A special favor

Derpy might have cried; had she any breath left in her. She collapsed on a park bench, coughing and panting as she tried to regain her breath after the long gallop. Looking around, she found herself in a familiar place, the Ponyville Park. This was where she came when she needed to regain her composure, or to cheer herself up, which meant she came here a lot. After she regained her breath, she hopped down from the bench and shook her mane. Sniffing, she looked around forlornly, trying to remember what had gone wrong. She had done really well for the first part of the day, and she had felt really good about herself too. Then, when she saw Dragonfly, everything had gone wrong. The blue eyed stallion had made her nervous, and because she was nervous, she lost her confidence and became careless. Obviously, while positive thoughts helped, they couldn’t take her the entire way.

She had nothing else to do in town for the day, so Derpy decided it would be best to go back home, like Applejack suggested. Derpy took the alley ways and deserted streets, hoping not to be seen, and because of that, it took a much longer time to get back to her home than usual. By the time she got home, the sun had begun to set. Sighing, she closed the door with a soft thud, dropping her mail bag on the counter, and did what she would normally do to lift her spirits. Bake more muffins. She spread the freshly bought muffin supplies on the kitchen table, taking a large mixing bowl from the cabinet as she sang to herself.

All you gotta do is take a cup of flour, add it to the mix…

She glanced up from her mixing to focus on the pegasus drawing she had colored the other night. Dragonfly. Her eyes began to sting, and she returned to her baking.

Then you take a little somethin’ sweet not sour, a bit of salt, just a pinch

Brick crawled up onto the table next to her, sniffing the mixing bowl tentatively, then casting a hopeful look up at Derpy, who smiled and offered him a spoonful.

Baking these treats is such a cinch, add a teaspoon of vanilla, add a little more, and you count to four and never get your filla!

She poured the contents of her mixing bowl into a muffin pan and placed it in the oven, turning a few dials before placing the bowl in the sink.

Muffins, so sweet and tasty, muffins, don’t be too hasty, muffins, muffins, muffins, muffins!

Derpy smiled as she put away the flour and sugar. Pinkie Pie and her strange antics never failed to cheer her up. After washing her dishes and cleaning up after her cooking, Derpy sat back down at the table with Twilight’s book in her hooves.

How not to be a Klutz for Dummies:

Chapter Two

Going through training

If you had to read past our first chapter, the likelihood is that your condition is a little more severe than most. But don’t fret! This is easily remedied. Your situation may be a little more serious, but that is only because it’s rooted a bit deeper. Because your problem has been left ‘untreated’ for some time, it will take a little more time to rid yourself of it, though it is easily done. Keep thinking those positive thoughts, but while you do, train yourself. Constantly focus on keeping good posture, watch your hooves, and watch out for settings where it can be easy to trip or bump into someone.

DING!

The lovely scent of freshly baked muffins filled the kitchen, and Derpy set the book down, hurrying to pull the muffins out of the oven and onto the counter. This batch was coconut cream, and by the smell, they were going to be delicious. After they cooled for a few minutes, Derpy carefully extracted a pale muffin, quickly finding they were still a little too warm for her to hold. Derpy hurriedly dropped it back onto the counter top, shaking her hooves to try and cool them off. Smiling slightly, she pondered the second chapter of the book Twilight had loaned her as she carefully dished half of the muffins into a basket. Apparently, because she hadn’t attended to her clumsiness earlier, it would be harder to deal with, but the book assured her that it wouldn’t be too hard. It had also said that the longer her condition had gone unchecked, the more serious of ‘training’ she would have to undergo. Derpy could not remember the first time she ever knocked something over or broke something or ruined an event or anything else clumsy. She sighed, muttering to herself as she covered the basket with a pretty piece of fabric and set it aside to deliver on her mail route. She was probably going to need a professional trainer, if there was such a thing. This made her stop and think; ‘Was there a professional trainer in Ponyville? Surely not… But then again…’ Derpy stared absentmindedly at the prism Twilight had given her, and suddenly it hit her.

“Rarity!”

Derpy shivered in the cool morning air, wings wrapped tightly around herself to keep warm. She was nearly finished with the morning mail route, having only a few more houses to go. Setting the basket of muffins on the door step of Sugar Cube Corner, she checked her don’t-forget list, skimming through it to make sure she had gotten all the right houses. So far everything appeared to be in order. Derpy spread her wings, wincing as the cold air rushed to her sides, and took off, hurrying to finish the last of her mail deliveries. She dropped low over Doctor Whooves’ house, dropping a weird brown parcel on his doorstep as she eyed the blue telephone booth in front of his house. She would never understand that stallion. Ascending again, she scanned the town below until she located Carousel Boutique, standing in the mornings first light on outer rim of town. Dropping back down to ground level, Derpy checked that she had the right mail then proceeded to knock on the door, pawing the ground uneasily as she waited.

When the door opened, a snowy white unicorn stood in the doorway frowning at her.

“Derpy? What are you doing here… and at such an early hour?”

Derpy gave her a nervous smile,

“Uh, hi Rarity! I have your mail, and I was wondering; can I ask you a favor?”

The letters in Derpy’s bag floated away from her as Rarity cocked an eyebrow.

“A favor? Well of course darling! What do you need? A dress? A more-”

Rarity paused, glancing at the bright blue mail bag.

“eh, flattering bag?”

Derpy shook her head.

“No, neither of those things. It’s just- What’s wrong with my mail bag?”

Rarity flashed a smile, giving a forced laugh.

“Nothing dear! Come inside! I’ll make you some tea.”

Rarity turned and trotted away to the kitchen, muttering something about not having time to do her hair, and Derpy slumped onto Rarity’s couch, studying her surroundings. Rarity kept her house very tidy, and everything matched. Even her magazines matched the furniture. Derpy was sprawled out on the sofa when Rarity entered.

“GAH!”

Cups rattled as Rarity’s magical grip jerked in her surprise, and Derpy turned to see the unicorn staring in horror at her. At first, Derpy couldn’t find anything wrong, and then she spotted it; her muddy hooves were on the red velvet. She tumbled off couch, scrambling to her feet as she apologized.

“I’m so sorry Rarity!”

Rarity bit her lip, shaking her head resolutely.

“Don’t worry, the mud should come right out. I hope.”

Rarity set the tea tray on the glass coffee table and set to work with a washcloth, scrubbing delicately at the velvet as she spoke to Derpy.

“So, care to explain why you’ve come?”