Ditzy breathed deeply as she and the Doctor made their way throw the dark and frozen landscape. It truly was a wasteland here, especially with those Cyberponies. She could see all kinds of unsavory-looking liquid spills and piles of scrap metal. She shuddered to imagine what lie under the small hills covered in black tarp, she could've sworn she saw a hoof sticking out from under one. She shuddered.
"Doctor, we're getting close to the towers, what do we do when we're there?" She asked him, turning around to glance at him. To her annoyance, the Doctor was about a dozen yards back, observing a pile of discarded plating next to one of those horrific piles. Derpy cantered up to him quietly. He gave no response, glaring into the eyes of the cyberpony parts.
"Doctor," she cooed, as though she were a mare waking her foals for school. "Doctor, hello?" The Doctor turned to her with a slight smile, worrying her greatly. "What are you thinking, doctor?" She asked.
Still smiling slyly, he replied. "I know just how we're going to get in there." He said cryptically. Ditzy was, frankly, frustrated enough to stomp, but she pooled up the last of her patience and asked, "How, then?" through gritted teeth.
Taking the hint to fly straight, the doctor held up the circular Cybus Industries plate. "It's time for me to be upgraded." He said. Ditzy shot him a flat look.
"It took this long for you to think of that?" She asked him. She'd gotten the notion that the Doctor was much sharper. The Doctor's jaw gaped for a moment, before he locked eyes with her.
"Wait, I wasn't finished!" He protested. Ditzy nodded for him to continue. "Okay. So, we're going to have to make you look like a Cyberpony, won't we? These scraps might be just what we need. If I can manage to remove all of the hydraulics and servers and processors and such, I can make you the spitting image of a Cybus Cyberpony!" He had begun to talk very quickly, in a very excited fashion.
Several hours later, despite Ditzy's incredible boredom and slight fear of the shell, she stood fully framed in metal. The stuff was heavy, but it served as well-welcomed protection from the bitter cold outside. Thankfully, her smallish athletic build allowed her to fit into the suit, if not somewhat snugly. She observed herself in a block of ice.
"And nobody's supposed to notice this?" She asked. There was more than one red flag in her new getup that would alert even a dull troop. Her voice was a massive giveaway, they'd be caught instantly. There were several issues with the frame itself, probably why it was discarded. On the chest, the points of metal were uneven, only two of three meeting in the exact center of her chest. There were clearly visible snapped pieces in the metal, one of the hydraulic pipes on her leg was completely in two pieces. While a perhaps critical perspective, she did have a very clear point. It was convincing to a normal pony, but not to a Cyberpony. The Doctor frowned.
"Would you rather not wear it? I can guarantee that'll get you farther than those bubbles on your rump!" He said defensively. Ditzy would've laughed if they were back in Ponyville.
"Fine," She began. "I'll wear it. But when we're caught, you'd better think of a way out of it."
"Don't I always?" said the Doctor. Ditzy wondered just how many times he'd had to escape. He certainly didn't seem to be the most cautious of ponies, even in a different universe. Shaking her head, she started to move on, much more slowly than before. It was not long before she found the mask a massive hindrance, unable to keep the eye-holes properly aligned on her face. Eventually, however, the two of them had found their way to the entrance of the closest tower. Being the largest, they'd both figured that this was either the primary plant or at least where whoever in charge was. Looking around at the wall-mounted cameras, Ditzy burst through the doors, the Doctor following her with a timid act. Thankfully, the room seemed rather busy. Far too busy to notice a fake Cyberpony and undercover Timelord sneak in.
Not wanting to lose the imposter, the Doctor pressed a bit closer to the cold metal of his companion, and whispered into the rod coming out of where her ears should be. "Make your way to the elevator at the far side. Once we're in there, we can work our way to the top. The Cybercommander will be up there, most definitely. Well, probably. Well, there's a kinda-good chance that he will be up there. Just get over there!"
A single room seemed to stretch on for miles. The room had a system to it, Cyberponies were heading from one terminal to the next, occasionally four or five would form a group and exit, and a new group would enter. As random as it appeared, there seemed to be a method to this waiting room, a rhythm that the Doctor and Ditzy would quickly derail. Drawing as little attention as possible to themselves, they made it safely to the elevator door.
"Halt!" Ditzy's heart sank. She thought she heard the Doctor curse.
"Attempting telepathic communications... telepathic communications failed" Came the metallic droning voice of a Cyberpony behind them. Turning around, Ditzy took in the strange thing. It seemed much surer than the one they'd attacked miles away. When it spoke, this pony did not use any visible mouth, but a sort of equalizer where it's mouth should be. Truthfully, this one was very impressive, even intimidating.
"Non-upgraded ponies are to be taking to building C, subdirectory 4." It droned on. The Doctor was apparently holding back a laugh. Something the robot had said was very funny, apparently. "Reveal identification number."
"Identification number?" asked Ditzy, trying to keep her voice as drawling and mechanic as possible.
"Reveal identification number or you will be subject to deletion." Came the curt reply.
"Identification One Three Nine, Two Two Seven." Said Ditzy confidently.
"Reveal identification number or you will be subject to deletion." The Cyberpony replied. Ditzy knew they were trapped. But she was quickly distracted by the Doctor dashing forward and spitting on the thing. "Let me go!" he screamed.
Ditzy could have sworn the robot growled before his response. "Report to High Command." The thing grabbed her by the neck, turned and began walking out the door.
The Cyberpony had a very sturdy grip. It was strong enough to hold her fast, but just weak enough to allow her breath. Her eyes darted around in horror as they entered the frozen outdoors, and headed towards a different tower. Building C, Ditzy presumed. The robot led them forcefully through another, much less crowded building. There were no terminals in this building, and it was much colder than the other. The floor was a cold steel, reflective and loud. The room only had two doors. On one side, a clear elevator. On the other, massive heavy steel doors. Bolted shut, they would keep out most anything. But they did nothing to block the faint sound of faraway screams. That was probably where the ponies were turned into cyberponies.
Thankfully, the Cyberpony led Ditzy and the Doctor towards the elevator rather than the steel doors, though she was doubtful that it would be her last time seeing them. Pressing the uppermost button, a Cybus logo rather than a number, the elevator lurched upwards. It gained momentum quickly, and Ditzy felt the gravity pressing her towards the ground. It was somewhat painful, being pressed up against the metal hull, and she could see the Doctor fighting to stand. In a matter of seconds the ride was over. Coming to the very top, the elevator came to a smooth halt, and the doors slid open. The doors revealed a long hallway, with less than five doors. It was clearly executive. The floor had a rug, and the walls had mounted chandeliers. The overall was really rather eerie, a cold metal building, decorated slightly. Leading them to final door in the hallway, the Cyberpony pushed the door open and trotted inside, still gripping the two by their necks.
At a glance, the room before them was empty. It was a basic office, with chairs, a desk with a phone and computer, and all the trimmings. But one could hear something above the building's faint humming. It was a steady rhythm... it was breathing. But it was strained, weak breathing. Something was dying, or else very close to it. The chair swiveled around and Ditzy gasped in horror. The Doctor looked away with a disgusted look. It was a Cyberpony. But this one was different. This one was larger than the others. This one was attached to some sort of machine, the source of the breathing noise. It was attached with all sorts of cables and tubes to its seat, but it appeared as though it could become mobile at any time.
The Doctor uttered a single word. "Lumic."