Abandoned
It was a lively Thursday morning in Cloudsdale, and Celestia's sun was slowly making it's way up into the sky, It's bright white beams hitting the cloud buildings and casting large shadows over the great city. Most ponies were up and about, some flying swiftly, others lazily strolling on their hooves to where ever it was they were going, whether it was work, the post office, out of town, or even school. School. Derpy went there everyday. She would play with the other foals outside, and learn lots of neat stuff, and she had tons of friends that she always went on adventures with. At least, she liked to pretend she did.
The small, grey filly groggily opened her eyes, the great yellow orb in the sky penetrating her eyelids and forcing her mind awake. Slowly, she got to her hooves, and shuffled clumsily out of her home- a small, tattered cardboard box with a tarp thrown over it in a failed attempt to keep the rain out. Luckily, however, it wasn't raining today, and the filly was greeted with a warm sensation on her face as she stepped out into the cluttered ally way.
The place she called home was absolutely filthy. On either side of her box stood two dumpsters, each piled high with large, black garbage bags, courtesy of the restaurants that stood on either side of the ally. All throughout the area, It smelled like something had crawled into a Porto-potty and died, much to the delight of the flies that happily danced around the putrid bins, searching for a good place to lay their eggs. The cracked pavement beneath Derpy's hooves was overgrown with weeds, some of which crawled up the worn, brick walls of the restaurants and splayed out, as if they were asking desperately for the buildings to give them a hug. That's how Derpy always liked to think of it, anyway. They wanted to be loved, just as she did.
The filly shook her messy mop of blonde hair and arched her back as she stood among the trash, and smiled. The place certainly wasn't beautiful, well, actually it could scarcely be described as livable, however, this was Derpy's home, and she was glad to have it. After yawning loud enough to disturb her 'house guests,' as she called them, from their buzzing, she began her daily one and a half mile trek towards the school. Although she wasn't enrolled there, she loved spending her week days sitting by the fence, and watching as the other foals enjoyed their recess. They always looked like they were having such a great time, and she longed to join them, though she knew that probably wouldn't happen. Even if they had noticed her sitting there and walked over, or If she could gain the courage to walk up to them after school, she knew they probably wouldn't like her.
First of all, she smelled almost as bad as her humble abode, not having a decent place to bathe herself. Second, she was covered in grime from when she had gone dumpster diving the night before in search of some fresh scraps from the dinner rush. Her coat and mane had multiple layers of crust from this, relieving them of their softness and bright color. Then, there was her right eye. Instead of looking straight ahead like she wanted it to, it would always point towards the sky. It had been that way for as long as she could remember. Then, to top it all off, she was a klutz, dumb as a rock, could never speak in eloquent phrasing, and said stupid things. At least, that's what her dad had always told her. He knew she was worthless, would never be good for anything, would never achieve anything. That's why he kicked her out three years ago, why he rid himself of the burden. Derpy always figured he was right, the no one would ever love her, since the evidence was all around her. No one ever talked to her, heck, barely anyone ever acknowledged her presence. The only reason she knew she wasn't a ghost was because every once in a while, someone would throw a bit or two into the little cup she would bring with her to the school.
Derpy had always wondered If she had always been so un-lovable. The only reason this question would occasionally pop into her mind was the memory of her mother. She was the only pony, at least as far as Derpy could remember, that had ever, even for a little bit, loved her. The only memory Derpy had of her was one of her favorites, mainly because it was the only happy one, the only one when she felt loved. As Derpy leaned against the school yard fence, listening to the other children giggling and carrying on, she began to recall the memory, as she often did when she needed comforting.
"Hey, mommy?" Derpy squeaked, just above a whisper. The light green mare turned her head slightly, looking back at her daughter from the door way, and peaking out from underneath her bright orange mane. She smiled warmly.
"Yes, love?" she cooed in the elegant voice that Derpy recalls. She took a few steps toward her daughter, where she lay consumed in her comforter, snuggled warmly in her bed.
"Will you tell me a bed time story? The one about the leprechauns?" the filly whispered, looking at her mother with pleading, puppy dog eyes that were simply impossible to say no to. The mare's smile widened.
"Of course sweet heart, just let me grab a chair," she said. With this, she slowly walked to the other side of the room, grabbing a small chair between her fore-hooves and using her wings to lift herself, and the seat, off of the floor, and over to Derpy. She situated herself in the chair, and then sighed, once again bringing out her beautiful grin. "Well," she began, " there once was a land, long ago, in which the leprechauns lived happily with one another." Derpy smiled up at her, and she continued her story. "The most important spirit in their land was that of happiness, and there was great power that this spirit held. And so, whenever there was a leprechaun who had lost his happiness, they would sit in a circle and play beautiful music for everyone to hear. Their joy would burst into the air and create rainbows that stretched far and wide. Once the rainbows were made, then their adventure would begin. The leprechauns would follow the rainbows in search of the treasure that they always held at their ends."
"Ooh! Ooh!," Derpy cut in, catching her mother of guard and startling her slightly. " And then, when they found it, they gave it to all the sad leprechauns, right?" Her mother smiled, allowing a light chuckle to escape her lips.
"Yes, they did indeed, for the treasure that the rainbows hid had the power to bring joy to all who possessed it. And so, all of the leprechauns all through out the land could be happy once again," she finished, leaning over and kissing Derpy on the forehead. "Good night, little one. Sleep tight." With that, the mare left the room, closing the door behind her.
Derpy let out a long sigh, the end of the memory dragging her back to reality. She wished her mommy was still there, hugging her and telling her stories. "Maybe," she thought solemnly, "Maybe, If she were still alive, she could have kept be from becoming....this." She scowled at her reflection in a small puddle that had formed on the sidewalk, and kicked it, scattering the image. She sat back down, hanging her head in shame of herself. She looked over at a small group of fillies and colts, who previously, had been rather quiet. At this point, they had created quite a scene, however. A small cyan filly sporting a frizzy rainbow mane, was guarding a slightly taller, yet much meeker looking, yellow filly, who hid behind her flowing pink mane. The cyan filly was screaming at a couple of colts, who continued to smirk at her even through her courageous defense. Derpy couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but what she could tell, was that that cyan filly must have been an awesome friend to have. She really wished that filly could be her friend, though she knew it would never happen. Derpy continued to watch, rather interested in the scene that was playing out before her.
The cyan filly was now on a starting line, along with the same two colts from before. The yellow filly had a checkered flag in her mouth, holding it in the air above her head. When the three looked like they were about to explode off of the cloud, the yellow filly lowered her head, and was immediately blown off of her cloud by the wind the three racers created. The cyan filly was in the lead almost immediately, and one of the colts smashed into a cloud pillar no later. Derpy cringed as he did so, but had to remove her eyes from the sight so she could watch the rest. After looking for where the two had gone for a few moments, she spotted them, neck and neck as they raced along the course. Then, out of no where, the colt bumped into the filly, and began to speed towards the ground. What happened next is something that Derpy would remember for the rest of her life.
The filly sped after him at such a speed that she whizzed by him in a cyan bur, forcing him to the side and into a cloud. She continued to pick up speed however, even though she was now unopposed. Then, a miracle. The explosion could be heard all throughout Cloudsdale as the filly lurched forward, creating a ring of beautiful spectra and leaving a rainbow trail behind her. Derpy couldn't believe what she was seeing. That filly, despite her size, had created a rainbow. It stretched across the sky, following it's creator as she zoomed across the sky. A tear escaped from Derpy's eye as she watched, and a large smile crept onto her face, one that hadn't been seen on her face since she was very small. That filly had made a rainbow, just like the leprechauns did.
"I wonder," she thought as she watched the filly land, the spectra slowly fading behind her, "If I followed that rainbow, like the leprechauns did, maybe I could find treasure." she smiled to herself, a little glimmer of hope that had died out long ago, glowed in her heart.
"Maybe, I could find happiness."