Chapter 3
The Doctor was already panicking by the time that Derpy navigated her way back to the TARDIS's control room. The blaring sirens and the bright lights, indicating danger, came from seemingly nowhere, with no speakers or light bulbs to speak of. It was as though the room itself was the speaker, and the projector for the lights.
Derpy would've asked what was outside, but saw it through the open doors. Light can't escape from black holes, and although theories state the contrary, this simple fact means that they can't be seen. But, they can be heard. Nothingness, pure and utter nothingness, it has a sound, a powerful sound, like everything in the world, and far beyond, being crushed down into the smallest thing it could be, and then made even smaller.
"So, Doctor, how long have we got before the black hole destroys us?" Derpy asked, fear having woven itself so deep into her voice, the words "I'm afraid" were nearly what she had said in place of inquiry.
The Doctor hadn't the faintest idea. He'd never dealt with a black hole so closely, closely enough that he couldn't see the ring of light around it, the ring that made its presence known amongst the emptiness of space.
"I have no clue," he said.
The sirens got louder and louder, informing the Doctor of immense danger, a level of danger that it would've activated the TARDIS's protocols, ones in place to make itself safe, and, by extension, its passengers, but somepony cut the power to the ship's controls.
Well, not somepony. The Doctor knew that it was the Dream Lord, undeniably. He orchestrated this whole thing, although, it was very unrealistic that he could cut the TARDIS's power and start a zombie apocalypse in Ponyville at the same time, so it was clear that one was a dream. But which one was the fake?
This question burned into the Doctor's mind, like a hot coal through a piece of paper. He couldn't deal with the question, indecision and doubts filling his brain beyond any hope of understanding. He knew that, eventually, they would reach an end in both worlds, but there was no way of knowing in either case. All that mattered was getting safe here, and that couldn't be done.
"What about a white hole?" Derpy asked, "Wouldn't that just shoot us out?"
The Doctor wondered this, as well. Of course, there was no proof that such a thing existed, and if it did, then the light would burn the TARDIS to bits, not to mention what would relatively be a bullet smashing through it at the same time. Their survivability was close to zero, even if a white hole existed.
There was no way out of this scenario, no cheats or tricks, simply nothing. The Doctor was defeated, after all these years, a truly uncountable number, he was caught.
The only hope the Doctor had was to make certain that zombie Ponyville wasn't about to kill them, because that was the only world that he could see himself surviving in.
The one question, the only question, the first question that the Doctor had: was surviving the answer? Is the Doctor surviving the Dream Lord's goal? If so, then what was the point of this entire effort? Is this whole thing just the Dream Lord trying to mess with the Doctor's mind? And what did the Doctor do to the Dream Lord to deserve such a cruel test?
The Doctor looked back on his questions, and realized the answers he had added up to zero help for his situation, so it was time to do what he did best: run in without a plan, and hope absolutely nothing goes wrong.
He certainly had enough practice.
"Okay, Derpy, here's what we're going to do…" he began, building up a train of thought that could lead to making it through this insane adventure.
The Dream Lord appeared again, as if on cue, and said, "There he goes again, that silly little Doctor, thinking he can just rush into everything without any ideas or thoughts! And when he does have a plan, it usually involves saying his name over and over again until somepony gets afraid, or he has another idea!"
"What's the point of this, Dream Lord? If I get it wrong, you kill the only pony that could stop everything terrible in the universe, and if I get it right, then you've wasted all of your time on a pointless excursion in stupidity!" the Doctor said.
"The point is, Doctor, I don't like you, and I can make you sleep, and then mess with you! In fact, I think I might do that…Right now," the Dream Lord exclaimed, evil rushing through his voice, filling it with a laughter that only pure, undeniable evil could create, as he, somehow, snapped his hoof, and the Doctor and Derpy fell to the floor, unconscious.
The Dream Lord looked across at his work, the foundation of his devious and terrible plan at work. He knew that this was only the beginning, and soon, his power would reach far beyond this silliness, this childish feud with the Time Pony, the only Time Pony left.
If he was the Dream Lord, that must make the Doctor the Time Lord.
The Dream Lord chuckled at his revelation, knowing that the Time Ponies once were, in fact, called Time Lords, but that was a long time ago.
There was only one Time Pony left, but there has only ever been one Dream Pony.
He wondered, for a moment, if there are Space Ponies, too, ponies that control space, although that would likely just be the average pony. That made a very interesting trio: the ones that control time, the ones that control space, and the one that controls the mind.
Controlling the mind was far too easy to describe the Dream Lord's work. He did more than control it; he leaves you in control, while he does with it whatever he so chooses. Controlling the mind implies manipulating the thoughts, but that's not what the Dream Lord does. He builds a world, and he controls it, and puts you into it, and you don't even begin to realize what's really going on.
If you did, then you must have noticed his name, the Dream Lord. If you thought about it, the Dream Lord would, of course, control dreams. Nowhere is it implied that he controls reality.
The Doctor realized this as the horde of zombie ponies burst through the barricaded doors of the house that he and Derpy had found.
With this information, it was time for a little bit of sweet revenge.
The Doctor was done with this silly test; it was time to play a game, by his rules. Whether or not the Dream Lord was ready, the Doctor was on his way.