"I have done what I have for the sake of progress!" The mechanical voice had been going on for several minutes now, and it finally seemed as though his monologue was drawing to a close. The Doctor, giving a silent sigh of relief, took the moment to take in Lumic Point-Two, as he called himself. At a glance, he appeared to be identical to any other Cyberman- or Cyberpony would be the proper term. He had the same complex system of hydraulic tubes and wires connecting his hooves to his tighs and such. He had the same sharp markings on his chest as the pony next to him- almost identical to those of the human version in his own universe. The Cybus logo, however, was located on his rump rather than his chest, whether out of convenience or a need to mimic the normal ponies, the Doctor couldn't tell. Following the trend, from the neck down, the body did appear to be little more than a painfully elaborate Halloween costume. The head, on the other hoof, was a sheer blow to both humanity and morality itself. It was an almost perfectly circular dome, Lumic had next to no muzzle. There was only a very slight bump in the cylinder where his muzzle should have been. He had no mouth, as well. This had been replaced by a small rectangular LED panel that lit up as he spoke, almost serving as a modern stereo system's equalizer. The cat-like ears were also gone, in their place stood a long rod, almost like a bucket handle, connecting both ears overhead. The eyes were mere circular indents in the cylinder, with what looked like a teardrop symbol in their corner. The Doctor couldn't help but silently remark at how fitting this was.

"So tell me, Lumic, how long can one live in this suit of yours?" he asked, putting excessive emphasis on 'live'.

"This new body, this steel skin, can extend life indefinitely, limited only by the metal itself, granted it is connected to the power source." Came Lumic's very dull response. The Doctor squinted slightly before asking again.

"And how long away from the power source?"

"Without a power source, one of these Cyberponies can operate for up to fifty years." Lumic said. The Doctor silently cursed.

"I was hoping for a touch less. So tell me, my boy, why have you become a cyberpony, then?" He inquired. All he had to do was keep Lumic talking and eventually something would slip.

"I have done what I have for the sake of progress!" repeated Lumic.

"Oh come on, don't lie to me. We all knew you were dying. You did this to save your own ski- coat. But why did you have to change everything around you, were you that lonely, that afraid?" The Doctor prayed he wasn't going too far.

"I do believe I was questioning you. Not the reverse. Unit alpha seventy-three, you may delete these intruders now." The cyberpony took a step towards the Doctor, one of its hooves outstretched. He knew all too well what that meant, and began speaking as he thought.

"Wait, wait! Your voice, it's different. Yours isn't the same as that one's, but his is the same as all the others, why's that? Why do you have feelings?" He called out, backing away from the metal beast.

"I needed to have emotions. I am their leader, the Cyber-leader." Lumic began. "What would an army of perfect soldiers be without a proper leader, mister..." His voice trailed off as he queried the Doctor's name.

"Just the Doctor. And why have you created the perfect soldier, as you call it? What is their purpose? To act upon whatever whim you may have?" The Doctor reached into his saddlebag with his mouth and withdrew the screwdriver. The cyberpony drew closer.

"I do not have to answer to you, Doctor." said Lumic. "You are a dead man!" Ditzy, who up until the point had been standing emotionless, silently following the conversation, turned and kicked the advancing cyberpony backwards. It lay there, temporarily stunned. As fast as she could in the sharp metal suit, she made her way to the Doctor.

"What are you doing with that, Doctor?" She asked, a trace of fear entering her voice. The Doctor had his head bent down, and was trying to adjust his screwdriver with his mouth- no easy task without hands.

"I learned a trick a while ago- ack, this tastes horrible! And if it works, we'll be able to..." He clamped his teeth on the button as a high pitched whirring noise came out. Ditzy gave almost no reaction, while both Lumic and the cyberpony, beginning to return from its daze, clutched their ear-rods, screaming.

"RUN!" The Doctor concluded his sentence. Both he and Ditzy dashed for the door, the latter beginning to unfurl her wings. The Doctor and his assistant ran, shedding metal parts as quickly as possible. Passing building after building in the snow, they finally found refuge in a waste drainage pipe near the edge of Lumic's compound.

"Doctor... what did you do... back there?" asked a very breathless pegasus, walking up closer to him. The Doctor turned to her with a slight smile.

"An old trick I learned. The Sonic Screwdriver is more useful than you think, if I have it at a high enough setting, the soundwaves interfere with the processors inside the cyberponies without hurting us. Simple." Ditzy narrowed her eyes.

"But you said those things had the brains of normal ponies. Why would it hurt them if they do?" She inquired.

"Very sharp mind, Ditzy. Well, you see those things coming out of where the ears should be?" The gray mare nodded. "Well those things basically control the mind. I was messing with them, not their brains. Come to think of it, they were probably fighting themselves in the seconds they weren't being forced by the earpods." The Doctor had slowly made his way to the edge of the tube, preparing to step out, but Ditzy laid a hoof on his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" She asked him sharply.

"The furthest fence is about half a mile that way. Those Cyberponies are looking for us inside the bigger buildings, they'd expect an escapee to be close by. But while they're looking, we take a jump out of this pipe, a dash to the fence, you fly us over and we're back to the Tardis in minutes!" He said proudly. Ditzy was visibly unmoved.

"Wait, so you're not gonna stop him? You're just letting him destroy all those ponies?" She asked, backing away from him.

"Hey, you've never faced Cybermen before. I have. You can't fight these things directly. If we don't run, we'll either end up as one of them- well I won't, but they'll take you. Or we end up dead. Your choice." The Doctor fixed her with a cold glare. And for the first time since meeting him, Ditzy thought the Doctor looked old. Not warm and energetic, he just looked old and tired. Like he had seen too much sadness in his life.

"Well why can't we? Can't we at least knock out their power source? And what's a Cyberman?" She asked him, voice starting to rise louder.

"What are you, blind? You've seen dozens of them, one tried to kill you, you were disguised as one for almost four hours!" He yelled out, but as quickly as he said it, he noticed his mistake. He looked into her eyes and saw he had hurt her. The one normal pony left in this wasteland and he'd hurt her. Not to mention he'd just let slip that he wasn't exactly equine in nature either. Once again, the pegasus backed away from him, looking at him with disgust now.

"Come on, you know I didn't mean that like that. Bright Eyes, don't do this, we can't argue now, if we do we'll be caught and killed before you can say 'banana'!" He said, his tone now quieter than ever. Ditzy shook her head.

"No. You go back to your box and I'll be here destroying these monsters!" She said, making a dash for the exit. The Doctor trotted after, but she was too fast with those wings.

"Bright eyes! Come back!" He called, beginning to gallop after her.