Cloudsdale Chronicles
Current Stories in the Chronicles:
The Doctor is out
Ditzy is About
No Mountain Unclimbed
The Doctor is out
While the cheers of the crowd flowed out of Cloudsdale’s main stadium, one pony flowed out with them. He had a name, but was known only as “The Doctor,” and today was not the best of days for him; it was his Birthday. He had tried to ignore this fact, but being a time traveller required that he kept track of his own timeline, and this was definitely the anniversary of his birth.
It was the nine hundred and forty second anniversary of his birth, in fact, though they wouldn’t believe it if they were to look at him. He had gone through many regenerations over the years, with this one being one of the younger ones. In the past he’d tried to be old and grumpy, he had hundreds of years behind him, and it demanded respect. Now he was young and full of energy. He should have been on top of the world (or rather, whichever world he was on). He was not.
Now Birthdays were just another reminder of how truly lonely he was- the last of his kind, and by his own hooves to make things worse. His species was known as the Time Lords; they were at the centre of a war no one won, and the Doctor was the one to end it all. Saving trillions but damming millions, it was a choice no pony (or even Time Lord) should ever have to make.
Having the blood of your kin on your hooves can really ruin the taste of your Birthday cake.
That’s why he had sent his companion away for the day. He never wanted her to see him like this; a sad old colt mourning the loss of a long dead species, having to console himself with a few cheap thrills by taking part on a fixed event in history. He’d told her it was a pit stop to refuel on a rift in time and space (caused by the very event that would be repeated today). He’d sent her off “on leave”, as it were, to take in the sights. And what did he do? Alter his genetic coding to grow a pair of wings (messing up his voice in the process) and attend the young fliers’ competition to relax in an event that he knew he wouldn’t have to interfere in. Not something he could later look back on in pride.
Gasps of shock and horror could now be heard along with a scream that was fading fast. The unicorn competing had lost her wings, and was currently falling to the earth. Events like these were so set in stone they could be used by time travellers to calibrate their local time. If he had been feeling his normal self, the Doctor would have been taking a front row seat to witness a day that would go down in history, and not hanging around the back of the stadium near the competitor entrance. He reached around and tore off his number, number two…odd! He was sure that wasn’t the one he’d been given. He tossed the number to the ground and slumped down along with it.
A thunderous boom roared through the sky as multi-coloured beams of light pierced the clouds. The legendary “Sonic Rainboom” had made its historic appearance, and the pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash was soon to be awarded the title of “Best Young Flier”. The Doctor could practically play out the events in his mind as they happened. This present was already his past, and if there was one thing the Doctor knew, it was his history.
But then again, those were just names and words. That’s what happens when you live for over nine hundred years; ponies become names, rainbows are just pretty lights, and friends become memories. The Doctor stared at the ground as some of the less graceful losers in the competition stormed out the stadium doors and flew right past him.
“Perhaps it’s time to stop this travelling?” he thought to himself. He thought of all the companions he’d taken along with them. How many had he left the worse for wear? Or worse, how many never made it home? Was he really the healer he’d set out to be? These questions ran through his mind, circling round each time. Answers only lead to more questions, and questions answered were ones he’d wish he didn’t know the answer to.
“Hey there Mr Frowny,” a bubbly voice rang down to his ears.
The Doctor moved his gaze off the ground and upwards. Passing a quartet of pink hooves, he looked upon the face of the pony who had addressed him.
Fear like that doesn’t start from the eyes, nor the hearts, it comes from the head and it spreads downwards. Not a chill but a numbness that washes across the body. It prepares you for what you need to do. But what can you do when met with this?
A pony on a knife edge. Not the knife edge of sanity, but that of a decision that was to be made in her life. This pony was mere seconds away from a change that could take her life on two very different routes. It was the innate ability of a Time Lord to see all things like this, but this case just made his coat stand on end. Whatever the future held for this pony, there was one option that just made his stomach want to leap out his mouth.
The Doctor got up off the ground and he did what he always did when he was scared; he talked. “Hello there, I’m the Doctor.” He shifted his weight backwards to grab one of the pony’s hooves in an overly friendly hoofshake. “And what might your name be?”
“I’m Pinkie Pie, I’m here with my friends to see the show.” She smiled at the Doctor. “Why the sad face? Didn’t you see that Sonic Rainboom? How could it not make you smile?” Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down in front of the Doctor. She hated to see another pony looking down, and she was doing all she could to radiate happiness.
The Doctor, however, was still uneasy. This Pinkie Pie was inches away from either disaster or joy, and she wasn’t even aware of it. This meant the change was going to be something very subtle, and he had to keep his eye out for it. “Erm… Yes I did see it, it looked a lot better than the last time I saw one,” he blurted out. “It was at a race that time wasn’t it?”
Pinkie tilted her head a little in confusion, “You saw Dashie do her first Sonic Rainboom? You must have been really little then.”
“Well, it was a long time ago; I was a completely different colt back then,” he answered. “I was there releasing a swarm of super-strong butterflies into the wild after their home world was destroyed.”
Pinkie Just giggled. “He! He! I used to pretend back then too, in fact I still do sometimes.” She took out something and showed it to the Doctor. “This is my little handie, sometimes I give him a voice and throw a pretend party.”
The item in Pinkie’s hooves confused the Doctor somewhat. He had seen creatures on other worlds with these things. They called them hands, but they weren’t made of foam and they were usually a lot smaller. But what was something like that doing in this word? Another question to add to his rapidly growing pile at the back of his mind.
Pinkie suddenly noticed the numbered card beneath the Doctors hoof. “Hey, I know where I saw you! You were number 2 on the competition!” she exclaimed. “Aw! You’re sad ‘cause you didn’t win.” Pinkie handed her “Handie” over to the Doctor, which he accepted carefully. He looked down at the item with interest.
“What’s this for?” he asked.
Pinkie smiled at him “It’s your consolation prize silly!” And with that, she bounced off to meet up with her friends.
The fear was gone. Pinkie’s fate had been decided, and the Doctor had this strange feeling it was not the road to disaster. But what had caused it? He looked down once more at the strange artifact he had just been given, and then back up to the sight of a bouncing pink pony disappearing off into the distance. This had been about a foam hand?
The Doctor was not aware of the implications of that simple item. “Handie” was not simply a toy of Pinkie’s. It was sometimes an imaginary friend, one that had an “After Birthday Party” in its future, until now that is. “Handie,” however, was not to be a pleasant imaginary friend, and along with “Madame le Flour”, “Rocky”, “Mr Turnip” and “Sir Lintsalot,” he would convince a vulnerable and easily swayed Pinkie to do horrible things- things she would end up doing to the next pony she met, one of her best friends; Rainbow Dash.
Had “Handie” been there, Pinkamena Diane Pie would have become an infamous name in the history of Equestria. A cautionary tale to young fillies to avoid dark alleyways and be wary of strange ponyfolk, its implications in the minds of generations would leave a permanent scar on the entire culture of the land for generations to come.
A tiny change, however, had made a huge difference. “Handie” would not be at that party, and Pinkamena would realise her mistake that day, never understanding how close she was to an act that would turn her stomach at the very notion.
The numbness left the Doctors body. He could feel his hearts racing, and the thrill of the travelling was pumping through his veins. His thoughts turned back to his beloved TARDIS; she didn’t always take him where he wanted to go, but more often than not, she took him where he needed to go.
He took the strange foam item in his mouth, gleefully relishing in the glow he was now feeling.
“Doctor!” A familiar voice called out to him from the distance. “You gotta hear what I found!” It was his companion, her eyes pointing in opposite directions as she waved to him.
The Doctor met up with his companion and exchanged stories, his mood lifted and his desire to travel all the more powerful. It seemed Pinkie’s ability to cheer a pony up was greater than even she had thought possible.
Ditzy is about
Leave.
It was an odd word for a holiday, but that’s what the Doctor called it. They’d parked his magic box near Cloudsdale to get some more power for it, but he’d told Ditzy it would do it by itself. The Doctor and his blue box were always doing amazing things. She’d almost lost track of how long she’d been travelling with him, and not just around Equestia, but in space and even through time!
There was one worry hiding at the back of her head, however, and it was linked to somewhere else inside her.
Could all this travelling be having an effect? The Doctor often talked about magical background radiation, something that would pass through her harmlessly. But she was not the only one it was passing through.
The Doctor was different from most ponies; he was born to travel this way. And although he had travelled with Equestrian ponies before, they were never in the… situation Ditzy was in.
Ditzy’s train of thought was suddenly derailed by a cloud meeting her face rather abruptly. She had to concentrate to keep her eyes straight when flying or this would happen more than a few times. Closing one eye to get her bearings once more, she set off again, allowing the wind to blow off the small puffs of cloud still stuck to her coat.
This may not have been her home town, or even her home time, but she knew her way around Cloudsdale, and she was going to enjoy her free time. The Doctor had told her that she had to make sure not to enter the coliseum today; he had said something about a paradox or a rip in space or some sort of anti-muffin. Ditzy didn’t always understand what the Doctor was talking about, but she had learnt to trust him over the time they had spent together.
The clouds and skies below emptied as the crowds of pegasi made their way to the stadium. The skies now offered even more freedom for Ditzy to enjoy, and enjoy she did. Ditzy was never the fastest nor the most nimble of her kind, but she still had the love of flying that was inherent in nearly every pegasus, and she loved to gently float through the sky like the very bubbles she wore proudly on her flank.
She slowly somersaulted through the air. Each movement careful and deliberate, her eyes hid and hindered a genuine skill with elegant tricks. With time, however, she had learnt to work around the problems she encountered, and she was sure she would one day be able to enter the very competition being held today.
“That’s it!” she thought to herself. “If this is my future, I might be a contestant. The Doctor never said I couldn’t watch the show from OUTSIDE the coliseum.” She fluttered her wings with more gusto as she gained altitude and soared ever higher above Cloudsdale, both eyes darting about looking for an appropriate cloud to watch the show from.
She soon found a good spot. It overlooked the entire coliseum from above, and gave a great view over the main arena and the grandstands around it. Ditzy settled herself down and positioned herself on the edge of the cloud in order to get a good view.
And what a view she received in return! The Princess’ radiant sun beamed down upon the audience ready to enjoy the feats to be performed that day. She could even make out a few faces she knew from her time; Raindrops, her old friend, and Lyra, who lived next door, and even herself.
Wait, HERSELF? Ditzy had to focus her eyes once more by bringing her hoof up to her face and then looking down again, but when she did, the sight that befell her was baffling. Not only was she there, but she was also there and there and there and there.
She was everywhere and yet she was here. The Doctor would never let her visit this place multiple times over and over.
No, this wasn’t real! It was all just another problem with her eyes. It had to be! Her silly, silly eyes causing another problem for her, just like when she was in school, when all the bigger fillies would call her names like “Miss Dilly Dally” and “Derpy.” “Derpy”; that was the name that stuck.
She looked down at her slightly bulging midsection; fillies could be so cruel…
No! No! No! She had to focus, couldn’t let herself get distracted again. Ditzy refocused her eyes and scanned the audience once more. One, two, three, four, five, six. There was no denying it, there were lots of her, all scattered around the stadium. How could this be? Was it the Doctor doing his important work? Was she imagining it? What was going on?
Ditzy paced around the cloud for a while, her mind unable to comprehend what was going on, she wasn’t supposed to be getting stressed like this. Not in her condition.
“Constestant Number Six!” The announcer’s voice rang to her ears this time. Had he really been that loud before? How could she miss the others? She quickly sat back down at the edge of the cloud, doing her best to avoid looking at the other hers in the audience.
This wasn’t funny anymore…
“Contestant number Six, Ditzy Doo!”
There she was, AGAIN, flying in the contest, performing the very tricks she had often practised, just as carefully, just as deliberately, but so much better than her current ones. She was Ditzy, only better, the same pony only more complete, the final Ditzy, the ultimate Ditzy.
The Omega Ditzy!
She had heard the Doctor use that word before, he said it was the final one. The complete thing at the end. And he also told her that there was another at the other end, an Alpha.
“Wibbly wobbly timey wimey!” The Doctor’s words echoed into her mind. He had once told her how time worked, but all she could remember was that one line. Time wasn’t a straight line, it was a bubbling mass. A bubbling mass of bubbles?
Her cutie mark! Her dad always used to tell her that her mark was because she was always so playful, even playing with her bubble bath. But no! These weren’t soap bubbles. These were time bubbles. Those audience members were all her because she was beyond time and space. She was above all other ponies. Those bullies made fun of her eyes, but they were looking EVERYWHERE.
SHE WAS DERPY! Mistress of all time!
The sky filled with a beautiful glimmering light, bathing the new mistress of time in a baptism! Her other selves drank in the wonderful colour, and enjoyed the spectacle of Contestant Number Four beaming her wings down upon the coliseum.
The newly reborn Derpy looked to the sky towards the source of the spectacular light show. She looked in anger as the pretender to her throne displayed her own glory upon the ponyfolk. She would have to be dealt with...
The punishment for Contestant Number Four came quicker that Derpy had imagined. Miss Rarity’s wings evaporated in the heat of the sun, sending her plummeting towards the ground with all the force that gravity could muster. A punishment fit for the crime of insulting the Mistress of Time, but not one that belonged on the heart of Ditzy Doo.
“No! I don’t want her to die!” Ditzy looked in horror as the poor unicorn fell to the ground, far faster than Ditzy could ever fly. “No! No! No! I don’t want to be like this! I want to be normal old Ditzy again! I don’t want to rule over time! I want to be normal! Just like I know my foal’s gonna be!”
Ditzy’s rejection was punctuated by a sudden flash, a new baptism of light followed soon after by the sight of that very unicorn being rescued by a blue pegasus, a beautiful rainbow trailing behind them. The sight of this wonderful event had a blissfully calming effect on Ditzy. She no longer cared about those other selves in the audience. Thinking about it made her head hurt, and she didn’t like the pony it made her. She didn’t want to hurt anypony, she just liked travelling, floating around like the bubbles on her flank. That was why she loved travelling with the Doctor so much, to see all these wonderful things to watch and help, but to never hurt. If the Mistress of Time was spiteful, she was not what Ditzy wanted to be.
Hers was the life of the companion; an associate to the Doctor, always willing to help, never leaving his side no matter what the danger.
But she had to think. She wasn’t the only one she had to think about now. Soon she would need a more stable place to stay. After all, the TARDIS was no place to raise a foal. She had to make a tough decision, and the Doctor would have to come second this time. Ditzy would have to head home, back to her time and re-join the timeline once more. She would return to this day, but she would have to take the slow route next time.
The soft cloud beneath her gently bulged as she took off to meet with the Doctor again, her heart heavy with the news she would have to give. But first, she would have to tell him what she had found, not a throne over time, but her future.
Her future as a mother.
No Mountain Unclimbed
Dear Diary,
Dear Journal!
You are now the official “Cutie Mark Crusaders” Journal. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle have put me in charge of recording our adventures, but I’ll bet it won’t take us long to get it with all three of us working together. Maybe my special talent is keeping journals!
(Two Weeks of Empty Spaces)
Dear Journal,
My special talent isn’t keeping journals, but I found you at the bottom of my school satchel today, so I’ll fill you in on what we did since then.
“Cutie Mark Crusader Tree climbers!”---Failed. (Covered in Tree sap!)
“Cutie Mark Crusader Carrot pickers!”---Failed (Although the mailmare did thank us for making a distraction, whatever that is.)
“Cutie Mark Crusader Distraction Makers!”---- Miss Twilight told us what a distraction was, we kinda did it but it wasn’t our talent. (What would that cutie mark look like anyway?)
“Cutie Mark Crusader Animal Feeders!”----Failed (Got covered in tree sap after trying to feed squirrels)
“Cutie Mark Crusader Piano Tuners!”----Failed (Got covered in tree sap. Don’t ask.)
So yeah that’s been the last two weeks. Apple Bloom had to help out at her sisters farm though so we had to leave out beekeeping for another week.
Dear Journal,
Got a letter today from mom, she said she’d pick me up in a couple of days to go with her to the Best Young Flier’s Competition up in Cloudsdale. Mom works in the weather factory so maybe I can ask her to show me round. There’s so many jobs for pegasus ponies like me, one of them has to be my special talent.
Dear Journal,
Told Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle about going to Cloudsdale tomorrow, it kinda sucks that they can’t come, but they said they’ll be doing some dancing lessons while I’m gone, so I’m not too bothered about missing those.
Tomorrow I’m gonna be taking you around with me to record my awesome solo quest and maybe even the moment I get my cutie mark.
Cutie Mark Crusader Solo Quest!
Mom came to pick me up pretty early. So I’m kinda still tired, I’ll fill you in once I get there.
-I had to ride on moms back ‘cause I was too big to go in her satchel this time, she did her usual thing of saying how much I’ve grown, but I don’t see it.
-I think mom dyed her mane, it used to be the same colour as mine but now it’s lighter, she said it was “pre mate” or something like that, it must be a special shade of red or something. (We’ve gotta try crusading at mane dying back in Ponyville).
-Ok the competition is in a little while so I’m noting down what happened at the weather works. We did get to go round the weather factory after all but for some reason the snowflake room was closed for the day. They told Mom someone made a mess and they had to clear it up, so we moved on to the cloud floor, where there seemed to be something going on.
There was a huge crowd gathering round someone, but I couldn’t see them until she flew above everyone. It was Sweetie’s sister! She’s somehow managed to get a pair of cool looking wings! Did she make ‘em herself? I’ve gotta ask Sweetie Belle about that when I get back.
-Mom keeps asking me what I’m writing down, she keeps calling it my diary, and when I told her it’s the Cutie Mark Crusader Journal, she just thought it was some silly game. The Crusaders are super serious, and I’ll prove it to her when we all get our cutie marks.
-Well, we got our seats in the stadium. They’re pretty high up but mom said that doesn’t matter much as most performances get pretty high up anyway.
-The announcer just arrived… Aw sweet! The Wonderbolts just got here. Sorry, hard to get this all down while it’s happening.
-Number One wasn’t too bad, but she really needed to keep her balance while spinning. She let her centre of gravity go off a couple of times so she wobbled a bit during some of her moves.
-Number Three. He was pretty good, he did a few loops and topped it off with a sweep over the crowd.
-Wow almost missed Number 3. She was doing some ballet stuff, so not really my thing.
-Huh? Number Seven’s out? What happened to number…? Wow fifteen barrel rolls! That’s way cool. He’s my favourite so far.
-All the numbers got mixed up, now it’s Number Six. Wow! It’s the mailmare! And wow is she bad. I think she nearly hit the Wonderbolts for a second there.
-The last few were alright, Number Nine was pretty awesome but Seven’s still my favourate.
-Number Ten is really boring. I nearly fell asleep while she was doing her stuff.
-Argh, now I’ve lost my place, how many have I missed? My favourites are Seven and Twelve. Twelve did some awesome cloud kicking and managed to make them crash together into little lightning storms.
-Ok, this is strange. Number Fifteen and Number Four are out at the same time, and number Four is Sweetie’s sister? She’s competing?
-Ok, Number Fifteen isn’t doing so well. She’s crashing all over the place…
-Wow! You won’t believe what happened, but it was AWSOME! So Sweetie’s sister went really high and finished her bit with a big performance, but her wings burnt up. She was falling through the sky and something went wrong when the Wonderbolts tried to save her! Everyone was just watching as Miss Rarity was falling, I just froze up as it happened, but then out of nowhere, the blue pony shot down and did something totally awesome!
A Sonic Rainboom! Mom always said they were just an old mare’s tale, but she did one! It was amazing; she flew down and rescued not just Miss Rarity, but ALL the Wonderbolts! She topped it off with a rainbow over the stadium before dropping off everyone.
I bet her special talent is being awesome!
But then when she landed she met up with Miss Twilight and that Pink pony Applebloom knew. She’s gotta be from Ponyville!
-No surprise there, she got crowned the winner, and Princess Celestia said her name was Rainbow Dash. When I get back to Ponyville, I’m gonna ask Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom if their sisters know her, because when I get my Cutie Mark I want it to be as awesome as hers.
Dear Journal,
Not sure what happened. Last thing I remember, I was watching the end of the competition, and this morning I woke up in my old room. I hope I didn’t fall asleep outside, I’m too big for that now.
Anyway mom’s making pancakes right now so I’ll fill the rest in later.
So I’m back, and we got to go round the rest of the weather factory today. I got to see the snow and rainbow rooms. I wonder if Rainbow Dash ever worked with weather, it’s like the top job for pegasus ponies.
I didn’t end up finding my special talent in the weather factory, although I think the snowflakes they let me make were pretty cool (who needs symmetry anyway?) But its o.k., I know I’ll get it real soon, and I’ll bet I can get loads of tips if I get to meet Rainbow Dash.
I’m going back to Ponyville tomorrow. It’ll be great to be back with the crusaders, but I’m gonna miss Mom, she always works hard making the weather and she always sends me stuff in the mail. But I only get to see her in the holidays. She said she wanted me to get good schooling and that Ponyville had the best. But somepony at school said it was because it’s really dangerous if you fall off the clouds and you don’t have strong wings yet, but that’s just silly! Who’d fall off the clouds in Cloudsdale?
Dear Journal,
Back in Ponyville today. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were amazed to hear what happened at the Young fliers’ competition. Sweetie didn’t believe me when I said Rarity was there, but I’ll bet she’ll be red in the face when she finds out I was telling the truth.
Apple Bloom had a great idea today; to make up for all the lost time while I was gone, we’ve gotta work overtime to get our cutie marks. So, the obvious answer is to work through the night.
“Cutie Mark Crusader’s Sleepover!”
