Author's Note

Ah, you've made to chapter eleven of Fireflower's fanfic that goes beyond the typical oneshots made from before, a Mature fanfic no less on the grounds that a previous chapter has dealt with heavy subject matters proven to be unsuitable for those under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated; suffice to say, this was by far a strong note for many readers complete and therefore you were all given an option to skip ahead to this chapter: whether or not you had taken this offer, it was only up to you to do so nothing more.

In any case, I'm gonna confess that this is the part where it crosses over with a certain character: considering the theme of this story in question, I'd figured what better way to complete this than a certain scientist himself; for your consideration, watch the old shows and enjoy it if you can.

Anyways, I like to say thank you for putting up with me over the first trimester since the serialization back in December: it really means a lot to me since we'd lost so much in the past decade, especially 2016 no less; in any case, here's to hoping we make it to the end of the year together, like we'd done before since the first story of mine.

Lift

The purely uncut darkness within was the only way of how the small world works by and large, let alone the real world to say in the very least; as a matter of fact, the former was, if at all, indeed the latter and vice versa altogether. The jet–black void was all that could be seen but not heard, felt, tasted, or smelled therein; yet, it can be also sensed as well anyways, devoid of even a modicum of light bearing any hue whatsoever to permeate so thru its entirety. To be frank, it would had seemed that all was completely lost, its mere fate already sealed and set in stone to say in the very least before the beginning itself; as such, nothing else was going to even change that in even a slight margin.

All of the sudden, the pitch black space was quickly illuminated, giving the area some shred of identity to the finite environment almost instantaneously. A quartet of partitions were padded with whiteness, already arranged into a strict pattern to be seen, save for some bars on a window and a lonely door. Adjacently aligned was flooring in the formation of a checkerboard, save for the squared edges where their dimensions proved themselves to be nothing. Already hanging from the ceiling was but a diminutive lonely lightbulb which had dispersed so many photons in so little time by a fraction of a second. A simple pair of sandals were found to be resting soundlessly about at once of the corners within the walls laying aside with the heels touching themselves. As the oxygen had flourished about rather freely, it’d also provided only subsistence and energy to start the day in any form and/or fashion whatsoever.

In the midst of it all, there had remained one solid figure whom sat right directly in the middle, giving off a looming shadow which touched a nearby wall at once. The individual in question had possessed a set of goldilocks with three bare directions their thick strands had been facing, reflecting the very light already shown up. Its owner’s face was feminine, donning a complexion free of all sorts of imperfections to the point of being utterly symmetrical as far as anyone would’ve seen. Underneath the blonde’s eyelids were some bags of darkened shadows that were painted thinly despite signs of respiration being more than ever presently hereon. Draped over the rest of her body was a simple snow–white gown with its think length managing to cover both arms and reach over past the owner’s very kneecaps. Aside from the hands within possession were but a pair of bare feet making themselves known as they’d brushed up against the walls all around the sleeping blonde.

“Derpy, are you awake…?” a lone voice was heard immediately, but it didn’t come from her at all whatsoever; although, it did make the aforementioned occupant in question’s eyelids fly wide open in a mere microsecond, flashing a pair of goldenrod orb in the grand scheme of things no less as they were facing in opposite directions from one another all the same so to speak of.

As such, she’d faced the glass pane upon the doorway up in front of her and replied instantly, “hmm…?”

“I’m Nurse Tenderheart, your friendly neighborhood paramedic, remember…?” the titular traveler had told the bright blonde within due time no less despite the jingling of metal in the midst, “I got some good news for you: your family has come to see you – Doctor Turner and Dinky; they’d both came to check up on you. You should be able to use this time to speak things out about what’s on both of your minds lately; after all, they’ve been commenting on your progress recently over the years no less.”

“What’s going on today: is this about what happened with Applejack or someone; what about my friend’s daughter, Twist…?” Derpy had asked aloud as she was now found to be standing up on both her feet, taking little of the time whatsoever to face the footwear nearby and started brushing off the dusty particles from her snow–white gown.

It wasn’t long until the lone occupant had started putting on her sandals when the doorknob nearby her side turned at an angle with a click, followed by Tenderheart’s very answer no less, “it’s nothing to worry about; besides, I’m not even at any kind of liberty to discuss anything with other aforementioned patients in this hospital: this is a state–secret all the very same, ma’am…”

“I see then; oh, Dinky: what can she do now…?” the bright blonde had said now that she’d turned to face the opened doorway again almost immediately, “in hindsight, I wouldn’t have minded if I’d started seeing Sparkler again; as a matter of fact, there’s still not a day going by where I stop missing her…”

As Derpy stepped out of the room slowly but surely, she’d came face–to–face with another woman whom was a lot like her: tall, thin, brightly skinned, and dressed in white; even so, there were differences. The lone individual from the other side of the doorway had wore a hat painted with but a singular red cross accompanied by several hearts around itself, a stark contrast to her green locks already wrapped in a bun. Tenderheart had both eyes of magenta now steadily focused directly upon the former occupant in question with typical hope and restraint only even amongst the drabness of the clouding reality they were both in. Even the observer opposite of the lonely blonde herself was wearing more articles of clothing than the latter too: aside from the snow–white ensemble of sneakers, socks, and shorts, there was also a blue vest.

“You’re not the only one who misses people, let alone some familiar faces here and there: I remember the hospital used to have a more when I’d started on the job since your teenage years; but, enough about that for now ‘cause we have a long day to go about it so let’s not waste it…” Tenderheart replied as she alone started to lead Derpy way out of her room altogether at once.

The two women walked onto the floor away from there in where the lonely blonde had once resided in with only but a series of lights above them providing guidance and visual altogether. The sights and sounds of footfalls from them created a pattern in which would be observed every time door frames were passed by occasionally interspersed with the droning about of inhabitants. Therein, Derpy had steadily stared at the small sandals on both her feet where they’d rested upon the white tiles underneath themselves as they were traveling onward by all through the hallway. The otherwise composed nurse directly nearby the trembling occupant still kept a sharp eye right on the latter as the former had maintained a small but rather significant distance all so warily.

Within only minutes, the otherwise strenuous pattern had now met its end, overtaken by a vast new area that the two walked in. Filling the widened space were sets of round tables strewn across from there, each occupied by more than just on in attendance. Above themselves were a few wooden fans spinning about from beneath the ceiling in the same speed but lacking synchronicity. The walls had but a set of windows providing both light and scenery from the outside world beyond its very premises therein. There was also another hallway in the vicinity where the people alone were coming in from, way more numerous than their arrival. Even the very flooring itself currently had gained some bits of color that were sprinkling about all across the uniformity of white.

It wasn’t long until Derpy herself had spotted at least two people whom had stood out and about, both of whom were sitting down at a table; defined amongst themselves were likenesses in fair dignity, possessing common traits between one another with the likes of her: bright complexions, somber emotions, and an achieved goalpost were all that were found as soon as she’d stepped in. Of course, the trepid blonde could see some significant differences between each other in a small fraction of a heartbeat as it were: one happened to be a spiky brunet wearing a matching trenchcoat his shirt and slacks with black bluchers stared off from the azure; the other, a girl a lot like the former, albeit with a frilly dress adorned by a black ribbon and green sandals so to speak.

Sure enough, Derpy had gone right over to her onlookers and greeted them both happily, “morning, guys…!”

“Mommy, we’re so glad to see you again: you haven’t changed a bit; anyway, how have the doctors been treating you…?” the effervescent youth had instantaneously replied as the tall blonde had quickly took her seat on the opposite side at once as is, “we’ve been worried sick about you; are you okay…?”

“Oh, it’s nothing to be worried about: my doctor said that I’m about to head out the hospital in little over a month from now; they said it was thanks to these pills they’d been putting me on…” Derpy answered restlessly before yielding towards one witness nearby somehow, the man in brown no less.

The smile wore onto his face had started to falter a bit while he, too, began to speak up at last, “in all honesty, I hope they’re not messing with you outright: I’ve read that there have been medicines, legal and otherwise, with side–effects capable of rewriting the user’s brain; come to think of it, can you remember when you‘d been married…? Dinky and I were afraid you’d forget your memories after everything has happened recently; she’d said she’d suffered a nightmare that you’d returned home but didn’t remember having her at all: your daughter was but a ghost to you…”

“Speaking of which, I couldn’t help myself but to hear one from my own past at s feast recently: Ponet’s made trouble again…” the tall patient had only sighed softly, looking upon at the other people so nearby themselves extremely listlessly as she were, “last time he’d written to me, he’d said something about getting out of the hole lately; is it anything like what I’d been inside of…? I can’t even recall whatever I’d seen in him before the whole thing went down seven years ago on that fateful day nevertheless: I was so happy when we were all together to see Princess Cadance get married to Shining Armor in Canterlot, much as everyone; all it’d have done was remind me how we’d first met, long before the war, you–know–who, and even Nightmare Moon. Now, it seems I can’t even think about visiting Ponet in prison without being reminded of what he’d done, supposedly or not; all these rumors just stir up bad memories here and there, and not just of what these changelings have done to people like me: I’d never mustered up the strength to tell her how she was born first because of how ashamed as to the circumstances therein as is. After all that has happened, I’m going to live with the fact that my eldest daughter will never be able to have a normal life today; she should’ve been able to have a better one than mine, especially considering how successful her career was before that date: a nice house, a great husband, some beautiful children, and even great friends – she’d deserved better than this…!”

“I know, Derpy, and it pains me to this day as to how she should’ve been here with us all the same; her friends have spoken highly of her and Twilight had even sent a bouquet of flowers years prior: she said it was her way of apologizing for not being able to prevent this tragedy whatsoever…” the lone brunet had said as he’d quickly regained the eponymous woman’s focus.

A full beat of silence between the trio in question had passed long before the tall blonde began to give out her reply in due time, “what reason would she have for apologizing to us if at all: her family welcomed us all to the Royal Wedding after the Princess has issued a voluntary evacuation order; why should she shoulder the burden if what happened next wasn’t her fault? If anything, then I guess when you put it all down at the end of the day, we’d both lost someone we could’ve been closer to more in life: she’d lost her babysitter of a bride–to–be on her own wedding no less and I lost a firstborn daughter because I couldn’t face the past as bravely as I’d have. Nothing I say or do since then is going to erase that, let alone bring her back; Ponet, as much as I’m wary of him now, knows this all too well and he hates himself too for letting it happen on his watch: he may have not brought her into this world but he sure as well didn’t want her to leave this world in any which way possible, especially at the hands of some changelings no less.”

“I agree; on a similar note, Rose and I have been privy to Minuette’s condition and experiences with them so to speak of, Derpy…” he’d said, noticing the aforementioned patient’s goldeneyes becoming watery as he’d pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, “the only thing I can say is that they’d drained all of her dignity; I don’t know how to describe it without causing offense…”

“I understand: besides, she wasn’t the only one whom had such an encounter; I’d came across Lyra years ago after being admitted to the hospital and learn about what had happened to her…” the tall blonde sobbed softly as her hands were now touching the surface of the padded textile, drying her cheeks as she’d laid it upon the tabletop already.

Needless to say, the lonely brunet looked away from Derpy briefly as she’d donwhat aboute not too long ago all the while before speaking, “come to think of it, I might as well have to ask: did she tell you anything out of the ordinary while she was there – names, dates, times, items of any importance; is there anybody who also knows about it…?”

“Not that I can’t say at this hour, at least not in front of my child: I’d made a promise to her not to bring any of it up all the same…” the tall blonde answered, her composure starting to become renewed by a small stream of resolve coming her way at long last as is, “Applejack also made that promise with her too and we’re all firmly aware as to why, something we can understand…”

“I’m sorry to hear about it…” the little girl said.

Derpy had turned her attention towards her younger counterpart with a sad smile and replied, “it’s not your fault, Dinky; it’s mine and mine alone: I shouldn’t have prioritize you all alone like I’d done since your birth. Even though I was far too young to be a mother, I shouldn’t have been so hesitant with her all the same; as a matter of fact, it’s all the more of a reason why I still miss my father more than ever to this day: your grandfather should’ve been proud to see you two grow up into beautiful women together at the very least. Her father, on the other hand, doesn’t deserve that luxury at all, not after what he’d done to me no less; even my mother understands it and I can’t even look her in the eye knowing how much she couldn’t stand me: it seems that all that I’ve inherited were my father’s eyes and, perhaps by extension, his future and it’s coming on. Good thing I could say about daddy’s passing is that at least he didn’t get to see any changelings in his life and even then, the less said about it, the better…”

“Derpy, you don’t really think that, do you…?” he’d asked the tall blonde immediately no less, “surely he would’ve protected you all the same…”

“Yeah, he would’ve…” the titular tenant tittered.

It wasn’t long until the lonely brunet started to speak at last no less, “if it’s any consolation, then perhaps she’s still here among us, probably standing next to us hearing all of this whole conversation: I could’ve talked to her more often, listened to her too; at least I would’ve known what she would’ve want. Ponet may as well wanted to try and stop all of this from corrupting Equestria even further, which he did: someone must have told him that there were more awful things done during the war ever since the day Cadance was killed; yet, despite everything, he failed, at least in his eyes and even Agar’s most of all. I don’t know how, but they may as well knew exactly what he was about to do; after all, Applejack was there when she’d found her sister at the Cavern, caught in the act of attempted sororicide: she’d still survived and so did her sister yet because of it, they took the woman away from the poor girl and pronounced her mentally unfit, not that I blame any of them. Applejack understood the truth and now she’d gone so far up the wall, she wanted to end all of this: she may have been freed from punishment yet she isn’t walking out of here safe and sound, not that she wants to; I have no idea where her sister is nor what happened to her. The only thing I know is that, sooner or later, she’ll be gone and her sister knows that; perhaps if she has anything to say, then I only believe that they’ll find justice soon enough before that ever happens: I can’t even figure out for the life of me why it’d taken so long but I can see why Princess Celestia kept her in here instead of wandering around the old haunts today.”

“I hope I get out of here too; I don’t mind staying Ponyville if it means being here with you and my kids again but not the capital…” the tall blonde sobbed softly, looking down at her own feet rather than visitors themselves as they’d tapped only intermittently, “Canterlot used to be a dream vacation; now, it’s just a burning memory, a shadow of its former self to people like me. I still have nightmares about what had happened to me the second we’d watched that bride–to–be turned to ash and fire; even now, I can still feel the itching and scratching inside of me to this day, especially considering what they’d done to me: perhaps it’s what my friend Lyra had been talking about years ago since she was there at the wedding too as she and Bon–Bon were.”

“Speaking of which, I’d stopped by at Carrot Top’s place earlier last week: she said she’s also staying here to tend the farm her grandma had left her behind with; to be honest, I don’t like the fact that she’s working alone nor do I trust her charge Eugene in the very slightest no less…” he’d said gently, looking away from Derpy once more so to speak of.

The tall blonde’s ears flopped about as she’d started facing the lonely brunet in kind to ask him, “who’s Eugene: that’s a strange name; what is he…?”

“No one to worry about for the time being; besides, I’m a little behind schedule as I am: had to put a few projects on hold now…” he’d answered so readily as a few more individuals had now entered his line of eyesight almost rather immediately all the while, “as a matter of fact, I had to get some help from the others with the new supplies I’d ordered from the catalogue recently. What had happened years ago has made me wish I’d taken gym class more seriously as we should’ve in our past youth: it wasn’t enough that the three of us had to run from them that day, now I have to worry about not being able to use dollies; might as well have to rent out a storage shed to deal with the clutter as it is on a monthly basis if it means making some room…”

“You’ll always have plenty of room at my sister’s house; Flutter Doo was nothing but kind to me ever since our aunt stepped in: my firstborn benefitted more from that household instead of with me instead…” Derpy giggled freely as she’d soon speedily shied away from the lonely brunet’s gaze in a matter of seconds no less.

It wasn’t long until Tenderheart had returned, speaking to him freely in an instant as she were, “Time Turner, is everything okay…?”

“I don’t see any reason why not so far; how are you right now: anything out of the ordinary, ma’am…?” the eponymous visitor had simply replied to the nurse all the same as he’d started to take a stand keenly without hesitation, “I hope that visiting hours aren’t going to be cut short as it were…”

“I’m afraid so: the staff is going to be conducting a monthly test of the security system in an hour from now; I don’t mind the moment you three are having but I recommend finishing up within the next thirty minutes so you visitors won’t get swept up in the moment all the same…” answered Tenderheart whom was now about to leave themselves be once again like she’d done.

A frown had appeared upon Dinky’s face as she’d asked the nurse fearlessly yet frigidly no less, “will my mother be okay…?”

“It’s nothing to worry about, little girl: compared to a prison, this hospital is much safer for visitors and patients alike…” Tenderheart responded gently as her magenta eyes had stared back into the inherited goldenrod with such warmth deep inside, “that being said, we need to make sure nothing else happens all the same; it’s better this way that the young ones should vacate…”

“Nurse, do you think I would’ve made a good one when I grow up…?” the little girl had then whispered about fragmentally as she were.

Needless to say, the nurse had beamed at Dinky before responding freely all the same no less, "just study hard and work smart if you want to apply yourself at the industry on a professional level…"

"Speaking of which, I'm going to return home and finish my papers up in time for next week; DJ’s going to be helping around…" the lonely brunet said before moving further away from the tall blonde, her daughter also following suit albeit so hesitantly, “we ain’t getting any younger now that were in the present: today’s youth are becoming tomorrow’s adults sooner than ever. The least we can hope for now is that they won’t go through what our friends and family have suffered in the distant past as is: the war has changed the Crown and Country far too fast and loose around these parts and dear Ponyville is no different anyway; even now, it’s starting to see a population crash as far as the rumor mills are concerned, although it may not seem this way. Matter of fact, most of the Bearers have already moved out of here as yet, either back home or to greener pastures in a few cases; considering how they’d been treated in the past before and during the war, there’s no point in blaming them altogether as it is: Twilight’s been taking this especially hard since she’d made so many friends only to let them all get dishonored no less.”

“I know that: we were all there when her friends watched the whole mess go down; oh, my baby girl…” Derpy sniffled interchangeably as she was now all by her lonesome again, this time in an open space than before.

A small stream of water had started to escape from the tall blonde’s goldeneyes as she’d begun to hide them both right beneath her hands; even though there were others in attendance also left to their own devices, they were nevertheless already intangible to both of the nostrils: even the oxygen itself became heavy as rocks despite being consciously invisible as they’d been no less. In what had seemed to be some sort of a great expectation foisted so instantaneously onto the quick, and perhaps naked, she was ignored all the same as everyone else meandered about onward with their lives and safeties, regardless of their overall qualities by comparison alone, just as he and Dinky were in a matter of seconds following the close encounter she once enjoyed.

Suffice to say, Derpy rested her weary head onto the surface area of the table once shared with the visitor she’d seen and heard without bias or fear.