//------------------------------// // Part 3: Precursor to War // Story: New Settings; Old Enemies // by KevynTheDevylman //------------------------------// Doctor Whooves New Settings; Old Enemies Part 3 Precursor to War Some Time Earlier: Dinky was still dumbfounded that she had allowed Scootaloo to talk her into this. She felt ridiculous. She was standing in a tree, with a line of stretchy bungee rope tied around her flank, right beside the other CMC, who were all in the same condition. She began regretting having friends. “I don’t know girls,” Dinky said, looking down from the high tree branch. “I’m pretty sure this is not what I want to do with my life.” “Don’t be such a worry wart Dinky,” Scootaloo said, looking at her around their other two friends. “We’ll never find our talent if we don’t try everything.” Dinky shook her head and sighed in submission. “What makes you think this is our special talent? It doesn’t seem like something you need a lot of skill to do. It’s just falling without hitting the ground. Don’t Pegasai do that normally?” The orangish colored, purple maned Pegusus gave her a dirty look. Dinky realized that she had brought up flying to a Pegasus who had severe trouble flying and quickly back stepped. “B-but, I guess it could be fun and maybe it’s more challenging than I think.” “Tha’s the spirit, Dinky,” Apple Bloom said. Sweetie Belle, the unicorn with the light grey coat and pink mane, didn’t look so sure. “Uh, Scootaloo,” she said. “Are you sure this is safe?” “Of course,” She said. “We’re all tied up, right?” “Right,” The others said. “Then let’s do it!” She shouted, leaping from the branch. Apple Bloom followed next. Dinky, not wanting to be left out, dropped next. Only Sweetie Belle hesitated. As the three fillies bounced on the cords, they randomly bumped into each other, reinforcing Sweetie’s decision to stay on the branch. As their swinging finally stopped, the three fillies simply hung from the branch, groaning in pain. “How do we get down?” Dinky asked, finally realizing she had no idea. “Darn,” Scootaloo muttered, “I knew I forgot something!” “Oh, nice job Scootaloo!” Dinky called out. “Now I’m going to spend the rest of my life hanging from a tree.” “Maybe we have tree hanging cutie marks,” Apple Bloom stated, trying to look at her flank. “Forget it!” Dinky declared. “This is crazy! I’m not making hanging from a tree my special talent. Sweetie!” The filly in the tree tried hard not to look down as she replied, “What?” “Can you levitate?” Dinky asked. “I’m not that good at it.” “Y-yeah,” she replied. “I want you to undo the ropes and levitate us down one at a time,” she said. “Start with me.” “Why you?!” Scootaloo demanded. “Because I can help lower you two,” Dinky said. “I’m not good at levitating, but I can help make it easier.” Scootaloo pouted. “Okay, but I go next.” Dinky rolled her eyes as she felt the rope start to slack. Internally, she contemplated letting Scootaloo drop just to show her what-for. She fell sharply for a second before Sweetie’s magic began supporting her, allowing her to fall slowly, but very unsteadily. She softly reached the ground and looked up to the others. She saw Sweetie begin loosening Scootaloo’s rope; and something else. It looked like a bright red star moving through the sky, and getting bigger. She quickly realized it was some sort of meteorite and started to call to the others. It was too late. The object tore through the base of the tree, kicking up dirt and debris, which Dinky instinctively blocked with a magic shield. She soon heard the tell-tale sound of wood breaking and screaming fillies as the tree began to fall. Dinky kept out of the way of the trunk as it landed against a hill, wedged at an upward angle against other trees. Once the dust settled, Dinky ran up along the tree, calling for her friends. To her shock and relief, she saw that Scootaloo’s choice of trees had been fortunate. She could see two fillies dangling just a few feet from the ground. She ran up to check on what she was sure was a terrified Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. However, to her surprise, it was Sweetie hanging beside Apple Bloom. “Sweetie?” she said in confusion. “How…?” “I lost my grip,” she said, trying to undo the knot on her waist. “I am never doing this again!” “Me neither,” said Apple Bloom. “Of all the plum stupid messes y’all got us in Scootaloo… Hey, where is Scootaloo?” Dinky also realized that Scootaloo wasn’t there. “Scootaloo!” She called out. “SCOOTALOO!” Nearby, she could pick up the sound of crying. She ran towards the sound as her friends plopped down to the ground before following her. She returned to the area where the tree had stood. The sound came from the other side, so they went under the felled trunk. On the other side, they could see Scootaloo, clutching her hind-left leg and crying profusely. “SCOOTALOO!” the others called out in a panic. All three ran to their friend. “Wha’s wrong?” Apple Bloom asked. “Are ya hurt?” “M-m-m-my Leg!” Scootaloo stuttered between sobs. “Is-is-is-is-It’s brokeeeennnn!” Dinky felt a sharp pain in her chest. She instantly regretted wishing ill on her friend as tears came to her eyes, too. She looked at the leg. The bruising was familiar. Her mother had broken one of her legs when she was younger during a flying accident. Scootaloo’s looked like that. Luckily, Dinky knew what to do. She closed her eyes and began concentrating. “What do we do?” asked Sweetie in a panic. “The grown ups are going to throw a fit! My sister will ground me for a year!” “Forget the grown-ups!” Apple Bloom replied. “What do we do with poor Scootaloo? Ah, don’t know how to fix a leg.” “I don’t either,” Sweetie said. “Dinky, do you…” Sweetie stopped talking; as did Apple Bloom. They saw Dinky’s horn glow brightly, brighter than they’d seen it do before. Dinky opened her eyes, which were now white with magic. The magic wrapped around Scootaloo’s leg. Her sobs seemed to subside as she opened her eyes and saw Dinky’s magic. The bruising on her leg began to fade. The magic picked up the bungee rope and some sticks which had fallen from the tree. These wrapped around Scootaloo’s leg, forming a makeshift brace. As her magic faded, Dinky collapsed to the ground, exhausted. She had never tried a healing spell like that before. She had practiced on small animals in secret, but never on a pony. Being so young, she gave all she had. Scootaloo sat up, still in pain, but not nearly as much. She marveled briefly at the brace, before seeing Dinky on the ground. “Dinky!” she called out as she ran to the filly, though she limped on her only partially healed leg. Dinky groggily pulled herself up. “Are you okay?!” Scootaloo said in panic. “Yeah,” Dinky said, rubbing her head which ached from the strain. “Just a bit… drained.” “How did you do that?” Sweetie asked. “I didn’t know you could do healing magic!” “I read a book about it,” Dinky said. “Mommy gets hurt sometimes when she flies. I thought, if I could do healing spells, I could help her when she’s hurt.” “So, y’all healed Scootaloo’s broken leg,” Apple Bloom said. “No,” Dinky said. “It’s only a first-aid spell. I set the bone and adhered the parts together, but she still needs to see a doctor and get it properly healed. The brace’ll hold it togther ‘til we get back to Ponyville.” “That’s Awesome, Dinky!” Scootaloo said as she hugged her friend. “You’re the best ever!” Dinky was slightly surprised, as Scootaloo always seemed to hate public displays of affection. But, she smiled and returned the hug. However, they broke apart the instant their friends “Aww”ed. Both blushed, but smiled. “Thanks Dinky,” Scootaloo said after the pause. “And… I’m sorry I got us into this mess.” “It’s okay,” Dinky said. “But, we better hurry. You need a doctor, right away.” The Pegasus agreed. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle supported Scootaloo as the fillies made their way out of the woods. None of them noticed the dish pop out from the ground where the object had fallen. “The energy readings from the pre-adolescent were unexpectedly high,” said a synthetic voice. The monitor showed four small creatures in a monochromatic image. “We have never encountered a race with such abilities,” The voice continued. “We must Integrate these characteristics into the new models.” “Agreed,” replied a second, deeper voice. “These specimens will greatly increase our power. With this new power, nothing will stop us from Upgrading the universe.” “Leader!” Called a third voice, near a second screen. The sound of stomps could be heard drawing toward the second screen. “Report,” said the deeper voice. “He is here,” the third voice said. On the monitor were four more creatures in monochrome. One was outlined in red. “The Doctor is here!” “Perfect,” said the deeper voice. “Prepare first squadron. Delete the Doctor.” “DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!” “Excuse me!?” Octavia exclaimed. “What in the name of Celestia are you on about?” “You heard me,” The Doctor said, regaining a more pragmatic tone. “The world is about to end. Go home; hide under your bed; kiss your loved ones goodbye and pray to whatever gods you worship that they kill you.” “Why the heck would we prey for that?!” Vinyl said in shock. “Because, if they don’t, you’ll spend all of eternity wishing they had.” Derpy shivered. The tone of the Doctor’s voice, which had been so welcoming and warm, now filled her with dread. “D-Doctor,” she said, tears starting to form. The Doctor turned to her and his hearts seemed to break a bit. The terror in those eyes made him realize how he was acting and he began to regret it. “Oh, Derpy,” he said. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be like this. It’s just… I’ve seen what they can do. I’ve seen them in action so many times before. I’m sorry.” “What are they?” Octavia said. “Are they invaders from space?” “Yes,” The Doctor said. He looked at her. “But you know that already, don’t you?” Octavia seemed to recoil from that. “W-what makes you say that?” “That device you have with you,” he said, motioning to the device protruding from her saddlebag, where she had haphazardly stuffed it. “Unless I miss my guess, and I rarely do when it comes to technology, it’s a receiver. It picks up the tracking signal generated by the probes while in transit and calculates their trajectory. Pretty impressive. Judging by my estimates of this world’s technological levels, just at a cursory glance mind you, I’d say that’s not a commercially available device, am I right?” “I-I uh…” she stuttered. “Look, Octavia was it?” the Doctor said in a slower tone. “I realize I’m putting you on the spot here, but I think being honest is the best place to start right now. Rassilon knows, we haven’t much else.” Octavia looked at the others. Derpy still seemed shaken up and now looked at her with nervous suspicion. Vinyl had the same determined look on her face as when she had questioned Octavia earlier. She had to admit, she admired Vinyl’s dedication. In any other circumstance, she might have been more open with her. As it was, she now Had to be open with everypony, if only to alleviate the focus on herself. She reached her mouth into the other side of her saddlebag and pulled out a small leather wallet. It opened to reveal a metal badge and an ID card with her picture on it. The badge read, “E.Q.U.I.T.” “I am Lieutenant Octavia, agent of EQUIT,” she said. “The Equestria United Intelligence Taskforce. I was sent here under orders from Celestia herself.” “Whoa!” Vinyl exclaimed. “Man! I knew you were hiding something. I didn’t really expect this, but I knew it was something. I bet you’re like some totally amazing super spy who saves the world from mad dictators and freaky monsters! Rock On!” “Right…” Octavia said, slightly annoyed. She brushed off that feeling as she continued. “Actually, EQUIT handles the things you never hear about. Mysterious sightings, extraequestrial visitation, supernatural occurrences and so-on. We normally leave the big, overt things to the Princesses and their new Elements of Harmony users.” “Oh!” Vinyl replied. “Hey, have you met any of them? I’m a personal friend of one of them, you know.” “Not personally,” Octavia said. “Although, I think I was physically assaulted by one during The Gala last year. This overly energetic pink pony requested we do the pony pokey, of all things. She made up her own words and then ran up behind me and forcefully ran my bow faster over the strings; nearly broke them. Last time I volunteer for guard duty at the Gala.” Vinyl giggled. “Yep, that’s Pinkie.” “You played an instrument while performing guard duty?” Derpy asked, calmed down a bit from before. “That’s my cover,” she said. “EQUIT always recruits field agents with talents that don’t seem to lend themselves to spy work. It’s hard to hide your intention when your cutie mark is a magnifying glass or a folder marked ‘Top Secret’.” “Oh, so that’s what those mean,” the Doctor commented. “Thought there were too many to be tribal markings. But never mind! What do you know of the objects?” Octavia continued, “Several days ago, the Canterlot Astrological Institute began picking up energy waves from space. The Princesses didn’t know what it meant, since it somehow came from beyond the range of their influence.” “But, don’t the Princesses control everything in the heavens?” Derpy asked. “Afraid not,” Octavia stated. “You didn’t hear this from me, but the Princesses only manipulate the Sun and Moon. Everything else just exists on it’s own.” “Yeah, I was wondering about that too,” The Doctor said. “It’s usually not possible to find a geocentric system that isn’t artificial.” “Geo… what?” Derpy asked. “Geocentric,” The Doctor replied. “It means your planet is at the center of your system with a miniature star and normal-sized moon in parallel orbit over it. Normally planets orbit suns and moons orbit planets, but here it’s the sun and moon. It’s largely why I decided to investigate this world. To think that the nobility of this world have that kind of power is mind-boggling. I must meet with these Princesses of yours some time.” “Anyway,” Octavia continued, trying to regain control of the conversation, “we determined that the objects’ trajectory would center around Ponyville (big surprise) and I was sent to investigate them. Thus, I met all of you.” She then focused on the Doctor. “Now, what do You know of these things? You said just now that you came to investigate our world. What does that mean?” The Doctor turned back to the dish. “You lot may not believe this, but I have seen worlds beyond your imaginations. There are billions upon trillions of worlds out amongst the stars, and I have the ability to travel to them. I encountered these creatures in the early days of my journeys. Sadly, I didn’t make the best impression. What’s worse, my appearance on their world let them know there were life forms on other worlds. This motivated them into space travel. I’ve run into them continuously across the cosmos, watching as they transformed civilization after civilization. They’re a plague of the cosmos; and I’m responsible for it.” Derpy looked at him with concern, seeing the mournful expression on his face. “Doctor,” she muttered. “Wow,” Vinyl said, looking at Octavia. “And I thought your story was cool.” Octavia shook her head in disbelief. “Hold on,” she said. “That’s impossible. Not even the Princesses themselves can pass beyond our own system. To visit other worlds would require incredible magic. Nopony in Equestria has that kind of power, much less a simple Earth Pony.” The Doctor turned his head back to them with a small smirk. “What if I’m not from Equestria?” “Oh, I see where this is going,” Vinyl muttered, a grin spreading across her face. “What is that meant to mean?” Octavia asked. The Doctor turned completely around. “I fear that I haven’t been totally honest with you lot, which is rarely polite in my experience. Allow me to properly introduce myself.” He bowed once again. “I am The Doctor. I am a Time Pony of the Planet Gallopfrey; I am 350 years old and I am not of your world.” The three all stared at him with a mix of shock and disbelief (mostly from Octavia). “Doctor,” Derpy muttered in surprise. “Hello,” he replied. “Now, if that’s all, we should really return to the problem at present. Standing this close to the transmitter, they’ve probably picked up on my presence. If I’m not mistaken, they’ll probably send a preliminary force to deal with me. And, if my calculations are correct, assuming their ship is just outside the system, as usual, then they should be here in roughly…” The Doctor trailed off as he noticed a large shadow over them. They all looked up at a large ship made up of various polygonal shapes. It had a general squarish shape and seemed to hang in the air without any visible means of propulsion. From the sides emerged seven pony-like silhouettes which slowly descended towards them. “Is that them Doctor?!” Derpy said in a panic. “Yes,” The Doctor said sternly as he watched the figures slowly drew closer. “It’s them. It’s the Cyberponies!” As they descended, their features became clearer. They were solid metal creatures with silver colored armoring. Their heads had tubing that ran from the sides of the head to a bump on the top. Their expressions were emotionless. On their hips, where a Pony would find a cutie mark, was emblazoned a simple silhouette of the Cyberponies’ face. They landed softly before the four ponies, the only sound being a sudden thud as they hit the ground. Their black eyes focused on The Doctor. “You Are The Doctor,” said the center pony, its mouth glowing in time with its words. “You will be Deleted.” The Doctor didn’t even have to think about his next word. It was a word that came naturally to him; a word he used so often with himself that saying was pure instinct. A word that best suited the very situation he found himself in. “RUN!”