Everything that happends in this story takes place after Lyra and Derpy get their Cutie Marks. (Just a little thing to consider)
Everypony knows of the six elements of harmony right? Applejack being honesty, Rainbowdash being loyalty, Rarity being generosity, Fluttershy being kindness, Pinkie Pie being laughter, and of coarse Twilight Sparkle being magic, but nopony ever says anything about there being any lesser elements, well, that's why i am here.
The "mane" six elements are the most powerful elements, but nopony ever talks about the seventh element, sure, it is lesser in all aspects, but it makes everypony smile and safer either or. It is an element that people take for granted every single day, but it it not just one pony, no it is not, it is two ponies. Two ponies make up one element, those two ponies are Lyra Heartstrings, and none other than Derpy Hooves. The reason why two ponies make up one element is because there are two parts of this element, the element it'self is Optimism, something that most people think that Pinkie aquires, but that is not her OFFICIAL element, after all, there are signs that pinkie is accually quite, paranoid, but that is for another story, also, i know what you are thinking, why the heck is Derpy and Lyra part of this element? Allow me to explain.
When they where just fillies, they didn't really have friends, i mean, yea, Lyra had BonBon and Derpy had muffins, but they also had eachother. Lyra and Derpy where best friends, this, of coarse, was back before Derpy was (as) crosseyed, and she accually talked, (before that evil person named Hasbro silenced her for good) Derpy was still a screw up, and Lyra was still bent on getting herself a good pair of hands, because of these traits, they where both considered social outcasts, so they hang out togeather at the playground and at lunch, with them having plenty of time to talk, they did, and talked about their similarities and differences, always laughing, and playing, and having a good time, until that one dreadful day.
Derpy is waiting for Lyra at the school sandbox as usual, but no matter how long she waited, she never came, so Derpy desided to brave on the day without her and find her after school was over. That specific day was quite ruff, people where teasing her, and Derpy was really getting depressed, by the end of the day, all the stress made her eyes wonder even further apart, which just called for more picking by the school bullies. Shooting down Derpy's usual optimism that it was just one day, and everything will be fine.
After school, Derpy goes rushing for Lyra's house, just to realize that Lyra's mother thought that she went to school earlier that day, so of coarse, Derpy looks all over Ponyville, looking for her lost friend, when she hears Lyra crying from inside the library (keep in mind that this is before Twilight lived in the library or even visitied Ponyville.)
So Derpy rushes in the library to see that Lyra is trapped in a cage, crying for help, Derpy imediatly stops when she sees the stallion that is looking at the books in the corner, thestallion is none other than Derpy's father, with some weird hooded cloak, Derpy called out to her dad to ask what in the hey was going on, and all he said was a quick five words, "what is supposed to happen" Derpy was confused by what her father was saying to her, so shy asked what was supposed to happen and what he was talking about. Derpy's father just looked at her daughter and told her to leave, right then, but Derpy refused. Lyra, who was still in the cage in the oppisite cornor of the room, simply said "Derpy! Remember all the good times togeather, and what we taught eachother? We taught eachother to keep our heads up high! Remember! Remember all the good memories! Remember how we thought that everything was going to be all right, no matter what the situation! REMEMBER THE OPTIMISM!" Derpy quickly faces her dad and command him to stop, right then.
Of coarse, Derpy's dad wouldn't listen to her own daughter, instead, he just motioned to the symbol on his cloak, it looked like the hands that Lyra was always mentioning, with a big X on it. Quickly after Derpy examined the symbol, her dad pulls out what looks to be some sort of mind melter, what it really was, was a brain washing machine, that had the some symbol that derpy's dad had on his cloak. Then it hit her, that he was going to erase all memories and intentions of hands from her head, but she kept her head held high, and brought out the one thing she could use to harm anything, she took from her sattle bag one, stale, muffin, and she throws it with great force at the machine, the impact made the maching go up in smoke, and eventually shutting down, Derpy quickly knowticed that her dad was furious at what she did, so she ran to the other side of the room, freed Lyra, and made a B-line to the front door, and closes the door just as Derpy's father hit the closed door, exausted, they still ran, and ran, and ran. They ran until they made it to Lyra's house on the other side of Ponyville, and grew up at Lyra's house, Derpy still considered herself a Hooves, but was proud to be considered a Heartstrings.
Now, i know exactly what you're thinking, you're thinking, "what does all of this have to do with the element of optimism at all?" well, first of all, something i failed to mention with all that story, is that, while running, Derpy and Lyra take a break from their constant running, and derpy found something inside the goldish tree they where resting under on the brim of the everfree forest, it was bluish-grey in the shadows, and gold and white when the sun hit it, it was a fine-cut gemstone of what it felt like was great energy. Lyra and Derpy felt like they could handle any obsticle when holding it, but they had that in them all along, the power of optimism, the fact that, no matter how much they wanted to call it quits and give up, they kept going with their heads held high and with the greatest attitude, it was just then that they realized that this was an extreamly special trait that they both aquired.
The optimism of all that they emited all the time, even when Derpy realised that her dad was part of an anti-hands cult, she still kept her head held high.
Epilogue:
Derpy, one night in her own home, she saw Lyra walking and talking with BonBon, and smiled, when something hit her, her dad is still out there, most likely bent on ridding hands from all the minds of ponies like Lyra. and worrying so, she went to her old house "the Hooves household" told her dad of a large quantity of ponies bent on getting hands in Canterlot, and that Lyra has forgotten all about the hands, and so Derpy's dad went, on his hand-hating way, never to be seen of again.
THE END