Chapter 5: Florence's Choice
The Barrier Room, Fort Rice, The Forest of Shadows, Eugora, Autumn, 1899 C.E.
The Doctor was quick to lock the door as he and Florence turned to face the source of the protective barrier. It was a large cylindrical device that looked a lot like the Cure. It stretched from the ceiling to the floor, had a fat midsection, and had a fair amount of labeled buttons and switches. The Doctor ran up to it and began examining it.
"How are we supposed to stop Jean and the Angel by just protecting this?" asked Florence.
"Let me answer your question with a question," the Doctor replied. "Does this barrier have the ability to produce a secondary barrier?"
"Yes if you give it enough power."
"Can it also...cause damage to those it's meant to repel?"
"If it's turned up to maximum power then, yes, it could cause damage."
"Okay. Give me some time and I should be able to use this barrier to rid the fort of our unwanted invaders."
The locked door then began to shake. Florence ran up to it and held the doors and locks together with her hooves.
"Open up, Doctor!" cackled the voice of Jean the puppet. "The Angel is coming! We are coming!"
"I hope the amount of time you need is small!" breathed Florence as she attempted to hold the doors together.
The Basement, Fort Rice, The Forest of Shadows, Eugora, Autumn, 1899 C.E.
Twilight was tired but she couldn't rest. There was a Weeping Angel behind her and a body-swapping monster ahead of her. She couldn't let either of them reach the Doctor, Florence, and the source of the protective barrier. She soon came to a fork in the road the connected four long, dark hallways. Twilight turned left and eventually came to a dead end with a locked door.
"Where are you, Doctor?" she breathed. She turned around and jumped. The Angel was there, standing at the end of the hallway. "Vincent." A tear rolled down her face. The Angel's face was curved into a horrible smile and its arms were reaching out towards Twilight. Twilight couldn't help but blink as another tear formed in her eye. She opened her eyes to see that the Angel had moved another few feet. There was something different about the Angel. Instead of reaching its arms towards Twilight, its arms were pointing up at the ceiling. "What is it pointing-"
The light began to flicker. Twilight's face fell. The light turned off and then back on. The Angel was a few feet closer. Twilight began to panic. She turned towards the locked door and began to pound on it. The light continued to flicker and the Angel continued to move closer.
"Guess this would be a good time to try that unlocking spell," she breathed. She aimed her horn at the lock and fired. A golden light enveloped around the lock and the door opened. Twilight took one last look at the Angel. It was almost towering above her. Twilight ran through the door and closed it behind her. As Twilight backed away from the door, the Angel proceeded to start smashing at the wooden barrier. Twilight turned and ran down the hallway. It led to a small laboratory that was home to little more than a desk and a few chairs. "What is it with laboratories being underground?"
This was no time to ponder pointless questions. The Angel was coming and it wouldn't be long before it found her. She began looking all over the room for some way to get out. There had to be something. A crawlspace. A secret passage. A fire escape. Anything to get her out of there. She could hear the door being torn apart down the hallway. It wouldn't be long now. Then she found it. It was a small opening underneath the desk. It was just big enough for Twilight to crawl through. Sure it would be cramped but at least the Angel wouldn't be able to follow Twilight any further.
"Here goes nothing," she uttered. She crawled under the table and entered the crawlspace. She could hear the door breaking off of its hinges. She quickened her pace. She was soon several yards into the crawlspace. Twilight felt safe from the Angel but now she faced a new problem. This crawlspace could lead anywhere. It could lead to the furnace. It could lead to the surface. It could lead to nowhere. But she had no choice other than to continue. She crawled and crawled for several more minutes until she bumped her head on something. She was at the end of the crawlspace. Her heart sank. "Oh no!"
There before her was a large metal wall. She was trapped underground. There was only one thing to do now. She proceeded to bang on the wall. She didn't care who answered it. All she wanted now was to get out of that cramped tomb.
"Help!" she cried. "Somepony get me out of here! Help!"
Then she heard it. The sound of footsteps quickly approaching the other side of the wall. Was this her savior or her executioner? She held her breath as the wall slowly began to move.
The Barrier Room, Fort Rice, The Forest of Shadows, Eugora, Autumn, 1899 C.E.
Florence had managed to get a good hold on the doors but she wouldn't be able to prevent Jean from getting in much longer.
"Could you hurry up a bit there, Doctor?!" asked Florence as the doors began to creak open.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" replied the Doctor as he continued to fiddle with some of the wires and hardware in the barrier source.
"Well please make it faster!"
"Open up, Florence! Open up and maybe, just maybe, I'll let you live a little bit longer!" cackled Jean.
"Not on your life!"
"What is it with all of the psychopaths recently?" the Doctor asked as he placed a set of altered wires back into the device. Florence couldn't hold on anymore. Jean was too powerful. The doors flung open and Florence flew across the room. The Doctor wanted to help her but he couldn't. He had to protect the device from Jean. Jean strolled into the room and laughed again.
"I'm sorry. Did I come in at a bad time?" Jean teased.
"Actually yes. Could you come back at a later time?"
"That's not going to happen."
Jean approached the device and came to a stop. She looked at the Doctor to see that he was almost completely ignoring her.
"You know, it's very rude to ignore a guest," she said with a smile.
"I'm not threatened by you, Jean. I know that you can't touch the device or else you'll burn up. That's why you needed the Angel to destroy it as well as get you through the barrier," said the Doctor.
"Very good. You are as smart as it said you were."
"Well at least I now know that the Angel has told you and your people good things about me."
"And you're probably confident because I can't touch you as long as you're touching the device."
"Pretty much."
"Well...I may not be able to touch you or the device, but I can touch Ms. Pipe over here."
Florence's eyes widened as she stood up. Jean looked at her and began to walk towards her.
"Stay back!" Florence ordered.
"Come on, Florence. Don't you want to play?" Jean teased.
"Not really!"
"Well, tough!"
Jean flung herself at Florence. Florence dodged the attack and ran to the other side of the room. She tried to touch the device but Jean got in her way. The unicorn grabbed her, spun her around in the air, and tossed her into a nearby wall.
"Just keep her entertained, Florence!" said the Doctor. Florence got up and rubbed a bruise on her right foreleg.
"Sure. No problem at all," she groaned as Jean pounced at her once more.
The Basement, Fort Rice, The Forest of Shadows, Eugora, Autumn, 1899 C.E.
The wall slid open and Twilight held her breath. A gruff pony a little bit older than her reached into the crawlspace and pulled her out. Twilight got back on her hooves and shook her head. She faced her savior to see that it was none other than Vincent. Her jaw dropped. It was definitely Vincent but he looked different. He had a small beard growing on his chin, his mane was wild and strewn, his body was dirty, and one of his hind legs was covered in bandages.
"Vincent...I thought the Angel killed you," she breathed.
"Nope. Weeping Angels don't always kill you. Most of the time they send you into the past to feed off of your potential energy," replied the gruff Vincent.
"Wait! You went into the past? How do you know more about Weeping Angels? What happened to you there? How long were you there? How did you get back?"
"You'll find out the answers to all of those questions in due time. Though, your last question can be answered if you turn around."
Twilight turned around to see the TARDIS standing a few feet away. The door was open and a mare was standing in the doorway. Twilight's eyes widened even more at the realization that the mare was herself! Except, this Twilight was definitely older. Her mane was longer, her body structure was somewhat bigger and taller, and she had the face of an extremely mature mare.
"H...how?"
"Time is complicated," replied Twilight the elder. "Remember?" Twilight the younger nodded her head. "Good. Well we better be leaving. You two have a fort to save."
"Thanks for the ride!" called Vincent.
"No problem!" called the voice of the Doctor from within the TARDIS. Twilight the elder smiled, nodded to Twilight the younger, and retreated back into the box. The doors shut and the TARDIS slowly disappeared back into the stream of time.
"That...was...interesting," Twilight stuttered. Vincent laughed and patted her on the shoulder.
"Come on," said Vincent. "We still have a fort to rescue."
Twilight nodded and the two ponies ran down the nearby hallway.
The Barrier Room, Fort Rice, The Forest of Shadows, Eugora, Autumn, 1899 C.E.
Florence couldn't take it anymore. Jean was too powerful.
"Doctor!" cried Florence.
"Just a little bit longer!" cried the Doctor. The Doctor finally placed the last set of mended wires back into the device. "Ready!"
"No you don't!" Jean snapped. She picked Florence up and threw her at the Doctor. The Doctor had no time to dodge and soon found himself flying into an opposite wall with Florence. The Doctor stood up and regained his balance just in time to see that the Angel was now standing in the doorway. "Let's take care of those useless lights."
Jean's horn began glow dimly and the main light in the room slowly began to go out. The Doctor ran towards the device but Jean took him out with a blast of magic. Then the light went out.
"No!" cried Florence. Suddenly there was another flash of light within the darkness and the main light came back on. The Angel was now a few inches from the device and Jean was laying down on the ground. The Doctor and Florence turned towards the doorway to see Twilight and Vincent standing there. Vincent had taken Jean out with an extremely effective magic blast from his horn. "Vincent! What...what in the name of Celestia happened to you?"
"It's a long story," replied Vincent as he ran over to the weakened Jean and pinned her to the ground.
"Doctor," said Twilight. "Whatever you have planned, do it now!"
Jean slowly awakened and began struggling against Vincent, though he was proving himself to be as strong, if not stronger, than she was. The Doctor and Florence ran over to the device and the Doctor flipped a blue switch. The device emitted a light blue shield that began expanding from the exterior of the device. The Angel turned into a pile of dust as soon as the barrier hit it. The barrier touched Jean and she screamed in anger. Jean then became lifeless as the barrier fell over her.
"You altered it to kill only Weeping Angels and those body-swapping creatures!" exclaimed Twilight.
"Exactly!" said the Doctor as he reached to turn the device off. Florence pushed the Doctor aside and increased the barrier's power, causing the shield to extend faster. "What are you doing?! We've saved the fort from Jean and the Angel!"
"Don't you see, Doctor? There are more creatures like the one that killed Davis and Jean. I'm giving this fort life insurance," said Florence as she brought the shield to maximum power.
"Genocide is not the way to go!"
"Yes it is with creatures like that! Why are you defending them?! Why would you protect a species that evil?!"
"Because I've committed genocide myself!"
"What?" asked Florence.
"Are you talking about the Daleks?" Twilight asked.
"Yes," said the Doctor.
"Why is that bad? They were an evil species!" Florence exclaimed.
"Sure they were evil...but you know what happened as a result. You told me earlier that you knew."
"Yes. The extermination of the Time Lords."
Everypony in the room fell silent. The Doctor's head fell down but he quickly picked it up again.
"The Daleks were evil and they deserved extermination. But committing genocide on any creature, no matter how evil, makes you no better than them. I only result to killing an enemy if there's no other alternative and if it's the only way to protect those in trouble. We've saved the fort and all of its inhabitants. The barrier is still up, the monster inside Jean and the Weeping Angel are dead, and we're all safe. Turn the barrier off, Florence. Killing their entire species makes you as evil as them. Do you really want to become like them?"
Florence was silent. She couldn't respond. She raised her head and sighed. Her eyes closed and she slowly pulled the blue lever back up. The blue barrier disappeared and Florence fell to the ground. She cupped her head in her hooves and began to cry. Vincent walked over to her and cradled the emotionally troubled scientist in his arms. Twilight then ran over to the Doctor and gave him a big hug. The Doctor was startled by the surprise hug but he returned the favor. Twilight let go and took a few steps back. The danger had passed.