Floating up to the top of the water he wheezed to catch his breath. The Doctor bobbed like a rubber duck, his mane soaking wet along with his raggedy coat and bowtie. He held his sonic in his mouth and made sure not to touch it with the water. Being electrocuted wasn't in his plans. The Doctor slowly grabbed the sonic with his teeth and flashed it around to try to figure out where he was. As the Doctor tried to illuminate his surroundings, he realized he was floating in a river surrounded by a tunnel. The river was obviously filled with water, there wasn't any scent nor taste, and he obviously knew how water felt. The walls around him appeared to look like he was in some sort of cave that was painted in maroon with a few lights dangling which sparked once in awhile as he continued to wearily bob down the river. As he went along, there had been nothing to grasp onto to stop, just a stream continuing to push him down and down along the river. The bottom of his hooves brisked the bottom, luckily he didn't feel anything while kicking his legs. The only thing he did feel were the jets that pumped out warm water that were frequently whooshing water on his sides. It seemed many rows of jets were along the sides of the river, yet the Doctor couldn't see them in the current dim lighting.
This must have been one of the carnival rides, yet there was nothing for a carnival-goer ride. He found it odd that there was no boat or anything to ride, most rides he had seen had carts or at least something to sit onto. This was all very strange, he felt a bit compelled to close his eyes and lie in the river as if it was a sauna. Oh, he wished to be in a sauna right now... but a memory popped up in his mind. Spitfire. Where had she gone? He turned from left to right in search of her, yet she was no where to be seen.
"Spitfire?!" he called, searching frantically for her. He hated this feeling entirely. He couldn't believe that he had lost her already. He was chilled, nervous beyond belief. If he had truly lost her, he might as well give up. She obviously couldn't be gone though... that would be too rushed up. Things had to be work out... after all they had just met, plus she wouldn't be gone this too soon. She was clever, only a fool would be gone by now. He sighed, trying to calm down from his nervousness but heard chimes breezing slowly nearby. The air had become thick with a scent of perfume that smelt really cheap. The water became warmer than before, and some steam had lured onto the ceiling. As he bobbed ahead, he heard some splashes ahead. It had to be her!
"Spitfire!" he shouted, paddling towards the figure ahead. Ahead of him was a canal boat, slowly plunking closer and closer to him. As it slowly crept closer towards him, an ominous figure stood still, facing him. Yet it had been too dark for the Doctor to see the figure's face. "Spitfire? Is that you? Oi! Where'd you get this boat from? I'll be right on!" The Doctor called, throwing himself onto the front of the boat and climbed directly on the deck. But as he went to stand, he looked up at the Whirl-Bot's face. His left eye red, and the other emerald green. Alarmed, the Doctor gripped to the side of the boat.
Whirl-Bot's side of his face was now slightly rusted and it seemed his face to the left of him was gone. His true, inner machine was showing, metal scrap and all. He could now pass off more as a cyborg other than a carnival ride. Other than the fact that Whirl-Bot looked like he had fought against a garbage disposal, the fact that this canal boat was going against the current was strange.
"What's going on here Whirl-Bot? I know I had fallen down here, but where's Spitfire? Why are we going in the opposite direction of the current? And what happened to your... beautiful face?" The Doctor questioned rather quickly. Whirl-Bot stared at the Doctor, questioning himself whether to respond or not.
"I haven't seen her, she couldn't have gone too far. And this down here is one of the old carnival rides, the 'Underground Love Tunnel'. Someone must have dug a pitfall trap that leads to the river here. It had to have been the Ringleader that made that trap with the books and the long way down here. He must have spent a whole lot of time down here." Whirl-Bot paced. "No wonder why he's closed down this ride! He's been down here the whole time plotting... but what..." Whirl-Bot paced some more, catching the Doctor's attention. Whirl-Bot hadn't been this talkative nor observed this much of what was going on. Perhaps his behavior was linked to why his face was so beaten. But the Doctor shook his head.
"Ringleader? Who's this Ringleader guy? How come you've never told me about him?" the Doctor asked, austerely.
"I would've told you if you could have somehow stopped rambling before! That's all you really do isn't it?" he grumbled. "Anyway the Ringleader is the owner of the carnival. This whole leave the carnival thing has been going on for a decade or so. I've lost time a bit. I've been having these in and out headaches where my data sources are taken over with some sort of signal. My memories are sometimes washed.. it is hard to explain but this is not important. To wrap it all up, there are many robots in this carnival and many of them are masked. All employees are forced to stay here without returning to wherever their homes had been. The Ringleader is a mad pony, only focused on power and dominance. I cannot be positive on why he's burrowed down here, maybe to hide himself in some sort of defense. Maybe he's scared... perfect." Whirl-Bot snickered.
"And this canal boat, how'd you find it?"
"It's part of the ride. It picks ponies up from the entrance and goes in a circle really, leading them back out the way they came in. Ponies sit in these canal boats, kiss and all. Sadly I landed smack into one of the boats when I had fallen. But this boat, it isn't wood..." he smirked, beginning to kick and pull off the wood which had flopped off like wallpaper, revealing metal behind it. "Many parts of the carnival are fake. Many parts are old, torn. A simple paint job can hide anything it seems. Also, I'm heading in the opposite direction towards the Ringleader's base. Sure it'll take awhile but it is better than making an entire loop back around the entrance to his base. He must be leading us here for some reason, just be careful of traps."
"And how do you know this? Are you a spy?"
"A spy? If I was a spy I could easily eliminate you now. Push you into the water, give a little electric charge. A spy would've been done with you by now. And I only know where the Ringleader's base is because he's taken me there to fix me up. Yet, he's turned me off during the trip, I cannot remember what is inside the door to his base... but only the ride in which we are in now." Whirl-Bot sighed. "But hey! What's wrong with my face?"
The Doctor gulped, guessing that Whirl-Bot hadn't noticed that half of his painted face was missing. The Doctor almost chuckled but kept his mouth shut and tapped Whirl-Bot's cheek with his hoof.
"Never mind Whirl-Bot, you look beautiful as usual." the Doctor headed back towards the bow of the boat, staring at the tunnel ahead of him. Whatever was ahead of him, worried him in a way. They had been pretty far along this river and Spitfire had not left a single clue that she was here. Whoever this Ringleader was, the Doctor was going to find him. And if that Ringleader had dared to steal Spitfire away from him, as if that didn't sound so defensive, he was going to have a few harsh spoken words to say.
"Are you positive you haven't seen her?" the Doctor said without making eye contact back at Whirl-Bot.
"Affirmative. Do you have a sample that I could possibly track her with?"
The Doctor paused. A sample sounded weird. As if he was creepy or had some sort of thing for Spitfire. But the Doctor did have one thing that might have had Spitfire's scent or DNA on it. Not that he was sure of it, but he was giving a go for it. Spitfire was important to him, but he didn't have a hair or anything like that with him. That would be awfully strange. But he did have one thing that caught his attention to what could be perfect for a scan. Although the Doctor didn't have his raggedy coat with him, he had a satchel with him that contained all he needed. Even though pockets were more favored to the Doctor, his satchel was just as good. In his satchel, he revealed the small prize he had won for Spitfire before. It was adorable, just as she was. He was quite charmed by the blue buttons that were supposed to be her eyes, glimmering every time some source of light hit it. He handed over the prize to Whirl-Bot and nodded, hoping that this would help find her.
"That better help you find her. I want that prize back in one piece." the Doctor murmured and waited for the results. With a few beeps and crank-like noises, Whirl-Bot came up with an answer.
"Scan completed. Stats of Spitfire found... processing..." he paused. "Targeted her. Race, Pegasus. Health, poor. Strength, at the moment, poor. Weapons, none carried. Tracking... tracking... found!" Whirl-Bot's ear sparked, and had to be fixed back in. "I've found her. She's in The Hall of Mirrors. Oh no, she's in there. Out of all places to be, she has to be in the worst place of all! If we don't get to that hall and find her soon, I'm afraid the Madness will get to her." Whirl-Bot twitched, and a few bolts popped off. The Doctor gritted his teeth. How could this carnival still be going around?
"Madness?" the Doctor questioned. "What Madness? The last time I've been around somepony with insanity, it took them years to obtain it. How could it take somepony an hour or a bit more to become mad?"
"Well the hall does things like that. It is untrustworthy. It causes hallucinations and odd sights. It defies what you're trying to think in what is wrong and what is wrong. For all we know, she could be seeing you!"
"Seeing me? Are you saying she would be thinking of me?" he slightly blushed and was forced to turn away.
"She is thinking many things, including you. Most of her thoughts are corrupted. We need to find her before her madness sinks in to the point where she can barely handle herself. This is awful, we need to find her now, I'm sure we'll find the hall's entrance anytime soon."
"We're on our way there at least, right?"
"Of course, once I get you inside there, you may be subjected to the Madness also. You won't be able to see absolutely properly, and you must find her as fast as you can. I'd hate for you to go completely mad in there with no return. I for one cannot go in, it would shut down my system instantly."
"Madness can't affect me roughly, I'm the Doctor. Surely if you were a thousand years old you would've gone mad by now." the Doctor almost chuckled.
"I'm glad you could be here Doctor. You're like the carnival's savior, but I bet you're everypony's savior honestly. My programs advised me to destroy any trespassers that are here after carnival hours. Yet I'm rebellious to do so. You've got a good heart, and I couldn't hurt somepony who is so diligent in saving us. I hope you'll do your best Doctor. You're going to need it." As the boat slowly plunked up and down the way, the tunnel seemed to become a nebulous blue, and the water shimmered ahead of them. The Doctor ducked his head over the boat and faced himself towards the water. The whole lovely theme was through, now becoming an eerie scenery. It was very quiet too, the rocking boat hitting itself against the current had been echoing creating the only noise around them.
"Thank you... but I'm no savior. I'm just doing what I must do." he murmured.
"What must you do, sir?"
"I must continue to save those I know of. I must try to fix my life. I've messed up so many lives that I'm afraid when I officially die I'll have the biggest burden on my back. All of those p-people..." he muttered, facing the artificial water. As the boat went along, Whirl-Bot stopped it in front of a small platform of rock leading up to a door labeled 'DO NOT ENTER'. He halted the boat and turned towards the Doctor, his ears turning from left to right as if adjusting.
"Did I hear you say the word, people?" Whirl-Bot questioned.
"I said ponies." the Doctor replied urgently.
"Hmph, my hearing is off. Well sir, good luck. You're going to need it." Whirl-Bot said making sure the boat was in place, and beside the platform without drifting. The Doctor nodded and jumped off the boat to land onto ground. He turned towards Whirl-Bot one last time and smiled.
"Very well, thank you, I'm eager to stop the Ringleader whom is behind this, and I want to make this place better just for the fillies. Everypony really, but those screams really get to me. And I shouldn't forget about Spitfire either. I have to save her. Well here I go," he took a deep breath. "Geronimo."
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