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// 6 An Unexpected Visit 
// Story: Wings that wont return 
// by dimitri_dm 
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A few days had passed, Derpy was slowly recovering from her past experiences. Though she still thoughts back to that horrible day. She saw herself racing towards the ground plummeting from a high tower, unable to flap her wings as if, she were bound. Then Flashing through her mind strange memories of things she had never seen before, appearing in her mind at random intervals. But those memories faded away in to the dark recesses of her mind as quickly as they appeared.


Another knock reverberated through the house more akin to the sound of a cannon firing than the impact of flesh on wood , Sherrill slammed the book shut and looked up, startled,  glanced around the room. She had been so focused on reading the book that she couldn’t be sure where the sound had originated from. After sweeping her eyes over the empty room once and noting the absence of anyone, she used her magic to find the right page in her book and was quickly drawn back into the thrill of reading.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Sherrill jumped to her hooves, her eyes focused on the front door. It was a much louder knock than before, and it managed to get somepony’s attention. Sherrill sighed and levitated the book she was reading to a nearby bookshelf. She then turned and walked towards the door.

Sherrill used her magic to open the door. A brown Pegasus with a flowing black grey main stood outside.

“Good afternoon miss” He said in a very gentle tone. “My name is Ricky Woods. And I’ve recently lost a good friend of mine. So I was wondering if you had seen her.  Her name is Derpy, Derpy Hooves to be exact.”	

Sherrill gasped in excitement. ‘This must be the pony Derpy was talking about, who had tried to defend her, during Rainbow Dash’s line-up session.’ She thought to herself. Then quickly pushed the door open, allowing Ricky to trot inside. “Yes, please come in” Sherrill said with a smile. Ricky smiled and cantered inside.

It didn’t take long for Sherrill to note Ricky’s cutie mark. A red blazing heart with a sword bisecting the center.

“I hope you don’t mind my visit.” Ricky began. “But I’ve been searching for her since was removed from the Ponyville’s pegasy team by Rainbow Dash. I haven’t seen her ever since, and she hasn’t been home for days either.” He then moved to a nearby windows and looked outside, as if he was waiting for another pony to arrive. He then continued. “I’ve been worried ever since she flew away.”
“Yes.” Sherrill confirmed. “I found Derpy a couple days ago, she was…” Sherrill froze again. Memories of that horrible day re-appearing in her mind undulating and forming dark patterns she hoped never to see again.

“Erm…. Miss?” Ricky turned his attention away from the window, and gazed upon Sherrill who seemed frozen in shock, she wasn’t moving a muscle. Sherrill shook her head, trying to forget the moments from her mind.

“I’m sorry.” She apologized. “It’s been a hard time for Derpy.”

Ricky looked up with confusion. “What do you mean?”

Sherrill took in a deep breath and began explaining about what happened on that day. How she was able to change Derpy’s mind. And why she was staying at Sherrill’s house.

Ricky, which had been listening the entire time was struck dumb. After Sherrill had finished her tale. She wiped away the tears gathering at the corner of her eyes and turned herself back to Ricky, who was still standing rooted spot, busy trying to process the entire story trying to comprehend the hardships Derpy had suffered through

“Ricky, are you feeling ok?” Sherrill asked in a worried tone. “Do you want me to……”

“Sherrill? Who are you speaking to?” Derpy, who had been in the shower the entire time, was now walking down stairs. She opened the door and entered the living room.

Derpy’s eyes widened at the sight of Ricky. She smiled and galloped towards him.

Ricky started in surprise but a tight hug brought himself back to reality. “Derpy, it’s so good to see you.” He said while trying to hold back his tears. Derpy took a step back and exclaimed: “it is so good to see you, what has been going this past week?”

Ricky took in a deep breath and started. “It’s been horrible actually.” He looked down, feeling uneasy, having difficulty finding his words. “After you left the team, the training started to become harder. Rainbow Dash sharpened the rules. And everypony has to work almost twice as hard.”

He paused and took in another deep breath. “But.” He continued, this time allowed himself to directly look towards Derpy. Showing a worried expression on his face as he continued. “After you left, Rainbow Dash ordered everypony to continue with their task, except me. Instead she said to me, that if she ever sees me ever attempting to go against her will, she’ll fire me as well.”

Derpy and Sherrill were surprised by Rainbow Dash’s behaviour towards the other ponies. This wasn’t how she would normally act, at least not towards her friends. No, something was wrong, Derpy was sure about it.
“But.” Ricky said. “I couldn’t take her rules any longer. And I didn’t feel like speaking to her either. So I decided to just fly away. She saw me flying away, and she shouted, asking what in equestria I was doing. I just shouted back that I had had enough of her rules. I then speeded off as fast as I could.”

Sherrill and Derpy looked at each other with confusion and disbelief. They then turned back to Ricky, who was feeling very uncomfortable. For a moment, it was completely silent, all 3 ponies kept staring at each other, unable to continue the conversation. Then Sherrill smiled and said softly. “Ricky, you can also stay here if you desire too, seems like you’ve come upon some hard times.

While they had been talking a storm had started to rage outside. “Great.” Sherrill sighed and stared outside the window, as if the storm would scare off by her looks. She then turned to Ricky. Who also seemed to be annoyed with the sudden weather change.

“I don’t mind if you don’t mind miss.” He said firmly.

“Please, call me Sherrill” Sherrill said with a smile, forgetting about the storm. “And no, I don’t mind at all, it would be a good idea for Derpy to have a good reliable friend close by as well.” She then turned to look, wondering what Derpy was thinking about her offer to Ricky.
Derpy was almost unable to contain her enthusiasm. She then looked back at Ricky.

“I can’t thank you enough Sherrill.” He said respectfully.

Sherrill smiled and looked at the clock. “Well, I’ll start working on dinner, Derpy can you help Ricky around in the mean time?”

Derpy, too happy to deny her request walked to Ricky and said: “Yes sure Sherrill. I’ll be taking care of him, just the way you took care of me.” Sherrill chuckled, and then walked to the kitchen.
“Come.” Derpy said. “You’ll be able to find your way around, in no time. I’ll give you the tour.” With that Derpy opened the door, which lead to the first floor of the house. And they quickly started their journey.
TO BE CONTINUED