Chapter 7
“Why?” Derpy said to herself, that one word consuming the pegasus mare’s mind. Over and over again she questioned herself but to no avail. The rapid decent towards ponyville, the pizza box’s graceful slide towards the glass door of Mr. Calzone’s restaurant -- a tingle of electricity coursed throughout the pony’s body. As she wheezed and gasped, the diligent mail mare closed her eyes; Derpy’s happy, gleeful smile was quick to fade, much like her rapid decent after the pegasus pony opened her eyes and saw the dessert pizza inside the pizza box.
“Stupid. Stupid, stupid Derpy! How did you miss it…,” the pony said for a third time to herself in a hushed tone. The dutiful mail mare sat on the grey stony slab outside Mr. Calzone’s establishment, clutching her hooves around her body with her wings over her hooves and body. “How could I have – it could fill up Canterlot Castle with that odor. How could I have missed that smell?”
The pony’s body soon shivered as the once tolerable night air grew colder. Derpy’s tears glistened in the light of the full moon as the image of the pizza, reflecting off the glass door to Mr. Calzone’s restaurant, mocked her. Inside the box she grabbed from the table in the Canterlot Garden, where she sat peacefully with Princess Celestia, were those hopes of the special delivery.
“Why?!” the mare asked herself once more, her lower lip quivering as she struggled to form the words. “Why does this always happen to me? I try so hard. I try to make it work out. Why do I always fail?”
Just outside Mr. Calzone’s restaurant, the street-lamps’ gentle flames flickered, illuminating the pathway along Corset Road. Derpy curled her blond colored tail underneath her back hooves before she laid down on the cold stone slab after she unfolded her wings from around her body.
“Dinky, my precious muffin,” the pony whispered to herself as an image of Dinky, sitting at home alone, materialized in the mail mare’s mind.
With the pizza box secured once more, with a flimsy knot, Derpy wandered under the light of the full moon and the nearby streetlamps. The grey pony’s head remained low towards the ground as she made her way home; her hooves were like iron weights with each step she took. Every so often, the pony raised her head. She looked through the windows that faced the street and saw other ponies laugh, smile, and grin at one another. Those ponies being with ones they cherished.
“Mommy, this light shall guide you home whenever it gets dark,” Derpy remembered the unicorn filly’s words and her cheery smile. Those cold, relentless nights of Equestria couldn’t erase that memory from Derpy’s mind. Just like the many times she came home before, the grey pony could see the light turned on in her home by Dinky.
The drops refused to cease as Derpy imagined Dinky asleep on the couch, staying up late to see her come home. With the clock in her bag reading eight minutes until nine, it left precious little time to spend with her daughter. Despite the athletic pony’s jokes, the mail mare knew Rainbow Dash cheered her on in secret. The pony wanted her dutiful mail mare friend to make it towards Canterlot. Fluttershy’s intervention was welcomed. Twilight’s help at the library made things all the more possible for that day, taking the box to her friend’s shop. Princess Celestia’s kindness and affectionate, motherly demeanor made the night’s events all the more bearable.
“What’s the use?” Derpy said as she dropped to the ground, the flimsy knot undoing itself. While the pizza box slid off her back, the strap to the grey pony’s mail bag snapped. As she snatched it from around her neck, the pony stared at her bag before chucking it into the distance, “I don’t understand. I don’t understand it one flipping bit! I try so hard to make it all work out. The chief yells at me, I fail on a constant basis. I can’t seem to catch a break. If it weren’t for the kindness of Princess Cel--”
“So that’s it huh? The great and relentless Derpy Hooves gives up? Pfft, and here I thought you had me beat in the determination department.” A voice reverberated in the pony’s distraught mind. The grey pegasus mail mare closed her eyes and pressed her hooves against her ears. “You never felt the need to aspire to greatness. The one thing you had was determination. You had Guts. You had Gusto! You are like no pony else. I hate to admit it girl, but you even had me beat in that department. Now, and now you’re just going to throw it all away. You will throw everything away over one, stupid, miserable little delivery that didn’t make it?”
Derpy’s heavy eyes opened, her gaze greeted by a vacant street and a clear sky above. “Why should I continue? All I do is fail? Whatever, fine. I’ll get up and go home.”
The pony closed the lid to the pizza box, and then floated towards her mailbag. With a final sigh she grabbed the pouch, tied a fresh knot to fix the broken strap, and reached for the door handle after finding the bag had landed on the doorstep to her house.
“What do I tell Dinky? Can I tell her the truth?” Derpy said to herself while her right hoof quivered above the door knob.
“Mommy!” the excited filly said as she jumped towards the grey pegasus. “You should have told me a visitor was coming. I didn’t expect us to have a guest while you were away on a ‘special’ delivery.”
The pony gave a half-hearted smile at her daughter. “I’m sorry muffin. The delivery didn’t go as -- what visitor?”
“I hope I’m not intruding, Ms. Hooves. We had such a lovely time in the garden. I thought we might continue where we left off.”
“I had no idea that you knew Princess Celestia.” Dinky said in a polite tone.
“I’m… I’m sorry princess, I didn’t mean to…” Derpy said. Her hooves wobbled as she tried to think.
“It’s quite alright my dear.” The regal mare said while she used her wing to pull the grey pegasus aside. In a hushed tone, Princess Celestia said, “I was quite as surprised as you were when I opened the box on my table. I hope you don’t mind, but I took a slice for a bit of a snack. Your choice in toppings is quite unique. Though, I do prefer one layer of mozzarella with a bit of extra marinara sauce myself.”
“Princess Celestia said you would be home. I got worried since you ran later than usual.” Dinky said while she smiled at the two ponies.
While sadness was expected for any pony, Derpy was granted a reprieve. The pony’s halfhearted smile turned into a cheery one as that precious time came to the unicorn filly and her mother. Princess Celestia sat near the two ponies, giving a slight grin ever so often in the moments that passed. Though the moment was short for the three ponies, a brief twenty minutes, it remained blissful.
“Thankyou…” Derpy said with a quiet sigh, giving a grin as she hugged her daughter with her wing while they slept on the couch together.
“It’s alright my dear.” Princess Celestia said to the grey pegasus as she covered the two ponies with a nearby blanket. “Every pony needs a little assistance now and again. I’m just glad that I could give such assistance to you. If you will excuse me, I need to return to Canterlot.”
One night proved to be a rather wild ride for the dutiful mail mare, yet the next day proved even more of a surprise when Derpy awoke to see her mailbag on the counter. The knot was gone, and the strap was better than new. A faint glimmer came from an object inside the bag as light from the morning sun penetrated the nearby window, hitting the wax seal of a scroll.
“Mom? Is everything ok?” Dinky said while she rubbed her eyes. The filly hopped off the couch, and then levitated the letter towards herself. “Derpy Hooves, you are hereby charged with the duty of official courier of Canterlot documents and scroll--”
Derpy grabbed Dinky, placed the unicorn filly on her back, and then flew around the room. The mail mare's attempts to stifle her laughter were futile. It was a dream come. Though she loved delivering parcels, the dutiful mail mare hoped to be an officially recognized messenger for royalty. The best prize of all was earning five times what she earned now.
As the gleeful ponies came to the ground, a second scroll rolled out from inside the mailbag. Derpy nudged it over to her daughter to read as she saw “To Miss Dinky Hooves” on the scrolls outer face. The filly smiled while she took the scroll from her mother, and levitated it into the air for both of them to read.
“Ms. Dinky Hooves, your aptitude in the magical arts is quite a unique and rare gift. I, Princess Celestia, formally accept you into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Here, you can hone your abilities even further.--”
Derpy continued to smile, but stopped as she saw the little unicorn pause while raising an eyebrow at the scroll. “What’s wrong? This is an auspicious occasion. We know how strong your magical talents are.”
“I know mom. It’s great. Not a lot of unicorns get to attend such a prestigious school. Won’t I have to leave you for Canterlot though? What about my friends and the other ponies here in Ponyville?” Dinky said before she raised her hoof to her mouth. “What about you? Canterlot is quite expensive too. I know you’ll make more money. Will it be enough? I want you to…”
“Whatever you want to do – my precious muffin – I will help you out in whatever way I can.” The dutiful mare said as she hugged her daughter with her wing. “If you don’t want to go, then I know in my heart Princess Celestia will understand. I want you to be happy. Also, I don’t think we have to reply right away. You can give it some time. Anyways, we need to get you ready for school. Ms. Cheerilee won’t be too happy with me if one of her ‘prized’ muffins is late.”
“Mom--” Dinky's voice trailed off while Derpy rubbed the unicorn filly's mane. “--Ok. I’ll get ready for school.”
As both ponies left the house, the scroll fell off the counter where it had been placed. Light from the morning sun penetrated the nearby window and illuminated the scroll's final contents. “--However, I have a student who resides in Ponyville that would be more than willing to take on a protégé of her own. Twilight Sparkle has natural gift in magic, and I believe she will be a superb teacher for you. She can help you hone your skills and magical aptitudes. My little pony, I wish you and your mother the best of luck. Sincerely Princess Celestia”
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- ianv64 · 8.3k words · 9 1 · 879 views
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Such an honest and sweet ending for Derpy, it was realistic and true to it's word, sometimes shit happens for a reason, amazing, amazing job
3458984
You mean...her Diet Doctor Colt?
3458949
Thanks. Though this part was finished about three months ago, I wasn't satisfied with the wording and went through about 20 different re-writes. I didn't know if I should leave it open ended for a dual part continuation or close it. Also, I wasn't sure how to write Derpy to where she's brought down and it's not unnecessarily cruel to her. I like Derpy and hate to be mean to her, but I do understand, as a writer, that I need to add in conflict to prevent the protagonist from progression to make it interesting.
Glad everyone liked it.
3458984 lol spongebob
this was such a sweet fic!
Fic wasn't too bad, though the ending felt a little out of left field to me (but that's personal taste).
My biggest gripe, and what stopped me from enjoying this fic, was the dialog. Not that the dialog was bad, but that it was incorrectly spaced. It was hard to follow who was speaking as most writers tend to break new speakers into new paragraphs. While I don't agree with everything Ezn has in his/her writers faq, we certainly agree on that point.
That is honestly what has stopped me from giving this fic a thumbs up, due to the difficulty in reading the dialogue.
That, and the several instances of u/ur instead of you/your.
3509821
Thanks for the input about the dialogue. When I get a bit of downtime, I may go over the stories and tighten things up a bit, making their fluidity a bit more smoother. As for the u/ur instances, that was a total mistake on my part. I was unsure of how to input that southern accent for Applebloom and Applejack. After reading some other stories here on Fimfiction, I have an idea of where I went wrong.
I wanted the ending to be a bit of a tender moment. It's during Derpy's interaction, plus the small interaction with the CMCs during the last chapter, that I wanted to give some foreshadowing. With my skills in writing still being amateurish, there may have been something lost that should have been put in to add some additional bits of "hey, this will happen."
3595904
In regards to the part with Dinky, I wanted to add in a bit of motherly care and leaving the door open for future stories. I am sad to say that something took hold in real life, I hate using that as an excuse, and it really hurt my ability to visualize how to make this story end properly. I wanted to have something happen that could make Derpy happy as a character in her own right, as well as happy for her child in regards as a parent/mother. I'm actually preparing to address that issue in a side story. As to when the story will be finished, my writer's block has kicked in and I can't seem to get things visualized as I would like.
Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.
This felt oddly appropriate