Derpy Hooves, an abandoned filly who wants nothing more than a friend, sees a rainbow overhead, and decides to follow it.
A small, grey filly sat awkwardly on her haunches, staring in wonder towards the sky. Her mismatched, amber eyes were widening in joy as she gazed up at the beautiful rainbow that was forming overhead. Rainbows had always given her wonderful waves of nostalgia, reminding her of her one pleasant memory-of her mother. This is the story of how a lost and abandoned filly came to once again feel the comforting embrace of someone who cared, someone who loved her, someone who treasured her.
It was a lively Thursday morning in Cloudsdale, and Celestia's sun was slowly making it's way up into the sky, It's bright white beams hitting the cloud buildings and casting large shadows over the great city. Most ponies were up and about, some flying swiftly, others lazily strolling on their hooves to where ever it was they were going, whether it was work, the post office, out of town, or even school. School. Derpy went there everyday. She would play with the other foals outside, and learn lots of neat stuff, and she had tons of friends that she always went on adventures with. At least, she liked to pretend she did.
The small, grey filly groggily opened her eyes, the great yellow orb in the sky penetrating her eyelids and forcing her mind awake. Slowly, she got to her hooves, and shuffled clumsily out of her home- a small, tattered cardboard box with a tarp thrown over it in a failed attempt to keep the rain out. Luckily, however, it wasn't raining today, and the filly was greeted with a warm sensation on her face as she stepped out into the cluttered ally way.
The place she called home was absolutely filthy. On either side of her box stood two dumpsters, each piled high with large, black garbage bags, courtesy of the restaurants that stood on either side of the ally. All throughout the area, It smelled like something had crawled into a Porto-potty and died, much to the delight of the flies that happily danced around the putrid bins, searching for a good place to lay their eggs. The cracked pavement beneath Derpy's hooves was overgrown with weeds, some of which crawled up the worn, brick walls of the restaurants and splayed out, as if they were asking desperately for the buildings to give them a hug. That's how Derpy always liked to think of it, anyway. They wanted to be loved, just as she did.
The filly shook her messy mop of blonde hair and arched her back as she stood among the trash, and smiled. The place certainly wasn't beautiful, well, actually it could scarcely be described as livable, however, this was Derpy's home, and she was glad to have it. After yawning loud enough to disturb her 'house guests,' as she called them, from their buzzing, she began her daily one and a half mile trek towards the school. Although she wasn't enrolled there, she loved spending her week days sitting by the fence, and watching as the other foals enjoyed their recess. They always looked like they were having such a great time, and she longed to join them, though she knew that probably wouldn't happen. Even if they had noticed her sitting there and walked over, or If she could gain the courage to walk up to them after school, she knew they probably wouldn't like her.
First of all, she smelled almost as bad as her humble abode, not having a decent place to bathe herself. Second, she was covered in grime from when she had gone dumpster diving the night before in search of some fresh scraps from the dinner rush. Her coat and mane had multiple layers of crust from this, relieving them of their softness and bright color. Then, there was her right eye. Instead of looking straight ahead like she wanted it to, it would always point towards the sky. It had been that way for as long as she could remember. Then, to top it all off, she was a klutz, dumb as a rock, could never speak in eloquent phrasing, and said stupid things. At least, that's what her dad had always told her. He knew she was worthless, would never be good for anything, would never achieve anything. That's why he kicked her out three years ago, why he rid himself of the burden. Derpy always figured he was right, the no one would ever love her, since the evidence was all around her. No one ever talked to her, heck, barely anyone ever acknowledged her presence. The only reason she knew she wasn't a ghost was because every once in a while, someone would throw a bit or two into the little cup she would bring with her to the school.
Derpy had always wondered If she had always been so un-lovable. The only reason this question would occasionally pop into her mind was the memory of her mother. She was the only pony, at least as far as Derpy could remember, that had ever, even for a little bit, loved her. The only memory Derpy had of her was one of her favorites, mainly because it was the only happy one, the only one when she felt loved. As Derpy leaned against the school yard fence, listening to the other children giggling and carrying on, she began to recall the memory, as she often did when she needed comforting.
"Hey, mommy?" Derpy squeaked, just above a whisper. The light green mare turned her head slightly, looking back at her daughter from the door way, and peaking out from underneath her bright orange mane. She smiled warmly.
"Yes, love?" she cooed in the elegant voice that Derpy recalls. She took a few steps toward her daughter, where she lay consumed in her comforter, snuggled warmly in her bed.
"Will you tell me a bed time story? The one about the leprechauns?" the filly whispered, looking at her mother with pleading, puppy dog eyes that were simply impossible to say no to. The mare's smile widened.
"Of course sweet heart, just let me grab a chair," she said. With this, she slowly walked to the other side of the room, grabbing a small chair between her fore-hooves and using her wings to lift herself, and the seat, off of the floor, and over to Derpy. She situated herself in the chair, and then sighed, once again bringing out her beautiful grin. "Well," she began, " there once was a land, long ago, in which the leprechauns lived happily with one another." Derpy smiled up at her, and she continued her story. "The most important spirit in their land was that of happiness, and there was great power that this spirit held. And so, whenever there was a leprechaun who had lost his happiness, they would sit in a circle and play beautiful music for everyone to hear. Their joy would burst into the air and create rainbows that stretched far and wide. Once the rainbows were made, then their adventure would begin. The leprechauns would follow the rainbows in search of the treasure that they always held at their ends."
"Ooh! Ooh!," Derpy cut in, catching her mother of guard and startling her slightly. " And then, when they found it, they gave it to all the sad leprechauns, right?" Her mother smiled, allowing a light chuckle to escape her lips.
"Yes, they did indeed, for the treasure that the rainbows hid had the power to bring joy to all who possessed it. And so, all of the leprechauns all through out the land could be happy once again," she finished, leaning over and kissing Derpy on the forehead. "Good night, little one. Sleep tight." With that, the mare left the room, closing the door behind her.
Derpy let out a long sigh, the end of the memory dragging her back to reality. She wished her mommy was still there, hugging her and telling her stories. "Maybe," she thought solemnly, "Maybe, If she were still alive, she could have kept be from becoming....this." She scowled at her reflection in a small puddle that had formed on the sidewalk, and kicked it, scattering the image. She sat back down, hanging her head in shame of herself. She looked over at a small group of fillies and colts, who previously, had been rather quiet. At this point, they had created quite a scene, however. A small cyan filly sporting a frizzy rainbow mane, was guarding a slightly taller, yet much meeker looking, yellow filly, who hid behind her flowing pink mane. The cyan filly was screaming at a couple of colts, who continued to smirk at her even through her courageous defense. Derpy couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but what she could tell, was that that cyan filly must have been an awesome friend to have. She really wished that filly could be her friend, though she knew it would never happen. Derpy continued to watch, rather interested in the scene that was playing out before her.
The cyan filly was now on a starting line, along with the same two colts from before. The yellow filly had a checkered flag in her mouth, holding it in the air above her head. When the three looked like they were about to explode off of the cloud, the yellow filly lowered her head, and was immediately blown off of her cloud by the wind the three racers created. The cyan filly was in the lead almost immediately, and one of the colts smashed into a cloud pillar no later. Derpy cringed as he did so, but had to remove her eyes from the sight so she could watch the rest. After looking for where the two had gone for a few moments, she spotted them, neck and neck as they raced along the course. Then, out of no where, the colt bumped into the filly, and began to speed towards the ground. What happened next is something that Derpy would remember for the rest of her life.
The filly sped after him at such a speed that she whizzed by him in a cyan bur, forcing him to the side and into a cloud. She continued to pick up speed however, even though she was now unopposed. Then, a miracle. The explosion could be heard all throughout Cloudsdale as the filly lurched forward, creating a ring of beautiful spectra and leaving a rainbow trail behind her. Derpy couldn't believe what she was seeing. That filly, despite her size, had created a rainbow. It stretched across the sky, following it's creator as she zoomed across the sky. A tear escaped from Derpy's eye as she watched, and a large smile crept onto her face, one that hadn't been seen on her face since she was very small. That filly had made a rainbow, just like the leprechauns did.
"I wonder," she thought as she watched the filly land, the spectra slowly fading behind her, "If I followed that rainbow, like the leprechauns did, maybe I could find treasure." she smiled to herself, a little glimmer of hope that had died out long ago, glowed in her heart.
Rainbow Dash stood in the center of a large crowd of foals, all of which were gawking in amazement at the awesome cyan filly. She stood puffing out her chest and striking poses as If she were getting her picture taken, and she was beaming ear to ear. She took everything in, the praise from all of her class mates, the disgruntled faces of her opponents, the warm feeling in her heart. Everyone loved her, and she knew it. And why wouldn't they? She was without a doubt the coolest filly any of them had ever had the pleasure of laying their eyes upon. She just pulled off a stunt that was considered mythological, impossible for even the most elite flyers to pull off. She would probably even be in the papers tomorrow! She could become famous for this! She could-
Her train off thought was interrupted when a sudden movement across the schoolyard was caught in the corner of her eye. There was a shrub near the gate to the school that was being rustled in, what could almost be described as, a violent manner, as if someone was grabbing it by it's base and attempting to strangle it. Wasn't everyone already over here? Even the teachers were! Why would anyone still be on the other side of the yard after seeing that spectacular stunt? And she knew they saw it, too. Almost everyone in Equestria probably saw it! Her curiosity peaked as she saw the shrub wiggle again, and what appeared to be a yellow rope flicked around the side. She left her fans to talk among themselves as she made her way over to the shrub, determined to find out what could possibly be more interesting about a decorative plant, than meeting the filly who performed a sonic rainboom!
As she got closer, a fowl stench began to invade her nostrils. She scrunched up her muzzle in disgust, the putrid aroma intensifying as she stood just feet away from the now stock still bush. She waited a few moments, expecting the shrub to shift again. The plant stood in silence, almost as if it could sense the presence of the filly, like it was prey hoping to be overlooked by it's predator. After a minute or so, Dash decided to speak up.
"Hello?" she asked, wondering if who ever was moving the bush was even there anymore. "Is anyone back there? Hello~," she said again, beginning to get impatient, her curiosity driving her mad. When she still received no response, she scowled at the bush, grumbling lowly at the uncooperative nature of it's occupant. Deciding she had no other option, and without warning to the bush, Dash leaped into the air and dove for the other side. "Hey! Why wont you answer m-!" Dash's yelling quickly came to a halt as she laid her eyes upon the little ball of grey fur, which was shivering in fear and gazing up at her with widened eyes. It was just a little filly, and by the looks-and smell of her, she desperately needed a bath. Dash made a mental note to listen to her dad the next time he told her to do so. Only one of her amber eyes was looking straight at her, while the other looked lazily toward her bangs. Her mane was a scraggly, blonde mess, along with her tail, which Dash now realized was the thing she had mistaken for rope. The two fillys just stared at each other for a while, neither quite sure what to say.
"Umm..." Dash began, now feeling guilty for her previous anger, "Are-are you okay? I-I didn't mean to scare you. I just..just..." Dash wasn't sure how to finish her sentence. She was afraid of upsetting the filly even further if she said the wrong thing. The thoughts of her recent rainboom were wiped clean from her mind as she continued to look at the filly, and she slowly lowered herself back onto the ground. As Rainbow's hooves touched the cloud surface of the yard, the grey filly averted her eyes, focusing on a tuft of cloud that didn't seem particularly interesting to Rainbow. Keeping her gaze on the tuft, the filly slowly rose to her hooves, still trembling slightly, though more out of nervousness than fear at this point.
"H-hi," the walleyed filly stuttered. "M-my names Derpy," she paused for a moment before looking back up at the cyan filly. "A-are you a leprechaun?" she asked in all seriousness, with a bit of new found excitement in her voice. Rainbow fought to hold back a snicker at this, though a smile still found it's way onto her lips.
"Umm, well, last I checked I was a pony. If I were a leprechaun, I think I'd probably be a lot shorter and have an accent." Dash tried her best to look pleasant as she said this, hoping the response wouldn't upset Derpy. Still, the grey filly hung her head at this, obviously disappointed. Derpy had really hoped this filly was a leprechaun in disguise or something, making rainbows so that all the other ponies, including her, could be happy. Rainbow noticed the change in her features, and quickly tried to fix the issue. "Well, you could always pretend that I'm a leprechaun! I mean, that would be a problem with me anyway!" Derpy looked back at Rainbow and smiled meekly. At this point, Rainbow remembered why she had come over here in the first place. "Hey, so, um, what were you doing over here? You're the only one that wasn't over in that crowd with me." Rainbow gestured with her fore hoof towards the crowd of foals and teachers on the other side of the yard, which had begun to disperse at this point. She then returned her attention towards the grimy filly in front of her. "Also, are you like, new here or something? I don't really recognize you." Derpy's smile faded, and she looked at the tuft again.
"Well, I-I just-I saw you make a rainbow, and I r-really wanted to meet a-a leprechaun, so I came in here, but then I got r-really nervous 'cause I knew you wouldn't l-like me, so I hid in this bush instead." She fell back on her haunches and began weeping quietly. Her chances of finally making a friend were now gone. The cyan filly now knew she was a coward, and to a courageous, rainbow-making filly like her, she must have seemed worthless. She knew she shouldn't expect any more than being discarded again. That what had happened every other time she tried talking to other ponies. They looked at her like she had three heads, and walked away. It was because of this, that she was surprised to feel a hoof on her chin, lifting it up so she was once again looking at the cyan filly. She didn't look disgusted, or angry, or bored with her. Instead, she had a warm, sympathetic smile on her face. Ignoring the fact that Derpy was covered in Celestia knows what, Rainbow pulled her into a hug. Derpy was caught completely off guard, and froze for a couple moments before cautiously returning the hug.
"Derpy," Rainbow spoke, catching Derpy's attention,"what the hay made you think I wouldn't like you? I mean, you definitely seem a whole lot nicer than those colts I just kicked the flanks off of." Derpy giggled at this remark, and Rainbow pulled back from the hug. "My name is Rainbow Dash, by the way, but most folks just call me Rainbow," she explained. The smile on Derpy's face rivaled the one she wore when she first gazed upon the rainbow, and with the joy that filled her heart at this moment, she was sure that this filly was really a leprechaun, spreading happiness to everyone. She finally made a friend.
"So," Derpy began, with a hint of confusion in her voice,"you don't think I'm weird? My-my eye doesn't scare you? You think I'm nice?" she finished, her excitement making itself known.
"Well, yeah! You haven't said anything mean, so you must be, right?" Rainbow said before looking at her fore hooves and chest, which were now coated in some sort of grease. "Although, maybe a bath wouldn't hurt." Derpy blushed slightly, embarrassed by the realization that the first thing she had done as someone's friend was cover them in filth.
"Yeah, sorry. I would take a bath, but I don't have a tub.....or enough water to fill one," Derpy sighed and looked back at her friend, who now wore a confused expression.
"What do you mean you don't have a tub? Everyone has a tub, or a shower, or something!" Derpy's blush intensified. She knew it was weird for someone to not have a tub, but it was the truth. She had no tub, no water, no soap, and no place to put any of it.
"Well, I don't have one. I guess it's just one more thing that makes me weird," Derpy frowned, and again she eyed the tuft of cloud next to her hoof.
"Well, whats so bad about being weird? My dad always told me it's better to be weird, 'cause otherwise there wouldn't be anything special about ya," Rainbow stated, proud that she could use her father's words in context. "Hey!" she exclaimed with sudden realization," you could use my tub if you wanted! I'm sure my dad wouldn't mind!" Just the thought of being clean again after building up three years of filth made Derpy want to jump with joy.
"Yeah!" she yelled, overjoyed at the idea," That would be awesome! Thanks!" With this, Derpy tackled Rainbow in a vise-like hug, knocking the wind from the cyan filly.
*cough* "Yeah, sure-*gasp*-thing-ugh-hey, Derpy?"
"Yup!" Derpy exclaimed, completely oblivious to the fact that she was choking the life out of her new friend.
"Um, you think you could-*cough*-get off of me?" Rainbow managed, her voice sounding rather labored.
"Hmm? Oh! Yeah!" Derpy giggled as she climbed off of Rainbow, who inhaled deeply, eager to inflate her lungs again. "Sorry! I just-I'm so excited! No ones ever invited me to their house before, let alone let me use their bath!" The filly was jumping with excitement, still focused on the idea of being inside someone's home, rather than just looking in.
"Well," Rainbow said as she got to her hooves,"I gotta get going. Recess is ending," she said, looking towards the crowd of foals who were crowding towards the teachers to begin lessons again. "Meet me here after school, and I promise we'll get all that....stuff off of you." With that, she hopped into the air, gave Derpy one last smile, and flew off towards the class. Derpy's cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling, but she didn't care. She finally made a friend! A friend who was going to let her use her bath! Maybe things would be better now. Maybe things could go back to the way they were when she had her mommy.
Maybe she had finally found the treasure at the end of the rainbow.
The two fillies walked along one of the many sidewalks of Cloudsdale, chatting obnoxiously, both excited to learn more about each other. Though Rainbow was still immensely confused as to why someone had built a house without a tub, not to mention, why Derpy's family had decided to move to such a place, she decided she shouldn't ask. She didn't want to be rude, and she figured that the grey filly's parents had their reasons. Instead, she asked one of the most basic questions that anyone could have thought of asking.
"So, how old are you? I'm ten!" the cyan filly exclaimed, proud to be in the double digits finally.
"I'm ten too!" Derpy gasped, her excitement somehow increasing from before with the fact that she and her new friend were the same age. Then, however, she paused, placing her fore hoof on her chin and scrunching up her face, her orange tongue sticking out slightly. "Well, at least I'm pretty sure I'm ten...." she continued to think for a few more moments before lowering her hoof, nodding, and smiling. "Yup! I'm ten." she finished before continuing to walk along with her friend. Rainbow had a look of complete and utter confusion flooding across her face, staring at Derpy and trying to analyze whether she was being serious or not. Again, she just decided not to ask, and shook her head, ridding herself of the odd expression.
"She's even weirder than I thought," she mumbled under her breath, just quiet enough so Derpy couldn't hear her. After a few more minutes of trotting, the two fillies came upon a walkway that led up to a humble looking, two story cloud home, with white fencing around the perimeter of the yard. Although it was just a typical home to Rainbow, Derpy looked upon it as if it were a castle as they approached the front steps.
"So, this is where you live?! This is so cool!" she gasped in astonishment.
"Well, yeah, but it isn't that cool. It looks just like all the other houses on the street. Sonic rainbooms though, those are cool! Which is why I'm cool!" said the cyan filly proudly, puffing out her chest and grinning. Derpy giggled at her slight arrogance.
"What do you mean it isn't cool? Your house is like a bazillion times bigger than... m-my.." Instead of finishing her sentence, the filly abruptly collapsed forward onto the pathway, her legs buckling underneath her. Rainbow gasped at the sudden collapse, being caught completely off guard by the fall. Luckily, Rainbow was able to stretch out her wing just in time to catch Derpy's head before it hit the cobblestone below.
"Derpy! Are you okay?" she asked in panic, hoping that her friend hadn't hurt herself too badly. After waiting for a few moments, and getting no response from the grey filly, Rainbow noticed that all four of her hooves were jerking around in an almost violent manner, her tail was flicking rapidly, and her chest was heaving. "D-Derpy?" she asked again, her panic increasing ten fold with the fact that she was not getting a response. The eyes of the twitching filly were shut tightly, yet Rainbow could see that they were moving frantically underneath her eyelids. "Derpy!" she yelled again. Not knowing what else to do, she placed her fore hooves on the filly's side and pushed forward, shaking her as if she were trying to wake her up. "Derpy! Derpy!" Suddenly, the door behind the two burst open, revealing a frantic looking light purple stallion, who was sporting a rainbow mane that looked very similar to his daughter's.
"Rainbow! What's going on? Are you okay?!" the stallion yelled, before noticing the grey filly beneath his daughter, twitching violently. "Oh Celestia," he said under his breath before rushing down the stairs towards the pair.
"Dad! What's happening? What's wrong with her?" Rainbow sobbed, fearful that something bad had happened to her friend.
"It's okay Rainbow, just give her some space, sweetheart," he said, a hint of panic still clear in his voice. He held her head in his wings to keep her from slamming it into the ground, and the cyan filly cautiously backed away from the two. Over the next several minutes, tears continued to escape the filly's eyes as she watched her friend's twitching form in the yard, and she hoped desperately that her dad was right, that Derpy would be okay. Sure enough, Derpy's motions soon slowed and her eyes relaxed, as did her breathing. Soon, the twitching had stopped all together, and the grey filly opened her eyes, once again revealing the mismatched amber orbs.
"Derpy! Are you okay? " Rainbow cried, running over to the filly, who still lay on the ground with wings supporting her head.
"Wha-? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine!" Derpy responded with a smile, acting as if nothing had happened. She then attempted to stand back up, but the stallion holding her head put a hoof on her chest and gently pushed her back down.
"Hold on there, you might not want to stand up just yet. We wouldn't want you falling over again."
"Derpy," the filly said with a smile.
"Wha-?"
"Derpy!" she repeated. "My name's Derpy! And I'm fine, I promise! I fall over like this all the time! I just get back up and keep on going! Just 'cause I'm clumsy doesn't mean I have to stay on the ground when I fall, silly!" Rainbow and the stallion looked at each other in confusion, and then back at the smiling grey filly, who was now slowly picking herself up off the ground. She had acted so oblivious to the incident because she was oblivious. The stallion thought for a moment. Did she just say this happened all the time?
"Um, Derpy, maybe you should go home. You don't seem like you're in any condition to be walking around with out an adult," the stallion said, a worried look still plastered across his face. After hearing this, Derpy's cheerful smile quickly died, and it was replaced with a large frown and sad, soulful eyes.
"But-but Rainbow said I could use her tub! I don't wanna go home yet! I just got here!" she squeaked, sounding as if she would burst into tears at any moment.
"Wait," the stallion pondered, "why do you want to use our tub? Don't you ha-"
"No, she doesn't have one," Rainbow interrupted, earning a stern look from her father. She ignored the look and continued. "So, since she obviously needs a bath," she motioned towards the grey filly, practically surrounded in an aura of stink,"I told her she could use ours." The stallion took a minute to think about this. No decent house, or even apartment would be built without an area for a bath.
"Derpy," he began, his worried look reappearing on his face,"just where do you live?" Derpy lowered her head and found a new tuft of cloud to look at.
"In between 54 and 55 Mane Street," she replied, ashamed of her address, if one could call it that. The stallion sighed, his suspicion confirmed. Rainbow was trying to figure out what was in between those two buildings, the implication not being able to breach the mind of a foal.
"And, you live there with your parents?" he asked, really hoping that she at least wasn't alone.
"No," she replied, still eyeing the tuft,"there isn't really enough room for anyone else anyway." Derpy was practically drowning in shame. She knew it was weird for a filly her age to live alone, but she never had much of a choice. She had tried to avoid this topic in her previous attempts to make friends, but when it did come up, the other foals would look at her funny, then avoid eye contact and leave her. She was terrified that this would happen again, and she would lose her friend. When she finally looked back up, she saw that the stallion was holding his head in his right hoof, his eyes closed. She looked to the left of him and saw Rainbow just sitting and staring at her, a look of utter confusion etched onto her face. She was still unable to comprehend Derpy's situation, and her mind was working furiously to figure out what a filly would live alone and where 54.5 Mane Street was. Derpy, however, saw this as a sign that she should leave. She didn't want to bother anyone. When the stallion heard the sound of hooves clopping on the ground, he looked up and saw that the filly was nearly at the gate to the yard.
"Whoa! Whoa! We're do you think your going?" the stallion said, trotting after the forlorn filly. "Come on, let's go inside, you need to be under supervision. Besides, you really could use a bath." The stallion smiled down at the filly and wrapped his wing around her side. Derpy gasped in excitement, and threw her fore hooves around his neck. He still liked her! He wasn't bothered by her! She still had her friend, and they we're still going to let her use their bath! The stallion scooped her up off the ground in his wing and began walking towards the door.
"Oh, and Derpy," the stallion began, looking back at the filly and grinning, "you can call me Dad."
Derpy sat happily in her cushy chair, looking around at the pictures hung around the waiting room. There was a picture of a pony wearing a rainbow wig and a clown nose, one of a blue butterfly with silver spots, and, Derpy's favorite, an elephant balancing all four of his legs on a beach small. It really was way to small for that elephant.
"Derpy Hooves?" The filly looked away from the silly elephant and towards the door to the waiting room, where a light pink mare stood wearing a white cap donned with a red cross. She was holding a clipboard in her hoof, and wore a cheery smile on her face. Derpy responded with a goofy smile, and waved her fore hoof in the air like she was swatting a fly.
"Hi!" the filly said rather loudly. The lavender stallion sitting next to her sighed and laughed lightly to himself, before getting on his hooves and encouraging the filly to do the same with his wing.
"Come on Derpy, It's time to go see the doctor," he said, finally coaxing the filly out of her chair and towards the nurse. Though he wore a smile on his face, his nerves were running wild. During their last appointment, the doctor had looked rather concerned after the examination he had given Derpy. He didn't say anything really, just that It may be in their best interest allow him to take a scan of the filly's brain. They were here now to get the results of that scan. Though he wasn't related to the filly in any way, he cared for her deeply. Ever since Rainbow had brought her home, she hadn't ceased to make his heart melt and a put a smile on his face. That, and he felt a great deal of responsibility for her. He couldn't just let her go back to being homeless. She didn't deserve that. Not by a long shot. He could only imagine how lonely she had been, how sad she must have been. He needed to make her feel happy, make her feel loved again, make her feel safe. He didn't want to fail her, which is why he felt as though he was going to be sick as the nurse led them into a room- the room where the answers to Derpy's health troubles lie.
Derpy had lived with him and Rainbow for about a month now, and at least once every other day she had an episode. Rainbow had gotten used to this, and had ceased crying every time it happen, though she was still shaken each time. She understood that there wasn't much she could do about it, and that Derpy would eventually wake up, but the sight was always unsettling to the filly. She always felt the need to hug her every time she woke up. Rainbow seemed to care about Derpy just as much as her dad did- their dad did.
Ever since Rainbow had discovered that Derpy had never learned how to fly, she became dead set on teaching her, like it was her sisterly duty to bring flight to the walleyed filly. Every day at school, Rainbow dedicated her recess to flight lessons. At first, Derpy was very shy to the idea, since the few times she had tried she crashed pretty hard, and was sore for weeks afterwards. It took an immense amount of coaxing to get her to finally climb a tree, and Rainbow came pretty close to just giving up and pushing her out of it when she refused to jump. The same two dim-witted colts that had raced Rainbow were beginning to poke fun at the nervous filly, one of the more friendly nicknames being, 'a dumb dodo bird.' The unpleasant remarks had earned one a swift punch to the jaw, and the other, a powerful kick to the stomach. Rainbow may have been smaller, but she was a whole heck of a lot tougher, and seeing Derpy cry unlocked her rage vault. She would have continued if it weren't for Cloud Kicker pulling her back away from the now grounded colts. Derpy had watched the whole scene play out. Rainbow was always loyal to her friends. She always cared for her friends. She would do anything for them. Derpy had to do something in return, to make her proud.
Closing her eyes, she exhaled slowly like she had been told, flared her wings, and jumped. She braced herself for impact, expecting to meet the ground with a sharp pain like last time. After a few moments, nothing happened. A few more seconds. Still nothing. She cracked her good eye open, and saw Rainbow looking up at her. Looking up at her. She gasped as she realized this- she was hovering in mid air. She was flying. She got so excited that she started kicking her legs with joy, jumping being out of the question. However, the sporadic kicking caused her to lose her balance, and she fell the remaining five feet onto the ground. She didn't care though. She finally flew. Rainbow came flying over to her and wrapped the dazed and giggling filly in a hug.
"You did it, Derpy! I knew it! I knew you could do it!" she exclaimed, wrapping her legs even tighter around the grey filly. Derpy continued giggling, and looked Rainbow in the eye.
"I couldn'a done it without my lucky leprechaun!" she laughed, returning the hug in full force, nearly choking Rainbow for the second time in under two weeks. When she finally released the gasping cyan filly, she was met with a playful punch to the shoulder.
"So, I'm still a leprechaun, then?" she smirked, amused that Derpy was still in that mindset.
"Yup! And you're my leprechaun!" she replied, once again attacking Rainbow with a hug, though much less violently this time. Rainbow grinned widely.
"Alright, if I'm the leprechaun, then you are my hidden treasure, Derpy!" Rainbow replied, proud of her creative remark. Derpy just giggled again and held the embrace. She never ever wanted to leave her leprechaun.
Back in the white, bleached doctor's office, the filly and her dad sat patiently, awaiting the doctor's arrival. Derpy sat on the cot in to the right of the room, and stared intently at the colorful balloon-pattern wallpaper, while the stallion sat next to her in a chair similar to those in the waiting room, staring at the clock. It had already been ten minutes since the nurse had brought them to the confined area, and he was growing increasingly anxious. He couldn't stand waiting anymore. If that doctor didn't walk in in the next minute, he decided he was going to get up and look for him. He continued to watch the minute hand as it ticked around in it's little circle at a painfully slow rate. Just as he was about to get up, he heard the door knob turning. He looked over to see the same white stallion he had met with at the previous appointment, still wearing his black reading glasses and white lab coat that seemed to blend in with him. There was no expression what so ever on his face, giving the purple stallion no way of knowing what was to come. The doctor walked in, seating himself on a small wooden stool on the far side of the room. He looked at the stallion, then to Derpy, who was still admiring the walls, then back to the stallion.
"Well," he spoke in a slightly gruff voice,"let's cut to the chase then, shall we?" he removed what looked to be a laminated piece of paper from his saddle bag and pinned it up on a cork board. "When you told me about the seizures, and their frequency, I wasn't exactly sure what the problem could have been," he said, adjusting himself on the stool, clearly uncomfortable. "But at this point I am fairly sure of what caused them, and it may have even contributed to her lazy eye. This condition can sometimes cause the connection between the brain and the eyes to falter, resulting in an inability to move both, or in this case, one of them properly." He continued to readjust himself. The purple stallion across from him looked like he was about to explode with anxiety. The doctor knew what he was waiting for- he just didn't want to say it. He always hated this part. He grabbed a small pointing stick in his hoof and turned towards the image pinned on the cork board, Derpy's brain scan.
"Here," he said, pointing to a small white blotch about the size of a ping-pong ball, which stood out against the gray of the rest of the image,"is where the problem lies," he finished, once again readjusting his seat. "I'm very sorry to be the one to tell you this," he continued, "but Derpy has a small mass of irregular cells growing in-"
"Oh, just say it!" the purple stallion snapped, before looking over at Derpy, who was now at attention, and burying his face in his hooves. He sighed loudly, before speaking in an almost inaudible voice.
