//------------------------------// // The Doctor is In - Part 2 // Story: Doctor Whooves: Adventures in Time and Space (and Equestria) // by Marshall Lee TVK //------------------------------// "Alright, you've got me here, what do you want from me?" Book Binder asked the metal pony. They had entered a room, completely empty save a large disk on the floor and a control panel of sorts, adjacent the disk. "You are required." It stated flatly. "Yeah, you said." He muttered. "Why am I required?" He asked, mimicking the metal pony's voice. "You are required to obtain the Cyber-race's only hope of continued existence." "I don't think I understand..." Book Binder frowned. "What do you mean your only hope of continued existence?" "Silence. Information will now be uploaded." The metal pony held up a small cylindrical object, and pressed it against the side of Book Binder's head. Images started flashing in front of his eyes, images of a being unlike he had ever seen. A fearsome creature capable of death and destruction. "Ow..." he pressed his front hooves against his temples. "Ya' know, you could try a less painful method." "We will eliminate all pain." "Yeah right..." he muttered. "So, if I find this..." he paused as the information ran through his head again. "This Doctor, what do I get in return." "You will be rewarded." "Care to elaborate?" Book Binder smirked. The metal pony didn't respond. "No? Fine, I'll go." Book Binder resigned. "Step on the transmat and prepare for departure." The metal pony stepped up the the console. Book Binder taking careful steps onto the disk. "So what-" he was interrupted by a flash of light and the area around him changed. He was no longer in an almost empty room with a metal pony, he was outside, in a field. He looked around, he recognized where he was. He could see the Everfree Forest in the distance to his right, he was about a half a mile out of Ponyville. "Now..." he finished, awestruck. ~o~ Ditzy had no idea how she'd gotten roped into the strange Doctor's plans. Frankly, she never knows how she gets into these situations. They stood outside a home of a pony Ditzy thought to be missing, a young stallion whom kept to himself. Ditzy never really talked to him, just a friendly smile whenever their paths crossed. "And you're sure this is the first pony to go missing?" The Doctor asked. "He still has mail that's more than a week old sitting in his mail box, I didn't really think much of it the first few days, though." The Doctor approached the door. "How are you gonna get in?" He smirked at her. "With this." He reached into the his coat pocket and pulled out a small pen like object with a big blue tip, clenching it firmly in his teeth. "What's that?" "Shonic Shcrewdriver." He mumbled around it. He turned towards the door, the device lighting up at the end and emitting a buzzing sound. The lock clicked and the door opened slightly. The Doctor turned back to Ditzy. "Besht tool in the univershe." He flicked his head back and let the screwdriver flip in the air before landing in his pocket. Ditzy tried not to laugh at his smug expression the crossed his face. He pushed the door open and trotted in. "Now there must be a clue or something, how long did you say he's been gone?" "Maybe two weeks?" Ditzy replied. "Why?" "Just curious." He muttered. "Are you just going to stand there?" He asked. Ditzy thought for a moment, then stepped across the threshold, entering the house. ~o~ Book Binder stood over the river, staring at his reflection in silence. He now realized why he had lost feeling in half his body. That cyber-thing, whatever it was, had replaced parts of him with metal. Half his face gone, replaced with a copy of the metal pony's face, a cold and unforgiving visage of a real pony. He looked down at his front left leg, completely replaced by a false one, hydraulics hissing softly with every move he made. He felt rage building in the pit of his stomach. He would find the creature he was sent after and hope it can mend him. Why couldn't he help after all? The records seared into Book Binder's head referred to him as a doctor. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, hiding his deformities, and started making his way to town. ~o~ "This is bad. This is very...very not good." The Doctor muttered. "How is nothing a bad thing?" Ditzy wondered. "Nothing means that he wasn't home. We are now looking for a needle in a small-town sized haystack." He sighed. "I'm sure somepony saw something." "It's going to take a while." He offered. "Well, no time like the present to start a pony-hunt." Ditzy grinned. "Oh, I like you." The Doctor grinned back. "Allons-y, Miss Doo!" ~o~ "Well, thank you for your time." The Doctor walked over to Ditzy sitting outside the café. "No one has seen anything. How, in a town this small, has no one noticed an entire pony going missing?!" "Well, he usually kept to himself." Ditzy explained. "Nopony really knew much about him." "Why is it never the social butterflies..." he dropped his head on the table. Ditzy giggled a bit. "That would be too easy." "Yeah, 'spose so." He smirked. "Who is that?" Ditzy cocked her head "Who?" "That mare staring at us?" Ditzy followed his eyes to find, in fact, somepony was watching them. "Ditzy Doo?! I didn't know you had a coltfriend!" Carrot Top rushed across the street to join them. "I-I'm not...this isn't...we aren't..." Ditzy and the Doctor stammered simultaneously, rapidly waving their fore-hooves around. "Ditzy, I can't believe you didn't tell me! As your best friend and roommate, I should be the first pony to learn of any news, especially relationships! So, Mr... oh, where are my manners? I'm Carrot Top, Ditzy's roommate, and you are?" The Doctor glanced at Ditzy in a silent cry for help. She shrugged, shaking her head. "I'm the Doctor." the Doctor sighed. "A doctor? Ditzy, you're dating a doctor?!" Carrot Top squealed. "Carrot Top, we're not-" "I just can't believe it, you're gone half a day and you manage to bag a doctor as your special somepony!" "Carrot Top, we aren't da-" "I mean, no offense, but I didn't think you were EVER going to find somepony, I honestly didn't think you were trying to, but here you are, dating a doctor!" "Carrot Top! We are not dating!" Ditzy interrupted her friend's rant. "The Doctor is just a friend." She calmed down. "Wow..." the Doctor mouthed. "What, I think Ditzy means, is we are...work acquaintances." "Work acquaintances? She's a mail carrier." Carrot Top replied flatly. "Well..." the Doctor started glancing at Ditzy, once again begging for help. "He's from the...Trottingham Hospital and Post Office." She smiled. "The Trottingham Hospital and Post Office?" Carrot Top asked suspiciously. "Yep!" The Doctor replied. "It's next to the Library and...Pet Hospital." "I see..." Carrot Top stood up. "I can take a hint. I'll leave you two love birds alone." She cantered off, a huge grin plastered on her face. They both sighed with relief. "She seems nice." The Doctor chuckled. "She's just a bit overprotective of me." Ditzy smiled. She then frowned, her eyes narrowed, focusing on something behind the Doctor. "Umm, I think we're being watched." She muttered, a twinge of fear in her voice. The Doctor turned to see. A hooded figure stood in the entrance of an alleyway down the road. The Doctor stood up slowly, the figure remained. "Ditzy, I have a sneaking suspicion we've found our missing pony." He said in a hushed tone. The figure looked up, eyeing the Doctor from the recesses of his hood, then promptly ran into the alleyway beside him. "Wait!" The Doctor called, going full gallop toward the figure's previous location. Ditzy followed suit ~o~ "You've nowhere left to run!" The Doctor ordered the figure. The figure stood in the dead end. The Doctor standing a few feet behind him, Ditzy flying above him. He, then, turned to face them. "Who said I was running?" He asked. "Well, you did kind of sprint away when the Doctor noticed you." Ditzy offered. "I needed to get away from the crowds so we could talk." "Talk? What about?" The Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, for starters..." he paused removing his hood, revealing his face, at least what was left of it. Half of his face had been replaced by a metal mask. "The thing that did this to me." Ditzy let out a small yelp, dropping to the ground. The Doctor's expression hardened. "Book Binder, I presume?" "Yeah, well what's left of me." He smirked. "Doctor?" Ditzy asked in a small voice. "What happened to him?" "It appears he's faced a cyber conversion. Well, a partial one." "Yeah, according to the data they've filled my head with, they're called the Cybermen. And apparently they know you." He pointed at the Doctor. "Well a strange bipedal version of you from another universe. They seem to think they've left their own dimension and entered an alternate one." "Doctor, what does that mean?" "It means, quite possibly, Equestria is doomed."