//------------------------------// // Chapter 21: Big Brain Part 1 // Story: Apple Bloom's Mansion 4: The Castle of Death // by Lucar //------------------------------// Thanatos, seeing the pieces enter the basement, prepared the pop-corn and took one of the two remaining golden pieces, one looking like a brain, before placing it. "Say anything you want, you ponies can spawn some really sick characters, not that I'm complaining. Big Brain has a love of sciences beyond anything you can think of, and his curiosity has absolutely no limit. He particularly loves researching on the matter of life and death, and actually gained the obsession of defeating death, or even of controlling it. After doing a lot of researches on paranormal, he decided to kill himself, judging that he would do better in death. I immediately contacted him. I knew what he wanted to do, but I knew too that that poor fool was in over his head. Nobody can control Death after all excepted the truly immortal gods, and Big Brain is certainly NOT a god. But he was still a genius far in advance of his time, so it was the perfect occasion for me. So I made a deal with him: he could do whatever he wanted, I would even help him by supplying him with guinea pigs, but in return, he had to become my head scientist. He accepted. And I must say, he impresses me. I could even go so far as to say that I'm proud of him. He doesn't control Death, but he certainly comes close! The guy is very determined and has absolutely no scruples to do whatever needs to be done... For science. the ponies barely had time to acknowledge what was in the room that they were attacked by the body of a minotaur whose arms had been replaced, not by sledgehammers, but by chainsaws! Also, the minotaur was slightly taller than the usual ones, had four chainsaws, his head was entirely covered by an helmet spiked all over its surface and leaving only the eyes to be seen, and his body had a full body armor that seemed to be very thick. The minotaur, who was guarding the next door, gave a terrifying roar and charged at the ponies, chainsaws ready to cut them into bloody or metallic pieces. He was quickly pushed back by a small explosion of energy from Little Ghost. The ghost followed this by charging toward the head of the minotaur as he was regaining his balance and she planted her dagger in the slit of the helmet in front of the eyes. It didn't kill the minotaur but it left him open for Applejack to charge at him with her sword in her mouth without being cut by the chainsaws. When she was close enough, she jumped and she swung her weapon at the neck, at the opening between the helmet and the armor. However, she missed and hit the helmet instead, and the sword bounced on it, leaving only a small scratch. "Cut one of the legs!" shouted Little Ghost as she took her dagger and planted it again on the minotaur, this time targeting the opening between the helmet and the armor. It still wasn't enough to kill the monster however. Following Little Ghost's instruction, Apple Bloom avoided the swing of one of the chainsaws and ran around the minotaur until she was behind him, and she swung her sword at one of the legs. Despite all her strength, she was only able to cut to the bone however, and the minotaur immediately turned around to attack her with one of his chainsaws. Applejack lowered her head to avoid being beheaded and swung again at the same leg, and this time, she was able to cut it, making the minotaur topple. That made it easier for Applejack to target his neck and behead him, Little Ghost using her power to stop him from moving his head. While Little Ghost and Applejack fought the minotaur, the other hunters had to deal with a couple of ghost guards who had been sitting around a table in a corner. One of them attempted to fire a SC-Beam at Little Ghost from behind and was quickly stopped and captured. Once the calm returned in the room, the hunters remained vigilant and looked around in case more ghosts came, especially invisible ones like the Assassins, or ones like the Shadows and the wraiths that were expected to be encountered in number down there. As they briefly saw during the fight, the room was partially covered in flesh, like the previous one, going mainly from the entrance door to the exit but also spreading here and there, often ending with one of those eye-balls that watched them. It was clear by now that this flesh and those eyes were connected to something, but they feared to know what. Also, like the entrance door, the exit door, in the West, was a metallic one with a small barred opening at the top. And the gloomy of the previous room had followed them here. No doubt that this will follow them for the remaining of their stay in the basement. That and the disgusting flesh that squished when the ponies walked on it during the earlier action. Eww... Deciding to do as if the flesh wasn't present, Apple Bloom looked at the beheaded minotaur and got an idea. "Applejack, can ya use yer sword to disarm him?" There were several groans and laughs at her pun before Applejack looked questioningly at her sister and accepted. so, using her sword, she cut the chainsaws from the minotaur's body one by one. "What are ya planning?" she asked as she did that. Instead of answering, Apple Bloom inspected one of the chainsaws to see how they could be turned on. The chainsaws had seemingly been made so that they could be activated by the minotaur with just one thought, and there were no buttons or switches. "Mmh... Little Ghost, maybe ya'd activate one with yer powers? Ya could then use it to better fight those things," she proposed, understanding that this minotaur was only the beginning. "I can try," replied the ghost before she grabbed the weapon with some difficulty. She was very small, and the chainsaw was rather heavy. But thanks to her powers, she could lift really heavy things. Then, she poured some of her energy into the chainsaw and effectively activated it. She couldn't stop herself from giving a big smile at this. Apple Bloom smiled too before she calmed herself. "Ah'd probably use one in mah ghost form too, but Ah don't know how Ah'd hold it." "You should avoid taking one," said Sweetie Belle. "Yes, having a chainsaw will help a lot against those monsters, but as long as she will hold it, Little Ghost won't be able to use her Poltergust. Unless she uses her levitating power, but then, it would constantly drain her of energy and she will need it to fight the next guardian who must be really close now. " She eyed the eye-balls on the walls at this last statement. "At least, even if she can't use the Poltergust, Little Ghost will still be able to use her powers if they're needed." Apple Bloom and Little Ghost both nodded, agreeing with Sweetie Belle. This meant that Little Ghost won't be able to capture ghosts as long as she was holding the chainsaw, but against all those monsters, she will make a carnage. More ready to face what was awaiting them, the ponies opened the room, entering what was certainly the heart of the basement: the dungeon. A corridor separating four large cells that could each hold dozens of prisoners. The walls separating them from the corridor were made of bars so the ponies could see that they were all empty excepted the Southwestern cell where the hunters could see a zebra lying on the floor, but it was hard to see if the zebra was still alive or not. Between the cells, the corridor was leading, beside East where the ponies were coming from, toward West, North, and South, each to a metallic door with a barred opening. The flesh was covering a lot more space here, especially inside the cells where the ground was entirely covered. Dozens of eye-balls were everywhere inside and outside the cells, their attention centered on the hunters, but one continued to look at the zebra in the cell. Guarding the cells were a couple of griffon bodies. When the hunters entered, they immediately began to approach. When one of them was close enough, he opened his beak, and out of it came a long tongue that ended sharply, threatening to pierce Apple Bloom's head. Apple Bloom avoided it by moving to the side, then grabbed it to stop it from returning inside the griffon's beak. Little Ghost then used her chainsaw to cut the tongue, depriving the griffon of his main weapon and leaving him vulnerable. The other griffon was still there however, approaching, and Applejack went to deal with her with her sword. The zebra, who wasn't dead, was awakened by the commotion, but before she could understand what was going on, still groggy, she suddenly started to sink in the fleshy ground. When she saw this, then saw the ponies in the corridor killing the griffon monster guards, she called for them, panicked. "Help!" At her call, the ponies saw what was going on and gasped. "Little Ghost!" shouted Apple Bloom. "On it!" replied the ghost before she teleported just above the screaming and struggling zebra to save her. But it was already too late, and the zebra disappeared just in front of her into the flesh. Not giving up, Little Ghost blasted the flesh, revealing more flesh under the ground, but no trace of the zebra. She was already gone who knew where. And seeing the abomination the hunters had to fight, they had a good idea of what was her fate, if it wasn't simply to be devoured alive by whatever was that flesh. "Buck!" «You did what you could,» said E. Gadd sadly. It still somewhat ruined the moral of the hunters for a short time while they finished the two guards and fought the few Shadows that came after, but it quickly rose back with one thought: never again. They didn't know since when that nightmare was happening, but it will stop now. They will make sure of it. When the last Shadow was destroyed, a key appeared and led them to the South door. When the hunters entered the large semi-circular room, the first thing they saw was the ghost of a bulky yellow earth pony stallion with a hood entirely covering his head piercing a blue ram chained against the wall with a metallic bar heated to white. The ram let out a groan of pain, but surprisingly resisted from yelling, but the stallion still chuckled at this. There were various instruments clearly made to inflict pain around the stallion, and the ram was covered in injuries and scars, some still bleeding. The ram then remarked the presence of the hunters and turned his to look at them, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. Several of the ponies watching gasped. «That's Grogar! What is he doing here?» shouted Twilight. There wasn't time to wonder about the presence of Grogar however. The ram wasn't the only one who remarked the hunters' presence. The torturer brusquely turned around and threw the metallic bar like a spear at Apple Bloom. The filly, and the others behind her, all moved out of the way and the bar bounced off the door. The stallion then grabbed a big hammer and approached, ready to attack. Everypony immediately activated their Poltergust, and despite his bulk, the torturer couldn't resist long and was rapidly captured. The door then burst open and another ghost torturer and two of those griffons with the long sharp tongues entered, the torturer armed of some kind of pincer. The griffons were promptly killed by Applejack and Little Ghost while the other hunters took care of the ghost, and the key appeared. "Impressive," then said Grogar who stared at them with interest. He had a lot of questions, but the fact was that a group of ponies came and managed to defend themselves against Thanatos' minions. Machines that could capture ghosts? How much has the world advanced while he was trapped in this place for someone to invent something like that? And those ponies managed to come all the way to this place, probably fighting who knew how many of Thanatos' servants. He couldn't pass this occasion. But some of those ponies were strange. The filly with the bow was clearly alive, and the smallest one was a ghost. The white one seemed to be an undead. But then, there was the orange pegasus and the mare who were made of metal, and there were these two that reminded him of the Smooze but looked like the living filly and the undead filly. A curious group, but it didn't change anything in the end. The ponies stared at him, and seeing their expressions of mistrust among the pity, they knew who he was, making him smirk. "I don't know how much time passed since my banishment, but it seems that I retained my reputation." He then stared at one of the eye-balls present in the room. "Destroy those eye-balls and we will talk. Big Brain use those to watch us." "Why should we obey you?" asked Applejack. "We could simply leave ya here to yer fate. We know who ya're, Grogar, and we know that ya're the greatest evil that the ponies ever encountered." "True. But I could help, and you have nothing to fear from me. I have lost all my powers, and you will lose nothing listening to me. I suspect that we have the same enemy." The ponies looked at Grogar was suspicion, then exchanged looks before they nodded. They then dispersed to destroy the eye-balls, using their weapons to pop them. Once all the eyes were destroyed, they walked back toward Grogar and sat in front of him (excepted Little Ghost who remained floating in place). "Alright, talk," said Apple Bloom. «Don't trust him. Whatever he says, never trust him,» warned Discord. "So, am I correct in assuming that you aren't in this place for sightseeing?" asked Grogar. "Eeyup. We're here to deal with Thanatos and his minions," said Apple Bloom. "You do know that Thanatos is in a different league than the simple ghosts, right?" "We came prepared, as ya saw." "Even so, capturing him will not be a simple task," said Grogar before his smirk grew. "But I know of a mean to make it easier for you." The ponies' eyebrows raised at this before Applejack said "Go on." "Big Brain, the head scientist, created something not long ago that allows a ghost to absorb the powers of another. It is what he used to absorb my powers, and since then, he uses them to help himself in his experiments. I haven't seen the result, but I know that he is using my necromancy to experiment on souls, advance in his researches in Life and Death, and create new minions for his master. Doing those things on simple physical bodies wasn't enough for him, he had to go further." Apple Bloom paled. "So we're up against a mad doctor with necromancy powers?" "Yes, and he will probably use that invention on you if you end up fighting him. And since it worked on me, then it will very certainly work on you and your friends." "Even ghosts bound to bodies?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Yes, even them," answered Grogar, making the ponies exchange worried looks. "But it seems to work only on weak and weakened ghosts, so if any of you possesses a minimum of power, you should have nothing to fear at first. But with my powers, Big Bain became really powerful and will have no problems weakening you enough to strike. He could, for example, send against you legions of the poor souls now under his control until you're too tired to resist. But! If you free me, I could ensure that it won't happen. Really, it will be easy. Just kill me, and as a ghost, I will remain hidden until you fight him and he takes out that thing, and then, I will rob it from it. With that invention in our possession, we will be able to absorb all the powers we want until we've enough to deal with that bonehead." The ponies looked at him in shock. "Ya're asking us to kill ya? We can't!" shouted Applejack. Grogar gave them a deadpan stare. "Look at me. I barely have meats on my bones, I lost so much blood that it's only thanks to my will that I'm not unconscious, and I am powerless. I will not be able to do anything in that body. This is the only solution for me. I must die." He smirked again. "And remember that I am the most powerful necromancer of the world. Once I recuperate my powers, creating myself a new body will be child's play." The ponies exchanged looks again before they heard Discord huff. «He will turn against you at the first occasion. I can already see it. As soon as he get his hooves on that power-absorbing device, he will use it on that Big Brain guy to recuperate his powers and whatever other powers Big Brain possesses. He will then backstab you, absorb your powers, probably take you under his control, absorb the powers of any ghosts he could find, go deal with Thanatos, and unleash his wrath on Equestria,» said Discord. Doing as if he hadn't just talked, Apple Bloom looked back at Grogar before nodding. "Okay." Everypony looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Are ya sure?" asked Applejack. Apple Bloom nodded. "Eeyup. Ah don't know how the fight against Big Brain'll go with that device of his, so it'll be nice to've a back up plan. We can always deal with him if he tries anything." This made Grogar chuckle. That girl was a clever one but there was no way for her to win against him. "Well, go on. take that dagger and plant it right in my heart. It will do the job." But Apple Bloom hesitated then. She really wasn't willing to kill someone. Even if that someone was Grogar asking her to kill him. "Uh... How about we free ya and... ya stab yerself?" Grogar rolled his eyes at this and muttered "Typical..." before he simply nodded. So Little Ghost reluctantly used her powers to free Grogar from the chains, and the ram dropped on the ground. Too weak to stand, he simply asked Apple Bloom to give him the dagger, which she did before immediately walking away just in case Grogar would attempt to stab her. Grogar then rolled on his back and pointed the dagger at his heart. Just before he planted it, the ponies turned their head, not wanting to witness his death. A few minutes later, it was over, and the ghost of Grogar now floated above his body. "Do you have a mean to destroy it?" he asked the ponies as he threw the bloody dagger at Apple Bloom's hooves. She hesitated to take it. "I don't want Big Brain to use it to create one of his things." "We... We can burn it," said Applejack. They all nodded, then pointed their Poltergusts at the corpse before they let out streams of fire. After a few seconds, they stopped and simply stared at the body as it burned. "Good. Now you should continue your job while I go into hiding," said Grogar. "We will see each others again in the fight against Big Brain." At this, he flew into a wall, leaving the ponies. They stared at the burning body again for a few more seconds before they finally got themselves to take the key that appeared earlier and exit the room. Back in the dungeon, they quickly dealt with a couple of wraiths and another of those griffon things before they went to the North door and unlocked it.