//------------------------------// // Part 4 // Story: Doctor Whooves and the Terror of Tartaurus // by Fhaolan //------------------------------// Derpy’s eyes widened as her gaze took in the increasingly manic Iron Helm and the zebra corpse. A movement behind all of that shook her out of the paralysis. Thinking quickly she shouted at Iron Helm, “You’re not that tough! You could have just taken the Sdu you needed. Why didn’t you?” Focusing again on the caged pegasis, a puzzled look crossed Iron Helm’s face. “I can’t just...” Derpy interrupted, frantically keeping Iron Helm distracted. “You still had to ask a pony for permission, didn’t you! Big mean minotaur, and you can’t take control, not really.” Iron Helm’s colours slowly faded from pale red back to the original light blue. “There are rules... ” She staggered back as if struck. “No! We... I am in control. I make the rules now.” Shifting towards crimson again, Iron Helm turned to confront Plus-Four, to find that his cage was empty, the door hanging open. “What? How?” She span around to find Derpy’s cage also empty, and the escapees galloping like mad down the corridor away from the chamber. A faint “really bad locks...” wafted back to her ears. “Why did you not...” she yelled at the guards, seeing increasingly blank looks on their faces. “Arrrggghhhh!! After them you fools! Destroy everything that gets in your way!” The score of guards pursued Plus-Four and Derpy out of the castle into the rocky wasteland between the prison and the village. The pair had no plan, no ideas, just running to keep ahead of the guards. They run into the Doctor as he rounded a particularly large boulder. “Oh, good, I was worried.” The two scramble past the Doctor without pausing. Puzzled, he turned back to see where they came from and yelped at the sight of the charging minotaurs. He sprinted back around the boulder. The mass of guards slammed into the troupe of Sdu that had been behind the Doctor. The two armed, but surprised, groups came to blows giving the Doctor and company time to duck into the dry ditch around the castle, putting some distance between them and the impromptu battle. “What was all that about a calculated risk?” asked Shining as glanced up at Plus-Four. “Sir?” “In a calculation, there are two sides to every equation.” Plus-Four panted from the exertion. “I may have missed telling you about the other one.” Derpy did a quick headcount. “Doctor! You brought children with you?” Attempting to be impressive Vilhelm posed, hands on his hips, chin held high. I determine my own path. Others should do the math! The Doctor frowned as he composed himself. “Okay, no. Stop doing that; your accent is all wrong.” He shrugged. “I didn’t bring them. They brought themselves. After all, could you say ‘no’ to this face?” Derpy was confronted by Lethe, held by up by the Doctor, and the pair both giving her the most extreme big-doe-eyed treatment they could muster. Plus-Four gave a full-body shake and took control. “We’re finally all together again, and it’s obvious we’ve all learned something. What do we know?” Derpy gave the Doctor a stern look, ignoring the increasingly cute Lethe. “Iron Helm has a magic artefact. She called it the Dark Rainbow. It’s normally kept in a bag, and she lets it out to transform stuff. She’s not really in control of it, it’s acting like it’s alive itself, and it’s doing some kind of mind control to all the minotaurs.” “Except me,” snapped Vilhelm. “Oh, dear fellow.” Plus-Four reached to comfort the minotaur. “I’m so sorry.” “No... I... “ Vilhelm shook off the unicorn’s hoof. “It’s okay. I knew something was wrong with everyone, and we have to deal with it. Sitting around moping and being a pushover isn’t going to help. We have to stop this, no matter who is behind it.” Vilhelm paused, looking down at his hands before glancing up at the Doctor, his eyes narrowing. “Mind control. They’re not in control. Someone has to take control. Someone can take control. And I’m...” Before the others could react, Vilhelm scrambled out of the ditch and onto an overlooking boulder. “Hear me!” he yelled out over the battle. In confusion the Sdu and the minotaurs broke off their fight and stared at the youth making such a spectacle of himself. “Look at yourselves! What do you see?” Vilhelm stalked back and forth on the limited platform of the boulder. “I’ll tell you what I see! We were once proud and strong and independent, but not anymore. Now we’ve let ourselves be doormats! Spending our lives waiting for someone else to tell us what to do, to give us permission to live! You know what?” He spread his arms for emphasis. “No more!” “Good job, Will Power,” whispered the Doctor as he sunk back into the ditch to be with the rest of the group. “He’s got that handled, trust him.” “Uh, right then.” Shining shook his head, speaking quickly, “The things created by the Dark Rainbow look a lot like the Sdu, but even more so. And whatever it is can be done to non-ponies, like gryphons.” Derpy nodded. “It doesn’t always work, and they don’t live long afterwards. And the dark rainbow goes back to the bag afterwards.” “So because she’s not in full control, she’s actually dumping too much power in for the host to handle, and they burn out.” The Doctor mused, “Whatever’s left returns to the source.” He clapped his hooves together. “Okay, so it’s called a Dark Rainbow. What’s the antithesis of a Dark Rainbow?” Plus-Four speculated, “A Rainbow of Light?” The Doctor paused. “That sounds familiar. Why does that sound familiar?” “The Elements of Harmony!” Derpy exclaimed, to the confusion of the rest of the group. “Whenever the bearers use them, they get a rainbow!” “True,” agreed the Doctor. “But which manages to not help. The Elements are still hidden away, and won’t be found for several years yet.” Shining scuffed at his hooves, and then raised his head again. “Why not close the bag?” At the baffled looks on the others’ faces Shining shrugged. “It’s coming out the magic sack, right? And it goes back to the sack afterwards. What happens when you seal it up, so it can’t get in or out again?” Everyone glanced at one another, not having a good answer. Derpy looked askance at Vilhelm, dreading adding this detail. “Oh, and whenever she uses it, she shifts colour as if it’s changing her as well.” The Doctor went very grim. “Oh. That’s bad.” Iron Helm paced the room, looking at the few remaining prisoners. More corpses were on the ground, evidence of continued experiments. “I tire of this. No more trials.” Her teeth were fangs; her eyes were slit like a cat. With a primal scream, she opened the bag fully. “By the Power of Darkness!” The black energy whipped out of the sack, ripping around the room, settling on the prisoners to warp and twist them into hideous beasts. Panting, Iron Helm stands taller than ever, her skin now fully crimson, hair black, horns glowing faintly with magical energy. “Serve me!” she yelled, her voice now much deeper. “Not likely,” said the Doctor, stepping forward into the light of the torches. The monsters stalked around him, gibbering. “Ah, the Doctor. I didn’t recognize you before, of course. Doctor Meddler, Doctor Clown.” Iron Helm drew herself up to her new full height, towering over the pony confronting her. “Sometimes a pegasus, sometimes a unicorn, always a different face.” “Spoilers again. I’m beginning to think the TARDIS is as much out of order as I am this time.” The Doctor frowned as he fiddled with his still tieless collar. Vilhelm staggered into the room, blood smeared on his face. “Mom! Tell me it isn’t true? You didn’t send that thing to kill me, did you?” Iron Helm laughed, “You honestly believe I’m your mother still? She’s gone now. She was consumed by her need for power, her desire for greatness. So now she has been consumed in truth. Only I remain.” She turned her back on Vilhelm, missing him straightening up and wiping the blood out of his eyes. “Oh! I need a new name. Iron Helm just isn’t appropriate anymore. Now, what was it the ponies called me? The Master... or was the Tyrant? No, I lie. It was Tirek the Master of Midnight. Pretentious, I know, but that’s the nature of ponies.” The renamed Tirek stalked up to the Doctor, glaring down at him. “Not all that different, are we? Fellow immortals, stealing bodies down through the ages.” “Quite different.” The Doctor prods one of the corpses on the ground. “You’re just a parasite, hiding away in the dark until the right host comes along.” “You dare?” yelled Tirek. “Oh, I dare quite easily.” The Doctor gave a lopsided grin. “What’s the goal, here, anyway? You already controlled the prison. You didn’t need to do this.” “With these minions at my command, I will take control of all of Tartaurus!” Tirek raised her arms expansively. “I will wrest the Doom Bell from the Twin Kings and gain control of the Shadow World itself.” “They still have that thing?” The Doctor walked around the room, ignoring the creatures keeping pace with him and drawing Tirek along, as others steal into the room behind Vilhelm. “Oh, of course, that’s how they are maintaining the portal between Tartaurus and Equestria. That’s quite clever. I hadn’t thought of that.” His face went dark. “And of course from the Shadow World, you will move into Equestria, the Gryphon Protectorate, the Badlands, and beyond. Killing and destroying as you go. I can’t let that happen, now can I?” Tirek laughed again, “And how will you stop me?” “Oh, I have a few tricks up my sleeve.” He paused. “Sorry, collar.” He slipped the sonic screwdriver out and triggered it with a toss of his head. It flashed and buzzed as it flew up into the air. “Now!” While Tirek was momentarily distracted and out of position, Shining Armour ran to the centre of the room and cast his shield spell, pushing the flames themselves from the surrounding torches in the same way he had pressed the gryphon monster against the wall previously, dousing the room in darkness. Tirek snarled as she turned to advance on Shining, her eyes glowing, “You fools! The darkness is nothing to me, while you weaklings are blind!” Blindly juggling the sonic screwdriver in the air, the Doctor hit a new setting. The screwdriver screamed, and for a brief moment the various monsters paused, the mind control wavering as Tirek’s concentration faltered. Continuing the distractions, Derpy charged past Tirek, accidentally brushing the minotaur with her wingtips. The now demonic minotaur spun, swiping at the pegasus with sharp claws as a tiny figure leapt into the air to hover behind her. A knife flashed as the only pony not blinded by the darkness cut the rope holding the sack around Tirek’s neck. Tirek screeched as Plus-Four slammed his bulk into her, knocking her away from the falling bag and Lethe, just before the torches flickered back to life. Shining Armour galloped for the bag, scooping it up and tossing it to Derpy, and from Derpy, it flew to the Doctor. Lethe dropped to the ground, unable to hold the hover any longer, then ran to take shelter behind a cage. The Doctor quickly tied up the mouth of the sack with one of the seals stolen from a vault door and pointed the sonic screwdriver at it. The whirring noise changed tone as it sealed the artefact shut. “Finis!” the Doctor shouted. All the transformed creatures staggered wavering in place for a moment. The dark magic wrenched from their bodies, swirling in the air as it sought to return to the artefact that had been suddenly cut off. The group ducked and weaved as the power careened around the room. At the end, every individual stream slammed directly into Tirek, the closest thing they could find that resembled their source. She shuddered, her red skin glowing as she took all of the transformational magic into herself. With a final scream, her lower half shredded apart, expanding and reforming into a full black pony body. Now a demonic centaur, Tirek laughed maniacally, “Finally, I cast off the mortal form!” “Ah.” The Doctor dove for cover. “Plan C everyone!” Lashing out, magic blasts from her horns scorched the walls and ground as the various ponies and minotaur leaped to safety. “I am reborn!” “C?” yelled Shining as he tore around the room, narrowly avoiding the energy arcs. Derpy tipped over a table and drew Lethe behind it. “I think we’re on E now!” Blast after blast scarred the room, each weaker than the last as Tirek’s magic was slowly depleted. “I will bring Eternal Darkness to Equestria. Tambelon will rise from the depths! The Nightmares will return! Nothing will stop me!” “Except for four little things,” shouted the Doctor. “What, you puny insect?” Derpy, Plus-Four, Vilhelm, and Shining Armour tossed four seals into the air from four corners of the room, these liberated from unicorn holding cells. Plus-Four used his unicorn magic to fix them into location, hovering above the ground to define a square surrounding Tirek. Shining channelled his lavender shield spell into them, causing them to join together into a glowing green mystic ward. Tirek’s increasingly weaker blasts did not penetrate the reinforced shield, despite her redoubled efforts. “The Dark Rainbow might have the power to overcome those wards, but you don’t have access to it anymore.” The Doctor tapped the sack. His eyes narrowed as he walked up close to the barrier, peering at the captive inside. “Without it, you’re no more dangerous than the worst inmate of this prison.” Tirek snarled, “These wards won’t last forever, Doctor.” “They won’t have to.” The Doctor turned his back to Tirek, speaking over his shoulder, “You killed a lot of people, ponies, minotaurs, and others. All cruelly and without any mercy, and I’m including Iron Helm in that list. So I’m not going to simply end you, Tirek. I’m going to do something much worse.” “Princess Celestia, Grand Marshal Ashclaw, Honourable Othiamba, and especially the twin Kings Mallus and Amoni are all going to want answers about their citizens that were lost here. I’m going to leave you to them.” “Next time, I think I’ll leave the running to all of you.” Plus-Four chuckled as he followed the Doctor and Derpy down into the vaults. “I’m not a spry as I once was.” Shining shook his head in resignation. “I doubt that highly, sir.” Lethe was riding on his back, while Vilhelm and Cereus were arguing quietly with each other. When they had reached the TARDIS the Doctor handed the sealed sack to Cereus. “This needs to be secured again, along with anything else in these vaults. Be careful: there is bound to be similarly dangerous stuff down here.” “Is this where we came from?” Cereus took the package reverently. “Is this the source of our Mistress’ Dark Light?” “If it was, she had much greater control over it than Iron Helm had.” The Doctor pointed at the sack with his hoof. “But if I’m right...” The Doctor shudders. “There’s another very similar artefact still running loose out there, maybe more, each with its own nightmarish parasite like Tirek bonded to it. I’d be doubly careful down here doing inventory.” “So the Sdu will be guarding the prison now?” Derpy asked cheerfully to distract everypony. Plus-Four sighed as he answered, “No. The prison is still in Tartaurus, which means it belongs to the minotaurs. We can advise them, but we don’t have the right to command them. We’ve done a bit too much dumping of our problems on them already.” With a narrowing of his eyes, Shining got an idea. “Why not bring them back with us, sir?” “The Sdu?” Plus-Four shook his head sadly. “We can’t simply open the door and let the few score of them wander into Equestrian society, can we? Can you imagine what the reaction would be?” “They’re ponies, Plus-Four.” Derpy smiled softly. “They’re different, but all ponies are, really. They should be allowed to go home. If they want to, that is.” She looked at Cereus questioningly. Cereus shrugged. “We have always known we were in exile. This has never been our home. But we are still who we are. We will not abandon our traditions.” “It’s your traditions that make you valuable. You’ve held together here in isolation for far longer than anyone should, keeping your skills sharp. That kind of dedication we need more of in the Guard. We can’t just dump you into Equestria though, you need time find your hooves again.” Shining set Lethe down, speaking directly to her, “It might even take a new generation.” Lethe looked quizzically up at the larger pony before breaking out into the widest grin. “Will I get a cute outfit like yours?” Smiling Shining rose back up, looking at Plus-Four. “Lethe here is just old enough to join the Junior Speedsters right now. In about six years’ time, she could properly cadet. Two more and she’d qualify for the Guard, and given the Sdu natural abilities, the Night Guard would be fools to refuse her. Heck, a couple more years of experience and she could try out for the Wonderbolts stunt team, if it strikes her fancy. And there are the Junior Sparks and the Junior Scouts for the unicorns and earth pony colts and fillies I’ve seen in Cereus’ tribe.” Getting excited, Shining threw his hooves wide. “Heck, why limit it at all? There are gryphons, zebras, and donkeys who are citizens of Equestria. Why can’t they join the Guard? It doesn’t matter what shape they have, just who they are. If we’re going to do something, let’s do it right!” Plus-Four burst out in laughter. “Remind me to introduce you to my son, when we get back to Canterlot. He also has a penchant for shaking up the social ladder and I think you’ll do well together.” A small distance away, the Doctor shook Vilhelm’s hand. “What are you going to do? Where are you going to go?” Vilhelm looked sadly at the ceiling, as if seeing through the stone to where the body of his mother was being possessed by Tirek. “Somewhere out there is this Rainbow of Light you mentioned. If I can find it...” He shook himself slightly. “But I’ll need to make a living out there while searching. Like what Shining said, everyone needs to have a chance to find their place. And to do that, they have stand up for themselves. I think I can help.” Vilhelm struck a pose. “What do you think of this:” He dropped his voice into a lower register to improve his projection. If you’re getting a bad rap, shut their trap! He span to face the other way. When they give you grief, show them the beef! Everypony just stood there stunned for a moment, unable to really wrap their minds around what had just happened. “I really don’t think that rhyming will catch on, but I’m sure you’ll do fine,” laughed the Doctor as he opened the door to the TARDIS and stepped through with a wave. Derpy hugged Vilhelm with her wings. “Good luck though, Will Power.” “No.” Vilhelm hugged right back. “I’ve thought about that. It’s going to be Iron Will, son of Iron Helm.” Derpy turned to enter the TARDIS but paused just long enough to check that the Doctor couldn’t see what she was about to do. Quickly she handed a sealed letter to Plus-Four before jumping into TARDIS as the doors closed. He smiled sadly as he looked after the retreating pegasus. “I’m afraid I was already given one of these, forty some years ago when I was Captain of Celestia’s Special Intelligence Taskforce.” Plus-Four handed the unopened letter over to Shining saying, “I think this needs to go to new eyes.” Shining, Vilhelm, and little Lethe looked at the letter in confusion and then up in surprise as a bizarre grinding noise filled the chamber. Slowly, the TARDIS faded away. Shining unsealed the letter, and unfolded it to reveal the missive’s elegant script. “To whoever reads this, wherever and whenever you are...”