//------------------------------// // Invasion Plans // Story: The Cold of Winter // by Fedora //------------------------------// Out the back door, through the untouched yard and across to a set of snow-covered evergreen bushes dashed the four time travelers. From their they could determine when the coast was clear to move to another property without being seen. Unfortunately the ringing bell had attracted the attention of the Changeling horde, and many of the higher-ups were descending on the building to investigate. The Doctor kept his bright curls hidden under the hood of the stolen cloak rather than a helmet, hoping that he would not attract any attention if he peeked over the top. A very tall changeling with a crooked horn and a ragged-looking pair of wings was flanked by no less than ten elite guards. The crown sitting atop his head gave him away as the leader of this entire operation- and indeed of the Changeling empire itself. “Your majesty, I have just freed three scouts from the top of the bell tower.” relayed an officer to the tall changeling, “They spoke of being sent after ponies who were believed to be hiding out inside the library. According to them, the ponies they were after locked them outside.” “What of the rest of the scouts searching the building?” asked the king. “Knocked out, by the looks of it. A blow to the head on most of them. One was missing his cloak and helmet. My guess is that they escaped on hoof or aerially not minutes ago.” “Sir!” another soldier blurted out, “tracks in the snow!” Everypony in the evergreen bush knew that the game was up. They couldn’t get away now that the attention was on them. In a quick move the Doctor whisked off the black changeling cloak and let it flutter over the heads of the three other ponies crouched down beside him. He then jumped up and out of the bush into full view of the group of changelings. “Don’t attack!” he cried, “I’d like to request parley with the Changeling King.” “You’re speaking to him,” the King growled. His guards, as well as the other soldiers gathered near did not relax from their tensed ready-to-pounce positions. The Doctor kept a collected face, even managing to pull off a smug grin and make direct eye contact with the towering figure that was the King of the Changelings. “Who are you, and why are you here?” the King asked of the Doctor. “No… you see that’s not how parley works. You’re supposed to have an even negotiation between two opposing-” “You’re in no position to negotiate with me.” interrupted the King, “I have an army at my command, and all you have is an eyesore of a costume. I’ll pose the questions, and you will answer them.” As if to emphasize this point, the group of soldiers now formed a semicircle separating the Sixth Doctor from the King and his royal guard. The Doctor blinked, but didn’t let his expression falter. “You know… that’s a very compelling point.” he said, “Indeed, yes. You can ask the questions, and I’ll answer them to the best of my ability. Fire away.” The King’s brows furrowed in reaction to the Doctor’s airy, nonchalant demeanor. “As I said,” he repeated, “Who are you, and why are you here? Where are all the inhabitants of this village?” “Well,” the Doctor began, “Your first question- who am I? That’s a difficult one to answer. I am known as The Doctor.” The King’s gaze wavered, and he lost focus for a moment. When he concentrated his firm stare on the Doctor he had an eyebrow raised. “Why am I here?” continued the Doctor, “Well to be honest I don’t actually know the answer to that myself. I traveled here quite by accident, I assure you. As for the townsfolk… I have absolutely no idea. Did you find the town like this?” “You can dispense with this impish attitude you’ve got going Doctor,” growled the King, “I happen to know that you haven’t got anything up your sleeve this time. No red buttons, no ultimatums. You’re our prisoner this time.” At that very moment, a loud crash resounded over the tops of the houses, coming from somewhere a few blocks away. A voice sounding like a changeling started to yell, and the yell turned into a high-pitched scream before being silenced. The line of soldiers pounced on the Doctor immediately, forcing him to stand erect before the king on his back hooves, with his front legs twisted in an uncomfortable position. A glowing changeling horn was placed just underneath the Doctor’s throat as if it were a sharp blade of some kind, daring him to move a muscle. “Call your forces off,” the King ordered, “Call the attack off, Doctor!” “I don’t know what you mean!” he sputtered, leerily eyeing the changeling’s horn, “I don’t have anything to do with-” “Kill him.” the King ordered. The soldiers shoved the Doctor down to the ground and the changeling who had his horn at the Doctor’s neck a moment before ducked his head down, poised for the kill. “Wait!” cried a voice. The would-be executioner’s heads whipped around to the source. Derpy, Lyra, and Medley clambered out of the evergreen bushes. More soldiers rushed to surround them, and in the distance more loud noises and yelling could be heard. A column of smoke started to appear over the snow-clad rooftops of nearby homes. “W-we are the Doctor’s travelling companions.” stammered Derpy, “And whatever’s happening over there has nothing to do with us, we swear.” “Why are you here?” King Metamorphosis repeated, “I want a straight answer.” “We came here by accident,” Medley spat out, “We were running from some scary robot-things…” “Cyberponies.” Lyra corrected her. “Yeah… they’re big and metal, and can shoot laser beams.” continued Medley, “We escaped from them by coming through a portal that led here. That’s all we were doing, honest.” The King raised an eyebrow. “I don’t believe one word of that.” he said, “If you ask me, I think you got wind of what we were planning, and tried to evacuate-” A Changeling soldier with a limp ran away from the nearing chaos. He reeked of singed skin and a left a trail of wispy smoke in his wake. Upon seeing the King near the back of the library he rushed over, skidding to a halt in the knee-high snow and catching his breath. “Your Majesty,” he breathlessly gasped, “There’s a group of three… robot ponies attacking us.” King Metamorphosis’ eyes widened, and he looked from the group of ponies standing behind the Doctor to the Doctor himself sprawled out on the ground, to the injured soldier who had delivered the messages. “Did these… robot ponies happen to shoot red lasers?” “Yes your Majesty. One of them clipped my wings and I can’t fly anymore. I was one of the lucky ones… we’re getting slaughtered your Majesty!” The Doctor lifted his face up met the King’s gaze, and glared. “They’re called Cyberponies.” he said, “They’re ponies that have turned themselves into emotionless… machines!” “You know of them.” Metamorphosis stated. “Of course I do!” “Do you know how to fight back? What their weakness is?” The Doctor stood up, nodding. He dusted the snow off his patchwork frock. “If you can help me stop them from butchering my soldiers,” the King said, “I will let you four live.” **** The back door to the library was left open, and King Metamorphosis’ royal guards accompanied him into the cramped utility area. It was set up like a part kitchen part livingroom, and would have functioned as a lounge for the librarians. An empty cup of tea sat on a small table in front of one of the cushioned seats. A telephone hung from the wall close to the door and got its power by a very thick cable attached at the base. The King and his guards left this space quickly, traveling into the main area of the library and emerging behind the librarian’s desk. More soldiers were gathered in this area. The Doctor approached Metamorphosis. “If this doesn’t work out, I’ll holler something. They’ll be around by the back, so if something goes wrong you can get out the front door.” “Doctor, we’re ready up here!” Medley called down from the balcony. “Right.” the Doctor said. He made eye contact with the Changeling King, and made his way out the back door. The Doctor was up to his knees in snow in the backyard of the library. Glancing up to the bell tower, he saw that Derpy and Medley were in place. Lyra sat below the bell itself, taking out the thin wooden siding on the backside of the tower. The bell would soon be completely exposed on this side.The Doctor walked around in a circle, tromping the snow down. The squad of changelings that had engaged the Cyberponies rounded the nearest grouping of houses, firing greenish magic from their horns at their pursuers. Upon seeing the Doctor, they took flight and entered the library through the back door. Standing alone in the back yard, the Doctor next saw a group of three Cyberponies. He tightened his jaw. There was only three of them and that concerned him. He realized where the other two of the five that were reported must have gone, and the implications troubled him. The Cyberponies noticed him, and leveled their weapons. Diving to the ground, the Doctor avoided getting hit by a volley of laser bolts. He scrambled to get back on his hooves, and stumbled a bit. The Cyberponies were marching in his direction, growing nearer. They were almost to the circle. The Cyberponies reached the circle in the snow. Above the library both Derpy and Medley kicked at the bell from the opposite side, at the same time Lyra used her magic to sever the connection. The massive bell slammed into the side of the roof, ripping a large chunk of the roof with it as it fell down. The bell crashed into the circle haphazardly, smashing two of the three Cyberponies into scrap metal with a resounding clang. The Doctor narrowly missed getting pummeled, and had taken a faceful of snow again. As he steadied himself, the surviving Cyberpony took a swing at him with a front hoof. The Doctor reacted, and wobbled backward and fell on his back. He scrambled back, and took off toward the back door of the library. The door slammed behind him. The Doctor slid the lock shut. A loud bang rattled the back door as the Cyberpony threw its metal tonnage against the flimsy wood. Cracks formed, and with a second blow the door was reduced to splinters. The Cyberpony towered over the threshold, over the splinter-covered Doctor. Grabbing for the nearest thing, the Doctor unfastened the thick electric cord from the telephone. He thrust forward, jabbing his hoof and the crackling end of the broken wire in the Cyberpony’s neck joint. Electricity surged through the Cyberpony and the Doctor simultaneously. A screeching metallic noise erupted from the cybernetically-enhanced lungs of the Cyberpony and its insides were roasted. The Doctor was thrown to the ground, twitching. The Cyberpony’s wails ceased, and its dead husk clattered to the floor. **** Derpy, and Lyra helped the Doctor into the chair, while Medley held a glass of water to his lips. The world was dizzy to him, and his head was throbbing. “You look a little worse for wear- you’re hair’s all sticking up.” Medley said. “I feel a little worse for wear,” he muttered. The world came back into focus, and the Doctor saw the King of the Changelings staring back at him just beyond the three ponies. The Doctor blinked a couple times. “Well, there’s a sight for sore eyes.” said the Doctor. Metamorphosis didn’t look too amused. “You four have earned your right to live… for now.” he said. “Doctor, you must tell me what those things were, and how they got here.” The Doctor sat up in the chair he had been flung into. He felt the chill setting in; the door was still wide open. He pulled the lapels of his rainbow coat tighter. “Those were Cyberponies,” he spoke, “Equinoids inside a metal shell reduced to mindless, soulless cyborgs bent on swelling their numbers. They probably came here the same way we did- through a portal.” “What portal?” asked the King. “It was in a garden shed.” Lyra uttered, avoiding eye contact. “A portal from another planet that has an exit point on this planet, in this town.” the Doctor said, “Isn’t it curious that the day you chose to invade this town just happens to coincide with the day the Cyberponies chose to invade the other end, and would inevitably discover the portal.” “What do you mean by that?” “Well,” continued the Doctor, “The Cyberponies invaded the planet on the other end there totally out of the blue. Then they discovered the portal while chasing my friends here- and sent a group of scouts through. Two of them went back after determining that this planet was inhabited by potential stock. We just eliminated the other three.” “Now, I believe that the Cyberponies have gone back for reinforcements. They’ll be back en masse, and I’d say that doesn’t bode well for whatever you’ve got planned.” The King’s lips twitched, and he bared his fangs with his next words. “It sounds like you orchestrated this, if you ask me. You’d put this planet in danger just to thwart me again!” “That’s a very egotistical thing of you to say,” the Doctor replied, not missing a beat, “But you do raise an interesting point. No, I didn’t orchestrate this. Heaven’s no! But it seems to me that it has indeed been orchestrated.” “By who then?” The Doctor stood up, walked over to the door and pushed the Cyberpony’s corpse outside in order to close the door entirely. “Sorry-bit of a draft.” he said. “Doctor,” Metamorphosis repeated, “Who? Who organized this?” “I don’t know if I can say for sure, you majesty,” the Doctor said, “But what I do know is that we’ve only got a matter of hours before more come back through that portal- time differential and all that- and we’ve got to be ready. Come along, girls!” The Doctor exited through the back door, stepped over the Cyberpony and made off in the way of the shed with the portal. Lyra, Medley and Derpy followed in his wake. “Doctor, where are we going?” cried Medley. “We’re going to catch us a wolf!” the Doctor called back.