The grey pegasus rubbed her eyes, awoken from yet another nightmare filled night of sleep. She yawned, disregarding her dirty and unkept blonde mane. There were cuts and bruises all over her body- things she had grown used to. In the darkness, there was only one source of light. She slowly limped towards it, her hooves scraping along the rough rock floor; making more cuts.
Her golden eyes stared forward, however saw nothing. Slowly she came to a stop by the cave entrance, and looked up at the sky. Day by day her vision was fading... And so was her life. She stared out from her little refuge in the cliff face, out to a city that once flourished in her reality- and now dead and abandoned. To her blurred eyes, it was just shades of dirt brown and grey. She tried to see what she saw before, ponies happy and dancing and cheering. But there was no movement.
A gentle breeze brushed against her dry skin, sending her long uncut mane slowly flowing to her side.
She had run out of food and water long ago- it was a miracle she was still alive, let alone moving... But she won't be for long. She closed her eyes, still standing, and stretched out her wings.
At least she tried- the years of dirt and grime had almost stuck her feathers together. She just wanted to feel the breeze rustle her feathers once more... Before fate takes whatever it has to.
*
"Damnit Blithy..." Doctor Whooves muttered, still firmly strapped to his seat. The parachute had deployed successfully, and now he was slowly drifting down towards the abandoned city of Manehatten, just behind the border before it merged into a forest that wasn't even there in the previous reality.
He sighed, leaning back into the seat- then he got an uneasy feeling in his heart- it seems he was forgetting something, and he had a little bit of an idea as to what it was.
But why now? He asked himself. I'm in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around me. So why now?
Instinct pushed him to look outwards towards the far cliff side. Nothing but an ordinary cliff face- there was nothing to it.
"So why? What the hay is this?" he groaned frustratedly, clawing at his heart but failing to get rid of the internal itch.
Then from the corner of his half closed eye he spotted a small speck of gold on the cliff face. His heart leaped, even if his brain still hadn't registered it yet- and he looked up.
And there she was. Ditzy Doo, Derpy Hooves.
The Doctor couldn't help but smile. So I finally found you.
But still the uneasiness in his heart failed to fade- and somehow he knew why.
"Please... Derpy, stay alive." he muttered, looking up at the sky.
The parachute was allowing him a safe descent, but it was way too slow. At this rate, judging from what he could see of Derpy, he wouldn't make it in time.
*
Derpy still had her eyes closed. She thought she felt some tickling in her heart, urging her to open her eyes. But she held them shut.
Over the years of surviving in the cave, she had hoped of rescue one day. But that hope would always lift her up, then throw her back down again, hurting her even more. She wasn't about to fall for it again- after all, knowing that there was no hope was much easier than relying on false hope.
A few days ago she had suddenly remembered things from another reality. Happy things, not the past- what should've been the present. Doctor Whooves, and his lovely blue box.
But she knew she was just making false memories. How could somepony as perfect as the Doctor exist? The entire idea was ridiculous. At the last second he had told her to wait, and so she did like she did for the whole of her life.
But she was done waiting- she wasn't going to rely on something her mind created- she wasn't going to succumb to false hope.
Suddenly her front legs buckled out from underneath her, and she collapsed onto the floor- almost toppling over the edge. She had hit her head, and ringing filled her ears. Her body was weakening severely by the second- she could only hope that she doesn't get baked to death in the sun, so she slowly and painfully started crawling back into the cave.
*
"Derpy..." the Doctor felt hope slowly loosening as he watched Derpy crawl back into the cave. He shook his head vigorously, and looked down. A fifteen meter drop- he could survive that. He looked back up at the strings holding him and his seat to the parachute. He sighed, and pulled out a knife that came with the M.F. officer uniform. "This is just going to suck." he muttered, unbuckling his seatbelt and cutting through the strings.
One by one they were severed, and suddenly the seat dropped with him. He watched the ground approach, the cliff becoming higher and higher in the distance.
He timed his jump. Just before he hit the ground, he kicked off the chair- but he was no expert in the act. Just as he leaped off, he felt his left back hoof get caught in the tangle of his seatbelt.
Then there was a loud crack as the seat dragged him down with it to the ground, cracking his left back leg under its metal weight.
"GAAAH!! DAMNIT!!" the Doctor screamed, feeling his leg crack and break. Tears swarmed into his eyes with the pain, and he used his front hooves to kick the seat off him.
He tried to stand, and somehow managed to do so. Will power could be strong when you need it.
He started walking towards the cliff face, his steps wobbly and unbalanced. Then suddenly he fell again, having only covered about three meters of distance. This time he felt his back leg break completely, and could even see that bit of white popping out from a bloodied hole in the side of his leg.
He clenched his jaw, trying to hold back the screams and the tears.
"DAMNIT!!" he couldn't hold it anymore, and screamed. "HEAL! YOU USELESS PIECE OF CRAP- HEAL!!!!" he yelled.
But it didn't.
"Wha... What the hay... WHAT THE HAY IS GOING ON!!???" he screamed, his mind slowly cracking. "HEAL!! WHAT THE HAY IS HAPPENING!!?? HEAL DAMNIT!!"
But what was broken remained so, and he was left on three legs. Slowly it dawned on him what he had to do- or else it'll only slow him down. It was also a stupid decision to make the jump.
He looked around for the knife- it didn't land too far away. He ripped it out of the ground, and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Humans only have two legs anyway." he muttered, and stabbed the knife into the broken joint of his left leg.
There was nothing for him to bite into, so he just screamed as he forced the sharp knife to rip through his flesh.
*
In the cave, Derpy could hear somepony screaming. Hallucinations- just another sign of incoming death. She let out a gentle sigh, and felt moisture on her face. She must be using what little water remained inside her as tears- but she couldn't tell what she was feeling. Maybe just sorrow, that she was going to be alone after all. Perhaps a little bit of hatred, because the Doctor never came back.
She made a weak chuckle at that. Like he exists at all.
*
"COME ON!!" the Doctor yelled as he slowly tried limping towards the cliff face- he had made a reasonable amount of distance, and was already directly underneath the cave. Despite having patched up his wound tightly with his uniform, he still left a long trail of blood behind him which eventually led to his severed limb.
Now was the hardest part. Climbing the darn cliff. It wasn't a ninety degree straight angle, it was on a slight slope; which meant it would be slightly easier to climb- key word, slightly. It would also mean tumbling off it would be a much more painful death if he fell.
"Climbing is as much a physical sport as it is mental." he assured himself. "And I'm fine with mental."
He started climbing, finding opportunities in the seemingly flat cliff face. A branch, a crack, a small ledge about two centimeters wide. He didn't count how many steps higher he climbed- he counted how many steps he had left. Sooner or later he'll be there, and all will end well. It had to.
Suddenly his hoof slipped, the loose piece of rock tumbling down with him. He frantically grabbed onto a branch, and the little piece of rock fell down into the abyss below. He groaned as his body swung down and slammed into the rough cliff side.
"I climbed this far already?" he asked in wonder, looking down at the ground that was roughly fifteen meters away. He looked back up again- soon.
*
Derpy could feel her life slowly slipping away, in the form of nothing but tiredness. Despite all of her physical wounds, the only pain she could feel came from her heart. Is there really nopony to be with her as she slowly dies in this dark cave that she came to know as her refuge?
She whimpered. Maybe death would be a good thing- all the burdens, gone in a poof. All the heart ache, unhappiness and pain- all gone in almost an instant.
She did nothing to stop herself from slipping away. In fact she welcomed it with open arms- die, and all will be relieved.
*
"Stay alive Derpy..." the Doctor wiped the sweat off his face, breathing hard. Even as he said this, he could feel the small connection in his heart breaking up- slowly fading away, and that made it hurt even more.
He continued climbing, his hooves digging into the cliff face. He ignored the pain in his severed leg, and continued on.
Sudden something sharp dug into his wound as he dragged himself upwards with his front hooves, and he screamed.
"Gah... The hay...?" he looked down to find a sharp rock shard impaling his stump. He tried freeing it, but the fabric wrapped around his wounds was stopping it from sliding out. "Are you bucking kidding me!?"
He could slide it out with his front hooves, but they were basically the only things keeping him from falling. He could only use his strength and force it out.
He clamped his jaw around his arm, and bit down on it to counter the pain as he tried to rip his leg stump away from the rock shard. His arm managed to muffle his screams and turn them into groans as his leg finally broke free, but once again bleeding freely.
Breathing hard, he let go of his arm and sighed.
"Wait for me, Derpy. Please- wait for me."
*
Derpy seemed to have heard something- but she continued disregarding it. Even if she did finally believe in the Doctor, it was already way too late. She let her tail curl around her body, her breathing slowing.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The gaps between her heartbeats grew, her breathing now nothing but a mere whisper between her long dried lips.
*
Still the Doctor climbed on, the odd feeling in his heart growing weaker and weaker. He was too, huffing and puffing and forcing himself onward. The effect of adrenaline was wearing off, and he was going back to his normal self- and his normal self wasn't exactly athletic.
There was a big leap up ahead- and he only had one back leg. Guess he'll never find out if he doesn't at least try.
He leaped up, his front hooves reaching out. They managed to hook onto the edge of a small crack in the cliff face, but only just. His back leg was left dangling over seventy meters of nothing, or most certainly death.
He stopped looking down, and clambered onwards. There was a small overhang up ahead, and was quite the blow to his determination.
"Hell..." he muttered as he allowed himself some time to rest, sweat pouring down his face and grime matting his usually well kept mane. In this reality, he was no Time Lord- just some mutated stallion- and it became clearer and clearer to him by the second. Then he shook his head vigorously, droplets of sweat being flung from his face.
"I'm still me." he said definitely to himself. "No matter what I am physically." he looked up at the overhang, and continued climbing.
His mouth was running dry, and it was becoming uncomfortably hot in the baking sun. He reached up and gripped a small ledge, pulling himself. Now that he was at the overhang, he had to make his moves very carefully.
There was a small lump of rock he could hold onto and hang from. He leaped up, gripping the rock and dangling half a meter from the safety of the cliff face. He searched for something he could hold onto, and found a small ledge he might be able to use. Not that he had a choice, it was pretty much the only thing and his front hooves were slipping.
He pushed off, his front hooves swinging forward and managed to catch the ledge. Suddenly his right hoof slipped off, dangling down with his back leg and hanging above the oddly lush forest below. He quickly brought it back up again and held onto the ledge.
The last thing he wanted to hear was a crack, indicating the ledge was loosening. He frantically looked for something else to hold onto, but there was nothing but the very edge of the overhang. It was a long shot, but the only one he had.
He swung forward, sailing through the air. The wind rushed through his mane, brushing against the nothingness below his hooves.
Then he somehow managed to scrape the edge of the overhang- but not hold onto it. His stomach leaped as fell, having missed the jump and almost three meters away from the cliff face- there was nothing to hold onto.
Then something tugged against his shoulder, and suddenly he jerked to a stop.
"Holy... Crap..." he said, eyes wide and cold sweat matting his skin. He looked up to see what was holding him in place.
It was his pistol holster, standard issue in the M.F. Military. It had hooked onto a jagged piece of rock, the other end hanging him by the shoulder. But the other end looked like it could slip any second.
Without wasting a second, Doctor Whooves quickly reached up and grabbed the edge of the over hang, and pulled himself over and onto safety.
He collapsed onto the floor, exhausted and staring at the sky in pure shock. How the hell did he survive that? He still had his pistol and holster. That was one freakin miracle.
*
All feeling was fading from Derpy's body. She was in a simple state of existence, with nothing else to it but a small swarm of weak emotions that was dying with her body.
Then suddenly her breathing ceased, her heart beating one last faint time- and she was dead.
*
Doctor Whooves looked up- the cave entrance was right there. Three meters above his head, and excitement filled his heart.
But then that excitement evaporated in an instant as something in his heart snapped, and he collapsed to the floor, staring wide-eyed at the ground and clutching his chest.
No... No... What the hay is this now? What's happening?
He tried to find that small connection again, but he couldn't find it anywhere. He searched desparately, but found nothing.
"No! I've come too far for this bull crap!" he cursed, scrambling up and grabbing onto the cliff face.
Adrenaline pumped through his veins once more, fueled by pure determination and defiance. This can't be happening- this just CAN'T!!
But a small part of him had already known- he was late, way too late.
"Hang on Derpy! I'm here! I'M RIGHT THE BUCK HERE!!" he yelled, pulling himself onto another ledge.
He looked up- the cave entrance was just a small leap away. He jumped, his front hooves latching onto the edge- but he hesitated just as he was about to pull himself over.
Will it be better if he never finds out? Deep down he already knows he's too late- so why torture himself by looking to see how close he came?
He shook his head. Derpy's got to be alive!
"She's got to be alive..." he said to himself, his mind failing to focus as he pulled himself over and onto the edge. "She's just... Got..." he stopped as he spotted the small frail body lying in the darkness, still and unmoving. "To... Be...." he stopped, and fell to the floor, the sorrow in his heart consuming him. He felt tears swarm into his hearts, and he quickly wiped them away.
Then he heard a gentle shuffle as Derpy's body tried to rise, but only to collapse back down onto the floor again.
It was dark and hard to see, but even so the Doctor could still tell that it wasn't Derpy- she must've died just a while ago, and now she had become one of the mutated. He could see the thick black veins running down the length of the mutated Derpy as she rose from the ground, some-what unsteadily.
"Fate... You piece of bull..." he chuckled sadly, tears dripping down his face as he stood up. "Now you're forcing me to pull the trigger on my beloved?" he shook his head, the corners of his mouth shaking. He pulled out his pistol, letting it slip from the holster.
Slowly mutated Derpy limped towards him, wobbly step by unsteady step.
Doctor Whooves raised the gun, pointing the barrel directly at Derpy's head. Still he could see that her eyes were crossed- and through that tortured face he thought he could still see a shadow of his cheerful and clumsy assistant.
"I have two hearts..." he swallowed, shaking his head gently as more tears poured down his face. "...And somehow you manage to break both. I guess I'll never understand how you work." he said.
His hoof was shaking severely, but he couldn't bring his other one up to help because it was keeping him standing.
Slowly, the mutated Derpy was walking past his outstretched arm, directly towards him. He didn't bring his aim back- he just couldn't do it. He thought he could, but he couldn't.
"Damnit!" he cursed, dropping the gun and crumbling to the floor. "Damnit... I can't do it... I just can't..." he whimpered, his tears dampening the cold stone floor.
Now Derpy was directly in front of him. At least if he was going to die, maybe they could still die together. He was prepared to have teeth sink into his neck, and be turned into just another zombie.
Then he felt a gentle hoof on the bottom of his chin, lifting up his head. He looked up, into Derpy's crossed eyes. They were still golden, somewhat faded however. He waited for her to lunge and take his life. She opened her mouth, revealing sharp mutated vampire teeth.
"The good Doctor doesn't cry." she said, smiling; a happy tear sliding down her face as she wiped the water off the Doctor's face.
The Doctor's eyes widened, and suddenly energy returned to his body. He leaped forward, throwing his arms around his beloved Ditzy Doo. He couldn't describe how tremendously relieved he felt- it almost felt like the world didn't matter any more. A minute ago having Derpy's warm soft form in his arms again was nothing but a dream, long lost and given up on. But here she was again- and they relished every second they were together.
"You came back..." Derpy said, hugging the Doctor tightly.
"...and you waited." the Doctor whimpered. He finally let go, and stared into those eyes once more, a smile on his face. "I'm sorry, Derpy. I was late again."
"I'm okay with that." Derpy grinned, then it faded as she looked down at the Doctor's missing leg. "Doctor... What happened?"
"I honestly don't think it matters." the Doctor grinned, tears still sliding down his face- but this time, they were the tears of joy. "And besides, if we're gonna start asking questions, I don't think we can stop."
Derpy nodded, smiling.
"Now..." Doctor Whooves looked around, his mind finally getting over the fact that Derpy was somehow still alive. "To get out of this place."