Dr Whooves MONSTER

Chapter 14

After a week of travel, even longer than I ever remember trudging through the land the first time, we finally made it to the dark castle.

It was as if it were never touched since last I was there. It stood in its decrepit state, still as glorious as it did twenty years ago. Thousands of years ago, it seemed as if it were never touched.

Despite being daylight, no sun shone that morning as we came up on the lair of the monster I had created. Gloomy grey clouds lay over our heads, as the cold fog slowly dissipated. It was the final atmosphere for a final battle, and a final battle is what I had planned. As I stared down the tallest of the black towers of which I had no doubt he lay in, the others caught up quick with me.

Rarity at first, stumbled out of the woods, grumpy at her now ruined dress. But she stopped and gasped as she raised her eyes to the ominous construction before her. Applejack blinked in awe as her jaw dropped. “So the old story you told was real,” growled Arogog, as he cocked his shotgun.

“Yep, this is where the nightmare all began,” I then pointed at the top of the tower. “There, in that room, I am afraid to say is where my greatest sin took place. And I have no doubt that that is where we will find him. But be careful, he isn’t just an average being. I never saw such a display of magical power as we did last time, and he was just toying with us then.” I narrowed my eyes.

“Are you sure it can be defeated, I mean after all, he is,” Rarity shivered.

“Make no mistake, even if he is impossible to kill, all we need to do is separate the body parts so he can’t be put back together again. That’s assuming he can’t be killed with normal means.” I answered her question.

“So it’s come down to this then,” shivered Applejack, only for her brother to place a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

“Yes, today is the day the nightmare ends.”

I turned around to the crowd. “Listen here, I don’t know what’s going to happen when we get in there. But what I do know is that Fluttershy is in there. The moment she is found, take her and escape.”

“And what about you,” a guard from Twilight asked.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll take care of the monster.”

“What! They all shouted.”

“I was the one who created it, it was I who pulled it from the depths of hell. It is I who will send it back, or die trying.”

I winced as my voice began to give out, showing just how terrified I truly was.

Even so, I pushed forward with as much strength as I could.

“Applejack, if the worst comes to worst, will you… will you tell Fluttershy…?” I nearly cried.

“I will, just promise me it won’t come to that.”

With a nervous chuckle and a quick smile, I turned back to the castle, never making a promise I didn’t intend to keep.

“Alright then,” I said as I pulled out the only weapon I could get on such short notice. My medical knife.

Holding it in my shaky hooves.

Amusing it was, out of all weapons, I was going to use the very thing that most likely helped put him together in the first place.

It was the same knife I used so long ago to acquire his body parts; now I shall use it to destroy them.

Yet at the same time, the words, ‘never bring a knife to a gunfight’, came to my mind as I looked at my reflection in the blade.

The monster’s power was far greater than any gun, so what could a little dinky knife ever do to him? We were easily outmatched, and outpowered. It wouldn’t matter if we had a thousand of us with a million guns.

Still, we had to try; I had to try to save the mare I love and correct the sins of my past.

Which is why I had no intention of surviving this battle. I knew that going in, and the shiver in my hooves carrying the knife knew it too.

Narrowing my eyes, and trying to hold back my tears, all I could do at the moment was whisper to my tension growing in my chest.

“Follow me.”

…

Deep within the library of the castle, unaware of our arrival. The Chaos Lord silently slumbered among the snoring breast he laid on. His body felt heavy, relaxed, and tired. The only thing that awoke him was the soft, cold chill of the morning wind that struck his bare back. With the slightest shiver, he smacked his lips and opened his eyes, finding himself laying on top of the snoring mare.

He snickered at the monstrous sound coming from such a beautiful face. "How chaotic," he murmured as another cold breeze made her shiver in her sleep.

He could see every muscle of her bare body tense from the cold.

Using his tail, he quickly grabbed a nearby cloth from the bookshelf and used it as a blanket, covering them both in hopes of keeping her warm. "It’s rude to watch her sleep," he reminded himself as he looked down at her. She merely tossed her head over, letting out another monstrous snore, louder than the last.

With a chuckle, he settled his head down below her chin, watching her side-eyed. "So sleepy, well, it’s not like we got a lot last night, did we?" he chuckled to himself as he let his lion-like claw drift over the curves of her under the makeshift blanket. With blissful sighs, glimpses of their activities last night vividly flashed before his eyes. "The way she held him, gripped him, kissed him, shared not only her warmth but her body with him." Soon his tail began to wag like a puppy due to the memories. An uncontrollable smile, along with a love-struck gaze, settled on his face, as she once again monstrously snored. The sound echoed off the walls, causing a snicker from the beast as he watched her sleep, feeling the rise and fall of her breaths against him.

All in all, he sighed a quiet, "Heaven, I'm in heaven…"

…

Meanwhile, the rescue team led by me, trudged through the castle grounds, storming through the doors, with weapons drawn.

“This way, the towers this...” I stopped as I heard a monstrous snore coming from another direction than the tower. “Perhaps I’m wrong, perhaps he sleeps somewhere else in the building, you two,” I pointed at Applejack and her brother. Go up the tower and search for Fluttershy. “You two,” I looked at two of the guards, search for her in every room on this floor. “And you two,” I looked at Rarity and her boyfriend, “Come with me. We’ll deal with that beast, follow the sounds of the snoring.” With my orders delivered, I took off upstairs, followed by the two I ordered to trail me. Tighter we dashed through the halls, as quietly as we could. “If the beast is asleep, we might be able to kill it before it wakes up,” I whispered to those behind me, who seemed all eager to agree.

…

After a moment or two, Fluttershy's snoring came to an end as she yawned herself awake.

The Chaos Lord lifted his head and off of her as she opened her eyes. “Her eyes flew open wide for a second, and the monster groaned, prompting her to scream, but to his surprise, she only sputtered,” it wasn’t a dream.”

Looking back at her, his mouth flew open for a moment, but soon smiled. “I am sorry, my dear, I get to wake up to the most wonderful sight, and you wake up to this.”

“You act as though your face isn’t handsome to me,” she stroked the monster's chin. Surprised by her first touch, he sat amazed by the softness of her ,only to lean into it and drop to her chest. “I’m glad you said that, I have something I need to tell you,” he mumbled as he placed a kiss in her collar bone.

“And that is,” she smiled.

Lifting his head so he could look directly into her eyes, he whispered, gently, “I love you, too.” Before lowering down to her lips for a kiss.

Centimeters away from each other, the sound of footsteps caught the monster's ears, just as the red veil leading into the library was pulled back.

Their knife in hoof, I stormed in, ready to find the beast. Only for my eyes to find it, in a position I had never thought I'd see it.

Under a blanket, it sat nude, leaning over Fluttershy, who looked at me upside down, with a shocked face.

My jaw dropped in disbelief, my eyes wide, I couldn't find the words, my speech erratically deteriorated to mere grunts and sounds as I tried to make sense of the sight I saw.

The two behind me came in after me, and they too gasped at the sight.

“Uhhh,” was all the Chaos Lord could say.”

But finally, as my shock diminished, my rage took over. “You, you, I’ll kill you!” I furiously declared before diving into him one drawn.

“The creature quickly swiped its tail at me, knocking me to the side, as it pulled off the sheet and wrapped it around Fluttershy, picking her up in its arms. Then with a snap of its fingers, the sound of something moving behind us alerted Rarity,” the Chaos Lord then flew out of the window alongside Fluttershy, heading to, I assume, the tallest tower of the castle.

With a grunt, I hit the wall, hard. But quickly got to my feet thanks to the rush of rage and adrenaline I had pumping through my veins. “I’m gonna kick him, I’m gonna kill him!” I shouted as the sound of something drawing closer to us alerted us of its presence.

“Doctor Whooves,” cried Rarity, as she turned to the door. I enraged turned to it, only to drop my jaw at the sight of the moving army of statues that blocked our path.

…

As Applejack and her brother climbed the tower, the sound of a crash above their heads alerted them. Momentarily, they looked up in horror. “Let me go first,” Big Mac said as he cocked his shotgun.

“Yeah, I think you're right about that,” Applejack agreed and stepped aside for her brother.

…

Crashing through the window, the Chaos Lord set Fluttershy gently on his bed, asking, “Are you hurt?”

“No, but,”

“Yes, your friends are there to save you,” he rolled his eyes and ran to the wardrobe.

“We just have to talk to them; we can explain–”

“Yes, but I'd rather not do it nude,” he said, tossing a dress over to Fluttershy, before grabbing a pair of trousers and putting them on quickly.

She had to agree; it was quite fitting for them to catch the two in the act of love. Without another word, she willed the dress over her bare body.

Once the Chaos Lord had his trousers, he went for a cloak shirt, but before he could grab it, a loud bang followed by a tense pain struck his lower side.

With a mighty growl, he roared in pain, stumbling away from the wardrobe as he turned to the direction it came from.

There, in the doorway of the steps, a big red pony with a shotgun, had him at gunpoint. But the gun and pony were visibly shaking as he tried to reload his weapon.

Fluttershy screamed at the sound and then noticed her beloved's bleeding wound. Quickly dashing over to him, she grabbed a piece of fabric in hopes of stopping the bleeding.

“Fine,” the Lord of Chaos cried out as he raised his claw. A burst of flame erupted from it in the direction of the adversary.

“No, don’t kill them!” Fluttershy cried out.

“I was aiming for the gun, not him!” winced the Chaos Lord before snapping his fingers. The many vines and plants already on the walls sprang to action, about to trap the two, but Applejack swung her axe, cutting them before they could be ensnared. “Run,” she shouted at her brother, and the two secured down the stairs.

The second they did, they nearly ran into the guards with guns and spears. “Oh, there you are! He’s upstairs, and he has Fluttershy,” Applejack called out.

The two guards immediately cocked their guns, leading with the spearheads on the end of them, pointed directly upwards as they headed their way.

The Chaos Lord stood up, pushing through the pain in his side, sensing the oncoming danger. Immediately, as they saw the nearest sight of him, they began their shooting. The monster grabbed a hold of Fluttershy. With a single twist of his wrist, the air behind her split apart. Tumbling through it, the two now sat in the throne room. Dodging the oncoming fire from the guards. Closing the portal behind him, the Chaos Lord threw a few blasts of fire that immediately struck its target, melting the guns' weaponry into hot, twisted, puddling metal.

A cocky smile spread on the Chaos Lord's lips at his success of dealing with the guards but harming the ponies for a moment, until another gunshot went off, nearly striking his ears. He ducked just in time and dashed his gaze at the red pony, who once again had his shotgun at the ready. This time he had another shot already to go, about to fire.

Raising his claw, the Chaos Lord used his vine magic to create cover from the oncoming blaze.

... Meanwhile, the statues descended upon the three of us in the library.

With a grit to my teeth, and an outrageous battle cry, I stormed towards the stone menaces with my fist, only to discover that that was a bad idea. They were made of stone after all. "Oww, Oww, Oww," I cried out in pain as I ducked, trying to avoid the thing's attempts to grab me.

Luckily for us, their weight made them slow, at best, and despite their increasing advancements, they were quite easy to dodge. But we couldn't sit there all day dodging their attacks; we had a monster to deal with. "Think time turner, think, damn it," I cursed myself as I lowered my gaze at the knife. And there, luckily, was an answer in this reflection. I noticed a pair of overgrown vines sitting in the wall. "That's it!" I screamed out as I ran towards them, swooping at them with my knife. However, the knife was too small to slice through them in one go, and I had to dodge another statue.

"Doctor Whooves, duck!" shouted Big Mac as he shot his rifle at the vines, cutting them from the wall. "Hope you've got an idea!" he yelled furiously.

"I think I do, thanks," I cried out as I tossed a piece of the vine over to Rarity. "Rarity, tie this to that pole quickly, I shouted at her. With no hesitation, she snatched the vine, dodging another statue, and dashed her way over to the pole as I asked.

"What now?" she cried out as she jumped for dear life from another statue.

With a smirk on my face, I tightened the vines, making them longer, and then ran around the room in all directions with them, trailing behind me.

Watching my every move, Applejack quickly picked up on the idea and shot another pair of vines down, towing the end of it to Rarity, giving her the same orders I did. She quickly tied it to another post, and both I and Applejack ran around the room with our vines, dodging the oncoming swipes of the stone hooves trying to grab us.

Once we'd finished, near the doorway, the statues were none tied in the vines and unable to move, despite their attempts to do so.

"That won't hold them for long," Rarity noted as she pointed at the vines, which were struggling to snap apart.

"Long enough," shouted Applejack, as he snatched Rarity up in his arms and ran out the door. Quickly, I followed him, and soon we dashed through the castle halls and towards the main fight.

As I did so, the adrenaline pumping through my veins made me more aware of my surroundings than ever before, including my actions. "The realization that I'd done it – I'd defeated those things – me, a crazy creature, not some grand hero scripted to put those things in their place, if only for a little while – did not go unnoticed. In fact, the victory, while small as it may be, seemed to encourage me. I whispered to myself, "I can do this; I can do this for Fluttershy, for Stygian, no, for myself. I can do this!" I yelled out as I leaped over a small bush and into the main castle once more. "I can defeat that monster! I know I can!"

"Good, because here comes your chance!" cried Rarity, snapping me out of my self-encouraging trance.

Looking up, I saw the others on the run, just as the Chaos Lord chased after them, his magical vines following suit, cracking like rope whips.

"You!" I called out, catching his attention. Turning his gaze onto me, I could see the fire in his eyes, the grit to his teeth, and the blood that was spilling from his chest.

"The others must have wounded him, and he was not happy about it by the looks of it.

"What did you do with Fluttershy? What did you do to her?"

Instead of answering me, he merely raised his hand, sending the vines flying.

"Oh dear, that's a lot of vines," shrieked Rarity.

"No, this is my chance," I called out as I sprinted towards the vines, with as much speed as I could manage within the distance of them. With a grand leap of faith, I launched myself over them and towards the monster, knife drawn, ready to kill the threat.

With an eye roll, despite my heroic efforts, he merely swiped with his tail out of the way, and towards the ground, where I quickly tumbled through the dirt as the vines quickened their pace. They soon caught their prey, snatching Rarity, Big Mac, and Applejack, leaving me and Big Mac free.

With a swipe of the place at the end of his rifle, he sliced through a vine, trimming to snatch his hoof, and soon raised it to take a shot at the Chaos Lord.

Seeing a gun pointed at him once more, he threw a fireball in its direction as it went off. It incinerated not only the flying bullet but soon followed suit, burning itself out after the one weapon itself.

Terrified of being hit, the pony tumbled to the ground, evading the fire, knowing about the helmet of his costume.

He then looked up, revealing his face.

As I watched, I didn't care what he looked like; just another good-looking ordinary pony to me. But the near sight of him stopped the Chaos Lord in its tracks. All the vines came to a halt as the Chaos Lord's eyes stood there wide.

"You," I could hear him whisper in awe, as the creatures stumbled.

"Stop!" called out Fluttershy from behind the beast, down the hall. "Now's my chance, while he's distracted. With all my might, I'll muster, I got to my feet and stormed down the beast straight forward, knocking him to the ground. With my knife held high, I was about to stab it, but his lion paw caught my arm, and tighter we struggled.

"Applegarth, take Fluttershy and run!" I shouted to him.

With his orders, the "knight" in shining golden armor ran over, snatching Fluttershy up in his arms and taking off for dear life.

"Stop! No, no, stop him; that's—"

"The ones who must have wounded him," I mumbled, not understanding the words.

"Yes, you idiot," the monster growled. "My mind originally blocked it out, but the sight of him reignited my memories."

"Star Swirl's memories, Time Turner!" he shouted.

My eyes fluttered in disbelief; my mouth opened to say something, but no words could come out of it.

Instead, the monster merely glared at me again.

"Your mother, Fluttershy's mother, Applejack's... all the deaths over the years, they were all because of him. When I discovered his secret, that he was Indes – not what we thought he was – I tried to run and warn you, but..."

"The monster's voice cut off in a shiver.

As he tried to regain his composure, he continued: "He's not the real Star Swirl; because the real one wrote the Book of Chaos and Harmony, he died long ago, and in his place, a shadow monster took his form. He's been living amongst us ever since, stealing energy from the weak, making them sick, and die, and you just handed him Fluttershy! He's going to revive Nightmare Moon!"

"What?" shouted Applejack, in disbelief. "How do you—"

"Because one day, Stygian, went to go check on and give tea to your mother! When he was there, he saw Star Swirl, lift his hoof, and suck the energy out of her weak body, killing her slowly in the process. His face became young again, and as he did, Stygian tried to back away but tripped over a creaky floorboard, alerting the monster, after which it chased him, and..."

"The lord of chaos shot his head; dropping me in the process. With a head shake, and shiver, he looked down at his own body."

"I can feel it, you know; the power drained out of me, aging me, and turning me weak until the final blow. The sound of an approaching manticore is all I remember."

"You, you what, so... so it's true, you are—"

"No! No, you see that's the thing, father. From my studies, it shows that usually, when a child is born, the magic in the mare is split between her and the growing baby; this weakling temporarily. It's the weakling that the monster preys on; he can't fight a normal mare or a colt, so he preys on the weak. 'Stygian is long gone; what you've given me is your own life energy, not his.'"

"And now—"

"You, you actually—"

"On the contrary, father, she took my virginity; I did nothing to her; she didn't consent. And he then snapped his fingers, and the vines began to shrink and unwind from the captives.

"No, no, no; she couldn't—she—"

"I spurred in disbelief, gasping for air."

"Between the two of us, she knows just as much as you and I who the real monster is."

His words cut through me like a knife. Out of all the blows I took that day, that was all I needed to hear to finally realize my spirits. My legs buckled under me, and I fell to the dirt floor, right in front of my knife, where I could see not only my reflection but his as well.

In a strange sense, I should be thankful to you, Dr., for giving me life. After all, had you not, I would never have met the love of my life. Now, stand up! He demanded. I am going to do everything I can to save her, and if you have any true love for her in you, you will join me in saving her, or was she right about you; are you just like all the other men who only saw her as an object, a prize, and not the mare she truly is!

At first, I could do nothing; all strength had left me; his words only pummeled me further into the growing sense of despair.

"Ha! Pitiful," he spat, and began limping away.

As I lay there in the dirt, I watched as the mighty beast's reflection in the blade grew smaller and smaller. The truth was too much for me to bear. No, no, it couldn't be true; how could she ever love a creature like him but not me? And what was I—a coward laying in the dirt? Was this how my story was going to truly end? Clenching my eyes shut, I winced, ready to give up and die.

But then something struck me like a bolt of lightning. Mama's words.

"“I know you will,” the mare smiled softly. “My life is in your hands, Doctor.” She tilted her head, and placed the cup down on the table, without taking one sip.

Why that memory sprang into my mind at that time, I had no idea. Perhaps it was because it was the first time anyone truly ever believed in me. But with it, like the sight of her children came into view along with memories of their own words of faith in me ranged through my head. The two came to my defense, telling me I was a coward for not facing them like a man. Should I have been? They were right; I had been a coward. I was so cowardly that I let the mare I loved become even more in danger than I had initially thought. Was I going to sit there and let her, as well as all the other mares in the city, die? "No!" I cried out, and furiously grabbed my one, before stifling to my feet.

As I stood up, the weakness in my legs made me nearly fall again, only to be caught by the arm of a big red pony. Looking up, I could see Applejack and his sister standing by my side. I wasn't alone; I was never alone. And it would take all of us to save her, this time.

The monstrous Chaos Lord came to a halt, and chuckled, at the sound of cheering from the crowd.

"Well, well, congregation, Doctor, you're finally a man! This way, I know these forests like the back of my hand, I know exactly where they're heading!" He shouted before picking up in the chase.

"So he's on our side, great," Rarity smirked, but, but that's my boyfriend! Wait a minute, I'm not just going to let you attack him; why should we trust you? You stole Fluttershy!

"I love Fluttershy, and I didn't steal her; I tried to get her to go home, but she refused!" the creature demanded. "Now, are you going to help me save her or not? We can discuss all this later when Fluttershy is safe. After all, how can I be much more of a threat when I'm currently shot and am bleeding at the moment, thanks to all of you!"

Come on, let's save Fluttershy! Applejack called out as she pulled her sleeve off her shirt and made a makeshift bandage for the Chaos Lord. "After all, I trust my best friend, and she didn't exactly seem like she was trying to get away from him, so I want to hear her story first."

With a groan, I stood up, and along with the others, quickly stormed after her, only to be stopped by the monster.

"No, stop! This place is cursed with a very powerful spell. If you run, you'll only slow down. You have to walk. If we walk, we'll catch up to him in no time," he said.

Catch up but but...

Why do you think it took you guys so long to get here?" He rolled his eyes at me.

It was insane; how could I ever have trusted him? After what he did to Fluttershy. No, it couldn't be; could she truly have chosen to love him over me? A predicament that would have to wait for later. Right now, right there, and then was not the time. So, even against my better judgment, we did as my monster had said, follow his lead.