Last Stop on the Mail Route

"The PRINCESS for LUNCH?!" Amethyst nearly shouts, jaw agape. Derpy quickly scrambles to cover Stars mouth with her own hooves, nervously glancing around at the curious faces that look over at the commotion.

They'd wrapped up breakfast moments prior, the group of us now stood in the front of the Hotel, about to part ways. Star had her own plans in the city and had to catch up on them, but wanted to get a goodbye in before she left.

Off... hoofidly? She'd asked Derpy what her plans were for the day, and a wide-eyed, crossed-eyed grey flank had informed her of the luncheon I was subjecting her to with minimal warning. Apparently, just as much of a shock to Star as it was to Derpy. Maybe I was underplaying the significance a bit?

Star takes a calming breath, slowly pushing Derpy's hooves off her own mouth.
"Sorry, sorry. But the Princess? Seriously?" She teases, a wide smile sat on her face.

Derpy sighs, shaking her head.
"Yes, the Princess."

"Now, how did you go and pull that off?" Star asks, turning her attention to me, now.

The only thing I can even offer is a shrug. Not like I planned it.
"Foreign invader, coerced into not attacking your world by lending me some bits for a house. Was having second thoughts about taking everything over recently, but there's this one pretty mare keeping me distracted." I politely 'inform', though my information may be comically falsified, if the smile on my face is anything to go by.

I think Star was actually taking what I was saying seriously, until she looked at Derpy's deadpan face, before she cracks a smile. Right, that's not exactly an original idea around here. Ha.

My arm is wrapped around the midsection of a bloated, nap-verging Dinkerdoodle. The filly is slumped against me like a football, having eaten three too many plates of the syrupy goodness, and her gut matches.

"Well, that sounds fun! Lunch with the Princess, not taking over Equestria. I hope you both enjoy it -- The Lunch, not... you know." Star 'corrects', smiling. "I'd say all three of you, but I don't know if Dinky will be awake by then. She looks about ready to hibernate." Star giggles, stifling it with a hoof before it can evolve to a chuckle.
"I'd love to chat for longer, but I'm pretty sure I'm already running late."

"It was good seeing you again, Star." Derpy smiles, pulling the mare in close with her hooves, quickly hugging her. Star is quick to return the embrace, sighing softly into Derpy's neck.

"It was good to see you, Derpy. You still live in Ponyville, right? Same house?" She asks, holding Derpy still.

"I do, why?" Derpy asks, slowly pulling from the hug.

"I'll make sure to come visit during the next summer break, okay? We have some serious catching up to do." Star notes confidently, a firm smile sat on her face.
"We may have drifted once, but I'm not letting you or my favorite filly get away again."

"I'd love that, Star -- and I'm sure Dinky would be smitten with the idea to see you again, too." Derpy nods, a solid grin smeared on her own visage, too.

The two stare at each other for a long moment, like neither wants to actually start going about the rest of their day. With Dinky wrangled (partially), I step forward, offering my own hand to Amethyst Star.

"It was good to meet you, Star, and good to meet another fan of El Dinkadore. See you around, yeah?" I offer.

Star doesn't hesitate as long as I was expecting her to, as she flips her attention to me and my outstretched hand. Her own hoof meets it, and she smiles at me.
"Good to meet you too, Anon. Take care of Derpy, yeah? She needs more reasons to smile, and you seem to be doing a pretty good job of that."

Derpy rolls her eyes, but I see that flush take her cheeks.

"I try, though she has this bad habit of giggling and kicking her hooves, blushing all the while any time I start talking to her. Any ideas why?" I tease, throwing a grin Derpy's way. I've probably over-teased her recently, as she barely reacts, settling on an exaggerated sigh. Flush is still there, though.

"Not sure myself, but that sounds like a net positive to me, so you'd better keep it up." Star returns, smiling.

"Will do, boss lady. Have a good one, Star." I nod.

"Buh BYE, Miss Star." Dinky manages, wriggling in my grasp.

We eventually manage to part after a few more rushed good-byes, Star finally heading down the street to catch up with some other Ponies she had plans with, while Derpy, myself and Dinky head back up the road.

Derpy makes an audible sigh as we make our way through the side-streets, trying to skirt the worst of the busy morning Festival. Since we already had plans for the day, getting sucked into the hustle and bustle might be a little counter-intuitive, so our plan was to stick to the outskirts of it while we vaguely approach the castle, before cutting straight through.

"We probably have time for you to hit that Wonderbolt track again today, if you'd want to." I offer, glancing down to the grey flank that walks to my side. It's kind of funny how acclimated she's become to Dinky and my antics -- she doesn't even blink now when she watches me wrangle her daughter like a feral cat. Every time I go to adjust my grip on the little Dinker, she counters and scrambles up or down my arms or torso, either trying to squeeze somewhere comfortable to dangle from, or attain as much height as possible. Part of me wonders if this kid should've been born a Pegasus, or if she's got some latent urge to go upwards thanks to her genes.

"Absolutely not. Still sore." Derpy shakes her head, stretching her wings in response. She's staring into the distance, towards an upcoming junction. Actually, she seems kind of distant now that we've gone on without Star.

"You doing alright?" I ask softer, leaning. I know lately has been a lot for her, trudging out to Canterlot for her daughter, me tagging along -- seeing her ex, her old friend...

"Hmm?" Her ears flick, blinking out of her trance and glancing up to me. That's a sad smile she gives me. "Yes, sorry, I don't mean to come off as irritated or anything. Just... I've got a lot on the mind." She explains, pausing for a moment before snorting. "...And the soreness is starting to settle. I definitely overdid it. Monday isn't going to be fun."

"Seeing Star probably brought back a lot of memories, huh?" I offer, slowing my walking pace a touch.

"...Yeah. It was good to see her again. She was wonderful for Dinky, and..." She pauses for a surprisingly long moment, even slowing down some. As I pause to wait for her, she blinks out of it, quickly trotting to catch up.
"Sorry, just thinking about some... things." She relents.

"That's what brains are for. I'm always here to listen if you wanna talk at me, too. I've got some mostly-working ears that are always happy to listen to their favorite lady, be it words or just noises. Well, left one's a little iffy, but it tries." I offer, leaning down to brush her wing with a finger. She watches it, trailing her gaze up to me, smiling softly.

"What about me?!" Dinky huffs loudly, drawing both our attention; the football shaped filly is currently hanging upside-down from my arm, making a face.

"You're my favorite... creature. Goblin? No - Gremlin, let's say." I grin. poking at the filly. Dinky makes a weird little 'Chee-hee-hee' noise, curling her lip to expose her teeth and flailing her little hooves around, in her best rendition of what she probably thinks either is.

"Believe me, Anon, I know I can talk to you about anything. It's... nothing. In an okay way." She purses her lips, looking up at me.

I wait a good, long moment as we slowly traverse the side-streets for her to continue, but she doesn't. She just keeps staring at me, looking up at my face. Her nose twitches, and it takes some surprisingly serious resilience not to lean down and poke it.
"Alright, but still. Be it vague noises, sitting in silence; I'll listen to whatever sound you gotta say, bu--eautiful."

"...You weren't about to say Bubble-Butt again, were you, Mister Muss?" She warns, throwing me a glare. God, the way she has to look up at me through her mane is probably why I never learn.

I look away, grinning playfully, expecting a wing-slap. Instead, I get a warm body pressing against my leg, sighing heavily.

"I know, Nonny. And that goes for you too, okay?" She says, surprisingly sweetly.

"Aw, thanks Derpy. If I get bubbles on my butt, I'll let you know." I snort playfully.

There's the wing-smack, right to the leg. Deserved that one.

"I'm being serious, Anon." She chastises, still glaring at me. I'm still loving that through-the-mane frown.

"I know Derpy, I know -- that's why I joke. I'm doing good; being with you makes it pretty hard not to be." I quickly amend, grinning.

"...Alright, good. Now I can go back to being stressed out about meeting the Princess." She huffs dramatically.

"Hey, maybe we'll even get to see both." I ruminate aloud, tapping my chin.

"Bot--Oh, that is not helping." Derpy groans.

Lunch was looming, and skirting the festival was paying off thus far. We were window-shopping some of the quieter streets, looking at storefronts and shops that were trying to persevere through the lull in activity. And of course, we'd been talking about the Princesses for most of the entire time, too. Apparently getting to rapid-fire questions and get answers was helping Derpy's nerves, at least a little.

Dinky couldn't care less, now idly trotting on my other side. She wanted to poke around herself, darting to a window, peering in with wide eyes, and then running back to us. Like a little moon on a wide orbit, she squeezes between us and circles us repeatedly before launching out to another shop.

"Still, you're on a nickname basis. That's not nothing, Anon." Derpy says. She's been grilling me about just how personally I know the Princesses, so she knows what she's walking into. She's a bit of a worry-wart, but was a little more worried about bothering me with questions. The moment it was clear I'd weather a bajillion of them, they just kept coming.

"Sure, but that's more because she's accepting of nicknames, not that she offers her own, you know? I called her Sunbutt once --"

"You what."

"-- and she never corrected me. In fact, she started nicknaming me back, so I've just been rolling with it." I explain, chuckling and reminiscing about one of our earlier letters. Her return nicknames were tame at first, but the Princess of the Sun had some... let's say creative approaches to some of her latest ones. Could probably use them as slurs if I ever got back to Earth. Sometimes I forget she's a big-ass (ha) sun god princess deity. Hard to remember, when she's slipping in gossip about her sister or her student with our usual catch-up letters, but I get reminders. Like when I look at the sun raising in the morning, and remember that here, it's a pony doing that.

Derpy blinks several times, processing, apparently.
"So... this lunch, with the Princess, potentially both, should be casual? Somehow, despite you being an Ambassador for your species?"

"Yep. Any title I hold is entirely symbolic, just so I can live in Equestria easier, so don't worry about that. Technically, without them, I don't have any rights and could even be property." I joke -- though I'm definitely not getting into my species history on that topic. And it is probably true, though I don't see any ponies trying to own other sapient... actually, no, Applejacks farm has cows, and ponies still like pets. I could see it.

"Wait, seriously?" Derpy looks at me, concerned. "That can't be right."

"Crazy, huh? My species doesn't exist here, so no rights for me. If you ever see me up at the Canterlot pet shop, promise to buy me?" I grin playfully.

"Anon, that is not happening. I -- " Derpy goes to refute, but I cut in, feigning offense.

"What, you wouldn't buy me? And here I thought we had something." I pout, helping myself to an exaggerated, wobbly lip.

"No! -- Yes? Wait, well, we do, but I --" Derpy starts to stammer, trying to navigate my minefield of words. Relief from my teasing comes in the form of me nudging her side, chuckling.

"Kidding, Derpy. Celestia's already putting in legislation for a Generalist Species... Protection Act? Yeah, that's what it was." I recall, waggling a finger. "One, in case anything else gets dropped here, and two, for other non-Equestrian species so they aren't abused."

She exhales loudly, shaking her head.
"You... a pet shop. Every day I'm more curious about this world of yours that gives you this imagination of yours."

"...So." I state aloud, looking forward.

"Hm?" Derpy hums.

"Would you buy me?" I goad, with sad puppy eyes. "Saw me in one of those little windows, like these? No laws to protect little ol' me?"

"Bucking obviously, Anon. Nopony else is getting their hooves on you but me." Derpy retorts firmly, throwing me a glare. Her eyes widen as she starts to realize what she just so blatantly stated in public. Thankfully, the streets are still pretty quiet with the Festival ongoing on the main avenue, saving her some embarrassment, and Dinky is a few storefronts ahead of us, out of earshot. Probably. Me, though?

"Ooh." I purse my lips, eyebrow raising. "Possessive."

"...Too much?" She asks softly, reeling it back, wincing.

"Nah, I've got issues. Keep that energy, I'm into that." I wink.

She scoffs, shaking her head.
"You have some... particular interests you're trying to allude to right now?"

She makes a hefty 'You serious?' face as I consider the prospect, stroking my chin and humming.

"Of the pet-caliber, not really. That little possessive streak though? Shit, I'm still thinking about this morning." I muse.

"The biting?" She prompts. "You really liked when I did that? Actually?"

I can only shrug, smiling. "Can't say I won't be thinking about it for the rest of the day."

That smile falls pretty quickly as I watch Derpy check on Dinky and her own surroundings -- the moment she's sure the filly isn't looking, nor any other passing ponies, I feel the push of air from flapping wings. Her hooves are quick to wrap my shoulders, as grey fur and blonde mane takes up most of my vision, and soft, plush lips meet my own. Instinctively, my hands reach out to support her legs and flank, though her wings keep her steady.

And then teeth meet my bottom lip, nibbled playfully. Pulled, bitten. A throaty huff escapes the pegasus clinging to me, and before I can react, another whoosh of air -- she's already hooves to street, trotting ahead. The smile she throws back my way, tail swishing -- saucy, knowing, peering out from under her own mane... it exudes Confidence. Well, that's one way to boost her mood before meeting the Princess.

For myself, though? Whoof. I think I need a minute, pausing to lean on one of the storefront walls. That mare did things to me, and she was starting to figure out just what. Looks like I'm weak to ladies who knows what they're about.

I can hear Dinky shouting for me further up ahead -- I give a half-hearted wave, urging my beating heart to still, jogging awkwardly to catch up to them.