Legend once told of a pony who could control time and bend it to his own will. It told of a pony that defeated the great evils that enveloped pony kind, helping those in need and leaving those who used their talents for their own gain. He was known by all, but known by none. Tales have been told through the centuries of this pony having the tell-tale hourglass cutie mark, where others said that it was always something different to everypony. Some described it even being what looked to be a large blue box, with frosted glass windows that had a faint yellow glow; the most detailed cutie mark most had ever seen. But there were also those who saw a pony that was well older than most, yet he was a blank flank. The tales of a past time flow down to the younger generations, changing ever so slightly as they are passed down. One thing, however, never changed – the hourglass cutie mark.
There was only one other pony that had ever been seen with a hourglass cutie mark, and that pony was Time Turner. He wasn’t that much different from anypony, he had a light brown coat and eyes of a beautiful cerulean, and his signature buzz saw manecut. He was often approached by the young fillies and colts who looked to him as a god, and asked him about his travels through time. As to not spoil the young years of these little fillies lives, Time Turner weaved stories so intricate and complicated that they would just sit there in awe as he talked of the rise and fall of the giants. There was one thing that they never failed to ask him with delight, and that was his age. Almost every filly came to him as they pondered on how old he could possibly be. He replied to them simply, “However old I may be, what really matters is how old you think I am.” That was something they could not possibly grasp at their age, running away with their mothers thinking of the oldest things that popped into their feeble little minds.
“That cake under my bed, oh! Even Grandpa! Or he is old as Grandpa’s dad! His dad’s dad!” and they would continue on, and on, as they faded into the horizon and became one with the skyline. He enjoyed what he did with the little fillies around Ponyville, he gave them something to think deeply upon and dream up extravagant re-creations of the tales he told them. It made their childhood just that much more enjoyable, and it warmed his heart to see each one of them smile so widely as they passed him on the street. It was something that he had found out long ago, not even Pinkie Pie’s sweetest sweets could measure up to how this made him feel.
For others around Ponyville, he was known for his exceptional skills repairing clocks, watches, and even filling broken hourglasses to fit the one minute, hour, and day time marks. He was one of the few who actually knew the exact amount of sand to put into one hourglass for any given amount of time, which is rare in a pony, especially for that of an Earth Pony. It was somewhat easier for Unicorns, as they had their magic to assist them in the measurements. Even the most skilled of Unicorns couldn’t match up to the accuracy of Time Turner’s hourglasses. Without much hesitation, everypony would come to him in some sort of time emergency, whether it be a broken Grandfather clock, a broken hoofwatch, or even the time of day. There was just something about him when in his presence, you could feel that he had some sort of connection with time.
There was always one thing that always haunted him, and those were the tales he told. Sure, it made him feel great making the younger ones happy, but the mares his age didn’t want anything to do with someone so childish, or even someone that was as strange as him. Their reasoning was never short of stupidity, some claiming he was a freak for travelling through time even though the tales he told were just that, simple little stories. Even then, some just came to him for his expert clock-working abilities and then left as fast as they came. They never saw how these remarks of his stupidity and childlike nature affected him, when at the end of the day he always felt just that much more lonely.
But they all relied on him at least once a year during the Ponyville Annual Timed Dancing Extravaganza. This was an event that everypony looked forward to, being able to sway to the gentle classical music of Canterlot’s Octavia with their loved ones for exactly one hour; no more and no less. It was one of the few times he was able to sit back and listen to the soft melodic notes of the cello, watching each grain of sand fall slowly through the bottleneck in his trusty hourglass. For whatever reason, he thoroughly enjoyed watching each grain fall with its slightly different color and shape. With every single grain of sand that fell, there the sensation that time had slowed around him, but whenever Time Turner brought his attention back to reality, it all seemed to fly by.
Every year without fail, there was at least one pony who came to him and asked for his hoof to dance, and each and every time - he politely declined. For him, it wasn’t that he particularly disliked any one pony, but it was that he was waiting for her. Time Turner didn’t even know her name, and every year he waited for that one pony he shared an instant connection with. He knew she would eventually be there, it was all just a matter of time before she arrived, and he would be there, waiting.
The evening of the Ponyville 122nd Annual Timed Dancing Event came closer every day, and it eventually was his time to lead everypony in dance, all the while searching for her. When the day had finally arrived, ponies had already started to line up just outside of the main gates hours before the event had even begun to grab their favorite place in the park. The event was arranged by Ponyville’s own Rarity, her sense of fashion and grasp on what sets the atmosphere for such a prestigious event could not go unused. She was essential to the event in every way, the sweet flowers lining the central gazebo, accented perfectly with a deep purple. It was purely undeniable, she was the very best and nothing less.
Octavia stood at the ready in the central gazebo under bright spotlight, her cello in one hoof and the bow in the other, laying it gently across the strings. Held in the central gazebo with Octavia stood Time Turner, holding his trusty hourglass, and Mayor Mare doing the final checks for the event. At the signal of Mayor Mare, she would begin to play and the crowd of ponies would start to flow into the park, filling every last bit of space. And with a small wave of her hoof, she called out, “Welcome to the 122nd Annual Timed Dance! Come on in, everypony!”
Without hesitation, the crowd of ponies that were once clustered outside of the main gates rushed into the park, loved ones at their sides as they rushed to what they considered to be “their” spot. There were a few ponies who came alone, but when accounted for in the grand total, it was less than one percent. Even with all of the ponies that came into the event, Time Turner could still not find the she he was looking for. She was out there, and he knew that with every fiber in his being. Just as he was giving up hope for yet another year in a row, Time Turner saw her.
She stood at the main entrance, a stupidly cute smile across her face, her gray coat accenting the gold eyes perfectly, along with the white dress she wore tying it all together. Time, once again, seemed to slow for him as he knew she was the one. She was standing right there in front of him, after all these years... she was finally there. He stared at her for what seemed to be a century, as he took in the shear beauty that she was releasing to the world.
Time Turner... a voice called to him. It was the voice of a mare...
Time Turner... it called again, but this time he noticed it seemed to be somewhat... slowed. But that couldn’t possibly be right. Looking to his right, Mayor Mare stood there waving her hoof at him as he returned to reality from his little day dream.
“You alright, Turner?” Mayor Mare asked him with slight worry.
“I’m fine, fine,” he replied. “So when do you want to get this started?”
“Just as soon as you are ready,” she smiled. “Everypony, please give me your attention! We will be starting the dance in five minutes, FIVE MINUTES, everypony!”
Time Turner prepared himself to start the turning of the hourglass, making sure it was in sight for everyone to see, and still be in a good place for him to both start and stop the countdown. But his mind still drifted back to the mare he had seen a mere moments before. There was just something about her... the way she just seemed to be so content with the world and everything around her was phenomenal. It was almost as if she had never been sad in her entire lifetime, even though she had most likely gotten some grief over time about her eyes. Those beautiful, golden, cross-eyed... eyes. He thought to himself. He didn’t know why he felt such a connection with her, but he felt it. One of the only things that could possibly keep him from approaching her this evening was himself, and his anxiety that he may mess this up in some way.
“Uhm, excuse me, Mayor Mare,” Time Turner asked hesitantly, “What is that mare’s name, the one over there with the golden eyes?”
“Oh, her?” she replied, pointing a hoof over towards the pony Time Turner was referring to. he nodded nervously, hoping she wouldn’t see Mayor Mare pointing at her. “That would be Derpy Hooves, Turner. Why do you ask?”
He tried to come up with some witty remark that would make him seem highly intelligent, but the only thing he could come to say one thing. “Curious,” he replied.
“You could have always gone up to her and asked for her name... or even a dance, Turner,” Mayor Mare told him, looking straight through his weak cover up. “In any case though, 1 minute until the dance officially starts, so be ready!”
He looked out towards the Everfree Forest, almost lost in thought as he exhaled a deep and troubled sigh. It didn’t make much sense to him that she could easily meant so much to him, even though he expected to find that somepony who meant the world to him. But this... this felt completely different. Should I go and talk to her? He asked himself.
“3!”
But what if she... Derpy doesn’t like me? What if she doesn’t want to dance with me?
“2!”
If Derpy does want to dance, how should I dance? There are so many different types of dance to choose from...
“1! … And BEGIN!”
Time Turner barely caught a hold of his thoughts as Mayor Mare had ended her countdown, flipping the hourglass over to begin the annual dance. And all was going great for everypony, everypony but him. Butterflies were raising up in his stomach, and he even felt somewhat light-headed. He closed his eyes and let another sigh escape his lungs. This is your one chance, Turner! He told himself. Your. One. Chance! Go and do it, what is there to lose? He opened his eyes, looking where he remembered the beautifully graceful Derpy Hooves to be standing. There was only one problem - she was no longer there. He looked all around the park, scanning each individual pony for her unique golden eyes and her light yellow hair. Everywhere he looked, he could not find her. It was almost as if she has disappeared, when he saw a small portion of a white dress sticking out from behind a bush, practically hidden away from everypony.
Making his way over to the bush slowly, Time Turner began to worry for her even though they hadn’t talked at all before this event. As he inched closer, what was clearly a cry of loneliness came from Derpy. She cried, and it hurt Turner just to let her sit there and cry without at least trying to comfort her in some way.
“Derpy?” he whispered to her, “Derpy, are you OK?”
She sniffled, and wiped the tears from her eyes, glancing back at him. “Y-Yeah, I’m just okay...”
Time Turner stretched out one of his hooves and spoke. “If you don’t have anypony to dance with...”
Derpy took the signal, and pulled him towards her into a tight embrace, giving a lasting hug that warmed his body, but chilled his bones. “YES!” Derpy shouted at the top of her lungs, her slight speech impediment making him smile, every little detail about her just seemed to be getting better and better. “You have no idea how much this means to me...” She told him, a single tear rolling off her cheek and won onto his shoulder.
A smile cracked across Time Turner’s lips. “Well, shall we dance, Derpy?” he asked. She released him from the embrace, and just gave him a nod, a true smile of happiness spread across her face. He could tell he had changed her night for the better, and he was hoping that he could keep making it better for her.
They made their way out towards the gazebo, where Time Turner needed to stay to keep track on how much time was passing during the dance as Octavia played her mellow, classical love songs. Turner had no idea as to how Derpy wanted to dance, so he just followed along with what she did. Derpy held her hoof around his neck, her head resting on his shoulder; and Turner’s hoof around her neck, and head resting on her shoulders. It just felt so comfortable for him swinging back and forth in a circular motion. He just felt at home, and was comfortable to the point where he could’ve easily fallen asleep in her hooves. But just as he was about to, he remembered the hourglass.
Looking over to it, the sand had come very close to becoming empty in the upper reservoir, the lower full of sand. With his hoof still around Derpy’s neck, he slowly made his way closer to the hourglass. While nopony was looking, he flipped the hourglass back over, the upper reservoir filled once again, giving him and Derpy another fifty minutes together, swaying to the classics.
As time passed, he glanced in the general direction of the hourglass, noticing that it hadn’t seemed to emptied much, or even at all. But for him, none of that really mattered. The only thing that mattered was the mare he held in his hooves. She was far more comfortable than she had ever been before, and with every step they took she held him tighter. He eventually lost track of time, and was enjoying the most out of every moment he was spending with Derpy. It was truly something special that they had, and he could only wish that Derpy felt the same way as he did. What seemed to be hours later, Derpy stopped dancing, and at first he thought that she had just fallen asleep.
“You asleep Derpy?” He asked in a whisper.
“No... But why is there no music Turner?” She asked with a confused tone.
Listening closer, he understood why she stopped. There was no music, and for that matter, there wasn’t any other sounds besides that of their breathing. It was too quiet for an event such as this, and looking around, everypony was frozen in place with their partners held in their hooves. Everything was frozen, from droplets of water sprinkling from a fountain in the distance, and even the gnats in the air.
Time Turner continued to look around at everything, trying to find something to prove that time wasn’t standing still, and that it was just in fact him. But as his panic grew, his heart rate did as well. With how close Derpy and Turner were standing next to each other, she could feel his heart escalate with each ticking moment.
Unwrapping her hooves from around Turner’s neck, Derpy grabs his head in her hooves, pulling it closer, her eyelids dropping closed. At first, Turner didn’t realize what was going on, but then it he finally realized that she was trying to kiss him. He chuckled knowing that she felt something for him, parting the gap between their lips, the two coming together as one. their lips parted slowly as their heads turned to make it more comfortable as they pressed their mouths against one another.
Just as time had stopped, it started back again, speeding up exponentially as Derpy and Turner held each other close. Before they knew it, the dance had ended and the faint stomping of hooves could be heard in the background. Releasing each other from the kiss, Derpy looked deep into Turner’s soul, and Turner into Derpy’s. A large smile came across their lips, as sound came back to its fullest. An applaud roared from all of the ponies in the park just for them.
“Turner,” Mayor Mare started, “That was some simply amazing dancing! it was almost as if you were dancing in slow motion!”
Time Turner chuckled, and pulled Derpy close. “You could say that.”