Author's notes for "The Broken Mare" · 1:10pm Jan 23rd, 2013
What started out as a silly little thought experiment to explain one pony's mismatched eyes, has expanded into my first ever fan fic. Curse these ponies, they compel me to write...
This all began as I was trying to come up with my own head canon. I had read a number of "Derpy/Ditzy" fics, each with their own explanation of her wall-eyed condition. I wanted there to be a mundane reason behind it, and one that didn't wind up painting her as dumber than a bowl of potato salad. With that, I hit upon the idea of a glass eye. Of course, I then had to explain to myself how she lost her eye...
The heroic tale of a humble guard, saving a goddess from rioters was not too much of a leap. The problem was, in the show all the guards wear armour and helmets. They appear to be exclusively male too. I needed a way to fit her into the guard, that could be explained without disrupting the canon of the show. And so, the "Barebacks" and "Ironbacks" were born. I came up with the nicknames before I thought up the "Invisible guard" and "Ceremonial guard" distinctions. My Derpy quickly fit into the invisible guard. I guess that might make her a ninja...
It would explain so much! Why is she always around when there is trouble? It's her training kicking in, subconsciously. She was trained to conceal herself, that's why she keeps popping up in odd places. It just fits!
That left trying to explain how princess Celestia would react. Why does a goddess need a guard? Chapter two was as much my own experiments in fixing my own head canon, as telling the story. As it progressed, I realised the story was as much about the princess as it was about Derpy. The title fits them both, while Derpy's suffering is obvious, how many thousands of years of emotional pain has Celestia suffered? I do hope I managed to portray some of that.
As I progressed through chapter three, I had planned a short, two scene epilogue. Celestia addressing the rioters in their cells, and Derpy and Dinky discussing what happened while snuggling together in bed. But the more I thought about it, the more Dinky moved into the foreground. To my mind, there is no greater tragedy than a child caring for a parent. When "Sleepless in Ponyville" aired, and it was revealed that Luna can see a pony's dreams, Dinky comforting her mother as she suffered night terrors became a powerful image to me. I wanted to capture that in some way. As I wrote more, the epilogue blew out into a chapter in its own right. My hint at Derpy/Mac shipping was an attempt steer towards a happy ending. After what I put her through, she deserved some kind of break...
I want to give my most sincere and heartfelt thanks to SpiritofGenerosity for the incredible cover art for the story. When I put the request up on the Bronies Australia forums, I thought I might get a simple vector of Derpy in a guard's armour, or something. Needless to say, I was blown away by the amazing piece he created after reading the first two chapters. SpiritofGenerosity's art thread on the Bronies Australia forums.
Finally, I want to thank everyone that read, rated, favourited, and commented on the story. I am overwhelmed by the reaction it has received. It's been amazing watching the numbers climb. I dread to think of how much bandwidth I've chewed up refreshing the notifications page. Thank you all, I hope you enjoyed the story.
I have more fan fics to write, so I hope you will keep an eye out for them too.
Thank you,
Brumby_Run.
This was truly a great story, much better than mine about the truth behind Pinkie. I can't help but wonder what the reactions would be for the adults of Ponyville when they come to understand the real story of Derpy. If I could concentrate better than a bag full of weasels in a tumble drier, I would ask to do a continuation on this story. But I will not, because I would never finish.
This one kicked me right in the feels, and I loved it.
2343247 Maybe if he writes a sequel. Also in said sequel we could have Dinky meeting her grandparents and maybe derpy's memories coming back.