//------------------------------//
// The Living Water 
// Story: Doctor Whooves Episode 7: The Good, the Bad, and the Derpy 
// by Doctor Perseus 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 2: The Living Water


Twenty Feet Underground, Under the Everfree Forest, Equestria, Gaia, Autumn, 1002 C.E.

The only lights in the dark tunnel were that of the New Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver and the illumination spell cast by Rarity. The air was dirty and stale and critters of all types scaled the walls of the fresh tunnel.
"How far into the forest do you think we are?" Derpy asked. 
"We've been walking for several minutes now. I can assume that we're well into the forest," the New Doctor replied.
"Can we please get out of here soon? This is not good for my complexion!" Rarity asked.
"There are more things at stake here aside from your complexion," said Applejack.
"I know but I don't want to look like a raggedy, dirty mess when we save Twilight!"
Applejack rolled her eyes but then let out a soft chuckle. 
"I hope Twilight and Dashie are okay," said Pinkie Pie.
"Thalia's not going to do anything to them, is she?" Spike asked. 
"Not until she has my past self in her clutches. She wants them to suffer all at once," replied the New Doctor.
"Why?" Fluttershy asked.
"Let's just say that Thalia has a pretty rocky history with me and Twilight, especially at this point."
"What happened?" Spike asked.
"You'll all find out soon enough."
The group fell silent as they continued to trek deeper and deeper into the underground. 
Suddenly, the air became incredibly cold and the New Doctor came to a halt.
"What's wrong?" asked Pinkie Pie. The New Doctor sniffed the air and Derpy followed suit. It smelled different. The smell of earth was gone and was instead replaced by that of a chlorine pool.
"Is it just me or does it smell like a bathhouse in here now?" Derpy asked. Everypony took turns sniffing the air and nodding in agreement.
"Strange. Why would it smell like a bathhouse underground?" Applejack pondered.
"At least it smells somewhat better than it did a few moments ago," said Rarity. "But I will say that it is peculiar."
Derpy took a step forward and found herself stepping into a pool of water.
"Where did this come from?" she asked. Everypony looked down at the puddle.
"Well we are underground. I'm sure there's plenty of water pockets all over the place," said the New Doctor.
"Then why is it growing?" Spike asked nervously. He was right. The puddle of water was slowly expanding. 
"I say that we keep moving."
The New Doctor proceeded to continue his sonic drilling of the earth when he suddenly found a small geyser of chlorine water smashing into his face. Jets of water began spilling out from the walls, floor, and ceiling. Within seconds, everypony was drenched.
"What's going on?!" asked Fluttershy.
"We need to get out of here! Now!" said Derpy. The New Doctor nodded and began carving an escape route towards the surface. More water rained down on them as they gradually rose towards the surface.
"We're almost there!" said the New Doctor. Rarity and Spike both yelped suddenly as the water on the ground began to wrap around their legs like glue. Arms of water then reached out from the ground and began pulling them under the earth. Derpy and Pinkie Pie grabbed onto their sinking friends. The New Doctor tried to carve away the earth with the Screwdriver in order to free Spike and Rarity but all that resulted in was more water spewing out of the ground. 
"I'm too young to drown!" cried Spike as he wrapped his claws around Derpy's hooves. Rarity was so busy fighting the water arms that she lost concentration of her illumination spell and everything went dark. The New Doctor illuminated his Screwdriver but it wasn't as bright. Suddenly, Fluttershy gasped and pointed towards the darkness. A wall of water was slowly approaching them from the darkness. Inside the water wall, hundreds of pairs of bright, red eyes glared at them. Sinister voices echoed from the water.
"Take them! Take them! Take them!" cried the voices. That's when the ceiling collapsed and a mountain of water crashed down on top of them. Everything went dark. Derpy gasped for air within the pocket of water. The last thing she felt before passing out was the New Doctor's hoof rubbing against hers. The voices laughed as she and the others lost consciousness.

The Foggy Abyss, Everfree Forest, Equestria, Gaia, Autumn, 1002 C.E.

The Doctor awoke to find a wet towel lying on his face. He was lying on his back and the air around him was cool and refreshing. He looked up to see a starry sky background surrounded by the tops of large, mangled trees. The Doctor turned to see a sleeping Opal lying down next to him.
"Ah. I see that you're awake," said a deep voice. The Doctor looked to see a male zebra sitting next to a small campfire. The Doctor sat up and approached the fire. His head was throbbing immensely. 
"What hit me?" he asked as he sat down. The zebra laughed and pointed towards an area behind the Doctor. The Doctor turned around to see a cloud of fog several yards away.
"You and your friend fell victim to the Foggy Abyss."
The Doctor then remembered the images he had seen. Rose, Martha, the Donna node, the possessed Master, Adelaide, the Ood, the children, and the ginger woman.
"What happened in there?"
"My sister has told me of the Foggy Abyss many times. If you're not careful, the fog can worm its way into your mind and drive you completely mad."
"Those images. The people and things I saw."
"Nothing more than just temporary madness."
The Doctor wanted to believe that but something about the images felt too real. Some of it may have been temporary madness but there was a certain pinch of truth hidden away in that madness.
"Well I guess introductions are in order," said the Doctor as he cleared his throat. The zebra chuckled and smiled at the Doctor.
"I would think so," replied the zebra.
"I'm the Doctor. And, no, there's nothing else to it. I'm just the Doctor."
"Simple name. Easy to remember. That's good. My name is Caroze."
"Interesting name. Sounds foreign."
"It is. My sister and I come from a faraway land. My sister moved here a little while ago and I came to visit her recently. I went into the forest to pick up some herbs for her but it appears that something has happened while I was gone."
Caroze pointed off in the direction of town. The Doctor could see Twilight's protective barrier rising into the sky. He was amazed that it was still working.
"The town appears to be safe, for now," Caroze continued. "I would have brought you back to my sister's house to heal you and your friend but the way back is dangerous at the moment. The powers of the Foggy Abyss are stronger than ever and a wicked force is blowing through the trees."
The Doctor listened as a soft wind blew through the branches of the trees. He sniffed the air and his nose twitched with the scent of unstable power.
"I can feel it," he said. "Our enemy has dangerous plans"
"Am I to assume that you know the one causing this?"
"You assumption is correct. Her name's Thalia. I've only come across her once before but she's a nasty customer. She'll stop at nothing to seek her justice."
"Justice? Has somepony wronged her?"
"You could say that. More like somepony will wrong her."
"Do you know the pony who has, or will, wrong her?"
"You could say that I know this certain somepony pretty well."
Caroze fell silent and turned towards Opal.
"Don't worry about your friend, Doctor. She'll awake soon," he said. The Doctor turned back to face Opal. He looked at her and thought about what she had said. He was going to travel around with her some day, well her past self any way. "Something on your mind, Doctor?"
"You could say that," the Doctor replied as he turned back towards the zebra. "I have two friends who are in danger. I've left several friends behind. I'm lost in the woods and my only ally is a friend who's closer to me than I am to her. Things are complicated."
"Life is always complicated."
"Well most lives aren't as complicated as mine or the lives of those who travel with me."
"You seem like a pony who does a lot of running. Ever tried to slow down?"
"Not really. I find slow to be boring. I'd rather be out, seeing the universe."
"Would you really? Have you ever thought about slowing down?"
"Maybe. I guess the thought comes across every now and then."
"You should consider acting upon that thought sometime."
Opal let out a groan as she woke up. The Doctor walked to her side and patted her forehead.
"What happened?" she asked.
"We ran into some complications. Don't worry now. Everything's fine," he replied. Opal reached her hoof up and patted the Doctor's cheek.
"Your eyes. They look so young. They're just like the eyes I saw when I first met you back in 987."
The Doctor chuckled as he helped Opal up.
"Come to the fire, child. It's best to warm up on cold nights like this," said Caroze. Opal remained silent as she approached the fire and sat down. "And your name is?"
"Opal," replied the tired mare. "And yours?"
"Caroze."
"Thank you for saving us."
"It was no problem."
Suddenly, the Doctor felt his muscles tense up. His vision became blurred and the scene around him faded away. He soon found himself floating in a bubble of water. There was an air pocket around his muzzle, allowing him to breathe. Derpy, Spike, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity were floating in the bubble too but they were unconscious. It was pretty dark but the bubble glowed with a green light. The Doctor looked down at his coat. His coat color was different and his mane was different too. He felt something sticking out of his forehead. He felt it. It was a horn, a unicorn horn.
"Beware the living water," a voice from inside his head warned. "Don't let it catch you."
The Doctor tried to reach for Derpy or Spike or any of them but he had no control over his body. His body began moving on its own. The Doctor watched as his body pulled out a Sonic Screwdriver with a red tip and began drilling a hole in the bubble. Spike stirred awake and so did Derpy and Applejack. The vision faded and the Doctor found himself back with Opal and Caroze.
"You okay, Doctor?" Opal asked. "You look like you just saw a ghost."
The Doctor thought back to foggy visions.
"No. Don't worry. I've already seen plenty of ghosts today," he replied. The Doctor turned toward Caroze. "Tell me. Have you ever heard of something along the lines of living water?"
"I have but only in myths," the zebra replied.
"I'm interested. Tell me!"
"I've heard stories of creatures made up entirely of water. They were used centuries ago to trap prisoners in portable cages. I don't remember much of the details. Why do you have a sudden interest in that?"
"Because I think my friends are being held by some of those creatures. Bah! I go from living snowstorms to living water. This has just not been my week."
Opal looked at the Doctor with a slightly confused look.
"So what do we do now? Continue on to face Thalia or rescue your other friends?" she asked. The Doctor wanted to say that they should go save Derpy, Spike, and the others but something told him that they were in the capable hooves of somepony else.
"I think we should go after Thalia. She's the source of all of this," he replied.
"Do we leave now?"
"It's too dangerous at night to head out into the forest," Caroze warned.
"Well it's definitely not that much safer during the daytime either."
"Good point."
"I say we go now. Our trip to Thalia is going to be dangerous at whatever time we decide to go after her," the Doctor stated. Opal and Caroze nodded in agreement. Caroze quickly doused the flames of the campfire and, within a few minutes, they were off.