Doctor Whooves: The Hour of Twilight

by masorin

Chapter 2

“Every pony get behind me!” The Doctor shouted as he was faced with a Cybercolt. He had seen the signs. The metal outside had been from a damaged hoof, and this one definitely fit the description of damaged.

The metallic pony’s face was haunted - his eyes were black soulless holes, his pelt gray and cold, and all throughout his body were fissures and cracks that stood out in the moon’s light. “You… will be upgraded!”

Rainbow raced to the front of the group despite the warnings of The Doctor and threw up her hooves. “Oh yeah! You want some of this! Come on!” She motioned towards the pony making several punches in the air trying to threaten him.

The Cybercolt responded by taking a step forward, and Dash struck it in the head as hard as she could. A loud metal clang filled the room but it was Dash who recoiled, holding her hoof. “It’s like punching a brick wall!”

“Well, duh, silly. It is made of metal!” Pinkie Pie said with a giggle.

The Cybercolt took another step forward, but then its already damaged head fell apart, revealing the skull of a pony. The metal pony then collapsed into a heap on the ground.

The Doctor blinked before looking at Rainbow Dash. “I think you killed it.”

Rainbow reacted to that staring at the dead metal pony. “What! I didn’t mean! I mean I did, but! I mean!”

The Doctor shook his head. “It was already damaged and killing it is a good thing. Trust me… it would have done worse to you lot.”

Twilight looked around the home, and then down to the now dead Cybercolt “What happened here? Where is Zecora? And,” Twilight turned to The Doctor now furious at the man. “Who are you?!”

The Doctor looked at the six ponies and one dragon, all of which glared daggers at The Doctor, wanting answers. “I told you I am a traveler. It’s a long story, and frankly we don’t have time for it all right now. That,” The Doctor said waving a hoof over to the Cybercolt. “…Was a scout left here because it was too damaged to continue on. That means there are more of them. Oh so many more, and they most probably have your friend.”
**

The Doctor had, in all honesty, been disappointed by that turn of event. The Cybercolt had died too quickly and was too broken to get any information from. That aside, the fact that this wasn’t the dealing with a complete cyber fleet was a good thing, but even if the one that he had met so far had been the bare bones of a Cybercolt even a broken Cybercolt could do damaged to Equestria!

The seven ponies and one baby dragon now stood outside Zecora’s home, and The Doctor breathed slowly. The seven before him wanted answers, answers that he didn’t really want to give out. In all reality The Doctor didn’t even really know who he was yet, and the idea of explaining all that came out difficult and they simply didn’t have the time!

“Your friend, Zecora, has been taken by Cybercolts and there is a good chance that she will be made into one. You all saw that thing in there; barely keeping together. They will be desperate to find new able-bodied ponies that they can use. If you want a chance at saving her then you need to trust me, and we will need to run! Gallop as fast as we can to that impact site.”

Twilight looked first at The Doctor and then to her friends. Zecora was a good friend they couldn’t just let go, but to throw themselves into so much danger with a pony that didn’t even have a name! It was crazy. It was like something out of a bad adventure story! And she was in. There was no doubt about it. Twilight had to help Zecora even if it meant running into this situation blind. “Girls listen up! This is dangerous and crazy, and I won’t blame any of you if you want out; however I’m going. Zecora is our friend and I can’t just let her go. Not like that. We need to find her!”

There was silence for about ten seconds until Rainbow Dash spoke. “I am with you Twilight, every step of the way - no matter what!”

Applejack was the next pony to speak up following Rainbow Dash. “’Ah don’t think I understand all that’s going’ on here, but I ain’t lettin’ those things go and torment our friend, we’re with you Twi!”

Spike looked around the dragon’s eyes wide and said, “Wait, does that mean I actually get to go on an adventure for once! Score!” He thought of all times he had been held back either cleaning the library, or helping out with Fluttershy’s animals, or sleeping. For once the baby dragon was actually going to go into the fray with the rest of them and the thought had Spike on edge.

Pinkie Pie bounced in place “Oh man this is going to be so exciting! I am so with you guys. This is going to be such a great rescue party! We are going to need so much confetti!”

Twilight blinked “Um… Pinkie.” Twilight shook her head cutting herself off. Sometimes it was best to just not think. Pinkie was just living in her own world again.

Rarity stepped forward, “I am here for you Twilight… as long as I don’t have to get muddy.” She gave a small smile but everypony just seemed to roll their eyes at the comment.

Fluttershy was the last one, and instead of stepping forward she looked away from the group, honestly considering her options. “Um…” Her voice was hardly a squeak, barely audible even for Fluttershy. “I am…” Fluttershy did her best to breath, but her voice was weak. “…coming as well.”

Twilight nodded staring at all her friends before she turned to The Doctor “You heard them. We’re coming with you.”

The Doctor smiled and took the lead. “Aw, that’s just brilliant you lot… Ponies, I swear you lot just never stop amazing me. Right then, Alonzi!”

As soon as he said the word The Doctor shook his head stopping his charge, it didn’t sound right for him to say that line. “Geronimo!” That was better sounding, and with that The Doctor along with his seven companions began moving!
**

The crash site left very little to the imagination. The metal ship had been all but destroyed upon impact with equestrian soil. Its twisted engine pointed upwards and looked like they had been cut jagged and barely attached to the main ship. The body was pretty much in the same condition, but with many holes torn into the hull. The top of the ship where the bridge area would have been was gone.

Twilight blinked looking at the mess. It was alien all right. There was nothing like it on Equestria. “Where… did you say the Cybercolts come from?”

The Doctor was watching out at the many Cybercolts, at least twelve, working their hardest to try and repair there ship, but it was a vein effort that cybership would ever fly again. “From Equestria, actually. Well, not this Equestria, but a different one. Last time I saw them though they had been pulled into a void; however that’s the problem with their lot. One survives and soon there’s a whole cyber fleet out there.”

Spike coughed to gain the attention of the group “So how do we get in? It looks like they have it all pretty well guarded. We would need some kind of live bait to get them distracted.”

Twilight nodded. “That we do, but we would need somepony loud enough to draw their attention, some pony fast enough that we know they wouldn’t get caught, and some pony who could evade them and get them far enough away from the ship that we can make our move.”

Slowly but surly all eyes began to move towards a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane. Her red eyes blinking for a moment as she looked back at the group. “What?”
**

“Now are you sure you can do this? They may not look it but Cybercolts can fly,” The Doctor said as he looked at Rainbow Dash, the volunteer for Spike’s crazy plan.

“Heh, you kidding me? Those metal heads I’ll have them chasing me all over Equestria.” Rainbow Dash said more matter of fact than anything else.

Rainbow Dash took off flying over the ship and sticking out her tongue. “Hay cyber Phyllis, upgrade this!” she yelled shaking her rump towards the Cybercolts.

The result was immediate as ten of the twelve Cybercolts turned to face Rainbow dash before razor sharp wings unfolded from their sides. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened slightly as her enemies kicked off from the ground.
“Yuh oh.” Turning Rainbow Dash flew as fast as she could; the Cybercolts giving chase close behind her.
**

Twilight got ready with Spike on her back, and as soon as Rainbow Dash and the Cybercolts were out of sight she broke from her cover. “Okay everyone to the ship!”

As Twilight yelled the others burst from where they were hiding and started charging at the ship and the last two guards that now all that stood between them.

“Wait!” Pinkie Pie was suddenly in front of Twilight holding a hoof up to stop the others.
The two Cybercolts began to make their way towards the group.

“Pinkie, what are-” Twilight blinked looking at her pink friend, who was now exposing the group to danger.

“Twitchy-twitchy-twitch!” Pinkie said as her tail vibrated in place. ((The party pony’s eyes franticly darting around the sky.

“What?” The Doctor spoke trying to question why everypony had suddenly stopped and was now backing away slowly from the open sky. Eerily there was a sudden sound like scraping metal.
Every pony, including the cyber colts, turned their attention to the ship as one of the larger parts of the engines seemed to bend before it broke off falling several hundred feet and ultimately crushing the two Cybercolts. Had the group not stopped running they would have been just as easily flattened under the weight of the ship.
The Doctor blinked.

“One of the Cybercolts must have knocked it loose when they flew off,” he said, trying to rationalize why the engine had fallen, although his eyes were locked on the Pink pony.

“When Pinkie’s tail is twitching run for cover,” Twilight said as a matter of fact. The four of the five ponies recovered and began to walk calmly to towards the ship. Spike, riding on Twilight’s back, gave a shrug to The Doctor as they passed.
The Doctor however took an extra moment to stare at the pink pony before moving on. “What?”
**

The inside of the cybership was cold and dark. The six ponies were now faced with the massive task of destroying the cybership and locating their lost friend Zecora.

“Ya’ll got any idea how exactly we go about blowin’ up this here ship?” Applejack spoke in a confused manner. The farmer pony was clearly out of her element.

The Doctor looked around, “Right, we’ll have to split up. The self destruct will have to be activated, and somehow we will have to get off before the explosion levels the ship and a good chunk of the Everfree Forest. Oh, and we will have to find your friend so three teams in all.”
**

Rarity walked along side Applejack heading for the prison of the ship. Their job was locating Zecora in all this madness. “Oh my! This ship is just completely drab! I mean just look at it. Have they never heard of interior decorating?”

Applejack sighed, “I don’t think a ship needs interior decoratin’. It just needs to work. Don’t matter to nopony what it looks like. An’ besides this here is supposed to be a jail, remember?”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a jail or not. Why, just look at it! All metal with no color. I would hate to be locked up in a dreary place like this.”

Applejack had to curse her luck. She would be the one stuck with Rarity! “Well if somepony don’t keep her voice down we’ll get caught!”

Rarity scoffed “Why yes Dear, you are being quiet loud. Could you tone it down? We are in a prison, after all.”

Applejack considered for a moment the repercussions of hitting Rarity as hard as she could. Clenching her jaw tightly she decided against it. “The sooner we find Zecora, the sooner we can be out ah this creepy place.”

Rarity nodded. “That, my Dear, we can agree on.”

As Rarity and Applejack approached the chambers they quickly ducked to one side as a lone Cybercolt walked down the hallway. They hid in a small nook near the floor as the Cybercolt turned its head; its blank and dead eyes scanning for signs of life. The two ponies shivered holding each other and keeping a hoof over the other ones mouth for silence.

“Clear.” The Cybercolt eventually announced as it turned and began walking back from whence it came from.
The two mares collapsed beside each other letting out a large sigh of relief as soon as the Cybercolt was out of sight. “’An that’s why we got ta be quiet.” Applejack chided Rarity.
**

Finding a way into the ship had been easy. There had been so many scratches and tears in the hull that they had practically just walked in, but Twilight realized getting out would not be as easy.

Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were faced with the second most difficult task: finding a way to get everyone they needed off the cybership before it exploded.

“Why don’t you just teleport everyone yourself?” Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced along the corridor.

“Well that would be nice, but I’ve never transported seven ponies and Spike at once. Besides we may not have time to
make multiple trips. And if it’s not done right, it could get messy so we have to find another way.”

“Um… maybe the ship… has some kind of travel system?” Fluttershy asked her, eyes wide as she searched each corridor they passed. Her wings were pressed tight to her side, her legs shivered, and her voice weaker than usual. Fluttershy looked like she was ready to bolt at the slightest noise.

Pinkie Pie nodded. “Well, duh. With a ship this size they would need a transporter array built in. That’s just obvious, but that would only get us to one point in the ship.”

Twilight stopped looking at Pinkie Pie “Wait. How would you know what this ship has?”

Pinkie Pie pointed upwards to a sign that said, ‘Transporter Array Controls - This Way.’

“How… why… never mind.” Twilight had given up trying to figure this ship out, and even more so given up trying to figure out Pinkie Pie. Nowadays when a sign like this showed up in her life she just accepted it and moved on.
As they turned to go down the corridor Fluttershy let out a scream and jumped behind Pinkie Pie as a small metal creature only a few inches tall skittered up to them.

Twilight bent down to look at. It had two eyes and like the Cybercolts was made of shining metal, but its size and lack of legs made it look like a giant caterpillar. “Aw… Fluttershy, look, it must be a cybercolt’s pet.”
Fluttershy moved slowly from her hiding place and blinked looking at it. She shivered but couldn’t help herself moving closer to see the little creature. “Why hello there Little Guy, what’s your name?”

Pinkie Pie looked at the creature and then moved away from it, “Um… Girls, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Don’t be silly Pinkie. I’m, at least, three times its size and it looks defenseless. What’s it going to do - bite me?” Twilight said as a matter of fact turning away from the small creature.

The Cybermat had apparently heard the suggestion as a small mouth opened, revealing a set of jagged yellow teeth before it lunged for Twilight. Its mouth clamped onto her tail causing Twilight let out a scream alongside Fluttershy.

“I take it back! It’s not cute! Get it off!” Twilight pleaded as she swung her tail back and forth before galloping in a circle, trying to keep the end of her tail as far away from her body as possible.

Fluttershy was in a panic chasing Twilight around in practical circles trying to get hold of the Cybermat that had attached to her friend’s tail. “Wait! You don’t need to eat Twilight! That’s a bad, Cyberpet!” Her voice was weak but it did have some authority to it as she chased Twilight.

Pinkie Pie was in hysterics watching her friends run in circles despite the obvious danger she fell to the ground rolling around laughing as her friends continued to panic.

“Pinkie! we could use your help!” Twilight yelled in frustration still trying to keep the ever-progressing Cybermat from devouring her flank. Eventually she stopped and swung her tail against the wall, bashing the Cybermat as hard as she could. She was rewarded with the Cybermat falling off of her tail.

Fluttershy put a hoof on it to stop it from moving as it twitched and tried to snap its jaws at Twilight. She didn’t know what to do with it.

Twilight, on the other hand, did. “Fluttershy, on three I want you too close your eyes and let go of it. One. Two. Three.”
Fluttershy turned her head as she heard the smashing noise of Twilight bringing her hoof down on the Cybermat. It was a threat to them. Everything on this ship was but that didn’t stop Fluttershy from having tears burn her eyes.
Pinkie Pie had stopped laughing now. She was more focused on the serious look on Twilight’s face as she looked down at the broken Cybermat. They had never harmed anything before, and even Pinkie could tell that Twilight took no pleasure in what she had just done.

“Come on let’s go.” Twilight said, turning and leading the way to the transporter array with half her tail now missing while the remainder was messy and unevenly cut by the Cybermat’s teeth.
**

Spike rode on The Doctor’s back. “Why am I with you?”

“Because we’re going into the heart of the ship to find the reactors, because that’s where the majority of Cybercolts will be located, and because the upgrade process won’t work on you or I - meaning if we’re caught we only get killed.” The Doctor said more as a matter of fact as he looked around a corridor.
Spike gulped “Sorry I asked, but who are you really? Between you and me. Guy to guy.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes. Everyone wanted to know who he was. “Right now, I am the best hope you and your friends have of saving your world, and your friend.”

“What do you mean our world?” Spike said, blinking.

“The Cybercolts won’t be able to repair this ship, and in fact I don’t think that’s what they are doing. My guess is that they are salvaging parts, trying to go over what they can use and can’t, but I won’t know that until I actually get to talk to one.”

Spike’s eyes widened “Wait what! You want to talk to them? But you just said that if they caught us they would most likely kill us.”

The Doctor shrugged. “Honestly that’s the reception I usually get, but there are a lot of questions I have, and they will be more willing to talk with people who can’t be upgraded.”

Spike nodded. “Your plan is to get us caught isn’t it?”

The Doctor smiled. “Well, of course. How else do you expect to get into the command center?”

Spike sighed. He was always stuck with the crazy ponies, but he hadn’t really expected that their job would be to just hand themselves over to the Cybercolts.

As they took a turn they came face to face with a large Cybercolt. The Doctor nodded to tit. “Hello… We just needed some directions. Could you, by any chance, take me to your commander unit.”

The Cybercolt looked at them for a moment before responding in a voice as metal as everything around them. “No organic life will be upgraded.”

“Doctor, I thought you said that we weren’t comp. Ata… compata… I thought you said we couldn’t be upgraded!” Spike spoke with a mixture of panic and urgency.

“We can’t be, but they don’t seem to recognize that.” The Doctor said stepping back. “Scan us. We aren’t Equestrian. Well, he is, but he’s a dragon. Either way you can’t use us, and what happens to things you can’t use, you have to… you have to.” The Doctor trailed off. The answer would have to be destroy it, and he took a step back.

“Study us!” Spike said quickly as The Doctor turned to the baby dragon. “You can’t use us so we should be studied so that you can learn from us.”

The Doctor practically cheered at the input. “Oh that’s good Spike. He’s right. We can’t be used so you need to study us to find out why we can’t be used, and that means you got to take us to your commander unit.”

The Cybercolt seemed to mull this over for a moment. “You will follow.” It finally said turning to guide the pair towards the bowels of the ship.

Comments

[Super_Big_Mac]

Allons-y!
And with that, the doctor used his sonic screwdriver to help him make a sonic drillboom.

[masorin]

21787 Probably was foolish of me to try and write a french word without actually looking it to see how it was spelled. Especially with a pre reader who knows about as much french as i do... which is none...

[Super_Big_Mac]

21809 do not worry! I didn't know wat it was either until I watched "Allons-y!" on youtube. I then went and lol'd. And a sonic drillboom - The doc stealing Dash's signature move? risky risky, eh?
Can't wait to read more!

[VedaQuila]

Right then, Alonzi!

Umm, it's allons-y!

[Hekate Sketch]

silly cybercolts. dragons and timelords cant be upgraded. well neither can i, im a yautja. but i am currently stuck in a holding cell in canterlot. no helps from/for me...at least my modified cloaking device desguises me as a pony. at least, untilit broke...now i am temporarily a permanent unicorn of midnight blue fur with a dark cyan mane/tail, and lavnder eyes.

[secretfan]

2825119 You're a what now?
Random moustache!

[Zann580]

There is a small grammar error

“No organic life will be upgraded.”

Should be

“No, organic life will be upgraded.”

Missing a comma.