//------------------------------// // Regeneration Part 17 // Story: Regeneration // by Rated Ponystar //------------------------------// “There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things! Things which act against everything we believe in. They must be fought!” -The Second Doctor “I reversed the polarity of the neutron flow.” -The Third Doctor +}{+ When Private Jolt Bolt discovered his talent for shooting electrical currents from his horn, he could have done several options with his talent, from charging up stuff to working on electrical plants to even having a job in the Lighting Storm department of Cloudsdale's Weather Factory. However, when it was clear that war against humanity would happen, he quickly joined the Royal Guard to serve his country. Jolt Bolt wouldn't say he was like many of the various human haters out there, but he did believe in his country and in protecting it. However, with everything that had happened, especially with the Harmony Canon, he wondered if he was on the right side. All the things he was taught about Harmony and Friendship growing up? What they were doing wasn't it. Even his area of Equestria had decided it had enough and declared secession from the country with letters from his friends and relatives urging him to get out of Canterlot and come home. Jolt Bolt had thought about it long and hard. He loved the Guard. There was a brotherhood to this order, and he took an oath to protect Equestria. But what part of Equestria was he supposed to protect? The side he agreed with or the side that he was sworn to serve? It didn't matter because he only needed to focus on one objective: protecting Canterlot and its citizens. Not from humans, but these things were worse than any of them could imagine. The Daleks (They practically announced themselves as such) were ruthless and held no mercy. They were shooting lasers of death at anything that moved. Ponies were shot without any hesitation. Entire streets were filled with corpses that held twisted faces of agony, showing their deaths had been anything but pleasant.  Jolt Bolt had thrown up more than once, and he was sure he would never be the same again. Some of his own fellow soldiers had fled in terror, screaming in fear. Others just rushed forward in suicide charges with grief and anger. The same ones kept doing what they could with their magic. Holding shield after shield and firing spell after spell. Even ones designed only for emergency uses were used that saw entire buildings and areas covered in fire and devastation. But barely anything worked. Only the most powerful and biggest spells did some damage. The enemies took very few casualties. But for every Dalek they defeated, they lost ten of their own. The shield spells held off for about ten or twenty minutes at best before being destroyed and forcing them to take more casualties before building a new line. Unicorns were worked around the clock to exhaustion as "Pepper Up Potions" and "Magicka Potions" were given to help them keep going. Even illegal substances were allowed in this crisis. When word came that Princess Luna had arrived with the Elements of Harmony, there was hope they could come out of this alive. They were all told to hold the line. Hold the damn line. "I never thought I'd say this, but I wish I was fighting the humans again," Private Amber Wave said as she drank her third "Pepper Up" potion in the last hour. She was part of the squad that Bolt was with. It's not his original squad. They all died in the first ten minutes of the invasion. Anyone who lost their team was quickly assigned to whoever needed more ponies. He was sure everyone in his group was the sole survivor of their own squad. "What are these things? Demons?" A pegasus Guard asked in terror. "What do they want from us?" "Haven't you been hearing the "Extermination" stuff they've been sprouting every five bucking seconds," A rugged brown Earth Pony growled. "They're here to kill us all! All of us! This isn't a fucking battle! It's a slaughter! We're getting our flanks owned, and nothing is stopping them!" "The goddesses will save us. Princess Luna is here," One nervous unicorn whispered as she hugged her sun pendant. "Surely the others will be here soon to save us like Princess Celestia?!" "Oh, quit with the religious spiel," The rugged Earth Pony spat. "If the so-called goddesses were divine, we'd be saved already. This war with the humans would have been over long ago. Face it. They're just like us. Flesh and bucking blood." "This has to be our punishment," One other Earth Pony moaned.  "For what?" Private Amber Wave asked in confusion. "Everything. The attacks on humanity. The Conversion Potion. Declaring war on them. The Harmony Canon. This is the universe telling us that we've made mistakes and are reaping what we sowed." "...Even if that's true, we can't just give up," Private Jolt Bolt said with a heavy sigh. "If these things are determined to kill us all, then we have only one option. We fight. And pray that whatever Princess Luna is doing will see us safe." "...They shot a baby." Everyone went quiet as they slowly turned to a pale pegasus pony staring at the corner with his eyes void of any life in them. "I saw them shoot a newborn as if it was a rat. It had to be no more than three weeks old. What...what kind of creature does that?" Nopony answered The door opened as one of the Guard officers, sweating like crazy, rushed inside and ordered them to return to the frontline. They all did, but the pegasus soldier was still staring at the corner. The Officer looked ready to yell at him, but Private Jolt Bolt stopped him and shook his head. The Officer paused to look at the broken guard, who seemed to be so zoned out that you could hit him with a rock, and he wouldn't move. Sighing, the Officer nodded as the two returned to the front line. +}{+ "So, are you going to explain your plan to get all of Canterlot out of here?" Discord asked as he walked with the Lunar Princess down the halls to the throne room. "Because it's something I am inquisitive about." "Let it not be said that my sister was not ill-prepared for events that I wish were not happening right now," Luna said as she made her way to the throne room. Using her magic, she pulled a hidden switch under the throne of the sun that caused it to slide to the right and reveal a secret passageway that led down a hidden level. Motioning for Discord to follow, the two made their way down the dark steps, lightened by Luna's horn. They then came across a large double steel door with magical locks and curses that vanished as soon as Luna's magic flickered across the doors. They opened, revealing a small stone oval of a room with a single object on a stone platform. It was some kind of orb on a purple holder glowing with power. "What is it?" Discord asked. "It's a teleportation orb, but one that has the power to teleport the entire population of Canterlot," Luna sighed. "A last resort to save the people over the city itself. It locks onto the signature of every pony in the area and teleports them to wherever we wish, so long as it is in Equestria. This is what we will use to get us all to safety." "Clever," Discord said before poking Princess Luna's behind, much to her annoyance. "I'm sensing a butt, however." Rolling her eyes, Luna said, "It needs to be charged up. My sister and I were the only ones who could make it work, but with her...gone...I need you to help me charge it up. It will take longer since our magic differs, but I am confident we can make it work." "Well then," Discord soon lifted his hands while sparking them with chaos energy. "Let's get started and get the heck out of there." Luna nodded and charged her horn before the two sent their magic onto the glowing orb. +}{+ Cyberpony Unit B031-8D031VS continued to scan the perimeter of the newest area in their search for their objective targets. The ponies seen entering this establishment had been identified as The Doctor and his companions. Making them priority one targets. Not one to underestimate their long-time adversary, the Cyberponies called for backup that would arrive in an estimated fifteen minutes. Until then, they were under orders to try and eliminate the ponies. Cyberpony Unit B031-8D031VS made their way down a corridor when their sound sensors indicated noise. “HEY!” As they turned, the Cyberpony Unit B031-8D031VS found themselves face to face with one of their targets, a yellow Earth Pony with a carrot Cutie Mark. The pony waved them over before tauntingly spanking their flank in their direction. “Come and get me you oversized tin soldier!” Marching forward, Cyberpony Unit B031-8D031VS raised their weapon and fired as their target fled around the corner. Increasing the power of their limbs, they marched further onward and turned around the corner to see another one of them shove a spear towards them. It only took a second for their sensors to realize it was golden, but before they could do anything, the spear went through their chest. For the first time since their conversion, the Cyberpony Unit B031-8D031VS let out a piercing scream of agony as their entire systems shut down. They collapsed to the floor, dying. In a desperate attempt to survive, the robotic self that had taken over their entire being struggled. But deep within, the equine part of them, long buried, finally breathed a sigh of relief. The last of its life support systems died as Cyberpony Unit B031-8D031VS, formerly known as Kimbret from the Colony of Elitha on the Planet Emoria, embraced their demise with gratitude. At long last, they had been given what they had wanted for four hundred years. Freedom. +}{+ “Looks like it does work,” Flash Sentry said as he lowered the spear. Derpy was poking the dead Cyberpony before picking up its weapon. “At least we got a fighting chance now.” “Right, no time to lose then,” The Doctor said as they took out their Sonic Screwdriver and pointed it at the Cyberpony before putting it away. “Let’s get out of here! We need to get to the TARDIS.” The entire group nodded and ran or flew forward as fast as they could. There was not a lot of time left to spare and they needed to hurry. As they made their way to the large staircases that lead downwards, the group was fired upon by two more Cyberponies coming down from the other direction. Ducking from a blast, Dinky took her bow and arrow, armed with golden arrows, and fired one. It hit deadset in the chest of one of the Cyberponies who screamed, sparked, shivered, and fell down like a puppet without strings. The other Cyberpony didn’t even flinch or show concern, just continued to fire at the group. They raced down, doing their best to avoid the blasts while the sound of more Cyberponies could be heard on the first floor coming to their location. Flash and Lyra, armed with their own golden weapons charged forward. The Cyberponies saw them coming and prepared to fire until the Doctor used his Sonic Screwdriver. He had accessed the Cyberponies systems as it was dying to grab some code and cook a little small virus of his own. The Cyberponies were, at the end of it all, machines who had to follow computer logic. While the entire Cybernetic Mainframe and System would take dozens of lifetimes to hack, that didn’t mean he could do a few small systems here and there. Such as weapons and sight.  The Cyberponies paused as their weapons suddenly shut off and their vision was blacked. Enough time for Flash Sentry and Lyra to attack them with their golden spear and swords respectively. The Cyberponies screamed and sparked as the weapons tore through their normally invincible armor and short circuited them leaving them to die in agonzing states before shutting down.  “I don’t suppose the Daleks will be just as easy to defeat like this?” Carrot Top asked The Doctor as they watched the slaughter from behind a statue with Dinky shooting arrows to support them. Meanwhile, Derpy was trying to figure out how this Cyberpony weapon she got worked. “No, while the Daleks have a few weaknesses, they are technology more advanced and dangerous then the Cyberponies. Still, hopefully the others can find something to halt them,” The Doctor said. “Hey, I think I got this work-” Derpy said before a blast fired upon the gun and headed straight to the second floor. The Cyberpony from earlier shooting at them had started to descend to ambush them when the blast blew up their head. Their motionless corpse collapsed and rolled down the stairs until it reached the bottom. “Oops. My bad.” After stabbing the last Cyberpony, Flash looked at Lyra with an impressed look on his face. “Where did you learn to use a sword like that?” “Bon-Bon...or Sweetie Drops I guess,” Lyra paused for a moment to look down in sorrow at the mention of her old friend, “said I should learn some kind of self-defense as a means of exercise. I didn’t think I needed to since Ponyville was practically crime free but I did it anyway since it worked well on my figure.” “Yeah, I can see the result,” Flash Sentry whispered before blushing. “From the uh, way you killed the Cyberponies.” “O-Oh, thanks,” Lyra blushed as the two looked at each other awkwardly.  “Ahem?” The Doctor said which caused the two to snap back to reality. “If we’re done here may I suggest we head back to the TARDIS?” Nopony disagreed and they finally hurried to the back entrance where they soon found the TARDIS parked across the street and hurried towards it just as a new Cyberpony squad was advancing down the street. “Inside everyone!” Once the door was closed, the TARDIS soon vanished just as the Cyberponies fired on it only to miss as it soon transported. +}{+ Meanwhile, up in the main attack ship, The Cyber Leader was sitting on his captain's chair on the bridge as one of their Lieutenants walked over. "Leader. Cyber Squad 2810-Delta-921 has reported. The Doctor and his companions have escaped." "Unfortunate, but it does not change our plans." They said without looking at the other Cyberpony "There is another thing. They have found the bodies of Cyber Squad 9193-Omega-264. They were destroyed." That got its attention, and he turned to the messenger. "How is that possible?" "Sensors indicated that they were killed with golden weaponry." "Impossible. Our bodies have long been accustomed to our old weakness's...unless..." Their Advanced Logic Systems started working before coming to a conclusion. "Unless, what? Leader?" "Unless the gold of this dimension has different physical properties. Alert all units to be weary of any gold. We must seek to fix this weakness." The Cyber Leader said urgently.  "Affirmative." "Very well. Continue the attack." The Cyber Leader said as it focused on watching the slaughter. Although some wondered where the Doctor was going or doing, he focused on his primary objective. What could The Time Pony do anyway to stop this? +}{+ “EXTERMINATE! Private Jolt Bolt was really starting to hate that word. He watched as another one of those death beams hit another soldier, who screamed in agony before falling down dead. The Daleks had practically taken half of the city by now, and there was no telling how many dead there were littering the streets. The good news was that all the civilians were behind their lines. The bad news was that, without civilians to fight, the Daleks focused on their soldiers and quickly lost numbers. However, there was hope, and it came in the form of a Sonic Rainboom. There was practically a cheer from every corner in Equestria upon seeing the legendary move performed by the Element of Harmony, Rainbow Dash, who used it to blow away the Daleks and take out a few. The sonic wave had damaged their enemy, and they could breathe at last for the first time. “ALERT! ALERT! UNKNOWN MAGIC FORCE HAS SHORT CIRCUITED SHIELD! ATTEMPTING TO RESTORE POWER TO DEFENSES!” If there was one good thing about these Daleks, it was that they talked too much. Upon hearing that, every commander ordered their squads to get up and line up for a quick counterattack. Private Jolt Bolt was one of those who stood up on all fours, reinvigorated by the change of events. The order to charge was given, and he screamed in anger and fury along with the rest of the Royal Guard as they galloped forward. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw that one mare without armor was charging with them. She wore a cowpony hat, and her yellow mane was breezing through the wind. Applejack Apple. The Element of Honesty. This only pushed Jolt Bolt to move faster. Charging his horn, he let out electrical blasts at a Dalek who screamed about being attacked as a two Earth Pony tackled it off its surface while a pegasus from above fired crystal arrows at it from its crossbow. Jolt Bolt continued to blast it with electrical powers as the Dalek randomly fired its energy beams. One of them did manage to hit the pegasus and kill her, but this didn’t let up the others. Only increased their efforts to damage or destroy the damn thing. Finally, one of Jolt Bolt’s blasts went through a crack in the armor and shocked the Dalek inside. It screamed in agony before smoke emitted from the opening, and it went silent. The smell of fried...something was in the air, and that was enough for Jolt Bolt to assume it was dead. He swiped the sweat from his face and saw that similar actions were being done on the Daleks as everypony used whatever skill they had to finally damage the bastards. There were still casualties, bodies falling as their skeletons were seen from the blow of the blast before joining their comrades in the afterlife. But it didn’t matter; they were finally on the offense. He saw Rainbow Dash zipping around in the air, slamming her hooves into the Daleks with high, breakneck speeds that knocked them down. Applejack uses her powerful legs to do the same while using her rope to pull a Dalek back from attacking and allowing others to ambush it.  Private Jolt Bolt snapped out of his admiration to finally get back into the fight. If he would die today, let it be in honorable combat with his comrades. +}{+ Once the TARDIS landed in the operating room of the Large Hadron Collider, the Doctor went to work at once. The good news is that the staff evacuated when news of the alien invasion was reported worldwide, so nobody was there to stop them. Thanks to the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver, all doors were easily accessible. Once they reached the central power station, The Doctor got to work and used his Sonic Screwdriver to access all systems while correctly calculating his plan. “So how is this going to help us exactly?” Lyra asked. “The Large Hadron Collider is capable of creating various electromagnetic fields that the scientists here have only barely scratched the surface of. But since you’re talking to a member of the species that is one of the most brilliant races in the universe (well, our universe) this is all childs play to me,” The Doctor said, his confidence in his abilities shining through. “So you can use one of those fields as a weapon against the Cyberponies?” Flash asked hopefully. “Yes! All I have to do is put in the right equation, reverse the polarity of the neutron flow, get the system ready, and we’ll have a unique field that will simulate the actions of an EMP but only focus on the Cyberponies,” The Doctor said with a grin. “Good thing I got that code from our deceased friend from earlier. It's all falling into place, isn't it?” Putting in the last number, the Doctor walked over to the button and took a deep breath. “Hang on to your flanks because here we go!” He pushed the button, and in an instant, the Large Hadron Collider roared. +}{+ “Leader!” One of the Cyberponies at the computers in the bridge of the primary warship. “We have detected a large unknown energy source traveling towards us fast!” “What is it?!” The Cyber Leader demanded as the Cyberponies calculated. “It’s a powerful EMP wave! Calculations state that our defenses are powerless against it!” “Evasive maneuvers! All units are to-” The Cyber Leader didn’t get a chance to finish as the wave spread across the city. The ship began to spark and stutter as the EMP did its work. The Cyberponies were also affected as electrical currents shook out of their bodies, causing them to scream in digital ramblings as their entire systems started to fry. Their heads exploded one by one before the ship finally exploded and began to fall to its doom before crashing on the ground. Similar effects were happening all over the city as ships, tanks, and Cyberponies themselves started to shut down in explosive means that saw their bodies blown across the streets. Humans looked on in awe as the silver robotic army, something out of a Terminator Movie, started to die in droves. When the last Cyberpony spoke its last garbled word and fell to the ground, dead, there was a sudden silence from the survivors.  Nobody cheered or laughed in victory. All they could do was sit down and feel grateful that the nightmare was over. +}{+ “When you said it needed a lot of power I didn’t think it was going to need this much!” Discord shouted as he struggled to maintain his focus. He even created a few extra limbs to wipe the sweat off his brow and give him a water bottle to drink.  “We’re almost there! Just a bit more!” Luna said as the castle began to rumble. “Shit, they must be attacking the palace! Hurry, Discord!” +}{+ Private Jolt Bolt gasped as he struggled to deal with the pain in his head due to casting so many spells. He swore his head was about to split but had to keep going. He had to keep fighting. He was a Royal Guard. His duty was to protect the ponies of Equestria even until the end. He was about to prepare to attack another Dalek when each of them soon glowed blue and sent out a wave of energy that obliterated any nearby pony, including half of Jolt Bolt’s squad, to dust. “SHIELDING RESTORED! COUNTER ATTACK! COUNTER ATTACK!” Jolt Bolt cursed and started to run away, as did all others near the Daleks, who began firing at them rapidly. The screams of his comrades dying in droves were echoing in his ears as Jolt Bolt did his best to avoid the blast. Above, he saw the flying ships of the Daleks attacking the palace and trying to bring it down as its magical defenses began to falter. He focused on running away until he heard a scream and saw a rainbow figure falling from the sky and crashing into some barrels nearby. Instalively, Jolt Bolt ran to the downed pony and saw that it was a wounded and dazed Rainbow Dash. He nearly gagged upon seeing the damage done to her right wing. It was practically burned off and crispy like a burned hayburger. You could see even the bone sticking out. The Element of Loyalty was still alive but unconscious as he tried to get her up but soon saw a Dalek approaching them. “EXTERMINATE!” The entire world seemed to slow down as the Dalek fired its shot. Jolt Bolt realized it was coming for Rainbow Dash. He slowly stood before it, the beam of death coming closer. Jolt Bolt saw his life flashing before his eyes from birth to now and held no regrets. He prepared himself for his end only to see him glowing a purple aura before there was a flash, and things went weird. Colors swirled around him, and he felt like his body was thrown in different directions. He felt his body land on something soft and soon realized it was grass. Opening his eyes, he saw that he and those around him were no longer in Canterlot. They were in some kind of forest area near a large mountain. The moaning of Rainbow Dash soon got his attention, and he helped her sit up. “What happened? Are we dead?” “No,” Jolt Bolt sighed as he saw the clear and calm atmosphere. “We’re alive.” They had survived. But he had a feeling that it was only the beginning.