Doctor Whooves: Revisisted

“Are you certain of it?” The general turned to face Dame, his badges clinking as he pivoted on the spot.

“Yes, the mare knows very little in the way of information. She was only a filly at the time and recently sent him away, brave girl. Maybe we should wipe her memory and send her back home, there’s use left in her.”

“No, I want to see what else she may know. I doubt she’s given us the full truth.” The General ruffled his moustache with his lip. He strode back down the halls to the interrogation chambers, looking through the one way glass into the room. This Minuette was an odd one, constantly fidgeting with her hooves or dusting the room with her tail. Surely she was one scare away from the nut house.

“I want to speak to her, unlock the cell.”

“Is that wise, sir.”

“I did not ask for your opinion, Miss Dame. Open it.”

She let out a sigh of submission, activating her key card and opening the door for him. “Just try not to go too hard on her. She can be quite delicate.”

“We’ll see about that.”

The General strode into the room with an imposing force and shut the door behind him with a loud bang. Colgate instantly jumped up from her seat after not noticing him enter in the first place. The bulk stallion raised a hoof towards her and spoke in a calm tone.

“Just take a seat girl.”

Colgate did as she was told, nervously sitting back down on the metal chair without question. She had begun to pull slightly at her mane, strands falling loose in her hooves.

“I just wanted to ask some final questions. After that you can go home.”

“I-I’ve already told you everything. I don’t know anything else.”

“I’m not completely convinced yet. When I am satisfied that you have nothing more to say then you can go free. But for now I have to ask you these questions. You will answer each of them as truthfully as you can, no mistakes.”

“Okay.”

The General scratched his moustache for second before looking at the clipboard in his hooves. “Let’s see, question one. Yadda yadda…  here we are. So Miss Minuette, tell me about the Blue Box.”

Colgate looked at her wrist as if there was a watch or something to look at, anything to keep from looking directly at the stallion. “What more is there to say? It was small, blue… bigger on the inside.”

“Tell me more about it. What did it look like on the inside?”

“I-it was…  amazing. Unlike anything else I’ve ever seen. I could never forget that thing, not ever. The Doctor in the Tardis.”

“Can you tell us anything about it?”

“I guess so. It’s a time machine of sorts, a kind of door way through time. I don’t really know, he never explained it very well. Everything sort of flew over my head at the time. Although he does seem to have this odd-  No, never mind.”

The General perked up at this odd stall. “What?”

“I said never mind?”

“But what were you planning to say? What is so odd.”

“Well… I guess I could, but she’s a friend. I could never betray her trust like that, especially to a bunch of strange ponies I’ve never seen before.”

“I promise to involve your friend in this investigation, just tell us what you know and what it had to do with the Doctor.”

“O-okay. The Doctor did have this, I’m not too sure about it myself, strange connection with…  Derpy. I don’t know if that means anything.”

“Thank you Miss Minuette, that’s all we needed.” The General stood up and turned towards the exit, Colgate felt a sense of panic instantly hit her, rushing up towards the stallion.

“You said you wouldn’t get her involved. You said-“

I say a lot of things, but my priority is the success of this investigation. If your friend Derpy has any leads towards the Doctor then it is my duty as Leader to investigate. That’s the end of it.”

He slammed the door as he left, leaving the stricken Colgate alone once again and the guilt of what she had done now wracking her from the inside. “Oh Celestia, I shouldn’t have said that.”

Derpy hummed happily away as she fluttered between the lounge and the kitchen, the smell of backing filling the home with a pleasant aroma as she worked. Sparkler rested happily on the couch reading some kind of magazine while Dinky played in her room. She sometimes worried her mother at just how disconnected she was becoming. Maybe she was just getting to that stage of growing up? Maybe it was just a phase. Derpy really had no clue, she hadn’t exactly gone through anything like that as a filly.

Her mind was pulled back into reality when the rather unpleasant smell of burning began to enter her nose. Her eyes shrunk to pin pricks as she rushed back to the oven, forcing it open and removing the backing tray. Damn, charcoal again. Oh well, maybe next time.

It was about now that she realised that maybe it would have been a good idea to wear oven mitts. She flung they tray in the air and let out a slight squeak in pain. The black crumbly remains of the muffins fell like a rain of ash, the tray hitting Derpy clean in the head before tumbling to the ground.

“Are you okay in their Derpy!” Sparkler called from the other room.

“Y-yes, I’m absolutely fine! And you can still call me mum if you want.”

“I’m good, thanks anyway.”

“Worth a try.”

She then made herself busy with the clean-up. Brushing aside the muffin remains she decided she would leave backing for another day to attempt. And anyway, Sugar Cube Corner did them better than she ever could. Damn, now I’m hungry!

But suddenly Derpy’s ears began to prick up, the hair on the back of her neck stood on edge. A rustling seemed to come from outside and the sound of hoof steps could be heard just behind the door. Dinky wandered out of her room with a rather confused look on her face.

“Mom, why is there a bunch of guys outside? I could see them from my window.”

“Dinky, just follow me.” She quickly glided into the lounge and nudged Sparkler to stand up. “That goes for you to miss. We have to get to my room now, there’s not much time to explain.”

“But Derpy, I wasn’t finished reading that.”

“You’ll have time later, just keep up with me.”

The two girls galloped into their mother’s room, Derpy shutting the door behind her. She knew her daughters wouldn’t know what was going on but she had to act fast. She quickly moved to her drawers, pulling out random items till she found what she was looking for. It was just a regular key hanging on a string, what help would that be?

“Girls, come close.” Derpy pulled her daughters into a tight embrace, sliding the key around all their necks. “Just stay still and keep quite. Don’t do anything until I tell you to, okay?”

She received a couple of worried nods from the two girls, holding them tighter and shutting her eyes. Hopefully this would work.

From the hall they could hear the sound of knocking on the door, but when no answer cam they resorted to smashing it down instead, the wood splintering as a mass of hooved flooded inside. They seemed to pour into the house. The windows were opened forcefully as more ponies seemed to enter the house. They had every corner of every room occupied, even their bedroom.

Derpy held her daughters tighter as the stallions in black looked around Derpy’s room, searching in random places where a pony sized figure could hide. Every time their gaze wandered onto Derpy clutching her fillies it simply wandered off as if they never even saw her. After a bit more searching they took what they needed and went to see how the others were doing with the search, leaving the room a complete mess.

Derpy whispered silently to the fillies still tight in her embrace. “Are you girls okay?” They both gave the same nervous nod, Dinky trying her best not to cry under the pressure. This must be terrifying for her.

Then the noises from outside seemed to stop altogether, doors were shut and blinds closed as they had made a dash for it. The world seemed to stop turning for a brief moment as they all tried to get their heads around what just happened. When Derpy was sure that they were gone she took the key off from around their necks but not relinquishing her embrace. The sound of soft sobbing filled the room as Dinky finally gave in, Sparkler choosing to simply hold her mother tighter.

“I’m sorry girls, I just don’t know what happened.”

Sparkler looked up into her cross-eyes, her own stained red. “Thanks for, you know… saving us.”

Derpy kissed her daughter lightly on the forehead before bringing her back into a hug. “I’ll always be there to protect you, both of you.”

Sparkler slowly let her eyes close as she rested her head against Derpy’s shoulder, Dinky still quietly letting her tears flow down her coat.

“I love you mom, I'm sorry.”

Derpy’s heart melted inside her, a tear falling from her own eyes. “You have nothing to apologize for. I love you too, my little Amy.”