A Bubbly Hearth's Warming Eve

Trudging along through the snow, you stare aimlessly at the ground. The frozen water glistens in the sunlight and makes gruff crunching sounds with each step of your fuzzy insulated boots. In the distance, you hear the happy voices of kids playing. However, as you get closer, their cheers of excitement start to reduce in volume. Looking up from the strange occurrence, two colts and a young filly were looking at you with a displeasing gaze. One of them leans towards the filly, and whispers something in her ear. From the giggling, you knew it has to be some distasteful joke about you. With a huff and a lift of your buff jacket with your shoulders, you moved quickly onward away from the immature ponies.

A couple of months in Equestria, and you have had to deal with some of the equines bad attitude towards you. There were those like Twilight and her friends who accepted your presence with open arms, but even with their friendship, there were still a lot of ponies that avoided you as much as possible or would openly insult you in public. It was not as if you took any of that too heart, but after hearing it repeatedly within a few days. The words got under your skin like a parasite.

What you really did not understand was why they were doing it in the first place. You shared many of the same qualities besides minor differences such as not having fur, a tail, or being born here for that matter. It was confusing but, in a way, you understood their animosity. If one of them had come to earth, you would be positive that a large number of people would feel the same way about their appearance. It still bothered you a bit, but other than that, you actually really liked this world.

Once you feel you are out their sight, you go back to a leisurely pace. You get lost in thought again as you continue down the path back home.

Not that your home was anything special or anything, but after you were offered the place to live in by Twilight and her friends It was with little thought that you agreed to it. Besides, it was not too bad with a nice bed and a stove for heating. It was perfect for one or two to live in not that you had anyone to share it with really. At least it left more room for you.

A sudden cold breeze blowing across your face pulls you out of your thoughts. The winters here were cold but manageable even though you did not have fur. Thanks to Rarity's incredible designing skills, you have some very nice, warm clothes that fit to near perfection. Glancing around to a few of the houses, you notice that they all have Hearth’s Warming Eve decorations and other festive symbols.

You watched as a few kids played with each other in the snow, making snow angels and snow ponies. Then of course, as soon as they see you, the children run to their parents who give you nasty looks making you feel more uncomfortable. Again, you have done something wrong. As if, it was because of you their children are without the fun they deserve.

All of a sudden, a feminine voice from seemingly nowhere shouts, “Look out!” as you turn to the direction to where you hear the voice. You look up just in time to see a flash of grey as something smacks into you. You then collapse in the soft crunchy snow with a loud ‘Thump’.

“Ouch! What was that?” You say, rubbing your now sore forehead. You feel pinned down by something heavy. Opening your eyes, allowing them to adjust to the sunlight, you see a grey mare with bright blond hair and grey fur sitting on your stomach rubbing her head as well.

“Ouch, that really hurt. Are you okay? I’m sorry about that.” She apologizes as she gets off you.

The mare’s reaction to you surprises you quite a bit to say the least. Other than Twilight and her friends, not a single mare, stallion or colt even stayed close to you if they could help it. So why is she not running away or screaming?

“Um, excuse me but, are you alright?” The grey mare repeated, gaining your attention once again.

“Oh Yes, I’m sorry, I dazed out there for a moment.” You say as you pull yourself to your feet. You notice she was about a few inches shorter than you were. You also notice her eyes, a bright beautiful yellow coloration, not to mention one seemed like it was off center a little. It was somewhat cute actually.

“Oh that’s okay, I do that all the time!” she started cheerfully

You look upon her with some confusion. “Shouldn’t you be running away from me by now? Or avoiding me?” You ask gaining a confused look from her this time.

“Why would I run away from you? You do not seem to smell bad. Or seem sick.” The mare says looking up at you, oblivious to your meaning.

You palm your forehead at her remark. “No, I mean that I’m not a pony. See, no fur.” You exclaim by pointing to your own hand.

The mare just giggles at you. “So? Why would I be afraid of you when you haven’t done anything bad to me?”

Slightly taken aback by her words you stare at her confused. You definitely were not expecting her to say that. You were just about to say something back when you heard one of the filly’s from earlier yell. “Hey Miss, you should get away from the weirdo before you lose your fur!” she yelled before running back to her mother who had a worried look as she picked the filly up into her arms.

You cannot help but sigh aloud at the count of another rumor spread about you. A rumor is just a rumor. However, after so many it starts getting under your skin even more so.

Letting out a frustrated sigh you look at the grey mare in front of you. “That is what I meant, if try to talk to me you’ll be treated like the plague, like me. So I’d stay away from me if I were you.”

You continue to walk by her and head towards your home. You could sense the grey mare watching you as went on your way.

After a little while, you manage to make your way back home. Whenever you look at your small house, you remember when everyone was against you moving into town. Even though Twilight and her friends were just as skeptical of you, they were still nice enough to help you and offer a cozy house. You vowed to pay each of them back if it was the last thing you did.

You open the door and walk inside. After taking off your coat and hanging it on the coat rack on the wall, you headed straight for the kitchen. You have been starving for the past hour now so you were dying to eat something. After pondering for a minute, you decided on something tasty but simple. The first thing that pops into your mind is muffins, blueberry muffins to be precise. Simple and delicious, they are one of your favorite treats. You begin gathering the ingredients to make them after preheating the oven. Always fancying yourself a decent cook, you knew how to cook well, though it was on no par with Pinkie.

Roughly, fifteen or so minutes had passed since you poured the muffin mixture into a small tray, popped it into the oven and decided to wait in the living area, relax and let the stress of the day drain away. You make your way to the living area, collapse on a couch and lay there. Images of those cold stares and kids laughing at you flow into your mind shortly, causing a frown to form on your face. You cannot help but wish that they would not jump to conclusions and try to get to know you, but of course, it really is not that easy to win them over when you look so strange to them.

Maybe if you could get help from Twilight and her friends for help it will be easier. Though you figure, they cannot follow you around all day trying to help you make friends. You knew you just had to step up and make them see for themselves, which is harder than it looks.

A knock on your door pulls you out of your train of thought. “Who could be at my door? I don’t remember inviting anyone over.”

Getting up off the couch, you head for the door and slowly open it. You see the same grey mare from earlier stands in your doorway smiling widely at you as she waves.

“Hello!” She exclaims

Still slightly confused about her presence, you can only ask. “What are you doing here?” Your question made the mare giggle a little.

“Well I saw how sad your eyes looked when you left and I just had to follow you. Oh and by the way, my name is Derpy Hooves!” Derpy patiently waits for your response.

“Um thanks, but you didn’t have to do that. Besides, you hardly know me.” You state, sighing to yourself.

“Well too bad because I wanted to come see you anyway!” She huffs

A dumbfounded expression graces your face following her outburst. Why was she so adamant on making sure you were ok? It did not make sense. However, she did come all the way to see you, that itself made you happy enough, so you decided to ignore the reason for now.

“Well since you came all this way; do you want to come in?” You ask moving to the side to allow her entry.

“Yay!” Derpy cheers as she seemingly skips passed you, making you chuckle softly at her antics

“So this is your house? It seems pretty cozy.” Derpy states as she looks around.

“Yeah it is and it’s pretty spacious as well. I mean it isn’t the best house, but I love it.”

You stop talking when you see Derpy smelling the air.

“I smell muffins...” She trails off almost drooling, leaving you in confusion until it dawns on you.

“Oh no, I almost forgot!” rushing to the kitchen, you grab mitts and shut the stove off. Opening the small door and looking inside, you see the muffins were just fine.

“Phew, caught them just in time!” You place them down onto the counter and smell the aroma that comes off the freshly baked muffins. You are about to take one from the pan when you noticed movement out of the corner of your eye.

Looking in the direction of the movement, you see Derpy hovering in midair staring at the pan of muffins, drooling. You cannot help but chuckle aloud at her reaction over the treat you made for yourself. Carefully, you slide them out one by one onto a plate until the tray was empty.

Looking up at Derpy and seeing her eyes glued to the contents on the plate makes you smile. “You can have some if you want, I don’t mind.” You smile at her making Derpy's eyes brighten as she reaches for one and takes a bite out of it.

“Thank you so much, I was starving!” She says with her mouth full.

You could not help but snicker at her antics. You take a sizable bite out of your own blueberry muffin, the richness of the bread is savory and the blueberry’s sweetness danced on your tongue with each bite.

“So, you never told me your name; what is it?” Derpy asked as she took another bite.

You lightly smack your head at the realization you completely forgot about it and upon apologizing, tell her your name.

“That’s your name? It sounds kind of funny!” She says, giggling a little bit.

“And what’s so funny about it?” you say, pouting slightly.

“It’s an unusual name for around here that’s all.” she says your name a couple more times as if trying to get it stuck in her head.

You both finished off the muffins you had made while you made small talk; getting to know each other more. Some time had passed and it was starting to get late. You could tell Derpy was getting a little drowsy.

You look over at the clock and notice the time. “Wow, time sure does fly when you’re having fun huh?” You ask no one in particular.

Derpy looks up at the clock and slightly panics. “Oh no! I stayed longer than I thought!” She stands up looking out the window seeing it was dark.

“I can walk you home if you want. I don’t mind.” You say being courteous.

“Oh, that’s not necessary but thanks for the offer! I’ll be by to say hi again tomorrow probably!” Derpy waves goodbye as she leaves for your door before you can say anything against it. Looking out the window you can see her flying off.

“Well I guess she is the get up and go type of mare. I should probably also head off to sleep.

After cleaning up the kitchen you decide to head to your room were you walk into your bathroom to brush your teeth and clean up. After changing into cloths more comfortable, you head straight for bed. Crawling onto your bed and blowing out the lights, you can’t help but feel an overwhelming happiness fall over you. You had finally made a new friend on your own without the help of anyone. Not to mention she was quite cute as well. However, friendship is a great achievement in your book any day.

You lay there thinking of all you had needed to do today and when you’d get to see her tomorrow as you slip off into a deep sleep.

*~*~*

The next morning was just as nice as yesterday, snow still covered the ground even though it was clear with the sun blazing, a slight cold breeze blew every once in a while reminding you it was still cold out. You had already headed off to work early to try to make it there before any of the locals woke up to see you out and about. Last thing you needed was to start the day off was a bad mood. Working at a small convenience store was not very exciting to say the least. On top of that, you also work in the back reorganizing and stocking. However, considering your boss was even willing to allow you to work there was a miracle in and of itself despite your appearance.

However, since you were with Twilight at the time the owner of the store felt that if Twilight trusted you; she could as well. All of a sudden, you hear someone call your name from behind you. You turned around and scanned the area and see what looked like a mare flying towards you excitedly. Smiling up at her, you realize who it is almost immediately.

“Hey, how’s it going?” you shout, waiting for her to catch up. You notice her clothes were quite a bit different from yesterday and that she had what looked like a large carrier bag hanging next to her side.

“Good morning! I am off on mail deliveries. I am Ponyville’s mail mare. Oh and even better, you are on my daily route now! Therefore, I will be able to come visit you in the mornings. Though, when I showed up today you weren't home.” Derpy stated, looking at you curiously.

“Oh. Well you see, I always leave early so I don’t bother anyone on my way to work. After all, I’m sure you saw some of the stares they gave me yesterday.” You said, a slight frown appearing on your face.

“You shouldn’t let it get to you. I mean, I get funny looks all the time. I just do not let it get to me. They’ll have to accept you for you eventually, sooner or later.” She grins widely at you gaining one from you in response.

“Thanks Derpy, I’m happy to have a friend like you.” Derpy giggles at your words.

“And I’m happy to have you as the first real friend I’ve ever had.” Her words confuse you a little. However, before you can ask she decides that she needs to get back to delivering mail and flew off with a big wave shouting, “I’ll see you after work!” behind her.

“What did she mean by that, I wonder? Well, I guess I’ll find out later.” You thought as you hurried to the store you worked at.

The day droned on for what felt like days to you. However, the store was particularly busy today and the new shipments of food stocks and other items coming in helped make the day disappear quickly. You still felt like time was passing as slowly as it could manage, though. Of course, you knew why; it was because of your desire to see her. Since you have meet her a day ago you have quickly became friends. Therefore, it is not shocking that you wanted to see her again; after all, she was your first real friend that you have made here in Equestria. Of course, Twilight and her friends were friendly towards you but you rarely spent any time with them. Therefore, a friend like Derpy was quite a welcome find.

The day eventually ends as the last few customers of the day leave the store. After replenishing, the supplies in the store as well as tidy up. The only thing left was to clean up the shop and you are set. Just as you find a broom and start to clean, the store owner calls out to you.

“There is no need to clean. I am closing shop little early so you may leave as well once you take the trash out the back way.” The old storekeeper says as she starts locking up.

You call back acknowledging what she said, collect the trash bags together, and head for the rear exit to dispose of it. Shutting the door and walking to the recycling bins, you notice a few foals playing on the hillside throwing snowballs at each other and laughing. You cannot help but smile at them as you lift the lid of the bins and toss the trash inside. The sound of crunching snow catches your attention and turn towards the sound just in time to get a snowball to the side of the face. A sharp pain soon follows making you grab your cheek with a small yelp. Grabbing the wad of snow, you immediately feel a small rock in the snow as well. Wiping off the melting snow and looking up at the kids with an expression of annoyance on your face, you notice there laughter quickly died down, quickly followed by them running away in fright.

A frustrated sigh escapes your lips as you shut the lids. “That really hurt! I wish they would have more common sense to not wad up rocks into the snow like that…” Although you knew the reason, you still could not really get angry with the children.

Finishing up and locking the back door, you head around the building and start heading home. The cold snow and the breeze made the feeling in your cheek disappear. However, the feeling was starting to come back and you could feel some pain. Touching your face, you find the swollen area and a small cut in the middle. Pulling back your hand, you see evidence of blood. Ignoring the pain, you continue to head home. On your way, you notice a few ponies in the street laughing together. As you get closer, you also notice they were pointing at another who seemed to be sitting on the ground. As you got closer, you hear them say stuff like “Watch where you are going, wall-eyes.” In addition to, “Why don’t you watch where you’re going, Derpy.”

“Derpy?” You thought to yourself before quickening your pace to see what had been going on.

Sure enough when you got closer, you can see whom they are teasing. The site makes your blood start to boil.

“Hey, back off!” You shout.

One of the younger stallions turned around saying. “Who’s going to make us?” However, upon turning around and seeing who it was he nudged the others and yelled out “Run away!” before bolting with the other three.

Running up to her and looking at her you can see she was teary eyed, as she slowly looked up at you a smile spread across her face. Looking at her with concern, you offer your hand to help her up which she happily took. You patiently wait as she brushes herself off.

“Are you okay?” You ask in concern.

“Yeah I am, thanks to you.” Derpy smiles widely at you causing a smile to appear on your face as well.

“What happened? Why were they poking fun at you?” You asked curiously.

“I bumped into them while I wasn’t paying attention. It wasn’t their fault though.” She stated, trying to smile.

“Either way, they should not have made fun of you. That’s wrong and they should know better.” You could feel the irritation building. It didn’t help that the kids hitting you with a rock earlier was still on your mind.

Derpy looked at you and was about to say something when she finally noticed the mark on your cheek.

“What happened to your cheek?” She asks.

“Oh, well a few kids got the bright idea to hide a rock in a snowball and threw it at me. But don’t worry about it, nothing a Band-Aid won’t fix.” You say nonchalantly trying to brush it off as nothing.

“I guess we both had our rough days huh?” Derpy looks at you sadly.

“Yeah, I guess so.” You say, trying to avoid the subject.

“Hey, let’s go back to your place to get something for your cheek. I was going to head there anyway and wait on you.” She then tugs on your arm and starts dragging you off to your house before you could protest.

Ten minutes had passed as you and Derpy arrived at your house.

“Okay, where do you keep the first aid kit?” She asked as she shut the door behind her.

“It is in the drawer over there.” You point to an old dresser.

“You sure have a lot of old furniture.” She said as she walked over to the dresser to get the first aid kit.

“Yeah, I didn’t start off with a lot of bits obviously. So I had to get what I could.” Walking to the kitchen, you grab a couple of glasses and place them on the counter.

“Found them!” Derpy yelled and shut the drawer. As she walks back to the kitchen and is about to place the kit on the counter she trips, stumbling into you. Luckily, you catch her and the kit just in time.

“Careful! I’m glad I caught you.” You watch her fall into you

“Sorry, that always happens to me... Because I am slightly cross eyed, I can get tripped up easily.” She trailed off, looking away from you.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We all have those moments.” You say, trying to brighten her mood.

“Yeah I know, but not as bad as me. I sometimes wish my eyes were like normal mares’ and stallions’, but they are not.”

“What do you mean? There is nothing wrong with your eyes. They’re beautiful just the way they are.” You say, trying to encourage her.

Derpy then looks up at you slightly shocked at your words, a slight blush forming on her cheeks before pulling away and shyly looking away from you.

You begin to second-guess your choice of words; you were only trying to cheer her up after all.

However, before you could speak she interrupts you.

“Thank you, no one has ever complimented my eyes before. It made me feel really happy.” Derpy smiles widely at you while her tail swishes back and forth.

You sigh to yourself, relieved that she is okay.

“Okay! Now time to patch up that injury of yours.” She then tells you to hold still as she opens the kit, gets out a Band-Aid and ointment, and as delicately as she can, rubs the cut with said ointment and places the Band-Aid over the cut.

“There, all fixed up. I’ll go ahead and put the first aid kit back.”

“Thank you; what do you want to drink?” You say opening the fridge.

“Oh um, do you have any Apple Cider?” She asks as she put the kit back and headed back to the kitchen.

“Sure, I’ve got some.” You pour a glass for you both and hand her the glass before picking up your own.

“Oh I know! Can we also bake muffins? I can help you make them!” Derpy looks at you, excitement in her voice.

“Sure, if you really want to. I take it you like muffins a lot?” you ask as you set your glass on the counter then move over to the cupboard to look for ingredients.

”Yep, I really love them. I make them all the time. Though I may not look like it; I’m a fairly good cook.” She proclaims just before taking a big gulp of her cider.

“Sounds like fun. What type do you want to make?” Derpy looks at you for a few seconds then walks over to your fridge and looks inside.

She searched for a few minutes before she spotted something she liked. “Peanut butter muffins are really good.”

“I’ve never made those before, I don’t mind.” Grabbing a muffin pan, you place it on the counter and gather everything you need.

“Okay, I’ll cook them then. You can be my helper so I can teach you!” She says as her wings start twitching with excitement.

After a few minutes of preparations and occasional goofing off, Derpy finishes the mix, pours the mixture into a muffin pan, and pops it into the oven.

Derpy tosses the mitten she is using and leans against the counter.

“Hey, I have a question I’ve been curious about. What was your previous life like?

You look at her unsure of what she meant before it finally clicked.

“Oh, you mean back on my earth. Well it was not much different from this life. Everyone at some point always messed with me. It never really bothered me though. I had a few friends that occasionally hung around me, but they were not all the close to me. It was somewhat boring but it was comfortable at least. Then I came here and although most see me as an outsider, I still like it here because it is fun and there are many different things going on.”

“Wow, I was expecting something different. So you lived just like we do?” Derpy said, leaning in, curiosity getting the better of her.

“Well not really. We cannot control the weather. In addition, we do not have magic. We can fly, just not like you do.” You explain.

“Oh I see. That must be tough to not have magic and no ability to control weather.” Derpy says as she goes to check on the muffins.

“Yeah, but we got used to it. So, are they done?” You could smell them as soon as she opened the door. A strong aroma hit you instantly, making you start salivating.”

“Yep! They are cooked to perfection.” Derpy then grabs the same mitts, pulls the pan out of the oven, and places it on the counter. You help by grabbing a plate to put them on as she gently takes them out one by one.

You both sit and chat while waiting for them to cool down; taking turns asking questions about each other. A few minutes had passed and your stomach could not wait anymore and grab one of the muffins.

As you bite into it, you are almost overwhelmed with flavor and the texture of the lump of bread in your hand.

Hey, these are amazing! They’re cooked perfectly!” You say though bites.

“Aw, thanks, I’m glad you like them. She then grabs one of her own and starts devouring it.

After an afternoon of muffins, chatting and getting to know one another some more, Derpy decides she has to leave to do a few things. As she is about to leave she stops and turns and calls out to you.

“Also, since it is the weekend in a few days I was wondering if you would you want to help me. I have a lot of stuff to do and I could really use the help.” She begs.

“Yeah, not like I have plans anyway. I’d be happy to.” You say, reassuring her.

She smiles at response. “Okay then, also the rest of my week will be busy for me so I won’t be able to spend as much time with you, but I will try.”

“Sure, you can come by whenever you want; I don’t mind.” You say as she left for the door.

“Okay, thanks again!” She waved goodbye and left.

You spent the rest of the afternoon doing some reading and other things to pass the time. You never really plan ahead of time on most occasions anyway. When it came time for you to hit the hay, you decide to clean up a bit and brush your teeth before heading off to bed thinking of what stuff Derpy might have in mind for the weekend.

The rest of the week passed by like normal, luckily Derpy was still able to come over even if it was only for a little bit. However, you were happy that she still came no matter what.

The weekend eventually came as the early morning light crept over the horizon. Light poured in through the window in your room as you wrap yourself up comfortably in the thick blanket to escape the morning chill. Eventually, the light became too much for you to bear making you pull the blankets over your head trying to shield yourself from the blinding rays. Though you managed to start dozing back off under the warmth, a faint sound in the distance would not allow that. You could hear the noise getting louder. After a couple minutes, it finally hits your sleepy brain what the noise is, someone is knocking on the door. You grudgingly pull the covers away from your body and crawl out of bed.

Slowly, you make your way to the front door and slowly open the door. “Hello?” You say in a drowsy voice.

Derpy appears on the other side of the door looking at you in shock; her wings twitched from your sudden appearance. She pauses, her eyes not focusing on yours; they seemed to trail slowly downward.

She quickly looks away. “Oh um, Hey, I know it’s a little early to come by but I wanted to get done with everything as early as possible. Sorry to show up out of nowhere like this.” Derpy stuttered as a light blush appears on her cheeks.

At first, you could not understand why Derpy was acting that way. However, I cold breeze make you realize why she did not want to look directly at you.

You had forgotten that you always slept with nothing but underwear on as it was the most comfortable for you.

“Crap!” You instantly hid behind the door.

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking! I just got up.” You stutter out, peeked around the door.

“Oh no, it’s okay, these things happen. Derpy nervously tries to diffuse the awkward state of the situation.

“Anyway wait in the living room while I take care of a few things. I shouldn’t be too long. Sorry that you had to see me like that.” You hang your head slightly.

“No its okay I promise! Anyway I don’t mind waiting, take all the time you need.”

“Alright, give me a second before coming in.” You take off running through the house to make it to your room where you then proceed to gather clean clothing and hop in the shower to wash up.

Ten minutes passes by the time you finished showering. You quickly threw on your clothing and shoes and headed back into the living room.

You notice Derpy sitting in your reading chair humming a tune, having her eyes closed and letting the sun’s rays warm her from the window next to her.

You cannot help but smile at the scene before your eyes. She was completely calm and relaxed even though you had a rather embarrassing encounter with her. You really enjoy her carefree attitude and positive outlook on life. It makes being around her that much more enjoyable, not to mention her being fun to have around helps as well.

“Hey, you ready to go?” She opens her eyes and sees you standing near the front of the living room.

“Oh sure, but aren’t you going to eat anything first?” She asked

“Nah, If I get hungry I can always get something in town. By the way, what are we doing today anyway?” You ask, curiosity getting the better of you.

“Oh right, well It wasn’t anything interesting. It is just that this time what I need to do would be too hard for one mare to handle. You see, I need to do some shopping for a get together my dad is planning, but I cannot carry everything on my own.” She hops off the chair and walks over to you.

“So you want my help by carrying everything. Sound like it will be a blast.” You say in a monotone voice; acting depressed.

“No I didn’t mean it like that!” She looks up at you with a hint of sadness in her eyes and a hurt expression.

“Hey I was just kidding, I don’t mind following you around at all.” Derpy gives you a look of annoyance before sticking her tongue at you while heading for the door.

“Hey, I was joking, I swear!” You follow her, throwing on your coat and quickly bundling it up before closing the door behind you.