PROLOGUE
by Vetnern
The midday sun hung lazily in the sky over Ponyville. A group of ponies were in the park, playing a game of hoofball. The scoreboard showed the match to be between a team of two earth ponies versus two pegasi. And that the score was currently tied.
Applejack grasped the ball in her forehooves before glaring at the pegasus opposite her.
"All right, Rainbow Dash." she said. "This one's gonna win the game fer us earth ponies, proving that you pegasi ain't as athletic as y'all think y' are."
"We'll see about that!" Dash replied smugly. "Come on, Derpy! Let's win this thing for the pegasi!"
"Okay, Rainbow!"
The wall-eyed pegasus trotted over to her team-mate and watched Applejack, who proceeded to kick the ball with a large amount of force. Rainbow Dash began running around frantically as the ball came down, hurtling towards Derpy.
"Catch it, Derpy!" Dash shouted. Derpy closed her eyes and began waving her forehooves furiously in an attempt to catch the ball. As a whistle blew, players and spectators alike gasped in awe as the ball collided sharply with Derpy's forehead, causing her to fall to the ground, a small cloud of dust rising up as she did.
"Derpy!" Dash cried. "Are you all right?!"
"Did we win?" Derpy replied, moaning in pain.
"We drew." sighed Rainbow Dash. "Applejack has a pretty good swing." she added.
"Hoo-whee!" Applejack cheered. "That there was a mighty fine game. Pity mah team didn't win, but there's always next time!"
"You can bet on it." Dash said. "I gotta go. Glad to see you're all right, Derpy. Good game!"
As everyone said their goodbyes, Derpy decided to go on what she liked to call an adventure. She was walking through Ponyville, admiring the scenery, when she came face to face with an overly-cheery Pinkie Pie.
"Did you see that amazing hit Applejack did? I mean come on, that could have flown to the moon and back. Oh, but then it would be too cold and your poor hooves would freeze!" She shouted in her joyful tone.
"Woo, Applejack!" Derpy replied.
Pinkie Pie pulled out a small wrapped box from her mane.
"For doing a super special job today, I got you a gift!" she said handing the box to Derpy.
"B-but Pinkie Pie, You're still in debt" replied Derpy, a sad expression on her face.
"Oh don't worry about that silly, I have my ways" Pinkie replied, tapping her nose with a hoof. "I gotta dash now, enjoy your gift!"
"Thank you" said Derpy, before noticing that Pinkie had simply vanished into thin air. With a shrug, she opened the box and began walking along the Ponyville streets.
"Oh my gosh, a blueberry muffin" she squealed in delight. Placing the gift wrap and box in a nearby trash can, and then proceeded to eat her new-found treat.
Given how much she enjoyed muffins, she paid more attention to it than to where she was actually going. Upon finishing the object of her desire, she looked around — before a crestfallen look appeared on her face as she realised she was lost.
All around her stood buildings in various stages of decay. Several of them were nothing but piles of rubble, and the few that remained standing had vines crawling up the walls — and more than their fair share of rats. A cold wind blew around the ruins, ruffling the feathers in Derpy's wings and sending a chill down her spine.
I wonder what happened here?
Walking through this strange place, Derpy saw graffiti on a few walls — 'Fun, fun, fun!' and 'Dota' being the most common. Turning a corner, Derpy saw an old run down building — one of the few that still had all four of its walls intact.
"Ooh, a den." Derpy said out loud, her voice echoing through the empty streets.
Approaching the building, she tentatively knocked on the door, startling herself when it flew off its hinges, hitting the floor with a resounding bang that shook dust from the ceiling and woke up a few rats.
"Anypony here?" she asked, as the sound of the wind got stronger. A rat crawled past her hooves, making her squeak with fear.
There's clearly nopony here, so why am I afraid?
Summoning up her courage, Derpy entered the house and began searching the rooms. The wallpaper was torn and mildewed, the wood was rotten, and the furniture appeared to have been taken over by a small family of wild cats, which hissed and batted their paws as Derpy passed by.
Hearing a thud from upstairs, Derpy took a deep breath and slowly made her way up to the second floor. Making sure she didn't make any sudden noises, she was surprised to find that there was only one room upstairs. Unlike the others, this one had blacked out windows, making it very dark and hard to see.
She heard a muffled thud and then a scraping noise as something shot toward her, landing at her hooves, causing her to instinctively curl into a ball. Her ears were filled with the sound of a deep voice.
"Pass on the game of making fours, or this curse will forever be yours." the voice boomed. Derpy peeked out from behind her hooves to see a box. Grabbing it, she quickly flew downstairs and out of the door.
Flying up as high as she could, Derpy saw the familiar part of Ponyville, heading towards it at a high rate of speed. She landed next to a tree and placed the mysterious box down in front of her. Wiping off some of the dust that had accumulated revealed a logo that simply said 'Hasbro'.
What kind of a silly name is that? Derpy thought, as she wiped off the rest of the dust. Once it was gone, she looked at it.
"Connect Four?" she questioned. "What do I do with this?"
She thought back to what the voice had told her.
Pass on the game of making fours, or this curse will forever be yours. "I'd better find a partner! I don't want to be cursed!"
Looking around, Derpy saw Twilight and the rest of her friends standing in the town square. Tucking the box under a wing, she shot over as quickly as she could.
"Hey everypony! Do any of you want to play, uh... Connect Four?" she asked, looking at the box for confirmation.
"Sorry Derpy." Twilight replied. "Princess Celestia is sending us to deliver supplies to Las Pegasus."
Derpy slumped onto her haunches, a glum look on her face.
"Oh, okay." she replied.
Twilight noticed the look and smiled apologetically.
"You know that Spike isn't coming with us?" she said. "I'm sure he'd be happy to play with you. It would certainly beat being in the library all by himself."
Derpy gained a smile of her own as she stood up.
"Thanks, Twilight!" she said cheerfully. "I'll go and ask him. Have fun in Las Pegasus!"
Twilight and the others waved as Derpy rushed towards her goal. A bit too fast, as she ended up crashing into the library via a window, startling the young dragon who was snoozing on the couch.
"Gah!" he yelled. He looked around the library before his eyes fell on a sheepish-looking pegasus. "Oh, hey Derpy. What's up?"
"Sorry Spike." she replied as she stood up and held out the box. "I was just wondering if you'd like to play this with me?"
Spike looked at the box, a confused look spreading across his face. He looked up at Derpy, and into her pleading eyes. He shrugged.
"Sure, why not?" he replied. "I've never heard of this game before, so it'll be fun to learn it. That, and I'd be happy to have some company other than the Cutie Mark Crusaders." he shuddered.
"Thanks, Spike." Derpy said, hugging him out of delight. Spike squirmed free and took the box from her, looking at it closer.
"All right." he said, puffing out his chest. "Let's do this thing."