The Adventures of Derpy, Lyra, and Octavia

by IsabellaAmoreSirenix

Hope Is Like a Bubble! Derpy, Octavia, and the Great Dog Mystery!

The world is filled with noise. Yelling ponies on the telephone, thundering hooves, happy whooping laughter, happy-hour whooping laughter, calling from across hallways, blaring phonographs, and a million other such unpleasantries. Such is the nature of the world, making it difficult to find a token moment of silence.

But oh, when it comes, how sweet it is.

"Alright, Derpy," said Octavia, scanning the parchment once again, "let's see if you can get a perfect this time around. Ready?"

Derpy nodded her head. "Yeah!"

"Famous Reneighsance painter, artist, and sculptor."

Derpy rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Umm... wait, please don't tell me! It's... Michaelangelo, right?"

Octavia sighed. "No, Derpy. How about this one? She was a painter who went against the expected style of art in her time by using bright colors and Southern themes."

"Ooh, it's... O'Keefe, right?"

Another shake of the head. "One more, you can do it," Octavia said rather unconvincingly. "This stallion was the premiere landscaper of Solar Park in Manehattan."

"Oh, this one's easy, Octy!" Derpy exclaimed.

A foreign emotion, hope, swelled in Octavia's chest. "Really?" she asked, thinking it too good to be true.

"Yeah! That's Frederick Law Olmstead!"

Like a needle, Derpy's words tore the little balloon of hope to shreds. And Vinyl wonders about my negativity, Octavia thought to herself. Putting away the list, she told the pegasus, "Just write horse puns, and you'll be fine."

"Okey dokey, Octy!" Derpy sang. Then her grin widened. "Hey, that rhymed!"

Octavia allowed herself a small smile, only to have her facial muscles writhe in pain. One day, she would find out if it ever hurt Derpy to grin from ear to ear like that. "Is that all the studying you need to do?"

"Uh-huh!"

Octavia toppled onto her bed and kicked her hooves lazily in the air. "Then we did it!" she exclaimed. "And, by the looks of it..." She glanced over at Derpy's new clock, a blinding disco ball of rainbow glitter. "...We've finished our homework before seven!"

"Wow," said Derpy. "Are you sure it's not Daylight Savings Time?"

"I'm pretty sure," Octavia replied. "You and I were just very productive this afternoon."

"Woohoo!" cheered Derpy, raising her hoof in the air. "Hoofbump, Octy!"

The musician shrugged and lightly tapped her hoof against Derpy's. "Good work!" she praised.

For a minute, the two sat in silence, that token gift that is so hard to find. Yet silence is still not as quiet as it seems. For once the yelling ponies on the telephone, the thundering hooves, the happy whooping laughter, the happy-hour whooping laughter, the calling from across hallways, and the blaring phonographs fades away, quieter sounds seem that much louder. Octavia could hear Derpy's gentle breathing, the clock ticking, the floorboards outside creaking, and her own heartbeat keeping time in the quietness around them.

Octavia sighed. "We left Lyra at the store, didn't we?"

"Yup!" Derpy answered, just as chipper as before.

"Do you think she'll find her way back?"

Derpy shrugged. "I have no idea!"

Suddenly, a horrible thought came to Octavia's mind. "We're not going to have to..." She shuddered. "...look for her, are we?"

A series of images flashed across her vision. A panicked Octavia galloping in the rain. A sobbing Lyra sitting forlorn under a tree. The burst of light when their two desperate eyes met. A romance ballad playing somewhere in the background. And most distinctly, the sound of Lyra's hysterical laughter.

"Meh, she's a grown-up pony; she can find her way!" Octavia said.

Derpy's forehead crinkled slightly. "But what if she can't?" she asked. "What if she's lost, or hungry, or scared? Please, Octy, we have to find her!"

Octavia felt her whole body quake in terror. Celestia, Faust, anypony, the simple earth pony implored, I don't care how, just save me from those eyes!

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"I'm coming, my love!" Octavia cried as she ran to the door. "I promise, even though I may or may not already be dead, I'll leave you everything in my will!"

Exuberant, Octavia pulled open the door, revealing a petite mare, golden coat and mane like orange autumn leaves, standing on the doormat and shuffling her hooves.

"Hello," the mare said, looking up at Octavia through her eyelashes.

Derpy catapulted herself off the bed to land beside Octavia. "Hiya, Carrot Top!" she said with a friendly wave. "We saw each other the first day of school, right?"

Carrot Top's expression brightened. "Yeah, I remember," she said. "That musical was really fun! Do you know if the statue was ever repaired?"

"Doubt it, I think it was from the 400's. Everything was a bit of a blur after the lightsaber bit. Canterlot ponies sure don't do it like Ponyville."

"Oh yes, nothing like just jumping on rooftops. I mean, who else could manage to wheel in 800 tons of cream cheese, not to mention the fireworks..."

"Is there something you needed, Carrot Top?" Octavia asked.

Carrot Top's eyes widened with a start. "Oh, yes!" she said. "I just wanted to ask if you've seen my dog, Ronnie. He's not in my dorm room, and I was wondering if maybe he wandered into yours somehow."

"Oh, no, we haven't seen a dog here," Octavia said. "Sorry. I hope you'll find him--"

A grey and yellow blur rushed forward to tackle Carrot Top. "That's horrible!" Derpy cried. "I can't imagine how terrified I would be if I lost Mrs. Bubbles! Well, actually I can, since my friend Octy tried to strangle her in a bassoon the first day we met." She gasped. "That experience means I can empathize with you! So I know losing a pet is horrible, which is the same conclusion from before, but still--!"

"A-haha, haha," Octavia chuckled, none-too-gently pulling Derpy away from a slowly but steadily asphyxiating Carrot Top. "Now, darling, we can't keep Miss Carrot Top waiting, not if she wants to find her dog as soon as possible."

"But I want to help, Octy!" Derpy insisted. "It-It's like Lyra's been telling me! There are two times in our lives when we need to stand up in the name of justice: in the face of injustice and when there's only one slice of apple pie at lunch. And Carrot Top's related to the Apple Family, so..."

"Oh, but I don't want to cause any trouble for you!" Carrot Top said.

"Yes!" Octavia squeaked, her voice jumping an octave. "Ahem, yes, we'd only get in your way..."

"But if you could help me," Carrot Top continued, "it would be so nice of you! I'm really worried about Ronnie, and so--"

"Say no more!" Derpy said.

"B-But..." We finished our homework before freaking dinner! Octavia thought. I could watch a movie or learn a new song or actually go to bed at a decent time!

But the look in Derpy's eyes was too much to resist. "Come on, Octy!" Derpy shouted, grabbing Octavia's hoof and pulling her out the door. "We have a mystery to solve!"

---

"This is ridiculous," Octavia said for the umpteenth time.

"Can you absolutely, positively testify that you were present at Donut Joe's on the 11th of this month?" Derpy asked a mare with a white coat and pink mane.

Moonshine held back a giggle. "Yes, Detective Derpy," she said, "I was definitely there!"

"I see," said Derpy, pacing back and forth behind the fountain in front of the academy's main entrance. In her wingtips she was turning over a pipe. "Interesting, very interesting. So then you can testify based on your own firsthoof witness that Joe's Special Jelly Donut Surprise was the... hang on a minute," Derpy said. Blushing sheepishly, Derpy gave Moonshine her pipe. "Can you tell me why this pipe isn't blowing bubbles?"

Moonshine smiled and levitated out her handkerchief. "This end's just a bit clogged, that's all." She wiped her handkerchief over the mouthpiece before returning it to Derpy. "There you go!"

"Yay, thank you so much!" Derpy shouted before abruptly reverting back to her 'detective mode.' "So you can testify the Special Jelly Donut Surprise was the best, most superb, most fantastic donut anypony there had ever tasted?"

Moonshine nodded solemnly. "I would swear my life on it."

Derpy's mouth fell open into a tiny, surprised O. "Umm, there's no need for anything like that," she said worriedly. "I believe you."

The other mare chuckled. "Would you like half of my donut?" she asked, warm like bread just out of the oven.

Derpy's jaw dropped. "Wow, how did you know?" she asked. "You're really good! Hey, would you like to join us? We're trying to solve a mystery!"

"No, I'm sorry, I'm meeting up with somepony," Moonshine said, "but you can definitely have part of my donut!" With her magic, she cut the dough straight down the middle and levitated half into Derpy's open, expectant mouth, complete with tongue wagging.

She gulped down the donut in one bite. "Wow, that was great!" she exclaimed, wiping jelly from her face. "Thanks, Moonshine!"

"No problem, Derpy!" the unicorn called over her shoulder. "Have a nice evening!"

"You too!" Derpy waved back, even after Moonshine had turned a corner. "Thank you for helping with the case!" Content, Derpy sat down on the rim of the fountain. "Wasn't she the sweetest, Octy?" Derpy looked around, but the musician was gone. "Octy?"

Derpy found Octavia a short ways away, hitting her head repeatedly against a tree. "Silly Octy!" Derpy said with a laugh. "I don't think you're going to find Ronnie in the tree!"

Octavia stopped and looked at the pegasus. "Oh, so you still remember we're looking for the dog, do you?"

"Of course I do!" Derpy said. "Otherwise, why would I be interrogating all those ponies who walked by?"

"I can't...." Octavia was about to let loose a string of complaints, but she realized by this point in the month that her words would fall on deaf ears. So instead she held her tongue, and when she felt calm enough to speak, said, "You know, Derpy, have you considered maybe changing our approach? Perhaps instead of interrogation, we could scan the park and see if the dog is here."

"That's a great idea, Octy!" Derpy started blowing bubbles from her pipe as she turned 360 degrees to get a full view of the park. "Aha!" she cried triumphantly. "Ronnie must be in there!"

Once again, hope rose like a bubble in Octavia's chest, that is, until she followed Derpy's line of sight to...

"An ant hill," Octavia deadpanned as she watched her roommate dig in the dirt. Ow. There went the bubble. "You're legitimately searching in an ant hill. You know, I've seen some things in this past week, but this, I don't even know what to say."

"But it's not an ant hill, Octy!" Derpy protested. "It's a hole the size of ten sidewalks!"

"That's because you're looking through a bubble." Octavia put her hoof over the end of Derpy's pipe.

"Aww," Derpy said, her ears drooping.

Octavia pressed a hoof to her heart. "That's justice," she told herself proudly. "The sweet, sweet sound of--"

"Ronnie!" Derpy cried as a bark rang out through the park. "That's Ronnie!"

"Wait, there are plenty of dogs here!" Octavia shouted, but Derpy had already started flying away. With a sigh, Octavia took off running until Derpy paused next to a red oak tree, looked ahead, and shouted, "It is Ronnie! It says so on his collar and everything!"

Could it be? With newfound vigor, Octavia ran faster. Yes, it is, it must be! Oh, Celestia bless this day! "Whoever brought back this dog," Octavia cried with joy to the sky, "I'll give them whatever money I have left when I die, whatever love I have when I'm alive, everything! Thank you, thank you--"

When she passed the oak tree, Octavia screeched to a halt. "Oh, hell no."

Next to an ecstatic Derpy was none other than Lyra, riding atop the largest Germane Shepard Octavia had ever seen.

The toothy sneer Lyra gave her sent tremors through Octavia's very being. "Say that again, Octy?"

Comments

[ConningOfficer]

In Chapter 11, the scene in the clock store was the second time in this story you gave the ol' heartstrings a good yank (the first being Berry Punch and Derpy dancing in the shower of bubbles).

But with this...

Octavia sighed. "We left Lyra at the store, didn't we?"

"Yup!" Derpy answered, just as chipper as before.

I'm very glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read these lines, which got me ready for this gem (great setup by the way):

"Oh, hell no."