Derpy lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Her eyelids felt as heavy as lead, but she just couldn't get comfortable. She had lain on her stomach, her side and her back; none had helped. The sudden burst of warm weather was gone and there was a stron winter chill that had managed to seep through her walls and cause her to shiver like a newborn puppy, she had so far lost all feeling in her hooves. She could hear the distant hooting of owls drifting from the Everfree Forest. As Derpy watched shadows drift and dance across her bedroom, memories came flooding back.

"Keep still my little muffin! You're getting your bows in a tangle!"

"Mom! Don't call me muffin, it's embarrassing! And these bows make me look like a little filly."

"But you love muffins! Plus you seem to be forgetting the fact that you are a little filly"

"Yeah, but I mean a really little filly. Like a baby or something!"

Derpy sat at the kitchen table of her family's home in Neighbury squirming uncomfortably whilst her mother tried to dot her mane and tail with as many ribbons and bows as was physically possible. It was the first day of school, an event that she had been dreading for months. For the past two years she had been home-schooled, but now it was time to (as her father often said), become a mature young mare and face the real world.

"Mom?" Derpy asked nervously.

"What is it?"

Her ears drooped "I'm scared."

"What could you possibly be scared of?"

"Well what if they laugh at me? What if they pick on me because I'm different? What if-"

Her rant was cut off by a warm embrace from her mother "Oh muffin, they won't pick on you! Do you really think that me and your father would send you to a school full of bullies? I'm sure that you'll have a wonderful time and make lots of friends! Now I think I'm done with your mane, go have a look in the mirror and tell me what you think."

Sickeningly cute was the only phrase that she could come up with. Her mane and tail were both dotted all over with bows. Her strange eyes and stubby wings further assisted the image of heart-attack-inducing cuteness.

"You're so adorable!" her mother squealed in delight "That school better have a steady supply of Insulin!"

"Mom! Embarrassing!"

"Sorry muffin."
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Derpy wandered uncertainly through the schoolyard. Most of the foals around her were lazily chatting and fooling around in the summer sun, waiting for school to begin, but she could still feel several pairs of eyes following her progress. It wasn't surprising though, she was the new girl, and everypony had the right to stare at the new girl.

The bell rang and things suddenly became a flurry of activity. She was pushed and shoved out of the way as hoards of foals began to stream into the school building. Deciding to blend in with the crowd, she followed a large clique of fillies her age that were heading for a small doorway that lead to classroom 7J. With a strong sense of foreboding, she entered the classroom.

All of the other pupils were already sat at their desks when Derpy entered, so they immediately stared at her the moment she was in view; the teacher smiled widely.

"Oh, you must be miss Hooves!" she turned to face her students "Class, this is Derpy Hooves. She's been home-schooled for the pat few years and this is her first time in a real school, so I want you all to be nice to her!" near the back of the classroom a chubby colt raised his hoof.

"What is it?" the teacher inquired.

"What's wrong with her eyes? They're all weird."

"I think it will be best for Derpy to answer that question."

"Well..." Derpy murmured nervously as the foals began to stare at her with even more fascination "ever since I was a baby, I've had this weird thing with my brain that means I can't do things like maths as well as other ponies. It affects my eyes as well, but I'm not really sure how that works, my mom says that it's very complicated an I'll probably understand it better when I get older."

"Very interesting, now will you please find a seat and we can get this lesson started!"

She located an old, graffitied desk inbetween a brown Pegasus filly with a flowing amber mane and the colt who had asked about her eyes earlier. Neither seemed very interested in her and had their attention focused on the sums the teacher was writing on the blackboard. "Okay," she thought to herself "so far so good, things are going fine so far, just try to not draw any attention to yourself."

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Derpy sat on a small bench in the far-off corner of the schoolyard taking deep breaths and forcing herself not to cry. Her mane was a mess, her bows were askew and her coat was dripping with mud. A few minutes earlier the chubby colt and several of his friends had approached her. They called her 'retarded' and 'freak', said that her bows made her look like an ugly old doll then shoved her into a mud puddle. She could still hear them laughing.

"Are you okay Derpy?"

Confused, she turned to face a large group of fillies who had ventured over from the jungle gym to her secluded corner. One of them was the redheaded Pegasus who sat next to her, but she didn't recognise the others.

"I'm okay I guess."

"Please don't pay any attention to those dumb bullies, they're just a bunch of jerks. I like your bows, they make you look really pretty."

"Oh... thanks."

"Do you want to come and play with us? You survive best here if you have a group of friends."

"Uhhh... okay!"

"Great! We're playing tag, do you want to be 'it'?"

"Yeah!"
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The moon was high in the sky and it was way past midnight and Derpy had given up any hope of getting to sleep and was sitting on the edge of her bed flipping through several old photo albums. The very last page showed a faded image of her college graduation ceremony. In the photo she had Cinder Spark (the redheaded Pegasus filly from her school in Neighbury) trapped in a grapple hug, both of them waving diplomas triumphantly in the air. She smiled warmly and slid the album back into it's place on the shelf. She needed to get to sleep, there was much research to do tomorrow.
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I've found a picture that basically shows my version of filly Derpy (just envision it with more bows.)

Next Chapter: Research Estimated time remaining: 10 Minutes