An Eccentric Trespasser

by MyLittlePonyTales

Chapter 8

The tiny, fluffy, ten-legged critters were balked by the barrier only briefly. The horde itself seemed to pause, confused or curious, as they looked at the nearly invisible wall. One bright pink critter raised a leg, tapping at the barrier, and watching a blue ripple spread across its surface. A series of chittering squeaks sounded from the horde of creatures, and then quiet again. There was an eerie quiet as they all stared at each other across that magical wall.

"Luna!" Celestia said firmly, looking down into her sister's eyes. It was no use. Luna was defiant—terrified, but defiant—eager to help just the same. There would be no sending her away. "There's no time to explain. We need to get out of here. Quickly!"

"Well, then, that's useful," The Doctor said with relief. "Nothing wrong now, I guess, your nocturnal highness. There's something familiar about these, but I can't quite remember... I need a library, and luckily, this castle has—"

A pale green critter opened its toothy great maw wide and bit a hole out of the barrier as big as its body. It skittered through to the side with the ponies, then paused. It quivered, hunkered down upon itself, and then seemed to explode outwards—to one side of the pale green one, there was now a bright blue one, and to the other a soft lavender one. A red critter followed suit, taking a bite and then splitting into three versions of itself, then a third, and then the whole hoard was voraciously devouring the invisible shield, the mass of critters tripling in size as they ravenously turned the wall into Swiss Cheese, and then nothing.

Luna's eyes went wide and she gasped, stepping back as she watched the horde quickly devour the magical wall separating them. What kind of creatures were these, that magic had no affect on? How could they hope to escape from something that readily welcomed any barrage she or Celestia could offer?

The Doctor smiled brightly, perking up. "Oohhh, that's what they are! Manasprites! Well, I never! I thought they'd exterminated those little critters years ago! You see, they multiply as they eat magical energies, and—" the Doctor paused. "Oh, of COURSE! All the missing guards are UNICORNS!" He smacked his hoof against his forehead. "How could I have missed that?! Well, this explains everything! What a relief, I—"

The horde, finished with its appetizer of a wall, started to swarm forward once more, and the Doctor scrambled backwards. "Oh. OH. Right! Talk later, run now!" He turned and fled before the now even more numerous swarm, turning and rushing up the corridor, back towards where they had come.

But as the Doctor took off and Celestia followed, Luna was right beside her, doing her best to keep up and not be left in the dark. Though Luna enjoyed the night and the darkness, down here it brought her nothing but fear. Her heart pounded in her chest, and at every turn Luna struggled not to trip over her own hooves and get left behind.

The Doctor unerringly took turn after turn, following their route back to the entrance, his hooves beating frantically over the stone floor as he followed his impeccable memory's path... Right into another swarm of Manasprites! He scrambled to a stop, his eyes wide, as their sharp teeth snapped at mid-air.

"AYIPE! Not that way!" He turned and fled down a totally random corridor, then another, leading the group as they avoided pocket after pocket of Manasprites.

The Doctor led them down corridor after corridor, dodging the spider-like creatures and bits of loose stone as they went. Dead ends and Manasprite swarms broke their route, forcing them to continuously adjust until even Celestia was unsure of where exactly they were in the dungeons.

Finally, out of all the dead ends and near misses, the ponies scrambled through an open door. After guards and princesses both had slipped through the door, he quickly slammed it shut and threw the latch to lock it, then let out a breath. A scrabbling of legs scraped along the other side of the thick wooden door, but it seemed to hold. The Doctor let out a long exhalation and looked around.

They were in just one of a series of rooms. If there was a way out of these rooms other than the door, the Doctor didn't quite know yet, but at least they weren't being set upon at the moment. Old furniture and tables suggested this had once, a long time ago, been some sort of meeting room, or perhaps a guard barracks.

Though the Manasprites scrabbled and scraped, they seemed to have great difficulty breaking through a physical barrier. In the ensuing lull, Celestia dared to breath a sigh of temporary relief.

When they finally reached the small room, Luna fought hard to catch her breath, all the while staring at the door they'd come from, ready to run again. But there was no need. Her breathing was raspy and shaky, her throat constricting in fear. Luna realized that her body was also shaking a bit.

What would have happened if they'd been caught? If either of them had been caught... Though Luna herself had little magical power since her return, it was still a piece of who she was. Less magic also meant she was weaker, unable to fight as well as her older sister. She wouldn't even stand a chance at defending herself if—if—

"Are you all right, sister?" the sun princess said, addressing Luna first.

Luna shook her head to clear it as Celestia spoke to her. "I—I—I'm fine." Luna replied shakily. She hoped Celestia wouldn't notice how nervous she was, but her sister had become preoccupied with what Doctor Whooves was going on about.

"That'll hold 'em." The Doctor said. "Eat through magic walls in a breath or two, but good solid wood—well, they've no taste for it. Well," The Doctor said. "Well, well, well. Hrm. Manasprites—"

Celestia's ears perked up at the Doctor's words. "Manasprites?" The term resonated with her somewhere deep inside, whether it was because of some long forgotten memory or the veritable aetheric static they seemed to be projecting, Celestia did not know. Somehow the feeling was familiar... very familiar. That fact alone made Celestia very uncomfortable.

"Mana—Manasprites?" Luna whispered. She began to pace back and fourth about the room, her head spinning. She'd heard that term before... it struck a chord within her and filled her with dread, though she wasn't entirely sure why. Though, from what she'd seen... these creatures thrived on basically eating magic.

"—And the two most powerfully magical ponies in all of Equestria." he continued on, unheeded. "Two of the nearly most powerful sources of magic in all the land... Well. It's not as bad as it could be. At least the Elements of Harmony are still back at the Sister's Palace in the Everfree Forest, or over in Ponyville, and not here at the castle. Oooo, I wonder if they can devour Discord's magics? That might be good or bad, not sure. It'd certainly be an interesting experiment..." he mused to himself, getting a little distracted.

The Doctor continued on his mumblings; something about the Elements of Harmony, Discord's magics, experiments. "Let us stay focused, Doctor." Celestia said seriously.

The sun princess slowly looked about the room, a conference chamber of some sort. There really wasn't much room for maneuvering, but doors were present on all four walls, meaning they were not trapped in a dead end. Celestia began pacing around the table, trying to clear her head of the static and perhaps think of some way to escape.

"If we cannot use magic to defeat them, doctor," she began, "then what do you propose? I need to know everything you know on these… Manasprites."

Comments

[WorldWalker128]

Discord would find them delightful at first, and then he'd probably panic as they started eating HIM.

[Borg]

Right into another swarm of Manasprites! He scrambled to a stop, his eyes wide, as their sharp teeth snapped at mid-air.

Well I don't see what you're so worried about. You're an earth pony. You probably taste like cardboard.