We start off the day before it really even begins- in Derpy's home, in her own bedroom. A few minutes before she wakes up.

As is the usual, she's cuddled up against Rush and Rarity, arms and wings around the zebra and the unicorn, respectively. What's not usual are the clothes the three are wearing to bed- if panties, bras, and in Rush's case, boxers can really count as clothes- and the two snoozing foals laying sprawled over and under a random assortment of the adult's limbs. At some point during the night, either Dinky or Sweetie had had a nightmare, and whoever didn't just happened to follow the one who did to their parent's (or in Sweetie's case, sister and pseudo-siblings) room.... or maybe they had just wanted to sleep with them regardless of any reason. Who could blame them? it was a comfy cuddle pile, after all.

The first to wake, as she did every day, was Derpy. Years of working the morning shift at the Ponyville Post Office gave one a sharp, steady internal clock when it came to waking up, after all. Since she'd started working there, the pegasus had never slept in on a work day, a feat she was mildly proud of. And even though she continued waking up at just about the same time on her days off, Derpy usually went back to sleep, happy to stay in the warm, comfy covers and arms of her lovers.

Today, though, looked to be one where she stayed awake- not by virtue of needing to or anything, but just because once she'd stretched and yawned and opened her eyes, Derpy couldn't help but smile widely at the adorable sight.

Thanks to a stroke of luck, her lazy eye pointed right at Rush while her good one looked at Rarity. Though it wasn't easy, she managed to 'turn on' her sight in her bad eye, letting her see through it briefly to take in the details of both of them at once. Rush... the zebra that had changed her life, brought her joy and pleasure and laughter and everything in-between, met by pure happenstance. And then Rarity, the mare that, despite the rough beginning she'd brought to the table, had only made everything better by loving both of them equally, never taking advantage of either Derpy or Rush. She felt the love in her heart grow deeper, stronger, becoming more than it was before and giving her a warm feeling all over.

The strain grew, however, and Derpy let her double vision fade. Her good eye turned down and looked at the foal peacefully asleep in her arms... Dinky. A different love soared through her, and Derpy slightly tightened her hug around her daughter. Nowadays she did her best to not think about what had happened to her to bring Dinky into her life, and instead just focused on the foal herself. Every day Dinky did something to make Derpy proud, whether it was to bring home a perfect score from class or make her muffins, or any one of so many lovely little things. She treasured those moments, keeping them fresh in her memory.

Lastly but never, never least was the other foal in the bed, the one snuggling with her sister under Derpy's wing- Sweetie Belle. Even if it wasn't the romantic love she felt for her partners, or the motherly love she had for Dinky, Derpy still held Sweetie near and dear to her heart. From the moment they'd met, Dinky and Sweetie had been the closest of friends, sharing and caring for one another. Even when Sweetie had formed that silly club with Scootaloo and Applebloom, she'd never cut ties with Dinky, assuring the foal that she'd always be her best friend no matter what. And now they were even closer, the bond of family strengthening the friendship between them. Regardless of her slight distance to Sweetie, Derpy's heart held an equal and no less deep portion of love for her.

Everything built to a crescendo within the pegasus, a few tears of unmeasurable happiness leaking from her eyes as she just couldn't hold all of the feelings she had just felt. She sniffled a little, wiping her eyes with a feather before looking back at her partners, gently starting to say, "Good morni-"

And then everything was gone.

He slammed his hands onto the console. "I can't... I just... can't... believe it!" He shouted, before letting loose a scream of rage, of anger, of pain and deep, deep sadness.

Once that was out, he turned and slumped, putting his face into his hands and starting to sob. "I just... I-I promised her... I told her I'd, I'd look after her always... and they just keep ending it. Dimension after dimension, world after world they don't stop!" He said his hands gripping his mane and pulling, the pain only briefly helping to distract him.

The console beeped.

"No, I don't... I don't know if I can. It's so hard... I can't just watch it happen, over and over again, please-"

It beeped again, more insistently this time.

"I-I know I promised! And... and I won't stop... I just... I need a break, please..."

A series of clicks and whirs responded to his plea, sad but still insistent.

"..." He stayed silent for a few moments. "I know she's not mine anymore. I never entertained the thought that she still was, I just... I have to honor my word. I have to."

This time, the console didn't reply, but a small light began flashing upon it, and a series of coordinates the likes of which nobody else in the universe could ever understand appeared to match it.

He sat there for while, head still in his hands, before wiping his eyes and standing up, turning to face the console. A look of determination set itself onto his muzzle, and he shook his head a little to focus himself again. Slowly, he reached up, pulling a locket from around his neck and with practiced ease, popped it open staring at the mare inside.

Smooth grey fur coated her, a bright blonde mane contrasting it nicely along with a pair of golden eyes, staring in different directions but not in any way unintelligent. Her smile was bright and wide, matching that of his as he looked at the picture of them, chuckling for millionth time at his nervous expression in the picture, lightly hugging her back even as Derpy's arms and wings surrounded him.

"No, she's not mine. But I was hers, once, and so was she mine- we were both each other's. And until I can't do it anymore, I'll continue to watch over her in any form she takes, in any and every world. No matter when it ends. No matter how it ends." He whispered, closing the locket as a final tear fell upon it. Tucking it back into his shirt, he looked over the console, letting out a long sigh.

"This never gets any easier, does it, old girl?"

A mournful beep responded.

He shook his head, laughing sadly before he started tapping buttons and pulling levers, the room around him beginning to fill with a deep, loud whirring. "You're right... it doesn't, but I keep doing it. That's the stallion she fell in love with... and I'll be damned if I ever become something she'd hate." Torchwood said, before he and his ship- the TARDIS, of course- disappeared from nothingness and went... somewhere.

Author's Notes:

So... that's it. That's the end of Candy. It's not a satisfying ending, I know. But it had to end at some point. I just couldn't keep looking at it and letting it go unfinished... not when I still had stories to tell.

But that's not the end of Derpy, Rush, Rarity, Dinky, and Sweetie... and Torchwood, who I'm sure you all know is [REDACTED] by now.

I plan on rebooting Candy, of course with Patric. I want to make it better and a more solid story than this ever was... better paced, better written, and more story-focused. Sex is wonderful and will never leave my repertoire, but I'll never try and fit it in every single chapter I possible can again.

I will say this- don't expect some grand, overarching story to be featured in the reboot. I'm not good enough for anything like that. But it will be more focused on plot, and less focused on Derpy's plot... though I refuse to make her less sexy, damnit. That wall-eyed pegasus will forever hold a special place in my heart with her destructive butt.

I plan on making a blog post soon, talking about why this had to happen and some plans for the reboot.

As always and forever, my utmost thanks and appreciation go out to Patric12345, who made this story possible. His help and support have never failed to raise my spirits, and I'll never ever be able to express how much I treasure our friendship.

Having said that... this chapter was written entirely by me. A first for this story. And, well, a last, I guess.
I'll see you all in the next go-around, I hope.
Best wishes (and toodles!),
~TheOnlyOneWhoCared