> Derpy's Star Role
>  by starfox64x
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ch.1 Derpy's Big Scene
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright! ten minutes to the first shoot of the day!” a pony with a megaphone hovering in front of his mouth called out to the actors and actresses standing around, sending everyone into a frenzy. The shooting for the next My Little Pony Friendship is Magic episode was about to begin. The extras gathered around one another, discussing their roles and how they planned to react during their bits. Nothing special for them, they were simply an audience for Applejack’s and the Mayor’s speech. A few pegasasus ponies were testing out the collapsing roof to make sure it fell safely and didn’t risk harming anyone. Inside was a fairly complex system of gears and levers to allow for a quick reset just in case someone messed up their lines… which, a couple of the ponies thought would happen, considering who was getting her own lines for the very first time... 

Speaking of whom, a grey pony with long blonde hair rushed into the studio, screeching to a halt next to the director, “I’m SOOO sorry! I-I didn’t mean to be late Mr Picture! I got caught up with something…” she blushed a little bit, her side job being a mail pony around town was a hectic one, especially with her eyesight problem. She got yelled at by one of the ponies she delivered to because she misread the address and caused her package to be late… she apologized to her profusely, but nothing she said seemed to stop her from giving her an earful. She recalled as she walked away she couldn’t help but hear a comment under the mare’s breath… something about her being retarded. It still twisted at her heart and caused her to feel hurt inside…

Motion Picture, the director of the series, just smiled at her, “Hey, don’t worry about it, kid, I understand, stuff happens… So are you ready for your bit today?”

Derpy blinked, she never usually had to worry about he bits, usually just her standing or walking around, nothing to be concerned about. “Uh, I suppose so… I’m just bouncing on a cloud in the background, is that right?” she shifted a bit and sat down, wanting to rest her legs after her long run.

Motion grinned, “You didn’t see the script, didja?” he reached over and shuffled through the papers, finding an extra copy and handing it to her. He seemed to have an excited look on his face, like he had a secret.

“Huh? Why do I need a script?” most background ponies didn’t even get a script. Their roles were minor and hardly took up a business card’s worth of dialogue. The biggest thing she had to remember was ‘Muffins’ during an early episode she was in. it was admittedly a great moment for her, having a speaking role in an episode. She felt giddy just thinking about it. Not to mention she was the focus of the camera for a brief moment during another episode where she dropped a bunch of objects onto Twilight head.

“You’re in the first scene after the opening song, and you got a couple lines.” He told her, still smiling.

“WHAT? I do? Where?” sure enough, she opened up the script and took a look at the paper. She flipped through the opening scene with Applejack and Applebloom talking to one another, and sure enough, right after the opening credits, it was her name in black and white, with the second speaking part in the scene . Her heart began to do back flips as she read through the script from the beginning. She forced her bad eye to straighten out, focusing on the words as she read them.


Rainbow Dash is putting up a banner with Applejacks face

[Rainbow Dash] Huh? (A bolt of lightning shoots by her, scorching her tail slightly) Now Careful! (RD flies over to Derpy, who is bouncing ontop of a raincloud, causing bolts of lightning to emit from underneath) You don’t want to do anymore damage than you’ve already done…

Derpy: I just don’t know what went wrong! (Derpy lands on the cloud once more, causing her to be shocked by the lightning. She gives a goofy smile before cutting to RD, who is nailing in another nail to keep the banner up)

RD: Yeah, it’s a mystery…

D: (flying backwards) Nice work Rainbow Dash! (D hits a support beam causing it to fall. RD rushes down in an attempt to stop it, only to be sent through the floor with pillar in tow. D rushed down and pokes her head into the hole) You okay Rainbow Dash? (camera cuts to inside the hole) Anything I can do to help?

(RD flies out of the hole, frantic at the idea of help from Derpy) 

RD:  NO! nothing! In the name of Celestia! Just sit there and do NOTHING!

(Derpy sits down quickly, causing the floor to give way, and sending her into the hole. RD just rolls her eyes and turns her attention to the crowd cheering for Applejack…)


Derpy looked up, unsure of how to feel, “So, I’m the one ruining town hall?” she asked, feeling like she was the bad guy here.

Motion shook his head, “nah, it’s old and falling apart… and you’re trying to help out Dash!”

Derpy frowned a little, looking back down at the script, “But… this makes me seem… stupid… like… I’m the butt of the joke…” she couldn’t help but think about how the pony from that morning treated her, and what she mumbled under her breath, “Like I’m retarded…”

Motion frowned at the comment. He walked over and put his hoof on her shoulder, “Derpy, you and I both know that’s not true… sure you can be a bit clumsy at times, but if it weren’t for that we never would’ve gotten that idea for that one scene in ‘Feeling Pinkie keen”! It was hilarious!”

She remembered it well. That day Twilight, Spike and Pinkie were all practicing their bits outside, while she was delivering a couple of packages. By some uncanny coincidence, as they were talking about pinkie sensing something falling, Derpy dropped a teddy bear out of her saddlebag and it bonked Twilight on the head. She felt terrible at the time for it, but Twilight just laughed it off. In fact everyone was laughing at the scene, including the director, who suggested they add something like that to the episode, including Derpy being the one to cause the accident. Ever since she had been a bigger background character, popping in from time to time in random spots for laughs. She enjoyed the comments of her that she saw online. Somehow she had a little fanbase growing and they all seemed to love her antics. Her smile returned to her face, thinking of all the ponies online who loved her and praised her.

“You’re our show’s loveable goofball, not to mention the most sweet and caring pony here… We think you’re great for who you are, and don’t let anyone tell you ANYTHING different.” Motion patted her shoulder once more, “Now why don’t you study your lines for a moment before we get started… I think Rainbow Dash is gonna be late again… you know how she just loves to make sure her hair is perfectly messy, heh…” Motion Picture walked away, getting everyone else settled in.

Derpy quickly turned back to the script. Reading through her lines, she noticed she had one last line after the speech from Applejack, “Go applejack! Woo!” she smiled a little at the idea that she had so many lines! Most background ponies didn’t get more than one or two lines! Her heart filled up with glee as she imagined herself on TV speaking, it felt incredible!

“Hey there Derpy! You ready for your scene?” Derpy’s head shot up, looking at the blue Pegasus she admired. The wonderfully colored mane made her envious; she was the coolest pony on the show and probably the whole world. Rainbow Dash smiled down at her, waiting for an answer.

Derpy felt herself staring until she realized she was waiting for an answer, “OH! Y-yeah! I mean, I suppose… I’m still looking through my lines though… I don’t want to mess this up…”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, waving her hoof at the issue like it was nothing, “Pfft, don’t worry about messing up, you know Motion Picture is cool with do-overs. Just relax and do your part, and if you mess up, oh well, we’ll redo it.”

“Yeah… but you NEVER mess up…” she wasn’t sure if she was just saying that as a compliment or if it was her paranoid side forcing her to make herself more nervous by devaluing Rainbow’s advice.

“Ha, seriously? Don’t you remember the Young Fliers competition? That act took two weeks to do! I kept slipping up or not messing up when I was suppose to… We all make mistakes, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” She reached over and ruffled Derpy’s hair a bit, making her laugh.

“Heh, yeah, I suppose that’s true… alright, I’ll do my best!” she stood up, her wings spread out as she took a confident stance. However her bad eye was starting to stray to the side, and she new it…

Rainbow laughed at the adorable scene she was making, “Make us proud kid! We’re all rooting for you out there!” She headed off to get into place, while Derpy took one last look at her script, double checking her lines.

“Hey there Sugarcube!” Applejack trotted by, heading over toward the other end of the set where she would be. “you’d better hurry and get into position, Motion Picture’s almost got everything finished up!”

Derpy nodded quickly at her other idol. In fact, she looked up to almost the entire cast, even Applebloom and the other fillies. They were all so cool in their own ways, on and off screen. She was afraid when she got the job as an extra that everyone would be the exact opposite of their characters. She especially got scared of Pinkie Pie when she saw her acting in the first episode. She thought no one could be that cheerful, and that in reality she was an evil diva with a terrible personality, but even she was sweet and kind to everyone.

Derpy shook her head, realizing she was getting lost again and quickly made her way to the stage. She felt her legs getting more and more wobbly with each step. she tried to fly the rest of the way there but even her wings were shaking as she flew onto the set. She began to hear cheers behind her, along with a growing applause as the rest of the team realized what they were clapping for. “Go Derpy!” “Good luck out there!” “Break a leg!” She couldn’t help but smile, they all knew her name, and they all cared for her and loved her. She felt blessed to have so many people cheering for her, even though it was a small bit. 

She took her place on the rain cloud, feeling the soft fluff between her hooves. She didn’t work with clouds often, so she wasn’t sure how exactly to go about working with it. She decided on giving it a little test bounce. Each bounce caused a little lightning bolt, making her worried she might ACTUALLY cause some damage. She was a klutz in real life, along with the show, and she knew it… she always seemed to have the worst of luck… but maybe not today… she was being given the opportunity of a lifetime! And she had every intention of doing things right today!

“Alright everyone! Positions!” Motion Picture called out through his megaphone, sending the ponies scattering to their cameras, boom mikes, and their other positions. Rainbow took her position by the building, giving Derpy a nod and a smile, hoping to give her one last bit of confidence. Derpy took a deep breath, focusing on her lines. She put on a smile, and looked down toward the director, waiting for his signal.

“Alright! Light! Camera!... Action in 5, 4, 3…” his hoof motioned with each number in the countdown, but went silent at the last two numbers along with the final cue. 

As the script said, Rainbow pulled the banner up and set it into place, a little smile on her face. Derpy watched her as she did with every pony in every episode. She loved watching the others act out their bits, but the sudden realization that it was her turn to act now! She jumped up quickly and slammed her hooves down, hoping she didn’t mess up the timing. The attack on the cloud sent a bolt of lightning at Rainbow dash, who barely dodged it. The end of her tail singed, just as it was meant to do, although Derpy couldn’t help but feel that the bolt was much too strong because of her bounce.

Rainbow glared at Derpy out of the corner of her eyes. She knew that Rainbow was supposed to glare at her, but she couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t just a product of her acting skill, “Now, careful Derpy…”

Her name; she heard Rainbow say her name right? That’s not how the script went! ‘oh no! I blew it! I knew it was too hard!’ in that split second she looked over at the director, who was sitting in his chair. He didn’t move a muscle, and didn’t call cut. Out of nervousness, she continued to bounce on the cloud as the script told her to do, much more gently now as Rainbow Dash approached her.

“You don’t want to cause anymore damage than you’ve already done…” Rainbow was continuing her lines… but Derpy couldn’t help but think that she didn’t say her lines right. She used her name; her name wasn’t in the script, at least not spoken in it anyway. She considered stopping to let her know of the error… but who was she to stop the show? She was just a bit part, she didn’t have the right to point out the flaws of a main characters lines… not to mention the director didn’t seem to notice.

She decided to keep her thoughts to herself and just speak her lines. However she noticed as she began to speak her throat tightened out of nervousness, making her voice a bit deeper than normal, “I just don’t know what went wrong…” with that the signal was given to send the shock her way. Although it kept her in midair for a brief moment, It wasn’t painful, and was mostly just show. The electricity singed her hair as it meant to, although the tingle it sent through her body made her legs weak, making her wobble and lean to one side. She felt a bit dizzy now, but she just smiled, the tingling feeling adding to her natural high of being a big part in the scene.

Rainbow Dash was already back at the banner, rolling her eyes, “Yeah, it’s a mystery…” 

Derpy took the cue and flew over, turning backwards in midair. She was a pretty experienced flier, she could do a few tricks like fly backwards or a few simple flips… nothing like Rainbow Dash though; she was an amazing flier! Her moment of mental admiration gave her the extra courage to say her next line, “Nice work Rainbow Dash!” she had said this plenty of times before, but now it felt special, even with her nervous voice. 

Her back bumped into the pillar, which signaled the engineering team to drop it off the edge of the building. Even being right next to it, it was hard to see the  tiny wires lowering the pillar. Rainbow rushed down beneath it, setting herself up to be sent through the breakaway floor and onto a soft mat to break her fall.

Derpy rushed to her next position, two very thin lines marking where she was to stand. To her surprise, she landed on them perfectly. It was a great little feat for her since her eyesight made it hard to see things straight, but her little bit of glory had to wait. She poked her head into the hole and called out to Rainbow, “You okay Rainbow Dash?” She noticed the camera just behind Dash’s head, recording her every move. Rainbow had an encouraging smile on her face, giving her another brief moment of courage to help her get through her next line, “Anything I can do to help?”

Crack! She heard something to her left and looked over. A chunk of wood cracked off the floorboards, and fell to the bottom of the level underneath the set. She watched it fall, feeling her heart fall along with it, ‘oh no! I broke a piece of the set! I’m going to get fired for this! I ruined the entire episode!’

Rainbow saw the piece, as did the cameraman. They weren’t expecting it either, but Rainbow was more concerned about Derpy’s expression. She quickly shot out of the hole, hoping to continue the scene and get her mind back onto what they were doing. “No! Nothing! In the name of Celestia! Just sit there and do NOTHING!”

Her fear conjured up by the thought that she ruined the episode gave her the appropriate expression for the scene. In her mind she was still scared about losing this perfect oppertuniy, and Rainbow’s sudden demand struck fear in her heart; making her legs weak. She plopped back onto the other breakaway floor as she was supposed to, but her mind was no longer in acting mode. She was genuinely scared for her job. However the floor collapsed just as it was meant to, sending her falling. In a panic, she reached out and grabbed at Rainbow dash, pulling her down with her. They both landed with a light thud onto the other mat. The majority of the cast was shocked to see Rainbow disappear with Derpy, it was yet another screw up in the script. 

Rainbow looked around, spotting Derpy. She was blushed brightly, “Oops… my bad…” she mumbled before turning away, ashamed at her reaction. She felt like she blew it, her first chance and she blew it… but a sudden noise caught her attention. Dash was laughing hysterically, as was the cameraman under the set. “Haha! That was hilarious! I wasn’t expecting you to grab onto me like that. You okay?” Dash helped her to her feet, still laughing hard. Derpy quietly nodded, still uncertain about how she felt about what happened. Rainbow helped her up onto the main stage, where she could see everyone laughing now. 

The director was clapping his hooves together as he bellowed out his own laughter, “Oh man! That was brilliant! That is probably one of the funniest things I’ve seen this entire season!”

Derpy lowered her head, approaching the director, “I-I’m sorry, sir, I’ll do better next time so I don’t screw things up…”

The director grew concerned, his laughter dissipating, “Hey, don’t get like that…”

“Yeah, It’s okay Derpy!” Dash rushed to her side, putting a hoof around her shoulder, “I messed up too, I don’t know why I thought to say your name like that… I probably just haven’t gotten use to working with you on film… but you did great for your first shot! we’ll both get it perfect next time!”

Derpy’s face brightened, her grin spreading from ear to ear. One of her idols was praising her and reassuring her. She felt her heart shimmering with happiness, and a newfound confidence overwhelmed her. But before she could react to the feeling, the director spoke up.

“Well, I don’t know…” he said, looking over at a TV with a couple different angles replaying the film. First a brief second in time, Derpy’s fear of losing everything returned… she imagined him saying that they would replace her with someone new for now, and eventually just kick her out entirely. Her fears didn’t have much time to settle in and have an effect on her before he continued, “I kinda like how it went… Let’s see it once more…” Almost everyone in the room began to murmur to one another, curious about his decision. “Put it up on the big screen!” he called out, walking over toward the pony at the computers. Her fears had settled down a bit for a moment, and she began to grow more confident. If he didn’t just go and toss that run out the window, than it must’ve been… okay at the very least, right?

The computer whizzes got the recording ready and patched it through to the ‘big’ screen, which was actually just about 30 inches wide, hardly ‘big’ by anyone’s standards, but it’s what they could afford for now. The rest of the group gathered around; all the extras and the main cast, all watching with a deep interest to see whatever the director saw.

Of course it started with Rainbow Dash, putting up the sign. The lightning bolt shot through the screen, making everyone jump slightly. It certainly looked bigger than it should have been, but it seemed right. Rainbow said her messed up line, using Derpy’s name in a small flub. Derpy simply figured they get that out in the editing department. Then it was her big moment, her first lines… and she immediately hated them. ‘I just don’t know what went wrong!’ it didn’t sound anything like her, or at least how she thought she sounded, and she felt silly for sounding so off. She shook her head, feeling down once more. One of the stage hands poked her, catching her attention. She smiled reassuringly at the cross-eyed pony, hoping to get her to turn back to the TV.

She did as she was signaled to do and turned back, just in time to hear more of her horridly toned voice. She cringed at it, like it was nails on a chalkboard. The pillar fell as it was suppose to, and of course, Rainbow dash, her hero, rushed down to grab it. Even though it was scripted to fail, she couldn’t help but think that she failed magnificently. 

Another line with her horrid voice went by, and then her big flub; knocking off a piece of the scenery. “sorry,” she said softly as it fell onscreen.

Motion quickly stopped the film, “What for? Did you see that? That was perfect! That bit of emotion you had when that fell, it was gorgeous! You looked just as you should have! Your character has done all she could to help but the poor thing felt like she only did more harm. That face, just look at it…” she took a look at her expression, and indeed it looked sad, but she didn’t seem to understand what he meant, “It makes me feel sympathy for the character, she only wants to help and she feels terrible… but I can’t help but think it looks adorable at the same time… you had the perfect expression for this bit.”

Derpy stared wide eye at Motion Picture, “you… You really think so?” her heart was aflutter, she was being praised for her work, something she didn’t even mean to do.

“I KNOW so! We’re not changing that bit at ALL.” 

“R-really? But… My throat got tight… and I sounded funny…” she said softly, looking down, “I hate how I sound…”

Motion rolled his eyes, “Derpy, EVERYONE hate’s how their voice sounds…  Heck, I bet Morgan Freemane hates how he sounds! It’s nothing to be ashamed of, you sounds just fine to me.” He finished his statement by starting up the video again. Rainbow dash called out to Derpy to sit and do nothing, and as such, she sat down hard. In that brief moment of desperation she latched onto Dash, bringing her down with her. The room lit up with laughter, even Dash was laughing. Derpy found herself chuckling alongside them, although she still saw this as a screw up.

“And THAT was the best unscripted bit I’ve EVER seen.” Motion Picture laughed hysterically, slapping his knee multiple times, “I think we’ll keep that in too, I don’t think we could get Dash to show THAT kind of shocked expression if we tried.”

Dash wiped a tear from her eye, “heh. Okay, so what about my line with Derpy? I should probably redo it so it sounds more natural.”

Motion Picture took a moment from his laughter to ponder this… he rewound the tape and watched it once more, listening to the words carefully, “Hm… Nah, I like it like it is… the lightning bolt looks too perfect… and besides, I’m sure Derpy’s fans will enjoy the nod to them, don’t you think?” Derpy brightened up even more at the idea, already feeling the love and acknowledgment from her fans coursing through her veins. “Any objections from anyone?” The crowd of ponies smiled, all shaking the heads to the question.

“Than it’s settled! We’ll do some tweaking with that scene later, let’s get your other scene done Derpy, and then we’ll start with your part, Applejack.”

The group began to break apart to take their places once again, Derpy felt a few nudges and pat’s on the back for her work, making her feel more excited. She trotted over to the hole once again, tossing herself inside to land on the mat. She took the moment of being alone to let out a squeal, kicking her legs into the air happily. She had to release some of her energy before she exploded with delight. She quickly composed herself and climbed up the step stool, taking her position halway out of the hole with Dash right beside her. “You ready for your next line?”

“Yup! I’m pumped up and ready!” she said with a big grin. She watched the director wave his hoof as he counted down to ‘action’ once again. As soon as she was given the signal she put her hooves to her mouth and cried out “YAY APPLEJACK! WOOO!”  Her body tilted back as she yelled, and she suddenly felt a sense of falling. She was too happy right now to care, and she knew the mat would save her, so she just let it happen. She plopped down onto the mat once more, lying on her back. After a brief second, enough time for Rainbow to do her eye roll bit, she began to laugh, as did the rest of the cast. She kicked her legs excitedly once again, feeling the adrenaline of her excitement rushing through her.

“Hehe. Having fun down there, kiddo?” Derpy opened her eyes to see Rainbow Dash looking down at her, a bit smile on her own face, “I think that went great!” she looked up over toward the rest of the cast for a moment before turning back down to her, “And I think the others liked it too! Comes on out, let’s see what Motion Picture has to say.”

Derpy nodded and quickly bounced up to her feet, rushing out of the hole and up to the director, who was still getting over his little laughing fit, “Derpy, you’re amazing at improvising… I think you nailed it once again! I’ll take another look at your bits later, but honestly, I think you did a wonderful job here today.”

“THREE CHEERS FOR DERPY!” somepony called out amongst the group. Everyone quickly joined in as they called out, “Derpy! Derpy! Derpy! WOO!”

Derpy looked around at the cheering ponies, feeling her heart swell with pride in herself, such a feeling she hadn’t had in herself for so long. She felt happy, appreciated, accomplished, and most importantly, loved…

> Ch 2 The Big Reaction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few weeks passed since Derpy’s big scene, and only now was he giddiness dying down. She hadn’t had any other scenes to speak of while they finished the episode, but she returned to the studio to see what was going on with the current episode. She slowly lost her focus on her big scene and returned to simply admiring the other’s acting. 

One morning she got a phone call from one of the desk workers in the studio; the episode was finished! Her episode! Her big moment! It was time for the cast to gather and look at the finished product on television. “Just make sure you’re here by onee, That’s when it airs…”

“That’s great!” Derpy said into the phone, her giddiness from a few weeks back coming around and taking over her once more, “I don’t have many deliveries today, I should be on time.”

“Awesome, we’ll see you there.” The other line clicked as she hung up, and so Derpy did the same. She squealed with delight as she bounced around the house, “OhmahgoshohmahgoshohmahGOSH!” 

“Mom? What’re you doing?” A small voice called out to her during her little victory bounce. 

Derpy quickly turned around, spotting her adorable little filly standing in the doorway, giving her a curious look. She quickly flew over to her and scooped her up, hugging her close, “They’re airing mommy’s episode today!” she told her with a big grin.

Dinky’s expression brightened to match her mothers, “Really? That’s so cool! All my friends will be watching it at school today!”

“Like every week? Hehe.” She pecked her little daughter on the head, hugging her close. She love her little bundle of joy with all her heart, even though the circumstances that made her come to be were… less than joyful… “I should be picking you up right after it’s over, okay” Dinky smiled and kissed her nose before returning to the hugging position. “heh, come on sweetheart, why don’t you gather your things? I’ll be ready in a moment.” She set her daughter down, patting her head before rushing around the house to gather her thing, including her saddlebags for mail. Once she was ready with her bags strapped on securely her little bundle of joy hopped into one side of her bag, signaling her to take off out of the house.

She flew to the little schoolhouse on the edge of town, letting her little girl out of the bag. A few of the school children rushed over to see their friend, whom of course, told everyone that her mom would be on TV today. Cheerilee made her way over to greet Derpy, “Hello there Miss Hooves. How’re you doing today?” She smiled sweetly as she always did. It wasn’t a surprise to her the this caring pony was the inspiration for the teacher in the show. In fact many of the cast insisted that they make the actress look just like her for the show.

“I’m ecstatic!” she said as she began to bounce again as her excitement grew, “The episode with me is airing today!”

Cheerilee’s smile grew wide, “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you! You deserve a bigger role on that show! And maybe a bigger paycheck, hint-hint…” 

“They’ve already told me they’re paying me a good bit for the scene, much more than usual! It’s great! I’m now registered as a major background pony! So now I get more per scene!”

“That’s wonderful! I’m so glad for you.” 

Derpy nodded, “I’m just glad that now I have a bit more money coming in…” she looked over at her daughter playing with the other colts and fillies; although with her eye problem one of her eyes was staring up at a tree at the same time. “We’ve been kinda struggling lately… financially anyway…” she didn’t really mean to say it aloud, it just slipped out as her mind full of thoughts became overwhelmed. 

Cheerilee nodded, “Yes I… I notice that Dinky’s lunches were a bit small from time to time…” 

Derpy’s eyes widened, “Oh! W-well don’t worry, I’ve been making sure that she’s fed well… I make sure she has a big breakfast to get her through the day.”

“Yes, she mentioned she was getting bored of having leftovers sub sandwiches for lunch…” Cheerilee tried to keep a fairly blank look on her face, although a bit of pity and sadness could be seen in her eyes.

“Y-yes… I know… they let me take home leftovers from the studio… Usually subs and the remains of some vegetable platters…” she kept her gaze down, stroking the ground with her hoof.

“I’m just as worried about you too Derpy.” Cheerilee walked over, placing a hoof on her shoulder, “you’re getting thinner… I could see your ribcage from across the schoolyard…” 

Derpy kept her gaze low, unsure of how to respond. She forced both of her eyes to stay as far away from the teacher as possible.

Cheerilee sighed, pulling her chin up to force her to look her way, “Derpy… I know it must be hard for you… but there are other options that will help her...” she seemed to be hinting at something they had talked about once before… and Derpy didn’t seem to like it. 

Derpy’s eyes glared at her, “No, I’m not giving up Dinky, We’ve been through this before Cheerilee.”

Cheerille put her hooves up, waving them defensively, “I know, I know… I’m just saying, if you love her and you know you can’t take care of her properly, it might be best to let another family adopt her. I have a couple of student who are adopted and they’re just fine.”

“No! I love Dinky, and we’re doing just fine! She’s happy with me and I would never hurt her by letting her go! And don’t you DARE call child services on me!” Derpy had a surprising amount of anger on this topic, but tried to keep it low in front of the other children.

“alright, Alright…” Cheerilee nodded, understanding the mother argument. “I never said I would. I already told you I would never do that after what you went through, just calm down… Dinky is a wonderful girl and she loves you very much, I know… I just don’t want her OR YOU to be put in danger… You’re a wonderful mother, and I know you’d do anything for her… Just please… If you need help, just ask… I will do whatever it takes to make everyone as happy as possible.”

Derpy was still frowning, but her rage was subsiding, “I will Cheerilee… But I promise, nothing bad will happen to my daughter... she’s all I have and I’m all she has… I won’t allow anything to make her upset in any way…”

“Alright Derpy… you have a good day… Can’t wait to see your episode.” Cheerilee headed off towards the schoolhouse, ushering the children inside.

Derpy huffed and began to fly away. She was good friends with the teacher, but the thought of giving up her daughter was too painful for her to bear. She had one incident before where she almost lost her. Living alone with a medical condition and no job to support her daughter gave child services plenty of reason to come knocking at her door. However she was lucky enough to meet someone who got her into the post office and keep her afloat with her child. It was a terrifying memory to her; one she didn’t want to repeat.

At the post office her normal cheerfulness returned. She gathered up the few packages that were needed and she was off. Her deliveries were to a few regulars, including the Cakes and Twilight Sparkle.

“Another book Ms Sparkle?” she tended to sound more professional during her rounds, wanting to be the best mailmare she could be by being professional and hasty.

Twilight giggled, using her magic to lift the magic from Derpy’s hoof, already unwrapping it, “You know me too well Derpy… It’s another installment of ‘Clothing of the great and powerful’, The last one I got had so much neat information about how powerful unicorns enchanted their clothing to give them an extra boost of power! In fact, it’s kinda funny, but I found out that Trixie took her clothing ideas from a wizard 800 years ago.”

“Uh Twilight, I hate to interrupt, but I gotta get moving today…” she seemed a little anxious. Although she was moving as fast as she could this morning, she didn’t want any delays that might risk her missing her big show.

“Oh, I’m sorry, what’s the rush?” Twilight replied, hoping to get an answer before she left.

“I had a big scene in the newest episode of My Little Pony! And it’s airing in an hour! I gotta get to the studio so I can watch it with the crew!”

“OH! Right! You told me that before, congrats! I’ll be sure to take a look at it if I can fit it into my schedule. You’d better get going!” Twilight gave her a little wave. Derpy returned the cheerful wave before heading off to her last delivery.

She pulled out the little box from her saddlebags and examined it. It was a familiar sized box, but not one that filled her with fond memories. She checked the address just in case and groaned, “Oh no…” It was to an old lady, a regular of hers that always seemed to cause her trouble. Admittedly, she did mess up once or twice since her name was similar to another mare in town, which probably sparked the hatred the old bag seemed to blow her way every time they crossed paths.

She landed at her doorway with box in hand. She let out a sigh as she ever so gently knocked on the door. Last time she came she was scolded for knocking so hard that she was going to ‘damage the door’, somehow… but she didn’t argue, she just promised she wouldn’t do it again.

She knocked once more, hoping that the post’s three knock rule would allow her to just be on her way. But before she could knock a third time it opened up, and old wrinkly bag of bones glared up at the mailmare, “How am I suppose to hear you when you knock so darn softly! You can’t do anything right!”

“I’m sorry ma’am, I’ll do better next time… Here’s your package.” She timidly tried to push the package off to her so she could leave, but the wobbly old unicrn still had some words to spill out between her false teeth.

“You’re late again you cross-eyed twit!” she seemed upset about the tardiness, and yet she made no effort to actually take the allegedly late package that seemed to be sooo important to her.

Derpy cringed at the insult, but she couldn’t say anything negative back… that didn’t mean that she couldn’t use facts though, “I’m sorry ma’am, but we got the package last night, it seemed it was sent from the warehouse a week after you or-“

“Don’t give your excuses! You’re late! I don’t know how they can keep idiots like you in the system when you can’t even deliver a p-p-aaggh…” she reached up to adjust her false teeth before continuing her rant, “A package on time!”

Derpy bit her lips gently, reminding herself that she had a code of decency to abide by, and that speaking her mind would only hurt her in the end. “I’m sorry ma’am, there’s nothing more we can do… If you want you can always send a letter to the office to file a complaint.”

The old lady glared at her, “Y’know that’s the first smart thing that I’ve ever heard come out of your stupid mouth!”

“Well then I should be heading out th-“

“No, YOU are waiting until I finish my letter so you can deliver it TODAY!” she grabbed derpy by the ear with the magic of her horn and forced her inside with the package still in her hoofs. She let out a few cries of pain as she was dragged by the ear before finally being release by an old oak desk. The woman took a seat and with her horn she picked up a pen and began to write, reading it aloud as she wrote.

“To whom it may concern, I’m absolutely sick and tired of this LAZY GOOD FOR NOTHING employee of yours!” Derpy was anxious to leave, but she knew she would only have more to deal with from the old witch of Ponyville. “I can’t believe you would hire someone who can’t even see straight!” that comment hit Derpy hard, it wasn’t her fault she was like this, “Idiot girls like her should be locked away or gotten rid of! There’s no use for brain-dead imbeciles in this world.” Derpy twitched, she may have had an eye issue, but she was by no means stupid. She often found herself solving problems others couldn’t, even though she was forgetful from time to time… But she kept her mouth shut, waiting for her to finish her rant… she still had time. However she wasn’t prepared to handle her last bit of hurtful dialogue, “I’m only glad that girls like her aren’t BREEDING, I’d HATE to see how her children would turn out. Probably end up being just as stupid and dimwitted as he retarded mother!”

Derpy swore she heard a snap… Something broke inside her head… she wasn sure what, whether it was her ‘shut up’ filter, her kind caring demeanor, her sensible tolerance for hatred and ignorance… She wasn’t certain as to what it was that snapped, but she wasn’t really focused on that at the moment. She slammed her hoof down onto the paper, startling the old woman, “Now you listen here you old bag of dirt! I AM a mother! And I have a wonderful daughter! She’s smart, kind, sweet and generous. She’s a HELL of a lot better than you could ever be! She’s just starting grade school and she’s the top of her class! She has more brains than you will EVER hope to have you hateful old crone!” The old woman backed away against the wall, although Derpy made no effort to chase her down. She simply tore the letter in half, out of anger “Just because you live a sad lonely life in this Celestia-forsaken house doesn’t give you the right to speak to me like that! ESPECIALLY not about my daughter! Now take your darn package and put with all the other hopes and dreams you’ve obviously given up on you cruel old WITCH!” With that she flew out the front door, gritting her teeth. Although she was still fuming with anger she couldn’t help but feel happy that she finally told the lady off. A wicked little smile of victory crossed her face, although her brows were at such an incline one could swear it was in a perfect V shape.

By the time she arrived at the studio she had cooled off considerably, although how she felt guilty about the verbal attack against the woman… she couldn’t help but feel like it would come back to bite her later, but she insulted her daughter, and she couldn’t allow that. 

She trotted into the studio where most of the sets were already put up for the next episode, but everyone was gathered around a much larger television. Apparently they had gotten a new TV somewhere for everyone… or more likely someone let them borrow it for the viewing. It looked a little old, but either way, New TV! It was a sign that today was going to be a good day….

“Hey! Derpy!” Twilight called out to her, trotting over to her, “You’re just in time, the credits are rolling for the prior episode. Come on! You should get a good seat.” Derpy gladly followed, bouncing with each step. “They’re hooking us up to one of the fan’s streams on the internet. We’ll be able to see their chat while we watch. It’s gonna be great!”

Derpy was intrigued, “Really? We’re going to watch the fans chat about the episode while they’re watching it for the first time?” She was constantly amazed by technolical advancements. It truly was a sign of the times where you could see the viewers reactions as they watched a show. “That sounds like fun!” Derpy was intrigued about the idea of the fans of the show commenting as they watched, and could only wonder what they would say during the episode… especially her scene.

The two sat together amongst the majority of the cast as the previous show ended. On one end of the screen was the show itself, and the other end was a chatroom with dozen and dozen of fans randomly chattering to one another. It still amazed Derpy how a show that was originally designed for younger audiences got such a wide variety of people interested. The chatter seemed to slow down as the screen went black in preparation for the show to start.

It started off with Applejack practicing for the rodeo and Applebloom cheering her on. The eyes of the crowd watching the TV kept flicking back and forth from the show to the chatroom, properly reacting to the scene with cheers and praise to Applejack, as did those talking in the chatroom. She did all her own stunts, and she was pretty proud of that fact. The young mare was tough as nails, and yet she had a kindness to her that was hard to compare to in this dark world. When Applebloom did a cute cheer on the TV, the timid little girl blushed and tried to hide herself. Applejack, her real life sister as well, simply chuckled and pulled her close, ruffling her hair playfully. “hehe, Applejack Stop! I’m try’n to watch the show!”

The cast and crew laughed at the little family tussle but turned back to continue watching. Suddenly Applejack got a little jab when her character onscreen blushed, “Hey you look awfully cute when you blush like that.” One of the camera ponies commented, “With those rosy cheeks of yours.”

Applejack’s cheeks began to mimic the cheeks onscreen, “Alright Horace, quit it now… Y’know Big Mac wouldn’t be happy if he found out you were flirting with me…” 

Horace turned around, seeing Big Mac giving him a questionable look, “heh, Oh come on. You agree with me dontcha?”

Big mac grinned, “Eeeyup.” He didn’t speak much Equestrian. He was actually born in a far away country. He never spoke much on screen because, well, he never spoke much in their language in real life. Applejack could only laugh, nuzzling into the big red stallion.

Derpy blinked, it was always weird to see the couple being flirty. On screen they were siblings but here in the real world they were a couple… she couldn’t help but find it strange to see the transition from a brother and sister on television to a coltfriend and marefriend in real life… I made the feeling worse when she thought about the raunchy fanfics she seemed to come across online…Very strange set of circumstances leading ot a very odd sense of mixed feelings…

Her thoughts distracted her through the entirety of the theme song. The cast used to sing along, but after working on the show for this long it was getting old; Although that didn’t stop most of the staff from bobbing their heads to the beat. The chatroom seemed to bubble up with everyone trying to do a perfect sync of the lyrics to what they were typing, but with so many people trying to do it at once it ended up being a big mess of repeated messages.

The show went to a brief commercial before coming back. Their were a few cheers as Dash appeared on screen, and as the TV version of Rainbow Dash would do, she soaked up the attention like a sponge, beaming brightly as they cheered. Derpy couldn’t help but admire how real the set look on television. From her position she could see every bit of fakeness to it, but on screen it looked like they were outside with a real town hall. She had to give props to the editors for their work.

The spotlight that Rainbow was basking in was quickly switched over the minute Derpy’s name was mentioned. The chatroom stopped for a brief moment when the word ‘derpy’ came out of Dash’s mouth. It felt like time was standing still; the chatroom didn’t budge, the actors didn’t budge, it was as if time itself paused for a moment between Dash’s lines. When the camera panned over to Derpy bouncing on the cloud the chatroom immediately overloaded with comments.

“OMG!”

“DERPY!”

“IT’S DERPY!”

“Did they just canonize Derpy? Holy crap!”

“IT’S DERPY!”

“THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!”

The entire cast erupted in cheers, overshadowing the rest of Dash’s lines. Derpy couldn’t help but soak it up just as Dash did. Her smile grew wide and her eyes shimmered with delight. The entire cast laughed at her little incident with the cloud and the lightning. Everyone within her reach began to pat her back for her work. The chatroom continued to bubble with comments of astonishment that she was in the scene and called out BY NAME. It really showed how much people loved Derpy even though she was only a brief character in a handful of episodes. The scene continued and the cast only seemed to become more and more happy, which only increased Derpy’s own happiness. 

Her brief scene came to an end, and Applejack’s scene with the mayor came up. The comments on the chatroom were still all about Derpy though; it seemed like her brief appearance was overshadowing the mane cast member, an amazing feat by any standard. Applejack didn’t mind the shift in attention, in fact she was cheering for Derpy just as much as the rest of the cast. Derpy finally looked down, feeling a few tears escaping her misty eyes. She was just so happy to have all this wonderful attention from all the people she cared for…

Her character returned briefly, cheering for Applejack, setting off another wave of comments on the chatroom. Derpy couldn’t see them though; she was still crying. Pinkie noticed her tears and quickly jumped over to hug her, “Hey! Don’t cry! You’re not suppose to cry when you’re happy!”

Derpy sniffed, smiling at Pinkie Pie, “I know, I just… I love you all so much!” her statement gave everyone a surprise. They were silent for a moment, the sounds on the TV being ignored as they all stared at Derpy. Finally they all began to gather around her, giving her a big hug, “We love you too Derpy!” She wasn’t certain who said it first, but everyone seemed to have that thought on their mind. She tried her hardest to hug everyone at once, her heart overjoyed at the experience.

She couldn’t focus on the rest of the episode. She was too lost in though. While everyone else watched the crazy antics of Pinkie, she was thinking about her future. She was obviously popular now, and that might mean more big parts of episode! And of course that would lead to more money in the future for Dinky; a new house, better clothes and meals. She would finally be able to give her little girl everything she deserved… and finally quit her mailmare job for good! 

But she knew she had to slow down a bit… as much as she wanted to jump to her imagine life right then and there, she knew she was getting far too ahead of herself. Even if she did end up being a big time actress, she still had many hurdles to cross. For now she just sat there and enjoyed the attention she was receiving.

The episode ended and everyone gave each other applause for their good work. The director ushered everyone into the break room for a celebratory party with cake and soda, but Derpy excused herself in order to go get her daughter from school.



Derpy descended onto the school grounds with the gentleness of an elegant avian. She glanced through the windows, seeing a couple students still hanging around playing, waiting for their parents to come pick them up. She carefully opened the door and poked her head in. she was suddenly tackled by a little ball of adorableness, “Mommy! You were amazing! We all saw it! It was so cool!”

Derpy laughed, hugging her little girl tightly, “Heh, thank you so much sweetheart, I’m glad you think so.”

“You look like you had some fun on the set, Derpy.” Cheerilee walked over, a little smile on her face.

Derpy smiled back, although she couldn’t help but recall her ideas from that morning about giving up her daughter… She still felt a bit bitter about that, but tried not to let it show, “I did! It was a wonderful experience. And hopefully It’ll open doors for new things in the future.”

“I’m sure it will! You two have fun.” Cheerilee gave a little wave before heading over to attend to the other remaining students.

Derpy opened up her saddlebags, allowing Dinky to hop in like she always did before taking off into the sky. Dinky kept her head stuck out, enjoying the wind flowing past her head, “I can’t wait to learn how to fly.” She called out over the sound of the wind blowing past them.

“Don’t worry, mommy will take some time off soon to teach you, I promise.” She smiled over her shoulder at her daughter, descending slowly to her home. She let her little girl hop out and rush in first while she removed her bag and emptied it out onto the table by the couch. She had a few extra bits side, but she didn’t want to risk splurging it all on a big meal tonight only to have nothing later on. “So what would you like for dinner, sweetheart?”

“Um…” Dinky pondered the question, tapping her chin, “does it have to be a sandwich?”

“Well, yes…” It pained her to have to be asked that, but hard times had settles in on her little home. She popped open the sparsely stocked fridge, easily seeing everything scattered about, “Okay, we have hay, daffodils… we still have some jelly left, and I think the peanut butter is still half full…” she explained, turning her head around to see the little girl roaming toward her room, “What do you think?”

“Um… I dunno… you can pick today, mom.” She smiled up at her mother. This dinner selection wasn’t new or unusual, although it wasn’t satisfying to her. However she had grown to accept it, and learned to love what she had.

“Okay, how about hay AND daffodils?” she suggested as she pulled out the ingredients before heading to the pantry. She looked around before spotting the bread, “Oh no…” she saw that the bag was left open, and the half of a loaf of bread was moldy and green, “I must’ve forgotten to tie it up last time…” she shook her head, silently thinking obscenities as she placed the rotten bread by the garbage can, “I think I’ll have to get a new loaf of bread tonight, sweety…” She sounded calm, but inside she was furious at herself for wasting what little they had. She turned around, seeing her daughter tail exiting the kitchen. Now that her daughter was out she took her frustration out on the bread, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it multiple times. 

She looked down at the mangled mess of bread and mold inside a plastic bag. It didn’t make her feel much better, but at least it cooled her head a bit. She tossed it away before heading into the living room, “Dinky? Where’d you go?”

“I’m in the bedroom!” she called out to her mother. Derpy walked in, seeing her playing with a few dolls. They were old and worn out, their dresses missing much of their stitching and their hair a mangled mess, but he imagination kept them lovely in her mind.

“Did you hear me about the bread? I think we need to run out and grab some…”

Dinky looked up and nodded with a smile, “Okay, are we heading out right now?”

“Probably soon, once mommy rests her wings a bit…”

“Okay, the Gala is almost over, I’ll be done in a moment…” She continued to play with her raggedy dolls, having the little filly dance with the prince. She hummed a little tune, making the two sway back and forth together.

Derpy couldn’t help herself; she watched the little girl play with her toys, lost in her own little world of happiness… she only wished she could bring that happiness to the real world. Dinky was the greatest little girl in the world, and she deserved to be a princess right alongside Celestia and Luna. She finally tore herself from watching her to go rest on the couch, AKA, her bed. She laid herself out, sprawled across its length, stretching out he legs. She never realized how tired she was until she laid herself down to rest. She felt like she could just fall asleep right now and never wake up. She never allowed herself to get a nap in before dinner though; she knew she’d never get up in time to cook.

Today it was hard for her not to fall asleep, but just as she felt herself nodding off she jerked up, giving her head a shake to knock some sense into herself. Her eyes blinked hard a few times, trying to force them to straighten out a bit. She looked over into the bedroom, still hearing her daughter talking to herself. She wasn’t entirely sure how long she had been there, but she was getting hungry, and they still needed to go shopping. “Dinky? Are you about ready to head out?”

There was a brief pause before Dinky hopped out of her room, “Yep! I’m ready whenever you are!” Derpy smiled, nuzzling her daughter affectionately before getting her saddlebags on once more. Dinky hopped in just like before and soon they were out the door. However they didn’t get but a few steps outside before Derpy noticed a small group heading her way. Normally she wouldn’t have noticed, but the rainbow mane of the lead pony caught her eye. “Rainbow Dash? Motion Picture?” she noticed that the majority of the main cast and crew were heading her way, all carrying bags and boxes in their teeth, “What are you all doing here?”

“Aw, why’d you have to come outside? You spoiled the surprise!” Dash said in a playfully annoyed tone, “Motion Picture wanted to bring you a celebratory dinner since you couldn’t stay for lunch!”

Derpy blinked, taking another look at everyone else. They all seemed to be carrying enough for two ponies each; All from different restaurants from all around Ponyville. She could already sense the flavor wafting her way, and it smelled absolutely wonderful.

“Yay! No sandwiches tonight!” Dinky cheered from her little saddlebag. Derpy blushed a little at the statement, hoping the other didn’t think badly of her for it. 

“OH! H-hold on a moment, let me clean up just a bit before you come in…” she rushed inside, hoping to clean her home up a bit. There wasn’t much around TO clean, but she took the time to put her bag away and close Dinky’s door, along with folding up the blanket on the couch and put it away with the pillows. Once she felt satisfied with the look she opened the door to let everyone inside. As they walked past the aroma from each bag hit her nose, making her knees weak. She hadn’t had meal like this is so long, her stomach was begging for her to fill it up.

Within minutes the table was covered in delicious food, and before it could be admired by the Hooves family, it was already being picked at by everyone, including themselves. Dinky was eager to stuff her plate with a little of everything, “Don’t eat too much sweety!” her mother called out to her as she walked away, balancing the plate in her mouth. She let out a grunt of acknowledgment as she went into the living room to relax and eat.

Derpy planned to patiently wait for everyone else to get their plates, but Rainbow Dash wouldn’t allow it, “Hey! You’re the guest of honor! You should be eating first!” she shoved her to the front of the line; no one objected to Dash’s reasoning. Although when she tried to slip in behind her, Twilight used her magic to send the rainbow haired Pegasus to the back, “OH COME ON!” she whined before being set down.

“You said SHE deserved to be first, not you.” Twilight winked playfully before turning to Derpy, “Go ahead, take as much as you like.”

“Heh, thanks girls.” She gladly filled her plate up as well. By the time she got to the end of the table hers looked taller than Dinky’s plate. 

The group sat around and talked about this and that, mostly revolving around the show, both past projects and future projects they planned on doing. Once their bellies were full though, they began to leave one by one; all saying their goodbyes to Derpy. She smiled and wished them the best, although she seemed to be glancing at the kitchen fairly often, seeing how many ponies were going in for seconds.

Twilight noticed the odd behavior, and once her friend was by herself she slipped over to speak with her, “Derpy, are you alright?”

Derpy simply smiled, “Of course I am, I’m wonderful actually! You’re all so sweet and kind… Thank you again for the meal!”

“You’re welcome, but that’s not what I meant…” she had a deep concern in her eyes, the tender caring eyes of a friend, “You’ve been glancing over at the kitchen and awful lot tonight… whenever someone goes in for seconds… It’s like you’re counting or something”

Derpy frowned, looking down at the ground. She wasn’t aware it was so obvious, “I just… y’know, wondering who’s getting seconds…”

“I don’t think so… And I don’t think you’re worried about getting seconds… what’s wrong?” Twilight reached up, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

Derpy sighed, she knew Twilight was more perceptive than she gave her credit for, not to mention persistent. “Well… I’m hoping there’s plenty of leftovers…” 

Twilight was a bit curious about this… most ponies wanted a little leftover food as possible so they didn’t have to store it… It didn’t take Twilight long to piece the puzzle together, and jump to the last possible conclusion, “You’re having trouble keeping food around, aren’t you?” she made sure to keep it very quiet, not wanting the rest of the cast to worry.

Derpy bit her lip, nodding slowly. She couldn’t bring herself to admit it vocally though.

“I’m so sorry Derpy… I wish I had known…”

“It’s okay though! I promise!” she quickly tried to defend her situation, “I’ve gotten that raise from the producers, and now I have all those leftovers to last a while. I won’t have anything to worry about! I promise!”

Twilight eyed Derpy, judging her response… “Okay… If you say so… but if you EVER need help… Please… come to me, or any of your friends… we all care for you and we want the best for you… Just let us know if something’s wrong and we’ll do our best to fix it, okay?” Twilight leaned close and hugged Derpy with all her might. 

Derpy nodded to her request and gladly returned the hug, letting it hold for a moment before pulling away, “Thank you Twilight, I will…” A small yawn by their side caught their attention. They two looked down to see Dinky, her eyes half closed, staring up at the two.

“I’m sleepy mommy…” she told her, holding her arms up. Derpy just smiled, reaching down and lifting her up, hugging her close while her wings lifted the two up into the air.

“Okay sweetheart, I guess it’s time for bed…” she lifted her up and carried her to her room, closing the door behind them, “That was a delicious meal, wasn’t it?” Dinky simply nodded, too tired to respond with a yes, “did you say thank you to everyone?”

“Oh… not to everyone… But I did say ‘thank you’ to Mr Picture.” She said softly as she was tucked under her blanket.

“Well, why don’t you write a big thank you card for everyone during Arts and Crafts tomorrow? I’m sure everyone would appreciate it.” Dinky smiled brightly at the idea of crafts. Her head nodded slowly as her heavy eyelids closed, “good girl… now sleep tight… I’ll come back to check on you soon.” She gave her little girl a gentle peck on the forehead before heading toward the door.

“I love you mommy.” 

The soft words caused Derpy to stop in her tracks, paralyzed with the love in her heart. She stood there for a second before responding, “I love you too my little muffin.” With that, she pulled herself out of the room, letting her daughter rest.

She exited the room to find the rest of the group leaving. Rainbow Dash was ushering them out, “Hey! Where’s everpony going?”

Dash looked up, smiling, “they’re all finished eating, and your little girl’s trying to sleep. I figured we’d only disturb her.”

“Oh… Well you didn’t have to… but okay…” She already missed her friends being around, but Dash seemed to be sticking around… “Where are you headed after this?”

“Probably home… but uh… I wanted to talk to you for a sec.” Dash gently shut the door before approaching Derpy, “I heard you talkin’ with Twilight a second ago…”

Derpy’s heart fell, she didn’t want to go through this conversation again… although a curious thought came to mind first, “How did you hear us? We were clear across the room.”

Dash smiled, flicking her ears, “When you’re flying you gotta have good hearing to understand ponies with the wind rushing by you… But listen, I know you said you’re okay, but I just wanted to let you know if you need somepony, I’m here to help too.”

“I know, I know, I appreciate it.” She said quickly, hoping to dismiss the pony and end the awkward conversation.

“I mean it, Derpy… You’re a good friend to me… I know financial trouble can be very stressful… And if you need some help…” her hoof found its way to her shoulder, stroking her skin gently, “relieving that stress… Come say hi to me…”

Derpy blinked, staring at the hoof… she heard whispers of Rainbow’s life outside the studio… nothing terribly bad, but not something a morally conscious pony would be happy about… lot’s of rumors of her visiting ponies late at night and not leaving until the early hours of the morning, and things like that… “Thanks Dash, I’ll uh… keep that in mind…” 

“Alright Derpy… You sleep well tonight.” She moved in for a hug, an innocent hug, but after the thought that went through Derpy’s head, she couldn’t help but feel a bit weird now… Rainbow released her and headed out on her own, shutting the door behind her.

Derpy still felt a bit odd… she wasn’t sure if she was receiving an offer for help from a friend, or being hit on… it was a weird feeling she couldn’t really explain. However she pushed it aside for now and went to the kitchen, finding that a large portion of the food was still there. She hummed happily to herself as she packed it up and put it in the refrigerator. 

Once the task was done, she smiled inside the open fridge. She found it funny that she loved not being able to see everything. Now she had to actually MOVE food out of the way in order to see more food! She felt a teardrop roll down her cheek, no longer worried where her next meal would come from.

She soon felt her food settling, causing her body to feel weak and heavy. She hadn’t felt o full in ages, and now she planned to crash on the couch and sleep until morning. She looked at the couch, realizing her pillows and blanket had been put away. Instead of taking the time to pull it all out again, she decided to sneak into her daughters room and join her in her bed. She was quiet as a mouse and carefully slipped in, hoping not to wake her. She cuddled up as close as she could, feeling her daughter shifting a bit in her sleep. It didn’t take long for her to join her in dreamland…

> Ch.3 The decline
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun peeked through the window, right into Derpy’s eyes. She struggled to stay asleep but Celestia didn’t seem to want to allow it. She opened her eyes and looked around, recalling that she had fallen asleep in her daughters bed with her. She looked down and spotted Dinky snuggled up close to her mother, hugging her as best as she could with her little legs. Derpy couldn’t help but smile at the adorable sight, but as much as she wanted to stay right here with her little girl she knew they had to get up soon so she could get to work… “Sweety, it’s time to get up…”

“Mer… It’s too early… I’m too comfy…” she mumbled, snuggling in closer in an attempt to hide from the sun.

Her adorableness won the battle… Derpy held her close and smiled, letting her rest for a bit longer…

Of course they both regretted it later, both dashing out the door with a bagel in their mouths as they rushing toward the school. Derpy dropped off her little girl at school and kissed her goodbye before heading toward the post office.

She saw a few other Pegasus ponies flying away from the post office, all carrying their owns bags of mail. she couldn’t help but notice there seemed to be two more than they normally released… It must’ve been a heavy news day. She tried to remember if there was a holiday soon or if there was some sort of promotion going on in town… nothing came to mind, so she didn’t worry about it. Instead she rushed right in, giving everyone a smile.

“Oh, Derpy!” A unicorn organizing a pile of letters called her over, “The boss wanted to speak with you, it seems urgent.” Derpy couldn’t imagine why on earth the boss would want to speak with her before work… but she was too happy to ask questions, so she quickly popped her head into his office.

“You wanted to see me Sir?” she asked curiously.

The boss had a grim look on his face when Derpy appeared, “Yeah, Come on in Derpy, we need to talk…” he explained, ushering her in.

She blinked, now feeling nervous. His grim look slowly peeled away the happiness that had built up around her the day before. She pulled herself inside and shut the door, taking a seat quietly in front of his desk.

“Derpy, You know we all really like you… We’ve grown to like you around here. You’re like family.” She knew that all the nice words he was throwing out were merely an attempt to soften the blow that was about to come, “but we’re also a business, and we have to make our patrons happy…”

Derpy felt a chill run down her spine… all the happiness had peeled away, allowing her to remember the anger she felt yesterday…. But even that peeled away, revealing her fear deep inside her… “S-sir, I can explain-“

“You don’t have to Derpy…” he wave his hoof, stopping her from speaking, “She brought in the torn note with your hoofprint on it… I read it, and yes, it was a horrible HORRIBLE thing for her to write, not to mention read right in front of you…”

“Than you know she’s a mean old witch!” she spat out without much thought, her anguish beginning to take over her.

“Yes, she’s a horrible pony being whom should’ve been wiped from this planet a long time ago, BUT… That doesn’t mean you can go on a rampage in her home and throw her packages around…” She could see that everything that he was about to do was hard for him. Derpy could see it in his eyes that he hated what was going on, “Derpy I have to give you some time off… a month or so, maybe more… just until this whole thing blows over… or the old lady keels over, whichever happens first.”

“B-but sir! I need this job! I can’t take that much time off! I can’t afford it!” She was desperate for another way around this, “Please! Can’t you just not give me any of her deliveries?”

“She’s caused trouble in the past, I tried that once with another pony and she raised heck when she saw the I just moved the pony over to another route.”he sighed, rubbing his forehead with his hoof. His lips twisted painfully as he tried to express what needed to be said, “Derpy, believe me, I don’t want to do this, you’re one of the best here, and frankly I need the best around considering how much the Unicorn Postal Service is cutting into our business with their teleportation spells… But if she raises heck in town it’ll hurt us, and we can’t afford it…” he took a deep breath and sighed, resting his chin on his hoof. He looked down at the torn note and flicked it off the end of the table into the garbage pail, not wanting to have any way of seeing the horrible note ever again, “I’ll give you a week of reduced salary to help you by until you find another job to take over… but my hooves are tied… there’s nothing I can do to help you right now…”

Derpy bit her lip, trying to control herself. She felt her eye welling up with tears, but she just nodded. There just didn’t seem to be any other way for him, “I understand… Thank you…” she slowly exited the door, heading out with her head hung low. She let her wings unfurl and slowly lifted herself up. She hoped that she might get to see a few scenes at the studio to help cheer her up.

At the studio it was pretty quiet; a couple of unicorns were setting up some sort of contraption on wheels for the next episode, and two twins were nearby going over lines together. She couldn’t help but imagine them being barbers or something from their clothes, and a brief thought of how cute the mustached one looked crossed her mind, but she didn’t keep that though long. Derpy searched for the director, or at least someone she was familiar with. Soon she spotted Big Mac. She knew it would be unlikely to see him around unless Applejack was around too, but she needed some social interaction right now, and he always seemed friendly. She trotted up him nervously, hoping he wouldn’t mind the conversation, “Hello Macintosh, it’s good to see you.”

Big Mac turned, seeing the grey pony looking up at him, “It’s wonderful to see you as well, Derpy. How are you?” he spoke a little slowly, making sure he picked the right words in the unfamiliar language.

“oh well… I’m okay I suppose…” she knew she was lying, but she couldn’t just run up to someone and burst into tears about losing her job.

Big Mac didn’t notice the tinge of pain in her voice, so he just shrugged, “I am okay too. I’m practicing my lines for the next episode… heh, I think you had more lines in your one show than I’ve had since I started!” he laughed a little, his hearty cheerfulness got Derpy a little bit happier than before.

“Heh, oh I doubt that… I hear you’ve got an episode based around you coming up soon!” she added with a big smile. “You’ll have plenty of lines then.”

“Oh, yes… this is going to be hard…” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, “So many new words I’ve never come across before… What exactly is a ‘schmooky wookum’?”

Derpy couldn’t help but laugh at his attempt to use the strange pet name. She recalled the synopsis for the episode saying that Mac falls in love with the teacher in the show, “I have no idea, Mac,” she giggled at the thought of him saying such a thing, “it’s just some silly little thing lovers say to one another.”

Big Mac seemed to grow a thoughtful expression, the cogs and sprockets in his head turning quickly, “Hm, alright… I think I’m going to go try it and see how well it works…” he turned away and began to walk off to another part of the stage, looking around for Applejack.

Derpy took in a breath, letting it out slowly. The little interaction certainly made her feel better about her job, although she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. She didn’t have a special somepony, very few guys seemed to want to stick around once her eye issue became apparent. She considered contacts to help hide it, but she never had the money for a prescription.

“What am I thinking? I have Dinky! She’s all the love I need!” her own words gave her some strength, although not much…

“Derpy! How’re you doing?” Motion Picture called out to her, walking her way, “What brings you here? You don’t have any scenes scheduled for today…”

“Oh, well, I um… I was hoping to clear my head.” She said simply, rubbing the back of her head.

Motion sensed something off, “Clear your head? Is something wrong?”

She couldn’t help but wonder if she was so easy to read… everyone seemed to know when something was wrong with her. “I just… I just got fired from my postmare job…”

Motion’s eyes widened, “Oh no! I’m so sorry! What happened?”

“Well… the other day… one of my regulars started saying bad things about Dinky… and I… well…” she didn’t really want to continue on with how she acted. Looking back it was very embarrassing and very unlike her.

She didn’t need to say anything else, Motion just nodded, “I understand… Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find more work somewhere… And you still have plenty of scenes to do with us! We’ve got you scheduled for little bits and pieces in a couple of upcoming episodes, I’ll make sure you get the list, okay?”

Derpy smiled at Motion Picture. He was such a kind stallion… now if only he was a bit younger. “Thank you Mr Picture. I really appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem at all Derpy… and maybe I’ll ask around, see if anyone knows anyplace that’s hiring at the moment.”

“OH! Thank you! I’d really appreciate it… although I suppose I have plenty of time to go around looking...” She went through the streets of town in her head, trying to get ideas of stores and other businesses that needed some help…

“Alright, well why don’t you head on out and get looking? If you’d like you can use me as a reference! I’ll be sure to put in a good word for y-“

“Mr Picture!” one of the ponies in the marketing department rushed over to him, “Mr Picture we may have a-… Oh, Hey uh… Hey there Derpy…” The pony bit her lip, shifting awkwardly, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt…”

“No no, it’s okay, I think we were about finished… Were we?” He turned to Derpy to make sure she didn’t have anything else to say.

“Yup! Thank you again Mr Picture!” She bounced away with a little smile on her face, although she couldn’t help but feel concerned for the issue that the marketing pony wanted to bring up… but she was too happy to concern herself with it.

Applejack walked over to Motion Picture, laughing hysterically, “Hey Motion! Didja hear what Macintosh just said to m-…” 

She noticed the grim look on Motion Pictures face as he spoke with the marketing pony, giving her a nod. He listened quietly to the marketing pony as she explained the situation… He turned to look over his shoulder, seeing Derpy bounding away happily… he had a grim look on his face, reaching up to rub his eyes with his hoof, “Just… just keep an eye out for anymore letters and emails… We’ll see how this thing plays out… if we have to, I’ll fix it…” the marketing pony nodded and left, giving Applejack time to approach him.

“Hey Motion, what’s up?” Applejack knew the look couldn’t be good.

He shook his head, “Could be nothing… or it could be really bad… we just have to wait and see…”



Derpy bounced around happily, looking for any signs that a store was hiring… preferably a ‘now hiring’ sign… To her luck she spotted one in the window of a small bakery. She quickly headed inside and looked around. The shelves and glass display case were fairly bare, but it was still early in the morning. The smell of pastries and sweet cream in the kitchen filled the air, sending her into waves of delight. She quietly headed to the counter and tapped the bell, hoping that she wasn’t disturbing anypony.

“Just a moment!” called out a voice from the back kitchen. Derpy could hear the sound of rushing water in the back just before a purple earth pony came out, drying her hooves on a towel, “Hello! How can I help you?”

“Well, I was hoping to find some employment! I use to love baking- er, well I still do… but I was hoping I could talk to you about the position you have available!” She seemed eager and very willing to work in any way she could. She focused hard on her eye, keeping it straight while they talked, hoping to make a good first impression

“Oh! That’s wonderful! I was really hoping for an extra hoof around here… I’ve been getting a lot of orders lately and my husband is out on business… and with my son studying all the time I can never seem to get anything done.” She let out a little laugh.

“Well I would be happy to help! I’ve been baking for years now, and I work well under pressure! I’ve been told I’m especially good at baking muffins, hehe…”

“Really? Y’know I’ve been baking for years now and all of a sudden just a few days ago I get a ton of orders for muffins from a dozen different customers… I have absolutely no idea why… I mentioned it to my son, but he just laughed… I don’t understand him sometimes…”

Derpy blinked, feeling a connection coming through… a few days ago her character got her first line, the character who has been known for loving muffins (thanks to a single line) And now ponies were wanting muffins? Seemed strange, but she had seen stranger things. “Kids, will we ever understand them?”

The mare giggled, “Oh you must have one too.”

“Yup!” she smiled, proud of the fact that she had a daughter, “A little girl, just started school recently.”

“Oh that’s wonderful! My boy just started up college, studying some computer sciency stuff, I don’t really get it myself…” suddenly the room sounded like a stampede was running through it, “Oh, here he comes now!” She said as if the noise was the norm in her bakery.

Down the steps a young stallion rushed down, short mane, a bit spike up, with a set of saddlebags on his back, “Hey Mom, I’m heading out to study with the guys, gonna grab a snack, what have you got baked this-“ There was an audible squeak as his hooves came to a sudden stop on the floor. He turned to Derpy, staring wide eyed at her. He quickly looked at her flank, seeing the familiar bubble cutie mark. His jaw dropped suddenly, “You’re… You’re Derpy Hooves! aren’t you?”

Derpy blinked, just as surprised as he was at the situation. She noticed his saddlebags had a very familiar lightning bolt design for the buckle, one that Rainbow Dash would be proud of. “You must be a Bro-“ in an instant she saw his pupils grow, and his eyes flick towards his mother… She must not know yet… “A fan.”

The young man sighed, glad that she didn’t give away the secret… “Yeah! I am! A big fan! All my friends are! Wow! I can’t believe you’re here!”

His mother seemed confused, looking between Derpy and her son, “I’m sorry, but what’s going on?”

Derpy looked at the stallion, hoping he would explain…

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, trying to find the right way to tell her, “Well, she’s one this uh… show that I like… she’s a background character, but she’s kind of got a cult following…”

“Oh! I see, how fun! It must be fun on the set.” She smiled at Derpy, seemingly interested in her work.

“Oh it is, but unfortunately I don’t get many scenes, so I’m usually not there that often… I need a more stable position.”

“Wait,” the Brony interrupted, “You want a job here?” She nodded quickly in his response, “Mom, you HAVE to hire her! She’s awesome! I guarantee you’ll get LOADS of business if she’s working here!”

His mother blinked, unsure of why this pony was so famous. She turned back to Derpy, examining her for a moment, “You’re not a stripper or something in this show, are you?” 

The boy blushed, “WHAT? NO! She’s not a stripper! She’s just an actress! Why would you even say that?”

The mother seemed a bit embarrassed now, speaking before thinking, “Sorry, I’m just a little confused as to how a background character is so popular with you and your friends. I know what you college boys think about when you’re not studying…”

His cheeks burned bright red, contrast to his deep blue coat, “Well she’s not a stripper! Gah! You’re so embarrassing mom!” The boy rubbed the back of his head, looking back to Derpy, “Sorry about that, Miss…”

Derpy had a little pink in her cheeks, but she just laughed it off, “Heh, I’m not complaining. I take it as a compliment! It means I still have a good figure, hehe…”

“Heh, yeah, I suppose that’s true.” He laughed as well before thoughts started to link together in a horrible way, “Not that I was paying any attention to your figure… or anything… um…” The room suddenly got awkwardly quiet…

Then a ding from the back signaled the mother that something was finished, “Oh! Cake is done! We’ll have to talk more later Miss Derpy. Come back around 8 and we’ll talk about you coming in to work, okay?”

“Okay! Thank you so much! Oh, what was your name, ma’am?”

“Oh, yes, I’m Sprinkles, and my son here is Collin.” She finished the introductions before rushing to the back, “Sorry I can’t see you out!”

Collin turned back to Derpy, smiling, “It’s so cool to meet you Derpy!”

“Heh, it’s really cool to meet a brony, Collin…” she replied with just as much enthusiasm as he had, “I don’t think anyone’s ever recognized me outside of the studio…”

“I’m surprised! There are lots of bronies in town that I know of… in fact I’m gonna go tell them that I got to meet you, heh… Oh, um… one thing… I noticed your uh… um…” he didn’t seem to know how to ask the question properly… so he just said it bluntly, “Is your eye really messed up? Or is it just for the show?”

Derpy wasn’t sure how to feel about the question, but she simply relaxed her muscles in her eye, allowing it to trail off a bit, giving her the signature ‘derp’ look.

“Ah! There we go! I’m sorry, I was just wondering, it looked normal and I just wasn’t sure… I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with it, it’s part of why we like you!...” he suddenly got quiet, his head sinking a bit, “I hope I didn’t offend you by asking…”

She smiled, walking over and ruffling his hair, “Why would I be mad at a fan? You’re awesome, and it was just a question, nothing to be ashamed about…”

He looked up, smiling at her, “Thanks… I need to head out, my friends are waiting.  I can’t wait to tell them about this!” he quickly grabbed a cookie from the display and rushed out the front door with a huge spring in his step. Derpy couldn’t help but smile, letting him run off while she looked through town a bit longer.


She talked with a few ponies over the course of the day, but nothing turned up as good as the bakery. She decided to head over to the school to pick up her daughter, even though it was a little early. 

She waited outside of the schoolhouse with a few other parents. As they waited for their kids they chatted amongst themselves about this and that, Derpy merely stayed off to the side, not one to really converse with the others. The school bell rang and the children rushed outside. The ones that didn’t meet up with their parents went off to the playground. Dinky was running to try and get to the merry-go-round first, but Derpy called out to her, “Dinky! Over here sweety!”

Dinky skidded to a halt, turning around, “Mom! You’re off early!”

She smiled awkwardly, “Yeah… I am… you ready to head on home?” 

“Yeah! Let’s go!” She quickly hopped into her saddlebag, getting comfortable before Derpy lifted up into the sky, heading towards their little home.

Along the way, a thought came to mind, “Sweety, you wanna try and learn to fly today?”

Dinky’s eyes widened at the suggestion, her heart pounding with anticipation, “YEAH! Please please please PLEEEAASE!” 

“heh, okay, okay… Let’s find ourselves a nice fluffy cloud to practice on…”

Derpy happily trained her little girl in the ways of flying, being sure to keep her in a safe position while she practiced. Slowly but surely they made progress, but more importantly the two were bonding. A mother and daughter spending quality time together, building up a wonderful relationship that would last a lifetime…