Rush walked through the aisles of the movie store, searching for something he could bring back to watch with Derpy. He kneeled down at a shelf to get a better look at a few of the movies there. “I should’ve asked what movies she liked…” He sighed as he glanced between each of the boxes. “It’d be a little easier to find something that way.” He shook his head as he stood up, as he took a step back he bumped into someone, quickly apologizing, “Sorry! I didn’t know anyone was behind me!”

“Oh, my! Terribly sorry, darling, I wasn’t looking…” Rarity trailed off, getting a good look at Rush.

“No, no. It was my fault. I walked into you and I should have turned around.” Said Rush, pausing right after, “I didn’t...um, hurt you did I?”

“Oh, no, of course not! You merely bumped into me, no harm done. Ahh...pardon my asking, but who are you?” She asked.

“I’m Rush, I know we haven’t met before… I’m new around town. So… as you can imagine I’m out of job...but, thankfully, Derpy’s taken me into her home.” He explained.

Rarity gasped. “A job, you say? Why, I happen to be hiring right this very moment! Tell me, are you good at drawing, perhaps sketching, even?”

“Yeah, I’ve always been great at drawing.” Rush smiled and nodded.

“Hmm...well, I’ve been looking for someone with a talent for drawing, because I require help with sketching. You see, darling, I do come up with many beautiful designs for dresses, and I can draw them, but I feel that if I could draw them better I could make them better.” Rarity said. She quickly reached inside of her purse, pulling a business card out, handing it to Rush. “Do stop by, I’d like to see what you can do. Ta ta~!”

Rush looked down at the business card at a loss for words. He jolted himself back to reality after a moment and put the card into his pocket. He, with a little more pep, went back to searching for the right DVD to bring home to Derpy. He slowly walked by shelf after shelf of DVD’s, “What would she like…” He mumbled to himself, passing by various genres. He stopped by one that really caught his eye. “Ooh… I’ve never seen this one before.” He said giddily as he picked it up and walked towards the cashier.

“Hello, sir! Have you found what you were looking for?” The cheery mare asked.

“Yes, I did.” Rush nodded as he put the case down on the counter.

“Oooh! I remember this movie...my husband and I went to see this back when it came out! Will this be all, or would you like anything else?”

“That’s everything.”

She smiled, saying, “Alllrighty then! That’ll be 14 bits.” Rush nodded and handed over the money.

Putting the cash into the register and handing him his receipt, the mare waved good bye to him, happy to see a pleased customer. Rush waved back as he walked out of the store and back onto the main street.
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Rush opened up the door to Derpy’s house and walked in. “I’m back!” He called.

“Hi Back, I’m Derpy!”

Rush stopped in his tracks and just stared at her for a few seconds. She stared back at him, her smile faltering. “W-what’s wrong? Was it the joke? I-I’-” She was interrupted as Rush started to laugh.

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting that.” He said through his laughter.

Derpy scrunched her face up, making a face and said, “Hhhmph.”

“Don’t be mad…” Derpy turned away from him, scrunching not only her face, but her shoulders down. However, while he couldn’t see her face, she started to smile, the grin slowly encompassing her face. “Hey…” Rush said softly as he hugged her from behind, “Please don’t be mad at me… I got us a movie we can watch.”

Derpy started shaking in Rush’s grip.

“What’s wrong?” Rush asked, the worry clear in his voice. She said nothing, only shaking harder. “Derpy please, why-” He stopped, watching as something wet fell from her face, down onto his hand. He quickly spun her around, scared he had caused her to cry.

Derpy, however, was not crying out of sadness, but laughter. Her smile nearly went from ear to ear, the shaking from her chest, heaving with giggles, and finally, she cried from the hilarity of the situation. Rush just stared at her, he looked to be close to tears.

A few moments after she was turned around to face him, she opened her eyes, seeing that he was in a sorry state. “R-Rush, I’m s-s-sorry, I j-just, just couldn’t stop after I-I’d started. Please don’t be mad at me…” She said, her laughs still evident. He just hugged her tightly.

Dinky stuck her head in and asked,“Mr. Rush? Are you alright?”

“I’m… fine.” He sniffled quietly. “No, you’re not! You’re crying, so something’s wrong.” She reasoned, running up to hug the two.

Rush chuckled quietly, “I’m fine. I’m just a little shaken.” He smiled down at Dinky, “And isn’t it getting a little late for you to be up?”

She looked up at him, frantically thinking of an excuse. “Uhh...I...woke up! Yeah, I woke up, ‘cuz I heard you talking, and crying, and I wanted to know what was going on!” She said, nervously smiling.

“Then why don’t you go back to sleep?” He smiled again.

“W-well, I did just wake up, I can’t ju-” She started before her mother interrupted. “Muffin, you just go back there and go to sleep. If you really want to, I’ll send Rush back there to tell you a bedtime story.”

“Wait… I didn-”

“Yeah! That’s a great idea!” Dinky said excitedly. She grabbed Rush’s hand and started dragging him(as much as a 3 year-old filly can drag a fully-grown Zebra, of course). “I know just what story to read!”
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“Did you enjoy that Dinks?” Rush asked,and after a moment he looked down to notice his little listener was fast asleep. He smiled softly and a sense of joy coursed through him as he tucked her in and gently kissed her cheek. He stood up and slowly walked out of the room, turning the light off and shutting the door behind himself.

Author's Notes:

So, this was going to be a longer chapter, but I decided that it would be its own thing.
Hope you like it.
As always, thanks to Patric12345.
~TOOWC