A New Harmony- Chapter 8

Derpy screamed as she saw the Doctor's eyes widen in shock. Pinkamina's sword sticking out of his stomach. Derpy picked up speed, and tackled Pinkamina, taking her up into the air. She spun her around, faster and faster, the g-force showing on Pinkamina's face. Finally, Derpy let go and Pinkamina slammed into the ground, bouncing. Derpy landed next to the Doctor, as the other elements and Celestia restrained Pinkamina.
"No Doctor! No, don't leave me." She cried, lifting up his head. Twilight walked over and put her arms around Derpy.
"I'm sorry Derpy, I think he's dead." Derpy shook her head, still crying.
"That's just it Twilight, he's not going to die, but he's going to leave me." Derpy closed her eyes. Suddenly, she felt a strange tingling sensation. She opened her eyes to see the Doctor, his whole body glowing with a strange golden light. Twilight gasped and backed away, fearful of what the light could be.
"Please Doctor, don't leave… I love you." Derpy pleaded. The light intensified.
"Doctor, I know you don't die here, like this.  I know because you were there… You were there with me and my children… Our children." The light only got stronger. The Doctor exhaled, a stream of light coming out of his mouth. The stream kept growing as the Doctor dimmed. The light swirled above the Doctor's body before coming to rest over the wound. Derpy watched the deep, gushing wound begin to close, and smiled, hoping it meant what she thought it did. The wound fully closed and the light swirled over the doctor again. For a moment, nothing happened, but then, the light went rushing at Derpy and hit her in the stomach. She absorbed the energy, feeling it pulse through her. It stopped, leaving Derpy feeling energetic, as though she had just woken from the perfect night's sleep. Derpy looked at the Doctor, now fully healed, but still unconscious.
"Twilight. Help me get the Doctor to the medical tent." Derpy said, not as a request, but an order that Twilight immediately began to follow.
A few days later The Doctor was still in the hospital, and still unconscious. Derpy had not left his side, leaving the running of the Pegasus forces to her second in command; Applethunder.
"Derpy, ah just don't know if I can do this. There is still so much ah need to learn." Applethunder said, worried. Derpy didn't even look at her, keeping her eyes fixed on the Doctor.
"Applethunder, do you remember how we met?" Asked Derpy softly.
"Of course, but ah don't…" Applethunder started before being interrupted.
"Tell me."
"O…okay. Well, ah had just been appointed to your unit, fresh from officer's training. Ah told you mah name. You somehow associated it with cousin Applejack and we got to talking. Ah told you how I was Aj's cousin and the first Pegasus born into the Apple family. You also asked me if I had a very special somepony."
"And what did you tell me?"
"Ah told you that there was a certain pony back in cloudsdale. But that ah was too afraid to tell him how ah felt because ah didn't want to ruin our friendship." She said, ears drooping as she remembered.
"And what was my reply?" Derpy asked again.
"You told me that in life, just like love. You have to make choices based on what you think is best. And whether or not those choices are correct, you live with them and move past them, always allowing yourself the freedom of looking back and knowing that you did what you thought was best." Applethunder said; beginning to understand what Derpy was trying to say. Derpy nodded and said;
"Now don't you think that you should be getting back to the troops?  And please make sure Tornado Blaze remembers his armour this time." Applethunder hugged Derpy from behind, showing support for her friend, before leaving. Derpy kissed the Doctor as soon as she left.

"Wake up Doctor." She said. The Doctor exhaled again, expelling more yellow light. Derpy remembered back to when she had first met the Doctor. It had been a hard time for her. She was being evicted from her house; she had just lost her job at the cloud factory in cloudsdale and was still being harassed because of her eyes. Derpy was on her way to visit her friend Carrot Top in Ponyville when it happened. A large Blue Box had flown past her, spinning wildly out of control. She watched it crash into the middle of the Everfree Forest and quickly followed, curious about what strange pony could be inside. Derpy had arrived as the Box's sole occupant emerged.
"Are you okay mister?" She had asked, as the brown earth pony stumbled about. He had looked at her; a smile had come over his mouth. A handsome smile, Derpy had thought.
"Oh hello. Now tell me… Am I ginger?" The stranger asked, before kneeling over and passing out. Derpy had carried him back to Carrot top's house and cared for him for the week he had stayed unconscious. When he had woken up, he seemed anxious to get back to the Blue Box, ignoring Derpy's protests. He had kept saying things that didn't make any sense, such as;
"Why couldn't I have been ginger this time." Or "These new teeth feel weird." Eventually Derpy had just stopped him and demanded to know what was going on. To which he just replied;
"I'm the Doctor and I'm far from home." Derpy had followed him back to the Blue Box. The Doctor referred to it as the 'Tardis'. She had watched him enter, closing the door behind him. Derpy's mouth had dropped open as the Tardis began to make a strange sound and then vanish slowly. She had looked around, stunned, before realising that the Doctor had gone. Her head had dropped; she had been hoping that the Doctor could help her with her problems. But he had just left without even saying goodbye. Derpy had started to walk away. Then she heard it; the same strange sound, followed by the Tardis. The Doctor stepped out, looked at her and said;
"Hey! Are you coming or not?" Derpy looked at him in confusion.
"And where would I be going?"
"Anywhere, anytime." Was the Doctor's only reply. Derpy stared at him, before sighing.
"Why would you choose me?" She asked. The Doctor had walked over to her, putting his hoof around her.
"Because Miss Derpy Hooves. You saved my life, and I never forget a favour like that. Also, I need a beautiful assistant to help me." Derpy had blushed, never before thinking of herself as beautiful. She had looked at the Doctor one last time before running straight into the Tardis, smiling.
"Wow! It's smaller on the outside." She had said upon entering.

And since that day, Derpy had been travelling with him, seeing strange new worlds, new creatures. Over that time, she had also fallen in love with him.
Derpy began to cry as she laid her head on the Doctor's chest, listening to his double heartbeat. Another day passed before the Doctor woke up. Derpy was still asleep on his chest and had fallen off when the doctor had sat up straight in bed. He looked startled, as though he was not expecting to wake up like he did.
"Derpy? What happened? Where am I? And more importantly, why do I still look the same?" The Doctor was asking questions faster than Derpy could process them. Instead, she just kissed him, glad to have him back. She went on to explain what had happened with the gold light. When she got to the part about absorbing it into herself, The Doctor's eye went wide, and he looked at her abdomen.
"What is it Doctor?" Derpy asked, confused.
"N…Nothing Derpy, nothing at all." He stammered, hugging Derpy. Twilight suddenly walked in, followed by Princess Celestia.
"Doctor! It is good to see you awake… And alive." Celestia said, beaming. Twilight walked right up to the Doctor, her white iris making the Doctor uncomfortable.
"I want to know just how you survived that." She said. "It is not scientifically possible for you to have healed from that instantaneously." The Doctor smiled;
"Magic?" He said awkwardly. Twilight shook her head, not convinced.
"No. I checked every healing spell known to ponykind, and there is nothing even remotely similar to what you did. Just tell me! What are you?" Twilight's interrogation got the best of the doctor in his weakened state.
"I…I'm a Time Lord. An alien.  A time traveller. I'm from the planet Gallopfrey in the constellation of Casterberous. I am nine hundred and four years old. Are you happy?" Twilight stared at him, her mouth agape. Derpy reached over and closed it for her.
"Don't worry, I had the same reaction when I found out his age." She said, still hugging the Doctor. Twilight began to assault the Doctor with questions before Celestia interrupted;
"Twilight! I think that's enough. We came to ask the Doctor something important, not harass him with questions."
"You're right, sorry Doctor." Said Twilight, feeling embarrassed.
"Doctor, if you are feeling up to it, we would like you to have another look at Pinkie. So far we have not been able to break the programming Duskheart gave her." Celestia said. The Doctor jumped out of bed, his face serious all of a sudden.

"I'm ready. What happened to Duskheart?" The Doctor asked, as the group left the tent.
"Princess Celestia is keeping him in a cell and refuses to accept my idea of dressing him like a griffin and leaving him to Pinkie." Derpy told him. The Doctor laughed, assuming that it was a joke. "And Pinkie is being kept in a cell all to herself in a special tent at the back of the camp." They soon reached Pinkie's prison. Derpy had to turn away from the horror that was Pinkamina. It just scared her. The Doctor walked right up to the cage.
"Hello Pinkie, it's good to see you again." He said pleasantly. Pinkamina looked up, her eyes were bloodshot and wide and her ears stayed down close to her head. She sat tied to a chair, both for her protection, and the protection of others.
"Hello Doctor. It is good to see you to. But I must ask that you call me Pinkamina." Pinkamina's voice was soft, cold. It was completely distinct from Pinkie's, as though they were truly different ponies.
"And why is that?"
"Because Pinkie Pie is no longer around. Just me." The idea of that made a chill crawl up Derpy's spine.
"Oh really? That's a shame. Because it's my birthday tomorrow and I was going to have a party." The Doctor said. Derpy noticed Pinkamina's ears prick up a little.
"Well then, happy birthday to you Doctor. Enjoy the party."
"That's just it. It needs to be planned, put together and I just don't have the time." Pinkamina's ears rose a little further. "I really need a pony that knows all about parties. Do you know one?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. But she's not in right now. Can I take a message?" Pinkamina smiled, arrogantly. The Doctor shook his head.
"I was really hoping to speak to her myself." He said, opening the cage. Pinkamina's eyes grew wide. She began to struggle against her bonds, anticipating what was about to happen.
"No! You can't. You need me! I can win this war for us! Don't you understand! I'm your only hope!" Pinkamina shouted. Derpy turned away, scared at the angry, soulless voice of Pinkamina. The Doctor placed his hooves on either side of Pinkamina's head and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, the struggling stopped and Pinkamina's head slumped on her chest, asleep. The Doctor walked out, and gave Celestia a look of triumph.
"I think I did it. It was hard. Her mind is… chaotic, at war with itself. The Pinkie side is fighting for supremacy against the Pinkamina side, but I managed to tip the scales in Pinkie's favour. With luck, she will be Pinkie Pie in the next few days." Derpy, Twilight and Celestia all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is there any lasting damage Doctor?" Asked Celestia, the horrible thought suddenly coming to her head.
"We won't know until she wakes up for certain." The Doctor said sadly. He walked over to Derpy and kissed her on the cheek.
"Thank you for waiting." He whispered into her ear. Derpy smiled, glad to hear his voice.
"Thank you for coming back." She whispered in reply.
"I think you both need some time to catch up, so Twilight and I will leave you alone for a while." Said Celestia, her intuition kicking in.
"Aww but…but I had so many questions for the Doctor." Said Twilight, following Celestia out of the tent. The Doctor turned to Derpy, who grinned, showing all of her teeth. The Doctor smiled back.
"Derpy, I need to tell you something, and it may come as a shock."