An earth pony stood atop a metal balcony which emerged from the side of a mountain far, far, far away from Ponyville, and the rest of Equestria too. He wore a suit that completely obscured his form. It consisted of a black tuxedo with a neon yellow ascot hanging from around his neck. He wore a helmet that resembled a Pembridge styled Greathelm, though it had no holes for his eyes. Instead, it had a neon yellow light that ran in a cross shape from his forehead to his jaw.
The pony overlooked a large spruce forest at the bottom mountain, it stretched on for miles and miles over hills and flat country. It was rather beautiful, but he was not scanning the terrain, rather he was scanning the sky, looking for someone. Every few minutes he would pull out a pocket watch glance down it and hissed. He was late. By several minutes in fact.
He gave a sigh of annoyance when a shadow blanketed the balcony. Turning upwards he saw as a cloud in the shape of a pegasus start to descend down to meet him.
"You are late, Tornado." The pony said, his voice was atypical of what one would expect of mad scientists. For he did not have a german accent. On top of that, he had a very metallic, synthetic tone to his voice.
"Sorry." The cloud pegasus mumbled as he dropped to the ground. The clouds all disappeared at once, revealing a pegasus with blue fur, and messy black hair with yellow tips. A yellow lightning bolt sigil sat on his face. His cutie mark was that of a pegasus made of clouds shooting lightning out of a hoof.
"It matters not. Come. We have business to attend to." The Earth Pony said as he turned face and walked towards a metal door built into the side of the mountain. It opened like a submarine bulkhead, allowing both of them in.
"How went the fight?" The Earth Pony asked as he traveled down a metal hallway lit by dim neon purple lights.
"That arrogant fucker kicked my ass, how do you think it went?" Tornado hissed.
"Language, please. There are children in this facility." The Earth Pony said darkly as they entered through another door. They entered a new room. Giant glass tubes filled the room from end to end. Each one had a pony suspended in transparent liquid, breathing apparatus were attached to their mouths and noses.
The ponies looked to be between the ages of six and sixteen, but the really disturbing part was that they all looked to be the exact same pony. They were dark grey earth ponies with slicked-back yellow hair and a cutie mark consisting of a dna strand.
The armored Earth Pony walked up to one of the pods, gently stroking a hoof over the glass. "Magnificent aren't they? My very own children," he said with a laugh.
"Yeah yeah sure... uh... mind if I ask why in Celestia's name-" Torando, started but was cut off.
"I would prefer it if you refrained from using that name in this laboratory. The names of deities are bad luck when you are committing crimes against nature." The Earth Pony turned away from his pod and started approaching him.
Tornado growled. "Whatever. Do you mind telling me why I was sent up against that holier than thou scumbag in the first place?"
"It was to serve as an experiment to reinforce my hypothesis." The Earth Pony said stopping in front of him. "That being that Derek was indeed undefeatable by any one individual."
Tornado suddenly snarled, lightning crackling into existence suddenly around him. The Earth Pony did not flinch or show any fear. Not that Tornado could tell anyway. The mask shielded his emotions perfectly.
"You mean you sent me in to fight on my own, just to test something that you already know?" Tornado hissed. The Earth Pony silenced him with a raised hoof.
"Quiet. You are not angry. You know that I am the only thing alive who really stands a chance to defeat Derek don't you?" The Earth Pony said, turning around and walking past the rest of his tubes. Tornado snarled. Unfortunately, he was right. The pegasus started following after him.
"Now then," He said as he entered a new room, this time with a table and a corkboard. More doors sat on the walls of the room, which led further into the facility. "Let us discuss our plans."
"Uh huh..." Tornado said, shrugging and taking a seat. "You uhhh... know I never got your name..."
"Epoxy." The Earth Pony said. "As in glue, which is what I plan to turn Derek into when I am done with him."
Epoxy chuckled as he sat down. "Now then. Do you know why I hired you in the first place?"
Tornado shrugged. "Should I care? Cash is cash." Tornado sat back in his chair, expecting a long-winded explanation.
Epoxy merely chuckled, sitting up. "Cute, but you should. My plans will revolutionize this world."
Epoxy turned to the corkboard and smirked. It was covered in pictures of Derek and a small deer.
"Derek is a human. His species is much, much more scientifically advanced than us. Who knows what knowledge is stored in his head. Unfortunately, as much of a scientist I pride myself to be, my knowledge stems to the science of the genetic variety. But think of what rests inside the brain of a human? What knowledges of engineering, biology, physics, astronomy and more would you suppose rests inside of the head of a human?" Epoxy said as he approached the painting of Derek.
Tornado cringed when, with a horrible sound, a blade made of bone emerged from Epoxy's wrist, the scientist stabbing it violently into a picture of Derek.
"What comes next then?" Tornado asked standing up. "Not like we can actually beat him enough to drag him here and get that information out..."
Epoxy laughed in response.
"Oh, poor naive pegasus. You forget." Epoxy dragged his blade across the corkboard, cutting a deep, horizontal ravine through the cork. Eventually, he arrived at the picture of Johan which he circled.
"Derek is not the only human in Equestria."