Sad Endings, New Beginnings
By: Bright Night
“So this is Ponyville,” Josh said stepping out of the machine. He looked down at himself only to notice something different.
Sometime during the trip, he had transformed without noticing. He was definitely not human anymore. Instead, where his feet and hands had been, he now had bright blue hooves, similar to the color of his eyes. His white coat made him look like he had bathed in bleach. He looked back at his flank, and found that his cutiemark was the formula for a circle. His tail was a short mess of fluorescent blue hair. He looked on his back, and there he saw a set of wings.
“It seems different then the show portrays it. It seems empty.”
It was. The streets were completely empty, deserted in fact. All the ponies were in their houses, with the shutters closed.
“What the heck?”
He looked around. There was nopony there. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a pony crash landed in front of him.
“Are you alright?” Josh asked the grey mare. As she looked up at him, he noticed her bright yellow mane. Her eyes were golden in color, and one was not quite in sync with the other. The pony was a pegasus, with a bag across her back that read, ‘Equestrian Mail Service’.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, looking towards the ground, “Nopony ever cares how I feel”
As if to change the subject, she put a smile on her face, and looked up at Josh.
“Hey mister, are you a space alien?” She asked
Her question made Josh blush.
“Why?” He asked, chuckling.
“It’s just that I’ve never seen you before. And well, your spaceship simply appeared out of nowhere. That’s what caused me to crash. You see, my left eye is bad. Because of that, I have bad depth perception. I’m always crashing into things, and other ponies are always making fun of me.”
Tears were forcing their way out of the corners of her eyes. Josh couldn’t believe it. This pony was suffering from some of the exact things he had tried to leave behind.
“I’m Josh,” he said
“I- I- I’m Derpy,” she said
Tears were now pouring down her face. Josh couldn’t help but relate to her. Many times he found himself feeling alone, wanting nothing more than to end the suffering. It was because of his brother, and then the show that had kept him alive all these years. To know that a pony was being treated this way, by the very world he considered to be the epitome of love, almost broke him. He reached over, and wrapped his front legs around Derpy in a hug, tears now pouring out of both their eyes.
They ended their hug, and each took a step back, hoping to end the progression of tears.
“So, why is everypony hiding?” Josh asked
“They’re afraid of you and your space ship,” Derpy laughed, “Hey! Do you have a place to stay?”
“Well, now that you mention it, I guess I don’t,” He answered
“Would you like to stay with my daughter and I? The house may be a little small in size, but we have an extra room you could stay in.”
“I would love that. Thank you, Derpy,” He said
“Don’t mention it,” Derpy said, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof, “So Josh, what are you doing here, and how did you get here?” Derpy asked as they were walking to her house.
“Well… I came here to get away from the hatred in my world. After my brother died I had nopony to turn to, so I built that machine you saw me arrive in.”
“Sounds like we are a lot alike. If my daughter died I don’t know what I would do. I imagine I would want to escape it all as well.”
They continued to talk as they walked, and before they knew it, they had arrived at Derpy’s house.
“Dinky is probably asleep, and I imagine after traveling across space, you are ready to sleep too.”
Josh yawned and nodded his head in agreement. Derpy just chuckled.
“The guest room is just down the hall,” Derpy said pointing towards a door, that was sure enough down the hall.
Josh thanked her and wished her good night then went to his room and layed down on his bed. Within moments, he found himself asleep.
The next morning, he was woken up to the sight of an angry unicorn filly standing over him, an obviously weak magical aura around her little horn.
“What do you think you're doing mister, sleeping in our bed like that?”
Josh assumed that this young mare was Dinky.
“Enough!” Derpy said coming into the room, to take care of her foal, “This stallion is our guest, and will be treated as such.”
Derpy smiled and looked over at Josh.
“Josh,” She said, “This is my daughter Dinky. I told you about her last night. Dinky, this is my new friend Josh”
“Pleased to meet you,” Dinky said holding out her hoof.
“Likewise,” Josh said returning the hoof shake.
“Dinky, will you please go get ready for school?”
“Yes mom,” Dinky answered and ran off
She looked remarkably similar to her mom, except that she was a shade of very light purple, and her eyes functioned normally. Not to mention the fact that she was a unicorn.
Josh was suddenly curious about something. There had to be a reason Derpy was in the middle of town right as he arrived. His curiosity got the better of him.
“Derpy?” Josh began
“Yes,” She replied
“What were you doing there?” Josh continued, “How did you just so happen to be at the exact same part of ponyville, at the exact same time I crashed?”
“I don’t know,” She answered, “Fate, I guess.”
“There’s no such thing as fate. Everything has a logical explanation somewhere.”
“Oh, don’t be so naïve,” She commented, “Do you think, there is a logical reasoning behind me having a lazy eye? No. Some things are just the way they are. No reasoning behind them. Maybe it was just fate that caused you and I to meet each other.”
Although Josh did not agree with her when it came to believing that everything was predestined, he could tell that there was wisdom in that grey little head of hers, and he found himself longing to learn more from this cute, clumsy little pony.
~~~
Derpy had asked Josh to walk Dinky to school, since she had to go to work early. Josh originally complained that he had no idea where the school was located, but agreed after being reassured that Dinky would show him.
They were on their way to school, when Josh remembered a question he had been curious about the other night, but never got around to asking.
“How is it that you are a unicorn when your mom is a pegasus?” he questioned
Dinky looked at the ground, as if not quite sure she wanted to answer.
“It’s fine you don’t have to share if you don’t want to,” He reassured the little unicorn
“It’s not that,” She replied, still looking at the ground, “My dad was a unicorn. He died when I was really young, so I don’t even remember him. All I have are the stories my mom told me.”
Josh couldn’t believe it. The more time he spent here with these two ponies, the more he realized how similar their stories were to his.
“Can you keep a secret?” He asked Dinky
“Depends, what is it?” Dinky asked with curiosity in her voice
“My brother died five years ago,” Josh started, “ His death sent me into a deep depression. The reason I came here, to Equestria, was to escape the pain inside of me. I know how you feel, and will be here if you ever need anypony to talk to.”
Dinky just stared at Josh for a good thirty seconds, and then they continued walking. He wished he had not told her that. He could only imagine how awkward it must be for her right now.
Dinky and Josh arrived at the school, and a purple pony with a pink mane came out and greeted them. She told Dinky to go inside, and right before Dinky obeyed, she reached up and gave Josh a huge hug.
“Thank you,” She whispered in his ear, and Josh smiled, hugging her back.
Dinky went inside, and as she did so, the purple pony, whom Josh assumed was the teacher came up to him.
“And who might you be?” She asked
“My name is Josh,” He answered, “I’m a friend of hers and her mom”
“Ah, I see. Judging by the way she hugged you, and the fact that you are a unicorn as well, I thought that you may be her father.”
“No. Her mom just asked me to bring Dinky ‘cause she had to go into work early.”
“Oh well,” The mare stated, “By the way. My names Cheerilee. Nice to meet you. Anyways, I have to go in and teach. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” Josh replied, before realizing there was a question he wanted to ask Cheerilee, but by then, Cheerilee had already gone inside and started teaching.
Josh walked back to Derpy’s house, where he was staying.
Derpy came home later that day. Josh was sitting on the couch, staring into a book. Derpy came over and sat next to him.
“What’cha lookin’ at?” She asked inquisitively
“Just a photo album that was laying on the coffee table,” He said “I should have asked first. I hope you don’t mind.”
She shook her head insisting that she didn’t, then she started looking with him, as he flipped through the pages. There came a point in the book that he came across a picture of Derpy and Dinky standing with a tall red unicorn stallion.
“Is that him?” Josh asked
“Is that who?”
“Is that Dinky’s dad?”
“I’m assuming Dinky has told you the story of her father already?”
Josh nodded.
“Yes. That is her father.”
“What was his name?”
“Flaming Star,” Derpy answered
“How old was she?”
“Who?”
“Dinky. How old was she when her father died?”
“Oh. She was only three.” Derpy answered, looking down at the book with tears in her eyes.
“How did he die?” Josh asked
“Uh, wasn’t it a beautiful day today?” Derpy asked trying to change the subject.
As if not catching her hint, Josh asked again.
“How did he die?”
“I- I’d rather not talk about it,” She answered
Josh then realized that he overstepped his boundaries.
“I’m… Sorry,” he apologized
“It’s ok,” She said, taking the album from his hooves and putting it back on the coffee table.
She then went into her room, where Josh could hear her crying. Josh went to his room and went to bed.
~~~
The next day was Josh’s first day at work. He had gotten hired by Filthy Rich, to be his chief accountant, because of his skill with numbers. when Josh took the job, he had not known that Filthy had a daughter. Much less that this filly was in Dinky’s class. It did not take long for Josh to realize that this pink earth pony, whose name was Diamond Tiara, was a spoiled brat, that could be quite the jerk.
Somehow, she had figured that he was staying with Derpy. She did not say much to him about the matter, but he could hear her talking to her friend, whom she called Silver spoon, behind his back.
After a couple hours of this, he was getting frustrated. As soon as the clock indicated that it was time for him to get off work, he rushed out the door, slamming it shut behind him.
Josh couldn’t help wonder, that if they were such jerks to him, how much worse were they to Dinky?
He walked home, contemplating how to handle this situation.
***
Derpy asked Josh to walk Dinky to school again today. He was more than happy to. He had something he needed to ask Cheerilee. As they were walking, Josh asked Dinky if she was having any problems at school, but she assured him she didn’t. He didn’t believe her. Not after meeting those two other fillies yesterday. But he decided not to press the issue.
They arrived at the school, and Cheerilee was about to go inside just as last time, but at the very last minute, Josh stopped her.
“Cheerilee,” He called, “I need to ask you a question. It’s important.”
“Ok,” She said, “But this must be quick. I need to start teaching my students”
“It’s about Dinky,” Josh started
“Oh, I see,” Cheerilee replied, knowing this was not going to be easy.
“How is she doing in class? Are other foals treating her ok?”
“Well, she has had some trouble with some of the other foals, but she seems to be getting along fine,” She told him, seemingly trying to shy out of the question, “Now if you'll excuse me, I’ve got a class to teach.”
Josh had the feeling that Cheerilee was not telling him everything. That she was purposely telling him only the obvious. He could tell that there was more to the story, than she was letting on.
Josh didn’t know what, but he intended to find out. Soon.
***
Derpy worked as a mail mare for the Equestrian Postal Service. She was very good at it, despite her lazy eye. She knew she had to take her time while flying, to avoid crashing into anything, damaging her delivery. But nonetheless, she always made her delivery on time. Her employers loved her for the quality of her service, as well as for her hard work and dedication. She even got a commendation from the princesses once.
The only problem was with her co-workers. They were always ridiculing her for being different. One time, her bosses caught a glimpse of what was going on, and attempted to put a stop to it. That only made it worse.
Behind closed doors, the attacks started becoming more and more physical.
The other ponies would knock her shipment off her back, thus breaking it. Then they would go get her employers, and blame it on Derpy’s eye. Her bosses never believed the accusations, as they could guess what was going on. But as they had no evidence, and Derpy would never report abuse, they could not do anything about it.
Even when bruises were discovered on Derpy, she would always blame it on something random.
One day, Derpy came home from work to find Josh sitting on the couch, playing Sudoku.
Derpy had the worst beating of her career that day. This was not just bullying, but was full on assault. Derpy had a large gash on her right flank, as well as a dark bruise around the eye. She was bleeding from her muzzle, and it was clearly broken from being beaten multiple times.
Derpy knew that she could not make an excuse today. So when Josh looked up from his puzzle and rushed to the phone, she knew he was calling the police.
When the police came over and started questioning her, Derpy refused to provide an answer as to who abused her.
Josh warned her that that pony needed to be stopped, or else the torment would just escalate, but Derpy refused to heed his warnings.
She did not want to be a snitch.
***
Josh was on his way to the library. He wanted to check out an advanced Equestrian history book. He was greeted at the door by a purple dragonling wearing a handlebar mustache.
“Good day misère,” the baby dragon said, attempting but failing to imitate what sounded like a French accent, “May I help you find anything today?”
“I’m looking for a book on advanced Equestrian history,” Josh responded
“Spike!” An intelligent feminine voice called down from the upper floor, “Who’s there?”
“Some pegasus that I’ve never seen before. He say’s he wants to learn more about Equestrian history,” He answered the voice upstairs
“Ok, I’ll be right down,” the voice said, as a violet alicorn walked down the stairs.
“My name is Twilight,” she said
Josh instantly realized that he did not recognize the pony until she introduced herself. It dawned on him that this was the case for everypony he met thus far. Like he was a pony who had lived in Equestria all his life, but just moved to Ponyville. As he searched his mind, he realized that memories of his life on earth were starting to seem as though the perspective of a pony in Canterlot. He tried to envision the machine he had worked so hard to build, but instead could only remember a single train ride.
He could not decide if this was a blessing or a curse. Up until this point. On one hoof, he wanted nothing more than to forget what had happened. But now, it felt like he was being destroyed and replaced with somepony he did not even know. And that thought scared him.
“May I help you?” Twilight asked, bringing Josh back into the moment at hoof.
“Um, yes,” He said, “Do you have any advanced history books?”
“Depends,” Twilight responded, ”What history topic are you interested in?”
“General history. Nothing specific,” Josh answered
Twilight walked over to one of the many bookshelves within the library, and pulled one out titled, Sad Ending and a New Beginning: How One Nation’s Fall Gave Rise to Another.
As Josh read the title, something about it sent chills up his spine. He shook them off, thanked Twilight and Spike, and walked out the door.
Josh arrived at the house and walked straight to his room. He wanted to read the book in relative peace.
The book talked about how before Equestria, the world was filled with hatred. Ponies of all different races, hated each other. It told of how their hatred nearly led to their extinction. That is until a group of ponies realised that in order to save themselves from certain doom, they would need to look past their differences, and learn to love each other.
“If these ponies could learn to look past their differences,“ Josh asked himself, “Why can’t we?”
He began to wonder, what had caused us to revert back to the dark days, before Equestria.
He put the book down, and went outside. It was raining. Apparently the pegasi had scheduled a storm that day.
Josh stood out in the rain for about 30 minutes, contemplating what to do about his best friend.
It was not until just then, that Josh realized how close he was becoming to her. He realized that he could not bear the thought of losing Derpy. He realized that if anything should happen to Dinky that he would be devastated. He learned that he could not prepare himself for what he knew would happen if Derpy did not stand up for herself.
***[\center]
Dinky was sitting on her bed, reading a book, when she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in!" She answered and Derpy came in. Dinky looked up from her book to see her moms beat up face.
"It's getting worse," she said, matter-of-factly.
Derpy just nodded.
"This isn't right. They shouldn't be able to get away with this," Dinky said, anger starting to burn on her face, "You need to tell somepony."
"I already got a lecture from Josh. I don't need a lecture from you, young filly," Derpy said, looking away from her daughter in shame, "I came to talk about how you are doing in school. Josh mentioned how he thinks you are struggling."
"My math grade is not the best, but Twilight has been helping me study."
"That's not what I meant and you know it."
“Fine,” Dinky said, knowing she could not avoid answering, “A couple of the older fillies like to talk about you behind my back, but I tell them to get lost and they do.”
“Dinky, that’s not polite. I-”
“Neither is them making fun of you mama!” Dinky interrupted, “You need to stand up for yourself!”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Yes you can! You need to!” Dinky had tears flowing down her face, “It’s just gonna get worse if you don’t.”
Suddenly Dinky embraced her mom in a hug tighter than anything Derpy had ever experience, “I don’t want to lose you mama.”
Derpy was overwhelmed. She didn’t know how to respond. She returned her daughter’s hug, then proceed out of the room.
Dinky remained there, crying quietly to herself.
***
Derpy walked down the hallway and into the living room. Josh was sitting on the couch, reading a book. Derpy walked over and sat next to him. He looked over at her, as she was just sitting there silently. Suddenly, she laid her head on his shoulder, and fell asleep. Her eyes were wet with tears, and yet in her sleep, she was at peace.
Josh could visibly see that she wanted to escape. She kept the sadness bottled up for so long, that it was eating her alive. She was weak. To her, Equestria was a prison, and her dreams where the only way she could get away from it all.
Josh wanted so bad to help, but what could he do. He wanted to kick her coworkers into the ground, but what good would that do. It would only make things worse for Derpy.
"Why won't she tell anypony?" Josh said to himself, "Why won't she let others help her?"
Josh knew there was nothing he could do. He sat there, Derpy on his shoulder, and cried.
"I love you," he whispered as he too fell asleep.
***
One Month later
Derpy was late coming home from work. She should have been home hours ago. He was just about to go looking for her, when a royal guard showed up at the door. He wore a serious look on his face, that hidd great sorrow. He used his magic to pull a letter out of a bag he'd been carrying. As he read the letter, tears filled his eyes.
"I regret to inform you sir," He started, "That Ms. Hooves was murdered on her way to work this morning."
Grief struck Josh’s like a nail struck perfectly on the head by a hammer. Suddenly so many thoughts came to the front of his mind. He thought of Dinky. He wondered what would become of her. He wondered who would raise her, who would understand her like he did. He wished it was somepony who could help her through these dark times, but he realized he was the only one who had the possibility of doing that. They had both lost everyone they loved. He knew that all they had was each other now. Josh could not bear the thought of her being placed in an orphanage.
Almost immediately, Josh was overcome by anger, as years of pain were suddenly at a boil within him. He struggled to remain calm. He found himself furious at the guard for bringing him the news. Furious at the one who killed the only mare he had ever loved.
“Ms. Hooves has asked that you be placed in custody of her daughter,” The guard continued, “Should you accept, all the responsibilities of parenthood will be transferred to you. There is the option of putting her in the Equestrian foster system, but that is not recommended”
“Dinky is not going into a foster system.”
“You have one week to think about it.”
“I don’t need a week! She’s not going to the foster system!”
“You will have to bring her to Canterlot Castle so that you can go through the adoption process.”
With that the guard paid his condolences and walked away. Josh started walking towards Dinky’s school.
***
“Why am I getting out of school early?” Dinky asked excitedly, “I’ve never gotten out early before!”
Josh remained silent, looking at the ground. A confused expression gave way on Dinky’s face.
“Where's mom?” She asked
“When we get home.”
***
Dinky was in her room crying, while Josh was looking through their family album. He was halfway expecting Derpy to come yell at him. He realized he had yet to find out how Dinky’s father died, and he figured this was as good a time as any to ask. He knew it would not be easy, but he knew it was necessary.
Josh walked down the hall towards Dinky’s room. He knocked on the door before going inside. Dinky had her face buried in her pillow. Sobbing.
“What I am about to ask you will not be easy for you, but I need you to give me a truthful answer,” He asked as calmly as possible, “How did your dad die?”
“He- He didn’t,” She said
“Wait- What?” Josh asked, startled by her reply.
“He’s standing right in front of me.”
Author's Note
Warning: This is an extremely depressing story. If you struggle with depression, it is suggested you use discression when reading this. Before you read this, read the Prologue for more context. I hope you enjoy.
