Applejack fixed her Stetson as she crawled through the tunnel. She had no light to help her through the darkness that was the Everfree Castle. The Doctor had offered her his Screwdriver, but she had no idea what it could do or how it worked so she elected to go through under the embrace of the darkness. It was lucky for her that it wasn’t a waste disposal duct that she was crawling thro-
Squish
The farm pony cursed as she moved her rear left leg. “Yew got to be kiddin’ me,” she mumbled. “Doctor, ya owe me fer this.”
She continued crawling through, ignoring the stench of the waste she stepped in. Eventually she found the light of a torch and crawled faster. She knew that getting through the castle with a stench as strong as the one on her hoof was going to be more difficult.
Applejack reached the grate leading into the castle. She looked around for any Changeling that would be in the area. Seeing no bugs in pony clothing nearby, Applejack pushed the grate open and snuck inside. She wiped her hoof on the carpet and took in the surrounding area. She was a floor above the Organ Room. All she had to do was sneak through and take her spot. The Doctor and Sea Crest were counting on her. Celestia and Luna were counting on her.
Celestia and Luna.
Applejack turned a corner and froze. There were two Changelings standing guard at the staircase she was supposed to go down. She shifted her hat and fished for her rope that she always kept around her. She tied it to her ponytail and readied herself. She threw her lasso and tied the first Changeling around the waist.
Before the mutant bug knew what was going on, it felt itself fly backward through the air and toward the farm pony. She rose on her hind legs, caught the Changeling, and slammed it on its back in a Suplex. It was knocked out instantly. She did the same for the second one, this time slamming it into a nearby wall.
The farm pony smiled. Her self-defense classes were very helpful, even though she didn’t need the defending part of it. She ran down the staircase and toward the empty hallway. Of course, there were some Changelings in her pathway, but they fell to the power of Suplex City.
Applejack turned a corner and staring right at her was the pipe organ that controlled all the traps and various gizmos in the whole castle. The organ was first introduced after Pinkie’s pranks against them on their first night at Everfree Castle a few years prior. The Doctor did say that time would be moving different while in the TARDIS. She just had to guess these days.
The farm pony started walking into the room, but her blood froze. Standing in front of the organ were two Changelings, and they saw her enter. Before she could ready her lasso, they began charging at her. She turned on a dime and started running back through the hallway, leading the Changelings away from the room. She turned a corner leading to the staircase and hid.
“C’mere ya varmits,” she whispered.
The sound of hooves clopping on the hard stone floors grew closer. She readied her hind legs for a good dose of apple bucking. When the sound of hooves on stone got to their loudest, Applejack pushed back with her front legs and bucked at the Changelings. Her legs made contact as the sound of bugs in pain made its way to Applejack’s ears. The Changelings flew through the air and fell into the darkest shadow of the corridor. “And that’s how ya do it,” she said to an empty room.
Applejack continued into the hallway. She entered the Organ Room and sat at her post. Being that she last saw this piece with her friends upon restoring the castle, Applejack never saw it all cleaned up and ready. She also remembered that there was a music book filled with all the traps and what keys activated them.
There wasn’t one here.
The farm pony sighed. She was going to have to remember the book completely. This gave her the notion that she would be the first pony to actually play it. Applejack smiled as she thanked history for giving her this opportunity. Applejack slammed her hooves into the keys and began to play.
The two Changelings on the towers were suddenly shot into the air by a spring-loaded platform. They flew off into the air, leaving the Doctor unsure as to where they were landing. With the lines of sight cleared, Sea Crest willed the bridge to appear from the heavy fog nearby. “So what do we got?”
The Doctor sighed. “The Cataclysm would most likely be in the throne room with the leading Changeling if they have it. If not, it is probably still in the vault. From what you’ve told me about it, the magic sealed within emits a negative field of energy that can cancel already existing magical fields. It sounds more like an Electromagnetic Pulse to me,” he said.
Sea Crest chuckled. “While designing it, we didn’t like to use the term ‘Negative energy’ since it is impossible to form such power, but yes. The whole purpose was to cancel out a Draconiqui’s natural magical aura that kept together most of its power and form. Once we formally tested the power, we would then force them into a summit and organize the terms for surrender,” he said.
“Did you think that would work?” The Doctor asked.
Sea Crest shook his head. “Draconiqui don’t take a lot seriously. King Cosmos planned on a peaceful summit to discuss how we both can emerge victors in the war, but whenever we did…”
“The Changelings attacked?”
The alicorn nodded. “It’s almost like they wanted us to cause all this chaos. In the 1,300 years that I’ve been on this rock, I’ve never seen such devotion to destruction before, and I’m fighting Draconiqui for crying out loud.”
“And how did the war start again?”
Sea Crest sighed and shrugged. “I don’t remember. The war started when I barely turned 500 years old. While ponies think of us as gods, King Cosmos never liked being addressed as such. Alicorns have a basic life span of 5,000 years and have great memory spans. I’m sorry, but I don’t remember how it all started.”
The Doctor put a hoof to his chin. “Maybe I’ll work it out once we get inside. C’mon, off we pop.”
The two stallions ran across the bridge and into the castle. Changelings immediately met them at the front door, but Sea Crest’s quick thinking allowed them to keep the noise to a minimum as they moved.
While they ran through the castle, the Doctor kept tabs on the hallways they were in. Most were labeled as they ran, giving him the idea that they corresponding numbers on the walls matched the codes below ground that Applejack had access to.
After running through the castle for what felt like forever, Sea Crest came to a stop in front of two large doors. These doors, unlike all the others, had no handles to open. The Doctor stopped a few meters away and returned to where the alicorn soldier was standing. He was staring right at the wooden doors.
“Do we push?” the Doctor asked.
Sea Crest shook his head. “These doors don’t open at all. These doors only reveal where the entrance to the vault where The Cataclysm is hidden. Doctor, I know how much you are against using that weapon, but it is the only chance we have at stopping this madness before the world is destroyed,” he said.
“Changelings don’t have the technology to destroy the world, and that’s the problem,” the Doctor said.
“I know, but they can if we let them stay their welcome any longer. King Cosmos had a lot of military secrets at his disposal, secrets that can benefit and doom all life on the planet.” Sea Crest chuckled. “He even wanted to build an entire kingdom in the north completely made of crystals. He was mad.”
One of the many things Cosmos accomplished was create the Crystal Empire? Alright then, the Doctor thought. “He once said building a crystal kingdom would be a sort of the first step in branching off into unknown territories around the world and beyond. An empire completely made of magic,” Sea Crest said. “While I wasn’t against the idea of building the kingdom, I was against the idea of it being independent from the empire.”
The Doctor shrugged. “I don’t know, building the Crystal Empire is a grand idea. I’m not using future knowledge in this, but Cosmos did have the right idea in building an empire entirely out of magic alone. Imagine the magical breakthroughs that could be discovered while in the process,” he said.
Sea Crest sighed. “It doesn’t matter about the empire, right now I need to see if they have The Cataclysm. Come with me Doctor, and see what the Alicorn Empire left behind.”
“Using the most dangerous weapon in the history of ponykind as a legacy for a grand empire was a poor decision,” the Time Lord said.
“Says the Time Lord who used another ultimate weapon to destroy entire civilizations,” Sea Crest said.
The Doctor rolled his eyes. Sea Crest charged up his horn and teleported himself and the Doctor to the other side of the room. Since the Doctor had experience with teleportation using unicorn (or in some cases, alicorn) magic, the process was supposed to be smooth.
The journey was anything but smooth.
Once they disappeared in a flash of light, the Doctor felt his entire body being pulled and twisted. His eyes stung and his body felt as though he was being electrocuted. His vision was clouded by smoke as he was pulled into the light.
The smoke started to clear out as his body slowed its speed. His mind, still reeling from the experience, began to make rational thought. The room they were in was circular and lined with multi-colored crystals. There were no windows and the doorway they came through wasn’t there anymore.
In the center of the crystal room was a crystal pedestal with a glowing glass ball. The Doctor’s eyes widened as he approached the artifact. “That…is the Cataclysm.”
The Time Lord turned to the alicorn behind him. “I thought it was an event in time that destroyed civilization!”
Sea Crest shrugged. “King Cosmos believed that a magical counterspell would sever magical connections between the Draconiqui. We tested it by magically infusing two pillars together, then the monsters we found patrolling Tartarus. The counterspell works by separating the structures down to a molecular level. This spell can even break down the strongest shield spells by shutting down a Magic Core.”
The Time Lord simply stared at the orb. “At least it’s still here, so the Changelings haven’t fully searched the castle.”
“We have to destroy it.”
Sea Crest looked over at the Doctor. “Are you serious?! This orb can help us in defeating the Changelings once and for all! If we are to use this against them, then we can survive!”
“And if this gets out of control, everypony in every single settlement on this side of Equis will feel a magical blackout that will throw everypony into chaos! Pegasi will not be able to control the weather, unicorns cannot raise and lower the Sun and Earth Ponies will lose their connections to the earth. The future that my companion belongs in will be destroyed, or worse. This weapon must be destroyed.”
Sea Crest charged his horn. “The Cataclysm is the only thing keeping the Alicorn Empire and all her allies in power. If it is destroyed, and improperly I may add, there will be more harm done than good.”
The Doctor raised his Screwdriver at the Cataclysm, zapped it, and then raised it at Sea Crest. “If you lose control of the weapon, you will be giving the Changelings ultimate control over the artifact. The last relic of the Alicorn Empire will be a doomsday weapon. Every pony, Changeling, Draconiqus and every other magical creature under Solaris’ Sun. You cannot do this!”
Sea Crest pieced together what the Doctor did to his Screwdriver. “Then we are at a standstill. I cannot take the Cataclysm because you can shut down my Magic Core, and you cannot take it because you cannot teleport.”
The Doctor looked around. “There must be a third option then.”
A low explosion rocked the room. The Changelings were acting the next step in their plan.