While Doctor Whooves was getting his invention ready, the Mane Six just looked around the lab from where they were standing. The lab was filled with lots of strange wonders and inventions, many of which were quite fascinating to the ponies. While Twilight was looking around, she spotted something in the far corner of the lab that caught her eye. From what Twilight could tell, it looked like a large blue box with a door that had an inscription on it. The inscription read, 'Tardis'. Twilight had no idea what the word Tardis meant, but she assumed it was some fancy word created by the Doctor.
Twilight wondered what this Tardis was and was about to ask the Doctor, but she was stopped when everypony heard the sound of metal clanks. From the pattern in which the sounds occurred, it was clear that it was similar to the sounds of footsteps, only more metal. However, the odd thing about these footsteps was that it sounded like only two metal hooves hitting the ground, not four. A few moments later, a long metal tentacle-like arm came out from around the corner. Then, the second arm came out from around the corner. The Mane Six looked up and saw Doctor Whooves, who was suspended in the air by the two long metal arms that acted like legs of some sort. The bottom two arms were connected to a special harness that Doctor Whooves wore. But there wasn't only two arms, there were four arms in total. The top two arms were just waving around, not doing anything; they too were attached to the harness.
“Tada!” Doctor Whooves said as he stretched out his hooves. “Presenting, my newest invention! I present to you, my Arms of Assistance!” Doctor Whooves said with a very interesting accent.
For a few moments, no pony said a word.
“Well, what do you think?” Doctor Whooves asked with a grin on his face.
Still, no pony uttered a single word. They were all completely frozen in shock at the strange sight before them. Pinkie Pie stayed still for a moment and then gasped in terror, before shouting,
“(Gasp) OH NO! IT'S DOCTOR OCTOPUS FROM SPIDER-MARE!!! RUN!!” Pinkie Pie screamed as she pointed aggressively at the Doctor before making a run for the door, not getting very far before Twilight stopped her with magic.
“Pinkie, I am pretty sure that Doctor Whooves is not Doctor Octopus from Spider-Mare. It's just a comic series. Plus, a couple of films. In any case, none of it is real.” Twilight said, trying to keep the pink pony under control.
“But what about the Mane-iac!? She was a comic book villain, and she was real!” Pinkie Pie said, trying to break out of Twilight's magical grip.
“Pinkie, you do realize that the only reason she was real was because we all got sucked into Spike's comic book, right?” Applejack asked.
“Ohhhh, yeah, you're right. Silly me.” Pinkie Pie said as she giggled at herself.
“So terribly sorry about that Doctor.” Twilight said, giving the Doctor an apologetic look.
“Oh, it's alright, no harm done.” Doctor Whooves said as he looked at his mechanical arms and chuckled a bit. “I suppose I don't really blame Miss Pie for her confusion. While these arms are very much similar to that of the arms built by this Doctor Octopus fellow, I can assure you, they are not the same.”
“You sure about that, Doc?” Rainbow Dash asked, giving the arms a suspicious look. “Cuz, they look exactly the same, the only difference is the pony who's wearing the arms.”
“Th-They don't have some sort of e-evil intelligence or any evil v-voices, do they?” Fluttershy asked as she hid behind Applejack.
“Evil voices? You mean like what happened in the second Spider-Mare film, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked as Fluttershy simply nodded, still cowering behind Applejack.
“Oh, no, nothing like that.” Doctor Whooves said as he chuckled. “In fact, my arms have no artificial intelligence of any kind. It's only me who's in control of them.”
“And how exactly are you controlling them there, arms?” Applejack asked, tilting her head in confusion.
“Well, with my mind of course. I will explain the process in further detail at the presentation.” Doctor Whooves said as the arms lowered him back to the ground. “But in the meantime, what do you ponies think of my new invention?”
“Quite impressive, if I do say so myself.” Rarity said.
“It's pretty cool, I guess.” Rainbow Dash said, still being wary of the arms.
“I think they're fantastic! I love them!” Pinkie Pie shouted, waving her hooves around, trying to mimic how the arms were freely moving.
“W-Well, as long as they aren't evil or anything, I suppose they're okay.” Fluttershy said, relaxing a bit.
“Mighty interesting invention there, Doctor.” Applejack said.
“This is quite the invention, Doctor. But I do have a serious question about these arms.” Twilight said.
“What is it? You may ask whatever you wish, Princess.” Doctor Whooves said.
“Well, please don't get offended or anything but you don’t have any sort of... obsession with these arms, do you?” Twilight asked, trying to muster an innocent smile.
“(Laughs) You have nothing to worry about, Princess. I created these arms for the sake of the citizens of Ponyville, not for myself. Much like the rest of my inventions, I created these arms to assist Ponyville.” Doctor Whooves replied.
“Well, that's good to hear.” Twilight said, relaxing a bit.
“Yes, well I'd love to chat more, but I think it's time you mares wait outside my lab, the presentation is scheduled to start very soon. I'd like to make some final preparations.” Doctor Whooves said.
“You're right, thank you so much for this, Doctor Whooves. Good luck with the presentation.” Twilight said.
“Thank you very much, I'll see you all again soon.” Doctor Whooves said as the Mane Six said their goodbyes and left the lab.
Sometime later...
It was finally time, everypony in Ponyville had gathered for the presentation and they were all waiting patiently outside Doctor Whooves's laboratory. A few moments later, Mayor Mare walked up onto a small stage that was placed right next to the entrance of the lab. As soon as the mayor stepped on the stage, everypony went silent, or continued to quietly whisper amongst themselves.
“Good afternoon everypony. As you are all aware, we are gathered here today to be amazed once again by one of Doctor Whooves's brilliant inventions. Nearly every invention that our good Doctor has created was built for the sake of helping everypony. I am sure today's invention will be no different. Now, I'm sure we're all excited to see what the Doctor has invented. I know I am! So, without further ado, I give you, Doctor Whooves!” Mayor Mare said as she pointed her hoof up towards the roof of the lab while everypony applauded and cheered.
For a few moments, there wasn't anything happening, but then the roof of the lab opened up like a hatch. From the opening, came two large mechanical tentacle-like arms. Doctor Whooves then appeared, being hoisted up by the arms, with the rest of the arms coming into view and carrying him down to the ground.
“Greetings my fellow citizens of Ponyville!” Doctor Whooves said as he smiled happily to the crowd.
As to be expected, a lot of the ponies in the crowd were quite intimidated by the sight of these mechanical arms and a few ponies even tried to make a run for it, but they stopped when they saw that the arms were not causing any harm. There was quite a bit of murmuring and chatting going on as everypony had their attention on the mechanical arms.
“Behold, my newest invention! My Arms of Assistance! Designed to assist ponies with tasks that they cannot do themselves.” Doctor Whooves said as he proudly presented the arms.
There were a lot of “ooh's” and “ah's” coming from the crowd as Doctor Whooves continued his speech.
“These arms you see are made of a very special kind of metal that makes them resistant to heat, magnetism, and they can even continue to function while underwater. The arms are controlled by my mind and are more than capable of assisting you in any way possible. I shall now give you a little demonstration of one of the ways these arms will be helpful to you. May my faithful companion and assistant please come forward.” Doctor Whooves said as he looked in the crowd for his assistant.
“Oh, that's me! That’s me!” Derpy said happily, before Rainbow Dash playfully nudged her.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Get up there, Derpy!” Rainbow Dash said as she gestured towards the stage.
“Okay!” Derpy said as she flew up and over to the Doctor. “Heya Doc! You needed me?” Derpy asked with a happy smile.
“(Chuckle) Yes, I do, my friend. Do you see the large sign above the entrance to my lab?” Doctor Whooves asked.
“I sure do, Doc!” Derpy said, pointing to the sign.
“Splendid! Now, Derpy, would you kindly remove a couple of the bolts holding the sign in place so it can dangle a bit?” Doctor Whooves asked.
“Sure thing, Doc!” Derpy said happily as she flew to the small space between the sign and the roof where there was enough room for her to yank out the bolts.
“Now, in a moment, the sign above my lab will fall to the side, then I will-.” but before Doctor Whooves could finish his sentence, there was a loud crash from behind him.
Doctor Whooves turned around and saw that his whole sign had fallen to the ground, it seemed that Derpy might have removed one too many bolts, causing the whole thing to fall.
“Well.... that wasn't exactly supposed to happen.” Doctor Whooves said with a nervous chuckle.
“Oh gosh! I'm so sorry Doctor, I didn't mean to do that.” Derpy said as she was very much upset with herself.
“No need to worry, Derpy. I am not mad with you, as a matter of fact, this actually makes things better for the demonstration.” Doctor Whooves said as he gave Derpy a comforting grin before continuing his presentation.
“I just don't know what went wrong.” Derpy said to herself.
“Now, you see that my sign has well, fallen off completely, yes?” Doctor Whooves asked the crowd as they all gave nods in response. “Naturally, I am not strong enough to lift the sign myself, and even if I was, how would I possibly be able to put the sign back up where it belongs? I can't exactly fly now, can I? What if nopony else is able to help me? Well, this is where the arms come in, observe.”
With that, the top two arms reached for the sides of the fallen sign and carefully lifted it up off the ground. With the sign being in a secure grip, the arms very gently placed the sign back in its correct place. Doctor Whooves then had the bottom two arms raise him in the air so he could get the bolts back in. One of the bottom arms snaked up to secure the sign and hold it in position, leaving one arm left to keep Doctor Whooves raised in the air. Now with three arms holding the sign, Doctor Whooves made one of the three arms grab a few of the bolts sitting on the roof and gently placed the bolts back, keeping the sign in place. Once all the bolts were secure, Doctor Whooves let go of the sign and backed away from it. The sign had been fixed. Seeing this amazing display, everypony cheered for the Doctor.
“Thank you all! Thank you very much!” Doctor Whooves said as the arms lowered him safely back to the ground.
“Yes, a brilliant demonstration, Doctor Whooves!” Mayor Mare said as she looked back to the crowd. “I'm sure we all have questions for the Doctor, so anypony with a question, please raise your hoof and I will call on you.”
A lot of hooves went up in the air. Doctor Whooves was pleased when he saw that so many ponies were interested in learning more about his invention.
“Hmm, why don't you have the first one, Princess.” Mayor Mare said as she pointed to Twilight, who had summoned a blank scroll and a quill, no doubt ready to write as much information as she could.
“Thank you, Mayor Mare. So, Doctor Whooves, you mentioned that you control the arms with your mind, would you mind explaining how you are able to do this?” Twilight asked.
“Ah, yes, brilliant question, Princess. But before I can answer that, please allow me to explain the process of putting on and removing these arms. Mayor?” Doctor Whooves asked, looking to Mayor Mare for permission.
Mayor Mare nodded with approval, allowing Doctor Whooves to continue his speech.
“Well, the harness I am wearing as you can see is wrapped around my chest and underbelly area. To remove the harness, I simply press this button on my right side, just behind my right shoulder.” Doctor Whooves said as he pressed the button.
This caused the arms to go limp and the harness to open up from the side in a way similar to that of opening a treasure chest or something. The crowd did take notice that as the harness came off, it appeared that Doctor Whooves felt a bit of pain. Doctor Whooves quickly shook it off as he continued.
“I'm sure you all can see the needles that are protruding out from inside the harness where my back would be. Well, this is how the arms are able to link with my mind. It is a bit painful at first, but I assure you, it is perfectly safe. Now, I will put the harness back on and then I will answer your question, Princess.” Doctor Whooves said as he secured himself in the harness and pressed the button again, causing the harness to close around him and the needles to dig into his back, causing him to wince. “The needles in the harness connect to my spinal cord, which in addition, connects the harness to my central nervous system as well. With the needles connected, I am able to control the arms as if they were one of my very own hooves.”
“Wow, that's very interesting. Thank you, Doctor.” Twilight said as she finished writing everything she needed to know.
“Hey, Doctor Whooves! I have a question! Is there some kind of intelligence in those arms? Like do they have a mind of their own?” Lyra asked.
“Lyra! You're supposed to wait to be called on before you go asking questions!” Bon Bon said, poking Lyra's side.
“Aww, but Bon Bon, I really want to know.” Lyra said.
“(Chuckle) There is no need to worry, my friends. I can assure you; my arms have no intelligence of any kind. The only part that could be considered an intelligence is their ability to automatically make their way to you if you summon them via this remote.” Doctor Whooves said as he used one of his arms to reach into a small pocket on his harness and pulled out a small remote. “If you need the arms to come to you, all you have to do is press this button and the arms will arrive shortly. Naturally you have to be within a certain range for this to work but I am hoping to expand the range as soon as possible.”
“Hey, Applejack, do you think we could get one of those arm thingies to help out at the farm? It would make things easier for us.” Applebloom whispered.
“Come on now, Applebloom, you heard what Doctor Whooves said. Them there, arms are meant for situations that require extra help. Using those arms for every basic thing would just be being lazy.” Applejack said.
“Aww horse apples.” Applebloom said as she kicked at the ground in disappointment.
For the next hour or so, ponies kept on asking many questions about these strange mechanical arms. The Doctor did bring up a few interesting features about the arms. Probably the most interesting, and most concerning feature about the arms was their apparent ability to produce a small burst of electricity from the center of each individual claw of the arms. Sort of like a taser. The arms also had sources of light that would be emitted from the center of their claws at night or in dark places. Also, despite the arms being made of rather strong materials, they were explained to be rather light and not so heavy to wear. Doctor Whooves also explained that these arms would be able to be used by earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns. For the pegasi, there were two openings on the upper sides of the harness, large enough for a Pegasus to fit their wings through comfortably.
“Does anypony have any more questions for the good Doctor?” Mayor Mare asked, as she looked around in the crowd. “No? Well in that case, that concludes today's presentation. Thank you very much Doctor Whooves. We all are very fascinated by your new invention, and we hope it will be of good use to everypony.”
“The pleasure was all mine, Mayor Mare. Thank you for coming everypony!” Doctor Whooves said as everypony applauded.
As everypony began to depart from the area, Doctor Whooves climbed back to the top of his lab and climbed in through the roof, closing it as he went inside. As the Doctor went back inside his lab, Derpy flew back down to the ground, hoovering slightly, looking back at the lab before being interrupted by Rainbow Dash tapping her on the shoulder.
“So, Derpy, saw you were making eyes at the Doctor during the presentation, what gives?” Rainbow Dash asked as she grinned.
“Wh-What!? Making eyes? I-I don't know what you're talking about!” Derpy said as she blushed furiously and shook her hooves in a defensive manner.
“(Laughs) Come on Derpy, I already know you have a crush on the Doctor. You told me remember?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“O-Oh, yeah, I forgot.” Derpy said as she giggled to herself.
“Seriously though, Derpy, you've had a thing for him since Twilight first came to Ponyville. When are you gonna tell him?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“W-Well, you see-.”
“Ah, there you are, Derpy. I was hoping I'd find you.” Doctor Whooves said, having emerged from his lab, free of the arms.
“Oh! H-Hi Doctor!” Derpy said as she quickly spun around.
“Hello Derpy, ah, Rainbow Dash, it's good to see-.”
“Sorry, love to chat but I got a sleepover to attend! See ya Doc! Good luck Derpy!” Rainbow Dash said as she quickly zipped away.
“Huh? Rainbow Dash, wait!” Derpy called, but Rainbow Dash was already gone.
“Oh, well, yes, I suppose that's important.” Doctor Whooves said, confused as to why Rainbow Dash had zipped away so fast.
“Well, Derpy, I'm feeling quite famished after all that talking. Would you care to accompany me to grab a bite to eat?” Doctor Whooves asked.
“(Gasp) Would I!?” Derpy cried as she smiled widely, before calming herself and chuckling nervously. “I-I mean, I'd love to, Doc.”
“Splendid. Come on, let us be off.” Doctor Whooves said as he began to walk away.
“Okay, Doc.” Derpy replied as she squealed to herself, before quickly flying next to the Doctor.
As Doctor Whooves and Derpy made their way towards one of the restaurants in Ponyville, a cloaked pony chuckled, hiding in the shadows as he watched the Doctor leave.
“Quite a brilliant invention Doctor. It would be quite a shame if somepony were to use it for bad things. Yes, that would be just horrible! What could ever be worse!? Oh, I know.... (Evil Chuckle) What if you were the one who used your own invention to harm others? Oh, that would be just dreadful! You better watch out, Doctor! You don't want to get.... Discorded or anything now, would you?” the cloaked pony said as he chuckled and walked away, no pony ever catching sight of him.