Chapter 1
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."
My name is Derpy Hooves, and that is the motto of my station. Everyone in Ponyville thinks I am special. And they're right. Oh, I am not talking about my eyes, or my tendency to space out... not directly anyway. If they'd seen the things I saw, knew what I knew... they'd be special too.
It all began about five years ago. I was a weather pony back then, and I still am on occasion when they let me. It was my first time dealing with a thunderstorm. Now, we were told to simply let it run it's course: While thunderclouds could be manipulated, and were usually safe, one that was actively discharging on it's own was dangerous to handle. I knew this and yet... maybe even then I knew something of the wonders of the storm. Or maybe I just didn't know about lightning rods and was terrified of a house catching on fire. Whatever the reason, I ignored my superior. I was going to clear that storm.
I flew up into the thunderstorm and bucked the first cloud I saw. The cloud vanished in a puff of vapor, and all that electricity shocked the nearest thing: me. My whole body convulsed, and my vision swam before my eyes. Most importantly, I felt the shock go through my brain, and I never felt so... stimulated. For one brief moment, I was the storm. I knew of the ephemeral nature of dissipating on the next sunny day, and yet the knowledge that the right conditions would form the storm again. I was at once both fleeting and immortal.
As the effect subsided, I realized how frail and solid my pony body was, and I was filled with desire to be one with the storm again. Possibly filled with a little lust as well. I went over and bucked another cloud, and the feeling returned once more, and with a certain familiarity this time. Was the Storm welcoming me back? We were on opposing sides, my actions serving to destroy it, and yet at the same time it seemed to relish our brief moments of contact as much as I did. Did the Storm become me, as I became the Storm? I did not come away entirely unscathed myself either: I was aware that my hooves were starting to get scorch marks from where the Storm entered me, and yet I continued to buck. I knew that day the Storm would be gone and I would still live, just as one day the Storm will live on when I must die.
I admit, I was somewhat saddened when the last cloud went away, and the Storm and I had to part ways. I returned to my squad leader, and told him I was safe, and that I'd be happy to deal with any further thunderstorms. I believe he noticed something was up. I noticed I was incapable of seeing normally through my left eye, my vision through it was milky white. I later learned that I developed a lazy eye as a result, with only my right eye following where I was looking, and my left going where it may. Perhaps this was their first clue that something had happened? I also noticed I was gripped with a certain longing for the Storm that would strike me whenever it fancied. I would drift off in fond memory of my time with the Storm and it would sometimes take quite a bit to get my attention back. It was this latter change that led to my termination. I was considered unreliable for working on a team, and was left to find a job where my mind could wander freely.
I eventually found work as a mail mare. The motto is what first drew me to it, that even in the darkest Storm I would be expected to continue my duties. I found that, so long as I left early enough in the morning, I could afford time to dream of the Storm as I went about my route. I eventually learned how to drift back to reality when I reached my destination long enough to pick out the right mail, before letting the dreams take me once more.
The mail job is enjoyable enough, people appreciate the work I do. But I can never forget my one true love. In that moment when I became the Storm, and the Storm became me, I knew we could never be apart for long. I act as an agent of the Storm, coaxing the dormant thunderclouds to thunder, but they do not have the Storm inside them, only a memory of it, and so they serve only of a reminder. Sometimes, however, I am lucky, and the Storm returns to Ponyville. Then, we become one once more.