//------------------------------//
// The Last Denumian 
// Story: Doctor Whooves Episode 8: Maiden Voyage 
// by Doctor Perseus 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 5: The Last Denumian


11th Level Living Quarters, The Queen Philippine, Orbit of Denum, Space, Winter, 4376 C.E.

"LEE?!" John exclaimed as he felt his own heart skip a beat. The blue stallion rubbed the back of his head as he looked at John and the others with a confused look on his face. "How the...what the...how the hell are you even alive?!"
"Am I supposed to be dead or something?" Lee asked.
"I hate to tell you this but we saw you die," said Twilight.
"But that's impossible! I'm not dead! I'm standing here right now!"
"Tell me, what do you remember about the past couple hours or so?" the Doctor asked as he took a few steps towards Lee.
"Let's see. I remember John telling me to lock down the 11th viewing hall. I remember talking to him while he was running to the museum. Then...then I remember feeling great fear and pain. And it was hot, oh dear Celestia was it hot! My skin felt like dried crust. I think I remember seeing you guys standing over me. Then...nothing. Next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground and nothing was wrong with me. It was really dark though so I stumbled around for a few minutes before I bumped into you guys."
"That's all you remember?" 
"I'm positive."
"This doesn't make any sense!" Spike exclaimed.
"Or maybe it does!" said Twilight. "What if Lee never actually died!"
"But we saw him die! John felt him die!" Derpy argued.
"Yes...I know that...but remember that fire spirit we had to fight?"
"The one that looked exactly like Lee?" John asked.
"Yes! Why did it look like Lee? Why was Lee burned from the inside-out? Why isn't he dead and burned now? All the pieces are coming together!"
"I think I see where you're going with this, Twilight," said the Doctor.
"Would you like to explain the rest then, Doctor?"
"Nah. I think it's time I gave you some of the explanatory spotlight."
"Okay then. I'm still not sure about what's causing this but I think these alien fire spirits are able to invade a body spiritually. They then slowly possess it from the inside-out, absorbing energy from it. When they're done, their host's body is weak and burned and they themselves appear as fiery, ghostly copies of the being they were draining energy from! Their host can even die from the physical suffering that they go through...but if the fiery spirit is defeated then the host is returned to full health and they come back to life if they died."
Everypony was silent for a moment as they linked the pieces together in their minds.
"Makes sense to me," said Spike.
"At least I'm not a burnt marshmallow anymore," said Lee. John approached Lee and patted him on the back.
"It's good to have you back," he said.
"Now all we have left to do is find out what's causing this and stop it!" said Derpy.
"I think that's going to be harder than it sounds," said the Doctor. "If Twilight's theory is correct, then Lee may not have been the only being affected on this ship."
"Are you saying that there are more of those spirits?!" Spike choked.
"Yes. Everypony and everything on this ship can get possessed. Even we aren't safe. We better move quickly."
Suddenly, the entire hallway seemed to light up with a stream of red light. A group of fiery spirits were hovering down the hall towards them. 
"Burn with us! Burn! Burn! BURN!" they chanted as they hovered forward.
"Do they really have to sneak up like that?" Derpy asked with an annoyed tone.
"We can scold them later! Just run!" yelled Lee. The group took off down the opposite direction. The spirits flew after them. The hallway burned and screamed from the heat behind them and the air quickly became as hot as an inferno. 
"Please tell me you have another plan, John!" yelled Twilight.
"There isn't an ice rinse big enough on this ship to take out all of them at once!" John replied.
"Then what are we supposed to do?! Just keep running around this dark ship until they catch us?!" Lee snapped.
They passed through a doorway and John quickly sealed the door behind them. They found themselves in another hallway but this one was lit with emergency night lights. 
"I knew we should have installed these all over the ship," said John.
"Where are we?" Derpy asked.
"We must be in the first class section of the 11th level living quarters."
"I have to ask, how come this ship seems so empty? Aren't there over two million beings on this ship?" Twilight asked.
"I have a feeling that whatever's behind this has something to do with this isolation-based feeling as well," the Doctor concurred. Just then, a series of screams emanated from down the hallway. "Good! We've found some company!"
"I wouldn't consider screams and hollers as a good sign, though."
The Doctor led the group down the hallway until they came to large mess hall. A group of ponies and aliens were huddled together as a fire spirit was slowly advancing towards them. It took a moment for Twilight to realize that the fire spirit looked awfully familiar.
"Applejack?!" Twilight gasped. The fire spirit turned around and it looked exactly like Applejack, aside from its fiery features. 
"Burn with me, Twilight. Burn with us! Burn! Burn! BURN!" cackled the spirit as it flew towards them. Suddenly, a stream of water flew into the spirit, knocking it into the wall.
"That'll teach you!" snapped Rarity. 
"Rarity?!" Twilight gasped.
"Good shot!" said Spike.
"Oh it was nothing! I simply must thank you for those lessons, Twilight. They've certainly come in handy today," Rarity said with a smirk.
"Where are the others?" Derpy asked.
"They're dealing with the burnt Applejack."
The fiery Applejack regained her balance began to conjure a plume of fire. Twilight and Rarity turned to face the spirit while the Doctor ran to help deal with the burnt Applejack, who was advancing on Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and an unconscious Fluttershy in a corner of the mess hall. 
"Applejack! It's me, Rainbow! You've got to remember!" Rainbow pleaded.
"Let's burn together, Dashie. Let's burn together forever and ever!" cackled the burnt Applejack. Her eyes began to invert like Derpy's and her mouth was stuck in the form of a crooked smile. The Doctor came up and aimed his Sonic Screwdriver at the burnt pony.
"I'm sorry, Applejack, but I have to do this!" said the Doctor as he activated the Screwdriver. Applejack screamed as the sonic waves smashed into her fragile, burnt body. Her skin cracked and blood poured from the cuts. Her red eyes rolled up into her head and she screamed as she fell to the ground, the life quickly escaping from her. 
"APPLEJACK!" Rainbow cried. The pegasus tried to rush to her friend's side but the Doctor held her back.
"Rainbow Dash! She'll be fine as long as we manage to defeat that fiery clone of her's! I promise Applejack will be okay!"
Rainbow looked straight into the Doctor's eyes and nodded, giving him the sign that she trusted his words. 
"How are we supposed to defeat it then?" asked Pinkie Pie as she struggled to keep the unconscious Fluttershy on her back.
"This is a mess hall so there must be a faucet of some kind in here!"
The Doctor scanned the dark mess hall until his eyes fell across a counter. He ran for the counter and began rummaging through the cupboards. Rainbow Dash found the sink above one the cupboards and grabbed onto the extendable faucet. 
"It doesn't have enough strength to blast the clone all the way from over here!" said the Doctor. Rainbow looked to see Twilight and Rarity fighting off the fire spirit.
"Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow called. "Get that thing over here! It's time for its bath!"
Twilight began backing off and beckoning the Applejack spirit towards the faucet. Rarity helped by shooting more weak water streams at it. Once the spirit was close enough, the Doctor turned on the faucet at full blast. A large spray of water shot out from the faucet and smashed into the creature. The cold water was like acid on its skin and, within seconds, the spirit was nothing but red ash. An emergency light kicked on, bathing the mess hall in a dim, yellow light. Pinkie Pie watched as Applejack's burnt body slowly returned to normal. The earth pony began breathing again but she was still unconscious.
"Applejack's okay!" Pinkie cheered. As the other passengers fell back into several seats to let their heart rates return to normal, the others gathered around Applejack.
"I kept my promise, didn't I?" asked the Doctor.
"I'm glad that you did," Rainbow said happily as she knelt down next to Applejack and gently stroked her mane. Rainbow leaned in close to Applejack, making sure that nopony could hear her, and whispered, "I'm glad that I didn't lose you, AJ."
"What happened to Fluttershy?" asked Twilight as Pinkie placed the unconscious pegasus on the ground.
"She was attacked by one of those spirits," Rarity replied. The Doctor suddenly noticed the box in Rarity's arm.
"What's with the box?" he asked.
"This? Some strange mare gave it to me after we got separated. She told me not to open it until the heat was too hot to bear."
"Did you recognize this mare?"
"No...but she seemed to recognize me and she seemed to know both you and me."
"Did she tell you what was inside of it?"
"No. All she said was that it cost her a lot to get. I can only wonder what's inside."
Suddenly, Fluttershy began to moan and her body began to shake.
"Oh no!" Pinkie gasped as she pushed the others back.
"What's wrong?" Spike asked.
"Fluttershy's going to become what Applejack just became! This is what happened to her right before she became burnt!"
The Doctor took this as an opportunity to find out more answers. 
"Pardon me!" he said as he pushed his way past Twilight and Pinkie Pie. He knelt down next to the burning Fluttershy and pressed her hooves up against the sides of her head. Her eyes shot wide open and the Doctor felt an immense amount of heat rush through his body. That's when he blacked out.

Lair of Fire, The Core, Under the Crust, Denum, Winter, 4376 C.E.

The Doctor could feel himself leaving his body and appearing somewhere else. He was standing in the middle of a ginormous chamber constructed out of burning bricks. Fluttershy was standing next to him.
"Doctor?" she asked. "What...what happened? Where are we?"
"The home of our enemy, I would think," the Doctor replied. The Doctor and Fluttershy watched as a giant, red, crab-like creature the size of a mountain rose up from the depths of a pool of lava in the center of the chamber. The creature had thousands of sharp arms extending from its body, its teeth were sharp and covered with fire, and its eyes were redder than a pool of blood filled with rubies. Fluttershy wanted to cower behind the Doctor but the Doctor placed a hoof over one of her own hooves and she instantly felt somewhat braver. "Don't let it get to you, Fluttershy. Stand up to it. It feeds off the weakness of its hosts." The Doctor looked up and faced the creature. "What do you want with the passengers of the Queen Philippine?! What purpose do they serve?!"
"They must all burn," replied the creature.
"Why?! What are you?!"
"I am Monstrume Ignis Gigata. I am the last of the Denumians!"
"Last of the Denumians? So a species did occupy Denum?"
"And it still does! I may be the last but I will not fall like the others. This ship must burn! The filth aboard must burn!"
"But why? How has a ship on its maiden voyage affected your life in any way?"
"It is not the ship! It is the beings on board it!"
"What have they done?"
"They must all pay for the crimes of their ancestors!"
"Crimes of their ancestors?"
"Yes! They should have burned! But they never did! Now their children's children's children must pay the price! I remember all too well what took place here over one hundred years ago!"
"Whatever happened then does not concern anything in the present! Let the Queen Philippine and its passengers go, Monstrume!"
"I decide their fate! Not you! You will burn with them, Doctor of Gallifrey! They will all burn! They must burn!"
A wall of lava flew at the Doctor and Fluttershy. There was a massive pull behind the Doctor's naval and he could feel himself flying back up towards the ship. Just before the Doctor returned to his body, he caught a glimpse of a dimensional rift sitting in the middle of viewing hall 11. 

Mess Hall 11, The Queen Philippine, Orbit of Denum, Space, Winter, 4376 C.E.

The Doctor opened his eyes to find the others standing over him. 
"Thank Celestia, you're alive!" said Twilight as she hugged the Doctor tightly.
"What? Did you think I went and killed myself?" he asked.
"You were nearly there!" Pinkie gasped.
"Thankfully, both you and Fluttershy stayed in a stable condition," said John. The Doctor looked to see Fluttershy slowly regaining consciousness.
"So what happened?" Derpy asked. The Doctor stood up and began walking towards the door.
"I'll fill you all in as we walk. Right now, we need to get to viewing hall 11. And Rarity, I have a feeling that we're going to need that box of yours," he replied weakly.