2, 6
"Loyalty"

Resting on her old swing Derpy looked up into the clouds. The sky was dark, cloudy, not even the moon shone through. She let out a sigh, slowly spinning back and forth. She had no idea how long she'd been out there.

Thunderlane left hours ago, but she could still feel him -- his smell, his voice, his touch... the way he looked at her. She didn't know why he had gotten this angry, but she wanted it to be all over with. Most problems she'd faced didn't feel like this, or if they did somepony was usually there to tell her it would be okay. Not this time. In the distance she heard the sound of crickets chirping, which was comforting in an odd way... rhythmic, relaxing.

Derpy didn't know if she wanted to cry, but she felt sad. At least it wasn't all over, he was just angry... and angry can go away. In the morning she would be able to set things straight -- she'd tell Thunderlane everything was going to be okay and she'd do whatever she had to do to make him happy again. He'd understand if she meant it, and she would. That's all I have to do... show him how much I want to make things better. Derpy kept thinking these thoughts over and over for the longest time, each time feeling more confident about it. She eventually found herself smiling, though she still felt a bit scared, so she stayed where she was, rocking. She felt safe on her swing.

After a while the sky started turning pink. Derpy looked off into the horizon, just realizing:

It's morning already.

It didn't feel like it should be, but it was.

The pegasus had never been up all night, but with her mind preoccupied she knew from her time spent in Canterlot how easy hours could slip by. Now she'd have to work on no sleep, all the way up in the clouds. At least she'd have a couple hours to get ready first.

Derpy hopped off her swing and stretched, heading for the house to pull herself together... almost colliding with her door frame on the way in. She shook her head, as everything was wiggling, and then took it very slowly. She didn't feel very well, but she still had to get ready. Not just for Thunderlane.

She prepared breakfast in her tiny home, just a few oatmeal muffins. It took a little longer than usual to get everything together. It was always in places Derpy could easily find without looking, without thinking, but today everything was a blur and nothing felt right. She looked on the wrong shelf in her refrigerator, swearing breakfast was there. It was only after taking a step back and looking a shelf above in frustration that she saw them, wrapped up tightly behind her milk... exactly where she left them.

She sat on her kitchen chair and ate, thinking. In a couple hours she could see Thunderlane and promise him she was going to make things better. It made sense that's all he needed, to know that she cared enough to fix it, because that's what she would want to hear. She would take charge, just like Applejack or Rainbow Dash. That would be best.

With the night behind her and a good plan in mind, Derpy couldn't help kicking back and letting out a little giggle. It felt so good to finally be able to relax, she closed her eyes and sighed deeply... having much to look forward to. Things would be the way they used to be again. She would see to that.

* * *

There was a distant sound. A bit sharp, almost like tapping.

"Uh... hello?" a gravely voice echoed.

Derpy didn't respond. Where she was felt much too relaxing.

The tapping got louder, faster... more percussive.

"Hey Derpy!"

The pegasus bolted upwards. She wasn't sure where she was or what was going on, but she knew she felt very cold. He eyes began to focus slowly as the tapping continued... this time sounding almost angry.

"Um, Hello? Are you even in there?"

Rubbing her eyes, which were still adjusting to the light, Derpy realized she was at her table, a few muffin wrappers in front of her. The sun shone brightly through her window, too brightly for morning, and... her chair pad felt completely soaked through. Right away she knew why. She also knew the voice calling through her front door. It was Rainbow Dash.

Derpy paused for a moment, unsure of what to do. She didn't want to open the door because of the state she was in, but she knew things could get very unpleasant for her if she didn't answer soon. In urinating at least she had probably washed out most of the sticky fluids from the night before, but in just taking a few deep breaths she realized that she now smelled very badly like pee. Her back legs and rump were soaked, after all.

"Umm..." Derpy remained frozen. "Rainbow?"

A moment of silence passed. Dash could be heard sighing through the door.

"Derpy," the rainbow-maned pegasus said, gruffly. "I can hear you in there. Look, I don't know what's going on, but if you don't open this door right now there's going to be trouble. I don't have time for this!"

Both pegasus ponies let out a sigh.

"Alright. I'm, um..." She looked down at the puddle beneath her chair. "I'm not decent!"

Rainbow Dash growled.

"Well, then get decent! I'm giving you three minutes. Okay?"

"Okay!"

Derpy bolted from the chair. She grabbed a dish towel from her sink and threw it on the puddle, trying to clean it up. She must've been there for over a minute, all that happened was she spread the mess around and saturated the towel.

"Hey, I'm really leaving if you don't open this door," Dash grumbled. "And then you'll really get it. Having to come look for you guys is so uncool!"

"I, um..." Derpy found her forehooves were really shaking. "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash!"

"Just come out here so I can talk to you."

Derpy rushed towards the door, put her hoof on the handle and hesitated. A red image flashed through her mind.

"Just one more minute! Okay?"

"Make it quick."

"I will! Promise!"

Derpy literally flew down her hall, crashing into her bedroom door frame on the way. She got up, shook away the stars, and looked into her room for the hook on her closet. It was bare.

Oh, where is it?

She scanned her room to find her red bathrobe on the floor, beside a thick diaper practically standing on its own. Images of the night before flashed through her mind, but that couldn't matter right now. She took a few steps into her room, threw it on, and trotted back towards the door. It swung wide as Derpy finished tying her robe.

Rainbow Dash was standing there. If Derpy hadn't been talking to her she would have been unable to tell if she was bored or very annoyed.

"Derpy, can you at least tell me why I had to come looking for you on my lunch break? Three other ponies are sick today already and none of you had the decency to at least tell me you didn't feel like showing up!?"

I, uh..." Derpy took a sudden interest in her hooves. "Um..."

"Well, come on already! Spit it out!"

Derpy winced, her body twitching upward. She made eye-contact with Rainbow Dash only for a second as she could feel her left eye fluttering. The gray pegasus opened her mouth hoping to speak, to say something, but ended up letting out a whimper. Everything went blurry as she began to cry. She couldn't look up at Rainbow Dash anymore.

"Woah..." Rainbow up put a hoof in her direction. "Oh, wow."

* * *

Rainbow Dash found herself comforting Derpy Hooves in the doorway. While Applejack had mentioned they were once old filllyhood friends, and sometimes hung out for a few hours, that didn't mean anything to Rainbow. Derpy was, simply put, the oddest, most difficult pony to work with, and Dash had to be her boss. Now she was hugging her. This was the most awkward, yet sincere hug Rainbow had given in years.

"It's okay, Derpy," Rainbow said, patting the wall-eyed pegasus on the back. "I'm not going to fire you or anything... I just need to know why half my crew didn't show up today. I- I'm just really frustrated. And hungry. Okay?"

Derpy didn't respond. She silently quaked. Dash could feel her shaking. She tried to encourage Derpy's head away from her shoulder, but she kept her eyes closed.

"Hey, are you gonna be alright?"

Derpy slowly opened her eyes.

"I'm really sorry I didn't come in today, Rainbow," she said, quietly. "I fell asleep."

Normally Rainbow Dash would raise her eyebrow at an excuse like that, but today, looking into Derpy eyes -- with their slow, asynchronous blinking -- she was going to take it at face value. Something was definitely going on. She smiled, looking around Derpy's home for the nearest thing the grey pegasus could sit down on. Taking a breath she noticed a strong smell coming from Derpy... a lot like urine. Rainbow cringed, but didn't say anything.

"Look, uh..." She broke away, checking her hooves while gently motioning Derpy towards her sofa. "You probably need to take the rest of the day off. It's cool." She smiled. "Heck, take tomorrow off if you like! It'll be alright. Anyway, um, I should get back now... It's almost eleven-thirty and I've only got, like, fifteen minutes left. You're not the first pony who's door I've had to knock on today... just the last. Not one of them told me they were sick ahead of time. Heck, I can't even find two of them! Well..." She sighed. "Looks like I won't be eating lunch today. Stupid flu... well, at least it's not the feather flu."

Derpy's stopped in her tracks, smiling weakly at her boss.

"Um... maybe I could get you a muffin?"

Rainbow smirked, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Seriously, Derpy? I come in here yelling at you and you offer me lunch?"

Derpy stared at her, unsure how to respond to that. She smiled awkwardly. Dash rolled her eyes.

"I'll take that muffin, Derpy." She leaned up against the wall and sighed. "You want me to eat it in the kitchen?"

"No!" The gray pony's eyes went wide. "Um, in here's fine."

Again, Rainbow rolled her eyes. Derpy was being weird, as usual.

"Fine, fine... I need to go in, like, a couple minute, though."

Smiling, she watched Derpy trot off... right into the kitchen wall.

"Ow." She shook away the stars and continued.

Maybe it's a good idea she's saying home. Hate to have a repeat of town hall. Dash looked around the room, at the couch, which looked surprisingly fancy, and the surrounding furniture. Derpy keeps a pretty tidy home. She stretched, noticing a bit of bright green by the couch. Squinting, she realized it was a rather nice pair of stallion saddle bags, much too big for Derpy. She identified them as Thunderlane's and suddenly everything clicked into place. Must've given her whatever he's got.

"Derpy?" she said, towards the kitchen. "Thunderlane was here last night, wasn't he?"

"Um..." Derpy appeared in the doorway, biting her lip. "Yeah. Why?"

"Look, uh, take tomorrow off. See a doctor. Make sure you're alright. You can hold on to that muffin, I don't want it anymore."

"What? Why? It's really good!"

"I'm sure it is, but..." Dash sighed, thinking about how to be tactful about this. "Look, something's going around and I so don't want it. Seriously, keep bundled up and drink lotsa fluids. I'll see you in a couple of days. Um..." Rainbow spread her wings, glancing towards the exit. "Later!"

In a flash Rainbow Dash disappeared out the door, leaving a rainbow'd blur in her place. It was silent now. Derpy, with muffin in hoof, scratched her head... confused as to why Rainbow had left so quickly, without her muffin.

What did I do?

Leaning against her wall Derpy unwrapped her muffin, a feeling bit sad. She would eat it now, then afterwards she would shower, diaper herself up and climb into bed. In a few hours she might feel better. She could go to Cloudsdale to visit Thunderlane after work. Maybe even the doctor's first if there was time. This was the perfect plan... but this time Derpy would first get some sleep because now she felt like she really needed it. Rainbow had used up her last bit of adrenaline and she just felt icky.

After finishing her muffin Derpy sauntered back to her kitchen, headed for the trash. A few steps from her destination her front hooves gave out and she slipped, bumping her head against the chair by her table, causing it to topple beside her and trip her up. The pegasus landed with a hard thud, instantly knowing what she had slipped in. She was alright, a bit sore... her robe and body hair absorbing most of what remained on the floor. She's be taking that shower pretty soon now. Then she'd do laundry... at least a chair pad, dish towel, and her favorite bathrobe. Maybe even some sheets, too. Soon this would all be in the past, though. Derpy looked forward to that as she got up from her urine-soaked drop and shook away the stars. This day could still be okay.

Author's Note

Had a bit of trouble writing for Rainbow Dash in this chapter.

Rainbow's supposed to be Derpy's Manager and really pissed when she shows up, but more at the situation than Derpy. Derpy just... irritates her. Initially there was something that just felt kind of off about Dash's scene and dialogue. Way I write Dash normally is as kind of an impulsive hot ticket, not really thinking about the consequences of what she's doing fully. Maybe it's the role I put her in, but the scenes with Dash got a lot of editing.