> Fatherhooves > by Violise > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Fatherhooves > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fatherhooves Hello. I am Dr.Whooves, for those of you who don't quite know me personally. I am also the 25th incarnation of the Doctor, and have been alive for countless generations. In this span, I have fought Daleks, Sontarans, Davros, Weepings Angels, The Silence, Rani, Cybermats, The Master, and even myself; but, I am recording this story in particular for my future selves-or anyone else who should happen to find this, because I am about to face my greatest challenge once again...Fatherhood. Oh, and also pears...I have to deal with pears as well... "Papa," a young filly crept up on the colt, nearly startling him out of his fur, "I need some water for Ms. Muffins." Whooves turned to face the filly, careful not to act to suspicious. "Alright, Dinky, I'll be upstairs in a minute." "Thank you, Papa." She keeps calling me that...it's like she's been saying it her whole life...maybe I shouldn't take that for granted. Oh, I'm terribly sorry, where are my manners. I'll have to start at the beginning, just to clarify.. ~A few weeks back~ "Hey, Whoovsie, are you ready for this?" Derpy walked up to Dr.Whooves with a bubbly grin plastered across her face. "Sigh, as ready as a Timelord can be, my faithful assistant..." Whooves and Derpy walked out into the bright midday sun. There, among the calililies and turnips was a large gathering of ponies. At first glance, it looked like there was a festival occuring, but Whooves knew better than that. It was not a festival, but a wedding. His wedding, to be exact; to his faithful companion Derpy Doo. He looked over at the still smiling mare as they proceed down the isle. At the head of the isle was Princess Celestia, who had agreed to preside over the wedding after a rather interesting incident at the Canterlot labs. It had seemed that one of the head technicians, after overhearing a conversation between the Princess and Whooves, decided to try his hoof at build a ponified Cyberman (Cyberpony, if you will) of his own. Needless to say, the fiasco took a large chunk of the facility, and half of Whooves' tail, directly to the sun. "You remember that this is your one favor, right?" Celestia whispered into Whooves ear. Whooves chuckled softly, so as to not ruin the moment. "Sure, Tia. At least until we wind up in another mess of some kind. You do know i'm kinda notorious for predicaments?" It was Celesia's turn to chuckle, "Oh I'm sure your right, at least in that respect." Derpy cleared her throat, drawing the whispering duo's attention. "uhm; we are kinda trying to do a wedding Doctor. You think you can join us?" "Oh, Yes." He looked sheepishly at the crowd. "You are quite right, Derpy. Shall we, Tia?" Celestia nodded as they prepared the sermon... ~~~ "....I am honored to say that I now pronounce you officially wed, Mr. and Mrs. Whooves." Celestia finished the sermon with a surreptitious round of applause from the entire audience. Derpy Whooves looked shakily at her new husband, tears filling every corner of her eyes. Dr.Whooves had rarely felt a moment as pure as this, and it was finally with his ideal mare. This young mare with blonde hair like the bright wheat fields on a summer evening. Skin like the fog drifting smoothly over the banks of a river on an ice cold morning. Eyes that were as deep and clear as the center of the sky on the darkest of Luna's nights. Her Cutie Mark shown with the brilliance of the finest marble, cut into the shape of a series of perfectly round bubbles. everything about this mare was beautiful, all the way up to her marvelously light and pure attitude towards life. Whooves stared deeply into his new Mares' eyes and embraced her in the softest yet firmest hug he could muster in that moment. They shared a brief kiss and looked out into the crowd. In the front rows on either side were all of the couples friends, Bonbon and Lyra, Carrot Top, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Roseluck, Cheerilee, Big Mac, Caramel, and lastly in the row, Dinky Whooves; Dr. Whooves new step-daughter. He looked at his new daughter, trying to read her expressions.She looked like a blank slate, with no hint of anything betraying her. In any other situation, he wouldn't have payed attention to this display, but this was his new daughter, and this was going to be a new chapter in her life. He looked out at the rest of the crowded and saw mixed reactions among them, as well. He couldn't quite pin why, but he had a feeling that they knew something he didn't. But again, he shrugged off these apprehensions and carried his new wife across the threshold of the tree home turned impromptu church. ~Later that Afternoon~ Derpy and Whooves had just finished grabbing the last of their things out of the moving van and into their new home. Whooves looked over at Derpy, who was chatting with her old boss about the wedding, and he decided to go look around the new house to get a good feel for it. He looked at the kitchen, which had a small marble finish for the flooring and a spearmint green paint-job on the cabinets and walls. He then took a peek at the back of the house. From where the house stood, you could get a beautiful view of the sunset over Canterlot from the back window. He then decided to take a trip upstairs to see his new bedroom. He was stopped, however, when he heard Dinky playing in her new room. After trying, rather unsuccessfully, to get the little filly to play some games with him after the wedding; and also failing to even get her to laugh when Derpy chased him, like a weeping angel, through the house. He decided that now was a good time to get a better feel for his new daughters attitude. Whooves peaked his head through the door-frame and saw Dinky was playing with some stuffed animals, namely a muffin, which she called 'Mommy', a small alicorn named 'Pluto', and a ripped colt Unicorn. She seemed to be asking Mommy about the Unicorn. "...Mommy, why doesn't Mr.Mailcolt come over anymore?" "Well, he is very tired right now, and he is taking a nap for a while," Mommy said. "But I wanted to play with him some more," Dinky whined. "Well," Pluto said, "if a pony gets too tired they don't wake up." "But he didn't look tired at all." "I'm sorry, Dinky, but he can't come play anymore. You'll just have to play with your new friend," Mommy said. "But I don't wanna. He looks mean, and I don't know him and he is just going to take Mommy away just like Mr.Mailcolt when he got tired." "He's not going to take her away,"Pluto said. Dinky sniffled, "Yes, he will. 'Cause he's not like daddy...he's nothing like him." Whooves understood the situation all to well. Dinky seemed to be a filly that had trouble communicating, so she resorted to talking with her dolls. It was definitely a good thing that he checked on her when he did. It seemed that he was going to have to work very hard from now on. He didn't want to let a chance of a lifetime go to waste. ~Later that Evening~ Like any good Timelord, Whooves had just come out of the shower, drenched from head to hoof, trying futilely to dry his mane without tracking the water out of the washroom. He made it to the bottom of the stairs of the house. The first floor was a mass of boxes and bags, since Whooves and Derpy had to figure out where they were going to put all of his things. Whooves started to fish around in one of the boxes for anything to help him reach out to Dinky. It just happened that he found an old album. Whooves skirted around some of the other boxes to take a seat on the couch. He sat back comfortably and opened the first pages of the book. Immediately, he noticed that he had found a photo album of Dinky's first years. He scanned through them slowly, trying to see if he could pick out any oddities in any of those moments. He could see her first birthday...her first bike ride...her first day of school...her first friend...her first sleepover... but still, Whooves couldn't really find anything in the album.But that didn't deter him, because he knew that he might just have a chance if he just- just... by Jove, he was exhausted. He decided with certainty that he would find something in the morning. ~~~ Whooves awoke with a start; surprised to have fallen asleep on the couch. He realized that there was a sudden pressure on his side. He turned his head expecting it to be Derpy sleeping next to him, but when he turned he was shocked. There was Dinky, curled up on his side, like a filly-blanket had been wrapped over him. He looked at the filly for a long while before deciding that it was time to head upstairs to get her into her own bed and find his way to his bed. He made his way up the flight of stairs, carrying the filly in one arm while holding the railing in another. He passed quietly into Dinky's room and was about to lay here into bed, when she started to stir. Careful so as not to wake the filly, he stopped moving her altogether. She wrapped her forhooves around him and sniffled quietly. He took a moment to look at the filly. She was crying in her sleep, and was shaking feverishly trying to escape the dream. He gripped her tighter and did the only thing he knew to calm a little fillies' nerves; he whispered a calming lullaby: You are friendly, kind and caring Sensitive, loyal and understanding Humorous, fun, secure and true Always there... yes that's you. Special, accepting, exciting and wise Truthful and helpful, with honest gold eyes Confiding, forgiving, cheerful and bright Yes that's you... not one bit of spite. You're one of a kind, different from others Generous, charming, but not one that smothers Optimistic, thoughtful, happy and game But not just another... in the long chain. Appreciative, warm and precious like gold Our friendship won't tarnish or ever grow old You'll always be there, I know that is true I'll always be here... always for you. He looked down to see that Dinky had awoken sometime during the song. She looked up at him with a fountain of tears running down her face. She mumbled something quietly through her hiccups, but Whooves couldn't quite make it out. "What did you say, Dinky?" "I-I said I love you, Papa..." The room was silent for a moment for a moment. Dinky looked up when she felt moisture hit her horn. There, in that quiet little bedroom, Dr. Whooves felt like a father made whole again... and he could do nothing but hold her and cry. The greatest Time Lord the whole of Equestria will ever see was crying like a newborn foal; but he didn't care. He was whole... "I love you too, sweetheart." The End > New Day Blues > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Day Blues Celestia's sun is a bright beacon of new beginnings for all of those who lived under it. But to a Blurry-eyed Timelord, it was the worst thing he could have awoken to. The sun leaked a few rays through Dinky's curtains, blinding Dr. Whooves momentarily; forcing him to use a hoof to shield his sight. 'Oh Celestia, I hate mornings...' he swore. It wasn't until a few unsuccessful attempts at movement that he was completely able to move a free a hoof out from under Dinky; who had curled up next to him to keep warm. He looked down at his daughter as he reflected on the night's revelation's. He felt complete. A Colt with purpose and a proper role model for once. He shifted slightly and scooped up Dinky and placed her in bed before exiting the room to start the day. He drifted off as he traveled down the steps. He remembered a day, so many years ago when he was still a man in London. Whooves looked out at the cars that passed in the coffee house on a bleary Sunday morning. He looked the cars that passed and watched as the sun made the shadows grow with each waning moment. He grumpily turned his head as he saw his companion come in from behind the door in the front of the shop. She was waving as enthusiastically as she could, even though they were just having coffee. He always thought that she had a bubbly atmosphere about her. Almost like somepony he knew... As he stepped off the last stair to the first floor, he noticed that Derpy was already up and was in the process of making breakfast. She had a simple white apron and was buried up to her flank in an ice cold oven, in search of what could only be presumed as a muffin fairy of some kind. "...Derpy, dear?" Derpy hit her head on the roof of the oven and recoiled. "Owowowow...Oh, heya hunny muffins. I didn't see you there." "Were you looking for something?" "I forgot to ask Golden Harvest how to make the muffins appear in the oven every morning." Whooves chuckled at her innocent attitude. "You wanna know something something super secret?" Whooves asked, trying to change the topic. Derpy nodded her head. "Dinky called me 'Dad' last night!" Derpy's expression caught him off guard. Her face softened, as though she was remembering some sad, scarring event from her past. "T-that's so wonderful, dear," she responded after a few moments, "I'm glad she feels that way." "Is something the matter?" "No! nothing is wrong...Anyway, could you go get the silly filly? She's going to be late for school." Whooves turned to leave out the kitchen, but asked a quick question before proceeding up the stairs. "Derpy, will you promise me that you'll tell me the whole story behind whats making you nervous tonight?" The kitchen was quiet... "Sure..." Derpy said quietly after what seemed like an eternity. Satisfied; Whooves climbed the steps. ~~~ Whooves had never been an expert in waking ponies, so when it came to waking Dinky; it was just like traveling through the Everfree for the first time; all over again. He calmly took a few steps and stopped at the side of her bed. He started the best way he could, and said her name a few times as he nudged her. That did nothing; so he then took to tickling her nose. When that didn't work; he went to his last resort. He calmly bent over and pecked the filly on the forehead. Like a magic curse being lifted, the filly awoke with a heartmelting yawn. Whooves looked at the filly as she stretched and got out of bed. "Did you sleep well?" "Yeah, Papa; and I had this dream that me and Pluto were going to Miss Pinkies for a mountain of muffins and cupcakes!" Whooves had found Dinkys' enthusiasm overwhelming to his already London-dampened heart; so he did what he thought any dad would do in this kind of moment. Like a hawk sweeping over it's newborn hatchlings, Whooves picked up Dinky and piggy-backed her down the stairs to her awaiting mother; who had miraculously found the muffin mix and had made a fresh batch for the dream induced hunger. The three sat at the table and enjoyed the fresh muffins while they watched the world start to move in preparation for he new day. Derpy took this opportunity to discuss some of Whooves newest 'duties'. "...I didn't really do much outside of take her to school every day, but I did at least try to introduce myself to the teacher and show up once or twice a week to see how Dinky was doing. Do you think you can handle that?" Whooves looked at Drepy and smiled at the challenge. "I would be delighted to do just that, dear." Derpy returned the smile and took a look up at the clock. "Well, I'm off to work, so be sure she gets there soon, okay?" "Alrighty" Derpy kissed Dinky and Whooves and flew out the window. This meant that Dinky and Whooves were again coaxed into an impromptu conversation to fill the empty void that hung in the air. Whooves looked idly at his half-eaten muffin, searching for some form of conversation starter. "Sooo..."Whooves began. "Sooo....?" Dinky responded. "H-how is school, Dinky?" "It's tons of fun." Dinky replied in a rehearsed manner. "I have tons of friends and I haven't gotten in trouble once." Whooves looked at the filly and frowned. He wasn't really expecting such a practiced response. "Are you sure there is nothing wrong?" He didn't want to pry, but hay, it's sort of his job now. Dinky looked into Whooves eyes, as if she was pleading him to keep asking. "I promise not to tell Mommy..." That was all it took. "I don't like school at all...it makes me feel bad." "How does it make you feel bad?" "I don't really get along with anypony. They all just look at me and Pluto and start laughing. They say she doesn't exist, and that I need to grow up. And there is this mean Filly who took Mr. Mailcolt and ripped him open." Dinky picked up the doll in question. He was, for lack of a better term, torn up. The seaming that held together the frame of his back whooves were completely missing, as was the stuffing. The tears in Dinky's eyes said much more. Whooves knew that look. it was the same look he had all those lonely nights; those empty times where all that kept him comforted were an isolated memory that made him strive forward. He looked at Dinky and smiled softly and genuinely. "Would you like me to come with you to school today? I'll even fix your doll while we're there." Dinky's face lit up like a firework set off by a Equestria's largest flame. She lept up out of her chair and hugged Whooves' as tightly as she could. "You'd really do that?! Ohthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Whooves chuckled warmly, "Anything for my favorite little filly." Dinky released her grip on him so that he could find his footing. He looked up at the clock. 'I guess now's a good time as any...' "Alrighty then, Sweetie. Time to go." Whooves and Dinky were just exiting the house, when Dinky dropped Pluto on the ground. As she reached down to pick her up, Whooves realized a tugging motion on his forehoof...She was holding his hand.'I bet I look just like a normal dad right now...wait, what am I thinking? I AM a normal dad now.' He looked down at the the grinning filly, and then back to the rising orb in the sky. 'I really like mornings, now.' > Schoolyard Mayhem > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Schoolyard Mayhem Whooves was uncomfortable. Yeah... that's pretty accurate. He was currently sandwiched between a small portly filly with a curiously hilarious fez and a small cream colored Unicorn filly playing with her hair. He also was in a class with a dozen or so other equally small fillies and colts, who were all preparing for the days lesson by screaming over each other as loudly as possible. Whooves' head was spinning and he had trouble keeping an eye on Dinky, who was sitting at her desk with an unusual silence. Before he could wrestle himself out of the shrunken desk to check on her; the class suddenly filed to their seats. Whooves looked up to find that a mare had taken a seat behind the desk in the front. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was Miss Cheerilee, an old friend and neighbor of Whooves'. "Alright class, today we are going to do some...", Cheerilee paused her dictation to eye the stranger in their midst, "...drawing. But, before we get to that; Dinky it seems that you have brought something new for Show and Tell today." Dinky looked up from her desk with a look of confusion plastered upon her face. cheerilee smile curtly and and nodded her head towards whooves. 'Oh sweet celestia, what are you doing..." whooves thought grimly. Dinky looked back at Whooves with a hopeful expression. Whooves returned the favor by squeazing out of the seat and shuffling towards the front. 'Well, if you really want to do this.' Whooves face the class and stood like a statue while Dinky did her presentation "Um, today, my Show and Tell is about my new dad, Mr. Doctor Whooves. He has been my daddy for a whole day and he is really nice and stuff. He even is going to fix Mr. Mailcolt today!" Dinky proudly displayed Mr. Mailcolt in the air and then placed it on Whooves back. Cheeerilee laughed inwardly at the display. Unfortunately; she wasn't the only one. From the right side of the class, a purple maned filly with a gaudy looking tiara laughed derisively at Dinky. "Well, isn't this just delightful. I get to 'play' with my favorite toy again.Thank you oh so very much, Dr. Daddy." Whooves could tell right then that if he wanted to really help Dinky today, it was going to have to start by dealing with this chauvinist. He looked down at Dinky. She just stared at the other filly with a horrified expression, as if assured of the fate of the doll. Whooves took this moment to interject into this quickly growing fiasco. "Fillies and Colts, may I please have your attention..." The attention was turned to The Doctor. "Now as plenty of you all now, only Unicorns and Alicorns can perform magic; but, what if I could show you you some magic only a real magician knows." The anticipation in the room was sudden a whole lot thicker. Even Miss Cheerilee was fairly interested in what Whooves had in mind. "Alright. Now I'm going to need a volunteer who has an accessory on them. A couple of hooves shot up; namely Dr. Whooves intended target. "Alright lets see here, hmmm," He feigned decision for a moment. "Ah yes you, with the the tiara. What is your name, my dear?" he shot a quick smile to Dinky, who was sitting idly by his side. "My name is Diamond Tiara, Duh." "Now, I am going to have to ask you to take off your tiara." Diamond Tiara slowly did as she was asked. "Now watch closely," Whooves commanded as he performed the trick. Carefully he laid a silk blanket over Daimond's head and made a motion to lift the accessory with it. He then went around the class and asked to feel that there was indeed was something there; and then walked back up to the front. Then it was Diamond's turn to watch, horrified, as he then proceeded to smash his other hoof down on the silk, rendering it flat and listless. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" The filly lept at the fabric with malice in her eyes; only to find the fabric empty of any materials whatsoever. Diamond Tiara spun around to face The Doctor. "Where. Is. It." she spat venomously. If you were paying any attention dear, you would have seen that your precious tiara never left your side, so to speak," Whooves said as he pointed at her flank. There, perched on her tail was her tiara. "I'd say that fits you quite nicely now." "I-but I-Hmph!," the filly shrieked as she dashed out of the classroom while the class erupted with laughter.. "...Ah, okay; I guess now is a good time for recess," Miss Cheerilee surmized. Whooves followed a giggling Dinky out the door and they both headed out to recess. ~~~Later~~~ It was lunchtime, and Whooves was just about to get started on stitching the back whooves on Mr.Mailcolt, when he was interrupted by a trio of fillies. One of the fillies in particular caught his eyes immediately. He remembered her as Applejack's younger sister, and was a part of the now notorious Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Oh hello, little miss Applebloom. What can I help you with today? Not more crazy schemes I hope." Applebloom blushed embarrassed. "Nah, t'aint nothin' like that Doctor. We was just wonderin' how y'all did that trick earlier." "It was just a simple case of misdirection, that's all." Applebloom just looked even more confused than before. "Um, Sweetie Bell," she turned her head, "whas' that word mean?" Sweetie Bell giggled, "It means that he made us focus on something else so that he could do something else in secret." "That's exactly right, Miss Bell," Whooves said." Now was there any particular reason why you want to kno-" The orange filly in the group interjected, "We wanted to get our Cutie Marks in magic,but Sweetie here is the only Unicorn..." "Well, I learned all my tricks from Pinkie Pie, so you should ask her the particulars." After a few moments of silence, Applebloom asked another question. "Um, what does your Cutie Mark mean?" She pointed to the hourglass on his flank. "Well, it means a few things, actually. It means that I have a talent for patience. But it also means that I spend too much time reflecting on the past." He looked wistfully out the window, as if it was a screen replaying all of his past at once. Feeling like they were interrupting something very important, the CMC's left to go finish their food. Whooves was just remembering his last epic battle with his alternate self; all those years ago. ' He would be laughing his flank off all the way to oblivion if he saw me now.' Dinky had taken a seat next to him, and was inspecting the progress of Whooves' stitch-work while she thought. After some careful thought, she spoke. "Papa." "Are you lonely?" This filly had a knack for catching him off-guard. "Lonely? No, sweetie, I'm not lonely. I was just thinking about how lucky I have you and your mom in my life. There is no way I could be lonely now that I have you." Dinky hugged Whooves and began to hum his lullaby. "I take it you like my little song?" Dinky looked up at him and grinned from ear to ear. "Of course, you made it. And I know that if Papa is making it for me, then he is making the bestest thing ever; even better than muffins." Whooves teared up. "Thanks, Dinky. That means the world coming from you..." Whooves picked up Dinky and put her on his lap. "Would you like to hear another one ?" "Sure, Papa!" The dawn is breaking A light shining through You're barely waking And I'm tangled up in you, yeah I'm open, you're closed Where I follow, you'll go I worry I won't see your face Light up again Even the best fall down sometimes Even the wrong words seem to rhyme Out of the doubt that fills my mind I somehow find you and I collide I'm quiet you know You make a first impression I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind Even the best fall down sometimes Even the stars refuse to shine Out of the back you fall in time I somehow find you and I collide Don't stop here I lost my place I'm close behind I'm close behind Even the best fall down sometimes Even the wrong words seem to rhyme Out of the doubt that fills your mind You finally find you and I collide You finally find that you and I collide Suddenly there was the sound of applause. Whooves looked at the group that had amassed around them. "Aha...Um, thanks everypony." The group slowly dispersed, leaving them alone again. "Now that that's over, how's about we have us this lunch, hmm?" Dinky nodded her head cheerily, and they began to eat. ~~~ The school day was coming to a close, so Whooves and Dinky said their goodbyes to the CMC's and were walking out the door; when Cheerilee stopped them. "Thank you for taking time out of your day to sit in with Dinky. She doesn't really get along with the older ponies, so it was a nice change of pace to see her engaging more today." "Think nothing of it, Cheerie. I am just glad that I got to spend the day with her and meet her classmates. It's just too bad that she has to deal with that Tiara wearing bully." "Though I do find it in everyponies best interests to try and work out their problems peacefully; Diamond Tiara has always seemed to be outside of that mindset by every meaning of the word, despite my and her fathers constant attention to her needs.' It was then that Whooves had an idea. "Miss Cheerilee." "Yes, Doctor?" "Can I get his address. i would really like to meet him face to face." "That won't be necessary, Mr.Whooves, I am already here," a voice called from behind him. "Oh, hello Mr. Rich, it's good to see you." TO BE CONTINUED > Parent-Teacher Conferences > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Parent-Teacher Conferences "Why hello, Mr.Rich. I wasn't expecting you so early. Why do you have a seat-" "That will be quite alright, I actually am going to make this visit short. For it seems that my daughter is locked away in her room; and I can't seem to coax her out...would there be any reason as to why she might have been put into such a distraught mood?" Filthy Rich already knew the reason, but he wanted to make the responsible one feel as uncomfortable as possible. "Mr. Rich, I'm sure whatever is going on c-can be worked out in as civil a-" It was the that Whooves interjected. "I'm the one who made your daughter cry, but I have a....pofectweee gwood exphaiehsiohn." Whooves wasn't used to being punched in the mouth. "I didn't say you were allowed to speak, you sorry sack of horseapples. Now let me finish..." Whooves regretfully did so. "As I was about to say; I have not nor will I ever stand for such reprimandable behavior in a schoolplace. Now, Miss Cheerilee; we have both come to an understanding on my daughters unique habits, but I see no need in having perfect strangers chastise her in front of her peers." Mr. Rich talked a calm demeanor, but he let the anger show all across his features. His suit was crumpled and desheveled, as was his slicked mane. His limbs were shaking violently with suppressed anger. If it were not for Miss Cheerilee's presence in the room; Rich would not have hesitated in strangling Dr. Whooves. 'He doesn't know the struggles I have to face every day,' Rich thought. ' He doesn't have to face seeing a teacher every day because your an unfit parent. HE doesn't have to face the knowledge that, despite trying your best; your precious gem is slowly losing her childhood. HE doesn't weep into a pillow every night so that his daughter doesn't hear. HE-HE-HE... Filthy Rich had lost all control by this point; and was on top of Dr. Whooves, beating on his defenseless body. Every strike being witnessed by a horrified Cheerilee. "Mr. Rich, please stop; he didn't know what he was doing, so please stop..." He couldn't hear Cheerilee's pleas through the sound of the adrenaline rushing through his veins. Whooves couldn't stop the onslaught, and for reasons he couldn't quite explain; he felt that he shouldn't. He somehow new that this was okay; and that he deserved this form of punishment as a result. It wasn't until the Diamond Tiara and Dinky, who were talking outside, came in; that Whooves felt that action had to be taken. Whooves reached up a one of Filthy's hooves as he was swinging, and proceeded to roll him over to halt his beating. Before Rich could get up; Diamond Tiara was on top of him screaming. "NO DADDY, STOPIT! Me and Dinky apologized, so you can stop now. Don't get in trouble cause of me d daddy..." Tiara's plea had turned into a fit of tears as she grasped her father's neck in a tight embrace. Whooves took this opportunity to recline himself on Cheerilee's chair to inspect the damage. He saw that he had some burns on his forhooves from the carpeting, his lips was busted in two places, his flank had a really nasty cut, and for some reason he had lost the feeling in his mouth. Dinky cantered up to Whooves with tears streaming down her face. "Why are you fighting with Daimonds' daddy, papa? I know that Diamond Tiara can be a super meanie sometimes; but we are still friends, so you don't have to fight Mr. Rich anymore, okay?" Dinky feigned a weak smile. Whooves couldn't help but feel heartbroken at the display. Here he was, sitting like a piece of pounded hay, while his daughter held a proper resolve befitting a proper parent. He looked over a Rich, who had gone to sitting so he could properly hold his panicked child in his hooves. It was then that Whooves had the first chance to speak. "Thank you, Mr. Rich." Filthy looked at Whooves like he had just grown another head. "What the hay do you mean, 'Thank you'? I nearly beat you to a bloody pulp. "That's just it. You hurt me because I hurt your daughter. I understand completely." Rich just took to listening rather than talking by this point. "I see now that we were just protecting our daughters from each other, instead of just talking it through like grown Colts. I thought that Diamond Tiara was just a bully who was making fun of Dinky because she had no friends, but that's not true; is it Tiara?" Diamond Tiara nodded her head slowly. "I was just mad at her because her mom always came to pick her up everyday, and she was always there for her. I was just so jealous that I ripped up her favorite doll one day. And when you showed up, I felt even lonelier because she had both of her parents watching over her. I just wished sometimes that Daddy would take a day off to come spend the day at school just like you, Mr. Whooves" Rich looked at his daughter with sadness streaking his face. "Ohh, honey. I would take every day off if it would help you feel better." Diamond hugged her father tighter as Whooves smiled at Dinky. Dinky smiled back, then walked over to Diamond. "Hey Tiara." "Yeah, Dinky?" "Do you want to be my sister?" "The rest of the ponies in the room looked at the filly with a mixture of odd expressions; mostly confusion among them. "Wh-what do you mean Dinky?" Whooves asked. "I mean if she feels lonely cause she has no family at school to be with, then I'll be her sister for her." Whooves smiled softly at the gesture. "Well, I for one think that that is very sweet of you, Dinky," Cheerilee exclaimed. "And I would also appreciate it you two," she looked over the two Colts, "would follow their example." The two frowned, ashamed that they were being chastised by a gradeschool teacher. "Yes, I believe you might be correct," Rich said, trying to regain his modicum of decor. "Yeah, I think." Whooves got out of the chair and walked over and put out a hoof to Rich. "Well, I guess if our daughters can work out their differences like that , then so can we." Rich said. 'Yeah, you said it; brother." Whooves nudged Rich slyly. ~~~ Dinky and Whooves were on their way home when he asked Dinky a thought that he had been mulling over since they had left. "Dinky, did you really want a sister?" "Truth?" "Yes." "Yeah... I was always kinda lonely wen it was just mommy and me, and even though Diamond was mean to me; She always felt like a big sister to me." "Okay...Oh, one more question." "Yeah?" "How are we going to explain to your mother that she has another daughter?" Dinky just giggled at the question, "Papa, if she says that each muffin is like family, then I don't think she'll mind having one more little 'muffin' to feed." They both laughed heartily at the pun. ~~~ Somewhere in the distance; in a quiet home that smelled of muffins, a bubbly grey mare sneezed... TO BE CONTINUED > Birthday Resolve > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Thanks again Pinkie Pie," Whooves said, as he was bringing in the last of the decorations. "It's no problem at all, Whoovsie. I just can't wait to see the look on her face," Pinkie Pie giggled. It had been a few weeks since Dr. Whooves had married Derpy and became a new dad; so he was beginning to settle into a new routine. He would get up in the morning as Celestia's sun rose. He would brush out his mane, take a shower,and wake up Dinky. They would all sit at the breakfast table and discuss what their day would be. Whooves and Dinky would go to school together after Derpy left for work. Diamond Tiara would join them on their walk and talk about her previous day. They would stop at the cakes to grab a lunch for the two, as Silver Spoon would join the trio. They all would get to class and have fun doing classwork together, while Whooves relaxed and chatted with Cheerilee about nothing particular until the school day was out. Whooves and Dinky would take Diamond back home and go to the park to play until Derpy got off work. They would all head over to Twilight's house to get a book for Dinky to read for the evening to read. They would get home and Whooves would get dinner started while Derpy and Dinky took their respective baths. They all would sit at the table and discuss how their day went, with Dinky dominating the conversation most nights. When dinner was done, Whooves would go upstairs after he cleaned up dinner and read Dinky the story that she had picked out. After that, he would tuck her into bed and join Derpy in his. All in all, this was the best life Whooves could've asked for. A peaceful home, a loving wife, and the best daughter he could ask for. The only thing that bugged him was that he couldn't find the TARDIS as of late, but he was going to chalk that up to laziness on his part. Today, however, was a unique change in his usual routine because it just happened to be Dinky's 10th birthday. This meant that Whooves was going to pull out all of the stops This was going to be one birthday neither Dinky, or anypony for that matter, were going to forget. For this; he hired Pinkie Pie as chief party planner, Rainbow Dash as stunt coordinator, Rarity for a birthday dress, and for some reason, Twilight as DJ. Twilight was given this task by Pinkie Pie, because resident DJ Vinyl Scratch was out doing a concert in Fillysburg. he didn't know if she would be up to the task, but she had to trust Pinkie Pie for this one. Whooves had just laid down the Triple-Decker-Jumbo-Choco Ice Cream Cake (Pinkie Pie's recommendation) down on the table when the filly of honor waltzed in through the front door. Rarity had just blown Whooves idea of what a dress was right out of the water. He knew that she was great at making wedding dresses, as was apparent by Derpy's one; but this...this was absolutely stunning. The dress itself seemed to be Victorian be nature and there was a radiant light blue flare about the whole of the dress. the blue was offset by a hint of gold hemming that skirted along the edge of the dress so that it looked as if it was flowing into her mane and tail. Her mane was done into a braided ponytail, and was topped with a tiara made almost entirely of emerald and topaz. Her hooves were lightly dusted in grey to match her mothers coat. She slowly cantered over to her mother and Whooves. "Do you like it?" Whooves rustled her mane. "Dad! that took forever to do." "Heh, sorry Dinky. and yes it looks absolutely stunning; wouldn't you agree dear?" Derpy looked at them both and grinned. "Most definitely!" They all smiled and walked out into the living spacce to meet with the rest of the party-goers ~~~ It was getting well into the afternoon when the rest of the guests arrived. At first, it was just Diamond Tiara and her parents, then came the CMC with a couple of other fillies and colt from Dinky's school, then Cheerilee stopped by to wish Dinky a great birthday and dropped off a gift; and finally, Lyra and Bonbon rounded out the guests that were to arrive. Dinky was just settling down to open her gifts as Hooves closed the door. Her first gift was a sappling apple tree from Applebloom. Then it went as follows: a plush dog from Scootaloo, a purple dress from Sweetie Bell(hoof-stitched by her, a notebook from Cheerilee, a collection of drawing books from Twilight, a Wonderbolts' suit for her dolls from Rainbow, a set of silly string from Pinkie Pie, and lastly, a brush from Lyra and Bonbon. The was one other present that Dinky was given, but she had already been totting around for the entire party. It was a doll of her, with little citrine eyes and locks of silk for hair. This doll was a gift from Diamond Tiara, and amazingly enough, dinky was in love with it at first sight. Every time Whooves looked at the little filly carrying the littler filly doll, he would chuckle a little at the silliness of the picture. It wasn't a mean spirited laugh, but was sort of just a laugh of reflection at how that probably looked when he carted around Dinky everywhere. Whooves looked over at the mantle for the clock to see what time it was. When he confirmed that it was the right time, he looked over to Derpy and motioned towards the cake. "Alright Everypony," Derpy exclaimed, "Who wants some cake?" Almost immediately, the group went into the kitchen to consume the decadent masterpiece. "Okay, now that where all here, let's have the birthday girl come blow out her candles," Dinky milled her way through the small crowd to take a seat at the head of the cake. "Okay, Dinky" Whooves whispered. "now remember to wish real hard on what you want." Dinky closed her eyes and leaned forward into the cake. "One...Two...Three1" Dinky blew as hard as she could at the candles, extinguishing the flames. "Great job, Dinky," the crowd collectively cheered. Dinky looked up and smiled at her parents. "That was great, right?" Whooves and Derpy's smiles slowly faded and they looked at each other with growing concern. "A-are you okay, sweetie?" Derpy asked neverously. "Yeah, mom, i feel super duper; why?" Whooves took his hoof and gently wiped Dinky's nose. "Are you sure, honey?" Whooves asked as well. "Y-yeah, well, my neck hurts a little...what's happening?" Dinky's nose was bleeding profusely, and all the color seemed drained from her features. It wasn't a moment after Dinky asked the question before she collapsed off of her chair and started to convulse on the floor. Derpy looked on with horror as Whooves rushed to her aid. "Someone get a towel and a pillow, now!" Rainbow dash hurried up the stairs and grabbed the materials. "And I need somepony to help me get her to the hospital," Twilight took this moment to teleport the both of them. "Thank you Twilight..." Whooves rushed Dinky, who was coming down from the attack, into the building. Nurse Redheart looked up from her magazine to see a frantic Whooves barreling towards her. Oh Dear, what seems to-" "Please help her!" Whooves screamed, tears streaming down his face. "This way, hurry..." The three ponies departed into the Intensive Care. ~~~ Whooves sat in the waiting room with his hooves in his eyes, trying desperately to keep the tears in. Derpy burst through he front door, and rushed over and shook Whooves. "Where's my baby!?" "She's in surgery..." "Oh Celestia no! What's wrong with her?" Whooves looked up at her with defeated tears falling down his features. "I don't know, but she wasn't waking up and the put her on a whole bunch of machines to do tests and then they-they..." Whooves choked back his sobs as Derpy held him, crying into his mane. "They didn't tell you anything?" Derpy finally said, after a few minutes. "No, they just put me in her and told me to wait patiently..." It was then that the door to the ICU was opened to a very aged Unicorn, who walked over to the two. "Are you Mr. and Mrs. Whooves?" The two nodded. "Well, it was a good thing that you brought in your daughter in when you did, Mr. Whooves." "Why is that, Doctor?" The doctor took a seat in front of the two. "Well, it seems that your daughter has what we call EPM, and...well; there's good news and bad news..." TO BE CONTINUED > Infernal Struggles > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Infernal Struggles The monotone buzzing seemed to match the wavelength of frustration in Whooves head. His head swam with snippets of accusations and chiding calls. One voice in particular rang the clearest. 'I was right all along Whoovsie; you are nothing more than a sack of rubbish...' 'Oh bollocks...' Whooves rubbed his temples in frustration at his new company. Ever since the Elements of Harmony had their face off with Discord, Whooves has had a quite troubling matter. He could shake his Discording self, or rather, the voice of it. Everything Whooves did was silently mocked and castigated by himself, so to speak. 'I am really not in the mood right now,' Whooves said mentally. 'Oh, your never in the mood for me, Whoovsie. It's really quite a shame' the voice mock whined. 'I said can it.' 'Maybe now that your precious daughter is out of the picture, we can get better acquainted. Whatdya say?' "I.SAID. STUFF IT!" Whooves yelled. The voice sighed. 'Fine...' "Um, Whooves, honey? Is now really the time for outbursts?" Whooves looked down at the company next to him, who were looking at him as if he had just insulted the Princesses mane. He quickly took his seat, and returned back to the more pressing conversation. The doctor shifted in his seat to get a more comfortable position before continuing. "Firstly, I want to say that I commend you for getting her in before the condition became worse. Fortunately, we were able to reduce the swelling from the hemmmorage that had started in her brain, but thats where the good news kinda ends." Whooves looked at the doctor expectantly. "With this kind of condition, we have no real clear indication of how much damage has done, but we do know that it might have been extensive. All we can do now is wait and hope that she wakes to determine." The two relaxed in their chairs for a moment while the doctor got up and left. It wasn't much to go on, but it was a relief that she was stable and not in immediate harm. It had been quite a few hours since they had arrived at the hospital, and Whooves heard Derpy yawn. "Drepy, are you tired?"Whooves asked. "Yeah, i'm not used to late nights like this, plus I had an early shift today. What about you?"Derpy responded. "Yeah." "Well, go home and get some rest. We both don't need to be here right now." "We Timelords are notorious for not needing sleep." "Well, that's no excuse. You're an equestrian now so you dont get a pass this time." "Well, then I'm playing the I'm your superior card." "In that case I'm your wife, remember. You go home and rest." Nurse Redheart came in to the lobby and looked at them both. "We have a Pegasus on standby to come get you when Dinky wakes up, if you both want to go." Redheart exclaimed. They looked at each other and sighed. "I guess that was pointless..."Whooves finally said. "Yeah."derpy sighed again. "Alright, let's go..." ~~~~ Three long weeks passed listlessly while Derpy and Whooves waited for Dinky to wake. Their front porch was covered in flowers and letters from concerned classmates and friends of Derpy's. Whooves had the task of collecting the mountain of flowers daily so that they could be properly taken care of, but after a week of Roseluck's work finding its way to their doorstep, the two decided that it was best to just take them to the hospital to be given to Dinky personally. Dinky herself was showing considerable improvement. Her bandaging from her surgery was removed and the stitches were slowly starting to heal. She was even unconsciously responding to whooves voice, her expression softening when his voice entered her mind. At least that's what Whooves hoped was happening. Everyday Whooves read to Dinky. He had become Twilight's newest and best guest as of late, and the two of them shared quite a few conversations in his time searching for books. Most of the conversation were about Twilight's childhood and how she wasn't always such a studious filly. As mundane as the conversations were, Whooves found them quite engaging, He never knew that a foal's magic was unpredictable, nor did he know that those same fillies had a tendency to want to change their parents into lawn ornaments whether they wanted it or not. All in all, twilight was a veritable well of knowledge as should be the case, coming from Celestia's number one pupil. Derpy on the other hoof wasn't taking the time without her daughter so well. Her work didn't seem as fun, home felt to lonely to be in, and even her favorite blueberry chocolate chip muffins had lost there flavor. She usually filled her day by floating around town after the hospital visiting hours. It had been awhile since Derpy just walked through town instead of flying across like she normally did. Alot of familiar landmarks that she had on her routes seemed bigger and more full of life. She had even found a new diner that served free muffins and tea in the evenings. She reminded herself to take Dinky and Whooves there whenever Dinky was released. She usually ended her trips at the Library, where Whooves and her would depart home for the evening. ~~~ A loud knocking sounded through the house late one morning. Whooves had slept in because he had stayed up ;ate reading a checkout from the library. He trudged slowly down the stairs, the knocking becoming louder and more rapid with each step. When Whooves opened the door, he was greeted to the feeling of forhooves bashing his snout. Whooves recoiled at the sudden action and clenched his eyes shut. When he opened them, he saw that a Pegasus had been the source of the nostril discomfort. A very specific Pegasus, to be exact. Whooves brightened up when he saw the Colt, but he locked up when he didn't see Derpy. "Did you already get my wife?" Whooves asked anxiously. "Yes yes, now can we get moving?" The colt was bouncing from side to side. "Of course, Allons-y!" "Allen sea? Who's that, someone else I need to get?" "No, sorry. It means 'let's go'." The Pegasus stared at him for another moment before he flew off in the direction of the hospital with Whooves trailing close behind. ~~~~ Whooves barreled around another corner and stopped just short of Dinky's hospital room. He took a few moments to catch his breath before entering. he slowly walked into the room and looked over at Derpy. Derpy was holding Dinky's hoof and silently whispering into her ear. Whooves moved over to the Doctor, who was checking her vitals again. "Is she waking, Doctor?" The doctor turned his and grinned gently. "She has taken a little longer than I anticipated, but she should be up any minute." Dr.Whooves became visibly more relaxed at this. He looked over at Derpy. "How are you feeling Derpy?" "Like someone just took a ten ton off my wings..." Derpy grinned weakly at Whooves. She had tear streaks visible on her cheeks and Whooves took notice. He walked over to Derpy and wiped a fresh tear off. "I'm so happy, Whooves." Derpy said softly. "I know dear. I am too." Whooves looked down at Dinky and brushed a lock of her mane from her eyes. As if that was the que in some cosmic play, Dinky began too stir. Whooves breath caught in his throat. Slowly, she began to open her eyes and weakly scan the room. After a few choked sobs from Derpy, Dinky finally spoke. "P-papa..." Whooves grabbed Dinkys arm and lifted it closer to him. "Yes, I'm right here Dinky. How do you feel?" She paused for a moment and plinked her eyes slowly. "I feel fine I guees. Just a little tired...Why?" "I'm surprised you feel tired Dinky," Derpy said, grinning widely, "You've been asleep for over three weeks!" Dinky stared blankly at Derpy, as though she didn't get the joke. The room felt tense. "I there something wrong Dinky?" Whooves asked. After a moments more silence she spoke. "...Yeah Daddy, Who's that?" Dinky pointed her hoof at the pony. Right at her mother... TO BE CONTINUED > Doubles Therapy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a couple minutes after the sudden bombshell before Whooves could calmly converse with the physician. "In all my days, I have never come across a case like this," the aged Colt spoke nervously. "I have only once a long time ago, just didn't think it applied to Equines, though. Don't rightly know what DOES apply to an equine in the case of disease." Whooves wore a serious expression. "Does that mean that you are a doctor, then?"The physician raised his head slightly. "The Doctor, to be exact." "In what field?" "Oh, I've never practiced medicine." "Then you have been to college." "Sorry. Wasn't my cup of tea.' "Then why do people call you The Doctor?" "Ah. Yes, that is an important question." He paused and leaned on the bed lightly. "Before we continue, how is this relevant to Dinky?" The physician paused. "U-uh, you're right. We should stick to the matter at hoof. In your opinion, since you've handled situations like this before." "Right. i'll just have to grab something from home first." Derpy's gonna kill me for this. ~~~ Whooves entered the hospital room after an hour of rushed searching through his house. Derpy was back in the room, cradling dinky while she slept. She looked up at Whooves and was about to ask him what took him, when she noticed what he was holding in his mouth. in an instant, she was glaring at the vile item. The item in question was none other than Whooves trusty Sonic Screwdriver, fresh from the bottom of a musty truck in their attic. "I told you never to touch that thing again!" Derpy yelled silently at him. "I need it for this though." Whooves whined. "Last I check she just has some sort of amnesia, not Lazar's disease." Whooves looked at his wife. "I know that. I just need to get a quick resonance scan," by this point he was already next to her and was quickly running the screwdriver all around the base of Dinky's horn. The light ringing of the machine felt like magic to Whooves. ' 'I really have missed this old thing. It's a shame really, to have to hid it so Dinky doesn't find it.' It was Derpy's idea not to tell Dinky of Whooves' layered past. she felt that the strain of the wedding, couple with that kind of information would have put the poor filly into a state not to dissimilar to that of Miss Screwball. Whooves chuckled at the idea of a floating swirly eyed Dinky, and almost dropped the Sonic in the process. He retreated from dinky and studied the result carefully. The Physician and Derpy both just stared at him, unable to help in any sort of manner. The physician did want to ask what the contraption he had was, but he knew that all he would get was another run around answer that left him with even more questions. Whooves eyed Derpy and softly smiled. But before she could ask him what he found, he motioned her to give him Dinky. Whooves looked down a the filly, who was still snoring away, as if she just played outside for too long and needed a nap. He closed his eyes and whispered something into her ear. At first, nothing happened; but as if she had heard a really brilliant joke, she popped her eyes open and started to giggle furiously. Tears were steaming down her face as she laughed. Whooves again whispered in her ear, but this time he pointed towards Derpy with a grin on his face. "He-Ha-ah- Of course I know who that is, silly. That's mama!" At the sound of her moniker being called by her child, Derpy rushed over and grabbed the two of them in a sweeping hug. It had felt like the roller coaster of the past month had finally ended. ~~~ The three were just about to exit the hospital when the physician stopped Whooves. His breath was ragged, as if he had just run a two hour marathon. "Okay. I need to know..."The colt finally breathed. "Know what?" Whooves turned to face The Doctor. "How did you cure her? I mean all it took was some little light and some whispers and BAM, that's it, all better?" "It was actually simpler than that doctor." "Well then what was it?" "Laughter. I thought all doctors knew that was the best medicine?" "Well, yes that's true when someone is depressed; but it doesn't exactly treat broken wings, now does it?" "Ah! There lies you problem then." "Yes?" "You just haven't found the right words to the joke." Whooves grinned enigmatically and turned to leave. ~~~ Derpy looked to Whooves as they walked home. Now that she had thought on the physicians question, she had one of her own. "Honey." "Muffin. Oh, that made me hungry!" Whooves looked into nothing and grabbed his stomach. "Honey." Derpy stated flatly. Whooves kept looking off into space, as if the imaginary food was floating towards him from the heavens. "Daddy!" Dinky shouted. Whooves snapped out of his delusion and whipped his head towards Dinky. Dinky responded by nodding her head to his immediate left. He turned his head to find a mare who had an expression that would scare a Dalek out of it's machine. "Hehe."Whooves shakily laughed. "Sorry, you were saying." "Anyway," Derpy turned and looked ahead. "What did you mean by 'you haven't found the right words, then'?" Whooves grinned, "That is an excellent question. I have one for you too." Derpy looked confused. "What?" "Are you sure Dinky wants to hear something so boring." Derpy looked over at the filly, and realized what he really meant. It was then that she wore a flat expression and said to Dinky flatly, "Muffins, your daddy is a Time Lord." She turned back to Whooves, who had a bemused expression spread across his features. "Does this mean that I-" "No you cannot walk around carrying that infernal contraption!" Derpy interrupted. Whooves wore a slight look of sadness. "...Sigh, alright. But only in the house. We don't need the neighbors freaking out about their house falling apart cause somepony wants to wave his toy around." Whooves frowned at the accusation. "Now when have I ever done that?" She looked him dead in the eye. "Carrot Top." "Oh yes. Quite right." As I was saying," she continued for a third time, "What did you mean with that statement?" "Well, when I was on the Earth all those years ago, I didn't have the luxuries of 'Unicorns' and 'magic', but what we did have was science. And a very of race of scientist was on the earth. Now mind you, this particular race was not the most well behaved, in fact they were only bent on the destruction of order in the whole universe. They were the equivalent of Discord on my planet, and they had a very interesting name on Earth. The humans there called them 'Witches'; and they had a very unique ability. in Laymares terms, they used words as codes for manipulation of time and space." Derpy stared at him blankly, trying to absorb this information. "Now, I bet you're wondering how this all fits into Dinky." She wasn't, but she nodded her head all the same. "Dinky's mind is like a... a post office. When she get new letter, she puts it into a specific pile. Each pile belongs to a larger pile, and that one belongs to an even bigger one; all of them forming a very large tree of letters, with each branch a very neccessary bit of information." "Now," he continued, "Imagine that the letters containing all of 'you' were all locked away in a secret vault. That's essentially what happened to Dinky. All I did was create a key using the words I learned from my time on Earth." "O-okay,"Derpy shook her head. "One last question. Why was she laughing?" "Oh, that. Her ear tickled when I whispered into it." Derpy just stared at him a moment before she collapsed into a laughing fit, followed by Whooves. After a few moments, they both realized that a specific pony was not very amused with any of this at all. The two of them stared a Dinky with a small amount of worry on their features. Derpy was the first to speak. "Are you okay, Sweetie?" Derpy already knew the answer. " No." "I am sure that whatever questions you have, we can answer them as best as we can." "No. I don't really have any questions...Well, I do have one." "Ask away." Whooves said. "Who is that." Dinky had a knack for pointing out the strangest things in an already strange situation. Whooves thought this as he surveyed the new pony that had just landed, rather ungracefully, at their hooves. "I know this one." Whooves said quietly. "W-who is ti?" Derpy said as she cowered behind Whooves. He pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver, "Queen Chrysalis..." TO BE CONTINUED > Seemingly Unseemly > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whooves tightened the grip on his trusty device, anticipating some devious move from the queen of decay and destruction. She stood shakily on her whooves, which looked like decaying willow trees. her coat was cut and desheveled from her collision with the ground, and her mane seemed to have not fared any better. Her eyes were by far the most interesting feature on her frame. She was wide-eyed and frantically searching for something. Whooves could only assume that she was looking for a minion or object to aid her. Whooves was not going to let this opportunity to catch a wanted fugitive slip through his whooves. "Stay right where you are." Whooves glared at the mare. "Let's make this nice and simple, and I won't have to resort to, um, violence." He honestly did not want to confront the towering queen, especially after his last encounter. He regarded this species of changelings with that of the Graske of the Planet Grannoth. In no way was a ponified version of these monstrosities any good to Whooves, or anypony for that matter. Chrysalis took a step forward to approach Whooves. "I said stay still." Whooves commanded. The Queen disregarded his command and took another step. " Whooves..." Derpy whimpered, tucking Dinky in between herself and Whooves. " Wait, Derpy," chrysalis finally spoke, "It's not what you think. It's me...Twilight." The two ponies stopped and looked at the queen, dumbfounded. "T-twilight?" ~~~~ The four ponies walked over to a bench to sit and discuss this new development. Whooves found it both amusing and somewhat terrifying that he was only a few feet from the changeling queen, sort of. Chrysalis-er-Twilight took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Let me start at the beginning." She took a deep breath. "A few days ago, Princess Celestia asked me to come to Canterlot for some secret project. She didn't explain it any further, but I am always willing to try something new if the Princesses ask. Anyway, I made it to the castle and it was completely empty. Not a single Colt, Mare, or Filly in the entire castle. At first, I thought that something terrible was happening, like Discord returned and turned everypony invisible. Pinkie Pie would have been ecstatic...where was I?" "Oh yes," she continued, "Upon further inspection, I found that the castle had been closed for an imperative experiment. The princesses were kind enough to tell me only after I had been wandering aimlessly for half a day. They approached me and asked if I had remembered anything about the changelings and their queen, and with my idetic memory, I told them that I could recall every detail." "They then asked me to come with them to the observatory. When we reached our destination, I found that they had converted the entire room into a laboratory. At first, I was a little confused, since they already had a few labs scattered throughout the palace grounds. They then said that they needed the lab in a heightened location to amplify their Celestial powers. I told them that it was all very fascinating, but I still had no clue as to what they needed me for. They responded by saying that they wanted to recreate the powers of the changelings for the sake of learning their enemy, in case she decided to return. Celestia also happened to mention that they had a little wager between herself and Luna that the changelings were indeed real and that it wasn't some giant belated April foals joke on Luna." Derpy chuckled at the sentiment, "As I was saying," Twilight continued, "Celestia motioned me to stand on a pedestal at the center of the room. She then asked me to create a magic bubble to contain the effects of their spell. After a moment, they concentrated their magic and directed it towards me. At first, everything went well, but without warning, my magic seemed to have agitated something in the room. This agitation caused a ripple in the bubble, and broke the spell and sent me flying through the air. When I awoke, I found myself here, in this form." Twilight finished her lengthy recollection and waited for a response from Whooves. "Hmm, I've heard of this before, but where?" Whooves scratched his chin aimlessly. "Hrrg, it's at the tip of my tongue. If only I had the TARDIS I could- the TARDIS... That's it! The TARDIS! Derpy and Twilight stared at his sudden enthusiasm. "Don't you two get it?" He looked at the two expectantly. After a moments silence, he shrugged and said, "Twilight you said that there was some sort of distortion in your bubble, am I right?" She nodded. "Did the distortion happen before or a fter the Princesses used their poers?' "After," She said. "Of course, of course. Then that means I don't have to go hunting for my TARDIS anymore!" "Uhhm?" Twilight looked at him looking for some sort of explanation. "Sorry, Twilight; but we are going back to the castle. I'll explain when we get there." He paused for a moment. "Also, can you change form? It's going to be quite disruptive if we go through Canterlot like that." "Let's see..." Twilight scrunched her eyebrows and stuck her tongue out in concentration. At any other point in time, that face would have been the cutest thing imaginable, but now was not the time. After a couple false stars, Twilight finally changed into her proper Twilight form. "Alright, let's be off then shall we-" Whooves came face to face with dinky, who was perched on Derpy's head. "Daddy." "Uh, yes Sweetie?" "Come home safe, okay?" Dinky's cryptic plea struck at Whooves. It sounded way too familiar... After a pause, he said "You know, usally it's my job to be the cryptic one." Dinky didn't look amused. "Sigh, I'll see you when I get home." He kissed Dinky on the horn and galloped off to catch up with Twilight. ~Canterlot~ So are you going to explain what exactly we are doing," Twilight asked as they were walking throught the hall of the palace. "In a moment, we just have to find the- ah here we are." Whooves and Twilight stood outside the observatory, and Whooves motion for them both to go inside. Inside the room, Celestia and Luna were busy running around the room testing figures and breaking beakers, as if the world was about to end. "What in Equestria are you two doing?" Whooves finally asked. "Huh- oh, It's just Whooves and twilight.. Twilight!" Celestia galloped over to the unicron and swept her up in a large hug. "Oh thank the heavens! I thought we had sent you to the sun or something." Celestia nearly wept. Twilight put a hoof to Celestia's mouth and silently stared into her eyes. "I'm fine, Tia. And I have some good news, too! At least, I think I do." Whooves took a moment to mentally analyze the strange behavior between twilight and Celestia before he interrupted. "Ehem." The three other looked at him. "I don't mean to be callous, but if we are going to change Twilight back to normal, we'll have to do it now." "Change her back?" Luna chimed, "There's nothing wrong with her." Twilight took this moment to alter her form back into Queen Chrysalis. Needless to say, Luna was shocked. "W-well, it' seems that celestia was correct," Luna used her hoof to keep her jaw from going slack. ~~~~ Twilight stood back on the Pedestal, as per Whooves instruction. Before she could ask the purpose yet again, Whooves was waving his Sonic Screwdriver around like a Madmare. "No...not here either...eenope not here... Ah here we are!" Whooves tapped the Screwdriver on an invisible object, causing it to immediately reappear. It was non-other than his TARDIS, which caused Whooves to bounce around like a silly pony. "An invisibilty spell?" Twilight pondered. "Ah you would think so, but no. It's actually a safeguard to prevent anypony from accidently stumbling into her. Useful, amirite?" "Uh, sure." Twilight stared flatly at him. "Now, with out any further ado, I must now ask that the pihnehehsjugh and htiinee athei hinmmd." As it turns out, Whooves cannot be heard well from deep inside the TARDIS. "What was that?" The other three ponies asked in unison. "What?" Whooves said as he poked his head out of the TARDIS. "I said that I need Celestia and Luna to use their spell again while I do some...things in here. Twilight, I also need you to create two bubbles; one around the TARDIS, and one around yourself." The mares all nodded at him, and he ducked back into the TARDIS. "okinh, noiwiw." "WHAT?" The three yet again had to ask. "I said now." Whooves said cheerily as he poked his head back out. They began the spell at this, and Whooves shut the door to the TARDIS. Once inside, he began to calibrate the TARDIS to go in a reverse momentum of the Celestial powers that be in order to create an annulling bubble inside the TARDIS, preventing a rip in the bubble. Everything was going smoothly until he began to notice a figure starting to appear inside the TARDIS. Befroe he could could get a solid bearing on the figure, it spoke in a hauntingly familiar voice. "And here i thought I was causing trouble by leaving you behind." The voice echoed. 'Wait...it can't be,' Whooves thought. "I guess all it took was a few thousand year, but at least you forgot about your good old companion. I don't really mind; after all, it would have been pretty sad otherwise." "W-who are you," Whooves was genuinley nervous for the first time in a long time. "See what'd I tell you. Of course, it is pretty easy to forget good old Rose, huh..." Rose. Suddenly, everything went black inside both the TARDIS and in Whooves mind. Outside the TARDIS, the spell went as smoothly as it could, and Twilight returned to her original form. After noticing that Whooves had not come out of the blue box, she decided to open it herself. "Whooves...Doctor? Is everything alright in there?" She couldn't see through the deep blanket of blackness. After a few moment, she began to see something in the darkness. It seemed to be a pair of sharp blue eyes, glaring at her. "W-whooves, is that yo-" "LEAVE NOW" The eyes said in a hauntingly low voice. Before she could answer, the door to the TARDIS was slammed shut and locked. Not until a laughter that chill the very soul of Equestria was heard, did Twilight realize that something was terribly wrong.... End Of Act 1 > I am Noponies Father PT.1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Act 2~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Doctor, are you alright?" Twilight called through the front door of the TARDIS. She placed her ear against the side of the police box, trying to hear for any sign of life. The Princesses sat behind her with cryptic expressions, as was as if they had already known that something was amiss. Twilight disregarded asking them about their sudden change in character; she was more pressed about the safety of her friend. Twilight took a step back from the TARDIS, and warily began to use her magic. She didn't exactly have a plan on how to open the blue box. Whooves had always said that 'she' was impossible to break into. Disregarding this thought on the slightly amusing label, she pulled a layer of magic from the bubble shield and wrapped it around the crux of the doorway. She then began to increase the frequency of her charge in order to create an ultrasound of the inside of the TARDIS. In her mind, she caught snippets of the activity inside of the TARDIS, which put some of her worries at ease. It seemed that Whooves was busy moving things around in the TARDIS and hitting things against other things. A small part of her, though, was still struggling to piece together the cryptic message that the dark mass shot at her before she was thrust out of the TARDIS. Frustrated to no end with that last thought, she turned to the Princesses. "Teacher, I need some advise on this matter. How exactly are we going to get Whooves out of there?" "No need to ask, love," Twilight spun around to face the voice, "you don't have to worry about not seeing my pretty face anymore." A grey stallion stepped out of the TARDIS and strode casually over to Twilight and leered lasciviously at her. Twilight tried to regain some of her composure, but the sight of this new-,well, old face; was putting her at a loss of words. "W-whooves?" was all she could stutter. "In the fur, love. Now that I've dealt with that one annoyance which in all honesty, I never did realize was so badly off," he gestured over to the TARDIS, "how's about we deal with the other two, so we can be alone." Whooves looked flatly over at the two Princesses, "Now if you two could politely sod off so I can teach your lovely student a new method of 'friendship', that would be greatly appreciated." Celestia returned the glare, "Twilight, I am going to have to ask that you take Whooves and transport him home with you right now,"she turned and started to leave the room. Twilight looked over at her, confused. "But Princess-" "Right. Now." Celestia cut her off, not even bothering to turn around. Twilight frowned and turned back to Whooves, "Your place sounds like a lovely idea." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight stumbled a little after teleporting both herself and Whooves back to her home. She felt both confused and a little depressed at the tone her teacher head taken with her moments ago. She sat down and watched as Whooves began to walk outside. " Now if you don't mind, I feel that I require something from my assistants adobe for toni-" He was cut off as his snout abruptly hit a barrier in the doorway. Twilight jumped up, startled; but when Spike came downstairs to inspect the new sounds, she focused her attention the the letter he was carrying with him. "I thought that it might be you two. Here," Spike handed the letter to Twilight, "Celestia just sent this." She levitated the letter over and began to read it, taking each word as a new revelation. Dearest Twilight, Firstly, I must apologize for my callous nature earlier. I needed to remove myself from Whooves as soon as I could, so I could prepare necessarily things for what I am about to write next. You cannot let Whooves leave the Library. I know that this sounds like an odd request, but in order to prevent any further damage to both himself and to any loved ones; he must stay in close proximity to you. For this, Luna and I have erected a barrier that will keep this new Whooves at bay. For you see, Whooves has been tainted by the magic of a Draconequus, specifically Discord's magic. You will remember that the other Element, along with yourself, were affected by his unruly magic. Whooves has come under the same effects of this magic, and until released of this curse, he will only cause harm. But be warned Twilight Sparkle, for a Discorded Time Lord can only mean the worst if he were to come into contact with anypony but ourselves. I am trusting that no matter what happens, you sill use your best judgement in stalling anything from tragically befalling either him or you. Your loving teacher, Princess Celestia Twilight sighed. She knew all too well the effects Discords magic could have on an unsuspecting pony. She could only shudder at how magnified those effects could be on the Doctor, what with him being a near-immortal Timelord. Momentarily, she began to contemplate just how she was going to pacify the pony for an extended period in her home, but shuddered at the miserable possibilities. She sighed and put the letter on the desk next to her She looked over at Spike and Whooves and was about to speak, but could only shriek when she saw the sight before her. Of all the worst possible things that could go wrong in this short of a time frame, this was the worst. Whooves was standing face to face with Dinky. "Oh Sweet Celestia..."Twilight muttered. Authors note: Sorry this is so short, I wanted to save a large portion of the plot for Pt. 2, so this part sorta, well, suffered. I promise the next part will be at least 2000 words. At least i hope that it will. It is actually really had to make a story using Discorded Whooves without referring to the Tumblr one. It is a really refined story. > I am Noponies Father Pt.2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- White. All Twilight saw was white. As if the whole of Equestria was nothing more than the delusion of imagination, and her whole existence could be chalked up to nothing more than this- kind of white. She twisted her body around in the limitless expanse, in search of some sort of exit. Instead all she found was seemingly invisible walls preventing her from continuing. Frustrated, she leaned against one of the invis-walls, and stared of into the expanse. It wasn't the fact that she was here that frustrated her, it was the lack of explanation on how she came to be there. One moment, she was standing just feet from imminent disaster in the form of Dr.Whooves and Dinky; and then white. Limitless, ever expandi-'Arghhh!' Twilight screamed in her head. Exhausted, she hit the wall with a hoof. "You had one job, Twilight. One job, and you couldn't even do that!" Twilight started pacing about the space. " Sometimes, I don't know what Celestia see's in me." "It's your amazing will to stay positive, for one. Very few ponies have such resilience and wherewithal in this place." Twilight spun in place, trying to find the source of the familiar voice, "Celestia? Is that you? I-I can't see you." Twilight attempted to focus her gaze and her thoughts, but the white expanse was making it difficult. " Can you at least tell me where I am?" "A safe place within my mind," Celestia's voice echoed. "I brought you here so we may discuss our next course of action in regards to our dear resident Time Lord." 'This goes way beyond personal, but I'll complain later,' Twilight thought. "What exactly do you mean 'next course of action', Princess?" The silence hung for a moment. "Unbeknownst to you, Twilight; you have actually been in this expanse for quite some time. In that time, Whooves has gone into a state of pure madness, unable to cope with his already fragmented mind being put into further disarray. HE has put a chain of events into place that have forced Luna and I to bring you here in order to put our final effort in place. Before I tell you what it entails, I wish to tell you that you are and will always be my favorite student, and I will always love you. I..know this may be hard to take, Twilight; but I will have to again ask that you do the impossible." I need you and Whooves to die. .... For a moment, Twilight was too stunned to speak. She fumbled to speak as a knot formed in her throat, "P-princess, you are surely j-jok..." Her eyes strained as the tears began to fall endlessly. 'no, Celestia would not make humor at a time like this...' Twilight choked back a sob, "I don't understand Princess, how will this possibly help anypony? How can you expect me to comply with something like that; I mean, how can even solve anything! Princess, your plan doesn't make sense! Please, answer me?! I need your guidance...I need something-anything...just not this..." Twilight collapsed onto the floor of the expanse, unable to comprehend the finality of the Princess's command. Silence was the only thing that answered her. Twilight looked at her hooves morosely. Death. She knew that is what she heard, but even if she had a thousand years to contemplate the word, the finality of it just tore her apart. 'Why?' Twilight could only muster that single thought as a sudden heat rose in her chest. Her eyes shot open, and she began to paw at her chest. Rapidly, the heat rose to an unbearable level; choking all the breath out of her. It felt as if the flames in her chest had grown claws and began to try to burrow out of her. She tried to scream in pain, but could only manage a whimper. The whiteness of the expanse started to crawl back to reveal a stark blackness, consuming everything as it went. Twilight could only lay helplessly as unconsciousness began to take hold of her body. Twilight closed her eyes for the last time; and the tears ended...forever... ~~~~~~~~~ The Doctor strode about the TARDIS; looking about as he waited for the blue police box to land at it's next destination. He absently looked about the roof of the TARDIS, as if looking for some invisible prize. He looked towards the space above him, and began to notice a blue light begin to form. But before he had time to form an opinion on how the color looked quite lovely against the TARDIS golden paneling, the form gave way to a purple haired form, which rapidly approached The Doctors face. ~ The Doctor was briefly stunned by the sudden onslaught of darkness, but after a moment; he began to realize that the darkness was indeed very warm, which was quite peculiar indeed. He reached up and found that the darkness was being caused by some sort of furry creature. He proceeded to move the creature from his face and properly investigate. "Heylooo, little creature!" The Doctor chimed. "Um, H-hi..." A feminine voice nervously responded. "Ah, so you can speak! How marvelous, if not a little peculiar. So, what is you name, dear?" "...I don't know." Twilight responded. Sorry for the absence, I've had alot of stuff on my plate. And one more round of apologies for the chapter being so short. I only wrote it in 4 hours, and without a proper spacebar. Now, with that aside, I will be properly writing more chapters here soon