“Hey, Karyn. No breakfast today? Or do you have something in the oven because you’re so hooked on cooking now that you have a fancy breakfast already cooking?”

Derpy arrived while Karyn was still getting ready, but that didn’t bother her. It did weird her out though when, once she was fully dressed, Karyn sat down at her laptop instead of proceeding to make toast or eggs, or even get Derpy a glass of juice.

“I’m sorry, I completely forgot. I didn’t even put on coffee. Let me take care of that.”

“I’ll help. It’ll go faster that way.” And Derpy put the bread in the toaster herself. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, sure. I’m just a little distracted. Or not enough.”

Derpy was confused by this remark, but said nothing about it. It amused her, as a side game, to try to guess Karyn’s moods. Frequently, in those days, there was some malaise or melancholy about her, but that Sunday, Derpy thought that it was more a case of nervousness.

“No,” said Karyn, “it’s definitely that I need to be more distracted. Come on, let’s find something to occupy our time and our minds.”

Derpy thought that making and eating a more elaborate breakfast would have fit this bill, but she had to make do with toast and butter. Instead she tried not to think about her stomach and focused more on helping Karyn.

“I know what we could do!”

“What’s that?”

“We can work on the letter.” She brushed the crumbs from her hooves and went for her saddlebag.

“Oh, right. The letter that we’re trying to find the recipient for. I don’t know exactly what we can do with it, but let’s take a look.”

Derpy removed it from the satchel and put it on the kitchen table. Karyn stared at it as though hoping some new inspiration would come to her.

“It’s not easy,” Derpy said, “trying to figure this out. I guess that’s why they have dead letter offices in the first place. But it’s just that I feel if we put our minds to something, we can accomplish the impossible.”

“Let’s start by reviewing what we know.”

“That’s not much.”

Karyn mentally agreed, but that wasn’t helpful. “We know that it was sent to the post office for this area, and we know that it’s twenty years old.”

“Thanks to Rainbow Dash’s magic.”

Karyn frowned, and for some reason Derpy got the feeling that mentioning Rainbow Dash had set it off. She could understand that somewhat. Rainbow could be in her face, but then again she could not be in Karyn’s face, since she wasn’t allowed on Earth. Derpy gave it a little thought, but was still mainly focused on coming up with any more ideas on how to find the letter’s recipient.

She figured that, eventually, they would have to open it up and see if the missive inside had any clue to where it should go. But that grated on her. A letter carrier wasn’t supposed to know what it was that she carried, because it was that person’s private business. And while in most cases she would forget right away, this was a special letter that she wanted to remember all her life.

“All right, I guess we don’t know that much, but let’s take what we have and run with it. I’ll try some searches on the computer.”

Karyn sat down and stretched her fingers, but then left them hovering over the keyboard.

“Yes? Is there a problem?”

“I’m trying to think of what to search for. It’s actually an important skillset for someone in IT to have, to be able to word searches to get the best results, what you actually want to know.”
She put her hands down and took time to think. Derpy wanted to help. “Can you look for mail from twenty years ago?”

“See, that’s the kind of thing that would be wrong. Because let’s say that someone published something on the internet five years ago and used the words ‘twenty years ago.’ The search engine would find that for me, but that’s not the time frame we’re looking for. And the word ‘mail’ is kind of vague since it could include e-mail. No, if I were going to search along those lines I would go with something like...” she started typing. “’Postal service’ and I’ll put the actual year. Hm.”

Derpy was still impressed by the speed at which the internet could work, and part of her had never ceased to believe that it was some sort of magic that humans were either unaware of or chose not to share with everyone. “What? Did you find something.”

“Only that that year was the first that the post office used their new bar coding system to scan letters easier.”

“Maybe this one has it.”

They went over and looked, but only handwriting was on the face. Karyn shook her head. “If it was that early, probably only businesses who had bulk levels of mail used it. This is clearly a personal letter.”

“Darn. So much for that. Any other ideas?”

“No,” said Karyn, and Derpy put the letter away. “But we need to find something else that’s a distraction.”

“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

“I don’t want to think about it right now.”

And so they played some computer games and watched some videos, and Derpy tried to think of something else about the letter, something that was bugging her, a thought she almost had, but didn’t. So she relaxed and hoped that it would come on her own, and tried to think of something else they could do. She wished it were easier for Karyn to open up.

They looked up other recipes that Karyn might want to try, but she didn’t go out shopping since she said she had enough food for now. The clock ticked and, despite the fact that Karyn had wanted to occupy her time, boredom was setting in.

At last Derpy thought of something to say. “So whatever happened with all your new friends? You remember, the ones from the meetup?”

Karyn laughed and shook her head. “You got to it eventually, should have figured you would.”

“Oh, no. Did you have a falling out with them?”

Now Karyn’s laughter grew to full mirth. “Not yet, but soon enough I will.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Well, I’ve been seeing them whenever I can. Saturdays mostly. Which means less time to prepare for you but also less time for me to mess up the place. I digress. We’ve done a bunch of fun things together, but of course not everyone likes everything and I’ve bowed out a few times. But this coming Saturday...”

She didn’t want to say it. Derpy ran out of patience. “What?!”

“We’re all going parachuting.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

Karyn considered. “Yeah, it might not be something that ponies are into. And you can’t really do it in the winter. It’ll be cold enough as is. That’s why they’re doing it, though, as a kind of welcome for spring.”

“I guess you can have fun when you don’t have to cause spring yourself.”

“Fun, she says! OK, this is what parachuting is. You know about hot air ballooning, right?”

Derpy nodded. “I’ve never done it myself, but I believe Cherry Berry makes quite a few bits renting out hers.”

“Right, so imagine the bottom part of the balloon is missing.”

“Then the basket would fall.”

“No,” Karyn said, “I explained wrong. Remember when we went on the plane? Imagine if I jumped out.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Good question! But a lot of people do it for fun. To enjoy the sensation of free fall. It’s supposed to be an adrenaline rush. Anyway, then you unfurl a large sheet, so big enough that it slows your descent so you don’t get squished.”

Derpy still couldn’t picture it, so Karyn brought up some pictures on the internet. Derpy nodded as she got the concept, but she realized something else. It was something that she could never experience. Earth ponies and unicorns could, and so could humans, but falling uncontrollably was never an issue for her. If it were, if she couldn’t protect herself from gravity with a few flaps of her wings...she shuddered. They all managed to get by somehow.

“So you’re going to do this with your friends?”

“Yeah, I’m really not into it. Can you tell? But like I said I’ve gotten out of a few things and I don’t want them to think I’m a homebody. Still, jumping out of a plane? Why couldn’t they pick this week to, I don’t know, go to the aquarium or something?”

Derpy tried to find a silver lining. “Well, if nothing else you’ll get to be with some friends. That’s going to be fun, right?”

“Yes. The funny thing is, we’re all a bunch of geeks. I mean, if it were a college event, I could almost see that, although I hate to think of the insurance liability to go with that. But this is not the typical event for that kind of person. I wonder.”

“Hm?”

“I don’t follow the anime scene, but I’ve heard vague rumors of one in which the characters are big into skydiving. People who are into anime tend to like doing what they see in the shows.” Derpy needed another explanation of that. “Of course, I can’t really speak for myself. Bronies do weird stuff too.”

“Well, I’m willing to bet that you’re going to have fun. Especially since there’s no reason for you to be scared.”

“I know, I know. It’s actually fairly safe. Plus it’s not like in those pictures. I won’t be pulling the cord on my own parachute. I have to go through eight hours of training, and then they attach me to a static line where the chute opens automatically. And there’s a backup one if it fails. I like backups.”

Derpy had only been half listening. “That’s all good, but it’s not what I was talking about.”

“Huh?”

“Do you think that I’m going to sit home in Equestria while you do this? Especially if it’s a regular day off for me? I’ll be here and if anything goes wrong I’ll catch you and fly you down like I always do.”

For the first time, Karyn seemed to relax. She hadn’t even considered this, but she knew she could have asked. “It’s not even the danger I’m worried about. No, I take that back. I’m not worried about dying, I’m worried about turning an ankle or getting caught in a tree and scraped or something. Not even that. I’m worried that the worry I feel isn’t worth the fun. Because it doesn’t seem like fun.”

Derpy put her hoof on Karyn’s shoulder. “We’ll make it fun.”

The next Saturday saw Karyn bundled up in layers against a lingering cold that would be worse at high altitude. Also she hoped that tight socks would help bind her ankles and keep them from turning wrong when she landed. She drove out to the airfield and was forced to park a long distance away. But that pleased her as it meant that no one would be landing on her roof or hood. It took her a while to find the hangar where they were supposed to meet, but then she saw some of her friends from the regular meetup. They, at least seemed happy about it.

It was almost time to go, and they were still missing several people. The group’s leader said that they had dropped out, some of them texting at the last minute with sudden emergencies that had cropped up. The implication was that they were really chickening out, but of course no one wanted to say that since they were all thinking about it themselves. Karyn certainly was.

The instructor came over and gave them their last safety checks. To this Karyn paid greater attention than she ever had in her classes at school. If she were to be injured for this, she would at least make it not her own fault. They boarded the plane.

It was unlike any flying she had done. There were no seats in the plane, nor any of the amenities she had become accustomed to, and the engine was far louder. If nothing else, she was going to be grateful to jump out and get away from the noise.

Although she trusted the business to keep their planes in working order, it was an ugly plane, with chipped paint and chrome, and the dirt of hundreds of predecessors who had smeared their hands on the wall. Regulations, apparently, did not warrant that the planes be clean.

She felt the typical sensation of rising, her ears popping with the pressure. For all the complaints she had about the plane, at least this part required no effort or fear. She leaned back against the wall and waited for the time when they would prepare for their jump.

Out of the corner of her eye she looked at her companions. Were they feeling the same nerves she was? Most of them had uneasy smiles.

They had reached the drop zone. Her friends were standing up and stretching, receiving their final instructions. Each one hesitated on the threshold, but then jumped. From her angle, Karyn couldn’t see them drop. They might have been stepping out onto a one-foot drop. But soon she was second-to-next, and then next, and then it was her time.

She put one foot on the ledge as instructed and looked down. Although the ground was moving as she had seen it from airplanes many times before, what she focused on was her foot. It had never looked so clear in her eyes. Beneath her, the green of the land blurred into nothing, but every white and gray streak of her sneaker stood out in her eye.

This was the moment. Karyn had to go, or chicken out. There were still three or four people remaining. She was blocking their path. She tried to tell herself that it was safe, that she would follow all the instructions, that she barely had to do anything. She went over the statistics in her head. Finally, she told herself that it was as simple as stepping through a door. Which she did.

The rush of adrenalin she expected, but the sensation of free fall was not what she expected. She had imagined the kind of weightlessness she experienced at the top of a roller coaster where she hung suspended. But no, she had weight, and in fact was being pulled by gravity as much as she’d ever been. It felt more like being in a wind tunnel on the ground, with the exception of the visuals.

Just as she was getting used to it, she felt her static line go taut, and the successive jerks of the parachute opening and catching air. Her stomach and neck felt the jolts, but there was no injury. She pointed her face skyward, and the bright glare of the sun made her squint through her goggles. From what she could see, the parachute had opened fully and all was well.

There was no way of gauging her speed, but the ground was still not racing toward her where she needed to pay attention. If anything, most of her movement was back and forth, and with the strings leading up to the parachute, it felt like a swing on a playground.

“Hi!”

Another burst of adrenalin hit her system, and Karyn shook her limbs to get rid of the feeling. She realized that it was Derpy and that she had come just as she had promised.

“Hello to you.”

“I didn’t really want to bother you while you were free falling. It was a little scary to watch you, and I was also preparing to catch you if I needed to.”

“Thanks,” Karyn said. “Thus far I think I’m going OK.”

“You’re certainly going in the right direction.”

“Ha ha. Don’t go anywhere. Now that you’re here I do feel better.”

She heard a crackle in her ear and remembered that she was wearing a radio. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, smooth sailing for now.” Karyn realized that she had been speaking aloud and that everyone in the group could hear her. Probably they thought that she was talking to herself out of fear. She didn’t think that Derpy’s voice had carried that far, but if necessary, she could turn it around and tell everyone else that they were hearing things.

“Huh?” said Derpy. “Is everything all right? Are you panicking?”

Now Karyn had more trouble. How was she going to explain to Derpy about the radio without saying more? She tried pointing to her ear, but it threw her off balance and she grabbed onto the string.

“Oh!” This time Derpy might have been too loud. “You’re talking to everyone else. Got it. We should figure out how those work, because it would be easier on some flights. Actually this flying straight down is cool. My wings don’t have to do any work.”

“Just remember to land properly,” Karyn said softly, reasoning that it could apply just as much to herself as to someone else.

She looked at the horizon to see a few trees dipping over. The ground was coming up soon enough, and she had to focus and remember her training. At the same time, her quick estimate told her that there was still over a minute before she would hit the ground, and much of the thrilling element was gone.

Spotting some of the others who had gone before her, she did some more math. A few were already on their feet on the ground and folding up their chutes. Others were getting close to the landing. She went over the training one more time about how she was supposed to direct the force of landing to be safe.

With a deep breath, she focused on her feet and putting them where she was supposed to, but was distracted by a voice in her ear. Derpy was trying to be quiet, but had to come closer to still be heard. “How about it?” she asked. “Do you want me to help?”

Karyn shook her head and waved her hand upwards, hoping to indicate that Derpy should check her own flight before she failed to pay attention and hit the ground at the same speed that Karyn was traveling.

Instead, as she picked the spot she figured she would land on and braced herself, she felt a second jerk on her parachute. Although Derpy was invisible, she could see where the fabric had been bunched up by a pair of hooves and could picture what she looked like pumping for the sky. Rolling her eyes, Karyn let herself touch down on the ground with as much force as if she’d stepped into a swimming pool of gelatin. After a check that no one noticed anything, she walked forward so that the parachute could fall behind her.

Packing up the chutes took a long time, and the instructor supervised this carefully. “The people who packed it last time did it right for you, so you should do the same for the next person,” he remarked. Karyn suspected that they would all be repacked, or at least checked by someone more experienced, but that it was one more part of the instructions.

Everyone in the group was swapping stories of what they experienced, and Karyn was no exception, but while she had enjoyed the activity with the other humans, she really wanted to analyze it with Derpy. She made an excuse and waved good-bye to everyone, then got back in the car.

“Whew! Crazy day, huh? Some things we do we can’t talk, and that’s still awkward.”

Derpy was happy that Karyn wasn’t upset about her interference. “Yes, though I enjoyed watching you do that. I don’t think I’ll ever really understand it, though.”

“Why not?”

“Well, again, I can never fall and have to worry. If I did, I think I would worry a lot. And I don’t see why someone would intentionally go out and seek something that worries them.”

Karyn nodded. “There are some people who do. Like it’s about conquering fear or making yourself better.”

“And did you?”

“Huh?”

“Did you conquer your fear?” Derpy shook her head. “Never mind that. Did you enjoy it?”

Karyn took the time needed to make a turn in order to think about it. “More than I thought. I liked being with everyone, I liked trying something new, I like being able to say that I did it. But I don’t think that I would do it again. Unless it was, like, a party for someone else. Something more than just the experience. See, I think a lot of people think it’s like flying. But back when I was a changeling, and I learned to fly, that was a lot different. It was...working with the air instead of just falling through it.”

“I know exactly what you mean.”

“If I really hankered after that experience, I would try to learn how to fly an airplane. It probably still wouldn’t be the same, but it would be closer. But more than that, I’ve learned that part of who I am is to keep my feet on the ground.”

They had arrived at the apartment, and Derpy went visible to show her look of shock. “I hope you don’t include when I have to fly you home!”

“No, you can do that any time. The sky is meant for birds and pegasi, and if one of them wants to carry me, I’m OK with that.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks again to Morphy for this week's chapter idea. Here's what's coming next week:

It amused her to watch Derpy go through the routine of feeding the cat, watering some of her inside plants, and finally washing the table before sitting down again.

“So why did you?”

“Why did I what?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I’m planning to visit my new friend’s home.”

“You’ve made friends with Derpy? That’s nice.”

“Not her, just yet. I’m talking about Karyn.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can see that you’re concerned,” said Derpy. “Maybe I should write to Princess Celestia and tell her about what happened here.”

“I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that. This should be just an isolated incident.”

Also appearing will be a character never before seen in this story!