Limits

-Chapter 3-
-Repairs-

Derpy shuffled awkwardly on her hooves just outside Carousel Boutique. The gray mare struggled inwardly with her decision to have the artistic unicorn look at her mail bag. What if she couldn’t afford it? The meager amount of bits she earned from her mail route minus what it would cost to repair the bag left barely enough bits to last until her next payday.

Raising her hoof she knocked lightly. She waited a moment before remembering that it was a business not a residence. It was perfectly alright, not to mention expected, for customers to walk right in. A small bell chimed at her entrance. “Hello?” The mail mare called out hesitantly. “Is anypony here?”

The shop smelt of flowers and fabric, not exactly an unpleasant odor, curiously strange she supposed considering there wasn’t a single visible flower. Derpy cast her eyes around the room, looking for the shop’s proprietor, but finding it vacant of anypony but herself.

A line of stuffed pony mannequins stood at the furthest end, half finished dresses adorning their lifeless forms. The mail mare smiled as she moved nearer, her left eye drawn to one dress in particular, while the other rolled randomly. It was a simple design, a long flowing fabric jet black with golden floral highlights along the hem and bodice, beneath thin gold lace. To her surprise it was free of the elaborate accessories decorating those on either side of it, yet still managing to capture the imagination. It certainly held the mail mare transfixed.

Derpy caught sight of the purple maned unicorn out of the corner of her wandering eye. It took only a moment for the preoccupied unicorn to notice the grey pony hovering near her half finished designs. She looked a bit surprised but quickly smiled. “Hello Derpy dear.”

“Hello.” Derpy said.

“Do you like that design?” Rarity asked curiously noticing that even though the pegasus had turned toward her, only one of her eyes focused on it’s intentional target, while the other had wandered back to the dress. The mail mare smiled faintly and nodded.

“Perhaps I could have you model for me when it is finished?” The unicorn offered her full attention now on the wall eyed mare, who seemed truly perplexed by the suggestion. Realizing the awkward conversation would only hang there if she said nothing further Rarity went on. “Never mind the dress, is there something I can help you with?”

Derpy placed her broken mailbag on the counter and a knowing grimace came to the unicorns face. “Ah yes, Twilight did mentioned something about your unfortunate run in with Rainbow Dash yesterday. You weren’t hurt were you?”

“I’m alright.” Derpy said quietly neglecting to mention her aching tooth. She had gotten used to the pain of it by this time, a necessary practice considering she couldn’t afford to see a dentist. “Can you fix it?” The wall eyed mail mare wondered aloud.

“When I’m done you won’t even recognize it.” Rarity exclaimed excitedly. Derpy groaned inwardly fearing what exactly that statement implied. She would never say anything out loud, but she had always thought the unicorn was a bit over zealous in many of her dress designs, something Derpy hoped to avoid concerning her mail bag.

“That satchel is still postal property.” The mail mare said, feeling that disclosing that information in particular was necessary. “I’m only borrowing it.”

“I promise to be extra careful.” Rarity reassured, her tone of voice convincing Derpy she hadn’t heard a word of what had just been said. “I’ll have it back to you before your next shift.”

Derpy left the boutique feeling optimistic despite the nauseating pain in her mouth. Her stomach grumbled and she withdrew a small collection of bits from the pouch at her side. She was happy to find there was more enough to get lunch from that small café down by the park. See? She thought quietly to herself as she began to trot happily toward her next destination. “I told you today would be better.”

--

“So doc, when can I get outta here?” Soarin asked impatiently. It had been two days since the accident, and the normally active colt was growing restless. Spitfire hadn’t been back since she had hurried out the previous morning, saying she needed to think about some things.

“The good news is your leg is not broken.” The doctor, a dark burgundy stallion with a stethoscope cutie mark, observed as he held an x ray of Soarin’s leg up to the light. His expression remained blank while he scanned it; his eyes squinted narrowly as he searched for any discrepancies.

Setting that aside the pony moved to inspect the colt’s medical chart hanging at the end of the hospital bed, while the colt got to his hooves, testing the accuracy of the doctor’s diagnosis. The doctor grunted occasionally, pursing his lips as he read through the chart. Soaring couldn’t tell if he was earnestly reading or only pretending to read.

“Everything looks to be in order.” He replied with a smile. “Considering the nature of your accident it could have been much worse. Had you not caught yourself at the last moment I imagine I wouldn’t be talking with you now.”

The pegasus cringed at the outcome that statement suggested. Soarin would have never pegged himself for the suicidal type but for a moment he had actually considered it hadn’t he? The pony shook his head ridding himself of the thought. “What about my wing?”

“That filly friend of yours left here crying yesterday.” The doctor said distractingly a moment before he took hold of Soarin’s wing with his magic and pulled it outward, stretched it to its entirety. Soarin let out a cry, overwhelmed enough to shed tears at the severity of the pain the motion caused. Releasing his wing the doctor frowned. “I think its best you go apologize.”

--

Spitfire lay on Soarin’s bed, fiddling absently with the stuffed doll bearing his likeness. He busied himself hanging the get well cards from his fans on the wall alongside his numerous flying awards and an autographed poster of some famous pony the yellow mare didn’t recognize. The vibrant rays of Celestia’s setting sun fell in through the window playing off the highlights in her mane, creating the illusion of fire.

“What will you do?” She wondered out loud growing tired of the silence. While his apology had been uncomfortable, the explanation of his reasons for it was even more so. She still appeared doubtful but after a time had relented and accepted his apology after she made him promise that he would never try anything so recklessly stupid again.

“I haven’t thought about it.” He answered honestly. Now that the recent article he’d done for Cosmare magazine had gone public he was more popular than ever. This newest incident was only bound to agitate the already gossip hungry public, the thought of which left him unsettled.

Spitfire frowned tossing the doll at Soarin who appeared lost in thought. It smacked him on the side of the head, startling him from his stupor. He smiled playfully at the mare before crossing the room and jumping onto the bed beside her. She giggled as his added weight on the fluffy cloud mattress made her bounce.

“You know you’re my best friend right?” She said turning to stare into his bright green eyes. He matched her stare a moment before leaning over and kissing her lightly on the forehead.