A month had passed since Derpy has moved in with me. The busy summer season has dwindled, and Derpy’s overtime at the Post Office had become less and less frequent. The time was approaching to not only her birthday, but to the day where it officially became almost six months since I first laid eyes on her. Actually, six months since her hair collided with my face, but that’s minor semantics at work. I didn’t know what to do, or even get her for the occasion. A nice dinner? A pet? Or…maybe….

“Hello?” Derpy said, as she entered the house, pulling me away from my thoughts.

“I’m in the office.” I called out from my writer’s room. Derpy bought me a brand new table that was perfect for writing. A welcome change from the living room table, which made my back ache something fierce. I moved the table to a previously empty room, now home to Derpy’s bookshelves and my writing desk.

Derpy walked into the office, she looked tired, and I didn’t blame her. It was around seven o’clock in the evening, and she had a particularly long day at work. She came into work much earlier than normal, and stayed there for even longer. She came over to me, greeting me with a peck on the cheek.

“Good evening.” she half smiled, “How are you?”

“I’m good. What about you?”

“Eh, don’t ask.” she chuckled, “How was your day? Write any good stories?”

“I’m currently working on one, right now.” I replied, “But, it needs a bit of finesse.”

I looked over at her and notice something on the side of her neck. A scratch. It was fresh.

“What happened?” I pointed out the injury.

She didn’t need to look; she knew what I was talking about.

“Oh, that. It’s nothing. Just got too close to a tree branch, that’s all.”

“You should get that cleaned up.”

“I know.”

“I just don’t want it to get infected.”

“Don’t worry! I’ve done this before!” she struck an annoyed tone, which threw me for a loop. I could see her feeling bad the moment she said it, and I was feeling bad for sounding like a parent talking to a filly.

“I’m sorry.” I talked first, “I didn’t mean to sound like I was trying to baby you.”

“No, no!” she stammered, “It’s okay, really. You were just trying to help. I shouldn’t have snapped like that. I just had a long day, and I’m really tired.”

I got up, and gave her a welcoming hug. She relaxed into it. I almost thought she was going to fall asleep, but then she put her forelegs around me.

“I’m glad you’re home.” I said.

“Me too.”

She let me go, and went to the bathroom to clean up.

Now that we’re together, the thought of her getting hurt on the job, or anywhere for that matter, began to scare me more than it ever has. I knew that she was as careful as she could be, but the way she told me about her condition, and how she saw, made me worry. Maybe I was overreacting, maybe I was just being a nervous nelly, but even so…it was always at the back of my mind.

It was a Saturday morning, and Derpy got time off from work, due to her overtime. We paid her sister Dinky a visit. It’s been a while since we’ve seen her, and we figured that since I was with Derpy, she had to know.

We first met Dinky’s foster parents. They were nice folk, very respective of Derpy, and looked like they gave Dinky the same amount of care and attention normal parents should. Dinky herself was happy to see us, and wanted to spend the day with us at the park, where there was a carnival being held to celebrate the coming of fall. It took a little convincing, but Dinky’s foster parents agreed to let us take her, on the condition that all eyes would be on her. I made the “Pinkie Swear” that Big Macintosh showed me a while back, and they knew exactly what I was doing. I was so enthusiastic about it, I nearly poked my eye out, if it wasn't for my glasses protecting my corneas.

We made it to the Carnival, which covered nearly the entire area of the previously quiet and serene park. Walkways were packed with ponies, games, and rides. Both Derpy and Dinky were positively ecstatic with energy, and ran all around the area. I had trouble keeping up with them, they were so fast.

“Come on, slowpoke!” Derpy yelled to me, carrying Dinky on her back as she started to fly over the massive crowd.

“Easy for you to say!” I yelled back, “You’re a Pegasus!”

Derpy and Dinky came back down to meet me, chuckling at my nearly out of breath state.

“You need to get out more.” Derpy said, as she kissed me on my forehead.

“I know…I’m a bit out of shape.” I panted out.

Derpy and Dinky thankfully stayed on the ground for most of the day. I felt bad for slowing them down, but any apologies were greeted with assuring pats on the head. They were having fun, which was all that mattered, and so was I.

We did a lot of things at the Carnival. We rode the spinning teacups, knocked a fisherpony into the shark tank, and ate all the cotton candy we could ever want. This was turning out to be a perfect day. No worries, no nothing.

The last spot to go to was the Ferris wheel, where Dinky jumped for joy.

“I wanna go on that!” she yelled.

I put her on my back as we approached the ride. Derpy stayed behind.

“You’re not coming?” I asked.

“Nah.” she said, “I can fly; it’s nothing new for me. Besides, it’ll give you and Dinky time to talk. Maybe you can discuss what to get me for my birthday.” Dinky promptly bonked the top of my head in response, laughing as she did it.

“I’ll see what I can do.” I smiled.

We got on the ride, and we were up and away as soon as the doors closed. I watched Derpy as she watched me back, before heading to one of the activity stands. From where I was, it looked like the ball toss game.

Dinky sat across from me, looking out at the scenery, lightly swaying the capsule back in forth. It was then I remembered that I hadn’t been on a ride like this since I was a colt myself. Then, I remembered why I hadn’t been on a ride like this since I was a colt. I hated heights. Imagine that, an Earth Pony dating a Pegasus, and I have a fear of heights. I tried to hide it from Dinky, but she looked at me, giggling. She saw right through me, a talent that she shared with her sister.

“You don’t like heights, do you?” she inquired with a smile.

“It’s not that I don’t like heights it’s…” The capsule rocked, pausing my sentence. “Yeah…I don’t like heights.”

Dinky smirked. “It’s okay, I’m not a fan of heights either.”

“But, you let Der…” I had to stop myself. I was so used to calling her Derpy, that I almost forgot what her real name was. “…Ditzy…fly you around.”

“I trust my sister. This…less so.”

I was caught off guard by the maturity in Dinky’s voice. The playful, foal-like pony down below became a filly wise beyond her years, up in the sky.

“I’m glad that you’re with her. I’ve never seen her so happy. Not since our parents were…still alive.” She looked down; the issue of their parents will always be a sensitive subject. I didn’t question it. “What about your parents? Are they….”

“No, they’re around. Just not for me. I haven’t spoken to them since I moved here. I haven’t gotten a letter, so I guess they just don’t care.”

“I’m sorry.” she replied.

Was I really having an adult conversation with a filly? The Ferris wheel stopped at the very top. I looked down at the bottom. Big mistake. I had to say something to get my mind off the thought of falling to my doom.

“You seem really mature for your age.” I said, voicing my curiosity to her.

“My foster family has me reading a lot. I can go up to a ninth grade level; best in my class.”

“Wow. Impressive.”

“I've been reading so much, that I haven't had the time to do things like this. I really am having fun with you guys. Plus, bonking you on the head was pretty funny.” she chuckled at that last part.

"Yeah." I rubbed my head, "You got me good back there."

“I want to ask you something, though. Do you promise not to get mad?” Her tone of voice was getting serious.

"I promise." I assured her. She was definitely Derpy's sister, she asked me the same thing that day when i fought those colts. This didn't look like a situation where I would get my flanked kicked, though, so it was already a plus.

I leaned in, giving her every ounce of my attention.

“What is it?”

“You’ve been with Ditzy for a long time, now. I just want to ask…do you love her?”

I leaned back quickly at the question, giving the capsule a little shake. I saw the look on her face change when I did that, seemingly interpreting my lean back as my way of saying “no”.

“Do you love her, or not?” she asked again with a disappointed frown.

“Yes, I do! Of course I do!” I replied, “I was just…caught off guard by the question.”

She smirked for all of a second. Her next question was troubling her, I could tell by the look on her face. It was the same look I had when I was on my way to Derpy’s house the night I admitted my feelings to her.

“I was…just wondering…if maybe…you can…..” she paused for an extraordinarily long time, “…fix her?”

The Ferris wheel started moving again.

My mind was no longer on the ground, but on Dinky’s question. Fix Derpy? What did she mean by that? I didn’t know that she was even broken to begin with. Before I could respond to the question, Dinky pointed to her left eye. It was then, I knew what she meant. She wanted me to cure Derpy of her condition, to make her normal.

“But…she’s happy the way she is.” I said.

“She’s happy when she’s with you, but not with herself.” she tells me, “I don’t blame you for not noticing, she hides it very well.”

“You’re talking like I’m some sort of toolpony, who can just replace her eye like it’s a lightbulb. I don’t even know if there is a cure.”

“Her condition has been a burden on her, for her whole life.”

“That’s not true.” I retorted, “Without it, we never would have met. I would still be that recluse nopony talked to. A writer without a story.”

“That’s one good thing. Does one good thing balance out a lifetime of pain?”

I was silent. We were almost to the bottom.

“Please…” Dinky eyes began to swell with tears, “I want you to help her.”

The Ferris Wheel stopped at the bottom.

“I…I don’t know if I can.” I replied as the door opened.

Derpy was there on the other side. She heard the last thing I said.

“Can what?” Derpy asked.

I looked back to Dinky, her look of sadness was completely gone. She was back to her cheerful state in the blink of an eye. It took me a couple seconds to do the same thing.

“C-Can get her that stuffed Ursa Minor at the ball toss. I’m really bad at that game.”

Derpy smiled.

“You can’t be as bad as I am! Come on, give it a try!”

“Okay. Let’s do it!” I proudly said, as I exited the capsule.

Dinky hopped onto Derpy’s back as we headed for the gaming area of the carnival. We shared one last look with each other, it was one of understanding. I wasn’t mad at her for bringing up Derpy’s disability, far from it. She spoke to me like I was some kind of savior, begging me on her hooves and knees to rid Derpy of the affliction that has caused her to be an outcast from most of the community.

What was in the back of my mind was now at the very front. It wasn’t going to go away; it wasn’t going to stop…unless I did something about it.