Adventures in the TARDIS

Most of the group is singing. This started because of Derpy of course. Feather and Stern immediately join because they both know and love this song. With a bit of a delay, Daring eventually joins the song even though part of her felt awkward and embarrassed to do so. To her, doing so feels a little unprofessional but she's been spending the last several days getting emotionally closer to the others while under unusually ideal circumstances. It almost feels as if these conditions became this conducive to social bonding in order to encourage a pony who is unusually resistant to it. It's as if that is the lesson of this experience, at least for her.

The one pony in their group that didn't join their chorus, and never did, is Doctor Kelly. It's as if she doesn't know how. She does observe the others though and even records them sometimes, including this moment. Her professional observation of the others informed her many details about this group dynamic from a psychological standpoint. Because of that, she feels she has gathered a lot of valuable data outside of a formal setting such as private psychological counseling with each of them minus Daring Do so far.

By now the doctor is well aware of Daring's heavily guarded and private nature which has slowly been crumbling across the duration of this trip. Part of the reason is that is there is some effort on Daring's part to open up to the others. She's trying and she wants to, but she spent so many years in enforced social isolation that it has become a habit for her. Doctor Kelly quickly realized that Daring has sensitive trust issues but her willingness to try to open up to this group indicates she trusts them far more than she normally does with others, and Doctor Kelly is smart enough to have some educated guesses why that is so.

This group, minus Doctor Kelly, isn't the only ones joining their song. Feather Wind informed them that the elemental spirits often respond positively to the music, especially if the song supports their general mood. Happy, loving, and joyous music almost always evokes a response from them. It's only a guess, but Feather figures that any music with a negative mood might actually confuse the local elemental spirits because it's so foreign to this environment, but it most likely would not encourage them to join and might even chase them out. This theory was never tested though because those kinds of songs have never come up so far. After all, these ponies are in this environment too and it has a heavy psychological influence on them that is difficult to resist, especially over time.

In this place, elemental spirits are more visible than they usually are. The most common form they take that these ponies can see with their naked eyes is balls of energy of various colors that dance and swirl around them. They can fade in and out of the visible spectrum for these ponies but even if they are invisible, they are still there for as long as they choose to be so. If they don't, they are incorporeal and can fly through solid structure accordingly, even if it is the ponies' physical bodies which can sometimes be felt, especially if they are sensitive to feeling energy such as Doctor Kelly. It took awhile for Feather Wind to notice this but they can also apparently teleport at will. No spell is actually cast when they do. Instead, they just suddenly fade away in one spot and fade in at another location. It seems they effortlessly have a way to skip the space in between. They can also split apart and merge which they have occasionally demonstrated.

Sometimes there is other evidence of influence by the elemental spirits such as change in temperature, air pressure, electrical activity, sudden gusts of wind even if it is only a gentle breeze. Another way their influence is noticeable, which is especially so in this crystal cave, is when they affect the lights shining off the other crystals in this cave. They all normally give a steady glow of some kind. The intensity and color varies with each crystal, but under the influence of the elemental spirits, that pattern occasionally changes. Sometimes the crystals glow brighter. Sometimes they dim. Sometimes they gleam. Sometimes they flash. Sometimes the light shifts around the crystal and one can see one or more shadows dance around it.

Whatever form of visible influence that manifests here, it is in support of whatever music is being played. It matches the tempo and theme of whatever the song is. Because of all of this, it makes it overwhelmingly obvious that these ponies are not alone. Whatever else is out here with them might not be fully sentient per se, at least in the traditional sense, but it does react to whatever energy these ponies cast off from themselves. The spirits’ general mood seems largely playful and upbeat.

Which, of course, is why Derpy is having the easiest time connecting with them. She and these spirits seem to have a lot of natural synergy between them. Her bubbly nature is naturally conducive to this kind of atmosphere. Playful, happy, child-like, curious and highly innocent.

Today, however, there are a few extra surprises in store for them. The first of these is the fact that audible music joins them. At first it just seems to be humming from the crystals and that is true, but in time the music turns into a more organic sounding voices and eventually this group spots the new source. Other creatures fade into existence in much the same way these elemental spirit balls do. These new ones seem to be pony shaped at first and even have the correct size. They, too, are four-legged creatures with a central barrel body, single neck, head, and tail extending off of them. These creatures have more fur, though, particularly around their heads and necks which makes it look like a lion's mane. They also have some hair extending off the back of each of their hooves. More curious still is some scales that extend down certain portions of their body and are particularly thick along the backs and back of their neck. They also have horns on the top of their heads. The ponies that observe them quickly realize that that appendage of theirs has the same function as a unicorn horn, but the curved shape of them is subtly unique to each one and almost looks like an elegantly curved tree branch instead of a typical pointy unicorn horn. If these creatures cast magic, the way their horns glow is different too. It is like they have glowing arcane lines in their horns instead of their entire horns glowing with energy. Just like a pony unicorn, though, the exact color that each of these horns glow appears to be equally unique to each one.

The final detail that stands out about each of these creatures is a brilliantly shining aura around each of them. The color of that aura tends to match whatever their horn color is but the observant would notice that is not always the case.

Feather Wind, Daring Do, and to a lesser extent, Doctor Kelly are the ones in this group to properly identify the name of this species, which in this case is known as kirin in their respective timelines, but this is the first time any of them have personally met one. Of this group, Daring has come the closest to doing so in her past. In her case, she never met a living example, but had found some of their bones and other ancient ruins. She grew well aware that living examples might still be out there in the world somewhere, but only now is finally the time when she encounters not just one of them, but several.

Like the visiting elemental spirits before them, the primary interest of this group of kirin seems to be the same. It takes time to notice this, but even their mindset seems to be the same as well. They operate far more on raw instinct alone rather than any sort of logical thought. This likely means they can't talk. They probably don't even think in words and they never did. Instead, they are swept up in pure magical passion at all times which is probably why their bodies and horns are glowing so much. They are also probably not fully corporeal beings. They seem to be for the moment, but the truth is they are just made of energy that is temporarily solid. That's why they were able to fade in from seemingly out of nowhere and likely can depart in the same manner.

Doctor Kelly Saddler was recording this the whole time with her drones. Initially it was for posterity to have a record of this groups progressing social dynamic and scientific curiosity about the reaction and influence these elemental spirits have in the crystals of this cave, but now she becomes even more determined to let the recording continue the minute the kirin show up. At that point she has the drones initiate some scans as well after a brief moment of hesitation because she feared that doing that might chase these new creatures away, but doing so appears to have no reaction in them for the moment.

Curiously, Derpy has the least reaction to the arrival of the kirin because, by then, she was already in a musical trance. In fact her melody shifted to match theirs, or perhaps it is the other way around? At that point there are no lyrics to the song. Just harmonic humming instead. In addition, they also dance and swirl in the crystal cave in a way that is in sync with each other to the degree of highly unusual perfection. It is as if, in that moment, they are all one mind and spirit that is controlling multiple bodies. It is as if each body is merely a single limb extending from the same body. Their music and movements compliment each other far too well to believe otherwise.

At that point Feather Wind, Stern Wing, and Daring Do stop joining the music and instead observe this new phenomenon. They are all cautious at first but Feather is the first to relax about what they see. He even takes a moment to concentrate on the Red Crystal and use it to absorb some of this positive energy pervading the cave right now. He also smiles in delight when he notices Derpy being so happy at this moment. Gradually that look sinks into a cunning one as well because he realizes how this moment could be useful to Derpy and even the group later on.

Daring and Stern remain on high alert. They carefully scan everything in front of them for signs of trouble, but the reason they don't do anything else is because they aren't observing any obvious signs of trouble. Instead it is the opposite, and yet neither mare fully trusts it. This is just too highly unusual to them to settle with them fully.

Despite their guard, there is no denying that the music is beautiful to an otherworldly degree. The kind of music that can make any other kind of music they are accustomed to feel stale in comparison. In fact, that is why they will have trouble remembering this fully later. The quality is just too good for their brains to process. This is literally beyond the quality any mundane mortal can possibly achieve so retaining memory of it later is equally difficult. The only thing that will preserve this to some extent is the raw emotion of the moment, not the singing or dancing motion that caused it. They'll also remember that it was music and dancing that occurred at that moment, but the details will fade like a dream which, in a way, is a blessing because otherwise they would not be able to enjoy any other music at a mundane mortal level of quality. At least they'll know that quality like that exists at all and their souls will remember it even if their mortal minds can't. That, in turn, has a subtle influence on the rest of their lives ever onward.

The fact that the influence of that music is so overwhelmingly positive is another reason they gradually, but never fully, relax their guard. Both mares are loath to shake Derpy out of her musical trance when it is clear she is having such a joyous time of her life so they stay ready for action just in case instead.

The performance felt timeless while it occurred, almost as if it is eternal which is yet another reason why the others cannot remember it well later on. How can their minds process something that truly feels eternal? Besides, when their memories later fade about this moment somewhat, it becomes even more difficult to identify exactly how long it took.

When she later checks, Doctor Kelly eventually discovers that even her equipment gets confused with regards to how long the performance actually took. According to it, time kept skipping back and forth randomly and the files of the performance itself is largely corrupted because even it had a hard time recording true otherworldly perfection. It is just a scramble of data filled with snow, static, digital screeching, or nothing at all.

But the kirin, which curiously seem to all be female for some reason, eventually vanish as mysteriously as they once appeared. By then the music came to its natural conclusion. However, the sheer suddenness of their departure left a curious hole in the atmosphere. As joyous and uplifting as their presence had been, their sudden departure left the room feeling curiously empty all of a sudden. A danger instinct ran through the systems of Stern, Feather and Daring as well. It made them think that is precisely why the kirin departed so swiftly. They sensed a shift in mood coming that is not compatible with their nature and they are so in tune with their instincts that they reacted before the danger even came.

Derpy is an exception, though. While she was the one who was most swept up in the passion of the musical moment, she faints instead of vanishing like the other kirin did. It probably costs more energy to be corporeal for the kirin so they simply return to their natural state and flee in spirit form, but Derpy is solid by default and has mortal limitations on top of that. During the performance the energy of it kept her going but, in the aftermath of it, the cost of it caught up with her body. Bending mortal limitations beyond what it is normally capable of is only a temporary state for her. When the performance passes, she is spent and therefore collapses onto the cave floor.

“DERPY!” Stern Wing cries out in alarm and almost charges after the unconscious gray mare but Daring is faster because she's smaller for one thing and has more honed reflexes. As such, she is immediately able to charge after Derpy the moment the walleye pegasus starts to fall.

Still, there is too much distance between them for even Daring to close the gap before Derpy's head hits the ground but Daring is on Derpy a split second later. From there, Daring applies a hoof to a few spots on Derpy to check for vital signs. It takes a moment for her to register a heart beat in the bubble cutie marked mare, but the very first encouraging sign Daring notices is that Derpy is still breathing. Aside from sudden and intense exhaustion, Derpy seems fine. In fact maybe better than fine. Derpy is unconscious with a peaceful and angelic-like smile on her face as if she is dreaming about heaven itself.

“Scan her with your equipment now!” Feather Wind immediately and uncharacteristically demands of Doctor Kelly. “Find out if she's safe and fine.”

“Ah . . . working on it?” Doctor Kelly replies with an unexpected questioning inflection to her tone.

“Something wrong?” Feather reflects because of her reaction.

“The drones are glitching right now,” Doctor Kelly reports with a highly surprised tone. “I may have to reboot them.”

“What does that mean?” Feather asks her with a questioning wince.

“It means I'll have to turn them off then on again,” Doctor Kelly replies. “If I do so, it might fix whatever is wrong with these things.” Then she grunts in frustration before adding, “This might mean the data I gathered just a moment ago could be corrupted as well. That would truly be a pity.”

“How is she?” Stern asks Daring after trotting up to the other two mares.

“Stable,” Daring reports. “Even seems peaceful . . . but unconscious. I'm not sure why but my guess is exhaustion.”

Stern Wing sighs in a bit of relief after hearing that but she gets on edge again when she resumes scanning the rest of the cave. For the first time ever since their mysterious meeting with the small and possible draconequus, the atmosphere doesn't feel welcoming anymore which is highly, highly unusual compared to the normal standard they've ever otherwise gotten from this side of the world and time. Since their experience has been overwhelmingly positive wherever they have gone for over a week now, this one moment with a spot of darkness feels drastically different in comparison. They are no longer accustomed to this so it stands out all the more.

“Be ready for action,” Stern Wing cautions. “I sense danger ahoof.”

“Me too,” Daring Do agrees as her fur visibly stands up on end. “Feather,” Daring calls over her right shoulder, “can you lift and carry Derpy close to you carefully? Maybe you should take her out of the cave as well.”

“I can try,” Feather volunteers, then looks to his right at Doctor Kelly. To her, he requests hopefully, “A little help? I just want to be careful with her.”

Still regarding her drones with a frown, which are no longer floating but instead seem dead on the ground, Doctor Kelly sighs with frustration mixed with confusion then shakes her head before regarding Feather Wind and affirms to him, “Right. We'll do this together. Once we have her near us, I can probe her the old fashion way. I also have some spells that will help me gather some data unless my gems are malfunctioning too.”

“Test it with something safe before you try it on Derpy,” Feather Wind suggests to her. “But do it quickly. Please.”

Doctor Kelly confirms this with a nod. She tests her magic by having her lollipop float out of her mouth then back into her mouth, of which she does successfully and with no delay whatsoever. Nodding to Feather to communicate her success and willingness to engage their next task, they both concentrate and soon have Derpy's body surrounded by two magical auras. With that done, they easily but still carefully float the unconscious mare closer to themselves.

“I don't like the way those things so suddenly departed,” Stern Wing quietly tells Daring while on edge. “Maybe they sensed whatever danger was coming this way, or perhaps they even summoned it.”

“I don't think they summoned it,” Daring argues as she rises to her four hooves and tilts her hat slightly forward over her face. She has a piercing eye scanning about under the edge of her hat. “But I do think they sensed it. Those creatures, of which I suspect were ancient versions of a species known in my time as the 'kirin', seem to entirely operate on primitive but also highly sensitive instinct.”

“If you're right, do you have any idea what it could be?” Stern Wing asks Daring cautiously. “The danger, I mean.”

“It could be the nirik,” Daring Do guesses. “Legends say these evil creatures often follow the wake of the kirin for some reason. If I'm right,” Daring regards Stern Wing off the corner of her right eye, “be prepared to engage creatures that emit a lot of fire by their mere presence.”

“Oh goodie,” Stern Wing sarcastically replies. “I could use a little warmth after all those cold fronts out of this cave due to our high elevation.” Then she winces. “Doesn't fire need oxygen too? Is it strange to encounter such creatures at such high altitudes accordingly?”

“I don't know yet. I never met them before,” Daring admits to Stern. “All my knowledge of either species comes from obscure books I found and read as well as evidence I discovered in ancient ruins where both species used to dwell. Some of those places have ponies, or other species, that moved in since and have tales and legends about those who used to reside there.”

“Hey! What's this?” Stern Wing asks curiously when she spots a new object on the ground that is very close to where Derpy was. Stern Wing scoops it up with a large brown feather then examines it closely. What she sees appears to be some kind of flower with a stem in a loose S shape pattern. At one end of it is U shaped petals that curve outward at the end of it. As she examines it, she notices the petals of this flower are ice blue. Seeing that, she gasps and widens her eyes before extending it closer to Daring do and asking her, “Wait a second! Is this the Ice Blue Flower that we were seeking?”

“Ice Blue Lilly,” Daring reminds then glances at it. When she does, she also widens her eyes with a gasp then ecstatically reports, “YES! That is indeed the flower we seek . . . except . . .” Daring trails off when she notices a detail that is amiss with this flower. It's not supposed to be frosted with a glitter of tiny crystals on it like this flower has. Close examination reveals that the frosted crystals emit a very slight glow to them.

“What's wrong?” Stern Wing asks with a nervous edge to her tone which borders on disappointment.

“This flower normally isn't frosted with gems like this,” Daring reports.

“Um,” Stern Wing bends her head down to look at the flower still in her left brown wing more closely then asks, “is that a bad thing? Do you think it will still work? Also, I noticed that the stem seems to be broken at the base so this was picked off the ground.”

Lifting her head back up, Daring Do then says, “I get the feeling that the frosted gems on this flower are meant to help preserve it, potentially indefinitely.”

“So it is still good?” Stern asks with rising cheer.

“Yes. I think so,” Daring answers. “In fact, I think the method used to preserve it is specifically to make sure it remains useful to us.”

“A parting gift from the kirin?” Stern Wing guesses. “Maybe in gratitude for allowing them to dance and sing with us, or at least do so with Derpy.” She tilts her head curiously. “And how did they know we were seeking this flower anyway?”

“I don't know,” Daring replies with a shake of her head. “There is a lot about this adventure that isn't standard for me. Something tells me that these kirin are not totally like the ones that once existed closer to our time. The kirin I’ve read about in the future built structures after all, but these ones don't seem capable of normal speech or even logic at all.” Her eyes shift to Stern. “So they might have some other trait instead like super instinct and such. For all I know they might all be highly psychic and telepathically in tune with each other.”

“If you're right, that might explain how and why their movements and music were in such perfect sync with each other,” Stern Wing figures. “They were mentally communicating to each other so fast, it's as if they all had one mind.”

Daring nods then says, “My thoughts exactly.

“Anyway, take that flower back to the others and tell them to preserve it. Put it in their saddlebags or something. I don't want that lilly anywhere near the front lines. It's why we've come here, after all, and after all this effort we made to secure a sample, I don't want to risk losing it.”

Stern Wing nods and says, “You got it.” She then gallops her way back to Feather and Doctor Kelly and reports what they have discovered so far and what to do accordingly. Stern Wing almost finishes updating the rest of her friends but trails off when they all hear a familiar and multi-tonal laughter echo around them. That immediately puts them on greater edge as they scan about.

“Five little ponies take shelter in a cave. From there they discover a flower to save. Preserving their objective is that which they crave. Stories abound of bonds they did pave, but caution is nigh lest they meet with their grave.”

“WHERE ARE YOU, YOU COWARD!” Stern Wing cries aloud. “SHOW YOURSELF.”

The laughter picks up again around them as if to mock Stern Wing's words. Not long after that the laughter localizes more in one spot ahead and above them. The cat/lizard-like creature first appears as a widely smiling mouth and eyes before the rest of the creature fades into existence. Once again it appears to lay on something flat nobody else can see. Its tail with a snake mouth at the end swishes playfully behind it. One of its long claws is pressed on the invisible circle it is laying upon and lazily uses it to trace a continuous circle.

“Coward, am I, doth that I appear? Nary, I say, to you . . . my dear. Mischief, instead, is the method I play. That is what you'll see by the end of this day. Before we continue, there is one thing I must say; to your gods is that which you must pray. Your journey must continue and I'll show you the way.”

“Enough of your games and riddles, cat . . . lizard thingamabob,” Stern barks back harshly at the creature. “Let's just get to the point. What are your intentions now?”

The creature lifts a claw as it bids, “Patience, dear one. There's no need to fret. In short order all the pieces will be set.”

“You confront us now just when we gained that which we sought?” Daring Do speaks up. “I doubt that is a coincidence. For weeks we have traveled without a hint of your appearance and now you show up? We waited for you all this time to make a move but you didn't.” She flashes the creature a daring grin. “Or couldn't. This land isn't like Equestria, or rather it is but way more intense. I wonder how that influences the powers and abilities of a spirit of chaos and disharmony.”

The creature’s smile at Daring deepens as it says, “From hither and thither, to beyond and thence. Oh where is the fun in things making sense? Yet games that I play, and rules that there are. You must abide them before you will get far.”

“Is that a threat?!” Stern Wing menaces with a bristle of her fur.

“Challenge, I say, is what I bring unto you,” it says to Stern as it regards her with its mesmerizing and every shifting heterochromatic eyes. “Soon you'll discover that my words doth ring true.”

As if to prove the floating creature's point, yet another creature burrows its way to the surface then towards them from the back of this cave.

This new creature that arrives approaches them on four legs but the motion it makes is more like crawling rather than trotting. It is a little bigger than an average pony but that actually makes it smaller than Stern Wing. This new creature appears to have a gray hide and seems to have no head. Its general torso configuration is like an elongated teardrop shape. Spindly and very flexible arms and legs crawl on its side. There appears to be no bones in those limbs at all. Instead, the highly flexible limbs are more akin to tentacles except it ends in claw-like hands. It also has a long tail behind it and this, too, ends in a claw-like hand. There are spikes all over this creature which, for the moment, is curved back towards the tail end of this creature. It takes awhile for the ponies to notice that the forward end of this teardrop shaped creature is actually its mouth. When it opens, the mouth splits four ways like a nasty looking flower petals peeling back. The inside of its curved back lips is lined with many spikes that basically function like this creature's teeth. About three tentacles wiggle within its mouth that vaguely remind the pony onlookers of a tongue but that is only because of the location of these things.

“What, in Celestia's holy name, is that monstrosity?!” Stern Wing exclaims in horrified alarm.

“I'm glad Derpy isn't awake to witness this,” Feather Wind says in a low tone. “But that'll also make defending her a tad bit trickier.”

“Leave that to me,” Doctor Kelly requests calmly. “I am very precise with my force fields.” To demonstrate that her words are true, Derpy's unconscious body gets encased in a spherical force field which then lifts and hovers about four feet off the ground. “My drones should be fully rebooted soon, then after that, I should be able to use them to scan this creature. Once that data starts rolling in, I can give the rest of you better tactical advice.”

“In the meantime, the rest of us should be prepared to engage-” Stern Wing begins but Daring Do cuts Stern Wing off by lifting both of her beige wings as if to use them to block all the ponies behind her.

“No! All of you stay back behind me!” Daring Do insists as she regards the threat ahead of them in a very guarded stance. She then peers back at the rest of her companions over her right shoulder and raised wing with her right eye only. From there, they can see Daring Do's eye pupil is very small with a look of very focused fury. “This one is mine!” Daring again insists with acid in the last word of her sentence.

“Are you sure it's wise to face this thing by yourself?” Stern asks in a cautious tone. “We'd be safer if we all face this together.”

Feather Wind notices that the possible tiny draconequus regards this declaration with surprise as well which he personally finds noteworthy. Daring Do's intentions do not match the tiny creature's plan or expectation. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, Feather Wind can't decide yet. Further observation is required for him.

“I've fought on my own plenty of times before,” Daring Do informs her companions as she regards the dangerous-looking creature ahead of her again. “I can hoofle this. I'll make sure the rest of you don't get hurt in the process. The Doctor trusted me to take care of you all and that is precisely what I'm going to do.”

Any mystery that the ponies behind Daring Do had as to why Daring is doing this is suddenly gone now. Even Stern Wing has figured out that Daring's habits and trust issues remain in the way for optimal teamwork to take place here.

“Let her do this, Stern,” Feather recommends to his large friend. “If she really can hoofle this then that is enough. The rest of us will be on standby just in case. Also, after the battle, if Daring suffers any injuries then Doctor Kelly can make short work of it even if she gets drained of magic. With harmonic energy this strong at this time and place, not only would her magic recover much faster, but her healing magic would likely be enhanced as well.”

“Even our body's natural healing rate seems to be accelerated here,” Doctor Kelly adds. “But that also might apply to Daring Do's opponent. This could end up a very long fight.” Doctor Kelly takes a deep breath, lets it out, then says, “In any case, I still plan to scan that creature even if Daring doesn't plan to listen to my advice. What I discover might still be valuable, perhaps even essential.” She looks at her drones as the two spherical mirrors start floating up. “And it looks like the two of them have successfully rebooted too. I'm going to give them a quick diagnostics check of their systems before sending them forth.”

“So even machines can get sick, huh?” Feather figures with a side grin at Doctor Kelly.

“In their own way, yes,” Doctor Kelly confirms. “I heard that the Doctor's sonic screwdriver is particularly good at manipulating, disabling, or even repairing such things so long as it isn't made of wood.”

“Check on Derpy's status too while you're at it,” Stern Wing advises Doctor Kelly. “I want to make sure she's fine too, or at least stable enough for the moment. That can be the drone's first test.”

“That's part of my plan,” Doctor Kelly replies.

While they were talking, Daring Do and the spiky gray creature had approached each other until they were about fifteen feet apart. From there, they moved in a circle while constantly facing each other. Each of them seems to size up their opponent in their own way. The spiky gray creature is much more twitchy while Daring remains steady, deadly serious, and focused.

Also during this time, the floating cat/lizard creature vanishes in a flash of light then simultaneously reappears near the other ponies and facing towards Daring Do and the spiky creature. Its hypnotic rainbow eyes regard this upcoming fight with devious delight mixed with curiosity. Its smile is creepy wide and its tail swishes playfully behind it.

“Forgive me if asking this question offends you, but if you'll indulge me, I'm curious about something,” Feather Wind says to the floating draconequus which immediately wins Feather Wind its attention. “What are you, exactly? What is your name, and are you male or female?”

While Feather Wind asked those questions, the creature momentarily had a more normal and vaguely curious expression on its face, but its wide smile returns upon the conclusion of Feather's questions.

“Mysteries abound where questions lie. I'm equally curious, by the by. Spirit I am, and Chaos I sow. It doesn't surprise me that there are things to know. What you see is what I am. Take that as you will, you handsome man.”

After saying that, the creature suddenly turns into disembodied, cherry-red lips that are the same size that the creature was. In that form, the disembodied lips suddenly fly at Feather Wind's face and smacks him with a giant kiss that covers the whole right side of his face. Cherry-red lipstick lingers there at the conclusion of that action. After that, the lips suddenly vanish and the creature reappears where it was before, laying on some invisible surface about six feet off the ground roughly between all the ponies back here.

After all that happened, the conscious ponies in the back line here suddenly decide that the gender of this creature might actually lean on female, but they still aren't totally sure yet. Feather Wind also starts blushing in a startled way while Stern Wing growls under her breath. She's actually surprised to find a sudden flare of jealousy within her system but she partially excused it because she still regards this creature as a potential, and even likely, threat. Any creature that espouses to be the pure embodiment of Chaos and Disharmony likely warrants at least a little caution in her playbook.

The spiky gray creature leaps at Daring Do. Daring dodges by tumbling under the creature then basically replaces the creature's original position. From there, she spins about, rises to her hooves and bites into a handle of a whip which she recovers from one of her saddlebags in mid tumble. This transfers that handle to a hoof then whips at the creature who also spins about to face her again, but it did so much more slowly compared to her. For a moment the creature leans from side to side to dodge the crack of her whip but both of their actions change when the crack finally connects. It is then that both of them learn that the whip has no effect on the thick hide of this creature.

After that, the creature leans back for a moment then leans forward as it splits its mouth open four ways and proceeds to give a screeching roar.

“You're one ugly mother sucker, ain't ya?” Daring asks as her eyes widen slightly at the creature. “But then again, maybe you don't have a mother. Perhaps your existence materialized from the demented imagination of another.”

As Daring Do said that, she flashes a brief glare back at the tiny draconequus. In reply, draconequus lifts one of her (?) paws with long claws and wiggles them in both a playful, and perhaps also taunting, gesture. Meanwhile that creepy wide smile remains plastered on her face.

The spiky creature crouches down then leaps at Daring Do again. Daring responds in a similar way except she drops her whip and pulls out her machete during her second tumble. This time, however, she manages to cause a wicked two foot long slash along the underside of the creature. It lands on the other side so injured and in pain that it collapses onto the ground.

“Diagnostics complete,” Doctor Kelly reports calmly. “Both drones appear to be in working order, and Derpy is stable enough for the moment based on these readings. Now for phase two.”

With that, Doctor Kelly sends both drones out towards the spiky gray creature and has them swirl around it while scanning it with green laser lines from each of them. Because they are working in coordination, Doctor Kelly is being fed new information twice as fast.

“You got this!” Stern Wing cheers at Daring Do.

Still holding her machete in her mouth, which is where she sliced the other creature in mid tumble, Daring Do pants a bit as she remains tense and gives a focused glare at the gray creature. She acknowledges that the machete indeed seems more effective than her whip, but she remains on her guard just in case. After all, it is not dead or unconscious yet.

Since there are several seconds pause from combat, Doctor Kelly eventually reports, “Scan complete. Now let's see. What are we dealing with here?”

Doctor Kelly sits down on a wedged sphere of a force field which floats her up. In the next moment, many dozens of holographic windows show up around her which captures the fascinated attention of the tiny draconequus for a moment. This doesn't seem expected or familiar to this creature.

“Uh . . . bad news,” Doctor Kelly eventually reports. “This creature is regenerating exceptionally fast. Faster still than any of us would be in this environment. If it is healing faster because of this place's influence, then it seems to have the natural ability to regenerate fast and faster still in this environment.”

Daring Do's shoulders slump when she sees that her opponent is rising again and that the wound she caused along its underside is indeed closing fast. Having learned that, she contemplates a new strategy to defeat it.

“Sizzling bile from the creature's maw,” the echo-y and multi-tonal voice of the draconequus creature says in a taunting voice. “A putrid glob that's worthy of awe. No time for rest. No time to cry. Stay ready for action or you will die.”

“She's right!” Doctor Kelly warns in a tone of alarm. “The creature's gullet is filled with powerful acid.”

“Oh goodie,” Daring Do groans seconds before the creature hacks out a green glob from its mouth towards Daring. Daring leaps to her left side and even uses her right wing to assist with that jump. Looking back at her original position, everyone here seems to notice that the green glob dissolves into the ground with black, putrid steam rising up and a strong sizzling sound.

Feather Wind regards the tiny draconequus with strong surprise because the last thing she said was somewhat phrased like a taunt, but it was also effectively a warning. The information she gave might have saved Daring Do's life. Why was that information really given, then?

“This creature has no eyes that I can detect,” Doctor Kelly further reports.

“Then how does it know where Daring Do is?” Stern Wing questions the doctor. “Keen sense of smell, perhaps?”

“Or tremorsense,” Doctor Kelly guesses as she continues to analyze the data she received. “I think this creature can detect others through sensing vibrations in the ground. It might have a keen sense of smell too, especially when it opens its mouth and wiggles those three tentacle-looking tongues.”

“Scent and tremorsense. Hmm.” This new revelation makes Daring Do briefly thoughtful, then she says. “Thank you for that report.”

“See? Having teammates can come in hoofy,” Stern Wing points out with the very deliberate intention to make that exceptionally clear.

Using a wing to reach into her saddlebags, Daring Do pulls out a small rock. She tosses it nine feet to her side while carefully observing her opponent. She notices how the creature's movements twitch in that direction but then slowly turns back to Daring Do. This makes it clear it did sense the thump over there where Daring tossed her rock, but still senses Daring in her true position somehow. Most likely scent.

Speaking of scent, the glob of acid that hit the ground starts to spread a noxious fume through the cave. Those who start to smell it not only have the problem of wafting in a very sickening scent, but it slightly burns their throats too and thus proving that even the fumes of the acid are acidic as well. Feather Wind decides to do something about it and has a breeze blow the fumes out of the cave.

Which gives Daring Do an idea!

“Wait! Feather Wind, are you causing that breeze over the fumes of the acid?” Daring Do checks with rising excitement.

“Uh . . . yes,” Feather replies. “Since even the fumes seem noxious and acidic, I figured I'd blow it out of the cave for the betterment of our health.”

The creature slowly crawls closer to Daring Do while they talk. As it approaches her, it seems just a little uncertain where Daring is precisely because she isn't moving yet. She even stills her breath somewhat.

“Okay. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to blow the fumes at me instead, or rather through me and further into the cave,” Daring Do requests.

“What? Are you crazy?” Stern Wing balks.

“No. I think I know what she's thinking,” Feather says with a cunning grin then warns, “Hold your breath, then. I'll blow the fumes in your direction when you nod that you're ready.”

Daring Do sucks in then holds her breath before nodding. She also closes her eyes for now since she's well aware that anything that can burn lungs can also burn eyeballs. Due to that signal, Feather reverses the flow of the breeze through Daring Do. When that happens, the creature entirely pauses its approach since it can no longer smell the Daring mare. Instead, it smells its own acidic glob tracing a line from where it fell to further in the cave. Her own scent gets swallowed up within that significantly stronger noxious fumes.

Knowing she has to act quick before she passes out, Daring Do pulls out a stick of dynamite from her left saddlebag and places it on the floor. She then spits out her machete to a hoof and whacks at the wick of the dynamite. Not only did she cut it short to explode in just a few seconds, but the sparks she caused by having her weapon connect with the solid stone cave floor also ignited the wick. With it, she tosses the stick away from her. When it lands, the spiky gray creature not only pounces on it, but uses its three tongues to snag it and pull it in its mouth. After that, the torso of this creature tilts to its side in curiosity since it now realizes its prey is not only much smaller than it expected, but it burns a tiny bit in its mouth.

Daring Do crouches down then leaps up with a flap of both of her wings. Since her wings cause a sudden downdraft, it pushes the noxious fumes flat on the floor for a brief moment. Because of that, she knows she's fully out of it now so it's therefore safe to breathe and open her eyes again. She keeps hovering in the air for a moment until the gullet of her opponent suddenly explodes. That launches the creature up about three feet before it collapses back onto the ground, temporarily unconscious again.

Daring Do then dives at her fallen opponent while reaching back and pulling yet another item from her saddlebags. This time she pulls out a long silk rope. When she lands carefully on top of the creature and making sure she maneuvers her hooves between the creature's spikes, she lasso's the rope around what she assumes is the creature's throat then pulls back as hard as she can. She's dealt with a few regenerating creatures before and knows they cannot be defeated by conventional wounds unless there is a specific method of attack that their bodies cannot heal from, but she has yet to meet such creatures that can function well without breathing. Even as this creature's belly and insides start regenerating, she chokes the life right back out of it while it is too wounded to defend itself.

Fifteen seconds later, it looks like she succeeds. The spasmodic jiggle of the creature suddenly halts. After that, Daring Do removes her hat and uses her other hoof to wipe her brow of sweat away while she regards her defeated opponent with relief. At the same time, the other ponies cheer except for the still unconscious gray mail delivery mare.

In stark contrast to the ponies cheer, though, the tiny draconequus yawns in boredom instead. It pats a paw repeatedly over its mouth during that action then gazes at Daring Do with a listless expression in its shifting, multi-color eyes.

“How boring. The Mare of Dares solos another foe. Her every opponent suffers another woe. A lesson, here, she could have learned; but, instead, her stubbornness spurred.

“Refresh the rules. The game anew. Mayhap, this time, she'll grow . . . this Daring Do.”

To the great alarm and even disgust of the other ponies here, a hand spews out of the mouth of the snake at the end of her tail. Using that tiny hand, it snaps its fingers which causes a bright flash both over the hand and around the creature Daring just defeated. As a result of this magic, it quickly grows to quadruple its former size and it regains consciousness. Its size expansion alone snaps the silken rope apart that Daring had tied around its neck.

Leaping off of the creature then spinning back to face it, Daring's shoulders slump as she groans, “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”

“Maybe this thing should be our next opponent!” Stern Wing snaps in anger as she uses her large left wing to snag the tiny draconequus out of thin air and drag it close to her muzzle. In return, the tiny creature licks Stern's muzzle with a suddenly oversized tongue. That action causes Stern to cringe and reflexively, and unintentionally, let the tiny creature go. When that happens, the creature fades away along with an echo-y fit of maniacal laughter.

“Blast that creature! I had it!” Stern complains in a furious, throaty growl. “If we don't deal with it next, it could just instantly heal and augment that creature again.”

“It keeps saying we need to play by the rules,” Feather Wind counters. “And it seems obviously unsatisfied with the fact Daring soloed that creature. As such,” he whips his head to gaze and Daring Do sharply. “I suggest you allow us to assist you this time.”

“Granted,” Daring Do reluctantly agrees while watching the vastly enlarged creature rise again. She really doesn't want to pull in and endanger her friends or rely on them, but even if she defeats this augmented creature on her own, the tiny draconequus would probably only augment it again.

At that moment, though, it does strike Doctor Kelly, Feather Wind, and Daring Do as odd that a creature of Disharmony would actually encourage teamwork.

“I'll scan the creature again. See what else might have changed,” Doctor Kelly proposes. “I'll do it from back here too while continuing to guard myself as well as Derpy.”

“Good idea,” Daring Do agrees. “Meanwhile I want you, Stern Wing, to flank this creature from the other side. Keep it confused which mare it should target. The moment it starts going after one of us, it'll create an opening for the other mare to attack.

“As for you, Feather Wind, I want you to hold a little further back. Try shooting it with your hornbeam and protect us with your bubble shields, especially if it seems like it is about to land a critical blow.”

Stern Wing leaps up then dives back down closer to the creature from the other side. She uses her wings to glide to that side. Along the way, she says in frustration, “I'll bet you anything that this creature's acid attack has been enhanced as well.”

When Stern Wing lands with a heroic hoof pound to the ground which notably gathers the creature's attention (as she intended), Doctor Kelly's drones fly past Stern and flank the other two sides of this creature. From there, they spin around it and project another set of green laser lines. Just like last time, this creature completely ignores the two drones. It is either unaware that they are there or completely disregards them with a lack of interest.

As the creature turns to engage Stern Wing, Daring Do charges at the creature by leaping up and diving at it. Once she arrives, she spins about and kicks at the creature's back side with both of her hind hooves. In doing so, it starts to turn to face her again and that is when Stern charges at it and slugs it with a strong right hook of her right fore hoof. She is so strong that she makes about as much impact with that one hit as both of Daring Do's hind legs combined.

Still, though, neither mare made much of a dent in the creature's even thicker hide. It noticed the impact, especially with its tremorsense, but the hits didn't hurt it. Even if they did, it would only regenerate from the blow faster than before. The amount it heals is proportionate to the percentage of its augmented health as a direct result to its larger size. More bulk means more flesh that has to be torn down to defeat it again. Furthermore the ponies' blows feel more minuscule to it now. It's like a sword would have no more a sting than a toothpick to it at this point.

“There is one new advantage for us considering its augmented size,” Feather Wind points out when he gallops then stops fifteen feet behind Stern Wing. “This creature nearly touches the cave ceiling now. To it, the size of this cave has effectively shrunk and therefore it limits the creature’s movements somewhat.”

“And this cave is full of pointy crystals!” Stern Wing adds in realization. “Maybe we can use its new bulk against it. If it charges at one of us, and one of the crystal spikes is jutting out of the cave walls, then we can use its own momentum against it.”

“I don't think that would stop this thing from regenerating, but that's still sharp thinking, Stern,” Daring Do compliments.

“The crystals do appear to be magical,” Stern observes as she dodges and weaves from the creature's various strikes. Just like Feather Wind pointed out earlier, the creature's new size limits its movements. It keeps on striking the cave walls and ceiling which then put a halt on the trajectory of each of its claw swings. “Maybe that magic could have some influence on its system?”

“I'm getting some new data now,” Doctor Kelly reports. “For the most part it seems exactly the same, only larger this time. That means more muscles, more weight behind each of its swings, longer reach, and more health to deal with. The acid in its stomach is indeed larger too. It probably could now launch a stream that would make even a larger dragon balk at this point.”

“And with its regenerating health, I doubt even an Ursa Minor could take it down despite having about the same bulk,” Feather Wind guesses before launching a large gust of wind at the creature to knock it off course from using its weight to crush Daring Do. That gust of wind also impales it into a chunky crystal spike on the cave wall.

Feather then launches a second blast of wind to curve the reflected wind of the first attack. After all, he has enough experience with controlling winds and the spatial awareness keen enough to realize how large gusts of winds would be affected in this confined environment. It had enough force to knock the creature off balance for a moment but the air had nowhere else to go in a cave that is a dead end. As a result, that blast would have reflected right back from the other end of the cave. Because he knew that, he uses a second blast of wind to curve the first towards the ceiling and therefore protect his own allies, in their current position lower to the cave floor, from the reflected attack. From there, both gusts of wind join together and end up shooting out of the exit/entrance of the cave.

“I forgot he could do that,” Daring Do admits as she recovers her balance on the cave floor. “That isn't a standard power or spell of any average unicorn.”

“Yeah, well, Feather Wind isn't any standard unicorn,” Stern Wing says as she uses her whole body to ram a stalactite hanging from the ceiling and therefore dislodges it from the cave roof. Armed with her new weapon, she uses it to dive down and impale into the giant creature. Once she does that, she adds, “And neither am I a standard pegasus.”

“I got it!” Daring Do cries in triumph. “Feather Wind, increase the air pressure inside the creature. Boil its blood while we keep it distracted.”

Feather Wind frowns and shudders. That strategy might work, but using the air as a weapon is antithetical to his nature. This makes him very uncomfortable with that plan.

On the other hand, he can't think of another strategy that would take down a creature this tough right now. The longer it endures, the greater the exposure to danger his friends will be, not to mention that the augmented quantity of acid in its stomach would probably now dissolve an elephant in seconds.

“Wait! I am detecting new motion approaching our vicinity,” Doctor Kelly reports. “It has bio heat signature and electrical conductivity. It must be another life form.”

“Where?” Daring asks as she ducks and tumbles forward just in time to dodge a claw attack that rips a chunk out of the cave wall.

Doctor Kelly analyzes the data she's receiving a few seconds longer then looks over her shoulder out of the cave as she reports, “Out there. It's coming at us from outside.”

“Is it friend or-” Stern Wing starts to ask but ends up getting whacked away by a whirling tentacle that has a claw attached to it. Fortunately the claw itself does not connect to her but she's instead launched away by the blunt force trauma. She ends up landing and scraping against the cave floor and slides close to Doctor Kelly and the still unconscious Derpy within a floating bubble force field. She lands on her back and leans a bit on her right side. Her face scrunches in tight pain after stopping.

“STERN WING!” Feather Wind hollers in horror.

“FOCUS, Feather Wind, or one of us will be next!” Daring Do warns firmly.

“I'll take care of Stern,” Doctor Kelly promises as she turns both her droids, and her own magic, to render Stern Wing some magical and technological assistance. “The new life form will arrive in six seconds at this rate, though. It is flying through the ice storm out there really fast.”

“How?” Daring wonders as she continues to dodge and weave through more of the creature's attacks. “No pony can fly with wind and ice storms out there. That's impossible! That's why we've been climbing this mountain this whole time, especially as we got closer to the top.

“Also, again, Feather Wind, BOIL IT'S BLOOD NOW WITH YOUR AIR PRESSURE!” Daring reminds him in a demanding tone.

Feather Wind whips his head to give an enraged glare at the creature for injuring Stern Wing. He is about to initiate that attack after all despite his earlier trepidation. It might not be a real creature anyway and instead the magical conjuring of a deranged creature of chaos.

Before he can fully commit to his plan, though, something else swiftly arrives into the cave that captures all of their attention and makes them halt, including the enlarged creature. What arrives looks like a hexagonal, flat and red glowing force field that a green unicorn mare is standing on. Ahead of is a dozen semi-transparent holographic windows. Three laser lines surround the platform she's standing on and seems to serve as some kind of unusual rail guard. She regards them all with strong surprise, but she seems mostly interested and alarmed at the sight of the large creature. When she notices that, her horn glows and various holographic buttons get pressed on her screen. She then calls aloud, “EVERYPONY, GET BACK! I'LL DEAL WITH THIS THING.”

“Be my guest,” the exhausted Daring Do invites as she flies away from the creature while panting. Feather Wind also gallops away and he even uses a smaller gust of wind to accelerate both his and Daring Do's movement.

The giant creature hesitates for a few seconds as if still trying to process this latest development. In the end, however, it defaults to its aggressive animalistic instincts and goes after the motion it can sense in the earth. In this case that is Feather Wind since he is galloping on the ground and Daring Do is flying through the air and therefore not touching the ground. With no ground contact, there is no tremor to sense.

However, after it takes just a few steps closer to Feather Wind, it pauses again when it feels a tingle all around its body. To everyone else, they notice this reddish cone of light beaming at the giant creature from the center of the hexagonal pattern. It is wide enough to completely envelope the creature within the reddish light.

Although this does make the creature hesitate, they also notice it does not hurt the creature and didn't even seem to have an effect at all for three seconds but then they notice it rapidly shrinking. It eventually ends up shrinking so small that it became the size of a tiny bug. The cone of red light narrowed as this process continues. In the end, the light pulls back and ends up dragging the bug-sized creature along with it. From there it seems to vanish somewhere in the center of the hexagonal pattern.

“What did you do to it?” Daring asks between panting breaths up at the green unicorn mare.

“Neutralized it and stowed it away,” the green mare answers as her hexagonal platform lowers to only three inches off the ground. From there, one side of the laser lines around her platform vanishes. She then gives a come hither gesture with a hoof and says, “Come on. Step on the platform. Maybe, along the way, you can debrief me on what happened here.”

Daring's shoulders sag as she looks around at the rest of her companions and says, “I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm too tired to argue right now.”

“Agreed. I say we go with her,” Stern Wing agrees as her body continues to glow with green light as a result of a combination of Doctor Kelly's magic along with the beams of light coming at the brown pegasus from both of the doctor's drones. “We got what we came for on this mountain anyway. While unexpected, I won't argue against our good fortune.”

With that, the TARDIS crew step on the floating red glowing platform together. Once they are all on, the laser lines that disappeared on one side of the pattern returns. The moment that happens, they notice this curious sense of environmental isolation as if they are in an encased shell that is separate and protected from the surrounding elements.