After their not so happy adventures with avalanches and manticores, the group had a little more luck and common sense to avoid further surprises. First was a lone, wandering hydra, which they spotted miles away (literally, it was that big) and made a rather large detour, carefully avoiding its attention. Next in line was a large patch of red, very pleasantly smelling flowers, just begging to be eaten by lone travelers. Thankfully, Big Macintosh stopped them from going any closer, instead letting them observe as a bunny had a taste first. When leaving, the question was 'how in Equestria can a small flower have teeth larger than itself?'. Prince Blueblood lacked any knowledge on Piranha Roses, as they were called, but was sure to do some research on them later. Preferably in secured library, with a book that had no pictures. His mental image of bunny blood splattering everywhere was too strong, he was in no risk of forgetting it.
Finally, the inevitable caught up to them. It was a wonder that it took them this long to fall for it, as Shining Armor stopped to yawn and rub his eyes, but continued his march. It wasn't the only time he did that and others were also feeling fatigued. They lost any sense of time since they entered the forest, everything happening either too fast or too slow. According to Bluebloods hoofwatch, it was about 1 PM. Their journey started around 2 AM and they were all on their hooves since early morning yesterday, working harder then usual in preparations for the ceremony. Now the adrenaline was slowly wearing of.
“Are we there yet?” asked Soarin, as he took a big yawn. Others stopped on their tracks and looked at him with annoyance.
“What are you, five?” asked Prince, rubbing his temples “No, we haven't found any ancient magical artifacts yet!”
“Woah, sorry man, I'm just barely standing anymore.”
“You asked for it, nopony forced you to go. Now...” Prince stopped to take make a long yawn “...stop whining.”
“I'm not whining!” protested Soarin “I'm just complaining! You don't want to hear me whining.”
“Please don't start, then.” interrupted Thunderlane. He took a yawn as well “But yeah, Soarin has a point. We've been walking for hours, not to mention Blossom and I had to pull double shift yesterday.”
“So did I!” said Soarin “Spitfire was slaving me around even more than usual. And not in a good way!”
Both pegasi stopped talking and sighed deeply. They spent so long paying attention to Everfree, they almost forgot why they were inside it in the first place. Shining Armor took note of that and walked to them.
“I think we all need a little rest,” he proposed, putting his hooves on their shoulders “nothing good will happen if we collapse in the middle of the forest.”
Everypony agreed and soon after that, located a small cave with a very slim entrance, barely able to let a single pony slip through, let alone a bigger and more dangerous creature. Inside was dark, wet, smelly and dusty as all heck, but it proved to be spacious enough to house six adult stallions, if only they didn't mind crowding. And considering how cold it was and that they had limited blankets with them, they were far from complaining.
With one exception.
“You're coming?” asked Shining Armor, after almost everypony was already settling inside. Prince Blueblood stood before the entrance and carefully inspected the insides of it. Dark, mysterious, tight rock corridor. He gulped and took a step back. Shining Armor rolled his eyes and pushed Prince towards the entrance “Come on, you'll get a shower later.”
“T-that's not the problem!” exclaimed Prince, offended “I just... I don't feel comfortable spending time in a cave. Especially a dark one, in a deadly forest!”
Shining Armor looked at him carefully “You're claustrophobic?”
“No, I just don't trust them...” he looked away. A few memories flashed in his mind. His parents. Stupid argument about floating rocks. Their blood on his hooves. His train of thought was interrupted by a hoof placed on his back.
“Don't worry,” Shining Armor smiled to him “we'll keep a watch at all times. If anything happens, we'll be out of here in an instant. Besides, it's safer than outside anyway.”
“But...”
“Trust me.”
That one line was enough to shut Prince Blueblood completely, if not exactly convince. For some reason he couldn't argue with his bodyguard, especially since ever since leaving Ponyville, he was showing more and more competency. Or was he just too tired to argue with five other ponies? He sighed and entered the cave, expecting the worst to happen, eventually. Instead, after huddling between Big Macintosh and Soarin under one blanket, the warmth combined with his fatigue made him fall asleep almost instantly. Others were not too behind him, leaving Doctor and Shining Armor as the last ones standing. Shining Armor yawned again, but kept himself bravely on all four hooves.
“You don't seem too good,” said Doctor, as Shining Armor's eyes were constantly closing and opening, as his head bobbing up and down “get some sleep, I'll take the first shift.”
“I'm fine,” said Shining Armor, as he shook his head and rubbed his eyes “that's nothing compared to...” he stopped for a yawn “...my training.”
“I don't doubt that. But still, go on, I'm not even tired at all. Unlike you guys, I wasn't doing anything yesterday, so I'm full of energy.”
Shining Armor thought for a moment, but couldn't argue that Doctor looked a lot better than others. He had no bags under his eyes, his voice was constantly clear and loud and, as weird as it sounded, he has not yawned a single time
“Okay, but wake me up in an hour, I'll take the second shift.”
“Sure thing, lad.”
No matter how much time you spend with Doctor, you can be sure to... never be sure of what he is like. Can he be trusted? What is his plan? Why did he agreed to go to Everfree forest? How does he know so much, yet keeps forgetting common knowledge? Or is he even a pony to begin with? These questions have as many answers as there are those who ask them, but even they can all agree to one thing.
Doctor lies.
He had no intentions of waking Shining Armor up in time. Nor was he planning to let anypony else take a turn at watching over their camp. A simple truth of the matter was that he did not sleep at all! Nights are among the most boring periods of time for him, since everypony else was inactive, sleeping and recharging their energies for next day, while he was there, all alone, bored out of his skull. He used to read books, but he rushed through them so fast, the library couldn't keep up with him, so he stopped and tried to find another hobby to pass the time. He tried his hooves at art, but his drawings ended up being mocked even by Dinky, as much as she tried to be nice about expressing her opinion. He tried writing, but that also backfired as he ran out of paper and ink halfway the prologue, barely six hundred pages in. Ponyville nightlife also wasn't a thing for him, for one reason or another. And lets not even bring up his attempts at inventing. Ditzy was not amused when she found the fridge. In three different places.
On the bright side, their household was never dirty anymore. Ditzy told him to help with chores, might as well do them all to kill time. Two birds with one stone, as they say. He never really understood why this term was even used by ponies, who are herbivores and would have no use for dead birds or their meat anyway. Perhaps it dates back to the time they were dangerous predators and actually hunted ponies? Or was that a loose term for a gryphon back from the war, centuries ago? Or maybe that term was borrowed from gryphon societies AFTER war ended and migrations started happening between both kingdoms? Normally that thought alone would provoke him to run through the dictionaries and history books to satisfy his curiosity. Unfortunately, he had no such luxury here and his forms of entertainment were severely limited.
“...and I ate one, so now I have seventy five thousand, eight hundred sixty two muffins left on the tray (a very big one, might I add)...”
Needless to say, it was going to be a long, boring night. Hopefully not eternal.
Doctor lost track of time completely as his song just ended, while others still slept. He estimated about six hours have passed, which should be just about enough, so he lazily stood up and stretched his hooves and neck. He first gently nudged Shining Armor.
“Rise and shine, lad. Time to hunt some harmonies.” Nothing happened “Wow, somepony is a heavy sleeper. Come on, wakey wakey!” he nudged him much harder, but even that proved to be ineffective. Doctor scratched his head and moved over to next pony in line.
“Thunderlane, wake up!”
Still nothing. He tried it a few more times, shaking them more violently each time, but all of this had absolutely no effect, as they kept on sleeping like the dead. They weren't though, as Doctor safely confirmed after checking their pulse and breathing. They didn't seem to be sick as well, no sweating or convulsing, there were no changes in their bodies aside from not reacting to his words. This was not good, that much was a fact.
“Okay, calm down and think, what do I know?” he started saying to himself, as he nervously stomped the ground and looked over his compaions.
“Five ponies, all adult stallions, different races, fell asleep and won't wake up. Not dead, not sick, probably, hopefully. What else am I missing... I'm fine, but that could mean something else, or does it? Come on, what else... Everfree! We're in Everfree forest, a lot of weird stuff, like... magic! It must be some curse, or ghost or... Nightmare Moon? No, not her, she wouldn't spare me and she'd make us know it's her, not like she even knows about it. I was here the entire time and I saw nothing, so, magic, ghosts... ghost!”
He coughed and spoke loudly.
“Nice trick, whoever you are, but you missed one! Come on, what's the matter, too scared of a single, little pony to come out and show yourself?”
Nothing happened. That did not stop Doctor from trying anyway, as he donned a smug, if fake, smile and kept provoking the air.
“Is that because I'm awake? Can't touch me until I go to bed, eh? Well too bad, I don't sleep, so if you want to talk, you'll have to do it in the open!”
Still nothing happened. Doctor was starting to have his doubts, but had no other ideas, so he kept on trying. If he's lucky, maybe his crazy rambling would wake them up and this would all be just a crazy misunderstanding. If only.
“Oh, I see how it is! You're afraid! Afraid I might do something, that I could stop you from... whatever you're trying to do! Am I right?”
There was no answer, except from his own voice echoing in the cave.
“What are you, a chicken? Chirp chirp chirp! Little chicken ghosts too afraid of a big, nasty pony?”
“CEASE YOUR INSULTS, MAGGOT!”
“WOAH!” Doctor jumped back, as a mysterious, ominously sounding voice interrupted him. He looked around, but saw nothing that could possibly speak to him. He still smiled, if only because he was a step toward the answer.
“Ha, hate being called names, are you? Your types always are. Now answer me, is this” he pointed at his friends lying unconscious “your doing?”
“Yes. They made a mistake of stepping into my home. They had to PAY!”
“Ooh, I see! Well, allow me to apologize on their behalf, we had no idea this was anyponys, or whatever you are, home. Now if you could please, just lift whatever spell you used on them, then we'd be on our merry way, not bothering you ever again. It's a promise!”
The ghost started laughing in response. Doctor's ears drooped
“Oh, that's never a good sign.” he said, scratching his head.
“No, they are all mine! MINE, YOU HEAR ME! I waited for so, so long for somepony to come here! Now I can finally be free!”
“Free?” asked Doctor, his eyes widened “So you're trapped here! You need somepony to get out of here, which means...”
“Yes, YES! So long, I have waited for so, SO LONG! I stopped counting time long ago, waiting, patiently waiting, for a new body!”
“New body, eh? Well then, mister ghost...” said Doctor, once again smiling brightly as he realized one thing “... if you have your body, a lot to choose from in fact, then why are you still here? Why wait and talk to a lonely earth pony, huh?” asked Doctor and waited for an answer. There was none.
“You can't! It's not that easy, isn't it? What's stopping you? Look over there, five strong, powerful stallions. One hits like a truck, two are talented magicians and two are superb fliers, a great pool to choose from, if you ask me, you won't get a better chance. You're missing something. What's stopping you?”
The ghost took a time to answer, but did so before Doctor provoked it further.
“Hope.”
“What?” asked Doctor.
“Their hope. But they will break, I know they will! THEY WILL BREAK INTO DESPAIR! And when they do, nothing will stop me!”
Shining Armor found himself... somewhere. It wasn't Everfree forest anymore. He was in Canterlot, but everything seemed different. He saw ponies gathering around him. Citizens of the city all surrounded him, forming a mob, some of them held some tools either in mouths or by magic. Brooms, scissors, hammers, knives, bats and then some. And they were all aiming them at him.
“THERE HE IS! GET THAT MONSTER!”
Shining Armor was surrounded from all sides so he could not run away. Nor was he in any condition to fight them, not that he would ever lift a hoof on civilians anyway.
“T-this is some sort of misunderstanding, please I...”
“DON'T LET HIM LIE TO YOU! GET HIM!”
Before the mob could advance at him, they were interrupted by a sudden arrival of a garrison of guards, along with...
“Princess Celestia!” announced Shining Armor happily, as he ran toward her. He was stopped by about a dozen guards, each pointing their spears in his directions.
“Go a step further, and you'll wish for death!” said angered Captain Blitz Shield, as he moved towards Shining Armor and looked intimidatingly with his one good eye “You were my pride, my best student,” he started tearing a little “I TREATED YOU LIKE A SON! And that's how you repay me?”
“W-what? What's going on? What did I do?” Shining Armor looked around for somepony who could give him answers, but all he got were angry and scared stares. A poster on a wall caught his eyes. It had his picture and name under a big “Wanted”, along with a ridiculous amount of money reward, dead or alive. He could not read what he was accused of, but it had to be a lie. He looked around for something, anything. He found her.
“TWILIGHT!” he shouted, as he ran toward his sister. The crowd moved away from him with fear, allowing him to move close enough to Twilight, who looked away and... cried? He could not get too far, as two ponies blocked his way.
“Don't you DARE go a step closer!” growled Sunset Shimmer, as her horn and eyes glowed with bright red color.
“She believed in you, like we all!” added Moondancer, as she joined Sunset Shimmer in her blockade. Her eyes were full of hate, as well as grief “How could you!” she spelled through tears.
“B-but I don't even know...”
Before he could finish the sentence, he was grabbed by two guards and pulled away. Twilight didn't dare look at him, as she was consoled by her two friends. He was brought to face Princess Celestia, who looked at him with disgust.
“Shining Armor, for your crimes against Equestria, you are sentenced to an immediate execution!”
“WHAT?!”
He nervously looked around, as two ponies in black robes and masks moved to him. Both had giant axes held by magic.
Thunderlane woke up, but it wasn't a damp cave from before. Was this Ponyville again? It seemed like it, but something was off, he couldn't point a hoof at what. He couldn't think more of it, as he saw Mayor Mare walking away from him, along with Rumble, as he moved closely to her. Thunderlane didn't hesitate a second and ran towards them, shouting their names, but they ignored him and hastened their moves. Once he caught up to them, Mayor quickly turned toward him and shoved him away with a hoof.
“I thought I told you to stay away! Now get out before I call for help!”
“W-what? Why would you do that?”
She didn't answer him, only looked at him as if he should figure it out on his own. He gulped and looked over to Rumble. His eyes widened, as he noticed what his brother was like now. One of his wings was covered by a very thick bandage, just like his left front hoof, as he was looking at him with only one healthy eye, the other being covered by a medical eye patch. But more than anything else, what bothered Thunderlane the most, was that he was trembling, hiding behind Mayor, not saying anything to avoid getting any more attention from him.
“You have the nerve to ask those questions!” Mayor growled at him and shoved him away once again “Go away, you made enough mess already!”
“M-me? But I didn't...”
“Leave us behind?” said a feminine voice behind him. His eyes widened, as he turned back to see...
“BLOSSOM! You're alright!” he was about to rush toward her and hug her, but the look on her face stopped him. She was even more angry at him than Mayor Mare.
“Not thanks to you, scum!” she said with disdain, as she passed him and joined the other pair, putting a wing on Rumble “If there's any conscience left in you, then do us a favor and leave. And never come back!”
They turned away and continued walking, leaving a dumbstruck stallion alone on the road.
Big Macintosh lazily opened his eyes, woken by sunshine striking through the windows. Once he realized he was not in cave, he quickly scanned the area. He was in his own room, laying in his own bed, while outside sun was already high in the skies. Where were the others? Why is there sun? Did all this happen, or was Nightmare Moon just a nightmare? But then, why was he waking up so late, he should be out there, working.
“Mornin', Mac!” announced happily Applejack as she walked in his room, her back had a tray with breakfast ready. Some peeled apples and a glass of juice. Not exactly what he called an Apple Family breakfast. There were also a few pills, neatly stacked in a little plastic box, standing right next to the glass.
He tried to say something, but after he opened his mouth, no words came from it. Applejack looked at him, smiling weakly. As she closed by and put a tray on the table, he noticed something was not right about her. She looked much smaller, as if she lost a lot of weight, her eyes were red, bags under them.
“Ah bet yar starvin', eh, big boy?” she took a single piece of apple and navigated it towards his mouth “'ere comes a chuchu train!” not sure what to do, he opened his mouth and grabbed the apple, then slowly chewed it, feeling tired with every small move he made. Applejack smiled and took another piece to her hoof.
“There we go. Ah bet yer more obedient than Ah was back when you fed me when Ah was lil'. Heh, good times.” as she continued feeding him, he noticed she shed a single tear doing it. He desperately tried to say something or move his body, but couldn't.
“Applejack, Mac, Ah'm back!” announced Applebloom, as she walked into the room. She looked about as pathetic as her sister “How's Mac doin'?”
“He's good, just finished breakfast! Come 'ere sis, tell yer brother what's new in school?”
Applebloom walked toward the bed and they looked each other in the eyes. The filly hesitated, but after getting a nudge from Applejack, she spoke up.
“Oh, umm, we had a test today, Ah dunno if Ah did well, 'couse Ah was busy with chores yesterday, but that's ok, because Ah helped on the field, and umm... Sweetie Belle has a birthday party tommorow.”
“That's great!” said hapilly Applejack “Ya should go an' 'ave fun, then.”
“Ah told her Ah won't come,” she said sadly, head looking at the floor “Ah'll spend all day tomorrow workin', like Ah always do.”
They fell silent, while Mac's eyes widened. What was going on? He still couldn't say anything, as they both walked away, talking loud enough for him to hear.
“Applejack, will he... ya know, like Granny...”
“NO!” Applejack replied sternly “And don'tcha dare say otherwise! He'll get better, everythin'll be fine... and... and...” she stopped, and all talk was replaced by quiet sobbing.
Soarin had no idea where he was. It was so dark, he felt like he just woke up from that cave while others already left, but as he walked, he didn't encounter any walls, and nothing else as well.
“Hello? Anypony there?” he received no answer “Shining Armor? Thunderlane? Doctor? Big Mac? If it's a joke, it's not funny!”
He stopped when he bumped into something. Whatever it was, it swayed for a while, until it finally fell on the ground and shattered. Just then, somepony turned on the light, which illuminated only a small part, the one where he stood, just so he could see the thing he just broke. He screamed from terror as he saw the much too familiar object.
“SPITFIRE!”
He knelt next to the shattered stone statue of his best friend. His hooves trembled, as he closed them to the pieces of what was once the most important mare of his life. One time she really needed him, he failed in the worst way he could. He couldn't stay there and grieve however, as he heard hoofsteps coming from the shadows all around him. The light above him grew in size and revealed hundreds of new figures. And he recognized every single one of them, all mares he ever spent night with. And they were not happy to see him.
“Would you look at that...” said one of them “... he finally broke one, literally.”
“After all those years of breaking hearts, you finally gone all the way. Bravo!”
“Which one of us will be next, huh?”
“Maybe me?”
“Or me?”
Soarin looked at all the mares and couldn't wrap his head around what they were saying.
“I-I never meant that!” he said apologetically and tried to turn away, but several mares sneaked up there and were already blocking his way.
“Sure, that's what they all say.”
“What gives you the right to think you're different?”
“What's going on, stud? Forgot your lines?”
“Or do you expect a wingpony to help you?”
Soarin didn't like being here a moment longer and tried to fly away, but he soon discovered that... he had no wings! In their place were two limps covered with bandage. One of them mares walked towards him with two bandaged appendages, still bleeding.
“Looking for something, sweetie?”
“Oh but we are silly, that won't solve our problems.”
“Yes, we need to get rid of something else...”
As the ghost spelled out its plan, Doctor looked over his companions. They started sweating and struggling a lot more then before, muttering barely comprehensive words to themselves. Whatever that ghost was doing, it started to get worse. Doctor pretty much figured out what's going on, as it wasn't a hard guess. It was attacking them in their sleep with nightmares, just waiting for their willpower to give in and accept him into their minds. It was all up to him, but what could he do?
“Come on, think Doctor,” he muttered to himself “I'm still missing an important piece here, something simple, something... AHA!” he smiled at an epiphany he just got. He walked toward Thunderlane, put him on his back and slowly moved towards the exit.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU FOOL, PUT HIM AWAY!” the voice screamed with anger. But that only made Doctor even more motivated.
“You said it yourself, mister. You can't leave this cave, but they can! So if I just pull them out, all the connection should be lost! Ha, not so tough now, eh?”
“YOU WILL NOT LEAVE!”
At the sound of that, Doctor felt a sharp pain inside his head. He fell on his knees, dropping Thunderlane of his back and grabbing his throbbing head. It felt like hundreds of tiny drills, all trying to pierce his brain from different angles, but fortunately for him, it was not the first time it happened. Didn't make it hurt any less, though.
“I was going to leave you for the last, but you'll pay! YOU'LL PAY DEARLY!”
“...over... my... dead... body...”he muttered in response.
“SO BE IT! I have no need for all of you! Just one is enough and you... YOU ARE NOTHING!”
“...I... hear... that... often!”
The pain was getting worse over time, but Doctor was not about to give up that easily. During his meetings with telepaths over the time, he learned one thing. Mind is as strong as your memories and motivations, the more will you have towards keeping them, the better. He kept recycling everything that he could think was important to him. Every single pony, creature, item, dream, food, anything that kept him going. Two things kept repeating more often than others.
“...Ditzy... Dinky...”
“That's your hope?” said mockingly the voice “HAHAHAHA! A freaky mare and a foal? I SAID YOU WERE NOTHING, AND SO ARE THEY!”
“NO!” he protested, as he stood on his hooves “They are... lightyears stronger... more valuable... more precious... than you will... ever be!“
“NONSENSE! They will not save you, no matter how many times you call them! YOU ARE ALONE!”
“NO!” Doctor yelled from the top of his lungs “They saved me more times than I can count! They save me every day, when they wake up, bake a muffin, say good morning, when I tell a goodnight story, or when we talk about silly stuff every-single-day! Even far away from home, from them, as I spend my valuable time talking to creepy dream-eating-ghosts, I'm never alone. In fact...” he smiled smugly and proudly stood his ground “The only one who is alone, is you!”
“WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU!?”
“Huh, is that a yes? Let's count, shall we, what we have. I have, a home, my own couch, two good friends always with me, a town full of kind folk, friends from all around the globe, five guys who are willing to go on a suicide mission, I want them back by the way, a mission of the utmost importance, memories of great adventures, satisfaction from my life so far, some regrets, life full of white lies, muffins every morning, some other stuff I keep forgetting... what do you have? A stinky, dark cave and eternity of waiting for a fool to sleep in your hideout! I mean seriously, do you even have a name? Memories? Any plan on what to do once you get out? Huh? I don't think so!”
“SILENCE!”
“Or what? You'll take over my friends and mentally attack me? Oooh, scary, except you're doing it anyway!”
“I SAID SILENCE!”
Another mental bolt struck Doctor's head, this one much stronger then before, but Doctor didn't feel it nearly as much. In fact, he was feeling adrenaline pumping so much, it made him immune to any sort of pain. It also made him do reckless things.
“You know what, this is getting us nowhere,” said Doctor, as he took a deep breath and announced his newest plan “you won't get inside no matter what, so how about compromise?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Simple. You want a strong mind, don't you? Promise you'll release the others and I'll give you the strongest mind that's available.”
“You would offer yourself? For THEM?”
“Yes. Is that so hard to believe? Is your heart (if you even have one) so black and tainted it won't recognize such altruistic motives? Do you expect me to have a catch?”
“Nopony is this crazy!”
“Hello, I'm the Doctor! But yes, there is a catch and you'll find it once you're inside.”
“What do are you blabbering about? SPEAK!”
Hook.
“You see, I don't think you're tough enough for my brain. I mean really, its taking you FOR-EVER to break these guys, I doubt you'll stand a chance with me.”
Line.
“THEN SO BE IT! YOU'LL DREAD THE DAY YOU LET YOURSELF OPEN!”
And sinker.
Doctor looked over at the others. If everything would go as planned, they should be free once he takes over him. Then it's just hoping nothing will go wrong. Something will. Just hoping it's nothing big.
“Okay then, ghost. Now's your chance, while I think of pears!” he said, ending with an unpleasant grimace.
“YOU WILL REGRET THIS!”
“One of us will!”
Shining Armor couldn't stop asking, 'what did he do?' , but no matter how much he did so, nopony gave him an answer, even as he was being publicly executed in the middle of the Canterlot, on everyponies eyes, no less. It was wrong, so, so wrong. Wrong.
“...wrong...” he said to himself, this time loudly. He felt much stronger now that he realized this “...wrong, this is wrong! Of course! IT'S WRONG!”
Two axes quickly fell on his neck, the crowd gasped. But his head was still in place, as blades stopped on a barrier just created by their victim.
“This is WRONG! It's not real!”
Guards threw themselves on him, but he easily deflected every attack, taking down each pony with either a well placed shield bash, kick or punch. This was wrong either, he could never beat them all so easily, which solidified his theory.
“YOU!” he pointed at Princess Celestia, as he slowly walked towards her “You are NOT Princess Celestia! You're a parody who DARES to impersonate her! But...” he started running faster. Celestia ordered more guards to cover her, but he rushed through them with ease, jumped into the air, reading his hoof for a strike.
“I WILL SHATTER THIS ILLUSION! WITH! THIS! HOOF!”
CRACK!
Thunderlane turned away from everything he ever cared for. His little brother. His fillyfriend. Mayor Mare. It was wrong. He was about to open his wings and fly away, but then it hit him.
“...it's wrong!” he said to himself, as he looked around the environment. There were ponies walking around, there were buildings, clouds in the sky, but it all felt... different. It was wrong. All of it. The sun, Blossom cured, Rumble getting hurt. This was not reality and it would never be. He flied as fast as he could towards the trio. They barely noticed as he grabbed Rumble on his way and only stopped when they both landed on a cloud nearby. Colt didn't have time to scream and run away, as Thunderlane grabbed him by hooves and looked deep into the eye.
“Rumble, I don't know what happened, but if I screwed up, you know I didn't mean it, right? We're together in this, you and I, we're a team! I'm not perfect, but I'm trying, so please... I need you to trust me, to believe in your big brother! Please!”
Rumble was at a loss of his words, but something seemed to get into his head, as he calmed down and opened his mouth to say something. He was interrupted, as Blossomforth landed right next to them, shouting at Thunderlane. He quickly turned toward her and, without saying a single thing, locked his lips with hers, and didn't let go until she stopped struggling and returned the kiss.
CRACK!
Big Macintosh never felt this weak in his entire life. He promised to take care of his family, but now he was in their care. They cared about him just as he would in their place, but couldn't stand to watch them suffer. It was wrong. Whatever happened to him, it was not possible. It was too surreal, too sudden, too...
“...-ong...” he muttered, as he desperately moved his mouth in an attempt to say anything. “...-rong, -ong, wro-... wrong!”
He moved so suddenly, he fell of the bed with a loud thud. Applejack and Applebloom quickly entered the room and rushed toward him, but he stopped them.
“NO! This is wrong!” he screamed, as he summoned all his strength to move. He could only manage to move a single front hoof, but it was enough to make him crawl along the floor, with his two sisters watching in amazement combined with fear. His head hurt, all the muscles in his body that he could feel ached like crazy, but all he wanted now, was to get out of this room, if that was the last thing he did.
“Ah... AH REFUSE TO BE A BURDEN!”
CRACK!
Soarin tried to run away, but everywhere he ran, there were always more mares waiting for him, all of them had complete hate in their eyes, as they chanted 'hurt you back' everywhere he appeared. In this featureless place, he eventually found a wall, which turned out to be his demise, as he had no more places to escape, while a mob of mares approached him. This was wrong on so many levels. What did he ever do to deserve their hate? And why did they chose now to exact their revenge... revenge for what? Being a one night stand? This was...
“...wrong,” he said, as he looked at their faces and realized something. He remembered them, every single one “This is wrong! I didn't give you a reason to hate me!”
“Huh?” they all stopped on their tracks, as if he said something brilliant. This was his cue, as even wingless, after breaking statue of his best friend, he was still confident about one thing he never had any doubts.
“You are wrong. I never hurt a single one of you. Look at yourselves! Who do you think you are?”
“Victims!”
“NO!” he loudly proclaimed “You are all beautiful, great mares that I take pride in knowing. Not because I enjoy a good banging, although I'd lie if I said it wasn't important to me. No, I'm happy to have met you all, because you all made me glad to be alive, to feel special, even if for a short time. And you know why I felt happy? Because I made you happy as well.” he turned to one random mare.
“Were you not happy when somepony offered you a drink after a hard day of office work, after which you took him home and had a your wildest fantasies come true?” he turned to another one “And you, weren't you happy to have somepony who listened and consoled you, after you got dumped by your coltfriend? I wasn't the one who wanted to stay overnight, but you needed me, so I was there.” he turned to yet another one “And you just wanted to have a fun night on the last day of your vacations. If I didn't live up to you, then you must be the best liar in the world.”
All the mares eyes widened, as they started whispering among each other. He smiled and sighed with relief. Until a single mare caught his eye. This one held a special place in his heart, but in a different way. He slowly walked to her.
“But, I must admit I made one big mistake in my life...” he stopped before her and lowered his head “...and I'm sorry. But as weird as it might sound, I want to say... “
He rose his head and looked at her with a warm smile.
“Thank you. For making me who I am today. I know I hurt you, but it made me realize that I must be better then that. And for that, I will always be grateful, even if you'll forever hate me for it.”
CRACK!
In an instant, four ponies woke up from their nightmares. They were all covered in sweat, breathing heavily, but happy to be in the reality again, even if it wasn't exactly perfect. Soarin was glad to notice that his wings were still where they should be, while Big Macintosh was glad to just be able to move again. Doctor stood in the middle of the cave and talked to himself, or that's how it looked like.
“See? I warned you,” he said to the spirit “but thankfully you were so full of yourself, so cocky and predictable. No wonder you're stuck here for centuries.”
“Doctor?” asked Shining Armor, as he approached the earth pony “What's going on?”
“I'll explain later. First of, everypony get out of here.”
“Doctor!” shouted Soarin “Prince isn't waking up!” he said, as he tried to shake him back into consciousness. Doctor sighed, expecting something like this to happen anyway.
“Get him out of here. I need to have a few words with my new acquaintance.”
They looked at each other and shrugged, realizing that listening to Doctor was right now the best they could do. Big Macintosh grabbed unconscious Prince Blueblood on his back and together, they all walked out of the cave, leaving only Doctor alone with the ghost. It was silent, but he could still feel his presence.
“What...” started ghost, but stuttered “...what are you?”
Doctor smiled “That is a very good question. Tell you the truth? I was many things. And I will be a lot more. Usually, I'm the Doctor, a crazy pony that does not like when something messes up with what he cares about. And right now, at this moment...” he started walking out of the cave, smiling heavily. He stopped just before the exit to turn back and finish the sentence.
“...I'm hope. Goodbye.”
Once Doctor went outside, the others sat in circle around sleeping Prince Blueblood. He was afraid that of all ponies, he wouldn't have enough willpower to get out by himself, even with ghost's telepathic control out of the picture.
“Doc, what do we do?” asked Thunderlane nervously, as he violently shook Prince, who refused to get up, just like they all did before. Doctor hummed as he looked at them. He walked closer and leaned towards Prince, carefully examining his head.
“Hmm, I was hoping he'd wake up by himself, like you all did, but I guess I'll have to use some drastic matters now. I'm not going to like this.”
Soarin looked at Doctor “What drastic matt-”
SLAP!
Prince instantly sat up and touched his aching face.
“WHICH ONE OF YOU BLOODY IMBECILS HIT ME?!” he shouted furiously, looking over the gathering of four stallion gazing at him wide eyed, jaws dropped. And one smug Doctor.
“I stand corrected,” added Doctor, proudly smiling “it feels more satisfying than I thought.”