Limits

Rarity let out a startled cry as the door of Carousel Boutique burst open and Derpy tumbled in. Unable to slow her momentum the clumsy pony rolled across the room upsetting several free standing pony figures and slamming headlong into an supply cabinet laden with...supplies.

“Hurry, shut the door!” She hissed peering out from the shelter of several rolled swatches of silky fabric that had fallen on her as a result of her collision. The white unicorn did as bid though much slower than Derpy would have liked, and with a fair amount of trepidation.

“Are you alright Derpy?” Rarity asked levitating the fabric off the grey pegasus pony despite the distance across the room. The grey mail mare seemed reluctant to leave the shelter of it, but relented at the unicorn’s insistence. She fluttered around the room closing the drapes and bathing the room in darkness.

“Just what has gotten into you?” Rarity questioned at the mail mare’s unusual behavior.

“Nothing,” Derpy lied. Her eyes scoured the room looking for a believable excuse. She smiled as her left eye found the dress she’d been admiring several days prior. “I…I just wanted to try on that dress I was admiring the other day.”

Rarity looked skeptical but her eyes lit up all the same.

Derpy held still as best she could while Rarity fitted the dress to her slightly larger frame. It itched a little, and was tighter than she was comfortable with in several areas, but all that was worked out in short order as the white unicorn adjusted it properly. The mail mare found her thoughts wandering across the events of the day only to have them pulled back as Rarity engaged her in frivolous conversation.

So long as that conversation remained on why she had not yet delivered all the mail and whether or not the dress chaffed she could handle it just fine.

“You did not come here to try on this dress did you?” Rarity asked suddenly calling the mail pony’s bluff. A devious and somewhat concerned smile came to her face as she continued to tug on the corset strings tightening the dress a bit more than Derpy was comfortable with. “I may not be the Element of Honesty but that does not mean I can’t pick out when a pony is lying. Now tell me what’s really bothering you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Derpy said quietly.

“Derpy dear, we’re friends right?” Rarity asked looking the mail mare in the one eye that was gazing forward. The other was staring someplace between her hooves or maybe a little bit further left, she wasn’t sure. The mail mare nodded slightly, still a bit uncertain herself, but regardless of the truth of it Rarity continued. “And as your friend I want to help you, but I cannot do that if you won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

Derpy bit her lip a moment before relenting to the white unicorn. She explained what had happened since she had seen her last; the argument with Rainbow Dash, her run in with the injured pegasus, her near encounter with him again at Sugarcube Corner only an hour before. She left out the argument with her co-worker at the post office. There were some things even friends didn’t need to know.

“So now I’m here…hiding from him…I guess.” Derpy finished lamely. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”

“Derpy, a crush is nothing to be ashamed of.” Rarity told her with a knowing smile.

“What? A crush!” Derpy said snapping her head up to look at Rarity with her rarely seen oddly straight eyed expression. “No, no that’s not it! I don’t even know his name!”

“Why don’t you ask him?” The unicorn suggested.

“But that’s…No. I can’t.” The grey pegasus pony sputtered, her cheeks flushed as she recalled the warmth of his body, the slight tickle of his feathers as she tucked herself beneath his outstretched wing. She couldn’t recall a time in her life when she had ever been so close to a pony, a stallion no less. The grey pony shook her head trying to rid herself of the images that came to mind, as well as the searing heat that warmed her cheeks.

“Stop fidgeting Derpy dear or you’ll ruin the dress.” Rarity’s voice broke through her thoughts and the grey mare stilled. “I’m sorry it’s just, it’s hard for me to talk to other ponies.”

“You’re talking with me just fine.” Rarity pointed out much to Derpy’s chagrin. The grey pony sighed and composed her thoughts before speaking.

“It’s not the same.” Derpy explained. “With you I don’t feel intimidated, or dumb, or different. You don’t hate me like other ponies do.”

“No pony hates you Derpy.” Rarity soothed.

“Rainbow Dash does.” Derpy said meekly.

“I’m sure that was all just a misunderstanding.” Rarity assured hopefully, sensing something far more than she was aware of was going on between the two ponies. Her sliver of doubt didn’t escape the notice of the grey pegasus who frowned visibly. “In any case she apologized didn’t she?”

Derpy’s response was a sniffle, accompanied by thick hot tears sliding down her cheeks, before she completely broke, no longer able to keep her feelings at bay. For a moment Rarity worried about the dress, but quickly replaced her fears with a genuine sympathy for her newest friend, alongside a slowly brewing annoyance toward Rainbow Dash.

“Let’s talk about something else.” Rarity said quickly as she dried Derpy’s tears with a scrap of discarded fabric. The white unicorn scoured the confines of her shop looking for a cheerier topic to discuss with the distraught pony. Her eyes landed briefly on an old flyer stuck into one corner of a free standing mirror near the armoire Derpy had upset upon her tumble into the shop.

“Have you ever been to the Grand Galloping Gala?”

--

Soarin was limping now, the tip of his left wing dragging the ground. He couldn’t find the strength to fold it properly, not that it mattered. He was in no condition to fly. Chasing that mail pony had proven that.

But why couldn’t he fly?

The stallion winced as he pulled his wings once more into his body before entering the bakery he had left moments before. Lifting his hoof he frowned noticing a splotch of red staining the edge of it. That mare had been bleeding he remembered vaguely and he felt even worse for unwittingly scaring her. Had that been his fault, her impact with the wall hardly seemed enough cause her to bleed. Maybe he had crashed into her last night…?

Before he could dwell on it for too long the annoyingly high pitched voice of the baker pony interrupted him.

“You came back!” She said happily noticing Soarin from across the room. She had a tray of muffins balanced on her head. “Sorry about Derpy. She can be a little weird from time to time. I don’t know why she was scared of you though. Maybe you should take her a muffin and apologize. She really really likes muffins!”

“You said her name was Derpy?” Soarin asked, a bit surprised by the name. Isn’t that a bad thing? Why would she have a name like that?

“Yep, that’s right, Derpy Hooves. She’s the mail pony here in Ponyville.” The pink mare said watching him quizzically. He appeared lost in deep thought as he stared at his hoof. "Are you alright mister? You don't look too good."

Soarin cringed at being called mister when he was only slightly older than she was if looks were anything to go by. He offered a weak smile before surrendering and passing over a hoofful of bits for a pastry of each flavor.

“You know where I might find her?” He asked the bag of muffins settled between his shoulder blades.

The pink pony rubbed her chin a moment. “Dash might know. She a blue pegasus pony, with a rainbow mane…” Something was familiar about that Soarin realized. “She should be clearing the clouds above the park about now.”

Soarin thanked the pink pony as he left the bakery his mind reeling with his subconscious attempt to piece together the vague notion of familiarity at the mention of Rainbow Dash.