//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Good Intentions Gone Awry // Story: Lost and Found // by Jay-Ruth //------------------------------// Knock, knock, knock Derpy jerked awake, blinking blearily as she tried to focus. What in the world…? She listened closely, listening for the sound to come again, but all she could hear was the subtle chirping of early morning birds. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table; 5:19?! Who would be up at such an hour? Surely, no one. She nestled deeper into the mattress, curling into a warm ball under the covers, and was just slipping away into a dream when- Knock knock knock Derpy jerked awake and toppled out of bed, legs and wings thoroughly tangled in her bed sheets. Staggering upright, Derpy kicked the sheets from her legs and fumbled for the light switch. She swiped at the wall a few times before finally managing to hit the switch, and winced as the light temporarily blinded her. Viewing the world through squinted eyes, the grey mare stumbled into the hallway. She clumsily made her way to the front door, wondering who was so insane as to bang on her door at five in the morning. "Knockity knock knock!" A high pitched voice called out from behind the wooden barrier, followed by more incessant banging. "Knockity knock— I'm coming, I'm coming!" As she passed the living room, she paused to snatch a blanket off the couch, failing to notice the sleeping ferret on top. As Brick tumbled to the floor, Derpy wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and hurried to the door. Groggily, she fiddled with the door knob, attempting to get the heavy door open while mentally half dead. She could hardly see, much less properly control her hooves. At last, she managed to twist the handle, and the door swung wide, revealing a bright pink mare with a mane that closely resembled cotton candy. "Pinkie Pie? What are you-" Pinkie Pie bounced up and down, and a small confetti launcher behind her popped loudly, causing Derpy to yelp in surprise. "Wakey wakey! Come on sleepy head, we're having a party! " Derpy rubbed her eyes, yawning. "A… party? Why?" The pink mare giggled, straightening the party hat perched atop her fluffy mane. "To welcome someone special, du-uh!" Derpy shook her head, sighing. Sometimes, Pinkie Pie was worse than her. "Pinkie, I hate to ruin your plans, but you already threw me a welcoming party... three years ago." Pinkie paused her bouncing to glare at her in an “I'm-not-really-mad-at-you” sort of fashion that only Pinkie Pie could pull off. "Not for you, you silly duck, for Blue Skies! Now come on, get ready! Meet us at Sugar cube corner by seven oooooooo’ clock!" Blue Skies, the pony she had met yesterday? Derpy realized she had never seen him before that day in the park. So he was new to Ponyville? For reasons she couldn’t explain, the realization gave Derpy a hopeful feeling. “Oh, and you might want to brush your mane. It’s insaa-aane!” With that, the pink mare disappeared, her strange confetti contraption vanishing as well. She left no trace she had ever visited, save for the glittering confetti on the door step. Derpy paused, puzzled, and stuck her head out the door, glancing one way, then the other. Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be found. Shaking her head once again, Derpy closed the door and turned to face the ferret glaring daggers at her from the floor. Brick snatched the blanket from her and bounded back to the couch, curling into a ball of red fluff once again. Sighing, the grey mare wandered back into the illuminated bedroom, frowning at her reflection in the vanity mirror. Her mane was indeed, as Pinkie Pie had stated, insane. How did Pinkie manage to keep her own mane in order anyway? She grabbed a brush from the counter and began attacking her hair. Though it took a good deal of work, she managed to get her mane back into its original state. She sighed, eyeing her reflection with distaste. A pair of crossed, yellow eyes stared back at her. These eyes had set the theme for her entire life. Funny how such things work. Remembering to put in her contacts, Derpy turned from the vanity, glancing at the dresser across the room, and her mind returned to Blue Skies. The sky blue stallion had haunted her most of the night, filling her head with strange dreams. She found that whenever her mind wandered, she always returned to events of the previous afternoon. She realized that if Blue Skies was new to Ponyville, odds were he knew nothing of her less than perfect reputation. Maybe if she could keep herself out of trouble… Her thoughts swirled as she hastily sorted through her dresser, searching for something to wear. Nothing appealed to her. As she finished scanning through her entire wardrobe for the third time, she caught a glimpse of the time. 6:32. Time to get a move on. Casting another quick glance at the mirror, Derpy scuttled out the door, her stomach roiling with apprehension. The flight to Ponyville Square seemed even longer than usual. When at last Derpy landed in front of the bakery, she noticed the streets were empty and quiet. It seemed Pinkie Pie had stuck to her habit of leaving no one out of the festivities. Sure enough, as the pegasus approached the front door, she could hear the muffled noise of ponies laughing and shouting. Before she could raise a hoof to knock, Pinkie Pie opened the door, greeting her with a broad smile. "Derpy, you’re here! It’s about time!" Turning to the throng of ponies behind her, the pink mare shrieked; "Everyone listen up! Last pony’s here, so I’m gonna go get Blue Skies! Be ready!" The assembled ponies cheered, and Pinkie bounced out the door, leaving the room humming with excitement. Derpy soon found herself by the buffet, which was crowded with ponies chatting amongst themselves. Even though the room was packed, they all gave Derpy space as she approached, backing away to avoid any maintain a safe distance. The grey pegasus looked hopefully at Lyra and Bon Bon, but when they saw her, the quickly left for the pin-the-tail-on-the-pony game. Derpy shrugged off the dismissal and took a muffin from the buffet, knowing Pinkie Pie had baked them with her in mind. "Derpy!" A shrill voice rang out above the buzzing crowd, and Derpy turned just in time to see a small filly bolt through the crowd. “Dinky!” The blonde mare bent low to embrace her youngest sister, who rushed forward, wrapping her tiny hooves around Derpy’s neck while Sparkler followed close behind. Derpy smiled as a warm feeling rushed through her, and nudged her sister’s cheek fondly. Glancing upward, she met the cool gaze of her other sister, Sparkler. “Hi Sparkler, it’s been awhile hasn’t it?” The violet pony nodded uncomfortably. While Derpy and Dinky Doo had grown up act much like their mother, Sparkler, the middle sister, had always taken after their father, a solemn pony who’s first and foremost priority was making a name for himself. "Hello Derpy, it's nice to see you again." Sparkler turned to her younger sister. "Dinky dear, why don’t we go play charades with Berry Punch? Hmm?" Dinky bounced up and down, nodding vigorously. Together, she and Sparkler turned and disappeared into the crowd of ponies. Derpy watched them leave, her heart sinking. She was used to getting the cold shoulder from her younger sister, but it still hurt. Lily, who had been poised at the window for the past ten minutes, suddenly fell out of her chair in excitement. Leaping to her hooves, she whirled to face the crowd. "THEY’RE COMING. EVERYONE HIDE!" The room erupted into a frenzied clatter and ponies dived for cover, darting under tables and behind curtains. Derpy made a break for the kitchen door, hiding behind the bottom panel. The sound of repressed giggling floated around the room as Pinkie Pie spoke loudly from just outside the front door. "Aaandd this, is Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie Pie opened the door, leaned in, and gave everyone a wink before shoving Blue Skies inside. “SURPRISE!” Blue Skies jumped in surprise as ponies leapt from their hiding places, welcoming him and tossing confetti. His mouth dropped open in shock, and after a moment, an elated grin spread over his face. He was soon swept away by a crowd, and Derpy watched as he was overwhelmed with curious ponies. She sat on her haunches to wait. She would get her turn to speak with him soon enough. An hour and a half later, Derpy was beginning to grow impatient. She had already approached Blue Skies several times, but whenever she found an opening to speak with him, he was drawn away be someone else. She was getting rather frustrated, and began to wonder if she should try again another day when Pinkie Pie threw open the kitchen doors, calling, “Hey everyone! I made Chimmy Cherry Channnggaaas!” The ponies gathered in the bakery cheered and hurried to the kitchen, eager to snag a piece of the cherry concoction, and leaving Blue Skies open for conversation. Eagerly, Derpy hurried forward, calling out a greeting. The pale stallion turned, and recognition flashed across his face when he caught sight of her. “Hey, I know you! Aren’t you the pony I bumped into at the park?” Derpy blushed, cringing as the previous day’s events returned to her.. “Oh, yeah. I guess you could say that! I… umm.” She pawed at the ground nervously, suddenly wishing she had thought of something to say before she approached. The blue stallion smiled, waiting expectantly. “I just wanted to say welcome to Ponyville! I’ve never seen you round here before. Is this your first time visiting?” ”Not bad” Derpy thought happily as Blue Skies nodded in affirmation. “I just moved down here from Canterlot. I’m so glad to be out of there.” The stallion paused, frowning. ”I mean it’s not that I don’t like Canterlot! It’s just so crowded… it wears on you after a while.” Derpy couldn’t help but grin. “I know exactly what you mean! I moved here from Cloudsdale a few years ago. I got into too much- um, I just liked the idea of living on the ground better!” She breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close one. She was rather impressive with herself as she carried out a casual conversation with Blue Skies, and was thrilled with how well things were going. “Pardon me, may I?” Startled, Derpy simply stared at the pony who had addressed her before she realized that she was blocking the punch bowl, and a thirsty Colgate had been patiently waiting to get by. Trying to be polite, the grey mare quickly tried to move out of the way, but when she stepped backward, she kicked the pony behind her in the shin, causing her to drop the drink she had been holding. “Oh! I’m so sorry!” She bent to retrieve the empty glass, but as she leaned forward, slipped on the spilled punch and crashed to the floor. With a startled yelp, she fell against the punch stand, knocking the table over with a loud crash. Orange liquid was sent in all directions, soaking the horrified on lookers as Derpy was pinned beneath the wooden table. There was a terrible moment of silence; a few shocked gasps, then, giggling. Derpy wriggled out from under the table, and found herself looking into the face of Blue Skies. The pale stallion had a hoof over his mouth, and his cheeks were flushed as he tried to contain his laughter. The giggling grew louder as Derpy struggled to free herself from the table cloth, which had gotten tangled around her legs. Soon, the room was filled with unbridled laughter, and her eyes began to well up with tears. Angrily she kicked the cloth free and stood, eyes widening in horror. Everyone was laughing at her. No one bothered trying to hide it. The first tear fell, and she turned and dashed out the door, unable to bear the humiliation. Derpy ran without any idea of where she was headed. She only knew she had to get away from the laughter. Tears blurred her vision, but instinct guided her home, away from the party and her embarrassment. Crashing through the front door, she ran to her bedroom and collapsed onto her bed, sobbing into a pillow. It had happened yet again. It always did. She had ruined a perfectly good day and embarrassed herself in front of all of Ponyville, including Blue Skies. Brick clambered onto the bed, squeaking softly and nuzzling her tearstained cheek as she choked back her tears. Sniffing, the blonde mare sat upright, and Brick crept into her lap, gazing at her with sympathy. ”Pull yourself together Ditzy, it’s not the first time. We can fix this.” Derpy thought, nodding to herself. Surely, she couldn’t be the only hopelessly clumsy pony in town. She couldn’t be. Maybe the others had found a way to fix themselves. Maybe there was some form of treatment for her condition. Could there be? Or was she out of luck? Either way, she had to try. The daily humiliation was pushing her to her breaking point. But what could be done? Derpy concentrated, trying to think of every possible solution to her plight, and started as an idea came to her. Why hadn’t she thought of this before? ”Twilight!”