Doctor Whooves Episode 17: Angie the Great

by Doctor Perseus

Esmeralda's Greatest Weakness

Chapter 5: Esmeralda's Greatest Weakness

The Changeling Castle, Gustus Amoris, the Changeling Empire, Gaia, Summer, 56 C.E.

Donna exhaled deeply as she stepped into the room before her. Of all the things Donna had expected to come across in this castle, what she saw before her was not on the list. The room that Donna was now in was a nursery. Large, stuffed animals littered the floor, the air smelled like a mix of baby powder and flowers, and beautiful rays of sunlight fell in through the several clean windows.

"Well, I wasn't expecting this," Donna said as she stepped forward. The floor of the nursery was covered in a soft, white carpet and a nearby table was covered in a mixture of sugary items. Donna froze as she heard the sound of cooing from nearby. She turned towards one of the windows to see none other than a cradle standing next to it. The cradle was fairly large and was shaking a bit. Donna lowered the knife as she approached the side of the cradle. She looked in and couldn't help but smile. Sitting on its hind legs in the cradle was a young, male changeling. He didn't look to be little more than two years old. He had wide, green eyes that sparkled in the sunlight and an adorable expression on his face that could reduce anybody's or anypony's heart to lovable mush. The young changeling tilted his head as he examined Donna, who probably looked like some sort of alien from his point of you. He then gave a cute laugh that made Donna chuckle a bit. "Who knew changelings could look so cute as babies?" Donna reached down into the cradle and patted the changeling's head with her free hand. As she pulled her hand away, she noticed that there was a spot in the changeling's chest that was bright red. "I wonder what that's about."

Suddenly, the sound of smashing plates emanated from behind Donna. "NNNOOO!" shrieked a frightened, female voice. Donna turned around to see, what appeared to be, a changeling maid standing a few feet away from her. A metal tray and the remnants of a broken bowl were lying at her hooves. Donna suddenly realized how bad this must have looked: her standing over a baby's cradle with a knife in one of her hands.

"No, no, no!" Donna said as she turned from the maid to the knife to the baby. "This isn't what it-"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT ESMERALDA HAS DONE! HE'S INNOCENT! I WON'T LET YOU HURT HIM!" The changeling maid rushed towards Donna at an incredible speed. Donna dodged the attack and jumped to the side. She didn't want to use the knife to defend herself from the maid; not with an infant watching.

"I'm not trying to-" The maid wasn't listening. She simply let out another yell before charging at Donna. Donna broke into a run to avoid the maid's attacks. Donna knew she was in trouble now. It was obvious that this maid had a strong, motherly bond with the baby changeling; and Mama's going to do anything to protect her child. Donna turned back to the maid and willingly dropped the knife on the ground. "See?! No knife! I come in-" The maid still wasn't listening. Donna dodged another attack but quickly found herself backed up against a wall.

Time to see if there's anything I can use to get her to stop attacking me, Donna thought as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out a random item that Bass had given her. It was a small, green sack with the words Sleeping Gas Bomb printed on it. With a quick shrug of her shoulders, Donna tossed the bomb at the maid's hooves. The bomb exploded in a cloud of green gas that encircled the maid. The maid coughed wildly for a few seconds before falling to the ground and entering a deep sleep. "Thank you, Bass," Donna said with a sigh as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a rope.

Canterlot Castle Gates, Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 56 C.E.

Angie and Alec observed as the soldiers helped escort the civilians to safety. They would be taking refuge in the vast dungeons of Canterlot Castle.

"You proved to be quite helpful," Alec said. "The soldiers of Canterlot owe you much gratitude."

"Thank you," said Angie. "Could you have your soldiers do one thing for me, though?"

"And that would be?"

"Could you have them stop terrorizing mares? I've heard enough of soldiers abusing their power."

"I'll look into it."

"You better."

"You're quite a no-nonsense pony, aren't ya?"

"Nah. I'm just a mare who's been through a lot lately."

"I think we all have." Just then, the earth beneath the city shook violently.

"What the hay was that?!" asked Angie. A wave of green washed over the magical shield.

"They're breaking through!" gasped Alec. The general turned his attention to the soldiers and the civilians. "GET INSIDE QUICKLY! THEY'RE COMING!" The civilians picked up their pace and rushed through the gates. Angie turned up towards the sky and watched as the changelings sent another wave of green over the shield.

The Changeling Castle, Gustus Amoris, the Changeling Empire, Gaia, Summer, 56 C.E.

Donna was busy feeding the baby changeling a bottle of milk when the maid awakened. The maid looked at Donna and tried to attack her but quickly found out that she was tied up.

"Thank God for that rope," said Donna as she turned her attention away from the baby and sat down a few feet from the changeling maid. "Listen to me. I'm not here to hurt the baby."

"You're here to find Queen Esmeralda's greatest weakness, aren't you?!" snapped the changeling.

Donna wasn't entirely sure if she should tell the maid the truth, but she decided to do it anyway. "Yes. I am."

"Then you are here to hurt him!" Donna looked back at the baby and then back at the maid.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Are you saying that Esmeralda's greatest weakness is...that baby?!"

The maid stopped struggling. "You mean you didn't know?"

"No! The only clues I've heard is that it's behind a door with the Changeling Empire's seal on it and that it's possibly her own heart."

A sad smile suddenly appeared on the maid's face. "Why do you think that baby's her weakness, anyway?" Donna's eyes widened as she stood up and walked back to the cradle. Her eyes focused in on the glowing, red spot in the baby's chest.

"No way." Donna looked at the maid. "You're kidding!"

"That's the only reason he's alive," the maid explained. "Esmeralda killed his brother...and his father."

"What? Why?" Donna asked.

"Esmeralda only wants one heir to her throne. She didn't want there to be any sibling rivalries."

"Is that baby-"

"Yes. He's Esmeralda's son, the Prince of the Changeling Empire, and my nephew."

"Your...nephew?"

Another sad smile appeared on the maid's face. "My name's Thorne. My brother Adric and I were invited to this castle by Esmeralda over three years ago. At first, we were excited to be invited. However...everything went to hell afterwards. Esmeralda seduced my brother and, once it was confirmed that he had managed to impregnate her, she killed him. When she gave birth, everypony was surprised to find that there was not one baby but two. Like I said earlier, Esmeralda didn't want to deal with sibling rivalries; so, she killed the weakest of the two: Ven. The little one over there was allowed to survive. The reason Esmeralda picked the strongest is because she wanted a host. Cloak has carried a piece of his mother with him ever since the day he was born."

"That's his name?" A smile appeared on Donna's face.

"Yes. Esmeralda chose it. Cloak's the only reason that I'm still alive. Esmeralda didn't want to trouble herself with a baby while she went off to fight the Equestrians so she put me in charge. Even thought he's my nephew, he's-"

"Like a son to you."

"Exactly."

"I came here to find Esmeralda's weakness and help end this war with the Equestrians. Now, things have become a whole lot more complicated."

"You mean...you're not going to kill him?"

"Of course not. I hope it never comes to that. I think the key to this would be removing Esmeralda's heart from Cloak's body. But I can guess that's easier said that done." Thorne smiled up at Donna. "What?"

"I...I guess I should apologize for attacking you. When I saw you, I thought you were some deadly creature sent by the Equestrians or the resistance to kill Cloak. I hope you don't mind me asking, but what are you?"

"I'm a human. My species exists in an alternate universe from this one. That's apparently why I was able to get past the shield that can keep everything in this universe out of this castle." Donna knelt down in front of Thorne and undid her bonds. She then walked over towards Cloak's cradle.

"What are you doing now?" Donna reached into the cradle and picked up Cloak. Cloak cooed as he settled into Donna's arms.

"I'm getting out of this castle."

"But you can't! You can't take Cloak out there! I won't let you take him!"

"Please, Thorne. Let's not fight again. Look, I don't like it either but I feel that Cloak is the key to defeating Esmeralda. I can tell that you're not fond of her or this war. Wouldn't you like it all to end?"

"Yes, of course! But-"

"I promise that I'll try to find a way to defeat Esmeralda without putting Cloak's life at risk, but right now this is our best chance at defeating Esmeralda! Please, Thorne. Lots of ponies and good changelings are suffering from this war. It needs to end!"

Thorne was silent for a moment. "Fine...but I'm coming with you."

"Fair enough." Donna and Thorne began to make their way out of the nursery when Donna froze in her tracks. "Wait a moment. What about that fire monster upstairs?" she asked.

"Fire monster? Oh, right. Don't worry. I'll take care of it," Thorne replied. Thorne walked over to a nearby wall and pulled a previously hidden lever. A piece of the wall then moved aside, revealing a hidden staircase. As Donna began to climb the staircase with Cloak in her arms, a familiar pain shot up her leg.

Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 56 C.E.

The Doctor and Twilight watched from the battlements as the magical shield began to dissolve into a stream of green smoke.

"Here they come," said Twilight as she readied her horn.

"Get ready," said the Doctor as he readied his Sonic Screwdriver.

Comments

[SoulboundAlchemist]

Ugh, I hate cliffhangers!!!! I wasn't expecting the baby changeling though, nice touch.

[MariusIoannesP]

Well, that was indeed unexpected.

[raqelita123]

BABY CHANGELING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow this page must be a really good one! omg, so much SUSPENSE!!!!:

[DiscordDraconequus]

Well that little guy isn't going to go hungry anytime soon.

[Spirit Shift]

Wow Esmiraldas a friggin genius she didn't just put her heart in cloak because she wanted her son to be like her she didn't just leave thorn here to look after cloak she did it because she KNOWS no self sentient creature would dare harm a baby and even if they did thorn would protect it to the death also the name cloak isa fitting name

[IamShadowDash]

OMIGERSHHHHH AWWWWWWWWWWWWW
I say we kill it. Hideous little son of a literal bit-
DONT YOU DARE EVEN THINK OF HURTING THAT COLT.
DONT YOU DARE EVEN THINK OF HURTING THAT COLT.
okay, okay! Geez, don't have to gang yell like that. I have a headache.
--MM/J

[Luna105]

Baby+human+changling+war=alot of unexpected