The Mad Doctor
Head pounding, Pinkamena slowly opened her eyes. She found herself on her back in a dark cave, lying on a cold hard, surface- a rock or something. A heavy weight pulled at her limbs, pulling her forelegs above her head and keeping her back legs pointing straight down. With her heart beginning to pound, her eyes flicked around, finding crude metal manacles wrapped around each of her legs. From these, chains extended to nearby stalagmites, around which they were secured. Against one wall was an ink-splattered pile of parchment resting on a rock shelf. A small Timberwolf prowled in front of the cave mouth, restless.
And in the centre of the cave stood their worst nightmare, staring at them with a mad gleam in his eye.
Screams echoed in Pinkamena's head from Pinkie and Surprise, the two descending into terror and panic. Pinkamena bit back a scream herself as she looked at the ragged figure of Neuron Probe. His mane was unkempt and tangled, his coat filthy. One of his legs was bound in rotten vegetation. Her nose wrinkled at a terrible stench in the air.
A quick tug at her restraints only proved there was no slack in the chains, which clinked slightly with the movement. The sound echoed loudly in the cave. "Ah, you're awake," Probe said, grinning. "Tell me, Miss Pie, do you like my little laboratory?" he asked. Pinkamena stared back, frozen. Probe waited for a moment, and scowled when she didn't reply. "No matter...you just sit tight..." He moved to the pile of writing materials, muttering under his breath. He had a clear limp, the bound leg unnaturally stiff.
Pinkamena's mind raced. 'Come on...keep it together...' This was bad. Really, really bad. In their mindscape, Pinkie and Surprise had moved from screaming to simply clinging to each other tightly, refusing to look. "You won't get away with this!" she said. "My friends...the guards..they'll find you!"
Probe turned around and gave her a manic grin. "Oh, I have planned for that. My golems, simple as they are, are very strong. And I have made so many to guard the path as well...there's no way that anypony will find this place. They'd have to fight an army to do so!"
Pinkamena struggled to keep calm in the face of Probe's declaration. An army. Of golems. Implacable rock monsters perfectly capable of knocking ponies out in one blow. And her friends would be charging straight towards them, because there's no way they would sit back and wait at home, not even Fluttershy. But...it would be fine, right? Her friends would be fine. They had to. They'd only just gotten to know each other properly!
Probe was moving again. Something, she couldn't tell exactly what in the gloom, was floating in a haze of magic alongside him. A pit opened in her stomach as she looked at it, seeing the glint of light that spoke of metal. She just knew that thing was not something she wanted anywhere near her. But Probe was walking closer, slowly. There was a look of deranged glee on his face, betraying just how much he was enjoying watching her reaction.
Pinkamena realised in that moment that they didn't have time to wait for the rescue party. Probe was here now, and he wasn't going to wait politely for someone to interrupt him after everything he had been through to get to this point. She, Pinkie and Surprise were on their own. They had to escape. And she was going to have to make the first move, as her two headmates were still too scared to move.
Her mind whirred desperately as Probe drew closer. Soon, an idea of what she could do presented itself in her mind. A fairly terrible plan, all things considered. It was a desperate ploy that could, if she pulled it off, help keep them safe. But there was no guarantee she would be able to do it- far from it in fact. It relied on skills that were far more Surprise and Pinkie's area than hers. And even in the best scenario...she cringed. No matter what happened next, it was not going to be pleasant for her.
Ponyville was in an uproar. Two guards, their helmets badly dented, had stumbled into the barracks, pouring out a panicked story to anyone who would listen. The alarm had gone out, and the news spread like wildfire through the town. Before Swift Strike could even send out a message, the four remaining elements of harmony had gathered.
"How could you let her get attacked by that?! You're meant to be the best!" Rainbow said, jamming her face into one of the battered guards.
"Rainbow, leave him alone. It wasn't his fault he was knocked unconscious," said Twilight. Inwardly though, she could understand the frustration her friend felt, and sympathised with the other mare. But at the same time, she knew that yelling at the guard wasn't going to change anything. They needed to focus on getting their friends back.
"The Princess is right, Miss Dash. Yelling at that stallion won't change the past," said Swift Strike, walking up to them in his armour. "Now, I can assure you that we will get Miss Pie home safe and sound. The best thing that you can do is to wai-"
"We're going with you," Twilight said bluntly. Swift Strike turned to her, opening his mouth to rebuke the notion, but the words died in his throat at the sight of the look in her eyes. looking around, he saw the same expression on the other Element Bearers, even Miss Fluttershy. He coughed awkwardly.
"Very well then. But I must insist that you be careful."
When they got to the Everfree, the guards fanned out, looking for any sign of a trail. It did not take long for them to find the heavy, squarish footprints in the ground.
"What do you think made these tracks?" asked Twilight, looking at Swift Strike. He had insisted on staying close to the Princess and her friends, for their own protection. "They don't look like anything I've ever seen before."
"I don't recognise them either..." said Fluttershy quietly. Swift frowned. The footprints looked strange. Unnatural, even. They had assumed Probe had been the one to throw the rocks using telekinesis, presumably having somehow removed the magic suppressor, but now it looked like whatever these things were, they had taken Miss Pie. The signs of something being dragged through the undergrowth only contributed to this idea. But it seemed the mares hadn't noticed, too distracted by the large footprints to take any notice of the smaller marks. He decided against pointing this out. Their reactions to the news wouldn't do anypony any good at this point.
"Golems!" cried a Pegasus scout ahead of them. The group looked up sharply, to see a pair of rocky figures lumbering towards them. The guards sprang into action, hacking at the rocky limbs until the magical creations were destroyed. Quickly, more reports of golems further ahead came back, stationed at various points along the trail they were following. It seemed Probe had been very busy. Swift and the princess looked at each other with determination on their faces and nodded. Swift gave the order to charge.
As Pinkamena Pie looked into the eyes of a monster, the Canterlot guards crashed through the undergrowth of the Everfree Forest. There was no grace to the fighters movements, only brutal rage. Leading the charge, fury blazing in their eyes, was Swift Strike and the remaining Elements of Harmony. The golems ran towards them as fast as they could, intent on slugging their opponents with all their might, and were met halfway.
The golems were slow, but powerful. When they hit a pony, that pony was hit hard. But their slowness also meant that it was easy to dodge around their strikes, and their simple nature meant they telegraphed their every move. So while a few guards had to drop back, cradling injured body parts, that was only a small number out of the whole force bearing down the trail.
Earth ponies crushed the golems' rocky bodies under their hooves, whilst Unicorns and Pegasi pelted them with lightning, arrows and bolts of magic. Swift's spears ran one through, pinning it to a nearby tree, only for it to be totally disintegrated moments later by Twilight's powerful magic. Applejack and Rainbow Dash favoured a more physical approach, raining blows upon whatever had the misfortune to get in their way. Rarity supported them from a distance, using telekinesis to distract their simple-minded opponents with rocks and to tug them out of the way of anything that crept up behind them. Even Fluttershy had an angry look on her face. The gentle Pegasus did not fight herself, knowing her lack of strength would make her an easy target, but the sympathetic bear accompanying her had no such restrictions.
In this way, the rescue party charged down the forest path, following the golems like a trail of malevolent breadcrumbs and leaving only rubble in their wake.
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It's ALIVE
8962504 8932976
Update!
Holy crap it updated. And I just reread the story a few weeks ago.
Let's go.
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcToSvZRkweL4lJGxzQ97M0yUKXTj4hX028Uy3p3ahfLeBUqWSZ7
It lives!!!!
IT’S BACK BITCHES
Nice to see this one coming back, it really was a surprise. And looks like the next chapter will be a doozy.
Well, see you back in a couple years...
Ill be honest, I didn't expect to see more of this, but its good to see it make a return.
heck yeah!
YEs!!!!! Mind if I help them out? *WolfGrin* as I stretch my claws and paws out, my muzzle opening to show a fierce set of teeth* I haven't had a good fight in Ages!
Onwards!
Hooooly crap! IT LIVES!
Not exactly, you just look at the area where the golems guard and you would find it instantly.
Fluttershy should employ Harry and Angel to their force. Those two were literally her huckleberry.
Lately dead-seeming things awaken...
That didn't sound too ominous, did it?
8962504
Wish granted.
They guards sprang into action
1. The.
I do wonder what her plan is going to be and it isn't too drastic. Nice to see this story again though, welcome back.
Wow, two years gone huh?
I feel I should point out Fluttershy actually does have a LOT of strength. This is proven true given her ability to do chiropractic work on a bear. There have been many other examples of her strength too. That said though I am so glad to see an update and look forward to more soon!
Jesus mang, you actually did it. You madman.
8965063
I, for one, don't mind at all at the dead (stories) being revived.
Goodness. It seems as if quite a few dead stories are suddenly coming back. First DubleTruble96, then some others I can't remember, and now this?
This is interesting.
Yay update!!! So glad to see this back. Time for a reread!
The sceen changes in this are a bit abrupt otherwise glad to see your amazing wrighting once more.
Is this the beginning of the end... of the story
Great story! As someone who has the disorder, I would like to say that you make the story very realistic. Some people have altars that do argue with one another. Even though this story makes the altars friends, I’ll just say that’s this is Pinkie! So great job again!
IT'S ALIVE!!!!
WOOHOO! Good to see you again!
Ya, I’m hoping this doctor BURNS.
"Swft gave the order to charge."
"Swift gave the order to charge."?
8965525
Autocorrect (I assume) has got me imagining sacrificial altars fighting each other. (I'm pretty sure you meant alters)
i've been waiting for this!
https://youtu.be/eij079q7hDY
FINALLY A NEW CHAPTER!!!!!!!
Whooooo! :)
Yeah it's back!
Yay, been waiting for this :)
Wow nice to see this update and nice to see so many people commenting about how happy they are to see it back!
Yay an update to one of my faves
8965354
I remembered a picture that argued to this point rather convincingly, and found it with a little digging: http://voodoo-tiki.tumblr.com/image/73525308687
awesome to see an update for this fic
Eh-eh-eh-eh-ehm!
Time for a classical reference!
I knew you'd come through.
IT LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!
YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Woohooo!!!
FUCK YEAH, ITS BACK! WOOH!
The sheer joy to see this in my updates, thank you for not letting it die.