THE ODD ONE OUT
The sun has begun dipping below the horizon and everypony can see the sunlight coming through the hills shining upon the peaceful town. The light caused the snow capped trees to shimmer like diamonds. It's as if watching diminute rainbows on every snow flake, it steals the breath of its onlookers with its brilliant majesty.
As somepony trotted within earshot, Derpy could feel the dry snow submitting beneath her hooves. The air was crisp and her cheeks rosy as the cold air made contact with embraced her. The tip of Derpy’s nose is as cold as it can be. At least she felt alive, surrounded by quiet, and the wintry white that swathed all of Ponyville.
She held a small, crumpled metal cup in the air as she leaned back against the cold surface of one of Sugarcube Corner’s outer walls. She hoped to get change from somepony, so she could at least afford to satisfy her undying hunger, but nopony cared to throw five, or even one bit into the small container. All she got from the ponies who passed her by was harsh comments like “Get a job, slacker,” or “Move off the sidewalk.”
Derpy whimpered as a cold sensation tingled down her spine. She buried her face inside her hooves and let the tears stream down her cheek, constantly replaying the lurid scene in her head that led her to this point.
Derpy sat at her lunch table enjoying a daisy sandwich in peace. She always sat alone — the other staff disapproved of her disability. Derpy just wanted to feel welcome, but instead she was hated. As she ate in solitude, she couldn't help catching snippets of the neighboring conversation:
“Yeah, the boss is a real jerk,” said the ring leader amongst the other stallions in the group. “I mean, what heartless pony forces his employees to work over-time? It’s insanity!”
“Yeah, not to mention that we’ve got to work with some blind, wall-eyed freak!” another stallion chuckled as the others joined in on the laugh.
Although Derpy wasn’t entirely finished with her sandwich, she found her appetite suddenly diminished. Abandoning her meal, she got up from her table and trotted past the group of stallions. As she did, one of them rose their hoof and gave her a tap on her flank.
“Hey, sweetcheeks! How about giving Daddy some love?” the stallion suggested, eliciting more laughter from the others.
“Pig,” Derpy muttered. She continued trotting out the door, until one of the stallions blocked the lunch room exit. “Move out the way.”
The stallion chuckled as a perverted grin spread across his face. “And if I don’t—” his face now inches from Derpy’s face “—what would a cross-eyed freak do to me?”
With all rational thoughts absent, Derpy pulled her hoof back and forcefully swung it towards the stallion’s muzzle. As her hoof connected with his nose, he was spun around and fell face-first on the ground. Twin trickles of blood and saliva began flowing from his nose and mouth.
Derpy stood immobilized with shock. “Oh, I’m so, so sorry!” she panicked as she rushed to his side, only to be pushed away.
“Get off me,” the stallion mumbled as he held a hoof to his bloody nose.
“I-I-I didn’t mean to, I’m—”
“Derpy Hooves!” a voice shouted roughly.
Derpy turned around to see her boss—an overweight stallion with a black mane—standing at the door of his office. “Get your flank in here, now!”
“Y-Y-Yes, Boss.” Derpy silently passed the other ponies with her head hung low, ashamed of her actions. She heard them muttering harsh comments about her as she passed them by, but she didn’t speak against them.
Once Derpy was in his office, he glared at the other stallions—including the one still holding his broken nose—and shook his head at the scene. “Get back to work,” he ordered then closed the door.
The boss paced back and forth, his eyes never leaving Derpy’s sight. He shook his head as he mumbled something that Derpy knew wasn’t pleasant. Finally, he stopped at the front side of his desk and fixed her with a solid stare.
“What were you thinking?!” he demanded, slamming his hooves against his desk. Derpy flinched. “Do you think you can just hit one of my employees and everything will turn out fine and dandy?!”
“I-I-I’m sorry, Boss. It’s just that he—”
“Uh-huh,” he interrupted. “I don’t wanna hear any more of your excuses, because you’re fired.”
Derpy’s heart momentarily stopped as the two words echoed in her ears. Fired for defending herself against those ‘pigs’? She buried her face inside her hooves as she sobbed in front of her now-ex-boss.
He sighed as sorrow filtered through his heart for the young mare sitting before him. “Come on, Derpy. I know it’s hard to ignore them, but you can’t just—”
“No, you don’t know!” she shouted. She picked her head up, countering the stallion’s sorrowful gaze with her own furious expression. “I’ve had to deal with those—” she pointed towards the door with a hoof, “—arrogant stallions for years, and the one day I finally show that I’m sick and tired of their shit, you wanna fire me!”
The boss slammed his hooves down on his desk once more as his anger returned. “What you did just now was only part of the reason I have to let you go!” he shouted in her face.
“I can’t have you continue fucking up which mail goes to which houses, all because those stupid eyes of yours can’t see right!”
Derpy sniffed, then shook her head. “You ponies are all the same,” she muttered. She turned away from him and trotted to the door. After a few steps, she stopped. “Sorry for wasting your time.”
The boss stood there with his hooves still planted on the desk. “Derpy, listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—” He was interrupted by a sound of the office door slamming shut.
Derpy’s flashback was interrupted by somepony nudging her head. She looked up to see a stallion with a bandage taped to his nose. “Y-Y-Yes?” she spluttered in the cold.
The stallion looked curiously at Derpy. “Derpy, it’s me,” he exclaimed as he patted his chest. “The stallion you punched in the nose.”
She squinted her eyes as she tried to remember this mystery stallion; her eyes widened as her memories of him returned to her. “Oh. You.” Derpy slipped her face back below her hooves. “Leave me alone.”
“Just listen to me for a moment, Derpy. I’m sorry for the things I’ve done and the hell I put you through back at work—” he sighed, “—But I’ve changed since then. Besides that, it’s Hearth's Warming eve. I wanna help you out, try to make things up to you.”
“Leave me alone.” Derpy rose and trotted up to the stallion’s face. “If it weren’t for you and your buddies, I wouldn’t be here right now!”
“Derpy, I-I’m—”
“No!” she shouted, making everypony stare at them. “Ponies like you doesn’t deserve to change, nor do they deserve a second chance in life!”
The stallion sighed. “Derpy, please—” he placed a hoof on Derpy’s shoulder, “—let me help you. I wanna change my mistake.”
Derpy stared into the stallion’s eyes, seeing the truth in his voice mirrored by them. He really did want to change and amend his past sins. She looked back at where she sat; there was nothing but her metal cup, rolling across the sidewalk as the wind blew. “You really want to fix your mistakes?”
He nodded. “Yes, I do.”
She smiled, before trotting back towards Sugarcube Corner. “Well, first thing, you buy me some muffins and a milkshake!” she called out to him. “And then massage my hooves when we get to your house!”
He chuckled as he shook his head. “Star Whipper, what you gotten yourself into?” he muttered, followed her out of the chill weather.
Some time later, Derpy got her job back after reconciling with Star Whipper, who convinced the boss to take her back. Her job returned, a new friendship built and her future secured once again: it truly was a Hearth's Warming eve tale.
