Adventures in the TARDIS

by Scroll

Part 17: The Plan

When my senses are restored to normal reality, I once again lose my equilibrium for a moment until I later adjust. As I do, I take in my new surrounds. That is when I notice that I am in some kind of temple near a waterfall that has the frozen statue of The Great Serpent in it, or as I like to affectionately call him now, Auzmeir.

After that, I then notice I have returned to the compony of Tanon, Doctor Smith, and the still nameless lady Naga, of whom I am still convinced is the guardian, caretaker of this place, and probably also some kind of spiritual leader. Given her close proximity to a sentient, telepathic, highly intelligent and knowledgeable entity behind her, she probably can give her people some very wise guidance.

Next, I notice Tanon giving us a questioning look shortly before he asks, “Were you two locked in a telepathic conversation with the entity in that statue as well?”

“Indubitably, my good Sir,” Doctor Smith replies in a bit more chipper mood than I recall him being in before. “We had a long conversation as well which proved quite a bit enlightening for me.”

“He does that sometimes,” the lady Naga nearby informs us casually. “He loves to teach, and he has a good eye for those worthy of his lessons.”

“I didn’t see either of you with him when I spoke to him,” Tanon mentions. “Yet he told me he was engrossed in a heavy conversation with the two of you as well. Now it seems like he was telling me the truth which makes this quite remarkable.” He pauses a moment as he cracks his neck by tilting it from side to side then he goes on to say, “Be that as it may, the conversation I had with him leads me to believe he is trustworthy but it still calls into question what our next move is. He seemed quite reluctant to share too much insight about that, especially when it pertains to the future which he claimed was in his purview.”

“He said that to me too,” I note aloud in agreement with Tanon.

“The Great Master has a multidimensional consciousness,” the lady Naga nearby us says as she gives an admiring look to the giant statue in the waterfall. “As such, his perception isn’t confined by the limitation of linear space/time construct.”

“Believe me, I am very familiar with such a perspective,” Doctor Smith informs in what sounds to me like an almost bragging manner. I also give him a questioning look as I wonder why what he just said is true if it is true.

“You do not speak with a double tongue, Sir,” the Lady Naga says to the Doctor in what sounds like respect. I surmise what she meant by that is she believes the Doctor did not lie. Goodness knows how she knows that. Is she telepathic too?

“I have found in my travels that that is sometimes necessary,” the Doctor replies. “Just not in this case.” He nods to the Lady Naga as he says, “I think the first thing we should address is get our introductions in order. I’ll start us off.” He gestures to his chest with his left hoof. “My name is Doctor John Smith. You can just call me The Doctor for short if you prefer.”

I notice a faint cunning grin sink into Lady Naga’s lips as she replies with a shrewd expression, “I do indeed prefer.”

“And I am Tanon Burrows,” Tanon says with a curt nod to the Lady Naga. “Well met.”

Sensing it is my turn, I speak up by saying, “And I am Agate . . .” I briefly trail off as I quickly debate whether I should add my middle name in this very important and formal introduction, but I decide against it seconds later. If this Lady Naga is telepathic, though, she might have picked up on it anyway. After that brief moment of indecision, I shake my head to clear it then decide to start over again. “Miss Agate Keystone,” I finally finish as politely as I can while my cheeks flush in slight embarrassment and shyness.

“And I am Suwell Z'Ion, the spiritual guide for my people,” Suwell introduces.

“As my large brown friend here said moments ago, well met dear Suwell Z’Ion,” Doctor Smith says with an affectionate nod to her then looks at Tanon Burrows. “Now on to the second order of business which is again something you brought up. What we shall do next is save our friends, of course, and hopefully also derail the nefarious sect of the Naga who aren’t quite as enlightened as our new friends here.”

“Which is the vast majority of them, if what I’ve been led to believe is true,” Tanon adds grimly. “Something tells me that meeting these people will be our final blessing on this journey. The rest will be up to us.”

Doctor Smith looks down as sighs before he says, “Speaking of which,” he pauses a moment as his face remains aimed downward but he looks above his head at Tanon under the rim of his fedora hat, “the conversation I had with the Great Sage informed me more about what we’re up against. It turns out that the not-quite-so-nice sect of these people have already made some progress with their plans. Thankfully it wasn’t because of the sacrifices of our friends, but if we don’t hurry, that will be the next step.” He lifts a hoof as he goes on to say, “There is a High Priest of the evil Naga here named Nelkra Shlog'znof. He used to be in charge of the evil naga here until he partially succeeded with one of his goals, and that is the resurrection and restoration of an ancient former Silurian that was once known as Plague, but now he goes by the name of Decay.”

“Sounds like a fun guy,” I sarcastically say in a dry tone.

“Quite,” Doctor Smith replies to me in equal measure.

“Former Silurian?” Tanon double checks. “If he isn’t a Silurian anymore, then what is he instead?”

“A sentient living mass of worms that collectively and roughly takes on the shape of a Siluruan,” Doctor Smith answers. “Maggot worms in particular.”

“Oh lovely,” I say in a sarcastic dry tone again. “I bet you the smell of him would attract all the mares.”

Tanon looks confused as he asks seriously, “What? He is the worms themselves or . . .” he trails off in a way that obviously invites elaboration if he’s not on the right track with his guess.

Doctor Smith shakes his head as he says, “No. The entity that calls himself Decay is actually just a collection of magical energy. Dark magic in this case, obviously. The mass of worms is simply the puppet he animates then possesses to use as his mortal avatar. Theoretically he could have animated and possessed any other vessel he wanted, but I’m guessing the vessel he chose he considers symbolic to his nature and primary mission in life.

“Ultimately, though, Decay is just a servant to an even greater force of sentient dark magic, and in this case is almost purely that alone. The Great Sage called that entity the Dark Star which is a sentient comet that crashed into this world many eons ago. That entity brought dark magic to this world for the first time and it almost corrupted and destroyed the world back then, but it was thwarted in a way that banished it to parallel state of this world that you can say is the Shadow Plane which is basically a dark reflection of this world. From there, the Dark Star is attempting to return to this world so it can wreck havoc in full force again which is Decay’s ultimate objective.”

“So the sect of evil Naga plan to sacrifice our pony friends to empower this former Silurian known as Decay?” I surmise.

“Close, but not quite,” Doctor Smith replies to me. “What this sect actually plans to do is empower a dark magic artifact known as the Alicorn Amulet.”

“The Alicorn Amulet?” I echo questioningly. “I heard of that evil artifact somewhere but that was back in Equestria.” I look back and forth between Doctor Smith and Tanon as I go on to say, “According to what I read, supposedly it is an artifact created before pony kind even moved to Equestria. Back during the Age of Ice when the Windigos tried to freeze us to death, though some records suggest that the Amulet predates even that. It is also said that he or she who wears the Amulet gets greatly empowered somehow, but the exact way it does that depends on who wears it. If it is a unicorn,” I nod to Tanon, “it supposedly grants great magical energy and knowledge of spellcasting, albeit dark magical energy. If it is a pegasus,” I briefly gesture at myself with a hoof, “it grants unparalleled control of the weather and supremely fast flight, and if it is an earth pony,” I then look at the Doctor, “it grants immeasurable stamina, strength, and endurance so great, the wearer might as well be physically invincible.”

“And if the wearer is a combination of all three tribes . . .” Tanon begins but trails off with a shudder.

“That’s probably what the Amulet was designed for,” I surmise. “To empower and corrupt an alicorn, for whomever is foolish enough to wear the Amulet will gain great power at the expense of the corruption of their soul.”

“The wearer is also the only one who can take it off, if I’m not mistaken,” Tanon adds with a slight squint of recollection. “Unless, of course, the wearer is dead or killed while wearing it. At that point there is no will in the body anymore for the Amulet to attach to so it can be freely taken off then.”

“All of this sounds like the One Ring of Power,” Doctor Smith figures with a sidewards glance at nothing in particular.

“The One Ring of Power?” Tanon echoes questioningly which mirrors my own reaction. “I never heard of this item.”

“It is a fictional item from where I come from,” Doctor Smith answers as he looks back at Tanon. “Just a mere story. The reason I brought it up, though, is because the powers it grants, along with how and why it was built, sounds very similar to the Alicorn Amulet. The One Ring of Power can also augment the natural abilities of the one who wears it, but the way it does that depends upon who puts it on. According to the story, the one who originally crafted the evil Ring planned to conquer all of the known planet he was on, and if he puts on that Ring then the way it augments him would be much akin to a darkly empowered Alicorn.”

“Perhaps the one who wrote that story was inspired by the legends of the Alicorn Amulet then,” I guess. “I suspect a lot of so-called legends may trace their origins to some kind of historical fact.”

“In my travels, that has often been my observation as well,” Doctor Smith agrees.

“Why would the Alicorn Amulet be here?” Tanon asks with a confused squint. “This land is far from Equestria.” He lifts a hoof as he adds, “I’ll admit that the origins of the Alicorn Amulet seems to predate Equestria itself. If that is true then it hails from some other land originally, but not this far I suspect.”

“Distance does not matter to my people, at least to some extent,” Suwell Z'Ion chimes in. “My people are not the original architects of this temple and, as such, we are not as proficient with its use as the original designers. The original power source for this place is also offline so we had to improvise alternative means as a substitute. Unfortunately the majority of our people now stoop to using the corrupting influence of dark magic as a substitute. Since the technology here wasn’t originally designed to channel energy like that, it isn’t quite as effective. Nevertheless, it has occasionally caused some of the old technology here to work. Among them are magical portals that we call Stargates. With them, it can link two distant locations together. One such gate is located here. Another must be in Equestria or somewhere nearby it.”

Both Tanon an I look at Suwell Z'Ion in alarm. Tanon is also the first to comment on it.

“If you’re right, then that could explain how they gained access to the Amulet at one time,” Tanon realizes aloud. “I wonder if their influence extends even further than that.

“Come to think of it, the architecture of this temple actually reminds me a lot of various structures and temples Fourwind and I often discovered in the Tenochtitlan valley.”

“There very well could be a historical connection there,” Doctor Smith agrees with Tanon. “I would even bet on it. For a civilization to be as advanced as this one was, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if they branched out across this planet, especially if technology like this Stargate is involved.” A cunning grin grows on the face of the Doctor. “Which, in turn, gives me a brilliant idea.”

“You plan to use the Stargate as a shortcut to get our herd back to Equestria,” I figure as I regard the Doctor.

“That would be better than struggling to get them through the rest of this temple, then the jungle, then cross the ocean all the way back to Equestria,” replies the Doctor. “The native tribe of innocent Silurians, who helped us to get here, only did so on the condition that we leave. The way I see it, this would be an effective and efficient strategy to fulfill our side of the bargain.”

“What about Decay and the Alicorn Amulet?” I ask in concern. “Even if we save our herd, this evil sect still have the Amulet as well as a StarG ate. They can use that portal just as easily as we can, if not better. That means they remain a threat to our native land.”

“And considering what the Alicorn Amulet does, can you imagine how much a being like Decay would be augmented if he puts it on?”

“That would be dire indeed,” Doctor Smith agrees. “Even without the Amulet, I learned from the Great Sage that Decay already has great supernatural powers to spread sickness, rot, and decay. If someone like him were to put on the Amulet, he could and would spread a deadly disease across an entire nation just to cause them to suffer, for in his eyes, that would bring glory and augment the powers of The Dark Star itself. If that Dark Overlord gains enough power, then it could find a way back into this world then things would really go downhill from there.” He shakes his head. “So I agree. The threat of the Decay and the Amulet must be neutralized.”

“If we could pilfer the Amulet somehow, that would at least get it away from his hooves,” I suggest.

“More like claws,” Doctor Smith corrects. “Decay is not a pony so he doesn’t have hooves, though he could scarcely be called a Silurian either.” He waves a hoof at me. “Nevertheless, you’re on the right track. That is another objective we need to accomplish before we leave the temple.”

“Alright,” Tanon agrees with an accepting nod. “Any ideas on how we can deal with Decay himself? It sounds to me like we can’t safely approach anywhere near this guy or else risk contracting some kind of fatal disease.”

“Agreed and I do have a plan,” the Doctor replies then waves a hoof towards the statue with a grand gesture. “Behold the Great Sage Mezsizethelar. A highly evolved and ascended spirit who is positively brimming with a great abundance of what basically amounts to Holy Energy.”

“Also an entity who can’t move and weighs an unfathomable amount,” Tanon notes grimly. “Celestia only knows how that statue hasn’t eroded under the constant pressure of that waterfall yet.”

“The waterfall isn’t a threat to the Great Master,” Suwell Z'Ion confidently assures as she looks upon it reverently. “For the same curse that locks him in stone also makes him immune to any other purely physical change. It’s as if the stone is frozen in time. While his body is frozen in such a state, though, his mind and spirit transcends space/time, so it isn’t confined by a time frozen statue.”

“Exactly!” Doctor Smith enthusiastically agrees. “Sine his mind and spirit is not confined to this state, the energy he gives off is effectively Holy energy . . . and oh look! He just happens to be in contact with the water that splashes upon his physical form. Because it has touched him, part of his essence rubbed off into the water itself.”

“Which makes it a huge collection of Holy Water!” I exclaim in excitement.

“I’m willing to bet either one of my hearts that water like that would affect a purely dark energy being like Decay as if the water was made of acid!” Doctor Smith brags proudly. “Because remember, the dark energy within the collection of maggots is the only reason they are holding together in the form that they currently have. If that energy goes away, they revert to being just a normal collection of maggots. This water might even dissolve them entirely.”

Tanon squints one eye as he says, “Okay, but how do we use it? Please don’t tell me you want us to scoop out this water with a ton of buckets.”

“Water balloons?” I half-jokingly suggest with an amused smirk.

“Possibly, not to mention amusing, but unfeasible,” the Doctor replies. “Instead, we got to be smart about this. I don’t wish to take the chance that just a few scoops of this water is enough to wipe out an entity as powerful as Decay potentially is. Instead, I want this bastard to drown in this stuff.”

“So how do we accomplish that?” I ask more seriously.

“My people know where this water is channeled,” Suwell Z'Ion informs us. “As a matter of fact, this water used to be an integral part of what used to power this Temple back in the days when it was not corrupt. The main power source that this place used to use is still missing, but one of the key methods that transferred the energy throughout this great pyramid is a combination of the shape of this temple and the water that ran through it. Water easily conducts an energetic charge, you see, and it also flows.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Tanon agrees. “I often heard that liquid substances and crystals can easily be charged with magical energy. That tends to be how we accumulate and acquire magical crystalline items and various potions.”

“There is an aqueduct that flows through this place and the dark scions here are ignorant of it,” Doctor Smith says with a cunning smile. “That’s why they don’t try to use it, and even if they knew about it and attempted to use it, they’d be shocked to find it already has a magical charge. In this case a positive charge thanks to our friend here,” he says with a brief nod towards the statue while still looking at us.

“So the dark scions would be loath to use it if they discovered it,” Tanon figures with a nod. “Okay. With that established, how do we use it?”

“You still have that fourteen sticks of dynamite?” Doctor Smith asks Tanon while holding his cunning smirk. It is a smirk that Tanon copies a moment later.