The Sixth Element

by Lets Do This

The Princess of Ponyville Square

She had got as far as the Cake's shop when the crowd found her.

"There she is!"

"Hooray! Huzzah!"

Derpy found herself gathered up by the mob of rejoicing ponies and borne on their shoulders, carried in triumph all the way back to the Square.

"She faced down Nightmare Moon!"

"I saw the whole thing! Couldn't lay a hoof on her!"

"Then she chased Nightmare Moon out of town!"

"HOORAAYYYYYY!"

Derpy was finally set on the ground in front of the Town Hall, where Mayor Mare was standing talking with some members of the Guard. Once the crowd's cheering had stilled somewhat, she peered through her glasses at the gray pegasus sitting before her.

"Uh... Ms., uh, Derpy, is it not?"

"Yes, Mayor Mare!"

"You're... our mail carrier, correct?"

"Yes, Mayor Mare. Oh! There's a letter for you from Las Pegasus at the post office. I'll bring it by with the delivery on Moonday."

"Ahem. Yes, uh, well, we'll discuss that later. Do I understand correctly that you drove Nightmare Moon out of town single-hoofedly?"

"Not exactly, Mayor Mare!"

"I thought not."

"She decided to go on her own."

"Hwat? You persuaded her to let Ponyville be?"

Derpy looked at that from all sides. It sounded right. "I guess I did!"

"Unbelievable! And yet... we have the evidence of eyewitnesses! Astonishing! Well! What remains now is to figure out how we go about rescuing the Princess, and obtaining the return of the Sun to our skies!"

"Uh, Mayor Mare?"

"What is it, Derpy?"

Derpy thought about Twilight and all her friends, setting off into the forest. About how capable her friends were, how well they got along and worked together.

"You don't have to worry about that. There are some good ponies working on it."

"Already?"

Derpy nodded.

"Well... uh... then... I... suppose we should focus our resources here," she said, getting back up to speed again. She turned to speak to the guards. "We should gather the townsfolk here at Town Hall for safety, and pool our resources during this crisis. We should also inquire if there are any entertainers who would be willing to put on an amusement for us, as a diversion to keep up morale!"

Derpy took a moment to bushwhack her way through the thicket of Mayorese.

"Oh!" She finally said. "Like a Pinkie Party!"

"I... guess so," Mayor Mare looked at her, nonplussed.

"All right! I help Pinkie with her parties all the time! I'm on it!"

Before the Mayor could respond, Derpy raced off through the crowd. She fetched up with a screeching halt on the cobbles right in front of Big Mac, who was worriedly asking everyone he ran into if they'd seen Applejack.

"Hey, Big Mac!"

"Eee-yup?"

"Mayor is organizing a Pinkie Party to keep everyone from getting scared! They're gonna need a lot of food for folks here. Can the Apple Farm take care of that?"

Big Mac looked surprised, then thoughtful. Then he nodded.

"Eee-yup!"

Things kind of snowballed after that. The townsfolk gradually filtered back into the Square, bringing bedding and belongings. And word of how Derpy had faced down Nightmare Moon spread farther and faster. She found herself being greeted by smiles and amazed looks wherever she trotted in the crowd.

It was intimidating at first, but she quickly found that all she needed to do was nudge ponies away from worrying, and they did the rest themselves. She could handle anything, so long as she had a system.

"Oh, I really can't bear it," fretted an older socialite pony with blued mane and tail. "Having to rush out of the house, not a thing to wear, in the middle of the night with this Nightmare Moon thing hanging over us, and I look a sight! Honestly!"

"Don't worry, ma'am," Derpy said. "You look gorgeous!"

"Why thank you, Ms. Derpy!" The pony gave her a puzzled look. "Say now, that sounds like something Miss Rarity might say. Do you know her, by chance?"

Derpy nodded. "I help her design clothes!"

"Really!" The pony gaped. "Oh, my dear, you have hidden talents! We must have you over for tea when all this is over!"

"Can I bring my daughter, Dinky? She loves holding tea parties."

"Absolutely, my dear Derpy! Bring her along! We'd love to see her!"

Derpy circuited the crowd, both outside in the Square and inside the Town Hall, where the smaller fillies and older retirees were staying. On one of her circuits around the outside of the Town Hall, she was surprised by a bird falling on her head. She picked it up on a hoof and nuzzled it. It chirped sleepily.

"Mayor Mare!"

"Ee-yes? Oh, Derpy! What is it?"

"Look! The birds have been up so long, they're falling asleep!"

"Oh, my word!" Mayor Mare quickly began organizing teams to go out and check on the day-dwelling animals and birds, to make sure they were not being harmed by the extended period of night.

As the night wore on, Derpy found herself racing a blue streak from pillar to post, helping find lost children and lost pets and lost toys. Soon she was moving so fast she began to collide with walls and pillars and knock over piles of luggage. But somehow this only cheered everyone up more.

CRASH!

"Oops! My bad!"

"Hey, good one, Derpy! You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! Whoops, gotta post! 'Scuse me!"

Finally, once most ponies had settled down and tried to get some sleep, things quieted down enough that Derpy could take a breather herself. She sat on the steps of the Town Hall and gazed up at the sky, at the bare white disk of the Moon. She wondered about the Mare, and about her friends, what had happened to them. It had been a long time without word from them. And she wondered who she would direct her wishes to now.

"Oh, my dear Derpy! There you are!"

"Hi, Mrs. Cake!"

"Mommy! Are you done with work now!"

Derpy put out her forehooves. Dinky ran to her for a hug.

"I'm so sorry, my dear!" Mrs. Cake said. "Little Dinky was having trouble sleeping since it's still day by the clocks, and she desperately wanted to know if you were all right. We heard from one of the animal patrols going by the shop that you were here at the Square, so I left Carrot to watch the shop while we came to find you."

"It's okay!" Derpy reassured her.

"Can we read a story now, Mommy?"

"Uh..."

Mayor Mare, standing nearby, spoke up. "You've gone above and beyond already, Derpy. Take some time for yourself!"

"Okay! Thanks, Mayor!"

"And we brought along a book, just in case," Mrs. Cake said, taking it from a pocket of her apron.

So Derpy settled down on the steps with Dinky, under the lantern light, and read to her. And gradually she noticed other parents with small children gathering, seating themselves around her, listening in.

Okay, Derpy, she told herself. Keep it together... It's just like reading with Dinky only there's more ponies.

She got to the end of the story they were on, and with a glance around, kept right on reading. Soon she and Dinky were at the center of a crowd of ponies gathered around the pool of light on the steps of the Town Hall, seeking comfort and reassurance, huddled together against Night Eternal.

And then...

The sun came up. Just like usual. As if nothing had happened.

Several minutes later, there was an expanding gleam of radiance in the center of the Square, which the surrounding ponies quickly made room for. From it stepped Princess Celestia and the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony. And with them was a huddled, night-blue mare with a star-swirled mane and tail, and sad and frightened eyes.

There was celebration and much telling and retelling of the story of the harrowing and miraculous defeat of Nightmare Moon and the rescue of Princess Celestia by the Elements of Harmony: Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle.

Somewhere during all this, Derpy noticed that Dinky had fallen asleep. With a nod of thanks to Mrs. Cake, Derpy picked up her daughter and gently carried her home to bed.