Derpy bounced happily out into the spring morning. She had a date with the Doctor!
Last night, on Hearts and Hooves day, the brown Earth Pony had finally asked her out, after some interference from the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Derpy was so excited, her eyes were looking straight ahead, aside from their normal crossed-ness.
She just had to tell someone about the fantastic new, but who? Then it hit her.
The gray pegasus spread her wings and took off, spiraling over Ponyville toward Canterlot.
A Royal Guard started as a gray pegasus with a bubbly Cutie Mark landed in front of him, breathing heavily.
“Need... to see... Princess Luna!” Derpy gasped out, momentarily out of breath from her fast flight.
The Guard stared down his nose at her, like: Who is this ragamuffin? But instead, he said: “Who’s asking?”
“Derpy Hooves.”
“Oh.” The Guard straightened somewhat. The name of Derpy had been mentioned throughout the palace by Princess Luna, saying that she was always welcome.
“Right this way, Ms. Hooves.”
Derpy bounced along happily behind the Guard as he led her through the corridors of the Palace. Finally, they arrived at a large set of double doors, which were engraved with the images of crescent moons.
The Guard rapped on the door. “Princess Luna? You have a visitor.”
A voice called from within. “Come in.”
Derpy bounded through the door, yelling: “Luna, Luna! Guess what?”
A dark alicorn looked up from signing off a document. “Derpy? What is it?”
Alicorn was the term for ponies blessed with the rare gift of having the build of an Earth Pony, the horn of a unicorn, and the wings of a pegasus. Luna was one of the fortunate few. Too add to that, Luna’s special talent was raising the moon for all of Equestria, as her appearance claimed so.
Her fur was a deep purple, and her mane was partly transparent, dark purple as well, flowing never-ceasingly. Her Cutie Mark was that of a crescent moon, surrounded by night skies.
Her glass slippers clicked as she stood up. She could see that her friend was really excited, due to the fact that he golden eyes weren’t crossed.
“What is it?”
Derpy paused, and then yelled aloud: “I HAVE A DATE WITH THE DOCTOR!”
Luna stood there, stunned for a second, and then she shrieked in delight. “Eep! Did he ask you?”
Derpy nodded vigorously. “Oh yes. He asked me last night, and it’s scheduled for tonight.”
Luna gave a small bounce. “On Hearts and Hooves day no less! How romantic! I told you he likes you!”
Derpy was jumping up and down now. “I know, I know! I shouldn’t have doubted you!”
“What are you going to wear?” Luna asked.
Derpy stopped hopping. “Uh-oh.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what to wear!” Derpy wailed. “I’ve never been on a date before, so I don’t have anything pretty!”
“Calm down.” Luna soothed. “Tell you what. You can stop by Zecora’s. She lives in the Everfree Forest, and she has all sorts of pretty flowers that you could put in your mane. I’ll come by before the date and help you get ready. Deal?”
“Deal.” Derpy said. “I don’t know what I’d do without your good advice, Luna. I’d be a complete wreck.”
“That’s what I’m here for.” Luna said. “Now get going, so you won’t be late!”
Derpy stood at the edge of the Everfree Forest, staring into the dark trees. Somewhere in there lived Zecora, a mysterious zebra with strange powers.
She was about to take her first step in when a timid voice called out.
“Oh, um, hello Derpy.”
Derpy turned. Behind her was the shy pegasus, Fluttershy. Fluttershy was creamy yellow, with pretty pink mane and butterflies for a Cutie Mark, since her special talent was caring for animals.
“Hi, Fluttershy.” Derpy said.
“You’re not thinking of going alone into the Everfree Forest, are you?” Fluttershy said softly, cowering slightly at the sight of the dark forest.
“Well I have too.” Derpy said. “You see, I have this date...”
Fluttershy smiled. “Oh, how wonderful for you! Who is it with?”
“The Doctor.”
“Oh, that makes perfect sense! But why do you have to go into the Everfree Forest?”
“Luna told me that Zecora has some pretty flowers I could put in my hair, so... yeah.”
“Oh.” Fluttershy said. “Well, be careful, and don’t stray off the walked path!” She trotted off down the path toward her cottage.
Derpy turned back to the forest, and took a step inside. Instantly, the light went from bright and happy to dark and foreboding. Every now and then there would be a mysterious animal call from somewhere far away.
“Where is Zecora’s hut?” Derpy muttered to herself as she almost stepped on a large thorn.
Suddenly, she froze. In front of her stood the faint outline of a mare with glowing yellow eyes.
Was she dreaming? Derpy blinked hard, but the shimmering mirage still remained. Then, it turned and trotted off into an even darker section of the forest.
Derpy’s first instinct: To run away. But something compelled her to follow this strange apparition, despite Fluttershy’s words of caution.
Without hesitating, she took a step into the darker section.
She was in a clearing. The mysterious mare-ghost was nowhere to be seen, but on her left, a path led off, so, Derpy followed it.
It was a neatly-hewn path through the forest; the trees on either side of it were so clustered together, it was almost like a solid wall.
“Hello?” The gray pegasus called out. “Is anybody out there?”
No answer.
Derpy sighed and pressed on, wondering what she had gotten herself into.
Suddenly, she was momentarily blinded by a flash of bright light up ahead of her. When her vision cleared, she saw an opening in the trees, revealing sunlight.
Eager to be out of the creepy darkness, Derpy pressed forward. When she was almost there, something bonked her hoof. Scared half to death, she jumped backwards, but the offender was revealed to be only a red gem glimmering in the dirt.
“Oh. Derpy mumbled. “Stupid me. I’m scared of a rock.” She picked up the red jewel, hoping it might be of some use to her later.
She took a step into the clearing, and a quaint little town was revealed. It was full of little cottages and Earth Ponies trotting around happily.
“Where am I?” Derpy thought aloud to herself.
Apparently her voice was overheard. “Why, you’re in Sunnytown, Miss!” A cheerful voice said.
A gray Earth Pony trotted up to her. “Welcome!”
“Ah, thanks...” Derpy said warily. “Who are you?”
“I’m Gray Hoof.” The pony said. “Feel free to have a look around!”
“Okay.” Derpy decided she could stay for a while. This place looked harmless enough. But she noticed as she trotted past Grey Hoof, she saw that he had no Cutie Mark.
That was weird.
Trying to put the thought out of her mind, Derpy took out the jewel she had found and began inspecting it. It was fairly large, gleaming a beautiful shade of red.
“Excuse me! Oh, excuse me!”
Derpy looked up.
A young tan Earth Pony with blue mane trotted toward her, apparently having come from a nearby house. “I do believe that gem is mine! I have been looking for that everywhere!”
Derpy had to cross her eyes to look down at the object, which wasn’t hard. “This? Oh, then you can have it. What’s it for?”
The pony blushed slightly, and his eyes shifted to another pony. Derpy saw immediately what the point was.
He was looking at a beautiful young pony, with fur as white as snow, and mane like a red rose. Again, Derpy saw that neither pony had a Cutie Mark.
“It’s a gift for her...” The pony carried on dreamily. “Starlet...”
Derpy set the jewel down. “Well, here. Don’t let me impose.”
The pony took the ruby. “Thanks. Name’s Roneo by the way.”
Derpy watched as Roneo went over to the young mare. She smiled as she caught snatches of their conversation.
“For you, Starlet...” Roneo mumbled nervously.
Starlet’s eyes widened. “Oh Roneo, you shouldn’t have! You’re love is enough...” She kissed him, and the stallion almost fell over.
Derpy sighed as she walked away. She wished the Doctor would love her like that. But, that would never happen. Just because he had asked her out on a date didn’t mean...
She stopped as she heard strange noises emanating from the house Roneo had first come from.
She peeked inside. It was a maze of various crates and boxes, and the noises seemed to be coming from one corner of the building.
Ever curious, Derpy began climbing over crates toward the noise. Along the way, she tripped over a crank.
“A crank?” She mumbled in annoyance. “What use is this? Oh well...” She picked up the crank.
Finally, she made it over to the corner where the sobbing sounds were coming from. Peering around a corner of a crate, Derpy saw another gray Earth Pony crying.
“Why?” The gray mare sobbed. “I could’ve protected her... The same thing over and over again! Why...?”
Not knowing what that was about, Derpy left the house as fast as she could, relieved to be away from that creepy pony.
She tapped another Earth Pony on the shoulder, seeing he had no Cutie Mark as well. “Excuse me.”
The pony turned. “Yes?”
“All of you here have no Cutie Marks. Why is that? Do you have no special talent?”
The stallion looked confused. “Special talent? Cutie Mark? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
That was really weird.
“Never mind.” Derpy said. Something about this “Sunnytown” was beginning to creep her out. She wished now that she had never come, but the strange apparition of that mare had led her here, probably for a reason.
“I want to figure out why this town is here.” Derpy murmured to herself. “I’ve never heard of this place, and Luna never mentioned anything.”
She walked up to another mare and said: “I never knew there was a town in the Everfree Forest.”
The pony she had addressed was green, with darker green mane, so she resembled a leaf.
“Well,” the Leaf Pony said. “We have all the rescources we need right here, so we never leave.”
“Thanks...” That didn’t help Derpy much.
She continued on down the path, and back into the forest on another well-worn path as the light went dim again.
She gasped as she saw the same pony-ghost run up the path and around the bend in front of her.
“Wait!” She yelled. “Please stop!” She took off after the mysterious ghost.
Instead of finding the ghost, Derpy found something even more terrifying.
She stood in front of a run-down old shack. The windows were boarded up and weeds grew freely around the base. Next to the house was an old well.
Derpy went up to the shack door and pushed. The door didn’t budge.
“Locked...” She went over to the well and peered down into the dark depths. She was rewarded with a faint glimmer of light. Also, there was no crank where the well crank usually was positioned.
“Ah!” Derpy took out the crank she had discovered earlier, put it in the crank shaft, and began winding.
A bucket came up with the frayed rope, and inside was a rusty key that had obviously been down there for ages.
“Probably the key to that door.” Derpy went back to the shack and put the key into the keyhole.
Click.
The door creaked open, and Derpy stepped inside.
Not much made up the interior. It was just an old desk and a fireplace.
She checked the desk. Old wood, but nothing occupied the drawers.
She went over to the fireplace, and screamed as orange flames flared up, turning the rest of the shack dark.
Derpy stared into the flames in horror. Inside the orange inferno was the charred skeletal remains of a pony, or more preferably, a mare.
The pegasus screamed and ran from the shack, sobbing in fear, wanting to return to the sunlight of Sunnytown, however strange it was.
What she saw was most definitely not what she expected.
The once happy village had been transformed into a dark place. The houses had become dilapidated and wrecked. The ponies that had once inhabited were nowhere to be found.
Derpy stared in terror at everything. What had happened? She wanted to fly away, but her wings felt like they were in a numb lock. Her only choice was to walk.
She walked quickly through the wreckage, trying not to think about monsters.
She went stiff as a voice grated from the darkness of a totaled hut: “She was going to spoil the party.”
Grey Hoof. The voice of Grey Hoof.
Derpy squealed and ran faster. She arrived at a clearer spot and looked around to make sure no one was coming after her.
Creak.
Derpy looked up, her legs shaking.
Across the clearing, the ground opened up, and a pony stepped forward. Well, a reasonable version of a pony.
The creature had black fur that was missing in some places, revealing bone beneath. It’s face sagged horribly. But the most terrifying were the eyes, glowing red.
“The curse has befallen us this very night.” The zombie pony hissed. Derpy realized it was the garbled voice of what had once been the Leaf Pony. “She had the mark! She had to go!”
Not caring about any marks, Derpy ran on past it, thanking Celestia that it did not follow.
Her thankfulness was to be short lived. Soon, she was confronted by another zombie.
“Please...” the zombie said. “Stay with us. We will not let the same happen to you.” The zombie pony began taking slow, deliberate steps toward her.
Derpy looked around desperately for a way to escape. Going back meant facing the zombie Leaf Pony, but... Ah!
She saw a boulder positioned in between two large sections of roof. She ran over to it, and began slamming her weight against the rock. It moved a few inches.
She kept on slamming against the boulder, moving it farther and farther out of the shaft it had created, all the while keeping one eye on the zombie pony, who was growing steadily nearer.
Finally, there was a narrow passage in between the stone and the roof piece, allowing her to escape.
Derpy ran free, heading toward the entrance of the cursed town, wanting to get out of there as quickly as was possible.
Suddenly, she heard hooves pounding behind her. Chancing a look back, she saw another zombie running in her wake, much faster than the others.
Finally, she lost it, bursting through a canopy of dead leaves.
She headed toward the entrance of the town, when more noises induced behind her.
The creepified versions of Roneo and Starlet stepped from the from the wreckage.
“Please do not leave.” Roneo rasped. “The others will not like it.”
Zombie Starlet grinned at Derpy gruesomely, and Derpy couldn’t stand it. This once-beautiful pony had now been transformed into the horrible, horrible thing! She turned and ran, but only to be faced up by another.
This pony looked different; more complete than the others. None of her flesh was missing. And instead of red, her eyes gleamed yellow. Derpy realized that it was the same pony that had been crying in the house.
“Fools!” The pony yelled. Derpy thought at first that the mare was talking to her, but she saw that it was directed at the other zombies.
“Who are you?” Derpy squeaked.
“I am Mitta.” The mare said. “I see you have fallen into the trap, much like that filly a few months ago.”
“Filly? Who--”
“Run.” Mitta said, a tear shining on her cheek. “Run for your life. Please. Ruby shall show you that way. I will hold them off.”
“Ruby? But--”
“Go!”
Derpy ran on, finally out of the horrid town.
She groaned as she saw that the awful experience was not over yet.
The ground was glowing red, and the trees that had once so thickly lined the pat were now dead and withered; their branches handing over the pathway.
Derpy took a few steps forward.
Crackle.
More zombies! Three of the creatures rose up out of the ground around her,
Derpy ran on, sobbing, as more of the horrors rose up around her, following her.
If only the Doctor were here! He would know what to do. He always knew.
Finally, the world submerged into darkness. All Derpy could see was a trail of glowing orange hoofprints leading into the darkness.
Not knowing what else to do, she followed them, stumbling in the darkness.
Suddenly, an image shimmered into view in front of her. It was the ghost of that same mare. She had a gray coat, glowing yellow eyes, and blondish mane.
“I am sorry.” She whispered.
“Huh?” Derpy asked, utterly exhausted from her experience.
“I am Ruby.” The mare said.
“That pony back there said something about...”
“Mitta?” Ruby said. “Yes. She was my best friend when I was alive. You see, my friends murdered me because of my mark.” She showed her flank, revealing a magnifying glass.
“A Cutie Mark?” Derpy asked. “None of others--”
“I was the only one.” Ruby said bitterly. “It turns out I was excellent at finding things. It was my curse. How unfortunate you are to have witnessed the Everlasting Punishment like the other filly.”
“Filly?” Derpy carried on, confused. “Everlasting Punishment?”
“Well, when my village killed me, a curse was laid down on them; a curse to make them relive the day they killed me over and over again, without end.”
Derpy shuddered. “How awful!”
Ruby nodded. “Sadly, yes. But there is nothing I can do about it. As for the other filly, her name was Apple Bloom.”
Derpy gasped. “I know her!”
“You may--” Ruby was cut off when four zombies rose out of the ground. Instead of part-flesh, these were only bone.
“They found us!” Ruby exclaimed.
“I’m going to die.” Derpy cried. “I’ll never see my friends, or the Doctor or Luna ever again!”
Ruby placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “Do not worry, for like Apple Bloom, I shall find you a way out of this.”
“DERPY!”
Suddenly, all the skeletons and the ghosts vanished, and the area around Derpy became regular forest,
Not knowing what had just happened, the pegasus collapsed from exhaustion and hurt.
“Derpy!”
Through half-closed eyes, she saw brown hooves running toward her, and she felt a soft nose nuzzling her stomach.
“Doctor...” Derpy said weakly.
The last thing she remembered was the Doctor lifting her onto his back and running, yelling for Luna.
Derpy awoke in a hospital bed. Sheets were drawn up to her chin. She felt bandages over her bruises. Outside, the black night sky showed through the window.
She heard voices arguing outside her door.
“I have to see her!” The strange accent of the Doctor argued.
“I’m afraid you can’t.” The irritated voice of Nurse Redheart returned. “Her stage is not critical, but you still might awake her!”
Click. Click. Click Click.
The sound of glass slippers echoed down the hall, and the regal voice of Luna called out: “Nurse Redheart, it is imperative that we see Ms. Hooves at once, no matter what her stage.”
Redheart couldn’t say no too a princess. “Fine,” she grumbled. “But be quiet.”
The door burst open and Luna bellowed in her best Canterlot voice: “Derpy! You’re alive!”
“Yeah.” Derpy smiled at her friend’s silliness.
The Doctor followed the alicorn, looking quiet relieved. “I am ever so glad we found you.”
“How did you find me?” Derpy asked.
Luna’s face darkened. “Well, you weren’t at home when I came by to help you get ready, so I asked the Doctor if he had seen you, but he said no and I got worried.”
“What were you doing out in the middle of the forest?” The Doctor asked. “You were miles from anywhere.”
The reality of what she had been through came crashing down on Derpy. “Well... I was on my way to Zecora’s, and then I saw this ghost pony, and I followed it. I ended up in this weird town where nobody had Cutie Marks, and I saw a skeleton in a fireplace, and these horrible zombie ponies, and...”
She didn’t realize she was crying until she felt the Doctor’s hoof stroking her mane.
“It must have been traumatic.” Luna said.
“I guess we’ll have to reschedule that date, huh?” Derpy sniffled at the Doctor.”
“That doesn’t matter anymore.” The Doctor said. “But, how about tomorrow?”
Derpy nodded. “Tomorrow, though I’ll probably never sleep again.”
“I’ll stay overnight as long as you need.” Luna said. “Princess of the Night can help with nightmares.”
“I guess I’ll be going back to the TARDIS...” The Doctor said awkwardly.
“Woah.” Luna held out a restraining hoof. “She needs you too!”
That night, Derpy slept nightmare free.
Throughout Equestria, relics of the past lay forgotten, never truly resting, awaiting recognition.
