Derpy's Daughters

We approached and the Doctor creaked open the door. Before us in the nighttime glow of the citadel stood a pony that neither of us recognized.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember you. Is the face new?” The Doctor asked the strange pony.

The pony that stood in front of us was older in appearance. His short mane and gruff beard were as white as snow, contrasting with the deep chocolate brown of his fur. Draped around him was a cloak that reminded me of a stage magician’s cape. His face bore witness to decades; his eyes, millennia.

“Have I grown so forgetful in my old age?” He tossed his cloak on the console as if it was his home.

“I remember all of my faces and I don’t remember that one.” the Doctor said sternly.

“I really remember all of my faces and I don’t remember that one. Have my brains gone to pudding in old age?” The other stallion looked him over from mane to hoof.

Both stallions drew their screwdrivers cautiously.

“You’re not...” the two seemed to say simultaneously.

The new pony licked a hoof and lifted it in the air as if to feel the wind. Bringing it down, he gave it a small taste.

“You’ve got too much lime to be me, and yet you are.” He puzzled himself.

“Let’s just say that this world is my home, and it isn’t.” My husband solved the machinations in this new pony’s mind.

“Of course!” He stamped his hoof in sudden realization.

“So you’re this universe’s…” the Doctor began.

“Yes, I am and might I add your universe tastes awful.” He seemed to wipe his tongue of the taste.

“Maybe you’ve just lost your sense of taste? A little citrus never hurt anyone. Well, aside from that one time in the...” the Doctor retorted, trailing off.

The two seemed ready to get in an argument when I interjected.

“Umm… Who is this?” I asked.

“Well. he’s me… and not me.” the Doctor replied.

“I’m this universe’s proper Doctor, madam.” The chocolate Doctor lifted and kissed my hoof.

“That’s my wife, you know.” My darling husband gave him a subtle stare.

“Ah, so that’s how it is.” he looked between us and around at my girls with a knowing smirk.

“Yeah,” my Doctor eyed him with a little annoyance.

“You could have just taken them to your universe.” The other Doctor said with a slightly quizzical tone wandering to and fro.

“I looked into it, but my TARDIS wouldn’t get a proper lock onto my universe to return. She can be temperamental that way. Even if she did cooperate, my universe is not equine in nature.”

“Not equine you say?” The other Doctor’s curiosity was peaked.

“Yes, bipedal tetrapods are the norm for the dominant species.”

“Interesting,” he rubbed his chin.

“Are you thinking what I am?” the Doctor grinned.

“Switch places?” They said simultaneously.

From there a flurry of commands, cables and arguments flew between the two time ships. Occasionally they seemed to agree on things with but a look.

“You’ll want one of these!” The Doctor flung a banana to the other ship.

“Really?” The older looking Doctor looked confused.

“Trust me! Always bring a banana to a party.” my Doctor called back.

“I’ll have to thank you for taking the dean job for me. They’ve been trying to track me down for centuries to fill that post. These old bones still have far too much adventure in them.” The other Doctor said as he brought a last box of miscellaneous knick knacks to our door.

“Oh, there’s plenty of that!.” My Doctor handed him a few gizmos.

“That should do it.” The older looking Doctor stroked his beard.

“How do you plan to get across the dimensional rift?”

“I’ve got an old friend in universe gate management.”

“Anybody I’d know?” My Doctor asked storing away the gifted gizmos.

“Does your universe have a Koschei?” The other Doctor asked curiously.

“Yes, but I fear that he won’t be the same man that you knew. He’s lost his way and I’ve been chasing him for years. He took the name Master, but she’s going by Missy now. It’s all in the notes.” My Doctor responded somberly and with a tinge of regret, cutting short his own description.

“What’s a man?” The older looking Doctor peered curiously.

“Nevermind that. Have you got everything on your end?” My husband called back.

“Oh yes, it nearly slipped my mind.” The other Doctor plucked a letter from his coat and hoofed it over.

“A reunion?” My husband turned it over in his hooves.

“The House of Lungbarrow has it every year. I usually skip it because they can’t find me, but coming back looking for you led one of them to tape it to the door of my TARDIS.” The other Doctor conveyed a sense of annoyance at the whole affair.

“Wait, so we have relatives here, Dad?” Dinky pranced about with great excitement.

“It would seem so.” my Doctor pecked our youngest on the top of the head. Some powerful emotions welled up in my husband by the look in his eyes.

“Too many of them. They took far too great an advantage of the end of Pythias’ curse if you ask me.” The elder looking Doctor scoffed, but tempered it with a bit of compassion in his voice for my husband.

“Can we go Dad?” Dinky piped up.

“Yes, I think so.” the Doctor replied looking down at her pleading expression.

“Be my guest.” The other Doctor bowed politely and turned to leave.

“Take good care of my universe would you?” My husband called to him.
“Don’t worry. I’ve watched you for a long time. Where do you think I got the crazy idea to end the Time War?” The other Doctor laughed and scampered off to his TARDIS like a child to an amusement park.

“Now then, let’s go and meet the Lungbarrows!” My Doctor didn’t miss a beat, fidgeting with this control and that while Amy smoothed out the ride from the auxiliary control panels.

“Now, who could that be?” I heard a voice calling from just outside the door as we whirred to a stop.

“Hello everyone!” The Doctor clipped forward out of the TARDIS, attempting to hide his joy. The day was sunny and the leaves shone with all their silvery glory.

“Look who finally decided to pull himself away and make an appearance!” The older stallion yelled to the crowd.

“You left the invitation on my door and I thought I might drop in and let the tots finally meet their relatives.” The Doctor replied.

“No we didn’t. We gave up doing that ages ago.” The stallion scratched his mane.

“Then who…” The Doctor had barely uttered those words when a large blue sphere appeared at his hooves.

The sphere ticked and a red light blinked faster and faster.

“No, no, no” My dearest Doctor yelled.

“A little party favor to welcome you back, Theta Sigma.” An aggressive voice escaped the speaker on the sphere, the last words chewing their way out of his mouth.

A flash of light encapsulated the sphere and it vanished from sight.

“What?” The Doctor looked confused.

“Duck!” My youngest yelled and a few seconds later, the ball of light reappeared miles above us with an explosion that echoed around the mountains.

“How?! Wait, what?” How did you…” I asked her.

“I don’t know! I just got really scared and wanted the thing to go away and it did. It was like I could feel this weird fabric with my horn and just sort of pushed it away .” Dinky shook violently and cried. I grabbed on to her tight and gave her a hug.

“It’s okay now sweetheart. We’re all safe and sound my sweet little magician.” I stroked her mane like I did when she was small enough I could easily carry her in my hooves. Looking down I noticed that though the explosion hadn’t hurt any of us, the events had left their mark.

“My sweet little muffin is growing up so fast.” I wiped the tears gently from her confused face and pointed at her new cutie mark. Her mark looked like a bit of light green widely spaced mesh that was dented in by something both heavy and invisible sitting on it.

She smiled and cried at the same time, not knowing which emotion to express between her fear and joy.

“Mom!” She hugged me as if I would float away like a balloon.

“Dad!” She looked over at a nervous looking Doctor who was frantically scanning what remained of the bomb.

“Huh?” He looked over from his readings.

“I got my mark!” She chirped.

“That’s fantastic!” He came in for a hug as well. Amy tried to play it cool, but I gave her a look and she joined us..

“What was that?” I asked as we calmed down and separated a bit.

“Sontaran bomb, crude but effective. Somebody helped them though.” He seemed puzzled.

“Yes, they are quite dense.” A new visitor cast aside a detonator casually as he slid down the hill. “I suppose you wouldn’t have recognized the voice of your old pal Magnus.”

“War Chief” The Doctor snarled and stepped between us and the new Time Lord in our midst.

“Must we be so formal before I kill you Theta Sigma?” He produced an energy weapon of some sort, while the Doctor pointed his screwdriver in his direction like a magic wand.

“Really, Doctor? Have you gone senile?” The War Chief pulled the trigger, but the weapon whirred violently and overheated, nearly singeing his hoof before he tossed it away.

“Don’t underestimate a sonic screwdriver.” He laughed confidently, snapping it closed again. I always loved that smirk. It was so... disarming.

“Your little fireworks show is going to have the authorities here any moment, so just give up and save everyone a lot of trouble.” He hoped for a peaceful resolution.

“Well, I suppose that means I’ll have to do this the quick, old fashioned way.” The War Chief drew a dagger.

He took a slash at the Doctor, but found only air. As he tried to regain his balance, the Doctor pushed him into a rock where he tripped and fell flat on his face.

The stallion barely moved, his breathing was labored, and his eyes were wide with fear.

“Magnus?” The Doctor rolled him over carefully. A small bleeding cut on his shoulder was the only sign of injury. The dagger had struck its owner as he fell.

The Doctor scanned the dagger and a look of shock crossed his face.

“Concentrated Judas tree poison?! Why Magnus, why?” The Doctor was frantic.

“You were right, Doctor..” Magnus coughed.

“I used them up far too quickly. I have no more left, so I wasn’t worried, but now...” The War Chief half smiled.

“Any other poison… “ He shook him slightly in anger and frustration.

“The sky seems so orange today...” The War Chief looked up wistfully.

“Stay with me… Somebody call medical.” The Doctor shouted.

“You know as well as I do that that won’t do anything… I’m already…” The War Chief drifted off.

“Not again. Not again.” The Doctor tried to hide his tears, but I saw right through him. I rushed up and wrapped my forelimbs around him. He struggled for a bit, but soon calmed down, though his breathing was rather ragged with tears.

“Why don’t we head home for now. We can come back later once you've had time to process all this.” I said as his breathing became more regular.

“We’ll be back later. He’s going to need time to rest and process this.” I yelled to the group as I ushered him into the TARDIS. The group waved and the authorities arrived to recover the body.

“Mom, are you afraid of death?” My youngest asked me as i tucked her in for the night. She’d been shunning this old routine lately, but with what had gone on today, she needed a bit of comforting.

“I suppose we’re all afraid to die. It’s natural.” I sat down by her bedside.

“How do you not get so scared?” Her eyes showed in her the grim realization of the final fact of life.

“Oh my little muffin, If we give in to that fear all the time, we’ll do nothing but cower in the corner all our lives and miss out on the truly wonderful things life has to offer.” I tried my best to bolster her spirit.

“So you never get scared, like Dad?”

“Oh, your father gets scared too. We all do. It’s what we do with that fear that helps make us who we are. Your father is a very brave pony, but he knows when to face his fear and when it’s smart to run away.”

“Dad runs away?”

“Oh yes he does. Seriously, there’s an outrageous amount of running involved.” We giggled.

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“I think you’re a brave pony too.” She said with a smile.

I gave her a peck on the forehead carefully and turned out her bedside lamp.

“Goodnight, my dear. I love you and I’m very proud of you.” I closed the door softly.

“How is she?” My dear husband asked quietly.

“She was a little shaken up by today, but I think she’ll be fine.” I nuzzled against his shoulder and he wrapped his foreleg around me gently.

“She’s a tough little tot.” He smiled.

“Not surprising, she is your daughter after all.” I laughed softly.

“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re the bravest pony I’ve ever met.” He replied and I blushed a little as we moved up the hallway.

“How’s Amy?” I asked.

“She’s holding up alright. I had a talk with her earlier.” He seemed mostly confident in his answer.

“And how are you holding up?” I looked him square in the eye.

“I’ll be alright.” He tried to look away, but I flitted in front of him again.

“It hurts. The Time Lord lives a very long time, so to see a true death is rare. Even if he was my enemy today, I still remember when we were school chums at the academy. I just… wish I could have done something.” His gaze turned toward the floor.

“You’re not all powerful and you’re not all knowing. You can’t expect to save everyone.” I rubbed his shoulder and gave him a smile.

“I know. I’m an idiot.” He scraped at the floor with his hoof.

“No, you’re my idiot… with a box and a screwdriver who helps out the best he can wherever he goes. You’re a good stallion. You know that, don’t you?” I gave him a hug.

“I needed that.” He replied, the pain softening in his eyes.

The next weeks went by without much of note. Amy went back and accepted Altair’s proposal. I haven’t seen her this excited since she was a filly. Dinky has started sleeping less, so we managed to get her on her father’s schedule. She goes to bed when I do, wakes up with him in the middle of the night and then takes another nap as the morning approaches so that we all wake up and go to sleep together. He’s been using the extra time while he’s been settling into his office to teach her this or that. Her eyes always seem so bright when she runs up to me in the morning babbling about something she learned overnight. I don’t understand it all, but I’m pleased she’s so happy.

Then the day of the wedding approached. Amy and Altair were both absolutely, as Pinkie might put it, nervous-cited.

They chose the most beautiful spot in all of Ponyville. The small ceremony took place on a hill overlooking the town at just before sunset. It was a beautiful wedding.

“Amy! Dinky!” I called to them from around a corner as the reception wore on.

“What is it Mom?” Amy asked, resetting her veil as she approached.
“Your mother and I have come up with a little surprise for you. While you and Altair are off on your honeymoon and Dinky comes back with me, Your mother is going to spend a week here in Ponyville.”

“Why?” Dinky asked curiously.

“Well, you and I both know that you two will far and away outlive me. That’s how it should be, but I thought it might be comforting for both of you if you got to still see me every once in a while.” I said.

“So, we got you these.” the Doctor produced two matching pocket watches.

“This isn’t like that one from before, is it?” Dinky asked.

“Oh, no no no. This reminds you to go see your mother every one hundred years. That way you’ll be able to see her safely until you’re eight hundred years old!”

“Isn’t it dangerous for ponies to know too much about their own timeline, Dad?” Amy asked, a bit concerned.

“At the end of it, your father will erase my memory of the week, that way you can say whatever you like to me.” I responded.

“Are you really okay with this Mom?” Her concern grew.

“Give up a week for my babies? In a heartbeat.” I laughed happily.

“I don’t know what to say Mom…” Amy clung to me, crying a little.

“Just promise me you won’t forget.” I said stroking her back.

“Never.”

I smiled.

“Enough of all this seriousness! This is a party right?” My Doctor ran off to the dance floor and performed something I can only describe as the wanderings of a giraffe with an inner ear problem.

The party ended and everyone left. I don’t remember anything about the next week, but the Doctor said when he arrived back that I was the happiest he’d ever seen me.