Still aware of the closed doors and windows, Derpy's mood was quickly turning from cheery to sour. "Pinkie," she mumbled, "maybe we should just go home."
Pinkie Pie stopped mid-bounce. "What?!"
"I mean, I don't think we'll find any help for me." She sank to the ground. "Twilight and Fluttershy couldn't help me. What makes you think that Rarity can help?"
"Help with what?"
As luck would have it, Rarity was just rounding the corner as Derpy spoke. Pinkie's eyes widened. "Eeeeee! Rarity, come over here!"
The graceful mare approached the pair, setting down the parcel she was carrying. "Yes, dear, what is it? Did you need help eating fudge again, because after the last time..."
"No, silly!" Pinkie motioned towards her sullen friend, whose drooping head looked resigned to failure. "Derpy needs a cure for her scaramouche, and Twilight can't find anything in her books, and Fluttershy tried singing but that didn't work, so now we're trying to find people to help her! Can you help her?" Her pleading eyes accompanied a few heavy breaths; telling this story in one breath was becoming difficult.
Rarity stood for a moment, deep in thought. Suddenly, her face lit up, and her horn sparked as she lifted Derpy's chin. "Oh, darling, you should have come to me sooner. What we need to do is focus attention away from your eyes. Then you can look fabulous!"
"But...but..." Derpy stammered, but it was too late. Rarity had already opened her parcel, revealing new beauty products. Before an argument could be raised, the helpless pony was subjected to eye shadow, eye liner, blush, lipstick, and a quick mane styling. In a flash, the transformation was complete. Rarity took a few steps back to admire her own work. "Well, dear, what do you think?"
Pinkie scratched her chin. "I dunno. How is that supposed to help her see straight?"
"I beg pardon?"
"Yeah, we don't need help making her pretty; she's already pretty." She shook her head. "We're looking for a way to fix her scantron."
Rarity gasped. "I...I'm sorry. Derpy, darling, I didn't know. I thought that..."
Derpy shuddered, then burst into tears. As the makeup streamed down her face, she ran. She ran away from Pinkie and Rarity. She ran away from the townsfolk that locked their doors. She ran away from everyone with fake promises to help her. She ran home, to the only people that accepted her. As she passed Carrot Top's garden, she slowed from a gallop to a walk, and once she reached her front door, she could only manage to knock on the door once before collapsing on the porch. After a moment, Dinky opened the door; at the sight of her mom lying on the porch, her face covered in black streaks, she screamed. "Mom! Ms. Carrot Top, come quick!"
From the adjacent house, Carrot Top came bolting out the door and over the fence to assist Dinky. "What is it, Dinky?"
"I don't know." She was trying to push Derpy inside, but she was too small. "I heard a knock at the door, and I found her outside." She looked up at her neighbor. "Do you know what's wrong?"
"It looks like she's been crying. I hope no one was making fun of her in town. Dinky, go get a washcloth. I'll get her inside."
Working together, the pair soon had Derpy inside and the makeup cleaned off her face. They sat with her while she regained her strength, both physically and emotionally. After what seemed like an eternity, she lifted her head. "Oh, hi, Carrot Top. Is everything OK?"
"I should be asking you that question!" her neighbor replied, her voice a mixture of worry and anger. "Who was teasing you this time? Did they put that garbage on your face?"
"No...not this time." Derpy's head sank again. "I was looking for a cure, but no one could help me."
"A cure?" Dinky sat in front of her mother. "A cure for what? I didn't think anything was wrong."
"There...there isn't, I guess. I just..." Her voice trailed away as she fell asleep, exhausted from her emotional ordeal. Dinky turned again to Carrot Top for answers. "What did she mean, a cure?"
Carrot Top sighed. "I think she meant her eyes. C'mon, let's leave her alone for a while."
"But there's nothing wrong with her eyes!" Dinky exclaimed as they ascended the stairs. "That's the way her eyes are supposed to be, right?"
"We know that, honey. But I don't think she does."
Derpy stayed in the living room for the rest of the day and through the night. Not once did she wake, not even when the nightmares came. Images flashed into her mind, terrible images of Ponyville turning on her, banishing her forever. She also saw her friends trying to help. She saw Twilight with her books; she saw Pinkie's friendly smile and Fluttershy's singing. But every time she saw her friends try to help, it was always overtaken by the thought that they couldn't help her, that she was stuck like this.
Derpy awoke to the sun streaming in through her front window. She didn't feel rested; her dreams had seen to that. "Dinky?" she called out. "Are you home?"
The rapid hoof-steps on the boards upstairs was the answer she needed, as her daughter came rocketing down the stairs and wrapped herself in a hug around her mother's front legs. "Mom, you're awake! I'm so glad you're OK!"
"Yes, I'm fine. I just had an...interesting day yesterday." She sighed. "I think it's all better now."
Dinky hopped up on a chair, now at eye level with Derpy. "What did you do? I thought you were coming home right after work."
"Well, it all started when..."
"Hold on, sister. I got this."
The pair whipped their heads around to see Pinkie Pie standing in their doorway. "Pinkie? What are you doing..."
Pinkie bounced over to Dinky. "You see, Derpy needed help curing her sauerkraut, and Twilight couldn't find an answer in her books, and Fluttershy's singing didn't work, and Rarity got totally confused on what she was doing in and..." She took in a huge, noisy breath. "And then she got super sad because we couldn't help her, but then Twilight told me that she found the answer last night, so we decided to come here to tell her the good news, and now we're here!"
"Thank you, Pinkie. I think." Twilight entered behind Pinkie. "Derpy, I think I can help you now."