This story is a sequel to Of Purple Dragons, Great and Small
Nightmares are ordinary; that is what Princess Luna insists. Everypony has them, and they all follow similar patterns. There's no reason that Derpy should get worked up over hers.
That's easy for the Princess to say when she's not the one surrounded by train wrecks, psychopaths, zombies, evil witches, cannibals, etc. Most pressing, of course, is the gray, clown-faced shadow from Derpy's own nightmares that keeps stalking her from within the mist.
What is it, and can Derpy ever confront it? If she ever wants her home back, she'll have to, but how can she defeat a thing born of her own heart?
Note to readers: This story has a serious continuity snarl, in that Moon Dancer appears as a pony with a personality nothing like herself as since depicted in the show. That's a hazard of writing fanfiction in an ongoing universe, and will require an MST3K mantra "hoof wave."
Cover art by Tarantad0 Click the source link, and leave a like or a favorite.
Silent Ponyville. Nice. And Flutterbat!
Really well done! Spooky, but not entirely a horror story, and it has some great character moments. I really do love this version of Ditzy, she seems to be a very realistic character. I also like how ambiguous the ending is. I really want to see more of her in the future.
Well, we all have our inner demons. Ditzy's is just stronger than most.
... i was like. oooooooooh
and then LOL 
and also.... that was so RANDOM 
me: Does anyone love Dislestia cannon??
carry on...
why are you even here?
AND IF YOU DONT WANT ME HERE THEN FINE!!!
trixie:
me: umm
trixie: BECAUSE I AM!
ring ring, ring ring
me: HELLO!
hello???, by any chance are you Puffins XD?? 
GO AWAY OR ELSE!
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!. Oh well 
twilight:
me: YUP
twilight:
me: hang up
ring ring, ring ring
me: hi!
YOU SOUND LIKE SPITFIRE! I NEED YOUR AUTOGRAPH! SEND ME IT! 
RD:
me:.... hang up.
RD:
ring ring, ring ring
me: YO PINKIE WANNA EAT SOME SWEETS???
sorry i can't i'm sick
you healed me!
Pinkie:
me: heals
Pinkie:
me: yup, now lets eat sweets!
ring ring, ring ring,
me: YOUR THE BEST TROLL EVER!
celestia: ..........................................................
i love it, i really hope this is not the end of this universe, but if this was it then you have concluded it well, the deph of character of ditzy is excelent, and thats is how i pictured her when i watched the show.
thank you for your great work, i hope i hear from you again mannulus
-knetch
5272585
I have a plan for how to close out this series. My current conundrum is whether it should be split into two shorter fics or become one longer one.
They say no work of art is ever truly finished; only abandoned. A part of me hates to see this series end, but the truth is that this character has almost reached the full measure of potential that what she started off as even allows for. She really was just a sight gag to begin with, and the whole purpose of this series has been the examination of how she became that, whether she could be more than that, etc. She's much more sure of herself and what she wants, now. She's made every decision that could move her own life towards something better and more meaningful than what it's been.
There's just one last thing, in my opinion, that can happen to her and still have any significance.
5270178
Well, as I said in that last author's note, I realize now that this version of Ditzy Doo was an inadvertent transposition of the personality of someone I know in real life into a pony. I didn't even realize I was doing it until I wrote this specific story. So, if she seems "real" to you, that's probably why. She sort of is.
But, as my theatre professor told me when he taught me script writing, that tends to be where good characters come from.
Thanks for reading.
5270486
I don't know if Ditzy's demons are stronger or weaker than anyone's. I have no frame of reference for personal struggles except my own. I can't claim to have actually experienced most of the things that this particular character has, but I base how she reacts to and deals with her own struggles off of my understanding of her personality, and the hypothetical situations she encounters.
All that said, I like her. I think that if she were a human being, she'd be a fundamentally good one. That doesn't surprise me, of course, since, as I've already said in an earlier comment, she has (whether I meant for her to or not) developed into something (or maybe always was something, and I just failed to notice) very like the personality of someone I already knew to be a good person in our own reality.
There are several notable differences, and I won't go into what they are to protect the innocent, but I see many, many shades of this old friend of mine in this particular version of Derpy Hooves.
Thanks for reading.
5270723
Well, I'm glad it was a fun read for you. I was really just trying to do an amusing little fic with some horror elements that would fit in neatly with a series I already had going. As has always been the case with these Derpy fics, though, I never quite fully manage to pull off the "light-hearted, easy-to-read" part of that.
I'm beginning to doubt I can write something that isn't somewhat heavy and even a little sad in some ways.
I probably shouldn't apply for a job on Hasbro's writing staff.
5272869 There is that. Most of the primary cast also have a boatload of issues. We have Twilight's OCD and her terror of disappointing Celestia, Fluttershy's crippling fear of her own anger, Rainbow Dash's belief that people only love her for what she can do, Pinkie's dread that if they knew the real her, she'd be hated, Applejack's need to not only not disappoint her ancestors but to also set a good example for her most distant descendants and Rarity's being ashamed of her dad.
Well written, and sorely under-rated. This really does need more views.
5290889
Well, thank you.
I guess I've just never really "figured FiMfiction out," so to speak. I don't really know what this community wants in terms of story content, plot, themes, etc. I'm just sort of doing what I do, at this point.
I'll probably post at least one more fic in this series to wrap it up, soon, but it's going to be the longest and most involved yet. That being the case, I have to get myself in the right frame of mind to start writing it. For those few who have read these fics, though, I'm hoping it will be something of a payoff.
Thanks again for reading.
I'm sorry for taking so long to actually finish reading this, but now that I have I'm very impressed.
It's a refreshingly serious and funny story.
5270108 don't forget cupcakes and I think one other that has to do with twilight but I can't remember can anyone help out
love this story cute, fun, and it has derpy what more do you need I won't go into a full review until I read the last story when it
s done
just one thing no it's not a complaint just a request. please have derpy/ditzy give an epic "reason you suck" speech to rarity for all the crap she went through it would be GLORIOUS