Letter to an Absent Father
The silver clouds rolled through the sky above the ocean of Eternity’s Crossing. The day was grim and the skies were full of rain, just waiting to burst and shower any unlucky soul that would be outside that moment.
A small boat glazed across the nature’s mirror. The sea was calm though it was only an illusion. A lone stallion came up on deck of the tiny fishing boat and took a long, deep breath of the salty air. He faintly mumbled something under his breath and turned around to see black clouds coming his way.
He shook his head but said nothing. The stallion was wearing a yellow rain jacket and a black beanie, covering an overgrown mess of a purple mane that ended in a fluffy beard. His eyes glimmered with the light of lavender as he longingly gazed up in the cloudy sky. He unfurled his gray wings and ruffled his feathers not to lose the feeling to them. For any good observer, it would have been somewhat obvious to who the stallion really was. Luckily there were none in a ten mile radius.
Damien Doo sighed and opened his rain jacket to let the soft wind brush his sides. He hadn’t flown since he snuck onto the delivery ship crossing the ocean, and left a single clue behind to mess up his tracks. Saddle Arabia. That’s where he had to be. He wasn’t, instead he was a lone fisherpony off the coasts of Cervidas. What a life.
He stretched out his wings and closed his eyes as he felt a stronger breeze rock his one-pony ship. The stallion looked at least twenty years older than he actually was. The wind fluttered his yellow jacket and revealed his cutie mark. Once a majestic paint brush, it was now tattooed over by a lousy ship wheel. The stallion sighed once more and buttoned his rain jacket back shut.
Oh, how much he missed his little girl. Across the horizon, she would live her life wondering why she wasn’t good enough for her parents. Little did she know, in less than twenty years she would meet a stallion that would change her life to something a pony couldn’t even dream of.
A strange whoosh filled the air as the weathered stallion looked up. The black clouds were too far away for it to be the sound of the storm coming in his direction. A painful pang ran through his heart as the sound reminded him of the strangest of nights, when he had met two incarnations of his beloved daughter, both the newborn and the one with over twenty years under her belt. The old stallion sniffled, but didn’t cry. He hadn't cried in a long time.
It warmed his heart knowing that his sweetest little filly would be happy. While her life might not have started out the best, he was confident that the strange pony that had given him the chance to meet her at her prime would take good care of her.
The strange sound persisted.
He looked up that exact second to hear a clash of something resembling thunder, only a bit more… metallic… magical…
Timey-wimey…
A blue bur shot through the sky, lighting it in a golden glow for a blink of an eye. Then it was gone.
All that was left was single envelope by his hooves.
The stallion blinked a few times to make sure what he saw was real. He couldn’t have come back. He said he couldn’t.
Damien picked up the envelope. It was wax-sealed with the color of blue and the symbol was an odd bunch of lines resembling an eight turned to its side. The symbol of infinity... He gently ripped open the envelope and peeked inside. A long brown sheet of parchment folded in several places appeared before him. He began to read the first words and soon found himself tearing through every graceful loop of the hoof-written letter.
Hello there mister Ditzy’s dad,
It’s been somewhat of a while since we last heard from each other, I'm the Doctor by the way (in case you forgot (though I doubt it)). Anyway, it’s been what, two, two and a half years, one and some months since we saw each other? Blimey, I'm horrible at dates, can’t even remember my own birthday, then again I'm over nine hundred (you probably didn’t need to know that…)…
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that, it may have been roughly two years for you, but for me… it’s been twelve, and I'm definitely not kidding. Twelve years, hah, can you even imagine? And all of them have been somewhat hectic, I have to say. But Dinky’s older now and Sparkler’s moved out so the chaos has been reserved only for family outings.
At first I’d like to say your daughter has never been happier, and I’d also like to recap on what’s been going around and about. I wish I could let Ditzy see you again but I'm afraid that if I park the TARDIS (my time machine) in your timeline it might just rip a hole in the universe and we don’t want that, now do we?
One thing I do remember though… today. Today is a very special day, and you know why? I’ll tell you why, today is my wife’s third birthday. That’s right, just beyond that horizon, just over that ocean your little girl is celebrating her third year on this world. Thought I’d let you know. That’s why I chose this day actually, it was a bit hard to pinpoint you, I was never good with water, it tried to kill me like four times! …uhh… never mind…
I hope the picture made it. You can look at it now (it’s on the back).
The old stallion struggled with the page and after a moment, managed to pull out a small picture that was tucked in the back. He held it out in his gray hoof and took a long look.
Instantly he recognized the smiling face of his already-grown-up daughter and the brown stallion by her side. The two had their hooves wrapped around two young fillies, both unicorns, sitting in front of them. The teenaged-looking one was purple all over and the small one brightly smiling by her side was a grayish purple with a faded golden mane. The weathered stallion didn't want to admit that he was utterly confused about the two’s presence in the picture. He continued to read the odd letter.
Newest Hearts’ Warming picture, took it a few days ago. Happy, aint’ she? And she smiles like that every day. Even her criss-crossed eyes are beaming! Would you believe me if I told you Ditzy’s managed to use them to her advantage? Who knew that looking behind you and up in front at the same time could be a lifesaver? Actually it was, twice really, damn those Weeping Angels… (trust me, you really don’t want to know)…
But all and all, we’re still in one piece, all four of us, actually.
Aaaaand’ now you’re dying to know what I'm talking about. I have my way with words don’t I? Hmm… probably shouldn’t flatter myself in a letter… meh, I’ll just blame it to the fact that I haven’t written a normal letter for about a decade, go figure.
Right, back to you, sorry, I ramble sometimes, Dinky has that trait too and when we start going… well let’s just say you don’t want to be around for a few hours if that happens (which it does pretty often).
Right, ramble-ramble, I’ll stop torturing you, now, that filly, the older, purple one, that’s your granddaughter. Now hold on before you flip a horseshoe, she’s not ours! About half a year after we saw you we went to about 12’000 years to the future to a place called New Earth and New Equestria. There, we kind of saved her life from the Weeping Angels (damn them) and Ditzy begged me to take her along and since then she’s been part of the Doo-Whooves family. Her name’s Amethyst Star, we call her Sparkler, actually everyone (I mean everypony (fifteen bloody years and I still haven’t grasped your absurd tongue (does everything have to ponified? I mean, really?))) calls her that. She was a street child, might I add, a very smart one too, only seven when we found her, poor thing.
On the topic of the Doo-Whooves family, Ditzy and I got married! About two years after you saw us, I'm sorry I couldn’t be there to ask you for your daughter’s hanhoof in marriage, but like I said, rip the universe apart… It was a bit of a hectic point in our lives, I have to admit, in the end we got married in a closet! Ughmm, to be more precise, the planet was under attack and the three of us had to hide in a closet and it just so happened there was a priest and his apprentice there (in the end they got married too)! A bit of a brush-off with karma that day, I mean really, I tried to propose like seven times and everything just kept happening againt me! I mean did the waitress really have to trip and shower me in a rainbow of cocktails? Twice?! Odd day…
But nevertheless, you’re probably wondering who the other filly is. Well it happened about half a year before the wedding, Ditzy (please don’t climb out the bottom of the ocean to murder me in my sleep, pleeease) found out she was pregnant. There was bit of fumble at that point but we decided, since we already had one daughter, another one wouldn't make that much of a difference (I was wrong by the way, she did make a difference, the best damned different I could ever imagine). I'll admit, there were a few pretty massive fights along the way but we pulled through with flying colors and we’ve been inseparable ever since. And that, my dear father-in-law, is your own flesh-and-blood, your granddaughter Dinky Doo Whooves, part pony, part Time Lord (me), looks a lot like her mom, though she has both my hearts (yes I said both, I have two).
After Dinky was born (and saved the universe and us before she was even a day old (just don’t ask, bunch of wibly-wobbly… timey-wimey-magicy… stuff…)) we decided to settle down, small town, not far from Cloudsdale, called Ponyville. Ditzy got a job as a mailmare and I work odd-jobs around town fixing stuff. We got Sparkler into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns (Tia had to pull some strings but it turned out alright (by Tia I mean Celestia, old friend of mine, saved her life a few times (Luna too, but you wouldn’t know, she’ll show up in about twenty years))). Oh right, Dinky, sweet filly, a lot like me, smart, a bit too smart for my liking, I’d gotten used to being the brain around… oh well. But don’t worry, the girls' have a lot from their mother personality-wise. Dinky’s such a sweet filly, bubbly, like her mom, and Sparkler as well, she’s the one who’ll always be there to pull us back to the ground if we fly up too high. 'Love both of them so very much…
And that’s about it. Been fifteen years since I crashed into your daughter on that crazy winter, a lot has changed, me too, thanks to Ditzy. Living as much of a normal life we can get being... well… us.
Times change, ponies change, Time Lords too to my surprise. Ditz’ and I sometimes wish our girls could see at least one of their grandparents but I'm the last of my kind and you... well, no use in repeating myself.
That album you gave her though, a lot has been added to it. Lots of family pictures and a few crazy critters too, wish I could show it to you. You’ll just have to take my word for it. We sometimes cuddle in bed and just go through the entire album reminding ourselves of the great times we had. That’s one thing I’ll always remember, treasure what you have before it fades away like dust on a windy night. Curse of the Time Lords. Nothing more to be said.
Except this - I kept my promise. And I intend to keep it.
And that’s it.
Our lives summed up on a piece of paper. Makes you feel insignificant in the whole scheme of things don’t it? I sure know that feeling…
One last thing. As horrible as it sounds, we both know the true meaning of this next sentence. Now, now you die happy knowing your daughter is safe and loved.
Goodbye one last time, and Allons-y!
The Doctor
The old weathered stallion stared at the signature for what seemed like an eternity. A droplet of water landed on the parchment. It wasn’t a tear. It was rain. He looked up only to feel the raw torrent of water pouring down from the inky sky. He took the picture and folded the letter and placed both of them in his waterproof pocket with a serene smile. The stallion looked down to see the endless waters that had become his home, churning and trashing along with the elements. The sky was gone. There was only darkness now.
A single chuckle left Damien’s lips as he saw a massive wave coming his way. He didn’t move. He knew this was it. The Doctor didn’t care about birthdays. This day was special in a different way. This was the day he died happily.
A single tear rolled down his cheek before his boat vanished under the raging waters.