The darkened sky briefly lights up from a flash of lightning in the distance. Cloudsdale is in peril, almost completely overwhelmed by monsters that had been unleashed from Discord's influence. All the chaos and disharmony made most of the usually white clouds turn into furious thunderclouds, and even this high up, rain fell on top of other clouds along with the occasional lightning. In this condition, there's almost no pony sane enough to stay, most had ran far away. Almost.

One of the ponies who's still there is a grey pegasus called Derpy Hooves, wielding a spear on her back and a saddlebag, running as fast as her hooves can carry her through a large abandoned builing. The torrent of rain coming from where the roof should've been made it impossible for her to use her wings, added with her condition. She's on the verge of exhaustion, having just fought an Ursa Minor to get something very important to ponykind. Her ragged breath is even harder to let out because of the water falling on her.

The other pony with her is a green male batpony with cyan mane. Compared to Derpy, he's much more armed, sporting an iron vest and a sword more then half of his body long. However, he seems to be more injured then the pegasus, but he keeps soldiering, even though he's running with a limp on one of his forehoof. Several bruises and cuts are also visible across his body. Still, he's running faster then Derpy, slowly able to pull away from the pegasus, even though he didn't mean to do it. Realizing this, he skids to a halt, then approaches Derpy.

"Come on... Derpy." He said between his breath. "We need to move quicker, the monsters... are closing in."

The pegasus also stopped to see her companion, panting heavily. It looks like her hooves can buckle anytime. "Ah, sorry, that battle really took it out on me..."

As they were talking, a stomach growl came out from Derpy, making her blush a bit and giggle nervously. "If only I had brought something to eat..."

The batpony looks around himself. Apparently, he didn't bring any food either, the mare is supposed to be the one that brings their supplies while he clears the monsters in their way. However, when the Ursa Minor appeared, Derpy had to help him by using thunderclouds to attack. Flying back and forth like that in high speed while getting electrocuted several times by the lightning she created by accident would be taxing. He figures that the last time Derpy had eaten anything must've been longer then his last meal.

"We need to keep moving." He said as he walks to Derpy's side, planning to carry her. However, to his surprise, Derpy holds him at bay with a hoof, shaking her head.

"If you carry me, I'm just going to slow you down..." The pegasus reaches for her saddlebags, and pulls out a golden necklace with a red diamond shaped like a lightning bolt, the Element of Loyalty. She gives it to the batpony with a light throw, thankfully he caught it despite his surprise. "You need to get that shiny necklace to the princess! You go on ahead, I'll catch up!"

The element is the very reason both ponies risk their life and limb going to Cloudsdale. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are hoping to gather all the elements that somehow had been scattered around Equestria to stop Discord, and restore Equestria's peace from all these monsters. If the element should be lost, Equestria falls along with it. The batpony looked at the shiny red gem, then back to Derpy. Should he really leave her behind to deliver this to the princess? It's a very important item that can save Equestria, but the pegasus might not survive on her own out here.

"Derpy..." The batpony looks up, and as the lightning flashes, the silhouette of the monsters flying in the distance can be seen approaching. They had been there, they know what they're capable of, and in this condition, they can't take on that many. Not even he, who takes on the Ursa Minor most of the time and win, thinks he would be able to survive that many monsters. If they don't get going soon, the horde might be able to catch up with them.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself!" Derpy smiles, her exhaustion seemingly vanished for that brief moment. Another flash of lightning in the background accompanies that sentence in a dramatic fashion. Her companion grits his teeth, knowing that every second will determine Equestria's fate. It's either the element returning to the princess, or both of them are going to die here and doom Equestria. Mustering all his strength, the batpony walks back, away from Derpy, slowly walking faster.

"I'm sorry, Derpy..." He grabbed the necklace tight with his limp hoof on his chest, and turns around, not looking back. "I'm so sorry..."

"Good luck!" The pegasus called out to him before her companion started to run as fast as he can to leave Cloudsdale. Soon, he's out of sight once he goes down a brick slope, leaving the mare alone... Not exactly alone with the monsters right behind her, though.

Derpy turns around and looks at the approaching monster, grabbing her spear. If she can fight them, she'll buy more time for her partner. She's in no condition to outrun or hide from the multiple monsters coming for her. No matter how little, even if she can make the monster stop for half a second... she did her part to buy time. Her stomach growls again, as if warning her about her hunger and exhaustion, but she doesn't care, this is the only thing she can do to help save Equestria now.

The first monster that comes in sight are harpies, two of them. With their claws out, the swoop in for the mare. Derpy managed to use her spear to stop the sharp claws from hitting her body, but it still managed to graze her coat. Pinned down, the pegasus desperately tries to push the pair of monsters off her, before remembering that in the rain, harpies would need to gain considerable momentum to get airborne, thus greatly limiting their maneuverability once they're on the ground. With a burst of strength, Derpy flips herself to the side, bringing both of the harpies down. Grabbing her spear as quickly as she can, Derpy grabs her spear in a firm grip, and thrusts it into one of the harpy's chest while throwing herself on it, drawing blood and killing it.

Before she can get up, the other harpy jumps on Derpy's back and drives it's claws, making the mare scream. The monster managed to get some scratch marks before Derpy managed to turn around, hitting it with her spear's rear. Once again laying on the ground, Derpy watches as the harpy, recovering from her strike, jumps on her, talons out...

STAB!

"Aglk..."

Derpy coughed out blood, the claw penetrated her coat, barely missing the base of her neck, the wound is quick to spill her life essence. Then, drips of blood fall on her chest as she looks at the harpy's abdomen, pierced through by her spear. The creature slumped, completely stopped moving after her attack. After tossing the dead monster aside, Derpy rolls and attempted to stand up. The place where she was laying down is now tinted red, her back must be bleeding from the previous attack. Each time she took a breath, she wheezes, and there's a painful and sickening feeling just below her neck where a claw was driven. The pegasus had to support herself with her weapon, unable to stand up straight.

FLASH!

Her vision suddenly went white as an unknown force made her fall, and a jolt of pain shoots her from her left side. She looked at it, and sees an arrow had completely went through her wing and lodged into her body. She looks up to see the culprit, a white humanoid creature that's missing it's lower body, Amalaric Snipers. These monsters wield bows and it's wings are unaffected by the rain. Seeing this horror, Derpy looked behind her, the fight had put her close to the slope that was just ahead of her before. She might jump towards it and maybe escape this monster, but...

Her breath feels heavy, her body is receiving pain all over, and she keeps tasting blood in her mouth, but somehow, the pegasus managed to stand up with a look of determination in her face. As the sniper readies another arrow, Derpy tightens her grip on her spear. All her life, the day she remembered when she's living happily with her parents, her first birthday party, her first muffin she tasted, flashed in her eyes. Now it seems that she will never get the chance to feel those again.

The arrow is fired, and it feels like everything went ten times slower as Derpy sees it coming towards her. Taking a last deep breath, able to feel and hear every beat of her heart, Derpy mentally prepares herself. She's ready for this...

At the very last second, she throws herself to the side, making the arrow clip her tail instead. With the last of her strength, the pegasus throws her spear towards the flying monster, hitting it right in the chest. It let out a horrible screech as it's body engulfed in flames, before turning into ashes.

As the rain washes her blood from her coat, only to soon be replaced by more, Derpy looked at the fallen monster's remains. She did it... she killed another monster to buy--

FLASH!

Mid breath, Derpy felt another arrow hit her right between her chest. The air got caught in her neck as her hooves reaches out in front of her from inertia as her body fell back towards the slope. She can't even scream, the pain is surreal, the last thing she sees before she fall down the slope is the flash of lightning, revealing at least a dozen snipers in the air. It felt like forever, but the first fall happened, followed by many more as Derpy tumbled down the slope, staining it with her blood.

Thud

Thud

Thud

Thud

Thud

Thud

As fate can be cruel, Derpy is still alive, barely, at the end of her fall. She cannot move any of her limbs, probably because it's broken, and her head is almost on the edge, giving her a view of the lands below. Her throat would sometimes gag involuntarily, making blood come out from her mouth. The slightest of breath are painful to take, her lungs felt like it's being cut open. The arrow in her chest, half broken from the fall is covered in her blood all the way. Each of the raindrop felt like pebbles falling on her. She never knew it was possible for a living being to get this much pain.

The pegasus knows that this is it. As she slumps her head and look at the lands below her, her eyes are fading to black, just like the clouds in the sky...

Then, a lightning strike.

It illuminated the area below as well, and she can see a figure of a batpony gliding down, a glint of light is reflected near it's chest. Seeing this, Derpy smiled. He had made it.

She have no regrets. From the moment she joined to serve Princess Celestia, she knows that everything she does, no matter how little, will be for the good of other ponies. She barely got any action unlike most ponies that Celestia choose to fight and protect ponies from monsters. Instead, she's usually sent to deliver messages or supplies, or like now, act as a guide around Cloudsdale. It's not as significant, but it's still something, and that's what it matters.

"I'm... glad... I was able... to... help..."

Those are her last words. As another lightning strikes the sky, the pegasus known as Derpy Hooves... is dead.

Author's Note

I hope those that play Ponyvania managed to save Derpy, because I saw what happened if you don't, and it was heartbreaking