More Ships Than The Navy

I sighed.

It was a bit strange, really. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I had my favourite dessert in front of me. But I just couldn't relax.

"What's wrong?"

The voice was sweet and bubbly; familiar. Smelling of rose perfume: nothing unusual there. Rose loved to smell like the flower she was named for and sold. I smiled fakely.

"Nothing's wrong at all. Why would anything be wrong?" Horn glowing, my silver spoon levitated in the air, scooping up some ice cream and depositing it in my mouth. "Nuffig'f won, Woz."

Rose frowned. In frustration, she stomped her hoof. "Excuse me? What did you just say?"

I swallowed her mouthful.

"I said, nothing. Is. Wrong. Do you get the idea now, or do I need to spell it out for you?"

The white unicorn scowled, and raised her head. "I don't need -"

"N-O-T-H-I-N..."

"Okay okay, I get the idea! Great Celestia, what is wrong with you? What is the world coming to if a mare can't ask her friend a simple question?"

Huffing, Rose turned around and stomped away. As her footsteps faded into silence, I sighed again.

Only later did I realise she had still thought of me as a friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many hours later, I saw Rose again. I didn't care to say hi, though, or even try to make up with her. I just walked straight past. Rose tensed as I did so.

Many passers-by noticed this change in our attitude.

"What happened between them?"

"I thought they were best friends!"

"Why is Rose acting like this? It's not like her at all."

"Dolphin Dream is acting out of character too."

"Is it about Dr Whooves -?"

I stopped listening after the last whisper. Instead, I ran, crying, onto a side street where no one was. There, I let her tears flow fully.

I had thought that I didn't feel this way about the Doctor anymore. I thought I had gotten over him. But I still loved him as much, and this made the pain worse. Dr Whooves would never even talk to someone as ordinary as me, though. Instead, he had looked towards the rest of my circle of friends, who had excluded me and left me in the cold. I had even been kicked out of my own home.

Hey, hey, Dolphin Dream, they had said. You wouldn't mind if Dr Whooves used your house, do you? Okay, thanks! I hadn't even given my consent. They just...stole it.

Why, why did I have to be so ordinary? Even my cousin Lyra had something really special about her. She had secrets, with supposedly make a pony more enticing. I knew that firsthand, from my limited experiences with the Doctor. But me - my only secret was Dr Whooves. My crush on him, my undying love for him was all I kept hidden.

He never knew. He would never know.

I think it was just my shyness. I can talk easily to my friends because I have known them for years. Dr Whooves just walked into my life and stole my heart. He had many secrets, secrets I longed to find out. Why did he keep his first name a secret? How does he know Derpy? Why won't he speak about his past?

His past. Derpy. Derpy. His past!

Of course! I could have asked Derpy. Unfortunately, I never had the time nor the courage too. She was the basis of Dr Whooves affections. After that was Colgate. Her real name, of course, is Minuette, but she changed it for some reason. Another secret. Pfft.

Colgate and the Doctor had some sort of connection. For one, they both had the same cutie marks. This is actually quite rare - I've done my research - and it always means they are destined to be together. I should have forgotten about Doctor Whooves because of that simple fact. But, as always, my heart didn't listen. And now I am broken like this.

Broken.

Yes, that defines me now. A broken shell of the pony I once was. I blame Angel - he is always leaving his carrots in the blankets Fluttershy kindly prepares for me. I am kind of like a roommate for her now.

Broken.

Broken...