>It’s such a wonderful thing to be surrounded by friends and loved ones is it not?
>This is, however, not true for everypony. Some of us can be surrounded by others and still be all alone.
>The struggle is different for all of us, but more so for those of us who are ‘different’.
>You are Derpy Hooves. A mare who has seen nothing but the cruel injustices of a world that judges others on their appearance alone.
>You were born with a rare condition doctors call Wall eyed syndrome.
>Your family lived in a small town called Hoofdale, a little mineral town that that mostly exports granite and gems throughout Equestria.
>Your dad, Jack hammer, was an earth pony who would break apart large rock formations for the gems inside.
>Meanwhile your mother, Silver Tongue, was a merchant who sold the gems jack gathered.
>As such, she had to protect her status as a reputable merchant if she wanted her business to keep growing.
>It wasn’t until you had to go to grade school that you would see what it’s like to be truly different.
 >”Class, we have a new student today. Please welcome Derpy Hooves.”
>It was nerve wracking to stand in front of a class to introduce yourself.
“H-hi everypony, it’s umm nice to meet you.”
>”Look at her eyes! How stupid looking!” The class howled in laughter, not caring about the pony whose feeling they had hurt.
>”Cheerilee! You will stay after school for detention today!”
>”But Ms. Edify!” Cheerilee was cut off quickly by her teacher.
>“No buts! As for the rest of you, I don’t want to hear another word about this.”
>”You can take any seat that’s open at the moment sweetie.” She motions you to sit.
>You take a quick look around the class searching for the first empty seat, much to your dismay the only empty one was next to Cheerilee.
>”Now if you will open your books to page three we can start reading our story!”
>Thanks to your eyes reading was difficult for you, so you hoped she would not call you to read anything.
>”Now why don’t we let our new student read first?”
>You gulped and looked down at the page, even with the big letters it was difficult for you to put them together quickly.
“T-the l-little puh-piggy…”
>The class started whispering to each other as you struggled to read even a few words.
>”Ahem!” With one word Ms. Edify silenced the class. “Please Derpy continue, you are doing just fine.”
>After a few torturous minutes of working through the words Ms. Edify called on a different pony.
>Once class had finally ended the other fillies and colts formed into their little cliques.
>”Oh Derpy could you stay here for a moment?” Ms. Edify waved you over to her desk.
>”I think somepony wants to apologize for her behavior this morning.”
>”I’m sorry” Cheerilee grumbled, clearly not sincere with her words.
>”Also Derpy if you need help with reading feel free to ask me! It’s quite all right for a little filly your age to have some trouble.”
“Okay!” You felt better knowing that your teacher didn’t mind the stuttering
>A few years passed, but you remained alone. It seemed no pony wanted to be friends with Captain stutters for fear of being ridiculed themselves.
>”Oh l-l-look It’s d-d-derpy!” Cheerilee would torment you relentlessly.
>You would think that somepony as popular as herself wouldn’t need to be a bully, that they could just go one day without saying something.
>After all the years of teasing you weren’t going to give them the satisfaction of seeing you hurt.
>Behind closed doors that wasn’t the case, nopony could be treated like less than dirt and not react at all.
>Before you knew it Cheerilee and her friends made a circle around you. Flag twirler and Summer breeze were no more than lackeys.
>Flag twirler was a unicorn on the cheer squad with Cheerilee, she had a blue coat with a pinkish purple mane and tail that held streaks of gold.
>Summer breeze on the other hand was a Pegasus with a yellow coat and green splotches around her hind quarters. Her mane and tail were Green with solid lines of sky blue running through them.
>”Eww look, it’s like she’s looking at both of us at the same time!” They positioned themselves to be on either side of you.
>”Ugh you’re right Summer her eyes always look so messed up. Guess that’s why you’re called Derpy!” The three laughed as they circled you.
>Ignoring them, you flew over their little barricade.
>”Where do you think you’re going?!” Breeze was determined not to let you leave.
>She flew in front of you and stared you down, almost daring you to do something.
>”I think the klutz is falling breeze!” Flag had used her magic to clamp one of your wings to your barrel sending you to the ground.
>You landed on a sharp rock which stabbed your side, waves of pain rushed throughout your body leaving you breathless.
>”Oh you poor thing! If only you could fly properly with those messed up eyes.” The three laughed as they left you on the ground.
>You lay there waiting for the pain to subside before trying to get to your hooves. The rock shifted as you move giving you unbearable pain.
>”Are…Are you all right?” A colt with a brown coat and hourglass cutie mark stood above you.
“Yeah I’ll be ok.” You try one last time to get up, this time with much more success.
>”You’re bleeding! Let me get you some help!” He ran off before you got a chance to tell him not to worry.
>It took you a few minutes longer than usual to get home, but somehow you managed it.
>”Where have you been?!” Here it comes, another one of you mother’s tantrums.
>”I’ve been waiting for almost half an hour for you to return from school! Wait till your father hears about this!” She hardly notices the blood dripping down your barrel.
>”And how filthy you are! Go take a bath young lady!” Loud hoof steps approach from behind you at what you assume is a rather quick pace.
>”Sweetie I heard you got hurt, are you ok?” It was your father, he eyed you over quickly and spotted the rock in your lower left side.
“I’m fine dad.” You say rather tiredly, that bath your mom proposed was sounding good right about now.
>”No you are not fine! You’re bleeding honey, here let me take care of this.” He pulls the rock out and grabs you a cloth to cover the wound.
“Who told you I got hurt?” It hadn’t even occurred to you till just now that somepony had gone to look for help.
>”I ran into this frantic colt who told me what happened. Well he told me you were hurt, but not how.”
>Great, now you were going to have to lie about what happened. It would be more trouble that it was worth to tell them you were being bullied.
“I uh.. was playing with the other ponies and got hurt…” It didn’t feel convincing to say, but you hoped they would buy it.
>”You need to be more careful sweetie!” Your dad kisses you on the forehead and sends you on your way.
“Love you daddy…” You rush to the restroom to enjoy a nice warm shower.
>The water rushes over your cut causing you to wince. That wasn’t what had hurt though, it was the fact they did it and laughed.
>How could they be so cruel, so heartless. If it had happened to them they would have cried to their mommies about how much it hurt.
>Their mothers wouldn’t silently judge them, no, they would fawn over their hurt filly. They would get angry and go on a war path.
>Your dad cared though, he cared enough to at least notice that something was wrong. He tried to comfort you, to make things a little better.
>He was the only one who cared, the only one who was willing to lend a hoof to you when you needed it most.
>You cry softly in the shower, the one place where they wouldn’t hear it.
>After a few minutes you hear a knock on the door.
>”Are you all right in there sweetie?” It was your dad, he must have come to check since you were taking so long.
“Yes dad I’ll be out soon.”
>You could hear his sigh through the door. “Listen, if there is anything you need to tell me you know that I’m here right?”
“Yeah dad, I know. Thanks.” You were more unsure about telling him now than you were before.
>Your mother might not really care, but dad would make a big deal of it. He would bring you around to the houses of each pony involved and argue with their parents.
>It had happened before, but over time you realized that only makes things worse.
>Eventually you settled on telling him lies to avoid the extra problems. It felt horrible to lie to him all the time, to make a fake image of yourself.
>It was as if you were forging a mask, one that would hide your feelings, pain, and even your true self.
>After drying up you opened the door to the bathroom, your dad standing there waiting.
>”You know, you’re not a very good liar.” He pulled you close and embraced you.
>”Listen, I understand not wanting to make others worry, but you can’t just bottle up your problems. You have to let us know so we can help you!”
>You slowly started sobbing into his chest, trying your best to hide your face.
>”Shhh shhhhh, you’re okay, I’m here.” He patted your head and held you for what felt like an eternity.
“Daddy… I don’t want to go to school anymore!” You said with your face still buried into his chest.
>”How bout this sweetie tomorrow I’ll take you to the doctor to get that cut looked at and you can stay out of school the whole day.”
“okay daddy…” Your sobbing dwindled down to a little sniffle.
>”For now how bout we get some dinner hmm? First one there gets the last piece of cake!” He immediately turned and ran for the kitchen.
“H-hey no fair!” You galloped after him only narrowly managing to beat him there.
>”Jack, we need to talk. Now.” It was clear to you that Silver was going to argue with your dad again.
>He looks at you for just a moment and then back at her. “All right. Derpy you’ll have to eat without us.”
>This had become a common occurrence for them. Something would happen to make her mad at you, then she would take it out on your dad.
>You sigh and eat your dinner leaving the plate in the sink when you had finished. As you passed their room you could hear them screaming at each other.
>”You’re too easy on her! She came in a filthy mess and RUINED the floors! I had to spend precious time cleaning that I could have used to work on my sales!”
>”She was bucking bleeding! Do you want me to just turn a blind eye and punish her for being hurt?!”
>You grit your teeth and walk into your room to lay down; their arguing not allowing you to sleep at all.
>Hours pass and your dad finally comes into your room. You pretend to be asleep so he tucks you in and kisses your forehead.
>It was a little ritual of his to check in on you at night. If you weren’t asleep he would talk at you for about 20 minutes telling you what your mother’s problem was.
>The morning sun rolls through your window and your dad begins to shake you gently. “Get up Derpy, we’re gonna go see the doctor.”
“Mmmf…” You manage to roll yourself out of bed and sheepishly head for the bathroom. After a quick shower, you follow your father to the doctor’s office.
>”Derpy Hooves?” The nurse takes a moment to look around as you stand and walk towards her. “Right this way!”
>Your father explains about the rock in your barrel and you sit to wait for a few minutes. “Now Derpy, when the doctor asks I need you to be 100% honest with him. Got it?”
>The doctor steps into the room and begins to look over his paper. Compared to the other doctors you had met, this one seemed quite young.
>“So, I hear you took a nasty fall and got hurt pretty badly. Can you show me where?” You lift your wing revealing a bit sized puncture in your side.
>He wipes it clean with a cotton ball and takes a good look at it. “Ouch. How exactly did you say this happened?”
“W-well I was playing with some other ponies when I fell onto a sharp rock.”
>He gives you a curious glance and begins to check you over. “Could you lift your other wing please?”
>Lifting your wing causes you to wince slightly, which doesn’t go unnoticed. The doctor holds your wing in place and begins to trace along it only stopping once he had seen a large bruise.
>”So if you fell on your left side how does your right wing have this nasty bruise?” Both he and your father gave a no nonsense look as they awaited your answer.
“I-I…” You let out a short sigh and turn your eyes to the ground. “One of the other kids forced my wing shut.”
>”WHAT?!” Your dad exploded jumping out of his seat. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“Because if I did you would have made things worse!” You instantly regret what you said once you see the hurt on your dad’s face.