I sat down solemnly on the edge of my bed. I never expected this. I had worked for the mail as long as I could remember, but now it was gone. What was I going to do? What other jobs could I find? I came home to an empty house. Dinky was still at school. How was I to tell her that her mommy was no longer going to be able to feed her? I collapsed on my bed and cried. I was too upset to do anything else.
I woke up a short time after. I must have cried myself to sleep. I gave myself a push to get up off the bed. I looked down at where my head had been to find a big puddle of pony tears. I wiped my eyes. I needed some fresh air. I trotted down stairs and out of the house - almost immedaitely I was confronted by somepony. "Hey, are you okay?" It was Fluttershy. "I couldn't help but notice there was a new mail-mare this morning. Did you quit your job, Derpy?" I couldn't bear talking about it. I broke down.
"I got fired!" I sobbed. "They said I was too clumsly for the job, and that I kept getting everypony's mail mixed up, so they replaced me!" I flung myself at Fluttershy, grasping her mane and pulling her into me.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Derpy. Is there anything I can do for you?" She was so kind. Fluttershy was always there to help out a pony in need.
I dried my eyes once more."I don't think there's anything you can do, Fluttershy, but thanks for trying to help me." I quickly trotted by her and continued on my way. I couldn't bear to let her, or anypony for that matter, see me in the state I was in.
I decided to go for a stroll through the park. The trees were lush, the birds were chirping and the sky was a beautiful blue. Everypony seemed in such a good mood, but I just felt terrible. I was lost in my own thoughts when I heard a voice behind me. "Derpy?" I turned around. It was Lyra and Bon-Bon. "Are you okay, Derpy?" asked Bon-Bon. "You don't normally finish your rounds this early."
I really didn't want to have to go through the same conversation with everypony I met today. "I got fired for being too clumsy" I hung my head.
Bon-Bon grabbed my chin and pulled my head back up. "Don't be down. There are plenty of other jobs in Ponyville. Why don't you find something else to do?" She smiled.
Lyra seemed pre-occupied in the background.
"What else is there to do? I was only ever really good at delivering the mail, and I can't even do that right." I turned away from Bon-Bon and began clopping away from her.
She immediately ran around the other side of me to stop me. "There must be something else you're good at, Derpy. Come on, Lyra and I will help you".
Lyra suddenly bounced towards me, all smiles. "You know what would really help you deliver the mail? Hands!" She beamed from ear to ear.
"Dammit, Lyra, we've been through this a hundred times today, there is no such thing as 'humans'." Bon-Bon sounded angry.
Lyra gasped at the words that protruded from her friend's mouth. "But what about all the silly things we use? Think of all the things we use; most of them were designed by humans, to be used with human hands, not these big old clumsy hooves!"
Big old clumsy hooves; sounds like my new nickname.
I ran off whilst I had the chance, and kept running until I was sure I was out of sight. When I finally slowed down, I took the time to notice my surroundings. It was dark, like, really dark for being so early in the afternoon, but it quickly dawned on me - I knew where I was. Darkness in the middle of the day, surrounded by trees? It could only be the Everfree Forest. There was no path beneath my hooves. I ran off in a panic. I stumbled over a branch on the floor, and fell awkwardly on my wing. "Ouch!" I yelped. I heard a loud crash in the forest at the same time.
What was that? Actually, no. I didn't want to know. I hate the Everfree Forest. I mean, delivering mail to Zecora was okay, because I just stuck to the path, but I was in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the forest here, there could be wild animals nearby that want to eat me! I galloped away as fast my hooves would take me. Thud! I fell to the floor again. This time, I had bumped into something living, something real. It was a pony! In the middle of the forest!
I helped him up. He was quite a cute stallion with a chestnut brown coat and a chocolate mane. He was wearing a white collar with a green tie and had an hourglass for a cutie mark. "Oh, sorry about that" He said. "I didn't see you, there. It's very dark in here and I have no idea where I am." his smiled warmed right through me. "What's your name?"
"Derpy Hooves"
"Nice to meet you, Derpy Hooves. I'm 'The Doctor'!"
My eyes suddenly became heavy and my legs felt like jelly. I stumbled around trying to keep my balance. I felt faint. I don't remember what happened after that because everything turned black...
Author's Note
This was written a week prior to 'A Whovian Christmas' It was a stand-alone scene, created after posting a thread to Reddit's MLPLounge asking for writing prompts. The prompt for this story was simply: "Derpy has just been fired from her mail-mare job"
It was one of the first story-opening ideas I had for the Doctor Whooves project I've been working on.
Before this and 'A Whovian Christmas', the idea was that Derpy had been in a happy relationship with a stallion. Her reaction to losing her job is piled on top of previous feelings of dispair after her love disappeared without a trace.
Derpy finding her lost love and desire to care for little Dinky is the main driving force behind Derpy's storyline in my Doctor Whooves project.
