Nightmare Derpy

by Little Woona

Chapter Two

A few weeks ago…

“Wakey wakey my little muffin, rise and shine!” Derpy chanted as she entered Dinky’s bedroom.

“Hi, Mommy” – Dinky gave a cute yawn and rubbed her eyes – “good morning.”

Derpy opened the nearest window to let sunshine illuminate the room and moved to Dinky’s bed.

“Come on sweetie, breakfast is ready.” Derpy kissed her on the forehead and left the room.

Dinky begrudgingly rose from her bed a few moments later and descended downstairs to the dining room. Smiling, the Doctor sat on a chair in front of the table. Dinky let out a joyful grin.

“Hi, Daddy!” Dinky joyfully exclaimed. “Oops, sorry; I mean, good morning Doctor.”

“Good morning Dinky.” The Doctor gave her a smile. “Take a seat, your mother will serve breakfast in just a moment.”

As his sentence ended, Derpy returned from the kitchen balancing a plate of blueberry muffins and a jar of juice on her back; placing them on the table, she took a seat in front of the Doctor.

“Can I serve breakfast, Mommy?” Dinky asked.

Dinky had been practicing her magic since a few days ago with simple spells such as levitation and illumination, even some more complicated spells like teleportation and summoning.

“Of course, my little muffin.” Derpy beamed. “It’s good practice.”

In that moment, Dinky took a breath and lit her horn. It started to glow along with the dishes as she began to levitate them slowly; a single muffin floated toward each pony sitting at the table, landing in front of them; the jar of juice began serving itself in the glasses that Derpy had brought, individually presenting themselves to each of them just like the muffins. Finally, Dinky’s horn ceased glowing and she let out a sigh of content.

“Wow, you truly have improved yourself these days Dinky.” The Doctor was impressed. “Do you really learn to do all that just in school?”

“Yep, and Miss Cheerilee said that today we’re going to learn a new spell!” Dinky chippered happily. “Something about mind-reading.”

“Oh Dinky, I’m so proud of you” Derpy followed up her approval with a big smile. “C’mon, let’s finish our breakfast; we don’t want you to be late.”

The three of them finished their breakfast, the Doctor accompanying Dinky to school while Derpy stayed home to clean up the kitchen. When Derpy took the dishes from the dining room to the kitchen, she noticed that a solitary muffin remained.

“Hmm… maybe I should put it in the fridge and save it for later.” Derpy did so and continued cleaning up the kitchen.

“Perfect, now that I’ve finished I can eat that muffin.” Derpy opened the fridge and took the muffin with one wing and closed the fridge with the other.

Derpy entered the living room and sat on a couch, prepared to devour the entire muffin-y goodness. After she took her first bite, she gave a glance to the clock on the wall. Her mood changed drastically.

“Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh, I’m late, I’m really late!” Derpy put down the muffin on the coffee table and flew upstairs to her room. She put on her uniform, took her mail bags and flew back downstairs.

“Don’t think that I’m done with you, I’ll be back,” Derpy warned the half-eaten muffin on the coffee table.

“Oh, hi Derpy.” The Doctor greeted Derpy at the door of the house. “I’m back.”

“HiDoctorsorryI’mlatenotimetotalkthemuffinonthetableismineIloveyouseeyoulater!” Derpy rushed and flew across the street on her way to the mail office.

“Did she just say…?” the Doctor wondered. “Nah, it must be my imagination.”

The Doctor entered the house, closed the door and went upstairs to the attic. “Well, it’s time to keep working on the TARDIS.”

While Derpy and Dinky were out of the house and the Doctor was working in the attic, something was happening in the living room. Windows and curtains had closed and the whole room was as dark as the night. A dense black smoke invaded the room which immediately took the form of two darker grey creatures, with red eyes outlined with black.

“Are you sure this plan will work, Darkshade?” One of the creatures asked its larger partner, apparently the leader.

“Trust me Shadowfright,” Darkshade answered. “This plan is just perfect.”

“But from all the ponies on this land, why her?” Shadowfright asked him.

“Because nopony would expect it,” Darkshade explained. “We have the element of surprise on our side this time.”

“Surprise? The fluffy-maned pegasus from Manehatten?” Shadowfright mused, confused.

“NO! Idiot!” Darkshade yelled at him. “Argh, just follow my orders and this land would be finally ours!”

“As you wish, commander.” Shadowfright mumbled.

Derpy flew across the street with her mail bags filled with cards and other mail stuff; one by one, she left the mail on each house of the street. It was midday by the time Derpy had delivered the last cart of mail; her bags now empty, she made her way to pick Dinky up from school.

Derpy approached the school where Cheerilee was standing outside the door talking with a pair of parents; children could be heard from the inside playing and laughing. As she arrived, Cheerilee had finished speaking with those parents who had left the moment their son had come outside. Derpy approached the school’s main door where Cheerilee remained standing.

“Hi, Cheerilee,” Derpy greeted the teacher. “How are you doing?”

Cheerilee gave her a smile. “Oh! Hi, Derpy! Everything is fine thanks, how about you?”

“Work was a little harder today, so much mail, but everything is fine too,” Derpy said.

“Glad to hear it, Dinky is inside playing on the backyard; I’ll tell her that you’re here. You know, you really should see about trying to enroll her in Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

Derpy flushed with pride. “Aw, thanks Cheerilee.”

Dinky emerged from the school jumping with joy and greeted Derpy with a smile. “Hi, Mommy!”

“Hi, my little muffin.” Derpy returned the smile. “How was your day?”

“It was great! I had lots of fun practicing the new spell!” Dinky blurted out excitedly as she bounced around Derpy.

“Just remember, Dinky” Cheerilee advised as she waved her hoof goodbye. “Practice makes perfect!”

“I promise I’ll keep practicing Miss Cheerilee, goodbye!” Dinky waved.

“See you later Cheerilee. I’ll think about your recommendation.” Derpy joined the farewell and waved back at Cheerilee.

“See you, girls! Take care!” Cheerilee terminated the conversation and retreated inside the school.

“What recommendation Mommy? What did she mean?” Dinky’s curiosity piped up.

“Oh, never mind. Are you hungry, sweetheart?” Derpy asked. “I can bake chocolate chips muffins for lunch today. Since you’ve been such a smart little filly lately.”

“Sounds great, Mom” Dinky said. “Can we fly back home, please?”

“Sure,” Derpy opened one of her empty bags. “Jump in!”

“Yaaay!” Dinky bounded happily into the bag, which proved to be a snug fit – leaving just enough room for her head and part of her forelegs to hang outside.

“This is so much fun,” Dinky gleefully laughed.

“Hehe, hold on tight, honey” Derpy cautioned.

Derpy and Dinky flew directly to their house and landed at the front door. Dinky jumped out of the bag as Derpy opened it. They had just entered the house when both of them felt an unnatural chill.

“Brrrr, it’s freezing in here.” Derpy’s teeth chattered. “Let’s open the windows and let the sun warm up the house.”

“Why would Daddy – oh um – why would the Doctor closed the windows?” Dinky asked.

“I have no idea,” Derpy answered, wondering that herself. “Sometimes I simply don’t understand him.”

“Can I help you bake the muffins, Mommy?” Dinky asked with puppy eyes.

“Of course you can sweetie,” Derpy said with a smile. “C’mon, let’s prepare the paste.”

Sometime later, in the next room unbeknownst to the mare and filly, a smell permeated through the attic door. *sniff sniff*
“Is that smoke?” the Doctor wondered, nostrils flaring. “Smoke!? Oh God, something is on fire!”

The Doctor rapidly vacated the attic, running downstairs to the messy kitchen to find Derpy and Dinky opening the smoky oven; pulling out a plate covered in fresh baked muffins.

“Muffins are ready!” Derpy and Dinky exclaimed simultaneously.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hi Derpy! Hi Dinky!” the Doctor greeted his girls. “I didn’t hear you coming, how was your day?”

“Awesome!” Derpy and Dinky cheered in unison again, a giggling fit temporarily possessing them.

“Heh, glad to hear it,” the Doctor said. “So, how about we eat those muffins? They smell divine.”

A few hours later, after eating the muffins in the dining room, the day began to end and the sun had been lowered by Celestia. Luna was set to raise the moon and the stars of the night at any moment.

“Come on, my muffin” Derpy sweetly coerced. “Bedtime for you, little miss.”

“Aaaw but” – Dinky gave a big yawn – “I’m not tired, yet.”

“C’mon, little fillies have to be in bed at this hour.” Derpy carried Dinky on her back all the way upstairs into the little filly’s room, gently placing her on the bed. She proceeded to cover her in her fluffy bed sheets.

“Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the parasprites bite!” Derpy kissed Dinky on the forehead.

“Good night, Mommy.” Dinky gave another yawn and began to drift off to sleep.

Derpy left the room to the hallway and closed the door quietly. As she headed to her room, she saw the Doctor coming upstairs on his way back to the attic where he had left the TARDIS.

“Hey, Derpy! I’m going to turn in for the night.” The Doctor gave her a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Oh… hey Doctor…” Derpy’s low voice hid her emotion. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Derpy,” the Doctor responded, also lowering his voice so he wouldn’t wake Dinky. “What is it?”

“Uh well, I was wondering if you’d like to… you know…” – Derpy made a pause – “Is the TARDIS comfortable?”

“The TARDIS?” the Doctor asked confused.

“Yeah, you know, is it comfortable to sleep in there?” Derpy asked.

“Oh well, not really actually since my bed was designed for humanoid bodies. And well, as you can see I’m a pony, but it’s ok, I guess.” the Doctor said. “Why?”

“It just that I was wondering if you’d like to… Um… ” – A rosy-red blush appeared on Derpy’s face – “sleep with me tonight.”

“Oh. Oh. I see…” the Doctor thought about it a few seconds. “Well… ”

Oh no, oh no, he’s going to say no, I totally screwed up, ugh! I knew this was a bad idea! Silly brain with silly ideas!

“Sure, why not?” the Doctor immediately said with a smile on his face.

Argh! I knew it! He’s never going to speak to me again… wait, WHAT!? Derpy was speechless. “D-did you really say y-yes?”

“Yeah, sure, it sounds like a good idea. It would certainly be refreshing to sleep on a bed designed for equine bodies.” the Doctor winked as he returned to the attic. “Just let me grab my pajamas."

“Um, ok, I’ll leave the door open for you then, sure.” Derpy entered her bedroom and half-closed the door. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! I can’t believe it worked! This night is going to be perfect! I just need one more thing.”

Derpy exited the room and glided downstairs to the living room, having remembered the muffin she’d been forced to abandon in the morning. Foregoing the light switch, she searched by the glow of the simple moonshine that was entering through the windows.

“Come on! Come on! Where is it?” Derpy got closer to the coffee table. “Aha! There you… are?” There was her muffin, still sitting on the coffee table where she left it. But for one crucial difference; it was whole again.

Suddenly Derpy heard a sound from upstairs, it was the attic door being closed; an instant later, the living room door slammed shut as well, leaving the room in complete darkness. Immediately, wispy smoke invaded the whole room. Derpy was left alone in the darkness, clumsily trying to hide under the coffee table with the muffin on it.

“W-what’s going on? What is happening? W-why can’t I see anything?” Derpy asked shakily.

“Don’t be afraid, little pony,” a spooky voice rasped from all around her. “We’re not going to hurt you. In fact, we have a proposition for you.”

“A p-pro-proposition? What do you mean? W-who are you?” Derpy continued to hide under the table.

“Do you like muffins?” the voice asked.

The Doctor poked his head out from inside the TARDIS. “Derpy? Is it you? What was that sound?” The Doctor got closer to the attic’s door and tried to open it, only to find it locked from the outside. “Well, this is weird… Hello? Is someone out there?”

“Y-yes, I like muffins,” Derpy whimpered, her voice still quaking with fear.

“That’s great, because that muffin on the table is for you. We made it especially.” the voice rasped. “Go on, take it, don’t be shy; it’s your favorite flavor.”

“What flavor?” Derpy asked.

“Muffin flavor,” the voice said.

*bzzzt bzzzzzt bzzt*
“C’mon! Open now!” The Doctor tried to open the door with the sonic screwdriver, only to be met with no result. “Argh! It doesn’t do wood!”

“Come on, take it, I promise you’ll like it.” The voice insisted.

Derpy emerged from under the table and stared at the muffin on it; she took it with one hoof and brought it closer to her mouth.

“Go on. Just one bite,” the voice coerced, seeming to close in around Derpy as she contemplated her snack.

“Open. Now. Open. Now,” the Doctor pulled and pushed the door repeatedly trying to force it open. “Wait, I’m a damn horse, I can kick the door down.”

Derpy closed her eyes and bit the muffin, munching it slowly to feel the flavor; it was just a normal muffin as any other else, tasty as usual, but nothing overly special. Derpy opened her eyes to see what was happening and noticed that there wasn’t a single bite mark in the muffin. Once again, it was completely whole.

“What the…?” Derpy took another bite from the muffin again, this time with her eyes open to see what was happening. She stared, shocked, as the bite began to shrink; once again the muffin had regenerated completely.

“Did you like it?” The shadows took form again, until they resembled the previous creatures they were moments earlier. Darkshade and Shadowfright stepped closer to Derpy, Darkshade relieving Derpy’s hoof of the muffin.

“We can give you anything you want, all you have to do” – Darkshade took the muffin and split it in half, both halves immediately regenerating themselves, doubling up – “is ask for it.”

“B-but that’s impossible, not even magic can do that!” Derpy said. She narrowed her eyes. “What do you want from me?”

“Oh not much, we just need you to be” – Shadowfright whispered in Derpy’s ear – “our Queen.”

“Here we go.” The Doctor bucked the door with his hind legs a few times until it fell down. “Derpy? Where are you? What’s happening?”

The Doctor checked Derpy’s room looking for her, only to find it empty. He rushed to go downstairs but he immediately stopped when he saw the black smoky cloud blocking his way.

“Oh this can’t be good.”

*bzzzt bzzzzt* The Doctor directed the sonic screwdriver at the clouds, trying to disperse them.

“W-what!? Be your Queen? What do you mean? Is this some kind of joke?” Derpy wondered, once again trying to hide under the coffee table.

“No not a joke at all, Derpy. We need you, my dear.” Darkshade continued, “You’re the only one fitting to be our leader. In return, all of our power, our troops, will be yours.”

“The only thing you need to do is accept and we will be at your service, your Highness.” Shadowfright confirmed.

Derpy struggled internally. This might be a trap, but if I don’t accept, they could do terrible things to me or even worse, to my daughter. I can’t allow that to happen. I have no choice, please forgive me, Doctor. Arriving at her decision, Derpy announced “I’ll do it, but just with ONE condition!”

“Come on, what’s going on!?” The Doctor examined his sonic screwdriver trying to find a solution, when suddenly the noise of a door opening distracted him. He was met with the sight of a little unicorn coming out of the bedroom.

“Doctor? What are you doing? Aaah! What is that!?” Dinky screamed, pointing with one hoof at the dark smoke blocking the stairs.

“Troubles.” As the Doctor spoke, the cloud of black smoke blocking the stairs started to dissipate. Both the Doctor and Dinky went downstairs to the living room where they found Derpy, and a bizarre scene.

Derpy levitated in the middle of the living room without using her wings, surrounded by the dark smoke. The shadows seeped into her, through her nose and mouth. Derpy had her eyes closed, her body wracked with sobs. As she continued to cry, more shadows flowed into her.

“NOOO, MOMMY!” Dinky screamed with terror, her own tears adding to the scene. “Doctor, please! Help my Mom!”

“I-I-I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t know what to do!” the Doctor cried out, confused. Sweating, desperate, he clicked his screwdriver again and again, to no avail. Nothing he could do would save Derpy.

While Derpy was still absorbing the smoke, her coat blackened, her eyes lit with an intense glow and her whole body grew rapidly to double its previous size. Once Derpy had finished consuming all the smoke, her eyes ceased their eerie glow and she fell to the floor.

“M-mom? Are you ok?” Dinky asked, stepping closer where Derpy lay.

“No! Wait, Dinky!” The Doctor halted her, barring her progress with a hoof. “It could be dangerous.”

“But she’s my mom, she would never hurt me, let me go!” Dinky jumped and galloped to Derpy’s side, reaching out to nuzzle her softly. “Mommy, are you ok?”

Derpy regained consciousness at Dinky’s touch. Meeting her innocent filly eyes, a dark smile crossed Derpy’s face.
“I’ve never felt better.”