I awoke the next morning to bright sunshine blasting in through my window, and I hated it. I may have been the bearer of the Element of Kindness, but I swear by Celestia, I hated nothing more than her mornings. They sucked, and I often times found my self actually cursing them out loud.
“Mm… Go back to sleep sun!” I shouted lazily and threw a pillow at window, only for it to bounce off and hit the floor with a soft thump. “Uuuuugh…” I sluggishly rolled out of bed and spotted Mister Rooster standing on the windowsill, ready to do his job of making sure I was up. “Don’t you dare,” I said a little aggressively, pointing a sidelong hoof at him, and glaring at him from behind my tangled mane. I really should start putting it in a bun at night… “Look, I’m up. I’m going downstairs, and if you start crowing at me, I’m feeding you to Miss Cougar.” I wouldn’t really, and he knew that, so he gave the rooster equivalent of a smirk and hopped down off the sill.
I remembered then that I had a guest, so I exited the room and immediately made my way to where she was staying, only to find the room empty. I headed downstairs, hoping she was just sitting on the couch. When I got there…
Well, she was there.
“Forty-two, hup, fourty-three, hup, fourty-four, hup, fourty-five, hup…” I stared in disbelief as Derpy counted off her rapid pushups, passing fifty and still going with no signs of slowing down. “Fifty-eight, hup, fifty-nine, hup, sixty! Woo!”
She stood back up, her sweat glistened in the morning light. I licked my lips, even as my face started burning bright red from the image before me. I just couldn’t stop myself from staring at her… I’d always liked athletic mares, the way their muscles ripple when they move, their tightly toned barrels. I love when their sweaty mane gets plastered to their necks… how it seems to–
“If you keep staring, I’ll have to charge you for the show.”
My attention snapped back to reality, and I realized she was smirking playfully at me over her shoulder. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare… it’s just…I… um… “
“You like sweaty mares?” she asked with a sight chuckle and an exaggerated toss of her soaked mane, which, in her defense, was covering her eyes.
“Yes…” I said at barely a whisper.
Derpy’s eyes shot wide open as her face turned-somehow-redder than mine. “Oh,” she said shortly before regaining her composure. “Well, you’ll be getting plenty of that these next two weeks! I work out every morning. Even if all I do is push clouds, I still have to stay in shape.”
“R-Right… why don’t you go grab a shower… I mean… if you’re finished… while I go get breakfast started?” I asked, desperately wanting the current situation to change as quickly as it could.
“Well normally, I practice my Kenpo, but I can skip a day,” she said. She quickly trotted up the stairs, prompting a sigh of relief from me.
~~~~~~~
Breakfast was a quiet affair, until I decided to make the first move.
“Um… I’m sorry for staring earlier…”
“Don’t worry about it. Honestly, it’s nice to get a little positive attention,” she said with a warm smile and took a bite of her oats. “But do me a favor and don’t make a habit out of it, alright? It’s still a little embarrassing.”
“Oh, don’t worry! I won’t!” I said a little hastily, blushing when she giggled at me. “I mean, I wouldn’t want you to feel awkward about staying here…”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. Um, say, can we go grab some stuff from my place today?” she asked as she scratched the back of her head. “Or are you busy today? I can wait if you are.”
“Actually, I have a few errands to run in town. What all do you need?” I asked quietly, finishing my oats. When I stood to put my dish away, her eyes widened, glancing back and forth between my bowl and her own, which was still half full. I chuckled and flashed her a soft smile. “Sorry, I tend to eat breakfast pretty quickly so I can keep an early schedule. Take your time, I have to go feed the animals anyway.”
“O-okay…”
~~~~~~~
Before long, we were strolling down Ponyville’s main avenue, myself pulling a cart and Derpy nervously casting glances left and right. I started to ask why she was so scared, but a certain pink pony came into our presence.
“Heya, Flutters!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she cart-wheeled into my line of sight, around in front of us, and came to trot next to Derpy. “Hi, Muffins!”
“Muffins?” I asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at Derpy, but still smiling. “Oh, uh, hi Pinkie.”
“What? It’s no secret that it’s my favorite food,” she said sweetly. “Of course I’d get a nickname reflecting that.”
“Yeppers!” Pinkie suddenly seemed to finally take notice of the compression wrap on ‘Muffins’’ wing, causing her to gasp and take a step back. “OMG what the hay happened?!”
“I sprained my wing coming through the forest canopy. Fl–”
“Ooooh, I gotcha! Fluttershy found you,” she said, effectively cutting Derpy off, then suddenly ducked away and reappeared on my left. “and now, she’s letting you stay with her until it heals!”
“Yes,” I said quietly, steeling my nerves for more of Pinkies antics. “That’s the, um, short version…”
She suddenly appear between me and Derpy. “I bet the long version is pretty interesting. Or I mean, it will get interesting. I bet. I guess it all depends on how Gypsy feels.”
“I suppose… wait, who?” I stared at her in confusion. “Who’s Gypsy?”
“Oops! I’ve said too much! Bye-bye!” And then, she was gone. Just like that, she disappeared behind Derpy, prompting my new friend to spin in a circle, looking for her.
“How…” She trailed off, still looking around her. “Where did she…”
“Don’t think about it too hard. It’s confusing,” I explained, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Twilight couldn’t even figure it out.”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Seriously? Isn’t she the smartest pony in the world or something?”
I giggled and tapped her shoulder with my hoof. “Something like that!”
“Wow. Talk about a mystery. So where to first?”
“First, we head to the pet supply store across town. I need to pick up some more bird seed and a bunch of other stuff…”
It wasn’t long before Derpy and I were finished running my errands, and found ourselves standing in front of a large, ranch-style cloud house, having taken a fairly expensive balloon trip. Being that most pegasi build their own houses, an obvious exception being me, I was quite impressed.
“So… here we are…” she said quietly, before stepping up to the door and pushing it open. “Welcome to Casa de Derp.”
“It’s big…” I said dumbly as I absentmindedly followed her into the building. “Did you build it?”
“Nope! I had it commissioned,” she said cheerfully, trotting into the main area. “It cost about six hundred-thousand bits. I’m still paying for it, actually.”
“I can imagine… I only just finished paying off my cottage a couple of moths ago, and I’ve been there for eight years.” As I took in my surroundings, it was clear that my companion spent a lot of time working out. Leaned against the wall was a tall punching bag that looked unused, while another that looked very worn out hung from the ceiling nearby. About a dozen hooves away, there was a rack of hoof weights and a weight lifting bench.
“Oh, don’t worry,” I heard Derpy say from around a corner. My attention snapped back to her as she came out of a nearby room, pushing a wheeled suitcase with her mouth. “I only need a couple of those. Nothing too big. They won’t take up much space.”
“Right… how can you lift any of these?” I asked as I stepped up to the rack. “These look like some of Bulk’s equipment…”
“Well, yeah! That’s because they were his!” she said excitedly, trotting up beside me. “I got them from him for super cheap. I had to replace the bench after it broke under me, though.”
“Goodness! Were you hurt?”
“Nah. The height of the weight bar is actually taller than my neck,” she explained, putting a hoof on the bench press weights. Her face suddenly perked up as she pointed at one of the hoof weights. “You should try one!” she said loudly, bounding over behind the rack. “Nothing like what I’d use, but maybe one of these!” she pointed over the rack at one of the smallest weights. It was about as big around as my hoof, and about three inches thick.
“Oh, um… I-I don’t kn-know…” I stammered out, backing away from the weights. “I’m not really that strong…”
“Fluttershy, Scootaloo can lift these,” she said flatly, plucking one of the weights off the stand. “And she can do it easily.”
“How do you know she can?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Her face suddenly fell and she sat the weight back on the rack with a loud clang. “About two months ago, Rainbow Dash and I volunteered to be counselors at a flight camp. Scootaloo wound up as my charge, while Rainbow got a colt named Rumble. I was supposed to help her come to terms with her handicap. She was, understandably, pretty upset that she didn’t get to be with the boss mare. So after a few weeks of watching her scowl at whatever she was doing, I talked to Rainbow and the director about switching students.” She jumped over the weight rack and trotted over to her suitcase.
“And?” I asked calmly.
“The camp counselor thought I meant that I was having too much trouble with Scootaloo, so Rainbow got Scootaloo and kept Rumble,” she explained miserably, a scowl crossing her muzzle. “Says to me, ‘yeah, I thought it was too tough for a handicap like you.’” She suddenly kicked her suitcase at, and through, the wall. “That plothole!” she shouted, her ears folding flat and her back arching. “I shoulda shown him what a ‘handicap like me’ can do!”
I lifted off and glided slowly over next to her. “Hey, it’s okay,” I said softly, resting a hoof against her trembling shoulder. “He doesn’t know you…”
She whirled on me, slapping away my hoof. “You don’t even know me!” she shouted, her face twisted in anger. “Nopony knows me! Doc doesn’t even know me that well!”
“Derpy I–”
“What?!” she demanded, getting in my face and pushing against my forehead. “You think you can relate or something?!”
I stumbled back and fell on my rump, startled by the sudden closeness. “N-no, that’s not…”
“Then WHAT?!” she screamed, stepping forward to stand over me, her face getting close to mine again. I could feel the tears pooling in my eyes as she stared down at me with those harsh, crooked, beautiful golden eyes.
“I-I want to…” I whispered, clamping my eyes shut. “I… I want to know you!” I cried. “I don’t know you, but I want to! I want to know everything about you! I want us to be friends! I want you to be a part of my life!”
She said nothing. She didn’t move. Everything was silent, save for the sound of our labored breathing, and it stayed that way for a few minutes.
“Fluttershy… Open your eyes,” she said softly, prodding at my chest with her hoof. I complied, slowly opening my eyes to see her blond locks covering her grey forehead. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t yell at you for something like that.”
“It’s okay. I’m not upset.”
“It’s not okay, but I’m glad you’re not upset…” she muttered, standing and walking over to the wall where her suitcase had gone through. “Hey, question.”
“Y-yes?”
“What did you mean, ‘you want me to be a part of your life?’” she asked, turning back to me with her brow raised, looking at me through her bangs.
I suddenly felt my face get very, very hot. “I, uh… I, that is… um… maybe… if we, I don’t know, get to know each other…” I looked at the ground and shook my forehooves back and forth in front of me. “N-never mind! Forget about it!”
When I looked back at her, she had her eyes closed and was smiling softly at the floor. “Mm… maybe,” she said softly. My heart stopped for a moment as I beheld her. She was so beautiful… A light breeze swept through the house, rustling her mane a bit. “But I wouldn’t get my hopes up,” she said, shattering my spreading smile. “I’m not exactly looking for a special somepony right now”
Well, that complicated things.
Before too long, I had retrieved Derpy’s bag and she had packed it with a few essentials like a toothbrush, a mane brush and a few thing for her Kenpo training. We returned to my cottage and spent the rest of the day in relative quiet.