//------------------------------//
// Derpy's Warning 
// Story: The Doctor Whooves Chronicles Episode 3: The Monster in the Mirror 
// by Doctor Perseus 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 1: Derpy's Warning


Gaia, 1002 C.E.

Derpy didn't look back as she ran. Leaves and twigs crunched and broke underneath her hooves and warm summer gusts blew past her face. A sharp whistling sound began emanating through the air. She could feel the air growing incredibly hot. 
"Keep moving!" Carrot Top ordered as she tightened her grip on Derpy's hoof. Derpy took a quick glance up at the sky just in time to see the burning object fly overhead. Derpy quickened her pace. Due to instinct, she began flapping her wings vigorously and even levitated a couple inches into the air. "We're almost there!" 
Derpy looked ahead and could just make out a familiar sight coming into view: Carrot Rock. A small opening in the forest opened up before them. Carrot Rock was located off to the side of the clearing. Carrot Rock had earned said name due to, well, looking like a carrot. Only two ponies in Ponyville had any real history with the strange object: Derpy Hooves and Carrot Top. This was because it was at this rock many years earlier that the young Derpy and Carrot Top had met for the first time. Derpy didn't have time to reminisce for it was at that moment that she heard the object collide violently with the earth a little ways behind her. Derpy and Carrot Top came to a halt. They turned around in time to see a plume of smoke rising into the sky. A few seconds later, a shockwave blew through the forest and knocked the two mares on their rumps. The shockwave wasn't strong enough to knock any trees down but it was certainly powerful enough to cause a disturbance. Birds flew into the sky, leaves and dirt swirled through the air, and the cries of confused animals called out from the depths of the forest.
After about a moment of confusion, everything settled down. The cries stopped, the dust and leaves settled, and the plume of smoke thinned out to a skinny trail. Both Derpy and Carrot Top were breathing heavily.
"Well...that...was...fun," Derpy said with heavy breaths.
"At...least...nopony's...hurt," Carrot Top added.
"What in the name of Celestia was that?!" asked a surprised voice. Derpy turned around to see Bon-Bon approaching her and Carrot Top. Lyra was standing in the background and was busy trying to remake the campsite that had been made at the edge of the clearing. Bon-Bon walked over to Carrot Top and helped her up. The earth mare then turned to help Derpy up but Derpy pushed her hoof away.
"It's fine. I can get up myself," Derpy said coldly. Bon-Bon gave a sad look as Derpy picked herself off the ground. Derpy turned to look at Lyra in the background. Lyra gave Derpy a cold stare before returning to remaking the campsite. 
Derpy had never been on "friend" terms with Lyra and Bon-Bon. When Derpy had moved to Ponyville a few years earlier with her aunt, who later went on to move to Vanhoover, she had not had an easy time in the area of making friends. Even today, Derpy didn't really have that many true friends in Ponyville. The only ponies there that she was close to were Carrot Top and Pinkie Pie. Derpy still remembered her childhood in Ponyville, which hadn't had that many happy-go-lucky moments. She had often found herself the target of others' amusement. Carrot Top was the only pony kind enough to befriend her. Carrot Top's two friends, Lyra and Bon-Bon, on the other hoof...were another story. Lyra had been a part of the group that bullied Derpy. Although, Derpy could give Lyra some credit as she wasn't the worst bully in the group. In fact, she had probably been the most hesitant. However, that still hadn't stopped Derpy from getting angry at Lyra for her involvement. One day, Derpy had discovered a secret of Lyra's: that she enjoyed to sit in an odd position that anypony could find amusingly odd. Derpy had felt angry and had wanted to get back at Lyra for making fun of her eyes. So Derpy took a picture of Lyra and showed it to the class. That's when Lyra snapped from her hesitant bully mode and that's when Derpy snapped as well. In the end of the whole conflict, several ponies were expelled from school and moved away, Derpy and Lyra ended up with a few injuries, and occasional teasing of both Derpy's eyes and Lyra's awkward, secret sitting position continued to the present.
Bon-Bon had been different from Lyra. She never bullied Derpy, but Derpy still had a hatred for her for what she didn't do. There were many times when Derpy found herself looking at not the bullies but the ponies standing around her. None of them, aside from Carrot Top, ever tried to stop the teasing. Derpy remembered Bon-Bon always standing there and never doing anything. Derpy was never sure if it was because she was too scared to stop the bullying or if she enjoyed the spectacle of it. Derpy would always catch Bon-Bon laughing the situation over with Lyra later. The laughing stopped after the whole Lyra debacle. Nowadays, Bon-Bon tried her best to avoid Derpy altogether; and, when they did come across each other, Bon-Bon would always be extremely nice to her. Derpy assumed this was probably her way of apologizing, but Derpy wasn't willing to forgive her just yet. Bullying somepony is one thing. Standing there, doing nothing, and watching the bullying take place may be just as bad, if not a bit worse. Derpy usually found herself wondering why Carrot Top had remained friends with Lyra, the hypocritical bully, and Bon-Bon, the indecisive bystander. However, Derpy assumed that Bon-Bon and/or Lyra would usually ask themselves why Carrot Top remained friends with Derpy, the cross-eyed outsider.
"You should have told us Derpy was coming, Carrot Top. I would have packed a bit more food," said Bon-Bon with an awkward smile. 
"It slipped my mind," lied Carrot Top. 
"Did you see that thing fall out of the sky?!"
"How could we not? It knocked all of us off our hooves," Derpy replied with a bored expression. Bon-Bon blushed a bit and turned away.
"Derpy, I know it's Lyra and Bon-Bon," sighed Carrot Top, "but can you just-"
"No." Derpy shook her head and turned towards Carrot Top. "Perhaps you could explain to me just what the hay you were panicking about earlier."
"I'm going to get to that...but I'm going to explain it to Lyra and Bon-Bon as well." Derpy rolled her eyes. "Please, Derpy. Be nice. This is no time to focus on old grudges! There are a lot more important things to focus on right now and if what you're going to tell me is true...then we should be pretty damn worried about that thing that fell from the sky."
"I'll try if she does," Derpy replied as she nodded towards Lyra. Lyra turned and glared at Derpy again.
"I guess I can't make any promises about her," Carrot Top replied with a gulp as she began walking towards her two friends. Derpy took a quick look at Lyra and Bon-Bon before looking back towards the trail of black smoke.
"Doctor, wherever you are, could you please come back soon? Something tells me that I'm going to need your help sooner than we thought."

The Doctor coughed loudly as a cloud of smoke flew into his mouth.
"Ugh!" he coughed as the lights in the control room flared back to life. The Doctor was lying on the floor with one of his hooves wrapped tightly around one of the controls. He quickly regained his balance and gave the main console a quick examination. "Let's see. Everything appears to be in order. No apparent damage to the console." The Doctor then suddenly thought back to the voice he had heard. Whatever it was, the Doctor knew one thing about the owner of the voice: it was after Derpy. Why? The Doctor could not answer. "I better get back to Derpy and make sure she's all right. Whatever I heard talking, I really don't want it to find Derpy before I do." As the Doctor began working the controls, the TARDIS gave off a loud hiss and a groan. The Doctor groaned in return and rolled his eyes. "Really? You're not moving?" The TARDIS gave another hiss as if it were responding to him. "Why? Am I supposed to be in the exact spot that you've decided to park? I'm sorry but I've got to save my friend!" He tried working the controls again but the TARDIS simply hissed at the Doctor. "Confounded ship! Damn it! Fine! I'll play your game! Whatever's outside those doors better help me help Derpy or else I'm getting down and dirty!" The Doctor stormed over to the doors and pulled them open. A cloud of smoke poured in through the threshold. The Doctor coughed as he waved the smoke away. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver, and activated it. The smoke slowly began to disappear. "There! That's better! Now, let's have a look, shall we?" The Doctor took a step out of the TARDIS and looked at the scene before him. He cocked his head and gave an interested smile. "Well, well, well...what do we have here?"

Derpy sat down on a cushion that Bon-Bon had placed on the ground. Carrot Top sat a little bit away from Derpy. Lyra sat opposite to Derpy and Bon-Bon sat next to Lyra.
"You could have told us that she was coming," Lyra said to Carrot Top. Derpy frowned in response.
"If I had then neither of you would have come," said Carrot Top.
"I would have!" Bon-Bon protested.
"No you wouldn't," Derpy said. Bon-Bon shrunk back into her seat. Lyra frowned at Derpy. Carrot Top raised her forelegs and beckoned the three mares to calm themselves.
"Let's calm ourselves down. We don't have time for this," said Carrot Top. "This whole camping trip has everything to do with Derpy." Derpy's ears perked up a bit. Lyra crossed her forelegs and continued to glare at Derpy.
"Why?" Lyra asked coldly.
"This is a bit hard to explain. I'm sure the only pony here who'll believe me is Derpy." Carrot Top smiled at Derpy and Derpy looked at her with interest. "To be honest, I'm confused about the whole situation...but after what happened a week ago...I really don't have a choice but to believe in what Derpy told...or is going to tell me."
"I'm confused," Bon-Bon admitted.
"I guess that's something we can agree on," Derpy said with a somewhat warm smile. Derpy could tell that Bon-Bon wanted to smile back but she had decided not to. Lyra turned to Carrot Top.
"Continue then," said the green unicorn.
"Exactly one week ago, I discovered a gift from Derpy in our house a little while after she had left to do her regular mail shift. It was a book about Equestrian history. A note was left on the book that told me to go to a certain page: page 57 to be exact." Carrot Top reached into a bag and pulled out the book. She handed the book to Derpy. Derpy examined the cover of the book. It read: A Guide to Equestrian History by Morgan Freecolt.
"When did he become a writer?" Derpy asked. Carrot Top giggled.
"That's exactly what I asked when I saw it." Derpy looked at the note and read it aloud.
"Here's a little something I thought you'd enjoy. Get better soon! Oh! And I recommend that you start on page 57. Derpy."
"I was intrigued so I looked inside. Page 57 talks about the banishment of Princess Luna. On the next page, there's a picture of a painting, a painting by an old artist named Sir Isaac Longhair."
"Isaac?" Derpy asked under her breath. She was really interested now. Derpy quickly turned to page 57 in the book and found the picture. Sure enough, there was a picture of a painting in there that was stated as being painted by a Sir Isaac Longhair. 
"The painting depicts Princess Celestia banishing Nightmare Moon," Carrot Top continued. "But the interesting part about the painting is that there's a message in it...a message made out to me." Derpy looked at the painting closely. Sure enough, she found it. "The message reads: Follow the smoke, CT."
"CT?" asked Lyra.
"CT for Carrot Top!" Bon-Bon chimed with a smile. Carrot Top nodded.
"Exactly. At first, I thought it was just a coincidence...but then I remembered the smoke," said Carrot Top.
"What smoke?" Lyra asked.
"A week ago, while you two were still at Princess Cadance's wedding, a meteor crashed into the Everfree Forest. Well...at the time I thought it was a meteor. A trail of smoke had been coming up from where the meteor had landed. Out of sheer curiosity, I walked out into the forest to find the meteor site. Luckily, I managed to find it without getting attacked by a manticore or something." Derpy smiled at the irony of Carrot Top's statement in relation to her first encounter with the Doctor and what had been chasing him. "However, I didn't just find the meteor site...I also ran into Derpy." Derpy's ears perked up even more as did Lyra's and Bon-Bon's. Lyra then turned to Derpy.
"What were you doing in the Everfree Forest?!" Lyra asked.
"She doesn't know! It hasn't happened to her yet!" Carrot Top explained.
"Huh?" asked Bon-Bon.
"Let me explain! Derpy told me that she had told Sir Isaac Longhair to put the message in the painting so that I would go and meet her in the forest."
"How? Sir Isaac Longhair lived centuries ago!"
"I'm getting to that! At first, I was just as confused as you all are. Then Derpy introduced me to her friend: the Doctor." Carrot Top turned to Derpy. Derpy was listening with complete attention. "Derpy already knows who he is...but, basically, he's an alien, known as a Time Lord, from another universe who has taken the form of an earth pony here in our universe." Lyra and Bon-Bon looked at Carrot Top like she had something smeared across her face. "I know it sounds crazy. Trust me, I was extremely confused when this happened. But then Derpy and the Doctor showed me the TARDIS, it's the Doctor's ship that he uses to travel throughout time and space. It looks like a wooden, blue box but it's a massive ship on the inside. If that wasn't enough to prove what they were telling me, they went and showed me the surface of the Moon...1000 years in the future. Then they took me back to my house in the present and Derpy explained the rest to me."
"What'd I tell you?!" Derpy asked.
"You should know!" Lyra snapped.
"Listen!" said Carrot Top. "Derpy said that one week from then, today, I would have to go to this forest and greet a past version of herself, the Derpy sitting here with us, and the Doctor and help them stop something evil that is going to arrive on this day, hence the object that fell from the sky earlier."
"What's the evil thing?!" asked Derpy. Carrot Top's face went pale.
"You didn't tell me. All you said was that everything would work out in the end...oh...and that I needed to bring two things with me."
"What things?" asked Bon-Bon.
"Firstly, the book and note that Derpy is holding." Carrot Top reached into a bag and pulled out a lyre. "And secondly, a simple lyre from a store."
"Did I explain what we needed them for?" Derpy asked. Carrot Top shook her head.
"No," Carrot Top replied. "You and the Doctor just said that everything would work out in the end. Then you left." The four mares were silent for a moment.
"So...what now?" asked Bon-Bon.
"Now...I think we should head back to Ponyville and get Carrot Top some help," said Lyra.
"I'm not crazy, Lyra," Carrot Top asserted.
"You're talking about time-traveling aliens in blue boxes! How does that not sound crazy?!"
"I believe her," said Derpy as she stood up. "What Carrot Top's describing hasn't happened to me yet but I have met and taken a couple of trips through time with the Doctor. I've traveled back to the day Princess Luna was banished and I've traveled nearly 1000 years into the future to a city on the Moon!"
"I'm not surprised that you're crazy, Derpy Hooves." Derpy and Lyra took a few steps closer to each other.
"Well then, Lyra, if you're so certain that Carrot Top and I are crazy then you won't be afraid to check out the object that crashed into the ground a little while ago."
"Derpy, Lyra, please!" Carrot Top pleaded. Lyra held her hoof up to beckon Carrot Top to be silent.
The unicorn looked Derpy straight in the eye and stated with a confident grin, "Challenge accepted."