Derpy was flying the graveyard shift. Again. Very little traffic, of ponies and of letters. Minimal risk. No-one ever trusted her with any responsibility. She’d learned to smile through her frustration.
A single mother. A slurred voice. Cross-eyed.
Why, obviously, an idiot!
Not just your garden-variety idiot, but a lovable idiot, one people wanted to protect. One people couldn’t help but patronize.
Why would you be mean to Derpy?
She’d learned to smile through it, and play along.
Play dumb.
Frowns don’t look good on you, my sweetheart, her mother would say. Smile! Why don’t you give me a nice smile! It was never “Why are you frowning?” or “What’s wrong?” or “How are you feeling?”
Her feelings didn’t matter.
All that mattered, was that she smile.
That she be, well, if not beautiful, then at least adorable. An ornamental mare, a background pony. She couldn't even be a trophy wife—barely a mascot.
Even becoming a widow hadn’t give her a shred more of dignity. She was only pitied.
Why don’t you smile?
So she smiled that sheepish smile of hers. She turned her feelings into something to smile about. Decrying all the things that she couldn’t get, and elevating all the things that she didn’t want, but happened to have.
‘Sexlessness’ became ‘purity’.
‘Weakness’ became ‘meekness’.
‘Submission to people one can't stand’ became ‘obedience’.
And ‘not being able to take revenge’ turned into ‘forgiveness’.
She blended into the herd, and forgot herself.
But sometimes, when she was flying alone, in the cold dusk, her thoughts would wander, and she would remember, all that she wasn’t, all that she’d never have, all that she’d never attain.
Meeting Celestia… had changed things.
Wait, what? They had met? Ho—Derpy’s mounting confusion at the strange thought suddenly went quiet, somehow. It wasn’t important. But her thoughts had turned to Celestia and—
A green flash, in the night, through narrow windows. There it was. Golden-Oak library. A letter had just been sent. By the amazing, fantastic, super-special Twilight Sparkle, to the brilliant, dazzling, magnificent Princess Celestia. She enviedadmired them, these wonderful ponies. She wished she had all of Celestia’s attention like that… What would it be like, to bask in her warmth? To lose her mind in her ethereal hair...
If she only knew… Wha—
D̵̢̳̖̗͔̞̫̫̬̗ǫ̵̦̫͔̪̱͇̰͉͚ ̸̧̮̠͉̬͚̬̥͜ͅY̵̧̢̳̙̯̖̫̙̘͓o̷̡̝̤̫̭̲̪̠̖̫u̴̫̖͓̞͍͓͔͜͜ͅ ̵̧̖̖͍̝͉͙̹͖̖R̵͔̭̜̯̜̣̙͚̠̗e̶̢̡̜̦͖̹͍̻̻̜m̸̖͍̥̝̖̜͎̟͎͉e̴͕̼͖̳̤̰͔̘̫̩m̴̧͙͖͖͚̻̳͈͖̩b̸̧̦̻͉̘̝͕̺̙̥e̶̡̞̲͍͓͍̙͎͇͉r̴͕̣̹̤̻̰̮̪͔͜ ̷̫̱͖̱͓̜͕͚̫̲Ṱ̵̤̘͖͔̘̗̺͖͚h̶̤̰̜͎̘̠͎̘͍̖e̶̡̢̢̥̫̥̪̤̞̘ ̴̼̫̥͈̩͎̬͓̝̯Ţ̵͖͔̦̜̺͕̙̯͜i̵̡̨̢̫̺̻̪̻̗̺m̶̡̧̲̳͕̫̤͚͇̥ȩ̸̢͇̗̣̗̺̻̟͜
̷̧̥̦̗̤̩̭̗̱ͅW̴̧̧͍̫͙̱̮̖̙͇h̵̢̡͕̙̭̦͚̗̱̺ę̶̡͓͚̲̯͉̻̮͜n̸̡̗͖̗̣̲̬͕̹̹ ̵̹̼̭͔̼̤̯̳͜ͅW̷͖̖̣͚̤̟͔͖̖ͅȩ̵̢̯̦̥̗̻̲͜ͅ ̶̰͍͉̘̤͙͔͇̠ͅF̶̡̧̨̖̙͈̟͕̮̺ḙ̵̰̘͇̱̩̖̙̗̙l̴̬͙̰͓̘̬̣̖̻̟l̵̨̨͖̺͙͇̯̮̲͜ ̷̧̡̢̟̣̗͉̗̰̙Į̴̧̱̰̳̩̯̥͎̝n̴̯̻̗̞̭̙̞͍ͅͅ ̴̨̦̬͖̭̫̭̩̜̫L̸̮͇̟̠̣̼͉̫͇͇o̷̧̡͚̣̻̘̮̰͙̠v̷̡̫̖͖̳͙̖͍͔̻e̵̡̹̜͈̤͎͎̗̘͚
̴̯͈͖̟͓͖̻͈͖͜D̷̢̤̺̦̠̙͍͚̭͎ọ̴̢̧̳̰̖̼͓̲͙ ̷̬̩̼͍͚̜̼̞͖͍Y̵̨͈̫̩̠̺̬͚̣̼o̶̢̧͙̞̫̣͚̩̙̪ų̷͙̮͚̮̟̜͔̼ͅ ̶̝̖̳̰̠͉̯̠͕̳R̴̨̟͖̪̬̼̙̥̼͜ȩ̷̞̘͔̲̻͕̥̻ͅm̸̡̘̫̜̰̗̰̙͙̳e̸̡̢̦̫̤͔̭̫͍ͅm̵̨̥̘̹̝̲̫͔̘̦ḇ̵̨̩̹̦̻̦͈̙͜e̶͎̼͍̜̖̪̝̳̰ͅr̶̢̢̧̭̼̩̰̲͙͈ ̴̡̻̱̲̟̝̺̗̩̖T̴͔̯̟̜̜̩͚̯̳̻h̶̨̩͖͇͉̘̰͚̯̘e̷͚͇̤̣͙̘̮̻͜ͅ ̴̗̖̖̘͈͙̭̮̦͓T̷͚̜͓̺̯͇̳͔̲ͅi̷̡͈͇̣̳̹͈͚͜͜m̴̢̜̱̜̲͈̖̦̥͚e̷̥̩̬͖͈̲̼̬͜͜
̶̨̪̝͉̪̪͕͎̰̲W̶̨̘͖̫͓̪̙͙̰͙ḩ̵̧̜͖̟̲̦͎̭̭e̷̢̗͉̠̝͚̣̞̜̜n̵̡̧̹͙̭͖̥̬̯̹ ̴̺̗̺͈̟̺̩̼̪͚W̴̡̥̹̳̭̘͍̘̙͇ę̸̜̠̯͔̲̯̥̙ͅ ̶̨̨͇̣̙̭͍̦̥̟F̷̻̫͎̗̹̝̰͕̞̦i̷̢̢̬͔̠̜̫̩͔̙r̷̨͖̟̥͇͉͔̳̠͖s̶̟̰̱͎̬̫͇̰̠ͅt̴̖͖̪̲̙̟̞̫̰̮ ̵̖͉͍̱̻̰͖̺̮͎M̶̙̙͚̪̟̥̘̰̠͓e̶̡̪̼͕̱̹̼͔̹̞t̸̢̡̺͇̦͇̥̝̻͉