//------------------------------//
// My Little Muffin 
// Story: Derpy and the Muffin Man 
// by The Isapie 
//------------------------------//


My Little Muffin


By The Isapie


At first, Derpy didn't want to admit it. She still blamed Rainbow Dash.
Derpy had always had a crush on the stallion who lived in the next-door room. He said his name was Time Turner, but Derpy knew better. She could see that he wasn't exactly telling the truth. She started formulating plans to find out who he really was.

At the same time, Time Turner, or, as he really was called, Doctor Whooves, had a massive crush on Derpy, his next-door neighbour. She was cute, and she really liked muffins, which he constantly baked, hoping that at least a dozen would get to her. They never did. He was just too shy to deliver them to her. Usually, Whooves just ate them himself, although he did not like his own baking at all. He now popped a new recipe, just simple chocolate chip muffins, into the oven, while pulling out another dozen that he had baked half an hour ago. They were carrot banana yogurt chip muffins, which he doubted anyone would like.

Meanwhile, Derpy was baking her own muffins. She really wanted some chocolate chip muffins, but she was out of chocolate chips, so she was either forced to buy some or borrow some.
The other bad news was that it was Hearth's Warming day, so no shops were open. She would have to borrow or make her way down to Sugarcube Corner, which was about half a mile away, which also meant half a mile of freezing cold for Derpy.
She made a decision and grabbed her little sack of candy canes. She removed a hoof full of good, pepperminty canes and arranged them in a small basket, into which she also placed some blueberry muffins that she'd baked herself. They were of her best recipe, but they weren't as good as the chocolate chip ones she could make. She took a deep breath and walked out her door, locking it as she turned around and headed for her neighbour's home.

Knock...knock...knock...
"Oh man. Who in Equestria could be knocking around at this hour?"
Ding!
"Shoot, the muffins. I'll be there in a moment, muffins!"
Whooves ran for the door, only to be greeted by that beautiful face, smiling. Those eyes, that cute little button nose.
Derpy.
Why did she have to come at this time? He had muffins in the oven!
Nonetheless, Whooves welcomed his guest~guest!~into his home. "Welcome, Derpy! I guess we never really got to introduce ourselves. Just let me grab that tray of muffins I was baking. Make yourself comfortable!" he smiled, running for the kitchen.

Oh my god, thought Derpy. I'm in his house! And he's got muffins on the oven!
Whooves returned a moment later with a tray of muffins. He then placed it on the coffee table and sat down on the sofa. He beckoned for Derpy to do the same. She obliged shyly.
Neither of them spoke for a few minutes.
Suddenly, Derpy remembered what she was going to ask him, other than that thing. 
"Turner-"
At the same time, Whooves remembered what he was going to ask her as well. Which was, in fact, that thing.
"Derpy-"
Both voices suddenly burst into laughter. "I suppose you spoke first. Go ahead." said Whooves, still smiling.
"Well, I actually have two things to say. The second one can wait, but can we enjoy the first over muffins? Oh! Are those chocolate chip muffins?!?!?!" gasped Derpy. "Well, those are from a really simple recipe-" started Whooves, but he was interrupted by Derpy popping an entire muffin in her mouth. "I love these! Chocolate chip muffins are my favourite! That's part of the reason why I came! Because I was going to ask you for some chocolate chips! I really wanted chocolate chip muffins! Thank you!" 
The next two minutes or so were spent in silence as the duo enjoyed warm, gooey, melting chocolate chip muffins.
Finally, the two managed to demolish the entire tray. Each had half a dozen, because hey, life is better when you split things equally with friends. 
They sat in silence for another few minutes after the muffins disappeared down their gullets.
Derpy broke the silence when she suddenly said out loud, "We're thinking of the same thing, aren't we?"
"Derpy, how can I explain this? OK, let's start by saying that we've both liked each other for some time. Deal?"
"Definite deal."
"Alright. I will give you the chocolate chips. But I will also give you something special."
"What would that be?"
"A special Hearth's Warming gift." The Doctor punched a button on something and out of the ceiling popped a hanging piece of mistletoe.
Before the Doctor could even react, Derpy leaped forward and pressed her lips against his.
"I love you, Derpy."
"I love you too, my muffin man."



About a year and a half had passed since Derpy and the Doctor had revealed their feelings for one another. He had proposed on Hearth's Warming day, the same day of their anniversary of being each others' special someponies, with a gold hoof ring in a chocolate chip muffin. The golden band was atopped by a diamond muffin.
That day, they were standing at the altar. Or, at least, the Doctor was.
Derpy silently floated down the aisle, the Elements of Harmony being her bridesmaids, the (current) Cutie Mark Crusaders and Berry Punch's daughter, Grape Seed tossing rose petals all over the place. Twilight let Carrot Top take her place holding the long veil, then flew gently up to the altar, where the Doctor was murmuring with his mouth almost wide open, "She's beautiful," over and over. The young princess just chuckled as she recalled Flash Sentry's expression at their own wedding. Priceless.
When Derpy arrived at the altar, her husband-to-be closed his mouth and smiled gently at her, while taking in the dress Rarity had designed for the young pegasus. It was completely white, with a lacy veil and a similar design to Twilight's own dress, but instead of a star on her chest, there was a muffin pendant. It matched perfectly the mare's blonde-ish mane. 
"Ladies and gentlecolts, we are here today in Applejack's barn to witness the union of two loving ponies." said Twilight in her full princess voice. "Derpy Hooves and Doctor-ahem-Whooves, do you promise to love each other with every beat of your hearts?"
"I do."
"ME TOO!"
"DERPY!"
"Right."
"May we have the rings, please?"
Spike and Rarity's daughter, Amethyst, who was sort of disappointed to find out that she wasn't going to be a flower filly, came forward proudly with the rings. Twilight levitated them and set one on the Doctor's hoof, and the other on Derpy's. "With my fully vested powers as Princess of Friendship, I now pronounce you mare and colt!" 
Derpy did not waste any time in tackling her new husband with a ginormous kiss. Twilight's words "You may now kiss the mare" were left hanging as the entire population of Ponyville witnessed the first kiss between the newly married couple. Many cried in joy. Rarity and her daughter were clearly not the only ones who got emotional at times.



"Now, darlings, you just relax and enjoy your honeymoon. Have some fun! Make some good memories together!" said Rarity, wildly mopping her eyes as she shooed the newlyweds off in their carriage. Twilight had enchanted it to fly them to their wanted destination. However, the first destination was preset-to the islands of Atlantis, in the middle of the Equestrian ocean. It was a sunny and sandy island, with beautiful clear waters, intricate coral reefs and a wide range of delicious kelp, served and cooked by the ever-beautiful seaponies.
Before they left, however, Derpy threw the bouquet out the window. All the single mares scrambled for it. Rarity just giggled as she remembered herself in her youth trying to catch the bouquet. The bouquet nearly landed on Screwball, who was already dating somepony, but using her chaos magic, she stopped time long enough to use normal magic and swap spots with Nyx (1), who was single. Once the spell had worked, Screwball let time loose and laughed as Nyx blinked to find, unexpectedly, a golden rose bouquet on her head. She blushed as she realized that Bright Night, the colt she'd always liked, was standing right next to her.
Soon, the carriage left.
Halfway on the flight to Atlantis, Derpy made a conclusion on her current state.
"Muffin Man, I'm very bored."
Clearly, the Doctor (or just Doctor, as he went by now) understood his wife's antics. "We'll see, deary. We're gonna be there soon! Ahem. I remembered to bring my sonic screwdriver, on which I have installed a shrink ray! I shrunk the TARDIS and stuffed it into one of our bags. We can see exactly what happened at the wedding, over and over!" He said, trying to change the topic to something his slightly off wife wouldn't mess up. 
"But Muffin Man, when are we going to get there?"
"In about...45 minutes or so."
"Can we play a game? Ooh! Can we play Get the Pony? Huh huh HUH?"
"In this carriage? My little Muffin, please, something calmer?"
"How about hide-and-go-seek?"
"There's nothing we can really hide behind, sweetie."
"Umm...I spy?"
"Nothing but sky."
"Duck duck goose?"
"For that we need at least four ponies."
"Twenty questions?"
"How do you play?"
"Oh poo. How about...Guess a million games until we find one we can play?"
"That sounds...Nice?"
And so, the two wasted the rest of the ride~about 40 minutes~ randomly shouting out games.



"Ooh! Pin-the-tail-on-the-pony-then-eat-an-apple-as-fast-as-possible-and-sing-the-alphabet-and-recite-all-of-Princess-Celestia's-titles-first-pony-to-finish-wins?"
This suggestion was brought up by a now very energetic Derpy, and now Doctor had to come up with a response. He was about to give up and yell, "Sure, why not!" when he just happened to look out the window and smiled slyly.
"Sorry, my little Muffin, but we can't."
"Why?"
"Because we're already here!" chuckled Doctor as his wife gasped and tackled him with a big hug.

A few minutes later, the two were out of the carriage. Doctor looked around for their sonic screwdriver, then hit the carriage with it. It automatically shrunk, and the wings came back into the body. The landing gear thickened and divided into wheels. At that, Doctor bowed politely to his new wife and said, "M'lady."
"Why thank you Doctor!" She responded as she took his hoof and vaulted herself onto the carriage-thingie-that-just-transformed. He climbed in afterwards, and told the CMU (Central Magical Unit) to take them to whatever hotel Rarity and Twilight had booked for them.
They only had to drive for less than a minute when the car(for the sake of everyone's sanity, I'll just call it a car.) stopped in front of a ginormous...
"Sand castle? We're gonna live in a sand castle?" inquired Derpy about their hotel. 
"Only the best for the Princess's friends! Welcome! My name is Seafoam, and I will be your guide for your honeymoon. Don't worry about me; I'll only be here if you need me to! The Princess hired me to guide you because last time she came on a diplomatic mission, I was sent to guide her! She really liked my service, so she wanted me to help you too!" chirped the young seapony who had suddenly popped into their path. She was lavender-pink and had a pale turquoise tail and fins(she was in a sort of enchanted cart, with a fishbowl on top. It had pressure plates, so wherever you leaned, it went that way), but she had an electric pink mane that curled and frizzed everywhere. Her cutie mark was that of a wave washing up on a coral reef. "Let's go! Allons-y!" she piped. Jeez, thought Doctor, is she related to Pinkie Pie or something?
And so, the interesting entourage made their way into the massive sand castle hotel.



"Why did I not know this recipe before? It tastes amazing!" Exclaimed Derpy. She, as well as her new hubby and their guide were sitting in the bar of the hotel. Seafoam had made sure their luggage was in their room, which she wanted to be a surprise. "You'll see, you'll see!" She giggled when asked about it. 
"It's really no biggie. Just a pint of lemon juice and half a pint of orange juice, plus a quarter pint of hard apple cider. Then, you have to stir lotsa sugar in so it isn't too sour." said Seafoam while enjoying her own mocktail, a Waterfall Delight. It was made of mainly blue raspberry juice, and a bit of honey and some lemon juice. Doctor was carefully sipping his cider, which he had ordered as "three-quarters normal, only a quarter hard, please." 
About half an hour later, Derpy was a little red because Seafoam had poured some of her Waterfall Delight into Derpy's Sunshine, Sunshine. The resulting flavour was about as hot as a jalapeno. Derpy managed to stumble to the bathroom and spit it into the sink. She then washed her mouth out completely three times and made her way back to where her husband and their guide were worriedly looking at her.
"Muffin, are you alright? Do you want to go to our room and eat a muffin? Or do you want to have some dinner? Tell me, please!" asked Doctor, his eyes widened with worry. "I'm fine, Muffin Man. Let's go eat dinner." Responded "Muffin". "Well, then. As Seafoam so brightly put, Allons-y!" Exclaimed Doctor.



"Rainbow Dash? Why are you in my menu?"
After she yelled at the server, Seafoam brought the newlyweds to their table. The server then placed two~clearly enchanted~menus on their table. Rainbow Dash and her family (her husband Soarin', her twins Fire Dash and Water Dash, plus their youngest, Spectrum Dash) appeared in Derpy's menu, while Fluttershy walked into Doctor's menu. Her daughter, Screwball, materialized with her boyfriend, Mothball (1), while Fluttershy's beloved husband, Discord, came raining down in chocolate milk. 
"Well, you can't have all the fun, right? We're here to introduce your meal tonight. The first course: massaman curry from far off Thailand, with coconut milk! Enjoy!"



About an hour later, the rest of the Elements of Harmony (except Rarity) had had their shows, and Pinkie was ushering her girls off the menu when Rarity stepped into Derpy's menu. 
"Hello, darling! Let us commence your desert course, shall we?"
Her daughter, Amethyst, hopped into Doctor's menu. "Yes, Mummy! Daddy, come on!"
Spike the dragon marched into Doctor's menu as well. "Hey, T.T. By the way, the champagne earlier was my idea and my creation!" he grinned, hoping for some screen time.
"Spikey-Wikey! Don't do that! But yes, he did. The final dish we have for you is the desert: strawberry shortcake! Enjoy, darlings!" exclaimed Rarity, then cast a spell that teleported the family out of the menu. Rarity's last words of advice before the spell wrapped them up was, "Oh, darlings! Feel free to eat lots cake! It's packed with plenty of nutrients and-" something else, clearly, that the newlyweds did not catch. Rarity finished her statement in Twilight's now very packed library. "~and the hormonal spell I had dearest Twilight cast on it...Ah well! At least, hopefully, they'll mix the batter for the bun in the oven!"



"Muffin Man? I'm stuffed!"
The newlyweds finally finished their meal (the cake took a while) and were now heading for their own room. They'd sampled massaman curry, coconut milk, Spike's homebrewed Dragonfyre champagne, spring rolls (they were literally springs. Courtesy of Pinkie Pie), strawberry shortcake, a green salad, and Together, they walked into the hallway, into the elevator, out of the elevator, into another hallway, and finally Doctor took out their key-card and swiped it into the slot.
The door swung open to reveal a room with murals of seaponies for walls. "Wow...We're gonna stay in here?" gasped Derpy, while running into the room, tripping over her luggage and landing with a splash in the hot tub. The water had coral infused in it, so it calmed down the very energetic Derpy and nourished her mane, tail and feathers. Her husband laughed, but calmly set their belongings away, then did a triple jump (3) into the massive hot tub. The waves cascaded out, over the tub edges, but they settled into the coral/marble/carble flooring. 
"Mmm... I haven't had a good soak like this in ages!" said Derpy, as the warm water flowed through her feathers and out the other side. "Agreed." said her husband, dunking his entire body in. He loved a good warm bath as much as his wife did, but she loved water fights more.
"Aah! Derpy, what are you~PLO-PLO-PLO~ what was that for?" yelled Doctor as he came out of his dive. Derpy had sent a wave his way just in time for it to land on his face. "Oh, it is so on," he said, sending his own wave. Derpy jumped out of the water long enough to avoid it, but when she landed, she had the misfortune to be hit in the face with another wave. 
"Splash-off, begin!"
And so the two had an epic splash-off.



"I'm tired, Muffin Man."
Derpy won the splash-off when she waded~or, swam~ to Doctor's side and tackled him down. He managed to resurface, and the two had an intimate kissing session. Meanwhile, the spell Twilight put on the cake started activating in Derpy.
"Same. Let's go to bed."
Clearly, the spell was already activated in Doctor.
The newlyweds, now dried off, trudged to the bed, where they both hopped on. They just lay there, being wrapped in each others warmth, when the spell completely activated in Derpy.
"Doctor, do you want to have a foal?"
This question fanned the burning house called Doctor Whooves.
"Are you sure? I-I mean, I think we could, but will we be able to take care of a foal?"
Derpy flipped herself onto her husband and kissed him. When she came up for air, she gave him a sultry smile.
"Who cares about that!"
He smiled back at her and flipped himself so he was on top of her. 
"Well, then. Foal it is."



The next morning, Derpy and Doctor came out of their room, both looking very dishevelled. All of Derpy's feathers were fanned out (she'd experienced a wingboner sometime during the night) and her mane and tail were all spazzed out like a cactus. Doctor Whooves fared no better. He was clammy with sweat, plus his normally blue tie was inside out and was now green, and his mane stuck out like he'd backcombed, then hairsprayed it. 
They managed to smooth themselves out in the elevator. They then headed for the breakfast pavilion where Seafoam was waiting, looking equally dishevelled and was leaning against the side of her bubble to kiss a stallion seapony on the snout. She took one look at herself, then looked at the horrified newlyweds, and cried, "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry I suppose you folks haven't met my coltfriend yet?" she rambled, finally ending a bit calmer. Her coltfriend dipped his head and smiled, then spoke in a very deep voice, "Hello, my name is Kraken. I'm so sorry about our appearances." 
"Oh, don't worry, we did it last night, too," said Derpy innocently. Her husband shrunk to the size of a foal. 
"Ah well. The breakfast for today is going to be very healthy: wheat waffles, and oatmeal, plus soy or almond milk, and coffee for those who want some, and tea bags are in the corner, and..."



Later that night, the two arrived back in Ponyville.
There was much to be done, bags to put away, souvenirs to be handed out, phone numbers(that of Seafoam and Kraken) to be reviewed, many questions to be answered, and, of course, the spell hadn't totally worn off yet.
The couple spent most of the night eating muffins and having more fun, as Rarity so kindly put it.



About a week later, Derpy decided to do a pregnancy test.
"Doctor, Doctor, Doctor! I'm positive! We're having a foal!"
"REALLY?!?!"
Doctor Whooves had been brushing his teeth when Derpy yelled this out. Suddenly, Rarity burst through the door, followed by a very pink Pinkie Pie. (4) "CONGRADULATIONS!" Both screamed.
Suddenly, half of Ponyville was crowded in the little apartment. "Here's to Derpy and Doctor Whooves, and their foal-to-be!" yelled Big McIntosh as he, his wife Cheerilee and their daughter Sweet Apple handed out mugs of trademark apple cider.
"CHEERS!"



At least 10 months later...
"Is the TARDIS ready, Muffin Man?"
They decided to have a "babymoon," which was a sort of last vacation they would have before the baby came. And they decided to have it at a special place. Not Atlantis, but somewhere else they'd never been before.
The Grand Galloping Gala from a few years ago: not many nobles attended, because it was the year many young fillies and foals were born, including the Cutie Mark Crusaders, to mention a few. The duo did attend, and perhaps it was there that they first really did anything together, if only it was a quick chat. 
The couple stepped into the TARDIS. By now, Derpy had figured out that her husband was indeed a Time Lord and was able to bend time itself using his massive blue telephone box. Doctor closed the door and helped Derpy buckle the seat belt over her swollen belly.
"All clear," he said, then lifted a few levers and turned three dials, then he typed something into~what is that? A screen?
The TARDIS began to shake.
Then, from the windows, Derpy saw time warp around and around it as it lifted. Then, the whole outdoors turned into laser-coloured lights and Derpy tried to keep her outsides at the same speed as her insides. When the world stopped spinning, the couple were in a room in the Canterlot Palace, presumably one of the guest rooms.
"Muffin Man, I don't feel so great."
"It's just time warping. Perfectly normal."
Together, they stepped out of the TARDIS and walked into the massive room. It had many separate hallways leading out to the garden, the pantry, the loo and a strange door with a sign on it. It stated clearly, "In progress," which utterly and completely confused both Doctor and Derpy.
An hour after the duo had found a nice suite, shrunk the TARDIS and unpacked all their belongings, Derpy's water broke.
"Muffin Man! Something's happening!" 
Doctor Whooves dashed from one room to another and spread out what little emergency supplies they had brought. A waterproof sheet, a small box of diapers, a tub full of baby supplies, a baby bottle and some formula milk and a few blankies and hankies, but not much else. With these things at handhoof, Doctor Whooves rushed to his bag, where he kept his Sonic Screwdriver, and came back to find his wife spreading the waterproof sheet on the bed, contractions pulsing through her body.
"Hold still, Muffin, our little one will be fine."



Some three hours later, Derpy was downright exhausted, but her work was for a great cause. Lying on her chest, cradled by her feathers was a tiny filly, a lavender coloured one with the same straw-blonde mane as her mother. Derpy reached her head down to kiss her newborn filly and felt something prod her lip gently. 
With her feathers, Derpy pushed aside the mane at the top of her daughter's head to reveal a tiny, forming unicorn horn. 
Meanwhile, her husband rushed through the castle and came back with a unicorn medic, who was stunned to find a pegasus mother, an earth pony father but an unicorn daughter. He quickly checked the little filly over and deemed her fit, formed and healthy. The medic then told the duo, "You two are lucky! Having a daughter on the eve of the Grand Galloping is really good luck! And her being an unicorn can symbolize long life! Congrats!" 



And so, the babymoon ended when little Muffin was born.
They'd christened her Dinky Doo Hooves, but at home, they swore to always call her Muffin. 
The moment they arrived home from their babymoon, Muffin grew. She grew to the size and age of the (former) Cutie Mark Crusaders, but she was missing a cutie mark. The first words she said were, "Mummy? Daddy? What's going on?" as if she'd really aged and was really confused. The happy family now trotted back home to enjoy the great weather.
The rest of Ponyville never really did understand how she'd aged so fast. Even Princess Twilight Sparkle could not explain exactly what had happened, though her best theory was some extreme progeria (5) that had slowed down after the time warp stopped, due to the magnetic functions within her body. 
Still, all of Ponyville loved the little filly. She had a very popular mother and a popular father, and she herself was pretty popular.



Among the blank flanks and former blank flanks, that is.
The CMC picked her up and added her to the club ASAP. Nyx herself spoke the words that made her a Cutie Mark Crusader. By then, the CMC was dedicated to helping young fillies and foals to find their cutie marks, not just themselves. Little fillies like Viola Dash and others were trying all the time to get their cutie marks. In addition, some of the children of the Elements of Harmony were volunteering there.
Screwball was there, helping a young unicorn learn to levitate his backpack onto his back. When he did it, Screwball gave him a high-hoof. 
Viola Dash's siblings, Water Dash and Fire Dash, were there, taking all the pegasi out for a training session to help them fly. They had stopwatches and all sorts of things that related to sports to help these foals.
Rarity and Spike's daughter, Amethyst, had recently gotten her cutie mark (a needle sewing a purple gemstone onto cloth) and was showing a few fillies and foals some arts and crafts techniques. They loved it.
AJ and Caramel's filly, Cinnamon Apple, was teaching some Apple family members from the Manehattan branch how to correctly buck apple trees, with almost all the fillies and foals getting it right sooner or later.
Their younger one, Candy Apple, was one of them. She had gotten her cutie mark about half a week ago, and was proudly showing off her applebucking skills, then cooking the hungry fillies and foals some apple jam and bread.
Starsong, Twilight and Flash Sentry's other daughter, was there, singing and playing guitar with Sweetie Belle, to help the musically gifted ones find what they really liked to do~instrumental, vocals, or maybe DJ or dance?
And of course, Pinkie's triplets were holding a massive cupcake baking party, mixing four batters each at a time. They may not be exactly sane, but hey, they make the best cupcakes ever.
The original CMC founded the CMC building, in one of the Sweet Apple Acres vacant lots. It cost them about a third of Scootaloo's stunt pony earnings, half of Apple Bloom's applebucking and fixing bits, and about a quarter of Sweetie Belle's singing and songwriting bits. The building was massive, taking up about an acre (if you include the huge field and small apple plot around it) and took three months to build.
So naturally, it took ages to repair.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were very much grown up now, and their children, Golden Tiara, Diamond Necklace, Silver Dish and Platinum Spoon, were about the same age as many of the foals in the CMC centre, but they already had their cutie marks. 
Clearly, they all took after their mothers.
A month ago, they'd sabotaged the CMC centre, and their mothers had done nothing about it. (In fact, Diamond Tiara had protested and had tried to slap Apple Bloom. Result: Diamond Tiara -> Hospital.) Apple Bloom was still fixing it, despite her own difficulties(she'd gotten married a year ago and was expecting a little one in seven months.). The sabotage included a raid of the toy room, which really upset many of the foals, and the demolition of a section of the wall. Apple Bloom stood on a ladder, her saddlebags filled with random supplies, like some wooden planks, a handful of nails and screws, a screwdriver, a saw, a hammer and some apple cider and an apple. 
Suddenly, Apple Bloom tripped over a nail on the ladder and wobbled. Scootaloo dashed over to catch her, but was greeted by her saddlebags. Sweetie Belle was too far away to help, as were most of the other volunteers. None of the little unicorns could really cast a spell strong enough to catch her.
Dinky happened to remember her own age, and reached her magic out to help her friend. At first, not much happened, but Apple Bloom started to fall. Dinky saw that she needed to do something at that moment, and her magic reached its full capacity.
A muffin shaped bubble formed under Apple Bloom just as she fell.
Everyone watching cheered as Scootaloo flew up and brought her friend down. Nyx came running out, Screwball right beside her, and both stared in awe at the strange magic that had just happened.
The bubble floated up to the hole in the wall and pressed itself on. Suddenly, it popped and the wall was as good as new. All that were there clapped for her. Nyx stood, her eyes welling up with tears, and pointed at Dinky's flank.
She looked down.
Appearing in a spectrum of colours was her cutie mark: a muffin shaped bubble, with a pale purple magic aura around it.



"Mother, I'm old enough not to go to school!" 
"You will go, young lady! You didn't take school like the others!"
"Well, I know everything! Auntie Twilight taught me!"
"Are you sure? Well, then, what is the scientific recipe for muffins?"
"That's not on the curriculum! Cooking is in the university curriculum!"
Then tell me the square root of time."
"Time is not on the curriculum either. There's math, Equestrian language, History, Geography, Music, Art, Physics, Chemistry, and for unicorns, Standard Magic, but time is not on the curriculum!"
"DOH fine."



So Dinky did not have to go to school.
However, Doctor did enrol her into Ponyville Magic University, just on the other side of the Everfree Forest. He couldn't homeschool her, because he had gotten a full-time job at Ponyville's only clock store. There, at the Time Campus, she learned the art of time travel, and brought home a lot of Starswirl the Bearded's text papers and spells, and once she turned the TARDIS pink by accident. She did exceedingly well, though.
One fine summer day, she accidentally rigged the TARDIS to spit out muffins. The whole family got to eat muffins for a month.
Once, she wiped half her memory of her day. That really sparked her, and she vowed to find a better spell.



About a year after Dinky got her cutie mark, she developed a huge spell that would, if cast by a powerful enough unicorn or alicorn, could create portals to other worlds. Dinky, Screwball, Nyx, Starsong and Amethyst planned to do it together, with the aid of the rest of their peers. However, they only asked for small things at a time, like a blue feather from Water Dash and an orange-ish one from Fire Dash. They said it was for a CMC memo scrapbook, but clearly it was for otherwise.
One day, however, Sweetie Belle heard some of their conversation and told her sister. Rarity misunderstood this and told Spike, who, on his next trip to visit his "mother", told her. By then, Amethyst's "We need to cast the spell on Friday. That's the only day we can get our hooves on. No offence, Dinky" had turned into, "Let's get together someday! We can cast dangerous spells and blow up half of Ponyville! Three cheers for Dinky for coming up with this idea!"
Of course, if Twilight hadn't stopped them, that is what probably would have happened.
So Dinky's attempt failed, but Twilight told them that they could do it in the Everfree Tunnels, a series of tunnels and chambers she'd created, perfect for spells.
So, the next Friday, the five young mares mass teleported into the Everfree Tunnels.



"Muffin? Muffin! Where did you go?"
Sadly, Friday was also muffin baking day, and when Dinky hadn't gone to taste the fresh muffins she'd baked, Derpy got worried. She and her husband ran around their house, attempting to find their daughter.
Suddenly, Doctor thought up an idea. 
"TARDIS, stop time!"
The TARDIS did as her master said.(6)
"There, now we have plenty of time to find our Muffin!"
So the two of them searched...And searched... Until Doctor unfroze time to ask Twilight if she'd seen his daughter.
This is when things got really messy.



"Muffin! What are you doing!"
The couple had gotten a scrying spell from Twilight, who also teleported them to the Everfree Tunnels. They happened to see light, and followed it. The source of the light was a fiery corona.
To put it in magical terms, they were doing a magic boost for Dinky, who was going to be the main caster of the spell. When the corona cleared, Dinky was about the height of Princess Celestia and had wings and an ethereal, flowing mane. She had become an alicorn from all the power.
Screwball then focused her magic towards the centre of the cavern, and there materialized a very large rock. This was going to become their portal, but for now it was their anchor. The five mares all turned on their magic, each a different colour.
Screwball's changeling green aura.
Nyx's indigo aura.
Amethyst's turquoise aura.
Starsong's magenta aura. 
Then, lastly, Dinky's aura. It had changed from its normal light lavender to a blazing golden yellow. Normally, the strongest aura would belong to either Screwball or Nyx(considering their backgrounds) but with the magic boost the aura had changed to the colour of her eyes.
The same as her mother's.
Derpy just happened to call out when her daughter was going through a very intense part of the spell. Dinky turned around and accidentally focused her magic on the TARDIS, which her father had brought, instead. The others were forced to abandon the now glowing boulder and aim for the TARDIS now. The TARDIS was already filled with lots of ethereal energy, and this only helped boost their spell.
The doors to the TARDIS opened and Doctor Whooves nearly got sucked in, saved only by his wife. Dinky saw what was happening and shut off her magic. Her friends did the same.
The Doctor and Derpy were now inching slowly to the edge of the TARDIS. The portal system did not seem to shut down, but was actually getting stronger. Dinky grabbed her mother with her magic, but she herself stumbled forward as the magic boost ended and the power returned to her friends. She ran to her mother and personally tried to pull her out. 
Before her friends could help out, a magic force field bubble appeared around the TARDIS, and poor Starsong bumped into it, which resulted in her twitching and falling unconscious on the ground. Nyx came to help, while signalling for Screwball and Amethyst to try and turn the force field off.
Amethyst summoned razor sharp gemstone shards and sliced and the force field, but they only broke. Screwball doused it in chocolate milk and made it explode, but to no avail. Nyx made a copy of herself to tend to her sister and used her more powerful copy to use a dark magic spell on the force field.
Unfortunately, that just blew the four~sorry, with the extra copy of Nyx, five~ away, really far away from the bubble. Dinky saw all this and was about to unleash her full fury on the force field and the TARDIS when her father said something.
"Don't. It doesn't matter now," he croaked. 
"No, you can't! How am I supposed to live without you? I just can't! Don't leave me, Muffin Man!" Cried Derpy.
"I won't. I'll always be by your side, no matter what. I'm a Time Lord. I've dealt with this kind of stuff before. I'll find a way back. Don't worry, I'll always be there by your side, Derpy. Dinky, if you're there, after this is all over, you're grounded, but still, I'll always love you, my dearest Muffin,"responded the Doctor.
"NO! Daddy, no! Please, just hang in there! I'll find the counteracting spell!" screamed Dinky over her mother's cries.
"No, Dinky, you can't. It would kill you to do it. I know. My Sonic Screwdriver is my source of magic. I know what it's like. Be a good girl, alright?" Now he turned to Derpy, whose tears were splattering all over the place. "My little Muffin... Let me just tell you right now...The whole reason I came to this world was because of you," he said.
The Doctor kissed his beloved wife one last time, so he didn't see his daughter firing up her magic and fiddling with the controls in the TARDIS. 
"Take good care of Dinky. Remember, I will find a way back, even if it takes eons and eons. I can still bend time with this thing. Goodbye, Derpy. I love you."
With that, Doctor Whooves let go.
"NO! DOCTOR!" Screamed Derpy as her one love let himself fly into the void of the TARDIS. She tried to dive after him, if only to be with him forever, but then Dinky's magic cut off when the TARDIS doors closed and she focused on keeping her mother from leaving as well.
The TARDIS started to spin, and magic in the form of time warps~but in this case, also portal warps~started to encase it.
A black hole opened somewhere in the TARDIS. It sucked up the TARDIS, bit by bit.
Then it was gone.



"Mummy? Mummy? Are you alright?"
Derpy's eyes flew open to reveal her daughter. She looked perfectly innocent and not as if it was her fault her father had probably died. 
Then again, he did have about ten regenerations left to use, so he was probably alive.
That did not help with the fact that he was gone.
He was the only stallion she'd ever loved, and he was gone.
She still had her daughter, and she had her friends. She had all her memories, but those were close to useless, considering they would only make her long for him more.
Oh, the memories. They'd tease her forever.
"Mummy? I'm so sorry! Daddy...I think he won't come back!" Cried her daughter. "I barely knew him!"
As Derpy accepted her daughter's warm embrace, she realized that the spell Dinky used to control the TARDIS might have put a strain on her magic, and, as her husband said, killed some part of her memory. Dinky and her father really got along really well.
Derpy let her thoughts flow, when she realized something.
If he's dead, then...I'm...
I'm a widow...
Only then did Derpy let the tears flow freely.



A few hours later, Twilight realized her daughters had not come home for dinner, and nor did her "niece" (since calling Amethyst her "granddaughter" made her feel old). She and Rarity teleported down to the Everfree Tunnels to check out what was happening.
The first thing she realized was that there was unnecessary magic trailing all over the place. Some of that came from her niece, her daughters (Nyx, what did I tell you about using dark magic when your sister is present?) and Screwball.
Most of the magic came from an alicorn, but it felt like Dinky.
Then Rarity spoke. "Twilight, there are gemstone shards around here with my daughter's magic signature on them! My daughter! Oh, Amethyst, Mummy's coming!"
The two rushed along Rarity's gemstone finding spell glows when they heard Derpy's voice scream out. "NO!!!!!" "Oh my, Twilight, darling, we have to check on that," fretted Rarity as the two ran faster.
They were stopped by an indigo mass, which then formed into Nyx. "Mom! Aunt Rarity! I'm so sorry! We helped Dinky with the spell, but we hit the TARDIS, and Doctor Whooves got sucked in!
"We probably could have helped, but then there was a force field! It hit Starsong! She's alright, now, but I had to help her! She's my little sister, for Luna's sake!" Nyx continued. "Screwball attacked it with her chocolate milk bomb spell, and Amethyst sliced it with some gemstone shards, but that didn't work! I made a copy of myself like I did when the monsters attacked Ponyville and set it to help Starsong! I know you said not to use dark magic when she's around, but she was unconscious, so I used the dark matter spell! And then we all got blasted back! And then they said something, and then..." Nyx panted for a moment to catch her breath. "And then the Doctor let go! And the the doors closed and Mrs. Hooves dived for the doors and Dinky had to hold her back with magic and...Oh, Mom, I'm so sorry!" She cried, finally breaking down and crashing into Twilight's side. Twilight extended a wing to comfort her crying daughter, while Rarity went to check on hers.
"Mummy! Mummy! Over here! Help!" Called a small voice, and Rarity ran towards it. Amethyst was stuck in a small ditch and could not get back up. Her little dracony wings flapped and her magic tried to fire up, but she was too tired from casting the gemstone shard spell, and flopped down, accidentally sitting on her dragon tail. Rarity picked her up in her magic and brought her out. "Darling, let me make this clear. You are never to do that again, understood?" Amethyst nodded, then her eyes could not take the strain anymore and tears came pouring out in buckets.
A moment later, Fluttershy appeared, thanks to Discord. "Screwy, what...? Oh no... Derpy... And Dinky... This is awful! What happened?" Screwball, being the second oldest of the bunch, was able to restrain her tears for a while as she quietly told her mother what had happened. 
Twilight heard moaning from in a small ditch and guided Nyx over as fast as possible. In the ditch, a misty copy of Nyx was healing Starsong's bruises with magic. "Mom? Can I merge now?" she asked. Twilight let go of the weeping Nyx as she turned into the indigo smoke, and the healing Nyx did as well. The two clouds merged and solidified into one very, very tired Nyx. "I haven't done that since the last time I had to go to a secret Portal Spell meeting. But, still, I think Starsong would have cracked that force field with her Sonic Note spell. If it can shatter glass, reassemble it and shatter it again, it would destroy the force field," said Nyx.
Twilight shook her head. She'd investigated the wreckage and the dying force field. "It would only have been destroyed if all five of you lifted the boulder you'd first enchanted, then smashed it onto the force field five times. One for each of you. The force field was using the boulder as an anchor," she said, then she climbed down into the ditch and used her magic to pick up her younger daughter, and then used a more complex spell to heal her.
While Twilight was healing Starsong, Dinky got up and screamed a very, very high note that would have made Starsong green with envy. (7) It would have made glass shatter, reassemble itself, then run for its life, while shattering and reassembling. It rattled the cavern and gave Dinky power, much more power than she'd thought it would. She picked up her mother, who was limp and unconscious, in her magic and carried her to Twilight.
"Help, Aunt Twilight, please. She blacked out after my dad disappeared. And...Can you restore my memory? When I cast that spell, it made me forget part of my good times with my dad, and all the best things we did together," she begged. 
"I can help your mother, indeed, child," said Twilight while casting a spell that would teleport them all out of the cavern. "But you, Dinky, the memory you have lost will only be restored when you get your father back. Remember, I put a scrying spell on you so your parents could find you, but it also works the other way around. I can use it to help you find him.
"If the spell is working, Doctor Whooves is currently on the exact opposite side of the universe. It is shaped like a disc, and one half is full of pain and torture. The other is much easier to pass through, but it is still hard. Your father is a brave stallion. I'm sure he will be back in no time. Let's hope he takes the easier route, and perhaps, just perhaps, he will be back in under a year.
"But if her chooses the harder side, he will suffer a lot, but it will not kill him. Perhaps it will take him three years to come home. Equestria is close to the border between Peace and Conflict, and if he does choose the Peaceful way, he will still have to suffer some because there is a section of Conflict before he can arrive at Peace. However, he will arrive back here, someday.
"Dinky Doo Hooves, I bestow this scrying spell upon you. May you cherish it until your father comes back home."



The town was shocked with the news. 
The CMC centre was terrified. They'd needed a new set of clocks, and if the Doctor was gone, there were no more clock shops in Ponyville. Most of the townsponies wanted to build a memorial for him, but Derpy refused, saying that he was still alive.
Of course Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon and their families took this as a chance to bully Dinky and Derpy even more, but Diamond Tiara got a third taste of what mud was like (The CMC did it once, Nyx did it once and now Dinky did it too.) 
Derpy was still mailmare, oh yes. She just took her job less seriously and worked more on providing a good living for her daughter and not so much for herself.
Dinky, on the other hoof, dedicated her entire life completely to finding her father. Every day and night she checked on the scrying spell, which she loaded into a stopwatch her father had given her. She'd set Equestria at 12 o'clock and her father's location at the minute hand.
The hand did move, though Dinky had to install another hand to tell the actual time. 
Dinky now used any spare time(ha ha, time) to create a new spell, one that would bring her father back home, or, as she put it often, "recreate the black hole in the TARDIS and get the other end to pop out in our house". She never stopped believing that her father would come home.
Derpy now stood at the window, as she did every night after her husband had disappeared. "Doctor, Dinky says you're getting closer to home. I hope that's true. She works extra hard to try to bring you back, since she completely blames herself for making you disappear.
"She's getting a lead on the spell she says she'll use to find you and bring you back. Something about a worm, a mole and lights. Oh well, I'll never understand."
Derpy pulls out the mini Sonic Screwdriver the Doctor had given her for their anniversary, something nopony ever knew she had. Recently she'd programmed it to be a design flashlight. 
When she turned it on, an image of her beloved flashed out. She shined it into the sky.
"I love you, Muffin Man."