Dr. Hooves Shadows of an Empire
Puzzles and Traps and Magic, Oh My!
Author's Note
This is a sequel to Twilight in Torchwood, so I'd recommend reading that first. P.S. Try to guess the reference in the title! lol
Puzzles and Traps and Magic, Oh My!
"You are the worst driver in the universe!" Rose said, leaning up against one of the pillars in the Tardis. The Doctor and Rose had been stuck in this universe of multi-colored ponies for a while now, after trying to rescue a young filly named Twilight, who had somehow found her way into their universe. During the short amount of time they had been here, the Doctor had learned pretty much all of Equestria's history, and Rose had managed to read one book on magic.
"The worst driver in the universe?" the Doctor repeated. "Well, technically, that is true, because they never invent cars in this universe."
"Seriously?" Rose said, smile growing. "Wait, how do they get around? Don't tell me, let me guess . . . magic subway?"
"Nope," the Doctor replied. "Horse-drawn carriages!"
Rose burst out laughing.
"And trains!" the Doctor quickly defended. "Don't forget the trains! There's even a train made of crystal."
"That must be a lot of crystal!" Rose exclaimed.
"Well, it would be, considering it comes from a city-state made of crystal," the Doctor replied.
"Whoa," Rose replied.
"I may be a horse, but you don't have to tell me to 'whoa,'" joked the Doctor, and they both burst out laughing. "We could go there, to the Crystal Empire, if you want," the Doctor said, a smile growing on his face.
"Really?" Rose said, her face lighting up with excitement.
"Why not?" the Doctor said, as he trotted over to the control panel. "Wonderful place, I hear." He banged on several objects, turned several knobs, and even played with something that looked like a bike pump. Then with a weird mechanical sound, they were off, traveling swiftly through time and space.
Once they were back on solid ground, Rose opened the door, expecting to see a beautiful settlement, but her eyes were met only with a desolate arctic terrain. "Doctor," Rose said, "You might want to see this!"
The Doctor walked over to the door and looked out. "Blimey!" he exclaimed. "The whole empire . . . where did it go?"
Rose looked at the Doctor, her eyes full of concern. "Are you sure we are in the right place?" she said.
"Very," the Doctor replied, voice turning serious. Then he reached behind him to a place on his back where his Gallifreyan backpack, more like a saddlebag now, rested. The backpack was invisible, and had no weight. He clumsily pulled out a cylindrical device with a blue tip, his trusty Sonic Screwdriver. He tried to activate it with his teeth, but failed miserably. So he spit it out, and tried manipulating it with his hooves. Finally, after several seconds of fumbling, he got it to work. "Aha," the Doctor exclaimed, as the tip of the device lit up a brilliant blue. Then he frowned, brow furrowing at the readings his tool was getting. "Looks like there are massive power signals coming from a few miles north," the doctor said, "and it's not normal power, either, it's something … strange. Something elusive, and something …" the doctor paused for a moment, trying to think of the right words, "dark," he finally finished.
"Do you think it has to do with the disappearance of the Crystal Empire?" Rose asked.
"Dark power detected AND the disappearance of an empire BOTH in the same place," the doctor said, in a goofy voice. "Either this is the site of an Evil Pony Convention or this force is behind the disappearance of the Crystal Empire."
"Well, I don't see the 'How to be a Scary Monster Panel', so I'm assuming it's the dark force," said Rose.
"Yep," the doctor said, "and here's the good news."
"What?"
"It's weak. Whatever the force is, it's at least 1000 years old, and from what the Sonic is picking up, it's crumbling," the Doctor said. "All we need to do is create a high sonic resonance in the center of the force, and it should dissipate." He turned his attention to Rose and said, smile growing, "Are you up for saving an empire, Miss Rose Luck?"
"Why, yes I am, Mr. Whooves," Rose replied.
***
It took only a few minutes for the Doctor and Rose to get to the spot were the Sonic had picked up the disturbance (probably because the doctor had found a snow-mobile in one of the back rooms of the Tardis). Once they got there it was evident that they were in the right place. There was a large black, green, and purple crystal mosaic on the ground, and although the air was full of snow, not a flake dared land on the ominous structure. Rose felt like she had seen it before, but not until the doctor was about to step on it did she remember.
"NO, DOCTOR, DON'T!" Rose screamed.
The Doctor stopped, hoof right above the gleaming surface. Then he took a step back and looked at Rose.
"If I'm right," Rose said, "this is a puzzle." Rose picked up a rock and threw it onto the crystal surface. There was a beam of light that engulfed the stone, and when it was gone, so was the stone. "I read about this in the book you gave me. It's a simple dark magic gate: only one color is safe to step on, and once you step on all of the safe-colored stones, the door will open," Rose said.
Rose threw a stone onto a black tile. It immediately was reduced to ashes. Then she tried a purple tile. The rock stayed intact, so Rose threw several more rocks onto the purple tiles, until they all had been hit. Then all the tiles glowed and arranged themselves into a rectangle. There was a flash, and in the place of the tiles appeared a staircase, leading down.
"Brilliant," the Doctor exclaimed, as he started merrily down the featureless staircase, Rose in tow. Their spirits did not remain high long, however, because what had seemed like a regular staircase in the beginning, began to feel seemingly endless.
"How long have we been going down this staircase?" asked Rose.
"I don't know," the Doctor replied.
"Well, you're the one with the time-piece on your flank! It feels like we aren't going anywhere, " Rose said.
The Doctor stopped and stared at something on the wall. "Going nowhere . . ." he said. "That's it! I knew I felt something every twenty steps. It feels like we are going nowhere because we aren't. We are being teleported back to the top every twenty steps." The Doctor pulled out his Sonic and carefully hit the button. There was a click, and a light appeared at the end of the staircase. Both the Doctor and Rose ran, desperate to get out of the stairwell. The Doctor was faster than Rose, and got in the lit-up room several seconds before her.
When Rose entered the room, she saw an open door with nothing behind it. The door was casting a dark shadow over the Doctor, who was sitting on his haunches, staring at it.
"Doctor?" Rose said, trying to get his attention. She saw that his eyes had turned green and were emitting purple smoke. "Doctor!" she said louder. It was very clear, though, that the Doctor could not hear her.
"No," the Doctor said quietly. "No," he said again, this time a little louder. "Not again!" he whispered.
Rose ran up to the Doctor and desperately shook him, but he did not respond.
Dr. Hooves Shadows of an Empire
Evil Evolution
"Doctor!" Rose screamed again, desperation filling her voice. The Doctor continued staring, oblivious to the world around him, as pure fear coursed through his very essence. The nightmare took over and feasted on his fear. Rose could not tell exactly what was going on, but she could tell it was all coming from the door, so she ran up to it and gave it a hard buck. The door swung closed, and the shadows vanished, along with the green in the Doctor's eyes. The Doctor then stood up, legs shaking a little.
"That was unpleasant," he said.
"Blimey, Doctor, are you all right?" Rose exclaimed, rushing over.
"Fine," the Doctor said. "This is not the first time something has gotten inside my head, so I'm quite used to it. Now, Doctor, think. Living darkness. . . shadow with evil intent . . . Vashta Nerada!" he yelled triumphantly.
"What?" Rose asked. "Is it some type of alien or something?"
"No, they're on about every planet," the Doctor frowned. "The shadows that melt the flesh, now, they don't usually act like this -- unless . . . uh oh." The Doctor's voice was getting faster as he analyzed the problem. "They evolved to feast on darkness itself. That would make sense, because here it seems light and dark have some mysterious power. As they gained this power, they most likely learned to feast on negative emotion signatures or dark emotions! That door was meant to give me terror, so that the force could feed."
"Why didn't these Vashta Ner- whatevers evolve on Earth, then?" Rose asked.
"Magic, most likely," the Doctor said. "It's the most fundamental thing this world has that ours doesn't."
"What about dark magic?"
The Doctor thought before answering. "I have a hunch they're one and the same."
"Vashta Nerada or no, we still need to fix this," Rose said. "Any ideas on how to get past the door?"
"Easy, now that I know it's dark magic," the Doctor replied, and he picked up his Sonic Screwdriver and pointed it straight at Rose. Then he clumsily hit the button. The blue light fell on Rose's horn and glowed the blue-green of her eyes, before emitting a blast of magic to the gem at the top of the door. The door opened to reveal yet another hall.
"Come on!" the Doctor cried. "We must be close!" They trotted quickly down the hallway, which was lit with torches. Shadows fell over the path from time to time. Suddenly --poof!-- a torch went out. Then --poof!-- another disappeared. Poof! -- poof!-- poof! -- all of the torches were out, leaving the Doctor and Rose standing in the dark.
"Doctor, didn't you say 'the shadows that melt the flesh'?" Rose asked, her voice calmer than she was.
"Just hold on," the Doctor said, fumbling with the Sonic, trying to manipulate it with his hooves in the dark. He finally got it to work, and it zapped Rose's horn, which then started to put off a glow.
"How do you keep doing that?" Rose asked.
"I tapped into your magic, which you didn't know how to use, and just kinda helped you use it,"the Doctor replied.
"Wait a minute, you hijacked my magic?"
"No," the Doctor replied. "Hey, you were the one who controlled it; I just helped it along."
"So it was me who gave the command?" Rose asked.
"Indeed," the Doctor affirmed.
The Doctor and Rose finally made it to the end of the tunnel, where they found a large room made of crystal. They stepped into the room, and just as Rose's tail passed through, the door slammed shut behind them. Then --bam!-- the room was filled with a dark power.
"You shouldn't have let me get into the center!" the Doctor yelled at the dark force, as he clumsily raised his Sonic Screwdriver and pushed the button, ready to emit the high sonic resonance. To his surprise, nothing happened. Although the room was full of sonic power and light, the dark force only receded slightly. Giving up only a little ground, the Doctor pointed the screwdriver at Rose's horn, which lit up brighter, casting a darkness-eliminating power thorough the room. Still the creature advanced.
"The light should have stopped it!" the Doctor cried in a panicked voice.
"What do we d….." Rose was cut off as the force lashed out at her and lifted her from the ground. "Aaaaaah!" Rose screamed, as her eyes fogged over and began to emit purple smoke and turn a sickly green.
"NO!" the Doctor yelled, all composure gone, all restraint gone. "YOU WILL NOT HURT ROSE! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!" He took a step closer to the force, voice getting low and dangerous. "I'm the Doctor, the oncoming storm. I have lived for hundreds of years and had many friends, but I have never ever had as good of a friend as Rose Tyler." The force began to recede as the doctor spoke. "She has stood by me through all the terrors we have faced, and she gave up her family just to be with me. She is the best friend in the multi-verse, and I am proud to be her friend! I will let nothing happen to her!"
The Doctor began to glow, and his words were filled with power, as a circle of light and resistance formed around him, growing larger and larger. It expanded past Rose and past the evil force, wiping out the shadows in its wake. Then there was a rumbling and a flash as the lost empire slowly rose from the ground, its many beautiful turrets and towers pushing their way through the cold arctic soil. Houses and shops came into view, all glimmering with the light of their many gems.
The Doctor and Rose found themselves standing under a large crystal tower in the middle of a grand, shining city.
"What happened?" Rose asked.
"Well, you were put you under an evil spell, and I used the deus ex machina power of friendship to rescue you!" the Doctor said matter-of-factly.
"You're kidding," Rose said, a smile creeping onto her face.
"Well, it was only logical. They feed off darkness, so to destroy them, give them light. They feed off negative feelings, so I gave them positive ones," the Doctor said.
"Doctor, you are one impossible man," Rose said.
Author's Note
And that's how the Crystal Empire came back (remember how Celestia didn't know? :) This would have been out faster, but I discovered Invader Zim, and I sorta marathoned the whole show. P.S. Doctor Whooves Careful Clockwork coming soon.
