No Way Back

   -2-

The long rays of late evening sun touched down in patches on Gerald’s camp and tinged everything with a reddish golden hue, giving all an aire of magic and beautiful, dreamlike unreality.

Pausing for a moment from setting up his camp, he inhaled deeply of the clean, sweet air, relishing it. Looking around, he happily took in the grandeur and great beauty of all that surrounded him. He felt more peaceful and content in that timeless moment than he had at any other time in his life.

Gerald was broken from his sweet reveries by the sound of hooves crunching over dry leaves. He instinctively turned toward the sound to see Derpy moving toward him carrying a paper sack.

“Hey!”, he smiled, waving at her as she approached him.

“Hey, lover!”, she cooed sweetly as she reached him and set the paper sack down.

Gerald involuntarily winced at her use of the word ‘lover’, realizing that it was a bit odd that Derpy, someone he’d just met, would call him that. Still, there was something about her calling him that which pleased him, too. Still, it would take him a while to get used to that.

Rising up on her hind legs she wrapped her forelegs - and her wings - around him in a gentle embrace that was sweeter, warmer and more loving than anything he could ever have imagined. He wrapped his arms around her, returning that embrace.

In that moment Gerald realized that this hug, this embrace  felt natural and right, that it didn’t feel like a hug from a stranger.

She pulled back a little, keeping her arms around him , her wings still enfolding them both.

Derpy looked at him for a moment with dancing, sparkling eyes then kissed him with a kiss that overflowed with both gentle passion and deep affection. He balked, hesitated, then returned that kiss and, even as he did so, felt his heart swell with a sweet joy and warmth he’d never known, before. Melting into it he found he just wanted it to go on forever.

Finally, they pulled back and gazed deeply into each others eyes. It was in that moment that Gerald realized he was falling  madly in love with Derpy.

“So”, Gerald said, smiling and gazing into her eyes, “I’m guessing things went pretty well in town?”

“Oh, better than you could imagine!”, she said, smiling and rolling her eyes joyfully.

“So, tell me!”, he said, excitedly.

“Well”, she continued, “I went back to town with the Crusaders and, no sooner did we get there but everypony started gathering around me, all smiles and happy to see me. Then they started hugging me and asking me if I was coming home.”

“That’s awesome!”, he said, delighted.

“I know, right?”, she said, joyously giggling again.

“Anyway”, she continued, “I was so happy everypony was treating me so nice and wanting me to come home and then Rainbow Dash ran up to me and started hugging me!

Then she started crying saying how glad she was to see me and how much she missed me and then we both started crying and hugging each other and everypony cheered when they saw that!”

“Awesome!”, he repeated, beaming ecstatically.

“Ooh! Ooh!”, she said, growing excited, “and they want me to go back to being a mail carrier, again! They told me they got swamped with mail while I was gone, that they can’t do it without me! Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Fantastic!” Gerald said, laughing in delight for her, “I’m so glad everything worked out for you.”

“Thanks!”, she said sweetly before giving him another quick kiss.

“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!”, she exclaimed excitedly. Pulling gently away from Gerald she picked up the paper sack, held it up in front of him. “I brought you something”, then, “Well, it’s for both of us, really.”

Gerald gently took the bag, opened it and looked inside.

“Muffins!”, he beamed. He looked at her, quite pleased. “This is great! Thank you!”

“They’re lemon surprise! My favorite! I hope you like them”, she said.

“I’m sure they’ll be wonderful”, he said, smiling.

“You’re not gonna have one now?”, she frowned, puzzled.

“Let’s save them for desert”, he said, setting the sack aside, turning back to her.

“Now, I have a surprise for you!”, he said, moving toward his tent.

“Ooh! I love surprises!”, she said, excitedly clapping her hooves.

“What is it? What is it?” She was practically dancing as she followed him.

Stepping inside Gerald returned a moment later carrying a folding card table, two folding chairs and a large picnic basket. Her eyes grew wide, an excited smile spread over her face.

He quickly but carefully set everything up then, holding out a chair for Derpy, invited her to sit down.

Gerald had covered the table with a fine cream white linen tablecloth. Upon that he’d set out an ornate and elegant silver setting then fine bone china dishes rimmed with gold and the deepest indigo blue.

The center of the table was graced with two long, tapering white candles resting in fine crystal holders. Between the candles was an elegant, beautifully crafted and ornate crystal vase in which sat one perfect, long stemmed red rose.

“Oh, my!”, she gasped. She stood there for a moment blinking and putting a hoof to her heart. Then, giving a little squeal of delight she happily pranced to the chair, sat down, Gerald putting the chair in for her.

Gerald sat down across from her and smiled happily, delighted at her response.

“You did this for me?”, she asked, blinking, awestruck.  Then, “How..?”

“Well”, he said, smiling, very pleased with himself, “after you went to town with the Crusaders I got an idea for this surprise so I snuck back into town, being careful you didn’t find out and ruin the surprise.”

Settling her elbows on the table, she rested her face in her forehooves and sat listening, her eyes twinkling.

“First”, he continued, “I found Pinkamina and told her what I was planning.” He paused for a moment, grinned.

“Well, you know Pinkie” he continued, “First thing she wanted to do was throw a huge party. It took me a while to convince her that what I really wanted was a nice, romantic dinner for two. She was disappointed but told me it was okay and that she’d help me.”

“Next, we went to see Rarity, who set me up with all the fancy stuff you see. Afterwards, I went to a local restaurant, bought the food and brought everything back here.”

Derpy sat entranced, her eyes sparkling and dancing with delight at what Gerald had done for her.

“Now, there’s one last surprise but I’m not going to tell you how I got that”, he said, with a sly grin.

She stared at him, bit her lip, looking like she would begin crying with joy.

Then, “How did you know I’d be back here tonight?”, she asked.

“I didn’t know for sure”, he said, “but after everything that happened this afternoon, after everything you said, I just figured you would be.”

“Well, you were right!”, she said delightedly.

“Now!”, he said, pointedly holding up a finger, “watch!”

Gerald pointed to a very large gap in the forest canopy. Derpy’s eyes followed.

As they watched, the edge of the horizon was touched by and began to glow with the first light of a full silver-white moon which rose quickly then stopped. Hanging high in the night sky, it’s silver light tinting everything in its magic.

“Ohhhhhh!”, she gasped slowly. Overwhelmed. Tears of joy filled her eyes.

Closing his eyes, Gerald bowed his head, held his hands up prayerfully in front of his face. “Thank you, Princess Luna”, he said with quiet reverence.

“You’re welcome”, came a voice from the sky that spoke gently, softly, but with the strength of distant thunder rolling across the heavens.

Derpy looked at me slack jawed and blinking, astonished.

“How’d you do that?!”, she whispered in awed tones as if fearful that speaking too loudly would shatter the magic of this moment.

Gerald gave her a knowing smile as he began to serve up the food.

“That would be telling!”, he said, with a glint in his eye.

He had to do a double take when, a moment later, Derpy bit a quivering lower lip as a look of what appeared to be sorrow spread across her face. Tears gushed from her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. She rose from her seat and ran off, crying loudly. Shocked and confused, Gerald rose and ran after her.

He caught up with her a moment later, stood a short distance away from her. She was standing with her back to him, her body visibly trembling, the night air was stung with the sound of her  sobs and whimpers.

“What’s wrong, Derpy?!”, he asked, baffled, after he’d reached her.

She turned to face him, clutching her chest with her hooves, her eyes red and swollen, her face a mask of sorrow.

They locked eyes for a moment, then she looked away again.

“I don’t deserve this!”, she said a moment later.

“What?!”, he said, even more confused as he drew nearer to her.

“I don’t deserve this!”, she repeated even more loudly as she turned back to him, her voice quivering, her eyes wide.

“I bet even Princess Celestia was never given anything as beautiful or wonderful as this!” She buried her face in her hooves and cried.

Stepping up to her, Gerald placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, turned her to face him. She brushed him away brusquely.

“No! Please don’t!”, she whimpered, looking away.

“What’s gotten into you?”, he asked, totally bewildered now.

“Look at me!”, she said, turning to face him, her eyes wet and swollen with tears.

“I’m just a silly, clumsy little mare with goofy eyes who wrecks everything and here you are giving me something so wonderful, so awesome, that not even the princesses of Equestria would be worthy of it!” She turned away, again, sobbing.

Apparently old insecurities die hard.

Wrapping his arms around her he drew her close, held her reassuringly.

“Why, in Equestria, would you think such things?”, he asked, gently. She looked into his eyes, her lip still quivering.

“I just never imagined anypony ever doing anything like this for... Me”, she said.

Gerald began gently stroking her mane.

“You are silly you know.”, he said tenderly, “but you’re more than worthy of this.” He softly kissed the top of her head.

She looked up at him with big, tear stained eyes.

“Really?”, she said, surprised.

“Yes, really!”, he said smiling and gazing deeply into her eyes.

After a moment she stopped crying and just held Gerald, resting her head against his chest for a moment, sighing.

“Gerald?”, she asked, her voice still holding the trace of a quiver.

“Yeah?”, he said, gently.

“Don’t ever leave me”

She held him more tightly, snuggled into him.

“I love you!”, she cooed softly.

Gerald said nothing but smiled, closed his eyes and lay his head softly against hers and held her close to him.