Once a Time Lord, Now a Pony

"Doctor... I, uh think we should..." Twilight trailed off in fear as she looked at the advancing hoard in front of her. Ironclaw meanwhile had vanished, without any clue of where he'd gone thanks to Twilight and the Doctor being more focused on his creations, if they could be called that. Abominations to life itself, Twilight supposed would be a better phrase.

"Run?" The Doctor offered. The interesting thing was, he'd gotten a good look at Ironclaw's eyes. They were blood-red but when he met him this morning they'd been golden like most griffins had.

"Yes, that." Twilight finished.

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And so they did, back the way they came through a maze of tunnels all the while the hoard of undead in pursuit. As if that wasn't enough, Ironclaw's voice taunted them all the while.

"You think you can outrun them? You can't outrun death!"

"I don't know, been doing pretty good so far." The Doctor snarked at the voice. Twilight stared at him in shock.

"Is this really the time?" She yelled in fear as she looked behind her.

"Oh, it's always the time for witty banter!" The Doctor grinned as they continued climbing up stairs like Tartarus itself was after them. And in a way, the Doctor supposed, it kind of was what with the zombies and all.

"You're completely insane!" Twilight yelled in a mixture of shock and fear before taking another look at their pursuers. She wished she hadn't right after that.

"I swear, I'll never look at those late night movies Spike watches the same way ever again..." Twilight muttered as a screeching sound came from behind her and a zombie reached but Twilight blasted it backwards with her magic and it took a tumble downwards back into the hoard.

"Oh, very good! Very good!" Ironclaw taunted. "You two will make fine additions to my legion!"

"Yeah, I think we'll pass on that." The Doctor told him.

Eventually they reached the stark white corridors of the hospital which were barren of any life at all as everypony else was asleep in their beds, which was a good thing right now. It was better for him if the Doctor didn't have to deal with anyone panicking and getting in his way.

"We head for the entrance, then I'll think up something on the fly in my Tardis."

"Your what?" Twilight said in disbelief.

"My Tardis. Time and Relative Dimensions in Space." The Doctor said matter of factly and with a little bit of pride.

"Did you just think up that when you got bored?" Twilight gaped at him. "You're completely impossible!" She said, and guess who's voice chimed in at that very moment. Ironclaw had to have gotten control over the intercom system somehow.

"Oh, I don't think you'll be leaving anytime soon. I've just put the hospital in lockdown. Nopony gets in or out. That includes the patients. More for me, I say!" The mad doctor yelled, and clangs came soon after as panels came down over any doors or windows that could create a escape route.

"Alright then, change on plan." The Doctor sighed. "If we're going to be trapped in here with a madman I think it's time we learn a bit about him. This way!" He yelled, as he gestured up some stairs. Because he'd commited the blueprints of the building to memory he knew exactly where everything was including Ironclaw's office. But Twilight was having none of it.

"And what about the patients? They'll be killed! We've got to save them!" She snapped at him.

"And if we do that, we'll just be added to the hoard ourselves! We need to learn about our enemy. Maybe there's something in Ironclaw's personal files that he keeps that can tell us something." He said, and Twilight knew the Time Lord was right. They had to look at the bigger picture, and only then could they stop this outbreak before it got anymore out of control. Eventually, after even more running they made it to Ironclaw's personal office on the top floor. Twilight barricaded the door with a spell and for added protection it was locked with the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor opened up a cabinet and searched through the files inside. Everything he found added to his confusion. Before all this, Ironclaw seemed like a pretty nice griffin donating to charities and things like that even of those to ponies who lost family in the war. Now why would a bigot do that? He voiced his concerns to Twilight.

"It could be that he just wanted to put up a front, make everypony else trust him more." She stated, and the Doctor knew she had a good point.

"Fair enough, but surely he'd slip up someplace. So far as I can see, he hasn't. It's like he became like this... almost overnight." The Doctor trailed off, as his thoughts raced at the possibilities. But before he could ponder any further, the door broke wide open and the hoards began to pour in...

Meanwhile, back in Canterlot in her throne room at the castle Celestia was lost in thought. She'd been hearing rumors from a platoon of Royal Guards stationed near the Griffin Kingdom that something strange was afoot. The hospital had gone into lockdown for no reason. If there was a viral outbreak, a message would have been sent by the King. But none ever was. She turned to Shining, who was in the room along with some other guards.

"Captain Armor?" She asked, and Shining looked at her.

"Yes, milady?"

"Get to Griffinstone at once. Something's going on down there and I want to know what."

"G-griffinstone...? Twiley's there! She could be in trouble!" Shining stuttered. If anything happened to his little sister he'd never forgive himself. He wasn't going to lose anypony else, not tonight!

"Then all the more reason to get going. Take my chariot. It's the fastest way." She ordered, and Shining and his men ran out the throne room's doors which shut with a loud slam.

"Please, be safe... Oh Luna, I wish you were here right now..." Celestia whispered softly. "I need my sister's guidance back, and her."