Seeing Sweetie kiss Evening Light caused a cascade of conflicted feelings inside of Derpy. Despite what some residents of Ponyville thought, she wasn't stupid or oblivious to the things going on around her. In fact, she probably knew more about what was going on in Ponyville than just about any one else, save for probably Pinkie and the workers at The Carrot's Top. She knew that Sweetie had a crush on Evening. The pegasus had been watching it bloom since stallion began teaching the younger mare.
So why didn't she do anything about it when she noticed? Well, if is honest with herself, it was because she found it cute. Memories of having a crush when she was Sweetie's age had flooded back to Derpy and it had kept her from saying anything. Another part of it was curiosity. Deep down, at least some part of herself had been curious if Sweetie would ever act on that crush and wondered how Evening would react.
She could have never guessed that the younger unicorn would reveal it by kissing Evening and especially right in front of her like that. It was even more surprising to see her boyfriend kiss Sweetie right back. While she had watched, the thought of wondering just how good a kisser the other mare was crossed her mind ever so briefly.
Her sudden outburst had only confirmed what Derpy was thinking at the time. The wall-eyed pegasus couldn't help but sympathize with the younger mare. Besides, she didn't fault Sweetie for falling for Evening. She knew all to well how much of a charmer the stallion could be, intentionally and unintentionally.
She walks over to the young unicorn and drapes a wing around her, pulling her into a tight hug. The main goal for the moment just being to calm Sweetie down. It was fortunate that the gamble paid off too. Derpy could feel the unicorn mare relax and calm down, realizing that the pegasus wasn't angry.
"C'mon," she says softly to Sweetie. "Take a few breaths and clam down." She smiles to the unicorn. "Everything's going to be okay. I'm not upset, okay? And neither is Evening. We don't hate you, just are really surprised." She giggles a bit. "Especially Evening. Sill never realized how you felt."
"What do you mean by that?!" said stallion exclaims, puffing his cheeks out a bit.
Derpy looks over at him and giggles at his expression. That had been one of the fun things about watching him teach Sweetie: there were times when he acted just as childish as she did.
"I mean that she's been crushing on you for a while now and you're the only who hadn't noticed," she states before looking back at Sweetie and using her other wing to wipe the unicorn mare's tears away.
"We have a lot to talk about," she continues. "I just want to let you know that I'm honestly not really sure how I feel about this."
"That makes two of us," Evening chimes in.
Sweetie looks between the two and nods slowly. Derpy can see that the young mare was still nervous about what had just happened. The mailmare takes a seat and looks Sweetie in the eyes, blinking a few times to steady her vision and mentally making a note to take Evening up on his suggestion of seeing if glasses could help her.
"Sweetie, I mean it," she says. "I'm not upset at all and I really do understand what you're going through right now." She takes a deep breath. "I just want to know one thing: How do you truly and honestly feel about Evening?"
Sweetie blinks a few times and looks between Evening and Derpy, her cheeks going red once more as she tried to stammer an answer out.
"I love him!" she finally manages to get out. "I mean he's funny, kind, cute, understanding, cute, helpful, wonderful. . ."
"An insane flirt, snores, sings horribly off key in the shower, easily distracted, horrible tease, is able to burn water. . ." Derpy adds, smiling a bit at Evening's reaction.
The stallion rolls his eyes. "Yes, Miss 'I was just trying to get a glass of milk and managed to set the stove on fire', complain about my cooking."
Derpy huffs. She hadn't set the stove on fire. That had been when Dinky was visiting and left a pot holder on it. It wasn't her fault that Evening's stove easily could be turned on by bumping it!
A light giggling catches her attention and she turns to Sweetie Belle. The young unicorn had a hoof over her mouth and was smiling.
"Well, I can't cook either," she says. "We're perfect like that!"
"Oh yes," Light states. "Three poor souls who'd manage to make a salad explode if given the chance."
Derpy giggles as well, feeling the tension in the room dissipate.
"Look, I'm not sure about this," Light adds, a more serious tone to his voice. "It's nothing against you really, Sweetie. I mean, you live up to your name and you're extremely cute-"
"Especially her backside given how much your head tilts when she leaves," Derpy adds quietly.
". . .Your head tilts more than mine does," Evening counters before going on, ignoring the look of confusion Sweetie had at that comment. "And you're really enthusiastic about things. I just don't know. Given our age difference and everything. . ."
Derpy narrows her eyes and goes over to Evening, whapping him lightly upside the head.
"You are the last pony to be talking about age differences mister!" she says sternly. "You flirt all the time with Berry and my sister. They're almost ten years older than you!" She huffs and ruffles her wings. "And I'm five years older than you, same difference as you and Sweetie, so don't give her that line you liar."
The white mare giggles and looks at Evening expectedly. Derpy could see that Evening was running out of excuses to use, though curiosity begins to creep into her mind to why he even was.
"Look. .. I just don't want any of us to get into trouble cause of this," Light says at length. "I mean, yeah, I know you're pretty much an adult now and finishing up school and all, but still. . ."
Derpy smiles and gives Evening a light nuzzle. There was the problem he was having about it all; public perception. She can understand that, but knew that they couldn't let it get to them. She gave him a light kiss on the cheek and smiles.
"You're worrying too much, Light," she says. "I'm okay with this and that's the important thing. Let's just see how things work out, okay?"
Light gives a soft sigh and nods slowly. "Okay, just give me a warning next time you're going to- mmmph!"
Derpy cuts him off with a short kiss on the lips. She giggles as she breaks the kiss and smiles to Sweetie.
"Congratulations again on your cutie mark," she says. "We should go out to celebrate tonight."
Sweetie beams and nods before pouncing Derpy and giving her a tight hug. The pegasus mare smiles and hugs her right back, looking over to Evening. The stallion shakes his head in bemusement and returns her smile. Both knew that this was the start of an odd period of time for them all.
