Night-Mares in Steel

by Bronycommander

Chapter 2 Introductions

Chapter 2: Introductions

Staring.

Dinky could only stare at what she saw. Her heart was racing, wanting to run but her body wasn’t responding.

Her friends couldn’t move either, staring at the strange creature.

It looked briefly up, spotting them and its mouth opened.

“I mean no harm.” The humanoid spoke in a quavering voice which put inflected syllables in a seemingly random, sing-song manner, sounding scary.

But, it had stated it meant no harm.

The creature offered Dinky a hand to get up. Hesitant, she took it and got helped up.

“The Ship is damaged, it must be repaired.” The human-like creature explained and Dinky nodded out of instinct, still trying to calm down.

“R-right…I…can get into town…get somepony who can help…”

“I will wait here. So the locals aren’t spooked.” The “human” replied, apparently understanding the situation.

Luckily, there was a less steep hill on the left, allowing Dinky to get up and back to her friends.

They were trembling, yet nodded at each other and started to walk. It felt so natural to help, but still, they felt awkward about whatever this human was supposed to be.

At Ponyville, they saw their parents and friends already waiting for them. “What’s wrong?” Twilight asked upon seeing their unease expressions.

“We…We discovered a…spaceship…” Dinky took the word and the eyes of the others went wide.

“What?”

“Yes, it appears the...passengers are human, requiring assistance.”

Twilight stayed silent for a moment. “I see. Spike, send a message to Celestia, this could be important.”

“Right away!”

The Alicorn then turned back to the foals. “Lead the way, the area must be secured.” Dinky nodded, taking the lead, the parents of her and the others following, the knights included.

Their eyes went wide as they reached the crash site, eyeing the “human” with unease.

Yet Twilight managed to keep calm. “I am Princess Twilight Sparkler, co-ruler of Equestria. And you are?”

“You may call me Glenn.” The “human” replied in his unsettling voice before they al noticed the shadow of a carriage over them, seeing how Celestia and Luna landed next to them.

“We came as fast as we could,” Celestia said to Twilight, having a neutral expression as Twilight did a quick explanation. “I see. Now, Mr. Glenn, why are you dressed like that?”

“That is to ensure that I could survive in a hostile environment. I am a Cyberman.”

“Cyberman?” Luna did not understand, a puzzled expression on her face.

“Yes, Cyberman.” Glenn nodded and looked at Katja and her father. “I was exactly like you two once but I had to replace my organic body to survive.”

“So…you’re a cyborg.” Time Turner figured out and the Cyberman nodded.

“That is correct. But I am just a representative, there are more of my kind onboard.” Glenn pointed to the ship. “May they meet you?”

Luna and Celestia looked at each other for a moment. “Yes.”

Glenn nodded in response and after a short moment, a door of the ship slid open.

Five Cybermen looking like him stepped out, yet that wasn’t everything.

They were followed by a group of 6 Cybermen, which bodies were entirely covered by metallic suits, their hands being like claws with three fingers only. Though most frightening was the head. The “eyes” were only two round holes, the mouth resembling a hatch.

The next Cybermen looked very familiar, except their eyes featured a "teardrop" shape, with a lamp mounted at the top of the chest.

And yet, the following group was completely different. The sides of the heads was extended by two large "ear muffs", their “face” being two eye holes and a flat mouth. They also carried in their five-fingered hands what looked like rifles, 1 meter long, resembling garden hoses or compressor handles.

Those were followed by 6 similar Cybermen, which did not carry rifles, yet seemed to have a weapon like muzzle build into the top of their helmets.

Another group came out, those Cybermen had bulkier, more imposing forms, there was a transparent section in the face through where what looked like a jaw could be seen. Those carried also rifles secured by a shoulder-strap, looking smaller, reminding the ponies of flashlights somehow.

All groups stood in at attention, saluting as three more Cybermen stepped out of the ship. They looked like the bulky ones but the suits featured a light-dark blue color, the handles of every Cybermen had a different color. It was blue for the one on the left, green for the one on the right, while the one in the middle had a black color.

“Commander Tyson,” Glenn said to the Cybermen with black handles, who looked at Time Turner.

“So, Doctor, a new appearance. Interesting.” Tyson spoked in a deeper, emotional voice, sounding curious, the jar visible moving.

While unsettled, the doctor did not show it.

“You are the leader of those Cybermen?” Luna asked calmly.

“Correct. Those are my second-in-command, Vicky and Almar.” He pointed to the blue and green Cyberman respectively.

“I see, It is best you come with us to discuss how we can help you.”

“As you wish. Zeta squad, guard the ship.” He ordered the other bulky Cybermen, who saluted.”

Then they all followed the princesses in formation, with the Knights keeping a close eye on them.

On the outskirt of Ponyville, Celestia addressed the public.

“Citizens of Ponyville, we have a sudden arrival of foreign lifeforms requesting our help. Despite their appearance, there is no reason to be afraid of them.”

Everypony looked at her in confusion before seeing the Cybermen, looking at them in awe and slight unease, yet felt safe with the princesses around.

They led them into Twilight’s castle.

“So, Commander Tyson, where do you come from and how did you land here?” Twilight took the word.

“We come from Mondas.”

“Mondas?”

“Yes, Mondas. It’s an ancient name for Earth,” He explained, “the twin planet of Earth.” This gained surprised looks by everyone, yet did not interrupt him. “But it was dislodged from its old position out into space when the Moon was formed. This forced us to become Cyborgs in order to survive the worsening living conditions on our home.” He paused for a moment.

“As for how we got here, we were traveling in space to find a more suitable planet to live, but our ship got caught in an ion storm, disabling our electronics. We were drifting until we restore power but by then, our ship had already entered the atmosphere of your planet.”

“I see. We can help you to repair the ship.” Celestia replied calmly.

“I assure you, there will be no trouble with us.” Tyson said, sounding honest, “But first, we should check on how severe the damage is, so the repairs can be planned.”

“Alright, shall I send you assistance?”

“That won’t be necessary.” Tyson politely declined and left the castle of Twilight.

“Well, that was…unexpected.” Fletcher commented, “Shall we keep an eye on them?” He asked Luna, who nodded.

“Yes, better safe than sorry.” The knights saluted and left too.

“So…what now?” Art Strings wondered before her stomach growled, causing her to look down in embarrassment.

“Lunch seems like a good idea.” Her father suggested, earning a nod from his mother.

“Good idea, Kyle.”

“Kyle?” Art tilted her head, not understanding.

“An old nickname of mine, so to distinguish myself from the other Abstraction.” Her father replied hastily.

“Okay, sounds good, dad.” She replied, not thinking much about it and all three went to Sugarcube Corner.

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie Pie greeted at the counter before seeing who her guests were. “Oh, you are the ponies the major spoke about?” They nodded. “Sorry to hear what happened to you. It’s on the house, what can I bring you?”

“Strawberry cake.” The filly looked eagerly at it.

“Sounds good.” Her father ordered with his mother the same and they all enjoyed the sweet taste, lighting up the mood a bit.

After that, they helped Aversion and Lyra to clean the house. “There you go! Anything else we can help you with?” Art Strings asked eagerly, causing Lyra to giggle.

“Thank you, but you helped us enough already.”

“Why don’t you play with the others again?” Kyle’s mother suggested and the filly grinned.

“Great idea!” And with that, she walked out of the house, her family watching until she was out of sight.

“You raised her well.” Lyra complimented Kyle, who sighed.

“I know. Frankly, I could never have imagined being a father, after all I went through as human…”

“Pardon me?” The Mint-green mare tilted her head, blinking confused.

Realizing what he had just said, Kyle looked at his mother and both nodded, knowing there was no point of return.

“You see, me and my mother were humans once.”

“Were?” Abstraction asked.

“Yes. It was years ago, I used to be a man with the name Kyle Schaeffer. My biological father died in a plane crash when I was nine and my mother started dating and found a man again. At the beginning, it looked wonderful but…” He told, started to shake but his mother wrapped a hoof around him.

“Shh…It’s okay, son.” He said and looked at Lyra. “As you know, my name is Jan, was my human name as you can guess. My new husband by the name of Ed, became irate for even the smallest things... he even started beating me…” This gained a gasp by the married couple. “After about a year, I had enough, and then I decided, in secret, that I was going to leave.” Jan paused for a moment, her voice slightly shaking

“However, due my husband having court in his favor, I couldn’t take my son with me.”

Kyle took the word, “In the years to follow, Ed and his son treated me like a slave, I had a minimum wage job, with the staff treating me poorly as well. But one day, I found a lost filly Lyra, who turned my life around.” He slowly started to smile.

“Thanks to her, I become independent, following my dream as Artist, making millions. Shortly after Lyra was found and got home, me and my mother were reunited again. But it didn’t end here.

She found a way to contact me and spent time again on earth with me. Though, as it was time for her to go, me and my mother decided to start a new life in Equestria, as ponies.”

Lyra and Abstraction stayed silent for a moment. “Oh my…nopony deserves such a fate. But we keep your secret.”

“Appreciated, Lyra.“ Jan replied.

Eventually, it became evening, with Lyra and Abstraction offering Kyle, Jan and Art Strings a place to stay for the night.

“You can have the bed, sweetheart. I take the couch.” The former man tucked his daughter in.

“Alright, dad. Goodnight.”

“Night.” He said as his mother used a sleeping bag instead, both getting comfortable and falling asleep.

It was an eventful day, but what other events were still to come?

Author's Note:

Only time will tell

Comments

[midnightwolfGX]

Good runthrough of their backstory to provide context. So far, this story's going pretty good!

[Bronycommander]

10323509
Glad to hear it!