Derpy's Parents Come to Visit
Derpy was taking a peaceful flight through Manehattan. She was delivering a letter from Rarity to a mare named Coco Pommel. The two had exchanged letters in the past, so Derpy was familiar with the flight route. Now, if she could just keep from crashing...
"Heeellllp!"
Derpy clumsily skidded to a halt when somepony cried for help and looked around. That's when she noticed a burning building a few city blocks away. Momentarily forgetting her job, Derpy zoomed towards the smoldering skyscraper. However, as she got closer, she realized she was fixing to ram right into it, forcing her to slow down. As she did, she accidentally tucked her wing and went tumbling down onto the roof of another skyscraper, nearly rolling off the edge. Derpy shook her head and saw the building she was on was right next to the burning one, giving her clear view of what was happening.
The building was a hotel and looked to be close to collapsing; Derpy knew when a building was close to collapsing from experience (It wasn't her fault that her butt was a weapon of mass destruction). Despite this, many ponies were on the scene, watching as firefighters tried to put out the fire. The pegasus firefighters were working on the higher places while the earth pony and unicorn firefighters worked on the ones closer to the ground. Despite their efforts, the fire wasn't going anywhere and the building looked like it would collapse very soon.
"HELP US! PLEASE!"
One of Derpy's eyes focused in the direction of the voice. A few floors above the hotel's middle point, there was a mare who was holding her child. They were stuck in their hotel room by the looks of it. The firefighters tried to get to them, but were stopped when the floor above them collapsed at the window, blocking them off.
Jolting up in a near panic, Derpy slid off her mail-saddle and mailmare hat as she zoomed towards the blocked window. Luckily, there was at least one thing that Derpy was really good at.
CRASH!
Derpy tumbled and, once her eyes stopped spinning, looked back at the opening she had created. She shook her head and looked around the burning room. The heat instantly got her sweating. The smoke hit her nostrils and had her couching. Fighting back tears, one eye scanned the area for the mare and child while the other kept watch on the fire. After a few seconds, she found her targets.
The mare was holding her child close to her and trying to keep calm. She looked over and saw Derpy.
Derpy ran over and held out her hoof. "Come with me. I'll get you both out of here."
The mare took Derpy's hoof and got her child to look at her. "It's going to be okay, dear."
The child was a young unicorn filly. A picture of Dinky flashed through Derpy's mind.
Suddenly, the entire building began to shake. There wasn't any time to lose. Without a second thought, Derpy lifted up the mare in her forelegs while she kept a hold on her child. She took to the air and looked to the opening. "Hold on!" As fast as she dared, she flew out of the building.
The crowd cheered as Derpy landed, dropping off the still shook up mare. "T-Thank you!" She breathed out. "Thank you so much!"
Derpy shook the ash out of her mane and smiled. "Oh, it was nothing."
A certain rumble came from behind Derpy, causing her to lose her smile. She turned to see the first floor completely cave in, causing the hotel to start falling... towards them!
"Oh, no!" Derpy bounded into the sky and put her hoofs against the wall. "No no no no no no!" With all her might, she pushed against the falling building. Gritting her teeth and flapping her wings like mad, the building slowed down it's fall.
Following her example, the pegasus firefighters and a few winged civilians joined in, forcing the building back in place until it was back in it's original position. About five seconds later, the whole thing crumbled to the ground. Unfortunately, Derpy fell with it.
Everypony ducked and took cover as bricks flew all over the place. When they looked back, all that was left was a pile of smoldering bricks. There was a haunting silence for a moment before a gray, wall-eyed pegasus popped out of the wreckage. "I'm okay!"
And just like that, everypony was cheering and crowding around Derpy to thank and praise her.
A reporter and a camerapony made it to the head of the crowd. The reporter approached Derpy as she finished brushing herself off. "Well, I must say, that was an astonishing feat, miss! Not many ponies would have done what you just did!"
Derpy smiled. "The ponies I know would."
"Well, as it stands, you've done something truly remarkable today! What's your name, miss?"
"Derpy Hooves, sir."
The camerapony took a picture.
Fluttershy looked over the morning newspaper as she had breakfast. She had made herself and Angel Bunny salads as usual. Said bunny was sitting on the kitchen table across from the yellow pegasus.
"Oh, Angel! Have you read about Derpy?"
Angel shook his head and continued eating.
"It says that yesterday, Derpy saved a mare and her child from a burning building! And then, she stopped the building from falling on a bunch of ponies by pushing it back in place!" Fluttershy smiled sadly. "I wish I could be that brave."
Angel stopped eating and raised an eyebrow at Fluttershy.
"Oh, I know that I've helped save all of Equestria multiple times, but that's only because I had my friends there to help me. I could never do anything like that on my own."
Angel gave her a dry stare before hopping to her side of the table. He grabbed the newspaper, rolled it up, and swatted Fluttershy upside the head with it.
Fluttershy sighed. "You're right, Angel. I shouldn't doubt myself so much. It's just hard for me not to."
Angel sighed and patted Fluttershy's hoof.
Fluttershy smiled and nuzzled her favorite little jerk.
There was a knock on her door.
Fluttershy jumped a bit in surprise, causing Angel to roll his eyes and point at the door. "Oh, coming." Fluttershy walked to her door and opened it up to find a wall-eyed pegasus with a envelope in her mouth. "Oh, good morning, Derpy." Fluttershy greeted before taking the letter.
"Good morning, Fluttershy." Derpy greeted back. "Sorry about the late delivery. I didn't even know that letter was in my bag."
"Oh, it's perfectly fine, Derpy." Fluttershy had set the envelope to the side. "I heard about what you did yesterday. That was very heroic of you."
Derpy smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "Ah, shucks. Everypony I've seen today has talked to me about that. It really isn't a big deal. I mean, anypony in Ponyville would have the done the same thing... except Spoiled Rich, but you know what I mean."
"I'm sure of it, but it's still a big deal, Derpy. You're a hero."
Derpy blushed. "Thanks, but you and your friends have done a lot more than that, you know."
Fluttershy was about to say something to undermine herself, but refrained when she felt Angel's eyes burning into the back of her head. So instead, she simply nodded. "Thank you."
With a nod, Derpy took to the air and left.
Fluttershy returned to her kitchen and opened the envelope.
As soon as she did, a certain draconequus popped his head out of it and smile at her. "Hello, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy returned the smile. "Hello, Discord."
Derpy stepped through the door of her house and was greeted by a pair of unicorns.
"Mom!" A tiny filly with a color scheme that flawlessly matched Derpy's jumped into her forelegs and hugged her.
"Hey, Dinky!" Derpy nuzzled her little girl.
Dinky looked up at her mother. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I know I said I was off today, but I found a letter for Fluttershy in my bag and thought I could get it to her before you noticed I was gone-"
"No, not that! Why didn't you tell me that you saved a bunch of ponies yesterday?!"
"Oh, yeah. I just... didn't think it was a big deal."
"Oh, come on, mom." A young pink mare with a mostly purple mane joined in on the hug. "The entire town is talking about it."
"Yeah, I know." Derpy giggled. "But I know either of you would have done the same thing."
"How?" Dinky raised an eyebrow. "How would I have done it?"
Derpy set her on the ground and kissed her forehead. "You would have found a way."
Dinky smiled shyly.
Sparkler nuzzled her mother before levitating a envelope to her. "This came while you were gone. I don't know who it's from."
Derpy opened the envelope to find a letter, which she set on a table and preceded to read. As she read, her crossed eyes widened and her body froze in place.
Concerned, Sparkler poked Derpy's side. "Umm, is everything okay."
Derpy lifted her gaze from the letter to half-stare into space. "Our... Our parents are coming to visit!"
Sparkler's eyes widened and she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I thought you said that our parent's are coming to visit..."
Derpy turned to face Sparkler with a sympathetic look. "I did."
Sparkler narrowed her eyes and looked to the ground.
Dinky looked back and forth between the two before settling on Derpy. "Uhhh... Did you say our parents?"
A guilty looked came on Derpy's face. "...Dinky, take a seat on the couch. I need to tell you something."
Dinky obeyed and jumped onto the couch, sitting down while Derpy sat on the floor in front of her.
Sparkler took a seat next to Dinky, looking very angry.
Derpy took a long deep breath. "I... I've been keeping things from you, Dinky. I've told you... I've been lying to you your entire life." Tears came into her uneven eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I..."
Dinky reached out on put her hoof under her mom's chin, lifting her head up to look her in the eye. She gave her a smile. "It's okay, mom. I know you would never lie to me unless you had a good reason."
Derpy smiled back and took her little muffin's hoof in her own. She took another deep breath. "The truth is... I'm not..."
"Your not actually Sparkler's mom." Dinky finished.
Derpy looked at Dinky with surprise.
"I keep track of your birthdays. You had to of been younger than me when Sparkler was born."
"...Oh, right." Derpy rubbed the back of her head. "Sometimes I forget how super smart you are. But the thing is... I'm not your mom either."
Dinky's eyes widened. "What?!"
Derpy flinched. "Don't worry, we're still related! It's just that... I'm actually your sister."
Dinky stared blankly at her mom, er, sister for a good long moment. "But... But if you're our sister, why did you and Sparkler tell me that your our mom?"
"Because she IS!" Sparkler answered assertively. "She was the only one who took care of us! Even when I was a baby, she was the one who took care of me! And she was your age!"
Dinky was confused. "But what about your, er, our parents?"
Sparkler opened her mouth to answer.
"Ahem." Derpy got Sparkler's attention. "Maybe I should tell her?"
Sparkler frowned and crossed her forelegs.
Derpy sighed. "Well, mom and dad were always really busy. They didn't have a lot of time for me, so I took care of myself...
An infant Derpy filled a baby bottle with water before delicately dropping a few teaspoons of formula powder into it. She then, with some difficultly, got the nipple on it and started shaking it. As she shook it, it flew out of her hooves, causing her fall over and hit her head. She cried for a few minutes but, same as always, no one came. She wiped away her tears and went searching for her bottle.
"I made my own bottles. Found my own food. Changed my own diapers. Ran my own bathes."
"But then, what were mom and dad doing?" Dinky asked.
"I am telling you, darling." A stallion's voice rang through the air. "Broad Shoulders does not stand a chance against Silver Back. The statistics do not lie."
"Nonsense, darling." Came a mare's voice. "Broad Shoulders is the number one quarterback in Equestria."
Meanwhile, Derpy played with a ball dangerously close to a staircase.
"They were very busy ponies."
"Busy remorselessly engaging in hedonism." Sparkler corrected.
A little filly Derpy rocked a baby Sparkler to sleep while their parents had a party downstairs.
Eventually, somepony brought in a pair of speakers and started blasting out music. The pony had his child with him, a little white unicorn filly with funny hair that was rocking out to her dad's music. Unfortunately, nopony mentioned that there was another filly upstairs. Too bad, Vinyl would have liked to of hung out with a pony her age.
The loud music caused Sparkler to wake up and start crying. Derpy sighed.
"They were always doing nothing but enjoying themselves and climbing the social ladder. The whole time, Derpy had to take care of herself and me all on her own. She even had to get a job when she was your age to make sure we had what we needed because our parents wouldn't do it. Oh, by the way, did you ever wonder why mom's eyes are the way they are?"
"I just thought she was born with them." Dinky answered.
"Go on. Tell her, mom."
Derpy sighed. "Okay. I guess this was long coming too."
A preteen Derpy and a filly Sparkler were playing hide and seek in the Everfree Forest. Derpy had instructed Sparkler to stay near the edge to be safe.
Derpy sneaked around the creepy trees and tall grass, trying to make as little noise as possible as she looked for her little sister. She froze in place when she spotted a patch of purple behind a wall of grass. Derpy smirked and crouched down as she slowly approached. Once she was in position, she pounced... and grabbed a purple flower that she had mistaken for Sparkler. But that wasn't the bad part. The bad part was that Derpy was currently hovering above a sheer drop.
Derpy yelled and started flapping her wings rapidly, but they weren't strong enough to keep her in the air. Her eyes widened as they approached the rocky ground.
"I don't know what happened after that. The next thing I remember is being in the hospital with bandages over my eyes."
Sparkler gave an upset sigh. "I found her in a ditch and got our friends to help me take her to the hospital. They had to do surgery on her eyes. That's why they're the way they are."
"...Did... Did mom and dad..." Dinky started to ask.
Sparkler narrowed her eyes.
Sparkler nuzzled her big sister. She was about to get her bandages taken off and mom and dad hadn't showed up even once.
"No, they didn't."
"...Well, what about when I was born?"
This time, Sparkler and Derpy BOTH narrowed their eyes.
Derpy held her sleeping newborn sister while Sparkler sat next to her, fuming as she watched their parents argue.
"We cannot afford to have three kids under our roof, darling." The stallion told his wife.
"I am well aware of that, darling." The mare retorted. "I simply wasn't expecting this one to survive."
"Well, if you had not forgotten to take the pill... Oh, well. It does not matter now. We need to figure out how to get these kids out of our lives. They are costing us way too much money."
Sparkler blew stem out her nose and got up. She ran right up to her parents and yelled at them.
"I told them exactly what I thought of them. I told them that Derpy was my real mom! I told them that they were the most horrible living things in Equestria! And I told them that Derpy and I could take of you by ourselves."
"And how did they react?" Dinky asked.
Sparkler sighed. "Well, that last part gave them an idea."
Derpy and Sparkler watched as their parents drove off. They had left them in a little town called Ponyville. Derpy handed Dinky to Sparkler and set out to look for another job.
Dinky narrowed her eyes. "Wow. Our parents are complete-"
"Language, muffin." Derpy cut her off.
"I was gonna say jerks."
"Oh, that's okay then."
Sparkler nodded. "And those 'jerks' are coming here! We can't let that happen."
Derpy put her hooves on Sparkler's shoulders. "Calm down, Sparkler. It's just a visit. Maybe they want to apologize."
"Them? Apologize? Not a chance!"
Derpy sighed. "According to the letter, they should be here in a few hours. Why don't you and Dinky go see if Doctor Whooves needs any help with his gizmos and stuff."
Sparkler shook her head. "You're not really gonna talk to them, are you?!"
"They're our parents-"
"NO!" Now Sparkler put her hooves on Derpy's shoulders. "You're our parent, mom! They may be the reason we're here, but that doesn't make them our parents! You took care of me and Dinky! You are our mom! Hay, you're your own mom!"
Derpy looked into Sparkler's eyes, unable to argue with her.
"She's right, mom." Dinky stated with certainty.
Derpy turned to her precious little girl, who, if their parents had had their way, wouldn't even have existed. She thought for a good long moment before turning to Sparkler. "I need to talk to them."
Sparkler opened her mouth to argue.
"I'm not going to let them into our lives." Derpy stated firmly. "It will just be me and them, and once we've talked, they'll be gone. I promise. But I need to talk to them."
Sparkler looked into Derpy's eye and sighed before nuzzling her mom.
Dinky joined in.
Derpy smiled and hugged her muffins, holding them close for a good long while.
There was a knock on Derpy's door.
Derpy took a deep breath and walked over to the door, only for it slam open and flattened her against the wall.
"Oh, Derpy! We have arrived!" A unicorn stallion named Self Serve walked in. He had grey fur and a yellow mane that matched Derpy's, although his mane was slicked back. He wore a dark blue suit that covered all but his hooves and everything above his collar. "Where is that little scamp?"
"Perhaps you should have waited for her to answer, darling." A pegasus mare named Self Love came in behind her husband. Her fur and mane perfectly matched Sparkler's, although her mane was fixed up like she was going to a ball later. She wore a light blue vest that was complimented by a purple scarf around her neck. Her cutie mark was a heart with a little version of herself in it.
Derpy pried herself off the wall and shook her head.
"Ah, there she is!" Self Love suddenly grabbed Derpy's face and brought her up to her own. "The lady of the hour."
As soon as she let go, Derpy took a step back. "Uhhh, yeah. I'm, eh, glad to see you both again."
"It is a true pleasure." Self Serve looked around. "Where are those other two?"
"They-"
"Oh, wait! I know! You sent them off and started taking care of yourself!" Self Serve stated as if it was obvious. "Ha ha! That's my girl!"
Derpy's eyes widened... then the iris shrunk... then they narrowed... then they started to focus. "No, I didn't!" She said through gritted teeth. "If you must know, Sparkler and Dinky are spending time together! Something you never did with them." She added that last part under her breath.
"That is their names?" Self Serve asked.
"Well, I suppose it matches this dump of a place." Self Love looked over Derpy's house like it was a pigpen.
Derpy's eyes focused right on the ponies she once called her parents. "Will you both please just tell me why you're here?" She tried her best to keep her voice steady.
"Well, we were simply giddy when we saw you on the newspaper." Self Love smiled. "Saving the lives of several ponies..."
"Uh-huh..."
"When we heard, we just knew we had to find you!"
Derpy's face softened slightly. Were they here to congratulate her? Did they come all the way to Ponyville on a day's notice just to say that they were proud of her?
"Right you are, darling." Self Serve nodded. "After all, how many ponies at the club can say that they are the father of a famous hero?
Derpy's face re-hardened.
"Why, they will be absolutely envious! I knew it was a good idea to have a child."
"But darling, you said that we should have given her up for adoption. The only reason we kept her was because you did not want to deal with all the paperwork."
Self Serve rolled his eyes. "Neither did you, darling."
Derpy's eyes glowed red in pure rage. "That's why you wanted to see me?! So you could be higher in the social ladder?!"
Self Serve and Self Love finally realized that Derpy was peeved. They suddenly became very scared.
"You are going to leave. Right. Now." Derpy's voice was disturbingly low and shaky. "And you will never come back."
Self Love hid behind her husband, who started to sweat nervously. "N-Now, Derpy, i-is that any way to treat your parents?" He tried to reason.
"YOU'RE NOT ANYONE'S PARENTS!"
The entire world shook as the sound of a no-holds-barred beatdown came from inside Derpy's house. There was a chorus of screams, wails, grunts, and pleas while the sound of crashing and crunching rang through the air. Once it ended, two ponies were bucked into the carriage they had arrived in. The driver, sensing danger, rode off, taking a bruised and battered Self Serve and Self Love with him.
Derpy rushed outside and watched as the carriage left town, huffing and puffing each breath she took. Once her breathing was under control, she noticed a certain yellow pegasus standing to her right.
Fluttershy stared at Derpy for a second before clearing her throat. "Um, Sparkler told me what was going on. So, I thought I would come by and see if you needed any help, but... Well, I guess you, um, took care of it."
Derpy sighed, her eyes going back to 'normal', and fell on her flanks. "I'm sorry. I was just... I was so angry."
Fluttershy sat next to Derpy and put a wing around her. "I know what it's like to have a family member whose nothing but trouble."
Derpy gave Fluttershy a surprised look. "You do?"
"Yeah. My brother, Zephyr. But he was never as bad as those two."
Derpy looked down. "Why did they have to be our parents?"
"They're not." Fluttershy said simply. "I heard you, um, say it very loudly. And Sparkler told me about how you raised her and Dinky by yourself." She gave her wall-eyed friend a smile. "It looks like you were already a hero long before yesterday."
Derpy smiled and blushed. "Aw, shucks. Any of my friends would have done the same."
Fluttershy shook her head. "I don't think so."
Derpy gave a little laugh. "Thanks, Fluttershy. I needed to hear that."
Fluttershy nuzzled her friend before helping her up. "I think you should go see your kids now. They're in the park."
Derpy nodded. "Right. Thanks." With that, she left to see her little muffins.
"Sparkler, look! It's mom!" Dinky pointed to the wall-eyed pegasus running towards them. She ran to meet her half-way.
Derpy smiled and caught the little filly in her forelegs, giving her big hug.
Sparkler ran up and joined in.
Dinky looked up at her mom. "Hey, Derpy?"
Derpy looked down at her little muffin, wondering why she called her by name. "Yes?"
Dinky gave her a big smile. "You're the best mom ever and the best sister ever!"
Sparkler nodded. "No doubt about that."
Derpy's eye filled with tears with joy as she held her kids close. Because she was their mom and they were her kids.
