DOCTOR

by Deidorimu


The Mystery Stallion: Part Two (S1C1)

Night had fallen.

In a large clearing of the forest lied a large camp. On one side of the camp there were tents, a bonfire, and lots of ponies eating, talking, and keeping themselves warm around the fire. On the other side of the camp there were very large cages, dozens of glass and iron barred cages. The ones with glass contained thousands upon thousands of birds. The iron barred cages were filled with manticores, bears, a few tigers, and diamond dogs.

In the center of the camp was a very large object, hidden beneath a cloth.

"That side has all of the thieves, and over there is where the animals are at" the Mystery Stallion explained, pointing to one side of the camp then to the other while hiding behind bushes with Dean and the manticore a few yards away from the camp.

"And what's that big thing under the tarp? In the middle of the camp?" asked Dean.

"That? I'm not sure, if I had to guess I'd say that's what they used to capture all these animals in the first place".

"So it's a machine?"

"Perhaps, a machine would make sense. Foulnapping all these animal isn't an easy job if done by hoof. And having more stallions wouldn't make much of a difference. That machine is most likely what helped them capture all these animals".

"So we have to destroy it and save the animals without getting caught?"

"Yes but it won't be easy since the cages are in clear sight of the group around that fire. So we'll need a backup plan . . . Oh, but of course!"

"What? You've got something?"

"Yes but it's a bit risky and I'm going to need you to move very fast!"

"What's the plan?"

"First I need you to grab as many twigs, leaves, and anything that's flammable and surround the entire camp with it. Its awfully dry in the summer so finding anything flammable in a forest should be easy. Then we're going to figure out exactly what that machine is and find a way to disable it. Finally As soon as we have that figured out I will go cause a distraction, that way no pony will notice you freeing the animals from their cages.

"What!?! How am I supposed to do all that!?!"

"I told you, you need to be fast!"

"Okay and let's say I do this, what are you going to do, burn down the campground?"

"No, if necessary we'll make a fire that surrounds not only the campground but the group as well! That way they can't escape and try to recapture any animals".

"But what if the fire starts burning down the whole forest? What then?"

"It won't, trust me, I know what I'm doing-'

SNAP!

Dean and the Stallion quickly turned around and saw a pink earth pony with a blue mane who had accidently stepped on a twig. He looked to them with fear evident in his facial expression.

" . . . Hello . . . I-I wasn't trying to spy on you or anything I was just, um . . . I-I should be heading back to my friends now, goodbye-"

He hadn't taken two steps before Dean and the Stranger were on top of him. Having been pinned to the ground he struggled to free himself, to no prevail of course. His body relaxed slightly as he said, "Okay, Okay! I was spying! I-If you let me go I promise I won't tell anypony about you!"

"Oh like we'll believe that!" said Dean.

Together, the two lifted the pink pony up to his hoofs and leaned him against a tree. He shook violently with fear as he looked back and forth between the two.

"You look awfully young to be in a group of stallions like these ones lad, what's your name?" asked the Stallion, calmly.

"Hey! What are you doing!? He's one of the thieves! You can't be nice to him!" asked Dean.

"Just trust me" said the Stranger to Dean. He turned back to the pink pony, "just try to relax, I promise we're not going to hurt you. We just want to ask a few questions. Is that alright with you?"

"I-I don't know. T-The boss might kill me if I do".

"He won't kill you if he doesn't know about this conversation will he?"

"N-No I guess not".

"Then come on boy, tell me, what's your name?"

"P-Peter Fillipes".

"Peter? That's a nice name, I like it. So Peter, why are you working with these criminals? Shouldn't you be at home, prepping yourself for the new school year that starts next month?"

"W-Well yes, but schools only for those who can afford it. M-My family's a bit poor you see. We haven't even enough money for a proper roof over our heads. We live in a small broken house near here actually, a couple miles away from the forest in the plains. I promise you I never wanted to even join these criminals! I swear! I-I'm just desperate! M-My Mother, she's sick! As well as my three baby sisters! And-"

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, I believe you. I understand how hard times are right now, but it's incredibly dangerous to associate yourself with these kind of folk. Your hearts in the right place, but you could get killed if you're not safe".

"I-I know, its just . . . my family . . . I just want to help them" said Peter, tears forming in his eyes.

"How old are you Peter?" asked the Stranger.

Peter sniffed, "seventeen".

"Seventeen, that's very young, too young to have to handle situations like this. Especially while you're alone. You're incredibly brave Peter, doing this for your family".

Peter smiled and sniffed as he said this.

"Now Peter, I need you to listen very closely, understand?"

Peter nodded.

"My friend and I-"

"Companion" Dean corrected.

The Stranger sighed, "my companion and I are going to save all of the animals, then we're going to stop those criminals and have them put behind bars-"

"B-But there's over twenty of them! How will you-"

"Just leave that to us, alright? What I need you to do is just keep yourself out of the way when the situation gets a bit out of hoof. Keep yourself out of harm's way. And when this is over I promise you, I'm going to take you home and I'm going to help you and your family, understand?"

Peter looked to the Stranger in disbelief. "You . . . You mean it? You're really going to help my family?"

"Absolutely!" said the Stranger, smiling.

"I . . . I don't know what to say-"

"When you figure it out you can tell us later. For now If you want us to help you, you need to help us first. You don't have to do anything serious, just answer us a few questions".

"A-Alright, sure".

"Good, now tell us. That big object under the tarp, what is it?"

"T-That's just a really big vacuum, we used it to steal all the birds. It made the job a lot faster".

"Ha, knew it!" said the Stranger, looking to Dean. Looking back to Peter he said, "Okay now how do we destroy it? Is there a power source or is it magic powered?"

"Its magic powered. The unicorns are the only ones who can control it. If you destroy the control box on the side of the machine it should prevent the unicorns from using it. The machine will be useless after that".

"Perfect! Now, the animals, how do we get them out of here?"

"Oh! I have a key! Everyone has one to all the cages".

"Brilliant! Give it here!"

Peter obeyed, giving the Stranger his key.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Peter I promise you, as soon as this is over I'm taking you back to your family! And when I do, I'll tell them all about how you helped us save these animal! You'll be a hero!"

"R-Really! You won't tell them I was working for criminals?"

The Stranger shook his head and placed his hoof over his chest. "Cross my hearts and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, that I absolutely promise not to tell your family about your past actions", said the Stranger, smiling and crossing his hoof over his chest in a "X" shape.

Both Dean and Peter looked to the stranger with confused looks. "What was that supposed to be?" asked Dean.

"That, Dean, was a Pinkie Promises. Once You make a Pinkie Promise, it must never be broken. Ever!" said the Stranger.

"Do you make that up?" asked Dean.

"No, somepony else did" said the Stranger.

"Who?" asked Dean.

The Stranger smiled, "somepony absolutely brilliant!"

Although Dean continued to look confused, Peter smiled. He didn't know why, but he knew he could trust this stranger.

Returning the smile, the Stranger said, "Alright Peter, you've helped us as best as you could now run back to the group before they suspect anything".

Peter nodded and did what he was told.

The Stranger tossed Dean the key and said, "you ready".

Dean took a deep breath, "as ready as I'll ever be. A bit nervous though. Sure was lucky he came along wasn't it".

"Indeed so, you take care of the leaves, I'll take care of the machine. As soon as that's done I'll go into the group and make the distraction so you can free the animals. Once the animals are free and we use the fire to trap the criminals, I'll watch over them while you and Peter run to the nearest guard station. Once you bring back the guards and the criminals are arrested, we'll take Peter home and celebrate our victory in Dodge Junction".

"What about helping his family?"

"You just let me take care of that. As soon as this is over I'm taking you home, no exceptions, agreed?"

"Yeah, sure".

"Alright, let's get moving, we don't have long".

"Right!"

The two separated, Dean running into the forest to find anything that was flammable and the Stranger ran straight to the machine. He found the control box and immediately went to work. Meanwhile, Dean had found plenty of twigs, branches, and leaves that were flammable and placed it in large piles, surrounding the entire campsite. When the Stranger had finished his job he set out to help Dean with his, speeding the process.

As soon as the two had finished, they sat behind a bush near the group and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.

"You took care of the machine?" asked Dean, watching Peter uncomfortably squirm in his seat in the group of stallions.

"Of course".

"How'd you do that? Smash it with a rock?"

"No that would have been too loud. I just used some of my magic on it, wasn't too difficult" said the Stranger.

"Magic? But you're a pegasus, you can't use magic".

The Stranger looked to Dean and gave him a smirk. "You can if you know how to".

Before he could respond to that, he suddenly heard someone from the group of stallions shout, "everypony shut up! The boss has something to say!"

Dean and the Strangers focus immediately went to staring at the group, intent to see exactly who the boss is.

A green earth pony with a black goatee and short mane exited the largest tent. He approached the bonfire, as he did so everyone around it immediately ceased their chatter.

The earth pony grabbed a mug out of a pegasus's hoof, observed its contents for a moment, drank it in one swift swig, tossed the mug aside and walked into the center of the lot.

Everyone was dead silent, listening to what he had to say.

"Hey, do you think we should have asked what the boss's name is from Peter?" Dean whispered.

"Don't worry about that. We're about to find out" the Stranger replied.

The pony cleared his throat and spoke, "gentlestallions, I would like to congratulate all of you on a job well done!"

The group of ponies cheered.

"If it wasn't for your help, and my brains and money of course, this would have never been accomplished! Tonight we go home! And tonight! We become! RICH!!!"

Another cheer from his stallions.

"Of course there were some . . . complications. One of the manticores, as you all know, escaped yesterday morning. But no matter! One lost beast will mean nothing to us!"

"Yeah! Forget about him!" one stallion shouted.

"Out of sight! Out of mind!" shouted another.

"Now before we can really celebrate, we still have one more job to attend to! I do believe you all know what we have to do?" asked the green earth pony, already knowing the answer.

Some of the stallions gave each other uneasy looks. The more wicked of the group smiled, high hoofed, and gave excited whoops.

"That's right, it is time! For dismissal!"

The cheers from the group varied. The more wicked were the loudest, where those who were uneasy cheered without emotion, only to not stand out amongst each other.

"However, I know how some of you feel about this kind of work. So! I will give you this chance to back out now! If any of you do not wish to participate in the dismissal of the beasts! Raise your hoof so you can be dismissed! You will not be thought of any less for your actions!"

The group went silent.

"Oh, he's giving them a chance to leave without having to kill any of the animals? Guess he's not entirely evil, still pretty evil though. Right? Sir?" asked Dean as he turned to the Stranger. Dean suddenly felt scared as he saw the expression upon the Stranger's face.

The Stranger looked not just worried, but something else. A mixture of fear and concern perhaps, Dean couldn't tell.

"Sir? What's wrong?" asked Dean.

"That pony . . . their boss . . . he wouldn't dare!" the Stranger whispered through gritted teeth.

"What!? He said he was going to let them go!" Dean shout whispered.

"No! His exact words were he was going to dismiss them!" the Stranger shout whispered back.

Dean thought for a moment, then suddenly realized what he meant. "Y-You don't think he meant- . . . but . . . he wouldn't, would he?"

"There are a lot of evil ponies out there Dean. Some worse than others. Some, who would even kill their own stallions if they had too! No! If they wanted too!" said the Stranger, angrily.

Dean looked back to the group, worried. "W-Well as long as no pony actually raises their hoofs they'll be fine . . . right?"

The Stranger didn't answer, his eye's were deadlocked onto Peter.

The group continued its silence.

" . . . Well? Are there any ponies who do not wish to participate in the dismissal?" asked the green earth pony.

The silence continued for a few moments.

Suddenly, it was broken by the sight of a hoof, slowly and shakily rising into the air.

"I-I would like to leave" said Peter.

The group immediately broke into mutters, jeers, and insults.

"No! Are you kidding me!" Dean shout whispered.

"Don't you dare Peter!" the Stranger shout whispered.

"SILENCE!!!" the green earth pony shouted.

The group obeyed and fell silent.

"So, you do not wish to be part of the dismissal?" asked the green earth pony.

"N-No s-sir" said Peter.

There was a brief awkward silence before the green stallion said, "very well. If that is what you wish then you are dismissed".

Peter sighed with relief, "thank you sir".

"Doesn't he realize what's going to happen!?" asked Dean.

"I don't think he does" said the Stranger.

He rose from his seat amongst the stallions and left the group. He had walked a few feet before he was stopped.

"Excuse me, where do you think your going?" asked the green stallion.

Peter looked to the green stallion, confused. "I-I was just leaving sir-"

"I did not say you could leave".

"B-But you said I was dismissed sir-"

"Correct! I asked you if you wished to be dismissed and you accepted, therefore-". The green stallion clapped his hoofs. Two large bulky earth ponies who were his bodyguards reached behind themselves and pulled out a bow and arrow. They both quickly pulled the string, aiming the arrow at Peter, catching him off guard.

"No!" Dean whisper shouted.

"Peter!" the Stranger whisper shouted, slightly louder than Dean.

"You are dismissed!" the green stallion announced. The two ponies released the string.

The crack of the weapons and the whoosh of air as the arrows flew towards the victim could be heard through everyone. What was also heard was a gasp of pain as the pink earth pony's body jerked sideways and fell to the ground. His body lay facing opposite of the group, hiding his wounds from the others. No one dared to check on him, fearing that they would be next if they did so. Yet after a few moments everyone knew that the need for checking was no longer required. The pink earth pony was no longer alive.

He had been dismissed.

" . . . Peter" Dean whispered. He felt the inside of stomach suddenly give a jerk. He had never seen another pony die before. He clasped his hoofs to his mouth as he felt his innards slowly rising into his esophagus. He looked to the Stranger and felt worse when he did. Looking to the Stranger didn't just make Dean feel sicker, he suddenly felt scared. More scared than he already was.

The Stranger looked much different than Dean expected. The Stranger wasn't sick. He didn't show fear, or anger, or hatred towards the ponies who had murdered Peter. He may have felt these emotions, but he certainly didn't show it. What little he did show was his eyes. The Stranger's eyes, fixed directly on the green earth pony, the one who had commanded for Peter's death. To Dean, he saw fire in the Stranger's eyes. Like a flood ready to break loose, or a storm prepared for destruction. Just being near the Stranger, Dean felt a power radiating off of him, like a powerful fire bringing heat to those who stand near.

He did not show it, but Dean knew that something was going to happened. That the Stranger, who ever he is, would not let this act of murder pass on without punishment. Dean felt fear, not for himself nor the Stranger, but fear for those criminals and for most of all, the boss himself.

This fear passed immediately, for Dean knew whatever was going to happened. Those criminals deserved everything that the Stranger was going to do to them.

" . . . Dean", the Stranger said, ever so calmly.

"Mmmhmm?" Said Dean, his clasped hoofs muffling his sound.

" . . . I'm finishing this". The Stranger left his hiding spot and proceeded towards the group.

Dean tried to reach to the Stranger to stop him. But before he could he felt that he couldn't keep his insides in any longer. Dean was left vomiting as the Stranger approached the group

Back with the group, the green earth spoke, "is there anypony else who would like to be dismissed?"

The group was dead silent.

The stallion continued, "you were all told from the very beginning that once you join our mission, there is no going back! And those who do not wish to see this mission through to the very end would be dismissed!"

"And what exactly is this mission?" asked a new voice amongst the group.

The green stallion, not recognizing this voice, looked to an elderly well dressed stranger with fading gray hair, who had somehow snuck his way into the center of the group. He immediately pointed to the two armed ponies, commanding them to reload their weapons. "And who exactly are you?" he asked as the bodyguards pointed their bows at the stranger.

The rest of the group having just realized about the newcomer rose from their seats and grabbed their own weapons. Spears, swords, bows and arrows, all taking aim towards the Mystery Stallion.

The Mystery Stallion looked to everyone in the group and smiled calmly. "Who? Me? Oh I'm just an old stallion who just happened to come across your little campsite. I was going to just walk away when I suddenly caught you committing murder. Care to explain this "mission" of yours? And why this mission is so important that killing is a requirement?"

The green stallion chuckled, "what makes you think I'm just going to tell you anything? You've seen too much old stallion, we're going to kill you".

"All the more reason you should tell me, I'm not going to live to tell the tale anyway so might as well" said the Mystery Stallion, calmly.

The green stallion thought for a moment, then smiled as he walked up to the Mystery Stallion. "I guess a stallion of your age does deserve a final wish before he accepts death's embrace, so, very well. But before I tell you anything I do believe names are in order". The green stallion extended a hoof to the stallion, "Oswald Dohnavein, the leader of this mission. And you are".

The Mystery Stallion accepted Oswald's hoof and shook it. "I am the Doctor".

"The Doctor? Doctor Who?"

The Mystery Stallion smiled, "just the Doctor".

Oswald looked confused for a moment, then smiled. "Well Doctor! You'll find that after tonight, you'll be one the one needing medical attention!"

"Not before you tell me about your mission" said The Doctor.

Oswald smiled, "very well. You see, I have been assigned by an anonymous source to hunt down a specific list of beasts. All I have to do is simply find them, capture them, then, dismiss them! As soon as I and the rest of my stallions are finished we will return to the location of where I had received my mission and receive our reward!"

"Reward?"

"Two and a half billion bits!"

"And you believed this source? You honestly expect to go back and received that much money? From a source who you don't even know about? How can you trust this source?" asked The Doctor.

"Because the letter I received that contained my mission had a signature burned onto it".

"A signature from who?"

"I'd rather not say".

"Why?"

"Because the letter told me not to".

"And how do you know this signature isn't forged?"

"Because you old fool! This signature could only be written by one pony in all of Equestria. Any attempts to forge it would be impossible. You'd have to see the letter to understand what I mean".

"Alright, signatures aside. Your mission is to come here, take innocent animals from their homes and murder them, but why!"

"I do not know, the letter did not state the reason for this mission. We were simply given a mission with a reward and we set off to complete said mission to receive said reward. Plain and simple".

"So that's it then? You received a letter from Celestia knows who to kill innocent creatures and you don't even care? You're completely fine with murder?"

"Money is money, it doesn't matter how it is obtained".

"And what about the stallion you killed, what about him!?! Was it okay to murder him? Do you even know who he was!?!" The Doctor said angrily, voice slowly rising.

"Of course I know who he was, his name is Peter Fillips-"

"No! More than just his name! Do you really, really, know who Peter was!"

"What does it matter?"

"It matters because he was a breathing living pony! He had a beating heart and you stopped it! A beautiful brain and you cut the signals! He was only seventeen and you took the rest of his life away from him! That is unacceptable!!!"

"His heart and brain mean nothing to me if he wasn't going to use them to work for me. Peter chose his fate, I gave him a choice and he made his decision. You cannot call me the villain for a choice that he made. So what if he was seventeen? The colt was old enough to . . . hold on . . . how did you know about his age?" asked Oswald.

"Met him about twenty minutes ago, we talked for five minutes" said The Doctor.

"And you think you can know a pony in just five minutes?"

"More then you will ever know! Peter Fillipes was a young and innocent colt! He only joined you and your band of criminals so he can raise enough money for his family! He had a mother and three baby sisters, all of which will never get the chance to see him again because you took his life away! All he wanted to do was help his poor, starving, sick family, and you took that all away from him!"

Oswald chuckled, "I'm a business stallion Doctor! You really think that I would concern myself with petty squabbles such as this one? So a colt died! The world moves on!-"

"But his world has stopped! And so has his family's!"

"And you think I should mourn him?"

"No, I think you should be very afraid. Because once you have all been taken into custody, I'll be sure to have every single last one of you punished without mercy!"

The entire group burst into laughter.

Smiling, Oswald said, "and what are you going to do Doctor? Take us down with a cane? Subdue us with false teeth? Or do you have friends from the retirement home as back up?"

The group laughed harder.

"Oh you think laughing at my age is funny?" said the Doctor. He looked at each of the laughing faces of the group members. Then he himself started to chuckle. "You should never underestimate your enemy, no matter how old they may seem".

The groups laughter continued, some had started jeering at The Doctor.

"Alright, your joke's over. Dean, DO IT NOW!" The Doctor shouted.

Before anyone could figure out what he meant, their entire campground was suddenly surrounded by a wall of bright orange fire. Those closest to the edge jumped back as to avoid the fire.

Oswald looked to the fire, then to The Doctor. "What have you done!?!"

Smiling, the Doctor said, "That would be my back up. Although, he is a bit too young to be in any retirement home but I assure you, you won't have to worry about being attacked by any canes or false teeth".

"You're not a wanderer, you had this planned!" Oswald reached into his pocket and extracted a knife. He pointed it towards The Doctor's throat. "Tell me who you really are!"

The Doctor looked to the knife for only a second before setting his fiery gaze directly into Oswald's pupils, the very center. "Do you really want to know who I am? You'll find that our opinion towards me will change drastically if you are with me for too long. That is, unless you're opinion is already sour- "

Oswald took a step forward, placing the knife mere inches beneath The Doctor's throat. "Talk you old fool! Who are you! Why exactly are you called "The Doctor?" Is that a code name!?! Are you a spy!?! A secret agent!?! Or are you working for another business that competes against us!?!"

"Oh those are excellent accusations young lad but I have to say that none of those are correct. You see Oswald, I am nothing of which you have just said. I am not a spy, nor an agent, and believe it or not The Doctor is indeed my real name-"

"Then why are you here!?!"

"Because Oswald, you're not the only one with a mission tonight! You see I've known about you and your gang for a while now. Everypony knows about you! They don't know exactly who you are but they know about your group, the "bird thieves". You didn't hide yourself very well, stealing that many birds doesn't go unnoticed and believe me it has very well been noticed. How you lot have been stealing birds from this very forest! So, I set out to investigate and find the bird thieves. Once I've found them I intended to stop them from whatever they were planning and return the birds back to where they belong! Along with the other animals as well!" "

"But why! Why do you dare try and stop us! Do you want the reward for yourself!? Is that it!?!"

"No".

"Then why!?!"

"Because it's the right thing to do. That's the only answer you need and that's the only answer your getting".

Oswald stared angrily at The Doctor for a moment, then, he reached forward and grabbed his tie. He yanked The Doctor's tie, pulling him close so that their faces were nearly touching. Oswald was shaking with anger at this point and taking sharp breaths. "So! That's what this is huh!?! An old stallion trying to be a hero!?!" He bellowed into laughter, "I don't know how senile your age has made you old stallion! But in case you haven't notice, there is no such thing as heroes! Just look around you! The almighty Princess Celestia and Princess Luna who are both alicorns failed to protect their country! Discord is spreading his chaos and there's no pony alive who can stop him! Meanwhile, Discords got every guard in this country so busy, it lets stallions like me and my gang here do whatever the tartarus we want! No pony, not even those so called "alicorns" can stop me, my gang, Discord, and everypony else who isn't limited by the law, can stop us! And the best part is, once Discords finished off those princesses for good, then stallions like me can do whatever we want forever!!! There are no heroes! Only us!"

Having been listening to their boss, the group had forgotten about the fire and cheered as Oswald finished his speech.

The Doctor allowed the group to cheer for a few moment before he smirked.

Oswald taking noticed asked, "what's with the grin? Didn't you hear what I said!?"

"Oh I heard you loud and clear and I must say, I have to agree with you".

Oswald looked confused for a split second before saying, "of course you do! It only makes sense for you to-"

"But, I also disagree with you completely!"

"I -I, what!?!"

"You are correct, evil is spreading fast all over this country and it does seem that nopony can stop it. That evil will succeed because this world has no heroes. Well, allow me to explain to you what a hero is. A hero is the one who does an extraordinary act of courage which will or may result in the conscious sacrifice of himself to protect the good of others. That may not sound like a lot of ponies that exist in this country. Not many are willing to commit to such acts of courage. However, there is in fact an alternative to "heroes". One that most certainly exists".

"Oh? And who are these ponies Doctor!?"

"These ponies are the one's who rebel against treacherous ponies such as yourself, these ponies are the ones who have hope in their hearts and truly believe that a happy ending does indeed exist. These ponies are the ones that have so much faith in pony kind as a whole! These ponies may not be hero's, but in their own ways they are that small sliver of light at the corner of a storm! They are the reason why no matter how long Discord ruled Equestria or how long stallions like you do as they please, you nor any criminal that reside in this country will ever succeed! Because these ponies still exist! And as long as they exist evil cannot truly win! They are not heroes! They are the ponies who care!"

"Is that who you are Doctor? A pony who cares?"

"Care? Me? Caring about the lives of everypony in this country? No, I don't care, because for me, caring is an understatement. You see Oswald, although it may seem hard to imagine, heroes do indeed exists. One out of thousands would ever become a true hero". The Doctor came close to Oswald's ear and whispered, "since heroes are so rare in this day and age I assume you aren't experienced with dealing with one. Would you like me to show you Oswald? The power of a true hero".

"An old stallion can never be a hero. You said you were going to save the animals. How exactly are you going to do this?"

"Oh saving the animals won't be too difficult. In fact, I do believe we are already finished".

"I beg you pardon?"

"See for yourself".

Oswald turned and saw through the flames that the cages on the other side of the camp were indeed empty. The group members, having also realized the animals were missing, began to murmur in panic amongst each other.

"WHAT!!! But how!?! When did you-"

"You had your anger too focused on me that you forgot that I had back up. And you control your gang so much to the point that they didn't even bother checking the cages themselves in fear that they would miss anything that you would say. Even if I hadn't distracted you with that speech I highly doubt that any of you could get passed that fire to stop my partner-"

"Companion!!!" Dean shouted from the other side of the fire wall.

"Right, companion. Which reminds me, isn't anypony going to ask how this fire has been burning the past five minutes without so much as singeing a leaf on any of the surrounding trees?" asked The Doctor.

The groups murmur became louder. Most had noticed but chose not to talk about it. The Doctor was correct, they were indeed quite focused on what their leader had to say while The Doctor and he were speaking. They were afraid of missing anything he had to say. Some did not notice the fire and thought that the entire forest was burning down. Oswald, however, knew from the start. "Clearly you are using magic, your companions are unicorns!"

"Singular phrasing actually. I have a companion, not multiple companions. And he is not a unicorn, he is in fact an earth pony-"

"You are lying! You are controlling this fire! Its obvious! You have unicorns!"

"I do not-"

"ENOUGH!!! I have had enough of this!!! Your little charade had gone long enough Doctor! But you and your "companion" are going to pay dearly for the loss of our animals! And after all this there is only one way to repay for this! DISMISSAL!!!" Oswald shouted, pointing to his gang.

Every criminal who possessed a throwing or ranged weapon aimed at the Doctor. Oswald ran out of harm's way, towards his two bodyguards.

"Doctor! The animals are free! Get out of there!" Dean shouted.

"These criminals need to be behind bars Dean. I'm not leaving until they've been dealt with properly".

"You can't fight them all at once!"

The Doctor smirked, 'the power of a true hero? Great choice of words but that was false. I do not possess any "powers" of a true hero. No, that was an understatement. I possess a power far more powerful than any "hero" could ever hope to obtain' thought The Doctor.

"Fire at him!" Oswald shouted.

The group did as they were told and threw their spears, threw their knifes, and fired their bows.

'I am not a hero, I am not a miracle, nor am I invincible' The Doctor thought at lighting speed as the weapons came towards him

"DOCTOR!!!" Dean shouted.

The Doctor blinked. ' . . . That's right Dean, that's what I am'.

The weapons killed The Doctor.

Or so everyone thought.

Milliseconds before the weapons made contact a stream of fire burst from the wall at lighting speed, passing directly into to the weapons path and incinerating all of the weapons and arrows to ash. Once the flame had return to the wall, all that stood there was The Doctor, covered in the ashes that had once been the weapons of the gang.

The Doctor stood tall, staring at the gang, unfazed.

Oswald, Dean, and the gang stood staring. All with a mixture of fear, anger, and confusion.

Dean, jaw dropped said, "what the!?"

"Did we miss?" asked one of the members.

"No you idiot! All our weapons burned to smithereens!" shouted another.

"How'd he do that?" asked another.

"It's those unicorns of his!" shouted a fourth.

"I've already told you, I do not have unicorns with me. This fire is indeed being controlled with magic but it isn't any magic the likes of any of you have ever seen!"

"Fire at him again!" shouted Oswald, grabbing a bow out of one of his bodyguards hoofs.

They did as they were told and fired more weapons, only to see another wave of fire burst from the wall and incinerate their weapons.

'Doctor, how are you doing this?' thought Dean.

The Doctor, smirking asked, "are you ready to give up now? Or do you have any weapons left for a third try?"

Oswald growled, "what is wrong with all of you! Why can't you hit one old stallion!?! Enough ranged attacks! Hit him up close!"

The group obeyed and grabbed whatever melee weapons they had left. All twenty four members including Oswald's bodyguards rushed to The Doctor at once. However, once the group was a mere four feet away from The Doctor, another wall of fire emerged from the original wall. This new wall blocked the gangs path to The Doctor. The gang looked back to their leader, desperate for an order, or any plan of action at all at this point.

Eyes wide with confusion, Oswald turned to his unicorns. "I thought unicorns were supposed to be smart! Why aren't any of you using your magic!?!"

A bald orange unicorn responded, "we don't know attack spells sir! We only know how to use our magic to work the machine-".

"THEN WORK THE MACHINE!!! You imbeciles! Use your magic on the vacuum and suck him in!!!"

"But sir! Only birds can fit in there-".

"Yes but the suction is strong enough to get him stuck in the tube! Now do as I said and USE YOUR MAGIC!!!" Oswald roared

The unicorns did as they were told and focused their magic onto the machine. Each unicorn's magic color varied between each other. The vacuum was engulfed in a series of different colored auras as every unicorn took hold.

The vacuum responded to the magic and began to move forward. However, after three feet of the travel the vacuum had suddenly started to shake. Its shaking grew more and more violent until it began to steam a black smoke. Sparks flew out the sides as the unicorns tried desperately to keep the machine under control.

Then suddenly, the machine stopped, discontinuing any magical control the unicorns once had. The machine sat there, useless and smoking.

"What the devil are you doing!?! Use that blasted machine right now!!!" Oswald roared.

"I'm sorry sir! I don't know why but the machine won't respond to our magic anymore! I think it's broken!" a green unicorn shouted.

"Impossible! You used the vacuum just this morning! It was in perfect condition then!"

"Not unless "somepony" came along and "tinkered" with your machine" said The Doctor, smirking.

Oswald glared (if possible) more furiously at The Doctor. "You!?"

"Yup" he responded calmly.

Oswald shook ferociously, "YOU!!! You broke my, my- do you have any idea how much that costed!?!"

"Do you have any idea how much I don't care?" The Doctor sarcastically asked.

Veins popping, Oswald shouted. "That's it! Unicorns! Take down his fire! Let's see how cocky he is once we have control over it!"

"W-We c-can't sir" a blue and white maned unicorn stuttered.

Oswald glared at the unicorn, "Why the tartarus not!?!"

"W-We've already tried sir! Honestly! We have! But our magics not working against the fire! We don't know why!" replied the scared looking blue and white maned unicorn to his boss.

"Having trouble with your magic ay? Well you shouldn't waste your energy trying to control this fire. If it was indeed being controlled by unicorns then you'd probably have stood a chance. Unicorn magic against unicorn magic. However, as I have stated before, I do not have unicorns with me. Therefore, you unicorns aren't fighting against normal magic. You're fighting a brand new magical force altogether! One of which you cannot compete against because of your lack of experience! You're not fighting an old stallion, colts-" With the wave of his hoof, The Doctor sent forth a large wave like barrage of fire down upon the gang.

The gang cowered in fear, expecting the fire to incinerate them all. Most had closed their eyes, some had covered their heads and faces with their forelegs. All of them had expected the fire to crash upon them, sending them to a burning, painful death.

When a few seconds had passed and death had failed to show, the group looked to The Doctor, only to find their field of vision blocked by large streams of bright blue fire.

"You're fighting an unknown entity. A mystery, a shadow, a monster" said The Doctor.

Oswald, who had been separated from his group and was standing ten feet away from the large globe of fire that imprisoned his gang, looked to The Doctor with a mixture of hate, confusion, and anger. "You!? You're the one who's controlling this fire!?!"

"I did say that I did not have unicorns, therefore, somepony else has to be the one controlling this fire" said The Doctor, calmly.

Oswald turned to his gang for a moment, listening to the muffled screams of his stallions. He then turned back to The Doctor. "You're killing them!?! You lecture me on murdering that weakling from earlier and you have the nerve to go and do the same thing!?! You hypocrite!!!"

"Your stallions are in no danger Oswald, I do not intend on killing any of you tonight. My mission is to send you all to prison-"

"And you'll take my stallions there in body bags!? Some hero you turned out to be!"

"If I concentrate the movement and speed of the fire, I can force the fire to take all of the oxygen out from inside the globe. You're stallions will suffocate, however, as long as I keep the oxygen level above eight percent your gang will not be harmed fatally. They will all fall-" The Doctor waved his hoof, releasing the fire. The fire disappeared. Every gang member who had been imprisoned within the fiery globe fell to the ground. Not one member was moving .

"Unconscious" The Doctor finished.

Oswald could only stand there, stiff with shock as he looked to his gang. Every member was breathing, every member was alive, and just as The Doctor had said, each member was unconscious. He dropped the bow that he had intended to use against The Doctor, no longer feeling the power he previously had to even lift the arrow. He looked to The Doctor, showing his fear for the first time. " . . . W-What have you . . . how did you . . . who are you!?!"

With a clap of his hoofs, The Doctor released the wall surrounding the camp. The wall of fire immediately dispersed, leaving only a large circular scorched mark on the ground. Only the ground had been burned. The trees surrounding the camp looked as if they hadn't been touched for a second by the fire. The Doctor walked closer to Oswald until they were five feet apart.

" . . . Who are you?" Oswald repeated.

Setting a fiery gaze upon Oswald, The Doctor said, "I am The Doctor! The stallion who cares!"

Oswald stood staring at The Doctor for a few moments before taking a step back. "You're not an ordinary pegasus are you? Pegasus control the weather, not fire! What are you really Doctor?"

The Doctor looked to Dean (who had been watching from outside the firewall the whole time) and motioned him to approach. Dean did as he was told and came close to The Doctor. The Doctor looked back to Oswald, "you are correct Oswald. For you see, I am indeed no ordinary pegasus. I am a phoenix pony from the country Alburnia. Land of the fire elementals and controllers of the planet's core. I used my phoenix magic to trap your stallions. Because Elemental magic is completely different from ordinary magic, your unicorns possessed no chance of controlling my fire".

Both Dean and Oswald looked to the Doctor, confused and surprised.

"You're a phoenix pony!?" asked Oswald.

"That can't be true, I thought phoenix ponies weren't supposed to leave Alburnia" said Dean.

"Their not, I'm the only one who has" said The Doctor.

"So you're a runaway phoenix pony huh? Bet that puts a high price on your head, doesn't it?" asked Oswald.

"Actually, I am quite worthless to the phoenix ponies. You won't be finding any price on me so don't even bother doing what you're about to do. I know what you're thinking, you can't sell me. You won't even earn a bit".

While the two were talking Dean looked to the unconscious gang, looking to see if they all were truly alive.

"Oh I won't be selling you back to your country, Doctor! Once I've taken you down I'll be sure to have you sent directly to the black market! I'm sure there are some slave owners who would just love to have an elemental for a slave!" said Oswald.

"Did you not see what I just did to your gang? You? Take me down? Why do you persist on? Just give up. Your gang has been defeated by an old stallion and an astronomer. You've lost Oswald".

"Oh is that what you think?".

Meanwhile, Dean continued to observe the gang until he noticed something odd. One of the members had their foreleg on the side of his body. Dean had looked away for only a second. When he turned back to that stallion he noticed the his foreleg had changed positions. His leg was now behind his back. Dean also noticed something else.

The "unconscious" stallions leg was slowly moving, reaching for something behind him. Dean didn't know what it was, but he had a feeling he knew what the stallion was reaching for. And he had a feeling that he knew what the stallion was going to do.

"No, I don't think. I know that you've lost". said The Doctor.

Oswald chuckled. "I am afraid that you are wrong Doctor. No pony has lost just yet. But I can assure you, the one who does will not be me!

The Doctor detected that something was wrong. While looking into Oswald's eyes he noticed that Oswald was repeatedly looking past him, his eyes moved back and forth between The Doctor and his group. Something was wrong, The Doctor knew Oswald was planning something.

Suddenly, the "unconscious" stallion made a fast movement. Dean who had been watching him knew what he was going to do. "Doctor! Look out!" he shouted. Dean ran forward and shoved the Doctor out of harm's way. Simultaneously the "unconscious" pony quickly rose to his hoofs and threw a throwing knife, intending to hit The Doctor. However, Dean who had shoved The Doctor and put himself into harms way received the attack. The weapon hit directly in the side of his torso. He gasped in pain as he fell to the ground.

"DEAN!!!" The Doctor shouted. He turned to the group and glared at the attacker. 'One was still awake!?!' The Doctor internally shouted. The attacker reached behind his back for another knife. However, The Doctor was too quick for him. Using his magic, he ignited a fistful of blue fire in his hoof and threw it at the attacker, hitting him directly in the chest. The attack was strong enough to knock him down, burning his torso and (possibly) knocking him out for good this time. He purposely weakened his fire to prevent the attacker from receiving any fatal wounds. He turned to Oswald only to find him missing. The Doctor growled as he suddenly realized what Oswald had been looking at. During their conversation, Oswald at some point must have noticed one of his gang members was still awake. He waited patiently for the gang member to attack so that Oswald could take this chance to escape!

The Doctor would have gone after Oswald, however, there was something much more important to attend to.

The Doctor knelt to Dean and gently lifted the young stallion's head.

Dean held his eyes shut tight as he breathed rapidly. He felt his vision blurring in and out of focus as he felt the pain from the knife pulsate through his entire side. The signals ran through his nerves hard, giving him a headache. He had never felt pain like this in his whole life. Realizing this only made Dean breath harder. He started having a panic attack. He reckons he would have thrown up if hadn't already done so back at the bushes from earlier. He wanted help desperately, he wanted someone to take the knife out of his body and tell him that everything would be all right. That he would be safe and healthy and could live another day so that he could continue his quest to fulfill his dream.

His dream, Dean just remembered. He still had a dream to fulfill, he had to discover a new constellation. Dean's panic attack worsened. 'Oh sweet Celestia! Help me!' Dean internally screamed.

"Dean, can you hear me?" The Doctor asked, gently.

Dean hadn't noticed The Doctor holding his head until now. He opened his eyes slowly to see the old stallions face, looking with an ever so worried expression down upon him.

Dean wasn't sure what made him say it, he wanted The Doctor to help him. He is a doctor after all, this is his job, to help those who are hurt or sick. Yet when He opened his eyes, the first words to leave his mouth weren't "please help me". Instead, Dean said, "w-what are you doing? He's getting away, g-go after him!"

"I'm not leaving you Dean, we'll get Oswald later. For now let's get that knife out of you. I need you to try and slow your breathing. You're panicking, panicking will only make your wound worse. Try and calm down so I can heal you properly".

"B-But Oswald is getting-"

"Shh" The Doctor shushed gently.

"But-"

"Shhhh, listen to The Doctor's orders".

Dean hesitated for a moment before obeying. He concentrated on his breathing, doing his best to calm himself.

The Doctor observed Dean's wound for a moment, then sighed with relief. 'His wound isn't fatal. My fire may not have knocked out that attacker, but it did weaken him. His throw may have hurt Dean, but it wasn't strong enough for the knife to reach very far. It seems the tip is just barely inside his rib. It hurts, but it's nothing serious. Now, if that attacker did have his full strength, I don't even want to imagine what kind of state Dean would have been in' thought The Doctor.

The Doctor positioned his head above Dean's wound, ready to start healing. "Now you might feel something hot. It'll feel like it's burning you but it's actually healing you so don't be scared and try not to panic" said The Doctor.

"What do you mean it'll burn? What are you putting on me- AH!" Dean screamed suddenly. It felt as if The Doctor had just dripped hot boiling oil on his wound.

"I told you not to panic, you're making this more difficult than it needs to be".

"What the devil are you putting on me!?!" Dean yelled. He looked down to his wound and slowly felt his fear returning to a state of panic as he did so. What Dean saw was The Doctor crying over his wound, letting the tears fall from his face and into the wound. Each tear made a sizzling noise as it made contact with the wound. Deans wound would steam with an odd white smoke as the tears made contact. The knife was no longer inside him and laid a few feet away from the two. Dean was too distracted by the burning sensation he felt to realize The Doctor had pulled the knife out. " W-What the bloody tartarus are you doing!?"

"Mending your wound" The Doctor said calmly.

"By weeping all over me!?!"

"Phoenix tears have magical healing properties Dean. My tears are healing you".

Indeed he was right. After he explained this Dean suddenly realized his wound had stopped hurting. It had actually started to feel very soothing. After a few seconds The Doctor stopped crying and smiled to Dean.

Dean rubbed his side, touching the soft, slightly sensitive, brand new layer of skin. "Y-You . . . You heal ponies? W-With your tears?"

The Doctor nodded.

"That . . . is incredibly disturbing. Do you cry on everypony who gets hurt?"

"Only if they want to continue living, yes".

"Well . . . Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful. But, I feel very uncomfortable now".

"Don't worry. You'll get used to the new layer of skin-".

"No, it's not that".

"Oh? What is it?"

"Well, it's just that . . . A hundred year old stallion just cried on me-"

"Hey! I'm ninety four!"

"Be as it may, it just feels weird".

"Just be glad I saved you" said The Doctor, extending a hoof to Dean. Dean took it and The Doctor helped Dean to his hoofs. "Now, enough chit chat. I do believe you and I have a runaway criminal to catch!".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oswald hopped over a thick bush as he galloped full speed through the forest. He looked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed. When he saw no pony fallowing him, he looked to his front and growled. 'The blasted, no good, interfering, elemental! How dare he come into my camp and ruin all of my plans!?! Four months of planning all gone to waste because of him and his companion! And what is an elemental even doing in Equestria!?! His kind doesn't belong here! He should be in Alburnia, protecting the planet's core, or keeping Equiis's temperature stable, or whatever the buck it is fire elementals do! Instead he's here! Meddling in things he shouldn't be involving himself into! I swear, when I get back to the guys in Dodge Junction I'm going to tell them all about these two! Then they'll be sorry! We'll spread the word and everypony will want to get their hoofs on that phoenix pony! The Doctor will rue the day he dared to mess with me!' Oswald internally bellowed.

He made a sharp turn left and continued galloping. "I'll make him pay! YOU HEAR THAT DOCTOR! I"LL MAKE YOU PAY!!!"

Suddenly, Oswald tripped. HIs momentum caused him to drag, roll, and tumble several feet before he stopped. Oswald, rubbing his head, ignored his ground burns as he got to his hoofs and looked to the thing that tripped him.

It was a small, thin snake like thing covered in yellow brown fur.

Oswald, having been dealing with animals for the past two months suddenly felt uneasy as he realized what the thing might be. "What the-" was all he could mutter.

Suddenly, a large manticore pounced from behind a large set of bushes. His tail (which Oswald had tripped over) swung feverishly behind him.

Oswald fell to his back and tried to crawl backwards away until he suddenly felt himself hit against a large object. He looked up and saw that the object was another manticore, growling angrily at him. Oswald jumped away from the manticore in fear and attempted to run away before he saw several more manticore approach him from the front. Oswald skidded for a moment and turned left. He ran for a few seconds before he stopped in a small clearing. More manticore were in front of him. He turned around and saw the previous manticore had already caught up to him. Oswald made a three sixty degree turn, desperately looking for an escape. The problem was, more and more animals were coming from the forest suddenly and entering the clearing.

It wasn't just manticore either. There were tigers, bears, and diamond dogs. All of them with tags pierced into their ears.

Oswald had also taken notice of the large amount of birds that had suddenly appeared.

He looked about at the hundreds of animals, all surrounding him. Each and every single one looking to him, growling, snarling, and looking angry. Oswald knew exactly who these creatures were and why they have come for him.

He had been trapped by the very creatures he had imprisoned and tried to execute.

He was completely surrounded.

He stood up straight and composed himself as best as he could. "N-Now I know some of you may be a bit furious at me".

The growls and snarls grew more intense.

" . . . Okay, maybe all of you are a bit furious at me. However, I-I have a . . . proposition to make! If you let me leave unharmed I promise you I will go to the nearest city and tell everypony to leave the beast- er, creatures of this forest alone . . . f-forever!"

The growls and snarls continued.

"Y-You can take my word for it! H-Honest! I swear!" said Oswald, desperately as he placed one hoof over his heart and the other in the air as a form of oath.

"Oh I don't think any of them will be willing to listen to you after what you've done" said a voice from behind.

Oswald turned and glared, "Doctor!!!"

"Hello" said The Doctor as he and Dean appeared into the clearing.

"You, you haven't won, you hear me! You haven't! You can take me to prison but I promise you once I'm there I'll be sure to tell everypony about you and your companion! And once everypony knows about the "Phoenix Adventurer", they'll all come hunting you down! Do you have any idea how much a fire elemental is worth for a slave? You're a walking gold mine! Everypony will hunt you down from now on! You won't be able to so much as go to the toilet without somepony coming after your head! And as for your companion, he won't be worth much to the black mark. Heck, I'd say as soon as someone's captured you, they'll be sure to dispose of your little "companion" properly. With a nice, good ol, dismissal! You haven't won Doctor! You've lost!"

Dean glared angrily at Oswald as The Doctor took a step forward. "You know, you're not the only criminal I've encountered in my life. I've been chased by thousands of others. Some far worse than you. I have seen leaders of entire armies order for my execution. Entire nations have tried to kill me. The worst of the worst. You Oswald, you're a tiny fish in an ocean of filth. Surrounded by fish who are more bigger, yet just as dirty as you are. If not, dirtier. I can handle anything you threaten me with. And as for Dean, well, this was only a one time thing for him. It was actually an accident that he was even here to begin with. I don't expect him to come into any more trouble. But if trouble should find him, well, I'd expect he'd handle it just as brilliantly as he's done today".

"But Doctor, all I did was light some twigs on fire".

"And you did it brilliantly!" said The Doctor, happily smiling to Dean.

Dean returned the smile, just as happily.

The two returned their focus to Oswald as they heard him gag. "You two make me sick! How can you be so cheery at a time like this! Every criminal will want to kill you! Aren't you afraid!?"

"Not as afraid as the criminals will be once they actually find me" The Doctor replied.

Oswald stuttered for a moment then said, "I- I don't know what to think of you Doctor. Are you stupid? Or crazy enough to really believe you can fight against a country full of criminals?"

"Like I said, I've handled worse".

"And what about you and I Doctor? This dispute you and I have had?"

"Its finished" The Doctor said, calmly.

"Oh is it?"

"If you value your life, yes".

Oswald chuckled, "oh I can assure you that this dispute is far from over! They can't keep me in prison forever! And once I've figured a way out you can bet your flank that the first thing I do is find you! And end you! You'll see Doctor! This will never end until you're dead!"

"Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see how the future turns out, won't we? Until then, I do believe you have some unhappy animals to deal with".

Oswald turned to the animals. Having nearly forgotten them, he gasped as he looked into each of their growling faces.

"You're not leaving me with them? Are you Doctor?"

"Well why shouldn't I? You've given them quite a lot of pent up steam that I think they have the right to blow off".

"But they'll kill me!".

"Not my problem". The Doctor faced the animals and shouted, "have at it!"

Oswald screamed as every animal pounced at him at once.

Meanwhile, The Doctor quickly tapped and pulled aside a nearby diamond dog. He whispered to him, "make sure he doesn't die, okay? You can take your anger out on him but I need him sent to prison. Can you do that for me?"

"Don't worry, I make sure animals not kill him" the diamond dog replied.

"Thanks, oh, and one more thing. Tweet, tweet" The Doctor Whistled.

A large yellow and black billed hummingbird flew to the Doctor and tweeted happily. The Doctor smiled to the bird as he reached into his vest pocket and extracted a rolled up scroll and a string. He tied the scroll to the bird's torso. "Here, take this to the closest guard station you can find. There's one five miles north west from this forest, you can't miss it".

The hummingbird saluted before zooming off into the distance.

"That letter has orders to send guards into this forest to pick up the gang, still unconscious back at the campsite. I was wondering if you and a few animals wouldn't mind watching over them for a bit until the guards arrive. In case any of them wake up, we wouldn't want them escaping".

"We will do as you ask Doctor" said the diamond dog.

"Alright, well we best be off. Thank you for your help".

"No Doctor, thank you for your help! We diamond dogs shall never forget your kindness". the diamond dog said, extending a paw.

The Doctor smiled as he shook paw and hoof with the dog.

As the Doctor was about to turn away, a manticore had separated himself from the group beating Oswald and approached The Doctor. The Doctor recognized him immediately. "Hey there big guy!" he said, rushing over and petting the manticore beneath the chin. "Do you feel better now that that bad stallions been stopped?"

The manticore purred sweetly in response.

"LIsten, now that you are all free it's time for you all to go home. To where you belong. However, after all you've been through, most of you might have a hard time getting there. They're going to need a leader. Can I trust you big fella? To lead these animals back to where they belong?"

The manticore nodded.

The Doctor smiled and gave the manticore one last hug. "I know I can count on you big guy! Good luck and stay safe, alright?"

The manticore gave The Doctor a small lick to the cheek before returning to the other animals (still beating up Oswald).

The Doctor adjusted his fedora and turned to Dean. "Let's head back to the camp. Before we leave I need to find something".

"What is it?"

"You'll see, follow me" said The Doctor as he darted into the forest with Dean close behind him.