My little Background Characters

Vinyl scowled as the purple mist flew out of the building. She swiftly chased after, but as she trotted out of Townhall, Octavia yanked onto her tail. Thus, stopping her. " What the hay, Tavi!?"

" You run out chasing some alien mare, and you expect me to not stop you?" Tavi said irately.

" She's doing it…"  Vinyl mumbled as she gestured to Derpy as she flew away. On her back, a sleeping filly. Following suit, a brown stallion. " Ditzy!?" Octavia exclaimed. Lyra ran past the two, Bonbon chasing. Vinyl smacked Tavi's hoof away and galloped away. Left with no option, Tavi gaited after her. " Vinyl, don't do anything rash!"

Derpy flew all the way home. Sparkler ran to her mother. " Okay, is there a reason some crazy alicorn mare is all over the tv!?"

" Nightmare moon," was all Derpy replied. She trotted past her daughter and placed Dinky on the couch. A small tear shed her eye. She failed, and now Dinky was in danger. The small tear developed into a stream. Derpy clenched her teeth and hunched over. She felt helpless, like she did so long ago.

The Doctor limped through the door. " Okay, Ditzy, we're going to need to act fast. I'll get Dinky into the TAR-"

"Go." Derpy stuttered. She looked up at him with angry, tear-stained eyes.

"Ditzy, you don't understand. I'm not equine! I'm an alien. My-my box is a-"

"I SAID GO!" she shouted with rage.

" My life has been a living Tartarus ever since a was born. Just because I was born with lopsided eyes! When my Dinky came home, I hoped I could raise a normal filly, and give her a normal life. Then you happened! You just barged right in to my life!"

" You know, I've recently discovered that's something I just do.''

" SHUT UP!" Even the Doctor was surprised at the hostile tone. " You expect me to believe this "alien" crap? Go! Go now! I never want to see you again!" At this point,  Derpy had cornered the Doctor eye to eye. She turned tail and sobbed on the arm of the chair.

" Ditzy, I-"

" You What, Doctor? What can you possibly want to say?" The Doctor twisted her body to face her. Eagerness in his eyes, virtually indifferent to the sadness in hers.

" I'm sorry," thunk! with little warning, the Doctor smashed his head into hers.

     Visions danced across Derpy's eyes. She saw, well, she didn't know. She saw strange, bipedal creatures. Robots of different forms. That blue box, which was bigger than she originally thought. Some of the creatures would explode into yellow energy and transform into another one. Gas-masked children crying out for their mother.

The images faded away, and she realized the truth. This stallion was an alien.

     She than realized how much pain the headbutt had caused  her. The two ponies screamed out in pain. She gazed at the Doctor for a second. " Okay." she said calmly, " I'm going to faint.'' As she fell the doctor caught her.

" No fainting on my watch, Ditzy!" his tone immediately changed from merry to serious. " Listen, my TARDIS is the only safe place for Dinky to be," he held out his hoof. she gazed at him for a second, not sure what to do. Now things made sense, at least one thing. She remembered how awful his night terrors were that first night.

Reluctantly, Derpy took hold of his hoof. She trotted to the sleeping filly, swaddled her and the blanket, and gently carried her to the crater. When she was outside, she could already start to feel the cold eternal night would bring. A small puff of air emitted from her mouth. The doctor trudged behind her, an old scarf Dinky crocheted around his neck.

" Ah, This old thing reminds of me home!" He cried happily. Derpy scowled at him before arriving at the door of the box. " Behold my abode!" He threw the door open.

       Derpy blinked. Once. Twice. She turned around and saw all the screaming ponies. " Oh, alright!" she shouted to no one. She trotted into the doorway box and saw all of its magnificent splendor. She didn't say anything, nor could she. Derpy had seen the box in her visions, but she didn't comprehend it well.

       The mare found herself unable to step inside for a moment. When she gathered the courage to try to do so, she retracted at the metal "clink". Finally, she walked into the large, golden room.

        The Doctor took Dinky, only to have her eyes creak open. "I'm sorry. I had to stop her."

Derpy teared up, brushing a blonde hair out her face. "Oh, sweetie, it isn't your fault. It's my fault for being so...so-"

"Mommy?" she whimpered.

She looked up, tears falling down her cheeks. The filly very weakly levitated a tissue to her face.

"Promise you won't die. Whatever happens, you'll be okay, just tell me that."

Derpy sniffed. "Whatever happens, I'll be okay."

Dinky smiled, and her eyes shut.

The mother gasped, fearful. "She isn't...dead, right?"

"No, she just needs rest." The doctor informed

      " That mare,…if what you said…was true, I'm sorry. But if you found anything on her. Anything we could use to defeat her-"

" The elements of harmony."

"What are they?"

"From what I know, the elements are the essences of-"

"HEY!" Derpy sighed at Lyra's voice.

The two ponies turned around to see Lyra, Bonbon, Octavia, and Vinyl. All grouped up in the entrance of the TARDIS. Octavia and Bonbon just stood there, mouths agape. " Aw Sweet!!" cried Vinyl. The two  unicorns trotted in.

       " How rude," the Doctor complained. "They didn't even ask to come in!"

       Lyra ignored him. " This is amazing!" Lyra spun around in the splendor of the machine. She swiftly lost balance and Bonbon needed to aid her.

" I…what…umm...how di…wha?" That was all Tavi managed to mutter. Vinyl nudged her.

" Magic, duh!" she gestured to her horn.

" She's not magic! The TARDIS is Dimensionally Transcendental!" The Doctor scuffed. Vinyl made a confused look, then she saw Derpy.

" Hey! You know you're filly is a hero right? Saved my little sis. Would be awesome, if we weren't being shrouded in eternal night."

"No. The sun will rise again if I can help it." Derpy said.

"No? Ditzy, that mare has unbelievable power, she's murderous, and she has no conscious! There's no possible way for us!" Octavia shouted.

"There is a way, though." Derpy glanced at Dinky, her only light amongst the darkness. The ponies gathered around her, waiting for the answer. " I foresaw Nightmare's return, but no pony truly believed me. Now that she's

here, I believe only one thing can stop her. The Elements of Harmony. In the legend, Nightmare Moon was banished when Princess Celestia harnessed the elements of harmony. We just need to retrieve them, and maybe we'll have a chance."

" How would they work?" Lyra asked.

" Well, first things first, we need to find the elements. Which sadly, are in the…Everfree Forest." Four of the ponies gasped.

" What's wrong with this " Everfree Forest"? The Doctor tilted his head.

" It's eerie and unnatural," Octavia shivered.

Dark and uncontrollable forces live there. And it's the one place that ponies have no control of!" Bonbon whimpered.

" That's all?" The doctor laughed. " That's nothing compared to my world, silly mares." he bragged. " In fact, that makes it almost enticing! Allons-y!" He limped away, far more slowly than he had hoped." He turned around to face Derpy. " Um, can you help me?" She rolled her eyes and began to help him in the direction of the forest.

Derpy had planned to go alone, so she was mostly okay by her own standards. The Doctor gazed around. " Hmm, this might, just might be a taaaad more dreary than I expected. What do you think, Ditzy?" The young mare rolled her eyes.

" It's exactly what I expected." she replied with a hint of sarcasm.

" Oh come on, don't be such a stick in the mud. Surely this is a little fun?"

" Doctor, my idea of fun involves sitting on the couch and eating a muffin."

" That's not fun at all… Don't you-you know, spend "Time" with that Carrot mare?"

Derpy blushed profusely. " W-what?"

" You just seem to be "fond" of her."

" Oh, nonononono! I can definitely  say I'm single. Me and Carrot Top are more like sisters."

Derpy looked away in discomfort. Perfect, now I feel bad. Change the subject!, the Doctor thought.

"Ever do anything with your mother?" he asked politely. Any content activity within her vanished instantly.

" My mom..um." Derpy sighed, trying to find a way to dispel his question.

"Oh, Ditzy, I wouldn't have asked if I knew she was de-"

" Oh no! She's not dead, but-" Derpy hesitated. " I didn't…my mother tried to kill me when I was little. Twice,"  EVEN WORSE!, the Doctor berated himself and clubbed his head repeatedly. " Yeah," Derpy paid no mind to him. " She thought…she thought I should've never been born. She poisoned me, and left me to die. Not at the same time, but…yeah. I wouldn't be here if Carrot's mother hadn't found me and took me in."

" I'm not letting that get me down though. I have a mission." The doctor guiltily looked away. Not noticing the warm, glowing smile she plastered on next. " Personally though, I'm glad to have some pony to talk about it with."

Derpy noticed the Doctor had stopped, but she kept moving. It was better going alone than with an injured pony. She heard him screaming to her, of course she didn't listen. That was when it happened.

CCRRRRAAACKK!!  The ground below her crumbled, and Derpy began a dangerous slide town the side of a cliff. She tried digging her hind hooves into the ground, but it caused her to flip over and land on her wing. She cried in pain as she realized how hopelessly mangled it had become.

       The edge was nearing, and Derpy knew it was the end. She screamed out as she felt herself drop. It was then she felt a hoof grabbed her own, keeping her from falling, but almost ripping her arms from their sockets.

       Derpy looked up, and saw Bonbon struggling to keep her from death. Both heavy relief and exasperation welled up in her. The bad news was that Bonbon was slipping from her perch. " Let me go, I won't let you go down with me!"

But the young baker was too stubborn.

       "You're going to be okay, Ditzy. I can pull you up, and I'm not lying!" She gave another tug.

"Don't make a promise you can't keep, Bonbon. Let go….let me fall." Derpy got surprised when Bonbon attained a fire in her eyes she wouldn't expect from such a sweet pony.

        "We have been trying to catch up with you for the past twenty minutes," BB grunted as she gave a hard pull, attaining an inch of height between Derpy and stable ground. She struggled to gain a foot-hold in the smooth ground, but couldn't.  " And I have come TOO far to let you die now!" Derpy shrugged off the feeling of hurtling death and managed to grab a small ledge. With the power of the two mares, Derpy managed to escape death, but narrowly.

        The two mares flopped onto the ground to catch their breath. BB looked to Derpy. " I'm a trustful mare, Ditzy. Remember that."

She smiled at BB, then she remembered what she said. "Wait, what do you mean "we"?" That was when Lyra pulled her into a standing position. She sighed angrily when she saw that Tavi, Vinyl, and Lyra had followed.

" We couldn't let you go in here without some pony to help you." Octavia smiled.

" We said we owe you, and we won't let you're stubborn attitude get in the way of that." Vinyl flipped off her shades, revealing an eager glare.

Derpy sighed. " Maybe it is a good idea to have someone with me. It might help." With her new allies, they trotted deeper in the forest.

''Ahhhhh, this is so boring!" Vinyl complained. "Any pony up for a ghost story!?" Derpy rolled her eyes. Nopony answered, but Vinyl started anyway.

" Back in the early days of Equestria, there was a gorgeous earth mare. Stallions from all around sought her hoof, and she loved the attention. It was one day an equally handsome stallion came to seek this gorgeous mare, and she agreed to marriage. They soon had a foal, but the stallion was bored. So he chased other mares to escape his troubles. When he came home that night, the mare and the child weren't there. For the mare had fled to the Everfree. In rage, she threw her foal into a deep river, and plucked out her own eyes so she'd never have to worry about beauty ever again. She immediately regretted it, and now she wanders the forest as a ghost. Seeking ponies so she could steal their sight!" Bonbon screamed aloud. " See!? I told you it was scary, Tav-oh. Ah crap." Vinyl turned to see a giant purple mass.

An Ursa major roared aloud. " Yeah, we're dead." Derpy said indifferently. Lyra and Vinyl used their magic to hold it down, using minor spells in a vicious battle. Tavi and Bonbon quickly joined, although the most the could do was kick it. The creature struggled under the magic binds, and broke free.

Once more the creature roared, and swatted the ponies back. Derpy almost trotted to aid her allies, but the Doctor raised his hoof to keep her out of the fight. He had a look in his eyes, he wanted the fight to stop. Derpy couldn't keep him from his goal.

He cleared his throat. " Stop!" the noise and tone made everyone freeze, even the ursa. He limped to the creature, who growled. " Aww, don't be like that. What's wrong with you?" The Ursa whimpered slightly. " That's no good at all!" The ursa whined, and the doctor smiled. The Ursa began walking away, the alien stallion followed it.

Concerned, the other mares chased after. She wondered what pony, okay, what SANE pony would follow a creature like that. Then she saw why the Ursa was worried. An Ursa Minor, presumably her baby, was helplessly trapped under a large boulder. The Major was highly defensive, for the only thing she could do was defend her baby. " Oh dear, that is a conundrum. Say, could you two help us?" he gestured to Vinyl and Lyra. Together, the two levitated the rock off the baby.

The reunion was happy, and the path was now clear. The Ursa Major let out an odd noise. " Anytime!" he replied. Derpy galloped to him.

" How did you know it wanted its baby? And how can you speak Ursa?"

" Are you daft? There's no such thing as "ursa"! It was speaking bear." Derpy rolled her eyes. " Anyway, I didn't know, but really? You just went in to fight it! Hasn't anyone ever told you that nothing attacks unless provoked?"

"Well, at least the path is clear." Octavia pointed out.

" Come on, you." Derpy grabbed the Doctor's hoof to lead him away, but she found herself in hesitation. For she felt a small spark between the two. She shook it off and tugged him away.

Octavia pulled Derpy away from the others not two minutes later. She giggled with mischief. Something was wrong, Tavi doesn't do that. " You can't hide from me, Ditzy, I've seen the way you look at him!" she giggled again. " And I can't blame you. I know few mares who could resist one of his nature."

She looked away innocently. " What look?"

" You know, big, half-shut eyes, a small smile?"

" I'm not making that kind of look."

" You're doing it right now!"

" No! I'm just looking in his direction."

Tavi frowned a little. " It's not healthy to hinder feelings, Ditzy. It will hurt more than it will help." Derpy ignored her and trotted back to him. She couldn't deny a small spark, but she couldn't love him. Not after the event. She couldn't love anyone.

Bonbon screamed.

" What is it no-" Derpy rapidly turned her head only to come face to face with a...tree.

To be fair, it was a scary tree.

Bonbon whimpered. " Okay, don't blink. Doctor, what happens if blink?" Derpy asked.

" Don't panic, but it might break your neck."

She gulped. " Okay, do you know what to do?"

" Not at all…"

There was a bit of silence. Then Lyra stepped up. " So if we aren't looking at it, it moves?"

" Exactly."

" So look away, I have a plan. A good for once!"

The Doctor gawked at her. " What exactly do you plan to do to a stealthy, advanced alien race?"

Lyra smiled, confidence in her eyes. " basically show you that they aren't real. Would it work?"

" Well, I- wait, what?" Lyra smiled, she went up to an Angel, and blinked. Nothing. Lyra was right, it was a trick. The angel was made of pure stone.

"How did you know?" The Doctor asked, bewildered.

" Simple, I don't know much about these things, but if they were after us, would they be out in the open like this?" Those were the last coherent words Lyra would say for five minutes. She practically exploded with laughter, and Bonbon needed to make sure she wouldn't fall over.

" I can't believe you didn't think of that!" she stuttered a while later, still giggling a little. Derpy ran to join the Doctor.

"Something's wrong, Doctor. The ground collapsing, the Ursa, the fake pegasi. Surely those things happening simultaneously isn't pure coincidence."

" I'm beginning to think someone's been trying to stop us." The Doctor whipped out his screwdriver and began to analyze the air around him. Derpy looked to the four mares, who chatted amongst themselves. She almost felt…welcome around them. A feeling that she hadn't felt, well, ever. Something clicked inside her. She wasn't sure what, or how, but she knew it was there. She smiled without exactly meaning to.

" Ditzy, Doctor, let's go!"  Tavi cried from a distance. The Doctor shut his screwdriver and with Ditzy's help, limped forward.

" So, Ditzy do you…oh I don't know…KNOW where we're GOING!?" Vinyl ground her teeth.

" Well I know that it's a giant castle, somewhere in the Everfree. We can't miss it."

The world around them darkened as the trees grew dense.  " Well, we can miss it in technical terms now." The Doctor pointed out, seconds before walking into a tree.

Derpy felt something cold whoosh by her. She gasped, gaining the attention of her allies. " Did any pony else feel that!?" she was a little frightened over the drastic change around.

" Oh relax, Ditzy. It's probably the fact that heat is slowly draining from the area do to the sun not coming to warm it up. Okay, that's a bad thing. A REALLY bad thing. Let's go!" The Doctor limped forward before crashing into another tree.

Somewhere among the darkness, Octavia yipped. " I felt it!" she squeaked.

"Hold on," Lyra grunted. A second later, yellow light was pouring from her horn. " Happy now, T-tavi?" Color drained from her face as she glanced at Octavia.

"W-what?" she shivered, annoyedly. " Brrr. No one else can feel that?"

The others continued to stare at her. " Octavia, Come here, slowly." The Doctor instructed.

" Um, Okay," Slowly, Tavi wandered toward the group.

'' We need to get out of here." Derpy said.

"Leaving so soon?" an ethereal voice whispered behind her. Tavi turned around to see who the voice belonged to, then galloped to her friends, screaming.

Sitting just where Octavia was, was a ghost. She wore old, tattered clothing, but looked no older than 25. An extremely distinguishable feature, was her eyeless sockets.

The mare giggled. " Well I guess that would be in both of our best interests. Seeing as this is MY realm." her tone drastically changed into anger.

The  mare from Vinyl's story, Ditzy shuttered.

The doctor foolishly trotted to her. A quiver of uncertainty in his eyes. " Uh, yes, miss. So, me and my associates must pass you to reach an important goal. might we pass? "

The ghostly mare giggled. "No way!"

" Might I ask why?" The Doctor asked politely. The mare simply shrugged. " Well, can I do something to change your mind?"

" Oh, I don't think so. Unless…" The Doctor rolled his hoof, gesturing for her to tell. " One of you gives me a pretty bit of sight." she smiled, knowing they would refuse.

The Doctor's eyes darted around. " Umm, yeah… we kinda need our eyesight."

The ghost smiled again. " Okey-dokey! Now go before I rip your eyes out out by force." The Doctor shuttered before limping back to the bulk of his group.

Derpy placed her hoof on his shoulder as they began trotting away. " Don't worry, we'll just need to find a way around. Wait, weren't there six of us a second ago?" upon glancing around, the pegasus found that Octavia was gone.

She glanced back to the ghost, only to find her conversing. Vinyl galloped frantically toward her, the group following in close pursuit.

Too late. Just as they reached her, an unearthly mist surrounded the two. A few moments later, Tavi uttered an agonizing shriek. The mist lifted. Vinyl ran to Octavia and helped her up.

Octavia rubbed her eyes before opening. " Does it look bad?" she asked.

" I didn't even know eyes could be that blue." she replied.

Tavi sighed. " Well either way,…I'm blind. An eye for passage. It was a fair deal. Besides, there are plenty movies about blind violinists, it shouldn't be difficult to be a blind cellist, right?" She was somber.

Meanwhile, the ghost swooned over her regained sight. " Oh! I forgot how lively the world looked!"

Vinyl glared at her. " There, you got what you wanted! Now let us pass!"

The mare shrugged, not knowing why they couldn't experience her joy, and moved out of the way. Vinyl shook her head at the mare as she helped Octavia down the path.

The next part of the path came with a final obstacle, a broken bridge. Everypony glanced at Derpy. She lifted her mangled wings, but quickly retracted them as pain jolted through her. "No use, I'd fall if I tried flying across."

Vinyl willingly stepped up. " I got it!" she jumped off the cliff, and teleported to the bottom. She grabbed a part of the fallen bridge, then teleported once more to the other side.

Just as she tied one side to a stake, she began hearing voices. Behind her, was a pony resembling Sapphire Shores, but different colors. " S-Sapphire?" She laughed a little, not thinking about why she would be in the Everfree. " Omigosh! I am like, the BIGGEST fan of your works!" Vinyl jittered with adoration.

" Maybe that's why I'm here, Vinyl. I've heard your works as well. Do you realize how talented you are."

Vinyl smiled widely. Before Derpy's voice snapped her back to her task. " Vinyl, is there something wrong!?" She grabbed the other rope, prepared to tie it to the other stake, but the illusion caught her attention once more.

" You know, it would be so much simpler to just leave this task. Sometimes, you must leave one thing to accomplish another. I thought someone like you would know that."

Vinyl glanced between the group and the illusion. Derpy finally saw what was happening. "Vinyl!"

Vinyl glanced back and forth. Finally, she turned to the illusion. " Excuse me, a-are you actually telling me to do this? Low blow, Nightmare! Wherever you are." She tied the rope, not seeing the illusion disappear behind her.

Derpy Galloped to Vinyl, looking around the area wildly. " Vinyl! What happened, I-"

" Don't worry, Ditzy. I took care of it." Vinyl replied confidently.

Derpy sighed. " C'mon, I can see the top of the castle. The sooner we get this over with, the better."

The castle had seen better days. The ceiling was gone in several places, moss and vines overgrew and practically took over the area, and the remaining bricks were crumbling fast.

Derpy paid no mind to the condition of the unstable building and trotted inside. " So where are the elements?" Derpy's voice echoed through the empty castle.

Octavia blindly wandered as the others searched for them. Eventually, she stepped on a pressure plate.

The rumbled as a large opening appeared, revealing a giant, stone contraption. Against the stands, were five rocks. Derpy counted them. " Where's the final element? I can't find it!"

Nightmare's fear-inducing laugh founded. " And you never will." A thick purple mist zoomed across the floor before forming Nightmare Moon on the top of contraption.

She levitated the elements, but just before she teleported, Derpy jumped to retrieve them, only to be teleported herself.

The young mare wasn't very experienced when it came to teleportation. She finally overcame the vertigo that came with the transportation, only to find Nightmare rearing up. As her hooves hit the ground, the elements shattered.

Derpy sat there, mouth agape. It was the Doctor's voice that brought her back to reality.

" Ditzy!" His frantic voice was followed by the others.

Derpy watched their silhouettes, and remembered what each of them have done throughout the the journey.

That's when it all clicked together.

The group ran to Derpy. Everypony gasped as they saw the elements shattered remnants. Octavia did too, but Vinyl had to turn her head to make it look like she knew what was happening.

"And now, the night shall last FOREVER!"

Everypony, save Nightmare noticed it. A small, glowing energy that appeared around Derpy's heart whenever it beat. " No," she whispered.

" No? Miss hooves. The elements are gone. And the sixth element wasn't found."

" I was a fool. All this time I've thought the elements were gems. Long before today, I was so rejected by my mother, by society, that I didn't know what it was like to be truly cared for. It wasn't until now that I've realized something." Derpy turned to the group, the beating energy intensifying.

" You have all performed deeds that without, we wouldn't have been able to reach this place. Just now, I realized how happy I was to see you," Tavi sighed. " to hear your voices, to realize that you…" Derpy Faced Nightmare with regained confidence. " Are my friends!"

The Shattered remnants of the elements glowed and floated towards the group, surrounding five of them. " Through their deeds, they have embodied each element."

In an act of defiance against Derpy, Nightmare fired a blast in her direction. The energy flew from her body and shielded her from her attack. And the six of ponies gently floated into the air. " The sixth, hidden element, was within me. The element of love."

The energy from five elements encased Derpy in white energy, before siphoning into her heart. A blast of pink energy flew from her heart and hit a screaming Nightmare. Her screams slowly faded away.

It took a few seconds for the Doctor to regain full consciousness. Upon waking, he discovered a necklace upon him, the primary gem an hourglass. The others, save Derpy were getting up, each with a necklace depicting their cutiemarks. " Ditzy!" he ran to her, shaking her lightly. Instead of a necklace, was golden armor, that surrounded her front half and the rim of her wings. The piece came together in the center of her chest, were bubbles were encased in a gold heart.

The young mare awoke in his hooves. She smiled warmly and leaned into him.

Octavia gasped as soon as she realized the elements had restored her vision. She gasped again as a shaft of light peered through the window.

A gigantic ball of light sat itself in the center of the room. As it dissipated, Celestia was revealed. She trotted to a mare, the only remnant of Nightmare.

They stared each other for a time, then Celestia smiled as tears shed down her eyes. The sisters hugged, both crying.

That night was the first in a thousand years that Luna brought. THe following celebration was jubilant.

Tavi got drunk and Kissed Vinyl, and Bonbon made her greatest batch of candies yet. Two unicorn fillies ran to Derpy. " Hiya miss!" the blue one said. The yellowish one shook her hoof. " I'm Firelock, this is my friend Tootsie Flute. We just wanna thank you for saving our flanks back there."

" If there's anything we could do for you, just let us know!" Tootsie replied.

Derpy glanced to Dinky, who was stargazing by herself. " You know girls, there is one thing you could do for me." Derpy trotted to her daughter.

A trail a dirt appeared behind Derpy as she shoved her daughter towards Tootsie and Firelock. This was simply a result of Dinky digging her hooves in the ground to prevent progress. " This is my Daughter, Dinky. She doesn't have a cutie-mark either." Dinky gasped.

Derpy smiled as the fillies ran off.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. The Doctor cleared his throat. " Might I have this dance?"

Derpy giggled and grasped his hoof. She was pulled into the horrible dancer that was the Doctor. But in the end, he pulled her close and swayed around the dance floor. The others spread around, allowing the two room.

Derpy never felt more happy.

At the peak of the celebration. The Doctor smiled. He had one final surprise for Derpy.

" So Ditzy, after a bit of thought, I've decided that I don't need to leave just yet. Aaaand, I may need a companion to help me with some things in this new form. Whaddya say?"

She smiled gleefully. " Well, why not?!"

" It won't be a perfect life."

Derpy obtained a serious look. " I hate perfect." She then giggled. " I'm weird that way."

" Yes, we're both weird!"

" Yay!"

The group cheered as the two reached the TARDIS, which had settled itself near the party. Derpy stuck her head out and waved, before her eye caught something peculiar.

A young, pegasus stallion, probably no older than fifteen, sitting at the edge of the crowd. He was chestnut, but gray dotted his body. One of his eyes was cobalt, the other a bright amber. He took a pocket-watch, and upon realizing the time, he trotted away.

" So Ditzy, there's this GREAT planet that makes the best pastries, including muffins!" He glanced at the mare, who had a disturbed look. " What's wrong?"

" When I fell unconscious, I-I had a vision. There were these strange figures, and-and they had me hooked to this machine. A larger one had this speech. The final word…the figures kept repeating in a mantra."

The Doctor was concerned. " Ditzy, what were they repeating?"

Derpy looked up, a spark of fear in her eyes.

" Exterminate."