Chapter 13: Silver threat
Art Strings cheered with delight as they passed by many ponies within town, enjoying every second of the ride, it was so much fun. After several minutes of riding, they soon reached a meadow outside of town.
Sweetie Belle was already waiting, together with her other friends, Sparkler was here too. Scootaloo raced towards their friends, until they stopped, screeching to a halt right in front of them.
“Good morning, Art Strings, glad you could come.” Dinky greeted her, with a smile.
“Same. What had you in mind for today?”
“Playing some games together and enjoying the warm weather.” As Dinky had said this, a smile formed on the face of her fellow unicorn.
“You don’t have to ask me twice!”
And so, Art-Strings played tag with the fillies and girl, read some comics with them, plus played pirates and Masterclass Dungeon Duels of Doom with the colts. It was a nice day, a calm wind and the warm sun, making the ponies and human enjoy their activities to the fullest.
Of course, the young filly hoped her father and grandmother could enjoy themselves at this nice day too.
But it also woke worry about her mother back home.
Upon doing a break, she faintly sobbed, which was quickly noticed by the others, with the Periwinkle-grey foal rubbing her back. “Shh, you will be reunited with your mother soon.”
“I…I just can’t imagine how worried mama must be…” Art Strings looked at Dinky with tearful eyes and everyone pulled her into a hug.
“Stay positive, I am sure my father and his friends will have found a way soon. And until then, we’ll do what we can to keep you comfortable.”
In response, the mint-green filly smiled weakly, wiping a tear out of her eye. “R-right. Thank you.”
Sparkler looked at Tungsten, who nodded and she spoke up, “That’s what friends are for. Once, Tungsten’s mother went missing and I supported him with my friends as good as I could. We know the feeling you just go through.” She smiled at the filly.
“And I know to appreciate that.”
“That’s the spirit!” Pip exclaimed happy.
Say, Pip, how did you and Tungsten meet?” The filly asked curious and he shrugged.
“There isn’t much to tell. My and his mother were friends since they were foals, so it was natural that we two met one day as they visited each other.”
“I see. By the way, Sparkler?”
“Yes?” the older unicorn turned towards her younger guest.
“Tag! You’re it!” With that, the younger unicorn ran away, the others followed her with laughs.
It took them all some effort to catch the young filly, with Dinky exclaiming, “Gotcha!” as she managed to catch up with her friend who gigged.
“You got me!” Art Strings surrendered before noticing that they stood near a cliff and looked down.
Her eyes went small in shock. “G-guys…” With a shaking hoof, she pointed down.
The others gasped.
Patch, Wagensroll, Dawnwind, Flash Sentry and another guard they couldn’t recognize were using mining tools to free a big sliver metallic object, it looked like a ship.
But that wasn’t terrifying.
The four adults were dressed in the same overalls as the Neomorph Cybermen wore, with a group of them watching the ponies.
The group wanted to run, get help, but their bodies were frozen on the spot.
Then, as two guards turned their back to the two pegasus, they let out a scream and hit the cyborgs into the back with their pickaxes. Both fell to the ground with sparks, the three historians tackled 2 other guards to the ground.
Having an open opportunity, they ran up an unguarded slop, escaping.
Still shocked at what they had seen, the group didn’t notice how the cliff was cracking. With a yelp, they all started to slip the slippage down.
With a cry of pain, Art Strings came to a stop, groaning. As she opened her eyes, she found herself surrounded with her friends by the Cybermen. In fear, they all raised their hooves/hands in surrender.
After having done a peaceful and relaxing walk, Kyle and Jan were called to Canterlot, meeting up with the princess, knights and the family members of the friends Art Strings had made, in a private room.
“We have good news, we are close to identifying the magic signature to get you home.” Luna told and both smiled.
“That’s good news indeed.” Kyle smiled before he saw the three former humans walking in.
“I have some good news as well, the repairs should be done in a few hours.”
Derpy then screamed.
Everyone turned around to see a group of Neomorph Cybermen entering, the knights were caught off guard, unable to reach for their weapons as the cyborgs surrounded everyone.
One of them had black handlebars, identifying him as Cyber-leader, turning towards Time Turner. “So, we meet again, Doctor.”
The brown stallion stayed silent, trying to hide his slight fear as the leader turned towards Tyson. “Your capture of the Doctor in advance of ours was very efficient.”
In response, everyone looked tensed for an answer.
“Of course, what shall we do?” He asked, trying to play along, which the others understood.
“He must be brought to the Controller. The others, get them to our ship for Cyber-conversion.”
Derpy’s eyes went small in fear at the mentioning of this word as Tyson nodded. “It will be done, you can go ahead.”
“Excellent.” The Leader replied, turning to two of his soldiers. “You two escort them.”
“Yes, Leader.”
As the Cyber-leader left, Derpy clutched her husband, completely terrified. “P-please…don’t do this to us, Tyson!” He tried to rub her back in an attempt to calm her down
In response, he looked at her and Time Turner, tilting his head. “Love...These things are irrelevant. You have affection for this mare?” He asked and a slight look of worry formed in the stallion’s eyes.
“W-what are you doing?!”
“Kill her.” Tyson ordered and Almar made his way over to the mare, the other watched in shock.
“No!” Time Turner exclaimed horrified, taking a protective stance in front of his wife before the lieutenant got waved away by his commander.
“Such a reaction is not a disadvantage?” Tyson asked almost taunting as the stallion tried to catch his breath, with Wolf and Rainbow looking angry at the former human, as Time Turner stated,
“No.”
“You are mistaken. I now have control over you, Doctor. All I need do is threaten the mare's death for you to obey me.”
A growl escaped Wolf’s mouth. “We trusted you!”
“We thought you were not like them!” Rainbow added as Applejack and Rarity held her back.
But Tyson’s reaction was unexpected. “Always have been.” His lieutenants quickly faced the other Cybermen and shot them before they could react.
“W-what?” Blue stammered in confusion.
“Sorry for the scare but it had to look convincing,” Tyson explained, causing Wolf and Rainbow to calm down. “Still, if there is another Cyber-ship, it’s a threat we need to eliminate” He put a hand to his helmet. “Glenn, we got activity of other Cybermen, scan the surrounding area.”
“Acknowledged.”
Just then the sound of running hooves entered their ears and they saw the three historians enter with Flash and Blitzer.
“P-Patch…” Nancy gasped at the sight. They all wore silver overalls with cybernetic limbs. “W-what happened to you?”
Giving her a weak smile, he replied, “Turns out, the discovery we made is actually a crashed Cyber-ship. They tried to convert us, but as you see, it failed.”
“How much of you?” The mare was terrified.
“Only the limbs luckily.”
“We tried to warn you, as the location of the crash side is near an old underground entrance of Canterlot.” Wagensroll added before, Fletcher stared in shock at him, Dawnwind, Flash and Blitzer and so did the others.
“That saves us some time” Tyson concluded before his helmet beeped. “Report, Glenn.
“We located the ship, there are also some prisoners aboard.”
“Allow me.” Luna stepped forward and lightened up her horn. Her magic formed up a screen on the wall, showing the data Glenn had received.
It showed a cuboid-like formed ship, with three turntable guns on the upper and lower side of each end. “A Cyber-Flagship, must have been crashed years, if not centuries ago.” Tyson suspected as he recognized it.
Then the view showed the inside of the ship and everyone gasped. The children were in alcoves, undergoing Cyber-conversation, with their bodies covered in the silver overall, together with a half-finished chest plate, their lower limbs covered in plastic and headpiece, their expressions empty yet twitched, pain visible in their eyes.
“D-Dinky!” Derpy exclaimed in shock, “We must save them!”
“I agree but there’s no way we can destroy a ship of that size.” Midnight pointed out, only for Tyson to hold up a hand.
“Actually, there is, from the inside. By blowing up the engine, we can destroy the entire ship. It’s a short blast radius to avoid unnecessary losses but still enough to destroy the ship. Doctor, it would be of most importance to use the Tardis to evacuate the prisoners once we located them.” Time Turner nodded. “And while I acknowledge how powerful your weapons are, I recommend you equip gold for maximum effectiveness.”
“Good point, what will we need?”
“Well, as you have seen from our memories, anything made out of gold can do it, gold coins, gold-tipped arrows and bullets, gold particles, just to call a few.”
“Alright, I know exactly the pony that can provide us, Konrad, you should join us for this.”
The man nodded, “Of course, my children are among them after all.”
“Can I help too?” Kyle asked, much to the surprise of everyone, only for his mother to look at him with worry.
“Please son, I already lost my husband, I don’t want to lose you too.”
“Mom, this is my own daughter, I just can’t stay and watch this!” He stated, yet understood her worry, with Abstraction walking over to both.
“He will be safe with us.” His expression was honest and Jan slowly nodded.
“Alright, be careful, son.”
“Of course I will be.”
Blue gave Nancy a determined hug. “I promise, we’ll get them back safe and sound.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle noticed that one of the downed cyborgs was twitching. “Watch out!” He warned as the Cyberman rose, aiming his weapon at them.
Out of instinct, Blue drew a concealed pistol and fired a shot. It deflected and hit Jan into the chest. The mare fell to the ground with a cry of pain, just as Tyson shot the Cyberman, finishing off.
“Mom, no!” Kyle exclaimed in terror, kneeling down to her, trying to stop the bleeding. Fletcher also kneeled down and casted a healing spell as the former woman groaned in pain.
“I got her, Kyle, go. I’ll join you later.” He assured and while worried, the blue stallion gave a nod, moving out with the others.
In the Cyber-ship, a Cyberman watched over the conversion, reporting to the Controller. “Those sapient equines have a strong psychology, they respond well to the conversion procedure. They will join the perfection of the machine.”
“The Hibernation control system is erratic, it will require repair before more dormant Cybermen can be revived.” The Controller concluded, “In addition, the sub-space communications array must be reactivated.”
“Shall we repurpose Cyber-control?”
“This cyber-ship is one of many throughout the galaxy. Now we have awakened, an activation signal must be broadcast, our sleep has ended, the Cyber-race will rise anew.”
In Canterlot, a white unicorn stallion sauntered through the streets of Canterlot and turned into an alley, only to be faced by Midnight, who looked neutral at him. Turning around, the stallion saw that White Wolf blocked his way back.
“Pardon me, your grace.” The batpony started calmly, yet it unnerved the stallion.
“Wh-what do you want?” Blueblood stammered and the batpony eyed something shiny in his saddle bags.
“Nice calks.”
In slight confusion, the prince replied, “Erm...yes...why do you say that?”
“As members of Princess Luna's personal bodyguard, I must confiscate any items of gold or gold alloys in your immediate possession.” Midnight explained, much to the prince’s shock and disgust.
“What?! So! This is what it has come to, eh? You...vagabonds have lowered yourselves to common thieves, pilfering the valuables of respected royalty on pain of death?!” He exclaimed.
“Yes...” Wolf nodded as she calmly drew a knife, “That is what it has come to...”
It had the intended effect, as the stallion shivered slightly, getting nervous. “Oh...um...Fair enough, just making sure I understood all that.” He gave them his calks. “Here we are, sir. Um...have a nice day.”
With a sigh, Midnight mumbled, “Too late for that...”
Fletcher then joined and lit up his horn. “This might be a bit rough.”
Upon seeing this, Kyle got blinded by a white flash, stumbling a bit as he felt slightly dazed.
Recovering, his eyes went wide to see a great forge built into a chasm. Eerie blue-light surrounded the place and a mighty smelter of comet-rock stood in the center.
Midnight placed the calks in the smelter, with him and his fellow knights taking position in front of the stones
With eagerness and fascination, the blue stallion watched as the three ponies took their weapons and scraped them along the stones in front of them, scattering embers that caught on lines, spreading out into a pattern of blue flame that lightened the smelter and steadily melted the gold.
The molten gold followed the pattern of the blue flame before it collected in vessels before the Knight's hooves
All three of them whispered in an ancient language their guest couldn’t understand, Midnight plunged his sword into the vessel, Wolf kneeled and stabbed her two knives into the vessel while Fletcher magically casted his spearhead into the vessel and teleported his arrows, heads down, all around the spear. Their chants got louder and louder until the smelter gave a bellowing tremble, blue fire bursting out its head and lighting up the chamber. The knights all withdrew their weapons from the vessels and the blue fire burned out, the glow in the room replaced with gold.
Schaeffer had to look closely to notice a broad, bright line of gold running along the ridge of Midnight's blade. Wolf's knives were glowing gold along the edge with small dots making up a strange pattern along the grooves. And the crescent disk that makes up the riser of Fletcher's bow was burnished gold, every arrow he produced golden-headed.
“Wow…” Was all the former man could say in awe before Fletcher made a gesture to prepare for the teleport back to Canterlot and in a flash, they were back. Again, the blue unicorn was slightly dazed.
His pony counterpart gave him a golden sword, yet it fascinated him how Abstraction could carry such a big sword so easily. “No offense but are you stronger than you took?”
In response, the blue pony chuckled. “Trust me, the sword is lighter than it looks.”
“Alright then,” Tyson interrupted them, “Our intel suggests that only a skeleton crew mans the ship, the others are still deactivated. We will split into two groups to draw away attention. One goes for the prisoners, the other one for the engine.”
“And you think we are enough?” Kyle asked concerned only for the commander to point at the screen Celestia and Luna had prepared to view the progress. All of Tyson’s soldiers marched in formation towards the crashed ship.
“My troops await command.” He announced and Konrad loaded his AKM with gold-tipped rounds, having switched into camouflage fatigues.
“Let’s do this.”
At the ship, Blue took a deep breath and casted a spell. As her horn glowed, she shielded herself in a flying cloud of gold dust.
“Delta will assist you.” Tyson said and the ear-muff cyborgs joined the rescue team as they prepared to enter.
The way was just a silver corridor, with a few doors. Delta squad took the lead, so the ponies and human would know where to go. However, two Cybermen guarded the end of it, chatting to each other.
“I’ll take care of this.” Fletcher drew his bow, firing two arrows at their chests. Sparks flew and they screamed as they collapsed, withering for a few moments before dying.
With the way clear, they moved towards the door the hostiles had guarded. As they reached it, it opened, revealing a single hostile.
Kyle ducked to avoid a strike, then rammed his sword into the Cyberman’s chest. With a scream, the cyborg struggled not to collapse as he withered, falling to the ground.
Yet the former man breathed heavily at his first kill. He never thought he would do such a thing, but this was no longer a human.
Konrad put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s never easy but we have to move on.”
Nodding, they got through the door, only to encounter a group of Cybermen.
Having no other choice, Delta, Konrad and Fletcher opened fire, giving their friends cover to get in close and deal mortal strikes.
Blue grinned almost devilish, as every enemy that came too close to her, suffocated.
Using their weapons with gold allowed the team to quickly eliminate the threat and move on, coming to a turn. Konrad peeked around, then quickly went back to cover as a Cyberman fired. He then carefully peeked out and returned fire, hitting him dead-on in the chest, sparks flew as the cyborg fell defeated to the ground.
Satisfied, Ford reloaded, having forgotten how long it was since he had to use his weapon.
The way then led to another door and a Delta member explained, “This door leads right to the convention area. Go, we hold them off.”
They nodded and entered, ready to face whatever would await them as the corridor became a turn again. They stopped as a group of Cybermen stood in their way.
Yet the team could only look in shock and horror as they couldn’t believe what they saw, with one cyborg stepping forward, looking at Blue. “I recognize you. I was your son, Tungsten.” He spoke in a monologue tone.
Blue, still in shock and confusion, could only reply, “You're lying. You're not him. You're not my Tungsten!” Still, while her brain tried to deny it, a converted earth pony was facing her.
“I was. Now, I am perfect. Without emotions that restrict and curtail the intellect and logic of the mind. Freedom from disease, protection against heat and cold, true mastery.” The cyborg stated.
Her brain was still trying to process this, close to a breakdown as she asked in an almost desperate, cracking voice, “What about us? Growing up? The things you did and learned, the friends you made? What about your dad?!”
“These things are irrelevant.” Her converted son replied careless, as a smaller cyborg looked at Kyle, an encased horn poking out of the helmet.
“I know you. Father.”
“A-a-Art Strings? Is that...you?” Kyle asked in disbelief, only for the cyborg to reply,
“I was.”
Trembling, unable to believe it, he pleaded with her. “But...Please, tell me about your mother, your life, how I raised you! Please, Art... tell me...” His voice cracked in an attempt to make her remember who she really was, but her reaction was crushing.
“This is irrelevant.”
A smaller earth pony, together with a Cyberman that resembled a human looked at Konrad. “We are now complete, father.”
“B-Blau? K-“Katja?” Konrad stammered, his eyes small as his former daughter added,
“No longer, we have to feel upset for being different.”
Fletcher looked with dread as another unicorn faced him. “Uncle. I understand now. How emotions blocked me of being better.”
“Dinky, you need to fight it. Remember who you are!” He yelled, but it didn’t matter to her.
“It is not important who I was, nor it is for those who I considered friends.” Behind her were four other unicorns, one larger than any of the, together with two earth ponies, and a pegasus, it’s wings encased.
“Scoots…” Wolf couldn’t believe her eyes, nor could Midnight.
“Apple Bloom…”
Without any reaction, the now former ponies started to walk away, their supposed saviors wanted to follow them but their bodies didn’t respond.
Then, Midnight’s radio beeped. “We reached the engine room but meet heavy resistance, can you help us out?” Tyson asked, there was gunfire in the background.
“Y-yes, on our way.” Midnight snapped out and gave Wolf and Abstraction a sign, they nodded. “Fletch, get them back.”
“Will do.” The unicorn pulled himself together, the others did too, with Blue letting out a growl.
“Alright, I want to speak to you. Not you, Tungsten, whatever's doing this to you, whatever's controlling you. I want you know...you've made a big bloody mistake! Because I'm not going to let this pass! Tungsten, my little colt...I'm so sorry what's been done to you and I'm so sorry I couldn't stop it. But I promise...they will be sorrier!”
While determined, Derpy, Nancy, and the other family members of the converted foals trembled at the sight. “No…” Derpy whimpered.
Then, she and the others let out an ear-piercing scream.
Luna looked at the screen, noticing it was glitching. “The signal is fading, we are losing you!”
“Don’t worry, we’ll safe them!” Fletcher assured determined before the signal cut off.
Coming around a corner, another group blocked their way and they engaged the cyborgs. As Fletcher and Blue hit two of the hostile Cybermen, they spotted another group moving towards them.
Without hesitation, they took aim and fired/dealing mortal strikes. Then several young cries of pain followed.
“Oh no…” Fletcher’s eyes went small as he realized they had hit the children. Dinky and her friends were lying on the ground, ragged breathing could be heard from them. Also, some dead Cybermen were next to them, hinting they had tried to help their saviors, having been hit in the crossfire.
“Hang on, Dinky!” The green stallion casted a spell to repair her respiratory system and of her friends, Kyle and Blue did the same with their respective children.
“Fletch…sorry…” She sounded guilty, yet Fletcher spoke in a comforting voice,
“It’s alright, dear.”
“M-mom…” Tungsten struggled to breathe, making Blue worried.
“Hang in there, son, you’ll be safe soon.”
“D-ad…”
“Save your strength, Art Strings,” Kyle comforted her.
“Stay with me, children.” Konrad knelled next to the siblings, praying they would make it as Fletcher reached for his radio.
“Midnight, can you reach Time Turner, we need the Tardis now!”
“Understood, we are almost done with the engines.
The Farman pony barely noticed how Dinky tried to lift a hoof. “W-Watch out…”
Then something hard hit the back of their heads and they blacked out.
Midnight, Wolf and Abstraction fought off any attempt of preventing the sabotage, buying Tyson and the others time as they outfitted the engines with explosives.
“That’s it, explosives are set.” Glenn reported.
“Good!” Midnight reached for his radio to report to Luna. “Explosives are set, we are good to go.”
“Perfect but we lost contact with the others.” The princess replied with dread, yet Midnight stayed focused.
“Copy that, Luna, we are on our way.”
Upon regaining consciousness, Fletcher, Blue, Konrad and Kyle found themselves in a room, facing the Cyber-Controller, being restrained by other Cybermen. Their blood boiled with anger as Kyle exclaimed, “You won't get away with what you're doing! The Equestrian Guard will wipe you all off the grid, scrap metal!”
“We are not scrap metal but perfect cybernetic beings.” The Controller corrected him, further annoying him.
“You will pay for what you did to my children!” Konrad added, his eyes blazing but he couldn’t break free.
“They were the test subjects we needed to convert your species, becoming superior as we are.”
While keeping her anger in check, Blue hissed, “I rather die than become like you!”
“Those emotional responses are irrelevant. You should experience what is called ‘pride’”
“I am proud of my son!” She simply stated, only for the Controller to counter,
“The only thing that matters is our survival. Fear and anger. Another negative emotions. Two that are neither constructive or useful. When you become as we are, you will not miss them.”
“I find they can be useful.” Fletcher added calmly.
“Enough. You have wasted both our time and energy. I know you want to destroy our ship. You will tell me how it is to be done.” He demanded both all refused to answer. So, he gave the guards a sign and they grabbed the forehooves/hands of their prisoners.
The man and ponies tried not to show pain as their respective body parts got squeezed by the cyborgs, but it increased quickly.
In a matter of seconds, blood poured down them and they fell screaming to the floor, succumbing to the pain.
“You are foolish. You could have saved yourself from pain. I told you you would tell us everything. Now you will become as we are.” The Controller commented and his soldiers brought the captives to the alcoves.
Their bodies felt numb, yet there was a sharp pain as they slowly got converted, trying to fight against it.
Faintly, Fletcher saw Ifrit in front of him, his horn glowing. “Hold on, Fletcher, help is on the way.” His voice sounded as if he slightly panicked.
None of them could tell how long it was until they heard a faint creaking sound, turning their eyes towards the source.
A blue police box appeared in the room. Kyle saw how Midnight, Wolf, Abstraction and the three officers stepped out, securing the area.
“Dear Celestia... Kyle! What did they do to you!?” His mother exclaimed in shock to see him covered in the silver overall, only his face and forelegs were left unaltered.
It pained him to make this decision as he managed to speak in pain, “Now you must kill us.”
“Hang on, you got a wife waiting for you at home.” Abstraction replied as he cut him free, only for Fletcher to add,
“The drug is affecting our brains. Irreversible damage.”
“Hang in there, Fletch, it can be reversed.” Midnight assured him as he cut him free, Wolf worked on Konrad, Time Turner took care of Blue.
“Please, kill us.” She pleaded with him before there was a scream of pain.
Their saviors turned around to see Tyson, Almar and Vicky on the ground, with the Controller, Leader and lieutenant facing them as they entered through a door.
“Move away from them, Doctor.” The Controller demanded, “Emotions are a weakness. Those rouge Cybermen were the perfect example. And as it costed their lives, so will it yours and your friends.”
None of the ponies said a word, refusing to believe they had been beaten so close before success, yet knew they couldn’t do anything without getting gunned down.
Was this really the end?
Had they failed?
“Emotions…have an advantage…” A voice sounded behind the Controller. “They make sure you double-check your kills due to being unsure.”
In surprise, the Controller, Leader and Lieutenant turned around. They couldn’t react as Tyson, Amar and Vicky charged at them, holding some golden-tipped arrows from Fletcher in their hands.
The Controller screamed as the commander slammed the arrow into his chest, exploding in a shower of sparks. Almar did the same with the leader, Vicky to the lieutenant.
“That is taken care of. Let’s get out of here.” Tyson suggested, with Jan and Abstraction grabbing Kyle by the shoulders, Midnight and Tyson helped Fletcher, Wolf and Vicky Konrad, while Time Turner had little trouble helping Blue into the Tardis, the captured ponies passed out from exhaustion.
Then Tyson pressed a detonator as the Doctor steered to the hospital. The explosives ignited the fuel of the engines, creating sparks, followed by a small explosion.
Then another. And another.
In a chain reaction of burst of flames, more and more of the Cyber-Flagship got engulfed.
A shattering and deafening bang followed, so strong it caused the surrounding environment to vibrate in a slight earthquake. A brief burst of flames and smoke were visible in the sky.
Kyle woke up with a headache, groaning as he struggled to open his eyes. Looking around, he found himself in a hospital room with Fletcher, Blue and Konrad. He took notice that they were fully organic again, save for their limbs, which had a hollow prosthetics in place.
He let out a sigh, glad it was over, yet fought back tear that he couldn’t save his daughter. Lyra…I hope you can forgive me.
Then the others woke up, just as a nurse walked in. She was a unicorn, a bright white coat, along with a pink mane that had white strips, her blue eyes having a calming effect. Her cutie mark was a notepad.
“Ah, you’re woken up I am Nurse Candy.” She introduced herself and pointed a light into everyone’s eyes for a few seconds. "Pupils reacting normally, good.” Your friends are waiting for you.” She opened the door and Nancy, Midnight, Wolf and Jan walked in, the latter was bandaged around her chest, limping a bit, yet all had neutral expressions.
A feeling of guilt overcame Blue. “Nancy…I f-failed…” She lowered her head.
To their surprise, the elderly earth pony and the others started to smile weakly. “You didn’t fail.”
“I…didn’t?” The blue unicorn looked up in confusion.
“Yes. Your actions kept them stable until we got them to the hospital. And as you can see, the healing magic, together with the data from Tyson, reversed what the Cybermen did to you.” Her friend explained.
“C-can I see my son?” The portly mare asked with hope and slight happiness, with Candy nodding.
“They are right there.” She pointed to a row of beds they hadn’t noticed before. All the kids were also flesh and blood again, with their limbs also replaced by hollow prosthetics.
With tears of happiness, they made their way over, despite having little to no feeling in their limbs, all embracing the kids. “Tungsten…”
“M-mama?” The ginger colt blinked his eyes open, then smiled. “Mama!”
“Daddy!” Art Strings exclaimed in unison with the siblings.
“Uncle, Daddy, Mama…I am sorry…” Dinky lowered her head in guilt. “I tried to fight but when they did that to us…I felt only pain….until I couldn’t feel it anymore.”
“It’s alright, we are all just glad that you are alright.” Her mother replied.
Rainbow looked at Wolf with a smile. “I must thank you, Wolf, for helping to save my little sister.”
“It’s nothing, Rainbow, I just did my duty.” She replied, yet heard Scootaloo sniffing.
“B-but…will I ever able to fly again?”
In response, Rainbow gave her a calming hug. “Yes, you will, squirt. Your wings and legs will regenerate and I am sure, once that happened, you will be flying again in no time.” The mare then noticed a tear dropping from her eye and she groaned.
“Darn it! Now you got me acting all sappy!” The others laughed at this.
“However, it pains me to say that the healing process might take a month.” Candy stated with regret in her voice, “Still, as you were only partially converted, it might take less for you.” She then gave a weak smile. “But before I forgot, there’s visit for you.”
With that, Sunset, Tybalt, Shadow and a batpony mare with lilac mane, greyish fur with a tint of purple and golden eyes, a full moon with a shade of purple as cutie mark, looking like an image of a moon on the surface of a body of water, walked in.
“Sunset, glad you could come.” Flash said to her with a smile, receiving a warm hug.
“Of course, we are friends after all.” She replied as the batpony mare wrapped her hooves around Blitzer.
“I can’t state how happy I am to see you are okay.”
“Don’t worry, Moonlight, I’ll be fine.” He assured her.
Shadow gave Blue and her son a weak smile. “It relieves me to see you both are okay, we feared the worst as we heard what happened.”
“We’ll be fine, uncle Shadow.” The Trottingham colt calmly replied to him, returning the smile.
“But, are you sure you can do the work alone until I recovered?” Blue asked her two friends with doubt and Tybalt nodded.
“That won’t be a problem, Abstraction and his friends get quite well along with as, as we told you before.” He then turned to the white unicorn mare with smile. “Hey, Candy, how are you?”
She gave him a friendly hug in return. “I am doing good, dear. And they are in good hooves, I assure you.”
“But how did it come you could remember who you are?” Kyle asked the children dumb folded, only for Tyson to enter.
“I can explain that. You know how we kept our emotions due to our strong sense of duty. Turns out, you all had a strong instinct for our respective families and friends. Hearing their cries triggered an upsurge of emotions, making you remember who you really are.”
Jan then stepped forward to hug her son. “I really thought I’d lose you both.”
“I thought so too. Are you really alright?” He asked with concern, eyeing her bandaged area.
“Don’t worry, it was not as severe as it appeared. The bullet did not hit any major organs.” She then turned to Fletcher. “You saved my life, Fletcher.” To show her thanks, she wrapped him into a hug, causing him to blush.
“Please, I only did what was right.” He mumbled embarrassed.
“Still, you are a hero to me.” She then let go as Candy cleared her throat.
“It getting late, you all should get some rest.” She said as it became evening, with Nancy giving Patch a goodbye hug.
“Sleep well, old friend.”
“Thanks.”
Everyone slept well this night.
In the morning, Fletcher yawned, noticing all others were gone.
“Ah, good morning.” Candy brought him breakfast. “The others are undergoing a routine check. Luna suggested checking you separately to avoid conflicting with your nanomites.”
“Okay then.” He acknowledged and breakfasted, seeing out of the corner of his eyes how Moonlight stood guard at the door. Yet, curiosity got the better of him.
He lifted his blanket up to look under it, checking his lower body. A groan of discomfort escaped his mouth.
“You should look on the bright side.” Moonlight spoke up in a comforting voice, much to his surprise.
“Huh? How did you know?”
“Well, I can hear the thoughts of others, it’s my special talent, believe it or not.” She explained calmly, “As such, I could feel the tone of your thought as well. While I can understand your feeling, better that than smaller, right?”
The Farman stallion stayed silent for a brief moment, letting her words sink in. “I guess…I’d just preferred it to being my normal size again.”
Moonlight nodded. “Understandable. Yet, I hope I could help you.”
“You did, thank you.” He replied, realizing her words had some truth in it.
It was around noon, as Tyson and his troops meet up with the ponies for a final goodbye. “Our ship is fully repaired. We appreciate your help and Hospitality, wishing you a good recovery.”
“And I am entirely grateful for helping to remove a threat in my kingdom, as well as saving my beloved citizens. Why not stay with us and starting a new life here?” Celesta offered, her head lowered in a respectful bow.
“Please, even without us, you would have defeated them.” The former human sounded honored, yet embarrassed. “And it is a kind offer, but we politely decline. We rather help others in need until we can find a new place.”
In response, the princess let out a sigh. “Alright. Best of luck to you.”
“And to you all.“ All rouge Cybermen saluted before entering their ship. The ponies watched it until it was out of sight.
“I hope they can find a new home.” Dinky commented with hope.
“We can only hope for the best, but will never know.” Fletcher added with slight pity.
Around a week passed since then, with the ponies and humans having little trouble getting used to their prosthetics, despite not able to feel their limbs properly.
One day, Art Strings was played outside with her father and grandmother, as the doorbell rang and Abstraction opened.
“Siyarjit, Atgeir, Neolith, Insistra, Abundo, nice to see you!” He was delighted and the Pegasus returned the smile.
“Same. We thought we pay you a visit. How’s married life?”
“Me and Lyra are doing well. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No, thank you, we are just on a short visit.”
“And yet, I sense you had special visit lately.” Insistra sounded curious, causing the blue stallion to chuckle.
“You are right with that, but it’s a long story.” With that, he told his comrades what had happened while they had been away, their mouths were open in awe.
“Fascinating…” The priest of the Hasbrood mumbled, only for Neolith to smile.
“It honors you that you helped them.”
Lowering his head with a slight blush, the blue stallion replied, “I know.”
“Send Fletcher our regards and good recovery, will you? His fellow unicorn asked.
“Sure thing, Siyarjit.”
Just as his visitors left, his guests returned. “Welcome back.”
“And just convenient in time too.” A voice said and they saw Fletcher walking up to them. “We just managed to find the magic signature to get you home.”
A smile formed on the three ponies. “That’s good to hear. I can’t wait to be reunited with my wife.” Kyle said, much to Fletcher’s surprise.
“Pardon? It would be best to fully recover first.”
“We know and appreciate your concern but we would rather recover at home, with our family.” He stated, his mother and daughter nodded.
“All right, let me get the others.” With that, they all followed Fletcher to Twilight’s home, the knight informed the others and within 15 minutes everyone was present.
“Thank you for everything.” Art Strings did a group hug with the other children, crying tears. She knew that, unlike Katja and Blau, she couldn’t visit them without endangering the space-time continuum.
“It was the least we could do.” Dinky also cried tears, seeing how Kyle and Jan gave their hosts a hoof shake with expressions of gratitude, yet sadness was visible in their eyes.
The filly then walked over to her caretakers as they lit up their horns. “Goodbye. We won’t forget all your help.” Kyle said before they vanished in a white flash.
“I hope they can recover and have a good life.” Katja sounded slightly sad, only for Abstraction to give her a week smile.
“I am sure they will. And we can be proud of having helped them to get back home.”
“Indeed”. Fletcher added.
Kyle groaned as he woke up, his view was blurred as he faintly saw a figure in front of him. Blinking a few times, he found a mint-green mare smiled happy and relieved at him.
“Abby…I thought I had lost you!” Lyra wrapped him into a hug with tears of joy, which he returned.
“I missed you too.” He replied, seeing out of the corner of his eyes that he was in a hospital room, their daughter still blacked out, with Medium looking slightly shocked at Jan upon seeing her bandage.
“Oh my... Pan!” He exclaimed, wrapping his hooves around her, only for her to groan in pain. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, dear.”
Then, Celestia, Luna, a Changeling and male Alicorn walked in, with Kyle smiling at the latter two. “Scolus, Aversion, nice to see you.”
“Likewise, my friend, we came as soon as we could.” Aversion replied, only for Lyra to look with dread at the replaced limbs of her husband and daughter.
“What happened to you?”
The blue stallion sighed. “It’s a long story.”
Luna then stepped forward. “Then, may I?” She asked and both adults nodded. Having permission, her horn started to glow and touched the foreheads, allowing her and the others to see what had happened.
“Oh my… am so sorry, Abby!” Kyle’s lover yelled out in guilt, only for him to gently pat her back.
“It was an accident, sweetie, you aren’t to blame.”
“Still, fascinating to see you and myself in an alternative universe.” The male Alicorn commented.
“B-but, did I see that right?” Blinking, the reddish-brown stallion asked in confusion.
Taking a deep breath, Jan nodded. “Yes. I am so sorry I lied to you…I-I was just afraid my past could repeat or…”
She couldn’t finish as the Pegasus pulled her in a calming hug, being careful of her injury this time. “It’s okay, I understand you. And with he, you meant William, right?”
In response, the mare looked up with a sniff. “Y-yes, even after all this time, I still struggle from time to time.” She said, it was semi-right, though it still hurt her to lie.
“It’s only natural, dear. And Kyle, I’ll keep your secret, promise.” He looked at with an honest expression, receiving smiles by Scolus and Aversion.
A slight groan came from the filly, interrupting them.
Art Strings found herself in a dark room, seeing only faintly light, it scared her.
“You really think you can take me down single-handedly?” A male voice asked taunting and she saw a silhouette of a stallion, facing her mother. She wanted to call out but no sound came out of her mouth.
With fear, the filly watched as her mother pointed calmly behind her and the stallion seemed to be surprised. So was the foal.
Behind Lyra were all her friends, if not the entire population of Ponyville, all having eager expressions. Pinkie Pie then held up a sign. “A lot of us, ain’t it?”
“Well then, let’s do this!” The stallion exclaimed before a bright light blinded her.
Groaning, she opened her eyes to see he mother smiling happy at her. “Mama! I missed you” They hugged each other.
“I missed you too, sweetheart. And don’t worry, I’ll help you with everything you need.” Lyra assured her.
“I know and I appreciate it.” She returned the smile, with her father holding up a hoof.
“What about some ice cream after this?”
This caused a big grin on the filly’s face. “You don’t have to ask me twice!”
Yet, she, Kyle and Jan hoped Tyson and his soldiers could find peace.
Up in space, Almar scanned a wormhole after they had left orbit. “Scans indicate this is the same wormhole that sucked us in, having been recently formed again, which is very rare.”
“I see. Get us back in and on course.” Tyson commanded.
“Yes, sir.” The two lieutenants steered in the ship into the wormhole, the screen showed nothing but a swirl of blue.
Upon getting out, Almar did a scan of the surroundings and was quite surprised. “I can’t say where we were when we got sucked in, but it appears we are close to Earth now.”
This pleased Tyson. “Excellent. Set a course.”
“Sir?” Vicky asked surprised.
“It would be best to show our cousins we aren’t hostile to them.” Her superior explained and she gave a slight nod.
As the planet came into view, a message came through. “Unidentified ship, identify yourself.”
Tyson took a deep breath. “We are the honor guard of Mondas, and…we come in peace.”