For the Love of Derpy Hooves
It was a day like any other in Ponyville, the markets bursting with life and, as usual, it made me feel as though I were trying to find my way through a giant hoof maze in which every time I found my way out, somepony moved directly in front of me and then got mad at me for being in their way. Uggh, use some common ( or at least used to be common) sense.
However, that day not even rude, line-cutting mares could affect my mood. That day, no matter how much it seemed to be like any other day, was special. I left my job at the early because that day marked one year of engagement to a very special somepony and I. Not a second was wasted thinking about anything else except for a certain grey-coated, yellow-maned pegasus. Her piercing amber eyes, gazing into mine.
My train of thought stopped when I almost ran into a pink pony carrying a tray of baked goods and sorts. It was Princess Cadence. I said, "Oh, sorry Pinkie Pie," and started for home. I took a step forward then the realization hit me. Time seemed to slow down as my heart rate sped up. I turned my head slowly to see if she had noticed. Luckily she hadn't. I decided to not give her the chance to notice me, so I dashed out of there as fast as I could go. In my panicked state, I teleported my self outside of Rarity's boutique.
As I came down off of my adrenaline rush, I tried to remember why I was at the boutique because it was on my to-do list. I did need to go there and get something before tonight, but what? I couldn't think of what it was that I needed to go to the boutique for so I went off to do other errands that needed to be done before that night. My first stop was to return a book to the library, so I went to see Spike and Twilight, they were always so nice to me. When I got there, I ( of course) remembered why I needed to go by the boutique. As I entered, I found, to my horror, a blue alicorn.
She was tall, reserved,a bit out of place, and very formal. In other words, the way she was before her... incident. She was talking to a familiar looking purple alicorn and Spike. As I moved through the library, I tried to remain unseen. Of course they noticed me. After that, put simply, all hell broke loose.
I hadn't been paying much attention to what was around my feet. Owlowiscious brushed past my hoof and I sprang into the nearest wall and knocked over a huge bookcase. This wasn't one of the usual seven to eight shelved bookcases. No, no, no. It was one of the massive twelve to thirteen shelved ones. Not only did it fall flat, it broke upon impact. Plus it almost crushed me on its trip down. I stood there speechless. There was nothing to be said. If they hadn't noticed me before, then they definitely had now.
After an awkward silence, I stammered out," I'm s-sorry. I'll p-p-pick up this m-mess." They sat there bewildered. With a flash of grey-ish light from my horn, and slight reddening of my cheeks, I picked up the bookcase and started to reassemble it. Praise Celestia for magic, because without it, I wouldn't have been able to reassemble the massive bookcase. After I finished the bookcase, I started to return the books to their rightful places. It would have been easier if they hadn't been sprawled out all over the floor. It would have also been easier without the audience.
After about ten minutes, there was only one book left on the floor. It was opened to a random page. As I read what was on the page, my heart started to race and I slammed the book shut and shoved into its slot. A cold shiver ran down my spine accompanied by a cold sweat on my forehead. It told the all-too-familiar tale of the Tyrant King of the Everfree Forest. I went over to Spike and returned my book. He asked," Are you ok? That bookcase almost crushed you." I nodded " yes" and left the made my way way to the door. As I walked out, I noticed the blue alicorn staring at me as if she thought I looked familiar. I rushed over to the boutique.
I had to pick up my tuxedo from Rarity. Luckily there were no " familiar faces" at the boutique like there were in the library. As I was thanking and complementing Rarity on her amazing job, three little foals trotted in. They all knew me pretty well from going out on their crusade for cutie marks.
They were discussing their plans for their next ploy to get their cutie marks. Their plan was to stalk ponies who already have their cutie marks to see what they do. I have a feeling that this will be a bit of a let down for them if their expecting Applejack to secretly be some sort of crime boss or something. Applejack... that's right A.J. and R.D. are coming with us to dinner tonight for our anniversary.
As I started to pay for the tux, a loud shriek could be heard from just behind me. Apparently, some royal guards passed by the boutique and those three fixated on them because they suddenly shrieked out," CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ROYAL GUARDS!!!!" I considered myself quite lucky for that because they seemed to be trying to not draw my attention to them. They started to move away with three little trails. I knew that this didn't mean anything good so I picked up my bits from off the floor, thanked Rarity once again, and started for the door. Then, something felt odd.
I was walking, but I wasn't getting any closer to the door. In fact, I was getting farther away from the door. I looked and realized that I was being levitated into a chair by Rarity. I was confused, she had on her red work glasses. I only started to panic slightly when she pulled out her panic couch. She sat down and then started to lecture me on how to impress a mare on a date. She went on for about fifteen minutes or so giving me do's and don'ts for dating.
I tried to explain to her," I know how to act on a date, Rarity. We've been engaged for a whole year now, I think I know this stuff by now..." Then she would cut me off and say," Ohhhh, no-no-no-no no." and continue talking. Finally, she finished with a little side note," Oh... and don't be late." After that, she let me leave. As I headed home, I thought to myself," Wow, that was the shortest lecture on how to date from Rarity yet!"
When I got home, I yelled as loud as I could," I"m home!! I live with two of my best friends, Vinyl and Octavia. Needless to say, there is never a quiet day in that house, and yes, Vinyl really does clean the dishes with wubs. I was skeptical at first too so I was surprised when it worked. It's actually really efficient and really cleans them, only problem is that you can't put any crystal or glass in there. They will break if you do. Anyways, back to what happened.
As I was getting ready, Octavia started acting like she was my mom or something. She straightened my collar, combed my mane ( which I undid when she was out of sight), and other things like that. Vinyl decided not to get involved which was probably the best thing for her to do. Octavia and Vinyl often get in fights with each other about little things like that. Finally, I was ready to go. Derpy and I decided to meet where we first met, out in front of Sugarcube Corner. It's a hard day to forget, truthfully.
I had just congratulated Mr. and Mrs. Cake on becoming parents and to deliver something to Pinkie Pie from Vinyl and Octavia. I delivered the package and was on my way back home when I heard somepony scream," Watch out!" By the time my brain processed the situation, I was hit squarely in the side by a grey pegasus pony who seemed to be traveling at around mach five or six.
After the initial impact, we flew into the wall of a nearby store. I'm pretty sure something broke; whether it was the wall, or my back, I had no clue. When I got up to see what had hit me, I stumbled around a bit. When there was once again only one of everything, I looked next to me and my heart skipped a beat or three.
Lying next to me, still unconscious, was the most beautiful mare I had ever seen. Her mane was a sandy yellow color, she was in a mailmare's uniform, her coat was light grey and I found myself staring at her cutie mark. Her cutie mark consisted of bubbles. I knew that I really should not stare at mares' flanks, but I couldn't stop staring. She started to come to and I finally dragged my eyes away from her flank and helped her to her hooves.
Our eyes met and time seemed to stop, nothing else mattered right then. I felt my heart rate speed up as I looked into her beautiful amber eyes and saw her looking back at me. Her amber eyes were crossed and there was debris in her mane. As the moment passed, her face turned from grey to red and she started stammering," I'm so so s-sorry" over and over again.
I finally picked out the correct words to not make me look like a blithering idiot in front of her and said," It's ok, I should have reacted sooner." All of the contents of her mailbag were now strewn across the road. Then we noticed that we were drawing a crowd. The debris in her hair, we soon found out, was from a sign hanging off of an awning in front of the entrance of the shop. Apparently they had just got it made and had been, just moments before, installed.
The owner was an older stallion from Manehattan. Nothing against Manehattan, but they don't really accept the answer," I'm sorry it was an accident and it won't happen again." No, if something happens, especially like this under the same circumstances, they always look for a scapegoat to pin the blame ( and the cost) on. In other words, we were in a lot of trouble for a happy accident.
He comes out of the shop, with the work ponies standing in the doorway, and looks at the sign, then at the mare, back at the sign,and then back at the mare. He then immediately started accusing the mare ( all the attention from the crowd did not quite help our situation) of property damage and started saying things about how he is going to take her to court. He started making random accusations that had nothing to do with the situation at hand.
Every time he made an accusation, the crowd cheered. I may not have said anything, but when I saw her start to cry, I couldn't stand it any longer. So I shouted," Sir, you are accusing the wrong pony!" A look of confusion overtook his face. " What?" said the stallion. I explained to him as politely as I could," I wasn't watching where I was going and started to cross. Fortunately...," I shook my head at the mistake," I mean unfortunately, I didn't and I walked straight into her path. It was my fault that your sign got broken, not hers."
The stallion didn't seem to care as much anymore as long as I fixed the sign. Whether it was by paying to get it fixed ( couldn't afford), paying for a new one ( couldn't afford that either), or by fixing it and re-installing it ( praise Celestia for magic). I cast a spell on it. At first I was trying to find all the pieces so I could pit it back together, so I cast a spell to collect them all into the same place. However, only a few splinters of wood came.
I looked all around and, by chance, into the window and found it. I found out what broke, it was the sign, or, to be exact, my head going through the sign. It was hanging off of my neck. I got it off of my neck and then cast a spell to fix it. When I finished it looked as good as new.
By the time I finished, the crowd had dissipated. It was just me and the beautiful mare left. I walked her over to Sugarcube Corner and we sat down and talked. As we talked, I learned her name: Derpy Hooves. From that day on, I felt like the luckiest stallion in all of Equestria.
As I came out of my flashback, I was passing under Rainbow's cloud-home. I looked up at it. It really was magnificent. It also is where my special somepony is living at the moment. Looking at the bottom of her house; which, when you think about it, is kind of unnerving if you aren't used to walking under cloud-houses; reminded me of when I first met Rainbow Dash.
It was about two weeks after I met Derpy for the first time. I was nearly struck by a rainbow-streaming bullet. I had just had coffee with Derpy before work. I had just rounded Sugarcube Corner when a rainbow-maned pony touched ground like a meteorite slamming into the crust of the Earth. Had I taken another step forward, I would have been squished.
The rainbow mare was crouching like a tiger about to pounce and giving me a look that said " I will kill you to death." There was no way that she was after someone else because there was nopony else on the road at the time. At first, she just eyed me like she was trying to look through me to see something behind me. After many long moments of this awkward silence, she asked," Do you love her?"
At first, I was very confused by the question. " What is she talking about?" I thought," Do I love who?" "Well?" said the rainbow mare," Do you, or are you just playing her like a fool?" " Playing who as a fool?" " Derpy, I mean Derpy." I felt stupid. Of course she was talking about Derpy. " I love her." " Oh, yeah?" said the mare suspiciously," Do you really mean it, or are you just saying that?"
I never had been very open to other people about personal matters like that so I gathered up my courage and tried to not let my voice crack. I closed my eyes and said," I can't get her out of my head. The only reason I get up early and go to Sugarcube Corner is to see Derpy. I love her and I want to grow old together with her." I felt my face get really hot. I opened my eyes and saw that nopony else was there. I then ran to work.
The next morning at Sugarcube Corner, Derpy brought her friends to come and meet me. It was the rainbow mare and another mare whose hat I had mended many times before named Applejack. We had a delicious breakfast and I learned the name of the rainbow mare. When I heard the name I immediately recognized it. " Wait," I said," you are the Rainbow Dash. The one who saved the Wonderbolts from their imminent demise in Cloudsdale?" " Yup," replied Raibow Dash," that'd be me!"
She flew up out of her seat and laid down on the air like you would at the beach with her arms folded behind her head. She kicked her legs as if she were swimming in a pool and hit her head on the wall. " Where did that come from?" she said and we all laughed.
As the memory faded, I arrived at Sugarcube Corner. Derpy wasn't there yet, so I sat down on one of the benches outside. I sighed as I thought about all of the good times we'd had together. So many memories of us together.
As I sat there thinking, my mind drifted from subject to subject and eventually to the events of today in the library, in particular, the page that the book was opened to. A chill ran down my spine as the name coursed through my mind. I tried to think of something else, something different, but no such luck. Instead it repeated in my mind " the Tyrant King of the Everfree Forest. Tyrant King of the Everfree Forest..." over and over again.
The voice inside my head grew louder and increasingly more maniacal and demonic, until it was not even my own voice, but a voice that had been woven through time. A voice that had done horrible deeds, has cheated, lied, stolen, killed, betrayed, destroyed, and has come back through time to haunt me. The voice of chaos, insanity, and doom. The voice that can only be found in Hell. The voice of he who, from behind the curtains, plays a dark and hellish overture of impending doom for the damned on his sinister organ.
" I hope she gets here soon," I said to myself," otherwise I may start to loose my mind." The voiced cooed and tugged at my subconscious, trying to lure into the past. I felt the blood coursing through my veins. I felt my throat constrict in fear of what would happen if I lost control. It was becoming too much. Darkness started taking over and all I could see was black and empty.
As a hellish song grew to its peak, I felt something on my shoulder. It was a cool downward wind. Suddenly, there was a crack of light in the emptiness and it grew bigger and wider as the downward wind grew stronger and the flapping of wings could be heard. I snapped back to my normal self as the wind subsided and Derpy landed next to me on the bench. She was, and still is, my light.
She snuggled up close to me and grabbed my arm. I looked down at her dress. She had also gone to Rarity for a dress for tonight, except she dot a dress while I got a tuxedo. The dress, of course, was beautiful. It was golden-tan and a deep, luxurious burgundy color. It also had pockets on it too ( I remember she specifically asked for some).
As I admired the handiwork, I loosened my arm, drifted it over her shoulder, and then held her close. Whenever she was around, I felt safe. She looked up at me and smiled. Her smile made me feel warm all over. We leaned closer and kissed. My stomach turned to butterflies as we kissed and I felt her on my lips as it ended.
The warmth lingered and coursed through my body. A cold breeze blew and I saw her shiver so I opened up my coat and let her in. As soon as we were comfortable, we snuggled close to each other. We laughed as we talked. As the laughter died down and silence filled the street once again, we sat there and stared at the stars above.
After a while, Derpy broke the silence and asked me a question. She said," Do you remember what you said to me when you first asked me out on a date?" " Heh," I chuckled to myself," Of course I do." I held her even closer and then softly sang," Trot with me through the Autumn leaves. Let's keep close to stay warm. Soon you'll see how much you mean to me, feelings I've never felt before." She seemed satisfied. I then asked her," Do you remember what you said to me?" She smiled and said," Of course I do, silly." Then she softly sang," I'll trot with you through the autumn leaves. Just hold me close to stay warm. Because all I think of is you and me. I can't stand being alone anymore."
As she arrived at the last note, warmth surged through my entire being. We leaned in for a kiss but were interrupted by the sudden presence of two mares. It was Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
" Oh," said Applejack," Don't let us interrupt you." we all laughed. "Well," said Rainbow," we should probably get over there before they give away our reservations." There was something in her eyes, though. Something was not right with Rainbow. " What took you guys so long?" I asked trying to hide my sneaking suspicion. "nothin' much," said Rainbow Dash. " Twilight asked me to help her out with some stuff."
Truthfully, I wasn't really paying attention to them. If I had been, I would have noticed the nervous glances between the two of them. " Well then," I said," shall we go to dinner then?" " Yeah!!" replied everypony. Derpy and I led the way and Applejack and Rainbow Dash brought up the back. They were whispering low so as to not be heard. " How can that be him," said Rainbow," we've known him since, like... well... since forever!" " I know," replied Applejack," but it's very possible according ta' Twi' and Princess Luna."
" I say we take him down right here, right now."
" No! She said that it's very possible, not definite. Plus, if we do, then he may catch on and end up hurtin' somepony if he actually is." Rainbow thought for a moment and then sighed," Yeah, I suppose you're right, but I just can't stand thinking about what would happen to Derpy if he really is him."
" Neither can I, sugarcube. But that's exactly why we hafta' wait n' see."
When we arrived, we were immediately shown to our seats. I had a "praise Celestia" moment with reservations. It was a very fancy restaurant decorated to look like a famous Canterlot restaurant. It was elegant and sophisticated yet humble enough for a pony like Applejack to willingly go. Despite the way it was decorated, it was actually very affordable.
After we ordered, I took Derpy to the dance floor. It was a slow, familiar waltz. I didn't spend too much time trying to rack my brain to figure out what waltz I was listening to. I am kind of used to knowing just about every song especially since I live with a classical cello player and a DJ. It makes everything sound familiar. However, something bugged me.
I had this feeling like I was being watched, not in a way like all of the ponies on the dance floor. A look of pure hatred gazing on me from somewhere unseen. It seemed to pierce through my very being as we danced.
After a few more dances, we rejoined Rainbow and Applejack at our table. The look was gone, but an uneasy feeling remained. My gut was telling me," Run! Now! Hurry up and leave while you still can!" I ignored it, regarding it as the voice from earlier trying to get me away from the light. The food arrived shortly after and it was delicious.
As I waited for the bill to come, I looked around for the waiter and found everypony bowing on the floor. My heart stopped as I quickly dropped to the floor. Suddenly, a pink hoof adorned in gold stepped a few tables before me. It was Princess Cadence, no doubt.
" Rise," she said," don't let me interrupt everypony from their meal." We all rose and took our seats. " may I join you?" asked Princess Cadence from directly behind me. I froze, all hopes of her possibly not noticing me were crushed. " Sure, your highness!" said Applejack. Somepony pulled up a chair for her right next to me.
As she sat down, I excused my self to the bathroom only to come face to face with Princess Luna. I said," Oh, please excuse me." and then turned left only to have my path blocked by Princess Sparkle.
She had no intentions of letting me pass, so I backed up until I ran into somepony behind me. I wheeled around and felt my heart drop as I looked into the eyes of a tall white alicorn. She was the most regal of them all. It was Celestia. I fell onto my back and tryed to push myself away from her, but to no avail.
Slowly, Celestia walked forward until she had me cornered. She leaned down until she was at eye-level with me and said," Hello, Laviathan." I did my best to deny it. " Y-you've got th-the wrong u-u-unicorn, y-your m-m-majesty," I said," m-my name is Stetson Jethro Fedora, not L-Laviathan." " Is that so?" said Celestiain a sly and threatening tone. " Well then maybe you'll remember these names: the Bloody-Hoofed KIng, the Everfree King," the list went on and on with no forsee-able ending.
In truth, there were about twenty different nicknames that she said, but each one had a painful memory attatched to it. Memories that were happily forgotten.
As she relentlessly went down the list of names, I stood up and faced her, my head lowering at each name. Finally, she reached the last one," or the most common of them all, Laviathan- the Tyrant King of the Everfree Forest." Everypony gasped as they racked their brains trying to figure out why that name sounded so familiar.
Celestia leaned in close and said," Are you still sure that we've got the wrong unicorn?" There was no point in trying to hide it, the truth was out, and everypony heard it. My only chance to be able to stay with Derpy was to somehow convince Celestia that I had changed. " Fine," I said," you have the right unicorn."
" Change him back," commanded Celestia in a firm voice. Luna touched her horn to mine and I was immediately engulfed in blue light. My arms and legs grew longer as I grew to my full, proper height. Metal shot up from the ground shot up and twisted to form my armor. My mane and tail shot out to its usual length. and my horn elongated to its full length and the familiar black retuned up my horn making it look like a barber's shop pole. Small nubs on my back started to grow into large wings.
As the light faded, I stretched out my new... well, old limbs.
After I finished stretching, i rose to my full height and stretched out my wings to the farthest that they could which, not meaning to brag or anything, is actually pretty far when it comes to me.
As I let my wings down, I looked around and saw that everypony was bowing on the ground. I faced Celestia directly and softly asked," What is to become of me, then?" " You will be taken to Canterlot and your fate will be decided there," spoke the goddess-like alicorn harshly. " Wait!" came a familiar voice.
Derpy got up from the floor and firmly planted herself directly in between Celestia and I. Celestia was shocked. It had been a long time since anypony had stood up to her like that.
" Why are you taking him? What has he done to be taken away like a criminal?" cried Derpy, her voice cracking as she spoke. " Well...? Tell me why you have to take away my fiancee!" Rainbow and Applejack tried to stop Derpy. " Come on, Derpy..." " No!!" Derpy cut them off," Don't 'come on Derpy' me, I will not let this go until I know exactly why she has to take my fiancee from me. I have the right to know why you are doing this!!" I put my hoof on her back and said softly," It's ok, Derpy. I have to go with her if I ever want to be with you again like this." She looked at me and pleaded," No, please don't go! You haven't done anything wrong!" "I wish that were true," I said," but one right, or should I say, falling in love with you, does not make up for a lifetime of wrongs."
" Do you have to go?" she asked faintly, clearly trying to hold back her tears.
" I wish I could say that this was a horrible prank of some sort, but unfortunately, it isn't," I replied solemnly. The alicorns had to pull us apart from each other. " Wait," I pleaded with Celestia," at least let me say goodbye." She looked back at me in disgust. " Quickly," she finally said.
I trotted over to Derpy and we shared one final kiss together. I then whispered into her ear," Remember this, no matter how far apart we are , whether it is a few yards or many miles in distance, I will always love you and no other. I want to grow old with you. However, if I never return, then I want you to find somepony else and just forget about me."
As I finished, I embraced her in one last kiss and turned to face my fate. I could tell that she couldn't hold her tears back any longer. I looked at the floor and then up to Celestia and said," I'm ready."
As we left, I could her Derpy's voice screaming from within the restaurant," NOOO. NO!!" It was a very slow procession to the archway. When we finally got outside, there was a long line of guards on each side of us. A crowd was starting to form as we made our way down the line to a specialized carriage.
It was sort of like a large cage that had a magical barrier around it. It was clearly run by the elements of harmony for each face had a different symbol that concurred with the elements. With every step, it grew nearer. The crowd had grown exponentially.
There was a quiet murmur as ponies who just arrived were filled in on the current situation. Three young foals who I recognized squeezed through the guards and asked what was going on. They immediately recognized me and started to be all friendly with me as usual but not before the guards grabbed them and put them back into the crowd. Suddenly, a loud scream could be heard over the crowd.
It was Derpy. She was stopped by the guards and kept trying to get through. She was balling like a baby until eventually she fell on the ground. Two ponies who I recognized to Vinyl and Octavia came out of the crowd to help her up.
At first she pushed them away, then she accepted their help. Vinyl looked at me with a worried and somewhat confused look in her eyes. I gave her a look back. She nodded and helped Derpy to somewhere more relaxed. I turned back towards the cage. I could hear Sweetiebelle's voice saying," Where are they taking him, Rarity?"
As I neared the cage, the doors flew apart while on remained on the floor. I stepped into the middle of the floor and each of the alicorns took a corner. A loud hum could be heard as the doors were levitated above the ground and then back into place. When the top was in place, a ray of light from each of the walls seemed to pierce through my body.
It was painful as beams of light shot through me and attached to me like prison chains. As we lifted off, Celestia turned to me and said," What did you do to that poor mare to make her act like this?" I looked her straight in the eye and said softly and with remorse," I fell in love with her."
TO BE CONTINUED
Author's Note
This is my first story that I've ever published, so don't expect too much from me. I'm simply trying my hoof at this. If you like it, though, then just tell me what you liked about it in the description. Thanks so much. javascript:smilie('
'); I wonder if it shows the Derpy face. Also, this chapter was inspired by Autumn by Jackleapp!! so if you are curious, then go check it out to see if you can figure out what was going through my head as I wrote this
