//------------------------------//
// Who? 
// Story: Time Bubbles 
// by peppermint_twist 
//------------------------------//

Derpy flapped her wings, coughing, the smoke getting into her eyes. Her eyes stung with the weird smoke that smelled like, what she thought was, pears. Pears? Odd. She heard another voice sounding from inside the big blue box, coughing and crying, “Why did it have to be pears?!” 

Derpy didn’t think about what she was doing, but she heard the voice and plunged into the box, “I’ll save you!” She galloped in, halting almost right away. What was she thinking? The smoke must be making her crazy. Why would someone be trapped in a bathroom-sized box? She sighed and turned around, walking out of the doorway.

The voice cried out again. She peered into the smoke filled box. She couldn’t see anything in the smog. She shrugged; she was already going to drown herself, why not run into a mysterious box? She backed up a few feet and started galloping at her top speed. She ran as fast as she could and unfolded her wings. She flapped them and soared straight. She closed her eyes, cringing, ready for impact. She flew a few seconds and stopped. At her top speed, she should have run into something already. She looked back the way she came. The doorway was several feet away. She started questioning what actually this box was when she heard the cry again. 

She closed her eyes and followed the sound of the voice. Derpy opened her eyes to find out that she was staring straight into the deep blue eyes of a stallion. He smiled and shouted, “Why hello there!” He spoke with an accent that Derpy had never heard of. Was it from outside of Equestria?
Derpy’s wide eyes blinked and she said in a reassuring voice, “Don’t worry, I’ll help you,” She flew under the stallion and carried him out of the box.

“Why thank you young lady! And by goodness, you can fly! Have I not landed on Earth? Are you actually flying? I can’t see with all this smoke! And-“He coughed loudly, “WHY PEARS?!”

“I have no idea what you are talking about. Earth? And where are you from, who are you?” She set him down outside of the box, “And what’s with this weird box? What are those markings?”

The stallion was caramel colored with a dark brown, spiky mane. He was donned with a white collar and mahogany bow tie. 
He rubbed his eyes and stopped. His mouth was agape as he slowly opened his eyes. He looked down at his two front hooves and screamed, “WHAT IS HAPPENING?! WHAT KIND OF FORM IS THIS?!” He slowly lifted his head and screamed again, “WHAT THE? YOU’RE A TALKING HORSE!”

She looked at him questioningly, “Yes,” she said slowly, “I'm a pony. We can talk. You are a pony too,”

“A pony….” He looked back down at his hooves, “A talking pony. This is amazing, wow. Out of all the forms I have been in….. A talking pony! Where am I, um, what’s your name?”

“Derpy. We're in Ponyville and-“

He snickered, “I am so sorry, but Derpy? I don’t know what that means in your culture, but back where I usually am, it's not the greatest compliment,”

She looked at him, frowning, “It’s not here either, but that’s my name. Anyways, as I was saying, we are in an area right outside of Ponyville. Ponyville is a small town in Equestria,” She spoke slowly, as if she was talking to a chimpanzee.

He burst out laughing, “Sorry again, but Ponyville?1 Sorry, sorry, Derpy,”

She stared at him. He really was a strange pony, “Anyways, what in the name of Celestia is that blue box? What are those markings? And why is it bigger on the inside?!”

“Why my dear Derpy, that is the Tardis. It’s a sort of time machine. It breathes and lives in a way. I travel a lot in it; it can travel through time and space.  The “markings” are words. What language do you use here? You are speaking English right now so…”

“Huh? You’re speaking Equestrian…”

The unknown pony looked confused, “Any way, those words read ‘Police Box’”

“Wow, you’re a time traveler?” She burst out laughing, “Okay Mr. Space guy! That must explain your cutie mark!” She burst out laughing again.

“Cutie mark? What's that?”

“Wow, did you hit your head when ‘time traveling’? It’s that symbol on your flank. It’s an hourglass. A cutie mark is a symbol you get when you find out your talent or what you love to do,”

“Oh I see, so they just appear? Why do you have bubbles?”

“I don’t feel like talking about it right now,” she brushed the question off.

The stallion looked confused, but then asked, “So, um, what year is it exactly?”

“1003,” This stallion really likes asking questions she thought.

“Oh that’s right, I’m not in my universe…….. Has electricity been invented yet?”

“Electric-what? I have no idea what you are talking about,”

“Wait, pegasi live here? Well you said ponies not pegasi. What other creatures live here?”

“Well, we have unicorns for magic and earth ponies. Oh, and a ton of little critters as well,”

“Would you like to be my assistant? The Tardis seems broken and I don’t think it will get fixed for a while. She gets a bit antsy sometimes. Now where is my sonic screwdriver….?”

Derpy looked around and saw a green shimmer in the lake. She pranced over and stuck her head into the water. Her head submerged and she shook her head, water flying everywhere, “Is that it?” She asked, pointing into the water, “I mean it doesn’t even look like a screwdriver, but-“

He dunked his head in the water and screamed in delight, only to find himself breathing in water. He quickly pulled his head out of the water, sputtering. He shook himself like a dog would, getting the drying Derpy soaked once again. “There it is!” he exclaimed, “My sonic screwdriver!”

The confused mare watched as the stallion plunged his hoof into the pool. He fumbled and tripped into the shallow water. His half submerged body was wincing in pain as he stood up and examined his cut up hoof. “I think you stepped on a sharp rock or something," she examined, eyeing the lake bottom. “Are you trying to get your hammer thingy? Hear, let me help.” She dipped her head into the cool pool of water, opening her bright golden eyes and looking around. She saw a glimmer close by and squinted her eyes to see well. It was a small silver pole with a green light shining from the end. She stretched out her neck and picked it up with her teeth.

“Here you go,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Thank you…. And it’s a sonic screwdriver,” he replied sticking his hoof out.

Derpy wiped the puzzled expression of her face and gently placed the screwdriver into his hoof. It tumbled out of his hoof and he tried to pick it up again. He tried multiple times with no progress. “Well, um, you’re an earth pony, so you can’t use magic to pick up things. It’s also pretty hard for ponies to pick up things with their hooves. We usually just use our mouths,” Answering the inaudible question,

His face scrunched up, “That’s not the cleanest,” he muttered as he picked up the tool in his mouth. 

“Here, you could put it in your tie collar,” She picked it up, once again, and placed it in his clean, crisp collar and stepped back to examine her 'work'. “That’ll do for now,”

“So, uh, are you the only person here?”

“Uh, no, there are a lot of ponies right over there in Ponyville, I live there so, um, yeah. I think you hit your head hard or something, do you want me to take you to the hospital or something?”

“No I’m good!” he turned around and started walking. They slowly started their journey to Ponyville, “I’m the Doctor by the way,”

“Doctor? Doctor what?” she asked, trying to catch up.

The “doctor” snickered, “I’m sorry, it’s just that, I’m usually asked, ‘Doctor? Doctor who?’ The answer is, I’m the only one who knows,” He smirked at his little secret.

“Okay? So, um, do you have anyone you can go to? Friends or family?”

“Well,” The Doctor look up, eyes glazed for a second. He blinked twice and shook his head. “Not really. But I have had multiple companions…You included!”

“Um…. Sure? I mean, I am open for a job right now… First, let me get to know you before I decide anything...”


***


“So you were a human?” asked the confused Derpy.

“No, no, no, I looked like a human. I explained to you right?”

“Yeah…. You know, I have a friend who is obsessed with humans.”

“She knows about them?! Well, by all means, take me to her!”

“Well,” Derpy paused, looking up to Celestia's sun. What would her friends think of her if she brought a random stranger to their house? She looked back at the Doctor. She felt extremely sorry for him. He reminded her of her, lost in the world, no friends or family, not quite sane, she felt like she could relate. “… Okay, but, don’t act weird around her… okay?”

The Doctor laughed a hearty laugh, “Ha! Not act weird, but I’m the Doctor,” And with that, he started walking away, head held high. “Um, it’s the other way,” Derpy called.

“Right, I knew that!” he said, “Um, which way?”


***


Knock knock. Bonbon put down her spatula. She had just finished making her famous candy canes (“peppermint twists” as she liked to call it) and was now cleaning the mess she made up. Lyra was still staring at the twists while Bonbon ran to get to the door. She checked herself in the mirror right next to the door. She had sugar all over her coat, causing her to resemble a ghost. They made her curly, pink and indigo mane look completely white as well. Whatever. 

She looked through the peephole and saw a soaking Derpy. “Derpy! Why are you wet? What happened? Are you okay?”

She glanced around nervously, “Um, yeah, I’m fine. Could I, um, come in?”

“Oh, of course! You don’t have to ask!”

“Can I, um, bring a friend?”

“Sure! Any friend of yours is mine! Why, I just made some peppermint twists, so we can eat them together!”

A caramel colored stallion popped up behind Derpy. “Why hullo there! Are you the person that knows about humans?”
Bonbon just stared. She kept looking back and forth at the guilty looking Derpy and the energetic stallion. “Um, Lyra?” she called.

Lyra came bouncing towards the doorway, a mouth full of candy canes. “Whats ish its?” she said with a lisp.

“LYRA! Did you eat my entire plate of twists?!” shouted an angry faced Bonbon.

“Naw! Jush thwo!”

Bonbon heaved a sigh and returned her attention back at the strange pony, “There's somepony who would like to meet you,”

“Huh?”

The Doctor ran up to the aquamarine pony. “Are you the horse that knows about humans?”

Lyra stared at him with wide eyes. She closed her eyes and crunched down the remaining twists. She tried to swallow, but choked a little. “Humans? You-you know about them too?!”she coughed.

Bonbon looked around, searching for some unwanted eyes. She heaved a sigh. “Come on in,”

The Doctor tripped while walking in. “I still can’t get used to the feeling of walking on four legs! It’s quite interesting! What with no hands swinging-“ The Doctor went on and on like this.

Meanwhile, Derpy said guiltily, “I’m really sorry guys... It’s just that the Doctor… I found him at the pond just outside of Ponyville. He crash landed in some weird thing. He said that he didn’t have anyone to go to and he didn’t want to go to the hospital. I didn’t know what to do, but he mentioned humans, so I thought of you, Lyra. Please try to help!”

Lyra didn’t hear her. She was still staring at the mysterious stallion. Most ponies didn’t know about humans. She felt like she could trust anypony that knew and believed in them. “Um, what’s your name?”

“Why, I’m the Doctor,” he looked at her, as if expecting to get something in response

“That’s cool,” Lyra said. The Doctor’s face deflated. “You’re an anthropologist? ‘Cause, based on what you’re telling me, you seem to know quite a bit about humans,”

They all sat down in the living room. Bonbon ran into the kitchen to check on her remaining twists. She had to be sure that the aftermath of Lyra’s attack wasn’t as bad as usual. Derpy sat down, like any other pony, while Lyra sat with her back slouched against the couch back. She let her back hooves dangle off the edge of the seat. The Doctor sat in the exact same way. Bonbon came in, mouth agape, Lyra holding the same expression.

“You sit like me!” shouted Lyra.

“Am I supposed to sit differently?” asked the confused Doctor.

Bonbon shook her head and placed the plate of ten twists down (Lyra kept her promise). “So how,” Lyra asked, placing a twist in her mouth. “Dho yuh shno aboush humansh?”

“Well,” said the Doctor, a smile creeping onto his face.


***


“Goodbye!” shouted the Doctor and Derpy.

Lyra was smiling as she said goodbye to the Doctor, “Please come again! Doctor, please!”

“I will! Bonbon those peppermint candy canes were delicious!” Bonbon blushed at the compliment as she waved goodbye.

Derpy couldn’t help feeling jealous. She thought her friends didn’t like her… They never really treated her exactly the same as everypony else. No one did. The Doctor, well, Lyra and Bonbon loved him. He made them laugh and wowed them with his intriguing stories. She knew she shouldn’t feel that way, but she did.

The Doctor was staring at Derpy. “I’d hate to ask, but, um, what happened to your eyes?”

Derpy sighed. The pegasi were scheduling a heavy storm today. She looked up and saw Raindrops piling dark storm clouds together. Raindrops was especially good at rain. She was the leader for the storm group. Raindrops looked down and gave a wave. Derpy turned back to the Doctor. “Well, I was born this way,” she said. “Well I should say found this way. I was adopted, you see? Never really had a family, not even at the orphanage. The adults treated me differently, like I was some piece of garbage. Every single foal teased me. It wasn’t a good time,” she explained solemnly. 

The Doctor looked down and poked the dirt with his hoof. “I’d really hate to push this, but-“ he paused, he wasn’t sure whether or not he should ask. “Why is your name Derpy? I don’t think…” he stopped for real this time. He could tell that this was a touchy subject and that she got the idea.

“My name? Well, back at Cloudsdale, if you were an orphan since birth, you could choose your name once you are able to speak. I- well I liked bubbles. Loved bubbles- which explains my cutie mark. They were so free and they flew so smoothly. I couldn’t be the first and didn’t know how to fly at all. When the day came, some filly in the back yelled out, ‘Derpy!’ That was my nickname back then. It’s my real, legal name now. I- I’ve faced ridicule all my life. With this name, I...” Derpy felt the rain on her face. It was weird, they tasted salty.

The Doctor just sat down next to the Pegasus. He rubbed his head against hers and muttered, “Don’t worry. I like you. You have such a big heart. You find a random stranger and try to help him. You try to find someone who could possibly be any assistance to him. You are extremely kind.” He nuzzled his head next to hers. She liked the feeling. “Come on, let’s get you home,” 

He stooped down, motioning her to get on his back. She did and cuddled his neck. She buried her face in his mane, it was so soft. The stallion stood up and slowly began to walk.

Derpy gently lifted up her head. She smiled to herself. “It’s the other way,” she whispered. She climbed off his back. “Come on, follow me,” The Doctor, relieved of the extra weight quickly followed. “It’s a little far from where we are,” she directed. She looked behind her to tell the Doctor something. He was gone! Oh, so many thoughts were going through her head. The most prominent one was that he left her and was just using her. She sat down in despair. She pricked her ear and heard a voice yelling in the distance.

“Derpy! Check this out!” the Doctor beckoned.

The relieved pony quickly ran over to the caramel colored stallion. He was looking through the window of Sugar Cube Corner. Derpy walked over and peered in. Mr. Cake was decorating the most delicious looking cake in the world! It was completely white. Butter-cream frosting? Maybe. Butter-cream was Derpy’s favorite! There were roses made of strawberries and grass leaves. Grass, a pony’s favorite topping or flavor on anything. She licked her lips as she stared at the beautiful cake.

Derpy heard a roar of thunder coming from above. Still, she couldn’t take her eyes off the cake. Rain started pouring down, very quickly and suddenly. It felt like a sheet of rain, just coming down on her. She screamed as the surprising rain drenched her. There was a lot of wind too. It was tossing her hair in every direction. 

“Derpy!” shouted the Doctor. “WE NEED TO FIND SHELTER!” he screamed. Derpy could barely hear him, but she got the point. 

They couldn’t see anything around them. The rain was just like a curtain; an extremely dense one. The only thing that was visible was Sugar Cube Corner. She looked around, thinking it would be rude just to go in, drenched with rain, and ask for their hospitality. Lightening flashed behind her. It was so close that her hair stood up from shock. Another flash flickered right in between the Doctor and she. There was no hesitation. She knocked quickly.

The door creaked open. Mrs. Cake was surprised to see two ponies out in a heavy storm, drenched in rain. Being the kind hearted mare she was, she quickly let them in.

They quickly ran in and shut the door. Mr. Cake ran off to got them two towels. They accepted them gratefully. Mr. and Mrs. Cake just stared at them blankly, wondering who the two mysterious ponies were.

“Now who is under that mass of hair?” asked the stout, sky blue mare. Derpy looked up slowly and let out a small, guilty grin. “Derpy? What are you doing out in the rain? You could get sick!” Ms. Cake’s motherly instincts took control, “Oh my! You must be so cold! Dearie, could you get these two ponies to a fire?” She asked her husband.

Mr. Cake quickly ran off saying, “I’m on it!”

“We are so sorry Ms. Cake! It’s just that the Doctor was looking at your beautiful cakes, and I decided to take a look myself. I was just mesmerized by that delicious looking cake,” she motioned towards the newly decorated one. “That I didn’t even notice the thunder. The rain just came pouring down and-“

“It’s alright dearie! You wouldn’t have been able to make it to your house anyway! Do you want some cake? I’m sorry, but I cannot let you have that one!” She looked over at the tall butter-cream looking cake. “It’s for an order tomorrow. But you can have some chocolate cake that I have made yesterday!”

The Doctor finished drying his hair and ran up to Ms. Cake, “Oh why thank you!” He said in his quick voice. “I really do enjoy chocolate! And thank you so much for letting us stay for the storm! Wonder how long it’s going to last? I wonder if…” 
He continued rambling on and on.

Mr. Cake came in, Pinkie Pie bouncing in as well. “We got you two a room!” smiled the bubblegum pink pony. “It has a warm fire and a comfortable bed! Unfortunately, we could only find one…. So you two will have to…er...”

Mr. Cake said, “Um, share. Sorry for the inconvenience! But, we could only find one bed!”

There was the sound of babies crying from upstairs. “Oh my!” shouted the lanky marigold stallion that was Mr.Cake. He ran upstairs as fast as possible, Pinkie slowly bouncing behind him. 

“Oh, no, the twins are awake! Must've been the storm! I’ll take you two to your room on the way there! Follow me! I’ll send your chocolate cake up later!” She quickly galloped, Derpy and the Doctor following.

The Doctor had trouble keeping up. He wasn’t used to running, let alone walking, up the stairs. He tried taking two hooves to a stair. It didn’t really work. He eventually realised that it was similar to human walking. He soon caught up, but was breathless at the top of the steps.

“You okay?” asked a concerned Derpy.

“Yeah, yeah, just not used to stairs.” He panted, gasping for air. He slowly stood up.

Mr. Cake ran up to his wife. “Pinkie will take care of our guests! Right now, the twins are crying their heads off! I’m trying, but they just won’t stop!”

Pinkie came bouncing in. “Derpy and friend, please follow me!” she hollered, as the two Cakes ran to another room.
Pinkie kept bouncing down the hall and stopped at the last room. She opened the chocolatey brown door and walked in. “TADA! This is our guest room, complete with chimney and bed!”

Derpy and the Doctor slowly walked into the cozy room. The fire was really nice. It was a small wood floored room. There was a circular rug with a heart right smack in the middle. It was lavender and extremely soft. On the rug, there was a small table, just enough for two ponies. To the right of the doorway-on the right wall-there was the fireplace. It was a nice brick fireplace with a blazing flame nesting inside. On the left wall, there was the bed. It was a queen sized bed with a nice comforter. It had a pink heart pattern. Derpy turned around to find Pinkie staring at the Doctor. Derpy had a flash of anger mixed with jealousy. She didn’t know why, but when she saw another mare just looking at the Doctor, her mind just heated up.

“I’ve never seen you before. I know everypony there is to know! Are you new in Ponyville?”She wondered.

“He’s the Doctor,” Derpy quickly answered. “He just came today,”

Pinkie Pie smiled and said, “Well nice to meet you! I’ll be in my room if you guys need me!” and with that, she bounced away, shutting the door.

Soon after, Mr. Cake brought in two slices of chocolate cake. “Here you go!”

They thanked him and were left alone. There was a really long silence. Derpy munched on her slice happily while the Doctor kept turning his head at weird angles. Derpy giggled and showed him how to eat it correctly. 

Derpy yawned and stretched, and sat down next to the fire. The Doctor walked over her and sat down as well. “I’m so not used to this form yet,” said the Doctor. “I mean, all the forms I’ve had are sort of like a human. I’m still a time lord on the inside, that’s completely true. But-“ He paused. He looked at Derpy. “I’ve always have had a human shell on the outside, and this is my last life…. I wonder why I’ve become a pony…”

Derpy stared at the stallion. She was feeling very warm. But it wasn’t coming from the fire, no, it was coming from her chest. Her cheeks started to blush. She was getting a weird feeling all throughout her body. “Um,” she looked away from him. She was really starting to blush. “What do you mean by last life?” Is the Doctor going to die? She didn’t want that, she, she seemed to like him.

“Have I not explained that? Oh, sorry. Well, when I was saying that I had a human form before…. Every single time I have a near death experience, I tend to, well,” he looked back at Derpy. He smiled mischievously. “Regenerate.”

Derpy looked back questioningly. This stallion truly was crazy. Whatever. It was getting extremely late. She looked back at the Doctor. His eyes were focused on the fire. The fire flickered in his eyes. They were so blue. The Doctor turned back towards her, a confused look on his face. She realised that she’d been staring at him for a long time.

“Whatever. I can ask questions later. Right now, it’s really late,” she faked a yawn, trying to stop staring at him. “I think we should hit the hay,”

“Alright! Erm, so,” he stared awkwardly at the bed. “Which side of the bed do you want?”

Derpy already forgot that they had to share a bed. Her whole face turned a bright pink, “I-I-I” she stammered, “YOU DECIDE!” she said, accidentally shouting.

“Oh, um, I could sleep on the floor if you want,” he suggested.

No. That would be mean. “Erm, its fine. How ‘bout I take the right?”

They slowly walked over to the bed. Derpy crawled in and turned on her side, away from the Doctor. She heard the Doctor struggling to crawl in. Maybe he wasn’t lying. He was so awkward in the way he moved. Maybe he actually wasn’t a pony. 

A few minutes later (after the Doctor figured out how to lie comfortably), she heard him snoring. Derpy couldn’t fall asleep at all. How could she? She had way too much to think about. If this pony was actually telling the truth, she could change everything. She could go back in time and find her actual mother. What she would do then, she did not know. And what was with the assistant talk? Was the blue box actually a time machine? If the Doctor really came from a time of humans and aliens, would they come after him or take him away? She certainly didn’t want them to.

The biggest question in her mind, however, was: What was the feeling that had occurred next to the fire? She was feeling it now even, when she turned around and looked at the Doctor. She sighed. She could think about all this later. She was feeling extremely tired. Chocolate always made her lethargic. She suppressed a yawn; she didn’t want to wake the Doctor up. She turned so that her back was to the stallion again. Her eyes felt extremely heavy……