Chapter 16: The Wind Tower and the Maze
Like Copper Gear said in her notes, her robots were now wandering the hallways of the castles along with the ghosts and possessed objects, adding some difficulty. Add to this the CS-Cannon users that were a little more frequent, and the ponies wondered for a moment if it wouldn't have been better in the end to walk back through the trap-filled rooms to return to the door with the mechanisms.
On the way, they even encountered some kind of patched up zombie/giant spider-thing right out of a horror movie that crawled on the walls and the ceiling and fired some poisonous darts at long distances. Probably another abomination right out of the lab like the flesh plant thing from the graveyard or the thing with the tentacle-eyes from the crypt.
The more they encountered of those abominations, the more the ponies wanted to find this lab to destroy it, and the more they feared to enter it too.
After an encounter with a small group of three Nightmare Moon fanatics easily captured with the help of the Polterguns followed by some golem made of destroyed gargoyle parts, the ponies reached the double door with the mechanism, and once they dealt with all the ghosts in the immediate vicinity, they put the fans in their place, one at both sides of the door. Apple Bloom and Little Ghost then blew air at the fans while the others kept watch.
This activated the mechanisms, each opening one of the doors.
As they had suspected, they led to a circular room that revealed to be the base of a tower with a spiral staircase against the walls. Starting from the western part was a succession of gears going up, the first gear being the one they had seen going through the wall from the room with the conveyor belt. As the ponies walked up the stairs, the gears continued up before suddenly stopping near the top at the eastern part.
But where the gears stopped, the stairs continued, so the ponies climbed again until reaching the top of the tower where they passed the ceiling and got on the roof.
They immediately understood that this tower was inside the tornado they had seen from various other points outside the castle. They were literally in its eye, surrounded by winds exceeding hundreds of miles per hour. They could also see that the tower was actually some kind of giant fan, four giant palm turning thanks to the wind.
It wasn't hard to understand the whole mechanism from there. The wind pushed the palms, causing the gears inside the tower to turn. This activated the various traps and machines and produced the electricity for the laboratory. That was... clever.
But this tornado certainly wasn't natural. They were in the spiritual world after all. There was no wind here!
So this meant that somepony, or something, was responsible.
And the responsible quickly revealed themselves to be an unicorn mare. An unicorn who revealed to have a particularity: her horn was curvaceous. Her coat was the same color than the sky, and her long flowing mane was various shades going from light blue to white passing by light gray.
«Ooooh... Ladies and gentleponies, I present to you Gusty the Great! Defeater of the mighty and feared Grogar!» said Discord.
«That's her?!» asked Twilight.
«Woah. Okay, she's no joke if she can pull off a tornado like that by herself,» said Rainbow Dash.
«And maintain it for who knows how long,» said Discord.
«Be careful. You're on an open roof. She could use that wind to sweep off your hooves and send you beyond the edge,» warned E. Gadd.
Just as he finished his warning, Gusty sent strong winds that threatened to sweep the ponies, especially Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle who were the lightest, off the roof. Before this happened, Little Ghost used her powers to maintain them in place.
"With my powers, this will not happen!" said Little Ghost.
This made Gusty frown before she doubled the power of her winds, causing the ponies to start to be pushed to the edge. Before Little Ghost could put more power to stop this, Gusty then sent winds compacted enough to be sharp and attacked everypony with them, especially Little Ghost, forcing her to protect herself. The others had no choice but to run to avoid being cut and also to resist against the wind constantly pushing them.
Gusty suddenly changed the direction of the wind, taking the ponies off guard for a moment, but not long enough for them to be pushed beyond the edge. It still caused them to be almost cut by the sharp winds several times.
Gusty was too high to be approached, and everypony was too busy running for their life to be able to fire something at her. The only one who was able to attack was Little Ghost, but the ghost mare easily avoided everything she was firing, and the filly couldn't use much of her powers because she had most of it focused in her friends to help them resist the strong winds.
In the end, Apple Bloom decided to turn herself into a ghost and she caught Gusty in her power before she slammed her on the roof where everypony could get her. This also caused the sharp winds to stop, but somehow, she was able to maintain the tornado and the wind pushing the ponies, so they still had to run against it to reach her.
This first to reach her, of course, was Apple Bloom quickly followed by Little Ghost, but as soon as they started to suck her up, the mare began to send small tornadoes to sweep them off the air and free herself, so the two fillies had to coordinate themselves to fly in the right directions to avoid them. They were eventually reached by the others one by one only for Gusty to send from her body a very strong gust of wind in all directions that pushed everypony away, freeing herself.
She then stopped sending the pushing wind and counterattacked by sending a new pushing wind... from above, crushing everypony, even Little Ghost and Apple Bloom (still in ghost form), against the roof to the point that they couldn't move.
But the ghosts didn't need to move. Again, Apple Bloom caught Gusty in her power and slammed her just beside her. Despite the wind continuing to crush her, she then managed to point her Poltergust at the mare and to activate it.
Funny enough, thanks to the strong wind maintaining her in place, she could barely be moved by Gusty struggling to escape, even when she used more winds to try to push her away. Gusty was also already very weakened by the previous attempt at capturing her, so it only took a few seconds before she finally disappeared in the Poltergust.
"Yes!"
The winds almost immediately stopped, just in time for Apple Bloom to return to normal before it was too late. One after another, the ponies then got back up while the tornado slowly disappeared, causing the palms of the giant fan to slow down. With time, the palms will eventually totally stop, cutting all supply of electricity to the lab and also stopping all the machines and traps from Copper Gear's rooms, making them safe to travel and making a nice shortcut from this portion of the castle to the Great Hall.
«Darn. Her control of wind surpassed most pegasi,» said Rainbow Dash.
«And thanks to it, she had some control over the weather,» informed Twilight. «But I don't think her power was that great at the time. Seems like it grew after her death.»
"Two words: ghost powers," said Apple Bloom. "Are ya alright everypony? Still in one piece?"
"Eeyup."
"I think I lost a few hairs, but no problem."
"I'm okay."
"Me too."
By the time all the ponies were up, the tornado had fully disappeared, revealing the view of the castle from this side of it. West, they had a nice view of the highest tower of the castle. To say how high it was, the tower they were on wasn't even half as tall as it. And the top floor (which was larger than the rest of the tower) seemed to be surrounded by a balcony. Southwest, next to the previous tower, was the second tallest tower, and certainly the largest and a balcony could be seen in its northern side. South was the ice tower, and from the tower they were on, they could perfectly see the two windigoes that were flying around it. Finally, East, back down, they had a great view of the training field, a large rectangular field (excepted for the northeastern corner) with a small stone house at the southwestern corner and two staircases leading to the wall surrounding the Main Wing on which they could see some ballistas. At the most eastern part of the wall was a small path leading to a small tower without roof. It was in this tower that the waterfall they had seen before was falling, probably meaning that this tower served as the water tank for the castle.
Back in the training field, a lot of ghost guards could be seen training, including a pegasus stallion in an armor more fancy than the others.
«This stallion... That's Commander Hurricane,» recognized Twilight.
«Woah... I can't believe I'm seeing him,» said Rainbow Dash.
«And he certainly promises a tough fight once you're down here,» said Smart Spirit.
«Normal, since he's a well trained military,» said Spike. «He must be as strong as Shining Armor.»
«I don't know, Spike. Without weather to use... And he wasn't really known for his speed.» said Rainbow Dash. «But he certainly knows how to fight. That's for sure.»
"So, now we know where Commander Hurricane's. All that remain are Private Pansy and Clover the Clever," said Applejack.
"Well, we have done over half of the job, so it shouldn't be long before we encounter them," stated Sweetie Belle.
"Who knows. Maybe we'll encounter them in the next room," said Apple Bloom as she picked up the key that had appeared in the center.
"Just after Gusty? I don't think so," said Scootaloo.
"We'll see," replied Apple Bloom to this before she began to walk down the stairs, rapidly followed by the others.
And yep, the gears inside the tower had almost stopped. No doubt that the various machines and traps of Copper Gear's rooms had slowed down too. It was a matter of minutes before they would stop.
Back at the bottom of the tower, they exited it, returning in the hallway. After a quick fight against some ghosts that were present to welcome them, they then looked at the two keys that were in their possession. The one they just got was leading South while the other (that they had gotten from the doll golem) was leading them back through Copper Gear's rooms. They choose South.
After much fighting including an encounter with a golem made of destroyed gargoyle parts as well as a Super Thrower using gargoyle parts, weapons, and pieces of armor as projectiles, they reached the intersection where the section of hallway they were in started, and the key led them to a door just at their right.
Whatever they entered, it was totally plunged in darkness.
"Night vision on," immediately said Apple Bloom as she turned her night vision on, followed by the others.
Thanks to it, they saw that they seemed to be in a smaller hallway quickly leading to an intersection where they had to choose North or West. However, they decided to go West, they could already see that they would immediately have to choose between continuing West or going South. Further West, they could see the start of another path to the North.
"Don't tell me we're in a maze," said Sweetie Belle with worry.
«You should explore more before you come to this conclusion,» proposed E. Gadd.
"Alright, but... Where do we start?" asked Little Ghost.
"Mmh... Let's continue North," decided Apple Bloom.
"Alright," said her friends.
«IF it reveals to be a maze, remember that you've a map to guide you. You won't get lost. You will just lose some time exploring to map the place until finding the right way,» said E. Gadd.
"Right," said Sweetie Belle.
Taking the North path, they followed it as it turned West, then South, before Apple Bloom suddenly stepped on a pressure plate. She immediately jumped back, barely avoiding an arrow.
"Darn. Traps," said the filly.
"And even with out night vision, seeing them is almost impossible," said Little Ghost.
"Mmmh... Maybe I should go first," said Sweetie Belle. "Better me than you, Apple Bloom."
Apple Bloom nodded and moved back, placing herself between Applejack and Scootaloo.
With this new formation, the ponies continued to advance, Sweetie Belle activating another arrow trap. However, it wasn't long before they reached a dead end and had to turn back.
"It seems like your hypothesis is revealing to be exact, Sweetie," said Little Ghost.
"I would groan, but like E. Gadd said, we have a map, so that's not as bad as I first thought."
It was definitively confirmed as the ponies explored more, taking paths and walking into more and more dead ends. The paths were filled with traps, mainly arrow ones, but also some crushers, some spikes, and even a few saws coming out of the walls. At least, the saws were meant to behead adult ponies, so they passed above Sweetie Belle (she still had to lower her head a little to not get her mane cut).
Not long after they began exploring, ghosts also started to attack, mainly Assassins (coming one or two at a time) but also many Sneakers and Creepers as well as some Goosts that used their fat body as obstacles on the ponies' way. There was also a new kind of ghost that appeared in rather great number in there. Some shapeless purple ghosts that split into two to four smaller versions of themselves when they're about to be captured, threatening to overrun the ponies with their number if they didn't watch out.
They were named Splitters.
But then, when the ponies advanced well into the maze, they encountered something else...
It started with the sound of something big approaching, dragging on the ground while hitting the stone.
"What is that?" asked Scootaloo.
Then, out of a corner, it appeared.
A big purple crawling monster ghost almost as big as the paths of the maze. It just had one big, somewhat long body finishing in one big mouth filled with sharp teeth, and countless claws that they used on the ground, walls, and ceiling to crawl in the paths of the maze, ready to devour anything it encountered.
Apple Bloom immediately had the perfect name for that horror: Crawler.
"Red Mode! Now!" she yelled as she passed her Poltergust into Red Mode and activated it, catching the Crawler in its vortex.
The Crawler stopped for a time to resist it, but after a couple of seconds during which Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo joined Apple Bloom, the monster suddenly charged forward despite the vortex, attempting to get the ponies. Applejack and Little ghost quickly forced it to stop with their Polterguns. The monster roared in pain because of the beams and began to attack them with its claws. However, it was clear that it was blind (it didn't even possess eyes). because its claws only hit air most of the time. It still attempted to advance, but because of the pain caused by the beams, it was only by small pounces.
For a moment, Apple Bloom feared that she would have to return to Yellow Mode before the Crawler would be captured, but in the end, she didn't have to worry. With the help of her friends, the Crawler was captured before the Poltergust would overheat despite its size.
"One more addition to mah future gallery of horrors," said Apple Bloom.
"If this continues, it'll be the biggest gallery of your museum," said Applejack.
They continued to explore the maze Eventually, they discovered that there was a squared area inaccessible because it was entirely surrounded by walls. Some thought that it was nothing, but others rather thought that it was suspicious and that it certainly hid something.
After more exploration and another encounter with a Crawler, they eventually reached the northeastern corner of the maze. By then, they had explored, and mapped, most of it excepted the northwestern part. After following a path that went North, then West, then North, then East, they reached another dead end.
But contrary to all the other dead ends, this one had something: a lever.
"Ah think we finally found what we searched," said Applejack before she pulled down the lever. Almost immediately, they heard the sound of something heavy moving somewhere in the maze.
«I think I know what this lever cause,» said E. Gadd. «You should return to that mysterious squared area in the center of the maze.»
"Ah thought the same thing," said Apple Bloom.
So they returned to the squared area. With the help of the map, it was very easy. Here, they discovered that one of the wall, the eastern one, had moved North. As a result, however, it now blocked the most direct path, forcing the ponies to do a big detour during which they encountered and captured a third Crawler.
Finally, they entered the squared area by the path that had opened thanks to the lever, and found a chest.
"Eh. It's been a long time," said Apple Bloom.
"I think it's the first treasure chest we find in this castle," remarked Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah. Not a single treasure. Eternal Rest's hotel was full of them. But there? Nada," said Little Ghost.
"Thanatos and his goons don't seem to be the treasure types, contrary to Eternal Rest," said Applejack/
Apple Bloom shrugged. "Bah. That's okay. Ah'm already rich enough. Also, Ah'm sure this chest'll just contain the key to the next room," she said before she opened the chest to find, indeed, just a key.
«Ta dadadadaa!» shouted Pinkie Pie, making everypony laugh.
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It looks like we now have the most dangerous ghost for two different circumstances: narrow hallways (Crawlers) and places filled with ghosts (wraiths). I wonder what the most dangerous ghost in wide-open places will be...
AAAAAHHH! Spider! KILL IT! KILL IT!
Ah, so this is Gusty the Great. Gotta say, its very clever having her be the main cause of the blowing winds in the tower.
(Claps hooves) Bravo dear Apple Bloom. If Grogar were here, he would be smiling over the defeat of his nemesis.
I'm not too fond of mazes myself, especially if you had to do time limit missions it can get really annoying.
10421619
For wide-open places, I actually have no idea.
10421664
Ohoh. You will HATE the laboratory.
It was one of my original ideas the instant I said that she was one of the ghosts under Thanatos' control at the end of Apple Bloom's Mansion 2. With her ends the steampunk subpart of the castle.
Yeah, totally. Without the right equipment, this one would have been particularly horrible. A maze plunged in total darkness, filled with traps and killer ghosts, and where to continue, you have to find a lever in one of the many dead ends. At least, here, they had a map and night vision.
10422022
Nice, also, the Splitters have one glaring weakness. Ever split makes them smaller. The smaller they get, the easier it is for them to be sucked up. When they get small enough, they have no time to split before they are captured.
10421664
*cue video of Patrick smashing Spongebob with his rock home*
Not gonna lie, I hate spiders. You know what I hate even more? Daddy long legs. Even mentioning them can be enough to upset me.
Same here. You have no idea how upsetting it is to get second place in Mario Party 4's Dungeon Duos minigame just because of the pipe sections, as well as the maze minigame where you and your partner have to find a key and treasure chest and try to find each other before the other team does.
And then there's Wayward Cave and Mt. Coronet from Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum and Victory Road from every Pokemon game until the seventh generation...
That dose remind me of that one sponge bob episode were Patrick picks up his rock and smashes sponge bob. Sponge bob spider pants.
Apple Bloom Got A Key
-Legend of Zelda Reference