Derpy's Bebop

by trelatyraelis

Rating: teen
Tags: Derpy Hooves, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Other, Romance
Length: 19412

A journey inside Ditzy's mind, dealing with something she had never experienced before.

A slice of Ditzy's life, dealing with something she has never felt before.

Published 2012-01-03 02:18:55 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-14 20:07:36 UTC

Derpy's Bebop

It had been raining for days. The weather ponies had planned a storm to keep Sweet Apple Acres untouched by the heat wave coming from south but, as usual, Rainbow Dash had exaggerated the quantity of clouds needed, and now half of Ponyville was soaking wet, while the other half was dry as a bone. Though this was a very interesting atmospheric phenomenon, some ponies were not happy with how things had changed…

“It really had to be the half where I lived, didn’t it?” Blues groaned, annoyed.

Every attempt to dispel the clouds or move them away hadn’t worked, not even the unorthodox idea of calling in unicorns had helped. Unfortunately, Twilight had been called to Canterlot by the princesses several weeks before, to solve a thorny situation near the borders of the dragons’ territory and still hadn’t returned. Someone had suggested seeking the help of “The Great and Powerful Trixie”, but she ended getting kicked out of town when one of her spells changed the climate from cloudy to icy. Now precipitations of hail and snow occurred every day, instead of just rain. After this last effort they decided to let the clouds move by themselves, as they were slowly doing.

In those days, the whole mail route had been assigned to a single pegasus, Ditzy Doo - better known by the nickname of Derpy Hooves. Blues, being a relatively solitary colt, had seen her only a few times, but in those rare occasions, he had always tried to greet her as warmly as possible, especially in those days when he saw the poor mare deliver the mail with ice on her wings.

One time the hail had suddenly transformed into deadly chunks of ice, as big as golf balls. He had convinced the reluctant mailmare to stay with him inside until the end of the storm, pouring her a cup of hot cocoa and playing one of his favorite songs on the sax, the "Farewell Blues". She seemed a little... well, blue, and Blues was an expert in understanding those kind of feelings. Not that Derpy was usually jovial, even though she was always smiling. It seemed almost as if her smile was just a mask, covering her true emotions. He could picture her, looking at herself in a dimly lit room, practicing that smile in front of a mirror. Every now and then he could catch a glimpse of the real her, especially when he called her name, as if the sound of that word could shatter her disguise for a second.

Today was going to be another seemingly normal day for him, his mind full of thoughts, his back begging him to go back to sleep… but when he opened the door to the wall eyed pegasus her expression struck him. A look full of hatred, and perhaps… sadness? He couldn’t tell. It had been too rapid. She quickly recovered herself and showed him a large smile. “Mail’s here! So, this is the last package for today, I hope? It was pretty heavy.”

By God it was heavy. It was the new brass saxophone he had ordered one month before. His father’s sax, the one he had been using for all these years, had become unusable with time and there was nothing he could do to fix it. The instrument was dented, some keys could not be used, the metal was rusting and the bell had thinned so much that the notes came out empty and lifeless. He’d decided to take a second job plowing the Acres to earn some extra money and had bought another one using his hard earned cash and the funds he kept for emergencies.

“Yeah. I’m sorry you had to do all that flying through the rain, but from here to Pony Symphony is three hours of walking and with my new job, I just can’t leave home for no reason other than work. Plus, my back hurts like hell and… and I’m rambling like an old fart while you’re freezing.” He moved aside, made an inviting gesture and smiled. “ Wanna come in, Derpy? If you can take some time off your schedule, of course. I’m dying to hear how this new one sounds!”

“Thanks, but no. Gotta go. There’s... still mail I need to deliver. S-See ya!” she quickly turned her back at him, shook her already soaked wings and disappeared into the thick fog.

Blues, dazed by her speed, remained still for a couple of seconds on his doorstep, shook himself out of his temporary paralysis and closed the door behind him.

***

Ditzy was fighting to keep her tears back, but she knew that was a battle she couldn’t win. Every time the same series of events kept happening. Blues’ house always had to be the last on her route, no matter what she had to deliver, even if today carrying that saxophone for so much time had really shattered her back.

(oh for hell’s sake I’m starting to talk like an old fart too)

They’d talk about this and that, she’d try to run away as soon as she could, unable to endure that torture for much, feeling her eyes watering, and she would burst into tears on the way home.

It was that name. That stupid nickname they had given her years ago, before she even had become a mailmare. Of course, it didn’t affect her now as much as it did before, though she would never forget the days and nights spent crying with her face presses against the pillow, trying to get rid of the pain the only way she knew. Still she had grown out of it, even joking about it with her friends every now and then.

But… Him.

She didn’t know what she felt for Blues, always kind, always gentle, never laughing behind her back. He really seemed interested when they talked, whatever the subject, and he was a good listener, too... but most of all he was a good musician.

She loved music. The way a song could rock her entire being or soothe her, make her ponder or forget about every problem, like a charm. Blues was certainly one of the most talented saxophonists she had ever seen in her life, he played his instrument “as if he had been born with it in his hooves” like one of the regulars at the Blue Note once said. When he played, sometimes it almost seemed like he was splitting in two, playing two rhythms and tones at the same time, mixing them up in an incredible harmony, blending unearthly low tones with barely audible high pitched notes.

The first time she had heard him playing, months before, she went into rapture over his changes of tone and velocity, his haunting slow songs and those so quick she couldn’t even follow the rhythm with her hoof. When she had been listening to him, the chatter, the noise of raising glasses and moving chairs had begun to dim slowly, fading into nothingness. Everything around her had disappeared. She wasn't sitting on a stool anymore, but floating... there was nothing but the music and that blue colt playing the sax, while she was being cradled by a sweet embrace of notes, losing herself completely in the flow, only to wake up suddenly when he had finished playing. She now knew that if there was a Heaven, she touched it every time she heard him play, with his coat as blue as a pool of sapphires placed on the bottom of the sea.

But every time they met, he called her with that name, mocking her. Except for being addressed continuously as “Derpy”, Blues had never done anything to arouse hostility towards her, but it was that which made his sarcasm sharper. He treated her with respect, but kept calling her with that nickname, always smiling, making it somehow heavier for her to bear. Why did he do that? It made her want to punch that polite smile out of his face, then suddenly hating herself for thinking that and then angry for feeling weak and helpless. Maybe she was overreacting, nobody so kind could seriously-

Then that name, spoken as if it was nothing, as if it was the most normal thing in the world and not a stupid joke which had never been funny. Said from others it had the same effect as of a drop of water poured in an endless ocean, but when he did, the feeling was the same one of a chair being smashed on her face with incredible strength. Its splinters were always painful to take out, and every now and then she would find one that she had forgot to pull out, thinking about him while lying in bed, staring at the celing... nothing but him in her mind in those restless, painful nights.

All because of a simple fact. She had finally understood.

She loved his music and, out of mere consequence, loved him. In her brain something had been turned on, an overwhelming passion, the need to feel him close to her, to touch him as he whispered sweet words to her, listening him play something, anything, alone with him on a grassy hill watching the sun setting and the stars slowly appearing and twinkle for them.

It was almost as if a defective connection had turned on two lights in two different rooms together, with the click of a single switch.

She would wake up in the morning and, without a reason, think of what scent his hair could have in that moment. Random questions about him just came to her in any moment of the day: what was he doing? Was he thinking about her? Maybe right now he was knocking at her door to say hello… and other incoherent thoughts that saddened her throughout the day.

She cried because she couldn’t feel him by her side. For him she was just a stupid mail pegasus, a joke to laugh about. She cried because of her damned eyes.

Not that she hadn’t tried to fix them. One year before she had even asked Celestia to help her, but in the way back home to Ponyville, after the “treatment” she had given her, everyone had been staring at her more than usual, someone even laughing. She hadn’t realized what the princess had done until she looked at herself in a mirror… and understood why they had been calling her “Bright Eyes” on the road home.

Her pupils had become big topazes of a dun yellow, the color of molten gold, quite odd and just too garish, even if they worked.

She had asked the sun goddess to change her back a week later and, after a brief explanation of how she had to change the complete look of her irises in order to make her see straight, she told herself that since she had only changed an old nickname with another one, if not even one of the celestial sisters could fix those eyes of hers, all she could do was to deal with it.

Lost in her train of thought, she didn’t see the tree in front of her until the very last second, her vision dimmed by the fog and tears flowing freely from her eyes.

She hit her temple and badly bruised her forehead, but she couldn’t care less. she had already fallen into unconsciousness.

***

(Raindrops. It’s starting to rain, look at that. I should have taken an umbrella.)

Ditzy opened her eyes and quickly got up from the ground. the fog had disappeared, but-

(Why is my head hurting so much?)

She rubbed her forehead, trying to ease her pain, only to unintentionally scrape off some coagulated blood.

Oh.

She quickly thought about what had happened. All her bottled up emotions that had desperately tried to get out for so long exploded in an outburst of anger. Her feathers ruffled, her pulse quickened. She let out an animal roar and just shouted the first thing that came to her mind.

“FUCK YOU, TREE!… AND FUCK YOU, BLUES!”

Right now she didn’t really care about anything but to beat the ever-loving crap out of him.

If anyone could have seen her then, they would have looked at her with fear, her wings spread open, her hooves fiercely kicking the ground, primeval rage on her face, ready to strike. Her legs moving on their own, she ran as fast as she could to the house of her hated love.

Yet... her fury was slowly being replaced by sadness. by the time she was halfway from his house, she was already questioning her actions, but, as if her mind had been brutally torn off from her body, all she could do was run towards him, attracted by a greater force than her.

She started crying again when she saw his doorstep and walked to it, her head down. Her tears were trailing down her face, mingling with the rain.

“Here it is,” she thought blankly. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t even know if what had just happened was real, or she was just kicking her bedsheets and screaming, covered in sweat. All she wanted to do was to stay under that rain for days,

(Is it really rain? what If I’m imagining it too?)

not thinking. Just she and the night. Forever.

She knocked on the door, barely conscious of having done anything. With every knock she felt some of her energy and anger return, slowly regaining consciousness of her surroundings. First she started tapping hesitantly, then harder, until the very frame of the door started shaking.

Blues opened the door and what he saw filled him with pity. A mud covered pony was standing before him, looking at him and shaking, her blonde mane flattened by the rain, a red blood-stain spreading just above her eyes.

“Derpy?” the blue colt said, genuinely worried. “Oh God, what happened?”

“Why…” the mare sobbed. “Why do you keep…”

Something snapped inside her. She started screaming, freeing all her emotions in an explosion of anger.

“WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME THAT!”

Unable to control her actions, she tackled him and hugged him, pinning him to the ground. “Please,” she whispered in his ear, “please, just stop calling me Derpy…”

***

Blues hugged her back gently, as hundreds of thoughts raced through his mind,

(was it something I said? What happened to her? Is that blood? Oh god she’s so soft)

so many he couldn’t keep track of them. They stayed like that for what he felt like an eternity, in a sweet, cold embrace, the rain still falling outside.

He had been dreaming of her for months. It happened quickly... how do poets say it? Love at first sight? He had never believed in that sort of thing. Not that he wasn’t a romantic type, far from that, it was just that it seemed so unreal, so naive to fall in love with a mare by just looking at her. Wouldn’t that be considered just physical attraction? what about her personality? Could you really call that love, or was it just an infatuation?

He had finally understood what they had meant when he had seen her in that bar. She was drinking a weird, reddish drink with a straw, maybe a Cosmopolitan, he didn’t know, and looking down into her glass. When he had started playing, he had seen her freeze in the spot completely. She had moved her head up and it was in that moment he had seen it. He had looked inside those golden eyes, seeing a pure radiant joy in them, complete and utter happiness. He had lost himself into her eyes and had stopped playing, entranced. Did his music do that? Could it really be? He had always been told he was good, but no compliment he had ever received could be compared to that look, as if he had just given her a new reason of existence.

Fortunately he was improvising at the moment, so the audience thought if was only part of the song, but Blues had been struck that night. He had seen the face that would sweetly haunt his nights for the months to come. Only later he found out what her name was, having asked it to one of his band members, who couldn’t help but laugh while saying it.

He started to stroke her hair, her beautiful golden mane, wet at the touch. He could feel the heat of her skin on his hoof, but it wasn’t enough. He put his cheek on her neck, without thinking, just trying to feel her warmth, to be closer to her. She stopped sobbing and closed her eyes, feeling both their hearts starting to beat a little faster. Blues reluctantly put his head down on the wooden floor and looked at her in those tiny, watering suns.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for anything that I said or did that might have hurt you. Just... just don’t cry anymore. Please.”

He moved his chin upwards and kissed her under the eyes, moving down, following the trail of her tears. He kept doing it for several minutes, continuing even when she had stopped crying. It was too hard to stop, his mind lost in her scent. He just wanted to cuddle her, keep her close to him and tell her everything was all right, see her smile.

She started nuzzling his neck, returning his tenderness, moving from his chin down to his shoulders, then up again until their noses touched.

“I forgive you.” She whispered. He could taste her hot breath in his mouth

(wild berries so sweet and tangy)

so tempting… he couldn’t control himself, he wanted more.

It just happened. The kiss, at first chaste and with their lips closed, blossomed like a flower, opened and soon filled with nectar. She felt his tongue touching her lower lip and tried, timidly, to reach for it with hers. His hooves started rubbing her back, which made her wings unfurl and spread, casting a shadow on their bodies, only lit by a light bulb hanging from the floor. When he caressed the underside of one of her wings, she let out an involuntary sigh, which echoed inside their jointed throats, and was returned when she started to plant kisses on his neck. Lost in the heat of the moment, Ditzy didn’t expect what happened then.

“S-so …” Blues panted, stopping for a minute.” What should I call you now?”

“What do you mean?” She was sincerely puzzled.

“if I can’t call you Der-… I mean, If I can’t call you that way, what should I call you now?”

She slowly recomposed herself and thought for several minutes, her body still pressed against his, in an awkward position, until an idea started taking form. What if-

“You thought that was my real name?”

“I asked a friend of mine after I had seen you months ago… at the Blue Note, remember? I was too nervous to ask it myself. It isn’t?”

Ditzy smiled and then her lip trembled. She started to laugh, a honest laugh, like she hadn’t had in months. All her fears, her doubts and sadness, had been taken away from her, as if an invisible force had removed an incredible burden from her back. She looked at him, kissed him full on the lips and smiled, with tears in her eyes:

“My name is Ditzy Doo, and I Love You.”

Another Day's Dawn

Ditzy woke up without opening her eyes.

She yawned, stretched her legs and moved a blind hoof to her left, until she found what she had been looking for. She turned, opened her eyelids and smiled, seeing Blues sleeping next to her. He had an arm under his pillow and the other was reaching for her, a few inches from her body. A ray of light tickled his nose, while another lit up his coat. She rolled over on the bed, wrapped her arms around his chest and nuzzled is neck, losing herself in his scent.

Blues woke up some time after, feeling the mare hugging him. He blinked a couple times and looked at her. He moved a drowsy hoof to her hair and stroked it gently, yawning. He smiled. Music had brought them together, but their love wouldn't have lasted this much if that had been the only thing they had shared. He still believed in love at first sight, but he thought it was a pale imitation of what they had, like a paper fueled bonfire, intense but ephemeral. He had started to come to love everything about her, even how she was a bit clumsy, because of her eye condition. She always found a way to make his heart sing.

He remembered when she had made that 6 months anniversary dinner, just for the two of them, and how guilty he felt for not having counted the days they had been together like her. Now if his memory wasn’t playing tricks on him it had been seven months

(And… three days? Probably.)

since that night when she had knocked on his door and expressed her love. Since then, he had always been there when he needed her and she always did the same for him, supporting each other. That was what made the fire grow stronger and their love fonder. Of course, their relationship wasn’t perfect. Both of them had their flaws, but she really made it hard for him to find anything wrong with her. She was fun, cute, sweeter than any other girl he had been with and, most important, completely in love. He never thought that after all those lonely nights he could have really found someone that felt so right, as if they had been made for each other.

The last months had passed quickly, but every time he was lying in bed with her he didn’t regret a single day. He would look at her in the moonlight, a light blanket covering her body and at the same time revealing her forms, every fold of the tissue a tiny wave, moving up and down as she breathed. There was a living statue hidden beneath that sheet, a real masterpiece in which an expert artist had infused all his talent. He thought about all the times she had made his heart flutter,

(I love you more no I love you more no I do no I do and then she kissed my nose and I kissed her lips we were so happy and I’m so happy and I’m in love and she’s happy and I’ve never felt like this in my life I love her I love her I love her she’s my world I don’t want anything bad happening to her)

of how she always made him feel so indescribably happy.

He had even tried writing a love poem for her, but he had to admit to himself that writing wasn’t his field. He had been working for a month or so on a duet they could have performed together for her birthday though, since her sweet singing voice mixed nicely with slow jazz, to make up for her dinner.

A love poem. He’d never even thought of writing a love poem for someone… meeting Ditzy had completely changed his outlook on life. The days that used to be boring and mechanical were now filled with a feeling of satisfaction when he came home and saw her. It was as if he had found a missing piece that had been missing all his life and now he knew it was her, always at his side, inspiring him like no one else.

He really thought all those emotions were going to explode out of him, like a champagne cork. It was too much for him to handle, so good it almost hurt. He felt as if he was small foal again and she was his first school crush. She always made it look so new, so… he just couldn’t express his feelings. Had it been a music, it would have been one of those gospels that make you want to smile and dance around singing, feeling happy to be there and be alive, moving in time with everyone. It was fireworks. It was -

Too good to be true.

He never told her, and frankly didn’t want to tell himself that either, but there were those times when he wondered if he had done the right thing. There was a deeper, well hidden part of him that had been hurt long ago. The one that was still bleeding after all these years and had never recovered. It was the part that thought that solitude was better to be lied to and hurt again, that trusted nobody. The same one that had erected a wall around itself, barricaded in and shot everyone that tried to get near. Get out, it said, you’re only going to hurt me, rip me apart like the other one did. You’re going to walk through me and leave a walking corpse behind you, with the clawed out remains of a heart as the only proof you ever existed. You’ll burn me and stomp on the ashes just because you can.

That was the part of him that had never had accepted the fact he had let her into his life, but Blues had created a bridge and crashed he wall that protected

(Imprisoned)

it. He did that with a smile on his face, because he trusted Ditzy. He was offering her his love, his heart and soul, and he knew she’d take good care of them, stitching up the wounds on that scared and insecure part of him. She would give it a kiss and tell it that her “forever” was true, not just a word. She had even told him she would have given her own heart if that could have helped in any way.

It was that he had been thinking about during the first days, about the pain that she could have caused if she had stabbed that part, because he was defenseless against her charms.

But that sensation… The feeling to be her anchor in an ocean of doubt, to hold that little grey sparrow in his arms and hear her heart beat faster for his touch, to see the happiness in her eyes when they were together. It was worth it. He knew he loved her, that he trusted her with his life. He knew that she did the same.

Slowly the thought of being hurt again had slipped away, a wound slowly healing, cleansed by the touch of his beautiful grey angel. That’s what he was thinking in those minutes, while what resembled a dream come true after years of nightmares was hugging him, trying to express how much she cared for him.

“Good morning my muse…” he whispered in her ear.

She giggled and kissed him, embracing him with her wings and arms in a protective way. He was hers only hers, no one could ever take him away from her. No one. Ditzy could feel his hooves pressing tightly against her, as if a normal hug wasn’t enough, almost like she could have disappeared into smoke any moment and those were their last moments together. She was hugging him almost as strong. She wanted to melt with him, be able to fill his mind with her emotions, reaching a state of wordless unity more intense than any physical sensation. Nothing could break that sacred moment, two happy, scared and hurt souls that had finally found what they had been searching for, someone that understood them and loved them, someone similar.

One could have insinuated they were only two lonely people that didn’t want to spend their days alone. One instead could have said that they were born for each other, that Fate had wanted them to get together. They didn’t care. They couldn’t care less of anything anyone else thought of their relationship, because all they knew was one thing. One simple thing that transcended any logical explanation, romantic ideal and rationality itself.

They were one and nothing could divide them.

***

The alarm clock rang.

Blues didn’t know how much time had passed since he had woken up. He didn’t care. All he wanted was to keep his love in his arms, but it was the only thing he couldn’t do. He reluctantly broke the kiss they were sharing and looked at her, smiling gently.

“There’s a surprise we can both enjoy in the kitchen, if you’re hungry. I know I am…” he told her.

Ditzy got up and walked out of the door, following the narrow hallway to the spiral staircase that led to the kitchen. She opened the blinds and let the fresh morning air in, the light casting an oblong shadow of a bottle resting on the table on the wall behind it. It had taken months, but the storm had finally moved away from the small town.

(It was… Thursday yes yes it’s Thursday we’re still in the beginning of march look at that sky no clouds just a canvas of light blue perfect for flying a bit of wind oh it’s good not to have that horrible cold but just this warm days yes look oh look at that pony hey what are you doing there up at this hour I’d be rude better not wait what’s this smell)

She stopped looking out of the window and let her mind focus for a moment. She saw what she had smelled before. It was a small tray of muffins, plain brown ones, a couple a bit burnt on the edges, resting on the counter near the oven. She walked to it and poked one. Cold, she thought. He must have baked them all by himself. Blues wasn’t exactly what she’d call a cook, in fact he told her that he used to order just about everything he ate from the many takeaways in town, or go to a restaurant in special occasions. Those were probably the first things he had tried to cook in months.

She ate around the black burnt parts of the two and threw the leftovers in the trash can and walked up the stairs carefully holding the tray, smiling. They weren’t half bad for a first try.

She entered the bedroom and showed him a large smile. “You really shouldn’t have done that just for me, I’m surprised that you know how to turn on the oven without burning the kitchen down!” She giggled.

“Ha-ha.” He rolled his eyes, “I just felt like baking. I’ll need to start sooner or later, don’t you think? I can’t bring you out to dinner somewhere fancy every day, I can’t afford it.” He smiled. “You know, I had to make three batches of those to get something vaguely resembling a muffin. I don’t know about the taste so we’ll have to take a shot in the dark. The funny thing is that I have no idea how I managed not to wake up last night when the baking grid fell down on the floor. I mean, it made so much noise I thought you’d come down and ruin the surprise.”

“Huh.” She shrugged. “So you’re implying I’m a heavy sleeper then?” she walked to the bed slowly, trying not to make the tray fall down when she was near, and put it on the sheets with a grin of victory. She kissed him and took one of them from the tray, looking at it. “I might break the rules of chivalry and take you out to dinner myself because of this, chef Blues. Open up.”

He chuckled and opened his mouth.

“Now close your eyes.” She told him.

He cocked his head and did what she had told him to do. “You’d better not be playing anything Ditz, because if-”

She put the muffin into her mouth and held it firmly with her teeth, an inch from his lips. Blues could feel her hair brushing against his cheek and the strong smell of the sweet, so he started eating it from her mouth, biting it gently and savouring the moment, sometimes tracing her lips with his tongue. It was… different. It wasn’t making out, it wasn’t eating. It was a weird mix of the two and he could feel she was enjoying as much as he was. Her lips felt sugary, the muffin was spiced and intense. He could feel her stroking his hair and having his eyes closed only heightened the combination of sensations. He had to try this again with her soon, with other foods. It was… interesting.

They went on eating for several minutes, until the whole tray was empty. Wanting to experiment more, he kept his eyes closed and moved one hoof down her back. He could feel her muscles tensing and relaxing from his touch, the warmth of her coat, the feathers, oh the feathers! How could he have never felt how soft they were? It almost seemed like they were made of cotton candy, just a bit thicker, but so warm on the underside, as if she had fire in her veins.

He squeezed her tight and lay down on the bed again, bringing her down with him. They stayed there for a couple of minutes more, and then he opened his eyes. “I’m starting to understand why you only want to look at me when you wake up. I might even begin to do that too.” He rubbed his nose on hers and chuckled. “You’re adorable, you know that?”

“I do what I can.” She replied, nuzzling him back. “What time is it?”

“Mh? Damn it. Right.” He looked at the alarm clock on his left. “Still on time for me, but you probably have to get ready.”

“Oh who cares, they still treat me like a national hero at the post office for delivering all the mail with that crazy weather. I can get there a bit late for once, someone will cover me.” She licked his cheek. “So, where were we?”

***

He looked at her go. She still had some muffin crumbs in her hair, just like him, but she didn’t seem to care. When she got out of the main door he opened the bedroom’s window, the one that looked on the city, to look at her. “Ditz!” he yelled, “Come up a sec!”

He smiled as he saw her flying directly in front of him. “I forgot something?” she asked him.

“No, I did.” He cupped her face in his hooves and kissed her tenderly.

“I love you, muffin.” He whispered, smiling.

She looked at him.

He looked at her.

“Grab my arm.” She told him, after several seconds.

He kept staring at her.

“Trust me. Grab my arm.” She was smiling from ear to ear.

He moved his hoof slowly to her arm and she smiled. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do was safe in any way, but she wanted to do it anyway. He had told her once how much he would have liked to do it…

She grabbed his hooves and flew quickly upwards as he screamed.

She held him tight against her stomach with both her hooves and slowed down the pace, still going up.

(Oh god please no no I want to go down please please no no no god)

Blues tried to calm down, but he couldn’t. He had always wanted to fly, but that was too sudden. Now that he was up there he wanted to get down again on the safe, warm ground. He would have given anything to have something beneath his feet.

“Blues?” She was looking at him with a concerned expression, as the blue colt tried to squirm out of her grasp “ Stop squirming, or you’ll fall! I thought you always wanted to do this! You want to go down? Oh, I’m sorry, I should have thought a bit more about it … ”

He took a long breath. First, don’t look down. Look up. Up. There’s Ditzy. You’re safe. Okay. Okay, I’m calm… calm…

“I… I just never thought it would be like this! And you could have warned me, for hell’s sake!”

Wait.

His eyes widened. He could see a solitary sparrow flying near them. He was… flying. With the birds. There. In the air. Flying. Him.

He blinked.

“I’M FLYING!” He let out a cry of joy, all his fears washed away, one of his greatest dreams had come true. “WOOOOO!” He started laughing, God! It felt so right. The feeling of the wind on his face. His arms and legs dancing in the breeze.

He had never felt so alive in all his life.

***

He touched the ground again. Part of him wanted to go back up and soar high in the sky with Ditzy holding him, (he made her promise to do that again soon) but they both had to go to work. They kissed again and he looked at her flying to the town. He turned his back only when she had become a tiny dot in the air, no bigger than the bird he had seen before.

He dropped back on his bed, looking at the dust that swirled over the pillow, his mind back to what had happened before. “If only I had wings”, he said out loud to himself, “I could do that every day. It must feel so incredible to be a pegasus.” He moved a hoof behind his back, as if just by thinking it hard enough, he could grow his own pair. He was condemned to stay on the ground. Maybe one day he could have asked to a unicorn to cast one of those “walk-on-clouds” spells for him, maybe even his own pair of wings.

A colt can dream, can’t he?

He knew he would have arrived there late if he did what he wanted to do, but he had to express what he had inside him at the moment, he needed to relax and release his emotions before another day of manual labour.

He moved to the far left corner of the tiny room and picked up his saxophone. He didn’t really know what to play, but instead surrendered to the ocean of notes that was inside him and started playing the music of his soul, the rays of light on the shining brass and sending out golden reflections on the wall… the same colour of his lover's eyes.

Trust me.

Green. What struck Ditzy was how green the forest was, as leaves glistened in the dim light and morning dew dripped from the grass that grew all around. It was dark, but a few blades of light here and there pierced through the vast vaulted dome of branches above her, illuminating a cramped pathway that twisted deep into the woods.

The trail was just a few feet large furrow of dirt, battered and roughly plowed. It felt somewhat wrong to see that long brown line among that lush green, as if it was a cut running through the ground, a scar carved on the Everfree’s cheek. The weeds and bushes along its borders almost seemed to glare and sway towards the track, giving the mare the impression that if they could they would have uprooted themselves to attack her, engulfing that imperfection to re-establish its untainted, wild beauty.

The Everfree itself was anything but silent. She could hear animals slithering and buzzing all around her, a flap of wings, a faint roar in the distance followed by a scream from an unknown inhabitant of the forest. Ditzy tried not to hit her head against the lower branches and followed Blues closely, terrified.

(I knew this was a bad idea I just knew it but no, oh no “It’s fine I went there lots of times and I followed this trail a hundred times” Well guess what Blues, I don’t want to be an explorer with you! I like to fly above this god forsaken place not to walk inside it! Oh and the ground is so muddy! I want to go back. Please let me go back. What if something attacks us? I won’t be even able to fly away because of these damn thick leaves... seriously that’s a lot of trees I mean look at them all crooked and twisted are they made to scare ponies off? Oh god that tree is staring at me)

Hadn’t she trusted him completely she would have never even thought of entering that far into the woods. Even by knowing he wouldn’t take her to somewhere dangerous, it had took weeks to convince her in following him. It was broad day, but with the light filtered by the foliage, it almost looked like they were walking in a perpetual dusk. Her blue companion led the way with a steady pace, almost at ease in the untamed ambient. Every time she heard an unfamiliar sound, Blues told her what he thought had caused it; it was never something small and harmless, it always had to be either a manticore, a Grizzly bear, a timber wolf… the list went on and on. She just hoped he was either joking or that they were too far away to harm them. The mosquitoes were always around, even if knowing their name didn’t ease up her life in trying not to get bitten.

The scarce illumination had soon become a problem, so Blues had lit up one of the torches he had been carrying in his saddlebags both because the path had started becoming too dark for them to even see where they were putting their hooves and to scare any potential predators that could have been in the mood for pony flesh. Ditzy had always thought of being brave, but when she had seen that huge yellow-orange striped snake passing just in front of her she had refused to go any further. It had taken Blues half an hour to convince her to keep following him, in addition to all his persuasion.

There was a something so unfamiliar in that forest, so eerie that it made her shiver in fear. It wasn’t right. They shouldn’t have been there. The Everfree was a place ponies weren’t allowed to go; it belonged to the animals, to all those frightening creatures that inhabited the woods and obeyed no rule except for their own.

She had asked him what he had wanted to show her, but he had refused to answer. They had been walking for three hours in that green hell, probably the most dangerous area in hundreds of miles, instead of just flying over it to get where he wanted. The only reason he had given her was that it was a very important place for him where he used to go as a kid

(“You went HERE as a kid? Are you nuts?” “I told you. It’s just the appearance that scares ponies off, in reality it’s a really quiet and nice place. Well of course, if you keep your hooves where it’s charted and bring something to defend yourself. By the way pass me another torch, this one’s going to finish soon.”)

and no one except for him, since it was too deep into the forest, knew where it was or how to find it.

They had entered the forest from near the Acres, following the remnants of what used to be the ancient way that led to the castle of the celestial sisters, a few scattered milestones and a straight line of paved rocks that used to form a large road. Halfway through the old stone way Blues had moved a large ordinary bush, which much to her surprise revealed a newly plowed path. He had put the shrub back to its place and started walking, as Ditzy followed, entering deep inside the woods through a series of loops, curves, and straight lines one after another.

The forest wasn’t safe, but it always inspired Blues, it was so real. It showed what happened when ponies left a place by itself, letting it flourish. It was Dangerous. It was Primeval. It was Nature.

“Beautiful. Just… beautiful.” He muttered to himself, while looking at a purple flower with razor-like teeth in the middle and a scent so intense that almost dulled his sense of self preservation. He slowly inched to its center with its nose, inebriated, and moved it away quickly at the last second, chuckling nervously as the flower snapped its fangs and tried to move upwards to reach for him. Carnivore.

He knew Ditzy couldn't see the beauty inside the forest, just like him as a kid. He knew now that the Everfree put you to a test whenever you entered. If you had the courage to walk through it and understand the best way to get through a problem, she could give you access to priceless treasures: relics of ancient civilizations long past, plants that could save lives and beautiful wild landscapes. The woods could provide incredible prizes, but only because few dared to enter. Too many had died or had lost themselves in them, it wasn’t worth risking that much.

They didn’t talk much during the walk, but she always stayed near him and never left his side, terrified and somehow still a bit excited. It was something he had never revealed to anyone, he had told her. She was the first one, the only one he had trusted enough to share his secret with, even if she had hoped that it could have been at least in a more peaceful environment. What could it be? A rock shaped like a dragon? Maybe a tree that grew gemstones? The remains of an ancient pony civilization that could change Equestria’s history as they knew it? Maybe it was a nest of-

“We’re here.” Blues told her smiling. “Just a few more steps. It’s behind this bush.”

Ditzy looked around her and focused back on her surroundings. She must had been zoning out for more than usual, because the space between the trees was wider and finally leaving some space for the light to pass through. The sun rays lightened her mood, finally happy of leaving that tomb

(It’s the smell, this scent of decay, how can’t he feel it)

of rotten leaves and crooked trees.

“So you’re finally going to tell me what this secret is? Or why did we had to go all the way through that nightmarish landscape, risking to get eaten by God knows what?”

“Exactly,” He chuckled. “But I’d rather show you then just say it. I think it could be more… interesting to see the look on your face.” He grinned and walked through the bush.

She followed him rolling her eyes. Always over-theatrical, that colt. She walked through the leaves and was blinded by the mid-afternoon light.

Blues blinked for a few seconds, then covered his forehead with a hoof and waited for Ditzy to get through. The second she entered the wide area, he took her hoof in his, guiding the now almost blind mare to her surprise.

Ditzy felt herself being gently pulled forward. The soft green grass under her hooves and the warmth of the sun, an incredible change from the battered dirt of just a few seconds before, made her smile even though she couldn’t see anything. She took a deep breath of fresh air, guided by Blues’ hand, and after a whole minute of blinking she looked around, still smiling.

She was in a wide circular area, so full of colours she almost felt overwhelmed. Green, red, blue, yellow, purple, orange! It was a bright explosion of life all around her. Gardenias, lilies, petunias, sunflowers, daisies, marigolds, poppies, so many flowers all scattered in the grass she was afraid of stepping on them. The trees along the borders were still somewhat crooked and twisted, but she spotted some birch trees near them and …

Pears! Apples! Apricots, peaches, cherries! They were all scattered around without a precise order, except for a row of trees right in front of her that lead to a reddish-brown wooden hut, with two glass windows on each side, a white door leading invitingly inside. There was a small gust of wind, just enough to cool her and move the leaves and stalks gently, already shining in the warm summer sun. She turned her head right and saw a stream, a peaceful murmur of running water inviting her to jump in. She followed its trail with her eyes and saw a large natural pond, big enough to bathe and swim in, topped by a cascade coming down from small hill, rising from the ground for at least ten feet. The river from there continued its course back into the Everfree, watchfully guarded by the crooked trees.

She had no words to describe how beautiful it was. The flowers seemed to spring out of the ground, the fruits were ripe and some of them had already fallen off since they hadn’t been picked, the smell was strong and pleasant. To Ditzy this seemed the triumph of nature, but a more sympathetic one, like a tamed lion cub. She felt at home.

Blues was looking at her, smiling. “Well do you think this was worth walking?”

She stared at him. “No way. No, nah-huh. This isn’t real. Did I die? Blues, oh God! I knew it was a bad idea! How did it happen? Answer me!”

He stared at her for a couple seconds, then started laughing. She pinned him to the ground “Stop laughing and answer me!” Blues took a deep breath, or at least tried to. He was still chuckling, this was way too surreal.

“Oh boy.” he said between chuckles, trying to calm down a bit. “No you’re not dead, it’s not a painted curtain ... or an illusion or whatever you might think.” He covered his mouth with a hoof as he tried to suppress another wave of laughter, then craned his neck to kiss her nose “It’s real. There’s a reason why I kept this secret, you know.” He wrapped his arms around her and rolled on the grass until he was on top of her, so he could get back on his own hooves. She remained there on the ground, looking up at the sky.

“No way… ” She whispered.

“Yes way.” He smiled and helped her get up, taking out some blades of grass from her hair. “Hey, it wasn’t always like this, especially when I came back last month. I had to clean the hut, dust off everything, take care of the weeds… you wouldn’t believe how many of those there were. So, I suppose you like it?”

She looked at him and in the blink of an eye she was among the clouds. Blues cocked his head but Ditzy reassured him yelling from where she was “Give me a couple minutes! Have a seat!”

He shrugged and lay down on the grass, looking upwards. She was trying to gather around some clouds, it seemed, but there weren’t many around. Slowly, she started shaping letters

(Is that an r? no wait it’s a b, that’s an e, okay... that looks like a...)

into a whole sentence.

“B-e-a-u-... oh Ditz, you didn’t have to write that down.” He said to himself, smiling.

Just as she finished the last letter, she nosedived down and landed in front of him. She looked at him and threw her hooves in the air, shouting. “I LOVE IT!” She quickly covered her mouth with her hooves, looking around “Can anyone hear us?”

“We’re at least twenty miles from anyone who can’t growl or hiss. I’d say no, but you can never be too sure.” He walked until the borders and then pretended to listen “Nothing here!” He walked to her again “We’re alone. That means...” He threw himself on her, wrapping his arms around her and rolling around in the flowery grass “Since you love so much pining me to the ground I might just do the same in return!”

“Help!” she laughed. “Police! Anyone! I’m being attacked by a mysterious colt!” She kissed him fully on the lips as they lay on the grass, watched only by the sun’s blinding eye.

***

“Cannon Ball!” Ditzy yelled out, before jumping into the pond. Blues covered his face from the splash, then swam around in what he used to call “his private pool”, looking at the mare trying to move her wet hair out of her eyes with her hooves, turning her head to find him.

“There you are!” She swam to him with a bit of difficulty.

(Is it because of her wings? Can she even swim? Nah she’ll be fine. It’s just that pegasi don’t usually swim. I think. Well, ponies aren’t usually good swimmers... oh who cares.)

He lay on his back and relaxed, feeling the hot sun on his face while being cooled by the water. He closed his eyes and then felt something poking his nose.

“Tag, you’re it.” Ditzy giggled. Blues opened an eye, looking at her with a lazy smile.

“You’re enjoying your stay in the garden?”

Ditzy quickly copied him and soon they were both floating in the river, lulled by the weak current. “If you mean this place, then God yes. This is paradise, Blues; I wish you had told me about it sooner. Oh and we can fly to here next time and it will be so much better than all that walking, because you know how the forest is scary and I can carry you I think, I carried even heavier-”

He closed his eyes and let his ears sink under the water, without paying much attention to what Ditzy was saying, nodding every now and then.

The background monologue stopped after a few minutes. He raised his head and looked around, trying to find her again. She was floating lazily on her back with her eyes closed and her wings spread. It almost seemed like she was sleeping. He grinned and slowly moved away from her, until he got distant enough to move freely without her noticing. He took a big breath and dived head first into the water, getting as deep as he could. He swam just under her, his eyes locked on his prey. He had to act quickly, he was running out of breath already. He swam upwards and, when he was almost to the surface, pinched her flank with his hooves, then overturned her.

He was still laughing when the angry mare got out of the pond, still shaking.

Ditzy took a few quick breaths in and looked at the blue colt, grinning like an idiot. She almost had a heart attack. One moment she was relaxing, feeling the sound of the waterfall in the distance, the other something big was moving under her, and she thought an animal had bitten her flank. A second later she was upside down and drinking river water, trying to flap her soaked wings madly to get out of the pond, thinking of what horrible creature she could have encountered.

(Blues! Oh my god where are y- wait. Is that... laughing?)

She looked at him until he started looking around nervously, then she grinned back. She shook herself and opened her wings, casting a shadow on the colt, now desperately trying to get out of the pond and swim away.

“Revenge!” she shouted. She darted to him and picked him up with her hooves just as he tried to dive inside again to save himself.

She flew upwards until she reached something around twenty feet from the ground, then looked down at him, grinning.

“Oh no. No... no!” He clung on to her.

“Oh yes. Payback is a bitch, Blues” She whispered, showing him a large smile. “Try to fall on your flank.” She dropped him down above the center of the lake, smiling.

He screamed and hit the water with a loud splash a few seconds later.

“Do it another time and I’ll make sure you fall from a cloud!” She flew down and sat on the ground, looking at him getting out of the river.

Blue walked to Ditzy and looked at her. He sighed, shook his head and sat next to her, rubbing his rump with a hoof.

“All good now?” he asked

“Now we’re even.” She told him, putting her head on his shoulder.

He sighed. “You’re crazy, you know that?” He scratched her ear as she cooed and wrapped her arms around him, resting her cheek on his shoulder.

She kissed his chin and stuck out her tongue. “We’re both a little crazy. Besides, you started it.”

He smiled. “Well, I’m crazy enough to stay with you... I guess you’re right.” He lay down on his back, as placed her head on his chest. He stroked her wet hair as the sun dried them, lazy minutes spent in the sun enjoying each other’s presence. Listening to his heart always had a soothing effect on her, though it made his beat faster.

“You know, I like to think of this place as my small refuge. I did a tremendous amount of work to get it like it is now, the first time I came here this was just a large round spot with weeds, the cascade, rocks, bushes and saplings growing here and there. I spent almost every weekend I had to make this place look like how you see it now, coming here Saturday morning and leaving only when the sun had already set and the moon was high. Sometimes even after that. My parents always asked me where I had been, but I never told them. I just left a message in the early morning telling them I’d be coming home very late and then I’d go into the Everfree.”

He looked upwards. The sun was slowly finishing its course; they had maybe two more hours of light. He stroked her hair distractedly, thinking. “Of course, I had to tell them sooner or later. My mother always tried to make me stay at home, but without much effort.” He chuckled. “I told my dad only after he threatened to handcuff me to the bed… and you know where he is now.”

Ditzy knew. She also knew how much he missed his father, ever after all those years. Cobalt had died when Blues around sixteen. Her mother had remarried another colt and they had both moved to Manehattan, but he never talked about them. She had been able to get him to tell her at least part of the story, though. Blues had moved again to his dad’s house as soon as he had turned eighteen, both because he wanted to get away from that big city

(Too many people and not enough friendly faces. I prefer Ponyville, it’s much quieter... also, all my friends lived here.)

and because he hated his new father, trying to make him forget about Cobalt, offering him a pale imitation of what he used to have. His dad had left the house to him in his will, for when he would be old enough to live on his own and finished school.

(He always wanted me to finish my studies. He had only finished junior high, you know, and after that he had to start working to bring extra money for his family. I guess it meant something for him if I did.)

Ditzy felt him tense at the memory, so she rubbed his chest. “Did he help you with this?”

He nodded and she felt his heartbeat slow down, relaxing under her. “We planted all these trees,” He chuckled and she felt his chest vibrate. “You should have seen the look on my mother’s face when he had told her how much we had spent for those! I swear, it almost looked like her head she was going to explode.”

She looked around. “So you’re telling me you brought all those here and he helped you plant them?”

“That and we dug to make the pool. Took us months but...”He beat his chest twice, another stronger vibration, like a drum hit. “We ain’t called earth ponies for nothing, you know.”

She smirked and poked his biceps. “Well then mister big and strong earth pony, who brought you flying for an hour from where you live to where you work?” She raised her hoof in the air. “Pegasi Power!”

“Stick to being adorable, it works better- Ow!” Ditzy struck him on his arm.

“Did you say something, dear?”

He looked at her and kissed her forehead “You’re lucky today. Big strong Blues won’t do no harm to his little grey sparrow.” She bit at his neck playfully, then put her cheek on his chest again. “So, trees and pool... I presume the shack’s his work too.”

“And here you’re wrong.” He smiled. “Did that myself, all of it, the only thing I asked my dad were the windows, because the bugs kept coming in... and don’t let me get started on when it started raining! It was a nightmare. It looks nice, eh?” He patted her head. “Come on, you’ve gotta see the inside.”

They got up and slowly walked to the shack, careful not to stomp on the flowers. Blues picked a poppy with his teeth and put it in Ditzy’s hair, so she ran to the stream again to see how it looked. She bucked a tree and catch two plum peaches, giving one to him; the fruit was soft and sweet, so delicious she almost ate it whole, although it had some dents and parts that were a bit brown. It wasn’t so appealing at the eye, but it tasted so good that she took another one just as she finished the first one, almost anxious to pick it.

He looked at Ditzy eating eagerly and smiled. “The fruit is one of the many things I love of this place. Doesn’t need any help in growing and tastes much better than anything else I’ve ever bought at the market.” He opened the door, the hinges squeaking just a bit. “Ladies first.”

“Why thank you, my loyal butler.” She cleaned her sticky hooves on the grass and chuckled, curtsying him with an invisible skirt.

Ditzy looked around. The shack seen from the inside was still small, but cozy. The furniture was poor, but there was everything a colt that wanted to stay there for just a short period of time could have needed. The bed was just under the window, on the right, and next to it a counter which held a set of candles and a box of matchsticks. There was a large brown cabinet at the foot of the bed, supposedly made of the same wood as the house itself, a tray inside holding some spoons, knives, forks, two glasses and a big chunk of soap to wash the dishes in the river.

(He really thought of everything, even blankets and towels...)

She closed back the cabinet and looked at the metal basket in front of it. “What do you use this for?” She asked Blues, just outside of the door.

He peeked in. “The butler usually puts fruit in it, milady.” He shot her a glance. “It’s a bowl, Ditz. What would I use it for, a Frisbee?”

“Ha-ha. You’d better hide, because I know how to do that!” She gestured throwing the bowl at him, as Blues ran outside covering his head.

He let her look inside as he tried to estimate how many hours of light they still had . He pointed his hoof right under the sun and above what he thought was the horizon, even though he couldn’t be sure, since the trees covered it. They probably had one more hour, at best.

“Ditz, grab those matches for me, please. And a torch, they’re in a chest under the bed.”

She got out and gave him what he had asked. “What do you need these for?” She asked him, as he checked how many there were left in his saddles.

He stopped rummaging and looked at her. “Remember when I told you I found this place just out of luck? This is just part of my secret. This was just an area I got through, near what I really came for in the Everfree. It’s half an hour walking and we can’t get there after sundown, so we have to get moving, okay?”

“It’s always mysteries with you. I swear, it’s like you hate being clear.” She huffed and stomped her hoof on the grass. He smiled. “If I had told you about this place, you wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much as you did when you entered without any clues of where I was leading you. Same thing with this one. Come on, after the first one, this walk will be a piece of cake.” He walked to her again, as she tried to push him away, “It’s not gonna work again Blues, I want to know...”

“You’re awfully cute when you’re angry, you know?” he whispered in her ear.

She clenched her teeth again and stomped on the ground. “I want to know-” He nibbled on her ear. “I... ” She surrendered and relaxed.

“I just... can’t win with you, can I...” She bit her lip in pleasure, but quickly recollected herself and moved one foot away from him, grinning, still a bit flushed.“ So, didn’t we need to move? Come on, lead the way.”

He looked at her, mumbled something and then walked in the direction of the fall as Ditzy followed, snickering.

(I won this time! Oh it must burn...)

They both entered in a small passage in the woods, the water’s quiet roar quickly fading as they got deeper and deeper, following a path that was, much to her excitement, paved with smooth stones.

(“Did you do it?” “No.” “So it was your father?” “Neither.” “So who did it? Was it here already when you came by? It looks old. Why is it uphill? Where are we going?” “You can ask all you want, but I’m not telling you until we get there, now please, you sound like a broken record.”)

The road was narrow, but at least it wasn’t just dirt. Every now and then she could see remains of pillars and crumbled walls along its borders, covered with moss, which became more and more frequent as they followed the pathway. As the walls became taller, the forest slowly disappeared, until Ditzy found herself looking at a cracked ceiling just above them, dimly lit by the torch.

(A gallery?! This thing must be centuries old, maybe even a thousand years, what if it’s the remains of the old sister’s castle, no wait it’s too far away, but maybe it’s connected somehow, I don’t know oh my god! We’re somewhere no one has ever been for hundreds of years-)

Ditzy was still marveling at the ancient gallery when Blues pointed in front of him. “I told you it wouldn’t have been the same if I told you what you were going to see. You see that light? That’s the end of the hallway. Follow me, we don’t have much time before it starts.”

They walked under the archway that connected the corridor to the outside, entering the Royal sisters’ balcony.

The dying sun’s rays lighted up the cracked stone railing in front of her and beyond it the stunning view of the Everfree at sunset. The whole sky was on fire, a contrast of red yellow and orange, purple and soft pink, so many colours that it didn’t seem real. The clouds seemed to have been painted by a mad artist, changing their shades every minute. It was every colour and no colour at the same time. The forest under them turned from bright green to orange, gold, soft hues of yellow, melting and blending with the air itself. They were at least five or six stories high, embracing with their eyes the immensity of the wilderness as the star transfigured reality as they knew it.

After the sun had disappeared below the horizon, Ditzy finally came back to her senses, feeling tears streaking her cheeks. Blues didn’t say anything, he just nodded and smiled to her. There were no words to describe what they had witnessed, because they knew it was pointless. It was a sequence of images, of feelings they’d keep in their minds and hearts for all their lives. It was an experience of a lifetime.

Blues lighted up a torch, still dazed, then took Ditzy’s hoof in his and slowly walked back through the hallway, the walls slightly humming and glowing, leading the path, until they reached the waterfall again. The moon was already high in the sky by the time they had reached Blues’ house, the flowers faintly lit by the crescent moon. Blues planted some torches in the ground and they both entered the small wooden house.

“Blues.”

He simply looked at her, holding her in his arms in the small one-place bed.

“Can we come here in the weekends?”

He nodded. “I’d stay here all day if I could.”

“How did you find it?”

“I don’t even know, Ditz. That place... it almost called me there. I was seven at the time, lost myself in the woods following a bunny near the border. After it had ran away I wandered without knowing where I was and after hours, maybe a day, I found that glowing gallery. I was afraid, but at least there was light there, so followed it and... well, I stayed there for one day, feeling a peace and a bliss I had never felt before. It’s just as beautiful looking at them moon from there. After the sun had risen again I followed the stone way back and found the waterfall. I kept following the river until I got to another waterfall and from then I just walked straightuntil luckily I came out. I don't know what happened next, but I think I let myself go and fell down from exhaustion. Next thing I see after that is that I’m on my bed... my parents told me i was finally found in the outskirts of ponyville that day. I was lost for days in the woods, but I survived.”

He sighed and closed his eyes. “My parents were extremely worried; they had searched for me everywhere and had almost lost all hope of finding me. I thought I would never find a way to find that place again, but five years later, I felt it calling me again. I didn’t know the path, but it almost seemed as if someone was walking beside me and guiding me, Ditz. I saw it again, the same beautiful scenery, just as I remembered it and how we have seen it now. It hadn’t changed. After that, I followed the trail backwards and found myself near the acres. It’s magic, Ditz. Magic still working even after all those centuries.”

She kissed him fully on the lips. “It will be our secret, just like this place. And maybe I’ll help you plant some more trees around... I don’t know, I’ll buy a double bed, give a hand building a bigger shack... I just want to say thank you but I know thank you is not enough for what you’ve given me. Utter trust.” She wrapped both her arms around him, feeling his hair tickle his nose.

“Everything for my little sparrow.” He smiled and kissed her back, as the torches slowly burned outside.

“Everything.”

The ballad of sleeping Blues

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Woosh.

Blues woke up from his sleep and tried to open his eyes. He could hear the distinct sound of a medical ventilator connected directly to his mouth, breathing the air his lungs couldn’t inhale by themselves.

The same sounds again. He tried to open one eye, but it was as if his eyelids had been closed shut with hot wax. The other sound from earlier... that beeping... faster. Faster now.

An electrocardiogram? He remembered hearing that thing for hours when he had been with his dad at the hospital, keeping him company.

Cobalt would lay there on that neat and tidy bed, white sheets, white walls, all so clean all so sterile, all so dead, and Blues would stay there and talk about his day, his band,

“I’m this close to make a real group dad, just like yours”

but mostly listening to him. Old Cobs wasn’t a great talker, just like his son, but they shared some good memories, like that time when they had played together at the Jazz Grotto. Sometimes the old stallion would even talk about earlier memories, of the times when he was a kid and had smoked corn cigarettes with his friends, ending up vomiting his soul out on his doorstep.

“That’d been a mess ... took me two days t’ clean the steps, an’ even after that I’d been grounded for three months, three! Sweet Luna...”

Of course though, there were sadder days, when he used to cry his eyes out and putting his head on his dad’s shoulder telling him not to go,

just to wake up, that he couldn’t stay without him, please dad stop it please for the love of fuck wake up wake up God damnit wake up oh God somebody please Dad? oh God thank you thank you thank you I thought I had lost you don’t do it ever again you bastard please I beg you okay yes I’ll be fine of course I’m just a little shocked you old coot oh shut up I’m not a baby, I know it will happen. You just got me by surprise. Now shu- no he’s fine he’s just passed out for a second yeah it was me I kind of- sure I understand. I’ll get out. See you tomorrow old timer don’t you try to die when I’m out, you hear?

He smiled when leaving the hospital, but he cried his eyes out that night, alone. He spent days and days in there. Sometimes it happened again and they had to drag him away from the bed. The doctors didn’t know if he would wake up, in the last days. Cobalt was tough, but cancer was a leech, sucking out all what was inside his body and with that his usual sly grin, his good natured temperament, his figure. Blues used to look at some old photos of his father, a real stallion with large shoulders and a chest wide as a wardrobe, getting thinner and thinner to the point when he had been looking like a skeleton lightly wrapped up in a skin blanket. It was a pitiful sight. He just kept staring at the door, not even looking at him, as if something was going to come

and you know what’s coming Bluesy, oh yes you do, the old whoop it all, God’s best cure for sure, yessir that would cure Cob’s lungs, that would cure just about anything, sweet pea

and he was merely waiting for it, as if death herself would open the door and whisper to him sweet words of defeat and eternal rest from his suffering.

End of the road ol’ buddy, don’t forget to pick up our latest body bags, they come in blue navy now how’s that for fancy-

Blues opened his eyes.

Beep.

Whoosh.

How long had he been there thinking about his dad? Just because of that damn

Beepbeep. Beepbeep.

noise, too many memories, too many hours in a room with a dead man. He was looking at a white ceiling, one resembling so much the one he had just dreamed of. He blinked a couple times just to check if he was still sleeping and tried moving his head to the right, staring at a flat screen monitor keeping track of his steadily rising heartbeats and a series of tubes connected to a mask tightly fixed to his mouth, which he thanked silently.

He heard a chair moving to his left, then a hoof. He felt it pressing on his arm and involuntarily jerked away for the surprise,since he was being examined by two large weird eyes. or better,by one... the other seemed to be looking at his chest. The whole situation was kind of awkward, as he was being examined intensely by a wall eyed mare in a hospital bed he couldn’t remember anything of. He squeezed his eyes and looked at her again, trying not to chuckle. She was probably just a nurse doing her job, no sense in making it worse for her.

He tried to breath, but that stupid mask didn’t let him. Personally he didn’t feel so bad, just a few - Oh sweet God my chest!

The grey mare had tried to hug him for some reason, sending jabs of pain inside his brain from what he could only assume were broken ribs. It was as if he had been hugged by someone wearing a suit made of kitchen knives. He squeezed his eyes in pain and released a high pitched scream of suffering through the thick layer of plastic, as the “probably not a nurse” quickly moved back to her seat and looked at him with a concerned expression.

Blues tried to raise an arm and checked it off the “broken limbs list”. He waved it just fine, even though he was still recovering from the hit from earlier. As he tried to do the same with his legs he felt the mare’s gaze following his every movement, both happy and concerned at the same time. He stopped with a slight groan just after he had started, those were probably not broken but they hurt anyway, like everything else in his body. Everything except his chest ,that seemed to have been pierced with jagged knives by what probably was the most unwelcome hug in his life, but his head seemed fine. Just a bit of a headache, really. Then why was he there in that hospital bed, with a breathing machine? Pierced lung? Oh God I hope not. Maybe a cart accident or something.

Lost in his thoughts, he could still feel his unknown roommate’s gaze fixed upon him... or at least he thought she had been trying to, since with one eye she was looking at him while the other was looking down, as if she wasn’t sure on how to feel or if she should have stopped staring. It was probably a hard internal struggle for her but it was starting to get a bit uncomfortable for him too. He played her card back and started staring too, noticing small details he hadn’t seen before. First, how unkempt she was. She didn’t look so well , besides those eyes that, God bless them , had probably been the main thing anyone looked at when seeing her as he had experienced in first hand,she had a slight reek of sweat and her mane was collected in greasy locks but she didn’t seem to care. What was now covering almost her whole face was a full toothed smile, even though he could see that those ever-following eyes were streaked with tears at the same time. He started to get really uncomfortable around the mare for some reason.

She brushed her eyes with a hoof and fixed them on him, coming closer. He could see clearly the tiny broken vessels, as if she had been crying for hours, days even, before then. Has she been there for a long time? Had he? Why in hell again was he there? He started thrashing his head from left to right, trying to get up, he didn’t want to be there he wanted to go back to his home please I don’t want to be with her right now please you’re going to hurt me I know it-

He squeezed his eyes when he saw the grey hoof reaching for his face, not knowing what she wanted to do, just wanting to vanish away or go back to sleep, sweet sleep there’s no one there I can just go back to sleep yes let me sleep get away from me

Woosh. Click

stared at her as she kept on rambling of how much she had missed him and how happy she was of seeing him awake right now. Somehow though, he could breathe. Probably he had just been panicking before. He took a long breath and sank into the pillow, closing his eyes yet again. No matter how much she told him he had slept, he still needed some time to reorder his thoughts, preferably alone. It was all happening way too quickly, he couldn’t even remember why in holy hell he had been brought here.

He started feeling a ringing in his ears and then all the other sounds dimmed. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and cried out in pain, as the mare jumped to him. He felt his eyes water for no apparent reason and his eyelids grow heavier, until he couldn’t open them. Black. He felt like panicking, but his body wouldn’t let him. Everything relaxed. No more ringing. Still the voices were distant, alien, and distorted. He could hear a girl crying heavily and sobbing, as then everything disappeared.

***

“Please Miss Doo, you need to get out of here.”

The mare covered her face with her hooves and shook her head.

“Miss Doo, he woke up. We don’t know for how much he will be like this again, but we had to sedate him in order to stop the seizures. He’s not in a coma again, he’s just sleeping. You can go home now; we’ll inform you right away if- w-when he wakes up once more.” The doctor stammered.

She shook her head again.

“Ma’am you need to take care of yourself. He’s not in danger of death and most important he woke up again. The drugs will probably wear off completely in 8 hours or so, you can take your time. Please.”

“I-If” she sniffled and swallowed “He wakes up you’ll tell me when he-”

“Yes.”

Ditzy looked at him with sore eyes. “Can I... Can…” She swallowed again, feeling like she had something stuck in her throat. “Can I stay with him a few more minutes?”

“Five minutes. I’ll have the nurse be here by then Miss Doo.”

“Thank you...”

She heard the doctor sigh, but didn’t see him. She was trying to focus on Blues again. She felt the white coated stallion walk to her and put a hoof on her arm. “Ditzy, he will be fine. You trust me, right?” He gave her a confident smile, trying to make her feel better.

“I do. It’s me whom I don’t trust enough.” She walked over to the bed again and kissed the colt on his mask where his lips would have been. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, muffin, okay?” She whispered, “Don’t move from here.” She managed a slight, sad chuckle, while the doctor looked away. She was out of the hospital in a couple minutes.

***

Blues was flying in the air, feeling the wind under his wings. He steered and dived down to the surface of the sea folding his them, then opened them back at the last second, using the remaining momentum and a weak ascending current to about a couple feet over the water. He closed his eyes as the salt hit him at incredible speed, burning like hell, and then suddenly stopped. He squeezed his eyes and felt a small pain in his arm, feeling his body relax completely and his wings stiffen. He was falling down, but he couldn’t move his arms or legs, as he felt the water engulf him. He was drowning, trying to move, trying to flap his wings, but it was as if he didn’t have them anymore. He tried to open his eyes, expecting pain, but instead he could see clearly around him. He blinked a couple times as he looked around, feeling his body slowly sink in the depths of the ocean. He looked up at the light growing dimmer and dimmer, terrorized.

He tried holding his breath, but he could feel that in a way he was somehow breathing. He couldn’t close his mouth, but he... felt something around his neck. As if it was regularly opening and closing.

Deeper. No more light. Everything was becoming dark. He could hear a faint voice in the distance. There was something near him, but he couldn’t move.

“Need...out of here.” the voice spoke. It was guttural and sort of reminded him of something slimy. “Woke up... coma... again...once more.”

He hid the bottom of the sea with a loud thud. Everything around him was pitch black, as if his eyes had been dipped into tar. The voice was nearing though. It gave him goosebumps. It wasn’t good. He couldn’t have awoken more times, he didn’t remember that.

A faint light. Something resembling a small lantern was coming around. He felt like smiling, maybe this thing could-

Oh no.

Please not that.

He tried to run away but he could only stare at the faint light coming near him, ever so slowly, a nearing white-yellow blade of light . It didn’t bring nor hope nor salvation. It brought death. The huge lantern fish had tracked him and was quickly coming over, sprouting senseless words, but the only one that mattered to him was only one.

“Death.”

He tried to close his eyes in a pitiful act of self-defense against the sheer terror of the image, but could only keep staring. He let out a voiceless scream of terror as the gigantic creature ate him, still staring at its hundreds of needle-like teeth.

Light! Oh so much light it could burn his eyes, but he stared at it without any harm. There was a being of pure light inside the fish. The flesh walls all around him were white. The being was was standing still, radiating a soft golden light. Heavy tears fell on the floor of the fish’s stomach, filling it with sores as they touched the ground.

“It’s me whom I don’t trust enough” The creature said, creating a trail of weeping sores as she walked. A feminine voice, so sweet, so desperate. He couldn’t make out the details of her face, it was as if the tears were coming down from light itself. She was a radiant avatar of the dawn, an angel, a peace bringer, coming over towards him. She slowly kneeled over him and kissed him fully on the lips, engulfing him in the purest of lights. It was perfect. Everything in that instant was pure perfection... there was nothing that could hurt him then. He too, became light. A feeling of irresistible freedom overtook him as his limbs started glowing and he started floating slightly above the ground.

“I’ll be back as soon as you can Muffin, okay?” Life incarnated said. “Don’t move from here.”

Laughter and then...she vanished. Blues saw her turning into a small streak of smoke as he simply looked at her, as he emanated light illuminating everything around him. That angel had given him all she could before falling down and dying, giving him a chance to resist in his giant prison of alien flesh. He sat down and closed his eyes, waiting for his savior, finally able to talk again.

“I’ll wait for you... Muffin.”

***

A ring. Two. Ditzy took the phone in her hoof as she stared at the ceiling, as she had done all night. She hadn’t slept a minute, but her mind had wandered in a dream-like state since she had laid on the bed. She simply breathed into the phone, incapable of forming complex thoughts.

“Hello, is this Miss Doo?”

She nodded without thinking that whoever was on the line couldn’t see her. She blinked a couple of time and then stammered, trying to collect her thoughts “U-I--yes.”

“Blues Noteworthy woke up a few minutes ago. I had been told to call this number wh-”

She darted off the already open window to the hospital as fast as she could.

“Hello? Miss Doo?” The nurse asked once more, after feeling a loud blow on the other end of the phone. She hung up a minute later.

Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease tell me he’s alright tell me he’s fine please tell me he’s there and he’s fine pleasepleaseplease

She bursted into the hospital and ran to Blues’ room.

***

Again. The pounding on his head was different and the light hit him directly. Morning. People around him. Doctor, white coat. Nurse. Gas mask on my face.

“Mister Noteworthy.”

Voice. Fish. That’s the fish. Get away from me get the hell away from me this isn’t happening again for the first time this is happening again

“Mister Noteworthy, can you hear me? Please nod if you can.”

Blues looked at him and blinked. The pony in front of him wasn’t a fish and he most certainly wasn’t going to eat him. A dream. He nodded slowly.

“Good. Now I need to make a simple test to see if anything… happened while you were away. Nurse, we won’t be needing the ventilator.”
He felt a pop and the mask was removed from his face, as he started breathing for himself.

“Mister Noteworthy, can you please tell me your first name?”

“Blues.”

“Good, good. And do you remember why you were brought here?”

The blue colt looked at the doctor and sighed, shaking his head.

The medic looked down for a second, then back up to him. “Not so good, but that can happen in these cases. We don’t know what happened to you since the mare who brought you here was too shocked to talk. From your x-rays and the angulation of the ribs, you probably fell, and the quantity of shards we know it must have been a decent height. Say about ... ten, fifteen meters. We’ve found broken twigs and leaves on you, so my opinion is that you either fell from a greater height and a tree saved your life, or you fell straight from a high tree. You understood what I just said?”

Blues nodded and coughed slightly. “That’s why my chest hurts?”

“You’re lucky to be alive, Blues. Ribs don’t break that easily, but we can fix that. You’ve been in a coma for weeks. Probably hit your head on a branch before falling to the ground.” He addressed a nurse. “Can you please call this number and tell that mister Noteworthy is awake?” He took a piece of paper and handed it to her. “Miss Doo should be answering and coming here quickly.”

As the nurse walked out of the room, he strained to remember the name. “Ditzy?”

He gave him a look. “Ditzy Doo. She brought you here and has been waiting for you to wake up for all the time you were unconscious. Nothing could to get her out of this room, mister Noteworthy. We’ve decided to give her lunch and dinner while she was waiting for you to wake up, and I think she slept on that couch over there, but I can’t really know. I’ve always seen her awake during the day.”

“She... She’s been waiting for me. I was the one that should have waited for her...”

“Are you feeling alright, mister Noteworthy?” The doctor asked, looking at him with a clinical look.

“No... Well yes. Yes it’s just... a thing I dreamed. It’s nothing. Everything except for the chest seems fine.”

“I see. Well we just have to wait until she comes here. First we need to try some leg testing, see your reflexes. Your muscles have-”

A clop of hooves running.

“Oh I think she’s here.” He moved away sitting on a chair not to collide against the incoming mare, away from the door.

Blues swallowed as he heard the door slam open and saw a grey fury storm into the room.

“BLUES!”

It’s... her? Light? The merciful avatar of life? My savior?

He saw her smile. Pure joy. He needed her. He had waited for her. He needed to reunite and feel that instant of perfection again. Words failed him as he tried to open his mouth.

“Blues... God you’re alright...” She walked slowly towards him, almost hesitant, both her eyes fixated on him.

“Muffin...” He whispered.

As soon as he said that she started radiating happiness. She cried tears of joy as she hugged him. No more sadness. No more soul crushing loneliness. He was with her again. They were one again together.

He smiled through the pain. She was with him again. They were one again together.

He closed his eyes and relaxed, feeling her against him. Their lips had the texture of scorched earth, but to one another they were smoother than silk. He smiled as they kissed. She felt sugary, it reminded him of the candies he used to eat when he was a kid.

The scene lasted for thirty seconds at least, until the grey pegasus moved her lips to his cheek to let him breathe. She looked him with a loving smile.

“Miss Doo, could you kindly stop trying to eat my patient’s face and sit back for a minute?” The medic said, smiling.

Ditzy jumped in surprise and yelped, looking at the doctor and then back at Blues. She giggled and licked his cheek up to his eye, then fluttered back to the couch, finally happy and relieved. The doctor had been so nice to her, letting her stay for the nights too for almost two weeks. Not that she would have moved anyway, even if they would have called the police she wouldn’t have budged. It was all her fault...

Blues looked at the mare smiling until the doctor came into vision again. “Good to know you’re fine and have enough strength in your mouth,” he chuckled. “But I have to test your other muscles as well.” He started testing his legs and hir arms, all seemed to be in order.

“Now, your girlfriend didn’t tell us what happened, but we know you fell down." He turned towards her “If you would be so kind...”

“W-well...” She looked from left to right and sighed. “Doctor, it’s just...”

“Come on.”

“We were flying... and he was holding to me, you know. Simple as that. I was holding him by the hooves... and well he... slipped...”

“I see. Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“B-because... I let him go by accident. If I said that you might have called the police and I didn’t...want to stay away from...” She started sobbing. “It’s only my fault! I shouldn’t have said yes and I should have strapped him with something and when you said that Blues... I just let you go by accident because I was too shocked...”

Blues kept looking at her. His Light was the one who had almost killed him? “What did I say?”

She immediately raised her head and looked at him “What do you mean?”

“What did I say to you when we were... flying? And where were we flying?”

She stared at him and then the doctor, shocked. He was staring at them both. “W-What do you mean? What does he mean, doctor?”

The medic looked at her and said just one word.

“Amnesia.”

She stared at them both. “You don’t remember what happened?” She shook her head. “It’s okay, it’s okay. You’ll just need some time to remember everything..." she turned to the doctor. "How much do you think it will take for him to?”

“We’ll see” the white coated colt replied. “Now Blues, I know you just woke up but I need to know what the last thing you remember is. It could help us understand how much time it will take for you to regain your memory.”

Blues closed his eyes, everything was happening too quickly. He drew in a couple of deep breaths and relaxed his body, trying to remember.

Music. He remembered music and… singing. He remembered fire... Trees. Lots of trees. Flowers. It was night. The torches were blazing around the house dancing and swaying in the light wind. They had drunk a bit. It was a big event for ... something. They had decided to go around in a special place

The Everfree it’s in the Everfree

to celebrate.

“We were in a house... away from here. In the Everfree. And we had drunk a bit.”

Ditzy nodded. “It was our first year anniversary...”

Blues was taken aback for a second. One year with her and he didn’t remember?

“We went...” She looked at the doctor, then back at Blues. “We went to a nice place only we know. We watched the moon rise in the sky and you asked me if we could fly together. Then...” She blushed deeply.

He remembered one more thing. Her lips. She tasted of peaches. “We ate peaches before?”

She scrunched her face trying to remember “Yes... I think.”

“Doc I need a peach now. Right now.” He licked his lips and nodded. “Someone give me a peach before I go take it myself!”

Ditzy ran out of the room and started yelling “Peach! I need a peach! Someone!”

The doctor laughed and shook his head. The events had taken an unexpected turn. “Can I ask you why you-”

“Shhh.” He said still licking his lips.

“I got it!” she ran in with an unopened small package of peach jam and handed it to Blues. “What do you need it for?”

“Eat it. There’s no time!” The blue colt saw the mare ripping the confection’s lid off and swallow the jam. “Kiss me.”

She looked at him and cocked her head.”Wh-”

“We don’t have time! Now!”

The mare looked at the doctor for a second and then back to him. She kissed Blues with her jam-sticky lips as the colt hold her head still with his hooves firmly planted on her cheeks.

***

Who’d know that the stupidest ideas are the one who work better? Tactile and lingual memory works better than anything to dig up what’s been hidden, to give the spark that ignites the process of understanding and remembering. She had eaten peaches that were what he had felt before the fall, while kissing her. With that one memory another one followed and then another, until he began drowning in them. He remembered why she liked muffins, how she always looked cute when she tried to concentrate on a single spot with both her eyes just to look into his, her favorite color, all the small things that made her smile… he remembered why they were there what had happened.

They had gone to the Everfree to celebrate. It was going to be a special day for Ditzy and him, but not for what she thought it would be. Blues was going to ask her to marry him that night. He had everything set, including the wine. He had started asking her while they were flying, forgetting how tipsy she got even without wine.He remembered that he had only started his speech, and a second after... slipped off.

Pain. Deep excruciating pain.

“I remember.” He said while breaking the kiss.” I remember everything, Muffin.”

She smiled, still a bit confused, but happy.

“Thank you.” he told her, while kissing her again. “ Ditzy...” he teared up. “Ditzy, Ditzy Ditzy! My Light.” She hugged him and he held her close to him, stroking her mane and nuzzling her cheek. “You didn’t have to wait me for so much...”

“Hush...” The mare said, before kissing his forehead and laying her head on his collar bone.

The doctor smiled at the scene and looked at the now-oh-so-interesting white wall.Of all the things that happened during his career, this was entering his top ten for sheer weirdness.

Blues would have gladly kept staying in that dream-like state with Ditzy, but when the pain killers lost their hit completely his chest hurt too much to keep her close. He fell asleep as she kept nuzzling the tired, drugged and happy colt.

The day after that and the next ones she was still at his side. Now that Blues was awake again though, Ditzy understood how tired and unkempt she was. She made sure he had a nurse by his side all day long just in case and flew back to their house.

Our house...

She took a two hours bubble bath until the water became cold and then walked groggily to the bed, drunk with fatigue (and leftover champagne to celebrate) falling into a merciful and dreamless sleep. When she woke up she left herself get cuddled by the warmth of the late afternoon sun until she got up and walked the cold wooden floor to make her some lunch, remembering how bland the hospital food tasted like. After a few desperate connections, her brain still struggling to work, wishing she was still on the mattress, she decided to order something, being incapable of handling anything more complicated than a fork.

She never got anything delivered to her, usually. It felt somewhat wrong. It was her job after all, as an electrician would feel if someone else had installed an electrical outlet in his house. Even those times when she ordered pizza she went to take the food herself: It was kind of her pride, she was the mailmare, she was the one who carried letters and packages, why should she get something delivered to her? It was how things were supposed to go. That was one of the reasons why she just stared at the delivery boys when they knocked on the door. It was like looking in a mirror. She could picture herself doing what those kids were doing and it weirded her out. What confused them more though was the awkward way she stared at them, one eye on the door and the other on their faces, following them. They got away as fast as they came, every time with a generous tip.

Thai... she had never had Thai food before, but her stomach really seemed to have appreciated her choice. Same with Indian and Italian. They all had weird complicated names. She ordered three at random from every menu, the first, the last and something in the middle... It was always Blues who used to order these things when he was feeling too tired to cook something up. She had told him spicy food was what had helped him those days when he had to work double time in the fields to stay awake enough not to fall on the floor and fall asleep there. She didn’t really mind after those days of rice, peas, jelly, jam and the occasional juice box. She’d eat a whole cornfield, with dirt as dessert.

Once her stomach was full and she had slept another half day, she went back to the hospital. Blues greeted her with a kiss on her nose and one on her forehead, the way she liked it. “Has it ever occurred to you that we're disgustingly cute?” he said chuckling.

She slid in the bed and nuzzled him tenderly, “A lot. But at least we’re in the right place here,” she giggled “in case we were to give someone diabetes...”

He laughed and made her a bit more of room to lie more comfortably, holding her close to his chest. She tried to move a bit away from it but he shook his head “It’s getting better, don’t worry. The only thing I want now is to hold you” he kissed her lips and smiled again “and painkillers. But you’re a close second.”

“Oh shut up you junkie.” she giggled and rubbed his nose with hers “You think I can get some too?”

“Ma’am, that’s only for the hard working ponies in pain like me” He faked a groan of pain. “But I can give you my jelly if you want.”

“Your jelly?” She smirked. “Oh you… It’s going to take you more than cheap jokes to conquer me again.” She stuck out her tongue and hugged him again. “I missed you Bluesy. I missed you so damn much...”

There goes my heart. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Wait a bit. When you’ll be home. I want to do this like It’s supposed to be and that takes time.

“I missed you more.”

“No I d-” He bit his lip and kissed her again, she was just too damn cute. Ditzy accepted the kiss and returned it, hungrily. She had been waiting for him to wake up for too long and now he was there for her his lips his eyes his mane... God she loved his mane. She ran a hoof in it and felt him shiver slightly under her touch, knowing that was one of his soft spots. He could keep running her hoof into that unruly tangle of hair for hours and she knew he’d enjoy it just as much. Actually she needed to do that sometimes soon, just the two of them on the bed as he nestled his head on her chest and she played with his hair...

He deepened the kiss and felt a short jab of pain in his chest. Painkillers, wherefore art thee. He didn’t want to stop, but he moved a bit away from her, just enough to still feel her warm coat against his but not to press against his ribcage.

She licked his lips once again before stopping and moving away from him. “Blues, if we keep this going again for one more minute I won’t be responsible for my actions.” She panted slightly and moved away from the bed, but he held her with one hoof. “What if I wanted you not to?” He whispered in her ear, nibbling at it gently. She gritted her teeth and moved back on the couch, an angry look on her face. “Don’t tease me you... you horny...thing.” She was flushed.” If you try that again I’m going to make you fall down again, I swear.”

He was grinning widely. “I’ve been declassed to a thing now?”

“Until you learn to...”She bit her lip and shook her head “Until you learn to behave in a public place and not taking advantage of my condition you sly bastard...” that only made him grin more. “Fine, fine” he laughed wholeheartedly “I’ll keep my jelly then.”

“Oh shut up!” She was blushing madly. “If that’s how you’re going to be I might have preferred when you were sleeping...”

He turned serious. “About that. I dreamed of you.”

“I swear Blues if it’s about the same thing as before...” She looked up at him and saw his expression. “It’s probably not about that, thank God. What did you dream about?”

He tried to recollect his memories of the nightmare. “It’s...fuzzy. I remember I was flying, then something happened and I fell down to the bottom of the sea. A huge fish ate me and then you were in there.”

“Inside the fish?”

“Yes, inside the fish. It was... all glowing. All golden and white and you looked like an angel. Wait... no you were glowing. Yes you were there and all around you there was this warm light and you were crying, but I couldn’t see your face. Then you came to me, I couldn’t move, you know how it happens nightmares... anyway I couldn’t move and you were coming over me and I thought: this is the avatar of light herself. Not Celestia. You... were similar though. An angel of some sort.” He nodded and closed his eyes, reviving the moment. “And you told me you’d be back and to wait there, but when you kissed me... God. Everything. Everything was right. I wasn’t in a giant fish’s stomach, but I was... floating. You were giving me a new life. I know it’s confused... the whole dream is. But I knew you were there and giving yourself for me to live, because after you kissed me and gave me that source of light, you had vanished.” He opened his eyes and looked at her “And I knew that I’d wait for you even though I didn’t remember who you were. I knew I’d wait for you for my lifetime to get that feeling of Harmony, of bliss, with you.” He smiled. “And when it happened, it was even better than I imagined it would be.”

She looked at him and slipped back in the bed. “I love you. I would abuse this word every day to show you how much I do, but I don’t think it can carry the strength of how much I care.” She kissed his forehead “For.” she kissed his nose “You.” She kissed him with her eyes closed. “Never forget that, my blue sapphire.”

“I won’t, angel eyes.”

***

Ditzy spent every afternoon after that talking with Blues and occasionally cuddling with the colt when they were sure no one would be entering the room; she wasn’t free to stay there as much as she wanted now that he was awake, but they made each meeting count. Blues’ Ribs were healing fast enough, even though he complained of how much painful was to grow back one’s bones,

“It’s either that or you get one made of metal. Even though the thought of having a cyborg boyfriend is interesting... I’d stick to what the doctor said, Blues” she giggled.

at least it wasn’t going to be in the hospital for more than another week. At the time he was done with the therapy, he was feeling good as new, though it’d take him some time to fly again with Ditzy. At least without a saddle.

They hoofed it to their home, Ditzy holding his side even though it didn’t hurt.

“I can walk.” “I know.” “... Then why are you helping me?” “Because you’re soft. And because I feel like it.” He rolled his eyes and gave her a peck on the cheek “just don’t let me fall down again this time, okay?”“Maybe... If you give me another one on my other cheek.” she said grinning.

They sat on the front porch more or less half an hour later, watching the sun setting down behind the mountains before them. “It’s nothing like there in the forest... but it’s still always a sight, don’t you think?” He said as he held her by the waist. She nodded her cheek on his shoulder. “The full moon is next week, we could go watch it rise up... if you feel like coming there again. We can walk there if you like.” He kissed her head gently and raised his up quickly, as if he had just remembered something. “Fuck.... I mean uhm wait here. Just a sec.” he chuckled. “Sorry to break the mood but I have to take one thing.”

“It’s okay, don’t take too long. You know how it gets cold after the sun sets, I want my Blues with me.”

“Be right back in a minute. And God stop.” he raised and held her head with his hooves and gave her a peck on the lips. “Stop being cute. This instant. You’re going to kill me one of these days.” He walked inside and got to his room, trying to find that bloody piece of paper.

Where is it damn it where are you... okay okay calm down. You didn’t bring it to the Everfree because you had forgotten it, that’s good. At least you haven’t lost it in the falling... stupid ribs. Okay the notebook’s … here in the drawer, perfect. And the pencil too, good, good. But I haven’t left it here where she could find it... Think damn it,think... wardrobe... a tuxedo? Breast pocket! Right! Here you are you little bastard!

He took the heavily written and cancelled piece of paper from his father’s tuxedo and started reading it, trying to see if there was anything wrong with it. After re-reading it for the fifth time, he held it in his hoof and walked out back on the porch.

“Took you your sweet time. What were you waiting for?” she tapped next to her on the front step “Come on, it’s almost done.”

Blues looked at her. He really looked at her. He didn’t know if what he was going to do was right or if he should be waiting for it a bit more, but they both remembered that moment before he fell. Was she the one he really wanted to spend all his life with?

Yes. No hesitation. Do it, Blues.

“I can’t really sit right now. Mostly because if I move, I think I’m going to puke. But I need you to stand up, please.”

She looked at him with a weird face, a strange mix of emotions while getting up. The sun’s last rays illuminated her mane just perfectly, like molten gold swimming over a pool of light blonde hair. Those two eyes, so rapt and staring at him, in expectation.

She’s worth it.

He inhaled and looked into her eyes. “I don’t believe in a love like the one you see in the movies, Ditzy. When I think of love there’s no... fireworks, no perfect situations, not just kisses and laughter. I don’t believe in a love when everything always goes right, when there are no problems, where there are no fights. When I think about that, the real Love with a capital L... I think of two people who enjoy sharing their lives together, a warm , lovingly cooked meal when coming back home tired, not because you want to be said “thank you” but because you want to make him feel you care for him or for her. I think of someone to hold while asleep, I think of someone to talk and joke with, be immature and serious.” He smiled at her face, she was getting where this was going at. He continued, biting his lip not to stammer. “When I’m with you, I feel at ease, I feel satisfied, I feel happy, Ditzy. We may fight every now and then, we may not always be too close, but when I look into your eyes... when I look into those golden circles and you try to focus so hard looking back at me, I know that I want to spend every day of the rest of my life with you.” He inhaled again and exhaled shakily. This was harder than he thought.

“Ditzy. Muffin... I didn’t know that in my heart there could be so much to share before I met you, but I want to be with you. I want to fight, I want to cry I want to be there when you need me, I want to laugh and hold you in my arms until I have no more strength.”

He kneeled down and looked up at her. She was already crying, but they were tears of joy. The only ones that had the right to exist on her beautiful face. “Ditzellia Esmeralda Doo. Will you marry me?”

She threw herself on him. The door was still open from before and the sun had already settled behind the mountains, but there was a certain light still coming from there. The soft hues of gold and purple were filling the air, night was coming. They were almost in the same situation as they had started their life together. It wasn’t raining, but the tears from her face were quite enough.

“Yes...” She whispered. She planted a full kiss on his lips as they both hugged as tight as they could to one another, there on the hard wooden floor.

There was a certain spark around them, one you rarely find in young lovers. The night may fall down soon, but that spark… It would light up the rest of their lives.