For the longest time after she woke up, Pinkie didn’t say anything. She just stood there, spacing out on Big Mac’s back until Fluttershy finally noticed she had awoken. It was quite heart wrenching to find the normally bubbly pink pony acting so mopey.

“Oh, Pinkie. You’re awake. How are you feeling?” The tenderness in the caretaker's voice was palpable, as her concern for her friends was always a priority

“I’m okay… but I’m not having any fun.”

“Do you remember anything that happened?”

She took a while, but she eventually nodded her head in response.

Applejack and Ditzy shared a look of concern. The former approached from the other side and offered a hoof.

“It’s okay to be sad from time to time, sugarcube. Just remember that we’re here for ya.”

She nodded in response again.

The only reason why they knew they were heading the right way was because the path The Doctor had taken was the same one the Elements took when they faced Nightmare Moon. Putting two and two together, it was easy to figure out that maybe he’d want to go back to the scene of the event.

They were now nearing the edge of the area where Pinkie had sung her song to ward off the night sovereign’s fright spell. The pink mare in question only seemed to pay her surroundings a passing glance. “I just can’t believe what happened. I mean, the way the Doctor screamed at me! He was like, 'RRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRR'… It’s not like I blame him, though. I’m pretty sure that if I’d have some huge jerk come up and threaten me and my friends with a pickaxe like that, I’d be upset too! Just… Not like that.”

“Yer not a jerk.” Chimed in Applejack. “You jus’ weren’t thinkin’ straight.” Applejack then faced towards the mailmare expectantly. “Still, even if the Doc was in the same boat, he did react a bit extremely.”

“…We all have parts of ourselves we’d rather not show on the outside. Might I remind you that he did very well after he took the weight off the shoulders of one of you?”

“What, d’ya mean that black stuff adds up?”

“I’m only saying that he’d always had a lot on his plate, and he’d always handled it before we met.”

“But is he dangerous now?” Big Mac decided to finally ask what everyone was thinking.

“…I’m not sure. I don’t know how much of that stuff he can take. I know he’d never in good conscience hurt anyone, but…”

“But Nightmare makes ya forget about yer conscience in favor of his own gain.” Applejack reminded.

"It seems that way." Ditzy sighed.

Pinkie seemed confused at the turn of the conversation. She wasn’t entirely certain she was following. “He wouldn’t really hurt us, would he?” she asked.

Ditzy lowered her head in thought for a few moments. She really didn’t want to think that way about the Doctor, but the way he reacted only minutes ago shook her quite deeply.

Would he even recognize her if they reached him?

“Would you have hurt us earlier? Or was that pickaxe just for show?”

“Seriously? I just wanted to break the shield! I wasn’t going to use it on you!”

They all suddenly stopped walking, their ears perked up.

“Okay, maybe it was also to scare you guys a little, but I wasn’t going to hurt anypony! I mean, come on! It’s me! Did you really think that some bozo with hipnosisez would be enough to convince me to hurt my friends?”

“…You mean you could still resist him?”

“Duh! It’s hypnosis one by one! He can’t control you like a puppet, he can only suggest things for you to do. You can still say no if he asks too much from you! He can make you walk like a chicken or sing Giggle at the Ghosties, but he can’t make you jump off a roof!(*) Didn’t you know already?” the party pony asked the others. Upon noticing their confusion, she turned towards Applejack and Fluttershy. “You did tell them, didn’t you?”

The two other Elements staggered in disbelief upon hearing the words come out of the pink pony’s mouth. Big Mac and Ditzy only eyed them curiously.

“He convinced us to hurt our friends! Why would we care how he did it?”

“Applejack,” her brother inquired quietly. “Were you bein’ forced to act against yer will, or were you just doin’ things you thought were right at th’ time?”

“He tricked me! He made me believe Ah was beatin’ you up fer your own good!”

“So he wasn’t controllin’ you.”

“...No.”

“Fluttershy?” inquired the mailmare.

The caretaker considered her words carefully. “It was all fuzzy, like in a dream.”

“More like a nightmare, t’ suit the culprit.”

“Applejack, please let her finish.” Ditzy nodded for the caretaker to go ahead.

“Well, I don’t remember what exactly he told me, all I can remember is him being very convincing.”

“As if he kept sayin’ just the right things, right?”

“Y-yes! Only, he really seemed to believe that he was telling the truth. I don’t think he was lying.”

“Only pokin’ around in our heads so he knew what to say to distract us! To trick us into thinkin’ he’s on our side, an’ everyone else is against us!”

“I don’t think I remember him saying anything to make me believe that.”

“Me neither!” Pinkie affirmed.

It appeared that they were giving different stories now. Ditzy figured she wasn’t getting anywhere and decided to just ask what mattered at the time.

“Just tell me if you all agree. Does Nightmare control your actions, or does he just trick you into thinking you want to do what he wants you to do?”

“Ah’m gon’ hav ta go with the second.”

“Me too.” Fluttershy agreed.

Pinkie only shifted and pouted. She didn’t seem very keen on answering.

It didn’t matter for now. Ditzy felt a bit of the weight on her shoulders fall off.

She started back on the road. “If that’s the case, then I can say that as long as he has any say in it, then no. I believe that the Doctor isn’t dangerous. To anyone, really. There’s no way anyone could make him forget about what he believes in.”

“Then why’d he act the way he did earlier?”

She stopped again, to turn to face the younger of the two Apple siblings. “Look, no one asked you why you beat the tar out of your brother! Why don’t you just give it a rest already?”

Silence. Fluttershy coughed awkwardly.

Ditzy shook her head. “I’m sorry. Let’s… please, let’s just get going.”

They walked in silence for another fifteen minutes until they came across another dark arena. She took a deep breath, then Ditzy led the group inside.

The most predominant attribute of Rarity’s domain wasn’t the dark, but the cold. Make no mistake, it was still dark enough to be bothersome. It’s just that at this point, it’s not something you’d pay attention to anymore.

It was a frozen cave. Reflective walls somehow carrying the light from a few glowing crystals here and there. So, there was at least some visibility. Just enough to keep him moving.

The actual surroundings were changed, but other than that, the situation was the same. Our protagonist kept heading into the unknown, unseen dangers laid ahead especially for him.

“This again?” would be what the Doctor would ask himself, if he still had all of his faculties.

It was difficult to determine how his head was working at this point. The laziest way of describing it would be like in a dream. The most pretentious way would be that he was currently waging a tug-of-war with the dark villain, his mind being at stake. Regardless, through it all, he could still recognize and take offense to what was clear in front of him.

It was the same strategy over and over again. Like with Applejack's trees, like with Fluttershy's animals. Who knows what’s waiting for the Doctor in ambush again. And this time he’s out of tricks up his sleeve.

He had a few more gadgets at his disposal, but nothing he could really use. And even with his clouded judgment, he knew better than to use the same type of trick twice.

For now, it was safest to be reckless for a little while, and indulge in a bit of violence.

A part of him, deep under layers upon layers of despair and bitterness, was utterly disgusted with himself for allowing such a decision to ever be made. The rest, however, is either too busy struggling to hold together, or actively forcing the rest into servitude.

<CRASH>

The sound of ice shattering echoed through the maze that Rarity and Nightmare had arranged. A great use for the seamstress’ ingenuity, notwithstanding the purpose for which it was designed.

He had already covered a few hundred yards, but he didn't even reach halfway through to where he sensed his target's presence.

<CRASH>

He would sometimes find thin areas in the ice. He was hoping he’d finish before the others caught up to him.

‘You persistence is admirable.’

Oh, and he finally started hearing Nightmare in his head. Whoopee.

He had gotten used to the slippery floor, only thankful that there weren't many slopes to climb, and so far none he couldn't get past with a running start. There were also paths leading towards dead ends, which he couldn't distinguish until he got close enough to find his...

<CRASH>

...reflection.

It was like he was bragging. Nightmare didn’t even have to do anything and he was winning. Being faced with what was happening to him only made it harder for the Doctor to maintain his composure, for every time he saw himself in such a state, a little bit of the front was lost. A little bit of his composure, of his sanity was claimed.

He knew which way to crash a path through, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t getting there fast enough.

It seemed as though Nightmare had won. He had forced the waiting game when the Doctor had no time to wait.

Wait...

Maybe he could wait.

He sat down, trying as best he could to calm down.

‘Find your center, then work outwards from there. Every problem has an answer. There’s nothing you can’t overcome with enough time and determination.’

Slowly, it was working. It continued to work, though even slower, when Nightmare started talking again.

“I can’t understand. You say you have no allegiance to Celestia. Why do you oppose me?”

As long as the time lord wasn't doing anything, he thought he might as well indulge the bastard. “None of this has anything to do with Celestia. I’m not fighting for her, I’m fighting for the girls you kidnapped. I’ve already told you that.”

“You did. You’ve also made it very clear that you have no desire to hear why I’m doing all of this.”

A faint echo ran through the maze. One which the Doctor had decided to ignore.

“I’m not interested in hearing your excuses. Unless, maybe, if you came to face me directly. Though even so, please don’t insult me by assuming I didn’t figure out what you're trying to do now. Deciding to try to talk now, when it would suit you best! This is just you distracting me now.”

“No insult was intended. I only assumed that you were aware of our current standing. We are at war, Doctor.”

“Even so, there’s such a thing as a ceasefire during parlays.”

“I’m not taking the offensive. I’m merely defending my advancement so far. You’re the one who’s been attempting to undo all of my work, and yet I shrugged it off. You’re the one who’s currently advancing on your sanity, however I was willing to ignore that as well.”

Ungodly sounds drew apparent in the cold draft.

“I was even going to keep my minions from assaulting you until we finished. They’re currently waiting on my word on all exits.”

“All exits?”

“All of them. Even the ones you’re considering to make right now.”

“…So, now all I can do is either fight, or talk.”

“I never wanted to fight you, Doctor. You’re the one who insisted on fighting me. I do not wish to hurt you if I don’t have to.”

“Just one question. Is there any way I could convince you to let the girls go?”

“…No.”

“Then there’s nothing we have to discuss.”

He got up to face whatever might be coming his way. The sound of ice scraping against ice drawing closer from all around.

The girls, plus oversized farm worker and rabbit, took in their new surroundings upon entering the icy cavern.

Not much to see. Reflective surfaces all around, a low ceiling...

"RRROOOAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

And the sound of the Doctor screaming his lungs out somewhere in the distance.

Without as much as a word or a second glance towards the rest of the group, Ditzy decided to run ahead towards the source of the noise.

"Ditzy! Wait up!" Applejack tried to keep up, followed by the others.

As they turned the corner, however, they noticed that they've lost her.

"Where did she go?" Turning around, Applejack and Big Mac found the remaining two of the party missing as well.(**)

"...THEY WERE RIGHT BEHIND US! HOW IN TARNATION-"

The reason why the caretaker and party pony had gone missing was because a certain rabbit, still under Nightmare’s influence, decided to cover Fluttershy’s eyes and cause her to stop abruptly, slipping on the floor and bumping into Pinkie. They both slid quite a ways down a hidden side path.

Ditzy didn’t slip. She failed to distinguish the distance to a rock, and tripped.

Yes, Nightmare made sure to place them in a node of passages, and the Doctor as far away from the center as possible.
Because why not.

“…WITH A SUN DARNED PIG!”

“…You done?” asked Big Mac, waiting patiently for his sister to vent her frustration.

“<Huff, huff> Yeah… <huff> yeah.”

“Ah s’pose we at least know now that wherever Nightmare’d sent the others, they couldn’t hear ya havin yer little tantrum.”

“Go plow a field.”

He took his younger sister’s childish retort in stride.

”Come now. Ah know ya don’t handle well when things don’t go ‘courdin to plan, but we need a clear head to deal with this.”

“It’s not just that. Ah just can’t stand the idea of losin’ Pinkie and Fluttershy to that creep again!”

“Well then, we’d best get a move on findin’ them, right?”

“Ya don’t have to tell me again.”

“Owie…”

Somewhere a few feet beneath and to the side, Fluttershy was setting her previously spinning world, and Pinkie was counting stars.

“There’s eight of them! No, wait! Nine!”

They could also hear some echoes of Applejack's shouting. If they paid attention. And stopped breathing, because even the sound of their breathing was louder.

“Uhm, Pinkie? We just lost the others.”

“We did?” The pink mare looked up the narrow slope that lead them where they are. “Huh. I guess we need to find them again.”

Fluttershy looked around. There were several pathways up ahead, but none of them lead back up.

“Why did you stop, anyway?”

“I… didn’t mean to.” The caretaker looked around to find her rabbit was no longer around. ”Angel covered my eyes.”

Pinkie pondered this predicament, poking her chin with a hoof in thought. “You did help him get rid of the freaky ghost guy in his head, didn’t you?”

Realization came, Fluttershy covered her face with her overgrown hair as she suffered a self-berating upon her already low self-esteem. “No, I… forgot.”

“It’s okay. We’ll probably find him before we get outa here. Then you can scold him!”

“I don’t think…”

“Come on!” As she grabbed her by the fetlock and dashed off in exactly the worst direction they could take.

“Eeep!”

Then they ran bal into the opposite direction, a large, black serpent with a chicken head hot on their trail, clucking menacingly. A lot more menacingly than any clucking ever had any right to sound, ever.

The Doctor didn’t need his eyes to fend the scaled hybrids off. They were actually a lot easier to take down than you’d think, although some of them were up to four times his size.

He knew better than to try the same trick Perseus did with his shield. It would’ve been disgustingly easy to use all the reflective surfaces to see where they were. It was more likely that they could turn him to stone through reflection just as easily as directly, otherwise what was the point of putting them here, of all places?

The serpents tried to entangle him, and force him to look them in the eyes. He was too strong in his current state. One good smack against each chicken head and they were out like a light.

He was pissy, but he would still never take a life.

“Kyaaaagh!”

Unless, maybe, if they were threatening someone he cared about.

Eyes blazing, he followed the origin of Ditzy’s voice. Considering if maybe she’d like a leather purse.

As was previously explained, Ditzy tripped. Falling into a side entrance, much like Fluttershy and Pinkie. She gathered her bearings and noticed that she was alone.

“…Guys? Are you there?”

She could only faintly make out Applejack's voice echoing. She suddenly realized that her panicked gallop might’ve possibly caused her and her friends quite the problem.

“Can you hear me?” she shouted back through the passage she fell though. No response.

Glassy slithering sounded nearby. She decided she didn’t feel like sticking around any longer.

She turned around to fly back up the way she fell, only to find herself entangled by a leathery creature.

“Kyaaaagh!”

She got dragged away from the entrance and drawn to gaze into a couple of extremely menacing, hypnotic eyes.

She couldn’t look away. She couldn’t move. All she could do was stand still, and feel a cold stiffness run up her body.

Just as she started blacking out, a reddish-black haze tackled whatever was holding her in place.

A flurry of movement, though her vision was blurry and only barely being recovered to its normal, imperfect state. Vicious snarls and hideous growls came from her aggressor, but nothing from whoever came to save her.

As she came to, she got up to find the Doctor causing cracks along the black, glassy surface of a cockatrice the size of her house and so long it barely fit in the chamber. All the while he didn't even have a single scratch on him. His pelt had now turned reddish black, his mane and tail maroon. He moved in a blur, never striking in the same place twice.

It was a fortune that he arrived when he did. He broke through two walls and a ceiling, but he did.

Now, however, there was the matter of him not being able to stop himself.

He already drew blood. The cracks dripping heavily, the monster already slowing down its strikes and just trying to get away. It wasn’t going to get far, though.

He rammed the beast into a wall, succeeding in cracking its crystallized ribs. Then he grabbed its tail in his teeth, slammed it across the floor, and threw it across to the other side of the chamber.

Ditzy managed to hear the sickly sound of more ribs breaking.

And still. With the wretched creature only barely managing to drag itself away, he still wasn’t satisfied. The burning behind his now almost completely black eyes had yet to falter the least bit, only increase.

“Doctor, stop!”

He stopped moving. He stopped breathing. His hearts stopped beating for the longest time. He had completely forgotten that she was there. That she was seeing him like this.

He didn’t dare look towards her.
She trotted over to him.
He started shaking.
She approached.
His shaking increased.
He felt her embrace him.
He was now convulsing, collapsing in her folds.

“It’s okay. I’m okay. You don’t need to fight anymore.”

He started sobbing. What had he done?

He didn’t let himself stagger. He tried to get up, but he felt his legs give way under his weight. He wasn’t that tired earlier…

He reached for his pocket, but couldn’t manage to even lift his leg towards it.

“…Pocket.”

She looked at him inquisitively. She saw where he was pointing, and fished out an array of devices. A glistening roll of some smooth kind of canvas with holes in it that she had never seen before(***), and a few boxes, the fourth one unlike the other identical three.

He picked up one of the boxes and opened it with a snapping sound. Inside was a large injection. He handed it to her.

“Use it… on the creature. It might save it.”

She nodded and did as she was asked. It didn’t take her long, the beast had already fallen unconscious.

Its ragged breathing calmed down after a few short moments. By the time a couple minutes had passed, its bleeding had ceased as well.

“What was in that thing?” As she got back to smothering him.

“Nanoserum. It’s… a bit of the brand of magic my world has. I’ve been saving it for a bad day.”

“It can save you from nearly dying?”

“It’s not as special as it seems, from where I’m from. Though I only have two more left.” He was still shaking, but not as hard. It wasn’t just the stress of what he was doing, but also the cold. He felt so very cold.

He was holding onto his landlady like she were a lifeline.

“I didn’t want you to see me like that.” As he faded into sleep from exhaustion.

“It’s okay. We all have our off days.”

Slithering sounded from the entrances. She looked up to find that they were surrounded by another couple dozen cockatrices. She held him as tightly as she could.

She couldn’t believe it when the beasts left peacefully.

She dared to let out a sigh of relief. Was Nightmare really giving them a break?

...Maybe he's not so bad?

The Apple siblings were trying, and failing to find their way. So far, they’ve yet to find any monsters. Nightmare probably wanted to focus on the greater threat which happened to be in a weaker state.

“These tunnels circle ‘round fer miles!” whined Applejack.

“We could talk t’ help pass the time.” Offered Big Macintosh.

“Ah’m not really in a talkin’ mood.”

“Prolly cause you know what Ah wanna talk about.”

“Probably right. You probably wan talk about the particulars regardin’ what was going on inside mah head when we were fighting. Am I right?”

“Ah was jus’ curious, was all. Ah jus’ wanted t’ know what reason you might’ve had to go down that road.”

“Ah already said, Ah wasn’t thinkin’ straight.”

“If that’s so, then why’d you keep bringing up this same question to Ditzy? Why the Doc acted the way he did when he was in the same situation, quite literally twice over? Hadn’t that poor girl gone through enough without you pestering her?”

She stopped walking while considering the question. “…Would ya believe me if Ah told you that Ah wasn’t just asking her that, but mahself s’well?”

He waited for his sister to clarify, not entirely following where she was going with that.

“The reason Ah kept insistin’ on that question wasn’t just because Ah was curious. It was because Ah really don’t know the answer mahself, and it’s drivin’ me batty.”

“Ya really can’t remember, can you?”

“It’s like Ah have the picture in front of me, but Ah still can’t make heads or tails out of it. At first Ah thought that was because it was a mess in mah head after Nightmare went n’ did what he did, but after what Shy an’ Pinkie said, Ah really don’t know what t' believe anymore.”

A not entirely awkward silence followed, until Big Mac came up with a comeback. “…Maybe we could ask Nightmare some questions when we finally find ‘im. Preferably after we’ve tied him up nice n’ tight like a hog. ”

The promise of unnecessary violence managed to bring his sister’s spirits up a bit. “Then we could decide whether or not to tell Pinkie he’s actually full of candy.”

“Ah’m not sure Ah like this violent side of you, sis.”

“Ah was only jokin’!”

“Were you now?”

“…Fifty fifty.”

“After this is done, yer takin’ a few days off.”

”Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…”

“After me beatin’ you up, Ah’d say that might not be… what in tarnation is that noise?”

They were not entirely certain what to make of the piercing, uninterrupted shriek coming their way. They just decided that whatever it was, they weren’t going to go easy on it.

They were only mildly surprised to find a pink mare dragging along a trembling Pegasus come by.

“…aaaaaaaaaaaaahey, AJ! Hey Big Mac!” She stopped suddenly in front of them, utterly anticlimactic as per usual.

“Ugh… hey, Pinkie.” Applejack humored her. “What’re you…”

The party pony didn’t have the patience to let her finish her oblivious question before answering it. “I’m doing great! Considering the fact that I’m being followed by about a dozen huge, freaky chicken monsters. Fluttershy’s catatonic, though.”

”C-c-c…cockatrices.”

“Whatever. You might want to follow my lead and scream wildly whilst running away from the cockadoodlemagises(1) too!”

The farmers gave each other a wry, if comical, look. Then their ears perked up to hear the freakiest, most disturbing clucking you’ve never dared to cook up in your worst nightmares. Approaching. Their confused looks turned to scared sufficiently quickly.

“…Sure, Pinkie. Why not.”

“Awesome! Aaaaaaaaaaaaa…”

Somewhere inside the dreamscape, Nightmare was rubbing his face and lamenting his plans going awry. He had initially wanted to just guide the pink mare and caretaker further in the labyrinth, where he could use his powers to psychologically try them and bring them back over to his side without risking the interference of the others. Using the dark and mirrors to his advantage, as it were. However, the party pony seems much more trouble than she’s worth.

The fact that the actual attempt was denied didn’t bother him that much. It was the ridiculous way it did.

He even had a crisis of conscience before sending his minions to finish off the Doctor and his friend earlier. One he is now regretting dearly.

He continues to supervise the events as they unfold. They ran for quite a bit longer than he’d have preferred. He wasn’t sure of exactly how much stamina earth ponies had. He got an answer, though. It would seem as though they have as much of it as their situation requires of them.

In other words, he would be at this all night. And he honestly didn’t feel like wasting his, or anyone else’s, time. Instead he led them towards where Ditzy and the Doctor were. There, he’d allow the chips to fall however they would.

The Doctor was asleep, however he was still keeping out of reach somehow. He seems fel-bent on stopping him no matter what.

Nightmare doesn’t have much choice anymore. Worst seemed to be getting to worst without any detour, despite his efforts. Maybe he forced the worst out of the Doctor, but he was still not sure if he wanted to go down the same road himself.

He could only hope that Rarity would finally end this.

He looked peaceful while asleep. Ditzy could only worry that he’d catch something sleeping on the cold, frozen floor like this. She didn’t really have a blanket, so all she really could do was to hold him as closely as she could.
Also, she took his coat off and used it as an impromptu blanket.
Understandably, her position warranted a few choice looks from the pink pony, caretaker and younger apple farmer which all came screaming her way. The older brother had the common courtesy to look away embarrassedly.

Blushing a bit, she rolled her eyes, which, again, looked silly with her bad eye.
“He fell unconscious. I couldn’t just let him freeze in this cold, could I?”

“No! No, f’course not. Ugh… Pinkie?”

“What? It looked cozy.”

Yes. She just joined them. Lucky bastard. OH COME ON! Pffff… And then Fluttershy joined in as well.

“…Shy?” Applejack deadpanned in exasperation.

“It’s dangerous to sleep in this cold. He could catch a really bad fever!”

“<Sigh> ’Course he could.”

This pony pile-up only succeeded in causing the mailmare to blush even harder. However the other two were looking Applejack’s way expectantly.

“Oh-oh-ooooh no. You’re not ropin’ me in too.”

Fluttershy and Pinkie decided to pull out the big guns. “But Aj! He might catch a cold!” went Pinkie. They both offered some ridiculously adorably sad puppy eyes.

“No!”

Begging intensifies.

“Ah said no!”

Begging intensifies further.

“Consarn it!”

In the end, Applejack would succumb to the undeniable power of pony puppy eyes. However, she wouldn’t go down alone. She insisted that Big Mac would prop them all up underneath.

“This is ridiculous…” Ditzy let out, now only annoyed rather than embarrassed.

“You started it.” Applejack threw back, equally annoyed, though not holding back from snuggling against her brother’s back, like she used to when they were younger. Drawing out an eye roll from the older farmer as well, as well as half a smile.

All the while, Nightmare was watching what had happened with a look on his face that actually read ‘What the fel. What the actual, sundered fel am I looking at.’

It’s noteworthy to remind you that this is a spirit of order, sleep, apathy, and to a lesser extent, void. Which made the surfacing of such confusion and discomfort all the more hilarious.

Poor guy didn’t even know if he was supposed to send Rarity in yet or not.

He just told her what was up.

“…They’re doing what now?”

“Just turn them to stone already.”

Pinkie decided to do some small talk. “Hey, Derpy. What’s with the giant whatchamagise statue in the corner?(2)”

Before she finished, the sound of cracking started up around them. “…What’s cracking?”(3)

The sound of cracking accentuated. They eventually noticed that what was cracking was actually the floor underneath them.
There wasn’t much they could do, though, as they all started freefalling through the dark.

Then there was numbness, similar to what they’d felt whilst traversing the (Dark Souls) fog gates into Nightmare’s domains.
When they came to, their surroundings had changed.

They were in a large cavern, surrounded on all sides by walls with cave openings in them. This seemed to be the center of the maze.
The floor was a frozen lake, reflecting the clear night sky above.

It was slippery as hell.(4) In the middle was a large, dark, crystalline, four-headed abomination of the magically natural world, with large shining stars where their eyes would be.

“Hey, I know you! We met you in the swamp a few days ago!” Pinkie offered.

“Not now, Pinkie,” interrupted AJ.

“Rarity?” asked Fluttershy, looking for who was sitting on top of the beast.

The others saw where she was looking and recognized her as well. Though she looked changed.

Bluish charcoal coat; long, starry, waving mane colored in different shades of purple; and three brighter light-blue stars surrounded by other lesser stars for Emblems.

And black voids for eyes.

“Hello, girls. Do you like my new look?”

Despite the cheeky nature of her choice of words, aesthetically they lacked feeling. She only succeeded in sounding tired.

Her friends couldn’t offer any sufficient answer.

The hydra's heads rose in a position to strike the cluster of ponies.

Big Mac did not want to risk his back and legs against something like that. Applejack pulled Fluttershy by the hoof out of the way. Ditzy and Pinkie managed to act quickly enough, carrying the Doctor out of the way of the heads all slamming in the same place with enough force to cause crags and cracks across the surface of the ice.

The hydra’s heads rose back up, fully ready for another strike.

Instead of moving forward within reach, however, they reeled back and spat out a gooey substance, ensnaring the group.

Rarity spoke over their expressed disagreements. “I’m not allowing any more chances for you to slip away. You’ve managed to cheat Nightmare out of achieving his goals for far more times than was already acceptable. This is the end of the road.”

They all struggled, but to no avail. The slime was holding tight.

“You only have one choice now.”

Slithering creatures emerged from the entrances in the walls all around.

“…Either you allow the cockatrices to petrify you, by which way Nightmare will be able to convert you… or my four-headed friend will show you his insides, where the end result will be the same, only through more painful means.”

“How could you let Nightmare convince you to do this?” protested Applejack.

She disappeared in sparkling mists, then reappeared in front of them.

“He didn’t convince me to do anything. He needs me to do this, so I’m doing it. Had you not been so troublesome, we wouldn’t have needed to arrive to such drastic measures. Now, please do everyone a favor and look the creatures in the eyes.”

She placed a hoof against the substance, and it immediately started to harden. The mythical amalgamations approached and entangled them, but none of the group would open their eyes.

“Last chance.” She turned around to walk back to the hydra.

“How about a third option?”

Rarity stopped still, void eyes widened only slightly. She turned around, to find the Doctor looking back at her with equally black eyes.
The cockatrices also retreated.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Not much, at the moment. I’m actually having trouble focusing on any of my own thoughts. However, there’s only one thing I could assure you of.”

He broke out of the hardened bindings like they were paper mâché, and stopped only inches from her face.

“We both know how strong I am. We also both know that so far, I’ve proven to be too stubborn for Nightmare to handle."

He broke away from the stare-down upon deciding the seamstress had shed enough sweat, instead opting to circle her like a shark.

"He also witnessed what I did to one of his creatures after it dared to try to hurt Ditzy. Now, I want you both to consider very carefully, should you want to unleash all of these monsters on her and her friends again. Do you really want to find out what I’d do to you afterwards? Does Nightmare really want to find out what I’d do to him once I’ve finally found him? And I will find him, make no mistake.”

She stared on, not knowing what to do.

“I’m beyond his reach. I can’t be stopped either. I believe it’s become clear. It might’ve also become clear that I’m only getting stronger with every one of you I release from his grasp. You don’t want me to fight you, because you know that I’d only win and move on to the next strongest one among you, then the next, and then it would just be me and Nightmare. So here’s my offer.”

He turned around, knelt down and started freeing Pinkie.

“I want to finish this, but I don’t want my friends getting hurt. You want to finish this, but you don’t want me to become any stronger than I already am. How about you let them go, safely. And I'll go with you to fight one against three. Does that sound acceptable?”

Everyone else all started to object loudly. He looked back to them and gave them a stern look.

“I do what I want. You might disagree with me getting hurt, but how is me seeing you get hurt because of me any better?”

“How is any of this because of you?” asked Applejack indignantly.

“Because I had the choice at my disposal. If I didn’t take it, I was responsible for the outcome.”

“How in th’ hay is that…”

“Applejack, please. Try to understand. This is me trying to take control of a situation which had long since passed beyond anyone's control. It’s the only thing I can do to keep you from getting hurt.”

She was about to start again, but was cut off by someone else. “It’s what he believes in, Applejack.”

She turned around to Ditzy. “What’s that s’posed to mean?”

“Remember when you asked me if the Doctor was dangerous? What did I answer?”

Her eyes flashed as she recalled her exact words: "If that’s the case, then I can say that as long as he has any say in it, then no. I believe that the Doctor isn’t dangerous. To anyone, really. There’s no way anyone could make him forget about what he believes in."

Applejack couldn't find anything else to say. All she could do was look at the Doctor disbelievingly as he finished with her binds as well.

“This is what I was trying to explain,” said Ditzy as he finally got to her. “…He can’t help it. He doesn’t want to see others get hurt, no matter what he’d need to do to prevent it.”

“What’s your answer, Rarity?”

“…We accept.”

A smile crept on his face, while tears started dripping on his shoulder.

“…Ditzy? I’m coming back.”

She went in for an embrace. “You better.”

She didn't seem like she was going to finish crying any time soon. He didn't want to keep the bastard waiting.

He got up, wrapped his arms around her head and... for a few moments, there was solace.

"I promise. I'm coming back."

But then that moment had to end. He got up and walked away.

He stepped aside from the goth seamstress, then they both disappeared.

The surroundings, together with the mythical monsters, faded away as well, and the group found themselves at the outskirts of the forest near town.

Author's Notes:

(*) She meant one-oh-one. And yes, the reference was intended.

I was even going to hum “The lion sleeps tonight” on the road afterwards, too! But then AJ had to upset Derpy even more than she already was. She can really be too honest for her own good sometimes…

Pinkie, get back in the story.

Okay!

(**) Yes, kind of like what Discord did in his debut.
This was the ideal place where Nightmare would've decided to try to regain control of his pawns and potential Achille's Heel.
Applejack had the orchard, Fluttershy her animals, Pinkie her days on the rock farm and Rarity has mirrors. What better way to frustrate the Doctor than with a labyrinthine cavern with slippery walls and reflective dead ends?
Seriously, why did she have so many mirrors in her shop? Why does she have two separation screens? Why does she have any separation screens? We will never know.

(***)Those same bandages were used in the classic series, when the First Doctor had bumped his head inside the Tardis one time.
Man, does Nightmare Doc have lungs. He seems to have been able to outshout Applejack's tantrum.

(1)Try saying that five times fast.

(2) The house-sized cockatrice didn’t die. That’s just how they recover from horrible injuries. As well as how they hibernate during winter. It’s a state in which it wouldn’t have managed to turn itself into if the Doctor hadn’t actually stopped its internal bleeding, however. The corresponding organs that allowed it to do so were damaged too severely to allow the initiation of recovery otherwise.
Kind of like a Time Lord's regeneration, only not as elaborate.

(3) Crackalakin’

(4) I reserve the right to use swear words.

Important. Any relation to any biblical instances is entirely accidental.