//------------------------------// // The Weight Above // Story: Ding dong, Derpy's dead // by Opalina Cecile //------------------------------// Colgate's POV Ever had this... sort of weight above your head? It's just a block hanging, suspended barely by a thread. Any second now, it will fall and kill you. Everyone who has guilt has it. For small things, for large things. Sometimes you forget it's even there. I can't. I never will. A lot of people deny it's there. Others are very good at hiding it. Very very good. No one looks at it. If you look at it, it falls. No one wants to take that chance. Some do, so they get very good at it. I'm not. Not with how big this will be. The pulsating drum beat reminds me every second of how I loved her. I have someone now, but I can't help but still love her. Her elegance was mine for a short month. I wasted myself for my short time I had to reveal the truth. You can't blame me for this, right? If I told Berry, I bet she would. That's why I can't fully love her. We've been together for so long, it's just... Nevermind. Shall we start at the beginning? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ May 11, 3014. Around 10 pm. Berry and I had been asked to walk Dinky back after one of Pinkie's stellar parties. Derpy had gone home earlier. I was glad Berry didn't get drunk at this party. "That was quite the wild night!" exclaimed Berry. "I'm glad my mother let me go," said Dinky in her cute voice. I love little kids, but I worry about how Berry would be a mother. "Oh yeah, you had fun?" I asked. "Yeah, it was major fun! I had fun talking with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle." "Colgate, you missed it while you where out. Rainbow Dash was just talking about a prank she and Soarin did on Spitfire. She was so mad, they thought she might spit actual fire!" "Shame." To be honest, I didn't really care. I had left because I was sure it would be another one of those parties where I'd be dragging a drunk Berry home. I wasn't in the mood. I'd been feeling kind of down lately. Just empty. "Man, that bastard must've had fun with this one. You can't see the cutie mark," said a colt from around the corner. "Hey, boys! Watch your language," I called and trotted around the corner and stopped dead in my tracks. Wrong word to use. Ouch, that hurt. "What is it?" Berry said, peeking around. "Oh.... Oh gosh!" "Hurry Dinky home, Berry. I'll meet you at our house. Don't let Dinky see this." Berry hurried Dinky along as I approached the policeponies. And they were right, the cutie mark was completely covered. Covered in what you ask? Blood. It was a pony body, doused in her own blood, lifelessly sitting. "Let's clean her and try to identify who it is." They brought some clean water. We started with the body and flank. We uncovered wings. "The ambulance will come soon." "Good." We uncovered... bubbles. I gasped and literally jumped backwards. "Do you know who this is?" Only one pony we knew had wings and a bubble cutie mark. "It's Derpy. Derpy Whooves. Wife of Doctor Whooves, mother of Dinky Hooves." Ding dong to Equestria, Derpy Whooves is dead. I looked to the forest edge as the ambulance pulled up. I stepped out of the caution tape and looked toward the forest edge. In the pale moonlight, I could make out a yellow hoof. The pony put it up to her lips and dashed away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Doctor?" I said. It was 3 am. I couldn't sleep, I had to see him. "Can't sleep?" he asked. I shook my head. "Neither can I." A couple minutes later, we were sitting at the table drinking tea. "Is this decaf?" "Who cares." "Good point." Silence. "How's Dinky?" "Aw shit, I haven't told her! What am I gonna say?" "Want me to tell her?" "No... I have to do this. I'm her dad, I'm supposed to be strong." "That's hard when you're widowed." "What would you know of it?" "My father's company went down at my hoof after he was killed. I know all about hurt and disappointment." "Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't know." "It doesn't matter. No one remembers it." "What company was it?" "Colgate. They named it after me. It made toothpaste and toothbrushes." "Oh, I remember that. Man, that was you?" "Thanks for the sympathy." "I'm sorry. It must be hard to live up to." "Very." I sipped my tea. I knew that this was just trying to take our mind off of Derpy. "So what do we do now?" "The police are working on it." "Well, let's be consultants on the crime scene. Like Sherlock Whooves." "Good idea Colgate. Is it ok that I bring my friend Roseluck?" "Sure, I've seen her around before." She has a rose color mane and tail, and a yellow coat. Yellow coat. Yellow hoof. Is it just me or... No, that's silly. The hoof might not have even been yellow, just a trick of the moonlight. But I saw someone, and I'm going to find who it was. For Derpy, for Doctor, for Dinky, for Ponyville. After we finish our tea, and when it's not 3:15.