Doctor Whooves Episode 17: Angie the Great

by Doctor Perseus

Escape from the Changeling Castle

Chapter 7: Escape from the Changeling Castle

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

A larger, darker corridor was waiting for Donna, Thorne, and Cloak as they exited the thin passageway. There were no windows and hardly any torches were lit. The walls dripped with dirty water and the scent of rot lingered in the air. Donna coughed a bit as she accidentally inhaled a few particles of dust. Thorne turned left and right and scratched her head a bit.

"You do know your way out of here, don't you?" asked Donna nervously.

"I think we go to the left," Thorne replied.

"You think?"

"I've spent the last two years or so cooped up in that nursery with Cloak with little to no company aside from the magically appearing supplies and the occasional visit from the fire beast. Forgive me if my memory of the layout of this castle is a bit foggy." Thorne fell silent for a few seconds. "Yes, I do believe that we go left."

"If we end up falling into some sort of death trap then I'm blaming you."

The corridor seemed to stretch on for almost forever. It would have been pitch black in the corridor if it weren't for the occasional, dim torch hanging from the moist wall. Donna gave an abrupt yelp as another shot of pain rode up her leg.

"Are you okay?" Thorne asked.

"It's fine," Donna replied quickly. Cloak let out a cute yawn that gave Donna the urge to squee. Just then, they finally came across the end of the corridor, which ended in a rotted, wooden door. On the other side of the door was a large chamber filled with long tables and hundreds of chairs and sitting cushions. Donna assumed that this had been a functional dining hall at some point. The dining chamber was a bit brighter as beams of sunlight were piercing through holes in the opposite wall, which was home to a large entrance door. Donna and Thorne quickly made their way across the dining hall and over to the entrance door.

"If I'm correct, this should at least lead us outside," Thorne deduced as she reached for the door handle and tugged.

Donna was blinded for a brief moment as warm sunlight poured in through the now open doorway. Thorne was the first through the door. Donna followed quickly and was sure to cover Cloak's eyes so he wouldn't get immediately blinded by the outside light. Donna was surprised to find herself standing on an outside balcony that looked over a huge portion of the castle. They were at least twenty floors up. "Huh. I didn't know I was this far up," said Donna with an impressed smirk.

"Come! This way!" beckoned Thorne. Donna noticed that the balcony connected to an exterior walkway that seemed to weave its way amongst the towers and walls of the castle. "Hurry!"

Donna obeyed Thorne's orders and followed her along the pathway. They walked in silence for several minutes. Donna was pleased to see that they were progressively making their way further and further down. "This should eventually end somewhere close to the front entrance of the castle," said Thorne.

"That's good. I'm starting to get tired of this castle," Donna sighed.

"Heh. No more tired than I am. I'm willing to bet that."

Donna laughed but stopped when an unexpected chill went up her spine. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt that she was in incredible danger, even more so than what she previously had been. What happened next was so sudden and unexpected that Donna could barely comprehend what was happening.

The section of wall next to Donna burst open. Chunks of rock and wood flew past Donna and fell down towards the ground, which was still a great ways down. The fire beast emerged from the new hole in the wall and jumped at Donna. It was too fast for Donna to react. Thorne screamed in anger and horror as the beast collided with Donna and pulled her, as well as Cloak, over the edge of the exterior walkway. The magical, fiery skin of the monster burned Donna's skin. She kicked the beast away from her as she free fell towards the hard and cold ground beneath her. She tightened her grip on the now crying Cloak, as if her body would act as a good enough shield to protect the infant from the oncoming impact. Donna could feel the ground coming up fast. The fire creature was free falling next to her, clawing and reaching for her as if to do anymore damage than it had already done. Donna looked up to see a black blur flying towards her. She was so deep into shock by this point that it was impossible to identify anything around her. The only thing keeping her holding onto Cloak was some involuntary maternal instinct that was present inside her. Suddenly, something grabbed onto Donna, the free fall came to a quick stop, and an explosion of black fire erupted underneath Donna. Deducing that she had been saved, a strong wave of relief began to overcome the streams of adrenaline pumping through her veins. Her eyes then rolled up into her head and she blacked out.

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

The Doctor and Twilight ran down the castle corridor as a swarm of changelings flew after them. Twilight took out a few with a series of random spells while the Doctor used the Sonic Screwdriver to create a few various hazards for them throughout the corridor such as exploding segments of wall and electrified furniture. "This Screwdriver is starting to annoy me a bit. There are so many new features on it and yet it seems almost impossible to figure out. Why must magic and science become extraordinarily complicated when they meet?" the Doctor inquired as he ran.

"I don't think this is the right time to be thinking about that, Doctor," said Twilight.

A changeling threw a spear at the Doctor and the Doctor ducked just in time to prevent the spear from taking his head off. "Maybe you're right, Ms. Sparkle."

"MAYBE?!" The Doctor and Twilight looked ahead as a group of unicorn guards randomly teleported into the corridor. "We could use some help if you don't mind!" The soldiers listened to Twilight's plea and charged at the changelings. The changelings froze in place as they were met with several more streams of offensive spells. The changelings retaliated with their own spells and weapons but stood no match against the vicious ferocity of the unicorn soldiers.

"It's strange," the Doctor stated suddenly.

"What is?" Twilight asked.

"Esmeralda has just seemed to have up and disappeared."

"She's probably in another part of the city."

"It doesn't make sense. Any leader of an attack would head to the heart of a city: the castle. So why is she not here? What other major thing is there to attack in this city?"

The duo was silent for a moment. Suddenly, a terrible idea popped into their heads. They turned to each other and said in unison, "THE HOSPITAL! THE PRINCESS!"

"But how could she have known she was there?!" Twilight asked.

"Common sense! Where else would you keep the injured, even the royal injured?" the Doctor replied. "We should get there right away!"

"I will. You're currently still in charge under Celestia's orders so you have to say here and guard the castle." The Doctor was about to say something but Twilight stopped him. "I'll be careful. Don't worry. You be careful as well." There was a quick flash of light and Twilight was gone.

"She didn't even give me a chance to say anything," the Doctor sighed.

"Die pony filth!" screamed a changeling as it flew at the Doctor with a spear in hoof. The Doctor turned around and quickly slapped the changeling across the face with the Sonic Screwdriver. The changeling groaned as he lost the grip on his spear, which fell next to his hooves. "Ow! What hit me?!"

"That was my Sonic Screwdriver." The Doctor pointed the Screwdriver at the changeling's spear which proceeded to melt and glue the changeling's hooves to the floor.

"What the-" The Doctor smacked the Screwdriver across the changeling's face again, knocking him unconscious.

"Hmm...I think my Screwdriver's starting to become a bit heavier." Another group of changelings suddenly began to run towards him. "And I'm starting to feel better about that."

Royal Hospital, Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Summer, 56 C.E.

Princess Celestia was still lying on her hospital bed. She could hear the battle raging around her. She wanted to go out and fight but, even with most of her wounds having healed, she was still feeling extremely tired. Her eyes were closed and all she could hear were the sounds of the nurses talking. Suddenly, Celestia heard the door to the room open and her nurses gasped. Celestia's eyes shot open and she turned towards the door.

"Hello, Celestia," chuckled Esmeralda. The nurses tried to sneak out but Esmeralda trapped them in a mound of green changeling slime. "I think we best finish what we started last night, your majesty."

Despite feeling extremely tired, Celestia forced herself out of the bed and faced Esmeralda. "I will not let you hurt anypony else in my country, Esmeralda. This ends here," Celestia snapped.

"Indeed...it does." Esmeralda's eyes glowed bright green and Celestia suddenly found herself unable to move. An unbearable pain began to rocket through her body. Her organs felt like they were melting and her blood boiled as if it were acid. "How does it feel to have your body turn against you? Some say the body does this progressively with age but I can cause the same processes...only with much, much more pain." Celestia didn't want to scream. She didn't want to give Esmeralda the satisfaction of knowing that she was feeling pain. Tears rolled down Celestia's cheeks. She tried to force any spell out of her horn but nothing came forth. Her body was completely under the control of Esmeralda. "Now, let's see what you look like on the inside."

Celestia could feel her insides expanding. She was going to blow up. What would be left of her would have to be cleaned off the walls. She prepared for the ultimate pop when the sound of two hard objects collided rang out through the room. Esmeralda let out an annoyed gasp and all pain in Celestia's body stopped. Celestia fell to the ground and let out a loud groan as her body began to heal from the pain it had just endured. She turned towards Esmeralda to see what had stopped her. Esmeralda was facing away from her now and was looking in the direction of the door. Celestia noticed that an apple was lying next to Esmeralda's hooves. She then turned towards the door. Standing in the doorway was the farmmare known as Angie. Slung over her back was a large sack and held in one of her forelegs was a collection of apples.

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

Donna awoke when something slapped her across the face. Her eyes shot open and she looked to see Thorne standing over her.

"Finally! You're awake!" Thorne said as she yanked Donna off the ground.

"What happened?" Donna asked weakly.

"You fell a good ten floors. Luckily, I managed to fly down and save you."

"What about Cloak?!" Thorne smiled as she presented the infant changeling in her foreleg. "Oh! He's okay!"

Just then, a serious look appeared on Thorne's face. "Donna, take Cloak and run as fast as you can to the front entrance." Thorne stepped forward and placed Cloak in Donna's arms.

"What's going on?"

"Just run! I'll take care of the beast!"

Donna looked at the ground and noticed that it was horribly burnt. She turned around to see that the area behind her was on fire. The flames were slowly coming together in the form of the fire beast. "What about you?!" Donna asked as she turned back to Thorne. A sad smile appeared on Thorne's face.

"I could never make it out of here. Only you and Cloak can. Esmeralda had this shield made so that nothing in this universe except for her could pass through. You're not from this universe so you can pass through. Cloak has Esmeralda's heart inside him so he'll be able to pass through with you. Me, on the other hoof, am going to have to say here."

"But what about that monster?"

"Esmeralda did at least one nice thing for me and Cloak before leaving us in this castle. She gave me the power to ward this creature away from me and Cloak so that it wouldn't attack us accidentally. However, I will have to keep all of my focus on it to keep it at bay until you make it back through the barrier."

"What happens then?"

"I'll be fine. It's you who needs the worry if I'm not able to keep it at bay long enough. Now run!"

Donna looked back at the fire beast, which was almost done healing, and then turned back to Thorne. "Thank you. I promise that I'll help get you out of here!" Donna said.

"Thank you...er...I don't believe you ever told me your name."

"Donna. Donna Noble."

"Thank you, Donna Noble. Now RUN!"

Donna didn't hesitate to start. Even though she was now on ground level, the front entrance was still a little ways from where she was standing. She tightened her grip on Cloak and took off towards the front entrance. As she made her way towards the pathway the stretched between the front door and the edge of the barrier. She could hear the roar of the fire creature behind her, which was followed by Thorne ordering, "STOP!" Donna didn't stop or look back. She just kept running. The entrance pathway grew closer and closer. Every now and then, Donna would hear the monster yell and it was followed by another order from Thorne. Donna had just reached the pathway, and was only a few seconds of running away from the barrier, when she heard the fire beast let out a frightening shriek. She then heard Thorne yell, "NO! STOP! I COMMAND YOU! LEAVE THEM!" Donna couldn't resist. She looked back and saw the fire beast rushing towards her at speeds that would make a Japanese bullet train make a run for its money. Donna's heart pounded as she ran as fast as she could towards the barrier. Cloak didn't seem to take in the full seriousness of the situation as he simply cooed and smiled up at the frightened Donna. Donna couldn't help but smirk on the inside at the irony of the situation. She had run for her life to get into the castle and now she was running for her life to get out of it.

"Fitting," Donna thought aloud as she reached for the barrier. She could feel the fire beast bearing down on her. Her back was growing hot and the air around her smelled of ash and soot. She could feel the fire beast's breath running down her neck as she jumped for the barrier. A fiery claw reached for her leg as she phased through the barrier with Cloak in hand. Donna hit the ground hard but cushioned Cloak. She pushed the new pains aside and forced herself to quickly stand up. She turned around to see the fire beast clawing at the barrier and yelling at her. Donna could see Thorne standing off in the distance. The nice changeling waved goodbye before disappearing back into the castle. Donna couldn't help but feel sorry for her. "I'm going to help you Thorne." Donna looked down at the cooing Cloak. "And that's a promise." She then turned around and looked towards the northern horizon. A battle was waiting for her in the north. "Doctor. Twilight. I'm coming." The fire beast continue to scream loudly and angrily as Donna took off to reunite with Derpy, Flarewing, Bass, and the others.

Comments

[MariusIoannesP]

I feel the climactic end of this epic story is coming soon. I await it gladly.

[SoulboundAlchemist]

Wow, I must say, I'm impressed with the way you resolved the situation in the castle, but now how are you going to resolve the issue of the poison? Or did the fire beast cauterize the wound leaving it poison free?

[raqelita123]

right, what about the poison? and can't wait to read more!!!!

[IamShadowDash]

ohhhh I hope the poison kills her!
Take it back, please.
you didn't yell...
she don't need to. She's holding me back... But.. I'll get through...
hurry. My grip will not Hold.
Aahhhhh okay! I'm sorry I hopeshedoesntdieOrgethurttoobadlyplesedontkillmeMax.
AHHHHAAHAHAAAAHAHAAAAAAA
AHAHAAAAAHAAA she totally fell for it lollllllllll
IM GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH SO MUCH YOU BLOODY SICK BITC-
LANGUAGE. Language. There are children reading this.
like you? Your only thirteen after all.
shut up. My age doesn't Mtter.
--MM/J

[Daring Cammie Do]

She then turned towards the door. Standing in the doorway was the farmmare known as Angie. Slung over her back was a large sack and held in one of her forelegs was a collection of apples.

Ya done fucked up, Ezzy.