Limits

Limits

Soarin stared quietly at the fading starlight as dawn approached, Derpy lying only a short distance away. She was awake but only just, her mismatched eyes fluttering weakly as sleep hung heavy upon them. She shook her head, managing to snap herself fully awake though that too was fleeting. A glance toward Soarin found his gaze lingering on the sky, his eyes distant as if he were lost in some far off memory.

She bit her lip ashamedly as one wonky eye remained on him, trailing it seemed of its own accord across his messy wings. She ruffled her own feathered wings unconsciously. A slight chuckle found her gaze momentarily locked with Soarin’s, as well as a flushing pink coloring her muzzle.

Throughout the night the pair had shared what could be salvaged from the picnic, as well as several short awkward conversations. Soarin told her what he could of his still fragmented memories while Derpy explained, alongside numerous apologies, what had happened to cause his memory loss and the various injuries that went hoof in hoof with it. As the morning loomed the conversations had fallen into a serene silence, and Derpy again felt her head fall forward; her eyes again fluttering open doggedly as darkness threatened to overcome her.

It was a losing battle…

She spent several moments lost in the quiet darkness, unsure if she was awake or sleeping. From within the veil of slumber she became acutely aware of three things; first was the light yet firm press of the stallions lips against her cheek, second was the soft quiet ‘thank you’ whispered into her ear, and third was the steady measure of his retreating hoof steps.

--

“You’re giving this to me?” Derpy asked in disbelief. The golden ticket she held in her hooves shimmered brightly in the noonday sun. She rubbed her eye absently, admiring the calligraphic script adorning the gold colored paper once her eyes had settled into a proper fashion. The flicker of a scowl crossing Rarity’s face went unnoticed by the distracted mare before it was replaced by an easy smile.

The pair sat outside a small café eagerly awaiting their cuisine. Derpy had splurged on a sandwich and lemonade, the pouch in her saddlebags still bursting with bits despite this. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d had such a pile of money, yet she was reluctant to use it for anything more than small sporadic urges. It was true Post Master had given her a vacation and that at the end of it she would still have a job and an income, but she couldn’t guarantee anything in way of an apartment payment or rental fee, half the reason she was still sleeping on clouds or beneath trees in the park...

“Of course darling,” Rarity assured snapping the mare from her thoughts. “One night was more than enough for me.”

There was adamant derision in the white unicorn’s tone that Derpy couldn’t decipher on her own. Though she found herself slightly curious as to why Rarity would forfeit such an illustrious gift she chose not to press the matter further. “But why give them to me?” Derpy wondered. “There has to be some other pony…”

Her eye fell to the ticket again as small smile creeping to her face. She wondered if she would have to part with it at the door. Maybe she could keep it and put it in a frame? Then she could hang it in the house… she didn’t have. Derpy’s small smile fell as she tucked the ticket into her saddlebags.

“That’s only part of the reason I invited you to lunch.” Rarity said a coy smile playing on her face. Derpy leaned back as Rarity leaned forward, her eyes gleaming. “Tell me how it went last night?”

Derpy’s face reddened as remembered the feeling of the stallion’s lips on her cheek and his voice in her ear. She stammered out a reply that was less than actual words and only a little more than thoughtless mumbling. Rarity chuckled lightly. “So it went well?”

The grey pony nodded sipping hastily at her drink while Rarity mimicked the action with a bit more sophistication than Derpy was able to convey. The sun was warm on her wings and she found herself stretching them out the tiniest bit, reveling in the soothing heat as it dried the remaining traces of that mornings dew from her soft down feathers. “I like him…” The grey pony mumbled, her tone rivaling Fluttershy in quiet meekness. “Like-Like him…” She clarified after a moment.

“I’ve no doubt of that.” Rarity teased lightly. “The question now is what you are going to do about it.”

“What do you mean?” Derpy wondered rubbing absently at her drifting eye. It panned longingly to the sky and the thin wisps of cloud overhead while the other stared doggedly at the half eaten sandwich in front of her.

“I should think it obvious.” Rarity murmured nibbling at her salad. “He has made the first move, now it is your turn.”

Derpy’s brow wrinkled in confusion as she attempted to decipher just what the unicorn was trying to tell her. After a length of time it was Rarity’s turn to clarify. “Ask him to the Gala.”

--

Soarin flapped his large wings, scattering the lingering morning dew. The pain he’d been fighting the last several months had become a dull ache, near forgotten with the help from Twilight Sparkle’s magic. However while the pain had been lessened considerably, the tension and the fear remained, an ever present distraction in his mind, competing with his natural born instincts. Though he longed for the sky something held him back, something not related to his physical well being.

“Are you coming or not?” Rainbow Dash hollered from further up, sitting casually on a tuft of cloud. She watched him carefully a teasing challenge in her magenta eyes. “I bet you one of Applejack’s homemade apple pies you can’t beat me to the edge of the Everfree and back.” Rainbow repeated reminding the distracted stallion of their wager. At the mention of apple pie, homemade no less, Soarin’s mouth began to water and a lopsided grin quickly spread across his face. He wiped it away, replacing it with a cocky smirk, as he exhaled deeply and launched his body into the sky.

Now or never!