//------------------------------// // Chapter 44: Fixed Point // Story: Time Bubbles // by Janicethelight //------------------------------// The doctor opened the door to find absolute chaos. He wasn't sure where he was in Equestria, but this portion seemed to have no rules whatsoever. The Doctor found Ditzy quickly, cowering under a cloud on the ground with roots like a bush. A fish jumped out of it, flying into the sky. The Doctor was certain that he lost it. “Ditzy...where is he?” “Oh, mister, it's you!” Ditzy clung to him, “it was so scary. The pony and I ended up here, and a creature made snow cone balls pop out of her firework launcher with just a snap. He seemed REALLY upset she had it, and then he snapped and she fell to pieces. I fell over! And it laughed cuz I knocked over this teeny tiny house and destroyed it and he snapped and...and...I don't know. He laughed and left. I don't understand why. Am I any different?” “No. You seem...exactly the same.” The Doctor smiled. He found the head of the Teselecta on the ground. He had no idea who did this or why, but he wanted to get Derpy back home as soon as possible, and get the crew back to his dimension. “And now I can at least not worry about these ones any more. Now, let's try to go before that thing comes back.” “....okay.” Ditzy sniffled, being led into the Tardis. “Wow, mister. Your house is reeeeally biiiiig!” “Yes well..” he smiled, starting to make the way back to Derpy's time. For a brief moment, he thought he heard a faint snapping sound just before he flipped the switch. Ditzy looked around the Tardis in amazement, "you must have a big family, mister." “I'm the Docto...Time Turner.” He was so used to her calling him the other name, he slipped with a mistake he wouldn't usually make. “Mister doctor time turner. Wow. Your name is really long too. I think I'll call you Mister Doctor for short.” She was too adorable for words. Well, this might change a few things, but nothing monumental, he hope. He could imagine Derpy talking to him about her new memories once he got back. That would be an interesting conversation. The Tardis made a sound. “Huh...seems we heed a pit stop before we get you back home.” “A pit-M-mister Doctor. Yo-your wings are gone!” “My w-” sure enough, the time was up, thankfully in the safety of the Tardis and not far up in the sky. “Um...yes...about that. You see, Ditzy...I'm not a pegasus. I'm an Earth pony.” “Why were you a pegasus unless...I get it. You were trying to catch the bad robot thingy, right. Her firework launcher was faulty, and she could have really hurt some pony!” The Doctor smirked. “You catch on quick. I was on her trail when she showed you her, uh...launcher. as for why she wanted to get to you...well, I can't say for sure. At any rate, I plan to take her back where she came from, and my ship just found a spot. This...may be a bit of a shock.” The Doctor threw open the doors to the far reaches of space where galaxies and stars littered the sky, glittering in magnificence. Ditzy gasped. “Is this what the night sky always looks like?!” “Yes and no. This is space. Your night sky is just a small piece of an infinitely large picture. Around you are countless planets with life on them much like yours. Worlds begging to be explored. I go to them, and help however you can.” “Wow...so...your like a royal knight, but for, like all the planets ever?!” “Um...I'm more of a traveler. I don't think I would call myself a knight…” “That's so cool!” Ditzy fluttered. “Saving ponies throughout the galaxy and I can see you like ‘don't thank me. I was just passing through. Like an old pony western book!” She giggled, “that means, you...you're a true hero!” “Well, I-” “Can I join you?” “What?” The Doctor was at a loss. “Every hero needs a sidekick right?! I can be the one to pick you up when your down. It's like in the tale, “Dessert Tumbleweed and the Lonely Dirt Road. My mom loves reading it to me before bed.” “I think you mean desert…” the Doctor sighed, “and I'm sorry but-” “This work is too dangerous for a youngun,” Ditzy finished with a sigh, “fine...but can I at least help you this one time. Please?! I promise, I'll be the best sidekick ever.” The Doctor shook his head with a smile. It was a simple thing to do. Why not amuse her? “Alright. You can be my look out. Make sure no more bad robots are on our tail.” “This is so cool. I'm on a flying house ship with a real hero that can go into the night sky where there's a lot of other places with their own night skies to take a bad robot head back where it comes from. Wait until I tell the others!” “You can't. This has to stay hush hush.” “Right. Why?” “Um… don't want to frighten any pony, right.” Ditzy nodded. The Doctor smiled, sonic out. He couldn't see the rift, but the sonic could find it. As the sonic buzzed, Ditzy asked, “maybe, if i do a good job...I could be your sidekick...forever.” The Doctor froze. “but...what about your dream to be a wonderbolt?” “I can do both! Wonderbolt by day, super Ditzy by night. With my flight and your cool house, we could help so many together!” “That's a lot of work for such a small pony.” “But, I don't mind. I mean, you saved me. The least I can do is to stop you from being lonely.” “What?” “That's what a sidekick is for, right? I would help you not feel lonely?” The Doctor gave a serious look, “Oh, Ditzy Doo. A sidekick...no, my companion is so much more than that.. You do more than just stop my loneliness, and give me some pony to talk to. You remind me what it means to be a pony. You think of things I never would...because in my years and years of...wandering...i think so many steps ahead that I tend to not realize the simple solutions. I couldn't save nearly as many ponies, or any creatures without the help of my companions. So, don't you ever sell yourself short. Not ever. Because you are important. Never forget that. In all the worlds and all the creatures I've met, I've never met one that wasn't.” Ditzy smiled, “then you're better than the books.” She smiled, “so then, I help. Seeing different places. Flying faster and farther than ever before. Helping creatures. The hero wonderbolt!” “Heh. We'll see.” That confidence. Where had that been before?! He couldn't help but not say no. He scanned the area. “Ah, there it is!” he took the head. “Time for you lot to go back where you belong.” “But, Mister Doctor. There's nothing there…” “Ah, nothing you can see. But, there is. It's a rift through space and time.” “A...a rift?” “Kind of like a hole in reality that leads to a different reality.” “...you lost me…” The Doctor laughed, “don't worry. You'll understand when your older.” He tossed the head into space. It floated for a moment before disappearing entirely. “Wow! That was amazing!” Ditzy gasped. “You are the coolest hero ever!” “Well, let's get you back-” “Wait! Can't we stay for a few more minutes. It's soooo pretty!” The Doctor nodded. It has been some time since he had the chance to just...enjoy the view. He sat next to Ditzy, the unfamiliar view like a candy store. So many worlds to choose from. Once Derpy was safe, he would have her choose a star in the sky, and they would go have a closer look. “It is a marvelous sight, isn’t it, Derpy?” “Doctor. My name is Ditzy, remember?” “Sorry...you just...remind me of a friend of mine.” “Is her name Derpy?” “That’s what everyone calls her.” “You must really really like her if you keep saying her name.” The Doctor flushed a bit, “Oooooh, Mister Doctor has a special somepony!” She sang. “Yes...well. She does mean a lot to me.” “I hope somepony feels that way about me someday.” “Oh, I can guarantee it, Ditzy. I can guarantee it.” The two closed the door after a bit and he instructed the TARDIS to return to Cloudsdale. “Doctor?” “Yes, Ditzy?” “What made you decide to become a hero?” “It was when I— you know, I don’t think I ever really looked at it that way. I just run. And wherever I run to, I find those who need help.” “What made you run then?” “That’s a bit complicated. See where I come from, there’s a test of sorts. When we’re of a certain age, they bring us to look at a very special rift.” “What’s in it?” “Everything!” “I can’t even imagine what that would look like.” “Seeing it doesn’t make it any easier. Our three-dimensional minds can’t possibly begin to make sense of it. But that’s not the point of the test. It’s to see what we can— it’s sort of like, going into a shop and finding something that fancies us. Or looking at a piece of art, and it means something different to everypony who looks at it.” “Art? So it’s pretty?” “Pretty, and terrifying.” “What did you see when you looked at it?” “It’s— one moment, it’s always so hard to pull the image back, scattered and knotted in five dimensions.” He closed his eyes and concentrated and waited for the vision of so long ago to return to him. Few moments in his long life were still so crystal clear to him, but it remained a struggle to bring it back to the surface. “A white bolt of lightning. Only it’s upside down. It began as a single bolt of energy, shooting up out of the darkness. Slowly. Far slower than lightning should ever move. And then it splits into more bolts, and then those bolts split, meandering, again and again until it’s spreading in all directions, reaching towards the stars like a hundred spindly fingers. Every color imaginable surges through it and some colors none have ever seen before.” “What does that mean to you?” He placed a hoof to his forehead, before wiping tears from his eyes. “I don’t know. It’s meant to inspire, and I guess for me, it sort of did. But I felt fear. Panic. It drove me to start travelling and I’ve been doing it ever since. Never stopping.” “Well, I think the unmentored prism is a good test then, because without that, I wouldn’t have met you.” The Doctor tried to smile but his eyes also showed sadness. “It’s not always good. I lost my best friend to it. The sound he heard made him go mad.” Ditzy’s ears drooped. “I’m so sorry.” “It’s not your fault.” “Still sorry, Mister Doctor.” She paused for a moment and then felt the need to break the awkward silence. “Did you hear anything?” “Yes. Or at least, I thought I did. I thought I heard a voice… echoing through infinity.” “What did it say?” “Impossible to tell, really. I’m not even sure if I actually heard it; and if I did, if it was even coming from the rift. It was so faint, but it felt real. As if the lightning was... beckoning me somehow.” Just as he finished his sentence, the TARDIS landed. “Well, we’re here.” The Doctor opened the door to find a sight he wasn’t expecting. Instead of clouds, there were post buildings and a clean stone street that lead to a castle. “Woah...how...we’re...we’re in Canterlot!” Derpy gasped. “Yes...and we shouldn’t be.” The Doctor sighed. He had been here once, though it seemed different now...newer. He looked back to the Tardis, “Why bring us here?” “Don’t you decide where to go, Doctor?” “Not exactly..” The Doctor shook his head. “But she wouldn’t do this. Now now...not with...there must be more to it. Was there something wrong with the hop. Did I somehow miss the mark. That’s...not like me…” he pondered over this, muttering to himself. “Mister Doctor-”Ditzy thought. The ground shook. A huge light emanated from Canterlot castle. The soundwave blew Ditzy and the doctor back. Light mixed with dark in the castle in front of them. “Oh no. Princess Celestia!” She called, rushing off. “No. Derpy!” He called to her, rushing with her. She used her wings for bursts of speed on the ground before deciding to fly. The Doctor ran with all his might. There was definitely a fight going on at the castle. A fight that Derpy shouldn't be a part of. “We need to get you ho-” he stopped. Two figures fought. One white figure dodged a black figure as magic beams of energy shot at each other. Two fighting alicorns. One was Celestia. That meant the other was- “Luna?” How? Derpy had said Luna was nowhere to be seen in her lifetime. But, there she was, unmistakably fighting her sister, but that meant- he looked back at the Tardis. Why would she bring them to a different time?! Derpy stopped, her eyes locking up to the sky. “Another...alicorn?” She asked, confusedly. The Doctor caught up, hoof on her. “It's dangerous. Princess Celestia can handle this.” The Doctor sighed. What did Celestia do this time?! Luna was pissed. Was this just after Sombra? Was Luna giving Celestia a piece of her mind? It definitely seemed like more than a spat. “Let's get back to the-my flying house.” He breathed. Maybe he could calm things down once Ditzy was safe. “Uhh, Mister Doctor?” He turned. Odd creatures appeared from the very ground they stood on, seeming to mold themselves from the very darkness of the night that surrounded them. They reminded the doctor of ants, but they had arms and legs and giant yellow eyes. The Doctor took Ditzy by the hoof. It didn't take a genius to know these creatures weren't friendly. “Run, Ditzy!” The sisters would have to wait. He ran, pulling the filly along as more shadow ants appeared. The Tardis was completely surrounded by the creatures. A gut feeling tugged at the doctor, and he was suddenly relieved that he always locked the door, though he wasn't sure why. “Let's go this way.” He nodded, pulling Ditzy away from the ship. They ran away from the creatures and from the fight. Out of Canterlot, staring down the side of the mountain. The creature's wouldn't stop coming even from the quiet mountain side. Worse, screaming coming from behind them from the ponies. The Doctor turned in time to a pony attacked by one, a heart floating up from her body. The Doctor's grip tightened. “Mister Doctor...I’m scared.” Ditzy admitted. “It’s alright, Ditzy. I don’t know what exactly these things are. It seems they aren’t after any pony in particular. They’re mindlessly searching...but for what, I’m not sure. It would be better for us to get further from the city. We might be able to find ponies and regroup.’ He walked around the edge of the city as he spoke. The odd bug like creatures didn’t seem to stop coming. The Doctor had to think. He had to help as many ponies as he could, but he didn’t like the idea of little Ditzy being in this much danger with a foe he didn’t know. They made their way around while he thought, until they found themselves looking down a sheer drop in the cliffs. Monkey like creatures were climbing up the cliffs with odd emblems on them. “Something tells me those monkeys aren't friendly either.” The doctor sighed, climbing around more quickly. A plan had already formed in his mind. They would find a back way into the castle, he would smack some sense into the sisters, and, with their help, these shadow creatures should be a thing of the past. He looked up. They were edging around the side of the castle toward the back, getting closer. Ditzy kept slipping a bit, worrying the Doctor. At least he knew she could fly if she did fall. A ledge came up under them before long. They had moved further down than he meant to, with the castle a decent climb above them. He looked down. The monkeys were still making their way up too. A sharp screeching sound caught the Doctor's attention. Out from the woods flew what looked to be jet black griffins. The same symbol he noticed on the monkeys was etched on the griffin's foreheads. They were flying right to the two. The doctor didn't hesitate. He swung Ditzy carefully, letting her hoof go. Ditzy slid across the ledge, her back impacting the wall behind her. To the Doctor's surprise, the wall crumbled, revealing a cavern or cave underneath. Ditzy got up, confusedly looking at the new opening. The next moment, a griffon grabbed the Doctor. “Der-Ditzy! Run inside! I'll get out of this!” His absolute tone caused her to nod before she could think. Another black griffin flew towards her. She flew too, into the small hole she made. The griffin caught itself between the hole, screeching at her. It pulled itself free, giving up on its prey. Derpy looked around. The cavern was covered in crystals. She had never seen anything so beautiful! She stopped. A giant gaping hole stretched out between her and the other side. There was a railway as well. “Why put train tracks underground?” She asked. She followed them with her eyes as they corkscrewed up beyond her sight. She flew up, eyes on the other side. She would get nowhere by staying in one place. She breathed. It's not so bad. It's like flying from cloud to cloud...except you can't see the bottom ...I can do this right… “maybe it would be better to stay put...the Doctor won't be able to find me if I get too far away, right?! And those monkeys are too big for the hole I made, so I should be safe here...I think. Okay. I'm scared.” She told her reflection, “but I'm safe here...so why move?” She waited. “It's been forever. Maybe I should-” The ant creatures came through the solid ceiling from far above and dropped to the floor near by. Ditzy screamed. They walked away, paying her no mind. More and more fell, ignoring the tiny pony in favor of jumping into the abyss. “What? What's down there? Why are they all going to one place? Well...only one way to find out.” she sighed. She closed her eyes, flying as far as she dared. When she opened them, she was in the middle of the mouth. She swallowed hard. She flew down, slowly at first, but as the light faded away behind her, she flew faster...what if there was no bottom? What if she just kept flying forever?! Thoughts raced through her mind as she kept going. She was about to give up and fly back when her flank met with the ground. She landed, harshly, and immediately slid. She screamed, a mixture of joy and horror as she slid further and further down a pitch black natural slide. Lights began to shimmer, as crystalline threads illuminated her path. As thin as yarn at first, they widened more and more, and now some were even bigger than her. They weaved in and out of the slide area like huge, glowing worms. They were so beautiful that Ditzy began enjoying the impromptu ride. Eventually, the slide stopped, and Ditzy saw a jungle of the vine like crystals. They connected together at one place on the ground and then zigzagged upwards towards the ceiling. “Wow.” She breathed. The shadow creatures were climbing up to it. Ditzy felt a sudden urge...a gut feeling that she had to stop them before they made it to where all of the vines connected. But how? There were so many! She had to try. Flying up, she pushed the shadow ants off the top most vines. They couldn't fly, at least, so she had one advantage. She pushed more of them off but the ants simply beginning their climb again from the bottom. She started getting their attention as they realized this one small pegasus was between them and their prize. She was protecting the crystal and they knew it. She could feel magic radiating from it...more magic than she had ever felt before. Her instincts were right.. This crystal structure was important, whatever it was. The ants scratched at Ditzy as she flew. She felt her body sting with those scratches, but she still tried. She knew she couldn't keep this up forever. She had to find a different way. She flew around, looking for something that could give her more of an advantage. She found something. Tucked away, with the vines wrapping around it, was some sort of dark opening. Purple and blue liquid was falling away from it like there was some impossible never-ending tunnel inside. That had to be a rift. The doctor told her they weren’t normally visible. But the previous one she felt nothing from. This one made her feel heavy, like gravity was trying to pull her into it. She couldn’t look away. Her mind and body were at odds, as she wanted to run from it but also wanted to gaze. Terrifying but beautiful, infinite knowledge but mysterious, orderly but chaotic, everything. All of time and space seemed to flash through it. Everything that had ever been or ever would be, in every single place, all of it met here in a singularity. Her eyes burned with the fire of other worlds, dimensions, the past, and future and of so much more. Her eyes began to sting and her head throbbed. Fear grabbed her. She had to turn away, realizing she had no idea how long she had been standing there, staring. It could’ve been an hour or more! She remembered the creatures. She looked back and they were almost upon her. Only seconds had gone by! They had her cornered and all she could do was run towards the opening. As she got closer, she became aware of a consciousness, or perhaps many. In that vortex it was impossible to tell. She wasn’t sure of what else to do in that moment though, and for a split second, she somehow felt safety in front of her. Instinctively she cried out into it as she ran, “Please, help me!” Suddenly she tripped on a vine on the ground. It caused her to tumble towards the vortex as its gravity grew stronger, but then she collided with a crystal which caused her to bounce clear of it. The creatures weren’t so lucky and were seemingly hypnotized by it, almost gladly charging into the thing. It took a few minutes for the world to stop spinning...but the headache grew worse. She looked up at the crystal she had guarded. There was a door on it now with cracks in it, slightly ajar. How it hadn’t been there before she couldn’t understand. She had made it just in time. She smiled, the heat in her head worsening by the moment. She stepped up, ready to close the door. A huge dark shadow swiped her away. She got up as it reached its claw up to the door. “NO!” Using every last ounce of strength, Ditzy flew up to the door as fast as her wings would carry her. She made it, a shooting pain in her back causing her to scream. Her heart felt like it was being ripped out of her. She knew there was a monster still in the room, a gigantic one, and it was attacking her, but she didn’t dare look. She had to push the door closed. Inside, she heard a sound-an oddly familiar sound: bum bum, bum bum. Bum bum, bum bum. Worry not, young filly, you will live on. A voice inside her head spoke. A bright light spilled from the door. The pain in her back and heart stopped just as she shut the door. She breathed, her task complete as she fell unconscious. It was a crazy night for the Doctor. The monsters gave him the runaround for a time. Whatever was happening, it was serious. And he’d also noticed one time glancing up that the mare in the moon was suddenly visible. Whatever was happening, the craters on the moon were almost certainly tied to all of this. He wondered if perhaps there was a meteor storm, that might be hitting the planet as well. Perhaps the creatures arrived that way? The sonic was having trouble finding Ditzy, but had made the Doctor aware of a massive power source under ground and there were hints of a recent temporal disturbance. He meandered through tunnels using the sonic as a light source and managed to find a safer path down than the pit that Ditzy had flown into. He found the tunnel with glowing white crystal-like ropes. Or were they vines? Roots? As he travelled the narrow tunnel, a powerful feeling came over him. Fear and anxiety, but also excitement. His hearts pounded in a way he hadn’t experienced in a long time. The tunnel opened into the cave and the Doctor froze. His eyes were wide with shock, and his mouth hung open. Like a deer looking at an oncoming car at night, he couldn’t move but only stare at the sight that lay before him. The vision he’d had when he looked into the untempered schism, the strange ghost of his oldest memories, was standing before him magnificently. A bolt of colorful lightning frozen in a single moment, reaching up and outward. No, was it a tree? The twinkling stars he remembered were now crystals peeking out of the cavern walls. Was just an amazing coincidence. After all, visiting as many times and places as he had, sooner or later the wonders of the infinite universe would show him something resembling the vision? But it didn’t feel similar, it felt identical. His gut was telling him something that logic couldn’t explain, but it would have to wait. He forced his head to turn away and his legs to move as he searched the room for what he hoped he would find. There was Ditzy, asleep, in low-hanging branches of the anomalous structure, shaped almost like a hammock that was sized perfectly for her. Slowly the Doctor approached and then placed a hoof on one of the crystal vines that were cradling the little filly. The vines glowed and made a beautiful high-pitched ringing sound as he touched them. He felt no pain from it, but it resonated, and it felt oddly safe, which was enough to convince him that nothing bad would happen if he climbed up to remove Ditzy. With a bit of a struggle, he managed to place her on his back and make the slow journey out of the cavern, but not before taking one last look at the crystal object at the center of the room. He was so bewildered that he hadn’t even thought to scan it. No time now. He had to take care of Ditzy. Hours passed and he managed to get close enough to the surface where moonlight was coming in. No longer needing it as a light source, he put away his sonic. Ditzy’s eyes slowly opened and she mumbled. “Mister... Doctor?” “Ditzy!” “Where am I?” “On the way back to my ship.” “I found a rift thingy.” “What?!” “I could see...it was scarier...then the one earlier...it had so much...power….” As she continued trying to describe what she saw, the colors, the vortex, the Doctor looked more and more astonished. “The untended season was just like you said it was.” “The untempered schism? You saw into the time vortex?!” “I'm so tired.” “No, no, no. Stay with me, Ditzy. Tell me what happened.” “Crystals reaching up. Branches. Bugs attacked it. I had to stop them; led them into the rift. There was a big shadow monster, but the drums and light saved me...but...there's so much that I don't understand.” “What???” “So tired.” Ditzy drifted again. “No. Ditzy. I don't know if I can wake you again. You have to stay up.” The Doctor pleaded. “What happened? Try to tell me everything. Any detail could help me figure out how to save you.” Derpy's eyes opened, sagging heavily. “so many things...keyholes, darkness and light, a heart moon, colors gone but come back...that poor boy. No one can see him….what will you choose...red or blue...his parents were killed by a monster...two siblings forced apart for differences out of their control...bow tie…” now she was spewing random nonsense, “magic...comes at a price. Bring back the heart. So many bugs..he-heartless...consuming...consuming everything.” The doctor waited, listening. His fur stood on end. She seemed to have stuck to a topic. He could see it. There were flashed through her eyes, flashes of things, and places she couldn't possibly know about. “worse than a big bad wolf, hungrier than all the heartless, worse than any d Dalek...it consumes. Nothing is all that will be left.” Nothing...again. It all came back to that word. Ditzy shook her head, hooves holding her head from the pain of whatever warning she spewed. He doubted she even knew she said something. “I was a hero...like you!” The doctor felt tears fall from his face. Her eyes had already started. One was traveling where it wanted. It was barely noticeable now, but he knew it was the start of her wonky eyes. “No...you were a hero like you.” He nodded. Had to keep her talking, especially after that sudden flashes in her eyes. She had more in her mind than she should. Had to say something...anything to keep her talking “though, if you want to be like me...maybe you could be my companion…” “Really?! We helped...a lot of ponies, right...like the wonderbolts.” “I didn't know the wonderbolts helped ponies.” The Doctor pressed buttons, trying to find a way to save her. There had to be a way to save her! Memories of a similar problem went through his head...would wiping memories work? He didn't think he could take untempered schism energy like he could Tardis energy. Ditzy nodded, “they're Equestria's defense if there's ever...a crisis..to defend all the planets like that. I would love that.” “So you wanted to be a wonderbolt...to help save ponies…” he should have known, “you know. Most ponies would have run from those rifts. You ran straight to it...that's very brave of you.” “but...I was scared.” “Of course you were. Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. Bravery is when you’re scared but do what needs to be done anyway.” The Doctor nodded as he came upon the TARDIS. Ditzy glanced towards it, pointed, and smiled. “Yay! You did steal that one.” “What did you say? How did you know that?” “Know what?” She was confused. But her words were boggling him. It reminded him of something. As did her story about in the room that contained the vortex. So much familiar, but he didn’t understand why. He usually had so many things to talk about...thousands of years worth of things, and yet, his mind was drawing a blank. He took a breath taking a very quick moment to calm himself. He would save her, and, until then, he had to keep her talking...suddenly, a thought his him like a ton of bricks: the rifts, the fact she could see them, closing them, going with him...he knew exactly what to talk about, “You know, some creatures believe rifts like the one you saw are used to travel in time or space. Different creatures even came up with different words to call rifts. Some call them a wrinkle in time, since you can jump so easily from one part to another...others a time jump, time folds, time vortex and time waves...so many different names. My favorite name for them…” he looked her way with a loving smile, trying to hold back his tears and fear for her sake, “are time bubbles.” “Time...bubble...maybe that...can be...my hero name...Doctor and Time Bubbles.” She grinned, the pain in her head causing it to stop short. She wanted to sleep so much, but that idea kept her imagination and consciousness going, “then we can help others together...forever. I love that idea.” She beamed. The light from her flank stopped the pain momentarily as she saw seven bubbles. “And now...it's official. We are going to be traveling together forever. Two heros, saving the world..” Her joy and wonder quickly faded as she began to slip back into unconsciousness. His Eyes widened No. “Ditzy. No! I'm losing her. I can't! I can't lose her. I-” he hit the Tardis console. A piece popped far too easily, off, exposing the soul of the Tardis. The Tardis had an idea, it seemed. A small line of energy raised from the center, trailing down to Ditzy as she slept. It wrapped around her before flying into her eyes as she slept. The Doctor understood. He took one last look out at the now quiet Canterlot, seeing the Mare on the Moon suddenly where it wasn't earlier. Everything came together. Ditzy had energy from the untempered schism in her, and now, too keep that energy in check, the Tardis energy as well...plus whatever really was the drums and light...from a crystal door? There was so much conflicting energy. And, there was a cost as well. The Tardis energy could hold back the energies, taking the memories the doctor couldn't. And the Doctor knew that it could only be so long as Derpy never remembered this. Any memories of this adventure could kill her. “Of course…” he sighed. “I'm sorry, Ditzy...Derpy. I'm so...so sorry.”