• Published 3rd Jul 2012
  • 9,489 Views, 397 Comments

A Storm of Chaos: A Doctor Whooves Adventure - Shotoman



Dr. Whooves goes on a Discord Hunt.

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Assimilate

Part 4

Assimilate

Language, Doctor!” Derpy admonished.

“Not now, Derpy!”

Shimmering Star blasted the metal intruder with a bolt of magic. The thing stumbled a bit, but the blast didn't even dent its armor. “What the hay?” the guardpony asked.

“It's a Cyberpony!” the Doctor told him. “You're going to need to hit it with something a lot harder than that.” He turned to his companions. “You two know what time it is, right?” They nodded. “Then get to it.” As the girls turned tail and scrambled back down the corridor, the Doctor turned to Shimmering Star. “You too, soldier-colt. It's running time.”

Shimmering Star fired another ineffectual bolt at the Cyberpony, who reacted by unfolding a weapon of its own from just above the shoulder. Shimmering Star barely managed to drop to the floor as a red bolt scorched the wall behind him. “You go on. I'll try to hold it back. Give you time.”

“You are not planning some idiotic sacrifice are you?”

“Not really, but you're the one who can work this thing out. You're the important one.”

The Doctor's face twitched a moment before he chomped down on Shimmering's tail, and with a strength that belied his size, yanked the surprised guard around a corner as another bolt left a second scorch mark on the wall. “Now you listen here,” the Doctor growled. “I'm in charge of this daft expedition, and I say your captain is not burying any more soldiers today, so when I say run, you run! Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” Shimmering Star replied.

“Now run!

With the Doctor taking the rear, the group charged upwards through the dungeons, the Cyberpony close behind. The Doctor paused at one of the turns, taking a moment to aim his sonic screwdriver at the metal pony for a second. He glanced at the screwdriver, nodded, and continued his mad dash. Minutes later, the light from the palace proper shone before the group. “I hope you're up there, Shining!” the Doctor shouted.

“With you down there? You better believe I am,” the Captain's friendly voice called back.

“Once we've passed, we need a max level barrier over the door! Got it?”

“Got it!”

“Good!” To his expedition the Doctor added, “Pick up the pace, ponies!”

The group of four ponies barreled into the light of the palace, the Doctor glancing back in satisfaction as the Cyberpony ran face first against a solid barrier of rose colored magic. He sighed with a smile.

“Is that a pony?” one of the guards asked.

“Not anymore,” the Doctor responded, straightening his coat. “There are quite a few pony parts in there—brain, nervous system, a couple other bits to keep it technically alive—but anything that actually made it a pony died long ago.”

“It comes from another world that was a lot like Equestria at one time,” Shining Armor added, causing the Doctor to start. “Then some madpony with the know how decided that was the pinnacle of equine perfection. Now these things travel the universe, spreading that 'perfection' by force.”

The Doctor smirked. “Shining Armor, you've read the Brigadier's reports.”

“I am Captain of the Guard. It's my duty to be informed on potential threats to the kingdom—a duty I take a lot more seriously after recent events.”

“I bet,” the Doctor muttered. “Do you think you can safely bring it in for me to dispose of?”

“Shouldn't be too hard. Gimme a second to work it out.”

Shining Armor closed his eyes, biting his lower lip. After a moment of concentration, the barrier field removed itself from the door and wrapped itself around the Cyberpony like plastic wrap. The fully immobilized enemy was floated into the hall. As the Doctor approached its side, the magic field slid away from a panel located around where the ribs should have been. The Doctor aimed his screwdriver at the panel, and it popped open.

The Doctor cast a sad look up at the subtly twitching metal pony. “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” he murmured before activating his screwdriver one last time, causing an eruption of smoke and flame to burst from the panel. “You can put it down now, Captain Armor. It's done. Also, you should conduct a thorough headcount of your personnel—particularly those with access to the dungeons. Derpy and I are going to do a thorough search, make sure there are no conversion stations down there. Usually where there's one Cyberpony there are others, or they make others. This time, though, I think we'll be fine.”

Derpy furrowed her brow. “Why's that, Doctor?”

The Doctor held up his screwdriver. “This one's covered in teleport stuff. Fresh, barely an hour old. I'd guess this one was alone, brought here accidentally by the telepad that brought our culprit here. Fast as the Cyberponies work, they aren't that fast. Still, better safe than sorry. Right, Shining?”

“Absolutely,” Shining Armor agreed. He turned to Shimmering Star. “You heard him. I want our entire force accounted for. Put special attention on those assigned to the dungeons. Get others to help you at your discretion. I want this done sooner rather than later.” Shining turned to the Time Charger. “I'm going down with you, Doctor, and that is not a request.”

The Doctor was giving instructions to one of the remaining guards. “And I need you to save the body until we return, and... what was that, Shining?”

“I. Am. Going. With. You,” Shining Armor restated.

“Oh, yes, yes. Fine. Perfect. The more the merrier. Now, make sure to keep it away from other ponies, guards included. It's dead, but the Cyberponies can be tricky. Sometimes they booby trap themselves just in case of something like this, but having an actual physical thing that came through on the telepad will make tracking the source just so much easier...”

“Are you okay, Doctor?”

“Guah!” The Doctor jumped. “Don't do that, Derpy!” he grumbled, placing a foreleg over his fast-beating hearts. “Wait, 'am I okay?' Why ask a silly question like that? Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be...?” The Doctor's protests died as a pair of normally misaligned gold eyes focused directly into his.

“You're distracted, Doctor,” Derpy said. “More so than usual. What's wrong?”

“It's this!” The Doctor gestured to the unmoving metal form before him, his sudden intensity causing Derpy to jump. “It just about mucks up everything!

“Why?”

Think for just a second, Derpy! What is it that brought me here in the first place? A guard is killed by a weapon only one stallion—a Time Charger—has ever used. Oh, there are plenty of implications and oddities to ponder over, but it's a good solid clue. We arrive here, and what do we find? Traces of Gallopfreyan technology. Oh well that's all well and good; it fits together with the last clue to make a nice pretty little picture. And then... this! A Cyberpony just randomly teleports in on our crime scene. What is a Cyberpony even doing here? Cyberponies don't have Gallopfreyan tech. They couldn't use Gallopfreyan tech if they did. It doesn't make sense.”

“Yes, yes. I get that. But we've had things not make sense before. Lots of times, really. There's more to it than that. I can tell.”

The Doctor opened his mouth once, twice, three times without saying a word. Then, without any warning whatsoever leaped to his hooves, that manic smile plastered on his face. “Well! It's time to check back in on the dungeons then, isn't it? Come along Shining. We shouldn't need more than the two of us, especially if my theory proves true.”

The Doctor practically galloped down into the dungeons, and Shining Armor, after a brief glance back at the confused mail mare, followed suit. “I... bugh... wha?” Derpy sputtered.

“I've seen that mood before.” The sudden voice caused Derpy to jump. Wordsmith was sitting there, a small smile on her lips. “'I'm not a pony, I'm a Time Charger. I walk in infinity,' and so on and so forth. The more things change, I suppose.” Wordsmith raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Well, what are you doing just standing about? Go after him. He may be brilliant but he's awfully thick.”

Derpy smiled. “Yeah, he is, isn't he?” She took to the air, but after smacking face first into the wall rather than going through the door, decided that hoofing it was the better choice, and ran down the stairs after the Doctor. “Hey, Doctor! Wait up!”

Down in the dungeon, the Doctor was demonstrating a contraption that consisted of a small green screen, an antenna, several exposed wires, and duct tape to Shining Armor. “See, it dings when there's stuff. Specifically Cyberpony stuff.”

Shining Armor looked at the contraption, then at the Doctor. “You mean you keep Cyberpony detection gear on you all the time, just in case something like this happens?”

“Well, of course I do. Given how often they seem to turn...” The Doctor started at the gray form that suddenly bounded up to him. “Derpy? What are you...?”

Derpy poked him in the chest with her hoof. “You're my friend, and I stick by my friends. Even when they're being stupid-faces. Stupid-face.”

A blush was clearly visible through the Doctor's chestnut fur. “I... well... uh... Why are you laughing?

Shining Armor bit a lip. “Laughing? I'm not laughing. Who's laughing? Do I get to call you 'stupid-face,' too?”

“Nope, just me!” Derpy replied.

“Let's just get this job over with,” the Doctor muttered, leading the group deeper in the dungeons.

The time passed uneventfully. Though the three ponies were diligent in their search, the Cyberpony detector never pinged once. After a couple of hours, the three ponies found themselves back in the bottommost cell, where Discord was once held. “Well,” the Doctor stated, smiling. “Looks like I was right. Nothing to indicate an actual Cyberpony presence for a change. You better go back to your soldiers, Shining. See if they've finished the head count. I've got a couple of final readings I'd like to take down here, if that's all right.”

“You sure you're going to be okay down here?” Shining Armor asked.

“I refuse to answer that, as saying anything one way or another is bound to cause something to happen.”

Shining Armor chuckled softly as he left the time traveling companions alone, the Doctor humming to himself as he removed another jury-rigged device from one of his pockets. “So what's really the problem?” Derpy asked after a moment.

“You are not going to let that go, are you?” was the annoyed response.

“Not 'till you tell me,” Derpy singsonged.

“Oh all right, fine! I'm getting the distinct impression that I'm being played, and I don't like it one bit.”

“Bzzzt! Wrong! Try again Doctor,” Derpy replied with a grin. “I know the 'I hate being played' mood, and this isn't it. You're more sad than mad. Why?”

“You know me entirely too well,” the Doctor groused. Then he sighed. “When Wordsmith showed me that package, well of course it was a bad thing, but it also brought just this tiniest sliver of hope. See, if it meant what I thought it meant, then I'm not the last. There'd be another Time Charger out there, even if it was the Master. And who knew? If he could have escaped the Time War, maybe others did. The Corsair, the Monk, Romana... did I ever tell you about Romana? Traveled with me for a time—forced upon me really—and she was brilliant. We clashed a lot, back then—too much alike—so I don't recall ever telling her so. Just another regret in a long list I suppose. But then that damn Cyberpony showed up! It doesn't really prove anything any more than the shrunken corpse did, but it does make it seem much more likely that someone is playing with me. Preying on my hopes, ready to dash them.” The Doctor was suddenly very interested in the screen's readout. “I'm just tired of being alone.”

The Doctor's eyes widened a bit when Derpy suddenly pressed her side up against his. “'Alone' my lazy eye,” she admonished, smiling. “You got me!”

A small smile played upon the Doctor's lips. “Yes, I suppose I do at that.”

“And Wordsmith,” Derpy continued. “And Princess Celestia, and Shining Armor. The list goes on. Do you need me to sing a song about it? Don't think I won't.”

The Doctor laughed at that. “No no. Please don't. You made your point.” He put his scanner back in his pocket. “Well, I think we're done here. Between these readings and a piece or two of that Cyberpony, we should be able use the TARDIS to follow the teleport signal right to its source, or close enough anyway. We'd better be getting a move on. After all, we're on an official royal mission.”

“Very Double Oh Seven,” Derpy responded, mimicking the Doctor's accent.

Oh yes! And the best part? We have no idea where in the whole wide universe it will lead us. Isn't that exciting?”

“Always, Doctor. Always.”