//------------------------------// // A Little Tear Keeps Friends Near // Story: The Heart of a Derpy Ditzy // by Derpybrony890 //------------------------------// Now my eyes can go in directions, mess up with my hooves, and even make my head hurt from trying to hard to be normal but never had my eyes seen a hallucination. It may have been just a simple large creature at the time, but the way it looked reminded me of someone. In fact, it was the same shape, size, and sound of Time-Turner. The other thing I noticed was that it was going in my observatory, and I had never shown that to anypony except Turner So naturally, it made the most sense. What didn’t make any sense was the fact that Time-Turner was coming late at night to the observatory, and it struck my mind for a long time? Did he want to talk? No, then he would have told me. Maybe he just wanted to look at the stars as I do and knows that the observatory is the best place to do it? Or maybe he is a secret spy that was looking for me and wants to experiment on my eyes like in my nightmares! I thought as the worst was coming to my head. The thoughts wouldn’t leave until I went I suppose, so I quietly opened my window and flew to my observatory waiting for the worst. I went to the little window near the opening and gasped from the shock that struck me. What I saw both scared yet also relieved me. It was strange. I saw Time, in the hammock that he had brought, completely asleep. When I came in many questions were being spewed out of my mind but no answered was happening. As I crawled, I bumped into the sidewall and held my breath hoping he wouldn’t wake up. He didn’t and I continued my trek. The problem was that I didn’t know what would happen when I reached my destination, but still, I crept. Then I fell to the floor leaving a loud thump and cursing but quickly covering my mouth. Still not a movement from where he stood. Maybe staying on the ground will help me without making any noise I thought. I crawled quietly in the dark but bumped my head causing something to fall, I didn't know what it was because it was too dark, but I knew for sure that this was the moment he would wake. He didn't. Finally reaching to where I needed, I saw him, his face was so peaceful that I almost left, but then nothing would happen, and I needed to get some answers. I was about to scream when I stopped and sighed. “You don't deserve this,” I said very quietly. As soon as the words left my mouth, Turner jumped up and screamed right out of the hammock. I heard him wail out and cursing this way and that. “Are you kidding me!” I said angrily at myself for making the smallest noise that woke him out of the huge mess I made before. Time looked at me and was shocked as I was seeing him. He looked so nervous that I instantly felt bad about this whole thing, then I remembered all of those things that I thought of before this mess came out. “What are you doing here!” I asked with all the rage reaching out of me. “I can explain! I swear I wasn't going to steal anything! I was just… well” “Well, what?” I asked with my eyes full of fire. “Well, I… was just taking a walk! And I was getting really tired so I thought ‘where would there be a good place to rest’ and then I remembered that your-” “Don't give all that crap! I know you don't take walks and especially wouldn't want to stay here for the night, I also know that with everything that has been going on, you said you wouldn't be back, so why are you here now?” I didn't want to shout and cause a ruckus outside, so I kept my anger outside a minimum, though inside I was a furious pit of fire! “That is a very good question that I can answer,” Time Turner said with sweat coming off his face. “And that answer is?” He stared and shook, I knew this was going to end badly, yet I kept quiet because I wanted answers that needed to come out. His mouth opened and closed, he was struggling with his words, yet I stayed still and waited. Finally, he sighed and didn’t even need to answer before I knew what it was. “It’s me… isn't it?” I said small. “What! No Ditzy it's not-” “Don't lie to me! I know why you left! I know why you didn’t want to come back! I know that I'm the one who messed up and told you about that and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I went ballistic and yelled at you. I'm sorry that you think you have to say here when you don't. But do you know what I'm not sorry about? I'm not sorry about you being right. I am a stupid mare. I don't deserve your friendship, and I hope you realize that I'm better alone. With no one who cares like before.” my tears were coming out and I tried to stop them, but knowing that he was going to leave made me sad and when I get sad I can't stop till all the tears came out. Time Turner came up to me, but I just moved back. I couldn't have him hug me and make me feel better. I deserve to feel bad and I didn't want him to help me. It also surprised me that he actually came closer to help me, but I didn't want that. I only wanted him to leave. “Do you really want to know what happened to me?” he asked in the pitch dark. I didn't know what to say so I kept the awkward silence going. Finally, I realized that he was actually wanting to tell me about his life! I didn’t want him to stay but I did want answers, and to be given the opportunity, I took it wholeheartedly I nodded and he sighed, “okay then, sit down and ask me what you want.” “What's your real name?” it came out like I was expecting to say that, yet I didn’t, and it came out naturally. He looked surprised at the question. I thought that this was the simplest question he could answer, but he stayed still for a while before calming down and breathing. “Pass” “What!?” “I said pass, don't I get to do that?” “No!” “Worth a shot, my real name, is…” he looked left to right as if someone was watching him. And I felt the tension in his eyes as he continued to look at me. “Doctor Whooves,” he said, I think I might have misread him, but he didn’t seem pleased from the way it sounded in his mouth. “That's it?” I asked. The name sounded less normal than Time Turner, but it wasn’t as out there as my name was. “Any reason why you changed it?” “That is because I didn't think it would be best to be called the same name.” “And why is that?” “I… should tell you a lie, but I can't. You’re not one to be lied to are you,” I stared, he was acting as he meant it, I could see those blue eyes and tell that he needed to say that, but I didn't think that was all. “Well, I may not be one to be lied to, but maybe it would be better for you if you told me a small part of the truth. You may not know this, but I can guess a few things about a pony with clues.” I said, not as convinced as I should have been. “Oh, believe me, I know it,” “You do?” “Of course! How many ponies could guess that my name wasn't really it the first time they heard it,” he answered, he was showing some sort of change since the fight. And it made me happy to see him like this again. “You can probably guess from clues too; I've seen you think and it's amazing! You just know everything!” I knew the subject was changing, I did that only because I wanted to give him a break. It's been a long night for both of us. “Not everything,” he said sorely, and the moment was gone, I knew I shouldn't, but… “What do you mean, ‘not everything’?” “I may know a lot of things, except for one: I don't know when to keep my mouth shut for ponies I care about, and the minute I say anything, it goes all over the land and soon I am the one who's the disappointment in their lives even though my cutie mark is something that I love!” his emotional shift was amazing, how he turned to happy to sad to angry was beyond me, though it made me question who the ‘their’ was in his little outburst. “You know, I actually like the name Doctor,” I said, knowingly changing the subject, mostly so he can feel some reassurance before I learn anything else. It would make me feel better knowing he was better. “Really?” His face showed nothing but surprise, and I smiled. Soon however I stopped because I knew I was beginning to feel something again, and this cannot happen now! “Yeah, it makes you sound important like it's what you're destined to do,” I said in a light mood, it didn’t work. In fact, it seemed to make him sadder than before. “Oh no, I messed up didn't I, I knew that was going to go wrong, what was it? Was it the important part, or the-” “Don't say that!” he yelled, I knew this was making us just go back to square one, but I just continued on. “Why does it make you so mad when I mention things that are related to your name or your cutie mark? Does it have something to do with your life? Is that why you're here? What is it!” I yelled back We huffed out angry breathes before calming down. Yelling didn’t seem like it was making us get anywhere, but soon my right eye going in a different direction, which caused him to laugh. I was confused at first, but then I realized that I was making him smile. Fully smile! And soon I got into laughter as well. Time-or should I say, Doctor Whooves was laughing so much I thought he was going to hyperventilate from the laughter! And then he smiled at me just like the first time I saw him, and at that moment it almost seemed like he was stalling just to get out of telling me the truth, which wouldn’t be improbable, but then he frowned, and I stopped my laughter. Another moment of silence fell as I saw his struggle to get everything out, but I still waited with held breath, hoping that he wouldn’t take all night. “I ran away,” he said changing all moods together, I didn't know whether to feel surprised by the way he left his home or the fact that he was the kind of person who ran away from his home! Nonetheless, I wasn't happy or sad. “I lived in a small town near Trottingham,” So that’s where the accents from! I knew It was something far in the lands of Equestria. “It was a great town. When I was younger, I always went out to find some ponies to play with, we didn't have much in that town, but we still had fun. I was always getting into trouble that later made my friends laugh. My mother, a great mare, always called me in for the delicious dinner that she cooked. My father, a strong colt, came in to give me all the fatherly advice I could think of. I being an only child meant that their attention focused mostly on me. It probably was the greatest life I could have at that age.” “Then… why did you run away?” I asked, it seemed like this was the kind of life anypony would want, but I knew this wasn't the end of the story. “My family owned a nice little hospital for the town. From my great grandfather to my own father. Each generation was to have a child who could pass on the building to. So, my father told me that I was next in line and that I would hold the keys to a family heirloom. But I never did find it as grand as my father wanted. And you can guess what happens.” I already knew but this wasn't probably the time to stop him. “My mum and dad did everything to convince me to get into that hospital, and I would just go off into space or do the thing that I always loved, counting time. My mother needed her alarm clock fixed, but she needed an expert and, this being a little town, couldn’t find one. I was only a youngling when I found it and just like lightning… I was struck, I knew how to fix that alarm clock like a juvenile fish knew how to swim. And when my mother came back, she was awestruck by what she saw. I thought it was of proudness to my achievement, but it was something of me. I looked to where she was and saw that an hourglass had come onto my bum. I felt the moment of pride when I saw that I had found my destiny, however, it only lasted a few seconds, before I glanced at my mum. She was scared. And I didn't know why. When my father came back that day, he looked at me with a smile, and that was the last time I saw him smile at me. I was so confused; I had no idea why everypony was so afraid and angry at one of the greatest achievements in my life. I was told to go to my room while they both started talking, which then turned to yelling, and I heard everything.” “‘How is he going to work in the hospital if he has that misshapen form on his rump that means something totally against the family!’” “I couldn't help but cry at the fact that my father hated me. But it only got worse from there.” I waited until he was completely done with his pause. This was probably going to lead to tears soon. “I went over to a friend's house and he asked me why I had an hourglass on my flank. I knew that the truth would most likely make my parents angrier at me than they already were, so I told my friend a lie that my father was angry with me and made me wait in a dark room so I can learn to be patient. Yes this sounds like the most idiotic thing in the world, but at that time I was practically living in that environment, mother always shoving down food in my door and closing it as quickly as she opened, almost as if she was afraid that I would strike her!. And, as you can obviously tell, that was the biggest mistake I ever made. Unfortunately, my friend’s mother overheard me and she was, of course, the biggest gossip in the town. She told everypony she knew! And soon the rumor was spreading like wildfires, even adding in some terrible things such as my own father beating me up and taking to the bottle! And it was my fault! Thanks to me, the hospital was losing business every day from fears of the owner giving horrid punishments to his workers. And by the time the truth was out no one believed me. It even got so bad that authorities had to come and by and settle a little rebuttal that my father and I had. You wouldn’t believe the guilt that overrides me even to this day. By the time I was in my teens, my father had taken those rumors to heart, and actually started to succumb to what they were saying. And yes, even the parts of the beatings. During this course of time nopony wanted to talk to me, for fear that I might ruin their lives as well. And all I could do was nod my head in understanding, not even I wanted to be seen with myself. Everypony hated my cutie mark, and even I was trying to get rid of it, but you couldn’t get rid of your destiny. My parents…” He sniffed and wiped a tear. Right now, would have been the time, but I had to wait. “My parents told me that with everything that had been going on, they felt as if their whole reputation was brought out in lies, and they were so mad that I had almost believed they would never appreciate me again. And never did I hear any reassurance towards my doubt, I even asked my own mother if she still loved me despite what I had done, and she didn’t even answer me, just staring blankly out from my vision, I didn’t need any hint, I knew what she was going to say. I asked my father the same thing, and he didn’t even need to become silent for me to already know the answer…” “‘I have no son’” I gasped, this was something I wasn't expecting, I thought it was just going to be another stare and no answer, but this was even more painful, but before I could do anything, he continued. “After that, I couldn't stand living there anymore. I had no family, no friends, no one. So, I scrapped up as much currency as I could, crept out in the night, and left my home. I didn’t know where I would go, I just found the train and rode somewhere, anywhere that they couldn’t see me. My travels led me to a town named Manehatten, and that was where I spent the rest of my long teenage years with nopony to help me. I grew a new name and a few friends; I was a completely different pony. I even grew a marefriend at that time.” He smiled which brought me anger, I didn't know what this was, but I didn't like it. It was like that twinge I felt back in the library, only this time it was much stronger. The thing is, I only feel this way whenever another mare is mentioned with him. It could be jealousy or the fact that these other mares don't seem like his type. “But of course, I had to mess up again. My marefriend was wondering where I grew up and I grew concerned, if she found out about what I had done, then I could repeat everything that had happened in my past, so you can tell why I made up an origin. She believed me, and it seemed like everything was going well, but I guess there was something inside of me that also felt guilty for not telling her the truth, but I kept that part down. Let’s just say Manehatten didn’t exactly tell me right from wrong, so my conscious was skewed at that time. I kept everything up until one day I let something slip about my parents, and my marefriend began to grow curious again, finding out that both stories don’t really show up, so here I was, back in another lie that was blown out. I told her the truth, expecting her to finally feel happier that I let everything come out. That wasn’t the case, in fact, she just stood there shocked as I told this story. Then she grew angry at me for not wanting to tell her the truth in the first place. So, here I was, trying my best to make sure the same mistake that happened before wouldn’t happen now, but no such luck. Thanks to me, not only did I suffer a breakup, but also an incredibly angry mare who decided that she needed to ‘teach me a lesson’. So, she told everypony about me and my past, including (as if the truth wasn’t bad enough) a few rumors as well. Such as I steal away ponies’ things and run away with them. I was back to square one, once again unable to find any reason to stay, and once again not knowing where to go. However, I did hear about a land where not many live and are very friendly. Not to mention it was cheap. So, I went to the town, found it tremendously peaceful, took the first job I could to earn some bits (apart from the bits I collected on the streets in Manehatten), and found any piece of shelter I could find, and now I'm here. I knew that I needed some form of education, so I applied to Ponyville high, a nice place that I heard where education is nice, and friends are made all the time. Don’t ask me how they could determine why I was all alone, but they didn’t, so here I am, trying my best just to not make any more mistakes. Which as you can see, is ultimately hard to do. But that first day, when I met you, I felt this strange presence, almost as if I could immediately trust you, but I guess that is ruined now too. You can’t believe how sorry I feel for lying to you about all of this. I promise that I am not telling a lie this time, but please try to understand, and I beg of you, don’t tell anypony what you heard. You are probably confused so I can answer some more questions if you want… Ditzy?” I couldn’t help but stare as the tears left his face, then I realized I was acting just like the marefriend that he had. I calmed down and took his hoof to which he jerked away, not expecting me to do so. “Thank you,” I said reaching up to hug him, as the tears kept leaving his face, some went onto me but I didn't care, I got what I wanted and it seemed as if he did as well. Truth and understanding are the main keys to a good friendship, and that makes me believe that we won't be like the other friends he had before. “You aren't like other mares, are you?” he asked as he returned the hug, smiling as I had never seen him show. “Is that a bad thing?” “No, no it's not. It's probably the best bloody thing in the entire Equestria!” We stayed there for a while, but a few things still needed answering, and since it wasn't that late I decided to get as much information as I could. “Can I ask you something?” “Yes, please, anything” “While this has been great information, I still wonder why you were afraid of me telling, even if I did I probably would just sound crazy. Unless that's why you hang out with me.” I said with doubt, even after all of this, I still think he should reconsider his choice of finding friends. He sighed, I know he thinks I must sound silly, but it is a good question, not many think of me as popular or even close to that standard. Gossip to me though just ponies who are hurting other ponies behind their back. So, I try to avoid as much of that as I can. Though my sister can't get enough of it. “No, I was afraid of telling you because I thought you wouldn't trust me like everypony else and leave me just as they did. I still worry about that, and I hope you don't, I may not say this a lot, but of all the ponies I met, you are probably the only one who seems to understand how I feel. Though, if you do decide to leave me, I will be okay with it. It must be uncomfortable to know whether or not you can trust a pony. Nonetheless, it's fine by me if you don't want to be friends anymore.” he said showing a desperate face, I looked into his eyes and laughed, it made him confused but I kept doing it, I laughed and laughed just as he did before and soon we were in a burst of laughter. It was good to do this again, just mindlessly giggle over the stupidest of things. “Why would I ever want to leave you?” I asked even though I just heard his fear. “I don’t know, why would you stay even though you heard how much I lied before. I even lied to you before all of this, so why would you still want to be friends with me?” He said calming from our outbreak in a confused manner. I stared at his blue eyes and smiled, “because that’s all in your past, you think you're never going to find any pony to trust you when you lie, but fortunately for you, I’m not like everypony. And I believe that you can change. Though don’t tell other ponies about you when you know they are a gossip okay. But I can help you with that because you aren’t getting away from me that easily. And to make this official, you are not allowed to leave here at all until the morning” I said getting closer to him and seizing him in a warm and bright embrace, causing him to laugh hard. This is what I missed. Just us making fun of each other and laughing about it. I hugged him harder and looked once again at those beautiful sky-blue eyes, my heart was racing at this point, it always got faster every time I looked into those amazing corneas. My head went under his and my heart grew to a speeding rate. This was different however, this time I could feel his heart too, and it was growing faster as well. He began to stroke my mane and the feelings were calmed, I could feel myself losing consciousness as his strokes were continuing, but they were growing smaller and smaller within every minute so I tried to get up so he could sleep, but he just kept stroking me and I stayed. I must have stayed there long because the last thing I heard the entire night was a ‘Good Night, my friend’ and I was out. Happy for once that somepony took care of me.