I won't run anymore...

by MidnightFMare

Double sun

The TARDIS lands softly and I check the monitor "We have arrived at Bellatrix! Home of a number of quite genteel lizard-avian species and great dry martinis. Sorry we couldn't go to Betelgeuse, but it is nine times the size of your sun, and is near supernova so... but you can see it quite well on the horizon."

Luna grins "Martinis? Who has time for such sissy drinks? I'll take a draft any day thanks."

Ditzy giggles to herself and nods to the doors "Shall we?"

Luna beams "But of course! Black sandy beaches, here I come!"

---

Luna extends a hoof to me "Credits please."

"Cred- you want me to give you an allowance?!"

She nods "How else am I supposed to sample the local fare? Come now Doctor, you must have a universal credit thingy."

I shake my head "Sorry, I'm not the type to carry money on my person."

"You have a bank account?" Ditzy asks.

"What? No! I don't have any money! I travel in the TARDIS, why would I need any money?"

Luna huffs "Fine, I shall see if I can get some of my bits exchanged for currency. Wonder what the going rate is for gold..."

I sigh "Luna, wait, we need to stick together, nothing good ever happens if we split up."

Ditzy nods "He's right, we're most vulnerable when alone."

Luna sighs "Okay... worrywarts."

---

Luna skips down the beach, black sands shifting in her wake "Now all we need is to get intoxicated on local brews and awaken with no recollection of the evening before saving the world with a hangover!"

I wince "You plan for something bad to happen?"

Luna nods "Murphy's law. And I prefer to deal with things drunk or post drunk. makes it more fun and death-defying."

Ditzy coughs, her muzzle covered with ice cream "No thanks on the drinking Luna, I can't drink."

"And I've never liked alcohol myself." I add and Luna rolls her eyes "Suit yourselves. More... what did they call this?"

"A daiquiri."

"Yes! Daiquiris for the princess of the night!" Ditzy giggles "She's very passionate about her alcohol."

"Hmm... I noticed." I reply, shaking my head.

But there's one thing I haven't noticed...

Luna tosses back her head and shivers "Oh yes, this is good booze. A little weaker than I like for a start, but tasty nonetheless."

I groan "Wonderful, she's a connoisseur."

Ditzy pauses and inspects the sand "Doctor... is this sand actually micro-spherical obsidian?"

I nod "Yes, oddly enough, due to a dark blue cobalt impurity, it doesn't have the same crystal properties as say, black obsidian. You have a good eye for detail."

She blushes "Oh I don't, I've just spent way too much time on beaches with a metal detector. You pick up this kind of knowledge from petrology majors that hang around the coast."

I shake my head "I can't understand why you undermine your own intellect with such modesty, you're brilliant and everyone else can see it, plain as day."

Luna walks up to us and smiles "You... you two should kiss. Like... now."

I blush and shoot her a glare "That's not appropriate Princess Luna!"

Luna shrugs "Just saying. Hey, I saw a towel stand near the end of the beach. I'm gonna go buy us some to lay on. You two... do sciencey or kissy things... I'm gonna get towels and drunk more."

I sigh "Honestly, this is another reason I don't like alcohol. It makes even the most considerate individuals turn into obnoxious children."

Ditzy nods "Right... but there's a saying that my friend Berry Punch told me. 'Alcohol makes you say what your heart truly feels.' Of course, she runs the only bar in Ponyville so... it might just be marketing."

I snort "I've heard similar from a number of people. Come on, let's make sure that Princess Luna doesn't hurt herself."

---

I sigh, watching the suns set "This is something that I'd always wanted to do, just sit back and not have to worry about anything."

Ditzy smiles "Yeah, no deliveries, no monsters in town, no nothing. Peace and quiet."

"Agreed, I may've been conscious for a small part of my banishment, but that doesn't mean it was vacation. Hey Doctor, how come we can see two suns?"

"Well, Betelgeuse is 12th brightest star you can see in the night sky, whereas Bellatrix is 27th. We see both stars at the same time because they are relatively close and directly across from each other, the shoulders of Orion the hunter."

"Hm, How do you measure that? I just make charts and my telescopes aren't... digital."

I grein "Trust me, I have a number of books that could better explain it to you, I actually was the one who showed Galileo where Saturn was, of course, he still thought it was three planets instead of one with a ring of dust and ice. Nice guy, bad breath and hated church."

Ditzy holds up some sand to the sun "You know... if this has a blue impurity, it might be worth melting into glass. Who knows, it could make pretty stained glass."

I snort "It's already glass, but maybe it could. I've found obsidian to only be useful as an edge for a knife or a scalpel myself."

Luna snorts "Aye, but it isn't very strong or shock resistant, is it? Good for cutting the inert, bad for slicing the enemy. Trust me, I've tried."

Ditzy smiles and looks around the boardwalk and various darkened shops that line the coast "... Is this planet inhabited?"

Luna shrugs, sipping her drink "Planet-wide vacation?"

"No, I've been here before, and it was brimming with locals and tourists. Besides, the sun is a blue supergiant and the planet doesn't have any actual tilt to it, it's mid-summer, early fall here all of the time except when between Betelgeuse and Bellatrix, then it's off the seasonal markets for a whole two months. But... you're right, how did you get the towels and the drinks, Luna?"

"Automated vendors, I swiped my credit wand and I got my orders."

I tap my chin in thought "We arrived near the end of the time before it's in range for both stars, There aren't any tourists, no locals, and automated dispensers... something was planned so that no one could be here, but they made it possible for tourists to get fare and necessities..."

Luna walks over to me and offers her drink "Come on Doctor, drink and live a little."

I shake my head "No, I don't drink. What could have made them plan to leave, bar tourists, yet still have marketable, though automated, fare? Think, Doctor, Think..."

"Maybe it's for extremophile aliens to be able to enjoy the scenery?" Ditzy says, looking at the sunsets "Sure is pretty."

"Doctor..." Luna whispers, leaning down to my level.

Ditzy and I turn to her "Yes?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong... but I think those 'quite genteel lizard-avians', are drooling blood and coming our way."

I turn and groan "This is why I can never have a nice thing."

It was true, their normally transparent feathery scales are dulled and stained by blue-black ooze coming from their mouths, they shuffled as if their joints had been frozen and were still thawing. Dead, glassy eyes above withered beaks stare back at us, like old fish at market.

"... Run!" Ditzy yells, taking flight.

Luna nods and throws me onto her back "Hold on Doctor!"

I barely manage a response when she extends her wings and takes off, spraying blackish sand in her wake.

I wrap my hooves around her barrel and she turns to me "Sorry about that Doctor! Fight or flight, you know?"

I shake my head "No problem!"

Ditzy glides over to us and smiles weakly "So much for a vacation..."

Luna laughs "This is what I'd hope would happen! Dealing with a mysterious thing that concerns an entire planet! Playing the meek but eccentric anti-hero and setting things back to working order! This is what I've craved!"

I roll my eyes "That doesn't happen all of the time, just most of it!"

Ditzy turns to look at the beach, the Trixians their name, not mine searching under the towels and tossing the empty cups of alcohol over their shoulders "Has this happened before?"

"No, not that I've ever seen. We need to get back to the TARDIS and figure out what happened."

---

"Well, there aren't any reports on it, so either it just started, or no one has thought to report it. It isn't traditional, local phenomena, that's for sure."

Luna taps her hooves idly "May I make a suggestion?"

I shrug "Sure, I can't figure out what to do unless I have more information."

"I suggest that we go and retrieve a sample of that ooze they were drooling or maybe some feathers? Some sort of tissue or biological sample to find out if it's biological or synthetic in nature."

I clap my hooves "Brilliant idea Princess! Problem though, both of you have avian features, and if it's biological, it could jump from them to you and you could end up being carriers of an alien disease or virus and... that wouldn't be good."

Ditzy frowns "He's right Luna, we're both avian, I think that we should let the Doctor fix this by himself."

Luna shakes her head "No, Doctor, you can't expect the two of us to 'sit this one out' just because of some possibility. If it is biological and it does affect us, you're brilliant enough to create a cure or a treatment to stop and reverse it. I have the strongest immune system compared to Derpy, and your Timelord DNA is too unstable to handle specialized pathogens. I'll go get a sample and teleport back outside of the TARDIS. Doctor, are there any hazardous materials suits in the TARDIS?"

I nod "A few airtight space suits from past adventures, but not necessarily hazmat quality."

She smiles "Get us three, if it's airtight, we can sanitize them later. even if it doesn't work, I have the greatest chance to be unaffected."

I bite my lip and sigh in resignation "Fine, I'll go get them. Stay here."

---

Luna steps out of the TARDIS, "Okay, I'm going to go get myself infected for science..."

I roll my eyes, putting my helmet on "Really? You have that little faith in me?"

Ditzy shrugs and a few seconds later, Luna reappears with a full petri dish "Mission accomplished!"

I nod and take it from her and put the dish into the TARDIS's scanner "We'll see what this is soon..."

The Console beeps and the sample ejects, writhing in the dish "... Or immediately."

Turning to the monitor, I read the results and smile "It's contagious!"

"Why are you happy about that Doctor?" Luna asks, cocking her head.

"Because I know what it is!"

Ditzy pokes the dish "A semi-intelligent hive-mind algae bloom?"

"How did you know that? I mean, you couldn't have known that all along!"

"It's on the monitor. It should be safe for us so long as we don't eat it."

Luna removes her helmet "Okay, so how do we stop it? Some type of aerosol?"

I shake my head "No, it's a hive-mind, you need to either eradicate all of it's hosts, or reason with it. It's not the type to listen to reason, so we need to find the core, the patient zero, in a manner of speaking."

"The brain!" Luna gasps "Well where is it?"

I grin and pick up the dish and sonic it "This is going to lead us right to it. Onwards!"

---

The blob jerks right and I turn, Ditzy and Luna flying above me and lifting me whenever I'd run into an infected "We've been going for an hour now! You'd think that we would've found it by now." Luna says, tapping the glass.

"Patience Princess, we should be getting close..." I reply, batting her hoof away "But that begs the question on how we are going to deal with it."

Ditzy grabs me by the shoulders "Found it."

I look up and grimace, a large black-blue mass has enveloped several buildings, a number of blank-eyed citizens milling around like guards "Ah... that seems about right. You two go back to the TARDIS. Ditzy, after five minutes, press the key on the typewriter that says 'Call', and Luna, teleport me outside the TARDIS. I have a plan."

Ditzy shakes her head "No! I'm staying with y-" Luna places a hoof on Ditzy's shoulder "Trust in him. He's going to do something clever. You are going to be clever, aren't you?"

I nod "Of course. Trust in me Ditzy, when we get back to Ponyville, I'll spend a whole day helping with your experiments or whatever you want.

I clear my throat "Hello?"

One of the bird-lizards turns to me "What?"

"Intelligent, okay, rethinking plan... yes, I was wondering why you've... well, invaded."

It stares at me blankly before answering "We are Unitum."

"I'm Time Turner, I'm a traveler and I was enjoying the beach when a number of your... fellow possessed repto-aves attacked me."

"... That is correct, we thought that you were invaders."

"Don't want competition?" I ask.

All of the controlled whip their heads glaring at me "You overstep your welcome Time Turner. Begone from our world."

"Eeeehhh.. no. No, I think I'll stay. Or at least until you explain why you are here, taking control of these innocents."

"We came to spread peace. No wars with one mind, no famine if we are one. Unity is the goal, and Peace is the result."

"But what about coexistence?! Individuality! You've taken away what makes life so beautiful!" I reply, stomping my hoof.

They grit their beaks in unison "That is not beauty. Beauty is creation."

"And you justify it by destroying the minds of innocents? That hardly seems 'peaceful' to me."

"Enough!" they yell in unison "You know not what you speak! We are peaceful, these bodies-"

"Who's body are you in?" I ask and they pause "What?"

"The body you're controlling, who was it before you came along? A mother, a soldier, a businessman, a rapist? Who is your host?"

"It matters not who they were-"

"Then how do you now that you haven't gained control over the one individual that could stop you from being burnt to a crisp by the two suns? Well?"

"The suns do not harm us Time Turner. We shall survive."

I suck my teeth "I wasn't talking to you Unitum. I was talking to your host. You see, the beings here, while natives, are still subject to the elements, the Trixians are going to burn like paper between the two suns, not to mention all the water will evaporate. The soil will harden and blanch, and the planet will dry up. You may survive the heat, but who knows how long until you completely dry out, embedded in the ashes of your hosts or clinging to sunbaked rocks."

"... you are lying."

I shake my head, grinning "Oh you'd like it if I was, wouldn't you? But I speak the truth. You are going to perish just like the hosts you inhabit. If I were you, which thankfully, I'm not, I'd leave this planet and maybe... wait until the planet's only under one sun."

They stare at me uneasily "Why do you help us Time Turner?"

I shrug "I'm not the type to let others die. Can you even eject from the bodies you're in?"

They pause.

I hiss through my teeth "Yeah... that's bad. Ah well, enjoy your life as long as you can, maybe you can build a rocket in... oh say three months? That's about as long as you have."

"Take us with you. You must have a ship."

My sonic starts to beep "Sorry, my people are calling me back to base. It was fun talking to you Unitum, but I must go."

The beeping stops and Luna teleports me to the TARDIS and I cover my mouth, dry heaving "Urgh... I hate teleporting..."

Ditzy pulls me into a hug with surprising strength "Doctor! Don't you know the third rule of space travel?!"

"Uh Earth or Timelord edition?" I ask, blushing from the hug She smells like blueberries... and... juniper. Odd choices- FOCUS!

"'Never confront an alien incursion on an alien planet unless you have been tasked to do so by natives.'" Luna says, watching the monitor "They're leaving their hosts and seem to be burning their tail to achieve escape velocity. How do you propose we stop them?"

I hug Ditzy out of instinct "Simple, we do nothing. The problem will take care of itself. Watch."

A large ship equipped with a number of arms appears with the words "Planetary sanitation" on the sides.

"Is that-"

"Yes, the universe's sanitation workers, or you could call them the hazardous materials handlers of the universe, anyways, they go wherever a planetary infection official tells them to and they gather any alien contaminants or native made waste that has become too dangerous for nature to be rid of." a large container is ejected from the bottom and arms move it forward, shovel arms dragging the mass of Unitum to the box and seal it before placing it back inside the ship itself "The ships are automated with AI and will return the contaminant to the planet of origin or the closest one to it."

Luna whistles "Universal pest control, never thought anything but Daleks would be called that."

I wince and turn to her "What did you say?!"

She blinks and holds up her hooves "I meant nothing by it Doctor! I meant that the Daleks believe the rest of intelligent life to be pestilence!"

I nod "I know, I understand the allusion, what I don't is how you know of the Daleks in the first place."

Her forehead knots in confusion "I read the book, remember? It goes into detail about the Daleks. I may not have ever seen one, but I can understand their pathos to a slight degree."

I groan "Right... well, now what?" I keep forgetting about that... what else does she know?

Ditzy smiles "Maybe the three of us can go have drinks on the beach under the two suns?"

---

"... I've had better daiquiris." I mutter, sipping the aromatic drink.

Luna laughs "Loosen up! We have... how long until they regain consciousness?"

"Until night time, the natives are nocturnal." I reply, relaxing on the towel.

Luna scoots next to me "Was the part about Unitum being incinerated true?"

"Yes, it was, the planet's natives are able to burrow into undersea cavers the fill with water and seal shut with mud. What I said would've happened because the it didn't know the first thing about their physiology."

Luna nods and points her drink at Ditzy who's splashing in the water "She's very cute you know."

I blush slightly "So?"

She grins "I was just thinking... what a cute couple you'd make. The mare who watches the stars, and the stallion who walks among them."

I sigh "She's not the type. Her room was filled with nothing but science textbooks, papers, science fiction novels, and tools. She might be cute, but she isn't the type to fall in love. Nor am I, for that matter."

Luna smirks "You may just be wrong about that." she scoots back and waves Ditzy over.

"Yeah?" Ditzy asks, flying towards us.

"We should head home, don't you think? The suns are about to finish setting and I don't want to be here when they awaken."

She nods and I stand, rolling the towels up "Onwards!"

---

The TARDIS lands within the warehouse and Ditzy hops out "See you tomorrow Doctor!"

I wave to her and close the doors Why did Luna say those things, I wonder? Ah well, probably just drunk off her wits.

Author's Note:

Next time, on Doctor Whooves: I won't run anymore...

Lyra smirks "I want you to know that your presence hasn't gone unnoticed by my people, Doctor."

"What do you mean?" I ask, leveling my gaze at her.

"'Torchwood'. Or at least, as it's called here, 'Flame Brand'. They gather and research chronomalies like your self. Things too advanced to exist where they are found, alien artefacts, and record it all. I believe you know of the ones back on Earth?"

I shiver "Yes, and I also know that they were destroyed."

"On Earth, yes, but this is not earth. You see, they ejected their files through time to try and preserve their legacy. I found the records in a capsule years ago. I don't want to hurt you doctor, we just want to go to the past to be with humanity. That's all."

The windows smash inwards and several ponies in suits and black sunglasses barge in, concussive heat blasters in their hooves "Freeze!"