Chapter I: The Question
Derpy Hooves was a nopony, as far as she knew. She was nothing but Ponyville`s bumbling, cross-eyed mailmare. That was what she thought before she discovered something else about life...
Pinkie Pie knew everypony in Ponyville. She was a friend to everypony, & everypony was a friend to her. She was perfectly content with it, but when she found out some things about Derpy Hooves`s past, she took it upon herself to make the mailmare happier than ever.
"Hi!" Pinkie shouted, causing Derpy to fall back on her haunches in surprise.
"Oh, its you. Whats up?"
"Not much, I just wanted to talk to you. I`ve got a super important, extra-special question for you."
"What is it?" Derpy asked, rubbing the back of her head.
"Why do you live in Ponyville? Wouldnt you live in Cloudsdale, since youre a pegasus?"
"Well, thats a really long story. I dont want to bother you with it."
"I want to know. Come on, tell me!"
"Fine. Come with me." Derpy beckoned to the pink mare, walking towards her house.
The two mares sat in Derpy`s kitchen, a plate of muffins sitting between them.
"So, you want to know about why I live here?" The grey pegasus ensured.
"Yeppers! Every little bit of it!"
"Alright." Derpy exhaled before continuing.
Chapter II: Derpy`s Story
"What are you doing here? I told you not to come back!" A white pegasus stallion with a clean-cut, black mane yelled at a grey pegasus filly with a spontaneous-looking blonde mane. That filly was Derpy Hooves, or by her birth name, Ditzy Doo, daughter of Speed Spark. When she was born with a moderate visual disability, Spark had decided that he would get rid of her as soon as possible. He didn`t want a disabled filly marring his reputation as a borderline perfect flier with a perfect family. Spark cared for nothing more than his image.
"I`m sorry, dad. I just wanted to say goodbye to mom."
"Im not letting you back in here, and I know your mother doesnt want to see you! Do you think I wanted a retarded kid?"
A grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane and a cutie mark of three clouds gave the filly a sad smile, holding in her mouth a sign that read, "I`m sorry, Ditzy."
"Fine. Goodbye." The filly turned and walked away, the storm below completely ignoring Cloudsdale. She stepped into the town square and was stopped by a blue stallion in a police uniform.
"Where are your parents? It`s after curfew."
Ditzy panicked and galloped to the city`s edge, flying down towards the town of Ponyville.
Wonder what`s up with her. The stallion thought.
Ditzy Doo landed on the outskirts of Ponyville, curling up in a dry alley to stay out of the raging storm. For at least a few hours, she laid there, trying in a futile effort to stay warm. Finally, the storm let up enough for her to check out the town. After walking fearfully though Ponyville for a few minutes she eased up a bit, not seeing anypony out yet. Ditzy was stopped by a light green earth pony colt with a spiky black mane and a cutie mark of two crossed carrots.
"Hi! Are you new to Ponyville?" The colt asked, cocking his head to the side slightly.
"Yes. I`m..." Ditzy realized that it would be a good idea to give herself a new name, for fear of ponies discovering who she was.
"I`m Derpy. Derpy Hooves."
"Thats a cool name. Im Goldburn. You know what? I haven`t done this in a while." Goldburn pulled a bundle of carrots from his saddlebags, handing them to Derpy.
"Um, thanks. What`s it for?"
"To eat. You never seen a carrot before?"
"No. I`m from Cloudsdale."
"Really? Cool! I`ve always wanted to meet a pegasus from Cloudsdale!"
"Well, you`re looking at one. Nice to meet you, Goldburn."
"Just call me Burn, same as all my other friends."
"You think I`m... your friend?"
"Well yeah! Why would I say it if I didn`t mean it?"
"I really dont know. I dont have many friends."
"I think that I know somepony you might want to meet. She`s kind of like you."
Goldburn and Derpy walked leisurely towards the edge of town, conversing about various things. Whenever Goldburn asked about her family or her life in Cloudsdale, Derpy simply tried her best to dance around the question. The two of them ended up on the Everfreee Forest`s border, where a butter yellow pegasus filly with a gentle pink mane floated across a small clearing, passing out food among a crowd of animals. Upon closer inspection, Derpy saw that she had a cutie mark of three pink butterflies. The moment she saw them, the filly froze, ducking behind a bush. Goldenburn stepped forward and nudged the filly out of her spot. She was apparently paralyzed with fear.
"I-Is she here to take me back to Cloudsdale?" She asked in a barely audible voice.
"No, Fluttershy. Shes from Cloudsdale, but shes not taking you back." Goldburn explained. Fluttershy rose from the ground and trotted lightly towards Derpy.
"My name is..." She trailed off into less than a whisper.
"What was that?"
"My name is Fluttershy."
"Oh. Nice to meet you. I`m Derpy Hooves." The two of them exchanged a light hoofshake before Fluttershy continued their conversation.
"So, are you okay? Your eyes seem a bit..."
"Right, that. They`ve been like that since I was a foal. Nothing too big, though."
"Okay. If youre not taking me back to Cloudsdale, then why are you here? That is, if you dont mind talking about it."
"Id... rather not talk about it now. Ill tell you later, though."
"That`s fine."
"Do you guys want to do something?" Goldburn asked the fillies.
"Sure!" Derpy replied cheerfully.
"I guess so." Fluttershy whispered. "What do you want to do?"
"I have an idea." Derpy said in a thoughtful tone. "We can bake muffins!"
"Oh, I would love that." Fluttershy answered.
"Sounds good." Goldburn approved. "And I have the perfect idea of where to go. Follow me!"
Goldburn galloped off towards Ponyville, leaving Derpy and Fluttershy in his wake. The two pegasi followed him and caught up somewhat quickly. Goldburn stopped in front of a large abandoned building with a strange faded paint job that almost made it look like dusty candy.
"What is this place, Burn?" Derpy wondered, her mind reeling.
"It used to be a bakery, but the owners left. There`s going to be some new ponies running it in a few months. This might be our only chance to use it."
