Despite knowing everypony in Ponyville as its most dilligent mailmare, Ditzy Doo becomes increasingly disheartened by her lack of friends. For all her life, she has had to put up with being shunned by others and the occasional bullying, but she has always tried her hardest not to let it get the best of her. But just as when she feels she cannot maintain her cheerful disposition any longer, a chance for real friendship finally comes her way in the form of Twilight Sparkle, who gladly offers to help Ditzy with everything she's learned about friendship up to that point.
An in-progress My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fan fic written by Mazzyrazzy, Trails and Trials is a heartwarming, yet at times sad chronicle of Ditzy and Twilight's budding friendship. It has been featured on Equestria Daily
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This fan fic contains examples of:
- Benevolent Boss: While Mr. Forthright is perplexed and occasionally exasperated by Ditzy's extremely surreal behavior, there's no indication that he treats her differently than he would any other employee, and even acknowledges Ditzy's improved work output over time.
- Berserk Button: Having a preference between muffins and cupcakes will get an angry Ditzy or Pinkie Pie on your tail... and may Celestia have mercy on your soul if you don't know the difference between the two. Subverted when it turns out that they were just joking with each other about getting worked up it.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Destiny enjoys humiliating Ditzy, especially in public, but she maintains a superficially friendly demeanor when she spots Ditzy hanging out with Twilight. Twilight isn't aware of her true nature, mistakening her to be a friend of Ditzy's, while Ditzy just timidly chooses not to say much about it.
- Break the Cutie: This nearly happens with Ditzy, being on the receiving end of Destiny's constant bullying in the first chapter and later breaking down crying in front of a crowd of ponies after accidentally spilling all of her undelivered mail. Once Twilight shows up, things start to slowly look up for her, until things take a turn for the worse by the end of chapter 5.
- The Bully: Destiny Dawn.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Ditzy, in spades. Her thoughts are frequently explored throughout the story, and some of the conclusions she jumps to reach "Pinkie Pie" levels of strangeness. Inexplicably showing up in her boss's house for the sole purpose of begging for a day off really takes the cake.
- Genius Ditz: Ditzy shows signs of this in many cases, but most especially when she wins the horseshoe-throwing contest by determining the trajectory of her throw at different angles around the area, away from the goal.
- Happily Adopted: Sparkler, to Ditzy.
- Kick the Dog: Destiny doesn't waste any time establishing her role when she immediately knocks Ditzy's muffin right out of her hooves during their first meeting. Later on, she and one of her friends play catch with Ditzy's package before letting it slam into Ditzy's face, and they simply laugh about it as they leave her with a bloody nose.
- Literal-Minded: Ditzy tends to not understand figurative speech or double meanings of certain words, such as her exchanges with Mr. Forthright ("color me impressed," "trying to get a raise," etc.), all which she interprets as something else.
- Never Learned to Read: Ditzy has basic reading ability, but doesn't seem to be able to grasp much beyond children's picture books, Twilight's letters to Celestia, and what she writes down at work. Twilight takes it upon herself to teach her.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Everypony calls Ditzy "Derpy," whether they mean any harm or not. She doesn't seem to mind when it's not used in a teasing context. Twilight is the first pony to call Ditzy by her real name, which makes her extremely happy.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Ditzy's brilliant method of fooling a security guard is a uniform and a fake moustache. He doesn't catch on one bit.
- The Pollyanna: Ditzy always tries to make the best of her situation, and she generally tries to convince herself that things are okay even in the face of humiliation. While she experiences lapses in this attitude before meeting Twilight, she remains unfazed by a lot of other comments made toward her such as Rainbow Dash's snarkiness.
- True Companions: Ditzy eventually makes friends with all of the mane cast (and Spike), but her deepest connections lie with Twilight and Pinkie Pie, the latter to whom Ditzy opens up about her repressed feelings.
- Unstoppable Mailmare: Nothing will stop Ditzy from delivering your mail. Not even if it's candy, which she will do absolutely everything in her power to not eat.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 5, where Ditzy and Twilight are severely injured and hospitalized after being caught in a severe magic storm. May count as an Interface Spoiler due to the featured image depicting Ditzy looking over a comatose Twilight.
