What Went Wrong

by Gremlin Grenade

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Sparkler, Dinky Hooves, Derpy Hooves, Sex, Twilight Sparkle, Cheerilee
Length: 3191

A look into the mind of Ponyville's most "challenged" resident.

Ditzy Doo "Derpy" Hooves is a mare with special needs. She has a steady job as a mailmare, caring friends, and a daughter she loves more than anything. Her life isn't perfect, and she doesn't always understand the world around her, but she manages to stay cheerful and brighten the lives of those around her every day.

A unique look on the fan-character Derpy Hooves, inspired by my favorite novel: Flowers for Algernon.

Published 2012-05-18 05:14:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-07 20:19:34 UTC

My name is Derpy

helo

my name is Ditzy Doo Hooves but everypony cals me Derpy. when i wus a filly my momy sed that it is a bad thing they call me Derpy and that they wer trying to hert me but it doesnt hert and i think it sownds silly.

derpy

derp
derp

derpderpderpderpderpderpderpderpderpderp

wen i was born my eyes wer all funy and it taks me longer then other ponys to get things rite but its ok and it dusent mak me sad becus i no im speshul becus my momy sed so. also its hard to see things becus my eyes ar weerd and i crash alot but its ok becus its so silly

i hav a job and i get to giv everypony ther mail and its fun but it also gets bits wich ar importent becus i need to by food and stuf. i liek to by muffins and i cud eet nuthing but muffins becus ther my favorit but i sed that wen i wus a filly and momy sed no becus youl get sik and i sed o i didnt no and she sed eet yur vegtebels.

i hav lots of frends and lots of ponys liek me becus im silly. my frend in Caret Top and she has a garden with carets and they tast good and she ses derpy i wont ever understand u and i say can u her me now but lowder so she can understand and then she hits her fas. and my frend is also Rainbo Dash becus she helps me werk some times and ses silly things and she is pretty. Her maen is every coler eksept the ones it isnt and she is alwas fast and she ses carful or youl brak sumthing and shes rite i brak things wen im not carful.

i hav a littel filly and her name is Dinky and she is the most pretty most butiful thing in the hole world and i lover mor than anething even me. she is rely smart and she nos things i didnt no wen i was a filly and she helps me with my werk even wen i say no. sometims i get sad becus i dont no hoo her dady is and she is sad too but its ok i sed becus i love her enuf for to momys. Caret Top ses ther has to be a dady and i say no ther isnt becus insted thers just me and Dinky.

Rainbo sed that the dady must be one of my colt frends and espeshuly from nin months ago and that makes sens becus i had a relly good frend from then becus i lern slow but i dont forget things. his name is the doctor or thats wat he ses but i dont think its acshully his name becus then his ferst name is the and that dusent sound liek a pony name. he wus always my frend but one tiem he gave me a relly speshul hug with all his legs and other things to and he petted my hed and petted other things and it felt relly good but also tingle. he wus relly nies and sed can i sleep with u and i sed wats rong with yur bed and he sed no thats not wat i meen and i sed o ok and i didnt understand but it made him relly happy and it felt good to so i wus happy to.

wun tiem i was playing with Rainbo Dash and she helped me crash les so i wanted to do sumthing nise for her and i remembered wat the doctor sed and i tried to giv her the speshul hug but she sed get off and got reel mad and sed i no wat everypony ses but i dont like other maers that way and yelld and i wus sad and cryd becus she sed she didnt liek me but she sed its ok thats not wat i ment and i no u didnt meen it and she patted my hed.

wun tiem i crashd a lot of tiems into the town hall and it got all broek and maer maer sed derpy how cud u and i seed eesy i just cant see good. then i got to werk with rainbo dash agen and it was fun becus i she wasnt so mad but she wus a just a litel mad becus i cept crashing becus i cant see good. but it was ok becus Appeljak got muny to fx it she is relly strong and smart and has all the appel tres wich is moer than i can cownt becus my silly eyes. she is nise and ses nise things even tho i crash into her barn and hous alo becus all the tres make it hard to see.

This is the first year Dinky gos to scool and it maks me hapy becus she has so much fun and becus befor i wud get sad and nervis sumtims wen i was at werk becus i didnt no how Dinky was doing and if she needid her momy but at scool ther is a teecher to tak care of u and i no Dinky is ok ther. Her teecher is mis Cherily. i like Cherily becus she is nise and rely smart and she is a good teecher for Dinky and she is my frend. she teechis Dinky lots of things and Dinky is so smart and she is almost as smart as me wich is rely good becus i am her momy and most momys ar smartr than ther fillys.

Sometims Dinky nos how to do things that i dont no how she dus becus i didnt teech her or i only wud tell her wuns and i need to be told things lots of tiems to understand. wun time i wus at werk and i sed o no i fergot to feed my Dinky and i wus rely sad and told my bos i haf to go hom becus i need to feed my filly and he sed no but i went aneway becus Dinky coms ferst but wen i got hom she had maed a sandwich all by herself and wus eeting it and sed momy can u teech me how to maek muffins and i sed anything u want anjel. she is rely talentd and she dusnt hav her cute mark yet but its probly becus shes good at so many things that her cute mark dusnt no wat to be. she sings nise songs and maeks prety picshurs and wun tiem she maed a picshur for me that sed i luv u momy and i wus in it and she wus in it and miss Cherily wus in it but not as much and then the paper got wet and she sed momy y ar u cryng and i didnt no i wus cryng becus i was hapy not sad but i wus so i gav Dinky a hug so mabe i wud feel better.

i no im not as smart as uther ponys and i no i wus born that way even tho my momy sed i wusnt dum i wus just difrint. i dont no y im not smart and altho i no sumthing went rong wen i wus born i dont no went rong. wen Dinky wus a fol i wud get scard and cry alot and sumtims i wud just hold her in my hoovs and cry becus i didnt want her to be dum but she turnd out ok so im happy.

even tho im not smart i still maek ponys laff becus lafter is the best medisin. i no lafter is not rely a medisin becus wen my momy wus sik and she wus going to die and the docter sed lafter wont make her beter but i no if u can stil laff then all the werlds problims dont seem so bad. i no that other ponys cal me derpy and wall i and other naems to tees me but i just laff with them becus i dont need to be sad for them to be hapy.

if yor nise and hapy all of the tiem, nopony can maek things bad, even if yor a littel speshul.

My name is Sparkler

Dear Ponyville Childcare Services,

My name is Sparkler, I am a waitress at the Ponyville cafe. I am sending this letter to nominate myself for the foster care of Dinky Hooves. I acted as her older sister in the Ponyville Elementary "big sister" program, and the two of us participated together in the Ponyville Sisterhooves Social. She is a bright and energetic young filly and I would be honored to take her into my care.

However, she is also very close to her mother, more than most fillies her age are, and I would not like to take her away from that environment. Instead, I would like to propose staying with the Hooves and taking young Dinky under my wing. I have already discussed this with Ditzy Doo Hooves, and she has agreed to let me stay with the two of them.

Ditzy Doo is a very caring mare, who does not deserve to be seperated from her child, especially after the trials she has been through in recent years. Though she is a generally positive pony, many have taken advantage of her disability and I believe, with all due respect, that seperating her from Dinky is another one of those instances.

Dinky and I are very close, and transtioning from acting as her big sister in a school program to obtaining the legal status of her older sister will be an easy one considering all we have gone through together.

Thank you for your time,
Sparkler

My name is Mayor Mare

Dear Miss Sparkler,

This is Mayor Mare, speaking for the Ponyville board of Childcare Services. I am deeply sorry to inform you that we can not fulfill your request as submitted.

While it is admirable to try and keep young Dinky with her mother while taking care of the young filly as well, it is a technical impossibility and we unfortunately cannot comply. As it currently stands, Ditzy Doo is an employee of the state, provided with a wage just enough to take care of her family. However, it has come to our resolution that the welfare provided to the Hooves household by her government employment is not enough to sustain a growing family while Ditzy Doo cannot be relied on to make responsible enough decisions to support a family. While the attempt to fill that gap is admirable, it is the ruling of the board that under your current employment you cannot support young Dinky both parentally and financially, and we are unable to provide anymore welfare to the household than we already are.

I apologize, but it is the ruling of the board that Dinky Hooves must be placed in foster care. Please understand that this ruling is not of my own decision, nor is it of any individual pony of the board, but instead a carefully calculated decision made in collective agreement by a majority vote. Though it was she who proposed the idea, Miss Cheerilee Blossom asked that we inform you that she did not support the decision, and I would like to say in confidence that I was not in favor of the ruling either. We do not wish to see this family separated any more than you do, but it is just impossible for us to comply to your unusual request given the circumstances.

We promise that Ditzy Doo and yourself will be able to visit Dinky whenever you like, and that Ditzy Doo will be kept in close communication with the chosen foster family. Because this is not a case of domestic abuse but rather parental inability, we see no reason to permenantly keep either of you from seeing Dinky, but she must be raised in foster care.

With many condolences,

Mayor Mare

In representation of the Ponyville board of Childcare Services

My name is Dinky

helo my name is Dinky Hooves

my most faverit pony is my momy becus she luvs me and I dont hav a dady so she luvs me enuff for both. She maks me muffins and teeched me to maek them and do postig and maek a sweter.

she is rely smart and teeched me abowt things like beeing nise to uther ponys and saying plees and thank u and always eet my vegtables. even tho my momys so smart i no things she dusnt like how spel my teechers name miss cherilee becus it was ritten on the chak bord on the ferst day of scool so i rote it down so id remember.

my momy is a pegasus thats a flying pony and im a unicorn so i do magic and i sed "why is that" and she sed i dont no and she laffed and so did i. she dosent no magic and i dont no flying so it is hard for her to teech me how to use my unicorn horn but its ok becus theres teechers for that and she nos so much other things

my momy is the happyst pony i no eksept pinke pie wich makes me happy. sumtimes we go to the park and play and she luvs the bubles and i do to. bubles ar her cutee mark and i dont have a cutee mark but she ses that just meens i like everything.

sumtimes the filys at scool mak fun of my momy and say its becus her weerd i and they call her derpy wich is weerd becus her name isnt derpy its momy. wun time i asked her y her i s wer loking difernt ways and she sed wun is to wach the world and the uther is to keep u saf. i dont think my momy is weerd just sily and i wudnt want any uther momy in the world.

My name is Cherilee

Dear Ponyville Board of Education,

My name is Cherilee Blossom, I teach kindergarten through second grade at Ponyville elementary. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the board of education for providing the school with such adequate funds. The children loved the trip to Canterlot Gardens last year, and I appreciate your contributions.

However, I'm writing this letter to the school board to express my concerns for one of my students. Dinky Hooves is the daughter of Ditzy Doo Hooves, whom many of you know is a mentally challenged individual. Dinky is a very bright student of mine, she has shown exceptional interest and talent in a variety of subjects. I understand that she is in a caring home without financial troubles. However, as a growing young filly, I am concerned she isn't receiving the mental stimulation at home that she requires at her age. Her grades have recently demonstrated a difficulty of preforming her schoolwork outside of the classroom, and I believe she isn't able to receive the educational assistance she needs at home.

What is more disturbing is the fact that Ditzy Doo seems to be her only caretaker. While I do not believe it is right to separate a filly of her age with her only parent, I also do not believe Dinky is being properly taken care of while in the sole custody of somepony who has struggles of her own.

This is why I'm proposing that Dinky be put into foster care for the time being. I have already sent the necessary paperwork to the Ponyville orphanage, and the ponies there have informed me that they can properly take care of Dinky while they look for the proper foster home. I don't want to separate the filly from her family, but I am concerned that her current environment is dangerous for her growth and development.

Sincerely,
Cherilee Blossom

My name is Twilight Sparkle

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned about something special, something that may be more than friendship. Today I learned about family.

A family, by definition, is two or more ponies who share genetic traits. When a unborn pony is conceived, they borrow genetic traits from their progenitors, causing them to exhibit similar physical and instinctual traits, even to the point of sharing habits or phobias. The term family is used to define this biological bond between ponies, and it is an instinctual desire for parents to wish to care for their child, thus carrying on their legacy by way of the concept of a family. However, today I learned that a family is something more than that.

I learned that even when everypony else abandons you, you will still have family. Family isn't something that can be traded for, forgotten or ignored. It's the bond that forms between ponies who love each other more than anything, and would be willing to make great sacrifices for each other. Family always protect each other, they always care for each other, and families stop at nothing to make sure the others in their family are happy.

I also learned that family isn't just something that is passed down by DNA. Family is a bond, formed in love rather than in conception, that is the only bond that remains unbreakable against any struggles. While nearly all ponies who are related to one another genetically are held together by this bond, sometimes it can be found in ponies completely unrelated to one another, a bond beyond friendship, formed of pure love. This is what family truly is, the form of unconditional love for another pony, that one would make any sacrifice to see the other's happiness.

Today, I saw that bond in a wonderful mare and her love for a young filly, and in a mother, treated unfairly by fate, who refuses to let her love for her family be diminished. This mother, through the nature of her circumstances, has been forced to separate from the one she loves the most.

Ditzy Doo Hooves is a mare who has struggled all her life, and through legal complications, she faces the loss of the most important thing she has left: her family. A reasonable, though technically improper, proposal has been made by a local pony who cares so much for the Hooves that I believe she is already part of their family.

In normal circumstances I would consider this an abuse of my relationship to you, but I ask that you please allow this family to bypass the legal technicalities so that they can remain together and happy. Just as I consider myself family with my dearest friends, I believe it is painful and unfair to see this family suffer simply because they are not all bound by genetics. Families are determined by love, and there are few places that I've seen so much.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

P.S.Tell Mom, Dad, and Shining that I'm coming to visit soon.