Derpy walked over to the frame laying on the counter and stared at the picture encased within, she couldn't help but let a few tears out at the sight of the photo. It had been almost eight months since Amethyst, or Sparkler as her friends had called her, had left to go to college. Though, from time to time, she visited when she could, the time Derpy could spend with her just wasn’t enough, she missed her daughter, especially all the fun times they used to have. Not to mention the same for her husband, she knew he would never come back and there was no hoping for him to come back, but Sparkler would. To her, it was sad to lose the two most important ponies in her life, her daughter and her husband. She was lonely and missed her family.
Derpy worked as one of the many ponyville mail mares, she had been working the job for the past ten years. She was hoping that she could’ve got Sparkler a job with her, but Sparkler had found that her love in life was with jewels. She found out about it when the two went to the Ponyville mall together and while walking around they went and stopped at a jewelry store. She was dazzled by the jewelry, and picked pieces of it up on top of the other, she just wouldn’t stop looking at the diamonds. Of course, after a while of looking around at all the different jewels in the store she found her love to be with a special gemstone, amethyst, her birth stone. That’s when we found out that her cutie mark was to be with gems.
She had just finished High School and wanted to be a diamond specialist, but she would have to go to a college. An expensive college, out of town, of course Derpy didn’t want to crush her dreams by saying she didn’t want her to leave the house or that it costed to many bits, but it was for the betterment of her daughter, and that’s what mattered to her. So she graciously gave Sparkler the bits she needed, and let her go to the college of her choice. She was so happy she had Dinky, and was so happy she had her, but it was much emptier without Sparkler in the house.
Dinky was old enough to stay at home alone, but Derpy didn’t like leaving her alone, she would rather spend time with her but she had to leave her at home whenever she had extra long delivery hours. It seemed like Dinky actually preferred to be at home whenever she could, because Derpy wasn’t there to tell her to clean her room or nag her on the small things, but either way, Derpy didn’t like leaving her alone, she just thought she was too young. She knew she didn’t have a lot of time longer to spend with Dinky, and when she could, Dinky had school.
Most of Derpy’s days were filled with delivering mails, staying at home, and spending time with Dinky when she could. She just wished she could give up her time of staying at home and have more time with Dinky. Derpy tried everything to try to spend more time with Dinky but like a regular school filly she just wanted to spend time with her friends, which was normal. The sad part was that Dinky wouldn't invite her friends over either, because she didn’t want her friends seeing Derpy. Which would be fine if it was just not wanting her friends to be around Derpy, but it wasn’t about Derpy. It was about her eyes.
Ever since Dinky could remember, Derpy’s eyes were always a little off, one was always looking the other way or such. Derpy would always come up with these sweet little excuses to show her children that she was happy with her eye issue, saying that “They’re like this so I can keep an eye on you and Sparkler!” or something along those lines. Derpy couldn't really control it, and she had to go through a lot of hate from people in her years at school, but she ended up learning to live with her problem. The one thing she just didn’t understand was why Dinky didn’t like her friends seeing her.
Derpy really loved Dinky and it was likewise for Dinky, it was just Dinky didn’t like her friends seeing Derpy, and Derpy decided that if that was how it was going to be, then it would have to be fine. She still loved Dinky because she was her daughter, and thats how it would always be. Though, the more time Derpy could spend at home, the more Dinky would go have fun and hang out with her school friends, which disappointed Derpy that she couldn't spend that time with her.
Half the time that Derpy spent at home, she wished Dinky would come home and surprise her by asking her to go do something together. It never happened that way, but Derpy wished. It was getting more disappointing everyday that she would come home to a house with out Dinky and a note that wrote ‘Playing with friends. Will be back soon.’ the worst part was she didn’t even write ‘I love you’ or ‘bye’ she felt that it probably couldn't get much worse than this. It was like she had lost another member of her family at this point. Sometimes, she felt like she was all on her own, and that it was going to be like that for a lot longer.
It was like this for four months and it seemed like Dinky didn’t even notice Derpy’s loneliness. Sparkler only visited every four months, and that was the only time she was able to socialize with anypony, let alone hug one of her daughters. Derpy wanted friends, but didn’t have anytime to make any because she was always at home, hoping for Dinky to show up to spend time with her. After the whole year of nopony to talk to, she realized it was best for her to go out and try, besides, it wasn’t like Dinky was going to show up at the house one day, suddenly caring where her mom was.
The next day had come, and Derpy had walked to the market, looking for somepony she knew. It was kind of hard to find anypony after not coming here to socialize for the past months. Later, she found one of her close friends Carrot Top, she asked if she could come over for tea, but once again she found herself with no one to be with when Carrot said that she was going to be busy for the rest of the week working.
There wasn’t really a lot of ponies in the market, but one that looked friendly caught her eye. His coat was dark brown and his hair was the same color, as Derpy walked up to him, he seemed to be in a state of confusion, almost as if something he did went wrong. Derpy walked up to the mysterious stallion and extended her hoof “Hi Mister! I’m Derpy! I’m looking for somepony to talk to, and you looked kind of lonely…” she looked at the ground and played with her hoof as she finished her sentence, she had nervousness written all over her face, she didn’t really introduce herself to new ponies.
“Huh?” he looked up from his hoof to see Derpy’s hoof in front do his face “Oh! Hi there! I’m The Doctor!” he stated, while returning the gesture by lifting his hoof up to hers and slowly shaking it.
“So… Umm… Doctor… Do you… Uh… Need a friend?” She asked shyly, scratching her face, as to not look at him, she had her emotions written all over her.
The Doctor simply grinned at her “Well… I normally travel alone, but sure! I guess! Of all the ponies here, I think you’d be the best friend I’d have here too!”
Derpy’s mind simply went blank. The Doctor didn’t even ask about her eyes, it was if he had looked right past her disability, and on top of that, he had complimented her saying she was the only one out of everypony here that he would choose! Derpy couldn't even think, let alone speak. Every thought she had was filled with happiness. She had never been accepted by anypony that easily, or nicely.
“Haha back to Earth Derpy.” he said while waving his hoof in her face. To which she responded by shaking her head, as if taking control of her mind and forcing it back to reality.
She smiled and gave a small chuckle out of embarrassment “Heh, sorry about that. So you want to come over and drink some tea?” she asked hoping that she could finally have a friend in her home.
“Oh, I do love a good cup of tea!” he responded with enthusiasm “but, why don’t you come to my place? I also have some snacks and food, if you’d like?” he asked nicely trying to return the kindness. Derpy was kind of disappointed at not being able having someone in her house, but she was happy to be able to spend time with the new found friend.
“That sounds nice!” she said “You lead the way? I suppose.” she said, motioning him forward. To which, he stood up and walked along side with her towards an alley.
“It’s straight through here” he said while walking farther into the alley. Derpy knew these allies, this was a dead end.
“Umm… Where are we going? This is a dead end… I don’t anypony to just go in an alley with them…” she said, scared that he was going to hurt her.
“Oh, but Derpy… I’m not just anypony. I’m the Doctor. Trust me, you’ll be fine with me, I promise. You’ll always be.” he said trying to make her trust him, more than she already did.
“Fine… Just don’t make any stupid moves…” she said, about to add a please onto the end, then realized she’s trying to make herself sound confident, not let him hurt her. As she said that, she saw what seemed to be a building, although tall but small from this distance.
“Here it is!” he said turning to Derpy with a grin and slowly unlocking the door “Ladies first.” he said, pushing the door open, allowing her to walk in. As she walked in the door frame left her view, bringing a larger room into Derpy's vision, to which she looked at, her mouth agape, unable to say anything. She could only bring a few words to mind.
"It's... Bigger... On the inside..." she said completely confused and astounded with the view in front of her. To which The Doctor could only respond with a chuckle, somehow knowing she was going to say that.
"Yeah, I know... Why don't you sit down? I'll get the tea and stuff ready." he said with kindness, but Derpy wasn't in the mood for a snack anymore. She saw all those controls and buttons, but as she started walking over to them she was cut short by The Doctor who got in the way "Hey! Slow down there buddy! Haha I know it looks interesting, but one wrong button, and anything can happen!" he said jokingly trying to tell Derpy that pressing the random buttons wasn't safe. She got the message pretty quickly, seeing as how he was in the way.
"Oh okay. Don't worry then! I won't press anything without your permission!" she said politely, knowing that she wash even supposed to be here anyway.
"Haha, Derpy, you and I are going to be the best of friends." he said point her sense of kindness "So what place have you always wanted to go?" he asked.
Derpy couldn't even answer. She was so focused on the fact that she considered her his friend that she didn't hear the question.
"Derpy!" he said in a singsong voice "You hear me? I said, where have you always wanted to go?" he asked, the question knocking Derpy back into reality.
"Oh, I always wanted to go to Canterlot, but recently I've been missing my daughter, Sparkler. She's in college right now and I haven't had a lot time to talk to her in the past year, she's just always so busy with college and I can't visit her because I don't have enough bits to go back and forth to Manehatten for a few minutes visit" she said while obviously getting disappointed at having to recall her current family situation.
The Doctor himself was getting depressed hearing the situation, but he didn't show it "You love her a lot don't you? How would you like to go visit her right now?" he said as if trying to cheer her up.
"Oh, I would love to, but my other daughter Dinky is probably going to be home soon, and I don't like leaving her home alone..." she said declining the offer in words, but her face showed acceptance of the offer.
"Hey, don't worry. We'll be there, and back before Dinky even takes a step home" he said putting a hoof on Derpy's shoulder trying to assure her it would be fine. After finishing the sentence, and getting a nod of approval from Derpy he walked over to the center of the room with all the buttons "Ok. So, I'm going to try to explain this to you. Okay?" he said receiving a nod from Derpy a few seconds later "This is my TARDIS. It's a time machine. It can travel anywhere in time and space. Now, here is the confusing part. I'm not supposed to be here, I'm not supposed to be a pony. I got stuck here."
Derpy just stood there attempting to take in everything he just said. She understood everything, but was stuck on the last part "So you're going to leave me? I-I just met you though" she said, tears welling up in her eyes.
The Doctor sighed, he knew he was going to at some point "Well, Derpy, I kind of have to, I'm not supposed to be here." he said trying to comfort Derpy.
"It's okay, I understand... I'll be here for you though as long as you're here!" she said, losing her sadness as she realized he wasn't leaving her right then and there.
"Great then! Now, how do you say we go visit your daughter?" he said while pushing a lever down, causing the room to shake. To which he pressed buttons on the console to finish whatever he had started "Ok Derpy! We're here! Step out those doors, and you're in Manehatten right in front of your daughters college" he said with a big smile, motioning Derpy to go open the door.
As Derpy opened the door she was awestruck at how one minute she was in a alley in Ponyville, and the next she is in front of the college that Sparkler went to! She was jumping up and down on the floor, as of testing to see if they were indeed real and not some sort of cheap trick. In the end, she could see that it was real. It was all real.
"Come on! Let's go find her!" he said running towards the college. As he neared the entrance he waited a minute for Derpy to catch up. Once she had caught up, they walked into the building towards the help desk.
"Hello sir! If you're here to visit someone, I'm sorry, visiting hours are over." said the mare behind the desk.
Derpy was obviously disappointed at the words of the mare, and started to turn around. The Doctor wasn't about to have her disappointed, he grabbed her hoof and stopped her from turning. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a folded peice of paper and handed it to the mare behind the desk.
"Oh! I'm so sorry sir! I didn't recognize you! The dorms are straight down that way!" she said while pointing a hoof towards a hall.
"How did you get her to let us through?" she said confused with how they just got through when they weren't supposed to.
"Physic paper" he said "It shows them what to want them to see." he said showing her the piece of paper.
"So... Who did she think you were then?" Derpy asked.
"The dorm inspector." he said laughing at the simple fake identity he had came up with in a matter of seconds "So let's go find your daughter!" he said grabbing her and smiling in her face with their accomplishment. There were a lot of ponies walking back and forth in the halls so The Doctor just pulled one aside "Hey there! Do you by chance know where Sparkler's dorm is?" he asked the unfamiliar pony.
"Oh! Sparkler! Yeah, she's just down the hall." she said while pointing down the hall to a door.
The Doctor looked at the mare who helped him and simply gave an approving nod. Slowly, the two walked to the door the mare pointed at and just stood there "Knock when you're ready." he said to Derpy because, after all, it was her daughter.
"Ok, here goes nothing Doctor." she said as she picked up her hoof and knocked it on the door three times. After what seemed like forever, Derpy heard the familiar voice had been needing to hear.
"Hello? Who's there?" Sparkler said from inside, then after no reply for a few seconds she opened the door. She was in shock at the sight in front of her. It was her mom. Even Derpy was shocked when she was pulled into the immediate brace by Sparkler "Oh My god mom! I missed you so much! How did you get here! It's so expensive! You better not have paid for this! That'd make me feel horrible!" she said through the embrace, and Derpy's coat.
"No Sparkler! It's fine! I didn't even pay a penny! My new friend here, The Doctor, brought me!" she said while pointing a hoof towards him.
"Ok, fine, if you insist! This is so unexpected though! Thanks for showing up mom, but I have a lot of studying to do right now, I have a test tomorrow and im kinda busy... I'm sorry though." she said with guilt of not being able to spend time with her mom again.
Derpy knew that she wouldn't be able to talk to Sparkler, because having gone through college she knew that it was a busy thing "It's okay, I just wanted to see you! I missed you!" she said while pulling her into a hug "I'll see you next time you come to the house!" she said with happiness in her voice, since she was able to finally see her daughter after such a long period of time. With those final words, she gave her daughter a strong hug and gave her farewells.
Derpy walked through the halls amazed that she had finally been able to greet Sparkler after such a long time "Thank you Doctor, so much." she said wanting to show as much gratitude as possible, but the attempt failing as she was not even able to talk because of the happiness that filled her.
"No problem Derpy, you were nice to me. It was just a repayment for your kindness." he said kindly.
Derpy stopped walking, which made him stop "Well, I can't thank you enough Doctor, in this past time I've known you, which hasn't been long at all, you've made me so much happier. I can't express my gratitude towards you." she sad grabbing him and pulling him into a tight hug.
The two pulled away from each other as the embrace had ended "So let's get you back home Derpy? It's only been maybe five minutes? Plus, maybe we can have that cup of tea?" he questioned.
"Sure, that'd be nice. Let's get back to the TARDIS!" she said with a grin, because she remembered the name of the ship.
The two ponies got in the ship, and within mere seconds it had been fading, then gone "So... You're not staying in Ponyville?" Derpy asked.
The Doctor got quiet, almost as if he was taking his time to think of a response "Would you pull that lever?" he asked as though trying to get away from the question or at least trying to delay the answer. As soon as he asked, Derpy rose from the seat she was in and trotted to the designated lever, and pulling it "Ok Derpy, here we are. Your house!" he said while walking out of the TARDIS and motioning Derpy to follow after him, which she gladly did.
"Umm... Doctor? Can we go to your house?" she asked nicely with curiosity. She simply wanted to see his house.
The Doctor's face became empty of any sign of emotion as he slowly dwelled over the question that Derpy just asked him "Well, we just got here!" he said walking towards Derpy's house and taking her with him. Once the two were inside Derpy went to go make tea for him and it didn't take too long, she even brought two others favorite muffins to enjoy with him.
"So! What's your cutie. Ark supposed to mean? An hourglass?" she asked confused at the different cutie mark.
"Huh? Oh, this little thing." he said as he found the hourglass located on his flank and pressed a hoof on it "Well, this shows that I'm a time lord." he said expecting her to understand because of the machine that she was riding around with him in.
She took a spit take to the side in disbelief "Oh my god! You control time! So you're like Celestia!?" she exclaimed with amazement.
"What? Uh... Sure... Yeah, let's go with that." he said not trying to argue because he knew that he could control time in certain aspects.
"That's amazing. Wish I could do that... I just wish my husband was back... Or at least I could see him in person one last time..." she said depressed with the reminder of her husband.
The Doctor could see the look on her face and wanted to help. He knew he could help her just see him. He was reluctant because someone asked to see their dad once, yet instead of seeing him she had changed the world by saving his life, but he knew Derpy looked sincere when she said all she wanted was, to just see her husband one last time "Come with me." The Doctor said as he walked out of the door towards the TARDIS. Soon the machine was shaking and before they knew it, it had stopped.
“Where are we?” she said.
“We’re in front of your house and you just left to go get groceries. So as soon as your past self leaves the house. You can go in and see him.” he said while motioning Derpy towards the TARDIS door.
As Derpy trotted towards the house she could see a gray pegasus flying away from it. At this point, she knew that The Doctor was telling the truth because she saw herself from the past. Though she did realize he was right, she focused more on getting to the house to see her husband, for what could be, the last time. Derpy had made her way right up to the door and pushed it. It wouldn’t move and she started to freak out a bit. Until she realized she never changed the locks and she had a key in her bag.
She put the key in the door and slowly turned it greeting her with the sound of the tumblers turning. Along with the usual door creaking and as she was halfway through the door a familiar voice had called out to her “Who’s there?” he asked.
“It’s me! Derpy! I just… Um… Forgot something!” she said trying to act as convincingly as possible.
“Oh ok, don’t forget the eggs on your way though!” he said as she walked past the door and into the room where he was.
Derpy walked up to him slowly and gave him a hug “I think we need to spend more time together.” she said through hug.
Her husband nuzzled her playfully and laughed “Consider it done.” he said with a smile on his face. Derpy could see that he hadn’t changed a bit.
“Ok then, I’ll be back soon with the groceries!” she said while walking out the door and back to the police box waiting for her outside. Derpy walked up to The Doctor and smiled “You couldn't have made my life any better Doctor.” she said before pulling him into a long strong hug “Let’s just go back home. Maybe we can do something tomorrow.” she said while ending the embrace and trotting towards the TARDIS.
“Well… Derpy… I kinda have to go back to Earth tomorrow, if I don’t then the split of time that brought me here will close. Leaving me here, never able to go back.” he said with a disappointed look “I would love to stay here because of you.” he said.
“It’s okay, I understand, you have to leave to go back.” Derpy said.
The Doctor started to get a small smile “I would love to stay her because of you.” he repeated himself “Which is why I’m staying Derpy.”
Derpy could’t even say a word except simply smile at him. Nopony had ever been that kind to her, and she had found the one person who was. Derpy never wanted to let him leave and she knew that she would never have to.
