Doctor Whooves
Evolution of the Daleks
Behold, less slacking off this time!
"I think our detour just got longer."
"Tonight? That's impossible!"
"What do ya mean, creatures?"
"A Dalek, and it's not just metal, it's alive."
"What the hell is that thing?"
"I, am, an Equine Dalek, I am, your future!"
Let's get this show on the road!
Everypony, including the Daleks, seemed speechless. The Equine Dalek, Dalek Sec, looked around the room with his one big eye. Slowly, as if he still wasn't quite in control of his new form, he began to speak, "These, ponies will, be-come like me. Prepare, them for hy-bridi-sation." The way he spoke was till jerky like a Dalek some syllables splitting and seeming separate from the rest of the word. At his command, the Mutts (Diamond dog/pony mutants) started to grab Nightengale, Sea Apple, and the two other poor souls who'd been kidnapped as well.
Suddenly, cheerful music began humming from a small radio on one of the desks. The Daleks, including Sec, looked around searching for the source, "What is that sound?" The Doctor poked his head out from behind one of the concrete pillars holding up the ceiling of the basement floor beneath the Star height Tower.
"Ah, well, that would be me." He strode out from his hiding place, "hello, surprise, boo, etcetera."
"Doctor," hissed Sec.
"The en-e-my of the Daleks!" cried Dalek Thay.
"Exterminate!" cried another.
"Wait," ordered Sec, raising a hoof, but keeping his red eye locked on the Doctor's brown ones.
"Well then," the Time-Pony mused, "A new breed of Dalek, fascinating and very clever."
"The Cult of Skaro e-scaped your slaughter," Sec hissed.
"How did you end up in 273?" asked the Doctor.
"Emergency tem-poral shift."
"Oh! That must've roasted up your power cells eh?" he said. "Time was, four Daleks could conquer the planet, now here you are, hiding in the dark, skulking, experimenting."" He looked back at Sec, "All of which results in you."
"I am, a Dalek in pony form," Sec answered, still monotonously.
"What does it feel like?" queried the Doctor. "You can talk to me Dalek Sec. It is Dalek Sec, isn't it? You've got a name and a mind of your own, tell me what you're thinking right now."
"I feel, everything," he said, turning away. The Doctor nodded, "Good, that's good."
"I can feel everything we wanted from Equestria," Sec said, a curious tone to his voice. "Which is, ambition, cunning, anger, and, war." The Dalek pony looked at the Doctor, "Such a hidden talent for war."
"No, that's not what Equestria means!" he protested.
"Oh but I think it does," Sec replied. "At the heart of it, this species is so very, Dalek."
"Alright then, so what've you accomplished with this Final Experiment then eh?" asked the Doctor. "Nothing! Because, I can show what you're still missing with this thing. A simple little radio." He pat the device.
"What is the purpose of that machine?" queried Sec.
"Well exactly, it plays music," sneered the Doctor, "what's the point of that?" His voice softened, "Oh, with music you can, dance to it, sing with it, fall in love to it... Unless you're a Dalek of course, because then it's all just noise!" His hoof shot out, twisting one of the dials hard, changing it from gentle music to a horrible screeching. The Daleks, including Dalek Sec, cried out in pain. The mutts barked angrily but released their grip on the prisoners.
"Come on!" the Doctor cried, he and the ponies made a break for the entrance to the sewer. The Daleks began to cluster around Sec, "Pro-tect the hy-brid!" One of them blasted the radio off the desk, causing it to fall to the floor silent.
"Sta-tus," demanded one of the Daleks.
"Pain," replied Sec, clutching his head with one hoof, "pain in the flesh, like no Dalek has felt, for thousands of years."
"The Doctor has escaped," stated a Dalek.
"The find him," ordered Sec.
"Find the Doctor! The pri-son-ers must be re-cap-tured!"
The group of prisoners, raced through the sewers with the Doctor in the lead. They rounded a corner and found Miss. Uniqua Stone lost.
"Doctor!" she cried.
"Not now Uniqua! Run!" he called back, taking her hoof and running.
"Wait, where's Sky?" she cried. The Doctor dragged her around a corner, the others following swiftly. They raced up the ladder, ending up somewhere in Manehatten as the two chasing Daleks and groups of mutts caught up behind.
"They have as-cended," stated One, "re-turn to base." The mutts obeyed without hesitation, but the Daleks stayed. One looked at Two, "Re-quest in-for-ma-tion. What is your o-pin-ion of Dalek Sec?"
"We were cre-a-ted to fol-low him," Two answered.
"But you have doubts." Two looked around cautiously, "A-ffir-ma-tive."
The first place the band of escapees galloped to was Solarville. Outside, ponies armed with makeshift crossbows and hoof crafted spears. It had lessened from the down pour of rain from earlier to a slight drizzle, but the ground was muddy underhoof. The others split off, readying themselves. Uniqua, Nightengale, Sea Apple, and the Doctor went straight to Peddler. The Doctor explained the whole story, and Peddler listened.
"These Daleks sound like something from nightmares," he remarked.
"They're splicing themselves onto Equine bodies," the Doctor explained grimly. "And if I'm right, they've got a breeding stock right here in Solarville. You've got to get everypony out."
"Solarville is the lowest place a pony can fall, there's nowhere else to go," insisted Peddler, loading his crossbow.
"I'm sorry Peddler, you've got to scatter," the Doctor protested. "Go to the docks and get on a boat, hitch a train, just get out of Manehatten!"
"There's got to be some way to reason with these things."
"There' s no chance," interupted Gale.
"You ain't seen them boss," Apple added.
"Daleks are bad at any time, but now they're vulnerable, and that makes them dangerous," said the Doctor grimly. Suddenly, a trill whistle sounded from across the camp, a cry ran out: "They're coming, they're coming!"
"A sentry, she must've spotted something," Peddler said, leaping to his hooves. All around them ponies raced to arm themselves as the mutts' howls got louder with their approach.
"It's started," muttered the Doctor.
"Everypony arm yourselves!" ordered Peddler.
"Ah'm ready Peddler," called Appled. "But the rest of y'all, find something, anything, to fight with!" Most ponies began to cluster in the center, armed to the teeth. Some ran away, "Come back! It's not safe!"
"We need to get out of the park!" cried Gale, her horn powering up with electric energy.
"We can't, we're surrounded on all sides, they're driving everypony back towards us," the Doctor replied.
"We're trapped?" Uniqua exclaimed.
"Then we stand together," said Peddler. "Everpony gather round! They can't take all of us!" The whistling of arrows began then, as scared ponies began shooting into the shadows, trying to ward of canine attackers.
"If we can just hold them off till morning," Gale muttered, firing her own magic blast. The Doctor looked skyward and scowled, "Oh Nightengale, they were just the first wave." She followed his gaze and gasped, "By Luna's moon!" A Dalek was literally hovering over Solarville.
"What in Celestia's name is that?!" cried Peddler.
"It's from Tartarus!" somepony yelled. "A monster from the pit come to destroy us all!"
"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" shouted Apple, aiming and firing a single arrow at one of the Daleks. It bounced right off, of course.
"That's not going to work!" snapped the Doctor, redirecting the crossbow.
"There's more than one of them," said Gale fearfully as a second metal monster swooped in, hovering next to its brother.
"The po-nies will surr-en-der!" ordered the first.
"Leave them alone!" the Doctor demanded. "They've done nothing to you!" Peddler stepped forward, "Peddler stay back!" He ignored the Time-Pony, "I am told I'm addressing the Daleks. Is that right? Well, from what I understand, you're outcasts too!"
"Peddler don't!" hissed the Doctor. He glared at him, "Doctor this is my township, you will accept my authority. Just let me try." He looked back at the Daleks, "Daleks! Ain't we the same? Underneath, ain't we all the same?" He unstrapped the crossbow and set it aside. "Right, see, I've just discovered, this past day, that the universe around me, is so much bigger than I ever imagined. And it's terrifying, oh yeah, I'm scared! But it's got to give me hope! Hope that, maybe, we could work together to build a better tomorrow. So, I beg you now, if you have any compassion in your hearts, then you'll meet with us and stop this fighting!" Peddler paused, watching them, "Well? What D'you say?"
The Dalek looked at him, and without any remorse at all, "EXTERMINATE!" Zap! The blue blast of energy hit Peddler right in the chest, he cried out, his skeleton flashed, and he collapsed, dead.
"Peddler no!" cried Apple, terrified.
"They just shot him on the spot," muttered Gale, her magic failing in fear. The Doctor was speechless, and furious. Something snapped and he galloped forward, "Daleks! Alright! So it's my turn! Then kill me!" Everypony froze as he shouted that, his voice filled with anger Gale had never seen. "Kill me and leave these ponies alone!"
"I will be the destroyer of our greatest enemy," the Dalek said proudly.
"The do it!" roared the Time-Pony. "Just do it! Do it! KILL ME!"
"EXTERMINATE!"
"Stop!" The Dalek froze, the voice of its leader being radioed to it. "I command you to stop." None of the ponies could hear it, the Doctor just stared at the Dalek.
"I, do not un-der-stand," it said. "It is the Doctor!"
"But, I want him alive," Dalek Sec ordered. The Doctor looked back at. Nightengale, thoroughly surprised.
"The urge to kill is too strong!"
"I have,decided, the Doctor will must live and, you will obey."
"I, o-be y," the Dalek said, defeated.
"What's going on?" asked the Doctor.
"Bring him to me."
"You will fo-low."
"No! You can't go!" cried Gale, galloping over.
"I've got to go," the Doctor insisted. "the Daleks just changed their minds, Daleks never change their minds."
"But what about us?" asked Gale. He thought for a moment before turning back to the Daleks, "On one condition! If I come with you, you'll spare the lives of everypony here! Do you hear me?"
"The ponies will be spared," it replied. "Doctor, foll-ow."
"Then I'm coming with you," Gale insisted.
"Gale, stay here, do what you do best. Ponies are hurt, you're a doctor, help them. Let me go." He turned and started to walk away, sneakily slipping a hoof into his pocket. He turned and trotted back over to Gale, "Oh, and one more thing," he took her hoof and pat it, "Thank you very much." Then turned and followed the Daleks. Gale looked down and levitated the small black wallet off her hoof, "Psychic paper?"
A while later, the sentries were re stationed and the ponies we're trying to put Solarville back together. Throwing water on burning tents, rebuilding collapsed tents. In a metal shack that was still standing, Gale was wrapping bandages around the hoof of an injured foal. Uniqua pushed open the door and stepped in, carrying a hot pot of water in her magic, "Hey, I got some more hot water."
"Thanks," Gale replied absentmindedly, tying the bandage. "It's okay, you're going to be fine, it's just a scratch." The filly nodded her thanks, got up, and galloped outside.
"So, what about us?" asked Uniqua, sitting down. "What do we do now?"
"The Doctor gave me this," she showed her the psychic paper with her magic, "it must've been for some reason."
"What's that for?"
"It's, psychic paper, gets you in places. Buildings and stuff, but where? He must want me to go somewhere but what am I supposed to do?"
The Doctor strode into the laboratory behind the Daleks. The minute he lay eyes on Dalek Sec, he stormed forward. "Those ponies were defenseless! You only wanted me but no, you had to start killing."
"The deaths, were wrong," replied Sec. The Doctor froze, "I'm sorry?"
"That stallion, their leader, he showed such courage," Sec continued sadly.
"And that's good?" asked the Time-Pony.
"That's excellent," replied the Equne Dalek. The Doctor looked at him queerly. "Is it just me or are you becoming a little bit more, pony."
"You, are the last, of your kind. And I, am the first of mine."
"What do you want from me?"
"We tried everything to survive when we found ourselves in this ignorant age. We tried growing, Dalek embryos, but their flesh was too, weak."
"I saw one of your experiments out there, left out ere to die in the dark."
"It forced us to conclude, that the greatest resource of this planet, is it's ponies." Sec motioned with a hoof to one of the Daleks, who activated something on one of the controls. Lights switched on above them, illuminating the rest of the chamber to receveal beds. Hundreds of them, suspended from cords above the room, draped in white sheets. Sec pressed a button and one above them began to lower to the ground. The Doctor stepped up to look at it.
"We stole them, we stole ponies for our purpose," explained Sec. "Look underneath." The Doctor grabbed one end of the sheet with his teeth and pulled it back. Underneath was a mare, a regular mare with short blue hair and a light yellow coat. Her eyes were shut and she wasn't moving, "This is the true extent of the Final Experiment."
"Is she dead?"
"Near death," the Dalek explained, "her mind wiped, ready to be filled with new ideas."
"Dalek ideas?" asked the Doctor.
"The Pony Dalek Race," he said proudly. The Doctor looked up at the hanging bodies, "How many are there?"
"We have many caverns, like this one, storing more than one thousand."
"Is there anyway to restore them? Make them ponies again?"
"Everything they were," Sec said, a hint of guilt in his voice, "has been lost."
"So they're like shells?" the Doctor asked. "You've got empty ponies ready to be converted, that's going to take a hell of a lot of power. This planet, right now, has barely master converting magic to electricity. How're you going to do it?"
"Open the conductor plans!"
Gale paced back and forth across the tent, gently tapping the psychic paper against her head with magic. Uniqua sat on the cot nearby, watching her. Suddenly, she froze, "Wait a minute, down in the sewers, the Daleks mentioned some kind of energy conductor."
"What does that mean?" asked Uniqua.
"I don't know, like a lightning rod or, Dalekanium!" Uniqua jumped in surprise. "One of them said the Dalekanium was in place."
"In place where?"
"Apple will know." The both nodded and trotted out of the tent. Apple was in Peddler's tent across the hub, he was sitting on the cot, wiping tears away. Gale glanced at Uniqua, then at Apple. "Apple?"
"Hmm?" he looked up at them.
"That Rich Bits guy, you said he was some sort of fixer, right?" she asked gently, "got jobs all over town?"
"Yeah, Bits could find money anywhere."
"But where though? What sort of things?" Apple sniffed, "You name it, we're all so desperate fer work, ya jus' gotta hope he'll give ya something good. Building pays the best though."
"What sort of building?"
"Mostly the Tower," he said, motioning over his shoulder. That's it!
A set of digital blue prints appeared on a screen above them as Sec had instructed. "Yeah yeah yeah, Star Height Tower, we're right underneath it, so what? You've hijacked the whole building?"
"We needed an energy conductor," Dalek Sec explained.
"What for?"
"I am the genetic template. My altered DNA was to be administered to each pony body. A strong enough blast of gamma radiation would splice the pony and Dalek genetic codes, awakening each body from its sleep," Sec continued.
"Gamma radiation?" the Doctor repeated, "what're you-" the image on the holoscreen changed, it was a diagram of Gaia and the sun. "Oh, the sun, your using the sun!"
"Soon, the greatest solar flare for a thousand years will hit the planet," Dalek Sec said. "The energy will be drawn to the conductor when it strikes."
"And the army awakens," he concluded. "But I still don't get what you need me for."
"You're a genius," Sec answered. "Consider a Dalek, intelligent, but emotionless."
"Removing emotions made you stronger than the enemy," the Doctor replied. "That's what you're creator thought, all those years ago."
"He was wrong."
"... He was what?"
"It makes us lesser than them. The Daleks need to not only return to the flesh, but also to the heart," Sec insisted.
"But you wouldn't be supreme beings anymore," the Doctor added.
"And that is good," Sec replied.
"In-corr-ect!" shouted one of the other Daleks.
"Daleks are su-preme!" another squawked.
"No, not anymore!" snapped Sec.
"But it is our pur-pose."
"The our purpose is wrong," he stated. "Where has our quest for supremacy led us? To this. Hiding in the sewers of a primitive world, just four of us. If we do not change now, we deserve extinction."
"So, you want me to change everything that makes a Dalek a Dalek," the Doctor concluded.
"If you can help me. Your knowledge of genetic engineering is even greater than ours, the new race must be ready by the time the solar flare erupts."
"But you're the template, I thought they were getting a dose of you."
"I want you to, change the gene sequence."
"To make them even more pony?"
"Ponies are one of the greatest survivors, we need that ability."
"Hold on, there's no way this lot are going to let you do it," the Doctor protested pointing at the Daleks behind them.
"I am their leader," Sec countered.
"Oh and that's enough for you, isn't it?"
"Daleks must foll-ow or-ders," one squawked.
"Dalek Sec co-mmands, we o-bey," another beeped.
"If you don't help me, nothing will change," their leader begged.
"But, there's no room on this planet for another species," the Doctor countered. (I always found it odd how he protested the one time Daleks did something good.)
"You have your Tardis. Take us across the stars, find us a new home and allow the new Daleks to start again."
"When's the solar flare?"
"Eleven minutes." The last Time-Pony stared at the first Pony Dalek, then at the others, "Well, best get to work then."
Nightengale, Uniqua, and Apple were crammed shoulder to shoulder in a tiny, rickety, hoof pulled elevator going right to the top if the Star Height Tower. Gale watched the dial as it went up, "I always dreamed of seeing the Tower, I just never thought it'd be like this."
"Were are we headin' anyways," asked Apple.
"Right to the top," Gale replied.
"How come those guys just let us in?" asked Uniqua, "Hows that thing work?"
"Psychic paper," she said, levitating out of her pocket and showing it, "it shows whatever I want them to think. According to this we are," she flipped it around and checked, "Two engineers and an architect." She put the paper away just as the elevator reached the top. The doors slid open and they trotted out into the office room.
"Wow, just look at this place!" exclaimed Uniqua, "to of the world." Gale spotted something over by the desk, blue prints and drawings of the building. "This looks good." She and Apple trotted over, he pointed to the date on the bottom, "Hey, look at tha dates, this plans musta been released taday. They musta changed somethin' last minute." Gale used her magic to flip between the plans, "You mean the Daleks changed something?"
"Yeah, could be."
"The ones underneath were released earlier, which means, if they did change something it'll be on the top plans but not on the bottom plans," she reasoned. "We need to check them against one another." She and Apple pulled the plans off the desk and began laying them out.
"The height of this place!" called Uniqua from where she stood at one of the pillars, not even close to the edge. "This is amazing!"
"Well, we're a hundred floors up, don't go wandering off!" called Gale.
"I just want a look!" she replied. Uniqua trotted out onto the scaffolding, and with a hoof solidly around one of the bars, looked out on her city. Past it's glowing lights she could see the ocean, and the Gateway To Freedom standing proud on its island. "Wow," she murmered, "Manehatten. If aliens hold to come to Gaia, oh no wonder they came here."
"There's no point in chromosomal grafting, it's too erratic," the Doctor called, pausing to stir something with the spoon in his mouth. "You need to split the genome and force the Dalek and Pony DNA sequence right into the cortex."
"We need more chromatin solution!" called Sec, doing something similar. Four mutts, including Sky Lark, hefted in a large crate of the stuff. The Doctor stepped closer to Sec, glancing back at Sky. "So, what about the dog ponies in the grand scheme of things?"
"Nothin, they are just slaves," Sec replied. "Their lifespan is limited. Most survive only about two weeks. Power up the line feeds!" The Doctor turned away from the work station and over to Sky, "I can't reverse what they've done to you, but they won't do it to anypony else."
"Do you trust them?" Sly asked. The Doctor glanced back at Sec who, while still struggling to figure things out with hooves, was working quite diligently. "I know a single pony can change the course of history, the right idea at the right time, that's all it takes. I have to believe it's possible."
Both sets of plans were spread out across the floor, outside the tower, lightning began to flash as a storm was readied by the weather team.
"I'll go and keep an eye out," Apple said, getting to his hooves, "make sure we're safe up here. Don't want nopony butting in." He walked towards the elevator, Uniqua came back in from out on the scaffolding.
"There's one heck of a storm rolling in," she commented, kneeling by the plans. Gale set one of them down, and sighed. "I wish the Doctor was here, he'd know what we're looking for." Uniqua glanced at the plans, then at Gale.
"So tell me, when did you and him hook up?" she asked.
"It was in hospital, sort of," answered Gale.
"Ah, of course, him being a doctor and all."
"Actually, I'm a doctor. Kind of."
"You're a physician? Really?"
"I was training, still am if I ever, get back home."
"You could be doctors together! Oh what a partnership! Oh, but what a shame, him being so different and all. You know what I mean?"
"You have no idea how different he really is."
"He's a stallion honey, that's different enough." Gale paused, debating wether or not to say what she wanted to, "He had this, companion, a while back. This friend, and ever since he's been on his own. But you know, sometimes, I say something, or do something, and he looks at me, and I just sort of think that he's not seeing me. He's just remembering."
"Listen Gale, you want to get all sad?" Uniqua scoffed, "You want to have a contest with me and Sky?"
"No, but, if he's with the Doctor, it's very likely they'll both get out of there."
"And then what? Don't talk crazy, there's no future for me and him. The one thing good in my life and the Daleks ruined it."
"The line feeds are read-y!" shouted a Dalek.
"Then it's all systems go!" cried the Doctor.
"The solar flare is imminent," called Sec, "it will hit Gaia in a matter of minutes!"
"And we'll be ready!" called the Doctor, filling a tube with blue liquid, the squirting that into a bronze pipe. "The compound will allow the gene bonds to regonfigure into a new format. Power up!" Two mutts through the breaker switches, the tubes hanging from every bed began filling with light blue bubbly liquid.
"There goes the gene solution," the Doctor said.
"The life blood," said Sec.
"Gotcha!" cried Gale. Uniqua looked at her, she pointed to a pair of small lines on the mast. "Look, there, on the mast. See these lines? They're on this one, but not on the other one. They're new, they've added something."
"Added what?" The two unicorns looked at one another, "Dalekanium!"
Suddenly, a very loud alarm started to blare, red lights flashed.
"Whats that?" asked the Doctor, looking around.
"What's happening? Is there a malfunction?" demanded Sec to his supposedly loyal Daleks, "Answer me!"
"No no no!" the Doctor cried. "They're changing the gene feed!"
"Impossible, they cannot disobey orders!"
"The Doctor will step a-way from the con-trols!" one of the Daleks ordered rolling forward, it's weapons primed.
"Stop!" ordered Sec, "you will not fire!"
"He is an en-e-my of the Daleks!" cried the Dalek.
"And so are you!" shouted another.
"I am, your commander. I am Dalek Sec!" their leader roared.
"You have lost your au-thor-it-y," one stated.
"You are no lon-ger a Dalek," the other said.
"What have you done to the gene feed?" demanded the Time-Pony.
"The new bod-ies will be one hun-dred per-cent Dalek."
"No!" cried Sec, "you can't do this!"
"Mutts! Re-strain Dalek Sec and the Doctor," one ordered. Two of them grabbed Sec, Sly was the one who grabbed the Doctor. The two of them slowly started to inch away.
"Release me! I am your creator! I am your master!" cried Sec. Another alarm began to sound, "So-lar flare im-men-nent."
"Pre-pare to in-ter-cept." There was a slight ding as the elevator arrived. Sky looked at the Doctor, "There's the lift."
"After you," he replied. Without hesitation, they raced towards the opening doors, "the Doctor is es-caping! Stop him!" The Doctor soniced the doors shut before the other mutts got to them, it began to race towards the top floor. He tucked the device behind his ear, "We've only got minutes before the gamma radiation strikes. We've got to get to the top. Sky? Are you okay?"
He was leaning heavily against the wall, breathing hard, "I'm fine, just, out of breath. We got away form them, that's what matters." The lift dinged as it arrived on the top floor a few minutes later.
"Doctor!" cried Gale as the doors slid open.
"First floor, magic enhancements," he said jokingly.
"Sky! I never thought I'd see you again!" said Uniqua as she red and hugged her coltfriend.
"Just no stopping me," he replied. Gale grabbed the Doctor's hoof and led him over to the plans, "We figured it out, we know what they've done. There's Dalekanium and it's so good to see you."
"Oh it's good to see you too," the doctor replied, swooping her up in a hug. But just as he did the lift dinged, doors closing. He set her down and galloped ever, "Oh no no no! See, never waste time with a hug!" He tried sonicking it, "No! Deadlock sealed."
"Where's it going?" asked Gale, frightened.
"Right back down to the Daleks and I garuntee they won't leave us alone up here," the Doctor replied grimly. "What time is it?" Apple checked his hoof watch, "Eleven fifteen."
"Six minutes," he muttered. "I've got to remove the Dalekanium before the gamma radiation hits."
"Gammon radiation?" Uniqua repeated. "What the heck is that?" The Doctor didn't answer, he and Gale galloped out onto the scaffolding and looked out over the city. The wind had picked up a lot and was blowing them like mad. And despite having past regenerations as pegasus, and experience with heights, the view mad the Doctor's stomach do a flip flop. "Oh, blimey that's high, that is really high."
"And we've got to go even higher," Gale said gravely, pointing up the scaffold staircase. "That's the mast up there, there's three plates of Dalekanium at the base. We've got to get them off." The Doctor looked up at the top, where a red light was the only illumination, then at Nightengale. "That's not we, that's just me."
"I'm won't just stand here and watch you."
"No, because you're going to have you're hooves full. I'm sorry Nightengale but you're going to have to fight."
"Con-firm time to so-lar im-pact," ordered one of the Daleks.
"Ga-mma strike four min-utes and count-ing," another called. Behind them, their leader Dalek Sec, was chained to the wall by chains around his hooves and neck. Betrayed by his own subjects, the beings that must follow orders, how ironic. A group of mutts had been ordered to gather, "The mutts will take the lift. Find the Doctor, kill him." That was their order, they walked into the lift and it closed.
The four of them had each armed themselves with tools of sorts. Gale and Uniqua both had large iron pipes in their magic, Sky had a large hammer, using his mutated diamond Dog legs to stand straight up and hold it in his front hooves, and Apple had armed himself likewise with a large wrench.
"The lift's coming up," Gale said worriedly.
"I should've brought that crossbow," muttered Apple.
"Gale? Uniqua? Get back," warned Sky, stepping in front of them. "If they send mutts, they're trained to kill."
"The Doctor needs me to fight! I'm not going anywhere," protested Gale.
"They're savages," Sky snapped. "And I should know, they're trains to slit your throats with their bare teeth." But, as he heft his hammer to be ready, the mutt collapsed, still conscious, but very weak. "Sky!" Uniqua knelt down by him, worried.
"No, it's nothing, I'm fine," he insisted, but he still couldn't stand.
"Oh honey, you're burning up," she said, feeling his forehead. "What's wrong with you? Tell me!" Gale looked at Apple, "This doesn't look good."
"We're down one pony and we ain't even started yet!" hissed Apple.
"We'll get slaughtered!" she cried. A blast of thunder shook the building, "Wait a second, lightning!"
With full force winds trying to fling him off the top of the Star Height Tower, the Doctor made his way towards the mast. The sonic screwdriver was in his teeth as he made his way over. With it clutched tight, he began scanning the first plate, trying to loosen the giant rivets holding it. It took a while, but it came loose, he started on the other. At this rate, he'd barely finished in time. The second rivet came loose and he pried the plate off.
"You're going to be alright Sky, just hold on," Uniqua said, rubbing his back. "What the heck are you clowns up to?!"
"Even if the Doctor gets the Dalekanium off a bit bolt of lightnig'll still hit the mast," Gale explained, she and Apple lifting a large metal beam with a combination of strength and magic, "electricity all down the building. So, we blast the elevator with a direct line, and they get zapped." They set the beam down on a pair of sawhorses, making sure the end touched the other.
"Oh my gosh, that could work!" exclaimed the show pony.
"Then you could help us!" shouted Apple.
The Doctor had just started on the second set of rivets. He struggled to get it to move, no matter what he tried, it wouldn't budge. A particularly strong gust of wind blew by, making him shiver and drop the sonic. It bounced of the metal and fell over the side, the Doctor lunged after it but couldn't follow. He cursed himself for not being a pegasus and then turned back to the plates.
The lightning was getting even more frequent as the strike got closer. Without his screwdriver, the only option he had was hoping he could buck it off. All that earned was a sore hoof, nothing more.
"Is that going to work?" asked Uniqua as she, Sky, and Gale huddled next to one of the pillars.
"It's got to," Gale muttered. Apple galloped back in from out on the scaffolding, "I've wired it up to the scaffolding outside."
"Come here Apple!" called Gale, "sit between us and don't touch anything metal." He crouched down beside them, all eyes were glued on the elevator dial.
With only second left till the gamma strike, the Doctor had to do the most desperate, most unlikely to work thing he could. He climbed up on the mast and we'd his hooves around it, hanging on for dear life. And just as the elevator full of mutts arrived on the floor below, a giant bolt of blue electricity hit the mast. It rocketed down the mast, through the Doctor, down into the scaffolding, through the metal pipeline and right into the elevator. The mutts were fried instantly.
The Doctor, was not so lucky. He had to hang onto that mast with all that he had, while the gamma radiation was pouring through it and him. It was no pleasant experience, he screamed as it tried to burn him, tried frying every cell in his body. He'd dealt with this much electricity before, he must've, at some point, so he was fairly sure he'd survive. But that didn't make it any less painful.
The mutts, however, stood no chance against it. The minute the electricity stopped, the seven mutts dropped dead right there in the lift, the room beginning to smell like barbecued dog hair. Gale and Apple trotted over, "You did it Gale!"
"They used to be like Sky," she said sadly, "and I just killed them."
"No," she heard a voice say, Sky's voice. "You didn't kill them, the Daleks did." She nodded and looked down at her hooves, before she remembered something very important. "What about the Doctor!?"
Each of the stretchers that had hung above the laboratory had lowered to the ground, the bodies underneath twitching as they woke. A group of them, a fraction of the total army, lined up in front of their masters. Their faces were blank and their eyes stared straight ahead. One of the Daleks rolled forward, inspecting the first one, "I-den-ti-fy your-self."
"I, am, a Dalek," the mare stated.
"Ex-ce-llent," it said.
"Be-gin the in-va-sion of Mane-hatt-en," ordered the second Dalek. "The pop-u-la-tion will be con-ver-ted to Daleks."
"And from this is-land, we will con-quer the plan-et!" The third squawked.
"A-ssume batt-le po-si-tions," ordered the first. "Take arms." The ponies began to march in eerie syncopation. They all turned to the right and marched forward, passing by a rack of mobile Dalek blasters, each taking one onto their right forehoof. No matter what race, they all took the same weapon the same way.
Nightengale galloped as fast as she could up to the mast, sonic screwdriver clutched in her magic. She reached the top and gasped. The Doctor was lying beside the mast, his hair sticking straight up, and not moving. She knelt by his side, "Doctor! Doctor? Look what we found halfway down." She showed him the sonic, "You're getting careless." Her voice cracked slightly on the last word, was he really dead.
Nope, because he groaned a moment later. "Ah, my head!"
"Hey you," Gale said, breaking into a smile.
"Hi," he replied quietly, opening one eye. "You survived."
"Look like you did too," she replied, "just about. But, I couldn't help but notice, there's still Dalekanium attached." The Doctor looked back, then sprang to his hooves. They duo raced down the scaffolding to where the others were waiting. After a moment of explanation, the Doctor looked out over the city. "The Daleks will go straight for a war footing. They'll be using the sewers. Spreading their soldiers out over all of Manehatten."
"How do we stop them?" asked Sky.
"There's only one chance, I got in the way. That gamma strike went zapping through me first," he explained.
"But what does that mean?" asked Gale. He didn't answer, he turned and went back into to the office, pacing back and forth in thought. "We need to draw their fire, before they attack Manehatten I need to face them. We need someplace safe, out of the way, somewhere safe. Thinkthinkthinkthinkthink," he ran a hoof through his hair before jumping and spinning around, "Uniqua!"
"That's me, two u's and a q," she answered.
"The theater! It's right on top of them and what, gone midnight? Do you think you could get us in?"
"I don't see why not," she replied.
"Is there another lift?" he asked.
"We came up in the service elevator," Gale replied.
"That'll do," the Doctor said. Then, he said the word that we fans would hear for ages to come, "Allons-y!"
Uniqua took them right to the theater, it took a little hassling but she managed to get them in. Once inside the theater, specifically the seating, the Doctor took off his coat and tossed it aside, leaping up on top of the chairs. "This should do it, here we go." He pulled out the sonic and began to scan it around them.
"There ain't nothing more creepy than a theater in the dark," Uniqua muttered. "Listen, Doctor, I know you've got a thing for show tunes but there's a time and a place." Behind her, Sky slumped into one of the chairs, exhausted. "Sky, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," he replied, "it's just so hot."
"But, Sky, it's freezing." She looked back at the Doctor, "Doctor? What's wrong with him?"
"Not now Uniqua, sorry," he replied.
"What are you doing?" asked Gale.
"The Daleks are about to go to war, I'm their biggest enemy and they'll want to take me out first," he put the sonic in his mouth and raised it in the air, "I'm jus' tell in' em where I am."
"So-nic de-vice de-tec-ted!"
"The Doctor sur-vived?"
"Find him and EXTERMINATE!"
"We o-bey."
"I'm telling you to go, Apple can take you back to Solarville," the Doctor ordered.
"And I'm telling you I'm not going," Gale snapped.
"Gale, that's an order."
"What are you, some sort of Dalek?" Before he could reply, both entrance doors were broken in, the pony Dalek mutants marched in.
"Oh my gosh!" Uniqua yelped, "I guess that's them then isn't it?"
"Ponies with Dalek DNA right?" asked Gale.
"Everypony just stay calm," replied the Time-Pony, "Don't antagonize them."
"But what about the Dalek masters?" asked Sky. "Where're they?" Cutting the Doctor off again, and explosion on the stage rocked the theater. Everypony got down and hid behind the seats. Two of the Daleks rolled out on stage, between them, Dalek Sec was crawling along, chains around his neck and hooves. Like a dog.
"The Doctor will stand before the Daleks," one cried. The Doctor glanced at his friends, and slowly stood. He climbed on top of the chairs again, and walking along their tops, approached the Daleks. "You will die Doctor, it is the beginning of a new age."
"This plan-et will become new Skaro," the other squawked.
"Oh and what a world," the Doctor said, almost growling, "with everything just a bit different ground into the dirt. That's Dalek Sec, your leader. Don't you remember? The cleverest of all of you and looked what you've done to him. Is that your new empire hm? Is this the foundation for a whole new civilization?"
"My Daleks," Sec said weakly, "just know this. If you choose, death and destruction, then death and desruction, will choose you."
"In-cor-rect!" shouted on, "we will always survive."
"And now we will kill our worst enemy!" said the other. "The Doctor!"
"But he can help you," protested Sec, trying to stand.
"The Doctor must die," it continued.
"No! I beg you! Don't!" Sec cried, standing up.
"Exterminate!"
"No!" Sec jumped in front of the Dalek just as it fired, and consequently, he died. He was zapped by the laser and collapsed to the ground, dead like the rest of them were soon to be. The Doctor stared at the body, his eyes burning with anger, "Your own leader! The only pony who could've lead you out of the dark and you destroyed him." The Time-Pony looked around at the Dalek mutants, "Did you see what they just did? Huh? Do you see what a Dalek really is? If I'm going to die, why not give the new colts a shot eh?" He looked back at the leaders.
"The Dalek Ponies, their first blood," he snarled. "Go on then, baptize them!"
"Dalek po-nies, take aim!" the leader ordered. They obeyed.
"Well what're you waiting for?" snapped the Doctor, "Give the command."
"Exterminate!" The Doctor tensed, readying for the sting of Dalek fire. Then, nothing, no firing.
"Exterminate!" ordered the Dalek again.
"O-bey Dalek ponies will obey!"
"They're not firing," muttered Gale. "What've you done Doctor?"
"You will o-bey, exterminate!" One of them looked up at the Daleks, "Why?"
"Daleks do not ques-tion or-ders!"
"But why?"
"You will stop this!"
"But, why?"
"You must not question!"
"But, you are not our masters," she said. "And we are not Daleks."
"No you're not, and you never will be," the Doctor replied solemnly. He looked back at the real Daleks, "Sorry, I got in the way of the lightning strike. Time-Pony DNA got all mixed up, just that little bit of freedom." He winked at the Daleks.
"If they will not o-bey, then they will die," the Dalek snapped, firing down the one who had spoken out. "Get down!" He and the others ducked down as the Dalek ponies opened fire on their masters, full blast. Of course, the Daleks had shields, so it took a few minutes for the soldiers bullets to penetrate. They had no shields, so each one that got shot by the Dalek died instantly. But both of them did explode after a few minutes of shooting, the mutants dropped their guns, staring at the stage.
"It's okay!" the Doctor called, jumping to his hooves, "it's alright, it's alright. You did it, you're free!" He walked up to one of them, putting a hoof on her shoulder. The others began to stand, looking around. But there was a moment of silence, then every single one of them, every single mutant, clutched their heads and screamed.
"No!" shouted the Doctor, "They can't! They can't!" The mutants began collapsing, dead. All dead at once, every single one in the tunnels, all the ones in the theater, every single Dalek mutant was dead.
"What happened?" asked Gale, "what was that?" The Doctor knelt down by one of the corpses, "They killed them, rather than let them live. An entire species. Genocide." He'd committed it himself, so to see it happening again for no reason, caused a spike of anger like no other.
"Only two of the Dalek masters were destroyed," Sky said, "that means there must be one left."
"Oh yes," the Doctor muttered. "In the whole universe, only one."
There it was, the last Dalek, wired into the combat computer and staring right back at him. The Doctor stared at the last Dalek.
"Now what?" he asked.
"You will be exterminated," the Dalek stated.
"Yeah yeah yeah," the Doctor replied walking towards it, "but just think about it, Dalek, what was your name?"
"Dalek Caan."
"Dalek Caan, your entire species had been wiped out, and now the Cult of Skaro has been eradicated," the Doctor said, "leaving only you, right now you're facing the only stallion in the universe who will show you any compassion. Because I've seen one genocide, I won't cause another." He offered a hoof to the Dalek, "Caan, let me help you." The Dalek was silent, "E-mer-gen-cy tem-por-al shift!" It glowed blue and vanished, "No!" The Doctor galloped forward but it was too late. He stamped hoof angrily as the wires clattered to the ground.
"Doctor! Doctor!" cried Gale, she and Uniqua struggling to carry Sky into the room. "He's sick." Sky was wheezing, the Doctor raced over to them, "His heart's racing like mad,move never seen anything like it."
"What is it Doctor? What's wrong with him?" asked Uniqua. "He says he can't breathe. What is it?"
"It's time sweetheart," Sky said weakly.
"Time? Time for what?"
"None of the mutts lived longer than a few weeks. I was lucky, I held on for you," he said. "But now, I'm dying Uniqua."
"No! No you can't, not now, not after all this. Doctor, can't you do something?" she begged.
"Oh Uniqua, with two u's and a q, just you watch me!" he jumped to his hooves, throwing off his coat. "What do I need? Oh, how about a great big genetic laboratory, oh look I've got one. Sky Lark, just you hold on." He grabbed to chemicals and started mixing rapidly, "There have been way too many deaths today." He lit a Bunsen burner with the sonic, "Way to many ponies have died. Brand new creatures and wise old men and age old enemies. And I'm telling you, I'm telling you right now, I am having no more deaths today! Not one more death! You hear me? Not one!"
He pulled out the stethoscope and slipped it on, "Out of the way Uniqua, the Doctor is in!"
The next morning, after successfully healing Sky, Apple came trotting towards the group as they waited outside Solarville. Sky had gotten a new outfit, a long coat and a wide brim hat to his his mutations, and it seemed to work pretty well. "Well, I talked ta them, an' I told them what I reckon Peddler woulda said, an' I think I shamed one of them."
"What did they say?" asked the Doctor.
"They said yes, they'll give you a place Sky," Apple said. Uniqua hugged her colt friend, both of them smiling. "I mean, uh, don't expect there won't be any staring, and I can't garuntee you'll be safe but, in the end, I guess this is what Solarville's for. Ponies who ain't got nowhere else ta go."
"Thanks Apple," Sky said, smiling.
"Do you reckon it'll work out for those two?" asked Nightengale as they trotted back towards the Tardis, the statue towering over them.
"I don't know," the Doctor replied honestly. "Anywhere else in the universe and I'd be worried but, they're here in Manehatten. That's what this city's good at, whether you're griffin, zebra, crystal, or even an odd pony Dalek mutant, this place will find a home for you."
"The Dog and the Showmare," Gale remarked.
"The Dog and the Showmare," the Doctor repeated with a chuckle.
"It just proves it I suppose," Hale muttered, looking out at the city, "there's somepony for everypony."
"Maybe..." The two glanced at each other then started back towards the Tardis. As he unlocked the doors, Gale spoke up again, "I meant to say, I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"That Dalek, it got away, I know how much that means to you. Think you'll ever see it again?"
"Of course," he replied as she trotted into the Tardis. He looked back at Manehatten, the events of the night before replying in his mind, "Someday."
To be continued in, the Laserus Experiment...
ALL: HAPPY EASTER!
ME: yeah, sorry, no Easter specials. But, ta da, another chapter! Feedback on the monsters, specifically the mutts, would be lovely. I sometimes re-morph monsters to be more mlp, so I'd love to hear what you thought. Until next time, Avante!