Hello, everybody! Or should I say... everypony? XD Yes, I am a brony; closet brony, to be specific, since none of my friends or family know that I watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It's not really a major part of my life; it's just a little something that I like to watch every now and then. Anyways, I figured I would give a fanfic to everyone's favorite wall-eyed Pegasus, Derpy Hooves! Time to see where things could go for this clumsy-but-lovable pony...

It was just another day of mail carrying in Ponyville for Derpy Hooves. It was the same every time; she would clock in, fly the same set routes, deliver mail, take her lunch break, fly the next route, deliver the next set of mail, clock out, and repeat.

Of course, being klutzy as she is, Derpy was quite prone to making mistakes often. On occasion, she had delivered the wrong mail, gotten lost, lost some letters in the wind, and some other mistakes that always got her an earful from everypony. Because of this, Derpy's self-esteem had dropped considerably, and she suffered insomnia due to intermittent onsets of depression.

Derpy hoped that things would go alright soon... she wanted to show everyone that she was a good pony.

She had reached her first stop. She pulled the letters addressed to this location out of her rucksack, and tried slipping them into the mailbox through the slot. But they were not fitting through. She tried pressing harder, but still no luck.

"Ngh... why don't they make these slots bigger?" Derpy complained to herself.

It was then that she pressed the letters with all her might against the mailbox, hoping that they would slide through. But the mailbox's beam bent backwards, and when Derpy began to feel her strength deplete...

THWACK.

The mailbox slipped from her forehooves and hit her in the face, sending her flying a ways away.

"WOOOOOAAAAAH...!" Derpy shrieked as she flew through the air.

Just when she tried to spread her wings to orient herself properly, she fell into the fountain in Ponyville's central plaza. She stood and shook her head to get the water out of her mane as best as she could. She glanced down at the rucksack, which was now under the water, and her eyes went wide and her pupils shrunk.

"Uh-oh..." Derpy said.

Several ponies who happened to be passing by all crowded around the fountain to see what Derpy was doing. At that moment, Parcel Post came up to see what the commotion was.

"Ms. Ditzy Doo!" He said. "The Ponyville Fountain isn't your personal swimming pool! You need to be working, not playing around with—"

His eyes shown a look of sheer horror as he saw Derpy's letter rucksack under the water.

"THE LETTERS YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DELIVER!" Parcel cried. "THEY'RE ALL SOAKING WET!"

More ponies, hearing this, crowded around the fountain, and started shouting at Derpy.

"I was expecting a letter from my cousin in Canterlot!"

"I was sending out family reunion invitations!"

"My paycheck might have been in there!"

Parcel stood there, trying to hold back his rage. His nostrils flaring, his teeth grinding against each other.

"What is wrong with you, Ditzy!?" He scolded. "You decide to put off your job for your own leisure!?"

Derpy's looked at the ground. "I-I'm sorry...! I just don't know what went wrong...!"

"Well, you know I need to report this to Captain Express!" Parcel said.

Derpy's heart skipped a beat. If Captain Express were to hear about this... who knows what could happen? Nothing good, that was for sure.

Derpy looked around at the angry faces of all the ponies shouting at her over the possible loss of their mail. Her eyes began to well with tears, but she forced back her crying... and proceeded to head back to the post office with her head hung low, preparing herself for her imminent doom...

(XXXX)

"So, Ms. Doo," Captain Express sternly said to Derpy in his office. "Mr. Post tells me you lost the mail you were carrying in the fountain."

"Y-yes..." Derpy choked out, timidly shuffling her hooves.

"And I'm sure you are aware of how vital the postal service is to Equestria." Captain Express said. "Do you have any idea how serious this is?"

"I'm sorry..." Derpy said. "...I didn't mean to!"

Captain Express put his hooves to his face with his elbows on his desk, shaking his head. "Well, given the detriment you have caused the Ponyville Post Office, I'm afraid you have left me no other choice, Ms. Doo."

Derpy's pulse kicked in, and she was sweating bullets.

"I'm going to have to put you on suspension for two months... without pay." Captain Express said.

In that moment, Derpy held an expression of unbreakable shock. Suspension without pay... she could not even believe all of this was happening.

"I'll need you to hand in your uniform, and sign something real quick..." Captain Express said.

(XXXX)

Shortly after the process, Derpy left the Post Office, tears running down her face. And then, she broke into a run back to her house, shielding her face with one hoof and struggling to hold back her sobs. Several ponies were clearly still angry at her, as they all shouted at her as she rushed by.

"Crying? Yeah, you should be! I can't believe how STUPID you are, losing our mail!"

"You're so RETARDED, I honestly can't believe the Postal Service would actually hire you!"

"I'm honestly embarrassed to be the same species as you! You are so OFFENSIVE to Ponykind!"

Derpy ran until she collapsed in an alleyway. She buried her face under her hooves and cried.

"...Th-this..." Derpy sniffled. "...this is... th-the worst... d-d-day of my... l-life...!"

It was a little while later that Doctor Whooves was randomly passing by, and happened to spot Derpy in the alleyway. He rushed over and noticed she was crying.

"Derpy?" He asked. "What ever is the matter?"

Derpy looked up. "It... it's just awful, Doc! I screw everything up!"

"Oh, come now, Derpy!" Doctor Whooves said reassuringly. "You need not dwell on the negatives! If you are knocked down, stand back up and keep trying!"

"B-but... how can I... when everything keeps ending in failure for me...?" Derpy asked.

"Um... well... that is..." Doctor Whooves trailed off. He didn't know how to go about this; telling a pony to be more confident, when they were failing over and over, was simply horrible advice.

"...I just... w-wanna be alone...!" Derpy said as she stood and ran off. "I don't wanna m-m-mess up anything else t-today...!"

"Derpy! Wait!" Doctor Whooves called out to no avail. "I-I was also wondering if your daughter, Dinky, was aware of your predicament!"

"I DON'T HAVE A DAUGHTER!" Derpy called back.

The stallion stood for a moment, pondering. "Peculiar... Derpy struggles with tasks on a regular basis... but what happened this time to set her off so badly...?"

(XXXX)

Twilight Sparkle was walking down a street on Ponyville with Spike on her back; she was checking up on her friends to make sure their everyday tasks were up to speed so she could report it back to Princess Celestia.

"Well, Spike, looks like we're all caught up for the week!" Twilight said. "Got it all written in the letter to the Princess?"

"Yep!" Spike said, holding the quill he was using up.

At that moment, the two of them were startled to hear loud crying getting closer. Then they saw Derpy rounding a corner and rushing past them with one hoof covering her face as she ran.

"What the...?" Spike said.

"Derpy!" Twilight called out. "What's wrong?"

Derpy kept running, as if she didn't hear Twilight.

"Huh... Ditzy musta really messed up this time!" Spike said.

"Spike, that's not nice." Twilight said. "Derpy looked pretty upset... I think we should go and see what's wrong with her."

Spike pondered for a moment. "She probably won't wanna talk, what with all that crying and stuff. Think we should give her some time?" he asked.

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the ground. "Okay, we'll wait for her to calm down."

(XXXX)

Derpy made it back to her house, and spent hours crying her eyes out into her pillow. The sun began to set on the western horizon.

Being the "different" pony that she was, Derpy regularly put up with harassment, scolding, and overall bullying from other ponies. It did not help her feel good in the least bit, and, if anything, made her feel worse than the last time it happens...

...but poor Derpy has finally been pushed to her breaking point.

"I can't do this anymore..." Derpy said to herself, sitting up and looking out the window. "...I'm going away! I'm gonna leave Ponyville forever! As Celestia is my witness, I'll go somewhere that I am accepted!"

Derpy started packing a few things she would need into a fairly large satchel: food, water, her diary, some pencils, a sharpener, and some of the remaining Bits she had. And then she was out the door almost immediately.

"Well, this is it. Goodbye, everypony... forever! Derpy Hooves is out of your lives for good!" Derpy said as she looked back over her shoulder at the town.

She started along the path that lead through the Open Lands, and all the while, got to thinking...

"What if..." Derpy said to herself. "...what if the same thing ends up happening again!?"

Derpy had not considered the fact that her clumsiness and strange eyes made several of the ponies in Ponyville hate her so much. It's possible that she could end up trying the patience of others as well, even though she never means to.

"I... I just don't know what to do with myself anymore...!" Derpy said as she started tearing up again. "...M-maybe... maybe I... r-r-really am w-worthless...! I... r-ruin everything!" N-n-nopony... will want to... be anywhere n-near me...!"

Derpy had indeed hit rock bottom. Nopony in Ponyville, or maybe even Equestria would want to be on her side, she assumed. She had to go somewhere where she could get support and be able to make a living. Anything remotely satisfactory in comparison to Ponyville would be welcome, but Derpy just did not know where to turn, or where she could go without anypony getting mad at her just for who she was.

She needed help... she desperately needed help...

As sad as it is, I really think something like this could happen to Derpy. It just seems like she doesn't try to make anyone angry, but it seems like a good portion of real-life people who have seen her found her offensive in some way. I assume she's meant to portray someone who has a mental disability, possibly a form of autism, but I personally don't find Derpy offensive; I actually really like her (and this is coming from someone with ADD, which is a form of autism). Anyways, hopefully things can get better for MLP: FiM's most popular background pony, so stick around! Keep holding on...

Okay, time to pick up where we left off in the land of Equestria... somewhere that's not exactly Ponyville, but... oh, whatever. Let's see what happens next, shall we?

Derpy slowly walked along the path, her head hung low, ears angled down, and her mane and tail blowing in the light breeze.

"Why do these things have to happen to me...?" Derpy asked herself. "...I was just made for suffering, wasn't I?"

As she continued to walk, Derpy happened to spot a glint of light out of the edge of her peripheral vision. She looked to her left and noticed an object in the long grass off to the side of the path. Curious, she walked over to have a look. The object was a narrow, curved conical thing, which faded from charcoal-gray to scarlet at its point. It had quite a high level of luster, very sleek-looking. It looked like some sort of polished cut stone.

"Ooh..." Derpy said, lightening up from her sorrow a little bit. "...it's pretty."

She slowly reached out to pick it up, but as soon as she lightly touched it, the sunset-lit environment around her transformed into a dark landscape with the sound of a metallic bang. The sound of thousands of whispers filled the air.

Derpy looked around in shock.

The area behind her, she noticed, was being pulled into some sort of vortex. She tried to rush away, but it caught up to her. She expected to start falling, but she was simply turned onto her side and fell only two feet. The landscape was spiraling rapidly. She blinked briefly, and when she opened her eyes, she saw a blurred, reddened image of the Ponyville schoolhouse, where she saw her younger filly self a little distance away, surrounded by a group of other colts and fillies.

"Ha!" one filly whooped. "Ditzy's so clumsy that she can't even catch the ball that's thrown five feet away from her!"

Derpy stood back up as she watched the third-person flashback.

"Ditzy's eye's are all wrong!" a colt laughed at filly Derpy. "I bet her mother made her stupid!"

Filly Derpy cowered by hiding the lower half of her face with her hooves, tears spilling from her eyes.

"Ditzy is retarded! Ditzy is retarded!" all of the school ponies sang in unison as filly Derpy started crying uncontrollably.

Mare Derpy started hyperventilating as she began to run the other way. Immediately, she found herself in medieval Canterlot. She saw Princess Celestia banishing Nightmare Moon.

"NOOOOOOOOO...!" Nightmare Moon bellowed as she was engulfed in a field of light that was shot straight towards the moon.

Derpy shut her eyes tight.

"Derpy..." a deep voice suddenly said, sounding very distant.

Derpy opened her eyes to find herself on a cloud hovering a little ways underneath Cloudsdale. She saw a multicolored blur rush past her, straight downward. It was Rainbow Dash. After plunging for a little while, there suddenly came a deep boom, followed by an expanding circle of rainbow colors; the Sonic Rainboom.

Confused, and somewhat scared as to what could possibly be happening, Derpy hastily tried to fly away, but found that she suddenly couldn't move her wings, and started plunging.

"AAAAAAAAAAH! HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Derpy called out.

Suddenly, she was caught, by none other than...

"Rainbow Dash!" Derpy said happily.

Rainbow Dash smiled at her. Derpy closed her eyes as a huge grin filled her face.

"Thank you for saving me! I don't know what's going on, but I—" Derpy stopped speaking as the area had changed yet again.

She was now being carried by, not a rainbow Pegasus, but by the current of a river in Everfree Forest. Looking behind her in the direction of the current, Derpy noticed she was heading right for a waterfall. She shrieked and tried to paddle away from it in panic to no avail. She fell a long way into a lake below, and was washed up on the bank.

Sitting up, Derpy noticed some Timberwolves surrounding her. They were growling and drooling. Derpy was frantically looking for any way to escape the Timberwolves before they could make a meal of her. Suddenly, floating behind the carnivorous creatures on some sort of rippling carpet was Zecora. But she had three pairs of forelegs stacked on top of each other, each one doing a different Medium-related activity.

"Driven out of your place, you are. All because you bear no lucky star." Zecora sang to a strange drumbeat coming from nowhere. "Derpy Hooves is a new exile, for she must now endure the cruel and vile..."

The Timberwolves closed in on Derpy, and she covered her face with her hooves in fear.

"Please!" Derpy shouted. "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

Suddenly, everything was silent. Derpy opened her eyes, and found just an empty void.

"H-hello...?" Derpy said.

"Ah, a new hoof touches my horn." came a deep, masculine, godlike voice.

Derpy's eyes went wide. "Who... who are you?" she asked.

"Be not frightened, Derpy Hooves," the voice said. "I mean you no harm."

"...How do you know my name?" Derpy asked.

The voice chuckled a bit. "I have read your heart, Ditzy Doo..."

"Um, just 'Derpy' is fine..." Derpy said.

"...and I can tell that you are quite lost. Perhaps in more ways than one?" the voice said.

"Yes..." Derpy said sadly. "...everypony's mad at me, but it's worse than usual! Today was the worst day ever for me!"

"Indeed..." the voice said. "...and do you know why that could be?"

Derpy thought for a moment. "...Because I'm a loser?" she suggested as she hung her head down sadly.

"...Because you lack power." the voice answered. "It is only power through which ponykind has ever achieved any success. And that is why I intend to help you."

"Help me?" Derpy asked. "Why would anypony want to help me? They all think I'm worthless..." she felt a lump in her throat as she said this.

"But, under my guidance, I can give you the power that you could use to ultimately change your life for the better. Power to rival even that of Star Swirl the Bearded!" the voice said with great excitement.

"And... what would this power do to change my life?" Derpy asked.

"Well, if you were to use it correctly... you would never be miserable again." the voice stated. "And you are miserable, aren't you, Derpy?"

Derpy hung her head down. "Yeah, I am..." she briefly trailed off. "...okay, mister! I want to learn from you and get this power!"

"But there is a catch..." the voice interjected. "...in exchange for my knowledge, you will need to do exactly what I ask of you. My magic will be of aid to you in the tasks should they be too overwhelming for your own skills."

Derpy swallowed. "You want me to do things for you...?" she asked.

"Precisely." the voice answered. "Think of it as a new job... as I am well aware you have lost one not long ago. And the rewards will be much greater than mere Bits."

"Ooh! As in one million Bits!?" Derpy asked, excitedly.

"Even better than that..." the voice went on.

Derpy was starting to become overjoyed by the offer, which drowned out her depression from earlier in the day.

"Oh, I will do whatever you want!" Derpy said. "As long as it helps for things to go better for me, I'll do it!"

"...That's what I wanted to hear." the voice said, sounding very satisfied.

"So... who are you, anyway?" Derpy asked.

The voice paused for a moment before answering: "You may call me... Arbmos."

"Arbmos..." Derpy repeated. "...huh, weird name."

"And now, Derpy Hooves, take the horn that was once upon my head, and use it to my instruction. Only then shall it bring you the happiness you desire." Arbmos said.

"Your horn?" Derpy asked just before remembering the strange object she found. "Wait, that thing on the ground... was your horn?"

"Yes." Arbmos answered. "When I was still living in the mortal world, I was a Unicorn. My soul now exists in an ethereal state inside of the horn."

"Weird..." Derpy said.

"And now, Derpy..." Arbmos said. "...awaken!"

Derpy blinked repeatedly to find that she was back in the field at sunset, still standing in the same spot she had been for the past few minutes.

"Woah... that was really weird." Derpy said to herself.

"Ah, but we still have yet to begin, my dear." Arbmos said in Derpy's head.

"Huh? Arbmos?" Derpy said. "Where are you?"

"You need not look around, for I am simply speaking in your mind." Arbmos stated. "And now, it is time to put our plan forth. From this night onward, you shall not have to endure pain and suffering from anypony... so long as you do as I ask of you."

"Okay!" Derpy said. "Let's start this!"

"Place the flat end of my horn on the center of your forehead..." Arbmos instructed. "...and I shall have it merge with you to become part of your anatomy."

"Wait, wait, wait..." Derpy said. "...you're going to turn me into an Alicorn?"

"Yes, indeed I will." Arbmos said. "Only through Unicorn magic can you achieve the power you need to do this."

Derpy was excited yet again. She was going to have a horn! She could use magic! She would basically be a goddess compared to all other ponies.

"Okay!" Derpy said, lifting the disembodied horn, and putting in on her forehead.

"Now, be wary... this may cause a bit of a pain." Arbmos warned.

"Huh? What?" Derpy asked before suddenly the horn began to emit a bright light at its base.

Derpy began to hover a few feet above the ground. A burning hot sensation spread from her forehead throughout her body, growing more intense. It felt like a magnifying glass was focusing sunlight onto her forehead, burning it.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Derpy cried.

After a few more moments, the horn's glow faded, and was now part of Derpy's skull.

Derpy Hooves was now an Alicorn.

She slowly drifted back down to the ground, where she lay unconscious from the intense magic that merged the Unicorn horn with her.

Well, things took quite a rapid turn for Derpy, huh? Anyways, there's a lot more directions this fic can go, but for now, we'll just leave it at this. Be sure to keep coming back to see where things can go! Keep holding on...

So far, I've been off to a slow start, I know. But, I will pick up the pacing and add some more substance to the fic. So, let's see how things will turn out for Derpy!

Slowly, Derpy began to wake up. She blinked repeatedly as her eyes swapped direction they were facing each time she closed them.

"Ugh... my head..." Derpy said as she stood up. "Huh... what a dream... some voice in my head? Wanting to help me? I guess I'm more depressed than I thought..."

It was only now that Derpy began to notice her surroundings. She was in the Open Lands, a ways beyond the outskirts of Ponyville, and it was already dark out; the moon was high overhead. Derpy found her satchel somehow fell off her back.

"Wait... what am I doing out here!?" She said before gasping. "N-no way... you mean..."

Slowly, she raised her hoof to touch her forehead... and just as she was about to touch it...

"H-h-horn!?" Derpy stammered, feeling the pointed object on her forehead.

She rushed over to a stream nearby and looked at her reflection in the moonlight. Though it was dim, she could easily make out a horn on her forehead, curving upwards and fading from dark gray to red at the tip.

"S-so... it wasn't... a d-dream..." Derpy said. "...I'm an... Alicorn..."

Smirking, Derpy glanced over at a rock sitting on the ground nearby.

"Hmm... I've always wanted to try this..." she said as she walked over to the rock.

She examined the rock briefly before she focused, with all her might, her energy to her forehead. She couldn't get anything to happen at first. Panting for a moment, she tried again. The horn flickered the same gold color of her eyes, as did the rock at less frequent intervals, but she still couldn't get it to budge.

"Aw... I can't do it." Derpy said sadly.

"But of course you can, Derpy." came a heavenly male voice in Derpy's head that she instantly recognized.

"Arbmos!" Derpy said.

"You simply need a little nudge..." Arbmos said.

Immediately, Derpy's new horn glowed gold for a brief moment before turning crimson. The rock glowed the same color and levitated. It moved up, down, and sideways for a moment before it was set back into its place. Derpy got a feel for how it worked, though she was not actually the one doing it.

"...Now you try." Arbmos instructed.

Recalling the same feel that Arbmos created when he levitated the stone, Derpy did the same, the horn glowing gold again as the rock did the same, and it slowly floated off the ground, hovering a few inches in the air.

Derpy gasped. "I-I did it...!" she said proudly.

"Very good, Derpy." Arbmos said. "You know how to use basic magic. I shall continue to instruct you on more advanced magic as time passes, and for specific situations."

"Awww..." Derpy sighed. "...why can't I learn it now?"

"Because it is far too complex for a beginner." Arbmos said.

"Oh." Derpy said before she yawned. "Well, I'm getting sleepy. I think I'll go home now."

"Very well." Arbmos said. "You will need your rest."

"But... wait." Derpy said. "How am I gonna explain the horn to the other ponies?"

Arbmos chuckled. "That will not be a problem at all. I've spent my time learning complex magic, and managed to learn how to perform Invisibility Spells, as well how to use magic to affect the horn itself. So, by doing both those at once..."

"...I can hide the horn?" Derpy finished.

"Yes." Arbmos said. "In fact, since you lack experience, I shall do it for you..."

The horn glowed crimson for a moment, before it vanished. Derpy reached up at felt for it; she could feel it, but it was now invisible.

Derpy's eyes widened in amazement. "Oh, cool! So I can use magic, and nopony will know it's me!" she giggled.

"That's correct." Arbmos said. "The best way to use magic... is to ensure no one else knows you are using it."

"Ah, okay." Derpy said. "Well, anyways, I'm just gonna head back. I know that I vowed to never go back, but now that you're helping me, Arbmos, I think I'll give everypony a second chance."

"Yes, excellent..." Arbmos said. "...and once I let you know it is alright... do pay a visit to a certain purple Alicorn."

"Purple Alicorn... oh! Twilight Sparkle?" Derpy said. "I'd be happy to introduce you to her... at least, if you were to, um... show up?"

"Oh, I will most definitely show up..." Arbmos said.

Without saying too much more, Derpy picked up her satchel and return to Ponyville. She went back to her house and readied herself to go to sleep in her bed, but before she did, she got out her pencil and diary and sat at the desk in her room.

Holding the pencil in her mouth, she wrote an entry in her diary:

Dear Diary,

I had just about the worst day of my life today, and I had been put on suspension from my job without pay. Needless to say, paying the bills and buying food would be difficult... but things have changed for the better.

I met a pony... or somepony who use to be a pony... talking to me in my head, who wants to help me out. Sounds crazy, I know, but I know that I can't be dreaming. I don't know why all of this is even happening to begin with... but I don't want to question it.

The voice in my head, whose horn is now on my head, Arbmos, is gonna give me power that I need to win the respect that I deserve! I have to do things for him, but I know it will be okay. He seems friendly enough. He turned me into an Alicorn. I think I can trust him; why else would he do all this for me?

Anyways, it's getting late, and I'm tired. I'll get back to you later.

-Derpy.

After finishing the entry, Derpy put her diary away and climbed into her bed. She shut off the light and pulled herself under the sheets of her bed.

"Ahhh..." Derpy sighed. "...I know things'll get better from here on out."

...Just keep hoping, Derpy. Because who knows how things could end up turning out? Anyways, hope you all are enjoying the fic so far! I'll get back to you next time!