Doctor Whooves - Part 2: An Elder Race

Ponyville

"I think that's the last of them," Derpy said as two ponies ran past her. "Now we just have to wait for the others."

"They shouldn't be too far behind, Ms. Derpy," Rarity replied, looking in the direction of Canterlot.

The two ponies had been paired together when the group had been split up in Canterlot. Their job was to lead the evacuated ponies to Ponyville.

"I hope they're okay," Derpy said, worried.

"I'm sure they're just fine, darling," replied Rarity.

Then, Derpy heard a voice behind her calling, "Mom. Mom!"

Derpy turned and saw Sparkler. "Sparkler!" she exclaimed. She ran over and pulled her into a tight hug. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Mom," Sparkler replied. "But what's..."

"Wait!" Derpy interrupted, pulling out of the hug. "Where's Dinky?"

"I left her with Rose. She's fine. But what's going on?"

"Canterlot was attacked by the weird robot things. We split up to get everypony out. The others should be here soon."

As if on cue, Rarity then shouted, "Here they come!"

Soon, everypony was back in Ponyville. Well, almost everypony.

"Where are the others?" Derpy asked.

"We don't know, sugar cube," Applejack replied.

"Pinkie, you were supposed to be with Fluttershy," Rarity said, addressing the pink pony. "Where is she?"

"I'm not sure," Pinkie replied. "After we split up, I got seperated from her. Then, I saw Mist and that Time Turner pony, so I followed them. Then we got cornered by one of those mean, scary monster things, but we escaped. After that, I lost them, so I decided to just get back to Ponyville."

"Wait," Twilight said. "When you saw Mist and Time Turner, were they in the castle?"

"Yep," Pinkie replied.

"This is bad," Twilight muttered.

"What do ya' mean?" asked Applejack.

"Well," Twilight began. "Mist and Time Turner went to get the princesses, right? Well, if they're missing, that's already bad. But what makes matters worse is that it's still night, and the moon's not even up."

"What are you trying to say?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"The sun should be up by now," Twilight continued. "And even if it isn't, the moon should be up at least. If neither the sun nor the moon are up..."

She didn't need to finish her thought. There was a moment of silence as the meaning of what Twilight had just said sunk in.

"It'll be okay," Derpy said, breaking the silence. "Time Turner and Mist are probably still in Canterlot. They might even have Fluttershy with them. I'm sure they can fix this."

"How can you trust Time Turner so much already?" asked Rarity.

"Yeah, and who the hey is he anyways?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"He... well... he..." Derpy stammered.

"He's actually a super cool alien from another dimension called the Doctor," Pinkie Pie cut in. "Who travels through time and space in a blue box. He goes all over the place saving different species from mean monsters, like the ones in Canterlot. When he came here, he got turned into a pony, and now he's stuck here because his time machine doesn't have enough energy to get back to his dimension."

"Get real Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said. "There no way that's true."

"Actually," Derpy said. "That's exactly right. How did you know all that?"

"Just a hunch," Pinkie replied.

"There was another moment of silence, then Derpy turned to Sparkler. She said, "Sparkler, I need you to find Mayor Mare and tell her what's going on."

"What about you?" Sparkler asked.

"I'm going to find the Doctor and Mist," Derpy replied. "After you explain things to the mayor, find Dinky and Rose. Stay with them, and stay safe. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, Mom. I understand."

Derpy pulled her into another hug. "Be strong, my muffin," she said.

"I will," Sparkler replied, pulling out of the hug. "I love you."

"I love you too," Derpy replied. Then Sparkler was gone.

"Okay," Derpy said, turning to face the rest of the ponies. "Let's go."

"Go?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Go where?"

"Back to Canterlot," Derpy replied, matter-of-factly.

"Why?"

"To go find the others."

"So let me get this straight. First, we were attacked by giant pepper shakers. Then, we evacuated to Ponyville and found out some of us were missing and the princesses might be dead. Now you want to go back to Canterlot, where the monsters are, to save some alien you barely know?"

"Exactly."

"No offense, darling," Rarity cut in. "But I don't see why we should go back. There's no way we can win this fight."

"So you're just going to give up? Even though you've saved Equestria before?" Derpy asked, which earned her sheepish looks from the others. "You guys are heroes. And it's not only Equestria that's in danger, but your friends are too. I may not have known the Doctor very long, but I know he can help. Besides, if he can't, the Elements of Harmony are back at the castle, right?"

The others nodded in agreement.

"So," Derpy continued. "Are you coming or not?"

The others looked at each other, not knowing what to do.