Doctor Who and the Voice of the Shadow

by spartiecat

Chapter 9

The air was damp and moist. The room was dark, except for a dim orange glow in the distance. “Ah heck!” said Applejack, as she tossed her hat into the dirt in frustration. “I think we went deeper into the cave!”

“Couldn’t be!” protested Jamie. “This was the only entrance there was."

Twilight pushed Spike off of her and and dusted herself off. She was glad that everyone was all right, but did not appreciate having her assistant thrown at her like a harpoon. Spike got up and stumbled around in a mild daze, before leaning himself against Zoe.

Twilight picked up her assistant and set him on her back once again. “That could be the way out," she said to Applejack and Jamie.

Fluttershy let out a quiet whimper as the group gathered itself to set out toward the light at the end of the tunnel. “Let’s get a move on. We don’t want that thing catching up on us in the dark” Applejack said, as she led the way through the dimly lit tunnel.

Jamie followed close behind with his trusty dagger at the ready. The Doctor hung back with Fluttershy, in case they needed to flee once more. He dug through his pockets, looking for his flashlight. “Oh dear” he muttered in a disappointed tone. He pulled out shattered pieces of glass and plastic that once was his trusty pocket flashlight.

They were all quiet as they walked through the cave. The silence was only broken by the noise of dripping water. “Twilight,” The Doctor whispered as they made their way through the cavern, “what exactly is a Celestia?”

She was initially surprised by the question, but reminded herself that The Doctor had only arrived on their world a few hours ago. “Celestia is the ruler of Equestria. She is responsible for raising the sun, and is my mentor. She is the most powerful princess in all of Equestria."

“I see," said The Doctor in a low voice. “it seems that shadow wants to overthrow her, and needs an Alicorn to do it. That’s why he’s kidnapping ponies.” Twilight was confused. “How would kidnapping ponies let him do that?”

The Doctor paused. He did not want to alarm Twilight, and prompt her to rush off alone. But he did not want to keep it a secret. “Well," he began, “the creature linked with my mind. It told me that the plan was to take parts of different species and combine them into one."

Twilight was stunned by what The Doctor had said. She shut her eyes and shook her head, trying to rid herself of gruesome visions of her friends sewn together into a Frankenpony. For the first time since the ordeal began, Twilight Sparkle feared for her own safety.

As they approached the orange glow at the end of the tunnel, they could hear the sounds of breathing. It was heavy breathing, like a pony in deep sleep. The sound seemed like it was coming from the walls, but Twilight could not see anything. She concentrated hard, and conjured a bright purple light from her horn. The walls were a dark stone, and water trickled down the walls from the ceiling to the floor. Drips of water sparkled as they caught the light from Twilight’s horn. They could clearly see the orange glow ahead of them, coming from the entrance to another chamber.

Jamie crouched down at one side of the opening, and Applejack covered the other side. Jamie held his dagger close to his chest, ready to strike if anything attacked. Both of them carefully peered around the corner, and turned away quickly. They both seemed disturbed by what they saw.

“What is it?” whispered Twilight.

Applejack shook her head. “You best look for yourself. You ain’t gonna like it."

She and The Doctor both crouched down to look at what had frightened the other two. Twilight let out a slight gasp before covering her mouth.

Stacks of small, cramped cages lined the room. This room was smaller than the one they had just fled. The Doctor thought to himself that it looked about the size of the control room in the TARDIS. Twilight’s attention was focused on a limp, light blue wing protruding from a cage on the other side of the room.

The room was silent except for the sound of sleeping ponies, and crackling of fire from the torches that lined the room. Jamie entered first. He was crouched down with his dagger ready in his hand. He carefully scanned the room for movement, and wondered to himself how useful the dagger might do if Sceadungenga returned.

He gestured for the others to follow, but did not let down his guard. Twilight and Applejack rushed to the cage that caught their attention. Rainbow Dash lay on her side, with a small puddle of saliva under her chin. Her chest slowly moved up and down. They were relieved that her friend was alive and unharmed.

Applejack looked at the cage, looking for a latch to get Rainbow Dash out. “I can’t see no way to get her out of there”, she whispered to Twilight.

“Shoot!” muttered Twilight. “Then we should find Pinkie and Rarity, and try to get them out of here”. Twilight gestured for the others to follow her and look for her other friends.

“Is Pinkie Pie the pink one?” Jamie asked Twilight.

Twilight was partially stunned by the question. “Y-yes” she stuttered, as if the question itself diffused the tension and fear she felt at that moment.

“Is that her then?” He pointed at a cage a few rows down from Rainbow Dash.

Twilight immediately saw it was Pinkie Pie. She had a bruise on her face, but seemed otherwise uninjured.

“Pinkie!” Twilight whispered as loud as she could. There was no response from the pink pony, and no sign of Rarity.

A voice came echoing through the small room. “I trust you’ve found everything you were looking for?” Twilight froze. She immediately recognized the voice as Sweetie Belle’s.