//------------------------------// // Loneliest Pony in Equestria // Story: A Sad Pony in a Blue Box // by DawnTheBest //------------------------------// "Muffins!!!" Derpy exclaims, tossing said confections onto their traditional picnic blanket. Sparkler and Dinky dashed towards the picnic site, racing the whole way. "I WIN!" Sparkler shouts as she beats Dinky to the cute, little spread. Being almost grown has its advantages. In fact, Sparkler was growing into quite the beautiful mare, with a shimmering light-purplish coat and gorgeous violet and purple highlights, she was a stunning, young unicorn. "Aww... When I grow up, I'll be a bajillion times faster than you!" Dinky said as she sat down. "In your dreams, kiddo!" Sparkler retaliated as she levitated a muffin into her sister's mouth. "Play nice, we don't want to eat them too fast." Their cross-eyed mother said with a giggle. The evening picnic was beautiful, there was happiness in the air. The birds sang their soft evening song and the brown leaves blew around with the soft breeze. The Everfree Forest was a wondrous place in the fall, before that silly race, of course. The Doctor had other things on his mind, though. While his beautiful wife and daughters made short work of the food, he stood solemnly, leaning against the tree that over-looked their latest family outing. No TARDIS, just an old-fashioned picnic. He stood there thinking. Thinking sad thoughts, and staring. For he had spotted a stallion up on a hill, not a mile away, crying. "I'm so sorry." The Doctor murmured under his breathe, with a tear in his eye. For the Doctor realised who this mystery stallion was. It was the same stallion he saw almost everyday. Grey-ish coat, a well-groomed grey-black mane, a distinctive red bowtie, and an hourglass cutiemark. The Doctor saw him all the time around town, even in Canterlot, never giving him a second thought.The stallion on the hill looked up and saw the Doctor staring at him, and began to sob even harder. "How are my filly's doing?" The Doctor asked, finally returning to his family. Before anypony could say anything, a muffin flew into his mouth with the excellence and magical expertise of Sparkler. All three mares fell on their backs laughing as he tried to chew and swallow Derpy's new "Custard and Fish-Fingers" flavored muffins. The three mares could not contain themselves. After the muffin was swallowed and the mares were done laughing, the sun had finally set. Now, the fireflies came alive with beautiful light. "This reminds me of home!" The Doctor chirped with glee. "But at home, the grass is red and the fireflies are blue and the leaves catch fire when they begin to die! Quite wonderful, if you can stand a tree full of leaves burning at 200 degrees Fahrenheit!" Sparkler and Derpy giggled profusely, trying to keep the noise down because Dinky had already fallen asleep. They sat there content as can be, until one-by-one, they all fell asleep, except The Doctor. He had noticed all his family was asleep and planned to sleep himself, until he remembered. His attention quickly jumped to the hill from before, where the sad pony stood. He still stood, he wasn't crying. He only watched, as if, observing the sleeping family. Without a moments notice, the stallion trotted off. "Hmm?" The Doctor questioned with a hushed tone. "Maybe I was wrong, perhaps he was a creepy stalker, or a Hitmare. Hitmares are usually mares, though. Why would such a peaceful place as Equestria need an assassin system, anyway? Maybe Twilight has a book about it. Maybe I have a book about it!" The Doctor began blathering on'n'on. "Zombies" this and "Umbrellas" that. He spoke nonsensical dribble about "Celestia being a stallion" and "That silly DJ becoming an awful writer." He got really off topic. That's when he heard the TARDIS' trademark sound. VWORP VWORP All the feels hit him at once, with the speed and force of a locomotive. His fear, his reality, had been confirmed. He had tried to mask his conclusion with jokes and getting off topic, but he knew. Deep down he knew that this life would soon come to an end. He knew his family would age and die, and he would live on. Sure he would probably have grandchildren, and great grandchildren, but things wouldn't be the same. He'd become someone else, die and be born again, like that of a phoenix. He didn't want to go, he'd give anything to age and die, just like his family. Luna's moon was adrift high in the midnight sky, the fireflies were resting, and the Whooves family slept up under a quaint little tree, on a quaint little mat, quite the quaint little family. All except Doctor, alone with his thoughts. 'Tia's mighty sun shone bright above the Everfree field. The birds were chirping, and Fluttershy herded a rabble of butterfly near the sleepy family. A mischievous little butterfly strayed from the group and landed right on Derpy's nose. Derpy awoke alarmingly fast trying to see what tickled her cute little muzzle. Though she could only get her right eye to focus on it, she could clearly see that it was an adorable, little pink butterfly. "Oh no! I'm so sorry to wake you, Mrs. Whooves!" Fluttershy 'kind-of' shouted out as she rushed over there. "I'm so sorry, Miss Shutterflutter has been very naughty this morning, and I hope she didn't hurt you." Fluttershy said with a squee. "Look mawmmy! There's a butterfly on your face!" Dinky shouted with a youthful happiness. She started bouncing all over the place. "Noooooooo. Sunlight hurts my eyes" Sparkler commented, half asleep. She covered her eyes with her hooves and rolled over. Derpy looked over at Doctor, who appeared to be sleeping. He looked like he had been crying. She went over to poke him, but he woke up before she got the chance. "Good morning, Mufffin." The Doctor softly said, just as he was about to get a wake-up poke. "GOOD MORNING!!!" Derpy exclaimed, jumping on him with the grandest hug ever given. "Oh dear, I hope I'm not bothering you, Mr. Whooves" The butterscotch pegasus timidly stated. "Oh nooo, not at all, not at all." Doc' replied happily. "Actually, I think it's time to head home." "Nooooooo. I have to moovve." Sparkler complained. So, instead of moving, Sparkler did the next best thing. She teleported back to the house. Dinky, with lightning fast speed, ran ahead. She said something, but it was drowned out by the speed of her little legs moving at the speed of light. Fluttershy used her wings to hover above the ground. "I better be getting back to the butterflies, now. They get rowdy if I'm not there." Fluttershy squeeked as she floated off. The two Whooves trotted home, content with their picnic. The Doctor still seemed a little melancholy, though. "What's wrong with you?" The Derped Mistress asked. "Just... Nothing." The Old Physician replied, still saddened. "I can tell when you're lying. You're really bad at it, and you can't show some silly blank paper to convince me otherwise." The Muffin Queen sat on her hind legs, forelegs crossed. She refused to move until he told her. "I saw someone... Someone who shouldn't be. He's so close to me, yet unrecognizable. He was me, but not me. I came to the realization that time fl-f-flows on!" The Doctor held back his tears. "And someday, y-you won't be here." The last time he had cried this hard, was when he stubbed his hoof on the coffee table, and that was hardcore. Derpy reached out and gave him a nice, warm hug. He wept on her shoulder like a little colt. Minutes later, she pulled his damp head up, and gave him a warm, passionate kiss. They held, lip-locked for what felt like a lifetime. The Doctor's perception of a lifetime, anyway. Together, they trotted home to continue their crazy lives, on'n'on until the end. "And that was a story about your grandfather." The stallion said as he straightened his bowtie. The fouls were already asleep, perhaps they had been from the start. "Jeez, Dad. You can tell some boring stories." Sparkler said sarcastically. She ran up and hugged her dad, saying "Oh I've missed you so much!" Sparkler, finishing the hug. "I see you've met my twins, Dimension and Voyager." "Ah, yes. Couldn't have named them better myself." Doctor said, straightening his bowtie for the billionth time. "They are the best fillies I could have hoped for. Sooo, what brings you around, in the middle of the night, in that strange, bowtie-wearing regeneration" Sparkler got a tear in her eye, she remembered her father's previous appearance, when her mother was still around. "Just thought I should stop by, see your new house. I've been reminiscing of late." Doctor began to weep, causing Sparkler to cry along with him. "I miss Mom!" Sparkler cried, distraught. The Doctor composed himself and uttered these few words. "I do, too. I do, too.