Edited by vs.dubstep
Derpy was making her normal rounds about Cloudsdale, letters falling from her satchel down to
Ponyville as they often did. She had once again mistakenly put it on upside down. Since she was
the only pony to raise her sweet little sister Dinky, she had to work a lot of overtime hours. After
putting in so many hours and not sleeping her work had become affected again.
This was the third 'letter rain' incident this month and the postmaster was not happy. She would hear
a mouthful for sure about her accident.
He stuck out his white head from the cloud building and screamed as loud as anypony could.
"DERPY HOOVES"
His voice was seething with anger at her negligence. Could any pony be so darned... well Derpy, he
wondered to himself.
It was now a common phrase in the mail office and most of Cloudsdale; if you did something really
wrong it was called 'Doing a Derpy'. The term itself only fanned the flames of sorrow in the grey
mares heart. It was not like she meant to be such a screwball, but she was always scolded as if it
was all done on purpose.
The grey mare sighed as she made her way into the postmasters office. She did not like getting
yelled at or mocked. Unfortunately for her, the sadder she became the more her eyes always seemed
to cross. This only invited more pain and hurt as other ponies used this as an excuse to torment her.
Didn't they understand that the stress from work was already enough?
The laughs and snickers from the other ponies were a constant background noise to her life, and
every so often a baby would point at her saying "Mama what is wrong with her eyes? Why does she
look funny?"
Derpy was used to being the butt of jokes, but the words still hurt. She could not help who she was
or how she was born. Dinky often got into fights for defending her ' Dummy Derpy Hooves' sister's
honor.
It was not doing Dinky any good because the jokes never stopped. She needed to get out of this rut
and prove to all of Cloudsdale, no, all of Equestria that she was no fool.
"Derpy! This makes the third time this month and we're only in week two!"
The postmaster was far from pleased about her performance or lack thereof. She was a stain on
what otherwise would've been a perfect business.
.
"I'm sorry but I am going to have to let you go."
The grey mares crossed eyes widened and tears began to form, glistening as they were brinked on
running down her coat.
"Please no, I-I'm sorry sir. I need this job. Nopony else will give me a chance and if I lose this job
they will put Dinky in foster care."
Her plea caused the postmaster to sigh. He could not stand to see her cry. Those darned eyes made
it worse if anything.
He groaned and looked at her
" Fine Derpy, you have one last chance. Go get the dropped letters and deliver them pronto. Don't
ever make the same mistakes again."
"Yes sir"
Derpy saluted her boss and made her way through the office as fast as she could, not wanting to get
heckled by her coworkers again.
As per orders from her boss she was to go down and collect the fallen letters. Her head hung in
shame as the other mail ponies mocked her on her way out. She would show them all one day that
she was no fool and worthy of the title of Equestria's Best Mail Pony Ever.
----
Derpy made her way down and landed in Ponyville, gathering the scattered letters when she noticed
something peculiar.
Now she had been to Ponyville several times due to her job, but she had never before seen it so
empty. There was not a single pony in sight. It was weird to see the usually bustling town so
oppressively silent this time of the day.
In the horizon she saw a mass of black clouds gathering in the Everfree Forest. The phenomenon
was familiar to her but she could not quite recall from where.
Derpy gathered the letters in her properly oriented satchel, making sure to secure the clasps this
time and took off towards the odd clouds. Something was very wrong and she needed to find out
what.
----
The grey mare had reached the Everfree forest. A sudden chill went up her spine as she ventured
inside. She knew the stories about the crazed animals that were supposed to inhabit the odd jungle-
like forest and even the occasional scary story that told of clouds that moved about on their own.
Derpy suddenly saw the tell tale purple mist that was the same as the infamous Nightmare Moon's
mane. It creepily made its way across the forest floor, winding down the dirt path as a serpent
would. She took a deep breath and followed the mist. Whatever was going on here, the mist was
sure to lead her straight to it. As she flew she could not help but notice how the animals ran towards
the way she came. It was as if they were running from some unseen disaster ahead.
She landed onto one of the forests many grassy knolls, crouched down in a commando crawl as she
peeked over the small ridge. Below her, she could see members of the night guard patrolling the
forest, clad head to toe in heavy armor. She had no magic, no weapons nor skills of any sort.
Then it hit her. She was the mail pony and when she was bored she had learned to fling letters like
how a magician flings cards as a weapon. With a quick motion she opened the bag on her right side,
finding a nice amount of letters and heavy packages. Carefully she took two letters in her mouth and
with incredible accuracy she flung the letters at the unsuspecting guards.
The guards toppled over from the sudden hit, caught off balance long enough for the mare to drop
the packages from overhead, knocking the guards out effectively. She quickly gathered the letters
and the packages. She did not have a lot of them and could not spare a single letter if the rest of the
forest was this guarded.
Derpy flew through the trees and found the source of the mist. Down the road some was none other
than Nightmare Moon laughing hysterically, as she had Princess Celestia trapped behind bars. She
could not make out what Nightmare Moon was saying. Reading lips was never a strong point for
the grey mail pony, but she knew this spelled one thing:
Trouble
The mist engulfed the princess and in an instant the white alicorn vanished along with Nightmare
Moon. Derpy's eyes narrowed in determination. She had to do something.
The grey mare put on her heavy weather goggles with a new found inner strength and flew into the
mist portal. She appeared on the other side in an odd black and purple dimension.
This had just become another level of wrong. She was the only one who could save the princess.
Celestia needed her heroine but she would have to do. It would take all of her skills and cunning to
rescue the princes from this land of eternal night.
The journey began.