It was a bright sunny afternoon. Derpy had just finished delivering the last bit of mail she was scheduled for. She had gone to eat a meal at the restaurant in Ponyville. She ate a wonderful daisy leaf sandwich. Aside from the ocassional muffin, Daisy leaf sandwiches were her favorite. It was still early for Derpy, so she decided to go and play at her favorite area, just outside of Ponyville. She spread her wings and flew off to the area.
It was a very pretty field, on the outskirts of Ponyville. Well, at least She thought so. It was a large field, surrounded by many, blossoming trees, creating a small forest around it. On the left of the field, was a beautiful flowerbed of Lillie's. Derpy didn't know much about nature and all that junk. She didn't know if somepony planted and tended to them there, But it didn't matter to her, She was just happy she was able to see how pretty it was. She knew that her opinion was the best one. This was because nopony really comes to play with Derpy, when she comes out here. Nopony really talks to her, or, as you would consider, "Be her friends,". She didn't know why. Maybe it was because she wasn't as smart as other ponies are. She always heard them whispering about how she looked "Different". And also, that her Eyes, were "Creepy". Derpy wasn't the best at making friends. Everyday when she came out here to play, It was just her. But it was okay for her. She must have been used to it by now, right? Derpy landed on the soft grass on the field, She loved the feel warm blades of glass on her hooves, When she was there, Loneliness wasn't that important to her, It was just a drifting thought in her head she always tried to drown out. There was also a beautiful Gem, jutting out of the ground across the field, from the flowerbed. It was so shiny you could even see your reflection on it. Derpy didn't like that gem very much. The only time She ever looked at it, was the first time She came to this field. On each side of this field, Derpy had set up two constructs of her own. They were large rectangle shaped constructs, made out of four branches from a tree, with two more branches arched behind them so she would be able to stand it up. She had connected them using sticky tree sap she had collected during one Fall. One of each of these constructs were on the opposite sides of each other in the field. In the middle of them was a ball Derpy had made. It was a rough, coarse ball, But it was good enough for her, as long as she was able to play with it. Besides, She made it herself, Why wouldn't she use it? She liked to take pride in things she made, even if they weren't so good. Derpy had created her own game out of the things She made. Each player had one side of the field with the wooden rectangles She created. They had to defend theirs from the other player kicking the ball through it. Every time a player would successfully get the ball through, they would earn a point. She never came up with a name for it though. Maybe it was because She couldn't think of one. Or perhaps it wouldn't matter, She wouldn't have anypony to tell about it, would she? There was one thing she did know about this game she made. It was best to play it with one friend. Two players only. She didn't know how she knew this, But she could feel, it was the correct way.
She went to the middle of the field, where each session of the game was supposed to start. The ball was also placed there at the beginning of the game, and again each time somepony got a point.
"3...2...1...GO!" She said to herself, Running towards the goal that wasn't hers, tapping the ball with one of her hooves, so that it rolled with her. She would occasionally, quickly glance behind her, to take a peek back. She had to be sure her opponent wasn't too close behind her, ready with a quick kick, to take the ball out of her control, and head to her goal.
"Nopony.", She thought to herself, clarifying that her crusade towards the goal was safe. And there she was, At her destination. She was ready. Ready, to kick the ball through that goal. To earn her point. It reminded her of her work as a mailmare. The ball was the package, and the goal was the mailbox. Ready to hit home!
'Whoosh!', The ball zoomed by as it went right through its destination.
"One point for me." Derpy hummed to herself, raising a hoof in the air with victory. After, she trotted to get the ball, where it eventually was stopped by one of the trees, surrounding the field. She tapped it back with her, as she trotted over to the middle of the field, to begin the game once again. Yes...again...
"3...2...1...Go." She whispered to herself. Once more, she gallantly trotted to the goal. That wooden framed, rectangle goal. 'Whoosh!', The ball flew by, with force as she kicked it once again to its desired destination. And once again, Derpy earned another point. "Another point for me," She said, slightly less enthusiastic this time. She walked over to the ball, that had stopped at the same tree again. tapped over to the middle of the field, And said another time.
"3...2...1...go...", Again she brought the ball to where it needed to go for her to earn a point. As always, She would make it. Her path was always clear, she never forgot which way to go. She never forgot to quickly glance behind her. She never forgot how hard to kick the ball. She never forgot how many points she earned. She never forgot to bring the ball back to the middle of the field, Or that it would always stop at the same tree. Never forgetful of a continuous routine. It was just like delivering mail. That letter goes to this house. That package goes to this pony. A cycle.
She eventually decided to take a breather from playing her game. She glanced towards the flowerbed, and decided what to do for now. She walked over to the Lilies, sighed, and fell down on her back, on to the beautiful flowers. When she did, a plethora of petals flew into the air. She took a deep, calm, breath and looked at the dazzling sight. Hundreds of white petals danced in the air. Her amber eyes, shimmered with awe at the display. She picked herself up from her quick rest, deciding to go back and play some more of her game. However, when she looked towards the middle of the field, something caught her attention. It was a petal flowing through the air. But this particular petal caught her eye. It was separated from the hundreds of others that danced in the air. It had a duller color of white than the others. A lone petal from the crowd. It burned alone, and fell silently to the ground. It didn't go out with a bang like the others. It went out with a whimper. Derpy couldn't quite understand why this petal was like that. Why did it fly alone? Why did it burn alone? Was it not welcome with the others? Because it was different? She never thought this much about anything before. Frankly, she wasn't sure why it would matter to her. But it did. It bothered her. This lone white lily petal. She tried to push the thought of her head, determining that maybe playing a few more rounds of her game may take her mind off of it.
Regardless if she thought that might solve the issue clouding her thoughts, Playing her game did no such thing. Still the idea lingered in her mind no matter how many times she played a round. That same petal would annoy her. Something so trivial shouldn't weigh so heavy on ones mind. Maybe one more round would take her mind off of it.
"3...2...1," trotting to the goal, and of course, making it. It was pretty repetitive now. She never thought of it this way, never before. She never thought about how continuous and repetitive it is. It was the same thing every time...Every day.
Each time she would have control of the ball. Every day she would earn the points. When she looked, nopony was behind her. Nopony ever would be. It was only her. Just like the petal. She hated thinking about this, she came to this place, everyday to find comfort in her solitude. She came to it because she loved finding beauty in Isolation. This is what this field was for her. That there was some solace in having nothing. But she couldn't shake it out of her head. It drilled its way in, regardless if she wanted it to or not. She was just a whimper, Her existence wasn't significant. She couldn't stand thinking this way, She hated being reminded of her state, Of being a lonely pegasus. She hated anything that reminded her of herself. How would she even look at herself, in such a miserable living. But no matter what she tried, it just wouldn't leave her alone. Nothing had ever bothered her this much before. Not even the gem in the ground that she didn't like bothered her this much. Sure, she didn't like the gem. But she never questioned why she didn't. She wasn't sure herself why she hated it with a passion. Something that resonates such beauty shouldn't deserve to be despised. Was that because she didn't understand why? Because She couldn't understand why you would hate something that is beautiful? Why you would want no part of it, Or why you would separate it? Wasn't it like everypony else? Why did it deserve to be alone, What did it ever do wrong? Did she hate it because it showed a reflection? She knows what she is thinking about now. She knows those questions weren't about the Gem.
She kicked the ball in anger towards her goal, causing it to land behind some trees.
"Well, there's something new," She said sarcastically, Trotting over to pick it up. But what was the point anyway. It would be sunset in about a hour, there wasn't much time left until nighttime. While she went to pick up the ball, her back turned from the field. She hear a snap of twig, emanate from the field. She turned to see what might have made the noise.
She couldn't believe her eyes. There was no way it could happen. Somepony else was here with her now. Out of all things, even then how would somepony else know she was here of all places. Not being rude, she decided to greet the pony.
"Uh...Hi..." She said reluctantly to her. The pony was a grey pegasus mare, with a blonde mane, and amber eyes. Derpy thought they were pretty. Certainly not some anypony would call "Weird". It was strange. The pony reminded so much of somepony she has seen before, But she couldn't quite remember.
"My names Derpy. Derpy Hooves," Derpy said, putting a nervous smile on her face, in an attempt to make her guest more comfortable.
"So umm....What's your name?" She asked. The mare however, did not respond.
"Umm...Can you talk," She continued to question her, trying her hardest not to sound rude. It was odd, but Derpy liked this mare. She felt she can empathize with her.
"It's okay. If you can't talk. Not everypony can. My mother used to tell me that everypony is different, and it's nothing to be ashamed of." Derpy consoled the pony, feeling somewhat hypocritical. How would she say her mothers words to another, when she herself doesn't even follow them. No! She shouldn't think that way, she thought to herself. She didn't want to drag this new friend down with her. There was nothing wrong with her friend. Being different isn't wrong, Is it? She didn't even know herself.
"Well, I'm sure it doesn't matter anyway, if you can't talk. We can still hang out, until nighttime comes. That's if you want to of course," Derpy asked, not wanting to sound too conceited.
The mare put a smile on, and nodded, causing Derpy to don a grin.
"Great. I'm glad you want to! Hey, I'll even teach you my game I came up with. It's top secret, so you're lucky you get to see it," She said jokingly, knowing nopony would know, or would even want to know about it.
"Still...It feels a little awkward not calling you by a name. Maybe I can think of one for you..." Derpy thought. The mare, curious of the ball Derpy had by her, approached, until tripping over the twig she had snapped, causing Derpy to wince, but the mare quickly got back up on her hooves.
"Ow. You might wanna be a bit more careful. Don't wanna be too ditsy, you might get hurt one day," Derpy laughed. Suddenly she realized a name for her friend.
"Oh! How about...Ditzy?" She excitingly asked the pegasus, Who responded with a happy nod.
"Hmmm...Didn't think you would like it. It's not the nicest term around, But I'm glad you did. You're a pretty carefree pony."
Derpy said.
"Anyways. Let me show you how to play this game. Just follow me and I'll show you," Derpy pointed with her hoof to the middle of the field, And began trotting over, with Ditzy just behind her.
"Okay let me explain it to you, Ditzy! You see these two rectangle thingies on each side of the field?" She pointed with her hoof to each one. Ditzy nodded.
"Alright. Each of us gets one of those as our 'Goal'. What you gotta do is guide the ball with your hooves, And kick it in to the goal that is the other players, if you do you get a point. Sound simple enough?" Derpy explained.
Ditzy only gave another nod.
"Hmm...Well I guess a nod is just as good as a yes," Derpy chuckled.
The round began, and surprisingly, Ditzy got control of the ball, She trotted quickly over to Derpy's goal and Kicked it swiftly into her goal. Derpy was amazed. It was the first time she ever lost. It was different from the norm. Ditzy was different. And Derpy knew it wasn't a bad thing. She was actually excited. She flew over to where the ball stopped and came back to the middle of the field.
"Well, That was something new I'll say. I'm glad I met you Ditzy. I've never experienced playing with a friend before. And to tell you the truth I like it. It's different than what I've come to be used to. We're different." Derpy said.
Ditzy smiled and nodded happily.
"Well don't think I'll go easy on you this time though! You just watch." Derpy said confidently.
Ditzy once again gained control of the ball during the beginning of the round and was nearing Derpy's goal. Derpy managed to intercept her, just before she got the kick. She speedily trotted towards Ditzy's goal. She was determined to win this one. She glanced behind her like She does whenever she has the control of the ball, to see if her opponent was on her tail. And this time. Somepony was. Her new friend, Ditzy, was steadily behind. Derpy smiled with glee. She kicked the ball into the goal.
"One point for me!" She cheered. Ditzy gazed at her with a confused look.
"Alright let's start again," Derpy said, eagerly. Ditzy happily obliged.
