Genius in Canterlot

  Pinkie Pie hopped along the path to Derpy Hooves's house. It was a beautiful morning so far, with no clouds in sight and all the birds were singing a catchy little tune. Pinkie said hello to everypony in sight, and they were all really happy as well. Why? Princess Celestia is coming to town for a little visit, to see how things are going. Pinkie took care of the party, as always, and was handing out invitations to everyone.

  Derpy's house wasn't as clean as you'd expect a normal house to be, but hey... at least you could still walk in. Pinkie knocked at the door, to be greeted by the cross-eyed mare.

  "Hey there, Derpy!", said Pinkie Pie. "Are you busy today?"

  "Hah, not at all!", said Derpy, sounding clumsy as usual. "Why?"

  "Well, here's your invitation to Celestia's welcome party!"

  As soon as Pinkie took out her invitation, Derpy grabbed it with all of her excitement.

  "Thank you, Pinkie!", said Derpy, happier than ever. "I've never been invited to that before!"

  "Well, Twilight said I shouldn't invite you.", said Pinkie Pie. "She thinks you're too clumsy, and will ruin the party as soon as you find a chance."

  "Did she really say that? Just because I have a mental problem, doesn't mean I'm going to ruin everything."

  "I know. I'm sure it's going to be really fun if you go!"

  "Well, I should get myself ready. See you at the party!"

  "See ya!"

  As Derpy closed the door, her smile instantly doubled its size, as she started hopping around her house, joyful as a foal in a candy factory (or Pinkie Pie... whatever you find easier to imagine). She did a little dance before realizing she didn't have a thing to wear. It was a special party, after all. It can't be a special party if you're not dressed as such, right? Suddenly, she had an idea, and went out of her house, jumping of joy.

  Derpy knocked at Rarity's door, tapping her hooves on the floor. The door opened to reveal Sweetie Belle at the other side.

  "Umm...", said Derpy. "... normally, Rarity's the one who opens the door."

  "Oh, hi, Derpy.", said Sweetie Belle. "My sister's kind of busy, so she couldn't answer the door. She told me to ask what you wanted."

  "Well... I'd like to order a dress for tomorrow's welcome party."

  "Why didn't you say so?", said Rarity, coming out of nowhere, with her red glasses on. "Come in, dear. I've got the perfect choice for you!"

  Rarity then started showing lots and lots of dresses, to see which one was Derpy's favorite.

  "I like that one.", said Derpy, pointing to a lone dress in the corner of the room. It was light blue and had a few holes in it.

  "... oh. That one?", said Rarity, in a nervous tone. "Are you sure? There are so many of them, why would you bother using that one?"

  "It looks pretty. I like pretty."

  Derpy made a cute little smile as she said that.

  "Okay... let me fix those holes in it, then."

  "No problem."

  "Here's your new dress...", said Rarity, as she showed the light-blue dress to her customer. It was the simplest thing she had ever done.

  "Wow!", said Derpy, in an amazed tone. "Such a shiny color! Let me try it!"

  "Sure..."

  Derpy skipped to the changing room. Two minutes later, she came out, with her light-blue dress on. Rarity felt forced to admit - she looked amazing in it, somehow. Or maybe it was the other way around.

  "Do I look pretty?", asked Derpy, with the most innocent smile ever conceived by anypony.

  "Well... you see...", said Rarity, not knowing what to tell her.

  "... yeah!", interrupted Sweetie Belle.

  "Oh, thank you!", said Derpy, skipping out of Rarity's house.

  "Why does she need a dress anyway?"

  "I forgot to ask.", said Rarity. "But Pinkie told me she was going to invite her for Celestia's welcome party. Quite a mistake, if you ask me."

  Derpy skipped around Ponyville, not having much to do besides derping around, showing off her dress to the townsfolk. She managed to get some good comments about it, saying thank-you to each one of them. She felt like the prettiest pony around town, as she found Twilight in the park, reading a book called... who cares, really? Anyway, Derpy decided to sit by Twilight's side, after some walking around.

  "Hey, Twilight!", said Derpy. "What book are you reading?"

  "Hi, Derpy.", said Twilight, putting the book down. "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream."

  "What are you talking about? You've got a mouth right there."

  "It's the name of the book. I don't usually read this kind of stuff, but I got curious enough to give it a try. Anyway, what's that dress for?"

  "Oh, you noticed? It's for Princess Celestia's welcome party tomorrow!"

  "... shouldn't you use it tomorrow then? Rather than right now?"

  "I guess you're right..."

  "I tried to convince Pinkie Pie to not invite you at first, but she wouldn't listen to me. The dress looks good on you, though."

  "Why wouldn't you want me there? I thought we were friends, or something."

  "Well... you see, it's complicated. Just be glad that you were invited."

  "Is it because I'm too... y'know, disastrous?"

  "You're not disastrous... I think. Just... try not to do anything to make it go wrong, okay? It's Princess Celestia that we're talking about."

  "Alright, alright... well, I gotta go. See you at the party!"

  "One more thing..."

  "What?"

  "You don't have to use a dress for the party... so you're going to get lots of attention there."

  "... if it's so special, why don't we usually wear dresses for it?"

  "I don't know..."

  "At least I can still wear it, right?"

  "Sure."

  "Okay. See ya!"

  "See ya."

  Derpy skipped along the path back to her house. She couldn't wait for the party tomorrow. It was going to be great. Of course, it was Celestia's party, so it was going to be one of those formal events. It was okay, though. Derpy liked formal events... even though she had never been to one in her life. The word "formal" sounded nice, though. A "formal event". Derpy liked the sound of it. Formal event... formal event... formalevent! A new word!

  Derpy came back to her original thoughts. The formal event. Yeah. It was going to be great.