Derpy Hooves knew it was her birthday, but she didn't feel much like celebrating. Pinkie Pie was throwing her a party later, but she wasn't even sure if she wanted to attend. The only thing Derpy was sure of right now was how empty she felt.
Everypony always thought of Derpy as silly at best, stupid at worst. She wasn't. She was clumsy, sure; that was glaringly obvious even to herself, but she wasn't stupid. The grey Pegasus would never be considered the most intelligent mare in Ponyville, but her head could hold its share of thoughts, and she could at the very least comprehend her own emotions, and she knew her emotions were where this emptiness stemmed from.
The most core, raw emotion in Derpy's heart at this moment was loneliness. She didn't have, nor had she ever really had a very special somepony. She wiped a tear from her cheek as she thought of it. Nopony ever took her seriously if she so much as tried to flirt, and that was painful. It was as if they weren't aware that she even had feelings. They all thought she was too dumb.
Before she realized it, Derpy had lost track of time wallowing in her solitude. She looked up at the clock and suddenly remembered that her birthday party was in half an hour. She figured she may as well go, if only to spare Pinkie's feelings. She cleaned herself up, combed her blonde mane as well as she could, forced a happy face, and set off for Twilight's library, where the party was to be held.
When she arrived and opened the door, Derpy was immediately swept up by Pinkie Pie, who was shouting, "Birthday girl! Birthday girl! The birthday girl's here, everypony!" She placed Derpy in the seat of honor at the front of the room. "Wait here, I've got a special treat for you, straight from Sugarcube Corner," she said, then dashed off to get it.
As she awaited Pinkie's return, Derpy surveyed the room. She saw that all five of Pinkie's friends were there, probably more because of their friendship with Pinkie than because of genuinely caring for Derpy, but that was why she had come as well, so she couldn't judge them too harshly. What really made her sick were the other ponies, who had come due to either a sheer love of partying, or sympathy. Derpy couldn't decide which was worse. She wanted love, not pity.
After a short time, Pinkie returned and put something very large on the table in front of Derpy. Because it was covered, she couldn't see what it was, but it smelled delicious. It smelled like...
"A birthday muffin!" announced Pinkie, simultaneously unveiling the pastry. "I know how much you like muffins, so I got Mr. and Mrs. Cake to help me make this for you. Don't you just love it?"
Were she in any other mood, Derpy would have, but loneliness is not easily dissolved by over-sized muffins. Still desiring not to hurt Pinkie's feelings, though, she reinforced her faked grin and said, "It's great."
Pinkie Pie squealed with glee and rushed to light the candles. "Now blow them out and make your wish," she said.
"Well, it can't hurt," Derpy thought. "I wish somepony, anypony, could just love me." She then let fly the extinguishing breath.
Pinkie then quickly set to work serving up pieces of the muffin to everypony, of course making sure that Derpy got hers first. Derpy managed to force down a few mouthfuls, but really didn't have much of an appetite. Her favorite food didn't even tempt her.
After close to an hour of moping around, picking at the muffin, and feigning joy, Derpy began to wish she could just go home. It was getting harder and harder to keep up the charade, and nopony besides Pinkie Pie had said anything but "Happy birthday" to her all evening. She was slowly resigning to the fact that her birthday wish wasn't going to come true, not that she'd really expected it to. How could a wish and a puff of breath change a lifetime pattern of loneliness?
As she was lost in depression, Derpy became aware of a small voice tapping at the edge of her consciousness. She snapped out of it and looked up to see a yellow Pegasus with a long, flowing, pink mane. She was face-to-face with Fluttershy.
"Excuse me," she said in a voice barely more than a whisper, "Derpy, Pinkie wanted me to ask you what's wrong."
Derpy sighed, "Nothing."
"Oh, okay then," Fluttershy seemed satisfied. "Have a good birthday." She then went back across the room to rejoin Pinkie and the rest of her group of friends.
Not long after, she returned. "Pinkie says you're not telling the truth. What's really wrong?"
"I said nothing," Derpy repeated.
Fluttershy's only response was a look, but not just any look. It was an inexplicably piercing look that somehow willed Derpy toward the truth.
She gave in. "Okay. I'm just... lonely," she admitted.
"I'm sorry," Fluttershy responded, "I don't understand. All these ponies come to a party for you and you're lonely?"
"I'm not..." Derpy tried to think of the right words, "that... that kind of lonely."
"Well..." Fluttershy still didn't fully comprehend, "what kind of lonely are you?"
"I... I'm... 'special somepony' lonely." Now it was out in the open.
"Oh..." Fluttershy blushed and appeared to get very uncomfortable very quickly.
"Yeah..."
The two stood there in what was easily the most awkward silence of Derpy's life, neither one sure what to say next. Derpy tapped her hoof nervously, while Fluttershy simply stared at the ground.
After a while, Fluttershy began tentatively, "Well, umm... I don't really have a very special somepony right now, either."
As Derpy came to full realization of the implications of that remark, everything became almost surreal. "Wait a sec. Are you saying--"
"I'm not making any promises," Fluttershy said. "Just come by my cottage for lunch tomorrow, and we'll... see what happens."
Derpy smiled, and a rosy flush came to her cheeks. "Th-thank you, Fluttershy."
"No problem, Derpy. You never know, this could work out great for both of us."
With that, she went back across the room and left Derpy feeling infinitely happier. Derpy was overjoyed just to be given a chance. Oddly enough, she was also a lot hungrier, and gobbled down the remaining pieces of muffin on her plate. It was banana-nut, her favorite, and it really was tasty.
The next morning, Derpy awoke bright and early. She was giddy with anticipation and began getting ready a full four hours before her date, making sure to take extra special care of every little detail. Nothing could go wrong today.
At 11:40, when she was almost ready to burst from eagerness, she set off for Fluttershy's house, feeling excited, but also determined. As she strolled through Ponyville, the only thought on her mind was not to blow this opportunity. A beautiful mare had given her a shot. A beautiful, kind mare had asked her out. This was not to be taken lightly.
Derpy found her destination and knocked on the door. Fluttershy answered shortly. "Hi, Fluttershy," she said. "Am I early?"
"Just a little, but that's fine. Come inside and sit down; I'm just finishing up our lunch."
Derpy did as she was told and took a seat on Fluttershy's couch. As she sat there, looking around and listening to the various preparation sounds emanating from the kitchen, she suddenly noticed something soft, warm, and furry moving across her lap. She looked down to see the pure white little form as if ready for a nap. She let it happen, partly because she wanted to make a good impression, but mostly because he just looked too peaceful and cute to disturb.
A few minutes later, Fluttershy came into the sitting room. "Derpy, I thought we could have lunch outside today becau--" but she was cut off by a giggle as she saw where Angel had chosen to sleep. "I guess Angel likes you already."
"Hehe, yeah," Derpy agreed. "Umm... how should I get up?"
"Oh," Fluttershy chuckled again, "here, just let me get him." She then scooped him up off Derpy's lap and gingerly placed him back down on the sofa. Angel didn't even stir. It actually amazed Derpy how gentle Fluttershy could be. With the bunny now taken care of, the two walked outside to their meal of hay sandwiches and tea.
Derpy was a little nervous at first, but as she started to talk and saw how good at listening Fluttershy was, she began to open up more. She got a very open and innocent feeling from Fluttershy. She knew she could be herself and not be judged.
Everything was going great; Derpy could even feel herself beginning to fall for the Fluttershy. She was hoping Fluttershy felt it, too. Then, unexpectedly, she knocked over her teacup.
The brown liquid went everywhere. It soaked the napkins, the tablecloth, and even got on Fluttershy herself. Derpy felt horrible. Just when the date was running smoothly, her clumsiness had to rear its ugly head and ruin it. All she could think to do was say, "I'm sorry," over and over.
Fluttershy was barely phased. "That's okay, that's okay," she said. "Just let me clean this up and we can get back to our date. I really am having fun."
"Well, let me help," Derpy said. She couldn't very well just sit there and let Fluttershy do everything. She bent down to assist.
It happened that Fluttershy stooped down at the same time. Their heads collided painfully. "Ouch!" Fluttershy exclaimed, and stood up rubbing her cranium.
Derpy had an aching in her head, but an even worse on in her heart. She sat dejectedly on the ground and began to cry. She'd ruined it. Somepony as great as Fluttershy didn't deserve a hopelessly uncoordinated, awkward Pegasus for her special somepony. The emptiness that had vanished when she'd been invited on this date now returned with a vengeance. Her opportunity was now blown.
As she wept, Derpy felt Fluttershy come over and hug her. "It really is okay. We can clean up the mess, and my head doesn't hurt that bad," she said soothingly.
"But..." Derpy struggled to speak through the sobs, "you don't like me, do you? I mean, I'm so clumsy. I never really had a shot, did I?"
"Don't say that," Fluttershy reassured her. "I wasn't lying when I said I was having fun. I..." she trailed off.
"Yeah?"
Fluttershy moved closer, and whispered in Derpy's ear, "I like you a lot."
"Really?"
"Mmm-hmm." Fluttershy then did something uncharacteristically bold: she gave Derpy a gentle kiss on the cheek.
Derpy then turned so they were face to face. They gazed deep into each other's eyes. This was the moment. She inched closer to Fluttershy, and the gesture was reciprocated. They kept moving gently inward, and kissed. Their lips met, and as Derpy felt the passion and affection in that kiss, her emptiness filled. She was deeply in love with Fluttershy, and judging from the kiss, Fluttershy felt the same.
After they released, Derpy began to worry. She loved Fluttershy, but what would everypony think of them? "Fluttershy?"
"Yes?"
"What about everypony else? Like, what if somepony makes fun of you for dating me because they say I'm stupid or whatever?"
Fluttershy smiled mischievously. "Well, let's just say I didn't forget everything I learned from Iron Will."
Fluttershy trotted cheerfully through Ponyville, her hooves clip-clopping lightly on the cobbled street and her long, pink mane blowing behind her in the slight, pleasant breeze. She was looking forward to the wonderful day that lay ahead. It was going to be wonderful for two reasons: first, because she had her spa appointment with Rarity, which always left her feeling relaxed and happy, and second, because of her wonderful girlfriend, Derpy.
Fluttershy felt a deep warmth in her heart as she thought of her: the beautiful gray color of her coat, those little bubbles on her flank, that adorably messy blonde mane, and, most of all, those sweet, joyful amber eyes. Fluttershy felt lucky. She was lucky to have overcome her shyness at that birthday party. She was lucky to have been able to ask Derpy on a date. She was lucky to have Derpy in her life.
Despite all this, and despite the fact that she and Derpy had now been together for close to a month, she hadn’t told her five best friends yet. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed, it just had never come up. Every time they had all gotten together, the conversation had been about something else, whether it be Applejack’s harvest, Twilight’s newest spell, or Pinkie Pie’s latest cupcake recipe. None of these topics had seemed appropriate for her to start discussing her love life, and Fluttershy wasn’t exactly known for being an aggressive speaker, so she had just swallowed it down and bided her time until an opportunity came along, but she never saw one.
Today, however, was going to be different. She had resolved in her mind to tell Rarity about her and Derpy’s relationship. Rarity was quite talkative, and it wasn’t always easy to get a word in with her, but Fluttershy knew that if she kept herself focused on this one goal, she could do it. She could then move on to telling the rest of her friends, and would feel better knowing that she was being completely honest with them again.
As she arrived at the spa and opened the door, the yellow pegasus was met with the strong floral fragrance of the various oils and bath salts in the establishment. She looked around and quickly located the white coat and deep violet mane of her friend. Rarity had spotted her, too, and waved.
“Hi, Rarity,” said Fluttershy as she joined the unicorn.
“Fluttershy! Hello! Now we can get started,” said Rarity excitedly. “I cannot tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to this; I’ve been so stressed at the boutique recently. I just got an order for 50 dresses to be sold in Manehatten!”
“Well, that’s great, Rarity,” Fluttershy remarked.
“Yes, I suppose it is,” the fashionista said, “but it is a lot of work. I’m just sooo ready to be pampered today.”
“Me too.”
“Shall we have the usual?”
“Okay.”
Rarity then called to the spa staff and she and Fluttershy were led into the muggy sauna. Here, Rarity continued to elaborate on the Manehatten order she had received. Fluttershy smiled and nodded politely, but her mind was elsewhere. Now that the time had come to tell Rarity, it was proving harder than expected to stem the linguistic tide.
This continued through the sauna, the mud bath, and the massage. As the time came for the facial, Rarity’s pace was beginning to slacken, and the shy one saw her chance. After both their faces had been coated in the viscous cream, Fluttershy listened for a pause. When she heard one, she dove in.
“Rarity,” she said, “can I tell you something?”
“Anything, dear,” Rarity responded.
“Well...” Fluttershy trailed off.
“Don’t be afraid, darling. We are best friends, after all.”
Fluttershy drew in a deep breath, steadying herself. She didn’t know why she was getting so nervous; this should have been easy. Yet here she was, stomach full of butterflies. “Well... I... kind of have... a girlfriend.”
Rarity gasped, whipped her head around to face her friend, and got a huge, toothy grin on her face. “Fluttershy, that’s-- that’s--” she stammered breathlessly, “that’s wonderful! You have to tell me who!”
“Um, it’s Derpy.”
Fluttershy saw Rarity’s grin slip for just an instant. “Wow, Derpy. That’s great!” The unicorn’s smile grew more unconvincingly false with with each second, and that disturbed Fluttershy.
“Is-- is something wrong?” she asked nervously.
“Well...” Rarity hesitated. “Just... don’t take this the wrong way, dear... it’s just, she isn’t the most... well, elegant, now is she?”
“So?”
“I’m not judging you, Fluttershy. I just always thought you’d want to go for somepony a little more graceful.”
“Oh, but Rarity, Derpy is just the sweetest pony I’ve ever met.”
“Yes, but she’s so... well, you know...”
“She’s not stupid, if that’s what you mean.” Fluttershy’s assertiveness was starting to peek out now.
“I never said that.”
“But that’s what you meant.”
“Fluttershy, no I didn’t.”
“I’m sorry, Rarity, but I think our spa day is over.”
With that, Fluttershy wiped the facial cream quickly from her skin and walked out of the spa, making sure to leave a few bits on the front desk on the way out. Rarity was dumbstruck as she watched the pegasus disappear.
Hot tears of indignation rose in Fluttershy’s teal eyes as she strode broken-heartedly, yet determinedly away from the building. She didn’t know what direction she was going, but she knew she wanted to get as far as possible from Rarity. “How can somepony who claims to be my friend judge me so harshly?” she thought. What made her feel even worse was how Rarity had scrutinized Derpy. The unicorn had barely even spent two minutes with that (charmingly, Fluttershy thought) klutzy pegasus, and yet she felt qualified to evaluate her weakness as a girlfriend.
Before she knew it, Fluttershy suddenly recognized the part of Ponyville she was going through. She was near Derpy’s house, which made sense. She hadn’t consciously decided to come this way, but her mind must have secretly desired some comfort, and who better to receive comfort from than the mare she loved?
She knocked at the door and waited. When Derpy answered, the sight of her face lighting up with joy made Fluttershy feel a lot better. “Hi, Fluttershy!” she exclaimed enthusiastically.
“Hi, Derpy,” said Fluttershy, then properly greeted her with a kiss.
They walked inside and sat down on Derpy’s sofa together. Fluttershy sighed deeply and nuzzled her head against Derpy’s neck, kissing it tenderly and affectionately. She loved the feel of Derpy’s warmth and heartbeat snug against her, the way it made her feel so safe to be so near her favorite pony.
Derpy relished the feeling of being so near her special somepony as well, drinking in Fluttershy’s soft scent of flowers and hay. She could tell something wasn’t right, though, so she looked Fluttershy in the eye and asked, “Why have you been crying?”
Fluttershy now became aware that her cheeks were still moist with teardrops. “Oh, well... it’s just that I told Rarity about us today... and she wasn’t exactly thrilled,” she explained.
“How ‘not thrilled’ was she?”
“She didn’t come right out and say it... but... just... the way she acted...”
Derpy could now feel tears start to run down her face as well. She hugged the yellow mare tightly, and whispered, “It’s okay. Remember what you said on our first date, about Iron Will?”
Fluttershy smiled slightly at the memory. “I know,” she sobbed, “but I never thought it would be that way with my own friends.”
“Well...” Derpy thought for a moment. “You’ve only told Rarity so far, right?”
Fluttershy nodded.
“So you don’t know if that’s how all your friends will react. It could just be Rarity that has a problem.”
“So you think I should tell everypony else?” the timid pegasus asked.
Derpy nodded. “Yeah.” She then bent her face down and kissed Fluttershy’s forehead. “I love you, and I think all your friends should know.”
The next day, Fluttershy set off to Sugarcube corner with a plan. She needed Pinkie Pie to set the plan in motion, and was sure to find the hyperactive party pony at the bakery.
When she reached her destination, she opened the door, causing the small bell hung above it to give a silvery tinkle that alerted the Cakes to customers. The place had an extremely sweet smell of all things having to do with dessert: cupcakes, muffins, turnovers, and all other manner of goodies. As the bell rang out, Mr. Cake looked up from the bowl of brownie batter he was stirring and saw Fluttershy. “Hi, Fluttershy. What can I get for you today?” he asked cheerfully.
“Oh, actually, I just wanted to see if I could talk to Pinkie,” she replied.
“Sure, she’s up in her room,” he said, and gestured up the stairs with a jerk of his head.
“Okay, thank you.”
“No problem.”
Fluttershy climbed the stairs and stopped in front of a simple wooden door. It would have been just the same as any other door, had it not been for the sign that was hanging on it. A large white poster adorned it, and on the poster, in large letters printed in hot pink crayon, was the message “PINKIE’S ROOM” along with the earth pony’s caricature of herself. Coming from the other side of the door, Fluttershy could hear the faint thump of bass-heavy party music. She knocked.
In what seemed to be an impossibly quick instant, Pinkie Pie opened the door. “Hi, there, Fluttershy!” she said, shouting to make herself heard over the rhythm of her soundtrack. “Come on in!”
Fluttershy obeyed the invitation and walked inside. She took a seat on Pinkie’s bed, as the magenta mare continued dancing about erratically to the music.
“Umm, Pinkie,” Fluttershy tried to speak, but her voice was lost in the noise.
Pinkie Pie twirled on, oblivious.
“Pinkie,” Fluttershy said again, a little louder this time.
She had been successful in this attempt, as Pinkie stopped the music and said, “Yeah, Fluttershy?”
“I need you to do me a favor, if that’s alright.”
“Sure. What do ya need?”
“Well, I need to you to get Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity here. I have something important to tell all of you, but I want to tell you all together. Would that be okay?” the pegasus requested.
“Okie dokie loki. Pinkie swear I’ll get ‘em all.” As she said the oath, Pinkie made the crossing motion across her chest and the thrust to her eye that signified it non-verbally.
“Thank you, Pinkie. Get them all here, and I’ll be back in an hour.”
“You’re welcome Flutters. See ya then!”
“Okay.”
Fluttershy then left Pinkie’s room, walked down the stairs, left the bakery, and went back to her girlfriend’s house.
***
Five ponies now sat at a table in Sugarcube Corner, muttering expectantly. Pinkie Pie had rounded them up, saying it was “superduperextraimportant” that they follow her. Not wanting to question Pinkie being Pinkie, they had obliged their most random friend and come to the sweet shop with her. The only reason they had gotten when they pressed Pinkie was that Fluttershy had to tell them something.
“What do y’all think this is about?” Applejack asked.
“I dunno, but it better be good. Right now’s about peak napping hours for me,” Rainbow Dash chimed in.
“Now, Rainbow,” Twilight said disapprovingly, “she is our friend. If she has something important, we should listen to her. You can always nap.”
“Whatever,” the cyan pegasus huffed.
“C’mon, Dashie!” Pinkie Pie’s bubbly voice rang out. “Fluttershy needs her friends.”
Rainbow Dash just sighed, annoyed.
Only Rarity remained silent. She had a sneaking suspicion of what this little announcement was about, and the thought of it weighed down her heart with regret. She remembered the hurt in her friend’s eyes, the hurt that she had caused. It made her sick to her stomach to think that she, who prided herself on being the most elegant mare in Ponyville, had handled that with such a lack of grace and a lack of concern for Fluttershy’s feelings. “Why couldn’t I just keep my mouth shut?” she thought to herself.
Suddenly, the ringing of the bell brought her out of her thoughts. Fluttershy had just walked in, and, as Rarity had anticipated, Derpy was right beside her. The grey pegasus had her wing wrapped protectively around Fluttershy, and the two walked in step.
The five seated at the table now realized why Fluttershy had called them down here. They had a pretty good idea what Fluttershy was going to say before she even opened her mouth to say it.
“Hi, everypony. Thank you for coming, and Pinkie, thanks for getting them,” she said.
“No problem.” Pinkie Pie grinned.
“So, I wanted to tell all of you something. Rarity... well, she already knows.”
At that statement, four faces turned to stare at the unicorn, whose normally snowy white coat was flushed a brilliant shade of scarlet. Rarity’s shame doubled as she heard the words. She couldn’t get the image of Fluttershy tearing up out of her mind.
“What I wanted to tell you was...” Fluttershy trailed off. Her stomach felt as if it was being made into some kind of macabre balloon animal.
Seeing that Fluttershy was quickly being overwhelmed by nerves, Derpy took over. “What she wanted to tell you was this.” She then grabbed the yellow mare’s face and kissed her with all her might. Fluttershy blushed as red as a ripe apple. She wasn’t exactly comfortable being this intimate in front of this many ponies.
As the two pegasi broke the embrace, Fluttershy turned to face her friends again. “Yeah, that,” she remarked. She then saw their faces, and got a huge surprise.
They were all smiling. The biggest surprise of all, even Rarity was. Fluttershy grinned sheepishly at the sight of this. “So you guys are okay with this?”
“Okay? Okay? Sugarcube, we couldn’t be happier fer ya!” Applejack said.
“Really?”
They all nodded in unison.
“Rarity?”
“Fluttershy,” Rarity began, “I cannot tell you how sorry I am. I realize now that if you’re happy, I should be happy. I have no right to pass judgement on who you love. Again, I apologize.”
“That’s okay,” said Fluttershy, and went over to hug her.
