Derpyball

by Rated Ponystar

First published 29th of May, 2012

Derpy and the mane cast vs Gilda and her team of griffins in a dodgeball game

Ponyville is getting ready to host a Dodgeball Tournament when Gilda shows up, challenging them against her own team. As they prepare themselves, Twilight and her friends learn a surprising secret about a certain crossed-eyed mailpony. Will Ponyville be able to beat Gilda and her team? Or will they taste rubbery defeat?

Part 1

Derpyball

An MLP: FIM fic by The Rated PonyStar

Edited by Fernin and Halcyon.

Artwork done by Tzelly (http://tzelly-el.deviantart.com/ )

*************************************************************************************************

“Wow, would you look at all the ponies here! Is it a party? I hope it’s a party!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, turning her head left and right. Dozens of ponies stood beside her, trying to ignore her constant babbling. None of them had an answer to give her. All they knew was that Twilight Sparkle wanted them at the library for an important meeting. As the crowd grew larger—and the available space smaller—everypony kept asking the same question: why were they here and what was so important?

"Ahem!" a voice cried out from the second floor. Everypony looked up and spotted Twilight Sparkle gazing down at them with a wide smile. The unicorn practically skipped down the staircase and made her way to the front of the silent, curious crowd. Clearing her throat, she addressed them again. “Good afternoon, everypony. I suppose you're all wondering why I called for this meeting.”

Some of them nodded or yawned in response. Unsurprisingly, Pinkie Pie was the only one who showed any enthusiasm. The excited earth pony bounced in place and waved her arms continuously until Twilight pointed to her. “Are we here for a party?!”

“No, Pinkie. We’re actually here for something a bit more important.” Twilight’s answer wiped the smile off Pinkie’s face for only a split second before it reappeared. She shrugged and sat down with the rest of the crowd, still swaying from side to side.

“Well, whatever it is, can we hurry up? I want to get back to practicing my new moves!” whined Rainbow Dash, flapping her wings impatiently.

Thanks to Rainbow’s outburst, more complaints emerged from the crowd. Twilight tried to calm everypony down, but the crowd's grievances quickly overwhelmed her ability to be heard over the growing tumult. Grinding her teeth in frustration, the unicorn conjured a megaphone and pressed the trigger button. In an instant, everypony could feel their eardrums ready to explode from the thunderous, deafening sound. A few seconds later, Twilight shut it off much to their relief. They tried to complain again but were quickly silenced when they saw the megaphone levitating in front of them.

“I know everypony is busy, but this is important,” said Twilight, putting the megaphone away, “There’s an event coming up that I’ve wanted Ponyville to take part in for some time. Yesterday, I sent Spike over with the paperwork and this morning he sent me our acceptance application.” She raised her head and proudly proclaimed, “Therefore, I am happy to announce that, with Princess Celestia and the mayor’s blessings, Ponyville has been signed up for this year’s Help the Needy fundraiser.”

Excited ponies whispered about the announcement. Others quickly silenced them by pointing to the megaphone. Twilight continued, “The fundraiser is a nationwide event that has every participating town hosting special events to attract donations. We have to have one planned out and ready in one week.”

“Well, that sounds like a swell idea. Ah’m in on this,” volunteered Applejack, raising her hoof.

Everypony raised their hooves eagerly and voiced out their ideas like students in a classroom. The cacophony continued until Twilight called for silence. She summoned a chalkboard and grabbed a piece of chalk. “Well, now that we’re all in agreement, who wants to go first?”

“I know! We should have a huge bake sale. We can make delicious sweets and sell them,” suggested Pinkie. Many ponies licked their lips as the thought of a big assembly of bakers giving out their best treats. Twilight could feel her belly growling as she wrote down the request.

“A rodeo might be a good idea! Somethin’ similar to the Iron Pony competition,” proposed Applejack. The more athletic ponies cheered in agreement. They started slapping hooves, bumping flanks, and showing off their muscles to each other. Twilight rolled her eyes, but wrote it down anyway.

“I think we should host a fashion show!” said Rarity, eyes shimmering with excitement. “All the ponies will be dazzled by the sight of my marvelous dresses, and we would find the best ponies to wear them.”

A majority of the mares sighed at the thought while the stallions groaned. Rainbow Dash joined the boys, asking, “How is dressing up going to help us get money for the fundraiser?”

“Why, the audience gets to pay to see my fabulousness in action, of course!” answered Rarity, passing her hoof through her clean, groomed mane. “Not to mention the girls get to have their moment in the spotlight. Imagine it. Hundreds of ponies will be staring at each of us and worshiping our every move.”

Although the males, and Rainbow Dash, tried to oppose Rarity’s suggestion, the overwhelming amount of female votes overruled them. Rainbow Dash pretended to gag as it was added to the list.

Other suggestions included everything from walkathons to rock festivals. Even Fluttershy managed to present her idea for a petting zoo. The chalk in Twilight's magical grip flew across the board, getting shorter with each new idea. By the time they finished, the chalkboard had been filled to the brim with hardly any black left.

Twilight wiped the sweat from her brow as she smiled upon seeing how many choices they had available. “Good job, everypony. We’ve got a lot of good ideas to choose from. Now we just need to-”

"Incoming!” shouted a voice from outside.

A mysterious figure crashed through one the front windows. Curtains were torn. Shattered fragments of glass rained down into the scattering crowd. Rarity nearly fainted when some of the shards missed her hooves by inches. Everypony looked up and spotted the intruder: a gray pegasus with a blond mane and crossed eyes. The pegasus struggled to keep herself afloat, but her wings were tangled in the window’s ripped curtains. As she fell, everypony jumped out of the way. Except for one stunned Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight snapped out of her stupor and began to prepare her teleportation spell. Just as she was about to cast it, the gold-gray blur knocked her off her hooves. The two tumbled before they crashed into the chalkboard, sending a cloud of thick chalk dust throughout the library. Choking and wheezing filled the room as the panicked crowd struggled to breathe. Books fell in the confusion; ponies bumped into one another; some even managed to smack into the wall thanks to the blinding cloud. When the dust finally cleared, everypony turned around and stared at the pegasus who caused the accident.

Twilight coughed out a cloud of chalk dust, expression souring at the unpleasant taste of limestone. Looking up, she saw the intruder rising to her hooves and growled, “Derpy!”

Derpy Hooves looked around and saw the catastrophe she had made. Under the harsh glares, the nervous pegasus sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. “Oops, my bad.”

****************************************************************************

With the meeting ruined, Twilight reluctantly told everypony to head home and await further instructions. The disappointed crowd left, everypony scowling at Derpy as they passed the depressed pegasus. Twilight and her friends started to clean up the mess while Derpy sat in the middle of the room, ears flat and lip quivering.

“Darn it, Derpy! Couldn’t you just use the door?!” shouted Dash. Broom in hoof, she attempted to sweep the broken glass towards Rarity’s dustpan.

“Like you’re one to talk, Dash,” muttered Rarity, glancing over the specks of glass still scattered around the floor. She pulled the broom out of Dash’s grip, and concentrated on making a decent effort to clean.

“Sorry, everypony. I forgot about the meeting so I rushed over here as fast as I could. I didn’t mean to break the window...” One of Derpy’s eyes glanced down at the floor in shame. The other focused on Fluttershy, who was blowing chalk dust off the bookshelves. Fluttershy’s nose twitched as she accidentally inhaled some dust. She sneezed and went sailing into the shelf. Derpy cringed as she watched a dozen books fall onto the dazed pegasus head. “Or ruin the books...”

“Not to mention you ruined our list of ideas for the charity,” mumbled Rainbow, pointing over to the blank chalkboard. “Is there ever a day when you’re not a klutz?”

“Hey! I’m not a klutz when I’m doing my mail job,” said Derpy, puffing her chest out proudly. “In fact, I manage to avoid most of the trees when I’m on duty now.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Was that before or after you replaced my mail with muffins last week?”

“So that’s what happened to my lunch on Tuesday...” mumbled Derpy, nervously rubbing her head.

Rainbow shook her head and turned away, muttering, “Hopeless…”

The crossed-eyed pegasus lowered her head and sighed. She wasn’t hopeless, just… clumsy. Derpy turned around and stared at the disaster, wondering if she could help. If she found some way to be useful, surely the others would forgive her.

One of her eyes managed to spot Twilight Sparkle chewing on the tip of a quill. The unicorn summoned a bottle of ink and parchment, dipping her feather in the bottle. Twilight’s quill scratched industriously across the parchment as she wrote down all the ideas she could remember. Concentrating on her work, the unicorn was utterly oblivious as Derpy trotted up behind her. At least, until Derpy smiled brightly and shouted, "Hey, Twilight! Anything I can do to help?"

Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin. Her horn stopped glowing and the writing tools fell onto the floor. The bottle smashed into pieces, forming a puddle of black ink and broken glass. Under Twilight’s fierce glare, Derpy dropped to her haunches and whimpered like a scolded puppy.

“Derpy! Now look what you made me do!” hissed Twilight. Derpy lowered her head even further and started to sniffle. Twilight’s eyes lost their fury and she lifted the pegasus’ head. The klutzy pegasus hesitated to look at Twilight, but relaxed when she saw a sympathetic smile.“I’m sorry, Derpy. I know it was an accident, but can you please leave the cleaning to us?”

“But I want make it up to you! Please?” begged Derpy, biting her lip.

Before Twilight could answer, the front door opened slammed open. Everypony turned around as a gray unicorn filly with a blond mane rushed inside. She spotted Derpy and shouted, “Found you, Mommy!”

Derpy’s woes were instantly washed away by the sight of her smiling daughter. She spread her arms and joyfully shouted, “Dinky!”

The filly dived into her mother’s waiting arms and was nuzzled in her warm embrace. With her daughter in her hooves, Derpy hoisted her up and used her wings to spin around as Dinky flapped her forelegs. As she sailed through the air, Dinky’s childish laughter brought a smile to everypony who watched. Even Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but crack a smile. Derpy brought her daughter down back to earth and kissed her on the cheek. “How did you find me, Muffin?”

“Auntie Carrot Top saw you flying towards the library and I thought I’d surprise you! Were you surprised? Huh, were you?” questioned Dinky, bouncing in place.

Derpy smiled and started jumping alongside her daughter. The two continued to laugh and bounce like rabbits waking up on the first day of spring. It was just what Derpy needed. No matter what, she could always count on her daughter to cheer her up. “I was very surprised, Muffin. We all were! Right, girls?”

“Oh, absolutely!” Pinkie shouted, hopping towards them and joining in on the excitement. “I was actually so surprised that I never saw it coming! And I know everything about surprises!” Dinky giggled as Pinkie ruffled her mane. “ Are you sure you’re not my daughter instead?”

Dinky leaned against her mother’s front legs and nuzzled them. “No! I’m Mommy’s little muffin!”

“And I’m proud to have you be my little muffin, Muffin.” Derpy leaned down, kissing her daughter on the cheek. “Now we better head home. Twilight and her friends need to clean up, and Auntie Carrot Top is making your favorite stew!"

“You mean her famous onion and carrot stew?” asked Dinky. Drool dripped down the filly’s chin as she licked her chops. “Well, what are waiting for? Let’s go, Mommy!”

Apologizing once again, Derpy picked up her daughter and flew outside. The six beaming friends waved them goodbye. Rarity proclaimed, “She might not be the most coordinated of ponies, but I’ve never seen a more loving mother then Derpy.”

“Shucks, seein’ little Dinky bounce around like that reminds me of me and mah own ma,” said a blushing Applejack. The girls’ smiles soon faded when they looked at the mess they still had to clean. With a sigh, they went back to work.

Twilight stood in front of the spilled ink, wishing that Spike was back from Canterlot. She grabbed a paper towel and tried to wipe away the spot. Her efforts only made the ink smear further across the floor. Twilight huffed and tried again, but no matter what she did it continued to spread. With each failed attempt, the pressure built in Twilight’s temples until her head felt ready to burst. When the size of the inkblot had tripled, the unicorn screamed, shocking her friends nearly out of their wits. Twilight stomped her hoof and threw the dirty towel against the wall—adding yet another splatter that would need cleaning. With both the floor and the wall covered in ink, it didn’t seem such a bad idea to just zap everything with lightning. To hay with the consequences.

Fluttershy observed the twitching unicorn with concern. She placed her hoof on her friend’s shoulder and asked, “Oh, Twilight… Are you okay?”

Twilight was ready to scream again, but the cry died in her throat when she saw Fluttershy’s frightened eyes. Taking a deep and calming breath, Twilight’s tension faded and she muttered, “I’m fine, Fluttershy. I just wish we didn't have such a big mess."

"Well, it's not that bad," said Fluttershy, giving a small smile to her tired friend.

"I guess. But I really wish I had the sense to write everything down twice before the accident,” moaned Twilight. The chalkboard was once again blank, just like Twilight’s memory of all the good ideas that had been on it.

“Can any of you remember what was suggested?” asked Twilight with a hopeful tone. Her friends nodded, each speaking out their earlier ideas in order. When it came to Rainbow Dash’s turn, the five of them were surprised to see the pegasus looking bored.

“Come on, guys, all that stuff has been done before!” whined Dash as she rolled her eyes. “We need to show everypony something great! Something wild and exciting!”

“I thought you would want the athletics competition, Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity, but to her surprise, Dash simply waved it off.

Rainbow lifted her head proudly. “Please. I’m the most athletic out of all of us. It wouldn’t be much of a competition if I was involved.”

Everypony rolled their eyes at the typical statement they had come to expect from their egotistical friend. Applejack made an effort to speak out, but Rarity stopped her and shook her head. “Just let her brag. It will be quicker that way.”

“Well, like it or not, we're just going to have to deal with what we can manage. In the meantime, mind getting me another bottle of ink, Rainbow?” asked Twilight, levitating her paper off the floor.

“Fine, but I still think we can come up with something cooler,” muttered Rainbow Dash. She flew lazily towards a shelf containing various supplies and spotted a spare ink bottle. When she grabbed it, Dash looked to Twilight and then at the bottle. A mischievous grin spread across her muzzle. Eyes focused on the busy unicorn, Rainbow Dash reached back and threw the ink bottle. “Think fast!”

The ink bottle sailing through the air. But instead of heading towards Dash's intended target, it was bearing for Fluttershy. The surprised pegasus gasped and quickly ducked between her front hooves. The bottle zipped past her, narrowly missing her raised hindquarters. Twilight reached out with her telekinesis and caught the bottle before it flew any further.

“Rainbow! Watch it!” shouted Twilight, placing the bottle on the table. “If Fluttershy hadn’t dodged that, or if it hit the floor, there could have been an even bigger mess! Do you want to keep cleaning?”

To Twilight’s surprise, Rainbow’s face showed not shame, but excitement. Rainbow Dash rushed towards the shocked unicorn had face so joyous she looked like a foal on Hearth’s Warming Eve. “Twilight! You’re a genius! I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before!”

A smug-looking Rainbow Dash turned to her friends and raised her hoof to the sky. “Girls, I have our main event! Dodgeball!”

“Dodgeball?! Why, Ah haven’t played that game since Ah was in middle school! Boy howdy did we play it every recess. Great times,” said Applejack, a nostalgic smile on her face.

“Me too!” cheered Pinkie. The energetic pony leaped into the air so high she almost touched the ceiling. “I used to play it all the time with my sisters and the neighbors back at the rock farm! ‘Course we had to use rocks back then since we couldn’t afford rubber balls. What made it even more fun were all the lollipops we got from the doctors.”

Twilight looked at her friends as if they were speaking another language. It wasn’t just her either; Rarity and Fluttershy shared the same confusion. Speaking for all three, Twilight questioned, “I’m sorry, but what is dodgeball? I’ve never heard of it before.”

“Dodgeball is only, like, the greatest, most awesomest sport ever! It’s got two teams trying to hit each other with rubber balls while catching the other team’s throws. If you get hit, or if your throw is caught, you're out!” Rainbow’s hooves darted in all directions as she explained, fueled by her enthusiasm. Twilight gave an intrigued smile. Fluttershy trembled upon hearing about the goal of the game. Rarity stared at her hooves, wondering if they had been groomed properly.

“The best part is that it’s really easy to learn. Not to mention it’s got rules for all kinds of games depending on who’s playing, like a limit for how high pegasi can fly or what spells unicorns can and can’t use.” explained Rainbow Dash. “Some cities even have professional dodgeball teams like the Los Pegasus Vipers and the Maregina Rampage.”

“Honestly, a game where ponies throw rubber balls at each other sounds brutish in my mind,” muttered Rarity. “Can’t we just go with my suggestion?”

“No way! I haven’t played dodgeball in forever! I’m not going to roll over and let some boring, lame fashion show be our special event,” argued Rainbow Dash, eye to eye with a huffing Rarity.

Twilight edged between her friends before an argument broke out. The last thing she needed was another incident causing more of a mess in her precious library. “How about this? Why don’t we combine our ideas? We can host a dodgeball tournament for everypony to enter. Pinkie, the Cakes, and the rest of Ponyville’s bakers can run a bake sale. Finally, Rarity can make the uniforms for all the teams while receiving a fee for each uniform. Then we use the cash from the tickets and baked goods to donate to the funds!”

The five mares nodded in agreement and Twilight sighed in relief. “Great, then let’s meet tomorrow in town to spread the word. We’re going to make this fundraiser the best it can be!”

****************************************************************************

The next day, the town buzzed with excitement as word spread about the upcoming dodgeball tournament. Everypony was out gathering as many friends as they could before rushing to sign up. Others were interested in the bake sale, seeing this as a chance to show off their best work.

Twilight was in charge of the tournament stand, while Rarity accepted the uniform fees. Pinkie Pie, along with the Cakes, were in charge of the bake sale stand. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were busy weaving their way through—or in Rainbow’s case, over—the throng of excited ponies, passing out pamphlets as they went.

Best of all, it wasn’t just those signing up who were interested in the fundraiser. All of Ponyville wanted to help pitch in. Construction workers promised to build the stands for free. Newspapers planned to run a special section in their sports column to cover the tournament. The hospital even offered to have some of their nurses set up a first aid station. Most importantly, everypony wanted to chip in for the needy.

At the bake sale stand, Pinkie Pie had finished signing up the previous pony in line when she saw Bon Bon come forward. “Hey, Bon Bon! Thinking of putting your delicious chocolates in the bake sale?”

“Sure, anything to help the cause. Plus, nopony can make chocolate better than me,” proclaimed Bon Bon with a cocky smirk. Pinkie’s mouth watered at the thought of tasting her friend’s delicious, gooey chocolate. In fact, Pinkie could say that Bon Bon was one of the few ponies who could make better chocolate than Sugarcube Corner.

After she wrote down the candy maker’s name, Pinkie pointed to the other stand. “Did you sign up for the tournament?”

“No. I’m terrible at sports,” admitted Bon-Bon with a sigh. “Lyra, however, said she was dead set on joining.”

“You bet your flank I did,” announced Lyra, walking over from the dodgeball stand. She wrapped her forearm around Bon Bon and grinned. “Too bad Bonny here can’t catch a ball to save her life. Back in school, she was so bad that she tried to come up with excuses to not participate in gym.”

“Th-they weren’t excuses,” argued Bon Bon, avoiding Lyra’s smirking face. “I-I had legitimate reasons for not attending!”

“Oh really? What about the time you said you had to take your sick cat to the vet? Did you suddenly lose your lifelong allergies that day?” An elbow to the gut quickly silenced the chuckling lyre player. Bon Bon bid farewell, dragging a moaning Lyra away. Pinkie merely waved goodbye and addressed the next pony in line.

Twilight found herself gazing over the growing line of would-be participants. She sat down back down, eyes filled with concern. “At the rate things are going, we’re going to have too many players. I think we may have to extend the tournament a few days just so everypony can play.”

“Sounds delightful, Darling,” agreed Rarity, looking up from her lists. Each contained at least a dozen requests for uniforms in all shapes and sizes. Some teams even wanted different customizations for each teammate. Rarity’s eyes then glanced over to the big chest of entrance fees and smiled. “Celestia knows, not even I can create so many uniforms in a week. If we make the tournament last longer than a day, as well as shorten this insane amount of demands I keep getting, I might be able to make everything in time.”

“That’s great. Have you decided what team you're going to be on?” asked Twilight as she passed a quill to the next signer.

“Please, Twilight,” chided Rarity. She swished her elegant mane while holding her nose up high. “Such a violent sport is not something for a lady like moi. After all, I’m not one for activities that involve getting sweaty or dirty.”

“What about the Sisterhooves Social?” asked Twilight, smirking.

“Th-that was different!” answered Rarity, rubbing her hooves together and avoiding Twilight’s gaze. Although she would never admit it, the social was quite fun. Sure she got dirty, but it was nothing a trip to the spa couldn’t cure. Well, maybe two trips.

“We’d better tell the others about this,” said Twilight. She spotted Fluttershy nearby who looked so nervous that Twilight could see her shivering from the stand.

The curious unicorn focused on where Fluttershy was staring. It was a group of ponies who were huddling around something in the center. From where she was, Twilight could hear two ponies in the center having an argument. Her attempts to find the arguers was futile thanks to the growing numbers of interested ponies. Twilight waved Fluttershy to come over, much to the pegasus’s relief. When landed at the stand, Fluttershy asked, “Um… I-Is so-something wrong?”

“Fluttershy, what’s going on over there?” asked Twilight, pointing to the growing audience.

Fluttershy rubbed the back of her head while staring down at her other hoof. “Um…”

“Yes?”

“Rainbow Dash and Applejack are… kind of fighting...”

****************************************************************************

Big Macintosh wondered what he had done to deserve this. He was only going for a walk to stretch his legs and maybe get something to eat. Now he was struggling to hold himself together as Rainbow Dash and Applejack pulled his front forelegs towards each other. To the crowd, it looked like a tug of war with a pony instead of rope. Both mares were tugging so hard it looked like the arms were about to be ripped off any second. If that wasn’t bad enough, Macintosh could already hear the other stallions snickering at the sight of the strongest of them getting pulled around like a ragdoll.

“What do you mean I can’t ask your brother to be on my team?!” shouted Rainbow Dash, pulling with all her strength.

“Because ya already got Snowflake for muscles on your team. Plus, he’s mah brother, and he knows better than to turn against his kin!” argued Applejack, glaring at a sweating Macintosh.

“Don’t Ah have a say in this?” grunted Big Macintosh.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash glanced at the big stallion and then each other. Both frowned and responded with almost a single voice. “NO!”

They yanked harder, stretching Big Macintosh nearly as far as his arms could reach. The stallion prayed for something to come and save him from his misery. A glowing purple aura suddenly surrounded the two mares and pulled them off the big stallion. Despite their efforts, the two were helpless to escape the magical trap. Free at last, Big Macintosh galloped away before anything else could happen to him.

After they stopped struggling, Twilight released her friends and glared at them. “Girls, I asked you to hand out information. Not to go scouting for potential teammates and fight over them as if they were toys.”

“Ain’t mah fault that Ah caught Rainbow here tryin’ to sweet talk mah brother into joining her team,” muttered Applejack, adjusting her hat.

“Oh really? Who was the one asking some of my squad mates on the weather patrol to join her team?” accused Rainbow Dash. “If you can take members of my weather team then I sure as hay can take your brother!”

“Ya want somepony off mah farm? Take Caramel, he’ll be a real big help,” suggested Applejack with a smirk.

“That guy? He can barely do anything right! I’d rather have Twilight!” shouted Rainbow Dash.

“Hey!” cried out Twilight, puffing her cheeks.

Applejack tipped down the brim of her hat, casing a dark, threatening shadow over her eyes. “Looks like there's only one way to settle this, huh?”

Rainbow Dash stepped forward until her and Applejack's snouts were only inches apart. “I was just thinking the same thing. One-on-one dodgeball?”

“As if there were any other way,” snorted Applejack.

After one last glare, the two rivals walked away from one another until they were on opposite sides of the crowd. By now, they had attracted the attention of everypony in the town center. Ponies whispered their thoughts on who was going to win, even starting a betting pool. Twilight looked at her friends and asked, “Don’t you think this is pointless, girls?”

“Sorry, Twilight, but I’m already itching for a match,” said Rainbow, never losing her focus on Applejack.

“Same here,” mentioned Applejack. "She wants a show down. She's gonna get one."

Twilight sighed before summoning two dodgeballs. She rolled one to each competitor and said, “I guess I’ll be the judge. Are you girls ready?”

Applejack spat on the ground before leaning back, eyeing her opponents wings. They were going to be her biggest problem and if she wasn’t careful, her face had a date with the dodgeball in Rainbow Dash’s hooves. She would have to find some way to bring Dash down to the ground where things were more even. An idea began to form in Applejack’s mind as she whipped her tail back and forth. “I’m ready!”

Rainbow Dash’s nostrils flared as she stretched out her wings and neck. Although she hated to admit it, Applejack was probably the only pony in town who could match her in athletics. Sure, Dash had wings, but Applejack didn’t buck apples just for fun. The earth pony had strength and stamina, but the pegasus was sure she could overcome both with her speed and agility. After all, she who strikes first, wins. “I’m ready too!”

Everypony held their breath as Twilight raised her hoof and shouted, “Go!”

Rainbow Dash instantly took to the skies while Applejack sprinted forward. Applejack put her plan into action, zigzagging as she ran. Rainbow Dash raised her hoof for a throw, but stopped as her target waved randomly. No matter how much she tried, the pegasus couldn’t keep her eyes on Applejack. Without a clear shot for her aerial attack, Rainbow Dash dived for the ground.

Applejack grinned and quickly reversed her movements. Guessing where Rainbow Dash was going to land, the earth pony pushed herself even faster. When she got close enough, Applejack tossed her dodgeball into the air, turned around, and bucked it. Just as Rainbow Dash landed, she looked up and gasped. The dodgeball was just seconds away from knocking her teeth out.

At the last moment, Rainbow dived to the right. The projectile barely nicked her mane as the pegasus landed on her hooves, no worse for wear. An incredulous Applejack sat on her haunches as Rainbow Dash smirked before shouting, “Game. Set. Match!”

Applejack waited until Rainbow Dash swiped her arm and dodged left, but to her horror the ball was still held in the grinning pegasus’ arm. Rainbow Dash followed her feint with a showy spin and released the ball for real. With no time to dodge, Applejack stood helpless as she waited for the oncoming blow. Before the ball could strike her, a flash of brown and white zipped between the two contestants. It disappeared as quickly as it came, along with the dodgeball.

"What the hay? Who's the wiseguy that stopped my winning shot!" growled Rainbow Dash, looking in all directions

“Hey, Dash! Up here!” shouted a cocky voice.

Rainbow looked up. A second later her own dodgeball slammed right into her face before she could so much as blink. The stunned pegasus was knocked off her hooves and landed on her back, her snout bright red. The stranger landed not a foot away and leered mockingly down at Rainbow Dash. When she recognized her attacker, Rainbow growled, “Gilda…”

“Surprised?” asked Gilda, confidently walking toward her former friend. “I see you’re still the same loser hanging around with these lame-o’s.”

“And I see you still haven't gotten rid that attitude of yours,” growled Rainbow Dash, getting back on all fours. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“What? I can’t see my former best friend after all this time?” snarled Gilda. She then turned towards the crowd who shivered at the sight of her cold, glaring eyes. Some parents hid their children behind them. “Or did you forget how you and your little friends embarrassed me?”

“The only one who embarrassed herself was you, Gilda. Now why are you here?” demanded Rainbow Dash.

“I was just in the neighborhood and wanted see what’s up. I heard you were hosting a dodgeball tournament,” said Gilda, flexing her claws.

“What’s it to you?” asked Dash, raising her eyebrow. “Do you plan on joining or something?”

"Maybe…” said Gilda who shrugged her shoulders. She turned her back towards Rainbow and started walking. “Not that it would be much of a contest. After all, a loser like you couldn't stand up against a real challenge.”

“Are you trash talking me?!” demanded Rainbow Dash, stepping forward. “Why don’t you come over here and tell it to me, face to face!”

Gilda let out a harsh laugh before facing her old friend. “I’m only telling the truth. Compared to me, a pony like you is nothing more than a filly in diapers. Then again, most ponies are, compared to griffins.”

“Now yer pushin’ it!” shouted Applejack, stepping forward. “Doesn’t matter what race ya are! We ponies can tango with ya griffins anytime!”

Gilda’s smile deepened. “Really? Well then how about we make this tournament a bit more interesting? Your best ponies against a team of griffins of my choosing?”

“Sure! I’m game for that!” shouted Rainbow Dash, gritting her teeth. The two former friends continued to glare at each other until Twilight got between them.

Twilight stomped her hoof and shouted, “Hold it! We’re supposed to be raising money for the fundraiser. Not settling some feud.”

“What are you, chicken?” mocked Gilda. She flapped her wings and clucked in front of Twilight's face. Rainbow Dash turned red and tried to charge forward, but Applejack quickly grabbed Dash’s tail and held her back.

Twilight simply raised her head and smiled. “Your insults aren’t going to work on me, Gilda. I have been instructed by Princess Celestia to make sure that this fundraiser is run properly and I for one—“

“Oh, who cares what some sissy, hippie princess says!” interrupted Gilda.

A unanimous gasp was heard amongst the crowd. Twilight yelled, “What did you say about Princess Celestia?!”

“Oh? Did I touch a nerve?” taunted Gilda. The griffin leered at the enraged unicorn. “Looks like I angered the princess’s loyal dog, huh? Do you obey whatever she tells you to do? Do you roll over and play dead if she commands it? I bet she’s just a lazy ruler who sits on her fat butt doing nothing but eating cake. Not to mention she commands all of you to obey her every little whim like a spoiled little brat. And if she doesn’t get her way, she’ll send you to the moon for a thousand years until you ask nicely for forgiveness.”

With every insult, the ponies grew louder and louder in their angry rebuttals. Applejack was finding it harder to resist the urge to let go of a raging Rainbow Dash. Even Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were glaring at Gilda for her lack of respect. Nopony, however, was angrier than the princess’s own faithful student. “I’m giving you… one chance… to take back everything you said… about her.”

Gilda cleared her throat and leaned forward. “I’m sorry… that the royal, stupid, lazy, pathetic excuse for a princess—”

Every fiber of Twilights’ body shook with rage. Everypony sensed the upcoming danger and started to step away from the growling unicorn. Pinkie Pie quickly pulled out an army helmet and took cover behind her stand, exchanging her popcorn for a bag of marshmallows.

“—has to sit on her overweight flank and babysit this pitiful town of losers!” shouted Gilda.

Twilight’s mane and tail lit on fire like an erupting volcano. Her eyes shone like those of a demon from the darkest pits of Tartarus. Everypony backed up at the sight of Twilight’s monstrous fury. Gilda started to sweat from the intense heat that was directed at her. The raging unicorn stared straight into Gilda’s shocked eyes with utter scorn on her face. “You want a match? You got it! Be here in one week! And when we beat your sorry hides, we will bury you and your team six feet under and then carve your tombstones with your own claws!”

The inferno subsided and everypony sighed in relief. Pinkie Pie took one of the marshmallows off her stick and offered one to Rarity, who politely refused.

“Well since you’re all fired up how about we raise the ante?” asked Gilda, trying her best to regain her cool.

Twilight eyed the griffin and hesitated to answer. “What do you mean?”

“I mean a bet, horn head. It will make things more interesting,” said Gilda. Her eyes turned towards the baking sale stand and smirked. “You guys are going to have food, right? If my team wins, then we get to have all the snacks we want for free.”

A growling Pinkie Pie dropped her marshmallows and shot out of her hiding place like a cannonball. She got into Gilda’s face and hissed, “No way José! Those goodies are going to be used to raise money! They’re not for some Jerky Jerk like you.”

“How about letting me finish, Dweebie Pie?” yelled Gilda, grabbing Pinkie by the neck and turning her around. “Now how about taking the advice I gave you a long time ago? Make like a bee and buzz off!”

The griffin raised her hind leg and brought it forward, kicking Pinkie in the flank. Sailing across the sky, Pinkie vainly flapped her limbs in an attempt to fly. The soaring earth pony noticed she was heading towards the fountain and quickly pulled out a snorkel before splashing. A big wave erupted from the fountain, drenching nearby ponies from their manes to their tails. Pinkie rose to the surface and spat out some water and a few wishing bits.

“Anyway, where was I?” asked Gilda, nonchalantly. “If your team somehow wins, then not only will I take back everything I ever said about this place, but my team and I will also donate a big sum of money to your fundraiser as well. Unless, of course, you’re too scared to take a risk…”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous,” snorted Twilight. “There is no way that we are going to agr—“

“You got a deal!” shouted Rainbow Dash. She spit into her hoof as Gilda did the same with her claw. The two smacked their saliva-covered appendages together.

“Rainbow! What are you doing?!” shouted Twilight.

“Sorry, deal is set and done. See you in later, losers!” shouted Gilda. The crowd watched as the griffin flew away, laughing her head off.

“We’ll see who’s the loser when we school you bird brains!” yelled Rainbow Dash. She turned around and found Twilight glaring at her, ready to burst into flames again. “Oh, come on, Twi! We can beat Gilda and her friends! Just think how awesome it would be to show her up and get her to pay up as well.”

Twilight’s anger faded, but the fire in her heart didn’t. She glanced around and saw that everypony was just as determined as Rainbow Dash to knock Gilda down a few pegs. Their pride as a town and as ponies had been attacked and now they looked ready to retaliate.

“She wants a war? We’re going to give her a war!” shouted Twilight to the crowd, feeling the excitement in the air. “She thinks ponies are weak and pathetic? We’re going to show her just how strong we ponies are!”

Everypony cheered in excitement. Their voices echoed so loud it could be heard even outside the town. The game was set, and spirits were high as everypony prepared themselves for a tournament of fun and pride.

All except one pegasus who walked away from the excited crowd with her head town low. Derpy Hooves made her way down the street, muttering, "Dodgeball... Why did it have to be dodgeball?"

Part 2

Derpyball

By The Rated Ponystar

Edited by Fernin, Halcyon, Clavier

Artwork done by Tzelly (http://tzelly-el.deviantart.com/)

It had been five days since Ponyville had accepted Gilda’s challenge. News of the showdown spread and all of Equestria was talking about it, from the nobles of Canterlot to the pioneers of Appleloosa. Sports reporters eagerly flew to the small, yet famous, town in hopes of getting a big scoop for their newspaper columns, especially since some of the Elements of Harmony were said to be involved. While the dodgeball tournament at large was big news, everypony was more interested in the match between the ponies of Ponyville and the griffins. Word of Gilda’s insults to not only their kind, but to Princess Celestia, caused an outcry. Many were willing to do whatever it took for the sake of their Equestrian pride.

The Architecture and Construction Guild sent in their best workers to help build a big stadium for the tournament, pro bono. With such a rise in attendance, the stadium would have to be big enough to house nearly all of Ponyville and built in a week. Still, the guild promised to deliver and worked nonstop.

Pinkie Pie and Rarity managed to get help as well. Bakers came to assist Sugarcube Corner with their own treats and special recipes, leaving Pinkie plenty of time to help out with the decorations. As for Rarity, she woke up one moring to find a crew of sports designers waiting on her front doorstep. They had been sent by their companies to assist her in making the outfits, provide they were allowed to copy them and sell them for reasonable prices. Rarity could hardly refuse. Besides the match with the griffins, the tournament still had over fifty teams that would be playing, and Rarity needed all the help she could get.

Despite not knowing who Gilda was bringing, everypony was excited and confident about their chances of victory. Well, almost everypony…

Dodgeball.

The very word made Derpy cringe. Her efforts to escape the infernal game once and for all were in vain. It seemed that even in the smallest town in Equestria, it followed her. Before she arrived in Ponyville it was but a whisper, now it was all anypony would talk about. Memories she had buried deep in the darkest recesses of her mind suddenly were at the forefront of her brain.

Every street, every corner, bore a reminder of the upcoming tournament—posters, news bulletins, ponies walking around in sportswear, even ponies playing the game itself. There was just no escape from it. She reasoned that it was only for a few more days, and that everything would go back to normal. Until then she would just have to bear it.

“Derpy! Watch out!”

“Huh?” Derpy looked up and realized she was heading straight for a tree. Her tried to reverse her direction, but a second later she was already on the ground, rubbing her noggin. The tree shook for a while as acorns fell from the branches and piled around her. A family of squirrels rushed out of their wooden home and saw their food supply scattered all over the floor. Derpy pressed her ears back as their high pitched aggressive cries were directed at her.

“Oops, my bad,” apologized Derpy. The squirrels stuck out their lounges and climbed back up the branches, most likely to survey the damage that was done. Derpy was about to get up when she saw a hoof raised out to help her.

Carrot Top smiled as she assisted her roommate back onto her hooves. “I think that’s the fifth time you’ve smacked into a tree today. Been busy thinking?”

“You could say that,” answered Derpy, struggling to keep her eyes straight. “Where’s Dinky? She with you?”

“She’s hanging out with the Cutie Mark Crusaders at their clubhouse. They’re trying to earn a ‘Sports Merchandise Selling’ cutie mark.” Carrot Top chuckled. “By the time I left, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom got into an argument about which should be their main selling T-shirt: the Rainbow Dash or Applejack design.”

“I’m really glad those three treat her well,” said Derpy. She knew some of the children teased Dinky because of her eyes and clumsiness. Thankfully, the CMC were always there for her. Even calling her a fellow crusader, since Dinky’s flank was blank just like theirs.

She’s lucky… I never had a friend growing up… thought Derpy, thinking back to her own childhood.

“Anyway, since there’s not much to do, why don’t we go see the athletes training at Sweet Apple Acres?” suggested Carrot Top with a smile.

Derpy’s own smile disappeared. The thought of heading to the training area, where all the news reporters and spectators were gathered to see the competitors train, made her shiver. To make matters worse, some of Equestria’s professional dodgeball teams sent in some of their players and trainers to help coach the competitors, especially the ones competing against the griffins. If any of them recognize who I am…

“Derpy?” asked Carrot Top. Derpy snapped out of her stupor and tried to remain calm. Yet, Carrot Top wasn’t convinced as she tilted her head and stared at her with concern. “You okay? You look a little more spaced out than normal.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Derpy rubbed the back of her head and nervously chuckled. “Just thinking about… um… kiwi!”

The two housemates stood in silence as Carrot Top blinked her eyes a few times. As for Derpy, she was cursing in her head for not thinking of a smarter excuse. Raising her eyebrow, Carrot Top asked, “Kiwi? You were thinking about kiwi?”

“Yes, kiwi,” repeated Derpy, trying to sound as bubbly as ever. It wouldn’t be the first time she said something random so maybe it could work. “I just… was thinking about how… green it is on the inside!”

Carrot Top opened her mouth, but closed it and shook her head. “Okay… Anyway, let’s go. I want to see me some sweating, muscled stallions!” The two soon made their way toward the direction of Sweet Apple Acers. One was smiling and had a skip to her steps, while the other was dragging her hooves and sweating nervously.

When the two of them arrived at the farm, they were surprised to see just how many athletes there were. Families and friends stood on hills and sidelines as the competitors trained and sweat under the coaching of their team leaders. Most of them were training for the tournament, but there were a select few locations that were focused only for the team that would face Gilda.

As Derpy and Carrot Top made their way through the crowds, the former could her feel old instincts returning. Her two eyes darted in opposite directions, scanning for any sign of ponies that might recognize her. Nimble Bolt from the Mareesota Blur. Gale Racer from Manehatten Epic. Ricochet from Canterlot Rampage. Not to mention all these reporters! Derpy lowered her head and looked ready to bolt the moment they looked in her direction. This was a bad idea. Why did I even come?!

Carrot Top, however, was oblivious to all this and was beaming with excitement. She took Derpy by the hoof and dragged her down the field, passing the groups one by one. “Look at them go. Some of these stallions are quite the hunks, huh? That Gilda is going to regret ever insulting our town.”

“You’re really into this, aren’t you?” muttered Derpy, lowering her head to avoid any attention.

“I’ll admit, I wasn’t interested at first. But then I started learning more about it and I wish we played it gym class back in school. That and…. Growl...” said Carrot Top, eyeing one stallion who was doing pushups, his sweat dripping down his muscular physique. “Say, Derpy, did you ever play dodge—”

“NO!” shouted Derpy, catching a few strangers by surprise. Blushing, she hid beneath her wings. “I mean… no… I never played.”

Carrot Top opened her mouth, but Derpy walked ahead of her before she had a chance to press the issue. Getting the message, Carrot Top remained quiet as they proceeded further through the groups, occasionally stopping to observe the training. They saw Rainbow Dash addressing her own group of participants, a tall object covered in a blue blanket next to her. Sitting down, they watch as Rainbow Dash flew back and forth, yelling at her group like that of a military drill instructor. “Okay, you guys. Listen up! The way to play dodgeball is simple. There are five things you must remember: dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge!”

“What about throwing?” questioned a male pegasus.

“Throwing is useless unless you know how to dodge the throws coming at you. Speed and agility are key in this game. So first we need to train you guys to be able to dodge anything.” Rainbow Dash smiled and puffed out her chest. “And who better to guide you than the fastest around!”

Up front, somepony whispered to his friend. “More like the braggiest.” The two snickered, but soon shut up when Dash glared at them.

“Looks like we got two volunteers. Thunderlane! Caramel! Step forward!” shouted Dash. They glanced at each other nervously before obeying. Rainbow Dash turned back to the blanket-covered object with a smirk that made the two shiver. “Now we’re going to get your muscles really moving.” She removed the blanket, revealing a tennis ball-serving machine. “Dodge these tennis balls as fast as you can. Go!”

The machine began to spin to life as the two readied themselves. A second later they barraged by a flying herd of tennis balls. They ducked and jumped as fast as they could, keeping up an impressive pace for quite some time. Rainbow Dash nodded in approval, but then grinned evilly as she switched the machine to shoot faster.

It didn’t take long for the stallions to become overcome by the faster assault. Thunderlane tried to fly away, but one of the balls managed to hit him straight in the stomach knocking the wind out of him. Caramel tried to yell at Rainbow Dash, but he was cut off when a tennis ball entered his mouth, muffling him. The crowd shook their head sympathetically as the tennis balls soon began to pile up, covering the two past the head. The machine eventually ran out of ammo. All that was left was two bruised stallions, buried in green balls. Rainbow Dash barely held back a snicker as she turned back to the nervous crowd. “Anypony else want to say something?”

They all shook their heads in unison.

“Kind of harsh,” muttered Carrot Top, who looked at the two stallions with pity. They managed to get out of their makeshift graves with a few bruises covering them.

“Kind of pointless. After all, throws in the game can be curved or twirled if based on how you grip the ball and release it. Not just in straight lines.” Derpy rolled her eyes. “Plus, throws are at different speeds. Keep training at throws at the same speed and you’ll miss the ones that are too slow or even faster.”

Realizing what she just said she looked around to see a few bystanders staring at her in surprise, including Carrot Top. “Wow, Derpy. I didn’t know you were so into this.”

Rubbing the back of her head, Derpy replied, “Oh, I just read that… in a book… a while ago…”

“Must have taken you years with those eyes,” muttered somepony in the crowd. A few other chuckled as Derpy lowered her head, her ears drooping lower then before.

Carrot Top glared at them before taking her friend by the hoof and dragged her away. “Come on, Derpy. We don’t need to stand with this sort of crowd.”

“It’s okay, Carrot. Maybe I should just go home?” mumbled Derpy, hoping this could be her chance to walk away before anything else happened.

“No, Derpy.” Carrot Top stopped and faced her, giving her a stern yet caring look. Derpy couldn’t help but wonder if Carrot Top was a teacher in her past life. “You don’t deserve to be treated like that and you can’t let others walk over you. You have to stand up to yourself and show ponies the real you. Not some bumbling mare who has an sight problem, but a kind and gentle pegasus who has a heart of gold.”

A tear trickled down Derpy’s cheek as she hugged her best friend. She was truly blessed to have found somepony who understood her for who she was and not what she was. “Thank, Carrot Top. You’re the best.”

“It’s no big deal,” said Carrot Top, nuzzling Derpy’s cheek. “Let’s look at one more group and then we can leave. Okay?”
Derpy nodded and they continued to walk across the field. They soon came to one of the largest crowds where they had to squeeze through to get a good look up front. Addressing the group of tryouts was Twilight Sparkle with somepony else by her side, a red-pelted earth pony with a black mane covered in white streaks. Derpy couldn’t help but find him familiar, his name on the top of her tongue.

“Listen up, everypony,” commanded Twilight, stepping forward. “Red Star here is going to teach you all how to throw accurately, so pay attention.”

Derpy’s eyes widen when she heard his name. Red Star?! The Red Star of the Coltcago Vendetta?! She looked to his flank and instantly felt her heart sink when she saw three dodgeballs with stars on the center of each one. She recognized that cutie mark anywhere.

If he sees me… thought Derpy as she tried to hide herself with the crowd of observers. Carrot Top, however, was captivated by the professional player and pushed herself forward even more for a better look.

Clearing his throat, his charming and smooth voice won over the crowd instantly, especially the mares. “Now, the trick to throwing isn’t just how fast or how powerful you throw. It’s also the technique you use to apply that power and speed.” Twilight levitated a ball towards Red Star, which he caught and balanced with his left hoof. The crowd was silent as he demonstrated the right positions in order. “First, keep your eye on the target. Never lose focus on where you’re aiming. Second, lean back with one of your front legs and step forward into your throw. Release your grip on the ball when your leg reaches out as far as it can.”

After showing them the steps, Red Star turned his attention to a series of archery targets nearby. He leaned back and threw his dodgeball, smacking it right on the bulls eye, leaving a small dent. The crowd cheered as he bowed. Derpy, however, only huffed. Please, that’s only half his real strength...

The other ponies picked up their own balls and began throwing. Most of them missed or hit the rim of the target, but nopony had been able to hit the bull’s-eye. It was a fairly uneventful scene in Derpy’s eye until she heard some pony shout, “YEAH!”

She recognized the voice instantly and turned her head to see Ponyville’s most muscled pegasus, Snowflake, take a dozen balls in his massive hooves. Like a machine, he flew down the row of targets as everypony jumped out of the way. He threw his dodgeballs as fast and hard as he could, nailing each bull’s-eye perfectly. The massive power behind each of the throws ended up shattering each target, causing debris to fly everywhere. When he was finished, very few targets were standing, and Snowflake raised his forelegs, flexing his muscles to the crowd. “YEAH!”

Everypony’s, except Derpy, jaw dropped. Red Star managed to close his mouth and gave the big pegasus a pat on the shoulder. “I guess I take back what I said. Sometimes strength really does make the throw.”

“YEAH!” cried Snowflake. He picked up another ball and threw it at one of the remaining targets. This time, the ball bounced off and headed straight for the crowd. Everypony gasped and jumped out of the way while some simply ducked as lowas they could go to avoid the speeding ball. Derpy stepped back and gasped when she saw the ball heading straight towards her. However, her fear soon disappeared as her eyes straitened. She analyzed the speed and distance the ball that was heading for her. Her body moved on its own as she lifted her front hooves and caught the ball.

Everypony gasped as Derpy jumped backwards, flipped into the air, and landed on her hooves in a perfect somersault. A stunned Red Star stood still for a moment before rushing over, his face filled with awe. “That was amazing! How did you learn to do that?”

Derpy gasped and looked up. In an instant, Red Star’s face turned from surprise to absolute horror upon seeing one another. He pointed at her and stuttered, “Y–you’re… you’re…” He fell on his flank and scooted back, his hooves digging into the dirt and ripping up the grass as he retreated. His entire body was sweating as he looked at Derpy as if she were Nightmare Moon. Everypony watched the entire scene in confusion. Derpy held her breath as all eyes focused on her and Red Star.

Please don’t say the name! Don’t say the name! begged Derpy.

Twilight slowly walked towards the trainer, her eyebrows raised. “Red Star? What’s wr—”
She was cut off when Red Star started screaming. Twilight jumped back in shock as the once charismatic professional screamed again and again like a scary cat. Other groups from across the field stopped their activities and focused on the terrified Red Star. He pointed at Derpy and shouted, “TH-THE CROSS-EYED DEMON!”

A series of gasps was heard from all the trainers, professionals, some of the reporters, and even a few bystanders, who all turned their heads towards a blushing Derpy Hooves. Red Star slowly got up, and started stepping back. “Please don’t hurt me with that dodgeball! Mercy! Please!”

“I…” Derpy started, but that was enough to make Red Star sprint into the distance. In turn, all the others who gasped upon hearing her nickname followed suit. They ran, flew, or teleported away, all to get away from the “Cross-Eyed Demon” that had returned. Some of them fainted or curled up in the fetal position crying and sucking their hooves.

The remaining ponies were confused and fascinated by what had just transpired. All eyes were either on Derpy or the fleeing stallions and mares. Derpy couldn’t take any more and flew as fast as she could in a random direction before anypony could ask questions.

“Twilight!” shouted Rainbow Dash, landing next to her equally confused friend. “Why did all the trainers just get up and leave?! They looked like Chrysalis had come back with an army of changelings. What just happened?”

Twilight turned to her and replied, “I… I don’t know.” She turned her gaze toward a retreating Derpy Hooves and narrowed her eyes, “But I want to find out.”

The incident at the farm managed to make its way across Ponyville in a matter of hours. Questions were tossed around with few answers, but the most popular one was, why did the professionals flee from the sight of Ponyville’s clumsy mailmare? From the way witnesses described it, the professionals treated Derpy as if she were an abomination from Tartarus ready to feast on their souls.

Many ponies didn’t believe it at first. The idea of Derpy being a “demon” was simply ludicrous. This was the mare that, while clumsy, was one of the nicest ponies around. She rarely ever got angry, and they never once saw her in a fight.

“It still doesn’t explain why they all left screaming,” said Twilight, as she finished explaining what happened to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. With the trainers gone, practice ended early and the three of them headed back into town. Shaking her head, Twilight continued, “I managed to find some of them, but they all said they didn’t want to talk about and told me to stay away from the ‘demon’ as they put it.”

“I admit that’s weird, but come on? Derpy Hooves being called a ‘demon’? I'd sooner believe Fluttershy was evil than her,” snickered Rainbow Dash. She struggled to hold her laughter while her friends glared at her. “Oh, come on! It’s funny.”

“Rainbow Dash, one of them crawled all the way up one of mah trees, and it took a few bucks to knock him down. If that ain’t fear, Ah don’t know what is,” pointed out Applejack, jabbing her hoof into Dash’s chest.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, but stayed silent as they entered Sugarcube Corner. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were waiting for them inside. Pinkie Pie zipped over to them and greeted her them cheerfully. “Hey, girls! Guess what?! I was just about to tell you girls about how much fun me and the bakers have been having here in the kitchen. Well, it was all fun at first, but then I got a little too excited and put extra yeast in one of the cakes along with some sarsaparilla for a bubbling taste that felt like my mouth had fireworks going off inside. But that caused it to grow too much causing it to go BOOM!” shouted Pinkie Pie, throwing her hooves up in the air. “So then I tried to clean up the mess, but the rest of the bakers told me to wait out here until they needed me, and it’s been six hours so they really must be getting along fine without me. But enough about me, how was practice?”

The three of them blinked and it took awhile for them to comprehend what Pinkie was saying. Twilight nervously smiled and said, “It went… well, Pinkie. It went well.”

“Honestly, Pinkie, let the girls get inside first. It wouldn’t hurt to be a bit polite sometimes,” chided Rarity. Pinkie blushed and let the girls sit down. She quickly made each of them a chocolate milkshake, for which the tired girls were thankful.

“So how was practice? Any good ponies for the team against the griffins?” asked Rarity.

Twilight nodded and pulled a notepad out of her saddlebag. “I’ve managed to gather enough data to judge each pony by their throwing power, speed, dodging, stamina, and flying or magical abilities, depending on what type of pony they are. According to what I know, we’ll need a good, strong, diverse team of ponies to keep everything well-rounded.”

“Well, we know me and Applejack are part of the team,” said Rainbow Dash, slapping hooves with her rival. “As for potential recruits, I’ve tried testing out a few ponies with the tennis-serving machine. Some of them are good, but others need a bit work. I’ll be able to whip them into shape in no time though.”

“Mah big brother’s got the stamina and the power. He’s a walking batterin’ ram, so he can be good for power. Might not be super speedy, but we can fix that by having him catch the balls,” said Applejack.

“If he works with Snowflake, the two of them will be front shields.” Twilight wrote the date into her notebook and smiled. “So that makes four. We need to make five more choices for a fully suited team.”

Rarity gasped and eagerly raised her hoof for their attention. “Speaking of suited, I’ve managed to finally finish the uniforms for the team. Fluttershy’s putting on one right now in the bathroom. She should be almost…”

The bathroom door creaked open. Fluttershy poked her head out and noticed her friends. “Oh, hello girls. Should I still come out? Maybe I should just wait here? Um, either way works for me,” whispered Fluttershy, as she slowly retreated back into the bathroom.

“Come on, Fluttershy,” encouraged Rainbow Dash, at the edge of her seat. “I wanna see the awesome uniform I’ll have when we take that jerk Gilda and her lackeys down.”

“Um… okay.”

Fluttershy crept past the door and walked over towards the girls. The uniform consisted of a bright blue design with Equestria’s flag in the center. Celestia and her sun were glittering with gold, while Luna and her moon were shining in silver. On the bottom stood the name of their proud town in bright red, big enough for all to see. The shoulders had white wings that stretched to the back. On the back, they saw Rainbow Dash’s name followed by the number one.

“That’s awesome!” shouted Rainbow Dash, pumping her hoof into the air. “Plus, I’m number one! That makes it even better.”

“Rarity, you really outdid yourself,” complemented Twilight, eyeing the stunning glittering center. “Did you cast the glowing charm on this?”

“Indeed I did. It really brings out not only the color, but the pride of being a pony as well,” answered Rarity with her chin held high.

“Normally, Ah ain’t much into wearin’ fancy, glittering clothes, but Ah’ll be honest, Ah’mitchin’ to try out mah uniform,” said Applejack with a nod of approval.

“We should have Applejack and Rainbow Dash put on their uniforms and parade through the streets! Everypony will be so amazed to see them it would be just fantastic!” suggested Pinkie Pie.

The girls continued to talk about the uniforms until they heard the shop’s bell ring. Red Star and a few of the other trainers entered the room, carrying their own notepads. Stepping forward, Red Star cleared his throat. “I’m not interrupting, am I?”

“Not at all, come join us,” encouraged Twilight, waving her hoof. Red Star smiled and nodded before taking seat as Pinkie asked him if he wanted a milkshake.

“Yes, please. I’m parched,” said Red Star. His face was very pale and he twitched every second. The other trainers held similar looks. They all looked dead tired, most likely from the running they did a short while ago.

Pinkie Pie came back with Star’s milkshake, who took it and gulped it down no tomorrow. Pinkie inched a bit closer to this face, nearly causing him to spill his milkshake in surprise. “Wow, you guys look as pale as ghost. Are you trying to look like ghosts? Because Nightmare Night is months away. Do you need a new calendar?”

Red Star blushed. “N-no. We’re just… a little surprised is all. We didn’t expect to run into the Crossed-Eyed Demon. Still can’t believe it was her.”

“Yeah, about that…” Rainbow Dash eyed the professional dodgeball player with curiosity. “Why did you call Derpy that? And for that matter, why were you so afraid of her? She’s as harmless as a fly.”

“Hey, flies can be very harmful! Those nasty buggers are always trying to land on my cupcakes and nopony wants to eat a fly!” declared Pinkie Pie, shaking her head.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Uh, Pinkie? I think Dash was just being rheto—”

Pinkie Pie ignored her and rushed to the counter, grabbing a cupcake from one of shop’s displays. “Like one day I could eat take a cupcake and then…” She took a bite and smiled before suddenly pretending to choke. She flailed her arms and spun around before falling to her back, rear legs straight up in the air. Everypony just stared at the performance while Pinkie choked a few more times for good measure then closed her eyes. As her tongue lolled out, a lily appeared out of nowhere between her crossed hooves, which only made Twilight twitch and mutter about “impossibilities” and “physics”.

Red Star then made an effort to speak, but Applejack raised her hoof. “Don’t ask. It’s just Pinkie being Pinkie.”
He nodded and asked, “Who’s Derpy?”

“Um, the one you called the Cross-Eyed Demon,” answered Rainbow Dash. She looked to her friends, excluding the dramatic Pinkie, with a raised eyebrow, but they shrugged.

“Wait, that’s what she’s calling herself now?” asked Red Star. He sighed and shook his head. “Well, here’s an update for you. Her real name is Ditzy Doo, and she’s from Las Pegasus.”

“What?!” shouted Pinkie, rising to her hooves in horror. “You mean to tell me I’ve been giving a pony birthday parties with her wrong name on the banners and cake?! Now I have to make up for it by giving her all those birthdays again!”

“I think there’s a bigger concern, Pinkie. If this is true, why did Derpy—I mean, Ditzy—change her name?” asked Twilight.

“Who knows, but I know it’s her,” said Red Star, shivering. “The way she caught that dodgeball? Those strange eyes of hers? I’ve seen those eyes so many times it haunts my dreams.”

“So who is she?” asked Rainbow Dash, impatiently.

The professional dodgeball players all looked at each other and shook their heads.

“She’s the Crossed-Eyed Demon.”

“The Gray Angel of Death.”

“The Bubble Ball Bomber.”

“The greatest dodgeball player in all of Equestria,” said Red Star. “Ditzy Doo.”

This was bad. Very bad. Worse than muffins being banned for life bad. Okay, maybe not that bad, but either way, things were not good for Derpy Hooves. After her exposure, she knew she had to get out of there before anypony started asking questions. It didn’t matter where; one direction was as good as any other. But the damage had already been done. Ponies would start asking questions, either to her or the professionals, and her secret would get out. Ditzy Doo’s secret would get out.

Derpy shook her head as she flew towards her house. No, I’m Derpy Hooves now. Not Ditzy Doo! She doesn’t exist anymore.

She cursed dodgeball, and she cursed the pony who thought dodgeball was a good idea for a charity event. Things had been going so well. She had a daughter, a good friend, a steady job, and a home that didn’t know about her past in Las Pegasus. Yes, she lost her husband to an accident long ago, but she had long since moved on. In just a few short hours her new life could be ruined.

Opening the door to her house, Derpy announced “I’m home,” and prayed Carrot Top wasn't home yet. She didn’t know how she was going to explain this to her best friend. To her relief, she only heard the familiar patter of tiny hooves running down the stairs. She smiled as Dinky jumped off the second-to-last step and shouted, “Welcome home, Mommy!”

Derpy picked up her daughter and nuzzled her. This is just what I need after such a long day. “How was your day, muffin?” asked Derpy, setting down her daughter.

Dinky jumped up and down. “It was so much fun. The Cutie Mark Crusaders asked if I wanted to make sports T-shirts with them, and I said yes. Then we started drawing and painting on Big Macintosh’s old clothes. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo started arguing about who was the better athlete, Applejack or Rainbow Dash, and they started throwing paint at each other. Soon me and Sweetie Belle joined in, and I got covered in green and red!” Dinky then raised her head proudly. “So when I got home I was really messy, so I took a bath all by myself and cleaned up the house!”

Clapping her hooves, Derpy smiled and said, “Good job, Dinky! You’re really growing up if you can start taking baths by yourself now!”

“Aw, but I love having baths with you, Mommy!” said Dinky. “You make bath time funny, the way you blow those bubbles into my face and pretend to be a pirate.”

“Relax, Dinky. You and I can still share baths sometimes if you want too.” Derpy messed with Dinky’s hair, making her daughter giggle.

Dinky’s eyes widened. She quickly rushed back upstairs, shouting, “Hold on! I made something for you today!” She soon returned with a T-shirt crudely colored in multiple splatters and lines, obvious handiwork from the paint fight earlier. Derpy held it up and saw her name on the back with a zero right underneath.

Dinky rubbed her hooves nervously as she glanced down at the floor, blushing. “It’s not perfect, but I made an outfit for you, Mommy. I know you’re not on the team, but I wanted you to have one anyway. Do you like it?”

Although she felt some dread upon seeing her name once again on a uniform, her daughter’s smiling face won over whatever dark feelings she had were brought out by the shirt. With a smile, Derpy answered, “I love it.”

Dinky shouted for joy and clapped her hooves. “Thanks, Mommy. You know, maybe you should play for Ponyville! I bet you could kick griffin butt!”

Derpy’s smile waned. Sighing, she put her hoof on her daughter’s shoulder. “Dinky, do you want to know a secret?” Her daughter nodded. “Promise not to tell anypony?” Another nod, this time it was faster. “I used to play dodgeball a long time ago, and I was really good at it.”

The surprised look on her daughter's face almost made Derpy laugh. She looked like a fish out of water. “Did you win any trophies?” asked Dinky, looking at her mother as if she was some superhero.

“A few…” admitted Derpy. More like a hundred and seventy-four.

“Then why aren’t you playing with the rest of Ponyville?” asked Dinky, tilting her head.

“Well… Mommy doesn’t play anymore,” answered Derpy with a sad smile. “She just wants to relax and take care of her daughter. Besides, the rest of them can do without me.”

Dinky shrugged. “If you say so.” She made her way upstairs, but at the top step she looked back and said, “I wish I could have seen you play. You must have been amazing.”

When her daughter left her sight, Derpy frowned and shook her head. “No, Dinky, I was a monster…”

Part 3

Derpyball

By The Rated Ponystar

Edited by Fernin, Halcyon, Clavier

Artwork done by Tzelly (http://tzelly-el.deviantart.com/)

Rumors of what had happened at the training session spread quickly. Different versions were told, but the one thing they had in common was the fact that Derpy Hooves was involved. Some found it hard to believe that their resident mailmare had managed to intimidate the professional players away. The rumors went even further when ponies started saying that Derpy Hooves was actually a dangerous former dodgeball player.

They said she took out an entire team of dodgeball players, all older and more experienced, all by herself in less than three minutes. How she had never lost a game, knowing every tactic and skilled throw—it was hinted that she had the strength to throw a dodgeball through a metal wall. Some even said she was possessed by a demon and loved to drink the blood of her defeated opponents, scaring them for life.

A few tried to find the crossed-eyed pegasus, but it was learned she had called in her vacation days and had stayed home. This was a surprise to her co-workers, as Derpy had never taken a day off unless she or Dinky was sick. Since they couldn’t ask Derpy, they sought out her daughter, but Dinky repeated that she “wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers”.

As the day of the big tournament drew closer, thoughts of Derpy transferred towards the upcoming game. The team to take on the griffins was almost complete with all nine members already announced: Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Big Macintosh, Twilight, Snowflake, Lyra, Sugarberry, Lucky, and Roseluck. With the team set, they all began trying to prepare themselves for the big day.

“How the hay is it possible to miss a target three feet in front of you?!” shouted Rainbow Dash at an embarrassed Lyra.

Trying being the key word.

“Hey! It’s not my fault! You were moving too fast!” she shouted back, earning a bonk on the head.

“That’s the point, Lyra! It’s called dodgeball for a reason,” retorted Dash. “You may be able to catch everything with your magic, but your throwing is just horrible.”

Lyra lifted up the dodgeball in a green aura and narrowed her eyes. Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs as she kept herself just above the ground, her eyes rolling out of boredom. Licking her lips, Lyra telekinetically shot the ball straight towards her target... only to hit Big Macintosh, twenty feet away to the left of Dash, knocking him to his face.

“Sorry, Mac!” shouted Lyra, running to the groaning farmer’s side.

Letting her forelegs fall with a sigh, Rainbow Dash looked around at her so-called team. Snowflake was charging at Lucky and Roseluck and knocking the balls away with his hooves instead, well, dodging while his opponents were bickering with each other for the zillionth time now. They had been doing so since day one when a throw by Lucky missed its target, knocking Roseluck into a mud puddle. Since then, they had found any and every reason to criticize each other, and it was huring their teamwork. And Sugarberry was... not at practice again.

This is the great all-star team? This is the best we could get? thought Rainbow Dash as she witnessed the arguing duo get knocked out by Snowflake’s throws. She slapped her hoof to her face. We’re so doomed.

“How bad is it?”

Rainbow Dash turned around to see Twilight and Applejack coming onto the field, dressed in uniform. Shaking her head, Dash answered, “Worse than Winter Wrap Up before you took charge.”

The girls winced. Applejack shook her head and kicked a nearby rock. “Shucks, this team is more disorganized than a drunk turkey parade in the rain. We gotta do something, and fast. The big game is almost here, and if half our team plays like this we don’t stand a chance.”

“Well, I do have an idea. Maybe there is somepony who can help us.” said Twilight, rubbing her chin.

“Can whoever this pony is also play? I’m willing to drop Sugarberry if she’s good,” said Rainbow Dash, who looked ready to find the said pony and give her a stern talking.

Twilight nervously glanced at Dash and scuffed the ground with her hoof. “Well, you might not like the idea, but... I was thinking... maybe we can ask Derpy for help?”

Rainbow Dash quickly glared at Twilight and huffed. “Are you kidding?! Don’t tell me you actually believe those rumors?”

“Well, those so-called ‘rumors’ were from the professionals themselves. Ya remember what they told us about Der—I mean Ditzy?” asked Applejack.

“I find it hard to believe that Derpy Hooves is some sort of dodgeball goddess. For that matter, I just can’t picture her, of all ponies, being good in anything that features coordination!” groaned Rainbow Dash.

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “Rainbow, why are you always so harsh with her. She’s a nice mare. Sure, she’s a bit of a ditz, but that doesn’t mean you have to be mean to her.”

“It’s not my fault she keeps messing things up. Whether it’s during Winter Wrap Up or even just her mail job, she is always causing problems,” complained Rainbow Dash. She stomped her hoof and turned away. “I’m not willing to believe that she’s this ‘crossed-eyed demon’ unless I see it with my own eyes.”

“Well, you know what they say. All rumors have some truth in them. Aren’t you the least bit curious about all this?”

“Not really. Besides, Derpy’s been avoiding everypony all week. Chances are we won’t find her,” said Rainbow Dash.

Applejack shook her head. “Not nesscarraly. I talked to Carrot Top at the market this mornin’ and she said Derpy was takin’ her daughter out for a picnic at the park. The little filly wanted to do somethin’ fun this week so she gave in and agreed to go outside.”

“That means this is the perfect time to go out there and ask Derpy if she can help us,” said Twilight with a smile.

“Fine!” shouted Rainbow Dash, rising to the air. “We’re going to settle this once and for all. Meet me at the park in an hour.”

Before the girls could question further, Rainbow Dash was already long gone, her trademark rainbow streak trailing in the air. Applejack sighed turned to Twilight, eyebrow raised. “What do ya think she’s gonna do now?”

“I’m not sure, but I guess we’d better do as she says....” Twilight took a look at Roseluck and Lucky who were now wrestling one another, the former holding the other in a sharpshooter hold. “… and hope that Derpy is who everypony says she is, even if she won’t admit it.”

An hour later, the girls arrived at the park and started searching for any sign of Rainbow Dash. They even asked a few ponies, but they said no. With nothing else to do, they sat down under the shade of a tree.

Twilight started reading a book she brought along while Applejack watched ponies come and go. An hour later, the girls were ready to just leave the park altogether when they heard somepony cry out “Hey!” just as they got up. The two spotted Rainbow Dash flying towards them, dodgeball in hand. Upon seeing their glares she tilted her head, and asked, “What?”

“You’re late. It’s been over an hour,” said Twilight, putting her book in her saddlebag.

“Yeah, sorry. Thought I had enough time for a quick snooze,” replied Rainbow Dash, shrugging her shoulders. “Anyway, follow me. We’ll find out if these rumors are true or not, right now.”

Her friends glanced at each other and shrugged before getting up. They followed her across the park until they got to the playground, where parents and their foals laughing and playing around on the various equipment available to them. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, scanning the area until she smiled. “There she is.”

The others followed Dash’s line of sight, and spotted Derpy watching Dinky play on the swings. They turned back and gasped, as Rainbow Dash prepared a kick, the dodgeball in her hooves positioned just right.

“Rainbow, stop!” cried out Twilight, but Dash had already kicked the ball.

The dodgeball sped through the air as a red blur. Its target: an ignorant Derpy Hooves. Just as the dodgeball was about smack Derpy, she twirled around, wings spread out, and caught the ball in mid-spin with her left wing. She spread out her left wing and threw the ball back towards Rainbow Dash like a sling.

The ball’s speed was doubled, zooming right past Rainbow Dash’s face, inches away from her cheek. The three of them stood still as they heard the ball continue to fly, until the echoing sound a large crash made them jump. Ponies instantly looked around, some asking if there was an explosion. The only three who knew what had just transpired slowly turned their heads around, dropping their jaws.

The ball had sailed nearly half a mile before colliding with a tree, now broken in half. They quickly turned towards Derpy, and timidly stepped back. Derpy’s eyes were no longer their crooked-looking selves, but straight and narrow. A cold, predator-like glare was aimed at the three, who felt as if she was staring right into their souls. There was none of the usual warmth Derpy usually held in her eyes, only the enraged glare of a demon.

Dinky jumped off her swing and landed, before turning to her mother. Her eyes widened a bit at seeing her in such an intense state. “Mommy? Is everything alright?”

Derpy’s eyes quickly changed back to normal. Turning to her daughter, she laughed nervously. “Y–yes, muffin. Let’s head back for some lunch, okay?”

“Okay!” cheered Dinky, skipping on ahead as her mother soon followed

Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash stood silent, their mouths dropping as far as their jaws could let them. Finally, Applejack spoke. “Great Apples… that was... that was just... ah have no words...”

“Me neither,” said Twilight, shaking off her stupor. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so... frightened. I guess ‘demon’ wasn’t an understatement. She really is good.”

“Good?! Dangit Twi, she could knock out Discord with a blow like that!” exclaimed Applejack. She turned towards a still-shocked Rainbow Dash and chuckled. “Guess ya were wrong about Derpy, huh?”

Rainbow Dash didn’t respond. Twilight waved her hoof in front of Rainbow’s eyes, but still didn’t say anything. “I think she’s out of it.”

“Ah know how to get her goin’ again.”

Applejack put her muzzle near Dash’s ears and whispered, “Hey Rainbow Dash, Ah hear the Wonderbolts are gonna be disbandin’.”

“Wait, what?! NO!” cried out Rainbow Dash, snapping her head towards Applejack. “They can’t disband! I haven’t even joined them yet! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!” She started bawling into her hooves. “My life is over!”

“Easy, Rainbow. Ah was just kiddin,” said Applejack, easing her friend.

Rainbow Dash’s quickly stopped crying and growled at the giggling farmer before turning her attention to the broken tree behind them. She got up and rushed towards it, her friends right behind her. When they arrived, they felt their previous shock return at the sign of the destruction. The tree was completely split in half, as if an Ursa Minor had bashed through with a swipe of its paw.

Rainbow Dash stared at the three for a while until she said, “We have to have her on the team.”

“So what were you saying earlier about Derpy and dodgeball?” asked Twilight, with a smirk.

“I’ll take back everything I said if it means getting her to join our team!” shouted Rainbow Dash, with the biggest grin on her face. “If we have her playing, we’ll be invincible!”

“Do you think she’ll join?”

“Oh course she will,” said Rainbow Dash, puffing out her chest. “All it’ll take is some of the old Rainbow Dash charm.”

“What do you mean you won’t join us?!” shouted Rainbow Dash. Some bypassers walking across the park glanced at her when they heard her shout, but soon moved on

Derpy turned her eyes away from her daughter, who was chasing butterflies some hooves away. Keeping her face hidden from the three, she answered, “I’m not that good at dodgeball. I’m sure there are better ponies than me.”

“Better than you? Derpy, you just broke a tree in half with one throw! You're like some kind of super awesome mega killing dodgeball champion!” shouted Rainbow Dash.

“Those are just rumors, nothing more. And that throw... it... it was just a fluke,” said Derpy, trying avoid their gaze.

Applejack snorted, “Fluke mah hat. That blow could keel over a dragon. Come on now, Derpy, if that is your real name.” Derpy flinched, which they all caught.

Rainbow Dash turned her attention to a picnic basket with Derpy’s cutie mark on it, where she spotted a box of fresh muffins. Grinning, she slowly walked towards them. “Well, if you're not going to tell us, then we’re going to have to force it out of you!”

One of Derpy’s eyes spotted Dash reaching for the muffins. Realizing what she was going to do, Derpy reached out to grab her precious muffins but, Dash had already scooped them up into her hooves. Derpy growled as Rainbow Dash flew into the air, the baked goods in her hooves. “Rainbow Dash! Give those back! I spent all morning on those!”

“You want them?! Tell me why you won’t play anymore!” shouted Rainbow Dash. What she didn’t expect was Derpy attempting to blitz her in mid-air. She quickly maneuvered out of the way and flew across the park with an enraged, crossed-eyed pegasus right behind her.

“Rainbow! Derpy! Get back here!” shouted Twilight at the top of her lungs, but the two flyers were already gone. Stomping her hoof, Twilight turned to Applejack. “Come on, let’s go after them!”

Applejack nodded, and the two gave chase. Just as they left, Dinky walked up towards the picnic blanket, as slowly as possible lest she scare the butterfly on her horn. “Look, mommy! I caught a butterfly!”

She looked around, but saw no sight of anypony. “Mommy?”

Okay, I’ll admit it. She’s faster than I thought.

The muffin-driven pegasus was hot on Rainbow’s tail. Looking at those fiery eyes, Dash decided she didn't want to be on the receiving end of that rage. Weaving through trees, Dash hoped Derpy would crash into them like usual.

“Give me back my muffins!” yelled Derpy, picking up speed as she avoided each tree with ease.[

“Aw, horseapples,” muttered Rainbow Dash, diving for the ground. Derpy followed in pursuit, inches away from grabbing Dash’s back hooves.

Rainbow Dash looked around for anything that could help her, and saw a flock of geese not too far away. Using all her wingpower, she headed straight for the birds, Derpy close behind. Dash charged straight through the flock, scaring the geese as they flew around in confusion. Derpy Hooves saw the panicked geese right in front of her and gasped. She tried to slow down, but her brakes were too slow, and she flew right into them.

She flailed her legs around, struggling to keep herself from getting overwhelmed. Seeing no other choice, she flew down as fast as she could. Unfortunately, she managed to land in the park’s fountain, resulting in a large splash.

Twilight and Applejack, having seen the splash, rushed over and quickly helped her out. Shaking her mane, Derpy turned to the girls and nodded in thanks before glaring at Rainbow Dash, who had landed nearby. She looked ready to charge again, but her anger soon waned and she lowered her head, sighing. “You girls really want to know, don’t you?”

Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder. “We just want to know what’s wrong, Derpy. You’re normally so cheerful and happy, but this past week you’ve been the complete opposite. We just want to help. That’s all we—”

“Ditzy.”

“Huh?”

Struggling to keep her eyes straight, Derpy looked at Twilight and shook her head. “My name is Ditzy Doo. Not Derpy Hooves.”

Derpy—or Ditzy—continued to curse to herself as she guided three curious ponies back toward her picnic table. I should have known this was going to happen. After all, you can’t escape your past, no matter what you do.

When they arrived, Dinky cheerfully walked over and hugged her mother. “I found you, mommy! We were playing hide and seek, right? That’s why I couldn’t find you, right?”

Forcing a smile, Derpy nuzzled her daughter. “That’s right! You did find me! Great job, muffin! Now it’s your turn to go hide! I’ll count to one hundred and go look for you, okay?”

“Okay!” shouted Dinky. She ran off as fast as her little legs could carry her, until she was out of sight.

With her daughter gone, Derpy turned to the others and frowned. “Alright, I might as well get this over with. It all started when I was a filly in Los Pegasus...”

The school bell rang as little pegasus foals rushed out of their classrooms and towards the playground waiting for them. Unlike earth ponies and unicorns, their playground equipment was made out of pure clouds. From the swings to the basketball court, all the foals played with each other as their laughs echoed across the playground… except for one lonely filly, who was sitting on a bench and blowing bubbles.

Ditzy looked at all the smiles and wished she was just like the other foals, but knew it was a hopeless wish. With a sad sigh, she blew into her bubble wand and watched her bubbles pop in the air one by one. Blowing bubbles always cheered her up, but, just like their existence, her joy from them was only temporary.

One of her eyes shifted to the left, spotting some fillies pointing at her and giggled. One of them put their hoof next to her head and rolled it around while sticking her tongue out. While the other girls found it hilarious, Ditzy felt her eyes mist up. This was nothing new. After all, she was the “freak” of the class. A title she hated more than her stupid eyes.

All the foals made fun of her for them.They tripped her when she walked down the halls, gave her swirlies, and stole her stuff. They even made fun of her cutie mark, calling bubble-blowing a waste of a talent. Naturally, they also made fun of her eyes. Adults weren’t any better. They always ignore her or treated her as if she was stupid or something. Even her own parents didn’t interact with her that much. Ditzy knew the real reason why though. They were ashamed of her.

Fighting back the tears, Ditzy noticed a shadow gradually appear over her. She looked up, but she quickly wished she hadn’t. Standing above her were three tall colts, whose grins made Ditzy’s spine tingle. She knew these three as Ace, Lancer, and Teddy; her worst tormenters.

“Well, well, well. Look who we have here, boys,” said Ace, a gold colored pegasus with a light blond mane. In his hooves, he held a dodgeball that he tossed over to his buddy, Lancer, a crimson manned blue pegasus. “It’s everypony’s favorite crossed-eyed freak, Ditzy Doo!”

Ditzy’s eyes spun around and saw everypony facing her. The third one, Teddy, a light blue colt with an orange mohowk, pushed her over the benched. Leaning right over her, he grinned and taunted, “What’s wrong, Ditzy Doo? Is the little, freaky baby scared? Need a diaper to go doo-doo in?”

“You’re the big baby, you jerk,” muttered Ditzy.

Her comment managed to get her lifted off the ground. Teddy narrowed his eyes and shouted, “What’s that, you little freak?! Maybe I ought to pound you into the clouds so hard you’ll end up on the ground!”

Ace patted his wing against his friend and smiled. “Easy, Ted. We’ll all get some fun out of her. Follow me and bring the freak.” Teddy dragged Ditzy by her wings as they headed towards the school. The entire crowd followed them, some taking bets on how long she would last before crying, while others glanced at her with sympathy.

Ditzy looked around for a teacher, but to her horror, none of the adults were around. Where are they?!

The bully kept dragging her until they were near the school, and then threw her against the wall. Rubbing her shoulder, she looked up and saw the three bullies now had dodgeballs in each hoof. Ditzy pressed herself against the wall and gulped. She looked for a way out, but the crowd had all but boxed her in. Flying was also useless, since everypony was faster than her.

“Let’s see how long you can dodge these until you’re black and blue, derp eyes,” said Ace. He and his friends nodded to each other before they threw their dodgeballs at her, like a unified firing squad.

Acting on instinct, Ditzy just barely managed to dodge them before the balls bounced against the wall. The bullies collected them again and continued their assault, forcing her to dodge again and again. The only saving grace she had were her eyes that managed to help her see in two directions.

The bullies laughed and slapped each other’s back. The red colt was laughing the hardest. “Come on! Dance, derpy eyes!”

“Dance, derpy eyes!” cried Lancer and Teddy as did a few other foals. “Dance! Dance! Dance!”

Tears were leaking from her eyes, but for once they weren’t tears of sorrow. Inside her chest, she could feel something burning as hot as the fire she’d accidentally caused in the kitchen a month prior.

“Dance! Dance! DANCE!”

“SHUT UP!” roared Ditzy, her vocal cords enflamed.

Everypony instantly shut up and stared; even the bullies were stunned. Gritting her teeth, Ditzy stopped dodging and turned towards one of the balls heading straight towards her. Standing on her two rear legs, she grabbed it with both hooves and threw it straight back at Lancer. The ball smashed into his face, before he could react knocking him back a few feet. The other foals gasped in horror as he landed and started screaming in pain.

“Mah fabe! Mah fabe!” he shouted, holding his bleeding muzzle. Droplets of red colored the section of the white cloud he was on.

The children stared at the crying colt before turning their eyes back on Ditzy. In unison, they all stepped back. She was growling at them as if she were a wild beast. Her body leaned back like that of a predator, and the foals sensed they were the prey.

Teddy snapped out of his stupor and nervously threw his dodgeball that Ditzy easily caught. It was quickly sent back, nailing him straight in the chest. He keeled over and gasped, saliva dripping down his mouth as he started to cry.

Ditzy glared at the ringleader, the only one left. She turned to a dodgeball right next to her and picked it up. Realizing his predicament, Ace screamed like a filly and flew away. Ditzy raised her arm, aimed, and threw with all her strength, sending the dodgeball into the air like a missile. The bully didn’t even get a chance to dodge as the dodgeball smacked him in the back of the head, silencing his screams.

The crowd watched in terror as he motionlessly fell from the skies before crashing into the cloudbox, head first. The crowd stared at the sight, believing it to be a makeshift grave until they heard moaning and sobbing.

They slowly turned towards Ditzy, whose glare disappeared and was replaced with confusion. Ditzy looked at each of the bullies and wondered, Did I... Did I do this?

She turned towards her stupefied classmates. “Um... shouldn’t somepony get the nurse?”

One of the colts nodded and quickly rushed inside. Ditzy stepped forward only to have the crowd step back in unison. Some even flew away. Walking back to her lonely bench, she asked herself, she picked up her bubbles and watched as the nurse came carried all three bullies back inside. When it was all over, all the foals went back to their respective spots, but didn’t play as much. Some of them peered over their shoulders at Ditzy who tried to look away.

All while asking herself what had just happened.

The next day, Ditzy was sitting in her usual spot during recess, but this time she was actually being ignored, instead of made fun of. Ever since she arrived at school that day, ponies had avoided her like the plague. The three bullies were out of school. Some rumors hinted that they were in the hospital; others suggested that she'd killed all three of them. She personally found out from the school nurse that they were staying home due to a dodgeball game gone wrong. Apparently, they didn’t tell anybody she’d caused their injuries. Whether this was out of fear of her or embarrassment from getting their tails handed to them by the “freak” was anypony’s guess.

She turned her attention to the playground. A few eyes looked at her, but then they quickly looked away. She heard some whispers, but these were different from the mocking she was used to. It was like they thought she was the Mare in the Moon coming to gobble them all up if they angered her too much.

Ditzy had to admit, it was nice to go through a recess without getting made fun of for once. Just as she was about to blow more bubbles, she heard somepony walk up behind her. “Um, Ditzy?”

Turning around, she saw a filly with green pigtails and orange pelt timidly looking at her. Behind the pigtailed filly, Ditzy could see a group of other foals, whispering to each other as they looked at her with fear. The other filly gulped. “Um, about yesterday. That was amazing what you did...”

“I didn’t know I was good either,” admitted Ditzy, shrugging her shoulders.

The fillies’ jaw dropped. “Y–you mean that was your first time?! But you played like a pro!”

“R–really?” asked Ditzy, blushing. “I–it was just so easy.”

“Wow,” said the nervous filly. She shifted her front hooves a bit. “Say, do you mind playing with me and my friends after school? We got challenged by another school who's always beating us, and we would really appreciate if you helped.”

Ditzy blinked and then bit her lip to see if this was really happening. “Y–you're asking me to play with you?”

“If it’s not too much trouble!” said the filly, quickly as she backed away a bit.

Ditzy felt her heart soar. A smile stretched across her muzzle as she quickly shook her head. “Yes! Yes, I’ll play!”

This made the other filly smile as well. “Great! Thanks!”

Ditzy squealed in delight. She couldn’t believe it! Her first time being asked to play! A blank look then appeared on her face as a thought occurred to her. “Um, excuse me?”

“Yeah?”

“How do you play dodgeball, anyway?”

School ended far faster than Ditzy thought it would, and soon enough she was following a group of eight classmates through the busy streets of Los Pegasus. They were still far away from any of the high class casinos and resorts, but close enough to see various tourists such as earth ponies and unicorns all walking thanks to the cloud-walking spell.

While she followed the others, Ditzy mentally went over the rules again of dodgeball. It was all simple, mostly, but according to the others, there were a lot of different throws and tactical positions players could take on the field. It was unlikely that they would face such a situation, since, according to her new friend Starfall, only pros could perform such moves. Still, Ditzy wish she knew more about the game.

Lost in her thoughts, Ditzy almost bumped into the others when they stopped. She looked around, and saw that they were in an abandoned basketball court. Looking past her teammates, she saw nine other fillies and colts she’d never seen before standing across from them.

One of them, a pink-pelted filly with a bandana covering her mane, stepped forward with a sneer. “So, Starfall, ready to get your butt kicked again?”

Starfall, stepped forward. “Not this time, Storm Gallop. We’re going to be sending you home with your tails between your legs.”

Storm Gallop stared at each of them until her eyes locked on Ditzy’s. Taking one look at her criss-crossed eyes, Storm Gallop started laughing.“Hey, Starfall! Who’s the one with the freaky eyeballs!”

“That’s Ditzy. She may look weird,” she muttered, “but she’s just as good as any of you.”

Storm Gallop held her front hooves up. “Hey, I ain’t complaining. If cross-eyes wants to play, she can play.”

The team leaders returned to their respective teams and huddled up. Ditzy felt her brow getting sweaty as Starfall looked at her. “Ditzy, are you ready? I know this is your first real game, but just trust me and listen to everything I say, okay?”

“O–okay,” muttered Ditzy, feeling her stomach turning.

Starfall nodded before turning to her teammates. “Alright, you know what to do! Let’s kick some flank!”

“Yeah!” shouted everyone as they took to the air. Their opponents set up six dodgeballs on the ground before levitating themselves. They both lined up, glaring each other as their tails twitched. Ditzy felt her entire body shivering from both excitement and fear.

Starfall and Storm Gallop both raised their right hooves and kept them up for a while. A few seconds later, they let them down and everypony dived for the balls. Ditzy tried her best to reach for one, but a colt from the other team grabbed it first. He snapped the ball to another team member, who threw it at Ditzy. She managed to bend her back far enough for it to pass right over her.

Adjusting herself, Ditzy tried to keep her eyes straight when Starfall’s voice cried out, “Ditzy! Here!”

One of her eyes turned right and she saw a dodgeball being passed over to her. Reacting on instinct, she kicked the ball towards the colt who’d tried to shoot her down, resulting in a clear shot against the head. To her surprise, it bounced off him and smack the other colt as well, earning her a double out.

Players on both teams saw it and started shouting at what had just happened, either in astonishment or concern. Ditzy noticed Storm Gallop glaring at her, realizing that she wasn’t an ordinary dodgeball player. Confidence began to grow inside Ditzy as she rushed across her team’s zone, dodging any throws that came towards her.

She felt invincible. She felt like Princess Celestia, all powerful and dwarfing everypony else. She caught each ball thrown at her and even managed to block a few others. One time she knocked another ball towards Starfall, who caught it and got the thrower out. They lost a few of their pegasi, but Ditzy was quick to bring them back in. Soon, only one player remained on the opposite team.

“Give it up, Storm Gallop!” shouted Starfall. “Why don’t you just sit your rump down on the clouds and admit defeat!”

“Never, loser! I can still cream you and that freak of yours!” screamed Storm Gallop as she flew forward.

She was suddenly stopped by Ditzy, who appeared from below and glared at the filly, her eyes cold and unforgiving. Storm Gallop dropped her ball and gulped. Narrowing her eyes, Ditzy muttered, “I’m not a freak, you jerk.”

A few second later, a semi-conscious Storm Gallop was on the clouds, suffering a nose bleed. Meanwhile, Ditzy was getting hugs and congratulations from her teammates. She looked at them and then at the defeated team, who quivered in fear when they spotted her staring at them. For the first time, she felt important. She felt she was somepony.

That day she made a vow. To become the best dodgeball player ever, so that nopony would make fun of her again. If they did, she would make sure they ended up just like Storm Gallop.

“So that’s how you got into dodgeball, but when did this whole ‘cross-eyed demon’ thing come to play?” interrupted Rainbow Dash, earning her a few glares.

Derpy sighed, “I’m getting to that. We have to go years later. Where I became a legend... but also a demon...”

Part 4

Derpyball

By The Rated Ponystar

Edited by Clavier

Artwork done by Tzelly (http://tzelly-el.deviantart.com)

Children always have idols they look up to when they grew up. Sometimes it’s parents, other times ti’s famous figures. Rarely is it ever a pony from the streets. In a tough neighborhood like Las Pegasus, most ponies who lived on the streets wouldn’t make the kind of role models that parents approve of. Occasionally, they would find a pony that was the type anypony could admire for their skill or even their personality.

Ditzy Doo never thought she might become one of them, and all for just playing a sport. Since winning her first game and joining Starfall’s group of friends, she had become well known throughout the area as a young pegasus who never lost a game of dodgeball.

Ponies disbelieved it at first, but upon seeing her play, nopony could deny that Ditzy Doo had skills given by the gods. She was quick, she was powerful; she was undefeatable. Many wondered how it was possible for a pegasus—with a talent in bubble blowing—to be so good at dodgeball that ponies with talents in athletics were blown away.Truth be told, she didn’t care. She was happy with the discovery of her new secondary talent.

Her peers were starting to respect her and make fun of her eyes less. There was the occasional bully who picked on her, but she mostly ignored them with a smile on her face. They could call her whatever they wanted, but nothing could keep her down for long. She had friends, she had respect, she had happiness. Thanks to her, their little team had faced off against multiple foes and won every game, making them small time celebrities.

There were still some bad things in her life. She still lived in the orphanage, and her grades were still horrible thanks to her eye problem, but it didn’t matter. The good she had far outweighed the bad. In fact, Ditzy could say that dodgeball was the greatest thing ever to happen to her. She loved the game and she loved playing it with her friends.

Ditzy snapped out of her thoughts just in time to catch a dodgeball heading straight for her head. With a quick reversal, she shot it straight back at the opposing player, knocking him onto the clouds with some of his feathers loose. A crowd of foals, and even older ponies, cheered as Ditzy decided to be a bit daring and wave her hoof at the crowd.

“Yo, Ditzy!” cried out Starfall, whose mane had changed from pigtails over the years to a bun design. Grabbing a dodgeball on the clouds, she flew back up and threw it at another opposing player, only to miss. “Keep your mind on the game!”

“Got it!” shouted back a blushing Ditzy. Putting her focus back on task, she flew around their side of the courtyard, dodging the occasional throw. She looked at both teams; her side with four players including herself, the other team with three.

Licking her lips, she dived down, grabbing another dodgeball before tossing it backwards to a nearby player on her team. The young colt flapped his wings and gave it a good kick, managing to hit another colt right in the head. The force of the blow was strong enough to bounce high into the air and into Ditzy’s hooves. Reaching back, she threw the ball, which blurred in the air, and nicked another pegasus’s wings, earning a double out.

As the two lost players flew to the sidelines, the remaining colt shivered as he saw Ditzy, Starfall, and the other two player each holding a dodgeball. Closing his eyes, he waited for the oncoming blows, only to feel a light tap on the shoulder from a simple toss by Ditzy. With the last of the opposing force out, Ditzy’s team cheered, as did the crowd. Everypony hugged or bumped flanks for a job well done, mostly towards a blushing Ditzy.

“You were awesome out there!”

“Nice moves out there, squirt!”

“Think you can teach me a few of those tricks?”

Before Ditzy could respond to any of the comments, Starfall few from behind and put a hoof around her neck. “Alright, guys. Break it up, let the filly breathe.”

The crowd respected the leader’s wishes and allowed the winning team safe passage out of the court. Traveling down the street, the team began to chat with much enthusiasm about their latest victory, trying to see who got the most players out or who stayed out the longest. Ditzy, of course, stayed silent in the back during these moments, since it would always be her who had dominated during the game.

Noticing this, Starfall flew towards Ditzy and chuckled, “You’re too much of a modest filly, you know that?”

Ditzy blushed. “I just don’t want to seem like a showoff.”

“You? Please, you’re the nicest pony I know. I’d hate to see what would happen if you ever got angry.” commented Starfall.

“You did, remember?” pointed out Ditzy, remembering the first time she ever touched a dodgeball.

Starfall winced. “Right. Forget about that. You were like a demon that day.”

The team soon arrived at their usual victory spot, Feathery Falk’s Pizza. Rushing in, the crew quickly ordered the biggest pie they could get before hitting the video games and skeeball. Ditzy and Starfall took a seat at their usual table with cups filled with orange soda. As they continued to chat, Ditzy noticed her friend was looking rather nervous, avoiding her gaze whenever she could. She wasn’t sure if something was wrong, or her eyes were acting up again.

Struggling to keep her eyes straight, Ditzy asked, “Something wrong, Starfall?”

Starfall looked hesitant to answer, but nodded. “It’s my dad... he’s getting.... worse”

Ditzy winced. “How bad?”

“He called me worthless and said that I should start getting serious with my playing or I might as well just stop calling him Dad. I’m just glad he was only drunk this time.”

Not for the first time did Ditzy want to tell her friend to seek somepony to help, but she knew her words would fall on deaf ears. “Doesn’t he get happier when you tell him you win our matches?”

“Sometimes, but until I’m on a legitimate team and not some ‘punk team’ as he so puts it, I’m nothing but a failure in his eyes,” grumbled Starfall, bitterly. “Just because he can’t play anymore...”

“Is there anything you can do?”

“Well...” Starfall put her drink down and sighed. “You know we’re going to middle school after this summer right?”

Ditzy bit her lip and nodded. If Starfall was nervous about middle school, she could understand. The other orphans told her all sorts of horrible things that happened in middle school. Like how the teachers always slept in their rooms, how they shot thunder from clouds on your rump if you got a math question wrong, and how they had special toilets to give the freshmen swirlies, and they didn’t clean them!

“Well, I really want to get into the school’s dodgeball team. Everypony says it’s really hard when you’re a freshmen, but I’m sure I can make it if I give it a try,” explained Starfall. Her eyes began to shine like the sun above. “If I can join the middle school team, it might help me get into the high school league and then play professional! Not only will I be able to do the sport I love, but Dad might finally be able to be proud of me!” Her smile then turned upside-down. “But... I’m so nervous...”

“Is that all?” asked Ditzy with a giggle. “Starfall, you’re one of the best players I know! You’ll be fine.”

“Please!” scoffed Starfall. “I’m nothing compared to you. You never miss. You never get hit. And the way you play is just plain scary.”

“But all the moves and plays we have are made by you! Not to mention you can lead this team better than I can,” replied Ditzy. She put her hoof over Starfall’s and smiled. “You’ll do fine. Trust me.”

Starfall looked at Ditzy’s hoof and then smiled again. “I guess I’ll believe you. Actually, since we’re going to the same school, why don’t we sign up together?!”

Ditzy’s eyes lit up when she heard this. “Yeah! The two of us can both get on the team and we’ll be invincible!”

The two of them held their cups up and grinned. “Teammates to the end!” they both shouted, before clicking their cups together.

Before Ditzy knew it, summer was over and school was back. She had hoped some of her street cred might have been able to help her out from any bullying in her new school, but to her disappointment, her reputation only went so far. Right away she had been pegged by the other students as a freak thanks to her eyes, but Starfall was there to help out whenever she could. She had tried to make other friends, but nopony was interested in the ‘Ditzy-Eyed loser’ as she was called.

There was some good, however. The school offered special needs to those of physical or mental disabilities, giving Ditzy a fighting chance against her difficulty with school work. Her eyes were still a problem, but she now had extra help when they acted up and hindered her learning. A week after school started, the day finally came for dodgeball tryouts.

Ditzy and Starfall were among the first to make it to the gym, and waited as the coach, a beefy looking brown pegasus with a buzz cut and a whistle around his neck, eyed each and every one one of them. Behind him were members of the middle school team, each wearing the red and gold striped jersey that Ditzy couldn’t wait to wear.

The coach went on about how the tryouts were run, explaining how they would be given five days to test their abilities, but only a few would be joining. Ditzy glanced at Starfall, who was sweating like she was in a sauna. Her back legs were crossed together, making it look like she had to really pee. Brushing her wing against Starfall’s side, she gave her friend a comforting smile, which slowly made partner loosen up.

“Doo!” shouted the coach, scaring the filly so much her eyes started circling in all directions. The other students laughed at the sight, some asking each other in whispers why she was even here. “Since you seem to be paying attention, perhaps you would like to be the first pony to test their skills.”

“Uh, s–sure coach!” replied Ditzy.

The coach glared at her before turning to one of his players, “Hot Streak! Get over here and go one-on-one with the newbie!”

“You got it, coach!” shouted a flaming-red-maned pegasus with a yellow pelt. He walked to the other side of the field and was given a dodgeball by one of his teammates.

After being given hers, Ditzy narrowed her eyes and kept her focus on her opponent. Hot Streak looked at her with a grin. “This is gonna be a piece of cake.”

Not wanting to waste this moment, Ditzy took off and started flying towards Hot Streak as fast as she could. He was surprised by the sudden burst of speed, but soon recovered and flew forward as well. The two got closer to each other until Hot Streak threw his dodgeball as fast as he could. “Eat this, freaky eyes!”

Ditzy only smirked as she performed a corkscrew in mid air, allowing her to not only dodge the ball, but catch it with her wings as well. Everypony’s jaw dropped as she landed on the floor, skidding to a halt. Turning around, she took the dodgeball in her wings and used them to throw it even harder than Hot Streak had. The once cocky stallion folded his wings and dived towards the floor, the dodgeball barely nicking his mane. However, as soon as he landed, Ditzy unleashed her own dodgeball. Before Hot Streak knew it, he was on the ground moaning in pain while rubbing his beet-red face.

The entire gymnasium went silent, staring at the scene in front of them. Everypony but Starfall was stunned. The pegasus with the weird eye disorder had beaten one of the middle school players in the span of a minute. The coach walked over, no longer eyeing Ditzy with a scolding glare, but a look of wonder. “Holy Celestia, kid. That was... I’ve never... what did you say your name was?”

“Ditzy Doo,” she answered proudly.

“Well, Ditzy I can honestly say that I may have been wrong about you. Heck, you might have a better chance of getting on this team the rest of these newbies,” said the coach.

Ditzy turned around to see Starfall’s reaction, but to her surprise, it wasn’t an encouraging smile. Rather, it was a worried frown. Ditzy pondered on it a bit, but soon the coach was back to work, getting ready to do drills and warm-ups. With no choice, she put it off for later when she and Starfall would have time to talk.

Only Starfall flew away before Ditzy had a chance to say anything.

“Mommy!”

Derpy stopped her story and turned around to see her daughter walking towards her frowning. “What’s wrong, Muffin?”

“You were suppose to come look for me, but it's been so long. Is everything alright?” asked Dinky.

“I... I’m sorry, Muffin. I got caught up talking to my friends. I didn’t mean to make you sad,” said Derpy, hugging her daughter.

“I wasn’t sad. I was worried, Mommy.”

Derpy pondered how she was going to continue her story while keeping her daughter from hearing it. She swore to never let Dinky know of her horrible past, the idea of her daughter looking at her with fearful eyes was worse than anything Derpy could think about. Thankfully, her answer came in the form of a scooter pulled wagon that suddenly came out from some bushes with three screaming fillies telling everypony to get out of the way.

Everypony jumped back as the wagon crashed into a nearby tree. Apple Bloom, holding her protected head, glared at Scootaloo, who was covered in leaves and broken twigs. “Nice drivin’, Scootaloo.”

“Shut up. At least we’re not covered in tree sap again,” replied Scootaloo, standing up.

“You girls okay?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” said Apple Bloom. “Scootaloo thought it might be nice to go down a hill at a bazillion miles an hour.”

“Well sorry if I wanted to get a downhill racing cutie mark,” snapped Scootaloo, blushing under the amusing gaze of Rainbow Dash. “I–It’s not like we were scared or anything! No way!”

Dinky giggled at the sight of her classmates predicament, which made Derpy’s eyes lit up. Nuzzling her daughter, Ditzy whispered, “Why don’t you ask the Crusaders if you could join them? Haven’t you hung out with them before?”

“Y–yeah, but...” Dinky turned to the three markless fillies, who were getting the wagon straightened out. “They seem happy on their own. What if they don’t like me?”

“You’ll never know if you don’t try, Dinky,” pointed out Derpy. “Come on, what’s the harm in asking?”

Gulping, Dinky nervously trotted over to her classmates and cleared her throat. “Um, girls? I... I want to know... I mean we’ve hung out and all, but... um, can join your club?”

“You want to be a Cutie Mark Crusader too, Dinky?!” asked Sweetie Belle excitedly. “Why didn’t you ask us before?”

“I–I was nervous. I thought you three didn’t take new members,” admitted Dinky.

“Are ya kidding?! We’re always lookin’ for new ponies to join us! Mah cousin Babs from Manehatten started a branch back in the city!” said Apple Bloom. She rushed forward and shook Dinky’s hooves. “If ya gonna join us we need to get ya fitted in! We gotta show ya the club house, getcha a cape, and make ya take the vow!”

Dinky turned to her mother, who nodded with a smile on her face. The four fillies slapped hooves in the air and shouted, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS NEW MEMBER DINKY! YAY!”

The three, minus Scootaloo, got into the scooter as their pegasus crusader took to the handles and started buzzing her wings, driving them straight towards the park’s exit. Dinky, in the back, turned around and waved to her mom. “I’ll be back home soon, Mommy!”

Derpy waved goodbye, as did the other grownups, pleased to see a new friendship form right in front of them. Sighing, the single mother said, “I’m really glad she’s got friends. Much better than the ones I had, at least.”

Applejack stared at her with a raised eyebrow. “What? From the sound of things, this Starfall character and ya’ll were as tight as honey and molasses.” Applejack stepped back when she saw a small tear drip down Derpy’s cheek at the mention of her friend’s name.

Wiping it away, Ditzy gave a harsh laugh. “You would think that... but the truth was we weren’t. Maybe we were, but dodgeball ruined that too.”

For four days, Ditzy and the other recruits went through hell. More than once, Ditzy wondered if she signed up for boot camp rather than middle school dodgeball thanks to the onslaught of training exercises. They had been forced to try to dodge dodgeballs from a specialized pitching machine with their wings tied up, and play scrimmage matches in rain and hail storms. They even once had to play blindfolded against the school’s team.

Nevertheless, Ditzy always came out on top. The coach had called her talented with a capital T, and even the players on the school team seemed to respect her. They often chatted with her, asking who taught her how to play, and they were shocked to learn she picked it up on the streets. She tried to point out that Starfall also taught her, but her friend walked away with an excuse every time.

Starfall’s behavior was starting to worry Ditzy. Ever since they started tryouts, Starfall had been very silent whenever Ditzy tried talking to her, during both class and practice. She always seemed to hold a little emotion in her eyes, only briefly looking angry whenever she messed up or got reprimanded by the coach for doing something wrong. Starfall was on the list of those who were barely doing good. Although she had more talent than most of the other ponies trying out, she was still not as good as Ditzy and a number of other ponies.

Ditzy had often tried to speak positively about her friend, both to the coach and the other players, but they quickly dismissed the conversation and geared it towards another subject. Even though she tried to hide it, Ditzy knew that Starfall was feeling disappointed in herself for not doing well enough to impress the coach. It was now day four, and day five would be the last of the tryouts before the coach made his choice on who would make the team.

Having been dismissed, Ditzy made her way to the locker rooms to use the showers. The others had already left, wanting to go bowling, which Ditzy declined. It was ironic that, while good at dodgeball, every time she bowled she threw the ball in wrong lane. As she headed towards the showers, she heard the sound of water running and wondered who was also inside. Leaning her head into the open, she felt her heart tear up at the sight of Starfall, under the shower head, crying her eyes out.

Silently walking forward, Ditzy lowered her head and nuzzled her best friend’s cheek. Starfall, looking upward, only rubbed her eyes and said, “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem,” said Ditzy, sitting down and letting the water wash over them both. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“... I overheard the coach talking with Hot Streak,” muttered Starfall, closing her eyes. “They were talking about ponies who they were thinking about cutting.” She opened her eyes and looked dead center into Ditzy’s. “I was one of them.”

Ditzy gasped before wrapping her forelegs around her best friend, hugging her as tight as possible. “I’m so sorry, Starfall. A-are you sure they mentioned your name?”

Starfall nodded. “They did. I’m just barely passable in their books, and tomorrow if I don’t show any sort of improvement, I’m... I’m...”

Ditzy shook her head and smiled. “You don’t need to worry. You’ll do fine. Tomorrow they're gonna be having us play against one another and I’m sure we’ll be on the same team. We know each other’s moves by heart and if they see us working together they’re bound to want both of us on the team.”

For a while, Starfall made no movements nor did she say anything. Rising to her hooves, Starfall hid behind her wet, dripping mane. She turned the shower off, before asking, “What... what if we’re on opposite teams?”

The room was suddenly uncomfortably silent. Ditzy’s mouth opened several times to respond, but she stopped herself every time. If I was to face Starfall tomorrow? What should I do? Play as normal? Go easy on her? Try to make her look good?

“I... I...” Ditzy tried to answer, but Starfall turned around and smiled.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Even if we’re not on the same team, I’ll do my best and hope that will impress them,” said Starfall.

Ditzy sighed in relief before getting up and walking out of the showers with Starfall. They grabbed their towels and dried themselves off. When they finished, Starfall said, “Hey, Ditzy? How about we go see the old gang at our usual court? It’s been some time since we all hung out.”

“Yeah, I’d like that. What time?” asked Ditzy.

“Hmmm, eight at night sound good?”

“Yup!”

Starfall nodded and made her way towards the exit. “I’ll see you there. And... Ditzy?”

“Hmm?” asked Ditzy.

“I... never mind,” said Starfall before leaving behind a confused Ditzy.

Wonder what she was going to say? Ah, well. Doesn’t matter. I’ll ask her later, thought Ditzy as she continued to dry herself off.

Night had come sooner than Ditzy expected. It was easy to sneak past the caretakers, just like the other hundreds of other times she broke curfew. As she flew towards the abandoned court where she and her friends always hung out, she couldn’t help but think back to her discussion with Starfall after tryout practice. Maybe I should go easy on her if we do get on opposite teams. I’ve been the best in every single test given, I’m sure to get on the team. But it won’t be the same without Starfall. After all, we’re partners to the very end!

When she saw the meeting spot, Ditzy shook away her thoughts and landed on the court. She looked around, trying to find the others, the lights from the street lamps giving her very little to see. “Guys? Hello? Starfall? Little Wing? Jet Wave?”

No answer.

Ditzy gulped. She was no stranger to the danger that was in the streets, with gang violence being more common in Las Pegasus than anywhere else in Equestria. She had seen friends hurt and even heard of ponies her age killed from all sorts of bad apples. Rule one on the streets was to always be ready for danger. Rule two was never go out alone.

And right now I’m breaking rule two, cursed Ditzy as she looked around one more time for any sign of her dodgeball friends. Just as she was about to leave, the sound of wings flapping above followed by hooves landing on the clouds next to her made Ditzy freeze up. She slowly turned around, only to sigh in relief when she saw Starfall and the rest of the gang beside her.

Facing them with a wide smile, she cheerfully greeted her friends. “Hey everypony, you sure gave me a scare. What took you guys so long.”

None of them answered. They just stared at her with no sign of emotion on their faces. Even Starfall didn’t say a word. She just slowly trotted forward, keeping her eyes focused on Ditzy, despite Starfall’s eyes not focused on her. After adjusting her eyes a bit, Ditzy tilted her head in confusion as Starfall stood just a few inches from her face.

“Starfall?”

A second later, Ditzy found herself on the cloud, the iron taste of blood in her mouth. She groaned and tried to move one of her eyes upward. The last thing she saw was the hoof of Starfall come down on her before everything went dark.

Pain.

So much pain.

Not even her caretaker's punishment with ‘Mr. Ruler’ was this bad.

Groaning, Ditzy tried to move, but she couldn’t. Struggling, she slowly realized that she was bonded by the front hooves to a metal pipe. She opened her eyes and looked up, noticing her forelegs tied in a rope that was connected to one of the basketball poles. The realization woke her up as she began to hyperventilate, her heart beating erratically while her throat felt like it was on fire. Ditzy tried to shake herself free from the bonds, but it was useless.

She tried to think back to how she gotten in such a mess. Was she foalnapped? Did the gangs take her? All she could remember was Starfall and—

...No...

She slowly looked behind her, where she saw her old teammates looking at her. Some looked at her with regret, most were just frowning, but all of them were holding something in their hooves. They had dodgeballs, baseballs, and even rocks. In the center of them all was Starfall, looking down at her with cold, emotionless eyes.

“S–starfall?! What’s going on?! What are you doing?!” begged Ditzy as she tried harder to escape.

Sighing, Starfall turned around. “I can’t risk it... I can’t risk facing you.”

“W–what?!”

Starfall lowered her head. “I need to be on that team, Ditzy. It’s my only ticket out of this dump and... the only way to please my father.” She raised her head and glared at Ditzy, making the derp-eyed pegasus squirm. “I’m willing to do that at any risk, and if that means... hurting you... then I’m willing to do that.”

Ditzy’s mouth dropped, she could feel her heart break into pieces. “You... you can’t! Why?! I promised to help you! I’ll help you! I’ll go easy on you! Just please stop this!”

Starfall shook her head. “I’m sorry, Ditzy. I can’t take that chance. I can’t trust you.”

“But I’m your friend!” cried out Ditzy, tears streaming down her face.

“Friend?! Don’t you just get it yet, you freak of nature?!” screamed Starfall, spitting out her words. Taking a deep breath, Starfall slammed her hoof onto the clouds below them, sending up small whips of vapor. “The only reason we’ve been able to win our games was because of you. You’re... you’re a monster at dodgeball and it’s not even your special talent. Every victory we’ve had is because of you and those stupid eyes. I hate those eyes. I hate how such a... freakish look is able to help you while I’m useless. I thought you would be good for the team, just to help us gain ground, but you became the star player. I never should have made you join the team. Making you better than me. Better than all of us. You... the derpy freak!”

Ditzy said nothing. She just stared at the angry face of the one whom she thought cared about her. No... no we’re friends... we have to be... she wouldn’t do this.

Ditzy turned to her teammates, all looking away either in annoyance or guilt. “Please help me! Stop her! Something! After everything we’ve done you can’t do this! Please!”

A few made an effort to step forward, but stopped. Ditzy lowered head and continued to sob. “Please... I’m not a freak... I just... I just...”

“Enough...” said Starfall, stepping back and letting the others step ahead of her. They raised their sports balls and rocks and aimed at distraught pegasus, who stopped fighting against her bonds and looked at them with complete fear in her eyes.

Ditzy felt her breathing come to a halt as she looked at Starfall and pleaded one more time. “Starfall! We were suppose to be partners! To the very end!”

Starfall sighed. “This is the end...”

She raised her hoof.

“... fire!”

Derpy wiped a tear from her eye and shook her head. She couldn’t look at their faces. Not now. “I’m sorry... I need a moment.” She got up from the ground and flew as fast as she could, leaving the three stunned ponies to themselves.

When she was sure she was far enough, she floated to the nearest tree and kicked it. She screamed, giving the trunk blow after blow with years of pain behind them. Why Starfall?! Why?! WHY?!

“WHY?!” screamed Derpy, but nopony was there to answer.

Author's Notes:

So here is the third chapter. You can see why I changed it from comedy to slice and life. Maybe I'll add a sad tag later on. I always do this with my stories, always have a tragic element to them when I try not too. Well, I hope you enjoyed it at the very least.

Part 5

Derpyball

By The Rated Ponystar

Edited by Clavier

Artwork done by Tzelly (http://tzelly-el.deviantart.com/ )

Nothing.

She felt absolutely nothing. How long has she been asleep? Hours? Days? It felt like months the way she could barely move any part of her body. Even her eyelids were a chore to raise. The first thing she saw when her eyes finally opened was nothing but blurry white lights. A chill passed through her. Was this death? Feeling nothing but emptiness and exhaustion? A white light surrounding her? She had read so many fictional tales of heroes momentary being in a state between life and death before coming back to life.

She felt cold, a sudden grip of fear taking her by the soul. And yet, there was a sense of peace. Maybe it was finally her time? No more terrible orphanage. No more bullies. Maybe she might even meet her real parents, if they passed on before her? There wasn’t much she would be leaving behind. Only Starfall—

That’s when Ditzy screamed, a sudden blast of pain coursing through her entire body like wildfire. The blurry vision finally cleared up, revealing the walls of a hospital room. She tried to move her body, but it only made things worse. Her accursed eyes spun around, and saw the bleeding bandages and casts that covered her like a living mummy.

What’s going on?! Where am I?! Oh Celestia the pain!

The more she thrashed, the more pain she felt. Before she knew it, three sets of hooves were on top of her, trying to hold her down. Ditzy continued to struggle until she felt something sharp pierce her flank. Her dizziness returned with a vengeance as her body began to feel like lead. Staring at the ceiling above her, she struggled vainly against the drowsiness that was starting to overcome her senses. She used every bit of her willpower to remember of what happened, what lead her to such a painful state.

Ditzy gasped as the answer came to her like a speeding train.

Starfall. The gang. Tryouts. Dodgeball. Betrayal.

As the last of her consciousness faded, Ditzy no longer felt any more pain from her body... at least physically.

Her second time waking up in the hospital was much smoother. The pain was still there, but it had massively dulled, most likely from the medications the doctors were giving her. Blinking a few times, she slowly tilted her head around to get a better view of her room. It was small, white, and dull. She spotted two doors. One led to the bathroom, and the other soon opened and revealed a doctor walking towards her. Walking to her side, he took out his chart before looking at Ditzy with a smile.

“Hello, Ditzy. We’re glad you’re awake. Need anything?”

“W–water...” she coughed, realizing that her throat was both dry and sore.

The doctor nodded and rushed over to the sink in the bathroom, bring back a glass that he placed under her lips. She was forced to have him serve her with her legs completely wrapped and unable to move. After three full glasses of refreshing relief, Ditzy slowly looked at her caretaker and asked, “How... bad?”

The doctor’s smile soon reversed and he shook his head. “To be honest, Ditzy? You’re a lucky filly. Despite the multiple broken bones and injuries you’ve sustained, you’re not paralyzed and you’ve sustained no permanent injury. You should be glad that those children brought you here.”

Ditzy’s eyes rose. “Are... are they here?”

Shaking his head, the doctor said, “No. About five of them just came to the hospital and left you here before running away. Nopony got their names, or a good look at their appearance, so I’m afraid your rescuers are going to remain unknown for now.”

She wanted to tell them that they weren’t her ‘rescuers’, but her attackers. Friends who she had played and shared good times with, believing that they were like a family of misunderstood children living in a tough neighborhood. A lie. Nothing more than a lie she had foolishly believed; a hope that she had preserved, and turned out to be false like the Tooth Fairy or Santa Hooves. All the fillies and colts she had befriended on her team: Starfall, Little Wing, Crasher, Remedy, and everypony else.

“There is something else though, Ditzy,” said the doctor, putting his hoof gently on her shoulder. “Because of your injuries, you’re going to stay in the hospital for a long time. Not to mention there will be a few weeks in physical therapy you’ll need to help your body readjust itself.”

“How... long?”

Biting his lip, the doctor hesitated at first before answering, “About seven months, at least. The city will provide a tutor for you so you can keep up your studies and pay your bills since you are an orphan after all. I know you most likely wanted to back to school and be with your friends, but you’re going to have to stay here for a long time.”

What friends? I have no friends... I never had friends... even when I believed I did... thought Ditzy, bitterly, as tears began to form in her eyes again. The doctor gently wiped them away and told her to get some sleep. The police wanted to talk to her in the morning so she could point out her attackers, but Ditzy knew that they would do nothing for her. How many times had she gone to a police officer when reporting an older pony knocked her on the ground and stole her lunch money? Or when she anonymously reported that she and the other orphans were getting beaten up by their caretakers? The police did nothing and they would be worth nothing in this case.

Starfall would just deny it, and then spread the word that Ditzy was a snitch, almost a death sentence on the streets. No, she had no choice but to remain quiet and move on. Recover and move on.

Yet such a mindset didn’t help her sleep that night.

Like Ditzy predicted, the police came by to ask her questions, but she lied, saying didn’t know who attacked her or why. The police tried to get her to confess, but they gave up soon afterwards. And so began the first few weeks of her recovery. Nopony came to see her but the hospital staff. She had no friends and no family; nopony from the orphanage was going to come see her anytime soon. Once again, she was all alone.

Unable to move much, she had only the ceiling to stare at and her thoughts to occupy her mind, mostly about Starfall. Ditzy looked back into every moment she ever had with Starfall, trying to figure out when their friendship, if there was any, began to deteriorate. Was it because she was better at dodgeball than Starfall? Could it be because she had more respect than anypony else on the team? Did the possibility of her not joining the middle school team the final straw?

Many nights were spent in tears, from memories of their time together, moments she considered blessings. Other times they were from nightmares of Starfall, demonic and sinister looking, ordering a band of devils to hearl flaming dodgeballs at her. Sometimes Ditzy wondered if she was really dead and that this small white room she couldn’t escape from was Tartarus.

The only brief moments of joy she had were during the lessons from her tutor the school provided for her, a nice mare who was gentle and patient with Ditzy despite her handicaps. The tutor, Miss Gale Slide, was also her only source of news on what was going on at school. It turned out that Starfall managed to get on the team after all; only barely, though. It had also turned out, much to Ditzy’s shock, that the coach had intended for the two of them to be together on the same team.

That was the second time the doctors had to put her to sleep with the needle.

It only got worse. Starfall improve her skills and the team was quickly becoming one of the most dominant teams in the league. While Ditzy was forced to slowly relearn how to use her limbs under great stress, her tormentor was busy getting highlighted by the news and rising in popularity.. It could have been her that was popular, having fun, and respected among those in the community. Instead she was rotting in the white room of boredom.

Fortunately, Ditzy was able to recover in the months that followed to the point that she could walk on her own again. With her ability to maneuver available once again, Ditzy decided to spend the rest of her remaining weeks in the hospital’s recreational center. She played a few games and talked with some of the other patients on most days, but occasionally she sat next to the windows and stared at the city beyond her prison.

Mostly it was to think about a single thought: What do I do now?

Such were her thoughts now as she pressed her hoof against the glass, watching pegasi fly past the hospital. Beyond it was a world that didn’t have anypony waiting for her. No family. No friends. Just a cruel world that continued to take her hope and smash it with a hammer. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Ditzy struggled to push such thoughts away from her mind, but what was the point? It was the brutal truth and, deep down, she knew it to be true.

“Hey, Ditzy!”

Turning around, she saw one of the nurses fly towards her with the morning paper in her hooves. “Your school’s in the front paper. I thought you might be interested.”

Thanking the nurse, Ditzy took the newspaper and checked the top cover, only to gasp at what she saw:

Avalon Middle School Dodgeball Team Wins Junior Championship!

-Written by Sports Reporter Crossfire

In a stunning final match for the championship, Avalon Middle School’s Buccaneers won the Cloudsdale Dodgeball Junior Championship. Facing last year's champions, Sky Cloud Middle School’s Phoenixes, in the last bracket of final tournament of the season, the Buccaneers managed to easily wipe out their opponents in less than four minutes with no losses on their team.

“It was one of the biggest sweeps I’ve ever seen,” said dodgeball referee Stripes. “Before I knew it, I was calling the match over and declaring the Buccaneers the winners.”

The Buccaneers of Avalon have never won a championship in the last thirty years. What is the cause of this strange turn around? Some say it’s thanks to Coach Hidekicker’s new training regime, which contains a few exercises he learned when attending the Wonderbolt Academy seven years ago. Others claim it was the fresh new blood added to the team, including potential rookie of the year, Starfall.

Starfall, daughter of the famous dodgeball star Starcross, has managed to take the middle school dodgeball league by storm with her amazing strategies and leadership. Many of her teammates call her an inspiration, and “while not the best player physically, she makes it up with her smarts”.

Starcross, who once was called one of the top ten in his generation before his unfortunate accident, said, “I’m proud of my daughter. She’s just like me in so many ways, and her future is solid.”

Tomorrow, Starfall and her teammates will be seen in the Cloudsdale founder's day parade along with the minor and senior league winners in this years dodgeball season.

Everypony in the room stared at Ditzy as she screamed, ripping the paper into pieces. Tears streamed down her face and she smashed her legs against the window, slowly forming cracks against the surface. The staff immediately grabbed her, trying to get her to calm down, but she hear nothing but the mocking laughter of Starfall. She kicked, bit, and even headbutted the nurses, knocking them to their backs as they held their bleeding faces.

It took nearly twenty minutes for them to finally bring her down and sedate her, but even as she slowly lost consciousness, her face still was twisted with a permanent scowl. Her mind continued to think of only one thing: revenge.

Ditzy struggled against the straps the staff had used to hold her down to her bed. They told her that until she behaved better she would have to stay there, only to be let out for bathroom breaks. Not even her tutor was allowed to see her, but Ditzy didn’t care about that anymore. She didn’t care about the ponies she hurt; they didn’t really care about her.

She was just a job. A useless, dumb looking filly that they had to take care of or else they wouldn’t get paid. The old Ditzy would have been horrified to hear herself say such thoughts, but Ditzy now realized the truth. The world didn’t want her. Her parents were either dead or had abandoned her. Either way, they’d left her to an orphanage filled with fillies and colts who picked on her every day and caretakers who beat her for the simplest of reasons.

She had no friends. She had no one who loved her.

She was cursed with a useless cutie mark and a set of eyes that made her look retarded, and her life had been nothing but one disaster after another. All she had was her anger against the world and those that wronged her.

Like Starfall... thought Ditzy, bitterly. She stared at a nearby vase, wishing it was Starfall’s head so she could grab it and smash it to the ground. If she had a dodgeball, she would show who really was the more talented player.

As she thought back to the paper, she decided that it should have been her that was in the championships. She should have been the rookie of the year, and parading on the floats with the trophy high above her head. She had been naive to think Starfall was any different from the rest of the children in her life. They were all the same. They were cruel, mean, and selfish, and mocked anypony different or unusuall.

A freak... a derpy freak is what they call me, thought Ditzy, closing her eyes and growling. Well, if they want a freak then I’ll give them a freak! If I can’t get respect by being the nice pony, I’ll play their game! I’ll show them all! They will respect me! They will!

She would show them all. Especially Starfall. She would bid her time and strike when the backstabber didn’t see it coming. It would be perfect; it would be her vengeance. She would stand on the broken, crying body of Starfall and look down, laughing at her misery. They would all know this. Anypony who made fun of her, mocked her, ridiculed her. She would become great, the greatest dodgeball player in the world.

They would cower before her and nopony would stop her.

Nopony.

After a week of being strapped to the bed, they released Ditzy from her confinement. With her freedom restored, Ditzy used all her free time to train at the hospital’s recovery gym. She practiced her shots, retrained her muscles, and increased her speed. She wanted to make sure she was in top physical condition by the time she was fully recovered, especially when the next school year started.

Months passed, and by the time Ditzy’s release came, summer had arrived. She could tell from the staff’s expressions as she left the hospital with one of the caretakers that they were glad to see her gone. Maybe they had been friendly at some point, but Ditzy knew it was a lie. Maybe they pitied her, but she didn’t want pity anymore. She wanted respect.

And she was going to get it first at the place she hated most.

Her arrival at the orphanage went by unnoticed; none of the other foals gave her a second glance as she entered the building. She made her way towards the stairs, intending to stay in her room for the rest of the day. When she made it to the top, Ditzy spotted a group of her usual regular bullies hanging around, chatting with each other. The biggest and meanest of them, Aero, a blue-pelted pegasus with a black mane, noticed her first and smirked. “Well lookie here, boys! Derp-Eyes is back!”

Sensing trouble, Ditzy halted and glared at the bully with one of her eyes looking upwards and the other at his ugly face. “Out of my way, Aero. I’m not in the mood.”

“Oooh! Somepony’s trying to act all tough!” jeered Aero, his cronies chuckling behind him. “I’m surprised those docs at the hospital didn’t fix your freak eyes, retard. Then again, I guess it was a lost cause, just like you.”

“Shut up, Aero,” growled Ditzy, leaning forward as her tail whipped back and forth threateningly. “I’m in no mood for any of your manure, so get out of the way.”

“Since when did you grow a spine, freak?” asked Aero, a few beads of sweat dripping down his brow.

Ditzy saw this and smirked. “Say, Aero, do you know dodgeball?”

“Yeah, what of it?” asked Aero.

“I challenge you,” said Ditzy, pressing her hoof against his muzzle, “to a dodgeball game. One-on-one. Best two out of three. Unless you're a chicken!”

Aero growled, nostrils flaring. “Alright, freak. I’ll hit you so hard those eyes of yours are gonna pop out.”

Ditzy smirked and turned away, smacking her tail against his cheek. “Dream on, big boy. Now let’s head outside and do this.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the group of bullies whisper to each other with confused, and shocked, faces. If they’re surprised now, wait till we get outside.

Word of the match spread quickly, and soon nearly all the orphans were waiting outside, chatting about the match and how little time it would take for Aero to knock Ditzy off her hooves. It almost made her grin, but she kept her face emotionless. Aero soon flew from the back entrance and landed on the opposite side of her, right next to a dodgeball that had been placed for him. Ditzy had hers by her side, but she didn’t pick it up yet. I’ll wait for the right moment.

Aero looked at Ditzy and sneered. “Last chance to back down now, freak. I don’t wanna send you back to the hospital.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” said Ditzy. “I’ll be sure to introduce the staff for you when I bring them your broken body.”

She caught a few surprised looks from the orphans who knew her to be quiet and meek. She found it vindicating to reflect a bit of meanness back at somepony. Aero growled and took his dodgeball in his hooves, wings flared out in preparation. One of his goons came between them and slowly raised his hoof. Ditzy leaned forward, nostrils flaring.

The hoof came down and Aero quickly charged forward while Ditzy held her ground. With a loud cry, he thrust his body and threw the dodgeball in his hooves. Ditzy’s eyes rearranged themselves to completely focus on the ball, watching it come closer towards her face. With a smile, she moved her head to the left, letting the projectile pass her without even touching her.

Before the dodgeball could go any further, Ditzy manipulated her tail and caught it. She whipped back, grabbing her own dodgeball mid-turn. She used her tail and threw back the dodgeball at top speed before completing her turn and threw her own. The first dodgeball was a perfect hit on Aero’s face, knocking him back just as the second one smacked him right in the solar plexus. As he fell to his side, clutching his lower chest while groaning in pain. He gasped for breath as saliva dripped down his chin, mixing with blood from his nostrils.

Everypony was staring at the scene in silence, mouths open wide. Ditzy slowly walked over to Aero and glared down at him, her cold and sharp eyes staring directly into his soul. The poor colt curled into to a ball and whimpered. Ditzy saw one of the dodgeballs and picked it up before placing it next to Aero, who looked at it with a puzzled expression.

“Get up,” demanded Ditzy, narrowing her eyes. “We still got another round to go.”

Aero weakly nodded his head before rising to his feet. Ditzy slowly made her way to the other side of the field when Aero kicked the dodgeball behind her back. Snarling, Ditzy quickly turned around and caught the ball with both her forehooves. She turned her eyes right back at him, raging like a burning fire. Those who saw the eyes instantly stepped back as a cold sweat dripped down their backs.

No longer willing to hold back, Ditzy held the and ball and used her wings to levitate over the shaking colt. She kicked the ball straight at his face as hard as she could, snapping his head back. A tooth fell out. The ball bounced back to her, allowing her to get another quick shot, this time driving her forehoof down like she was performing a spike.

The ball was now twice as powerful and fell straight down on Aero’s stomach, knocking the wind out off him; as well as his lunch. Diving down, Ditzy scooped up the second dodgeball and floated right above a terrified and gasping Aero. “M-mercy... please... I’m s-sorr-ry!”

“Sorry?! Sorry?!” shouted Ditzy. “You’re all years late for ‘sorry’! All my life I’ve taken manure from each and every one of you because of my eyes and clumsiness! Well no more! You want a freak?! I’ll give you a freak! An angry freak who’s not taking any more of your horse apples and doing things her way from now on!”

Ditzy turned her gaze upon the rest of the orphans, who shivered and stared at her like she was an angry, wrathful god. “The same goes for the rest of you! If any of you ever mock me again, this will happen to you!”

With a loud war cry, she let go of the ball in mid-air, but soon front flipped and axe-kicked it before gravity could take over. It was like a red comet descending from the sky to the eyes of those watching the scene in horror. A high pitched scream rang through out the air as Aero clutched his pelvis, tears in his eyes. His friends finally found their sense and were at his side, trying to avoid the eyes of Ditzy.

One of them, however, took one look and her and gulped. “D-demon...”

Ditzy ears perked upon hearing the name and grinned. Demon, huh? I like it...

The looks the three ponies were giving Derpy weren’t a surprise to her. Twilight had her hooves covering her mouth, looking at Derpy as if she was some kind of monster ready to eat her up. Rainbow Dash’s wings were low and her jaw had dropped in disbelief. And Applejack?

“What the hay, Derpy!” screamed the farmer, gritting her teeth. “Ah can understand beaten up a bully that’s tormented ya, but ya took it to far! Not to mention ya must have scared the other orphans so bad they actually thought that ya’ll we’re a demon! How could ya have done all that!”

“What did you expect?! That I was going to just lie down and take it like a punching bag all over again?!” screamed Derpy, standing up on all fours with her nostrils flaring. She pressed her snout against Applejack’s and glared back. “You have no idea what it’s like, Applejack! You had a family and friends to be there for you! I would have killed for that growing up! I was treated worse than dirt because of my eyes and for being an orphan! Nopony was there to stop me from getting teased or beaten! Do you have any idea what it’s like? To wake up every day knowing that it was going to be more miserable than the last?! To wonder why you should bother living when nopony loved or cared about you?! That, to them, you were just a waste of air to be breathed?” She felt tears slowly drip from her eyes as every horrible moment of her past slowly flowed out of her, her repression breaking all at once like a dam. “The one time I thought I finally found ponies who cared about me, considered me a friend, they betrayed me! I was alone again and filled with so much anger that I didn’t care who got hurt! Why should I?! The world never gave a flying feather about me! So why should I have given any care back?!”

The three stared at her in silence as Derpy rubbed her eyes and took deep breaths. They had never heard her yell in such a tone. If you were to compare this Derpy to the clumsy yet positive one they knew you would swear one was a changeling. Derpy looked at them and while she saw fear and anger in their eyes, there was also pity and sorrow. Muttering an apology, she then sat back down and asked, “Do you still want to hear the rest?”

The three exchanged glances with each other before Twilight answered, “We might as well. Please tell me that colt wasn’t permanently injured.”

“No. He had to go to the hospital, saying he fell down some stairs,” muttered Derpy, struggling to keep her eyes straight. “There was only one pony I ever really ‘crippled’, and I regret it to this day...”

The day had finally come.

She had waited months for this moment to arrive, and now she would finally get her revenge. Ditzy had made sure to keep her return to school in the new year as secret as possible. Thankfully, she didn’t have any classes with Starfall, nor did she stand out enough to make her name known. In order to keep her identity more hidden, she started wearing a grey hoodie around school. Now it was time for dodgeball signups again, to replace the graduates who had left.

Ditzy couldn’t think of a better time to make Starfall pay. Practicing night and day, Ditzy knew her skills had only doubled since she last tryout. But she wasn’t here to get on the team. No, she had other intentions in mind.

Stopping in front of the doors leading to the gym, Ditzy took a deep breath and bucked them open. The sound of her entrance echoed across the entire gym, startling every player and potential player into looking into her direction. The few who recognized her, including the coach, gasped, while Ditzy noticed one pony scream in shock and fall on her rump. She didn’t look any different except for the uniform she had on, but Ditzy knew that face. It was still in her nightmare, laughing at as she slowly bled on the clouds. Today she ended that nightmare once and for all.

“Hello, everypony. Miss me?” asked Ditzy with a cocky grin. She trotted into the gym, keeping a close eye on Starfall, who looked torn between fleeing and wetting herself, while keeping another eye on the coach. He quickly got over his shock and stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Ditzy Doo? I’m surprised to see you even standing. From what I heard some gang beat you up to the point where they said you were crippled,” said Coach Hidekicker.

“Ponies say a lot of things,” said Ditzy, noticing Starfall was sweating and squirming in place. One of her teammates asked what was wrong, but she told him to shut up. “I’m just here to take my place on the team.”

“Well, Ditzy. You were great last year. Hay, I was ready to welcome you with open hooves, but it’s been a year. You still have to go through the same process as everypony else.”

Ditzy’s smile only widened. “Coach, I can prove to you that I’m not only the same filly who came in and kicked flank last year, but that I’m also better than ever. All I ask is one simple request.”

Coach Hidekicker tilted his head. “What’s that?”

“I’ll face your five best players on my own, and I’ll win.”

It took a bit more convincing, but Hidekicker agreed to let Ditzy have her handicap match. Naturally, Starfall was among the five who were picked, and stood in the middle of the line of players looking more nervous than if she were facing a dragon. Ditzy, remaining calm, stretched her muscles and never once left her gaze leave Starfall. When the backstabber finally manage to look her straight in the eyes, Ditzy cut her hoof across her neck like a dagger and made her former best friend turn pale.

Coach Hidekicker placed five balls in the middle of the court and flew back to the sidelines. Raising his hoof, he blew his whistle and the game was on.

Ditzy made a rush for two balls, arriving in time just as the other team managed to grab theirs. Before they could retreat, Ditzy took both balls and shot them in quicker than a crossbow bolt, nailing two of the player across the jaw and sending them flying. The game had only just started and already two of them were down before either of them could blink.

Starfall quickly told one of her two remaining teammates to start gathering balls while she and the other one started firing at Ditzy. However, their efforts were useless, as Ditzy easily dodged the throws, which she saw coming miles away no matter how many trick shots they used or how fast they tried to throw. She flipped and glided like it was no big deal, earning a set of amazed gasps at her performance.

She glanced at Starfall and saw the strain of frustration, which brought a smirk to her lips.Removing the smile, she decided to end this charade. Diving downward, she quickly caught one of the dodgeballs in mid-air and kicked it back at the thrower. The ball hit his gut and pushed him across the court, making him tumble into a mess. Starfall gasped and tried to order her remaining teammate with another plan, but he was knocked unconscious from a dodgeball straight to the head.

Stunned, Starfall looked around her and saw all her teammates either unconscious or moaning in pain. The crowd was silent, staring at the massacre with disbelief. Starfall slowly turned around, only to fall to her haunches and clutched her chest from the amount of hate directed at her from Ditzy’s eyes. Balancing three dodgeballs on her back, Ditzy slowly made her way towards her.

“Ditzy, please!” begged Starfall, crying her eyes out. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it... I... was just...”

Ditzy didn’t stop, drawing a dodgeball from her back.

“Please, Ditzy! I’m sorry! I regret it! Really! Just don’t hurt me! Pleaaaaaugh!”

Everypony from the sidelines winced and turned away, the echoing of snapped wing still ringing in their ears. Starfall continued to scream and kick her legs in the air, clutching her broken wing. A second later she screamed again, this time holding on the other wing. With her last dodgeball, Ditzy raised her hooves up as Starfall stared up at her, crying, “M-mercy! I’m your friend! To the end...”

This made Ditzy pause, and for a second she looked like she was about to stop her assault. However, she soon uttered, “You said it yourself, Starfall. This is the end,” and aimed it at Starfall’s right foreleg.

A third crack and scream echoed across the gym.

Part 6

Derpyball

By The Rated Ponystar

Edited by Clavier

Artwork done by Tzelly (http://tzelly-el.deviantart.com/ )

The story Derpy had been telling had already put them past the moment of disbelief, but upon hearing what had happened to Starfall, the girls couldn’t help but nudge away from the once thought harmless mailpony. Derpy didn’t blame them as she tried to fight back the tears in her eyes. What she did to Starfall was one of the biggest mistakes in her life. If anypony knew that she had pretty much crippled a young mare, and ruined her dreams of being a professional dodgeball player, then she would be kicked out of town in a heartbeat. And would rather die than let her daughter know.

Only one pony had ever known her complete past, and he was gone. Derpy hugged herself, wishing that her late husband was still around. She wanted to let herself cry in his embrace as he whispered to her how no matter how much she thought she was a monster she was still the mare he loved. He even called me his crossed-eyed angel... oh darling... I wish you were here...

Rainbow Dash was the first pony to recover from the stunned silence. “Y-you... you actually crippled her?”

Derpy sniffed and nodded. “I... I regret to this day, but back then I could have cared less, even after they expelled me.”

“Whatever happened to Starfall?” asked Applejack.

“I don’t know... I never tried to find out and I doubt it would make much of a difference. I know I’ve ruined her life and that’s all I need to know,” mumbled Derpy, closing her eyes. “Despite being expelled from school I was accepted into another middle school and joined their dodgeball team. With me leading them, we won every season in an undefeated streak. That’s when my so called legend began.” Derpy hissed at the name. “We defeated everyone, even high school and college teams when dared too. I spent every day, even during the summer, practicing and playing dodgeball, slowly gaining my undefeated reputation as a demon at the sport. I was cold, cruel, ruthless, and brilliant all in one. I joined team after team and won championship after championship. When I was in high school, I lead my team against professional leagues and even beat those.”

“Wait a minute! I thought that was just a bunch of hot air, but you really beat professionals?!” shouted Rainbow Dash in shock.

Derpy nodded. “Yeah, it made headline news in the dodgeball world. Already the coaches were ready to recruit me and give me whatever salary I wanted the moment I graduated. I thought at last I was respected and worshiped for being great... but near the end of my senior year I learned I was anything but that...”

In the Canterlot Superdome Sports Arena, the roof above was threatening to come off by the screams of the crowd. It was the Seventeenth Intercontinental Young Adults Dodgeball Championships with representatives from all over the world in over thirty different countries coming together for the glory and honor of being dodgeball champions. Every nation had sent its top teams for this tournament, but now it was finally nearing it’s end.

There was only one match left and everypony had been on the edge of their seats for it: the minotaurs from the Island of Crete and ponies from the Kingdom of Equestria. Everypony cheered as the minotaurs ran into the stage, flexing their muscles and posing for the cameras as their names were called one by one. Despite still being in high school, they were easily bigger than most of the ponies and other races around here due to their size and shape. The only ones that came close to them were the dragons, well those who still hadn’t hit their major growth spurt yet.

Suddenly, from the other side of the stadium, the announcer began naming the ponies representing Equestria’s teams. They trotted, flipped in the air, or sparkled fireworks out of their horns as the home stadium cheered for their fellow equines in their entrance. However, there was one of them that didn’t come out. She was special.

The crowd soon began to quiet down in anticipation and fear. The biggest reason why it was so packed wasn’t just because it was the championship, but she alone had been the biggest star of the tournament for a third time in a row. Those who were seasoned veterans could remember the first time they saw her three years ago and thought of her as a joke. But when each tournament was over all the teams she and her fellow ponies faced ended up blue, bloody, and raw, quickly changing their tune. Those who followed dodgeball in Equestria knew her by many names, but the most popular was The Cross-Eyed Demon.

Suddenly, light went out as a song began to play in the stadium. Between the flashes of the camera, a lone pegasus figure slowly walked out from the entrance. The announcer soon said, “And introducing last, she is the captain of the Equestrian team, The Cross-Eyed Demon, Ditzy Doo!”

The lights all came on at once as Ditzy flew into the arena, a glare in her crossed eyes that made anyone who saw it shiver in fear. Over her blue and red uniform, she had a black and green camouflage vest on with the back supporting the symbol of a pony’s skull burning while demonic wings emitted from it’s ears. Strangely enough, the eyes were the only thing that were intact, but they were facing in opposite directions.

Ditzy landed in the middle and let her eyes focus in two directions, giving the camera ponies something to snapshot at. She then turned her attention to the minotaurs who were gulping and sweating, an opposite reflection of their earlier attitude. Grinning, Derpy stuck out her tongue, widen her eyes, and dragged her hoof across her neck. She always did this at the start of every match and she loved seeing their reactions. With that all said and done, the two teams retreated to their respective sides to plan a strategy before the game started.

Ditzy looked at her teammates who eyed her with calm expressions, but she could see the sweat dripping down their faces while their eyes flinched with fear. Stomping her hoof, Ditzy commanded, “Alright, listen up all of you. This is the final match and I don’t want to see no more than three of you sitting on the sidelines. Meaning if you get hit with the ball I will personally make sure you get an extra lap in our next jog. If any of you miss a target, twenty pushups with each miss. And if any of you so much as get your throws caught, I’ll take those two lumps you have between your legs and sell them off for a griffin to eat in his pasta. Clear?!”

The team all nodded their heads much to Ditzy satisfaction. She knew her eyes made it hard for ponies to take her seriously so intimidation was the key. It was the same thing she had done on her first team when chosen to be the leader and she doubt it would be her last. With their talk over, the main nine players took to the ball court while the five substitutions waited at their team’s bench. Five dodgeballs were placed in the center as the referee looked at both teams and raised his forelegs.

“Begin!” he cried bringing them down as both sides charged forward.

Being faster than their opponents, the ponies were able to grab more balls and go on the offensive. Leading the charge was Ditzy, who moved with the grace of a eagle, yet threw her dodgeballs with the ferocity of a dragon. With a ball in hoof, she flew left, avoiding throws directed at her. She ordered cover fire as she flew towards the end of their field. She saw a dodgeball coming straight at her and smirked. Throwing her own dodgeball she saw the two balls collided in mid air and began to fall towards the ground. With lightning quick reflexes, Ditzy flew low and then raised her hoof, kicking the ball towards an unsuspecting minotaur who felt the rubber smack him in the side of his jaw. As for the other one, Ditzy reached out with her tail and caught it, resulting in a double out.

The crowd cheered for Ditzy as she took a moment to suck up all the praise. This was the result of all her hard work; the respect she finally had been wanting all her life. She glanced at the shaking minotaurs and grinned. And all they are is just trash that needs to be taken out.

The game continued on for nearly an hour, much to Ditzy frustration. Every time they managed to get one of the minotaurs out, another would take it’s place from a teammate’s ball being caught. Eventually her team managed to lose stamina, making mistakes that cost them dearly. Soon there was only two of her teammates left while the minotaurs had at four.

Growling, Ditzy quickly ordered the other two, both earth ponies, to step back and let her deal with this. With a dodgeball in her hooves, she charged forward and blocked a shot towards her before recovering it with her left wing, getting not only the thrower out, but bringing another player back on their side. Bringing her rear legs out, she slide across the court before pulling herself forward and throwing the ball in her wing forward. She then flipped forward and threw the other one in her hooves.The first dodgeball managed to hit the minotaur in the left knee, knocking it back and forcing him to lean on his other one. As he looked up he gasped before the second dodgeball smacked him in the face, sending him flying with a trail of blood following him.

Two of the minotaurs quickly shot their dodgeballs at the Cross-Eyed Demon. They smiled thinking their double assault was going to finally take her out, but to their horror Ditzy reeled back and the dodgeballs, barely avoided them as they nicked her coat. Instead they slammed right into two of her teammates who were knocked back from the force of the throws. Getting back to all fours, Ditzy saw the two balls falling down towards her and jumped up before kicking them both with her rear legs. The two minotaurs shrieked in terror as the dodgeballs knocked them both out for the count, leaving only one to fend for himself.

Falling to his rear and gasping like he was having an anxiety attack, the minotaur held out his hands and cried out, “Please! No more! I give! I give!”

But Ditzy would have none of it. Life gave no mercy so why give it back? With a glare that could put even a hydra into his grave, Ditzy calmly picked up another dodgeball and grinned. The minotaur screamed and covered his face, only to feel a small bounce against his head as opposed to the cannonball he thought was coming. He heard the referee call him out and realized that he had only been given a small throw while he made himself look like a fool. To make things even more embarrassing he had peed himself and already a yellow puddle was starting to form around him, followed by a smaller puddle of his tears as cameras were shot everywhere.

Meanwhile, the crowd was cheering for the victory that had been pulled off. Sports reporters went into overdrive as the referee walked over and raised Ditzy hoof. She looked at her teammates, both divided in silence despite their win and anger at the realization she had used them, but quickly fell into place when she glared at them and mouthed for them to “wave already”.

She could already see some of the stars from Equestria’s professional dodgeball league looking at her with either fear or admiration in their eyes from their special seat in the stands. She could remember easily beating them all and she was still in high school. Soon she would be professional and then all would know the name Ditzy Doo. For now she just wanted to bask in the glory of her victory...

If anypony were to enter the locker rooms of the winners, they’d be surprise to hear how quiet it was. There was no cheering, no cries of victory, not even a whoop of excitement. Instead, one angry leader was glaring at her shaken teammates who were torn between begging for mercy and running away with their tails between their legs. After their coach left, Ditzy ordered them to line up with a stare so harsh that the room felt like it got thirty degrees colder.

“Does anypony want to explain what happened in our last match?” asked Ditzy, pacing in front of them like she was a drill instructor. “Anypony? Hm?” She eyed one of the unicorns. “Serenity? How about you?”

Gulping, the unicorn came forward and said, “Um, we won, right?”

“Yes we did, but our performance was horrible!” screamed Ditzy in front of Serenity, who coward all the way to the floor.

Looking up at her teammates, Ditzy continued, “I told you to go out there and play your best and what did I find?! Fumbles, outs, and weak shots that even a foal could dodge or catch in her sleep! It was pathetic! You’re all pathetic! If it wasn’t for me, we would have lost that game in seconds.” Flapping her wings, she flew above at them like a raging angel, reminiscent of one of nicknames: the gray angel of death. A few of the players were cowering like Serenity was, but to her surprise one of them, a male pegasus, was staring at her with defiance.

She growled and recognized him as the rookie to the team, Steam. He had short light brown mane with a dark blue coat and his cutie mark was a fog cloud. Ignoring him for now, she continued, “I said that there would be consequences for your actions and we’re going to act on those now. Everypony is to run thirty laps around the stadium and then we’re gonna do target practice, against me!”

The team groaned in frustration while some rubbed bruises they still had from the last practice session. Ditzy wasn’t too worried about them. She held back enough of her power to make sure they got the message and didn’t end up too hurt, unlike her opponents. One by one, they marched out of the locker room to start their exercise, except for one. Ditzy glared at Steam who was actually glaring back, though the sweat dripping down his neck made it clear he wasn’t all fearless.

“I thought I gave you an order,” said Ditzy, teeth gritting as she landed on the floor.

“Yeah, and I’m ignoring it,” said Steam, stepping forward. Ditzy growled and stepped forward as well until the two were up in each others face. “I’m not taking orders from you anymore. You may be the best player in the entire world when it comes to dodgeball, Ditzy. But when it comes down to it, you don’t even care about playing the game.”

“Of course I care about winning! You think I go out there for just kicks and giggles? I push everypony as hard as they can so we can win and be champions!” shouted Ditzy.

Steam shook his head and snorted. “I never said about winning, I said about playing!” He pointed at Ditzy. “This isn’t even a game to you. You don’t care about anypony else but yourself so you can have a means to gain power. You love being in control of ponies and you push them around like a bully.”

Ditzy’s eyes stopped their spinning and quickly snapped straight. “What. Did. You. Call. Me?”

“I said you were a bully. Nothing more and nothing less,” said Steam, raising an eyebrow. A second later he found himself on the floor, clutching his bleeding jaw.

“Don’t you ever call me that again! I’m not a bully! Everypony else is the bully! You think I’m some dumb retard, huh?! Because of my eyes?! Well?!” screamed Ditzy, lowering her face near his, eyes filled with fury. “Well, look at me now! I’m the top rated dodgeball player in the world and nopony’s laughing now! I’ve got respect and I’ve got fame! I’m not a derpy-eyed idiot! I’m a regular, normal pony!”

Huffing, Ditzy continued to stare at Steam until she was sure he understood his place and began to march out. Just as she reached the door, he heard him laughing. She blinked her eyes in disbelief, but slowly turned around and indeed she saw him laughing at her.

Chuckling, he shook his head. “Really? You really think that? Well, I guess you really are an idiot...”

“What did you say?!” growled Ditzy, ready to pound him again.

He held his hoof out and grinned. “Maybe I should give you a reality check in that little fantasy world of yours, Ditzy. You are not respected. You are feared!”

“Feared?” asked Ditzy, tilting her head.

“Yeah, feared,” answered Steam, slowly getting up. “Everypony I know whispers about how brutal you are to your opponents. You don’t just beat them, you break them. You shatter their pride,make them feeling worthless. That last minotaur you took out? That guy’s going to be embarrassed for the rest of his life for what you did to him, and there were plenty others like him I’ve seen. Just whispering your name is enough to make them run away in terror.”

Ditzy said nothing so Steam continued, “And let’s not forget how many are in hospitals because of you. Didn’t you once even cripple a mare in school once?”

“She had it coming!” shouted Ditzy. “You have no idea what she did to me!”

“So two wrongs make a right?” growled Steam. “What about every other player who's gotten concussions, broken bones, and shattered teeth because of your inability to control yourself? Face it, Ditzy, you’re a bully who just likes to hurt others.”

“W-well, well...” Ditzy started fumbling her words. “That’s life isn’t it! It shows you no love nor comfort! All anypony cares about is themselves and nopony ever showed kindness to me so why should I to them?!”

“So is that what this is all about?” asked Steam, walking closer. “It’s all about getting back at ponies? Ponies who did nothing to you? I get it, you had a hard life with those eyes but that doesn’t excuse you from acting like this! We’re suppose to be your teammates and yet you treat us like trash!”

“Shut up!” shouted Ditzy, covering her ears.

“No! Because you need to hear the truth! Nopony respects you! They fear you! They call you a demon because you act like one! Cold, cruel, and without any care about their well being! You want to be in control of them all! Face it, Ditzy! You’ve become a bully!” cried out Steam.

“GET OUT! GET OUT!”

She grabbed Steam and threw him out of the room, locking it and pressing her back against the door. Sliding down, she tried to breathe while pushing away all the things Steam had said about here. It’s not true. It’s not true. I have respect! Respect!

“Ditzy...” said Steam from outside. “I thought I hated you, but looking at you know and hearing you... I realize that I don’t hate you. I pity you.”

She heard him walk away as she tried to close her eyes and relaxed. I’m not a bully. I’m not a monster. I’m just a dodgeball player...

Yet, deep inside, she felt some measure of doubt.

She was running. She didn’t know why and she didn’t care. All she knew was that something was chasing her and she had to get away as soon as possible, but she didn’t know where to go in the black void that she found herself in. Coming to a stop, Ditzy tried to make sense of which direction to go towards when all of a sudden she felt something smack her across the head and nearly knock her off her hooves. Groaning she tried to find the direction of where the object came from when she was hit again, this time at the side.

The rubber like feeling she felt when hit made Ditzy’s eyes widen. A... dodgeball?

Suddenly, she felt like she was getting pelted from all directions as she felt each hit end up becoming harder and harder each time. It was like she was getting hit by rocks instead of dodgeballs. The ones that managed to smack her against the face had managed to draw blood from her muzzle. She closed her eyes and started running again. Yet no matter where she went the dodgeballs kept coming.

Something else was following her as well. Voices that slowly grew louder and louder until she could hear them as clear as a whistle.

“Monster.”

“Demon.”

“Merciless.”

“Insane.”

“Bully.”

“Stop! Stop! Stop it!” cried out Ditzy before felt her legs trip against something and fell down.

She groaned a bit, trying to bear where she was until she gasped at who she was looking at. Starfall, with a broken leg, whose eyes were pure black and full of hate. “You! You did this to me! You ruined my life you monster!”

“N-no! S-stay back!” shouted Ditzy, backing away only to feeling somepony pressed against her back. She looked up and screamed. Another pony, this time with two twisted forelegs growled at her.

“I can barely walk anymore thanks to you! What kind of a demon does this?! The worst of the worst!”

She looked around and saw more disfigured ponies, griffins, minotaurs, and more surrounding her, screaming about the horrible pain she put them through. Ditzy felt tears drip down her eyes as she tried to huddle herself in a ball and sobbed. Starfall laughed. “Oh this is rich, the demon is crying! Cry, Ditzy, cry!”

“Cry, Ditzy, Cry! Cry, Ditzy, Cry! Cry, Ditzy, Cry! Cry, Ditzy, Cry!” screamed the crowd as they descended upon her.

“NOOOO!” screamed Ditzy, kicking out of her bed and looking around her hotel room. There was nopony around. No Starfall. No dodgeballs. Just herself. Feeling her heart ready to burst right out of her chest, Ditzy got out of bed and made it to the sink where she washed her face.

After a few splashes, she looked up and saw the bloodshot eyes in her reflection. Grumbling to herself, she tried to push away the dream she had out of her mind, but she couldn’t get rid of it. She thought back to the words Steam spoke of yesterday, how he accused her as a bully, how she enjoyed hurting others..

It’s not true, growled Ditzy, I’m not a bully! I’m not like one of them! I’m not trying to scare anypony!

That's a lie if I ever heard one, snorted a voice in her head.

It’s not a lie! shouted back Ditzy.

Then why did you smile when that minotaur pissed himself at the end of the match? Why did you go cripple Starfall? Why did you even hit your own teammates and boss them around like a military drill sergeant? demanded her inner voice.

Ditzy didn’t answer. Because she was afraid of knowing the real one if she really asked herself. She looked at the hooves that had helped her rise in fame into the pony that she was, but as she looked at herself in the mirror she wondered if this really was her. How long have I been doing this? Dodgeball, after dodgeball. Day after day. When was the last time I ever had a friend? When did I ever blow bubbles last time?

A growing nauseous feeling began to grow inside of her, and it wasn’t the bad take out she ordered. She shook her head before heading back to the covers, hoping to sleep it all off. Just as she was about to shut her eyes, her door knocked much to her animosity. Sighing, she got back up, and opened the door revealing one of her teammates took one look at her and stepped back.

“Oh dear,” said the female unicorn. “Ditzy are you alright?

“I’m fine,” muttered Ditzy, feeling her head pounding. “Actually, scratch that. I don’t feel good. You guys go to the award ceremony without me.”

The unicorn was flabbergasted upon hearing this. “A-are you sure? I know how much you love being in the spotlight.”

“Just. Go.” ordered Ditzy as she closed the door. She paused for a minute and then opened it up, calling out to the retreating unicorn. “Hey... um...”

“Hyperwave,” answered the mare.

“Right, Hyperwave,” said Ditzy, nervously shuffling her hooves. “Do... do you fear me?”

Hyperwave didn’t say anything for a long time. Until finally, “The reason I’m here, talking to you? It’s because I drew the short straw.”

With that said she left Ditzy to lonely self.

Despite her efforts, Ditzy couldn’t get to sleep. She didn’t know if it was because of the dream or what Hyperwave had just told her, but it didn’t matter. With no desire to go to the award ceremony, she packed a few of her own dodgeballs in her saddlebags and made for the back of the hotel. Taking one in her hooves, Ditzy growled as she threw it at the wall and let it bounce back into her hooves.

“Excuse me, miss?” Ditzy stopped and turned around, spotting a tiny unicorn colt with her team’s shirt on. “Are you Ditzy Doo? Wow! I was hoping to meet with you or the rest of your teammates today! This is so cool! You’re like the best ever! Can I have your autograph?!”

Ditzy shut her eyes and shook her head. “Not now, colt. I’m busy...”

“Oh... okay....” said the colt, looking downward as he sat on his haunches.

She stared at him a bit longer before turning back to the wall and continuing to assault it wit her dodgeball. Stupid Hyperwave. Stupid Steam. I’m not a bad pony! I’m not! she thought to herself.

That’s a joke if I ever heard one, mocked the voice in her head. What kind of “good” pony goes around hurting others so bad it puts them in a hospital? What kind of “good” pony cause fear into the hearts of anypony she doesn’t like?

I... I.... j-just shut up!

You’re not a good pony, Ditzy Doo. You’ve never been one for a long time.

And what? I should just go back to being the pushed around retard? The one that never had anypony care about her? The one that was always hurt?!

“Excuse me, Miss Doo?” the colt cried out, but Ditzy ignored it, focusing on her internal battle.

So hurting others is the only other way? You’re pathetic. All you’ve done is become the very same sort of bully that use to tease you day by day! said the voice, making Ditzy growl.

Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! screamed Ditzy, holding down her ears with her hooves.

Admit! Admit! Just admit you're a demon!

“Um, are you alright?” asked the colt, inching closer in concern.

“I said shut up!” shouted Ditzy turning around and throwing the dodgeball! She heard it smash against something, but quickly opened her eyes when she realized it wasn’t the sound of rubber hitting bricks. Her heart nearly stopped as she looked at the colt who fell on his back, the dodgeball bouncing away from his near limp body.

She made no sudden movements as the colt groaned and slowly got up, blood dripping down his broken muzzle as bits of his broken teeth crumbled upon the ground. He looked at her, with teary eyes of fear and betrayal, as she raised his head and wailed a single word.

“Mommy!”

Only minutes later did staff of the hotel come out and rush to the foal’s aid as he continued to cry. They tried to ask him what happened, but he said nothing. Others tried to find the one who hurt him, but there was nothing. Nothing but a dodgeball covered in blood.

Demon.

That single word rang in Ditzy’s head as she flew faster than she ever did towards the edge of Canterlot. A word she had been associated with for years, but never had she believed it true until now. She had hurt a colt, barely older than a foal, in her rage and anger. His wounds. His tears. How many others had she done the same too and never realized until now? What had she become? The one thing she was good at and she used it for destruction.

Tears dripped down Ditzy’s eyes as she continued to fly faster than she ever had before. She need to run. Away from everypony. Away from dodgeball. She was a menace. She wasn’t a champion worthy of respect.

She was a bully.

She was a demon.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she screamed. “I’m sorry!”

The next day papers reported the disappearance of Ditzy Doo. For two weeks there was a search for the missing star, but nopony found her. Some say she was kidnapped. Others say she was murdered by rivals and buried in a place nopony could find her. A few said she fled in guilt over the actions she had caused over the years.

Rumors came and went with less talk of Ditzy Doo over the years. To all but the most hardcore of Dodgeball fans, or those who played with or against her, she was nothing more than a distant memory.

“... I eventually ended up in Ponyville, living on the streets and hiding from pain sight until I met my husband,” said Derpy, finishing her story. “He took care of me, even after I told him all the horrible things I did. I changed my name and the rest is history...”

She looked at the three ponies who looked at her with shock and, to her surprise, sympathy. Twilight was the first to get up and walk over to Derpy, hugging her. “Oh, Ditzy...”

“Derpy,” corrected Derpy as she pushed Twilight off. “Ditzy Doo is dead. I never want to associate myself with my past ever again, Twilight. I swore I would never again play dodgeball and I would never let that... demon inside of me get unleashed again.” Derpy pounded her hooves against the ground. “I hurt so many ponies that it’s unforgivable. I’ve ruined so many lives... and for what? Glory? Respect? I got neither and ended up with a reputation as infamous as Nightmare Moon. All I want is to be left in peace and never have to deal with this again. I’m sorry girls, I know I would be a big help, but I don’t want to play dodgeball ever again!”

Derpy got up and slowly lifted herself off her hooves. “I’m going now... and keep the muffins. I don’t want them.”

The girls watched as Ditzy flew away, leaving them to their own thoughts. After some silence, Applejack shook her head. “Damnit... Ah don’t know if Ah should feel sorry or be disgusted at her... a story like that? It makes ya wonder...”

Twilight nodded and turned to Rainbow Dash. “We can’t have her on the team. She’s been through enough, Dash. Let’s just let her be.”

Dash frowned and sighed. “Fine. I really was hoping to use her, but... “

“Ah’m with Twilight,” second Applejack. “The poor mare’s been through enough. We can handle Gilda’s team with the team we got.”

“Whatever,” said Dash, flying away.

The girls looked at each other and then at the retreating Derpy who seemed to be more mysterious than ever. Applejack turned to her friend and asked, “Do ya think she’ll be alright?”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know....”

At long last the big day was almost here. Tomorrow the tournament was going to begin as well as the big pony vs griffin match. More and more ponies were coming, either to see the matches or to sell merchandise. The mayor had her staff work overtime to find rooming and vacancy for everypony, but with the amount of bits the town was getting it was worth it. Events were held from autograph sessions with the professionals who were visiting to even foal skirmishes for fun and prizes. Some even came seeking the legendary “Crossed-Eyes Demon”, but Derpy had remained unnoticed for now.

In the center of town, Ponyville’s dodgeball team was shaking hooves and talking to other ponies who had come to cheer them on. The only thing that was on everypony’s mind was where Gilda’s team of griffins was. Nopony had seen a single feather of the eagle lion, some even suggesting they were being cowardly.

Rainbow Dash, however, knew better.

“Hey, Dash!”

“Huh?” said Rainbow, snapping out of her daydream. She rubbed her eyes and stared at her five friends who were staring at her with concern.

“You okay, Dashie? You looked like you were zoning out?” said Pinkie Pie, walking towards her. She had a plate of cupcakes on her back which she was selling as free samples to help direct customers towards sugarcube corner. She then gasped. “Oh no! Is your brain is being brainwashed by aliens from outer space! Quick! Put this tin-foil helmet on!”

Rainbow Dash narrowly dodged Pinkie’s efforts to put on the ridiculous hat and brushed her pelt. “Relax, Pinkie. I was just thinking of Derpy...”

“Again, Rainbow?” sighed Applejack, walking over after signing an autograph. “For Pete’s sake, just put it past ya already. The team’s been gettin’ better and don’t ya think that the two of us together are more than enough for whatever goon squad Gilda is gonna come up with?”

“I know it’s just... well...” said Rainbow Dash, she looked at her teammates who looked happy at the attention they were getting. They had improved a lot, but there was still a nagging feeling in her mind that this wasn’t enough. “I know Gilda. When she says she’s gonna do something she’s gonna do it hard and fast. I just know she’s got something planned for us and I really want us to be the best when it comes down full frontal. If we had Derpy...”

“Rainbow, we have to respect her wishes. You know that,” said Applejack, sternly.

“I really wish you girls would just tell us what happened that day,” said Pinkie Pie, frowning. “Maybe then I could cheer Derpy up with a party!”

“Actually, Pinkie, this is somethin’ Ah doubt a party could fix,” replied Applejack, which made Pinkie Pie look at her as if she just heard that Santa Hooves wasn’t real.

Before anypony could say anything else, a loud eagles cry echoed across the town square. Everypony looked up and gasped as a single female griffin swooped down and landed on the street. Raising her head, she glanced at Rainbow Dash and smirked. “What’s up, dweeps? Miss me?”

“Gilda!” cried out Rainbow Dash, flying right in her face. “So you showed up after all, huh?”

“Well, duh. What do you think i am? Some kind of wimp?” barked Gilda, glaring back. She raised an eyebrow. “So where’s your team of lamo’s?”

“Right here!” shouted Rainbow Dash flying back. Her teammates assembled behind her and puffed out their chest, the crowd cheering them on.

Gilda looked at each of them before she started chuckling. Then it soon grew to full on laughter as she pointed to each of the ponies, barely standing. “This is all you could get?! What a joke! Oh, man I almost feel bad that we’re gonna cream you!”

Growling, Rainbow Dash shouted, “Oh yeah?! Well, were is your team?!”

“Oh they should be here right about... now!”

Eight blurs suddenly flew in different directions above, surprising the ponies as they tried to get a good look at them, but all the could see were their huge size. They then came together as one group and landed next to Gilda with a large slam that nearly shook the ground upon hitting it. When everpony found themselves, they all looked at the newcomers and gasped, even Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe it.

For most ponies, the biggest being they had ever seen was Princess Celestia in terms of height, but these eight griffins were just as tall if not taller than even her. Not to mention they had the muscle of a minotaur and the glare of a dragon. They looked more like soldiers that had been through tough training and each of them was bald headed with red war paint on their faces in different designs. Some even wondered if it was blood they were wearing.

Their jersey’s were dark purple with a language that they couldn’t understand, obviously foreign. Gilda smirked and waved her claw at them. “Allow me to introduce the Sibirdia Professional Dodgeball Team. Winner of the Griffin Dodgeball Cup, six years in a row. Trained in the coldest of weathers and have been through the roughest of training.” She started walking down the line, introducing each of them. “We got Bloodlust, Hammerhead, Viper, Dragonbane, Jackknife, Stone Cold, Apex Killer, and Bob.”

“Bob? Really?” muttered Pinkie Pie, with a chuckle, but soon that died out when “Bob” walked over and leaned down at Pinkie.

“Little pony got problem with Bob’s name?” he asked in a thick accent.

“Uh, no. It’s a very nice name...” whispered Pinkie, slowly backing up.

Gilda pulled out a dodgeball and tossed it over to Bob. “Bob here holds the griffin record for the fastest dodgeball throw ever in our history. Why don’t you show them, Bob?”

Bob nodded and turned his attention to a nearby house. He growled and unleashed his through, sending the ball through the air like a speeding bullet. The dodgeball crashed through the house and went through the other side, leaving a giant hole that the occupants looked at with amazement. One of them in the shower, quickly covered herself up and blushed.

The ponies gasped and looked at the griffins, realizing that their so called “victory” was going to be a lot harder than they thought. Applejack shouted, “That ain’t fair! Ya never said we could use professionals! And how the hay do ya even know these fellas?!”

Gilda crossed her forelegs. “For your information, hayseed, I said griffins of my choosing. That meant all I had to do was find these guys and get them to join me. As for how? Let’s just say I have some good connections.” Gilda flew up into the air, along with her team, and grinned. “Better get those treats ready for me and my boys, Rainbow Dash. Because come tomorrow, you and your little dweebs are gonna get the worst beatdown ever!”

The griffins laughed as they flew away, leaving the ponies in a stunned silence.

Author's Notes:

Two more chapter to go. Hope you enjoyed. Later

Part 7

Derpyball

By The Rated Ponystar

Edited by Clavier

Artwork done by Tzelly (http://tzelly-el.deviantart.com/ )

In just one moment all moral for the ponies had dropped to an all time low. The sight of such massive and intimidating griffins had started to put doubt in the minds of everypony. It was made even worse when information about the Sibirdian team was learned about. Not only were they the best dodgeball team in their homeland, they were one of the top five dodgeball teams on the planet. Rumors even spread that many teams just plain forfeited whenever they were up against them.

Despite this, Rainbow Dash and her friends were determined to keep everypony’s spirits up. Pinkie Pie even pulled out all the stops and planned a huge party at town hall to help turn the frowns upside down. Despite the games, food, dancing, and music, most were still talking in fear over the arrival of the griffins.

Twilight Sparkle, watching the townsfolk from her corner on the side, looked at scene in disappointment. She knew she should have been happy that they had managed to gather enough money for the charity event, but the happiness it was suppose to bring seemed to be overshadowed by despair. She watched as Pinkie Pie, Spike, and the CMC tried to get the party moving with some jokes, dancing, and encouragement, but most were still a bit reluctant.

Shaking her head, Twilight asked, “How could things have gotten so wrong in such a short amount of time?”

“Them griffins just came out of nowhere and spooked us more frightened than a scared possum,” said Applejack, walking towards her friend. She shivered. “Even Ah was nervous just by lookin’ at them.”

“How’s the rest of the team’s moral?” asked Twilight, knowing that she wasn’t going to like the answer.

Applejack sighed. “Big Macintosh and Snowflake are alright. Lyra was a bit scared at first, but she said we can count on her to give it her all tomorrow. Sugarberry, Lucky, and Roseluck, however, looked ready to flee home with their tails between their legs. They even suggested givin’ up, but Dash scolded them and ordered them to come to the stadium tomorrow where she said we would win, but they didn’t really believe her. Lucky even said he was gonna head to the coffin maker tomorrow to give his measurements.”

Twilight sighed, it was worse than she hoped. She looked around her fellow townsponies and realized she had to do something. Politely excusing herself, Twilight rushed onto the hall’s stage and summoned a nearby microphone. “Um, excuse me, everypony!” The music went off as everypony stopped what they were doing and focused on Twilight. Clearing her throat, she said, “Look, everypony, I know some of us are still a bit down from learning just how tough are opponents are gonna be...”

A few mumbles in the crowd emerged from this.

“... but that doesn’t mean we’re not tough as well!” said Twilight stomping her hoof. She tried to quickly think of a way to help turn them around, and in the process remembered a lesson from one of her history books. Beaming, she continued, “Let me tell you about a story. It’s similar in nature to what we are facing today, but different in context. Over two hundred years ago, Equestria was at war with the griffins. During this time, we were invaded and what stood in the way of a great army was a single pony village. They were small in numbers, but their hearts and spirits were large. When the village learned of the mighty army coming towards their village, through the misty mountains, did they cower in fear? Did they give themselves up to the griffins?”

She could see all eyes focused on here, which made her smirk as she shouted, “They did not! They sent one thousand of their greatest warriors to fight against an army of ten thousand! And who was behind them, cheering all the way and giving them the courage and strength needed to fight this enemy?! Their village! And with the support and love from their village they were able to hold off the enemy, using the terrain they knew better than anyone, to hold off the griffin army until Princess Celestia, leading an army of her own, came and defeated them! Although they suffered many casualties, they proved that even a simple town, just like this one, can help topple a great foe!”

By now the ponies were stomping their hooves, their faces of worry turning to awe and realization. Twilight had them in the center of her hoof and now it was time to finish her speech with a final kick.

“While we are at peace with the griffins, and most are kind and good natured, Gilda and her goons are not! They seek to take advantage of our charity and our hard work! They mock us for thinking we’re weak! Well, we’ll show them wrong! Just like the village two hundred years ago, we will raise our voices, support our dodgeball team, and show once again that we ponies can kick flank!”

Cheers erupted as everypony started screaming, “Ponyville! Ponyville! Ponyville!”

Twilight smiled and walked back down towards Applejack who was nodding in approval. “Land sakes girl, ya sure know how to motivate folk. Ah think not even the princesses themselves could have done a finer job. It’s gotten me all pumped up for tomorrow now!”

Blushing, Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. “It was nothing. I bet Rainbow Dash could have made a better speech anyway.” She turned to the ponies who were now partying for real this time. Gone were the worried looks and depressed faces, instead they showed pride and excitement. Seeing her party finally coming to fruition, Pinkie Pie could start enjoying it herself instead of making other enjoy it.

“Speaking of which, where is Rainbow Dash anyway?” asked Applejack.

Twilight scratched her head. That was a good question. Where could she be?

While most of Ponyville’s residence were at the party, one particular crossed-eyed pegasus was walking back home with the ingredients needed for today’s dinner on her back. She was glad for the distraction, finding it harder to avoid everypony asking questions on who she was. The reporters were the worst, asking her why she didn’t go professional or if she was ever gonna come out of retirement.

Derpy only flew as fast as she could to avoid them, but still they persisted. It was only a miracle that her daughter didn’t know any of the darker parts of her past, and she prayed she never did. But once the tournament is over everypony will forget about it. I can go back to being Derpy the clumsy mailmare.

She was about to turn the corner to her house when somepony shouted, “Hey! Derpy!”

Recognizing the voice, she sighed and turned around, watching Rainbow Dash land nearby much to her annoyance. “What do you want, Rainbow Dash?”

The leader of Ponyville’s dodgeball team walked straight up to her and pointed. “I want you to join our team.”

“No,” answered Derpy, immediately. She tried to walk away, but Dash stepped in front of her. “We already had this conversation and my answer is final.”

“Yeah, and I want you to hear me out,” said Rainbow Dash, flaring her wings. “Listen, I get it. You had a rough time with dodgeball, and you went too far. But that’s in the past and you made a mistake. You’re older now, and all of us could really use you! Don’t you care about our town’s pride?! Or the fact that Pinkie and all the baker’s will lose their treats?!”

“You were the ones who started the whole mess by agreeing to the stupid bet, not me,” said Derpy.

“And yet everypony in town, but you, has tried their best to show Gilda that we ponies are awesome!” said Rainbow Dash. “Even your daughter, Dinky, has been cheering us on!”

“Leave my daughter out of this!” shouted Derpy, her eyes straightening and giving a glare that nearly made Dash flinch, but she still held strong.

“I’m only speaking the truth!” answered Dash, not backing down. “You think you’re the only pony who's made mistakes or hurt ponies in their life? We’ve all done things were not proud off, but hiding from them and never acknowledging them only causes more pain. What helps us is accepting our problems and moving on from them. You’re a great dodgeball player, regardless of what you might think, and I know you're a good pony, despite your past. If I really didn’t trust you then I wouldn’t be here asking for your help.”

“Why do you even care?! You never liked me! You always called me names or said how much trouble I was!” shouted Derpy, shoving Rainbow Dash back and flaring her nostrils. “You think I never knew what some ponies in town thought of me?! I can’t help that I have these eyes or always get into accidents! It’s who I am!”

“Yeah, and I’ve always respected you for it!” shouted Dash.

Hearing this, Derpy’s eyes lost their anger and soon showed confusion as she stepped back. “W-what are you talking about?”

Sighing, Rainbow Dash looked to her right and scratched her leg. “Look, I know... I’ve made some bad comments about you before, but truth is... I actually really think you’re a tough pony. I mean you always get into accidents or cause property damage, but then you get right back up, with that positive smile of yours, and keep trying. It almost reminds me of me when I was younger...”

Derpy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. While Rainbow Dash had never been an outright bully to her, she had never been a friend either. She tried to find some sign that she was lying, but, to her shock, Depry couldn’t find any.

“You’re a single mother who works day and night to make sure Dinky is provided for. And anytime you made a mistake you did your best to fix it. Sure you're a klutz, but nopony is perfect,” answered Dash, rubbing the back of her neck and blushing. “This town has accepted you for who you are, Derpy, but now we need you! Do you want to see all your friends disappointed if we lose? Do you want to see all our hard work end up meanless?” Rainbow Dash glared and pointed at Derpy. “The fact that you have the power to help us, but refuse too, is what pisses me off the most. You have a great gift, and yet you squander it out of fear.”

“B-but... but...” Ditzy wiped a few tears from her eyes. “But what if I hurt somepony! What if I become that demon again!”

Rainbow Dash calmly placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m not asking for Ditzy Doo The Crossed-Eyed Demon to fight alongside me. I’m asking for Derpy Hooves The Mailmare.”

“Dash...” whispered Derpy as she saw the other pegasus fly overhead and look down at her.

“I won’t force you to join us, Derpy. But I know you’ll make the right choice in the end,” said Dash before flying away.

Derpy stood there for a long time before she finally made her way back home.

“I’m home!” shouted Derpy, kicking the door behind her shut. She marched into the living room and put the groceries on the table. She blinked and realized that her daughter hadn’t rushed towards her for a hug like she always did. Normally, she wouldn't be so worried about this, but she had a bad feeling in the bottom of her gut.

Hoofsteps were heard and she turned around to see a worried Carrot Top. Sensing something was wrong, Derpy asked, “Carrot? What’s wrong? Where’s Dinky?” Upon the mentioning of her daughter’s name, Carrot winced and rubbed the back of her neck. This only made Derpy even more worried. “Carrot?”

“I’m sorry, Depry,” apologized Carrot Top, lowering her head in shame. “I tried my best to have her avoid the rumors but... she got to curious and asked the reporters and she learned.... we learned everything.”

“E-everything...”

“Yes, everything,” answered Carrot Top.

Derpy fell onto her haunches, her eyes misting in disbelief. No... no, I never wanted her to learn... oh goodness, she hates me! She hates me!

“How... did you...” asked Derpy, fighting the tears.

“I learned the moment you freaked out all the trainers,” answered Carrot Top sheepishly. “I kept silent because I knew you had your reasons, Ditzy...”

“Derpy!” hissed the crossed-eyed pegasus. “Never call me that!”

“S-sorry!” apologized Carrot Top, shivering. “I figured there was a reason you don't want your daughter to know and the stories I heard,” she shivered again, “I can understand why.”

Derpy covered her eyes and started crying, Carrot Top slowly embraced her and let the pegasus weep on her shoulders. It was over. The one pony she never wanted to learn about her past now knew it. She could already hear her daughter crying and yelling at her, calling her a monster and a bully. She cursed herself again; for her past for everything she had done since taking up that first dodgeball years ago. I don’t want to lose her! Please!

“You need to talk to her,” said Carrot Top.

“B-but... what if she hates me?” asked Derpy, only to get stern look from her roommate and closest friend.

“Hate you?! Dinky would never hate you? Are you forgetting how many times she’s called you her hero? The smiles she gives you every day? Or that one time you were so sick she refused to go to school for days until you were better?” asked Carrot Top, shaking her head. “Dinky loves you, Derpy. That little filly is a sweet and innocent as the day she came into this world. She’s just... confused.”

Taking a deep breath, Derpy nodded and slowly made her way towards the staircase. Before she could take the first step, she turned to Carrot Top and smiled. “Thank you, Carrot. I’m glad you’re my best friend despite knowing my secret.”

Carrot Top shook her head. “Derpy, you and I have been friends for years. Something like this isn’t gonna break it. You and I have been through a lot and we’ll continue to do so. Now get up there and hug and kiss that little muffin of yours.”

With her best friends words in her heart, Derpy nodded and walked up the stairs. Each step made her heart leap and her nerves twinge in panic. A hundred scenarios went through her head a she tried to calm herself, but ended up missing a lot of stairs along the way resulting in some falls. Eventually, she managed to reach the top of the staircase and turned to the first door on the right, her daughter’s room.

She slowly raised her hoof and knocked on the door. “Dinky? It’s me, Mommy. Can I come in?”

The door unlocked and, taking that as a good sign for the most part, Derpy walked inside. Her daughters room was like most fillies around her age, bright and colorful with a lot of toys and school stuff. One of the things her daughter liked to do was draw, and she had a lot of drawings nailed to the wall. They mostly consisted of Derpy herself, but sometimes it was other ponies like the CMC, Luna and Celestia, Pinkie Pie, Carrot Top, and some strange stallion her daughter said she met one night and visited a few times after, traveling in his strange blue box. Of course he was mostly just some kind of pony her daughter dreamed of.

As for Dinky herself, her little unicorn was sulking on the bed, looking at her mother with big, sad eyes. It nearly broke Derpy in half to think that she was the cause of her daughter’s sorrow.

“Hi, Mommy,” whispered Dinky.

“Hey, Muffin...” muttered Derpy.

Dinky shuffled her hooves a bit before she raised her head and asked the million dollar question. “Did you really hurt ponies playing dodgeball, Mommy?”

Derpy held back a choke with her first thoughts were to lie and tell her daughter that they were just nasty rumors, but she held back. Closing her eyes, she shameful nodded. “Yes, Dinky. I... was a bully... a very mean one...”

“Why?” asked Dinky, showing no emotion but confusion. Derpy didn’t blame her. She had always been her daughter’s hero, even more so the then Princesses could ever be. To shatter such innocence, it only broke Derpy’s heart even more.

“I wanted... I wanted others to feel my pain, from being bullied,” answered Derpy, lowering her head as tears dripped down her face. “I convinced myself that I was doing it to gain respect, but the truth is I was tired of being hurt and bullied to the point where I wanted to cause the same thing to others. Do you remember why I told you to never strike back against Diamond Tiara, no matter what she says?”

“Yeah...”

“It’s because all hatred does is breed more hatred and hurt others. It’s nothing but a cruel feeling, Dinky,” muttered Derpy. “One that I never got a chance to learn until I realized too late. And now you're ashamed of me, I won’t blame you if you are.”

Dinky sat on her bed, silent for a long time. Then she got off and walked over to her mother before lifting her head up so they could see each other, despite Derpy’s eyes wandering in different directions. “Do you feel sorry for what you’ve done?” asked Dinky. Derpy nodded and then, to the pegasus’ shock, her daughter smiled and nuzzled her. “It’s okay, Mommy. I forgive you.”

“You... forgive me... just like that?” asked Derpy, falling to her haunches with her mouth wide open. “Even though I just admitted that I was a bully long ago?”

“That’s right, ‘long ago’. You’re not one anymore and you feel really sorry for it! You told me if somepony made a mistake, and feels really sorry, that pony should be forgive and everypony should move on!” said Dinky, surprising her mother further by giving her a hug. “I’m never gonna stop loving you, Mommy! Never!”

A smile stretched across Derpy’s muzzle as she held her daughter and kissed her on the forehead. “Oh, Muffin... thank you... thank you...” Never before had she ever felt so relieved. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders and she could fly free.

The mother and daughter held each other tight, their love still strong.

It was finally here. The big event that everyone had been waiting for. The charity went off to a great start, with ponies filling the newly constructed stadium, paying their way in. Merchandise and food were being sold at the various stands, earning more payment for the charity from ponies who wanted to support their fellow ponies or wanted to give their fillies and colts something to remember the event by. In just two hours, the seats were all filled with, everypony chatting about the upcoming tournament; giving their opinions on which team would win and why. It wasn’t just commoners who were here to see the dodgeball tournament as well. Famous ponies such as the Wonderbolts, Fancy Pants, Photo Finish, and many more were seated in the high box games. There was even a box for Princess Celestia and Luna should they decided to come, but they announced that they couldn’t favorite one town’s charity event over another so they sent two representatives. A unicorn with a pink mane and white coat named Sunny, and pegasus with a short dark blue mane and a light blue coat named Lulu.

Reporters from all over Equestria, and even some griffin ones, were trying to find the best spots to report all the action. The sight of some griffins, both reporters and in the stands, had unnerved a few ponies due to Gilda and her teams intimidating arrival, but to their surprise some of them were actually wearing Ponyville’s colors.

The Sibirdia vs Ponyville game was the one everyone was looking forward too. Bets were being lined up, with most of the odds supporting the Sibirdia team much to disappointment of others. However, there were some who were whispering rumors that the Crossed-Eyed Demon, Ditzy Doo, had been spotted in town and some were wondering if she would show up to support her fellow ponies. Other said she was going to face both teams and destroy them all.

In truth, Derpy had been at the stadium, but with a disguise. Dinky and Carrot Top had wanted to see the tournament, but the former wanted her mother to come so she could explain the game better. Although she loathed to see any dodgeball game again, she felt it was the right thing to do for her daughter after lying to her all these years. With a fedora, mustache, shades, and long trench coat to cover her cutie mark, Derpy and her companions sat at the front row where they could see the best action.

“This is so exciting! I can’t wait to see us ponies kick those griffins in the butt! Go Ponyville!” cried out Dinky, wearing a Ponyville hat while waving her flag in excitement.

Derpy couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her daughter’s beaming face. She’s really getting into his... maybe I should let her explore more about dodgeball. It’s not right for me to limit her to it just because of my issues.

Carrot Top, eating her popcorn with a large soda by the side, noticed her best friend smiling and chuckled. “And you didn’t want to come originally.”

Derpy blushed. “I just want to make her happy. She’s really into this...”

“Yeah, did you know she’s been playing the game at school during recess?” asked Carrot Top earning a surprise look from Derpy. “According to what I hear, she’s got her mother’s talent. But don’t worry, she’s always showing good sportsmanship when she wins or loses.”

Although this made Derpy relax a bit, she couldn’t help but worry about this. Looking at the innocent filly that was everything to her, Derpy wondered if she should continue to allow her daughter to keep pursuing her interest in dodgeball. If it was something her daughter loved doing, she had no right to prevent her and should support her all the way. But what if she becomes like I did... I don’t want her to become a demon...

“Look! It’s Miss Twilight!” shouted Dinky, snapping her mother out of her thoughts.

Everypony watched as Twilight Sparkle, the lead planner of the event, come up to the middle of the stadium field with a microphone levitating by her side. Clearing her throat, she spoke as her voice echoed across the stadium. “Fillies and gentlecolts! I would like to welcome you all to Ponyville’s Help the Needy fundraiser correspondence with other towns and cities around our great nation. Already we have made twice our original goal with your support and we thank you all once again!”

A large eruption of cheers came from the audience. When it settled down, Twilight continued, “And without further ado, let the games begin!”

Everypony cheered again as the first two teams of the tournament took their spots and prepared themselves...

Derpy had to admit, it felt good to once again feel the energy of dodgeball. The roaring crowd, the strategies deployed, seeing players move around and sweat, the excitement of seeing hits and near misses and so forth. It reminded her of the times when dodgeball was fun once in her life, before Starfall’s betrayal and her descent into the monster she was famous for being.

What made her even more energetic was the sight of Dinky’s face. She was absolutely into the whole tournament, cheering for her teams when they won and moaning when they lost. She had never seen her daughter so passionate about something before and, if Carrot Top was right earlier, she was good at then maybe she would develop a cutie mark for dodgeball.

And if she does I’ll make sure she doesn’t become like me, thought Derpy.

She looked at the tournament board and realized that they had come to the halfway point of the tournament. Meaning it was time for the griffin vs pony game. She wasn’t the only one to realize this as the crowd began to speak in more excited tones. An announcement was heard from the speakers. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, it is now time for the match you have all be waiting for!”

The entrance music for the Sibirdia team started to play as one by one big brutes marched in like an army. Many members of the audience started to boo or hiss at the team of bullies, but they showed no emotion on their way down to the court. Only Gilda showed a smile on her face, but the kind that spoke of cunning and deviousness. Derpy had yet to see this group of professionals, but now that she could, she could already tell that Dash and her team were up against trouble.

“Introducing the visiting team: Bloodlust, Hammerhead, Viper, Dragonbane, Jackknife, Stone Cold, Apex Killer, Bob, and Gilda!”

Just by their stance showed how disciplined they were, the fact that their eyes were focused on the court meant they were already in a battle mode. Not to mention she could see power in those eyes, power that made even her tremble a bit. Their bodies were build for both power and speed, meaning that each of them was just as skilled as the other, giving her also a hint that they worked as a team, with little to no ego about each other.

“Those griffins are scary,” muttered Dinky, moving closer to her mother.

Derpy wrapped a wing around her little muffin’s tiny body and whispered, “It’s okay. They’re not gonna hurt you.”

The Sibirdia team finally made it to their side of the court and waited for their opponents to arrive. They didn’t have to wait long as the entrance music for Ponyville’s team started and everyone in the stands jumped in cheers. Rainbow Dash lead the team, followed by Applejack and the rest who waved their hoofs or wings at their fans. Banners and posters could be seen at every corner of the stadium with some even throwing roses.

The all pony team sucked it up like a sponge and began posing or cheering with the crowd; Snowflakes famous “YEAH!”’s were even heard across the stadium. Everypony cheered louder as their names were announced. “And introducing the home team, our very own Ponyville citizens fighting for our honor: Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Lyra, Big Macintosh, Snowflake, Sugarberry, Lucky, and Roseluck!”

Dinky and Carrot Top were cheering for their team like everypony else. Everypony, but Derpy. She quickly looked at the team Dash had formed and then back at the Sibirdian’s, coming up with a quick analysis on how things were going to go down. It’s gonna be a slaughter.

She knew in her heart that Dash’s team had no chance against these professionals. They were made for the sport, and while most of Ponyville’s team had top athletes, they didn’t train years to be as good as she could tell the griffins had. Experience would be the ultimate deciding factor in the game, and it would take only a miracle for Ponyville to win. She felt sick, imaging the disappointed looks on everypony’s faces when they saw their heroes utterly beaten while the griffins would help themselves to all the bake sale’s food.

And worst of all, she could just imagine her daughter’s sorrowful expression when they lost. That was enough to make her feel really sick.

They might have a chance if had joined them, a voice inside her pointed out.

Derpy shook her head. Regardless of her sympathy and worry, she wasn’t going to play again. She promised long ago and she was going to keep that promise. Trying to push such thoughts away, she instead tried to focus on the game as the two captains, Gilda and Rainbow Dash, made their way to the center.

Rainbow Dash knew the odds were against them, but she had faced odds before and shoved them back up logics nostrils. Standing tall, she met up with Gilda at the center where the referee, a unicorn, met with them. He gave both of them a serious look in the eye. “Now I want a nice, clean game between you two. I’m not playing favorites and you will obey my rules. Understood?” The two captains nodded. “Good, shake and let’s do this.”

Gilda and Rainbow Dash shook, but snarled nonetheless. “Get ready to lose, Rainbow Crash.”

“In your dreams, Gilda.”

The two captains retreated and formed up, ready to run or fly at the line of dodgeballs in the middle of the courtyard. All was quiet in the stadium, so much so a pin could drop and all could hear it. The referee looked at both teams before putting his hoof up.

“Ready...”

Gilda licked her chops in anticipation.

“... set...”

Rainbow Dash flared her nostrils.

“... Dodgeball!”

Both teams took off in a flash and the game was on.

Author's Notes:

One more chapter to go, it's gonna be the longest so I'll need to time make it epic and awesome.

Part 8

Derpyball

By The Rated Ponystar

Edited by Clavier

Artwork done by Tzelly (http://tzelly-el.deviantart.com/ )

Rainbow Dash knew that, with the odds against them, she would have to lead her team differently than she usually did. The hotheaded pegasus wasn’t normally the one for tactics and strategy, but that’s why she had an egghead for a friend. Twilight predicted that the griffins would strike hard and fast right at the start, so the best chance they had early on was to get as many dodgeballs at the start of the game. This required speed, and Rainbow Dash was the fastest there was.

Blazing forth like lightning, Rainbow Dash flew towards the line and started knocking back as many balls as she could towards her side. Lyra and Applejack were right behind her, ready to grab the dodgeballs and quickly disperse them among teammates. However, the griffins were still fast flyers as one of them, Hammerhead, managed to quickly get to one and throw it at Rainbow Dash. Dash barely had time to lean back to avoid the blow. Unfortunately, the ball continued on course until it hit Roseluck on the side and knocked her on her back with the wind knocked right out of her. The crowd groaned or booed, already a minute in and somepony on their side was out.

Despite the sudden loss, Rainbow Dash quickly retreated from the middle line and shouted, “Let them have it!”

The Ponyville team cheered and began to throw their dodgeballs, the griffins counter attacking with their own. Soon, both sides were at war with each other, jumping, dodging, and throwing to their hearts content.

The ponies took another hit when Gilda managed to block a shot thrown by Lucky and got ready to throw her’s. Lucky prepared himself, but suddenly Gilda threw her ball right above her and into Jackknife’s claws where he quick unleashed his throw. Taken by surprise, Lucky was unable to dodge the hard blow to his chest and he was called out by the referee.

Cursing up a storm, Rainbow Dash whistled and in flew Snowflake. “Think you can be my shield for a direct assault?”

“YEAH!”

“Then charge big guy!” shouted Rainbow Dash, getting behind her tank with her own dodgeball in hooves.

Snowflake flared out his nostrils and charged forward. One of the griffins, Bloodlust, tried to stop him with his own throw, but Snowflake managed to catch the ball. The griffin cursed a storm as Roseluck quickly rushed back into the fight. Still on his war path, Snowflake continued his charge, knocking back any dodgeballs that were coming his way. Rainbow Dash was right behind him. “Come on! Almost there!”

“Ugh, that guy is like a brick wall!” shouted Gilda who clenched her claws upon seeing her own shot blocked.

“Bob bring down tiny winged pony!”

Gilda looked behind her to see her strongest griffin take a dodgeball, aim, and fire like a canon. The ball was sailing so fast Snowflake didn’t even know he was hit until he was halfway across his side of the field, holding his bleeding jaw. Rainbow Dash barely managed to make it out of the way. She cursed, hoping to get closer to aim for Gilda or Bob, the two more dangerous of the group, but she had to settle for a different target. She kicked her dodgeball as hard as she could and managed to hit Viper straight in the head, knocking him to the ground hard.

The audience cheered, they were two for two now in terms of outs! Dinky waved her hat in celebration. “Yahoo! Did you see that?! Dash and the others are catching up!”

Although Derpy smiled and nodded, she quickly frowned upon realizing that she was the only one who could see what was clearly going on. They’re holding back. Not good.

Back on the ground, the two sides slowly became more evenly matched until Sugerberry was taken out by a low blow to her legs causing her to trip. She tried to get up, but winced and immediately fell down, causing the game to come to a timeout. The doctors checked her legs and found them to be strained, meaning she was out for the rest of the game. With now one of them permanently down, Lyra sighed and realized it was time. I didn’t want to show this off so early, but I guess I have no choice.

The game went back on track and Lyra rushed to the middle where two of the griffins looked at her and prepared to unleash their dodgeballs. Suddenly, Lyra, to their surprise, stood up on her hind legs like a minotaur with her horn glowing. “Alright, you buttheads! Bring it on!” shouted Lyra, appearing to be what looked like a fighting stance.

One of the griffins, Stone Cold, looked at his partner and laughed. Pointing at the unicorn, he said, “Oh, really? In case you haven’t noticed we have dodgeballs and you have nothing, weakling!”

Lyra grinned as a crazed look appeared in her eyes. “You underestimate my power!” To the shock of the audience, and the players on the field, two sets of golden arms appeared from Lyra’s back. Her horn continued to shine as the magical limbs stretched out looking similar to minotaurs only more monkey looking and five fingers. “Now! Feel the true power of my magical HANDS!”

The griffins quickly snapped out of their shock and threw their dodgeballs only to watch in horror as Lyra’s magical limbs caught both easily. The smile on Lyra’s face increased as she started reeling back each hand and threw the balls at top speed, getting two headshots as a result. Despite the overall creepiness of the magical limbs, the crowd burst into joy and cheered Lyra’s name who responded by giving them a thumbs up.

Gilda, red in the face, called for a time out and pointed at the unicorn. “Oh, come on! That has to be illegal! Isn’t that just telekinesis?! Last time I checked it could be used for holding and throwing, but not catching!”

The referee walked over and touched the limbs, surprised to find them solid. Lyra couldn’t help but shoot Gilda a smirk. “They’re not telekinesis. They’re actual solid magical limbs. Some ponies who have lost their legs or hooves use this spell to help them get around. I just happened to modify it a bit.” Lyra rubbed her hooves over the hands in fascination. “They’re really useful too! Just ask Bonnie when we have our special nights.”

Somewhere in the audience, an embarrassed Bon-Bon was planning to have a word with her marefriend after the game.

The referee judged it fair and Gilda had no choice but to back off. Still, she thought as she retreated, I’ll let them have their little small victory. It will make things all the more sweeter when we go full out.

Half and hour passed and everypony was at the edge of their seats. The game had been going back and forth with one side taking the lead until the other side came back with a vengeance. Soon, it was back to full strength for both teams as ponies in the crowd cheered for their team. All that was except for Derpy. She could see some of the lesser athletic ponies like Lucky and Roseluck already looking winded. Not to mention the griffins had been holding back greatly.

It’s gonna happen now, thought Derpy, biting her lip. Everything is gonna change for the worse.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” said Derpy, not wishing to see the future slaughter.

“Everything okay?” asked Carrot Top.

“Yeah,” lied Depry.

“Well, hurry back, Mommy!” shouted Dinky with excitement. “You don’t want to miss the griffins get their tailfeather kicked!”

Gilda, meanwhile, looked at Viper who was raising his eyebrow. Gilda smirked and nodded which made Viper give a sadistic looking grin. Slowly, he began walking towards the end of the line, unarmed and unafraid, which shocked the opposing team.

Applejack, narrowing her eyes, said, “Somethin’s off. Ah got a bad feelin’.”

“I’ll just cream him from here,” said Lyra, using her magical limbs to pick up a dodgeball and leaned back.

“Lyra wait!” shouted Applejack, but it was too late.

Lyra screamed as she threw the dodgeball as fast as she could. It screamed through the air, almost a red blur that few could keep an eye on. Just as it was about to smash into Viper’s face, he quickly tilted his head and let it rush past him without harm. Lyra blinked before realizing that she missed and her mouth became wide open. Viper whistled and he caught a dodgeball passed to him by one of his teammates before, in a stunning move, rolled it over to the other side.

The crowd was silent as all other action ceased to watch what Lyra would do. She picked up the dodgeball with her limbs, stared at it, and then back at Viper. Growling at the insult, she used both her hands to pick it up and charged forward. Screaming she threw it over head, this time twice as powerful and twice as fast. Viper only smirk as he held his claw out and caught it with ease. The dodgeball continued to spin his claw before it came to a stop. If there was any burning pain from the rubber, Viper didn’t show it.

“N-no way,” muttered Lyra in disbelief. Everypony’s jaws were on the floor upon seeing such a feat.

“Our turn,” said Viper, eyes widening with a psychotic look on his face. Like a sudden strike of lightning, he threw the dodgeball and, before she even knew it, Lyra was knocked back across the field and shattered her magical hands. A dirt trail was left behind from the point of impact to where she finally stopped. Weakly, she looked up before unconsciousness took her and went limp.

“Lyra!” shouted Dash in fear before she was forced to dodge another throw. Suddenly, the griffins had turn on the offensive. They tried throwing their own balls, but they missed completely or the griffins dodged with ease. The audience watched in silent horror as their team got cut down one by one.

Lucky, who was panicking a this point, screamed and started running only to get nailed with a low blow that knocked him down on his stomach. Bob, up from above, flew in the air and threw down a second ball which collided with Lucky straight on the head, cutting it open. The poor stallion only felt agony for a few brief minutes before passing out.

Sugarberry, armed with her own dodgeball, tried to creep along the right side for a sneak attack. She got up to the line and prepared to throw her dodgeball at Gilda. But before she could throw it, she felt a shadow suddenly cover her position and looked up before seeing a flash of red, the ground, and then darkness.

Spotting two of his comrades down, Snowflake’s nostrils flare and he charged forward like a battering ram. With dodgeball in hoof he threw it at Apex Predator only to watch in horror as he dipped down and grabbed it with his tail. He reversed the throw and managed to hit Snowflake in the chest. If bounced off the muscled and headed straight up into the air where Apex jumped up and kicked it again, this time smacking it off Snowflake’s head. Snowflake struggled to get up but a third throw, from Apex who grabbed the ball in midair again, sent the muscled pegasus down for the count.

Applejack and Big Macintosh looked at each other and nodded before charging forth. The brother and sister duo dodged left and right from the oncoming barrage of dodgeballs before Big Macintosh gritted his teeth and allowed one to hit his head, smacking it upwards. Applejack, seeing her chance, jumped on top of her big brother before grabbing the ball in midair, saving themselves from an out. Applejack then took the ball and fired it at Gilda who stood still without worry before another ball managed to knock the other one in midair, saving the captain.

However, this lead Applejack open for attack as three dodgeballs made their way for her. Knowing she was done for, Applejack closed her eyes and waited for the triple impact, but it never came. Rainbow Dash flew in and grabbed her just in the nick of time. Landing on the ground, Rainbow Dash let go of Applejack as the three remaining ponies gathered together. The griffins, now just one short due to Applejack’s catch, waited patiently as all the balls were on the ponies side of the court.

With this temporary breather, Rainbow Dash asked, “Alright, we managed to get one of ours back in. Who is it?”

“Um,” said Big Macintosh, pointing at their team’s bench.

The two mares looked behind them to see that all their fellow teammates were knocked out cold, the medics tending to their them. Rainbow Dash cursed as she she glanced at the griffins who were smirking devilishly and nodding to each other on a job well done. They’ve been holding back this entire time?! Unbelievable!

The crowd that had once supported them was no silent, their banners having fallen. In just five minutes they had seen the power comparison between their ponies and the griffins. Rainbow Dash resisted a frustrated scream, she had expected them to be good, but not this good. If only she was here.”

“Go Ponyville!” Rainbow's eyes widen as she turned around to find the single cheering voice in a sea of despair. All eyes turned to a grey unicorn filly who was standing on top of her set, screaming, “Ponies rule! Beat those griffins back! Come on, team!”

Bob grunted at the sight. “Stupid filly loud and annoying. Make Bob sick.”

“Relax, Bob, she’s just a filly. What can she even do,” muttered Viper, shaking his head.

“You griffins think you're tough?! Well us ponies are tougher! My mom is a better dodgeball player then you! She’s the best in the world!” cried out Dinky, sticking her tongue out.

“Isn’t her mom that retarded looking one with the weird eyes?” asked Stone Cold, growling. “Did she seriously call us worse then a retard?”

“Brat is getting really annoying,” muttered Dragonbane.

Dinky’s cheers started to add a few smiles to nearby spectators with a few clapping their hooves. Derpy, coming back from the bathroom, stopped by the top of the stairs and saw her daughter stand up and face the crowd. “We can’t let Rainbow Dash and the others down everypony! Let’s go Ponyville! Let’s go Ponyville!”

Slowly, but surely, the chant started to spread. Everypony was getting up on their hooves and stomping. “Let’s go Ponyville! Let’s go Ponyville! Let’s go Ponyville!”

The stunned griffins stood there, watching their moral crushing tactic slowly disappear. The chant continued on, growing louder and louder until everypony in the stadium was shouting it. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Big Macintosh looked at each other before joining in. “Let’s go Ponyville! Let’s go Ponyville!”

“Let’s go Ponyville! Let’s go Ponyville! LET’S GO PONYVILLE!” shouted everypony in the entire stadium. No longer were they shackled by the chains of hopelessness, they were now free and more determined than ever to hold faith in their heroes.

Derpy watched her daughter lead the ever growing cheer with a wide smile. Her beautiful daughter, so innocent and brave, had turned everything around in a split second from sorrow to joy. She really is special...

Gilda couldn’t believe it. Their plan to demoralize the stupid ponies had failed?! She growled and looked at her team who were looking equally pissed. That brat just ruined everything! She needed to fix this and now!

Her eyes turned downward as she noticed one of the dodgeballs from the ponies side slowly rolled over and crossed towards their line. A grin overtook Gilda’s beak as she remembered they were still in play. Gilda grabbed the ball and looked toward the remaining dodgeball players on Dash’s team, all distracted by the cheering. She winded up her throw, ready to aim it at Dash’s face when a claw stopped her.

She turned around and saw Hammerhead stopping her. Taking the ball from her, he said, “If you really want to cause damage to these losers. You need a better target...”

To Gilda’s horror, Hammerhead turned his eyes to an oblivious Dinky who didn’t even know what was about to happen. Gilda tried to shout for Hammerhead to stop, but it was too late. He threw the ball which went sailing into the air. Everypony soon gasped as they saw it fly straight towards their moral crusader.

The world seemed to slow down for Derpy as she watched, both eyes straight and in shock, her daughter slowly turn around. “Dinky look out!” she shouted already flying in an effort to save her child. Carrot Top, noticing the danger, leaped out of her seat to intercept it.

But they were both too late.

A loud ‘smack’ echoed across the stadium as everypony in horror watched the little filly take the red dodgeball right in the face. Knocked out of her seat, Dinky sailed through the air until she landed on the hard downwards steps of the stadium. Her head bounced against the pavement as her body shook uncontrollably until Dinky opened her eyes, feeling the blood from her nose gush out all over her. And then, in a split second, she felt the pain.

“Mommy!” cried Dinky, tears streaming down her eyes as she clutched her head.

“DINKY!” cried out Derpy as she landed next to her daughter, trying to keep her steady while Dinky continued to scream in agony.

The entire stadium erupted into screams, yells, and gasps. Derpy didn’t hear or care what everypony was saying, she was gunning for her crying daughter who was being tended to by her aunt. Landing next to her daughter she held her in her hooves as her daughter continued to sob and bleed. “It-t hurts... Mommy... it... hurts...”

“It’s okay! Mommy’s gonna make her muffin all better,” whispered Derpy before she started screaming for help. Paramedics flew in and quickly helped Dinky get on a stretcher as they flew back into the stadium, Derpy and Carrot Top right behind them.

Back on the stadium, the referees and security were holding back Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Big Macintosh from charging in and beating up the griffins; took twenty for Mac because of his size. Many in the stadium were telling the officers to let them go and beat up the griffins for what they done, who didn’t have a single shred of guilt on them. Except one.

Gilda furiously walked over to Hammerhead who was getting chewed out by the referee. After getting the signal that he was kicked out of the game, he stepped back as Gilda smacked Hammerhead in the face. “What the peck was that for!” he shouted.

“Are you an idiot?! You just hurt a filly! Why did you do that?!” shouted Gilda. “She was just a child!”

“She was the reason our plan failed,” said Hammerhead, getting up and glaring down at Gilda. “This game is war. And you do what it takes to win a war. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Yeah, I do!” shouted Gilda. “I asked you guys to help me embarrass and humiliate Rainbow Dash and her friends! I didn’t mean go around and hurt kids like some psycho!” She turned to the glare of Rainbow Dash who look ready to kick her face off. “I want to beat her, but not like this. Fillies and colts weren’t suppose to get hurt.”

“Since when did you grow a conscious?” asked Viper stepping forward. He scoffed. “You talk big, but in the end you're still softhearted.”

“Shut up, I’m not a lameo like these ponies, but I’m not crazy either!” shouted Gilda, shaking her head. This had gotten so wrong so quickly in her mind. Beating up Rainbow Dash and her stupid friends? Fine. Fillies and Colts? Peck no. I don’t even go that far!

“Guys, look. Why don’t we call time out and discuss this in our locker room,” mentioned Apex Predator with a smile that made Gilda shiver. The others looked at each other and gave an equally scary grin.

“Yes, let’s...” said Viper.

Gilda gulped as she was lead out by her team towards the locker rooms. This isn’t good...

On the other side, Rainbow Dash was fuming. She couldn’t even believe Gilda and allowed this to happen. She didn’t think her former friend would have sunk so low, but there was the proof right there. Makes me regret that I even knew her!

“Ah can’t believe it,” said Applejack, shaking her head, eyes filled with fury. “Those no good varmints! Hittin’ a filly like that! Ah’m gonna skin everyone of them rotten apples hides off and sell them on the market!”

“Get in line,” muttered Big Macintosh, spitting on the ground.

“...ugh, forget this! Screw the rules, I’m gonna go teach them a lesson!” shouted Rainbow Dash, who couldn’t hold back any longer. Before anypony could stop her, she was already flying after the griffins and followed them into the hallways, looking for their locker room.

Rainbow Dash was on the warpath. She had enough of sports, and rules, and what else. All she knew was that she was angry and she wanted a set of griffin butts to kick to get rid of it. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash found herself lost for a bit until she heard the sounds of somepony screaming in pain. Flying forward on full alert, she was about to turn the corner when she stopped and pressed herself against the wall. Peeking out of the corner, she saw the griffins slowly leave out of a room with a satisfied look on their faces.

But where was Gilda? Rainbow Dash waited a bit longer, but she didn’t see any sign of the captain of the team. Taking a deep breath, Dash flew into the room only to gasp at what she saw. She had found Gilda, but she was all bloody, bruised, and beaten in a pile of her own blood. Moaning, Gilda tried to get up, but she fell on her beak and groaned in pain.

“Gilda!” shouted Rainbow Dash, rusing to her aid and helping her get up. “Hold on...”

“Wha... Dash?” asked Gilda, looking through her one good eyes while the other was swollen. “What are... you doing?”

“Helping you, what else does it look like?” asked Dash, placing her arm over her shoulder.

“I don’t need your help!” yelled Gilda before hissing in pain. “Besides... I hate you... you stupid... lame...”

“Yeah, yeah, feeling is mutual,” interrupted Rainbow Dash, rolling her eyes at Gilda’s stubbornness to even still use her attitude. “But jerk or not, not even you deserve this. Was it your teammates?”

“Teammates?! Peck them!” shouted Gilda as they slowly made their way to the door and out the hall. “I called them out on their... attack on that filly... and they said I was weak... bastards ganged up on me and left me like trash.”

“Wait, you didn’t order the attack?” asked Dash, in surprise.

Gilda looked at her disbelief. “You seriously think I would so something like that? You know me better than that Dash!”

“Know you?! I don’t know you anymore!” yelled Dash, looking at her straight in the eye. “I don’t know what made you become like this, Gilda, but you started this because of your attitude! You think it’s easy for me seeing one of the best friends I had become this kind of person? Gilda, I hate you because of what you have become! Maybe it’s time to look at yourself in the mirror and see that the only “dweeb” has been you this entire time!”

Gilda didn’t say anything, she just stayed silent and continue looking forward. Rainbow Dash shook her head. “But for what it’s worth I’m glad you tried to stick up for Dinky...”

“Yeah... whatever...” muttered Gilda as the two continued down the hall.

Despite Derpy’s efforts, she was forbidden to enter the medical station in the stadium and was forced to wait outside with Carrot Top. The two of them had each other, tears in their eyes, although Derpy was crying harder, as prayed Dinky would come out alright. “It’s all my fault... it’s all my fault...” muttered Derpy, over and over again. “I should have been there. I should have protected her.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Carrot Top. “You didn’t know what would happen, none of us did.”

“I made her come to this stupid game!” growled Derpy, pushing away from Carrot Top. Shaking with rage, she said, “I never should gotten any of us involved. Nothing good happens with dodgeball. Nothing!”

“Derpy, stop saying such ridiculous things,” said Carrot Top.

“Why should I?!” shouted Derpy, screaming her head off. “Dodgeball made me lose my friends! Dodgeball made me hurt ponies! Dodgeball now ended up hurting my daughter! All that’s stupid sport has done is ruin my life! I never should have let Dinky come here! For what?! To cheer for a team that has no chance of winning?! I don’t care if she loves dodgeball or not, she doesn’t deserve to suffer because of dodgeball! She doesn’t deserve to suffer because of me!”

Derpy couldn’t take anymore and just fell to the ground, covering her head with her forelegs. “Why! Why can’t this just stop! Why won’t dodgeball just leave me alone!”

“For Celestia’s sake, Derpy!” shouted Carrot Top. She walked up to her weeping friend and picked her up before forcing her to stare at her with both eyes. “What happened out there is not the fault of dodgeball or you! Dinky tried to help get the spirits up of everypony out there and she did it! The only ones who should be blamed are those griffins who attacked your daughter!” Derpy said nothing, she just continued to listen. “And don’t blame dodgeball for all your problems! You choose to become a bully in the sport! You feel sorry for it, but you don’t face it! You just keep running away! And you didn’t lose your friends to dodgeball! You have me! You have the town! And we’ll never abandon you! The only other pony who you should blame is--”

“Me...”

Carrot Top looked up in confusion while Derpy froze. It was just one word, but that voice she knew in an instant. The last time she heard it was when she was begging Derpy to stop. She slowly turned around and saw a pony she hadn’t seen in years. Although her hair was no longer tied up and flowed freely in the air, and she looked much older and mature looking, Derpy could no doubt deny that the pony who limped towards them was Starfall.

The same Starfall who became her best friend, and betrayed her. The Starfall who made her become the Crossed-Eyed Demon in the first place. She didn’t know if fate was being cruel to her today or this was just a coincidence. She wanted to run, she wanted to punch Starfall, but even now, after all this time, a part of her wanted to hug her former best friend.

Carrot Top, ignorant of who she was, asked, “Who are you?”

Starfall gave a weak smile. “An old friend. Or at least... I hope I still am. I heard she was here from the news and I figured... it was long over due that we met.”

“Carrot Top,” muttered Derpy, “leave us.”

“Huh?”

“Please, this is between her and me...” muttered Derpy stepping forward. Carrot Top looked at both ponies before sighing and left.

The hall was quiet as the two looked at each other, Starfall with a small smile on her face while Derpy was emotionless. “You’ve really grown up, Ditzy.”

Derpy nodded and noticed that Starfall’s wings looked okay, but the leg she had crippled long ago looked a little misplaced. Noticing her staring, Starfall looked at her leg and nodded. “Yeah, thing still doesn’t work well. You really did a number on it. Can’t even hold anything with it, cut my dreams into being a dodgeball player short. Pissed off my old man.”

“I’m sorry...” muttered Derpy shaking her head, tears threatening to flow. “I didn’t mean too... I was just so angry I... Starfall...”

She felt a hoof under her chin and lifted her up, one eye facing right, while the other was looking at Starfall’s sorrowful and guilt-ridden face. “No, Ditzy. I am the one who should be saying sorry. If it wasn’t for my stupid jealousy and desire to please my dad... you never would have suffer or become a demon.” Starfall closed her eyes. “You have no idea how much guilt I’ve had to deal with. The day after I beat you to an inch of your life I looked at myself in the mirror and realized that I had almost killed my best friend. And for what? A stupid dodgeball position? Hay, it turns out we were gonna be on the same team that day cause the coach thought we worked together. I barely was able to play because I realized that my betrayal wasn’t even needed.”

“.... you hurt me,” whispered Derpy, nostrils flaring. “You made me feel like I was a freak! I hated you so much! I just wanted... just wanted...”

“And I deserved it,” said Starfall, sighing. “I thought that being a dodgeball player and winning awards would make me happy, just to see my dad praise me and look at me like a daughter instead of a failure.” Starfall shook her head. “But every time we played, I was reminded of the fun times we use to have and I went to bed crying and dreaming of that horrible day every night after a game. It was a nightmare all the time.”

She then looked at Derpy with fear and shivered. “And then you came... I was so shocked to see you, but I was even more terrified. Your eyes, your stance, the way you played, everything about you screamed that you were on a warpath. That day, the day you became the demon, I realized that I was the one who made you. I created you out of my own actions.” Derpy suddenly gasped as she was hugged by her oldest friend, who started crying into her eyes. “I watched you become a monster, hurting others like I hurt you and realized that it was all my fault. I turned a sweet and kind filly and made her into a terrible demon. You were so hurt, so alone, that I regretted it every day and have been for years, even after you disappeared.”

“Starfall...” whispered Derpy, who hugged her back. “It’s... it’s not all your fault. I allowed myself to continue becoming that monster. And I ruined so many lives, including yours.”

“Ditzy,” said Starfall, wiping the tears from her eyes, smiled, “what you did to me I can’t thank you enough.”

“Wait, what?!” shouted Derpy, jumping back in shock. “But... but I crippled you! I ruined your dream!”

“It was never my dream!” shouted Starfall. Taking a deep breathe, she explained, “I do love dodgeball, but the truth I realized, after you crippled me, was that I hated playing it. I only did because I wanted to please my father. The truth is, I liked being the one who made the plans and discovered I liked teaching it more then playing it. When I told my old man, he flipped and well...” Starfall turned around and showed old bruises that made Derpy gasp. “He got physical. Neighbors heard everything and cops took him away. I was sent to a nice foster home where they treated me right. Now? My old man is in jail and I’ll be glad if I never see him again. I’m doing fine where I am in Cloudsdale, teaching dodgeball to kids and I even have a coltfriend back home.”

Starfall walked over to Derpy and nuzzled her. “Some good came out of this, Ditzy. The only thing I ever regretted was never saying this...” She took a deep breathe. “I’m sorry, Ditzy Doo. I’m sorry for everything, my best friend in the world.”

“S-starfall! shouted Derpy, tackling her and hugging her close. “I’m sorry too! I’m so sorry!”

The two continued to embrace each other, feeling the past they had between them finally disappear. There was no more hatred, no more guilt. Only forgiveness and the old bond they once had a time when they were both truly happy. Starfall then whispered, “Ditzy, there is one more thing you need to do.”

“W-what?” whispered Derpy.

Starfall, looked at her straight in the eye. “You need to play one more time.”

“H-huh?!” shouted Derpy. “But.. but I can’t! I swore!”

“Ditzy!” shouted Starfall, pointing to the center where her daughter is. “Your daughter just got hurt by a bunch of griffins who showed no remorse for their actions! Your friends are all fighting the good fight, trying to protect their pride and the hard work of their fellow ponies! I know you are afraid of playing dodgeball, but you still have it in you, Ditzy! I can still see it in your eyes, but this time go out there and play not for yourself, but for those you care about, Ditzy! Do it for them!”

Starfall stomped her hoof. “You may think you're a demon, Ditzy, but even a demon can cry and protect it’s loved ones! Now are you going to show them who the best dodgeball player is out there or are you going to keep running away like always!”

Hiding behind her mane, Derpy stood still as Starfall waited with anticipation to see her answer. Derpy muttered, “They hurt my muffin...”

“... and nopony does that when I’m around!” screamed Derpy, her eyes straight and filled with rage. Despite this, Starfall looked with a smile as Derpy grinned. “Hey? Mind telling the guys up in the booth to get the sound system ready? I have a few things I need to get real quick."

Within half an hour, order was soon restored after the incident. Hammerhead had been kicked out of the game for his actions, but he didn’t care. This left the griffins with six members on their team while Ponyville had only three left, with one of them coming back from the stands. Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Glad to see ya in one piece, but where were ya?”

“I’ll tell you later,” said Rainbow Dash looking for their teammates. “Where is everypony?”

“Hospital,” answered Macintosh with a grave look on his face.

Rainbow Dash held back a curse as the referee walked up to them. “You guys have any substitute players that can take your open spot?”

Before Rainbow Dash could answer, a bell suddenly rang out. It was like hearing one from a church, but in a creepy tone that caused a chill in everypony’s spines. A guitar and drum began to play as everypony realized that this was a song. The question was for who? Hadn’t all the players come out? They turned to the entrance where the Ponyville team came out of as they saw red smoke pouring out of the darkness; like the gates of Tartarus had opened and something was being unleashed. Slowly somepony came out and in an instant every dodgeball fan, sports reporter, and dodgeball player gasped and cheered as they saw who it was. A feeling of in anticipation and fear was felt in the air upon seeing her slowly enter the stadium.

The griffins were confused by who this individual was while Rainbow Dash grinned like mad as Applejack and Big Macintosh looked in disbelief. Those who knew her before she retired felt their pelts shiver and yet they couldn’t help but feel a nostalgic sense as the greatest of them was returning to the field once again. Those who knew her only by her cover identity, who heard the rumors, stared in disbelief as they realized that they were true and that the clumsy mailmare they had known was really a demon in disguise.

The lone pegasus figure slowly walked out from the entrance as the announcer shouted, “Fillies and Gentlecolts! It is my highest honor to introduce one of Equestria’s greatest dodgeball players! You folk in Ponyville know her as Derpy Hooves, but we of the dodgeball community know her by another name. Put your hooves together and welcome back, The Cross-Eyed Demon, Ditzy Doo!”

Wearing a pair of shades, the lights all came upon Derpy as she walked with confidence, and yet with anger in each step. She wore the same Ponyville uniform her daughter had made for her days ago, in honor of the filly who she was fighting for. With that jersey, she had her old black and green camouflage vest on with the back supporting the symbol of a pony’s skull burning while demonic wings emitted from it’s ears. And of course, the eyes were facing opposite directions.

Derpy couldn’t help but feel some sort of excitement as she made for the center. The power, cheers, and energy had all come back and it tasted oh so sweet. But this time she was on a mission. Not to prove herself or cause pain. But seek justice for her daughter, and help her town in it’s time of need. If there was one thing worse then a demon was a demon with an vendetta.

Stopping in the middle she slowly turned and faced the griffins who were now sweating in fear. They too knew of the name “Ditzy Doo” but they never imagined that they would be facing her. Derpy slowly took of her shades and, with a straight stare that could cause a dragon to even have a heart attack, she gave the most glaring stare she ever gave. One that not even Fluttershy could counter. The griffins gasped and stepped back, clutching their chests as they tried their best to stay strong, but the looks on their faces betrayed them.

The entire stadium cheered upon seeing this, although they too quivered in fear upon seeing the demonic look in Derpy. It was clear that that the tide was going to turn. For after so long, years of hiding, the demon had returned for one last game. Even Sunny and Lulu were in awe at this and quickly got out the popcorn. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she then turned to Rainbow Dash and the others before smiling. “So I heard you guys need a substitute?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Maybe, you think you can still play? It’s been years?”

Derpy noticed a dodgeball, in a blink of an eye, she kicked it into the air and then roundhouse kicked it straight towards a Hammerhead on the side. He slowly looked to his left to see a red dodgeball, inches away from his face, stuck inside the wall he was on. The ball was smoking.

Derpy looked at her work and smiled. “I think that about proves it.”

Author's Notes:

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS! TIME MARCHES ON!

I know I said that I would end it with this chapter, but it was going to long and I figured this was a good place to break it up. Come on, it's Metallica. How can you not ended a chapter without them? Next chapter will be the last one, promise

Part 9

Derpyball

By The Rated Ponystar

Edited by Clavier

Artwork done by Tzelly (http://tzelly-el.deviantart.com/ )

Not for the first time in her life did Gilda ask herself how did everything come to this. Despite the overwhelming hostility that she was getting from the nurses who were taking care of her wounds, Gilda wisely was keeping her mouth shut for once. Mostly because her head was plagued with what had just happened in less than a day.

All she wanted was to show up Dash for what she had done to her, choosing those dweebs over her best friend. But a filly got hurt, she got beaten up by the very team she bribed with her own inheritance money, and now she looked pathetic by being taken care of like she was a baby.

It wasn’t even helping that the last conversation she had with Rainbow Dash didn’t make her feel any better...

“Thanks for helping out, Nurse Redheart,” said Rainbow Dash, nodding to the nurse as she finished bandaging Gilda’s wing. “How’s Dinky?”

“Doctor Stable is looking at her right now. I’ll go check on her for you if you want,” said Nurse Redheart, getting up and making for the door that lead to the other medical wing. “Are you sure I can leave you two alone?”

“It’s fine,” said Rainbow Dash, never keeping her eyes off Gilda who, in turn, did the same.

Nurse Redheart looked at both of them before shaking her head and leaving. It was only when she left that Gilda said, “Is there a reason why you're here? Don’t you have some stupid baked goodies to save so your new friends don’t starve.”

“For Celestia’s sake, Gilda, would it kill you to drop the fricken attitude already?” growled Rainbow Dash. “Can I ask you something? What was the point of all this? To show me up? To get back at me? Don’t you feel at any regret whatsoever about all the harm you’ve done to a bunch of innocent ponies?!”

“I told you! I didn’t order the brat to get hit!” yelled Gilda, wincing at the pain of her wounds.

“She has a name, it’s Dinky,” said Dash, coldly. “And second of all, I’m talking about the rest of us you’ve hurt. The rest of us who did nothing to you. My friends and the town. Was all this just for the sake of your pride? ‘Cause that’s just low, Gilda. Really low.”

“Oh really?” said Gilda, huffing. “I used to remember a pegasus who did some pretty low things of her own. A pegasus who was cool to hang out with and did everything without a care about rules or other ponies’ feelings. She was my best friend who had my back and when I came back to see her years later she had become a dweeb. Hanging out with losers she would have made fun of back in our school days. You may have become a loser who betrays those that should matter to her, but at least I stayed cool.”

Gilda smirked as Rainbow Dash didn’t say anything, just stare at her with a emotionless look in her eyes. Finally, Dash sighed and shook her head. “No, Gilda. I didn’t become a loser. I grew up.”

Gilda blinked as Dash continued, “Yeah that use to be me. Hay, I’ll admit that maybe six or eight years ago I would be no different from you. But I grew up from being a punk, Gilda. I learned that there was more to life than being cool or and making fun of others who aren't. I learned that we all have to grow up at some point. I had to learn that lesson the hard way, more than once, but I became a better pony because of those lessons. And I didn’t face those lessons alone. I had my best friends, those so called losers, go out of their way to help me out no matter what. I’m happy with the life I have thanks to them. You? I don’t think you are happy. You’ve spent all this on a simple misunderstanding and grudge instead of being the grown up and admitting your mistake or getting over it. The truth is Gilda, I’m the adult. You’re still the kid who thinks that getting detention is gonna earn her popularity points when all that doesn’t matter anymore.”
Dash slowly turned away. “Even if you had beaten us in this game, Gilda, what then? What would you accomplish? I know I’m a better individual then you, everypony in Ponyville knows that. Nopony would like you, apologize to you, or anything. They would hate you, more so than they do now. Ten years from now Gilda, I’ll still be happy with my friends and my dreams of being a Wonderbolt, but where will you be? Do you even have a job? Other friends? Or even a life besides being, by your definition, cool?”

Gilda’s beak opened, but no words came out. She tried to think of something, anything, to counter Rainbow Dash’s words, but each question held no answer. Or an answer she didn't’ want to admit.

“Gilda, I’ll never forget those fun days we had. But those days are over. The Dash of the old is over and I see now that we’ll never have the same connection we had,” muttered Rainbow Dash as she made her way to the door, only bothering to look at Gilda when she was halfway out. “Maybe someday, Gilda, you’ll grow up too. But until then I want you to know I don’t hate you anymore... I simply pity you.”

And just like that, Dash was gone. Gilda just stared at the door of a pony who simply put it plain and simple that she didn’t think anything anymore of her. There was no hatred. No joy or sorrow. Just... a goodbye.

And for some reason that hurt more than the betrayal at the party.

“Where are you going?” asked Redheart as Gilda got out of bed.

“I’m leaving. This town, everypony, Equestria even. I’m just getting out of here and I’m never coming back,” muttered Gilda. “I’m tired of everything and I just want to be alone.”

“So you're just gonna run from everything? All that you're responsible for?” demanded the nurse stomping her hoof.

Gilda shrugged before she left the hospital wing, making her way towards the exit in the stadium. Why not? It’s all I’m good at anyway...

Although the music had stopped, and the referee had gotten things under control, there was nopony in the area that wasn’t cheering and hollering for the newest addition to the Ponyville team. Reporters were writing down all the action and taking pictures as fast as they could, trying to catch every second they could see no matter how miniscule. Everypony, from the professional players who came to see, to the griffins who came from far away, to the representatives were cheering for them.

Stone Cold was trying to argue with the referee about Derpy’s late entrance as a substitute, but she wasn’t worried. Her actions were completely legal, the griffin was just wasting his time. Time that she was going to use to plan with her new teammates. Already in her head, she was calculating their strengths and weaknesses with strategies coming to her like lightning bolts to the brain. All three of them were waiting eagerly for a plan, hoping gleaming from their eyes.

Derpy looked at them both her eyes going back and forth before she closed them and sighed. “There is a way to beat them, but it’s gonna be tough. Just as long as we don’t lose no more than two ponies, we’ll be fine.”

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of getting out before I knock all their heads off,” declared Rainbow Dash, smirking.

“Whatever ya need from us, Derpy, will do it,” said Applejack.

“Eeyup.”

Derpy smiled, “Okay, then listen carefully, because this has to be done right...” She leaned in and started to whisper her plan. Her teammates nodded, occasionally shaking their head or looking at each other with a raised eyebrow but no more. It was only at the last part did each of them gasp and stare at Derpy with wide eyes.

“But... but Derpy, y’all be..” whispered Applejack.

Derpy nodded. “It’s the best plan. Trust me. Are you guys readys?” The three of them looked at each other in silence before nodding. “Good, let’s go win one for Ponyville.” Derpy looked over her shoulder and glared at the frustrated griffins, obviously upset that their challenge to get rid of her failed. Her eyes narrowed into a frightening leer that made some of them step back, shivering. “And for Dinky.”

The four ponies lined up on their back line, as did the griffins on theirs. The crowd was now silent as everypony could feel the tension heating up everywhere. A meteor could have crashed nearby and nopony would have turned away from the center of the stadium. Eight set of avian eyes glare at four sets of equine ones, all ready to rip each other apart as the dodgeballs were lined up on the center line once more.

The referee looked at both side and sighed before stepping back, knowing that things were about to get heated up. “Ready?! Dodgeball!”

Rainbow Dash and Derpy charged forth while Macintosh and Applejack waited in the back. Being the fastest, Rainbow Dash was able to fly to the center and knock three balls towards their side before the griffins got the rest. With her first job done, Rainbow Dash retreated towards the back while Derpy continued galloping forward. Jackknife and Viper threw their dodgeballs at the same time, both of them heading straight towards Derpy, who was smirking.

Her eyes quickly analyzed the point of impact each of the dodgeballs would have on her and jumped into the air, flipping forward which allowed her to narrowly miss both dodgeballs that passed under her harmlessly. She landed and charged forward again, this time with her wings spread out. Snapping out of his stupor, Viper picked up another dodgeball and this time threw it over head with both claws.

Derpy waited ‘till it was close enough to start turning around while her left wing knocked it into the air perfectly straight. When her turn was completed, the ball fell down and landed in the other wing before Derpy used it as a slingshot to fire it straight at Jackknife who was too surprised to catch it and got nailed in the face, the ball rebounding back up in the air. Derpy flew up and kicked it back at Jackknife again this time he took it to the chest, sending him into the ground where he make an impact that resulted in a griffin sized crater.

Viper, with is jaw as far down as it could go, rubbed his eyes to make sure what happened was real. Not only did he get out by an incredibly skilled bump and catch, but the same mare that did it managed to get out another one of them with the same ball. All in the span of a minute.

Derpy smirked and quickly turned her attention toward Stone Cold who was flying low with two balls in each claw. He screamed and threw both of them at Derpy whose eyes watched both of them. A quick look up with her left eye and she saw Rainbow Dash up in the air, already waiting in position.

With a quick backflip Depry managed to dodge both dodgeballs at the same time, inches away from touching her mane, before she landed back on her hooves and scooped up a dodgeball on the ground with her tail. Using her tail like a whip, Derpy threw the dodgeball up into the air where Rainbow Dash was waiting. With both front hooves, she hammer punched the dodgeball straight at Stone Cold who turned his back in an effort to get away, but it slammed him into the ground, making another griffin shaped crater.

The ball bounced back towards the pony side as Derpy charged for it. The other griffins, seeing the danger of even one dodgeball in the demon’s hooves, started firing their own shots. Derpy ducked, weaved, and slid to avoid each attempt to get her out, flowing through the barrage like water. Rainbow Dash would gather them up and throw them back in an attempt to keep the pressure of Derpy, but they still continued their relentless assault.

Ponies in the stand who knew the “clumsy” mailmare couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Was this really the same Derpy who had been known to smash into trees almost everyday? The same one who ruined their town hall and made some ponies regulars at their insurance companies? It was like looking at a different pony all together.

Derpy soon reached her dodgeball and rolled just in the nick of time to avoid three dodgeballs aimed at her. She dived to the left and made an attempt to throw her dodgeball, getting the others ready for whatever attack she had coming. But then she smirked and held her throw before sticking her tongue out. “Suckers!”

Before any of the remaining griffins could react, a dodgeball slammed against the upside of Apex Killer’s lip and knocked him out. The remaining three looked and saw Big Macintosh charging forward, dodgeball in mouth, while Applejack was right behind the red tank, bucking dodgeballs as fast as she could.

“Spread out! Take out the big guy!” shouted Dragonbane as his comrades obeyed. They soon began firing their dodgeballs at Big Macintosh who batted them away with the dodgeball in his mouth.

However, one of the blows was low enough to get him in the hoof, tripping him, and getting him out. With her tank gone, Applejack jumped onto her brother’s big flank and bounced up into the air, throwing her dodgeball for one last attack. She cursed as she saw them predicting her movement with Bob throwing one towards her in the air. She threw her ball but it was easily caught by one of the griffins, allowing Viper back in. Applejack screamed in pain as the ball slammed into her, knocking saliva out of her mouth before she landed hard against the ground, wincing in pain as she held her stomach.

Rainbow Dash looked ready to help her, but a cry from Derpy alerted her to stick to the plan and dived forward, catching the griffins attention. They focused all their dodgeballs on her but Dash was able to barely dodge every single one of them, occasionally picking up one from the ground and shooting it back for cover.

However, Dash then heard a whistle and realized it was time of the next phase of the plan. She grabbed a dodgeball after it bounced off the ground and flew to the back. Dragonbane, Viper, Bob, and Bloodlust looked ready to aim at her but then soon turned towards Derpy, who was staring at them with her intimidating glare. Four dodgeballs were lined up in front of Derpy who muttered, “This is for my daughter you bastards.”

Derpy took the first dodgeball and kicked it into the air, all eyes focusing on it as the world seemed to slow down. Closing her eyes, Derpy turned around and flipped in the air, kicking her dodgeball which went blazing down the court so fast that many swore they saw the ball on fire. The dodgeball slammed Viper, sending the screaming griffin towards the other end the court, getting sent through the wall.

Everypony screamed at the sight as the announcer shouted, “Mah gosh! Mah gosh! She killed him! I swear he’s broken in half!”

Medics immediately went to the rubble and pulled out a bleeding Viper, alive but horribly injured. Everypony was slowly staring at Derpy with fear in her eyes, now knowing why she was called the Crossed-Eyed Demon. The three remaining ones turned from the site towards a glaring Derpy, determined to still win the whole thing.

The only major problem here is Bob. He’s the most skilled and toughest. He’s not as fast as me, but up close and he’s got greater strength. I guess I’ll have to outsmart him with that plan after all, thought Derpy who calmly took the the next two dodgeballs in each hoof and charged forward with her wings.

The three remaining griffins scattered as Derpy threw both dodgeballs at Bloodlust and Dragonbane. Bob, however, with dodgeball in claw, managed to throw his dodgeball perfectly so that it hit the closest on coming dodgeball and knock it out of it’s targeted path. The collision was strong enough to also force it to change directions and knock out the other one as well, thus both griffins were saved.

Derpy cursed as she turned one of her eyes towards a roaring Bob. “Bob protect comrades from demon!”

Bob took a dodgeball and threw it at Derpy jumped back and let the ball hit the ground, but soon it rebounded straight up and almost hit her her in the chin. She had managed to just barely move her head back to avoid getting hit, but soon found herself staring into the eyes of another dodgeball ready to pound her, thrown by a sneaky Dragonbane. Everypony gasped as Derpy’s head moved back, the sound of the dodgeball smacking into flesh echoing in the air.

Jaws were dropped as were quills from the reporters and sodas from watchers. Was that the end? Had the demon been finally hit?

Derpy’s head soon lowered itself and she opened her eyes to stare both of them at a disbelieving Dragonbane. He wasn’t the only one as the jaws dropped even further upon seeing that Derpy had caught the dodgeball with her mouth alone.

She spat out the ball and rolled it over to Dragonbane who took one look at it, then Derpy, and started to ran away screaming like a girl. He continued to run out the stadium, past a yelling Hammerhead who told him to get back and fight like a man. Bloodlust believed his fleeing comrade had the right idea and soon ripped off his jersey to follow after him. “Screw this! I’m out of here!”

But Derpy wasn’t going to have any of that. She wasn’t going to let this bastard leave unharmed. Just as he turned his back and made preparation to move, Derpy aimed at her target with the last ball she had in her tail and fired. The dodgeball shot towards the rear of the griffin before a sickening crunch was heard followed by a high pitch yell. Everypony winced in pain or closed their eyes, some even grabbing their own butts in reaction.

Derpy just watched him squirm, holding his broken coccyx as the medics took him off the field. She closed her eyes as she could feel her inner rage crying out for more blood, more satisfaction in this game. No, it’s time to end this. Time for the finale.

It was just her and Bob now. A giant vs a demon. Bob, angry that all his comrades were now gone, took his own dodgeball and screamed, “Bob don’t like demon pony!”

“Demon pony don’t like Bob,” replied Derpy, flying over to a nearby dodgeball and picked it up.

The two screamed and charged forth, just as they reached the end of their respective lines, they threw their dodgeballs at close range. The two dodgeballs collided in mid air before being pushed back into the air. Both players jumped up and kicked them in air at the same time before being forced to twist in the air to avoid getting hit. Landing on the ground the two growled and stood as still as mountains. Everypony was at the edge of their seats as they watched two titans face each other. A single dodgeball from each side rolled over towards the respective player.

Each of them took it and Bob huffed, nostrils flaring as she readied for another throw. Derpy prepared herself as well. This is it.

It was time for the unthinkable to happen. Something nopony in this stadium, especially those that knew her, would ever believe was possible. Bob gave out a warcry as he threw the dodgeball at Derpy who closed her eyes and relaxed. A small smile appeared on her lips as she felt utter peace with herself. This was a perfect end to this match. At least for her.

She slowly opened her eyes and then, for the first time in her life, tasted rubber slamming into her face. A unanimous gasp echoed as they watched The Crossed-Eyed Demon, one of the most feared and respected dodgeball players, get knocked back in the face by a dodgeball and land on the ground with a loud thud that echoed like a sonic rainboom.

Derpy Hooves, for the first time in her life, was out.

And yet she was smiling. It felt like freedom for her. Like all the sins she had done as a dodgeball player had finally been washed away by this one simple moment. And as she landed on the ground, she opened her eyes and watched Rainbow Dash fly past her. And checkmate...

Bob, too stunned to realize who he had gotten out, didn’t even see Rainbow Dash coming from above until it was too late. She dived down, threw the dodgeball which landed right on Bob’s face and slowly knocked the giant down. When the announcer had finally regained his focus, he shouted, “It’s over! It’s over! Ponyville has won! We won!”

The united cries of victory were so loud that they were heard in Cloudsdale. Everypony, even griffins who had come to see this event, hugged each other in celebration as tears of joy and pride soon went down their cheeks. The quills of the reporters were going so fast on their notes some caught on fire. The professionals stood up and clapped, overjoyed to have seen such a grand and amazing match.

Derpy slowly got up with the help of Rainbow Dash who was still staring at her with wide eyes. “I... I can’t believe it. Derpy, you said you’ve never been out before in your entire life and now you just ruined that streak. Why?”

“Well, it seemed like the best plan. They would be so focused on me that as long as one of you was around then you could finish them off.” Derpy sighed and looked towards the audience who were cheering her name. “And this may sound strange, but I feel like I needed to do this. To feel what it was like to get hit just like the hundred others I took out personally. Maybe... its some form of closure you know?”

“Not really, but, hey, we won so that’s all that matters,” cheered Dash, hugging Derpy. Big Macintosh and Applejack, limping, soon joined them as they waved their hooves towards the crowd.

Hammerhead, meanwhile, was staring at the disaster that had befallen his team. Even worse, he knew that there were a bunch of ponies in the audience who would be wanting his blood. He flapped his wings and started to fly, but suddenly felt a painful blow in his pelvis. Clutching it, he crash landed and slowly looked up to see the dodgeball that hit him levitate to a tiny unicorn filly with a bandaged head that glared at him.

“That’s for hitting me in the face you jerk!” shouted Dinky before hitting him in the head with the dodgeball and leaving him in the dust. Carrot Top only looked at the moaning griffin before sticking her tongue at him and rushed back to Dinky.

“Mommy!”

Derpy’s eyes straightened when she heard this and quickly turned around with tears in her eyes to see her daughter heading straight for her. “Muffin!” Dinky leaped into her mother’s embrace and they nuzzled, the crowd now clapping and “awwing” at such a sight. “I’m so glad you're okay, Dinky. I’m so sorry you got hurt! Mommy is so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Mommy! I’m fine! And you won the game for us! You’re the best!” shouted Dinky with a smile.

“Still, there has to be something I can do to fix this.”

Dinky rubbed her chin before nodding. She poked her hoof on her mother’s nose and said, “You have to teach me how to play dodgeball!”

Derpy looked at Carrot Top who nodded. “Well, I guess it runs in the family,” Derpy said, nuzzling her daughter once more.

Before anypony knew it, reporters started swarming around the mother and daughter, questions in the air.

“Ditzy Doo! Why did you return after all this time?!” Is this your comeback match?!”

“Was this your plan all along?! How do you feel about getting out for the first recorded time?!”

“Is this your daughter?! Who is the father?!”

“Will you be playing professional again?! When is your next match?!”

“QUIET!” shouted Derpy, silencing the paparazzi. Flying into the air, daughter in her hooves, Derpy said, “I can answer all your questions easily. No, this was my last match and I have no intention of returning to dodgeball. I did this for my daughter, my friends, and my for my town. I’m going to continue my mailpony job and take care of my daughter like I’ve been doing all these years. But there is something I do want to say.”

Turning her eyes to the side of the professionals, who had walked down as well, she addressed them and said, “I’m sorry for everything. I wasn’t a good dodgeball player. Sure, I never got out, I took more players down then anypony in history, and I won tons of championships.” Biting her lip, Derpy continued, “But I lost as a real sports pony. I hurt those against me and on my own team. I didn’t care about anypony and slowly lost my heart and love of the sport. It took me a long time to finally realize the monster I had become and how much damage I did to you and others. I just want you all to know I’m sorry for everything.”

None of the professionals said anything, but they slowly smiled and nodded. There was no fear in their eyes, no hatred, just acceptance. Red Star, leading them all, was the only one who spoke. “Hey, the past is the past. And if you're willing to apologize, we’re willing to take it.”

“Sounds like everypony learned something today.”

They all turned around to see Twilight, her remaining friends, accompanying the representatives Sunny and Lulu. Sunny stepped forward and said, “That was quite a performance Derpy Hooves. And your match has easily made this the best and most entertaining charity event I’ve ever seen.”

“Indeed, young Derpy Hooves!” shouted Lulu, “Thou hast shown great skill in thy ball handling. ‘Tis a shame that we shall not see such greatness again!”

Derpy nodded and bowed before the representatives.

“This was great! Not only did we raise enough money, but we managed to keep our baked goodies and we still have the other half of the tournament to go through! But after that we’re gonna have one big, huge, giant, party to celebrate!” shouted Pinkie Pie, jumping with joy. “I’m so excited that I’m going to need a party bomb to get everything ready!”

“As exciting as that sounds, Pinkie, I’m afraid me and Dinky are gonna have to decline,” said Derpy, raising her hoof.

“Aw, but why?!” said both Dinky and Pinkie.

“My daughter is still hurt, and I’ve stretched muscles that haven't had a good workout in years. I’m tired and could really use a nice bed to rest in,” explained Derpy as she lifted her daughter up and placed her on her back. “You guys can celebrate without us, but right now I’m going to go home with my daughter. That’s the best award I can get.”

The crowd watched as Derpy flew towards the exit with Dinky waving everypony goodbye. Although Pinkie frowned for a second, she quickly smiled and said, “Oh well, we can always have that party later!”

“This is cool and all, but I have to get going,” said Rainbow Dash, getting her own wings ready. “I left Gilda in the hospital wing and I should go check up on her.”

Twilight sighed before stepping towards her friend. “Dash? Gilda’s gone. I went to find her for you, but the nurse said she left and wasn’t coming back.”

Dash was silent as she looked at Twilight with wide eyes. “S-she’s really gone?”

“Yeah, and it sounds like she won’t be coming back to Equestria again,” said Twilight.

Dash opened her mouth a few times, but nothing came out. Sighing, she lifted herself up into the air. “I... I need to be alone a bit guys...”

Before anypony could stop her, Rainbow Dash flew off into the sky until she was a speck. Rarity tilted her head. “I’d thought she would be glad that brute is gone for good this time.”

“Sometimes, Rarity, even broken bonds are hard to let go,” muttered Sunny before walking away.

Up in the sky, high above in the clouds, a rainbow maned pegasus was alone and tired. Her mind was lost in memories long ago as she stared into the sinking sun, but her heart was slowly saying goodbye for good to somepony she once cherished, but knew no longer.

Derpy and Dinky had just exited the stadium when the former spotted Starfall waiting for her with a smile on her face. Landing on the ground, the two old friends hugged each other, much to Dinky’s confusion.

“You did great. I’d never thought you would use yourself as bait in the last moment,” said Starfall.

“You can’t argue with results,” replied Derpy.

“Mommy, who is this?” asked Dinky.

Starfall winked at Dinky and replied, “I’m Starfall, an old friend of your mother’s. I just wanted to say my goodbyes before I left for home.”

“Wait,” said Derpy, grabbing Starfall by the hoof. She looked into her eyes and smiled. “Why don’t you come home with us? We can talk about old times? Try to... rebuild what we lost all those years ago?”

Starfall looked at the hoof with wide eyes before they started to leak tears as she smiled. “I would love to, Ditzy.”

“Great!” shouted Derpy, as she flew towards the direction of her house. “Let’s go! I still have some leftover muffins from last night and-”

“Mommy! The tree!”

“Huh?”

WHAM!

Starfall winced as Derpy slowly peeled herself off the tree while Dinky held on. Shaking her head, Derpy muttered. “Oops, my bad.”

Still the same old Ditzy, thought Starfall with a laugh.

Author's Notes:

And here we go. The end.

To be honest I didn't expect this story to get so much love for what it is, nor did I expect it to go so dark. Originally, a lot of this was gonna be a Recess episode ripoff, but it got so much darker. I'm just glad this is finally over and all of you enjoyed it.

Be sure to comment if you see mistakes (Lord knows I missed a few cause my editor hasn't been editing this story since chapter four due to real life).

Later