The next morning, as Celestia brought out the brilliant sun, the two left for work... something was amiss. Neither said to the other "something doesn't feel right", although that's hard to do when neither talked the whole way to HQ. Once they arrived they were both quiet... unusually quiet... and tired. Very tired. At least Derpy wore her bow and locket. They got through the day okay, but once it ended:

"I'm kind of not feeling well, Cloudfire..." Derpy said, weakly. "I just wanna go home."

"Okay!" Cloudfire replied. "Sure! ... walk you?"

"All right."

They went to her house and after Derpy laid down in her room, Cloudfire took the long walk home... to his tiny basement apartment. He'd only been there once the whole week. Dishes had been left in the sink, growing moldy from the remnants of breakfast 5 days before. He couldn't even remember what he'd had. They both went to bed right after getting home and both spent the afternoon and night tossing. It made sense that Cloudfire should feel full after the night before, but he felt empty... very empty. Derpy felt funny when she thought about it... in a good way and in a way that made her tummy hurt at the same time.

The next day Derpy called out from her job and Cloudfire showed up at her house to have Daddy Hooves, who was up in her stead, tell him the news. He took the walk to work along and was jokingly called "Team Fire" by his fellow co-workers. "Derpy's Unnofical Hints" were put to good use that day as he trudged through the site alone, and he made almost as much as he would have with Derpy present.

At the end of the day he went to the Sugar Cube corner and purchased a brown sugar topped muffin for Derpy. Pinkie Pie was there behind the register and said hello in her usual, overly friendly way... Cloudfire was polite, though in no mood. He said he was on his way to see his Special Somepony, who was sick in bed.

"That's funny..." Pinkie said. "She was in here earlier today! She looked really sad... I tried to see what was going on in that noggin of hers, but she wouldn't tell me. She said she would have, if she understood it. She's a strange cookie!"

"Weird."

When Cloudfire left the Corner, he went to Rarity's boutique to get a carnations. Rarity was there and rung up his purchase.

"I'm off to see Derpy," he said, putting everything in his green saddlebags. "She's been in bed all day and isn't feeling well."

"How strange!" Replied Rarity. "She came in here an hour ago with Twilight and Fluttershy... she looked quite upset, but I was too busy in the back to find out what the matter was. I would have, believe me. They helped themselves to some ribbon for a project, left some Bits on my table, and promptly left. They almost didn't even say good bye!"

"Thanks."

The nearest place to go was Twilight's Library, where Cloudfire found Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and Fluttershy leaning over something on a table with a short piece of yellow ribbon, tool box, and a pair of scissors beside them.

"Oh, hi Cloudfire!" Said an antsy looking Fluttershy. "I borrowed this book from the library, but when I asked Angel to get it for me so I could return it, one of the decorative ribbons got ripped."

"It's not a problem," replied Twilight. "We're just having some issues restoring it."

"Let me take a look," said Cloudfire. "I'm good with my hooves."

They let the ivory Earth Pony take a look at the book and, after getting Twilight's approval, he cut some of the torn ribbon from the book and replaced it with the new piece, tucking it into place. After Twilight used some of her magic, and a little glue from the tool box, to keep everything into place.

"Good as new!" Twilight exclaimed, having Spike set the book aside to dry. "What can I do for you, Cloudfire?"

"Rarity told me she saw Derpy today with you guys... Derpy's been sick over the past day. Do you know if everything's all right?"

Twilight and Fluttershy gave each other a passing glance.

"Is there something I should know?"

"Cloudfire," said Fluttershy. "Derpy has a lot of... feelings she was talking to us about."

Twilight pipped in:

"We don't know what you guys did, but I can take a guess. It sounds like she needs to talk to you about it."

"Okay then. Be seeing you..."

He left the library and went to pay the Hooves residency a visit...

Cloudfire was welcomed in by the entire family. He was told Derpy was in her room and she'd be happy to hear from him. After visiting with Dinky for a spell, he climbed the stairs and knocked on her door.

"Hey Derpy! I'm here to see how you're doing," he said, in a friendly voice.

"Hi Cloudfire," replied Derpy's voice weakly.

"Can I come in?"

"Okay."

Cloudfire went right in and sat on Derpy's bed by her head, looking down at her.

"You don't look all that bad," he said cheerfully. "Bet you probably caught a cold!"

"I have a tummy ache..." She replied. "It just came back."

"Derpy," he said, stroking her mane. "Is anything else bothering you...?"

"No."

"Come on, Derpy..." He noogied her. "We've been together a quarter of a year. You're not fooling anypony. What's up, Doc?"

"I... I..." She sniffed. "I don't know."

"Well, that's a start!" He smiled at her. "Tell me... is this about something we did recently... maybe last time I was over here?"

Derpy didn't answer, she just looked away towards her window.

"I thought it might be. If you wanna talk about it... I'm here."

She was silent yet again. Cloudfire was about to speak again when she finally spoke:

"It made me feel good, but I felt kinda icky afterwards... you must be mad at me now, and think I'm a silly filly."

"No, not at all," he gave her a playful peck on the cheek. "This is why I wanted us to take our time... is this what's been bothering you?"

The gray Pegasus nodded.

"Derpy, when you told me you hadn't spent a whole lot of time exploring your body, I wanted to back off the idea of being intimate with you for a while so I could give you some homework first..."

"Homework?"

"You gotta know your body, Derpy. It's important."

"Why?"

"It's one of those things a pony can't explain... please just trust me on this."

"I do, but... I just don't know how to feel."

"I can't tell you... but take as long as you need to figure it out!" He rubbed her shoulders. "I'll still be here. Promise."

Derpy smiled at her Special Somepony as he sat there, rubbing her back. All was quiet for a few short minutes.

"Cloudfire?"

"Yes?"

She looked up at him with puppy dog eyes:

"Will you snuggle with me?"

"Of course."

The two laid in bed together, without covers, snuggling. Together they slept all afternoon and night. Derpy drifted off with her head resting on his chest, listening to his heart beat. They were happy, and went to work the very next day like nothing had even been wrong. Derpy obviously hadn't spoken with her father, even though she'd tried to talk with the girls. It took Cloudfire make it right.