A Clean Slate

I woke up feeling extremely refreshed and ready to take on whatever Brick could throw at me. I went downstairs and said good morning to Rarity and Sweetie Belle, had some breakfast and proceeded to get ready. I went to leave, but was stopped by Sweetie Belle.

"Can you walk me to school again? Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasespleaseplease?" She asked.

"Whoa whoa, Okay Sweetie Belle. Are we going to pick up Scootaloo and Apple Bloom again?" I asked.

"Yeah, Apple Bloom should be here any minute and then we just need to go get Scootaloo." She replied.

We made our way outside and saw Apple Bloom trotting up the road. She said 'howdy' to us and we went to Scootaloo's. We got there and Scoot was waiting on her steps for us. She lit up when she saw us approach.

"He guys!" Scootaloo started, "Where were you? I've been waiting forever for you."

We started to talk for a few minutes before leaving, mostly about cutie mark ideas. Every time it was my turn to speak everyone would look me in the eyes, making sure to pay attention. Except Scootaloo. She had a slight frown on her face and a hard look in her eyes, like she was in pain. I glanced around her body and noticed her left rear leg had some bruising on it as well as some scrapes. There was also a small cut on her neck.

"Hey, Scootaloo? You look pretty beat up, are ya alraht?" Bloom asked.

"You mean the bruise and cut? Yeah... that was me tryin' new tricks on my scooter." Scoot replied.

"Oh, well you should try to be a little bit more careful. Maybe try smaller tricks and work your way up." Sweetie Belle cut in.

I just took notice to her wincing as she walked. The anger that was burning in my chest and stomach. I wanted so bad to walk back to Scootaloo's house and break that fucking son of bitch's neck, rip his head off and shit down his throat! Now child abuse and animal abuse piss me off to no end, and to basically combine them?! Celestia's Sun's heat couldn't compare to how hot my face was, but I knew I had to find proof first so I breathed deeply and calmed down as we continued walking. We arrived at the school and the girls ran off after hugging me and saying goodbye. Ms. Cheerilee waved to me, I smiled and waved back as I turned to leave. Hopefully Brick would have something huge for me to take my mind off of Scootaloo's uncle and his sick mind.

I arrived at Brick's shop and greeted him. We got to talking about how we go about doing the paperwork and cataloging invoices. This was nothing new to me, but it couldn't hurt to get a refresher. The day started off slow, we got a couple of repairs, things like repairing carts and fixing door frames as well as window frames. It was about one in the afternoon when a blue mare with a white and blue mane and tail came into the shop.

"Hello, my name is Colgate. I was wondering if I could get a quote for a wall replacement. We had an accident earlier, somepony crashed into our wall at my dentist office and knocked it in." Colgate said.

"Well, sure, we just need the measurements and we'll talk numbers." Brick replied.

"Okay, well, the wall is 32 feet across the bottom and 18 feet tall. The wall was concrete on the outside and we had wooden beams for support and just sheet rock spread across it. What do you think that'll cost us?" Colgate asked.

"Alright, with the eight beams that are four by four each, the amount of concrete and sheet rock... hmm. We're looking at about 5,000 bits, and that's with a contractor price because you spent more than 2,500 bits so we give 20% off. How does that sound?" Brick said.

"That's a good price for me, but I wont be the one paying. The mare that damaged my wall will be, unless she wants to bring this to court." Colgate answered.

We followed Colgate to her shop. We went around the back and saw it had tarp and tape blocking it. There was a crowd of ponies looking at the damage and murmuring about some mare. We went on to see a grey mare with a blond mane and tail crying on the ground next to the wall. A couple ponies were insulting her and reprimanding her for being stupid. I just reacted and pushed my way through the crowd. I emerged to clearly see the sobbing mare covered in debris. It honestly brought a tear to my eye to see how hurtful people or in this case, ponies, could be.

"WHOA WHOA WHOA!!!!!!!!! What's wrong with you ponies?! Stop this!! I know some of you are angry, but you don't honestly think she did this on purpose do you? Do you think this mare was just flying around town and thought 'Hmm y'know what? I think I'll go and knock down Colgate's wall of her office? No. I'm sure she just crashed by accident." I yelled.

"Yeah, but this kind of thing always happens with this featherbrain around!" Shouted a nameless pony. There were dozens of agreements.

"So what! That doesn't make her stupid and that also doesn't make her deserve the harsh insults you've been throwing at her." I was becoming more livid with each word I spat.

"She's just retarded. This town would be better off without her!!" Another pony yelled.

Retarded. The word rung in my ears. Retarded. Retarded. re-tar-ded... That's when I lost it. Having grown up with mentally handicapped kids throughout school, I learned to live with and help them. They were the happiest people in the world. Their minds couldn't be tarnished by the sickness the world had to offer because they couldn't know any better.

"WHO THE FUCK SAID THAT?!?!?!?!?!? sTEP UP HERE RIGHT NOW AND REPEAT THOSE WORDS TO MY FACE!!!! I WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!!!" I couldn't yell loud enough.

Then a relatively large light tan stallion walked through the crowd. He had a shit eating grin on his face. He was about the size of Big Mac, but a little less muscular and a little fatter.

"I said it. What the buck are you gonna do about it?" He said, his grin unwavering.

"Take a step closer and find out." I replied.

He laughed and lowered his head and snarled. Then he took of towards me.

"Fucking dumbass." Was what went through my head.

He was about to reach me when I dropped to one knee and threw my shoulder into his jaw. This made him stumble to the side. He shook it off and tried again. This time her got the jump on me and landed a good stomp on my back. Now, fueled by rage and adrenaline, I began my assault. I walked forward and he tried to tackle me. I caught him and held him by his throat and I was slowly tightening my grip. He swung and landed a right hoof on my jaw. It didn't go unnoticed as I proceeded to grab his head with both hands and introduce his face to my knee, more than once. When I dropped he hit the ground with a thud. I turned to face the horrified crowd.

"Now," I began in a very calm tone, "does anypony else think she's retarded?"

The crowd immediately dispersed and went on with their day as if nothing happened. I turned to see Brick, who was stifling a laugh and Colgate, whose mouth was agape with an emotion I couldn't read. The grey mare was behind them staring up at me, teary eyed. What she did next surprised me, She full on fly hug tackled me, shouting 'thank you' over and over. I managed to sit up and get her calm down and explain what happened. That's when I saw here eyes, those beautiful amber, crossed eyes. They were full of love and friendliness.

"Well, ya see the thing is *sniff* I can't fly too good on account of my crossed eyes. And because my vision an depth perception are a little off I sometimes crash. I don't do it on purpose ], I just don't turn wide enough and end up hitting something or somepony." She said.

"Well that's certainly no reason for those ponies to act like that. So you can't see as well as others, who cares? All that matters is that you're happy. By the way, what's your name?" I said.

"Oh, umm my name, is Derpy Hooves... I know it's a stupid name and I hate my mother for it. She named me that when she saw my eyes..." Derpy said as she was on the verge of tears again.

"I don't think it's stupid at all, I mean it's just a name right? My dad wanted to name me off of a character from a movie. He wanted to name me Dalton from the movie 'Roadhouse', but he settled on Michael.

Then Brick and Colgate walked up to us.

"As much as I hate to break this moment up, there is still the matter of payment for my wall." Colgate piped up.

"Oh right. How much is it? I hope I have enough this time..." Derpy said as she hung her head.

"Five thousand bits, paid in full or I'll take you to court." Colgate said.

Colgate was turning out to be a bit of a bitch. If dentists here get paid anything like dentists on Earth then she had no reason to act like this.

"Ohhhh maaann. I don't have that much... I'm only a mailmare." Derpy sighed as she started to cry again.

"Well, I guess that's too bad. I'll see you in court." Colgate said as she turned to leave.

"Whoa. Now wait just a minute here. I'm sure you make a substantial amount of bits here and you can work out some kind of payment plan with Derpy." I said as I stood up.

"I'm afraid not, I want it paid immediately." Colgate said as she turned her nose up.

"Okay, you don't have to be such a bitch to her. She delivers mail. It's not like she rakes in money, she can't just pull 5,000 bits out of nowhere. Y'know what? I'll pay it. Brick? I want you to take my payment as a down payment for the bill and whatever work I do until it's paid." I said.

"Uh, you sure about that son? That's a lot of bits to just give up." Brick huffed.

"Yeah I'm sure, besides, she needs it more than me. I don't have nay bills right now so I don't really need money at the moment." I said confidently.

"Okay, if you say so. So that's gonna be 1,500 bits to start and then however many hours it takes us to do this thing." Brick said.

Derpy then made her way home after thanking me one last time and Colgate left in a fit of anger at my insult. Brick and I then got to work. We were working for about 10 hours before we decided to call it a day. Brick told me that with the 200 bits from the work just now as well as the work and bonuses from the three other jobs the remainder of the bill was only 1,700 bits. What he did next will put him in my debt for a while. He paid the remainder of the bill and told me that such a selfless act for a pony I didn't even know had inspired him to be generous. I thanked him for doing this and we wen to tell Colgate that all we needed to do was spread the sheet rock and we would do that in the morning. She hastily thanked us probably not wanting to talk to me again and I was completely fine with that.

We got back the shop and I told Brick good night and thanked him again. He told to not worry about it and take the day off tomorrow for the hard work I did that day. I smiled and made my way back to Rarity's. I arrived and was immediately hushed by Rarity. She motioned to the couch where I turned to see the adorable ball that was Sweetie Belle sleeping peacefully.

"She fell asleep waiting for you. She wanted to tell you about her day at school and how a the other foals wanted to know more about you." Rarity whispered.

I smiled at the filly before turning back to Rarity.

"I've never seen a child become so interested in anything so quickly before." I whispered back to Rarity.

"I think she sees you as a big brother she never had, and I know what you mean. You've been here about a week and she's so attached to you." Rarity said.

"Well I've always been good with kids so I guess equine kids count too." I said as I rubbed my chin.

We talked a little while longer before my tiredness won the battle and I said goodnight to Rarity. With the day off tomorrow I was going to spend it trying to find Derpy and talking more with her. She seems really nice and looks like she needs a friend. The thought was obliterated when my head hit the pillow, I was done.

I woke up to somepony singing. I walked through the house, following the voice. It lead me to Sweetie Belle's room. I peaked in and saw her looking in her mirror an using a brush for a mic. I stepped in and she immediately noticed me. She scrambled to hide the brush and not look embarrassed.

"Aww, Mike! Why did you sneak up on my like that?" Sweetie said with a frown and blush.

"I just woke up to the most beautiful singing voice and wanted to know whose it was. So I followed it and found you. You have a real gift Sweetie. Very rarely would you find a person with that kind of talent at this age in my world. I mean a seven year old that can sing that well?" I said with a generous smile.

"Hey! I'm eight! And do you really think I can sing that well?" She said, blushing again.

"Of course. Anypony would be happy to have that voice." I said.

"Thanks. Hey it's time for me to go to school, wanna walk us?"

I agreed and we went downstairs to say goodbye to Rarity. We met with Apple Bloom outside and went to pick up Scootaloo. We met Scootaloo and headed to the school. Upon inspecting her body I saw no new wounds and to my relief she seemed a little bit more open with me than usual. Maybe she had momentarily forgot what I told a couple days ago. I didn't continue the thought as we continued walking. We made it to the school and the girls ran off waving back at me. Now it was tine to find Derpy.

I arrived in the town square and started asking ponies if they had seen her. Some were shaking when I asked, probably from what they saw yesterday, but I paid no mind to it. That stallion got what he deserved. Others just told me no they hadn't seen her or she passed a little while ago. I decided to take a break from my search and took a seat on a bench in the park. I was absorbing the Sun's rays when I heard it. Muffled cries and sobbing coming from behind me. I got up and turned to see a tree, but at the bottom I saw a blond tail sticking out and I decided to investigate. I went around the tree and there I saw her. Derpy, just lying there with her face in her hooves, softly crying. Without wanting to startle her I whispered out to her.

"Um, Derpy?" I said as I knelt down.

"Just go away and leave me alone!." She said, without looking up.

"Derpy, it's me, Mike, from yesterday at Colgate's office." I said as I put my hand on her back and began to rub it. "Is there something yo want to talk about?"

"Huh, Mike?" Derpy said as she turned to face me. "Hey Mike! I didn't recognize your voice."

"Yep it's me. I heard you crying. Is there a problem?" I asked.

"No, I'm just a little upset about yesterday is all. I'll be fine." She said with a weak smile.

"Okay, if you're sure. Hey wanna get something to eat and talk for a while?" I asked.

"Um, I can't. Not now, I have to get home. I have some errands to run." She said quickly.

"Well, can I walk you home, we can talk a while." I said.

"Okay... sure..." She said hesitantly.

We started walking to her house and began talking. We talked about where she was from and where I was from. Where she grew up and how she ended up being the Ponyville mailmare. I told her about my childhood in Florida and how I got into construction. We exchanged stories for a few minutes longer before we arrived at what I guessed to be her house. It was a little worn down and sort of grimy. I hope the interior looked better for her sake. I decided to ask her if she wanted to go out tomorrow to find out more about her and show her what a friend is.

"Hey, are you busy tomorrow, Derpy?" I asked.

"No, but I have to work until three tomorrow. Why do you ask?" She asked with a raised brow.

"I want to take you out tomorrow and get to know you better." I said.

The expression on her face went from happy to surprised to sad and back to surprised.

"Why would you wanna go out with me? No one has ever asked me out on a date before." She said with a blush.

"Well you very friendly and nice. I can't imagine why no one has asked out such a pretty mare before." I said as I pondered some reasons.

"The eyes... It's my eyes, they think I dumb and can be taken out because I'd be an embarrassment. No one has ever even been in bed with me. I bet they think I freak out and break them or bite them of something if we get intimate." She said while holding back tears.

"Nonsense. I can't believe why anypony would think that. So if you're up to it, wanna see a movie and get some dinner?" I asked.

"Oh, umm... sure, I would like that." She smiled as she tried to hide her blush.

"Then it's a date!" I confirmed. This only seemed to increase the blush on Derpy's face.

She said goodbye before she ran inside and slammed the door. I laughed a little at her behavior and turned to go back to Rarity's. I wanted to relax and think a bout what to do with Derpy tomorrow. I arrived to see the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' playing in the foyer of the shop. They ran up to me and started telling me about their day. Scootaloo still seemed to be relaxed as she was getting more talkative. They started talking about their next idea and started making plans.

"Hey, Apple Bloom come help me get some stuff outta my room." Sweetie said as she headed up the stairs. Bloom not far behind.

It was just me and Scootaloo in the room, I decided to ask about her home life.

"Hey, Scoot. How ya been?" I asked. "Is everything fine at home?"

"...Yeah, I'm fine..." Scootaloo replied.

"Your Uncle Left Lane hasn't been hitting you has he?" I inquired.

"No... well only when I misbehave." She said as she looked away.

Damn this stallion. He's turned her into a lying machine for him. How sick is this guy?

"Scootaloo. I want you to look at me seriously for a minute and listen." I said as I knelt to her eye level as best I could.

I had her undivided attention because of my tone of voice.

"I want you to know this. If he hits you too much or touches you, run and try to find a grown up. I'm being serious here. I can't prove he's doing anything, but from your injuries I can tell you didn't do that yourself. So please pay attention, if you want to get away you just need to tell someone if it gets to be too much for you okay?" I explained while holding her still.

My answer was a weak tremble and a slight nod. I pulled her into a hug, to which she returned strongly. Then Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle came back downstairs. Scoot and I released each other and walked up to them to se what they got.
Apparently they wanted to be kite flyers, but they would be literally flying with the kite. We went outside and spent the next hour or so trying to get them to stay aloft, but the wind was too weak and we finally gave up and headed inside. It was starting to get late and Apple Bloom had to leave to finish chores at the farm and Scootaloo had a curfew. The told us goodbye and they went on their way home.

Rarity arrived a short while later. She told us she spent the day with Flutterhsy at the spa and that she would have dinner ready in a few minutes. I offered to cook and to my surprise she let me. I made a simple pasta and garlic tomato sauce dish with a nice salad bowl and some baked biscuits. The meal was delicious as it was one of the few I could make really well. We all at out fill and made our way to the living room to watch whatever was on television. We soon found it hard to concentrate on the program and headed to bed I tole Rarity and Sweetie Belle goodnight and went into my room to rest up for the upcoming date with Derpy.

A/N: Alright, we're getting closer to two story arcs here and I'm sure you can guess who they involve. Also, after the next chapter I will do a time jump. Nothing drastic, just about a week or so, maybe two. Don' worry I will give you a detailed description with what happened in that time. I'm doing this to push towards the first my first arc. I also want to thank you all who have liked, watched, and favorited my story. I didn't think it would be this popular this quick. I know it's nothing compared to other storied here, but the kind things you guys say really make me want to keep writing. And thanks for the comments saying what needs to be fixed. Goodnight.