The Calamity of Doctor Whirligig Velocity

Chapter 5
v.4.1

The night was chilled as always, not that Whirligig ever noticed. He sipped cider from a crystalline glass, ignoring the pages of handwritten notes and calculations that littered the floor. Masked behind blue reflective glasses, Whirligig stared with steely eyes. Coltsgold was still dark and invisible in the moonless night. Metallic hooves clanking broke the silence.

“Seven, you’ve returned with…” he trailed off, struggling to find his mental vocabulary. Number Seven waited patiently. “Steve! Help me out here.”

The magical dictionary on the desk flipped open on its own and stopped on a random page. Whirligig scanned the page and nodded in agreement.

“‘Report’. Thank you Steve.” He turned his attention back to Seven. “Number Seven, what is your report on the situation?”

Seven responded with a series of body movements and whinnies. Whirligig easily interpreted the strange dance.

“The pony folk are escaping? This is troubling news, indeed. I must contain the experiment at all costs,” he mumbled to himself. “What became of Number Five? Did it deliver my message to the Princess? Luna knows I could use the input of my former colleagues right now.”

Seven whipped its head to the left and trotted in a circle.

“Five did what?” Whirligig held his face in his hooves and sighed. “All Five had to do was cross the Great Sprite Bridge and…” He turned away and cringed. “You’re telling me the nincompoop is now miles away in the wrong direction, following the river, west?” said Whirligig through gritted teeth.

Seven nodded.

“Luna help us,” he sighed, looking towards the heavens. “Okay. What of Number Twelve? It was supposed to follow Number Five, and make sure it doesn’t fall into a ditch somewhere.”

Seven nodded its head to the right, danced on his hind hooves and neighed. Whirligig’s mouth quivered. He glanced around his private chamber to direct his barely contained frustration on something.

“Pony-feathers!” he cursed. “I send one Number to Canterlot and it tries to walk to the ocean; I send another Number to retrieve it and it wanders off to the wild lands in the opposite direction! There is something fundamentally wrong with their capitalization and geology programming.” Whirligig was aware that something felt incorrect about his last statement. It didn’t matter; he understood what he was saying.

Whirligig Velocity waved his hoof dismissively. Number Seven returned to its duties.

“I wish all of my automoponies were as reliable as you, Seven. None of you may be perfect, but if I can complete this experiment, maybe I could remedy your flaws—or at least to some degree. However, I must first take care of these bothersome ponies from town.”

Doctor Whirligig Velocity closed his eyes and furrowed his brow; his thoughts jumbled about his mind. From schematics, formulas and equations to random nouns, and finally to song, all chaotically ricocheting violently off one another, like photons trying to escape the core of the sun. Out of all the thoughts, the memory of the song persisted. It reminded him of something; it often did, but to what always escaped his grasp.

Sidetracked, Whirligig focused on the painting above his desk: a unicorn mare gazing at a windmill by the outskirts of a beautiful forest. Somehow, with the song and the painting together, felt bittersweet.

“How curious… It’s like somepony has been singing quietly in my ear, trying to remind me of something. How many years has it been since I last heard this song? I’m amazed I remember it at all. Why now? Why this? Why are you trying to remind me?” Whirligig waited, as if the painting would answer him.

“I know that I’m starting to lose my mind. Mental degeneration: one of the worst afflictions a brilliant mind could suffer.” Whirligig started to pace. “I’ve spent my entire life exercising my brain, only to have it fall apart despite my efforts. I am aware that my thoughts misfire, and my daughter tells me that I’m not always lucid.”

Whirligig leaned close to the painting and whispered, “She wants me to give it up. My dreams. Everything. It is all I have. You would never have demanded my retirement, would you? No, I remember. I remember, you said ‘never give up.’” He slowly leaned back, still staring at the artwork. “My colleagues, they all gave up. They left me here alone. Oh, the things we accomplished together. Where are they now? Hm? At least Even Steven is still by my side, though he has been less than helpful as of late. You never should have given up, Steve!” he shouted to the room behind him.

“Never should have given up. Never, never…” he mumbled, looking down at his hooves. “What could a feeble-minded old horse do without his passion in life that kept him going?”

Whirligig’s lips quivered. He steeled himself after a few steadying breaths.

“I’m running out of time.” Whirligig Velocity magically reached for a contraption on the wall, and spoke with great volume, into the cone attached to a series of tubes and hoses, “Attention all Numbers; assemble in the great hall. There is much work to be done.”

It was the early morning when Citrus poked her tan-furred, freckled face out of the doorway of her home and business: the Sweet and Sour Citrus candy shop. Her dark purple-pink eyes darted back and forth, as the mob of frightened and angry ponies marched to the town hall, armed with pickaxes and lanterns. The earth pony ducked back inside to run a quick brush through her straight, two-toned mane that matched the colors of her lemon and lime cutie mark, before leaving.

Everypony was tense, and everything seemed so unreal to Citrus.

“Been sightings of those robo-ponies coming down from the mountain again,” said an angry earth stallion, in the crowd.

“I heard Whirligig Velocity is abducting mares and turning them into those things!” said a panicked mare.

“—my husband! Has anypony seen my husband? His name is Gale Force, he’s been missing for two days. Please! Somebody!” pleaded a hysterical unicorn. She wasn’t the only one searching for somepony.

Citrus listened in to the ponies around her talk. She hasn’t seen her friends: Summer Rain or November Star, for days. Nova was away at astronomy camp, but said she might come home early due to bad weather, but she hasn’t received a letter from her since.

“Has anypony seen the pegasi?”

“Haven’t you heard? They all ran away.”

“No they didn’t! They flew up the mountain to confront that mad stallion and he now has them enslaved in his dungeon!”

“This isn’t supposed to happen… Bad things aren’t supposed to happen here! Why are these things happening?”

“They’re zombies… I told you, Whirligig is up to no good again. He’s been plotting this for years, and now he’s brought the dead back to life. I’ve seen ‘em with my own eyes.”

“You’re crazy. Nopony has seen any zombie ponies.”

“I have!”

“Can you prove it?”

The crowd quieted once Mayor Winter Night took to the stage and approached the megaphone.

“Everypony remain calm,” she said. Out of everypony, the mayor appeared to be the only one who was calm. “I know we are all frightened and confused, but panicking will only make things worse.” The earth pony paused for a beat. We are still investigating the situation and we will keep you updated as new information comes in.”

“Whirligig is obviously behind it! Why don’t you do something about him!” shouted somepony in the crowd.

“We don’t have any evidence that points to Doctor Whirligig Velocity’s involvement. We’re still not entirely sure of what is going on.”

“We’ve all heard the sounds coming from his lab. That’s not normal.”

“Yeah! What about all the screaming that came from Coltsgold?”

“What about the missing miners?”

“Somepony please think of the chill’un’s!”

“Calm down, my little ponies,” Winter Night said in a confident tone. “I will tell you what we know so far.”

The mayor waited for the crowd’s full attention before continuing.

“The pegasus ponies and most of the folks from Coltsgold are missing. Since the pegasi handle our mail, this also means we have been unable to get word to anypony about what’s happening here.”

Murmuring spread through the crowd.

“There have been an increasing number of reports of mechanical pony sightings. We know they are coming down from the Crystal Forest Mountain. If you sight one of these things, do not approach or engage it. I urge all of you to stay away from them. It is likely that they are from the doctor, but we do not know much else about them or their intentions.”

Citrus looked out the window at the eerie castle perched on the summit of the mountain. Even from here, she could see the giant metal windmill, spinning perpetually, along with the equally large unicorn, rearing on its hind legs, moving its front hooves along with the spinning blades. There has never been a day that she knew of, that it stopped moving. Her grandparents had once said that the giant whirligig has never stopped moving, even on days with no wind.

“Now, until the situation resolves itself, it is not safe to be outside. Everypony should gather as much food and water as they can and barricade yourselves inside your homes, until somepony gives the all clear.” Everypony nods in approval, except for Citrus.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Citrus spoke up. Everypony stepped away, giving her the spotlight. “I think somepony should go out and get the word to Canterlot, or even Ponyville. We can’t just hide in our homes and hope that the Princess sends somepony to check on us. It could be weeks or even months before they realize we’re not even here anymore.”

Winter Night rubbed her chin and hummed in thought.

“I can see your point,” she said after a short moment. “I appoint you to head this task. Make your way safely through Coltsgold and make your way towards the Great Sprite Bridge. From there it should be about a day’s walk to the nearest town.”

“What?!” Citrus turned crosseyed. “W-why are you making me do it? Why not send a few stallions instead?”

“Should something happen, we need all the stallions and unicorns we have left to defend Oakhoof. If I sent a whole unit of guards through town, they might bring too much attention to themselves. We need a pony to go quickly and quietly. The longer you waste time arguing, the greater chance that nopony might be left in town upon your return. Gather some supplies and go, now.”

The mayor left the stage and the crowd hurried back to their homes, leaving Citrus dumbstruck and slackjawed. Her eye twitched.

“I was not aware I was volunteering…”

Citrus’ face soured as she stomped her way back home.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid. I shouldn’t have opened my dumb mouth,” she huffed and then puffed up her cheeks. She opened the door to her candy store and plopped her tail down onto the floor.

“It was your idea, why don’t you do it,” she said in a high pitched, mocking tone. “Bleh!”

Citrus glanced around her home. The morning’s sunlight was shining through the colorful stained glass windows, highlighting the glass counter, filled with her homemade fruit flavored candies. For a moment, it felt like a normal day. She could open up shop and the fillies would be lining up for sweets in no time.

A chill suddenly went through her spine, and Sweet and Sour Citrus felt frighteningly empty and silent.

“Then again, maybe I’m the lucky one to get the heck out of here,” she sighed.

Citrus packed supplies into her yellow and pink backpack, and wrapped a pink and purple scarf around her neck. After locking up her home, Citrus braved the empty cobblestone streets. The sky was partly cloudy and fresh snow blanketed the ground in patches. Equestria seemed eerily serene, but dreadfully unsettling.

Citrus hiked up the mountain pass for about an hour until she reached the outskirts of Coltsgold. The town was smaller, but more spread out than Oakhoof. An undisturbed layer of snow covered the paths and the earth tone buildings.

Coltsgold seemed deserted, other than that, one wouldn’t think that anything had happened. Citrus hasn’t seen a soul since she left home. She crept low along the ground, hiding behind anything she could use as cover: trees, wagons, mining carts, and stacks of wood.

Birds chirped and flew from tree to tree, oblivious to the danger lurking around town. Citrus felt paranoid that something would jump on her from behind.

“Where did everypony go? What did those awful robo-ponies do to them?” she whispered, making her way through the center of the village. Citrus felt a little more confident, but remained uneasy. The village was totally empty. She could trot through town, singing, and nopony would know she was there.

Her mind began to wander. Citrus looked over her shoulder once more, however, upon returning her attention to the road ahead of her, she found herself nose-to-nose with an elderly white-haired stallion.

“Ah! Mr. Apfelstrudel, you startled me!”

Citrus backed away from the familiar face. The tired looking earth pony owned one of the local apple orchards. He slouched and appeared pale and weary, with a hollow stare.

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked in a gentle tone. “Do you know where everypony went? What happened here?”

Apfelstrudel didn’t acknowledge her and simply stared, unblinking, at a tree trunk.

“We have to hurry, Mr. Apfelstrudel, it’s not safe out here. Come with me, I’ll take you to Oakhoof.”

Citrus started to head back, but Apfelstrudel wasn’t following her. Citrus circled back and tugged on his mane, but the stubborn stallion wouldn’t move.

“Come on Mr. Apfelstrudel, don’t make me do this,” she sighed. Citrus went behind him and butted the top of her head against his rump and pushed him sluggishly forward.

She coaxed him along for longest, grueling ten minutes, and the shortest six feet of her life. Becoming impatient, she braced her shoulder and gave him her strongest shove. Apfelstrudel’s front hooves crumpled beneath him and he planted his face into the snow, with his hindquarters up in the air. His rear hooves were still slowly moving, unable to reach the ground.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Citrus fumed, stomping her hooves. She held on to his hind hooves and pushed backwards with all her weight. “I’m really sorry about this. I wish there was an easier way, but—”

A friendly rasping voice, vocalizing beats of a song, made her stop in her tracks. A short and petite pegasus with a spiked reddish-pink mane and a paintbrush cutie mark, danced out of her home, wearing her trademark platform horseshoes.

“Summer Rain!” She beamed, thankful that her friend was safe.

“Yo, Citrus! What’s—” Summer Rain paused. She wrinkled her brow, taking in the awkward scene. “What the hay are you doing?” her voice squeaked, due to her troubled voice box.

“Oh, thank Celestia you’re okay!” Citrus trotted over to her, leaving Apfelstrudel face down in the snow. “Summer Rain, you need to help me get Apfelstrudel to safety.”

“What? Why?” She eyed him suspiciously.

“Don’t you know what’s going on?”

“Uh, no.” Summer looked around, clueless. “I’ve been down in my basement with my headphones on, grooving to tuneskies. I was diggin’ the latest album from The Wingless Karate Cutie Mark Colts, and then I had this wickedly awesome idea that I just had to paint. I was so engrossed in the mood, that this is the first time I’ve gotten out of the house in days. Why, what’s going on?”

“Only you can miss a disaster with your darn headphones on.” Citrus gave her a half smile. “Whirligig Velocity happened. I’ll explain on the way, but we have to hurry. Mr. Apfelstrudel seems to be sick and we need to get him away from Coltsgold before that mad scientist’s minions come back to get us.”

“Wait-what?

“Hello Summer!” hollered a fellow freckled mare, with pearl rimmed glasses and carrying a full pack on her back. The pastel purple unicorn had blond and peach colored braids in her mane and tail, sapphire blue eyes and a cutie mark of a blue tailed comet circling around a crescent harvest moon.

“Nova?” both Citrus and Summer said together. November Star’s slightly taller height contrasted with Summer Rain’s short stature.

“I got back early. Astronomy camp was cut short due to bad weather.”

“Quick, Nova I could use your help too.”

“Mr. Apfelstrudel? By Celestia, what happened to him?”

“I don’t know. Citrus said he was sick and that we need to get him out of town for some reason,” Summer rasped and shrugged. November trotted over to the trio.

“Oh my, I don’t think he’s going anywhere in this condition. Let’s get him warmed up and inside.”

November Star used her magic to lift Apfelstrudel off the ground and into Summer’s cottage. He looked even more sickly than before; his eyes were barely open. November looked him over and took his temperature.

“We need to get him to a hospital, he is not looking good. Has he been outside in the cold all night?”

Citrus shrugged and shook her head.

“He could be suffering from hypothermia.” Nova wrapped a blanket over him; she lifted up his head and looked into his hollow, spiritless eyes. “Mr. Apfelstrudel? Sir, can you hear me?”

Apfelstrudel took a wheezing breath. He whispered something Citrus couldn’t make out.

“Sir, can you tell us what happened to you?” Apfelstrudel’s haunting eyes grew wide and an unnaturally ravenous look crossed his face.

“Mehr Äpfel…” a guttural growl rumbled from his throat. The three of them were taken aback. “Mehr… Äpfel,” he moaned in his native tongue. Apfelstrudel rose on all four hooves shuffled towards November Star at a slow, but determined pace.

“Sir, you want apples?” November asked warily, but didn’t neglect her obsessive politeness. She backed away cautiously.

“Oh horse apples!” Something one of the ponies had said back in Oakhoof, dawned on her. “Get away from him! Doctor Whirligig Velocity has gotten to him.” Apfelstrudel blocked the way between November and herself.

“What do you mean?” Summer rasped in her perpetually hoarse voice, edging towards the door with wings unfurled, ready to take flight.

“Now this has to have some kind of medical explanation. Sir, the hospital needs to be notified of these unusual symptoms right away,” November stammered nervously.

“Nova, go out through the back! Summer and I will meet you outside—Go!” Summer bolted through the door. Citrus yanked on Apfelstrudel’s tail with her teeth. He turned and glared at her with razor sharp eyes. “Run!”

Citrus fled the cottage. Summer anxiously hovered in the air.

“Um, Citrus? Please tell me that Apfelstrudel wasn’t all zombified in there.”

“I think he was. Everypony in town is missing, I was afraid you and Nova were gone too.”

“Uh, I don’t think everypony is missing.” Summer pointed towards a group of work horses from the mines. They shambled about with their heads limply hanging low. The stallions looked up and saw them.

“Gold.”

“Gems.”

“Stone.”

“Dirt.”

“Dig.”

“Boom.”

Citrus shrieked and ran in between two log cabins. She and Summer hid behind a stack of firewood.

Citrus experienced a sudden and brief blinding flash. There was no sound that came with it, but her vision went completely white for an instant; it was over before she could blink her eyes. However, a moment later, there was a distant screeching sound, like feedback from a microphone. Summer shared a confused look.

Nova walked past their hiding spot. Summer hissed and whispered her name with her gravelly voice. Nova looked around slowly, disoriented. Citrus crept over to her and led her back to their hiding spot.

“Okay girls, we need to high tail it out of here and make our way to Canterlot and warn the Princess about what’s going on.” Summer Rain nodded in agreement, but Nova still looked dazed.

“This is really creepy guys. They’re like zombie-ponies or something.” Summer danced from hoof to hoof, full of nervous energy.

“Nova, there isn’t anything we can do for these ponies except to warn Princess Celestia.”

November Star stood there quietly. Citrus looked at her. Nova’s jaw was slack and her eyes vacant and half closed.

“Nova? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Citrus gently shook her shoulder. Nova slowly lifted her head and looked directly at Citrus. Her sapphire eyes gradually grew wide. It was the same hungry glare as Apfelstrudel’s.

“Stars...”