Memories
The Lament of A Time Lord
by Crafty Arts
Ditzy Doo. Or, as he preferred to call her, Derpy Hooves. She had flown her way into his thoughts again, just as she had time and time before, for the past several hundred years or so. He couldn't remember exactly, but he knew for a fact that the number was well past two thousand. Even after time may have long forgotten her, he didn't. He couldn't. He wouldn't. And it's changed him.
He loved her. It seemed strange to him, the way his hearts reached out for hers. He had fallen for others before, but none so much as that beautiful, wall-eyed mare. His feelings surpassed even that of what he felt for Rose Tyler. That was what probably bothered him the most. He had not known it himself at the time, that he could ever feel more love than what he had felt for Rose, yet it had happened, and, as not many things could do, it scared him.
He could remember the first time he'd met Derpy. It had been sometime after he'd lost Rose the first time. After Martha Jones, but long before the Adipose incident that joined him up with Donna Noble again. Sighing, he let himself slip into memory.
* * *
Some how (and still a total mystery to him to this day), while traveling back to London for a “day off,” the TARDIS had managed to slip into a completely different yet mirror universe of sorts, without his knowledge. That alone would have been enough to baffle him considering his experience with such things, but it seemed that simply passing into this universe had even managed to change his biology. Even if it was just a simple tweak to his appearance, it still seemed a bit odd to him as to how he hadn't noticed the change himself. Derpy had been the first pony he had met, and she was also the one who had pointed out to him his predicament.
He had been changed into a pony. His coat was a light brown while his mane was a darker, more chestnut color. He also found that he had a peculiar yet oddly fitting image of an hourglass printed on either of his flanks, which Derpy told him was his 'Cutie Mark'.
So it seemed that the TARDIS had brought him to a land known as Equestria. The planet itself was still called Earth, but this world was filled with magic. Real magic. It was also home to many mythological creatures. But, what he found most interesting about this entire universe, was that the majority of its life forms had an equine shape to them. Even the Daleks and the Cybermen were modeled more to a pony-like template rather than the forms he was used to. It was not so peculiar then, when he found that there were no humans or even humanoid creatures to speak of. It was absolutely fascinating!
Shortly after his arrival, a being (an alicorn to be precise) announcing herself as Nightmare Moon, attacked the little village he'd landed in, threatening to put the entirety of Equestria into an eternal night. He doubted the possibility of course, but was astounded to find that she did indeed have the power to move the moon. He later learned that she was basically a deity, and immortal, and she was supposed to be able to control the moon's movements, still rather preposterous. She had once been called Luna, but let jealousy and rage turn her into the Nightmare, before she was banished to the moon by her sister for a thousand years.
He assumed then that the TARDIS had brought him there so save the day as was his forte. Turns out he was wrong. A problem had been solved without his help for a change, and he returned to his TARDIS to leave this reality and return to his own. It seemed the TARDIS had... other plans. He was returned to Ponyville months later, at the end of winter. He was greeted again by Derpy, who taught him the tradition of Winter Wrap-Up in Ponyville. Later that day, while attempting to help Derpy migrate the birds, they found a new problem. A giant alien space worm, with hopes of freezing the planet. This time, he did save the planet, with Derpy's help, of course.
It was after that moment that Derpy officially became his traveling companion. They traversed the stars together, making new friends (and enemies) along the way. They even saved the infinite number of Equestria's parallel worlds, with help from an alternate version of himself and his companion, from the Jaberwalk, an inter-dimensional being that devoured whole universes. All the while, he and Derpy became closer and closer.
It was five years of traveling later, when Derpy admitted her feelings towards him. He, on the other hoof, was not quite ready to accept what his hearts were telling him. He dropped her off in Ponyville and left in a hurry, left her crying home with a single parting sentence, “I need to think about this,” and then he was gone.
He traveled, alone, for one hundred years from his perspective. To Derpy, it had been only two. She'd gone on to become a mailmare for Ponyville. During that time, she'd gradually slid deeper into a depression, and become reclusive. That changed when she adopted an abandoned gray-purple unicorn foal with a blond mane and tail, and eyes just as golden as Derpy's. She named her Dinky Doo.
She had been putting little Dinky to bed, when she heard it. Something she'd accepted that she would never hear again. After some time had passed, there was a soft knock on her front door. Cautiously, she'd made her way to the door and opened it. There he stood, green tie and all. She managed to focus both eyes on him and just stared.
“Evening, Miss Hooves,” he'd said quietly, an almost imperceptible smile on his muzzle.
“D-doctor,” she squeaked, her statement sounding more like a question. He nodded.
He cleared his throat, “how long, has it been?” he asked.
Derpy's eyes were misty, preparing for the heavy fall of tears that was to come, “t-two years,” she hiccuped, attempting to hold back her tears.
His smile faltered a bit, as he'd thought he'd made it back sooner than that. Both began to stare awkwardly at their hooves. A moment later, he looked back up at her, “Ditzy,” he dried her tears with a fore hoof, then proceeded to lift her chin until they were staring directly into each others eyes, one of hers rotating downward slightly.
“I-” he'd paused, choking on his words, tears welling up in his own eyes, “I've thought about it,” he'd whispered, almost completely inaudibly, hoping she'd still remembered what he'd last said to her.
Derpy's eyes widened, her mouth gaping open, “D-doctor?”
“Ditzy,” he paused, “Derpy,” again he stopped, inhaling deeply, shuddering as he let the breath out, “can I stay with you, for a while?” he'd asked her quite awkwardly.
He'd closed his eyes, then lowered his head as he continued to drown in silence. For a time, they'd stayed that way. Suddenly, he'd felt hooves wrap around his neck as a muzzle was thrust into his mane. Derpy, eyes squeezed shut, wept, soaking his mane and coat.
“Yes,” she'd cried out “yes, please stay, by Celestia please stay with me!”
He pulled her tighter into the embrace, his own tears dribbling down his face. They stood there, holding each other, the only thing breaking the silence of the night was Derpy's quiet, joyous sobbing, gradually reducing to a whimper, and again to a small sniffle every once in a while.
“Doctor,” Derpy spoke first, nuzzling against his neck, “I-I already know you can't s-stay with me forever,” his body went rigid, but loosened up again as she stroked his mane, “so, how long will you stay?”
They were again enveloped in silence. He slowly pushed her off of him until he was looking into her eyes again. He could see the emotions swimming around in her large golden eyes. Her sadness fought with joy, but something else overshadowed their battle, something that pulsed rhythmically out from her soul, coursing through her body, and shinning through her eyes, glowing brightly as they mirrored Luna's moon.
He knew his answer wouldn't necessarily be what she wanted to hear, but it was all he had, and she deserved that, “I'll stay with you, for as long as time allows.”
Without warning, Derpy pulled his muzzle closer and planted her lips on his. He shuddered in surprise, but quickly recovered, pushing deeper into the kiss, caressing her cheek gently with a hoof.
When the bliss was broken, Derpy was smiling brighter than ever, “I love you , Doctor,” She whispered.
“I...”
* * *
“I love you too, Derpy,” The Doctor rasped aloud as the ancient memory faded from is mind. He had his face buried in a green tie, the fabric already soaked through with tears that now dripped onto his suit, dampening his pant leg. He slowly looked up from the mangled tie. It was very old and looked as if it had been used for this exact purpose many, many times before.
In front of him stood a small framed picture. It portrayed a gray, cross-eyed pegasus, whose mane and tail were both a pastel yellow with traces of silver running along each in several places, staring at the camera with bright gold eyes. To her left stood a light purple unicorn, having the same mane and eye color as the pegasus, standing nearly as tall as her, too. He could just make out her Cutie Mark, a quill lying over an open book. He chuckled to himself, she was indeed a great writer, he thought.
He moved his gaze from the unicorn to the light brown Earth pony stallion, standing proudly to the pegasus' right. The pony had a green tie and a white collar that wrapped around his neck, a goofy grin plastered on his muzzle, and a large blue top hat perched haphazardly atop his dark brown mane. Directly behind the three of them, a large, bright blue box, with the words “Police Box” written near the top, towered over them all. On the bottom half of the photo, somepony had written something in TARDIS blue ink:
No matter where you go or when you are, never forget, we're always in your hearts.
Love, Derpy and Dinky Hooves
He plucked the picture from its perch, a small night stand sitting next to a large bed. He'd asked the TARDIS to make this room, an exact replica of the bedroom he'd shared with Derpy. He had stayed with Derpy and Dinky only a short thirty years before the TARDIS had called him to return to his own universe. That was when the two had given him the framed picture, along with a copy of all of Dinky's published works.
Just as the message on their picture had told him, they never left his hearts. Even after regenerating a few times since, he never once forgot them, not for a second. After so many years of traveling, of running after losing his entire home world, he'd found something with them. A home. A real home. But this one was also pulled from him eventually.
Hugging the picture to his chest, he walked out of the room, through the twisting maze of corridors, and back into the TARDIS control room. He slowly turned his head up to the control system's core, unable to cry anymore.
“Can't I go home yet?” he asked, not for the first time.
The TARDIS groaned loudly in response. Almost immediately, the entire TARDIS lurched violently, as if ramming into something, knocking The Doctor to the floor. There was a sickening crack as the picture frame slammed against the edge of the control panel. It continued its decent, shattering the glass as it met with the grated floor.
The Doctor managed to let loose one more tear, before the TARDIS was thrown Celestia knows where.