“Are we there yet?” Derpy asked.
Her legs hurt, her stomach complained and they were still continuing to walk on the white sand. This was literally the worst trip she’d ever taken. The filly now truly understood why her parents had never wanted her to go too far away from home. As much as she understood that there was no way to turn back anymore, she just wanted to stop.
“I don’t know,” Twilight answered, the doubt festering in her voice.
Every time she answered the same question, the filly grew more nervous and the river to their side just seemed to continue endlessly.
Luna’s garden my butt, she thought to herself.
There was nothing fun about this place at all and she doubted anypony could even find anything amusing here. None of them were happy and Derpy was so sleepy that she was getting angry. Out of all the things they had done together, this was the worst.
“When are we there?” She asked.
“Derpy,” Octavia answered, “it can’t be far anymore. Just hold out for a bit.”
Tavi sounded tired, Derpy noticed. She was tired, too, so why were they continuing? This was all too horrible. But maybe Tavi was right, maybe it was just around the next corner. Not that there were any corners, but one should always hope for the best. Yes, they’d find the Lunarium and there’d be muffins, freshly baked and warm to the touch.
Her stomach grumbled. “I’m hungry.”
Nopony answered. “I want something to eat. Muffins, or cake, or–”
“I’m hungry, too, now,” Raindrops complained.
“See, we’re hungry.”
Octavia sighed. “Yeah, well, guess what, we’re all hungry.”
Twilight nodded, but let her eyes linger on the ground for a while. “Do you think we could eat the sand?”
“Nopony’s going to eat the sand,” Octavia said grimly.
“But it does kinda look like powdered sugar,” Lyra said and dug her hoof into it, shoveling some up.
“Don’t you put that in your mouth, Lyra.”
“I’m not going to–” She stopped and looked at Derpy, so did everypony else.
“What’re you doing?”
She’d pretty much gone and ignored them after Lyra’s sugar comment and was now chewing on some sand. “It tasteth like rockth,” she noted while continuing to bite the stuff down.
“It’s sand, you dummy,” Lyra grinned. “Of course it tastes like sand.”
“But you said that it looked like sugar.”
Octavia sighed and shook her head. “Don’t take Lyra seriously, please.”
“But I’m seriously hungry.”
“Just a bit further, then we’ll reach the Lunarium,” Twilight said, as if that would help.
Derpy spat out the sand. “Ugh, I can’t eat this. Why can’t ponies eat rocks, that would make everything so much easier.”
“Just come on, we’ll be there soon, I’m sure of it,” Octavia told her and started walking again.
Whatever she thought was the right path, Derpy felt inclined to disagree. Her legs hurt, her stomach was complaining and she had sand between her teeth. This was the worstest trip they’d ever done together and she was getting really tired of all the running she had to do today.
“I’ve had enough,” she suddenly said and stopped in her tracks.
Twilight made the mistake of making another step, however, stumbled and fell. Everypony was looking at Derpy yet again.
“Come on, we need to get going. Or. …”
Derpy merely harrumphed. “I’m hungry and sleepy and I don’t want to go on anymore.”
“But–”
Derpy didn’t listen. She had enough. This was tiring and she wanted to at least have a nap. She let herself fall onto the white sand and closed her eyes. She heard the others egg her on, but she didn’t want to move anymore.
“Twilight, say something,” she heard Lyra say.
There was a moment where only the water was rushing past them, then Lyra asked her question.
“Is she asleep?”
“Oh, wonderful,” Octavia said, throwing her hooves up.
She didn’t care. All that came to her now was sleep. She was hungry, but her last thought was of home. As sleep took over, Derpy felt a sadness upon her.
There was one dream she had. It wasn't the same every night and yet it was. The colors changed sometimes, the scenario would be different, too.
There were times she dreamt of a brown stallion in a clock shop whom she’d visit every so often. There were muffins and a telescope, and he would tell her of the lights in the nightly sky. Sometimes she dreamt of herself amidst them.
Nebulae and planets, strange lifeforms and a million adventures with both despair and laughter filling her life as much as his.
There were other times where she dreamt of a village close to Canterlot. It was a place so crazy, it couldn’t even be described with words.
It was nothing that could be described close to real life, but when she dreamt, she was happy. Of course, none of her dreams would ever prove to be true, no matter how much she wanted them to be.
When it came to all the dreams, she would often be a mailmare, sending letters and muffins (especially those) to the ponyfolk, often getting them mixed up. Sometimes she would live with an orange pony she called 'Carrot Top', sometimes 'Golden Harvest' and she would always eat everything in her fridge.
There were times she dreamt of coming home after a day of work and opening the door to her apartment. It would be a small, dull thing with a kitchen, a bathroom, and a room to live in. Its walls were often painted grey with the tapestry coming off. Worse yet, there was always something she broke. A lamp, a doorknob, a vase, things like that. She should’ve felt horrible about it, but in that town, nopony cared.
That place should have been sad and little and unimportant. Yes, it was the kind of home anypony would have traded gladly for another.
Every time she dreamt of the apartment, the first thing she did was to open its door. She looked at it, and knew that she should’ve felt pathetic for it, but she never did. Instead she would open the door, be interrupted by the landlord, who laughed and joked with her for a moment, and then she would move into her home.
Then, it was always the same thing that happened. A little filly jumped at her and gave the grey pegasus with the funny eyes a warm embrace, laughing loudly while doing so and saying how this specific day was the best day ever.
Derpy never got the reason why the first time, because the filly talked too fast for her. She just wasn’t all that good at understanding it when ponies give her lots of information at a quick pace. All the ponies would eventually get irritated with her, but this little filly always noticed the confused look on Derpy’s face and then repeated her words, slower this time, but happy to do it.
“Diamond Tiara said you were the worst mailmare ever and she and Silver Spoon are the worst bullies, but Miss Cherilee stepped in and told them that my Mommy is one of the most important citizens of Ponyville and without her the post would never find its way. This day is the greatest because Mommy is the greatest.”
Nopony thought that Derpy was the greatest and she actually doubted she would make a good mother, actually. Heck, even taking care of dolls was too hard for her, as evidenced by a sudden fire on the last Hearth's Warming Eve.
Yet there stood the little unicorn filly and called her all that and more with a smile that told Derpy she was truly proud to be with her. She would always take the filly in her arms and hope that the moment would never go away.
Derpy was wanted, needed, to be something they could be proud of. There was also despair in the dreams with the small town called Ponyville, but the laughter there was so bright and warm that she always yearned to return.
It was always the same dream at heart. There were strange places she would visit, there would always be something different and yet it didn’t.
It felt like whenever she slept, she was visiting an unchanging land, filled with feelings she couldn’t truly fathom. It was always a different dream, yet always the same one.
But this time it wasn’t so. No, this time however was different, very different, because Derpy dreamt she was still in Canterlot and she never dreamt of Canterlot. She hated to be in Canterlot.
The first thing she did was to wake up in her own bed, the one with little rails – because she still fell out quite often – and the atrociously colorful bed linen. She opened her eyes there and looked out of the window, watching the red night outside, with the clouds bleeding onto the roofs of the city.
“Rainy? Octy?” She called but nopony answered.
“Lyra? Trixie?” She asked but there was nopony else in the room, so she got up.
The other beds were torn up and the ground was dyed black with broken toys littering the earth. She also saw the plush toys amidst them, their white innards spread across the entire room. Derpy’s eyes turned towards the door and she decided to move. Every step was carefully set, as she didn’t want to step into anything.
Yet she was still a clumsy pony who couldn't do anything right. With every step came a new cut, a new scar and new pain. It was a horrible feeling, but she didn’t want to turn around, didn’t want to look at the floor beneath her and just continued on, because forward was the only road to go.
The filly then reached the hallway and looked across it. The ground was unsteady and all the things, from the doors to the pictures, seemed too big for little Derpy. Her goal were the stairs, which were next to her room. She needed to move down there. Derpy took a deep breath.
“I can do this,” the grey one told herself and took a step, the hoof landing steadily on the ground.
A proud smile came unto her face as if she was successfully walking for the first time in her life. She took another step, tripped over her own leg and then the world was spinning around her as she tumbled forward, hitting the rail of the stairs.
The next thing she knew was that everything came crashing down. Pictures and walls and doors, they all crumbled and fell down to the ground. She saw them moving towards her in slow-motion, but her voice was stuck in her throat.
Somepony had to hear, somepony had to listen, but no sound escaped her as both the rubble and rocks came down on her. In a vain attempt to guard herself, she lifted her legs up to her face.
For a while there was nothing and she just sat there, her eyes closed and averted. Finally, she let her arms down and decided to take a look. She found herself surrounded by ruins. Above her was a red sky with black clouds that wept as lightning crept across the skyline and Canterlot burned. Ponies were running around, screaming and dying, burning and weeping.
“Did I do this?” She asked. “But I didn't want-”
“Derpy,” she heard a warm voice, a familiar voice. It belonged to Hugh and it was like honey on her ears in a dream like this.
The little filly turned around, tears of happiness in her eyes.
He had come, he would save her, he would rebuild everything once more, like he had done before Raindrops had come. He would be there for her and Mommy. Her uncle would be there for her when her real daddy wouldn't. He'd be her father again.
She turned around and the laughter and the happiness of hers faded. Her eyes widened and she felt a horror like none before.
The stallion had no fur, no skin and there was blood pouring out of his eyes. He stood there, white on a black and red background and his mouth started moving, repeating the same five words, over and over again.
Whatever thoughts she held, they yielded to silence as she turned and ran. Her eyes were wide open, but felt like they were shut. Blindly she stumbled through the fire and the ruins, hoping that somepony would come to help her. Everypony stopped, everypony looked and their voices were all she heard.
“There she is-” they said.
“The freak with the weird eyes-” the broken record continued.
The fillies and colts all pointed and laughed at her. Laughing at the pony with the funny eyes, the halfwit pegasus who had no idea where she was going.
“There she is-”, they said and laughed, despite the fire.
And then all the voices changed and they repeated the one line, again and again.
It was the one she feared most, though it only contained a mere five words.
She ran across the city, their laughter and sneers accompanying her. Derpy closed her eyes, not knowing what else to do, but forced herself to open them again, to look to where she was going.
Around her were the gardens of Canterlot Castle, a silent ruin beneath a darkening sky. There she found the last pony.
This one was tall and had a beautiful mane, one that looked so familiar.
“Mommy?” Derpy asked.
The mare only showed Derpy her back and didn't budge as the filly's voice tore through the silence. Her head was held low and she was shaking all over.
Derpy was surprised at this. Her mommy was strong.
“What's wrong, mommy?” she asked.
Then, she asked again, taking a step forward.
“What’s wrong, mommy?”
Now the mare's ears perked up and once more Derpy asked. She took another step towards her mother.
That one now stood up, but she kept her head low, even as she turned around.
Like her brother, Madame was but a white husk, without a coat or skin, and her eyes were black abysses with blood gushing down her cheeks. Her left hoof went up to her neck and then her mouth started to move.
At first there came no sounds, but then, slowly, yet steadily something was starting to build, a hoarse, tiny voice, growing stronger every time she finished the line.
It became louder, more aggressive and harder to understand, like a beast's roar.
“What are you saying, Mommy?” Derpy asked, wanting to understand, wanting to hear.
Madame Hooves then spoke.
She remembered the voice, the calm, soothing voice that was as sweet as honey and as soft as cotton. Teary eyed Derpy listened as the words were formed once more and the line was spoken, the dreaded five words that she had received before.
“It,” a sweet mother's voice said.
“Is,” an angry father's voice said.
“All,” an old friend’s voice said.
“Your,” a strange clockmaker's voice said.
“Fault!” The beast roared and extended its tendrils and fangs, clawing at Derpy and tearing off her wings.
The pain rushed through her body, both warm and cold. As she wanted to scream as the teeth dug into her. Then there was only silence and the dark as the monstrosity swallowed all the pieces that remained of Derpy Hooves.
Derpy opened her eyes. She didn't cry, she didn't whine, she didn't ask. All she did was open her eyes and then she looked at the ceiling of the cave.
Glimmering crystals greeted her and she felt that water was rushing down her lower half.
It’s cold, she thought as she turned on her stomach, watching the side of the cave.
She had somehow managed to roll more than four meters in her sleep, judging from where all the others lay.
Derpy stood up, looking under herself. Her lower half was soaked, yeah, but at least she was awake now. Driven by thirst, she tried to step a bit more into the water, but tripped over her own hind legs and fell on her back, her entire body being submersed in the cold and clear wetness.
She might've been unable to swim, but luckily the river was very shallow, which meant almost no risk of drowning, even for her. She came up from the water and had all but forgotten the dream she had had, at least consciously.
Her body was still stiff with fear, but she thought that was just because of the cold water.
Honestly, it felt like forever since Trixie had run. They had followed the river as long as their tiny ponylegs had been able to carry them. Derpy remembered herself just laying down. The others must’ve taken her example and just gone to sleep, too.
Honestly, she felt a bit horrible about doing that, but they could at least continue onwards without much trouble once everypony woke up.
With that, she put her head down to the water and let her tongue gather up some of that cold freshness. It felt better in her mouth than on her coat, that much was sure.
Yet, she noticed something strange about it, as it tasted like water with too much sugar in it. She wondered what was up with that, but hoped that it would still quench her thirst. It did, and it also calmed her stomach down a bit. That was awesome, but she didn’t want to know what she’d needed to do once she needed to relieve herself.
She’d never worried about life without a bathroom before.
Anyway, Derpy seated herself besides the other sleepyheads and just goggled at them.
Hugh had once told her that he could watch his children sleep for hours, because everypony made a certain face when they slept. Twilight looked mildly irritated, Derpy found, while Raindrops found herself with grin that showed her teeth. Octy was almost never moving and on only a few nights she would lift her hoof close to her mouth, sometimes going so far as to suck on it. Right now, though, the only thing about her was the grinding of teeth as she slept. Lyra never stopped moving and seemed scared of something, but Derpy just thought she misjudged that.
She often did.
She had seen Trixie's sleepface back when they had all lived together. Trixie talked when she slept. Of a tower and never wanting to leave, of magic and being a good filly. Of course, Derpy had not understood any of that, but still tried to be a good friend to Trixie.
Hopefully Trixie had managed to get some rest, too.
Twilight was the first to get up, but they decided to wake the others in quick succession.
There was no time to be lost, as Twilight said and so they decided to each have a drink and then move on.
“This water is sweet,” Lyra announced once she had put her tongue to it.
“Yeah, this is pretty sweet. It’s totally different from the stuff in the city,” Octavia noted.
Twilight had a taste, too, and began to smile. “This is how I figured the rivers in the Crystal Empire tasted like,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Raindrops asked, licking her lips.
“I read a story that the oldest rivers of the empire came from springs inhabited by spirits, whom they referred to as the Gods of Rush and Temper. Rivers blessed by them could quench the thirst of any travelers and keep them standing on their hooves no matter how hungry they got,” the tiny pony explained.
They all stared at her, utterly awestruck.
“Wow, you’re like a dictionary,” Lyra finally said.
“I think what you mean is an encyclopedia,” Twilight answered with a small grin.
She was blushing, Derpy noticed. That one really liked to be praised.
Derpy only looked at the water. There were crystals all around them, so she figured this was one of those oldest rivers.
Once they were done drinking, they each decided to do whatever they needed to do for hygiene’s sake. Derpy took note of how Octavia hid behind one of the rock formations to relieve herself. She jotted that down under the category of: I’ll have to do it like that, too and then decided to keep to herself until everypony was finished.
The time to prepare for the continuation of their journey wasn’t that long. Of course, there wasn't actually much to prepare, but Lyra found herself talking again quite from the start. She had had an awesome dream involving pirates and space robot princess alligators, which sounded awesome.
Derpy and Octavia decided to play a bit in the water and Raindrops wanted to wait for Trixie.
But they were back to walking a few minutes later. Twilight leaned on Derpy again and had her eyes on the grey pegasus.
“You don't look like you slept well, Derpy,” she said in a voice that rang hollow, breaking the silence that had until then surrounded everypony.
Derpy looked at her, she had bags under her reddened eyes. Her face was wet from when she had taken a drink, and sand stuck to pretty much the entirety of her body. Even her legs were really thin, too. But they might have been that way forever.
Despite all that, Derpy still thought she looked nice, nicer than her at least. She had purple eyes, looking all straight.
Nevertheless, she giggled at the remark.
“Actually, I dreamt of mommy and daddy.”
“Oh, is that so,” Twilight said, her eyes turning to the river as she thought about that.
Derpy didn't notice. Even though the details of the dream were fuzzy she remembered some things about it. She remembered her home, she remembered her parents and she remembered lots and lots of ponies around her. Those were good things and they made her smile.