> The Angels Take Manehattan
>  by Steve Stevenson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Sam Garner 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I crack my neck and sit down at the typewriter. I never thought my life would come to this. All my days I had spent being a private eye, getting my hooves dirty to keep the big guys hooves clean. I never thought my life would get this screwed up. I look around my small room, the room I’d have to spend the rest of my sad equine life in.
"Come on Sam, at least you get to live" I think to myself, but I know it's a lie. I start to type:
New York, the city of a million stories. Half of them are true, the other half just haven't happened yet. My story begins many years from now, when I accepted a job from a man by the name of Grayle. I walked into his office.
"Statues," the man said. "Living statues, that moved in the dark." I thought he was crazy.
"So, will you take the case Mr. Garner?" he asked me, placing the money on his desk in front of me.
"Sure, why not?" I replied sarcastically. A smile spread across Mr. Grayle's face that I didn't like.
"Because you don't believe me." he retorted.
"For 25 bits a day plus expense, I’ll believe any damn thing you like." I answered, itching to get my hooves on that money.
"But you don't believe statues can move."
I stood in front of him, speechless.
He smirked. "And you're right, Mr. Garner, they can't. Of course they can't" he chuckled. The smirk disappeared from his face and he turned to the window. "When you’re looking."
"Good night Mr. Grayle." I say, and start to leave, taking the money with me.
The address Grayle gave me was an apartment block near Battery Park. He said it was where the statues lived. I asked him why he didn't go looking himself, he didn't answer. Grayle was the scariest guy I knew, if something scared him, I kinda wanted to shake its hoof. I walked up to the Winter Quay, stopping before I entered. People in the building were watching me, as if they knew why I was there. I ignored this, and went to knock on the door. They opened before I even lift a hoof to knock. Something about this place gave me the creeps, but I needed the extra dough. I walked in, the doors closing behind me.
"Hello?" I called, but no one answered. Suddenly, the lift came down, and its doors opened right in front of me. I slowly trotted in; making sure the area was safe. Before I could even touch a button, the lift took off, ascending me upwards. The lift stopped about three to four flights up, and I stepped out. I slowly walked down the hall, reading the names on the doors. I stopped at 702, and read the name, but something wasn't right. My initials were written above the ringer. The door opened, and I walked in. "Hello? Any pony home?" I called. I stopped at the coat rack. The hat was identical to mine, and so was the coat. A wallet was lying on the little coffee table, and I slipped one of the cards out. I gasped. The card I was holding was worn, and beaten, but it was unmistakably mine. I heard a man grunt in the other room.
"Hello?" I called, and I placed the card on the table. I knocked on the door to the other room, and it creaked open. An old man lay on his deathbed, keeping his face in the shadows.
"Who are you?" I asked as gruff as I could.
"They’re comin for you" he wheezed, "They’re gonna send you back."  
"Who’s comin? Back were?" I questioned.
"In time. Back in time. I'm you." he answered, and pulled his face out of the shadows.
"I'm you." he said again. I took one hoof back, and he breathed out. He didn't take another breath. I trotted out of the room, and into the hallway. My heart stopped. A Pegasus statue in robes made of stone was waiting there, hands off of its face. I heard the lift ding and I swung my head around toward it. Another one was in the lift! I turned back towards the other one, pulling out my gun. It had moved closer! That crazy man Grayle was telling the truth! The two were closing in on me, each moving when I looked away. I opened the stair doors, and headed down as fast as I could, but there were more, heading towards me!! I cantered up the stairs, my heart pumping at an alarming rate. I threw the door to the roof open, and closed it behind me. I heard a crashing metal hoof step of sorts, but I kept running. I ran to the edge of the roof, looking over at the cars. There was no way out. I was trapped!! The crashing hoof steps stopped, and I slowly turned around. There, on the other side of the building, was mare liberty herself, mouth wide open, revealing a nasty a mouth of teeth.
"You gotta be kidding me." I said. I was gonna die on that death bed, on this date. That is, if it wasn't for the Roman and his bride.
> New York
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"New York Growls at my window, but I was ready for it. My stocking seams were straight, my lipstick combat-ready, and I was packing heat that could fell an ox at 20 feet..."
"Doctor, you're doin it again." Amy said to him, looking up from her newspaper.
"I'm reading!" he exclaimed, looking back at her.
"Aloud. Please could you not?" She asked him, looking through her spectacles at her paper.
He turned and faced her, obviously disappointed.
"There’s something different about you, isn't there?" he simply stated, looking into her eyes.
"What's the book?" Rory asked hooves on his stomach. The Doctor seemed distracted, and turned back to his book.
"Melody Malone. She's a private detective in old town New York." he answered.
"She’s got ice in her heart and a kiss on her lips and a vulnerable side she keeps well hidden." Amy mocked.
"Oh, you've read it?" the Doctor asked.
"No, you read it. aloud." she said, pushing her spectacles up her long face, "Then you went 'Yowzah!'"
"You know, only you could fancy someone in a book." Rory said, leaning up off the grass in his direction.
"I'm just reading. I just like the cover." doctor complained, situating himself into a comfortable position again.
"Ooh! Can I see the cover?" Amy asked, leaning towards his book.
"No. No. I'm busy." he said, scooting back from her praying hooves. He took a good look at her.
"It's your mane. Is it your mane?" he asked, taking a couple of sniffs.
"Oh shut up," she said, situating her spectacles on her face, "it's the glasses. I wear reading glasses, on my nose. See? There you go." she finished impatiently.
"I don't like them. They make your eyes look all liney." he stated, taking a good look at her. He lifted her glasses, and quickly placed them back on her eyes.
"No, actually. Sorry. They're fine. Carry on."
Rory got a face of worry. "Okay. I'm going to and get us more coffee. Who wants more coffee? Me too.  I'll go!" he said, getting up as quick as he could.
"Rory?" Amy called. He stopped dead in his tracks, not daring to turn around. "Do I have noticeable lines on my eyes now?"
"Ye-." the doctor started, but he was quickly cut off by Rory's "No."  
"You didn't look." she said, tilting her head to the side.
"I noticed them earlier... Didn't, notice them. I specifically remember not noticing them." he quickly corrected.
"You're welcome on the fire pit, Centurion." she thanked.
"Do I uh, have to come over there?" he asked.
"You can if you like." she replied.
"Well, we have company."
"I’ll get a babysitter." she flirted. Rory kissed her, and the Doctor let out a sigh in disgust.
"Do you know it is so humiliating when you do that." he said, plopping his book down in aggravation.
"Coffee?" Rory asked.
"Coffee." Amy returned to her newspaper, and the Doctor returned to his book.
"Can I have a go?" the doctor asked Amy, soon after Rory left. She put down her paper, and he took the reading glasses off her face and put it on his own. He squinted for a while, and then remarked "Actually that is much better. That is exciting" Amy laughed.
She held her hind legs, and huddled up next to him.
"Read to me." she asked.
"I thought you didn't like my reading aloud." he remarked.
"Shut up and read me a story. Just don't go 'Yowzah.'" she demanded. He laughed and ripped out the last page with his mouth.
"Why did you do that?" she asked.
"Oh I always rip out the last page of a book. Then it doesn't have to end. I hate endings." he replied. He placed the page into the picnic basket, and began reading: "As I crossed the street, I saw the thin guy. But he didn't see me. I guess that’s how it began. I followed the skinny guy for two more blocks before he turned, and I could ask exactly what he was doing here. He looked a little scared, so I gave him my best smile and bluest eyes." he stopped, looking at Amy.
"Beware the Yowzah!" she joked, “do not, at this point, yowz." the smile on the face of the Doctor disappeared, and he read to himself. Amy looked over his shoulder. "Doctor? What did the skinny guy say?" she asked nervously.
The doctor took of the glasses. "He said, "I just went to go get coffees for the Doctor and Amy. Hello, river."
> The Mistake 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rory was walking through central park, balancing the coffees for Amy and the Doctor on his back. He walked past a fountain with little angel colts around it. He walked under the bridge, and stopped dead canter. He swore he heard something. He turned around, and looked at the sculpture. They all look normal, except for one, which mouth had changed to wide open. He ignored it, and turned back around. There it was again!! He stopped and looked around. He swore he had heard a distorted baby! He continued walking, and before he could blink, he was walking on Main Street, in the middle of the night!
"What the!" he questioned to the darkness. He continued walking. He had gone a block or two before he stopped. Some pony was following him. He turned and faced the stranger.
"What are you doing here?" the stranger asked.
"I just went to go get coffees for the Doctor and Amy." he squinted and looked under the stranger’s tilted hat, to see a curly mane.
"Hello, River." he greeted. She lifted up her face, and looked at him.
"Hello, dad." she responded.
"Where am I? How in the hoof did I get here?" he asked, scared now.
"I haven't the faintest idea, but you'll probably want to put your hooves up." she said as calmly as she could. He turned around to find a gun pointed right in his face. He quickly put his hooves in the air.
"Melody Malone?" A Zebra asked behind River.
"You’re Melody?" Rory exclaimed. A car pulled up, and the stallions pushed them in.
"What is going on? How did I get here?" he asked River once they were in the car. River said nothing, just let the two sit in silence.
"You didn't come here in the TARDIS obviously." she whispered.
"Why?" he asked.
"You couldn't have." she replied, looking at him, "The city is full of time-distortions. Be impossible to land the TARDIS here. Like trying to land a plane in a blizzard, even I couldn't do it."
They drove past an alley, and saw a strange object bounce off the sky. It had to be the TARDIS.
"Well how did you get here?" Rory asked. River lifted up her hoof, showing her father a bulky watch of sorts.
"Vortex Manipulator," she explained, "Less bulky than a TARDIS. A motorbike through traffic. You?" Rory looked out the window.
"I'm not sure." he replied.
The car pulled up to a building, and they were pulled out of the car. The stallions unlocked nine locks before the door finally opened. They walked in, and were confronted by a set of stairs. River looked at a vase to the side of her.
"Early Chin dynasty I’d say." she said.
"Correct. Are you an archaeologist as well as a detective?" a voice asked above them. A fat pony in a suit made his way down the stairs.
"Early Chin, just as you say. You’re very well informed." he said, trying to sound as impressive as he could.
"And you’re very afraid." River spat back, "that’s an awful lot of locks for one door."
The fat pony looked behind over his shoulder at the door. Rory pushed the newspaper around with his nose, and looked up at the pot. The symbols jumbled around, and read "rapture of summer."
"River, I’m translating!" he called out, shocked.
"It's a gift from the TARDIS. It hangs around." she replied, walking towards him. The fat stallion walked towards him.
"This one, put him somewhere... uncomfortable." he spoke to his Hench men.
"With the babies’ sir?" the zebra asked.
"Yes, why not? Give him to the babies." the stallion replied, a sickening smile spreading across his face. The zebra put his hoof on Rory’s shoulder, and lead him to a dark basement. He threw Rory down the steps, causing him to land with a horrible thud. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a box of matches, throwing them to Rory.
"The lights are out, you'll last longer with these." he said
"What do you care?" Rory asked. The zebra just smiled.
"Its funnier." he said. The zebra left, submerging Rory in darkness. For a while, all was silent, until he heard an all too familiar sound. He listened, and confirmed his fears: the baby sounds that he had heard before he was teleported to this nightmare. He fumbled for his matches, holding a single match in his lips. The room was lit up, and he looked around him. There, on the floor, were three colt angles, all looking like they were wrestling. He walked closer, and leaned down towards them. The fire reached his lip, and he spit it out, quickly staggering back in pain. He lit another match, and gasped in shock. The colts were on their feet, and were heading towards him!! He dropped his match, and lit another one as quick as he could. He heard little hoof steps heading towards him. He lit the match and looked at them. They were running at him!!! He kept dropping his matches and relighting them. Each time a match went on they were closer, and each time it went out, the sounds started. He was down to his last match, his back against the wall. He struck it on the box and looked around. He looked to his left, and one of the little colt statues was right next to him! Its lips were in a blowing position, and his match started to waver.
"This is it. Im dead." he thought, and the match went out.
> The Weeping Pegasus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The Weeping Pegasus?" Amy echoed.
"That makes sense!" the Doctor exclaimed, extinguishing the burn marks on the side of the TARDIS.
"Makes what?" She asked.
"That’s what happened to Rory. That’s what The Pegasus do! That’s there preferred form of attack. They zap you back in time, let you live to death." he explained.
"Well, we've got a time machine. We can just go and get him." Amy replied.
"Well, we've tried that if you haven't noticed!! And we are back where we started in 2012!!" he said, aggravated now.
"We didn't start in a graveyard. What are we doing?" she replied, trying to soothe his nerves.
"Don’t know. Probably causally linked somehow. Doesn't matter! Extractor fans on!" he yelled into the TARDIS. The fans started with a loud WHOOSH! And he continued on his work.
"Well, we're going to get there somehow. We’re in the rest of the book." Amy said, adjusting her glasses.
"I'm what?" The Doctor looked around the edge of the TARDIS.
"Page 47, you're going to break something." she replied.
"I'm what?"  
"'Why do you have to break mine?' I asked the Doctor. He frowned and said, 'Because Amy read it in a book and now I have no choice." she continued. The Doctor rushed over to her, and ripped the book out of her hooves.
"Stop! No no Stop! You can't... you can't read ahead. You mustn't, and-and you can't do that." He panted.
"But we've already been reading it!" she retorted.
"Just the stuff that’s happening now, in parallel with us. That’s as far as we go." he commanded. She looked back at him in defiance.
"It could help us find Rory."
"And if you read ahead and find that Rory dies?"  
"This isn't any old future, Amy. It's ours. Once we know what's coming, it's fixed. I'm going to break something because you told me that I'm going to do it. No choice now."
"Time can be rewritten." Amy tried to argue.
"Not once you've read it." they both stopped arguing and fell silent. The Doctor rushed into the TARDIS, Amy close behind. He jumped unto the council and got straight to work.
"Okay, landing a plane in a tiny-winey blizzard, I could push through. But if I'm out by one nanosecond the engines will phase and I'll shatter the planet." he thought aloud. He looked down at Amy with a Smile on his face. "I need landing lights."
"Landing lights?" she echoed.  
"Yes, I need a signal to lock onto. What did she say? Early what dynasty?" he asked. Amy picked the book up and flipped a couple pages back.
"Early Chin." she responded. The Doctor let out a laugh of joy, and hopped down from the council.
"Hold on Pond, I'm about to be brilliant!" he exclaimed, flipping a couple of switches and turning the wibbly lever. The TARDIS roared to life, starting with a jump. With in no time the landed, and Amy and the Doctor rushed out of the TARDIS. They appeared to be in a small pottery shop, which could hold a maximum of seven people. One of the workers stopped and gasped. The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and held it in front of the stallions face.
"Special permission from the emperor. He wants a custom vase." he stated. The man nodded and walked over to one of the vases in progress and pointed.
"Ah yes, that will do just fine, just make sure to write 'Yowzah' across the bottom." he said, and walked back into the TARDIS.
"Now all we have to do pond, is wait." he explained. And that’s exactly what they did. Wait for the ragittiy Doctors plan come together.
> Wait Till my Husband Gets Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Walk with me, Mrs. Malone."  The Fat pony told River. Being the smart mare she was, she didn't argue with the stallion, just followed him into the next room.
"My name is Julius Grayle, but you will call me Mr. Grayle." the stallion, now known to her as Grayle, informed. She took off her jacket and looked at all the ancient vases and pots. One in particular caught her eye. It was a juts like the others except for in one aspect: the words. For, instead of a simple 'morning sunrise' or 'dawn of dragon', the words 'Yowzah' were written across the bottom.
"Hello Sweetie!" she exclaimed, and turned around to speak to the stallion. "Let’s see, a crime boss with a collecting fetish." she mocked, walking over to a curtain.
"Whatever you don't want anypony else to see has got to be your favorite." she flirted, putting a hoof on a draw string. "Or possibly... Your mare friend." she pulled the drawstring, revealing a weeping Pegasus. This one was different, though. Unlike most, whose faces look as if they were carved perfectly, this one’s face was mutilated, like someone had taken a chisel to it.
"So, mare friend then?" she asked, flipping the top of her Vortex manipulator back and began typing.
"What are you doing?" Mr. Grayle asked.
"Oh, you know, texting a colt." she replied, just putting the 'H' in 'YOWZAH'. She faced the statue, not daring to look away now.
"These things are all over and people don't seem to notice them. It never moves while you're looking." Grayle informed her. She didn't dare look at him.
"Oh I know how they work." she spat back.
"So I understand. Melody Malone, the detective that investigates Angels."
"Badly damaged." she assessed.
"I wanted to know if it could feel pain." Grayle Explained.
"You realize it's screaming? The others can hear it." she replied. She turned and looked at him. "Is that why you need all the locks?" instead of responding to her, Grayle flipped the lights off and back on. River felt pain in her wrist, and saw that the Pegasus now had her wrist in its hooves.
"You’re going to tell me all about these creatures." Grayle ordered in a low tone. "And you're going to do it quickly."  
"Ok, fine. You win. They’re called the weeping Pegasus. They are quantum locked, which means if they are seen they are immediately turned to stone. The Pegasus are predators. They're deadly. What do you want with them?" she asked, not daring to look away.
"I'm a collector. What collector could resist these? [I’m only human]." he chuckled.
"That's exactly what they're thinking." she whispered. Suddenly, an electrical sound buzzed from the other room.
"What's that? What’s happening? Is it an earthquake?" Grayle asked. River just smiled. He walked into the other room.
"What is it?"
River laughed. "Oh you bad colt, you could burn Manehattan."
"What does that mean?" he yelled at her.
"It means, Mr. Grayle, just you wait till my husband comes home." The TARDIS landed, making a shock wave that threw Mr. Grayle back, knocking him unconscious.
> The Roman in the Cellar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The monitor on the TARDIS rang, and the Doctor jumped to his hoofs, looking at the screen. Amy followed, seeing the long anticipated 'Yowzah.'
"Landing lights! We have a signal, locking on." the Doctor exclaimed excitedly. He flipped a switch, and pulled down a lever, causing the TARDIS to throw them about. With one hoof the Doctor grabbed the council, and the other he grabbed Amy.
"HOLD ON!!" he shouted to her, and ran to the blue stabilizers. It bounced about for a moment, and then landed with a loud boom.
Amy headed for the door, but the Doctor remand on the other side of the TARDIS.
"Come on!" she called.
"Just a moment. Final checks." he replied.
Amy scoffed. "Since when?"
He ignored her question and fixed his bowtie. He licked his hooves and set his mane in the right position. They walked out and Amy immediately took to the stairs. The Doctor walked over to a limp, stallion body. He looked into the room next to him, and was filled with delight. His wife was standing there, as if waiting for him.
"Sorry I’m late honey. Traffic was hell." he joked. She laughed and looked at him with longing eyes. He reached down and touched the stallion on the neck, seeing if he was still alive.
"Shock." he stated, "he'll be fine."
"Not if I can get loose." she steamed back. He walked over, fixing his bowtie and his mane once more, and assessed the situation.
"So where are we now, Dr. Song?" he asked, "How's prison?"
"Oh I was pardoned ages ago. And its Professor Song to you." she replied. The Doctor got a grim look on his face. Their time together was running out, and fast.
"Turns out the pony I killed never existed in the first place." she continued, "Apparently there’s no record of him. It's almost as if somepony has gone around deleting himself from every database in the universe."
"Mmm, you said I got too big." he muttered, tapping her nose with the tip of his hoof.
"And now no ponies ever heard of you. Didn’t you used to be somepony?"
“well, aren't you the mare who killed the Doctor?" he questioned.
"Doctor who?" she joked. He laughed and scanned the Pegasus statue with his sonic.
"She’s holding you very tight." he stated.
"At least she didn't send me back in time." she responded.
"I doubt she's strong enough."
"Well I need a hoof back!" River replied aggregately. Amy appeared in the doorway just in time to hear River say: “so which is it going to be? Are you going to break my wrist, or hers?" The Doctor frowned.
"Oh, no. Really? Why do you have to break mine?" she moaned.
"Because Amy read it in a book. And now I have no choice." The Doctor looked back at Amy. "You see?"
"Well what book?" River asked. The Doctor pulled the book out of his coat pocket.
"Your book, which you haven't written yet, so we can't read." he showed her the cover.
"I see. I don't like the cover much." she responded.
Amy chimed in: "But if River's going to write that book, she'd make it useful, yeah?"
"Well, I’ll certainly try." she replied, "but we can't read ahead, it's too dangerous."
"I know," Amy started, "but there must be something we can look at."
The Doctor dropped the book on his lap, and replied aggregately "What, a page of handy hints, previews, spoiler free?"
Amy contemplated this for a second, and then responded confidently, "Chapter titles."
The Doctor perked up, and flipped through the book. he read the titles: 'chapter 1 The Dying detective, chapter 2 The angels take Manehattan, chapter 3 missing in new York, chapter 4 taking the case, chapter 5 night in the statutes park, chapter 6 the gargoyle, chapter 7 the skinny guy, chapter 8 Julius Grayle, chapter 9 calling the Doctor, chapter 10 the roman in the cellar.' he slammed the book shut and looked up
"He’s in the cellar." he stated.
"Gimme." Amy demanded, and the Doctor threw her his sonic. She rushed off, and the Doctor got out of his seat and kissed his wife on the cheek. He was almost out the door, before he stopped.
"Doctor? Doctor what's wrong. Tell me." River asked, but he didn't answer. He should have never read chapter titles. His eyes landed on chapter 12: Amelia's last farewell. He balanced himself on a chair with his hoof, and started breathing harder.
"Okay, I know that face. Calm down. Talk to me. DOCTOR!!" she shouted, but he wasn't listening. He threw the book and yelled, angry now. He grabbed his mane with his hoof.
"NO!! NO!!" he exclaimed, beating the furniture. He walked close, and whispered, "You get your wrist out. You get your wrist out without breaking it!"
"How?"
"I DON'T KNOW! JUST DO IT!! CHANGE THE FUTURE!!" he yelled, and stormed out of the room. He made it to the cellar, just in time to see Amy approaching three colt statues. He ran up behind her.
"No!! There Pegasus!" he warned her.
"Did they get Rory? Where is he? Did they take him?" she asked frantically.
"Yes, I think so. Yes." he replied sadly. Suddenly, a strange giggling started, and the two slowly backed out, making sure not to let their eyes off of the statues. They made their way back to the steps, Doctors hoof on Amy shoulder. She sat down, devastated. The Doctor paced the floor in anger.
"So is this how it’s going to happen? We just keep chasing him back in time and they keep pulling him further back?" she asked. The Doctor was about to respond, but River took his moment. "He isn't back in time. I'm reading a displacement, but there are no temporal markers. He’s been moved in space, but not in time. And it's not too far from here by the look of it."
A wide smile came across the Doctors face.
"You got out." he muttered.
"So, where is he?" Amy asked. River tapped her scanner, and began looking.
The Doctor grew impatient. "Come on come on come on!! Where is he!?”
"If it was that easy, I would get you to do it!" she replied.
"But how did you get your hoof out without breaking it?"
"You asked, I did. Problem?" she asked. He laughed
"You just changed the future!!"
"Yes, it's called marriage, honey. Now hush, I’m working." she replied.
He sat down next to Amy like a four year old who was just told he was going to Disney for the first time.
"AH! Where ever it is, it's within a few blocks. There’s a car out front, should we steal it?" she told asked.
The Doctor chuckled. "Show me!" he exclaimed, and grabbed her hoof. She let out a yelp of pain, and stepped back. The Doctor looked at her hoof. It was turned the wrong way. It was broken.
> Winter Quay 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amy stood, tapping in numbers on the tracking device while the doctor sat with his wife.
"Why did you lie to me?"
River sat for a while, and contemplated for a while.
"When one is married to an ageless god who insists on the face of a twelve-year-old, one does one's best to hide the damage." she recited, as if speaking a well known proverb. He gently picked up her hoof, and held it in his.
"It must hurt." he whispered.
"Yes. The hoof is pretty bad too." The Doctor looked at her in pain, as if she had stabbed him, but she didn't look back. He rubbed her hoof, and it started to glow.
"No. no no no, you stop that. STOP IT!" she hissed in pain. But before she could finish, her hoof was healed.
"There you go." he responded, kissing her hoof, "Hows that?"
"Well, let’s see shall we?" and she slapped him, "that was a stupid waste of regeneration energy! Nothing is gained by you being a sentimental idiot!"
"River!"
"Oh! You embarrass me!" and she stormed out the building. Amy took her glasses off and walked up to the Doctor.
"Tell you what, stick to the science part." she slammed the two gadgets in his lap, and walked out after River.
The Mother and Daughter stood in silence for a while.
"Okay, why did you lie?" Amy asked. River stood, not looking at her mom.
"Never let him see the damage." Amy walked up and rubbed her shoulder. River turned to her mom.
"And never let him see you age. He doesn't like endings." River informed. Before Amy could say anything, The Doctor was outside.
"Got him! He’s in a place called Winter Quay." he called. They hopped in the car out front, and zoomed of, weaving their way around the city. They pulled up to an apartment complex.
"Why would they send him here? Why not zap him back in time like they normally do?" River asked, slamming the car door behind her.
"We'll know that when we know what this place is." the Doctor replied. They ran up to the building, ready to burst through the doors. But before they had even raised a hoof to open them, they swung open. They rushed to the lift, but it was all ready there, waiting for them. They all piled in, and it zoomed up. It stopped in front of a large hallway full of doors.
"Rory?" Amy called.
"He's close." River responded, close behind her mother. The Doctor, of course, wasn't listening to the two of them. He was too busy paying attention to the Pegasus statue at the end of the hall. Amy turned into a room, and found Rory, and hugged him. Just as the Doctor and River were about to enter the room, the lights flickered. The Pegasus at the end of the hall was smiling!! The Doctor stopped River, and lifted his hoof towards it.
"Why is it smiling?" she asked. He said nothing, but looked at the door. Rory's initials were written on the buzzer!!
"AMY! RORY!!" The Doctor yelled, and rushed into the small apartment.
"Get out of here!! Don’t look at anything!!" he hurriedly spat, but it was too late. They were already looking into the next room.
"Who’s that?" Amy asked, and walked towards the stallion lying on the bed.
"Amy. Amy please..." he wheezed. She slowly walked towards him, not saying a word. She slipped her hoof in his, and a horrible realization came over her.
"Rory?" she whispered. He nodded his head, and coughed. Amy turned her head back to her still youthful husband.
"He's you."  
Rory turned away. He couldn't watch.
The old Rory panted, and with his last breath, he muttered the one word that had kept him alive for all those years. "Amy."
And he leaned back down on his pillow, and breathed no more. Rory Williams was dead.
> Don't Blink
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This place is policed by Pegasus." The Doctor explained, pausing now. "Every time you try to escape, you get zapped further back in time."
"So this place belongs to Pegasus? They built it?" Amy asked, obviously confused.
"Displacing someone back in time creates time energy. That’s what the Pegasus feed on." he explained, looking out the window, "But normally, it's a one-off, a hit-and-run. But if they could keep hold their victims, feed off their time energy over and over again...." he paused, and turned towards them. "This place is a farm. A battery farm. How many Pegasus in the city?" he asked River.
"It's like they've taken over every statue in the city." she replied.
"Yeah, the Angels take Manehattan because they can. Because they've never had a food source like this one. The city that never sleeps." a loud metal clang sound was heard from outside.
"What was that?" Rory asked.
"I don't know, but I think they're coming for you." the Doctor replied. They all stood there, speechless.
"What does that mean?" Rory asked. The doctor sat down in a red chair near by. "What's going to happen to me? What is physically going to happen?" The Doctor rubbed his face with his hooves, and then responded:
"The Pegasus will come for you. They'll zap you back in time to this very spot, 30, 40 years ago. And you will live out the rest of your life in that room. Until you die in that bed." silence fell over the room, except for the clang sound in the distance.
"And will Amy be there?" Rory continued.
"No." The Doctor said in a hushed and reverend tone. 
"How do you know?" Amy chimed in.
"Because he was so pleased to see you again." The Doctor replied.
"Okay, well they haven't taken me yet." Rory confidentially stated. "What if I just run?" he asked, the confidence completely gone. "What if I just get the hell out of here? Then that never happened!"
"It already has Rory! You've just witnessed your own future!!" he exclaimed.
"Doctor, he's right!" River chimed in.
"No he isn't!" The Doctor retorted 
"If Rory got out, it would create a paradox." River explained. The loud crashing sound got louder.
"Okay, what is that?" Amy asked, but her question was ignored.
"This is the Pegasus's food source. The paradox poisons the well. It could kill them all. Oh, this place would literally un-happen."
"It would be almost impossible." he replied.
"Loving the almost." River smirked.
"But to create a paradox like that takes almost unimaginable power. What have we got, hey? Tell me. Come on, what?" Amy walked up and put her hooves in Rory's.
"I won't let them take him. That's what we got." The crashing got louder, as if it was right next to the building. Rory looked out the window.
"Whatever that thing is, it's getting closer."
The Doctor turned to Rory, and put his hooves on his shoulders. "Rory, Even if you got out, you'd have to keep running the rest of your life. They would be chasing you forever."
Amy walked towards the door, and put her hooves on the knob.
"Well then, we'd better get started.'' and she flung open the door, revealing a Pegasus, frozen in attack mode.
"Husband, run!" she called back. He grabbed her hoof, and they bolted out the door. The Doctor ran up and whispered to his wife: "River, I’m not sure this is going to work."
"Shut up husband." and she grabbed his hoof and started to run. The lights went off, then back on, and the Pegasus was closer. The lights flickered again, and they were right over them!
-------------------------
Amy and Rory started down the stairs, but the angels were coming up!
"Up!" Amy demanded.
"What good is up?"
"Uhhh, better than down!" she stammered, and bolted up the stairs. Rory burst through the roof access door, and stood, looking over the edge. He felt a dark presence behind him. He slowly turned, and gasped at the sight he saw. The Statue of Liberty was right in front of him, about to attack!! Amy rushed to his side.
"I always wanted to visit the Statue of Liberty. I guess she got impatient." Rory joked. He stood there, panting, and then rushed behind Amy.
"What? What is it? What?" she questioned, not looking away from the Statue of Liberty.
"Just keep your eyes on that!" he shouted, and rushed to the edge.
"Is there a way down?" Amy asked.
"No, but there’s a way out." he replied. He stepped onto the ledge, and faced the Lady Liberty.
"What are you doing?" she asked, still not looking back.
"Rory! What are you doing?" she called again. She looked back, and saw him on the ledge.
"Rory. Stop it, you'll die!" she tried to reason.
"Yeah, twice." he replied, "In the same building, on the same night. Who else could do that?"
"Just come down." she responded, tears starting to stream from her eyes.
"This is the right thing to do. This will work. If I die now, it's a paradox. Right? The paradox killed the Pegasus. Tell me I’m wrong." she didn't say anything.
"Go on, please, because I’m really scared." she still said nothing.
"Great. The one time you couldn't manage It." he murmured, and almost fell off. She grabbed him, and made sure he stayed stable. He grabbed her left hoof in his, and held them tightly.
"Amy," he said, and placed her hoof on his chest. "I’m going to need a little help here." and he started to fall back. She grabbed his shirt. "No, just stop it!" she cried.
"No! Think it through. This will work. This will kill the Pegasus." he replied.
"It will kill you too." she started.
"Will it? River said this place would be erased from time. Never exist. But if this place never existed, what did I fall off of?"
"You think you'll just come back to life?" she said through gritted teeth.
"When don't I" he replied rather pridefully.
"Rory!"
"And anyway, what else is there? Die of old age downstairs, never see you again? Amy. Please. If you love me, then trust me and push." he said. She stood there, not doing anything but looking up at him.
"I can't." she said after a moment silence.
"You have to!" he shouted.
"Could you? If it was me. Could you do it?" she asked.  
"To save you, I could do anything.'" he answered. She let go of his shirt, and got onto the ledge with him. She looked him dead in the eyes.
"Prove it."
"No! I can't take you too!" he whispered.
"You said we'd come back to life. Money where your mouth is this time." she replied, and put his hooves on her hips.
"Together or not at all."  
"What the hell are you doing?" the Doctor's voice said behind them.
"Changing the future." Amy replied, staring into her husband’s green eyes for what might be the last time, "it’s called marriage."  And with that the two leaned off the edge, plummeting towards the ground.
> Amelia's Last Farewell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They all woke up with a start, panting.
"Where are we?" Rory asked upon waking up.
"Back where we started. You collapsed the timeline, the paradox worked!! We all pinged back where we belong!!" the Doctor shouted enthusiastically.
"What? In a graveyard?" Rory asked.
"This happened last time. Why always here?" Amy questioned.
"Does it matter?!? We got lucky! We could have blown New York off the planet!! I can't ever take the TARDIS back though, the timelines are to scrambled." he rambled, and then sighed in relief. "I could have lost you both." and he hugged them. "Don't. Ever. Do that. again." he whispered.
"What did... What did we do? We fixed it, we solved the problem." Rory explained.
"I was talking to myself." he muttered, and rushed back to the TARDIS. They laughed, and followed him.  
"It could do with a repaint." River informed, looking at its edges. The Doctor stopped scrubbing and leaned up.
"I've been busy."
"Does the light bulb on top need changing?" she asked.
"Just changed it." he replied.  
"Doctor?" Rory called. The Doctor laughed, and Rory continued. "Next time could we just go to the pub?"
"I want to go to the pub right now! Aren't there video games there? I love video games."
"Right, family outing then." River said, and followed the Doctor into the TARDIS. Amy followed, but Rory was interested by a certain grave stone. Something didn't seem right about it. His name was on it.
"Amy! Come see this." he called, and she walked back out.  
"What?"
"There’s a gravestone here for somepony with the same name as me."
"What?" she laughed, But Rory disappeared. A Pegasus statue stood where Rory used to be, one hoof outstretched.
"DOCTOR!!" she yelled, not looking away from the statue. He rushed out, River close behind.
"Where the hell did that come from?" River asked. The Doctor held out his sonic screwdriver, and replied: "It's a survivor. Very weak, but keep your eyes on it!” He yelled.
"Where's Rory?" Amy asked. The Doctor walked towards the statue, and read the gravestone: In Loving Memory of Rory Arthur Williams. Aged 82.
"I’m sorry. Amelia, I am so, so sorry." The Doctor replied.
"No. No, we can just go get him again in the TARDIS. One more Paradox." she whispered.
"It would rip New York apart." The Doctor replied.
"That’s not true, I don't believe you." she cried softly.  
"Mother, it's true." River responded. Amy slowly started to walk towards the statue.
"Amy, what are you doing? The Doctor asked.
"That gravestone of Rory's, there’s room for one more name, isn't there?"
"What are you talking about? Back away from the Pegasus!" he demanded, and grabbed her hoof. She slipped it out, and continued walking towards it.
"The Pegasus, would it send me back to the same time. To him?" she asked, tears starting to fall down her face.
"I don't know. Nopony knows!" the Doctor replied frantically. Amy took another step towards it.
"But it's my best shot, yeah?"
"NO!" The Doctor exclaimed.
"Doctor shut up! Yes! Yes it is!" River shouted from behind her.
"I just have to blink, right?" she asked.
"NO!!!"
"It will be fine! I know it will! I'll be with him. Like it should be. Me and Rory, together. Melody." Amy called to her daughter.
"Stop It! just. JUST STOP IT!" the Doctor exclaimed aggregately, but the mares ignored him. River walked up and clasped her mother’s hoof in hers for the last time.
"You look after him." Amy Started to sob, "And you be a good filly, and look after him."
"You are creating a fixed time! I will never be able to see you again." The Doctor started to cry.
"I will be fine. I will be with him." Amy responded.
"Amy, please! Just come back to the TARDIS." the Doctor tried to reason. Amy was sobbing now.
"Raggedy Man," she spun around and looked him in the eye "GOODBYE!" she cried, and she was gone. He looked at the tombstone, and saw the new writing on it: And his Loving Wife, Amelia Williams. Both Ponds were gone, and there was nothing he could do about it.  
> The Last page 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Doctor sat on the steps of the TARDIS, letting river do all the work.
"River?" he asked, after a long period of silence.
"They were your parents. Sorry, I didn't even think."
"Doesn't matter." she replied.
"Of course it matters." he corrected.
"What matters is this, Doctor. Don't travel alone."
He thought for a second. "Travel with me then." he suggested.
River smiled. "Whenever, wherever you want." This made the Doctor smile.
"But not all the time." she continued, "One psychopath per TARDIS, don't you think?" he didn't say anything, and she sighed.
"Okay, This book I've got to write, Melody Malone? I presume I send it to Amy to get it published."
"Yes, yes." The Doctor replied, entering back into the reality of things.
River walked out of the TARDIS.
"I'll tell her to write and afterward. For you." she stopped halfway out. "Maybe you'll listen to her."
He sat there, sinking into his thoughts, before he realized what she meant. "The last page!" he got to his hooves, and trotted out of the TARDIS to the picnic basket where they ate lunch that morning. He made his way to a park bench, and started reading: "Afterward, by Amelia Williams. Hello, old friend, and here we are, you and me. On the last page. By the time you read this, Rory and I will be long gone. So know that we lived well and were very happy, and above all else, know that we will love you, always. Sometimes I do worry about you, though. I think once were gone, you won't be coming back here for a while, and you might be alone, which you never should be. Don't be alone, Doctor. And do one thing for me. There's a little girl, waiting in a garden. She's going to be waiting for a long while, so she's going to need a lot of hope. Go to her. Tell her a story. Tell her that if she's patient, the days are coming that she'll never forget. Tell her she will go to sea and fight pirates. She'll fall in love with a man, who will wait 2,000 years to keep her safe. Tell her she'll give hope to the greatest painter who ever lived, and save a whale in outer space. Tell her, this is the story of Amelia Pond, and this is how it ends."