The sky was turning burnt orange and several clouds were starting to silhouette against the sky as the sun set on the horizon. A warm evening breeze blew through the sky, encouraging ponies to come out and enjoy the evening. Several pegasi could be seen flying all throughout the sky; some were trying to get home for the evening, while others were out playing with their friends. It was just another beautiful evening in Cloudsdale. One pegasus in particular was flying rather clumsily and quickly through the air.
The pegasus was a gray mare with a smooth blonde mane and tail. She had yellow, crossed eyes and bubbles as her cutie mark. Her name was Derpy; Derpy Hooves. Some, however, preferred to call her “other” names. Tonight, instead of flying home with a smile on her face, the smile was replaced with a frown. She had trouble not flying into things as she flew, if she wasn’t closing her eyes trying to force back tears, the tears would just fill in her eyes blurring her vision. After what happened today, she just wanted to get home and forget everything.
Just a few hours ago at the weather factory, she had accidentally put snow in the rainclouds and rain in the snow clouds…again, which caused the production of clouds to come to a complete stop and put the factory behind schedule…again. Her manager had had just enough and snapped; he yelled at her in his office for what seemed like an eternity. When she left her boss’s office, she could feel the heavy weight of her co-workers judgmental stares as she walked, staring at the floor. But even though all of this was going on, she didn’t cry in front of her co-workers; not one tear drop; at least not until she started to think on her way home.
What made her tear up if the first place was the fact that everything that everypony said to her when she was a filly was coming true. Her classmates, her “friends,” even some of her family said that she was never going to be able to do anything because she was so accident prone. In their opinion, she was useless, pathetic, and she would never be able to amount to anything in her life. But what really made Derpy start to cry was the realization that she had nopony to talk to when she would get home. Nopony would be there with an open shoulder to cry on. Nopony would be there to listen to her; who would tell her that they are with her and that she could get through this. She was alone.
Derpy finally made it home. It was a nice two-story house built on some clouds, floating high above the ground. She walked in, locked the door behind her and went straight to bed, completely ignoring the fact that it was dinner time. She walked up the steps slowly, her head hanging just a few inches from hitting the steps and her wings dragging along the stairs. She went to her room and collapsed in her cloud-like bed, doing a face plant into her pillow in the process.
Her bedroom was decently sized. Her bed was one the East side of her room, pushed against the wall. On the North side was a door that led to a balcony; this provided the perfect view of Canterlot and Ponyville. She hadn’t been to Ponyville yet because she has been so busy at the factory, but she always wanted to visit the town. Maybe even move there. At least she could start over. The West side had a closet with different outfits in it, one of which was a spare uniform for the weather factory. The South side of the room had two doors: one led to a hallway and the other led to a bathroom. There were two windows on either side of the balcony doors and one open window above her bed.
Derpy lay in her bed, bundled under her blankets. Muffled sobbing could be heard coming from her face, which was still buried in her pillow. “Stupid, Worthless, Meaningless.” These and other “names” that were given to her kept repeating themselves over and over in her head. The more they lasted, the harder and longer she cried. “No,” she finally whispered. “It-it’s not true…”
Somewhere in the universe, a blue police box known as the TARDIS rapidly spun as it flew through space; the light at the top glowed on and off, completely in sync with the “whooshing” sounds coming from the TARDIS. Suddenly, after flying perfectly for several minutes, the TARDIS stopped spinning and violently shifted to the side, opening the side doors in the process. Inside, an earth pony was scrambling towards the door in a panic.
After stumbling over his hooves, the pony was finally able to get to the doors. Another sudden shift from the TARDIS almost made him fall out! Fortunately, he was able to catch himself on a railing. He slowly made his way to the doors and was eventually able to lock them shut. In retrospect, the doors probably should’ve been locked in the first place. “Gotta make a mental note of that…” He mumbled to himself. The pony then took a few minutes to gather himself.
The earth pony was light brown with a rough dark brown mane and tail. He had light blue eyes and a golden hourglass as his cutie mark. He also had a long silver device with a blue tip, called a sonic screwdriver, tucked behind his left ear. According to multiple legends, nopony knows his real name; he is known only as: “The Doctor.”
The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned his back against the door then slid down to the floor. The TARDIS was much bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. The entire room was built in a big dome, with several support structures placed halfway between the walls and the control panel. The walls of the dome had multiple light bulbs tucked behind semi-thick glass. In the center of the room were seven control panels set up in a circle around a central glass pillar. The glass pillar had multiple blue lights inside with two discs moving up and down in a rhythmic motion, creating a loud “whooshing” sound as they approached each other. There was a walkway around the control panels with a guardrail on the edge; the only break in the guardrail was the path going from the center of the TARDIS to the exit.
After a few seconds, the Doctor stood and glared at the control panel. “Was there really a need to act like that!?” he shouted.
A loud chime echoed throughout the room in response. The Doctor cringed and flattened his ears against his head trying to block the noise. “Don’t give me that; you know you overreacted!” the Doctor said as he walked towards the controls. “Yes, the idea is crazy-”he looked up at the glass pillar “-but aren’t all my plans like that?” The Doctor then flipped a red lever, which immediately sent sparks into his face. He quickly stepped back and barely avoided getting his face burnt. “Hey!” he shouted in annoyance. “What was that for!?”
A loud creak came from somewhere on the control panel. The Doctor then looked down at the control panel with an angry look. “No, no, NO! You always immediately think the worst of me! Of course I’m going to activate your silencers and your active camouflage! Why wouldn’t I? Especially considering where we are going; however, I can’t do that until you let me finish putting in the coordinates!”
The Doctor flipped the red lever again; this time the TARDIS shook and shifted again. The Doctor had to catch himself on the control panel to prevent being thrown on the floor. He quickly recovered and steadied himself as the TARDIS straightened out. “Come on! Stop fighting me!” The Doctor yelled.
A low tone came from the control panel and echoed throughout the room. The Doctor looked up at the glass pillar. “Don’t you use that tone against me. I know that time says we didn’t officially meet until later; but remember, time can be rewritten.”
The TARDIS violently shook at the mention of time being rewritten; causing the Doctor to stumble and fall against the guardrail. Sparks shot out at different locations on the control panel and random light bulbs built into the dome of the TARDIS burst. The Doctor made his way to the control panel, gently put his hoof on the glass pillar and stoked it. “Shhh, there there old girl. I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have said that considering all you’ve been through” -the TARDIS started to settle down a bit- “but she really needs my…no…she needs our help. You’re right, doing this is dangerous. I realize that this is one of those rare ‘the-universe-could-be-destroyed-if-I-change-anything’ moments; but right now, she feels all alone.” The Doctor gently set his hoof on the control panel. “After all, we both know all too well what it’s like to feel alone right? I refuse to let somepony else suffer like that, especially her.” He looked up at the glass pillar and put his right hoof on his chest. “I promise you with both of my hearts that I’ll be careful.”
After a few seconds of silence, the Doctor once again flipped the red lever, which clicked into place. He then walked around the control panels, flipping switches and pushing buttons as he walked; each one caused many different electronic sounds to echo throughout the control room. Outside, the TARDIS had just finished braking through Equestria’s atmosphere and was now headed straight for Derpy’s house. The TARDIS suddenly went completely silent and then vanished just before it hit the house.
It was dark in Derpy’s room; the only light was coming from a small nightlight beside her bed. It was also very quiet in her room; so quiet that one could hear a pin drop on the soft cloud floor. Suddenly a faint creaking sound, coming from a wooden door, could be heard breaking the silence, almost immediately afterwards, the Doctor’s disembodied head poked out of the invisible TARDIS, and started to look around. The Doctor squinted his eyes, trying to force his eyes to focus but they were taking a while to adjust to the darkness and the nightlight in the room only made the furniture silhouette.
After a sigh of frustration, the head disappeared into the TARDIS for a few seconds, and then reappeared with a floating hoof, holding his sonic screwdriver. The Doctor pointed his screwdriver to the right and turned it on. A low “whirling” sound could be heard as the blue tip of the screwdriver lit up. The blue-ultraviolet light shone straight ahead, illuminating the wall. The Doctor looked right, and saw Derpy’s closet, he looked straight and saw the bathroom door, he then looked left and saw the outline of a lone pegasus laying in bed. The Doctor froze for a few seconds and stared at her. Did he wake her up? Was she merely pretending to be asleep?
His questions were answered when he heard the pegasus quietly snore. The Doctor finally breathed a sigh of relief and once again, retreated into the TARDIS. A few seconds later, the active camouflage faded away revealing the hidden TARDIS. It stood majestically and heroically in the room; the lights coming from the windows were shining like a beacon, which greatly lit up the room.
Once again, the door to the TARDIS slowly creaked open and the Doctor stepped out. He looked at sleeping pegasus with compassionate eyes and a small smile as he slowly walked towards her. He glanced at her alarm clock which read 10:30pm, before he finally reached the head of her bed. There he saw Derpy sleeping; the area around her eyes red and she still had tear stains on her cheeks. The poor thing had apparently cried herself to sleep.
Not taking his eyes off of her, the Doctor sat down on the floor right next to Derpy. “Hello Derpy,” the Doctor whispered with a smile. “Technically, we haven’t officially met yet, and we won’t for quite some time, so allow me to introduce myself. My name is the Doctor. I’m a time traveler; I travel through all of time and space in that blue box right there.” The Doctor looked at the TARDIS. “She’s called the TARDIS; that stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space.” He looked back at Derpy. “I bet your wondering why I’m here.” Derpy didn’t respond; she just silently slept in her bed.
“I’ve heard you are having trouble fitting in and making friends. I’ve heard that everypony picks on you because you are very accident prone. I’ve also heard that you are very lonely; I understand what it is like to be alone-” the Doctor looked down to the floor “-you see, I am a Timelord…the last of them actually. The rest of my people were wiped out in a huge Time War. I was the only survivor. Even my home planet Gallifrey was destroyed.”
“But this visit isn’t about me. I wanted to stop by and tell you-” the Doctor looked back up at the sleeping Derpy “-that you are stronger than you know. I understand that there have been many bad things that have happened in your life so far. Don’t worry; you’ll have lots of good things that’ll happen in your near future.” The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the TARDIS and turned it on. The light on top of the TARDIS glowed and shone a hologram of Ponyville right in front of the Doctor who stared at the holographic town. “If I am in the right time, you haven’t gone into Ponyville yet; I can’t wait until you get there. Why?” The Doctor looked at Derpy. “In that small town, you’ll make some of the best friends you’ve ever had.”
As if on que, the hologram changed into a picture of Rainbow Dash, who was crouched as if she was ready for takeoff. The Doctor ignored it and continued to look at Derpy. “You’ll make friends who are loyal; they will always have your back and support you no matter what.”
The hologram changed to a picture of Rarity, who looked as if she just got inspired to make a new dress. “You’ll make friends who are generous; they will be more than willing to invest their time and their lives into yours.”
The hologram changed to a picture of Fluttershy, who was smiling and had many of her animal friends surrounding her. “You’ll also make friends who are kind; they will never judge you by what you do or say.”
The hologram changed to a picture of Applejack, who was carrying a basket full of apples on her back. “You’ll make friends who are honest; these friends will never steer you wrong and you will always be able to trust them.
The hologram changed to a picture of Pinkie Pie who was wearing a mustache-nose-and-glasses-disguise. The Doctor couldn’t help but look and chuckle. “You’ll make friends who love to make you laugh, they will always able to cheer you up even on your darkest days.”
The hologram changed to a picture of Twilight who was simply standing and smiling. “You’ll even make friends who will always know what to say and know how to handle certain problems. All of these friends, along with others, will be with you forever and ever.”
The hologram of Twilight faded away and then was immediately replaced with a bunch of holographic galaxies and star systems that hung all throughout in the room. The Doctor just sat where he was and looked around with a fascinated smile. “It’s incredible really. I’ve traveled to countless universes and seen so many things; and out of all of those universes” -the Doctor looked down at Derpy- “you are the most important pegasus I’ve ever met.” Derpy, who was still asleep, sighed and slightly smiled.
The Doctor simply sat and stared at the mini-galaxies lost in his thoughts. After a few minutes, he stood up and walked to the TARDIS, the holographic galaxies vanished as he stood. The door creaked open as he pushed open the door and stepped inside. A few seconds passed and the Doctor emerged carrying a small, white cardboard box with a red bow wrapped around it, in his mouth. He closed the door behind him, set it at the hoof of her bed, and walked back up to the head of her bed.
He stared at Derpy with a loving smile for a long time before he finally leaned down and gently kissed her on her forehead. “It won’t be easy at times,” he whispered, “but I promise that you’ll be ok. How do I know? Well, I am from your future; I know, for a fact, that you will make it through. Also, you and I eventually travel through all of time and space together. Let me tell you, when we meet, you are much happier and stronger.”
The Doctor then walked back to the TARDIS. He stopped and gave Derpy one more smile before turning away and entering the TARDIS. A few seconds later, the light at the top of the TARDIS started glowing on and off, and in sync with a “whooshing” sound. After three “whooshes” the TARDIS started to become transparent; after five, the TARDIS had vanished completely, leaving no trace of it behind.
The final few “whooshing” sounds woke Derpy up. She slowly sat up in bed trying to get her eyes to open. “Huh? Who’s there?” she sleepily said rubbing her left eye with her hoof. When she finally got them opened, she looked around but couldn’t see anypony. “It’s probably just me hearing things,” she concluded. Derpy sank deeper below the covers and stretched her hind legs as far as they could go. Her right hoof then hit something odd; something was on her bed.
Derpy looked down and saw the Doctor’s present sitting on her bed. She looked at it with curiosity. She didn’t remember this owning this box. Was it hers? When did she get it? How did it get here? She sat up and stretched her hoof towards the box. She picked it up and, to her surprise, it was very light. She read the tag attached to the ribbon. It said: To-Derpy. She brought the box up to her ear and shook it. She heard something inside, but she couldn’t tell what it was. It was then that she smelled something wonderful; something that was coming from the box that made her stomach roar in hunger.
She quickly opened it and found to her great delight a warm muffin! And not just any warm muffin, it was a warm blueberry muffin; her favorite! Derpy happily and quickly devoured the muffin. After she was done eating, she looked inside the box to see if there was another one, but instead, noticed that there was a folded note in the box. She reached in, and pulled the note out, to read it. The first line didn’t make much sense, but the next couple of lines caught her attention. After a moment, the words of the note brought many tears to her eyes as she began to cry; but this time, instead of being tears of sorrow, they were tears of joy!
She put the note and the box on her nightstand and then curled back up under her blankets. She quickly fell back asleep with a smile, and a feeling of importance. Somepony somewhere was watching her and they deeply cared for her.
A cool breeze blew into Derpy’s room causing the note to open. The note said:
“900 years of time and space,
And I’ve never met anyone
Who wasn’t important.”
Outside, in the clear starry night, a shooting star flashed across the sky; the only thing odd about this star was that there was a “whooshing” noise coming from it.
