“Your move,” said Dinky to Applebloom.

The two fillies sat at a table in the library, playing chess. Across the room Granny Smith was looking out the window, worried. The red bowed girl wasn’t in much of a better disposition either. Her head over her crossed arms, she seemed content enough to just stare at the pieces in front of her.

The purple filly didn’t seem to notice. Or at least, didn’t seem to give any hint of noticing.

“…You know, there was supposed to be a time limit. You can’t take too long to make your move.”

No response.

“It isn’t really a problem, though. After all, we’re just playing for fun.”

Still nothing.

“I usually play on a time limit with the Doctor. Otherwise he’d get bored and wouldn’t stop giving hints… and I’d still lose.”

The slightest hint of frustration rose on her farmer friend’s face.

“…Then again, he’d still give hints either way. And he’d still win. It’s still fun, though.”

It eventually became obvious even to her that Applebloom was not, actually, enjoying these conversations.

“…I’m sure him, mom and Big Macintosh will find your sister and her friends.”

“How do you know? He won’t even give his real name. How can you trust him?”

Dinky only offered a knowing grin. “Because, it’s kind of hard to live with someone in the same house and not get to know him.”

“Ah still don’t get it. Why the Doctor? What kind of a name is that?” She eventually made her move.

Dinky smiled. “That wasn’t really the best move, but I can see where you were going with it.”

Applebloom only continued to pout. “Ah don’t suppose you could give me some hints too? After all, you do have more practice.”

“Practice losing? Sure. But I never really had that much fun winning before.”

“Ah don’t think Ah like this game…”

“Okay, okay. I’ll go easy on you. Unless you come up with anything else we could do to pass the time.”

“…We could play hide an’ seek?”

“Nope.” interjected the elder mare from across the room.

“Why not?” the farm filly pursued adamantly.

“B’cause we both know that by ‘hide n’ seek’, you mean go into the Everfree and look fer Applejack yerself.”

“Well, it’d still be better than sitting here, doin’ nothing!”

“Ah know, deary. But the entire town’s searching right now, an’ if they say they’ve got it all covered, then there ain’t anything else to it.”

Applebloom didn’t seem satisfied with leaving the conversation at that, but she wasn’t in any position to argue. All she could do now was wait, and play this stupid game…

Dinky took note of her friend’s demeanor. She considered trying to cheer her up. Maybe she could pass on one of the stories the Doctor told her?... Well, she could certainly try, but she wouldn’t be able to give them justice. Since she never really had that much practice telling stories…
Not like she understood half the things he’d say in them either way.

“We could read some of the books here, if the game’s bothering you that much.”

“Ah can read anything Ah want anytime. Right now, Ah’d like to know some more about the Doctor. You said him an’ your mom are out with mah brother lookin’ for Applejack. What do you think they’re doin’?”

The purple unicorn filly pondered this with a hoof to her mouth. “…Well, they didn’t tell me anything before they left. So I’m guessing it’s something dangerous, and they didn’t want to worry anyone by telling them about it.”

“Oh…”

“…Or, maybe they were just in a hurry?” Dinky started again, quickly noticing that Applebloom’s face and ears dropped again.

“Or maybe they were already caught by whoever or whatever was responsible for all of this, so they couldn’t warn anyone.”

“Let’s… just go with my first idea then.”

Applebloom deflated on the table, like a sighing balloon. “This is like Nightmare Moon all over again. At least she came out alright after that.”

“That’s the spirit! I’m sure everything will turn out just fine.”

“Sure.” the farm filly offered forlornly.

“Checkmate.”

“…Let’s do something else.”

It was dark in her library. That was the first thing Ditzy noticed.

The last time she was here, it was already pretty dark. As to be expected, since the large, cavernous area only had the few occasional standing lamp shades and candles for a bare requirement of light. No windows, since there weren't any walls to be seen. Only bookshelves, some of which's further corners were obscured. The place was as foggy as a dream even last time she was here. Now, however, it was worse.

It felt like someone was watching her.

She didn’t ask how she got here. After all, who ever wonders such things, from inside a dream? All she knew, almost like an alien, irrational thought, was that she was here to find something out. She didn’t know what, or where she needed to go to do so.

She didn’t question the alien thought. Even in reality you never question what's in your head until you receive conflicting information, much less inside a dream.

Well, what else could you be looking for inside a library, but information? Ditzy humored that curious thought that she couldn’t explain, if at least to give herself something to do. Something to take her mind off the lingering sense of uneasiness at what might be hiding just beyond her line of view.

She took out a book, and started flipping through the pages…

Suddenly, she was back home, in the dining room. She was helping Dinky eat her dinner, barely older than a year. Doseydotes was saying something or another from beside them, which elicited laughter from her.

Ditzy shut the book, blinking the reverie away. She remembered that memory, but why did it take her by such force? It was as if she was there, in the midst of it.

She took another book…

Dinky showed her a drawing of the library. Ditzy congratulated her with a hug, thoughts of having an artist in the family running through her head.

Another book. This one was a bit charred at the edges of its covers. It was foggier than the other two visions.
She was in the hospital, exhausted in every sense of the word. Cradling a sleeping child.
She looked so much like her father.

Ditzy shook. Tears falling on the pages.
She heard whispers from her right. She gasped and looked to their source. Nothing there. Just darkness further ahead.

Ditzy felt compelled to search further, but something just didn’t feel right about the next book. Its cover was black as charcoal.
She seemed to remember something at the edge of her memory. Something the Doctor said about how some books tend to burn the others… Why was that again?

She pulled it out. I had a lock on it… Odd. It was unlocked either way. She could read it, if she wanted.

One peek couldn’t-

She threw the book away, eyes watering and heart pounding. She didn’t even manage to open the bloody thing! What was wrong with her?

“Nothing’s wrong with you.” She recognized the same familiar voice whisper to her again. Where had she heard that voice before?

She looked around, still not finding anyone.

“Who’s there?” her voice cracked.

She could tell by the tone, whoever was talking to her was smiling.

“A friend.” The voice whispered right into her ear.

She swung her head around, searching, trembling.

“You could even say…” The volume would echo and alternate hauntingly all around… “...your closest friend.” …until it settled right behind her. Her heart caught in her throat. She was too terrified to turn around.

“Come on. Don’t be afraid, I would never hurt you.”

She wouldn’t dare move. The voice behind her sighed. “So you’re still not willing to see the truth.”

No answer.

“Alright. I understand.”

Ditzy felt the presence behind her leave.

“Take as long as you need,” came the stranger’s voice, growing ever more distant. "Just don't take so long that you might regret it."

When she was certain that she was alone, Ditzy finally turned to peek around. What she found in the distance was a familiar sight. A gate, fear emanating from beyond in thick wafts, threatening to drown her. She backtracked away, never taking her eyes off the murky lights of the lamps beyond, only barely managing a few inches into the darkness.

If she wasn’t scared before, she was terrified now. She wanted out of here.

“Ditzy! Ditzy, are you alright?”

“She can’t answer you now,” answered Applejack.

The Doctor was still entangled. His captor decided she could convert Ditzy at the same time she did Big Macintosh, since she wasn’t contributing enough to their banter anyway.

Also, because she caught on to the fact that the Doctor was essentially just daring her to convert him first.

“Don’t take it personally, Doctor. It’s just that the weaker your spirit is, the easier it is to manipulate, and eventually bend. She was the easier target, simple as that. And the longer you wait for your turn, the weaker you become as well.”

He would’ve preferred it if Applejack just went ahead and attempted converting him. That way, he could defeat her from the inside. It was his intention from the start, before Big Mac decided to make an unnecessary stand.

Instead, she saw right through his taunts. His plan backfired for now. He wanted to keep both of them safe. Instead, he was left bound, watching as Ditzy and Big Macintosh were broken and changed into something they were not.

‘Think, old man. Think…’

He could reinforce the muscles in his leg, technically, more than enough to snap the vines, reach for his screwdriver and just end this. If only it was still in his coat. He dropped it when he was entangled.

All he could do was glare at his tool on the ground a couple feet away. Luckily Applejack didn’t see it yet…

“What’s this?” said the dark mare, picking his screwdriver up.

'Crud.'

“It’s nothing, really. It’s just, ugh…”

“Is this what you used to burn my minions?”

“…Maybe.”

“Huh.” Applejack offered in an apathetic tone of voice as she snapped his tool in half with her unconventional magic, then dropped it on the ground.

Then stomped on it, breaking it into tiny pieces.

He sighed tiredly. “Of course you’d do that...”

“Ah have to say, Ah’m quite impressed. Ah’ve never heard of any technology bein’ able to influence magic. Ah wonder what other little gadgets you have…”

“…If I said that was my only tool, would you believe me?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think so,” he sighed out. “You can search me if you like. I… have nothing to hide.” All he needs is for her to get close enough to reach. He doesn’t need to reach his forehead towards hers, all he needs is for their skins to touch.

She hummed evenly at him. “Ah suppose it would be safer that way. Wouldn’t want ya waking up somehow, and having some other useful tools in that coat of yours.”

She reached her hoof out towards him. He tried to act natural, keeping even his eyelids from dilating. However, she stopped, and his hearts sank, when they both heard Ditzy whimper fearfully from inside her capsule.

“Doctor…”

Applejack retracted her hoof confusedly. “That… ain’t s’posed to happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s supposed to be comatose.” She walked towards the egg, and laid a hoof over it. “She’s resistin’ somehow. Your friend’s mind ain’t letting up. Nightmare’s spell can’t get through to her. There’s somethin’ in the way…”

She looked towards the Doctor, who was trying his best to hide his smirk, but…

“What did you do?”

Damn these pony features. Why are they so expressive? Especially the eyes!

Oh well. Since the jig is up, no use trying to hold down his self satisfaction. He gave her a cocky smirk. “Now that would be telling.”

Applejack was having none of that. “Tell. Me.” She pressed on, stomping forward towards him.

“I’d rather not, actually. It’s kind of personal.”

“If ya won’t tell me willingly, Ah can just weaken you like Ah did mah brother.”

“What? Hit me when I’m bound and can’t fight back?”

“F’course. Ah don’t know what else you might have up your sleeve. Plus Ah somehow doubt you’d fight back even if Ah did let you go.” She pulled back a hoof.

He shook his head awkwardly. “Well...” Her hoof connected to his jaw. “I wouldn't go as far-” BAM “-as saying I would never-” BAM "-defend myself."

He needs a clear shot at her. At least a second, possibly two since there are two of them in her head. Unfortunately her strikes were lasting less than that, and the influx of pain keeps him from focusing the psychic command through his skin.

“Alright.” He offered nonplussed, moments before another hoof impacted with his face, harder than the other ones. He let his head hang.

She dragged his face back up by his chin inches away from her face, so she could see her in those hollow, empty eyes of hers. “Answer me.”

“…You don't need to ask me again.” He surprised her when he connected his forehead to hers. 'Finally. Let’s survey the damages.'

“I’m beginning to see a theme here.” The Doctor said, from within Applejack’s mind. “Why does everything have to be so dark? Would it kill Nightmare to install a few light bulbs around here?” He then began to ponder this. “…Reminder. See if I can use light to combat Nightmare. If it doesn’t vanquish him, then maybe it at least weakens him.”

He turned his head around. All he could see was darkness, as far as the eye could see. “Maybe there’s a light switch around here somewhere…”

He started walking. Where to? He just imagined he was going the right way, since that’s how the inner workings of the mind, well, work.

“Applejack said it was a spell that did this to her. If I were an evil, mind-bending maniac, where would I focus my efforts? Her memories? No, she remembered her brother perfectly well. Her emotion center? Maybe.”

He focused, trying to bend the space around him to form doorways towards whatever might be wrong. Surely enough, doors appeared in a circle around him, without any walls between them.

“Let’s see, behind door number one, we have…” A bunch of bookcases. “Her memories then?”

He took a cursory look. Then closed the door. Then opened it again. Instead of a library, there was a series of floating screens going on for miles, a cacophony of voices and noises going on. Another cursory look, then he closed the door again, muting the noise instantly.

“Doesn’t seem to be anything wrong here. And I’d rather not invade her privacy any further. Next door.”

Clockwork everywhere. Cogs and gears. “Logic? Nothing wrong here either.”

Behind the next door. “Ah…” he motioned pleasantly. “Imagination.”

To describe everything he saw would be difficult. Giant mushrooms, bloomed apple trees, ladybugs having tea with sunflowers. If he were to guess, he’d assume that this would be what Alice’s Wonderland would look like.

He indulged in the sight for a few seconds, then closed the door. “No time to dally,” he sighed. “Next.”

He walked in front of a locked door. “This must be emotion,” he mused, considering his next actions carefully. Invading her memories would’ve been a big no-no, but going in here?

He sighed tiredly. “Here’s to hoping I don’t actually need to search too thoroughly.”

He unlocked the door, and lo and behold. Darkness. He slumped his head, forcing down a swear. “…Let’s just get this over with.”

He entered, slamming the door behind him.

Moments passed.

Minutes.

After nearly half an hour, he rushed back out of the room, slammed the door shut and leaned against it with a look of genuine fear to him.

“Okay…” Something slammed on the other side of the door. “I’ve found the problem.” Another slam. One of the hinges broke off. “Now I need to figure out what I’m going to do about it.” How he was holding the door up at this point was a wonder.

“Think, think… This isn’t the best place to lead Nightmare’s defensive avatar, now that I think about it.” He looked around, quickly shuffling through his list. Surrender and communication would neither be likely to work, nor would it be ideal. He couldn’t run forever. Hiding wouldn’t do anyone any good, at least not for long. All he could do was fight…

His eyes rested on the room to Applejack’s imagination. 'At least he didn’t need to do so directly,' he thought.

The next moment, the door he was holding was destroyed and he was sent flying.

He shook the wood fragments off his head and looked back towards the darkened doorway.

Staring back at him was a figure eerily familiar to Applejack, only longer, thinner and entirely featureless. Undoubtedly some sort of avatar for the one responsible for Applejack’s conversion.

“If anything, you’re persistent with your theme. Though I’d at least prefer a face to look at during conversation.”

The formless, faceless, black antagonist approached him.

“Oh, right. You’re not much for talk.”

Which left him with no choice in the matter. Since he couldn’t convince the sentry to leave peacefully, he could only force it out.

He darted towards the imagination room. Followed by the figure close behind, as the Doctor was hoping. “Here’s hoping I can hack the system faster than him.”

The last thing Big Macintosh remembered was his younger sister, and what happened to her. He didn’t know how to explain what it was that happened to her, or why she attacked them the way she did. All that he knew was that he needed to stop her before she hurt anyone, herself included. Even if he’d need to knock some sense into her the hard way. He’d only hoped that he could sleep off the heartache of striking her later.

The fact that he had lost the fight made the pill easier to swallow. By the way he was only now waking up on the ground, he understood the outcome of their encounter. Neither did he feel any broken ribs either, but he didn’t have the attention to notice. He was too busy looking for Applejack, and finding her whimpering, kneeling in front of that Doctor character.

To say he saw red was an understatement. He was tired, pumped up on adrenaline, upset, scared and a number of other feelings. But seeing his sister in that position sent his emotions into overdrive.

“What’re you doing?”

No response. The Doctor wasn’t even moving, as if he was in some kind of trance.

“Ah said, what are you doin’ to Applejack?!”

He stomped towards the two, but was stopped by Ditzy. He didn’t even notice her beside them, looking worried in her own right.

“Don’t disturb them! Please, you have to understand! He’s trying to help her.”

“That so? Pardon, but s’ far as Ah can see, mah sister’s cryin’ for Celestia knows what reason. What is he doing to her?”
It was clear that he’d prefer yelling a lot harder than he was. Ditzy understood his position, however, and only continued trying to calm him down.

“He’s trying to reach out into her mind. You’ve seen how she was acting, didn’t you? After you lost the fight, we talked to her. We’ve found out that there’s someone else in her head that’s making her act like this. The Doctor’s trying to get him out.”

Luckily, he appeared to be listening. “He’s inside her head?”

“Yes. They both are.”

“…And he’s tryin’ to make her better?”

“He is. But I’m afraid what might happen if we were to separate them. Linking two minds is very delicate, and forcing them apart would be traumatic to both of them.”

“You seem to know a lot about it.”

“Yeah, well… it’s personal.” She trailed off, as a slight blush grew on her face.

Big Mac didn’t seem too interested in furthering this line of conversation. “So what, then? Are we supposed to just wait ‘ere?”

“Yeah.” A little while for her to gather her thoughts and the farmer to calm down, then she sighed and started again. “Sorry, all we can do now is, hold tight and hope the Doctor knows what he’s doing in there.”

He nodded, though still a bit begrudgingly. He looked back towards the two kneeling forehead to forehead. He finally had a good view of both their faces. Applejack didn’t seem to be in any pain, despite her whimpering. Suppose she’s not in any physical distress. The Doctor, however, was clenching his teeth and grimacing. Sometimes he was even grunting in effort.

“How long do ya think they’ll take?”

“Well, I don’t really know. It’s… complicated.”

“And personal?”

She retorted to his cheeky remark with a wry smirk, before going back to focusing on her thoughts. “…Sometimes, time goes by slower while you’re inside. Since you’re focusing on the things inside the dream, not on the outside world. Essentially you can go as fast as your mind can process the events that are happening. But, I honestly have no idea what’s actually going on inside there. For all I know, he could either be playing chess, or commanding an entire army, manipulating every single soldier’s movement. It all depends on who he’s going up against, I suppose.”

“Really?” he asked her incredulously. She nodded. “…Ah did think he had a big head, but not that big.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, you’d be surprised to find out how big his head is. I sure was.” He raised an eyebrow. She took a few seconds to realize what she just said. “…But don’t let him hear I said that. His head’s big enough as it already is.”

Big Mac smiled back. Before he could answer, someone else cut him off. “Oh, I heard you.”

They both did double takes when they heard those words. Yes, the Doctor did just talk.

He got up from his position in front of Applejack. As soon as he did, the farmer reeled back and stumbled in place. Before long, her fur and mane started to change back into the way they were before, in her ebony colors. The only difference this time was that her eyes now seemed to be back to normal, despite her obviously furious disposition.

“What did you do?” she asked menacingly.

“Oh, nothing much. I just removed the source of the problem.”

Ditzy’s relief at hearing that didn’t last long, however. She gasped when she got a good look at the Doctor. More specifically, at his now dark eyes, similar to what Applejack had before. He smirked back at her reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, I’m a lot harder to manipulate than Applejack. Maybe now I'll be able to communicate with Nightmare and see if I can't convince him to let the other girls go.”

“Fat chance,” the ebony mare spat in response, as she steadied herself off the ground, with ragged breaths, shaking like she was in a freezer.

“Oh, just watch me…” He lied down and closed his eyes. Ditzy was beside him before long. “Though I will need a few minutes. Mind talking some sense into your sister in the meantime, Big Mac? It should be possible now that no one’s actively messing with her head.”

Hearing his request, Applejack started laughing coldly. It didn’t help her at all regarding her current obvious discomfort, though. Through gritted teeth, she spoke to them. “Sorry to bring it to ya, Doc, but big brother’s never been that good at talking. Or listening, actually. All he was ever good at was workin’ the field.”

“That so? Well, I suppose now would be as good a time as any to change that, now wouldn’t it?”

“People don’t change, Doc. Not really. You can only squeeze so much out’ve a lemon.”

“Luckily we’re not dealing with lemons, then. Now do quiet down, my head’s full of garbage enough as it is without me hearing your ill-found dribble.”

The farm girl only rolled her eyes mockingly. “Please. If Ah’m gonna hav ta wait till Nightmare’s done with you n’ comes back, Ah’d rather you saved some dignity.”

“Applejack!”

She flinched, her ears dropping halfway when she heard her brother shout at her. His teeth gritted, his eyes narrowed. She narrowed hers in return. “What? Are you gonna try n’ scold me? Make me feel bad about what Ah did?”

He only stared at her, which only aggravated her further.

“Or maybe you’re just gonna stand there n’ look pretty?”

“That’s a lotta mouth you got there, but Ah don’t hear nothing useful coming out.”

“What’re you expectin’ me to say, then? That Ah’m sorry Ah beat the snot outa you? Well sorry, but Ah’m not really sorry.”

“Ah wasn’t necessarily expectin’ an apology. All Ah wanted was an explanation. Instead, here you are barkin’ up a storm since you can’t bite no more.”

“That’s cause you wouldn’t understand. You never listen! You don’t really wanna hear why Ah did what Ah did, you just wanna know how to argue with me that what Ah wanna do is wrong!”

“Isn’t it, though?”

His retort caught her off-guard. She was expecting him to yell, to tell her off about how their parents would be disappointed. How he was disappointed. Instead, he was asking her to question her own motives.

“…It's not.” She answered, less than entirely self-assured.

“Ah don’t know what you’ve been told, or what you’re actually thinking, so Ah’m just gonna point out how Ah see things ‘n you can tell me if Ah’m seein’ things wrong.”

She just looked to the side, gripping herself tightly again.

“First off. You assaulted us, stating that it was fer our own good. How did you put it? That we’d need to go through nightmares b’fore we could see the light? Ah dunno what light you’re seein’ in this wasteland, but it’s pretty dark all around wherever Ah look.”

“Are you askin’ me if Ah’m insane?”

“No, Ah’m only askin’ if you were thinkin’ straight, since there was someone else inside your head doin’ Celestia knows what.”

She let out a shudder and a teeth chattering.

“Look at yourself. You’re not well!” as he approached his suffering sister.

“Ah’m still well enough to beat you back into the dirt if Ah wanted to!” She lied. Truth was, she couldn't even get on her feet.

Her threat made him stop only for a moment.

“Let me go!” she struggled in his embrace. Harder and harder she tried to shake him off, striking and pushing, but even if she wasn't barely able to keep her head up at the time, Big Mac still wouldn't have let go.

Eventually she started crying as she was tiring out. After a few good minutes, she stopped altogether.

“You might not know it now, but you’re still mah sister. Ah’m not gonna let you hurt yourself.”

“...F’course you won’t.” She affirmed.

“Ah don’t know what’s going on in your head, an’ neither do you need to tell me since it would probably do no pony any good. Just know that whatever you think Ah won’t listen to, you’re wrong. If it’s this important to you, Ah’ll listen for however long it takes until you’re done.”

She just stood there, quiet.

“Okay?” he insisted.

For a long time, she just continued to stay there. Eventually though, she started to change, as did the area around. Her mane and fur returned to their normal blond and orange, the dead fields gave way for the Everfree Forest.

“Okay.” she whispered back, finally returning the hug.

Author's Notes:

And with this chapter, I've officially broken 100 000 words. Whoopee. I wonder how far I'll go.

Don't worry about what happened inside Applejack's head. You didn't miss anything. All Doc did was take a bit of liberty inside her imagination section. After all, hes a powerful psychic that can think in eight dimensions, or whatever.
However, if I were to explain what exactly it was that he did, then your mind would explode trying to understand.

So yes, I refuse to risk my sanity for your amusement, trying to figure out what he did. You selfish.

Seriously, this took way longer than any of you'd care to believe. A lesser man would've given up on this entire abomination of a story, but not me. I have proven superior to the challenge, and I may now bask in my victory!

Now for the other five girls...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw3LDjx__5w