When You Fall...

Chapters

I'll always be...
There to Catch You...
Even if it's Just a Scratch...
I'll Always Be There

I'll always be...

Nurse Redheart woke up reluctantly, dragging herself out of bed. She had yet another long day at the hospital ahead of her. After dragging herself out of the warm embrace of her blankets, the cold morning air took hold of her. She stood upon the soft carpet that made up her floor as she pulled the covers back to their tidy looking spots.

She moved groggily toward the bathroom to take a shower and brush her teeth.

The foggy mirror reflected a messy light pink mane flopping this way or that. She ran a brush through her mane and tail with practiced ease and stepped out of the steamy room. A rush of cold air made her shiver slightly.

Redheart made her way to the front door and went through her checklist. “Okay, shower? Check. Teeth? Check. Uniform?” She grabbed a small nurse's hat off of the rack near the door and nodded to herself. “Check.”

The front door swung open and she stepped into the chilly morning. It was still dark and only a few ponies were up and getting ready to start their day, but that was the life of a nurse. The air felt damp as she walked to the end of her property. She turned right and continued to walk toward her destination.

Some of the few jobs that also started this early were sanitation and mail delivery.

***

Derpy Hooves fumbled out of bed as she rushed to get ready. Her alarm had gone off late, or rather, she decided ten more minutes of sleep was more important than waking up for work. She would have to skip her shower to make up for lost time, not that she felt particularly dirty.

She grabbed a brush with her wing and ran it through her mane. After deciding she wasn’t looking like a bale of hay shoved through a grinder she grabbed her saddle bags and headed outside to get to the post office on time, hopefully.

She stepped through her door to another beautiful morning. The morning air felt soft and welcoming compared to her rather humid house. She took in a deep whiff of fresh air and smiled. Nearly every morning of spring was like this, and Derpy hoped it would never end. Alas she stretched her wings a few times and took off into the air.

***

Upon arriving at the post office, the smell of paper and envelope glue filled her nostrils. That smell would never get old.

She made her way to the employee room and clocked in.

“Mornin’ Derpy! Just in the nick of time huh?” The postmaster said to the nearly late worker.

“Sorry, I was having the best sleep, and figured I could make it in time” The clumsy mare responded.

“It’s all fine and well now that you’re here. Your load should be waiting for you in the mailroom. Good luck out there today.” The postmaster was astutely aware of Derpy’s clumsiness, and that she could get injured from time to time.

“Okay, thanks. Have a good day!” Derpy smiled and waved a hoof to him as she made her way to get her workload. The postmaster simply smiled and shook his head.

“She just knows how to brighten up someone’s day, don’t she?”

In the mailroom Derpy picked up her mail and thanked the pony who told her where it was, she would forget a lot of the time and needed a reminder. The first letter had Fluttershy’s address on it, so she would go there first. She stuffed the mail carefully into her bags with a hoof and closed them with a test jiggle to make sure the bags stayed closed. Content that she was ready, she left the post office and began to head toward Fluttershy’s house.

As she soared carefully through the air, she enjoyed every moment of flight. Everything was calmly sliding away from her as she carefully flapped and glided through the morning air. Her destination was fairly far, so she just enjoyed being in the air for as long as she could, smiling to anyone who gave her a glance.

Fluttershy’s small wooden cottage sat peacefully on the ground, reluctantly Derpy landed losing the exciting edge of being airborne. As she approached the small cottage she sifted through her bags to get the owner’s mail out.

She knocked gently, but loudly enough for the mare residing inside to hear and announced, “Mail Service!”

After a few moments the door slid open slowly to reveal a timid yellow mare. “Oh, hello Derpy Hooves. How is your morning?”Fluttershy said after realizing it was indeed Derpy delivering her mail today.

“Just started my shift, but it’s alright I guess. Please, call me Derpy.” She said smiling as always. “Just got a couple letters for you today. Have a good one!” She radiated kindness and joy like the sun gave off light. She placed the letters on Fluttershy’s extended wing.

“Of course, thank you Derpy Hoo-. Have a nice day as well.” She said as shy as ever and waved to the retreating mail mare.

Derpy played mail roulette and picked a random letter. It was to a certain ‘Doctor Whooves’, one of her favorite ponies to deliver to. Occasionally he would give her muffins! How nice is that?

Again she flew through the air, letting the breeze carry her both physically and mentally. As she approached the destination she slowed and landed as carefully as possible. She fumbled over the gravel and fell on her face.

“Pblt” She spit gravel out of her mouth and stood up again. “Mpfh, I’ll have to be more careful I guess.” She stated softly to herself. She approached the small Police Public Call box and knocked on the door. Whenever the box was gone she placed the mail in a locked container where the box usually sat. “Mail Service!”

The twin navy blue doors swung open and a brown pony answered the call. “Hello Derpy! How wonderful to see you again.” The Doctor pulled her into a warm embrace, in which the grey mare blushed lightly.

“Morning Doctor! Got a letter for ya.” She pulled it out in her mouth and gave it to him.

“Ah! I have something for you as well, give me a moment will you?” She nodded and he retreated into his box. Every time he did this was confusing. Where did he need to retreat to in a small blue box?

He popped back out and held a wicker basket filled to the brim with five blueberry muffins. Derpy’s face lit up in joy as she looked at the small offering. “For me?” She said like it was something over the top valuable. The Doctor simply nodded and set them in front of her. “Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!” She repeated quickly as she pulled him into another hug.

“Really, it’s no problem! I just love seeing you happy.” He managed even though he could barely breathe through the serpentine like hug. “If you would let me breathe, I would be grateful.”

“Oh, I’m sososo sorry.” She pulled away and he took in a big breath of air. She looked at the ground and shuffled her hooves. “I got a little too excited huh?”

“Not at all, I have things to do. Thanks for the mail, have a wonderful day.”

“I will thanks to you!” She said with a mouth full of muffin. He chuckled and went into his magic box. She picked up the basket and darted into the air, well almost fumbled is probably a better word for it.

Her next destination was in canterlot, one Octavia Melody. As she drifted in the air with a basket of three muffins in her mouth she felt a small change in airflow, but corrected enough to recover from her stumble. Another small change, but this one was slightly harder to correct.

She flew lower to hopefully have less of a problem with the wind, she didn’t think to just land and walk however. A large gust of wind made her fumble and overcorrect, she was thrashing about like a kite caught in a tornado.

She couldn’t think straight and was thrown into a tree, hard. Her wing made a terrible snapping noise as she plummeted to the ground. Everything was a dark blur, and getting darker as she lost consciousness. Three uneaten muffins lay strewn about at the base of the tree around the stunned mare.

Off in the distance a voice shouted, “Hey are you alright?”

***

The hospital was quiet. There was a total of two patients by about noon, and Redheart was bored. She fumbled with her hooves, sitting in the staff room sipping on some milk. She heard a couple of shouts of needing a room and got up from her seat. She didn’t want to say that it was good to have a patient, but she was the next nurse on cue so she was happy to be relieved of her boredom.

She stepped into the hall and followed the small gurney to the room it was headed toward. The mare upon it was a soft grey with a blonde mane. Her cutie mark was seven bubbles of varying sizes. “There’s gotta be a good story behind that” she thought to herself. Redheart was definitely only looking at the mare’s cutie mark upon her flank. Nothing else. At all. You’d be lying if you said otherwise.

The mare had a wing in a small makeshift cast to hold it from breaking anymore than it probably was. They eventually made it into a small room, no different than the others in the hospital. Redheart helped another pony carefully lift the wounded onto the bed. Also on the gurney was saddlebags with the mare's cutie mark on each side, she grabbed them and set them in the chair near the bed.

A doctor walked in and handed Redheart a clipboard to write in the patient's condition as he examined further. “Hmm… The left wing appears to be broken but we should get an X-ray to be sure. Other than a few scrapes that’s it physically, she could have a concussion so we will have to wait until she wakes up. If she wakes up.” He finished sadly.

Derpy had never been to this hospital, she usually was at the one closer to where she lived but Octavia was far enough away that she had to go here. They would easily get her records soon enough, but for now she lay unconscious on the bed.

Nurse Redheart was eager to meet this mare, she was rather cute after all. Not that Redheart had a crush or anything. No, she was just analyzing the patient, doing her job. Yeah, that.

***

It was nearly midnight on this bland monday, and Redheart could go home and get some rest before work tomorrow, but decided to stay and watch her patient.

The hospital had gotten her records by now, and Redheart was informed of Derpy’s name. She thought it was a rather odd name, seeing as the pony didn’t look derpy, she was fairly normal. Her train of thought was broken when she saw the mare on the bed stir gently.

“Hmm? What, Where?” She mumbled softly as she opened her eyes. Redheart noticed that Derpy’s eyes were crossed outward.

“Hello,” was all Redheart could say before Derpy jolted up slightly before wincing in pain. “I’m Nurse Redheart and you have been admitted to the hospital due to a rather violent crash.”

Derpy was calm now and smiling again, although she was in a surprising amount more pain than usual. “Nice to meet you Miss! I’m Derpy Hooves.” She said jutting out her hoof toward the nurse. Redheart was slightly taken aback at Derpy’s energy after being in an accident. She took her hoof anyway and shook it gently.

“I’m going to go and get the doctor, will you be okay if I leave?” Redheart said in a soft practiced voice.

“‘Course Miss, nothing can keep this mare down! This happens a lot, so I’m used to it.” Derpy had so much joy in her voice it was spreading to Nurse Redheart. She smiled and gave a curt nod before leaving.

After a few moments she and the doctor returned. “Good morning Miss Hooves, glad to see you are awake,” He was cut off by Derpy looking shocked.

“Morning?! Oh no! I didn’t have a chance to get all of the mail out. Could you get someone to tell the post office I’m super duper sorry? Oh, sorry, continue.” Nurse Redheart chuckled lightly, Derpy had been in an accident, and is in obvious pain, but she’s worrying about getting her job done. How loyal.

“I will make sure to have that done,” The doctor nudged Nurse Redheart and she took the hint to leave and get someone to tell the post office what happened. “As I was saying, your wing seems to be broken in a few places, we can fix it but you won’t be able to fly for about 2 months.” She nodded with a huge smile across her face. He was just as stunned as Redheart had been.

“Great! That will give me a chance to work at the bakery, and make muffins! Sure it sucks, but I have to look at the bright side.” The doctor would never forget this strange encounter.

“Right… Well, We should get started. If you’re ready?” She just nodded and brought the pillow up to her mouth so she could bite it to hopefully dull the pain slightly. She knew how this worked.

As the doctor pulled the small bones into place with magic he wrapped the wing to stay in the position he wanted it to. Derpy groaned softly into the pillow in pain. The procedure took roughly 10 minutes.

“There, you’re all done for now. I want you to come in every two weeks so I can make sure it’s treated right…(Blah blah blah, instructions to keep a broken limb from becoming a more broken limb…) That should be about it. Sign at the front desk and next time you come, bring the bits to cover the cost of today.” He finally finished after what seemed an eternity to the wall eyed mare.

“Thanks doc! Will do.” She waved at him with a smile, she never seemed to be without a smile, grabbed her saddle bags and left. At the front desk, she signed the paper and turned to the front doors before realizing she didn’t know where she was.

“Excuse me sir, but which way is it to Ponyville?” She asked the pony at the front desk.

“Let me get a nurse to walk you home, just a minute please.” He had a gruff tone that Derpy found rude. He called somewhere in the building, and said for somepony to come down. Soon, Redheart appeared and smiled as she saw Derpy sitting wall eyed in a waiting chair, smiling.

“Hello again Miss! Are you walking me home?” Derpy asked.

“Indeed I am.” She said and moved past her to the door, holding it open for Derpy to walk through.

“Thanks Miss.”

“Please, call me Redheart. When you say ‘Miss’ I feel old.” She said jokingly.

“Oh, sorry. Mom always taught me to call strangers Miss or Sir, but I guess you’re not totally a stranger are you?” Derpy said brightly as always.

“She taught you well then. Do you live with her? I’d like to meet such a wonderful pony.” Redheart asked curiously.

“Nah, my parents died awhile ago. Don’t feel bad it happens. At least I know they are watching over me now.” Her smile didn’t so much as falter, even on such a sad topic.

“Of course.” Was all Redheart could think to respond, Derpy was so blunt about it she was still in awe of her happy demeanor. “So, should we drop off your bags at the post office?”

“No, I’ll just turn it in tomorrow no need to make you lead me around familiar territory. Speaking of, I can find my way from here. Thanks for walking me Miss Redheart.” At this Redheart was slightly saddened. She was just getting to know this mare, and she wanted to know much more.

“Uh, well. Hmm. Where could I find you, if I uh, wanted to talk again?” Redheart blushed at how flustered she was, trying to form a simple sentence to a friend (and totally not a crush).

“Oh, I’ll probably be working at Sugarcube Corner It’s a small little sweets shop in ponyville. It’s hard to miss believe me,” Derpy blushed slightly. “I would like to have a bite with you sometime. It’d be nice.” she finished her blush deepening, although it was hidden in the dark of VERY early morning, or so she thought.

“Okay, well I’ll see you around.” Redheart finished with a smile. Derpy grinned and waved as she walked away.

“Can’t Wait!” Derpy shouted.

Both mares would return home that night, one would have work in the morning while the other would have to get a job. It wouldn’t be hard for Derpy to get muffin duty at Sugarcube Corner, she had the most amazing muffins. Almost better than Pinkie Pie’s cakes, almost.

Redheart couldn’t wait for the end of the week, she had weekends off, she could visit Derpy and have a da- friendly meeting, between friends and just that. Maybe a hint of a crush. Just a teensy, little, tiny, really huge one.

Author's Note

Any comments at all are appreciated. Thanks for reading, even if you disapprove of the ship I always appreciate criticism, or praise. Anything is nice, I love seeing what people think of my writing. ~ :derpyderp2:

There to Catch You...

Redheart’s week was mind bogglingly slow. Over the span of her entire weeklong shift she had 13 patients with minor injuries, nothing she wasn’t used to. She sat in the staff lounge tapping her hooves on the table waiting for something to do.

While Nurse Redheart was exhausted and tired from working over night, Derpy sat watching the oven’s timer tick slowly down.

At the loud ding of the oven she pulled open the door and grabbed the tray with a hot pad in her mouth. She carefully set the muffin tray onto the small counter behind her and let them cool off. She smiled with a sense of pride in not burning them, that couldn’t quite be said about the others however.

The door of Sugarcube Corner rang open and in stepped a VERY pink pony. “Good morning Derpy! You’re here early, why’s that?” Pinkie Pie said in her usual energy filled voice. Derpy wasn’t particularly early this morning, but she was used to waking up to go to the post office which was farther away. So she always got to her current workplace on time, even with a small delay.

“Good Morning,” Derpy said with a huge smile. “I’m just as early as usual Pinkie, every day you’ve asked me and I always give the same answer.” Derpy was slightly confused at Pinkie’s daily question.

“That’s because it’s the wrong answer silly! I know why you’re here early all the time, Auntie Pinkie knows all, but do you know why you’re here early every morning?” Now Derpy was just more confused, what was that supposed to mean?

“Because it’s convenient?” Pinkie just shook her head.

“You’ll figure it out eventually. OOH are those freshly baked, Derpy’s Signature Muffins?!”Pinkie darted over to the still steaming muffins on the counter. They had the most wonderful, intoxicating aroma that could put a Star Spawn away from his meanie ways.

“Yeah, you can have some if you want be careful they’re-” She stopped her sentence as Pinkie shoved a muffin in her mouth and closed her eyes in bliss. “Hot.” Pinkie didn’t care, anything was worth one of Derpy’s signature muffins. When they weren’t crispy to the point they tasted like charcoal that is, and Pinkie knew what charcoal tasted like.

“Mmm. These are super duper wonderful! You should make more, would you mind if I sold some? They are so scrumdiddilyumptious that I wanna share them with everypony.” Pinkie still had her eyes on the muffins as she spoke.

“Oh, I dunno these are kinda just for my friends. I don’t wanna be selfish, but these are hard to make.” Derpy shuffled her hooves in shame, she didn’t want to be rude but she spent a long time on these and they were special.

“That’s okay, I understand. It’s like my cupcakes, only made fro- for my friends.”

“But you give cupcakes to everyone, don't you?” Derpy said now even more confused.

“Everypony is my friend silly!” That made sense to Derpy and she nodded. “Let’s get started with the day then!” Pinkie stepped past Derpy and moved toward the area of the building where she made most of her pastries and sweets.

Derpy followed suit and started on making regular muffin batter near her sporadic friend.

***

Redheart sat staring at a wall in a patient’s room. The patient had come in for a dislocated leg and simply sat in the bed reading a book. Or she was until she set it down and turned to the nurse.

“What’s it like being a nurse?” She asked trying to make conversation with the distant Redheart. Said nurse shook her head and turned to look at the mare asking the question.

“It has it’s ups and down’s I suppose, I don’t get very much free time but I like to help ponies get better. I don’t like seeing ponies hurt and it makes me feel that much better to bring a smile to their face. Although, I only really have time off on weekends so that really takes a toll on my sleeping habits. It’s funny, I help ponies get rest and I rarely get any myself.” The mare in the bed looked a little sad after Redheart’s answer.

“That sounds rough, but at least you can help ponies get better.” After the mare said this they fell into an awkward silence. Redheart took a good look at the mare on the bed.

She had a cream colored coat that looked the same color in any light. She had green eyes that blended perfectly with her red and soft pink mane. She was under the covers, so Redheart couldn’t get a look at her cutiemark.

“You seem distant, is something bothering you?” The unnamed patient finally said.

“No, I’m just planning out my weekend. I’m going to visit a curious somepony I met the other day, they were a patient but even though they broke their wing they still smiled like nothing was wrong.”

“That is rather strange, I would probably be bawling my eyes out if I broke my leg” The patient joked. They shared a laugh and eventually returned to talking.

“I never got your name…” Redheart said.

“Oh pardon me, I thought I told you. My name’s Roseluck, I work a flower stand here in Canterlot. I tripped and landed on a planter, got my leg all messed up. I don’t believe I got your name either.” Rose retorted Redheart’s question.

“Of course, mind my manners, I’m Nurse Redheart. I work here as a nurse, as you can tell.”

“What a wonderful name.”

“The doctor should be her soon to give you a spiel about keeping your leg healthy, I’ll be nearby. If you need me just call for me.” Redheart pointed to a small phone near the bed.

Rose thanked Redheart as the latter stepped out of the room to get the doctor. She did as such and the doctor went to the room and spoke with Roseluck.

A while later Rose had left and Redheart was bored again. It was late in the afternoon by now, and Redheart would be off of her shift soon. She watched the clock tick menacingly along with a couple others as it neared the time that they got off. Other ponies with a different schedule would take over for them on the weekend, the hospital always had somepony in it.

The clocked ticked closer, second by second, minute by minute, until 21:45. By the time the digital clock changed they were already wearing coats and had whatever they would need at home. They all bustled out through the door and again through the main entrance. Each went their own way. Redheart enjoyed the chilly air of the night, the stars were out by now and they each shined just as bright as another.

Redheart’s door unlocked and swung open. She tossed her hat in the laundry room, she would get to it later, and shuffled off to bed. She was utterly worn from a whole week of walking back and forth delivering notes and status updates on patients.

The bed made an audible ‘thwump’ as she just fell into it and closed her eyes. She would have quite the day ahead of her.

~~~

Nurse Redheart stood in a wide open field, all of the colors had a strange yellowish tint but it was very peaceful. The tall overgrown and tan wheatgrass rose to her knees and hocks. It waved slowly in the blowing wind, softly dancing and swaying in a beautiful harmony of life.

Somepony sat in the grass not far away, their mane waving in the wind ever so softly. She turned to look at Redheart and her golden eyes nearly made the nurse quiver. The mare’s eyes were off in different directions and she had a goofy smile on her face. Everything was so beautiful as she sat and smiled.

Redheart approached and sat next to her, they just smiled at each other. Redheart leaned in slowly, as did the soft grey goofy mare. Redheart chuckled as Derpy missed and kissed at the air confusedly.

She pulled her face to hers and leaned in again…

~~~

Okay so maybe Redheart had a crush. She woke up and spit the pillow away from her lips. “Oh, good thing no-one saw that” She thought, growing a small blush on her white cheeks, it was hard not to see the pure white mare blush. She looked at her clock that read 03:24, her sleep schedule really needed to be fixed.

After several attempts to fall back asleep she gave up and dragged herself out of bed. Since she had nowhere to be she draped the blankets over her back and made her way to the small living room in her house. She took a comfortable seat on the cozy couch and lay her head on the leg rest.

She grabbed a small book and turned on a lamp and started to read. That didn’t last long. She fell to sleep in 15 minutes or so, never actually focusing on the words in the book.

***

Derpy woke up at the usual time, just as excited to get to work as usual, whatever muffins weren’t eaten she could have at the end of the day. Almost always the muffins were gone at the end of the day, but Derpy was happy that ponies enjoyed her gift of eating her favorite treat.

She performed her morning routine (with a shower) and left the house.

As usual she was 20 minutes early to work, but that gave her time to start on the muffins, and or lumps of crispy charcoal. She could never get the first batch right, but would usually get it by the second or third. Thankfully there was a window to let out all of the smoke. As she was pulling out a tray she got too close to the rack and burned her chin.

“Owie!” She exclaimed loudly, hoping no pony heard. She moved as quickly as she could to set the muffins on the counter and rushed to the freezer to get ice. The wound was nothing new, this happened fairly often so she had a procedure set out for it. The routine consisted of getting ice and holding it against the burn.

She heard Pinkie come in moments later. “Derpy? You here yet?” Pinkie shouted through the bakery.

“Yeah, sorry I burned myself. I’m in the back.” Derpy replied, but Pinkie was already in the room.

“Oh that’s terrible, will you be alright? That would be super not fun if you were really hurt.” Pinkie exclaimed as she saw the small pink patch where soft grey should be.

“I’ll be okay, at least my chin won’t get hot!” Pinkie thought that was an odd thing to say. That’s coming from Pinkie.

“You’re absolutely, positively, totally, 100 percent, super duper sure you’re okay?” There were way too many adverbs in that sentence. Derpy nodded anyway with a huge smile. “I guess I can’t argue with a smile. Let’s get to work!”

A few hours passed and so did several customers. “So, have you figured out why you get here so early yet?” Pinkie said in her strange sing song voice. Derpy wondered how Pinkie was behind her when she was just out in front of the counter serving some pony.

“No, I guess I haven’t given it much thought.” Derpy said still confused by Pinkie’s antics.

“Well I bet you’ll figure it out today, if you don’t I’ll be pretty disappointed in you. You’re smarter than you look.” Derpy blushed at her compliment but was still confused by the first statement, Pinkie was always confusing poor Derpy.

Not long after the work ponies had their conversation, a white mare with a pink mane walked through the door. Derpy became more clumsy with her movements upon seeing the beautiful nurse walk through the door.

Redheart approached the counter Derpy was standing behind and smiled.

“You weren’t wrong when you said this place was hard to miss. It’s nice to finally see you again.” Her heavenly voice rang in Derpy’s ears, she had to try really hard to form a proper sentence.

“You too.” She said briefly. “Smooth Derpy, real smooth”.

“I have nothing to do today, when you catch a break would you like to get some lunch?” Derpy just nodded dumbly.

“Say something you dummy” She scolded herself mentally. “Oh, um, yeah! I can get off at 11:00 if that works for you, I get an hour lunch break.” “Better”

“Works for me! Could I get a blueberry muffin while I’m here? I skipped breakfast and blueberry is my favorite.” Derpy’s eyes lit up as Redheart asked.

“Omigosh. Ahem sorry. Yeah of course, I would recommend them.” She said in a more proper business tone. Redheart rolled her eyes playfully and Derpy smiled. Derpy went to the back to get muffins giving Redheart a good view of her TAIL. NOTHING ELSE. She returned briskly and handed over the muffin. Redheart reached into her purse to get out the bits to pay. Before Derpy stopped her. (What a cliché right?)

“It’s on the house! I make ‘em so I get to decide who pays.” She said trying a nervous smile.

“Of course, thank you a bunch. I’m paying for lunch though, no buts about it.” Derpy would have offered to pay bu- yet was stopped by her finishing statement. “See you at 11:00 then, we’ll meet here?” Derpy nodded and got back to work.

Each had their stomach tied in knots, although Redheart kept it more contained than Derpy. As Redheart left and shut the door they each let out a sigh of relief.

“Well that could’ve gone better” They thought in unison

Pinkie popped up behind Derpy again.

“So… did ya figure it out yet?” She asked excited. Derpy wondered how Pinkie knew but shrugged it off as it being ‘just Pinkie’.

“Y’know, I think I did…”

Author's Note

I left this a little short, because I wanted their da- 'friendly meeting' to have it's own chapter. Please any feedback is appreciated, and if you downvote I would like to know why so I can get better
EDIT: (sorry mods) I realized while looking for a better cover image that Redheart lives and works in Ponyville, it's too late to fix it so I'm just goin' with it.

Even if it's Just a Scratch...

Redheart chewed her muffin, enjoying every single bite. She couldn’t quite tell what made it taste so wonderful but she just couldn’t stop eating the diminishing treat. Bite by bite the wonderful delicacy was finished off to crumbs, some of which lingered on the corners of Redheart’s lips. She quickly fixed that with a swipe of her tongue.

While she waited the nurse had to find something to entertain her for roughly two hours, until lunch with Derpy. Redheart rarely was in Ponyville so she decided to explore. Upon surveying the immediate area a tall tree with windows, doors and a balcony piqued her interest, she figured she might as well ask one of the residents of the small town about the most interesting attractions.

As she walked through the small town she looked at each colorful resident, tending to whatever they did on a daily basis. A few waved politely with a smile and Redheart waved back. “What a nice little town”

She approached the firm wood doors of the tree and raised her hoof to knock. A voice called to her after she tapped the door lightly. “Come in!” It was strange to Redheart that whoever lived here just invited ponies in, she didn’t mind, the town seemed innocent enough.

She stepped through the door and into heaven. Enormous bookshelves filled to the brim with tomes lined each wall, curving around to follow the shape of the tree. The smell of paper and fresh cut wood seemed to be consistent. She stood there with her mouth open and her head swiveling to look at the shelves of books.

“Hello and welcome to the Ponyville Library, are you looking for something specific?” A slender purple mare approached her and she closed her mouth. The approaching mare had a dark purple and pink striped mane flowing softly from side to side, only parted by a horn.

“Hm, I’ve never seen you before, are you new here?” The librarian asked in a soft but authoritative voice.

“Pardon my manners, I’m Nurse Redheart. I work at the Canterlot Hospital and I was visiting a patient. I decided to kill some time and explore, I never would have expected to find heaven.” The mare seemed to brighten up with filly like joy at her last statement.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Twilight Sparkle I guess I ‘work’ here although I don’t think of it as a job really. I grew up in Canterlot, I studied under Princess Celestia. Are you looking for anything specific? Books of course.” Twilight piped in a joy she wasn’t used to seeing in anypony interested in the library, other than the occasional school student.

“I didn’t even know this was a library, so no. I want to blow some time however, do you recommend any books on arcane sciences?” Twilight smiled even brighter.

“Ooh, one of my favorites! Strange for an earth pony though, nonetheless I do have a few recommendations…” Nerdy discussions and book picking later Redheart had a couple of books to study while she waited for lunch to come around.

***

Derpy sat at the counter staring at nothing in particular as she waited for customers. She leaned her head on a hoof and turned to the clock. It was only 10:20 and she was getting antsy, and slightly nervous.

She was anticipating the lunch since it was mentioned, and she really hoped it would lead to more. Redheart just had the kindest smile that told her she would always be safe.

Shaking her head from the mushy thoughts she turned around and walked to the back room. She was going to rest back here until she heard the bell ring, she was so exhausted after all her hard work. That hard work consisting of going into the back occasionally to grab a few items to give to customers.

Her eyes drifted closed as she waited patiently for time to pass. Now was as good a time as any for a small nap, no-pony would notice anyway.

***

A high pitched ringing woke Derpy from her nap on the workroom floor, she grumbled lightly but stood to greet whoever it was that came in the door. She hadn’t expected it to be an angel.

She was just as beautiful as always, with her light pink hair done up in a bun in the back with her bangs hanging in front of her face, but not blocking it. Her white coat shimmered in the artificial light of the sweets shop as she walked. The red cross on her flank was a nice contrast to the light colors of her coat and mane. The most striking feature to Derpy however was her blue eyes that glistened as she moved toward the counter, it was like looking directly into her, such kindness and calm projected in such a wonderful way.

Derpy felt her knees waver as she looked at the stunning mare in front of her. She must've looked like she felt because Redheart giggled.

“Are you ready for lunch? You’ll have to lead the way, I don’t know my way around very well.” Derpy was lost in her voice, it was so smooth and perfect.

“Oh, uhm, uh, yeah. Ready, I am to go to lunch. With you.” Derpy tripped over her words so much she felt like kicking herself. Redheart smiled at the ditzy mare’s stumble.

“Well come on then,” Nurse Redheart teased with a hint of excitement in her voice. “I’m starving.”

Derpy nodded and came out from behind the counter. She was about to shout to PInkie to tell her she was leaving, but the Pink and fluffy mare was already behind the counter.

“Have fun you two, and don’t be afraid to get frisky.” They immediately blushed at Pinkie’s lewd remark.

“Please Pinkie, it’s nothing like that…” Derpy said shyly trying not to trip over her words any more than she already had.

“But you wish it was!” Pinkie said way more loud than necessary.

“We should get going.” Nurse Redheart butt in still blushing slightly. Derpy nodded and stepped in front of her to hold the door for her. She stepped through with an appreciative nod and was engulfed in the beautiful weather.

Derpy followed quickly after and stumbled as she walked beside her new friend.

“So where are we headed, is it far?” Redheart asked, curious as for what to expect.

“Oh, We're headed to a smaller place, it’s called Lotus’s, and no it isn’t very far.” Derpy stumbled over a rock she swore wasn’t there a second ago.

“Do you usually have this much trouble walking? I’ve noticed you stumble several times, you need me to carry you?” Redheart teased with a smirk.

“No, I’m usually fine I don’t know why but I just can’t focus when you’re around.” She blushed deeply and turned her face away. Redheart nudged her side gently and smiled as Derpy turned to look at her.

“No, I get it. I’ve had that problem lately as well.” they stopped and looked at each other for a moment before Derpy turned to walk again.

“Anyway, we should get going I’m real hungry and this place has the best dandelion salad.” Derpy was back to her energetic self rather than her shy and fumbly sub-personality. They both moved quickly, Redheart following Derpy toward the small building.

It was a cozy looking eatery, like it had a housing unit above it. It had long windows in the front showing a few groups eating their food and chatting. The inside looked quite homey and comfortable, it felt the same as they entered.

“Hello Derpy, good to see you!” A stallion wearing slacks greeted. “You have a friend this time? So good not to see you alone again.” He said nudging her slightly.

“Oh stop, she helped me at the hospital and wanted to come to lunch sometime. This was…” She stopped for a second to look for the right words, tilting her head slightly. “Convenient.” He looked skeptical but shrugged.

“The usual table then?” Derpy nodded and he turned to lead toward the table. Both mares sat and a menu was handed to Redheart. When Derpy didn’t get one she cocked her head in confusion.

“You didn’t get a menu?” She asked and Derpy shook her head with the same wonderful smile that never seemed to falter.

“I know every item by heart, I come here at least once a week. I love this place, brings back good memories.” Redheart decided against questioning further at the moment and looking to her menu. The items ranged from salads to hayburgers, all of which looked delicious. She eventually came to a decision and waited for the waiter to come back.

“If you don't mind my asking, you said you liked this place because of good memories. What kind?” Derpy shuffled under the table but smiled nonetheless.

“Yeah my family would come here on Wednesdays, we would talk and laugh and just have a good time. It was always so nice… I really miss those days. Did you ever do anything similar with your family?” Redheart had a tear in her eye that she wiped with a foreleg. She felt so sad for Derpy, she was so nice and so kind and perfect, why did bad things have to happen to her.

“It's always the cute ones” She thought. “No, my family was pretty introverted. We would have study nights together, but that isn’t really the same.” Derpy looked confused and cocked her head in the usual cute way.

“Why isn’t that the same? You spent time with your family and had a good time.”

“I guess I never really thought about it like that, I guess we would make jokes occasionally. I suppose we did have good times.” Redheart said, smiling softly.

The waiter was returning to the table and saw the menu set down. “What would you like to order ma’ams?” Both mares said their order and the waiter left to give it to the kitchen.

“How do you stay so happy all the time? Doesn’t life ever bite you in the butt?” “I would have to punch life if it ruined her butt”

“Sure life can be tough, but it’s all about looking at it at the right angle! My eyes are really good at helping with that,” She giggled “But, as long as you remember the good stuff, the bad stuff doesn’t seem as, well… bad.” She was smiling her bright smile, spreading joy like a disease, a rather cute disease mind you. Redheart just looked at her with a gentle smile. It was hard to believe that Derpy could just shrug off bad stuff like it was nothing at all. Soon the food arrived at the table and each mare dug in.

“Mm this is really good it’s no wonder you’re here so often.” Redheart took another bite and chewed, enjoying every bite.

“Yeah this place is great!” Derpy said with a mouth full of salad, she swallowed and continued. “I know the owners, they’re old family friends.”

Redheart giggled at Derpy’s shenanigans, everything she did was adorable from stumbling to talk to simply walking. She stared at the wall eyed mare as she tore away at her innocent salad. Her messy blonde mane flopped as she dug her face into the food on the plate, she looked up at Redheart and tilted her head. Her golden eyes filled with a question that would soon leave her mouth, her mouth was covered in several types of dressing as she smiled.

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” It was finally Redheart’s turn to fumble, she shook her head and smiled nervously.

“Oh, uhm… you have dressing on your face?” It was true but not the reason behind the stare.

“So? I’ll wipe it off when I’m done so it doesn’t matter right now, right?”

“I suppose you’re right, but must you eat so sloppily? It’s adorable and disturbing at the same time.” Redheart flushed when she let ‘adorable’ slip but Derpy didn’t seem to notice, or she just didn’t care.

“Why not? I like to live in the moment, and this salad is taking away from spending time with friends. It must pay the price for intervening with my outing.” She finished her sentence and returned to attacking the meal in front of her.

“I guess I’ll get to it then.” Redheart figured she would regret this, but decided to eat with just her face as well. Both mares were nose deep in salad devouring every last leaf and giggling like foals. Redheart felt ridiculous, but she was having the most fun she had in weeks, so she didn’t mind. After they each finished the waiter returned.

“I see you enjoyed your meal,” He said pointing to his muzzle with a hoof. The diners each grabbed a napkin and wiped their face with a goofy smile. “Well here's your check, and have a nice day.”

“Thank you”

“Thanks”

The bill was only 30 bits and Redheart set the small pouch in the table. Redheart held the front door open and Derpy thanked her on the way through. The air felt much warmer than earlier, the wind made up for it and cooled them with each gust.

“I had a wonderful time Derpy, and I was wondering…” Redheart looked nervous and turned her eyes toward her hooves. Derpy lifted her head to look into her beautiful blue eyes.

“Aww, come on don’t look down, you gotta carry yourself with pride. What is it?” Redheart was calmed slightly and built up her courage.

“Do you want to, you know… go on a date sometime?” She was nearly trembling with fear of rejection but Derpy just smiled. Redheart looked longingly into Derpy’s eyes and waited for an answer.

“Wasn’t that a date? It sure seemed like it... although I've never been on a date before, so I guess I wouldn't know."

“I didn’t plan it to be, so no, I don’t count it as one. I mean a planned, and consensual on both sides, date.” Derpy smiled and accepted her answer.

“That sounds great! Oh I’m so glad you asked!” She engulfed Redheart into the most amazingly warm and soft hug. Derpy smelled, unsurprisingly, like muffins while Redheart had a faint hospital smell mixed with a much stronger strawberry. The hug lasted nearly a minute before Derpy let go. They continued on their walk to Sugarcube Corner.

Redheart was filled with the most mind numbingly sublime feeling of joy while Derpy leaned softly against her side as they walked. When she saw Derpy’s workplace in the distance she frowned, soon she would have to part with her new joy. Speaking of, said joy decided to speak up.

“When and where should we go? For our date I mean, I’ll let you pick because I chose today’s venue.” Redheart thought hard on the question until she formulated an answer.

“If you can make it there is a party tomorrow that I was invited to up in Canterlot. It starts at 19:00. Everything is handled already and I’m allowed a plus one, if you can’t make it I can always have a friend fill in.” Derpy shook her head with firmity.

“Where is it? What should I wear?” Redheart brightened up.

“I’ll come pick you up if that works, it’s fairly formal so a simple dress or suit would be perfect.” Derpy was still a little suspicious.

“It’s not going to be packed right? I suck at huge events…” Redheart drew a leg around Derpy’s neck.

“It should only be about 70 ponies, if that’s too much I understand but I would really like you to come.” Redheart turned a tiny bit sad at the thought of Derpy rejecting her offer.

“Okay, as long as you don’t leave my side. You can pick me up here at 17:00 and maybe we could get dinner before we leave, my treat this time.” Redheart nodded vigorously.

“Great! I can’t wait,” they arrived at the front entrance to Sugarcube Corner and Redheart was a little sad to leave her companion. “I guess I’ll see you then, Good night.” They hugged a final time and Derpy said her farewells.

Depry walked into the sweets shop and a pink blur crashed into her.

“How’d it go?” Pinkie nearly shouted right into Derpy’s face. “Did you get a second date?”

“It was the best lunch of my life…”

Author's Note

Hope you liked this, it's gonna get real gushy real soon.

I'll Always Be There

Redheart arrived at the hospital early Saturday morning with a skip in her step. The other nurse’s noticed and decided they wanted to tease poor Redheart. She figured she would come into work, because she had nothing to do all day and didn’t mind getting some more vacation time. The hospital always needed more helping hooves.

“What’s got you smilin’ about huh? You’re never this excited to be at work. Especially on a weekend.” One of Redheart’s girlfriends, Soft Touch, asked with a sly smile.

“Oh nothing much-” Redheart deadpanned before smiling broadly and raising her voice much more than necessary, “-just that I got a date!” Soft Touch gave an evil look that implied she needed all the gossip Redheart could dish out. She was the gossip centre of the hospital, if you needed info Soft would have it.

“Ooh, you must tell me! Who’s the lucky stallion, what’s he like? I must know everything!” Soft was pulling Redheart toward the nurse’s lounge rather quickly. When they finally stopped Redheart looked at her hooves with a nervous half smile.

“Well SHE is named Derpy Hooves, she is always so happy about everything. She came in the other day with a broken wing and went on about how she would be able to make muffins, can you believe that? She’s super cute and clumsy, and it’s the best thing ever. We’re going to a fancy party later, DJ-Pon3’ll be there, are you coming?”

“Well I just have to meet your marefriend now, don’t I? So yeah, of course I’m coming, The party’s for Oak, right?” Redheart nodded and then tilted her head a little.

“You don’t care that I like a mare? I mean you’re my best friend, so, I hoped not, but still…” Redheart scuffed a hoof against the linoleum as she talked softly.

“Pshh, why would I care? You like her, she likes you, that's good enough for me.”

“Thanks Soft, now I’m going to get to work, hopefully the day goes by quick.” Soft Touch and Nurse Redheart got to work and the day went on.

***

Derpy didn’t work today, she wandered from store to store looking for formal attire to wear to the party. She didn’t know the first thing about fashion and figured there was only one pony able enough to help her. Rarity.

Rarity scared her, she was always so eccentric when it came to fashion. She would yell all the time and was always making sudden movements, much like Pinkie but with less physics bending.

She was at the pathway up to the door but hesitated to move her hooves, after a few nervous moments Derpy steeled her resolve and made her way up to the front door. She tapped it lightly and almost called out ‘mail service’. A shout of, ‘Come in!’ was heard from inside and Derpy obliged.

The pony greeting her was a thin alabaster unicorn with a perfectly coiffed purple mane and tail. “Good morning, Derpy, I didn’t know they delivered mail on Sunday’s.”

“Oh, no. I’m on a break for a bit, I hurt my wing again,” She turned and showed Rarity her bandaged appendage. “I was actually here to get your help on finding a suit, or a dress.” She spoke softly and nervously but Rarity was as happy as could be.

She turned and waved a hoof as she moved further into the boutique, implying that Derpy should follow. The Carousel Boutique was very pretty, it had long drapes over the windows and lounging furniture spaced out across the room. Everything was organized and clean, as it should be.

When they reached the workroom however…

“Sorry about the mess, hehe. I really should clean this room better.” There was cloth everywhere, anything and everything was sprawled out all across the room from buttons to clips to ribbons. Anything that was clothing related was somewhere on the floor. Desks had plans and shredded cloth lain purposefully across them and containers of tools were open and spilling. The only things relatively clean in the room were a rack of several different beautiful clothing items and a small column with three mirrors in front of it.

Derpy didn’t mind the mess too much, she often found her room to look the same, for different reasons however. Co-ordination was not one of Derpy’s strong suits. Rarity broke her analyzation of the room by speaking up.

“What is the event dear? I need to know so I can make something just perfect.”

“Oh, right. I’m going on a date to a fancy party, In Canterlot.” Rarity nodded and went sifting through dresses to find something that matched Derpy perfectly. As Derpy watched her look through dresses she didn’t particularly like any of them. Not that they weren’t just absolutely fetching, she just wasn’t very frilly.

“I think I would like a suit better, my date will probably have a dress and I’m not very comfortable wearing dresses.” Rarity took a second to analyze the statement.

“Your date will have a dress? It’s a mare?” Derpy expected this reaction from most ponies. She shuffled lightly on her hooves stroking them across the small column she stood upon.

“Y-yeah.” She said, now nervous of Rarity’s reaction. All she could do was wait for the tsunami

“Not that I particularly agree, but I won’t stop love. A suit it is then, do you know what type of dress she’s wearing?” Derpy simply shook her head and Rarity scoffed lightly. “Of course not.” she muttered under her breath, unbeknownst to Derpy.

Rarity went from material to material in search of the perfect match. “Aha!” She said muzzle deep in a pit of cloth. When she popped out she had a slick black material in her magic. I’ll use this and it will be perfect~” she sang ‘perfect’ in a beautiful tone that rang delicately within the small room.

Derpy just stood still and let Rarity do her work, she didn’t particularly like being touched but she let the mare do her job.

Hours later Derpy had a black tuxedo on with a golden undershirt that matched her eyes beautifully. It wrapped delicately around her form, just tight enough to define her curves. The cuffs went down to the fetlocks on her forelegs. She wore a black bow-tie right on the collar of the undershirt. The seams were wonderfully done, and the tail sat just halfway down her back legs. She had her hair done, so it wasn’t so rampant, her bangs hang over her face as usual, but the rest was in a ponytail behind her ears.

Rarity sat, content with her work and tallied up a price. “70 bits. I think it’s fair don’t you?” Derpy had no reference points to know if it was fair or not, she just assumed Rarity was being nice and paid the pretty pony.

It was nearly 15:00 by the time she was done. “Did I really just spend seven hours getting clothes?” She thought to herself as she walked to Sugarcube Corner, enjoying the afternoon sun. She went inside and was ambushed by a pink blur, again.

“Oh, you look so nice! This is gonna be great, let me get a picture.” Pinkie pulled a camera out of her mane and aligned it toward Derpy. Derpy smiled and waved at the camera as it flashed and slowly spit out an image. “Tada!” Pinkie exclaimed as she showed Derpy her photo.

Derpy did look rather dapper if she said so herself, which she did. Pinkie looked at her with a proud smile. “My little Derpy is finally growing up!” She said with a tear. She wiped it away with a handkerchief she kept in her mane and put it back, really, what else did she have in there?

“Pinkie aren’t we almost the same age?”

“That's beside the point. You are finally putting yourself out there, and that's like super neat. Anywho, it’s nearly time for your date you should get ready.” Derpy cocked her head in confusion.

“How did you kno-”

“Not important! Go get ready you stud!” Pinkie’s annoyingly high pitched voice was giving Derpy a headache, so she decided it best to leave with that. It was only by the time that Derpy made it into the back room that she realized she was already prepared for the night. She sat in the room finding herself, again, watching the clock tick slowly by…

Derpy stood carefully and moved over to the cabinet, in which held trays and doilies, and grabbed a small muffin wrapper. As she waited she lay on her back with the wrapper on her face, blowing it into the air and catching it on her snout, again and again, when suddenly the bell on the door jingled.

She jumped up from where she sat and nearly darted over to the front counter with a speed that would put Rainbow Dash to shame. Panting, she stood as tall as possible at the front desk awaiting her date. What stepped through the door wasn’t Redheart, it was a goddess.

She had on the most elegant red dress with small flares of pink accentuating her body. It pulled down just above the floor near her hind legs with deep scarlet fabric trimmed with gold. Her hair was pulled from its usual bun and was flowing in curls behind her ears, her bangs were kept the same but with a small heart pendant right next to her ear.

As Redheart looked at Derpy she seemed to tremble slightly. “You look so nice, if it weren’t for your bandaged wing I don’t know if I would recognise you.”

“Uhm, you… you’re really pretty.” Derpy stuttered, feeling like she would collapse if she didn’t do something. Her blush couldn’t be any deeper if she drilled a hole in it.

“Well I suppose we should get going, the train will be leaving soon.” Redheart talked with such calmness, but her appearance would tell otherwise. She was blushing and fumbling over her hooves but kept it together enough to make her way to the door. Derpy opened said door and waved Redheart through.

As they walked Derpy was carefully focusing on not tripping and ruining her new suit. Redheart looked at her and watched as she focused on her steps. She giggled lightly and moved closer to Derpy’s side, she leaned into her eliciting a gasp of surprise from her focused counterpart. Derpy quickly relaxed and returned the gesture, leaning into Redheart and forgetting her worries.

The train station approached and they stopped leaning on each other to avoid dirty looks, as kind as most ponies were, some didn’t take kindly to mare on mare relationships.

Redheart made her way to the train and delicately gave the tickets to the burly conductor. He looked the tickets over, punched them and handed them back. Redheart pulled Derpy into the train, much to the mail pony’s dismay.

“Aww, but the train is so pretty!”

Redheart laughed lightly at Derpy’s statement and sat down, patting the seat next to her to signal Derpy to sit.

“You can look all you want later, for now, sit and enjoy the ride.” Derpy did as she was told and sat next to her marefriend. However, she was disappointed she didn’t get the window seat.

“C-can I get the window seat? Please?” Her hooves rolled over each other in embarrassment to the foalish question. Redheart giggled and moved to allow Derpy to scoot toward the window. “Thanks!” Right away she forced her face into the glass and watched as houses and trees rolled past the rumbling locomotive. Redheart looked at the cute shenanigans of her beloved and smiled, it was hard not to with her muzzle smushed againt the glass like that.

Redheart leaned her head into Derpy’s side and lay there peacefully. The mailmare turned away from the window and looked down at the nurse leaning against her.

“Oh I’m sorry, I should have asked.” Redheart blushed and pulled away, feeling especially cold without the cuddling warmth of Derpy.

“No! No, it’s fine. It’s… nice.” Derpy was blushing but smiled lovingly at Redheart. Redheart leaned again into the crook under Derpy’s chin and felt her lean into it as well. Derpy wrapped her right wing around Redheart and let it sit comfortably around her side. They both found themselves at peace and drifted off into a nap.

***

The mighty roar of the train whistle and shouts of ‘All departing, All aboard’ awoke the couple from their comfortable sleep. They reluctantly separated and pulled out of the booth losing each other’s comforting warmth. They stepped out of the train and into the cold night.

Derpy had the advantage of being used to the cold, what with flying high in the air most of the time. But Redheart wasn’t so lucky, especially in her dress.

“Brr, it’s chillier than I thought it would be. I should’ve brought a sweater.” Redheart said with a shiver.

Derpy moved next to her and pulled a wing over her side again. She thought nothing of it, she wasn’t cold and Redheart was. They could share warmth. “Better?”

“Much,” Redheart curled under the wing enjoying the physical, and emotional, warmth radiating off of the cute pegasus. Even just this would be enough for her to fall in love again and again with Derpy. The uppity joy she brought everywhere, her cute little stumbles when walking, and especially how she was just nice out of habit.

Derpy’s thoughts were elsewhere however. Somewhere between what snacks the party will have, and if she remembered to water her plants or not. Not to say she wasn’t enjoying having Redheart under her wing, the small nurse giving a small shiver every now and then due to the cold.

After careful navigation, and possibly getting lost a few times, Redheart was able to lead Derpy to the place of their dining. It was a fancy little restaurant, much different than what Derpy was used to. Ponies walked to and fro inside, tending tables no doubt.

They walked in and were greeted by a well dressed pony in a suit. By now the couple weren’t standing so close, due to the rather large population of rude snobs who wouldn’t hesitate to show their distaste of their relationship.

They made their way to the table and ordered their meals. They dined and had small conversation, nothing truly eventful. After their small dinner was paid for they left, Derpy holding Redheart like before while they made their way to the party.

The place of the party was anything but small and compared to what Derpy was used to, although she rarely attended parties. Enormous pillars stood at the front, towering nearly 20 feet to a balcony. The whole exterior was made of pearl white granite, it must have cost a few fortunes.

Derpy stood still for a moment, locked in place by pure awe, to take in the huge structure that seemed to already have a hundred guests, while in reality there were no more than 40. She felt Redheart nudge her side and turned to look at her.

“Will you be alright? If you want to leave that’s okay, I understand.”

Derpy shook her head and smiled. “It’s fine, it’s just way more ponies than I’m used to. I’ll be okay.” She smiled as earnestly as she could, but she was trembling with fear on the inside. She never really was one for crowds.

Redheart pulled Derpy into the building and found the small buffet of snacks and beverages. She had hoped to find her friends and introduce Derpy, but she didn’t see them. She would wait by the table, her friends would visit this area at least once.She felt Derpy shudder slightly as several ponies moved past, pushing into her and not bothering to apologize. “Argh! Bucking snobs!” She mentally swore. hoping not to draw attention to her displeasure, she moved out of the way.

The thumping music in the other room had several dancing to the brash sounds of DJ-Pon3. The afamed Disk Jockey could get pretty much any gig if she tried hard enough, even fancy ones. Although her music was much more fit to a nightclub.

“Nurse Redheart? Is that you hiding in the corner? I knew I would find you by the food.” The voice was Soft Touch, and she was making her way over to the table.

After many moments of scowling, Redheart softened and smiled at her friend. “Oh, Soft, glad you could make it! Allow me to introduce Derpy Hooves, my… uh, companion?” She looked to Derpy who was now much happier, to have a distraction from the menacing crowds of ponies.

“Nah, I’m her marefriend and she knows it,” she drew a leg around Redheart’s neck and smiled. Soft arched an eyebrow and smirked at Redheart. “And you are?”

“Name’s Soft Touch. Redheart sure knows how to pick ‘em, huh?” The usually white Redheart was now only a few shades lighter than scarlet. “Eh, I’m just teasin’. Have fun you two. Oh and I think I saw Diamond Heart around here somewhere” She gave a kind wave and was off to do whatever it was she did.

“She was nice!” Derpy exclaimed brightly. “Are all your friends like that? ‘Cause I would sure like to meet them.”

“No, Soft is about as good as it gets. The rest are how should I say… snobby. Especially Diamond, you really don’t want to meet her.” Derpy seemed to deflate a little but still smiled.

“Hmm, you want to go on the balcony? I’m sure it’s real pretty!”

“Sure, that sounds nice.” Redheart started to make her way toward the steps, but noticed Derpy wasn’t following her. She turned to see why she wasn’t following.

She found the muffins.

Her eyes nearly glistened in mirth as she devoured muffin after muffin, the poor treats didn’t stand a chance against the ravenous goliath. Crumbs flew and blueberries squished as every muffin on the plate was torn to ruin in the mail mare’s wake. She really liked those muffins.

She slowed to a stop as she saw several ponies watching her. “Oh, uh… hehe, gotta go!” She zipped over to the stairs and to the balcony, not after falling and hitting her chin on the steps however.

She managed to hit the still healing burn, and cried out in pain. She hurt her legs as well, but not as much. “Oof, ow. Ow. Ow.” Every step she took was punctuated by another ‘ow’ as she left view. The ponies just turned to each other and carried on with their activities.

Redheart rushed to the balcony, without tripping on the steps, to see Derpy sitting alone with a few tears streaking her face. “Oh, my. Are you okay? Let me see it.”

Derpy lifted her chin, and smiled. She would be fine, but it still really hurt. While she looked up to show her owie to the nurse, she ‘oohed’ at the stars.

Each one was beautiful, none of them were the same and yet they shone in perfect harmony with each other. Like an intricate dance of light, stopped only by the moon shining with a crescent, breaking a small gap in the stars to show that it was the lead of the dance. And the night sky was their dancefloor.

Soon Redheart looked up as well, met with the same expression as Derpy. Utter awe. She came to the conclusion that Derpy would be fine, and just leaned into her right side, looking at the stars.

Derpy turned her head and looked down at the smaller mare. Redheart had the stars reflecting in her eyes as the shining globes looked to Derpy with the most fond emotion of love.

Redheart giggled at the crumbs still lingering on Derpy’s face and rose a hoof to wipe them off. When she brought it back, Derpy still had the look of longing in her eyes. Like she never wanted to let go of her.

“Y’know you’re my first real friend other than The Doctor. I’m so glad we can be much more. I- I’m not the best with words but… I… I love you Redheart.” Redheart managed to become cuter as Derpy confessed her love which didn’t even seem possible.

“I know,” and with that she leaned in and met her lips with her own.

Derpy stumbled at first in surprise, making Redheart pull back. “I’m so sorry, I should ha-”

She was silenced with another kiss from Derpy. It lasted mere seconds, but they could have sworn it was a lifetime. They were locked in each other's embrace for the longest time, just enjoying the warm feeling of being together. They heard steps from behind them.

“Hey you two, the party’s over. You lovebirds oughta get a room.” Of course Soft just had to ruin the moment.

Derpy pulled a muffin that she smuggled into her pocket, and threw it at Soft Touch. She dodged it with ease, but it was the thought that spoke volumes.

“Okay, jeez. But it’s not my house, you can’t stay here,” and with that she left.

“Come on, my little lovebird. We should get back to the train it should be leaving soon.”

They stood together and moved to the top of the steps. Derpy stopped to pick something up, but followed soon after.

“No point in letting a perfectly good muffin go to waste,” she said as she wiped it off and stuffed it in her mouth.

While, slightly disgusted, Redheart was amused at the same time. A thought crossed her mind as she watched her love nom her muffin.

“All because she fell from the sky, like a fallen angel”

Author's Note

Tada! Finished, I guess, please tell me what you thought! I tried to take advice as it was given and hopefully it turned out okay. Thanks to all you readers, I appreciate feedback, and even just you reading it. This chapter was a long time coming and I'm sorry, life really likes to get in the way of writing. Thanks again ~ :derpyderp2: