//------------------------------// // Ch. 7: The Heart of Thunder Drum // Story: Doctor Whooves - The Series: Episode Three - Along Came a Spider // by Loyal2Luna //------------------------------// Chapter 7: The Heart of Thunder Drum Corridor, Central Chamber Thunder Drum Mountain 71st of Spring, 975 C.R. (Celestia's Reign), 1:35 p.m. Trembling, curled into a fetal position, the only pegasus in all of Zebrica wanted nothing more than to disappear. She had lost track of just how long she had been laying there; how long she had been torn between shameless crying and mournful moans. She was sure that some zebras had spoken to her at some point, but she didn’t hear them. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to answer their queries, and in the end, they had left her alone to wallow in her guilt. Fluttershy regretted all of it, from the very beginning. What had she been thinking? Running off with the strange pony to this terrible place where there were so many horrible things happening. She was a coward. A weak, pathetic, helpless coward. She wasn’t a brave or heroic pony. She wasn’t like Applejack or Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t like Twilight or the Doctor. She couldn’t save the day. She had tried to play the hero… tried to make a difference… and look what had happened. Fluttershy looked out past her hooves with puffy red eyes as she peered again into the room, as if hoping that instead of the hole that had appeared, there would be solid floor, and that her friends and Zecora’s family would be there, perfectly fine. But there wasn't, and they weren’t. You couldn’t save them… a nasty, spiteful little voice in the back of her head started up, one she was familiar with, as it was her own. The voice she had taken on after her "assertiveness" lesson with the minotaur, Iron Will. How predictable. They were counting on you and you let them down. “I’m sorry…” Fluttershy whimpered. Yeah, you sure are, the mean little Flutter-Monster continued, Fluttershy almost able to imagine a tiny, dark personification of the attitude-laden pegasus sitting on her shoulder. What was Zecora thinking, asking you to help her? Miss Scaredy-Feathers? Ha! Fluttershy kept watching the room in front of her, looking at the ground that had cracked and fallen away into a deep, dark abyss. Scared. She was many things right now: regretful, depressed, guilty, and incredibly hungry, just to name a few. But the little voice she imagined perched on her shoulder was right. Above it all… she was absolutely petrified. —— “And I know, while I stay here and rest… that you and Twilight will try your best. But know this, my friend… be you ever so sweet. If your fear overcomes you... we never shall meet.” —— Taking a breath, Fluttershy pulled herself up, trying not to tremble. Huh? Hey, what are you doing? the little voice asked as she took a step forward. Fluttershy moved slowly towards the edge of the chasm, looking down. Nopony could have survived that. Well, except for a pegasus, but come on, you’re barely a pegasus, anyway. The yellow mare took another deep breath of surprisingly chilly air as she stood there for a moment before extending one hoof over the edge of the pit. She licked her lip nervously as she shifted her weight forward, trying to psyche herself into diving after them. You’re kidding, right? the harsh voice snickered. Come on, even if they did somehow miraculously survive your stupidity, what exactly are you gonna do? There was a moment of silence in the pegasus’ mind, the only sound to be heard being her own breathing... before she brought her hoof back, drawing back and away from the edge again. Yeah… that’s what I thought. The tone sounded smug, then fell silent as Fluttershy moved back into the corridor, her eyes closed. So she didn’t take note of the inky black shadow that wisped around her shoulders and into the dark corridor, slinking away from her silently and leaving the mare alone as she opened her eyes and looked back down the hall in the opposite direction. ———————— Intensive Care Ward, Room 7 Pranceton Plainsboro Memorial Hospital 30th of Summer, 1001 C.R., 2:07 p.m. “Hmmm... Pulse is regular but she still looks thirsty,” Zecora’s newest physician stated, looking at her right fetlock as she set her left hoof down on the zebra’s, apparently unaware that one couldn’t feel a pulse through a hardened hoof. Nor did it seem to matter that her right hoof lacked a timepiece of any sort. “One hundred CCs of water, STAT!” cried Scootaloo, an over-sized doctor’s head-mirror strapped just above her brow as she pointed towards the door, holding out an empty pitcher in one hoof. “On it!” Sweetie Belle nodded, taking the pitcher and moving towards the door, but pausing just as she came to the threshold. “Wait, what’s a 'see-see.'?” “I dunno…” Scootaloo shrugged, trying to tune out the snickering from the bed. “But get it, STAT!” “On it!” Sweetie rushed out the door, then reappeared a few seconds later, leaning into the room again. “Wait, what does 'stat' mean?” “Ugh...” Scootaloo set her hoof to the top of her snout in agitation. “Just fill up the pitcher and bring it back here, okay?” “On it!” Sweetie zipped away again. Scootaloo started to turn back to the bed when the somewhat higher pitched voice of her unicorn friend came from the door once more. “I forgot where the water fountain is.” “AGH!” Scootaloo’s wings buzzed angrily, lifting her a foot off the ground before she came back down. “I’m just gonna show you. Come on, it’s this way!” The two fillies exited quickly from there, allowing the patient, one particular zebra mare, a moment of respite from the comedy of errors that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had taken to in the name of keeping an eye on her. Apple Bloom, also wearing one of the awkward head-mirrors, couldn’t help but smile at the Zecora's delight. Her brother had gone for the moment to fill out some sort of paperwork that was required for the hospital in Zecora’s name, and she and her two friends had taken the opportunity to show the mare why they had won the award for "Best Comedy" at the Ponyville Talent Show two years running. Of course, their original intent had been just to keep Zecora company, but one thing led to another, and, much like the talent shows, their original intent fell apart in favor of an almost unwitting improvisation sketch when it was realized that their friend could use the cheering up. Zecora, for her part, had not said much as the three fillies assumed the roles of inept caregivers and proceeded to make a satirical mockery of the pony medical profession without realizing it. She just remained laying back in her upright position, their antics eliciting the occasional snicker or soft laugh as she continued to take in what liquids she could, seemingly unable to quench her thirst. It was an appreciated distraction, that much was certain. And compared to the more somber methods and traditions of her native lands, Zecora found she greatly preferred the ponies’ focus on company and good cheer over mourning the soon-to-be-departed before the Roc even descended. As Zecora leaned back into the "still-too-soft" pillows, the mare sighed. “I am glad you made up with your friends, Apple Bloom,” she said, the yellow filly dropping character to turn to her with an honest concern in her eyes. “Life is too short for silly disagreements to drag down the bond that you share.” “Yeah, somethin’ weird musta happened in the forest yesterday. Dunno what, but it don’t matter.” Apple Boom nodded, her hoof reaching up to pat her new bow, making sure it was still there. “It’ll take more than a lost bow an' a pitcher a’ dumped water to break us up.” Almost as an afterthought, Apple Bloom came to comprehend what it was Zecora had said, and her expression grew more stern. “An’ don’tcha be talkin’ like that, ya hear?” she scolded lightly. “Ya ain’t goin’ nowhere till ya tell us how ya got yeur cutie mark.” Zecora huffed, stifling another snicker. “I am afraid I am not much for stories right now, Apple Bloom… particularly not that story,” she said morosely, before a shudder ran through her body, causing what mirth there was to drain from her face as her lips pulled back to show her teeth. Apple Bloom back up a step, her eyes going wide as she pulled the mirror-piece from her head. “Zecora… what’s wrong?” the filly asked, though just by observing the shudder, she could fill a book with the number of things that looked wrong. The change in the potion maker’s demeanor had happened so quickly that she might have missed it if she'd blinked. “In case… I do not get… another chance…” The zebra mare had broken into a sudden, cold sweat, panting for breath as if she had gone for a run around Ponyville several times in the moments since she had been snickering at her friends’ antics. “I want to say…” “Zecora… no!” Apple Bloom pleaded, leaning forward and placing her hooves on the bed. “No goodbyes! Yer gonna get better! Ah jus’ know it! Somethin’ will… will...” “Thank you… my young friend…” Zecora set a hoof to the pale yellow filly’s mouth, quieting her long enough to get out what she had to, tears welling up in her tired, pained eyes. “Thank you... for your courage… and seeking me out when no other pony would.” Before Apple Bloom could even respond, to say what she felt needed to be said, the mare on the hospital bed convulsed, crying out in agony as her forehooves came together over her chest and her hind legs kicked out, throwing the bedsheets askew. “Help… Doctor…” the filly whispered, barely able to tear her eyes away from the terrible pain that was present before her as Zecora gasped for the breath to cry out. “Doctor!” Apple Bloom finally felt her hooves under her as she moved to the doorway, fighting against the knot in her throat and preparing to scream out louder than she ever had before. “DOCTOR!” ———————— Location: Unknown 71st of Spring, 975 C.R., 1:35 p.m. A frantic shout brushed across the back of the Doctor's mind; a cry that resounded across all of time and space, barely skirting on the edge of his consciousness and allowing him to feel it more than hear it. The Time Pony shuddered, a cloud of breath escaping his muzzle and unsettling the frost that was forming over his fur as reality came rushing back to him, his eyes snapped open, and his senses launched from oblivion to awareness. Unable to ignore the impression of urgency, the Doctor gasped for breath and was stunned when an icy cold air filled his lungs, causing him to cough dryly. He pushed himself off of the hard, rigid ground and rolled from his side to his front, feeling a stickiness prickle his fur wherever it was exposed. In what seemed to be almost utter darkness, he took a moment to attune his senses and get his bearings as he went over the events in his mind. The day had seemed won, but he should have known it had been far too easy. Anasi must have had her "forces," those unusually large arachnids, in waiting at the edge of the Pit, whether for some sort of presentation of power along with the execution or in foresight of the ludicrously effective tactic that Twilight had managed to devise, he had no idea -- though he suspected the former over the latter. But whatever the case, when faced with the possibility of defeat, Anasi had played her apparent ace in the hole, with hundreds of the creatures intending to overwhelm the ponies and zebras with sheer numbers. Even if they didn’t possess the same poisonous bite of their more classically sized kin, judging by the size of the mandibles on those things, it wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience for anyone but the spiders. And then, the ground caved in, which had certainly not been expected by either party. He had felt the sonic pulse that had resonated under his hooves, breaking apart what he now realized was a relatively thin shelf of stone that had been formed around the Pit, and dropping everypony that had been in the room into what seemed like a bleak, bottomless abyss. Somewhere in that fall, between the shock of the never-ending drop and the sudden changes in temperature, he had passed out. And now he was here... but where was here? He was underground, that much he was certain of, but that raised more questions than answers. If they had fallen into some sort of chasm underneath Thunder Drum, the fall alone should have been enough to kill any pony not gifted with wings, and if it had been shallow enough to survive the fall, they should have been able to make out a light above them. *FLOOMPH* A sudden gust of icy wind pulsed around the Doctor, his tail and mane thrown askew along with the airflow. But rather than sweeping at him from the sides as one might expect, it came from below him, rushing off of the cold, sticky floor with such force that the brown stallion was lifted off his hooves for a moment before the gust pushed past him and continued upward, not quite powerful enough to carry his weight aloft. The Time Pony’s mind reeled, his memory stirring… —— There, floating in place, clearly unconscious with her mane and tail blowing and falling against gravity as if held in an updraft, was the familiar lavender figure of the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. —— Settling his weight and planting his hooves down firmly on the ground, the Doctor felt around for a tactile sense of where he was standing. There was a layer of sticky coating… Cobwebs? Yes, definitely cobwebs. And under that… not regular stone. Something harder, more angular in nature, and icy cold. So cold it was starting to hurt just standing on it… —— Lifting a foreleg with a flourish, the Doctor could see a blackened, burnt look to the Prophet's hoof, with cracks running up and down it as if she had run repeatedly over hot coals. —— The Doctor’s eyes narrowed as he felt around, his eyes all but useless in the all-encompassing darkness. A muffled clopping sound echoed all around him as he carefully and deliberately searched the floor for anything he could use. His sonic screwdriver would be preferable, but the last place he saw it was in Fluttershy's hooves just before the floor collapsed, so that wasn't very likely. But, as luck would have it, he did at least manage to locate some kind of sharp, jagged stone; a piece of debris that had followed him from the collapse. Now he just needed something else… After a bit more searching, the Doctor's hindhoof brushed against a wooden shaft, an instant later stepping back to set his weight on it so that it wouldn’t roll away. Bringing himself to stand over it and shuffling the rock shard into place, the pony quickly ran his hoof over each end to determine which had the tip. Then, the Doctor smiled as a new sound made his ear twitch: a familiar male voice groaning with fatigue. “Ungh... Why is it so cold? Am I dead?” Zilaka sounded woozy, his voice placing him perhaps half a dozen meters to the Doctor’s left. “Either way, all of this passing out and waking up in the dark is starting to lose its novelty.” “Well, after awhile you start to miss it, take it from me. Oh, and no, we’re not dead. Anasi is not getting rid of us that easily.” The Hourglass Stallion chuckled, using his hooves to roll the spear tip in the cobwebs, gathering as much of it as he could while leaving the very end of the flint exposed. “Besides, dying sort of loses its spectacle when you have to go through it repeatedly. I mean, it’s been eleven times for me, already--” “Slow down, Doctor. What happened? Where are we?” The potion maker’s voice shifted as he pulled himself up, interrupting the pony. “Still working on both of those questions… You might want to shield your eyes, by the way. If I’m right, this is going to be rather… dazzling.” There was a moment of silence, which the Doctor assumed was compliance as he pulled the stone shard up with both hooves and grunted with exertion as he brought it down on the exposed portion of flint. *chink* A few stray sparks lit up the Doctor’s hooves for the briefest moment, bouncing all about, with just enough of them dropping onto the end of his spear, with the webbing wrapped into a tight ball. *FWOOSH* The webbing caught fire almost immediately, and a crackling orange glow illuminated the blue, glimmering floor where the Doctor had cleared off the thick coat of cobwebs. “Aha! Fire! And on the very first try!” The Time Pony felt a surge of primal pride as he leaned down, lifting the torch aloft in his teeth. Both the Time Pony and the Ash-Stripe zebra then winced as the single torch set off a sudden cascade of light that made the Doctor curse himself for not lowering his goggles and taking his own advice. *SKITTER-SKITTER-SKITTER* “MMPH!” The Doctor suddenly thrashed his head wildly as the brilliant display of light startled a veritable swarm of small bat-like creatures from their roosts along the walls. They immediately scattered and flew off, brushing past the two equines in their way with a flurry of screeching and flapping wings that carried on for several seconds. When their surroundings finally settled and the surprise started to wear off, The Doctor and Zilaka were able to take a fresh look at the room they were in. Burning orange mixed with glowing blue as the firelight reflected off the floor and walls that had been imperceptible a few moments before, revealing a massive, open cavern around them. To one side, there was an empty cliff-like drop that seemed to go on forever, while to the other was a glimmering series of passageways that were lined with blue and purple crystal formations sticking out at every angle, sparkling in the places where they were not covered by thick coats of dull, grey webbing. Unable to speak with his mouth grasping the spear-turned-torch, the Doctor dropped the burning stick to get out one very important observation: “Well, now... that’s something I was not expecting.” The Doctor couldn’t help but grin as he beheld the sight for a moment before reaching down to pick up the torch up in his hooves. “An entire subterranean biosphere… Absolutely brilliant!” Zilaka blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light, looking up and around at the caverns in wonder. He was amazed by the sheer emptiness and openness of it all, as it seemed to go on for miles like a vast underground valley, the ceiling so far above them that it might as well have been sky. Holding the torch and only source of illumination in his teeth, the Doctor looked about, taking notice of what looked like another swarm of the bluish-tinged bats as they rushed away, clearly startled by the beautiful display around them. *FLOOMPH* Another rush of air from the gaping chasm washed out below them with a tingling frigidness and then pulsed upward, nearly blowing out the Doctor’s torch as both he and Zilaka were lifted off their hooves for a few seconds. “What was that!?” Zilaka cried out as he awkwardly came back down to his hooves, fighting to keep his balance while he looked around wildly. The Time Pony spat the torch to his hoof, carefully keeping it at an angle so that he could keep hold of it. “Pressure wave,” he explained. “The crystal is acting as a transferal medium releasing short bursts of pressure near the base of the cliffs to defuse the buildup below us. That must be how we survived the fall. It seems somewhat sporadic in this area, though. There must be something preventing it from releasing a steady pulse.” “I do not understand.” Zilaka turned to the Doctor, confused and clearly concerned about where their aggressors, those horrible eight-legged monsters, had disappeared to, among other things. “Where is Zecora!? What about Zulu and Tagati!?” “I’m sure they’re all fine… The pressure waves grow wider and thicker as they travel upward…” the Doctor stated, running his hooves over the crystal floor as he took note of the black lines that were running through the structure. “As we fell, they must have slowed our descent considerably and the currents of air from the subterranean topography would have pushed us this way and that like leaves on the wind. It’s likely that, since the two of us were next to one another when we fell, we ended up in around the same place… so the same should be true of Twilight and Zecora, as well as Zulu and Tagati. But given the distance we must have fallen, the waves would have to be fairly regular…” —— “By the way, is that CO2 in that fog? That’s a nice twist. Dry ice; more elaborate than I would have thought for a low-budget production.” —— The stallion’s face fell as he looked upward. “Ohhhh… So that’s why the Rocs are circling around up there… This is bad.” “Doctor, I still do not understand.” Zilaka narrowed his eyes on the pony. “We survived. How is this a bad thing?” “Dry ice, frozen carbon dioxide, is a byproduct of the pressure waves, carbon dioxide being expelled during the process and crystallizing into solid form along any places where the pressure escapes, causing the amount of pressure released to drop and therefore the exponential buildup of force. I can’t believe I missed that,” the Doctor lamented, groaning in a frustrated tone. “I should have realized the moment I tasted it in her chamber. How else would she get her hooves on it? It’s not as if you zebras have refrigerators.” “Doctor, please stop doing that.” Zilaka moved up beside the brown pony, looking to him with a concerned gaze. “I have no idea what you are talking about.” *Crrraaack* The sharp, echoing sound reverberated over the caverns, causing another swarm of bat-like creatures, clearly native to this underground world, to take off and flutter around in a panic. Over time, the scurrying of wings faded as the deep bass of the sound shook both pony and zebra to their bones. “Blast! The pressure cascade effect has already started… Come on, I’ll explain on the way.” The Doctor’s eyes were wide as he offered the torch to Zilaka, looking around for any obvious trails or paths. Apparently at random, he chose one of the nearest ones and started away at a hard canter. “We have to hurry! If we don’t find a way to relieve the pressure down here, Thunder Drum is going to explode and take every zebra in Stone-Water with it!” ———————— *Crrraaack* “Ungghh... Brrrr...” Twilight Sparkle grimaced, flattening her ears against the sharp, grating sound that echoed around her as she slowly climbed to consciousness. Meanwhile, her head was spinning and an alien, weightless feeling clouded her mind as she came to one sharp and very clear conclusion: Wherever she was, it was bucking freezing! She brought her forelegs up and around her chest, feeling as if a windigo was blowing over her body. Then, her dangling hind hooves felt an initial rush before she felt her mane and tail blown upwards. Wait… Twilight’s eyes bolted open in confusion, realizing she was upright in the faint light that emanated from the walls around her. And directly in front of her was a very concerned filly standing on the edge of a cliff and shuffling on her hooves as she bit her lip, looking out over the precipice… facing her. Facing her… on the edge… of a… “Twilight! Do not look down!” Zecora suddenly burst out, which of course coincided with the unicorn doing exactly that. Twilight looked down, her heart jumping into her throat upon gazing into the blank black abyss that was opened up under her, her body suspended by a solid, constant updraft. “Ennngghhhh...” Zecora grunted, her breath stalling as she pranced frantically on her hooves for a moment, her trouble stealing Twilight’s panic away from her immediate danger when the unicorn realized that the filly couldn’t think of a rhyme. “FROWN!” the well-read pony called out. “To do so… will make you frown!” Zecora gasped, panting for breath as the compulsion was met. “Are you okay?” Twilight asked, her own panic quelled as she looked over the filly with concern. “I am doing as well as can be expected… but it seems this curse, I have not yet perfected. I could not think of a rhyme to warn you, so… I assure you, I am fine… though.” Zecora stretched her rhyming meter slightly to make it work, but apparently it met her need to do so as she watched the unicorn. “I do not suppose that you told a lie, when you said unicorns could not fly?” “I’m not flying… it’s air resistance. Something is pushing me up at the same speed I would normally be falling, holding my weight here exactly.” Twilight tried to shift, but without anything to shove off of, she had no way of gaining any forward momentum to try and push herself towards the edge. “Hold on, I’ll try to…” Twilight closed her eyes and focused, and to the zebra’s shock, the black marks running down along her body began to glow faintly with a white light before the unicorn gasped for breath, the light fading as soon as she had done so. Twilight looked to her forelegs and sighed. “Right… Gelded. Forgot I had these things on me... Okay, so teleporting my way over is out of the question...” The unicorn squirmed in place and tried to get some sort of forward momentum, managing to fall forward on her front. Her mane and tail flapped and billowed against her body as she tried to "swim" through the icy air, but to no avail. Suddenly, Zecora looked around and darted off, the filly offering no explanation as Twilight watched her go. She probably just didn’t want to have to be forced to rhyme, Twilight figured. She had never questioned the zebra’s odd form of speech beyond their first meeting, but now that she saw firsthoof that it was something imposed upon Zecora against her will, she couldn’t help but feel a little sorry that such a thing had been inflicted upon her. Even if the alternative was an agonizing, ultimately fatal pain, it still seemed like a cruel game that the little filly was being forced to play. “The answer is clear unless one is thick.” Zecora came back into view, pulling what Twilight immediately recognized as two spears tied together with what looked like a thick wad of webbing. “No time to waste, just take the stick.” “Alright… almost got it… just a little bit further.” Twilight reached out with her hooves, stretching out in place as Zecora resorted to setting the end of one half in her mouth to reach it as far as she could. Finally, the unicorn’s hooves got a solid grip, and with a nod to her zebra friend, she began to pull her back. Under any other circumstances, Twilight would have been intrigued by the sensation of being pulled along, weightless, as the updraft countered gravity perfectly. But, all things considered, she was just eager to get her hooves back on solid ground, which happened all too quickly as she was pulled over the edge of the cliff Zecora had been standing on. Gravity proved it was still working as her hooves and the front of her body fell right to it, her back legs dangling over the edge for a moment before she could pull herself up. “Thanks, Zecora.” Twilight nodded, looking around. “I still have to make up for past strife… assuming we are not already in the afterlife.” The zebra nodded too, visibly shivering as she set the spears aside and Twilight took in their surroundings. The ground was hard and icy cold, like walking on a frozen pond without ponyshoes… except that she was wearing ponyshoes and it still felt that way. While she felt endured to the cold after having spent so long on that icy updraft, it was obvious now that she was this close to the zebra that Zecora was completely unfamiliar with the sensation and was shifting uneasily on her hooves. “While glad I am, from the spiders we are free… I feel I must ask, where on the Plains are we?” Zecora looked around, the crystals glowing just enough to provide some illumination. “I’m... not sure…” Twilight huffed, trying to puzzle it out herself. *Crrraaack* Zecora jumped and edged closer to Twilight as the unicorn’s ears perked, taking note of the distinct crushing sound that echoed around them. Then, her eyes widened as only one possibility came to mind, one that she had read about long ago during her studies in Canterlot. In particular, her geology studies. “I don’t believe it…” Twilight whispered, appraising her surroundings with new understanding. “Cryovolcanism... on Equis...” Zecora tilted her head slightly and fixed the unicorn with a familiar, confused stare that she had often seen on Applejack’s face when the book-smart mare used a term that was over the farm pony’s hat. “Mount Thunder Drum… it’s an ice volcano! All of Zebrica is sitting on top of a giant glacial caldera!” ———————— “A what?” Zilaka looked puzzled as he moved forward, trying to ignore the searing sensation at the base of his hooves and the numbness under his thin striped fur as he followed behind the Doctor, carefully holding the torch in his lips. “A geological miracle, is what it is,” the Doctor stated, looking around as he took in the sights. “I’ve encountered ice volcanoes before, but not quite like this. The ones I’ve seen had networks of liquid nitrogen, methane, ammonia, and other hyper-cooled gases, and are usually on planets that don’t have a habitable biosphere. But this is--” “Doctor, please!” Zilaka huffed in frustration, still managing to hold onto the torch in his lips while still speaking clearly -- something he had noted zebras seemed able to do but ponies could not -- which was quite impressive in the Doctor’s eyes. “Speak in terms I can understand.” “Alright, alright,” the Time Pony sighed, trying to reign in his academic excitement as he scanned the area. He abruptly turned to the right and down an apparently random path in what was quickly becoming a labyrinth of crystalline corridors. “What do you know about geothermal dynamics?” An indignant snort was all the answer the Doctor needed as the zebra trailed up behind him. “Right, sorry,” the brown pony apologized as he tried to break down the rather stunning revelation into a laypony-friendly form. “Well, the short version is that I know where your water comes from now... and what’s behind the Parching.” “You said something about Thunder Drum exploding...” “Well, 'explode' is such a dramatic term... More like erupting. Very, very violently.” ———————— “Erupt? That cannot be so.” Zecora looked puzzled. “My mountain home is no volcano.” “Not in the traditional sense, no,” Twilight tried to explain, moving quickly along the ground as the two of them tried to find a way out. “From what I can tell -- and this is just theory, mind you -- there is a giant glacier right under our hooves; an aquifer of frozen ice just sitting here, thousands of feet beneath the Plains. According to the laws of geothermal dynamics, there would be pressure from below that in the mantle, that’s the really, really hot layer of our planet under Equis’ crust, that would push the glacier upwards toward the surface really, really slowly. Over the course of hundreds or thousands of years, it melted away. This whole cavern was probably once filled with glacier ice before it shrunk to what it is today.” “What does this have to do with our land? And please, tell me in words I understand.” ———————— “The glacier warms as it’s pushed up, turning to water vapor, which in turn saturates the upper areas of the crust and would pool into depressions to form springs fed by groundwater. This aquifer has been supplying water to Zebrica for probably as long as zebras have lived there,” The Doctor explained colloquially. “And life up there has evolved to make use of it under the blistering heat of the sun. If the natural environment wasn’t so dry and hot, then the entire area would probably be a swampy marsh. The natural attributes of the Plains found a perfect balance between the scorching heat bearing down and the cold ice down here pushing up.” “But why did the waters stop, then?” Zilaka tried to wrap his head around this revelation. “What caused the Parching?” “This did.” The Doctor scowled, stomping a hoof on the glittering stone underneath them for emphasis. ———————— *chink* Twilight’s hoof clipped hard against the wall, which she realized looked as if it had "shot up" from below them rather than being formed by a receding glacier. “Crystals...” Twilight drew back her lips in a disgusted sneer as she brushed a layer of cobwebs away from a blue crystal that shined with an internal light, giving the unicorn and zebra just enough illumination to see by. “Crystals need water to form, and these have used the water from the glacier to turn into a geode. Like a giant diamond. But this wasn’t natural... Somepony planted crystal seeds here so they would form a sheath over the glacier and trap all the water!” “But why would that happen, who would gain?” Zecora asked, pausing for a moment as she struggled for a rhyme. “What good would it do, to destroy our... our... domain?” The filly sighed with relief as Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know.” ———————— “This geode took decades to grow and required an absolutely precise understanding of geology and natural sciences.” The Doctor held back a moment, trying to puzzle out what it all meant. “...Whoever did this was exceedingly clever.” “You think that Anasi did this? That she robbed the Plains of water so that she could gather the herds together?” Zilaka asked, now moving to the front as he drew the torch back and forth, burning away an obstructing veil of webbing. “Like the crystals back in my medicine hut. You said she used them to keep her hold on my wi... on Tagati.” “Honestly? Anasi doesn’t strike me as being intelligent enough to put this together. She probably had a part in it, but I don’t think this was entirely her doing. Those psychic lattices were crude, like someone cooked them up with a basic chemistry set. To form a geode capable of encompassing a massive underground glacier is an infinitely more complex task. And besides, these crystals are not designed to amplify mental energy -- or energy of any kind, for that matter. Given the sheer size of these caverns, Anasi would have been able to hold sway over every zebra on the Plains without any trouble.” “But they have the black lines… What did you call them?” “Striations, yes. And considering how quickly they had to form, that isn’t at all that surprising.” “Quickly? Doctor, the Parching has been growing steadily worse since I was a foal.” “And in geological time, that’s a snap of the fin… er… blink of an eye. But that still doesn’t answer the real question: Why do it in the first place?” The Doctor shook his head. “I’m missing something here, what is it?” “What is there to miss? Anasi wants to destroy my kind out of sheer spite and stupidity, it seems.” “That’s just it. It’s not in her species’ nature to destroy wantonly; there’s no benefit to them for it. Her kind attempts to control and manipulate the creatures around them. In the long run, this won’t help her achieve anything.” ———————— “She has to know this can’t last,” Twilight puzzled as she and Zecora rested for a moment, both feeling the fatigue and strain of their past day and a half with so little to eat or drink. “Crystals are strong, sure… but the pressure building up under it would have to be absolutely phenomenal. Even if it is blowing off huge updrafts, it’s just a fraction of the pressure that's building under the sheath.” “At the risk of sounding dumb, what does this have to do with Thunder Drum?” Zecora asked. “Okay… Imagine this whole cavern like one of your father’s medicine gourds. You pack a bunch of ice into it and then boil it. What happens?” Twilight tried to explain, using a metaphor that would give Zecora a visual concept of the danger. “The frozen water would turn to steam and gas... and through the vent in the stem, it would pass.” “Correct. So, what happens if you put a cork into the vent?” Zecora’s eyes widened in realization, pausing for a few seconds as she tried to think out how to say it. “The steam would build and the gourd would go ‘boom’… and the cork would shoot across the room!” Twilight nodded. “Thunder Drum is the cork. The Pit must have been what was left of a ventilation point for the gasses. That’s why it was so cold in the central chamber. The mountain is there because stone was thrown up around the Pit itself. It’s probably happened before, a long, long time ago before the zebras were even around. A violent rush of pressure from the glacier pushed up for some reason and broke through the surface, forcing all the stone and rock under the Plains up into one mountain that settled and was left hollowed out. Because of the way it would have formed with ice blocks inside of it, when they melted, they left behind all of the rooms and chambers inside.” Zecora’s mouth hung open in realization of the fact that, whatever force that was behind causing the Plains to cough up an entire mountain, it would be so overwhelmingly powerful that the village standing at its base would have no chance at all of survival. “We have to…” Zecora paused, apparently frozen as if the icy air had done its job and solidified the filly, catching her in mid-sentence. It took Twilight a second or two to realize that there was something wrong as she looked over to her young friend and saw the filly’s eyes, still wide open and darting around in horror while the rest of her body seemed to have gone rigid. “Zecora! What...” Twilight started forward, but felt her legs and joints freeze up as well, her jaw snapping shut as if something massive impressed upon her brain that movement was, in and of itself, impossible. Unable to move, unable to do more than breathe, Twilight's eyes searched around for some explanation, her face not even able to display her fear as she felt a presence move up beside her. “...Having trouble, unicorn?” Twilight’s ears twitched involuntarily as she noted the way Zecora’s eyes started to water, like her own, as they were both unable to blink. But as much as she would have liked to have sneered upon recognizing the ragged tone at her flank, Twilight still couldn’t move. ———————— “It’s just so counter-intuitive!” the Doctor continued to puzzle, moving behind Zilaka, who was continuing his task of burning away the obstacles before them as the brown pony mumbled under his breath. “Any being with the knowledge to create this sheath would recognize that it was a short-term and pointless endeavor. I haven’t encountered any creature in this universe that would be so pointlessly cruel as to do something like this simply for the sake of doing so. Even where I come from, nothing of this degree of intelligence would go through this sort of trouble, enacting a plan that required so much planning and patience, just to attack the zebra herds. There has to be something to gain; some long-term benefit that I am not seeing here.” “Or perhaps Anasi is just a monster that wants nothing more than to wipe away my people.” “No offense is intended, Zilaka, but there are easier and faster methods of doing that.” The zebra stopped in his tracks, turning back towards the brown pony with an accusing expression. “What is that supposed to mean?” “I did say ‘no offense intended.’” The Doctor drew back half a step, his ears flattening as he realized that Zilaka didn’t seem to take the first part of that statement to heart. “No, what do you mean there are easier ways to--” “I think it’s my turn take the torch,” the Doctor cut off the zebra, moving forward and seizing the still-burning spear shaft, pulling it from the zebra’s mouth and then pushing himself wholeheartedly into the task of clearing the way, leaving Zilaka hanging back, a suspicious look in his eye. “Dake a bweak, Aie hot dis!” the Doctor tried to speak with his mouth full and failed miserably, musing for a moment how it was that zebras could do so before he turned and continued the task. Now was not the time for division simply because of a slip of the tongue, and the Doctor realized that. It also wasn’t the time to go into issues that were not related to their immediate concerns. As the Time Pony pressed forward, shifting his head to draw the torch over a patch of webbing over the walls while keeping an eye out for any small, venomous spiders that might be hidden among the strands -- a hazard that he and Zilaka were both being quite cautious of -- the flames illuminated a peculiar stretch of crystal that immediately caught the Doctor’s attention. Not because of its color or gleam... and not for its angular features or simply out of geological curiosity... ...but because this particular bit of crystal had something that looked like it had been painstakingly chiseled into it; lines that formed into words as he burned away more of the webbing that obscured it. As he found the end of the etching, the last of the webbing burning away into smokeless wisps, the Hourglass Stallion took a step back to take it all in. And he promptly dropped the torch to his hooves, his breath catching in his throat. The Clock Strikes Two: Ahead Lie Past Sins The Doctor looked hard at the etching, which must have been made years earlier, crudely carved into the face of the crystal with something sharp and hard, covered in cobwebs and forgotten until this exact moment. He brought up the foreleg where he wore his hoofband, which, while lacking his very sorely missed sonic screwdriver, was still affixed with a small watch that he had tinkered with at Rarity’s suggestion, adding a self-adjusting non-linear timekeeper that automatically changed its setting to match the exact local time of anywhen he might find himself in. Ten seconds past two in the afternoon, according to the device. With a ten second adjustment for his stunned response, the implications of this left the Time Lord dry at the mouth. “This took somebody… far more clever than Anasi...” The Doctor shuddered, not even thinking to alter his words to their culturally accepted equivalent. “Doctor! Down this way, quickly!” Zilaka called out, drawing the brown earth pony’s attention away from the etching, although he did look back at it one last time before pulling up the torch and moving back towards his zebra friend. ———————— Twilight Sparkle was grateful that she couldn’t move, because as she felt a spider crawl across her chest, drawing yet another thick, sticky strand of webbing across her fur, she felt she might still be panicking and flailing in an extremely undignified and foalish manner. “Now, children... Make sure those strands are nice and tight. We wouldn’t want our little horned friend here to fall, would we?” Tagati stood before her, waving a hoof casually towards a dozen or so arachnids, each the size of her hoof. Her eyes were wide and her pupils dilated, but even in her own rather dire circumstances, Twilight realized that the mad Ash-Stripe was in far worse shape than herself. Her black gown was missing, possibly torn off in the fall or simply set aside in the admittedly warm chamber where Twilight and Zecora, both paralyzed, had been carried into by a swarm of the spiders. Now Twilight could see that the Prophet was beyond malnourished, her bones pressing out against her skin as the muscles along her flanks and withers twitched erratically, a clear sign of cramping pain that didn’t show on her face. Her tail hung limply and Twilight had the clear impression that her tail stem was broken as she stood there in front of her. The unicorn could also see a deep, grey-colored bruise along the side of the zebra mare’s head, likely where Zulu had struck her before on the stage. But despite all of this, Tagati showed no signs of discomfort, watching as the spiders continued to restrain Twilight. Her eyes darting around, Twilight did the only thing she could do at the moment, which was to take in as much of her surroundings as possible and figure out where they were. The large spiders milled about, scurrying and scuttling this way and that, although how they managed to maintain themselves, Twilight would have rather not known. She took note of a blueish-looking bat being wrapped in a cocoon by a pair of the creatures, which would have caused her to wince in disgust if she could only move. No, she had to focus on her situation... on what was going on around her. She was on a highrise that had been set to overlook the chamber, made almost completely of opaque crystals with several tunnels that led into and out of it, both on the balcony and at the ground level nearly a story below her hooves. The crystals, unlike those in the corridor which glimmered in their own light, were reflecting the glare of dozens of red-hot Emberstones that had been set around a large stage on top of angular growths, like quartz spires that rose up from the ground. The stage itself was set in front of what was by far the largest of the tunnels leading into the room that was a dozen meters directly in front of her, the glowing hot stones countering the icy chill of the caverns to create a comfortably balmy environment. But there was no comfort to be had in this as Twilight’s focus was on the figure laying at the center of the stage, where Zecora had gone from being stiff as a board to collapsing into a limp heap when she was set there, unable to move. “Comfortable?” Tagati moved close to Twilight, her grin grating on the unicorn's nerves as the Prophet maintained an upbeat tone. “It really should just relax and give in, it makes everything so much easier.” Twilight did all she could to glare at the mare, but did nothing more. “We shall take that as a 'yes.' Oh, the little pony shouldn’t worry… We have company for it.” Company? Twilight would have asked what the mare meant, but she just filled in the silence with her own voice. “A very foalish creature filled with such naive ideas.” Tagati nodded to the side, Twilight’s eyes moving to follow, although her head couldn’t turn as a swarm of spiders moved forward along the ground level. Atop their backs they carried a large, cocooned figure that had been securely wrapped and immediately brought Twilight’s thoughts back to the bat she had seen being "set aside" for a later feeding. Her heart then sank as she took note of strands of pink mane poking through the webbing and a very small window of an exposed yellow muzzle. FLUTTERSHY! Twilight’s mind reeled with shock. “We believe it was attempting to rescue them… Rather pathetic example, given the efforts of the other pony creature it traveled with.” Tagati grinned menacingly. “The moment it saw our children, it was frozen with terror, unable to so much as open its wings. If only it had done the sensible thing and flown away... Oh, well. She will make and excellent main course for the feast. You should consider it a reprieve.” There were so many things Twilight wanted to say... if only she could bring herself to open her mouth... Twilight felt her body shudder as a sudden surge run through her body; a faint, tingling rush across her fur that she could barely perceive. As if something she had lost was suddenly returned to her. And in that moment, she found her voice. “...Grrrrrr! LET HER GO!” Twilight strained, pushing forward at the webbing holding her awkwardly in place and causing the spiders around her to skitter way, scared and confused. “Twilight! Is that you!?” Tagati’s eyes, already wide, now showed an expression of confusion and anger at the pony's renewed defiance. Twilight struggled against the webbing while the cocoon-wrapped pegasus did the same, both having somehow regained both motion and speech, much to the zebra’s shock. “Fluttershy! What are you doing down here!?” “I came to help!” the pegasus responded, rolling around a bit and sounding surprisingly calm, all things considered. “Yeah, and how’s that going?” Twilight had to fight back the snark in her voice, amazed that either of them were able to keep their wits about them. “Not as well as I had hoped...” “SILENCE!” Tagati demanded, bearing teeth as she leaned towards Twilight, all pretense and haughtiness lost. “How did it do that!? Its kind is primitive! Barely more than beasts! Their minds should be like clay! How do they continue to defy me!?” Twilight glared back, now able to fully express her displeasure as she locked eyes with the mare. “Let! Her! Go!” she demanded again. “It wishes for us to release our snack? That--” “I’m not talking about Fluttershy,” Twilight spat out, as angry as she had ever been. “...You’re not?” Fluttershy asked quietly, her tone denoting a touch of disappointment. “Let Tagati go, Anasi! If you want to gloat over us, do it in person!” The air was filled with a stale, dangerous silence that lasted for several seconds as the two mares stared one another down. Then, Tagati smirked. “If it wishes to gaze upon divinity… so be it. This ‘Prophet’ has outlived its usefulness, in any case.” The change was immediate, the mare’s eyes shifting as her expression fell like a stone. For a moment, she stood there as her dilated pupils grew to reveal her natural eye color to be a sky blue, before tears brimmed in those eyes, the mare falling to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably in front of Twilight now that the puppet-strings had been cut. “I am sorry... I am so sorry... I could not stop her... I tried, and I tried… but I just...” Tagati, the real Tagati, gasped through her tears, her physical pain nothing compared to the clear emotional trauma she had been made to endure. “It’s okay… Don’t worry, it will be okay. I promise,” Twilight whispered, still struggling as she tried to swallow back the overwhelming pity she felt surge through her at seeing Zecora’s mother in such a broken, vulnerable state. “Oh, little creature…” a rasping, scratchy voice reverberated off the walls of the chamber, causing the crystals and Emberstones to shake as it rattled Twilight’s very bones. “You should not make promises you cannot keep.” The terrible, malevolent presence cackled wickedly as Twilight’s eyes rose to the corridor behind the stage, her heart starting to pound when she saw the shadow of something large stirring in the darkness. Then the voice, as sickly-sweet as curdled milk, began to sing a tune that Twilight recognized from her own fillyhood. “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider…” It was large. Not as big as a dragon, but still easily twelve feet tall. Large enough to stare her in the face while standing on the ground floor. “Woke up from her warm bed...” Two large, hairy legs emerged from the shadows, arachnid in form and with multiple joints. Covered in short, spiny hairs, they were a sight that filled her with dread. “Found herself some ponies...” “Oh, my Celestia…” Twilight gasped under her breath as the creature’s head and body emerged, a large, bulbous and ugly creature that was a grossly enlarged copy of the myriad of smaller spiders scurrying around on the webs along the wall. Fluttershy could be heard to squeal at the sight as she continued to thrash in the encompassing cocoon. “And soon she was well fed.” The gigantic spider strode easily over Zecora, the filly remaining still and limp, clearly unable to move even as the monstrosity stood over her. Its mandibles clicked, and all eight of its black, soulless eyes glared towards Twilight and the still-distraught zebra mare, who was fighting just to keep from collapsing altogether. “You have invoked me, primitive creature of the four-legged!” the creature’s tone echoed and reverberated, Twilight wincing as she was reminded of a more frightening version of Princess Luna’s "Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice." “Now bask in my glory, for I am Anasi! Queen of All! Goddess of the Deep! Mighty! Unstoppable! Unknowable!” “Unknowable, eh? Let’s just see about that,” another, lilting voice rang out, echoing off the walls and jarring every creature in the room for half a second before it started again, a shout as powerful as Anasi’s reverberating over the crystal. “ONCE UPON A TIME...!” “Doctor!?” Twilight perked, turning her head as Tagati also looked up, her still wet eyes full of shock. “In the not-so-magical region of space known as the Aceton Galaxy, there was a little blue planet named Metebelis III.” The Doctor’s voice echoed off the walls without giving a clue as to its origin, causing Anasi and her brood to shift around nervously. “Where grew a rare and magnificent blue crystal that could enhance the minds of living things.” “What!?” Anasi’s voice faltered, clearly unnerved at the telling as she turned about, attempting to find the source of the sound. “And on this planet, a ship of human colonists crashed. A decent enough sort, just looking for a place where they could lead a simple, quiet life. Although it was not their destination, they quickly made the world their home… as did something they brought with them. A simple little spider who found its way into the mountains… and into the caverns of those blue crystals. And there, it grew and grew, both in body… and in mind.” “SHOW YOURSELF, PONY CREATURE! THE QUEEN OF ALL COMMANDS IT!” Anasi shifted on her legs as Twilight realized the change in the giant spider creature’s voice. A tinge of something deep and primal. “In time, this simple little spider grew and had a brood all her own, which enslaved the descendants of the colonists and set themselves above the ‘Two-Legs’ as gods.” “TO ME, MY CHILDREN! ALL OF YOU! PROTECT YOUR QUEEN!” Anasi cried out, casting a leg forward at the spiders who had before now moved about in a manner governed by instinct, unaware of what was happening, leading Twilight to think that they were not so intelligent as Anasi claimed them to be. Obeying the giant spider, the smaller arachnids surged forward, moving in a swarm towards the larger arachnid while hanging onto the walls and ceilings. “Of course, this was all well and good… until the Great Spider decided she wanted more than just one world. She wanted all worlds, everywhere. And that’s when she decided to seek out the one perfect crystal that was for some reason missing from her web. And her search led her across time and space to a tiny, insignificant little planet… called Earth.” “Where are you!? How can you know these things!?” Twilight recognized what it was now that filled the spider’s voice: it was fear. “Zilaka?” Tagati whispered suddenly, leaving Twilight puzzled for a moment before she managed to turn her head and noticed the grey-striped zebra keeping his body low and moving towards them from the corridor. Anasi clearly distracted from her prey, the potion maker carried a small knife in his teeth as he edged towards Twilight and carefully started to cut at the strands holding her. “Quiet… he is up to something,” the zebra stallion whispered, working the knife against the webs carefully to avoid getting tangled himself. Tagati shook her head, clearly confused. “That… is my knife. How did you--” “Shh…” “Now, it was at this point in our story…” The echoing faded as the dramatic voice moved closer, and the spider’s eyes drew down towards the base of the floor. Twilight herself strained against her restraints to see down below the edge of the balcony. “...that along came a spider.” Twilight couldn’t contain the grin on her face as the brown stallion strode casually into view, swaggering with an obvious, unshakable confidence. “Who… are you!?” Anasi demanded. “I’m the only chance you have to get out of this place in one piece, Anasi,” the Doctor stated clearly, moving up towards a crystal that jutted from the floor and knocking his hoof into it, producing a low, bass note. “Hmm... Rather dull, B-Flat maybe? What do you think?” “You are in the presence of a goddess, pony!” Anasi cried out, clearly fighting to regain her composure and impose her will back into the chamber. “Anasi demands that you be in awe of--” “The crystalline superstructure that is holding back the glacial vapor is at its breaking point, Anasi,” the Hourglass Stallion interrupted the giant spider, moving fluidly across the floor to another quartz-like spire and tapping it with his hoof as he casually continued. “In less than an hour, the pressure cascade building in the glacier will supersede the crystal’s ability to release it, creating a torrent of supercooled, pressurized water vapor that will be ejected at the breaking point at somewhere ‘round about seven hundred kilometers per hour in a cryoclastic flow that will cause a massive upheaval on the surface and obliterate pretty much everything in its path. Stone, buildings, zebras, spiders... Really, it’s enough to ruin anypony’s day.” Anasi rattled and chittered as her mandibles jerked and clacked against themselves, Twilight having to take a moment to realize the giant spider was... laughing. “It would seem your unnatural knowledge has failed you in this regard.” Anasi let out another soft, chittering laugh. “The pressure load is centered under the mountain miles to the north of here, where the crystal points are at their highest. Even if the containment fails as you say, this chamber will remain untouched... As for the zebras, they were useless anyway, the whining, ignorant savages that they are. I think that I shall find far more useful slaves in the ponies once I have taken hold of these two and sent them back to their land... as my newest ‘prophets.’ The brown stallion stifled a chuckle, running his forehoof against his nose and trying not to laugh as he continued to move forward. “Ah, yes. Well, good luck with that. I somehow think you’ll find these two to be a little tougher to manipulate. Oh, and just so we’re clear: You’re safe purely by virtue of not being anywhere near the densely populated village under the mountain? That’s a relief,” the Doctor sighed, having moved to another quartz pillar and tapping it, this time setting his ear to it. “Yep, Definitely B-Flat.” “Um... Doctor? Not to rush you, or anything, but could you maybe... please... help?” Fluttershy drew attention to herself, her tone soft while she continued squirming in her cocoon, the Doctor moving up next to her. “Ah, Fluttershy. There you are,” the Doctor said, grinning as if he had just noticed her being there. “Glad you could join us. And really, I am extremely impressed. It would take a huge amount of high-grade courage to follow us down here after what you saw. Also a little smidgen of crazy, but in all honesty, I’m really glad you did. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be having this lovely little chat now, would we? Oh, and by the way, this is your last chance, Anasi. Please give up now, before anypony else gets hurt.” There was a pregnant silence in the air before Anasi, now practically foaming at her mandibles, shouted, “Who do you think you are, pony!? Anasi will never surrender to the likes of you!” “Hurry...” Twilight pulled against her webbing as Zilaka kept sawing away, tightening the strands in an attempt to make his job easier. “And if you think that your pathetic little distraction is working, you are sorely mistaken!” The sawing motion stopped as Zilaka froze up, grunting for a moment before going completely still. “No... Zilaka...” Tagati tried to pull herself up, but failed, wincing in pain as Twilight's struggles renewed. Unfortunately, not enough of the sticky substance had been removed to make a difference. “Ohhh, nice trick. Let me guess, Zeno’s Paradox applied as a mental effect? Creating the psychological illusion that motion is a physical impossibility? That does show some creativity, I have to admit. Too bad you probably have to actively maintain it to hold both Zilaka and Zecora at the same time, am I right?” The Doctor smiled warmly as he looked over his shoulder towards the two zebra and the unicorn on the balcony. “You okay up there, Twilight?” “I hope this is part of the plan!” Twilight called back, torn between frustration and concern. The Doctor simply winked. “Isn’t it always?” “Plan? What plan?” Anasi chittered again, her mandibles clicking as she moved her legs defensively over Zecora. The next time she spoke, she was starting to shriek again. “I do not know where you acquired your information, pony. But that is all you have! USELESS INFORMATION! I have my crystalline caverns! I have the foal you creatures are so enamored with! I have your zebra compatriots and precious pony friends! I have the power to dominate the minds of these stupid beasts and the will to send them forth in my name! WHAT DO YOU HAVE!?” There was another moment of silence, then the Hourglass Stallion sighed. “Well, I tried...” He lowered his head, his tone dropping. Twilight’s heart sank… for about half a second before the stallion looked up again with a smile. “Here's the thing you don’t seem to get, Anasi...” the Doctor started, a dangerously bold edge seeping into his voice. “There’s no such thing as ‘useless’ information. And for your information, I happen to have three things.” He took a few steps back, waving a hoof to his left. “ONE!” *Whish* *THUNK* “AAAGGGHHHHH!” Anasi cried out as a spear embedded itself into the joint of her front right leg, right where it met her body. “Oh, he’s over in that direction, is he?” The Doctor lowered his left hoof and waved to his right, drawing attention to a figure in the entryway at the top balcony. “I’ve got a disgruntled ex-employee of yours in my corner! You see, this is exactly why you don’t sack your Sage of War, because he’s probably not the type to just lay down and take it. Nope, he’s gonna take the first new job to come along that also offers health benefits,” the Doctor informed Anasi as Zulu moved forward into the light. He was clearly hobbled and in pain due to several large green welts that could be made out along his back and sides, most likely a result of his "tumble" with Tagati and her mane's nest of spiders before they fell into the Pit. But despite this, he still wore a smirk of grim defiance. Next, the Doctor bucked a leg back, striking a pillar behind him and humming in his throat as it vibrated. “Yeah, that's it, right there... TWO! I’ve got the exact harmonic resonance of your crystalline structure, here. And guess what? I was right the first time, it is a B-Flat.” “RAGH! DESTROY HIM, MY CHILDREN!” Anasi cried out, pain now clear in her voice as thick black blood ran down her leg, upsetting the creature who was not at all accustomed to physical pain. Obeying her command, the spiders around her started to swarm like a black wave moving towards the threat. “Oh, and lastly, FIVE!” The Doctor paused, turning to think. “No, that's not right... THREE!” *whirrrr* The sound echoed loudly across the room, and Twilight was sure that if Anasi had eyelids, all eight of them would have gone wide in horror. “I have the planet’s most dangerous tuning fork...” the Doctor's voice lowered. “...right in psychic range.” Anasi twisted around, frantically attempting to identify where the sound was coming from before her eight eyes fell on the cocoon containing the frightened yellow pegasus. The timid little winged pony who never once dared to spread her wings and escape. A mare who was now squirming in discomfort as the metal tube began to vibrate awkwardly under one of her wings at an oscillating pitch. *Whiiiirrrrrr~rrrrrrrrrr~rrrrrrrrr* ———————— Deep in the caverns, the sound echoed along the crystalline walls, resonating and growing in strength as the blue and purple minerals began to vibrate. Rather than diminish as it penetrated deeper into the structure, the vibrating increased steadily and swiftly... And it finally reached a point where it could no longer bear the strain. *CRACK* *FSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH* A single crack, less than the width of a piece of parchment, opened in the sheath, and a stream of gas burst forth with enough pressure to slice clean through a tree as it escaped, forming only a few feet away into droplets of liquid water that quickly started to pool on the top of the crystal. A short distance away, another crack broke open, the pressure pushing up against the exposed weakness as another fissure, then another, then another broke open. *Crrraaaccckkkkle* The relatively smooth and even crystal sheath began to bulge, pushing upwards as pressure from all across the glacier found its point of escape. ———————— *THOOM* “Teaka! What is happening!?” a young zebra, a stout-hearted filly of the Towiki by the name of Evoria, asked as she looked up, terrified by the earthshaking crash that was heard coming from the depths of Thunder Drum. The ground shook under the gathered herd’s hooves as the murder of Rocs overhead began to shriek and call, shattering their collective silence amidst the mountain's attempt to live up to its name. “I do not know...” answered the head of the herd and rebellious leader of the zebras’ newborn revolution, watching as much in awe of the spectacle as any of the other zebras in Stone-Water -- even the Anasi Warriors, who had been acting confused and off balance since they had awoken. As the Rocs wheeled overhead, screeching in terror while the mountain spoke with the voice of the Plains, Teaka could only come to one conclusion... Somewhere close by... gods were at war. ———————— “YOU FOOL! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” Anasi shouted in panic as her sturdy chamber began to shudder. The crackling that had at first been inaudible now filled the air as her spider swarm broke apart, clearly no longer interested in doing their Queen’s bidding. Distracted as she was, Anasi's hold on Zilaka and Zecora was broken, allowing them the strength and will to get up to their hooves. “PONIES! ZEBRAS! EVERYONE, MOVE!” the Doctor commanded, turning towards Fluttershy with a look of concentration. *Whiirrrrrrrr* A softer sound vibrated under Fluttershy’s wing, and much to her shock, the webbing that made up the cocoon burst open like a zipper, peeling back as the sticky web dried out and hardened almost instantly, allowing her to pull herself up unfettered. Shuddering as she opened one wing, the device fell to her hoof and she offered it to the Doctor, who immediately took it and crammed the wayward screwdriver into its proper place on his hoof-band. Looking around in confusion for a moment, Zecora steadied herself and began to dart towards the two ponies, her hooves crushing several of the frenzied, panicking spiders as she tried to run. “Waah!” she screamed, when she was suddenly stopped as a huge hairy leg moved down in front of her. *Whish* *THUNK* “AAAGGGHHHHH!” And the obstruction lifted out of the way as another spear buried itself in Anasi’s left front leg joint with amazing precision. Zecora spotted her brother, who was clearly fighting back the pain of multiple bites to hobble over towards his sire and dame, both of whom were now pulling the purple unicorn free of the webbing that restrained her. “Head for the passageway! To the right! They link up ahead! Go!” the Doctor shouted, making sure that Zecora and Fluttershy were racing towards the exit and watching as Twilight and Zilaka helped carry the two injured Ash-Stripes out and away. “WHO... ARE... YOOOOUUU!?” Anasi cried out in blinding pain as she tried to pull herself back towards her tunnel. The suited pony turned as his friends made their escape, taking note of the swarm of spiders attempting to do the same as Anasi retreated. *click* He flicked his foreleg out, extending the sonic screwdriver before raising it into the air with a scowl. *Whiirrrrr* “GUNNH!” Anasi spasmed as her body seized up in response to the frequency. As it bounced around the chamber, every other one of the smaller spiders did the same. *click* The pony then stepped down on the screwdriver as he glared at the enormous spider. “I already told you... I’m the Doctor,” he stated, his tone low and spiteful as he walked back towards the corridor where Fluttershy and Zecora had escaped. Anasi shuddered, her legs refusing to move even as the sound of rushing water could be heard echoing across the cavern, her black eyes locked on the brown pony. “...Time Lord...” she gasped, as the true meaning of the pony’s words struck home. “The Oncoming Storm, in the fur, so to speak,” the Doctor confirmed, taking another step back before turning about. He paused at the threshold of the corridor, looking over his shoulder. “Down came the rain... and washed the spider out.” And then the stallion ran, heedless of the screams and curses impotently thrown at him from the chamber. ———————— “How are you still standing?” Twilight asked, webs still clinging to her body as she looked over Zulu with a disbelieving eye, noting no fewer than six separate bites from which green veins were starting to spread. The Ash-Stripe Sage of War grit his teeth as he kept moving. “That monster used me like a puppet and tried to take my family from me.” Zulu gasped for breath, looking back towards Zecora, who was in tears as Tagati put her forelegs around her filly protectively while begging for her forgiveness. “Rage is a powerful anesthetic.” “But not one that will last, so let’s get you up to the surface and cook up that cure,” the Doctor followed up, rushing quickly from behind the group. “Tagati, good to actually meet the real you. Blunt question: Do you have any more of those spiders in your mane?” “No... I think they all were thrown off of me when we fell down the Pit.” Tagati pulled her hoof up to her mane and patted it down frantically to make sure. “They are lighter than we are, so they got blown off and thrown into the chasms every time I was made to come down here.” “Good, we don’t need any hitchhikers. Alright, everyzebra! Everypony! Doesn’t matter, follow me!” The Doctor dashed off again, the two ponies and four zebras following after him down the corridors as the crashing and rushing sounds echoed all around. “How are we going to get back up topside?” Twilight asked, racing towards the front of the small herd and alongside the Doctor as he turned the corner. “We just need a clear shot to the ceiling,” the brown stallion explained. “Tagati’s been down here before, so there must be constant currents that push up at a higher rate that can lift us straight to the Plains, am I right?” “Yes, right under Thunder Drum! In my... I mean, the Prophet’s chamber!” “Well, we’re nowhere near Thunder Drum, but that's not a problem. I can use my sonic to lower the air density along the sheath and excite a pressure wave we can all ride to the surface. Another sonic pulse at the ceiling should break us through, and we can...” The Doctor stopped short as he suddenly set his hooves down, grinding to a halt just short of crashing into an obstruction made of solid glittering crystal and chunks of rock that effectively barred their path. “Oh, no...” The Time Pony recoiled visibly as he looked around. “Should we go back?” Fluttershy asked, looking around frantically as the sound that was following them steadily grew louder in her ears. “No time, we’d never make it...” The Doctor shook his head, refusing to admit defeat. “Everyone, start digging! I’ll try to break up the crystal so we can pull it free! COME ON!” The sonic screwdriver clicked and whirred as the zebras and pegasus moved forward. Nearly side by side, they dug their hooves into the blockage while the brown stallion moved his sonic screwdriver over them, the crystal cracking and chipping off under hoof like talc. Meanwhile, Twilight stood back, looking up and over the top of the cave-in to realize something that made her heart sink... something she was sure the Doctor realized as well. It wasn’t just a cave-in: An entire section of solid crystal had wedged itself in the opening. There was no way out. ...But still the Doctor was trying, in spite of the impossible task before them, with the others following his lead, trusting that he could get them out. Twilight’s ears twitched. She could hear the rushing of water racing towards them, a tidal wave of pressure, likely mixed with enormous chunks of ice and crystal that had been broken off as the glacier fought to exert all of its power up and into the blockage imposed upon it. She looked to each of them... to the last of the Ash-Stripes, a family broken apart by the machinations of a terrible creature. To Zecora, a filly who had endured so much... who was meant to grow up and meet them again in a distant time and place. To her timid and yet so very courageous pony friend that had continued to come to her aid in spite of her personal fears and the terrible situation that had been so much more extreme than she had ever signed on for. And to the Impossible Stallion... who was still fighting, even though he knew that it was hopeless... who was still wholeheartedly pushing back and doing everything he could to save the ponies and zebras that had fallen under his care. Tears rimmed Twilight’s eyes as she closed them, her teeth gritting, and she tuned it all out. Blocked out everything around her and focused on one steady sound. The pulsing of her own heartbeat. ———————— The Doctor’s screwdriver continued to whirr frantically as he looked over the equines that were still pushing themselves trying to get through the impossibly deep cave-in. There had to be a way out. There was always a way. His mind raced as he considered his assets. Sonic screwdriver, auto-adjusting timepiece, potion maker, injured and poisoned War Sage, pacifist veterinarian with wings, younger potion maker, horribly traumatized and injured shamaness, gelded unicorn... The Doctor paused, the sonic screwdriver’s sound fading as something crossed his mind. Where was his gelded unicorn? “Unnnnggggh...” The Time Lord turned, shocked, as a soft grunt pulled his attention away and towards the very unicorn that had caused him to pause. Sweat streamed down her face as her eyes were clamped shut in concentration, her teeth grinding so hard that he was almost sure they were about to crack. And far more remarkably, the black marks that lined her body were flaring to life, ivory-white and with a faint smoke rising from them as Twilight Sparkle put everything she had into one. Tiny. Spark. Zecora cried out, grasping onto Fluttershy as a wall of water crashed into view, surging down the hallway towards them. The yellow pegasus stopped in her digging to reach out and stroke the filly's mane soothingly while keeping her own eyes shut. Tagati grabbed hold of Zilaka, begging for him to forgive her while they still had time. Zulu’s face remained stoic, fighting back pain as he faced the oncoming torrent with dignity. All the while, the Doctor’s eyes never left Twilight, his jaw slack as the glyphs and marks along her purple coat glowed with a brightening, eye-scalding white. The others heard the overwhelming torrent of water. The Doctor heard only a young mare’s scream as the marks along her body burst into a smoking swirl of rainbow-colored flame. Then, her eyes snapped open, causing the Time Lord, who had stared into the untempered schism of the Time Vortex at the tender age of eight, to take a step back in awe. He held her glowing white gaze for a fraction of a second before she was lifted off the ground, an aura of raw, crackling white and violet power engulfing her that drew every eye away from their imminent death. For that instant, that one fraction of a second... the Doctor glimpsed something brighter, grander, more beautiful, and more powerful than the brightest star. An instant later, the torrent of water crashed into the dead end created by the cave-in with all of the force of a tsunami.