//------------------------------//
// 1 Day untill Evalution 
// Story: I Am Derpy Hooves 
// by defender of the herd 
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1 Day until Evaluation 


Overnight walked onto the practice field as the light crested the horizon in the east.  In a bag on his back he carried a   Rainbow Spiced Muffin, one of the hottest and spiciest confections known to ponykind.  Overnight knew Ditzy would not be able to resist a muffin and then its spicy power would go to work,and she would be bed ridden for the rest of the day.  Overnight rationalized to himself that if Ditzy didn’t work today she would be left to stew in her own doubts and fears.  This is what Overnight was hoping for, if he could get Ditzy off her game today it would ruin her evaluation and then she would be fired and his plan would be a success. A thin cold smile pressed at the back of his lips as he thought to himself. 

Toady would be the day he could truly start to help Ditzy become a better pony.  He had torn her down and now he could start building her up into something great.  He would make her better, he would make her great, and he would make a pony better from the ground up.  Of course if he could do it once, then why not again?  Overnight pondered the question in his head. Maybe, he could take care of Dinky and make her into a model pony.  A sudden thought came to Overnight’s mind; he could recast most of Ponyville into better ponies.  He could one at a time make ponies better.  Overnight thought about this for a few minutes. He was taken aback at his own bold idea.  Overnight chuckled to himself and shook the idea from his head.  Making Ditzy into a better pony would be enough work for him, after all remaking a pony into a proper adult and member of society is hard work.

Overnight saw Ditzy asleep on a cloud over the course and yelled for her.  Her alarm had not gone off today. She had a long day yesterday, a very long and crash filled day.  Her hang over was probably going to be a nasty one.   

Ditzy heard a stallion’s voice from some place far off.  It had a dull tone and sounded like metal on stone.  The voice sounded as though it came from a thousand miles away. A painful light washed into her eyes and blurred her wall eyes as she opened them.  A fuzzy pony appeared to be upside down standing on a green sky.  Something was wrong.  Taking a quick glance down to herself and she was hanging off a cloud in a very unnatural way.  This would explain the searing neck pain that was setting in.  Ditzy rolled over and looked at the pony again.  The large blur came into focus and Ditzy saw something for the first time in days made her feel a little bit better.  
Ditzy flew down to Overnight and let down near him.
“Hello Ms. Doo.  I trust you are making use of the training field I made for you?”
“Oh… yeah it was a nice thing you did for me Mr. Overnight sir.  I’m really glad I have some place to get away from the world.”
“Well I have a bag for you and your mail satchel, please get started as soon as you can.”
With that simple line Overnight walked off and left Ditzy alone and a little bit stunned.
‘Huh, he really is a bit distant’ , thought Ditzy to herself.  
Ditzy looked down and opened the bag that Overnight had left her and began to root around in it.  Inside was a note and a muffin.
“Oh wow! A muffin, I love muffins! This is gonna be a good day. Thanks Overnight!  You’re a great boss. Oh gosh it smells amazing; this is going to taste great!” Dizty spoke with an upbeat voice to herself. 

The over excited mare consumed the muffin with two giant bites and an even more giant grin on her face.  The grin fell away from Ditzy’s face after a few seconds.  A sharp knife like pain shot up from her stomach and into her throat.  A fire formed in the back of her throat and leapt out from her lips.  Ditzy screamed and began to cry, but no tears fell from her eyes.  The fire from her mouth cooked away the tears before they could fall.  Ditzy’s face began to change colors. Her normal grey shifted to blue, then green, to yellow, orange, and red.  Every time her face changed color the pain and heat began anew inside of her.  

Ditzy fell to the ground and started to roll around in pain and wallow in suffering.  Sadly she landed on her mail satchel and dragged it around with her.  Mail began to spill out of her satchel and blow away from her.  She watched in utter horror as she saw letters dance on the wind she was making from rolling around.  No matter how hard she tried she could not stop the letters and one by one they blew away out of sight.  This was horrible. 
Forcing her mind to focus Ditzy knew of the one place that could help her, the lake.  She needed to fly to the lake.  She shakily got to her hoofs and tried to take off.  The pain in her body was tremendous as she tried to flap her wings.  Slowly and searingly   she got off the ground.  A slow, brutal, agonizing, flight awaited her and it would take her 2 hours normally to get there from where she was.  At that moment Ditzy believed it would take the rest of her life to make it there.

Raindrop and Shipping were flying over Ponyville looking for Ditzy.  They shouted out for her.  In the streets Applejack had a posse of shopkeepers and vendors looking for her also.  Carrot top and Dinky Doo stood atop the Doo home with a spy glass with teary eyes and surveyed the land around them.  Rainbow Dash had assembled the weather team and dispatched teams to search the outlying areas of town. Fluttershy was in the Everfree forest with Zecora trying to find a trace of Ditzy.  Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and Rarity were searching for spells that could help find the lost mail pony.  Pinkie Pie and the Cakes had gone to the damn to look.  All of Ponyville was alive with the Hunt for Ditzy.  Fear gripped many hearts as the story of Ditzy got passed around.  The story of how a mare full of love and joy was now full of loathing and depression.  This could not happen.

No pony in Ponyville would allow it happen.  Ditzy Doo was everypony’s favorite mail pony and she deserved better.  Ponies had seen the absolute sadness in the eyes of Dinky, the shaking fear in Carrot Top’s voice, and the stone cold feeling from Raindrop, when they talked about the missing Ditzy. Everypony knew the evaluation was tomorrow and, that without help, Ditzy could lose everything.  Every pony in the town had risen to meet the call to help Ditzy.  The problem was that no pony could find her, anywhere.  

Golden Harvest gave a sigh as Dinky looked out over Ponyville.  The mare was starting to shake she was so worried about Ditzy.  She began to wonder what she would say to Ditzy to help, what could she to to help.  Her first try had been an awful failure
Overnight knew the one place Ditzy would head to after she ate the muffin.  He also knew that she would not read the note he gave her.  A simple note to simply inform her that the muffin was to be eaten in small bits.  It was a clculated risk he knew, but he had banked on her brash, derpy behavior to win the day.  He seemed to have guessed correctly. i  When Overnight left Ditzy he had headed off in the direction of the lake.  He had just arrived when he saw a mint green unicorn calling out Ditzy’s name.  
“What are you doing?” a sharp metal voice said.  The voice scared the day lights out of Lyra and she shrieked.  
“Um I’m looking for Ditzy she’s missing and she needs help.  And I may or may not be looking for something called a human also.  The second can wait, for now.”
“Last I saw Ms. Doo was a few hours ago she may still be at the practice field way to the east of the town.  It’s about a 4 hour trot, so I would get started if I were you.”
The mint green unicorn took off like a shot down the path and out of sight.  With her out of the way now all that Overnight had to do was wait.  Once ditzy arrived he could set his final phase in motion.  He needed to keep Ditzy away from town, away from everypony.  The mail satchel he had given Ditzy was the key.
The Ponyville Lake gleamed like a rare gem from a dragons hoard in front of Ditzy.  The sweet cool waters were so close. She could imagine the water washing down her throat and putting out the horrid flames.  She fell to her hoofs and knees and crawled the last bit to the lake. She threw her head into the water and gulped it down like cooling nectar.  She pulled her head out of the lake and gasped for air.  Her cute walled eyes were a soft shade of crimson and her nose had a slight trickle of blood coming from it.  The physical pain wracked Ditzy’s body and she slumped to the ground and continued to softly gasp for cooling air.

“Hello Ms.Doo, are you alright?” Came a stern voice from off to her left. She pivoted her head around and squinted to see who was talking. Ditzy opened her mouth to speak but her throat was swollen and burned so bad she couldn't speak.  All she could do was squeak out few muffled noises.  

"I guess you didn't read the note.  I said the muffin was to be eaten in small bits.  It was a Rainbow Spice muffin. While super spicy if eaten at once, in small bits its ok and full of energy. It's going to be ok Ms. Doo. Let's get you home and fixed up." With that Overnight gently lifted Ditzy onto his back and started for her home.  

AS the pair entered Ponyville, Overnight felt a pang of guilt hit him in the chest for what he was about to do.  He looked around and saw that all the ponies who would normally be here, were out looking for Ditzy.  He saw shops closed and doors locked.  He gulped and swallowed hard. He shifted his head and looked back at Ditzy. She looked so scared, and hurt.  Overnight had wondered if he had gone too far. He shook his head and told himself to be strong. It was almost over. Soon she would be better, she would be the mare she had to be, she would be Ditzy Doo, not Derpy Hooves.  The end justifies the means, Overnight told himself.  Still he girted his teeth and started the next part of his plan.

Ditzy looked around the houses and shops on the street and looked confused.  She wondered where everypony was. She wore a worried face and eyes darted around to look for signs of movement. She tried to speak but her throat was still burn too badly to for anything more than a few squeaks.  Where had everypony gone?  One of her eyes meet Overnight's and he stopped walking.  He let out a great sigh and begane to speak.

"They are all gone. They are all out looking for you.  When word got out that you had not gone home everypony here was worried about you.  Ponies talked about losing you.  They did not want to lose Derpy Hooves they said.  No pony wanted to lose there jester.  If you were gone who could they compair themselves too? Who would they say they were better than if you went missing?  I am sorry Ms. Doo, ponies can be cruel."

Ditzy started to cry, and Overnight trudged onward. At last the pair came to the home of Dizty.  Overnight walked up and opened the door.  They went up the stairs and Overnight placed Ditzy in her bed. He tucked her in and closed the bedroom door as he left.  Ditzy just kept crying.  On the other side of the door Overnight wiped away a tear from his eye and left the house.  Ditzy was alone. So very alone at that moment.  

Overnight sat on the steps of the house and sighed. He felt a little guilty about what was going on, but he had to press on.  He closed his eyes and tried to think.  He thought about his plan again, he thoughts. his methods, his motives.  This was the right thing to do, wasn't it?  This was the same thing he went through at the orphanage and it had made him better in the end.  His mind began to wander back to those days.

Young Overnight sat at a desk in his room and he looked at the walls.  Walls were boring.  He hated being bored.  The caretakers told him a time out would help him understand what he did wrong.  All he did was trip..and fall...into three other ponies and make them drop there lunch trays.  Ok so maybe he did mess up..a little.  His thoughts were interrupted as the door to his room creaked open.
A yellow mare with orange mane trotted in and looked at him.  That look chilled Overnight to his bones.  He knew he was in big trouble.  
"Do you know what you did?" Her voice was cold and distant.
"I....I...messed up" came a soft reply.
"Yes you did. You never think Overnight, you just act.  You just do what ever you want and its a major problem.  You know that is the reason your still here."
The words were harsh and cut deep.  Overnight's eyes started to water. Deep down he knew she was right. He knew no pony would want a child that was a walking disaster. None of the other orphans wanted to be around him for that reason.
"I try and I try Overnight, but you need to try too. You need to be better, you need to be an adult. If you don't grow up you will be here forever.  You want to be teased forever?"
"...no..." Came a soft teary voice."
"Well grow up or you will continue to be the pony everypony says they glad they aren't.  Grow up or you will be alone and stuck here forever!"  The older mare's voice shook anger.     

Overnight's train of thought was broken by the touch of a small filly against his shoulder.  He opened his eyes and saw a small purple looking at him.
"Your mother is inside. I found her at the lake.  It looked she hurt herself on her mail run.  I put her to bed, and she's asleep now.  She just needs some time and rest, she should be ok."

The filly reached up and did the most surprising action Overnight had ever seen. She hugged him. She cried into his mane and hugged him
"Th..th...thank you so much. I was so worried about her." Dinky was bawling now. Overnight then did something he had never done his entire life, he hugged her back.
"It's going to be ok Dinky. Your mother is going to be ok."

Over the next few minuets Overnight spoke with Golden Harvest who agreed to keep Dinky for the night.  They spoke about Ditzy's evaluation the next day and what should be done.  Overnight to her that Ditzy should face this alone, and that the pressure of a crow was the last thing she needed now.  Golden Harvest agreed, and Overnight went to his home at the edge of Ponyville.  He went up to his bed room and sat at his desk and looked at the wall. He hated walls they..were...boring.

A hushed wispier came from his throat.
"By the princesses....what have I done?"  Overnight began to sweat and tried to think.  He realized he had never been so wrong about something in his entire life. He needed to think. The dark night closed in around him.