff as much as then next pony, but the slight squishiness of their version of the ground did nothing to help her balance and coordination. She shrugged it off as usual - just another quirk of herself she had gotten used to. Trotting off to the kitchen, she made herself a breakfast of scrambled eggs. Luckily she liked eggs, and scrambling things came naturally with her coordination, so her morning meal of choice had become a predetermined habit more than conscious decision. Derpy thought as she slowly chewed her meal. There was a question that had been rummaging around her brain ever since she had started her job at the Ponyville Post Office. She wasn’t sure it was one she should be asking, because she wasn’t quite sure whether her new boss would be concerned or unnerved by it. She swallowed her last bite and decided that if she wanted to enjoy her new career, she would need to know the answer sooner or later, and resolved to bring it up when she started her shift. She headed toward the bathroom, looking for any bulging, grayer-than-normal clouds on the way. She found a small clumped up gray ball of fluff on the wall leading from the kitchen toward the bathroom. The mare scooped it out, smoothed the wall flat again with her hoof, and headed over into the shower. She shoved the cloud above her, took a good swing at it and missed a couple times before giving it a good hoofsmack, and washed herself off in the sudden downpour, taking care to make sure her soft wings were nice and clean before stepping out, drying off, and applying some PreenSheen oil over the feathers to make sure her flights stayed smooth for the day. She stopped and took a moment to admire herself in the mirror as she passed by, something she normally never did except for a cursory glance to make sure she was presentable. The events that had unfolded since she first met Twilight had given her a modest confidence boost, however, and she now often found herself thinking of the night they had discussed her cutie mark. She recalled and cherished the comforting words Twilight had given her, and pondered over the hope that the unicorn had instilled in her. She considered her reflection, scrutinizing every subtle nuance and detail before nodding. She couldn’t deny it. She really was beautiful – she had just never recognized it before. Interesting what you can miss about yourself when you’re not searching for it, she mused, grabbing her mailbag and hat and dropping out her door and toward Ponyville. Derpy’s flight down was uneventful, and she soon found herself settling outside the post office. She suppressed the nervous butterflies flapping in her stomach and walked in to find Post Haste in his usual spot. He noticed the sound of hoofsteps and looked up, surprised to find somepony there. It was, after all, much earlier than mailponies normally started their rounds. Derpy had come in beforehand on purpose, so she could make sure that she was able to talk to Post by herself. It was nerve-wracking enough to have to talk about her question at all, but doing it with other mailponies around would have made the experience excruciating. Post smiled and greeted her warmly. “Good morning, Derpy! I didn’t expect to see you here so soon. Are you that eager to start for the day?” “Actually, I… had a question for you, if you’re not too busy.” Derpy hesitated and looked toward the floor after noticing the concerned look that crept onto the postmaster’s face. “Of course, Derpy. Ask anything you want. I can tell something’s bothering you - is there something wrong?” “Not really, s… Post,” Derpy corrected herself before calling him ‘sir’ again. Though the change to informality should have been an easy one, it had proven to be a difficult habit for her to break. Years of humility, belittlement, and reminders of her failures had trained her that, while on duty, she was expected to address everypony with respectful titles, whether they were earned or not. He noticed her self-correction with a reassuring smile, and encouragingly nodded her on. “Nothing’s wrong, really,” she continued, but the look of fear that occasionally flirted across her face betrayed that statement. “I just… was concerned because of what problems I could cause for you, and I wanted to let you know exactly what you can expect before it happens on its own.” Post looked at her quizzically, though he suspected he knew where his recent, and quickly becoming his favorite, hire’s mind was pointing her. She sighed lightly before beginning. “I know that the accident I had with Twilight wasn’t my fault, and truthfully I’m glad it happened because it meant I could work here.” She paused, and then sighed again. “The issue that made them send me down here in the beginning, though… that was fully my fault, and there have been a lot like them in the past.” She successfully fought back her tears, but her eyes still shimmered as she spoke. “Post, I have a long history of making mistakes. So far, I’ve been doing better, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m clumsy, I’m uncoordinated, and inevitably, I cause problems. I just wanted you to know that before you keep relying on me – sooner or later I’m bound to mess something up, and you have all been so nice to me…” Derpy was beginning to be noticeably less successful at holding back a breakdown. She sniffed loudly. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t keep it from you. I want you to know what to expect if you keep me here.” Derpy resumed concentrating on the floor tiles, silence surrounding her. She expected sounds of hesitation, an “I see…," a "Hmmm…," or even something like “Well, if that’s the case…” What she did not expect was a shadow appearing across the tiles and a hoof on her shoulder. She gave a start at the touch, though it was soft, slow, tentative, and gentle. She looked up to see Post. She was struck by how much taller he seemed at the moment, and in contrast how small she felt next to him. His voice was calming, almost soothing, and she felt as though she were disconnected from reality by the sheer juxtaposition of the moment. “Derpy, I was well aware of what you’ve had happen in the past. Your previous boss,” he placed a certain cold emphasis on that last word, filled with disdain and disgust, “was more than happy to fill me in on what he called ‘your miserable failings’.” His demeanor darkened as he spoke, and Derpy felt a sense of unease creep over her at the unfamiliar sight. She had never seen such a loathsome look on anypony before, let alone with Post. “Never before have I had the displeasure of meeting such a vile creature. I want you to know, most importantly, that none of the insulting drivel that he spewed at you was true. I’m aware that you aren’t the most coordinated pony, and that you have an occasional accident.” Derpy’s head drooped lightly at that statement. His voice took a sardonic tone. “However, the abuse you were given in your employment while under his supervision was inexcusable, regardless of your occasional mishaps. I took the liberty of contacting the mayor of Cloudsdale regarding his maltreatment toward you, and she agreed that disciplinary actions were in order.” Derpy’s head perked back up, and her eyes widened in shock as Post continued. “They are currently conducting an investigation into his actions, and, ironically, now he is the one on probation.” A wry smile worked its way onto Post’s face. “I expect he’ll receive a hefty fine for discrimination toward you, as well as a demotion. The last I had heard from the mayor, she was not pleased with him, to say the least.” Post’s appearance lightened after delivering his own personal schadenfreude, and he shook his head to clear it of any lingering thoughts of malice toward his unfortunate employee’s former boss. “My apologies. I shouldn’t have digressed like that, but I thought it was information you were entitled to know.” Derpy nodded, still somewhat in shock at Post’s short outburst of anger, while he regained his train of thought. “Regardless of what you may think,” Post resumed, “Every other pony I have met has had accidents as well. Even Miss Sparkle had an accident when she literally ran over you that night. It’s just the way things are, and sometimes they can’t be helped.” Derpy looked at Post doubtfully, and he hesitated slightly before deciding to go ahead with what he was thinking of bringing up. “Derpy, have you met Mr. Zippy yet?” Derpy shook her head, her mane following the motion rather gracefully. Since she was usually one of the first mailponies to arrive in the morning, and also one of the first to finish her rounds, she hadn’t really had the chance to meet any of the other employees of the post office. “I haven’t. Should I have?” She looked toward Post as though she made a mistake simply by not knowing which pony he was talking about. Post shook his head. “He’s an elderly mailpony here. He handles mail around the outskirts of Ponyville. He… well, to put it bluntly, he delivers mail to the wrong ponies often enough.” Derpy gave a small gasp as she tried to imagine the reaction she’d get for doing something like that. “He also has an issue with his sight. Due to his age, sometimes he just can’t read the addresses as well, and when you can’t see the address, it can get delivered incorrectly. We know it happens, and it occasionally causes problems, but he is still a good mailpony and we are glad to have him helping us.” “I doubt he causes problems like I can, though,” Derpy mumbled dejectedly. Post raised an eyebrow at Derpy’s lack of confidence. If he was going to get through to her, he had to be straightforward about it. He made a mental apology to Mr. Zippy for using the experience as an example for his troubled employee. “Derpy, are you familiar with the time when Iron Will visited Ponyville?” Her eyes widened, and she nodded fervently. How could she not remember? She had attended his seminar, along with hundreds of other ponies. She could still see him hauling that poor pony up on stage from her spot hiding in the back row. She knew who it was, but right now she just couldn’t place the name… Then it hit her – a yellow mare with a pink mane, timid beyond anypony she had ever seen, and that tiny little voice… “Fluttershy! I remember now. Fluttershy was a complete terror to Ponyville for a short while following Iron Will’s seminar. But how does that relate to me causing problems?” She looked imploringly to Post for an answer. His answer did come, but not as she expected it. She anticipated some sort of detailed explanation linking everything together in order to plainly show her the point that he was trying to make. “Mr. Zippy,” Post replied simply, “delivers Miss Fluttershy’s mail.” He let that sink in to Derpy’s brain for a few moments, expecting it may take her a little while to put those pieces together. However, it didn’t take anywhere near as long as he thought it would for Derpy to figure it out, and the pegasus gasped at the realization of what had happened. “Oh Celestia, he delivered the wrong mail to her right after that, didn’t he?” Derpy whispered, a look of horror painting her face. Post nodded solemnly. “The aftermath involved a pony getting stuffed into a mailbox and, I hate to admit it, getting carted away by none other than myself.” Post dropped his head in embarrassment. Derpy sat on the floor, stunned and gawking at him. “That sounds like a pretty big mishap to me, Derpy. However, Mr. Zippy got over the incident just fine, and as you can tell he is still delivering mail for us. In fact, I think Miss Fluttershy brought him a large basket of homemade cookies and bought a large bouquet of flowers from Miss Roseluck to apologize to him. I expect those did not come at a cheap price for her, either, as I hear that Miss Roseluck’s gardening skills are second to none. “The point is, mistakes happen. They can be small, or they can be large. They can be ignored, or they can be overreacted to. It is bound to happen now and again, but things have a tendency to work out when they do. And, when they don’t work out right, I personally make sure to take care of our staff if the need arises.” Post looked at Derpy sternly yet tenderly. “If and when you make mistakes, we’ll make sure that everything works out right. Until then, I ask that you not doubt yourself. You are a wonderful mailpony, regardless of what anypony says, and I will do anything I can to help you when problems arise.” Derpy felt crimson creeping up her face before leaping forward and giving Post an enormously large hug. She reveled in the hope these ponies gave her, and she expressed a cheery, “Thanks Post! I really needed that,” before grabbing her mailbags and heading out for the day. Post smiled after her, then returned to his desk. Celestia give her the strength to regain her self-confidence wherever she can find it, he thought to himself. **************** The week flew by, and Derpy kept herself busy with her new job while trying to adapt to her new place in the earthbound town. Thankfully, she was becoming accustomed to being grounded, as the only flight she was required to make was coming and going from home. Additionally, though she didn’t know the rest of the town, she had quickly learned the homes and streets of her delivery route. Ironically, the deciphering of addresses that had hindered her in the air now gave her an almost natural advantage. She had learned early on in her career that if she was going to have any chance at keeping her job, she’d need to memorize places and paths to account for her frequent stops; now that keeping her balance in flight wasn’t a problem, those stops were much more easily managed, allowing her to accomplish her task with only a minimal amount of time spent reading envelopes before she was able to head off to the next delivery of the day. As though fate was finally working in her favor, her mood improved daily as well. Each morning began with friendly greetings from Post, and when the Golden Oaks Library gradually appeared around the corner she could feel her excitement rise. She looked forward to seeing Twilight, even if only for a few minutes before she had to continue on, and the unicorn seemed to be in eternal good spirits whenever Derpy dropped by. Additionally in her benefit was the fact that there was almost always a delivery of some kind for Twilight. Books and supplies seemed on constant order for the library, and Derpy found herself amused at the amount of supplies Twilight used, considering that Spike always seemed to be on shopping errands for the unicorn as well. The weekend was coming quickly enough, speedily bringing with it the excitement of her grand tour of Ponyville. She had been comforted earlier in the week by Twilight, and she had even had the chance to stay at the library for lunch the afternoon before. Her mailbag had been unusually light that day, and the extra time that her decreased workload gave her had been much appreciated. It was nothing fancy, of course, but it gave her more time to spend with the librarian, and she cherished every moment. The idea of a tour, however, both thrilled and frightened her. All of her previous time spent with Twilight had been in the privacy of the library, and for that she was grateful. Over time she had learned to filter out and unconsciously ignore most of the strange looks that ponies gave her. Unfortunately, though she no longer noticed ponies glancing at her with apprehensive expressions, she knew that her reputation had preceded her, and the social stigma surrounding her had no doubt come with it. She was finally going to get to spend time in public with her first friend, and it was a source of great pride to be able to feel just a small amount like a more normal mare, but at the same time, she feared how that attention would reflect on Twilight. The last thing she wanted to do was turn Twilight into a social outcast through association. Derpy gave a large sigh at the thought as she neared the library, knowing that she would at least need to let the unicorn know what she may be getting herself into by being seen wandering the streets together. She stopped, pausing for a moment as the thought of turning tail and running home flitted through her mind before she violently shook it away. She wanted a tour of Ponyville, but even more so, she wanted to spend time with her friend. Sweet Celestia, how she wanted to spend more time with Twilight. Her pulse quickened at the thought, and before her nerves could get the better of her, she raised her hoof and knocked rapidly, frightening herself with how loud the echoing sound became as she struck the wooden door. A purple glow surrounded the doorknob, turning it and swinging it open as Twilight called, “Come on in!” Twilight was sitting across the room, and it was obvious she had been startled out of study by the knock at the door. She quickly hopped down from her seat, setting her quill down and giving Derpy an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Derpy, I got so caught up in my research that I lost track of the time…” She managed a smile, though it did little to hide the embarrassment covering her face. “I guess I just get so busy with my reports to the Princess that hours seem like minutes.” Twilight’s demeanor lightened as Derpy, obviously still not accustomed to being welcomed so openly, wandered slowly inside. “I can’t wait to head out for a while, though.” Derpy looked at the floor, dragging her hoof along the ground for a moment before she could voice what she knew she needed to. “Are you sure you want to go out with me today? For the tour, I mean.” Her face reddened as she blurted out the addendum to her statement, realizing how it must have sounded. She received a confused look from Twilight in response. “Of course! I mean, why wouldn’t I want to take a walk around Ponyville with you?” “Well…” Derpy hesitated, trying to articulate exactly how she felt without ruining her chance at building her friendship with the unicorn. “Most ponies… don’t really like me. I don’t want to make you look bad in front of the whole town.” Twilight took a moment to digest what Derpy was saying before giving her a stern stare in response. “Derpy, listen to me, and don’t ever let yourself forget what I’m about to say. I don’t want you to think, ever, not even for a moment, that I would be embarrassed by you. If I was so concerned about my image that I’d avoid being seen with you, then I wouldn’t be your friend in any sense of the word.” She took Derpy by the chin, pulling the pegasus’ muzzle inches from her own and staring deeply into Derpy’s misaligned amber eyes. “I meant every word that I said to you, Derpy. You are my friend. I am not going to throw away something so important because some random judgmental ponies out there think it’s strange that I like you.” Derpy gaped back, slack-jawed and unable to form any sort of coherent response. The forcefulness and conviction in Twilight’s voice penetrated her to the core, filling her with a mixture of emotions that she had never felt before. She stood immobilized, transfixed by Twilight’s eyes, which were still locked on her own. Time slowed and came to a halt. Her face felt as if it were on fire, her stomach churned, her hooves felt weak, and her coat dampened as she broke out in a nervous sweat. She could feel Twilight’s breath across her muzzle as the unicorn appeared to wait for her response, and the warm drift of air seemed oddly calming and welcome. Derpy gulped anxiously, and the moment evaporated instantly as time resumed its normal course. Twilight’s face lightened, and she gave Derpy a heartfelt smile as she stepped back from the pegasus and trotted around her toward the door. She threw a casual grin over her shoulder at the still dumbfounded mare. “So, are you ready to go on that tour, then?” Derpy nodded, turned, and followed Twilight mutely. Her mind was overwhelmed; she felt elated with how strongly Twilight valued her friendship, but confused at the emotions coursing through her. She almost ran into Twilight’s backside, unaware that the unicorn had stopped and was now smirking at her. Twilight gave her a wink as Derpy's thoughts returned to reality. “I’ll take that as a yes. And you can close your mouth now, by the way.” **************** The oddly matched pair wandered down the side streets of Ponyville, enjoying each other’s company as they moved from stop to stop and chatted casually along the way, though neither pony was truthfully focused on the conversation at hoof. Derpy, throughout their walk, had been paying much more attention to where exactly they were going and what lay at each destination, committing as much of Ponyville’s layout to memory as possible. Though Twilight was not able to point out many individual ponies’ homes specifically, Derpy was still able to note enough street names and businesses located in their vicinity to mentally map the majority of the town. Twilight had taken Derpy to all the major stores that she could think of, as well as all of the homes of her other friends. At the pegasus’ request, though, Twilight had merely pointed out those buildings rather than actually stopping to chat with any of them. Derpy was obviously still self-conscious about reflecting poorly on Twilight’s social status, and displayed noticeable discomfort at the thought of actively meeting all of Twilight’s best friends so quickly. Although Twilight would have preferred to introduce her around, she respected the reservations of the pegasus and the couple moved on with their exploration of the town. Derpy continually noticed the turned heads and awkward glances that she was receiving throughout the tour; her ability to ignore the reactions of others had been counteracted by the fact that somepony else was voluntarily accompanying her. Though Twilight had reassured her beforehand, every look seemed to cause Derpy’s stature to shrink and her confidence to dwindle. More than once Twilight caught Derpy attempting to shield her face with a wing if anypony ventured so close as to exchange pleasantries. It was plain to see that it would take some time for both Derpy to become comfortable, and for the majority of Ponyville to accept her more openly. Twilight’s attention, on the other hoof, had been split between remembering where they were going and watching the townsponies with trepidation as many gawked and gossiped at the strange duo traveling amongst them. She knew that she cared little about her personal image - she was well-respected enough to be able to withstand idle gossip - but Derpy’s image was fractured enough as it was. Her resolution to protect the poor pony from misery was reinforced, and she readied herself to defend the mailpony in the possible event of verbal assaults. It was this specific resolve that became fortuitous much earlier than Twilight would have liked. Behind and above them, a cheery, yet cocky, voice rang out as it dropped from the sky. “Hey, Twi! What'cha up to today? Last I checked, there weren’t any egghead-type stores out –” Rainbow Dash's teasing words abruptly died off in her throat as she realized that Twilight wasn’t alone. She swooped down to land in front of Twilight, and her jovial manner dissipated as she noticed the other mare quickly looking away in an effort to hide behind her mane. Dash cocked her head to one side, her prismatic mane sweeping along with the gesture as she tried to catch a glimpse of the pony who was now obviously hiding from her. Rather than wander around, trying to get a good face-to-face introduction with Twilight’s mystery guest, Rainbow Dash simply threw a glance to the mare’s flank. Cutie marks were useful that way; they had a tendency to stand out like name badges, proudly announcing, ‘Hi! My name is…’ Derpy Hooves. Rainbow Dash froze as the name floated into her mind, matching the bubbly cutie mark with the pony to whom it belonged. Her suspended animation lasted only moments, however, as she quickly recovered in order to cast a paranoid and frantic gaze around for lightning clouds or falling rubble. As no disasters were pending as far as Rainbow Dash could see, her attention returned to Twilight. “Twilight, what in Equestria are you doing wandering around with Derpy?” Though her voice wasn’t exactly hostile toward Derpy, it had certainly lost its good-humored quality, and bordered on accusatory inquisition rather than mere curious questioning. Rainbow Dash’s reaction to her presence came as no surprise to Derpy. It was an understatement to say that she had never gotten along well with Rainbow Dash, though not from any lack of effort on her part. Ever since foalhood, Derpy had tried desperately to gain some level of acceptance with anypony she could, but despite all her efforts, she had never been successful. Twilight, however, had no idea as to the sort of past her two friends shared, and as she looked back and forth between the two mares, her voice and face reflected confusion at Rainbow Dash’s abrupt shift in both attitude and tone. She responded slowly, not entirely sure what could have caused her friends’ reactions. “Well, Derpy is fairly new to most of Ponyville, and since she is starting a job at the Ponyville Postal Service, I thought it would be nice for her to have a friend show her around town.” She frowned slightly at Rainbow Dash’s contorted expression in response to her explanation. “A friend?” Rainbow Dash remarked incredulously, and a sardonic scoff punctuated the end of her statement. “Twilight, you can’t seriously be thinking about hanging around with Derpy.” She shifted her gaze to Derpy, who was obviously uncomfortable enough without being talked about as though she wasn’t there. “No offense, Derpy, it’s just… you know… weird,” Rainbow Dash said, her attitude of indifference to the pegasus emphasized by the flat affect in her phony attempt at an apology. Twilight’s demeanor shifted at the affront aimed at her new friend, her face flushing and her brow creasing in frustrated irritation. “I’m not thinking about being her friend,” she breathed hotly, “I am her friend. Rainbow Dash, I don’t know what problems you could possibly have with Derpy, but you know that making friends is something I value highly, and Derpy is one of those friends. Everypony deserves to have friends, and she’s no different than anypony else. I would expect that you of all ponies, as an Element of Harmony, should understand that, and would give her a little more consideration and respect.” Rainbow Dash looked back to Twilight, shifting her gaze from Derpy and feeling disarmed by the rebuke. “But, I mean, you know what kind of stuff happens around Derpy, right? I mean, you’d need a Pinkie Sense of your own to avoid getting smashed, or blown up, or something…” Her eyes returned shiftily to the skies and surrounding areas, as though a catastrophe was imminent. Twilight’s temper flared, and an icy calm infused her voice. “I seem to recall plenty of times where you’ve been an accident waiting to happen, Rainbow Dash. If my memory is correct, the first day we met, you plowed me into a mud puddle, drenched me with a raincloud, turned my mane and tail into a frizzy mess, and laughed at me the entire time. Don’t even get me started on how many times you’ve destroyed my library. And, regardless of that, I’m still your friend. I hope you can think about that for a bit and next time at least be a little more civil.” Twilight poked Rainbow Dash in the chest with a hoof at the end of her lecture in order to emphasize her point. Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, mouth slowly opening, then closing, as if she were trying to find a witty retort or clever remark, and then deciding not to push her luck with each one. Finally she gave up the internal struggle, and, in the interest of not getting into a fight with Twilight, she settled for an annoyed response. “Alright then. Sorry. I’ll be on my way. You two have fun, then.” Without waiting for more lectures from Twilight, and eager to be free of the awkwardness surrounding Derpy, Rainbow Dash turned quickly and took to the skies. She rushed off, flying as fast as she could until she was out of eyesight. Then she simply stopped and hovered in the air, shaking her head as memories of the messed up, uncoordinated, weird little gray filly flitted through her head. She gave a quick mutter to nopony in particular under her breath. “Twilight’s friends with Derpy now? You’ve got to be kidding me.” With a final shake of her head, Rainbow Dash took off again, barreling through as many clouds as she could find and dissipating them into nothingness to let out her aggravation, hoping that if she forgot about all that had just happened, the whole situation with Derpy would just dissipate as well. **************** Derpy stood unmoving next to Twilight, watching Rainbow Dash leave the impromptu face-off between friends. She was noticeably perturbed, though less about Dash’s comments and more about the fact that Twilight had just accosted one of her best friends in Derpy’s defense. The whole situation, though, had left her with an odd sense of conflict. She wanted to bask in the knowledge that she actually had a friend who would stick up for her. Twilight’s words had stirred up a mountain of emotions. However, in reality she was frightened now more than ever. She had been the cause of an altercation between best friends, and her spirits sank lower as she realized that it likely wouldn’t be the last time. Her face made its way out of the mask created by her mane, looking anxiously to Twilight. “Twilight, is this going to be okay? I don’t want to get in between you and your friends…” she pawed at the ground awkwardly. “They’re the most important ponies in your life, and I don’t want to ruin your friendships.” Twilight returned Derpy’s gaze with a gentle smile. “It’ll be fine, Derpy. If they have a problem, they’ll come around eventually. They always do, even if it doesn’t seem like they will.” She gave the pegasus another smile as another thought occurred to her; for some reason she couldn’t help but want to spend as much time with Derpy as she could, and this idea gave her a perfect opportunity to do just that. “Derpy, would you like to get together for lunch in a few weeks?” Derpy nearly needed to pick her jaw up off the ground at the question. Their current tour was the only outing she had ever been invited to, and though she was enjoying it greatly, an exploratory walk through town was hardly a social meeting. Her heart began hammering in her chest, and the awestruck and nervous feeling she had when Twilight invited her out earlier that week returned with force, lightly staining her cheeks crimson. “Lunch? I… I guess that would be fine… but…” Derpy stammered, her mouth turning dry as she searched for the right words. Her confusion at the sudden invitation was plain to see by her simple response. “Why?” Twilight shook her head with a smile. “It would be nice to go out and spend some time together for a while; I mean, being your friend doesn’t just mean I say hello to you when you stop by when you’re working.” She gave the mailmare a slight grin. “Besides, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t gotten much of a chance to research spells for your eyes yet… but my schedule will be much lighter after the next few weeks, so I can search for what I can find, and let you know how things are coming along then.” A wide smile graced Derpy’s face as the confusion washed away. Being invited out was entirely unfamiliar, but it was impossible for her to refuse Twilight’s offer. Without a thought, she nodded vigorously. “I’d love to! When and where should we go?” Twilight thought for a moment, happy that her friend had accepted her idea so enthusiastically. “How about… the third Saturday from today. Would that work?” Derpy paused for only an instant before nodding again – of course it would work; being socially isolated meant that she was free every weekend, so scheduling was never an issue for her. “That’d be great! I never really do anything on weekends, or even normal weeknights… basically, if I’m not working, I’m free.” Her smile waned slightly as she realized just how pathetic that must have sounded, but she continued on quickly. “Where should we go?” Twilight gave Derpy a teasing grin. “Anywhere you want to. You’re the new pony in town, so you pick whichever restaurant sounds good to you.” Twilight didn’t even wait for a response as she turned back to the road, hiding her mischievous smile at putting Derpy in charge. “Let’s get going, then! There’s still plenty of Ponyville to see, and I’ll show you all the restaurants in the area so you know which options you have.” Derpy almost had to break out into a full run to catch up – Twilight’s response had literally stunned her. She sidled up to Twilight, resuming their earlier chatter with a broad smile that never left her face.