The town hall was repaired now, thanks to the efforts of all of Ponyville. All but her. Rainbow Dash had taken her aside earlier during the construction day to talk to her.
"I know you really want to help, Ditzy..." Dash sighed with a hoof scratching her mane, eyes to the side as she walked behind the periwinkle pegasus, "I really do, but you need to know your limits. Maybe you'd just be better off staying home today..."
The wording was a bit painful, unfortunately that was just how Rainbow Dash spoke, but Derpy understood. If she stuck around, any work done may accidentally be un-done by an accidental bump by a certain detrimental mare.
She was still appreciative that Rainbow called her by her assumed name rather than her...unfortunate other name. She knows her birth name was Drip Drop, but her aunt, her relatives and childhood friends came to call her Derpy. The add-on at the end came during schoolyard days as she made...mistakes, and often very destructive ones at that.
Suddenly remembering what she was doing after drifting into though, Derpy nodded with a silly grin at Rainbow, who silently (but still noticeably) sighed with relief and waved goodbye as she took off towards town square. Derpy turned and started walking off to the east, to the open waters she so desperately desired. She shook her body, prepared herself, then took off into the sky much quicker than she planned. She stopped mid-air to steady herself, her wings having yet again tried to foil her plans, and reset herself in the right position as she took off in the right direction much more slowly.
---
At her slow pace, it took a few hours for her to get all the way out to the sea. The morning had turned into a blazing afternoon under Celestia's hot sun. A slow, stuttered landing left her hooves burning in the warm sands of the beach. She was just north of Baltimare, and out of view of civilization. It was still a bit too near towns for her to truly enjoy the location, which was less-than-scenic, but it was open water.
Derpy scanned the horizon inquisitively, looking for any silhouettes signalling incoming griffons. Not that she was worried, she could easily disappear from notice if it came to that, and not all griffons are bad-tempered. Still, it didn't hurt to check.
Seeing that it was all clear, Derpy trotted over to a dirt hill just at the edge of the beach, with pockmarks dotting its surface. Looking all over with both her eyes, which her being especially tame at the moment, she quickly found what she was looking for: her snorkeling gear. Necessary for anypony going anywhere underwater.
Slowly she placed the mask on her head to protect her eyes form the harsh saltwater, and mouthed the snorkeling tube tight in her mouth so she wouldn't lose it. If Derpy was going to be in the water for a while today, her mouth may end up cramped up again, not that this was abnormal to her. No one in town seemed to question it either, they just placed it among her many strange quirks. Sighing, Derpy shook these thoughts from her head and trotted off towards the water.
It stung. It always did, but every time it felt a little better. The pain didn't get duller, but it made her feel better when she experienced it. It was a reminder that she was where she belonged: the open sea. This was a place of legends and mysteries, as nopony nor creature ever delved down to return the tale to surface-dwellers. Even Derpy was limited to what she could reach on a single breath, despite being able to hold her breath for a substantial amount of time.
Rumour had it that there were creatures as big as Canterlot, fish smaller than crickets, expansive systems of coral and flora underwater with every color imaginable. Some even speculated that there were seaponies, with fronts like a pony and back ends like fish.
These were just rumours, though, and nopony had the ability to determine what truth they may hold, at least not yet.
For now, Derpy just stepped deeper into the chilled seawater, sand shifting in her hooves as her movements became one with the water. Her entire body entered, and wings that were awkward in the air changed to elegant oars, legs moving fluently in the thick, beautiful waters.
A clumsy pony in the air yet again became at one with waters so foreign to most ponies...