Hello, there, dear friends. I didn't see you there. Huh? Who am I? Well, I was once Dr. Sunset Apollo Shimmer, a brilliant unicorn scientist with a tan coat and a mane and tail the colors of a blazing fire. Yes, I was once a pony who lived in Manehattan and worked at Tri-Corp Industries, a very prestigious science and technology company. These days, beginning ever since that fateful day in the lab, I've become much more than a mere pony... indeed, I am a new creation. As different from them as a pony to a beast. I am Doctor Octopus, or if you're into shortened names, Doc Ock. Behold, for this is my story as to how the criminal underground came to fear and respect me, along with some of my... allies, but their tales are best told by them.
~
An alarm clock beeped loudly in the apartment of an anthro tan unicorn pony with a mane and tail that looked just like a blazing fire. But, Dr. Shimmer wasn't in bed. Once again she had fallen asleep at her desk, looking over the notes for a fusion reactor powered by pony-generated magic, or pseudo-magic. Sunset groaned as she lifted her head up, a few of her papers stuck to her face, and looked at the clock on the wall.
It read 8:08.
"Oh, shit, I've gotta get ready!" cried Sunset as she got up, ran to her room, grabbed a fresh change of clothes, which happened to be a tan pair of dress pants and a black shirt among socks and whatnot, and made a beeline for the bathroom. After her shower, Sunset quickly put her clothes, grabbed her disorganized notes, and ran out the door to her car.
~
"You barely made it in time," said a handsome unicorn stallion with a white coat, a dirty blonde mane and tail wearing a black shirt, tan dress pants, black shoes, and a white lab coat with three interlocked triangles over the left breast pocket of said lab coat. His most notable feature was his lack of a right arm. This was Test Drive, on whom Dr. Shimmer had a crush.
"Sorry, Test. You wouldn't believe the traffic," said Sunset as she entered the lab and put on her lab coat. "So, who's all coming tithe demonstration tomorrow?"
"Well, Cadence Mi Amore is representing the newly-established Equestrian Science Reserve, the big boss and the rest of the board are here, too. You know how much this project means to him," said Test.
Sunset gave Test a smile. "Of course I do. The reactor means a lot to me, too. It's my big chance to join the greatest scientists in history. This reactor is a breakthrough beyond the dreams of even Starswirl the Bearded. It's my legacy," she said.
Test couldn't help but smirk. Sunset, brilliant scientist, and, quite honestly, beautiful mare though she was, she always had a habit of becoming wrapped up in her pride. And when you're doing dangerous work like nuclear fusion, that can be deadly. "Well, then, shall we see how our baby is doing?" he asked Dr. Shimmer.
The two unicorns made their way to the R&D lab where the reactor, which looked like some kind of clenched four fingered claw, was housed.
Sunset and Test Drive began running diagnostics.
"Everything looks ship-shape here," said Test Drive, before he noticed a worried look on Sunset's face. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just that you and I both know that the slightest miscalculation or glitch in the reactor could wipe out half of Manehattan. What if the arms aren't enough to help control it?" said Dr. Shimmer.
"Hey, don't worry about it. You're one of the most intelligent scientists in this field. Two years from now, ponies everywhere will ask 'Where were you when Dr. Sunset Apollo Shimmer harnessed the power of of Celestia's sun?'" said Test, making Sunset smile. "Now, come on, let's grab something to eat."
~
That night, as Security patroled the hallways of the Tri-Corp R&D Department, a dark shadow flitered about in the darkness. It appeared to be a mare of an unknown type, which was mostly due to the darkness in the building. She seemed to be wearing a black robe, black pants, black shoes, and black leather gloves.
The mysterious mare slipped into the lab where the reactor was. She smiled underneath her hood.
Well, here's Waldo... it truly does seem like a shame to do this to such a promising breakthrough, the mare thought to herself as she pulled out a special screwdriver and approached the reactor. Then she did something terrible: she loosened one of the screws on the machine.
That should do it, the mare thought to herself, before using her unicorn magic to erase her misdoing from the camera.
The dirty deed done, the hooded mare made her escape.
~
"Fillies and gentlecolts, welcome," said Sunset as she stood before a gathering of some of the most accomplished scientists in the world and Princess Cadence the following morning. "Today, you'll be witnessing the birth of a new form of fusion. If all goes as planned, we'll have safe, renewable energy and cheap electrcity for all. Now, without further ado, allow me to introduce my... assistants."
With a flourish, Dr. Shimmer pulled the tarp off of a harness of some sort. A control mechanism of some sort was installed into the front girdle. There was also a spine sort of thing. But the most intriguing feature of the device was what looked like four metal arms with three-fingered claws that kind of looked like octopus tentacles.
"These arms were created for the sole purpose of maintaining sucessful fusion, and to that extent are impervious to heat and magnetism," explained Sunset as she stepped onto the platform the arms were on and attached all the pieces to herself. With her horn glowing a bright blue, Sunset activated the harness control mechanism and raised the robotic arms above her head. .
"Well, now that the set-up is out of the way, onto the main event!" said Sunset.
A pale blue light shined over the reactor. Dr. Shimmer made her way over to the machine, her horn glowing eerily in the dark space as she manipulated one of the tentacles' claws to produce a small pincher that proceeded to grab a glowing gem the size of a tear drop.
"Precious Element is the fuel that makes this little science project go. It's among one of the rarest materials on the whole planet," explained Sunset as she grabbed a pair of welding goggles and put them on.
"And here we... go!" said Sunset, typing in a command on a small keyboard.
After a few moments of the Element drop getting hit by lasers, what looked like a small pink sun sat in the middle of the reactor.
"Doctor, we have a sucessful fusion reaction," said a nearby assistant.
Dr. Shimmer wanted to jump up and cheer along with the rest of the crowd. She had done it! She had established fusion reaction!
"Congratulations, Dr. Shimmer. This is a breakthrough beyond the dreams of even Starswirl the Bearded," called Princess Cadence.
Sunset didn't hear a word of it, though. She was too fixiated on her creation. "The power of the sun... in the palm of my hand," she whispered.
Suddenly, someone said, "Do you guys hear something?"
Everyone, except Dr. Shimmer who was too busy attending to the reactor to notice, stopped talking. There was a metalic creaking sound.As Sunset typed commands into her keyboard, there was an abrupt and violent pull on anything and everything metal, save for the robotic arms.
"Remain calm! It's just a small surge! It'll stablize soon!" yelled Dr. Shimmer.
"Let's get outta here!" yelled one of the board members.
Within moments, the only ponies left in the room with the out-of-control reactor were Dr. Shimmer and Princess Cadence. "Doctor, you have to get away from there!" yelled Cadence.
"It'll stablize, it's under contro-ARRRRRRRRGHHH!" screamed Sunset as a bolt of plasma struck her in the back, pseudo-magical energy coursing through her harness and robotic arms in a torrent of pain.Cadence knew what she had to do. She used her magic to disable the electrical systems in the building.
Please, Faust... let it have worked, thought Cadence desperately.
Faust must have been feeling generous that day, because it did. The small explosion sent Sunset Shimmer flying into a wall. The deed done, Cadence passed out.
~
Outside, Dr. Rue, the big cheese of Tri-Corp, stood in horror as fire trucks and ambulences swarmed the building.
"Well, looks like I missed a fun day," said a female voice from behind Rue.
Rue groaned. Behind him was the very last pony he wanted to see. "What do you want, Twilight?" he said, turning to face the founder and CEO of Tri-Corp's biggest competitor, SparkCorp Industries.
Twilight Sparkle, a lavender unicorn with a navy blue mane and tail, both of which had a pink stripe, smiled. "You know full well what I want: Tri-Corp out of the game. And from the looks of things, I'm gonna get what I want," she said.
"Unfortunately, I see this as a chance to recapitalize and expand," said Rue.
Twilight chuckled. "You keep telling yourself that," she said before walking to her Rolls-Royce. Rue sighed. He knew this wouldn't end well.
~
What happened that day demolished half the R&D Department at Tri-Corp. Although the injured were able to make a full recovery, they were traumatized.But, the accident didn't just destroy.
It also created.
Even as she rode in the back of an ambulance, the already brilliant and unique mind of Dr. Sunset Apollo Shimmer was undergoing a transformation. It was creating four new neuro pathways. One for each of the robotic arms on her back.
Sunset Shimmer wasn't just a pony anymore.
She was Doctor Octopus.
Sunset groaned as she woke up in a hospital bed. She felt really weird, almost like...
Like I've grown four more arms, thought Sunset. She looked around and saw that she still had the mechanical arms, which were held up by slings normally used to hold up broken legs.
Why didn't they take my harness off? thought Sunset. "Hello? Anypony?" she called out.
An Earth Pony doctor entered the room. "Hello, Doctor Octo-uh, I mean, Dr. Shimmer. My name is Dr.Hooves," said Hooves, holding out his hand.
Dr.Shimmer shook Hooves's hand. "Where am I? Why am I still wearing my harness?" she asked.
Dr.Hooves suddenly looked nervous. "Well... you're in Manehattan General Hospital... as for the harness... well, I can't really give you a clear answer," he said.
"Why not?" asked Sunset.
Hooves took a deep breath and began to explain, "When you were first brought in, we did a CAT Scan, X-Ray, MRI, the works. We couldn't believe what we saw. We thought that you might have some form of brain damage. But, what's really going on is a bit more... bizzare."
"What happened to me?" asked Sunset, a note of worry in her voice.
"All right, here goes... your brain has created new neuro pathways... and they lead directly to your robotic tentacles," said Hooves.
Sunset’s eyes widened at this as she felt the mechanical arms slowly move. At any other time Sunset would’ve been excited at the prospect of the arms doing this but right then all she could do was panic, The arms registered her fear and lashed about the room, knocking back Doctor Hooves in the process. “Sunset calm down!”
“CALM DOWN?! DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! WHEN YOU GET FOUR BUCKING ARMS ATTACHED TO YOU THEN YOU CAN TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!” Sunset roared at the doctor. The tentacles responded and slapped Doctor Hooves into a nearby wall. Sunset was surprised at how strong the tentacles were but also realized that she couldn’t stay in the hospital for long.
I’ve gotta get out of here! She thought desperately. Without even a second thought the tentacles got right to work, Sunset herself was still panicky about these things moving on their own, and paved a way for her.
~
Meanwhile, at SparkCorp, a very somber affair was taking place. Twilight's business partner and close friend Spike Pendragon was under arrest for embezzlement.
"B-but I didn't know it was illegal!" cried the young purple and green dragon, who was clad in a black shirt, a white grease stained lab coat, grease stained khaki pants, and brown shoes.
"Tell it to the judge," said one of the cops.
As the cops half-dragged Spike down the hallway, Twilight stopped to look at her business partner.
"Twilight! You gotta help me! Tell them this is all a big misunderstanding!" Spike called out.
"Doesn't look like a misunderstanding to me," said Twilight, an indifferent look on her face.
"WHAT?! But... we're friends... partners," said Spike.
"Not anymore, we're not. Give my regards to all the ponies in the slammer," said Twilight.
As the cops kept hauling Spike away, a hurt look crossed his face.
She was supposed to be my friend, the one who would help me when I needed it... I'll get even with her one day very soon... she'll be sorry she ever left me out to dry! thought Spike.
~
How the buck did this happen? Everything was going smoothly but how… how did it go so- Sunset was interrupted by the sound of a car coming her way. She instinctively threw her arms up and all of a sudden the tentacles grabbed the car and tossed it over her leaving Sunset unharmed. Wait….. the hospital… my freakout….. they’re reacting to my neural commands. They’re…. helping me, She suddenly realized as she saw the car her arms tossed start to ignite. She rushed over and with one of her tentacles yanked the door off in one pull.
“H-help me!” begged the young unicorn mare inside. She had a light blue coat, a white mane and tail, and wore some kind of stage outfit.
"Don't worry, I've got you," said Sunset as she used her tentacles to remove the seat just as the car exploded, sending Sunset flying.
Fortunately, her robotic arms caught her in as she fell. Dr. Shimmer made her way to the unicorn mare. "You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah... my name's Trixie Lulamoon. What- er, I mean... who are you?"
Sunset thought about it for a moment. She could tell Trixie her real name, and run the risk of getting caught, or she could invent a name... a moniker to go by...
"Well, I suppose you can call me... Doctor Octopus," Sunset, or as she was now called, Doctor Octopus, said.
"Dr.Octopus... catchy alias," said Trixie.
Doc Ock smiled. "See you around," she said, before using her tentacles to climb up and over a building, and out of sight just as the cops began to arrive.
~
Meanwhile on another end of the city a prisoner transport van was carrying Spike. Knowing that he could easily breathe fire the guards had placed a metal mouth guard over him and put him in a straight jacket to make sure his claws wouldn’t be used to free him. The prisoner in question was merely sitting in the back with a permanent glare seemingly etched into his face.
How could Twilight just up and betray me like that? Oh, I am gonna get her if it's the last thing I do! snarled Spike inside his mind.
But, nothing could've prepared Spike for what happened next: the van went down. Spike was confused but then saw that the doors to the back opened up to reveal several ponies in ski masks. Before he could react the ponies grabbed him and drug another body into his place. He was shocked to see that it looked like him. He also soon saw that he was clearly not at the prison, but rather an old warehouse.
"Wha-what's going on?!" yelled Spike before his head was covered by a black sack. Spike was then led through who knew how many passages. After the trip the ponies took the sack off Spike’s head, along with the mouth guard and streightjacket, and allowed him to get a good look over the room. Looking around, Spike saw that he was in a lab that put his old one at SparkCorp to shame. Nearly everything in there was state-of-the-art.
"I trust your lab is to your liking?" said a voice from behind Spike.
Spike turned around to find a black hooded mare standing behind him. "Who are you? What do you want from me?" he asked, trying not to sound frightened
“My name is not important, Dr. Pendragon. But, tell me, do you or do you not want revenge on Twilight Sparkle?" the hooded mare asked.
Spike thought about it for a moment. Twilight Sparkle was one of his closest friends... but, friends always watched out for each other. What Twilight did to him was unforgivable.
"More than anything in the world," said Spike.
"Well, that makes things much more simple. You'll have virtually unlimited funding, all the supplies you need for building whatever, you know, the works," the hooded mare said.
Spike smiled. "Much obliged... er, whoever you are. There is one other thing I need, though," he said.
"And that is?" said the hooded mare.
Spike's smile turned into a sinister grin.
"Call me Robot Master."
