> Derpy Who? The Story of My Life
>  by Cabral095
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A New Life and a New Light
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
Written by: Cabral095 (AR)

Edited by: SCL3618

Chapter 1 - A New Life, and A New Light.
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From the day I was born, I was rejected; almost all of my life I have been, just because of how I look. My parents kicked me out when I was just a small filly, so I was left all alone to fend for myself. It was extremely hard, especially considering my eyes were never straight. Eventually, I taught myself to look straight; but the strain would become unbearable after just an hour or two. I spent my early life looking for jobs all throughout Cloudsdale.

Everyday was a battle for food and shelter. I didn't make too many friends, and I was often seen on the streets wandering. I just wanted to be alone from everypony. It was easier than being made fun of. 

The orphanage tried to take me in, but I just ran away every time. I was still made fun of their. Except by the caretaker. She was kind. However, I knew that in my condition I wouldn’t be adopted, so I left the orphanage. Childcare agents soon came on the search for me, they wanted me to go back. All I did was hide from them.


When I finally reached my late teens I began my search for a job. However, in the condition I was in, nopony would hire me for a job. I got an occasional ok, and heartfelt yes, but I lost the job after a few days. 

Almost everywhere I went, nicknames like klutz, nincompoop, idiot, and Derpy were constantly thrown at me; they grew on me, like a cancer. Over time, there was one name that seemed to stick on me the most, Ditzy Doo.

After quite some years of off and on jobs, I finally managed to find a small job working in the Cloudsdale weather facility. The job was decent, and I was finally able to afford a small apartment of my own. It was a homely little place, someplace where I could be me with nopony else seeing me. 

I enjoyed my time at home, it was warm, and quiet. I enjoyed the quiet. It was a
sigh of relief from life. Relaxing, and comforting.

The job I obtained was just working the cloud machines, I was only there for an hour or two a day; within this period of time, I could keep my eyes straight just long enough to last.

It seemed that the more I tried to keep them straight, the worse my vision became. I was so used to being cross eyed, that the challenge of keeping them straight was quite daunting; aside from the eye issue, I didn't make too many friends during my time there. The pegasi there were kind, friendly, and always willing to help, but everytime I would denied their service. However, this all changed the one and only day I woke up late for work.

I rushed over to the factory without even thinking about my eyes. I soon reached the factory floor, and the manager saw my eyes. He immediately called me up to his office right away. At that moment I knew this was it. I knew I was finished, and that my life would immediately go back into turmoil and chaos.

I entered his office, and glanced around. There was a desk towards the back wall, and some pictures on the desk as well as the wall. A large window stood to my left looking over Cloudsdale. I could see the hustle and bustle of the busy cloud city before me. The manager stood by his desk, he looked over a few papers sat on his desk. He then asked me to stand in the middle of the room.

He walked towards me and sighed, "Your name is Ditzy, right?"

"Yes sir." I responded.

"Ditzy, tell me one thing if you would, how long have your eyes been like this?"

I was slow to answer, "For my entire life sir."

He adjusted his glasses and sighed again, "Ditzy, why didn't you tell us sooner? I can't have a pony with a condition like yours working for us, something like that could cause a major mishap on the factory floor."

"But sir!" I interrupted, "I can see just fine when my eyes are like this! I don't have a single bit of trouble getting around at all; I've been like this all my life, and have grown used to it."

"Ditzy, I believe you." He stammered back, "I truly hate to do this, but I can't risk something of this magnitude... If the owner or even the mayor found out, I could lose my job. I know you're a hard worker and a great help to everypony, but I just can't risk this move. I'm sorry Ditzy, I truly am.."

I flew off with tears streaming from my eyes that day. From then on, I never looked back. I flew as fast as I could away from Cloudsdale, and away from everypony; away from my the life I had known.. I honestly had no clue where I was going, but I knew I just wanted to get away from everypony and be left alone in my dismay.

I flew as long as my wings held, eventually I found myself near a forest. It was cold and lonely place. Nopony was in sight, and the sun was beginning to set. This seemed like the perfect place to get away from everything. I flew down and surveyed my surroundings, visibility was terrible, and what was worse was that night was to come. I had to find some sort of shelter, I slowly walked for what seemed like an eternity.

The sun had finally set, and I was still walking. My hooves ached, and my wings were dragging on the ground. A soft rain had started to fall down on me; I continued to walk slowly. My coat was no longer a light shade of gray, and I was growing ever more weary. Finally after some time of walking, I spotted a hollowed out tree. Once I was inside, I walked in a small circle, and laid down. My coat and wings were soaked, but I didn't care. Perhaps some sleep would help me relax. I shut my eyes, only to be welcomed by my nightmares.

I woke up the next morning to the sun shining in my eyes, and the birds singing their songs. For some odd reason it seemed as if the forest had somehow transformed overnight. For a brief moment everything seemed so serene, so peaceful. Like this day was a new day for me, but I knew that nothing would change for me. It never had before, what was so different now? The memories of Cloudsdale soon began to flood back into my head; the job loss, the humiliation, and the thought of not being wanted. My depressive state came back, and wrapped itself around me. I simply moved on.

I continued walking for some time with my head down, and wings dragging once more. I kept walking until I managed to walk straight into a cottage. I fell on my back and looked at my surroundings. I would soon figure out I was right outside of the forest, and next to this cottage. I rubbed my head, and stood back up. Looking around the cottage, I spotted a light yellow pegasus mare. She was singing and playing with some animals. I slowly walked forward, trying my best to not be noticed. I took another step, and a large crack was heard. I looked down to see that I had stepped on a stick, the mare stopped singing and looked at me.

As soon as her teal eyes met mine, I bolted in the opposite direction. I couldn't stand for anypony to see me. After about five minutes of running, I reached a small bridge and took a minute to catch my breath. Upon doing so, I decided to take a look over the side of the bridge. I looked into the water and saw my reflection. My blonde hair was in a mess, and my coat was filthy. I felt nothing but shame, as I stared at it with disgust.

Tears soon began to roll off of my nose. I couldn't help but cry, my life had been full of nothing but misery, denial, and failure. Of course there were a few moments of bliss, but not nearly enough to outweigh all of this pain at once. I continued to stare into the small river. I chuckled a little at my messy hair and began to fix it, when, "HI!"

I jumped back, and looked to my left. And standing there was a pink pony.

"I've never seen you before!" she gasped. "I'm Pinkie Pie, what's your name?"

I really didn't know what to say, as no one had ever greeted me this way before. I just stood there and shyly looked down at my hooves.

"Oh come on," She continued, "you can tell me! WAIT! I can guess this, I can guess this! Um um, is it Greyla!?"

I shook my head no.

"Um, well, hmm, let me see here."

She began to look all over my body, though she was most fond of my cutie mark.

"OOOOOHH! I love your cutie mark, but, what exactly is your talent? Hmm, maybe, maybe you're good with bubbles!"

This made me chuckle a little. I slowly opened my eyes to see what her cutie mark was.

"OH I KNOW!" she screamed, "You're Bubbles!"

Once again I shook my head no. I quickly took a glance again to see her cutie mark,

"Balloons?" I asked to myself, But when she heard me mutter, she saw my eyes.

She gasped, "What's wrong with your eyes? They're so… derpy!"

Upon hearing this, I began to back away slowly.

Pinkie gasped loudly and said, "Derpy! That's your name, it's Derpy! Well Derpy, I'm glad to make your acquaintance!"

This confused me beyond all measure. She was calling me Derpy, something that I used to despise being called. That and it wasn't my name, but when she said it; there was a sort of peace, and welcoming ring to it.

"I've got a great idea!" The pink pony exclaimed, "You're new here right?"

I shyly shook my head yes.

"Great!" Exclaimed Pinkie, "Because I'm going to introduce you to everypony in PonyVille!"

As soon as I heard those words, my fears sunk in.

Meeting one was awkward enough, I thought to myself, but a whole town?

Part of me was thinking that I should make a run for it, but there was something rather tempting about this offer. I knew that everypony would probably laugh at me, and I would once again fall back into the pit of despair; but there was something about this pony. She made it seem warm, and inviting; maybe even fun.

"Well come on!" she exclaimed, grabbing my leg she dragged me towards town.

As the town drew closer, I could see it was full of ponies. At the sight of that, my fears began to take over, and I went into lockdown. I tried to get away multiple times, but to no avail; she had a tight grip on my leg. Finally we stopped, and the destination would, of course, be the middle of the small town. It wasn't the largest town I've seen before, then again I've never left Cloudsdale before so I can't say much on that matter. Dirt roads, small buildings, and brightly colored ponies.

I was going to say something to Pinkie, but before I could; she screamed at the top of her lungs, "HEY EVERYPONY! THIS IS DERPY! SHE'S NEW HERE!"

I knew I was done for. That name was sure to get laughs and giggles. I pulled my blond mane over my yellow eyes, trying not to be noticed. A few ponies began to chuckle, but surprisingly, others came up and greeted me. Soon there was a large group of ponies surrounding me. In all of my life I had never been accepted into a group like this or even greeted this was. I slowly greeted them one by one. Each of them extending a hoof and saying hello.

Being surrounded by all of these ponies scared me a little. The thought of even attempting to keep my eyes straight was long gone, it seemed as if everypony in town	was greeting me; I couldn't help but smile. As I was greeting some newer ponies that had just walked up, Pinkie shouted,

"OK guys! We have a new pony in town and you know what that means!"

"PAARTAAAY!" The crowd of ponies thundered in approval.

Pinkie Pie then flew off in one direction, and the crowd of ponies began to disperse shortly after she left. After a few of minutes the majority of the crowd had gone, they all left for their homes. I supposed it was to get ready for the upcoming party. The sudden disappearance of everypony brought back the feeling of desolation. However this feeling wouldn't last long.

"Well hey there!" Echoed a voice from behind me, "What are ya doin' all alone in the middle of the street?"

I turned around, and saw before me an orange pony, with a brown hat and a bright blonde mane.

"Ohh.." I said, just realizing I was standing vacant in the middle of town. "I was just..well."

"What's your name?" she asked in a thick country accent.

"I-I-I.I'm" I tried to piece together what name I should go by, "My name is.. D-Derpy Hooves"

Wow, that was cheesy. I thought to myself. Ditzy Doo sounds better, but I like the sound of this better than the other names. It has a certain ring to it, besides, that pink pony, Pinkie I think, called me Derpy. I might as well roll with it.

"Derpy huh?" she inquired. "Well I think that's a fittin' name. 

She sure is honest if nothing else...

“So Derpy, do have ya some place to be? Because Ah'd be more than willin' to show you around".

"Well." I started, "I'm not sure where to go, but a pink pony mentioned something about a party for me. But, I really don't have a clue on where to go.."



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Authors notes: This is an old story of mine, I first published it on FanFiction early this year, and it did decently well. I finally decided to go ahead and post it here. 

*This story takes two years before Twilight arrived in Ponyville.


> Beginnings and Ends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2 - Beginnings and Ends.
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"In that case" Responded the orange mare, "Ah would be glad to show ya round town. Besides, don't you worry none  about the party, Pinkie always has it at one location. An' knowin her, it'll be ready in about an hour and a half."

For the next 20 minutes, she guided me through the small town. The town was actually much smaller than I had thought, but there was a unique charm to this place. I soon learned of the name of my mysterious tour guide, her name was Applejack. A funny name I thought at first, but I'm not one to judge. I soon figured out why she was named this when we reached our final destination, the Apple Family Farm.

As we drew up to the gates, Applejack began to narrate, "And this here, is my family's very own apple orchard."

"Wow!" I said, "You must have enough apples here to feed the whole town."

"We actually have more than enough to feed PonyVille. Ya see, we provide a majority of the food here for town."

After looking at the size of the massive property, I could see how. My distant thoughts were soon interrupted by Applejack.

"Well I guess I've showed you just about everything. C'mon, we should start headin' back."

Halfway back to town, Applejack asked me a question, "So, how did ya get your name, Derpy?"

I was a bit nervous to tell her, but she seemed honest and trustworthy. I didn't want to tell; but I had a feeling that if I didn't tell her, it would probably only raise further suspicion from everypony.

So I began my story, "Well, Derpy came from Pinkie today. She named me that after seeing my eyes. But the story goes back much further. It all really began when I was younger in Cloudsdale. You see, I was born with these eyes. And for some strange reason, my parents despised me because of them. They were ashamed. I tried my best to please them, but these attempts always failed. I never knew the name I was truly given at birth, as my parents always threw out a constant list of random names; klutz, derpy, ditzy, I have been called it all.

"I had a hard time adjusting to movement when I was younger, primarily because of my eyes, I saw two different scenes, one would be the floor, and the other was the ceiling. My parents had tried to fix my eyes several times, but after many visits to the Canterlot unicorns and medical facilities, all hope for fixing me was lost.

"Despite this I was a happy child, always free spirited, and having fun; regardless of what my parents, or anypony for that matter, thought of me. When I was a small filly, oh around 5 or so years, I finally obtained my cutie mark. It was when I finally learned how to fly for the first time. This was a major event in the early part of my life, as I felt so peaceful and free, almost as if I was a bubble floating in the sky. However, that feeling wouldn't last too long."

"Well why was that?" Applejack asked.

"Because." I continued, "Shortly after I got my cutie mark, my parents kicked me out of the house. They thought that this would supposedly make me more open, and express myself. So, I was left out on my own to fend for myself on the streets of Cloudsdale. I did what I could to understand the necessary knowledge, but being young, and a slow learner didn't help."

A brief tear dropped from my eye to the dirt road.

"I'm so sorry sugar cube." Applejack began, "But that's all in the past, you're in Ponyville now. An' here, ya have no worries, everypony is lookin' out fer ya. Ah figured you would've known that by now. You saw how the ponies reacted to newcomers."

I chuckled a little, "Yeah."

"So lift that head of yours up, and sing a song! It's a new day, and a party is just waitin' for you!"

"Speaking of which," I began, "where is this party at?" Applejack ignored my question as we entered Ponyville. All was quiet in the small town, and there wasn't a pony to be seen. I stopped for a second, to see if I could see anypony, but there wasn't a single one. Applejack continued on forward. When I noticed I was lagging behind, I trotted up next to her.

"Do you know where we're going Applejack?" I asked.

"I've got a pretty good idea on where to go." She replied.

After a few brief minutes of walking, we stopped in front of a rather interestingly designed building. It looked almost like a gingerbread house, with a cupcake on a wooden sign out front.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"Why this here is the cake shop, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Cake. They're kind folks. C'mon let's go inside!" Applejack bolted in through the door.

I was a bit nervous, and walked in slowly. When I entered, it was pitch black, hay I couldn't even see my own hoof in front of my nose. I began to think we had come to the wrong place, suddenly the lights popped on and everypony shouted "SURPRISE!"

I jumped, and landed on my back. I was so shocked.

"Well do you like it?" asked Pinkie.

"Wha-what is all this?" I asked.

"Why it's your surprise party, silly I mean duh!" Pinkie Pie giggled.

"you... you set all of this up, just for, for me?" I asked.

"Why of course! Every new pony I met either gets a song, or a surprise party! Or sometimes, it's even both, like this one tim-" A cyan hoof covered pinkie's mouth, to which I was somewhat relieved.

"Uhh I think she gets it Pinkie, there's no need to talk her to death just yet; we haven't even gotten the party going."

The cyan pony flew in front of me, "Sorry about that" She began, "Pinkie can be a little over the top sometimes. So what's your name?"

The party environment had lifted my spirit a little, so talking was a bit easier.

"Derpy, Derpy Hooves."

"Derpy?" Burst out the cyan pony, she fell onto her back and began to laugh.

Applejack came over and kicked the cyan pony. "Rainbow Dash!" she said, "We don't treat guests like that. Now you stand up and apologize ta her!"

The cyan pony got up off of the floor. "I'm sorry she said. It's just, I've never heard anyone have that for a name before. I'm Rainbow Dash."

She held out her hoof for me to shake, I was a bit reluctant at first. I eventually gave in, and I shook her hoof.

"So, do you have any other names you go by?", asked Rainbow Dash.

"Well." I started, "You can call me Ditzy Doo."

"Ditzy Doo?" Rainbow Dash muttered to herself. "Hmm, I think I'll stick with Derpy, if that's alright with you."

"Fine with me", I replied.

"OK!" Pinkie burst out, "Enough chit chat you two, because it's party time!"

It only took a few minutes for the party to get into full swing. I spent most of my time trying to mingle with the other ponies, which to my surprise everypony was very receptive, and easy to talk to. Considering how things went back in Cloudsdale, this was quite the surprise. Suddenly everything went dark, It felt like somepony had blindfolded me. I was now spinning around in circles, and I had no clue what was going on.

Then I heard a thunder of cheers, "Pin the tail on the pony!"

Somepony placed a felt like object at my hooves, I could only guess it was the tail. I picked it up with my mouth, and walked toward where I thought the pony would be. The chanting grew louder and louder, I heard yeses and no's being thrown at me. The excitement eventually got to me as I got closer and closer. Then, I bumped into the wall.

The cheering grew louder and louder. I did my best to guess where to put the tail. I placed it, and ripped the blind fold off of my face. I looked and saw the tail on the pony's nose. Everypony in the room started laughing, and I couldn't help but laugh too. As the sun began to set, most of the guests began to head for home. I stayed behind until only a few ponies were left. After all, I didn't have any place to go.

Applejack was one of the last ponies to leave, "Great party Pinkie! I'll catch ya'll tomorrow!", and she trotted out the door.

Pinkie jumped up next to me, "Wasn't that an amazing party? I mean, that's probably one of the best parties I've ever thrown!"

I nodded in agreement.

"Well, we should definitely do this again sometime!"

"Ummm okay." I said hesitantly.

When everypony left, I set off to find a place to rest for the night. A thick and close to ground cumulous cloud provided the perfect relief. With the past day's events in my mind I fell asleep, but for the first time in quite a while, with a smile on my face..
> The Heart of a Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3 - The Heart of a Friend
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Rest came easy that night. The next morning, I witnessed something that I hadn't experienced in ages, waking up with the sun shining directly on my face and body. As I basked in its warm glow, I stood up and stretched my legs and wings. Thankfully the cloud was fairly dry, so I didn't have to worry too much about soaking wet feathers for once.

I looked around, and saw a few pegasi shifting the clouds around. This got me thinking about getting a new job, as I didn't grab any items from my old place when I left Cloudsdale, as the thought of needing any of those items completely slipped my mind. I proceeded to hop off of the cloud, and fly on over to town.

When I landed, I was greeted by some waves and hellos; to which I waved back shyly. I spent the next half hour or so walking around, besides I hadn't had the time to check everything out in detail. There were so many things I had never seen before that were not in Cloudsdale, like plows, rakes, wagons, and much more.

At least there was a lot more food here than there was in Cloudsdale. Unfortunately I didn't have a single bit to spare. I still lacked a job, and I was getting quite hungry. Further on down the road, I saw Applejack pulling a large cart of apples. Upon the sight of this, my stomach began to growl viciously. I decided to take a chance, and fly on over to say hi. So I did just that

"Hi!" I said landing next to her.

"Well hi there Derpy." she replied, "Can ah help ya with somethin'?"

"Well," I started, "I wanted to know if I could help you."

"Oh." she said, "Well, I dunno, I mean, I can handle this on my own."

"I see." I said, "Well, alright."

"Though I'll tell ya what Derpy, why don't ya go on and see if Pinkie needs anything. She's always getting into some sort of mess."

My stomach then growled again.

"Sounds like somepony is hungry." stated Applejack.

"Yeah, I haven't eaten in a while" I giggled.

"Well why didn't ya say so earlier! If you're that hungry, have an apple. I have more than enough, I can spare a couple".

"You really don't mind?"

"Not at all."

"Thank you so much Applejack!"

I grabbed an apple from the top of the cart.

"I'm going to find Pinkie, It looks like you have your work cut out for you."

"Have fun Derpy, I'll see ya later!" She said waving goodbye.

Eating my apple, I flew off towards the bakery, in hopes to find Pinkie. I reached the bakery, and walked inside. Of course Pinkie wasn't in sight. I walked toward the back room to see if she was back there, she wasn't.

"Hello dearie" said an unfamiliar voice from behind me. "Can I help you with somethingng?"

I turned around to see a blue pony, with two toned pink hair, and some cupcakes for a cutie mark.

"Oh hi.. Um, Is Pinkie pie here?" I asked.

"Oh, you just missed her. She went out towards the Everfree forest, probably went to see Fluttershy."

"Ohh well thanks anyways, Ms?"

"Oh, forgive me, I'm Mrs. Cake. I own the bakery, with my husband of course."

Just then a light yellow pony walked into the store. "Mrs. Cake." She said, "I brought you the sugar you wanted."

"Oh why thank you Bon Bon." Mrs. Cake said walking over to her, "You're such a sweetie, I don't know how the shop would survive without you."

"It's not a problem." Bon Bon replied, "Always glad to help."

She looked at me and gasped, "You're the new pony from the party last night right?"

"Yes." I said, "That's me."

"I've never really taken the time to introduce myself, I'm Bon Bon."

"I'm um, Derpy."

"Derpy?" Questioned Bon Bon, "is that really your name?"

"Well, not really.." I began, "It's just a name Pinkie Pie gave me. If you want, you can call me Ditzy."

"Ditzy? Now that I like that better." She replied, "So, do you have a place you're staying at in Ponyville?"

"Well," I started, "not really, seeing as I just got here. So, I um don't really have a place to stay."

"Oh." Bon Bon sympathized, "Well, we don't really have much in the way of hotels in Ponyville. Oh I know!"

Bon Bon reached into her bag, and tossed a few bits at my hooves.

"There you go, it's all I can spare for now."

"What is this for?" I asked.

"Why it's for your house fund of course! Every little bit counts."

I looked down at the bits, and then back to Bon Bon, "Thank you so much. Though I really don't deserve this, but thanks anyways"

"Oh!" Mrs. Cake exclaimed, "I have something for you too deary."

Mrs. Cake walked into the back room of the store, and came out with a brown pack.

"It's from an old friend of mine." She began, "She's a pegasus, but she left it here long ago so I'm sure she won't mind if you take it. After all, you need it more than she does right now."

She placed the bag on my back, and I put my wings through the straps. It was a simple, yet comfortable brown pack, with 2 large pouches on each side, and another small pouch on the right side. I picked up the bits, and put them in the bag.

"Thank you." I said, "This is, one of the nicest things anypony has ever done for me."

I walked out of the Cake's shop, waving goodbye to my new friends. With only a few bits in my pocket, I figured I could at least get some food, though the thought of saving up for a house first was ever constant. These thoughts raced through my head as I walked down the streets of Ponyville.

	I can't just keep living off of charity. I need some sort of job here, but what? I was eventually so caught up in my thoughts that I wasn't watching where I was going.

I soon ran into a building, and once again, I fell on my back. Feeling a bit dazed from the sudden impact, it took me a while to come to my senses. Slowly my vision began to come back. I vaguely made out the sign which had a letter on it, with some wings, and it said 'Ponyville Mail'.

Mail service? I thought to myself. I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea.

I trotted inside, however, the place was deserted. A single off white colored stallion with a brown two tone mane stood towards the back of the room.

"Hello." He said, "How may I be of service to you?"

"Oh, well I um. I was wondering, where are all of your workers? Are they out doing mail?"

"Well," He began, "currently there is only one pony helping with the mail, her name is Raindrops. Other than that, we don't have any other workers. You see, about a year ago, the head CEO left the business for some family emergencies, he never returned.

"This left me in charge. Slowly over time some of the workers began to leave, mostly because I couldn't handle the job as well as the old boss could. So the mail service is now left to me, and Raindrops."

"I see" I stated, wondering if I was going to be able to ask about work. He seemed to notice that something else was on my mind.

"Oh, I'm sorry." he said, "I didn't mean to take up your time. So, how can I help you?"

"Well, I was wandering around town, and was looking to see if there was a place to work."

"Oh, well in that case" He began, "I suppose you're expecting pay if I hire you, but as of now, Raindrops and I are barely making any money."

"Well, what if you paid me the same amount that you two are being paid, I mean having another pegasus wouldn't hurt business."

"Yeah, I suppose, maybe we can finally get out of this rut. Well, how's that sound Miss?"

"Um, Ditzy, Ditzy Doo."

"Miss Ditzy Doo, I think you have yourself a job."

*A job!* I thought. *He didn't even consider my eyes as a disability.*

"Come with me." He said as he walked into a back room.

I followed eagerly. Looking in the room, there were two stacks of letters, each about the same height as me. He said they needed to be delivered today.

"Deliver these today, If you could. I don't want to sound so hasty, you know with just hiring you and all Miss Ditzy."

"Well, it's not that I mind. It's just that I don't know Ponyville too well, I'm still a little new here, and I don't know everypony."

"Ah." He said, "this should help some."

He turned around, and pulled a map out, as well as context of Ponyville's residents.

He set them on the floor, "These should help you find where you need to go, and who receives what."

"Thank you very much" I said, "These will definitely help me."

"Now, I know you're new here, so that means slower work. But we need all the help we can get."

He explained a bit more to me, and I was ready. I took one stack, I somehow managed to fit them into my bag. He wished me luck, and I flew off towards the east side of town.

I felt like a young eager filly again flying through the sky. It seemed like the day could not have been any more perfect. The sun was bright, the weather was calm, and the air was fresh. I finally landed on the east side of Ponyville, and checked who the first letter was going to.

*Lyra Heartstrings?* I thought to myself.

I checked the book, and found her address. She was near the edge of town, not too far from me. I reached her house, and knocked on her door.

"You're not Raindrops." Said a mint green unicorn opening the door.

"No." I responded, "My name is Ditzy, I'm helping out with the mail."

"Oh that's good." She said, "They've been needing help for some time now."

"Here's your mail." I said cheerfully. "Why thank you. I hope to see you again Ditzy, maybe we can get together sometime for some hay fries or something."

"Well, ok." I said, "I hope you have a nice day!"

"You too Ditzy, goodbye!"

She was very welcoming. I began to think. Already asking me out for hay fries? I don't even know her. This town sure is different from Cloudsdale.

After that, I left and finished mailing the rest of the letters. By the time I reached the post office, the sky was a mix of purple and fire orange, with the temperature beginning to cool down. I walked into the office, and saw a light gold mare with a cyan mane. She was talking with the boss.

"Ditzy, I'm glad to say all the letters were delivered today. I wanted to tell you that you've done an excellent job."

"Thank you sir." I said.

"Oh Ditzy." He continued, "This is Raindrops, she is the other Pegasus who works here."

She turned around, and waved a friendly hello. I smiled and waved back.

"Ditzy," My boss began, "more letters will be arriving in the morning, and Raindrops has something she needs to take care. Would you mind coming in early, and helping me out?"

"Sure thing!" I replied.

"Oh wonderful. Now, go home and get some rest, you'll need your strength for tomorrow."

"Oh ok." *home?* I thought to myself. *I still didn't have a place to stay. Not to mention that I hadn't eaten lately.*

With the sun beginning to set, I didn't know where I could go to eat some food. I walked out of the office, and took the few bits I had received from Bon Bon earlier that day.

*I know this is for my house, but I can't go without eating.*

I put the bits back into my bag, and flew off towards the outskirts of Ponyville. After 10 or so minutes of flying I had reached my destination, the Apple Family Farm.
> Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4 - Home
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Even though it was dark, I decided to take a look anyways, surprisingly there were a few rooms still lit in the Apple Family home. So I flew down to the front door and knocked. After a few seconds, the door was opened by an elderly green pony.

"Yes?" She asked, "How can I help you?"

"Oh hi, is um, is Applejack here?"

"Why of course she is. APPLEJACK!" Screamed the old pony as she turned around, "GET YOUR FLANK OUT HERE! YOU HAVE A FRIEND!"

Applejack came trotting down the stairs, "Yeah Granny? What's goin' on?"

"This gray mare wants ta see you."

Applejack peaked out the door, "Well hey there Derpy, what brings ya to sweet apple acres?"

"Oh, well I ummm, I was wondering if I could buy some apples from you."

"Buy some apples?" She questioned, "You ain't gotta worry about that. Just go out into the orchard, and pick a few. I know you're new, and still trying to settle in. so, go ahead and take as much as you need."

"Really?"

"Of course" she said, "go on out and take some, we don't mind a bit. Now," She began to yawn, "It's about time I hit the hay. G'night Derpy, I'll talk with ya later."

"Oh, well goodnight Applejack, and thank you so much!" I replied back.

With that, she closed the door, and I went to collect a few apples. The sun by now had set, and I was getting tired. I picked the last few apples, and flew off towards Ponyville to look for a place to rest; however, the sky was clear of clouds that night. So, I went and found the tallest building in Ponyville, and fell asleep on its roof.

The next day went by fairly quick. I helped out Drew, my boss, with the early morning letters. Afterwards, I went out and delivered the remaining letters to the citizens of Ponyville. It was a good thing I still had a few spare apples from last night, I don't know how I would've survived if I didn't have something to eat. I worked all day, and made sure I did my job right.

By the time I was done, the sun was readying to set. I said goodbye to Drew, and went to find a cloud to sleep on. This would be my usual routine for the next month, or at least until one day, when I received some interesting news.

"Ah Ditzy! Early as usual." Drew said to me as I entered the post office.

"Well of course sir, I wouldn't want to be late for my job!" I said with a cheerful smile.

"That's good." He said.

Raindrops then walked into the office. "Why hello Ditzy." She remarked, "Just the mare I was looking for."

"Oh really? What for?" I asked.

"Well," She began, "I heard that you were still looking for a house to buy right?"

"Well yeah." I started, "But I haven't made much progress with that. Even with the help of some of the other ponies around here, I always seem to be short on bits."

"Well, I have some good news for you. A friend of mine, Golden Harvest, is selling her old place. On top of that she's asking for a low price. I mentioned your name, and she would be more than happy to let you look the place over; and maybe even give you a discount on it."

"Really?" I asked gasping, "I c-could finally buy a house here?"

I was so excited, *Living on clouds and roofs hadn't been the most fun; especially during lightning storms. Besides, fall was nearing its end, and I was going to need a warmer place to stay.*

"OH THANK YOU SO MUCH RAINDROPS!" I said, as I ran over and hugged her with a tight grasp.

"It's really no problem Ditzy, after all, you're one of my friends." Raindrops said smiling.

My eyes began to well up, *friend?* I thought. *I hadn't had somepony call me that in many years.*

I could slowly feel tears of joy welling up inside, though I resisted the urge to cry, as I didn't want to look silly. However, the fight was soon lost, and the dam broke. I began to sob in my friends' arms.

"Ditzy!" Raindrops exclaimed with a surprised look, "Are you alright?"

I cried another minute before I spoke up, "I am now. Thank you, thank you so much!"

After one last hug, I finally composed myself and went off to finish the day's work. At least tomorrow was Saturday, and I didn't have work. Drew went ahead and gave me the day off so I could go and visit Golden Harvest. He knew this was very important to me. That morning, I rushed over to Golden Harvest's house as fast as my wings would let me. I reached the house, and knocked on the door.

It seemed like an eternity, but after a long wait, Golden Harvest answered the door, "Well hello there Ditzy." She said greeting me warmly, "Raindrops mentioned you were interesting in viewing the house, would you like to come in?"

"Oh yes, please."

"Oh good, come on inside, I'm sure that you will like it."

I entered her home and looked around. There wasn't really all that much to look at, in my opinion at least. I had never really taken the time to look at a house before. I had only lived in and on clouds for most of my life. The house was a single story, with a kitchen to the right, a living room to the left, and a hall dividing them, which led to the master bedroom, the spare bedroom, and a closet towards the back.

"So why are you moving out of here?" I asked Golden Harvest.

"Mostly because it's so small, and I have finally saved up enough bits to buy a larger house. So once I did, I figured I would sell this one."

We spent another 10 minutes touring, she told me what she was looking for in price. My ears drooped when I came to the realization of what was it would cost. I was just short of the price; but even if I had the right amount of money, it would still be everything I had. This was a risky offer.

"Well, I'll tell you what Ditzy." She said, "How about, you give me what you have. I mean, I know you're already having a hard time as it is, but you can always pay me back at a later time."

"What? No!" I interjected, "I couldn't possibly do that."

"No no, I insist."

Tears of joy began to well up in my eyes again; I simply said thank you, and went to get what money I had. I returned, paid Golden Harvest, and said a last thank you as she left. She had already moved everything out, so the house was empty. Save a few remaining chairs, and a table. I didn't mind.

I did a bit more exploring of the house. Walking into the main bedroom, I could see it was completely bare; the same for the closet. The spare bedroom at least had a bed left behind from Golden Harvest, as she said she didn't have need for it. By the time I finished looking around, it was very late. I walked into the spare bedroom, and laid down on my new bed; in what was now, my new home.

The next months went by much faster than the first few. Thankfully the post office had been hiring more employees, and I had even gotten a couple of pay raises. I seemed like a gift from heaven to Drew, who had thanked me so many times; he was now saying that without a doubt the mail service might have gone under if it hadn't been for me.

This was flattering, but being my usual modest self, I didn't let it get to my head. While this was going on, I had still neglected adding on to one thing.. my home. It was still quite bare at this time, though a few additional things were added from my neighbors. Pinkie Pie often came over and dropped off extra sweets, but these were mostly cakes and pies. Applejack would also come and drop off some apples as well as some other snacks, like apple fritters, apple pie; I couldn't ask for better friends.

As Fall neared its end, many of the towns ponies began to talk about the start of Winter Wrap Up. I was clueless as anypony could be, so I figured I should ask at some point. One evening at work, I overheard Raindrops talking with Drew.

"Oh." Raindrops said worriedly, "I hope we can find another pegasi to help out with the bird migration this year, I think we're a few short."

"What bird migration?" I asked.

"The migration of the birds that have gone south for the winter, we help bring them back up this way. Though we've hit a bit of a snag this year. We're short a few pegasi for this necessary part of Winter Wrap Up."

"Winter Wrap Up?" I asked innocently.

Raindrops and Drew simply stood there staring at me with their mouths agape.

"Do you really not know what Winter Wrap Up is?" Questioned Drew.

"Nope." I replied cheerfully.

Raindrops began to explain it to me, "You see, every year, at the end of winter. The ponies of Ponyville gather together, and clean up winter in order to bring spring. Many ponies will wake up the animals from their hibernation, retrieve the southern birds, break up the ice in the ponds and lakes, and clear clouds up from the skies."

"Huh. That's interesting." I said, "Is there anything I can do to help out?"

"Well, you've heard the basics of the bird migration; would you be interested in joining us?" Raindrops asked.

"I would love to!" I exclaimed.
> Doors of the Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5 - Doors of the Heart
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Two weeks went by, and Winter Wrap Up was now underway. It had taken almost all day for me to learn where to go to retrieve the southern birds. Thankfully all I had to do was follow four veteran ponies. I wasn't the best at directions, so I would have more than likely gotten lost without their help. The journey was a good three to four hours in length, and it was worth every second. We flew over mountains, once distant planes, and new land I had never seen before. The white washed landscape was a magnificent sight to see.

Soon, we had reached the Southern lands. The air was warm and the sky's were clear. We spent the next several hours gathering and herding the birds. While rounding up the last of the birds, I found a few apple trees. And hunger began to settle in, so I took a few apples and placed them in my bag. While picking, I dropped an apple; it fell to the ground near the tree's roots, which were surrounded with shrubs. I flew down to look for my apple. I found it, but as I reached for it. A hoof from the bush swept it up.

I jumped, feeling quite surprised.

"Hell-l-lo?" I asked nervously, "Is somepony in there?"

There was no response, just the sound of some munching. I cautiously peered into the bush; what I found shocked me. I saw a pale purple, and blonde haired filly unicorn eating the apple. I looked around to see if anypony may have lost their daughter, though no pony was around. When she saw me, she backed into the bush and hid.

"It's ok.", I consoled her, "You can come out now."

There was no response. I placed another apple on the ground. She slowly crept out of the bush and took it, then quickly fled back under the cover of the bush to eat it.

"You must be hungry." I said. "I know I was, I haven't eaten for some time."

I heard the chewing stop.

"Are your parents around?" I asked.

"No.." came a faint and quite voice from the bush.

"Do you know where they could be?"

"No.." came the voice again. "I don't have any parents."

My heart bled for this filly, I knew what it was like to not have a parents love.

"Are you lost?" I asked.

"No." came the small filly's voice again.

She slowly peeked her head out to look at me. She saw my eyes, and began to chuckle.

"I see that you've seen my eyes." I giggled.

She nodded.

"Would you like another apple?"

She nodded again. I reached into my bag, and pulled one out.

"Here you go." I said.

She slowly crept out of the bush, and laid down next to me.

I sat for a moment and watched the small filly eat the apple cheerfully. Then i became a little more curious about this lone filly and asked her, "Do you have a name?"

The little filly shook her head no.

"I know what that's like as well." I said to her. "What if I gave you a name? Would you like that?"

She looked up at me with the biggest smile I have seen in some time and nodded.

"Oh ok. Now, let's see here."

I thought and thought, but nothing was coming to my mind right away.

"How about, umm. Cindy?"

She shook her head no.

"Daisy?"

She gave the same response.

"um, Dinky?"

She looked at me with eyes bewildered, and nodded.

"Dinky?" I questioned, "Do you really like that?"

She ate some more of her apple, and nodded yes.

"Well ok then, from now on your name is Dinky."

I stood up, "Well Dinky, it was nice to meet you; but I really should be going."

I started to walk away, when I felt a tug on my tail. "What's wrong." I asked, "Do you want another apple?"

The light purple filly shook her head no.

"Well, um. What do you need?"

She ran up, and huddled by my front legs. "Do...do you want to, go... with me?"

She nodded yes.

"Well, I-I can't take you home with me. I came here for birds, not little unicorns."

I tried to say it with some humor, but to no avail. Her head began to droop as the words came out of my mouth, and a slight tear rolled down her face.

"Well, you see-I, um."

Why is this so hard? I thought to myself, just say no, I'm sure she has some place to stay.

"Well, I guess you could come with me, but you don't have wings." I pondered a moment, then said, "Oh I know, why don't you ride in my bag. It might not be comfy, but you would be able to come with me."

 I'm horrible at giving myself directions.

The little filly's eyes lit up brighter than the sun as she hugged my legs. It was now clear that all this little filly needed, was a little love. Dinky hopped into my bag, I almost fell over from the weight imbalance.

I stood up straight, and readied my wings, "Ready Dinky?" I asked.

She nodded yes.

"Alright then." I affirmed.

It took a minute to take off of the ground. Dinky was so excited when we were airborne, she was looking at all of the things she wouldn't normally have been able to see from the ground. I managed to retrieve the rest of the birds I needed, and met back up with the other pegasi. The others instantly questioned why I had a filly in my pouch. I simply told them that I would tell them the story back in Ponyville.

They were reluctant to agree, but they knew we had a job to do. The trip back home was not nearly as easy as the trip to go and get the birds. I could feel Dinky shifting around in the bag; she was probably getting cold from the altitude. The next few hours were not fun at all. Dinky was constantly moving around, the birds were loud, and the wind was picking up. Thankfully it was only another hour until we reached Ponyville. A few birds strayed away from the flock now and then, but nothing too serious.

The weather slightly began to warm and as we flew over the last of the mountains, we finally touched down in Ponyville. Though to our dismay, Winter Wrap Up, still wasn't completed. The nests were still needed to be made, more seeds were needed to be planted, and the ponds were still frozen over.

Once I landed, Dinky hopped out of my bag. She looked around, with her eyes as big as saucers, in wonder. Before I could say anything, she had rushed over to a pile of snow, and jumped in it head first. Of course she got stuck halfway in it. The sight that followed was very amusing. Her little legs were wiggling trying to get out, but despite the efforts, she remained stuck. I laughed and headed over to her. I pulled her out of the snow, and she was laughing.

"Well Dinky." I said with a chuckle, "It looks like the other ponies forgot to ask about you. Would you like to see more of the town?"

She nodded cheerfully.

"Good." I said, "Now follow me." and she did just that.

I showed Dinky as much of Ponyville as I could in one day. I finally ended the tour with the post office, the school building, and of course, my home.

"Well here we are Dinky, this is my home."

She looked at it with wonder, and instantly ran inside giggling. I walked inside as well, and shut the door behind me. She ran into the living room, looked all around; she then scurried over into the kitchen, and did the same. I set my bag down by the front door, and walked over to the spare bedroom. I suddenly heard a bouncing noise, and some giggling.

She's probably discovered the- My thoughts were cut short, by the sight of the adorable filly jumping on the bed.

I chuckled, "Hey Dinky, I'm going to the post office. I'll be back soon okay?"

The small filly nodded her head.

"Alright then," I continued, "I will be back. Don't go anywhere."

I walked to the front door and picked up my bag, opened the door, and made my way outside. It was dark, and there were still some small patches of snow on the ground. It didn't take long to get to the post office; I walked inside to see Drew closing up shop for the night.

"Ah Ditzy, there you are." Drew remarked, "So how were the birds? Did you get them here safely?"

"Yes I did sir, but I got more than just birds."

"Oh? And what do you mean by that?" Inquired Drew.

"Well, it's like this." And so, I spent the next ten minutes explaining the whole story to Drew.

"Wow Ditzy." He said, "Are you sure you're up for the task of raising this filly?"

"I don't know sir, I mean; I know it's the right thing, but what if I can't handle it? What if I have to give her up?"

"Now I don't know if it will go that far Ditzy." He pondered a moment, "You know Ditzy, you are due for a slight raise. That should be able to help you with getting Dinky settled in Ponyville."

"Oh no sir, you don't have to do that."

"Well, I'm giving it to you whether you like it or not." Drew said walking over to me. "You're too kind Ditzy. I would recommend this though, be a bit more assertive, if something is offered to you, you take it."

"Well alright sir." I said.

"Good." He exclaimed, "Now, I suggest you go home, you have a small filly to take care of."

"Oh yes, of course sir. I'll see you later then."

"Of course Ditzy", Drew said waving goodbye.

With a smile as big as Equestria on my face, I flew back home. I opened the door slowly, taking as much care as possible, in case Dinky was sleeping. I looked around, and not a peep could be heard. Glancing into the kitchen and living room, I could see Dinky was not in there. Finally, I walked into the hallway, and glanced into the bed room. She wasn't in there either. A slight feeling of nervousness popped into my heart, but then I remembered the spare bedroom.

Sure enough, there she was, sleeping as soundly as could be. The covers were a mess, and there was an apple core on the floor. Dinky was sprawled out over the bed, so I tip toed over to her and placed her in the bed right. I pulled the blankets over her, and kissed the tip of her horn. I picked up the apple core and started to walk away, when I heard,

"Goodnight Mommy, I love you."

I turned around to see the small filly looking at me with a large smile, and bright eyes.

Did…Did she just call me mommy?

I didn't know how to handle this situation. My parents never said this to me when I went to bed. So, I replied back with something straight from the heart.

"Goodnight Dinky, I love you too."

Dinky then shut her eyes, with a large smile across her face.

Mommy? I thought to myself as I shut the door.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Authors notes - I'm going to let everyone know that this is not the winter wrap up mentioned in the show, where Ditzy goes North. It's the year before that one.

> Painful Healing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 6 - Painful Healing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I shut the door, and slowly walked down the hallway into my living room. I laid on the floor, and stared into the clear night sky.

"Mommy.." I whispered to myself. All kinds of thoughts began to race through my head.

I took her in so easily, I guess I hadn't thought of her considering me as her mother. She must've been alone out there for so long… Much like I was. I wonder how she lived. To call me mother this early. Did she even know what a mother's love was? She must have in order to know how a mother should be.

I sighed, and ended my thought process, I didn't need to be thinking about these things now. I just needed some sleep. I shut my eyes, and drifted off to sleep. I awoke the next morning, to find that I had fallen asleep in the middle of the living room. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I could feel a blanket lying on my back, and a lump of heat by my side. I looked next to me, and there was Dinky, sleeping peacefully.

I simply laid my head back down, and watched her sleep. She woke up a few minutes later yawning and stretching.

"Good morning." I said, "Have you been here all night?"

She rubbed her eyes and nodded.

"Were you lonely? Is that why you came out here with me?"

She shook her head no.

"Well then why did you come out here?"

"Because you were lonely." Dinky answered innocently.

Tears began to well up in my eyes once again. I turned my head so she wouldn't see.

"That's so sweet of you Dinky." I said. My voice sounding a bit hoarse. I stood up, and began to walk towards the kitchen.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, as tears began to run down my face.

"Mhm." Dinky replied.

She got up, and began to walk towards me. I heard her, and said,

"Oh Dinky, can you put the blanket back in the room please?"

I didn't want her to see me like this. She skipped on back to the blanket, picked it up, and skipped down the hall. I quickly tried to hide my tears, and get something made for her to eat. I found some bread, and some grasses and flowers. I just made her a small sandwich.

She came back, and I handed her the plate, "Here you go." I said.

She took the plate, and walked on over to the table. I made myself one, and went to the table to eat with her.

We finished our meals, and took our plates to the sink. I didn't have work today, so maybe I could show Dinky around town some more.

"Do you want to go out today Dinky?" I asked.

The small filly looked at me, and nodded her head.

"Alright. Maybe we can introduce you to Pinkie and Applejack, I'm sure they would like to meet you. Well come on." I walking to the front door and picking up my bag, "You have a lot to see."

I opened the door, and Dinky ran outside giggling. I shut the door behind me, and followed her. The sky was clear, and the ground was damp, with some patches of snow here and there. I showed Dinky some more of the town, and she seemed to enjoy it. I took her to Sugarcube Corner to meet Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie greeted her warmly, as I knew she would.

"Well hello there!" Pinkie said shacking Dinky's hoof ferociously. Dinky smiled a big smile at Pinkie. "When did you get a daughter?" Pinkie asked .

"Well." I began, "She's not really my daughter. I sort of adopted her."

I told Dinky to go into the back room with the cakes, and meet them. When she left, I told pinkie the whole story over the next ten minutes.

"Awe." Pinkie said, "how cute! So, are you going to send her to school?"

"I probably will soon."

Dinky Walked back in giggling, and said she wanted to see more. So we said goodbye to Pinkie, and trotted on over to The Apple Family Farm to meet with Applejack.

"Well Hi there young's, and what's your name?"

"Dinky!" Dinky exclaimed.

"Well ain't that a cute name. Who's is she Derpy?"

"Dinky, why don't you go and play with, what's your sisters name again Applejack?"

"Oh, it's Applebloom. Hey Applebloom!" Applejack yelled, Applebloom soon came running over. "Take Dinky and go play with her."

Applebloom and Dinky ran off laughing.

"So, who's is she? Can't be your's, ah know for sure that you haven't settled down with a stallion."

"No, I haven't. but, she is mine. I sort of adopted her. It's like this." And so I told Applejack all there was to tell.

"Ah see." She said.

"So." I stated, "Will Applebloom be starting school soon?"

"Actually, she's going to start this summer. I suggest you get Dinky in as well. It won't hurt starting her early. She seems to have a good understandin' of stuff at her age. A lot more than ah did at that age." Applejack laughed.

"Yeah, she's a smart little filly. I think that starting her this summer would also help me, it means I wouldn't have to worry about her being home alone all of the time. Well Applejack, I should get going."

"Alright then Derpy, just remember, if you need anything' don't you hesitate to come and get me."

"Thanks for the offer Applejack. Dinky, come on, it's time to go." I yelled.

I heard the two fillies say "awe." And shortly after, I saw Dinky and Applebloom coming over.

Dinky and I left, and went back into town for some lunch. The day passed quickly, and soon, Dinky and I were home. The next few months seemed to fly by quickly. Dinky was beginning to speak more to me, and since Summer was in another month or two, I began to introduce the idea of school to her.

"School?" Dinky asked as I served breakfast to her.

"Why yes silly." I said, "School. I know you may not like it, but it will be worth it in the end. Maybe you can learn something there that could help you find your talent, and get your cutie mark.

"But." She began, "But I want to stay here with you mommy."

"I know Dinky." I smiled back at her, "But, school is a big thing. And plus, you'll see Applebloom, and all of your other fillies friends."

"Okay." she said discontentedly, but I think she knew this was best.

"Besides, it would give me more time at work, and maybe we can get you some stuffed animals. I know you've always wanted some."

Another couple months came and went, and Dinky finally started school. I waved her goodbye on her fist day, and she did the same. I left the school, and walked into Sugarcube Corner. The smell of pastries filled my nostrils.

"Oh hello Ditzy. Come to visit have you?" Mrs. Cake asked from behind the counter.

"Yep! I don't have work today, so I thought I would buy a treat for myself. Maybe a cupcake."

"Oh I'm sorry Deary, we're fresh out."

"Oh, well, that's ok. What else do you have?"

"Well, I think you caught us at a bad time." Mrs. Cake said, "All of our sweets are being freshly baked right now, and won't be done for some hours. Oh!" She exclaimed, "I know, how about a muffin?"

I looked at her with a puzzled look, "Muffin? What's that?"

"You've never had a muffin before?" Mrs. Cake asked.

"Well, no." I stated, "I haven't even really heard of them. We didn't have a lot of baked goods back in Cloudsdale, and I only come here to say hi to other ponies. I've always been the fruits and vegetable type, not too much into breads."

"But, you do buy breads from us on occasion deary." Mrs. Cake responded.

"Yes, but only on occasion."

"Well deary, why don't you go ahead and try one."

"Well, alright."

She reached into the window, and pulled out a small tray of muffins.

"Here." She said placing one on the counter.

I looked at the muffin, it looked a lot like a cupcake. I took my first bite, and the flavor exploded into my mouth.

"That one is Apple flavored." Mrs. Cake said.

The taste was an amazing sensation in my mouth. It wasn't overly sweet like a cupcake, but I liked that. Something with taste that wasn't overloaded with sweets. I continued to eat the muffin with a large smile across my face.

"Do you have any more?" I questioned, with my mouth full of the first muffin.

"Well of course, we have plenty, would you care to buy some?" Mrs. Cake inquired.

I walked out of the store with a dozen muffins, Two of each flavor that the cakes had. Needless to say that when I got home, I ate one of each flavor. It wasn't long until I had found my favorites. I finished half of them, and put the rest in storage for Dinky to try. Looking at the sun, I realized that Dinky would be getting out of school soon. I flew out of the house, and towards her school.

I peered into the classroom window, and saw dinky in the front row, writing some things down as the teacher spoke. Soon, the students ran out of the building, and I yelled Dinky over to me. I spotted her running over to me with her bag, which was actually mine.

She came up to me and said, "Hi mommy."

Dinky placed the bag at my hooves for me to pick up. "Did you have a good day?" I asked as I picked up the bag and placed it on my back.

"Mhm." she nodded.

"Good, now let's get you home. I have something for you to try."

We reached the house, and I placed the bag near the front of the door as we entered. I walked into the kitchen and pulled out the muffins.

"Cupcakes!" She announced eagerly.

"Nope." I said shaking my head, "Even better, muffins."

She took one, and tasted it. She smiled as she chewed the muffin. I could only help but smile as well. After she had another, I put the rest away, and asked Dinky what she wanted for dinner. The rest of the day went by, and I tucked her into her very own bed. I had finally saved enough bits to buy Dinky her own bed, which was placed in the spare room. My old bed was placed in the bedroom.

All this time, she had been sleeping next to me, but now, I was going to have her sleep on her own. She was getting older, and needed her space, no matter how much I resented the thought. As I laid in my own bed that night, thoughts about my parents and Cloudsdale began to shroud my mind. The feeling of loneliness sank in.

My eyes began to water as I thought of the feeling of being alone, rejected, and not wanted. I was then startled by the sound of a creaking door. I figured it was Dinky going to grab a snack, but then the sound of hooves walking on the wood floored came to my door. My door creaked open and Dinky totted to the edge of my bed. She jumped up and laid at the edge of my bed.

"Dinky." I said, trying not to show my tears. "Why aren't you in your bed? Did you have a bad dream?"

"No." She said.

"Are you scared?" I asked with my eyes closed, and not looking at her.

"No."

"Well, what is it then? Do you need something?"

"I don't want you to be alone mommy."

My eyes shot open, and tears began to run down my face.

How did she know? I thought to myself. It was the same way the fist night I brought her home. How did this small filly, know what I was feeling? How could she know?

I sat up from my bed, grabbed Dinky, and held her tightly. Tears streamed down my face, and I cried. I cried and cried. For years, I have never had a pony be there and be concerned for me. I had always held in my emotions, and never expressed my feelings.

These emotions had just been building inside of me, and I never released them; but now, it all came out. There was pain, but, relief as well. For the next half hour, I held her tight, and cried my eyes out. Each moment had helped me build myself back up. I could now go about my days without worry. Thanks to Dinky, my daughter.

"Dinky." I said still holding her.

"Yes mommy?" She asked.

"You know I love you Dinky, and that I will never stop loving you."

"I know."

"And, I'm sorry you couldn't have a mommy with normal eyes, I know I'm a.. freak."

"I'm happy you're my mommy." Dinky began, "No matter what you look like. I like your eyes, they make you, you. And, I couldn't ask for a better mommy."

I couldn't cry anymore, I had no more tears to spare. We held each other for another few minutes. Finally we went to bed, I let her sleep next to me one last time. "

"Goodnight mommy, I love you."

"Goodnight Dinky." I said, "I love you too."

I shut my eyes, and my thoughts drifted into bliss.
> The Scars Beneath
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 7 - The Scars Beneath
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Months had gone by, Dinky was adjusting well to school. I had just bought myself a new bag, that way Dinky could use my old one for school. The bag was green, with a picture of a muffin on the side. I loved the bag to death, often I would find myself drooling before the picture.

Soon the weather warmed, and my obsession with muffins grew. For some odd reason, these little pastries became a large part of my diet. On my off days from work, I would often be seen walking around town with a muffin in my mouth, or in my bag. I soon started to do something else on my off days, pop up out of nowhere and startle my friends.

I enjoyed appearing out of nowhere, and surprising them. It was a lot of fun. Soon everypony was saying, "Where's Derpy?" It was like another nickname for me. After all this time of me living in Ponyville, the mail service seemed to grow more, and we even started a package delivery service. We even received our very own truck. I helped out with that as often as I could. For some reason, giving ponies a package was more fun than a letter. I had noticed another thing about myself as well, since that night with Dinky, I had become more, clumsy, and jolly. It was kind of weird, but I enjoyed it. I made people laugh, and I even laughed too.

One day, I came home from work, and noticed a letter on my door. Now, I didn't often receive letters, because I didn't have any friends living outside of Ponyville. I grabbed the letter and walked inside. I set down my green bag by the door, and walked into the kitchen. I stood at the table, and looked at the letter, no name indicating who it was too, or who it was from.

I opened the letter, and began to read,

'Dear Daughter, I know this must be hard for you to receive a letter from me now; but I believe you need too see me in Cloudsdale. I am currently at the hospital, and… I don't have much longer to live. There are some things that need to be said, before my time comes. I hope that you can find it in your heart to come and see me one last time, your father… John Hooferman.'

I stared at the letter for another few minutes, reading it over and over again. I didn't know what to make of this.

My father wants to, see me? I thought. What did this mean? is he going to mock me, or laugh at me before he dies, and have those as his final words?

I folded the letter up, and placed it in my bag. I needed some time to think first.

What if this was a lie, and he wasn't dying, he might just want to mock me more, as he did all of my life with him.

I left the house and went to go and pick up Dinky from school. She came skipping out of the building, and went on about what she had learned. As well as some of the silly things that she and her friends did. I giggled and looked at her on occasion, to show that I wasn't ignoring her. We went home, and I didn't say anything about the letter to Dinky. I slept on it, and in the morning, I had made up my mind. It was a Saturday, and Dinky didn't have school.

"Dinky." I started, "I have to go somewhere, and I'm sorry to say that you can't go."

She looked at me with an understanding look.

"I'll be gone for a few days, and you can stay at Applejack's place in the meantime. Now, go and pack your things."

Dinky ran into her room giggling, I knew she would like staying at Applejacks'. We both got our bags, her brown one, and my green bag with a muffin imprint on it, and we walked to Applejacks. After I dropped her off, I waved goodbye, and flew off towards Cloudsdale.

My wings beat against the dry summer air as I flew towards the place of my birth. The place of my stress and depression. I thought I was done there, but this, this would hopefully be the last time I see this place. The city in the sky soon became visible, and I flew faster; I was in a rush to get this over with. I really didn't want to do this, but I had this nagging feeling it needed to be done.

Within the next half hour, I landed on the outskirts of the city, it hadn't changed in the year and a half I had left. I knew where the hospital was, so I began to walk. I didn't feel like rushing over now. I took my time to watch the pegasi fillies play, and fly around. They had smiles on their faces, I averted my gaze. Many of the pegasi flying or walking by gave me strange looks. Each of them staring at my eyes.

I had forgotten that this wasn't Ponyville. I kept walking, and tried to ignore the ponies. I lowered my head and continued on my way to the hospital. I reached the hospital in about twenty minutes. The building, er cloud I should say, was a few stories tall. Most ponies just flew in through the windows, knowing where their family or friends were. Since I had no idea where my father was, I simply walked in the front door. I went ahead and made sure my eyes were straightened, I didn't want to appear as if I was coming in for an examination. I greeted the lady and asked where I could find John Hoofman.

"Why, he's just up these stairs and to the left." The nurse said.

I thanked the nurse, and walked up the stairs. It was weird, I had been walking on the ground for so long, that clouds felt really odd on my hooves. It was kind of awkward for me to walk on the cloud stairs, or even just the "ground". I found his room, and saw 2 beds, the nearest to the door was empty, and the other was poised by the window, with a figure lying down facing it. I walked in slowly, my heart began to race, and I was getting nervous. I stopped a few hooves short of the bed and said, "Hello, dad."

The figure slowly rolled over in his bed, and said, "Hello."

I looked into his hazel eyes, and saw sorrow and joy, a tear began to roll down the side of his face.

"It's been so long." He said wearily. "Look at how much you've grown."

He slowly got up, and walked out of bed, and sat down in front of me.

"I suppose you want me to cut to the chase then." He sighed, while I just looked at him.

He looked old, and worn down. His voice was weary, and his wings and ears were drooped.

"I wanted to see you one more time, and see the beautiful mare you've become." He continued, "I know, your mother and I were harsh on you when you were young, and we were relieved when you left."

His voice began to quiver, "But, when your mother died a few years back, I became lonely. I would often look at the photo album we had in our bedroom, remembering the old days. I noticed that within the photo album, you were in a few pictures, and I began to smile whenever I saw you in them. I then saw how unhappy we were making you. And how horrible we were as your parents, I just…"

His eyes began to tear up, "I just wanted to apologize to you, and ask, no, beg your forgiveness. I was a horrible father for treating you on how you looked. I didn't want to die like your mother, because I know deep down; she was just as sad. I've been nothing but judgmental and cruel to you since the day you were born. I spent these past years searching all over Cloudsdale for you, and when I couldn't find you here, I began to search all over Equestria. I was often short on food, and went days without sleep. My guilt was eating away at me, and I searched and searched, but I never found you. While searching, I obtained a rare illness; it has no known cure, and I've been told that I wont last much longer. Oh, don't worry about touching me. The illness can only spread through open wounds."

His face was soaked with tears, and his coat changed from light gray to a very dark gray. Tears were beginning to well up in my eyes as his voice quivered even more now.

"I never thought I would see you again, but a cyan blue mare I met had told me she knew you by name. I gave her my letter, and the mare dropped it off the other day. I am so thankful, that I have this last chance with you, my daughter, to see how you've grown. I-I-I love you sweetie."

He jumped over and hugged me, I could feel his warm tears run down my back, and mine run down the sides of my face.

I hugged him back, and didn't let go.

"Daddy?" I asked with sorrow in my voice, "What, is my name.? The name you gave me, when I was born?"

"Derpy," he said. "That's what we thought when we saw you, but; I realize now how horrible and awful we were to give you such a name. I'm so sorry."

He hugged me even tighter.

"No dad." I replied, "If it wasn't for that name, I don't think I would be the mare I am today."

We remained silent for another minute, when I said, "Dad, I forgive you. And, I actually want to thank you, because without you and mom being the way you were to me, I would have never found my new home. I now have many friends, and I even adopted a small unicorn filly. My life couldn't be better."

"Derpy." He said, "I am glad you're happy, and I want you to remain happy, all of your life."

His tears continued to fall on my back and wings.

"And I want you to know, that when I saw you, I didn't see Derpy; I saw my beautiful, one of a kind daughter. I'm sorry it took me this long to find you. And I'm sorry that I can't see you or your children grow up."

"No," I said, "but you can see the place and ponies that make me happy. I want you to come and see me being happy, so that there are no doubts in your head."

"Very Well." He replied.

We sat there for another few minutes, crying in each others arms, and feeling the warmth of a hug; the warm hug, of a parent.
	
> Family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 8 - Family
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


After another few moments, we let go, and he smiled at me. He said that he didn't have the strength left to fly, so he could not join me on the long flight to Ponyville. I went and asked some of the hospital staff if they would lend us something for me to transport My father to Ponyville for the day.

They said that because of the illness he had, he wasn't allowed to leave the building. We tried and tried to get something set up so he could go, but, to no avail. I went back up to my fathers bedroom, and told him the news. This saddened him even more.

"Dad," I stated, "I don't know how much longer you have, but. I want to be here for you. So, I'll come back in two days, and bring you a surprise."

I hugged him goodbye, and I left the hospital. I flew home, and picked up Dinky from Applejack's house. By the time we got home, it was dark. The night chill was coming, and the sky was clear of clouds. We entered our home, and I told Dinky all that had happened.

"So, you want me to go with you?" Dinky questioned."

I smiled and nodded , "I want it to be a surprise for him. I want him to see you at least once."

"Ok." Announced the small filly.

The day came quick, and we were ready to go and see my father; and introduce him to my family.

I don't know how she'll respond but, I know dad will love to see her.

Dinky hopped into my green muffin bag, and our journey began. I had a hard time gaining altitude, seeing as Dinky had grown since I brought her home that first time. Thankfully it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.

Dinky looked back and forth constantly from the bag, as she stared in awe of the beautiful landscape we flew over. The clouds were scarce, and the wind in my mane felt magnificent. I flew at a steady rate, and made sure the bag was secure. After some hours of flight, Cloudsdale came into view.

"Look Dinky." I exclaimed.

She poked her small head out of the bag and looked at the city of clouds. Her eyes grew wide with wonder, and she smiled. We shortly reached the edge of the city, Dinky immediately poked her head out of the bag to see the beautiful city. She was about ready to hop out, but I stopped her before she was able to.

"You don't want to be doing that." I suggested. "Only pegasi are able to walk on clouds, so, just stay inside the bag. I know you want to come out, but trust me."

She looked at the ground, and then she slunk back into the bag. I smiled at her, and looked past the buildings, The hospital stood in the distance. As I flew towards the hospital, Dinky was receiving looks from the nearby pegasi. This was because there were never any other kind of pony's in Cloudsdale. I smiled shyly at them, and continued towards the hospital. I reached the hospital, and walked up the stairs and into my fathers room. I saw him lying down in his bed, facing the window once again.

His thoughts were probably distant. Thinking about his past, my mom, his travels.

My thoughts began to wander further as I looked at him, I only wished I had someway to see him then. To be able to travel back, and know what he was like. All an if I suppose

I ended my thoughts, and walked closer to his bed.

"Hey dad." I said halting by his bedside.

He rolled over, and said, "Why hello Derpy."

His eyes glistened, and lit up. A smile spread across his face as he sat up in his bed. Dinky heard us speaking, and poked her head out of the bag. She looked over, and saw the old pegasus.

"Why hello there, and who might you be?" He asked.

Dinky shyly ducked back into the bag.

I giggled, and stated, "It's ok Dinky, this, is my daddy."

Dinky poked her head out again, to see the old pony smiling at her.

"So Dinky is your name?" Inquired my father, "What a pretty name, did this beautiful young mare pick that name out for you?"

I laughed, Dinky nodded hesitantly.

My father chuckled, "Derpy, why don't you go ahead and place her on that bed right there."

"Well, won't she fall through?"

"Not on the beds here." My father reassured me, "They are magically reinforced just in case of emergencies. I really don't know why they did that, but, it's convenient for us."

I slowly placed Dinky onto the bed, and made sure that it wouldn't give way, and thankfully it didn't. She sat in the bed, and I sat on the floor next to her. We talked with my father for hours, I told him of how I found Ponyville, my journey during Winter Wrap Up, all of the food that was down in Ponyville, and muffins.

He shared a few of his adventures when he was searching for me, some stories had humor, others were adventurous, while others touching. He spoke of the many lands he had seen, and the creatures he met. He would often go days and nights without food. He had traveled in many lands never once explored, the great deserts across the vast ocean, the high lands of the Griffons, and how he helped those he met along the way; sharing his tale, of what he saw and did.

I shared with him of how I found Dinky, and what an experience it's been having her as my daughter. I had never seen my father so happy before, and I hoped that he would never stop smiling. Finally the time came for us to leave, this was saddening to us all, we hugged him goodbye, and we set off towards home.

"Mommy?" Dinky began to question, "Will we see grandpa again?"

Something was telling me no, but I pushed it aside, and reassured Dinky, "Of course we will, but I want you to remember something."

I stopped just before the edge of the city. I stared out into the vast landscape of Equestria, and began to think of my dads' adventures.

"I want you to know Dinky, that he will always be in our hearts and memories. He will never leave you Dinky. I want you to remember, no matter what, that he will not stop loving you, or me."

I could feel tears beginning to well up in my eyes again. I sighed, and I flew away from the place that had caused me so much pain and sorrow. With new memories of it, memories I would never forget. Memories that I would keep close to my heart, for the rest of my days. Dinky and I left Cloudsdale, with our heads and memories full of bliss.

A few more days went by, and I was at work sorting the mail to prepare it for delivery. I came upon one particular letter, from Cloudsdale; It was from the Cloudian Memorial Hospital to be precise, and it was addressed to me. It read;


"Dear Ms. Derpy Hooferman (Hooves), it is with our most sincere apology, that we report to you of your fathers passing.He died the morning after you had visited. Once again, we apologize, and hold our thoughts and prayers towards you. He wrote in his will that you were to take care of burial, and location of it. Please come and pick up the body, as well as the few material possessions he had.
Sincerely, Doctor Maremen Clyde, and the rest of the hospital staff."


I dropped the letter to the floor, and tears began to form in my eyes. Drew happened to walk in when I dropped the letter.

"Ditzy, what's wrong?" he frantically asked.

I couldn't get the words out of my mouth. He picked up the letter and began to read it. I was now crying profusely, he finished the letter and looked at me.

"Oh Ditzy, I'm.. I'm so sorry." He leaned over and hugged me. "I'm so sorry." he continued, "Ditzy, take the rest of the week off. You need sometime to yourself, and I can see that. So, go home."

He stepped back, and gave me the letter. I took the letter, and slowly walked out of the post office. I placed the letter in my bag, and slowly began to walk towards the school. My head was lowered, and my wings were as well. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I didn't care.

How can he be dead? I thought to myself, he can't die now, we just became a family. 

I stopped in my tracks, and sat under a nearby tree to cry again. Why? Why so soon? He was so happy, and so were we! It's too soon! I can't lose this. I can't lose my fathers love this soon! We just became a family! It's all I've ever wanted in life. Somepony to love me, somepony that is there for me. I couldn't even be there for him. I couldn't be there to comfort him as he passed! Why me? WHY?

I was now leaning against the tree, and bawling my eyes out. Thankfully no other ponies were around at the time. I spent the next half hour trying to compose myself. It was a long process of fighting my own thoughts, finally I composed myself. I wiped the tears from my eyes, and began to walk to Dinky's school. My head was down, and my wings were dragging on the ground. I stayed like this all the way to the school.

I reached the school, and composed myself. The next minute was spent forcing a fake smile, and walking to the door. I knocked on the school door, and Ms. Cheerilee answered.

"Why hello Ms. Hooves." She announced, "Can I help you with something?"

"I need to excuse Dinky from class, if you could shut the door, I can explain it all to you."

"Well, of course." she turned around, "One moment class, I need to talk with Dinky's mom."

She shut the door, and I began to explain the whole situation.

"Oh my." she said sympathetically, "I'm so sorry to hear that Derpy. Of course Dinky can be excused. You two take as long as you need, I know these things can be hard."

Ms. Cheerilee opened the door, "Dinky." she announced, "Your free to go home."

Dinky's eyes lit up, and she instantly packed her bags. The other students began to groan.

"OH COME ON!" Sweetie Belle yelled out from the back of the class.

Dinky ran up and hugged me, it was reassuring. We began to walk back home, and I hesitantly told her what happened. By the time we reached the house, her face was soaked with tears.

I opened the door for her, and we spent the next few hours crying. I told Dinky I had to go and retrieve a few things from Cloudsdale. She understood, and went to her bedroom. I flew off towards Cloudsdale, and tried keep my thoughts off of my dad; but to no avail.

I knew he died happy, I thought, and I should be happy about that, but it's just too soon!

I spent the next few hours fighting myself, and it was a losing battle. I reached Cloudsdale, and my hopes were shattered. I couldn't force my self to go to the hospital. But, I had to do this, and I knew it. Dinky would want something to remember dad by. I forced my self up off of the cloud, and flew to the hospital. I walked in and straightened my eyes. I had a few stray tears on my cheeks as I approached the counter. There was a white Pegasus mare standing there. She was glancing a few clipboards as I approached.

"Hi." I said, "My name is Derpy, I'm here to pick up John Hooferman's possessions."

"Oh, of course." responded the mare at the counter, "Wait one moment please."

I stood there, and wiped my eyes. The mare left walking up the stairs, I suspected she was going into my fathers old room. She soon came down the stairs carrying a book in her mouth. She walked to the counter, and placed it down in front of me.

"Is that all?" I inquired, "Surely he hade more than that."

"No, this is all he had. I'm sorry."

I grabbed the book, placed it in my bag.

"If you could." I began, "Do you think it possible for you folks here to take care of the body? I don't really have any place for him, besides it live all the way down in Ponyville."

"I understand." The nurse sympathized, "We will take care of that for you."

I thanked the nurse, and walked out of the hospital, and began my flight home. It was another long flight, and the sky began to change to a light orange. By the time I reached home, the sky was beginning to turn purple. I landed outside the front door, and could see that the lights were on. I opened the door, and to my surprise, all of my friends were standing in my house waiting for me.

"SURPRISE!" Pinkie Pie yelled jumping out from the back.

"What, what is all this?" I asked.

"Why, it's just everypony in town that wants to be here for you, duh!" Pinkie went on.

"Yeah." Applejack announced, "We couldn't stand to just leave ya so sad. When we all heard the news, everypony came together and brought gifts an' food."

"We couldn't stand to see our friends so down." Drew said walking forward, "I know that you probably wanted to be alone for this Ditzy, but we all wanted to be here for you in your time of need."

I scanned the room, and tears filled my eyes once more. It was amazing to be able to see my friends be here for me. My friends stayed over for hours that night, each one coming up to give me a hug, and telling me that it was alright. And, I knew it would be alright, because I had friends; friends that accepted me for who I was and not how I looked.

Each one was considerate, concerned, and always making sure that each of their friends are happy. I regret to say, that if I wasn't treated the way I was early in life, I wouldn't be here now; with all of these wonderful friends, and my daughter. The family I have had all this time.
> Bliss
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 9 - Bliss
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


My friends had all gone, and the day was soon to end. I could here Dinky's tender snoring coming from her room. I walked to my bag, and pulled out the book I had obtained earlier in the day from the hospital. I set it on my kitchen table, and opened it up, it was a photo album.

Looking at the first page, was a picture of me as a filly. I turned the next page, and it was my parents holding me when I was born. Their resent didn't come until a little later I suspected. What shocked me most, is that my father had done his best to preserve pictures of me, and us as a family. I could see that most were of him and mom, but I didn't mind.

I continued looking at each photo of them, my heart skipped for joy knowing that they lived happy lives, that is until the end. I flipped to the last page with a photo, it was a picture of my mom and dad smiling. They were on the outskirts of Cloudsdale from what I could tell, with the beautiful Equestrian landscape behind them. It looked as though they were smiling at me from the picture. The next pages were blank, so I flipped back to the picture of my parents smiling, and took it out. Upon taking this picture out, a folded piece of parchment fell onto the floor. I set the picture down, and unfolded the parchment; it was a note from my dad.

The letter read,


"Dear Derpy, If you are reading this note, it means my time has passed. I just hope that you can find this letter, so I can tell you; that I love you. And that no matter what, I want you to be happy. By now you must have noticed that the rest of this album is blank. Those pages are for you. I want you to place your happiest moments in your life there, as I have with mine.

"Cherish each moment you have with your daughter, because each moment with her, is a moment lost.
Place your best memories here; so that when Dinky grows older, she can remember the good times and know that you lived your life without regrets. Remember to never forget who you are. You aren't just Derpy, you are my beautiful mare of a daughter who I missed grow up.

"Remember to hold memories close to your heart, no matter how much they hurt.
I'm just glad I could have seen you one last time.
I love you Derpy, and I hope that you live a happy life.
Your father, John Hooferman."


By the time I finished reading, there was a small puddle of tears next to my hooves. I held the letter close to my chest, and tears flowed from my eyes, blurring my vision. Once the tears ceased, I folded the letter, closed the book, and took them to my room. I placed both under my pillow, and laid down on my bed. I knew my father was gone, but I wasn't entirely sad anymore. I knew he was happy, and wanted nothing but the best for me. I couldn't just stay this way the rest of my life. That would just disappoint him.

I closed my eyes, and dreamt of my father smiling at me saying, "Goodbye Derpy. I love you."

The next morning, I woke up to find Dinky in the living room playing with the new stuffed animals she had received last night from my friends. Most of them thought that Dinky would be hit the hardest, so they all gave her stuffed animals. She played with them all day, and would only stop to eat. I was glad this wasn't a really hard hit to her.

Dinky was soon back in school, and I was back to work by the end of the week. Another month went by, and soon I began to feel less sorrowful about the whole father ordeal. Summer was nearing it's end, but something else was coming along with that; my birthday. Last year nopony did anything, but that was only because I hadn't told anypony. This year, I made the mistake of telling Pinkie; it was only because she asked... Repeatedly. I now began to regret the decision as the day drew closer.

About 3 days before my birthday, I would often hear ponies hushing each other as I walked by, this scared me a little. Friday, the day before my birthday, I went out to do some shopping since I had the day off, but the weirdest thing happened, nopony was in town. It was completely deserted. I walked to the stores, and there was still no sign of anypony. I flew up into the clouds to get a better view, but it didn't help me; for nopony was in sight.

I flew back down to the ground, and saw something unusual in the street. A muffin just lying there. It looked as if it was just placed there. It wasn't dirty, and there weren't any signs of it being trampled. My belly craved for the muffin, I hadn't had one in a few days because I was so caught up with the suspicions I had on everypony.

My curiosity soon turned to hunger, the muffin stood no chance. Upon chewing the delicacy, I saw another muffin nearby, Hunger had become the only instinct I knew now. That muffin soon vanished as well. Looking up only I was to find yet another muffin. glee spread through my body, it was muffins galore I thought. I continued and followed what would turn into a trail of muffins.

Follow the tasty trail, I knew it was leading somewhere, but as long as there were muffins, I was satisfied. I followed the path for a few more minutes, thankfully it wasn't a muffin every single step, other wise I would have gotten full really fast.

A few minutes ticked away, and I reached the door to my house. Oh no. I thought. I slowly and hesitantly opened the door to my dark home. I peered in, and a thundering,

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DERPY!"

Slammed into my face. I fell onto my back from the screams that were thrown at me. The lights flickered on, and I regained my hoofing. I saw everypony that I knew standing in my house, each of them with a large smile written across their face.

Pinkie jumped out from the back of the crowd, "Do you like it?" she inquired, "I spent all week getting everypony involved, and look! The cake is a giant muffin! Mrs. Cake knew that you loved muffins, so she made it!"

I looked at the cake sitting on my kitchen table, and sure enough, it was a giant muffin. My eyes gleamed, and I beamed a large smile to everypony who was standing there.

"Thank you all so much." I stated, "I couldn't ask for better friends in life. So, thank you all so much."

We spent the last hours of the day partying. It didn't end until the sun had set, and everypony was getting tired. Soon after my friends began to leave for home while Drew, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Raindrops stayed behind to help clean up my house. My house was soon clean, and I thanked my friends. We all said goodbye, and I slept peacefully that night.

Fall went by quickly, and the same happened with winter. Soon enough, Winter Wrap Up was coming up again. I knew what to expect this year, but there was something else on my mind. Dinky, and when I found her. I really didn't know when her birthday was, but it was about this time that I found her. I was going to have her birthday be the same day I found her. The day of Winter wrap up came, and I was assigned to help bring the southern birds back again.

I was ready earlier than most of the other pegasi, so I decided to head off on my own, and meet them there. I flew off into the thick gray sky. I flew higher and higher into the sky, and the higher I went, snow became more prevalent. It became colder, and harder to see. Thankfully the blue coat I had on kept some of the cold out. As I continued to fly, I noticed that there were a few other pegasi following from behind; they must have noticed me taking off. Raindrops was in the group, she flew up next to me.

"Hey there Ditzy, decided to leave early too?" Raindrops inquired.

"Yep." I replied.

We continued flying for another hour, but the weather hadn't changed. I knew that the southern birds traveled far, but it just seemed odd how much snow there was. We finally flew over a mountain range, expecting the snow to finally die out. However, there was snow all over the valley. Finally it hit me, I stopped in mid flight, and turned around to face the 15 other pegasi following me.

"Um." I began, rubbing the back of my head, "Hey guys, wouldn't it be funny if we were just by chance, flying the wrong direction? Because, at this point in time, oh how funny would that be?

They all stopped and glared at me.

"I think we may have possibly maybe flown north." I finally chirped.

The other pegasi looked at the current surroundings, and then realization hit them.

"Ditzy!" yelled Raindrops, "Didn't you make sure you were going south first? We flew all this way for nothing!"

I lowered my head, and the pegasi turned around and began to fly south; I did the same. Towards the end of the day, we were finally heading back home. I couldn't wait to see Dinky. By the time we reached home, it was dark. Most of the streets had been cleared of snow, and the sky was clear. I left it to the other pegasi to get the birds settled in their new nests.

I flew home, only to find the lights out. Precariously opening the door, I peered inside. Darkness lay before my sight, and the cool night air had invaded my home. I walked inside, and removed my blue coa. I tiptoed into Dinky's room, only to find her asleep. I wanted to say happy birthday, but I didn't want to disturb the quiet filly. So, I waited until first light tomorrow. I decided to go out that night, and tell a few of the ponies about Dinky's birthday, they were mad with me for waking them up this late; but were all delighted to hear the news none the less.

The sun shown bright and warm the next morning, everypony I asked to come gathered with me in the living room. We waited for Dinky to come out, so we could all say happy birthday. We all waited impatiently, soon, we could hear the creaking of a door. We all looked down the hall to see the small light purple unicorn come out rubbing her eyes. She entered the living room, and we all screamed in unison,

"Happy birthday Dinky!"

She looked up with shock, and saw all of us smiling at her. A smile grew across her face. She saw me and ran to me, she jumped and gave me a great big hug.

"Thank you mommy!" she exclaimed.

I hugged her back and said, "You're welcome sweetie."

Over the next hour, we all gave her gifts, and partied. Dinky seemed to have had an amazing time, and that's all that mattered. Everypony left, and soon after the house was cleaned up.
> Celebration
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 10 - Celebration
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Another few months went by, I was still working for the postal service, and Dinky was finally out of school for spring break.

After work had ended on day, Drew came up and asked me a question, "Hey Ditzy, are you going to the town meeting today?"

"What town meeting?" I inquired.

"Why the one that was announced by the mayor." Drew stated, "She said it was important for the whole town to go."

"Oh, well then of course I'll go. I just need to go grab Dinky really quick, and bring her along."

Soon, I had grabbed Dinky, and we were on our way towards the town meeting. The meeting was held just outside of town hall, and everypony from town was there. I was a bit late, so i had to stand towards the back of the crowd.

"Fillies and gentlecolts!" The Mayor proclaimed, "I have received a very important letter from Princess Celestia."

The crowd fell hushed as she spoke.

"She has stated in her letter that this years Summer Sun Celebration will be held in Ponyville!"

The crowd cheered. I leaned to the pony next to me, "What is the Summer Sun Celebration?" I inquired.

"What?" gasped the other pony, "How do you not know what the Summer Sun Celebration is?"

The white unicorn sounded appalled at the fact that I didn't know what it was.

"Well." she continued, "The Summer Sun Celebration is a yearly event held in the town of Princess Celestia's choice."

"So, what do we do?"

"We, get to prepare the town for her arrival, it is a very special event."

"Ohhh." I said as this just clicked in my head. "So, what exactly does the princess do?"

The white unicorn groaned, and flipped her purple main.

"The Princess will come to Ponyville, and raise the sun."

"That's it?" I asked.

"That's it."

"But, isn't there more than just that? I mean, it seems so… simple"

"That's all there is too it." she simply replied.

"Oh, well alright then." I cheerfully rang back.

The mayor closed her speech, "The Princess will be arriving here the day before summer. Each of you will be receiving letters over the next week to prepare what you need. Summer is only two months away, so please use your time wisely."

The ponies soon left, and went about their days. As I walked home, a thought popped into my head.

For these two years I have been here in Ponyville, I never once thanked all of my friends. I mean, I said thank you at my birthdays, and when they were there for me when my father passed; but it still didn't seem like it was enough for me. I need to do something, and soon.

I slept on the thought that night, when the next morning came, I still didn't have an idea on how to get everypony in one place to be able to do it. Soon, days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. The time was now the day before the Summer Sun Celebration, and I had given up on telling my friends of how they had changed me. At least until around noon the day before Celestia's arrival.

"DERPY!" Pinkie screamed as she ran towards me. "Derpy you are not going to believe this! A new unicorn has come to Ponyville and she is purple! I heard the dragon say Twilight, so that must be her name! So I did some research and she's staying the in the library! So Derpy, help me tell everypony that there will be a party this evening in the library!"

Before I could say anything, Pinkie ran off to go and tell more ponies.

This is it! I thought to myself, I can tell everypony tonight at the party, I know the party is not about me; but I think that the new pony would like to hear about Ponyville, and how it affects other ponies.

So, I spent the rest of the day telling all the ponies I saw about the party. Soon the sun began to set over the beautiful Equestrian mountains, and town hall had finally been prepared for the princess. I walked towards the library, which was a giant hollowed out tree. I saw a few ponies sneak in, and I followed them with haste; as I knew that this would be a surprise party. 

I entered, and all the lights were out. I walked forward, and tried to find somepony I knew. Unfortunately, I got lost, and decided to stay where I was. My thoughts raced to gather an idea of what I was going to say. Soon, we all heard the door open, we looked, and saw Fluttershy fly in carrying something in her arms, and murmuring about a bed. The purple unicorn wandered in after her, and stopped Fluttershy from continuing.

"Yes yes, well goodnight." she said shutting the door on Fluttershy.

It was once again pitch black, I could hear her hooves against the wooden floor.

"Rude much?" said a voice from the darkness.

"Sorry Spike," replied the unicorn, "but I have to convince the Princess that Night Mare moon is coming and we're running out of time. I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time, now where's the light?"

The lights turned on, and everypony in the room yelled,

"SURPRISE!"

Pinkie ran up to her, and yelled surprise again in her face. As they talked, I saw Lyra Heartstrings, and Minutte, or Colgate as we called her. I talked with them for a bit, while I continued to piece together my thoughts on what I was going to say. After a few minutes, I saw the purple unicorn run up to her room with tears.

"She's so happy she's crying!" Pinkie burst out.

The party continued on, now was the chance to act.

"E-excuse me," I began, "can I have everypony's attention please?"

They all slowly looked towards me.

A few ponies asked, "What's wrong Ditzy?"

While some others asked, "What's going on Derpy?"

"I um, just have something to say."

I really felt the pressure on me, as everypony was staring at me; but I held my breath, and took the plunge.

"Before I arrived here in Ponyville, my life was a horrible mess. I didn't have any friends, and I didn't know who I was. I was called so many names, and made fun of for how I looked. I felt I didn't belong anywhere. This all changed when I fled my home in Cloudsdale and arrived here in Ponyville. I thought I would just be made fun of again, and still have no purpose, but I was wrong. I came here, and each of you accepted me, not caring how I looked.

"You took me in, and for these two years, you have chipped the stone away at my heart. All of you here spent the time to heal my wounds, and help me through my hardships. I just wanted to thank each and everypony here." A brief tear began to form below my eye, "I am so thankful to be able to meet ponies like you. You have all changed my life for the better, and I hope to spend the rest of my days here in Ponyville. And I hope we can do the same for unicorn who has just arrived here.

"I hope we can be there for her when she's having a good day, or if she is having a bad day. As you have all done for me. So, just thank you, thank you all so much. I know that I wouldn't be the mare I am now without any of you. All of you are my family."

My eyes began to water, and some ponies began to gather around me, while others hugged me. I could hear Pinkie in the back crying. Suddenly, her demeanor changed, and she burst out,

"HEY! This is a party! So we should celebrate Derpy's living here for two years!"

The other ponies all yelled in approval, and the party began once again.

Now that i think about it, I'm glad to have had the life I lived. It may have been hard, but if it wasn't for those hardships, I would have never found Ponyville, and all of these amazing friends. I know that this year will be something magical, and that each of my friends will be there for me. Through thick and thin, because to them I'm not just the mare with silly looking eyes. I am there so much more than that. I am their friend, somepony who is there to be there for them, as they would be for me. They know that I am Derpy Hooves.


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Authors Notes - Like I stated at the beginning of this story, it's an old one, and my first actually. I know this chapter wasn't the most detailed of them all, but it was one where I left some gaps intentionally. I'm not going to say what, but you may see soon. I want to thank you all so much for taking the time to read my story. I hope you all enjoyed this, because i had a great time writing it, whenever I actually was writing it. I will have more stories coming out soon. Until next time!

> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


One Last Message
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My eyes drowsily opened the next morning. Adjusting to the light, and diffusing the blur, my eyes opened to the sight of the sun peeking over the Equestrian mountains. I smiled and stretched my muscles. A yawn exited my body. It was going to be another beautiful day here in Ponyville. Since I didn’t have to be at the post office for another hour, I reached under my pillow, and pulled out my fathers photo album to pass the time.

I began to flip through all of the pictures once more, seeing my parents happy faces. It filled me with joy. I flipped through each page slowly, and cherished each picture. Taking in the beauty of the life they had. I flipped to the last page of the pictures my father had put in, and saw the photo I had placed. It was of Dinky and I at her last birthday.

I flipped through the rest of the pages in the book, to see how many were left to fill. Twenty-seven, quite a few more pictures to put in still. As I glanced at the back cover of the album, I noticed something peculiar about it. The back cover was swollen and plump. Looking as if it held secret contents. Curiosity overwhelmed me, and I tore the back cover off.

Letters flew out of the back of my photo album. 

What are these?

A total of twelve envelops had been left in the back cover of this album, and for a reason I suspected. I gathered the now scattered old letters, grabbing one, it read, “The Griffon Kingdoms.”

These must be the adventures my father went on, and his journey of trying to find me.

I scrounged through the letters, trying to find the order in which they went. I finally stumbled upon a letter that read, “Where it all started.”

He must not have had a diary to keep his thoughts in on these travels. I thought, So these letters must be his diary.

I opened the first letter, pulled out the paper, and read.

‘My name is John Hooferman, and these are the words I write to whoever finds this. I write these letters as my diary, and as stories to share with my daughter, if I ever find her. I’m writing about the time lost spent trying to find her, and all of the creatures I have met. The life lessons learned, and the hardships and trials of an adventurer. A stallion with a single goal now, to find his daughter, no matter what the cost’


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Authors Notes: Yes everyone, I’m going to be making a sequel to the story. Don’t be expecting this story too soon, I will be taking my time in writing it, that and I’m also focused on “The Little Things In Life.” Once again, I thank you all for reading this story, and hoped you all enjoyed it. 


~Cabral095 (AR)