//------------------------------//
// Dilema at the Clock Store!  Lyra to the Rescue! 
// Story: The Adventures of Derpy, Lyra, and Octavia 
// by IsabellaAmoreSirenix 
//------------------------------//

"...And woosh, she jumped in like a ninja and threw my teddy bear at a lamppost!  I didn't even know physics could work like that!"

The Doctor nodded as he calmly sipped a cup of tea.  "That's quite the adventure, Derpy," he remarked.  "It's a miracle you made it out alive."

"I know, right?" Derpy said, sagging in her chair.  "But now I don't know what to do!  I don't know if I'll be able to go back there!  I don't even know what a compound-complex sentence is!"

"Hmm...." The Doctor sighed, deep in thought.  "You could always stay with me and my roommate..." The stallion trailed off as he looked around at his roommate's accumulation of beer bottles and empty bags of chips that obscured three-fourths of the carpet.  The only safe haven was a meter high pile of books upon which the Doctor had the sense to place a lawn chair, a tea set, a socket screwdriver, and blue shower curtains on all four sides.

"Ahem, yes, so as I was saying, you could always check into a lovely jail cell..."

"At least you and your roommate understand how to leave each other alone," Derpy said.

"Yes, Derpy, I feel eternally grateful to the gods," the Doctor deadpanned.

"But sometimes, I don't know if I understand Lyra and Octy," Derpy continued.  "I mean, I sometimes wonder if they really like sharing a room with me."

"Well, how do they behave around you?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, they're very nice!  Octy and I study well together, and afterwards Lyra and I have lots of fun!"

"What about when all three of you are together?"

"They're still really nice!  Other than constantly looking up at the clock and wrinkling their noses at each other, it's all great when we're together!  Plus, those fire eye contacts they always wear around each other are cool!"  Derpy gasped.  "Maybe I should get some too!  Then we could form a superhero team, like... The Very Nice Ponies Who Will Burn You Alive With One Stare So Please Say Sorry To The Frightened Ponies And Buy Us Milkshakes!"

"So you think Lyra and Octavia like staying together?"

"Well," Derpy began, "they can't act that much differently than they do around me, can they?  Of course, every so often they..." Derpy shook her head and laughed.  "Oh, I'm being silly!  They're my friends!  If they were having a problem with living in the dorm room, they'd tell me!"

Suddenly, the door to the Doctor's door room was swung open with a violent crash to reveal a frazzled Octavia.

"Derpy!" she cried. "Lyra's snapped!  She's been laughing in compound-complex for five minutes straight!  I can't take it anymore!"

Derpy puffed out her chest. "Like that," she said.  

"I got you your cat, too," she said, reaching into her saddlebag to pull out Mrs. Bubbles.  Or at least, what could be assumed to be Mrs. Bubbles.  Her eyes were spinning dizzily, her sleek gold coat was a tangled hairball, her face was squished on the right, and one could feel an aura of absolute loathing emanate from her.  

"Look, staying in that saddlebag while I ran was a much better deal than staying back there," Octavia told the disgruntled tabby before letting her run and nuzzle Derpy. 

Derpy squealed in delight. "Hello, kitty I haven't thought about in 10 days!  Thank you so much for bringing her, Octy!  Oh, and do mind the gaping plothole on you way in."

Octavia jumped to bypass the endless vortex of doom embedded in the wooden floor. "So are we even now?" she asked, limping on four legs covered in a mish-mash of cat scratches.

"Sure we are, Octy!  Have some tea with me and the Doctor!"

Relieved, Octavia managed to squeeze herself into the tiny confines of the shower curtains. "Oh finally, some peace and quiet," she said with a sigh.  "And how have you been, Doctor?  It's been quite some time since we've seen each other."

"Indeed it has, Miss Octavia," said the Doctor, handing her some warm herbal tea in a plastic cup.  "I have been well, and especially so now in the pleasure of your company." 

"Is that so?" Octavia gave what was supposed to be a ladylike giggle, until her nervously beating heart squashed it into a startled cackle.  "Well, it's a pleasure to be here too.  I must say, you certainly have... lovely shower curtains?"

The Doctor waved them aside with a blush.  "Trust me, Miss Octavia, you do not want to hear the story of how those came to be."

"Ahem, of course," said Octavia, grasping for a new topic.  "So, what are your hobbies, Doctor?  Or, well, you are a Doctor; perhaps you already have a job?" And a wife and kids?  Just how old are you, Doctor?  I'll have to ask Derpy. because if he's over 30... meh, still doesn't matter.

"Oh, I enjoy roaming different galaxies, exploring time and space, that sort of business," the Doctor replied.  "I'm a time traveler, you see?"

Octavia did a spit take with her tea.  "A-A... time tr-traveler?" she spluttered.

"Yes, it's a wonderful hobby," said the Doctor, leaning back in his chair.  "All those alternate universes created, all those time loops broken!  Fantastic, I must say!"

Octavia's eye twitched.





"Oh well," Octavia grumbled as she walked out, "my month is too hectic for a romance subplot."

"Tell me about it," Derpy echoed, just as downcast.  "What kind of romantic experience is his time machine supposed to be?  It can't even break dimensions!"





BLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

"Get up, get up, you're surrounded!"

"Ahhh!" screamed Derpy, tumbling off the bed.

"Fer the love of Harmony, Lyra!" Octavia shouted.  "I'm gonna stick that stir-fry brain of yers on a spike and shove it six feet under!" Then with a glance at Derpy, she daintily cleared her throat.  "With the most sincerest love and friendship, of course," she finished sweetly.

"Owwie..." Derpy rubbed her sore head.  "Lyra, why did you shout at me?  Have the goblin servants of the Feral Deer Clan risen up again?"

"No," Lyra shrugged, stowing away her megaphone.  "I'm here to be your personal alarm, letting you know it's time for classes!"

Derpy blinked rapidly, riding her eyes of sleep.  "Even when the sun's not out?" she asked, pointing to the pitch-black window.

Lyra's eyes widened. "Oh."

Octavia sighed as she untangled herself from her bedsheets. "Come on, you two," she said.  "I'm buying Derpy a new clock."





"Ooh, shiny!"

Octavia sighed and walked over to the wind chimes aisle, where Derpy was poking each sparkly crystal.  Her face lit up as they reflected red, blue, and green.  "Come on, Derpy, you don't need any of these."

The pegasus' lower lip trembled.  "But... but... shiny!"

"Please, we're here to buy you a clock, remember?"

"I know, Octy, but can I have five more minutes?"

One look into those golden eyes, and Octavia knew that her weak resolve would get blown away like a paper bag in a hurricane.  "No," she said, her eyes firmly closed.  "I'm sorry, but you already used hat excuse six times already.  Don't you want to see the clocks?"

Derpy looked up at Octavia.  "Are they shiny?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure some of them have to be," she said.

"Yay!" Derpy rocketed into the air with a powerful flap of her wings.  "Let's go look at the clocks!  Bye bye, wind chimes!"

Octavia would have breathed a sigh of relief, but the universe was not that kind.  For when she turned the corner, that breath went down the wrong pipe and sent her into a coughing fit.  When she could finally breathe properly, she looked up to see Lyra.

Or at least, she assumed it was Lyra. Right now she was buried in a straw brim hat, Angel Beats headphones, banana-printed shorts, a T-shirt declaring "Keep Calm and Blame My Sister," an orange glow-in-the-dark bracelet, and panda slippers.

"What do you think of this clock, Octavia?" Lyra asked, holding up a sparkly pink one with gemstones encrusted on the handle.  

"I don't know what to think," Octavia said.  "I can't think of anything coherent except for 'what the hell have you done, Lyra Heartstrings?'"

"Why, Octavia dear, I've simply been helping the Equestrian economy," Lyra replied.  "Ah, so you're against capitalism, too?  Better add that to the villain list!"

Octavia's mouth opened and closed over and over, too stunned to form words.

"And besides," Lyra continued, giving Derpy a wink, "aren't you supposed to be helping Derpy pick out a clock?  Shame on you!  Hey, Derpy, you like this one, don't you?" the unicorn asked, pointing to the gemstone-lined one.

"Yeah!" Derpy said.  "It's really, really sparkly!"

Octavia sighed, shook her head, and headed to the back of the aisle.  "How's this one?" she asked with a plain grey clock in her forehooves.  "Isn't it nice?  Very durable, I'm sure!"

Lyra stuck out her tongue.  "Faust, Octavia, don't you have any taste at all?  Do you want to make our room look like a prison cell?  I've never seen anything so depressing!  Well, besides you.  You, and your coat color, and your face, and your personality, and your rain boots, and your..."

Derpy's ears drooped.  "Octy, it's very nice," Derpy began, "but, umm, maybe we can choose Lyra's clock instead?  Don't you think it's pretty?"

"Well..." Octavia walked over to it, picked it up, and turned it so its back was facing up.  At once, her face went pale.  "Oh, err, trust me on this, you won't like this clock, Derpy.  It's not... not..."

"Oh, but listen to it!" Derpy insisted.  She turned the key in the back, and a sweet melody began to play.  "Isn't it wonderful?"

"It-It is, but I... I just think..."

By this point, Lyra was paying attention once again, only this time her expression wasn't snarky or playful.  Rather, her gaze was steady as she observed Octavia intently.

"What is it, Octy?" Derpy prompted, hesitant.  "What's wrong?"

"It's just that..." Tears started to form in her eyes.

Then Lyra stepped in. "Hey, you know what, kid?" she said with a smile plastered on her face.  "I think Octy's right.  You know, sometimes things are built to look all nice on the outside, but on the inside they're just piles of scrap metal.  Durable's the way to go."

"But--"

"I've got tons of glitter and sequins at the dorm room," Lyra said.  "What do you say all three of us decorate the clock together?  Nothing store-bought; we'll make it just how you want it.  And it'll be fun, too!  An arts and crafts project for us all to do together!"

Derpy's expression brightened like a whole city's power generators kicking in at once.  "Okay!  Come on, let's go!" she said, tugging Lyra's hoof.  "If we hurry, we can start decorating before classes!"

Lyra just smiled and put down the gemstone-encrusted clock.

As Octavia was reaching for her saddlebag pocket, she brushed her hoof gently against Lyra's.  "Thank you," the earth pony whispered.

Lyra's smile grew wider.  It was the first nice thing she had ever heard come out of Octavia's mouth.  And she liked it.  A lot.  "You're welcome, demon alien changeling."