Twilight and Pinkie had an easy time saying ‘goodbye’ and ‘thank you for coming’ to all their guests. They simply sat by the front door and smiled and waved as the ponies all conga’d themselves right back into town. No sooner had they all left and the door was closed, a new guest came knocking. Twilight opened the door not fully expecting to see a sad looking pony staring back at her.
“Hello, Princess Twilight. Hello, Pinkie Pie. Hello, Spike the dragon, sir,” came the greeting from the peculiar gray pony.
“Derpy Hooves – I’m so glad you were able to make it to our party.” Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves after tossing a noise maker in her mouth and blowing out a loud {honk} in greeting.
“It actually looks like I missed the party - didn’t I,” sighed Derpy.
“Not at all,” coaxed Twilight. “You’re welcome to come in and have a bite to eat or maybe play some games.”
“That’s ok. I’d probably just make a bigger mess for you to have to clean up. I-I think I’ll just go home and take a nap. Sorry to bother you.”
“That doesn’t sound like a very happy thing to do?” replied Pinkie. “What’s got you feelin’ blue?”
Derpy sighed again as she gathered up what little courage she could before launching into her story:
“Well, I got your party invitation and I was so looking forward to coming. I never get invited to parties like this, and well, it felt good to get my own invitation and everything. You see, I don’t really have any friends – nopony wants to hang out with plain old Derpy. I always mess things up.
It’s just that I started delivering the mail and completely lost track of the time. Being the Ponyville mailpony is a big job and I always try and focus super hard so I make sure and do it right. When I realized what time it was, I flew right on over here, but it looks like I’m late again – as always.”
“What do you mean, Derpy?” questioned Twilight. “You’re an amazing mailpony and I would have to say that you are one of the best friends a pony could ever have.”
“But I always mess things up, Princess Twilight, just like I forgot about the party today. Nopony wants to have me as a friend.” Derpy looked down at the ground feeling sad and sorry for herself.
“I think I have a way to fix that,” remarked Pinkie. “Come inside and let’s talk cake.”
Pinkie led a still hesitant Derpy into the castle grand foyer. Most of the towering twelve layer cake still stood before them. Pinkie turned to Derpy and explained her plan.
“Alright, I’ve got a party problem and I think you’re just the mare for the job. I’ve got two hundred and forty-three pieces of premium party cake going to waste here. I think we can solve your friend problem and put a major dent in this leftover liability by using your super-duper special talent.”
“What do you mean, Pinkie?” questioned a confused Derpy. “I can’t eat all that cake, and if I did I’d be too big to fit through the door. Everypony would just laugh at me.”
“No silly,” giggled Pinkie. “You’re not going to have to eat it – you’re going to share it! I want you to use your super-special super-duper mailpony skills and deliver a piece of this delicious rainbow layer cake to every pony in Ponyville. What pony could say ‘no’ to having a friend that delivers them cake?”
“No need to deliver to us, Derpy,” added Twilight. “We’ve already had our cake, and we’ll always be your friend no matter what. You’re welcome to come hang out with us anytime.”
A single tear slid down the grey pony’s cheek. “Do you really mean that?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” came Pinkie’s fully acted out response.
Derpy was at a loss for words for a moment, but eventually she managed to find a few, “You guys are the best. How can I ever thank you?”
“A smile will do,” grinned Pinkie.
The smile on Derpy’s face was genuine. Realizing that she did have friends and that somepony cared about her meant everything in the world to her. The tear that had begun to slide down her face transformed into the brightest spark of magical essence Twilight and Pinkie had yet seen before floating over and sinking into Pinkie’s gem completing the element.
Pinkie Pie helped Derpy package the slices of cake into little party-to-go boxes while Twilight and Spike set about cleaning up the rest of the party mess. A lot of work had gone into decorating and the mess was considerable.
Spike grunted as he yanked a large banner from the wall. Twilight was busily orchestrating a trio of brooms as they danced around the room pushing piles of party leftovers. Pinkie had only made a small dent in the bottom layers of cake as she worked to carefully place a slice in each package.
“I think that’s all that will fit right now,” commented Derpy. She stuffed the twelfth little box inside her mail pouch with the others. “I should get started delivering these and come back for another batch later.”
“Alright,” said Pinkie. “I’ll just keep -wrapping- these up for you then.” She gave a little beat-box beat as she tied the ribbon on her next little package.
Derpy gave Pinkie and Twilight -and even Spike- a little hug before putting on her mail-mare hat and shimmying into her mailbag harness. She gave a little wave as she opened up the front door and slipped outside. A strong gust of wind blew a little cloud of dust and leaves through the door as she did so. She stuck her head back inside and said, ‘sorry’, before closing the door behind her and flying off into town.
The gust of wind borne debris added to the already cluttered hall as it agitated a pile of glitter and streamers blowing them around the previously cleaned space. The dirt and leaves still managed to swirl around and around even with the door now closed. Before long, the little cloud of dust became more solid and eventually transformed into Discord himself.
“Oh Twilight, how fortuitous that I finally found you,” he blurted out as soon as he materialized – unmindful of the current state of affairs he had just deposited himself into.
Twilight blew a piece of her mane out of her eyes and responded, “How hard was I to find? I’ve been here all day.”
Discord brushed off her response and replied, “How boring would that be if I found you in the first place that I looked...” He paused as he took in the view of the room and the floating particles of glitter that permeated it. “…and what is it with this absurd amount of glittery goo all over the place – Twilight, you certainly must find better help to keep this castle of yours clean.”
He snapped his claw and the entire room was made instantly spotless. All the glitter was gone. All the streamers were removed. The cake in the middle of the foyer was replaced by a life-sized statue of Discord honoring himself.
Pinkie looked up from her cake boxing and glared at Discord. “Hey… what’s the big idea taking the cake?”
“Oh fine,” Discord mumbled. He snapped his claw again and the cake was back in all its previous glory. A pile of glitter also appeared just above Pinkie’s head before its momentary suspension was released and gravity took over. The poor pink pony was positively pummeled by pounds of plummeting particles.
Discord turned to Twilight and rambled on in a melancholy tone, “Woe is me… I seem to be losing my chaotic flair. I’m starting to make things all neat and tidy. You should see my house – it’s first time I’ve seen the floor. I didn’t even know I had a floor. You really must help me Twilight. I really don’t know how much longer I can survive without my precious chaos.”
“Well, Discord,” Twilight began, “you’re in luck – Pinkie here found one of the “Elements of Disharmony.”
“Just one?” Discord sounded disappointed.
Pinkie stood up from the pile of glitter and spat out a wad of the sparkly particles. “Yep, we’ve got the element of sadness right here.” She puffed out her neck before shaking out her mane and tail to try and remove as much of the mess as she could. The light blue gem around her neck sparkled brightly against the backdrop of the glitter-covered, pink pony.
“Well, I guess that’s a start,” bemoaned Discord.
“What’s the matter, Discord?” said a somewhat confused Pinkie Pie. “Shouldn’t you be more happy that we found one of your elements?”
“That’s just it – you’ve only found -one- of the elements,” replied a still depressed Discord. “I need all the elements in order to restore myself to my former state of chaotic bliss. Just having one doesn’t cut it.”
“Then I hope you have some new information to share about the location of the last two elements, or are we just supposed to guess?” Twilight sounded a little peeved as she laid down the facts for the sulking Lord of Chaos.
Discord perked up a bit as he remembered why he had gone in search of Twilight in the first place. “That’s right – I do have some information about the other elements.”
Twilight came around to join Pinkie Pie as they prepared themselves for Discord’s update.
He continued, “The elements of envy and greed weren’t at all where I thought they were.”
Twilight looked even more upset. “Wait a second, do you mean to tell me that I just sent my friends on a wild-pony chase for those elements?”
“Perhaps,” replied Discord with an avant-garde tone, “but I believe those elements are now someplace much closer.”
Twilight hated to have sound like she was prying as she strained to ask, “And where exactly would that be?”
The now amused guest responded, “Why… Canterlot, of course!”