Author's Notes:

Welp. This thing has officially been finished. It was quite the ride. Here's to the rest of the way.
As a general idea. When you read this chapter, don't think Naruto like I did. Think the DBZ fight Twilight had with Tirek. Or at least remember what was drawn in the Light and Dark comic I linked a few chapters ago. We're dealing with powers of the magnitude that created Sunfall Glade.

Yes. Shit's going down exactly like that. Accompanied by the song which this chapter was named after. Namely, this song.
Which I've linked without permission.
Please keep your discretion in the comments section. For my own paranoia's sake.

Don't expect the Doc to resort to violence too often in this story, though. This was a fluke.
At least I hope it was...

Disclaimer. Nightmare's species was called that of Inklings, while the other ones were called Star Children. It has NO link to the shitty game Nintendo released a few weeks after I introduced these races without actually naming them. Honestly, fuck this shit.

I have the feeling that there could've been revisions done to the aftermath section. Not sure if I'm just imagining things, though. Any opinions? I'm not intending on steering away from what happened in the last chapter, however.

0:00 He fell through the stone ceiling. He managed to man through all that she threw at him, and was reeling. Tired. Barely conscious. Then, he felt something pull him away. A rush of power. A presence looming all over.

Twists and turns through lightless tunnels. Neither the Doctor nor Nightmare knew where they were going, all that they knew was that they needed to get as far away as they could. Having a shared mind, a shared tar-black body with white voids for eyes, their logic center processed information from the both of them simultaneously. Nightmare couldn’t understand the origin of the information, but the Doctor knew that if there was anything at all that they could do, then they needed to find something within the catacombs.

So, they were off.

0:24 Celestia’s screaming managed to create a shockwave where they’d left. Dust fell out of the ceiling of the underground. The very stars appeared to tremble in fear in the sky.

Celly was none too happy about what happened.

Then, she recalled her binding spell that she enchanted the Doctor with. She should be able to find him immediately, even teleport him back.

However, it appeared that there was interference being cast…

“Luna.”

0:43 The voice she used to speak her sister’s name was grotesque. The younger sibling felt unclean just by having her name spoken in that manner.

She stepped forward, not wanting to be too close to anyone else should her sister decide she no longer wished to hold back.

“You said you would let Nightmare live, and the others go free, if only without any memory of today’s events. But what you plan for the Doctor… I cannot allow it.”

“I will only ask you once. Release your interference, or you will regret it.”

The younger sibling’s answer was in the form of charging her horn and flaring her wings out.

They faced each other, daring the other to act first. Luna would prefer to at least try to counter her sister’s first move, rather than have to end up the same way the three girls as well as Spike did earlier. She wasn’t expecting to be able to win this fight. She only wanted to buy as much time as possible.

1:02 She only barely managed to raise a barrier in time to mitigate some of the damage from Celestia’s opening attack. Her head was spinning, her neck and head aching, but she eventually came to, finding herself outside in the woods.

She looked back towards the castle, and saw her sister flying out, high above, then beating her wings once, yet still hard enough to cause a breach in the magical barrier mere meters from her starting point.

1:11 She came crashing into her younger sister before any sound arrived. Striking with her horn like one would with a blade.

Luna didn’t use any magic this time. She let her instincts guide her and parried. Then dodged. Then parried again. She focused every bit of her mind on nothing but reacting as quickly as she could.

Celestia had enough of holding back. The plasma bolt only barely qualified as a decent strike for her. Ever since, she’d been swatting flies. Still, she was not willing to endanger any equine lives with a decent show of force.

Maybe a bit of melee would be sufficient to remind Luna of her place. That, and she hadn’t stretched her muscles in far too long. Luna was only barely managing to parry in time. She could easily overpower her, but let’s not. Let’s remind her that it’s no use fighting her. Let Luna pour every drop of pride, anger, anarchy and conceit, and then let it dawn upon her how utterly pointless it all was.

Celestia did not want to have to fight her own sister ever again. Let this be her final rebellion.

She saw her little sister draw energy into her horn, and saw her trying to find an opening for a point blank. Celestia obliged.

1:31 As the earth trembled with every show of rage, the Doctor and Nightmare pressed forward.

It wasn’t like they were going to do anything besides wander aimlessly through these tunnels regardlessly. Cross had honestly done nothing but assuage some worries. Good guy.

Still. Unknown to anyone, the goal which they were seeking out had a will of its own. It sought balance, harmony. It sought to protect the creatures living upon its soil.

It had its roots grown around fate itself, causing the two faithless runners to blunder into its grove regardless of random chance. The two were seeking out hope, and that was what sought them out as well.

The duo of one had found a light in the distance, and sought it out.

1:42 The smoke settled, uncovering Celestia to be no worse for wear whatsoever. It was Luna’s best shot, and it hadn’t done a thing.

The princess of the night had yet to give up, though. Every second presented a fleeting hope that the Doctor and Nightmare would somehow, against all reason, reach outside of Celestia’s grasp.

She charged in again.

1:52 The two reached the clearing, and were captivated by what appeared in front of them.

The shade trembled in fear, but the Doctor trembled in excitement. They’ve stumbled upon no ordinary tree. Nonetheless, they both felt compelled to walk forward.

They approached the tree. Roots sprouted round their shared limbs. The Doctor assuaged Nightmare’s worries. They were running on borrowed time anyway. This could either prove their salvation, or their already certain downfall.

The roots entangled around their neck, and their head. Eventually, the Doctor’s now white, void eyes shone brighter, as he came into contact with something beyond himself. Beyond his imagining. Something much more akin to his Tardis.

Boundless. Infinite. Powerful, yet…

2:02 Luna slid backwards across the dirt, rebounding from an especially forceful strike from her peer.

Celestia was getting tired of her own cruelty. She had grown cold over the millennia, but this was her sister. Her only constant throughout her ceaseless existence. Seeing her hurt like this even made her own stony heart ache.

She prepared for a final blow, to end this debacle. She decided to find some other way to discipline her sibling tomorrow. Maybe she’d find it in her heart to bind Nightmare to the moon herself, even if it would go against the lesson she was trying to teach…

No, she couldn’t afford leaving that loose end. She might’ve been stronger now, but she still couldn’t afford another Nightmare Moon.
Luna will just have to get over it.

She gathered power in her horn, focusing to knock her unconscious.

2:12 The Tree of Harmony, it was called. Sown during times beyond history’s reach. Its conscience stretching across the whole world. Its wisdom boundless, yet woefully lacking. The Doctor finally caught a taste of the true meaning of magic, and demanded, and was refused, to share some of his own wisdom.

He was corrupt. Nightmare was corruption. It was the same darkness that had disfigured not only the princess of the night, but also Harmony as well. The Everfree bearing testament to the madness that had befallen it during its thousand years of keeping the shade sealed. Though it could’ve also just been a side effect of its artifacts being misused. Sibling turning against sibling, beast preying upon beast. It’s almost poetic.

Harmony tried to have him extinguished once already. It would've just had Nightmare erased before, kill both him and Luna, rather than deal with the madness which ensued. Yet, that wasn't to be. Nightmare Moon was sealed away, and all that Harmony could do was to slowly eliminate the corruption through the environment. However, it failed. The Nightmare survived, through the grace of a mad elder one, more vicious than viciousness itself, more insane that the spirit of chaos...

The shade persevered and surfaced gain, to continue its ways. Harmony demanded the shade’s death…

The Doctor’s protest almost remade the lands around.

The tree calmed down. It was convinced to see things another way. Maybe, just maybe, the Doctor was right? Maybe there really was a place in the land for everyone? Maybe there truly was hope for the Nightmare.

...Maybe there was a way after all.

The second princess had returned, but the first one had since been corrupted by another source. The Mad Lord, yet again. Harmony had offered itself to other bearers, but those are being threatened by Celestia. The growth of the realm was also threatened all the same.

The fallen demigod of the sun needed to be stopped.

Harmony decided.

For a moment, the Doctor saw glimpses of the entire world. Arid deserts, perilous mountains, lush rainforests and treacherous hurricanes. But that was but a glimpse which he himself had greedily stolen away as the Tree of Harmony communicated what he needed to do now.

He had a chance.

Six gems appeared in the sockets in the tree’s bark. Summoned back, from the possession of the fallen princess. He needed to take them to the bearers, so that they could finish this once and for all.

2:22 Before he could reach for the relics, however, his leg started to glow. The runes activated, and he found himself back in Celestia’s presence, in the woods. Luna unconscious not too far away.

Celestia was none too happy to find out where he had been.

“How did you know about the Tree of Harmony?”

“Does it matter? You pulled me out before I could do anything. And now I assume you’re going to finish the job.”

She didn’t offer a word. Her horn started glowing.

The Doctor remembered some of Twilight’s knowledge of magic, and decided to try a shield himself. A white, crescent horn appeared on his forehead, and it started glowing white.

2:31 It was promptly telekinetically torn off.

Ever have a jaw tooth removed? It was like that, only without any kind of painkiller, and instead of a single tooth, it was his entire jaw. Chin bone and all.

He wasn’t done writhing in shock and pain, as Celestia held him down with one hoof, and…

2:41 She tore off his right wing, 2:46 and his left wing.

You can only imagine how losing a limb might feel.

2:50 And yet, it was nothing compared to the feeling of having Nightmare being purged away. It was damaging his very soul.

With Pinkie, what he did was more akin to assimilating the already weakly rooted splinter, connected only via thin veins. It was mostly painless. This was like experiencing the pain of having your skin burned away, in every single cell in his body.

Nightmare was screaming as he felt himself being consumed in holy fire. The Doctor was screaming with him. Twin voices rang out in unison in the night, appearing as those of primal beasts.

2:55 Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated as her hoof seemed to slip through the shape underneath, and a single, glowing, runed hoof struck her on the side of her head, too quickly even for her to evade, and she was sent flying.

It was only primal strength that could manage to break Celestia’s hold on them. A cocktail of rage, pride, joy, fear, everything that the Doctor was. Everything that Nightmare remembered from the six mares. All of his own memories, all of his love for Luna. All added to the shade’s overriding instinct for survival, and the Doctor’s unyielding refusal to let another life be lost under his care. The fear associated to every single face of his own kind, as well as the knowledge of all the dead and ruin caused by his need to stop a disease from consuming all of time and space.

No more. Not a single life will ever be lost again.

They merged.

Celestia got up and shook her head. She couldn't believe what had happened. She looked ahead and staggered at what she saw. "...What?" realization dawned on her quickly, together with a hint of dread and despair. She had no idea how strong he was now.

He reached to her own height, his general size being subject to guess as it's hard seeing anything in there at all. His eyes shined like twin moons somehow compressed into singularities. The darkness wafting off of him like smoke, even reaching her, twenty strides away.

When she faced Nightmare Moon, she was only second tier, like her sister. Nightmare fed off emotions and translated them into power, only barely managing to surpass her own power gained from the sun. Now, the Doctor not only had access to power from his own emotions, but also from the girls who had previously nurtured the shade. He actually stood a chance in opposing her, and the realization drove her over the edge.

All notion of safety lost, she prepared another plasma beam…

3:05 …but the Doctor almost instantly closed the gap between them and clocked her over the head, interrupting her and sending her flying deep into the forest.

In another flurry of inky smoke, he picked Luna off the ground and reached the crumbled wall of the castle outside of which the others had gathered to look on at what was transpiring.

He was a full two heads taller now. White-edged wings on his back, a crescent white horn on his forehead, trails of white pulsing along his pitch-black body. The group found his new appearance disconcerting, but didn't have the presence of mind to give it the proper consideration.

“Look for the Elements of Harmony. They’re in the tunnels below,” he quickly offered without missing a beat, in twin, resonating voices, as shadowy mists lay Luna gently on the ground in front of them.

No one even had time for a double-take before they felt the distinct smell of ozone.

3:13 The Doctor's form quickly spun around in a flurry of mist, and slammed his front legs ahead, eliciting distant, muted echoes all around. Massive pillars of dark avalanched forth all around in front of him, a veritable mountain of shadows all concentrating in the middle area, successfully blocking an oncoming solar plasma beam.

There was nothing left of the wall the group had previously come out through. They remained silent afterwards. Stunned.

“Go,” the Dark Time Lord demanded. “I can fight her, but I can’t beat her. You need to find the Elements under the castle. It's our only option.”

They all looked forward, watched Celestia emerge gradually from burning vegetation, the fire itself appearing tame in comparison to the godly wrath in he eyes.

”You’re the only ones who can stop her.”

“Doctor, we can’t let you go in alone!” Ditzy countered. He smiled, and responded in a kind, warm voice that managed to shine through the darkness cloaking him.

“Yes you can. I have faith in all of you.”

Ditzy would’ve said something else, but he continued, “Besides, we need you to take care of Luna. Me and Nightmare need to know that you're both safe. Go with the others. Get to the Tree of Harmony. Promise us you’ll be safe.”

She nodded her head, then he turned back around and headed out towards the Self-Righteous Sovereign. Behind him, the others all filed down the hole in the ground, Big Mac carrying Luna and Twilight carrying Spike.

3:33 The darkness wafting from the Doctor started pulsing, emanating strongly once again, as he continuously accelerated his stride.

Twilight led everyone through the tunnels, her horn glowing as she detected a very strong source of magical power in the distance. They weaved through the crisscrossing tunnels, rushing towards the source.

Celestia had since taken to the air, locking in on her target with another devastating blast. The Dark Time Lord had grown merely shrugged it off with a beat of his wing. Another strike, stronger this time, and the light consumed his flesh, only for him to grow it back from the avalanche of inky black quickly spreading throughout the Everfree.

3:53 A blast of pure light, the Doctor didn't bother to dodge. He only regenerated. Another blast, then another, and the same happened.

Every time he was struck, he only drew from the darkness around to remake himself out of scratch. The duo's inky mist had already spread throughout the landscape like an oil spill, binding into the ground, choking out the flames and drawing in Nightmare’s essence dispersed by the Tree of Harmony during his and Luna's imprisonment, in an attempt to purge him like a disease. The same essence which Nightmare was trying to recover, when he spread the girls so far across throughout the forest.

Through the Doctor’s strength of spirit, the shade managed to achieve something he never considered possible. He could feel the entire forest. Most of its denizens had hidden or fled far away. Wise creatures. This was going to get ugly.

The night itself had decided to rebel against the day. Where one was cold and unyielding, the other was scorching and merciless. A sea of dark reaching out for a star flying low, wanting to extinguish the fires of heaven itself.

As dawn was being concentrated in the tip of Celestia’s horn, the Doctor and Nightmare burst up to deliver their own just answer.

4:13 A diameter of a quarter mile was leveled by gray light, the sound and flash could be noticed throughout the entire continent. Somehow the castle still stood, sans a few walls and towers here and there. It stood for so long, and it seems that it will keep on standing for generations yet. Underneath, the others had reached the Tree of Harmony’s grove, but the tunnel collapsed behind them.

4:22 Once the light died down, Celestia was shown flying low in the middle of the clearing, magical energy dispersing to reveal her only to have exerted herself a modicum amount. The Doctor materialized nearby, brand new.

This was going to take a while.

4:30 They clashed again. Half the sky went bright as day, the other half overcasting void over the light of the stars and moon. The Doctor’s flesh was regenerating more quickly than it was being cast away. Being part of Nightmare made him just as susceptible to light, but just as insensitive as well as unimaginably strong.

He felt pain, but he was no longer bothered by it.

4:40 Dark shapes started gathering in the distance. Inklings. Tall bipeds made of darkness and idea, with white voids looking on from the far horizon.

4:50 In contrast, in the sky appeared shining, white shapes with wings flowing as if liquid, black line markings making out closed eyes. The spirits of the stars themselves, the Star Children, had taken notice of what was happening.

5:00 In another dark corner, beyond the world’s reaches, Disdain himself was looking on intently. As were other dark forces undoubtedly doing as well.

The bearers had approached the tree, and all their eyes started glowing.

5:14 A rainbow burst out through the opening in the chamber’s ceiling, slowly at first, but accelerating rapidly towards their targets

Being in the midst of fighting in the sky, Celestia was too busy to notice what was coming. The Doctor and Nightmare, however, maintained a collected mind.

The two surged forward and engulfed the princess. She almost realized too late what he was doing, as her magic was being rendered useless. She tried to fly away, but the two were holding fast.

She screamed in protest as the three of them were struck by the beam of energy.

5:33 In a final act of desperation, she surged out divine fire, sustaining a sphere of energy to purge just enough room around her, creating a miniature sun. Then she cast a unique arcane command upon the rainbow of energy still barraging on her, her own knowledge of the relics’ workings causing her to be more than capable to not only hold the reforming energy back, but to actually bridle it under her own will.

5:43 A smile crept on her face as the energies drew back and funneled into her horn. With this much power at her disposal, she'd be able to purge Nightmare away without even a drop of sweat.

The dark time lord noticed this. If he didn't stop her now, all would be lost. But the heavenly fire burned him away, he couldn't approach her!

This couldn't stand! Think, old man! Think!!

There was only one option. They both agreed.

5:53 He reverted himself back to being flesh and bone, then he burst through the scorching miniature sun. He tackled the alicorn from behind, hindering her wings, and wrapping his runed arm around her horn.

She was surprised by this development. She threw her head around trying to throw him off, disbelief and terror gradually growing to overcome her judgment. She struggled and struck wildly, and seared with her magic, but all to no avail.

He was burning. His flesh was being burned away and healed back by both the now freed Elements and Nightmare all at once. It was even worse than what he felt when this exact same experience was happening to the shade only minutes prior.

He had all the strength he needed, and was being supplied with more. All he needed to do was hold on.

The Elements managed to get a decent hold of them this time. It pulled them in and remade them according to the Bearers’ wishes.

There was white noise, at first. A ceaseless ringing in his ears and a misty blear where he'd try to look. Eventually he found Ditzy cradling him, talking to him, though he couldn't make out what she was saying. She was probably asking him if he was okay, he thought.

"...My coat looks good on you," he managed out, warranting a hug and a kiss.

He looked around. First thing he saw was the ring of ponies and dragon circling around him and two other figures on the ground.

...Wait.

One of them he recognized from Nightmare's memories. This seemed to be Celestia, only she was no longer as large and imposing as she was only moments before. She was the size of Luna, which was not too far away, just standing there, looking confused as a lost puppy, trying to figure out what to make of the new turn of events.

Her mane was no longer its former aurora. It was only a flowing, uniform pink similar to her sister's starry, dark blue. Guess that's one out of the way. They're both on equal grounds now. It only leaves her personality, and maybe Nightmare can finally give his...

He gave himself a passing glance. Yep. Chestnut. He could no longer feel Nightmare's presence. His size was back to normal. No wings, no horn.

He looked to the last figure on the ground. Apparently the other figure Luna was staring at, not just her sister.

Between him and Celestia lay an odd sight. It almost looked equine in appearance, though he might as well could be mistaken for some strange breed of dragon... or maybe even a demon.

He seemed equine in appearance, only slightly taller than the Doctor. He had cloven hooves, though he didn't have either fur or scales. Just a smooth black tissue without any determining features. His mane and tail were more a mist than anything else, flowing out like some especially thick smoke.

The spikes at the sides of his head could just as easily be either ears, spines or horns. His face's general shape seemed too smooth for a pony, and too small for a dragon. Lord Kirin, in comparison, only presented features from both species that knit together seamlessly. This one didn't seem to be able to decide on whether it'd want features from either species.

The bump in front of his face was as small as a pony's snout, but given the lack of fur it seemed to belong to a dragon instead. Essentially, one could go as far as to assume that he was mostly a blank slate, waiting for either race to be imposed upon him.

His eyes slowly opened, blearily, revealing draconic slits, his irises a silvery gray. He opened his serrated mouth, revealing razor sharp teeth.

"...Nightmare?" asked Luna.

His spikes certainly did act like ears. Tracing the source of the sound, then drooping in concern and fear.

He noticed Luna's reservation, which only had him lower his head further than it already was.
He did manage out, though, "I'm happy to see you're alright."

"Is it really you?"

He seemed confused for a moment, not thinking to check and learn of his new appearance. He only answered simply, "I've forgotten many things when we were parted, but I still remember you, if that's what you're asking." His head rose again, hope in his features. "Do you still remember me?"

She dashed forward to embrace him, tears of joy in her eyes. "You silly foal! Of course I remember you!"

He appeared surprised by the gesture, though he was mostly surprised by the new sensations he was experiencing.

"I feel..."

She drew back, noticing his puzzlement.

"Is this what warmth feels like?"

Up until then, he had only felt the warmth of the sun scorching his flesh. He never felt the warmth of someone else's touch.

Luna let out a single chuckle of joy, almost a sob, then held him tighter than she ever held anyone before. The former shade took a while before he took the initiative and returned the favor.

The others would've wanted to share their joy, but were distracted by the third pony brought by the Elements of Harmony finally waking up as well.

"...Luna? What are we doing here?"

They broke the hug and studied the fallen alicorn carefully. She seemed confused. Lost.

Celestia looked to her sister for guidance, no sign of anger or pride at all.

She seemed much younger. Her voice was much lighter, her features much gentler than she'd ever previously attempted to appear. In contrast, her younger sibling, as well as everyone else in the group, were looking at her fearfully. Even Luna was estranging her.

"What's wrong?" Celestia asked sincerely.

Luna wasn't ready for all of this happening at once. Nightmare was okay! Her black knight was safe and sound, and a pony no less! But her sister being the way she used to as well? It's all far too good to be true...

She held Knight tighter, scared by the simple idea that this was all just a simple dream. She didn't want things to go back! If this was a dream, she didn't want to wake up ever again!

She only took a deep breath, braced herself and asked away, voice trembling, "Who are you?"

Celestia drew away as if struck upon hearing that question. "What do you mean who I am? Luna, I'm your sister! Is this one of your silly pranks? Because it's in horrible taste!"

She soon recognized that the look of mistrust in Luna's eyes was anything but mirthful or cunning. She was serious. She was crying.

"Luna. It's me."

The doubt was cracking, but it was still far too heavy to dispel so easily.

"Were you crying? What happened?"

Her tears broke out with renewed vigor. Could it really be true? Could she really dare to believe this to be true?

"...Luna. Please." tears welling up in Celestia's own eyes. "What's going on?"

She threw herself with Knight in tow to add her sister to the embrace. Openly sobbing now. "My sister! I have my sister back as well!"

Tia didn't seem to understand what was going on, but was more than willing to comfort her sibling. "What got into you? You know I would never let anything separate us."

The wails only intensified. Tears were shared. Celestia, the girls, Big Mac and Spike, even Knight and the Doctor let the moment wash over them all.

The others decided to give the three their space. Understandably, they had a lot to catch up on and deserved their privacy.

There were many, notably strong feelings shared throughout the group. Relief that the danger had passed, thankfulness that things had turned out for the best, as well as admiration and gratitude towards the Doctor for all that he had done to make it all possible.

Pinkie tackle-glomped the wind out of him as soon as she found him vulnerable to her surprise attack, earning looks of surprise from the group, which turned to warm smiles on everyone else except Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack. Those three instead chose to share a mischievous smile, and soon joined the pink mare, despite the Time Lord's half-hearted protests.

He was utterly buried under questions within the lines of "Since when were you so cool?!", swoons in the form of "You were so brave and dashing!", admirations similar to "You made blizzards look like ice cubes in a summer day with the way you faced the princess like that!" and unrelenting promises of the biggest, most legendary party in all of Equestria, so legendary that the very word 'legendary' would take days to finish trying to describe how legendary it was. Also, she said she hoped he wasn't lactose intolerant, for whatever reason.

The Doctor, however, was not in the mood for fooling around at the moment. He was immensely relieved that it was all over, but even more so, he was tired.

Today, he was almost crushed by a giant Nightmare Whomping Willow, got beaten up whilst bound by Applejack, had what felt like hundreds of needles being pushed into his head, had his very mind taken away from him, faced against being turned to stone and witnessing his close ones receiving the same fate, then finally, he was forced to come to his senses in the midst of going against every oath he promised to uphold as the Doctor.

And that's not even mentioning the kinetic and shock therapy the three remaining girls put him through, then what he went through in Celestia's miniature sun.

However, worst of all, the realization of what he actually did dawned upon him.

He rose his arm. He was cornered into a state where his fear decided for him. He needed to choose between losing those that he swore to himself that he would protect, and losing his right to bear his title as the Doctor.

Always, until then, there was someone else who would make a stand in his stead. Though never a surgeon to his medicine. Always... always just someone else to either dirty their hands in his stead, or pay the price for his cowardice. It was something he had told himself that he understood what it meant, but finally getting his hands dirty offered for insight he did not want. He felt his heart breaking again, like when he first saw the night sky, when he was beaten into the decision that he couldn't travel anymore.

He refused to let another life be lost. He rose his hand...

His link to Nightmare was holding back his emotions, as they were being turned to power instead. When he woke up, all of those emotions came flooding in, and he was doing well enough holding them back.
Until now, however.

The touching moment from before managed to fissure the dam, yet he managed to keep himself under control. He still managed, but there was only so much he could hold back.

"...Doctor? You okay?"

Applejack's question cut off the rest of the cheering.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, smiling, pretending that nothing was wrong.

The girls only grew more concerned, taking a few steps back, finally deciding to give him a bit of breathing room.

"Cause yer cryin'."

He traced a hoof up to his face. Surely enough, there were tears running freely now.

"Huh. So I am..." he choked.

"What's wrong?" asked Ditzy.

He only smiled back, tiredly, despite his tears and growing sobbing. "I guess it was just a long day," he lied, looking past her towards the trio a few feet away. "I'm just glad it all turned out for the best."