Sweat and Iron

by The Psychopath

We were always watching

"Who are you? What are you? Where do you come from? What do you do? Can I have those goggles?" were just a few questions that raced from Pinkie Pie's mouth as she bounced around the biped.

He still wasn't reacting."I am Doctor. No. You can't have these goggles."

"Hey. What about the other questions?"

"Enough with these questions, impetulent pony!"

Pinkie found her mane sticky upwards and her body smoking suddenly. She didn't notice what happened, but she was now in Luna's forelegs. Looking up, she saw the creature holding a black baton that seemed to be coursing with immense amounts of electricity.

"How could you?" Rarity whined.

"You want me to remove your mane...or worse yet, turn it green?!" Doctor threatened with an undertone of humor.

The white mare grabbed her mane from reflex and squeaked.

"You DARE to menace my subjects? Tell me what you want, or I'll disintegrate you." Celestia's face was starting to take on a wild appearance.

"Something important for me and my association."

"But what exactly ARE you? And WHAT do you want? HOW do you even know about us?" Celestia's voice began to take an even louder tone than before, indicating her anger and stress levels.

"Hm." the Doctor adjusted his surgeon gloves and his goggles before finally answering."We know everything about you. A few decades back, we had discovered your universe, and found that it was just a basic world. Your dragons had already been used for testing and had been proven widely unsuccessful...except for THAT one success... Then we came across you alicorns. We watched you and observed your place in society. And, more importantly, your power.
We wanted that power, but we couldn't reach you, so we tried experimenting with dna to create false alicorns, as we called them."

By now, a face of pure disgust of forming across everypony's face.

"And...wh-who did you test them on?" Fluttershy's question surprised the others, but the answer was awful at best.

"Humans. They believe us to be of their species, but we are something else. Always whining about us 'torturing our own kind'. Hmph. They are but cattle to feed and eat afterwards. They have no uses. Of course, the only two successes left the tower they were developed in and landed into another version of Equestria. Don't start rearing up yet. Nothing happened. One simply had to sacrifice herself to save her friend-gone-schizophrenic. This proved to us that they were inferior to even basic unicorns. What a fine cloth." Doctor had walked towards a small table with a plant on it, and underneath it was a silky brown cloth with decorative textiles sown into the edges.

"You're a monster!" Pinkie roared.

"Haha! You want to know what else we did?!" Doctor threw the plant to the floor and watched the remains slide along the floor. He was serious now."We modified our dimensional window to be able to send tiny probes in. We managed to extract the dna of Nightmare Moon during her revival."

Luna gasped in shock and began to tremble. Doctor noticed this, but his eyes were hidden by the lens of his goggles.

"But they aren't effective anymore because we freed the princess from her evil." Twilight proudly interjected.

"You humor me. That doorway doesn't simply open to other worlds. It also opens to their time periods. We have dna from ponies that don't even exist in this dimension. For example, Princess Celestia." The Doctor's neck cracked as he turned to face the princess."Have you ever wondered what it would have been like the other way around?"

Celestia, at first, remained confused, but her eyes pupils dilated immensely, and she took a step back.

(This isn't obligated, but it gives a nice little build-up tone addition)

"H-how...Why?" she began to stutter."GUARDS! GUARDS!"

"We didn't just create clones of them."

"WHERE ARE THE GUARDS?!"

"Sister! Calm down!"

"Come on Applejack. We'll teach him a lesson." Rainbow Dash cracked her knuckles.

"Ya got that right."

"We preferred to test and reuse the dna batches, cleaning them as the failures grew."

The sky outside began to darken and gray out as what seemed to be a storm was coming.

"We aren't here to take Canterlot. We could care less about a simple building. We are here for the test subjects."

A massive explosion rocked the castle, interrupting the attacking mares and making them tumble over each other.

"Ow. What?"

"How'd ya do that?"

"I did nothing. Our association is simply going to make a new base of operations to round up our future test subjects. Won't you stay?"

A flash of dark energy narrowly missed Doctor's head as he slightly leaned to the left. The beam blasted through the doors, tossing shards everywhere and unhinging the right door.

"Scarlet Star, come to me!" the Doctor held an arm out s he shouted this. Who was he calling?

As the sky outside rumbled with a thunderstorm, bolts crashing down as the whole work of the pegasi was destroyed, the middle of the throne room began to burn gently, a small circle on the floor beginning to form from the melted remains of the red carpet and the tiles. They twisted and curled like a demented mind as a shape began to phase into existence through a black, starry smog lifting itself up from this molten slag. The shape grew larger and larger until the body slowly solidified into what was now a new alicorn...a fearsome alicorn. Magical power leaked from her like an overflowing well, and her stance was none too pleasant to see.

Her eyes were dragon-like, just like Nightmare Moon's, but her iris were a sunny orange and burnt with the same amount of heat. Her mane flowed like fearsome flames, but what was orange and yellow on the edges became a cold and black starry night towards the interior. This was the same for her tail. Her horn was as long as Celestia's, if not longer, and twirled like a ram's own cranial extensions. This mare's wings were immense as well, showing a beautiful glamor that even Rarity seemed to gawk at despite herself. There was something added to this alicorn that seemed to start affecting everypony's minds, but they stood strong as the vanilla and night blue coat of this mutant swirled across her body, seemingly trying to grasp at each other once reaching the middle of this malevolent creature.

Celestia was about to act, but some sort of mechanical beast was seen flying across the window as some guards tried to fly away. It open fire, its hand flashing every time it did, and the pegasi dropped.

"The truth is, Celestia, we were always watching."

"To all guards in the castle. Commence evacuation! Get the civilians to the airships! We must reach every town possible for evacuation of Equestria!" the princess' voice somehow rang throughout the whole of the castle, alerting everyone who heard it.

"And to where will you flee, white pony?" Scarlet Star asked.

"Speak not, abomination." Luna menaced.

The alicorn did not like this, and channeled energy through her horn, readying an attack.

"Princess, we need the elements!" Twilight begged.

"No, Twilight. They will be of no use here. Help the guards to the airships, then help everypony evacuate. The guards know where to go."

"But--"

"NOW!"

Twilight flew up in the air then fled past the door, both Doctor and the alicorn just staring at the princesses. The sisters began to walk around the invaders in a large circle, and Luna opened the beginning of the conversation.

"You are only one. The biped cannot fight."

"Maybe, but I won't let you harm my father. I'm the most powerful alicorn in existence!" Scarlet yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Father?" the sisters had echo in their heads.

That word was picking and eating at their minds. The worst was how "analytive" Doctor was. He was observing and calculating every movement and interaction. Somehow, he seemed to remember everything. Why did this creation call him her father, and why did he not seem to care about her safety? She was just artificial! There was no way she could defeat two true alicorns. Yet...Her power was impossibly immense and somehow formed of nothing but evil and unknown rage. Her coat's colors seemed to move on their own as her magic flowed. Celestia tried to blind the mare with her solar magic while Luna intended to slam into Scarlet with a pointed shield. As they did this, however, Luna's shield was put to uselessness as the alicorn opened her mouth and somehow breathed in all the light emitted by Celestia, and redirected the power into her right forehoof, and smashed through the night princess' shield, not only burning her chest, but throwing shards of magic everywhere. Celestia caught her sister in time, only to fire yet another projectile from her horn. This time, the magical apparatus grabbed both Scarlet Star and Doctor and exploded.
The explosion not only incinerated half of the throne room, turning it into a crispy black char, but it also created a solar barrier meant to block the two.

"Sister." Luna panted as she stood up painfully, a hoof to her chest wound."We must teleport up to the top of the castle. Our own airships have been specially designed for immense space and combat capabilities. We must take them and grab as many ponies we can from the villages around and flee to...that island."

Celestia's eye twitched. They were meant to hide in a cavern created beneath the Meridian Alcove, a large sea just right of the Equestria Lands. Who and what Luna alluded to, Celestia knew quite well, and abhorred the idea so much that it created a revolting a vile taste upon her tongue. Before they could talk, the white alicorn still transported herself and Luna to the top of Canterlot castle. It was actually a flat surface hidden by a magical barrier. The tower underneath WAS there, but it only held this immense flying platform. The gray tarmac was still intact, and upon it sat two airships. Both were immense, looked like horizontal hot-air baloons, and both bared the colors and symbols of their respectful princesses, said princesses' cutie marks being tattooed as a gigantic mark on each side of the baloon itself. As all was calm up here, Celestia opened up her questioning while her sister tried to heal her wound.

"We cannot go to them. It is suicide! They will shoot us out of the sky on approach! The Anti-Copperlings hate magic, and what'll they do when we arrive with many unicorns?"

"Ergh! That government has always been a thorn in our sides! They have persisted in threatening peace with their steam-powered machinery, yet they never move from their island-prison. Always taunting us. Telling us that we cannot beat their technology. Yet...if these invaders possess advanced technology, then we have no choice but to hope for refuge when we arrive there."

"What will we propose when we arrive? A truce? Good love? Hoping that they accept our unicorns? You know as well as I how he treats every magical being there."

"I--"

The sisters' conversation was cut short by some sort of immense blue rod smashing through the floor. It stood there for awhile, until it began to open up like an umbrella, revealing its blue portions to be rods. Once these clicked into place, a menacing hum flew through the air, but the object fell before it could release its immense amount of electricity along the ground to paralyze the two alicorns. As they panted, they galloped to the hole just in time to see the object smash into a part of the castle and take some ponies and other bipeds with it down into the lower floors, the other pieces of the runway smashing haphazardly everywhere. Explosions were erupting everywhere, leaving little puffs of smoke in the sky and others on the ground. It was like a war.

Using enhanced sight, both alicorns could see that the bipeds fighting were all hidden behind strange blue armor. The visors covering their faces were yellow, just like Doctor's goggles, and every joint was covered with an added plate of armor. They held weird objects that spat fire and metal at their targets, causing blood to erupt everywhere. It was a nasty scene. Accompanying this, the special "Heavy Guard" of the Royal Guards were fighting in the crowds as well. Something strange was going on. While their armor was capable of bouncing off the projectiles, what Celestia had seen fly by the window earlier was not there.

"Where is that immense machine from earlier?"

"What machine?" Luna asked her sister with bite.

"It was--"

"THERE!" Luna pointed as if her arm had a sudden spasm.

An immense biped of metal stomped across the garden. It suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It looked exactly like the smaller ones, except for its girth and the strange electrical sounds it made. The heavily armored guards ran or flew up to it and tackled the beast either in the legs or the body. While these enchanted suits can topple a dragon, the machine held its ground and slapped the ponies into the ground or the castle. The ones slammed into the ground saw a net thrown upon their limp bodies, atleast, those who were still conscious. The bonds of their capture suddenly surged with electricity, and when the shocking was over, the presents were wrapped up and dragged into the castle.

"Sister." Luna looked at Celestia with contempt as her sister tried to assess the situation.

No matter how she flipped or spun the ideas in her mind, nothing would work besides fleeing to the island. They had no choice. She gave in.

"Fine. We shall go there then. I trust you know how to pilot an airship?"

"Using our own magic to control the vehicle's flight path as well as its speed by--"

"GOOD! That's enough. Now hurry up! We'll go to Ponyville first, then Fleswat, and so forth."

"Right."

---

A loud roar was heard in the throne room, and the barrier exploded outwards, damaging even more of the castle then it already was. Scarlet was panting an growling with anger. Those two nearly hurt her father! If she hadn't protected him with her body, he would have died. Doctor still didn't care and simply adjusted his goggles as he listened to the "soothing" ambience.

"Ah. It seems that we won't be able to use this place after all. Ah well. We'll get into the town a bit further down then. I wonder what mixtures can be created."Doctor hummed.

"Are you alright, Father?" Scarlet lowered her head as she looked at the biped, her eyes becoming saucers.

"Yes. No need to worry about me. You have performed admirably on the field of battle."Scarlet Star smiled at this and was about to jump with joy."However, you failed to apprehend the princesses." Scarlet's ears drooped down."Your performance counters the failure, so I will let it slide this time. However, if you can destroy the soon-to-be-coming evacuation vehicles, then I shall reward you. It all depends on how well you perform." Doctor was as emotionless as ever, yet Scarlet seemed to feel some sort of inexistent feeling being conveyed here.

"Yes!" she answered with glee.

"I will leave and count all our prisoners. Until then, I have something else to let loose on those ponies. Until the aircraft come in, have fun capturing subjects."

"Yes, sir." the alicorn said as she flew off through the open roof of the throne room. Massive explosions and blood curdling screams came shortly after.

Doctor went outside of the castle, into the front courtyard. It was still a combat zone, but this was where all the captured subjects were put. Massive containers were coming in from the shy, where a swirling purple vortex had opened. Supplies and such were transported via mecha, allowing quick resupplying. The once beautiful yard was now riddled with debris, craters, and bags full of struggling ponies. A tent had been mounted near the gates, and here, one of the soldiers was noting all the newcomers on a drawing table. Behind him sat a tall gray container. It only had one exit, and its only opening was a tiny slot with two bars. The interior was completely dark, but there was something whimpering in it.

Knowing better than to alert it, Doctor tapped the guard on the shoulder, said being immediately standing straight and hitting his left breast with his right hand. The Doctor signaled him to be "at ease", and jolted his head towards the right so that the guard could open the door. The armored biped immediately gasped and scuttled up to the number-pad on the side, input the code, and the door slid open. The whimpering had stopped, but the creature inside dared not leave, feeling safe within the shadows. This irritated Doctor, who slammed his fist against the box.

"LEAVE THIS CONTAINER AT ONCE, or do you wish to be part of more of the more 'delicate' experiments?" he threatened.

The creature yiped and scuttle outwards immediately. It crawled on the floor, then forced itself up to look at Doctor with big, sickly eyes. It was a pony; a mare, to be exact. She was extremely thin and poorly nourished. Her rosy-purple coat was actually clean, but stricken with scars where her fur dared not return to their rightful places. Her mane and tail, both colored a lovely bubbly pink, were in shambles. Her lavender eyes dared not look at the brown contraption around her neck. "A control collar" is what she was told. Her fear was at its epiphany.

"You will reach one of the convoys of these creatures and board one. You will spy on them and tell them what we want to know. Where the new location is and what they still have. Got it?" Doctor remained lean and upright.

The mare nodded in silence as the Doctor began to pace back and forth.

"Failure to board a vessel will result in further, more thorough experimentation. Failure to communicate will result in you being cross-gened with another species, leading into immense pain, possible failure which will mean immediate termination and incineration, and if the test is succesful, further experimentation. You know exactly what betrayal enthralls however. Don't you?" Doctor tilted his head slightly towards the mare who began to hyperventilate."Good. Now remove yourself from my sight. Leave the castle and only come back after your mission is a success. NOW!"

The mare yiped one more time and forced her body to gallop as far as it could. Doctor simply watched her as she struggled over the damaged entrance's remains before collapsing a moment, then forcing herself towards Canterlot again.

"Hm. These subjects intrigue me. They seem more resilient than the dna we've acquired on their species. Extraction is needed. It will be stored in refrigeration devices...ehhh...but the others have not arrived with the necessary materials, and the temporary labs have yet to even be designed. We will simply have to stock the future test subjects for later usage. I wonder how many I can cross with the various changeling dna I have acquired. Perhaps I should take the most powerful of the males and turn him into a changeling breeder, or perhaps a changeling nurse? Maybe even mess with the queen's dna a bit. So many things to experiment with." Doctor passed in front of the guard and grabbed a remote very slowly.

"You're a monster!" yelled a guard.

"You're only capturing us to experiment and turns us into monsters? HOW DARE Y-AAAAGH!"

The entirety of the nets nearby had more electricity surge through their bodies. Once the scientist let go of the button on the controller, he extended his arm back and dropped the device in the guard's hands.

"Do electrocute them if they dare to speak again, will you?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Don't go too far. They need to be in perfect condition for our future guests."

"Right."

---

Twilight and her friends, however, weren't so happy about the situation. Panic had risen in Canterlot, and chaos had broken out. Everypony was trying to flee to where the airships were. While Canterlot could be housed in the Airships, there wouldn't be many left for the other towns. Everypony can't be evacuated. Some would have to stay behind and flee on hoof. The mane six were compressed by the crowd as explosions at the castle continued. It seemed the battle was only going to happen there...until a few smaller breaches opened up near the white brick lanes and the top of buildings. It was only going to get worse.

Comments

[Cellin]

They believe us to be of their species, but we are something else. Always whining about us 'torturing our own kind'. Hmph. They are but cattle to feed and eat afterwards. They have no uses.

This guy's starting to sound like some insane observer from fringe.

[Paladin Redflare]

Evil....eviiil....EVIIIIL!!! That Doctor is nothing but PURE EVIL!

[Ninjahzzzz]

2255303 Someone get The Doctor,That double hearted bastard could beat THIS 'Doctor' ....or not...either way it'd be epic