Protecting Derpy Hooves

Foster picked himself up and turned around. He could still see the silhouette of Derpy flying away. Foster turned back to the school. Mrs. Dandy was beckoning him.

"Come one, Foster. We're going to learn how to write in cursive!" Of course. Now they were. Foster thought about going to Mrs. Dandy and leaving Derpy to her thoughts, but he wasn't gonna do that. He hated himself. He said he'd protect Derpy. Dezzy was right to trip him. Maybe he could ask her to do it again. Foster shook his head and ran away from the school. He could hear Mrs. Dandy yelling but he didn't care. He had to apologize to Derpy. He knew where she had flown, he could see her silhouette landing. Then she was vanished behind the tree line. Instead of heading for her, Foster took a hard left and left Ponyville. Now running to his house. He remembered Derpy told him she left for school so quickly she forgot to eat. Maybe that's how he could make it up to her. Foster searched through the house for something breakfasty. Lettuce? No. Bread? No. All this was either lunch of dinner. He'd have to pick something up. He grabbed the bits he earned from yard work and left. Now running through the market, looking for something to appease Derpy. After no luck, Foster found a pastry shop on the corner. Coincidently named 'Sugar Cube Corner.' He barged in and began to look. He found something he knew Derpy would love. She'd have to. He spent all of his money on it and rushed out, the dish in a paper bag. By now Mrs. Dandy would surely would have notified his mom of his ditch. He'd have to be quick. Foster looked around and found the spot where he had last seen Derpy. He sighed as he realized what cardinal direction he'd have to go. He set off, running as fast as his tiny legs could.

"Foster!" Foster jumped at the sudden shout of his name. He groaned as his expectations were met. It was his mother. She tried to cut him off but Foster needed to do this. He dodged her and kept running. But not before she shouted at him again. Foster mentally apologized to her. He won't hear the end of this. If only things were simpler. If only things were under better circumstances. He finally lost her as he entered a new area. He would have to rely on his memory and luck to find Derpy. Surrounded by trees, he saw an opening to his right. He hoped it was the right way. He burst through and was met with a huge hill. Sitting down next to him was Derpy. She jumped at the unexpected sight of him and Foster noticed she had been crying. Foster set the bag down next to her.

"You haven't had breakfast, yet, so I thought I'd... Look, I'm extremely sorry, Derpy. I promised I'd protect you. And I failed already." Foster looked away ashamed. Derpy sniffed.

"It's okay, you tried. And what Dezzy said wasn't even that bad. The bad part is how it piles on top of everyone else's comments," she said. Foster raised an eyebrow quizzically. And Derpy pointed up. Oh, yeah, Cloudsdale, Foster thought. Derpy's hunger got the best of her and she took a peak in the bag. She reached in and grabbed what Foster had spent all his bits on. Now in her hand was a muffin. She smiled. "Thank you so much, Foster," she said taking a bite. Her eyes widened.

"Is there something wrong?" Foster asked.

"No. It's just... this muffin tastes amazing!" Derpy took another bite. Closing her eyes in bliss. "Where'd you get this? It's so warm!" Foster smiled.

"This small place called 'Sugar Cube Corner.' The worker said they were fresh out of the oven."

"I've never heard of that place," Derpy said.

"It's a family pastry house," Foster said.

"I'm going there to get muffins from now on," Derpy said taking a third bite.

"Wait, shouldn't you be in school?" Derpy asked. Foster laughed nervously.

"Yeah... but I ran to come find you and say sorry. I even ran into my mom on the way." Derpy raised her eyebrows. She got up and hugged Foster, Foster returned the hug.

"Thank you, Foster. I feel a lot better now," she said letting go. "You should head back, now. You don't want to get in more trouble than you are in now." And with that Foster left. He walked back through the woods. How was he going to explain this to his mom? He wasn't going to rat out Dezzy. That would only make Derpy a bigger target. And if there's one thing children don't like, it's a snitch. Foster would just have to say he didn't want to go so he ditched. He'd just have to take the blame. He prepared himself for quite a scolding from his mother when he saw her frantically walking around. He assumed, by the way she was talking to everypony, it seemed like she was asking around if they had seen him. When her eyes met Foster, they weren't angry, they were worried.

"Oh, Foster, baby! There you are!" she said, running over. She hugged Foster. "I thought you got yourself lost!"

"I'm sorry, mom. I don't know what I was thinking," Foster lied. His mother let go and eyed him.

"You know there will be consequences, right?" Foster nodded, acting ashamed. "The teacher said you were going to have an hour of detention after school. And for me, you're on dish duty for the next four days." Foster nodded. His mom said that school was almost over and there was no point in going back for ten minutes. So they went home and Foster started on the dishes. He wanted to talk to Derpy, to ask he'd if she'll be coming to school tomorrow, but he couldn't. He was stuck in his house. He guessed he'd find out tomorrow.