//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Near Human // by Element of Power //------------------------------// "Beneath it, terrified ponies watched as a creature covered in metal lifted the immense crucible, saving them from doom." ................................................................................................................................ Dr. Jovan emerged on Earth from the teleportation alongside the two guarding ponies. While he landed on his feet, the other two fell to the ground, disoriented. With immense speed, he kicked the unicorn far off to the side, allowing some of his subordinates to grab it and haul it off. He reached down to help the other off the ground. The pony reoriented himself, looking around the new space. Unsurprisingly, he noticed his missing companion. "Wait, where did Charger go?" He asked as he searched around. The Doctor gave his insincere condolences. "It seems he was, to put it simply, lost in transit. I apologize for your loss, we will work on making the machine better in the future." Jovan turned away, ignoring the stunned pony. "However, for the most part, the machine does work. This is our world, and this is my laboratory. Take it all in, because you and your people will be enjoying these wonders in no time." Quickly sending instructions to his subordinates computers, he grabbed the distraught pony and prepared for the return trip. ................................................................................................................................ E-30 towered over the cowering ponies, with the giant metal crucible casting a shadow over him. With some effort, he moved it to the side, letting it fall safely to the ground with a shocking boom. The ponies at his feet stared at him with wide eyes, before bursting into cheer. They crowded him, thanking him and trying to hug him. As awkward as it was, at least they weren't screaming in fear of him. "Or asking what I was doing in the factory..." Blue Wing slowly walked forward, just as confused about the situation. he stood idly by his side, wisely not saying anything. As the praise died down and the workers started fixing the mess, a group of six ponies walked forward. He took note of the pony features each of them had. Two with wings, one with a horn, two with nothing, and one with both. Just like the ruler he had met. They seemed nervous as they approached. The purple one with a horn and wings, clearly the leader, spoke first. "Um, Hi? Thank you for saving those ponies, but..." E-30 and his companion could feel the tension in the air. She continued her thought. "...Are you the creature that ran from the castle?" E-30 briefly contemplated his next action. "On one hand, they might blast me with magic if I say yes. On the other hand, I did just save those ponies, hopefully that earned me some good will..." In the afterglow of his heroic actions, he decided to do the "right" thing, hoping he could use it to explain his situation properly. "Yeah, that's me. I'm E-30, and this is my friend Blue Wing." Blue Wing did the smart thing and kept his mouth shut. He painfully smiled at them, ready for the worst. "Your, friend?" The leader said, confused. The pink one seemed to beam at that, bouncing in place. "The creature has a friend?! That means it can't be that bad, Twilight. Especially since it just saved those ponies instead of crushing them to death!" The pink one said, still beaming despite the words she just said. The purple one looked perplexed. "I guess? Would it be alright if you and your... friend... came with us back to Canterlot? I'm sure you would like to explain yourself." E-30 nodded, accepting the offer. "Of course. Blue, could you grab our other friends? We're all going to Canterlot." Obviously seeing the opportunity that was presenting itself, Blue agreed and flew off. At this, the pink one began to bounce even higher. "WOW! It has MORE friends?!" Within the hour, the six ponies, E-30, and his three former captives were all sitting on the train headed to Canterlot. They all awkwardly stared at each other, except for the pink one, who stared out the window with unwavering attention. E-30 decided to try to break the tension. "So, what are your names?" They each went around, putting names to faces. The orange one with the ...stetson hat... was Applejack. The white one was Rarity. The blue one with rainbow hair was, fittingly, Rainbow Dash. The yellow one was Fluttershy, the pink one was Pinky Pie, and the leader was Twilight Sparkle. After giving their names, they seemed to loosen up, allowing them to ask questions. Twilight asked first. "What are you, and why were you at Canterlot." The question sounded more curious than confrontational. "I'm a human, and I accidentally ended up in the castle. I'm from a different world, probably." As bizarre as his answer was, they didn't seem to surprised by it. Twilight pressed on. "And you ran into the woods because....?" "....because I'm stupid, I guess?" He tried not to think about his actions leading up to this. "One foot in front of the other." "How did you all find me? Were you tracking me?" Twilight waved her hoof side to side. "Fluttershy heard from her animal friends that you were in the woods, so she had a bird follow you." E-30 thought back to the blue bird that seemed to follow him through the woods. "Makes sense, sneaky bastard." "Then, when you took the map from Zecora, we followed the magic trail from the scroll. Unfortunately, once you left it behind we had to search for you without a guide." Pinkie Pie quickly butted in. "Then that's when we saw you save those ponies, and told us that you have friends, and then came with us onto this train to Canterlot, and then began sharing names with each other, and-" Applejack quickly put a hoof on Pinkies mouth. "Sorry." She said, a clear countryside accent in her voice. "Rarity, Dash, and I only joined the search when there was a trail ta follow. I'm glad we did though, since this is mighty interestin'." Rainbow Dash cut in as well, hovering in the air. "Yeah, we heard that you jumped down Canterlot Mountain! Right after jumping from Princess Celestia's room and running through Canterlot from the entire guard!" She moved her hooves to imitate the action packed scene in her head. "Speaking of which..." Rarity added. "What exactly were you doing in her room? Nothing...scandalous I hope?" From the look on her face, she clearly desperately hoped it was something "scandalous". E-30 sighed. "Again, it was a teleportation accident." Pinkie jumped at that. "Teleportation accident? Hey Rarity, that's just like when you-" This time, it was Rarity's hoof on her mouth. Rarity continued. "Anyway, when did you and those three become friends?" The three petty thieves jolted at their mentioning. Fortunately, they all understood to just go along with it. "As you probably guessed, I met them while I was going through the city. I guess we just connected." "Fists and hooves connected. It also involved a knife and hostage situation." He left out. "You already met Blue Wing, the unicorn is Comet, and the...other one is Brisk." Twilight nodded. "The term for him would be Earth Pony." Pinkie cut in once more. "And since we're now friends with E-30 here, you are our friends as well!" The trio didn't seem too enthusiastic about the idea, especially as Pinkie ran over to sit uncomfortably close to them. E-30 smiled at their antics. Looking out the window, he could see the mountain he was very familiar with getting closer. As relaxed as this was, he was nervous about the interrogation that would no doubt come from the Princess that was waiting for him. ................................................................................................................................ "As I have proven, the platform works. The loss of the guard is regrettable, but I have already corrected the error." Celestia looked to the remaining guard. "Is this true?" "Despite the ...accident... it did work like he said." The guard reported distantly. Celestia nodded. In her head, however, she was filled with rage. Clearly, Jovan thought he could continue to lie and she would be completely unaware. The disappearance of the maid's body was suspicious. But now? She had no doubt he did something to the guard. It took all her restraint to keep from blasting the smug look off of his face. "So, I trust 'accidents' like this won't be happening in the future, correct?" She coldly stated. The Doctor's smirk only grew. "Of course." Behind them, the doors to the throne room opened, revealing the original source of trouble known as E-30, followed by Twilight and her friends, and three other ponies she didn't know. As she watched the group approach, she noticed that none of them were afraid of E-30. This reinforced the growing idea that he wasn't what Jovan claimed. Celestia glanced to the side, taking note of the Doctor's changed demeanor. The smirk died a bit, but never left his face as he stared pointedly at E-30. When they came to a stop and politely bowed, Celestia spoke. "Thank you for finding him and bringing him here. You have proven your skills once more, though I believe I sent a follow up letter asking you not to pursue anymore." Twilight's eyes widened as she laughed nervously. "I think I missed that letter..." Celestia paid no mind and moved on. "I'd like to hear how you found him, and what you believe should be done. You are a Princess after all." E-30 turned to Twilight, surprised. To the side, Jovan was clearly becoming impatient. Twilight began retelling the series of events that occurred outside the castle, mainly focusing on the chase to Manehatten. Finally, the story ended with the very surprising heroic actions of E-30. It brought much more light to the ideas in Celestia's mind. Jovan was no longer smirking. "E-30, I'd like to hear your side of the story. Starting after your initial...great escape." She prompted. He nodded, telling her about his time in the forest, his encounters with a Diamond Dog group, and his journey to Manehatten. She could tell he was leaving some things out about his time in the city, but that hardly mattered now. Jovan was visibly irritated. Celestia continued. "That's quite the story. I won't ask what exactly you were doing near the Night Crucible factory, and why you seem to be made of Moon Steel." She smirked at his nervousness. "However, the last thing I would like to know is what you were doing before appearing in this castle." E-30 glanced at the Doctor, before giving Celestia a very disturbing tale. Slavery, torture, and the complete reconstruction of his body. That explained the metal. And certainly explained the growing doubts about Jovan. The veil was lifted. Celestia sat up straighter. "It is clear to me there was a misunderstanding. While you did run, you didn't have any nefarious intentions. You have done nothing but defend yourself. And you, Jovan, have been shown to be a lying and evil murderer. E-30 is not a criminal, the 'loss' of the guard Charger was intentional, and the death of the maid Cherry Wings was done by you." There was a gasp from the group, but she paid it no mind as she watched Jovan. The Doctor was enraged. ................................................................................................................................ In a split second he leapt forward. Princess Celestia fired a magical blast, but Jovan just barely slipped around it as he slammed into E-30. The two wrestled on the ground, each raining punches on the other. Jovan overpowered him, driving him into a wall and through to the other side. E-30 quickly recovered, blocking another strike before shoulder checking the Doctor. Jovan slid back, but took advantage of his position to grab E-30's head, ripping his fingers into his neck. In an instant, E-30 began to see glitches in his vision, as his body grew heavier and harder to move. He could hear the Doctor not just in front of him, but inside his head. "You can't win. I made you. I will have you and this world. OBEY!" His vision darkened, before he was freed by something slamming into the Doctor from behind. E-30 shakily looked up, seeing an angry Blue Wing, attached to Jovan's back as he slammed his hoof into his head. "You" *smack* "killed" *smack* "my" *smack* "bucking" *smack* "SISTER!?" Jovan grabbed the pegasus throwing him to the side. Almost immediately, he was attacked by ponies on all sides. He was partially covered in a purple and yellow glow while the group of six and the two other criminals curb-stomped the Doctor into the marble floor. E-30 got up collecting himself and standing by. Clearly, Jovan wasn't escaping the grasp of both magical auras. Then, he heard heavy footsteps rapidly approaching. A different wall exploded, revealing Jovan's two huge cyborg bodyguards. One of them punched the surprised Princess Celestia, sending her to the floor, while the other ran right into the group attacking Jovan, plowing through them like a bowling ball. Freed from his captors, the Doctor was grabbed by his guard and the three of them raced away. Behind him, Celestia recovered and flew toward the ponies on the floor. "Stay here! E-30, come with me. They'll be heading for the teleport platform!" Without waiting for an answer, she cast her own teleportation on both of them. He and Celestia appeared in a cavern with a pop, as E-30 got his first look at the new and improved teleport system Jovan had created. He didn't get to appreciate it for very long, as Celestia charged up a spell and fired. Despite the dulled senses of his machine body, he could feel the impressive heat of the blast as it incinerated the machine into molten slag. 'I'm glad she didn't do that while I was next to Jovan...' The glow around Celestia's horn died. "I apologize for dragging you along. I wasn't sure if I would need you to shut it down, in the event I couldn't destroy it." E-30 just nodded quietly. The two of them left the cavern, searching the halls leading to it for their target. However, they never encountered them. Celestia looked confused. "Where are they? They would be looking to escape, no?" E-30 thought back to his own escape. "...except they might not be trying to go back to my world. They might just be escaping the castle! They can make a teleport platform wherever they want!" Celestia once more teleported away with him, except now they appeared at the edge of the city. Immediately, they could see the cracks in the ground from the heavy cyborgs, and the frightened ponies standing in the streets. Below the mountain, there was no trace of the Doctor.