Derpy was beginning to feel ill, teleporting was not the preferred method of travel for pegasi, but knew that the situation was too urgent to deal with flying normally. When they arrived at their destination, she was shocked as she looked over what was to be the battlefield, trees and shrubs were being cleared, both to make room for fighting, as well as to build up a defensive perimeter. On the far side, she could see a small camp forming, the griffins. She sidled closer to the Doctor, finding comfort in his warmth, and followed Celestia to the main tent that was to become their base of operations. It was a lot more simple inside than Derpy expected, in the centre of the room was a table, round and with a large map in the middle. The far wall was lined with cots, seven of them, as Big Mac would be sleeping with the rest of the earth pony warriors. Derpy noticed Pinkie Pie, she wasn't bouncing along, as was her normal mode of transportation, but instead walking. It made Derpy uneasy. As the others began to get settled, Derpy asked Pinkie to step outside and have a quick chat;
"Hi Pinkie, um… I just wanted to say thanks. I know it was you that nominated me for the element of honesty. I hope I'm worthy of your trust." She said, hoping to bring a smile to Pinkie's face. Pinkie, her hair halfway deflated, just nodded and turned around.
"And Pinkie? If you need to talk, just remember I'm here." Derpy told the retreating pony, and her ears drooped with concern. Inside the tent, there was a hive of activity, everypony was moving about as fast as they could, getting ready, for what could only be a dawn attack. The Doctor sat in the corner, at a workstation, huddled over something, Twilight was reading some of her larger magic books, searching for spells that would help. Fluttershy sat on her bed, whispering to herself;
"Come on Fluttershy, you can do this, for Rainbow, and Applejack and for Big Mac." Pinkie just stared up at some swords that hung on the wall, ceremonial ones, passed down from the last great griffin war. Rarity was stitching a uniform for herself and Celestia studied the map on the table, planning out formations and looking for ways to flank the griffins. Derpy looked around, wondering what she could do to help, but knowing that she would be turned down, so she went over to a mirror that hung on a wall and looked into it, her wall-eyed expression looking back, and she couldn't help but feel as though it was mocking her. She sensed a presence beside her;
"You know, throughout history, mirrors have been believed to be a window into the soul." Said the Doctor, looking into the mirror as well.
"Then my soul must be wall-eyed as well Doctor, because that's all I see, a wall-eyed failure who can't do anything right." Derpy frowned, her eyes welling up with tears. The Doctor put his arms around her;
"Derpy, do you know what I saw in your mind? I saw somepony that puts her all into everything she does, that always puts others before herself and is willing to forgive any insult, no matter how much it stings." He said placing his head against hers. "And don't forget the future I showed you, those two beautiful daughters of yours, you know? Sparkler and Dinky?" Derpy smiled, remembering the accidental trip in the Tardis that resulted in her seeing her future children. But what she never told the Doctor was who the father of the children was; he had run off to solve some crisis before he had seen his future self-enter the scene, and kiss the future Derpy. Derpy had vowed to keep this a secret until the Doctor made a move, so as not to alter the timeline and stop that future from happening. The Doctor kissed Derpy on the cheek and walked back to his work station. Derpy looked back at the mirror and smiled, feeling better about herself and more confident that she was going to make that future happen. Princess Celestia called all the ponies into the centre of the room, the map now clearly showed the positions of the two camps, as well as the group formations for the next morning.
"Twilight, I want you to take command of the unicorn forces, teach them any new spells that they might need. Fluttershy I need you to command the archers, I know you have a keen eye and I believe that you can do this. Doctor, you and Pinkie will head up special ops, spy work, demolition, whatever is necessary. Derpy, I want you to take command of the Pegasus troops, I've seen you in action, and you're one of the best combat fliers I've ever seen, albeit a little accidentally. Rarity, I want you in research and development, try and come up with any new armour or weapons you can."
"What? Me! Princess, don't you think I would be better served with the unicorns, not stuck in some lab with nerd ponies creating weapons." Rarity objected, a little over dramatically. Derpy rolled her eyes; she had no sympathy for the white unicorn.
"So you want to get onto the dirty battlefield and fight ruthless griffins, and most likely get covered in blood?" Asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh… Never mind, nerd ponies are fine." Said Rarity.
"Tia, who is commanding the Earth ponies?" Asked the Doctor, the warrior in him beginning to shine through. Derpy hated seeing him like this, angry, guilty, remembering how he had killed his whole race to save the universe, and because of the mind link, Derpy remembered too.
"His name is Commander Duskheart, and he is the most decorated Earth pony in the army." Celestia replied, I'll introduce you to him soon, as you and Pinkie will be collaborating with him on most of your missions." The Doctor nodded and the group left the tent. Pinkie walked side by side with Derpy, and then pulled her in between two tents;
"Derpy… thanks. I appreciate your concern. I…I just don't know if I can do this, I mean, my whole life I've just wanted to make everypony smile, but this… this will do exactly the opposite." Said Pinkie, her eyes downcast and her voice was trembling. Derpy put her arms around her;
"Pinkie, this may not make sense, but I've fought in wars before, not exactly like this, but close enough. Ponies aren't meant to fight, not like this. But trust me when I say this, it may seem like your just causing suffering, but when the war is over, everypony will smile with a new hope, a hope that you brought them, and there will be nothing like it." Pinkie smiled half-heartedly, as though she accepted what Derpy was saying, and they ran to catch up with the others. Celestia was introducing a large black earth pony; the armour he wore was black as well, except for some trim around the legs, which was gold. His cutie mark was of a heart, with two swords crossed behind it, but oddly for a pony, he only had it on one side, on the other was a patch of pink skin, with a scar about the same size as his cutie mark.
"And this is the other pony I was talking about, Pinkie. Pinkie, this is Commander Duskheart." Said Celestia. Duskheart walked over and looked straight into Pinkie's eyes, the deep green made Derpy nervous, they seemed empty, cold.
"Sweet Celestia! How are you meant to blend in with a bright pink coat!" He boomed, right in Pinkie's face. "You are going to be absolutely useless!" Pinkie's eye twitched.
"I don't like it when ponies are Meany pants to me." Said Pinkie, losing her colour as her hair straightened.
"Meany pants!" Duskheart laughed, "You are not fit for war girl, go back and make me a cupcake." Derpy noticed a pink blur beside her, and then Duskheart fell straight down, a stupid look on his face and a tooth missing. Pinkie was breathing heavily, and closed her eyes. After a second, her breathing slowed and her hair bounced back to its natural puffiness. Celestia looked at her, almost with fear, before laughing. The rest of then began to laugh as well, including Pinkie, who looked over at Derpy and mouthed "Thank you." The rest of the day was spent meeting the other army leaders, the ones that would be commanded by Twilight, Derpy and Fluttershy. When they meet the archers, they were all of a similar demeanour to Fluttershy, and welcomed her with open hooves. They asked Fluttershy to show them her skills, and Fluttershy, in an uncharacteristic enthusiasm, picked up the bow happily, slotted an arrow and pulled the string back. A few seconds passed before she let go and the entire group, aside from the archers and Celestia all dropped their jaws in surprise. Fluttershy hit the bullseye and the arrow imbedded itself all the way to the feathers, from twice the iron pony regulated distance. Celestia smiled;
"I knew you could do it Fluttershy, I had complete faith."
"YAY!" Yelled Fluttershy, almost inaudibly. Celestia lead them back to the tent, and they all got in their beds, ready for an early morning, but nopony slept. Derpy laid there looking at the roof of the tent, and suddenly felt a weight next to her, crawling under the covers.
"I thought you might like some company." Said the Doctor, and put his arm across her, Derpy smiled and turned, nuzzling into the Doctor's embrace.
"Thank you."