The next day rolled around, and there was another knock on the door.
“Another filly is here to see you,” said the nurse excitedly, moving aside to reveal a small pink filly standing in the doorway. She held a brown paper bag in her mouth that carried with it the sweet scent of baked goods.

“Hey there filly, how you hangin’ out?” the little pony squeaked, tossing the bag up onto the bed and then climbing up. Something about this pony seemed oddly familiar.
“You, seem familiar. Were you here before?” she asked, scratching her head.
“Well yeah silly filly, I gave you the bubbles remember? I thought you’d enjoy watching them float around. My name’s Pinkie Pie. Mrs. Cake said I should bring you this muffin. She said you always used to love these.” Pinkie Pie; that name also sounded familiar.

Tearing open the bag, Pinkie Pie pulled out a nice warm freshly baked muffin, and passed it to her. As she took it in her hooves, the sweet aroma drifted up to her snout and she breathed in the tempting smell of blueberries. Blueberries. She took a bite of the muffin; it was amazing! From the soft chewy inside to the crispy outer crust, to the juicy berries within, the delicious flavors danced across her tongue, lighting up her taste buds.

Her eyes widened as she bit into the delicious dessert; something about this struck a sort of sensual deja vu. She reached over to the bag, and placed it over her head, giggling as she strangely recalled doing this before, under a tree in a park. Pinkie Pie giggled too.
“Haha you look silly like that.” She and Pinkie Pie laughed for a while, until she suddenly had a thought.

“Pinkie, do you know who Derpy Hooves is?” she asked. Pinkie stopped laughing immediately and looked back at her, a very worried expression on her face.
“Well... yeah, it’s you. Or at least, it’s what those mean fillies called you.”

Her.

Pinkie reached down and grabbed the bottle that she had found by her bed. Pulling out the little wand inside, she blew into it, causing a few bubbles to come flying off.

She watched as they floated around the room, almost entranced by the way they hovered so freely. this caused a spark of emotions to hit her, and she suddenly felt very elated.
“Derpy Hooves” she said, “So that’s my name. I like it.” Pinkie Pie blinked.
“Well, actually your name is Ditzy Doo. Derpy is just what some mean fillies started calling you when you fell as you walked into the classroom on your first day at school.”

Derpy looked at her.
“Pinkie, I don’t remember any of that. I’m not Ditzy Doo anymore. I’m going to call myself Derpy.”
Pinkie looked like she was about to cry, but instead just hugged her.
“Well I’m not going to call you Derpy, you’ll always be Ditzy Doo to me.” Pinke Pie said, letting go of her embrace.
“It’s okay Pinkie, I don’t mind. Really” Derpy replied. This time Pinkie Pie did cry. She reached over and hugged Pinkie Pie, as the tears rolled off her face.

“So, when are you getting out of here?” Pinkie asked when they broke out of their embrace.
“I don’t know” Derpy replied, “but we could ask the nurse.” She got off the bed and they trotted off down the hallway. Derpy stopped after just a few meters and turned to Pinkie Pie.
“Um, I’ve never been down this way before. do you know where you’re going?” Pinkie just smiled.
“Yup, come on it’s this way.” She beckoned with her hoof and turned left down the new hallway they had reached.

When they arrived in the main waiting room, the pony at the desk looked up at them.
“Checking out?” she asked gesturing to Derpy with her head.
“Actually, we were just coming to ask about that, when is she getting out of here?” Pinkie Pie asked. The light brown earth pony at the desk looked down at her papers for a moment before looking back at them.
“You’re good to go it seems. You were scheduled to be out of here today anyway. Your body is fully healed and your memory’s been improving enough that the doctors have determined that you can go.”

“Oh wow that’s so great, now we can go celebrate! Come on Ditzy Doo!” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down in place a few times from pure excitement, before hopping toward the door. Derpy sighed.
“Pinkie, I don’t want you to call me that.” she said dejectedly. Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing. She turned and walked back over to Derpy, eyes watery
“But... you’ve always been Ditzy Doo to me. That’s what you told me your name was back when we first met. remember? We threw a party and blew bubbles, and that’s when that cutie mark appeared on your flank,” she said, eyes watering.

“That’s just it, I don’t remember.” Derpy replied solemnly. “I can’t remember anything before I woke up three weeks ago, and It’s a miracle I remember the doctors and nurses around here. I couldn’t even remember my own name for three weeks. I’m just going to forget you too, Pinkie. You’ve been a great friend to me, but I just need some time to figure out who I am.”

It was bound to happen eventually. Pinkie Pie’s lower lip had been trembling ever since she had first opened her mouth, and now her hair had begun to deflate as well. Derpy watched as Pinkie Pie’s fluffy mane, sank lower and lower, and got longer and straighter. It only took a few seconds upon her mane reaching its full length, for her to burst into tears.

Derpy was assaulted by an attack hug from Pinkie Pie and staggered back.
“I’ll never forget you,” she choked out between sobs. She took a step backward, staring intently into Derpy’s eyes, as though looking for something. Then after a second, she turned and ran from the hospital, without a second glance.

Derpy’s throat knotted up; she swallowed hard, before stepping forward toward the door. She barely got a few steps before she was stopped by the pony at the front desk.
“Hold up just a moment miss, the pony who was here yesterday left this for you.” She turned around to see the pony holding out a yellow envelope for her. “He said to give it to you when you left.” She took it walked over to the bench on the opposite wall. Sitting down, she opened the envelope and emptied the contents onto the space beside her.

Inside was a letter, and a small pouch. She couldn’t read the letter, but one of the nurse ponies who had been attending her for the past few weeks, happened to walk by at that moment, turned to her.
“Would you like me to read that to you dear?” she asked, indicating the letter. Derpy thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. The white pony sat down next to her, picked up the letter and began to read.

“Dear Ditzy Doo,

I don’t know whether or not you’ll be able to read this, but if not hopefully one of the kind nurses will help you. I know you don’t remember me, but you’ll always be my little angel, I’ll always want to be there for you, even if you don’t recognize me. I’ve enclosed a pouch with some bits in it so you can at least survive until you figure something out. If you’re ever in a jam, just stop by the local post office, and ask for Al. Always remember that you’re special, and you can be anything you want to be. You’ve grown into a fine young mare. Be strong and never give up hope, and never forget to smile, even on a cloudy day. I hope one day you might remember me, and decide to come back home. I’ll always be right here waiting with open arms. Good luck out there kid, I’ll be watching over you, like always.

Love Daddy”

Derpy could hardly hold back her tears. By the time the nurse pony had finished, they were dripping off of her chin and onto the floor. She glanced up at the white pony beside her, who smiled back with glossy eyes.
“Sounds like somepony loves you very much,” she said. Derpy nodded, sniffling. She leaned over and hugged the nurse pony, before carefully tucking the letter back into the envelope, gathering up the pouch, and heading out the door.

Next Chapter: Autumn Estimated time remaining: 11 Minutes