A Golden Flame

Chapters

Chapter I: A Cryptic Background of a Cryptic Pony
Chapter II: A Rainbow Reunion
Chapter III: Psychological Manipulation
Chapter IV: Apple Pie
Chapter V: A Place to Stay
Chapter VI: The Core of the Idea
Chapter VII: Derpy's Drawing
Chapter VIII: Pinkie Pie's Party Cannon
Chapter IX: Twilight's Lab
Chapter X: The Conversation
Chapter XI: Flight and Plight
Chapter XII: From Flight to Fight
Chapter XIII: Derpy's Wing
Chapter XIV: Official

Chapter I: A Cryptic Background of a Cryptic Pony

***Be sure to change your top-right drop-down from 'Light' to 'Dark'! If you don't, some of the dialogue in future chapters will be nearly impossible to read, or in the case of Rarity -- who's quote-color is white, completely impossible! Thou hath been warned!***

Also, if you're also a football fan, PLEASE check out RandomExpert781's story, NELL: The Start of Longball; it's essentially a story regarding football in Equestria. HOWEVER, he's actually filling out the rosters with OCs (in addition to the characters from the show), and there's 16 teams...and as of when I'm typing this, I'm the only person he's been able to recruit. (My pony data: Name: Golden Flash; Number: 17; Position: WR, PRl Team: Ponyville Elements). If you're interested, please PM him ASAP. Please and thank you!

Author’s note: This is my first fanfic, and it would be a hyperbole to say that it is also a desperate attempt to make a vague idea into a story. Fortunately, that’s a detail that I don’t give a damn about; at least I have an idea. Nonetheless, some constructive criticism would be appreciated. Just don’t be a dick about it, aight?

Author's note: Just an fyi, this first chapter is essentially just a short background on my character (as you could infer from the title). This will not be the length of each chapter--you can expect more out of the chapters to come.

Chapter I: A Cryptic Background of a Cryptic Pony

I moved to Ponyville for the sake of my sanity.

I never liked living in such a large city as Cloudsdale. I’ve never been very social, and whenever I would try, my diction would frequently lure my peers into a lexicological impasse. Case and point. Additionally, although my name and appearance accurately depicted my skill-set, they could not be more different from any reasonable depiction of my personality. However, my cutie-mark does do the latter justice, albeit I am more-or-less the only pony who understands it. My cutie-mark is a circle surrounding an upright triangle. How that is related to “Golden Flame” is just as cryptic as the pony who bears it: the circle and upright triangle are the alchemical symbols for gold and fire, respectively.

…I need to learn to not stray from a topic with such frequency.

During my stead in Cloudsdale -- which had encompassed the entirety of my life up to this point -- I’ve been miserable, despite having some features and ‘connections’ that some other ponies may envy. I am often reminded of being a skilled flier, but unlike most other pegasi, I...don’t necessarily care all too much for it.

Why? That’s a good question...and one I myself seek the answer to.

As a result, I wasn’t very keen when I was enrolled into the Junior’s Flight Academy. However, the Academy did help me in one area...and in no way was it flying. I met my only true friends there. Yep. All three of them. That’s it. I told you I was anti-social, did I not? If it weren’t for them, I would have never have gotten out of my shell...well, with them, at least.

And more so than anything else, it is because of them that I am moving my current residence to Ponyville...as that is where all three of them presently call home.

I pray that they remember me...

Chapter II: A Rainbow Reunion

Author's note: I decided to give in to my OCD and color-code the quotes. It's mainly just to help you know who's talking, and helps avoid that "she said, then he said, then that other girl said" sort of annoyance. xD

Chapter II: A Rainbow Reunion

It seems that at least one of them remembered me, though it seems obvious now, especially considering that I just got tackled before I even got into town...by a familiar, rainbow blur...

Rainbow blur zooming towards me, check.

Brace for inevitable impact, check.

Impact, check.

Tumbling backwards with the other pony as a result of the impact, check.

Finally get pinned to the ground by Rainbow Dash, check.

Her ‘flying-tackle’ had become as routine as any of her other flying techniques; the exact same every time.

“Ha! I knew it! I thought it was you, Goldie! How’ve you been? What are you doin’ outside Ponyville?!?!”

Goldie...it seems like forever since I’ve been called that. But then again, it’s been years since I’ve seen Rainbow Dash -- ‘Goldie’ was her nickname for me, and as time has told, it was hers alone.

“Well, at first I was trying not to get tackled...”

“Wow, you haven’t changed a bit, have ya?” Rainbow interrupted me, amused by my unchanged sarcasm.

“Likewise. And do you have any particular reason for why you’re still laying on me after you tack...”

Rainbow interrupts me again with a friendly hoof to my shoulder as she stands up. That was another part of her fly-tackling-me habit: I often had to remind her that she was still laying on top of me post-tackle.

“But seriously, Goldie. Whatcha doin’ here?” Rainbow inquires as she helps me up.

I wait a few seconds to come back to all of my senses -- I wasn’t as used to Rainbow’s fly-tackles as a result of time.

“Actually...I finally decided to join my only friends, and considering that all three of you live here in Ponyville...”

Rainbow cuts me off again. “Oh, that reminds me! You need to meet our other friends he--” She stops for a second to think, before resuming. “Aaaactually, I bet you’d prefer a quick reunion with ‘Shy and Derps, too, wouldn’t ya?”

Fluttershy and Ditzy “Derpy Hooves” Doo...they, along with Rainbow Dash, make up the three friends I’ve ever had, and it seems that with each of them I had a special connection that was unique in each and every way. The more I think about it, that could be one reason why they were literally my only friends. Well, at least for me, I prefer quality over quantity, and friendships make no exception.

I nod, as this is one of many circumstances in which words are simply not needed.

Rainbow smiles. “Alright! I’ll be back in ten seconds fl--”

It was my turn to interrupt.

“Are you sure that you can get ‘Shy here that quickly?”

She grins. “It’s been a while since I’ve been a ‘victim of your wit’. I missed it a little actually...”

‘Victim of my wit’...heh, I love how we always referred to it like that.

Rainbow blushed a little before breaking the awkward silence that had followed her last comment.

“Aaaanyway, I’m gonna go get ‘em now. Don’t go anywhere, Goldie!” Rainbow says with a wink before, well...dashing off.

I walk over to the side of the road and lay down under a tree. I knew that Rainbow Dash would likely take longer to return than she would like -- mainly because of Fluttershy, ‘least that’s what I would expect. Regardless, I subconsciously decided to take this opportunity to do some reminiscing.

After all, it was memories that got me through each day since I had last seen my friends, which was...hmm...approximately five years earlier. I know that five years normally shouldn’t seem like an eternity, but in my case it was five years of solitude. That’s different. And that’s why my memories with my friends were -- and still are, actually -- so important to me.

As a result, it just felt...right to get lost in my memories one last time...because once Rainbow got back, I knew that it would be time to make new ones.

Chapter III: Psychological Manipulation

Really? Again? They’re really bullying Fluttershy again?!

It was back at my days when my three friends and I were at the Junior Speedster's Flight Academy. Even to this day I wish it was only that: my three friends and I. But unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way...because life’s a bitch, and a dirty bitch at that.

We were joined not only by the random other students who were at the academy, but also by the three bullies, Dumbbell, and his ‘minions’, Hoops and Joe -- yeah, Joe. Honestly, I would call him ‘Hobo Joe’, but that was the name of a particular restaurant that I liked a lot, so calling him that would -- in my mind -- seem like a complement. Now to get back on topic...

Fortunately for me, they never bothered me, save for the couple of times when I was new at the Academy, but since bullies don’t like it when their victims are stoic, they moved on.

Unfortunately for me, they still bullied my friends. Even Fluttershy. I must admit, they have changed my viewpoint on some things: I had believed that not even the biggest...er, smallest, more likely...dick in Equestria would even dare to pick on Fluttershy. The rate at which these guys do it changed that.

And now, I’ve run out of love and tolerance for them -- hard to believe, I know. This is the last time that they’re going to bully my friends, especially Fluttershy. Because now it’s personal. I decided to take action, and in doing so I indirectly made a pledge to myself, and one that is respected by those around me:

You mess with my friends, you mess with me. You mess with me, you’re starting a fight with me. And if you start a fight with me, I’ll end it.
______________________________________________________________________________

“Let her be.” I say in a voice that is much sterner than usual, especially for me.

As I hoped, my remark catches the attention of the bullies, and they begin to walk toward me, thus making me their current target.

Many ponies would begin worrying at this point, perhaps even regretting that they took action. Not me. If I have any one ‘strength’ that stands out from the rest, it’s my ability of “psychological manipulation” -- a fitting term coined in an unexpected way, by an even more unexpected pony.

The three bullies begin to circle around me.

“Well, well. If it isn’t Golden Lame. You finally decided to say something, huh?”

Time to manipulate.

“Wait, Golden Lame? Please don’t tell me that was the best insult you could come up with.”

Surprised at my remark, the bullies stop circling me, their leader at a momentary loss of words. Seeing the short window of opportunity that this gives me, I obviously decide to exploit it. After all, this is what manipulating is to begin with.

“Hah, it seems you’re living up to your name, Dumbbell.”

Taken aback by my insult, he approaches me angrily.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!?!”

I flash my now-trademark half-smile (which actually has a bit of a smirk in it, which is what makes it so symbolic, let alone so unique), causing a visible look of regret to appear on the bully leader’s face. He knows he shouldn’t have asked me that.

“Well, going by your abrupt lack of speech, you had expressed the traditional definition of the word ‘dumb’...mute.” My half-smile turns slightly more into a smirk. “However, I don’t believe that bringing up it’s modern implication is necessary, do you?”

I had won.

Not knowing how to respond to that, Dumbbell groans in frustration and turns to leave.

“Come on guys. Let’s not waste our time with this...this...weirdo.”

Wow...that was even worse than Golden Lame...he isn’t all too good at this, is he?, I thought as my half-smile was replaced by a quizzical eyebrow.

With the exception of my half-smile, I had remained rather emotionless throughout the entire ordeal. My friends, on the other hoof, were anything but. However, I was surprised that Rainbow didn’t fly-tackle me -- yes, that habit of hers was long-established even at this point. However, as they approached, I saw why she didn’t.

Humorously -- well, to me at least -- Fluttershy led the way, rushing towards me, visibly excited -- well, again, to me at least. One of my other cryptic talents is being able to read body language in a way that would make even Twilight Sparkle green with envy. But that’s a story for a later chapter.

Unsurprisingly, Fluttershy was incapable of putting her excitement into words...well, at first.

“Um...Flame...um...that...that was...”

“Nice?”, I suggested.

“AMAZING!”, Fluttershy uncharacteristically shouted, instinctively triggering a wide-eyed look from me.

“Oh...sorry.” Fluttershy said, more characteristically this time.

I turned and looked at Rainbow, who was still making her way over to join Fluttershy, myself, and Derpy -- who had made her way to my side, as she usually does -- with her jaw dropped in shock all the while.

Once she got to us, she finally spoke.

“How...how were you able to stand up to them so...so...easily?”

“SAIKOLOJICKAL MANEEPULAYSHUN!” Derpy suddenly exclaimed in a manner that sounded jumbled, probably due to the abruptness of it, though the fact that it was completely unexpected likely played a part, too.

Rainbow, ‘Shy and I slowly turned and looked at her. In my case, I turned to see her looking back at me...well, with one eye at least.

Impressed with how fitting it was, I gave her a couple pats on the back with a wing.

“You’ve been thinking on that one for a while, haven’t you Derpy?”, I said with my trademark half-smile, which in this case symbolically marked the positive connotation of my question.

Derpy replied with a couple of quick nods before leaning her head into me.

Author's note: "Hobo Joe's" actually is a real restaurant. I haven't personally been there, but my dad's first job was as a waiter there while he was in college. And now he's a doctor. Life's one hell of a journey, ain't it? xD

Chapter IV: Apple Pie

There’s nothing like a headbutt from Derpy to bring me back into reality.

When I became aware of my surroundings, I saw Derpy standing over me, and I watched as her left pupil started to slowly drift to the left and upward, before suddenly being brought back to center on me. That’s when she noticed that I had come to my senses, which is also when her eyes went straight back to living up to her name. All the while I could hear Rainbow still laughing from when Derpy headbutted me -- I don’t blame her; even though Derpy used to do it all the time -- much to the chagrin of my head -- it has been several years.

Derpy started to nuzzle me, meaning it was now or never if I wanted to get back up anytime in the near future.

“Don’t get too comfortable there, Derps. Could you help me up?”, I said while rubbing my head.

“Oh, are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”, a concerned Fluttershy asked, as Derpy got up and helped me do the same.

I chuckled. “Don’t worry, ‘Shy, I’m fine. If anything, you should be concerned for Dash.” We turned and looked at her, who was still laughing. I looked back at Fluttershy. “If she keeps that up, I’m afraid she might pass out from a lack of oxygen getting to her brain...”

“If you think that that’s bad, wait until you meet Pinkie Pie...”, responded Fluttershy.

At this, Rainbow managed to pull herself together, and rejoined us.

“I...I’m sorry...” she said, wiping away a tear with a hoof. “I’ve just always found that hilarious...and since it’s been so long...”

“The humor of it is exponentially increased?” I suggested, while Derpy decided to lay her head on my back.

Rainbow chuckled. “Wow, now you’re acting a lot like Twilight!”

Half-smile again. “I have a feeling that I’m going to finally be making more friends.”

Rainbow laughed. “Now you’re really acting like Twilight!!”

“Um...”

I turned and looked at Fluttershy, giving her my attention, with a cue to continue.

“If you don’t mind my asking...what are you doing here? Not that that’s bad...”

“Yeah! I asked you that too! Why didn’t you answer?!” Rainbow suddenly exclaimed.

“You never let me. You darted off.” I replied with a straight face.

“Oh...right.” Rainbow let out a nervous chuckle.

“Well, the case is...after five years of solitude back in Canterlot, I decided I should--”

“...move to where your friends are?”

This time it was Derpy who interrupted me, and in doing so she displayed the connection I have with her. She was still laying her head on my back, and when I turned and looked at her she let out a beaming grin.

“You three know me too damn well.” I said with a laugh.

“And I know too damn well that it’s about damn time you moved here! What took ya so long, Goldie?”

“Well...um...do you have a place to stay?”

“Muuuuffiiiinnnnsss...”

This huge mix of voices makes me feel like I’m in an Ernest Hemmingway novel, I think to myself with a chuckle.

Right then, another voice entered the mix...one I did not recognize...

“What the buck is goin’ on over here? I can hear y’all yappin’ all the way from the farm!”

Rainbow took to the air and flew over to the other pony. “Hey, Applejack, come here! One of our best friends from our Junior Speedster's Flight Academy days is finally moving to Ponyville!”

Almost immediately, another voice entered the mix, echoing the last three words that Rainbow had said; the source -- a pink pony -- then subsequently fell out of a nearby tree, before hyperactively bouncing around ‘Shy, Derpy and I, ranting about a ‘party’, which was the only word I was able to distinguish.

In midst of the temporary chaos, I turn to Fluttershy.

“Random guess...this is Pinkie Pie.” I say, recalling the name that ‘Shy had brought up earlier, while simultaneously trying to follow the bouncing pink pony with my eyes.

Fluttershy was only able to nod before the ‘party pony’ took over.

“Thaaat’s right! I’m Pinkie Pie! And I’m going to throw you a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party! There’s gonna be EVERYTHING! Food, drinks, and especially DESSERTS! And the whole TOWN’S gonna be there! Well, I gotta go get everything ready, so TA TA FOR NOW!”

And then she disappeared in what looked like a cloud of glitter.

Fluttershy and I look at each other, before I broke the silence that had replaced Pinkie Pie.

“Iiiii’m not going to ask.”

“That...would probably be a good idea...”

“Howdy, partner!”

I turn and see Rainbow walking towards us alongside the other pony, whom I still haven’t met yet, though I do recall the former saying her name.

“If I heard Dash correctly before the chaos just now, your name is Applejack, yes?” I asked, extending a hoof.

“That ya did!” said Applejack, shaking my extended hoof. “And by ‘chaos’ ah reckon’ ya just met Pinkie Pie?”

“I did, then she disappeared in a cloud of glitter...”

“Well that’s new...”

“My name’s Golden Flame, by the way.”

“Yeah, RD told me on tha way over.” said Applejack with a grin.

I heard a yawn coming from my back.

“When are we goin’ into town?”, said Derpy, who had been using me as a pillow, and who had apparently just woken up from a nap.

“Yeah, why are we still standin’ out here? Let’s get goin’!”, says Rainbow, before jetting away towards the town.

“An’ ya haven’t met Rarity or Twilight yet, have ya?”

I shake my head.

“Well, I suggest we start heading in before Derpy falls asleep again.”

Applejack and ‘Shy nod in agreement, and we start our trek into town.

And thus marks a new beginning.

Author's note: I couldn't help but put that Ernest Hemmingway reference in there, because as I was writing this chapter I kept thinking about how Hemmingway's characteristic style of writing was his use of dialogue to advance the plot...which is pretty much what I did in this chapter. However, the color-coding should prevent any "Hemmingway Headaches", so that's a good thing. ^^

Chapter V: A Place to Stay

So...this is Ponyville..., I think to myself as ‘Shy and AJ -- as she permits me to call her -- escort me into the main square of the town. We have still yet to meet back up with Dash, who’s likely still ahead of us, and Derps has decided to take an afternoon nap...on my back. Fortunately, she doesn’t weigh much, so I’m not bothered by it. Right now, AJ and ‘Shy are trying to find two ponies named ‘Twilight Sparkle’ and ‘Rarity’, both of whom I have yet to meet. However, I do remember Dash more-or-less comparing me to ‘Twilight’...twice, but other than that I know nothing about them yet. Luck seems to be with us, however, as the two ponies we’re searching for find us instead.

“Applejack! Fluttershy! Over here!”

I turn to look towards the source, and I spot two unicorns, and a quick glance from Fluttershy tells me that that’s them. It isn’t very difficult for me to determine who is who. The unicorn on the right has a purple coat and an indigo mane, with violet and magenta streaks along it; I can infer that she is Twilight Sparkle, by comparison of her color scheme to Luna’s night sky. The other unicorn has a white coat and a blue-violet mane, as well as from the distance looks like heavy make up. Her mane flows as elegantly as she acts. I can tell that she’s a fashionista, judging by stereotype alone. Undoubtedly this is Rarity; the ‘elegance’ of the name gives it away.

“Hey guys!”, the purple unicorn says as we get closer. Once she sees that I’m with them (and wasn’t just someone who had happened to be standing near them), she adds “Oh, and who’s this? A friend?”

Fluttershy introduces me. “Yes. This is Golden Flame. He was best friends with Rainbow Dash, Derpy” -- she motions to the sleeping gray pegasis on my back -- “and me back when we were all in the Junior Speedster's Flight Academy. Gosh, I don’t know how many times he stood up to bullies for me...”

“Dash did that much more often than I did, you know that.”, I add honestly.

“Yes, but Rainbow Dash would only take my place as the bullies’ target; you, however, deflected their mean jokes back at them.”

“And that’s precisely why I wasn’t able to stand up for you as often; they wouldn’t give me an opportunity to do so. They were rather efficient at that, I must admit.”

The two unicorns look at me with intrigue, and the elegant unicorn says “How’d you manage to accomplish that, darling?”

I pause, and motion for them to wait momentarily for my reply. I jut my right shoulder slightly to justle Derpy in to waking up, which she does. She raises her head and gives me a “why’d you do that” look, to which I respond by whispering something in her ear, causing her mood to immediately lighten up, although she is still visibly drousy.

She yawns then exclaims “SAIKOLOJICKAL MANEEPULAYSHUN!”, before going back to sleep with a smile.

Mass giggling ensues. Afterwards, the purple pony looks at me quizzically and asks “Wait, couldn’t you have just said that yourself?”

Showing the two unicorns my trademark half-smile for the first time, I explain my actions. “Well, it was Derps here who actually coined that term back when we were at the Academy. As a result, I felt that it would be more fitting if she said it.”

Suddenly, the purple unicorn nearly jumped as she realized something. “Oh! We haven’t even introduced ourselves yet! My name’s Twilight Sparkle.”

“...and I’m Rarity.”

“It’s a pleasure.” I say, bowing my head slightly to each.

“By the way, darling, do you have a place to stay yet?”

“Actually, I do no--”

Before I am able to finish, I get broadsided. The bad part, Derpy is knocked off of me, but somehow manages to flap her wings just enough to be able to land on her hooves. The good part, I’ve found Rainbow Dash -- tackle, roll, pin; same as always.

As soon as we stop moving, Rainbow says “WRONG!” She leans in closer to my face. “You’re stayin’ at my place, Goldie.”

She winks -- as obvious an innuendo as I have ever seen, which leads me to believe that she did so as a joke.

I could be wrong, though.

“Now hold on there, sugarcube”, AJ says, the first time she had in a while now. “Whatcha doin’ makin’ decisions for ‘im? An’ on that note, why’d ya need to tackle ‘im for?”

“Don’t worry, she’s done it to me for years.” I say in Dash’s defense, turning my head towards AJ as I do so. “And besides...” I turn back towards the cyan pegasis with my trademark half-smile. “...it makes for one less thing for me to be concerned about, doesn’t it?”

I can see Rainbow grin from ear-to-ear as my half-smile tells her that I’m going with her innuendo.

“He has a point, Applejack.”

That’s all the patience that Rainbow had.

“ALRIGHT! C’mon!!!” Before anypony could say anything, Rainbow had already grabbed me by the mane and took off to the sky, forcing me to do so, also.

After we get into the air, we take off at high speeds toward her residence. After several minutes of flying, I break the unexpected silence.

“...you could use some patience, you know.”

“Don’t need it.”

“You’d be surprised...it comes in handy sometimes.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

“Alright.” I intentionally don’t say anything else after that, as I await her reaction.

“Well...?”

“Patience!”

“I told you I don’t have any!”

“Then get some!”

This was the way we had always joked with each other.

“I don’t want some!”

“Why not? I have some patience I could give you! Huh?! You want some of that patience?!” As I say that I mimick some boxing punches.

After a second or two of awkward silence, we both burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the tangent we had gotten on.

Several minutes later, we arrived at Rainbow’s place. I had visited there once before, albeit it was several years ago, and I had gone straight there and back, never visiting the town below. Hell, I can’t remember if I had even noticed the town.

We landed and went inside, at which point things remained disturbingly quiet -- let alone awkward -- for some time. As it would turn out, that awkwardness was only the beginning. For some reason -- one which is still uncertain to me -- Rainbow shocks me...by giving me a kiss...on the lips. When she pulls away, she blushes to the point that her face is nearly as red as that in her mane. I didn’t want to make her blush any worse -- unlike most ponies, I knew that such actions were only taken for a reason, which enabled me to remain stoic.

The aforementioned reason may not necessarily be a good reason, but it’s a reason nonetheless -- a reason I was going to find out...

“Would you like to tell me what that was about?”, the half-smile I now have telling her of the positive connotation.

...and being blunt is one of many ways to go about doing it.

“I...I don’t know. I acted on an impulse.”

“Adrenaline?”

Rainbow thinks for a second...”More like excitement...”

I put my logic to work. “Excitement...for seeing me for the first time in years?”

“That...would be my guess...”

I decide to crack a joke to try to allieve some of her embarassment. “Damn impulses...always taking action before they let you think about them...maybe I should give them some of my extra patience...”

Rainbow chuckles at my reference to my earlier joke.

My half-smile is now a full smirk. “Now that I think about it, Rainbow...I never would have imagined the ‘toughest pony in all of Equestria’ to be such a romantic...”

She playfully punches me in the shoulder, clearly able to tell that I’m messing with her now. I slap her back with a wing. She tackles me -- not flying this time -- and we roll on the floor, play-fighting.

We start laughing at the circumstances, the events that took place...well, I’m not certain if we were laughing at anything. We could have been laughing just to laugh.

Whatever we were laughing at, it definitely rid us of the awkward mood that had shrouded us no more than a few minutes earlier.

Chapter VI: The Core of the Idea

It was later that same day, but not too much later. That is, not too long after the awkward incident in which Rainbow acted on an impulse and kissed me. Since that, Rainbow and I -- along with ‘Shy and Derps, who had flown up here to Rainbow’s house about 15 to 20 minutes after the aforementioned incident -- had been helping pick up around the house. It wasn’t an absolute disaster, but it did need some cleaning up. Usually, such a mess wouldn’t concern me: I have relatively good reflexes and good night vision, so I rarely -- if ever -- trip over things in the dark. However, considering that Rainbow’s house floats in the middle of the fucking sky, I didn’t want to take any chances. Fortunately, I didn’t have to -- even if jokingly -- use the incident from earlier as blackmail to entice Rainbow to assist me with the task; she actually chose to of her own accord. Whether any secondary implications exist, however, I do not know.

“Um...”

I turn and look at the yellow pegasis. “Yes, Fluttershy?”

“I...um...think I should, maybe, go and let the others know that we...um...found you. Well, if that’s okay with you, that is...”

“Actually, that would undoubtedly be best.” I turn and give Rainbow a look. “After all, they’ve likely been worrying about me for longer than they’ve known me.”

Rainbow blushes at my glare, and lets out a nervous chuckle.

“Oh, well, um, okay then. I won’t be gone too long...”, ‘Shy says as she’s walking toward the door, nearly tripping over Derpy, who had been who had been sitting on the floor, drawing with some crayons we gave her to keep her ‘occupied’ (Rainbow still doesn’t trust her as much as I do...but then again, I’m the only pony who really trusts Derpy with anything...).

As soon as I could officially determine that 'Shy had taken wing and left, I walked toward Derpy.

“Hey...Derpy?”

She stops coloring and looks at me, derped as can be...she seems to be more...relaxed...about that around ‘Shy, Rainbow and me...but seemingly more so for me. As a comparison, Derpy doesn’t care much around ‘Shy and Dash, but around me it’s more like she doesn’t give a fuck at all. I have my theories for the ‘why’, but I plan on keeping them to myself until I know for certain...

“Um, well, I talk to Dash about something...” At this point the aforementioned cyan pegasis turns her attention towards me, with an eyebrow raised. “So, if you could...”

Derpy beat me to the point, and slammed forward in front of her, as if gravity had suddenly been doubled. I’ve always wondered how she could instantly fall asleep at will...

"Thank you, Derpy!" I said with a laugh, doing so only to imply to the cyan pegasis that that was what I had planned, which I actually had.

Rainbow chuckles. “I forgot she could do that.”

“It’s a good thing I didn’t then.” I said with my half-smile.

Rainbow lets out a sigh as we both turn our focus to talking before Fluttershy returns. “It’s about earlier, isn’t it?”

I decide to go straight to the core of my idea. “Well, more specifically, how I suggest you confront Fluttershy and ask her for some advice regarding the feeling that led to the impulse you had.”

“Wow, you went straight to the core of that idea, didn’t ya?”

“That’s precisely what I just narrated...”

“Wait, what?!”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Okaayyy...”

“Aaaanyway...”

Rainbow cuts me off. “So you pretty much just want me to ask ‘Shy for advice about what I ‘felt’, so you have some more information to help you come up with another one of those ‘plans’ of yours.”

I grin widely. “‘Pretty much’ indeed.”

We both hear ‘Shy starting to land just outside. Dash starts heading over to wake up Derpy, but half-way she looks over a wing at me.

“You know...I’ve always liked those ‘plans’ of yours...” she says with a wink, before walking the other half of the way, then following up by heading over to talk with Fluttershy outside...

Chapter VII: Derpy's Drawing

Chapter VII: Derpy’s Drawing

Rainbow Dash hadn’t even made it out the door before Derpy was already fully alert once again, and back to coloring. Curious about what the gray pegasis was drawing, and with nothing else to do, I walk over and lay down beside her, making sure that I’m brushing next to her; a reaction to that would be useful for one of my other ‘plan/theories’.

When I do, she doesn’t hesitate to lean into me, in a way that even I -- with my ‘ample supply of extensive diction’ -- could only describe as...instinct.

...almost too useful.

Suddenly, Derpy jumps, startled, and dives to cover her drawing. Appaaaarently, she was drawing something that she didn’t want me to see, which, fortunately -- well, fortunate in a way that only my cryptic perception of reality could comprehend -- I hadn’t seen what she was drawing.

Perhaps it simply wasn’t finished yet. This is Derpy’s drawing, remember?

“I take it you don’t want me to see what you’re drawing.” I point out with a soft smile.

Derpy doesn’t speak for several seconds, then replies “No...not...yet.”

The tone in her voice seemed...mixed between sad and serious. She was laying her head on her hooves, her body covering her drawing. Her tongue wasn’t hanging playfully out of her mouth, and her eyes were looking ahead of her...both eyes.

This is the side of Derpy that few ponies ever get to see. In fact, those close to her don’t even refer to this side of the gray pegasis as ‘Derpy’.

This...is Ditzy Doo.

“Well, if it comforts you, I didn’t get a chance to see it. Your startled jump startled me, too. Next thing I knew you were already where you are now -- covering it.” That’s not a lie, either; she really had caught me off guard.

Ditzy seemed to perk up a little from my remark. She began to readjust herself to a sitting position once again, clearly taking great care to keep the drawing hidden. Pressing the drawing against her chest with a hoof, she turns around and faces me, and looks at me...again, with both eyes -- which she is easily capable of doing...it’s...just not her default setting, per say.

Then again...the same is true of ‘Ditzy Doo’. Even though ‘Ditzy Doo’ is her real name, it isn’t her real personality. That honor goes to ‘Derpy Hooves’.

“What...about earlier?”, she says, now clenching the drawing against her chest with her other hoof as well.

I shook my head. “I was only able to see that you were drawing something; I still have no idea what you were drawing, though.”

I can see her start to smile -- well, sort of.

I start to stand back up. With a smile of my own -- well, my half-smile -- I say “And if I’m correct...the longer we keep talking about this, the longer I’m going to have to wait before I do get to see it.” I softly laugh before adding “And I believe I’ve already given away too much of my patience to be able to last too much longer.”

The result:

Instant Derpy.

As spontaneously as Pinkie Pie’s “Party Cannon” (I haven’t seen it myself, but I have been told -- scratch that -- warned a lot about it.), Derpy was back to being...well, Derpy: tongue playfully hanging out, and her eyes living up to the name.

“Let me know when it’s finished, okay?”

Derpy nodded as only Derpy can, and I left the room to allow her to finish...well...her drawing.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Author's note: In this story, the gray pegasis' birth name is Ditzy Doo, but she's more commonly referred to as "Derpy Hooves", which is attributed to her also more common playful personality, whereas when she's more serious, she's instead referred by her birth name.

In case that run-on made little sense, here's a visual:

Ditzy Doo:

~birth name

~uncommon

~characterized by:

~normal eyes

~more serious mood

~tongue not hanging out

~comparable to:

~Pinkamena

Derpy Hooves:

~nickname

~much more common

~characterized by:

~'derpy' eyes

~much more random mood

~tongue playfully hanging out

~comparable to:

~Pinkie Pie

I hope that helped in some way, shape, or form. ^^

Chapter VIII: Pinkie Pie's Party Cannon

Chapter VIII: Pinkie Pie’s Party Cannon

I’ve never been one for parties...but after nearly being shot by her party cannon, Pinkie Pie was indirectly forcing me to work on changing exactly that. Rainbow wasn’t joking when she had told me that I was going to have to get a lot more used to going to parties, because the way in which Pinkie can start them...well, let’s just say that I’ve come to believe that even the laws of nature run for cover whenever the pink pony is nearby.

Because this shit simply ain’t logical.

One moment Rainbow, Derpy, myself, and the others are in an empty room, which I’ve been led into by the aforementioned ponies, but after hearing a load ‘boom’ -- causing me to instinctively hit the deck (as I’ve had more than my fair share of alchemical...accidents), I look up to find the once empty room I was in to now be fully decorated...including food and drinks...as well as a DJ -- DJ P0N-3 to be exact, whom I recognized because Rainbow and I had seen her some-odd years ago when she was on tour in Cloudsdale (which, now that I think about it, peaks my curiosity; she must know the cloud-walking spell). How she got in here so abruptly, let alone completely set up and already blaring music -- eighties music, thank Celestia -- I have no fucking clue. I just hope it wasn’t the cannon.

Honestly, I’m not even sure if I want to know anymore, especially considering that the only theories I could remotely come up with were that it somehow involves a trans-dimensional vortex, or that I’ve somehow been drugged.

I pray that I do not need to specify which is the more likely of the two.

I’m snapped out of my thoughts by Derpy, whom I find staring into my eyes -- well, sort of -- her face mere inches from mine. When she notices that I’ve noticed her, she smiles. I start to stand back up, but I don’t make it too far, as I hit my head on the underside of a table and fall immediately back down to the floor, prompting a giggle from Derpy.

I’m really starting to hate that fucking cannon.

“Derpy? Did you find him?” I hear Rainbow ask, easily recognizing her voice. Derpy responds by pulling her head out from under the table and hastily nodding in the direction from which I had heard Rainbow’s voice. I see Pinkie Pie push Derpy over and stick her head under the table.

“What are you doing under here, you silly filly! You shouldn’t be hiding at your own ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!”

I rub my head where I had hit it, then manage to wiggle my way out from under the table before responding. “First off...I’m not a filly, and I’m very slightly disturbed that you called me such. Second...I wasn’t hiding. And third...I want to know how I got under there.”

“Well, then why dontcha try to trace yer steps...” Applejack proposed. “Hmm, though it did only happin’ ovar the course of a second.”

“I heard a ‘boom’, instinctively hit the deck, and found myself under that table. It’s that simple, really.”

“Instinctively?” Rarity asked, confused.

Rainbow laughed. “‘Instinctively’ due to all of those ‘experiments’ of yours?”

I nod with a chuckle, then I turn to look at Twilight, whose eyes are now gleaming as bright as beacons.

"Experiments?!” she echoes enthusiastically, prompting a facehoof from Rainbow. I give her a quick glance to keep her from saying anything she may later regret, be it for one reason or another.

I nod again, this time at Twilight. “Mhm.”

Twilight walks toward me, visibly intrigued -- and not just to me; her eyes at this point were making her surname seem bland. I give Rainbow another glance, just to be sure, causing her to roll her eyes in response, though she does give me a smile afterward.

“What kind of ‘experiments’?” the purple unicorn inquires, drawing even closer to me.

“Oh boy, here we go...”

“Alche...alchem...alchemical...” I stutter, as by this point Twilight is in my face...literally. My first thought now is if the same incident that happened between Rainbow and I happens here, there’s no way I could play it off like I had before. Astonishingly, however, I’m not...creeped out, per say, by Twilight’s near lack of proximity from my face...in my mind -- and I hope I’m not alone in thinking this -- this is simply one of her key interests...one that it seems she hasn’t been able to share with anypony...ever.

Abruptly, Pinkie Pie squeezes in between the two of us, and pushes us apart. “Okay, you two! You can talk later! But now it’s time to PARTY!”

Almost immediately, confetti falls seemingly out of nowhere, and the room fills with other townsponies. Honestly, I’m concerned more about Pinkie Pie’s defiance of sheer reality than about the near claustrophobia that Twilight had inflicted upon me. At the same time, the ‘sparkle’ had drained out of Twilight’s eyes, and she started to walk away, her body language blatantly shouting her sadness. As she starts walking in the direction of Rarity, I give the white unicorn the same look I gave Rainbow earlier, though this time it’s saying something different, which -- even though I haven’t known her long -- she understands as if I had actually spoken it.

Damn, I love how useful my gestures can be, let alone how effective.

Before Twilight can make her way past Rarity, the latter blocks the former’s path with an outstretched hoof, and motions her back in my direction. The purple unicorn looks toward me with an eyebrow raised, as I reapproach her. Rarity smiles and takes her leave, her job done.

“You know...I could show you some of the things I know sometime.” I offer, resulting in Twilight’s eyes to return to their previous, intrigued state. “...so long as you can remain even-keel in the process.” I add with my half-smile. Twilight’s eyes return to normal.

“Ah.”

I chuckle.

“Well...” She pauses momentarily to thing, before resuming. “My house is actually the Ponyville library, so there may be some books there that you might find interesting...”

I grin, remembering that Rainbow had previously informed me of Twilight’s severe book obsession.

“...but I also use the basement as a lab for testing different spells, though I only really use it at night...”

This I had not expected -- the lab-in-the-basement part, that is -- causing me to raise an eyebrow in intrigue. Twilight smiles as she notices my interest.

“Would you like to come over some time, then?”

Half-smile. “I’d like to later tonight, but I’d have to let Rainbow know first.”

Twilight sighs. “Right...since you’re staying at her place.”

“Precisely.”

After I said that, I suddenly realize that there were far fewer ponies present now than when I had started talking to Twilight. In fact, all of the townsponies have left...the party was already over. I see Twilight start looking around, clearly having the same sudden realization as me.

“In this case...”

Twilight turns back to look at me.

“...I guess I’ll go let Rainbow know then.” I smile. “Then we could head over to your ‘lab’.”

“Together?” Twilight asks, grinning widely.

“Well, I don’t know where your house is.” I say, intentionally being a smart-ass.

We both laugh, then I head off to go find Rainbow Dash.

Chapter IX: Twilight's Lab

Chapter IX: Twilight’s Lab

It didn’t take long for me to find Rainbow, nor should it have, considering our ‘group’ were the only ponies remaining in the building. When I told her, she -- as usual -- messed around with me, telling me to ‘get some’ and the like. Honestly, though, my intentions are as I said they were: experiments -- alchemical experiments! That also reminds me...it’s been way too long since I’ve been able to blow some shit up...but that would have to wait until daylight. However...I can’t be absolutely certain whether Twilight is the same way...I hope there isn’t another ‘incident’...because if there is...I would imagine it to be the beginning of a trend...which would not be good. Oh well. Time for SCIENCE!

...well, it will be once Twilight and I reach her house.

Currently, Twilight and I were walking to her house...or so I assume -- remember, I don’t know where she lives. Somewhat surprisingly, we had arrived in a time that would not have been enough for me to narrate the previous paragraph, had I actually been narrating it. Immediately, one feature of the house caused me to start to get more cautious -- the building is made out of a tree...I can only hope that the basement is well protected. I’ve already paid to fix the Ponyville town hall on Derpy’s behalf, and I wouldn’t want to have to pay for the library as well. Before we went inside, however, Twilight stopped.

“I’m just warning you, I do have an...assistant.”

“Assistant? Of what sort?”

“Well...just...in general. I tend to have him run errands for me, help me find things...you know, that sort of stuff.”

“Sounds like exactly what I would need...that is, if my materials weren’t so rare and expensive. Not to mention hazardous, as well.”

Twilight laughed. “So it seems like you prefer to get your things yourself, just to be on the safe side.”

“And to not end up on the wrong side of a lawsuit.” I add wittingly.

Twilight chuckles, then opens the door and we both go inside.

“Just to let you know, I bet my assistant is asleep now, but I’ll go check on him, just to be sure.” Twilight whispers.

Finally, a gender-specific personal pronoun, I thought.

“What’s his name, by the way?” I whispered back before she got too far away to hear.

She turned and looked my way. “Oh, it’s Spike. And I should probably mention that he’s a dragon.”

“Baby dragon, I assume?”

Twilight nods. “Be right back.” I watch as the purple unicorn trots up her staircase.

Her assistant’s a dragon...that explains quite a bit actually, I think to myself, in regard to what Rainbow and ‘Shy had told me earlier about how Twilight is the student of Princess Celestia, as well as to my previous knowledge of dragons, particularly their magic breath in this case. That’s probably how she and the Princess keep in touch.

I see Twilight trotting down the staircase, and when she reaches the bottom she motions for me to come over, which I do.

“He’s asleep, and fortunately he’s a heavy sleeper. I’ve never had to worry about accidentally waking him up. Follow me.”

I nod, and follow her down a nearby hallway to a wardrobe, which Twilight opens to reveal another staircase.

“As you might expect, I don’t want to risk other ponies messing with my experiments.” Twilight nervously explains the reasoning for the hidden entrance. On my own terms, though, a quick examination of the ‘wardrobe’ and the surrounding wall leads me to suspect that it also has a structural function as well.

“Stay close behind me, and watch your step. The lamp’s at the bottom.”

I heed her advice, and we both cautiously make our way down the staircase, and Twilight lights the lamp as soon as we reach the bottom.

I look around the now lit basement ‘lab’, and I’m impressed with the variety of equipment in Twilight’s possession, although I realize that she very well may have gotten them through the Princess. Many of them I actually have myself, but for the majority of them I believe I had to blackmail a guy to sell them to me. Yeah; that’s how expensive and rare this shit is. As I continue to look, though, I see one particular set of equipment that’s covered in a mix of cobwebs and an oddly familiar black residue. I think for a moment, then upon remembering I start laughing; she had used the equipment incorrectly.

“What are you laughing at?” Twilight asks from the other side of the small room, to which I respond by motioning her over. When she sees what I’m looking at, she says “I actually never was able to figure out what this was, or even what it’s supposed to do. You don’t happen to know...do you?”

I laugh again. “I do, and I’m laughing because it has only one function.” I decided to test her knowledge. “I won’t tell you any specifics, but I’ll give you some hints in regard to that function.”

Twilight thinks for a moment, then agrees to my ‘challenge’.

“First, it’s used for alchemy. And second, it’s used to try to ‘discover’ something.”

Twilight raises an eyebrow in confusion. “Wait, if it’s used to try to discover something, then how was it made? And how do you know if it actually can discover that ‘something’?”

I smile, impressed at her question. “The ingredients. And only one of said ingredients has been ‘found’.”

Twilight caught on to the gist of it almost immediately. “So...it’s essentially trial and error with hazardous materials?”

I laugh again. “Exactly. Trial and error...and you don’t even know how many ingredients there are.”

Twilight laughs. “I have a feeling that this might be a lost cause.”

“More or less, but definitely less now, ever since the first ingredient was officially determined...almost 700 years ago, now.”

Twilight smirked. “Could you tell me what that ingredient is?”

I didn’t hesitate, as I knew it wouldn’t help her much, at least at this point.

“Quicksilver.”

Twilight starts to think. “Quicksilver...isn’t that an athletic wear company or something?”

I laugh. “That’s named after this one.”

Twilight goes back to thinking, which gave me an opportunity to tell her about the equipment, as well as the black residue on it.

“While you’re thinking, I’m going to go on a small tangent here. First off, do you have any remote idea what this piece of equipment is called?”

Twilight shakes her head.

“Don’t worry, few ponies do; it’s what’s known as an anthanor. And the black residue is most likely nigredo, though there’s no way to be absolutely certain.”

Twilight and I turn and see sunlight coming down the staircase.

“It’s morning already?”

“No, the sun is just getting a midnight snack.”

“Ha, ha, h---” Twilight cuts herself off with a yawn.

“I hope you remember the names I gave you, because it seems you’ll have to do some research on them.” I say with a wink.

Twilight yawns again, as we both head back upstairs. “I’ll see you...later then?”

I nod. “Just don’t blow anything up.” I say as I’m leaving her house. “That’s my job.”

Author's note: I had to do quite a bit of additional research just to be able to support whatever alchemical knowledge I already have irl, just so I know that I'm getting it exactly right.

Chapter X: The Conversation

After I leave Twilight’s house, I’m still not tired, though that is rather common-place for me. After years of late nights of experimenting, I’ve come to require less sleep to be able to function properly. In fact, if I get the ‘healthy’ eight hours of sleep, I’m actually drowsy upon waking up, as I would have then overslept...by at least four hours or so. Rainbow and I have always joked that she more than makes up for whatever sleep I don’t get, though it would more like be me giving my excess sleep to her...like what I’m currently trying to do with my surplus of patience.

I try to find a quiet place to think, which I tend to do a lot of. It’s still early morning, and I can now hear Twilight snoring soundly, even from outside her house. Obviously, she requires more sleep than I do. Abruptly, I remember that I should probably check in with Dash before I get too deep into anything else -- especially my thoughts -- which in turn leads me to the idea that her roof could make for an efficient thinking spot. With those in mind, I make my way over to her ‘cloud castle’.

As soon as I touch down on her ‘cloud’, Rainbow Dash calls down to me from an upstairs window, which, upon looking skyward and seeing her, I recognize that it is in fact her bedroom window.

“There you are Goldie! Where have you been?” the cyan pegasis says with a wink.

“Could I possibly consider that to be an invitation to come inside?” I reply with my half-smile.

The rainbow-maned pegasis laughs. “Works for me! Don’t bother about the front door, though, just fly your flank up here!”

I nod and take wing. I chuckle a little as well as I vaguely imagine the course of events that could unfold were the roles just now were reversed, especially considering how I’m not nearly as...dominant...as Rainbow is.

When I got into Rainbow’s room, I found her laying on her bed, lounging with her hooves behind her head. When she sees me, she scoots over toward the wall, and motions to me to come over and lie down next to her. Knowing Rainbow, this is clearly a casual gesture; if it were anything more, there’s a fairly good chance that I would already be on my back...if you know what I mean -- remember, out of the both of us, Rainbow Dash is the one who wears the “daddy pants”. I make my way over and lay down next to the cyan pegasis, closing my eyes -- not because I’m tired, which I’m not, but because it helps me to focus more, expanding my mental capabilities, and ‘opening up my mind’, all of which are useful when having a serious conversation, though it could come in handy under any circumstances. Rainbow Dash does exactly the same, which is of no surprise to me -- it’s a habit that she got directly from me all those years ago, back in Cloudsdale, and she uses it in the very same manner that I do. However, much more often than not, she utilizes it to browse her imagination for ideas for possible new flying tricks. In fact, as a result of this, Rainbow has actually given me some of the credit for some of her more famous tricks, which would be extremely uncharacteristic of her, except for the fact that she only does so privately, which I actually prefer, anyway. She could have all the attention and credit for all I care.

“It’s a good thing that you showed up when you did. I was actually about to leave to go to start looking for you.”

I open my right eye -- since Rainbow Dash is on my right side -- to look at her. “Hm? Why is that?”

Rainbow in turn opens her left eye to look back at me. “‘Cause I still haven’t told you about what I had talked about in my conversation with ‘Shy the other day.”

I open my other eye momentarily in slight shock, before closing both of them again. I had completely forgotten about that. However, I was more surprised that she had decided to bring it up, let alone that she had been planning to go looking for me because of it. At this point, I don’t know what to expect.

Rainbow blushes when she sees how I react. “Yeah...it’s not much like me to bring something like that up, is it?”

I smile. “Not a damn bit.”

Rainbow laughs, and gives me a friendly nudge. “You know, that’s one of the most awesome things about you! Your sense of humor is so...unique, that it makes even makes Pinkie Pie seem completely normal!”

I open my eyes, as I’m finding it hard to keep them closed at this point. I turn to look at her, and give in to the urge to point out something that had struck me in what she had said.

“You know...that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you use the word ‘awesome’ to describe anything that wasn’t named ‘Rainbow Dash’...”

The cyan pegasis opens her eyes and turns to look at me as well, and pauses to think about my comment. “I know how...powerful your memory is, but...are you sure?” she asks, still deep in thought, to which I reply with a simple nod.

“Wow...”

I try to work us back out of the tangent I had gotten us on. “Sorry about the tangent. As you were saying?”

“Oh!” she exclaims as she snaps suddenly out of her thoughts. “Right.”

I laugh, causing her to blush slightly, but she continues. “Well...”

She hesitates, and you don’t have to be able to read body language well to be able to tell that she’s nervous. Very. Nervous.

I decide to provide her with some of my knowledge, though this in particular is one that she’s quite familiar with. A reminder would probably help her out, however. “You do recall one of my ‘philosophies’ related to being nervous, yes?”

Before I could say anymore, she recites it, verbatim. “The longer you hesitate to say or do something, the more difficult it becomes to go through with it.”

I grin, and Rainbow laughs, both at the awkward silence that temporarily followed the rainbow-maned pony’s recital.

“Alright then.” Rainbow says. “I should probably take that advice of yours, considering that I already know it so well.”

We both laugh.

Rainbow sighs, and I decide to not put my two bits in during what I expect to be a monologue from the cyan pegasis next to me. After all, it was her who had originally wanted to tell me about this, so I have no right to not let her do so in its entirety. Without speaking, we both sit up and reposition ourselves, she sitting on the headboard half of the bed, and I on the other. She sighs again, and begins to speak.

“To start off...I’m...glad that you ‘suggested’ that I talk to ‘Shy about...that impulse I had...she was able to help me...a lot.” Rainbow pauses to sigh again, then continues. “I had decided that the best thing to do was to explain everything, especially because we both trust Fluttershy, and that she’s not the kind of pony who wouldn’t keep other ponies’ ‘secrets’. However, before I started, I requested that we go somewhere else to discuss it, to which she complied. Once we got there -- the ‘there’ not being important -- I started to tell her everything that happened, in as much detail as I could remember, including how you reacted -- especially how you reacted -- and that it was actually your suggestion that I should try talking to her about this. The first thing she said back...was that she was actually surprised at first that you hadn’t ‘lectured’ me about ‘hormones’ and all that jargon, though she then added that she thinks that the reason you didn’t was because you were involved in the situation.” She pauses again to ask me if Fluttershy had been right.

“Spot-on. I had to really fight the urge to lecture you about all of those ‘sciency’ things I know you don’t care all too much for.”

Rainbow grins, then continues. “Anyway...what she told me next...well...was the ‘obvious’, though it never seemed obvious -- even now...well, to me at least.”

She takes a deep breath. “She said...that it simply could be that I’m...” She visibly strains to force the rest of the sentence out of her mouth. “...that I’m...in...in love with you...” Rainbow immediately blushes severely, seemingly changing the cyan of her coat to a deep crimson...well, in her face, at least. “And...” She moves her head up to look at me, which makes me realize that she had been looking down this entire time. “I have a feeling that I already know what you’re going to say.” The look she gives me tells me that it’s my turn to speak.

“Would you like me to say it anyway?”

Rainbow nods.

“Well...do you?”

Rainbow giggles, with another blush as well. “I was right.”

I half-smile. “Because you know me too damn well.”

“You’ve said that before.”

I smirk. “And I had reason to say it again.”

Rainbow smiles, but after several moments it disappears. “I should probably answer your question now, I guess...”

“Only if you want to. I completely understand if you’d rather no--”

“I do.” Rainbow interrupts me.

I look at her, and nod understandingly that she continue, which she does.

“To answer the question...I...I don’t really know. As I said earlier, it isn’t as obvious to me as it should be. Everything points exactly to that, yet...”

“You can’t seem to clearly see where exactly they’re ‘pointing’ to?”

She responds with a soft smile, which is rather uncharacteristic of the cyan pegasis...which in turn reminds me how uncharacteristic she’s been this entire time...but then again, it’s difficult to imagine Rainbow being as brash and confident as she’s famous for being when we’re discussing a subject as...sensitive as this.

“Yeah...exactly.” She blushes yet again. “I’m sorry for how awkward this is...”

“Don’t be. There’s absolutely no possible way to avoid a subject such as this being awkward.”

Rainbow smiles again. “Thanks.”

I smile back warmly as I start to get up. I turn and see that a frown has replaced the smile on Rainbow’s face. I was going to make certain that it didn’t last long.

“I think you’ve been ‘grounded’ for too long.” I half-smile. “Would you like to go for a flight?”

Rainbow got up and moved over to stand next to me, then -- just before going ahead and taking wing -- she leaned in and whispered in my ear “You know me too damn well.”

Chapter XI: Flight and Plight

Once Rainbow and I both get to the air, neither one of us says anything yet, instead utilizing the time to warm up our wings -- it’s been a long while since I’ve done any fast-paced flying, and in Rainbow Dash’s case, she was just as cold as me, despite not having done any fast-paced flying in a few days. The two of us fly in unison; surprisingly, I am one of an extremely minute number of ponies who can consistently maintain a steady flying pace with Rainbow Dash -- the rainbow-maned pegasus herself has even said that I could easily become a Wonderbolt if I were nearly as determined to do so as she was. What I'm surprised about, however, is that Rainbow Dash isn’t a Wonderbolt already. Right now, however, all of that was irrelevant, as all that currently mattered was getting Rainbow’s thoughts some time away from her feelings. I, in the meantime, was trying not to be the ‘awkward turtle’ of the situation...especially considering that Rainbow already had her pet, Tank, to fill that role for her. After about fifteen to twenty minutes of synchronized, Rainbow finally breaks the silence.

“So...Goldie...Where are we going?”

“Your call, Dashie.”

The cyan pegasus smiles at the pet name. “I was wondering how long it would be before you called me that again.”

I smile back. “That makes two of us, then.”

Rainbow’s smile stretches into a full grin. “Well, it’ll only be one of us if you can’t keep up!” At that, Rainbow Dash turns on the jets, and took off at a high speed, forcing me to do so also.

After several minutes of this, Rainbow slows back down to our previous speed. By the look on her face, it was clear that she had something in mind. Once we were back to flying steadily side-by-side, she asks:

“Hey! Would you like to help me develop some of the new tricks that I’ve been working on lately?” A raised eyebrow from me makes her add, “And by ‘develop’ I mean giving me some feedback on how awesome they are...as well as some suggestions on how to improve them.”

I smile softly. “It would be my pleasure.”

“Ah-right!” She does a backflip in the air in excitement. “Let’s go!” She takes off again -- to where, Celestia knows -- but I know that I’m going there, too.

After a while I notice that we’re heading towards the Ponyville Plaza -- which I assume we’re going to pass -- until Rainbow and I both notice some...strange activity down below. We look at each other, and with a nod we both skydive towards the activity.

As we get closer, I can see what’s going on...well, not the details, due to the distance, but I can determine the situation: the first thing I notice is that there’s a crowd that has gathered around a much smaller number of ponies, one of whom I recognize immediately, which Rainbow was able to read from my face.

“Who is it?” The cyan pony asks frantically.

“No time. We need to floor it!”

We both fold our wings, and divebomb to get much closer, our forelegs along our sides. As we get even closer, we spread our wings and our forelegs out, so that the newly-introduced air resistance will slow us down. By now, we were close enough for Rainbow to see the pony I had recognized, and for me to be able to comprehend the circumstances further.

“It’s...Derpy!”

“I know that already, remember? And...” I turn to look at her, before continuing. “I’m going to put this simply. Are you ready for a fight?”

She gives me a funny, yet acknowledging look. I have a reputation for my instinctively accurate judgement. “Are you certain?”

I nod. “I recognize those other ponies.”

“ ...And I know that they won’t fall for my ‘psychological manipulation’ again.”

Chapter XII: From Flight to Fight

“You’re kidding!”

All it takes to answer the cyan pegasus’ question is a glance, following which Rainbow lets out a sigh.

“So...what’s the plan?” she asks, as we’re both now watching the scene from a relatively-nearby rooftop.

I slowly look around me, then answer “Surprise.”

Exactly what I was hoping to avoid, Pinkie pops out of nowhere, but -- thank Celestia -- I’m able to quickly knock the pink party pony out cold with a swift back-hoof, in a way that -- as Rainbow would later tell me -- looked pretty bad-ass, as I didn’t look away, or even move at all, with the obviously exception of my one fore-hoof, as if I had known it was going to happen...which in a way I did.

Thankfully, Rainbow ignored the unconscious Pinkie Pie as if the pink earth pony were a dead hooker. “So...surprise? That’s it? How are we going to go about that?”

I half-smile. “By dropping down from the sky, of course.”

"You know me too damn well." Rainbow quotes me with a smirk.

We both look towards the scene. After a moment, Rainbow says, “I got the near side. Of Derpy, that is.”

I chuckle. “Then I’ll get the far side.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

We take a second to reassure ourselves of the situation, then with a nod to each other, we both silently -- but swiftly -- position ourselves above the scene. After hovering for a couple seconds, we, with another nod to each other, go into a mini-dive-bomb, and land with a loud thud. Conveniently, this also caused a cloud of dust to temporarily mask the surrounding area, which added to our surprise entrance. When it cleared, everypony present saw Rainbow Dash separating Hoops and Derpy, and myself separating Derpy and Dumbbell. For some reason, Joe was nowhere to be seen, which actually was nice, as it evened the field...well, based upon numbers, that is. When the two bullies see us, they’re taken aback by...well, the surprise.

Before I lost the chance, I decided to break the silence with a highly dramatic line:

“Long time, no see, assholes.”

Hilariously, this -- despite the use of language -- prompted a roar of cheering from the surrounding crowd, all of whom had previously been either afraid or unable to intervene.

“What do you think you’re doing? Do yo--”

“What does it look like we’re doing? We’re protecting our friend!”

“Ha! Good luck with that! Whaddya gonna do? Are you gonna have Golden Lame over here try to use his ‘mind tricks’ again?”

“Wow...after all these years, you still haven’t come up with a better insult.”

“We don’t need to! Cause we’re going to let our hooves do the talking this time!”

After a short gasp from the crowd, Rainbow and I respond -- in unison -- with swift bucks that would make even Applejack jealous.

Obviously unprepared for the ‘sucker-bucks’, the two bullies go flying backwards, causing another roar of cheers to erupt from the crowed. I smiled -- one thing you always want to have is the crowd on your side.

Rainbow begins to move towards Hoops, but before she can I shout, “Dash! Stay put!”

Keeping her eyes locked on her assignment*, she shouts back, “Why?! We should go after them while they’re vulnerable!”

“As true as that may be, fighting them is our secondary objective! If you leave your position, then Derpy will be the vulnerable one!”

Seeing my point, Rainbow stands her ground as we both wait for the two bullies to get back up. Dumbbell was the first to do so, and he didn’t hesitate to throw a punch at me, which -- thanks to his hastiness -- I was able to counter by dodging the punch with a side-step, grabbing his extended foreleg with my right hoof -- pulling his arm closer to me so that the only thing keeping him balanced is my hold on him -- hitting him with a left hook, using his foreleg to twist his body around, then pushing him forward, before finally bucking him once again. Even I'm surprised on how complex it sounds when described, yet it seemed so...instinctive, let alone happening so quickly.

I quickly turn to check on Derpy -- who had been curled up in a tight ball this entire time -- as well as on Rainbow, whom I look at just in time to see her jump-buck Hoops. Not long after that, the two bullies, tasting defeat, take wing and flee. I was actually really disappointed when they did, as Rainbow and I were just starting to enjoy ourselves, but alas, our primary focus was Derpy. Keeping to that, before the crowd could ‘mob’ us, I give Rainbow a quick look, to which she nods, knowing what I meant by it. The two of us don’t hesitate to each wrap a foreleg around the gray pegasus, and carry her hastily to the secure haven that is Rainbow’s cloud-house.

*This is actually somewhat of a pun. In basketball, the guy you're supposed to be guarding is referred to as your (defensive) assignment. The pun in this is that Rainbow's assignment is 'Hoops' -- a basketball reference.

Chapter XIII: Derpy's Wing

Chapter XIII: Derpy’s Wing

As soon as the three of us arrived at the cyan pegasus’ house, I immediately begin giving Derpy a check-up, using time-tested techniques. Fortunately, Derpy had perked back up during the ‘flight’ over here to Rainbow’s house, so it made it much easier on me in regard to the ‘check-up’. I have Derpy sit in the middle of Rainbow’s living room floor, and I take a seat on the floor as well, facing Derpy, while Rainbow sits patiently nearby, already having agreed to go and fetch anything I may need during the process.

The first thing I do is check Derpy’s heart rate. I place a hoof on one of her forelegs, count the number of ‘pulses’ I feel over a course of 15 seconds -- which Rainbow timed for me -- the result of which I multiply by four to get the number of pulses per minute. I repeat the process two more times -- for consistency reasons -- and get the same result: it’s high, at 128 beats per minute. This is actually a good thing, though; in fact, considering what Derpy had gone through, I would have been more worried if it wasn’t that high.

The next part knew was going to be...interesting. Concussion test. Rainbow was able to find a short piece of PVC pipe that she had for some reason, and gave it to me to use for the test. I look over and find Derpy lost in her thoughts.

“Derpy? ...Derpy?!”

The gray pegasus shakes her head wildly to bring herself back into reality, then looks toward me with a smile.

“Alright. I’m going to have to test if you have a concussion, okay?”

Derpy nods.

“Alright.” I hold up the piece of PVC pipe in front of me with one end, keeping it level to the floor. “I need you to keep your eyes on the tip of this pipe while I move it around okay?”

Derpy frowns at the statement.

“Alright then, how ‘bout a compromise? One eye, but it has to be the same eye, alright?”

This time she grins, and we go through the test, which Derpy does surprisingly well on, able to keep her right eye on the pipe as I moved it in different directions.

After I inform Derpy on how impressed I was with her success on the test -- which, if she indeed had a concussion, would have made her dizzy and fall over -- she immediately turns to Rainbow and says something that surprises me, even though she said it jokingly:

“See? I told you I wasn’t brain damaged!” Derpy rolled her eyes kookily as she said the last two words, causing all of us to laugh hysterically for a good five minutes or so. After that, it was on to the next one.

Now, I checked her for any broken bones, which was absolutely uneventful...until I started to check the gray pegasus’ wings, because that’s when it got awkward...and I still feel that the use of the word ‘awkward’ there is an extreme understatement.

Why? Well...the wings of a pegasus are extremely sensitive (and thankfully so, as it makes possible the subconscious mechanism of the wings reacting accordingly to any change in air pressure, which otherwise could cause a pegasus to literally drop out of the air if the air pressure difference was great enough), especially the base of the wings, which was unfortunately where I had to start, as the closer a wing-injury is to the base, the more serious it is. The awkward part of this, however, was that what I found myself currently doing would under any other circumstance would be considered...foreplay; as Rainbow Dash would put it, “it’s a pegasus thing.”

...to put it much more bluntly...I was essentially feeling Derpy up right now. Oh, the awkwardness of being a ‘medic’, for lack of a better word.

Fortunately for me, though, Derpy didn’t at all mind the awkwardness. Unfortunately for me, however, she seemed to be actually enjoying it a bit too much: the deep crimson blush on her face and her visibly-desperate attempts to not moan made it quite obvious.

Not long after, I heard a familiar noise, one that did not surprise me, considering the circumstances:

Phooompf!

That sound was that of a pegasus’ wings suddenly expanding due to...’excitement’ -- this is another “pegasus thing”, and it’s something more commonly known as a wingboner.

However, what did surprise me was that it did not come from myself (since I was doing this from a medical mindset, I did not get any sort of ‘rush’, and thus, no ‘wingboner’), nor from Derpy, who only had her left wing unfolded, as that was the one I was currently checking. I momentarily paused for the sole purpose of slowly turning my head to look at Rainbow Dash with an eyebrow raised. Both of her wings were fully...’erect’, per say, and she had a blush that was nearly maroon.

“Try not to get too ‘excited’ over there, Dash.” I joked with a smirk, receiving only a few very-nervous chuckles from the mare in question.

I finish checking Derpy’s left wing, which fortunately had no damage, so I moved over to her other side and began checking her right wing. After several minutes, and after Rainbow called dibs on ‘next’, I felt what I was hoping not to feel, only an inch and a half or two above the base of Derpy’s right wing. I admit, at first I wasn’t completely certain if my inkling on what I felt in her wing was correct. However, the kicker was when Derpy went from ‘nearly moaning in pleasure’ to ‘wincing in extreme pain’ at the slightest touch. Furthermore, I didn’t even have to say anything to Rainbow, as the audible deflation of her ‘wingboner’ told me she already knew. After several moments of silence, Rainbow finally breaks it, with a sincere look of worry on her face.

“How...how bad is it?” She gets up and sits next to me and Derpy, who had moved onto my lap, nuzzling her face into my chest, her eyes already welling with tears from the immense pain she was still feeling from that ever-so-slight touch on her now-obviously-injured right wing, which still shocks me that wasn’t hurting her earlier, but I know from her body language -- let alone her constant cringing from the pain -- that it’s physically impossible for her to be faking it...that is, if there was some reason why she would.

It was also clear that Rainbow Dash wasn’t actually expecting any answer to her question. I started to stroke Derpy’s blond mane in an attempt to comfort her in any way I could. Hey eyes started to dry as the pain from that one touch finally seemed to be receding. I decide to answer Rainbow’s question.

“At first...I thought it was a sprain, at most a fracture. I can’t say any more though; not because I don’t know -- because I do -- but because there’s no time. I need you to try to find a way to transport Derpy to the hospital while I wrap her wing to keep it immobile. There’s no way that we could fly her, especially in this condition.” After a moment, I add with a slight smile “And ‘ten seconds flat’ would be preferable.”

Rainbow smirked. “What ever happened to patience?”

“Pain doesn’t wait.”

The cyan mare mutters an expletive under her breath as she realizes that she failed to one-up me.

“I’ll be back.” Rainbow promises as she playfully ruffles Derpy’s mane before starting to leave...until she stops at a dresser, which she opens a drawer of and grabs something from it, which she tosses to me, catching it with my free hoof: it’s a roll of ACE bandage.

“You said you were wrapping her wing, so...”

I smile. "Thanks. You saved me a shirt.”

Rainbow smiles back, then nearly gallops to and through the door, before leaping off the edge of her ‘cloud’ and taking wing.

Almost immediately, Derpy carefully maneuvered herself off of my lap and into a position that would make it easier for me to wrap her wing. As I start to unwrap the package the bandage was in, Derpy decided to speak for the first time in a little while.

“It’s going to hurt more...isn’t it?”

The look that Derpy gave me after she said that was one I want to forget; it was so devestating, that I’m now going to stop talking about it and move on with the story just so I can get my mind off of it.

Fortunately for me, Derpy was able to read a ‘yes’ from my face.

With a sigh, the injured mare added, “Well...let’s get it over with, damn it.”

Knowing her tone was out of sheer desperation, I didn’t even bother to nod, instead complying immediately.

“Could you--” I started to ask, before Derpy read my mind with a sudden opening of her left, healthy wing. “Thank you.” I add, to which Derpy only smiles softly.

I take advantage of some adhesive that was included with the bandage in the package to attach one end of the bandage to Derpy’s coat, on her left side. I start to wrap, carefully maneuvering the bandage under her healthy wing before wrapping over her right wing, about a third of the way from the tip, so that her wing will be relatively stable throughout the rest of the wrapping process.

I check to make sure that the bandage is taught before carefully wrapping her twice more in the same place, so that now her injured wing won’t budge at all. I decided against using some of the adhesive to keep the bandage from unraveling for the lone reason that I was only wrapping her wing for transportation purposes alone; that same reason also applied to why I only wrapped the rest of her wing based upon comfort, as opposed to tightness.

All things considered, the whole ordeal was relatively painless for Derpy, the only exception being the first couple layers on the injured area, the resulting pain from which Derpy coped with extremely well, each time relieving herself of it all at once with a single scream into my shoulder.

Once I had finished, we were surprised to notice that only a total of seven minutes had passed. Not long after, though, Derpy’s mind had already moved on from that thought, as she ask me if I could get her some paper and crayons. To most ponies, that would have seemed like an innocent request, and I would have thought the same...had I not seen her facial expression.

This is a prime example of the extensive capabilities of my ability to read body language. Just one glance at Derpy’s face and I immediately knew that, again, she wouldn’t want me to see what she’d be drawing, possibly writing. I don’t know how I learn these things with a simple glance, but I sure as hell know that I trust it: over the entirety of my life, over thousands of these sorts of circumstances, this ‘body-reading’ of mine has yet to be wrong. I actually trust it more than my conscience.

I find some and give them to Derpy, then walk away and sit down on the ‘porch’ area, still within Derpy’s eyesight. I actually took the time to think about some things, but before I knew it, Derpy walked up next to me, and placed a folded-up piece of paper in my hoof. Clearly, this was what Derpy wanted the paper and crayons for.

“Um...I need you to promise me that you won’t open it until nightfall...and make sure you’re alone.”

I smiled at the thought I had, that if it were anypony else who said that it would seem like it somehow involved drugs and a dark alley. However, since it was Derpy, I gave her my word, and sealed it with a hug. Almost immediately afterwards, Derpy and I watch as a hot-air balloon slowly rises in front of us.

“I’m...guessing that that’s your ride, Derpy.”

“Our ride...”

I turn to look at her, causing her to blush.

“I’d...like it if you were...with me.”

“Well...I was actually going to fly ahead and let them know to expect you...”

“Oh...well...could you at least walk me to the balloon?”

I smile softly. “Of course.”

Derpy and I get up, and we head towards the balloon, finding that Rarity and Twilight are inside it, and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hovering outside of it.

“Derpy! We heard what happened! Are you okay?”

Derpy looks at me, then give me a little nuzzle, before heading over towards the basket of the balloon. “I’ll...we’ll talk about it on the way.” She turns back to look at me. “I’ll see you there.”

I smile, then took wing and flew furiously over to the Ponyville Hospital, explaining everything, including my own ‘diagnosis’: a partially shattered bone, with some bone-shards lodged in (or partly-lodged in) the major nerve in the area. I headed back outside to wait for the other ponies to arrive, finding it to already be pitch-black out...as well as the balloon touching down not too far away. I rush over to it, and help Derpy out. After another nuzzle, she waits a moment, before saying, “Go now.”

Knowing what she was referring to, I asked “Are you sure you want me to go no--”

“Yes, I am. Now’s the best time. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. You of all ponies should know that.” the gray pegasus interrupted me, saying the last sentence with a smirk. I nod in agreement, and we part with another nuzzle.

I head over to a nearby park, which is obviously deserted at this time, and I sit on a park bench, which is next to a lamppost. With a deep breath, I open up the paper Derpy gave me.

It was a note.

There is something that I want you to have, but I haven’t been able to build up the courage to give it to you myself. I knew that this would be the time to do it, as everypony would be with me, and they wouldn’t go looking for you, as I would tell them that you’re away ‘to do something for me’...which you actually are, because I hadn’t been able to do it myself.

The thing that I want you to have is in my house, and you already know where where that is. If I remember to lock the door this morning, you’ll need a key. There should be a spare under the mat. If there isn’t, then there’s a box of spare spares hidden in a nearby pot. Once inside, it will be in a shoebox under my bed.

What’s in that box is...important. You’ll know what I mean by that when you see it.

From,
Dɘrpy

At the end of that note, I notice that before where is says ‘from’, there is another word that is scribbled out. I wonder what it could have been, but I know that I have no time to dwell on it. I make my way over to Derpy’s house, letting myself with one of the spare spare keys. Upon entering, the first thought to enter my mind does not surprise me at all:

Muffins! Muffins everywhere!

That’s not an understatement, either, and I estimate that at least a third of the entire floor’s surface area has a muffin on it. I shit you not. Trying not to step on any of them -- especially the chocolate ones, which I know are Derpy’s favorite -- I eventually manage to maneuver my way to her bedroom. I immediately head over to her bed, and reach underneath it. Sure enough, there’s a shoebox underneath, which I pull out, and place it on top of her bed. Sitting down next to it, I then move it onto my lap, I take another deep breath, and open it.

Inside...is a drawing. Derpy’s drawing. I recognize it as the very one that she hadn’t wanted me to see...and now I finally get to see why. Unfolding it, I find myself staring at a colored-wax-on-paper versions of Derpy’s deepest feelings.

The drawing itself is a simple one, but the meaning of it is anything but. There are two stick-figure ponies, seemingly...cuddling. Even if Derpy didn’t include the names of them underneath -- which she had -- I would have been able to recognize them immediately, as the key details Derpy had made damn sure of.

They were...us. And Derpy had even included her namesake eyes.

However, the most touching thing about it was what was written underneath it:

I love you Golden Flame

I shed a colt-tear as I said out loud, “I know.”

Chapter XIV: Official

I immediately put the drawing carefully back in the box -- it now meant as much to me as it had to Derpy, and I wanted to take no chances in anything happening to it. I actually considered laminating it later, which isn’t such a bad idea...unless I decide to frame it instead. Unfortunately, it was already long past visiting hours at the hospital, but since Derpy was only admitted there around an hour ago now, so there was the possibility of an exception. I also wanted to see if I was even close with my diagnosis, though Derpy was obviously the higher priority. I picked up the shoebox and carefully made my way out of Derpy’s house, doing my best to avoid the muffins on the floor. Fortunately, once I made it through, I was able to say that no muffins were harmed during the writing of this story...well, so far at least.

After I left, I locked the door again behind me, but I kept the one spare spare key I had -- I had a feeling that I was going to need it. I start heading back toward the hospital, and upon arriving there I find that my friends had already left; I guess it was officially past visiting hours after all. Surprisingly, as I start to turn to leave I hear somepony calling for me. I turn back around and find that it was the doctor that I had talked to when I had checked Derpy in. I made my way over to him.

“I was wondering if you were going to come back!” said the medical pony, who had introduced himself to me earlier as Dr. Julian*.

“Derpy had had me go do something for her, but I decided to check back anyway.”

“Yes, she had made that...quite clear, to say the least.” the doctor said with a laugh. “Would you like to come inside? I have some more things to tell you.”

“I’ll be able to see Derpy, yes?”

“That was actually one of them.”

“Sounds like a plan, then.”

The doctor laughs again as I follow him inside. I find the hospital to be completely empty, save for staff and patients. Thus, the waiting room was emptier than the rest of town during one of Pinkie Pie’s parties, so we sat down in there. Once we got comfortable, the doctor started to speak.

“First things first, I would like to thank you.”

I raised a puzzled eyebrow. “For what exactly?”

“Let me explain, then. First off, your ‘diagnosis’ was absolutely spot-on. Now, the reason why I’m thanking you is because if you hadn’t arrived with that conclusion, there’s a high chance that that injury would have gotten much worse, as that’s usually one of the last things we test for. However, because of your speculation, we tested it first. Honestly, I can say with utmost confidence that Derpy owes her entire wing to you; she may have needed to have it amputated.”

My eyes widened at the sound of that last word, but the more I thought about it, the more it made complete sense: such an injury, if left untreated for an extended period of time, could lead to an infection, and -- considering that the injury is in such a crucial area in regard to the wing’s overall function and structure, an infection there could compromise the entire wing, and leaving the wing attached would only make the infection worse, giving the doctors no choice other than to amputate the wing.

“How much of the main structure of the bone is still intact?”

“The majority of it actually; the bone damage was only a couple shards chipped off from the side, but those shards were lodged in the nerve, just as you speculated.”

“The Schadenfreude nerve?”

The doctor nods.

I continue, “And I’m guessing that the shards are positioned with one point in the nerve and the other in the bone, so that every time the outside area of the wing is touched, the shard is nudged further into the nerve, which would explain the immense pain that Derpy had been having?”

The doctor laughs. “You’re good at this, aren’t you? You’re making my job seem like it’s nothing!”

“Well, my dad was a doctor.*”

“Ah, well that explains quite a bit, then.” he replies as he starts to get up. “Would you like see Derpy now?”

I grin wider than I have in a long while. “Absolutely!” I take a moment to think, then add, “Wait...is she awake?”

The doctor laughs again, “Last time I was in her room she was refusing to go to sleep.”

“I have a feeling that I may know why...”

The doctor smiles, and starts walking, and I follow him. After a few minutes we arrive at a room, which the doctor opens for me. Before I go in, he says quietly so only I can hear, “I’ll let you two be alone, and I’ll make sure that the rest of the staff does the same. She doesn’t need any further treatment, other than letting the wound heal in time, so the only thing the nurses would have had to do was check in on her every now and then. But I’m sure you can do that, especially since you more-or-less did my job for me.”

I respond, flattered, just as quietly, “Thank you so much Dr. Julian.”

He smiles. “It’s the least I could do.”

I walk in and the doctor closes the door behind me. After a couple more steps I find that Derpy is awake, and watching television -- SportsCenter, to be exact, which was currently showing some of the top highlights from the recently-completed NELL (National Equestrian Longball League) season**.

“You’re finally back...” Derpy said with a soft smile once she saw me.

I smiled back, but didn’t yet speak, instead walking over toward her side and giving her a plastic bag that I had taken out of the shoebox, which contained one of the chocolate muffins from her house, which I had sneakily taken off of her counter. When I gave it to her, I saw a small tear run down her face.

“That better be a tear of joy.” I said as I sit down in the chair next to her bed.

Derpy turns and looks at me. “Well...that depends...” the bedridden mare says with a blush.

I make certain she can see my half-smile before I reply “So...this isn’t a bad time to ask you out to dinner, then?”

Immediately, Derpy tried to jump out of her bed, forcing an instinctive reaction from me, as I catch her with one hoof on her chest and the other on her folded left wing, then lowered her slowly back to her original position.

“Woah there! Down Derpy, down! Take it easy!”

Once I lay her back down, she looks at me, and the sparkle I see in them tells me all I need to know.

I wonder how long Derpy has been waiting for that kiss...

*This is actually an allusion to my dad. My last name in real life is Julian, and my dad is a doctor of internal medicine; thus, he is Dr. Julian.

**This is an allusion to a story here on FIMFiction that all of you should check out. A further description is included at the top of Chapter I.
Link: NELL: The Start of Longball