A New Beginning for Derpy Hooves

The sky was covered with dark clouds, spilling rain all throughout the town of Ponyville but not a flash of lightning to be seen. But there seemed to be a reason for this silent rainstorm as a decently sized group of ponies were gathered at a rater small cemetery, the only one in Ponyville as death wasn’t at all common to see or hear about.

Each and every one of the ponies had sad looks etched onto their faces, a few holding (or levitating) a white tissue to wipe away tears. But none of them seemed to surpass Ditzy Doo, or Derpy, when it came to sadness.

The light gray mare was hugging her adopted daughter, Amethyst “Sparkler” Star, closely, tears streaming from her greenish gold eyes and sobs racking her body.

All was silent except for the solemnly lecturing elderly mare who stood at a podium beside the metal casket, placed underneath a tent so that it was left untouched by rain. Giving her mother a brief sympathetic look, Amethyst finally spoke up in a low voice so that only the two young mares could hear her.

“It-It’s okay, mom, I-I know she was a close friend to you, she was to all of us. But...crying won’t help, it never does. And you know she wouldn’t have wanted you to be like this.”

After what felt like eternity, Derpy sniffed and pulled away from Amethyst a bit, wiping an eye with one hoof and still embracing the unicorn with a feathered wing. “I-I really wish I had a muffin right about now. I…th-they a-always make me feel…s-so much better.”

Finally, the old unicorn lit up her horn with a dark gold aura and flipped the book in front of her closed before casting a sad glance at the casket beside her.

“Mrs. Golden “Carrot Top” Harvest has always been a great mare to know. She was a great mother, a great wife, and most of all, a great friend. But just because she’s gone now does not mean she’ll be forgotten by her friends and family. No, she may be gone, but her memory will forever live on in each and every one of our hearts.

“You will be very much missed, Golden Harvest, by ponies all throughout our small town.”  She then turned her gaze to the crowd of saddened ponies. “Now, does anypony else wish to say their final words to Golden Harvest?”

Derpy tensed slightly at the words ‘Golden Harvest’, she was known by the nickname ‘Carrot Top’ by all of her friends and some members of her family, Derpy never really liked the sound of her real name and nicknamed her friend that when she was much younger.

Eventually, she cast a sad glance down at Amethyst, who looked back up at her and nodded slowly. Letting out an audible, depressed sigh, Derpy finally let the younger mare go and slowly trotted forwards towards the casket her friend was encased in and would be imprisoned in for the rest of eternity.

Upon arriving in front of it, she took a couple deep breaths and rose one trembling hoof off of the wet ground, shaking it off slightly before resting it on top of the casket.

“Al-Alright, I-I’m not very good with this, I-I never really have been. B-But, Carrot Top, I-I’ll really, really, miss you, a-a lot of ponies w-will. W-We've been close friends, e-ever since we were l-little fillies, b-back in grade school. I mean, s-sure, I kinda got on your nerves from time to time b-because of my antics…but—b-but, it didn’t stop us from being inseparable b-best friends for y-years to come.

“You-You were a-always there for me, e-ever since th-they day we f-first met. Y-You always b-backed me up wh-when one of those other f-fillies or-or colts tr-tried to tease me and all. You-You always h-help me back onto my hooves i-if I ever fall, or-or you’d always st-stop by if…if I was at h-home, h-hurt or s-sick or whatever.”

Tears abruptly began forming in the young mare’s light yellow eyes, but she didn’t even try to fight them back anymore, sniffing and shakily continuing. “You—You’ve a-always b-been one of my-my best f-friends in a-all of P-Ponyville, h-heck, m-maybe even a-all of Equestria.”

Finally, the tears that threatened to fall began streaming from her eyes and sobs began to rack her body, somewhat embracing the casket closely to her.

“O-Oh, Carrot, wh-why? Wh-Why did….wh-why did you h-have to go? Wh-Why did you h-have to-to leave? Why?! You-You l-left behind a-a lot of p-ponies who—who really, really need you! You—You had a-a l-loving c-coltfriend and—and a b-beautiful l-little filly, wh-who both n-need you t-to be there i-in their lives.

“You h-had a l-lot of f-friends, a-all th-throughout P-Ponyville! We-We’ll all m-miss you, e-each and e-every o-one of u-us, e-especially me. I—I n-need y-you to—to be there, t-to h-help me o-out i-in my t-time of n-need. L-Like you a-always use to. I-I need y-you to be-be there wh-when s-somepony tr-tries to….t-tries to tease me, or-or h-hurt me.

“I-I kn-knew you’d g-go one day, e-every—everypony w-will one d-day, e-even me, a-and s-so will Wr-Written Script a-and Dinky. B-But, I—I just….” Finally, she broke off in tears, leaning on the casket slightly and hiding her face as she finally allowed the tears to flow freely.

Everypony else could only stare silently, many of them sharing the same sympathetic, devastated look as Derpy, one of the most happy-go-lucky ponies in Equestria (behind Pinkie Pie), sobbed over the loss of one of her best friends.

Eventually, a sympathetic Amethyst Star trotted forwards and tried to pull Derpy off, but she failed, the pony gripping the casket surprisingly well and refusing with a barely audible, “No!” Ever so slightly annoyed, Amethyst lit up her horn and tugged at Derpy’s tail just enough to make her lose her grip, but not enough to allow the casket to tip under the Pegasus pony’s weight.

Realizing she was fighting a losing battle, Derpy finally turned away, wiping at her eye with a hoof futilely as Amethyst pulled her close and began to lead her away from the scene, whispering a few comforting words to her as they went.

“C’mon, e-everything’ll be okay, you’ll see…”