“Look, the paper changed again!” Derpy said, holding it up for the Princess to see. They were still within the TARDIS, resting on the railing that surrounded the center console.
I’M GOING TO GIVE YOU A VERY SPECIFIC SET OF INSTRUCTIONS. YOU NEED TO FOLLOW THEM EXACTLY AS I SAY OR EVERYONE’S TOAST.
“Alright,” the Princess remarked, “He has a plan. What’s step one?”
STEP ONE: DISABLE ONE OF THE ROBOTS AND BRING THEM INSIDE THE TARDIS. YOU NEED TO TAKE IT APART AND FIND THE POWER GENERATOR. IT LOOKS LIKE A GLOWING PYRAMID AT THE CENTER OF THE THORAX.
“Let’s get to work,” the Princess said. Derpy remained behind her as the alicorn bowed her head, horn at the ready at the door of the TARDIS.
“On my signal, throw the door open,” she ordered. Derpy nodded silently, taking position to the left of the double doors. Luna licked her lips, and her horn began to glow with magic energy.
“Go!” she shouted. In an instant Derpy had thrown the doors open, and Luna sent a powerful blast of magic out through the opening, leveling the group of robots as he had before. With seconds to spare she levitated one of the metal forms and whisked it inside the TARDIS with them. Derpy shut the doors again quickly.
Luna brought her horn down to the droid’s head, placing it under yet another spell that would shut the thing down, rendering it harmless for the time being.
“He said to find the power generator at the center of the Thorax,” Derpy said, “Can you try to get it out?”
“I can try,” replied the alicorn princess, “See if he has anything on the paper for you to do in the meantime.”
“He does. I need to separate certain wires and use the sonic screwdriver to connect them to another part at the base of the pyramid. I wonder what he’s having us make.”
****
From behind his cell, the Doctor watched as the gorgeous mare he had seen earlier transformed before his eyes in a flash of green fire, becoming replaced with an ugly blackened creature with a tattered appearance. Her legs were full of holes, as were her insectoid wings and mane. Instead of a straight crown, she had a broken off nub that had a gnarly appearance of decay.
“Queen Surrogate,” he remarked, “Last of the Changelings. How long have you been this way?”
“Over a century have I waited, Doctor. A century with no loyal subjects to call my own, no one to keep me company. No one to tell me when I had gone too far, or when I was doing something wrong. That loneliness and unquestioned authority both turned me into an ugly, horrid monster bent on vengeance. But no more, Doctor. Tonight is the night, the Changeling Empire shall rise from the ashes.”
The changeling flew to a raised crystal platform, speaking with power in her voice to all of the robotic minions she had created.
“Tonight is the night, my brood! Drill up through the floor of the castle, pour out through the storefront of the pony factory! Take the city by force, stun everypony you come into contact with, and bring them back here! Tonight, the changeling race returns!”
“Hold on,” the Doctor yelled back, standing on the edge of the energy barrier keeping him contained, “Just how do you transform full-blooded ponies into changelings? Do you chant a magic spell of some sort? Throw them into the cloning vats and set the timer to extra crispy?”
“It is much simpler than that. They will sit overnight in a cocoon, a cocoon of my making, and just like the caterpillar that becomes a butterfly, they will undergo metamorphosis!”
****
Derpy and Luna had created an odd-looking device, which resembled a glowing pyramid sitting atop a base that branched out with wiry tentacles. Attached at the end of the wires were sticky pads, allowing them to be fastened to another material. Surveying their work, Derpy and Luna had a sense of accomplishment, despite not knowing what they had made.
“What does the paper say now?” Luna asked.
LAST STEP. TAKE IT TO THE TOP OF CANTERLOT CASTLE, ON THE UPPERMOST DOME. THIS IS CRUCIAL, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES UNTIL IT STARTS. GO NOW.
“Two minutes until what starts?” Luna wondered, “What’s he mean?”
“He said go now, so we should go, now.”
The two ponies flung open the doors, Luna clutching the device in her hooves and leading the way, horn brandished and ready to fight off any of the robots that stood in their way. As they charged out through the TARDIS doors, Luna sent a shock at the group of red-eyed robots. To her surprise, the magic attack had much less effect than it had previously, and none of the robots were knocked down for more than a few seconds.
They were learning.
She and Derpy swerved skyward as bright red beams of death shot out from the droids below, lighting the sky up like a fireworks display. Derpy ducked under a shot that barely grazed the edge of her tail, scorching the blonde hairs.
“Get to the castle!” Luna shouted amid the fury of weapons fire trained at them. It was now coming from multiple places in the city.
Robots had begun to swarm about the streets, shooting stun beams at ponies as they ran screaming. Missiles shot out and collided with the bright advertisements, sending them up in a shower of sparks and a cloud of smoke. Emergency sirens wailed, and the royal unicorn guard had been dispatched. Amongst the fray now were bolts of blueish magic trained at the robots, who in turn returned fire.
“It’s a warzone down there!” Derpy called back, looking down at the city beneath them.
“We’re almost there!” Luna called back from a short distance ahead of the gray pegasus.
The tallest tower and the spire that sat on top of Equestria’s capitol loomed through the clouds and bursts of weapons fire. Even Old Canterlot had come under attack at this point, with more robots joining the fray as they poured out from the basement of the castle.
“Derpy, look out!” shouted the Princess. Derpy dove upwards through the sky, flapping her wings to stay ahead of a new pursuer: a droid with rocket boosters that had his sights trained on the pegasus.
****
“You see Doctor,” Queen Surrogate gloated over a video display showing the carnage taking place in the city, “It has already begun. The royal guard is becoming overwhelmed, and Celestia herself has barricaded herself inside her royal chambers. There is nopony that can help them now.”
From behind the glowing barrier, the Doctor made eye contact with the changeling Queen, a grin coming over his face.
“You’ve made a very grave mistake your highness, “ he said, “You’ve forgotten about my friends.”
“Your friends? A dreamy night princess and a wall-eyed pegasus?”
“Yeah. Them,” the Doctor continued, “Let me tell you something about them. That night princess is one of the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria, ruling alongside Celestia. That pegasus, as scatterbrained as you may think she is by her appearance is actually terribly brilliant. She’s absolutely fantastic at figuring these things out, and I’m betting that they’ve found a way to stop you already. I’m going to give you another chance to redeem yourself; call off this attack now, and we can work this out. I can help you rebuild your race peacefully, so that you can coexist with the Equines.”
“Let them try to stop me, Doctor,” sneered the Queen, “for I laugh in the face of two ponies who try to stand up against an entire ARMY!”
****
“Princess, watch your flank!” Derpy called out. The rocketeer droid that had fixed on her had now moved on toward Luna, it’s energy weapon primed and glowing.
The beam fired, taking the Princess by surprise and striking her in the side. In almost slow motion a look of terror and surprise became fixed on her face. Her wings locked, and the mighty princess of the night began to fall down to earth. The device slipped from her clutches, falling free alongside the princess.
Derpy zoomed in, mustering what speed and agility she had left to snatch the pyramid out from the sky, clutching it between her hooves and landing atop the tower. She couldn’t wait to see if the Princess was all right, she had to do this now.
Attaching each of the wires to the bronze base of the minaret, the pyramid began to glow a bright orange, then red as it started flashing. The two minutes were up. Derpy left the device in place, bolting for the ground.
Above her head, the power center exploded with a burst of brilliant blue energy like that of a sonic boom, spreading out and sweeping out over the cities. Trees were swept aside, the wind howled, and in the wake of the brilliant blast all of the power was sapped. Advertisement signs, house lights, street light, and robots alike were shut down completely, leaving the city of Canterlot and New Canterlot in blackness and silence.
****
Down below the ground, the force field holding the Doctor back shut down, as did the display and every bit of electrical light. Taking the moment, the Doctor bounded up and over the Queen, striking her mainframe she had constructed to control the robots and physically assaulting it. He tore wires out, pounded the console, cracked the screens and smashed every bit of component he could touch in the several seconds of confusion he had.
“Stop! Stop! What have you done! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” cried the Queen in confusion in the darkness that enveloped her. A burst of sparks erupted from the broken mainframe, and fumes of smoke began to pour out. Her controls were history.
“I’ve destroyed your control mechanisms,” the Doctor said, “You have no way to control those robots that you’ve created. They’ll be waking up any second now, free of mind and consciousness. You created a new race today, but not the one you intended. These are living, thinking droids, capable of independent thought, and I don’t think they’re going to be happy about how you’ve ordered them around this whole time.”
The lights flickered, and came back on slowly. Around the crystal chambers, robots began to switch back on, but their eyes were now glowing blue rather than red. They shook themselves, and look about in a confused manner as they awoke free for the first time.
“Isn’t it fantastic?!” mused the Doctor, clapping his hooves together.
****
“The court has met to determine the fate of Queen Surrogate, last of the Changelings,” called out Celestia’s booming voice through the royal courtroom.
It was day. Outside and in the cities below, rebuilding was underway. Inside the courtroom hundreds had gathered to learn of the fate of the new droids that had appeared, as well as their creator the changeling Queen. Celestia stood at an ornate podium, with Luna at her side, albeit covered in bruises and a cast over one wing.
“Queen Surrogate has been found guilty of creating an army of artificial intelligence with the goal of capturing an entire city population, then to force them into changeling metamorphosis. Do you deny these claims?”
The Queen bowed her head, not wishing to make eye contact with anypony that currently had their gaze fixed on her.
“Guilty as charged, your highness.”
“There were casualties,” Celestia continued with a grim tone, “six died in the attack on Canterlot before an electromagnetic pulse neutralized the attackers and reset the robots. Though independent now, the robots were under your control while committing acts leading to those six deaths. The punishment for murder is, as you know, banishment. A habitable area has been set up on the Lunar surface where you will live out the rest of your days.”
The crowd stomped their hooves in a sound of applause, but Celestia raised her head to signal for silence sharply.
“However, since you are the last of your kind, the council has decided to make amends. With the assistance of the Doctor, you will find a dozen changelings to accompany you in exile, a mixture of male and female. There will be routine shipments of supplies and tools for you and your new family. Think of this not as banishment, but a fresh start on a new world. A colony of earth, headed by Changeling hooves.”
****
Far above the planet surface, the Doctor and Derpy sat in the TARDIS, watching the transport take Queen Surrogate to the Lunar colony. Derpy even waved through the open doors of the TARDIS as the ship went past for several minutes. As it drifted out of sight, she closed the double doors and joined the Doctor at the center console.
“Well, how do you like that Derpy?” he asked, beaming.
“Bringing a crowd of changelings forward in time to rebuild the race, isn’t that cheating?”
The Doctor shook his head.
“No, time’s not a straight line. It can be melded into any form. Think about it Derpy, a fresh start for her race, a peaceful start, doing something productive. And with her gone, the same is true for the robots. They’ll be integrated into society, a vital part of Equestria’s future. The Robotech Revolution of 2984 wasn’t a war, it was the start of something brand new. Isn’t it fantastic?”
He glanced at Derpy from across the TARDIS console with a huge grin on his face.
“Where to next, Derpy? Not so far in the future for you? The past? The distant past? Other worlds, other galaxies? All of space and time is at the tips of your hooves, just say the word.”
Derpy bit her lower lip, a look of concern growing on her face.
“Actually, Doctor, I was thinking I should see how my friends back in Ponyville are doing. I don’t want to just run away and abandon them. They’ll start to worry,” she said. The Doctor shook his head.
“That’s the thing though, Derpy. We can visit places and times for as long as we want, and then when you’re ready we can pop back and you wouldn’t have been gone an hour even. That’s the wonder of time travel!”
Derpy’s frown flipped up into a smirk. She flapped her wings and floated through the air until she was behind the Doctor’s back, landing behind him and peering over his shoulder.
“Alright, Doctor. Surprise me this time. Take me back to the past, somewhere interesting.”
“You got it!” the Doctor responded in earnest, cranking levers on the TARDIS console and flipping switches. The column began to groan in it’s usual way and glowed a bright blue. The TARDIS lurched into the time vortex, and they were off on another adventure through time and space. Derpy Hooves and the Doctor were as happy as could be, but all was not right.
Even as they continued adventuring around in the blue box, something had become aware of itself, its existence, and its surroundings. Buried beneath layers and layers of ice, It was trapped and forgotten, but not alone. A deep embedded hatred kept it alive, kept it living and fueled the beast within as it devised a means of one day escaping from the icy prison it had been forsaken in.
Something had survived.