I don't own My Little Pony or Doctor Who in any way, shape, or form.
Chapter 6 The Great Escape
The Cyberpony led the three ponies down a short hallway and into a large room. The walls of the room were lined with prison cells filled with ponies that looked like the peasants that they had seen around Canterlot.
"You will wait here," the Cyberpony said, ushering them into a cell.
"And how long will we be waiting?" the Doctor asked as the Cyberpony closed the cell door.
"Until we are ready."
"And that will be when?"
"When we are ready," the Cyberpony repeated and left the room.
"Well, we've been captured," Glimmer said sitting down, "What's the next part of your plan Doctor?"
"Next we gather information," the Doctor replied.
"From a prison cell? I don't think we'll be able to get much here."
"Oh you would be surprised," the Doctor said with a smile. Turning to one of the other ponies in the cell, the Doctor tapped him shoulder. "Hello there. I'm the Doctor," he said as the pony turned to him, "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions."
"What is it you want to know sire?" the pony said, not looking at the Doctor directly.
"How long have you been held prisoner here?"
"About a week sire."
"And during that time, how many ponies have you seen the Cyberponies take out of here?"
"None sire."
"None? Are you sure?"
"I'm certain sire. Those armored ponies only ever bring ponies in here, never out."
"I see. Thank you."
"Of course sire."
Turning away, the Doctor moved back over to Pinkie and Glimmer. He sat down near them and stared at the ground, deep in thought.
"Well Doctor?" Glimmer asked, "Did you learn anything?"
"Something, but I'm not sure what it means."
"What is it?" Pinkie asked.
"It seems that the Cyberponies aren't taking their prisoners to be upgraded."
"That can't be right," Glimmer said, confused, "From what you said, their whole purpose in life is to upgrade others."
"Exactly," the Doctor said with a nod, "So why aren't they?"
"Maybe they can't," Pinkie suggested.
"But why can't they? That's what we need to find out next," the Doctor said.
"And how do you propose we do that?" Glimmer asked, "I don't think anypony here will be able to tell us."
"From a Cyberpony of course," the Doctor said as if it was incredibly obvious.
"I dunno Doctor," Pinkie said, "The Cyberponies don't seem to be very talkative."
"You just let me worry that, alright? I know how to make these guys talk."
Another Cyberpony came into the room at that moment, pulling a small cart with small containers sitting on it.
"Here is your daily sustenance," it said placing a container into each cell.
"Excuse me," the Doctor said when the Cyberpony came to their cell, "I was wondering, why haven't you upgraded anyone yet? Is there a problem with your machines or something?"
"Cease talking or you will be deleted," the Cyberpony said and left the room.
"Well, that could have gone better," the Doctor said after a moment.
"You can say that again," Glimmer grumbled.
"Now what?" Pinkie asked.
The Doctor stared at nothing for a moment then sighed. "Now, we wait."
The three ponies sat in silence for a couple hours before the Cyberpony returned, gathering the containers. When it reached their cell, the Doctor moved close to the bars, saying, "I can help you fix your machine."
The Cyberpony stopped and looked at the Doctor for a moment before saying, "Explain."
"I know a few things about your technology. Let me take a look at your machines and I can get them up and running again so that you can start upgrading everyone."
"You will wait here," the Cyberpony said and left.
"What are you doing," Glimmer said moving up next to the Doctor, "Why are you offering to help them?"
"It's a ploy Captain," the brown pony responded, "I get them to take me to their machine, improvise myself into an advantageous position and make them release everyone."
"You mean everypony," Pinkie said stepping up next to him.
"Sorry what?"
"Everypony," Pinkie repeated.
The Doctor stared at Pinkie with a look of disbelief for a few seconds then sighed and shook his head. "Of course that's what you say here," he said under his breath.
The Cyberpony from before reentered the room bringing a second, slightly larger Cyberpony with it. The second Cyberpony, in addition to being larger, looked a little different as well. Its head had a small, clear glass dome with several blinking lights.
"Well I'll be," the Doctor said, seeing the second Cyberpony, "It's a Cyber-Leader."
"A what?" Glimmer said.
"A Cyber-Leader. It's sort of a Cyberpony version of you. It's the one in charge of this little army."
"This is the one," the Cyberpony said gesturing to the Doctor as they approached the cell.
"You can fix our machine?" the Cyber-Leader asked.
"Indeed I can," the Doctor said with a smile.
"You will come with me," the Cyber-Leader said opening the cell.
"Right, yes, of course," the Doctor replied nodding, "I just have one condition."
"What is that?"
"Pinkie Pie and Glimmer Blade are to come with me."
"Why should we allow that?"
"They are my assistants and I will need their assistance in this."
The Cyber-Leader looked at the Doctor for a few seconds before looking to the other two ponies and saying, "You will follow me."
The three ponies followed the two Cyberponies out of the prison room and down another hallway into a large room. In the center of the room was a large machine that had several recesses that looked like they were made to hold a pony and multiple screens and control panels.
"What is that?" Pinkie whispered as they entered the room.
"The upgrading machine," the Doctor whispered back.
"You will fix the device," the Cyber-Leader said turning to the trio.
"Sure thing," the Doctor said, "I was just wondering though, how did the device get damaged?"
"We crash landed here," the Cyber-Leader replied.
"Crash landed?"
"That is affirmative. We crash landed on this planet and our device was damaged. You will fix it."
"Yes, okay! Just give me a minute! Gah, the Cybermen back home were never this pushy."
The Doctor walked up to the machine and began looking it over. As he walked back and forth before it, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started scanning it.
"Hmm, I think I see the problem," he said after a moment. Moving up closer to the machine, the Doctor ran the sonic over a small section, causing a small panel to open, exposing the inner workings. "Ah yes, just as I expected," he said looking at the exposed wires, "The conversion matrix has been completely destroyed. Pinkie Pie, you're going to need to go find another one."
"Okie Doki Loki!" Pinkie said, saluting the Doctor, "Just, um… Where do I get one of those?"
"Hmm? Oh, well, the Cyberponies probably have another one somewhere around here. Just go look around, you're bound to find one."
"Got it. Just, one more thing. What's a conversion thingy look like?"
The Doctor reached into the machine and pulled out a small grey box that was cracked in several places and look partially melted. "Like this, just, you know, less broken."
"Got it!" Pinkie said with a nod and rushed off.
"Follow her," the Cyber-Leader said to the other Cyberpony.
The other Cyberpony nodded and followed after Pinkie Pie.
"Okay Captain," the Doctor said to Glimmer, "I'm going to need you to go find twenty feet of wire, a box of fuses, a box of Jammy Dodgers, and a fez."
"What?" Glimmer responded, a very confused look on his face.
"Wire, fuses, Jammy Dodgers and a fez!" the Doctor repeated turning to him.
"I have no idea what any of that is," the unicorn replied shaking his head.
The Doctor sighed and looked to the Cyber-Leader. "I don't suppose you could get me twenty feet of wire and a box of fuses, could you?"
"Negative," the Cyber-Leader said, "Another will bring you the necessary components."
"Found one!" Pinkie sang as she came skipping back into the room, balancing a small grey box on her head.
"Oh, beautiful!" the Doctor said grabbing to box, "This is exactly what I needed." The Doctor ran the sonic over it for a few seconds, than placed it into the machine. "Alright good. Now I just need that wire and fuses."
"And then the machine will work?" the Cyber-Leader asked.
"Almost," the Doctor replied, "There's still something else, but I'm not sure what."
"You will fix it."
"Yes, I know. That's what I'm doing! You don't need to keep telling me!"
The Cyberpony that had followed Pinkie out of the room came back in carrying a large coil of wire and a small box.
"Ah, that's the wire and fuses I asked for then? Splendid," the Doctor said taking the items away from the Cyberpony.
"Affirmative," the Cyberpony said, "You will fix the device."
"Alright, if you all don't stop saying that, I'm not going to fix anything."
The Cyberponies looked at the Doctor in silence.
"Alright?" the Doctor asked, sounding a little nervous.
The Cyberponies continued to stare at him.
"Ok, right. Captain, I'm going to need you to measure out two three foot long lengths of wire," he said, handing the coil to Glimmer.
"Right," the unicorn replied and began measuring out the wire.
"Ok, now Pinkie Pie, you're going to need to replace all the blown fuses," the Doctor said turning to the pink mare.
"Okie Doki Loki! How will I know which ones are blown though?" Pinkie asked.
Reaching into the machine, the Doctor pulled out a fuse and held it up. "This is what a blown fuse looks like," he said, "So, just look for the fuses like this and replace them with these." As he said that, he picked up the box of fuses.
"Will do!" Pinkie said and began working.
"Here's the wire Doctor," Glimmer said handing him two short lengths of wire.
"Thank you Captain," he said taking the wire. The Doctor ran the sonic over the two wires then turned to Pinkie, saying, "Pinkie, after you're done with the fuses, I need you to attach these wires to the conversion matrix."
"How do I do that?" she asked taking the wire.
"There are two small openings on top of the matrix. The wires should fit in there."
"Got it," she said, attaching the wires, "Now what?"
"Now, I'm going to need you to step aside so I can do some tinkering."
Stepping up to the machine, the Doctor began rummaging around inside, detaching and reattaching wires and moving things around while muttering to himself.
"Can we really trust the Doctors plan?" Glimmer whispered to Pinkie as the Doctor worked.
"Of course!" Pinkie whispered back, "The Doctors plans always work out!"
"Right, well, I'm just not seeing how this plan is supposed to end."
"I never know how his plans are gonna work out, but they always do. So, just trust him, okay?"
"If you've got time to mutter Captain, you've got time to measure out ten feet of wire," the Doctor called out, still tinkering with the machine.
"Uh, right," Glimmer said, picking the wire back up.
"And I'm still waiting on those Jammy Dodgers!"
"Here you go Doctor," Glimmer said moving over to him with the wire.
The Doctor took the wire without a word and attached it to something inside the machine. Moving back, he closed the panel and ran the sonic over it.
"There we go," he said, turning to the Cyberponies, "All done."
"The machine is fixed?" the Cyber-Leader asked.
"In a way," the Doctor responded.
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is this." The Doctor raised the sonic into the air and turned it on. Almost immediately, a loud klaxon began to blare throughout the base and red lights began to flash.
"Self-destruct initiated," a Cyberpony voice said from the PA system, "Base will destruct in three minutes."
"What did you do?" the Cyber-Leader said.
"I rewired your machine so that it would connect to your main systems. From there, it was child's play to use my sonic to set off your self-destruct sequence. And don't think you can just go turn it off. I'm the only one who can do that."
"You will stop the self-destruct."
"I could do that. Or I could just let this base explode."
"Then you will die with us."
"Actually no. You see, Pinkie Pie, Glimmer Blade and I will be leaving here quite soon along with all the other ponies you've captured."
"Base will destruct in two minutes," the PA announced.
"Times running out," the Doctor said, "So, go ahead and release the prisoners."
"We will not," the Cyber-Leader said, "You will be deleted."
The Cyber-Leader and the other Cyberpony began advancing on the Doctor.
"Oh no you don't!" the Doctor shouted and pointed the sonic at them. The Cyberponies stopped and stumbled back slightly. "Pinkie Pie, Captain, go! Get the others out of here, fast! I'll hold the Cyberponies off. But you have to act quickly!"
"Got it!" Pinkie said with a nod and rushed out of the room.
"Just be sure to follow us out," Glimmer called as he ran after Pinkie.
"Don't worry about me Captain," the Doctor called after him, "I know how to take care of myself."
Pinkie and Glimmer ran as fast they could back to the prison room. As they made their way into the main room of the base, two Cyberponies came into the room.
"Halt or you will be deleted," they called out.
"We don't have time for this," Glimmer growled, "Pinkie Pie keep going. I'll hold these two off."
"But Glimmer, we have to-"
"Go!" he interrupted, "I said before that I would protect you, and as a member of the Royal Guard, I am honor bound to keep my promises."
Pinkie looked at him for a second then nodded and ran off.
"Alright you metal freaks," Glimmer growled, his horn glowing, "Let's see what you've got."
Entering the prison room, Pinkie found a key lying on a small box near the door.
"Base will destruct in one minute," the PA called out.
"Gotta be fast," Pinkie mumbled picking up the key. She quickly ran around the room, opening all the cells. When the doors opened, the ponies all began rushing out of the room. After opening the last cell, Pinkie followed them out.
Back in the main room, the prisoners all ran to the main doors and pushed them open, rushing outside. In the center of the room, Glimmer stood, a sword made of a glowing light floating in front of him, slashing at the Cyberponies, keeping them away.
"Glimmer, I got the prisoners out!" she called to him, "We need to get out of here!"
"You go on ahead!" he called back, "I'll be out soon!"
Pinkie nodded and rushed outside as PA called out, "Base will destruct in thirty seconds."
Reaching the outside, Pinkie ran into the forest, trying to follow the path they had taken earlier, then stopped and turned around. She could just barely see the Cyberpony base in the distance from where she had stopped. Just then, Glimmer Blade came running towards her.
"Pinkie Pie!" he called out upon seeing her, "Where's the Doctor? Did he make it out?"
"I didn't see him," she replied shaking her head, "I think he's still in there."
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and a large ball of fire shot up into the sky.
"NO!" Pinkie screamed as the Cyberpony base exploded, "DOCTOR!"
She tried to run back towards the base, but was held back by Glimmer Blade.
"Pinkie stop it," he said, "There's nothing we can do!"
"But, the Doctor… He… He…"
"He gave his life so that we could escape and get the others to safety. He was a valiant and honorable pony. Let's not waste his sacrifice by running back into the flames. We need to get the captured ponies back to Canterlot."
Pinkie just stared at the burning wreckage of the Cyberpony base, unable to speak.
"Pinkie please, we need to go."
Pinkie looked at Glimmer, her eyes blank, then turned around and walked back towards Canterlot.
"I see," Princess Celestia said, looking at the ground, "I may not have fully liked him, but the Doctor was a brave and honorable pony. His sacrifice will not be forgotten. I just wish I could have thanked him in person for his deeds today."
Glimmer Blade and Pinkie Pie had made it back to Canterlot with the rest of the ponies safely and were now sitting in the throne room. Glimmer had recanted the day's events to her while Pinkie just sat there looking at the ground, her face a blank mask.
Glimmer nodded, his expression grave. "I feel much the same way Princess. He saved all of Equestria this day. I do not know what it was he did in the past, but I do believe this makes up for it."
"Perhaps you're right Captain. Perhaps it is time I forgave him."
"Good to hear," a new voice called out from the doorway, "Now if I only knew what it was I did…"
Pinkie perked up at the sound of the voice and turned around, eyes growing large and her expression brightening. "Doctor!" she called out and rushed towards the brown pony, pulling him into a tight embrace, "Doctor I was so worried!"
The Doctor embraced Pinkie as well, saying, "I'm sorry I worried you Pinkie Pie. I'll try not to in the future."
"Doctor, I… I don't know what to say," Celestia said, looking very surprised.
"How did you escape?" Glimmer asked.
"Ah, yes, how I got out," the Doctor said, pulling himself out of Pinkie's hug, "It was a very narrow escape, very touch and go near the end."
"So how'd you get out?" Pinkie asked.
"Well, when you two ran off to save the prisoners, and I was holding of the Cyberponies, I found a frequency on the sonic that disrupted their movement, which bought me a few precious seconds that I used to download the blueprints of their base into my sonic," the Doctor explained, looking somewhat smug, "Using it as a map, I ran for a back exit, leading the Cyberponies deeper into the base. I found the exit just in time to get out before everything went all explodey. The Cyberponies weren't so lucky…"
"You mean they…" Celestia began, than stopped when the Doctor nodded his head.
"I didn't want it to end like that," he said, looking away from them, "I tried to reason with them as I was leading them away, but they wouldn't listen." The Doctor sighed and shook his head. "I guess some things are the same no matter where you go."
"That matters not Doctor," Celestia said, "You have saved all of Equestria and shown me your true nature. I was wrong in my earlier judgments of you."
"I'm sorry too Doctor," Glimmer said, "I based my feelings about you on hearsay and second hoof accounts. I should have waited until I had actually met you to form my opinions."
"Oh, no harm done," the Doctor said, waving a hoof dismissively, "It's all water under the bridge now. Don't worry yourselves about it."
"What will you do now Doctor?" Celestia asked.
"I don't know. What are we going to do next Pinkie?" the Doctor asked, smiling.
"Hmm, I don't know either Doctor," the pink mare said, smiling as well.
Celestia laughed and nodded her head. "I see, I see. Well, I wish you luck in your travels Doctor."
"Thank you princess," the Doctor said with a bow, "Until we meet again." He turned to Glimmer Blade and saluted him. "Farewell to as well Captain. Best of luck in your duties."
"You to Doctor," he replied with a salute of his own, "And to you Miss Pinkie Pie."
"Yeah?"
"Keep him out of trouble."
"Will do!" Pinkie said saluting him.
"Oi! I'm right here you know!" the Doctor interjected and everypony burst into laughter.
Back on the TARDIS, the Doctor walked around the console, pulling levers and pushing buttons. Pinkie sat on a nearby chair, smiling. "So, how'd you like Canterlot?" she asked.
"It was a nice city. Probably would have enjoyed it more without the Cyberponies though," he replied.
"It's not normally like that."
"I would hope not. Probably gonna have to end up going back there sometime. Now then," he said stepping away from the console, "Earlier today Pinkie, you called me your friend."
"Course I did!" she said nodding, "I mean, I may not have known you as long as the others back in Ponyville, but you're definitely my friend."
The Doctor smiled and nodded his head. "I feel much the same way. That being said, there's something I want to give you. Close your eyes and hold out your hoof."
"Okie Doki Loki!" Pinkie said, eyes shut tight, hoof extended. She felt the Doctor place something in her hoof, than heard him say, "Alright, you can open your eyes now."
Opening her eyes, Pinkie saw a small gold key in her hoof. She brought it closer to her face and looked it rather intently. "A key?" she asked, a little confused.
"Not just any key," the Doctor replied, "It's a key to the TARDIS. As long as you have that key, you will always be able to enter, even if I'm not with you."
Pinkie's eyes widened as the Doctor spoke. She looked up at him, mouth open, trying to speak, but found it difficult. After a moment she stammered, "R-really?"
The Doctor nodded. "Really."
Pinkie smiled and pulled the Doctor into a tight embrace, saying "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
"Your welcome Pinkie. Your welcome."
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