The next morning, Derpy Hooves woke up yet again to the rhythmic tapping of the lever to her mattress. She showered, shimmied, sighed, then flew her way—smiling—through the golden bands of the blossoming day.
Within an hour, she stood at the glass counter inside Sugarcube Corner. Cup Cake was trotting up and the mailmare was reaching for her bit bag—
When two familiar figures jittered in the pegasus' peripheral vision. Derpy glanced to her left in time to see the pair of young mares smiling, tittering, murmuring unknown things as they glanced mischievously her way.
Derpy softly exhaled. When she turned back towards the counter, she spotted Cup Cake frowning at the two patrons. The baker looked as though she was about to open her mouth with an angry breath—but Derpy distracted her with a gentle hoof-wave. Once she had gotten Mrs. Cake's attention, she pointed at the pastries beneath the counter, then pulled out six bits.
The two young mares continued giggling at their table. Suddenly, a petite shadow rolled across the pair. They both looked up, and their smiles instantly faded as they blinked in confusion.
Derpy stood before them, her swiveling eyes glossy as she stretched her left wing out, offering two freshly-baked muffins. A third one rested on her right wing.
The mares gawked at her, their muzzles agape. A blush lingered between them as they exchanged nervous expressions, then looked at Derpy again.
Derpy only smiled harder, nodding as she stretched the wing with the two muffins closer to the mares.
The duo exchanged glances again. Then, with meek smiles, they graciously accepted the offering. Soon, they were scooting their chairs aside, offering Derpy room.
The mare sat down, immediately nibbling on her muffin with a contented smile. She was vaguely aware of the two mares' muzzles moving, their lips a steady blur amidst the warm haze of the living, breathing world. At some point, her good eye wandered up until it fixated on one mare's braided brown mane. Swallowing a blueberry morsel down, Derpy exhaled, pointing at the hair-do with a bright grin.
The mares looked at her, then at the one pony's manestyle. Smiling playfully, they pointed at the mare's head, then at Derpy.
Derpy nodded, grinning wide.
Over the next few minutes, the two mares stood around Derpy, licking their lips as they tied her scrappy blonde mane into neat, intricate twirls. At last, after fluffing the front edges of her bangs, they stood back with proud smirks. One mare even raised a hoof-mirror towards the pegasus, pronouncing a string of unintelligible words.
Intensely curious, Derpy simply took the mirror, clutching it before her. A middle-aged mare with a princessy braid stared back. It was so delightfully absurd that Derpy couldn't contain herself. Her breathy giggle fogged up the glass in a cloudy gray burst, and once the mist had faded, the reflections of two friendly faces were giggling too, loud and clear.