"Take your time." Twilight inched away from her friends. "There's plenty of ice cream to go around."

I really need to double my ice cream subscription, she sighed mentally. Starlight had all but decimated her personal supply a few hours ago, and now Derpy and Minuette were finishing the job. Looking at the two heartbroken mares sitting next to each other, muzzles in their ice cream buckets, was enough to dishearten anypony. Almost in unison both lifted up their heads then pushed the empty containers her direction.

I'm definitely calling Cadence! Twilight let out a nervous laugh, then summoned two new buckets to be devoured.

Some game gathering this had turned out to be. She had known, of course, that the point was to have a serious talk with Minuette, but that had gone quite badly. Add a heart-shattered Derpy to the equation and everything goes insane. Lyra had lasted ten minutes before rushing out to find Bon Bon, terrified of the prospect of them splitting up. Why that was a concern, Twilight really didn't know. Might be a good thing, though. Lyra has been taking Bon Bon for granted lately.

"Umm, Dinky asked if you could take her cloud swimming tonight," Amethyst said, trying to lighten the mood somewhat. "She really enjoys that."

"She's..." Derpy wiped the ice cream off her muzzle. "She's a muffin. I just wish... *sniff*" Not good, not good! "I just wish I could have a little filly of my own. And now, I..." She burst in tears again, burying her muzzle in the ice cream bucket.

Why do depressed mares have to eat in the sloppiest ways? Twilight's etiquette obsession kicked in. Seconds later her ears flopped. Great job, Twi. Some friend you are. They need your help and you're thinking of table manners.

"Is this *sniff* your first heartbreak?" Minuette patted Derpy on the back between chomps of ice cream.

"Uh-huh." The pegasus glanced at her. "You?"

"Eleventh." The matter-of-fact way she said it made Twilight shiver. Eleventh?!? My Celestia! "First three are the worst..." Tears started trickling down her face once more. "The first time I found the love... the love of my life..." The sniffling was getting in the way of her talking. Minuette levitated a tissue to her and blew her muzzle loudly. "That the love of my life was a mare pretending to be a stallion!" She burst into tears, receiving a comforting wing on the back from Derpy.

"We... *sniff* we were engaged," Derpy could hardly keep her tears. "I booked a week's leave for the wedding. And today... today... today he told me he was in love with another!"

The crying intensified with both mares weeping on each other's shoulder. Twilight looked at them for a few seconds, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then exhaled evenly.

"Well, I'm not leaving you in this condition!" She stomped her hoof. "Whatever it takes, I'll make you feel better, even if I have to spend all night here!"

"But what about your friendship hotl—" Amethyst began, only to have Twilight pause her.

"Spike and Starlight can handle it just fine!" She summoned four new buckets of ice cream, along with a spoon. Regardless of the circumstances, she had no intention of resorting to muzzle eating. "You're my friends, and I'll be damned if I'm not with you when you need me the most!" All eyes were on her. Derpy and Minuette's ears even had perked up. "Minnie, I promise you I'll get to the bottom of this!" She turned to the blue unicorn. "I'll find who this StrongHooves is, and if it turns out to be another scamming mare, I'll make her wish she was banished to Tartarus!"

The faintest of smiles emerged on Minuette's face. That's good. I can work with this.

"And, Derpy." Twilight turned to the pegasus. "When I find who that conniving, wretched, coltfriend-stealing snake in the grass is, I'll—"

"It's you," Derpy said quietly.

"Aha!" Twilight stomped on the floor, victorious. "I should have known! Who else but... Wait, what?" Her ears flopped down. "It's me?" Good joke there, Derpy. Trying to lighten the mood, right? Right?!

"Yes," Derpy sniffed. The remaining two mares darted angry glances at Twilight. They had all but called her a hypocrite out loud. "He said were breaking up because he was intoxicated by your love."

"I never said that to anypony!" Twilight pulled away. If it wasn't for the teleportation dampener Bon Bon had set up in the building, she would have been long gone. "I don't even have a special somepony!"

"Oh?" Amethyst narrowed her eyes. "What about that stallion you’re constantly ogling?"

"Star Dial?" Twilight gasped. That can't be true! No, no, no, it just can't! "I just exchanged a few words about Daring Doo books. Literally."

"We've been engaged for seven months," Derpy sniffed. "We became a couple shortly after he came to Ponyville... three years ago."

Stars almighty! Twilight's eyes widened in absolute horror. "Three years," she whispered. I might as well have cut her heart out. "Derpy, I..." She moved closer. "I had no idea that..."

"It's not your fault." The pegasus offered a sad smile before returning to her ice cream. "I knew it would happen... Who in their right mind would choose me over... over anypony? My eyes, my sense of direction, the way I talk..."

"None of that!" Twilight said firmly. I won't let you beat yourself down, especially now that I've stabbed you in the back! Whatever it takes I will get you to feel better! You and Minnie both! "You are a smart, attractive mare! Stars, you could be on the covers of fashion magazines! If I'm not mistaken you and Cloudchaser are the only ones to have a full thundercloud license! Even Rainbow Dash only has a temporary one! Not only that, but you have two jobs! Just because you’re clumsy from..." Twilight's voice trailed off. Saying it out loud make her realize the impossibility of her statement. Everypony knew how clumsy Derpy was—she was the subject of countless jokes. But if that were the case, how had she received a Cloudsdale approved weather license?

Tilting her head slightly, Twilight took a closer look at Derpy. In this light the pegasus appeared quite normal—her silly way of talking was gone, she hadn't made a single mess since she had arrived, only her eyes reminded of her goofiness.

"Derpy?" The conversation of Star Dial gave way to another topic. "How did you get your thundercloud license?"

"Wonderbolt issue," the mare sniffled. "All squad leaders have them."

"You're a Wonderbolt?” Twilight shouted in disbelief. Minuette and Amethyst fared no better, staring at Derpy mouths wide open. "But, but... how? When?"

"Half an year before you came to Ponyville," Derpy said, then scooped some more ice cream with her muzzle.

"Oh." Twilight and the rest nodded in unison. Well, that explains it... No! That doesn't explain anything! "Wouldn't somepony have noticed?"

"How?" Derpy looked at her with a half smile, ice cream covering her entire nose and muzzle. "Ponies look at the suits, not the ones wearing them. Besides, I was a prodigy. They made me a regular straight after the academy." She looked at the half full bucket of frozen goodness, then pushed it away. "I was Blondie, Spitfire's protege. Young and foolish I wanted to prove myself way too much. I flew through thunderclouds, mocked others for their slowness and cowardice... I was anything but a good pony. I even laughed at Rainbow Dash a few times. At the time I didn't think she was Wonderbolt material."

"I... I never knew." Twilight swallowed. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Tell you that I was a huge jerk?" Derpy snapped back. "Sure, why didn't I go with that? Hello, ponies, I thought you were jerks till yesterday, so will you welcome me?" Twilight and Amethyst looked at the floor. Only Minuette gave the Pegasus a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Whatever I had I lost in the accident." New tears appeared in her eyes, tears of bitterness. "When an Everfree thundercloud category four appeared I was oh-so-eager to prove I could handle it. Well... I didn't!" Wings covered her face. "I couldn't..." she wept.

"Oh, Derpy." Twilight went beside her and placed her wing on Derpy's back. "It's okay. We're here."

"The Wonderbolts retired me," she went on though her tears. "They already made an exception taking in a cross-eyed flyer. But even they couldn't use a pegasus who’d lost her sense of direction. I was given a medal and transferred to weather control." Twilight bit her lip. All this time and I never knew the pain Derpy was keeping buried deep inside, hidden under that false goofy smile. "Me, the rising star, demoted to weather duty! And to serve under Rainbow Dash of all ponies! I thought my world had come to an end."

Twilight didn't say a word. If experience had taught her one thing it was to give a chance for a pony to cry out all her bitterness.

"I so hated Dash back then. I found it insulting she should be my boss." Teardrops continued fall on the floor. "That's why I destroyed town hall. Just to get back at her. I didn't want to be cast out, so I pretended to be an idiot."

"You what?" Amethyst arched a brow.

"I knew Dash was scared of lightning. That's why I brought a thundercloud." Derpy pulled her wings back. Her eyes were redder than ever. "I was also jealous of you, Twilight." She looked at the princess. "Even before you started flirting with Star Dial." Flirting might be going a bit far, Twilight thought as her cheeks blushed. "All the things I did, the mail I kept ’misplacing’, the storm clouds that accidentally floated over the library, even the piano I dropped on you!"

That was deliberate? Twilight thought back to the event. It did seem strange how all those things had somehow managed to land precisely on her. At the time she’d chalked it up to the Pinkie Sense.

"Even now." New tears gathered in her eyes. "I... I... I just came here to be mad at you!" She started crying again. Twilight still had no idea how to react. I stole her coltfriend in front of her nose, while she's been harboring a grudge ever since I set hoof in Ponyville. And all this time I didn't even suspect! A single day of the hotline and her perception of so many things had changed. Twilight felt like she had lived in an ivory tower all her life. She had faced big challenges, saved Equestria, but had she taken the time to look beneath the surface of the Equestria she was saving? Apparently not.

"I'm sorry, Derpy," Twilight whispered. "I'm sorry about everything I put you through. You were right to be upset. One look at your eyes and I had made up my mind about you: lovable and clumsy. Even after I got to know you, I didn't bother to consider you might need help in any way. Hay, I didn't even think you could have a coltfriend!"

"And you were right!" Derpy stomped on the floor. "I couldn't! Even when I was in the Wonderbolts, there were no candidates. And now..."

"Hey, don't be like that." Amethyst moved closer as well. "Every time we go to a club stallions glance your way. So what if some jerk dumped you? His loss! Let Twilight deal with his drama."

"I heard that!" Twilight mock pouted.

"And what if you did pull a trick on Rainbow? We all know she's a pranking menace with the ego the size of the sun." Everypony chuckled. "The way she's running the weather lately, I—"

"Dash is lovestruck," Derpy interrupted, bringing the confusion to a whole new level. Celestia might as well have entered the room dressed as a jester and she still would have gotten no attention whatsoever. "I'm a pegasus, I can spot the signs. Besides, ponies don't mind gossiping when I come near. She's been absent minded, prone to mood shifts, constantly changes the schedule, and weeps in clouds."

All nodded in unison. Classic signs of extreme infatuation.

"The important thing now is that you get better." I'll check that Rainbow angle later, Twilight thought. "It's clear you've been through a lot, and sorry can hardly cover it, but please stop pretending to be what you're not. There is at least a classroom full of colts and fillies that adore you, Derpy. You say you were great once, you still are! And not in the Trixie type of way." Okay, maybe that was mean on my part.

"I guess." Derpy ventured a weak smile. "Thanks, girls. I... I think I'll go fly a bit now."

"Do you want me to join you?" Twilight offered. "I can—"

"No." Derpy shook her head. "Sorry, Twi, but I want some time alone to figure things out. Take care, Minnie, Amy," she looked at the other two mares. "And tell Dinky I'll come fetch her this evening."

With as little as a wing wave Derpy then leaped out of the nearest window and zoomed towards the sky. She really is fast! Twilight raised her brows as the pegasus became a dot in the sky. Star Dial, how could you do this? If I hadn't fallen for you this bad I'd probably be zapping you to the moon right now!

"Well, I think I'll be heading out as well," Minuette said, far from her usual cheer. "I've a long day tomorrow and—"

In a flash Twilight teleported in front of the unicorn blocking her exit. "You're staying," she stated, eyes burning with rage. "We'll wait for Bon Bon to return, then I'll have a long talk with Princess Celestia."