Derpy Delivers a Pizza

by DouglasTrotter

Chapter 6

“Tee hee... I did it. I did it!” the pony grinned at her accomplishment, mentally repeating the phrase to herself a few more times.

All that stood between the grey pegasus and Ponyville was a small flight home after her successful delivery. The calm sense of elation that washed over the dutiful mail mare was similar to the gracefully flowing wind over her wings while she flew through the night sky. Derpy’s determination had paid off. Even better, the mare couldn’t wait to get home to her “precious muffin,” to relax on the couch with Dinky, and tell the little unicorn filly what she experienced. Time was still on the mail mare’s side as it only took her forty minutes to deliver the pizza to Princess Celestia in Canterlot.

“Still can’t believe how nice Princess Celestia was to me, even after I ‘bumped’ into her. Hope the boss doesn’t find out. He would have my flank nailed to the wall with my mailbag draped over it.”

The horizon remained beautiful, brightened by the moon’s gentle glow. For Derpy, it was the clearest night she could have ever wanted. Ponyville’s silhouette materialized on that superb horizon in all its entirety and splendor.

“Five more minutes, I’m almost there. Just five more minutes, I can…”

The pony’s train of thought was interrupted by a faint sound. It shattered the night air as it caused the stunned pony to float in mid air for a second. Three voices came once more while the dutiful mail mare continued to listen, hearing a unison cry for help. Derpy found the voices memorable, but quite strange. They intermingled with one another to the point it sounded like one single pony. The grey pegasus honed in on the sounds origin after she turned her head, and, from behind, a lone cloud dashed by at a rapid pace.

“Ah told ya this was a stupid idea.” One voice quickly bellowed, another quick to follow it. “Hey, how was I supposed to know this wouldn’t work out Applebloom? You and Scootaloo should have come up with a better idea to earn our cutie marks.”

Derpy darted after the fillies as she saw the two of them standing atop their pegasus friend the cloud that flew by. The mail mare raised an eyebrow at the three fillies, amazed the little pegasus could maintain such a high rate of speed. It felt reminiscent of the time the grey pegasus tried to catch up with her athletic friend at flight camp. While fast, the little filly was nowhere near the speed of the sky blue pony. The grey pegasus caught up with the cloud, and brought it safely towards the ground, grabbing a quick breather.

“What in the wide world of Equestria were you three fillies thinkin?” a nervous voice came from a nearby shrub. “I told ya not to play around like that. Need I remind ya’ll of your foal learnins? Like only pegasi can stand on clouds? Apple Bloom, what if you or Sweetie Belle had fallen off of Scootaloo?”

The three fillies lowered their heads as they began to stare at the dirt road in front of them.

“You want to earn ur cutie marks, I understand that sugar cubes. But it takes time and patience. Also, I don’t think there’s ever been a pony that earned a mark for ‘cloud surfing’ at night, under a full moon.”

The hard working cowpony emerged from the foliage, and tipped her hat to the grey pegasus for the much needed assistance. “Sorry for the trouble they may have caused you. These three can be a rather difficult bunch -- aren’t you Rainbow’s friend from flight camp? Derpy wasn’t it?”

“Yes. Derpy Hooves, Ponyville mail mare at your service.” The grey pegasus heartily smiled at Applejack.

“Applejack, darling, I thought you were going to wait up for me. I don’t feel like getting my hooves dirty out here.” The suave unicorn rolled her eyes as she came upon the group, being careful not to dirty her mane as she came from the shrub. “What in Equestria is going on here? And why were you two girls standing on top of Scootaloo… like -- O for Clesestia’s sake. Did you two actually ride on her while she was on top of that cloud?”

The little fillies hung their heads as they said “yes” in a quiet, sighed tone.

“Sup Derpy?” the hopeful filly flier said, trying to divert attention away from her. “Hey, is it true that you and Rainbow pranked the head flight instructor? Ooo, oo, was Dash really the fastest in flight camp?”

“Scootaloo, I think it’s best to leave that matter alone for right now. Don’t you agree Applejack?” the unicorn quipped as she noticed the grey pegasus put her hoof over her face. “Though I don’t like to agree with you at times ‘fussity,’ ur probably right. We got a load of gems to get back to Rarity’s shop youngins. You all want your cut so pay for your props in the talent show this weekend, right?”

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo perked up as they heard Applejack mention their reward. Though tonight was a bust, tomorrow was a prime opportunity to earn their marks, saving the giant squid, multi-tentacle hoof wrestling championship bout for their big show, the day after tomorrow.

“I must say, it’s rather fortunate that you happened along when you did Ms. Hooves. Is there anything we can do to repay you?” Rarity cheerily smiled. “That’s alright Rarity. I’m just glad the fillies were ok. I have my own precious muffin to look after.”

The inquisitive fillies noticed the pizza box that had been neatly placed on the ground by Derpy, and examined its contents. “Ooo, this looks delicious. Mind if we have a slice or two?”

The dutiful mail mare secured the pizza box to her back before she gently floated into the air, giving a sheepish grin to the three fillies.

“Sorry, but I need to get home. I haven't had dinner yet, nor has Dinky. I always try to make sure we have some family time around a good pizza at least once a week.”

Waving goodbye to the group, Derpy resumed her journey home towards Ponyville, oblivious to the conversation of the three fillies behind her.

“Say Apple Bloom. You know Dinky from class. Doesn’t Dr. Colgate say she has the healthiest smile out of all of our class?”

“Yea, I know what ur getting at Scoots. What u think Sweetie Belle?”

“Don’t look at me. I don’t know anything about teeth. Only thing I know for sure is we would not make it as Cutie Mark Crusader Dentists. It’s way too disgusting.”

Comments

[Rachel Rayne]

next please.

[Thunderhalk89]

Only major flaw I'm seeing is that you should always start a new paragraph for every new speaker. There where a few points were it was hard to tell that someone else had said something.

example w/ the CMC:

“Ah told ya this was a stupid idea.” One voice quickly bellowed, another quick to follow it. “Hey, how was I supposed to know this wouldn’t work out Applebloom? You and Scootaloo should have come up with a better idea to earn our cutie marks.”

Possible fix:

“Ah told ya this was a stupid idea.” One voice quickly bellowed, another quick to follow it.
“Hey, how was I supposed to know this wouldn’t work out Applebloom? You and Scootaloo should have come up with a better idea to earn our cutie marks.”

I think I remember seeing the mistake in some of the earlier chapters as well.
Just something to keep in mind for future stories/updates.

[DouglasTrotter]

2201937

Thanks for the heads up about that. I would have to find where I read it, but i've actually seen tutorials that tell varying accounts of how to deal with speakers. Some guides say it is appropriate to have two speakers on the same line in certain situation.

[Inferno demon Dash]

A few errors, but not bad at all, you done very well, great job Derpy, and Gods, the CMC are legendary for messing anything up huh? They can't keep out of trouble, it's like their drug

[DouglasTrotter]

2204693
Sorry about the errors on this one. If you can give me a heads up about what you encountered I will try to fix them. Had this story kind of "simmering" in my mind for some time, but I never typed it up.

[kamil]

Quite a lot of "u" instead of you... I barely consider such a thing appropriate when the medium limits the number of characters allowed, let alone full stories...