The Scrapyard

Chapters

A Painful Memory
History of the Cybermen
I Have Mouth, But I Can't Scream
Rise of the Cyberponies
Hostile Elements
March of the Cyberponies
The Cyber King
Delete

A Painful Memory

It had been slow Saturday at the Golden Oaks Library, so Twilight had decided to re-read another one of her favorite books-a collection of short stories-as she relaxed in an attempt to stave off boredom.

She was really getting immersed into one particular tale before she was startled by a knock at the library door.

For moment she opened her mouth to call for Spike to see if he could get it for her, so she wouldn’t risk losing her place in case it was just a salesperson, but then she remembered that it was the weekend and that technically constituted his time off-he’d probably stay asleep until noon-as per her usual ritual on the days he had off.

“Lazy bones.” She muttered, irritated as she magically set the book down on its face (since, Rainbow and Pinkie had decided to pull a prank earlier that week-hiding all of her bookmarks from her in random locations throughout the library).

Stretching her forelegs, she got up as the pounding continued.

“Okay! I’m coming, I coming, just settle down already!” She called out, cantering towards the wooden door. “Geez, some people…”

Opening the door revealed a familiar cyan mare with a Technicolor mane with what appeared to be some sort of golden locket around her neck.

“Rainbow?” she looked at her marefriend quizzically.

“Uh, hey Twi…” she asked nervously. “What’s up?”

“Well, you for starters-I thought you’d be napping this early in the day? Or at least practicing an ‘awesome new trick’ that’s supposed to be a surefire way to get you into the Wonderbolts?” She replied, half-jokingly.

Rainbow Dash shook her head.

“Nah, I kinda wanted to ask you something…” she looked through the doorway and over Twilight’s shoulder.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“No,” Twilight lied.

“But, there’s an open book lying there on the table.”

“Okay, well I was reading, but it was just a short story.” She admitted.

“Uh-huh, okay, cool.” Dash replied, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching or following her.

“Um, sure.”

Twilight stepped aside, allowing her to enter the library and wondered why Rainbow was acting so strange.

After entering, Dash quickly shut the door behind her.

“Is Spike around?” she asked, her eyes darting around the library searching for any potential eavesdroppers.

“No, it’s the weekend-he’s still sleeping-and he probably will be for another few hours.”

She narrowed her gaze at the cyan Pegasus, it was very rare to see her acting like this.

“Rainbow, is something wrong?” she asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this anxious before…”

Rainbow Dash looked into Twilight’s eyes with a dead serious expression that made her more than a bit nervous when coupled with the way she was acting.

“Twilight, you’re an Alicorn, now.”

“Yeah, so…” she pressed, not liking the direction this conversation was going.

The last time she and Rainbow had a discussion over her post-coronation political prowess did not end well…and this time it was about her being an Alicorn?

“So, I was thinking; the princesses-Celestia, Luna, and Cadance all have really super-awesome powerful magic, right?”

“Yes…”

“Of course they do, they’re practically goddesses-that’s when I got to thinking, you were the best Unicorn to have ever done magic in the entire world, right?”

Twilight began to feel her face heat up as her cheeks turned red, while it was a nice compliment, she didn’t think she could hold a candle to the real princesses (even after all the time that had passed, this whole experience had felt more like a lucid dream, than reality) or even a legendary spell-caster like Starswirl the Bearded.

“Wait, Rainbow…what are you getting at?” she was now getting suspicious, Rainbow Dash usually never said things like this to her unless she was trying to butter her up for something.

“If it’s about sleeping together…I told you I just don’t feel like I’m ready for that, yet…”

“WHAT!?” Dash shouted. “This isn’t about that! I was wondering if you’re magic was even more powerful so you could do some really awesome stuff.”

“Well, I’m glad I finally got that through your head…wait-what ‘really awesome stuff’?”

“Okay…” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “I was wondering if you could bring dead people back to life.”

“Bring the dead…back to life…?” she repeated blankly.

“Look, before you say anything I want you to hear me out first.”

She held the pendant hanging around her neck up to Twilight’s face so she could get a better look at it.

It looked like it was made from pure gold and it was in the shape of a valentine, engraved on it was a cloud with what appeared to be a triple-layered thunderbolt, which she immediately recognized as Rainbow Dash’s Cutie Mark.

“What is that?” she asked, now even more confused. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wearing it before…it looks nice, though.”

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT HOW IT LOOKS ON ME!” she shouted.

She stopped once she saw the way Twilight had recoiled from her.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered. “Listen, Twi…this pendant was my Mom’s before she died…”

“Y-you’re mother?”

“Yeah,” Dash looked at the ground, keeping the top half of her face obscured by her bangs so Twilight couldn’t accurately read her expression.

“My Mom died in an accident back when I was just a kid…we’d gone to see a movie together for the weekend-a sort of a mother-daughter bonding thing…”

“W-what happened?” she pressed, having her curiosity get the better of her.

“Something happened in the theater?”

“Yeah…a fire broke out, there were investigations for weeks, but no one ever found the original source or even if it was intentional or an accident…everyone had gotten out, even Mom.”

“If everyone got out alright, then how did…”

“Except everyone didn’t get out…there was still a colt stuck in the theater-couldn’t have been much younger than me-he was still stuck inside with all that chaos…smoke, flames, falling beams, just about anything you could imagine going wrong in there did…he was calling out for his mother the whole time.”

“And your mother went back for him?”

Dash nodded.

“She was stuck in the crowd outside with us, she must have thought she was with him the whole time until we heard his screams from her-everyone else was either too shaken or so scared to move…I guess they just froze up.”

“So…what happened…to the little boy, I mean?”

“Mom got him out fine, he was covered in ash and had a bit of smoke in his lungs, but after spending a few days in the hospital…it was almost like nothing had ever happened to him.”

“And your mother…”

“After getting the kid to safety, she tried flying out…but, a beam fell on her.”

Despite the fact that Rainbow wasn’t directly looking at her, she could still see tears streaming down her cheeks.

“It-it crushed her right side, wings and ribs were practically ground into dust…that’s not what killed her though…Mom was tough…Dad says that’s where I get it from…she tried to free herself, but she had already lost too much strength, she broken pieces of bone had punctured her internal organs, causing her to bleed from the inside…the smoke and the flames didn’t help either…she died in there…slowly and painfully….”

She was shaking now as Twilight came over and put a comforting her arm around her.

“Rainbow I’m so sorry, I…”

“She was crushed, burned, and choked to death…the nicest mare in the entire world had to die like that…just because she helped some kid get back to his mom.” She was now sobbing openly before looking at her marefriend through tearful eyes.

“How is that fair?”

“It isn’t…” she replied softly. “But, why haven’t you ever told me this before?”

“Because I’m Rainbow Dash!” she laughed humorlessly. “I can’t let anyone see me crying like a school filly…besides, it was always to painful…I thought if I buried it, it couldn’t hurt me anymore as long as I didn’t bring it back up-I didn’t see the point since there was nothing I could do about it.”

“And now, you think I can?” Twilight asked skeptically.

“You are a practically a goddess now, you have the power to do it and you don’t have to ask for Celestia’s permission anymore!”

“Necromancy?” she pressed, still trying to wrap her mind around what she was hearing. “Rainbow, I know why this is so important to you-really-but, there’s a reason that kind of magic is taboo…one slip-up and instead of coming back as themselves, they could become undead cannibals!”

“What about AJ’s parents? They died before Applebloom even became a filly-she doesn’t even remember them from when she was a foal-do you think you could live with yourself looking at her and knowing there is something you can do to make her life better…to give her something, something that no one should ever have to go without. But, you decided not to. Do you think you could live with yourself, then?”

Dash demanded.

Twilight’s heart was racing, she knew Necromancy was wrong and outlawed for good reason, but Rainbow Dash was making a lot of valid points-how in the world did Celestia put up with this?

“Rainbow, I’m sorry-really I am, and I know where you’re coming from-”

“BULL!” she shouted, angrily. “You have no idea what it’s like losing someone close to you, it’s not like you just had a fight with a friend and you can just make up with them later, or having a brother under a mind-control spell that you can just snap him out of…you’re brother and your parents are all alive and well!”

She pointed an accusatory hoof at her.

“You have no idea what it’s like to suffer through real loss-the worst thing you’ve ever gone through was a tardy friendship report and you turned the whole town upside down-how would you react if the people you loved most in the world died never to be seen or heard from again, no make-up tests or extra-credit assignments would ever be able to bring them back or replace them!”

The librarian’s ears flattened against her skull guiltily, she wanted to tell Rainbow Dash that she was wrong and that Necromancy was a part of Dark Magic-forces that no one truly understood, but she also realized that she was right on a lot of points.

She had never truly lost anyone close to her in such away…

But, before she could respond the library door burst open to reveal The Doctor, who appeared to be clutching some kind of foreign metallic armor to his chest.

“Rainbow Dash! Twilight! Emergency! I’ll explain on the way…” he panted.

The two mares exchanged glances.

“We’ll finish this later.” Dash commented as they followed him outside into the waiting TARDIS, with its door still ajar.

The story Twilight was reading, left behind on the table; ‘I Have No Muzzle, And I Must Whinny’

History of the Cybermen

Once inside the TARDIS, The Doctor noticed that the two mares occasionally shifted between awkward glances at each other.

“I’m sorry…I wasn’t interrupting anything, was I?”

“No.” Twilight lied.

“Twi, won’t use her magic to bring back my mom or Applejack’s parents.” Rainbow Dash replied angrily, crossing her arms.

“Wait…you don’t mean…Necromancy, do you?” he asked, noting Twilight’s uneasy expression.

“Because I’ll tell you right now; don’t. And I’m not just saying ‘don’t’ because that’s what Celestia expects of me-I meant it-seriously, DON’T.”

“I don’t get what the big deal is…” Dash grumbled stubbornly. “If it’s something you guys know it’s something that’ll make us happy, then why can’t you just do it for us?”

“Well for starters; it’s Dark Magic.” The Doctor replied adamantly. “I’ve had many friends, companion, and family members die…and while it is sad and it hurts us, the harsh reality is that death is a necessary part of life.”

“What do you mean?” Dash asked, cocking her head to the side.

“Imagine a world where nothing ever died; within time it would become over-populated, there wouldn’t be enough food for everyone, so they would resort to cannibalism instead to satisfy their stomachs.” He explained.

“Horrific, debilitating disease that cause excruciating agony and destroy vital organs-people inflicted with them would be condemned to suffer for eternity-until a cure was found, if one ever even existed in the first place.”

“But, I don’t want to make the whole world immortal.” Dash argued. “I just want to bring back people that were murdered or died in accidents, people that lost their lives unfairly-I don’t want to bring my Mom back for me-I want to bring her back so she has a fair chance…and for Dad…”

“Rainbow…” Twilight sighed. “You’re intentions are very noble and I admire you’re selflessness, but there are far more variables to factor in than you realize; experiments with any sort of magic is dangerous, but the dark arts are a whole new level-even the slightest error in measurement, mis-incantation, or slip of concentration could lead to disastrous results.”

“Whose side are you on, anyway?” Dash snapped at her.

“The side of reason.” The Doctor stated plainly. “Even if the spell went off without a hitch, how would we be certain that the one we’ve casted the spell on would have the desired effect? They could be brought back as shambling corpses that are forced to decay as their mind’s live on, they could have some form of mental illness due to the rotting of their brain, they may not even want to be brought back.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled something unintelligible as the two scientific ponies shared a collective sigh.

“Well, speaking of corpses-I found this earlier lying on a hill around the outskirts of Ponyville.”

He held up what Twilight thought upon first glance to be some sort of metallic tortoise shell, but on closer inspection appeared to be armor of some sort.

“What is it?” she asked, letting her scientific curiosity take over.

“Exactly what it looks like; a piece of armor from a race known as the ‘Cybermen’, this appears to have come from the torso, but as you can probably tell, the back is the majority of what remains.” He replied, putting on his tortoise shell framed glasses while rotating the piece of armor to give her a better view.

“Doctor, what’s a ‘Cyberman’?”

“In my universe there is a race known as ‘Homo-Sapiens’ or ‘Humans’, they would undergo a ‘Conversion Process’ which the Cybermen would refer to as; ‘Upgrading’ to become better versions of themselves to be stronger and more logical by removing their brains and placing them in a metallic body instead, though the conditioning required the loss of emotions.” He explained.

“Better not let Lyra hear you say that.” Dash deadpanned.

“All of that power and knowledge…for the price of their souls…” Twilight muttered to herself, sadly.

“But, Doctor-why no emotions?”

“They believe that it clouds one’s judgment, that it is a structural design flaw that makes organic beings inferior, but above all-it hurts.”

He narrowed his gaze at her.

“Can you imagine would it would be like to have your brain removed from your body, and see nothing but a broken, empty shell of a corpse? To look in the mirror and see yourself only to realize that you were nothing more than a mechanical monstrosity? That you could never, ever go back to what you were before?”

Twilight didn’t even realize that tears were pouring out of her eyes.

“That sounds like…like…” she choked.

“…A fate worse than death.” Dash finished grimly.

She nodded.

“I’m afraid that’s not all of it; they’ll try to convert anyone or anything they can get can get their hands on-men, women, children, infants, the handicapped, the sick, the elderly-they believe that they’re doing them a favor.”

“Wait.” Dash uncrossed her arms, glaring at The Doctor.

“You mean these freaks do this stuff to kids?” she asked, appalled.

“No emotion means that they have no true system of morality, they have no sympathy, no compassion, they just have one single-minded purpose to expand across the entire universe and convert as many creatures as they possibly can.”

“That is beyond messed up.” She growled in disgust.

“Which, is exactly why we need to stop them.” The Doctor replied. “Unfortunately depending on what kind of Cyber Unit this is from-they may have nightmarish levels of adaptability.”

“Huh?”

“He means they could convert us and create a new race; Cyber Ponies.” Twilight exclaimed, grimly.

“Yes, and if we used magic or technology to bring the dead back to life-how would we be any different from them?” The Doctor added.

“I…guess you guys have a point.” Dash sighed.

“I’m glad you finally understand.” Twilight replied with a strong sense of relief washing over her.

The Doctor looked at the screen to see a large grassy hill before pointing at it.

“Right there is where the signal is coming, that’s where the Cybermen are being made.”

“But Doctor, that’s just a hill.” Twilight pointed out, confused.

“No, it just looks like a hill to the outside world.” He replied.

Twilight looked harder at the image, scrunching up her face in concentration trying to see whatever it was that The Doctor saw, but gave up after a few moments.

“Doctor, if these things are as dangerous as you say they are-then I hardly think this is an appropriate time for jokes.”

“It’s not a joke…I’ll show you.” He then pushed the door of the TARDIS open before stepping outside with Rainbow Dash and Twilight following close behind.

“It still just looks like a hill to me.” Twilight replied, squinting to examine the terrain.

Dash cocked her head to the side.

“Yeah, you’re sounding crazier than Pinkie Pie…”

“Alright then, Dash.” The Doctor replied confidently. “If you’re so certain that I’m wrong then why don’t you try walking through it?”

“Um, what?”

“Unless of course you’re afraid it will be too dangerous for you.” He added with a mischievous grin.

“I’m not afraid of anything!” Dash retorted adamantly, before giving a few experimental flaps with her wings and flying towards the hill.

I Have Mouth, But I Can't Scream

As the hill came closer and closer Rainbow Dash began questioning the wisdom of her impulsive action-as it certainly looked quite solid.

The muscles in Dash’s wings tightened in fear as her ears flattened against her head and she squeezed he eyes shut before throwing her forelegs in front of her face defensively for the impending impact.

Instead of becoming a horrific mass of broken bones and gore however, she was instead greeted with what appeared to be the interior of some type of factory.

The walls and the floor were a sickly grey color and the floor beneath her hooves felt as if it were made from some kind of metal and the lighting was seemingly nonexistent save for dull fluorescents and tiny red lights spaced apart on the walls that seemed like they were meant to be some form of alarm.

The building also seemed to be pretty poorly constructed, as if they weren’t many people who had worked on it when it.

“Wow, what a crap-shack…” Dash muttered, turning around to look at the entrance and see The Doctor, Twilight, and the TARDIS standing a hoofball field away from her.

“Pretty creepy…” she added under her breath as her ears perked up at the heavy clunking sounds behind her with before she felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck.

Turning around, she saw a giant metallic creature with a large piece of armor missing from its chest.

It was holding a fist out towards her with what appeared to be some type of miniature canon outfitted onto its wrist.

Rainbow Dash’s body felt like it was slowing down as her muscles began to feel heavy and her vision became blurry.

Feeling around the area on the back of her neck the pain was stemming from, her hoof connected with what felt like a dart of some kind.

It wasn’t long before she collapsed onto her side as her eyes became heavy.

“Stand by for upgrade.” The metallic creature instructed in its monotone voice.

When Rainbow Dash awoke, she was strapped to a metallic table with sinister looking machinery on the ceiling directly above her-there was a buzz saw, a pair gardening sheer-sized scissors, a long drill, and a metallic mask similar to the one the creature that attacked her wore-only it appeared to be specifically designed for ponies.

Directly across from her were a series of monitors that showcased the areas within and around the building with a control panel directly beneath them.

The layout was like the control room of one of those Sci-fi books that Twilight was always trying to get her to read-only it was far more nightmarish-the only lighting available aside from the monitors was red and the area around her appeared to be covered in either grime or dried blood.

Hoping it was the former; Dash looked down at her neck and was relieved to see that her mother’s pendant hadn’t been taken from her while she was out.

Having her hooves bound with metallic constraints, she was in quite a bit of discomfort as her folded wings felt like they were being crushed between her back in the slab and quickly became irritated at the fact that not only was she trapped-but, she didn’t have the ability to reposition herself more comfortably, either.

With great effort, she was able to lift her head just enough to look around the room a bit, but was disappointed with how empty it appeared to be save for a line of pony versions of that thing that had attacked her.

At this point, she began struggling against the restraints-as hopeless as it seemed-she would rather be known as someone who went down fighting rather than be the pony that just gave up and waited to be tortured to death.

To her surprise, there was painful squeak as the restraint for her left hoof appeared to be coming loose.

Upon further inspection, it appeared to be quite rusty and if that was the case with the other three, then perhaps all she needed to do was struggle a bit more before they came loose as well.

After that, she could give whoever put her here a piece of her mind (and a hoof through their teeth).

That was when a metallic pony entered the room from the doorway next to the control panel.

It was roughly the size of a full grown stallion and had both the horn of a Unicorn and the wings of a Pegasus.

“You do know what I’m going to do to you when I get out of here, right?” Rainbow Dash challenged defiantly, her confident tone betraying the fear swelling up inside of her.

She was surprised to see the bizarre Alicorn-inspired creature to laugh at her threat, which sounded quite odd with the same monotone the creature before had.

It took a few clunky steps towards the slab.

“I recognize you.” It replied. “You are Rainbow Dash; the bearer of the Element of Loyalty.”

“Yeah,” she scoffed, still fiddling with the loosened restraint. “If you know who I am then you should realize what a mistake you’ve made keeping me alive down here.”

The mechanical creature merely chuckled at her cockiness.

“So tell me, how do you feel knowing that ‘Princess’ Twilight is reaping all the benefits from the hard work of you and your friends?” It asked.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at this.

“Discord had to resort to magic to make me turn my back on my friends and he’s a god.” She sighed. “Do you really think I’m gonna betray my friends just because you’ll torture me if I don’t?”

“You misunderstand.” It replied. “This isn’t a torture chamber; it is a Cyber-Conversion Unit.”

“Meaning?” Dash pressed, feeling the restraint beginning to loosen a bit more.

“A few months ago I discovered a creature from another universe, it was badly damaged but with the aid of a cylinder still intact within its chest I learned a great deal and repaired the machine with my newfound knowledge.” It explained.

“If you’re not with it, then where did you come from?”

“I was formerly a researcher for Canterlot University before I was kicked out by my superiors as they were under the false belief that my theories and research methods were too unsavory for the citizens of Equestria to tolerate.” It explained.

“The data I discovered showed me how much more I could become if I upgraded myself.”

It then leaned over Rainbow Dash.

“All that is required for the upgrade is the subject’s brain; once the conversion process is complete they will be strengthened with the removal of emotional weaknesses such as sorrow, pain, and fear.”

“What about other stuff like love and happiness?” Dash challenged, trying to keep it talking.

“Those are emotional weaknesses.” It responded.

“Then why do you have them?” Dash challenged. “You were laughing at me earlier.”

“That is because understanding the way ones enemy thinks is usually one of the quickest routes to defeating them.” It replied. “You will have the honor of being converted into the very first Cyberpony in history.”

Rainbow Dash’s ears flattened as she clenched her teeth together, growling at him like a dog.

She then slipped her hoof free from the restraint, as the machine-like creature looked down at her pendant and recoiled a bit before she was able to lift a portion of her body off the table to strike the creature across the face with her hoof.

Wincing in pain, Dash then felt the other restraints begin to lose their integrity as her struggling seemed to finally be paying off.

Curious as to why it withdrew earlier and wanting something harder to hit it with, Dash took off her mother’s pendant before wrapping it around her hoof a striking the creature with it, denting a part of its head and causing it to spark as it stumbled backwards.

Rainbow Dash smirked to herself, confident that she had won before it lifted its head and began advancing on her once more.

Rise of the Cyberponies

The Doctor was regarding Twilight with a smug ‘I told you so’ expression, she was looking on at the hill in sheer disbelief at seeing Rainbow Dash vanish the second she came into contact with it.

“Where did she go?” Twilight managed to utter shakily.

“As I tried to explain earlier, the perception filter makes our mind and our eyes believe that there is a hill there when there is in fact an entrance to some form of base or factory, where I believe new Cybermen are being constructed.” The Doctor explained.

“And we let her rush in there alone!?” Twilight shouted as her wings flared in alarm.

“I didn’t think of that.” The Doctor replied as he came to the horrific realization of the grim possibilities that could possibly occur thanks to his oversight.

Twilight broke into a full galloped towards the hill as The Doctor followed suit.

Once they passed the threshold, they both observed their surroundings looking for any sign of Rainbow Dash.

“RAINBOW DASH?” Twilight called out frantically.

She felt something bump against her hoof before looking down to see that she was standing on a cyan feather and The Doctor was trying to get her to remove it.

The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and activated it, causing the blue node at the tip to light up blue as a whirring sound echoed throughout the chamber.

“Find anything?” Twilight asked anxiously as her eyes darted around the area.

“No.” The Doctor replied, frowning. “There’s no sign of a struggle; no blood, no saliva, nothing except a feather.”

“Maybe she isn’t hurt too badly then!” Twilight exclaimed hopefully as her face lit up.

“Or maybe it’s a trap.” The Doctor replied cynically. “Do you know some kind of spell for lighting the darkness?”

The lights inside seemed to have died out, making it nearly impossible to see without straining ones eyes.

“Oh, yes…” Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated her magical power into the tip of her horn, which manifested itself into a tiny ball of light.

The light’s arc was reminiscent to that of a flashlight.

“This was a spell my Dad taught me when I was a filly and still afraid of the dark.” She explained. “In fact, this is the spell that earned him his Cutie Mark.”

They stopped when the light hit a piece of metal in the opposite end of the room.

Upon further inspection, it appeared to be a suit of armor of some kind of bizarre creature Twilight had never read about before.

“Stand back.” The Doctor ordered as he approached it.

Doing was she was told, Twilight watched curiously as The Doctor examined the hunk of metal.

“Doctor, what is it?” She asked in a soft whisper.

“A Cyberman.” He replied, his hoof tracing the damaged part of its torso. “And it appears to be the one that piece I found earlier had broken off from.”

It was sitting idly against the wall as if it were broken with its legs sprayed apart and one arm at its side with the other in its lap like a neglected ragdoll.

“Do you think it’s what attacked Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked timidly as her heart began to race, being so close to a creature that was incapable of feeling pity or remorse for those it attacked.

“It’s hard to tell…” He replied, scanning it with the Sonic Screwdriver. “It’s either too badly damaged to function properly or its in some sort of standby mode…”

At that point the Cyberman gripped his throat and began tightening its metallic fingers around it, causing The Doctor to drop his Sonic Screwdriver as his hooves pounded on its arm in a futile attempt to make it loosen its hold.

“Rogue elements detected.” It stated as the metallic slit under the eyeholes of its faceplate lit up blue when it spoke.

“DOCTOR!” Twilight exclaimed before pointing her horn at the machine and emitting a surge of electrical energy into its chest, causing it to fall limp.

She let out a sigh of relief as The Doctor managed to pry the fingers from his throat and began massaging it with a hoof.

“Sorry about that.” She apologized. “Are you alright?”

“What are you sorry for?” He asked.

“I could have electrocuted you!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Well, you didn’t and I’m fine…trust me I’ve had much worse than a tiny electrical shock.” He replied.

“What about you?” He asked. “You didn’t strain yourself too much with that spell, I hope?”

“I’m fine.” Twilight replied calmly. “It’s Rainbow Dash that I’m worried about.”

The Doctor examined the Cyberman’s arm to get a better look at something he’d noticed when it was trying to strangle him.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, reactivating the lighting spell.

“It appears to be a wrist-mounted device for tranquilizer darts.” He replied. “And the crude craftsmanship leads me to believe that it was homemade.”

“So they could have taken Rainbow Dash by surprise and shoot one of those darts into her and knock her unconscious, so she couldn’t put up a struggle.” Twilight concluded.

“Exactly.”

There were two closed doors on either side of the Cyberman which opened with an automated ‘ding’ revealing two elevators waiting for someone to enter.

“It feels like a trap…” Twilight muttered.

“Of course it is,” The Doctor agreed. “It’s never this easy.”

“What should we do?” she asked.

“Get in one and ignore the other.” He instructed.

Twilight then followed The Doctor to the elevator on the right, shortly before the doors closed.

Looking at the control panel, they could see that there were only three buttons with labels taped next to them written in crude black marker; ‘Ground Floor’ which was currently lit up, ‘Factory/Disposal’ was underneath it, and finally there was a button labeled ‘Operating Room/Control Room’.

The Doctor hit the final button as they could feel the lift jerk a few times before pulling them downwards.

While she tried to hide it, Twilight had a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she wasn’t going to like what she saw when they got down there.

At the end of their descent, the doors opened only for them to see another grim hallway like the room they first entered.

“Doctor, what’s going to happen to Rainbow Dash if we don’t find her?” Twilight asked shakily.

“It’s…best if you try not to think about that.” He replied, delicately. “Instead we should focus on finding her as quickly as possible.”

Twilight and The Doctor raced down the hall towards the operating room before the metal doors slid open to reveal a Cyberpony standing before them, only this one had wings spread out from its back its glowing violet eyes were in stark contrast to its silvery metallic body.

It looked like a Pegasus and its eyes were the same color as…

“Oh please, no…” whispered Twilight desperately as she felt her heart pound in her chest and her blood turn to ice.

The Doctor put a hoof in front of her, signaling for her to stand back.

“Rogue elements: detected.”

“Cyberman!” The Doctor shouted. “Who are you?”

“Equine 2.0”

“That’s not what I meant-who were you before you became a Cyberpony?”

“Prior to the upgrade process, this unit was known as the Pegasus ‘Rainbow Dash’.”

“No…” Twilight repeated in a hushed whisper. “That can’t be true…Doctor, we can still save her can’t we?”

She looked at him hopefully with tears in her eyes.

He averted his gaze and lowered his head.

“I’m sorry Twilight.” He whispered. “I’m so very, very sorry…”

Hostile Elements

The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver once more with his teeth and was about to activate it before Twilight stopped him.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” She shouted.

He dropped it to the floor before replying.

“I’m sorry Twilight, but we have to stop her before anyone else gets hurt.” He replied grimly.

“And what exactly does ‘stopping her’ entail?” Twilight demanded.

“Deactivating or destroying the Cyber unit is the only way to stop them.” He sighed.

“NO!” Twilight shouted adamantly. “I WON’T LET YOU KILL HER!”

“Twilight…” The Doctor replied, his voice filled with regret. “I’m sorry, I swear, but given the existence of those who have been converted into Cyber units, death would more than likely be preferable.”

“But you’re a time traveler!” She insisted. “You can go back and save her!”

Unbeknownst to the two ponies, the Cyberpony slowly began to advance on them.

“It doesn’t work that way!” The Doctor exclaimed. “I CAN’T GO BACK ON MY OWN TIMELINE!”

At these words Twilight crumpled to the floor with her ears flattened as tears streamed down her cheeks.

The only sounds filling the halls were those of Twilight’s heavy sobbing and the Cyberpony’s advancement.

The Doctor was about to reach down for his Screwdriver once again before he was stopped by Twilight’s words.

“I’m sorry…” she sobbed. “Rainbow Dash, I’m so sorry…I never wanted this to happen and I never should have let you come in her alone.”

Twilight kept her head lowered in shame as magical energy began charging up and the base of her horn, her face was obscured by her bags, all that was visible to The Doctor were the seemingly endless flow of tears as she slowly cantered towards the Cyberpony.

The energy manifested itself at the tip of Twilight’s horn in a bright sphere as she aimed it at the round plate in the center of the Cyberpony’s chest as she tried to steady herself from the violent shuddering she was suffering from.

Every part of her being screamed in protest of what she was about to do, but deep down she knew that The Doctor was right and if they couldn’t save Rainbow Dash, then at the very least they could give her peace.

But, no matter how well she rationalized it, it felt like she was doing the wrong thing and that she was somehow failing Dash yet again.

Now mere inches away from Twilight, she realized that it was now or never as she now had built up enough power to obliterate the creature with a single blast.

“Upgrading is compulsory.” It spoke in a soulless monotone, in stark contrast to Rainbow’s usual enthusiastic and sarcastic tones which only reinforced the horrific reality of the situation they were in.

Everything seemed to slow down as Twilight’s heart pounded in her chest, its sound filling her ears as she released the blast.

The Cyberpony thrown backwards as most of its limbs were ripped from its torso, exposing wire and circuitry before its pieces clanged to the floor.

The largest piece that remained mostly intact was its torso, which had a gaping hole in its chest and the right foreleg still attached as well as the Cyberpony’s head which was now silenced.

“Is this who you really are?” Twilight asked hoarsely with her back still turned to him. “Do you just get companions to come along with you to help you out, but when they get to be too much of a burden or they die, you just forget about them or act like they never existed?”

“I…” he began before Twilight cut him off.

“Don’t you dare tell me that ‘you’re sorry’, you were more than willing to blast her into pieces a few seconds ago.”

“I only did it because I realized that if I didn’t, then you would and I think she would have preferred it if she was killed by someone who actually cared about her.”

The Doctor could only stand there in stunned silence as sounds of a conflict broke out on the floor above them; he briefly wondered what was going on before returning his attention to Twilight only to see that she was cantering down the hall before breaking into a full gallop.

“Twilight!” he called out. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to find whoever did this to Rainbow Dash and I’m going to make them pay!” she shouted back furiously.

The Doctor reached out to her with a hoof as if he could somehow magically pull her back or convince her otherwise, but he couldn’t do it.

In her state of grief, it didn’t seem like Twilight would be willing to listen to reason-much less anything he had to say.

Sighing, he picked the Screwdriver up of the ground with his teeth and slowly moved towards the destroyed Cyberpony before leaning down and trying to pry its faceplate open with the Sonic.

This ‘Cyberpony’ seemed to be different than the other forms of Cybermen he had encountered and not just in the regard that they were equine in design.

Much like the building that they were in, the unit he was examining appeared to be made using limited resources, which was nothing new-but, the mind games with the two elevators earlier gave him the impression that whoever was working for these Cybermen hadn’t been converted yet…or at the very least was still unconditioned.

The Doctor was almost finished unsealing the faceplate when a loud bang from upstairs causing him to glance up before returning to the task at hand.

Pulling the faceplate apart, what he saw inside shocked him.

“What!?”

Instead of a brain, there appeared to be more circuitry and wire within the protective casing.

“Of course!” he exclaimed.

At that moment the ceiling before him seemed to collapse as something fell through with a deafening thud.

Though he couldn’t see through all of the dust, he could hear a raspy groan.

“Hello?” He called over, uncertainly.

As the dust cleared he could see a cyan Pegasus with an unmistakable rainbow mane massaging a part of her head as she looked over to him and her wings spread out in excitement.

March of the Cyberponies

“Rainbow Dash, we thought you’d been captured by the Cybermen.” The Doctor stated.

“I was.” Dash replied, hitting the side of her head with a hoof as pieces of rubble fell from her ear.

“Then how did you escape?” The Doctor pressed.

“Well, the cuff-things on the table I was strapped to were pretty weak and rusty so it wasn’t too hard to break free.” She explained.

“There was also a guy there that looked like one of those Cyber-things, only he looked like an Alicorn.”

“Surely, he must have tried to stop you…” The Doctor muttered to himself.

“He did-after I got one of my legs free I punched him-only it didn’t do much except make my hoof hurt a lot.” Rainbow Dash recalled.

That was when The Doctor noticed her mother’s pendant hanging around her neck.

“Is that made of gold by any chance?” The Doctor asked, gesturing to it.

“Yeah, I hit him with it before it made a huge dent in his helmet-thing and a bunch of sparks flew out, why?”

“Back in the old days, the Cybermen’s original coding could be scrambled or interrupted briefly through contact with things like gold and cleaning fluid.” The Doctor explained.

“What was all of that commotion upstairs?”

“After I escaped from that control room, these Cyber-things came alive and tried attacking me-which is weird, because the guy in the room said that I was supposed to be the first Cyberpony.” Dash replied, thoughtfully.

“Then they must be prototypes; empty shells that whoever is behind this has been working on and now all he needs are brains to make them complete so he can have subjects to rule over and an army to command without any resistance.” The Doctor elaborated.

“Yeah, but…” she shuddered and felt a lurch at the pit of her stomach.

“I saw bodies…being dropped in some kind of incinerator…”

“Did it look like their heads had been cut open.” The Doctor asked, looking at her, concerned.

“I-It looked like it, why? What does that mean?”

“It means,” he sighed. “That whoever’s behind this has probably murdered others before we came along or tried harvesting brains from fresh corpses to power his Cyberponies…probably both.”

Rainbow Dash tried pushing the grim thought to the back of her mind as she slowly cantered over to him and saw the remains of the Cyberpony that Twilight had destroyed.

Dash let out a low, impressed whistle.

“Good job.” She commented. “You really smashed that one up good.”

“It wasn’t me.” The Doctor replied. “Twilight thought it was you and ripped it apart.”

“SHE WHAT!?” Dash exclaimed, in alarm.

“Based on its design and what it said to us, we believed that you had been captured and converted into one of these ‘Cyperponies’” The Doctor explained calmly.

“When that happens, the person is usually beyond saving-Twilight didn’t want to do it-but, I told her that if she didn’t then I would because it was too big of a threat to let go.”

“Speaking of…” Dash began, looking around. “Where is Twilight, anyway?”

“She ran off.” The Doctor replied, standing up. “She was very emotional after what happened to this decoy-not that I can blame her; she said she was going to find whoever is doing this.”

“What!?” Dash exclaimed, her wings flaring in anger. “You just let her go after that lunatic all by herself?”

“Twilight wouldn’t listen to me.” The Doctor countered, defensively. “She blames me for what we thought happened to you, what she still thinks happened to you.”

At that point a group of Cyberponies seemed to fall through the hole in the ceiling before they began marching towards Rainbow Dash and The Doctor.

The there were four of them in total; they were each the size of a mare with different colored eyes.

One has blue eyes and a horn with a decal of three diamonds on its flank, another had green eyes with three apples, Pegasus with bright blue eyes and butterflies on its flank, and finally there was one with blue eyes and three balloons.

“What’s goin’ on Doc?” Dash asked, as they slowly began backing up from the mechanical monstrosities advancing on them.

“Why do they look like us?”

“They’re containment units.” The Doctor replied. “They’re meant to be a way to control and try to utilize the bearers of The Elements of Harmony or at the very least; detaining them so they can’t be used against the Cyberponies-and don’t call me ‘Doc’.”

“All right!” Dash exclaimed confidently, bumping her fore hooves together. “If these ones aren’t really people, then there’s no need for us to hold back!”

With that, Dash charged towards the metallic doppelgangers before colliding with ‘Applejack’, knocking the machine back into the others.

‘Rarity’ had blue energy charging up from her horn before The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver on reflex and was able to make her head involuntarily jerking to the side, as the shot fired into the Pinkie Pie duplicate, destroying it.

Rainbow Dash was on top of the Cyberpony before punching through its glowing chest plate and grabbing its head and twisting it before pulling it off and snapping the wires attaching it to the body.

The Rarity Cyberpony had recovered from the effects of The Doctor’s screwdriver and aimed its horn at him once more as it began charging up energy.

The Doctor aimed his Sonic Screwdriver at it once again before activating it, cutting the power flow from the base of the horn, so it couldn’t reach the tip as it became increasingly bright.

Its body began shaking as its horn began to crack with the increase of built up energy trapped within the base.

The Cyberpony’s head exploded with wires hanging from its neck the body slowly toppled onto its side.

“One left.” Rainbow Dash commented, as they both turned to the Cyberpony copy of Fluttershy.

“Rainbow Dash, throw the head.” The Doctor instructed.

“Huh?” Dash asked confused before looking down at decapitated Cyber head and throwing it at ‘Fluttershy’.

The Cyberpony caught it between its hooves in mid-flight before its head rotated to meet Rainbow Dash.

“Hostile elements will be deleted.”

“Not today.” The Doctor replied as he amplified the residual power within the head to a critical level causing it to explode.

The damaged Cyber unit collapsed to the ground, covered in scratches and burn marks with a gaping hole in its torso.

Rainbow Dash turned back to The Doctor with a wide triumphant grin.

“That was awesome!” She explained, victoriously. “Now, let’s go look for Twilight so we can get some more of these things to blow up!”

“Your enthusiasm is both refreshing and disturbing.” The Doctor replied, dryly before Dash took flight as he galloped down the hall in the direction Twilight ran off in, leaving the destroyed Cyberponies behind.

The Cyber King

Twilight galloped down the long hall, every time she thought she was finished crying, fresh tears would come pouring out of her eyes.

She couldn’t believe the way The Doctor was handling the situation-he really was an alien.

But that didn’t matter right now.

Right now all she wanted was justice for what had been done to Rainbow Dash and if she had to, she was going to use her own two hooves to get it.

It was at this moment that she realized she had absolutely no idea where she was going before she slid to a halt at the end of the hallway.

There appeared to be a metallic door that had been broken down.

Letting her curiosity get the better of her, Twilight slowly entered the room as she looked around.

She gasped in horror at what the room held.

There was a metallic slab in the center of the room with leg restraints and a series of filthy surgical tools suspended directly above it.

Lying on floor around the room were destroyed Cyberponies.

“Do you like it?”

Twilight turned around to see another Cyberpony that was slightly larger than the others with a long, pointed horn and wings that appeared to have metallic feathers.

“I was hoping to save the surprise, but you are just too impatient…” It continued. “How do you like it?”

“It’s monstrous,” Twilight spat. “Why would you do something like this?”

“You should know that better than anyone Princess Twilight.” It replied. “We are intellectually superior to everyone, but each other…and with knowledge comes power-we are gods, and we deserve to be treated as such.”

“Through enslavement?” she challenged. “You murder and brainwash people just so you can validate your ego?”

“When it came to your prismatic friend, it was you who did the killing.” It pointed out.

“Don’t you dare,” Twilight whispered menacingly. “Who do you think you are?”

“My previous identity is irrelevant-however, I like to be known as the Cyber King.” It replied.

“And I hardly think you are one to pass judgment on me when it comes to matters of manipulation.”

“What are you talking about?” she demanded.

“Have you forgotten so easily?” The Cyber King asked, slowly moving towards her. “The ‘Want-It, Need-It’ spell you cast to cause general mayhem and destruction to achieve your own selfish ends of maintaining your good standing with Princess Celestia?”

With everything that had been going on, she had almost forgotten about that incident and she would have been okay with that, as it wasn’t one she particularly proud of.

“Your ascension into royalty and becoming an Alicorn was also due to your own self-centeredness.” It continued.

“Starswirl the Bearded’s unfinished spell was one which you cast without even contemplating consequences, making the entirety of Ponyville miserable and giving your ‘friends’ an identity crisis…yet, for some reason they chose to forgive you once you rectified your mistake and you became a princess.”

“Because I realized how important our friendship truly is!” she protested. “And that was the key to fixing the spell!”

“I’ve been watching you for a long time, Twilight Sparkle.” It continued, condescendingly. “And achievement has always been first and foremost in your mind-I believe that your ‘friends’ have been nothing, but pawns to earn constant approval from your mentor.”

“That’s not true!” Twilight protested.

“Perhaps it isn’t,” The Cyber King agreed. “But, I couldn’t take that chance and I had to sever one of those dead weights keeping you from your true potential-”

It was cut short as Twilight magically lifted the metal slab from its bolts and threw it at the creature before it was thrown aside, causing it to slide against the wall.

“You’re sick,” Twilight growled. “And I’m going to make you pay for what you’ve done to Rainbow Dash!”

“And what would that be?” The Cyber King asked, mockingly.

Instead of replying, she pulled the device full of surgical tools down on the creature.

Breathing heavily, Twilight looked down at the device.

She knew that the Cyber King was still there and if he wanted to play opossum, that was fine by her; she wouldn’t be satisfied until she made him suffer through every ounce of pain and agony that he put Rainbow Dash through.

“Does it hurt?” she taunted venomously.

Much to her surprise, this comment was greeted with laughter as the Cyber King slowly lifted itself back up, pushing the machine off him.

“Cyber Units can’t feel pain.” It replied as its foreleg transformed into a chainsaw before it charged towards her.

Twilight cast a shield spell before it could reach her, the rotating blade colliding with the magical field sent violet sparks flying as the Cyber King tried cutting through the shield.

Sweat began dripping from Twilight’s forehead as it became increasingly difficult to maintain her concentration and keep the spell up against the Cyber King’s assault.

Unfortunately, since it was a machine now it would be able to keep the same amount of pressure on her without tiring out and as soon as she did the shield would fade and it would be all over.

“It doesn’t have to end this way.” It commented with surprising volume as Twilight could hear it over the roar of the chainsaw.

“With my technology and your knowledge we could make Equestria our own; a place without pain or disease…even death itself could be a thing of the past…with two gods working together there is no end to the possibilities.”

“I’m not…a god…or a goddess….” Twilight panted, struggling to maintain the barrier while draining her last reservoirs of magical energy.

“And neither are you!” she shouted before releasing a magical blast from her horn.

That was a gamble as she had to obliterate her own shield and sacrifice the remaining magical energy she still had, but if she carried on like she had been it would have only been a matter of time before the Cyber King broke through her shield and then she truly would have been out of options.

Her desperate plan seemed to have paid off, however as the chainsaw seemed to have been destroyed with nothing left of it, save for a burned and melted stub of the Cyber King’s foreleg, which was smoking from the damage.

To her dismay, the Cyber King was still standing despite the setback…and she was all out of power.

Twilight’s body collapsed from exhaustion as her heart raced in her chest, not only from the strain the spells had on her body, but from the terror of knowing that she was about to die and out of frustration for failing Rainbow Dash and letting this monster continue its twisted practices.

“Compassion is a weakness that defies all logic,” The Cyber King spoke, pressing its remaining metallic fore hoof against Twilight’s throat.

“Despite your immense power, you choose to waste it defending those which hinder you. You are superior, yet you wish to be treated as an equal…Why would you be accepted into godhood, if you refuse to delete all weakness?” It asked.

At this point, it lower its horn to Twilight’s face as red magical energy began building up.

“Do you like it?” It asked, rhetorically. “The Cyber Unit I salvaged had much data on the weaponry of other worlds and from that I’ve been able to make a few calculations of my own…I’ve even been able to harvest the magical residue from the fresh corpses I’ve converted into Cyber Units.”

Twilight merely glared at it with a mixture of defiance and disgust.

“This is your final opportunity to submit,” The Cyber King warned her. “If you do not take it, you will be deleted.”

“Never.” Twilight growled adamantly, “Even if you kill me know, someone, somehow will find a way to stop you.”

“I have planned for every possible contingency.” It replied, as the electrical red energy at the tip of its horn began crackling and burning even more intensely.

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to turn away from the horn.

“Get off her!” A raspy voice shouted, causing Twilight’s ears to perk up and her eyes to shoot open before a cyan blur slammed into the Cyber King, knocking it to its side.

The blast it had been charging up had dissipated during the collision.

Rainbow Dash was above the Cyber King, keeping its remaining foreleg and head pinned to the floor.

“Impressive…” The Cyber King complimented, facing away from Dash due to the way she was pressing down on its metallic skull.

“Using the golden element within your pendant you were able to damage my cybernetic exoskeleton earlier and now it appears you have somehow eluded my Cyber Units…you are far more resourceful than I had calculated…and I am now beginning to see why Twilight Sparkle would be interested in you as a subject.”

“Shut up.” Dash growled.

“Rainbow Dash!” The Doctor galloped towards her before pulling out his Sonic Screwdriver and holding it over the Cyber King before it whirred to life.

“That’s good…” he commented. “Just him there for a few moments longer and I can have all of his systems deactivated.”

“What?” Twilight choked, struggling to get to her hooves. “You’re not going to kill him, are you?”

“No.” The Doctor replied. “He’ll still be alive, just immobile so he can never hurt anyone again.”

“WHAT!?” Dash exclaimed in outrage.

“You’re going to let him leave after everything he’s done!?” she protested. “After what he tried to do to me? When he just tried to kill Twilight?”

“Yes, but we’re not letting him go free, either.” The Doctor replied. “And honestly I’m surprised at you, Twilight-why the sudden change of heart?”

“I…” she paused.

Why didn’t she want them to kill him?

Now that she knew Rainbow Dash was alive it seemed like a waste to kill him after all of the other deaths that had transpired here and if he was disabled, he wouldn’t be able to cause any further damage.

“There’s already been enough killing.” She responded. “Another death isn’t going to bring any of the others back.”

Rainbow Dash still looked dissatisfied, but she reluctantly agreed with Twilight’s judgment as she didn’t press the matter any further.

The Doctor began breaking through the Cyber King’s firewalls and disabling its systems one by one.

Delete

While watching The Doctor work on the Cyber King, Rainbow Dash was taken off guard when Twilight jumped on her before wrapping her forelegs around her in a warm embrace.

“I’m so glad you’re safe!” she exclaimed happily as she cried tears of joy.

“Uh…thanks?” Dash replied uncertainly. “But, why would that guy think he could control the Elements of Harmony even if he caught us?”

“He was insane,” Twilight replied as she released her and wiped the tears from hers eyes with the back of her hoof.

“Unfortunately, it looks like his talent for magic and science had gotten the better of him…he could have had mental illness before all of this, but all of that knowledge and power would have done nothing but corrupt him further.” She sighed.

“It’s an unfortunate pitfall for a lot of brilliant minds recorded throughout Equestrian history, unfortunately…they get so caught up in their own hubris that they put themselves up above everyone else with some even believing to be gods.”

“What about you?” Dash pressed. “You’re super smart and good at magic, but you’re not like that.”

“Well, maybe that’s because I have friends like you to keep me grounded so I don’t have such a high opinion of myself.” Twilight reasoned.

“When I first became a princess, my biggest concern was having to leave all of you to fulfill my royal duties…but I’ve never asked to be treated any better than anyone else and I wouldn’t have it any other way than for all of my friends to see me as I am; Twilight.”

“And that’s why you wouldn’t take whatever offers that guy was giving you?” Dash added.

“That and I believed he murdered you.” Twilight replied somberly. “And then there are all of these innocents he killed…”

“Yeah…” Dash agreed quietly. “There isn’t anything we can do for them?”

Twilight shook her head.

“The Doctor already told me he can’t go back and save them because it would do more damage than it would repair if he went back on his own timeline.” She explained.

“Their bodies were also incinerated once the brains were removed.” The Doctor added.

“Which is why I’m triggering the remote self-destruct sequence for this facility, I found it while poking around the programs inside the Cyber King, and despite his insanity he was quite brilliant.”

“Wait; ‘self-destruct’?” Dash asked, her wings flaring in alarm.

“There can’t be any trace of Cyber technology left behind or we risk having this happen all over again.” The Doctor elaborated.

At that point there was a loud whistling as blue lights lit up on the room’s main console.

“Doctor, what does that mean?” Twilight asked, now sharing Dash’s concern.

“RUN!”

All three of them then tore down the hall as Rainbow Dash began flapping her wings before lifting off from the ground as Twilight and The Doctor galloped beneath her.

“Did you calculate the time it would take for us to get out of here?” Twilight panted.

“Or remember that there’s an elevator we need to take to get back outside?” Dash added.

“Um, no…forgot to take both of those into account.” The Doctor replied, sheepishly.

“IDIOT!” Dash groaned. “Great, now we’re ALL going to die!”

“Not necessarily,” The Doctor continued. “If we hurry, there is a very slim chance that we can escape the explosion.”

They skid to a halt before the elevator as Dash’s hoof repeatedly pounded the button to take them to the ground floor.

“Are you pressing the right button?” The Doctor asked.

“OF COURSE I AM!” Dash snapped.

“I think it’s stuck…” Twilight uttered, her voice filled with panic. “Doctor, can you delay the countdown with your Screwdriver?”

“Not at this rate, I’m afraid.”

The first few explosions could be heard as the trio looked back in horror at the flames that were blasting down the hallway to engulf them.

They all huddled close together and squeezed their eyes shut to await the inevitable before Twilight out of desperation focused all of the remaining magical energy she could muster into her horn.

A gentle breeze caused the trio to open their eyes.

They were back outside, standing before the TARDIS.

Rainbow Dash was the first to speak.

“Uh, how did we get back out here?” she asked, scratching the back of her head.

“Before the explosion was about to engulf us, I tried casting a teleportation with what little magical energy I had left.” Twilight replied, gazing back at the hill.

“So where’s the explosion?” Dash pressed. “Shouldn’t we have heard something or seen some flames by now?”

“That would be the perception filter,” The Doctor explained. “When Twilight cast the spell, it must have occurred while we were materializing between there and here.”

“What about the Cyber King?” Twilight asked anxiously. “He didn’t die from that explosion-did he?”

The Doctor shook his head.

“No, based on my Screwdriver’s analysis and what I’ve seen firsthand; his armor could easily withstand such a blast, albeit with a few dings and scorch marks.”

“So are we going to put a sign up or something to warn people?” Dash cut in.

“No.” The Doctor replied softly. “It’s better off for everyone if this place stays hidden-we’ve already seen what happens when technology like this is abused.”