A very quiet hour passed between Derpy and Note Pad. A very awkward, long hour. Neither touched their food or even felt like eating anymore.

"Are you finished?" asked Note Pad.

"Um... yeah, I guess I'm done," said Derpy, pushing away her plate. Note Pad called over the waiter to bring the check.

The two walked outside towards Derpy's house.

"It's the next left," said Derpy.

Note Pad nodded and brought his gaze down, involuntarily looking over Derpy's flank without her knowing.

So that's why she has bubbles for a cutie mark, thought Note, she has a VERY nice bubble butt... what? What am I saying?

Note shook his head and kept going, turning to find Derpy's home.

"Why do you live on the ground if you're a Pegasus?" asked Note.

Derpy smiled. "Funny story. I used to get lost a lot back when I lived up in the clouds. My eyes drift and every cloud looks so identical."

Note Pad smiled, "That must have been frustrating."

"You get used to it," said Derpy, as they approached her door.

"So... this is goodbye," said Note Pad.

Derpy frowned, but she did want to sleep. She felt exhausted. "Will I see you again?"

"Of course," he said, finding himself smiling.

She opened her door. "Goodbye..." And promptly slipped inside, closing it.

She exhaled deeply. "I need a bath... A nice warm bath..."

She entered the living room and saw her purple unicorn cousin Sparkler drawing idly with Derpy's daughter Dinky.

"Mommy!" said Dinky, happily embracing her mother. "Let me show you everything I drew today!"

Note Pad eventually left back to the inn room he settled into. He opened the door and made sure the first thing he did before bed, was shower. He felt as if he went through a really long day, and all he could think about was sleeping.

He tossed and turned for countless minutes. He couldn't sleep. He knew he didn't want to accept it, but he had to.

"I think I actually like that bubble-brain."

Evening passed, and morning followed. The sun high above was blocked out by the clouds, and a light drizzle gave Ponyville an almost gloomy look.

Note Pad rose up and showered, put on his sunglasses, and left. He headed out into the inn's cafe, intent on getting some breakfast. After eating, he used a nearby phone.

"Hello? Boss?" said Note Pad.

"Ah, good morning detective. I was hoping you'd call me. I have news."

"Really?" said Note, "What kind of news?"

"I was able to find some new working contacts..."

Note Pad knew where this was going. He spoke in a low, hushed tone.

"Don't you even think of firing me..." said Note.

"It's not firing. Firing you is an ugly term I'd rather not use..." replied his boss. "You didn't do anything, it's just for my new detectives. We're being moved around," Note Pad heard papers shuffling in the background, "By that I mean we partnered up with the Manehattan Police Department. So we have new detectives and a police force. It's all very hectic right now."

"Naturally you chose to let me go," said Note, bitterly.

"Note Pad, listen kid..." Note Pad knows his boss rarely called him "kid", "I helped you get where you are right now. I understand you've worked with me for years, but we just can't have you with us right now. I'm sorry, kid. I promise I'll reach you once we cleared up room here. In the meantime... think of this as an extended vacation."

Note Pad sighed.

"You were stressed out. Now you can truly relax and take cases on your leisure." There was a pause. "I'll keep in touch, Note. Goodbye, kid."

And just like that, the line went dead. Note Pad hung up and processed what he just heard. He was practically laid off, but it was an "extended vacation."

In a way, Note Pad was glad he got out of his crummy office. He could finally properly settle down.

And I can spend more time with Derpy...

He growled at himself for thinking about her.

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't been updating as often as I used to. School and Life pretty much have me tied down with less time to write. I'll try to work on updating stories on the weekends. Thank you~

-Sharky