Chapter 5: Anxious and restless.
The early morning sun was rising over the horizon, and Applejack was heading to a part of the orchard to begin her morning work, gently humming to herself. Standing in front of a tree she started to lift her back legs to buck it when she noticed something that looked like the hoof of a pony behind a tree a short distance away. “Now who in the hay is trespassing on the farm?”
Walking over she felt ready to begin yelling when she felt her heart melt a little at the sight of both Derpy and Doctor Hooves sound asleep, resting on each other. She recalled the previous night, when Derpy had yelled at her to play some livelier music. “Well, ain’t that the sweetest thing?”
Going up to the pair she poked the both of them with her hoof.
Derpy slowly stirred, blinking in the morning sunshine. With half lidded eyes she slowly started to make out the form of Applejack. “H-huh?” she said, confused. Her eyes looked left and right, seeing all the trees and the open field. “Where am I?”
Applejack laughed. “Y’know, I DID say that ya could stay at the farm as long as ya liked. I just kinda expected ya ta go home at some point. I’m powerful sorry ta wake ya up, as ya both looked so peaceful, but it’s time ta get ta work, so I’m afraid yer gonna have ta leave.”
“B-both?” Derpy jumped as she felt something move behind her. As she turned around she let out a squeak as she saw the Doctor. She immediately jumped up, feeling wide awake as adrenaline ran through her body. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!”
“What’s wrong, Derpy?” asked Doctor Hooves.
Derpy was panting up a storm, throwing her hooves on her face. “What-what-what did I… when… how…” She shook her head a few times, before suddenly running off without another word.
Applejack looked at Doctor Hooves. “What was that all about?” Glaring at him she continued, “Ya better not have done anything improper to her or the first thing I’m buckin’ this mornin’ is gonna be you.”
“Of course not!” Doctor Hooves replied, meeting her eyes. “All we did was talk, and, well… we shared some kisses. She fell asleep on me, and I didn’t want to wake her so I let her be and I fell asleep too. That’s all!”
“Is that a fact?” An eyebrow went up. “Well, ya better go after her then and calm her down. Ya better believe I’m gonna ask her to confirm yer little story, so ya best be on yer best behavior. Ya got that?”
“Yes. Of course. I would never abuse Derpy.” He began trotting off in the direction of her home.
Derpy ran full out for a little while before opening her wings and flying as fast as she could to her home. She landed, folding her wings as she opened the door and ran to her room, throwing herself on her bed, panting up a storm.
“What did I do last night?” She felt terrified. “What did I do! Oh my gosh. This might be Shooting Star all over again! I fell asleep right on him. Wait, we didn’t… please tell me we didn’t…
“No! We couldn’t have. I don’t remember that. But maybe we did and I just don’t remember! What if I get pregnant again? I can barely afford one kid. This is terrible! What in Equestria did I do with him last night?” Her mind was in too much of a haze of panic to piece together her memories of the previous night.
Sometime later she heard a pounding on her front door. She wanted to ignore it, but freaked out as she was she needed something to distract her attention. Getting up, her heart still racing a mile a minute, she headed downstairs to her front door. When she opened the door she said, “Hellooohhh nooooo!” She slammed the door as she saw Doctor Hooves standing there. She quickly locked the door. Her legs felt like they didn’t want to hold her up, and she slowly slid down to the ground against the wall.
She threw her hooves on the side of her head. “Why? Why did he have to come here? What is it? What happened?” Frightened tears began coming down her eyes. “Oh, why didn’t I learn my lesson the first time? And after I just told Dinky about all my regrets!”
“Derpy!” said Doctor Hooves, hitting the door a few times. “Please listen to me. NOTHING HAPPENED LAST NIGHT! All we did was talk and share a kiss or two. I promise.”
Her head slowly turned towards the door, her racing heart slowing just a little. “Was… was that it?” she said to herself. “I… I do remember that.”
“Please open the door, Derpy. I really need to talk to you.”
Her face clenched up. She felt so unsure. Her memories were still hazy. She needed time to think.
She used her hoof, trying to push her mane back just to be doing something, when her hoof hit something solid. Curiously, she grabbed it. In her hooves was the flower he had given her last night. She saw the little butterfly attached to it, and she thought of the story he told her. It was a little ridiculous, but she pulled the butterfly free, setting it on her nose. She thought back to the day he had told her about. She couldn’t remember it that clearly, but she knew that she always liked butterflies.
She felt herself settling down a little. Slowly standing up she went to the front door and unlocked it before opening it. As she saw him again she felt a pit of dread.
Despite himself Doctor Hooves couldn’t help laughing as he saw her wearing the butterfly on her snout.
Derpy couldn’t even force herself to smile. She lifted her hoof, taking the butterfly off and setting it back on the flower. “I’m sorry for freaking out like that.”
Doctor Hooves could see how frightened she looked. He desperately wanted to hold her and comfort her just like yesterday, but he knew if he made any sort of physical contact with her she would run off in fear. “Listen, Derpy. We spent the night at the Apple charity drive. We went on rides, played some games, watched the fireworks show, and then, when it was just the two of us, we shared some intimate details and some kisses, and then you fell asleep on me. That’s all that happened last night.
“You see what I was talking about? This is exactly the sort of reaction I was trying to avoid you having. When we were kissing you were ready to keep going, but I stopped because I didn’t want us to do anything you’d regret in the morning.”
Derpy felt her hooves go weak again as she slumped to the ground, letting out a long relieved sigh as tears came down her eyes. “That’s… that’s right. I… I remember all that. So we really didn’t-”
“Of course not! How many times do I have to tell you how deeply I respect you before you’ll believe it? I’d never take advantage of you like that! I only wanted to show you a good time. You finally opened up, hungry for some love and affection. I wouldn’t push you for THAT. You didn’t do anything wrong last night. Trust me.”
She closed her eyes, taking long, deep breaths. She scanned her memories again and again, but she couldn’t recall anything out of acceptable boundaries.
“Listen, Derpy. I think things are moving way too fast here. You’ve been so love starved that I feel you’re walking right into the same trap you fell into the first time. How do I put this?” He looked up thoughtfully. “I want you to trust me, but… I also want you to distrust me. Give me time to earn your trust before you start wanting to make out and ask me to be your coltfriend.
“I think it would be for the best if we didn’t see each other for a while. You’re going to need some time to process last night. I think one full week should be enough time to think things through. As an extra security measure I think it would also be prudent to only have dates with the three of us.”
“Three?” Derpy said, confused.
“Dinky,” replied Doctor Hooves. “To make sure that things don’t go too far between us I believe we should always have Dinky along.
“As I said yesterday I already know I would never hurt you like he did, but words are cheap, after all. He told you he loved you and whatever other lovey-dovey garbage, and then threw you away. So clearly just saying things isn’t going to make things right. I don’t know where things are going to go from here, but I hope to see you again soon. I hope you’ll still be willing to give me a shot after that time.
“For what It’s worth though I had a blast with you. I’d love another “not-date” date. There’s no reason to rush. Just that little bit of what I got is going to make me happy for the next week until we meet again.
“Goodbye for now.” He smiled down at her and gave a wave.
As he began to walk away she found her strength at last. Hopping up she ran towards him. “Doctor Hooves!”
He turned around. “Yes?”
She put a hoof around him, putting her neck on his. “Thank you for last night. I… I just wanted to make sure I said that much.”
“You’re welcome.”
She let him go, going back inside, shutting the door behind her.
She went to sit at her kitchen table, her mind still in a daze. She set her head on her hoof, staring off into space. She felt a lot calmer now, but there was still so much to sort through. She went through her memories once again, taking them at a snail’s pace. She analyzed every part of the previous night in excruciating detail, starting from Dinky talking her into going in the first place and ending with her leaning against him and drifting off.
What had it been that had gotten her attention so much? She began thinking that Doctor Hooves was right. Things were moving at a lightning pace. One of the reasons she had fell so hard for Shooting Star was simply because he not only stood up for her, but took an interest in her. In retrospect she felt she probably should have seen his true nature coming. He didn’t say it in those words, of course, but he basically told her he was looking for a loser to hang out with to get away from all the shallow mares snapping at his heels. When a stallion with that kind of prestige wants an unpopular mare you always know something is off. She was just too young and foolish to see it.
Even more so she was seeing how little he contributed to their relationship compared to her. They shared kisses and conversations, he always paid for their dates and he held her close in the halls, never trying to hide his relationship with her, but that was basically it. She just never noticed because of how loved starved she had been in school.
He was also deviously smart. His first action that got her attention was striking the one making fun of her, defending her in front of everyone. It immediately left an impression. Being by his side made her cool by association, and no one wanted to make an enemy of him by insulting her. When his betrayal came about he ensured she wouldn’t try to ruin his reputation by threatening to rip her from her lofty position of being bully free.
She had been very stupid in regards to him, not giving any real thought to his actual character. And in the end she reached a point where she felt so full of love and joy that she gave herself away to him, and that in turn lead to the death of their relationship. After that he had no further use for her and threw her away like a piece of garbage.
She looked at the present with Doctor Hooves. In just one night she had danced with him, kissed him, cried in his hooves, and then asked him to be her coltfriend. She had gone from being reluctant to ever go to swept up in the night, and it reminded her of how it had gone with Shooting. To have to have Doctor Hooves himself point out how she was acting exactly like she had in the past was sobering. It was only a few kisses they had shared instead of going all the way, but he was the one who had to stop her. Even more discomforting was a simple question: what if he hadn’t stopped her? Would they have gone even further?
It was like a switch had been pushed in her mind. She had gone from not wanting anything to do with love to embracing it ridiculously quickly. Someone had presented themselves to her, offering companionship and affection and intimacy, things she had been denied of for a long time. Maybe it wasn’t too surprising that she threw herself into it under those circumstances, but he was right. Things had been moving too quickly, and she needed time to think them through. Even more so she agreed with his second idea. Dinky would come along on any dates they had. It would help stop her from making any more regretful decisions in regards to men. She didn’t want to ever felt the way she had before again.
She thought again of him kissing up her neck and ending on her mouth, and she felt a little tingle in her stomach. She could almost feel the sensations he had brought forth. She thought of his kind expression, of how she had just spent some time crying on him, and the warmth of his fur on her body as she leaned against him. She reached up to her ear, looking at the flower he had given her and recalling the story he had told her of how he fell for her. He had been so wonderful to her, and she had loved it all. She wanted more of it. She did. But… there was that lurking fear in her mind: what if he was being fake as well? What if he just wanted to use her like Shooting Star did? He had never done anything before to make her doubt him, but the possibility was there, and it was scary.
Back and forth she went, both positive and negative’s going through her mind. The only thing she knew for sure was that she needed more time. A week seemed like a decent amount to mull things over.
Sometime later Dinky walked in, feeling in good spirits. “I’m home!” she yelled out, waiting for her mother’s answer to see where she was at, but no response came. “Hmmm. That’s funny. She should be up by now.”
She went upstairs to her mom’s room, seeing it empty. She went to her room, throwing her saddle bag on her bed and going back downstairs. When she went into the kitchen she saw her mother sitting at the kitchen table. “Mom?” said Dinky, but she didn’t answer. “MOM!” she said again, louder, but still got no response.
Dinky didn’t know whether to be glad or upset. If her mother was off in her own world it was because what happened after she left was either absolutely amazing or an absolute train wreck. She almost didn’t want to find out, but she steeled herself and walked around the table before looking at her mom’s face. She still wasn’t sure what to feel. Her mom’s face was very contemplative, but she didn’t look upset.
She lifted her hoof, putting it on her mom’s shoulder.
Derpy let out a yell, jumping out of her seat and falling to the ground at the sudden touch on her skin. Her heart raced as she looked around quickly before settling on her daughter. She let out a sigh. “Oh. Dinky. You shouldn’t scare me like that.” She sighed again. “You almost gave me a heart attack. Say something next time, would you?”
Dinky let out a smug laugh. “I did! I called you three times.”
“You did?” she responded, confused. She shook her head a little. “I didn’t hear you. I’m just so confused right now.” Getting up she said, “Did you eat breakfast?”
“Yeah. Miss Berry made us pancakes.”
She went into a cupboard. “Well, I don’t want you to starve. How about some toast?”
“I already ate!”
“Yeah, that’s it. Some toast and a muffin. That sounds good.”
“Mom!”
Derpy didn’t answer, going about her business starting a breakfast. She suddenly stopped, turning around. She walked up to Dinky, looking at her eye. “That black eye is really going away now. I’d say another two days and it will probably be all gone.”
She turned around, going back to the cupboard and pulling out her lunch bag. “So what do you want for lunch?” She stopped rummaging, looking at the clock.
She rounded on her daughter. “Dinky!” she said angrily. “Why aren’t you in school?”
“It’s Sunday…”
She turned around again, going to the fridge. “Do you want some milk with your breakfast?”
Dinky was nonplussed. Her mom was never this scatterbrained, and she still couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Her horn glowed gold as she began levitating a cup to the table.
“STOP!” her mom yelled, making Dinky jump and scream. The cup fell to the ground and shattered. “No, no, no, no, no! Dinky, no. You just sit down. You must be famished after your walk here. Relax. Just relax. There’s no reason to put yourself out.”
Derpy ran to get a broom and dustpan, picking up the broken pieces of the cup and throwing them out. She grabbed a muffin from the pantry, setting it on a plate as the toast popped up from the toaster.
She put it on the plate as well, grabbing some butter from the fridge and buttering it before setting it on the table. She sat down at the table and just stared at Dinky, a strained smile on her face. “Well? Eat up!”
Dinky just stared back at her mom, waiting for the next thing she was going to do. She wasn’t completely full, but she wasn’t much in the mood for more breakfast.
Just as she moved her hoof Derpy yelled again, making Dinky jump and let out a huff. “Drink! I forgot the drink!” She raced to the fridge, pulling out some milk and pouring it in a glass before setting it next to the plate.
“Are you done?” Dinky asked, starting to get a little annoyed.
“What do you mean?” Derpy asked, sitting down again.
“Why are you acting like this?”
“Like what?”
“Like something is wrong? What went on after I left last night? You can’t seem to sit still.”
“I’m perfectly fine!” She brushed her mane back behind her ear. She started to do the same to the other one when she stopped at the flower again. She pulled it out, staring down at it with a dreamy sigh.
Dinky’s head tilted just a little, but then a knowing grin came to her face. “So, I’d say you had a good time last night.”
“Huh?” Derpy finally came back down to earth. “Oh… that.” She looked deflated. She took a quick, shallow breath. “Well, we… we, um… kissed.” Her face turned red.
Dinky let out a little squeal. “Good for you!”
She put her hoof on the little butterfly, pushing on the tiny wings and seeing them flex. “I’m not so sure.”
“Why not? It sounds to me like things went really well.”
A tear streaked down her face as she restlessly pulled out one of the petals of the daffodil. “We both agreed not to see each other for a while.”
“WHAT? Why?”
“I guess I’m just… confused. Shooting Star was my first and only coltfriend. Following him I was too busy with you to worry about dating. And of course with what he did to me I really wasn’t in a rush to go out and try again regardless.
“We shared a few kisses, and I wound up feeling so comfortable with him and his kindness that I actually fell asleep on him and we both wound up spending the night against a tree at Sweet Apple Acres. It’s all moving too fast for me.”
She pulled out another petal. “I was happy with what happened, but at the same time it just feels like I’m an idiot, doing the same things that got me into trouble with Shooting.”
Dinky walked over, putting a comforting hoof on her mom’s shoulder. “I don’t think that’s the case at all.” As Derpy began to pull out a third petal Dinky threw her hoof on her mom’s. “And stop doing that! That was a gift, right?”
“Huh?” Derpy said, before her eyes focused. “Oh… right.” Setting the flower down she backed her seat up a little and helped Dinky onto her lap. Throwing her hooves around her daughter she began shaking. “I’m scared, Dinky! I’m so scared and I don’t know what to do!” She let out some sharp breaths, feeling the tears starting again.
“C’mon, mom! There’s no need to be scared. Think about it. There’s one big, big, BIG difference between Doctor Hooves and Shooting Star.”
“W-what’s that?” she asked, wiping her face.
“Time,” Dinky responded simply. “You only knew Shooting Star for a short time, but you’ve known Doctor Hooves for years. And the two of them are nothing alike. Doctor Hooves was the one who told me about the Apple fair, but I was the one who talked him into trying to flirt with you.”
“You WHAT?”
She let out a nervous laugh. “W-well, you said you wanted to put the past behind you, so I thought a nice guy would make you happy. I mean, when I asked him he told me he already tried asking you out once and he really liked you, so I just thought…”
“Dinky…” She let out a long, slow breath. “I understand you want me to be happy, and I thank you for looking out for me, but meddling in the love affairs of two ponies is going overboard. Have you already forgotten what you told me about those Crusader ponies?”
She looked up at her mom. “Doctor Hooves said the same thing, but it’s not the same. They used a potion to FORCE them to fall them to fall in love. I only suggested he try making a move on you again. Besides, we both know neither of you would have tried anything if I didn’t give you a nudge.”
Derpy narrowed her eyes a bit. “So that’s what you meant when you said that everything would be ruined if I didn’t go.”
“Well, yeah.”
“Hmph. You’re probably right that I wouldn’t have done anything without your help, but at the same time it’s still not right. I can’t just go from being single and distrusting to hitching up with the first boy who comes around… even if I did sorta do just that.” She let out a huff. “The point is that I need more time. Yesterday was fantastic, but do you see me today? That’s why we agreed to keep some distance for the next little while.”
“Okay, mom.” Looking down toward the ground she said in a small voice, “Are you mad at me?”
She took another slow breath, closing her eyes. “No, Dinky. I sorely needed a night out and some companionship. I just wasn’t ready for it so suddenly. You made your dent and gave things a nudge, but please from now on just butt out and don’t try to manipulate our relationship anymore. I can just see you going behind my back and telling him all the things I like and dislike so we’ll always get along great. Again, I get that you want things to work out between us, but a couple grows by learning about each other.”
“Okay, mommy. I promise to stay out of your relationship and let you work things out by yourselves from now on.”
“Well, I just asked you to not try to manipulate our relationship. You’re still going to be in it. The other thing we agreed on is that we want these to be family dates.”
“But a date is supposed to be between two ponies in love. Otherwise it’s not really a date. It’s just an outing.”
“We only kissed last night, but he had to stop me. I don’t think things would have gone much further if he didn’t, but this just ensures things don’t go too far before I’m ready. It would just make me feel more comfortable having you nearby, okay? This is difficult enough for me without me having to worry about making the same mistake I did with Shooting. If you’re right there the both of us will be on our best behavior. I know I keep saying this, but I can’t just erase the past right away, Dinky. I need more time and right now I just don’t trust myself being alone with him. Do you get what I’m saying?”
“Yes, mommy. I get it.”
“I want things to work out between us. I like the feelings I have with him, but at the same time they’re dangerous. My heart was so full of love with Shooting that I ignored common sense and just gave myself over to him without any protection and wound up pregnant while still in high school.
“Like I told you before I don’t regret what come of our union. I love you dearly, Dinky, but I only wish I had been about five years older. At least then I could have had more time to secure a good job and really buckle down with all the responsibilities that came with motherhood. I do trust Doctor Hooves, and I don’t think he’s ever going to have an ego like Shooting did, but for both our sakes it’s just a smart move to have the three of us only on dates until we’re more secure with each other. It’s not like I can’t ever talk to him alone. If I’m walking past him in town I’m not gonna run away from him just because I don’t have another pony next to me.”
Moving her hoof around Dinky she picked up the flower, getting that dreamy expression again.
“So what’s the deal with the flower?”
“He told me about why he fell in love with me,” Derpy said in a bit of a distracted voice. “He said that after Berry’s wedding I stopped to smell a flower and a butterfly landed on my nose and I made the cutest expression and pose and at that moment there was a break in the clouds that landed right on me, making him think of an angel.”
Dinky lifted her hoof, poking at the butterfly to make its wings flutter. “That’s really sweet. I hope things go really great between you two.”
“Me too, Dinky. Me too.”
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It would help stop her from making any more regretful decisions in regards to men.
don't you mean stallion's?
anyhow adorable chapter
That was...wonderfuly well written and the way the relationship went was...extremly close to the way I believe! A date ( or courtship as it is sometimes called) is as I said before, with little phiscical contact. Its more about getting to know the person you are interested in. Having a chaffeur like dinky what is going to be is exactly...well, its what I like!!! Depy is thinking it through and its going to make it ever sweeter when she does give her self ( maybe not purely) but wholly over to him. Its honestly a really good romance. A sad, ify beggining, but the end sounds promising!!!
Oh man, I would love to draw derpy after Berry's wedding with a butterfly on her muzzel!
Looking forward to the next chapter.
5342287 Applejack season 1, episode 3:
If the show can use the word boy, than saying men is also applicable, wouldn't you say?
5342336 It's not done exactly like what I described in the fic, but this picture is what I drew my inspiration from for Doctor's "love at first sight" moment. It seemed very appropriate.
th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/235/2/e/princess_derpy_by_willis96-d5c6fk9.jpg
5342813 I know, that how I recieved it though!
WOwowowowowowow that his soooo beautiful!!!
5342813 You know, you said you like people to simply give their opinion and tell what they liked about the story. My idea romance may not be yours, but I was simply telling you what I received from your story. If you don't want me to do that, I can just complement the story and the way the characters are being handled.
5344142 Say what you like. A part of what can draw a reader into the story is someone writing about values that match yours. And the opposite for values that oppose yours. I just set out to write what comes to mind when I create. When I spark on a story and get the inspiration to write it usually plays like a movie in my mind, and then I simply write the story the way it went in my mind.
I'm not out to push any one agenda. I just write what I feel is appropriate to the characters and the story that's being written. Another user thought highly of my story because when Derpy changed her mind about the abortion she referred to Dinky as an "unborn child" instead of "blob of cells" or "just a fetus." I wasn't out to push pro-life. I just write it that way.
Another user on my "How a Pie became a Cake" story remarked that the story made her a little sad in a happy way, because of chapter where Pinkie and the Cakes have their bonding bit and she said she never had a relationship like that with her own mother, but she enjoyed reading about Pinkie's happiness.
On my story about Rose Blossom where I told you that Scootaloo gave Rose her old scooter it was a very emotional scene, because while she wanted Rose to be happy she also was giving away a very precious memento of her grandmother. That reminded user Dustin Lange of when he choose to give up his own precious memento(I think it was a clarinet.) to his little sister for the same reason.
So it's not like I don't pay attention to and remember my reader comments. I like the details as well as the compliments. I like to hear how it affected people, especially when it reminds them of an event from their own life. It's one of my favorite bits about writing. Since I'm not actually there with you when you read people's comments are the only way I know how much you loved it.
5344332 Okay! Oh! and I can totally relate to the whole " Movie playing out in your head type story." Its the best way to get a visual of of story I think. I often draw my story to.
Looking forward to the next chapter!!!
And maybe this saturday I will finally be able to work on "A W G"
3:00am. Been awake sence 8:00am... Half of my brain wants to sleep. The other wants to continue reading.... Dose anypony have a bit I could flip?
Give Dinky the words of wisdom Derpy
.
She's just not ready Dinky...give your mother some more time
.
Eeyup, and that would be bad
.
As do I
.