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Episode 1-Part 1: Mare on the Move3,554 words
Episode 1-Part 2: Fundamentals of Friendship5,600 words
Episode 1-Part 3: Final Finale of Finality5,245 words
Episode 2-Part 1: The Music Meister2,015 words
Episode 2-Part 2: Crescendo and Mouse4,184 words
Episode 2-Part 3: Flank to the Future4,709 words
Episode 3-Part 1: The Derpy Conundrum1,670 words
Episode 3-Part 2: Bright Eyes1,923 words
Episode 3-Part 3: An Eye For an Eye1,872 words
Episode 4-Part 1: It's That Time (Turner) Again2,494 words
Episode 4-Part 2: Flu Season3,715 words
Episode 4-Part 3: Zebrica and Back Again6,486 words
Episode 5-Part 1: Given the Show-Off1,934 words
Episode 5-Part 2: Enter, the "Great" Magician Trixie1,851 words

Episode 3-Part 2: Bright Eyes

Derpy Hooves dragged her unicorn companion along with her other friend, Bon Bon trailing behind.The three of them strolled through the market as Derpy pointed out everything there was to see.

"And this is where Carrot Top sells her carrots, and here's where Berry Punch sells her berries and punch, and here's Grassy Greens' stall!" The bubble-wrap-flanked mare was bursting with excitement. Back when they first met she had been quite hesitant and shy, but she had since long opened up to Lyra and the rest. "And that's the whole market!" she announced.

"Well, that was very... Extensive. I think I'll know where to go if I want to buy carrots or 'wibbly wobbly things'," said Lyra, though, as enjoyable as this was, her injuries nearly outweighed the 'fun'. And that was only the market. Just fifty three and a half establishments to go. One would need to ask Derpy where the other half of the final establishment went. Luckily, their next stop was the town hall, which Lyra knew well. It was time for everypony to award Applejack for her spectacular efforts in saving the town.

The three friends trotted into the centre of town, Lyra having lost her bandages long ago, much to her dismay. There a crowd of ponies were gathered, ready for a speech from Twilight Sparkle. Lyra smiled. Soon after the Nightmare Moon incident she was able to speak with her. While she said nothing about the Doctor or their little adventure, she did talk about the new friends she made since she came to Ponyville. Their stories seemed almost similar with Lyra meeting Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Derpy Hooves, Bon Bon and the Doctor, and Twilight meeting Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy. Such an odd occurrence could only be explained as a coincidence.

On the stage the lavender unicorn could be seen preparing a large stack of cards, presumably with a speech written on them. 'Large' being an understatement. A severe understatement.

"Pssst," came the voice of a stallion. Behind her was the Doctor. Derpy was standing a mere few feet away and Bon Bon was nowhere to be seen. Lyra turned to the Doctor.

"Oh, hello Doctor. Have you come to see the award ceremony?" asked Lyra. She shifted her eyes to keep tabs on Derpy and see if she could find her roommate in the crowd, but they had both gotten lost amidst the mass of ponies.

"Actually," he started, "I just saw a big crowd of ponies and thought that it would be good to investigate. You never know when a crowd can turn into an angry mob or become Blood Beasts of Big Bismuth. Not to be confused with Lactose Leaches of Little Lismuth."

What? thought Lyra.

As interesting and fun as the Doctor was, being able to understand even a quarter of the things he said would be a miracle. Hesitating for a moment, she asked, "Erm... So Doctor, what have you been up to since we last saw you?"

"Oh you know, running away, barging around, the usual. And you, Miss Heartstrings?" he replied.

"I've been getting used to Ponyville lately. In fact, Derpy Hooves is giving me a proper tour right now."

"Ooo, sounds interesting. I'll have to ask for a tour some time."

"Actually," Lyra said, "It's not as fun as it-"

"Did somepony say my name?" came a voice from above. Derpy herself was hovering just above them. A "gak!" came from both ponies on the ground and the pegasus floated downwards. "Hi Doctor! How are you doing?"

He smiled. "Oh, I'm fantastic. I heard you were giving Miss Heartstrings here a-"

"IT'S FINE!" the nervous unicorn interrupted. "You don't need to talk about that. It's um... So, nice weather we've been having. The pegasi have really outdone themselves today, haven't they?" Derpy and the Doctor both blinked. She was getting nervous now. She really did not want the Doctor to go on a tour with Derpy. It was for his own well being that they changed the subject.

But the two went right back to their conversation. "Anyways, I heard you were her a tour. Would it be alright if I tagged along with you?"

Say no, Lyra thought.

"Oh that would be absolutely wonderful!" Derpy responded.

Darn! Now the Doctor will have to suffer too.

"This is going to be fun, isn't it Lyra?" the Doctor asked her.

NO! she wanted to scream, but "Yes," she replied.

Derpy looked at her with her out of place eyes and so did the Doctor. "Is something wrong? Why do you look so nervous, Lyra?" she asked.

"Because it's painful to be around you!" she screamed. Other than her two friends, nopony else heard her because her outburst was covered by that of another pony. On stage a timid yellow pegasus was cringing away as Twilight Sparkle yelled, looking at the audience.

"Anyone else?!...Anyone?!"

A cough came from the Doctor. Not because of the awkward silence that was a response to the pony on stage, but because of the awkward silence that now hung in the air between Lyra and Derpy. Paying no attention to the lavender unicorn, but to the mint coloured one facing her, Derpy Hooves' wall-eyes began to water. "W-what did you say?" she asked, her voice lowering to a mere whimper. Lyra's emotions fell from excited-nervousness to apologetic in ten seconds flat.

"Derpy, I'm-" she tried to say, but it was too late. Derpy was shoving her way through the crowd of ponies, tears now pouring out. Lyra tried to go after her, but the path was blocked off. She lowered her head. The Doctor trotted up beside her.

"What was that?" he asked.

"It's- I..." She sighed. There was nothing to say about it. She pretty much just flat out insulted one of her friends. Her words echoed in her mind. It's painful to be around you! Painful. Pain. That's all she felt. Her heart felt like it was just torn in two and thrown to the dogs. She imagined how Derpy must be feeling. Probably even worse; and angry too, she thought. The weight of her guilt dragged her down like tar as she tried to lift herself up. It seemed as if the world was darkening around her as she strode away from the crowd.

The yellow-maned pegasus’ stride began to slow, though her tears continued to flow like the rivers that flowed past Ponyville. With her head held low as an insect to the earth, she cantered in the direction of her home on the edge of town. The streets were empty, which made sense since everypony was back at the celebration for Applejack. But none of that really mattered to the grey filly. She thought back to what Lyra had said. it's painful to be around you!

It was not the meanest of insults; and it was not meant to be, but this particular line hit home with Derpy Hooves. It was a phrase that had followed her wherever she went, repeated by a lot of ponies she had met in her life. It was the one phrase that could shatter the wide smile she normally and pierce the centre of her heart.

Her downtrodden expression became even more apparent as she reached her home near the edge of Ponyville; a giant, light storm cloud. The thing was a leftover from the biggest storm of the season they had a few years back. Derpy had just moved to Ponyville at the time and was in dire need of a home. After making her first friend with whom she took shelter, she was able to make use of a defective storm cloud. It was not as dark a grey as regular storm clouds and did not spew rain or throw bolts of lightning. It simply sat in one place and just... was.

But the inside- The inside of her home did not match the outside. On the inside it seemed like a regular old house. Wooden walls and floor, a few furnishings, some lovely decorations here and there. It was as if someone had taken someone’s home and wrapped it in a grey fluffy coating. Even more perplexing was the two stories that somehow managed to get themselves stuck inside the cloud. It truly was an odd feat.

SLAM. The pegasus shut the cloud door with such force that a framed photo hanging just next to the door nearly fell off its hook. If it wasn't obvious the storm cloud was inactive, a pony might have thought they heard thunder coming from the floating cloud home. Speeding up the stairs and into her bedroom, memories of a life lost to ridicule and loneliness flooding back to her. The injuries returned to her at the thought of the insults ponies had pelted her with. What Lyra had said was not even relevant to her troubles anymore, but the memories it carried with it were what caused Derpy her pain.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" a small pink filly asked her.

"Are you diseased?" said an older mare.

"Hahahaha!" Two bullies laughed at her expense.

"What's wrong with you? You could have killed me!"

"No wonder she can't fly straight!"

"Good going, bright eyes!"

"Bright Eyes!"

DING!

DING!

She gasped, her head lifting up off her small bed. The pillow upon which she set her face had been stained with tears from the previous day. It was a stain she knew quite well. One that showed her treacherous past, a past that she needed to leave behind but could not. Every once in awhile she would wake up and be greeted by her pillow, drenched in the tears of her past.

DING!

The sound came from downstairs. Evidently, the ringing of the doorbell would not cease until she answered the door. Her head still throbbing for a night of despair, she trotted out of the bedroom and down the staircase to answer the strange ringing. It was strange because not only was Derpy's house floating, but she did not have a doorbell. In fact, there was a lack of bells on her house of any kind, making the sound of one quite impossible.

The door creaked open. Now ringing in her face was a small bell surrounded by a greenish aura. As soon as Derpy jumped back in surprise, the bell floated to the ground; towards a unicorn. Lyra stood below the cloud home, her room mate Bon Bon standing next to her.

“Derpy!” she called, “I need to talk to you!”

The pegasus was curious, though still quite broken up over yesterdays situation. She stayed in the frame of her clouds door, obviously still quite broken up over the previous days situation. “Why?” she answered back. Her voice cracked and wavered slightly.

“It’s about yesterday! I... I need to apologize!”

“O- okay. I’m coming down.”

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DayDrifter75

DayDrifter75 #1 · Dec 8th, 2012 · · ·

And then I made an attempt on writing sad. I know, I'm not very good at it, but I think I'll try something new every once in a while, and this is what I have for now. I definitely need the practice.

JCraig589