There was no helping it anymore and she understood why, the fact was simply that she stood out too much. Everything from her sunshine mane that messily graced her brow to the sleek grey pelt that stretched over her slender haunches, they all made her feel...different.
The ponies of which she had always seen were like that of the rainbow,some more so than others. A smile always graced her dainty features when they smiled to her, one that quickly faded once their eyes averted her own.
Every pony has a special talent, a thing only they can do. To many, the peculiar seven bubbles that graced the mail mare's flank only served to bewilder them more so.
If her special talent was that to bubbles why not peruse a career in said field? A burning question left unanswered, that is until now.
~~~~oOo~~~~
o
O
o
o Little Bubbles
O
o
o
The grey mare trotted along on her way to work as she had always done, the gaze she earned for walking to and fro made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as she continued on as if it had not. It had become normal for her, something she could only dream of being.
The suns glow bathed the clouds in a glorious mix of golden yellows and ruby reds, many of the children had awoken early to partake in the first day of their long awaited break from schooling.
The grey mare stood still, taking in the sight of such joy as the wind danced in her mane. A soft giggle escaped her lips from the sensation of fine hairs against her ears.
Her chest tightened as the children halted, their eyes looking to her own as if she had intruded upon their joy. In Ponyville the looks she got were ones of tolerance,ones that allowed the beating of her heart to calm. Alas in Cloudsdaile, it was not the case.
Another tight squeeze grasped her heart as her voice seemed lost in the moment.For a moment she felt as of her heart had stopped as they looked at her, a mare that did not belong. Their gazes turned from her and the air returned to her lungs once more.
The smile crossed her features once more as she made her way to the mail building the best she could. It was another day in the life, just not the one she always dreamed of.
The other ponies would stop and stare for she was a special mare,
with little bubbles upon her flank and a heart no one could shake.
~~~~oOo~~~~
Scootaloo awoke after the sun had nestled itself high above the town,rubbing the sleep from her purple eyes. Today for sure she was going to earn her cutie mark, she was positive! Unlike the other hundred or so tries this one was different, today Rainbow Dash was going to teach her to fly.
Her heart began to beat in her chest faster and faster as she approached her helmet and scooter. A warming sensation pumping steadily in her blood as the adrenaline began to course through her veins.
Today was the day, she could feel it.
After all, the only thing worse than being a blank flank is being a Pegasus that cannot fly.
The little orange ears perked up and twitched suddenly, her eyes turned up to her ceiling, half expecting Rainbow Dash to come through her window with the colors trailing behind her in true epic fashion. A crack sprung to life before her, by the time it had multiplied it was already too late.
The next thing she knew the air had fled from her lungs and a peculiar grey mail mare was now sprawled out on top of her. "S..sorry...are you okay?" Escaped the heaving pony above her as she slowly leaned into a slump, her eyes closed.
--------------------- Scootaloo now sat with a confused Sweetie Belle to her right and a concerned Apple Bloom to her left. Its not like they knew who to call regarding Derpy. No pony as far as they knew, had any idea who she was related to. Some did think Dinky Might have been her child or sister but after Roseluck came to claim the filly it was proven to be not the case.
Family or not, the grey mare was before them nonetheless and in need of help.
Apple Bloom moved to kick the rubble off of her, a neat trick Apple Jack taught her earlier. The many uses of bucking for more than just farm work. " She dosent look at all right, shes breathin too slow.." The yellow filly leaned down to nuzzle they grey mare, the scent of blueberry muffins filling her nose as she grazed against her soft fur.
Sweetie walked over, gasping at the amount of dirt covering the mail mare. If Rarity could see this now she was sure her sister would do more than just revive her. Then it hit her.
" Girls! I know!! Lets get her all cleaned up. Cutie mark crusader Nurses!!" The white unicorn called out with glee, Today was the day for a cutie mark indeed.
"Lets get her into the tub girls and get her all cleaned up, we don't want our first patient to be dirty now do we?" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom smiled eagerly as all three worked to lift the exceptionally heavy mare, carefully walking to the bathroom in unison.
"I want mine to be a nurses bonnet!" Exclaimed Sweetie Belle as they approached the tub, clumsily dropping the still out cold grey mare inside.
"I want mine to be a big smile from helpin all the folks in Ponyville.." The earth pony chimed as she turned on the water.
The water ran down the grey mares body,taking with it the dirt and muck as it traveled lower. The water began to weave around her limbs gently and then filling up to her cutie mark.
Those seven little bubbles.
Scootaloo stared at the bubbles, pondering as to what talent earns a bubble cutie mark and how that led to being a mail mare. As she stared at the white bubbles on her flank, they began to shimmer and shine as the water danced around them.
"Uhhh.....Guys...." She called out to the the unicorn and earth pony who now were setting up a bed for the grey mare.
"Our cutie marks are gonna be in journalism because we have the story of the century!!!"
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom ran inside the bathroom in awe.
The mail ponies mane had grown to locks of long silken strands of sunshine, her features rivaling any model they had ever seen from her now regal muzzle and long slender fore legs. Their gaze took in the full glorious sight before them, the hind legs and flank were gone, before them was a long tail with shimmering fins of silver and white.
The wings became angelic looking translucent fins that flowed out of the small tub and onto the floor. Her ears became that of regal fin like adornments, looking more like ornate jewels befitting any queen.
Derpy....was a real Life Seapony.
A soft groan escaped her lips as her eyes slowly opened, the golden eyes looking upon them through long eyelashes.
The mail ponies mane had grown to locks of long silken strands of sunshine, her features rivaling any model they had ever seen from her now regal muzzle and long slender fore legs. Their gaze took in the full glorious sight before them, the hind legs and flank were gone, before them was a long tail with shimmering fins of silver and white.
The wings became angelic looking translucent fins that flowed out of the small tub and onto the floor. Her ears became that of regal fin like adornments, looking more like ornate jewels befitting any queen.
Derpy....was a real Life Seapony.
A soft groan escaped her lips as her eyes slowly opened, the golden eyes looking upon them through long eyelashes.
---------------------
o
O
o
o Little Bubbles
O
o
o
The mail mares hazy vision slowly focused as the colors of the world began to clear, the shapes now definable in her sight. She was unaware what had exactly happened to get her here but the eager faces on the three fillies before her allowed her mind to know something had indeed happened.
She raised a single hoof as the warm liquid embraced her form, the look on her face going from the apologetic smile she came to wear often to a new expression the girls had never quite seen. Her eyes still wondering separate as they always have were no longer an adoring feature, no.
They only served to show the panic in the mail mare...The seaponies heart.
Scootaloo,the first to notice moved herself and the others a few steps back from the shaking seapony.
"Its okay Derpy, don't you worry....every things is gonna be okay, we promise."
The look on The seaponies features softened slowly as the gentle smile graced her tender features, and then a sudden echoing boomed through the hole in the roof.
A flash of colors dashed over the opening and Scootaloo gasped. 'Oh no!'
She leaned down to the others, her tone lower as to not alert rainbow dash who was nearly all the way here in record time. "Girls we gotta hide her!"
"But..shes pretty Scootaloo, I don't think Rainbow is gonna.--" An orange hoof promptly sprung into action,covering the white unicorns mouth.
"Of course Rainbow inset gonna do anything, but chances are she will tell Twilight and she will use her science...and...and...before we know it. BAM! Derpy becomes some attraction at the Canterlot zoo!!! We found her, its OUR responsibility!!" Scootaloo was determined not to let anything bad befall The seapony in the bathtub.
"Quick!! Close the curtain and the door!!!"
The fillies sprang into action, giving Derpy a rubber duckie as they quickly closed the door. The three rested their backs against the door, their little chests heaving as their hearts pounded in unison.
Today was going to be a special day indeed. " We did it.."
"You did what?" The cyan mare asked playfully from the roof.
"It looks like you were redecorating or got the mail Scoots." She chuckled playfully, unaware the subject of her joke was in the adjacent room.
Scootaloo smiled sheepishly up at her mentor, the little smile across those cheeks a near invitation to trouble. " Ha..Good one Rainbow Dash."
Scootaloo was never good at lying or hiding things from her idol.
~~~~oOo~~~~
Derpy stared at the duckie for a moment, her eyes joining in target once again as a soft sight left her lips. Even tho she knew Rainbow Dash meant no harm in her words, she still did not like being the butt of every ponies jokes. Not every pony could fly as well as Rainbow Dash, especially not her.
The little duckie sat upon the waters surface even with her belly, it was days like this where being special had its limits.
Derpy leaned back in the tub, rubbing her eyes. " I think its too late to glamour them...." She sighed, knowing soon enough she was going to have to explain herself.
This was not the first time whilst on land she had reverted to true form. The times it happened were few but always near catastrophic. The last she recalled was little Dinky.
She had been out on her normal rounds in ponyville, deciding it was better to walk than attempt to fly with the weather report of rain on the way. The last thing she needed was to fall from the sky as a seapony and land in sugar cuber corner.
A drizzle she could handle but once her fur becomes sleek with water, her body acts on its own. So she did her very best to avoid the rain under the signings and umbrellas of ponyville. It was just as she was heading back when just as her luck would have it, she fell head first into a rather large puddle outside the school house. The only witness was an amazed little filly with an adorable smile.
She looked like a pup who had finished her first race, something the seapony had always wanted. A little pup of her own. Time went on and Dinky attached herself to her, pouring affection onto the mail mare like no pony, sea or otherwise, had done before. But alas all good things must end, and often a child suffers for the mistakes of the parent.
The scolding Derpy had received from Roseluck was beyond unpleasant. She could still feel her chest tighten every time the white mare glared at her. The harsh words still echoed in her ears.
'Failure...Pathetic....Liar.'
She did not want her child to believe in such nonsense as 'Seaponies'.
They often call her kind Seaponies...even tho they are hardly equine in nature aside from surface characteristics. Mermare was another name labeled onto her species but it hardly did it justice. It is often said when swimming it feels as if one is flying, she may not be the best flyer per say but when it comes to feats of aquatic athletics there is no better than Derpy herself.
Still, the pressing matter was what to do about the fillies. She could not moon blink them yet, it was hardly noon. The window for glamouring had also vanished. She was left but with one option..Tell the truth.
~~~~oOo~~~~
"So whats going on guys? I can tell somethings up.." Rainbow Dash playfully smirked as she approached the fillies. The sound of sloshing water was easily heard through the thin door. What were thy trying to hide? Last week it was a baby Manticore they were going to raise.
The cyan mare snorted as she rolled her rose colored eyes.
'Last week was Manticores who knows maybe they think they found a Seapony.' The idea was enough to make her chuckle out loud. Knowing these three anything was possible...no matter how ridiculous or dangerous...if it meant them getting a cutie mark they would do it.
"Its nothin really....me and Sweetie came over and uh..decided we wanted to be carpenters! Right Sweetie?"
They yellow filly pleaded with her eyes to the little unicorn.
"R..Right!!! But..uhhhhh when we got here everything was fixed so we....."
"WE BLEW A HOLE IN THE ROOF!!" The little orange Pegasus finished up, the three of them smiling angelically in unison.
The cyan mare only stared at them as they spoke, her gaze narrowing more and more as it continued on. "Riiiight...totally makes sense guys..." She watched as the fillies let out a collective sigh of relief, Oh yea...it was certain...
Something was going on.
"Welllllll....We can start our lesson but first I need to use the restroom..."
Their eyes all widened in unison.
'Nailed it.'
She triumphantly made her way to the bathroom, reaching for the door and then suddenly Apple Bloom was now on her leg, quickly followed by Sweetie Belle.
"Say...lets all go get a bite to eat back at the farm...Im sure sis would love to talk to ya.."
"Yea...and then...we....can go have a spa day with my sis...you know relax those key muscles!"
Rainbow Dash was now at a snails pace, dragging along the fillies like the tail to a kite. whatever was behind this door was sure to be one heck of a doozy!
Rainbow opened the door to the bathroom slowly as Scootaloo jumped onto her head to cover her eyes.
"Wai!? wuh!?-----"
Suddenly the cyan mare lost balance and tumbled into the bathroom at full speed, the three fillies hanging on like it was a high speed roller coaster. The impact sending the three tumbling off and onto Rainbows back.
" Derpy!?"
Rainbow called out in surprise.
The three poked there heads over Rainbows, gasping in unison to find the mail mare standing there on four legs.
"Hey there...Rainbow Dash!"
The girls stared at her in shock, was she not a seapony a mere five minuets ago?
Rainbow groaned and got up, this was just a misunderstanding....again..and they were covering for Derpy who had destroyed more stuff...again! How many times can one mare destroy every house she comes in contact with before switching jobs?!
"Ugh....well...Im gonna go get the construction team..again...Im sure glad the mayor decided to create a department for mail mare caused damages." The cyan mare seemed to be in low spirits as she left the bathroom and flew out through the hole.
"Well....Im gonna go back to work guys..."
The grey mare smiled to them as she slowly moved out of the bathroom, leaving them confused and believing it may have been an illusion.
However...the amount of towels on the counter proved otherwise.
Scootaloo turned to the mail mare as she left the room, watching her as she did so, spotting that the intricate silver had not left her tail completely nor had the angel fins from before. "Your hair is still wet... wouldn't want you to catch a cold..right?"
Derpy turned to face those three smiles, feeling a dry lump form in her throat as she swallowed hard.
This was turning into the best day ever for the young fillies, before them they had in hoofs reach the greatest story of all time.
The unassuming mail mare who often destroyed more homes than delivered mail to them was in fact every journalists dream! She was a legendary being, the mermare!
~~~~oOo~~~~
O o O O little Bubbles o o
O
~~~~oOo~~~~
The three fillies before the grey mail mare looked upon her with eyes brimming with utter delight and a thirst for knowledge rivaling many above their own age.
These stares sent shivers down the grey mares spine as she slowly moved to back away, the looks made her Leary of what was going to come. She did not like the way the ponies looked upon her as if she was a defective mare unable to perform what was thought to be the easiest task.
The Ponies ability to love and tolerate was not even really exclusive to their kind if they were different in any way. She had noticed how the pallet of the rainbow had been lavishly doted upon these mares. All colors of the rainbow and one even named as such, sometimes the color of their mane was enough to question if a candy maker was in charge of the color scheme.
If royal purple mane and tail upon a vivid orange body was normal for ponies she would be pleased as punch to be different.
The fillies crept closer to the contemplating mare before them. "So...Derpy....this explains why you cant fly right..."
The grey mare turned to the cocky Scootaloo, seeing as there was no reason why she had to let these babies degrade her even further. Truth be told she may not be some ace flier but get her in the water and prepare to eat her bubbles. "I fly just fine Scootaloo..."
"No..ya really don't miss Derpy,last week ya flew into my window by mistake. You always smash stuff...I reckon you take to swimmin like a fish to water tho."
Derpy focused her slightly wondering eyes onto the small farm filly, part of her heart knew the young one really was trying to be nice but the pun at the end made her sigh obvious enough to alert the girls.
"First off girls, I'm not a fish. Im just like any pony out there.----"
"Except you are a merpony!!" The little unicorn chimed out, cutting of Derpy mid sentance.
"Well..I guess that may be the term but anyway...we basically are just like ---"
"And you have a pretty tail fin and gills!!!" The small earth pony interjected happily, this was the most fun they had ever had by far.
The grey mare took a breath before continuing, making sure that she would not be interrupted a third time. "As I was saying, Im not from here and Im from a place far away called---"
"ARE YOU FROM ATLANTIS!!!?????" The orange Pegasus jumped up and down with utter glee.
The grey mare remained still for a moment, her right eye developing a noticeable twitch. 'How does Twilight and her friends handle them day after day!? they sure aren't the elements of harmony for nothing!'
She took a deep breath looking down at there beaming faces, it was about time she came clean anyways, time for another soul to know her tale.
"I was a young pup in my home of Altaria, the capitol of the merponies. Its the home of the royal palace the equivalent to your Canterlot."
The three fillies moved quickly into what Derpy could only see as 'story time positions' they re grouped quickly and huddled together on Scootaloo's largest pillow, listening intently to every word the grey mermare uttered.
~~~~oOo~~~~
Deep under the sacred waters surrounding greater Equestria a secret world rested at the bottom of blue seas. Among the colored coral and tropical fish of the Equestrian sea a glimmering kingdom of pure pearl,silver and gold. This place was Alteria, home of the mermares and their honored Queen.
Life beneath the waves was similar to the ones of the dry land above, the young pups attended classes and learned of their special talents. While above the term was cutie mark below it was ones shimmer crest as with its land dwelling counterparts it was a special mark reserved only for one. They depicted a special talent of sorts, many of the patterns were that of environmental cleaners, those who worked to preserve their kingdoms beauty and well being.
This was a sacred calling many wished to achieve as was the calling of a royal guard or the ones who studied upland affairs. Every memare was special and vital to their kingdoms success, everyone moving to the same goal. Protect thy Queen and remember thine King.
His majesty fell gravely ill many years ago, leaving the Queen behind with only the memory of her beloved one. The sorrow of loosing her mate of fate nearly led her off the edge and into utter chaotic despair.
They felt more than ponies did, bonded by magic to the one they choose as their special some one until the end of all time leaving the ones who were unlucky enough to loose their other to have a void within their hearts that can never be filled again.
Many years passed after her loss and only one thing soothed her sorrow, one thing proved to lift her heart from its dark hiding place. Her little one with hair of silken sunshine and a special smile that many a brave suitors fought hard to see.
The three fillies gasped listening to her tale of a world under the sea, it was amazing and so very beautiful sounding. If all her people possessed the beauty she had in her true form then this truly was an idealized paradise.
"Derpy....why did you come to land if everything was so wonderful in your home land?" Sweetie belle asked softly as she looked up at the grey mare in a new light, this only proved one should never judge a book by its cover you will never know then if you wont make it your new favorite.
Her tale caused Scootaloo to sigh, the orange filly knew all too well the things others said behind the mail mares back when they thought she wasn't listening. Some cruel things that no pony should ever say about someone who honestly put her all into everything she did.
"Why did you leave home exactly? did something bad happen?" The young Applebloom asked in a somber tone, fearing this fairy tale would soon become a nightmare.
The grey mare nodded and her gaze lowered. "Yes....there was a conflict with the sea dragons..they invaded our home when I was fairly young. Mother was weakened and had only magic enough to send one to the surface to escape..I did not want to leave here all alone but she kept saying I had to go, if they found me they would use me...My talent is too dangerous in the wrong hands."
The three looked to themselves and back to her, the great mystery would be solved for sure..what was her talent. They had found out their idols talents some time ago but this was the great Equestrian mystery that was even greater than the one regarding Silver Spoon and Damond Tiarra's until they discovered they were able to craft such things and use them in a ninja fashion, Who knew right?
Those seven little bubbles that graced her flank meant a special talent that caused a conflict in her homeland. This was going to be the most ineradicable talent next to Celestia and Luna's.
