A short stroll later and the time travellers came to a gathered mass of incredibly confused looking people, stood together at the foot of the hill. Amy instantly recognised a few of the faces from the dark glass pods they had been imprisoned in.
"See?" the Doctor said. "The TARDIS took them all to the nearest safe spot available! Everything worked out fine!"
"We did have to jump out of an exploding house." Rory reminded him.
"Yeah…" conceded the Doctor, "but that was cool!"
Amy laughed at the Doctor's explanation, and even Rory responded to it with a grin. Exhausted from the unusual amount of fear the day had involved, and the very usual amount of running it had involved, Amy let herself collapse into her husband's arms. Rory welcomed her gratefully, gently resting his head against hers. Standing together, they watched the Doctor addressing the recently freed people, trying to explain himself with the aid of the psychic paper.
"Hello everyone, I'm Professor John Smith, from the Foundation of… Dreamiology…" they overheard him say, which was enough to earn a giggle from both of them.
A minute later and the Doctor was walking back over to them, satisfied that he had done enough to explain their situation to them. He hadn't even reached Amy and Rory, before he was looking past them and running with glee.
"There she is!" he cried cheerfully, as he jogged straight past his companions. Amy and Rory both turned around to see what had caught his attention. Their eyes fell on the all too familiar sight of the Doctor and the TARDIS. They both quickly ran over to join him, as he opened the doors.
"Come on then, onwards and upwards, as usual!" he exclaimed, allowing Rory to walk past into the time machine. Amy, however, lingered in the doorway, speaking in a worried tone.
"Is that it then, Doctor? Are the Nightmare Children gone for good?"
The Doctor was silent for a cold moment, before he answered her.
"They're defeated. That's what counts."
"But are they gone?"
"No. They'll have been scattered back into psychic waves. But their ship's gone – without that technology it will be almost impossible for them to ever reform."
"Almost impossible?" Amy asked, still concerned.
"As close to impossible as it can get, I'm afraid. Those psychic waves still exist, still affecting every human. Whenever you have a nightmare, whenever you wake up from a bad dream, that's them. The Nightmare Children, passing through your mind, trying to rebuild themselves from your fears. So the next time you wake up, scared, in the middle of the night – check the shadows a little more carefully. There could be a Nightmare Child there… waiting for you…"
The Doctor gave that frightening, yet mischievous, smile he had, a twinkle in his eye.
"Right… can I get a psychiatrist, or something, to help with bad dreams?"
"Oh, Amy, if you're having nightmares, you don't need a psychiatrist." the Doctor said in a reassuring tone.
"No?"
"No! You need a Doctor!"
And with a final grin, he beckoned her into the TARDIS, following her to the console, setting co-ordinates and controls for the next trip. Preparing to fly onwards through the dark, howling winds of time. There were still fears to fight.