Dittzy's boss is out to make her better..by crushing her heart and soul so it can be remade.
Ditzy Doo's boss has had enough of her at work. He comes up with a plan to get her fired. Not only fired but humiliated, and broken. Then, and only then, will Ditzy be ready to be a grown up and put her nick name of Derpy Hooves behind her. At lest that what her boss thinks.
The sun was just peeking up over the hills and trees and the light started to slip into Ponyville. This early in the morning shopkeepers and flouriest were the only ponies in the streets busy preparing for the day. Welcome mattes were placed with care on stoops of bakeries, quill stores, and a dozen other venders. An orange mare with a fin stetson on top of her golden straw mane rushed to set up their vending stall in the best spot, the best spot according to her anyhow. The streets were alive with hustle and activity. This was just another morning in Ponyville. Around a corner walked a large steel colored stallion, and as he purposely marched down the street that air seemed to shift away from him and grow cold as it fled.
The stallion was a tall and grim figure as he trotted down the street. The Cake family quickly darted inside their store to avoid his cold brown eyes. Roseluck shifted uncomfortably in her stall trying to stay out of sight of the icy earth pony. The stallion marched down the street and made a perfectly strait line to the apple stall. “Oh no” breathed Applejack. Applejack cursed herself for not letting Granny Smith or Big Macintosh set up the sales cart. This cursing and uncomfortable feeling had become part of her morning routine, she would always head into town worried about her morning encounter with Overnight and leave in the afternoon promising herself to let her brother or sister set up the stall the next day. Well maybe not her sister. She saw the pony heading her way and and could feel his entrancing eyes fall upon her and the air in her lungs grew cold. A long shadow came from the metallic pony and Applejack's vender cart grew dark. Overnight was larger than Big Macintosh and his shadow could take up its own barn. His candy apple mane was cut short with a professional look to it and was tucked neatly into a Postal service hat. Everything was prim and proper not a hair out of place or a step taken without knowing exactly knowing where it would land.
Overnight purposely and quickly stepped up to the Apple family cart. "One.” He said in a very dry and deep voice. “The one I always get.” Applejack gulped, that voice had a weight to it. Every word was carefully analyzed and dissected to find the way to convey the most meaning and lest amount of warmth. That voice sounded as if it had come from a deep hollow place inside the pony and rushed out when the chasm filled with stone. “Heh Heh, o’ourse Overnight, one red delicious, to match your mane coming right up.” Overnight’s eyes narrowed on Applejack and she shivered. “The useless commentary is not what I’m paying for Ms. Apple. I only require one apple. I assumed you being an apple farmer could supply me with one. If I wanted something else from you I would ask. Please Ms. Apple let us keep this professional and stick the normal routine. Now, my apple please, and your bits.” Applejack swallowed hard and looked around awkwardly. “Course Mr. Overnight, y’all have a fine day.” Applejack cursed herself under breathe for the dumb comment. Overnight walked off eating his breakfast. By the time Applejack turned back to apologize, all she saw was a flank with a letter over a full moon on it turn round the corner.
Overnight stopped a few steps down the street at his place of work, the Ponyville post office. He slipped the key into the lock and entered with a grumble. He looked to the back wall behind the sales counter and saw the normal morning mail waiting for him. A row of mail slots ten feet high and fifteen feet wide sat there jammed to bursting with mail. Packages, parcels, letters, and cards all gushed out of the mail slots towards Overnight. The towering earth pony sighed and went to work sorting the mail into satchels of the delivery ponies. The express packages and letters were placed into the first satchel labeled 'Raindrops'. Next, came the fragile mail and they were gingerly tucked into a satchel with the name 'Shipping'. The normal letters were all that remained. The ones ponies sent all the time to each other and were the most common in to the post office. Overnight sighed and hung his head. He wondered how a pony like Ditzy survived. How somepony could be so careless, so clumsy, and so utterly useless and still hold a job and have a family. Her existence boggled Overnight’s mind. He cursed under his breath every time he looked at the mail bag. He gathered the last letters and tossed them in a huff into the mail satchel labeled 'Derpy'.
Overnight stepped into his office and sat down at his desk. The office was his home away from home, a place where order and work were the law of the land. His desk was arranged by color, size of item in question, and how often he would use it. It was a triumph of order, efficiency, and organization. Overnight leaned back in his chair and sighed to himself. His mind wandered back to the name Derpy. He had learned in his time at the post office that Ditzy Doo was a klutz, and a buffoon, and that this Derpy Hooves name was a title that reflected that. Her so called friends used the name as a form of affection he reasoned. It was a very dumb thing to do Overnight concluded. His eyes glanced over his calendar to see what the rest of the week would hold. The word evaluation was written in large red letters 5 days from now. Next to it was the name Ditzy. A thin cruel smile crossed Overnights lips. Many thoughts raced through his head. Overnight knew this was his chance. If he could get Ditzy to fail, then she would lose her job and he would be free of the menace of Ditzy Doo.
A soft screaming could be heard from outside the office window. Over the course of a few seconds it grew louder and sounded closer. Overnight stood up and walked over to look out at the source of the noise. As he reached the window a loud crashing sound followed by breaking glass greeted him. A blond, wall eyed, grey mare, with a series of bubbles for a cutie mark, landed into the room and bounced off of Overnight’s face and sent him flying into his desk. He came flopping down on top of it scattering all of the items off of it onto the floor. A sicking, and soft snapping sound entered Overnight's ears as his back stuck his office desk. “My back…” croaked Overnight. “My back Ditzy, What have you done?”
Ditzy recovered in midair from the tumble and reached our her left hoof with all her might and grabbed and object out of the air and saved it from hitting the glass on the floor. She gingerly and sweetly brought the object up to hers and inspected it thoroughly for blemishes, dents, dings, or any other signs of imperfection. Finding everything was in perfect order she took a large bite out of it. “I saved my muffin from falling! I got a free one from Sugar Cube Corner and I threw my arms up in the air from all the excitement! Next thing I knew my free muffin was flying away and I had to catch it.” Ditzy looked around the room for the first time. “Oh dear, I’m sorry boss, I don’t know how this happened. Do you need some help?”
“No I don’t. Grab your satchel and get to work!” Overnight hissed. Ditzy stood up wiping the glass out of her mane. She walked out of the office before her boss could get any angrier. In the front part of post office Shipping was coming in. “Hiya Shipping!” Ditzy said with a gigantic smile while waving ecstatically at her. “Good morning to you too.” Shipping said in a soft smooth voice. Shipping was the newest addition to the mail team, and she would handle the rush orders. She was the fastest mail pony in Ponyville. Her Cyan mane bounced around her head, while her tail would always seem to get wrapped oh so very cutely around her back left leg. Her rainbow colored coat has very beautiful to look at. Shipping also had the softest red eyes of any pony. Shipping’s cutie mark was an often talked about item in Ponyville. The mark was two ponies... hugging. This had given rise to rumors if postal work really was here special talent.
“I seem to have quite a few large packages that need my special attention today”, cooed Shipping as she wrapped her silky tail around her leg, “I can’t wait to get my hooves on them.” A soft warm smile appeared on her lips while she thought about it.
“I hope you a have a super great day then!” beamed Ditzy, as she scooped up her satchel and threw it on. She stepped outside and cracked her wings. She jumped up into the warm morning air and took off down the streets of Ponyville with a shining smile on her face and a slight giggle coming from her throat.
Overnight had finally gotten to his feet in time to see Ditzy fly off into Ponyville. Overnight swore she was going to be the death of him. Thoughts raced thought Overnights mind. He had to do something. She had to be stopped. A flash came to his mind and then his seemed to smile and his lips curled into a twisted smirk. He remembered that Ditzy's evaluation was coming up at the end of the week. He rushed to the office door and locked it. He took out a pen and paper and began to craft his master plan. He had an epiphany, Ditzy needed to grow and take her proper place in the world. She needed to see what was important, what mattered. Overnight was determined to mess up this evaluation and make Ditzy realize being Derpy Hooves was a bad thing. Overnight was convinced that he could then sweep in and save her from herself. He gave a grim chuckle as he worked out a master plan to get Ditzy fired. “Yes, yes, yes, first her family, then her peace of mind, then her confidence. All of it will need to be taken in order to be ride of her. If I can get this plan to work, not only will she be out of my hair, but I can get her to be a better pony!” With the soft scribbling of an ink pen one of the cruelest plans in Ponyville was written out. It would only be a matter of time until Overnight would unleash his full force on Ditzy Doo. Of course Overnight thought he was doing Ponyville and Ditzy Doo a favor.
Ditzy began to make her rounds around Ponyville just like she did every morning. First stop was the Cake’s, then she would fly down the street and give mail to all the shops along the way. When she finished this she found an unusual letter in her bag. It was addressed to a Ms. Twilight Sparkle. “Oh neat, I hardly ever get to deliver mail to Twilight Sparkle! She’s like, the most magical unicorn ever! I bet she’ll be so excited to get this! Oh the return address says Canterlot on it! Maybe is from her family!”
Ditzy flew on towards Twilight’s home. She was whistling a joyful tune and doing loop-de-loops due to the feelings of happiness and anticipation. she could see Twilight's face when she gave her the letter and how happy she would be about it. That was Ditzy's favorite part of the job, pony's who got letters and it made their the world a bit brighter. She especially loved the part that she had been the one to make them that happy. “I can’t wait to give it to her!” The wall eyed pony zipped on down the street with her mind on the letter. The grey pegasus was in the middle of another beautiful loop-de-loop when she smashed into Twilight’s second story balcony. She sent a telescope flying into the wall, and a baby dragon end over end into the air.
“Aaahhhhh!” yelped Spike the purple baby dragon as he tumbled down. He landed a full ten feet from his original spot with a loud thunk. Spike wobbled to his feet and shook the stars from his eyes. “Watch what you’re doing Derpy! You could have really hurt somepony, or yourself.” Spike said the words in a harsh and chiding manner, but his eyes gave to a soft concerned look. “I’m sorry Spike; I was excited about delivering this letter to Twilight. I didn’t mean to knock over everything.”
“It’s ok Derpy; I’ll take the letter for Twilight, she out in the Everfree Forest meeting with Zecora. I’ll make sure she gets it as soon as she gets back.” At that the mare seemed a bit crestfallen.
“Ok, Spike tell Twilight I said hello!” Ditzy jumped up and flew out the same way she came in. Spike sighed to himself and surveyed the new mess he was going to have to clean up. He was just about to start on the pieces of the telescope when a stern knocking sound came from the main door to the library.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” huffed Spike as he grumpily waddled to the door. When he opened it he was shocked. Standing before him was the scariest pony he had ever seen. “What happen?” said the stallion in a very numb metallic voice. The eyes of the stallion cut into Spikes own and the feeling made Spike visibly unnerved. “The mare that was just here, a loud crash was heard when she entered, and then she left shortly thereafter, so again I will ask. What. Happened.” Spike gulped hard, and creaked out one word, “te…tel...telescope” and then pointed upstairs. The stallion entered the house and walked in the direction the little purple dragon pointed. A few minutes latter he returned with a small bag with a few telescope pieces in it. “She broke it.” The steel coated stallion said in a matter of fact voice. Spike gave a meek nod, and after that the mystery stallion left. Spike stood there for a few minutes just trying to get his breathing under control. After what he could only guess to be an hour Spike regained his faculties. “What the hay was that all about?”
The afternoon sun was speeding its way into evening when Ditzy Doo landed on the stoop of her home. She looked over her lawn and saw a bunch of toys strewn about, no doubt left there by her daughter, Dinky. A Saber Spark action figure, a Wooden Toaster, a Paleo Ponysaurs, and a dozen other toys strewn across the yard. She gave a contented sigh as she surveyed the mess. Dinky may have left the toys out, but some of them where hers, she had a soft spot for toys. She loved them and enjoyed playing with them to no end. Her and Dinky would sit for hours and hours playing. Going on adventures, saving the world, and even having simple tea parties were all things the two pony's shared a love of. No other mother and daughter had more fun, and more, between each other than Ditzy and Dinky. While she was looking about the duplex door right next to her and another mare trotted out. She a soft golden coat and a red orange mane and tail, with a pair of carrots for her cutie mark.
“Hiya Carrot Top!” chirped Ditzy to her friend and neighbor. She waved a front hoof in greeting and almost tripped and fell over. “Hey Bubbles nice to see ya. How was work?” Asked her friend in a high pitched nasally voice. The two mares chatted for a few minutes talking about their work that day. Golden Harvest told Ditzy about a stamped of bunnies and Ditzy spoke of the letter to Twilight, and her crashing around town. “You gotta be careful about that Bubbles, you don’t wanna get hurt. Think of Dinky. What would happen to her?” “You would be there in 10 seconds flat to help me and her out!” replied Ditzy with a large smirk. Golden Harvest sighed, “Yeah I would, but what about after that? What if you couldn’t work anymore?” “Um…deliver the mail anyway? I mean come on Carrot Top, it’s the mail! Through rain, sleet, dark of night, or broken face, the mail must go on! So I guess I must go one too!” Ditzy responded with a confident giggle. Golden Harvest giggled as well. “OK Bubbles sounds like a plan. So you and Dinky wanna come over?” “Of course we do!” “Fine come on in, I made carrot muffins. The butter is one the table, so you don’t need to go looking in the fridge, ok.” Ditzy let out a squeal of joy and shot into her house through the front door. A few seconds later a grey blur making a high pitched whee sound with a little unicorn on its back shot out of the house and strait into Golden Harvest’s home.
“Is this your home?” said a deep cold voice from behind Golden Harvest. The voice had come from nowhere and almost made her jump out her coat and onto the roof of her home. “My intention was not to scare you miss. I would like an answer to my question though.” Golden Harvest slowly turned around to see a large steel colored coat and a fire red mane behind her. She gulped hard and opened her mouth to speak. “Yes”, was all she was able to squeak. “Are you the neighbor to a Ms. Ditzy Doo then?” “Yes”, cracked Golden Harvest again. She was having a very hard time pulling her eyes away from the large imposing stallions. His leathery brown eyes seemed to have locked onto hers and she could not get away. “Who’s toys are these? Do they belong to Ms.Doo’s daughter?” “They’re Ditzy’s too.” Came a voice as soft as a breeze through a curtain. Overnight surveyed the mess with a solemn and disapproving gaze. ‘She lives like a child.’ thought Overnight to himself. ‘She needs to grow up and put these little pony things behind her and be an adult mare for once in her life.’
“Thank you Ms.” With that the monstrously powerful gaze of those brown eyes disappeared as the steel giant trotted away. Golden Harvest was stunned for a few minutes. Her stupor was broken when she heard a metallic click from the direction of her kitchen. Somepony had opened her locked fridge. “Ditzy! I told you to stay out of my fridge! Don’t you tell me Dinky did it! Stop giggling you two!” Golden Harvest bolted into her home like she had received a jolt of electricity to her hind quarters.
Overnight trotted down the lane towards the outskirts of Ponyville. He would have to work late to finish his project. He needed to set up something that would win Ditzy's trust, and put in a position of influence. He came to a large open field and stopped. Here is where he would build it, this location was perfect. The first part of Overnight's plan was put into action, and the one of the most cruel pony's ever smiled, knowing that this is what was best for everypony.
The sun was coming up over the hills and began to drip onto the homes and shops of Ponyville when a very excited Overnight left his home. He had a very hearty amount of pep in his canter. He mentally went over his plan again and a sick sneer crossed his lips. First he collected the telescope parts and sent them to Express, the pony who administers evaluations. He sent a letter explaining that the mail pony that had done this was a menace to Ponyville and should be relieved of duty. The next order of business was to ruin the home life Ditzy. If he could accomplish this he could guarantee she would not only fail her evaluation, she would be forced to seek help to fix her wild ways. That was the most important part of the plan. He needed Ditzy to fall so far that she would need to be picked up and re made into a better pony. Overnight of course knew he would have the perfect plan at this point. He would step forward and suggest that Ditzy leave Ponyville for Phillyadelphia and a specialist he knew there. He would be a hero.
Overnight opened the door to the post office while eating his apple and chuckled to himself. He skipped his morning sorting and went into his office. He grabbed a small piece of paper and wrote down the details of Ditzy’s evaluation on it. He walked back out to where the sorting wall was located and tacked up the note under a hook labeled “Derpy”. He read the label and scoffed. “When I finish with her she will never be called that again. No more nick names to express her stupid antics. No she will be recast into something better.” Overnight kept mumbling to himself as he began to sort mail.
“Good morning boss, looking as large and impressive as ever today I see.” The melodious voice belonged to Shipping. “Morning.” The response was simple and hard as iron. Overnight had no time to deal with the strange and over affectionate pegasus this morning. With a huff Overnight finished his sorting and pointed to Shipping’s satchel as he walked back into his office.
Shipping walked over to her satchel and put it on. As she turned to leave a small piece of paper fell to the floor from one of the other mail satchels. She turned to look at it. “Oh. Ditzy will need this, better make sure she gets it.” As if on cue a grey pegasus mare floated in munching on a carrot muffin.
“Hey there Shipping! It’s a super nice day out; the weather team said they wanted a good one today because the rest of the week is going to be grey and rainy. I never really understood why some days had to be grey, but if we get really nice days like this then I guess its ok.” The words seemed to bubble out of Ditzy as she spoke. It was as if she was speaking out loud to herself rather than with another pony.
“Yes it is going to be a very fine day Ditzy. Before I forget I think this fell from your mail satchel.” Shipping sauntered over to Ditzy and gingerly gave her the note. Ditzy thanked Shipping for the note, and promptly opened it. Ditzy’s eyes fluctuated back and forth trying to read the note. She had to move the note around to keep her eyes focused on it. Ditzy’s face fell into a very sour expression as she began to read the note. She started to shack and tears swelled up in her eyes and she started to sniffle. “Oh no, I have an evaluation and... it looks like a doozy.” Ditzy’s voice was grave and shacking. “Oh sweetheart, it’ll be ok, don’t cry. Raindrop and myself will help you out anyway we can. Please don’t fret; your friends are here for you.” Shipping spoke with a sweet voice that felt like a beam of sun cutting through a dark forest. A deep voice came through the door in the next room, “Ms. Doo please come into my office, we must speak about your evaluation.”
Ditzy gulped and looked to Shipping with one eye for comfort. “It’ll be ok, beautiful, go on in” spoke Shipping with a warm and even voice. Ditzy took a deep breath and trotted into the office.
“Ms.Doo, sit. I suppose you are wondering why I called you in here.” Overnight’s voice was stern and authoritative. He looked onto Ditzy’s eyes, or at least the one focused on him. He went speaking with a stone voice. “Your evaluation is at the end of this week. I want you to prepare for it. If your fail, you will be fired. No second chances, not one more chance, just fired plain and simple. Tell me Ms.Doo, do you think you are ready for this?” Ditzy swallowed hard, so hard that her teeth would have gone down her throat if they were loose. Ditzy’s mind began to do laps around her life. What if she was fired? What would she do? Where would she go? Oh by Celestia, what about Dinky? She couldn’t let her down. She looked deep in her own self and thought very hard about what she would answer. She was full of fear, self doubt, and worry. Her mind swam around in her head trying to sort out all these feelings and thoughts. A small light shined out from her heart and she saw them, the faces. Dinky, Golden Harvest, Raindrop, Shipping, and more and more came into view, all of them smiling. “I….I…I think I can do this. I have the love of my friends and family. They will stand by me and help me through this.”
The words surprised Overnight. They shocked Ditzy even more. Where did that come from she wondered. What’s more, she believed it. Her friends and Dinky had never abandoned here before and they always helped her when she needed them. This was going to be a bit harder than Overnight had originally planned. “Are you sure?” the cold voice of Overnight said. “What? Yeah of course I’m sure.” “Really, do your friends think you can fly well? Do they think you can pass the time trials, or the accuracy tests, or the sorting challenges? No one has asked to fly better or safer?” Ditzy looked shaken, her mind galloped towards her conversations the day before; her crash in the office to start the day, the tumble of Spike, the concern of Carrot Top. Did she have a problem? What could she do about it? Her face dropped and Overnight knew he was pushing the right buttons. “I can tell by your face that I am right. Listen to me I am going to try to help you.” A cruel smile passed the stallion’s lips. Ditzy looked up too late to see it. She had a look of timid hope on her face at the last statement.
“This not going to be easy for you to hear but you must if you are to succeed. You need to grow up. Yesterday your stupid celebration for a muffin of all things broke my window and almost broke you and me. After that, you went to another pony’s home and destroyed her property because you weren’t paying attention. What would have happened if you have hurt Spike? How would have Ms. Twilight Sparkle felt? She would probably never forgive you for it. Her poor baby dragon was bowled over by your crash. What would you have done if he was hurt? What if broke something, what if he had fallen down the steps broken his neck and you murdered him? These are the consequences of your actions. You must be prepared to face them. One day somepony will get hurt by you, Derpy. Yes Derpy, is what they call you when you screw up. Miss Derpy Hooves the biggest mistake in Ponyville. You know they call you that. They think you are dumb enough to think it is a playful nick name. Other ponies think they can mock you to your muzzle and your too much of a scatter brain to figure it out. Your daughter even calls you Derpy at times doesn’t she? Even she thinks her own mother is a joke. I can help you Ditzy, I think you can fix yourself with my help and be better.”
The words all stung deep into Ditzy’s heart. Why did she have to be so careless? Why couldn’t she get it right? Inside of herself she could hear the voices of all her friends saying one name over and over again, Derpy. Was it true? Was she a mistake? Her mind raced to Dinky and all the times she called her Derpy. Her own daughter thought she was a mess up. nothing ever went right. She had almost brought down all of town hall by her careless actions and almost took out Rainbow Dash in the process. The name Rainbow made her mind jump to winter wrap up and the indecent with the southern birds. Every year she was sent out to get the birds, and every year she failed. Why would Rainbow do this if not to humiliate her? Overnight was right, she was a mess and she needed help. She could hear the voice of Dinky in her head calling her Derpy, and felling ashamed of her mother. Ditzy’s wall eyes were starting to fill with tears. In a broken soul splitting voice she sniffled and asked,
“What do I do?”
“For starters stop crying it will change nothing and just wastes time. Next stop playing with children’s toys. I went to your home after work to tell you about your evaluation. You were not in but I saw your yard and talked to your neighbor. Wooden toasters, Saber Spark action figures, and Mic microphone toys are for children. Your daughter is the child not you. You must lead, be the adult, be the mother. You getting down on her level is not going to help you or her. If you’re an irresponsible crash waiting to happen, you will never be able to raise your child properly. She needs a mother not a friend, you cannot be both. When you become your foal's friend you lose being her mother, and then she loses respect for you. If you continue on this path she will stop loving you even. can you love a failure? can you love a mistake? I tell you again Ms. Doo, grow up.”
The words crashed over Ditzy like hot fiery anguish. She felt like a pile of embers rolled over top of her. She was failing her Dinky, her little muffin. If she lost her job Dinky’s life would be ruined. If she hurt somepony on the job, Dinky’s life could be ruined. She was a bad mother and Dinky deserved, no needed better. Ditzy clamped her eyes shut and tried to hold onto all of her tears. If she let Dinky down, then Dinky would not love her anymore. Not love her anymore. the words repeated over and over again her heart. She wanted to be strong, she need to fix this. “What do I have to do to fix this? I want some help yeah, but I'm not totally sure this is all true Overnight. I think I can handle this."
Overnight sighed and looked into Ditzy's eyes. He know he was breaking through and it was only a matter of time until he had made it all the way down to the inside of Ditzy. "You maybe right and you may not be, but no matter I will do my best to help you all that i can. Also Express, the pony in charge of your evaluation sent you a letter." Overnight open a drawer in his desk and took out an envelope and slid across the desk top. Ditzy gulped hard again and reached for it.
She tore open the letter and with shacking hooves pulled it out and began to read. her eyes began to water again and she felt a bit of that light from earlier fall out of her. the letter explained how the postal service would have to pay for Twilight Sparkle's telescope and the injuries to Spike the dragon. Injuries!? Spike looked ok when she left. what happened, what did she do? Was Spike hurt....bad? A small dark pit fell into the bottom of her stomach and began to eat away at her insides. The letter explained how upset they were with Ditzy's disregard for safety and for hurting others. The final lines of the letter explained that the evaluation was now going to be very different and very strict.
"Ms.Doo do you require anything?" came a stoney voice into Ditzy's mind as she thought about the letter. "Oh, what? maybe i could use some help. More than i thought." "Well then Ms. Doo lets step out side and walk for a bit. I can talk to you on your way home."
The two ponies walked out of the post office and slowly trotted down the street. As the door was closed and locked a few papers slipped out of Overnight's desk and into the trash. Sheets of paper that looked like a very long letter from a one Express pony. The sheets were odd in that they had long sections of words cut out of them and they seemed to be missing. If somepony could have seen these sheets they might have come to the idea that some had forged a letter with them. Sadly the sheets tucked themselves neatly into the trash where nothing would ever find them.
The afternoon was turning into the evening when Ditzy trotted to her door. She was downcast and sour looking. She carried the fate of two worlds on her back and she felt every dream she and Dinky held weighed her down with each step. Her eye’s seemed to be less bright, her mane slightly duller, and her coat had less sheen to it. Ditzy looked at her yard. She saw all the toy still scattered in it. She sighed and started to collect them up onto the stoop. Dinky opened the door and burst out side. “Hey mom, whatja doing? Oh cleaning up? But we normally do it together, and have fun while doing it, what’s going on?”
The little purple unicorn shot a puzzled look at the pile of toys. She then saw her mother’s eyes. The red puffiness to them, the dried tears under them, and the sadness trapped inside them. Something was bad, really bad. “What’s wrong mom? What happened? Why are you so sad? How can I help?”
The questions came fast out of Dinky’s mouth. Her mom was in a bad place and she was going to her out of there. She had never seen her mother this sad. This was wrong; her mother was the happiest pegasus in Ponyville! She made mistakes and caused accidents, and even broke things, but her mother made ponies happy! Everypony makes mistakes, but Ditzy Doo made more of them and more often than others, but she was more than her mistakes. She was the living example of determination! How could her mom forget this?
Ditzy slowly looked at her daughter, her little muffin. She motioned for her to go into the house. Dinky looked sadly at her mother before finally trotting inside. Ditzy finished picking up all the toys and placing them in the pile. She scooped them all up and tossed them into the trash can at the front of her house. A door opened behind her. “Hey Bubbles how was…oh wow what happened to you?” Golden Harvest stopped in her tracks and looked at Ditzy. She had never seen her friend so down. Well as a good friend she was gonna help her out! “Hello Golden Harvest.” "Ditzy something got you do...what did you call me? I'm Carrot Top remember? Carrot Top and Bubbles off on another adventure? That's us." Golden Harvest's attempts were going nowhere fast. She could see that Ditzy was not amused or interested in talking. Golden Harvest’s voice was cracking from worry as she spoke. She needed to do something to get through to Ditzy and fast.
“I don't need anything from you Golden Harvest. I am gonna head inside and talk with Dinky for a bit.” Ditzy trundled half way to the door and stopped. She instead turned back around and trotted next to Golden Harvest. "Now that you mention it there is one thing you can do for me."Golden Harvest's eyes shot open and her mouth hung open. "Anything Ditzy, please let me help." "If your not doing anything for the rest of the week please watch Dinky for me. She deserves to be with a good pony for once. A pony who isn't a klutz and could hurt her by mistake."
Ditzy didn't wait for a response, she just went inside and closed the door behind her. A very shocked and stunned Golden Harvest was left outside. “I have to go find Raindrop, NOW!” The sound of thunderous hooves was all that could be heard, as Golden Harvest stormed off to find Ditzy’s coworker.
Overnight hurried down the morning streets of Ponyville in a most unusual way. It was not at all like his slow deliberate pace. He was not even headed in the direction of work. Somewhere near her apple cart Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. Today, Overnight was rushing to a shop that he had never been to, but need to find. He stopped at a door and read the sign,
'Berry Punch's Best Mixes'
Overnight walk in and headed up to the counter. Other ponies in the store were in a bit of a shock to see him there, this was not his kind of place. Berry Punch was stunned at this moment for many reasons. Overnight never drank, or spoke to her before and now all of a sudden he was in her shop. He never even looked at her shop before now and it wasn’t even on his way to work. Was this some kind of set up?
“Hello Ms. Punch, I would like a very special batch of your Hard Night Cider.” “You sure?” the mare eyed Overnight up and down with the scrutiny of a gem cutter searching for cracks in an emerald. Something about this overgrown slag of a stallion made her shiver. Still business was business, and bits were bits. Berry Punch sighed. “Fine, it’ll be ready by tomorrow. Now pay up and git, your scaring my other customers.” Overnight just placed his bits on the counter and left.
Overnight grinned to himself his plan had proceeded very well up to this point. He knew that today would would be a very good day . He trotted up to the post office and opened the lock and let himself in. Today he was going to give Ditzy a surprise: the day off to train for her evaluation. He had spent most of the previous night setting up an area outside of Ponyville to the exact specifications of the evaluation course. He had taken Ditzy out to look at it and to let her know he was fully behind her. He was being a really great boss to her. Of course her mail from today would be forgotten about and piled up for her to deliver tomorrow, but that wasn’t his fault. Overnight chuckled at his plan. He began to sort the morning mail into the delivery satchels and thought about the next part of his plan.
The door to the post office opened and in flew Raindrop. A very worried and concerned Raindrop. Her blue mane and tail were disheveled like she had been up all night talking to somepony. He golden brown coat had coffee stains on it from where she had spilled her drink. Even her raindrop cutie mark looked dirty from lack of sleep and a shower. Overnight eyed her messy state with disdain. Raindrop snatched up her satchel onto her back and shot outside. Where was she? She needed to talk to Ditzy, to help her friend. Raindrop replayed last night in her head over and over again.
A loud knock came to Raindrop's door and woke her from the nicest dream she was having. There was a stallion, and a cloud, and wait was that chicken with a mug of cider? Ok so maybe it wasn't the nicest dream ever, maybe only parts of it were nice. The knocking came again this time louder and with more urgency. Raindrop grumbled and started towards her door. She was mid way through regretting not living in a cloud house when a voice came through the door, "Please Raindrop hurry! Ditzy needs our help!" The voice was concerned and slightly on edge and had a very nasal element to it. Raindrop hurried and opened her door to see her friend Golden Harvest. She was panting like she has been at a full gallop on her way here. Raindrop could just feel that something was off.
"Ditzy is feeling bad, really bad. I don't know what went wrong with her, but she came home and asked me to watch Dinky for the rest of the week." Golden Harvest stopped to suck in some much needed air before continuing. "Her eyes we so sad. I could hear somepony crying when i left to find you. Raindrop what happened today?"
Raindrop was stunned. What was going on? Ditzy was fine this morning when she saw her. Got her muffin in the morning, and she flew her route, although she was a lot quieter and with fewer accidents. Come to think of it that whole afternoon Ditzy seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. Raindrop's eyes grew wide when the thought hit her like hammer on the head. "She spoke to Overnight yesterday about her evaluation for work. She must be super stressed and freaking out about it. Come on lets go talk to her about it and let her know we'll help her out." Raindrop spoke with a confident tone and motioned the melancholy Golden Harvest to follow her.
When the pony's arrived at the Doo home it was quiet and somber. Raindrop shivered, she had never felt so out of place before. The duo trotted up and knocked on the front door. Seconds ticked by that felt a lot longer to Golden Harvest as she nervously watched the door knob and waited for it to turn. After what felt like a lifetime the knob began to turn. A little unicorn answered to door and looked up at the two adult ponies and spoke,
" Hello Golden Harvest, mommy says i need to stay with you for a few days while she gets read for her ee-val-you-ation. I think it has her really worried. I saw her crying earlier and saying that she was sorry about something. When I asked her why she was crying she said I shouldn't worry and that Golden Harvest would help. Can you please help now?" The next sound that all three ponies heard was the choking rasp of all the air in Golden Harvest's lungs fighting to both form words and exit as fast as possible. The forces of exit won in the end and she began to choke. Raindrop patted her on her back a few times to help her out. The grown-ups looked at the filly and searched for words to say. Finally Raindrop spoke, " It's going to be ok Dinky. We are your mom's friends and we care about her a whole lot, we will find a way to help her."
Hearing this the little filly perked up a bit and gave a weak smile. Golden Harvest felt much better at that, and it seemed her lungs could hold air again because of it. Then it happened. The greatest idea Golden Harvest ever had to sheer up a pony down in the dumps. Her eyes opened and a shining spark filled them as the idea in her heart raced into her mind and all over her body. "I Know what we need to do! Raindrop I need pictures, Dinky I need a scrap book! We have a lot of work to. I am gonna make a list of ponies that we are gonna need to help us out! Oh this is gonna be great, Ditzy is gonna be so happy!" The poniess around her were taken aback and were not quite sure what was going on. Something inside Golden Harvest had come to life and it started to affect the others. Dinky gave a real smile, a toothy innocent smile and nodded in agreement. Raindrop puffed up her chest and winked at Golden Harvest. With that the trio was off.
“Are you alright my lovely?” a soft melodious voice snapped Raindrop back into the present. Shipping was standing there ready to leave for her delivers. She carried a worried face, and a slight bit of panic in her eyes as she looked over Raindrop. “Ditzy, where is she? I have something for her that she needs to see, a lot of ponies worked on this last night and this morning. She has to see this.” the words came choppy and raspy out of Raindrop's mouth. “She’s got the day off to practice for her evaluation. Overnight set it up.” hummed Shipping. “Oh.” Raindrop was crestfallen and her spirit sunk down into her hooves. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, Overnight is in his office, we can talk to him” Shipping said as she put her foreleg around Raindrops neck. With a that friendly gesture the two pony's walked back into the post office to find their boss.
Outside of Ponyville in a large open area Ditzy zoomed around trying to complete time trials. She had to beat 20 letters in 50 seconds. She was currently doing about half that in twice as much time. The stress was starting to strain her lungs and burn her wing muscles. She had to do this, she had to pass, and if she failed…she shook her head and didn’t think about it. As she rested after another attempt she viewed the course in full for the first time; time trials on the end closest to her, an obstacle course for the accuracy challenge, and a mock sorting room for her to learn attention to detail. Overnight had out done himself; she would really have to thank him for his help. He had gone above and beyond to help her out, he really was a great boss. Ditzy stood up and set off for the time trial again. After a few hours a large steel pony walked onto the course.
“Hello Ms. Doo, making progress?” Ditzy panted and gasped for air. She had been going so hard for so long she didn’t see Overnight come up, and he startled her. She thought about the question. She had gotten faster in the time trial. Her accuracy was also getting better. “Yeah I’m a making some progress. Thanks again for setting this all up and giving me the day off! This is really nice and I really appreciate it.” “Of course, how would I look if one of my mail ponies were to fail?” Ditzy hadn’t thought about that. This was just another example of how her actions where effecting other ponies. What if she did so bad that Overnight lost his job too? That would be awful! “I brought you some lunch so you didn’t have to interrupt your practice. I also brought you this.” Overnight held out a small book. It had a simple black cover and no more than 30 pages in it, in fact it could hardly be called a book. “This is a scrap book that some ponies around town decided to make for you. When I asked why they did this they told me they wanted you to know what they all thought of you. They seemed to think it would be good for you to know this before your evaluation. I wish you well with the rest of the day Ms. Doo.”
Overnight made his way back to Ponyville leaving Ditzy alone. She looked down at the book. A nervous feeling overtook her. Other ponies of Ponyville made a special book just for her? She felt a little embarrassed truth be told. Of course her friends were trying to help her! She may have been a little sad, and they may not understand the stakes for her and Ditzy, but by Celestia they would help her! With a shaking hoof she opened the book. Inside were the words “Derpy Hooves” written along the top of the first page. Underneath was a picture of a very upset Rainbow Dash and a sheepish Ditzy Doo. It was a picture from winter wrap up, when Ditzy went the wrong way to find the southern birds. She turned through some more pages. The broken town hall was on the next page and had the caption of 'Derpy at it again'. The next photo was of the Best Young Fliers competition. It showed the grey pegasus mare face planted into the stands with a group of ponies fleeing the scene. So this is what Ponyville thought of her. She didn’t even have the dignity of being given her own name; she was Derpy Hooves, greatest failure of Ponyville. She tried to stop them but the water flowed from her eyes and down onto the pages of the book. She turned through more pages and it only made her feel worse. She tossed the book aside and it fell to the ground with its back cover facing up.
Overnight made it back into Ponyville and headed into Sugar Cube Corner. A rambunctious pink earth pony leaped from nowhere and shouted a greeting to him as he entered. “Welcome, welcome, welcome, a big welcome to you!” Overnight did not flinch and shot daggers from his eyes into the big bright blue orbs that were Pinkie Pie’s eyes. The song cut out and Pinkie drooped. “Ok let me try something else. How about this!”
With that Pinkie Pie bounced off into the back of the bakery. Overnight was starting to get upset, and started to regret coming into the bakery. Pinkie Pie was a calculated risk but would be worth it in the end if he could change Ditzy Doo. Overnight had made it to the counter by the time Pinkie Pie had come back. She opened her mouth to speak and it was met with a hoof raised to her lips. “Ms. Pie I need you to make me some special muffins. Rainbow spiced muffins to be exact. Not rainbow flavored, or colored, or sprinkled, but made with real rainbow. The spicier the muffins can be the better.”
Pinkie’s eyes shinned with a glow that would snuff out the darkest corner of a room. She gasped and grabbed Overnight by the face and pulled him close to her. “You mean it? You really super-duper mean it? The rainbow spice muffin is the spiciest thing in all of Equestria. It could burn through an amateur pony like fruit bats through an apple orchard . Like that one time Twilight drank all that hot sauce, man that was a bad night for her. If you want a batch I can make one up a dozen faster than you can say, 'I can clear the sky in 10 seconds flat!' Huh, I feel like I’ve heard that line from somewhere before. Oh yeah, it was Rainbow Dash! Maybe she can help me make some muffins! Oh I’m so excited we can have epic muffin time! This is going to be the best order ever! When do you need them? I hope it’s not soon it’ll take me about two days to get all the ingredients. So I guess I can’t make a batch in 10 seconds flat then. Oh well! Me and Dashie can go and a trip to Cloudsdale to pick up some fresh rainbow! Wow that will be so fun! We can borrow Twilight’s balloon...oh I wonder if she wants to go too! Adventure time here we come!”
“I will be back in two days Ms. Pie.” Overnight left the bakery as Pinkie Pie kept planning, as she put it” the best order ever”. Pinkie didn’t even see Overnight leave. The rigid stallion walked onto the streets of Ponyville and marched over to a trash bin. He took out a large stack of paper from his satchel and tossed them into the bin. The top sheet read, ‘From Carrot Top, your Muffin, and Raindrop to our beloved Ditzy Doo, you are not a… ‘the rest was torn away. The page next to it was written out in a different mare's mouth writing. It read,
'Derpy my friend I know every winter wrap-up I tell you to go get the southern birds, and every year you mess it up. I know it and you know it. The reason I make you do it is well...because I have faith in you. I know you try so hard, and deep down you really care. One day I know you will get it right and you deserve to have that feeling of accomplishment. So I guess your stuck getting the birds cause one day I know you'll get it right. You know I'm right. Your loyal friend and best flier in Equestria, Rainbow Dash."
The papers sunk down into the trash bin without a struggle. A few moments later a stallion came by lifted the bin and emptied it into a cart with all the other trash of Ponyville.
The sun cracked over the roofs tops of Ponyville and began to filter into the streets. Raindrop was flying as fast as her wings could take her to the post office. She was in a desperate panic. Golden Harvest had told her that Ditzy had not come home all night. The pangs of fear in her heart out weighed the sore stiff pain in her wings. Ideas fought back and forth in her mind out what could be happening to Ditzy. Was she hurt? Was she lost? Did she not get the scrap book she and Ditzy’s other friends had made to cheer her up? Did Overnight loose it? Did Ditzy just throw it away? The mind of Raindrop was choking on its own fear and sorrow for Ditzy. Tears began to swell in the eyes of the pony and she wiped eyes. During the blindness another pegasus pony heading to the mail office happen to crash right into Raindrop. They both fell to the ground with a thud.
Raindrop rubbed her head and took a deep breath. “Ditzy?” she coughed out with a twinge of hope in her throat. “Sorry my pretty pony just me”, came the soft voice of Shipping. The eyes of Shipping shot up to meet Raindrop’s. “What happened to Ditzy?” Raindrop couldn’t hold back the pain any longer. Right there in the streets of Ponyville in front of Celestia and country she wept. Long wails of anguish came from the bottom of her soul as she buried her head into the shoulder of her coworker. Other ponies looked around to see what the source of such a soul crushing wail. A small circle of vendors came and formed a circle of concerned ponies. “She’s hurting really bad right now. Her heart I mean. She’s broken on the inside. She got in a fight with Dinky and Golden Harvest last night. Golden Harvest found me last night and she was in a tear stained mess and told me Ditzy didn’t come home last night. I’m so worried, so very worried. What do I do? How can I help her? Why is this happening?”
Raindrop let it all out from deep inside herself. She sobbed into Shipping’s shoulder and felt the weight of the world fall on to her head. She needed to help Ditzy and she couldn’t, it was an awful feeling. “There, there, little angel, it’s going to be ok. We will find her and we will help her. I Pinkie promise. You’ll see. We will find her and we will help her get through this.” Shipping’s voice was different than it normally sounded. The voice was one of confidence and real concern, the voice of real love and a real desire to help. The ponies who had circled around them had heard them talking. An orange earth pony with a cowboy hat walked up to them and put a hoof on Raindrop’s shoulder. “Sugar cube Ah reckon we will all help ya any way we can. Ditzy is every ponies friend and every pony will do their part for her. Hay, not o’ us would ever get mail without her.”
Raindrop looked up unto eyes of Applejack. Inside those eyes she saw the truth looking back at her. Raindrop didn’t have any idea if Applejack could help at all, but somehow when Raindrop saw those eyes she knew Applejack would do everything she could to make it happen. “Alright yall we need to fan out and find Ditzy Doo. She’s feeling a mighty powerful sad so we need to get her a heap o’ help. Let’s get’em up and move’em out!” With that Applejack, Rose Luck, Bon Bon, and Daisy went to their stalls and put up closed signs and trotted off to find Ditzy. Shipping stayed in the street holding Raindrop in her arms. Shipping stroked Raindrop’s mane and tried to comfort her. They stood up together and walked toward Raindrop’s home. In her condition Raindrop was not able to work and needed some help of her own. Today was going to be one hay of a day.
Overnight trotted up to the post office and let himself in. He made his way over to the sorting area and began to start his work. Then her overheard a loud cry from outside the door. The crying went on and on and then her herd the voice of a mare he recognized, Raindrop. Overnight shuffled over to the door to see what foalish thing she could have done to hurt herself. It was the only logical reason that she would make all that noise. Then he stopped, Chained dead in his tracks. He heard what she was saying on the other side of the door. Ditzy was missing. Overnight smiled and listened as the scene played out on the other side of the door. When he heard the streets clear out, Overnight got a large sheet of paper and wrote something on it. He then left the office and locked the door behind him. He took the large sheet paper and placed it on the door. It was a sign that read, 'Closed looking for Ditzy'. Overnight cantered off down the road without stopping and looked around to make sure he wasn't being followed. He smiled again, because he knew exactly where to find Ditzy.
Overnight had made it to the practice field he had set up for Ditzy Doo. He knew this is where she must have spent the night and must have used a cloud overhead for a bed. On his back he carried a basket, and in the basket was a jug, a bit of food, a satchel, and a note. Overnight called out for Ditzy. He got no answer but saw a cloud fidget around like somepony was just waking up. Overnight left the basket with all of its contents in a small pile near the moving cloud and with that, he trotted back into Ponyville.
Ditzy awoke on the back of a cloud she had cried herself to sleep on. She felt the cruel heat of the sun strike her eyes and burn them behind their lids. Ditzy wiped away the crust and the muck from her eyes. She had been up most of the night crying while reading a book. The most gut wrenching and tragic book she had ever read. The scrap book was the idea of her closest friends and family and it was a cruel joke at her own expense. She was working so hard to to help herself be a better pony for their sakes, and then they had the nerve to kick her in the heart when she needed them the most. The worst part was when she confronted Golden Harvest about it, she had the gall to lie right to her face! Golden Harvest told her that wasn't the right book, that Ditzy was wrong. Ditzy cursed under her breath, Golden Harvest must have thought she was dumb to fall for that. She wasn't dumb, she wasn't a Derpy Hooves.
Ditsy rolled off he cloud and swooped down to the ground. She remembered hearing a voice a few seconds ago and was now trying to find it. She looked around for a few minuets and then she saw it. Ditzy spied the basket on the ground and she glided down to it. She looked at the note and picked it up to read it.
To Ms. Doo, Here is some food and your mail satchel. Work may take your mind off the evaluation and help you clear your head. There is a special drink here for you too. I recommend you drink it all before work, it should give you a burst of energy.
Ditzy grabbed the food and started to chow down. It was awful. Stale and tasteless bread, but at least it was something. It was really nice of Overnight to help her out again; he sure was a great pony. Ditzy finished off the food and slipped on her satchel. One of her eyes fell onto the jar that Overnight left. She twisted the top right off and killed the drink in one swallow. It tasted of apples and a few other things Ditzy couldn’t quite out her hoof on, but boy was this drink good. Ditzy tossed her mail bag on her back and took off for Ponyville.
The day was bright and sunny and the town came up fast over the hill as Ditzy zoomed ahead. As she raced into town she began to feel a bit odd. Did Sugar Cube Corner get a second sign? Wait why were there two Applejacks? Ditzy’s head began to swim and she felt the world slow down. She started to panic as her vision began to blur and get twisted. She closed her eyes and shook her head trying to clear her mind. Ditzy took a deep breath and opened her eyes and grit her teeth. She must be pushing herself to hard. Too much training or something. Oh well, she wouldn't let that stop her, the mail must make it through and by Celestia she would make it through also. She was not a Derpy Hoofs, and she would not droop the ball this time.
Ditzy withdrew the first envelope from her mail bag and tried to read the address on it. The letters swam around the front of the envelope and caused her eyes to strain. This was not going to be easy for her. Ditzy swallowed hard and concentrated on the letters. The words came back into focus for just a moment and she knew she could do this. The address was Sugar Cube Corner! She really could do this! With a confident smile she placed the letter in the mail slot and went on her way to the next address.
Overnight let out a long sigh as he walked back to his office. He was starting to feel a bit guilty for his actions with Ditzy. He knew she needed to grow up, to be a better pony. He knew in the end he would be proven right and she would be better for it. This was being done for all the right reasons, and for the benefit of Ditzy and Dinky Doo. She would get the help she needed after all this. Overnight was going to make sure of it. She would no longer be a Derpy Hooves, and she would be like every pony else. Still there was a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him he had pushed a bit too hard with the scrap book trick. He swallowed hard and tried to put his mind at ease. To help himself feel better, he thought back to his past and the time he spent in Fillydelphia.
He thought about the orphanage and his time there. The lessons on how to be a good pony and how to make a better world. If there could be better ponies and a better world, then foals wouldn't end up in orphanages in the first place. Discipline, duty, hard work, and total focus was necessary to grow up and be a real pony. These were the lessons that had been drilled into Overnight all his life. He had gone on to be a real pony and a successful one at that. His very success was proof that his parents had been wrong! They left him in that joyless place because he would never make it. He would never grow-up and make the world better. He showed them how wrong they were. Now, with his faith renewed, he knew he had to keep going. He had to help Ditzy! She was so lost she didn't even know that the world was being cruel to her. He knew he was the only pony who could help her, because he had been like her once.
“Wait Ditzy come back!” bellowed Applejack. She tore through the Town after Ditzy trying to get her attention. Ditzy was lost in her own world worse than normal. To make matters worse she crashed into the door at Sugar Cube Corner and busted it into a dozen pieces. Applejack was extremely worried about the incident, not because of the damage, but because Ditzy was crashing a lot more than normal and didn’t seem to notice or care. “Yall ain’t gonna get away from me! Ditzy! Please listen to me sugar cube!” Ditzy flew on over Ponyville and away from Applejack. Despite her speed the earth pony couldn’t keep up with the flying pegasus. Ditzy pulled away and a faint crash was heard from someplace Applejack couldn’t tell. This was followed by another faint crash, then another. Applejack knew something very wrong was happening. “I need somepony who can fly ta help me out…” Applejack mused to herself. "Dang it! Rainbow's out with Pinkie on some trip ta Cloudsdale." Applejack cursed her rotten luck. A grey blur whizzed by overhead on a flight path towards Carousel Boutique. With that nothing was left were Applejack had been standing other than a cloud of dust.
PAIN. Hot. Searing. Pain. This is the feeling Ditzy had all over her body when she finished her mail run. Her legs, wings, her very bones hurt. She had no idea why she felt this way but she was glad the day was over and she could go back to the practice field and sleep it off. Ditzy knew she could go home, but she was worried about what Dinky would say. No she was worried about the way Dinky would look at her. She would see a failure; Ditzy knew she couldn’t go home until she had proven herself. She had to prove to herself, to Dinky, to all of Ponyville that she was a success and not a Derpy Hooves.
The practice field had become her home for now. Here she could hone her skills, and be better for the ponies she loved. This had become her sanctuary and refuge from the world that had grown cold to her. She really needed to thank Overnight, he was a true friend and a good pony. She would have to recommend him for an award or a promotion for all the help he had given her. She would be lost without him. Ditzy sighed and rubbed her head, she had finished the worst work day of her life. Her face was swelling and she could feel her temples pounding in rhythm with her heart. Despite all her aches and pains she couldn’t stop thinking about the evaluation in her near future. She swallowed hard and tried to choke back tears. She felt so bad right now both emotionally and physically, how could she pass like this? What was she going to do? She thought of Dinky and began to cry herself to sleep.
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.
