Doctor Whooves Adventures

by IHasApple

The Missing Cutie Marks: Chapter 7

“Doctor!”

Spike backed away from the pegasus standing at the bottom of the stairs of the basement. Her former aura of illness and weakness had been completely overcome with anger and power. Her eyes glowed a creepy bright yellow. Spike was both frightened and confused. The point was clear she was sick and in bed, or at least should have been. What was she doing here? And what happened to her eyes!?

“Get behind me, Spike…” The doctor said, quickly putting himself between Spike and the enraged Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow took a step towards the two. Her position changed from one of simple anger to a more offensive one. She crouched down low, ready to pounce. Her wings were extended to full height. Her nostrils flared. She looked ready to charge! The Doctor stared directly into the yellow orbs that were her eyes. He tried to determine exactly what this could be and what it meant. The first question was still being figured out by the time he reached his first conclusion: Rainbow wanted to fight.

“Listen!” he announced before Dash could make any more sudden movements. “I don’t know what you’re planning to accomplish here, but I know what’s happening to you.” He offered out a hoof. “Let me help you.”

But his offer fell upon deaf ears as Rainbow showed no indication she cared about his proposal or even heard him. Her only response was a loud snort and a hoof scratching the ground.

The Doctor’s only response was a fierce glare back at her. She matched it very easily.The Doctor slowly made a motion for his Sonic Screwdriver and placed it between his hooves. He didn’t want to do this. As skilled as he was in close quarters combat, the Doctor tried not to fight whenever he could. Preferably, he liked to deal with situations by talking it out. As one could guess, it often did not work. He preferred flight over fight.

Spike felt uneasy. This was not simply Rainbow just being angry, whatever reason she had. He had seen her angry before; it was not as ferocious as this. She gave off a very violent and scary vibe. One of pure rage and instability. Spike wasn’t completely sure about her intentions, but it felt like she didn’t want a fight for fight’s sake. No, it felt like she wanted a fight to the death.

“Doctor…” a concerned Spike said. He tried to move away, but the Doctor simply looked back at him. In some weird way, Spike felt as though he could trust this guy. Even with his life.

With a fierce snarl and a show of teeth, Rainbow charged right at the cornered dragon and pony! The Doctor did nothing in retaliation. He simply stood his ground as the dangerous mare came closer and closer. Her hoof steps ponded against the floor like Spike’s heart pounded in his chest. Just when there seemed no time to do anything, The Doctor made his move.

It all happened so fast. First, the Doctor grabbed Spike’s arm and pulled him over to the ground. Not directly into the ground, but with a little bit of angle to the right; just enough to dodge out of the way of the charging Dash. With a bind rage and fury, Rainbow ran full speed into the box behind them. Luckily for them, Rainbow was not exactly in the right state of mind to make rational decisions, and dove headlong into the rip in space. Mind that she did not pass through the portal as she did not fit. It came as a shock to Spike and an even bigger shock to Rainbow Dash when she was electrocuted by the tear’s pulsing energy! Her hair stood on end and a cry of pain pierced the air before she fell down with a loud thud.

Spike lay flat on the floor for a few moments. His breathing slowed as he regained himself. The Doctor was already standing by the time he got up himself. The Doctor was looking back at Rainbow as put his screwdriver away. The scent of smoke and burnt hair filled his nostrils as he looked on. Spike was confused, but glad to be unharmed. He turned to the tan earth pony.

“What the heck was that?” Spike nearly yelled, adrenaline still fleeing his system. “Why did she get shocked like that? Could we have been shocked!?”

“Well, no. I amplified its power for a little bit while she was getting ready to charge. I was hoping a shock like that would snap her out of it…”

“Huh? Out of what exactly?” Spike asked, still a bit confused about the whole ordeal.

“Uh… I think I’ll have to explain later...” the Doctor replied, slowly heading towards the stairs. Spike turned back to the cyan pegasus to see her already on her hooves again. At least, getting up to them. Apparently, the shock did not work. Her eyes kept their yellow glow and her violent look was stronger than ever. Any second she would be right back to trying to kill them.

The Doctor had nearly reached the stairs by then and Spike was not far behind. “I think our best plan now is…”

“RUN!”

…

“Ah! What’s going on!?” Pinkie cried out, doing her best to keep her footing.

“I don’t know! But we have to keep her in there!” Twilight called out, keeping her magic steady to hold the door shut.
Big Mac, Twilight and Pinkie Pie all did their best to keep Applejack’s bedroom door shut. The mare inside the room had gone completely mad, thrashing and fighting her way out. Her previous demeanor of high spirits had completely dissipated by anger and wild fury. Yet despite Big Mac’s incredible strength, Twilight’s magic and the rather thick door, Applejack was still making a strong attempt to break down the door to get a piece of them. And was winning.

The wood of the door creaked and splintered from the wild bucking from the crazy farm mare. All those years of experience with bucking apple trees showed when not even Twilight’s magic and Big Mac’s muscles were slowing her down. But it wasn’t just her bucking skills. Something else fueled her. Even she could not stop her own brother on normal situations. What was going on?

CRASH!

Splinters of wood rained down on the trio as Applejack bucked a rather large crack in the door. Twilight’s eyes widened as the crack, upon subsequent kicks, was quickly turned a hole.
“She’s breaking through!” Big Mac said, surprised at his own sister’s strength and determination.
Pinkie was nearly hysterical. “What are we gonna do!?” She hated to see her friends upset, and was in major discomfort over something like this.

“I… I don’t know!” For once, Twilight was out of ideas. She didn’t want to hurt Applejack, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep that moral in her head. She already tired restraining her with magic, but she lost her grip after trying holding the orange pony down for more than five seconds. Applejack just thrashed about violently, trying to buck her head off. The violent motions proved to be too much for her and got thrown out of control like Scootaloo off her scooter. Her loss of grip of Applejack was the reason they had to barricade the door in the first place.

But it wasn’t as simple as a slip or a careless mistake. To Twilight, it felt like something was fighting her off. Something was trying to keep her out of control of Applejack’s body. It was like another magic source was already in control… of… her.
And that’s when it hit her.

…

Rainbow Dash crashed her way through the library, knocking over books and disrupting piles of important papers. Well, she disturbed the ones that hadn’t already been knocked over by the two in front of her. Both Spike and the Doctor were throwing things in attempts to slow her down. None were very fruitful.

Spike’s tiny legs went as fast as they could as he tried to keep up with the Doctor’s strong running ability. He was nearly out of breath but the Doctor looked like he could go for hours. He must have had practice or something.

“Well, any more bright ideas!?” Spike called out to the Doctor.

“I’m thinking!” he retorted, doing his best to void the stubborn mare and come up with a plan. “I don’t see you doing any quick thinking!”

Rainbow seemed even angrier now that she had been electrocuted. Her previous attempt of a simple charge seemed weak and predicable compared to her flying ability.

Doors were slammed and furniture was thrown. Yet despite their efforts to stop the chase, Rainbow did not slow for a second, crashing through all the rather thin wooden doors. She kept a steady headstrong flight, breaking through all of the obstacles rather than avoiding them. She seemed even more stubborn than usual.

The Doctor kept doing what he did best: thinking on the spot. He almost got lost in thought and nearly hit the table as he jumped over it. Spike slid underneath said table. Rainbow broke it in two.

Looking back at Rainbow effortlessly breaking the wooden table, The Doctor had an idea. “Right got it!” he said finally.

“What is it?” Spike was running out of steam. He was coming close to the end of his sprint. And the end of his life.

“First: find a place to think. Isn’t there a place we can hold up?” the Doctor asked, running out of assorted things to kick over as they ran. “One with a preferably strong door?”

Spike thought for a moment. Most of the doors in the library were thin so that Twilight could hear any ponies come into the library. All these places Rainbow could buck into easily. But there was one room with a specifically thicker door…
“Quick! This way!” Spike made a sharp right turn down the next set of stairs they came to. Rainbow banked it as hard as she could, and followed right behind. Spike could practically feel Rainbow’s snarly breath on the back of his neck. She was gaining. Pretty soon she would be right on top of-

SLAM!

Rainbow winced as the thick wooden door immediately rushed to greet her face with a joyous embrace. To the face. The pained pegasus felled back and hit the ground with a thud.

Beyond the reclosed door, the Doctor quickly locked the heavy lock. He pressed his ear to the door, listening to Rainbow’s movements. He stepped back as she tried her best to kick down the door, but her efforts were in vain. After a few more kicks, there was silence. The Doctor took a moment to catch his breath before looking at the door that had saved them.

“Oh, this is just great…” Spike muttered under his breath.

“I know.” The Doctor said, still looking at the door. “Great structure, sturdy lock, elegant design. Perfect for stopping crazy pegasi. Well, the design doesn’t help other than looks, but…”

He paused a bit. “This door should hold her off long enough…” Turning around, he took a moment to see exactly what room they were in. He saw the objects and placements and quickly deduced they were in the bathroom. Naturally. Actually, he thought, this might work…

“So… now what?” Spike asked.

The Doctor began looking around the room. “Well, from her behaviour, she obviously won’t give up that easily. Seeing as how she can’t break down the door, she’ll probably try to find another way in.”

“And then she’ll come in and we’ll be cornered! Then she’ll get us for sure!” Spike brought a worried hand to his head. “This is all your fault!”

“No time for that, now!” He replied, already working his screwdriver on the bathroom mirror. He stopped for a moment and turned back to Spike. Looking beyond the young dragon he saw a window. A window that looked just big enough to fit a pegasus through. Perfect.

“Okay, I need you to look out the window and tell me when you see her.” He quickly pointed behind the worrisome Spike.
Spike did a double take. “What? How are you so sure she’ll come this way?” Spike asked, skeptical about this plan.

“Trust me,” he smiled, “I’m the Doctor.”

…

“Big Mac! Pinkie! I have an idea!” Twilight called out. It was getting hard to hear over the deafening bucks.

CRACK!

The door was quickly becoming smaller and smaller. Applejack would continuously kick at the door, shattering the frame and even cracking the wall around it. Pretty soon she would be through. Soon after AJ bucked a hole through, Pinkie had the idea to stack a pile tables and chairs in front of the door. A great barricade, she thought! Except now that they couldn’t hold the door itself very well, it didn’t do much to help.

“Idea for what? My plan’s working perfectly.” Pinkie said hppily, not doing anything to help.

Twilight ignored her. “Big Mac! Do you have any rope? Anything to restrain her with?” She asked the red workhorse.
Big Mac, despite being very silent most of the time, was not slow to catch on. He immediately knew where she was going with this. Quickly nodding his head, he spoke. “Eeyup!”

After making sure Twilight could hold the makeshift barricade, (with Pinkie’s reluctant help), he stepped away and quickly headed off downstairs to get some strong rope. Pinkie strained to hold tight against the powerful hits that rattled her around. Applejack had some really strong legs. Twilight’s grip was nowhere near as strong as her magic could have been, but even something as simple as holding up the pile caused her to lose her grip just like she did Applejack. Something was causing her to lose focus with her magic. Even if she couldn’t constrain Applejack herself, she had to stop her somehow. But there had to be a better way…

Just then, Twilight heard a shout from downstairs.

“Flibberty gibbets! What in the hay is going on up there!?”

CRACK!

Twilight looked down the stairs to see a familiar old face peeking around the corner. She looked rather angry at the disturbance of shattering wood.

“Granny Smith! Get away!” Twilight didn’t know if Applejack would attack her own granny or not, but even if she didn’t, the old mare could get hurt from all the debris and splinters. The last thing she wanted was somepony getting hurt. Especially an innocent little old lady…

Pinkie turned around, smiling. “Yeah! Don’t worry about it! We got this!” she agreed cheerfully.

The old mare furrowed her wrinkled old face even more. The loud bangs and snaps of wood continued. After staring at the scene of the two ponies holding a pile of broken wood against her granddaughter’s door, which had loud noises emitting from inside, she shook her head.

“Ah don’t know what you kids are doing up there, but just keep it quiet. Yer disturbing my nap…” Her words seemed rather ignorant, but Twilight saw otherwise. Granny Smith somehow knew what was going on. And knew that they could handle it. She smiled.

Just then, AppleBloom came around the corner as well. She was curious about the noise as well. Her eyes travelled from her granny to the stairs. She smiled at the exciting scene unfold. Her curiosity rising and urge to help building, she stared up the stairs.

“Oh wow! What’s going on up the-“

Her words were cut off as Granny Smith stopped her from advancing into danger. The disgruntled youth struggled a bit before turning back to her elder. “No. C’mon young’un.”

Somewhat frustrated, but still respectful of her granny, AppleBloom conceded. “Never do anything fun…” she mumbled. The two Apples made their way back to a safer place.

Twilight winced as another buck rattled the poorly made pile of debris. As strong as she knew AJ was, still was incredible. Her strength was out of this world! Twilight knew this ‘barricade’ wouldn’t last long. She hoped Mac would be back soon. Looking thought the holes and cracks she could see Applejack gearing up for another blow. Tightening her own grip and preparing herself, she warned Pinkie to do the same.

“Brace yourself!”

KKKRAAASH!!!

The cacophonous sound tore through the air as the table the chairs and the door all exploded with extraordinary force. The wooden furniture and fixtures blew apart, sending chunks and pieces everywhere. Both mares lost their footing and were sent flying. Twilight groaned and Pinkie squeaked as they hit the floor. Taking a moment to regain her self, Twilight looked up. Through the dust and debris, she could see two evil yellow eyes glaring right back at her.

For the first time since this whole thing started, Twilight did not feel worry. Nor did she feel troubled, frustrated, or even anxious. She didn’t feel any of it right now. She was free from it, but at a price. For when those feeling left her, another gripped her and held onto her tightly. A feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time.

She felt fear.

Twilight could practically hear the anger in the orange pony’s hoofsteps as they boomed against the ground. Twilight looked and saw that because she was thrown a shorter distance, Pinkie was now in between Applejack and Twilight. And Applejack was charging.

“Pinkie, look out!” she called out to the still dizzy pony.

Pinkie Pie shook her head and reoriented herself just in time to see a very scary-looking Applejack heading straight for her! Pinkie barely had time to even utter a meep before she was overtaken by the raging earth pony. She cowered low and braced for impact.

…but nothing happened.

Pinkie opened her eyes after a few seconds to see nothing but broken wood in an otherwise empty hallway. “Huh?” she blinked twice.

“EEEK!”

Turning around, Pinkie witnessed Applejack running away from her. He had completely ignored her and continued her charge. Her sole focus was on Twilight Sparkle.

“AAH!”

Twilight closed her eyes. She concentrated as hard as she could. Her horn fizzled little purple sparks, but could not conjure up anything. Her magic felt sick when she tried to use it. It felt drained and exhausted. She opened her eyes to see her doom coming up extremely quickly. She looked around, but there was nowhere to go. She was trapped. With nothing else to do and no escape in sight, Twilight closed her eyes and bowed her head, accepting her fate. Her ears twitched as they picked up the sound of her impending doom. The loud clip clops of Applejack’s hooves rung in her ears. The last sound she would ever hear before being brutally…

…wait…

For a split second, Twilight could have sworn she hear something else. It sounded like… another set of hooves. They were not in sync with AJ’s, and it was not just an echo. It was definitely another pony. Then it could only be…

Snapping her eyes open, Twilight looked up to witness something incredible. Thundering up from behind, Big Mac had returned! Rope in his mouth, he jumped with a surprising amount of agility and crashed down on top of his sister. The two collapsed to the ground in a heap of limbs and rope. Twilight quietly stepped aside as they tumbled on by. Quickly working, Big Mac used his skill to tie down his sister in record time. Applejack was hogtied by her own brother!

…

Rainbow snorted. The pain in her nose was not her main concern as the rage filled her. She tried to break down the heavy door, but to no avail. But they wouldn’t escape that easily. Quickly taking flight, she headed out the closest window. She flew around the tree house, making loops and looking through windows until she found what she was looking for: Spike and the Doctor. Well, she didn’t so much see them as sense them. Wasting no time, she headed for the window she thought they were in. Upon closer observation, she did in fact see them! She smiled an evil and snarly grin. Heading back, she flew until she was far enough to begin a charge. No flimsy window would stand in her way! Rearing up, she bolted ahead at max speed!

“Raaaughh!” she roared as she crashed through the window with ease. Her rey in sight, she prepared to attack!

KKRAAAAASH!!

Glass and mirror shards flew everywhere. Rainbow’s nose became even more painful as it rocketed through the mirror and into the bathroom door. Stunned and confused, the bruised rainbow Dash collapsed on the floor surrounded by thousands of glass shards and pieces. Standing over in the corner stood The Doctor and Spike, completely unharmed, though the latter somewhat spooked. The Doctor took a step towards the cyan pegasus. Picking her head up, she saw them.
It became apparent what had happened after Rainbow saw them for real, instead of the reflection. The mirror pieces reflected red as she picked herself up. It seemed no matter how badly she injured herself, she would not stop until they were dead.

The Doctor sighed. Seeing no other option, he readied his screwdriver. The beaten and weak mare snarled at him. Even in this state, she still had some fight in her. If she wasn’t trying to kill them, The Doctor would have found it inspiring. Aiming the sonic screwdriver directly at her head, the Doctor solemnly spoke.

“Rainbow. I’m so sorry…”

Whirrr…

“NYAAAAAAAUUUUUGHHHHAAAAAHHHH!!!”

Rainbow’s screamed pierced Spike’s eardrums as she rolled on the floor. He jumped back as he saw the cyan pegasus completely freak. Her face was one of pain and absolute horror. It was a pain like she had never felt before. Her mind was hurting. Her consciousness felt like it was dying. The Doctor seemed about as enthusiastic to do this as Rainbow was. He clearly was not pleased by having to be the one to cause her such misery. He frowned in sadness as he forcefully ripped Rainbow’s mind from the alien one that had completely overridden it.

“AAAAAUUUUUUGGGGAAAAAAHHH!!!”

She continued to scream in agony and torment as she shook vividly. She slammed her head against the floor. As sturdy and strong as she was, the Doctor worried about Rainbow’s physical state as well as her mental one. This much damaged and pain. It must have been hell. He prayed she would be alright.

Then, just as it seemed like she could take it no more, Rainbow stood straight up. She let out one last roar as a bright yellow light spread round her body. It glowed brightly for a few seconds, before dissipating into the air. Eyes rolling back in her head, a very exhausted Rainbow Dash collapsed onto the bathroom floor. Spike looked from the heap of an unconscious mare to the Doctor. No words need be spoken. His face said it all.

…

“Grr! Hgg…! Agg!”

Applejack had been restrained, but she was far from contained. Big Mac had expertly tied the ropes in such a way that she could not escape. But the crazed mare would not succumb that easily. She thrashed around and chewed at the ropes entangling her hooves. Her state of mind had not changed one bit. She was just as angry as before, if not angrier. Big Mac dropped his head and sighed. He couldn’t bear to see his sister like this.

“I’m sorry, AJ.” He said solemnly. “But Twilight here’s gonna make it all better.” He turned around with hope filed eyes. Twilight saw this and was moved. Sure, she had the pills. Sure, she could leave right now and go home and come back once she had the antidote. But… she couldn’t. She couldn’t leave her friend like this.

“I’ll… do what I can.”

Even if she couldn’t fix everything right now, she had to try. She owed them that much. Holding down Applejack with a heavy hoof, Big Mac stepped aside to let Twilight look at AJ. She already knew that her magic wasn’t working properly around her.

Kneeling down in front of AJ, Twilight began to doubt. What on earth was she supposed to do? She had no idea what she was doing. What would that crazy Doctor do? Wait… Was she actually asking what he would do? That quack of a ‘Doctor’, with his fancy tech and his silly talk of aliens… Was she this desperate?

…Well, no time for that now, she thought. This was no time for doubt. Time for action!

Twilight bent in closer to Applejack. The orange pony glared at her with her eyes. Those evil looking glowing eyes. Twilight closed her own eyes and breathed. If her magic didn’t work from afar, let’s try a different approach… She kept leaning towards Applejack until her horn was directly touching her forehead. Keeping herself steady, Twilight concentrated.

Honestly, she had no idea what she was doing. She just kept her horn placed on her friend and did what felt right. Whatever it was, it was working. Pinkie Pie and Big Mac watched in awe as Twilight’s horn glowed its natural purple glow. The aura of magic continued on, sweeping over Applejack’s body. They were speechless as the two seemingly bridged minds. Although it was not intentional, that was exactly what was happening. Whatever Applejack felt, whatever Applejack though, Twilight felt it, too. And the moment she did, she regretted it instantly.

The moment hers and Applejack’s minds touched, it was flooded by a foreign magic energy. She could feel the crazy yellow energy seep into her own head. Twilight was experiencing what Applejack was experiencing. And it was terrifying. The entire time, she felt extremely exhausted. Like something was sucking the life out of her and trying to get in at the same time. She felt really hot all of a sudden. She felt on fire. Her head panged with pain. It was awful.

Twilight had entered Applejack’s mind but had no idea what she was dong. It reminded her of the time Discord had messed with her friends. Each one of them had had their minds and personalities completely under his control. Back then, Twilight had done something similar as well. She held down Applejack and reminded what great friends they were. She bridged minds with her friend, and broke the control. That time, however, all she did was share her own feelings about how they were all such great friends. This time around, she was drawing a blank.

“C’mon Twilight, think!” she told herself. If a god of chaos’ control could be broken, then surely this could. But how…? What was Applejack like back then? Disharmony and lies. How did she defeat it? With friendship and harmony. If that was the case, what was she like now? Fury, rage, anger… Hate!

Wait.

If the opposite of chaos is harmony, then the opposite of hate would be…!

“It’s not that simple, is it?”

Twilight shook that feeling of doubt and began to focus. Although Cadence would be the ideal one to perform this, Twilight would have to do her best. No, she did not love Applejack like that, but she had to think about love, any love. Perhaps it would work. She thought as hard as she could. A bridge can be crossed in either direction. So, if Twilight thought about it, it should spread into Applejack’s mind as well. Once she had thought about it, she began to spread it to Applejack. Even though she was not as resilient to having thoughts put in her head as last time, it still took a bit of fore to get her to see what Twilight saw. Once she did however, Applejack did something nopony expected.

“BAHAHAHAAHAHAAAA!!!”

Twilight snapped her eyes open and was force back as Applejack began laughing uncontrollably. She clutched to her sides and fell on her back. Big Mac jumped back at the sudden outburst from his sister. Pinkie jumped a little, too, but soon began laughing along for no reason. Pinkie fell next to the laughing pony, both of them rolling around and laughing hysterically. Twilight was confused and slightly irritated, while Big Mac was just found speechless.

After a round of guffawing and fit of giggles, Applejack finally calmed down. Her breathing slowed as she seemed to fall asleep. She lay completely still on the ground. Cautiously, Twilight asked if she was alright. When she didn’t respond, Twilight feared the worst and quickly inspected her. She seemed okay. When she opened her eyes, she found no yellow glow this time. She was back to normal!

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. Exhausted from both the situation with Applejack and her crazy mindset, she looked up to her two friends. Pinkie was still snickering on the floor while Big Mac had picked up Applejack. He took her away to a different room to let her rest. Rest. Twilight groaned as she fell back on the floor. She had to rest a bit, herself. She wished that this was the end; that she could go home and sleep. But she knew all too well that this was far from over.