//------------------------------// // 147: The Derpest Gift // Story: Lyra's Human 2: Derpy's Human // by pjabrony //------------------------------// Derpy was particularly bright-eyed that day, in contrast with Karyn’s mood, but Derpy credited that to lack of sleep. “How’ve you been?” she asked. “Still stressed out over the job search. Nothing much has gone on with that. It feels like I’m spinning my wheels and getting nowhere.” “Today’s your day off, though. Why not come and visit at my house today?” Karyn pulled herself up out of the chair. “Might as well. At least I won’t have to clean up later. That will give me an extra hour tomorrow to send out more applications that won’t be responded to or go on an interview where they won’t call me back. But you don’t want to hear that, because it’s the same song I’ve been singing for the past few weeks.” Derpy wanted to be kind, although it was repetitive. She said nothing, but let Karyn get on her and transitioned as gently as she could to Equestria. Indeed, she seemed to be taking her time on the path that, by now, had become the most familiar commute for Karyn, outside of her walks to school. She even lingered outside the door, saying, “Great old house, isn’t it?” “Yeah, it’s lovely.” “I hope you don’t worry, though, because this might be the last time you come in to it.” Karyn panicked. “What?! You mean that I’m not going to be allowed to come to Equestria anymore? Did something happen with the princesses? Are you going to be cut off from Earth? Please say no!” “No! No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” Derpy held up her hooves and put them by Karyn’s shoulders to stop her from having hysterics. “I just meant the house, that’s all.” This was a new mystery for Karyn to solve, but for the moment she wasn’t thinking about it. The sheer terror that had gripped her when she had thought the worst was something she didn’t want to experience again. The failing job search was bad enough. For her to lose her best friend, she wondered if life would be worth living. Karyn wasn’t given to depression, and if it turned out that her initial impression was true, and if beyond that they had been unable to fight such an edict, she would have found a way to go on somehow. But for a brief moment, she’d looked over the abyss of despair. “So what’s going on with the house?” she asked, trying to hide her feeling. “Actually, can I wait to tell you about that. It was really supposed to be a surprise, but it’s been on my mind so much, and I’ve been just bursting to tell someone, that it kind of slipped out.” “OK, we can wait. How long? I mean, will I get to find out today?” “Oh, sure! An hour or so at the most. Just waiting on…well, that might ruin it too.” Karyn rolled her eyes, but not where Derpy could see. She would let her have her fun. If, for whatever reason, this was going to be her last time in Derpy’s house, Karyn wanted to make it memorable. She walked into the kitchen, remembering when Derpy had gotten her new oven. It was still well outdated when compared to those on Earth, with rounder corners and a general old-fashioned look. In fact, as she took it all in, Karyn realized that none of what Derpy had would be out of place in the kitchen of a black-and-white sitcom. Except the saddlebag full of magic spells and the pegasus pony sitting at the table. “So, if it’s not prying too much,” she asked, sitting down across from Derpy, “I can guess that you’re selling the house?” “Kind of.” “I hope you’re not in dire straits for money. I know that you spend a lot on me, and the post office isn’t exactly the most well-paying job.” Derpy waved her hoof as though swatting away a fly. “No, nothing like that. Like I always say, if you budget right, you can afford anything. And I’ll let you in on a little secret. This house isn’t paid off yet, but it’s a lot closer to it than you’d think. I owned it for nearly a year before I met you, and I rented it out then. The rent was more than the price of the mortgage, so I ate into a lot of it then. Plus since then I’ve had tenants in my home in Cloudsdale, and that’s helped. But now I’m moving back to Cloudsdale.” “Oh. That’ll be awkward when you want to have me over.” “Yeah, we might have to stick to doing things that are public. Or we’ll have to find a good, permanent cloud-walk spell for you. Maybe I can get a hoofheld one like the rest of those in my bag.” Karyn was glad that Derpy was still thinking about how they were going to conduct their visits. And of course nothing would change when Derpy was on Earth to see her. She heard the front door open and turned to see the only other pony who could enter without knocking. “Dinky!” she said, glad to see another friend. “Hey, Karyn. Able’s here too.” He waved, but kept silent and looked down at his hooves. Well, it was always awkward in other people’s houses. “Sit down and have a drink,” said Derpy. “What have you been up to?” “At work,” Able said, accepting a cup of coffee, “but not running it today. We’re still looking out for a permanent place to sell from.” “Oh?” said Karyn. “You have a temporary one?” “We rented a cart. Real estate in Ponyville isn’t cheap like it is in the Crystal Empire. All the places we’ve looked at have been out of our range. The cart’s nice, but we’re just treading water at this point, not making money.” Dinky said quickly, “His place in the Empire is doing just fine, it’s only the expansion that’s on hold.” “Well, I’m hoping that I can help with that a little.” Derpy rarely made grand pronouncements, and one reason was that she always looked comical when doing it. She stood tall on her back hooves and spread her wings out wide. If Spitfire or Rainbow Dash had done it, it would have been a cool pose. Derpy just looked off balance. “You know, Dinky, that I grew up in Cloudsdale, but of course you’re a unicorn, so Ponyville became our home, and I’ve never regretted it. When you left to go to school, I thought I could go back there, but I wasn’t ready. Now I’m going to try again. And as for this house…Dinky, Able, it’s yours.” Karyn sat back. She had figured it out as Derpy was speaking, but for Dinky and Able, it came out of nowhere. Dinky was the first to recover. “Mom, you’re giving us the…but it’s so much…I mean…thank you!” She leaped for her mother, which really did knock Derpy off balance, and there was a good minute of hugging and kissing. Then she walked over to Able and nuzzled his shoulder. “Isn’t it wonderful? We’ll be able to live here and save money too!” “It will help a lot.” He started making calculations with his hoof on the tablecloth, until he dropped it and said, “I’m sorry.” “Don’t be,” said Derpy. “It’s yours now. Apologize to Dinky, if you like.” Meanwhile she got him a proper quill and paper. “It’s still not a working premises, but just to have it available makes life a lot easier. We’d have overflow storage if we need it, which we will. And if push came to shove we could use it as collateral. That might be the best thing. Take one of the more expensive places and mortgage both.” “If you can avoid that, I’d advise it. It’s better to be out of debt.” “I know, maybe some sort of line of credit where we don’t lose it.” Able looked over his notes. “I mean, we can pay off whatever debt we get into, but we can never pay you back for this gift.” “No, you can’t. But when visiting the human world I learned this great expression. You can’t pay it back, but you’ve got to pay it forward. Someday, you’ll be in a position to do something good for somepony else, and when that comes, that’s how you pay the debt, by paying it forward. I think it fits for me, don’t you? To go in the opposite direction.” She screwed up her eyes more than usual. Dinky had been all smiles, but now she squinted. “Are you saying we have to give the house away later?” “Maybe not the house, but if Able’s plan works and your bakery takes off, you’ll have money and stability. You can use that to help somepony who needs it.” “I think I get it. Because I don’t think I’d want to give the house away. For me, it’s the only one I’ve known. If anything, I’d like to keep it in the family.” It took Derpy a while to think through that. Dinky didn’t have any brothers or sisters, and neither did Derpy. Dinky wouldn’t think of letting her father back in, and as for her grandfather, he was happy where he was. So that could only mean… “Oh, no! I’m not ready for grandfoals yet!” Everyone had a good laugh at that, but Dinky didn’t contradict her. It was possible she would have to deal with them anyway. “Well, thanks again, Mommy. Is there anything we can do to help out, being that you’re going to be moving?” “I hadn’t actually planned out the move yet. I wanted to do that together, as a family. I think it’s better if we don’t dive into it and mess it up. The house isn’t going anywhere, and neither is the place in Cloudsdale. We can move you in slowly and carefully over the next few months if need be. I’d much rather do that than just have ‘Moving Day,’ where we’re racing around, getting in a panic, and making a lot of work for ourselves. Not to mention breaking or losing half of the stuff.” Dinky nodded. Able said, “And of course we’ll help you move into your other house.” “We can’t do that,” said Dinky. “Don’t you know about Cloudsdale? Oh, right, you probably don’t. As the name implies, it’s a cloud city. Only pegasi can walk there. If you went, you’d fall right through the clouds and go splat! But you’ve got to have help, Mommy. You can’t do it all on your own.” “I’ll get some movers. I’ve done some work for them, as part of a contract the post office has for heavier stuff.” “We’ll help pack for the movers. We’ve got to do something for you.” Derpy moved her hooves to the left as though throwing something away. “We’ll worry about that at the time. Besides, there won’t be much to move if you’re keeping the furniture. But then again, there are some accent pieces that I might want to take with me.” Able got up. “Of course. And if you don’t mind me saying so, Dinky and I will want to put our own touches on it. Make it feel more truly ours, if you follow me.” Dinky nodded in agreement. “We should go look at some now! I’ve always wanted to go furniture shopping.” Both Derpy and Able gave her an odd look. “You have?” asked her mother. “Yes. I mean, Mommy, you’ve made do the best you can with secondhoof stuff, and I appreciate it because you were clearly saving money, but I’d like to have something new and chosen, you understand?” “Of course. Go pick out anything you like.” “Especially since we can take our time.” She led Able out of the house, practically walking on air. “So what do you think?” Derpy asked Karyn. “Am I crazy for doing this?” “No, it’s quite generous.” “You think so? Because you didn’t say much when I mentioned it and I was worrying that you were thinking about our time together. If we were going to miss out because I won’t have the house.” “That wasn’t what I was thinking.” Derpy smiled and walked away, but only then did she catch Karyn’s tone. Something still wasn’t right. “Are you sure? I won’t be insulted if you think it’s a bad decision.” “No, it’s wonderful. It’s perfect for Dinky. Just, yeah, do it. Make her happy.” “Karyn, please talk to me. I think I know when you’re concealing something, and you only do that because you don’t want me to help. But I’ve got to.” All at once she slammed her hand down on the table. “Because I’m jealous! Why should she get a house?! And a good job and a guy who treats her right. I’m not getting anything like that, especially nothing this nice from my parents. And I like Dinky, she’s a good friend, so I feel bad about feeling this way, but I can’t stop the jealousy.” “Actually, it’s envy. Jealousy is when you don’t want others to have what you…” Derpy trailed off, regretting that she had said it. Karyn shot her a look, clearly not in the mood. “Do you know how I can stop it?” “No, but I don’t think that it’s that bad. You’re not a mean-spirited person at heart. I mean, just the fact that you feel bad about it is a good sign. But beyond that, you have every reason to have bad emotions these days. Dinky just finished her tests, but you still have to take yours. All the stress you have of looking for a job, I know about it, and it’s OK to let it out.” “The problem,” Karyn said, “is that I’ve always thought I was ahead of her. She had trouble in school, but I always passed my classes. And everything that happened with her magic. So it was like, even if I wasn’t living up to my potential, neither was Dinky, so it was OK. Now she is, and instead of being happy for her I’m feeling self-pity.” Derpy tried to give her a hug, but Karyn held up her hands. “Can you just give me a few minutes. I don’t think I’m ready to be a good friend right now.” Derpy opened her mouth, but then said nothing. Maybe Karyn was right, or maybe she was wrong and did need a friend. But Derpy wasn’t sure she was the one to be that friend. She walked out and left Karyn alone in the kitchen. Karyn let out a long, shaky sigh, the kind she gave when she wasn’t free to cry. However much she tried, she knew she couldn’t shake her envy. So she turned to the more immediate problem of the house. She was about to see a lot less of it. Dinky would certainly invite her over, but the home of a young couple wasn’t the place to visit too often. And yet she had a connection to this just as much as the two who had lived in it. Here was the kitchen, and out there was the porch where they had sat and watched the rainstorm. Beyond the hall that led upstairs to Dinky’s room. She passed Derpy in the living room, but each ignored the other, as two people who lived in the same house might do. Making her way up the stairs, she entered. Here was where she had first visited the house, the day she was sick. And here was also where she had found the cure for Dinky’s more grave ailment. If anything, she was more Derpy’s child than Dinky was! No, that was unfair and wrong. Dinky was Derpy’s blood, and blood was important. But what Karyn did think might have been true was that she was more Derpy’s child than she was her mother’s. Karyn did love her parents, but if they weren’t her parents, she would not socialize with them. They were different people. And that was the problem. She wasn’t supposed to be looking to Derpy as a surrogate mother. That was a responsibility she hadn’t asked for and didn’t deserve. A friend, that was what she wanted. Was Karyn that? Or had she asked too much? She stretched out on the bed and thought some more. No, that wasn’t fair either to her, Karyn. She hadn’t sponged off of Derpy, not for help or for love. But she was in a transitional period of her life, without anchor, just looking for any way back to stability. Dinky was getting it from Derpy. Karyn didn’t care where stability came from, but she ached for it. Karyn didn’t know how long she lay there, and she might have fallen asleep. She sat up at the sound of a knock at the door. “Yeah?” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Can I come in?” It was Dinky’s voice. Not as deep as Derpy’s, but lower than Karyn’s. “It’s your room. For that matter, it’s your house, now.” The door didn’t move. “Do you want me to come in?” Karyn had to laugh at that. “Yeah.” Now it opened, the knob bathed in Dinky’s magic field. She stepped in and looked at Karyn on the bed. “When we move in, Able and I will take over the master bedroom. But I’m not going to keep this like it was when I was a filly. That was Mommy’s thing, not mine. This room I’ll make into a guest bedroom. Get a more adult bed, something less fancy. Put my own touch on it, you know? I was looking at some while I was out. Anyway, the point is that you’re always going to be welcome. This will be your room more than anything.” Karyn sat up. “Thanks, Dinky. I appreciate it. It means a lot to me.” “About your own problems, I don’t know if I can help with that, but…” “You found out about that, huh?” “Mommy told me” “Of course she would.” Dinky came over and sat next to her. “Do you remember when we first met?” “Let me see…oh, of course. You didn’t like me at all.” “Do you remember what you did about it?” “Not really. Just talked is all.” “You did a lot more. You started teaching me how to be my own mare, not always listen to Mommy. Something I needed to hear. I never would have made it through school without you.” Karyn was not very interested in the nostalgia. “Why bring this up?” “Because it’s my turn to help you. This is how I can start paying it forward like Mommy said. By making you happy like you should be.” “And how can you do that?” Dinky kept fidgeting. She was back on her hooves again, like she didn’t know whether she should sit or stand. “You’ve got the opposite problem as me,” she said. “You’ve been too independent for too long. You need to know how to ask for help.” “But I do that.” “Have you?” “Yes.” “I haven’t heard you.” For the first time in the conversation, Karyn made eye contact with Dinky. It had all seemed like idle chatter until the last thing Dinky said. Cautiously, Karyn said, “Can you help me?” “I can certainly try. I mean, going forward, we can talk about anything you need, but right now, I want to try this. I found a spell, I’m not sure if it’ll help, but I’ll try it. It’s kind of a spell for good fortune.” Remembering Dinky’s problems, Karyn held up a hand. “It’s not black magic, is it?” “No, no! Pure white magic. Well, it’s purple, but you know what I mean. It’ll be less effective, though. And you won’t be able to trace it. It’s not like you’ll wake up and someone will give you a house, but maybe you’ll find a cheaper one or something.” “OK, let’s do it.” Dinky’s horn glowed, and Karyn half wondered if it wasn’t a bluff, akin to the magic feather from Dumbo. But she levitated off the ground and felt something wrap around her. Whether or not it was real magic, whether or not it would work, it did make her feel better. “Now I know everything will work out.” Karyn slapped her thighs and stood up. “Maybe, but there’s something I have to take care of first. Come on.” She stomp-marched downstairs to find Derpy relaxing on the couch. “Everything all right?” “I just want to say that I’m sorry for how I acted before. I shouldn’t have demanded to be alone in your house.” “You don’t have to be sorry. You’re part of this family, and that means giving each other space when we need it.” “And what about hugs when we need them?” Karyn held out her arms and Derpy fell into them. Then they rotated toward Dinky and made it a group hug. “We’re going to get you through this, I know it,” Derpy said, “and when we do, we’ll all be right where we want to be, and there’ll be nothing left but to kick back and enjoy life.” “Whatever we do, I’m just glad that the transfer of the house is going to start with smiles, not with anger and tears.” “You said it!” And they went back in for another hug.