Chapter 6 – Memory Brothers

Luna walked beside Ace as they made their way to the third vault door, Luna carrying her net and cloak with the box containing two of the Memory Keepers she needed to give Rogar. She wanted to get this task over with as quickly as possible, but she was thoroughly enjoying the time it took them to leave the second vault and traverse over to the third vault. The longer it took them the more time she had to collect her thoughts and calm her mind. The two spheres she was carrying had taxed her mental strength greatly, so much so that she was still recovering even as they neared the vault door.

She wondered what the next sphere would bring her, and what memory she would be forced to watch. Would it be another one filled with emotions like love and romance, as the two she was carrying had been? Would they be more traumatic or full of sadness? She didn't know what she was in for; all she knew was that she had definitely gotten herself into more than she bargained for.

Still there was a bright side to this, Ace was acting a little nicer to her then he was before. He started whistling a tune that she had heard before, it sounded like the lullaby that she heard aboard the Tardis being sung by that blue mare to Dinky.

"Wasting time till we get to the door?" Luna asked curiously.

"Is it a waste of time if you accomplish that which you want?" Ace asked in response. "If I have to wait while walking toward our destination as well as wait for you to keep up with me then I might as well sing a song or two to myself. You are such a strange pony, asking me if I'm wasting time. Honestly…"

Luna laughed at that last statement, and guessed that she was a little bored with walking in silence. Although how she was taking so long to keep up with him was confusing, after all she was walking right next to him. How she was taking so long to keep up with him was a mystery to her, but then she figured that it was probably just his way of saying hurry up and stop wasting time. "Well I guess that's true, if you accomplish what you wanted in the time you are given then it's not a waste of time." She said to him.

"Exactly, so why are you asking me if I'm wasting time?" Ace said as though THAT was the most important thing in the whole world at the moment while they reached the door at last.

It took him a moment to open the door because he had to once more speak some kind of language that Luna still did not understand. Once he did the door opened up just enough for them to slip through and Luna went through first.

The third vault room was just like the other two, however unlike the other two there were far fewer Memory Keepers than she expected. Only two small platforms had spheres stacked on them, mostly blue and yellow. There were quite a few red spheres floating around though, she counted about four or five of them floating around, but two of them were quite bigger than the rest of them. She couldn't make them out from down where she was, but it looked like the Memory Keepers were bigger than the ones she was familiar with.

"Here I go again…" Luna whispered as she watched the red spheres floating around high above her.

"Alright Luna get up there and catch a red sphere." Ace said cheerfully. "Those Memory Keepers won't catch themselves you know!"

"Forgive me if I withhold my enthusiasm for this task." Luna grunted as she put her cloak and the box down before taking to the air with the net.

She flew into the air and instantly took off after the closest of the red spheres. As she got closer she noticed that what she had thought was a bigger Memory Keeper was really three keepers in one large sphere. All three of the stallions were completely identical and sleeping peacefully side by side, their heads next to each other and clearly dreaming the same thing.

The sphere they were in didn't fly very fast when compared to the other three she chased before, but it still put up a chase nonetheless. It flew in circles, loops, spirals, and every kind of direction she could think of before FINALLY she cornered it next to the wall on the far side with the net. With the sphere in hoof she flew back down to Ace to ask him about the strange sphere.

"Explain the meaning of this." Luna said as she held the larger red sphere to him so that he could see all three sleeping stallions inside it.

Ace glanced down at it the back at Luna, looking smug as usual. "Their Memory Keepers, what more do you need to know?" He said dully.

"We know that, why are there three of them in the same sphere?" She asked.

"Well probably because their all sharing the same memories together." He said as he looked at the sphere again. "The funny thing about family members, especially brothers and sisters and especially twins or triplets, is that they seem to understand each other more than any other pony. Triplets and twins in particular seem to be able to… sense each other's feelings and emotions more strongly when they are close together or separated across great distances. That's why whenever Rogar hires a stallion that happens to have a twin he hires the twin as well to do the job. It's just good work ethics to work closely with family members."

Luna looked down at the three sleeping stallions in the sphere and wondered what memory they were all sharing. "So they all dream the same thing, or are they dreaming separate dreams of the same incident or pony?" She asked.

"Won't know till you see the memory, so stop wasting time and get on with it." He chuckled as Luna turned the sphere to stare into their closed eyes at the same time.

It took her several minutes to focus on all three of the Memory Keepers at the same time, but when she did all three of their eyes opened up at the same time, blinding her for the sixth time with bright white light. She waited for the memory to begin, which didn't take long as she opened her eyes to find herself walking toward what appeared to be the Ponyville Orphanage. Judging by the feeling of weight strapped over his shoulder, and how he was being careful while walking with it, he was carrying the young filly Dinky Doo in her filly carrying bag.

-Wait why is he going to an orphanage?- Luna thought as he walked to the door. –Of course this must be the memory of his adopting Sparkler, she didn't become a family member until after Dinky's birth.-

She watched through The Doctor's eyes as he entered the orphanage and walked up to the front desk, where an elderly stallion was sitting reading the local paper. When he walked in the stallion smiled and put the paper down so he could talk more appropriately.

"Welcome to the Ponyville Orphanage for under aged ponies." He stated. "Are you here to begin the adoption process for a special filly or foal?"

"Yes I am." The Doctor said cheerfully as he put Dinky's bag on the floor and watched her crawl out on her own. "My wife and I decided a few days ago to adopt another pony into our family after the Adoptathon festival. She can't make it today because she's working for the Canterlot Royal Postal Service during the day, so it's just me and little Dinky today."

The Doctor kept an eye on Dinky as she walked around, occasionally stumbling into things. She was only a couple months old and already learning how to walk and explore on her own, he smiled as he watched his filly explore the new place he had brought her to, and was filled with pride as she looked at him and walked back over to him without his saying anything. She was very attached to him, always following him around and staying close to him, except for the occasional strange new object she just always had to inspect before running back to him.

-She's so tiny…- Luna thought as she saw how small Dinky was back then. –How a pony grows in two years.-

"Well do you know whom you'd like to adopt today mister…?"The stallion asked.

"Hooves, Doctor Hooves." The Doctor said. "No unfortunately we don't know whom we'd like to adopt, never actually adopted a pony before and well we're new parents so no idea how to do this parent stuff."

"Well in that case I'd recommend asking one pony in particular, she's been here for several years now and there's not a single filly or foal in our care that she wouldn't recommend to a new family." He said as he stepped from around the desk and opened a door behind him. "Sparkler, Sparkler can you come here for a moment?"

A few moments later Luna saw a two years younger Sparkler come through the door. She looked fairly similar to what Luna remembered her as in the present, although she was slightly smaller because she was younger and had yet to reach her teenaged years. She smiled at The Doctor and asked him to follow her to meet the fillies and foals who were playing in their living room.

After he picked up Dinky and put her back in the filly bag The Doctor followed Sparkler through a door and up a staircase. "So do you know what kind of filly or foal you'd like to adopt Mr. Hooves?" She asked kindly.

"Well no not exactly Ms. Sparkler, you see Derpy and I were looking for somepony that Dinky could grow up with." He said as Dinky poked her head out and smiled at him and Sparkler. "I figured I'd let Dinky do all the deciding around here, she'd know who we should adopt better than me. But why don't you recommend a few pony's to me?"

"Well let's see, if you want a foal that'd grow up with Dinky than there are quite a few I'd recommend." She said thoughtfully. "There's little Gooper, he's really funny and always knows a joke for the occasion. Wilton loves playing games, I'm sure he and she would have a blast together. There are also a few fillies I could recommend, like Jess, she's good with art and is very creative with noodle drawings. Not to mention our orphanage's resident gardener Pumpkin, like her name suggests she knows how to grow pumpkins, it's her specialty."

"You know a lot about these ponies don't you?" He asked curiously as she ticked off the names of ponies that she figured would be good brothers or sisters to Dinky.

"Oh yes, I've seen quite a few parents come and go through these doors." She said jokingly. "Each and every one of them I've recommended who they should adopt and without question they have all turned up happy and perfect matches. It's kind of like my job here, making sure you have the best possible match for your family!"

Something in the way she said 'recommended' told The Doctor that there was another reason for it, and Luna could feel him guessing the reason behind that. "Yet you never recommended yourself?" He asked suddenly.

Sparkler stopped joking and pretending to smile and instead glanced down at the ground as they turned the corner toward a door where the sound of playing fillies and foal could be heard. "No, not really." She whispered quietly. "Never occurred to me to try and recommend myself to them, they wouldn't have wanted me anyway."

"Why's that?" He asked as they stopped in front of the door.

"Well… I'm not the best Unicorn around… so to speak… magic wise anyway." She grunted as she looked at her horn. "I can't use magic, at least not well enough to be noticeable, you know with the whole levitating things and making things happen. Most Unicorns can use their magic early on in their life; I never used magic until two years ago, still can barely hold anything in the air for more than a few seconds."

The Doctor glanced at her and noticed her looking at her horn with resentment. "Not like I don't know how to use magic, but when parents see a filly that ends up hurting herself with her own spells they don't want her I think. They end up spending more time keeping an eye on her than they do enjoying their life with her, so I started recommending other ponies to them. In any case don't worry about me, I'm alright, lets introduce you to the ponies and see who would be a good match for you and Dinky!"

He nodded at her fake enthusiasm for her self-appointed job and followed her in through the door. Inside the room was about fifteen or seventeen young ponies that were two to five years old, all playing games with toys or each other, practicing magic or making pictures with crayons and paint. On both sides of the rooms were double bunk beds where he could see that they had their few belongings stored and where they slept. When he walked through with Dinky they all stopped what they were doing and ran over to say hello and this and that and a bunch of other things that he couldn't hear because they were all talking at the same time.

-So many youths…- Luna commented as she watched The Doctor stare around at all the small ponies surrounding him. –So many young ponies and all of them with no family.-

"Attention everypony!" Sparkler called out, and all of them hushed at her words. "This is Doctor Hooves and his filly Dinky Doo Hooves. Mr. Hooves is here to adopt one of you, he's still unsure as to whom to adopt so be nice to him and treat him and his daughter nicely. Now he and I need to talk for a bit about you all so go back to playing."

All the young ponies nodded and went back to what they were doing, although now they seemed to be trying to impress him and get his attention while doing so. He put Dinky down on the ground and pulled her out of the filly carry bag so that she could join the others playing. It took them a second but they all welcomed her to play with them, and soon Dinky was playing chase the foal with a couple of the others.

"So any other questions you had in mind?" Sparkler asked.

"Well I was thinking…" He started saying, but one of the foals came up to them and tapped Sparkler to get her attention.

"Sparkler, Pumpkin ran out of crayons again." He said.

"Again, alright give me a moment I'll get her some more." Sparkler sighed. "Excuse me Mr. Hooves, I have to go help some ponies out."

He nodded and stood off to the side as she left the room and five minutes later came back with a new box of crayons and some more coloring paper. He figured that once she gave the crayons and paper she would be done, but no once she helped that pony with the crayons another filly cried that she had used magic and flung her favorite doll on a very high window sill. Once Sparkler retrieved that doll a foal came up to her and asked for her help with getting a toy he had left on the higher bunk beds so that nopony could reach it.

-Ironic because now HE can't reach it.- Luna and The Doctor thought at the same time.

One after another, she went around helping the young ponies with one task or another, not complaining and smiling all the time. They all respected and admired her, and clearly treated her as though she were an older sister.

/watch?v=2TWmO3TOBew

Still waiting for her to finish with another filly that was complaining about a foal that had broken her favorite paint brush, The Doctor found his eyes wandering around the room and coming to rest on the bed next to him. He noticed that this bed was the most cluttered, with several small pictures and a few picture books of how to use magic littering it. Below were a few pictures that looked like preschool drawings all with Sparkler's name on them. A few looked like Hearths Warming wish pictures, judging by the words scribbled on them and the image of a very young Sparkler and two adult anonymous ponies beside her, it looked like her wish in school had been obvious.

(I want a family!) Was scribbled next to the (What do you wish for?) question.

Glancing up to make sure Sparkler was still preoccupied with the two young ponies, The Doctor quickly decided to make up his mind over using his Mind over Matter technique, just to shift the pictures and letters around so he could read them normally. The technique was one he hadn't used for a VERY long time, and he wouldn't use it under normal circumstances he, by normal he wouldn't use it unless his life depended on it, but he really wanted to use it only so he could read the stuff clearly.

"Nah I don't need to use that, just a quick sleight of hand… er hoofs." The Doctor whispered quietly as he made sure Sparkler was still busy with the other fillies and now Dinky.

In a flash he had pushed, pulled, tugged and shifted everything around. The picture he saw was indeed a preschool drawing, beneath it was another picture similar to the first, and again her wish had been for a family. Below that was a third one, a letter homework that she had made addressed to Princess Celestia, requesting that she grant her birthday wish to give her a mom and dad. Under the letter was a magazine clipping which gave statistics for how likely a pony would be to get adopted. According to the clipping it said that a Unicorn, who was good with magic, especially if they learned on their own, was seventy percent more likely to be adopted. Under that were several newspaper articles all taped together about orphan unicorns and earth ponies that had found their real parents, years after they were discovered missing, some of them had suffered amnesia or had run away because they thought they were bad. Finally under all that was a piece of paper that she had used to keep track of how many parents had 'not' adopted her, and how many years she had spent in that orphanage waiting.

Something touched The Doctor as he looked up at Sparkler and watched her smiling and helping all the other young ponies around her. Sparkler wanted nothing more than for any family to walk in and adopt her. Yet every time a family came in, all she did was help them find another pony to adopt besides her.

Luna could feel his emotions rising, and knew that he was making up his mind to adopt Sparkler, but as Sparkler walked over to Dinky and he watched her play with Dinky at her request, something happened that drove the final nail toward his decision.

She didn't understand what happened, but the moment The Doctor blinked, everypony was suddenly surrounded by floating golden strings of pure light. She watched them all shift and wrap themselves constantly around all of the ponies, and saw that they were connecting to each other, intertwining themselves in ways she couldn't imagine. As she watched she saw that the largest of all the strings was connecting itself between Dinky and him, and at the same time a single tiny golden strand started forming around Dinky and inch ever so slowly toward Sparkler. Luna watched as the string connected itself from Dinky to Sparkler, wrapping itself around the pink pony several times and tying itself to her in a very tight knot.

"She's not even a year old and already forming attachments more permanent than anything she can imagine." He whispered as he saw Dinky's approval of Sparkler as a big sister.

Then he blinked again and all the strands were gone. Luna felt The Doctor nodding in approval as he quickly put all of Sparkler's stuff back the way he found it, and prepared Dinky's filly bag for travel. He let Dinky play with Sparkler for a good fifteen minutes before he cleared his throat and walked over to them. "Sorry Dinky, I know you want to stay and play but I just realized that we have to get home, your mother will chew me out if I don't have you home before she is." He said as he indicated the bag.

Sparkler picked up Dinky and put her in the bag, much to the dismay of Dinky who looked like she didn't want to go into the bag when she wanted to keep playing with Sparkler. "So did you figure out who you wanted to adopt Mr. Hooves?" Sparkler asked as the three of them left, Dinky poking her head out of the bag and smiling at Sparkler who smiled and tapped her nose to make her giggle. "It's Pumpkin isn't it; she seemed most friendly to Dinky while they were all playing together."

"You'll see in a couple of days." He said. "I think Dinky already made her choice, but just to be certain I'm going to ask her a few things and bring her back to play with the others over the next few days. Besides I need to tell Derpy what Dinky did today and about those you recommended to me."

Sparkler nodded at him and through the corner of his eye Luna saw that Sparkler looked slightly depressed at those words. –She thinks she's going to add another family to that list that doesn't want to adopt her.- Luna thought sadly as she remembered the list of names and number of years she had spent in the orphanage, waiting to be adopted.

The memory faded away, and Luna figured that she would find herself back in the memory vault with Ace, but no the next moment she was once more walking toward the orphanage with Dinky in her filly carry bag. This time however he was in the company of his wife Ditzy. They walked into the orphanage and were greeted again by the foster caretaker that The Doctor had met before.

"Welcome back again, I have the paperwork all ready to go." The stallion said cheerfully. "This must be your wife, pleasure to meet you miss."

"Nice to meet you too." Ditzy said as Sparkler walked in through the door behind the counter. "Hello Sparkler, nice to meet you. My husband's told me how helpful you've been these past few days with helping us pick a pony to adopt."

"Hello Mrs. Hooves, nice to meet you as well." Sparkler said. "So exactly who did you decide to adopt? He never told me the last time he visited; only that Dinky had made her choice as to who she wanted to be in her family."

"Well we decided to adopt…" Ditzy began to say but at that moment the stallion asked her and The Doctor to follow him so that they could begin filling out papers to begin the adoption process.

"Sparkler would you be nice and take Dinky to play with the other ponies?" The Doctor said cheerfully, taking Dinky out of the filly bag and letting her walk to Sparkler on her own. "No point boring her with having to fill out paperwork. Let her play around while she waits for us to finish."

"Sure thing Mr. Hooves, she really enjoys playing games with me and the others." Sparkler said as she nodded and picked up Dinky and carried her through the door and out of sight, giggling happily as she poked her belly. Meanwhile he and Ditzy followed the stallion through another door and into his office where there were several stacks of papers littering the table, as well as some forms that were all labeled adoption forms.

"Like you requested I haven't told Sparkler that you want to adopt her, but why do you want to keep all this a secret from her?" The stallion asked as he took a couple pens out for them to write with. "I figured you'd want to tell her as soon as you decided considering how long she's been in our care waiting for a family to adopt her."

"Oh I have my reasons." The Doctor said as he took the pen and started signing his signature where it was required on the forms.

The truth was that he wanted to surprise Sparkler, and he knew that the best kind of surprise would be to tell her JUST as he began the adoption process, so that she would have NO DOUBT about his family wanting to adopt her. Luna herself felt that his plan was quite good, and she couldn't wait to see the expression on her face when she learned that she was being adopted later. –I wonder. Does she even realize that she's finally being adopted.-

"We're making the right decision with adopting Sparkler, right dear?" Ditzy asked as he finished signing the first page and handed her it while he began the second.

"Of course we are Derpy; she'll be a wonderful big sister to Dinky." He said. "She always thinks of other ponies before herself, and she always tries to make others happy even at the expense of her own happiness. She's been waiting, hoping, and begging for a family all this time, while at the same time watching other ponies get adopted with her help."

"Don't need to convince me dear, I'm with you all the way." Ditzy replied as she finished signing her signature and waited for him to finish with the second page.

It took them roughly thirty minutes to sign all the papers to begin the adoption process. All the while Luna eagerly awaited the moment they would finish, and then break the news to Sparkler, which was not long in coming. "There we go; you have now officially begun the adoption process." The foster caretaker said. "I'll go and bring Sparkler and Dinky back here, and I won't tell her who you are adopting as well. I'll let you handle that."

Five minutes later, Sparkler was back with Dinky and the stallion. "So I'm guessing you two finished filling out the adoption papers?" She said in a matter of fact voice as she put Dinky in her filly bag and tapped her nose to make her giggle again. "So who is the lucky young pony you guys chose to adopt?"

"Well that's a surprise, but just so we don't keep them waiting…" The Doctor said as Sparkler stood up to walk out the room and 'fetch' the lucky pony to meet their new soon to be family. "Would you please go back there and tell Sparkler that Mr. and Mrs. Hooves are waiting for her?"

"Alright then, I'll just go get…" She stuttered as she turned to leave but stopped mid-sentence to spin and stare open mouthed at what he said.

The look on Sparklers face told a story that could have been told in years. Sparkler heard the words but still didn't believe what was said; she looked at The Doctor and Ditzy as though they weren't really there, her eyes shifted between them unwilling to believe what could very well be some elaborate joke. Yet still there was a glimmer of hope, that her wish had FINALLY come true after all this time.

"Wha… what did you… say?" She whispered. "You… want to…"

"We are adopting you Sparkler." He said calmly, finishing her sentence for her. "What more do you want me to say?"

She looked between him and his wife, and then stared at the foster caretaker, not wanting to believe it until he told her. "It's true Sparkler, they already signed the papers and began the adoption process." He said, taking the stack of forms and showing all the signatures on them. "In three months and many more signatures and forms later, you'll officially be a member of the Hooves Family, congratulations!"

"I'm… being adopted…?" She said to Ditzy.

"My husband told me all about you, not to mention that Dinky liked you from the start, so it took little convincing to get my approval." Ditzy said cheerfully. "We want to adopt you; we wanted to make it a surprise so we kept it secret till you saw the signed papers to tell you. That way you wouldn't have any doubt that we wanted you."

She took one glance at the papers, and then looked at The Doctor again. He braced himself for the storm of emotions he KNEW was going to happen. Sure enough, two seconds later Sparkler broke down in tears of joy, charged him and pulled him into one of the most emotional hugs he had ever had. "Thank you!" She cried through the tears. "Thank you, oh thank you so much! Thank you for adopting me, I can't thank you enough! I'll be the best big sister ever, I promise I'll be the best big sister to your daughter that I can be!"

Luna watched as Ditzy picked up Dinky in her bag and hugged Sparkler with him as well. "I know you will Sparkler, I know you will." He whispered gently as he patted her back. "You've been in here for a long time, I know what it's like to wait for so long to find a family. Dinky told me that she wanted you to be her big sister, and I saw that you cared so much about others that you even sacrificed your own chances of a family to help them. You even showed that you cared about my daughter without even knowing her over the last few days when we visited. You've sacrificed enough of your own happiness to give everypony in Equestria a piece of it. Well no need to sacrifice anymore, you've waited long enough."

"Thank… you…" Sparkler kept whispering again and again through her tears of joy, so much that she was running out of breath to talk now. "Thank you, thank you… hank… ou!"

They continued to enjoy the intimate moment for a few more minutes, during which the Foster Caretaker left the room so they could have some privacy, saying something about telling the news to the other foster ponies in his care. After they enjoyed the moment and Sparkler had spent all her tears of joy, though Luna could tell that The Doctor knew that she was FAR from out of tears, they separated so that he and Ditzy could leave. Though before they left the room they told Sparkler to expect them to visit constantly over the next three months, both because they still had to continue the adoption process and so that Dinky could get more familiar with Sparkler, both as a pony and as a soon to be bigger sister.

"Enjoy the next few months you're here Sparkler." He said as they walked down the hallway toward the front door. "In just three months, you'll be leaving here and never coming back, unless of course you want to visit your friends here every so often."

"Oh believe me Mr. Hooves." Sparkler said hoarsely because she was still out of breath from crying and saying thank you over and over again. "I can't wait for these three months to pass."

Luna watched as The Doctor and his wife walked to the door, and everything started fading again. A few seconds later the memory returned to normal as Luna watched The Doctor walking toward the orphanage again, his wife slightly ahead of him and their filly poking her head out of the filly bag she was carrying. By the looks of the snow on the ground it was several months after the last visit to the orphanage that she had witnessed. This meant that if the memory's timeline was to be interpreted correctly, this was Sparkler's adoption day.

Sure enough as they neared the front door The Doctor glanced up only slightly to see Sparkler poking her head out of the window and watching them approach eagerly. Judging by the fact that her mane was slightly dripping, and the fact that a comb was hanging from it, she was finishing up her preparations to leave the orphanage at last. She felt him smile with amusement as he and his family walked through the door to be greeted once more for the last time by the Foster caretaker. He had a small stack of official looking documents on the table and a pair of pens for them to use.

"Hello there Mr. and Mrs. Hooves, good to see you again today." The stallion said cheerfully as he shook The Doctor's hoof before shaking Ditzy's. "Today is the big day isn't it, Sparkler leaves with you and becomes a Hooves family member?"

"Indeed she does." The Doctor said proudly as he took the pen while Ditzy put Dinky on the ground and let her out, at the same time Sparkler came in with her mane brushed and carrying a saddlebag laden with all of her belongings.

"Hello there Sparkler, you ready to go?" The Foster Caretaker asked as Dinky walked over to Sparkler out of the corner of The Doctor's eye. "We're just finishing the final adoption papers, once they've signed them you'll be able to leave as a member of their family. I can't believe you're leaving us, but here you are moments away from saying goodbye to your old home. You were the best matchmaker for all the ponies here; it's going to be hard recommending a foal for a family without your insight."

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll do fine without me." Sparkler said as she picked up Dinky and nuzzled her cheek gently. "I can't believe it either though, I'm finally about to leave with a family! I never thought I'd ever be adopted after all these years of waiting. It's just hard for me to imagine!"

"Well just wait a bit longer Sparkler, and then you can leave with us." Ditzy said cheerfully as she took the last paper needing to be signed from The Doctor.

Five minutes later The Doctor signed the final line with his wife, and gave back the paper to the Foster Caretaker so that he could read it over and sign his signature on it. At last, he rolled it up, put a stamp on it and proclaimed the adoption process over with. "Congratulations Sparkler, you are now from this day forth, Sparkler Hooves!" He declared. "Have a wonderful life and make sure to come visit us once in a while if you're ever bored with your family!"

"I don't know if I'll ever be bored with my family!" Sparkler said as she hugged Ditzy first and then The Doctor. "Thank you mom and dad for adopting me. I've been waiting to say those words for the past three months!"

"Well wait till you get home, we got a lot of things to go over with you now that you're going to be Dinky's big sister." The Doctor said in a semiserious and still joking manner. "You're going to be very responsible for her, especially since I'm going to be starting a toy making business in a month's time and Ditzy is still working full time as a daytime royal mail mare. But we can discuss that at the house, for now let's get going!"

"Oh that can wait for another minute or two Doctor." Ditzy said as she gave him an exasperated look. "We need to first welcome Sparkler into our family, and then we can worry about making Sparkler's life a living nightmare!"

"Oh right." He said as he cleared his throat and looked at Sparkler. "Welcome to our family Sparkler Hooves, get used to calling us mom and dad."

"Welcome Sparkler." Ditzy said as she hugged Sparkler.

"Voo Voo!" Dinky said as she reached up with her two small hooves to tell Sparkler to pick her up.

"Dinky says, welcome." The Doctor said.

"Thank you." She whispered happily.

They left the orphanage after Ditzy put Dinky back in her bag, Sparkler right between them with all her belongings. As they left they heard the calls of a dozen or so fillies and foals all calling for Sparkler from the bedrooms. The Doctor looked back up at them and saw every one of their faces clambering to get a last look at Sparkler and her new family before she left them forever.

"Goodbye Sparkler!"

"We'll miss you Sparkler!"

"Have a wonderful life Sparkler!"

"Goodbye everypony!" Sparkler shouted happily as she gave them a final farewell wave. "Take care of yourselves!"

The Doctor waved at them all and followed his family away from the orphanage, the sounds of the fillies and foals farewells fading away as they walked through Ponyville toward the destination that he knew she had been waiting for all this time.

Home.

He looked at his wife as their house came into sight, and nodded at her, signaling that now was the time to tell her. "Well Sparkler there it is, home sweet home." He said pointing a hoof at the cottage that he now called his as well as hers. "It's not much; you and Dinky will be sharing a room together. There's a living room, a bathroom, a kitchen and our room but that's it."

Sparkler looked at the cottage and only said three words to them. "Home, it's perfect." She said as they walked toward the front door.

They entered inside and Ditzy gave him Dinky while she went to start making dinner preparations as well as Sparkler's welcome home birthday muffins. Meanwhile he showed Sparkler her room, showing her the new bed that he had bought using some of the savings they had. He showed her Dinky's smaller bed which was currently set up as a crib, which he put her into and watched her fall asleep, it had been an exciting day for her and she was tired. Sparkler looked around her room and looked out the window, and noticed the tree in their backyard.

"You have a tree that's still green at this time of year?" She asked incredulously. "How do you do that?"

"Oh you know… magic and… stuff..." He said quickly, and Luna could tell that he was trying to keep the tree's identity a secret from her. That knowledge wasn't necessary for her to know, and she was happier not knowing that he was really a time lord and not a true pony. Fortunately at that exact moment his wife called Sparkler and him into the kitchen to celebrate Sparkler's welcome home party, so while Sparkler walked off into the kitchen he picked up a tired Dinky from her crib and took her into the kitchen as well.

The party was simple; Derpy had made muffins beforehand and simply used icing to spell out (Welcome Home) on them and they celebrated with a simple toast to a new family member. The Doctor ate into his muffin and stared at his family, with the newest addition he felt such pride swell his chest. His joy was a simple one; he was no longer alone in the world. Before he took this grey Pegasus pony as his assistant there had been a hole in his heart, so deep that it seemed to be a bottomless pit. With Derpy, –Her name is Ditzy not Derpy!-, he had felt that hole appear to be filled in his heart. When Dinky was born he had felt that hole get filled further, but still it seemed that something was missing in his heart. Now that Sparkler was there, he felt content, as though the hole was no longer there.

-I'm no longer alone.- He thought as he took another bite as he watched Dinky yawn tiredly in her father's hooves.

Luna watched as the memory faded once again and she found herself staring at the red sphere with three sleeping Memory Keepers inside it. She took several very deep breaths as she calmed herself down before putting the sphere in the container with the other two Memory Keepers. "Three down, one to go!" She declared as she picked up the net to go after the next red sphere.

Ace however stopped her and held the net tightly, preventing her from leaving. "Before you go finish your 'task', may I as you a few questions?" He said with his usual smirk.

"Of course?" She replied.

"What is your name?" Ace asked confidently.

"Luna." She stated.

"Your sister's name is?" He asked.

"Celestia…"

"You live in the city of…?

"Canterlot?"

"And your wife's name is?" He asked quickly.

"Ditz… I mean I don't have a wife!" Luna said quickly.

Ace nodded and tugged the net away from her. "You need time to recover from that memory, of all the memories you've seen that was the longest one you've endured so far." He said. "You are starting to imprint his memories onto your own; it's not good if that happens. If you keep forgetting who you are then when you are out there where you come from it will be difficult to keep hold of your own identity and personality. This is not up for debate, you will sit and think about your own memories and reaffirm your own identity before you get the last sphere. Unless of course that is you want to forget your own name?"

Luna looked between Ace and the net and nodded in agreement; she had been starting to forget a few details as well as remembering others too clearly. Like one that The Doctor's wife's real name was Ditzy Hooves, not Derpy Hooves, which was merely a nickname he called her by. Another detail was that she was letting herself be drawn into the memories as though they were happening to her, she had to be more distant, which was real hard considering that she was experiencing the memories from his point of view.

"Ace, tell me a little more about yourself." Luna asked, very bored with just sitting there while recollecting all of her thought.

"What do you need to know?" Ace said curiously as he looked at her with his right eye. "I am the Ace to his majesty the king, I serve his majesty the king and humble the king when is necessary. What more is there for me to tell you?"

"Well, what was Rogar referring to earlier, when he spoke of your crowning achievement being her?"

Ace looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, before turning his attention to the red spheres above them. "Never you mind little pony, that is for me to know and you to find out." He said cheerfully. "After all, what's the fun in knowing me if you know everything about me, then there's no reason for you to try and figure anything out about me. So my little Luna, don't try to understand me so soon."

She sighed as she took the hint. "I suppose I will have to wait." She whispered as she stood up, picked up the net, and stretched her wings in preparation for flying.

She took to the air once more and chased after the closest red sphere she saw, the sphere wasn't as fast as the others had been so it was easier to capture with the net. This puzzled her as she landed next to Ace again, sphere in the net and box ready to contain it. She took the sphere out and examined the Memory Keeper inside it.

The small stallion looked like all of the other ones she had seen, looking like a smaller version of The Doctor while sleeping inside that small sphere. She stared at the stallion's eyes for a few minutes, before the eyes opened up and she was once more engulfed in bright white light. The next moment she felt The Doctor's heartbeats racing as he paced back and forth next to a door with a sign above it labeled 'Delivery Room', which he kept glancing at every five seconds while pacing.

-This must be the day of Dinky's Birth!- Luna thought quickly as he glanced at it for the twelfth time.

Sure enough, her thoughts were confirmed with his next words. "Please oh please let the birth go smoothly." He whispered to himself as the thoughts of his wife being in excruciating pain tore at his mind. "Please let everything go well, please let nothing happen to her!"

He kept glancing at the door to the delivery room, thoughts of improbabilities, impossibilities, and everything else that could go horribly wrong racing through his mind. She could see complicated outcomes course through his mind at lightening speeds. She felt his worry spike each time as the most likely outcomes rose to the front, where his wife died in the birthing because their filly was born with Time Lord Genes instead of just pure Pony Genes. Another spike of worry rose as he imagined his filly developing some genetic disorder because she was bred from him and Derpy, -Her name is Ditzy!-, instead of her and a NORMAL pony. Then he wondered if his wife was calling for him, asking for him to be there while the birth happens, or had it already happened and they had yet to call him in because something TERRIBLE was happening!

"Calm down, calm down Doctor!" He told himself again and again when that thought crossed his mind. "It's just taking a while, that's all! No need to panic yet… oh for the love of time what would I give for a Dalek or two just to take the stress of waiting away!"

He kept glancing at the delivery room, and then glanced at a nearby clock on the wall, watching each second tick by. Luna could tell that he had been waiting for almost an hour now, and from his thoughts he was growing more and more anxious to hear from his wife, or at the least hear from some nurse that she was alright or alive. Anything at this point just to calm him down!

"Why didn't I use the Tardis, could have brought it and gone into the future to…" He said before stopping himself midsentence. "No if my wife can endure this, then I will endure and wait patiently for every second she is in there… even if she's been in there for longer. Seriously how much longer do I have to wait?"

Luna felt him grow more and more anxious as time went on, for ten more minutes he and she waited. With still no sign of his wife or how much longer it would be, and through this memory Luna could feel her own worry rise and enhance from his own. –She's perfectly fine Luna; you know this turns out well because you saw her yourself!- She thought heatedly as she felt herself being drawn into the memory again.

Another minute passed, and suddenly she saw The Doctor's eyes focus on the lit up sign of the delivery room as it turned off. Two seconds later, a nurse pony opened the door, smiling at him and beckoned him to come closer. "The birth was successful Mr. Hooves; you are officially the father of a newborn filly." She said happily.

"My wife and my filly, are they both alright?!" He almost cried, but he kept his voice as calm as possible.

The nurse nodded as she opened the door and let him inside. "Of course, they're both find and waiting for you."She whispered quietly as he raced in and saw his wife lying on the infirmary bed.

Ditzy was lying on the bed, the lower half of her body covered in a white blanket and breathing heavily as she held a small bundle of blankets lovingly in her front hooves. She looked up at him, smiling happily as he walked over to her, ever so quietly as she held a hoof up to her mouth, indicating that he had to be quiet.

Luna felt his heartbeats racing again as he leaned over and watched her pull the blankets of the small bundle back ever so slightly, to reveal a tiny, little pony wrapped up in them. The little pony was hiccupping gently as it was fast asleep in the bundle of blankets, unaware that her father was staring at her. The Doctor stared at the tiny pony, and even closer at the even tinier horn poking up from her forehead, and knew that everything had gone alright for him and his wife. Their newborn filly was healthy and normal, at least by pony standards.

"She's beautiful Derpy!" He told the tired Pegasus. "She's got your coat, and your mane."

"She's got your… courage Doctor." She said. "She didn't cry much… when she was born… the nurses were surprised… she's healthy and everything… but she barely cried… Guess that means… she's not afraid of… seeing the world like… I was."

"We're all a little afraid when we come into the world." He said.

They continued to enjoy the moment for a second longer before he pointed at the tiny horn poking out of their filly's forehead. "She's a Unicorn." He whispered to Ditzy, clearly asking how that was possible.

"One of my… grandmothers was a… Unicorn Doctor…" She whispered heavily as she smiled at the small bundle of blankets. "So I have her genes… as well, what are… the odds… that those genes would… be our filly's now?"

"Million's to one!" He replied as he watched the tiny pony breathing quietly. "May I?"

Ditzy nodded in understanding as she held out the small bundle for him to hold, which he did ever so carefully with one hoof, using his other three to keep him balanced upright. Luna watched through his eyes as he stared down at the small pony sitting in his care now, knowing that HE had created this pony with the help of his wife, this tiny miracle of life was thanks to the two of them.

Luna felt tears flow from his eyes, tears of joy that were the purest and truest that she had ever felt as he stared at the tiny little Unicorn before him. Now only one thing remained for the two of them to do, and he only had to look at her for her approval before he looked back down at the small pony one last time, and whispered the most important words of his life that day.

"Welcome to the world… my little, Dinky Doo Hooves."

Luna watched as the memory faded away, and she was once more staring at the small sphere with the sleeping Memory Keeper inside of it. She dried her eyes as tears had appeared there, before she put the small sphere into the box she was carrying.

"That's the last one Ace!" She said happily. "We don't need anymore, let's go and give these to your friend so we can get out of here!"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Ace asked quietly.

"Nothing that I can think of." She said as she took the net and cloak in preparation to leave.

"What is the name of this kingdom?" Ace asked her suddenly, smirking as he did so.

"Up?"

Ace nodded, his smirk growing ever wider as he did. "Then perhaps you should look, up?"

Luna looked up and saw what he meant, there, sitting on one of the pillow platforms, BARELY visible unless Ace pointed it out for her, was what looked like a rusted old metal key. She quickly put the box, the net, and the cloak down and flew straight up to it and edged it out of a small pile of yellow Memory Keeprs. Sure enough it was a key, a very odd looking key, one end was a loop designed to hang from a ring while the other end was in the shape of the male symbol. She eagerly flew back down to Ace and showed him the key she found.

"It's one of the five keys?!" She asked enthusiastically, not believing that she had found one of the five keys she needed to unlock whatever it was that the king was using to store the memory she sought.

Ace looked at it and took the key to examine closer. "Yes it is, I think." He whispered intelligently. "Just to be on the safe side I'll keep it for a while, until I'm certain it is what you need. You see the five keys were sent to the five levels of Up by the king's instructions, and given to five key individuals in his kingdom, well four of them anyway. The fifth was stolen long before this happened, so he only had four of them, the four keys he did have he distributed to keep the keys away from the lock. Rogar had one I believe, and it wouldn't surprise me if he completely ignored the key because he was so busy, and he wouldn't care one way or another if you took it or not."

Ace used his mane to keep the key tied to him while they walked toward the vault exit, so that Luna could give the four Memory Keepers to him. All the while Luna kept thinking that she was one step closer to finding the memory she needed.