Author's Note

My prhoof reader gave me what I imagine to be a weird look from this chapter. It kinda throws a lot out there and I'm not sure if I should have split this up a bit better. Anyways, here is the final chapter before I take a short break!

<><><><><>

Where she was, Derpy had no idea. All she could see was whiteness. Whiteness above, whiteness on the horizon, and whiteness bellow her hooves. Had she gone blind? But no, there before her stood the gray coated mare beaming at Derpy.

The pony seemed just a few years out of being a foal. She looked as if, for some reason, she was bubbling with excitement. There, to her left, was a floating thing Derpy had failed to notice before. It looked to be made of some kind of metal in the shape of... Spike?

"Oh, you want to know what that is? Derpy, meet Spike-3000. Spike-3000, Derpy!"

Derpy eyed the creature wearily but shook it's hand. The thing looked at her with solid, unmoving green eyes and it was starting to creep her out just a bit.

"Don't you worry about ol' Spiky here! He's a nice guy once you warm up to him."

Derpy wasn't entirely sure there was any way that she would be able to warm up to that cold feeling metallic claw. He seemed lifeless, calculating, and stiff.

"Now I'm pretty sure your a bit curious as to where we are." It wasn't a question. "Well," the pony continued, "I'm not entirely sure where this is myself. I found mention of it in some of Twilight's notes and then figured the rest out myself. The conclusion I came to was that this place is pure nothingness. So... Your Derpy Hooves? I can see the resemblance quite well!"

This pony reminded Derpy of someone she had seen before. Someone a bit ditzy but still in control of herself. Someone like... With a look of understanding, she kept thinking, a thought slowly forming in her head. Someone like... herself!

"I see you figured it out, at least, for the most part. I'm your great, great, great, great, grandpony. My names Smarty Hooves! Its nice to meet you great, great, great, great grandma!"

Shocked, Derpy looked at the pony and fainted, falling flat on her face. After a few minutes of Smarty Hooves trying to revive Derpy, she eventually succeeded.

"I guess you weren't ready quite yet, huh? Sorry to be in such a rush, I was just so excited to tell you! Your probably wondering how all this came about. Well, be ready for a long story."

Derpy lay down slowly rubbing her face, which was still a bit sore from the fall.

"It happened a week ago. I was looking through some of Twilight's research when I came across a small piece on time travel. Fascinated, I read through the piece until I came to a part that confused and startled me. Twilight was talking about missing a small piece of information that would unlock the key to time travel. It talked about how a pony with a gray coat and orange mane came from the future and gave some advice on how to get time travel working. Twilight never wrote down the pony's name but I realized who it was. It was me. For some reason, I went back in time so Twilight could invent time travel."

"Then, just a few days ago, I made a grave discovery in Twilight's work. It was a recollection talking about how a group of five ponies fought off a dark being. Again, I heard my description among that of the other four ponies. Out of all the others I only recognized one more: you. The article wasn't complete, as if someone had deleted the last bit. So now, with most of the pieces of the puzzle laid out before me. I realized I needed to find you and, with your help, fight this evil."

Derpy thought long and hard. Everything this pony seemed to say made sense. This pony behaved similar to how Derpy herself would, and she also felt a certain connection to the pony.

For a third time, Derpy agreed to helping thwart this new evil.

"Ok then, here's what I think we should do..."