Hidden Hands

by David Silver

16 - Advanced Questioning

Turner and Susan both jumped as the door began to open, their eyes locked on the heavy thing.

Emerging from it the very moment it was open enough was a grey pony with a broad smile and walled eyes. Turner barely had time to put up his hooves before she tackled him to the ground, giggling merilly.

Susan blinked at the two of them. "Do you know... that one?"

Derpy looked up at Susan, still smiling. "Hello! I told them you're a good pony, and that you wouldn't be mad if I came in here and said hi, um, hi!" She waved a hoof, the other three busy hugging Turner and his oddly-fitting clothing.

Susan smiled, a quirked gesture of amusement. "And you are... a girl pony."

"She is," agreed Turner as he squirmed his way back up to a seated position. His ears darted to the door as it closed. "And... now we're all stuck in here. Derpy, I appreciate you worrying about me, but you were more helpful out there than in here."

Derpy tilted her head, confusion plain to see. "But I'm with you in here." She pointed to the mirror. "They're still watching us."

Susan's face contorted as she turned away from the mirror. "I suspected as much. There aren't a lot of good reasons to line a wall with glass unless it's a dance studio."

Turner cleared his throat softly, "So, do you dance?"

Susan was caught off-guard by the question, putting a hand to her chest. "Me? I mean, I can? I'm not much in the mood for it right now..."

Derpy still had one leg around Turner, but was otherwise sitting up beside him. "I like dancing. I'm not that good at it... but I still like it."

Turner touched his nose to her cheek, bringing about a rapid blush. "You are just perfect at it," he consoled her with a smile. "Hopefully we'll get the chance to do it some more once we're out of here."

Susan shook her head slowly. "It won't stop confusing me how you ponies blush with your fur. You do know fur isn't supposed to do that, right?"

Turner looked to Susan, one ear perked. "What is fur supposed to do then, Susan?"

Susan rolled a hand limply. "Keep something warm? Protect from scratches? Not change colors?"

Derpy burst into giggles, raising her other forehoof to her chest. She tipped forward dangerously, but her leg around Turner kept her from flopping over. "Mine does most of that, but it can change colors, a little, usually when I don't want it to."

Turner nodded softly. "The blush response is quite a complicated reaction, starting in the epidermis with the expansion of blood vess--"

"--Are you a Doctor?" cut in Susan.

"Yes!" Derpy waved her free hoof at Turner. "He is The Doctor. That's what most ponies call him."

It was Turner's turn to blush softly, which he did with a soft coughing. "Yes, well, Turner will do just fine, Susan. Now..." He turned under Derpy's leg, facing the mirror. "I don't suppose we could be released now?"

Susan quirked a smile. "I tried that, never worked before. Still, there weren't ponies in here asking for it last time, so maybe?" She crouched down, looking at Derpy curiously. "So... Derpy?"

"Ah huh." She nodded quickly back at Susan. "And you're Susan. Nice to meet you." She thrust out a hoof, wobbling dangerously from her support structure that was also a pony.

Susan took the hoof in her fingers and gently lifted it up and down as if shaking hands timidly. "Nice to meet you. Do you have a last name?"

"Do you?" she challenged with a grin. "Most people just call me Derpy. I bet most people call you Susan."

Susan put up her hands in front of her chest, palms facing Derpy. "Got me. Derpy it is." She glanced between Derpy and Turner. "Are you two...?"

They both darkened in their cheeks and separated, bashfully trying to not look at each other.

"That is too cute," sighed out Susan with the hint of a giggle. "I'll take that as a yes."

Turner sat up tall. "No, but... perhaps we could change that?"

Derpy's ears sprang up as she whipped her head around to face Turner, eyes wide, if not both focused on him.

Turner dipped his front in a bow. "Miss Hooves; I am sorry for keeping you waiting this long, but... Will you be my mare? I promise to--"

Derpy didn't let him finish, tackling him over with a squeal. "Yes, yes yes yes!" She squeezed him tightly, repeating the word over and over. "Never leave me again! I'm sorry I was a silly pony before."

Susan clapped gently, her bare hands making quite a different sound than two hooves striking. "Congratulations... does that... make you married, or are you just going steady?"

Turner's blush only worsened as he squirmed in Derpy's grip to look at Susan. "Let's not... get ahead of ourselves. I am her special somepony, and she is mine. That seems like a fine start to things, yes?"

"Yes!" agreed Derpy with a face-splitting grin.

Susan pointed at Derpy and turned the finger to Turner. "You can't turn into a human like he can, can you?"

Derpy shook her head quickly. "Nuh uh. Only he can do that, um, besides you? You're good at it."

Susan laughed as she sank to a cross-legged seat. "This is how I was made, and how I'll stay, so far as I know. What do you see?"

Derpy squinted her eyes at Susan appraisingly. "I see... a mare. Funny shaped, sure, but still a mare." She let Turner go suddenly, resulting in his flopping to the ground. She trotted up to Susan and offered a hoof. "Maybe a friend?"

Turner climbed back to his hooves and was almost instantly at her side, thrusting out his hoof just beside hers.

Susan's eyes darted between the two hooves hovering beside one another. It hardly seemed like a good time for a shake. She balled her fingers into a fist and gently bumped into the spot where the hooves met, making for a three-way meeting. "Friends, hopefully. We still have to get out of here before we start exchanging favorite recipes."

With a soft crackle, a new voice spoke over a hidden speaker from above them, a deep male voice, "Susan, we are willing to allow you access to more of the facility, if we have your word that you will cooperate."

Derpy shook a hoof up at the speaker. "She's a good pony! You let her go right this instant!"

"I'm afraid that would be ill-advised. Well-meaning or not, she is a stranger from a country we have no contact with. It would be in everypony's interest that she at least be acclimated to the laws and procedures of the society she is in before being released."

Susan perked. She had no directing ears to shoot up, but her body language was clear enough. "That means I will be released?"

"Once it is safe for you to leave."

Turner bobbed his head. "That seems reasonable. You were a bit lost... Hopefully we can address that."

Susan pointed at Turner almost accusingly. "You said you'd at least try making a computer for me."

Turner's ears perked in surprise before they rolled back into a guarded position. "I'd need a much better definition of what they are and how you believe they function before I can attempt, but I did say I will, and I am a stallion of my word."

Derpy hopped up to all four hooves. "And he's good at what he does. He can make all kinds of gizmos and things."

With a heavy noise, the door began to open. All eyes were on it as Bon Bon's head poked through, looking back at them. "You're clear to come out." She kept right on pushing the door until it was wide open. "Take a right at the intersection."

Derpy half-dragged Turner from the room, happy as can be and without a shred of doubt.

Susan was more hesitant, trailing after the happy couple. "I don't recognize you, but you look, somehow more like the other ones."

Bon Bon pointed a hoof at herself. "I am a member of the same group." She waved Susan past. "I just arrived here, with the other two you were just talking to. Welcome to Equestria."

Susan scooted past Bon Bon before the offer expired. "I wasn't feeling that welcome, but that may be changing. So... you know them?"

Bon Bon let the door slide shut slowly but inexorably as she followed along with Susan. "Derpy Hooves, AKA Muffins and Time Turner, AKA The Doctor. Both are respected and beloved members of their community. She's a mailmare, and he's a tinkerer, scientist, and has a thing for keeping accurate time during many events." She rolled a hoof. "Comes with the name, I think."

"Ah huh..." She stuffed her hands in her pockets as her eyes wandered over the severe corners of the complex. "This place doesn't suit you."

"Mm?"

"It's too tall. I should be feeling a little claustrophobic considering how short you all are." She gestured at the ceiling as they went. "The angles are all hard and severe when most of you seem to not be that. Then again, the ones that work here seem to match that well enough."

Bon Bon frowned at that. "We are not severe!" A blush began to rise quickly. "Well, I mean, usually?... " She sagged a little. "Well, alright, I suppose we are."

Susan quirked a little smile. "That was refreshingly vulnerable. Are you sure you work here?"

Bon Bon thrust a hoof out in front of Susan, cutting off her progress. "I've been an agent for most of my adult life. I've saved Equestria and its people several times, and I hope to do so a few more times. I'll thank you to--"

"--Alright, alright," cut in Susan, her hands up. "I wasn't trying to say you were bad at your job. I mean, shoot, look at me. I'm a writer that hasn't written a damn word in... however long they've had me penned up here. Tell me you at least have typewriters."

Bon Bon tilted her head slightly. "Yes. Do you require one?" She raised her brows in unison. "I'll bring it up for requisitioning. Perhaps we can secure one for you." She turned forward, her hoof lowering out of the way. "Let's catch up with the others."

Up ahead, Derpy and Turner trotted along side-by-side. Derpy seemed to be quite pleased with her place beside Turner, leaning against him a little as they walked. Turner was more pensive, considering things as his eyes wandered over the doors they passed. None of them had labels or clue to their purpose.

"Do we know where exactly we're headed?" he asked of his ditzy friend. "Perhaps we should wait for Miss Bon to catch up with us?"

Derpy came to a smooth halt and turned on her new boyfriend. "I have to get back to work soon. I'm hoping they just tell us to not tell any secrets and let us go."

Turner blinked at that. "You are one diligent mare." He smiled a little. "It's one of many things I like about you. Hopefully they will do just that. We both have lives we'd like to resume."

Derpy poked him in the chest. "We have new lives to start! You're coming with me."

"Wha?" He recoiled, eyes widening.

"Don't give me that look." She crossed her arms across her chest. "You're coming home, to Ponyville, no excuses. So you turn into a hujan or whatever, who cares? I bet Twilight would like a look at you, and Rarity might be upset you didn't ask her for clothes, and Pinkie probably wants to throw a 'coming out of the closet' party or something, but I don't care!" She stomped a hoof on the floor, the walls ringing with the clop. "You're coming home."

Author's Note:

Derpy puts her hoof down, literally and figuratively.

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Comments

[LostArchivist]

8900995
I agree.

Making a computer, eh? I wonder how advanced we are talking.
It's actually quite simple, if you work at a register level and don't mind it being VERY slow...
The translation to gates would be a massive pain, even more so with transistors, but perhaps magic would help with that stage or allow for an equivalent replacement. (I also wonder if they can get Twi to make up a magical version of a PAR tool...)

[Viper Pit]

so adorable

[Booster Spice]

Thats an awful big closet.

Then again, Rarity is making him new clothes.

[The REAL Mister Pkmn]

I can almost see Pinkie planning that exact party now...

[Emtu]

Equestria must have computers of some sort, there are video games.

[tsaukpaetra]

Well the ceiling is so high because Pegasus ponies get claustrophobic. It's hard enough being underground, let alone underground in an small space!
Keep going! ;)

[Frazzle2Dazzle]

Oh, dear Celestia, what have they unleashed by getting 'in a relationship.'

[FanOfMostEverything]

Amazing how well actually talking to the alien can work out. Far from guaranteed, of course, but it's still an option.

Also, I've always figured pony fur has fiber optic properties.

[David Silver]

8902786
Turner was going to explain how it worked before he got cut off. Now we'll never know.

[howard035]

Finally Muffins gets her man!