A few minutes later,
Outside Sugarcube Corner

Derpy finished off the last of her muffins. Carrying in her plate, she gently placed it on the counter, before trotting outside. She made it a habit to eat breakfast there every morning before beginning her daily routine of delivering everypony's mail. Grabbing her full mail satchel, she began to make her rounds in Ponyville.

Derpy Hooves considered herself blessed, despite her annoying eye problem, something which caused her to have difficulty in judging speed and distance, both of which were extremely important to pegasi. She knew that in spite of this health problem, she was loved by a kind colt named Dr. Whooves and by their daughter Dinky Hooves. Additionally, despite all of the hatred and hostility that came from several of the village ponies, some of whom derided her as a “whore” for having a child out of wedlock and others who called her “retarded” because of her googly eyes, unique voice, and bubbly personality, she knew that she always had loving and supportive friends in ponies such as Rainbow Dash and Carrot Top.

She remembered back in high school how the bullies had mistreated her for her looks and personality. While the boys wouldn’t dare lay hands on her for fear of getting penalized for hitting a filly, it was the girls that she had to sorry about. Nearly every girl at Cloudsdale High had attacked and picked on her, both verbally and physically. However during her junior year, Rainbow Dash, ever the fighter that she was, intervened to defend her from the bullies. From that day onward, the bullies left her alone.

In many ways, she owed much of what she had to the rainbow maned pegasus. After Dashie extended her protection to Derpy, she became more outgoing, abandoning her formerly shy personality and proceeding to make several friends. As she approached Twilight’s castle, she looked up at the rainbow colored band that streaked across the sky. She knew that no matter what happened Rainbow Dash would be there to protect her.