Time Bubbles

by Janicethelight

Chapter 40: Perfection

The floor shook beneath them. Derpy instinctively protected Dinky as rubble fell from the ceiling. “Everypony get under something!” The Doctor demanded, quickly scanning above them. Rubble continued to fall, one large piece hurtling toward the playing group of fillies who stood frozen, screaming. The Doctor rushed, jumping up to kick the giant chunk mid air. To his surprise, it flew far away from the fillies, hitting the back wall, “new plan. Everypony outside!” he nodded, corralling the fillies out of the crumbling house. Derpy took Dinky and the couple. They froze. Outside the door was a gigantic ship moving past in low altitude, shaking the ground beneath it. It stopped, giving a reprieve to the earthquakes.

Screens blinked on, showing Velmani's face all over it. Derpy and the Doctor exchanged worried looks. “Fellow unicorns of Unicornia. I, general Velmani, bring you glad tidings. On this day, the Country that was once known as Dirt Ville has been conquered and is now and forever Unicornia land!”
Even for as far away from the major city as they were, the ponies could hear the cheers. “Yes. We are all excited. It wasn't hard, really. Not with those numbskull Earth Ponies leading bit.” Laughter erupted. Once silenced, Velmani continued, “and, the proud nation of Pegastipolus is all but defeated under the unicorn might!” Cheering continued. “Yes, even those brutes can't withstand the elegant power of the unicorns and have realized they are no match for us. It is a time of great joy. For, today, I show the soldiers that have helped Unicornia become the leading nation. Today, I show you our true power. The power the Earth ponies and Pegasus alike have succumbed to. This is our future. No more worrying about wings, horns, or neither. No more wondering who is best, brightest, wisest. No. Today is the day that every pony in every land becomes united under one look. This. Is. Perfection!”

Several bottom pieces opened from the ship, lowering thousands of robotic ponies from chambers above. Derpy tilted her head, an odd fear she didn’t understand overtaking her as the Doctor walked up, his own fear plastered all over his face. “No!” He yelled, “Velmenni, don’t do this. You’re better than this!”

“Wh-what’s happening, Doctor?”

“We have to stop them before she activates all of them. Come on, Derpy!” The Doctor nodded, running off. Derpy looked between The Doctor and Dinky, who clung on for dear life.

“Mama, don’t leave me again!”

Derpy bit her lip, her mind wracked with confusion while her heart was wracked with guilt. She took a breath, kneeling down to the filly’s level, “Listen. The Doctor needs my help. I don’t know what I can do to help, but I know I do...and it’s too dangerous for such a small filly. But, I promise that I will come back. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Would a pinkie promise even work in a world where pinkie didn’t exist? Derpy could only hope. Dinky held a moment longer before letting go, sighing, “Okay. I’ll stay safe so you can help your friend and come back, mama. I want to have a daddy too, after all.” Derpy’s face went beat red, but she nodded all the same, not denying the feelings held in her heart. She ran off, making sure they would come back. They had to come back now. Dinky was waiting.

Derpy flew quickly and caught up to the Doctor. “Doctor. What's going on?”

“You remember when I came back that day, right? Velmani wanted to fix your eyes. I had a discussion with her about how if you replaced everything that wasn't perfect, you wouldn't be a pony anymore. Seems she took those words to heart in all the wrong ways. These things tend to show up in every universe…” he finished with a scoff.

“The metal ponies? Aren't They just machines?”

“No, Derpy. It was all there in her message. The Earth ponies and the pegusi of this world. They were defeated by these things and joined them...these aren't machines Derpy. Their cybermen.”

“Allow me to show my fellow unicorns a taste of the our mighty future as cyber ponies!” Velmani laughed, pushing something.

“Cyber pony, of course.” The doctor sighed as machine after machine powered on, the cyber ponies marching from their landing pads to the citizens below. “Come on. Come on!” Doctor pleaded with his own legs. They were nearing the horder of the city, watching the feed from Velmani's ship above them.

“Greetings unicorns. We are the cyber ponies. We bring a wonderful gift.”

“How advanced. It talks.” One unicorn mused, “what gift did you bring us?”

“The gift of assimilation. You shall join us in perfection. “

“Wait. I don't want to be a robot. I am perfectly fine with staying a unicorn!”

“Oh no don't say that!” The Doctor breathed.

“Any unicorn who refuses assimilation will be deleted.” The cyber pony warned.

“You can't delete me! Wait...what does deleted mean?”

“We shall show you.” The cyber pony lifted its hoof up to the unicorn. The hoof lit up, shooting the unicorn, who vaporized on the spot. Derpy froze.

“Doctor. They just-”

“I know, Derpy. What they can't convert, they destroy. If they surround us, you need to surrender. Got that?”

“But-”

“No buts. We have to make it to that ship in order to stop this.”

“Okay…”

They made their way into the city. Unicorns screamed, rushing away from the onslaught of cyber ponies who marched about. The Doctor scanned the area until he saw some landing pads. “This way, Derpy.”

Derpy followed, crashing into no less than three ponies as she went. No pony noticed she was a pegasus now. She also realized that the cyber ponies were modeled after earth ponies. None of them supported wings like pegasus or a horn like unicorn. It seemed weird.

“Halt!” Her thoughts distracted her from the task, and she only now noticed the cyber ponies around them. From the look on the Doctor's face, ye was expecting this.

“Oh good, just the cyber ponies I wanted to see.” The Doctor grinned, “my friend Derpy and I would like to volunteer for assimilation.” Derpy's jaw dropped, “that's right, we have seen the flaws in us and wish for the perfection that is cyber pony! Just a small problem. My friend here has this odd eye condition that no doctor seems to be able to fix, myself included. She's worried that even the process of assimilation won't rid her of this imperfection, isn't that right?”

Derpy realized he had some sort of poan, and went along with it. “woah is me. Will I ever be perfect like the cyber ponies?”

“All imperfections will Be delete once the pony is assimilated.”

“Yes, well, that's what I told her. I said, Derpy, look at them. These cyber ponies are state of the art. They wouldn't have mistakes like that, but she just worries so much.”

“All manners of worry will be forgotten in assimilation. Cyber ponies do not worry.”

“See, state of the art just like I said. But, just to placate her, why don't you lot sent a photo of the two of us to your head honcho. She will see the problem, tell Derpy here that she will be right as rain as a cyber pony, and the two of us will be on our way to assimilation!”

“I would feel better if the pony that made you said that some pony as imperfect as me could be fixed too. Please.” Derpy added.

The cyber ponies looked between each other for a bit. “Very well.”

“Great. Derpy, stand right beside me and don't forget to say ‘cheese’!”

“Cheese!” Derpy mirrored.

They waited a few minutes in silence. The cyber ponies then looked down, “She wishes to talk with you both. Please, follow us.”

“what? I wonder what she could want to see us for?” The doctor mused with a shrug. He followed the cyber ponies, Derpy sticking close behind. They were lead onto the landing pad, raising up to the ship above them. As the flew up, Derpy saw unicorns being forced to march into groups. Smoke poured out of homes. Screams erupted all over the town. The Doctor placed a hoof on her shoulder silently. They soon found themselves in the ship, lead by the cyber ponies through the labyrinth. Sleeping cyber ponies covered the walls. Mechanical sounds filled the spaceship. Derpy held the Doctor's hoof until they were pushed into the room where Velmani sat, a smile on her face.

“Welcome. Please, have a seat.” She stated.

Derpy's worry grew when she saw the look. She froze. “No thanks. Sitting's never been my style.” The Doctor's voice chased the fear away, and she gazed at his confident grin in astonishment. He seemed like a pony that had done this many times before.

“How about you, Derpy? Care to sit and chat with an old friend?”

Derpy sat, a bit awkwardly, her mind trying to think of what to say. What could she say? How to even start? “Velmani, I-”

“It has been some time. Imagine my surprise when I was set free by some rodents in another world!”

“I’m so sorry. We-” Derpy attempted, but Velmani quickly cut her off.

“And to find out that I was stolen from underneath your noses...and you didn’t even notice...for how long? It must have been at least five years? More? Time is meaningless to me, so I can’t really say. Of course...” her eyes darted over to the doctor, “I doubt you had little choice of how long it took, considering your friend's...unique ship. How long has it been for you my friend? Minutes? Days? Maybe a week? I doubt it was as long as my time.”

“Well, it’s been longer than that because-” Derpy stopped, wheels turning in her head, “wait...how...did you know we traveled in time?”

“I was wondering the same thing, Derpy.” The doctor nodded suspiciously, “We certainly never told the raccoons that little tidbit, and, from Derpy’s surprise, she certainly didn't tell you.”

"Yes, well. The Racoons may have known much. Smarter than most ponies. Ah, the experiments we did together...but, alas, they weren't quite right for our cause...we lost so many, Doctor. Too many in the fight to better their kind. I decided to find better subjects. Ones that would not lose life when assimilated. My new friends helped me.

“New friends?” Derpy asked.

“You’ve already met them, though the Doctor knows them much better than you, Derpy.”

The Doctor froze. “No…”

Derpy looked over to the Doctor, confusion filling her face.

Velmenni's smile spread over her face, “oh, Doctor. You do catch on quick. Not all of these are my creation. The first few cyber ponies came to me. They were interested in my work. They listened to my thoughts, and agreed that all creatures needed fixing. They opened my eyes, Doctor. It isn't just eyes, or limbs. It's fear and doubt. They showed me a way to stop anger and fighting. They are bringing this world together, and allowing me to help make it a better place. A place where nopony is looked down on for being different! And, all they asked in return was information.”

“Information on me, no doubt.”

“Wrong, Doctor. They knew all about you and your blue box. They wanted information about her!”

Shock immediately replaced the confusion as Derpy noticed the hoof point her way. “Me? Why?!”

“They believe that there is a problem...something that scares even the logical cyber ponies. They believe that there is something of some creatures in this world that will cause the end of every world. They seemed pretty convinced once they knew the Doctor was in this one that he was protecting it. They told me you were always the one who had to interfere, Doctor. They figured your companion would be where to look. Of course, I told them how ridiculous that was. ‘Derpy is just an ordinary pegasus with eyes that need fixing.’ I said. They seemed adamant to check. So, we came to an agreement.” The doctor looked between Velmani and the door, where cybermen were standing, “I knew Derpy would keep her promise. She's not like you, Doctor. She's kind and cares about other ponies.”

“The doctor cares. He's saved thousands of-”

Velmani raised a hoof. “Yes, I've heard he likes to pretend to be a hero...likes his companions to think he can do anything, but his companions always meet a sad end. Some die. Others have fates far worse. I am not allowing that to happen to you, Derpy. They wanted to destroy you the moment they thought you were the source of this world destroying problem. I wouldn't allow it. They won't kill you, Derpy. You will be alive, and you will be better than you have ever been! No more wonky eye. No more feelings of despair, or fear. They will take those away.”

“NO!” The doctor yelled, pointing his sonic at the two that came through the door, which went off line. More and more came in. Far too many to sonic, or run from. They grabbed the Doctor and Derpy. One cyber pony stepped in front of the cross eyed mare, scanning her. Another scanned the doctor.

“Two hearts. Sonic device. The doctor has changed forms as well.” He cyber pony verified.

“Scans picking up far more energy than a normal pegasus.” Derpy's continued, “Possibility of this mare causing the destruction: 87.7%.”

“So, there's a chance she doesn't. You're not 100% certain.” The Doctor couldn't help but notice the relief in Velmani's tone.

“Possibility greater than any pony we have come across. Solution: destroy her.”

“No!” Velmani shouted. The cyber ponies turned to her. “I mean, that would be a waste of a perfectly good candidate to join you. If she becomes a cyber pony, then she won't have to die, and it will stop this...this problem, right.”

The cyber ponies thought it over for a moment. “Possibility of this: 95.743%”

Another walked forward, “Idea granted. Pegasus will join the ranks of the cyber ponies.”

“What? Wait!” Derpy yelled, picked up, and carried by two cyber ponies, “Doctor! Help!”

“No, Derpy!” The Doctor struggled. “Why, Velmani. Why would you do this?!”

“I wasn't going to let her die, Doctor. She's my friend.”

“You said to Derpy that my companions either die or suffer fates much worse than death. I'm not sure what the cyber ponies told you, but I do know one thing. Becoming one of them...that is a fate far worse than death!”

“No Doctor. Becoming a cyber pony stops ponies from feeling fear of the unknown, anger, jealousy. But don't worry. You won't share in that fate. The cyber ponies made it clear that they would not show mercy to you...and honestly, for all I care...a pony like you that would leave some pony like me for over 5 years….can just go off and die!”

Velmani left the room. The Doctor looking between two cyber ponies and his change to save all the others.