To Find Your Smile

by FlashKenshin77

Face Your Memories!

She sighed, hiding on a cloud above Ponyville, her tail swishing agitatedly. She took deep breaths and tried to calm down. He… killed a pony? AJ said he almost killed her and she doesn’t lie…
“Excuse me miss, have you seen Derpy?” Inky asked, walking up to a random pony.
Derpy’s ear twitched at her name and she leaned over the side of the cloud. It was Inky, talking to Carrot Top. The orange maned pony paused, scratching her chin. “Not since this morning when she delivered the mail… why?”
“If you see her can you tell her I need to talk to her? Its really important…”
“Err… alright, sure. I’ll let her know if I see her.” Carrot said, watching the unicorn briskly walk away, talking to another pony.
Derpy flopped her head on the cloud, closing her eyes as she tried to think. “Derpy?” A pony’s voice asked.
She squeaked and dove her head into the cloud, hoping that the pony would go away.
“Derpy, what are you doing?” The pony landed and pulled her head out of the cloud. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Rainbow Dash looking at her.
“Oh… you know… relaxing.”
“Relaxing?”
“Mhm, best cloud I’ve ever laid on.”
“Then why is the new guy looking for you?”
“Uh… well…”
“Is it what happened with AJ?”
Derpy blinked. “How did-”
“I ran into AJ after Pinkie told me to go looking. She told me what happened.”
“Then you know what he did?”
She paused. “It’s a lot more confusing than that though.” She sighed. “Look, Derpy, I think you should talk to him and have him explain everything.”
“But-”
“But?”
Derpy fidgeted with the cloud, refusing to look her in the eye. “I’m scared…”
“Of him?” She nodded. “I’ll be watching the entire thing, you’ll be fine.”
Derpy hesitated before nodding slowly. “A-alright…” She said, getting up and hovering above the cloud. She paused, looking at Dash.
“Go, I’ll be right here.” Dash smiled, giving her a hoof’s up.
Derpy returned the gesture and gradually made her way down, pausing every few seconds to check if Dash was still there. Finally landing on the ground, she trotted over to the pony in question.

=

Inky sighed, heading back to the hotel. Guess I should’ve expected it… Word must’ve traveled fast, several ponies inching away from him, avoiding his gaze. He waved at one of them, who seemed like he didn’t see Inky and continued on his way. Inky’s ears went flat against his head, the hotel finally in sight.
He used his magic to open the door and went to step inside. “Inky…” Derpy said, her eyes locked on his aura. Suddenly it wasn’t Inky standing there, a demon from her past smiling at her.
He turned around with a small smile. “Derpy, I’m…” He trailed off, the smile disappearing as he saw her face. Her pupils had dilated as she stared at the aura. Her fur rose on its end, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes as she screamed in fear and took off, the other way. Ponies quickly stared at her, Dash jumping down in front of her.
“Derpy? What’s wrong?” She asked as Derpy barreled right through her, Dash tossed to the side. “Derpy wait!” She yelled as Inky galloped after her. Dash scrambled to her hooves and flew after Inky. “What did you do?!” She yelled.
“Nothing!” He yelled back. Neither could catch up with the terrified pegasus, even with Dash’s speed. They were on the edge of the forest, Derpy about to fly over it. “Dash, I have an idea.” He said, his horn starting to spark.
“And what’s that brainiac?”
He disappeared, re-appearing in front of Derpy. She was breathing raggedly, her hooves connecting with his face as she took off, shakily at first before gaining speed. She flew over the Everfree, knowing she could lose him there. She looked for a somewhere she hide in, a hole in the lush trees.
He grunted with pain, gasping for air as he teleported again, materializing on top of her. He wrapped his hooves around her. “Derpy! It’s just me! Inky!” He yelled.
She screamed, flailing as they dived into the forest. She fought against him with everything she had. Tears poured freely, hitting him. She bit him and kicked him, punching him repeatedly in the head. He closed his eyes, holding her tightly, the branches whipping both of them.
Dash circled above the forest, trying to spot the two. The canopy seemed to heal before her eyes, the hole vanishing. “Derpy!? Inky!?” She yelled. The forest was silent as she rushed back into town.
Derpy twitched in his grasp, her eyes closed as she relived the same moment, time and time again. The stallion had laughed as she weakly fought against his magic, hoping to flee. She remembered the huge smile on his snout as she pleaded for him to let her go. Nothing she muttered or said mattered, the stallion still having it’s way.
Her thrashing had died down, her body spent as she leaned against him, exhausted. He held her tightly, not letting go. “Shh, Ditzy, it’s okay. Let it out...” He said.
She blinked, opening her eyes to stare into his, her gaze seeing way past him. She took a shaky breath before she buried her face into his chest, crying even louder than before, her wings lying limp on the ground.
“It’s okay Ditzy. Nothing bad can get you here.”
Her body shuddered under the weight of tears, her hooves wrapping around him tightly. “D-don’t...” She croaked, her voice haggard and cracked.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t... don’t do it again...”
“I.. I don’t understand. Don’t do what?”
She looked up into his eyes, the pain and fear fighting against each other for power. “P-Please, haven’t you hurt me enough?” She cried as Inky’s eyes grew wide with horror. She lifted her head, revealing her throat. “J-Just kill me already and get it over with...”
He stared at her, tears flowing down his face as the torment gnawed at his heart, his mind numb. He was silent, the two staring at each other before he grew a smile. “Do it.”
“What?”
“All the pain I’ve caused you, I deserve it back tenfold... but I bet you couldn’t even bruise me if you tried.”
The pain and fear quickly vanished in her eyes, replaced with pure hatred. He let go of her as soon as the first hoof crashed into his skull. He flew back, Derpy following him as she landed on his stomach. He grinned one more time, a tooth missing already. Another hoof smashed against his snout, a tear following right behind.
“All these years... I’ve been afraid...” She muttered, her hoof plastered against his skull. “All these years, I’ve been afraid of having a coltfriend, afraid to open up to them about what happen.” She punched him in the chest, feeling the air quickly vacate his lungs.
He chuckled, the laugh weak. “And here I thought we had something special...”
“Every time somepony asked about Dinky’s dad, I avoided the question, too afraid of their response.” She punched him twice; once in the chin and the other nearly crushing his throat.
He coughed up blood, tilting his head to the side. “Even with all this pain I gave you, I still gave you the greatest love of your life.”
“All this... because of... you!” She yelled, tears pouring as she assaulted him with more blows.
His face soon swelled, her blows a lot stronger than normal. His right eye turned a deep shade of red before it closed, a deep purple. Blood dripped from his broken snout and teeth. Any restraint she had was gone, letting loose all her pent up emotions, Inky’s body the receiver. He was silent the entire time, not making a grunt or moan in pain. She hopped off his stomach, floating just above him as she pummeled his stomach, the rush of escaping air slipping out of his mouth.
Bruises and cuts appeared across his body as Derpy landed harshly on the ground, panting. She looked at him one more time.
He coughed, chuckling again. “And here I thought you were just some weak, easy mare that didn’t know anything... you were so...” He took a deep breath. “Ditzy...”
She glared at him before she punched him with the remaining strength she had, right on his horn. He couldn’t stop that scream, howling in pain as every nerve was on fire.
The scream ripped through the blood haze as she shook her head and gasped. “I-Inky?” She asked, not sure what to do.
“F-feeling better?” He asked, his voice sounding forced.
“What in Celestia happened to you?”
“I’m not sure, I think that assaulter had it worse...” He tried to laugh but all he did was gurgle.
She looked at him, noticing hoof shaped marks criss-crossing his body. She went to put her hoof on his face, wiping at the dripping blood. She raised it towards her face. “I... I did this...”
His hoof patted her other hoof, his head tilted so he could see her out of his good eye. “Ditzy...”
Tears hit his hoof as she picked him up, crushing him in a hug. “I-I’m so sorry!”
“D-ditzy, already hurt...” He muttered, his chin resting on her shoulder.
She quickly let go, dropping him back on the ground. “I’m sorry. Here, we gotta get you to the hospital.” She said, gingerly picking him up and draping him across her back. She tried to launch herself into the air but wasn’t ready for Inky’s extra weight. She dipped closer to the ground, but with a few more power flaps of her wings, she slowly went airborne and headed back towards Ponyville, towards the hospital.
“Inky, what exactly happened?” She asked, trying to keep focused on the town. He was silent, his grip on her neck weak. “Inky?” She asked again, a bit worried. She turned her head and saw him lying on her back, not moving, his breaths shallow. “Hold on!” She yelled, pushing herself to go even faster.

=

She collapsed just outside the forest, landing harshly on the ground. She laid there for a moment, trying to catch her breath. She forced herself to get up, her body urging her to sleep. She grabbed Inky, pulling him by his tail. “Come on, we’re almost into town!” She told herself, falling once more. She struggled to stand before falling again, the world fading to black..
“Derpy!” Somepony yelled. She opened her eyes, seeing Pinkie, AJ, and Dash running towards her.
She smiled, lifting up a hoof. “I did it…” She whispered, passing out from exhaustion.