Dr. Whooves- Parallel Complications

Griffon Kingdom- 300 years before Paige's birth

On the outside, the griffon kingdom shined with glory. Tall castles with painted roofs decorated the land, standing as beacons of shelter and warmth. Inside tiny villages, adults worked hard, farming the land and serving the government, while the young ones laughed and played, free to go about as they wished. Behind the walls of the great kingdom, however, a great fear shadowed the land, leaving each and every griffon in worry for their lives.

Davion stood at the gate to his castle, and sighed as a rolling cart approached him, already aware of what lay underneath the blanket. Two young, male griffons were pushing the cart, and stopped in front of him.

"Two more prince Davion, a brother and sister," one of the griffons said. "They were reported dead a few hours ago."

"More victims of the plague," Davion replied with a bowed head. "Take them. You know what to do."

"Yes, sir," the griffon said. The pair pushed the cart onwards, taking the bodies to be burned, and leaving the prince alone, lost in his own thoughts.

***

"Griffons!" The Doctor jumped around the TARDIS, more excited than ever. "I bet they're gonna be brilliant! Wings are always brilliant!"

"I've met griffons before, but I've never been to the kingdom!" Paige exclaimed, entering the console room. "This will be great. By the way, I had the choice of three different kitchens to grab breakfast at between here and my bedroom. How many kitchens does this thing have?"

"Couple hundred, give or take a few dozen, I can never keep track of this place," the Doctor replied. "Now, we need to pack a few things."

Paige laughed, finding the vastness of the ship even more impressive knowing that it wasn't magic that created the TARDIS. "We can use the book bag I brought. What do we need?"

"Grab your book bag, I'll find the things I need," the Doctor said, searching around. "Ah ha!"

Paige had never taken her bag out of the console room, so she was quickly able to grab it and sling it over her shoulder. The Doctor approached with a small, black object, that appeared folded in the middle.

"This, Paige, is psychic paper," the Doctor explained, holding it with his hooves. "It says whatever you want or need it to say. This is useful a lot."

"Sounds like it," Paige replied, gently taking the psychic paper in her mouth and dropping it in the bag. "What else?"

"A little toy rat, good for distractions," the Doctor said, picking his toy rat up with his own mouth and placing it in the bag. "A banana..."

"Why a banana?"

"I used to think bananas were good, it helped once," the Doctor told Paige. "Trying to keep some old memories alive. Now one last thing, if we happen to run in to a formal party, I need a bow tie. I've got one over here, haven't worn it in ages. Sort of went out of style." The Doctor packed the last item needed in Paige's bag, and nodded, ready to go.

Paige smiled. "I'm glad you travel lightly, it won't be trouble lugging this bag around. And you're wearing your sonic screwdriver?"

"Yes I am, because Oliver is brilliant!" The Doctor raised his right foreleg, examining his new leg band style screwdriver. He tensed his muscle just slightly, having stayed up an extra few hours learning just how to work his modified device. A green light on the screwdriver lit up, and since no sparks came flying out of anything, he grinned.

"Now, I let the TARDIS park itself during the last few minutes while we were getting things ready. Thanks to your map of Earth and the fact that the TARDIS has landed on that planet before, it was no trouble to land us somewhere in the griffon kingdom." The Doctor headed for the door, and Paige followed suit, her anticipation growing. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors, and as he stepped out he was greeted with half a dozen spears, all pointed at his nose. "Oh," was all he could think to say, immediately stopping his advance.

A moment later Paige was outside as well, and gasped in surprise. Six large griffons, all with dark brown feathers and white faces, stared at them, spears held in their direction.

"Um, Paige..." the Doctor spoke quietly, wanting to ask Paige a question. "Are the ponies at peace with the griffon kingdom?"

"Yes, the ponies and the griffons arranged a peaceful alliance about three hundred years ago," Paige replied, whispering.

"Ok... so now I know that I need to calibrate the TARDIS's self parking system by about three hundred years," the Doctor mumbled back.

Paige looked confused for a moment, then her eyes widened. "Oh."

***

Prince Davion hurried up one of the towers, needing to see the intruders for himself. Sure enough, on top of one of his castle walls sat a peculiar blue box, with half a dozen of his soldiers keeping two ponies completely still.

"Make way!" The six griffons moved to the side, lowering their spears but keeping them at the ready, and the prince now got a good, personal look at the two ponies, one male and one female.

"Ooh, you're a red griffon, that's brilliant!" the Doctor said, noticing the bright red color of Davion's feathers. "I have to say, I love all the different colors. That makes things so much more exciting."

"Who are you?" Davion said, his voice demanding. "Princess Celestia is on her way to visit to discuss peace between our kingdoms, and she sends two spies on the same day?"

"Oh, we're not spies, sorry to just pop in like this. We're actually... ambassadors, we were sent ahead of princess, uh..."

"Celestia," Paige finished.

"Right, princess Celestia, to make sure that things would run smoothly," the Doctor continued. "Paige, could you get out that document I put in your bag?"

Paige remembered the explanation of the psychic paper, and ducked her head in to her bag, pulling out the folded wallet with her mouth. When she pulled it out it unfolded on its own, and prince Davion snatched it with a claw, looking closely.

"So you are," the prince replied. "Nice of Celestia to tell me," he grumbled. "I am prince Davion, current ruler of the griffon kingdom. It's one thing for ponies to be in our territory, but a whole other thing for you to have used your vile magic in our land to transport yourselves and that box here. But I do not wish to start a conflict with Equestria, so I will let it pass."

The Doctor decided that now was not a good time to try and explain that it wasn't magic, and instead remained silent.

"And because I do not want to create conflict between kingdoms, you can go tell your princess that she should not come here. I don't want her people rioting if she were to fall ill and die from our plague."

"Your plague?" The Doctor tilted his head, intrigued now in what was happening.

Davion turned towards the walls edge, looking out over his kingdom. "Yes, the plague. It's been destroying us one by one for about a month now," he told the Doctor. "It's likely that by the end of the year your princess won't have to negotiate peaceful terms, we'll all be gone."

"Doctor," Paige whispered. "I've met griffons in my own time, so there can't be a plague that kills all of-"

The Doctor threw his left hoof over Paige's mouth, making her gasp in surprise. "Prince Davion, I told you that I was the Doctor, I might be able to help if you show me what you know of this plague."

Davion sighed, and turned back to the Doctor. "I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be accepting help from pony kind," he said. "But I am desperate to save my kingdom. I will show you what I know, Doctor, but I am going to keep one of my best guards with you at all times. We're not at peaceful terms with you just yet."

"Understood, prince Davion," the Doctor replied. "Let me just check on something in my transport with Paige here, we'll be out in a moment."

The Doctor removed his hoof from Paige's mouth and pushed her in to the TARDIS. He closed the door quickly, turning to her.

"Doctor, we're at peace with the griffons in my time. Is that what we're supposed to do, make peace?"

"Here's a lesson on time you need," the Doctor said. "Some points in time are fixed, and what happens must always happens, but other points are in flux. Time lords have this... instinct, to stay away from fixed events. Right now, things are in flux, what we do today could change the future."

"Ok," Paige replied, sort of understanding what the Doctor said. "So, is that what you're called in your world? You're a time lord?"

"Yes, I guess I hadn't told you that." The Doctor grinned. "I'm now a pony time lord. So, let's go see what this plague is, and don't go telling others about the future alright? That could cause problems if we're not careful."

"Got it."

The two stepped out of the TARDIS once more, and Davion was waiting for them, already prepared to leave.

"Alright, your highness," the Doctor said. "Let's take a look at this plague of yours."

***

Before the siblings were burned, the prince, the Doctor, and Paige managed to catch up to the cart. Prince Davion lifted the blanket, revealing the two pale, lifeless griffons. Paige groaned and took a few steps back. She had never actually seen death before, and the thought of it nearly made her sick. She coughed and sputtered a few times, trying to hold herself together.

The Doctor lifted his right hoof and activated his sonic screwdriver, scanning the bodies. "Is there a reason that you burn them?"

"We don't know how many ways the plague can spread, we are trying to take any precautions we know how to do," Davion replied.

The Doctor looked at his screwdriver, seeing what it found. "Well, you can give them proper burials if that is custom here, it's not airborne. There are some bacteria traces but I don't know anything about griffon biology; that could be bacteria that helps you stay alive."

"You seem to have more medical knowledge than we do," Davion said. "Has pony kind made great advancements?"

"Well, I'm not your average pony, I've got some special gear," the Doctor said, scanning the griffons some more. He looked up at Davion for a moment. "But you know, making peace with ponies could lead to collaboration on a lot of things. You'd be amazed what working with others can achieve."

"Perhaps..." Davion said, beginning to consider the idea. "But let's save your ambassador duties for later, and stick to what's happening now."

"You said that you didn't know how many ways the plague can spread, does that mean you're aware of one way?"

"We believe we know the origin of the plague," Davion began. "Beetles."

"Beetles?" The Doctor stopped scanning, a look of curiosity now on his face. "That sounds different."

"They've been flying around for a while now, unfortunately we have no way of killing them," Davion said. "I understand the cycle of nature, Doctor, but our death count is rising. We think that the beetles carry some sort of disease, and when they bite, you are doomed."

"Where did these beetles come from?" the Doctor asked.

"A cave, not too far of a journey from here. We discovered the cave, and sent in four griffons to search for resources. One didn't come back, the other three were dead a week later."

"This all sounds familiar..." The Doctor scratched his head, looking at the readings on his screwdriver another time. "Prince, if you'll allow me, I'd like to explore this cave."

"That's madness," Davion replied. "You'll surely get the plague."

"Actually, I've got this." The Doctor lifted his right hoof again. "I really don't feel like arguing at the moment so I'll use the word magic. This device has some magic properties to it. It allowed me to examine the griffons, and I can set up this device to emit a certain frequency for myself and two others to be safe within a certain range of this device. To put things simply, bug repellant. They try to get near us, a little instinctive alarm should go off in their brains to stay away."

Davion paused, but reluctantly nodded. The Doctor had more ideas than him with only ten minutes of work. "Very well, Doctor, I will assign you a griffon as I told you I would. Altea," Davion turned to one of the guards, a male griffon with dark brown feathers and a white head. "Will you accompany this Doctor and the mare into the cave? I cannot promise your safety."

Altea nodded. "For the griffon kingdom, sir." Altea put a claw to his chest. His voice was slightly younger than Davion's, but he definitely had several years of his adult life behind him.

"For the griffon kingdom," Davion repeated, making the same claw motion as well. He turned back to the Doctor. "Altea is one of my soldiers, currently assigned to castle guard. He will take you to the cave. If you succeed Doctor, this kingdom just might have peace with yours."

The Doctor nodded. "Understood, just give me a moment." He walked up to Paige, having been too focused on the griffons to notice that she had backed off. He gently placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked softly.

Paige was trembling slightly, but nodded. "I'm... I'm fine," she replied. "I just... the things that we've done... it's all a bit more real now."

"You don't have to stay, you can go back to the TARDIS," the Doctor said.

"No, no," Paige shook her head, taking a deep breath and collecting herself. "I want to help. For... for the griffon kingdom," she said, forcing herself to smile and placing a hoof on her chest.

"That's my Paige," the Doctor replied, grinning. "Let's go satisfy both our curiosities, and see just what these beetles are."

***

"Here we are," Altea announced. "The cave where all this started."

After a two mile walk, the Doctor, Paige and Altea stood in front of a large cave entrance, flush with a tall mountain glittered with trees. The rocks were a mixture of browns and blacks, glistening from a thin layer of moisture.

"This entrance was a lot smaller when we discovered it," Altea explained. "We did some digging to make the entrance larger."

"Alright, Altea, Paige, stay close to me," the Doctor said. He activated his sonic screwdriver, and accompanying the usual noise of the device was a repetitive, low tone pulse. "This emission should keep any beetles a good distance away from us. It'll be a bit awkward for me to walk with three legs, but that's still one more than I used to have, so let's go."

Altea tilted his head at the Doctor's last comment, but shrugged, slowly entering the cave. The Doctor led the way, while Altea and Paige walked next to each other, a short distance behind.

There was plenty of room in the cave passageways; Paige and Altea could walk next to each other with room on either side of them, and the ceiling was tall enough for any of the three to stand on their hind legs. The Doctor's screwdriver provided a faint light in the darkness, just enough to navigate the cave as they moved in further and further.

"You two are very different from all the ponies I've met," Altea mentioned. His voice was quiet; with the potential threat of the beetles he did not want to make much noise.

"How do you mean?" Paige asked, also keeping her volume low.

"Well, I'm a soldier," Altea began. "The only ponies I've met until today hate griffons with every fiber of their being it seems. And they're carrying weapons just like ours, ready to fight. I was beginning to think that all ponies were like that."

"A lot of us are very nice," Paige replied, considering the Doctor's warning about time before deciding what to say.

"Then you two arrive, with such quick desire to help," Altea said, looking at Paige for a moment. "I was ready to receive the order to take you to prison, but here we are, working together."

"Working together can be good," Paige said. "And you know what... I think ponies and griffons could become friends very soon." She didn't want to say anymore, worried that saying that was already too much.

"I would enjoy that," Altea said, smiling. "I think it's time for the hatred to stop."

"I think a lot of us, both griffons and ponies, would like that," Paige said.

The three continued to walk, the walls of the cave passageways expanding more and more. Off in the distance, a very faint light could be seen, and the Doctor turned towards it, Paige and Altea following promptly. The trickle of water broke the silence of the cave, periodically dripping. As the three progressed deeper in to the cave the temperature began to drop, little by little chilling the travelers.

"So, this Doctor," Altea said softly, beginning another conversation. "You travel with him?"

"Yes, we travel together," Paige replied.

"How long have you been doing so?"

Paige blinked. "Actually, only since yesterday..."

"Yet you seem to trust him so much, helping him help us, putting your life at risk."

"It's weird," Paige said. "Truthfully I have no idea who he is, and yet it feels like I've known him for ages. It's only been a day, but the things I've seen, traveling with that pony..."

"Sounds like you've visited more than just the griffon kingdom."

"You could say that," Paige replied.

"What made you decide to go with him?"

Paige paused, thinking once more about her actions. "He just, sort of, fell out of the sky, into my life," she explained. "I didn't have much where I was. My parents were good to me but they moved to another town, I didn't see them too often. As for friends, very few paid any mind to me. I just stuck to my books, working at the library, going home and reading by candle light until early morning. The Doctor showed me so much more... I couldn't resist the offer to travel with him." Paige couldn't believe her own words. She had willingly agreed to go with the Doctor, that much was true, but the reality of how fast everything had changed finally hit her. She couldn't even think of returning to her old job, her old life, and she'd only been gone a night.

"Well it sounds like, if you feel this way after just one day, and I can't imagine how you could have seen so much yesterday when you had to travel to the griffon kingdom," Altea said with a chuckle. "It sounds like you should stay with this Doctor for a long while."

"I don't know what you two are going on about back there, but I told you to stay close," the Doctor said, not bothering to keep his voice down. Paige and Altea jumped, hastily catching up so they were closer to the Doctor. "That light, it's getting closer. I think there's something down there, could be what we're looking for."

After a few more minutes, the three realized that the light was from a large cavern, separated from the tunnels by a small, semi circular entrance. The Doctor dashed in, then froze in place, staring upwards. "It can't be..."

Paige and Altea entered behind the Doctor, discovering a room filled with little black beetles flying about. The light source came from the other end of the room, a light blue aura emanating from a beetle a hundred times larger than any of the three travelers.

"What... is that? Some sort of monster?" Altea took a slight step back, breathing more heavily.

"I know what it is," the Doctor said. "I know what all these are now. They look like beetles, so we call them beetles, but they're not really beetles. These things are actually really nasty, more like mosquitoes. The small ones, the ones that have been giving griffons the plague, they bight species and take the tiniest amount of blood, but the trouble is they leave behind a bacteria that they all carry, it's natural to them. They come back and they all feed that one giant beetle with blood. Fruit will work too, especially if it’s been around animals and carries both scents.”

“Kind of a strange diet combination,” Altea commented.

“Very true,” the Doctor replied. “The giant one is the queen. Typically they get blood from small creatures, but griffons were the nearest food source."

Altea gulped, looking all around and eternally grateful that the Doctor's device was keeping the beetles at bay. "I have never heard of such a creature. I've never seen anything like this."

"But Doctor," Paige said, walking up to him. "How can you know all this? We only just arrived-"

"Later, we only have time for my questions at the moment, my sonic screwdriver can typically last forever, but this pulse is wearing it down," the Doctor interrupted. "So, small cave, small beetles except for the queen, so how did she get in?"

One by one, all three looked up, seeing a hole in the ceiling of the cavern, large enough for the beetle to get through.

"Was that on the mountain before?" Paige asked.

"I don't know, we only just began to explore these mountains," Altea said.

"Right, so, Altea, there's no way to completely get rid of these beetles by killing them. We have to move them," the Doctor began, turning to Altea. "Is there any nearby area that's not populated, no griffons, no ponies, nothing?"

Altea scratched the back of his head, thinking for a moment. "The badlands," he said, remembering. "It's a dried up desert, . A few creatures, some lizards, spiders and things that can live out there without the moisture, but no griffon or pony has ever travelled across it. There's no way to farm or sustain our lives there."

"Then that's where the beetles are going," the Doctor replied. "Sounds like there's some life there that could be immune to the beetle bacteria, even some things that will eat the beetles. With the beetles there, nature can decide how things go."

"But how do we get the beetles there?" Altea asked.

"That's the part that's a bit dodgy..." the Doctor said. "My device, the frequency has been repelling the beetles from us..."

"You could reverse it," Paige said, contemplating the idea. "Make them want to come near it."

"Exactly. So, Paige, do you think you could give me a lift?"

"I've flown some earth ponies around before, just hang on right when we fly," Paige said, stretching out her wings and making sure her bag was secure.

"Perfect." The Doctor chuckled, growing a wide smile. "I'm going to ride a flying pony." He shook his head, getting back to the situation. "Altea, can you lead us to the badlands?"

"Very few have travelled beyond these mountains, but I know the direction," Altea said.

"Right then, both of you, when I switch the frequency on my screwdriver, these beetles are going to think that we are the most delicious treat they could possibly have, and so will their queen. And don't worry, if there's any beetles left in the griffon kingdom, they'll leave when they discover the big one is gone. Ready?"

"For the griffon kingdom."

"Hop on my back."

Paige knelt down, and the Doctor carefully climbed on, positioning his hooves so that he wouldn't interfere with Paige's wings. Paige grunted, not having done something like this very often. She began to flap her wings, getting herself and the Doctor up in the air, and Altea followed.

"Those are brilliantly strong," the Doctor said, staring in amazement as they took off. The three rose above all the beetles, getting themselves halfway between the cave floor and the exit point. "Right, on my signal, fly as fast as you can. Actually, you won't need a signal, just fly when you see hundreds of beetles going after you."

The Doctor took a deep breath, then adjusted the frequency of the pulse down to a level that would attract the beetles. After a few seconds, several beetles began to fly up, followed by more, and more, and at last, even the queen began to flap its wings, taking off.

***

Altea and Paige started moving, flying up and out of the cave, into the sunlight. Far off at prince Davion's castle, what appeared as a cloud of black could be seen coming out of the mountain. Davion looked out towards the mountains, noticing the sight after several guards began pointing, and began to reconsider princess Celestia's ideas of peace. "Good luck, Doctor."

***

Back in the mountains, Altea turned for the badlands, him and Paige flapping their wings with all the strength they had. Altea flew a small ways ahead, unburdened by extra weight, but stayed close to Paige and the Doctor, not wanting to lose them. The Doctor wrapped one front hoof around Paige's neck, finding it more difficult to hold on than he had thought. Traveling by flight, they covered a fair distance in a short amount of time, and were soon several miles away from where they had been before.

"How much farther?" the Doctor shouted, wind blowing in his face.

"It's that desert area over there," Altea shouted back, pointing with a claw. "It will only take a few minutes to get there!"

The swarm of beetles urged the three travelers on, the sound of the swarm's wings reminding them of what chased. They flew over less and less life, nearing the dry, rocky badlands that lay just behind the mountain range.

"When we get there and repel them from us again, they'll find a new habitat in the badlands, they're not good at finding where they were before!" the Doctor yelled. "The pulse will give us a safe return-"

The Doctor looked at his hoof in fear, seeing his screwdriver begin to give out. "No, don't you dare, I know you're brand new, haven't traveled much yet, but you can finish this." The Doctor removed his left hoof from around Paige's neck then fumbled to grab on again, instantly starting to slip off. He used his teeth to try and adjust the screwdriver, to keep it going, but the pulse continued to slowly fade.

Paige fought to stop from panicking, keeping her breath under control so she could keep flying. "Doctor, what are we going to do?"

"Don't to this!" the Doctor screamed at his screwdriver, trying to get it going again. "I know you're not designed to sustain these types of frequencies for this long, but you've got too!"

"Doctor, is there a problem?" Altea shouted, noticing the trouble.

"Altea, my screwdriver is dead, we have no way of repelling the beetles once we're a decent distance in the badlands!"

"They're coming faster, Doctor!"

The Doctor looked behind him after Paige shouted, seeing that the beetles were catching up.

"Why are they still following if the device isn't working?" Altea said.

"At this point they're just following you, they've been going after griffons for a while now!" the Doctor replied.

"Then leave me!"

The Doctor stared at Altea, aware of the plan the griffon had in mind.

"Altea, you won't just get the plague, they're all going after you at once right now."

"For the griffon kingdom, Doctor. And for the pony kingdom. Your success and my sacrifice will be a shining symbol for peace."

The Doctor stared in to Altea's eyes, Altea staring back in a shared moment of silent understanding and silent apologies. The Doctor nodded, then leaned down to Paige so he could talk in to her ear. The three had flown a fair distance in to the badlands, and the time came to make a decision.

"Paige, fly up."

"But we can't just leave him!"

"I said fly up! We have to go up!"

Tears rolled down Paige's cheeks as she looked towards Altea, who bravely put on a smile. "You keep on traveling with that Doctor," he said.

Paige gulped, nodding at Altea, before reluctantly flying upwards, getting above Altea and the beetle swarm.

The Doctor, however, had a different plan in mind. "Paige, don't turn back," he told her.

Paige, blinked, and tried to look up at the Doctor. "But we have to-"

"I said we had to fly up, I didn't say we were leaving," the Doctor replied. His head began whirling around, back and forth, looking at the beetles, Altea, and Paige, trying to devise a plan.

Paige continued to cry, but out of wonder rather than sadness. She flew on, urging herself to go a bit faster, keeping up with the swarm. "What can we do?"

"The small ones, they eat fruit, but right now they've got Altea's scent, they want to help the queen," the Doctor said, talking to himself. "They'll continue to follow the griffon scent, but their sense of smell isn't the best, they could be confused if I get a different scent close to Altea. I'd need something else though, because they'll go after any animal, I'd need the griffon scent plus something else tasty to go after... BANANA!" The Doctor yelled the last word of his sentence, making Paige flinch in shock.

"What?" Paige replied, trying to look up at the Doctor again.

"Bananas... are... brilliant!" the Doctor shouted, beginning to reach his right hoof in to Paige's bag. "Paige, I can't do what I'm about to do with just one hoof, can I clamp on a bit with my hind legs?"

"Yes!" Paige shouted back, still not sure what the plan was.

The Doctor dug his hind legs in to Paige's sides, then released his left foreleg's grip. Paige winced a bit, but continued on, eager to save Altea.

The Doctor leaned up, flailing his forelegs about for a moment as he fought to stay balanced. He leaned over Paige's side, reaching in to the bag and pulling out the banana he had placed in there, holding it with both front hooves.

"Paige, I need you to take this banana, hold it in your front hooves, fly over Altea, and run it along his back," the Doctor explained, leaning forward on Paige again and passing the banana to her. "Be sure to do a good job, then give the banana to me. After that, fly above Altea; I'm going to do something a bit dangerous and a bit stupid."

"Doctor, this already sounds very dangerous and very stupid," Paige shouted.

"Fair point, get used to that," the Doctor replied.

Paige took a deep breath, then used all her might to increase her speed above Altea's, turned around, and dove downwards, flying low above Altea and sliding the banana across his back. Altea jerked from the feeling of something on him, turning his head to see Paige and the Doctor flying above him.

"Doctor, why are you still here?" Altea shouted upwards.

"Because you're flying out of this alive, now get ready, this is the part where I jump on to your back!" the Doctor shouted.

"What?!" Paige and Altea yelled in unison.

"Just get ready!" the Doctor replied. He leaned forward on Paige, taking the banana back in to his front hooves. "Altea, these beetles can be confused, but there are quite a lot of them. To get out of this, you need to make one heck of a flying maneuver so they lose sight of you in a split second. Can you do that?"

"As long as you hang on tight!" Altea shouted back. "Are you sure this will work?"

"That's a question you never want to ask me when I have a plan!" the Doctor replied. Paige got in position above Altea, and the Doctor slowly eased his grip on her sides, leaning himself up again so he could make a good jump.

"Alright, I'm about to jump off of a flying pony, on to a flying griffon, and save the day with a banana," the Doctor said to himself. "If I have ever done anything more ridiculous, I honestly can't recall it."

The Doctor swung his right hind leg over Paige and quickly pushed off with his left hind hoof, placing the banana in his mouth as he fell through the air. He landed hard, making Altea grunt and decline a few feet in altitude before shaking his head and keeping himself going.

The Doctor grabbed at Altea's sides with his hind legs as he had done with Paige, then spat the banana back in to his front hooves. "Good catch, Altea!"

"Please don't ever do that again," Altea replied, knowing he'd feel the pain in his back later.

"You can count on it, now, I need you to throw this banana, then make your flying maneuver," the Doctor explained. The Doctor leaned forward so Altea could take the banana in his claw, then wrapped both front hooves around Altea's neck, hanging on tight.

Altea stared at the banana, the swarm of beetles behind him the only thing that made him trust the Doctor. "Are you completely insane?"

"I may be insane, but I packed a banana," the Doctor replied.

Altea had no clue what to say to that response. He took a deep breath, threw the banana as hard as he could in front of him, then made a split second change in his direction, diving vertically then turning again, flying underneath the swarm of beetles. The Doctor lost the grip of his hind legs, yelling as he began to hang by the grip of his front hooves, clasped over Altea's neck. Altea rolled quickly so he wouldn't choke, landing the Doctor on his back again with a thump, and making the Doctor a bit queasy. Altea darted past the last of the beetles then kept on flying, Paige doing the same a distance above them.

None of the three spoke or looked back for several minutes, eventually slowing down and landing at the edge of the badlands. Half a mile away the three could see the swarm, more scattered now.

The Doctor slipped off of Altea, landing on the ground and panting for breath along with the other two. "Basic habitat relocation," the Doctor said, deciding to just stay on the ground while he recovered his wits. "Good flying, Altea. You nearly made me sick, but that dive and direction change was quick enough to confuse the beetles. That split second of confusion was just enough to get them off of our trail, any slower and we'd all be dead. Now the beetles will simply scatter, the queen will find a new home, and the badlands will sort the rest."

Altea sat for a moment, stretching his wings out as well as his back, having used adrenaline to keep going in the last moments of the escape. "Thank you, Doctor. I was ready to die, and you saved me. I don't know how I could repay you."

"Well, a flight back to the griffon kingdom would be lovely," the Doctor said with a chuckle.

"I need to rest a minute," Paige mentioned, laying down on the ground and nearly passing out right there. "I don't know how I managed to fly like that."

"We will rest, and I will relieve Paige from carrying you for the return trip," Altea said, grinning and sighing with relief.

***

Altea, Paige, and the Doctor entered Davion's castle courtyard, where prince Davion was awaiting to hear the news. Altea stopped the Doctor, wanting to tell the story himself.

As Davion listened, his head was filled with the feats of intelligence and bravery that the Doctor performed. He listened without interrupting, taking everything in, keeping his expression uniform. When Altea stopped, Davion walked towards the Doctor.

"You achieved more in a single day than we ever did fighting this plague," Davion said. "From Altea's story, you showed bravery, kindness, and a will to not give up. You could have left Altea and returned, yet you stayed, and saved one of my soldier's lives. I believe I can now speak to Celestia with higher hopes of peace and cooperation between our kingdoms."

"Prince Davion, it has been an honor meeting you," the Doctor replied, giving a slight bow. "I think I can speak for Paige and myself in saying that the future is bright."

"You never know, ponies and griffons may one day even marry each other," Paige said, thinking of a pony she had spoke to once at the library.

Davion laughed. "Let's not go that far. Not today at least. Ah, here's the very one who sent you."

Davion pointed, and entering the courtyard was a very tall, shining white pony. Her mane and tail glistened four different colors, and flowed about without aid of the wind. Her large wings were folded against her back, and her long, white horn held a golden crown on top of her head, matching the golden neck piece.

"Presenting princess Celestia, from the pony kingdom of Equestria," one of the griffon guards announced.

Paige gasped, having never seen the princess so up close. She quickly bowed down, and the Doctor just stared, amazed at the size difference and elegance of the pony in front of him.

Davion grinned, and approached princess Celestia. "Greetings, princess."

"A smile, Davion?" Celestia said. "I don't think I've ever seen a smile on your face." She grinned in return, giving a short, polite bow to recognize his authority over the territory.

"I was ready to turn you away, in fear of you catching a plague that has made our kingdom suffer for a month, but your two ambassadors managed to save us all with just a few hours of work."

"My wha- oh yes, my ambassadors," Celestia quickly went along with Davion's mind set when she looked past the prince and saw the pony standing there. She withheld her excitement, focusing on the prince again. "I am glad they were of such excellent assistance beyond their usual job. You should have told me prince Davion, about your plague. I would have sent assistance to you."

"That's what I'm beginning to see," Davion replied. "I was blind of what could be achieved if we worked together until today. I believe, princess, that with some discussion over the next few weeks, griffons and ponies may have a peaceful alliance."

"I am glad you see it that way, and I look forward to our discussions," Celestia said, beaming. "But before I enter your castle, may I have a word in private with my ambassadors? They unfortunately have other plans now that they've completed their duty, they will be leaving soon."

Davion nodded, and turned to the Doctor. "I wish I had more time to honor you two, but perhaps we will meet again." Davion held out a claw, and the Doctor held out a hoof, forgetting for a moment that he didn't have fingers. Nonetheless, Davion grabbed the hoof and shook it, that form of shake working just fine. The prince nodded at the guards around him, and they left for the castle doors, leaving the Doctor, Paige and Celestia alone.

Paige was still bowing, not looking up at the princess. "You may rise, young mare," Celestia said with a chuckle. Paige nervously lifted her head, but was greeted by a warm, calming smile. "What is your name?"

"I'm Paige, Paige Turner," Paige replied nervously. "It's an honor to meet you, princess."

"It's an honor to meet you as well," Celestia replied, holding out a hoof. Paige blushed, trembling as she held out her own hoof, returning the shake.

Celestia then turned to the Doctor, who was still frozen in amazement at the sight of the princess. "And you," Celestia said, smiling wider. "I know who you are."

The Doctor blinked, snapping out of his stare. "You do? Have we met? Things like this get a bit tricky..."

"Don't worry, you and I are meeting each other for the first time," Celestia said. "But I have waited so very long to meet you. You were foretold long before Equestria was even established."

"Really?" the Doctor replied, not expecting that. "How long ago was that?"

"Wait, before Equestria... that's over a thousand years ago. How is that possible?" Paige said, wide eyed.

"I think you'll learn that many impossible things are possible around the Doctor," Celestia told Paige. "Paige, would you mind giving the Doctor and I one moment alone? I promise I won't keep him long."

Paige wished that she could speak to the princess more, but nodded. "Of course, princess," she replied.

"Thank you," Celestia said.

"Just head back to the TARDIS, I'll meat you there," the Doctor told Paige as she began to walk away.

Both the Doctor and Celestia turned back to face each other once Paige was gone. "Now, wings and a horn, Paige didn't tell me that was an option," the Doctor said.

"It's very rare, not even all pony royalty are like this," Celestia explained. "Right now there are only two- well, I guess there's really just me at the moment."

"You're the only one of your kind," the Doctor replied. "Believe me, I know how that feels."

"You sacrificed so much that you loved dearly to save your universe, Doctor," Celestia said. "I sacrificed something I loved dearly to save my world, and now I am all alone. You and I have a connection that I don't think I could make with any other being."

The Doctor nodded solemnly, holding back the pain of memories he could never forget.

"But that discussion is for another time," Celestia said. "How long have you been here, Doctor?"

"Oh, just a couple days, actually," the Doctor replied. "Although, you may hear of me in about three hundred years..."

"I understand, Doctor," Celestia chuckled again. "Although I'm meeting you for the first time, I know a lot more about you than you know about me. I wish we had time to discuss now, but we will meet again. Until then, I thank you for all the work you do. You have helped so much today." Celestia nodded at the Doctor and began to walk past him, heading for the castle.

"Don't worry princess, helping out, saving the day, it's who I am," the Doctor said, beginning to walk in the opposite direction.

"Oh, it's not about who you are, Doctor," Celestia replied, stopping and turning her head. The Doctor paused, looking back as well. "What matters is who you want to be."

Celestia winked, then turned away, entering the griffon castle.

***

The Doctor entered the TARDIS with Paige, taking off his sonic screwdriver with his teeth and setting it on the console.

"I've never tried using my screwdriver like that before," the Doctor replied. "I guess it couldn't handle all the new kinks in it and work so hard on the same day, but I should be able to get it fixed quickly, now that Oliver has helped me with hoof based devices."

I still can't believe all that we did today. Flying from those beetles, saving Altea..." Paige set her bag down on the floor, leaning on a railing and pondering the whole day.

"About that... Paige, I need to say something." Paige looked towards the Doctor, hearing a serious tone in his voice. "What happened today, it doesn't always work like that. I can't always save everyone. Traveling with me is dangerous."

Paige looked down for a moment. "It all became more real when we saw those two dead griffons," Paige began. "But, even if Altea had died today... you saved the griffon kingdom, and I find out that you're the reason three hundred years from now I've met griffons that have come to London," she continued. "You told me it was dangerous when I first met you, and now I understand the truth. I still want to travel with you regardless, but one question has been bugging me. In the cave, you said you knew those beetles?"

The Doctor took a breath. "I knew those beetles because they're not from this universe, they're from mine," he explained.

"So you're not the only thing that's come through. Does that mean you can get back?" Paige asked.

"Not at the moment, no, it's actually a bad thing," the Doctor replied. He sat down on the floor, and Paige did the same, listening intently. "Long ago, traveling between parallel universes was just a feat of technology, but now, technically it's impossible."

"So how does that explain you and the beetles?"

"There have been times in the past where there were cracks in the void, this area of nothingness that separates parallel universes," the Doctor went on. "When there are cracks, things can get through, like me. But, these cracks can only get bigger, and that's not good. Parallel universes could begin to collide, and that could mean the end of everything. I bled through to your world, the beetles bled through… throughout space and time, at least two things from my universe have come here, and that's dangerous, even more so since I still can't explain how I became a pony. There's a lot that I need to understand, but things can only get more dangerous from here."

Paige nodded, not entirely understanding the talk of parallel words, but following it. "I'm a curious pony, Doctor," Paige said. "When you first wanted me to come with you, you were very excited, but now you're hesitant to keep me coming along. You showed me that my curiosity is a wonderful thing, and right now I just want to see more. It's worth the danger, and it's worth helping you."

The Doctor smiled. "Right, sorry, I just get extra nervous sometimes, I'm not used to having no clue what's going on," he said. The Doctor stood up, moving to hit a few buttons on the console. "Your curiosity is a wonderful thing, and don't ever let any pony, griffon, or anything tell you different."

Paige stood, up, smiling at the Doctor. "So, off we go then?"

"Off we go."