Derpy knocked on the door to the Carousel Boutique, smiling as she bounced lightly on her feet and waited for Rarity to come out.

Rarity was, of course, not one to make anypony wait long- unless it had to do with her makeup or finding the right clothes to wear- and was at the door in under a minute. “Derpy! It’s so great to see you, darling~!” She giggled happily as she invited the pegasus in.

Stepping inside, Derpy closed the door behind her before she reached over and pulled Rarity into a tight hug, letting out a soft ‘squee’ of happiness. “Mare’s day!” She said, pulling back and smiling widely.

Rarity’s smile doubled in size and returned the hug, “I know!” She giggled happily, nearly bouncing in joy, “Oooh, It’s going to be so much fun! I do hope you’re all ready to head out.” She pulled back from the hug and used her magic to straighten out both their clothes.

The pegasus was dressed in a simple shirt and skirt combo, her wings slipped through specially-made holes in the back. “Yep, I’m all good! Do you have anything else you need, or are we set to go?” She asked.

Rarity as per the usual was dressed to be fashionable. She had on a nice, casual dress on that didn’t do much to show off her sex appeal, now really not being the time for that in her mind. “I’m ready too, darling!” She nodded, “Now, let’s go so we can get the best table!”

“Oh?” Derpy asked as they went outside, waiting patiently as Rarity locked the door behind her. “You know where we’re going already, then? I didn’t have anything planned, because I thought we’d do it on the way- but do you have something in mind?”

Rarity closed and locked the door, “Oh! I’m just talking about getting there before the lunch rush!” She giggled softly, walking with Derpy into the center of Ponyville, “Mmm, I’m feeling something nice and light myself, what about yourself?”

Derpy hummed for a few moments, before answering, “What about the little cafe near Sugarcube Corner? They have some very tasty little breakfast sandwiches… and they make delicious muffins.” She blushed slightly at the last bit.

“That’d be wonderful, darling.” Rarity said with a small grin, “Let’s not waste any time, shall we?” She motioned for Derpy to walk right beside her as she began to head towards Sugarcube Corner, looking for the cafe.

It only took a few minutes to reach the center of the town, the bakery in full view. “So… have you had any neat adventures with the other Elements? Element Bearers? Is- is there a particular way I should say that?” Derpy asks, tilting her head.

“They’re just our friends, Derpy.” Rarity covered her mouth as she giggled a little. “And… nothing much really.” She shrugged, “We’ve just been… hanging out really, not much to do since Twilight defeated Tirek.”

Derpy shivers a bit, frowning. “Jeez, yeah. It’s been a while since then… I forgot how bad everything got before she took him down. Er, well, since all of you did.”

“Yes… that was really bad. But, for now, everything seems to have calmed down!” Rarity smiled, wrapping Derpy in a small hug. “And I couldn’t ask for anything else.”

The mood is brought back up with the small, quick show of emotion, and Derpy is instantly back to her bubbly self. “Well, good! And on that note- we’re here!”

The two come to a halt before a cozy little cafe named ‘The Cracked Yolk’, from which a delicious smell of toast, butter, eggs, and many more breakfast-oriented foods emanate.

Rarity smiled widely and walked in, “A table for two please.” She said to the host at the front.

The stallion nodded and smiled, “Right this way then.” He motioned for both mares to follow to an open booth, he gave them each a menu as they sat down, “I’ll be back over in a minute or two to get your drink orders…” He walked away to go to another table to see if everything was alright with them.

“So, what’s new with you Derpy?” Rarity picked up her menu and began to look it over for something she’d enjoy.

Derpy did the same but had the added benefit of having the menu hide her slight blush. “W-well, um… so, you know how we speculated that Pinkie would throw a party for Rush? And that it might happen around when I was there?” She asked.

“Mmmhm, Pinkie told me about how she threw him a party afterward… came into my locked house and woke me up for it, all to deliver a piece of cake- even though she knows I’m on a diet!” Rarity huffed before giggling, “It was a nice cake though…”

Derpy joins her in laughter for a little, before clearing her throat and continuing. “So, um… at the party… I did spend a little time, um, k-kind of… close to Rush…”

Rarity lowered her menu and looked to Derpy with a happy smile, “Oh? Knowing you, it was just sitting beside him and talking… but that’s wonderful to hear.~” She giggled, “So… did something else come from it?”

Derpy doesn’t answer immediately, and Rarity can see her hunch down a little behind her menu- hiding. The tips of her ears are a suspicious red color…

Rarity giggled, “You have a date, I presume? That’s amazing, Darling!” She smiled widely, bouncing just a tiny bit in her seat. “So, where’s he taking you? Just out for coffee, I presume?”

“Noooo, it’s not a date!” Derpy says, quickly shaking her head as she sets her menu down. “It, h-he says he just wants to, um, b-become better friends! It’s… It’s not a date.”

“Darling… going out for coffee with a stallion to get to know him better is a date.” Rarity was rather blunt, but she kept her grin. “Even if you don’t see it as one now, further on you’ll look back at it as your first date… if you two do get together that is.”

Derpy hid her face in her hands. She stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking up, saying, “...Yes, i-it was coffee. Is coffee. We’re going ou- w-we’re getting coffee together as friends.” The pegasus said, her wings ruffling behind her in nervousness.

“You’re going out on a what now, Derpy?” Rarity teased, “You’ll have to speak up…” She bit her lip and held back a giggle. She was smirking now, “I’m only kidding, darling…”

This made Derpy groan, her head sinking to the table. “Why do I have such an evil friend? All you do is torture me, day in and day out… it’s not fair…” She whimpered.

“Oh, dear… you know I mean well, I want you to be happy!” Rarity sighed, moving to Derpy’s side to hug her. Though the playful smirk remained on her face, she held her tongue and decided to tease her after her day out with Rush.

Derpy stayed in her melancholic pose for a second or two before giggling and reaching over to pull Rarity into a tighter embrace. “Yeah, I know. And… I do hope it goes well. Rush seems like a nice pony. Er, n-nice zebra. Dang, I’ll have to make sure I don’t do that anymore.”

“Either way, I’m sure you two will become friends.” Rarity smiled warmly as she tightened her own hug for a moment. “Now, just remember if you two do start dating, please do come to me. I’ll make sure you always look your best.”

Derpy’s blush returned in full force, and she playfully pushed Rarity away. “You are evil! You won’t stop teasing me ever, it’s so mean…” She fake-pouted, before picking her menu up again. “But… I mean, of course. You’re the best dress-maker in Ponyville… and Equestria… and probably the whole world.”

Rarity blushed, “Ooh… I’m not that good. But, thank you for the compliment!” She giggled quietly as she went back to her own chair and looked over her menu. “Now, you… do realize what it means to start dating again? You know your mother will find out as they always, always tend to.” She chuckled, “And… eventually, he’ll have to meet them, either way. Dating or not…”

“I know, I know,” Derpy said, putting her menu down again. Geez, it would take a long time to order at this rate. “I already told my mom to come over tonight so we can talk… I figure that talking about it with you should help me do the same with her… since she’ll probably freak out over it and stuff.”

“As long as she doesn’t go threatening him, you’ll be fine.” Rarity giggled quietly, as the waiter finally came back over.

“I’m so sorry for the wait! What can I get for the two of you to drink?” The waiter smiled as he stopped by the side of the table.

“I’ll take… chocolate milk, please! Um, and if you can get them to make it extra chocolatey, I’d really appreciate it.” Derpy decided, grinning back up at him.

The waiter nodded and smiled, “I’ll get them to do just that.” He looked to Rarity.

“Hmm… a glass of apple juice, please.” Rarity smiled.

The waiter took their drink orders, “Alright! I’ll get your drinks out right away and give you a bit more time to decide what you want to eat!” He walked to the kitchen to get their drinks.

“So, I take it you brought Dinky along with you? I mean… if she just threw the party like she normally does it must’ve been impossible for her to not have been with you.” Rarity looked up from the menu, “How’d he treat her?”

“He was very nice! The, um… the only kind of bad part was when Dinky, ah… sh-she told him he should date me. Very bluntly.” Derpy told her. “I-I mean bad in general, of course, like awkward. He didn’t do anything except blush and stammer… l-like me.”

Rarity gulped and held back an honest fit of laughter. “She just… came out and said… he should date you.” She repeated slowly, “Oh… oh my, that’s just…” She covered her mouth to hold back the giggling.

Derpy huffed, turning back to the menu. She ignored the stifled laughter of the unicorn across from her, intent on finally deciding what to get.

“That’s cute… it means he thought about it.” Rarity teased, “But enough on your friendship… you don’t really need to date a cute and nice zebra… one who’s rich too.” She smirked behind her menu. “Especially one that seems to like you enough to ask you out…”

“Rarity, don’t make me have to show him the pictures from our visit to the petting zoo. I’ll do it.” Derpy threatened, fighting off a smile. “Especially the one with you freaking out because of the duckling in your hair.”

“Mmmm…” Rarity hummed, clearly not backing down. “I’m just saying… I’d kill to be in your position~” She teased, setting her menu down to look over at the pegasus. “Go ahead, darling… show him those pictures. But, be warned… I have my own pictures I can show him.” She smiled playfully.

Derpy gasped. “Y-you don’t mean…”

“Oh yes. I do~ And I have it in a special place you’d never find it in~” Rarity giggled, “So… what was that about the ducklings?” She teased while covering her mouth up.

“But… but I don’t even have that anymore! Th-there’s no proof, he’d think you were making it up!” Derpy said, her face turning bright red. “You wouldn’t dare!”

Rarity giggled, “Oooh, but why would I do that? You haven’t done anything to me…” She put her hand down. “And… I think it was cute… maybe he would too if you were both dating for a little while…”

“N-no! I… I would actually die of embarrassment, Rarity.” Derpy said, shaking her head. “Do you want to be responsible for that? How could you tell Dinky you killed her Momma with a photograph?”

“Oooh, don’t worry! I won’t show it to him… I just have it in reserve if you ever show him those pictures of me. And… it just shows the thing in question! It’s not like he’d be seeing anything!” Rarity said defensively. “Now, if it were more… eh hem, lewd. I wouldn’t be showing it to him until you two were well and truly together! Then, if he’s really as nice as he lets off, he’d probably be there to comfort you!”

Derpy’s blush deepened at the thought of Rush seeing something so embarrassing on her, especially in such a place as… where it had been. “Mmrr… f-fine, you win. I won’t show him any pictures of you if you promise to never show him… that.” She said, holding a hand out to shake.

Rarity shook her hand, “I promise I won’t ever show him the picture.” She assured, smiling a little at her friends’ reaction. “I’ll even hand them over to you… but they’re enchanted so they can’t be destroyed~” She giggled, “If you give me the pictures you have of me…”

Derpy pursed her lips for a few seconds before nodding. “Next Mare’s Day, I’ll give them to you. It’ll be a trade.” She said. “No funny business?”

“No funny business.” Rarity nodded and smiled, “I swear.” She giggled, “I’m glad we could work something out! It’d be horrible if those pictures slipped out…”

Huffing, the pegasus took her hand back and flipped her menu open. “Can we just order now? You’re gonna make me pass out from blood… uh… over-circulation if you keep making me blush so often with all this teasing.” Derpy mumbled.

Rarity nodded, “Of course!” She looked over her own menu and thought of what she was going to eat. “What are you getting, Derpy?” She looked up at her friend for a moment.

“Hmm… well, definitely part of my meal is gonna be muffins. Maybe chocolate. Otherwise… I keep coming back to this one omelet they have- all stuffed with, like, a ton of different cheeses and other foods- so I think I’ll get that.” She said. “Is anything catching your eye?” Derpy asked, looking back at Rarity.

“That omelet sounds good! I think I’ll try it, too.” Rarity smiled as she set her menu down. “Hmm… when should our next Mares Day be?”

“Mmm… we could make it for next week, Thursday? After school, we can catch a movie and let Dinky and Sweetie have a sleepover with Applebloom and Scootaloo.” Derpy suggested.

“That’d be wonderful, dear… just don’t go making another date for Thursday.” Rarity teased with a playful grin. “And with that… I’m well and truly done teasing you.” She giggled and shook her head.

Derpy gave a relieved sigh, setting her menu down and dramatically wiping her forehead with a wingtip. “Oh, thank goodness! I don’t know that I could go through much more of that sheer torture.” She said, before bursting out into chuckles.

Rarity couldn’t help but giggle, “Ooh, you’ll get enough from your mother, probably… you should at least relax around me~!” She smiled warmly as the waiter came back.

“What can I get you two to eat?” The waiter smiled warmly.

Derpy handed her menu to Rarity and answered for both of them. “We’ll both take one of the Large Mixed Omelettes, and I’ll have two cho...no, two banana nut muffins. Fresh, if possible.” She finished.

The waiter wrote down their order and nodded, “Alright! I’ll have it out as soon as possible.” He walked back into the kitchen.

“Hm, what else should we talk about?” Rarity hummed as she thought about anything interesting she’d done since the last time they spoke to each other. “Has anything else happened in your life, Derpy? Or is it just going out for coffee with Mr. Greymane?”

“Hmm. Well… nothing else new has really happened, no. Mom and I talked a little about Dinky’s future the other night… she seems kinda powerful for her age, and we… y’know, it’s silly saying it, but we think she might be good enough to get into a nice school, like Celestia’s up in Canterlot.” Derpy explained.

Rarity listened and her smile grew a bit, “I think she would be good enough for that too! But… that isn’t exactly a cheap place to send anypony, and even if you took out loans you’d be paying them back for the rest of your life!” She let out a quiet exhale and shook her head, “It’s a wonderful dream to have though, darling.”

“Well… yeah, it does cost a-a lot. I think we could find a way, though, one that wouldn’t have me in debt forever.” Derpy says, her ecstatic mood sobered a bit.

“Don’t worry! I’m sure you’ll find a way.” Rarity assured, giving Derpy a warm and caring smile, “Once I have some money freed up, the two of us can possibly start saving some money just so both Sweetie and Dinky can go together.” She suggested.

“R-really? You’d want to do that?”

“Of course! We can’t just separate the two of them… and if we’re both saving up together, it’ll make it easier on both of us, won’t it?”

Derpy blushed again, but not out of embarrassment- or at least, not the same kind of embarrassment. She glanced away, nodding slightly. “It… I just… y-you know you wouldn’t have to, right? I’d be able to do it on my own, w-with enough time…”

“Don’t worry, darling… it’s something that I want to do.” Rarity assured with a smile, “Dinky and Sweetie are too good of friends to keep apart like that, you and I both know, without one… the other just wouldn’t go as far as she could with them.”

Derpy brought an arm up to her face, wiping off a few swelling tears in her eyes. “I… a-alright, Rarity. I’m still not sure if I want to go down that route- or, o-or even if she could make it in, though I really think Dinky can- but… I’ll gladly take any help you want to give.” She said, looking back up and beaming over at Rarity.

Rarity smiled back, “I’m happy to help, dear! You’re one of my best friends, and I’d do anything to help any of my friends.” She giggled a little bit, “And… I do believe she could get in too. After all, she has one of the greatest mothers around, and if she’s anything like you, she’s going to go far in life!”

The pegasus’s blush only increased at that, and she covered her face with a slightly-shaking wing. “S-stop it! You… y-you evil… too nice pony…” She mumbled.

Rarity giggled a bit more, “Oooh, if you insist.” She looked to the kitchen to see if their food was coming out just yet. Luckily for the both of them, the cafe wasn’t too busy yet, and was known for their fast service- just a few seconds later, their server came out through the door, holding a tray in each hand with a large, steaming omelet on top of it, with a drink sitting right next to it.

He gently set each one down in front of Derpy and Rarity respectively, before giving a wide smile and asking, “Is there anything else I could get for you two lovely ladies?”

“I’m fine! Thank you though.” Rarity smiled as she looked down at her omelet. “It looks so delicious!” She giggled a little as she looked over to Derpy.

“Mmm, it does!” She replied, lifting up a muffin and taking a greedy bite, moaning happily at the sweet, hot pastry. Once she swallowed, Derpy asked, “So… you have any gossip you wanna talk about? I know you keep your ear to the floor for all the juicy rumors in town.”

Rarity perked up, smiling widely as she took a sip of her apple juice. “Oh, do I ever, Derpy! You would not believe some of the things I’ve recently heard about- listen to this- Cheeriliee of all ponies! Why just yesterday morning I overheard two stallions discussing just how she had…”

Derpy came back into the living room with two cups of hot chocolate as was the norm, passing one to her mom and sitting next to her. She took a greedy gulp of the thick, sweet liquid, letting out a happy sigh.

“So…” She dragged out the word, waiting until Ditzy was mid-sip. “I’m… gonna be going out for coffee with a zebra friend of mine in a few days. A… male friend.”

Ditzy finished her sip and held her cup in both hands. “Okay…” She nodded slowly, looking her daughter over. “And… where did you meet this new male friend of yours?”

“Well, um… he’s on my mail route. And I stopped and said hi one morning… then Rarity and I thought it might be best to see if he knew about Pinkie, and by the time I got there, I was dragged into the party. We talked for a while, and… he wants to take me out for coffee.” Derpy explained.

Ditzy took another sip, “Honey… I’m happy that you’re making a new friend.” She began, smiling slightly, “So, you met him through your mail route, then went to his house to warn him of the Pink Scourge herself… and she was already there?” An amused grin came over Ditzy's face. “Did anything else happen between you two at the party?”

Derpy blushed, but less so than usual- she’d gone through this with Rarity already, after all. “W-well, Dinky did blurt out that, ah… h-he should date me.”

The corners of Ditzy’s mouth twitched. “My… such a spunky little filly.” She giggled just a little, “I take it you were utterly embarrassed by the outburst.” She smiled at Derpy again, “So, tell me a little about him. If he’s taking my little filly out I need to know he’s right for you...”

Derpy’s blush now started growing. “Mooom, I’m not a child anymore! I know… I… w-well, I mean we did just meet, so I don’t know him that well yet. B-but he seems very nice! He’s, er, I told you he’s a zebra- named Rush Greymane, by the way- and he works as the head chef of The Golden Horseshoe. Oh! And he has, um, a nice garden in his front yard. Seems like he takes good care of it.” She explained, periodically pausing for some more hot cocoa.

Ditzy choked just a bit as she sipped her hot cocoa. “Mph… what?” She looked to Derpy for a moment. “The head chef… Oh my.” She blushed a tiny bit, “And… Did he ask you out? My… perhaps he is quite nice.” She smiled a little more, “So… he does know of your relation to Dinky, right? How did he treat her for the short time you two were at his home?”

“Rush was really polite to her! He didn’t seem to mind the fact that she was my daughter- which he does know, yeah.” Derpy said, giving a small nod. “Even though both of us were embarrassed quite a bit by what Dinky said, we still managed to have a long talk, and… you know… he did ask me out. So there’s that.”

Ditzy nodded, “And that’s a step in the right direction! You both have stable jobs, you’re quite beautiful. And if you agreed to go out with him, I’m sure you find him handsome~” She teased, gently bumping Derpy with her shoulder. “But, before anything becomes serious… the best bet would be to have him spend time with Dinky, right?”

“Yeah, that’s true. Um… how would I do that?” Derpy asks, her smile shrinking a little. “I can’t just have him babysit her… maybe invite him to one of Rarity and me’s park visits? Cuz then he’s gonna be around Dinky and Sweetie, and if he isn’t good with Sweetie he won’t be good with Dinky.”

“Wait until after a few times out!” Ditzy grinned, “After that, if you two do become good friends, and he’s off one day, why not have him watch both fillies? Just as you said, that’ll give you time to talk with Rarity, and he’ll be able to show how he acts around them!”

Derpy’s smile regained its max length as her happiness rebounded. “Alright! Thanks for the advice, Mom. I’m happy to have you to give me it.” She said, leaning in close to nuzzle the older mare.

Ditzy nuzzled her back, “I’m happy I could help!” She smiled widely, setting her cup down and hugging her daughter tightly.

“You always help, Mom. I just gotta parse it out sometimes before I finally understand what you mean.” Derpy said.

“I mean… I could word things better, but being a bit roundabout does tend to be fun!” Ditzy giggled a little. “Now, if you two do go out on a second date… I want to meet him.”

Derpy let out a sigh and fell limp in the hug. “Uuugh, Moooom!”

Author's Note

Bit of a shorter one, but things are progressing nicely. Do y'all have any complaints, questions, anything? Ask! Complain! Anything! In the comments. I love comments.

As aaaaaalways, many thanks and props go out to Patric12345, my co-writer, without whom this would be impossible.

Toodles!
~TOOWC