A Bubbly Hearth's Warming Eve

Bright sunrays flowed through the window, bathing your entire room in light. Slowly, you wake, letting your senses come around. You still have your eyes closed, not wanting to get out of bed so soon.

You feel warmer than you usually did when you wake up, even with the blanket currently wrapping itself around you. You soon realize however, you were hugging something soft and warm. Slowly you open your eyes, trying to focus. The image that comes into focus makes you nearly jump out of bed. You are not sure if your brain is playing tricks or not. Derpy’s mane slightly tickles your nose as you move your head around.

Somehow, you managed to intertwine yourself with Derpy at some point.

One arm hugs her stomach just below her chest while the other rests on her stomach. You could feel the warmth radiating from her body. Her shirt rose up just past her stomach. One of your hands was resting near her belly button. Subconsciously, you run your fingers through her soft fur feeling its velvet like softness caress your hand earning a soft moan from Derpy as she slept next to you.

You have to force yourself from continuing. Another thing you notice is how you could feel her tail wrapped around your waist as well as her legs also intertwined with yours. You have to admit to yourself that you loved how her fur felt against your legs as well.

“Wait, fur? Does that mean…” You mind trails off as her legs shift in between yours conforming your suspicions.

“Why is she not wearing the pajamas she wore over!?” You panic, unsure of what to do with the situation you are in. Derpy cuddling up next to you confuses you quite a bit but not as much as, to why she stripped half her clothing off. You can feel your face getting redder and redder as you think of different reasons and the fact that she is now just in her panties and shirt doesn't help. She begins to move around again, you can start to guess why you are in this situation now considering how much she likes to toss and turn. All of a sudden, she scoots closer to you, bringing your already close proximity even closer still. Her body seemed to fit perfectly into yours. However, your arm also moves with her. You can feel two soft mounds press against your arm. Almost immediately, you realize what they were.

“Derpy isn’t wearing a bra either?” You blush deepens at the thought. The softness of them almost drives you crazy. All this sensation from her touch has started getting you a little stiff in between your legs. You try your best to control it, but it is in vain. You have never had any kind of close encounters with the opposite sex before so being a little sensitive to it was inevitable.

You try to hide your stiffening member as much as possible. However, Derpy presses her butt into your hips adding to the sensation. The only thing you can hope for at this point is that she does not wake up. It would be very awkward to explain why a certain part of you was pressing against her. Trying your best to scoot away, you find that you are already as far as you could go. You are about to give up when she pulls away from you.

“ Oh no, did she notice?” You though as she started to turn around. However, your worries eased up as you notice she was still asleep. Although now she was literally, face to face with you. You feel her breath gently brush against your face as she rests her head on your pillow. Scanning her face, you can see her peaceful expression as she sleeps next to you. This makes you smile as you stare at her. She is smiling slightly as well which made a warm feeling come over you. Your eyes venture down to her parted lips.

For a moment, you thought of what it would be like to kiss her. You blush like mad when you realize what you are thinking. You are so close to her you cannot even think straight. However, could you do it? Your heart starts to beat faster as you ran the thought through your head. For some reason you really want to. You lean in closer, your chest tightening. Her lips were mere inches away from yours, the urge to kiss her even more present as you look at her sleeping form.

“Your eyes slowly close as you inch closer. Now mere centimeters away, you felt her breath brush against your lips. All of a sudden, you hear a soft groan escape her lips followed by your name. Upon hearing your name, snaps you out of the trance.

“What was I just about to do?” you thought to yourself.

“I was going to really kiss her… Why am I reacting like this now? Or maybe I’m just realizing my feelings.” You sigh to yourself and risking waking her, you knew you needed to get up and out of bed. You figure a shower would help you ease your mind. Carefully you managed to get out of bed without waking her. Although you still feel the need to hide your stiffening spire as you rush to grab some cloths and head into the shower.

You let all your thoughts drain away under the warm water as it rushes down your body. It felt great to have such a relaxing shower after that incident. As you wash your hair, you hear the bathroom door swing open and Derpy yell out. “I have to pee I have to pee!” followed by a sigh of relief almost immediately afterwards.

You pause for a moment before speaking. “Uh Derpy, you know I’m in here, right?”

“Yeah, but I reeeeally had to go and I knew you were in the shower and wouldn’t try to peek.” She slowly sat up.

“Okay fine just don’t flush-“ However, before you could finish your sentence you hear the sound of a toilet flushing and only seconds later a blast of incredibly hot water hits you causing you to scream out loud.

In a sheepish tone, you hear Derpy say. “Oops, my bad.”

~*~*~

After about twenty minutes of embarrassing moments and apologies later, you manage to finish showering and get dressed.

“I’m really really sorry, I did it without thinking. Derpy frantically pleads.

“I get it, its fine.” Your face reddened at the thought.

“Anyone would have jumped out of the shower if that happened. Derpy states reassuringly.

“Okay!”

“I didn’t see all that much either.” Her face reddens

“Okay I get it!”

“But what I did see... Is that average for your kind?”

You spew water back into your glass. “Derpy!”

“Okay okay, I was just trying to lighten the mood.” Derpy awkwardly rubs her arm and looks away.

“I know, I just didn’t expect… that to happen.” You sigh heavily.

“It is okay, I can handle seeing someone naked.” She smiles at you.

“It’s just that, you are the first girl to see me naked at all. I just didn’t know how to act.” You chuckle nervously trying to lighten the mood further.

“Anyway, I should head home. Would you mind walking me please?” Derpy asks attempting to change the subject.

“I’m sure your father will get upset seeing me anywhere near you and I don’t want anything to happen to you.” You say, concerned.

“I’m sure it will be fine. Besides, it won’t be as awkward if you’re there with me.” Derpy states

“Alright, if you need me to go I have no problem with it.” After tossing your glass in the sink and grabbing your coat, you head out with Derpy.

Birds chirping in the background and snow crunching at your feet were all you heard as you both were heading down the street. Looking over at Derpy, you notice she seems to be deep in thought as she stares ahead. You did the same despite being curious about it but you thought it best not to bug her just in case.

After a few minutes, you allow your gaze to drift over to Derpy again. Her eyes seem not to focus on anything as you continue down the pathway. Her long blond hair gently blows in the wind as her eyes sparkle in the sunlight. You start to notice her eyes becoming slightly off center again as well. It was cute to see and you could not understand some of the others not seeing they are just one of the things that make her special, not to mention the beautiful shade of yellow makes it even more enticing to look into them. You really believe she is a beautiful mare and you are lucky she wants to be your friend. Her cheery nature, her goofy antics, her smile, her hair, her eyes all of it is perfect in your eyes. She is beautiful and has a great personality. You began to think about this morning, and everything that happened.

The feel of her fur felt amazing against your skin. Her hair was very fluffy and had a nice smell to it. Cuddled up to her felt amazing and you really did not want that feeling to go away at all. Then came the last part; you truly wanted to kiss her. Her soft looking lips enticed you and the look on her face made your heart dance as she lay sleeping on your pillow mere inches from your face. The more you thought about it the more you felt butterflies in the pit of your stomach. You felt yourself becoming nervous as you repeatedly thought about kissing her.

“Why am I feeling these feelings now?” You thought to yourself as you think about all the events since you first met Derpy.

“No, I felt this way from the beginning. It just wasn’t as strong as it is now.” You conclude, finally acknowledging everything.

Of course, acknowledging it does not help you much. You have no clue how Derpy will take it if you tell her. You continuously fight with yourself back and forth not sure of how you should handle the situation. You did not want it to get to the point where you accidentally blurt it out from bottling your feelings up. However, you were still afraid of her reaction and possibly losing her as a friend.

Through your internal fight, you failed to realize Derpy had been calling your name until she pokes you. You snap out of it and look over at her.

“Are you okay? You look like you are really worried about something.” Derpy stares worriedly at you.

“Oh, sorry I was just thinking about some things, no need to worry.” You smile trying to lessen her concern.

“But your eyes seem sad and I could hear you mumble something about losing something.” Derpy stops walking.

You think for a few moments trying to come up with an excuse.

“I was just thinking about if I lost one of my slippers last night. I hear tonight is going to get colder than usual.”

“Derpy looks into your eyes. “ You know you’re a bad liar right?”

Your heart skips a beat. “Uh, what do you mean?” You say with a nervous smile.

“Never mind, I trust you enough that you will tell me when it’s something really important. Just remember that I will always be here for you, okay?” She smiles sweetly.

You could feel the “butterfly in the pit of your stomach” feeling coming back; you quickly realize that will be one thing you will have a hard time hiding.

A light blush appears on your face. “Thanks, I promise I’ll tell you soon.” A small smile forms on your face as well.

“I know you will. So stop being so mopey.” Without warning, Derpy leans into you looks up at you.

Your blush intensifies as you stare into her eyes again.

“What’s the matter, are you sure you’re not sick or something? Your face has been turning red a lot, especially since our walk.”

“Yes I’m fine, don’t worry about it!” You start walking faster.

“Hey slow down, what’s wrong?” She asks chasing after you.

Nothing I said!” You walk a little faster.

“Hey you’re going to hit that-“She was cut off by a loud ‘SMACK’ following by you stumbling backwards from a street light, grunting in pain.

After Derpy runs up to check on you to make sure you were okay, she notices the red marking on your forehead and starts laughing.

“I’m sorry, but it looks funny!” She stated through laughter.

You simply rub your forehead waiting for her to calm down.

“You sure you’re okay?” She asks again.

“Yeah I’m fine; my pride hurts more than my head does.” You smile back at Her.

“That’s good.” She simply says as you both continue down the pathway.

Both of you make it to her house not long after that. She takes a deep sigh before walking up to the door and motioning to open it.

“Huh? It’s locked?” Derpy proceeds to knock.

A few moments later, the door slowly opened to find a shocked stallion standing in the doorway.

“Derpy!” Her father rushes to hug her, thrilled to see her.

“I am so sorry about what happened. I do not deserve forgiveness for it and can understand if you do not want to be near me. However, I’m just beyond relieved to see you are alright.” Her father hugged her tighter.

“It’s alright Dad, I forgave you immediately, and I was just emotional from the fight before.” Derpy hugs her father back.

The father looks at you for a moment. You look away expecting another insult.

“Thank you for looking after my daughter.” A shocked expression appears on your face. You did not expect it at all.

“I am happy to help.” You say back.

“So, I thought about everything. I was a bit harsh to say those things towards your friend. I will not object to you being around him.” Derpy’s eyes lit up at her father’s words.

“If that’s the case then you can also help with the play!” She exclaimed happily.

“A play? What play?” You looked at her confused.

“Oh right I almost forgot! Every year there is a special play that we normally hold at are neighboring town, Canterlot. However, this year we are having it here and everyone wants to make sure it goes well. However, the way things are going; they will not have everything set up in time. Therefore, they need all the help they can get. It will be a great way to show you are a great individual and not a bad guy.” Derpy explains hopeful to your answer.

You thought about it for a moment then look over at her father who simply smiles and nods. “Alright, I will try to.” Derpy smiles at your answer.

“Okay, they start everything early around eight in the morning. So be ready!” Derpy turns and heads inside after waving goodbye, followed by her father.

“Well I guess I will have to entertain myself for a while. I could always head into town and get my paycheck for the week.” You decide, as you head towards town.

~*~*~

An hour or so passed since you decided to do some minor shopping before heading home to relax. To your surprise, the stores were hardly full. A few ponies here and there but that is it. You buy what you need in no time at all and leave to head home. Your mind starts to drift back to the grey mare once again. You smile at the events that led up to today, saying you are happy is an understatement. However, the problem of your rapidly growing feelings towards her still festers in the back of your mind.

Some commotion brought you back to reality. Following the noise with your eyes, you notice the building you are walking by has a bunch of tables, chairs and what look like props for a play all over the place. Upon closer expectation, you also see a bunch of ponies inside setting up everything.

“Huh, I guess that’s the place Derpy was talking about. I wonder if it really will help in giving me a better reputation.” You thought to yourself as you walk past.

However, you immediately stop in your tracks after a thought crossed your mind. Seeing the building that is holding the play gave you an idea. Hearths Warming Eve is a holiday after all. You could get her a gift to show her how much she means to you.

Smiling to yourself and running back to the market district, you immediately start searching for a place that sold jewelry. One place stood out in particular; it seemed a bit fancy but you figure it would be a great place to browse. As you enter, the store clerk greets you with a friendly smile. Looking around, you notice the overall price range was a bit over the amount you can hope to pay. You then move to the clearance section in hopes of finding something. Your eyes immediately come across a small heart locket for sell. It is just in the price range and it would be something you think she would appreciate as well. After calling the store clerk over and having him take it from its case, he places it in s special box for you. He compliments you in taste and that he was sure your special marefriend would enjoy it. Of course, you say it was for a friend but he simply chuckles and wishes you a pleasant day.

After making it back to your house and walking inside. You immediately put away everything you bought, hang up your coat and took off your shoes. After making yourself lunch you head to you to the living room and grab a book off the shelf.

You look at the books title and read it aloud. “Dating Advice for beginners”

You proceed to open and read the book. However, the more you read, the more it just seems like a waste of time. Tossing the book on the coffee table, you decide to just eat, go read something else and think of a solution yourself.

“It’s not like I need help anyway. I will do it on my own.” You say to yourself.

Before you knew it, the day wastes away and night takes over. You figure it would be wise to go to bed early tonight to make sure you not tired for tomorrow. After heading to the bathroom and slipping into something comfortable, you crawl into bed and lay there for a few minutes before slowly falling into sleeps grasp.

The next morning, thanks to the extra hours of sleep, you manage to wake up earlier then you need to. After getting dressed, you head for the kitchen to make yourself a good breakfast. Eggs, toast and juice was always your preferred breakfast on any day when you were in no hurry. After you ate, you wash the dishes you ate on and decide to head over to Derpy’s house for once. You bundle up and lock the door behind you before heading to her house.

Snow is still thick on the ground as you head towards Derpy’s home. The snow crunching under your shoes let you know that winter was not close to over. You have taken a path many times; however, it is still peaceful and calm. As you make your way up to Derpy’s house, you hope her father did not answer. He still makes it awkward being near Derpy when he is around.

Knocking on the door, you wait patiently for someone to answer. After a moment, you hear hoof steps coming from the other side.

The door opens and you see Derpy standing in the doorway.

Slightly surprised by your arrival, she says. “What are you doing here so early?” She asks

“I had a few extra hours of sleep and thought I’d save you the trouble of coming over to my place.” You say with a smile.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that, I like coming over to your house, but thank you. You can come in and wait while I get ready. It shouldn’t take too long.” She says as she invites you inside.

“You can wait in the living room. I’ll be right back.” She says as she ran back up stairs.

Doing as your told, you sit in the closest seat you come across and relax. About ten minutes pass and no sighs of Derpy at all. You thought about maybe roaming a bit to check out her house but quickly dismissed the idea as you saw her father walk into the room. Waving awkwardly, her father looks at you with an expressionless face.

“I was curious who was here.” Derpy’s father says.

“If you are still uncomfortable with me here I can leave, I’d rather no start trouble.” You say to Derpy’s father.

He sighs to himself. “Don’t worry about it. I was over reacting a bit when I saw you. I trust my daughter enough to pick whom she befriends and if she likes you then you cannot be that bad. Plus she talks about you so much I feel as though I know you enough, myself.” He said sitting in a chair opposite to you.

“I didn’t realize she talked about me so much.” You thought to yourself. It brought a smile to your face for some reason.

“She also told me how you protected her from those bullies the other day as well, thank you for that. Everyone teased Derpy a lot when she was young and she still gets into those types of situations even now. So to have a friend like you to help her means a lot to me.” Her father finished with a sip of coffee.

Slightly taken aback by his words, you could only play his words in your head. You only though Derpy getting picked on were only occasional happenings. The thought of why she was always visiting you a lot never really crossed your mind until now as well.

“At any rate, thank you for being there for my daughter, it has been some time since she had a good friend.” She said after the silence.

“I will always be there for her no matter what.” You simply state to her father

Receiving a satisfactory answer from you, he smiles and stands up. “Alright, that’s all I need to say, Derpy should be down soon.” He says as he left you there.

You sit there, thinking about everything he told you for a little while longer before you hear quick hoof steps coming down the stairs.

Derpy walks into the living room and smiles sheepishly at you. “Sorry, that took longer than expected.”

“Don’t worry about it. Are you ready to go?” You ask as you stand up.

“Yep, I am set whenever you are.” You start heading towards the door with Derpy following close behind. However, before you can leave, you hear a voice come from the kitchen area.

“Oh and about our little talk, that wasn’t an invite to date my daughter!” He shouted, causing yours and Derpy’s face to redden.

“Dad, don’t say stuff like that!” Derpy shouts as her wings shoot up, one almost hitting you.

You both leave her house. You try cooling down by not think about what her father blurted out. Must take one-step at a time either way.

Glancing over at Derpy, you can see she is also feeling awkward considering she is walking a few feet away from you. Derpy glances over at you and shortly catches your eyes before quickly turning her head away again, making you do the same. A few minutes of awkward silence follow suit and soon almost become too much to bear.

However, before you can say something, Derpy speaks up. “So, what were you and my dad talking about earlier?”

“Oh, it was nothing special really. He just wanted to chat.” You say in hopes to satisfy her curiosity.

“I don’t buy it, otherwise he wouldn’t have said anything about dating me, now tell me.” Derpy looks at you with a determined stare.

You sigh to yourself and give up. “I can never hide things from you for long can I? You see, he wanted to thank me for becoming your friend and apologize for before as well. He told me about how when you were young you had a bully problem and hoped I would stay good friends with you.” You glance over at Derpy who is smiling to herself, most likely from the knowledge of her father’s concern you figure.

“Oh okay then, that makes sense. My dad always worries about me. Still, he didn’t have to say, that.” She says as a small blush reappears on her cheeks.

You can guess what she means by that, making you blush as well. You feel what little confidence you have is slipping away.

The both of you finally arrive at the building after some awkward silence and glances at one another. As you and Derpy walk in the front door an older mare walks up to you both and greets you.

“Hello there, is this young man the one you were telling me about that was coming with you?” She asks.

“Yeah, it is. We are ready to help whenever needed.” Derpy says.

“Alright why don’t you help with carrying props onto the stage and Derpy here will help decorate.” She says, in which you both nod and follow the older mare as she shows you where to start.

Although it took some time, a few stallions actually approach to you and offer help when they notice you struggling. “Hey uh, is it true that you are that you’re not dangerous?”

You look at the stallion that asked that and shrug. “That’s something I think you have to see for yourself.”

The stallion looks at the others and shrugs. He offers his help again in which you gladly accept.

Derpy’s idea seemed to be working quite well, better than expected. Of course, you knew it would still take quite a bit longer to convince everyone else.

A few hours passed and lunchtime rolled around signaling everyone for lunch break. You ended up finding Derpy in the crowd who was also heading to lunch. You both talked about what all you had to do. Of course, Derpy had better stories to tell like always. Of course, when you told her about how the stallions from earlier helped you, she was excited by the news. Lunch quickly ended and you both headed back and began working again.

As the day winds down, you only have a few more boxes to carry over to the stage before you are done for the day. As you place the last box up on stage, you hear hoofsteps coming from behind you. You quickly turn around to see the Stallion from the other day that tried to pick a fight with you. In addition to a couple of others, you have not seen before.

“Well well well, what do we have here?” He said in a mocking tone.

“It’s the freak. Where’s wall eyes, isn’t she always around you?” The stallion asks.

“ Her name is Derpy, what do you want?” You ask him coldly.

“I just saw you here and was wondering why they let you in here. But hey, having you to do all the manual labor seems fitting.” He laughs as his other friends joined in.

“And I’m sure you have nothing better in your life then to try to provoke me am I right? After all, simple mindedness seems to be your strong suit.” You say mockingly back.

“What did you say to me, freak!?” He says, angrily glaring at you.

“You think you’re tough? Then fight me again. You got lucky last time and I promise you it will not happen again.” He states in a threatening voice.

“I have no reason to fight you again, now then if you would be so kind as to move, I would greatly appreciate it.” You say politely.

“I can just beat you into the ground now and call it good.” He says, walking closer to you.

However, the older mare that is in charge of the play appears and gives him a stern look, stopping his advance. “I will not have you starting a fight on this stage, if you are finished, please leave.” She says to the hostile stallion.

The stallion grunts in anger before walking passed you. However, as he does so he whispers into your ear. “I will get my revenge, just wait.” He said just before walking off, followed closely by his friends.

“Are you alright?” She asks.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” You say with a smile.

“Alright, well once you’re done you may leave as well. We really cut it close but the stage will be finished before the opening with time to spare. Oh, and don’t forget, the play will start at seven tonight!” She says before walking away.

It did not take long for you to finish everything. After setting up some of the props on stage, you take a few steps back and sigh with content at a job well done. As you stretched, you wonder what Derpy is up to right now and if she is close to finishing all she needs to do.

You figure you will hang around and look or her for a bit. Therefore, you walk around behind the stage, passing a few stallion and mares along the way. Shockingly enough, most of them are not shying away from you or avoiding you at all. It was strange to you to say the least. They greet you somewhat normally, though most seem like they are trying to be nice then anything.

Eventually you came across the dressing rooms for the play. You notice a few racks with various dresses and costumes hanging on them. They look like medieval clothing to you, from peasant cloths to royalty. You start hearing commotion coming from one of the rooms in front of you.

All of a sudden the door opens up and you see a couple of mares as well as Derpy herself come out of the room. Derpy was talking normally to the other to as she walks out. You notice she is wearing a very elegant dress, light blue in color with white frills lining the dress with different designs around the stomach and arm areas. She looks stunning in the dress as well. You cannot seem to be able to look away from her. Derpy looks ahead and notices you looking at her.

“Hey, what are you doing back here?” She asks.

You shake your head slightly and refocus. “Oh, I was finished with everything and was given permission to leave so I wanted to see what you were up to before I did.”

“Oh well I am done, I was just helping with some extra stuff.” She looks away for a moment.

“She helped a lot actually, we needed a model and it worked out pretty well.” One of the others states.

“Besides, doesn’t she look stunning in this dress?” The other one asks.

“Uh, yeah I suppose she looks very stunning.” You say, rubbing the back of your head.

Derpy looks away, slightly blushing. The two mares smirked at both of your reactions.

“You suppose? What do you mean you suppose? One of the mares asks.

“You should be straight forward with your answer.” The other mare said.

“Guys, leave it alone, its fine.” Derpy blushes more.

“Fine, she looks very stunning in the dress.” You say, a small blush appearing on your face as well making the two mares giggle as Derpy’s blush intensifies.

“Anyway, let me go change and we will head out.” Derpy says, stuttering a little.

A few minutes later, she comes back out of the dressing room in her normal clothing.

“Okay, I’m ready.” She says to you as she starts to leave.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.” You thought to yourself as you follow her out the door.

A silent trip later, you both make it to her house first.

“Um, I was wondering.” Derpy suddenly said as she stopped in front of her house.

“Yeah?” You are curious to what she was going to ask.

“Well, I know you have never been to a Hearths Warming Eve play before and I don’t want you to be confused about what’s going on. So if you want to, will you want to go with me? Just to go and watch the play of course.” Derpy asks as she stands there awkwardly.

You felt your heart skip a beat. You were not sure what to say to that. You quickly try to calm down.

“Sure, of course I don’t mind Derpy, we are friends after all.” You try to sound as calm and collect as possible.

She smiles upon hearing your answer. “Okay then, make sure you’re ready before seven. See you soon!” she says excitedly.

You wave goodbye and head home, your mind swimming in emotion and thoughts. You make it home, rush to your room, and collapse on the bed.

“Was she really asking me on a date?” You thought to yourself.

“No it couldn’t be. This is Derpy after all. I must be over thinking it.” Sighing to yourself you look over and see a rectangular black box sitting on your dresser.

You pick the box up and look at it. “Either way, I have to tell her tonight. I can’t let these thoughts eat away at me.” You confirm to yourself.

You decide it best to relax for the rest of the day before it is time to leave. All of the work you did all day wore you out more than you realize however. You begin to pass out not long after laying on your bed and close your eyes. You lay there fading in and out of consciousness, images of Derpy flash in your mind at random. Her smiles, her frowns, all of it. You snap awake again and look around for a moment.

Looking at the time, you notice roughly an hour had gone by. Slowly, you crawl out of bed and sit up. “I guess I better get ready and go.” You say as you stand up and stretch