//------------------------------//
// Chapter Five: Shopping for Information 
// Story: Dr. Hooves and the Broken Box 
// by Lyichir 
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“So I assume all of the denizens of Ponyville are, in fact, ponies?” The Doctor and Derpy had reached the town square, and he was trying to get as much information out of her as possible.
“Mostly” said Derpy, slowly. “There are a few donkeys and mules as well… cows and sheep, too, but those mostly live on the farms around the town.”
“Fascinating,” said the Doctor. “What else is there? Outside Ponyville.”
Derpy moved over to one of the produce stands that seemed to have sprouted up overnight. The Doctor looked over at the TARDIS, which still sat there on the side of one of the paths away from the square. The ponies milling about the square were largely leaving it alone, although those that passed by it often glanced at it suspiciously. They had obviously never seen anything quite like it.
“Well, the closest cities to Ponyville are Cloudsdale—that’s all pegasi—and Canterlot, which is the capital city.” She sniffed at a bundle of fresh vegetables, grinned, and stuck her snout into one of the bags she carried slung across her back. When it emerged she had a shiny gold coin between her teeth, which she tossed to the pony in charge of the stand.
“The capital, eh? And what sort of government do you have here in…” He trailed off as he realized he wasn’t aware of what this nation of ponies called themselves.
“Equestria,” said Derpy, her brow furrowed. “Where are you from, anyway? Didn’t you ever go to school?”
“It’s been a very long time since then,” said the Doctor quickly, and it was true. Although it didn’t matter how long it had been, really. The Time Lord Academy on Gallifrey hadn’t taught him anything about a parallel universe filled with candy-colored equines.

Derpy moved over to a stand that seemed to trade mainly in apples and other foods made from apples. She exchanged a greeting with the large crimson stallion managing the stand, who she called “Big Macintosh”. 
“Well, Canterlot is where our leader, Princess Celestia, comes from,” continued Derpy. “She’s the one who raises the sun and moon every day. She’s really capable…”
Derpy stopped to pay the farmer pony for three fresh apples. The Doctor wasn’t done asking questions, though.
“She raises the sun and moon?” he asked incredulously. “Do you mean to say that in this world, the sun and moon don’t rise and set on their own?”
“Of course not!” said Derpy, as if he had asked whether the sky was bright green. “How’d they be supposed to do that? It takes unicorn magic to raise the sun! Even I know that!”
“Magic,” the Doctor repeated, skeptically. “You mean to tell me that unicorn ponies can use magic?”
“Actually, all ponies can use magic,” said Derpy. “Unicorns are just the only ones who can focus it to make it do what they want.”
The Doctor was skeptical. “Any pony can use magic. Even you and I?”
“Sure!” the gray Pegasus replied cheerfully. “Pegasi like me use it to help us fly, and to walk on clouds. And Earth Ponies like you can grow green things like fruits and vegetables.”
The Doctor looked at the produce they had purchased so far. It looked just like the kind that grew on Earth. “Forgive me, Derpy,” he said, “but growing plants hardly seems like a magical ability.”
Derpy nodded. “That’s what I always used to think, too,” she said, as she purchased a basket of assorted tropical fruits. “But whenever I’ve tried to plant anything in Carrot Top’s garden, it’s always withered and died. That never happens with the seeds she plants.”
The Doctor wondered if Derpy’s failure to grow plants was really due to a lack of Earth Pony magic, or something else. She was kind, and had done him a good turn, but she didn’t seem to be the brightest pony. He looked over at her. She was trying to balance a basket of eggs on her head. An egg spilled out of the basket and cracked on her face as she swayed from side to side.
“Let me help you with that!” he yelled to her, insistently. He moved over to where she was standing and wiped the egg off her face with his hoof before realizing that he’d have just as much trouble carrying the eggs as she did. Instead, he squeezed his head between her and her saddle bags, and then raised it up to let the bags slide onto his own back instead. “Now spread your wings and carefully—carefully—balance the basket between them.” Derpy did as she was instructed, and let the basket of eggs slide down her neck before nestling securely between her wings.
“Thank you, Dr. Hooves!” said Derpy, with a comically huge grin on her face. “That works so much better! I’m really glad you were around to help me out today!”
“Don’t mention it,” the Doctor said, now also smiling. It felt good, helping people. Or ponies. The feeling inside was the same either way, and he loved it.

When they had finished shopping, the Doctor and Derpy walked back toward Carrot Top’s house, both of them now carrying plenty of groceries on their backs.
“Derpy, I have one more question I’d been wondering about,” said the Doctor, after a long silence. “You have a marking there, on your flank. I’ve noticed most of the ponies here seem to have them. What do they mean, exactly?
Derpy stopped in her tracks. “Whooooooa. Are you trying to tell me you don’t even know what a cutie mark is?”
“A… cutie mark?” The Doctor realized now that he had asked something incredibly obvious, something all ponies were supposed to know, something that could betray his nature as alien to that world.
But Derpy just grinned. “Wow!” she said. “Nopony’s ever asked me as many easy questions as you have today! Most ponies ask hard questions… and sometimes they get mad at me if I don’t know the answer…”
So that’s it, the Doctor thought. That’s why Derpy had seemed so happy to answer all of my questions today. She’s just happy to finally be able to teach someone something she knows and they don’t. I’m probably the only pony she’s ever met who knows even less than she does.
But Derpy was already explaining. “A cutie mark… it’s almost like a badge of honor. When young ponies finally discover for themselves what they’re meant to do in life, that’s when their mark appears, like magic. But not like unicorn magic… even unicorns can’t control what their mark will be, or when it appears. It’s a deeper magic than that…” Derpy stared up at the clouds. She had a look of intent on her face, as if she had discovered some secret, universal truth that nobody else knew.
“So what do they mean?” the Doctor asked. “For instance, yours seems to be made of bubbles. Where did that come from?”
“Mine...” Derpy’s brow was now furrowed in thought. “I got mine… shortly after I moved to Ponyville from Cloudsdale. I think… I think it has to do with how I can adapt to difficult situations. Like, even if something really bad happens… I can just go with the flow, and bounce back. Like a bubble…”
“…I see,” said the Doctor. But he was still unsure. Derpy’s explanation seemed awfully cryptic. Almost like an oxymoron. Most bubbles didn't bounce back if they met resistance. They popped.
“Most ponies have cutie marks that make a bit more sense,” said Derpy, as if reading the Doctor’s thoughts. “Carrot Top’s cutie mark comes from how good she is at gardening, and yours… I’ve seen a lot of hourglass cutie marks before. Usually they belong to timekeepers, or watchmakers, or other ponies who specialize in the passage of time. How did you get yours?”
The Doctor looked away and said nothing. He knew how he got his cutie mark, and what it meant. But he wasn’t about to tell Derpy. She couldn’t find out that he had had it as long as he had been in that body, or that it represented his nature as a time traveler.