Escape

The sound of a rooster and a quiet trotting sound were the first things the Doctor woke up to, opening his eyes it seemed that what had happened to him yesterday could now for certain not be classified as a dream.

Looking down at what he assumed were his new arms, the Doctor knew what the first thing he was going to do was try to get out of this bed, he had to get back to the TARDIS after all and figure out what was going on.

The Doctor then used all the strength he had and rolled of his bed: and then promptly landed on his back.

'Great Rassilon, that was embarrassing.', he thought to himself as he rolled back on to his stomach, this was the moment he realized, how in Gallifery would he get up?

Thinking back to his time in the Land of Fiction, he realized this would be another puzzle he would have to solve, how would he move now here after he was a Griffin.

Remembering the stories, he was told as a child, Griffins were quadrupedal creatures, as such he tried to stand using all four of his limbs.

While that worked the Doctor felt off kilter, as if center of balance was all off, next he tried to stand on his back two "legs", while this felt a bit uneven and difficult at first, he finally felt that he could get somewhere.

It was just then he realized that the trotting sound he had heard when he woke up was right at his doorstep.

Twilight Sparkle was excited for today, not only did she finish all her friendship lessons for the week, but she also got to see a meteor shower last night!

She was always fascinated by the stars and space at a young age, being one of the things she did as a young filly with her parents and older brother, and when she saw that a meteor shower was scheduled to happen, she knew she just had to go and watch it.

She still couldn't believe how close it came to Ponyville, in fact if she didn't know any better, she could have sworn she saw a couple of the meteors crash right near Sweet Apple Acres.

Putting those thoughts to the back of her head, Twilight trotted down stairs to the kitchen, she didn't want to wake up Spike this morning, she remember last night how she "requested" him to help her document the meteor shower and how exhausted he looked by the end of the shower.

Just because she wasn't much of a cook didn't mean that she couldn't fend for herself, what was the worst that she could do?

The Doctor was conflicted, on one hand part of his mind wanted to stay where he was and talk with the soon to be entering pony, he knew that these ponies from what he saw seemed to be quite nice and peaceful folk and he wouldn't want to shatter that trust by trying to escape a hospital they so generously put him in.

On the other hand, the Doctor knew from his travels that there was always more than meets the eye to anyone and everyone. From his first experience to the Dalek, to many encounters with human, to the very recent encounter with his own kind, he knew there was a darker side to everything, these ponies were no exception.

In the little time he had, the Doctor decided that the second option, even though it was the less friendly, he knew information about what was going on was more important that introducing himself; even if it hurt him to do so.

Quickly look at his surroundings, he saw that the room was clear of most things, with simple white painted walls, a small table to the left and a window that he could fit through on his right!

Moving as fast as he could with his new limbs the Doctor looked out with abject horror on his face: they had put him on the second floor!

The ground below him looked to be at least fifteen feet and he wasn't too keen to take his chances jumping down in the state he was in.

As the trotting got ever so closer the Doctor realized there was a place for him to hide right under him, looking under his bed he was relieved to see that with a little bit of fidgeting that he could fit underneath his bed.

It seemed luck was on his side with him just getting himself underneath the bed just as the door seemed to open, he could hear the door open and saw some white hooves trot right next to his head.

A feminine voice spoke up as soon as it entered the room, "Oh Celestia! Doctor Good is not going to be happy to see that a patient gone missing, I better get some of the other nurses to find where that griffon went.", and with that the Doctor could see the white hooves quickly trot out the room.

With a sigh of relief, he wiggled back out of the bed and planned his escape, as fast as he could he walked to the door and slowly peaked his head out.

Looking left and right, thankfully he could see no one except the tail end of the white coated mare who entered his room earlier, looking back to his right he could see what appeared to be an opening which appeared to look like stairs to him.

Hugging the wall next to him, he walked towards the stairs as fast as his new limbs could carry him, he swiftly entered the stairway and just as swiftly started to tumble down.

While the fall towards the middle platform didn't hurt that much, the Doctor knew the impact he made on the hard wood floor would attract attention.

Even now he could over hear various voices coming from both sides of the stairway questioning what the noise was.

Stumbling back upwards he once again continued advancing down the stairs, luckily enough for him he didn't trip again.

Once the Doctor reached the first floor, he noted there was a good part and a bad part about taking the stairs.

The good thing was the entrance the hospital was right in front of him, the bad part was that he had walked almost straight dab into Doctor Good.

The Doctor could see an appearance of shock on the unicorn's face as he blurted out to him, "What are you doing out of your bed? You're not suppose to be up yet!", and with that question the Doctor, as soft as he could, forcefully pushed the confused unicorn out of his way and made a sprint towards the entrance.

He could hear the voice of the unicorn behind him and the rapid trotting of hooves behind him as he burst out of the hospital door and saw not much of anything.

It seemed that the only things really outside the hospital was a dirt road in front of him, the outskirts of some woods to his left, and towards his right be some pony sized carts painted white with red crosses on them.

Looking back behind him he could see the worried look on Doctor Good's face and following him what appeared to be a gaggle of nurses.

The Doctor knew his options were limited, he doubted he could out run all the ponies after him, yet after the stunt he just pulled, the chance of getting out of that hospital to find the TARDIS seemed slim.

It was when they group of ponies were almost at him, he over heard Doctor Good say an option he didn't even think of yet, "Wait Mr. Griffon,", Doctor Good said in a tired tone, "We haven't even checked if your wings are fine for flight.".

'Wings,',the Doctor mentally thought to himself, 'Goodness, I've been turned into a creature I've met before and I forgot one of the most obvious features.', he continued to say in his mind as he felt wanting to slap himself for forgetting something so obvious.

Still, the Doctor knew it would be a risky gambit, he hadn't piloted a flying machine other than the TARDIS, much less himself before, he knew however that it was the only way he could get out of this situation at hand.

Going in his mind he Doctor tried to feel for the new appendages on his back, he could feel muscle and bone and such, if anything it felt like another arm or leg, another extension of himself.

With the little time he had left, the Doctor opened his eyes to look for somewhere to go, looking to his right he reluctantly unfurled his wings and took off flapping his wings as hard as he could to try to reach the forest, only to stumble back down to the ground.

Getting back up as fast as he could the Doctor looked back and saw the gang of ponies not even ten feet behind him and with another push of his wings pushed himself airborne and this time instead of forcing his wings as hard as he could he tried to glide, it worked much better and with that the Doctor found himself gliding into a forest unknown.

The first thing the Doctor realized about being able to fly was how excited and free he felt. He felt that he was in the TARDIS again, that he could choose his own fate, that the Time Lords judgements were washing off him. The second thing the Doctor realized though was a much more pressing issue: he had now realized that he didn't know how to land.

Panic started to overcome the Doctor before he realized that it couldn't have been much different from flying the TARDIS right? Racking his brain, he remembered how pilot the TARDIS, and he saw he was doing well, right until he flew into a tree.

Once again, the Doctor felt himself in a bed caused by actions, he had done to himself, the irony that if he hadn't run from the hospital that none of this would be happening didn't escape him. Without opening his eyes, the Doctor smelled the room he was in now, unlike the cold sterile smell of the hospital he was in, this room smelled like spice and nature much like his home, the home he had left behind.

"Um, are you ok Doctor? I'm not sure what your doing outside of the hospital already but I really hope your alright.", A meek voice spoke up interrupting his thoughts, he opened his eyes and saw that the voice came from none other than Fluttershy, one of the ponies who he had met the day prior.

Looking at her he could see that concern had muddled her face and she appeared to be holding white rag in one of her hooves, look around the room he could see he was in what he guessed was Fluttershy's home, a cottage covered in birdhouses, mouse holes and had an overall feeling of true hospitality to the Doctor.

Trying to get up, the Doctor quickly realized why Fluttershy had a rag in her hooves, his head felt like he had a headbutting contest with a Dalek, and he lost. As fast as he tried to get up, his head fell back down, and he heard a sharp yelp from Fluttershy.

"Oh, please be careful!", she said in a voice not unlike a nurse as he moved towards him putting the rag on his forehead, "You have a nasty bump on your head, and you really shouldn't be moving much right now.", she continued as she left the damp rag on his head, a cool sensation washed over his head as he slowly rose up his head to face her.

"Thank you for helping me," The Doctor told her in a raspy voice that he couldn't believe was his," I'm sorry if I've interrupted what ever you were doing Ms. Fluttershy, I really hope I haven't been a bother to you.".

"It's alright, Doctor, I just want to ask you again,", taking the wet rag off his forehead, putting it on a nightstand, "What are you are doing out of the hospital so early, I could have sworn that Doctor Good said that you were only checked in yesterday."

The Doctor was stifled with that question, it seemed that this Pegasus was a lot more intuitive than he realized, the next few seconds spent was one thick silence as Fluttershy waited for his response.

After what felt like an eternity for the Doctor, a soft chuckle came from the deep of his throat, for the first time since he woke up in that hospital bed he had just realized the near insanity of his new situation. Here he was a five-hundred-year-old Time Lord turned now into an apparent Griffon, who now had to had to explain to a talking Pegasus why he was out of a hospital that one of said talking Pegasus's friends checked him into.

Truly, next to the world of fiction, this was most likely the weirdest adventure that he had gotten himself into, seeing that Fluttershy's face had tilted to the side, possibly in concern, the Doctor decided to answer her question.

"That is correct Miss Fluttershy, however", his voice stuttered for a second, "I am a much faster healer than he expected and thus, he let me go today.", finishing his remark hoping that she would take his excuse.

Fluttershy surprisingly did not bat an eye at his answer and instead just asked another question in her demure voice, "Well then if so, then why did I find you crashed into a tree with your wings twitching about like you've never used them in your life?"

"Would you believe me if I said that I never liked flying to begin with because of my youth and I never really did much of it because of that?", he responded trying to forget that ever happened to him in the first place.

With that response, he saw Fluttershy's eyes dilate just a tad as her head moved down just a little. Something like that happen to her, he wondered as she quickly returned up to face him again.

"I do, I just hope you can improve over time", Her face still not completely looking at his." Still, I'm happy your fine, now that's out of the question, what are you doing out here, you can also drop the Miss, just call me Fluttershy."

"Well then Fluttershy, currently I am trying to find out how to get back to my home, it's a tall blue box and has the words Police Box written near the top."

"Oh, that's all the way in Twilight's Library on the other side of town, your pretty bad at directions if you got all he way here", she told him.

"Well, I am sorry about that, I still don't really know much of the lay of the town, is there any way for you and I to get to their without bring to much attention to ourselves?", his mind now racing for ways to make it to the center of town undetected.

With that question Fluttershy walked to a cabinet to his left and opened it taking out a large brown cloak. Handing it to him, she told him, "We can leave at nightfall, I suggest you stay and rest until then."

He could tell from the tone of her voice that either rest of the town was averse to griffons or something had recently happened to her relating to one. "Is something wrong, did a bad event relating to griffons happen in town or.", his voice becoming softer," Something relating to you?"

The Doctor could see Fluttershy's ears spike up with that question," Let's just say the last griffon who came to Ponyville wasn't the most", her voice stopped trying to find the right word," amiable one I've met in my life."

"Then why are you so willing to help me then, not only a near complete stranger but also a griffon.", the Doctor asked back with genuine questioning in his tone.

"Its simple, you seem like the type that are nicer than they appear as", walking to the door of the room," Now please rest, nightfall is only a few hours away", and with that softly walked out closing the door softy behind herself.

The Doctor was now left in a bed with nothing more than a cloak and a lot more questions than he had answers to.