What does Derpy's cutie mark stand for?
It started with a simple question - "What does Derpy's cutie mark stand for?" It was only natural for Sweetie Belle to have asked it. She and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders would go to any lengths to find their cutie marks, including learning how every pony in Ponyville achieved that feat. Most instances were self explanatory - apples were related to food and farming, butterflies to creatures, balloons to parties, but when it came to bubbles, Sweetie Belle was clueless.
It was only natural for Rarity to have started the rumor. She had a tendency to complain about things that upset her, and unbecoming behaviour, coming from her sister no less, was second only to a crime against fashion.
"A lady does not address her friends in such a vile way!" she had told her sister. "Nor do they discuss a pony's cutie mark behind her back!" A long lecture on proper behaviour and the value of friends had followed, resulting in Sweetie Belle agreeing to be more tactful, and Rarity heading over to the spa to de-stress. The question, however, had remained stuck in her head. What did the cutie mark stand for? Try as she might, Rarity could not figure it out, so she, in turn, had asked the Blossom sisters. By the afternoon the entire Ponuville was itching to know the answer.
* * *
"Hello there, Ditzy," Applejack said casually as the mailmare came to deliver the post. "Mighty kind of you to bring the mail all the way to Sweet Apple Acres."
Derpy gave the earth pony a confused look. This was the first time Applejack had complimented her on her mail delivering skills. Usually it would be just a friendly 'howdy' and some small talk.
"How about some apple pop to celebrate?" Applejack offered.
No sooner had Applejack asked than Apple Bloom swooshed out of the barn, a crate of bottles on her back. She seemed incredibly eager, for some reason.
"Would you look at that?" Applejack laughed uncomfortably, then patted Apple Bloom on the head, much to the filly's dismay. "My little sister sure loves apple pop. Fancy joining us?"
"What are we celebrating?" Derpy arched a brow.
"Celebrate?" Sweat appeared on Applejack's face. "I meant to say to thank you for your hard work. Always delivering the letters through sun and rain and all."
So very peculiar. Not that Derpy didn't like the idea, it was just that no pony had ever thanked her before. Most often they would complain about the state of the delivered items. It was no secret she had a tendency of mishoofing things.
"Please?" Apple Bloom added in her squeaky voice. Both she and Applejack looked expectantly at the pegasus, to the point it seemed intimidating.
"Alright," the mailmare shrugged and grabbed a bottle with her wing.
As the cap was flipped off, a fountain of bubbles gushed out, sprinkling everypony with juice. This wasn't good. Smiling apologetically, Derpy put the now empty bottle back in the crate.
"I'm so sorry," she started searching her saddlebags for something to clean the mess with. "I don't know what happened there. I generally avoid fizzy drinks."
"That was ama..." Apple Bloom began enthusiastically, then suddenly cut herself short. "Say what? Don't you like pop?"
"Not too much, no," The mailmare had found a small hoofkershief and was busy cleaning her wing feathers before they stuck together.
Only moments later did it occur to her how rude her remark sounded. The ponies had gone out of their way to treat her to their fine drinks and she had shown no gratitude whatsoever, not to mention made a mess of things.
"I'm sure it's great, though," she quickly added offering a wide smile.
"So you don't like bubbly drinks?" the young filly inquired. "Or bubbles? Or..."
"Now, now, sis." Applejack placed a hoof on her sister's head. "Let's not get all inquisitive like. Seriously though-" she turned to Derpy "-don't you like 'em apple pop bubbles?"
Derpy shook her head. The Apples definitely were acting strange today, even more than usual. She could understand their obsession with apples, but bubbles was something new.
"Oh well," Applejack shrugged. "I reckon next time we'll have to do with some good old fashioned apple juice. You like apple juice, right?"
"Yes," Derpy didn't dare say anything else. Seeing how they reacted at her not liking the bubbles, she could only imagine what they would do if she said anything bad about an apple product.
"Alright then," Applejack smiled, causing Derpy to relax. It was always good not to get in trouble. "Oh, just one thing, sugar cube. Can you take this to Pinkie Pie?" She took a small note from under her hat, folded it in half, and gave it to the mailmare. "I know it ain't proper mail and all, but I'd be mighty grateful to ya."
"Of course!" Derpy took the note and carefully placed it among the envelopes in her saddlebag. "And sorry about not enjoying your Apple pop. I'm sure everypony would love it."
Another mess almost averted, Derpy was on her way. She had plenty of letters to deliver. With the exception of Applejack's and Fluttershy's all were in Ponyville, so it shouldn't take her too long. With luck she would be done by noon.
The town was strangely quiet, even for a weekend. Usually there would be at least some ponies in the streets or skies. Most of the shops were closed as well. Curious, Derpy walked to the door of Sugarcube Corner and knocked. No answer. It didn't seem like anypony was there. A pity too, Derpy was hoping to buy a bag of muffins. Still, no point in crying over wet hay. She was just about to leave when the door suddenly swung open.
"Hello, Derpy!" An energetic Pinkie Pie jumped out. "Here for your usual muffins?" She nudged Derpy in the stomach.
Typical Pinkie Pie. When in came to parties and pastry, few ponies could compare. And how could Derpy say no to muffins? Stomping the ground joyfully, she rushed in the bakery. Ten fully dressed clown ponies turned in her direction. None spoke a word, just staring at her silently.
"Well, what do you know?" Pinkie Pie smiled mischievously, making her way towards the kitchen. "Fancy all these clowns being here? Why don't you sit down and have fun while I make a fresh batch of lemon surprise muffins? I'm sure you have plenty to discuss."
Moments later she was gone, and Derpy was left to the mercy of the clowns. One of them, wearing a rainbow wig and a giant pair of glasses, pointed to a nearby chair. The mailmare hesitated for a moment. She had been through some pretty weird things, but standing in a room full of clowns definitely took the prize. A polite smile on her face, she took the seat. Everypony's stared at her as she did so. The clown to her left levitated a small bucket of bubbly water onto her table. Moments later a bubble wand followed.
In perfect synchrony the clown ponies took out their own bubble wands and proceeded to fill the room with bubbles. Then, just as abruptly, the bubble making stopped. Everypony put their wands away and once more started staring at Derpy. This was freaky.
The clown in the rainbow wig pointed at the soap bucket in front of the mailmare. Derpy swallowed. Were they expecting her to do the same?
Feeling the pressure, she took the wand, gently tipped it in the bucket and attempted to do as they demanded. Moving the wand to her mouth she took a deep breath, too deep, for a bubble got sucked in her mouth. Choking, she extended her wings, knocking the clowns to her left and right off their chairs. The chaos did not end there. Losing his balance, one of the clown ponies grabbed at the closest thing nearby, which ended up being another clown... who in turn did the same. Pies, wands, juggling balls, and the occasional rubber chicken flew through the air. By the time things had calmed down, the place had become a total wreck.
"Soooo," Pinkie Pie emerged from the kitchen with a large bowl of muffins. "Had fun with the bubbles?" She paused at the sight of utter devastation before her. There had to be hurricanes less destructive. "Geese, guys! I was only gone a minute! You're worse than the yaks!"
Paradoxically, Derpy was the only one left unharmed. Guiltily, she attempted to push the soap bucket out of sight, resulting in a loud splash as it fell off the table. Some messes, simply couldn't be avoided.
"I think I'll have these to go," she said as the table before her tilted to one side. "Oh, and Applejack wanted me to give you something." She rummaged through her saddlebag for the note. Luckily the soap water hadn't damaged it or any of the other letters. That was a good thing. At least she wasn't going to get yelled at after work again.
Exchanging the note, some bits and an apology for a bag of freshly baked muffins, Derpy hit the road again. One hour - two deliveries. She was going to have to pick up the pace if she wanted to finish by evening. It didn't help that most of the mail was to be hoofdelivered. Well, she might as well get started.
With every envelope Derpy delivered things got stranger and stranger. For some reason every pony would thank her, treat her to food, drink and gifts and ask the most illogical questions. Did she like to play marbles? Did she make pearl necklaces? Did she feel dizzy all the time? To be honest, she enjoyed the attention, but it was beginning to get tiring, not to mention extremely time consuming. Rarity alone had spent a full hour discussing what sort of shampoo she uses to wash her mane. The conversation then moved to mane dyes, then clothes and finally the latest fashion trends throughout Equestria. By the time Derpy managed to find an excuse and get on with her work it was already late afternoon. So much for hoping. Still, being a mailmare was all about responsibility and perseverance! Next stop - Twilight's castle.
Along the way, several ponies started random conversations with her. The topics, again, were weird ranging from snowballs to fortune teller crystals. At one even Rainbow Dash had swooped by, although her interest mainly revolved round the expected arrival of the next Daring Doo book, which also included stern warnings for Derpy 'not to mess it up again'. There was the odd question - whether Derpy liked bubble wrap, but honestly speaking, Rainbow didn't seem overly interested in the answer. As soon as she heard that the mailmare found it amusing, but nothing more, she dashed up and away into the sky. A pity, since Derpy had been meaning to talk to her about returning to cloud duty. Maybe next time. Right now, there were more pressing matters to worry about, like the lack of time.
Flying directly to Twilight's castle, the mailmare took out a large green envelope and was just about to knock, when the door opened on its own. Her hoof, already in motion, continued forward tapping the first thing it came in contact with, which turned out to be the forehead of a short and rather annoyed purple dragon.
"Twilight," he shouted, a displeased expression on his face. "Mail is here!"
"What?" Came a distant answer from within the castle. "Hold on a-" a flash of purple light burst in front of the door, bringing with it the alicorn princess herself, " -moment. Why, Derpy," Twilight smiled, far too widely for the mailmare's liking.
"Ditzy," corrected the dragon, still very much unamused.
"Ditzy," Twilight quickly corrected herself. "How are you? Why don't you come in? Spike is just about to make his famous nachos and it will be a shame if they went to waste."
Even Twilight was acting strange. Derpy was in the process of thinking up an excuse, when everything around her flashed purple. The next thing she knew, she was standing in a large library - shelves upon shelves of books, with the occasional Daring Doo poster hanging here and there.
"Oops," Twilight said embarrassed. "Something's must have gone wrong with my spell. Guess we'll have to eat in the library. Heh."
Derpy shrugged. It wasn't like she could do anything about it. As she would often say "when life becomes crazy, just enjoy the ride".
"Oh, and since we are already here, what are your thoughts on magic?" Twilight asked, as a book levitated from the nearby shelf and conveniently opened on the chapter 'Pegasus Magic'. "Did you know that there are rare instances, in which pegasi are also born with magic?"
Derpy didn't respond. An uncomfortable silence continued for about a minute, during which each pony stared at the other expectantly. Ultimately, it was Twilight who folded first.
"Some scholars believe this to be a case of unexplained weather magic," she added. "And as such, it had nothing in common with unicorn high magic. However, there have been documented cases of pegasi using levitation, transfiguration, and even protective bubble spells."
A few pages of the book flipped over stopping on a picture of a pegasus surrounded by a huge bubble. The description read - "While extremely rare, it is possible for pegasi to use protective magic. Similar to other types of magi-pegasi, the cutie mark of these individuals always reflects their spell ability."
"That's fascinating," the mailmare smiled, pushing the bock gently away.
"Isn't it?" Twilight nodded eagerly. "At times such pegasi had to keep their skills secret, out of fear that they would be ostracized. I can assure you that such practices are in the past and would never happen in Poneville!"
"Err, good to know?" Derpy took a step back. The look on Twilight's face was starting to concern her. Taking another step, the pegasi's tail brushed against one of the shelves, knocking a book on the ground. Quickly, Derpy grabbed the book with her mouth and placed back on the shelf.
"I can't wait to get to know a magic pegasus!" Twilight suddenly said, patting Derpy on the back with her wing. The mailmare wasn't expecting that. Startled, she instinctively moved forward, crashing into the large bookshelf. It tilted for a few seconds, then before anypony could react, fell on the next, starting a domino effect.
This was bad! The mailmare quickly darted into the air, in an attempt to minimize the inevitable mess that was to follow. She grabbed the nearest bookshelf and pulled in back. Sadly, her over-enthusiasm only caused it to fall in the opposite direction. No matter, there were others that needed saving!
For the next few seconds, Derpy flew from one bookshelf to the next in an attempt to keep one upright. The first few she failed to reach in time, but with enough perseverance, she finally managed to rescue one. What was more, all its books were intact! A perfect job, if she did think so herself.
"Sorry about that, Twi..." She turned around, then stopped mid sentence. The library, if it could still be called that, was a total disaster. Books were scattered everywhere, covering the floor, the table, and even Twilight herself. "Err, my bad," Derpy said, tiptoeing towards the exit. "I'll better leave you to your books, princess." She dashed out.
On the way, she passed by a still grumpy Spike carrying a tray of nachos. Derpy didn't have the heart to tell him the mess she had caused. Wishing him "a fun day", she ran down the stairs and out of the castle, sadly not fast enough to hear his angry "Oh, come on!" echo throughout the halls. There might have been more, but the mailmare didn't stick around to find out.
Another fine mess in her wake, Derpy went back to delivering letters. As expected, the familiar pattern of weirdness continued. By evening, she had had tea eleven times, receive a total of thirty two muffins, eight cupcakes, seventeen pieces of chocolate, and a bowl of oats. She had discussed everything from swamp gasses to string theory. Even the Doctor had gone on about time bubbles, asking her thoughts on the matter. Everypony had been quite friendly, so Derpy hadn't minded, but she wished they wouldn't take that long.
Wiping the sweat off her forehead, the mailmare looked in her saddlebags. All that remained was one single letter - Fluttershy's. For a split second, Derpy considered delivering it next morning. Ashamed, she quickly shook her head. That was no way to think! A responsible mailmare would never act like that! The customer always came first!
Flying to the cottage was refreshingly uneventful. Not a single pony, not a single question. It almost seemed like a normal day. At least, until Derpy got to Fluttershy's. The mailbox was boarded up, making any sort of delivery impossible. And just in case there could be any confusion, a frowning white rabbit holding a hammer stood in front. The instant he saw the mailmare, he hopped forward and unequivocally pointed to the cottage door.
Derpy just shrugged. It wasn't more bizarre than everything else that had happened today. Taking out the letter form her saddlebag she knocked on the door.
"Err, one moment," a quiet voice from said from inside.
Seconds passed, then minutes. The door, however, did not open. If it were any other pony, Derpy would assume they had forgotten, and knock again. With Fluttershy, she decided just to be patient. A good mailmare had to know everything about the ponies she was delivering mail to. For the most part, Derpy was clueless, but she did know pressuring Fluttershy was never a good idea. Beside her, arms crossed, Angle Bunny let out an annoyed sigh.
"Muffin?" Derpy offered, taking one out of her saddlebag. The rabbit examined it skeptically, then snatched it from her hoof and devoured it greedily.
It took Fluttershy quite a while to emerge, and when she did, she was all covered in fireflies. To be honest, Derpy had never seen her so weird looking, or so worried. It was almost as if Fluttershy was expecting something horrible to happen. Then again, with everything else the mailmare had caused today, that wasn't outside the real of possibility.
"Do you like fireflies?" Fluttershy asked.
The question visibly calmed her, bringing a smile to her face. Whenever a small critter or insect was mentioned the shy little pony seemed to forget her fears and start a long over complicated explanation on the subject. In truth, she reminded Derpy of Twilight. Sure, "protective bubble" was replaced by "fireflies", and "magic" by "nature", but the words in between we're almost identical. While it was fascinating to learn that fireflies were beetles, and that they used bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates, it wasn't something Derpy was into. Fearing what an honest reaction might do to Fluttershy, the mailmare remained quiet, nodding every now and again. Only when the inevitable question was asked, did she force herself to answer.
"Fireflies are nice, but not as much as stars," she replied honestly. "Sorry."
"Oh," Fluttershy said, far less disappointed than Derpy feared she would be. "Well. Sorry for wasting your time. And thank you for the letter. I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for you. Most mail ponies have problems with my correspondence with Discord."
Talk about an understatement. Other than Derpy, only one other pony had attempted to deliver mail to the Draconequus. One trip, and he too had given up.
"And thank you for all the stamps you bring. Angel is really happy. If you can possibly, maybe, hopefully find the Princess Luna Special, that would really really really mean a lot."
That particular stamp wasn't to be in circulation until winter. Still, Derpy could probably manage to find a specimen, if she asked around at work. It was the very least she could do. Wishing Fluttershy and Angel a pleasant night, she flew off home. Finally she had finished her work. It had been a long and weird experience rivaling Hearts and Hooves Day. At the same time, the ponies had been incredibly kind. Derpy still had a full saddlebag of treats. It would take days to eat them all!
As night fell, Ponyville slowly prepared for sleep. By the time Derpy reached her house, most of the ponies had gone to bed. She, however, had other plans. Entering her room, she took off her saddlebags, cleaned them diligently, placed their contents wherever appropriate - in this case the kitchen table - and went to check her schedule for the next day. Hers was the afternoon shift, which meant she could sleep in late. Perfect!
A quick shower, a glass of milk, and Derpy flew out into the night. Unlike most of her pegasi friends, she preferred night flying. It was far more relaxing, giving her the quiet that the bustle of the day could not. Also, it was during the night that she could enjoy her favourite activity - the one her cutie mark was linked to.
In the distance, a dark wave of thick storm clouds was forming over the Everfree Forest. Derpy smiled. That would do nicely. Speeding up, she headed straight for it. In a way this reminded her of her very first experience. Cloudchaser had dared her to walk on storm clouds, and being the reckless filly, Derpy had accepted. The only problem was that unlike Cloudchaser, Derpy hadn't managed to change her trajectory in time, ending up in the cloud itself. The incident had caused quite some panic, but had also given her her cutie mark.
The clouds were less than a wing flap away. The Pegasus took a deep breath and plunged inside. A sudden but pleasant chill swept through her body as the cloud embraced her. The sensation of gravity vanished. There was no up and down anymore, just her and the cloud. The freedom of motion, the recklessness of water. Whatever anxieties she might have had were all gone, peeled from reality. In this very moment, everything was possible.
Derpy swam up to the top of the cloud. As her body relaxed on the surface she looked up at the sky. The Moon seemed low tonight, almost as if she could touch it.
"Cloudswimming -" she whispered, closing her eyes, "-deserves a quiet night."
Author's Note
My take on the meaning is based on the Fig 2 theory of The Cutie Pox episode (the illustration of a swimming pony in Twilights book).
Hope you enjoy :D
