//------------------------------//
// String Theory 
// Story: The Night String and The Servants of The Phoenix 
// by charredenay 
//------------------------------//

	Trixie raised an eyebrow at the Princess's declaration of the obvious. She guessed that it was required of her by some ancient tradition, but that did not make it any less strange.
“And just what is this threat, that has so made you sweat?” Zecora asked in rhyme.
“A cult calling itself ‘The Servants of the Phoenix’ has recently begun gaining a large amount of traction with the Griffon Kingdom’s royalty.”
“Trixie has heard of them. Isn’t their order quite ancient?”
“Yes. In fact, it is rumored that their religion is as old as Equestria itself,” The mysterious mare answered.
“Oh, Luna, I’ve never known you to find fault in a little competition. So why now? And why with a religion even older than yourself?” The Doctor groused.
“Indeed, normally, we would ignore such developments. However, their acolytes are now claiming that wings are a sign of divine right and that any creature without a pair should either be enslaved or culled.”
“And thanks to the traction they are gaining, the royal court of the Griffon Kingdom is considering beginning a holy war to enforce the new doctrine,” Blueblood said, guessing the end to his aunt’s thought.
“But that includes two-thirds of the world’s population! Surely they realize that to accomplish such a thing they would have to wage war with the whole world?” MM responded.
“They wouldn’t have to fight the whole world,” The Doctor added quietly.
The blue alicorn nodded in grave agreement, “Due to various and complicated allegiances, if they attacked Equestria, they would most likely have the backing of the Dragon Islands. And although the Minotaur Empire is sworn to our aid, even the most optimistic predictions put the ensuing casualties of such a war in the tens of millions.”
“That is all I needed to hear," The Doctor proclaimed as he trotted towards his blue box.
“What do you intend to do, Doctor?”
“What I always do, Luna,” He answered without looking back. “Save as many as I can.”
With that, the other Knots stood and followed him, leaving Trixie perplexed once more.
Do they all expect to fit in that tiny thing?
“Wait, Doctor. Trixie realizes she is new here but how do you intend to get everyone in there and why would you even try?”
He just smiled and walked in, quickly followed by the rest of the String. Trixie expected to hear the sounds of several ponies grunting and struggling into position but surprisingly all she heard were hoof steps on metal.
“Don’t just stand there, Trixie!” Called the Doctor.
Hesitantly, Trixie approached and entered the blue box. Then she exited the box. Then entered the box again.
“It’s...It’s... It’s bigger on the inside,” Trixie uttered, dumbfounded.
That was the understatement of the century. Inside this tiny, little booth was a gigantic room which should've most definitely not fit inside it. In the center of the room stood what appeared to be a tall glass tube, with several smaller tubes inside and surrounded by what appeared to be some sort of control panel covered in all sorts of knobs, dials, and switches. Several lower levels could be seen below the iron grate floor, and Trixie even spotted a few doors that she could only assume lead to more equally large rooms.
“Is it? I hadn’t really noticed,” The Doctor said sarcastically as he closed the door behind Trixie and walked to the control panel.
“Welcome aboard the Tardis, Trixie," He began, "That’s T, A, R, D, I, S. Stands for Time And Relative-”
“Oh, cut to the chase, Doctor,” Blueblood interrupted, turning to Trixie. “It’s a time machine.”
“You always skip the fun parts.”
“I, buh, where...” Trixie babbled.
“Uh-oh. I think you guys broke her,” Derpy noted, bringing Trixie a paper bag. “Here, just breath. It’s a lot to take in, I know.”
Trixie gratefully accepted the bag and began breathing into it. While Derpy took care of their newest comrade, the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well and the other Knots approached the Doctor.
“So, what’s the plan?” she asked.
“Simple, we go to the Griffon Kingdom and destroy these, ‘Servants of the Phoenix’,” Blueblood replied, stomping his front hoof in declaration.
“Do not begin with the result. First, what do we know of this cult?” Zecora demanded.
“Not much, the order is shrouded in secrecy,” MM answered.
“Then we do not have a plan. We should find where it began,” the zebra mare commented, looking to the Doctor for agreement.
As the others worked towards a consensus, Trixie had recovered from her mental breakdown and started inspecting the Doctor’s vessel.
“So, this is a time machine,” She thought aloud as she wandered around what she assumed was the control room.
“Yup.” Derpy replied, hovering just above and behind the trickster.
“And a space ship?”
“Yup.”
“And the Doctor is...?”
“An alien.”
“So, the Doctor is an alien- "
"With two hearts."
"-with two hearts, who travels across space and time, and sometimes into other universes and...”
“And I go on adventures with him!” Derpy smiled.
“Of course, you do.”
The wall-eyed pegasus tilted her head in slight puzzlement. "You don't believe me?" 
"No. Sorry. Trixie is still taking all this in."
“Take your time. It took me a while too.”
“That settles it then!” shouted the Doctor. “Derpy! Get over here and man the stabilizers. M.M., you monitor the neutron flow. Blueblood, steer the secondary thrusters!”
“So you have a plan?” Trixie inquired.
“Yes! Well, half a plan. Well, part of a plan. Well, a semi-clear silhouette of one possible plan. Well-”
“DOCTOR!” Trixie interrupted, rubbing her temples with her hooves. “Just tell Trixie what we’re doing.”
The Doctor grinned. “We’re going twenty-five hundred years into the past!” he answered happily. He quickly trotted over to the console and kicked a large pedal.
“Allons-y!” The Doctor laughed maniacally as the Tardis suddenly began to quake and rumble as if it were being ran over by a herd of stampeding buffalo.
Trixie struggled to keep her footing as the craft shook, but soon gave up in favor of simply hugging onto a railing for dear life. From her new, slightly more secure position, she watched in anxiety as the Doctor danced around the main console and his copilots, hitting seemingly random buttons, flipping switches, and turning knobs.
By the time the Tardis finally stopped its unpredictable jumbling, Trixie could swear that the part of her brain where she kept her arcane knowledge was now located somewhere in her throat. The Doctor, on the other hoof, was all smiles as he hit one last button and went out the front door.
With no small amount of trepidation, Trixie stood and followed him out. Even though she had been told what to expect she couldn’t help but be astonished as she gazed upon the scene before her. Not only had the Tardis moved in time, it had also moved in space so that Trixie now found herself gazing out unto a nearly untamed vista. A wide grass plain dominated the landscape as a mountain range peeked over the horizon and below, nestled in the middle of the grassland, sat a village, just slightly smaller than Ponyville.
“Here we are! The Griffon Kingdom! Well, the Griffon Kingdoms, they won’t solidify under one ruler for another, oh, four hundred years?” The Doctor mused aloud. “And that little village there is the future site of the city of GrassClaw, where ‘The Servants of the Phoenix’ first began.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, Doctor,” Blueblood began as he and the rest of the String exited the booth. “But this is long before any ponies have even stepped foot in Griffon Territory. We’ll stick out like sore thumbs.”
“Well, that’s where our new member comes in!” The Doctor said cheerfully.
“What? Trixie?” the indicated unicorn asked.
“You bet. You’re an illusionist. You must know a spell that could disguise us as griffons.”
At this, the other Knots all looked to her expectantly.
“Trixie does know such a spell, but she has never used it on so many ponies at once before.”
“Hey. Don’t worry,” MM said with encouragement. “You’re our stealth member, you know what that means? That means that we’ll handle everything else, especially on your first outing. Just do this one thing.”
“Very well,” The blue unicorn answered after a while. “Trixie will try. Each of you will need to stand so that you’re at least two hooves apart from everypony else.”
The Night String did as commanded and spread out in a line in front of their new member. Once she was satisfied that the formation was acceptable, Trixie began pouring all her magical energy into the tip her horn. Closing her eyes, she focused intently on the thought of a griffon. Not just the image, but every detail, even the magical aura that griffons naturally exuded. It all had to be perfect or the smarter griffons might sense something was wrong.
When the mental image was complete, she focused her magic to surround herself and the other Knots, held it there for a few seconds, then released it. Finally, opening her eyes again, she allowed herself a small grin as the other ponies looked around in confusion.
“I hope you will not find it strange, for me to say I see no change,” Zecora commented after a moment.
“No, you’re right,” The Doctor puzzled “Trixie, are you sure you did this right?”
“Trixie is sure, in fact, this is some of Trixie’s best work, if she may say so herself,” Trixie bragged, “You see, Trixie made it so that we can see each other’s true forms, so that we do not confuse real griffons for members of our party.”
“Then how will we know it is working?” Blueblood inquired.
“Just look here,” Trixie replied, conjuring up a mirror.
Blueblood took the mirror in his magic aura and looked into it. “I’ll be. It’s perfect,” Blueblood admitted, levitating the mirror around the group. “You did an excellent job.”
“Yes, I-” Trixie began, but was interrupted as her knees chose that moment to buckle underneath her.
“What’s the matter?” Derpy pleaded, flying to her aid. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, Trixie is fine,” she answered, holding up a hoof to hold off the concerned mare. “She is just not used to expending so much magical energy at once." She quickly righted herself before continuing, "You’ll need to have the spell reapplied every twenty-four hours.”
“Every twenty-four hours? You sure you can handle casting this spell that often for a long time?” MM asked.
“Do not worry, by the time Trixie has to reapply the spell, her energy will be fully restored,” she replied as a smile grew across her face. “As long as you can take care of everything else.”
“Heh. You got it.”
“We should get going then,” the prince asserted.
“Just a tic there, Blueblood.”
“Yes?” He answered turning to the Doctor.
“It would be strange for six griffons to enter the village on foot, don’t you think?”
“Ah, I see your point. Then I suppose the pegasi should fly on ahead and meet us there,” Blueblood stated before addressing his masked compatriot. “Now, griffons don’t have any talent for applied magic but they might have acquired some artificial magics so before you land, scout the area for any artifacts or any strange arrangement to the buildings.”
The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well nodded and flew off towards the small hamlet.
The Doctor turned to Derpy. “And I want you to search for any signs of out of place technology. Remember, they are just discovering metallurgy, so any large amounts of metal are suspicious.”
The wall-eyed pegasus saluted comically and quickly followed her counterpart. The Doctor stood stock still as he watched Derpy fly off. Finally, the brown stallion turned back to Trixie with a smile. 
“Well? Come along then.”

--------------------------------------

Luna sighed softly as the Tardis eventually faded from the throne room. "What fortunate coincidence that this threat should appear on the horizon just as our plans are set in motion," she confided to the empty air.
"When have you ever known me to rely on coincidence, Luna?" countered a masculine voice from behind the princess.
The blue alicorn raised an eyebrow in slight annoyance, "We had asked you to wait in the carriage."
"My apologies, but I had to be sure he would rise to the bait."
"So this new doctrine...?"
"Was their idea alone," Luna could hear the disgust in her companion's voice as he approached, the tone turning sly as he continued, "However, they would not have thought to put pressure on the royal family without my prodding."
"I see," Luna stated calmly.
"Come," he said softly, placing a hand on her back, "We have yet to recruit the technomancer."
"Yes, of course," she answered, finally tearing her gaze from where the Tardis once stood.