The Sixth Element

by Lets Do This

The Sixth Element

The next day, the official celebration got underway. Princess Celestia and the somewhat recovered Princess Luna arrived by Golden Chariot in the Town Square in Ponyville. Princess Luna was presented to the crowds, who readily cheered her return.

The Elements of Harmony were presented next, and quickly surrounded by happy throngs of ponies wanting to thank them and celebrate their accomplishment.

There was a proclamation by Princess Celestia that henceforth Twilight Sparkle would take up permanent residence as Librarian in Ponyville.

And then an impromptu photograph of them all was organized.

Standing in the midst of her friends, Twilight looked around for Derpy, but couldn't find her. She hadn't been seen anywhere around town for the past couple of days. And there was a good reason for that. It was necessary to figure out what exactly to do about Derpy, given the Proclamation made by Luna while she was Nightmare Moon. Though very irregular, it had technically been made by an uplifted Princess, which made it officially binding. And it effectively meant that Derpy Doo was herself a Princess -- in title at least -- and moreover was now the hereditary ruler of Ponyville and environs into the bargain.

In the end, it was decided it was best to just let the whole matter quietly slide. Derpy had shown neither inclination nor interest in pressing claim to her title, nor even much memory of the incident, aside from a great happiness at finally having her wishes answered.

Twilight shook her head and focused on the picture taking, not wanting to be caught with a vacant look in the photograph.

Then she noticed that her friends were all smiling and laughing even more so than they had been before. Right at that moment, the picture was taken.

Twilight Sparkle looked past the camera, and finally spotted Derpy. She was sitting on the ground beside her daughter, watching Dinky blowing soap bubbles with a small cup of soap and a wand. And the sight made Twilight smile as well: the sense of calm happiness in Derpy's face as she kept one eye on her daughter, and the other eye on the bubbles, watching them drift idly away.

And then Derpy looked at Twilight, and winked. First one eye, then the other. She swept Dinky up onto her back and trotted off happily...
... with a bubbly cutie-mark on her flank.

For she was the Element of Optimism, you see.

Dear Princess Celestia: Today I learned that you don't need a prophecy, gemstone, or magic to be one of the Elements of Harmony. You just have to be the kind of pony other ponies need you to be, when they need you to be it. And sometimes, the most important ponies are the ones who make the choice to stay behind.

The End

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, its characters and indicia are the property of Hasbro.
No infringement is intended. This story is a work of fan fiction, written by fans for fans of the series.

Cover image is based on vector graphic generously made available by Bobbatron808 at DeviantArt.
(https://www.deviantart.com/bobbatron808/art/Derpy-and-Dinky-Hugging-and-Smiling-2-619216252)

Comments

[Bronycommander]

Wonderful ending!

[Dreadnought]

Looking forward to some time to read this story.

Dreadnought

[Mystic Sunrise]

Huge hole here is that this isn't marked as an AU like it's supposed to be. Why?

Because there's no way that it would have worked in show like this.

And yes I liked the story.

[Lets Do This]

9025358

Huge hole here is that this isn't marked as an AU like it's supposed to be. Why? ...
Because there's no way that it would have worked in show like this.

How so? Without giving away spoilers, is it a plot point, or the story's ending? And if it's the latter, note that I was careful not to say that happened right then, though it would have been really poetic if it did!

Writing the parts that intersect with the original two-parter episode was a bit like the backstage scenes in BTTF Part II, but with ponies -- particularly Twilight's welcome party.

[NFire]

Loved it. Simple, heartwarming and a good read. Bravo.

[ChronoMitsurugi]

A very sweet uplifting fic.
Thanks for sharing.

[Lets Do This]

9513391
Thanks very much for reading, and for commenting -- it's helpful to hear what specifically works for readers in a story.

Does anyone else find it weird that magic is a element of harmony? It isn't really anything to do with harmony.

Remember that it's not just magic, it's Friendship magic -- that is, MLP's version of the Force, which binds the Elements of Harmony together. It's why the subtitle of the G4 series is "Friendship is Magic". In another of my stories, Nightwaker, I assume it's a difference in kind, such that when ordinary Magic has been rendered inaccessible, Twilight can still defeat Nightmare Moon because her magic (Friendship) is of a totally different kind.

And thus, Derpy's love of muffins was born.

Yep, I thought it would be interesting to see Derpy "discover" her love of muffins, as a sensory memory of how happy she feels from being welcomed by Ponyville's inhabitants.

I love Derpy's idea of a disguise!

This was in part inspired by the mobile game, where Derpy is included as "the Pony in the Box", which you can find and click for a bonus. And it just seemed perfect as the kind of "disguise" Derpy would use...

I love fics where ponies actually stop and talk to Nightmare Moon.

And even more fun is when the normally hideously OP supervillain is flummoxed and can't lay a glove on the hero, because even the hero is clueless about which way she's going to jump next.

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

This was a wonderfully charming story. I really got a kick out of the characterization of Derpy throughout all of this. In particular the chapter with her and Nightmare Moon was very well-done, especially with that moment where we get that reminder of Luna - that made for an unexpected bit of pathos that really worked to enrich the hilarity of Derpy flummoxing the dark mistress of night. XD

[Lets Do This]

9754836
Thanks, S-C! This was my second story on the site, and I really enjoyed writing it, so it always warms my heart when someone comments on it saying they enjoyed reading it too.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Brilliant stuff throughout. I do love a good Greatest Story Never Told, and involving Best Pony only makes it better. I especially loved the Enterplay mobile game reference crossed with stealth tactics that would make Solid Snake proud. There are a few bits of chronology that don't quite sync up—Dinky should be roughly the same age as the Mane Six, for example—but overall, fantastic work. Thank you for it.

[Vaguely Demented]

Hail Derpy. Long may she reign.

[furryman]

The Sixth Element

Starring Bruce Willis as Derpy.

[justheretoreadstories]

One of the better Derpy stories I have read.

[Antiquarian]

Delightful!

You know, Nightmare Moon did say she would not harm Derpy's friends... and she never managed to hurt the Bearers that whole night... I'm just saying... Derpy saved everyone's lives.