//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Doctor Whooves: Luna's Republic // by masorin //------------------------------// “Okay Luna, there is one problem that I didn’t mention earlier.” The Doctor spoke slowly, taking in the site of the main weather generator. The power source for the entire city stood as a massive spire extending downwards from the ceiling. It was surrounded by a continual electrical storm. As one bolt was fired it off it hit a conductor on the other side of the wall. “I don’t exactly know how to fly yet.” Luna seemed to smile “Thou art fine, Doctor. We shall not be flying so much as falling.” “Oh falling is good, falling I can do.” The Doctor said. For some reason, he was reassured by the fact that he would be going down not trying to go up. “But what about the landing?” “Thou should worry less about the landing, and more about the lightning. If thou does not fall fast enough then we shall both be struck.” With that Luna extended her wings and took a deep breath. “Are thou ready?” “Geronimo!” With that the Doctor flung himself from the small corridor, no land underneath him as he started his rapid decent. Luna was soon beside him as the wind whipped past them both. A large strike of lightning hit one of the coils behind them as they fell. Sparks spraying the air as the bolt hit. The Doctor unfolded his wings and flapped, trying to keep ahead of the bolts of lightning. “This is fantastic!” “Thou must keep falling!” Luna swerved in the air to avoid another coil that lit up. The Alicorn was clearly a skilled flier, but the Doctor was the exact opposite. He wasn't choosing a straight direction, only hoping that he was simply falling fast enough to get to the ground in one piece. “Probably a bad time to ask, but when we do get close to land, how does one stop falling?” The Doctor asked, his words mostly drowned out by the continual crashes of lightning. Luna shrugged, her speed controlled but ever increasing. “Our advice is thou should try to miss the ground.” “Oh, that was helpful!” The Doctor said quickly. Land was rapidly approaching the two fliers. The storm had cut out, lightning crashing above them but not below. The two could now move freely, but the Doctor couldn’t stop his wings. Still new and not strong enough to hold his velocity, they flapped to no avail. “Here it-” The Doctor’s cries were cut off as a low purple glow held him up inches above the ground, with Luna giggling as she stood. “We told thou not to worry about our landing.” ** Pinkie Pie looked around suddenly, her tail twitching violently. “Twitchy twitchy twitch.” Twilight looked around suddenly her eyes focusing on the ceiling “Where!? What’s about to fall!?” Pinkie shrugged and bounced along. “I think that was Luna and the Doctor, but they're fine. If it was a scary fall my knee would have pinched.” Twilight relaxed visibly. As she moved through the corridors she saw the shadows and kept wary of them. “How do you think they came to not eating meat?” Pinkie Pie shrugged. “I think they just got bored with it. I mean, anyone can get bored with one kind of food. Who's to say that the walls don’t taste better?” Twilight nodded. That made an odd amount of sense to her, but it couldn’t be correct. Either way it wasn’t their job to figure out the why. They just needed to get to Luna’s palace as fast as possible. Twilight walked as fast as she could while conserving her energy for the long distance. Pinkie, however, seemed to have endless endurance as she bounced along the floor. “It doesn’t make sense though. I mean, why? They must have a reason for shutting down the weather generators.” Twilight said while watching another shadow as they passed, unsure if it was natural or moving. “Oh Twi, nothing has to make cents. I don’t make cents, and you don’t make cents. After all, between us we probably only have a few bits.” Pinkie said optimistically. “No pinkie, sense not cents.” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. “Suuuureee Twilight, you just keep thinking that.” Pinkie said as she continued to bounce off into the hallway. ** “Yah feeling better now sugar cube?” Applejack asked as she walked along side Rainbow Dash. Rainbow had recovered well enough, but one of her eyes has had a black ring around it. “Why do I always get beaten up when I'm with the Doctor?” “Ah guess its just bad luck, really.” Applejack said with a shrug. “Well the next time somepony thinks they can hit me, I'm going to hit back!” Rainbow said angrily. “Ah am sure yah will sugar cube. Now then, if ah was my cousin where would ah go?” Applejack asked, looking around as if expecting to find Apple Wash around the next corner. “I don’t know, back on your farm?” Rainbow said. She was still focused more on her eye and her anger. “When I get that my hooves near that bucking, hay stealing, bucket of-” “Rainbow! Please! Ah know yah are upset, but language sugar.” Applejack said placing a calm hoof on her friend. “We don’t have time to hold grudges, we need to stay focused. We need to find Apple Wash.” Rainbow Dash grumbled something inaudible as she continued to walk. Applejack was right, but Rainbow still wanted to give that red pegasus a buck to the face. “Lets just check her farm.” ** Fluttershy stared at the generators. All of them were in horrid condition, and most looked like they had been turned inside out. The piping and wires that had once supplied the moon with power and hot air were all broken and chewed. “Oh my. How are we supposed to do anything with these?” The ponies looked at one another, but it was Coal that spoke. “We can’t do anything, repairs are impossible at this point. Didn’t your friend just say we needed to buy time?” “Well, yes darling but how can we buy time if the sun is now the only heat source?” Rarity asked while rolling her eyes. “You would have to make it so that the sun or moon stopped moving in orbit.” Spike replied. “But Luna didn’t stop the moon.” “That’s because it’s not hers to command. When she left to form the lunar republic, the sun goddess Celestia demand that she have the right to control the sun and moon so that balance would stay on Equestria. Luna had demanded that the moon stay with her, and the fight almost came to blows. Hell it almost came to war, that was until the bearers of harmony at the time sided with Celestia and Luna was forced in to an agreement, handing over the rotation of the moon to her elder sister. The two haven’t spoken since then.” Coal said as if reciting a history lesson. “So the Solar Empire that we keep hearing about is actually Celestia’s Equestria?” Spike asked his eyes going wide. “Yeah… how do you ponies not know this? This stuff is, like, taught in elementary? Its basic history.” Coal said, looking hard at the other group. “Oh well, um, we didn’t pay attention in class.” Fluttershy said with a smile and nod of her head. “Hmm. Too bad we couldn’t get a message to Celestia to have her hold the sun in place.” Spike said with a shrug. He watched curiously as everypony but coal suddenly turned their heads to face him. “What?” “Spike my dear, you can send a letter to princess Celestia.” Rarity spoke kindly, reminding the dragon of his capabilities. Coals eyes widened a little in shock, but shrugged it off. Why was she even surprised at anything anymore? In the last few hours she had been chased by shadows, watched the generators she was supposed to keep running fall into disrepair, and had yet to find her best friend in this dark underground. She turned to walk but stopped when she came to a wall of shadows. “When did they get there?” Rarity said, blinking. She was sure that hallway had lights a few moments ago. “Are they eating the light source?” As if answering the question another light down the hallway went out, and then another. “Run!” Spike barely managed to get onto Fluttershy’s back as she charged away from the lights, the group suddenly being chased by the dark. “If they don’t eat meat why does it matter?” “It’s just a feeling, but I don’t think we should be in the dark.” Fluttershy answered as they galloped as fast as they could. The lights were going out one after another, chasing them as they ran. They had to stay ahead of the shadows. ** The Doctor breathed far more easily now that his hooves were on the ground. He looked at the long tower up. “How do we get back up?” Princess Luna blinked, thinking for a moment. “We shall teleport us up.” “Wait, that’s within your range? Why didn’t you just teleport us down then!” The Doctor said while turning to Luna and staring at her with a bewildered look. “Because we thought that falling wouldst be more fun.” Luna said with a light laugh. “Now, we require thous assistance. We must get the power core hooked up to the spell.” “Right then, what do you need?” The Doctor turned, but quickly stopped while looking out at a shadow. A shadow that stood on four legs and was surprisingly up right. A shadow that looked had the shape of a pony. “Oh that’s new.” Luna turned and saw it as well as the creature shambled forward for a step. “Doctor, is that...?” “No, the pony is not made of Vashta, there aren’t enough here to do something like that. However, there would be enough to cover a pony. Luna, I think we just found your lost engineer.” “Thou hast said that these Vashta did not eat meat, so is that pony alive?” Luna asked still backing away from the shambling form. “I don’t really know. He or she could still be alive, or they could have suffocated under the amount of the bloody things. Of course, being crushed by the swarm is another possibility...”, The Doctor said, his thoughts trailing off. “Crushed? But they are so tiny! Surely they lack the weight to do as thou hast spoken?” Luna said in disbelief. “Imagine a billion of anything applying pressure to your back, pushing down on your bones and body. After a while the body just gives out. It doesn’t matter how small they are, but they still could have let the pony live. The only way to know would be to ask.” The Doctor said, stepping forward to stand his ground. “Can you lot hear me? Nod once if you can understand me.” “W-we can- hear you.” The pony spoke but did not move. Still as a shadow. It sounded as if hundreds of smaller voices were combining to make one loud one, and instinctively Luna backed away a little further. “How can this be? Doctor, didst thou know they hath the power of speech?” “Oh sure, but I didn’t expect to hear it. Living swarm and all it can be hard to get everyone to speak together, isn’t that right Vashta Nerada? Now I have a few questions I want to ask.” ** Twilight and Pinkie had finally reached Luna’s castle. An exact copy of the one in Canterlot, its stone white walls made Twilight feel oddly at home. As she and Pinkie ran up to the gates, however, they were quickly stopped short by two grey, bat winged pegasi. There leather-like wings unfolded to stop the two from moving any further. “Halt! The castle is off limits to visitors at the moment.” Pinkie Pie nodded. “Oh that’s fine, we aren't visitors. We're guests. We were asked to come here by Princess Luna.” Twilight nodded in agreement. “I have proof. The city is in grave danger and I was instructed to come here by the Princess. She and the Doctor are working to activate safety protocol one.” “That’s rubbish! The Princess would never allow such a thing to be activated.” The guards both took a step forward, forcing the two mares back. “It’s the truth, look!” Twilight levitated Luna’s crown in front of the two. The two guards looked to one another. A look of worry passed between them. “Right then… follow us.” The two guards turned and began to escort Twilight and Pinkie through the castle. Pinkie went bouncing along despite the heavy atmosphere. “Pinkie, I think you should try just walking instead of bouncing everywhere.” Twilight tried to sound as serious as possible while still maintaining a polite tone. “Don’t be silly Twilight! If I didn’t use the trampoline, who would?” Pinkie said with a small giggle. “What is she talking about?” one of the pegasi asked, turning to look back at the guests. “There isn’t a-” Twilight cut him off. “She’s Pinkie. You get used to it.” ** “So yah are saying yah ain't seen yah little sister since she was brought home by the guards.” Applejack repeated what she had been told to make sure she had grasped all of the information. “Eyup. Ah swear she was right fuming when she left after that.” The stallion’s name had turned out to be Apple Core, but most people referred to him as AC. He had insisted that the two ponies do the same when they had first arrived. “Okay AC I'll buy that, but do you have any idea where she could have gone?” Rainbow interjected. “Enope. Ah don’t have a clue. Usually when she gets like this ah just stay out of her way.” AC said as he turned around and bucked at another tree. The sunlight was still fading, but for some reason it was moving very slowly. “Okay, but ah have one last question about tha new trees. Why are they oak?” Applejack asked, her eyes still transfixed on the row of dead trees. AC stopped for a moment to look at Applejack. “Ah don’t right know. Apple Wash bought em, insisting that they were supposed to be good for us. But after we re-planted them, everything started going weird. Apples would disappear, trees would die, and worse, things would just be gone. Those trees have caused us nothing but problems.” “Wait, tree’s would die?” Rainbow blinked while looking around. The only dead trees were the oak ones. “Eyup. We would have to dig em up right quick and get a new one from a family member or transport. We can’t lose apples up here, too few resources as it is. We must have lost about twelve trees, though it eventually just stopped. Real random, ah tell yah. Ain't ever seen anything quite like it.” “What did you do with the dead trees then?” Rainbow said, looking around. “Tossed em into the air lock and shot em out. Ah was supposed to do the same with the oak, but its harvest time and ah needed to focus.” Applejack blinked. “That’s… wait! Come on Rainbow!” Applejack started to gallop, forcing rainbow to chase after her. “What is it?” Rainbow asked as she ran after her friend. “Ah think ah know where Apple Wash is, but ah am hoping ah am wrong.” Applejack raced away with clock ticking in more way then one. Apple Wash had seen the trees. She should could have known, and she would have blamed herself. If Applejack believed that she had doomed all of her friends and family, there would be one place where she would go. “Please let me be wrong.” ** “Stay together.” Spike said, looking around. They were cornered. A four way intersection, and all the hallways were walls of shadows. The only light came from the ones in the intersection, which were slowly starting to flicker. “Fluttershy, dear, don't you have the Doctor's sonic screwdriver?” Rarity asked shakily while looking up at the lights. “Maybe now would be a good time to use it.” The ground was getting colder, and the air around them was getting thinner. Night was coming. “Um… right.” Fluttershy lifted up the screwdriver and pointed it at the lights, hoping for them to get stronger. She pressed hard with her teeth like the Doctor had explained. There was a high-pitched whistle and the room became brighter. “Light won’t stop them, but I think it will hold them back for a bit.” Coal said hopefully. “Why are they being so aggressive all the sudden?” “Maybe they don’t like that we split up into groups? Before we might have been to large to do anything with, but now were only a third of our group...” Spike said. He hoped he was wrong, and he hoped the others were not having the same kind of problem. “I... um...” Fluttershy grew quiet unsure of what to say. Staring at the ground and the shadows, it seemed like the group were now prisoners. But why? What was the point of all this? ** “Our forests are dead.” The Vashta Nerada spoke loud enough that there voice echoed, even with the roar of thunder up above them. “Yes I know that bit. I saw your forest up above. What I want to know is why!” The Doctor asked curiously as he moved about the generator, grabbing wires with his teeth. He moved quickly, unplugging them and then plugging them in elsewhere. “Why are your forests dead, and why are you trying to destroy the city? Also, why aren’t you stopping me right now?” “Yes, we are also curious about that.” Luna echoed. “Why are you trying to destroy our city?” “We are not. We are hungry, and our forests are dead.” The Vashta repeated there saying. “Yes you already said that but you don’t eat your forests, you breed using them. You lay your eggs in a tree and pro-create a million little nano spores. That's how it’s supposed to work. Your points are disconnected, and don’t tell me that your not trying to destroy the city because you are. The weather generators are down and we have half an hour till sun set.” “We are not trying to destroy your city. We are trying to destroy us. We are hungry and our forests are dead.” “Wait… what! Repeat that.” “Our forests are dead.” “No, not that bit! The other bit! Did you lot say you are trying to destroy yourselves?!” “We are hungry, Doctor. So very hungry. Our forests are dead, and yet we live.” The Doctor blinked, turning to the Vashta. “You’re trying to freeze yourselves. You’re trying to commit Genocide because you’re starving to death. You don’t eat meat, your forests are dead… something changed your diet, and now you’re eating everything but what you should have been.” The Doctor walked up to the Vashta his blue eyes looking at the Shadows. “That pony is still alive, isn’t he?” “Yes. We needed form so we took it. Your friends were trying to restore power. We needed to stop them, so we trapped them. We needed a tomb.” “So you tricked Apple Wash into taking the trees.” “Our forests are dead, and soon we will join them.” “What about the ponies here? You can't just be thinking of taking yourselves down.” “You will save them. That is why you are allowed to work.” The Doctor turned to Luna. “Right then! Work we will!” ** (authors Note: Special Thank you to Pre reader Adam who's fast editing got this chapter out on time. Seriously Thank him ^^)