A day in the life

*CRASH!*

Derpy Hooves gasped as the vase fell to the floor, shattering on impact.

"I am so, so sorry Mrs. Glass!"

Derpy had clumsily bumped into a table, knocking the expensive jug to the floor, and its owner, Crystal Glass, was now staring blankly at the broken crystalline fragments. "Eh, Never— Never mind, Derpy.  My late mother's wedding gift can be replaced..." Crystal’s voice was taut, and her words caught in her throat. Derpy could see the anger in her eyes, and she shuffled her feet nervously, eyes to the ground, being careful not to make eye contact with the fuming mare.

“I really am sor—" Crystal cut her off.

"You really should go."

"But—"

"Please! Go!"

Derpy scuttled out the door, tripping over her hooves to move out of the way as Crystal slammed it behind her. Derpy stood in shock for a moment, listening to the muffled speech coming from behind the door, then hesitantly leaned forward to hear what Crystal was saying. Pressing her ear against the hard wood, she heard her ranting,

"That pony! Someone needs to put her in a mental institute, where she can't break or hurt anything else! I mean really— My mother’s expensive— ERG!"

Derpy turned and trudged away forlornly. She always seemed to be messing things up, and today had been worse than usual. Actually, this entire week had been bad. First, she had offered to help re-shelve books at Twilight's library, but ended up knocking over two large shelves, and breaking poor Spike's tail in the process. Then she tried to assist the Cakes, but in the end, the fire department had to soak their kitchen. And then she went to Rarity's... Well, she learned a few new curse words that day...

Derpy dragged her hooves through the streets of Ponyville, head to the ground. Her ears perked slightly as she heard strange grunting noises from up ahead, and she glanced up to see Carrot Top struggling to hold a large pile of fresh vegetables. The grey pegasus brushes her mane out of her eyes, trotting forward tentatively.

“Hey Carrot, need a hand?”

"Oh! Yes please, thanks-"

Carrot Top had managed to shift the large pile stack of carrots between her hooves, and froze when she noticed who she was talking to.

“Uh, actually, I’m fine! Thanks for asking! Better get going!”

Several carrots dropped from her basket as she tried to hurry away, doing her best to balance on her back hooves, and trying to catch the carrots as they fell.

“Are you sure you don’t—”

“Quite sure! Thanks Derpy, uh, bye!”

Derpy sighed and turned away. Of course Carrot Top didn’t want her help. Derpy surely would have found some way to mess it up, she always did. She shook her head. Best go home then.

After a long walk, she arrived at her door step and awkwardly nosed through her bag for a house key, but it wasn't there. She frantically searched the bag, eventually resorting to upturning it's contents onto the front step, but to no avail. She must have dropped it. She was always dropping things. Derpy sighed and trotted around to the back of the house, spread her wings, and gave a powerful thrust, ascending to the roof top. She carefully navigated the shingles, then wriggled her way down the chimney, emerging at the bottom, completely covered in soot. She sneezed; startling the sleeping red ferret nestled on the chair beside the fire place. "Oh, I'm sorry Brick!" A black nose peeked out from under the table, and the ferret scurried up Derpy’s leg, wrapping itself around her neck. She giggled. "You good boy!" It seemed Brick was the only friend she had right now. Derpy had adopted her ferret from Fluttershy a few months back, and named him Brick, not only for his red color, but for her fondness for bricks, they didn't break. Well, most of them didn't anyway.

Derpy nuzzled the ball of fluff curled up on her back, inhaling his musky scent. Trotting around the living room, she happened to catch a glimpse of herself self in the mirror, and couldn’t help but laugh. A coal black pony with grey patched around her eyes stared at her, a silly grin plastered across her face. She sighed and gently lifted Brick onto the couch, then headed off to take a quick shower.

After she was all nice and clean, Derpy dried her hair and went to her bedroom. After a moment of searching, she finally managed to locate her contacts, which she had forgotten to put in that morning. One of the reasons she had broken the vase. Burrrr Her stomach rumbled loudly, and she giggled again. “Guess I’m hungry!” She wandered into the kitchen and opened her fridge, searching for something edible. "Hmm," she tapped her chin, scanning the contents of the refrigerator. "Blueberry muffin, Banana muffin, Chocolate chip muffin, Tuna muffin- Ah!" Derpy reached into the refrigerator and extracted a white tub. "Yogurt!"

Derpy scooped a few spoons of the creamy yogurt into a bowl, then poured herself a glass of milk and sat down at a small table, a pad of paper and a pencil in front of her. While no one knew it, Derpy had a passion for art, and wasn't bad either. She took the pencil in her hoof, (an incredibly hard feat mind you), and began to sketch as she sipped her milk.  As she sketched, she glanced out the window, into trees outside.  The sun shone through the open window, and warmed her face, while birds sang in the trees. An autumn breeze was blowing strong, which caused the branches to sway. It looked a good day for a walk.

Thirty minutes later, Derpy cleared her dishes from the table and studied the final result of her drawing. A handsome pony stared back at her, with large deep eyes, wings unfurled, preparing to take off. Derpy smiled and took the drawing between her hooves, careful not to crinkle it. She would color this in later. Carefully placing her picture in a drawer, Derpy Hooves grabbed her mail bag and called to Brick. "I'm going for a walk! Wanna come?" The reddish brown ferret scurried over to her, leaping off a chair and onto her back. Derpy smiled and trotted out the door, specifically remembering to take her extra key. She wasn't completely hopeless.

Derpy merrily trotted down the path the led through Ponyville’s park, a beautiful plot of land decorated with small statues and brightly colored flowers. Derpy lifted her face to the sun, letting the golden beams caress her cheeks, sweet smelling air flowing through her mane, causing it to fan out behind her. The park helped Derpy feel a better about the past week, the fresh air clearing her mind. She loved the feel of fall leaves crunching beneath her feet.

"Hold on Brick!" She called to the ferret as she spread her wings, flapping gently, letting the strong breeze lift off the ground. She titled her wings and climbed just above tree level, observing the scenery beneath her. A small group of fillies, whom she soon recognized as Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Bell, were scrambling franticly around a practice field. The wind carried the shrill cry of "Cutie Mark Crusaders Foot Ball players!" to Derpy's ears, and she smiled to herself. Everything was calm up here, nothing to break or knock over.

Suddenly, the breeze changed direction, and Derpy was caught completely off guard. Her two wings caught different currents, and Brick uttered a shrill squeak as Derpy was sent spiraling towards the ground. She managed to dodge the tree branches, but still crash landed into a pony. Derpy leaped to her feet and shook herself, wincing as she straitened her wings. "I am so sorry! I didn't-" Derpy's words caught in her mouth as the pony got to his feet.

It was a strikingly handsome pale green pegasus, with a deep blue mane and eyes the same shade. He shook his head as he stood up. "Quite alright," He smiled a bit, blue eyes sparkling. "These wind currents are treacherous." Derpy stared at him, confused. He wasn't mad? But, everyone got mad when she crashed into them. Except Fluttershy, she never got mad. But everyone else did. An awkward pause proceeded, so Derpy stuck out a hoof, smiling a little. "Hi, I'm Derpy Hooves. Some people call me Ditzy though." The stallion took her hoof, shaking it. "I'm Dragonfly, pleased to meet you." Derpy pawed the ground uncomfortably. "Er, yeah... So, sorry about bumping into you. I'd better be going." Dragonfly nodded, and Derpy turned quickly, trotting away.

She suddenly remembered Brick, and glanced around, trying to locate him. After a few minutes of searching, she spotted him in a clump of tulips, trying to untangle himself from the flowers. Giggling, the blonde mare hurried over her pet to rescue him from the fragrant blossoms.  She tossed the ferret across her back. "Sorry about that." Brick just huffed and curled up beneath her wing. Derpy grinned and loped away toward home as the sun began to set in west, the stallions blue eyes twinkling in the back of her mind. Derpy smiled to herself.

'Dragonfly... What a nice name.'