Throughout my years of traveling, I have met absolutely nopony quite like Derpy Hooves. I began to take notice of her when she delivered mail to the ponies of Ponyville every Wednesday. I was first amazed at how a simple, clumsy, bubble brained pony could possibly be organized enough to deliver mail but as I watched, she did it almost as if her… mental disability… didn’t even exist. I couldn’t help but wonder about this pony and eventually I decided to find out in her origins.

Trapping myself in a bubble of time, I rewound the world slowly, keeping an eye on Derpy as I went through. I reached the period of Derpy’s early childhood and stopped rewinding time, but keeping the time bubble. Without the time bubble, I would have had to reverse time itself instead of playing it back from a point. There was a catch to this though, I was like a ghost to other ponies; they wouldn’t be able to sense me at all and would go right through me if I ran into them. On the other hoof, I couldn’t interact with the world either, I could only see, hear and smell the world; but I could also move through walls.

I tracked Derpy down to her home when she was an early foal; perhaps about 5 or 6 years of age. The first time I saw Derpy, I was surprised to see her without crossed eyes or a cutie mark. I would have figured her cutie mark would have been there from close to the beginning since you don’t just become bubble brained without an accident. I smiled as I realized Derpy is just as odd now as she will be in the future – her own distinct personality.

From experience I knew that Derpy had found herself at an early age – and when somepony finds themselves, they begin to learn more about the world around them. Which is why I was surprised she was so…bubble brained as an adult pony. As I followed Derpy around, I noticed she had some fun patterns that she used; she often crossed her eyes for fun to see the world from a different perspective.

While she enjoyed it, others snickered and laughed at her behind her back. Derpy knew this as well but continued doing it out of her own enjoyment. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the little pony as she walked alone on her way home. Halfway through the walk I just couldn’t take it anymore and decided to help by putting her in a bubble of her own and speeding up her time. This was a mistake.

The instant the bubble was around her, she panicked and tried to escape. I was shocked; no one could see difference in time but me as far as I knew, others could only perceive a difference, like Doctor Whooves. The fact she could see the bubble defied all logic I knew. Making a quick decision, I burst my own time bubble and I felt my power drain as I was now allowed to make changes in the past, as opposed to just re-viewing it.

I rushed to the pony in the bubble who sat cross eyed and cowering on the ground in the middle of the time distortion, “Hey hey hey, it’s okay, you’re fine.” I told her, speeding up my own time to match hers.

“M-mister?” she looked up at me from the other side of the bubble.

“Ditzy, it’s okay. It’s just a bubble, see?” I said and walked into the bubble. I sat next to the foal to comfort her.

“Look up.” I told her. She pulled her head off the safety of the ground and risked looking up. Instantly, she was fascinated by the scene around her. In the distance she saw a flock of birds flying in slow motion towards some unknown destination.

“Woooooh!” she marvled and rushed up to the edge of the bubble. She stared cross eyed at a bee that slowly made its way past her face. When the bee passed, she turned and looked at me, “Are you doing this?” she asked.

I nodded yes, “Do you like it?” I asked in return.

“I love it!” she proclaimed excitedly and hugged me.

After a minute of latching onto my neck, Derpy let go, “You’re a strange pony, mister.” She commented after looking at my apparel for the first time.

I let out a small laugh and said, “So I’ve been told.”

“Come on, mister, you should meet my mommy!” she said tugging me to my hooves. “You’re going to like her, mister, she’s nice, pretty and makes the best muffins in all Equestria!” she said as she dragged me in the direction of her house.

I looked at what I had done while on the way to Derpy’s house and laughed silently to myself. Within 10 minutes of walking we came across a quaint little neighborhood and walked up to a house indifferent from the ones around it. A perfectly made 2ft by 4ft rose garden was at the head of a neatly trimmed lawn with 3 trees on either side. A lonely bush stood guard over the path leading to the door.

Knocking several times, Derpy turned to face me, “You’re going to like her, mister. She always makes muffins when I get back from school, but we always have more than we can eat. But that’s fine because with you here, we can eat them all now!” she said excitedly as the door began to open.

“Ditzy!” a pretty mare exclaimed excitedly and hugged Derpy. “Oh, I see you made a friend as well.” She said, looking over to me. “Please, please, come in!” she offered, gesturing into her house. “I’ve got a fresh batch of muffins on the counter as we speak.” She said.

I gingerly stepped into the house. It had a warm feeling to it and an aroma that could only come from years of making muffins. “In here! They’re blueberry today!” I heard Ditzy call from the kitchen.

I turned to her mother, “How can you trust me so easily?” I asked, curious.

“Ditzy doesn’t trust many ponies, but she’s got this sense that tells her when somepony can be trusted. If she trusts you enough to lead you to our house, I trust you. Even though you are dressed oddly…”

“So I’ve been told.” I said while laughing to myself silently again. I followed Ditzy’s mother into the kitchen where a large plate of stacked blueberry muffins was waiting on the table.

“Mmmh. Mommy always makes the best muffins!” Derpy said after taking a bite off the top muffin.

“My muffins are far from best, Ditzy. By the way, my name is Whirly, Whirly doo.” The grey mare introduced herself.

“I’m Clockwork, nice to meet you. Mrs. Whirly.” I said.

Whirly gestured to another chair at the table, “Please, have a seat and eat some muffins, wouldn’t want them going to waste!” She said taking a bite of one herself while Derpy was busy munching down on her third. “So what’s your cutie mark for? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before.” Whirly asked me.

I looked down at the tophat-wearing-clock on my flank and looked back at her, “My special talent is time, believe it or not. The tophat refers to my personality in general; proper in an odd kind of way.” I explained.

“Time? How does that work?” she asked.

Derpy immediately looked up at me with a grin and shouted, “Do the thing! With the bubble!”

I chuckled as Whirly looked back at me with an even more confused expression. “Watch carefully.” I said, throwing a muffin in the air. On the way down, it seemed to slow and stop in midair. This drew a gasp from Whirly and a small cheer from Ditzy. “How are you doing that?” asked Derpy’s mother.

“Cross your eyes, like me!” Derpy suggested. Her mother looked at Derpy for a while then looked back at the muffin with crossed eyes, which was followed by another gap.

“There’s a bubble!” She shouted with an excitement that reflected where Derpy got it from.

“Haha, yes, that’s a time bubble, in that particular bubble I’ve slowed time to a near standstill. The muffin won’t fall until I redirect it’s energy, or release the bubble.” I explained followed by giving an example, “If I adjust the trajectory of the muffin, “ I said tilting the floating pastry and pushing it slightly, “then I release the effects of time,” I popped the bubble and the muffin flew into Derpy’s open mouth across the table. “Then exactly that should happen.” I said.

“That’s quite the talent you have there, Mr. Clockwork.” Whirly said, impressed.

A few minutes later we were sitting on the sofa playing with building blocks. I explained my story and where I came from to the two ponies. “So you’re from the future, huh? Do I ever get to meet Princess Celestia?” Derpy asked.

“Well I’m also from the past when you think about it… but yes, “ I laughed lightly, “you meet Celestia all the time when she comes to Ponyville. What with taking over your mother’s job as a messenger.” I told her and watched as her eyes widened with joy. Mrs. Whirly smiled at Ditzy, thus reinforcing her belief.

“Oh messenger Ditzy, would you mind grabbing a few more muffins from the kitchen?” Whirly asked. Excited by the acknowledgement of her future messenger status, she rushed off into the kitchen to fetch the muffins.

“Could you tell me something, Clockwork?” Whirly asked me, lowing her voice so Derpy couldn’t hear.

“Depends on what you’d like me to tell you.” I replied tentatively.

“Will my Ditzy grow up to be okay? She doesn’t have any friends here aside from you and her father…is in a better place now.” She said, starting to tear up.

I comforted her with a smile and held her shoulders, “Ditzy grows up to be one of the greatest messengers in Equestria, and bakes a mean muffin as well. She ends up marrying quite the colt as well. Doctor Whooves has somewhat of an affiliation with time as well.” I reassured the teary mare.

She looked up to me, “My Ditzy grows up to marry a doctor?” she asked with hope in her eyes.

“A doctor of sorts, yes.” I chortled slightly, “But I can tell you he’s the greatest, kindest and most brilliant pony you’ll ever meet and protects Ditzy from any harm. And I know that since I saw her in the future, nothing will happen to her in the past.” I told her.

Derpy came back with the rest of the muffins and we continued to build with the blocks until it got dark, with Derpy enjoying the company she so rarely gets. We heard the clock tick loudly and Whirly halted the attack on my makeshift fort, which was being double teamed by the two ponies. “It’s 9, Ditzy, time for bed.” After a moan from Derpy we followed her into her room where her mother tucked her in.

I was about to turn around and head back to the living room when I heard the dreadful words I had hoped Derpy wouldn’t ask. “Could you tell me a story, Clockwork?” I turned around sighed, walking towards Ditzy’s bed.

“I suppose it couldn’t hurt. Would you rather me tell you the tale of when I single-handedly stopped a dragon from burning down all of Equestria or would you like to learn about when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna became princesses?” I asked.

“Dragons!” she shouted and gave a little roar to emphasize her point.

I laughed - of course it would be dragons, “Dragons it is. It all started one day as I was walking through the shadows of time…”

When I had finished recalling my tale Whirly and I left Derpy’s room and went back to the living room. I started to clean up the blocks while Whirly pulled out sheets from a closet. “Feel free to stay here for as long as you’d like although I’m forcing you to sleep here tonight. After what you did today I’m not allowing you to go back to a small tent and campfire with nothing but a sleeping roll.” Whirly demanded.

“I guess I have no choice then.” I said, pushing Derpy’s makeshift catapults into the bag.

I finished cleaning the blocks up while Whirly set the sheets on the sofa and moved the cushions into a makeshift bed. “Thank you for what you’ve done today, Derpy doesn’t have much fun with other ponies and since her dad died… well she doesn’t have anypony to play with but me, and even then I still have to work.” Whirly said.

“It’s not a problem; after all, It’s not like I’m pressed for time.” We laughed.

“There was something though, you and her were able to see my time bubble when nopony else can – cross eyed or not. How do you two do it? It just doesn’t seem logical.” I questioned while sitting down on my “bed” She sat down next to me near my pillow and smiled at me,

“I teach Ditzy that logic is only what you make of it, if you believe it can be done, then it can be done. With that realization, we’re able to open our minds to the idea of what you were doing and being able to see the bubbles you made.” Whirly explained

“That’s quite the way to think.” I said.

“When her father died, we had to make some changes in the way things went – that way of thinking is one of the things we changed to for the better.” She explained. “Things just get so lonely around here.” The mare started tearing up again.

“It’s okay, Ditzy is going to live a wonderful and life and carry on your mailing legacy, and perhaps live a life ten times more exciting than the normal messenger while she’s at it.” I comforted her.

“Thank you.” She said feeling a little better.

Whirly closed her eyes and bent forward to kiss me. Surprised, I immediately slowed time to a crawl and stepped away, resuming time when I was safely out of range. “I’m sorry, but, I’ve pledged myself to somepony else.” I said from behind whirly.

She opened her eyes and turned around to look at me, “How did you get there?” She questioned.

“Time, remember?” I answered.

“Oh, I see.” She said with a sullen face.

“Don’t worry, Ditzy’s always talking about how much you love your husband in the future. You’ll meet someone even better than me eventually. I’m sure you can save it for him.” I said, hoping it’d cheer her up.

“When-when you’re gone, is there any way I can contact you again?” She asked.

“Yes, actually.” I said, “My cutie mark is a clock with a time. If you ever want to send a message to me, set your clock to the time on my flank, nine o’clock and 30 seconds. This will set a disturbance in time that I can track. If you need something, set the clock.” I said pointing to the clock on the fireplace mantle.

“Thank you, Clockwork. Have a good night.” She said with a smile and walked to her room. I laid on the makeshift bed and had one of the best nights of sleep I’ve ever had.

I woke up to the smell of eggs and muffins filling my nostrils. Sitting up on the sofa I saw Whirly baking breakfast in the Kitchen. “That smells heavenly, Miss. Whirly.” I complimented her.

“Oh!” She jumped, startled slightly. “It’s just a normal eggs with muffins breakfast. Do you like strawberry muffins?” She asked me.

“I can’t say I’ve ever tried them.” I answered back. Speeding up my own time, I picked up and folded the sheets in a matter of seconds before returning to normal.

The three of us sat at the table enjoying our meals and chatting before Derpy had to go off to class. “Last night I dreamt I was flying, little bubbles were everywhere, and you were there too, mommy!” Whirly giggled and continued to eat her breakfast.

“Sounds quite fun,” I said, “but was it anything like this?” I said, concentrating. Little bubbles with colors of light started appearing over the table.

“Woooooh!” Derpy oohed while trying to reach one of the bubbles.

“Ditzy has her eyes crossed but how can I see them?” Whirly asked.

“This time it’s not a bubble of pure time, I’m slowing down and shifting little rays of the sun’s light." I answered.

*CRASH!!* a black object shot from the roof onto the floor in a green dust. The moment it got up I knew we were in trouble. “Changelings…” I whispered. “Whirly, grab Ditzy and head upstairs, NOW!” I screamed as the changeling gathered its balance and charged at me. Increasing my time speed, I watched as the changeling rushed towards me on two legs. Winding up, I released a shot that hit it square in the solar plexus, then ducked under the wild swing of the falling changeling and thrust a quick jab into a specific point on its neck, paralyzing it for the next hour or so.

“Upstairs!” I motivated the two ponies up the stairs and returned myself to my normal speed. We made it to the attic and could hear numerous other changelings rummaging through the house. We locked the hatch and held it down with a dresser. “Is there any way I can get onto the roof?” I asked. Whirly could only point towards a small door in the side of the building. I ran to it and quickly made my way to the roof. What I saw scared me – hundreds of changelings all crashing throughout Ponyville.

Looking off into the distance, I saw Canterlot was having the same problems. I turned around quickly at the sound of a noise just in time to see a changeling charge through the building. “No!” I screamed as the building began to collapse. I heard two frightened screams and saw two figures fall out of a crumbling piece of the house towards the ground. I reacted quickly and slowed all of time to a near stop, something which would drain my power immensely.

“Think, Clockwork, think! You don’t have the time or power to hold this for long.” I told myself. “Can I put a time bubble to cushion their fall? No, that wouldn’t dissipate enough energy, simply slow down the same energy. But, what if I had two…no, hundreds of tiny bubbles, each bubble slowing their energy at a geometric rate increasing per bubble? YES!” I shouted and began to work, my hold on time starting to slip away as it started moving again. I concentrated, making millions of tiny time bubbles, a huge pool of bubbles leading from them to the ground, hundreds, perhaps thousands of them, draining my power effectively.

Derpy looked around herself in slow motion, bubbles surrounded here, everywhere. She was falling into them. “It’s my dream!” she cried out in joy. Whirly , looking at derpy saw a flash of light on Derpy’s flank and where once there was blank fur, there was now bubbles, simple, yet elegant. Characteristic, yet light. Derpy’s cutie mark. As time increased in speed, the two ponies felt their momentum drop and they landed on the ground as light as a feather.

With one crisis averted, I turned my gaze up to the sky and saw a sight more frightening than before. It looked like a large changeling, but I knew what it was; or who it was rather. Chrysalis – escaped from her prison and looking for revenge, heading towards Canterlot. “How many times do I need to imprison you before you take the hint...” I asked out-loud, preparing myself for the battle ahead.

I’m Clockwork and this is one of my many stories.