With the new knowledge of how things worked in Nightmare, Moondancer made her way back to the first pink pony who'd sent her to the out of the way area before...only to be sent somewhere random when she talked to her normally. "...why didn't that work?" she demanded irritably.
"Probably because it wasn't the same mare," Buzz Buzz pointed out. "They keep...popping in and out of everywhere and switching places."
"Does that mean I have to pull the Muffin Mare schtick again?" she demanded with a groan.
"Nopper!" a nearby pink pony offered happily.
"Well, that's a reli-and I just remembered about the whole yes/no thing," Moondancer growled out. Pausing, she took a few calming breaths. "Do you-"
"Wait, I meant yupper!" the pink pony interrupted. "I totally don't know where you want to go! Hello...and goodbye!"
The world warped around them, and Moondancer and Buzz Buzz found themselves in the out of the way area again. "...a hallucination is just messing with me? That's a new low..." Turning, she approached the new pink mare. "Do you know the Muffin Mare?" she asked carefully.
"Noppers!"
Moondancer thought about that for a moment, trying to figure out how to get through to this pony that wasn't even really there. "...I don't want to see the Muffin Mare."
"In that case, I'll send you to someone much better!" the pink mare responded eagerly. "Hello...and goodbye!" The world warped again.
The pair found themselves in a new out-of-the-way location, this one with a gray mare with a somewhat purple mane and a flat expression...who looked oddly out of place in the surroundings. Every other figure of the hallucination looked twisted and warped as though their inherent oddity had been exaggerated...but with this one, it was almost as if the attempt had been made only to fail. "Uh...?" Moondancer began awkwardly.
"Hello...and goodbye," the mare spoke in a complete monotone voice. "...shall I?"
"Please...no," Moondancer quickly corrected herself.
"Then...goodbye."
The world warped again, and they found themselves in a small warehouse with only two individuals. One was a gray pegasus with yellow eyes that looked in two different directions. The other was a pink pony wearing a muffin costume. "I think we've found the muffin mare," Buzz Buzz began, moving towards the pink pony.
"Pretty sure that's another warping pony," Moondancer pointed out flatly as she approached the pegasus. "Are you the Muffin Mare?" she asked her carefully.
"I can't find my little muffin!" the pegasus whimpered softly, tears in her eyes. Her voice was oddly stilted in an endearing way. "Please find my little muffin!"
"So...are you the muffin mare?" Moondancer repeated.
"I can't find my little muffin!" the pegasus repeated in an identical tone. "Please find my little muffin!"
"You...didn't answer my question..." Moondancer pointed out flatly.
"I can't find my little muffin! Please find my little muffin!"
"Can't you say anything else?" Moondancer demanded irritably.
The mare's eyes suddenly both locked on Moondancer's. "Haven't you ever played video games?" she demanded flatly. "With the narrative force in play I only get one dialogue box until you advance the plot, two if I'm lucky. Now are you going to look for my little muffin, or are we going to go through this again so you can get your jollies over my sorrow?"
"But I don't even know what I'm looking for!" Moondancer complained.
"I can't find my little muffin!" the pegasus whimpered as her eyes went back to pointing in two different directions...but her wings and hooves made shapes on the ground, indicating something small and pointed...but before Moondancer could see anymore, the pink pony in the muffin suit had trotted over the image, her eyes crazed and her coat grayed out.
"You wanna find the muffin?" she asked darkly, cruelly. "Well you're not gonna if you don't play by the rules. Hello...and-"
Moondancer's eyes narrowed and her energy - not her PSI - lashed out and seized the hallucination roughly. "Goodbye!" Moondancer stated firmly before blasting the figure into the nearest wall, causing it to burst into green flames and reveal some sort of insectoid pony that dispersed into red swirls.
A new pink pony popped up. "I was wondering who took my shift here!" she insisted irritably. She smiled widely at Moondancer, shaking herself off and drawing attention to an odd red pattern drawn on her face and through her mane. "Seriously, someone needs to learn some patience! Thanks for that, so let me help you. Goodbye...and Hello!"
The world shifted...and a space between spaces opened up. "This is the path between the nightmares!" the pink pony explained. "You'll probably find a lot of things that aren't what they seem...so be careful in there! But the muffin's in the other Nightmare, not yours."
"Well, at least we'll find Ness and Jeff-" Moondancer began.
"But don't stay in the other Nightmare too long!" the mare insisted. "This one will collapse without you in it before long, and then elements will start bleeding through. And...hang on!" Grinning, she pulled out black and gold paint. The gold she painted on one of her teeth, the black between her eyebrows. She then pulled a cloak over herself, turning into a walking shadow. "With the way things have been skewed," she said, her voice now definitely sounding masculine, "you might not be the only one crossing. Looks like I've got two jobs today!"
Nodding nervously, Moondancer turned and entered the path between nightmares.
The path between nightmares swirled with light, sound, and swirls of red as madness leaked back and forth between the illusions, the very fabric of reality seeming to come almost undone as enhanced PSI tore at the senses. Creatures like the black bug-like pony patrolled the path, taking on shapes both familiar and strange as they attacked. Giegue, Niiue, Alinivar, Paula...Moondancer found herself fighting images of them all, only for the images to decay as she bested them. There was also the image of a purple unicorn with a star-shaped mark on her flank...and Moondancer felt oddly pained whenever she saw that one, as with the tiny purple and green reptile.
After a time, she saw strange shaggy white creatures approaching, armed with clubs and swords and wearing stone-like face masks. She took no hesitation blasting them apart as they approached...until she saw one holding a familiar looking bat. "What...?" As the bat was swung towards her, she braced herself for combat-
"Wait!" Buzz Buzz insisted as he landed on her horn. At the same time, another shaggy figure behind the bat-wielding one seized its arm. "That's-"
"-Moondancer!" Jeff snapped out as he hauled back on Ness' arm.
Ness blinked in shock and disbelief, glancing from Jeff to the shadowy creatures before them that seemed to ooze right out of the ground as they took shape, the one in front readying to blast him. He'd been pushed to his limit struggling to deal with Moonside, trying to make sense of what had happened...only to find no one waiting for them in the tiny warehouse the chain of warpers had led them to. He had feared he'd led Jeff into an inescapable trap, only for a whole in the world to open before them. And now...
He saw the energy surround his bat, slowly pushing it down. "M...Moondancer?" he began nervously.
"...Ness?" Moondancer gasped out in surprise, before rushing forward, the illusions fading off both of them as they clung to each other in relief.