Endings And Beginnings

Chapters

1: Ponies Revisited
2: First Adjustments
3: Reunion
4: Second Adjustments
5: Train Thoughts
6: First Star I See Tonight
8: A Glimmer Of Potential
9: The Journey Continued
10: Stripes of Friendship
11: What Friendship Hath Wrought
12: Speech Of The Uncrowned King
13: A Flame To Remember
14: A Singing And Dancing Chancellor
15: The Dragonrider
16: How To Train Your Drake/Human
17: Steps Of Recollections
18: First Meetings
19: Explanations Pt. 2
20: Revelations Pt. 2
21: Confessions
23: Sun And Stone
24: Shine On, Twilight Sparkle
25: Talks, Mages, Dreams and Plots
26: The Nor'wester
27: Journey To The Center Of Tartarus Pt. 1
28: Aftermath Pt. 1
29: Journey To The Center Of Tartarus Pt. 2
30: Hello From The Other Side
31: Aftermath Pt. 2
32: Journey To The Center Of Tartarus Pt. 3
33: Rescue(s)
34: Reflections
35: Beginning of Change?
36: Long-Awaited Meetings
38: Departure
39: When Worlds Collide
40: The Battle
41: A House Divided
42: History And Destiny
43: Confrontation And New Revelation
Prologue: Newcomer
7: Crystal Empire Breakdown
22: Meanwhile...
37: Long-Awaited Talks

1: Ponies Revisited

Three Months After Emperor Jason Wright’s Invasion of Equestria

Ponyville was no more.

In the wake of the brief but memorable and terrible rule of one Emperor Jason Wright, each and every building, save for the Castle of Friendship, had been reduced to rubble, leaving the once quaint and proud town a shadow, barely a whisp, of its former self.

Instead, in its place, temporary housing in the form of large tents, one near the sight of each burned house, and one larger temporary wood building in the center of town where Town Hall used to be, had been erected. Ponyville now looked like a refugee camp, because that’s exactly what it was.

Jason Wright had been thorough in his destruction of the town. Nothing had remained after the devastation save for burned husks, ashes that had once been the belongings of every single pony in town.

However, with help from without, more specifically, the Crystal Empire and what little Canterlot could spare, all the rubble had been moved after every single part of Ponyville had been meticulously gone through, in the hopes that the changelings missed something. Alas, very little remained.

Reconstruction plans had already been formed, but with the oncoming of winter, any construction had to be delayed. Not even Cloudsdale could delay the regular snowfalls. However, the team in Cloudsdale had promised to try their best to have the bare minimum amount of snow fall when the first day of winter came, which was coming up soon. Until that time came, rush orders for heaters and extra wood for fire pits had been leaving Ponyville ever since a few flurries fell here and there.

It was in the middle of all this, right inside the temporary Town Hall where Twilight Sparkle sat at a desk looking over the many request forms from the citizens of the vanished town. She had a haggard look on her face as she carefully read over the request from the Cakes once more. They had sent a request for thicker blankets for their foals along with some extra baking supplies in the hopes that they could use their temporary wood oven to bake more for the town. However, it seemed to be a losing battle with them. Since Pinkie had taken a temporary leave of absence from Ponyville, the mood of the ponies had only gotten lower and lower.

Especially now that trickles of the truth about Jason’s invasion had begun spreading around the town like wildfire.

Normally, nopony would even think twice about Roseluck’s words, especially since she and her two closest friends Daisy and Lily were known to be overdramatic more often than not. But when a few other citizens who had been taken from Ponyville to Canterlot during the invasion began corroborating her story, there was nothing stopping the rumors to start spreading.

Jason might have been a monster, but he had been a monster of their own creation. Without any hesitation, the strange creature, who they now knew to be called a human, had been shunned, ignored, and even beaten by the very ponies who he had come back and conquered.

This divided up the entire community, as there were many who still demanded that Jason Wright be hunted down and brought to justice. Others, however, argued that if they did such a thing, they would be no better than the so-called Emperor of the changeling hoard. Still others, especially those who had seen Jason’s appearance up close and heard the stories about what had happened to him, remained silent either way, the guilt overwhelming them.

And it was this guilt from that group of ponies that turned to anger which was quickly redirected at the town’s local celebrities: the Elements of Harmony. They had been chief in their abuse towards the human in the three years he had lived there, if you could call that living. The other groups were also angry at the six mares, but for different reasons. In a sick and twisted way, it was one thing the destroyed town’s residents bonded together: agreeing that the six ponies who were meant to espouse everything good in the world had brought this calamity on them.

Beside Twilight, Mayor Mare looked equally as exhausted, her currently pink mane and tail a complete and utter mess since she had no time to tend to it or dye it as she normally did. She was looking over a few reports on the status of orders from Manehatten in regards to building materials to help reconstruct the town. The words on the pages began to dance around for the mayor, so she grabbed the cup of coffee next to her and drank a large swig of the now cool beverage, hoping against hope it would help keep her awake.

Twilight wasn’t faring any better. She might have been an alicorn, but that didn’t make her invulnerable to overworking herself. Still, she kept at it, mostly since she didn’t want to go back to the castle. So she didn’t have to face the angry and mistrustful stares of the citizens which followed her everywhere she went. She could even see and feel them in her dreams, and not even Princess Luna could step in every time.

And rightly so. She had been the one who had started it despite what Discord had done to her, her friends, her old mentor, and…him. Jason Wright.

Jason had gone through literal Tartarus because of her. She allowing herself to be overwhelmed with her prejudices against humans. She should have known better. What she’d learned about humans during her first trip through Star Swirl’s mirror had tainted her views of them. When Sunset had learned what had happened, to say that she’d been angry would have been a gross understatement. She’d literally stormed through the mirror and, the moment she saw Twilight, had reared back her hoof and sent the alicorn directly into one of the crystal walls of her castle with enough force to crack the wall. She then verbally tore into Twilight with so much anger that the unicorn had nearly had a magical surge. When she’d said her peace, she told Twilight never to contact her or her new human friends ever again before running back through the portal.

Twilight shook her head quickly, trying to come back to the hear and now. As of late, she’d been thinking more and more about the event of that terrible invasion. How could she have been so blind and stupid? Why was her kneejerk reaction to slam the door in Jason’s face? Of course, some of the other Elements had been quick to point out that Discord was the primary suspect. However, it hadn’t even taken much of Discord’s nudging to push her towards abject hatred and abuse, and now she, Princess Celestia’s former magical apprentice, was heavily paying for it.

And not just in the piles and piles of paperwork. She’d all but lost all of her best friends.

Applejack had returned to her former home and had begun working on the rebuilding process. When the changelings took over Ponyville, they made Big Mac pull an entire cart full of apples to the temporary refugee camp to help feed the ponies that had been placed there. The townsfolk were decent enough to leave the cores alone, especially on the cores of the one barrel of zapp apples. Twilight had yet to go visit the orchard, but she’d overheard other ponies saying how it was nice to see at least some trees on the hill. Even from her room in her Castle of Friendship, she could always see a small orange dot going to and fro. Applejack never came into town anymore. Big Mac would be the only member of the Apple family she saw, and even then he spoke less than usual.

Pinkie Pie had taken what she called a temporary leave of absence from Ponyville. When the date for Pinkie’s party for Jason, which had been set for a month after his departure just to be safe, came and went, and he hadn’t showed up, she’d become more depressed. She was seen less and less around town, but whenever she was, her mane was completely straight, her eyes were drained of whatever smile used to be in them, and her pink fur and mane had dimmed. Finally, she packed up and returned to her family’s rock farm but had said, using her signature promise, to return within at least four or so months, sooner if an emergency arose. In her own words, she needed time to be “…Aloney on her owny.”

Rainbow Dash, true to Jason’s threat, had not flown since that day. In fact, any time that Twilight had seen her, her wings were always by her side, almost tightly so as if they were strapped in some invisible bindings. Since her house had not been destroyed during the burning of Ponyville, she could still live up there, but since she wasn’t flying, she’d made arrangements with Twilight so she could use a hot air balloon to get to her house. When she wasn’t up there, hiding away from the world, she spent most of her time on the ground helping in the rebuilding process. Twilight had seen her the most of her old friends since the invasion, but no words were ever exchanged between them.

Fluttershy had been spending less and less time with the other five Elements of Harmony. Instead, she’d wandered close to the Everfree: forlorn and mournful. She took some comfort in that her Angel was by her side, as were some her other animal friends. But from what Twilight had seen, the loss of Discord hit her the hardest. Twilight might not have been her old foalsitter, but she took a guess that Fluttershy had deeper feelings for the deceased draconnequus. She’d been seen the least, always wandering around her home and talking quietly to her animal friends, what little remained.

Rarity had thrown herself into using her skills as a seamstress to help in the relief effort. The tent she had set up near the site of her own boutique was larger than most since she had promised to make clothes and blankets for those who needed it. Lately her mane didn’t have its normal styled appearance, just tied back as she sewed thick blankets for the upcoming winter months, a winter living in tents and temporary housing. But Twilight could tell, any time she caught a glimpse of the seamstress pony, that she was miserable and bitter. And that bitterness had been most likely directed at Jason. In fact, Twilight had heard that because of what had happened, and with her name being besmirched, she’d lost Canterlot Carousel, which only seemed to make her more bitter.

Spike had been completely horrified when Twilight had sat him down and, between tears, told the young dragon what had happened with Jason. When she had finished, he asked her if he was going to be treated like that someday, too. He’d been to the human world with her, had interacted with the humans there, and had not seen one bad thing about them. Sure, they ate meat and could be a bit more violent, he’d argued, but griffons ate meat and if their experience with Gilda all those years ago had been any indication, they were meaner than ponies. Since that conversation, the two had hardly said more than a few words to each other, and that was mostly in passing down the halls of the castle. It broke Twilight’s heart to have lost him, too, but deep down she felt that she deserved it.

Her old mentor, Princess Celestia, had not sent any messages to Twilight or anypony in Ponyville ever since that day. She had been dealing with the rebuilding of Canterlot. She’d spared as much help as she could for Ponyville, but her place was in the capital. Twilight didn’t blame her. The look of guilt and shame on Celestia’s face was enough to shatter Twilight’s heart. She had heard about Celestia’s attempt at pardoning Jason, but he had yet to set foot on Equestrian soil after that day. Not that she could blame him. It would have probably seemed to him like a useless gesture.

“Princess Twilight? Are you alright?”

Mayor Mare’s concerned voice broke through the young alicorn’s reverie. Twilight looked down at the page in front of her, and saw that a few tears had fallen onto the scroll. She wiped her eyes with her foreleg. “Just Twilight,” she said with a shaky voice, “and I’m fine. Just a bit tired.”

Mayor Mare was one of the few ponies in town who was somewhat tolerant of Twilight. In fact, she treated Twilight with enough of a friendly manner to keep the princess from totally collapsing into a full-on depression. The mayor herself had openly admitted to Twilight that she had been one of Jason’s tormentors, refusing him a job the moment he’d asked all those years ago. The guilt had begun to eat away at the earth pony so that she was starting to get natural gray streaks in her mane and tail. “Twilight, it’s past nine. The sun set hours ago. Go home. Get some sleep. You need it more than me.”

Twilight shook her head. “No…I’m alri…” she trailed off as the words on the page began to morph into a very familiar face. She went pale as Jason’s sneering form took shape, leaning down towards her with clear menace. She stared in mute horror as his gloved hand reached out, ready to grab her throat.

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again a few seconds later, the page had returned to normal. She heard somepony breathing heavily, only to realize a moment later that it was her own ragged breathing she heard. She heard somepony calling out her name in fear, and when she looked up, she saw the pink maned mayor looking down at her with a worried expression on her face. “Princess?”

“Don’t…don’t call me Princess,” Twilight said. “I don’t deserve that title…” She stood, set the scroll from the Cakes aside, turned down the lantern she’d been using to read, and looked over at the mayor. “I’m heading home for the night. Talk to you later.”

Mayor Mare gave Twilight a sympathetic look, then nodded. “See you tomorrow, Princess-ah, I mean, Miss Sparkle.” And with that, she turned back to her work, pulling her own lantern closer to the pages.

Twilight grabbed her scarf, saddle and her boots, then headed out into the bleak wintery night. The sky was overcast, and a light snow was falling before her. The ground was white with previously fallen snow, and tracks from dozens of other ponies lay in the snow. Some were fresh, others were at least a couple of hours old or more. There were a few hastily erected gas lanterns on the main thoroughfares, one for every five tents. The streets were, thankfully, empty, and Twilight began slowly walking home.

As she did so, she took in the town before her once again. The tents were all practically identical, making the town look more like an army camp than anything else. The uniqueness that had made Ponyville so charming was completely gone, giving way to sameness wherever she looked. Each building in the town might have been older, but to Twilight, that’s what gave the town its rustic charm. She missed it all, but she also knew that no matter what, there was no going back to the past. If she could, she’d do it in a heartbeat, if only to attempt to undo what she and her fellow Elements had done.

Cold, wet, and deep in thought, she arrived back at the castle. Despite having many rooms inside, most ponies stayed away from the building. Most ponies associated the castle now with nothing but the failure of the six ponies who’d started it all. However, there were still a few holdouts, those who acted like they understood and who explained that it had all been a cruel trick by Discord.

One of them, Derpy, was walking through the main foyer towards the bedroom section of the castle. In one of her wings, she held a roll of bread which she was snacking on. When she heard Twilight enter, she turned and smiled politely at her. “Hi, Princess,” she said. Her tone was subdued, but it was definitely kinder than most other voices that she’d heard lately. “Long day? Need something to eat?” From her other wing, she produced another roll of bread, offering it to Twilight.

“It’s just Twilight,” the alicorn said, “and no thank you. I’m too tired to eat.”

“Are you sure? This one’s raisin,” Derpy said.

“No thanks, Derpy,” Twilight repeated. “I’m just going to bed.”

As Twilight headed down the hall, Derpy called after her, “Don’t let this get you down! We’ll be alright eventually!”

Eventually, huh? Twilight thought as she trudged down the long halls. The words rang through her head as she finally reached her room, crawling into bed. However, sleep was slow in coming despite her exhaustion from the day. She lay on her back, staring up at the canopy above her bed. She heard nothing but the sounds of her own breathing.

And the sound of somepony else in the room with her.

She quickly sat up, completely on alert. Looking around wildly, she saw a dark shadow standing directly at the bottom of her bed. It stood there, tall and menacing, a being shrouded in nothing but the blackest of black.

And she recognized the form. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak, but all that she got out was a croak that sounded vaguely like, “Ja…son…?”

The shadow didn’t move, just sat there, hanging there. Like a dead body hanging from a tree. Twilight quickly used her magic to light up the room, only to find that what she’d thought had been Jason was in fact an uneven curtain that she now remembered had been ripped during one of her night terrors.

Whimpering, she closed all three sides of her canopy bed curtains, grabbed the blankets with her teeth, and pulled them over her head, curling up and trembling with fear as the adrenaline rush began to subside. As she had for many nights, tears welled up in her eyes. She went to sleep with one thought on her mind: Will things ever really be okay…?

Applejack sat on one of the hills overlooking the desiccated remains of what had once been acres and acres of sweet and delicious apple trees. Now, all she saw were bare hills and plains and a few stumps that poked out through the snow. Jason did nothing half-heartedly. He completely destroyed every single plant and blade of grass on the farm. The barn had been destroyed, the farmhouse completely obliterated with every piece of family heirlooms and memories within.

Fortunately, many of her relatives had heard about what happened and came down to Ponyville to help restore the barn and the house in record time. She was glad of that. At least the cows, chickens and other livestock that lived on the farm were going to be safe.

She took it all in, soaking in the view before her. On the one hoof, she was relieved that the snow was covering what lay beneath: bare rock and stone. On the other hoof, she actually cursed the snow. She wanted to see what the damage was. She wanted to never forget what had happened. She wanted to punish herself for what she did to Jason. Even if Discord had been the architect, she’d always thought she had a stronger will than that. Even when she’d met Spike, she’d never once thought of him as some monster to hit without so much as a second thought. Seeing the snow covering the land felt wrong to her somehow.

The sky above was darkening quickly as the sun behind the clouds reached the horizon. She saw the distant lights that once shone with warmth and invitation. Now, they looked desolate and lonely, too organized to be a proper town. Looking down at the large hole beside her, she remembered the day when she’d carefully uprooted the apple tree that had been there. Bloomberg, the one she’d taken to Appleloosa during the events with the Buffalo.

As she remembered that little adventure, she recalled that, even then, she’d never stooped as low as she had with Jason. She’d been stubborn as a mule, sure, but she’d finally seen reason with the help from her friends. Or rather, the ponies who’d used to be her friends.

“Gosh-dern it!” Applejack shouted, stamping her hoof into the ground, “Snap out of it!”

“So here you are,” a deep voice said from behind her.

Applejack jumped up, completely surprised by the silent approaching stallion behind her. She stared into the level gaze of her older brother, Big Macintosh. “Oh…howdy, Big Mac.”

“Granny says dinner’s almost ready,” he said, turning to face the newly built lit house. “C’mon.”

“In a minute, big brother,” Applejack said, turning away from the house and its undeserving warmth to stare out at the darkening landscape. “Ah just need tah think.”

There was silence from behind her. Then, Big Mac slowly walked over and sat next to Applejack. The two sat next to each other, not speaking. The snowfall began again, light and still. Finally, Big Mac said, “You’re still thinkin’ a lot about him, aren’t you?”

Applejack didn’t say anything for a while, but finally nodded. “Ah can’t help it,” she said. “Ah’ve tried tah git him out of mah mind, but ah can’t.” She turned to her big brother, remembering the times when she looked up to him, thinking he was perfect. She knew he wasn’t now, but that never stopped her from looking to either him or Granny for advice if she ever needed some.

Big Mac didn’t look at her, his expression placid. Finally, he said, “Forgettin’ somethin’ like that isn’t somethin’ you should do. When you told us what happened, I remembered Zecora.” Applejack’s ears flattened when he mentioned the zebra. They hadn’t seen her since even before the burning of Ponyville. Nopony had even dared venture into the woods, ever since a rumor had spread that there were changelings in there that Jason had left behind. Big Mac continued, “There’s an old sayin’: out of sight, out of mind. Zecora doesn’t live in Ponyville, so we don’t see her a lot. That lesson you said you learned with her didn’t stick as well as it should have. So don’t forget, little sister. Because if you do, you’re more likely to make the same mistake a third time.”

“But how can ah work when all ah can think about is Jason?” Applejack asked. “Ah can’t just abandon the farm!”

“AJ, have you just taken the time to think about it, or did you just come back home that day and jump right into your work?” Big Mac asked, finally turning to her. She looked away, not able to look him in the eyes. He knew her better than most, because the latter is exactly what she’d done. It was what she’d always done. Having guessed her thoughts, Big Mac sighed. “Take a few days off, sis. Go for some walks, write in a journal, talk to somepony…”

“Nopony will wanna talk tah me,” she said, “They hate me.”

“Then write down your thoughts in a journal,” Big Mac said. “Didn’t you do somethin’ similar with that old Friendship Journal?”

Applejack looked down at the ground in front of her. That had been part of what Jason had burned along with their friendship letters to Princess Celestia. However, she had to admit that he had a good point. “Yer right,” she said, “but ah can’t just shirk mah chores.”

“I’ll pick up the slack,” he replied. “Just take some time, okay? It’s been three months. Time for you to come to terms with it and learn from it.” He stood, looked down at her, and smiled for the first time since coming up the hill. “Come on now. Soup’s on.”

Applejack stood and followed her brother down the hill. Having a few days to myself might help. At least, I hope it does…

Pinkamena Diane Pie lay down in the snow near Holder’s Boulder, looking up at the midnight sky. There were a few stars poking out of the clouds, and while normally seeing how amazingly beautiful the stars were would cheer her up, tonight it was only another reminder of her failures. Shivering, she curled up in a ball to conserve warmth, not that it did any good. Winters on her childhood farm home were always bitingly cold. But she felt like she deserved it.

Especially since, for so many years, that poor human had lived in nothing but a cave, eating garbage like she had been forcing herself to eat ever since she’d gotten back.

Pinkamena didn’t look at all like the same happy filly who’d discovered her cutie mark by making her family smile for the first time. She had lost a lot of her normal pudge and her mane and tail were straighter than they’d ever been. She’d even begun to lose very small patches of her fur coat, exposing what was underneath. She’d been hiding it for a while by wearing a thick pink jacket, which now lay on the snowy ground by her side. Even if she’d completely avoided Jason Wright thanks to Discord’s influence, she still couldn’t properly come to a reason as to why she had that reaction in her to begin with.

I’m supposed to represent laughter, and I stole somepony-no, someone’s-laughter away from them forever, Pinkamena thought, and that thought only sent her deeper into a spiral of depression. Why…? Why did I do that?

Tears began pouring down her cheeks as the thoughts came flooding back to her. She had never once been acknowledged by Jason during his invasion, just like she’d hidden from him whenever her Pinkie Sense went off. But…even if that was Discord’s doing, as he’d said, she should have seen the despair in his eyes. The hurt, pain, suffering and loneliness. She covered her eyes with her hooves. “I’m so sorry…” she whimpered.

The wind started picking up, and she shivered even more. She curled up tighter and shed a few more tears which began to sting her cheeks. Just then, a shadow appeared over Pinkamena’s field of vision. A very familiar one. The shape of her little sister Marble Pie.

Pinkamena sat up and looked over at her. “Marble? What are you doing up so late? Don’t you have to get up early tomorrow?”

“Mmhmm,” she said, then she looked questioningly at Pinkamena. One the pink mare knew well. But what surprised her more was when the normally quiet earth pony spoke up. “Why are you out here, Pinkie?”

Pinkamena sighed, then looked up at the sky. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“How come?” Marble asked

Pinkamena looked away from her sister. “Jason…”

There was silence between the two sisters for a number of seconds. Pinkamena felt Marble reach out and touch her back gently. “You’re cold. Come back inside near the fire and warm up before going to bed.”

Pinkamena shook her head. “No…I don’t deserve that. I don’t deserve a warm bed. Not when he…when he never had one…”

Pinkamena’s family knew the entire story about Jason Wright. She’d not been able to stop herself from blubbering it out. In their own way, each family member had tried their best to reassure the poor broken mare, but mostly in vain. Everypony, that is, except Marble. Marble had always been a mare of very few words.

However, she startled Pinkamena even more by speaking again. “Pinkie…you can’t keep doing this to yourself. You’re gonna get really sick.”

“I deserve worse…” Pinkamena said with finality.

Marble straightened up and looked at Pinkamena with a frown. “Put your jacket on and follow me. Now.”

Marble wasn’t like her sister Limestone. She more than likely couldn’t have shouted even if she’d tried, but she had said those words with such force that Pinkamena reacted instinctively, reaching down to grab her jacket before stopping herself. She pulled away. “Leave me alone, Marble…”

“Do you want me to get Limestone to drag you back in?” Marble said in a threatening tone, or at least, as threatening a tone as she could muster.

Even so, this sent shivers down Pinkamena’s spine. Slowly, she stood up, grabbed her jacket, and trudged back to the farmhouse. Marble pressed herself against her sister, then said in a softer, kinder tone, “Give it time, big sis. Time erodes all wounds, after all.”

As they walked slowly back towards the house, Pinkamena looked down at the ground. Will it, though? she thought. Will it really…How can I make this right…?

Fluttershy was curled up on her cot inside the large but warm tent that Rarity had made for her. The soft wool of her blanket had been sheered from some of the sheep on the Apple farm before Jason Wright’s invasion. It was one of the very few of her possessions that had survived being burned since she’d left it in Twilight’s castle before her house had been destroyed. Nearby, a small magical heater glowed red, filling the large tent with warmth.

A warmth which did little to soothe Fluttershy’s broken heart.

Not even the very few animals who she’d manage to find out in the Everfree who were sleeping near her or under the blanket with her could do much to mend her shattered emotions. Even her best animal friend Angel Bunny couldn’t help. Just when she’d thought she’d cried her last tear, she remembered his final words and they began anew despite the fact that it now physically hurt to cry.

She had realized, too late, that she had grown to love Discord in a way she had never loved anypony else before. Or probably even since.

Despite the circumstances behind Discord’s death, she still couldn’t find it in herself to blame the instrument of his death, Jason Wright. He’d been through so much because of her, her friends, Ponyville, and Discord. Even now, she still couldn’t tell whether or not she should be feeling anger at what Discord had done or not. She’d yelled at him, yes, but upon thinking back they’d all forgiven him a bit too easily. Not even her own feelings for the draconequus could hide the fact that he had tortured and mutilated an innocent being for years and had never even bothered to check to see that what he’d done hadn’t done damage.

She remembered the shots fired suddenly, Discord’s final moments alive, and how Jason had reacted. She’d seen the look in the human’s eyes as he’d passed them in the cells when he left Canterlot. There was sorrow there as well as regret, but she’d only caught a glimpse of it and it didn’t register for her until much later.

“Duh…Discord…” she said as the tears ran anew and she curled up underneath her blankets. Angel and the other few animals who were with her snuggled closer, trying their best to warm her, but failing. “I’m…I’m so sorry…I’m sorry Discord…I’m sorry…Jason, I’m sorry…”

“Rarity, when are we gonna get some different food?” Sweetie Belle asked her older sister as the two ate a bowl of vegetable soup for a late dinner. They’d been eating more or less the same thing for about a week ever since they’d run out of other ingredients.

Unlike most other tents, Rarity’s was larger and able to hold more than its fair share of supplies. However, winter was coming, and with that came less food coming in from all over Equestria. As such, their supplies had dwindled, but there was a scheduled supply train coming in the following morning. “Don’t worry, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said reassuringly, brushing one of her stray hairs out of her face. “We’ll be getting some new food very soon. I made sure to special order a few things from Manehatten to eat, too.”

That brightened the young filly’s spirits, and she continued eating with a bit of pep. But while Rarity might have been outwardly smiling, on the inside, she was practically snarling. She hated every bit of this whole situation. She hated the fact that she and her sister were forced to live in nothing but a tent. She hated eating the same bland foods day after day. She hated the looks others in town gave her, accusing and angry. And she hated that they were pretty right in doing so.

But most importantly, she couldn’t decide whether she hated either herself and Jason more for what had happened. Yes, she had been cruel towards the human, and every memory of those past years had come back to haunt her with clear recollection. She might not have had a good memory of things other than fashion, but after Discord’s spell had lifted from her, the massive amount of guilt and self-loathing threatened to overwhelm her.

The only thing that kept her going was her little sister. She was too young to understand, and Rarity wasn’t going to tell her the truth about it just yet. She would in time, of course, but when Rarity was ready.

Still, the cruelty of all Ponyville directed against him didn’t excuse his retaliation, she reasoned. Maybe that’s just something humans do, she had sometimes thought to herself. Murdering, pillaging, razing villages to the ground…

Our of all the Elements, Rarity’s inner struggle was one of the most difficult to reconcile. She’d done Jason Wright wrong, but in return he had destroyed the lives of many ponies. She’d even overheard rumors of secret pony groups who were said to hate humans in general and Jason in particular.

One man caused so much sadness, Rarity thought as she took another spoonful of her soup. Sweet Celestia…what’s the right answer…?

Rainbow Dash walked around the edges of what had used to be Ponyville, a small lantern held in one of her hooves. Ever since the town had begun to reestablish itself and attempt to rebuild, she’d volunteered to be a night guard, sleeping during the day and walking around with a few other ponies at night to make sure no bandits took advantage of the situation.

It was also a good excuse for her not to face the accusing faces of the town and those she’d once considered her friends.

Her wings were tightly folded against her sides. Ever since being freed all those months ago, she had not once moved them, save for the occasional preening. But she didn’t deserve to fly again. Not after what she, the so-called Element of Loyalty, had done to a completely innocent creature who had once been a fan of hers. She remembered what Jason Wright had said during their brief tour of Ponyville as it was being destroyed.

“You were my favorite.”

That had broken her completely. She’d always promised herself that she would be loyal to her fans and give them shows and demonstrations of her awesome talents, but upon learning that Jason not only was a fan, but knew about her sonic rainbooms, something inside of her just snapped. She’d betrayed not only him, but herself and her other fans.

Discord’s magic be damned, she thought. I can’t call myself an Element of Loyalty. Or an element of anything! Just a fucking bitch! She kicked some snow up angrily, watching by lantern light as the soft white powder fell softly back to the ground.

“Hey!” a voice called out, “eyes up, private!”

Rainbow winced. The voice belonged to another guard, one of her least favorite mares in Ponyville. Lightning Dust, a turquoise pegasus with a need for speed that rivaled the old Rainbow Dash’s own. She’d become a night guard as well, and Rainbow suspected it was because she wanted and excuse to harass Rainbow. She looked up at the young pegasus. “This isn’t your area,” Rainbow said in an attempt to sound angry, but when Jason had left Ponyville, he’d taken all of the spark out of her attitude, leaving a husk of a mare in its place.

“Your point being, Rainbow Crash?” Lighting sneered.

In another life, she would have thrown down with the upstart pegasus mare, but Rainbow was a different pony now. She felt older, weaker than she ever had been before. It had never occurred to her that she would eventually lose her bite. She’d always felt indestructible. She’d always been strong and loyal. Now? She was nothing but another body. Rainbow sighed deeply. “Never mind…”

“That’s what I thought, bitch,” Lighting said as Rainbow walked passed her, heading towards the end of her beat. The snow had picked up now, but Rainbow didn’t care. She took a look up at the overcast sky, the thick snowclouds pushed in by other pegasi barely visible in the light of the temporary torches around the tent town. She ignored the other various insults Lighting was throwing at her as beside her, her wings rustled slightly, but eventually snapped back into position.

“You better run, you traitor,” Lightning growled. “Everypony knows it’s not just that monstrous human who’s at fault! It’s yours too! Yours and your friends! Or are they even friends anymore? Not that it matters. Now the world will see you for how you really are. Hypocrites.”

Rainbow continue walking, letting the insults wash over her. Because they weren’t insults.

They were the complete truth.

In a large cavern which separated the Everfree Forest from the ruins of the ancient castle where Princesses Celestia and Luna had once lived, there was a massive five limbed tree. For many hundreds of years ever since Star Swirl the Bearded and the other Pillars of Equestria had planted it, the tree had grown. But this wasn’t just any tree. This was a crystal tree, the Tree of Harmony from whence the actual Elements of Harmony had spring as its fruit.

It had endured so much since its first planting all those years ago. Its magic had only begun to grow once again ever since the bearers of the Elements had relinquished them and set forth the seeds that would eventually create the castle of friendship.

But now, the tree had begun to wake up. And it could sense that something was very wrong. Something that had gone wrong for many years. Friendships had been broken, lives lost and hope replaced with despair and self hatred.

The crystal tree began glowing brighter, its roots digging deeper than they ever had before as it searched all over its purview for whatever could have caused it. When it connected to the minds of the sleeping Bearers, it saw horrors beyond anything it could have ever imagined.

“…Very good…Very, very good. Good behavior will only help your case in the trial…”

“…Yes, Applejack, you did this. You, and your rainbow-maned whore of a friend…”

“Look, they’ll come around when this is all over. They’re your friends! No stupid monkey-monster with an axe to grind is gonna change that, even Discord couldn’t swing that one!”

“This is what he is now. This is what we turned him into…oh mah dearest Stars an’ Bars…”

The tree stopped, appalled at all the various memories that came from the Bearers. The torture and abuse of an innocent being. A being who became a monster just to get back at those who hurt him. The death of a being older than most due to his involvement…

It was too much to take in all at once, so the tree waited, then looked more closely at the memories individually. It saw so much that it couldn’t even begin to comprehend. The primordial chaotic being who had tried to destroy it so long ago had corrupted the tree’s charges, yes, but it was disappointed to see just how little magic the chaotic one had used to amplify the preconceived notions of what was already there within them. Gone was the kindness. Gone the loyalty. Nowhere to be found was the laughter. Generosity? What was that? And where had the honesty gotten to? But worst of all, the friendship had shattered.

NO, the tree thought to itself. IT WILL NOT END THIS WAY! It spread its senses far, searching for the strange being. It saw many things as the hours between dusk and dawn passed, but nothing that could indicate a location for this being, a human as one of the Elements had called him.

However, just before the crack of dawn, the tree found something unusual. Across a narrow sea, sitting in a bed in a large mansion, looking out the window with a soft smile on its face, sat another human. This one was not like the one it ha seen before, what with its facial covering and horrendous scars.

No, this human was unmaimed. It was dressed warmly and was staring out at a cold but clear starlit sky. It took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly before closing the door and covering itself with a thick and warm blanket. As the tree watched, the human pulled out a small rectangular object and touched it. The device began to glow and changed color as strange images passed over it. Finally, the human found something he apparently liked and touched it. The device went dark, then something began to be seen on it.

A tiny voice began talking, and the tree immediately recognized it as belonging to the one who raised the sun. The voice said the following: “Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land.”

Immediately, the tree was back in the cave, its mind made up. It hadn’t contacted the castle it had created in many long days, but this was an emergency. The silvery glow that normally shone through the crystalline structure of the tree immediately turned red. Red for emergency summons to solve a friendship problem…

In Equestria, the Elements of Harmony, along with two others who would be instrumental in helping, were completely unaware that their cutie marks (and the spines of one baby dragon) were shimmering, but not with the normal white light. Instead, they were red.

The Cutie Map came to life after having been abandoned for months. The entire landscape of Equestria and its nearby neighbors appeared. Seven cutie marks along with a miniature purple and green dragon, hovered over a very unusual construction across the sea east of Ponyville.

The massive capital of the Griffonian Empire, Griffonstone.

2: First Adjustments

Author's Note

And yes, this is a flashback. For a while, at least, I'm gonna be going back and forward in time, switching from Griffonstone to Equestria. It hopefully won't take too long for things to sync.

2: First Adjustments

The Day After Gregory’s Arrival In Griffonstone

“Love me or leave me, make your choice but believe me, I love you! I do, I do, I do, I do, I do! I can't conceal it, don't you see, can't you feel it? Don't you too? I do, I do, I do, I do, I do!”

Gregory opened his eyes as he woke to the alarm on his phone. Blearily, he slowly sat up and looked around the room he was in. He was in a small square room, sleeping in his sleeping bag on a wooden couch. His phone was sitting on a nearby endtable next to an unlit candelabra which he’d used the night before to get his stuff set up before going to sleep. Next to the phone was a solar powered charging port which was currently being used to charge the phone. Despite how tired he was, Gregory could only smile as he reached up and turned off the alarm. Unzipping his sleeping bag, he swung his legs over and stretched. He’d had a very strange and long day yesterday.

He could remember pretty much everything that happened ever since he’d stepped through the portal from Earth to Equestria. The way he’d tumbled out of the portal, causing him to drop all his belongings only to fall over the cliff. His finding of the Idol of Boreas. His rescue by the last being he’d expected to see. His returning the idol to the Griffonstone Keep. Then there was the massive celebration throughout the entire city. Which, to his human ears, sounded like it was still going on.

“When griffons party, they party haaard,” he said as he stood and arched his back, hearing some popping as he did so. He looked around the room of his surprising host. Unlike houses back on Earth, the ceiling was only about seven feet high, and the room itself was about as small as about one and a half times the size of his old studio apartment.

Then again, that’s pretty much all it was, except for the ladder that led up to a second story loft. The loft where his host, Gabriella, had just woken up and was looking down at the human. “What was that I just heard?” she asked as she stretched her wings. “Sounded like a song.”

“Oh yeah, it was,” Gregory said as he began cleaning up his sleeping bag, zipping it up and folding it so he could roll it back up. “It’s from one of my favorite musical groups.”

“About love?” Gabriella, who had insisted he call her Gabby, asked as she climbed down the ladder.

“Heh, yeah,” he said as he put the straps on his sleeping bag, grabbed the bag it came in and slipped it in. He set it in the small corner along with his other bags. “Alright, all packed away.”

Gabby was now down on the ground floor, staring at his bags. Looking back at him, she said, “What’s all in there, anyway?”

“Clothes for all weather, some toiletries, my electronics and means to keep them charged, and a few other miscellaneous knick knacks.” Gregory said as he stared at the bags with her. “I wonder if Twilight will be interested in the books I brought on my Kindle,” he muttered to himself happily. Turning to Gabby, he smiled. He was glad that out of anyone he could have met in Griffonstone, she’d been the first. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay here, Gabby. I was fully prepared to rough it, you know.”

She waved her claws, smiling widely. “Hey, you found and brought back our Idol!” she said happily. “It’s the least I could do! You can stay here as long as you want, too!” So saying, she went to her small kitchen and began gathering ingredients for breakfast.

“Hey, lemme help with that,” Gregory said, walking over to where she was.

“Nonsense! You’re my guest,” Gabby said with a smile and a friendly wave. “I’ll make something for us. Let’s see what I have here…” she looked through a few of her cupboards, pulling out a small basket of brown eggs, some old looking bread, a nearly gone wheel of cheese, a can with a worm logo on it, and a corked jug of something liquid. She turned to Gregory. “Sorry, I don’t have too much. I was gonna go shopping yesterday, but then…you know, stuff happened,” she said sheepishly.

Gregory smiled. “It’s fine,” he said. “What kind of eggs are those?”

“Chicken eggs, silly,” Gabby giggled.

“Well, eggs does sound good, but what’s in that can?” he asked, pointing at the sealed can worriedly.

“What? Don’t like canned worms?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Humans don’t eat worms normally unless it’s to survive. Or if you’re really drunk and taking on all dares,” he said warily.

“Well, no worms then!” She quickly put it away. “Could we sit down sometime today and talk about what you do eat? I don’t want to make you something you can’t eat.”

“Sure, I can do that,” he said, “but I was hoping I could go out sometime and look for a job.”

Gabby chuckled then pointed out of her window. “I doubt you’ll be able to find anything with this party going on,” she said.

Gregory turned and looked out the window. It looked out towards the old Griffonstone Keep, but it was the street below that held his attention. It had plenty of griffons eating, drinking and talking to each other with big smiles. There were fewer than there had been when Gabby had brought Gregory to her house near midnight, but there were still plenty. “Is this normal?” he asked, pointing down at the scene before them.

Gabby, who had cracked a few eggs into a bowl already, came over to the window and looked down with him, still whisking the eggs. “Yeah…no it’s not,” she said. “The only real time we’re ever celebrating anything is the Blue Moon Festival during the winter.”

Gregory nodded. He knew about that episode from season eight, of course. He’d actually thought he’d seen Gallus the night before, but the griffon had disappeared before he could get a closer look. “Your kind must really care deeply about that Idol,” he said as he turned away from the window and headed back to the couch.

“We might not have said it to outsiders, but we all reeeeally wanted to see the Idol returned to the Keep,” Gabby said as she began grating the cheese into the bowl before she stopped. “You can eat cheese, right?”

“Can I try some?” he asked, changing direction to head over to the counter where she was working.

She broke off a small piece and handed it to him. Taking it, he sniffed it, then took a bite. The taste reminded him of cheddar, but with a hint of nuttiness to it. He nodded. “This cheese will work, thanks.” He stopped and immediately felt sheepish. “Sorry, that came out wrong,” he apologized. “Humans do eat cheese, but I was just making sure I could eat this one.”

Gabby smiled and continued grating it. “Which means we need to sit down and talk about what you can eat. I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere today.”

“Not without being mobbed by griffons,” Gregory laughed, remembering how almost the entire city had wanted to talk to the sudden hero of Griffonstone. He was even sure he’d heard some younger female griffons proposition him with the thought of bearing his young. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I should stay inside. And I actually have some food I can eat if worse comes to worse.”

“Oh? I’d like to see them later! Please?” Gabby asked.

“Sure, that’s fine with me,” he said. “Are you sure I can’t help?”

“It’s fine, I promise!” Gabby said. “I’m just making some scrambled eggs and maybe some toast. At least, I’ll try.”

“Well, if you’re sure, then do you mind if I read one of those books on the wall there?” he asked, pointing to a wall shelf where about ten books were situated. He’d been surprised that he could actually read the words on them, seeing as they looked nothing like English.

“Sure, go ahead,” she said with a wave. “This’ll take me a bit, anyway. This oven takes a long time to heat up.”

Gregory walked over to the wall and grabbed one titled EARLY GRIFFON FAIRY TALES, sat back down on the couch, opened it up, and began reading.

A few hours later, after a breakfast of scrambled eggs, some buttered toast and a sweet purple juice that Gregory couldn’t quite identify, the human and griffon duo sat down. Gabby had the day off thanks to the impromptu celebration, so she wanted to know as much as she could about the strange human’s diet. He explained as much as he could to her, at least about his own dietary requirements. He thankfully had no allergies and wasn’t much of a picky eater. As long as he got a healthy diet of cooked meat, dairy, vegetables, fruits and the other basic food groups, he would be okay.

“So you’re more like us than I thought,” Gabby said as she closed her notebook after the long discussion had finally come to a close.

“Omnivores, you mean?” Gregory asked.

“Yeah, that!” Gabby said.

“Well, aren’t griffons a mix of eagle and lion?” he asked.

However, the moment he did, he knew it was the wrong thing to say, because Gabby’s smile quickly vanished and she put her claw to his mouth, startling him. “Don’t go around saying that,” she said in a low voice. “If anygriffon heard that, you’d be thrown back into the Abyss.”

He swallowed nervously. “Is it really that bad?” he asked once she removed her claw from his mouth.

Before answering, Gabby got up, closed any windows that were open, pulled the blinds shut, then went and sat back down. “It’s a racial slur around here to call anygriffon either eagle or lion,” she explained. “Back before the Idol appeared, griffons were greedy and vicious. We hoarded our gold and many various tribes fought for control of the land. It was pretty common for the winners to enslave the losers, treating them like chattel.”

This got Gregory’s attention. He had no idea that anything like this was even possible in Equestria, even to griffons. “My God…really?” he asked, not sure whether to believe her or not.

She nodded. “They were called cruel names, but calling them eagle and lion was the worst. It basically means that if you were an eagle, all you were good for was hard labor. If you were a lion…well…you were just there to pleasure your masters with your lion half. Male or female.”

“That’s fucking disgusting!” Gregory shouted, now appalled at the extended history lesson that the show had glossed over.

Gabby nodded, looking down at the floor with a sigh. “Even after the Idol fell, we never forgot that part of our history. It’s just…too horrible to forget.”

Gregory leaned back in his seat, looking up at the wooden beams of the ceiling. They were old but still study enough to hold Gabby’s weight, and the patterns in them were intricate. Just like the patterns of wood back on Earth. Everything to him looked as real as if it had been reality itself, unlike the show which showed flash animation versions of the characters. “I don’t blame you,” he said. “And it’s a good thing that you didn’t forget. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, anyway. Sorry I said something so insensitive.”

Gabby looked at him with a sad smile. Putting her claw on his shoulder, she said, in a small voice, “It’s alright. You didn’t know. But now you do.”

“I’m gonna have to learn more about your culture if I’m gonna be living here for a while,” he admitted.

“Then I’m your griffon!” Gabby said, instantly smiling wide again.

He smiled. “Glad to hear it. So…where should we start, anyway?”

Lunch came and went, consisting of some bread and some beef jerky sticks that Gregory had shared with Gabby. She’d been a huge fan of them, but had told him that he shouldn’t give out that food so readily since he might need it. At around one that afternoon, the streets had actually cleared enough that Gabby said they could go out after all.

“Do you have a place where I can at least hide my things while we’re away?” Gregory asked as he grabbed a jacket from one of his larger bags. “The griffons might be in a good mood now, but after what you’ve told me, I don’t wanna take any chances.”

“Griffons don’t really steal anything, silly,” Gabby chuckled, “but if it’ll make you feel better, I do have a small cellar where we can take you stuff.” She pointed to a corner of the room where a small square piece of floor stood out. There was a bolt that was locked, keeping the door from being opened. She grabbed a set of keys, walked over to it, unlocked it, then pulled the loud creaking door open.

Gregory walked over and pulled out his phone. He turned on the phone’s light and peered down into the dark. The cellar was indeed pretty small, seeing as it was packed full with various objects. However, there was a small space in one corner where he could comfortably place his luggage. Turning back to Gabby, he asked, “Can I put them there for now?”

Gabby, who had been more focused on Gregory’s phone than anything else temporarily, looked back at him. “Huh? Oh sure!” She rushed over to go grab them.

“Whoa there, simmer down, Sally,” Gregory said, rushing over to where she’d begun grabbing a few of the bags, “A lot of the stuff in there is delicate, and I’d rather it be handled carefully.”

Gabby slowed down and gave him an apologetic smile. “Right, sorry.” She looked at the cellar door, then back at Gregory. “Why don’t you go down there and I hand them to you?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Gregory said as he walked over, got onto the ladder and climbed down. When he reached the bottom, the two began moving Gregory’s bags down into the dim room. Now that he got a better look at it, there were at least two shelves against the walls, each with varying objects haphazardly placed on them, like jugs, a few old oil lamps, old pictures, cookware, and other random objects.

After Gabby had handed him all his luggage and he’d placed all of them in a secluded corner, he grabbed his backpack, phone, solar charger and chord, and a small pocket knife and climbed back up the cellar ladder. Gabby locked it up, grabbed her saddlebag, put the key in it, then headed quickly to the door. “I have an idea where you can work!” she said excitedly.

“Oh yeah? Lead on, then,” Gregory said, following her out into the early afternoon.

The sun was just making its way to the west. The weather was cool and reminded Gregory of early fall. He’d found out the day before that it was actually the very end of September. He’d been surprised that the name of the calendar months were identical, although the year, 1007 Anno Luna, was strange to him. It did give him a sense of where in the timeline he was, if the way the years were counted meant anything. That is, if each season was about a year in length. Not counting the first season before Lesson Zero, of course. As he followed Gabby down the street, he went over things in his mind. If the year indicated the season, it was just around at least one of the later seasons, he reasoned. If that was the case, then Twilight had probably already released Starlight from her friendship studies, the Pony of Shadows had either already made an appearance or would eventually along with the Storm King. At the very least, he guessed that he’d arrived before Celestia and Luna both retired and Twilight took over rule of Equestria, especially since Gabby referenced the two as ruling the kingdom during their talk about griffon cultural dos and don’ts.

Despite the party practically ending around him, many griffons stopped and stared at him, wide eyed with either astonishment or gratitude. He would wave at them before rejoining Gabby, who couldn’t help but smile at the various interactions between Gregory and other griffons.

At one point, they passed a small cart full of untouched scones. Gregory stopped and stared in wonder at the griffon female who was just sitting there, a surprisingly grumpy expression on her face. It was surprising to him since the majority of griffons he’d seen that day were in lighter spirits. Gabby noticed him staring and came up beside him. “Don’t mind Gilda,” she said softly, “She’s always been one sourpuss.”

Gregory looked around. There were other carts near where hers were, but they were either nearly empty of products or were completely out. Only Gilda’s was empty. The scones he saw were a bit more than brown, with a few sticks in them. When he saw this, he grew confused. Had he come back farther in time than he thought? Had the Cutie Map not yet sent Pinkie and Rainbow Dash to Griffonstone? If it had, it would have explained why the Idol of Boreas hadn’t fallen deeper into the ravine.

Too late he realized he’d been staring at Gilda, who had noticed him by now and was glaring back at him. “You got a problem?” she asked in the very same voice he’d remembered.

“Oh, my bad,” Gregory said apologetically, “I just spaced out.”

“Well, now you can peace out,” she said, pointing down the street. It might have been his imagination, but her gruff behavior did seem a bit more subdued than he remembered from the episodes featuring her.

“Yeah, will do,” he said, turning back and following Gabby back down the road. Once they were out of earshot, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “She’s a real ray of sunshine.”

“Don’t let her get you down,” Gabby said. “She doesn’t mean it most of the time. I did see her at least buy some of the grog during the celebration last night.”

“That was some really good shit,” he admitted, “and I normally don’t drink much.”

“If there’s anything that’s kept clean in Griffonstone, our bars are,” Gabby said. “At least, they always are when I deliver mail to the ones on my route.”

“Hmm, I see,” he said thoughtfully. He’d hardly been in Equestria an entire day and already he was learning so much more about the world than had ever been shown in the show. The world was actually a world, not just some cardboard cutout perfect set piece on a screen for little girls. There was alcohol, there had been darker times in the past, and of course, during the celebration the night before, he could have sworn he saw a few griffons actually getting frisky in an alleyway. An alleyway he quickly fled from so as not to interrupt.

Of course, the more he did think, the more he realized that even in the show, there had been events shown that would be considered dark. The pre-reunification Equestria, King Sombra, Tirek, Chrysalis, even Cozy Glow and Neighsay were grim reminders of the less than perfect side of the world. Still, he couldn’t help but be excited to be in this world. He had nothing back on Earth anymore. He’d left behind a less than stellar family, a cheating ex-girlfriend, his former coworkers who shat all over him because of his work ethic, rising gas prices, a climate disaster, insane world leaders going to war over stupid shit and so much more. Now he was in Equestria.

“Hey, we’re here,” Gabby said, interrupting his thoughts as they made their way towards a larger thatched roofed building. Gregory paused and looked up. It was two stories, looked old and a bit unstable, had plenty of windows on all sides and, written in Equestrian, he read the words Griffonstone Post Office.

Turning down to Gabby, he smirked. “You sneaky griffon. This is where you work, isn’t it?”

She chuckled. “Yep! I know we can use mail sorters and delivery mailgriffons like me. We’re always a bit short staffed.”

“Well, I could probably do sorting well enough,” Gregory admitted, “but delivery? I don’t know if you noticed, but I can’t fly.” He pointed to his back, showing his lack of wings. “Humans don’t have wings or magic.”

“Well, let’s go talk to my supervisor!” Gabby said, quickly heading into the building. Gregory chuckled and followed close behind her. He figured this would get interesting really fast.

“So…you’re the stranger who returned our Idol to us,” the post office supervisor, an older griffon male named Gus said a few minutes later in his office. Gabby and Gregory were both seated in stools at Gus’ desk, which was a repurposed old stump like most other tables were in Griffonstone. Gus was a dark gray furred griffon with white feathers and orange eyes. He had a few scars on his right arm which his fur covered decently enough, but not completely. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Wouldn’t you be off celebrating?”

“Well, even humans need to sleep sometimes,” Gregory said. “And we need work, too. Gabby here was kind enough to suggest I apply for a job here.”

“Is that right?” Gus asked, looking at Gabby with a raised eyebrow.

“He’s hoping to get enough bits to go traveling,” Gabby explained.

“Aaah, so you won’t be here long, then,” Gus said, sounding a bit disappointed.

Gregory felt a bit badly now. At his old job back on Earth, he knew the pain of being short staffed and had most of the time worked longer than his scheduled shifts so the store he worked in wouldn’t be behind. “Well, I’ll probably be here a bit longer than you’re thinking,” he said. “Gabby graciously let me stay at her house, and I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t pay rent. So if you did hire me, I might be here for a while. Months, even, depending on costs.”

“Hmm…I see,” Gus said. “And I take it that you can’t provide any references?”

“Not anymore,” he said. “All my references are permanently out of reach. And they were all dicks anyway.”

Gus threw back his head and roared in laughter. “Were all dicks here, Mr. Graystone,” he said with clear amusement in his tone. “Well, if you’re really serious about working for the post office, you’re in luck. One of our main sorters just quit a week or so ago and moved out of the city. We’ve been running ragged since then. Can you quickly sort out addresses and place them in their proper slots so our mailgriffons can deliver them to the proper houses?”

“I can learn easily enough,” Gregory said. “I can read pretty fast.”

“Eh, I’m desperate enough, I won’t deny it. That’s good enough for me. When can you start?”

“Does tomorrow sound good to you?” the human asked.

“That sounds good to me,” Gus said. “Does the morning shift work for you? It’s six to two thirty, with a half hour lunch every fifth hour. You’ll be working in the sorting room, looking through mail and placing it in proper slots. The pay is thirty bits per shift for the first three months, and after that it goes up to forty.”

Gregory had no idea how much a bit was worth when compared to his old world’s currency, but he counted his blessings. Gabby had promised that he could stay with her for as long as he needed, and he was being offered a job. He knew he had the time to figure out what money was worth in this world. After all, Ponyville wasn’t going anywhere. “Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal, boss,” Gregory said, extending his hand.

Gus nodded, shaking Gregory’s hand with his claw. “Be here bright eyed and bushy tailed,” he said. “I’ll have Griselda teach you the ropes.”

“I look forward to it,” Gregory said. “Thank you, sir.”

“Hey, you saved our Idol,” he said, “it’s the least I could do. See you tomorrow! It’s probably going to be busier than normal since today’s an impromptu holiday.”

“I’ll be ready,” Gregory said as he stood along with Gabby. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you two later,” he said, then he went back to his desk, reading over a small stack of papers.

“My luck is going through the roof,” Gregory said a few minutes later as he and Gabby walked down the still somewhat crowded main thoroughfares towards the city marketplace to go shopping. “I honestly wasn’t expecting things to go this well so soon.”

Gabby smiled widely. “I’m really happy for you,” she said sincerely as she hovered next to him while they took a turn to head up to one of the upper levels of the city itself.

“Helped Griffonstone without meaning to, partied harder than I ever have, and now I have a job,” he said with a happy smile. “If I keep on smiling, my face is gonna be stuck like this.”

Gabby giggled. “You’ve got a nice smile! I’d hate to see it go away.”

Gregory chuckled. “Well, I can’t smile all the time, but for this moment, I don’t think I can stop.” He began humming a fast paced song, a pep in his step, then began singing, “Yeah I own this beat! You can call me the king or the ruler, felon on base, getting hoarse at the mic! We’re getting twenty percent cooler! We had a great day out! Calling my name like Ferris Bueller! It’s time to wrap this up! We’re getting twenty percent cooler!”

“What song is that?” Gabby asked. “We don’t sing here. It’s illegal.” She pointed to a sign that had a crossed out image of a singing griffon with musical notes coming from their mouth.

“Oh my bad, sorry,” Gregory said. He’d nearly forgotten about that rule. “How come singing isn’t allowed?”

Gabby shrugged. “You’d have to ask Grandpa Gruff about that. He’s the closest thing we have to a ruler here.”

“I’ll go have a talk with him when I can,” Gregory said as Gabby took one more turn into a large wide street. He stopped and gaped at what he saw before him.

“Here we are! Welcome to Griffonstone Marketplace!” Gabby said.

Gregory took in the entire street before him. The streets were cobblestone, much like every other street he’d seen so far. On each side of the street were large and small food carts, each selling various types of foodstuffs and even non-food items. He saw large slabs of raw meat surrounded by a few flies, cheese wheels, various fruits, large bowls of what looked like wriggling worms, other bowls of eggs, jugs of what he could only assume was wine or some kind of alcoholic beverage, cooking utensils, pots and pans, and more. If it hadn’t been for the unsanitary conditions he saw, he might have been salivating. Then again, he noticed that a lot of the foodstuffs like the cheese were covered in paper to keep the flies off. That, and a few griffons were waving their wings to shoo the flies as well. “Wow,” was all he could say.

“Isn’t it?!” Gabby said excitedly. “I’ve never seen it so packed before! Come on! Let’s get the good stuff before they’re sold out!” So saying, she rushed forward, flying towards the meat section.

Gregory followed, not wanting to seem rude. He was still a bit iffy about the food, but he reasoned that if he cooked the meat long enough, he could kill off any germs that were in it. He didn’t know how griffons ate their meat, but the way Gabby licked her lips after being handed a thick slab of meat told him that they could eat it raw. To his surprise, however, she didn’t just stop at that slab. Instead, she added a few other portions as well, stuffing one side of her saddlebags with meat before heading to grab a basket of fresh eggs. She would have carried it in her beak had Gregory not taken the basket from her and insisted on carrying it for her. They continued shopping, purchasing enough food to last a couple of weeks at least. They stocked up on somewhat fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and more.

Just as they were finishing up, Gregory heard a commotion coming from down the street towards the main intersection. He had just lifted a large paper bag full of bread from where Gabby had just purchased it when the heads of a lot of the griffons turned their attention down to the east where the Marketplace street started. Gregory could hear someone talking loudly and with panic in his voice.

Curious, he turned to Gabby. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

Gabby flew a bit higher up to look towards the commotion. When she came back down, her face was grave. “It’s Ambassador Geoffrey. He looks pretty upset.”

“You guys have an ambassador?” Gregory asked, surprised at this piece of news. He’d guessed that, judging from the previous way griffons had acted that they wouldn’t really bother themselves with outsiders as much.

“Yeah,” she said. “We’ve had one for as long as I can remember. The last one retired not too long ago and Geoffrey took over. I’ll explain the details later. Right now, I wanna hear what he’s doing back so soon. He was trying to get the changelings to relinquish their hold on some territory the griffons own in the Southern Badlands. And he looks injured.”

Gregory’s eyes went wide. “Damn, let’s go see what’s happening, then,” he said, hoisting the bread bag over his shoulder and running down the street towards the gathering crowd of griffons.

Once he reached the edge of the crowd, he could see an older griffon who was clearly a bit heavier set than the average griffon he’d seen. He was wearing a fez and had dark gray claws, very dark brown eye feathers and plume, orange eyes, yellow beak, a light beige set of fur and a darker beige set of wings. One of his claws was in a cast and he cradled it. As they approached, he started to overhear what he was saying. “…their new emperor is ruthless! He isn’t giving back the lands and he stole from us in the Southern Badlands! He did allow the griffon colonials to come back here, but they don’t have anyplace to go!”

“What gives him the right to steal from us!?” a proud voice called out angrily.

Geoffrey sighed and shook his head. “He has an army to back him up! We don’t yet! Besides, if he’s powerful enough to conquer their old queen and successfully invade and subjugate Equestria, then voluntarily leave, we shouldn’t mess with him! Not until we’ve gotten stronger ourselves!”

“What’s this new emperor like?” another random voice called out from the crowd.

“I don’t know,” Geoffrey admitted, “but my sources say he’s bipedal, wears a mask to hide his face, and is very cruel to ponies. Even more so than their old queen!”

“Did you just say someone invaded Equestria?” Gregory called out.

The ambassador finally took notice of the lone human and froze. “What are you?” he asked, sounding a bit scared suddenly.

“He’s the Bearer of the Idol!” one of the griffons called out. “He found the idol yesterday and brought it back to us!”

Geoffrey stared at me with narrowed eyes, then seemed to relax. “Well…it’s good to see somecreatures have some common decency even when you didn’t need to.”

“It was the right thing to do,” Gregory said, “but please, could you tell us what happened to Equestria?”

The ambassador sighed. “This emperor and his brood completely blindsighted the ponies by invading with his army of changelings and taking over the capital, at least for a week or so,” he said. “I don’t have all the details, but apparently this happened all two weeks ago.”

“What do you know?” Gregory asked, a knot forming in his stomach and a lump forming in his throat simultaneously.

“I don’t know much,” Geoffrey repeated. “Only that a few weeks ago, the changelings invaded Canterlot, captured the city, the princesses and their national heroes, the Elements of something or other. Then their leader, somecreature calling himself Emperor Jason Wright, burned down a small town near Canterlot. I mean completely destroyed every building! But he left after that, just leaving the ponies alone. We’ve got to prepare just in case he comes for us next. Who knows what…”

The voice of the older griffon faded away as Gregory stumbled back in complete stunned silence. The name struck a chord with Gregory. Not because he knew who it was, but because the name was one that could only belong to a human. Gabby saw this and rushed to his side, calling out to him with concern, then fear on her face as she couldn’t get a reaction out of him.

His thoughts were all a jumble as Gabby pulled him out of the street, heading back down towards her house on the lower levels of the city. He barely noticed what was happening around him as he tried to process this new information. Jason Wright…Jason Wright…it was a human name, or the closest thing to one he’d heard of even in Equestria. The griffon names were human enough, but they all started with the letter G. Then again, he thought, Steven Magnet was a name in Equestria, too, but it belonged to a sea serpent, not some bipedal creature. It was definitely not a diamond dog’s name, since theirs were typical dog names.

That left him with one conclusion, one he very much didn’t want to believe. Even now, he continued to deny it and thought harder and harder about other possible alternatives to the ever increasing inevitable truth.

Suddenly, he was keenly aware of cold water being splashed onto his face by a scared looking Gabby. He coughed and sputtered as he looked around, coming out of his reverie and realizing that he’d somehow been taken all the way back to Gabby’s house. “Guh! What…how’d we get back here?” he asked in a daze.

“Thank the Idol!” Gabby said, looking incredibly relieved to hear Gregory actually talk, “we got back ten minutes ago! I’ve been trying to talk to you ever since you heard about that Jason Wright!” She approached and cupped his cheeks with her claws. “Are you alright? Do I need to take you to our hospital?”

Gregory shook his head. “No, that’s alright,” he said. “I think I just need to lie down for a bit.”

“What happened?” she asked worriedly. “Why did you space out like that? Do you know something about what Ambassador Geoffrey was saying?”

“I…I don’t really know,” he admitted as he slowly pulled out his sleeping bag once again, “maybe…it’s just the name.”

“What about the name?” Gabby persisted, sitting down on the wooden couch next to him. “Do you know the name?”

“If you’re asking if I know this Jason Wright, no. No I don’t know him,” Gregory said. “But it’s just…” He straightened and turned to his new friend. “You know how griffons have names that start with G and how ponies have names that describe them, like how Princess Luna moves the moon and her name literally means moon?”

“Yeah…I think I do,” Gabby said, then waited for him to speak.

“Well here’s the thing, Jason Wright, the name, wouldn’t seem out of place back where humans exist,” he said. “It sounds like a human name. And…if what Geoffrey is saying is true, then…something terrible must have happened to the ponies I came to see.”

Gabby looked stunned when she heard that the name Jason Wright might belong to a human, but she quickly put a comforting arm around Gregory’s shoulder. “You don’t look so good,” she said softly. “Why don’t you lie down for a bit? Take your mind off of things. I’ll be right here if you need anything, okay?”

Gregory nodded gratefully, and when Gabby vacated the couch, he put his pillow and sleeping bag on the couch, got into it, grabbed his sleeping mask, put it on, and shut out the world. Right now, he didn’t want to see anything. Not even the truth.

The truth that he wasn’t the only human in Equestria.

3: Reunion

The Morning After The Cutie Map Summons…

Celestia was running. Running down a corridor with doors on either side. She was running towards something. Or was it away from something? She couldn’t tell, mostly because not even her magic could light up the dark passage too far back, only wide enough to see the doors on either side. Each door was unique in appearance, with different colors, designs and knobs. But one thing about them was constant. There were pictures of ponies hanging from them. Ponies who were glaring at her, following her with their gazes. And from all of them, she could hear their tormenting words:

“You murderer!”

“You abandoned us!”

“You betrayed us!”

“You left that human in your pets worthless hooves!”

“You turned that human into the monster he became!”

“You did this to Equestria!”

“You are unworthy!”

“Traitor!”

“Monster!”

Celestia sobbed as she galloped harder, unable to spread her wings even to stop her ears. The corridor was only narrow enough to give her a couple of feet on either side. The floor was made of carpet, so she couldn’t make enough noise to drown the accusations out. The same accusations she’d heard in her head for three months. The same ones that were in her dreams night after night. The same accusations she couldn’t stop seeing on the faces of her advisors or the other nobles.

She heard something else now, the sound of heavy boots on thick carpet and a raspy breathing. Both very familiar to her. Both belonging to one of her greatest failures since Nightmare Moon. She didn’t need to glance behind her to know that the human Jason Wright was running up close behind her. She could feel his breath somehow on the nape of her neck, could sense his malevolent grin. A grin she had put on his face from her lack of care for any nonponies. Even during Discord’s first release, she hadn’t even thought about how the dragon in her former student’s care must have felt when she sent those friendship reports back to help remind her of what she'd gained. It must have been immensely painful to cough up those scrolls one after the other.

She cursed herself. She always thought she was a caring pony, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized just how she wouldn’t have checked in too much on Jason even without Discord’s spell. The boot falls only increased in volume. There was the smell of death in the air, of blood. And of tears.

She cried out for help. “Somepony! Anypony! HELP!”

It was then that this nightmare took a turn which it hadn’t done before. Ahead of her, a golden light burst into existence, with a figure hovering there invitingly. Celestia ran faster, panting hard. She jumped, but too late as a pair of gloved hands grabbed her back hooves and began pulling her back into the darkness. She screamed in fear.

But that scream died in her throat as the figure leaped out of the light, revealing itself to be another human. This human had somewhat long brown hair, bright blue eyes, looked pristine and without injury, and very furious with whoever was pulling her back. The human passed Celestia, rushing towards the other human figure, holding Jason back. His body glowed with a bright golden light which worked hard to banish the black tendrils which emanated from the dark and ever demonic form that belonged to Jason. The second human was wearing golden armor and had a shining sword by his side which he drew and swung at the darkness. “RUN PRINCESS! RUUUN!” the second human bellowed.

Despite her desire to run, she forced herself to stop. She did not want to abandon another human. The guilt was eating away at her. “What about you!?” she cried out.

“I SAID GO!” he yelled. He held out his hand and a burst of wind caught the unsuspecting alicorn by surprise. As she was thrown back into the light, she saw a dark cruel blade shoved directly through her rescuer, coming out the back with blood.

She screamed-

-And woke up screaming, clutching her bedding close to her as she had done nearly every night for the past three months. Not even her sister’s intervention could stave off the nightmares, at least, what little time Luna had to come to save her sister.

It was just before dawn; the fire in her hearth having since gone out. However, she was still drenched in sweat as was her orange comforter. She flung it away from her, taking in deep breaths to try and calm her frazzled nerves. She’d had nightmares nearly identical to the one she’d just had for months. But the dream she’d just had was new. Completely unexpected.

In a flash of dark blue light, a tired but worried Luna appeared in Celestia’s bedroom. She looked at Celestia and her frown deepened. “It happened again, didn’t it?” she asked, coming to the futon where Celestia slept and putting a comforting wing around her.

Celestia lowered her head, nodding as the tears came. “It…he almost got me this time,” Celestia said.

“We apologize, dear sister,” Luna said sincerely. “We were dealing with a larger influx of nightmares than normal.”

Celestia shook her head. “I told you to focus your attention on the common pony before me,” she said, “I’m not angry at you.”

Luna’s ears flattened and she moved closer to her older sister. “You need a better night’s rest if you are to continue rebuilding Equestria,” she said, slipping into a more informal speech than she used with others, “You can’t keep going on like this. You’re going to collapse one day, and then what?”

Celestia stiffened, then turned to face her sister, a look of bitter anger on her face. “Our little ponies are more important than me right now!” she shouted. “They make the kingdom, not buildings or borders!” She was nearly in Luna’s face before she realized what she was doing. Slowly, she pulled away and looked down at the blanket in front of her. “Forgive me, Lulu…I didn’t mean it…”

“Cellie, you’re my sister…” Luna said softly, lifting Celestia to face her with her hoof, “I love you deeply, but you need to let somepony help you. You’re falling apart.”

Celestia curled up, pulling her thin sheet closer to her. “I’ll be fine.”

“No, you wont,” Luna said stalwartly. “You’re at your limit! Please, you need a break!”

“Not yet,” Celestia said as she slowly removed the sheet covering the rest of her. Only to see her flank glowing a deep crimson, bright lights moving towards her cutie mark on either side. “What in the Maker’s name…?”

“Cellie? What is that?” Luna asked, staring at the glowing red flanks in shock.

Celestia stood and got a better look at her flanks, trying desperately to remember where she had seen this before. It had been quite a long time since she’d seen anything remotely familiar to it, and it was ringing a bell in her mind. Finally, it came to her. “A call from the map…”

“What map?” Luna asked.

“The cutie mark map in Twilight’s Castle of…Castle of Friendship,” Celestia hesitated to speak the words, seeing as how it had been scraped clean of any reference to her once faithful student by Jason and his changeling army. “Twilight and her frie-the other Elements of Harmony used to be summoned by it to find friendship problems around Equestria,” she explained. “I remember when she first told me about it. How she and the others had been summoned to a town up north, only to discover that the townsponies had just recently driven off their former leader who had stolen their cutie marks. They helped the townsponies get their lives back on track.” She looked back at her cutie mark. “I’ve read reports from Twilight about them, but she never made mention that the cutle marks were red like this. The pattern matches, though.”

“It must be quite serious if you are being summoned to solve a problem about friendship,” Luna said with a frown. “Then you should go.”

Celestia stiffened. “I can’t go. I have a city to help rebuild,” she said.

“If this cutie mark map is summoning you and it’s an offshoot of the Tree of Harmony, I think you should go,” Luna insisted. “It could very well take only a single day to complete. I can watch the throne in your stead.”

Celestia turned to Luna, worry in her face and in her heart. Even if it had been seven years since Luna had returned from her banishment, she still wasn’t too sure if she was ready for the stresses of her Celestial Court. There was a Lunar Court, but since it took place during the night, there wasn’t much for Luna to do, which was why she had learned dreamwalking magic when she had returned from the moon. “What if it doesn’t take a day? What if it’s in some distant place? Like maybe the Crystal Empire?”

“Sister, I can handle it,” Luna said in a soft and reassuring tone. “If this map has summoned you, it must be a situation most dire. Come, I’ll help you pack for an extended journey just in case.” And with that, Luna began wandering the room, grabbing a large white suitcase with the solar diarch’s cutie mark emblazoned on the side. She opened it and began packing a few things Celestia might need in all kinds of weather.

Celestia watched her sister with renewed respect and love. For too long she had been overprotective of the lunar Princess. She’d been having her take baby steps when it came to her reintegration into modern day Equestrian society, but it was time for her to take her wings and soar again, soar like the lovely alicorn she was. Even before she was banished, Luna was a mare grown, not some filly in need of coddling. She finally stood, making her bed quickly with her magic and sighing. “Very well, sister. I’m going. But you don’t need to pack so much,” she insisted with a very small smile, “I doubt I’ll be gone too long.”

“Has this map ever called you before?” Luna asked, turning to her with her magic holding a pair of thick hoofboots in her dark blue magical embrace. When Celestia simply shook her head, Luna placed the boots into the suitcase. “Then it must be extremely dire indeed. What was it mother used to say to us when we went on long trips to the sea? Pack for what might happen, not for what you hope to happen?”

“You’ve taken that to heart, I see,” Celestia said, looking at her increasingly overcrowded suitcase.

“They taught us much, Maker keep their souls close to her bosom,” Luna said, putting one hoof to her chest.

“Apparently, not everything,” Celestia said, her ears lowered as she looked at a small jar in the corner of the room. There, enclosed by a lid, sat some inert changeling goop which she had taken from her wings after Jason had released her. She’d placed another jar of it in her throne room, in her private dining room, even in her private privy. She didn’t want to forget what she had wroght.

Luna’s eyes followed her sister’s, and her frown returned. “You should get rid of those,” she said. “They’re nothing but a reminder to you. They could also be causing some of your nightmares. We don’t know what that fluid does.”

“Do not touch them,” Celestia said firmly, “None of them. I need that reminder. I failed miserably, Luna.”

“Don’t say that, it was Discord-”

“Discord be damned!” Celestia shouted angrily, stamping her hoof on the ground, “All that cretin did was ever so slightly enhance the feelings I have about other creatures that are not my ponies! I would have forgotten about him regardless!” She was panting heavily when she was finished with her tirade, looking wildly at a stunned Luna.

The lunar Princess, however, cleared her throat, walked over, and put a comforting wing on Celestia’s withers. “This trip might be good for you,” Luna said. “Yes, you have your faults, but your compassion isn’t one of them. Remember what you told me about the moment when you confronted the Elements of Harmony in jail before Discord’s death? You called them out. That shows that you do care deeply.”

“But only for ponies,” Celestia said. “I’ve done things that I regret not only to Jason, but to other non-ponies as well. Young Spike, for example.”

“What about him?” Luna asked.

So, Celestia told her. She told Luna about how the egg that had been found floating in Horseshoe Bay had been found by her more than thirteen years ago. How she had taken it and used it as a mere means to test students. How she had assigned the young Spike to become Twilight Sparkle’s assistant. Not friend, but lowly assistant. How she had cast a spell on Spike to use him as only a messenger. The incident with how Discord was first released, the way that even other ponies had apparently used him from reports she’d received from one of her ex-agents of S.M.I.L.E. who now lived in Ponyville, and other incidents she’d heard about. “My little ponies have been sheltered from other races,” she finished with tears in her eyes, “they are afraid and suspicious of anycreature not their own. They were even afraid of a zebra, and they look so much like a pony that we’re practically kindred.”

Luna took this all in stride, her face stony with no reaction to all she’d just heard. She walked up to Celestia and asked, “Have you apologized to young Spike for this? Have you offered amnesty to no one other than Jason? What about his changeling army? To me, what the reports say is that they seemed very uncomfortable in burning Ponyville down. Some did it mostly out of fear.”

Celestia’s ears lowered. More guilt was piled up on the preexisting guilt she already felt. “I…I never thought to…oh Maker above…I haven’t learned.”

“Anypony can forgive you for making such an oversight in these trying times,” Luna said softly.

“I shouldn’t have forgotten that!” Celestia said with tears now streaming down her cheeks. Tears of self loathing. Tears of inner hatred. “I’m no worse than those foal abusers I’ve had to execute in my rule!”

“Then do something about it now!” Luna bellowed, startling Celestia. The lunar diarch had used her Royal Canterlot Voice. Taking a deep breath, Luna softened her tone and continued, “What was it father said? There’s no time like the present to right a wrong?”

Celestia swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, and with a slow nod, turned and walked over to the table where her crown, chestplate, golden shoes and her other royal accoutrements sat. She quickly got them on, brushed her mane and tail, then walked over to the window. She opened it, raised her head, and began raising the sun at its proper time. The sky was partly cloudy this morning, with patches of fog covering the valley floor below, especially around where Ponyville had once lay. It was both a blessing and a curse to not be able to see the land below. A blessing since she could at least pretend for a moment things were back to normal, and a curse because the fog reminded her of the thick billowing smoke clouds that had surrounded Ponyville when she’d first gotten a glimpse of what Jason had done to it.

When she turned back, she found that Luna was holding out the suitcase for her. It was all packed and ready to go for her. Celestia took the suitcase in her magic, and nodded gratefully at her. “Come with me, Luna,” she said, walking towards the door, holding her head high as a ruler should even if parts of her felt that she didn’t truly deserve to do so, “We’re going to make this announcement together.”

“Together, dear sister,” Luna said as she used her magic to open the door. The two stepped out into the hallway, ready to face the day.

Spike rolled over in his bed in the Castle of Friendship. The morning was still dark, with the only light coming in being from one of the nearest oil lanterns hanging near the castle. He hadn’t really gotten much of a good night sleep ever since Twilight had told him about why this Jason, who Spike had never known about until that day when he burned down Ponyville, had done what he had done. Spike hadn’t even known a human had been in Ponyville. Apparently, he’d been in Canterlot during that time and somehow had missed the human’s first arrival.

She knew that Twilight wasn’t a big fan of them, especially after that first night they’d spent in Canterlot High’s library during their first trip through Star Swirl’s mirror, but Spike actually liked the humans he’d met. Sure, there were things about them that might cause a pony to feel appaled, such as their consumption of meat and their more warlike nature, at least according to what Twilight had told him a few days after they’d first come back from their world, but he’d seen that they were just as capable of friendship as ponies were. And perhaps even more so.

He was sure that had he known about this human, one who his supposed first friend had turned away at the drop of a bit, he would have rushed to find him and try to help him. At least, he thought that was what he would do. Then he remembered how he had abandoned Twilight at the Canterlot Royal Wedding out of fear or being pulled out of said event. If the townsponies had treated Jason so cruelly, then what was to stop them from turning on him when they found that he was helping a creature they so despised?

His answer came from the bed beside him as the teen filly in bed beside him stirred. Sweetie Belle opened one eye and looked up at Spike, who was sitting up in bed much like he’d been doing most of the night. She’d come to stay the night, with Rarity’s permission, to, in Sweetie’s own words, “...get out of that tent and away from my sister for a while.” Ever since the destruction of Ponyville, Sweetie Belle and Spike, both teenagers in Pony terms, had gotten closer, finding comfort in each other. Spike’s crush on Rarity had instantly evaporated when Twilight had told him what she and the other Elements had done. It had broken his heart, but he found himself drawn to other foals his own age. He spent more time with them than Twilight, especially the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and even more especially, Sweetie Belle.

“Spike? Did you just wake up?” Sweetie’s melodious and soothing voice asked in a tired tone as she, too, slowly pulled the blankets off of her and sat up to properly face one of her newer best friends.

“No,” he admitted. He knew better than to lie to Sweetie Belle. She had a way of knowing when he was lying ever since the two began hanging out with the other CMC members.

Sweetie frowned and moved closer, putting a hoof around his shoulder. “What’s wrong? Still thinking about that human…Jace, was it?”

“Jason Wright,” he corrected her automatically. When her ears lowered at his sudden harsh tone, he immediately softened. “Sorry, Sweetie…”

Sweetie Belle shook her head, giving him a reassuring smile. “After what you told me, I’m not surprised he’s been on your mind. I can’t imagine anypony doing that to anycreature, especially not my sister,” she said. “But it happened, and now we’re paying for it.”

Spike put an arm around Sweetie Belle, pulling her closer and burying his face in her soft barrel. Sweetie allowed this, wrapping her forelegs around him comfortingly. “I’m scared,” he admitted with his face still in her barrel. “What if the town does the same to me?”

“That won’t ever happen,” Sweetie Belle said reassuringly, tightening her grip around him. “It shouldn’t have happened to the human, and it sure as Tartarus won’t happen to you. If they do turn on you or even throw you out, I’ll come with you.”

Spike moved away from the hug, slowly shaking his head. “What about Rarity? What about your parents?”

“They were part of the problem,” Sweetie said with a slightly bitter tone, looking angrily at the bed before returning her gaze to Spike. “Rarity chased him out, and I know for a fact my parents threw garbage at him. They’re thinking of moving to another town.”

Spike felt a lump forming in his throat. “Does that mean you’re going with them?” he asked worriedly. He didn’t want to lose one of his newest and best friends.

Sweetie shook her head. “No, I’ll still be with Rarity. Unless there’s room for me here. With you.” She smiled at him hopefully.

Spike couldn’t help it. Her smile was one of the few things that could make him smile, if only temporarily. “There are plenty of empty rooms here where you could stay,” he said.

“Or I could stay with you in this room,” she said softly.

For some reason, that sent his heart racing. Just the thought of him and the teenage filly living together in the same room, under the same roof, made him smile all the wider. It also made him nervous, and he couldn’t exactly tell why. “You…you’d really want to stay with me?” he asked.

“Spike, of course I would,” she said, leaning in and placing her head on his chest. He could feel how soft her mane was as well as the warmth emanating from her. “You’re one of my best and closest friends. I like being around you. You make me feel safe and secure.”

Spike automatically once more wrapped his arms around her. That reassurance was enough for him to at least temporarily forget his fears and troubles as the two sat in a comfortable silence for a while.

That was, until a sudden red light began emanating from the spines on his head. Sweetie Belle noticed this and looked up. “Spike? What’s that light on your spines?”

Spike quickly broke the hug and rushed over to the nearby vanity mirror next to the dresser. Despite it being still dark, he could see himself in the mirror thanks to the lights coming off of his spines. They would start at the frontmost part of the green spikes on his head, then move backwards. There was a familiar chiming noise coming from them, but he’d never seen anypony have a red mark before. “I think…I think the map is summoning me to help solve a friendship problem,” he said in stunned silence. In the time since the map had appeared, he’d never been summoned before.

Sweetie came trotting up next to him, smiling at him warmly. “Must be important, if Spike the Brave and Bold is being summoned,” she said teasingly, bumping him playfully with her flank. She’d often tease him about his status in the Crystal Empire ever since she learned about it.

He sighed, but smiled down at her. “Well, if they want Spike the Hero, they’ve got it,” he said with a chuckle. However, the chuckle died down as he said, “But it might take me away from Ponyville for a while.”

Sweetie waved her hoof. “I’ll be alright here, I promise.” She looked down at her own cutie mark, which wasn’t glowing. “It would be nice to go with you. I’ve never been summoned before either.”

“Well, do you want to come?” Spike asked automatically.

She shook her head. “Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and I are still trying to help the town. N-Not that you’re not!” she said quickly when she saw his face fall, “but if the map is calling you, then you should go. I’ll be here waiting for when you get back. So will the others.”

Spike’s smile returned, and just then the sun began to rise. As it did, the light shone into the window, illuminating Sweetie Belle from behind like some kind of angelic ray from the heavens. Her green eyes were now more visible, and the morning sun which caught a patch of clear sky through the thick fog surrounding Ponyville shone through her purple and pink striped mane. Spike moved closer and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised.

“I know you will, and I’ll be here. Me and your other friends,” she whispered before gently pushing him away. “Now, go and see where you’re going, you big lug. I’ve got some more beauty sleep to catch up on before I go back to the tent for some breakfast.” So saying, she jumped right back into bed and curled up underneath the blankets, covering her eyes with them.

He chuckled, then ran to the door and rushed out into the massive hallways. It might be good for him, he thought to himself as he headed to the castle’s multiple throne room. Maybe it would be good for him to get out of Ponyville and away from it all to help clear his head. He wished Sweetie Belle had been summoned too, but she was right. She had been busy helping the town to recover as best she could. Her and the other CMC members.

When he burst through the doors to the palace room, he skidded to a halt. A frantic looking Twilight was looking around, her wings in her ears. The entire room was bathed in a dark red light which oscillated to a brighter light, then back to the darker light. And there was a loud noise coming from the now completely red table. An alarm of some kind. Spike immediately put his claws over his ears to block out the noise. He then noticed something that made his heart sink.

Twilight’s own cutie mark was glowing the same color as his spines were.

When she saw him, she called out something to him, but thanks to him stopping his ears and the noise of the alarm, he couldn’t hear what she said. He walked over to her and shouted, “What was that??”

“I said can you help me find out how to turn off this alarm??” Twilight’s muffled voice could be heard through the din.

Spike nodded in understanding and looked around the throne room, trying to find anything that could be the cause of the alarm. He had to remove his hands from his ears so he could listen, and he quickly got a headache because of it. But he endured it if only to stop the alarm from blaring. Looking over at Twilight, who had removed her wings from her ears, he shouted, “Can’t you cover the noise with some magic spell!?”

“What?!” Twilight shouted back, putting one wing to her ear to better hear what he’d said.

“I said, can’t you use your magic to cover up the noise?!” Spike shouted again.

A look of realization came over her and she facehooved. “Right…” Lifting her horn, she cast a purple shield around the map. The alarm sound was instantly muffled so it was barely audible. Both alicorn and dragon breathed a sigh of relief.

“What in Equestria is going on?” Spike asked, looking around the room now that the noise was reduced. “Why is the room all red?”

“I don’t know, Spike,” Twilight said, “but that’s not my biggest worry now. Look.”

When she pointed to the table, Spike’s eyes followed. And what he saw made his heart sink. There were seven cutie marks circling a certain spot on one side of the map. Seven cutie marks and the image of a very familiar dragon. The cutie marks belonged to the Elements of Harmony, along with a very surprising addition. “Princess Celestia?!” Spike gaped in wonder.

“I don’t know why either,” Twilight said honestly, “but it looks like we’re heading outside of Equestria altogether.”

Spike took another look and tilted his head. The cutie marks and his image were hovering over a large treelike structure across the Celestial Sea. There were small thatched roofed building on it and near the top a tall white fortress that seemed to reach for the heavens. “Where is that?” Spike asked.

“That would be Griffonstone, my dear Spike,” a deeper and older voice said from behind them.

Spike turned and saw Princess Celestia standing in the doorway, a large suitcase by her side. Twilight immediately bowed her head, but Spike just stood there, watching her curiously. Ever since the incident with Jason and his changelings, he’d been doing a lot of thinking about how ponies had treated him. He remembered the first incident with Discord and how she’d been sending letter after letter through him, causing him to have an upset stomach for a least two days. He remembered his first Winter Wrap-Up where they’d left him on the ice until he fell in and caught a nasty cold. He’d honestly once thought of the Princess as a second mother at one time, but after what had happened and what she’d been a part of, he didn’t think of her like that anymore.

“But why would the map be summoning us all to Griffonstone?” Twilight asked, raising her head to look at her former mentor with confusion.

“We’ll have to find out when we get there,” Celestia said, walking over and looking closer at the map. Spike watched her warily, and then when she looked down at Spike with wide eyes, she added, “You’re coming too?”

“Got a problem with that?” he asked, crossing his arms and looking at her with a frown.

“Spike!” Twilight said in alarm.

“It’s alright, Twilight,” Celestia said, raising a wing to stop her old student, “he has every right to be upset with me. And no, I don’t have a problem. In fact, I’m glad you’re coming.”

“So I can lug around your luggage for you like some sort of pack mule?” Spike asked bitterly. “Like how Rarity used to make me do? Or Twilight?”

Twilight’s ears flattened and she looked away guiltily. Celestia’s ears also flattened, but she held Spike’s gaze. “No, we won’t be making you do that,” she said sincerely. “I’m perfectly capable of carrying my own luggage. As are all of the rest,” she added, looking with disappointment at Twilight.

“Y-Yes, yes I am,” Twilight said, lifting a smaller purple suitcase with her cutie mark on it.

“Good,” Spike said. “I’m going to go pack. I’ll be back here when I’m done.” With that, he strode to the door, barely catching a glimpse of Twilight reaching out towards him with a guilty look in her eyes. But in his mind, it was too little, too late. Even the Cutie Mark Crusaders pulled their own weight and didn’t use him as forced labor. It was one of the many reasons why he loved spending so much time with them.

As he left the room, he could hear Celestia’s disappointed tone asking, “You used Spike as free labor?” He ignored the receding voices as he headed back to his room. He wasn’t looking forward to this trip, and really wished that Sweetie Belle was coming along.

An hour later, all seven of the ponies who had been summoned by the map were in the throne room, looking at it. The alarm had stopped when the last pony, Pinkie, walked in blearily. However, the red oscillating lights didn’t vanish. Twilight stood in front of them, looking at the map. She felt a slight hint of nostalgia as they all gathered next to their thrones, not sitting in them at all. Spike was standing in the corner, arms crossed and staring at them all with a stony expression.

Twilight could still remember the stinging remarks from the Princess about how she’d treated Spike through the years. And it hadn’t just stopped with her. With each pony who came in, they had received a tongue lashing about how they’d treated Spike. The looks of guilt on each of their faces broke Twilight’s heart, but she knew that she deserved the most out of the lectures since she’d been doing it to the dragon the longest. Piled on top of the guilt she felt regarding Jason, it felt like another crushing weight had been piled onto her.

When the Princess finished, she turned back and looked at the map. “Now then, it would seem that the map is summoning everypon-everyone-here to Griffonstone.” Twilight could see the nod of approval from Spike when Princess Celestia corrected herself. “I will be personally buying tickets for all of you. That gives you all time to pack whatever you need. Meet at the Ponyville station when you’re done and I’ll buy the tickets then.”

“What about Canterlot?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“Don’t you worry about that, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Celestia said, “My sister says she can handle things while I’m gone. Besides, the royal advisors there can help her if things get too rough. She’ll be fine.”

Twilight was a bit relieved, but she still couldn’t help but worry. Her old mentor had received more flack about Jason’s attack than even her or her friends. Her leadership skills were being called into question by ponies all over Equestria. She’d read newspaper articles of interviews between common ponies from Manehatten, Baltimare, Vanhoover, and even Appleloosa who thought that in recent years, the Princess had begun to lose the knack to rule. They cited the examples of Nightmare Moon, Discord’s first release, King Sombra, Tirek, and Jason Wright. Many felt that she was too lenient and were demanding some more permanent solutions to other enemies of Equestria. Many outside of Canterlot and Ponyville were demanding the death penalty for these enemies, something that Princess Celestia had outlawed centuries before after things had calmed down with the Nightmare Moon incident having destroyed the Castle of the Two Sisters and the city that once surrounded it.

“I have my things here,” Pinkie, who was a dull pink now, much like how she looked during the surprise party debacle during Twilight’s first couple of months in Ponyville. Only, her fur, mane and tail were grayer than they had been then.

“I’ve got enough with me to be alright,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing to some worryingly light saddlebags on her back.

“I’ll need to go back home to my tent,” Rarity said, saying the last word with some resentment. “I will return momentarily.” She then turned to Spike. “Spikey…is Sweetie Belle still in your room sleeping?”

Spike nodded. Twilight was surprised, since she hadn’t known Sweetie Belle was in the castle. “She’s still there, sleeping. And don’t you dare call me Spikey, or Spikey Wikey either. It’s just Spike,” he said stonily.

“Oh…right,” Rarity said, ears flattened. “Is it okay if she stays here while I’m gone?”

“Ask Twilight,” Spike said, pointing his thumb over at the purple alicorn.

“She can stay here as long as she wants,” Twilight said.

Rarity looked relieved at that. “Thank you. I’ll go pack.” So saying, she left the throne room, walking back to her tent.

Fluttershy, who was holding Angel close to her in her wings, simply turned and walked out after Rarity, presumably to go pack as well. When Twilight asked her if she needed help, Fluttershy simply shook her head and said, in a quiet, quivering tone, “No…”

Applejack looked the least upset out of all of them, but Twilight could tell something was missing in her behavior. Her back was a bit more hunched than it had been, her hat, which was normally pretty clean despite her work on a farm, was dirty and there was a small tear in one side. There was something missing from her eyes, as well. It took her a minute to realize that Applejack’s normally green eyes were lacking in a bit of their normal hue. Instead, they had dulled slightly. “Ah’ll be back, too,” she said, turning and heading back to her farm. Twilight also noticed that her tail and mane, which would normally both be tied up at the ends with a hairband, were loose and somewhat unkempt.

With that, the room was emptier than it had been, leaving Twilight, Princess Celestia, Spike and a forlorn Pinkie. The solar diarch raised her head, grabbed her suitcase with her magic, and headed to the door. “Come along, everyp-everyone, let’s go wait at the train station.”

Twilight grabbed her suitcase and an equally stuffed pair of saddlebags, Pinkie turned and followed the Princess out. Twilight looked back at Spike, who had a backpack on his back along with a small suitcase that matched his size. They locked eyes for a moment, and in that moment, Twilight felt a glimmer of hope that she could at least try and fix the relationship she had with her number one assistant-no, he was much more than that to her. He was like a little brother, and it took the burning of Ponyville for her to realize it.

However, that hope was quickly dashed to pieces when Spike frowned at her. “You gonna move, Princess? Or are you just gonna stand there?”

“R-Right,” Twilight said, heartbroken once more as she turned and followed Pinkie and Princess Celestia out of the throne room. As they headed to the exit, she inhaled and exhaled softly. As they approached the door, one thought played over and over in Twilight’s mind: How can we solve a friendship problem when we’re all like this…? Maker above…what do we do?

4: Second Adjustments

Two Weeks After Gregory’s Arrival In Griffonstone…

It was just past three in the afternoon that early October afternoon when an exhausted Gregory walked through the door to Gabby’s house. Beside him, an equally exhausted Gabby barely had the strength to trudge into the house, let alone hover. Fortunately, it was the weekend and the two had the next two days off. They both walked over to the couch and collapsed onto it, both sighing at the same time. Gregory on the right and Gabby on the left. Gabby leaned against him, taking in a deep breath and exhaling once more.

Gregory couldn’t blame her for being so tired. Ever since the news came in about the invasion of Canterlot and the complete and total destruction of Ponyville, the post office had been run ragged. Not even Gregory was sure what was happening, and he’d been one of the sorters in the main mail room. He knew that Geoffrey had sent out a few letters to Equestria, more specifically to Princesses Celestia and Luna, but there had yet to be a reply from either of them. There had been more letters sent out to the changeling territory, mostly to one Emperor Jason Wright, with a few to Queen Chrysalis as well, but those had been returned with harshly handwritten notes on the envelopes that just read RETURN TO SENDER.

It had been such a busy couple of weeks that Gregory had very little time to think about what had happened to Equestria. He asked his boss for extra hours in the hopes that he could earn more money to get a train ticket to Equestria to try and help, only to be told that the train to Equestria was being stopped at the border for any non-pony for at least a month, maybe more.

So for the next two weeks, he’d focused more on his job, although he’d had to mentally focus harder than he ever had to, mostly because he felt himself going through the five stages of grief. Grief for the ponies he’d hoped to visit, and grief for their loss. Gabby had tried to be supportive of him despite not knowing the cause, and he was truly grateful to her. But he wasn’t ready to talk about it.

The Monday that marked the start of his first day, he woke up from his patchy sleep completely angry. He held it in, however, as he wanted to make a good first impression for his new coworkers. That didn’t stop Gabby from noticing his behavioral shift. During their lunch break, she’d pulled him aside and asked what was wrong, but he just told her not to worry about it and that he would be alright. She didn’t seem too happy to hear that, but she accepted it regardless. In a way, she reminded him of Pinkie, and he wondered what she was thinking about all this. If he knew her, she would be in her darker Pinkamena persona, or ponysona, he guessed. The others were probably just as distraught at having lost their town and livelihoods to a monster in human form.

His anger stretched into Tuesday and lasted until Friday afternoon. Gabby wisely stayed out of his way as he held the anger back while at work, but after work that first week he had gone to the outside of the city to scream into the Abysmal Abyss in an attempt to get all of his anger out of him. It had worked only for a couple hours each time, only for the anger to return in full force. Anger directed at mostly this other human who had destroyed everything he’d hoped to see. The human who had attacked an innocent race for seemingly no reason. He had particularly dark thoughts that first week, thoughts that he had never had before. Murderous thoughts.

It was during those screaming moments on Friday afternoon after his shift where he screamed for so long that Gabby had finally had enough and pulled him away from the edge, yelling at him in terror. It was at that moment that his anger vanished, only to be replaced with a heavy feeling of depression as he finally broke down and sobbed hard. Gabby had immediately hugged him close, allowing him to bury his face in her plumage as she ran her talons through his hair gently, trying to soothe him as best she could.

When Saturday came around, he began feeling his anger ebb away, only to be replaced with a strange feeling of worry and fear for the future. He was afraid that if the griffons found out that Jason was a human like him that he’d be considered an enemy and locked up simply for being the same species. And part of him wondered if he could blame them for reacting that way. After all, how was he any different from Jason? He couldn’t explain why, but he felt like he was blaming himself for something that was clearly not his fault. But as he’d learned back on Earth, emotions aren’t rational.

Unfortunately for him, those feelings only lasted for the weekend before a heavy weight felt like it was pressing down on him. The feeling of being overwhelmed and hopeless struck him with full force in the middle of his second Monday shift. He could barely concentrate on his work and had to constantly pinch himself so he could concentrate on the job. He had to force himself to wash himself and even to eat to keep up his strength despite it making him feel nauseous.

Fortunately for him, nobody seemed to notice his behavior except, of course, for Gabby. She tried a couple times to get him to open up, but he was still not ready to talk to her about it. He would sometimes hide from everyone during his breaks to cry and let the emotions flow away, and it helped for a time. He didn’t even want to leave the house for that week unless it was for work. Gabby was patient with him, but Gregory continued to struggle. He was afraid, too. Afraid that Gabby would think less of him if he told the truth. Or worse yet, be afraid of him.

As Gregory looked down at his friend and gracious host, he had an epiphany. He’d been the one who wanted to use that hidden portal spell he’d found on the Dark Web to come to Equestria. He’d been the one who wanted to abandon his life on Earth to come see his favorite ponies and befriends them. One of his favorite songs had said it best. “Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future’s not ours to see. Que sera, sera.”

Gabby looked up at him and her turquoise eyes widened when she saw the expression on his face. “Gregory, your face…it looks better.”

“I…yeah, I’m feeling a little bit better than before,” he admitted as he sat up to face her. Gabby did the same, sitting on her haunches as she faced him as well. “I’m not back to one hundred percent yet, but I think I’ll be fine eventually.”

“Are you ready to talk about it now?” she asked in a small but hopeful tone. “It’s fine if you’re not, but…”

“No, I think I’m ready to give it a try, at least,” he said, and he meant it. He knew that the Gabby from the show and the Gabby he knew now were similar enough that he could at least trust her. Even if she didn’t want to be his friend anymore-

He smacked himself, getting rid of the lingering depressing thought. This startled Gabby who moved closer. “What did you do that for?!” she asked in alarm.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said with a self deprecating smile, “just trying to knock some sense into myself.” He swallowed, then took a deep breath and exhaled before facing her once more. “Okay, I’m ready now.”

“I’m all ears,” Gabby said sincerely.

To even his surprise, the words just came tumbling out of him faster than he could comprehend. He told her that the moment he’d heard the name Jason that he associated it with a human name. He mentioned that he had so desperately wanted to meet the ponies of Ponyville, but when he’d heard about this other human’s invasion, he felt angry, ashamed, afraid, every gamut of negative emotions. The more he talked, the more he felt his emotions rising back to the surface, but in a way that felt more freeing than anything he’d felt in the past two weeks. The words kept on coming out of him, and soon he realized that he was very close to revealing the whole truth to her. The truth about My Little Pony and where he was actually from.

When he clammed up, Gabby looked at him worriedly. “Gregory? What’s wrong?”

He inhaled and blew out from his mouth slowly. If he wanted to really make friends in this world, he had to at least trust someone. Slowly, he pulled out his cell phone. “There’s something I’ve been hiding ever since I got here,” he admitted, “but it’s something that I’ve been too afraid to tell anyone.”

Gabby smiled sincerely at him. “Silly Gregory, we’re friends now,” she said with a tender tone. “You can trust me with your secrets.”

“Even if it means bringing your entire worldview into question?” Gregory asked in an attempt to make sure she understood the gravity of the situation. He was actually considering telling Gabby about what her world really was, or at least, what he thought it had been before finding the instructions for creating a portal on the Deep Web. He half expected nothing to happen when he’d first tested it, of if it did work having him end up in someplace like the Backrooms, but when his first test was not only successful, but had brought back images of a real life Ponyville onto his camera which he’d stuck through on a tripod and set with a timer, he’d been incredibly excited. He’d spent the next six months purchasing things he would want to take with him, downloaded hundreds of books which he put on multiple kindles, put every single episode of the show on his phone and laptop, settled any kind of matters he had, then on the last day he was on Earth, donated all but a hundred dollars to a few different charities. The rest of his money he took with him more as a keepsake than anything else.

“What do you mean?” Gabby asked cautiously.

“I mean, what if I told you something that made you question your very existence?” Gregory asked.

She tilted her head in a remarkably birdlike manner before she chuckled. She reached out and pinched his arm gently. When he flinched as he felt the pain, she said, “I exist, see? You exist, too. I promise, no matter what you show me, I’ll be alright. That’s a Gabby Guarantee.” She gave Gregory a thumbs up and a wide smile.

Gregory couldn’t help it. He chuckled. She was a lot like Pinkie, but at the same time she was her own being. He slowly unlocked his phone. “You’re incredible, Gabby. You were always my favorite griffon in the show.”

“Show? Favorite griffon? What do you mean?” Gabby asked, tilting her head again.

Gregory said nothing as he scrolled through his phone until he found the episode he wanted to share. He clicked on it, scrolled to the appropriate scene and unmuted the video. Holding it up behind the couch so they both could watch, he hit play.

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders! I can’t believe it’s really really you! Ha ha, hahahaha!”

“This…griffon…not cranky!”

“How in the bloomin’ apples did you know who we are?”

“Know who you are? KNOW WHO YOU ARE?! Why, I’ve heard about you from everypony in Ponyville! I’m so excited to meet you, I could just EXPLODE! I’m Gabriella, but you can call me Gabby since we’re friends now. Pleased to meetcha!”

When Gregory hit pause and looked back at Gabby, she was staring wide eyed at the miniature screen. There was a look of disbelief in her eyes as she followed said screen which Gregory was pulling away. When he turned the screen off, the spell was broken and Gabby blinked. She looked back at Gregory. “What…did you just show me?” she asked breathlessly. “I never said that…and who are the Cutie Mark Crusaders? But that’s my voice…it has to be!”

When he heard the fear in her voice, he felt a lump in his throat, but he soldiered onwards. “What I’m about to tell you is one hundred percent the absolute truth. Please believe me, please.”

Gabby stared at him for a little while before straightening, taking a deep breath, exhaling, then facing him with a serious expression. “I’m listening,” she said in an incredibly serious tone.

Gregory carefully began to explain where he was from. How back on his actual world there was technology like this that could show images and videos. How there was one show about ponies in Equestria that until recently even he had believed was just a fictional story. How he had discovered a means to travel from his world to this one to meet with the characters he loved as well as simultaneously trying to find a better life in Equestria. How something on his end must have gone wrong and how he’d foolishly not put a camera through during his crossing over to check for dangers and how he’d fallen. “And, well, you know the rest,” he said quietly.

“I…I don’t…I just…fuck…” Gabby was saying.

He was completely blind sighted by her use of the F-Bomb, but he could hardly blame her. He’d done exactly what he’d said would happen. He’d shattered her view of herself and the world. He stood up. “I’m…gonna go for a walk for a bit and give you some space,” he said. “That okay with you?” She silently nodded, so he grabbed his noise cancelling earphones, his phone and his jacket and walked out into the street, switching to his favorite band and hitting shuffle. As he began walking down the street with no clear destination in mind, the song began to play, and thanks to it he began to take notice of the city around him.

“Chiquitita, you and I know, how the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving! You'll be dancing once again, and the pain will end! You will have no time for grieving! Chiquitita, you and I cry, but the sun is still in the sky and shining above you! Let me hear you sing once more, like you did before! Sing a new song, Chiquitita! Try once more, like you did before! Sing a new song, Chiquitita!”

He had been so absorbed in his thoughts about this other human for the past couple of weeks that he hadn’t noticed how much Griffonstone around him had changed in those two weeks. Initially, the cobblestone walkways were covered in filth like rotten food, old garbage, even droppings in some back alleys. He’d had to go out for the first few days with a few of the face masks he’d brought to block out the smell. But as time went on, he though he’d gotten somewhat used to it so he just kept a mask with him for the worst parts. He realized, now, that he hadn’t gotten used to the smell, but that the smell had been slowly going away thanks to tireless efforts from the griffons to actually clean up their city, their houses, their entire home. Even the massive keep, a towering alabaster building that didn’t match the normal architecture of the city on a tree, was glistening in the sun slightly more so than usual.

For the most part, however, Gregory noted that the griffons had been focusing more on the domestic instead of the keep itself. Most griffons who passed him gave him a nod of acknowledgment, and more than a few gave him an actual smile. He knew, of course, what they called him when they thought he wasn’t listening: Bearer of the Idol, Hero of Griffonstone, and other flowery names. Now that he had begun to accept that things in this world were nothing like how they were in the show, it felt weird to be this accepted by griffons of all species. Then again, he reasoned that they’d lost a part of themselves when the idol was lost, and it seemed as if they’d found it again when he’d accidentally found it and returned it.

As he walked, he found that more and more griffons greeted him with a few words. Feeling that it was rude for him to just nod and greet them without hearing what they had to say, he stopped the music, turned off his earphones and pulled them around his neck. With the noise cancelling off, he heard the sounds of crews around the city busily cleaning streets, reinforcing older buildings, and in some cases demolishing and rebuilding houses.

Still, even with this shift in the griffon’s attitude, a large part of him was still worried about what Gabby would do when she was finished processing what he had just told her. He knew it was silly to think that she’d make him leave, but emotionally he couldn’t help but fear that.

He was so lost in thought and in taking in all the new sights before him that he nearly ran into a griffon walking the opposite way on the street towards him. Mere seconds before they collided, he saw the griffon and moved to the side quickly, but a bit too quickly as he stumbled over a small pile of swept up dry roof thatch. He fell onto his ass onto a small yard in front of a random house.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” a higher pitched female voice said apologetically as the griffon he’d nearly run into ran over and held out one of her claws towards him to help him up.

Gratefully, he reached out and took it, letting himself be pulled to his feet. “I wasn’t looking,” he said as he brushed the dirt and thatching material off of his ass. “It’s not your fault.”

The griffon before him, with dark green fur and wings, dark red plumage, bright yellow eyes and red claws, looked up at him and smiled a bit. “It’s my fault, I was the one who wasn’t looking,” she insisted.

Gregory saw that she looked a bit nervous as she looked at the ground beside her. Instinctively, he waved a hand. “Let’s just agree that we were both a bit spaced out, then,” he said with as gentle a smile as he could muster, trying to calm her down.

It seemed to help as she visibly relaxed and her plumage even seemed to puff up slightly. She finally looked up at him. “I guess so,” she said.

“Haven’t seen you around before,” Gregory observed, trying to make small talk, “but…then again, this place is pretty big. I haven’t really seen too much since coming here. I’m Gregory. Gregory Graystone.”

“I’m…Gracie,” the griffon said, hesitating as if she had to think about her name for a bit. She smiled a bit nervously. “I know who you are, Mr. Graystone. Everygriffon in town knows your name.”

He scratched the back of his neck. It was his turn to be nervous now. “Yeah…still not quite used to that,” he admitted. “Back where I’m from, I was just another human working in some grocery store. Here? Being some celebrity? It’s a bit weird. Still not used to it, yet.”

Gracie giggled a bit. “I can only imagine,” she said. “Listen, it was really nice to meet you, but I actually need to go. Maybe we can sit down and talk sometime?”

Gregory nodded. “Yeah, I think that’d be nice,” he admitted. “You’ll have to recommend a good spot, though. I haven’t really had the chance to really explore. I haven’t exactly been in the best mood ever since my second day here.”

Gracie nodded, giving her beak a slight lick. “Well, I hope you start feeling better, soon,” she said.

“I’m starting to,” he said honestly. “Well, I shouldn’t keep you, Gracie, so I’ll say farewell for now.”

“See you later!” she said as she spread her wings and flew off into the air, heading towards the business section of the city.

Gregory watched her go for a little while, feeling a bit jealous that he couldn’t fly. Since humans didn’t have wings or magic, it was highly unlikely that he’d be able to fly, which was a little bit of a problem in a city where everything was designed to accommodate for only flying beings. With that, he turned and continued walking, but his thoughts now seemed clearer than they had been in the past couple of weeks. As if there was some kind of magic that had passed between the conversation between him and Gracie.

He wandered the streets, allowing himself to get a bit lost in the hustle and bustle of griffons going about their day, cleaning, talking, watching little griffon chicks playing in large piles of clean dried grass, and generally letting the hopeful faces on the vast majority of griffons boost his own spirits. He had been walking for about half an hour before he came upon a large destroyed building near a large intersection. Old, weather stained papers were scattered around and there were plenty of books either falling apart or just collecting dust on exposed and rotten bookshelves where books still sat.

He recognized the place instantly since he’d seen it in The Lost Treasure Of Griffonstone. He was in what remained of the Griffonstone Library. Only, unlike how it was portrayed in the show, it was larger and dirtier than it had appeared. This place seemed to have been untouched by any of the griffon cleaning crews, but Gregory couldn’t fault them for that. A library wasn’t as much of a priority as houses and businesses.

He wandered through the library, picking up a few books and reading the strange Equestrian language that he somehow knew after coming through the portal. The letters were similar to English letters in certain areas, but with more flowing characters and extra strokes for certain letters. He picked up old scrolls which talked about old griffon trade agreements with other nations, books that had recipes for ever conceivable occasion, and even some old nursery rhymes for younger griffons.

Looking around, he eventually saw a large crumbling stone statue sitting in the middle of what once had to have been the main lobby of the library. A circle of bookshelves, some still standing, some sagging from overexposure to weather, and others completely destroyed, surrounded the statue. Gregory walked up to the statue and looked at the inscription on the front.

KING GROVER

FIRST OF HIS LINE

UNITER OF ALL GRIFFONKIND

“ALL KNOWLEDGE IS SACRED. I HEREBY DEDICATE THIS LIBRARY TO THE PRESERVATION OF ALL GRIFFON KNOWLEDGE. MAY IT STAND THE TEST OF TIME AND MAY ITS BOOKS BE A LIGHT AND A HELP TO FUTURE GENERATIONS WHEN ALL OTHER LIGHTS GO OUT.”

Gregory looked up at the statue, which had an old book covering the statue’s eyes. The statue itself showed the ancient Griffon king sitting with both his claws outstretched, his wings wide too as if in welcome. He couldn’t tell for sure, but he thought that the statue was smiling a bit. Somehow, seeing the brown book with yellow pages and a golden title card on the front, which ironically read HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF GRIFFONSTONE, seemed wrong. It seemed dishonest to hide the eyes of said statue.

With that in mind, Gregory looked around, trying to find a way to remove the book without having to climb up the statue itself, especially since it looked unsteady and liable to break if he tried climbing it. Finding a few long branches, he tried at first to reach up and push the book off, but when he tried he found that it was stuck on something and nothing he did was working. He came at it from a few different angles, getting more and more caught up in the task, but no matter what he tried, the book didn’t move much.

He was just about to climb up to try and get a better angle when a familiar gravely female voice said, “Wouldn’t it just be easier to ask somegriffon to fly up there and take it down?”

Turning, Gregory saw a familiar individual. With brown furred, brown winged, white plumage, gray feathers around her yellow eyes, and yellow beak and talons, there was no doubt he was looking at the infamous Gilda. Of course, he remembered his brief first meeting with her a couple of weeks prior, but since then he hadn’t seen her around. She was dragging an old rickety cart behind her with the same dry and disgusting scones she had made in the show. “Yeah, I suppose it would,” he admitted, “but I’m a stubborn son of a bitch. I like trying to do things myself.”

Gilda groaned, rolled her eyes, then spread her wings and flew up to the statue. She grabbed the book and tossed it to the ground without a care. She did it with such force that the bottom part of the statue’s lip came loose and fell. She flew back to her cart after that. “There. Can’t have the Hero of Griffonstone getting hurt because he can’t get a book off of a statue.”

“Ah…yeah, guess not,” he said. “Thanks, Gilda.”

She turned on him suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him. “How’d you know my name?”

“Gabby told me about you on one of my first days here,” he said honestly. “I’m sure you remember me. I’m the weird human who spaced out and was staring at you.”

“Yeah, I remember,” she said dismissively as she turned back to her scone cart and began setting it up. “Kinda creepy.”

“Yeah…I’m really sorry about that,” he said as he approached the cart to get a closer look at it.

“Eh, I’m over it now, don’t worry,” she said. “I was having a worse day than normal and lashed out. And it wasn’t just to you.”

“Still, it’s a bad habit of mine, and I’m still sorry.”

“You’re good.”

When he reached the cart, he saw that it was made of very old wood, the normal brown having faded to a dark and dull gray. The planks holding it together were uneven and had holes in them. The oven was made of bricks, a hollowed out stone with an oven door made of a somewhat rusted metal archway. There was small covered smokestack coming out the top of the small fire oven. Gray smoke came out of it, and he could smell something that made his stomach turn, but he didn’t show it. “Are these the griffon scones I’ve heard so much about?” he asked, looking at the uneven display shelves on one side of the cart.

She nodded. “Yeah, they’re my specialty,” she explained casually.

“Mind if I try one?” he asked, pulling out his change purse which jingled with bits. He pulled out one and held it up.

“Knock yourself out,” she said, taking the bit from him and handing him one of the gray scones.

Learning his lesson from the episode, he broke off a small piece with a large effort and took a tentative bite. If the smell had been revolting enough, the taste was downright toxic. It was also hard as a rock. He looked at it carefully, then looked back at a somewhat expectant Gilda. “Lemme guess, no refunds, right?”

To his surprise, her eyes lowered sadly and she held out the bit he’d just given her. “Here,” she said gruffly. “Nogriffon wants to buy my scones anyway…”

Surprised by this, Gregory simply pushed her claw back. “No, keep it,” he said, “but maybe I can give you some help? I have a few scone recipes I could share with you. They’re going to waste in my care, anyway.”

“Help with what?” she asked.

“Help with making scones griffons will want to buy,” he said. “What’s your recipe, anyway?”

“That’s a secret,” she said defensively.

Gregory raised his hands. “Okay, okay, that’s fair,” he said. “Hold on, I’ve got a few other scone recipes you can look at.” He pulled out his phone, opened the kindle app and found one of the cookbook’s he downloaded before arriving. He walked over and held it up for her to see. “See, look at this recipe,” he said. “Flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cold unsalted butter, heavy whipping cream, egg and vanilla extract. And then there’s this other one.” Gregory showed her a few other recipes, then turned to her. “What do you think?” He, of course, knew the problem she was having, but he didn’t want to come off as a cooking expert. Especially since he wasn’t one.

“Is baking powder really that important to have?” she asked, sounding more curious than anything else.

“I’m no baking expert,” he said, “but I’m pretty sure it is. If I remember right, I read that it makes the scones fluffy instead of hard. Do you guys have baking powder here?”

“Yeah, but it’s expensive,” she said. “We import it from Equestria, and they hike the prices for it over there for us. One jar of the cheapest stuff is ten bits at least.”

“Jesus, that’s almost a third of a day at my job,” he said incredulously. “Does the recipe you have call for baking powder?”

“Yeah…but I’ve been trying to just improvise,” Gilda admitted. “Nothing’s worked so far.”

“Here,” he said, reaching into his bag and pulling out fifteen gold coins which he handed to her. “Go buy some. And keep whatever change you have left over.”

“Wait, are you sure?” she asked, looking surprised at what just happened.

“Think of it as an investment in your enterprise, Gilda,” he said with a knowing smirk. “You can’t sell these here. They’re liable to break someone’s tooth. You need the proper ingredients, That way, you can sell what you do have, then use said profits to buy more ingredients, and in the end make profit. Capitalism at its finest. And if there’s one thing I’m sure you griffons value highly, it’s the almighty bit.”

“Well, not as much as we used to,” Gilda said, “but…thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said. “Go ahead. Get those ingredients.”

Gilda didn’t need to be told twice. She hitched herself up to her cart and practically sped away towards the upper marketplace level. When she was out of sight, he turned back to the destroyed library. “Okay,” he said to himself as he walked over to a nearby table, took off his jacket, set it down, and faced the books, “I can’t let this slide. It’ll be a good distraction anyway.” And thus, he began to work cleaning up the books, gathering them and setting them in as neat of stacks as he could manage. Some of them, sadly, were damaged beyond repair, the words within faded and the pages sticking together. However, the majority were somehow still more or less in decent condition. The pages were a bit coarse, but if he was careful, he could turn the pages without breaking them.

About half an hour after he started, he heard someone land behind him and wander towards another section of the library. Turning, he saw yet another familiar griffon he hadn’t yet seen since coming to Equestria. The young Gallus was picking up a few books, dusting them off with a dirty yellow rag before placing them down as carefully as he could. His back was turned to the human, who curiously approached. “Pardon me, but are you helping me?” he asked.

Gallus turned quickly when Gregory spoke, his blue eyes wide in alarm. However, when he saw the human, he relaxed. “Yeah,” he said in what sounded like a bored tone as he began piling books in his arms and carrying them towards the other stacks.

“Well, thank you very much, um…what’s your name?” Gregory asked.

“Eh, I’m Gallus,” he said. “And I already know your name.”

“Yeah, I guessed that. Everyone seems to know my name,” Gregory said. “But what made you wanna help me? Just curious.”

“Eh, I’m bored. Needed something to do before I go back to my place,” Gallus said as he grabbed a few more books. “Exercise might do me some good, anyway.”

Gregory looked closer at the young griffon. The light blue creature before him did look a bit thin and he could even see patches on his body where no fur was growing, or at least, where they hadn’t been growing before. He thought he saw new growth there, but he couldn’t be sure. “I see,” he said with a frown. “Well, you shouldn’t overexert yourself. Just do what you can.”

“Hey, what’s going on over here?” an older female griffon voice asked. She had a light maroon fur coat, the general yellow claws and beak, and white feathers on her plumage and head, albeit with a few light green ones mixed in, the same green as her eyes. She was wearing a simple greenish gray scarf around her neck and had, of all things, golden hoop earrings attached to the sides of her head where Gregory assumed her ears were. As she approached, she looked around the old library, then at me. Her eyes widened. “Are you…cleaning this up?”

“Yeah,” Gregory said. “It’s about time I did something instead of moping around at home all depressed.”

“Mind if I help?” she asked, looking at a large pile of books.

“Sure, I don’t mind, miss…?” Gregory prompted.

“Greta,” the older griffon female said with a small smile.

“Nice to meet you, Greta,” Gregory said. “Well, if you want to help, could you start over in that pile? I’m just stacking them by author in alphabetical order right over where those stacks are already.”

“Sure, I can do that,” Greta said, and with that she flew off towards another corner of the open air library.

“Never seen her like that before,” Gallus said, sounding slightly surprised. And Gregory had to agree with her. If this was the same Greta that the cartoon version of Gilda said she’d known in the show, it was indeed a surprise to see her so helpful. Then again, he had to remind himself what had happened and how these griffons had changed in the past two weeks. With a small smile, he went back to work.

The sun was just beginning to set when Gregory called it for the night. In total, about twenty griffons had joined in the impromptu cleaning crew. The temperature was dropping fast, and Gregory had to put his jacket back on an hour before they stopped. Still, he was impressed by how much progress had been made so far. A few of the griffons who’d arrived to help had carts with them. They would stack the books in them and took them to the Keep to keep them safer from the elements than they had been, then would come back and reload. Even Gilda helped by baking the scones and selling them for cheap to those of us working. And with the baking powder added to the scone recipe, Gregory instantly became a fan and promised a slightly smiling Gilda to purchase any scones he wanted only from her.

As he was thanking the griffons who had volunteered to help even when they didn’t need to, out of the corner of his eye a familiar arctic blue griffon flying over to where he was. She had a worried look in her turquoise eyes, which turned to relief when she saw him. He continued thanking the other griffons, then let them go. As they walked away, Gabby flew up to Gregory, looking slightly at the ground nervously. Gregory tensed up, waiting to hear just what she had to say. Neither of them spoke for a while, unable to really look each other in the eyes.

At last, Gabby spoke. “Gregory…I’m sorry.” He felt a lump rise in his throat, but when she continued, he only grew confused. “I’m sorry for how I reacted back there. I didn’t mean to chase you away.”

“You didn’t chase me away,” Gregory said. “You needed time to think. We both did.”

She slowly looked up at him, some slight tears in her eyes. “I…there’s a part of me that still really doesn’t want to believe what you showed me,” she admitted, “but I know you wouldn’t lie about that.” She held out her claw. “Come home, Gregory. We’ve both had long days, and we should probably have some dinner then go to sleep.”

Gregory yawned and stretched, looking up at the darkening sky. “Not a moment too soon, I shouldn’t wonder,” he said. “Yeah, after the long day I’ve had? Sleep sounds perfect to me.”

“We can talk more about things tomorrow anyway with clearer heads,” Gabby said with a small smile.

Gregory returned said smile as the two began walking back towards the center of the city. “Yeah, that sounds good. I could use a clearer head.”

“Not too clear, now,” Gabby said in a slightly teasing tone as she hit his legs with her tail, “don’t want you spacing out too much now, do we?”

As the two laughed, Gregory felt his spirits lift a bit. He should have known Gabby wouldn’t have done anything to him just because of his revelations. And he felt things would be alright in the end…

“Commander, Agent O reporting. I’ve had an encounter with the target.”

“Agent O, you were to observe him only.”

“My apologies, sir. It was an accidental encounter.”

“Very well. Proceed with your report, Agent.”

“He’s…well, he’s not like our Emperor. He was very polite to me. Our talk wasn’t long, but he did express interest in meeting up at a later time Should I?”

“Not at the moment. I’ll consider it, but your instructions still stand: observe and catalogue only. You are to be cautious, Agent. He’s not to be underestimated. His kind can change from friendly to vengeful instantly.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, sir. Has the Emperor given any instructions?”

“I’ll let you know when he does. For now, keep your eyes on the target Is there anything else to report?”

“Yes, sir. The griffons have begun rebuilding their city in earnest. I’ve never seen them like this before. I think it has to do with their Idol of Boreas.”

“Can you get close to it?”

“No, sir. It’s being guarded and even if I could get to it, it’s embedded in a stump. I’m not sure my magic’s strong enough to get it out.”

“Very well. I’ll inform the Emperor and Duchess right away. You might be receiving some backup soon. Report back the same time next week, sooner if something major happens.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“You have your orders, Agent. Now carry them out for the glory of all changeling-kind! Long live the Emperor!”

“Understood sir. Long live the Emperor.”

5: Train Thoughts

On The Friendship Express, Destination: Griffonstone…

Spike wrapped the scarf that Sweetie Belle had knitted for him around his neck a bit tighter to block out the sounds of the loud train around him. He missed her already. He kind of wished that Equestria had those marvelous little devices that he’d seen on Earth, those small rectangular boxes that the human versions of his former friends called cell telephones or something like that. He just wanted to be with her, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Those five had quickly become good friends after everything, and even though Diamond had once been a bully, she was now actually one of the sweetest fillies Spike knew.

She was a prime example of how someone could change from one state to the next, but Twilight and her former friends didn’t seem to take that lesson to heart, even though Spike knew that Twilight had, herself, been somewhat picked on back when she was a filly back in Celestia’s school. He knew this because she’d told him about it when he was old enough to understand. And now, those same bullies had come forward, apologizing to Twilight for their behavior. Although, when he thought about it, that could very well have been just because she’d become a princess.

Even so, Diamond had become a likable pony, her and her friend. Sure, the little light pink filly could still be a bit bossy at times, but she would always apologize. Lately, she’d been trying to do better and had been succeeding. She’d been one of the few ponies who he’d told about everything that had happened to Jason at the hooves of ponies in town. In fact, it had basically been those five he’d told. Diamond hadn’t come out of her tent for a few days after, and when she did, she admitted that she, too, had hurled insults at the human back when she was cruel and mean. The others had tried to reassure her that she wasn’t like that anymore, but Spike could tell it still haunted her. The rest of them agreed not to mention it for a while until she got her thoughts sorted and made a Cutie Covenant, the CMC’s version of a Pinkie Promise, not to mention her actions until she was ready to discuss it.

He grabbed the scarf and looked at the cutie mark knitted onto the end of it. The shield of three different colors with a purple star in the middle with a musical note inside. He was impressed that she’d been able to do that so well. He’d been in such disbelief that he had to ask if Rarity had helped make it. When she denied it, he’d praised her work as amazing, something which had made the filly blush.

And now? Now all he wanted was to go spend time with them. Helping other ponies in town. Playing with each other at the CMC clubhouse that had somehow been missed by Jason’s changeling army. And most importantly of all, just lying next to Sweetie Belle on the newly growing grass, looking up at the stars underneath a blanket.

Spike wasn’t as blind as he had been anymore. He felt something special for Sweetie, and he was somewhat sure she felt it for him, but he didn’t want to assume. He really liked her in a way he hadn’t liked Rarity. He’d never really tried much with Rarity. It was a crush on her beauty, nothing more. Sure, he’d said all those things about her personality, but mostly it had been a physical crush.

With Sweetie Belle, however, he’d gotten to know the filly pretty well over the past few months. She was a phenomenal singer, wrote really great music, could make amazing clothes like her sister, was a talented ice skater, and could actually use her magic pretty well. Sure, she might be a terrible cook as was obvious when she tried to make him something for a picnic only for it to turn into a gray mush, but he didn’t think less of her for that. In fact, he’d promised to help her learn how to cook if she wanted, which she’d gladly accepted with wide, excited eyes.

He knew he had deeper feelings for her than what he had felt for Rarity for all these years, but he was scared to tell her. What if she rejected him?

No, he was at least fifty one percent sure that she liked him back. Or at least, that was his hope. He sighed softly. Here he was, with seven mares he’d once looked up to as the pinnacle of what friendship should represent, and all he could think about was the cutest young mare back in Ponyville. He wished that she was here with him. It would make this trip much sweeter.

He looked at the seven mares around him. He’d taken a seat at the very back of the train, and as such couldn’t really see most of them since they were lying down on their booths. Those he did see had emotionless expressions on their faces. The tension in the train car could be cut with a knife. Even Spike could tell that there were invisible walls built up around everypony there. Walls they’d built themselves that would be nearly impossible to come down.

Despite himself, it hurt to see his former friends, if they even considered him that during the time before Jason, acting like this. He’d used to be jealous, wanting the kinds of friendships that they had with each other. Now that he had said type of friendship, he couldn’t imagine being without it anymore, and he hoped that the act of finding a friendship problem might begin to help them become friends again. He leaned his chin on the palm of his hand, putting his elbow up on the windowsill, and went back to looking out at the scenery…

Twilight had her nose buried once more in a book. A very familiar old light beige book stood on a bookstand on her chair, a lighter beige depiction of a griffon with one of its claws outstretched on the front. The cover had no title, but on the very first page, written in faded black ink, the title, Bygone Griffons of Greatness, was written in large, fancy script. The author, a pony simply named Ink Slinger, was incredibly detailed, using outside sources that Twilight had cross referenced ever since Gilda had come to Ponyville all those years ago.

However, when normally a book would calm her upset nerves especially lately, she found that she couldn’t really concentrate on the words on the page. She gently pushed it away, electing instead to look out of the window. Her thoughts went back not to Jason for once, but back even further before he arrived. Back to those couple of days when Gilda herself was in town.

She hadn’t seen much of Gilda during her visit, since she’d been busy with some experiments back in her old home Golden Oaks Library, but she hadn’t really gotten to know Gilda. All she knew was what she’d heard secondhoof from Pinkie and Rainbow Dash afterwards, and what little she’d seen of her at Pinkie’s party. For years, she thought she’d misjudged Pinkie on how mean Gilda had been, and while the griffon hadn’t exactly been the nicest creature she’d met, now Twilight was wondering if there was more to the grumpy griffon than she’d assumed. For years, she’d read the book beside her as well as the other sources referenced, but now she realized that all of those papers and scrolls had been written from a pony’s perspective.

With the lesson she’d learned with Jason, she was now requestioning everything she’d thought she’d known about other creatures. What if there were dragons out there who liked things like, say, poetry or tea parties? What if there was a reason for Gilda to act the way she had. The only other griffon she had seen was an occasional mail delivery griffon who had brought the occasional letter or package from Griffonstone, and she realized that ever since Gilda’s visit she’d avoided said griffon.

She lay down on her stomach, staring up at the partly cloudy sky that was passing above them. The train car was one that Princess Celestia had privately booked for all of them, and as such each of them had their own booth and sleeping spot on the sleeping car behind them during the three day long trip up north, past the Unicorn Range and Galloping Gorge, right through the Crystal Mountains, right nest to the Yaket Range where they might catch a glimpse of Mt. Everhoof, across the Celestial Strait, then back down to Griffonstone Station where they would have to walk or fly for a while to get to Griffonstone. They would have taken a train to one of Equestria’s three western coastal cities, Manehatten, Fillydelphia or Baltimare and taken a boat across the ocean, but the weather on the Celestial Sea during the winter was always harsh and since the sea was considered no-creatures land, no pegasi were there to make the crossing passable.

Ever since the incident with Jason, Princess Celestia had closed the borders to other nations as a precaution to all tourists. Trade was still maintained, but nobody coming to Equestria could come in unless they had an Equestrian identification or passport. Other creatures who had been stuck in Equestria during said lockdown were allowed to go home, but not to come back. Twilight wasn’t sure what to think about her old mentor’s reasoning for such a thing, but she’d not spoken to the Princess in months. She did know, however, that most ponies had welcomed the decision, which scared her. It showed just how much the ponies mistrusted other creatures. But she’d been friends with Spike for years before then-

No, she hadn’t been a true friend to him, or even a family. She had always referred to him as her number one assistant. Nothing more. She’d always left him behind whenever she and the girls went off on important missions together. Yes, part of her was looking out for his safety since he was a baby dragon, but she should have been more considerate of his feelings. Would it have been so bad if they included him more often. He’d used to look up to them, and now all she saw in his eyes whenever they talked was disdain, hurt, and resentment.

She looked down at the light brown booth and sighed. She’d not only taken Spike for granted, but the Princess had been right. She’d mistreated Spike so often and hadn’t thought about the consequences. She was surprised he was still in Ponyville at all.

In an instant, she remembered one of Discord’s last words down in the dungeons that day, when Discord had been telling Jason about what he’d done. And she shivered at the memory:

“Why didn’t you leave?” Discord asked, looking up at Jason who was looking down at the draconequus behind his facial mask.

Jason looked down at Discord, his body stiffening slightly. “What?”

“You could’ve left at any t-time, so why didn’t you?” Discord repeated.

“The…portal I used was one-way, I…”

“Not this world, Ponyville!” Discord shouted at Jason, startling even Twilight who had never seen the draconequus lose any composure like that. “Why didn’t you leave that little village!? Why did it never occur to you to try somewhere else!?”

“What, and get the same treatment from the Manehattanites? Or the Cloudsdale pegasi?” Jason snorted derisively.

“You didn’t know for sure it would’ve been the same! Surely you could’ve tried! And even then, you still could have returned to the Princesses! So why didntcha!? Why didn’t it even occur to you to try!?”

“I…” Jason’s head cocked to the side, as if he was thinking about something

“I-I’ll tell you,” Discord continued, his voice trembling. “It’s because I didn’t want to lose my newest toy.”

His newest toy…that’s all that they had been to him. Just pieces on a game board for his own amusement, Twilight realized with sudden clarity. Her mind began racing again, thinking back to other examples of Discord’s actions betraying them. Lord Tirek, the Smooze at the Gala, not even telling her about the plunderseeds, and then Jason. What was it he had said once? “Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?”

No…in the end, she realized that even though he might have been reformed and better than he had been, he would still have continued to do things that would have inconvenienced ponies at best and done irreparable harm at the very worst, and he’d gotten himself killed for it. She’d even begun to like the ancient being, but even as he’d spun words about changing, he hadn’t lifted either his claw or paw to undo the deadly harm he’d inflicted on the human.

She briefly looked over at Fluttershy in a booth a few spots down. All she could see was her rear end and tail curled around her. She’d taken it hardest of all when Discord had been shot. Even if it had been to save Twilight, Fluttershy couldn’t even use that as some measure of comfort to know that the being she’d been friends with for years was gone forever.

Twilight then looked over at Spike. To her surprise, he was actually wearing clothes. He’d worn them before whenever he’d gone to visit the Crystal Empire, more specifically a trench coat, hat and glasses, but now he was just wearing a pair of warm looking slacks and a dark gray jacket with a white and pink scarf wrapped around his neck. She saw a familiar cutie mark on the end of it, but couldn’t quite place it until she remembered about how he’d said Sweetie Belle had stayed with him that night. She lay back down, closing her eyes. She hoped that the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were better friends to him than she’d ever been…

Applejack looked out of the window at the passing countryside. Out of the corner of her eye, the Canterhorn mountain where Canterlot had been built loomed in the distance as they approached the long tunnel that had been dug through it. She slowly took another small bite of the apple in her hoof as she thought long and hard about many things. Things that she presumably should be writing in her new journal. She grabbed her saddlebag, pulled out a brown book and a pen, then began to write.

So, I’m not really sure what to write about in here, to be honest. Or even where to begin. Big Mac says I should use this thing to vent or talk about what I’m feeling where nopony else can see it, but it’s a bit hard to do that when my thoughts are all a big jumble.

I guess I should talk about what happened with Jason Wright, for a start. Even if it was Discord who gave me a small nudge, I didn’t think twice about breaking his ribs. He didn’t even do anything. He was just coming up to say hi, probably. Guess I’ll never know now. I just lashed out like he was some monster. He might not have been one then, but we made him into one.

Is it weird that a part of me can’t blame him for how he treated us all? Stars and Bars, I can’t believe I just wrote that. Then again, I just don’t know what to think. Ah, gosh! Now I’m even more confused. Maybe I should just take a break.

No, I promised myself I’d write in this thing until I couldn’t write no more, then take a break and do it again. So back to Jason. Anytime I saw him, I remembered the stories Granny would tell us after mom and dad died, about the dangerous dragons who would kidnap and eat bad little ponies, or the griffons who would steal everything in sight. And then when Jason arrived, and after I heard about how Twilight had turned him away, well, I just reacted. Discord’s magic spell on me be damned.

I always thought I was a caring, loving pony. So why couldn’t I see what I’d done to him? Or even Spike for that matter! Or any other creature that wasn’t a pony!

Applejack paused to get a grip on her emotions. She looked over at the young dragon who was leaning against the window looking out, the scarf around him being used as a temporary pillow. She’d seen him hanging out with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle a few times ever since the day Jason had left. Whenever she’d asked Apple Bloom about what they’d done, the little yellow filly’s face had lit up a bit, and for a few minutes while she recounted their day, Applejack could almost pretend that things hadn’t changed. It seemed that her little sister espoused friendship to another species better than she had. And she was supposed to be the damned Element of Honesty.

When she’d calmed down enough that her mouthwriting wouldn’t be illegible, she grabbed the pen again and continued writing.

Sorry, had to calm down a bit. But I was just thinking about young Spike. I remember during one of our family’s reunions I called him over and just used his fire to light the wood for the cauldrons on fire. That was it. I called him all the way from Ponyville for ten seconds of his time. And I didn’t even think about how he might have felt about it. And then there was the time we teased him about him being nothing like other dragons. Well, he was raised by ponies, so of course he would be, but we were kinda cruel about it. Then there was the time I saved him from those timberwolves and just brushed off his thanks, but it was a bit much. Even so…my dear stars and bars, I really do have a problem, don’t I?

I’m not a smart pony, not like Twilight. But I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Why shouldn’t it be that other creatures can’t be friendly? If we can stoop so low that we abuse an innocent for years, why can’t other creatures do the opposite? And what about the livestock, no, they shouldn’t be called livestock. What should I do about them? I mean, they’re not animals. They’re talking creatures just like I am. But on the other hoof, they seem to enjoy being here-no, I need to talk to Granny and Big Mac about it, and the others too. Ah, I don’t know.

Maybe I should think about something else. Like maybe this friendship problem we’re going to solve. What kind of problem could it be? Come to think of it, I don’t know anything about griffons. I’ve only met one, and she was a grumpy one. I’ve seen another one in town a few times, but I didn’t talk with them. And why all of us? Why even the Princess, of all ponies? Is there something really big going on? And why during Hearth’s Warming season? Not that I feel like celebrating much this year, anyway. Pretty sure I don’t deserve it.

It's a weird feeling, being in the same train car as the others after all this time. It feels a bit nosta like the old days, but at the same time not. It’s like the air in here is made of thick applesauce. Nopony’s talking to each other. We haven’t really talked since Twilight told Shining Armor, Princess Luna and Princess Cadance about what we did to Jason.

…I miss them…

Rarity was taking the chance away from all the angry eyes directed at her to catch up on some of her craft. She was knitting a thick scarf for her little sister to give to her for Hearth’s Warming. It was also meant to be an apology for how she’d been acting for the past few months. The luggage space above her booth was packed with her new belongings, which at the present wasn’t much. All she had were her toiletries, a few rolls of wool just so she could distract herself, some boots for the cold weather and so she didn’t get too dirty, and some warm clothes and what little bits she had.

As she continued to knit the scarf, she let her mind wander again. And to her surprise, for the first time in a while, her thoughts wandered to Spike. Maybe it had been the way he’d looked at her earlier that morning or that he’d been spending more time with her sister and her friends, but she found that she did miss spending time with him. But as she thought about why she missed him, she paused her work.

Did she really miss him? Or just miss the thought of him? She had known that he had a large crush on her for years, and she realized then, to her horror, that she’d been utilizing that crush for her own gain. Some Element of Generosity she was…she’d been using him as her gopher. Her pack mule!

She put her knitting down and buried her face in her hooves. No wonder Spike had looked at her with such disdain earlier, or why he’d forbidden her to call him Spikey Wikey. She might not have treated Spike as badly as she’d treated Jason, but she still had been no friend to him, that was for sure.

At that thought, a wave of anger washed over her. She wished that the human hadn’t even come, now. She wished he’d stayed back wherever he’d come from and left them alone! If it hadn’t been for him, her shop would still be standing! She’d still have a successful business! Things would be better!

But…at the same time, she wouldn’t have realized all the things about herself that made her sleep poorly at night. How despicable a pony she’d been. Those thoughts she’d had about the human she’d callously insulted had just flown off of her tongue regardless of Discord’s involvement. Now that she thought about it, the few times she’d seen Jason after the first meeting, his clothes had been rags and he’d been dirty. She knew he’d been living out in a cave in the Everfree, and at the time all she could think was “Good riddance! Monsters should stay where they belong!”

She felt sick to her stomach as she remembered those thoughts. If she’d truly was meant to represent generosity, then she should have given anycreature that same treatment. Not just ponies. Where had she learned such abhorrent behavior? Not from her parents, although they’d behaved in a similar manner to her by throwing garbage at him whenever he came into town. Now they were considering leaving Ponyville out of guilt and shame once they realized what they had done and how it had come back to bite them.

Rarity shook her head. She’d been having these same intrusive thoughts over and over again, and it was getting her nowhere. Picking up her knitting needles, she put all of her concentration back onto the scarf. Yes, she had done all these things. Yes, she was constantly paying for them by being constantly reminded about it by many of the villagers in town, but this trip out of the town was a chance for her to escape that, at least for a while. It might be the breath of fresh air she needed. Sweetie Belle would be safe, she was sure of it. She was confident that her little sister would recover from this. After all, she hadn’t heard about or known about Jason until the occupation and destruction of Ponyville.

Still, as she knitted, her thoughts wandered back to Spike. She looked over at him and saw the scarf he wore. She recognized the work as belonging to her sister. It wasn’t as elegant as Rarity’s own, but it had been made with tender care. And had the cutie mark she’d earned after helping Diamond Tiara stop being a bully.

Despite herself, she smiled a little bit. Sweetie was a good filly. She’d make a very good friend for Spike. Maybe even in the future, if things went back to more of a semblance of normal, a romantic partner. She could just see it now. An adult Sweetie in a wedding gown designed by hers truly, and Spike, tall and handsome now, wearing the suit specially ordered for him. The two standing in front of everypony exchanging vows and the two leaning in and kissing…

She came out of her reverie when she accidentally stabbed herself with one of the knitting needles. She winced and put her hoof in her mouth instinctively. She pulled it out and saw, to her relief, that she hadn’t punctured herself. With the bittersweet thought about a potential match between Spike and Sweetie Belle on her mind instead of the awful past three months, she continued knitting…

For the first time in months, Fluttershy was truly alone. Angel had desperately wanted to come with her to Griffonstone, but the pegasus had put her hoof down, telling him that she trusted him the most to help all the critters she’d recovered from the forest and take care of them. He was the buck of the house while she was gone. Ever since she’d come back, he’d matured so much, taking care of the few critters she’d managed to recover whenever she was either too depressed to do it or whenever she had to go into town for supplies for her and the others.

He’d ranted and raved up a storm when she’d refused, but finally had accepted when she’d nearly broken down and begged. He promised to take care of everycritter and explain to them what was happening when the few who were still asleep woke up.

She had very little to bring, so what she did bring fit in one side of a saddlebag. And it was all she had to her name since all of her other belongings had been burned to ashes thanks to Jason.

No, not quite. Sure, he’d been the instrument, but if she’d even once showed a pinch of her supposed Element of Harmony, then things might have been different. She’d always been a scaredy-pony, but what she’d done to Jason had been worse than neglect. She’d ignored him out of sheer terror. And it had ended in the death of the one being she’d actually fallen in love with.

Despite her personal feelings for him, though, she had been slowly realizing on the few hours they’d been on the trip that he might not have been the one for her. Yes, he’d been doing better ever since Tirek, but when she had listened to his casual confession about his so-called prank on Jason, her and the others, her heart had shattered and she’d felt more betrayed than during the Tirek incident. Even if his last words had been accurate, about him having it coming, she still couldn’t help but mourn him.

When they’d gone through the dark tunnel under the Canterhorn earlier, she’d actually welcomed darkness for the first time. It made her feel a bit more safe and secure, especially with the blanket that she’d asked the conductor for just before they’d entered the tunnel. She let the loud noise outside cover up her quiet sobs. She hadn’t been able to hold back her tears despite the fact that she felt that she’d shed enough to fill a vast lake. Her eyes hurt, but she continued to mourn.

Mourn Discord.

Mourn the loss of Ponyville.

Mourn the loss of her friends.

But most of all, she would mourn the loss of a potential friend. A friend she could have made had she not let her complete terror consume her. The guilt and shame of what she’d done to the poor human who hadn’t been shown an ounce of kindness since arriving in Equestria ate away at her. She couldn’t help it. She took things like this very seriously. She remembered when she’d become Mean Fluttershy. She’d gone to overly extreme lengths to cut herself off from the rest of the world just because she’d taken Iron Will’s practices too far. But back then, she’d had her friends to help talk her down.

Now, even though her friends were in the same car as her, they might as well have been miles apart. She covered her head with her blanket and blocked out the sunlight that came in from the outside. Sunlight was for ponies who deserved it.

And she didn’t deserve it yet, if she ever would at all.

Rainbow Dash leaned against her hoof, watching the world go by outside the train. It was sunset, and she was growing sleepy, meaning it was almost time to retire to their private sleeping car. She was never much of a thinking pony, but with all the silence she was met with during her time on the overnight guard, all she had time to do was think.

It was both a blessing and a curse to be alone with her thoughts at night. On the one hoof, she was away from the majority of hate filled eyes directed her way. On the other hoof, it gave her the chance to reflect on what she’d learned from this whole awful ordeal.

She learned that she was nothing more than what the Princess had called her, sadistic and cruel. It had made her sick to hear how the Princess, who had approved of her many times before, now saw her as no better than the ponies she’d had to execute, but Rainbow couldn’t exactly blame her. Even with Discord’s influence, there was a small part of her that had recognized that whenever she’d shot lightning at Jason that it had been hurting him, but she’d callously dismissed it as she’d viewed him as just another Everfree monster to chase off.

And she’d also made a few other discoveries about herself too. Discoveries that made her question her own nature.

She would casually insult those ponies she called her friends. Calling Twilight an egghead. Making fun of Fluttershy for her fear and calling her a liability. Even pulling cruel pranks on other ponies.

She then remembered Twilight’s very first Nightmare Night in Ponyville…

Rainbow Dash was sitting on top of a dark thundercloud, approaching an unsuspecting group of foals surrounding Pinkie Pie. Twilight was there with Spike and they were busily talking to the group.

She giggled maniacally, raised her hoof and used her pegasi instincts to push a bolt of lightning out of the cloud right down on Pinkie. She let loose the bolt.

“Buck-kak!” Pinkie squawked before launching herself into the air and running away, followed close by the group of foals who ran off screaming.

“Rainbow Dash, that wasn’t very nice!” Twilight shouted up at Rainbow, who’d fallen over on the dark cloud laughing.

“Lighten up, old timer,” Rainbow said dismissively before leaning over the cloud and looking down at Twilight, “this is the best night of the year for pranks.”

Twilight pointed over to Spike. “Look what you did to Spike!”

Spike, who was lying on the ground, had a panicked expression on his face and looked like he was choking, but in truth he was just so caught off guard that he was coughing.

Despite what she’d said after that, pranks like that were never in good fun. In fact, thinking back, she’d been mean to Spike as well. She glanced over at the young dragon who was now dozing in his booth. Her ears flattened and she looked down. She’d really screwed the pooch up on this one. She was too ashamed to say anything to him even though she really wanted to. Even if she had, she’d have understood if he never forgave her for all he had been put through at her hooves.

Just like Jason.

She looked down at her wings. The same wings that hadn’t flown in months. The same ones that she’d used to help push clouds towards the innocent human just to torment him mercilessly. She was suddenly angry and wanted to tear them off. She didn’t deserve them. She had been too prideful in them, and they’d only been an instrument in her inevitable downfall. Her and her friends.

She reached down to bite at them and pull, but stopped, moved away, and leaned back to look out of the window. As the sun reached the western horizon, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was a way for things to be set right.

Pinkamena walked out of the train’s lavatory after the ponies had retired to bed after eating their dinner. She swallowed the remaining bile in her mouth, wiped her lips, and slowly trotted to the bunk where she’d be sleeping for the night. Outside, the bright sky glittered with stars which shon down brilliantly on the world, but she turned away from them and looked down at the covers.

She didn’t deserve these comfortable bedsheets. She kicked them off of her, leaving them in a pile at the bottom of the bed and curled up on the mattress, something she also didn’t deserve. However, she very well couldn’t kick that away, could she?

She curled up into a tight ball, moving closer to the window so she could feel the cold. She’d have opened the window and let the icy winter air in, but that would wake the others, and they didn’t deserve that.

She hated herself so much. How had she let her blind trust in her Pinkie Sense steal the laughter of an innocent being who just wanted to befriend her and her friends and everypony in town. No, even if that had been Discord’s doing, she still should have been more…what was the word Twilight used? Discerning. That was it. She should have been more discerning.

She’d been so concerned with her own safety that she forced herself to ignore the heartbreak in the poor human’s eyes whenever she managed to see him from her hiding place.

She grabbed her mane and covered her eyes…

Celestia lay in bed, unable to really sleep. She didn’t want to really dream tonight. She had a lot on her mind.

More specifically, the young dragon in the bunk above her.

Despite what her sister had told her that morning, she hadn’t found the courage to talk to Spike and apologize for everything she’d put him through, either directly or indirectly. She had faced down many different villains in her life. Sombra Tirek. Discord. Chrysalis. But despite that, she hadn’t felt so nervous to just talk to Spike and apologize to him.

She took a deep breath, pulled her covers aside, stood and turned to Spike’s bunk. It was time for her to stop being a coward. “Hey…Spike? Are you awake?” she asked softly. He was turned away from her, the gray blanket covering all but his head. He was snoring softly. She sighed. “Well…that’s to be expected. You were up early…” she took a deep breath. “I’ll have to say this again sometime soon, but for what it’s worth, I am extremely sorry for all you’ve gone through because of my poor decisions. I’ve put you through so much…well, so much shit through the years. Shit you never really deserved. No, you definitely didn’t deserve it. That spell I placed on you, using your egg as a means to test foals in my magic school, and trusting you with Twilight and her friends. You needed so much more…and I never gave it to you. I failed you…I failed Jason Wright…I failed everypony else who’s in this car with me.”

She stiffened when Spike shifted a bit in his bed, but when he went still, she exhaled somewhat and continued. “If I heard you right in Twilight’s castle, you’re starting to hang out with foals your own age. It makes me happy to hear that you’re recovering from what happened to you. I know it might not make sense to hear this from me right now, but friendship really is magic. And not just literal magic, but metaphorical. I hope those friendships you’ve made last forever. And once more, I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you. It was wrong of me, and you should never have had to endure any of that. And, to make it up to you, that spell I cast on you? I’m breaking it now.”

She raised her horn and it glowed. His body briefly glowed a green hue, then there was the sound of shattering glass as the green hue itself shattered and faded into the darkness. The spell had been broken, never to be cast on him ever again. Afterwards, she stared at him for a while, not moving. There were tears in her eyes as she looked at the sleeping young teen dragon. She was just about to head back to bed when Spike suddenly sat up. She froze, eyes wide as she stared at him. Spike turned slowly, his own eyes full of tears as he stared back at her. There was silence between the two as they locked eyes.

Finally, in a hoarse, trembling voice, Spike said, “I heard everything…thank you…it means a lot that you said that, but actions speak louder than words. Thanks for lifting that spell, but for me, it’s not enough. I want to forgive you, I really do. I thought of you like a mother for years despite everything…but I’m not ready to forgive you yet. Just…give me time, please.”

Celestia nodded. “I deserve that, I know. But I understand. I’ll respect your wishes, young Spike. Sleep well.”

He nodded. “Yeah, you too.” And with that, he turned back around towards the window, covered himself with the blanket, and was soon fast asleep.

Celestia herself climbed back into bed and covered herself with her blanket. She felt slightly lighter than she had in weeks, if not months. She promised herself that she would make things right with the young dragon, if only to know what it was like to be a mother to a young foal, or in his case a hatchling. Before she fell to sleep, she whispered to herself, “I’ll make things up to you, Spike. That’s a promise…”

6: First Star I See Tonight

One Month After Gregory’s Arrival In Griffonstone…

“Hey, Gregory! I bet I can beat you in an arm wrestling contest without even using a quarter of my strength!”

“Is that right, Gills? Care to put your bits where that beak is??”

“Fifty bits says I beat you in…oh, what’s the phrase I’m looking for? Ah yeah! Ten seconds flat!”

“Oh, it is fucking on!”

Gregory was in Gobbler’s Groggery after a particularly hard Saturday’s work in the city’s east side rebuilding and renovating some of the smaller single griffon houses. The Groggery was one of the most popular taverns in Griffonstone, run by the aforementioned Gobbler, a gray furred, dark green feathered and yellow eyed griffon female about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Like most taverns and bars in the city itself, this place was bustling with business and one of the cleanest spots in the city. It resembled a typical medieval tavern, with lantern sconces on the walls illuminating the booths where the roaring fire in the main fireplace couldn’t.

Outside, a moderate rain had been falling ever since the late afternoon, but that hadn’t stopped many griffons from continuing to rebuild their city where they could. When the rain had started that mid October afternoon, Gregory, who’d been working close with Gabby, Gracie, Gilda and Gallus, had moved from building a fence into another abandoned house which they found to be in decently stable shape. The five had spent hours cleaning it until the sun set a few hours later, and now Gregory, being in a really good mood after all they’d accomplished, decided that he would treat everyone in his team to some well deserved grog.

“Get your human ass over here and let’s have a duel, then!” a partially drunk and unusually jovial Gilda shouted, holding up her mug fast enough that some of her ale spilled out, splattering on the table and floor around them. “I’m gonna drain you dry!”

“How naughty!” Gregory laughed as he stood fast, sending his chair sprawling onto the floor behind him as he stomped over to the neighboring table where Gilda was drinking with Gallus. Gracie was sitting at another table alone, but Gregory had made an effort to include the younger one in the conversation frequently When the four had arrived, all the booths had been taken so they’d found two tables, each only able to seat two griffons. They’d ordered a round of the best ale along with a platter of fried shrimp and scallops, both freshly imported from the sea.

“Not like that and you know it, fucker!” Gilda sputtered, her cheeks flushed. Either with embarrassment or just from the alcohol flowing through her system, the tipsy Gregory couldn’t tell.

Nor did he care. A challenge had been issued, and he would not let his pride as a human take that. Gallus, who’d been nursing his ale, quickly vacated his seat so that Gregory could sit opposite one of Griffonstone’s best scone makers. Griffonstone’s lone human put his elbow on the table, hand outstretched. “Get that greasy claw over here and let’s do this! Fifty bits says I last against you more than ten seconds.”

“Yeah, right!” Gilda scoffed as she took a long drink from her mug, slamming it on the table where Gabby watched this with some amusement in her eyes. She got prepared, sitting on the chair opposite Gregory and put out her own arm. “You’ll be eating those words!”

“Bring it on!” Gregory roared with a grin as he took Gilda’s claw in his hands. Despite what he’d said earlier, he knew that her claw wasn’t greasy. In fact, it was actually quite smooth and oddly pleasant to hold.

Even though she was drunk and in a competitive mood, Gregory noted that Gilda was still careful not to dig her talons into his hand. A few scabs on his hands had quickly told the four griffons that human skin was a lot softer than a griffon’s hide, so they’d been trying to be careful around him. But Gregory was tipsy and feeling on top of the world that night. “What, not gonna grip my hand hard enough to win? Your loss, then!”

Gilda’s grip on him tightened instantly and he could feel the painful jab of her talons on his skin. However, he didn’t feel skin being punctured, so he reasoned she was still being careful. “That better for ya?”

“Awww, young love,” Gabby, who was the least drunk out of all of them, still had drunk enough to get loose a bit more, enough to become a tease. “Cute, isn’t it Gracie?”

Gracie just smiled a bit and nodded. Gallus, on the other hand, just rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Yeah…I can’t see it.”

Gilda sputtered and glared at Gregory. “You ready for this?”

“Ready for everything you can dish out!” Gregory shouted.

By now, their ranting and raving against each other had gathered a large griffon crowd, all of whom were watching the two and placing bets on who would win. It fueled Gregory’s pride when he heard most of them betting against him, so he pulled up his shirt and showing off the muscles he’d built up before coming to Equestria. It wasn’t too much when compared to human bodybuilders, but it had been enough for him to keep up. He’d done this and taken a few self defense classes back on Earth in order to better prepare for the transition to Equestria just in case he found himself somewhere dangerous, like the Everfree Forest.

“Pff, j-just because you have some muscles means nothing!” Gilda sputtered a bit. “Ready whenever you are!”

“Someone give us a countdown!” Gregory said.

Gallus, in a practiced bored tone, began counting down. “Ten, nine…”

“I’m gonna enjoy watching you flip over,” Gilda sneered.

“Eight, seven…”

“Ain’t gonna happen, Gilly,” Gregory replied with a large grin as his grip tightened around her.

“Six, five…”

“I swear, you’re insufferable sometimes!”

“Four, three…”

“Then do something about it, Giggles.”

“Two, one…”

“YAAAH!”

Gilda’s muscles flexed as she put everything she had into the match. Gregory was impressed by the amount of strength she had, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. He leaned to his right and pulled hard against her ironlike vice grip so he would at least last those promised ten seconds. All around the two, the crowd had begun counting, but Gregory wasn’t concentrating on it. Instead, he used all the strength he had just to hold his arm up for at least ten seconds. He’d learned just how strong griffons could be during his weekend times when he would go through the city cleaning up abandoned buildings with Gabby. Other griffons would randomly join in, making the job go by so much faster. It was odd to Gregory to see so many Griffons cleaning up their city when in the show they’d had so little regard for it. He attributed it to whatever that idol had done.

The ten seconds passed by like an eternity, and beads of sweat were forming on Gregory’s brow by the time they eventually did pass. But he had done it. He’d lasted twelve seconds against Gilda, the longest he’d lasted against any griffon. Still, when those twelve seconds were up, he found himself flung through the air, landing on an empty table and flipping over it. He landed on his front, groaning.

“Gregory!” Gabby’s worried voice shouted as she flew over to his side as a couple other griffons helped him to his feet, “Are you alright?”

“Whoo! That was the closest I’ve come to flying since coming here!” Gregory said with a laugh as he took a few shaky steps forward. “Thanks guys,” he said, looking at the griffons who’d helped him up.

“You had me worried!” Gabby shouted, smacking him in the chest with her fist.

“I’m fine, Gabs,” Gregory said reassuringly, stroking her head gently. He turned to a frowning Gilda. “I believe you owe me fifty bits, now.”

“You got lucky, bitch,” she said with a scowl as she grabbed a bag of bits and tossed them onto the table in front of her.

“That wasn’t luck, that was pure strength!” he laughed as he grabbed the bits and tossed them to Gobbler. “Break out the ale! These griffons are thirsty!”

This got a loud cheer from the griffons in the tavern as they rushed to the bar to receive their free drink. Gregory returned to his seat and took a seat, grabbing his ale and taking another long drink before placing it back on the table. He was sore all over, and his arm felt like it was on fire, but he was having a really good time despite everything that had happened since his arrival here.

Gabby rejoined him, a frown on her face. “You do that again and I’ll put worms in your eggs,” she threatened. She’d given similar threats before, but had never followed through.

Gregory giggled but gave her a salute. “Aye aye, cap’n,” he said, then when she frowned more, he turned a bit more serious. Picking up a shrimp and dipping it in their tartar sauce, he said, “I’ll be careful, Gabs.”

Her expression softened and she smiled a bit. “Good. I don’t like seeing you hurt.” She looked down at the small punctures in his hands where griffon talons had accidentally punctured him.

He followed her gaze, then chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t either. But it’s all in good fun. After the hard work they’ve been doing all day, they deserve to be a little rough and blow off some steam.”

“They don’t need to do it to you, though,” Gabby said worriedly.

Gregory took another bite of fried shrimp and nodded. “I need to blow off steam too, sometimes,” he said, “and besides, we both had fun. Look!” He pointed over at Gilda who had gotten her somewhat free ale and was drinking it with a scowl. “You’ve never seen a wider smile.”

Gilda glared at him and flipped him off, a gesture she’d learned from him. “Fuck you,” she said with a growl, but without any bite.

He flipped her off right back, laughing. “No, fuck you,” he said.

Gilda’s scowl broke and she finally smirked as she raised her mug. “Here’s to you, you old bastard.”

“Who you calling old?” Gregory asked as he raised his own mug. “Here’s to you though, Grinny. And to the rest of you too!” he said, turning to Gallus and Gracie. “Here’s to four of the quickest friends I’ve ever made in my life!”

“Eh, sure,” Gallus said in a bored tone as he lifted his mug, but Gregory could see a small twinkle in the young griffon’s eye.

Gracie lifted her own mug and smiled a bit. “I don't know how I got roped into this, but cheers,” she said.

“I’ll drink to that!” Gabby said, raising her mug. And with that, they all took a long swig of their ale.

Gregory put his mug down hard, then leaned back and let forth a long belch, which got him a laugh from the crowd. Feeling suddenly emboldened, he grabbed his nearly empty mug and stood, raising it above him. “And here’s to everyone in this room!” he shouted. “You’ve all been working so hard to rebuild this city, and it’s showing! You’ve all been doing such a fantastic job! Pat yourselves on the back! You’ve earned this! CHEERS!” The crowd went wild as each griffon raised mugs or glasses to the toast. When they’d all finished drinking, Gregory decided to try one more thing. “Hey, there’s one thing missing from the tavern, barkeep!”

“And wot’s dat, den?” Gobbler asked.

“Drinking songs!” And with that, Gregory stood on his chair and began clapping, a silly grin on his face. “What will we do with a drunken sailor? What will we do with a drunken sailor? What will we do with a drunken sailor ea-rly in the mornin’?” he began singing. All around him, a few griffons began tapping the table with their mugs, following along with the beat. Encouraged by this, Gregory continued. “Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises ear-ly in the mornin’!”

To his surprise, Gabby joined in. She’d heard the song a few times back in her house in the evening and had actually liked it. “Shave his belly with a rusty razor! Shave his belly with a rusty razor! Shave his belly with a rusty razor ear-ly in the mornin’!”

Together, the two sang the chorus, standing and bobbing a bit to the beat as more griffons began hitting their tables with their mugs or clapping. “Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises ear-ly in the mornin’!”

“Put him in a long boat till he’s sober! Put him in a long boat till he's sober! Put him in a long boat till he’s sober ear-ly in the mornin’!” Gregory sang as he jumped up onto an empty table and began doing a silly jig as he clapped his hands and stomped his feet to the beat. “Everybody now!”

The tavern full of griffons began singing the chorus. Some of them might not have been able to hold a tune to save their lives, but nobody cared. “Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises ear-ly in the mornin’!”

“Stick him in a scupper with a hosepipe bottom! Stick him in a scupper with a hosepipe bottom! Stick him in a scupper with a hosepipe bottom ear-ly in the mornin’!” Gregory sang to the beat that the griffons were keeping.

The griffons joined in louder now with the chorus. “Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises ear-ly in the mornin’!”

Gabby joined him on another nearby table, standing on her haunches and clapping her hands to the beat as the two of them sang, “Put him in the bed with the captain’s daughter! Put him in the bed with the captain’s daughter! Put him in the bed with the captain’s daughter ear-ly in the mornin’!”

“Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises ear-ly in the mornin’!”

“That's what we do with a drunken sailor! That's what we do with a drunken sailor! That's what we do with a drunken sailor ear-ly in the mornin’!” Gabby and Gregory both sang before pointing to the crowd. “Two more times!” Gregory shouted.

“Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises ear-ly in the mornin’! Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises ear-ly in the mornin’!”

With that, Gregory jumped off of the table, landing on his feet and stumbling a bit only to be caught by an equally stumbling Gabby. The crowd in the tavern was going nuts, laughing and applauding the impromptu duet between him and Gabby. He sat back down, panting heavily with a large grin on his face. “Whoo! That was fun!” Gracie was staring at him curiously, so he turned to her. “Something on your mind, Gracie?”

“You’re a really strange guy,” she said. “You work hard here, and everygriffon follows your example. You don’t really let things get you down, do you?”

“Hey, even I get sad,” Gregory said as he took a couple scallops and popped them in his mouth. As Gobbler came over and refilled his mug, he continued, “I mean, during my first couple weeks here, I learned something that kinda upset me and it took me a while to get over it, but I’m learning to accept it. That, and I can never go back where I come from, so that’s a bit depressing when I think about it.”

Gracie frowned. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

Gregory waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’d rather be here in Griffonstone than back home anyway. Anything’s better than a place where your parents fucking hate your guts and you have a girlfriend who spreads her legs for any guy who shows her the least amount of attention while you work your ass off to provide for the apartment you share. A job that exploits you if you’re good and rewards laziness.”

“Wow, that really sucks,” Gallus said, eyes wide in astonishment.

“Hey, it’s all in the past now!” Gregory said with a wide smile. “I’m in a better place than before! Got four really cool friends! Got a much better job that pays better, at least that’s what I’m assuming since I don’t know how a bit translates to my old currency, but hey! I’m not gonna complain! Money’s money!” He took a swig of his ale again. “Now then, let’s enjoy the night! Hangovers are for pussies!”

“How are you still standing?” Gilda asked an hour later as the human and four griffons walked down the wet streets back towards the residential district. “You had so much!”

Gregory was walking beside Gabby, the latter of whom was pressing herself against him just in case he fell. The rain had stopped and a waxing moon hung in the sky above them. Unlike the one back on Earth, this moon was about three or four times larger in the night sky, but that didn’t stop the stars from shining brightly around it. The constellations were eerily similar to the ones back on Earth, as well. “Heh…I guess I can just hold my liquor.”

“Yeah, until you throw up,” Gallus said with a small smirk.

“I actually feel fine, thanks,” Gregory said with a smirk back. “Unlike you, mister Woo The Ladies While Making Yourself Dizzy He Has To Puke Himself! You’re lucky you didn’t throw up on those griffon ladies!”

Gallus scowled. “Don’t remind me…it was the ale talking, not me.”

“I’m pretty sure at least one griffon female in there found you attractive, Gallus,” Gracie said.

“You think so?” Gallus asked hopefully.

“Take it from another girl,” Gracie said, putting a claw on her chest as if she was an expert. Which, in truth, she probably was more than either Gregory or Gallus, “I know somegriffon in there found you intriguing.”

“Someone’s got a cruuush,” Gilda snickered in a teasing tone, causing Gallus to blush.

“Oh, shut up, Gilda,” he growled in embarrassment.

“Hey, leave the poor kid alone,” Gregory said with a small smile, putting a hand on Gallus’ head. “Nothing wrong with him trying to find someone to have that special connection with.” Turning back to Gracie, he asked, “Who was the lucky griffonette?”

“I don’t know her name,” the younger griffon said, “but she had black fur, dark red feathers and green eyes. How old are you, Gallus?”

“Just turned eighteen,” he said.

“Ah, then she was probably the same age,” Gracie said.

“I think I know who you’re talking about,” Gabby said. “I’ve delivered to another griffon with the same color scheme. Pretty sure her name’s Gia. Want me to ask her?”

Gallus’ face went read and he shook his head. “N-No, that’s okay!” he said with that teenage nervousness.

“Hey, could be a chance for you to finally get some action, little dude,” Gregory teased, nudging him with his elbow.

“I’m not a little dude!” Gallus said, face flushed more now.

“Hey, it’s not about the size, it’s how you use it, right ladies?” Gregory asked. That got him the satisfaction of all the girls in the group blushing a bit. He couldn’t help himself now. He laughed loudly. “So uptight! Relax, I’m just having fun with y’all!”

Gabby smacked his legs with her backside, glaring up at him with a small smirk slowly forming on her beak. “You’re lucky you’re my friend,” she said.

“Heh, I’ll be quiet now,” he replied.

“Some night, though,” Gilda said, stretching her wings and trying not to fall onto the ground in her tipsy state.

“I had fun,” Gracie admitted. “More fun than I’ve had in a while. Although I probably shouldn’t have had as much as I did.”

“You barely had a quarter of a cup,” Gilda said.

“Yeah, I don’t do well with ale,” Gracie admitted. “It does weird things to me.”

“That’s fair,” Gregory said. “Nobody was forcing you to drink, though, If I remember right, they had some nonalcoholic drinks.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t want to be rude.” Suddenly, Gracie stopped, her wings fluttering as she looked around, any smile she had gone.

Gregory saw this and stopped as well, tensing up. “What is it?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “I thought I heard something-there! Hear it?”

The group paused and tilted their heads, Gregory putting his hand to his ear to try and get a better sense of what Gracie might have heard. They stood still for a while, listening to the night around them. All he could hear was some dripping water from a few nearby roofs onto the ground, a few crickets chirping and some distant sounds of griffons talking loudly. They were near a few closed restaurants now, walking passed alleys where they’d placed garbage cans they’d recently made instead of just tossing them into piles as they had before.

After a full minute of listening, Gregory removed his hand from his ear. “I don’t hear-”

“Shh!” Gracie said suddenly, putting a talon to her lips. She had a surprisingly icy glare in her eyes as she moved extremely quietly towards one of the nearby alleyways. She moved as if she was stalking some prey, hardly like anything Gregory had seen other griffons do before. The others followed behind her, trying to keep quiet as they followed the young female.

As they approached, Gregory thought he heard a small sound. He couldn’t identify it, but the next sound was one he could definitely identify. It was the sound of someone cursing under their breath. Instantly, any alcohol induced brain fog lifted as he tensed up, slowly going to his pocket and grabbing a switchblade he’d brought from Earth. Slowly and quietly, he brought it out and held it just in case. Gabby saw this and looked at him worriedly, but he just gave her a reassuring look.

Gracie, still in the lead, came to the edge of the restaurant which led to the alley where the noise was coming from. She peaked around the corner and her wings bristled. She held up a fist, halting them all. Turning to Gregory, she motioned him forward with a quick gesture. He approached, leaving the three concerned griffons behind. She motioned for him to be silent and only to look.

What he saw stunned him.

There was a strange non-griffon figure digging around in the garbage. A pony figure, to be precise. He couldn’t see what exactly the pony looked like in the dark, but what he could see was that whoever it was, they were gaunt, presumably from lack of food. He watched the pony carefully. They’d taken no notice of Gracie or Gregory since they had their upper body halfway inside a tipped over wooden garbage can. Listening closely, he heard a quiet female voice whispering something in an angry tone. As she came back out of the garbage can, he heard her whisper, “Nothing…damn it…”

Gregory frowned. He couldn’t be sure, but he felt that there was something unusually familiar about that voice. He and Gracie pulled back, then looked at each other. Gregory was surprised to see an unusual amount of anger in Gracie’s eyes. He put his hand on her back. “Stay here,” he whispered. She frowned, but took a step back, albeit reluctantly. Gregory walked out, slowly putting his knife away as he approached the pony in the alley. He took a deep breath, then said in a quiet and disarming tone, “Um, excuse me, miss?”

This did little to apparently assuage the starving pony, who quickly came out of the can and facing him. In the dim light, he saw a horn on her head, meaning she was a unicorn. “I found this first!” she hissed angrily, lowering her horn at him. “Back off!”

“Easy there,” Gregory said, moving away, “I’m not here to try and steal your…garbage can,” he said. “I’m just wondering what you’re doing in Griffonstone and if there’s something I can do to help you. You don’t look so good.”

The mare snarled at him, and lit up her horn with an aquamarine glow. “I said this is mine!” she repeated, only for her anger to slowly morph into confusion. “You’re not a griffon.”

In the light of the magical glow, Gregory finally caught a glimpse of the pony’s features. And he finally realized where he’d heard the voice before. He took a few steps back, hands still raised. “No, I’m not. I’m a human,” he said. “I live here.”

The mare’s eyes narrowed at him, and in the dim light of her magic she looked like she was gazing at him suspiciously. However, he quickly dismissed that as her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped to the ground, hitting her head very hard on the stone. Gregory quickly approached her, pulling out his phone and turning on the light. He looked at the mare in horror. “Holy shit…how long have you not been eating well?” He put his phone away and gingerly moved to lift the mare up in his arms. He frowned at how light she felt. “Fuck…this isn’t good.”

“Is everything okay?” Gabby asked, looking down the alley, only for her eyes to widen when she saw what Gregory was carrying. “Is that…a pony?”

“And a starving one, at that,” Gregory said. “Gabby, what kind of veggies or fruits do we have back home?”

“Well…I’ve got some pears I got from Equestria,” Gabby said, “Why?”

“Ponies don’t eat meat like we do,” he said, “and this mare looks like she hasn’t eaten in days, if not weeks.”

“Are you seriously thinking about taking her in?” Gracie asked incredulously. “She’s a pony! They look down on everyone who isn’t a pony!”

“She’s also seriously malnourished,” Gregory said. “I can’t just leave her here to die.”

“As much as I dislike ponies, he has a point,” Gilda said. “We’d be pretty heartless not to at least try.”

“Alright…but I think you’re making a mistake,” Gracie said. “Ponies aren’t all sunshine and rainbows and harmony. They’re all a bunch of xenophobic and racist fucks.”

“Jesus, that’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?” Gregory asked.

“I don’t think it’s harsh enough!” Gracie shouted, startling the others with how forceful she was. After a while, she took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. “I…I’m sorry,” she said. “I haven’t had good experiences with ponies…”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Gregory said, and he meant it. He knew ponies weren’t perfect, and it wasn’t his place to pry as to what her own experiences with them were, anyway. “Still, I don’t want to leave her here to die. And if she’s ungrateful for it, that’s fine. I helped her, and that’s the important thing.”

“You’re so naïve,” he heard Gracie muttering as he walked back towards their homes.

As he walked, he took one look at the flank on the pony he was carrying. The cutie mark there was just like the one he’d expected to be there. As the group fell into silence, one thought was on his mind: How the fuck did Starlight Glimmer come all the way to Griffonstone?

Author's Note

Sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than the others. Hope you enjoy regardless!

8: A Glimmer Of Potential

Two Days After Starlight Glimmer’s Arrival In Griffonstone…

“Greetings, Agent O. What have you to report today?”

“Commander, something unusual has happened. A pony has showed up in Griffonstone.”

“…Go on.”

“The subject has taken great care to help this pony. She’s a mare of young age, maybe in her twenties. Here is the image I took of her.”

“Hmm…I don’t know this pony, but perhaps one of the other divisions do. I’ll show this to the Emperor. Is there anything else to report?”

“Yes, sir. You see for yourself just how she looks. Apparently, the griffon doctor who looked her over said she hasn’t been eating much for at least a few weeks. She’s also showing signs of blunt trauma. It’s a miracle she’s still standing.”

“I see. What’s her status now?”

“Last I heard, she was in the local hospital being looked after. The subject took her in to be examined only two days ago and she’s apparently been in and out of consciousness.”

“Understood. For now, don’t take any direct action against this pony. Unless the Emperor himself recognizes her, she’s unlikely any immediate threat to you or the subject. Maintain the utmost discretion when dealing with the pony.”

“As you command, sir.”

“I will report this to the Emperor immediately. Long live the Emperor!”

“Long live the Emperor.”

Unlike hospitals back on Earth or even in Equestria, at least from what Gregory had seen on the show, the Griffonstone General Hospital was more medieval in nature. It was a long T-shaped building with the front being a guild hall where doctors and certain patients would eat or spend time when they weren’t in bed. Past that, there was a small hallway that led to two infirmary halls where there were beds lining each side of the walls, most with wooden partitions up to separate patients, although more permanent walls were being planned to hopefully stop the spread of disease from patient to patient. While the left and right doors led to the two infirmary halls, a third led to a large domed room filled with medication and hospital supplies which lined the walls on shelves.

It was in the guild hall where Gregory, Gallus, Gilda and Gabby sat, playing a game of poker. However, Gregory’s mind wasn’t completely on the game. Instead, it was focused on the unicorn in one of the infirmary halls.

“You need to relax,” Gallus said. Around them some remnants of a meal they’d eaten earlier sat, one Gregory had begun to slowly introduce to Griffonstone: hamburgers and cheeseburgers. Gracie would have come but she said she was busy at her job until past four, and it was three in the afternoon now.

Gregory, who had a perfect straight flush, put his cards down and rubbed his eyes. He’d taken the unconscious Starlight Glimmer to the hospital the very same night where the doctors there had immediately taken a look at her, especially one Doctor Gabriel who was the leading expert on non-Griffon biology. She’d informed him that Starlight was extremely malnourished and showed signs of having been beaten a few times. She’d had to break out some ketamine for her, which was only a few weeks away from expiring, but which would only last a week. Starlight was hooked up to an IV and while she was showing some signs of improvement like stronger heart rates and easier breathing, she was still unconscious, only coming to irregularly but screaming as if in fear of something. Or someone.

“Why are you so worried about that pony anyway?” Gilda asked.

“What, you mean aside from the obvious signs of starvation and abuse?” he asked harshly. Too harshly than he meant as he saw Gilda’s reaction, which was to twitch angrily. “Shit…I’m sorry. That came out wrong. I didn’t mean-”

“You’re worried,” Gabby, who was sitting next to him, put her claws on his hand gently. He automatically intertwined his fingers with her talons as she continued, “I understand, but you do need to relax.”

Gilda herself eased up as well and nodded. “There’s nothing you can do. The doctors here are the experts, not you. You have some healing magic we don’t know about? Then just relax, okay?” She sounded a bit exasperated now.

Gregory nodded. He knew she was right, of course. He took a couple deep breaths, then picked up his cards again. “I’m still sorry I lashed out,” he said.

“Eh, it’s cool,” Gilda said, waving her free claw dismissively. “Just because I’ve had bad experiences with ponies doesn’t mean this one’s the same, I guess.”

“Bad experiences with ponies? You’re the second one here to mention that,” he replied, although he knew exactly what Gilda was talking about. “Are they really that bad?”

Gilda got a thoughtful look in her eyes. “Eh, maybe not too bad,” she admitted, “but the one I met there was just damned annoying. She was always trying to hang out with an…an old friend of mine. Although, thinking back, I did do some things that I really shouldn’t have,” she admitted as she got a sorrowful look on her face.

Gregory inwardly smiled. The fact that Gilda could openly admit to her faults spoke volumes to her character. Maybe it was because of what happened with the light that came from the Idol, or maybe it was something else. He wasn’t sure. “Well, have you written to this friend or the other ponies and apologized?”

Gilda winced and a frown came over her face. “No…should I?”

“Well, let me ask, whatever you did to those ponies, do you regret it?” Gregory asked.

Gilda stroked her chin, looking down at her cards. After a few seconds, she said, “Yeah…I think so? I’m still upset at that pink one. I mean, I wasn’t gonna be in town that long and I wanted to spend time with Rainbow Dash. I haven’t seen her in years, damn it, but that pink annoyance kept on butting in.” She was gritting her teeth now, but she took a deep breath and exhaled. “Still…I should have probably been cooler about it.”

“Sounds like you were jealous,” Gregory said. “I mean, if Rainbow Dash was a friend you hadn’t seen in years, it makes sense you’d wanna spend as much time with her. I don’t know the whole story, but it sounds like there was fault on both sides.”

Gilda sighed. “Yeah…I was pretty bitchy. I’d go visit them and apologize, but with the closed borders I can’t. Gabby, is mail being allowed through?”

Gabby nodded. “Yeah, but we can’t deliver it. We have to give the mail to the Equestria Postal Service instead. Anytime I’ve gone there, the ponies I’ve met have always apologized for the inconvenience and I’m pretty sure they mean it, too.”

“What kind of monster is this Jason Wright anyway?” Gilda asked angrily.

Gabby’s grip on his hand only increased as Gregory slightly tensed up. However, he maintained his calm and said, “Well, with the changelings at his command, he could have done a hell of a lot worse, I think. He could have taken influential ponies and replaced them and nobody would be the wiser. I don’t know exactly what happened. All I know is what the Ambassador said that day he returned from the Southern Badlands.”

“Everygriffon knows what he said,” Gallus said.

“Still, back to answering your question, Gilda,” Gregory said, “You want to know why I’m concerned about that pony? Well, aside from me unable to see anyone like that without being worried, I came from far away because I wanted to meet some ponies. Actually, you mentioned one earlier, Rainbow Dash. I’ve wanted to meet her and the other Elements of Harmony for a while now. I’m big fans of them and wanted to see if I could become friends with them.”

“Whoo, then your timing sucked,” Gilda said.

Gregory smirked and nodded. “No shit. Still, I’ve been lucky since coming here. For the most part, I suppose.”

“Yeah…how exactly did you fall into the Abyss anyway?” Gallus asked. “You never told us.”

“Ah…well, I’ll tell you all someday, but not here. It’s a bit too…public,” he said, looking around.

“Eh, that’s fine I guess,” Gilda said as she put her cards down finally. “I fold.”

Gregory put five shiny gold bits on the table. “Alright, I call.”

“Hey, has anyone heard about this Imperial Council that’s being formed?” Gallus asked as Gabby put down five bits of her own. “I fold, too.”

“I’ve heard rumors that Grandpa Gruff’s and the Ambassador have been searching the city for worthy members,” Gabby said. “Four of a kind,” she said as she put her cards down.

“Straight flush,” Gregory replied as he put his cards down and collected the pot. “I’ve heard that, too,” he added as he pushed his cards towards the stack and Gilda began shuffling them again. “Seriously, it’s only been one month and you griffons have done so much to fix the city. Now you’re thinking about trying to fix the nation too? You really work fast.”

“These wings aren’t just for show,” Gilda said proudly, spreading them wide for all to see. “We might not have all the fancy stuff that Equestria does, like telephones and telegraph, but we can get messages around just fine.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Gregory smirked. “Kinda wish I had wings, to be honest. I’ve flown on planes a few times in the past, but being able to fly under my own power? That seriously would rock.”

“I can take you flying if you want,” Gabby offered, smiling up warmly at him.

“Maybe another time,” Gregory said. “I’d love to, though.”

Just then the doors to the cafeteria swung open as Doctor Gabriel flew in. She was a dark purple griffon with the same color eyes, white wings and a dark aquamarine set of claws. She looked around, spotted the group and flew up to them. Gregory was already on alert when he saw the serious expression on the doctor’s face. Before he could ask what was happening or what was wrong, she landed and held up a claw. “Mr. Graystone, the pony is awake and fully lucid now. You wanted to talk to her, right?”

Gregory nodded and stood. “Sorry, everyone. Play the next round without me.”

“We’re coming too,” Gilda said, standing as she put the cards down on the table.

“I can’t allow that,” Gabriel said. “She’s not in a very good state of mind, to be honest. She’s scared and not really trusting of anygriffon she talks to.”

“You think I will have any success?” Gregory asked as he straightened his hoodie.

“Maybe,” Gabriel said. “You’re the first creature she met in that alley, right?”

“True.” The human turned to the other griffons at the table. “Stay here, everyone. I’ll go see if I can calm the pony down.” Turning to Gabriel, he nodded. “Lead on, doctor.”

Gabriel nodded and turned, heading towards the hallway. The two headed down in silence, Gabriel still flying while Gregory walked quietly beside her, deep in thought. It had been bothering him that Starlight Glimmer, of all ponies, was this far away from Equestria. He wondered why she wasn’t eager to get revenge on Twilight. Then again, he had to remind himself that Ponyville never once got destroyed by a changeling army led by another human. Some things were definitely going to be different, and he knew that his own interference in griffon affairs had changed a lot, too.

As they walked, Gabriel looked over at him. “Mr. Graystone, just a fair bit of warning, the patient had to be restrained and we had to put a magical restraining ring on her horn just in case. The way you described her was a bit worrying. And if her trying to use magic is what caused her to pass out, then I’d rather not risk her trying anything.”

“You’re the doctor,” Gregory said, “so I trust your judgment.”

She nodded, looking relieved just as the two reached the right door in the hall. “She’s just inside. First bed to the left,” Gabriel said. “She’s refusing to eat, though, She said something about not eating rotten griffon food.” Gabriel then looked vaguely insulted. “Our food isn’t rotten! Not anymore, anyway.”

Gregory smiled. “I’ll talk to her for you,” he said. “Maybe I’ll have more success.”

“I hope so,” Gabriel said. “Griffon or pony, I don’t like seeing my patients upset. Good luck, sir.” So saying, she turned and flew off towards another room.

Gregory took a deep breath, exhaled, then slowly turned the doorknob, pushing the door open. The smell of antiseptic assaulted his nostrils as he entered as well as the large echoing sound of the door opening. The infirmary hall was massive, large enough to create echoes. Near the arched ceiling he saw large windows which let in warm sunlight. The majority of the beds weren’t partitioned off since they were empty, but the one directly to his left wasn’t.

Turning, he found himself looking, at a distance, into the dark blue eyes of a frowning Starlight Glimmer. Unlike how he’d found her before, she looked cleaner, with her mane having been brushed and tended to with excellent care. Her fur had also been trimmed down to get rid of the knots in them. Her mane was styled similarly to how she’d first appeared. She locked eyes with him and frowned deeper. “What kind of creature are you? Did that griffon doctor send you to force me to eat something?”

Gregory frowned and grabbed a stool from a large stack near the door. Walking slowly over to her, he set it near the wall and sat down, crossing his legs. “Listen, miss,” he said, “you’re in very capable hands here. The griffons have been taking care of you, I’ve made sure of that.”

Starlight narrowed her eyes at him, then they widened in recognition. “I know you…you’re that weird biped I met in the alley!”

“Gregory Graystone at your service, miss,” he said. “And to answer your question, I’m a human being.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “Hmm…never heard of a human. You sure you aren’t some malformed minotaur?”

He smirked. “Do I look malformed to you?” he asked. “No, miss, I’m a human. I came here from really far away, farther than you can imagine.”

She lowered her head at me and a sudden look of concentration came over her. However, when nothing happened, she began to panic. “Why isn’t my magic working?!”

“Hey, relax,” Gregory said. “The doctors had to restrain you and put a magic dampening ring on your horn for your own protection.”

“I don’t need protection,” Starlight growled as she struggled to escape, only to find she couldn’t. “Let me out of here!”

“And let you live on the streets, dirty, hungry and alone?” Gregory asked. “You honestly think the doctors here would be okay with that? They might be griffons, but a doctor of any race has a duty to their patients. And right now, you’re one of them.”

Starlight glowered at the human, then lay back down, giving up. Her anger slowly gave way to another emotion: despair. “I just…all I wanted was…was equality…” she clammed up immediately and turned away from Gregory.

Gregory stood, moved his stool closer to her slowly, then sat down next to her bed. He sat there as the bright purple unicorn stared at the wooden partition separating her from the bed next to hers. Finally, he spoke. “What’s your name, miss?”

He wasn’t expecting an answer, but to his surprise, she opened her mouth. “S-Starlight Glimmer.” The way she said it, though startled Gregory. It was as if she was about to cry.

“Miss Glimmer,” he said, “I meant what I said. You’re in very capable hands here. The doctor who’s been looking after you is certified in nongriffon biology. She has a doctorate from the Equestrian Institute of Medicine and has treated other ponies during her tenure in Equestria. She’s the best doctor you’ll find on ponies this side of the Celestial Sea.”

Starlight didn’t say anything for a while, just hugged her blanket closer to her. Gregory watched and waited for her to respond. Eventually, she said, “How can I trust you?”

“A good question,” he said, “and I understand why you’d ask. Truth of the matter is, you really don’t have any reason to. Only…I’m the one who brought you here. The staff here have been working tirelessly to keep you secure and safe. Doctor Gabriel, the one I told you about just now, is worried about your health. She told me that not only are you malnourished, but you’ve also shown signs of physical abuse.” Starlight stiffened at that, but said nothing. Gregory sighed, then continued. “Listen, Miss Glimmer, you don’t have to tell me anything. Whatever happened is your business and it isn’t anything anyone here needs to know unless it was a griffon who did that to you.”

She immediately shook her head. “N-No, it wasn’t a griffon…it happened in Equestria…”

His eyes widened at that. If that was the case, then ponies had done this to her. He knew that ponies weren’t perfect, but to beat anyone struck him as a new low. All he could do was hope that it was an isolated incident. “I’m really sorry that happened to you,” he said, “but whoever did this to you is too far away to harm you.”

She nodded slowly. “Th-Thank you,” she whispered.

“Do you feel strong enough to eat something?” he asked, glancing to a bowl sitting on an end table. In it was a still steaming bowl of what looked and smelled like tomato soup with a spoon sitting in it.

“I…I guess so,” she said, finally rolling back over. And that was when he saw a few tears streaming down her cheeks.

He quickly grabbed a clean towel from a nearby rack and reached out to clean her face. All the anger and rage in her was gone, replaced with depression and despair. She didn’t react to Gregory helping her, at least not initially. Her eyes looked devoid of any happiness. When he finished, he gently helped her into a sitting position. It wasn’t too easy considering the fact that she was basically chained down, but the restraints were loose enough that she could sit up as long as her forelegs were by her side. Grabbing the platter that the bowl was on, he gingerly brought it down, extended the legs and set it down in front of her. Then, he grabbed the spoon and brought up a healthy helping of the soup towards her. “Here,” he offered.

She looked at the spoon, then at him. There was a brief flash of defiance in her eyes which quickly gave way to resignation as she opened her mouth. He put the spoon in and she took her first bite. Her eyes widened as she tasted it, and for the first time since Gregory had seen her in real life, she smiled. “This is…better than I thought it would be,” she said.

“I don’t know what you might have heard about griffons,” Gregory said as he took another spoonful of soup and moved it over to her, “but things are changing around here. Changing for the better.”

She took the second bite with less resistance and nodded. “I don’t know much about griffons,” she admitted. “The library in our old town wasn’t very big and I’d read everything in there a few times.” When she mentioned her old town, a shadow seemed to pass over her face and she looked down at her barrel. It wasn’t a long glance, but Gregory noticed it. In fact, she’d looked at the spot where the majority of her injuries had come from.

“Well,” Gregory said softly, “Griffonstone’s library is currently down for repairs, but I might be able to arrange for you to read some books from there if you want. The doctor says that you should be here for a few days more before she feels confident in releasing you. I imagine you’ll probably get bored.”

She nodded. “Some books might be nice,” she admitted. “I like reading. It helps me forget…certain things.”

Gregory smiled. “What kind of books do you want? There were all sorts of books that were saved from the library. Most were griffon themed, of course.”

“Can I get some history books?” Starlight asked.

“Sure,” Gregory replied kindly. “And listen, I’m sorry if I scared you that night.”

She sighed as she took another bite of the soup. “I should probably apologize, actually,” she said. “I was angry and scared. I thought you were going to steal from me.”

“I guess I can understand why you’d think that,” Gregory said with a nod. “But you’re safe here, I promise.”

For the first time, she seemed to relax. “Thank you…” she said.

“I can’t believe it,” Gabriel said as she looked at Starlight from a distance as a griffon nurse looked her over and asked her some questions. “How’d you get her to calm down?”

“I just talked to her,” Gregory admitted as the nurse next to Starlight wrote something down on a pad. “By the way, her name is Starlight Glimmer. That’s about all I managed to get out of her. That, and whoever hurt her was in Equestria.”

“Pony on pony violence?” Gabriel asked, sounding appalled. “I thought Equestria was supposed to be the land of friendship and harmony?”

“Nobody’s perfect, doc,” Gregory said. “By the way, she’s asked for some books to read during her stay here. I was going to see if I could get her some griffon history books.”

“There’s no need for that,” Gabriel said, “I’m pretty sure we have some books here. History books, too. I’m pretty sure we have Bygone Griffons Of Greatness in our small library. They haven’t been touched in years, but I can get them cleaned off and let her read them.”

“Does that mean you’re gonna let her use her magic?” Gregory asked.

Gabriel shook her head. “She’s still too weak. There isn’t as much magic in Griffonia as there is in Equestria and she needs time to recover from whatever spell she tried to cast on you.” She pointed to a small blackened crystal that was on the end table. “See that? It’s a magical containment crystal we import from the Crystal Empire. It’s designed to pull magic from the air for the treatment of magical deficiency. Griffons don’t use as much magic as ponies when we fly, so we don’t use them. But that pony needed multiple infusions of magic, and she still needs more before I’ll be comfortable taking that ring off.”

“And even then, it might not be a good idea,” Gregory said. “She’s emotionally vulnerable and might lash out at any time. She might be calm now, but she’s one emotional outburst away from hurting someone or herself.” He turned to her. “How long will she be here? The truth now.”

Gabriel sighed. “Honestly? At least three days, maybe four. I’d rather have her here for a week or more but…” here she trailed off.

“She might start climbing up the walls if she’s here any longer, right?” Gregory finished.

“A rather unique way of putting it, but yes,” the doctor said with a small smile. “Although, right now, she does look calmer than she did when she woke.”

“Do you think it would be okay if I stopped by and visited with her while she’s here for maybe an hour or so each day?” Gregory asked.

“If you being here for only ten minutes can help calm her down, an hour might be a good thing for her,” Gabriel said.

“I hope I can bring my friends with me, too,” Gregory added.

“One step at a time,” Gabriel cautioned. “See how wary she looks talking to my nurse? She’s probably nervous around anygriffon. You’re not a griffon, so it’s possible she can relate to you a bit more.”

“Well, let me at least let Gabby meet her,” Gregory said, “She has a friendly behavior that Starlight might find a bit relaxing.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, either,” Gabriel said. “I’ve met that griffoness. She’s an acquired taste.”

“I know she’s excitable a lot of the time,” Gregory replied, “but I’ve seen her be tender too. She’s a smart griffoness, doc. She knows when to tone it down.” He remembered their tender moment after she’d come to bring him home after his first day cleaning out the library. The warmth in her eyes as she’d hugged him. He knew she would be a good influence on Starlight.

“Well…if you’re sure, but I’d like to have one of my nurses nearby just in case.”

“I think I can agree to that,” he said. “Thanks, doc.”

She nodded. “You’re the Idol Bearer,” she said with a smile, “you’ve earned a lot of respect from the city here. And not just because you returned the idol.”

He was about to ask what she meant when the door to the infirmary opened and another griffon nurse walked over towards the two of them. “I’m sorry for interrupting,” the nurse said, “but a message just came for Mr. Graystone.” She held up a large scroll in her claws towards the human.

Gregory took it. “Thank you,” he said as he broke the official looking seal and unraveled the paper. He read the following:

To Gregory Graystone,

As you may very well be aware from the rumors spreading around Griffonstone, there is a council being formed which will act out of the Griffonstone Keep and work to try and rebuild our great and proud nation. There are a clawful of griffons already on this council, and we would like to speak to you about something important as soon as possible. If you want, you can bring your companions with you. It is a matter of great importance. We will be in the old throne room where the Idol of Boreas now lies.

Penned by,

Council Member Gwendolyn

Gregory raised an eyebrow as he slowly rolled up the scroll again. He’d never met a griffon named Gwendolyn, but she sounded like a more formal type of griffon than any he’d met before. As he put the scroll in his hoodie pocket, he looked at the doctor. “Well, someone wants to see me. Sorry to leave so soon. Is it okay if I say goodbye to Starlight?”

“Be my guest,” she said, gesturing over to the pony, who was now alone and staring up at the ceiling with a bored expression.

He nodded in thanks before walking over to the pony. She looked up at him briefly and looked a bit relieved to see him. “Mr., um…Graystone, was it? Thank you for earlier. I feel a bit better.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “I spoke to the doctor, and she’ll get you some books from the hospital library. But the magic ring needs to stay on. Doc says you still need to recover your magic.”

Her smile faded a bit. “Nnng…are you sure I can’t use just a bit of magic?”

“She says you still need some more magical transfusions,” he said as he pointed to the crystal next to her bed. “You fainted from just lighting up your horn, Miss Glimmer, so until you’re back to one hundred percent, no magic. I’m sorry, but I trust her judgement, so just do what she says. Unfortunately I need to go now, but I’ll try and pay you a visit tomorrow and see how you’re doing.”

She relaxed a bit at that. “Well, okay…I hope I can trust your word, Mr. Graystone.”

“Just call me Gregory, Miss Glimmer,” he said. “I prefer that.”

“Um…okay, sure,” she said. Her ears perked up a bit. “So…tomorrow then?”

“Tomorrow.” He held out his hand to her. She stared at it nervously, then reached out and touched it. He wrapped his hand around it and shook it gently. “Just please do what the doctors and nurses say. You’ll receive amazing care here.”

“Alright,” she said, “I’ll see you later then. And you can call me Starlight.”

“Sure thing, Starlight. See you tomorrow.” With that, he stood and headed out of the infirmary, took a right, headed down the hallway and back into the guild hall.

When the other griffons saw him, they waved him over. Gregory noted that Gracie had finally showed up and was sitting down, chowing down on a small burger of her own. Gabby flew over to him. “So? How’s the pony?” she asked as she flew beside him back to the table.

“Her name’s Starlight Glimmer,” he said, “and right now, she’s pretty weak. She’ll recover in a few days, though. I’d ask if you want to meet her, Gabby, but not right now.” He pulled out the scroll and held it up. “I’ve been asked to go to the Keep to meet with a few griffons. The note said I could bring you all with me if you want to come with me.”

“I’ll come!” Gabby said happily, smiling warmly at me.

“I don’t mind coming,” Gracie said, swallowing what was in her mouth.

“Eh, sure, why not?” Gilda said. “It’ll give me a chance to see the idol again.”

Gallus just shrugged. “Fine with me,” he said as he grabbed the cards and put them back in their case, placing them back on the table where they’d been when the group got there.

“And it’ll give me a chance to do this!” Gabby said, suddenly moving behind Gregory and wrapping her arms around his midsection.

“Hey, what are you doing-? Whoa!” Gregory found himself being lifted off the ground with surprising ease. “Wait! My bag!”

“I’ve got it,” Gilda said, grabbing the human’s backpack and slinging it over her back as she flew towards the door, which she opened. She stepped back, a grin on her face. “Show him, Gabby!”

“Hoooolyyyyy shiiiiit!” Gregory exclaimed as Gabby effortlessly flew him directly out of the door. She shot directly into the sky. “Whoooooaaaa! Careful!”

“You’ll be fine!” Gabby giggled as the two flew higher and higher into the air.

Gregory’s fear was quickly replaced with awe. It was a bit cold now since Autumn was now in full swing, and what few trees were actually full of leaves were changing colors. He wasn’t sure exactly just how the city had looked before he’d opened that portal to Equestria or whatever the planet was really called, but he could see the results of just about a month’s worth of griffons coming together, pooling their resources to restore their capital city. Yes, there was a lot more to do, and from his new vantage point he could see plenty of ruined sections of the city, but for the most part things were looking up for Griffonstone. “Wow…I can’t believe we’re flying,” he said softly.

Gabby laughed. “Just wait until I really let loose!” she said as she tightened her grip on the human and shot up higher, heading towards the massive white keep at the very top of Griffonstone’s massive tree-shaped understructure.

“Whooooaaaa!” he shouted again as they zoomed up towards the massive towering structure. He felt like he was on a roller coaster, the wind blowing through his hair which had grown out slightly since coming to this world. “Haaahahaha!” he laughed as he spread his arms, letting himself trust Gabby’s strength more and pretending that he was the one actually flying. “Woooohoooo!”

He heard Gabby laughing behind him. “Having fun??”

“So much!” he shouted back at her, a wide grin plastered on his face now.

“If you think that’s fun, wait until you feel this!” With that, Gabby reangled herself and began to dive. Gregory felt his stomach rise, and he screamed once more, partially out of fear and partially out of adrenaline induced excitement. When they were about twenty or so feet away from the ground, Gabby spread her wings wide and their descent nearly stopped. He heard her grunting as she held onto him tighter as she flew down towards the ground near the keep’s entrance where the other griffons were waiting for them.

Gilda was smirking as the two landed. Her smirk only widened as Gregory landed on all fours, holding onto the ground and trembling a bit with the adrenaline rush. “Have fun there, human?”

“Hah…hah…that was…without a doubt…the scariest…funnest…most death defying experience I’ve ever had!” Gregory said as Gabby helped him to his feet. He was panting hard, but there was a goofy grin on his face. He tried to take a step forward, but stumbled a bit. Gabby was immediately by his side, as was Gracie who flanked him. “Heh, I’m alright,” he said. “Just…can I have my backpack?”

“Yeah, here,” Gilda said, handing it to him. “What’s in there, anyway?”

“Just the essentials,” he said as he pulled out a large metal bottle. He unscrewed the cap and took a large swig of the water inside, then closed the lid and shoved it back in. “Aaah…that’s the ticket.” He stood up straighter, ran his hand through his hair and straightened his clothes. “Okay. Let’s go see what this Gwendolyn wanted.” With that, he and the others headed inside.

Minutes later, they were standing in what had once been the throne room in front of the large table where the idol, crown, sash and gold ring all still sat. There were currently three other griffons sitting on large chairs around the tree stump table. He recognized two of them as Grandpa Gruff and the Ambassador he’d met, but the third one was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful griffonesses he’s met. She had light brown fur, golden feathers in her plumage which fell down her sides like wavy hair, and bright green eyes. Her claws were yellow much like the majority of griffons he’d seen. Said griffon stood up and bowed. “Mr. Graystone, everygriffon, thank you for coming. I am Gwendolyn, Head Secretary of this impromptu Imperial Council. I assume you all know Grandpa Gruff and Ambassador Geoffrey?”

Gregory nodded. “Hello, everyone,” he said. “I don’t know if you’ve all met, but let me introduce my friends here.” He stepped aside and indicated the four griffons beside him. “This is Gabriella, the first griffon I met and the one who saved me from the Abysmal Abyss. This is Gilda, one of the best scone making griffons in the city and one of the best workers in the city. This is Gallus, an amazing griffon lad, hardworking too. And this is Gracie, a kindhearted friend I accidentally ran into a while ago.”

Grandpa Gruff stood, coughing hard. Gregory noted that it sounded a lot like a smoker’s cough, but he ignored it as the elder griffon looked down at him. “For the past few weeks, I’ve been keepin’ my eye on you, Gregory Graystone,” he said, pointing to his one good eye, “and do you know what I’ve seen?”

“Um…no idea,” Gregory admitted with a shrug.

“You’ve been inspirin’ everygriffon around you to help make this city proud and great once more,” Gruff said, slamming his fist on the table. “There’s some amazin’ potential in that noggin of yours to do even greater things for all griffonkind. And not just because you’re the Idol Bearer! And you haven’t asked for anythin’ in return!”

“Well, um, than you for the high praise,” Gregory said, looking a bit sheepish, “but I was just doing the right thing by returning the Idol. It’s not mine, after all.”

“By griffon law, it was yours,” Geoffrey said in a less harsh tone than Grandpa Gruff naturally used. “But you gave it up even though you could have sold it and earned a lot of bits.”

“Like I said, it wasn’t mine,” Gregory repeated.

“You’re showin’ true pride, just like a griffon would,” Grandpa Gruff said before falling into a coughing fit.

“What Grandpa Gruff and Ambassador Geoffrey are trying to say,” Gwendolyn said in her melodious tone of voice as Gruff grabbed a glass of water from the table, “is that you deserve a reward for all your hard work. And we have a couple of rewards for you. First, this.” She pointed at a stack of papers, a singular paper next to it, and a large leather bag. “Go ahead and take it.”

Gregory walked up and picked up the papers first. He looked them over carefully, and his eyes widened. Citizenship. He had been granted complete Griffonian citizenship. He was stunned, unable to fathom just how this was possible. He looked over the paperwork carefully, noting that the date on the bottom read as the first day he’d arrived. He certainly wasn’t expecting this. Looking up at the three griffons, he was stunned to see a quill pen being pushed towards him with an ink bottle next to it. “All it needs is your signature,” Gwendolyn said with a genuine smile.

He gently put the paper down, then grabbed the pen. He looked down at the paper, then at the pen, then back at his new friends. Gabby was giving him a thumbs up, Gilda was giving him a look that said ‘Get it over with, fucker’, Gallus was simply nodding at him, and Gracie was smiling gently at him. This wasn’t at all the life he’d expected when he first came to this world. He’d expected to at least have met the Mane Six, Spike, the princesses, hell, even the Cutie Mark Crusaders and everyone in Ponyville. But to have been offered citizenship only after one month? It was a bit overwhelming.

“Is something wrong?” Gwendolyn asked, sounding worried. “Did we assume too much?”

Gregory shook his head. “N-No, sorry. I’m just a bit…overwhelmed is all. You’ve all been far too kind and accepting of me,” he said with a wide smile. “Sorry, I know I’m being a bit sappy.”

“Just sign the damn paper, Gregory!” Gilda shouted with a half cocked smirk on her face.

“Right, yeah…” he said as he dipped the pen into the ink bottle. He’d gotten used to using them ever since coming to Equestria, even getting some practice in back on Earth before coming here. With a flourish, he signed his full name: Gregory Eugene Graystone.

“Excellent,” Gwendolyn said as she took two of the papers with her, each of which had his same signature on them. “One of these are for our records and one is a spare in case yours is damaged or lost.” She then pointed to the single piece of paper. “This is the second part of your first reward.”

He reached down and picked it up and was floored even further. It was a deed. A deed to a plot of land somewhere in the city. Looking up, the smiling face of the female griffon locked eyes with me. “We haven’t built the house yet,” she explained, “but we’ve put together a crack team of griffons to begin construction at the end of the week. I understand you’re staying with Miss Gabriella here, correct?”

“Um, yes I am, Miss Gwendolyn,” he said.

“Well, they’ll be by sometime this week in the afternoon to talk to you about the plans,” Gwendolyn said kindly.

“But…won’t that cost a bundle?” Gregory asked.

“Everything’s already been paid for in regards to building materials,” Geoffrey said, “plenty of griffons pitched in for this as a way to thank you for all you’ve done.”

“It’s the least we could do for helping us,” Grandpa Gruff said.

From behind him, Gabby was quick to catch and steady Gregory as he became more overwhelmed by the gifts being literally showered on him. “I…you’re giving me a home…?” he asked. “I can’t…believe it,” he said.

Gwendolyn laughed softly then pointed to the bag on the table. “Don’t forget the final part of your first reward.”

Gregory took it and lifted it, surprised at how heavy it was. However, he was further surprised by the jingle he could hear from inside. He undid the bag and looked inside, only to see a large pile of shiny bits. He looked up at them. “How…how much is in here?” he asked.

“Five hundred bits, Mr. Graystone,” Geoffrey said.

He was floored. “That’s…wow…” he looked down at the open bag, then back at the griffons at the table. Slowly, he closed the bag. “Are you really sure about this?” he asked. He knew that griffons didn’t give out rewards easily. It went against their natural greed, but Gabby had told him during their time discussing griffon culture that if he refused any gift from a griffon it would be seen as extremely rude. He felt guilty for accepting all three of these gifts, but the looks on the faces of every griffon there told him that it would be okay.

“Very sure,” Gwendolyn said. “You’ve more than earned them.”

Nodding, he took off his backpack and slipped the bag of bits inside along with both pieces of paper which he slipped into a folder to keep them safe. He looked back at them. “I…how can I ever repay you?”

Grandpa Gruff’s smile became a smirk. “Well…there’s one thing you can do, sonny.”

“Grandpa Gruff, please,” Gwendolyn said, “I said I would tell him, not you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the grumpy older griffon said with a wave of his claw.

Gwendolyn stood, walked around the table, and came to stand right in front of Gregory. “Now, please understand, this next reward is something that you can very much refuse.” Gregory heard the shocked gasps from behind him from his friends, but Gwendolyn ignored them as she continued. “Grandpa Gruff isn’t the only griffon who’s been watching you, sir. I’ve seen how other griffons follow you. I’ve seen griffons who were once the laziest and meanest bastards in the city pick up a shovel or hammer and begin working to rebuild. It wasn’t just the Idol’s light that changed them. It was watching how you, an outsider, would just selflessly spend most of your free time helping when you didn’t need to. A lot of griffons like you, Mr. Graystone. We performed a secret survey around the city, and a lot of griffons thought you would be the perfect fit for what we’re about to ask of you.”

“Why do I have the feeling you’ve…actually, no, forget I said that,” he said, realizing that him accusing them of bribing him would have been even ruder than refusing. “What is it?”

Gwendolyn gave him a self deprecating smile. “If you were about to say we were bribing you, I’ll be honest, that was a part of why we gave you those gifts. But it wasn’t the main reason. We here really wanted to give you this. We owe you a debt that we can’t repay, but this is a start. We hope.”

Gregory swallowed. “Well, what do you want me to do?” he asked curiously.

She looked back at the two male griffons, both of whom nodded at her. She nodded back, turning back to Gregory. “We’re still looking for members of this council, but even a council needs a leader. If you’re willing, the current members of the council, the three of us, were hoping you would become our Chancellor. Now before you say yes,” she quickly added when she saw the shocked expression on Gregory’s face, “we want you to know there’s no pressure to say yes. You have time to think about it, but a lot of griffons believe you’re the perfect creature for the job.”

“W…wow…Chancellor?” Gregory repeated, still unable to believe that they’d ask him to take a leadership role in this country even when he wasn’t a griffon. “Are you sure you want me?”

“The griffons of Griffonstone like you,” Geoffrey interjected before Gwendolyn could reply, “and a few of them even see you as more than Chancellor material.”

“You’ve changed Griffonstone forever,” Grandpa Gruff said, “Of course they’d think you’re the best choice!”

“That…that’s a really big decision,” Gregory said.

“Take your time to think about it,” Gwendolyn said, putting a claw on Gregory’s arm reassuringly. “There’s really no pressure.”

“Here,” Geoffrey said, holding out a small booklet, “this pamphlet explains what being a Chancellor would entail. It should help with your decision. To be honest, it isn’t as hard of a job as it sounds.”

“Yeah, thank you,” Gregory said, taking the booklet with a trembling hand. “I’ve gotta say, today’s been full of surprises…with that pony waking up and all this? I’m really at a loss for words.”

“We understand,” Gwendolyn said with a sympathetic smile, “and we’ll wait for your decision.”

“Thank you,” he repeated. “Was there, well, anything else?”

“For the moment, no,” Gwendolyn said. “Thank you for taking time out of your day to come down here, though. We all hope you have a pleasant day.”

After the others said their own goodbyes, Gregory walked towards the door which led to the main hallways of the keep. As he walked, Gabby and Gilda flanked him. He was in his own little world, his mind reeling from everything that happened in the past few minutes. But foremost on his mind was the request. The request to be a Chancellor. All he could really think was: What do I do here?

9: The Journey Continued

The Day After Arriving In The Crystal Empire…

Twilight woke to sunlight pouring in from the window opposite her bed. She groaned and sat up, looking around the room with bleary eyes. She wiped her eyes and stretched, pulling off the blankets and slowly getting onto her hooves. She walked over and looked out at the landscape before her. She and the others traveling with her had been given rooms in the eastern portion of the palace. She was greeted by a wide spread of houses and other buildings, each having been built in older styles than she was accustomed to. The sun shone on their roofs, reflecting off of the crystalline structures and shining an assortment of rainbow colors everywhere.

But to Twilight, the reflections were only a grim reminder of all that she’d lost. A reminder of what she, herself, had wrought. She sighed, turned away, and began gathering her belongings which had been delivered to her from the train the day before.

Twilight had spent the majority of the previous day in the Crystal Empire’s public library, trying to discover anything she could on Griffonstone or even Griffonia. She didn’t find too much, but what she did find was new to her.

Apparently, Griffonia was once a powerful empire, with borders spreading far east across the Hyperborean mountains. She’d found an ancient map which showed a continent that spread eastward with a massive inland sea in the middle. Griffonia controlled the entire continent, and in the distant past during the time of the Idol, the griffons had ruled with utter surety. They were a proud and powerful race, able to hold their own against any enemy that might have tried to attack.

She had discovered that, once upon a time, griffons had actually had good relations with the crystal ponies before King Sombra broke off all ties. Before that, however, the crystal ponies had provided King Grover with a rare seed for him to actually grow a massive tree, which is what happened when he planted it at the top of one of the mountains. Griffonstone was grown over the course of one single year from that seed, and the legends attributed this quick growth to the Idol of Boreas itself.

She read more about other kings from the height of Griffonia as well as those who were considered to be second in command, the Chancellors of the councils that helped the kings make wise decisions. It was this and a lack of nobles that kept Griffonia strong. However, after the reign of King Guto ended a few hundred years ago, all records ended. She’d searched every section of the library she could before the sun set, but found nothing more.

She had returned to the palace late the previous night, tired, depressed and just eager to fall asleep. However, it wasn’t until past midnight that she finally managed to fall asleep. The shadows in her room would morph and change into Jason Wright so often that she finally had to turn on a crystal night light so she could have some peace of mind. It worked, fortunately, and she managed to fall asleep.

She walked over to the night light and turned it off before she placed her belongings near the door before she opened it, entering the hallway. It was just past eight in the morning and she was alone in the hallway. Turning left, she trudged down towards the dining hall. She remembered just where it was from her previous visits, and Cadance had invited her and the others to breakfast before they left.

It didn’t take her long to find the dining room, only to find she wasn’t the first to arrive. Sitting at one end of the table, she saw Applejack with a large journal open. She was too busy writing in it to notice the Princess of Friendship, and Twilight didn’t want to disturb whatever she was doing, so she softly walked over to another chair and sat, looking around the hall. It was just as she remembered it being: a long rectangular room with sloping walls leading to an arched ceiling. On one side of the lengthwise portion of the walls were evenly spaced windows with sunlight pouring in from the ever rising sun. Three massive yellow crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, unlit from within thanks to the sunlight. The table itself was shaped like an elongated piece of crystal, widest at the middle section and narrow at the ends, but still wide enough to seat one pony.

As Twilight’s eyes wandered, all she could hear was the familiar scratching of pen on paper as Applejack continued to write. As she did so, it reminded Twilight of their friendship journal they’d written back before Tirek destroyed the Golden Oaks Library and before the Palace of Friendship grew. She thought back to those days, days of joy and happiness. The days before everything was ruined, not just by Jason, but by their own prejudices against anything non-pony. And especially her fear and revulsion of humans.

No wonder Sunset had shouted at her that day. She’d made friends with other humans in the other realm by that time. Younger versions of themselves. It was one of the few reasons she kept the portal to that world open, so that in case of another disaster like the Sirens, she could go and help, even though she hadn’t been too thrilled to do so even if there was friendship there. She’d once felt that the friendship humans had was a pale imitation of what ponies had, but now? Now she derided herself on making such a foolish assumption. Anycreature could have friendship. If Rainbow could make friends with a griffon and Spike could make friends with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, why couldn’t humans make friendships with each other, and perhaps even other creatures.

And she hadn’t even given Jason that chance. She’d slammed the door in his face. She felt like she would have done the same regardless of Discord’s spell.

Discord…

She thought back to his confession about what he had done to them and to Jason. She’d had time to think about it since that day, and despite her growing liking of the draconequus, Princess Celestia’s words rang in her ears.

Monster…cretin…

She’d grown to accept that Discord might have said he was trying to change, and he might have, but that didn’t make him any less of a monster in that scenario. Twilight realized, too late, that she had defended him too soon. Discord was a monster. She found herself wishing that he had never been released from his prison.

Then again, she probably wouldn’t have learned the harsh lessons that Jason Wright’s actions had wrought. The one she had forgotten with Zecora.

Zecora…

Her thoughts went back to the shamaness. Her house had been spared from Jason’s wrath, which was understandable since she had lived in the Everfree at the time. Now, Twilight had no idea where she was. When she had gone to check on the solitary zebra, she’d found the old tree house empty, abandoned. There was no letter, not even a note or a forwarding address. Even her welcome masks were gone. With the rumors about changelings in the Everfree, nopony dared to live out there. Well, nopony except for the eccentric Time Turner, who’d snatched up the property and had not been seen much since.

She was so lost in thought that it took her a while to notice that Applejack had stopped writing. When the alicorn finally noticed, she looked down and saw Applejack looking over at her. “Twilight? How long have you been there?” she asked.

“Oh…not long,” she said. It had been the first real words they’d exchanged in months, and she had no idea what to say or ask.

“Ah see,” Applejack said. She put down her quill pen and blew gently onto the journal pages.

The silence between them became deafening, and eventually Twilight couldn’t take it anymore. She had to say something. “What…are you writing there?” she asked.

Applejack stopped blowing for a bit, a faraway look forming in her eyes. After a bit, she said, “Just a journal.”

“Oh…I see,” Twilight said. Not wanting the conversation to die, she pushed on. “What about, may I ask?”

“Nothin’ much. Ah’m just tryin’ to get mah thoughts straight,” Applejack said.

“Yeah…maybe I should do that, too,” Twilight said. “I’ve just been, well, really busy. Preparing for next spring when we begin rebuilding Ponyville.”

Applejack nodded, going back to blowing on the journal. “How’s that goin’?”

Even if Applejack was only talking to her to be polite, it was still a better option than just being ignored. Twilight looked out of the window. “Not as good as I hoped, but we’re getting there.”

“Ah see,” she said.

Twilight wanted to say something more, but she couldn’t think much about what else she could ask that might bring up the elephant in the room. They hadn’t spoken since that day in the throne room, and even now, Twilight’s chest still tightened up whenever she thought about the inevitable conversation they would all eventually need to have about not only their friendship, if that even existed anymore, but how they could learn from this and do better. She thought back to how ferocious Cadance had been the day before when she shouted at Princess Celestia. She’d brought up plenty of good points, especially about the treatment of non-ponies throughout Equestria. Even Gustav, the famous griffon chef, had abandoned his shop and moved back to Griffonia since his business had failed.

As she was thinking, the doors to the dining room opened. Cadance walked in, with her brother and Flurry Heart by her sides. Twilight looked over at her former foalsitter and locked eyes with her. Cadance’s eyes were tired, but they were still full of love.

A love Twilight didn’t feel she deserved even now. Still, she didn’t want to ruin Cadance’s morning, so she just raised her hoof and waved. “Good morning,” she said.

“Morning, you two,” she said, yawning as she took her seat at the table’s head, with Shining taking the seat to her right and Flurry Heart being placed in a foal step stool to her left. “Where’s everypony else?”

“Probably still sleepin’,” Applejack said, finally closing the book and setting it in the saddlebag she had hung over her chair.

“Even Princess Celestia?” Shining asked.

“Forgive me for being late,” Celestia said from the other doorway leading in from the eastern hallway, “but I was speaking to my sister in the dream realm. I was relaying something to her.”

“Oh, it’s alright,” Cadance said. “Breakfast isn’t ready yet.”

Twilight looked between both princesses nervously. Ever since their confrontation in the throne room the day before, she’d been anxious about their next encounter with the other. However, she was surprised when Princess Celestia looked at Cadance. “Listen, Cadance, about what you said yesterday? You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I have babied my ponies for too long. I haven’t acted much like a ruler these past years. I suppose even I am capable of xenophobia. And they’ve learned from the worst. I’ve discussed what you said with my sister, and we’re ending the ban on interspecies travel between our borders.”

“And what about the nobles?” Cadance asked, raising an eyebrow.

“They’re just going to have to learn to deal,” Celestia said with a frown. “I’ve been making mistake after mistake for years. It’s time for me to start educating my ponies better. I’m thinking about other ways to soothe relations over between other nations and kingdoms. Maybe some kind of multinational summit.”

Cadance nodded. “That’s good, but are you sure about acting so fast? I remember the nobles from Canterlot really well. They won’t be happy with that.”

“I’ve been giving them concessions for too long,” Celestia said, and Twilight shivered at the tone in her old mentor’s voice. The temperature in the room seemed to rise slightly at her anger. “I gave it because I didn’t want to become a dictator, but they’re going to learn why I’m the princess. Why my sister and I ruled for over a hundred years side by side before I had to banish her.”

“Well, if you do have an international summit, I’ll be glad to attend as a representative of the Crystal Empire,” Cadance said.

“I wonder if you can get whoever’s in charge of Griffonia to accept,” Shining said. “I don’t know much about them, but the ones I’ve known are fairly grumpy. But…maybe that was just them,” he admitted, looking sideways at Twilight sympathetically.

Twilight’s ears lowered and she looked away from her brother. He hadn’t taken her actions well, but that had paled to how her parents had reacted when they heard the news. Their disappointment had hurt worse than their anger. She looked down at the table for a while, not noticing the presence that appeared beside her. A foreleg wrapped around her neck and pulled her closer. Looking up she saw Shining looking down at her with the same brotherly concerned look she’d realized she’d missed. “Twily, are you okay?”

“I…” She trailed off and all she could do was lean into his strong, brotherly embrace. She couldn’t reply. She still felt like she’d never be okay…

Breakfast was a quiet affair for most, Celestia noted. The others had filed in on their own time, sat down quietly and ate. She took note of how they did so. Twilight are slowly and thoughtfully, Rainbow did so mechanically, Fluttershy did so mournfully, Pinkie Pie barely touched her food at all, Rarity did so without noticing some of the times she spilled and Applejack ate everything set before her.

When Spike had come in last, Celestia had asked him to join her by her side. She hadn’t expected him to do so, so it shocked her when he quietly walked over to the chair next to her and sat quietly. He gave single word answers to questions from either Cadance, Shining or Celestia as he ate the gems he’d been given. She noted that he’d begun to trim out and had grown slightly ever since Jason’s invasion and Twilight’s revelation. She prayed to the Maker herself that he was getting enough nutrition. She knew dragons needed meat eventually, and made a point to try and talk with him about it and provide some for him if he asked.

After breakfast, Celestia and the others had gotten their belongings and headed towards the train station. She’d said goodbye to Cadance and Shining and a sad looking Flurry. However, the latter had quickly cheered up when Celestia promised to see her when she returned. She made a mental note to see if she could find anything for a Hearth’s Warming present for the little filly alicorn in Griffonstone.

After reaching their train and seeing a newer, sleeker but grayish locomotive, Celestia couldn’t help but be relieved. This train looked like it was more up to snuff than the older colorful engine. They reached their old car and sat back down in the same seats as before.

Well, almost all.

Spike had once more sat in the booth opposite Celestia’s own and spent the next few hours just reading. Celestia noted that he wasn’t reading any comic. Instead, he was reading a proper book. She tilted her head curiously, trying a few times to get the title. Finally, about the third hour into their trip, she broke down and asked, “Spike, what are you reading? I’m curious.”

He stopped, looking up at her surprised. He lifted the book up allowing her to see the title: Treatise On The Races Of Gaia by Opal Shine. Celestia was familiar with the author. She’d lived around nine hundred years prior and the solar monarch had actually had the pleasure of meeting the author a few times. She was a well traveled pegasus author who went around the world, living with other cultures and studying them extensively. It wasn’t a very popular book in Equestria, and for that Celestia was regretful. She herself had read it, but at the time she’d not paid as much attention to it as she should have. The banishment of her sister had still weighed heavily on her mind at the time. “Is it any good?” she asked.

“It’s outdated,” Spike said. “No…body…has written anything much like it since then,” he added as he went back to reading.

“What race are you reading about now?” she asked.

“Griffons,” was all he said. “Not a long chapter,” he added.

“It was written only four decades after Nightmare Moon,” Celestia said.

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Really?” He turned to the book’s front page and looked at the information. “Written in 46 Anno Luna, 980 Anno Luna release date…It really is old.”

Not wanting the conversation to die, Celestia continued, “I’ve met her, as a matter of fact. The author.”

That caught Spike’s attention. He turned to her. “What was she like?” he asked.

Happy that he was at least talking to her and interested in what she had to say, she faced him. “Well…I think you’d have liked her, Spike. She was a really jovial soul. She attended an author’s symposium at Canterlot and I had the pleasure of talking with her. She’d apparently just come back from where the reindeer live. I learned more than I expected about reindeer society that day.” Celestia smiled at the memory. She had a long memory courtesy of her alicorn nature, so she remembered more than most. “I do wish there were more ponies like her around,” she added with a hint of sadness.

Spike nodded solemnly. “Well…can I make a suggestion?”

That surprised Celestia. In all her years, she’d never once had Spike make a suggestion to her. “Please do,” she said, inwardly eager to hear what the young dragon had to say.

“Have someone go out and explore again,” he said. “Someone who’s interested in learning about other cultures. Someone who can actually…well,” and here he lowered his voice and whispered, “hold back their revulsion.”

Celestia’s ears flattened at Spike’s bluntness, but it wasn’t uncalled for. She remembered a few months ago during the meeting with the nobility just how deep their own revulsion for other races had gone. They might not have come outright and said it, but they had stuck to their pathetic reasons for wanting the borders closed. And she’d given in.

Not anymore. “That’s actually a good idea, my young dragon,” she said. “I’ll talk more about it with Luna later and we’ll bounce around ideas.”

“Good luck,” Spike said, and she noted the lack of sarcasm in his voice. In fact, he sounded like he sincerely meant what he said.

“Thank you, Spike,” she replied, deciding that it was best to let him get back to his reading. She leaned back and picked up a book of her own from her saddlebag. It was a romance novel, penned by Lovesick Mare, another fairly unknown author who’d actually been good friends with Opal Shine. Lovesick was a fantastic author, but she was largely unknown due to her, at the time, controversial romance stories between ponies and non-ponies, and there were even romance books between two non-ponies or even love triangle books. Even today, they were still fairly unpopular. Still, Lovesick was a phenomenal writer even by modern standards. She wrote incredibly realistic and believable characters and, if her theory was correct, learned a lot about her non-pony characters from Opal.

She was, ironically enough, reading one called A Storm Of Feathers, a love story between a griffon princess and a pegasus adventurer. The two had not gotten along at first, and not because of their species but because of their station in life, her being a princess and him being a lowly peasant. However, Celestia had reached the middle of the story where they had both been grounded on a deserted island in the middle of the Celestial Sea due to a massive storm where they’d been forced to rely on each other to survive. Romance novels were one of her weaknesses alongside cake, and with her being out of Canterlot, she could at least indulge in her hobby without needing to deal with the ugliness that had become the nobility.

She remembered a time when there had been honor and decency in them. When they had actually cared about the common pony. When they would use their wealth to improve not just their lives, but the lives of those not so well off. But, as with all things, that hadn’t lasted. With each generation, they had grown more and more greedy and selfish. Their money had gone to their own comforts instead of what it should be used for, helping the poor and destitute and improving the lives of others. Even if it was their money to do with as they pleased, it was the chivalrous thing to do.

Especially Blueblood.

Her adopted nephew used to be the sweetest little colt she’d ever had the pleasure of raising. He would follow her around, wide eyed with wonder and asking so many questions about the world. Ever since his parents had been indicted of foal abuse and fraud and sent to the dungeons for it, he had been in the care of the princess and her staff. She’d taught him personally about the basics of magic. When he was fifteen and legally able to inherit his family’s estate, he’d become more and more like the other nobles. She’d tried to steer him towards the right pathway, one of peace and harmony, but she’d failed. She still loved him with all the love an aunt could give a nephew, but he had become unrecognizable to her. He’d been influenced by the wrong crowd and become proudful at being related to her. Whether by adoption or not, it didn’t matter.

She just prayed that he wasn’t getting so involved with the other nobles that he would get into something criminal. Like those pony supremacist movements she’d heard about. Pushing those thoughts out of her head for the time being, she went back to reading. She would begin dealing more with those movements the moment she and the others got back

It was late afternoon when they arrived at the Griffonstone Station. Going through border patrol had been a bit of a hassle, but it was easier than if they’d traveled by airship. Spike was surprised to find the border guards, two unicorns on Equestria’s side and two griffons on Griffonia’s side, playing a very friendly looking game of cards. Spike had been more surprised to hear the good natured ribbing between the four guards, exchanging insults with grins on their faces. It was quite relieving to him to see such camaraderie among different races.

As they disembarked from the train at the Griffonstone Station, Spike saw that their group were the only non-griffons around. He counted at least twenty tired but excited looking griffons who all grabbed their belongings, spread their large wings and flew up towards the mountain where Griffonstone sat on the eastern portion of the twin peaks. To say that the city glistened on a hill would be an understatement. Spike had actually enjoyed living in Canterlot, which Celestia had ordered built after she banished Nightmare Moon, but Griffonstone was equally as impressive to him. Possibly even more so.

“Wow, that’s gonna be a looong walk,” Spike observed as he grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“Indeed it is,” the familiar voice of Celestia said from behind him. He gave her a small glance, noting just how much in awe she was. Even the other ponies were staring up at the massive structure, albeit with differing degrees of awe than the Princess. “Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Griffonstone, so I can’t teleport up there, and I don’t think those of us who can fly should go ahead, so it looks like we’re walking.”

“Fine by me,” Spike said, turning away and beginning to walk up the long path up the Hyperborean Mountains. Only to find himself caught in a magical aura and floating backwards. He found himself sitting on Celestia’s back. She was looking back at him with a small smile. “Um…I can walk, you know?”

“I know,” she said softly, “but even for a dragon, especially one without wings, the walk is not going to be a short one. And you are still only a child.”

Spike frowned and put his claws on his hips. “I might be a child, but I’m still capable of walking, thanks.”

“Spike, please let me do this,” Celestia asked, and the tone in her voice made Spike pause. He couldn’t really tell why he paused, but there was just something in her voice that gnawed at him. “You deserve that, at least.”

A part of him really wanted to refuse her and walk up the pathway on his own, but on the other hand, she was offering. And he didn’t really want to walk all the way up. It was just his stupid dragon pride getting in the way, he realized. And besides, the Princess was actually trying to make things right with him. He’d looked up to her once, blinding himself to all her faults just like Twilight had done. However, he knew now that even the imperious Princess Celestia was imperfect.

Even he knew he couldn’t stay angry at her forever. He hated the feeling, which lessened and sometimes even vanished whenever he was with Sweetie Belle. So he nodded. “Alright. Thank you, Princess,” he said coolly.

She frowned a bit, then leaned back and whispered, “You can call me Celestia. We’re not in Canterlot right now, or even in Equestria.”

“I’ll…I’ll keep that in mind,” Spike said quietly as the Princess began walking away from the train station.

As they did, Spike took one last look at the train station. It looked like it had been recently renovated and repainted, albeit with less colors than he was used to. The station itself looked like any normal house, with a large hole in each side in front of a few perches. On the front was a large pair of red wings connected by a dark green crystal. Above the wings hung a wooden crown. He saw a couple of griffons inside talking and laughing, and to his surprise, he also saw a small tree decorated with blue candles with a blue moon on top of it and blue and silver garland wrapped around it.

As they walked away, Spike turned and looked ahead. The pathway that led up the mountain had a few spots of snow on it, and there was a recently constructed smoothed out wooden fence along the side that hung over the edge to keep anyone from falling into Griffon Gorge below.

Twilight hadn’t been the only one who’d read Bygone Griffons Of Greatness. Ever since the revelation about Jason, Spike had spent less time reading comics and more time reading books about other races. Especially ones he’d met before. He read about the Diamond Dogs, how they’d once been a great civilization in the past only to succumb to a plague which permanently altered their descendants so that they were less intelligent. He’d read about the ancient buffalo cultures from before ponies even came to Equestria. He’d even read about older dragon cultures in that book Opal wrote. It wasn’t modern, but it was still something about his kind.

A sudden memory popped into his head. He was back in the Golden Oaks Library, standing at one of the tables in the main library section. He was smiling at a yellow phoenix newborn chick.

“Hey, welcome to the family, Peewee!” Spike had said as the young chick jumped into his open claws. “Stick with me, I’ve got plenty to teach you about being a pony.”

He smiled wistfully at the memory. He’d become to Peewee that day what Twilight had been to him. Or really, should have been, he thought bitterly.

Looking back at Twilight, he noted how worn down she looked. Her wings were unkempt and he hadn’t even seen her fly for months. Even if he was furious at her, a part of him still cared for her wellbeing. She’d been working herself ragged trying to get plans in place for a major building project. She was trying so hard to get Ponyville rebuilt, he knew. Rebuilt with better building structures, but at the same time she wanted to try and keep things similar to how they had been.

He wasn’t too sure something like that was a good idea, to be honest. It might just be a painful reminder of the original. Still, he didn’t really want to see Ponyville become a more modern city like Manehattan.

He turned away from her and looked back ahead. The walk up to the city looked like it would take a long time. Hours even. With that in mind, he pulled out the book he’d been reading on the train and opened it back to the chapter he’d been reading. It was about the culture of the zebras back in the time directly after Nightmare Moon’s banishment.

Zebras are one of the more fascinating races on all of Gaia. They might look a lot like ponies, but they are vastly different in the way they view the world around them. Hailing from the southern continent of Zebrica, most of the zebras I encountered during my travels among them lived in small towns near the coastal areas or near some of the larger rivers that form from the melting snows on their main mountain range, which they call the Spine of the World.

However, I encountered tribes of zebras who still embrace what they called The Old Way, which is more akin to old pony Wanderers traditions from centuries past. The nomadic cultures which died out with the founding of the three tribes are still alive in Zebrica today in the form of these zebras.

But before I get to them, I’d like to talk about the villages I visited.

I spent at least two weeks in a village, observing and talking to the locals. They speak a surprisingly old dialect of old Horsish (Editor’s Note: This was the way the Equestrian language was referred to in the time before Princess Celestia’s reforms, but for accuracy’s sake it will be used throughout the book), and it didn’t take me long to figure out the main differences between our languages. I spent the first ten weeks in five of their major villages around a large circular portion of the shoreline they call Caign’s Hoof (E.N.: See Index page 413 for her hoofdrawn map), a massive peninsula on the western coast of the continent.

Each village had varying degrees of designs, but there were several constants I noticed. Each village had a chieftain or chieftainess who lived in the exact center of town in the largest hut. These huts were guarded by at least four of their guards.

Chieftains of the villages were normally either the strongest or the oldest and wisest of the zebras there, and one thing I noticed was that with one notable exception, each one had multiple mates and many foals as well. The largest family I saw was in the third village I visited, where the chieftain had five mates and twenty two foals of varying ages.

The village populations varied from around five to six hundred zebras, from what I managed to count. Interestingly, each village chieftain actually required a census taken of everyzebra every two or three years.

Even though they live in what modern day ponies would consider primitive conditions, they have a deep understanding of Gaia’s Harmony. They live in unity with nature instead of trying to control it like the pegasi do. They live mostly off of the bounty of the Zebrican jungles, gathering food from the plentiful environment and water from the rivers and, surprisingly, the oceans as well. I was never privy to their methods, but their shamans have a way of purifying ocean water so that it’s sweet. I tried some, and I couldn’t taste any discernable difference between purified water and river water.

As I mentioned before, they have shamans and shamanesses. I noticed that they were not only set apart by their normal dwellings, since they tended to hollow out a special tree and live in there, but they also tended to speak in rhymes. When I asked why they spoke like that, I was basically told it was a method they used to keep their minds sharp. Paper is hard to make for them, so while they do have papers made of papyrus and other plant based products, they’re harder to make at their current level, so most shamans have to memorize recipes for their potions and brews.

“Spike? What are you reading?” a familiar mare’s voice asked from beside him, breaking the young dragon out of his reverie. Startled, he looked down. Twilight was looking up at him with a somewhat curious expression. He held up the book so she could read the title. As she read it, her ears flattened a bit. “Oh…I’ve…never read her books.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s surprising,” he muttered.

“Do you have any more of her books with you?” Twilight asked cautiously.

Spike shrugged, reached into his backpack and pulled out another book, this one called Deer In The Moonlight: A Year Among Gaia’s Nocturnal Species. “Here,” he said, holding it out to her. “I finished this yesterday.”

Twilight took it in her magic and looked it over, reading the blurb on the back before opening it. “Thank you…” she whispered.

“Sure thing,” he said calmly as he went back to his book.

As he continued reading, he wondered just why Zecora had abandoned her house. He got so lost in thought, thinking about the older zebra mare that he had to go back and read passages over again multiple times. Finally, he gave up, closed the book and looked up at the sky. It was cloudy now, threatening snow. In fact, a few flakes had begun falling already. He pulled Sweetie Belle’s scarf around him and put on the hoodie. He hated the cold, especially since it reminded him of his first Winter Wrap-Up in Ponyville. He shuddered again at the memory of having been rudely awoken by falling into the still ice cold lake and the nasty cold that followed. Even then, Twilight had still insisted he write the letter to the Princess.

His resentment and anger towards the ponies around him flared at that thought, and not just at that. The incident with Discord where the Princess used the spell to remind Twilight of all those friendship lessons, being teased for being a different type of dragon, being used as practically slave labor by them even though he was only a child. Sure, he was older now and could be considered a teenager in pony terms, but he still hadn’t gotten wings, yet!

However, something made him pause. He looked over at where Celestia’s head was, only to find the Princess looking back at him with a concerned look in her eyes. He realized then that he was clenching his legs a bit. He exhaled deeply, forcing himself to relax. “Sorry,” he said softly.

Celestia smiled. “It’s alright,” she said. And with that, she turned back to focus on walking.

However, when they reached another turn in the road, they were greeted by a strange sight. Three large gondola lifts sat on the ground near one of the upper turns, and each one looked big enough to fit all of them inside. A large black strand of wire ran from that spot all the way up to the city’s lowest level. There were two griffons dressed in bright red and white jackets standing nearby, each one wearing a red and white stocking cap with a white ball of fur at the end. “Hey, maybe we don’t have to walk after all,” Spike said as he pointed.

The other ponies looked up at the lift. Celestia stood up straighter. “It might be faster than walking. Let’s have a look.” With that, she sped up, making her way towards the lift and the two griffons standing there. As they approached, Celestia raised a hoof and waved. “Good afternoon,” she said in a regal polite tone, “does this lift go to Griffonstone?”

The griffons looked at the ponies with confusion, not that it surprised Spike. With the borders being closed, and what with ponies being how they were, he really doubted they’d seen a pony in a while if at all. “It does,” one of the griffons said.

“Well, how much for seven ponies and a young dragon?” Celestia asked, lifting a bag of bits out of her saddlebags.

“Seven bits,” the second griffon said, and to Spike’s surprise there wasn’t a look of greed in his eyes, just professionalism.

Even Celestia seemed startled by how cheap it was, but pulled out the aforementioned amount and floated it over to the griffon. He took it then placed it in a nearby chest while the other unlocked the sliding door. “The trip up shouldn’t take more than five or so minutes,” the first griffon said as he stepped aside. “Find a seat anywhere, and welcome to Griffonstone.” With that, he gave them a warm smile. “I know you ponies celebrate something called Hearth’s Warming, but here we celebrate another holiday.”

“The Blue Moon Festival, right?” Spike asked as he jumped off of Celestia’s back and hopped into the lift.

The second griffon chuckled. “That’s right, young dragon,” he said.

“What is it about, anyway?” Spike asked. “I never found anything about it when I’ve read about griffons.”

“Oh, it celebrates the day when King Grover first showed the Idol of Boreas to the first Griffon Summit,” the first griffon said. “It took place the same day as a blue moon, so we celebrate it.”

“It’s gonna be so good this year,” the second griffon said excitedly.

“Anyway, we hope you have a good stay here,” the first griffon said as the last of the ponies got into their seats.

“Thank you,” Celestia said as she too entered the lift and sat down next to Spike.

“You bet. Here we go!” The first griffon closed the door and locked it, then stepped back and walked over to a large wheel. Both griffons grabbed onto a large spoke on the end of each and began to push.

Spike watched in awe as the wheel began to turn. At the same time, they began to move. Celestia, too, watched this with astonishment. As they ascended, there was another jolt and the lift began moving faster. The two griffons fell away quickly and the scenery below them came more clearly into view.

Despite their varying degrees of sadness and depression, even the ponies in the car couldn’t help but look out of the window at the view before them. They were rising above a large slope which looked like there had been new coniferous trees planted there only recently. Large patches of snow sat on the ground below, but the few flakes that were falling now had only increased, and Spike had seen enough snowfalls to know this one would only increase. Of course, he realized that griffons didn’t control the weather like ponies could, so it might not stick around, but the sudden increase of snowfall probably would cover the rest of the ground and the trees before the next morning.

He then realized something. They’d more than likely have to stay the night at least once, and he knew Griffonstone didn’t have phone lines yet so they couldn’t call ahead and find an inn or something. Looking up at Celestia, he asked, “Where are we gonna stay tonight?”

“We have time before I need to lower the sun to find a place to stay,” Celestia said, “so don’t worry.”

“I hope so…” he said as he leaned against the window, watching the scenery below.

It didn’t take them long to reach the other end of the gondola lift line. Their lift stopped perfectly and lowered slightly. Spike saw two other griffons, each looking a bit winded but smiling. They were both wearing similar outfits to the griffons below, and one of them was wearing an obviously fake beard and mustache over his beak. It was this griffon who came over and unlocked the gondola. “Welcome to Griffonstone!” he said in a cheerful voice.

“Well, I’ll be. I never expected to see another pony here, let alone seven,” the non-bearded griffon said as he walked over to secure the gondola lift. “What could bring you all the way here, and especially a couple of Princesses.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “You know about us?”

“Alicorns are pretty rare, and they always get the princess title,” the griffon replied with a shrug as he finished securing the lift. “Anyway, if you have any questions before you go in, we’d be glad to help.”

Spike was beginning to wonder if Gilda was just a fluke of nature in how she’d acted while Celestia asked, “Well, could you direct us to an inn somewhere in the city?”

“An inn, huh?” the bearded griffon said. He looked up at Spike, and his eyes widened. “You know, there’s a brand new one in town that caters to as many races as we can. It’s called The Green Dragon. Wait right here and I’ll get you a map.” He rushed into a small structure nearby, then came back with a folded map. He opened it and pointed to the map. “We’re right here,” he said, pointing to the bottom of the map, “and The Green Dragon is on the mid-level here.” He pointed somewhere near the halfway point between the center of the map and the bottom edge. “If you need help reading the map, you can ask for directions. It’s a pretty famous inn considering it was only built this past month.”

“Really? Why is it so famous?” Celestia asked.

“It was christened by the Idol Bearer himself,” the non-bearded griffon said with a smile. “That, and it’s the first establishment run by a non-griffon.”

“Really? Who runs it?” Spike asked curiously.

“A pair of dragon siblings who moved here only a week after the Dragon Lord herself visited,” the bearded griffon said. “Anyway, it’s the perfect place for you to stay. They cater to ponies, reindeer, dragons, griffons, anycreature really.”

“Actually, it’s ironic you should come here today, of all days,” the other griffon said. “Today’s a special occasion.”

“How so?” Celestia asked.

The two griffons looked at each other, grinned, then faced the eight Equestrians. The bearded griffon was the one who said, “Today’s the day when the first non-griffons become official citizens of Griffonia!”

10: Stripes of Friendship

Two Weeks After Starlight's Arrival In Griffonstone...

“Wait, wait, wait! Hold on a second,” Gregory said, raising his hand so he could be heard. The five other griffons at the council table stopped and gave him their full attention. “I’m no expert in this area,” he admitted as he looked around at the gathered griffons, “but creating your own currency instead of just using bits will take years.”

It had been two weeks since Gregory had been made not only a citizen but had gained a plot of land and a good sum of bits. During that time, he’d been stunned to hear that nearly every griffon in the city had donated to the construction and his monetary reward. There had been enough there to earn him not just any house, but a mansion. About five days after he’d been rewarded, a group of griffons stopped by with three plans for his house. He really had wanted to choose the smallest option available, which would still have been four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, kitchen, living room, dining room, alcohol cellar and a large attic, but Gabby had warned him quietly that to accept anything other than the recommended plans would be rude in griffon culture. He’d quickly begun learning that to even politely refuse griffon generosity was an insult unless one was offered the choice. Which he wasn’t.

He was recommended a two story mansion with one master bedroom, seven spare bedrooms, a large attic, cellar, a large living room with a massive fireplace, dining room large enough to sit twelve, a kitchen, and a space for an office. He’d felt so guilty about receiving such a gift that he’d all but begged Gabby, Gilda, Gracie, Gallus and even Starlight Glimmer (who he’d seen regularly every day and who he’d begun to build a rapport with) to move in with him.

Gabby had immediately accepted and practically hugged him in a death grip. Gilda was a little more hesitant since she claimed she didn’t want to feel indebted to him, but he insisted. Gallus had accepted more readily and Gracie had graciously accepted.

Starlight, on the other hand, had been the most hesitant. After her release from the hospital Gabby had invited the recovering unicorn to stay at her place with her and Gregory. Even then she’d been reluctant but eventually she’d accepted. It was a tight squeeze for all three of them but they’d made it work. While Gregory and Gabby worked their shifts at the post office, Starlight had remained at the house recovering but had expressed an interest in trying to help once she’d recovered enough magic. When Gregory had asked her to move in to his new place when it was finished she’d replied that she’d like to think about it.

In regards to his offer of a job as Chancellor, he had looked over the pamphlet he’d received. On paper the job did seem a bit easier than he’d anticipated. In essence he would become not only a full fledged member of the council but he’d be its head. In short, he’d be the highest ruling authority in the empire. A prime minister of sorts.

And that prospect frightened him deeply. However, despite that, he’d returned to the council a week later and put forth a request. He asked if he could instead of being a chancellor at first sit in on council meetings and participate when he wasn’t working at his other job or helping to rebuild on the weekdays. A trial run, of sorts. The council, which had added two more griffons, agreed to his terms.

Which was how he current scene before him had come to pass.

Gregory reached into his pocket and pulled out a bit. “Look at this. It’s pretty much solid gold. What are you planning on doing? Recalling every bit in the Empire, melting each one down and remaking them into, what did you call them again?”

“Talons,” Grandpa Gruff replied.

“Talons,” Gregory repeated. “A good name for currency, I’ll admit, but I think if you’re really wanting to help change the Empire for the better you need to focus on fixing up our country’s infrastructure first.” He picked up a few pieces of parchment. “I read over these reports from the outskirts of the realm itself before the meeting started. They’ve barely got enough to help feed themselves, and we sit here in our refurbished throne room protected against the rain and wind. Despite what you all might think, Griffonia is still in a state of emergency. Families and entire towns are having a hard time out there.”

“What do you want us to do about it?” Grandpa Gruff asked, looking at Gregory with his good eye.

“Here’s my advice: the government needs to prepare aid for these villages,” Gregory said as he pulled out a piece of paper. “I’ve looked over Gwendolyn’s figures on the amount of bits in the imperial treasury. You can actually spare a decent amount of funds for the reconstruction and feeding of several fringe towns at least. Especially the ones near Bug Bear territory up north.”

“And what of the other towns nearer?” One of the newer members of the council, a dark mauve furred and light red feathered older female griffon named Ginna, asked. “I’m from Clawsdale, and my parents live in that town. They’ve been telling me that conditions there are even worse than what they’ve been here.”

“Even after the Idol was returned?” Geoffrey asked as Gregory pulled out the latest map of Griffonia (which was about fifteen or sixteen years old) and looked for Clawsdale, which he found was across the Hyperborean Mountains, nestled against the eastern side of the mountains themselves.

“They only have about two hundred and fifty odd griffons there,” Ginna replied. “I’m not saying things aren’t worse up near Bug Bear territory, because they definitely are, but we should consider the smaller towns nearer to us too. I mean, aren’t you from Shell Falls, Gael?”

The fifth member of the council, an older black furred and gray feathered griffon male named Gael, nodded. As Gregory looked on the map for Shell Falls, he spoke and said, “That town has about seven hundred griffons there and a few farms outside it, but lately the weather down there hasn’t been kind and the farms can’t provide the meat and other foodstuffs the town needs.” Looking over to the human, he said, “Eastern portion of the Hyperborean Mountains, sir.”

Gregory did so and found a small town labelled Shell Falls nestled against the eastern portion of the mountains a bit south of Clawsdale. “I get your point,” he said as he put the map down, “but those towns need as much assistance as the others do. Maybe more.”

“It’s not a terrible idea to send aid to other towns and villages,” Gwendolyn nodded. “But as you said, sir, our budget is limited. We can’t do much. Not unless we ask for foreign assistance.”

Gregory saw the griffons at the table grimace at the option. He had learned during his first few sessions in the council that despite their new and improved attitude, griffon pride could have a downside: stubbornness. They hated the idea of accepting help from outside sources. Help from other griffons was fine, but from a non-griffon source? They were reluctant to accept it.

Gregory, however, wasn’t a griffon. He sighed. “I know you don’t like the idea of asking for any kind of aid, but which is more important? Pride? Or helping the suffering and exposed griffons throughout the empire? I say we ask for aid from another nation. The worst they can say is no. At least we can say we tried, right?”

The room went silent again as the five griffons pondered his words. To his surprise, it was Grandpa Gruff who spoke out a half minute later. “We can’t ask for help from Equestria…not with the borders shut.”

“I actually wasn’t thinking about the ponies,” Gregory said, turning the world map around and pointing to a land mass below Griffonia. The one marked Dragon Lands.

“The dragons, huh?” Geoffrey asked. “Last time I was there, they looked like they were living even worse than we were.”

“And they’re flush with bits,” Gregory replied. “Bits that we can desperately use. Bits we can use to help our nation. And if they say no, we can always try something like a donation program.”

“A donation program?” Gwendolyn asked, sounding intrigued.

“Yes,” Gregory replied. “We start a program where we ask more well off griffons to donate bits which can be then sent to towns and villages that need it. Each and every bit donated will go to these towns. No secret embezzling.”

“We might have greedy tendencies, but we’re not heartless,” Gael said, sounding offended.

“I’m thinking about stuff that has happened back where I’m from,” Gregory replied. “Some government run or even private donation programs have embezzled funds. A program like this would have to be seriously maintained.”

“Could we try that first before we try finding assistance from outside?” Ginna asked. “I get what you’re saying, sir, I really do, but part of our pride in being a griffon is being able to say we did something without help from outside.”

“I still think it’s a good idea to do both,” Gregory said, “but we could at least try some kind of donation program.”

“I can work on the details,” Gwendolyn, the most organized and detail oriented griffon Gregory had met, said as she raised her claw.

“So, are we all agreed to this donation program and to at least consider asking for foreign assistance from the Dragon Lands?” Gregory asked. When he received nods and mutters of affirmation, he nodded. “And about the currency changes? Should we postpone that until we have our priorities in order?” Another round of affirmation. The human nodded as he looked down at the meeting agenda. “Good. All I see here that remains is the reorganization of government spending. So…thoughts?”

“Long day at the office, huh?” Starlight, who was lying on the couch in Gabby’s home with Gregory’s iPad in her hooves watching Dark City, one of the many movies and other entertainment that he’d downloaded before coming to Gaia, said in a sympathetic tone as Gregory trudged in and hung up his jacket on the rack before collapsing in a chair near the fire.

“I went from a clerk in a grocery store which sucks the life out of its employees to a potential chancellor of an entire nation,” he sighed.

Gabby, who was making some of Gregory’s favorite steaks for him and her and some vegetarian lasagna for all three of them, came up and put a claw on Gregory’s back. “You could always say no, you know,” she said softly, putting a wing around him gently. “They gave you an out, something that griffons rarely do.”

“I feel like I’m doing good there,” he admitted, leaning back to look at Gabby’s upside down face. “Griffonstone is just one city, Gabs. There’s an entire nation out there.”

Gabby smiled. “You need a break, Gregory. I know this great masseuse who can help soothe all your troubles and cares.”

“Without puncturing skin?” Gregory asked curiously.

“Definitely,” Gabby said.

Gregory sat up and turned to face her. He noted the worried expression in her eyes and, to a lesser extent, a similar look in Starlight’s eyes. He nodded slowly. “I suppose I haven’t really had a decent break since coming here,” he admitted. “It would be nice to do something to unwind. But as long as you both come with me, along with Gallus, Gilda and Gracie.”

Starlight grinned. “Finally, something to do! I’m getting sick of being inside. No offense, Gabriella,” she immediately said, looking at the dark blue griffon.

“I told you, call me Gabby, Starlight,” Gabby smiled, “and I understand. Being cooped up in here can’t be easy.”

“No shit,” Gregory chuckled as he stood. “Okay, tomorrow is a day where we can all rest.”

“I’ve been resting since you took me in,” Starlight said, “I just need time outside to stretch my legs, And maybe you can finally take this damned ring off my horn,” she added, pointing to the magic suppression ring that the doctor had insisted remain on for at least two weeks.

“I think we can do that,” Gregory said. “Tomorrow’s the deadline where the two weeks is up. But the doctor did say that you should take it easy with your magic even then.”

“I’ll be fine,” Starlight said stubbornly.

Gregory stood, walked over to the unicorn, and knelt beside her. “Make me a promise, then. Promise me that if you start feeling weak or unsure of hoof, you tell me or anyone else immediately.”

Starlight sighed, but slowly nodded. “Fine…fine…you’re such a worrywart.”

Gregory grinned. “Someone has to be worried.”

She smirked. “You’ll make yourself bald over that.”

“A small price to pay to make sure you’re safe,” Gregory replied. He turned to Gabby. “So, where in Griffonstone are we going tomorrow anyway?”

“Actually, we’re not going anywhere in Griffonstone,” she said.

That made Gregory raise an eyebrow in confusion. “Okay…so where are we going?”

“To this little town on the valley floor just west of here,” Gabby said. “A little town of about…oh, about seven hundred or so townsgriffons. A town called Griffonville.”

Griffonville was the closest town or village to Griffonstone, located nestled smack in the center of the forest directly to the west of Griffonstone. In fact, if one were to look directly east, the massive city could be seen even from that distance, nestled snuggly on top of the mountain.

Once Gregory was put down after having been flown there in Gabby’s arms, he took in the surprisingly clean and quaint town in awe. Much like the architecture of Griffonstone, Griffonville’s houses looked a lot like birdhouses from Earth, with thatched or even wooden slanted roofs with holes in the top and perches just outside of the holes. There were larger buildings that, to Gregory’s surprise, had their own unique styles and architecture. He even saw many buildings that resembled Golden Oaks Library scattered liberally throughout the city. He grabbed a few of the acorns from one of the trees and placed them in his pocket, an idea forming in his head for the Griffonstone Public Library.

As he and the others walked through the town, he saw plenty of griffons working on rebuilding or demolishing old decrepit buildings that needed to be just rebuilt and not refurbished. There were other griffons flying through the air as well, carrying food or stacks of wood in their arms. From the air, Gregory had actually seen a good number of farms surrounding the town itself, each of which was bordered by the dense forest surrounding the town.

When the griffons in town spotted them, they rushed over to greet the newcomers, but especially Gregory, who was practically inundated with friendly greetings and even some gifts of food from the farms nearby. He received a basket of assorted fruit, a freshly killed and plucked turkey, and even a few loaves of what felt and smelled like freshly baked bread and some cheese as well. He almost refused, but remembered just in time the griffon tradition of accepting gifts.

This was how they arrived at the Griffonville Spa, each one of them laden with gifts of food from the nearby farms. Gregory was surprised at how blessed this town had become, especially once he’d sampled each of the fruits, the bread and the cheeses and found them to be of exceptional quality. He didn’t doubt that the turkey, too, was of good stock and Gabby promised to cook it the moment they got back.

“By Grover’s plumage, the Bearer himself and his companions! Here at our humble parlor!” a female voice called out from behind a curtained doorway. When the griffon who owned said voice came in, Gregory noted that she was a dark pink furred griffon with white feathers, each with a hint of purple on their edges. Her blue eyes were wide with joy as she rushed over to the human and his companions. “I never dreamed a day like this would come! Me or my sisters!”

With that, two other griffons poked their heads through the curtains. One had dark crimson fur and light pink tipped white feathers in her plumage along with red eyes, and the third had dark blue fur, light blue tipped feathers in her plumage and yellow eyes. The three griffon females all looked identical in appearance aside from their color differences. Almost like they were triplets. Gregory smiled and waved at them. “Hello there, you three,” he said kindly. “My friends and I came down because we’ve been working nonstop for a while and needed some relaxation. Well, except for my new pony friend, but she still deserves a nice day after what she’s been through,” he added, giving Starlight a smirk.

Starlight stuck her tongue out at him. “Yeah, yeah…”

“Oh, of course sir!” the first griffon sister said happily. “I’m Guinevere! These are my sisters Gloria and Gwen! Welcome to 3G Massage Parlor!”

Gregory smiled, holding back a smirk at the name. “Nice to be here. What kind of packages do you offer, if I might ask?”

“Here, have a look!” Guinevere grabbed a small brochure and handed it to the human.

“Hey, just a word of warning,” Gilda said, “Gregory here is more sensitive. His skin is weaker, so you be careful if you massage him, okay?”

Guinevere nodded. “Understood, we’ll be careful, right girls?” Here she turned to her sisters, who both gave thumbs up.

Gregory looked over the brochure, which had a layout of the spa itself. The spa was one big warm pool and four hot tubs at the corner. There were massage tables on the outer edges of the pool where the masseuses would go to work. There was also a sauna and an outdoor natural hot spring. All of which sounded incredibly relaxing to him. He showed this and the various packages, ranging from the basic which included a soak in the tub and an hour long massage to the deluxe package which involved an all day access to every amenity the spa had to offer. He pointed to the deluxe package. “If I’m gonna relax, I’m going all out. I can pay for everyone here if you want that.”

“Eh, I was planning on doing the same anyway,” Gilda said, grabbing her coin purse from her saddlebag.

“Same here,” Gabby said.

“I can really only afford the basic,” Gallus said with a bit of disappointment.

“Same here,” Gracie said.

“I can’t afford anything,” Starlight sighed.

“I’ll pay for you three then,” Gregory said.

“We all will,” Gilda said, giving Gregory a warning glance not to say anything about it.

He held up his hands. “Alright, alright, we’ll all pitch in.” Turning to Guinevere, he said, “We’ll take six for the Deluxe Package, please. And does anyone know how to massage a pony?”

“I do,” Gloria, who had a slightly deeper but still feminine voice, raised her claw. “I spent time in Manehattan studying how to massage ponies a few years back.”

“I can probably help you, sir,” Gwen said excitedly. She looked like she was the youngest of the sisters and had a higher voice. “I studied massaging bipedal creatures myself.”

“Just as long as you remember that his skin is sensitive,” Gabby said in a protective tone.

“I will,” she said.

“If you don’t mind, do you have a changing room where I can get into my swimming trunks?” Gregory asked a bit sheepishly. “Humans don’t really like going around naked.”

“I was wondering about that,” Guinevere chuckled. “But we do have a place where you can change. Head through the curtains and take a right. There’s a locker room where you can place your belongings. And it looks like you have plenty from the townsfolk,” she observed, looking at the baskets of food with a knowing grin.

“How much for at least two lockers?” Gregory asked.

“You have six lockers included in the deluxe cost,” Guinevere said. “The ones that are in use are closed, and the others are open, so just close the ones you pick.”

“Understood,” Gregory said, then he looked back at the companions. “Come on, let’s go drop off our stuff.”

After having dropped off their belongings in their six lockers, Gregory had closed the locker room door. Ten minutes later, he came out of the locker room, wearing a dark gray pair of swimming trunks. He stepped into the main pool room where he found Gallus and Gracie swimming around in the pool, Gabby and Gilda in one of the hot tubs and Starlight already receiving her massage. He grinned, made his way over to the pool and looked in. “How deep is this pool?” he asked Guinevere who was nearby.

“Seven feet at the deep end, two feet at the shallow end,” Guinevere said.

“Thanks,” he said, before turning and shouting, “Cannonball!” He jumped into the air, tucked his knees under his arms and fell into the water. He was rewarded by warm water surrounding him the moment he went below, and he instantly relaxed, letting himself float gently to the surface. The moment his head broke through the water, he spread his arms and legs and began treading water. “Wow, this is warmer than any pool I’ve been to back where I’m from,” he said as he began swimming towards the shallow end where Gallus was lazily floating. Gracie was nearer to him and was wiping water out of her eyes from his splash.

“We try and keep our pool temperature warm enough for everygriffon who comes here,” Guinevere said.

“It’s a bit cool for me, actually,” Gracie said as she swam to the edge of the pool and got out. She immediately turned to Guinevere and smiled apologetically. “No offense to you, but I’ve always had a different range of temperatures I find comfortable. Those hot tubs feel warmer, though.” And with that, she walked to one of the empty hot tubs, slowly got in and instantly relaxed.

When Gregory reached Gallus’ side, he stood and looked down at the relaxing griffon. “Someone looks comfy,” he said with a chuckle.

“I haven’t had a good relaxing day in a while thanks to all that work,” he said in his normal bored tone, but the smile on his face told Gregory he was anything but bored. “I needed this.”

“We all did,” Gregory said as he fell back, letting himself float in the shallow end of the pool. “And it’s just the beginning of our day, you know? We have the entire day to relax. One entire day.”

Six hours later, Gregory felt better than he had in months. The sauna and hot tub had been incredibly relaxing, especially when he went from hot tub to pool to sauna back to the pool. Despite the warnings from his new friends, the massage he’d received had helped him relax in ways he hadn’t realized he needed to relax.

After his massage, he decided to spend some time in the outdoor hot spring, where he discovered that it had begun raining. However, the hot spring was covered with a wooden roof, and the sound of rain falling around the foliage surrounding the spring itself helped with the experience. The others had come to join him, each having received their own massage and each looking as relaxed as he felt.

Gabby, who was sitting next to Gregory, inhaled deeply, then exhaled as she leaned against him, something she’d sometimes taken to doing whenever the two would come home and collapse on the couch. Gregory didn’t mind it, since it only happened on the rare occasion where their days were extremely exhausting. “I’ve never felt more relaxed in my life,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to fly back home, now. Or even walk.”

“I know that feeling,” Starlight said. “Even if I knew the unicorn spell for teleporting, I don’t feel strong enough to cast it for everypo-pardon, everycreature here.”

“Hmm…maybe we should do something about that,” Gregory said, looking up past the foliage at the now invisible Griffonstone.

“Like what?” Gracie asked.

“Well, like a gondola lift,” he said. “A large box where you can sit and relax while you’re pulled up from ground level to Griffonstone.”

“I’ve seen a few of those in Equestria,” Gilda said. “But we don’t have the magic that they do, so we’d have to do it by claw.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Gregory said. “And I’ve heard that the ambient magic in Griffonia is a lot less than in Equestria.”

“That explains why I haven’t felt as much magic since you took that ring off my horn,” Starlight said as she pulled over a large tall glass of milk with her magic. Gregory watched her do so, fascinated. This was the first time he’d seen pony magic before, and unlike how it had appeared in the show, the magic that surrounded her horn and the glass looked more like a mist of color. He even thought he could see a very thin line of something extending from her horn to the glass. Starlight didn’t miss the look Gregory was giving her and gave him an inquisitive look of her own. “You okay, there?”

“It’s my first time seeing pony magic,” he said as he grabbed his own glass of milk and took a drink, “I’ve wanted to see it for a while.”

“Really? Because you wanted to travel to Ponyville and meet the Elements of Harmony?” Starlight asked, ears flattened.

“That’s only part of it,” he admitted. “Back where I’m originally from, magic was a myth. As a species, we can’t use magic. Assuming it exists there. Although, I guess what I used to get here could be magic.”

“How did you come here, anyway?” Gracie asked. “And how did you hear about Equestria, Griffonstone and all of that?”

“Well to answer your first question,” he said, “humans are more advanced technologically than even Equestria. We have developed a means of sharing knowledge without the need of paper. We call it the internet. A lot of you have seen the advanced technology I brought with me. The iPad, my laptops, my kindles and my smartphones can all connect to this vast collection of human knowledge. Well, I was looking at a section of the internet that most humans don’t really access, and found this spell that could take me to Equestria.” He hadn’t told any of the others about the television show aside from Gabby, but he did want to eventually. “Lots of humans where I’m from knew about the adventures and some things about the lives of the Elements of Harmony. I decided to try it, even though I knew it wouldn’t work. At least it was something new in my dull life. Lo and behold, it actually worked! So I decided to save up and picked up extra shifts at my job so I could start preparing for a journey here through the portal. I bought a bunch of things, like you’ve all seen. But the second time I created the portal, somehow I ended up in Griffonia.”

“Do you…regret ending up here?” Gilda asked with an odd tone of concern.

“Hell no,” he grinned. “I’ve gotten to meet all of you, been treated very well, and even granted Griffonian citizenship, a house, a monetary reward and possibly a position in the Griffonian government. Not a lot of people back home can say that.”

Just then, Gregory heard the door to the inside slide open. Expecting it to be one of the three sisters, he turned to see which one it was. Only to pause in shock as a very familiar zebra mare stepped out onto the stone walkway surrounding the hot spring. Her deep azure eyes locked with his and she froze, eyes widened in alarm. There was a tense few seconds between them before she relaxed. Before Gregory or anyone else could say anything, an unsure smile crossed the zebra’s face as she said, “Apologies for my intrusion. I did not mean to cause a commotion.”

Gabby was the only one who seemed to notice the recognition that passed over Gregory’s face, so she was the first one to speak. “Not at all!” she said in her normal friendly tone. “You can join us if you want! Right, everyone?”

Gregory was the second to recover and he smiled. “Sure, there’s plenty of space for you. It’s not like we booked this as a private thing.”

The zebra, who could only be Zecora judging from her voice and gold rings around her neck and the earrings hanging from her ears, stepped in, wrapping a towel around her back section and found a set of steps leading into the hot tub. She slowly lowered herself into it and a look of contentment before lowering herself completely up to her neck right after removing her towel and setting it on the rocks surrounding the hot spring. She opened one eye, then the other, looking at Gregory curiously now. “If it is not too much to query, might I ask what creature you be?”

Gregory relaxed a bit. Seeing the famous zebra so far from Ponyville was another surprise to him, almost as big of a surprise as meeting Starlight Glimmer, but he’d begun to accept that the history he knew from the show was all kinds of messed up. “I’m a human being,” he said. “I’m from very, very far away. My name’s Gregory. Gregory Graystone.”

An odd expression passed over the zebra’s face, but it was gone before Gregory could fully understand just what it meant. Her polite smile returned and she bowed to him. “It is a pleasure to meet you, good sir. Zecora is my moniker.”

“Miss Zecora, it’s nice to meet you too,” he said.

“What’s a zebra doing all the way out here?” Gilda asked. “Aren’t your kind all in Zebrica?”

“Hey, rude much?” Gregory admonished her before turning to Zecora apologetically. “Sorry about my friend Gilda, here. She tends to run her mouth.”

“Fuck you too, bitch,” Gilda snarked, flipping him off once more.

Gregory repeated the gesture before being smacked lightly in the chest by Gabby. Zecora watched the exchange with curiosity before she waved a hoof. “There is no need for you to apologize, when I show up anywhere, questions will arise. In truth, I once lived across the sea, but troubles there forced me to flee.”

“Troubles across the sea?” Gallus asked with a raised eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“The Everfree Forest was once my home, but with its invasion, once more I’ve had to roam,” Zecora said sadly. However, there was something in the way she said it that made Gregory pause. He knew she lived near Ponyville, so he wondered if the invasion of Canterlot and the destruction of Ponyville had anything to do with it. “Across the Celestial Sea I fled, and to this land my hooftracks led. Deep in the forest near is where I live, and now to this town my aid I give.”

“I’m sorry you had to flee your home,” Gregory said, and he meant it. Whatever this Jason Wright had done to Ponyville must have scared the poor zebra enough to actually run away from her Everfree home, but the more he thought about it, the less sense it made. He figured he was missing something important. “I’m actually a provisional member of the Griffonian Council, and as the first non-griffon citizen of Griffonia, I’d like to welcome you to our humble little country.”

“Ah, what the heck?” Gilda chuckled as she raised a claw in greeting, “Welcome to Griffonia.”

Zecora’s eyes widened at the admission, but her smile returned, this one warmer and friendlier than before. “Your welcoming words are most appreciated, a warmer greeting I’ve never had.”

“What do you mean?” Gracie asked, suddenly very curious.

In her own rhyming way, Zecora explained how she had arrived in the Everfree, had found a tree she could redesign for her purposes. She explained in vivid detail how she was received by the ponies of Ponyville at first until the incident with the poison joke and the Mane Six. She’d been welcomed into town for the most part, but when she had heard about the destruction of Ponyville along with the way Canterlot’s government was reacting to the crisis, she’d packed up and left. She hadn’t even become a full citizen of Equestria during the years she’d been living there, only ever achieving the status of immigrant. More specifically, she’d left when she’d heard about the closed borders to any non-pony. When Gregory heard this, her reasons for leaving made much more sense, but he couldn’t help but suspect that there was something more. However, since he’d technically just met her, he didn’t ask.

Zecora told of how, when she’d disembarked from the ship and made her way into the forest, how she’d eventually stumbled onto Griffonville. She’d completely expected a similar treatment to how she’d been received in Ponyville, but was completely shocked when not only did the Griffons actually help her find one of the hollowed out oak trees in the deep forest for her to live, but helped her move in as well. In thanks, she had offered her services to the town as an herbalist, potion brewer and shamaness.

In much the same way, Gregory learned that the forest surrounding Griffonville, known as Evertide, was a lot like the Everfree. There were special plants and roots that could only be found in the forest. In fact, she actually provided the spa with some elixirs and potions that helped relax the customers. As she told her story, Gregory grew more impressed. He hadn’t left Griffonstone since he’d arrived, but he had heard that a similar attitude had spread to every griffon throughout the empire. To see it and hear about it from a non-griffon made his heart swell with pride. When she finished, the day had begun to darken and lanterns that were hung from the ceiling. He and the others were listening raptly.

There was a few seconds of silence before Gilda spoke. “Your rhyming aside, it was a nice story.”

“Why do you rhyme, anyway?” Gracie asked.

“An ancient tradition of my order. It keeps our minds away from disorder,” Zecora said.

“I think I read some obscure book about that when I was in my old town,” Starlight said. “I can’t remember the name, only that the author was named Opal something or other. She explained that there was this order of shamans who needed to be sharp because they couldn’t really record on paper since it was rare.”

“That is indeed true, and even today tradition dictates we rhyme that way,” Zecora said.

“Having to rhyme all the time must be excellent mental discipline,” Gregory said, “but aren’t there times when you’re tired of doing it?”

Zecora smiled at him warmly. “It has become second nature to me. It kept me sane while in Everfree.”

“I like it!” Gabby said with a gleeful smile.

“Same here,” Gregory said. “It’s pretty relaxing in its own way.”

Zecora chuckled. “I never waver from this manner of speech, unless the closest of friends are in my reach.”

“How would you define the closest of friends?” Gregory asked.

Immediately, he knew he’d asked the wrong thing. A dark shadow seemed to pass over Zecora’s face. “A true friend is not two-faced or cruel. Harmonious should be their rule.”

“Yeah, I agree with you there,” Gabby said. “Then again, we’re not ponies. We have our own way of doing things.”

“All differences should be celebrated, and never ignored, abused or hated,” Zecora snarled.

Gregory knew now that something else had caused Zecora to flee the Everfree, but he knew better than to pry into someone else’s troubles. He tried to change the subject by standing, wading over to the surprising zebra neighbor they now had, and held out his hand to the confused zebra. “I’ve made a lot of friends since coming here,” he said kindly, “all of them are in this hot spring. I know we just met and all, but would you be okay if I called you a friend?”

Zecora slowly looked around at the others in the spring, then back up at Gregory. She had an odd look in her eyes, almost calculating. However, she seemed to make up her mind only after about ten or so seconds and a smile once more graced her lips. She held up her hoof to his hand and touched it. As he wrapped his hand around her hoof, she said, “Harmony works in mysterious ways, for on a new friend my eyes do gaze.”

“I’ll be your friend too!” Gabby said, swimming quickly over to Zecora. “I’ve always wanted to meet a zebra!”

The others came up as well, even Starlight who touched hooves with the zebra. As Zecora accepted the friendship of griffon and non-griffon alike, underneath Gregory’s smile lingered a question:

What could have happened back in Equestria to make Zecora want to run away?

11: What Friendship Hath Wrought

The group of Equestrians approached the gates to Griffonstone, the ponies hearts heavier than before. The news that a neighboring nation had readily accepted non-griffons and was willing to make them citizens had been yet another blow to the gut for them, especially to Celestia.

As the seven ponies and one dragon headed past the gates, the Equestrian princess looked up at the massive city before her, momentarily forgetting her guilt. Griffonstone was much different than Canterlot or even her old home in the Castle of the Two Sisters, and if she was looking right, it might have even been bigger than the entirety of Canterlot.

And even at the entrance, it was bustling with activity.

Celestia watched as griffons flew or rushed through the streets, most carrying what looked like baskets of food, decorations of blue and silver and more. She even saw griffons talking and laughing around stalls of food or just in the middle of the street. Completely the opposite of what she’d heard about what griffons were like.

The buildings themselves looked brand new, for the most part. There were a few that looked old, but those were few and far between for the most part. Even those houses were decorated with blue, silver, red and green garlands and statues of what she could only assume was King Grover. Only the statues were wearing red and white suits and had the same unusual stocking cap on each of them. Hanging from their faces were long white beards, similar to the one they had seen on the one griffon.

As they entered the city, they did receive a few curious looks, but for the most part weren’t harassed or bombarded. And the moment she took a closer look, she saw just why that was.

There weren’t only griffons there, but she spotted a small hoofful of dragons interacting with the griffons. And they looked to be in a good mood as well. And they were interacting with griffons. She wondered just what kind of friendship problem they had been summoned for.

Deciding to bite the proverbial bullet, she approached a group of four griffons and two dragons who were talking and joking among themselves, cleared her throat, and tried to politely interrupt them. “Pardon me, gentlebeings,” she said.

They all turned to face her, confusion on their faces. However, one of the dragons seemed to recognize her. “Hold on, are you Princess Celestia?” he asked.

“I am, and I just have a question for you all,” she replied as the others trudged over to where she was. “Can you direct us to The Green Dragon? We just arrived and are looking for a place to stay for the night.”

“Better hurry, then. That place is pretty famous now,” one of the griffons said. He turned and pointed up the main street which headed up towards the massive palace. “Head up the main road until you reach Twelfth Avenue then take a left. The building you’ll want is a dark green one with wood that looks like dragon scales. There’s a sign hanging in front with the name, but even without it the building really sticks out.”

“Well, Garble really was an odd one,” the first dragon chuckled. “Not in a bad way, looking back, but still an oddball.”

“Hey, his poem jams are amazing!” another griffon said. “Especially the one about the Idol Bearer.”

Celestia was curious about this Idol Bearer they spoke of, as it was the second time she’d heard about them. “Who is this Idol Bearer?” she asked.

“You’ve never heard of the Idol Bearer?” the same griffon said.

“I’m afraid not,” Celestia said.

“He’s the one who saved Griffonia,” the griffon said with a happy smile. “He arrived out of nowhere three months ago or so and found the Idol of Boreas. And do you know what he did? He gave it back to us! He could have taken it with him, but he didn’t! He just took it right back to the Keep!”

“It was lost?” Celestia heard Twilight ask from beside her. Despite the mood, Celestia saw that same curiosity she’d grown used to seeing in her former student.

“During the reign of King Guto, the last cyclops Arimaspi came and stole the Idol,” another griffon said. “Unfortunately, when he tried to get away he stepped onto the only bridge that crosses over the Abysmal Abyss and fell to his death with the Idol. That was hundreds of years ago. But around three months ago, the Bearer appeared and found it.”

“Even while he clung on for his life, or so Gabby says,” the first griffon explained.

“He fell into some kind of abyss and still brought an Idol back?” Applejack asked incredulously.

“Yeah! He’s been an inspiration to us all thanks to him returning the Idol and returning our pride,” the second griffon said.

“Ah, I still say you’re giving the idol too much credit,” the first dragon said. “I still say you had that pride in you all along.”

The second griffon sneered up at the dragon and smacked him upside the head. “Bite me.”

“Nah, that’s my sister’s job,” the dragon said with a knowing grin, causing the griffon to blush.

“How’d you know?” he asked.

“You aren’t exactly subtle when you’re around her,” the dragon said, elbowing him with a playful expression.

“Thank you for your time, gentlebeings,” Celestia said politely.

“Huh? Oh yeah, no problem,” the first griffon said with a polite nod.

As Celestia walked away with Twilight and the others behind her, the alicorn princess heard the dragon and griffon continuing to give each other a hard time, but even if the tone was snide, she could tell it was all in good fun. A kind of friendship that wasn’t as common among her little ponies as the kind she saw most every day. Then again, since both of those races were omnivores, that kind of friendship made sense, but perhaps she too, could learn a friendship lesson from them.

After all, not all two friendships were alike…

Rainbow Dash was doing her best to be hidden from every griffon around her by standing in the middle of the others and ducking her head a bit. She’d never seen so many griffons or dragons in her life, and if her luck lately was any indicator, she was afraid she would run into somegriffon she really didn’t want to see.

As she continued walking in the middle of her once closest friends, she observed all the scenery around her. And what she saw only served to drive the knife further home. Griffon young ones playing in the snow and flying around with gleeful smiles on their faces, adult griffons going to and fro through the streets with saddlebags full of what looked like presents or decorations, and even a few dragons dressed in some kind of festive manner only served to remind her about her own carelessness and abject cruelty towards a creature that had razed Ponyville to the ground. If she hadn’t been so…so evil…things would have been completely different. Discord’s magic just turned up ever so slightly her enjoyment and had even turned her own Element against her. Loyalty never excused abuse of anycreature…

As they continued walking, Rainbow Dash noticed that they were coming up to a large intersection where there were more than a few stalls set up. She heard the cries coming from the vendors. Most were griffons, but she saw one or two dragons and a very tall and unusual looking pony dressed in exotic clothes. Rainbow looked over at Rarity, but the fashion mare didn’t even spare the strange pony a glance, her eyes having somewhat glazed over.

“Pots and pans for sale! No finer pot this side of the Hyperborean Mountains! Crafted in our very own Griffonville by the finest metal workers!”

“All the way from Saddle Arabia, exotic foods! Sugar dates, figs, pistachios and nuts! Nothing but the finest for this dual holiday celebration!”

“Give the chick of your dreams the finest pearl necklace and diamond rings! Pretty necklaces and diamond rings are a girl’s best friend!”

“Fresh griffon scones! The Bearer himself approves of them, so why shouldn’t you?!”

Rainbow’s ears flattened immediately and her tail tucked between her legs. She knew that last voice. Despite her desire to hide from Gilda, her curiosity got the better of her and she looked towards the source of the voice. She saw her former griffon friend standing beside a very crowded cart with steaming pastries sitting in a protective glass protection barrier to keep them from cooling too fast. “Special today! Two scones for one bit! Only today, so get them while they’re hot!”

“Rainbow, isn’t that Gilda?” Twilight was suddenly by Rainbow Dash’s side, looking between her and the aforementioned griffon.

“Yeah…that’s her,” Rainbow said guiltily. “Let’s just go, huh?”

“Well, well, well! Look what the cat dragged in!” Gilda’s voice caused Rainbow to freeze, her wings clamping down at her side as she looked at the ground for a bit before very slowly looking up at Gilda. The griffon was smirking at Rainbow, but that smirk quickly turned into a solemn frown when she saw the expression on Rainbow’s face. “Wait right there, would you? I’ve got something I need to say to you.” With that, Gilda went to the back of her stall and began grabbing scones from it.

Celestia turned and looked at the griffon, then back at Rainbow. “Do you know this griffon, Miss Dash?” she asked coolly.

Unable to look her princess in the eyes, she nodded. It was Twilight who responded. “She came to Ponyville before I became a pri-no, an alicorn…my first year there. Remember when I wrote about…about…well, remember when Rainbow and Pinkie slipped in some invisible ink to the friendship letter I wrote?”

Celestia looked like she was thinking about it, then nodded. “Yes, I remember.”

“Gilda came to town during those few days,” she said. “She was…well…”

“A fucking asshole, to borrow a phrase from the Bearer, and he was right,” Gilda said, having suddenly appeared in front of them. To Rainbow’s surprise, she looked contrite and guilty as she held up a white paper bag towards Rainbow. “Listen, Rainbow, about how I acted at the pink pony’s party, I was a complete jerk. I know that now thanks to the Bearer. I should have been calmer about it.”

Rainbow slowly shook her head. “Don’t…don’t blame yourself,” she croaked out.

In a worried tone, Rainbow heard Gilda ask, “Dash? You really don’t look good. Are you really okay?”

Rainbow finally looked Gilda in the face. To the cyan pegasus’ further surprise, Gilda’s face had morphed into one of concern. This only brought forth a stab of guilt once more as she looked at the bag of what could only be scones, then back at her former friend. “I-I’m fine,” she lied. “Just…long trip here.”

Gilda raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything as she held out the bag again. “Here. It isn’t much, but I wanted you to try them. You and your friends here.”

Rainbow slowly reached out and grabbed the bag. Inside, she saw enough scones for everypony in their group. She looked up at Gilda in surprise. “How…how much?” she asked, reaching back to try and pay.

“Don’t do that,” Gilda said with a scowl. “They’re a gift. On the house, today.” With that, she turned to Pinkie and slowly approached the former party mare. “Hey, um…you’re Pinkie, right? The one who’s party I ruined?” Rainbow saw Pinkie flinching away, but she slowly nodded. Gilda backed away, claws raised in a way that suggested to Rainbow she was trying to be as non-aggressive as possible. “Listen, about that day, I’m sorry for that. I really am. Like I just said to Rainbow, I shouldn’t have done what I did.”

Pinkie quickly shook her head. “I shouldn’t have…I took your smile away, too…” she whimpered with a sniffle. “I was a greedy pants meanie too…you just wanted to spend time with your friend…I’m so sorry…”

“Yes, yes I did want to spend time with Rainbow,” Gilda acknowledged, “and even if you were trying to butt in all the time, that’s no excuse for my attitude. Sure, I was angry at being interrupted, but as a friend has taught me since he came here a few months back, it’s better to talk about these problems immediately so they don’t fester. So, I’m sorry for how I acted. And I forgive you, too. Rainbow is fun to hang around, isn’t she?” Pinkie could only nod. Gilda tilted her head in confusion, then Rainbow watched her turn next to Fluttershy. She approached even more slowly to Rainbow’s oldest friend.

When Fluttershy saw her approaching, she flinched and backed away a few steps before stopping, a look of realization appearing on her face before she stopped. Rainbow, however, saw that she was trembling. Gilda presumably saw the same thing because she immediately stopped and made herself smaller, lying on her stomach so that Fluttershy was taller than her. “Um…listen…about what I did to you and those ducks? I have absolutely no excuse for that. I’m really sorry about that.”

Rainbow was completely flabbergasted now. It was like she was watching a completely different griffon from the one she’d known back in flight school or even during her first and only visit to Ponyville. Gilda’s expression was truly one of guilt and shame as she looked at the ground.

Even Fluttershy looked surprised at this admission. Despite everything, it was a bit nice to see anything other than heartbreak on Fluttershy’s face. Peaking out from behind her pink mane, Fluttershy mumbled something that escaped Rainbow’s hearing, but Gilda obviously heard it because she shook her head. “No, it’s not okay. What I did was cruel. Cruel and wrong. Don’t pretend it’s okay just to be kind.” An uncertain smile appeared on Fluttershy’s face and she said something else, but Gilda shook her head again. “It’s not okay, Fluttershy,” she repeated. “I’d like to make it up to all of you sometime, if you’ll let me.”

That surprised Rainbow. She wasn’t even aware that Gilda even knew Fluttershy’s name. Then again, she could have learned it at Pinkie Pie’s party back in Ponyville. She decided to speak up. “Um…how?”

“Well, I live with someone who might be okay with you all visiting for dinner sometime,” she said, standing back up and turning to Rainbow Dash. “I’ll ask him tonight, and if he says yes, I’ll come see if you want to visit. Where are you planning on staying?”

“The Green Dragon,” Rainbow said.

“Ah, nice place,” she said. “Their dragon ale can really knock your proverbial socks off! Well, I need to get back to work, but I’ll see you around, yeah?”

“Yeah, sure,” Rainbow said uncertainly. And with that, Gilda returned to her cart and resumed selling her wares. As the ponies continued on, Rainbow slowly passed out the scones. She then took a bite, and as she tasted it, tears came to her eyes once more.

It was delicious.

Fluttershy was trying to reconcile her own feelings about her encounter with the griffon who had scared her all those years ago in Ponyville. She’d reacted in terror to the griffon, but when she remembered what she’d done to Jason, she forced her body to stop. She hadn’t expected such an apology from Gilda at all, let alone even meeting her. But she had, and now she was conflicted.

She felt increasingly guilty now, after seeing just how friendly most of the griffons she’d seen here had been. It wasn’t quite like the typical pony friendship, but it was still friendship nonetheless. Fluttershy had been around enough carnivorous animals to know just how different a relationship could be between two or more. Still, the fear that she’d lived with her whole life had been amped up ever so slightly by a being she’d once thought of as a friend and even a potential lover.

A being she could only now think of with revulsion now.

She hated Discord. She hated what he had made her do. But most importantly, she hated herself for what she did. She was supposed to be the epitome of kindness, but she was realizing now that the kindness she showed was only to other ponies as well as creatures that only she could understand.

She had been terrified of dragons, and only was ale to talk to Spike because he was a baby dragon. And even then, she’d pretty much treated him like she would any of her critter friends.

She looked behind her at the young dragon, and her face fell. Spike had a look of wonder on his face. She had seen him a couple of times in the camp that had been Ponyville whenever she went into town to get supplies. When she had, he had been with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and a couple of other fillies. They had actually been treating him better than she or her former friends ever had.

And she was positive she’d seen sparks between him and Rarity’s little sister.

She came back to the present when she saw a griffon couple walking alongside a white Samoyed breed dog. She watched curiously as the couple took out what looked like some meat from a saddlebag and offered it to the dog. The canine barked and gobbled up the meat, tail wagging as she (Fluttershy could tell by the fact that this dog was pregnant) looked up at, presumably, her owners.

Something inside Fluttershy stirred. Something she long thought gone. After she’d set up her tent where her tree cottage had once been, she’d only been going through the motions of taking care of her animal friends, the few that had returned. It was feed them, wash them, check them for fleas or anything like that, but it had felt more like a duty than anything.

She turned aside, not sure why her legs were moving towards the couple and their pet, but not really willing to stop, either. The young couple noticed her and paused. The dog, who was still chomping on the meat, looked up at her owners confused before turning and looking at Fluttershy. She watched with some curiosity as the butter colored pegasus approached.

“Um…can we help you, miss?” the female griffon asked as she looked down at Fluttershy with some confusion.

Fluttershy stopped, and in the next few moments, she had a plethora of thoughts. She wasn’t really sure why she was doing what she was doing, for one. She hadn’t acted for Jason, so why was she now acting now? Her own voice said, “Are you aware that your dog is pregnant?”

The young couple looked at each other, both looking surprised. They then looked down at their pet with incredulity. The dog looked up, tilting her head. The male griffon grinned and reached down to stroke the Samoyed’s head. “Gidget, did you really get pregnant?”

“Are you sure?” the female griffon asked, looking a bit unsure still.

“Has she been gaining more weight lately?” Fluttershy asked. “Maybe been more affectionate? Getting tired easily? Maybe vomiting more?”

She nodded. “She has been acting a bit weird the past few weeks…”

Fluttershy nodded. “I’d say she’s in her fifth or sixth week, but if you have a veterinarian here, maybe you should go get a second opinion,” she said. “Do you go for walks with her often?”

“Every day we walk around the block at least three times,” the male griffon said.

“Well, I know a lot about animals,” Fluttershy said, “and if I’m right about your pet here being pregnant, she shouldn’t be doing as much walking. It’s not healthy for the puppies.”

“Guess we’re gonna be doggy parents, Grace,” the male griffon said with a proud smile as he continued petting Gidget.

“Sure does, Graham, but let’s go to the vet sometime to be sure,” Grace smiled widely. She got into Gidget’s face and nuzzled her. “You’re so full of surprises, Giggy. Yes you are. Yes you are!”

As Gidget licked Grace’s face, Graham looked over at Fluttershy. “We honestly had no idea she was pregnant. I just thought she was being greedy for food and getting heavy. We were thinking about getting her on a diet.”

“Well, your vet can tell you more if she is pregnant,” Fluttershy said. She still found the entire encounter so unusual. She was never this bold. “You don’t want to overexert her.” She looked down at the dog, and that feeling that had stirred in her grew ever so slightly. Even if this dog was different from other dogs back in Equestria since she couldn’t directly talk to her, it felt…nice…to be helping a critter. Even if animals anywhere other than Equestria didn’t seem to speak their own language that only she could understand.

“Well, thank you for telling us about this,” Grace said as Graham picked the happy looking dog up. “We’ll definitely take her to the vet tomorrow. You have a good day now.” And with that, both griffons spread their wings and flew away, heading back the way they’d come.

Fluttershy watched them go, only to realize something was different about her. Something that hadn’t happened to her for months. She reached up and touched her face. It wasn’t a big change, but to her, it was an amazing one.

She was smiling.

Pinkamena could only look around the city and how it was decorated in despair. Everycreature in the city had broad smiles on their beaks or mouths depending on which being she looked at. The decorations were mostly blue and silver, but she saw green, red and other festive colors around, making the entire city look like one massive holiday tree.

She even saw a group of griffons walking past holding small books in their claws and singing. She caught snippets of the song as she passed.

“…the blazing yule before us, fa la la la la, la la, la la. Strike the harp and join the chorus, fa la la…”

She’d never heard a song like that before, and despite herself, she strained to listen to the words, but among the hustle and bustle of the crowds of griffons and other creatures around her, she couldn’t catch the rest of the song. The tune, however, somehow radiated holiday festiveness. She couldn’t really explain why.

As she chewed on the scone she’d been given, she looked around more, taking in the festive atmosphere and even some decorated trees in windows, she wondered just how griffons could have become so festive.

Just then, her tail began to twitch, much like it had whenever something was about to fall on her. However, she forced herself to ignore it, just as she had whenever it had happened since Discord had revealed he’d tampered with her Pinkie Sense. It had betrayed her, so why should she listen to it anymore? No, she had betrayed herself and what she was meant to represent. She’d once seen her abnormal sense as a blessing to be able to predict things that were going to happen, but now she only found it an unbearable curse.

Above her, a voice called out in alarm, “Look out below!” Something hit her head, causing her to fall onto the meticulously crafted cobblestone road below her. She heard something shattering, like a claypot coming apart. Above her, she heard the worried cries of a female griffon shouting, “I’m so sorry! It slipped out of my claws!”

“Are you alright, Miss Pie?” Princess Celestia asked as she was immediately by the grayish-pink pony’s side, helping her to her feet with her magic, which felt sickeningly warm and comforting. Something Pinkie didn’t want.

“I’m fine,” Pinkamena said as she stood.

A middle aged dark cream colored griffon with white feathers with pink highlights landed nearby, a look of alarm on her face. “I am so sorry!” she said again as she approached and began brushing off Pinkamena with her wings. “Are you okay? I can take you to the hospital if you’re not!”

“I’m fine,” Pinkamena replied softly.

Princess Celestia looked at the griffon female. “I don’t see any cuts, so I don’t think there’s any need to bring any hospitals into this. She’s an earth pony, and they’re a lot tougher than they look.”

“Oh…I see,” the still worried griffon said. “Still, I’m really sorry! Let me make it up to you!” She rushed into the building where she’d come from, which Pinkamena now noticed was some sort of shop. Peering inside, she saw all kinds of flowers and small fir trees. The griffon grabbed a plant that Pinkamena identified as a poinsettia and rushed back out, holding the small pot out to her. “Here. I can get one for everyone here if you want.”

“Oh…thank you,” Pinkamena said, taking the plant automatically and placing it gently into her saddlebag.

“That’s generous of you,” the Princess said, “but it’s alright. It was just an accident.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all!” the griffon said with a smile. “I love growing plants. Comes with my name, after all. I’m Gardenia, by the way.” She bowed before running back in and grabbing enough poinsettia’s for the other Equestrians. As she handed them out to the stunned ponies and dragon, she continued, “I’ve only seen a clawful of ponies in the city, but I’ve actually heard a lot more are living in Griffonville down near the Evertide Forest. Did you all move here?”

“N-No, we’re just visiting,” Twilight said.

“Really? Well, welcome to Griffonstone!” Gardenia said with a friendly smile. “Where are you heading?”

“The Green Dragon,” Princess Celestia replied.

“Nice! You’ll love it there. The owners might be a pair of dragon siblings, but they serve herbivores too. I’ve had their salads, and they’re really good. And I’m not a salad type of griffon!” she said with a self-deprecating laugh. “Anyway, I shouldn’t keep you. That inn and tavern might be new, but it’s also getting crowded from what I’ve been hearing. Have a good stay here, and I’m really sorry once again!”

“Thank you for the gifts,” the Princess said as she moved the plant into her saddlebag, “and we will.”

“Not a problem! It’s the Blue Moon Festival, after all! Or, as the Bearer calls it, Christmas! Have a good day!” With that, Gardenia spread her wings and headed back inside, humming an unfamiliar tune to herself.

Pinkamena watched her go, ears flattened as she was the last to turn away from the store. The griffon had a similar color scheme to Roseluck, the pony who had been questioned by Jason at the farce of a trial. And the first pony to leave Ponyville behind along with a hoofful of others who’d abandoned the town. Most of the ponies that had left had been the ones captured and taken to Canterlot for said trial.

Feeling unworthy of even such a nice gift, Pinkamena turned away, trudging along the road behind everypony else. Her head might have still been hurting, but she welcomed the pain.

After all, it was what she deserved…

Rarity Belle had been completely shocked when she had heard that there were ponies living in Griffonstone proper and Griffonia in general. Even more shocked that there were non-griffons that were going to becoming citizens of this griffon dominated land. She didn’t know anything about griffons since her only had met the one that Rainbow Dash had once been friends with, and even then, the difference between what she had seen then and what she’d seen now was like night and day.

What she was seeing around her right now and what she’d just experienced with the griffon named Gardenia was so far away from her preconceived notions of griffons and even dragons that she found herself questioning what she knew even more. She might have been upset and bitter at having lost her boutiques in Canterlot and Manehattan, but there was always one part of her mind that wouldn’t shut off: her need to create clothes.

Yes, she had been using her talents in an attempt to create the necessities for the oncoming winter in Ponyville, such as warm clothes and blankets, but she still had the deep down need to create. It was a welcome distraction from her own self-hatred, even if it was a temporary one.

It was also a welcome respite from her nightmares.

She would always see the struggle in the Canterlot Dungeons in her mind, the way that musket was aimed directly at Twilight, the flash of Discord passing in front of her, the deafening blast, his last words, and her anger accusatory tone directed at Jason. She remembered the words she’d spoken to the human as he’d left.

“Are you happy now, Jason!? Do you finally feel better about all these years!? Or do you need to burn down another village!?”

There had been a dispassionate look in his eyes, no expression but hopelessness. Despite that, her feelings towards Jason were still conflicted. She might not have been as close with Discord as Fluttershy had been, but despite his monstrous acts, his death had hurt. As noble as his actions had been in saving Twilight, she still couldn’t resolve the inner conflicts she was experiencing. Discord had amped up her haughty prim and proper behavior so that she lashed out at the human during his time in the Everfree Forest, but it had been because of him that Discord was dead. But Discord had also done so many cruel things that she wasn’t sure if whether or not he’d deserved what he got.

She’d lost so much in the past three months. Her friendships with the other Elements of Harmony, and perhaps even Sweetie Belle, who, while still living with her, didn’t really look up to her as much as she had. And Rarity felt that she deserved that.

Something caught her eyes at that moment, and despite her thoughts, she wandered towards a store front, looking up at the blank griffon figures wearing some incredibly crafted clothes. All of which were festive in some way. But that wasn’t all she saw. She saw dragon figures wearing clothes, and even a couple of ponyquins.

“Miss Belle? Are you alright?”

Rarity looked up. The magenta eyes of Princess Celestia looked down at her with some confusion. She took a deep breath. “Yes, Your Highness, I’m sorry,” she said, forcing herself to turn away from the shop display. “I was just distracted.”

“Hmm, I see,” the Princess said, following her eyes and looking into the shop. She turned and looked around. Seeing somecreature, she called out, “Excuse me, sir? Could you tell us about this shop?”

The telltale sound of a griffon walking stopped. “I see you’ve found the shop of one of Griffonstone’s best clothing designers,” a deep griffon male voice said from behind them.

Turning, everypony else stared at an older, well-dressed griffon. He had white fur with dark blue highlights, grayish-blue fur and yellow eyes, claws and beak. He was wearing a black and blue striped suit and had on a black fedora. He looked up at the storefront sign, which read Elegant Emporium then back at them. “Who works here?” Celestia asked curiously.

“That would be Garter,” the griffon said. “Well, technically, he owns the store, but since he operates out of the main shop in Griffonville, he’s hired a pony manager of all things to run this branch. I don’t know her name since I’ve never seen her, but I’ve heard that she runs this place like a…what’s the phrase her employees use? A well-oiled machine. I hear that for the speech being given today, the Bearer himself got Garter to design his clothes. I’m looking forward to seeing that.”

“A speech? Where is this taking place?” Princess Celestia asked.

“In front of the Griffonstone Keep,” the griffon said. “It’ll be taking place in a couple of hours. Almost everycreature is going to be there, and those who aren’t will be shown a magical projection of the speech thanks to the pony he saved.”

Rarity was immediately reminded of Jason’s own broadcast showing the trial. She could only see Roseluck’s words on repeat as she spat at Twilight: “How could you? How could you? How could you?”

“This Bearer saved a pony?” Celestia asked curiously. “What happened?”

“You’ll have to ask someone else about that, I’m afraid,” the griffon said, and to his credit, he did sound apologetic. “I don’t know the details myself.”

“I see. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us,” the Princess said.

“Not at all,” the griffon said. “Have a pleasant…you call this season Hearth’s Warming, right?” When Princess Celestia nodded, the griffon smiled. “Have a pleasant Hearth’s Warming, then.”

Rarity’s ears flattened at this news. She just nodded in understanding as she turned away from the clothing emporium. As she rejoined the others and they headed down the street, all she could think of was how her dreams could have been more realized…if it hadn’t been for what had happened back in Ponyville all those years ago. And if it hadn’t been for Discord…

Twilight Sparkle was the most attentive to the scenes around her, taking in everything she could. Despite everything, there was always that small part of her that was eager to learn and explore something new. And so far, Griffonstone had not failed to disappoint.

Their few encounters with griffons aside, she was learning much about them. But her biggest question was about this Bearer she kept on hearing about. What kind of griffon could have so much influence on everygriffon here? And what about their king? Who was the king here? From what she could surmise, it seemed like this Bearer was more or less a ruler or figure of significance here. She did wonder what he was like.

As the ponies came to an intersection, she suddenly stopped, gaping at one of the corner sections. Everypo-no, everyone (she needed to ween herself off of that phrase)-paused as well and stared in recognition at the odd building that was standing-no, growing-out of the ground.

Because she was staring at a tree that looked to be the spitting image of Golden Oaks Library.

Before she realized what was happening, she was galloping over to it, with Spike running up close behind her. The other ponies were behind Spike, all of them with the exception of Princess Celestia looking as stunned as Twilight felt. Right above the wooden door, which seemed to perfectly match the style of the door to Golden Oaks aside from the fact that it was bright purple with dark purple and aquamarine stripes painted on, there was a simple sign that read Griffonstone Public Library (Temporary Name). She used her magic to push the door open and skidded to a stop.

The inside…was so similar to her old home and the old library itself that it was almost like Tirek hadn’t destroyed it with his magic. It had a nearly identical smell, had books on every shelf, and was occupied by a surprised griffon who was seated at a small desk in one corner of the room. The griffon was a dark purple furred female with white and purple tipped feathers, bright purple claws, beak and green eyes. “My goodness,” she said in quiet astonishment, and Twilight noted that she sounded very young, “that was a rather raucous entrance.”

Twilight felt embarrassed and her ears lowered. “Sorry,” she whispered as she quietly walked inside, looking around. In that moment, in those few moments rather, she was just a simple unicorn back in Golden Oaks, reading and taking care of the library while Spike did chores around the-

And that thought brought her back to the present just as quickly as she’d been brought back to the past. As much as she missed her old home and wished that she could be living there in simpler times, the thought of Spike having to take care of all the chores without even the slightest bit of help brought back her guilt-ridden mood. She looked back at the door. The same type of door she’d slammed in Jason’s face when all he’d wanted at the time was a friend, or at the very least, some compassion. A compassion she’d never once given him.

“May I…help you all?” the young librarian said hesitantly.

Jolting back to the present once again, Twilight looked at the young griffon, who she now saw was wearing one of those very same red and white stocking caps and was also wearing blue rimmed glasses. “Oh, I was just…looking around,” Twilight said. “This library is almost identical to my old home back in Equestria.”

“Oh? I didn’t know the Houseoak trees grew over there,” the griffon said, sounding curious as well.

“What are those?” Twilight asked.

“They’re trees that can be grown with certain potions so that they can be lived in,” the griffon explained in a matter of fact tone. “They only grow naturally in the Evertide Forest below us, but if you can get to them and use a specific potion on them, they can grow to a full size in a matter of minutes. We’d actually forgotten about how to grow them until a shamaness moved into the Evertide Forest a couple months back and helped grow this tree to the Bearer’s specifications for the librarian to work in.”

“Wait, you’re not the librarian?” Spike asked.

“Not the main one,” she explained. “I work as the librarian when she’s not on duty. She’s out today since she’ll be one of the first non-griffons to become a citizen of the Empire. And speaking of, I’m about to close the library early so I can go to the festival grounds. Did you want to look over the books?”

Twilight shook her head. “Maybe another time,” she said. “We’re on our way to The Green Dragon to try and find a place to stay while we’re here.”

“Well, better hurry then,” the griffon assistant librarian said with a knowing smile. “That place might be full by the time you get there. Have a good day and happy holidays!”

“You too,” Spike said with a kindly smile as he, Twilight and the other ponies who had been exploring the main floor walked out of the library, closing the purple and aquamarine stiped door behind her. As they continued up the street towards the inn, Twilight couldn’t help but wonder just how a tree from Griffonia had made its way to Ponyville.

It was something that kept her mind occupied, at least…

Spike was feeling fairly overwhelmed by everything he’d seen happening that day. At least, the time they’d all spent in Griffonstone. Princess Celestia had offered a few times to let him ride on her back, but he’d politely declined, wanting to walk on his own and look around without having to grab onto the Princess’ back for support.

Everything about the afternoon had been one weird mini-adventure after another. From meeting Gilda again to walking around in the spitting image of Golden Oaks, things had been especially strange.

However, the moment he’d been waiting for had finally arrived. They’d reached the street they’d been told about by the group of griffons and dragons. The green building definitely stood out from the rest of Griffonstone’s architecture, and there was even a wooden statue of a sitting dragon in front of the inn’s main double doors. A dragon with emerald gems for eyes and diamonds for teeth.

This was the first example of gems Spike had seen in the entire city. In old Ponyville, before its destruction, gems had been seen a lot. But in Griffonstone he hadn’t seen any. He was more than curious to see what kind of dragons actually owned a shop. All he’d known about dragons was when he’d gone on that quest a few years back. He hadn’t gone back since then.

Princess Celestia, who was leading them, used her magic to open the front doors, stepping in through the doors without even needing to bow her head. The other ponies walked through, and Spike was the last one to enter.

“Oh, you can search far and wide! You can drink the whole town dry! But you’ll never find a beer so brown, but you’ll never find a beer so brown as the one we drink in our hometown, as the one we drink in our hometown!” a crowd of griffons and a couple dragons were singing as they entered. “You can drink your fancy ales! You can drink ‘em by the flagon! But the only brew for the brave and true…comes from The Green Dragon!” With that, Spike noted that the denizens of the tavern (he knew what a tavern was from some of his comics and from seeing some in Canterlot when he lived there with Twilight) all laughed and drank merrily as the song concluded. Most were too engrossed in their food and drink to notice the unusual sight of ponies entering the tavern.

Spike had never been in a tavern before, so he had no idea what to really expect. He’d seen a couple of still images in his comics, but those were only close up shots. Now that he was in one, he could only take in the sights and certainly the smells.

The Equestrians made their way up to the front bar where a young orange dragon with light purple fins and bright yellow eyes was washing some wooden mugs. She had two upper facing horns and had a pair of dragon wings. Spike found himself looking back at his own wingless back, wondering if and when he’d ever get wings. “Pardon me,” the Princess asked, “but are you the owner of this establishment?”

The orange dragon looked up at the Princess with a raised eyebrow. “Co-owner with my brother,” she said as she put down the mug on the counter. “You ponies looking for rooms?”

“We are,” the Princess said. “Do you have enough for seven ponies and one hatchling dragon?”

The older dragon looked around, then locked eyes with Spike. She frowned a bit, then looked at a clipboard hanging from the wall. She picked it up and looked closer, muttering a bit to herself. Finally, she said “All we have left that’s pony sized is a room with six beds. There’s not much else here that could suit you. As for a baby dragon…hold on, lemme see if my brother’s fixed something in that other room that would work.” She inhaled, then turned to a door and shouted. “HEY! GARBLE! GET YOUR BONY ASS OUT HERE!”

Spike’s blood ran cold. He hoped he’d misheard what this younger dragon’s brother was called. But his hopes were dashed when the dragon he’d met during his only visit to the Dragon Lands opened the door. Only, this time he was wearing a black apron and was sweating. “You don’t have to shout, Smolder, I’m right there.” It was then that he noticed the ponies in the room and he paused. “Oh? What’s going on? We have pony guests?”

“And a dragon hatchling,” Garble’s younger sister, apparently named Smolder, said.

Garble looked around, saw Spike, and his eyes widened. “Wait…I know you!” he said, pointing at him.

Spike swallowed nervously. “Um…hi?”

Garble flew over the counter and landed in front of Spike, looming over him. The other ponies were watching stunned. All except Twilight who rushed over and stood between Garble and Spike. She clearly remembered Garble from their last encounter. “Don’t you touch him,” she practically snarled.

The noise in the tavern had ceased, and everycreature there was watching this confrontation with interest. However, Garble held out his claw. “Don’t worry, everyone! I’m not gonna start anything.” With that, the conversations resumed. Garble turned back to Twilight, and there was something unusual in his eyes. A calm look, one that he hadn’t seen in the older teen dragon before. “Look, I’m not gonna do anything to Spike. I just want to talk to him, honest.”

Smolder came up beside her brother, landing beside him. Looking at Spike, she gave him a half cocked smile, but one that was genuine if he was reading her face right. “Don’t worry about him. I straightened him out. Well, me and that Bearer guy.”

Garble shuddered. “Man, that guy can be scary when he needs to be.”

Smolder laughed and pat her brother on the back. “No shit.”

“But about our last encounter,” Garble continued, “I’m sorry for what I did and said to you, Spike. And to the two ponies you were with, too.”

Spike could hardly believe what he was hearing. First Gilda, and now Garble? What kind of griffon was this Bearer? Garble really looked apologetic, and Spike found himself saying, “It’s…alright, really,” almost automatically.

“Well, let me at least make it up to you,” he said as he looked at Smolder, who still had the clipboard in her claw. She gave it to him and he looked it over. “Hmm…are you and the ponies here all together?”

“Y-Yes, we are,” Spike admitted.

“Hmm…” he muttered, then turning to Smolder, he said, “Room 204’s already finished, right? It’ll fit everyone here comfortably.”

Smolder’s eyes widened. “Really? Our most expensive room?”

“Not today, sis,” he said. “It’ll only be the cost of a single room.” He looked down at Spike. “A way to make up for me being a bully to you and your pony friends.”

If Spike could widen his eyes any further, he would have. This was not how he imagined any meeting with Garble going after his first meeting with him. Princess Celestia walked up now and faced the dragon siblings. “Are you absolutely sure about this? I can pay full price for the room if it’s your most expensive.”

“Not at all, miss,” he said, shaking his head. “Just enough for a single room will be perfect. It’s the least I can do.”

“Well, you’re being extremely generous,” Princess Celestia said as she brought out a bag of bits. “How much?”

“Ten bits.”

After being paid, Garble looked across the room, then spotted a griffon placing a large platter of mugs down on a corner table. “Galilea! When you’re done over there, could you take these seven ponies and young dragon to room 204?”

“Sure thing, boss!” the griffon female said with a wave as she quickly put the mugs down and came over with the empty tray.

“I’ll take that,” Garble said, taking the tray out of the griffon’s claw. “Thanks again, Galilea.”

“No problem, boss.”

“I’ve gotta get back to the kitchen for now,” Garble said, “but I hope you enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you, Mr. Garble and Miss Smolder,” the Princess said.

The siblings chuckled. “Don’t be on ceremony with us,” Smolder said. “We’re just two dragons trying to make a living.”

As Galilea led the ponies and dragon to their room. Spike found himself actually wanting to see this Bearer. If a griffon could have such an effect on even Garble, he was a being worth meeting.

“Are you sure we should be going to this speech?” Twilight was asking Princess Celestia as they headed up towards the keep about half an hour later.

The room they’d been given was definitely one that Celestia hadn’t expected from a place like that. It was carpeted and had ten beds, each large enough for even her. There were two large windows looking out at Griffonstone Keep as well as a fireplace directly between them. There was a private lavatory built for anycreature as well as a shower. Not quite like the modern ones in Equestria, but they did provide hot and cold water as well as a large metal tub for soaking and a sink for any other necessary things. Each bed was perfectly soft but was also sturdy enough to support even her weight. They each had soft sheets and thick comforters for warmth.

“Yes, Twilight,” Celestia said as they headed up the streets towards the massive towering keep. Now that they no longer were carrying as much of their belongings, walking was easier, even for Celestia. “I was told by Galilea that this Bearer is one of the members of some kind of council. If that’s the case, we should see him and ask if there might be a friendship problem we could find and solve.”

“I guess so,” Twilight said.

“Did whoever you asked say anything more about this Bearer?” Rarity asked.

Celestia couldn’t be sure, but the Bearer of the Element of Generosity sounded a bit bitter. “Only that he’s apparently the best thing that has happened to Griffonstone,” Celestia replied. “Now we should hurry. The speech starts in five minutes.”

It took them six minutes to get there, and when they did they found a crowd of griffons, dragons, and even some Saddle Arabian and Equestrian ponies scattered in the crowd facing a raised platform where a portly griffon was speaking. Celestia recognized him as the Griffonian ambassador. She’d spoken with him on the few times he’d visited Canterlot. She wasn’t sure if he was the Bearer or not, but her question was quickly answered when the ambassador said, “…know you all didn’t come here to see me. Who comes to Griffonstone to see a griffon?” This joke was greeted by scattered laughter from nearly everycreature there. “Anyway, without further ado, I present to you the Bearer of the Idol of Boreas, the Chancellor of Griffonia himself, Gregory Graystone!”

With that, he stood aside and began to clap his claws. Griffons and dragons began clapping, and the ponies began stomping the ground. Behind the podium where the griffon ambassador had stood was a red curtain which rippled.

And opened with a flourish as a human stepped out. “Good evening, Griffonstone!” he shouted as he waved to the crowd. The crowd went crazy with applause, drowning everything else out.

And Celestia’s jaw dropped in complete and utter astonishment. She wasn’t the only one. The other ponies beside her were silent.

All except for Twilight. “The Bearer…is a HUMAN!?”

12: Speech Of The Uncrowned King

This is what it’s like to be the eight Equestrians in this very moment.

For Twilight Sparkle, alicorn Princess of Friendship and the Bearer of the Element of Magic, even if her outburst was not heard by the crowd around her, her sentiment expressed complete and utter disbelief. Not only was there another human on Equus, but he’d become a Chancellor! She knew that a Griffonian Chancellor was basically the second in command of the Empire. She couldn’t help but stare at the smiling face of the new human as he looked out at the crowd. His piercing blue eyes were full of mirth and joy and he seemed to take in the entire crowd, including each and everycreature in his glance. Unlike the masked and scarred face of the only human she knew, this human was unscarred, looked fit and healthy and most of all, happy.

His time in Griffonstone had certainly been friendly and magical to him.

For Applejack Apple, earth pony farm mare and the Bearer of the Element of Honesty, she couldn’t quite comprehend just what she was seeing. Another human was standing in front of a large crowd. A crowd of not only griffons, but dragons and even a hoofful of ponies. She knew she wasn’t the smartest pony, not like Twilight, but something about seeing this human standing and smiling warmly at the crowd just pierced her heart. She wanted to look away, avoid eye contact and hide, but her nature rebelled against her desires and she watched.

Her honest heart screamed at her that this was what could have been.

For Rainbow Dash, pegasus, former member of the Wonderbolts Reserve and the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, all she could do was stare slack jawed at the human who somehow had become a chancellor of a foreign land. She swallowed hard and crouched, not really wanting to be seen. Even so, she couldn’t peel her eyes away from the new untouched and unbeaten human. He looked happy. And there were no scars from any kind of lightning strike. She wondered if her former friend Gilda had met him yet.

Time here had been extremely loyal to him.

For Rarity, unicorn fashionista and Bearer of the Element of Generosity, her frown only deepened when she gazed on the human. The very well dressed human, at that. She took in his entire wardrobe. He was in what could only be described as a suit, but unlike anything she’d seen before. Her sharp eyes for detail noted black shining shoes of some kind, black silk dress slacks, a form fitting jacket, a white button down undershirt and a dark blue tie. Over it, he was wearing a long dark blue overcoat which blew behind him in the wind. She could even see a gold ring on his right ring finger which gleamed despite the fading daylight.

And her bitterness and by contrast her self-loathing only increased as she saw how time had been generous to him.

For Fluttershy, pegasus animal caretaker and the Bearer of the Element of Kindness, she began to put two and two together about all she’d heard about this Idol Bearer since they’d arrived. This human had apparently been shown more kindness and was welcomed into the griffon community despite being a being from a completely different world. And he’d become a head in their government. She wasn’t much into politics, but for this human to be cheered for so readily by griffons, dragons and ponies, he had to have been some impressive leader figure. And if he was to be thanked for changes happening in Griffonstone, the guilt that washed over her threatened to bring forth her tears again, but she forced them down to face the human.

Equus had been exceedingly kind to him.

For Pinkamena Diane Pie, earth pony, disgraced party planner of Ponyville and the Bearer of the Element of Laughter, all she could focus on was the genuine smile on the human’s face. The smile she saw went all the way to his eyes. She could see that he was truly happy. And her mane flattened even more and the color in her fur and mane only grew grayer as she watched. Like the others, she wanted to look away, but forced herself to watch, mostly to punish herself for what she’d done.

His laughter was a gift that could easily have been Jason’s.

For Spike, former assistant of one Twilight Sparkle and the only dragon who lived in Ponyville, having not taken part in the abuse and hatred against Jason Wright, seeing another human who seemed to be the polar opposite of the changeling Emperor was something that made him stare at the beaming human named Gregory Graystone in complete awe. A part of him was actually a little excited to meet him.

If he was able to, that is.

For Princess Celestia, the thousand year old diarch of Equestria and the alicorn responsible for raising and lowering the sun each and every day, she saw much more than the other ponies beside her. She saw the lost opportunity. She knew Jason had the qualities of a leader. He wouldn’t have been able to defeat Chrysalis and rally the entire changeling race had he not had those skills embedded in him. The human she saw before her, Gregory Graystone, might have been a leader among a kingdom on Equus, but she could instantly tell he was different. While Jason ruled through charisma and fear, this Gregory, while well dressed in a perfectly tailored suit, had a manner about him that showed humility and a willingness to mingle with those he ruled over. Even if he was on a platform, the way he looked down at them wasn’t as if he was from above with some kind of detachment. But rather, he was the common kind of ruler. The kind who got down and dirty with those he ruled.

One that, perhaps, she could learn a few things from as she sat and watched him.

Gregory raised his hands, smiling and chuckling at the applause and hoof stomping he was getting. Celestia could see he was still a relatively new leader when compared to her and others she’d met, but despite that, there was a love and care in his eyes and mannerisms. In his own way, he had a leader potential. A leader who led by example.

Gregory pulled out some speech cards, then began reading them over. “My dear griffons, dragons, ponies and other intelligent beings,” he began with practiced ease, “I’m glad to see everyone here.” He paused just then, looked closer at the cards, then back at the crowd. A grin spread across his face and he tossed the cards away, letting them fall to the ground behind him. “You know what, screw the cards! I’m more of a wing it kind of guy anyway!” This got a laugh from the crowd. “I’m sure a good number of you are looking to go to all the taverns and drain them dry anyway, and those families here are just wanting to enjoy the evening sitting around a fire and reading the traditional Blue Moon Festival stories. I’ll try and be quick!” Another cheer from the crowd.

Celestia watched as Gregory walked to the edge of the stage, facing the crowd not from behind the podium, but as he was. His smile turned kind and warm as he surveyed the crowd. “In a week, it will be December twenty fifth, the date of not only the Blue Moon Festival, but the traditional date of a human holiday called Christmas. A time meant for peace and goodwill among humans. And a holiday that has surprisingly been catching on here, albeit griffon-ized. A griffon Santa Claus wasn’t something I was expecting, but it makes the homesickness I feel lessen.”

Taking a deep breath, he took on a serious tone and expression as he continued. The entire crowd seemed to hang on his every word. “When I arrived here in Griffonstone three months ago, this city was falling apart at the seams. I saw so much sorrow, despair and hopelessness. Disease ran rampant through the streets, food shortages left griffons hungry and everyone thought less about their fellow being and focused more on themselves. Let’s not sugarcoat it. The Griffonian Empire was pretty much on the verge of collapse.”

Murmurs of acknowledgment rippled through the crowd as Gregory looked around. The human’s smile then returned. “But look at Griffonstone now!” he said, making a grand sweeping gesture with his arms. “Almost three months later, and we have a city that’s thriving not only with griffons but dragons and ponies as well. I’m also almost positive I’ve seen a minotaur or two here! There’s still work that needs to be done, sure, but the difference between now and nearly three months ago is like night and day! Food is plentiful now, and neighbor helps neighbor! You should all be very proud of yourselves! To borrow a phrase from some entertainment from my old land, this city, our beloved Griffonstone, was once the jewel of our empire! A place of pride, bright lights, stunning beauty and melodious music. AND SO IT SHALL BE ONCE MORE!”

The roar from the crowd became almost deafening, so much so that the ponies had to fold their ears. Gregory raised a fist into the air as he, too, shouted. When the roar and applause died down, he continued. “I won’t lie, the work that’s been done here is only the beginning. Griffonstone might be nearly rebuilt, but there are other cities around the empire that need aid and support. Cities across the Hyperborean Mountains like Clawsdale, Raven Creek and Shell Falls might have begun rebuilding just like us, but they can only do so much. Which is why the council has begun trading with our new allies, the dragons!”

With that, the curtain behind Gregory opened and a blue dragon female with red eyes and downward facing horns walked out. She held in her hand a purple staff with a large glowing red gem on top. Gregory turned and gave her a warm smile and held out his hand to her. The dragon reached out her claw and took it, shaking his hand with an expression of respect. Gregory turned to the crowd again. “The council and I have been negotiating terms of trade with the Dragon Lands, specifically with Dragon Lord Ember here, the newest ruler of the Dragon Lands. She has even given me her blessing in accepting the first dragon citizens of Griffonia!”

Once more the crowd went nuts, especially the dragons that were there. Celestia could hardly believe what she was seeing. Accepting other species into a nation consisting of only one species was unusual. She knew that it was even a rare occurrence even in Equestria. She remembered when she and her sister had attended a wedding for a loving donkey couple who had emigrated to Equestria from Mokeland. Even so, it was few and far between that a non-pony chose to emigrate to Equestria.

Gregory’s speech brought the Equestrians back to the present. Gregory was facing the Dragon Lord now. As he bowed to her, he said, “Dragon Lord Ember, on behalf of the Imperial Council of Griffonia and all the citizens of this empire, I thank you for taking the time to visit our land and for giving your blessing on some of your citizens becoming Griffonian citizens.” The way he said that sounded a bit practiced, but he made it sound natural enough.

Dragon Lord Ember bowed back, and replied, “Chancellor Graystone, I’m honored to be here, and eager to see the first dragons to become dual citizens of this empire.”

“That’s coming up soon,” he chuckled. “Go ahead and take a seat again. You are our honored guest, after all.”

Lord Ember’s smile only widened as she bowed. “Thank you, dragonrider.”

When Twilight heard Ember call this Gregory a dragonrider, a part of her was instantly curious. She couldn’t think of what that could mean. However, as this Dragon Lord Ember walked towards the curtain again, she leaned in and whispered something to Gregory, who turned to her, whispering something back with a nod before she finally vanished behind the curtain. Gregory turned to the crowd again. “Now then, on to the main events of the afternoon! While we are going to be accepting many dragons and even some ponies as citizens of our empire, I wanted to mention a few specific ones. And embarrass them by bringing them on stage.” This caused the crowd to laugh. “First of all, there are two dragons who I met when Dragon Lord Ember first came to visit our city some weeks ago. Two of the most resilient and hard working dragons I’ve seen. Give it up, ladies and gentlebeings, for Garble and Smolder, owners of The Green Dragon!”

Celestia was flabbergasted, to say the least, when the two dragons she’d seen back where they’d been staying came out from behind the curtain. Both looked embarrassed, but were also smiling as Gregory walked up to them and held out his hand. The crowd roared in applause as he shook their claws with a warm welcoming smile. He even gave Garble a friendly hug and gave Smolder an all encompassing hug, earning louder cheers and some roars from the dragons in the audience. A couple griffons came out and placed down a few chairs on the stage where the two dragons quickly sat, claws in their laps and twiddling nervously. With that, Gregory turned and faced the audience again, raising his hands to settle them down.

Once they were silent, he continued, “The next being I wanted to bring up here is one of my newer friends. I met her down in our neighboring town of Griffonville. A lot of you here probably know here from when she helped the Library growing a few weeks back. Ladies and gentlebeings, put your claws and hooves together for Zecora!”

The Elements of Harmony all gasped as the aforementioned zebra strode onto the stage. Unlike how she’d appeared before, her mohawk was gone. She’d let it grow out and it hung by her side, moving gently in the breeze. She was still wearing her gold earring and golden collars around her neck. She was wearing a dark blue dress with white snowflakes embroidered with care onto the fabric. She gazed up at Gregory with a warm smile as he knelt and opened up his arms. She trotted over and hugged him close. Once again, the crowd went nuts at this display. When the crowd calmed down, Gregory continued. “She has been more than instrumental in helping the small town of Griffonville below us get back on its feet again. Her knowledge of the Houseoak trees in the Evertide Forest has helped house the homeless griffons in town. She has also been extremely helpful in determining how to properly grow these Houseoaks in other environments. Desert, tundra, higher climates, anything. It’s thanks to her that we have something we can trade to the Dragon Lands and even Zebrica!”

The crowd went wild once more. A part of Twilight wondered if there was any chance that she could negotiate with Griffonia for access to these trees. It might help in rebuilding Ponyville, she reasoned.

As Zecora walked over to another chair and sat, Gregory turned back to the crowd. They went silent as he took a deep breath. “The last being I wanted to have come up here is actually someone you all know very well,” he said. “At least, those few of you who actually enjoy reading,” he joked, causing the crowd to laugh. “She’s the head librarian at the Griffonstone Public Library, an expert in magic and one of my closest friends here. Ladies and gentlebeings, give it up for Starlight Glimmer!”

A young adult pony mare walked onto stage with a sheepish smile as she waved her hoof at the cheering crowd. The bright purple unicorn had a dark purple and aquamarine mane and tail, the former of which curved down. She had styled the front bangs so that they were combed over one side of her horn. After the crowd settled down, Gregory continued, “It’s thanks to her hard work that the entirety of Griffonstone who were unable to make it today can see this speech. She has also been helpful in assisting the other ponies here who have asked to live here as well. Ponies such as Sassy Saddles, Roseluck, Daisy and Lily Valley, who I see in the crowd today along with other ponies!” he smiled as he looked down at a group of four ponies sitting near the front. The crowd began going crazy again and the aforementioned ponies just looked embarrassed at being called out, but had small happy smiles on their faces as well.

Rarity recognized the first pony she mentioned. She had been the manager at her Canterlot Carousel until she’d lost it thanks to the invasion of Canterlot. It stung even more now seeing her living in this place, and judging from her clothes, she was gainfully employed somewhere.

She and the others, of course, recognized Roseluck, Daisy and Lily Valley. They had been some of the first ponies who left Ponyville. In fact, as they took closer looks at the ponies in the crowd, which weren’t many, they recognized some of them. They saw the earth pony Time Turner, the pegasus Star Hunter, and the unicorn named Dark Moon. All of them had left Ponyville only a month or so ago. No word, no note, nothing. Their tents had been there one day and gone the next. There were fears among the ponies that they’d been spirited away from the town by the changelings, but others who knew them spoke about how they’d been unhappy in town as it only brought back bad memories about their treatment of Jason. Seeing them all smiling up at the human only served to dig the knife into them deeper.

Just then, realization spread through every Equestrian there except for Spike. Starlight Glimmer was a name they’d heard a few years back when the Cutie Map sent them to a northern town. Apparently, the town had run out a unicorn mare by that name since she’d stolen their cutie marks with her magic, but not before several townsponies had taken her and beat her in a way that sickened the Elements. Those ponies had been punished, of course, but the unicorn had never been seen again.

Gregory, meanwhile, had knelt and hugged the smiling and blushing unicorn, who hugged tightly back. She whispered something to Gregory, who laughed as he stood and held out his hand to silence the crowd again. “Now, unlike Garble, Smolder and Zecora, Starlight Glimmer here is becoming a full blown citizen of Griffonia alone. She has decided to renounce her Equestrian citizenship, as is her right.”

That was even a bigger surprise to the Equestrians, especially Celestia. Renouncing citizenship did happen, but it was an extremely rare circumstance. She could barely remember the last time a pony had renounced their own citizenship. She almost stood to say something, but stayed herself as Starlight held up a hoof, saying something to Gregory, who nodded and broke the hug. She walked over to the last chair and sat. Gregory stood and faced the crowd. “These four are not the only ones becoming citizens of Griffonia today. I see many more in the crowd who will becoming citizens in the next hour. Each member of the council has met each and every one of them, and we’re happy to grant them citizenship. Which means they will have the same opportunities as any citizen should and will be protected under the laws of this nation. So with that, I’d like to present these four with their citizenship papers.”

A light grayish-blue griffon with dark grayish blue wings and head feathers tied back in what looked like a long ponytail flew up and gave a small stack of scrolls to Gregory. Her dark greenish blue eyes sparkled as she looked at Gregory in a way that Celestia couldn’t quite identify at the moment. Gregory then turned, walking over to the four seated non-griffons. The crowd seemed on the edge of their non-existent seats as Gregory took out the scrolls. He gave the scrolls to the four, then stepped back. “Please stand and face the crowd,” he said. When they did so, he faced the gathered crowd and continued, “They have spoken the pledge to me already in private, and have signed the scrolls they have. I and every member of the Imperial Council has signed them. As such, I now present four of the newest citizens of Griffonia!”

The Equestrians nearly fell over at the sound of the applause. But that wasn’t the only thing that stunned them. The griffon who’d brought the papers to Gregory leaped into the air, flew over to him, and planted the most passionate kiss onto his lips.

Overwhelmed, Rarity fainted.

Author's Note

Yeah, this is a short chapter, sorry.

13: A Flame To Remember

Two Weeks After Gregory Met Zecora…

Over the past two weeks, Gregory’s life had changed even more. Not only was his house, or rather, his practical mansion, nearly completed to his complete surprise, but he’d given the council his idea for the manual gondola lift. Engineers were already busily at work crafting the plans and when those were done, they’d build three large gondolas that would lead from the bottom of the mountain up to Griffonstone. He’d be moving into his house in three days time where he’d hopefully gather all the fixings for a proper Thanksgiving feast. He’d already prepared for the move and had helped Gabby pack up all of her stuff. All the others who he’d invited to move in with him had said yes as well.

As for his offer at being Chancellor, he had still not decided, but had taken on less shifts at the post office so that he could see more of what the newly formed council would do on a regular basis. So far, the focus of the Council had been on restoration of as many towns as they could manage. One of those nights, the previous Wednesday, Gregory had gone out stargazing with Gabby and had vented his frustration at lack of funding. The very next day, the griffoness actually started a donation drive, the money of which would be used for food and supplies which would go to the worst affected towns. Ironically enough, she called it Salvation Army, which had amused him to no end.

His relationship with Gabby had grown stronger over the past month and a half. They worked the same shift times together, they spent a lot of their free time working together on rebuilding the city, and any time they got to relax was spent talking and watching the shows and movies Gregory had brought from Earth. He saw a side to her that he hadn’t seen in the show. Sure, she was excitable and full of energy and smiled nearly constantly, but there was more to her than her Pinkie Pie-like persona. She’d explained that there were days when she would go and scream into the Abyss, which was actually how he’d been found by her. Those days had been less and less since the Idol had been returned, but even she needed time to shout and vent. He’d also seen a more tender side, especially at times when Starlight was having night terrors. Apparently, what had happened in Our Town at the hooves of her former townsponies had really affected her. Gabby and Gregory had been there to help reassure her that nothing like that would ever happen to her again.

Some of that tenderness had been directed towards Gregory as well whenever he had a particularly rough day. Despite her talons being strong enough to cause harm, a few times where he’d been stressed, her claws running through his hair as he vented to her felt soothing and relaxing. He’d repaid said tenderness in kind whenever she had a bad day. The more time he spent with her, the more he felt like the distance between her, a formerly fictional character, and himself, a fan of the show that spawned her existence, lessened.

His relationship with the others had grown as well. He and Gilda had become close as well. She spared him more smiles than most, and they’d become good drinking buddies. He’d taught her a few drinking songs from Earth and even if she wasn’t the best singer she could still carry a tune and belted out the songs. She even wrote a few songs to some Earth tunes. It turned out that she was a pretty decent songwriter.

He and Gallus had more of a father and son relationship. The young griffon might have been eighteen, but he’d never had a family of his own. Gregory had taken him under his metaphorical wing and had actually helped him to get a date with Gia, who’d been decently receptive to Gallus’ advances, even if the poor griffon was nervous. Gregory had given him advice and had even taken him to one of the nicest clothing shops, Elegant Emporium run by a griffon named Garter, to have a suit made for this date. When Gallus had next seen Gregory, he had a warm smile on his face.

He enjoyed his time with Gracie, too, despite her being closed off from him on a lot of stuff, specifically her past. He respected the young woman’s privacy, of course, but did manage to learn that she was, indeed, eighteen much like Gallus. He knew she’d had some kind of trouble with ponies in the past, but never pushed to learn what it was. He put himself between her and Starlight if there was ever some kind of disagreement, which was rare. She apologized for any incidents between her and Starlight, and he noted that she was becoming more comfortable around the light purple unicorn mare.

Speaking of Starlight, Gregory had grown close with the young unicorn mare as well. She hadn’t wanted to talk much about her past, which was fine since he knew about some parts of it, but she’d been pretty excited when she learned that there were books about unicorn magic that had been found in the library. Even if he wasn’t able to use magic, he loved watching her use what she knew. And boy, did she love to show off her magical prowess. He kept his praise down so she didn’t get too proud and full of hubris. She was very talented, and he wondered to himself how powerful she might be if she, herself, ever managed to become an alicorn. If the Twilight from the show praised her abilities, then it wasn’t idle praise. He wondered just how the Twilight from this world would react to her since they’d never really met.

He'd only known Zecora for two weeks, but he’d been surprised by her coming to visit him at least a few times that first week. She’d been very interested in getting to know him, and since she’d been a favorite of his from the show, he welcomed the friendship. However, he couldn’t help but suspect that there was more to her actions than she was letting on. Even so, he knew better than to push. He’d been to her house at least once and had been surprised by how big it already had grown. She said she’d found the house abandoned and had moved in with the blessing of the Griffonville mayor and town hall. Her house was much larger than the one he’d seen in the show, and it had been recently renovated due to the actions of a few helpful griffons from the nearby town after she’d helped stave off a disease with her potion making.

That was the status of his relationships with those close in his life that drizzling November Saturday, the twenty fifth to be precise. Gregory, Zecora, Starlight Glimmer (who he noticed had begun styling her mane like her reformed self lately), Gabby, Gilda, Gracie and Gallus all stood in front of a corner lot of one of the busier sections of Griffonstone. Zecora was digging at the ground directly in the center of the now cleared out lot and was placing a large ripe acorn in the hole before burying it again. Starlight was holding a large scroll in her magic and protecting it from the drizzle with an umbrella. On said scroll were elaborate plans in the shape of a tree house.

“Okay, so to recap,” Gregory spoke up, “Zecora plants this seed in the ground, then you pour that concoction onto it while Starlight here puts the plans in her magic down then pours some raw magic into the floor plan and the seed, and the tree will grow on its own to fit said plans?”

“That’s pretty much the plan,” Starlight replied for Zecora, who was too focused to hear what had been said. “I’ve gotta say, though, these trees are pretty resilient according to this book.” She floated out an old brown leather bound book and opened it to a section depicting a hand drawn tree and some notes beneath it with a wall of text on the other page. “They can grow in pretty much any environment, they don’t need much water, they can live for centuries on end as long as you pour just the smallest amount of magic into it every year, and their interiors are able to be heated and cooled easily. Why haven’t griffons been using more of these?”

“Because they require magic to grow as fast as you say this one will,” Gregory replied, looking over the book. Taking it in his hand, he pointed to a passage. “Here, see? It says right here that if there’s no magic, it’ll still work, but you need to use the potion on it while it grows instead of watering it with normal water. And if these trees are native to Griffonia, well, I don’t see any other unicorns here other than you,” he finished, patting her on her head.

Starlight just smiled a little and nodded. “And the magic of this continent is definitely lower than back in Equestria. I’ll probably use a lot of magic during this.”

“That’s why we’re here, Glim Glam!” Gabby said, smiling as she walked over to where the two of us were.

Starlight groaned and rolled her eyes. “You’re just never gonna stop calling me that, are you?” she asked.

“Get used to it, Glim Glam,” Gregory chuckled. “She loves giving out nicknames to her friends. Except me, apparently,” he added, looking down at Gabby with a smirk.

“Whaat? I like the name Gregory!” she said with a shrug. “It’s strong. I can’t just go calling you Greg or Greggy! That’s silly!”

“I don’t mind it,” he said as he stroked her head gently. “I never really liked it when people back home called me some weird variation of my name. Guess I’m weird like that. But I’ll gladly call anyone here whatever they want.” Leaning down to Gabby, he whispered, “Even if Gabriella is a very beautiful name.”

He caught her blushing and giggling cutely at that as she slugged the side of his arm playfully. “Knock it off, you,” she giggled.

“The preparations are very much complete. Magic will grow the tree in a heartbeat,” Zecora said as she finally stepped back, careful not to disturb the interior of the vast magical circle standing in front of Starlight, the one which showed the intricately laid out plans for the interior of the tree itself. In truth, Gregory had a hand in the design. He and Gabby had looked over certain episodes of My Little Pony in private a few times, taking notes about the layout of Golden Oaks. He knew he had to be past Tirek’s destruction of the library, and while he’d wanted to see it for himself, he knew that was a long shot, so he decided to put forth a nearly identical design for the new Griffonstone Library, whatever it ended up being called.

“Okay, so how far back should we be?” Gregory asked.

“Just a few steps,” Starlight said.

“Why am I here again?” Gilda asked Gregory as the small group stepped back.

“You told me once you wanted to see magic in action, so here we are,” he replied.

“So, just out of curiosity’s sake, does it have to be unicorn pony magic that you use?” Gracie asked, looking more invested in this than either Gilda or Gallus.

“Um…lemme see,” Gregory said as he looked at the book. “Raw magic is required, but that’s all I’m seeing. I suppose someone like…a changeling could use it. Then again, I know next to nothing about them.”

“Really? You think a changeling could use this spell?” Gracie asked.

“I don’t see why not,” he said with a shrug. “Then again, we don’t know any we could ask.”

“A changeling’s magic would do in a tight pinch. Even for them, this spell would be a cinch,” Zecora said as she moved to stand beside us.

“There’s your answer,” Gregory said, smiling warmly down at Gracie.

Starlight stepped forward now, taking a deep breath and exhaling. Gregory could hear the nervousness in that breath as she lowered her horn towards the ground. “Well…here goes nothing.” She placed the piece of paper on the ground directly above the spot where the seed had been buried. Her horn lit up right away and a beam of misty magic shot out from her horn and connected with the paper. Gregory watched with fascination as the piece of paper began to turn transparent and melted into the ground. The ground began to rumble and shake, and everyone automatically moved back.

All except Zecora, who gave Gregory a reassuring smile as she said, “There’s no need to fear, my human friend. In just a few minutes, the shaking will end.”

Gregory nodded and watched as a small seedling began sprouting from the ground. Grabbing his phone, he opened the camera and began recording. Over the course of the next couple minutes, he watched and recorded the entire growth of the new library. Seeing a tree that looked nearly identical to the Golden Oaks brought back some nostalgia for Gregory. He’d been one of the earlier Bronies back on Earth, having started watching the show during the time when the second season was airing. At the time, he’d been embarrassed to admit to anyone else that he liked the show, so he kept it hidden from those he knew. However, by the time the ninth season had aired, he’d broken things off with his cheating ex-girlfriend and had even gone to a few Bronycons.

He’d been saddened when he saw the old library be destroyed in the show, so when he’d been told about trees that could be fashioned and lived in, he’d immediately thought about Golden Oaks.

Finally, the tree, which was surrounded by Starlight’s signature magical misty glow, stopped growing. Zecora quickly stepped over to Starlight. “There is enough magic that’s flowing within. Better cease before you cause a cave-in.”

Starlight’s magic stopped glowing and the light purple unicorn stumbled back, holding her head with one of her hooves as she collapsed on her haunches. Gregory rushed over and put his arm around her to steady her. “You okay, there?” he asked as Gabby came over with a large jug of some sweet smelling liquid and offered it to the mare.

Starlight took it in her hoof and took a long swig before responding. “Just a bit woozy,” she said. “Feels like I went ten rounds with a Timberwolf.”

“Thank God they don’t exist here,” Gregory chuckled as he took the jug from her and handed it back to Gabby, who slipped it back into her saddlebag. “That help?”

“Definitely,” Starlight said as she stood back up. “Yeah, I’m fine now. I probably won’t be able to cast another spell like that for a while, though.”

“It always amazes me just how weak the magic is here when compared to what you say it’s like in Equestria,” Gregory said as he stood and looked back at the large tree that now stood on the corner of two major streets. “Still, that tree looks really good. But the leaves aren’t there.”

“Well, it is late autumn,” Gabby said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Turning to Zecora, he asked, “Does the spell you showed us take that into account?”

“No matter what the season, near, the tree, when finished, will match the weather,” Zecora said by means of explanation.

“Really?” He opened the book once more and looked over the spell portion. “‘The magical spell, when cast properly, will match the seasons and fall into step with other trees and plants.’ Huh, well fuck me sideways. Alright, good to know.” He handed the book back to the zebra. “As a trial member of the Griffonstone Imperial Council, this city owes you a debt of gratitude.”

“My human friend, it’s quite alright, I merely did what I thought was right,” Zecora said. “A library is a necessity, for goodness sake. How else will any learn from their mistakes?”

Gregory noted a slight hint of bitterness in the zebra mare’s tone at the last sentence. He’d noticed that something serious had been eating away at the zebra for a while, and he was getting worried. He assumed something had happened back in Ponyville that had caused her to leave. He’d assumed it had something to do with Jason’s destruction of the town, but something about that reasoning didn’t quite add up. But, as he had done in the past, he never pushed. “I wholeheartedly agree,” Gregory said, bringing himself back to the present. “Well, why don’t we have a look inside?”

The first thing Gregory noticed was that the door wasn’t red. Instead, it perfectly matched the color of Starlight’s fur and mane, bright purple with dark purple and aquamarine stripes painted onto it. There was also no place where a sign could be hung, but that could easily be taken care of. The third thing he noticed was that there was a large key in a metal keyhole on one side of the door. He grabbed the key, turned it and opened the door. As he did so, he immediately smelled the scent of freshly cut wood along with a slight hint of maple. It was empty, but he saw plenty of shelves on the walls and a table sitting in the center of the room. He was surprised further, however, by the presence of actual glass windows in the sides of the tree itself as well as a large fireplace in one corner. “How did those appear?” he asked, pointing to the glass.

“I wondered why it felt like I was casting a transfiguration spell,” Starlight said as she, too, took in the interior of the library.

“Okay, I’ve seen a lot, but this is…well, to quote someone I used to know, this is about twenty percent cooler than anything I’ve seen. Minus the Idol,” Gilda said.

“Is anything gonna top the Idol for you, Gills?” Gregory asked with a teasing tone.

“Fuck you,” she snapped back at the human.

“Buy me a few drinks first, and maybe I will,” he quipped back.

“Bitch, please, you ain’t my type,” Gilda snarked. “Not enough feathers.”

“Um…you do realize we can all hear you, right?” Gallus asked, looking a bit uncomfortable at the way the conversation was going.

“Your point?” Gilda asked.

“Let’s cool it for now,” Gregory said. “Seriously, this place turned out perfectly. What about the upstairs?”

Just like it had been in the plans and the show, there was an upstairs loft for someone who could live there. In fact, there were at least three spare rooms, each with shelves for books and a fireplace. There was also a large area that could very well be used as a kitchen since there was a large dining table in one corner and, to his further surprise, a large fire stove for cooking. There was a third floor, too, with a spot where someone could read in private.

“Okay, I’d love to have a seed for this tree for my new place,” Gregory said as they all left the new library and locked it behind him. “It could really be useful just in case I need extra space. Plus, having a treehouse like that is pretty sick.”

“Why would it make you sick?” Gabby asked.

“Eh, don’t mind it,” Gracie said, “it just means he thinks it would be cool.”

“Really? How’d you know that?” Gregory asked. He had never heard anyone else use that phrase before.

“Oh! Yeah, I’ve heard it before,” Gracie explained. “I didn’t used to live here, you know?”

“Hmm, fair enough I suppose,” Gregory said.

“Well, this was pretty cool to watch and all, but I’ve got to go,” Gilda said, “Greta’s been saving my spot at my favorite corner so I can sell the most scones.”

“I don’t understand why you’re still selling them,” Gregory said. “Didn’t you say you were selling them so you could get out of this city?”

“Well, believe it or not, I actually don’t mind this city now,” she said, “and even though that Idol changed me, I still like having money.” She spread her wings and playfully flipped him off again. “Later, dick.”

“Later, bitch,” he laughed as he flipped her off while she flew away.

“Yeah, I should probably get going too,” Gallus said. “I’m meeting up with Gia again today.”

“Duuude, nice,” Gregory gave him two thumbs up. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, and if you do, name it after me.”

He blushed, spread his wings and flew away fast. Gracie was the next one to spread her wings. “I should get home, too. I need to make sure that patch in the roof is gonna hold when it rains harder.”

“Have a good flight home,” Gregory said to the young woman as she spread her wings and flew away.

Starlight chuckled. “Zecora was going to show me some of those potion books at her place,” she said. “I’ll be back home sometime this evening, so leave the door unlocked, please?”

“Will do,” Gabby said as Zecora and Starlight walked down the street towards the city entrance. This left the two alone. The rain was slowly going away, but the clouds in the west were dark and threatening to pour down rain later that day. Gabby looked up at Gregory. “So…what do you wanna do now?”

He shrugged. “Well…wanna get some tacos?” In one of his recipe books he’d downloaded onto one of his kindles, he’d found a recipe for quesadillas along with tacos from scratch. He’d shared this with a few of the chefs he’d met, and that, along with a few other human foods, were becoming popular throughout the city.

Gabby began drooling immediately before catching herself and wiping her mouth. “Ahaha, sorry. But that sounds great!”

“Great. I hear the best tacos right now are at the Taco Town.” Gregory had a hand in naming that small wagon, and he hoped that someday the creator, a young griffon cook named Gale, would eventually be able to open her own shop.

“Gale makes the best tacos around,” Gabby chuckled as she walked behind Gregory. Before he could object, she wrapped her arms around him, spread her wings, and lifted off. “Here we go!”

“Waaahooo!” Gregory shouted as they flew above the crowds of walking griffons. Ever since that first time, Gabby had taken to carrying Gregory if they had to go a long distance in a hurry. And judging by this action, he realized she was probably really hungry. She never complained and he noted that she was much stronger than she looked.

The city was busy as normal, but thanks to the weather, not as many were doing any kind of repairs outside. Instead, most seemed to be doing their version of spring cleaning as he noted the large wooden garbage barrels sitting outside the various houses and businesses. One of the changes that the council had made was to establish a garbage service. He didn’t know the specifics, only that he’d mentioned how it had worked on Earth and Gwendolyn mentioning that there could be a few better ways to dispose of garbage. Especially since Griffonstone had no plastics. He assumed that certain things were either recycled, burned or made into compost.

After a while of flying through the mist, they landed on another corner where the Taco Town cart was located. The line for her cart was pretty long, so the two got into line. The griffons who saw the two offered to let them go first, but Gregory insisted on letting the others go.

As they waited, Gregory looked around the street. He saw families going about their business, talking and laughing and generally having a good time. However, he noticed a particular group of griffons sitting at a nearby table. There was a male griffon with three female griffons sitting next to him. He kept on seeing the three griffonesses talking to the male with what could only be romantic interest.

“Is that your first time seeing a pride?” Gabby asked after a while.

Gregory turned back to his closest friend. “A pride?”

She nodded. “It’s an old tradition. A male can have multiple spouses or lovers. It’s still practiced, but not very much these days.”

“Wait, like a harem?” Gregory asked. He knew that in many My Little Pony fanfictions herds were a thing, but he’d never heard of a pride before. Leaning down, he whispered, “Isn’t a pride a lion thing? I thought you didn’t like being called lions? A racist thing, right?”

Gabby nodded. “We don’t like being called lions, but we do call having multiple wives a pride, though,” she whispered back. “Same if there’s a griffoness with multiple husbands or anything in between, but those are much rarer.”

“Huh, interesting,” Gregory said. “How rare is a husband having multiple wives?”

“It’s the most common, but I only know of about a clawful of griffon males who have that kind of relationship on my route,” Gabby said. “I don’t know anygriffon who has the other two kinds of pride.”

“Do you know why prides exist?” Gregory asked, now more curious about this bit of information.

“I don’t, really,” she admitted sheepishly. “It might be in those books from the old library. And speaking of the library, did you notice the door had all of Starlight’s colors?”

“I did notice,” Gregory said. “Makes me wonder if she should be the librarian there.”

“You think so?” Gabby asked.

“You saw how she organized your shelves last week,” Gregory said. “She’s been reading the books on my kindles and listening to my audiobooks like crazy. I don’t see why she wouldn’t want to be a librarian. It’ll give her something to do.”

“I just hope nogriffon gives her a hard time,” Gabby said.

“I haven’t heard her complaining,” Gregory said.

“Me neither,” Gabby replied, then lowered her voice, “but with the borders being shut after this attack by the changelings, I’ve heard some griffons complaining and calling ponies racist or xenophobic.”

“Well, maybe if they see me talking with her and giving her an important job as a librarian, they might stop,” Gregory said. “Xenophobic or not, we need to be better than that.”

Gabby smiled warmly up at him. “I know…I know. Oh! We’re next!”

Six tacos later, Gabby and Gregory were walking back to their house. They were planning on doing a little bit more packing that afternoon before just taking it easy the rest of the day. He’d charged up his laptop the night before so the two could watch some Earth shows together. And since nobody else would be home, they were planning on watching more of My Little Pony. Gabby had expressed an interest in seeing the depiction of their world much to Gregory’s surprise, but he’d agreed. They were currently on Season 4 of the show right smack dab in the middle.

“Hey Gregory? How come Discord only really messes with ponies?” she was asking as the two walked up to their house.

“Hmm…I’m not really sure,” he said. “If we ever meet him, maybe we could ask. But if I had to guess, I think it’s because ponies have this focus on controlling their surroundings. Pegasi manipulate the weather, unicorns use magic and earth ponies have this special connection to the ground. Although with that new generation, they do have the potential to grow plants with some kind of new magic.” He muttered that last part, since he wasn’t too big of a fan of the newest generation he’d left behind. He’d downloaded them but hadn’t found the time to watch them. “No other race controls the weather like ponies do. I mean, griffons don’t but you’re all doing just fine.”

Gabby chuckled. “Thanks to you.”

“I know that’s not true,” he said. “You just found the pride you lost.”

Gabby was about to reply when just then someone landed in front of the human and griffoness, panting heavily. When Gregory looked over, he saw a yellow and black striped griffon who looked out of breath, but with a determined look in his yellow eyes. The griffon locked eyes on Gregory and rushed over to him. “Mr. Graystone, sir…hah…sorry to bother you, but the council’s having an emergency meeting in a few minutes and they’re wanting to see you.”

“Really? Did they say why?” Gregory asked, standing up straighter and switching to his more serious side.

“Only that…we have visitors asking for you specifically.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow. That hadn’t been new. He’d had requests from plenty of griffons who wanted to meet him or have him bless their cubs or things like that. “Why are you in such a rush?” he asked. “It’s normal.”

The griffon looked up at him with a serious look in his eyes. “Sir…they’re not griffons.”

It took Gabby, who volunteered to fly Gregory to the Keep, only a few minutes to get from where they had been to the front doors. She also insisted on going in with him. As of late, she’d been spending more time with him one on one, something he enjoyed quite well. As they walked through the hallway towards the throne room, Gabby spoke up. “Why would anyone from outside Griffonia want to talk to you?”

“You’ve got me,” Gregory admitted with a shrug. “I’m not sure who heard about me from outside. Guess it could be anyone. It’s not like I asked to keep my presence a secret. Any idea who might have heard?”

“Can’t be ponies,” Gabby said, “especially with the borders closed. The only pony I know who’s in Griffonstone is Glim Glam.”

Gregory smirked. He’d told her about the fandom’s nickname for Starlight, and the happy-go-lucky griffoness had taken to calling the mare that. “True. I haven’t seen or heard of any other ponies in the city, or even in Griffonville. Are there ponies who live in Griffonia?”

“I’ve never heard of anypony living anywhere here,” she said, “or anywhere for that matter other than Equestria. I guess it’s possible, though.”

“Hmm…well I know that there was a griffon living in Equestria,” Gregory said. “I saw it in an episode of the show where there was some pastry competition in Canterlot.”

“It’s a lush country,” Gabby said.

“True, at least from what I’ve seen,” Gregory said as he reached the doors. He opened them and stepped through, with Gabby by his side. “Sorry I’m…late…”

He stopped in his tracks when he saw who was there. He wasn’t surprised that the other council members were there, of course, but he was surprised by the three other individuals who were also standing before him.

He was facing three dragons, but he recognized only one of them. The smallest one there, a blue female dragon with red eyes, downward facing horns, and holding a very familiar looking staff locked eyes with Gregory the moment he stepped into the room. Her eyes narrowed at him and she walked up to him. Gregory stayed perfectly still, but he felt Gabby moving closer to him, almost protectively. It helped, but not by much.

The dragon soon reached him, stopping a few steps away from him. She looked him up and down, taking in every part of him before once more looking him directly in the eyes. Her red eyes seemed to bore deep into his soul. Finally, she did the very last thing he’d expected from her, or even any dragon.

She knelt to him. “It’s been far too long since anydragon has seen a member of the dragonrider race. It’s indeed an honor to see one in person after all this time.”

The other dragons behind her also knelt, causing Gregory to step back. The griffons at the table were gaping at this display as well. Only one word came out of Gregory’s mouth, which perfectly summed up his shock.

“What…?”

14: A Singing And Dancing Chancellor

The Green Dragon, half an hour after Gregory's speech...

Nearly a half hour later, the Equestrian party was sitting in a corner booth at The Green Dragon that had been specially designed for pony groups. They were all nursing clear ice waters and slowly eating some soup, salad, and bread rolls and scones bought from the inn’s menu. The booth was covered by a magical dampening field which blocked out the majority of the noise from the now rowdy tavern.

Celestia ate slowly but thoroughly. She had to admit, the food here was quite good and the ingredients tasted fairly fresh. They’d gotten a lentil soup with a variety of ingredients in them. Aside from the lentils, she could taste garlic, onions, tomatoes, some collard greens, and a hint of lemon juice. It was considerably better than most soups she’d had in the past. And it was also a reminder to her of just how much this new human had apparently changed the city for the better. A part of her wondered if humans were simply better at ruling. Not only had Jason defeated Chrysalis and become the Changeling Emperor, but this Gregory had somehow become a Chancellor of a neighboring kingdom. And she’d not even known about him. She also knew that if they ever came into contact with this Gregory, the truth would have to come out about their treatment of Jason.

Twilight was thinking along similar lines as she ate a freshly baked bread roll after putting some salted butter on it. She was constantly reminded of how different things could have been if she had better represented her false title. If she’d had better control over her fear of other creatures and better control over her mistrust of the humans she’d seen, what could have been? What could have happened? Ponyville might not only still be standing, but it might be a much better place. And she was conflicted on what to do in regards to him. If they were to find a friendship problem in Griffonstone, they’d have to ask either him or this imperial council. And what was forefront on her mind was what they should say to him? Especially if he knew about Jason Wright. She knew that even if her former friends disagreed, they’d probably have to tell this new human about Jason and what they’d all done to him.

The silent and stoic Applejack stared at one of the apples she’d asked for, a high altitude variety she’d never heard of before. The orange tinted apple was surprisingly in season and had been called an Orange Sweet Apple. And the apple did indeed have an orange color to it. She’d been told it was grown on an orchard in the nearby town of Griffonville and were being imported from there since they could apparently be stored for long periods of time. She’d taken a bite of it and discovered that it had a sweet yet tangy taste. Apparently, the apple had once been thought extinct until Zecora found a small grove of them in the Evertide Forest a month ago. She’d found a way to help the apples grow extremely fast and, with the help of that Starlight Glimmer pony’s magic, had helped them to grow on the only orchard in Griffonville. Her mind wandered then as she solemnly chewed on the apple. The face of the new human came back into her thoughts and she wondered just what they could do in regards to him. She was at a complete loss. She knew that they had to tell him what had happened eventually. Her conscience was screaming at her to do that, but she didn’t know how.

Fluttershy was sipping slowly on the water, having hardly touched her food. She’d had half of her soup and a portion of a scone. The food was good, but she just wasn’t hungry. All she could think about was the happy faces she saw in the crowd earlier. Especially the human. Gregory. She was scared, but not of him. But rather, she was scared of how he’d react when he was told about the circumstances behind the attack. But she was also conflicted. Could she really tell him about this? Could she really hurt this other human in that way? And how would he react? He was in a position of power here. What if he attacked Equestria? Or what if he teamed up with Jason? She shook her head clear of those knee-jerk thoughts. It wouldn’t be very kind of her or anypony to hide the truth from him.

Rarity was sipping on some of the wine that Cadance and Shining Armor had provided for them. She was the only one who hadn’t gotten anything from the tavern’s menu despite it smelling appetizing. She took another swig of it and sighed in her normal dramatic fashion. Another human…and this one was living as a leader in a foreign nation. She grit her teeth. He looked happy and well fed. And well dressed, too. It got under her fur and angered her. She couldn’t comprehend why it did, and a part of her hated herself for thinking such selfish thoughts. But it was hard for her not to think such thoughts. Why should he be living happily and well while the ponies suffered? A part of her didn’t want to even meet him, but the map had called her and her former friends. They would have to see him at some point.

Rainbow Dash stirred her cooling soup with a blank expression on her face. She didn’t know what to think about this new human. She knew she wasn’t the smartest pony, but even if she wasn’t worthy of being the Element of Loyalty, she knew better than to hide the truth about the events of Ponyville’s downfall from this new human. Even if everypony else disagreed, she’d find a way to tell this human what had happened. She didn’t care what he did to her after that.

Pinkamena felt sick. She felt like she’d throw up everywhere despite there being nothing in her stomach aside from a few sips of water. The new human could very well have been Jason. Her self loathing only increased as she saw Gregory’s smiling face, heard his joyful tone once more. She’d never even heard or seen something like that from Jason, except when he was smiling in victory and derision. She knew it would be the right thing to do to tell this human the truth, but she didn’t want to be the one to do it. She didn’t want to wipe the smile from his face. But she also knew it was the right thing to do.

Spike, who was sitting at a nearby table by himself but still within the magic bubble, was thinking about the human too as he ate another scone. But unlike the others, he was focusing on something that the Dragon Lord said to the human. He couldn’t even begin to think about what the term ‘dragonrider’ meant. And why did it apply to the new human? He was probably the most eager to meet and talk with this new human, even if he had to tell him about what had happened to Jason. There was no doubt in his mind that he needed to know.

He was the first one to speak up. “Someone needs to tell this human the truth.”

That brought the others out of their own thoughts as they stared at the dragon. However, he didn’t stare back, instead watching the drinking and merriment in the bar. The ponies didn’t move for a bit then began looking at each other for probably the first time in months. “Y-Yeah, somepony does,” Twilight agreed hesitantly.

“Why?” Rarity asked with a growl. “So he can imprison us? We’re not in Equestria right now, Spikey-um, Spike.” She quickly corrected herself when the young dragon quickly gave her a withering glare. She took a deep breath.

“Miss Belle, I highly doubt that this Gregory Graystone is that petty,” Celestia said, completely surprised by the former fashionista’s bitter tone. “He couldn’t become a leader like he is if he wasn’t smart.”

Rarity scowled, but didn’t say anything. Applejack spoke up next. “Ah’m not that smart, and ah agree with Spike, but how do we do it?”

“All at once and get it over with,” Rainbow said. “Like a bandage.”

“Let me play Tartarus’ Advocate here, then,” Rarity said. “Sure, we could tell him what happened, but what if he’s already been told? You saw those ponies out there. A lot of them are from Ponyville. Roseluck could easily have told him. You saw her and her friends in the crowd, plain as day. What do you think will be his reaction? He’s a human, after all.”

“Rarity Belle!” Celestia’s angry tone silenced the purple maned mare immediately. She calmed down and stared at the now frightened unicorn with a cool, level gaze. “It is exactly that sort of behavior that destroyed Ponyville and caused a once kind and happy human to become who he is today. I’d have thought you learned something from this ordeal. But it seems you’re the only one here who can’t see past her own muzzle and can only blame others for your failures.”

“It was Discord who did this to all of us,” Rarity said in a trembling tone.

“He only gave us the slightest of pushes,” Twilight said. “Even before he was released, we reacted the same way to somecreature who wasn’t a pony, and now she’s the first zebra citizen of Griffonia. Remember what I said that day? We burned down Ponyville. We destroyed everything we represented without a single thought for a single creature’s wellbeing.” Twilight turned towards Rarity and gave a dark glare. “Don’t forget it. Because if you do, you’ll only make the same mistakes.”

Rarity looked down at her half drunken wine, scowled at it, then grabbed it in her magic and down the entire thing in a single gulp before pouring another glass. “Fine…do what you want,” she said. “Maybe it’ll work…maybe it won’t.” She took another drink of the wine.

“How should we do it?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, we shouldn’t do it today,” Celestia said. “There’s a celebration going on. Tomorrow we should all go down. And I do mean all of us.” She gave Rarity a knowing look.

“Yes, your highness,” the white unicorn said after a few seconds.

At that moment, Spike noticed the crowd outside the bubble of magic cheering and facing the door. Curious, he craned his neck to see what was happening. And gasped when he saw Gregory walking in with a group of other creatures, some of which he recognized. He saw Zecora, Gilda and the one griffon who had kissed Gregory on stage. The latter was actually riding on Gregory’s back, grinning like a schoolfilly with a crush. Gregory, too, was blushing a bit, but he was also laughing. The two other griffons he saw were ones he didn’t recognize. One was a younger griffoness with dark green fur and wings, dark red plumage, bright yellow eyes and red claws. The other was a young griffon male about the same age as the griffoness. He had azure eyes, cerulean coat, and yellow claws. His head feathers were spiked up and seemed to go from the cerulean to a dark yellow which matched his eyebrows. He lifted his claws and pointed. “Guys, he’s here,” he said quietly.

Everypony at the booth turned and looked at the human. He wasn’t wearing the same clothes as before. In fact, he was wearing just some blue pants made of blue denim and a bright red zipper hoodie, which was unzipped, and underneath a bright green shirt with a large depiction of what looked a lot like a Hearth’s Warming Tree. He was wearing the same kind of red and white stocking cap and was waving towards the bar where Garble and Smolder were busy.

As Celestia lowered the barrier so they could all hear what he was saying, they caught the tail end of the human shouting, “…if you’re not drunk, ladies and gentlebeings, then get ready to get fucked up! Let’s do it, ha ha!” Gregory pulled out a large brown leather bag and opened it, walking up and slamming a few coins onto the table. “Gargle, get the best stuff out of the basement!”

Garble raised an eyebrow, then smirked. “Having another arm wrestling contest with Gilda, again?”

“Damn right I am!” he said, turning and giving the aforementioned griffon a slug on the arm. “I’m gonna last thirty seconds this time!”

“What, been exercising that arm of yours by jerking off?” Gilda said with a smirk.

“While thinking about that sexy ass of yours,” Gregory grinned back as he smacked Gilda’s backside, causing her to yelp and smack him on the arm. Before she could say anything, he turned to the crowd who was watching him with anticipation. “Hey, don’t let me distract you from your drinking and celebration, everyone!”

“They’re waiting for a song,” the young griffon male chuckled.

“You sing so much now that they expect it,” the griffoness on Gregory’s back giggled as she rubbed his hair.

Gregory closed his eyes, crossed his arms and sighed, seemingly tired. However, everyone in the bar leaned forward in anticipation. He uncrossed his arms and smirked. “One! Two! Three!” he chanted.

As one, every other patron in the bar began to sing, “Beer, beer, beer! Tiddly beer, beer, beer!”

The griffon on Gregory’s back got off as Gregory began to sing, “A long time ago, way back in history, when all there was to drink was nothin’ but cups of tea! Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mops, and he invented a wonderful drink and he made it out of hops!”

By this time, the entire crowd was either clapping or stomping their hooves to the beat. There was a piano in the corner where an older griffon was now playing the tune. Everyone in the room joined in for the next set of lyrics. Someone brought out a tambourine and shook it. “He might have been an admiral a sultan or a king! And to his praises we shall always sing! A’look what he has done for us, he's filled us up with cheer! The Lord bless Charlie Mops, the man who invented beer, beer, beer! Tiddly beer, beer, beer!”

Gregory, who by now was jaunting through the room to the beat, took up the song again. “The Curtis bar, the James' Pub, the Hole in the Wall as well! One thing you can be sure of, its Charlie's beer they sell! So come on all me lucky lads, eleven o'clock ye stop! For five short seconds, remember Charlie Mops!” The music stopped and he held out his hand. He chanted, “One, two, three, four, five…”

The music started again and the crowd began to sing the chorus along with him. Many raised their mugs or forks of food as they sang. Spike began to bob his head to the beat and the tune. He was too young to drink any kind of alcohol, sure, but he still found the song catchy. “He might have been an admiral a sultan or a king! And to his praises we shall always sing! A’look what he has done for us, he's filled us up with cheer! The Lord bless Charlie Mops, the man who invented beer, beer, beer! Tiddly beer, beer, beer!”

When the chorus was over again, Gregory sang out. “A bushel of malt, a barrel of hops, and stir it around with a stick. The sort of lubrication to make your engine tick! A’forty pints of wallop a day will keep away the quacks! Its only eight pence hapenny and one and six in tax!” The music stopped again and he once more held up his hands, counting with his five fingers. “One, two, three, four, five…”

Even Spike couldn’t help it. He sang along to the chorus. “He might have been an admiral a sultan or a king! And to his praises we shall always sing! A’look what he has done for us, he's filled us up with cheer! The Lord bless Charlie Mops, the man who invented beer, beer, beer! Tiddly beer, beer, beer! Tiddly beer, beer, beer! The Lord bless Charlie Mops!”

The song ended and the crowd hooted, whistled and clapped to the bowing human who was panting and grinning. Smolder was flying over to him with a large wooden mug full of some frothing liquid. Gregory took it, raised it, and said, “Here’s mud in your eye!” With that, he began downing the entire mug. A dark brown liquid spilled out of it and a bit ran down his cheeks as he completely chugged it.

Celestia could only watch in amazement. Ponies weren’t known for their alcoholic tolerance, which was why they only had very low proof beverages in their bars or salt bars. Griffons, she knew, had a very high tolerance. She had no idea how much tolerance a human had, but it must have been a lot since when he put the mug down, Gregory looked lucid and was still standing.

However, at that moment, the Equestrians felt a pair of eyes focusing on them. And not in a good way. They all looked around and saw the young griffoness glaring at them with wide eyes full of fear mixed with utter hatred. She was clenching her teeth and Celestia could see her body trembling. A few moments later, she tore her eyes away, then her face calmed. A smile appeared on her face and she walked over to Gregory. She pulled on his pants leg, then when his attention was on him, she leaned in and whispered something to her while at the same time pointing at the griffoness who’d kissed Gregory. He raised an eyebrow, looked down at her with some confusion and said something else. She nodded insistently.

He shrugged. “Well, Gracie, if you think it’s a good idea, sure,” he said. “But I don’t have the sheet music. Just the musical accompaniment.”

“Starlight can cast the spell to make the song sound like…what did you call it? Stereo?” the now named Gracie said.

“If she’s strong enough,” he said. Turning to the dark gray-blue griffoness, he waved. “Gabby! Wanna sing that duet I rewrote from my world?”

Gabby, who had been sipping on a small mug of something, came over. “The one by Forest Rain?” she asked.

He nodded. “Why not?”

“Whatcha gonna sing now?” a random patron asked.

“Well, it’s not a drinking song,” Gregory said, “but I think after what happened today, it’s an appropriate song to sing.” He pulled out a small black object from his pocket and touched it a few times. “Okay, there we go.” He sat it down on the piano and motioned for Starlight to join him. “Starlight? Think you can cast that spell that makes my speaker sound like it’s coming from all around the room?”

Starlight chuckled. “Sure thing.” She raised her horn which glowed a light turquoise. The object glowed for a bit as well before the magic stopped. “It’ll last for about ten minutes.”

Gregory nodded, then turned to the crowd. “Like I said, this song is not a drinking song. It’s one about overcoming feelings of being different. It’s a song by an artist called Forest Rain, but I’ve changed a few lyrics to fit better. Ladies and gentlebeings, listen as Gabby and I sing Great To Be Different.” He tapped on the object. Music began to play through the entire tavern. Everyone in the bar put their mugs or utensils down as they began to listen. Gregory bobbed his head to the beat. Finally, when a drum was heard, he began singing. “It was a dark day when I lost my faith. I wasn't the man that I thought I'd be. And it seemed that no one could relate. There was nothing left for me to see. So I took a walk to the edge of the town, and thought of leaving it all behind, when I saw a little letter fall right out of the sky, as a cute girl hovered way up high.”

He pointed to Gabby, who was smiling widely and blushing slightly as he continued. “I thought I was crazy when I saw her wave, and then simply fly away. So I opened the letter and looked inside, and what was written made my day…it said-”

With that, Gabby and Gregory began to sing together. The ponies were blown away by the way Gabby’s singing voice was soft and melodious. The two were staring at each other as they both sang, “Isn't it great to be different? Isn't it wonderful to be exactly who you are? When you learn to start accepting yourself, you'll become a shining star!”

As the ponies listened to the lyrics, they all sank deeper into their seats. Celestia, however, couldn’t help but stare at the griffoness called Gracie. And was shocked to see said griffoness staring back at her with a small triumphant grin. She knew immediately that this one knew about the truth.

Gregory turned back to the crowd and continued singing, obviously oblivious to the ponies and young dragon in the corner. “To this day the writing on that page is mottled by the tears I shed. Cuz at that moment something inside me changed and a bright new path I lead. I ran back home and I picked up my old guitar and I started strumming these chords. And I sang her words along with this song and I heard someone sing along. And we sang-”

Gabby once more joined along and the two looked at each other. Everyone in the Equestrian group saw the love held between both human and griffoness. The bar patrons were moving their heads back and forth, including three familiar flower ponies who’d come in near the beginning of the song. “Isn't it great to be different? Isn't it wonderful to be exactly who you are? When you learn to start accepting yourself, you'll become a shining star!”

With a smile, Gregory faced the crowd and saw the three ponies who’d come in. He smiled warmly and waved at them. They waved back as he continued, “I turned around and I saw her at my door, that beautiful girl with the gorgeous stare. She said-”

At that moment, Gabby took over and faced Gregory, who faced her again. “I've heard you play and sing before, and I heard a sadness I could not bear. I just wanted to tell you that the hardest thing I've faced wasn't the teasing or the pain. It was convincing myself I wasn't stupid, strange, or lame and helping others do the same.”

The music went soft as Gabby spread her wings, flew up and wrapped her arms around Gregory. The two danced a bit as the crowd clapped at this, even whistling and hooting and congratulating him. The ponies, all save for Celestia, turned away and covered their eyes. Seeing this kind of display was too much for them. Spike also watched the song, a small smile on his face. Now he really wanted to meet this Gregory.

When the song began picking up again, Gregory put Gabby down and faced the crowd. “These last few months flew by just like a blur. I'm now exactly where I should be. And I know I owe it all to her, the lovely griffon who believed in me.”

As he put his hand on Gabby’s back, the two began singing again, “Isn't it great to be different? Isn't it wonderful to be exactly who you are? When you learn to start accepting yourself, you'll become a shining star! Isn't it great to be different? Isn't it wonderful to be exactly who you are? When you learn to start accepting yourself, you'll become a shining star (Isn’t it wonderful?)! You’ll become a shining star (Isn’t is great?)! When you learn to love just who you are.” With that, Gregory turned to her as the music faded out. Celestia and Spike watched some hushed words exchanged as the crowd went wild and applauded their performance.

It was during this applause that a deep and angry female voice said, “I believe it’s best that you not meet him. Your presence will only make his smile turn dim.”

Celestia and everyone else turned to face the barely restrained furious zebra who had somehow appeared before them. Celestia had never spoken to the zebra before. She’d seen her a few times, most notably at Cranky and Matilda’s wedding, but that was only in passing. Twilight flinched at the look she was getting from her. “Ze-Zecora, I-”

“Be silent and listen for once, you pony brat,” Zecora interrupted with a snarl, “Now is long past the time for a chat.”

“She’s not wrong,” a higher pitched female voice said from behind the booth’s wall. Everyone else turned and saw Gracie appear from behind it and walked over to stand beside Zecora. “You all fucked up with Jason, and we won’t let you do the same with Gregory.”

Celestia pursed her lips, drawing on all of her diplomatic experience. They obviously knew about what had happened over the past five years with Jason Wright. And obviously he’d made friends with these two and several others. She sat up taller and faced them. “We aren’t here to do anything to the Chancellor,” she said calmly. “But we do need to speak to him or the council about an important matter.”

“Closing the borders wasn’t enough for you?” Zecora hissed. “What else do you now wish to do? Perhaps take over the land I now call home? Haven’t I too long had to roam?”

Twilight shook her head quickly. “Nopony here would want to take over Griffonia!” she said.

“Pfff, nopony,” Gracie spat. “Excluding this little dragon here, are we? What would Darth Vader say? The xenophobia is strong in these ponies.”

The ponies all winced at this. All except for Rarity, who by now was wobbling and drunk. She gave Gracie a withering glance. “Aaand zzjjust what giiives you zaa riiight to talk like zzat?” she said with a slurred voice.

Twilight winced and moved over to where Rarity was sitting. “How much have you had to drink, Rarity?” she asked.

“None ovvv yer bizzness,” she shot back, grabbing at the now nearly empty bottle. “Vvvvor yer invermasion, Dissscord made uzzz dew it!” she shouted. “Zzzo get away vvrom ush! You…you FUCKING CUNTS!”

And that was the very moment that Gregory became aware of them.

15: The Dragonrider

Griffonstone Throne Room, Moments After Gregory and Gabby Arrived…

The Griffonstone Keep’s throne room was deathly silent, with nobody moving a muscle. Gregory stood near the door with Gabby by his side. Ember was still kneeling towards Gregory as were the other two dragons. The five griffons who were sitting at the council table were slowly looking between Gregory and the blue dragon, all looking confused and a bit worried as well.

Gregory was completely flabbergasted. He’d gotten good treatment by the griffons here, to be sure, but nothing quite like this. Except being asked to be the Chancellor, of course, but other than that he’d just been treated in a pretty friendly manner. Friendly by griffon standards anyway. Good natured banter and insults, and plenty of bird flipping that had begun to be seen more and more often thanks to Gregory introducing them to it.

The human swallowed nervously and looked down at the female dragon. He had a good suspicion as to who she was, but he had to keep that on the down low for the time being. “Um…hello to you to, miss…?”

The female dragon stood and faced him, only this time there was a small smile on her face. “Please forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Ember, Dragon Lord of the Dragon Lands.”

Gregory had never even expected to meet her so soon, or even at all. He figured that he might have met her during the events of the episode where Spike accidentally invited her and Thorax to Ponyville. “Gregory Graystone,” he replied as he automatically held out his hand towards her. “Nice to meet you, Lord Ember.”

Ember looked at his hand, then back at him. Then she did something that made the poor human blush. She took his hand in his, leaned down, and kissed it.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?!” Gregory, feeling more than a little confused, asked as he pulled his hand away. “I was just trying to shake your claw!”

Ember’s own face lit up red in embarrassment and Gregory could have sworn that the temperature in the room went up. “Shit! I’m so sorry!” she said, eyes wide. “I just assumed that…damn it…”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Gregory said, holding out his hands to try and calm the Dragon Lord down. He hadn’t expected to meet Ember at all, and even if he had, he didn’t expect the meeting to be going quite like this. “It’s just a cultural misunderstanding. Let’s try again, huh?” He held out his hand to her. “Hello there, Dragon Lord Ember.”

A still flushed Ember quickly reached out and grasped his hand in her claw, shaking it properly. “Hello to you to, Lord Graystone,” Ember said.

“None of that Lord Graystone stuff, please,” Gregory said, feeling a bit weird with the addition of a title to his last name. “I’m just Gregory. A simple human just trying to live his best life in Griffonstone.”

“Are you sure about that, my lord?” one of the other dragons, a male judging from the voice, asked. He was a tall dark green scaled dragon with curved elbow spikes, yellow eyes and bright green fins and wings. “I mean, you are of the dragonrider race, after all.”

“I don’t know what that really means,” Gregory admitted. “I’ve only been in Griffonstone since the end of September.”

“The twenty seventh!” Gabby exclaimed with a grin.

“Right, the twenty seventh,” Gregory said.

“Oh? You’ve only been here for two months?” the third dragon, a taller purple scaled female with blue eyes, curved horns that resembled ram horns and a similar set of elbow spikes, asked curiously. Gregory also noticed she was wearing a pair of bright aquamarine glasses around her neck. “So you don’t know about the dragonriders?”

Gregory shook his head. “Unfortunately, no,” he said. “I haven’t really gotten much time to study anything about this place or any history books. Although, if I’m hearing you right, there’ve been humans here before?” He knew about Jason Wright, of course, but if he was from the same world as Gregory, then he wondered just how the dragons knew about humans. “How do you know about humans?”

The third dragon held up an ancient leather bound book and set it down on the table. Gregory raised an eyebrow. What little he knew about dragon culture didn’t mention them having books. She opened it up to one of the first pages, put on the glasses and looked down at the book. “‘From beyond the end of Gaia’s endless seas came the race of man,’” she began. “‘The far eastern shores of the Dragon Lands became their first home, and it was here that man and dragon met. Their first meeting might have been bloody, but the peace they established afterwards lasted for decades until their land sank suddenly, falling into the cavernous ground below. But it is said that there may come a day hence when man will return and join once more with dragons.’ There’s more about the history of dragons and the dragonriders, or man as they call it here.”

“O…kay…I need to sit down,” Gregory said. “This is a lot to process.” He walked over to the table and sat at his chair near the head of the table right in front of the walkway that led up to the throne behind him.

“We didn’t mean to upset you, sir,” the third dragon said apologetically.

“No, it’s not your fault, miss…?” Gregory gestured towards her.

“My apologies, I’m Scoria,” the female said. “I’m a chronicler in the Dragon Lands. This is my husband Rhyo, general of the army.”

Gregory’s eyes widened. He’d always assumed that the dragons were more or less a nomadic species. Hearing that they had an army and chronicles only meant that there was more to them than what he’d seen. He nodded politely at them. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you,” he said sincerely. “At the risk of sounding insensitive, how can the Imperial Council help you?” He asked mostly because he knew none of them had contacted the Dragon Lands yet.

“We came mostly to meet you, Mr. Graystone,” Ember said as she approached and took a seat. Gabby came and sat on her haunches next to me while the other two dragons stood behind their Dragon Lord. “We’d heard about the mythical Idol of Boreas being returned and wanted to see if the rumors about one of the dragonrider race being responsible were true.”

“Wow, rumors spread fast,” Gregory said. “But I didn’t really play that big of a part. It was an accident that caused me to fall into the Abyss and chance that led me to the Idol. Gabby here was the kind griffon who saved my sorry ass.” He put a hand on her back and smiled over at her.

She smiled back, then turned to the dragons. “Gregory’s too modest,” she said to their dragon guests. “He not only brought back the idol but has been working during a lot of his free time to help rebuild this city.”

“We did see a bunch of griffons around rebuilding,” Scoria said.

“Yeah, they’ve really banded together,” Gregory said with a proud smile. He turned to the other members of the council. “Hey, do we have any rooms in the Keep here where our guests here can stay the night?” He turned back to them. “You three must have been flying for hours.”

“Actually, there were five of us who came here,” Ember said. “Rhyo and Scoria’s two hatchlings also came with us.”

“Really? Where are they now?” he asked.

“We let them go and explore Griffonstone, if that’s alright,” Ember said.

“I might have felt a bit more comfortable if they had an escort,” Gregory said.

“Oooh! Oooh! I can show them around!” Gabby said, raising her claw. “I just need their names!”

“Would you really be willing to show them around?” Rhyo asked, sounding surprised.

“Are you kidding? I love making new friends!” Gabby exclaimed with a wide smile on her face.

Gregory chuckled. “It’s true. She’s a real ray of sunshine. Trust me, she’ll show your kids a good time.”

“Well…if you’re sure,” Scoria said. “Their names are Garble and Smolder. Garble has red scales and Smolder has yellow scales.”

Not letting his surprise show, Gregory nodded. “Well, I haven’t heard of any dragons moving to Griffonstone yet, so I’m sure Gabby here can find them easily enough. How old are they?”

“Garble’s twenty one and Smolder’s nineteen,” Rhyo said.

“Ah, young adult age,” Gregory chuckled. “Well, I’d love to meet them sometime.”

“I’ll let them know you said so, Mr. Graystone,” Rhyo said.

“Just Gregory is fine with me, General,” he said. Turning to Gabby, he smiled and reached into his pocket, “Here, show them some of the amazing foods and festivities we have around here.” He gave her a handful of bits.

“Can do!” Gabby giggled with a salute before she rushed out of the room, an eager expression on her face.

Gregory chuckled, then turned to the dragon guests. “You know, as long as you’re here, I hope the council and I can speak to you about the relationship between our two nations.”

“I was hoping the same thing,” Gwendolyn said.

Ember nodded. “That’s one reason why I brought Rhyo and Scoria with me,” she said. “I’ve only been Dragon Lord for a short time.”

“You probably have more experience than I do,” Gregory said. “I’ve only been on this council for a couple of weeks, myself.”

Ember looked up at him and shared a knowing look with the human. “So, what were you wanting to discuss?” she asked.

Gregory looked at the other council members, who all nodded at him in approval. Turning back to Ember, he said, “Well, for one, we were hoping to establish some kind of trade between our countries…”

Gregory was standing on a recently rebuilt balcony near the top of the Keep overlooking the city. The rain had stopped, and the clouds were now fluffy and rain free. He saw some patches of blue poking through the low hanging clouds. The valley floor was hidden beneath some lower cloud layer that was presumably bringing rain to the land below the mountains. In the east, he saw some dark clouds approaching, meaning more rain for the evening. Below him, he could see the busy town streets as the sun went down. Lamps were being lit by the lamp lighter griffons and others were either going home or to the local watering holes for a nightcap. Griffons had incredible tolerance for alcohol, possibly even more than humans did.

He thought back to the past hour or so back in the council room. Gregory had more or less let the more experienced griffon diplomats deal with initial negotiations between Griffonia and the Dragon Lands, putting in his two cents here and there. For the most part, Griffonia wanted to obtain some of the red gems that were scattered everywhere in the Dragon Lands, which Gregory learned were actually called élanite. In short, it was the result of concentrated magic and if used properly could be useful in many different ways. The Bloodstone Scepter gem was actually made of élanite. Gregory wondered if griffons could advance technologically with said élanite and had asked for a small sample so it could be studied, something which Ember and her companions agreed to quickly enough.

In return, the council had offered the dragons a few things. First, they discussed collecting Houseoak tree acorns and showing the dragons how to plant them and grow them, but that idea was put aside since dragons did breathe fire and it would only take one sneeze during the night to burn down the tree.

The dragons were more receptive to the idea of receiving meat and some variety of food instead. Most of the Dragon Lands were barren wastelands except for the Phoenix Forests and the southern portion near the Peaks of Peril where the mysterious kirins were said to dwell. All the meat they ever had was fish, and even that was growing scarce. They could eat gems well enough, but it wasn’t quite the same for them. The griffons could spare some animals for consumption but not much at the moment. The dragons were surprisingly understanding about it, and Ember made a personal promise to ship a large amount of the élanite ore as soon as she and the other dragons went back. It was useless to the dragons as the taste to them was awful anyway.

As well as meat, the council also mentioned giving the dragons seeds to foodstuffs that could grow in volcanic lands, like potatoes, wheat, kidney beans and more along with detailed instructions from griffon farmers on how to care for them. Griffonville, despite being so close to the once dilapidated Griffonstone, was incredibly rich in farmland and foodstuffs ever since the return of the Idol and the farmers there knew their stuff. Ember and the others agreed to this deal and both sides had promised to send out official negotiators to finalize the details.

Gregory was so lost in thought he didn’t notice the blue scaled dragon leaning against the railing with him for a good few minutes. When he did, he jumped a bit in alarm. “Whoa! Miss Dragon Lord, you startled me,” he said, putting his hand on his chest to calm his suddenly racing heart.

Ember bowed to him. She had on a scarf, a dark purple cloak and had on a shoulder bag. “I’m sorry, Lord Graystone,” she said apologetically.

Gregory chuckled. “Just call me Gregory, please,” he said with a disarming smile.

She smiled back at him. “Only if you call me Ember. Us leaders need to stick together, don’t we?”

He raised his hand. “I’m not a leader of anything,” he said.

“Oh? I thought you were the Chancellor?” Ember said, sounding surprised.

“No, not yet at any rate,” he replied. “They asked me to do it, but I’m still not sure I’m the right person for the job.”

“Ah, I see,” she said, turning away and looking back down at the city below. There was silence between both of them as they looked down at the city. “You have a nice city here, Gregory.”

“The griffons really know how to clean up,” he said. “It’s really a shame I don’t have any wings or magic. Then again, humans have never really needed either. Would be nice, though.”

“Well, I don’t know about magic, but I might be able to give you some wings,” Ember said.

He turned to her, eyebrow raised. “Does this have anything to do with you calling me a dragonrider?” he asked.

Ember nodded. “Dad told me about them when I was growing up, and Scoria told me a lot more on our flight here.”

“Well, I’m interested to hear,” he said. “And we’ve got time. What happened?” So Ember told him, and this was what he learned.

More than a thousand years ago, there were two types of dragons. There were the type who could talk and reason, like the modern types, and then there were the types that had the intelligence of a dog or even a horse. The latter, called drakes, walked on all fours and some could even grow to massive heights. Back in those days, the dragons had more or less a medieval government with a Dragon Lord and several officials to deal with the various dragon tribes that lived in the lands below. The Dragon Lands were somewhat more advanced during that time, at least in terms of government.

One day, there was a bright light on the eastern horizon that lit up the night much sooner than the sunrise. The Dragon Lord at the time sent a small company dragon’s standing army at the time to investigate only to find a strange conglomeration of strange towns on the shores of one of the largest freshwater lakes on the dragon’s home continent. These towns were populated with strange bipedal fleshy creatures trying to figure out what had happened.

The first meeting between the dragons and the bipeds went very poorly. The bipeds had strange weapons that could pierce dragon scales and were long range. They rode on horseback and were some of the fiercest fighters the dragons had seen. Nearly all of the twenty five dragons who were dispatched died but so did a good number of the bipeds. The remaining dragons reported back, and the dragon lord nearly ordered his army to assemble so as to wipe out the strange beings, but a cooler head, ironically, the general of his army, prevailed. He said that it would be best to try and talk to them at the very least.

The gamble paid off. The Dragon Lord and his general met with ten of the bipeds, who called themselves humans. Five humans identified themselves as sheriffs of the five towns that had appeared on the edge of dragon territory and the other five identified themselves as mayors of the same towns. Everyone admitted that their first meeting went bad because of fear and suspicion on both sides.

Part of the tale, which Ember admitted was more than likely apocryphal, stated that near the end of the meeting, a young wild drakeling flew towards one of the humans and tackled him, only to start licking him affectionately. It was here that the legend of the dragonriders began, since most drakes grew to be large enough to be ridden by the humans.

For over fifty or sixty years or so, the humans spread out across the shores of the freshwater lake, taming and riding their beloved drakes. Despite the rocky first start, the dragons and humans became fast friends. They formed a small nation that they called Nova America, or Nova for short. The humans and dragons became so close that interspecies marriages began to grow more and more common near the end of the human’s time on Gaia.

However, all this ended abruptly over the course of a single day. While there were humans living in the heart of the Dragon Lands, the majority still lived in Nova America. In the early hours of the morning, a massive shield of pure magic shot out of the lake and surrounded the nearby fledgling human country. Nobody could get in or out. For eight hours, both sides tried to break through the barrier, but nothing worked. After eight hours, the magic barrier brightened, then when it dissipated, everything manmade and everyone inside the barrier had vanished, leaving nothing behind.

Slowly, the remaining humans, about a hundred or so in number, died out. They’d tried to repopulate, but nothing seemed to work. The last human, an old woman named Hope, died twenty three years after the human nation vanished. And thus, the humans passed into legend and myth, only remembered by the dragons.

“My dad told me once that one of his ancestors had a small hoard with a human woman in it,” Ember finished.

“A hoard?” Gregory asked.

“He was married to more than one female,” Ember clarified.

“Oh, gotcha.” And with that, the two fell into silence. He leaned against the now cold metal railing. A few wisps of snow had begun falling, or were trying to now. The wind had somewhat picked up, but not by much. He had a lot to think about. The way she’d described the humans sounded like they came from an era like the Old West, with the long range and loud weapons she described sounding like pistols and rifles and the towns sounding like frontier settlements. Of course, since there was apparently no evidence to support this, he couldn’t be sure. However, there was one burning question in his mind that he couldn’t hide no matter how hard he tried. And it came out. “Are there any drakes still around?”

Ember nodded. “There are, but we let them run wild for the most part. They live near where Nova America was. Legend goes they’re waiting for the humans to return.”

“Just like that one dog…” he said.

“That one dog?” Ember asked.

He nodded. “Back where I’m from, humans domesticated wolves and turned them into pets and companions, much like it sounds like the humans who came here did to the drakes. There’s a story from back in my old land about a dog whose owner died, but he always stood waiting for his owner to return until he, too, died. He’s an example of how loyal dogs are to their human companions. We don’t think of them as pets or slaves. They have incredible loyalty.”

“That’s a sad story,” Ember said.

“I think it’s a nice story about how amazing dogs are,” Gregory replied. “And if drakes are anything like how dogs act, then perhaps they are waiting for humans to return. After all, they never got any closure.”

“Drakes are a lot smarter than dogs,” Ember replied.

“I don’t doubt it,” he said.

“Hey, here you are!” a happy sounding griffon voice said from behind them. Turning, Gregory saw a scarf wearing Gabby standing beside two very familiar looking dragon teens. Behind them, he saw Rhyo and Scoria. “We’ve been looking for you for a while!”

Gregory’s smile grew wider as he motioned for the three to approach. “I’ve just been getting some history lessons from the Dragon Lord here,” he said, pointing at Ember.

“Weeeell, I have two young dragons who wanted to meet you,” Gabby said, gesturing to Garble and Smolder.

Gregory chuckled and turned to said dragons. “Hello there, you two. It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

The two stood there, gaping at him for a bit until finally Smolder stepped forward. “You’re really a human, right?” she asked.

“In the flesh,” he replied, pulling up his sleeve and holding out his arm. “Touch it if you don’t believe me.”

Smolder slowly approached, reached out, and touched his skin hesitantly. To him, her scales felt a bit rough, but not callous or anything like that. She wrapped her other claw around his arm. “Wow…humans really don’t have natural defenses! Oh, I know somedragon who would completely freak out if she met you!”

“Really? Who?” Gregory asked.

“This dragon named Silica,” Garble said. “She’s completely obsessed with humans. If she knew you were here, you’d be hounded with question after question.”

Gregory chuckled, as the dragon reminded him of the fandom’s depiction of Lyra Heartstrings. “I’m not opposed to meeting her,” he said.

“Your funeral…um, I think the word is…dud?” Smolder said questioningly.

“No, it’s dude,” Scoria corrected her.

“She’s right,” Gregory said, “dude is the appropriate way to say that. How’d you know that word?”

“Oh, that word came from the humans,” Ember said. “And speaking of, I almost forgot, but I brought you a couple of gifts from the Dragon Lands. I have the first one with me.” So saying, she reached into her bag and pulled out a small metal chest with a lock on it. She handed it to him along with the key.

Gregory took it, then went back into the hallway and placed the chest on a nearby stone table. Everyone else gathered around and watched as Gregory took the key, unlocked the chest, and opened it. His eyes widened as he found himself staring at a remarkably clean and well kept Colt Peacemaker pistol along with a large number of bullets for said pistol and a holster. This all but confirmed to him that the humans came from a few towns in the American frontier days. He opened the lid wide, picked up the old pistol and looked at it. It was in surprisingly remarkably good shape, looking polished and even well oiled. He knew a bit about this particular gun since his father owned about three replicas and had insisted that Gregory learn how to shoot and take care of them. He explored every inch of it. He opened the loading gate and saw that the rotating cylinder itself was empty of any bullets. Pulling the hammer back once, he spun the cylinder and saw no bullets in any of the chambers. The ejection rod even worked, to his surprise. Pulling the hammer back all the way, he heard the satisfying click of the inner workings, then slowly uncocked it.

He set it down back in the chest, then picked up one of the old bullets. Just like the gun itself, it was remarkably well kept. The holster was even made of genuine leather and looked like it had been freshly made. Setting the objects down and closing the chest, he locked it then turned back to the dragons. “How old is all of this?”

“Over one thousand years old,” Rhyo said.

“It’s in remarkable shape for a relic of that age,” he said.

“That’s because this chest is enchanted with ancient magic that keeps anything inside as fresh as the time it was put into it,” Scoria.

“Whoa, now that’s cool,” Smolder said.

“Wow…that’s a very convenient ability,” he said. Looking back up at Ember, he added, “Surely you want this back. The chest, I mean.”

“No, the chest is yours as well,” she said.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I mean, this has to be worth a lot with that ability.”

Ember smiled. “It is, but I made the decision to give this to you as well. I insist.”

Not knowing whether or not the dragons would be offended like griffons would be, Gregory decided to take the offering gracefully. He picked up the chest. “Dragon Lord Ember, I don’t know what to say other than thank you. You’ve given me a really amazing gift here. Proof that humans were once in these lands and one that looks like it could actually work. Thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome, but that’s not the only gift I brought for you,” Ember said. “Unfortunately I don’t have on me because it was too big.”

“Really? Where is it?” Gregory asked curiously.

“It’s actually in the castle's courtyard,” Ember said. “It’s the only place large enough where we could keep the gift.”

“Really? Well, let’s go see it, then,” Gregory said, turning and beginning to walk down the halls towards the stairs.

“Why don’t we fly down?” Gabby asked, flying behind him and wrapping her arms around him, lifting him up slightly off the ground.

Looking up, Gregory tilted his head. “You sure?”

“Sure! It’s faster,” Gabby said with a grin.

He looked over at the dragons. “Well, let’s fly down then,” he said, pulling out his gloves and putting them on. He’d quickly learned that in the colder weather it was prudent to wear gloves whenever Gabby carried him around.

All five dragons walked back to the balcony, their wings furling as they did so. Gabby flew after them, surprising Gregory with how easily she seemed to be carrying him despite the extra weight in his hands. That no longer became a factor when Rhyo volunteered to carry the chest while they flew down, which Gregory graciously accepted. Gabby flew up a little higher after the handoff, and finally followed the dragons out into the cold and darkening late afternoon air.

It only took them a few seconds to get down to the courtyard. The Griffonstone Keep courtyard was still pretty bare, but there were signs that it had once had many different plants and gardens within, something Gregory hoped to one day fix. There were old and decaying statues within as well, all griffons. In the center of the courtyard was a wide open space which at one point had presumably been used for swordplay practice.

However, what it was being used for now instead was a place where the large eight foot high winged reptilian could sit. Or rather, lie down. There were four other dragons in armor surrounding it, guarding it along with four griffon guards. Gregory looked at the sleeping dragonlike creature in awe. Unlike the dragons he’d seen before, this one looked a lot like the ones he’d seen in live action shows and movies back on Earth. In the light of a few torches that each of the guards carried, Gregory saw that the dragon, or drake if he was correct in his assumption, had thick black scales and two pale cream colored horns which came directly from its head upwards with multiple spikes of the same color beside each of the horns, giving the illusion that the dragon had white hair. Its massive wings were just as black as its scales and had a leathery appearance. The tail, which was curled up and almost touched the dragon’s snout, had a variety of spikes on the end of it as well. He saw beside it a large brown leather saddle that looked like it could fit the large drake.

He turned back to Ember with his eyebrows raised in alarm. “You’re giving me a dragon??” he asked in a stunned whisper.

Ember walked up to his side and said, “She’s only about six to eight months old. The poor drake lost her entire family and has been wandering and flying aimlessly for days. She barely eats, as well. When we heard about a possible dragonrider, we brought her here in the hopes that you might be able to help her.”

Gregory turned to Ember. “I don’t know the first thing about drakes,” he said in a trembling voice. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

The whisperings between both of them were obviously heard by the young drake. She began to stir and opened her eyes. In the light of the sun and the torches, Gregory saw that the dragon had dark purple reptilian colored eyes which looked around slowly before finding him. Her eyes froze and locked onto him, drinking in the strange new creature before her.

Gabby, who was still on Gregory’s back, a position that he found her in more and more lately, clutched his shoulder tightly. “Say the word and I’ll fly us home,” she whispered.

Gregory, however, was mesmerized by the eyes. Not because of how beautiful they were, because they were, but because he could feel the sadness radiating from them. He silently put his hand on Gabby’s claws. “Let go,” he said. “Just keep an eye on me.”

“No way am I letting go,” she whispered. “And I’m not letting you go up to that big creature alone.”

Gregory knew that tone. It was her no nonsense tone and he knew better than to argue with her. “Just stay quiet, then,” he said as he took one step forward, not looking away from the drake.

With the first step, the drake lifted her head to look down at the human with those same sad looking eyes, but in those eyes was also a look of curiosity.

With the second step, the drake rose its head, showing the underside which had pale cream color scales that matched the spikes on her head. She made a small rumbling noise from within her throat, making Gregory stop, but after a few seconds the rumbling noise stopped

With the third step, the drake moved her head closer, not once looking away from Gregory’s eyes. Gregory stopped on this step, waiting for the drake to make a move. All she did was sniff him, then Gabby as well. He put a protective hand over the griffon’s claws as the drake did this. Finally, seemingly satisfied, the drake moved back, but kept her head level with Gregory’s height.

With the remaining steps, the drake made no move. Slowly, Gregory removed the glove on his right hand and held it up towards the drake’s face. When she made no move or growl, he reached out and gingerly touched the side of the drake’s face. Her scales were smooth but hard. He ran his hand up the side of her large cheek, still looking at the drake’s purple eyes. He blinked slowly at the large predator, and to his delight the drake youngling blinked slowly back, then slowly closed her eyes. He heard a mournful sound emanating from the magnificent beast.

Compassion overwhelmed him and he moved closer, slowly leaning in and touching the side of her face with his cheek. “I’m so sorry, my friend,” he said in a soft and tender voice to her. “Nobody should ever lose their family at such a young age.” The drake emitted another and louder mournful groan from deep within. “It’s okay to feel sad and mourn,” he said. “It won’t make you weak.”

To the surprise of everyone there, the young drake threw back her head, raising it to the sky. Opening her large mouth, she released a roar that made Gregory and everyone else around cover their ears with how loud it was. Even with his ears covered, Gregory could hear the variety of emotions that this dragon was venting. Anger. Grief. Sadness. Even fear, which was presumably fear of the future going forward.

The roar lasted for a good half minute before she closed her mouth and slowly looked back down at Gregory. He noted that, while there was still grief and loss in those purple eyes, they had been greatly lessened. She slowly approached him, then he was surprised to feel a warm and wet object on the left side of his face.

Gregory couldn’t help himself. He smiled as he put his hand to the side of his face. The drake had just quickly licked him. Slowly walking back over to her, he put his hand back on the side of her face. Looking at her, he continued, “It’ll take a while, I’m sure, but I know you can get through this, my friend.”

The drake made a small rumbling noise, then moved closer to presumably nuzzle Gregory. Only the movement was too fast and he and Gabby both went tumbling on the ground. This didn’t stop the dragon from continuing to nuzzle the human.

Gregory’s smile turned into a laugh as he put both hands on the young drake, stroking her scales. Gabby got up and was watching the interaction between human and drake with astonishment. Ember slowly walked over to stand beside Gabby. “I think she likes you,” the Dragon Lord said as the young drake began licking Gregory affectionately.

“No shit,” he chuckled as the drake lay her head directly on his chest, continuing her affectionate assault on his face.

“Gregory, are you seriously going to keep a pet this big?” Gabby asked. “How are you going to feed it?”

“Her,” he corrected, “and what do they eat, Ember?” he asked, looking up at the young Dragon Lord.

“They actually can digest anything,” Ember said. “They are really big fans of gemstones, and they also eat meat. They’re pretty self sufficient and can be taught to avoid herds of farm animals.”

“How convenient,” he said as he slowly his hand over the young drake’s muzzle. “Okay, there, that’s enough for now. I need to get up.”

“Are you going to name it-I mean her?” Gabby, who still looked afraid, asked as she kept a wary eye on the drake.

“Hmm…yeah, and I think I have a good name for her,” Gregory said. Slowly standing, he looked at the drake and proclaimed, “I think I’m going to name you after a famous fictional character from a very popular set of fantasy books from back where I’m from. And I’m hoping that by naming you after this character, I won’t be jinxing you to follow her fate. From this day forward, your name shall be Daenerys.”

The newly named Daenerys slowly sat up, and Gregory thought that he saw a hint of pride in those deep purple eyes of hers. He smiled, realizing just then that he’d achieved every fantasy nerd’s dream.

He’d just become a dragonrider.

Author's Note

At some point, I'm going to go back and put in actual dates to the descriptions so you and I can both keep track of the time frames between the back and forth jumps. When I do, I'll announce it in one of the chapters.

16: How To Train Your Drake/Human

Author's Note

Yay! 100k words!

16: How To Train Your Drake/Human

One Week After The Dragon Lord’s Visit…

To say that Gregory’s new house was a step above the rest of most of the houses in Griffonstone was the understatement of the millennium. Unlike most of the houses and buildings, the house that had been given to him was made of sturdy brick and stone, with actual tiles on the roof instead of hay or wood.

Located on the edge of a half acre of land, the house had two levels, with the first level a living area. The builders were very good at their job, he had to give them that. The first floor had a large foyer with a flat tiled stone floor that led down a very small hallway to the living room. The hallway itself had a mat that could be used for brushing claws, paws and, in Gregory’s case, shoes. To the left of the door was a closet which had not only cleaning supplies inside but a valet rod and a few custom made hangers for his clothes.

The small hallway led to a set of double doors which opened up onto a large living room. Said room was fully furnished with two large sofas, a custom made chair a table between them, built in shelves for books and any other belongings that might need to be stored there, a large fireplace which had carved depictions of the history of Griffonia from Grover to Guto on the inside of the chimney walls, and wall sconces for oil lamps along the walls. The large floor to wall windows looked out onto the yard which had been tended to by a few gardeners and had freshly growing grass coming up.

Adjacent to the main living area was a large kitchen, modern by Griffonia’s standards at least. There was a large gas stove and oven sitting to one side with a large set of doors next to it. There was a large counter and cabinets lining the walls. On the other side of the kitchen was a large teak wood table covered by a brown tablecloth. Around said table the workers had placed enough chairs for everyone moving into the home. When it became known that the house would be used by more than one individual, chairs were made for each of them that would fit them perfectly. Above the table was a large candelabra with actual candles. Spares for the chairs were kept down in the basement in case they broke or he had guests over along with an extension for the table just in case.

In one corner of the room was a large teak oak door which led to the downstairs basement. There, the workers had placed not only the spare chairs, but a wine cellar as well as a separate boiler room with a hot water heater and a furnace in said room. The furnace had pipes which were filtered and spread through the entire house to keep it warm during the winter months. For the most part, it was empty since not much had been added to it yet.

There was a hallway adjacent to the kitchen and living room which led down to the best bathroom they could have. To Gregory’s surprise, they had very decent plumbing and the toilets themselves were remarkably similar to ones he’d seen at home, only instead of a lever there was a chain he had to pull to flush. There was a separate room on the other end of the bathroom for a shower and a large bath, the hot water of which was heated by the gas itself, or in a pinch, the furnace.

At the end of that hallway was a large room where the entire walls and domed ceiling were made of tempered glass that looked out towards a gorgeous view of Griffonstone, the land below and, according to one worker, a great view of the ocean in the far distance. This was the room that had surprised Gregory the most, since he hadn’t really thought griffons would want something like that. For the most part, the room was empty except for a large custom chair for him, two large sofas facing the city and even a few perches for griffons to sit on.

On the other end of the hallway was a large staircase which led to the second floor. This floor had six large and well furnished bedrooms on each side, all identical. Each room had a large bed, a closet, a hamper for dirty laundry, a decent sized fireplace on the outer edge of the room, a table and mirror, a dresser and a closet for storage and another smaller room that had a toilet of its own and a shower and bath combo along with a sink and mirror. However, at the very end of the hallway was the master bedroom, which was a half spherical room with a large canopy bed with curtains around the bed and plenty of different covers. On the outer edge was a larger fireplace and beside the bed were two large oil lamps screwed into the wall. Each side of the bed also had an endtable with drawers. There was a large dresser to the left of the bed and a closet to the right, each of which had the clothes he’d vacuum sealed away before arriving on Gaia. Between the dresser and the fireplace was a large oak desk where Gregory had placed his laptop and the two extra screens he’d managed to bring with him to Gaia. Next to his laptop was the portable charging port which could be charged with solar energy, which Gregory had discovered could be charged faster in Celestia’s sun, and to a lesser extent Luna’s moon. He’d stored the rest of his belongings in a locked wooden chest in the closet since he couldn’t replace anything there, unless he managed to get to the Equestria Girls universe.

At one corner of the room was the master bathroom, which had a larger design than the bathrooms in the extra bedrooms, with a toilet, shower and bath combo, and a large double sink. Why the designers had made it like that, they hadn’t said, and he had only gotten knowing looks from them when he’d asked during the tour. He could make a guess, of course, but he didn’t want to assume, so he kept his thoughts to himself.

All he knew was that Gabby had been smiling the whole time they’d been examining his bedroom.

Lastly, there was a late addition to the party, the outdoors barn, which was what Gregory called it, although it was more like a large well insulated storage room. It was still under construction, but from what he saw, it was going to be a large wooden building with a sharply slanted tiled roof, a few windows on the second floor which had storage rooms of their own, and plenty of room to store Gilda’s cart as well as a fully grown drake if need be. The majority of the floor was made of polished stone covered by soft straw which itself was covered by a soft black blanket that Daenerys could sleep on. For the most part, the main parts were done and Daenerys could sleep in it if she wanted, but she hadn’t yet, opting to fly around and find her own spot to sleep, or sleeping in the massive stables at Griffonstone Keep.

All in all, it was so much more than he could have ever expected from anyone. He’d half expected to be either living in the Castle of Friendship temporarily until he found a job and a house of his own, but this was far beyond anything he’d expected. Still, he was grateful.

It was the day before his planned Thanksgiving party, the twenty ninth of November. He’d moved in with Gabby, Gilda, Gracie, Gallus and Starlight Glimmer else two days after he was given the Colt Peacemaker and the drake Daenerys. Each of his housemates had chosen a room for themselves already. Gabby and Gilda had taken the bedrooms closest to Gregory’s room, with Starlight and Gracie grabbing the rooms next to them. Gallus grabbed the room next to Gracie’s. In only a day and a half, the shelves in the kitchen were filled with all sorts of foodstuffs. The same drake who was pouting a bit and ignoring Gregory’s pleas. Everyone else, including Garble and Smolder (who’d decided to stay at Gobbler’s Groggery for a bit until the plot of land they’d bought could be built into a tavern and inn, something they’d apparently wanted to do for a while) watched him with varying degrees of amusement as he tried to bond with the young drake.

Gregory sighed and lowered the raw steak in his hands. “I have no idea how those other humans did what they did,” he said. “I’ve tried everything I know. Bribing with food, soothing words, pets, so how did a bunch of cowboys become companions with drakes?”

“Why don’t you try something other than trying to tame a dog, dude?” Smolder asked, arms crossed and a smirk on her face. “She’s a lot smarter than that.” This got a laugh from the rest of the gathered folks. “Besides, it’s only been a few days since you two met. Give her a break.”

Gregory nodded and looked up at Daenerys. He walked over to her and put his hand on her side. She looked down at him, then exhaled and leaned down. “I think she’s just a bit jumpy from that,” he said, pointing to the barn. Looking up at her, he asked, “Is that why? Is the construction bothering you?” Daenerys looked at him and, to his surprise, rolled her eyes and snorted out a large amount of smoke in his direction. He coughed and laughed simultaneously as the smoke blew away in the gentle November breeze. “Hah! Okay, okay, point taken! Stop treating you like a kid, got it!” Daenerys’ smug look was all the answer he needed. Even so, he still held out the large slab of meat. “Here, though. On me.” She opened her mouth and he tossed it into her mouth. She chomped down on it and growled in satisfaction.

“I’m pretty sure she likes you,” Gabby said as she flew up and landed on his back, draping her arms over him and wrapping her hind legs around his midsection, something she’d done almost every day for the past couple of weeks.

“I think she likes you, too,” Gregory replied, crossing his arms as he looked up at Daenerys. “Isn’t that right?” Once more, the young drake gave him a sidelong glance before leaning close, then flicking her tongue out to lick not only him, but the surprised dark grayish blue griffoness. He turned back to Gabby. “And here you were freaking out over her.”

Gabby sighed and nodded. “Okay, okay, you win. She’s really a nice drake.” She looked up at Daenerys. “Sorry. I was just nervous.”

“Drakes are pretty calm most of the time,” Smolder explained. “If you get them pissed, that’s when you need to watch out. And they’re stubborn as fuck.”

“Hey, remember the time when Dad tried to shoo that one older drake out of the cave?” Garble asked, nudging his sister.

She smirked. “That was an adventure.”

“Sounds like a hell of a story,” Gregory said.

Smolder laughed. “It was!”

“It happened about a couple years ago,” Garble said, and everyone turned to face him. He had a grin on his face as he continued, “Dad was in the main room of our cave, going over some kind of paperwork. I dunno, I wasn’t really paying attention. Smolder was doing her princess tea party shit-”

Smolder smacked him upside the head. “And you were doing your poetry.”

Garble stiffened. “Hey, it’s beat poetry, you dig?”

“I feel you, my cool cat,” Gregory smiled, snapping and pointing at the beat poet dragon. “Anyway, go on.”

Garble straightened up and continued. “Well, it was actually really windy outside that day, and this older drake just slammed into the outside of the cave, then tried to get in. Dad saw it and tried to gently shoo it.”

“The drake just ignored him!” Smolder interrupted with a laugh.

Garble was beginning to break down as he remembered the incident. “He just sat down in the entryway and curled up. Dad tried to push him out, but that drake didn’t budge. Blew a few passing breaths of fire at him, but he wouldn’t move. Mom was making dinner and came in to watch Dad just fail.”

“I wish we had one of those cameras that the ponies have,” Smolder was barely holding back laughter. “He was huffing and puffing so hard that smoke was literally coming out of his nose.”

“But that’s not the best part,” Garble said. As everyone listened closer, he continued. “After he gave up, Mom was all ‘Here, let me give it a try.’ And just like that, she walked up and just said ‘Hey, there’s an empty cave just a few steps near here where you can spend the night. Why not try there?’ And I shit you not, the drake just nodded, stood, and walked out.”

“I bet that pissed your dad off,” Gilda said with a smirk.

“He didn’t speak the rest of the night,” Smolder laughed. “Ah…I’m gonna miss living in that cave. I’ve lived there my whole life.”

Gregory still found that part of dragon culture unusual, especially since in the show it was shown that after molting, dragons were basically kicked out. However, when he’d asked Ember about it, she revealed that the tradition died after the humans had arrived and had actually spoken out against that. It had stuck around even after their sudden departure. Despite that, dragons did move out after a while, and the two dragons had decided that now was the perfect time. “Well, I can promise you that as long as you’re in Griffonstone, you’ll be treated well. And another bar? The griffons are seriously gonna be happy with that. Whatcha gonna call it?”

Garble and Smolder looked at each other with a bit of uncertainty. Turning back to him, Garble said, “We’re not sure.”

“Got any suggestions?” Smolder asked.

Gregory paused to think. A few names came to mind after a good minute, but one stood out. One from his favorite fantasy novel series. And since the author didn’t exist here, nobody could sue for copyright infringement. “How about The Green Dragon?”

Smolder raised an eyebrow. “Kinda on the nose, dontcha think?” she asked.

“Maybe,” he said, “but I think it’d be a big hit. You’d be the first nongriffons to open a business in Griffonstone, and it’d be a bar, to boot. I only suggested it because it’s a fictional bar in a book series I like.”

Garble shrugged. “I kinda like it,” he said. “It’s pretty cool.”

“Eh, why not?” Smolder chuckled.

Gregory felt soft feathers pressing against his cheek as a beaming Gabby nuzzled his face before finally climbing off and standing next to him. “I think Daenerys wants something from you,” she said.

Gracie looked up at the big drake, seeming to stare into her soul. She nodded. “I think she’s feeling a bit antsy about something,” she said.

Gregory turned and saw Daenerys lying on her stomach, looking over at him with her wings actually spread wide. He’d seen her flying a couple of times, and unlike dragons who flapped their wings and could hover, the young drake soared. She was a majestic creature even though she was apparently less than a year old and would grow to around twice her current size in another six months. He wanted to know what it was like to ride a drake like the other humans had before. He walked over to the young drake again, who followed him with her eyes. “Something up? You need something from me?”

She looked up at the sky, then with her front claw, she actually pointed up, then looked back at her wings and flapped them a bit, sending a bit of wind through the grass. “Looks like she wants to go flying,” Gilda shrugged.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Gregory retorted, grinning at her. “You get a cookie.”

“Bite me,” Gilda snapped back.

“Only if you beg me to, so don’t tempt me,” Gregory returned with a wink before he turned away from the now blushing and sputtering Gilda and looked back at Daenerys. “So, you want to go flying?” She nodded. “Well, if you wanna go, that’s fine.” Daenerys rolled her eyes in what looked to him like exasperation as she gestured her head to her back, then looked pointedly at him, then at her back again, then back. He raised an eyebrow. “Wait are you asking me to ride on your back?” She snorted in reply. “Well, if you’re sure, but if you really want me to, I’ll have to get that saddle. I’m not flying on your back without some kind of safety net.” Daenerys seemed to groan at this. “Hey, if I ride on your back without it, my clothes will rip, I won’t have a way to hold onto you very well and I’ll fall.” She held up her front claws. “Yes, you could carry me, but what if you need your claws?” He sighed and walked up, putting his hand on her cheek. “Do you think it’s that uncomfortable for you? Because if it is, I can try and get a new one made.” Daenerys just looked away and a loud sigh came from her mouth. She finally nodded, turning back to him. “Well, if that’s the case, I can try and find someone in town who can alter the one I have now or make a brand new one. For now, is it okay if we use the one we have now?” She snorted, but made a slight nodding motion. “Well, let me go get it and attach it to you.”

About ten minutes later, and with the help of Gabby, who seemed to be the only other being Daenery’s would allow to approach too closely, the two had the saddle on. Daenerys seemed a bit surprised after the saddle was attached. She stood and walked around a bit, moving and shaking her body. The saddle didn’t move at all, and Gregory noticed that there was no pained expression or one of discomfort on her face. After he retrieved some sturdy pants, thick gloves, a warm jacket and a pair of goggles from his personal supplies from Earth, he walked up to her. “Is it uncomfortable? Is it too tight?” In response, Daenery’s lowered her body so that Gregory had access to the saddle, giving him an expectant look. “I’ll take that as a no. That’s a relief. I seriously doubted that humans would design a saddle that would be uncomfortable for you.”

As he slowly and carefully climbed up the saddle, Gabby flew up beside him. She had a worried look on her face. “Are you sure you wanna try this now? It’s getting dark.”

He got into the saddle and found a strap that could be pulled over his body. Pulling the strap over and tying it securely to the saddle, he pulled the goggles down and tightened them. “We won’t be going far. Hear that, Daenerys? Not too far. When we get back, you can go flying on your own.”

Daenerys just snorted and spread her wings. Gripping a part of the saddle that looked like it was meant for holding on, Gregory looked down at the others. The dragons had their wings spread as did the griffons. Starlight even had a magical aura surrounding her and was floating in the air slightly, something she learned recently thanks to a suggestion by Gregory. “Are you guys planning on joining?” he asked.

When Daenerys looked down at them and snorted a bit, Gabby came and hovered beside him. “They’re all worried, and so am I,” she said.

“Well, I appreciate that,” he said honestly, and meant it. The various amounts of worry and concern on their faces was heartwarming and made him smile. “We won’t be going far. Hear that, Daenerys? Not too far. Just a trip around the block.” When Daenerys shook her head and made a grumbling noise, he leaned down and pat her back. “When we get back, I’ll take this off and you can go flying on your own. But they’re right, it is late. Just a quick flight.” She threw her head back and gave him a sideways glance before she let out what could only be a sigh. “Thank you, Daenerys.” Gripping the handles on the saddle, he put his feet in the stirrups. “Well…um…giddy up?”

With that, the drake spread her majestic wings and shot up into the air, making Gregory scream in fear and exhilaration as the ground fell away. All he could say as the straps around him tightened was “WHHOOOOOAAAA!!!”

His new house was the size of a dime in an instant and only growing smaller as the young drake flew up towards the clouds. With a final burst of speed, she began slowing. Gregory felt the rush of air through his hair and found himself regretting not throwing the hood on his jacket up. He felt suddenly weightless as Daenerys brought her wings to her side and began falling at an increasingly accelerated rate. “Hoooolyyyy shiiiiiiit!” he shouted, trying his best not to soil himself out of sheer terror as the ground came flying up towards the two of them. He watched in sheer horror as the Griffonstone Keep came up fast. “Pull up! PULL UUUUP!” he shouted.

Briefly, Daenerys looked back and he could swear there was a grin spreading across her face. However, at just the last second, she spread her wings and soared, sending Gregory slamming back into his seat as she began flying above the city. His fear was still there, but a wide grin spread across his face as he readjusted himself. “YEEEEEHAAAAW!” he whooped as Daenerys rose up into the clouds, moving faster than Gregory had ever gone even in Gabby’s arms. He lowered himself closer to her body just in time for her so do a barrel roll. “FUCK! Not so fast! You don’t want my throwing up on top of you!” he laughed as Daenerys straightened out and flew towards the Evertide Forest as well as Griffonville.

Despite her being less than a year old according to Ember, he was still surprised that Daenerys could fly so fast. The city was quickly behind him in a matter of minutes and the town below, which was lit up with candle and firelight from the houses and gas lamps lining the streets, glistened like a gem in the dark forest and farmland surrounding it. He could see a few griffons walking and flying around the many Houseoak trees and normal housing that made up the town. It hadn’t escaped his eye that Griffonville was very similar in some respects to Ponyville. Despite Griffonia once barely holding on, the aforementioned little townlet had actually been doing decently well, and now it was thriving thanks in part to business ventures between it and Griffonstone. Many griffons had moved there and the town was greatly expanding outwards.

With a burst of speed, Daenerys flew quickly towards the Celestial Sea, leaving Griffonville far behind. She flew close to the treetops, reaching down and grabbing a few of them. Gregory was nervous that she’d get tangled up so he said, “Be careful! I’m not wearing a helmet!” He could practically feel her eye roll, but she did fly up a bit farther, letting go of a large clawful of treetops.

After about five or so minutes, the two passed the beach and she flew up towards the clouds again. Soon they were over the ocean and flying towards a part of the cloud cover which had a break in it. When they reached said break, Gregory saw the sun in the west shining down onto the glistening Celestial Sea below. She stopped and hovered, looking back at him with a surprisingly expectant look. He looked back at her with confusion. “You wanna do something?” he asked. She snorted out a large puff of smoke, then opened her maw, closing it. “You wanna breathe fire? Can you do that yet? She gave a growl and a slight nod. “Alright then. I’ve always wanted to say this!” He pointed to a small cloud nearby. “Dracarys!”

He didn’t even expect his nerdy moment to be understood by Daenerys, but to his shock, Daenerys turned and faced the cloud. The air from behind him became warm suddenly. The warmth passed through the air around him and out of the corner of his eyes he saw her scales light up with a bright orange-yellow light. She opened her mouth and after hearing a strange rumbling coming from her chest and throat, a large blast of bright yellow fire came shooting out of her mouth, blasting the cloud apart into its respective atoms and molecules. He watched this in complete awe, then whooped again. “Well done! Very well done!” Daenerys looked back, looking like a child who was pleased with herself. “You did really well! But it’s time to go back home.” Her expression changed and she looked a bit upset.

Before he could say anything, the shadows around them began to change. Turning, he watched in awe as the sun began moving down at a remarkably faster pace. The sky changed from the normal colors of sunset to the dark blue of a night sky. He watched as the waning gibbous moon rose just as fast. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought that there was a dark blue glow around said celestial orb. He grinned at the sudden change from day to night, then looked back at Daenerys, only to see her purple eyes glowing slightly as they reflected in the moonlight. “Well, now it’s really time to go hooOOOOME!”

She turned in the air and flew straight back towards Griffonstone. The cloud cover returned, meaning the moonlight also vanished. Gregory clung more tightly to the saddle, gritting his teeth. “I hope you can see better than I can!” he shouted over the din, “because I’m trusting you!”

The flight back for him was a lot tenser than before due to his lack of being able to see anything other than the nighttime lights coming from Griffonville and Griffonstone. Ten or fifteen harrowing minutes later, he felt her lowering herself slowly towards a large house that was lit from within. As soon as she landed, he forced himself to relax, only to feel a pair of feathered arms wrapping around him and trying to pull him up. “Hold on, Gabby,” he said as he fumbled with the straps.

“Guess again,” a deep gravely voice said in his ear.

He turned to find himself staring into the glaring eyes of Gilda. “Gilda?? What are you-?”

“Just shut up and unstrap yourself, you dweeb,” she interrupted him.

Knowing she was being serious, he nodded and undid the straps. He was lifted up into the air by the griffoness and brought down to the ground. Once she let go, his legs gave out and he collapsed onto his ass, looking up at the stern face of the griffon. Her glare had only increased as she approached. “Hah…hah…what’s up? Did…hah…something happen?”

Grabbing him by his hoodie, she pulled him close so her beak was touching his nose. “You’ve been gone for a half hour, you fucking moron! Gabby was so worried she went flying after you!”

“Gregory!” a worried voice called from above. The two looked up to see Gabby flying down, looking fairly winded as she landed. Gilda let him go and shoved him aside, only for Gabby to tackle him. This sent the two tumbling onto the lawn, Gabby clinging to him. “Don’t scare me like that again!” she shouted, burying her face into his neck.

Gregory felt the poor griffoness trembling, so he held her close in his arms. Calming himself down, he took a few deep breaths and said, “I’m sorry, I lost track of time. It won’t happen again.”

He heard the door to his house open and a few others joining them. He felt a warm furry presence kneeling down next to him and he looked up into Starlight’s eyes. She looked more worried than she’d ever been. “You alright?” she asked, floating up a large glass of water to him.

“Just a bit winded,” he said as he took the water and gratefully drank. “Aaah…thank you, Starlight.”

“Dude, that drake is fast,” Smolder’s voice said from behind him. “She shot off like a bullet.”

The others came out and in their own unique way either asked if he was okay or berated him for being an idiot. He admitted that flying around on Daenerys for so long was a stupid thing to do, and promised everyone there that not only was he okay, but he would be more careful in the future. When he stood up after recovering, with Gabby still clinging to him, he walked back up to Daenerys who was watching the scene as she lay on the ground. She rose to her full height as he approached. He stopped and looked up at her glowing purple eyes. There was something in her expression that he hadn’t seen there before. Some kind of patient anticipation. As her tail curled around her, he said, “Daenerys? Is something wrong?”

Slowly, she leaned down, looking deep into my eyes, her own glowing slightly brighter. Gregory watched her with fascination as the world around him began to dim. Gabby clung tighter to him, but he put his hand over her claws. “Gregory?” she asked worriedly.

“It’s alright, you can let go,” he said, giving her claw a reassuring squeeze. Turning to her, he smiled. “I’ll be fine.”

Gabby looked up at Daenerys, then back at Gregory. She sighed, then climbed off of his back. He turned back to Daenerys, who locked him in her stare. He felt himself being wrapped up in her tail and lifted up so they were face to face. All he could hear now was her breathing, deep and rumbling. He looked deep into those eyes, barely blinking. They brightened more, and suddenly there was a bright blue flash. The sounds of the world came back to him just as Daenerys lowered him back down.

Confused, Gregory looked up at the drake, who by now was looking up at the sky longingly. After a few seconds he sighed, then walked over and pulled off the saddle, pulling it away. The moment it was off of her, Daenerys spread her wings and launched into the air, heading east.

Gregory looked back at Gabby, Gilda and the others, who were watching him expectantly. He bit his lower lip, then exhaled slowly. “Well…I don’t know about you all, but I could really use some sleep. That flight took a lot out of me.”

Gabby was immediately by his side. “You do look tired,” she said in understanding as she put a wing on his back. “Let’s go.”

“You’d better tell us all about what just happened tomorrow morning!” Garble said.

Gallus looked a bit concerned as well, but did his best not to show it. “Heh, I wanna hear it too.”

“Same here,” Gracie said, sounding curious.

“Sure, I’ll tell you guys all about it at breakfast,” he said.

Smolder and Garble both looked at each other, then back at Gregory. “Well, today’s been interesting,” Garble said, “but we should get back to the Groggery. My sister and I promised that we’d help with the post sunset rush.”

“Have a good rest of your night,” Gregory said as both dragons spread their wings and flew away. Looking back at his new housemates, he held up his hand and smiled. “I know you’re worried, but I’m fine. Like I said, I’m just tired. I’ll be alright after a good night’s sleep.”

“You’d better be,” Gilda said, “or you and I are gonna get physical.”

Despite how exhausted he was, he couldn’t help but give out one more zinger. “Why Gilly Suit, who knew you wanted to get into my pants that badly? You’re a naughty girl.”

She flipped him off, blushing a bit but smirking at him. “Just go to sleep before I strangle you.”

“Which head?” he retorted.

He turned around flipped the sputtering griffoness off as he and Gabby left the others and headed inside. The two walked up the stairs and headed into Gregory’s room. To his surprise, his fireplace had a roaring fire in it and the room was cozy warm. Too warm for the clothes he was wearing. He stripped off his jacket, boots, goggles and the thick jeans. He collapsed onto the soft bed, only to feel a presence climbing into bed beside him. Looking up, he saw a worried looking Gabby staring at him. “I’m really fine,” he said.

She shook her head and moved closer. “Please let me stay here tonight. Please? It’ll make me feel better.”

There was such a need in her eyes, a desperation, that Gregory hadn’t seen before. She looked like she was about to cry. He took a deep breath, exhaled, then nodded. “Just for tonight,” he said as he moved over to give her more room. “But I’m really fine.”

Gabby didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She’d passed out immediately after she’d said her peace. He watched the mail delivery griffoness sleeping. The worried look on her face was still there. Not liking to see her like that, he put his hand on her forehead and stroked her feathers. She visibly relaxed and curled up. Taking the covers, he put them over her. After brushing his teeth and changing into a pair of flannel pajama pants and a thin green and gray long sleeved shirt (both of which he’d gotten from Costco before arriving on Gaia), he climbed into bed, and closed his eyes, letting the exhaustion overwhelm him.

As he fell asleep, his last fading thought came in Emilia Clarke’s voice. “What kind of word is Dracarys anyway…?”

17: Steps Of Recollections

The Green Dragon, Moments After Rarity’s Outburst…

On the first step, Twilight Sparkle took in a sharp intake of breath. The human’s eyes had locked on her for that brief moment. In them, she saw no hostility or anger. Instead, she saw recognition. He knew who she was. In that moment, she recalled the moment when Sunset Shimmer had learned about what she’d done. That moment played out in her mind during that brief moment…

Two Months Prior, Palace of Friendship’s Library…

Twilight was sitting at a desk, looking over some of the latest requests from the Ponyville citizens. Currently, she was looking over a request from Berry Punch, the owner of Ponyville’s only, and former, bar. Even though ponies could get drunk very easily due to their low tolerance for alcohol, they still enjoyed their liquor. Berry’s talent was crafting low proof alcoholic beverages that ponies could enjoy without that alcohol taste. She herself had tried a few sips after she became an alicorn, especially since, according to Princess Celestia, an alicorn had higher tolerance than any other type of pony. Berry was requesting some supplies so she could create some liquor for other ponies to help them deal with the damage. And not just the physical damage.

She sighed. She didn’t want to endorse this kind of drinking, but ever since Jason had destroyed their town, alcohol consumption had gone up as a way for ponies to try and deal with the pain of loss, and in some cases, their guilt. Berry had placed this request a few times, and Twilight had rejected it each time. She decided to go and talk to the mare the next day about it.

Just as she was setting the paper down, she heard a low humming coming from Star Swirl’s Mirror Portal to the human world. She looked up to see the bright pink sparks flowing from the top where it moved along the wires to a wooden pump, which flowed the pink magic down more wires down, then up towards the top of the mirror. There was a flash of light, then the normally inactive mirror began swirling with magical power. A few moments later, an orange mare with red and yellow mane and tail came flying out. “Whoooaaa!” the familiar voice of Sunset Shimmer could be heard as she tumbled out and collapsed onto the hard but smooth marble floor.

Twilight was too stunned by her sudden appearance to say anything at first. She watched as Sunset stood up, shaking her head clear of the post portal dizziness that accompanied travel between the worlds. However, when Sunset had just recovered, she came out of her reverie and said, “Sunset…?”

The aforementioned unicorn locked onto her immediately, her eyes ablaze with what could only be fury. Raising a trembling hoof at the alicorn, Sunset growled, “YOU!” Twilight stepped back, alarmed by the sudden anger in the unicorn’s expression. No. This was utter revulsion she saw. Sunset immediately galloped towards the second time stunned alicorn. Twilight spread her wings instinctively in an attempt to fly away, but it was too late.

Sunset’s hooves crashed into the purple alicorn’s face, sending her flying towards the crystal wall. The next thing she knew, she had slammed into said wall, sending a crack along the crystal. She slid down the wall, wincing in pain. Slowly, she opened her eyes only to see a pair of cyan eyes filling her vision. Ones full of utter contempt. “Sunset…what-?”

“You shut the fuck up and listen to me, you worthless hypocrite,” the unicorn said in an even and menacing tone, “I know all about Jason Wright.”

Twilight’s blood ran cold at that. “How…?”

“I said SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Sunset bellowed, sending the alicorn tumbling back. Twilight felt a magical grip pull her up and slam her against the wall. “I know what you did to that human and what he did in return. And you fucking deserve it, you bitch!”

Spittle flew out of Sunset’s mouth and onto Twilight’s muzzle. “I’m sorr-”

“Save your pathetic lies,” Sunset growled. “Need I remind you that I’ve lived with humans for years?! Sure, they’re not perfect, and my new friends and I have had some difficult times! Remember the Anon-A-Miss incident?! Just what gives you the fucking right to just casually beat and abuse somebody because of what they are, huh?! You disgust me, Twilight Sparkle! And I don’t care that Discord gave you a nudge! He can frankly rot in Hell, Tartarus or wherever the damned go for all I fucking care! My Twilight would be a better princess than you, someone who didn’t even earn those wings!” She gave the wings a smack with her hooves before moving closer. “My Twilight treats her Spike so much better than I hear you treat yours,” she snarled. “You taught me the value of friendship and harmony once upon a time, and you casually turn your back on it?!” She shoved Twilight away, suddenly looking very tired. She took a few deep breaths, then looked back up at the alicorn. “I don’t want you contacting me or my friends ever again. If you do, I will ignore you. If something happens on our end, I will contact you, but only as a last resort.” Her glare returned. “Is that understood, Sparkle?”

Twilight could hear the utter derision in her voice. All she could do was nod and say, “…Yes…”

“Good. Now goodbye.” Turning away, Sunset walked over to the mirror.

Twilight reached out weakly, trembling as fresh tears fell from her eyes, the pit in her stomach only getting deeper. “Sunset, I-”

“Save it,” Sunset said. “Goodbye, Princess Sparkle. Tell your friends and that worthless Princess they’re all failures!” With a flick of her tail, Sunset passed back through the portal to the human world.

Twilight would later learn that Spike had accidentally began writing his inner thoughts in the journal between worlds without realizing it, and when Sunset learned about it, she got the young dragon to spill the beans. Twilight actually had given the journal to Spike afterwards so he could keep in contact with the others if he wanted.

That had been the last time she’d seen or talked to Sunset…

Back In The Present…

On the second step, Gregory’s eyes landed on Celestia. The look in the human’s eyes changed from recognition to one of wonder and excitement.

The same look that had been on Jason’s face the first time she had bumped into him in Canterlot that fateful day five years ago…

Canterlot, Five Years Ago…

Celestia was sitting on her carriage which was being drawn by two strong earth pony stallions. It was a magnificently gorgeous day. The sky was a brilliant blue without a single cloud in the sky. She waved at the crowds of ponies on the sides of the streets who would stop and bow to her, her regal smile never leaving her face. As nice as it was to see her little ponies enjoying the warm spring day, a small part of her was tired of the same old routine. She was craving adventure, like the ones her faithful student and her five friends seemed to have on an almost weekly basis.

Well, weekly basis was somewhat of an exaggeration, but it did seem like that. Now Celestia wasn’t really a religious type, but even so, she sent up a half joking prayer to the Maker for some kind of excitement to happen to her, at least.

The Maker must have heard her prayer, because only five minutes later, she felt a massive surge of magic unlike anything she’d ever felt before. She turned her head to the east. The magic had come from just outside Canterlot. Almost near the main entrance.

Ignoring the startled cries of the guards who were pulling her carriage, she spread her magnificent alabaster wings and flew directly towards said magic. It took her about ten minutes to find the spot where the magic had originated from, and by then it had nearly dissipated to a fraction of the power. The magic was unfamiliar to her, too, and she’d seen rare types of magic. However, what she did find was a trail of magic heading into the city, presumably a trail left by whatever type of creature did this.

The trail was so thin and hard to follow even for her that it took her a while. However, her patience eventually bore fruit and she practically stumbled onto the creature. One of myth.

She gaped at the wide eyed and smiling human who had just turned a corner and nearly collided with the alicorn monarch.

“Oh damn! I’m sorry!” the human said, backing away and smiling a bit nervously, scratching the back of his head for emphasis. “I didn’t meant to bump into you.”

Quickly recovering, Celestia regained her regal calm and smiled warmly down at the mythical creature. “It’s quite alright, there’s no harm done,” she said. Noting the way he was looking around at everything like a foal in a candy store, she couldn’t help but inwardly giggle. “Are you lost?”

“Lost in wonder,” the human admitted. “I haven’t seen anything so beautiful in my life.” Then he smirked. “Then again, I’m from New Jersey.”

Having no idea what that meant, Celestia assumed it was some inside joke about his place of origin. “Well, I’m glad you are enjoying my city,” she said. “It’s really a marvelous sight to behold.”

“You can say that again,” the human said.

Celestia smirked. “It’s really a marvelous sight to behold.”

The human laughed hard, gaining the attention of a few curious and wary looking ponies from nearby. “Oh man…that’s the oldest joke in the book!”

Celestia gave him an impish grin, then cleared her throat. Turning to the ponies watching, she held up a hoof. “Be at ease, my little ponies. There is no danger here.”

“Yeah, I’m as harmless as they come,” the human said.

“Be that as it may,” Celestia said in a lower voice, “I would like for you to accompany me to Canterlot Palace.” She leaned closer and whispered, “How good are you with teleporting?” A look of worry appeared on his face, and that was all the answer Celestia needed. She stood up. “Walk with me, mister…?”

The human smacked his head. “I’m sorry, where are my manners?? I’m Jason Wright. Nice to meet you!”

Celestia smiled. “The pleasure is mine, Mr. Wright. I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria.”

Jason’s smile had only gotten bigger. “Today must be my lucky day, then!”

Celestia had taken him back to the palace where she’d spoken with the mythical creature for at least an hour. She learned that he’d left everything behind to come see Equestria, which in his world was only a myth itself. The irony wasn’t lost on her when he explained that, where he was from, unicorns, pegasi and alicorns were considered myths. She’d thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, learning from him about how he’d found out about Equestria. It amazed her that humans had created a form of fiction that perfectly matched the adventures of her faithful student and her friends, but the human knew things that he couldn’t possibly have known. As fascinating as it was to hear all of this, matters of state were unfortunately pressing. Celestia offered to put him up for a little while in order for him to become accustomed to his new home, but the eager Jason had expressed a desire to visit Ponyville. Not wanting his enthusiasm to damper, she’d given him enough bits to find an inn in the city along with a train ticket to the little town, which he’d accepted gratefully.

It was her greatest mistake, as not long after Discord had cast the low level spell on her that amped up her own negative instincts just slightly. Instincts that had made her forget about Jason Wright until about three months ago.

Back In The Present…

On the third step, Gregory’s eyes locked onto Applejack’s own. She could see the excitement and recognition quickly turn to confusion. She had to admit, seeing him look at her for the first time brought back hard memories for her…

Just After Jason Wright’s Suicide Attempt…

“Come back! Wait please!” Applejack galloped through the Everfree Forest after the strange creature that had, mere seconds ago, tried to kill itself. About ten minutes ago, she’d gone to her barn to get her rope to practice her rodeo skills, but found it missing. When she saw familiar hoofprints on the ground near it, she’d gotten angry. That creature from the Everfree Forest must have snuck in and taken her rope! She’d grabbed her spare and followed the creature’s tracks. She’d found it in the Everfree Forest a few steps from Fluttershy’s cottage. To her horror and utter confusion, it was about to commit suicide.

Acting quickly, she’d caught the creature before it fell and snapped its neck. The two locked eyes. She could see a haunted and lifeless expression in its eyes. Her mind was racing at that, but all she could get out was “Why?”

The words it-no, he-had spoken had struck a chord with the earth pony mare. Had this creature really been living so poorly as to have been eating out of garbage? Bathing in a dirty lake? “Ah ain’t mad ‘bout the rope, honest!” she called out as she continued chasing the strange bipedal creature. Broken branches swayed slightly, indicating something had struck them recently. She caught a glimpse of the creature through the trees, only now he was farther away. “Please come back!” she shouted again.

Tripping over a branch, she tumbled over and hit the ground hard, faceplanting into the dirt and aggravating the already stinging eyes where the creature had thrown dust into it to mask his escape. She groaned as she got up as quickly as she could and continued running after him. “Wait fer me! Ah can git ya some vittles! Would ya like that? Please come baaack!”

She hit another root and fell, hard this time. Unlike last time, her Stetson came tumbling off. Things went gray suddenly, then she blacked out.

When she woke next, she was in Fluttershy’s house, lying in a soft comfortable bed. Her mane was a mess and her hat was hanging on a nail next to the bed. The aforementioned pegasus was sitting on a stool next to the bed, looking with worry at Applejack. “You’re finally awake,” she said with relief.

Applejack groaned as she sat up, or tried to. “Nnng…what…?”

Fluttershy pushed her down. “No, you need to rest,” she said. “You hurt your head pretty bad. I didn’t want to take you to the hospital before I was sure you were alright.”

Applejack reached up and touched her head. She felt a bandage and winced at the pain that shot through her head. “What happened?” she asked.

“That’s what I was going to ask you,” Fluttershy said. “A few of my animal friends found you unconscious in the Everfree Forest. What in the Maker’s name were you thinking going in there alone?”

“Ah was-” Applejack stopped, then tilted her head. Why had she gone into the Everfree Forest. She couldn’t remember now. She felt like she was chasing somecreature. Maybe chasing them away? But why had she gone so far? She frowned. “Ah…Ah don’t remember, now,” she said.

“Oh dear, I was afraid of that,” Fluttershy said worriedly. “You did hit your head pretty hard. What’s the last thing you remember?”

Applejack thought back through her day. “Ah was headin’ tah the barn tah get mah rope, then ah saw it was gone. Everythin’ is a bit fuzzy after that. How long was I out?”

“Only a couple of hours,” Fluttershy said. “Harry found this near where you collapsed.” She handed Applejack her spare rope along with the remains of her main rope, one end tied in a loop and the other end snapped in half, like somepony had been pulling on it and it just snapped. “This was all he could find. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, sugarcube,” Applejack said as she took the rope and examined it carefully. No matter how hard she stared, she couldn’t remember the past few hours. Sighing, she put the ropes down on the bed. “Well, ah guess if it’s anythin’ important, ah’ll remember.”

Life had gone on for Applejack, and the lost bits of memory were pretty much forgotten. She hadn’t lost anything important, at least, she didn’t think so. However, during Jason’s invasion, she’d remembered all too well the moment Discord’s spell on her had been lifted. Right in that courtroom. When she had seen the scars on Jason’s body. It had all come crashing back to her.

And it was what broke her…

Back In The Present…

On the fourth step, Gregory looked at Pinkamena Diane Pie. His confused look turned into immediate concern. Pinkamena looked away, not wanting to look the new human in the face. Not after her actions caused an innocent creature to be tormented for three years. Living in that cave…

During Pinkamena’s Trip Back To Her Farm One Month After Jason’s Invasion…

The Everfree Forest was silent that day. Not a bird could be heard from the treetops, and there wasn’t a breath of wind. The sunlight didn’t even manage to break through the canopy, leaving the world around the traveling former party earth pony a dull gray. All the sound that could be heard was the soft clopping of hooves on the ground.

Pinkamena had just left Ponyville to spend some time back at her old home with her family. Her parents had contacted her a couple of weeks after Jason’s invasion and had said that any time she wanted to come back home, their door was always open. Well, earlier that day, she’d prepared a party. A Welcome to Ponyville party for one Jason Wright, the human who she, her friends and the entire town had shunned for the express crime of being different. When she realized fully what she had done, it had nearly broken her. Nearly because she really wanted to try and make things right with him. And the only way she knew how was to invite him back to a party.

Pinkie Pie had pulled out all the stops, well, as many as she could considering the fact that her party planning room was now a pile of ash.

Her former friends had even come as had a number of other ponies. Roseluck and her two friends had arrived as well as the ponies who had been in Canterlot during Jason’s broadcast. The rest had actively avoided the temporary party venue, and some, like Spoiled Rich, had even mocked the party, calling it a farce.

All that day, Pinkie had watched the horizon, waiting for the human to show up. The party was funded by Princess Celestia herself, who had actually showed up along with Luna, the latter of who hoped to meet the human as well.

The morning turned to noon. Then turned to afternoon. Then turned to evening. When the sun set beneath the horizon, the little hopeful spring that had bene in Pinkie’s mane instantly deflated, leaving only Pinkamena. She spent the entire night cleaning up the party venue on her own. After sleeping through the entire day, she’d packed up what little belongings she had, including her party cannon which had surprisingly been spared, and left Ponyville. She’d left a note, of course, Pinkie Promising that she’d be back and that this wasn’t goodbye.

She was so lost in thought that she nearly missed the large cave that stuck out in the forest like a sore hoof.

She stopped, putting her belongings down, then looked in carefully. The entrance was dark, and opened like a wide mouth to swallow up its victim. Of course, much like the trees she’d laughed at during Nightmare Moon’s return, she knew this was just a cave. Not some monster.

Like a moth dragged to a flame, however, she walked in, turning on a flashlight and looking around. The cave was cold, damp and had some bioluminescent mushrooms everywhere. As she walked around, she stepped on something. Looking down, she gasped when she saw a very rotten and old brown shoe and a faded red piece of cloth. Looking around, she saw a few other piles of rotten clothes, most looking like they’d been gnawed at by rats or other critters. She knew some of them had belonged to Rarity at one point, judging from their shape.

She whimpered and walked slowly over to the pile of clothes, carefully lying down on top of them. It was damp, scratchy and extremely uncomfortable. She remembered that Jason didn’t have any kind of fur like she did, and the few times she had seen him, his clothes had been reduced to tatters. His skin couldn’t have been as protective as fur.

And if he’d been reduced to eating these mushrooms and even garbage…

A sudden idea came to her. Standing up, she walked out of the cave. She rummaged angrily through her belongings, pulling out the few food items she’d brought with her. Baking powder, flour, sugar, eggs and more she scattered onto the ground until her food was all gone, leaving the immediate area looking like a winter wonderland.

She sat down, covered in the powder and sobbing hard. She didn’t deserve the title Bearer of Element of Laughter. She took away someone’s smile. The same someone who had starved for years alone.

Then a twisted idea came into her mind. An idea on how to punish herself. She looked down at her hoof, tears still streaming down her cheeks. She closed her eyes. She didn’t deserve that big breakfast she’d had before leaving.

Opening her mouth, she moved her hoof towards it, sticking it down her throat…

Back To The Present…

On the fifth step, Gregory’s eyes latched onto Fluttershy. However, the butter colored pegasus didn’t see his look of worry turn to fear. Fear for her. However, Fluttershy just couldn’t face the new human. She was too ashamed of her own behavior.

She could only remember the many times she had failed him. The times she’d failed Jason Wright.

The first time she’d seen him, her abject fear had made her faint. Every time afterwards, she’d either run and hide from him. She’d never felt fear like that in her life, and all she could do for the next few hours after seeing Jason was hide under her bed until the shaking stopped. Even knowing what that monster Discord had done to her and her former friends didn’t make it any less horrible what she’d done. She might not have raised a hoof against Jason, but lack of action was just as bad or even worse than what other ponies had done to him physically.

On the sixth step, Rainbow Dash saw Gregory look at her. Those blue eyes of his were full of questions, it seemed. Questions she really didn’t want to answer, but knew she had to. As she stared at the unmarred human’s face, she recalled every time that she’d seen Jason come into town with crystal clarity.

She looked away, revolted by herself. She’d laughed at his suffering, and had even called it practice when she perfected her aim with pinpoint precision. She even remembered one rainy autumn afternoon where she’d thrown down bolts onto him when she found him rummaging through a garbage can. She’d thrown down bolt after bolt to make him dance before he’d run back to the Everfree Forest. The guilt continued eating away at her and the presence of an unmarred human only drove the knife deeper into her heart.

She wanted to reach around and tear her wings out even more now. She didn’t deserve them. Nopony like her did.

On the seven step, Rarity saw the human look at her. His expression returned to confusion, especially when Rarity glared back at him. She stuck her nose in the air, nearly falling onto her back as she did so. She was caught by Celestia’s magic and her mouth clamped shut by said alicorn.

He stopped in front of the group of ponies, or rather, he stopped right beside Spike. The young dragon looked up at Gregory with a mixture of worry and anticipation. He didn’t want a fight to break out, but he had no idea what a drunk Rarity would be like. He knew she’d just cursed, since he knew all the important curse words, but if the normally posh and refined mare could stoop so low as to use uncouth language, what else could she be capable of? Not exactly knowing why he did so, Spike stood and stood beside the human.

The entire bar was silent as all eyes were on him and the ponies in the hidden corner booth. The only noise audible was the sound of the roaring fire in the fireplace. Nobody spoke for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally, however, Gregory opened his mouth, a genuine question on his lips and in his eyes. “I'm sorry, I must have misheard you. Could you repeat that?”

Author's Note

Whaaaat?? Another chapter in less than a week? What is this sorcery!?

18: First Meetings

Gregory had been having a magnificent day so far. He’d woken up early to I Have A Dream by ABBA, and hadn’t felt tired. In fact, he’d felt quite rested and refreshed. He’d gone downstairs only to find Starlight making breakfast for everyone in the house. She, too, looked as excited as he felt. And just as nervous. Today was the day they’d been planning for ever since he’d proposed it at Thanksgiving about three weeks prior. The inclusion of non-griffons into Griffonian society.

When he’d brought it up at the next council meeting he’d attended, the other members had raised some valid questions about how it would be implemented, and the potential ramifications that a multi-racial country might endure. Gregory had gone through each question with them that day, and they came up with a first draft for a new law that would allow for the inclusion of brand new races into the country. He wasn’t sure why, but Gregory felt more passionate about this than he had about anything else. Perhaps it was because he, too, was a new citizen of Griffonia and had seen what the country itself could offer.

About a week of hard thinking and many discussions (some of which became heated before Gregory and/or Gwendolyn stepped in to calm everyone down), a brand new law was put into place. On December 8th, the council unanimously passed the All-Inclusion Act, giving any creature who desired to live in the rapidly improving empire a chance to do so as long as they lived in accordance with the laws of the nation and common decency. It was also on that day that Gregory had, upon the prodding of his new housemates, accepted the role of Chancellor. It had taken a good number of sleepless nights and long talks, especially with Gabby since he found conversation with her to be incredibly rewarding and calming, but thanks to that and the words of the other council members, he became a full time member of the Imperial Council and the chancellor.

His boss at his first job had been sorry to see him go, but Gregory made sure to train a few other jobless griffons to replace him. There’d been a joke going around the mail station that it took three griffons to take his place, but he quickly squashed those rumors, not really feeling comfortable with griffons being compared to someone else. He’d even gotten Gallus a job at that place since the young griffon had wanted to save up some money for his continued dates with Gia.

Surprisingly, it was Geoffrey who proposed the festival on the eighteenth of December to celebrate the inclusion of new members of Griffonian society. By this time, Gregory had already asked individuals like Zecora, Starlight, Garble and Smolder if they wished to become full blown citizens. The latter two, who now were running one of the most successful bars in the city, accepted, but only if they could be dual citizens with Griffonia and the Dragon Lands. The council had agreed to this, of course. Zecora and Starlight were agreeable to the idea as well, and Starlight had actually requested full citizenship, since she didn’t want to be an Equestrian citizen after what had happened to her there. Gregory was hesitant to accept this and had a few discussions with her, encouraging her not to judge an entire nation based off of one town. However, she was insistent, and finally he agreed.

It also came to pass during those last three or so weeks that the city of Griffonstone began accepting refugees from Equestria, and specifically from Ponyville. Gregory had seen a few ponies he recognized from the fandom, such as Roseluck, Time Turner (the two of whom he eventually found out were together), Daisy, Lily Valley, and even Sassy Saddles. The first meeting between him and some of these ponies was rather unusual. There had been a flash of guilt on their faces at first. However, Gregory tried putting them at their ease by welcoming them to Griffonstone in as friendly a manner as possible. The ponies had actually warmed up to him rather fast after that, and it seemed they went out of their way to be friendly to him.

The council commissioned temporary shelters be made for the influx of not only ponies, but dragons who wanted to find new opportunities in the constantly growing city. Gregory had heard rumors that the three flower mares had gotten jobs at a local flower shop run by a griffon named Garter, Sassy had become a manager at Elegant Emporium, and many other ponies had actually found greener pastures for themselves down in Griffonville. The ponies had been granted emergency country passes until their application for citizenship, which many of the ponies had wished for, went through.

After his breakfast with his friends, Gregory had gone back upstairs and gotten dressed. After dressing, he’d gone out and walked around the venue for the speech he’d been asked to give, making sure everyone was doing well with the setup. With the reassurances that everything was going fine, he’d gone back home, ate a quick lunch, then grabbed the suit that he’d be giving his speech in. Said suit had been personally created by Garter, the owner of Elegant Emporium. He had to admit, he doubted that even Rarity could have made a better garment, but when he eventually met her, he would gladly commission some clothes from her. A half hour before the speech, he changed clothes then sat behind the curtain facing the ever growing audience.

After the speech, and the surprising kiss from Gabby, Gregory had found the need to go out drinking with his friends. After dressing back in his more casual clothes and dropping his suit off back home, he and his friends went straight for The Green Dragon. Which itself led to his unexpected first encounter with the ponies he’d traversed an entire universe to see.

Gregory had been having a good day up to that point. Emphasis on had, because the moment he saw the state each pony was in, he could tell immediately that something was wrong. Very little could cause the poof in Pinkie’s mane to go away, he knew, and the varied looks of guilt confused and worried him. Also, the fact that Spike was sitting away from them and that Gracie and Zecora were glaring at the ponies sent off alarm bells in his head.

That, and Rarity’s unexpected swearing.

The entire tavern was silent, watching with bated breath as the question hung in the air. The question that everyone knew the answer to since the pony’s voice had been loud enough to break through the chatter and merriment.

Unsurprisingly, at least to Gregory, it was the princess herself who answered. “Please forgive Miss Belle here,” she said in that very same gentle voice, “she’s had a few too many to drink.”

Gregory looked back at the aforementioned unicorn, and saw her cheeks flushed and her mane frazzled even more than he’d normally seen it on the show. There was a magical glow around her mouth to keep her from speaking. But the glare in those eyes was unmistakable. He shuddered at the hatred and anger there, something he hadn’t even expected from Rarity. Then again, he had to reason that she was pretty plastered, so he turned back to Celestia. “Understandable,” he said in a calm tone. “I’d try and keep it down, though. Today’s a celebration, and the people here probably want to enjoy their day.”

“It won’t happen again, I promise,” Celestia said, giving a warning glare towards the wasted unicorn mare.

Instantly, Gracie was by Gregory’s right side, looking angrily at the mane six. “Chancellor Graystone, I think it’s a good idea to kick them out,” she snarled.

The ponies flinched at the harsh tone, and Gregory looked at the young female with astonishment. He knew she had beef with ponies, but every time he’d asked her why, she would always be very vague about it. The most he’d gotten out of her was that they’d hurt her in the past. “Gracie, I’m not gonna do that,” he said. “As far as I’ve heard, they haven’t broken any laws. They’re free to be in our country.”

“As much as I despise the ponies here, I must agree and to my morals adhere,” Zecora said, walking up to Gregory’s left side, not taking her eyes off of the ponies in question.

This wasn’t new to Gregory either. Ever since ponies, the majority from Ponyville, had been making homes for themselves in Griffonville, his zebra friend had been making herself scarcer in the town. Much like Gracie, she’d been silent about her sudden reversal towards her feelings to the ponies. At some times, though, after their talk about ponies would end, he’d catch her looking down at a small scar located near her stomach. It was hardly visible, but Gregory had managed to catch it. He put a hand on Gracie’s back. “Just calm down, okay?” he said, looking down at the tense teen. “Here.” He reached into his coin purse, then handed her a few bits. “Go grab some of that tea that Smolder brews so well. It should help calm you down.”

Gracie looked up at him, her eyes narrowed and angry still, but Gallus came up and quickly grabbed the angry one. “I’ll take her,” he volunteered.

“Thanks, Gallus,” Gregory said gratefully. As the young griffon gently pulled Gracie towards the bar, he turned back to the crowd. Holding up his hands, he smiled and said, “Go back to your drinks, everyone! It was just a slip of the tongue.”

The tension in the air abated, and the crowd turned away. Soon the conversations had begun again, filling the bar with the pleasant background chatter he’d come to associate with a good time. By this time, Gilda and Gabby, the latter of whom was riding on his back as per the new usual, had joined him. Turning back to the ponies, he grabbed the extra chair at Spike’s table and sat down backwards on it, facing them. Zecora stood beside him, not taking her eyes off of said ponies. “So, I think some introductions are in order,” he said. “I’m Gregory Graystone, Chancellor of the Griffonian Imperial Council. But you can just call me Gregory. I’m not one for titles,” he added with a sheepish grin.

Celestia nodded towards him politely enough, but there was something in her eyes that he didn’t miss. A hidden look of guilt as well. Ever since his first flight with Daenerys, he’d noticed that his vision seemed to have gotten slightly better. He wasn’t sure why, though, and he’d been too busy with work and the rebuilding to look into it. “I am Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria,” she said. “And these are the Elements of Harmony.”

Gregory watched as she went down the line, introducing them all. Out of all the ponies, only two even gave him a look, those being Twilight and Applejack. The others did nod his way, but never looked at him.

“And I’m Spike!” Spike said from beside Gregory before Celestia could introduce him.

Gregory turned to the young dragon. Unlike how he’d appeared in the show, Gregory found that the young dragon before him was slightly taller, leaner and had less of the baby pudge than he’d had in the show. Gregory held out his hand and shook the young drake’s claw. “Nice to meet you, Mister Spike,” he said, then turned to the others. “I’ve heard of you all before, and I’ve gotta say, I’m really glad to see you. May I ask what brings you all the way to our fair city?”

The ponies looked at each other briefly before Twilight turned to him, her big purple eyes focused on his. “We, um, were called here to solve a friendship problem,” she said.

Gregory raised an eyebrow, acting confused. “Wait, a friendship problem? What do you mean?” he asked.

“It would take a while to explain,” Celestia admitted, “but back in Equestria, we have a device called a Cutie Map. It can detect problems across the land regarding friendship and can choose certain ponies to go and attempt to solve said problem. And for some reason, the Cutie Map called everyone here.”

Now that surprised him. The only time the Cutie Map had ever involved Spike was when he accidentally invited Dragon Lord Ember and King Thorax to Ponyville on the same day. “Hmm, a friendship problem, you say?” Gregory looked up at Gabby. “Gabby, you’re a mail delivery griffon. You’ve been around. Do you know of any type of problem involving that around here?”

She quickly shook her head. “Nothing that I know of!”

Gregory turned and looked at Gilda, who was looking at Rainbow Dash with a confused look in her eyes. “Gilda? What about you? You get around town. Have you heard anything?”

Gilda jumped a bit at being addressed, then turned back to Gregory. “Um…not really,” she said. “Everygriffon’s been more or less happy and content.”

Not really wanting to, but wanting to cover all of his bases, he looked over at Zecora. “And you, Zecora? Is there anything friendship related that you know of that could be an issue?”

“The only issue I see here is seeing all these pony mares,” Zecora said. The hostility in her voice was not as intense as it had been previously, but it was still there.

Gregory had been patient. He’d wanted to gain Zecora’s trust a bit more before he could find the reason for her hostility towards ponies. Had something happened to her back in Ponyville? Had the events of the first episode involving her not even happened and she’d gotten fed up and left? It was time to find out, he knew. Looking back at Gabby, he said, “Mind getting off me for a second? I need to talk to Zecora for a bit.” Gabby saw the look in his eyes, and nodded as she got off. He stood up from his seat, looked down at Zecora and pointed with his thumb to the door. “Could I speak with you outside?” Turning back to the now nervous looking ponies, he gave them an apologetic smile. “Please excuse me, I’ll be right back.” He turned and headed to the door, Zecora following close behind him. Once they were outside, he whirled on her and got lower so that he was at eye level with the zebra. “Zecora, you’re my friend, and I like spending time with you. Your stories about Zebrica are fascinating and you have a really fun sense of humor. You’re smarter and wiser than most other beings your age, and I respect you as an individual. But I’ve noticed your behavior towards ponies. You’ve been actively avoiding them. Now pardon my language, but what the fuck?!”

“You do not know their crimes. The list is long and without rhyme,” Zecora said with bitterness in her voice.

That gave Gregory pause. “Crimes? This is news to me,” he said. “What do you mean?”

Zecora frowned, then looked directly at him. Then, to his utter surprise, she dropped her rhyming means of talk. “Five years ago, another human arrived in Equestria. His name was Jason Wright. He arrived in Ponyville and was immediately shunned and hated by the ponies. Every pony in Ponyville ignored him, shunned him, he was beaten and starved and forced to live in a cave! I’ve seen the cave, Gregory! It is no place for anycreature to live comfortably! He suffered at the hooves of those ponies who claim to represent harmony the most!” She pointed back at the door to The Green Dragon, presumably indicating the Mane Six. “Now, if that had been it, I would not be as angry as I am now! You want to know why I’ve avoided them as much as I have?! Look here!” She pointed at the scar Gregory had noticed before. “I was bucked in the chest multiple times by three ponies a week after Jason’s invasion! Three separate times! I barely made it home each time!”

Gregory’s eyes went wide. He knew about Starlight’s own experience in Our Town and that it was pretty violent, but he’d always assumed it was an isolated incident. And she was a pony. He knelt and put his hand on Zecora’s withers, trying to calm her down. “Zecora, did you see the details of who attacked you? The leader of the ponies is only a few feet away from us, and I’m positive that once she hears your story, she’ll search for these ponies and bring them to justice.”

Zecora took a few deep breaths, and he felt her calm down. She looked up at him and gave him a grateful smile. “Forgive me for flying off the handle, I do not handle abuse very well,” she said. “For years I was ignored and ponies hid and forsook me, not even to come out and enjoy the scenery. To know that he was so near to my aid, it brings me anger and shame, I’m afraid.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow. “Zecora, if what you’re telling me about Jason is true, and I’m not calling you a liar, then you can’t blame yourself for it. You didn’t know.” However, under the assurances, Gregory’s mind was reeling from this new source of information. Had this really happened? Had Jason really come and been abused by Ponyville so badly? Was that the reason why the ponies he knew from Ponyville were being so nice to him now? Because they were afraid of him? He swallowed his conflicted feelings to deal with later. He needed to find out if this new information was true or not.

“Surprisingly enough, that doesn’t assist me in my feelings of listlessness,” Zecora replied with a sigh as her ears flattened and her head lowered.

Gregory wrapped her in a hug immediately. His own feelings on this revelation aside, it hurt so much for him to see Zecora like this. “Do you want to go home for the day?” he asked. “You look like you could use some time to yourself to calm down.”

Zecora nuzzled his face gratefully, and replied, “My feelings towards them are under control, but I believe I will take a little stroll.” She pulled away and nodded at him gratefully.

“Sure, do what you need to do,” he said as he stood and looked back at the closed tavern door. “I need to see a princess about a few ponies,” he added with a stern countenance. Zecora gave him a grateful look, then turned and headed down the street towards the main festival thoroughfare. Gregory turned, and walked back into the tavern, made his way back to the spot where the Equestrian visitors were, turned the seat around, and sat properly in it this time. He sat up straighter, making his facial expression go neutral and locked eyes with Celestia, who to his surprise flinched a little bit. He took a deep breath, then spoke. “Princess Celestia, I have just received information from Zecora. Some information that is best spoken of in private.”

Her ears flattened but to her credit she didn’t look away from him. “If it’s about what I think it’s about, yes. We need to talk about it in private.”

“I’ll save you the trouble,” Rainbow Dash unexpectedly said from her spot. “If it’s about Jason Wright, then whatever Zecora told you was right. We hurt him really badly. For three years. He nearly ended his own life because of it.”

Gregory’s heart sank at hearing this from the prismatic pegasus mare. A part of him had hoped that Zecora had heard about that part wrongly, and the part about ending his own life? That was new to him. He held up a hand. “I’d prefer it if we discussed this elsewhere. Not here. Griffonstone is celebrating, and I’d prefer they enjoy the day for the entire day.” Standing slowly, he gestured to the entire table. “Would you all please follow me? I’ll take you all to my house so we can discuss this in private.”

“Can…can we at least put Rarity to bed first?” Twilight Sparkle, whose face looked even more downcast than before, asked as she looked pleadingly up at Gregory.

Gregory looked at the purple maned unicorn, who now was passed out with her head in an undignified heap on the table, snoring heavily. He nodded. “Of course. Do what you need to do.”

Twilight nodded, raised her horn, and the two vanished in a bright flash of purple light. Immediately, a presence made itself known next to Gregory. Looking down, he saw Starlight Glimmer looking at the now empty spots where Twilight and Rarity had both been with surprise. “I have got to learn how to teleport,” she said.

Gregory smiled. “What? Flying on Daenerys wasn’t good enough for you?” he asked.

Starlight looked at him and shuddered. “That saddle is not made for ponies! I almost fell off three times!”

“She’s apologized multiple times,” Gregory said. “You know her. She’s a show off. Anyway, I’ve got some business to take care of with our guests here, so I’ll be taking them back to the house.”

“Are you coming back?” Starlight asked. “Everyone here was looking forward to seeing you beat your arm wrestling record with Gilda,” she added.

Gregory smirked. “We’ll see. Just let them know something urgent came up if I don’t come back,” he said.

Starlight nodded, then after giving the ponies at the table a quick glance, headed back to the bar. Celestia looked curiously at the pony in question, then back at Gregory. “Are you friends with that pony?” she asked.

Gregory nodded. “Been friends with her for over a month,” he said.

“You going somewhere, Gregory?” Gabby asked, once more wrapping her arms around him and clinging to his waist with her hind legs. He even felt her tail wrap around his midsection as she leaned over his shoulder.

“Yeah, home for a bit,” he said as Twilight reappeared in a flash of teleportation. “I’ve got some things to discuss with these ponies and this dragon here,” he added. “You and the others can stay here and enjoy the festivities if you want.” Leaning closer, he whispered, “Depending on how this conversation goes, I might get really angry, and you don’t want to see that.”

Gabby’s expression became more serious and she leaned back and whispered, “Want me to come with you?”

Gregory shook his head. "No, stay here. Have some fun. I'll try and be back as fast as I can, but if I'm not, don't worry, okay?"

"That'll only make me worry more," she replied.

He reached up and stroked her feathers. "I'll be alright. I have Daenerys with me in case something happens, but with them? I don't think anything will happen."

She bit her lower beak, then climbed off of him. "If you say so..." She looked deep into his eyes, then leaned in and kissed his cheek gently. “Then you be safe, okay?”

Gregory blushed a bit at this sudden display of affection. He had a strong suspicion that he knew what it meant, but there hadn’t been time after her first kiss on that stage for him to talk to her in private about it. He promised himself that he’d discuss the future of whatever relationship they developed going forward at some point that day. But business came before pleasure. He stroked the wings of the griffoness who he’d grown extremely fond of. Hell, he might even have feelings for her, if his dreams about her were any indication. “I’ll be safe. Tell Gilda I’ll be back to break my record and take more of her money, will you?” Turning to the bar, he waved at Smolder. “Smol dragon girl! Save me a mug or three, would you?? Something just came up and I need to go back home for a while!”

Smolder looked over at him and flipped him off, but grinned at the same time. “Fine, I’ll tell these thirsty folks to go easy on the sauce!”

He reached into his pocket, pulled out the same coin purse as before, and tossed it to her. “Here! Tell these great griffonians here that the next round is on me! I’ll try and be back soon!”

This brought in a large cheer from the crowd as he waved at them, putting on a winning smile. Of course, the last thing he wanted to do was smile. Especially if what he’d been hearing was true. As he headed towards the door, a claw grabbed his arm. Turning, he saw Gilda looking at him with a look of concern. Well, as close of a look of concern as she could muster. “Going somewhere, Greggy?”

Gregory sighed and explained what was happening. "And no, I don't need anyone coming with me," he said before Gilda could say anything else.

She crossed her arms. "Fine. You get your sorry ass back here as fast as you can, hear me?"

"Loud and clear. Gilligan's Island," he grinned.

She glared. "Stop with the references I don't get!"

"Then watch the shows I have and you'll get them," he laughed as she turned away, flipping him off as she did.

Gregory smiled. “No, stay here and enjoy yourself, Gilly. I’ll try and be back soon.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I’m sure.”

"You'd better." And with that, she turned and headed back to the bar where Gabby was now sitting and talking to Garble and a few other griffons.

Turning back to the ponies and Spike, he leaned his head towards the door. “Follow me, everyone,” he said with as even of a voice as he could muster. “We’ll talk at my place. I imagine we have a lot we need to discuss.” He walked towards the door, opened it and held it open for everyone. He received various mutterings of Thank You from them and an enthusiastic and grateful one from Spike before he followed them out and shut the door. Heading to the front, he motioned for them to follow. “Come along, everyone. I’ll show you to my house.” So saying, he turned and walked down the road.

At The Golden Wing Gate, Minutes Later…

“Welcome to Griffonstone, you three!” the griffon guard said with a welcoming grin to the three unicorns who stepped off of the gondola. “What brings you folks here?”

The first pony, a dark crimson unicorn stallion with a black mane and fiery red eyes, resisted the urge to glare at the griffon. Instead, he said, with a smile plastered over his face, “Just paying a visit here. My companions and I desperately needed some time away.”

The second pony, a dark yellow unicorn mare with a reddish-white mane and tail and orange eyes, nodded in agreement. “Just needed a vacation,” she said in a deep feminine voice.

“Although, now that we’re here, perhaps we can do a story on what’s going on here. My companions and I are reporters for one of Canterlot’s major papers,” the stallion said.

The third pony, a dark blue unicorn mare with a cloudy gray mane and tail and dark green eyes, just nodded in agreement. The griffon guard chuckled. “Well, you’re in good company here, then! You aren’t the only ponies I’ve seen coming through here today in need of a vacation. Some are full blown citizens today, who’d have thought, huh?”

The stallion, named Dusky Heart, inwardly shuddered, but didn’t let it show. “Indeed? That is news to me. I’d have never guessed something like that would have happened,” he said with an interested smile. He pulled out a pencil and a clipboard with some paper on it from his saddlebag. “Do you have time to answer a few questions?”

The guard shook his head. “Sadly, no. It’s our policy not to talk to any press, not even our own. But I do hope you enjoy your stay. Folks around here would probably be glad to tell you what you want to know. With what the Chancellor and the Imperial Council have done, things have improved drastically around here.”

The dark yellow mare, whose name was Jade Seed, raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know Griffonstone even had a Chancellor,” she said.

The first guard nodded. “He’s new to the job, but not too new to Griffonstone,” he said. “He’s the Idol Bearer.”

Lady Serenity, the third unicorn, slid up to the guard in a somewhat seductive manner, but making it subtle enough that not even Dusky noticed at first. “Do you mean the Idol of Boreas?” she asked in that silky smooth tone of hers. “I was under the impression that it was lost.”

“Ah, well it was,” the guard said, a bit nervous suddenly, “but when the Chancellor appeared, he had the Idol with him.”

Dusky walked up and put a hoof on Lady’s withers. “Come on now, Lady, leave the poor stallion alone. He’s just doing his job. We came here to get away from the paper.”

Lady gave him a very convincing pouty face, but moved away from the griffon guard and brushed her mane, which covered one of her eyes, aside. “I beg your pardon, sir,” she said in that same silky tone.

“No, i-it’s alright,” the guard said, then cleared his throat and recovered himself. “If you’re looking for a place to stay, I would recommend The Green Dragon. It caters to all creatures.”

“Where is this place?” Dusky asked.

The guard pulled out a map from his saddlebag and placed it on a nearby table. After giving them directions, he put the map away. “If you get lost, just ask anycreature inside. They’ll know how to get there. I just directed a group of ponies and a young dragon there earlier.”

That caught Dusky’s attention, but he knew he had to be careful with fishing for information. “It’s nice to know we’ll be in good company, then,” he said. “How many ponies were there?”

“Seven ponies,” the guard said, which matched up with the information Dusky had.

Jade nodded. “Thank you for your assistance,” she said professionally, causing Dusky to inwardly sigh. Even now, she had a hard time dropping that behavior.

“You’re very welcome! Enjoy your stay!”

As the three ponies made their way through the gate that led to the city, Dusky, who was flanked by the two mares, looked at his two compatriots. “So, it would appear that they really are here,” he said.

Jade nodded. “Orders, sir?”

“Oh, would you relax, Jadey,” Lady chuckled. “You’ll make us stand out like a sore hoof. Act natural.”

Jade glared back at Lady. “Not until we find it,” she said. “I will relax when we’ve achieved our goal.”

“Quit it, you two,” Dusky said with a sigh. It was just dumb stupid luck that he’d been assigned with these two. Polar opposites, like night to day. He found it hard to work with them, but his supervisor had said that he did his best work with the two mares. All he really wanted to do was be back in his home in Canterlot, snoozing on the couch with a Playmare magazine on top of him. “Lady, you’re being too cavalier about this whole thing, and Jade, you’re too stiff. We’re just three tourists looking around the city, got it?”

“Yes sir,” Jade said with a small salute.

“Aye aye, captain mister stallion sir sir captain,” Lady said, giving a mock salute and grinning as she did.

He groaned. “And they wonder why I never smile back home,” he muttered to himself before he straightened up and looked at the two mares on either side of him. “Okay, everypony. Time to get down to business. You all remember the assignment, right?”

Jade nodded. “Yes, sir, we find and capture the-”

“Shhh! Not out in public!” Dusky hissed.

“Oh, apologies, sir,” she said.

Lady snorted. “We all know the assignment, Dusky-Pusky,” she said. “So what are you planning on telling us to do?”

“Everypony has their crystal communicators, right?” he asked.

“Primed and activated, sir,” Jade said.

“Duh, I always have it on me,” Lady said, pointing to a small crystal hanging from her ear. “They make good bling.”

Dusky sighed. “Well, we’re gonna split up and search the town for it. Ask everycreature you see about it.”

“Why is that your go to plan for everything?” Lady asked, sounding bored already.

“Because it’s effective, and we can cover more ground that way,” he said. “Now remember, once you spot it, report back to the rest of us and we’ll converge on your location.”

“So standard…” Lady grumbled, but nodded in agreement. “Fiiine…”

“I will keep a sharp lookout, sir,” Jade said with another salute.

“I swear to Celestia, you’re just impossible,” Dusky said to himself. He cleared his throat. “Okay, Jade, you take the first third of the city, I’ll take the middle third, and Lady, you can take the upper third. Got it?”

“Understood,” Jade said as she trotted ahead with purpose.

“That mare seriously needs to get herself a stallion or three,” Lady smirked as she moved on ahead as well, leaving Dusky alone, to his relief.

He pulled out a map of the city and looked it over. Unlike Canterlot, which was all one level, Griffonstone had multiple levels, all standing on massive solid tree branches. He looked at his section and realized that it included The Green Dragon. So, he decided he would head up there just to see if he could find out anything about their target. An incredibly dangerous creature who needed to have tabs kept on it.

The second human who’d arrived on Equus.

Author's Note

This chapter has been edited to flow better.

19: Explanations Pt. 2

Moments After Leaving The Green Dragon…

Princess Celestia Solaris kept her eyes on Chancellor Gregory Graystone as he walked through the streets ahead of them, leading them up through the levels of Griffonstone towards his house. She was a few hoofsteps away from him, just observing him with some curiosity. The way the various creatures around him greeted him spoke volumes about his character. Everyone who saw him waved at him, called out to him with a friendly manner, and in the occasional instance, giving what could only be called a friendly insult, which Gregory returned with an insult of his own.

She marveled at a few of the interactions, as it appeared that Gregory knew a few of the citizens of the city a bit more than most. He asked one griffon couple how their new cubs were doing, expressed concern for an older griffon’s gout, and even greeted a younger griffoness named Gia, informing her of the location of her apparent partner, someone named Gallus. The way he teased the young griffoness and what he told her to say to this Gallus told her most everything she needed to know.

He was a personable ruler. Down to Equus. Beloved by the griffons and dragons she saw. She did see a couple of ponies who he greeted, but they were more focused on Celestia and the others following behind her. She saw fear along with anger directed towards her and the ponies behind her. It hurt to feel those eyes on her, but as the leader of Equestria, she knew she deserved the blame for everything that had happened.

She continued watching Gregory, observing his own unique style of ruling. He was not above them, it seemed. He didn’t seem to want to be. It appeared as if he just wanted to be another one of the crowd.

Her attention was kept solely on him as they continued down the street. She might not have been an expert on human body language, but it appeared to her that he was holding back some emotions as he interacted with the city folk around him. She’d actually been hoping to tell him about the events of the past five years first, but it seemed that the unusually angry zebra mare had done that already. She was glad, however, that he seemed calm enough to give them a chance to tell their side of the story.

As the group moved up the city levels, Celestia noticed that the houses here looked bigger than the ones below. The houses in the lower levels were designed more for single griffons but in the upper levels there were larger structures where families seemed to live. She saw more young cubs running around playing and laughing as well as more couples. Celestia wondered if, in the time he had been on Equus, Gregory might have found love. The one griffoness who had kissed him on stage certainly seemed to like him well enough for that to be a possibility. He’d definitely seemed surprised by it, though.

Finally, not wanting to walk in silence for the entire trip, she moved closer until she was walking beside him on his right. Taking a deep breath, she asked, “So, Chancellor, how long have you been on Equus?”

He was a bit startled by the sudden question, but looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. “Equus? You mean Gaia? The planet we’re on?”

She nodded. “Yes, my little ponies call the world Equus. It’s been called that for about eight to nine hundred years.”

Nodding in understanding, Gregory replied, “I’ve been here since September 27th,” he replied.

“And how did you traverse from your world to ours?” she asked.

He frowned and tensed up. Lowerin his voice, he cupped his hand around his mouth and aimed his voice towards her, whispering in a harsh tone, “Please don’t mention that I’m from another world. As far as these griffons know, I’m from a very far away place. If they knew that I was from another dimension entirely, there’d be too many questions for me to answer. Only one griffon knows where I’m really from.”

Celestia was a bit surprised by this, but figured she’d get an answer as to why he was so reluctant if she was patient. “My apologies,” she said. “How did you come here, then?”

She saw him visibly relax. “Where I’m from, there is absolutely no magic,” he said, “but we are fairly more advanced technologically than here. I found a secret hidden document that described a means to create a portal from my place to here. I decided to do it for fun since my old life was boring anyway, and imagine my surprise when it actually worked! I send a camera on a long sturdy tripod through the portal just to see, and it recorded a few scenes of Ponyville.”

She could almost feel the tension of the ponies behind her rising at the mention of the destroyed town, but kept her calm. “But if your portal ended up there, why did you appear here?”

Gregory shrugged. “You’ve got me,” he said. “There was only information on how to make the portal. It was a one way thing, so it’s not like there were people coming back to describe what they experienced.”

Celestia felt another presence walking up, and a purple alicorn was walking on Gregory’s left, looking up at him with a mixture of curiosity and guilt. “Are you saying…there could be more humans on Equus?” she asked.

“Now that, I can’t say,” he shrugged. “The portal wasn’t just designed with Gaia in mind. It was meant to be able to teleport humans from our world to various other worlds. Humans have been on Gaia before, but that was many hundreds of years ago, at least according to Dragon Lord Ember.” Before anyone else could speak, Gregory held up his hand. “I can understand you all being curious, but we’ll discuss things better in private and away from curious ears.”

Twilight nodded and walked back, but Celestia remained by his side. “How do you like living here?” she asked.

Gregory’s smile was powerful enough to be infectious, even to Celestia. “It’s an amazing city,” he said. “Sure, when I got here, it was pretty much falling apart, but three months can do a lot if someone’s got the right motivation.” He suddenly looked a bit sheepish. “I think I played a small part in that motivation, if I’m honest.”

“How so?” Celestia asked.

“Well, from what I’ve been told by some of my friends here,” he began, “they saw me after work cleaning up what remained of the old library. I wasn’t expecting anyone to help me, to be honest. I’d just told my first friend in this world something hard for her to believe and figured she needed some time to process, so I went out and stumbled onto the old library. I started working on cleaning it up just as a means to have something to do, but after a while Gallus came along and without me asking started helping, then a griffoness named Greta came, then a bunch of other griffons appeared and started helping. I made it a habit after the shift at my first job in this world ended to go around and try and help clean buildings up or help to restore them. Griffon pride seems to be a really powerful thing.”

So that’s it, Celestia thought, looking at the human with a renewed sense of wonder. He leads by example as well. Takes the reins, as it were. “That is quite an inspiring tale,” she said.

Gregory then did something she didn’t expect. He scoffed, then turned to her. Lowering his voice, he said, “I will admit that part of my initial motivations for helping this city was purely for the sake of helping. On my first full day here, I heard about Jason Wright and what he did to Equestria. Honestly, a part of me was afraid that if the griffons knew what species Jason was, they’d look at me differently. But I was reassured by some of my new griffon friends that many griffons didn’t look at species, but deeds. And I saw that daily. Eventually that fear went away.” He chuckled self deprecatingly. “Now I feel stupid whenever I think about my assumptions. Assumptions make an ass out of you and me, after all.”

Celestia nodded in understanding at that. She could understand that fear, but was impressed that Gregory had managed to overcome it with the help of friends. “I am glad to hear you overcame such a worry,” she said.

“No kidding,” he said as he turned and walked down a somewhat narrower side road which Celestia noted was nearly empty of anycreature. “We’re almost there.” Gregory began looking up at the sky, as if he was searching for something. “I hope she doesn’t do anything stupid today…”

“Who are you looking for?” Celestia asked.

“Ah, I’m looking for-” And just at that moment, a massive creature flew past them only a few feet above them, sending a large gust of wind down the side road which blew up some of the snow piled up on the sides. “Damn it, Daenerys, you naughty girl! I said no showing off! Remember what happened last time!?” Gregory shouted up at the massive flying creature which was high in the air but descending towards the end of the street where Celestia’s alicorn eyes saw a large double gate. He turned to Celestia. “My house is at the end of the street. Please excuse me. I have a misbehaving drake to scold.” So saying, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a large set of keys and ran towards the end of the street. Unlocking the gate, he threw them open and rushed inside, shouting something up at the now landed draconian creature that he’d called Daenerys.

“W-What was that?” Spike asked in alarm. “I’ve never seen a dragon like that before.”

“That’s because it’s not a dragon,” Celestia explained. “That creature is called a drake. They’re wild creatures who live in the Dragon Lands. They are like dragons in that they can fly and breathe fire, but I’ve never heard of anycreature keeping one as a pet.”

“I-It didn’t look l-like that drake was a pet,” Fluttershy’s soft voice said unexpectedly.

Celestia turned to find the butter colored pegasus looking forward at the open gate that they were approaching. “How so?” she asked.

“Maybe I’m wrong,” Fluttershy said, “but it looked to me like he was treating her more like a friend than a pet.”

Celestia had to agree. Just the fact that Gregory had sounded exasperated by the behavior of this Daenerys seemed to her to indicate how close the two of them must have been. She was still nodding when Spike ran ahead, an eager look on his face. Twilight spread her wings and flew after Spike, a look of worry on her own face. Celestia had to admit, she was worried about the young dragon as well, but knew that despite the broken relationship between her former student and the young dragon Twilight cared about Spike’s safety in her own special way.

However, when Spike and Twilight both reached the gate and stopped and stared, that was when Celestia began speeding up. She heard the ponies behind her do the same. However, she realized once she reached the gate that she needn’t have worried. They were just staring in utter astonishment at what they saw before them.

Gregory lived in what could only be described as an utter mansion. Surrounded by a large stone wall, Celestia took in the house which Gregory lived in, completely dumbfounded that someone who’d only arrived three months ago could live like this. If her eyes weren’t deceiving her, the main house as well as a large structure with two wide open doors where the drake was now sitting were both freshly constructed. The mansion itself had levels, plenty of windows and chimneys, and a cobblestone walkway through freshly planted grass that surrounded the house. All save for a large tree that looked quite similar to the Griffonstone Library that they had seen. It, too, had its own doorway along with windows and a couple of chimneys. The tree itself had no leaves currently because of the season, but it was obvious that it could hold plenty if need be.

Near the large building where Daenerys was sitting stood Gregory, talking to the drake in a stern tone. She couldn’t hear much of what was said, but it sounded like he was dressing down the draconic being. Daenerys was simply rolling her pink eyes and snorting out smoke before she suddenly lunged at Gregory, flicking her tongue out to lick his face. This caused the human to fall to the ground, then put his hands on the young drake’s cheeks. Celestia heard him laughing after a few seconds before he slowly stood, said something to her, then patted her on the side of the cheek. Seemingly satisfied, the drake came out of the large barn, spread her majestic wings, and shot up into the air, soon to become nothing more than a bright white speck in the sky.

As the other ponies trudged into the yard and gaped in disbelief at the house, Gregory rushed back towards them. When he returned, Celestia noted that he wasn’t as out of breath as anyone else would be. “Ah, sorry to run off like that,” he said. “Daenerys there is still less than a year old. She’s a bit willful. Anyway, welcome to my house. Please follow me. We’ll talk better inside out of the cold. And not a moment too soon,” he added, looking up just as a few flakes of snow began falling. “Looks like we might be in for a snowy evening.”

“This is quite a house you have,” Celestia observed as they all headed down the stone pathway towards the double front door.

“Yeah…honestly, it’s way too much for someone like me,” he said. “It was a gift from the council AND the city to me. It was so big, in fact, that I asked some of my friends to move in with me. They love it.”

Celestia could feel the ponies behind her falter at that. What did it say about them that another nation of creatures would welcome in a human while hers actively feared and shunned outsiders? “It is quite a sight,” she admitted.

“If I had my way, I’d want a much smaller place,” he said, “but if you refuse a gift from a griffon without them saying it’s okay, it’s seen as incredibly rude.” At that point, they’d reached the front door. He pulled out his keyring again, stuck the key in the lock and opened the doors. “Welcome to my crib,” he said as he stepped aside and gestured for them to head in. “Ladies first.”

Celestia nodded in gratitude at him as she entered and walked down the small hallway towards the main room, which spread out before her so that even she didn’t feel claustrophobic. As the others filed in and stared in astonishment at the room before them, Celestia heard Rainbow Dash mutter, “Nice place.”

“This is just the living room, Miss Dash,” Gregory said from behind them all. “Please take a seat on any of the couches. I’ll turn on the furnace and try and start a fire.” With that being said, he walked to a teak oak door in one corner of the room and opened it, pulling out the same small black device from before and touching it. A bright cool light shone out of it and lit his way as he descended down sturdy sounding stairs.

“It’s a good thing Rarity’s not here,” Twilight said softly as she took a seat at one of the couches.

“What’s gotten into her, anyway?” Rainbow asked as she took another seat. “It’s like she’s forgotten everything that we did.”

“I can only guess what’s going through that young mare’s mind,” Celestia said, “but she and I will be having words later tonight, of that you can be sure,” she added as she took a seat next to the large chair. Looking at the fireplace, she noticed a few logs sitting at the side. Wanting to be a bit helpful, she lifted them up with her magic and set them in the fireplace itself. She was about to cast a small fireball spell to ignite the fire when Spike walked up, took a deep breath, and breathed some fire at the logs themselves, making them burst into instant flames. As he walked over and sat next to Celestia, she said, “I could have done that.”

“Yeah, but the magic here is a lot lower than in Equestria,” he replied, “so why waste it?”

Celestia nodded. She’d known that the natural mana field in Equestria was much higher than elsewhere in the world, but hadn’t known that Spike knew. Then again, she had to remind herself of the books she’d seen him reading earlier, and it was likely that there was something in one of them about it. “Well, thank you Spike,” she said, habitually spreading a wing to put around him, but stopping herself, wondering if that was too familiar too soon.

Her question was answered when he moved slightly closer and looked up at her. “I don’t mind,” he said softly.

Warmed by this, she put her wing around him gently and felt him lean against her. Just then, Gregory came back up, the same black rectangular device in his hand. He tapped it as he came out of the basement and the light went off. She saw him staring at the fire with a raised eyebrow, then looked back out at the ponies and dragon in the room. “You didn’t have to go to all that trouble, but thank you nonetheless,” he said gratefully. “Now, before I sit down can I get you all anything? Water? Tea? Juice of some kind?”

“Some water will be alright for us,” Celestia said.

“Great, let me get that for you,” he said, heading into a neighboring room. The ponies remained silent, staring either at the ground, into the fire or at the table in front of the couches. A few minutes later, Gregory came out, carrying a large tray with glasses and a pitcher of clear water which he put down on the table. He began pouring each of them a glass before pouring one for himself and sitting on the chair. “Alright,” he said after he took a sip of his water before putting it down on the small table with an oil lamp on it beside his chair, “so I hope you don’t mind if I get right down to business.”

“Please do,” Celestia said, and she felt the other ponies tense up.

He took a deep breath, then a serious look came over his face as he leaned forward. “I’ll be blunt. I’ve heard some things from Zecora earlier today. And not just about the treatment of Jason Wright, but about the way ponies treated her after his invasion and the destruction of Ponyville which caused her to leave the Everfree Forest. Things that I need to confirm. I’ll repeat what she told me first, and then I would like your side of the story.”

Celestia was inwardly surprised. It made sense that Zecora would have heard about Jason after the invasion, but something about the way Gregory mentioned Zecora’s treatment after the invasion gave her pause and sent chills down her spine. “Could you tell us what she told you about Jason Wright?” she asked.

“Only this: that five years ago another human showed up in Equestria and went to Ponyville where he was beaten, abused and starved by all the ponies there,” Gregory said. “She mentioned also that he lived in a cave and that his main abusers were the Elements of Harmony.”

The mood in the room immediately darkened as every one of the ponies sitting down looked anywhere but Gregory. All save for Celestia, who never took her eyes off of Gregory. Just as she was about to nod, she heard Twilight, who had sat beside Spike, say in a trembling voice, “I-It’s true.”

Gregory slowly looked at the fledging alicorn. “What did you say?” he asked softly.

Twilight finally lifted her head and looked up at Gregory with tears running down her cheeks. “It’s true,” she repeated a bit louder. “Almost everypony in town treated him extremely poorly. I was the first. He…he tried coming to me to become friends, and I just slammed the door in his face.”

“Ah bucked ‘im in the chest fer no reason,” Applejack said with an emotionless voice as she looked down at her water. “Ah broke his ribs.”

“I stayed away from him,” Pinkie Pie said, sounding like she was about to break down.

“I was so scared of him I ran away whenever I saw him,” Fluttershy said in a voice barely above a whisper.

“I…shot lightning at him and struck him a couple times,” Rainbow Dash whimpered.

Gregory’s hands, which were folded, clenched with each confession as he looked around the room. Celestia could tell he was trying very hard to restrain himself as he slowly turned back to Celestia. “I won’t ask what Rarity did since she’s not here, but I can somewhat guess,” he said after a few seconds. “So it seems Zecora was right…”

“I wasn’t immune either,” Celestia said. “I was the one who sent him to Ponyville, and I immediately forgot about him. Young Spike here is the only innocent one here. He had no idea that Jason was even in the town.”

Gregory looked at the young dragon for a bit, then looked back at Celestia. “I see. Well then, all I have to ask is this: why?”

Celestia paused. It had been the very same thing she’d asked of Twilight the moment that Jason had placed the Elements of Harmony in the same cell as her on the day Discord was killed. She could remember her harsh shrieks…

“Why, Twilight!? Why!? Why would you do such an awful, horrible thing!? Why would you turn your back on everything I thought you’d learned!? If even half of what Mr. Wright says is true, it’s no wonder he committed these acts! Any creature that went through what he did would go insane, it’s a wonder he didn’t lash out against the citizens of Ponyville two years ago! So why!?”

“It was Discord,” Applejack said, and Celestia was brought out of her reverie by how bitter the orange earth pony mare sounded. “He affected us all so we would abuse Jason fer no reason other than for laughs.”

Twilight immediately looked over at the Element of Honesty. “Applejack, remember what I said-”

“Ah know, ah know,” Applejack snapped, looking up at Twilight. “Ah’m not sayin’ were blameless! We did it too!”

“He was a monster,” Fluttershy said. Once more, Celestia was stunned by the utter hostility and hatred in Fluttershy’s voice. She turned only to see the Element of Kindness glaring at the table like she was trying to set it on fire. “He played with our heads and brought our prejudices and fears closer to the surface. Yes, we were the ones who abused Jason, I won’t deny that. But like Twilight said, he just gave us the tiniest nudge. He could have stopped at any time, even after Tirek, but he didn’t!”

To Celestia’s surprise, Rainbow Dash moved forward and tried putting one of her wings, which she hadn’t seen the cyan pegasus use once, around her old friend, but Fluttershy just pushed her away. Not hard, but forcefully enough that it seemed Rainbow got the message and returned her wing to their natural stance. In a weak voice, Pinkie spoke next. “We took his happiness from him…his smile…”

Celestia noted an alarmed look passing over Gregory’s face as he looked at Pinkie. She watched as he sized up the weakened looking pink mare. After a few moments, he pried his eyes away and slowly looked at each of the ponies. “Is there anything else?” he asked in a neutral voice.

“Yes,” Applejack said. “Two years ago, Jason…he tried to hang himself using mah rope.” Celestia noted a blank look appear in the mare’s eyes. She knew that look very well. She’d seen it in the eyes of the guards who had worked tirelessly to bring order back to Canterlot after not only Chrysalis’ first invasion but after Jason’s invasion as well. “It broke. Ah tried chasin’ after him and helpin’, but ah fell and hurt mahself, immediately forgettin’ why ah was in the forest.”

Gregory, to Celestia’s confusion, simply nodded in understanding. “Just like any sapient creature, humans can only take so much before we crack,” he said. “Is that everything?”

“There’s one more thing,” Celestia said. When Gregory’s attention was back on her, she continued. “During Jason’s attack on Canterlot, he somehow managed to incapacitate Discord. However, when he was freed, he was made temporarily mortal and vulnerable. Jason discovered him when he was visiting myself and the Elements in the Canterlot dungeons. He had a new type of weapon with him and was about to use it to end Discord’s life after learning the truth about what he did when there was a struggle for control of the weapon. In the confusion, it went off and Discord was struck with the bullet. He died there.”

Celestia noted his reaction to the word bullet. There was silence in the room before he exhaled slowly. “Discord’s dead, then?” he asked. When Celestia nodded, Gregory leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, presumably to calm himself. Eventually, he straightened in his seat, opened his eyes and looked at them all. “So to recap, five years ago, Jason Wright appeared on Gaia, presumably the same way that I did and for the exact same reasons, went down to Ponyville to meet the ponies he’d admired from afar from my world, was shunned, ignored, abused, beaten and nearly killed because of Discord’s spell affecting the prejudices of all the ponies in town, and after three years he tried killing himself, failed, and took revenge two years later by capturing Canterlot and burning down Ponyville. Am I getting anything wrong so far?”

Celestia shook her head. “No, you’re right.”

Gregory turned away, staring into the fire and frowning as he looked deep in thought. A half minute passed and Celestia was about to ask if he was alright, when the next words that came out of the human’s mouth chilled her. “That could have been me…” After another ten or so seconds, he looked back at all of them. In a voice that Celestia knew could explode into anger at any moment, Gregory continued. “Do you know why I came to Gaia in the first place? I came because I wanted to meet everyone in this room. I came because I had nothing left in my old world and I wanted to meet and befriend everyone here. I come here in the hopes of starting a new life with the ponies I’ve heard so many good things about, and the moment I meet them, I learn this?!”

The ponies in the room flinched a bit at his sudden raise in tone except Celestia, whose ears were to her side only. She noted him stopping to calm himself. After a few moments, she said, “I’m sorry we weren’t the ponies you thought…”

He held up his hand. “Don’t apologize to me,” he said with a shaky voice, “I’m not the one you wronged. And besides, I should probably have realized that this world is much more complex than the one I’d seen.”

“How…how did you discover our world?” Twilight asked a bit hesitantly.

Gregory bit his lower lip, lost in thought. Celestia could see the man thinking deeply on whether or not to reveal something. She knew, of course, more of the truth than any of the others in the room. Jason had told her a lot about the advanced technology in his world, how a child’s entertainment depicted their world. She hadn’t really believed him until he recounted certain events he couldn’t have known about. He’d even told her, in a cheeky manner, about his knowledge of her love of cake and Luna’s use of antiquated language. She cleared her throat and looked at Twilight. “If he doesn’t wish to say, then we can’t force him,” she said.

“Thank you, your Highness,” Gregory said. “Maybe…maybe another time, I’ll share the source of my knowledge. However, there’s something else that Zecora told me that I wish to discuss, and that is her assault by the hooves of three pony assailants.”

Silence filled the room as all eyes were now locked on Gregory, each of them wearing a shocked and horrified expression. Spike was the only one who said anything. “What…?”

Gregory scanned the room, drinking in the expressions of everyone there before he sighed and said, “Judging by your shocked expressions, you didn’t know about this?”

“What did she say happened?” Celestia asked. She was angry now. Angry that her little ponies would even dare to do such a thing. Had this been three months ago, she’d have found it impossible to believe, but after everything, she was questioning everything she knew about how her ponies thought.

Gregory tensed up a bit, but to his credit stood his ground, as it were. “She didn’t say much. Only that three separate times she was attacked by three ponies and beaten. I got the impression that it was within an inch of her life, but I don’t want to assume without further information.”

The ponies around Celestia all gasped in horror. “Who…who would do such a thing…?” Fluttershy gasped.

“We would,” Applejack said in a shuddering voice.

“Would it be permissible to speak to Miss Zecora about this incident?” Celestia asked, holding her anger in so it didn’t show in her actions or voice.

“That’s up to her,” Gregory said, looking at Celestia. “She’s a Griffonian citizen now, and as such is under my protection. She’s also a close friend of mine and a really important benefactor for Griffonville. I’ve heard rumors that they might ask her to run for the mayoral position down there. But I will ask her if she’d be willing to give her testimony.”

“I would very much appreciate that,” Celestia said gratefully.

Reaching beside him, Gregory took a slow and thoughtful sip of his water, all the while staring into the fire. He quietly swallowed and put the glass down. Slowly turning to Celestia, she saw that he looked tired. Weary. She knew that look since she’d seen a more advanced version of it in the mirror every morning for the past three months. “Come to think of it, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard about ponies being aggressive. Starlight Glimmer was chased out of her own town but not before she was beaten by some of the ponies.”

“I…had heard about that,” Celestia admitted. “Those ponies were properly punished for their actions.”

Gregory opened his mouth to say something, then appeared to think better of it as she closed his mouth and nodded. “Glad to hear it.”

“Um…Chancellor?” Fluttershy said suddenly, looking up at the human with wide, pleading eyes.

Gregory turned and looked at the pegasus. “Hmm?”

“Do you think…do you think he can…that me might…forgive us? For what we did?”

Everyone held their breath as their eyes locked onto him. Even Celestia was interested to hear the answer. What better way to learn about how one human might react than by asking another, she reasoned. Once more, the human put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes. He kept his face in his hands for a bit before putting them down. “Fluttershy, I honestly don’t know,” he said. “Every human is unique in how they deal with situations. I don’t know much about Jason other than what I’ve heard and what you’ve told me, so I can only guess. It’s possible, but then again there are humans who hold grudges for lifetimes.” He looked around at the saddened expressions. “I don’t want to give you false hope. Humans are complex beings. If he pulled out after only one week, if what I’ve been told is true, then something must have caused him to give up everything he gained with ease. Maybe it was regret. Maybe somewhere, deep down, he still felt the same love for you all that brought him to Gaia to meet you all. I honestly can’t really say. It’s all speculation at this point.”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy whispered as she retreated back into herself.

He nodded in her direction, then looked up at the ceiling. “I…have a lot to think about,” he said, suddenly sounding incredibly tired. He then looked back at them all. “However, I’d like to thank you for telling me all of this. Lesser folks in your position would have kept the truth hidden from me. It also explains why the ponies I’ve seen who were from Ponyville have acted a bit overly friendly to me. I just thought that was how they were normally.” Leaning forward, he put his head in his hands and ran both back through his long hair.

“Are you okay?” Spike, who had somehow gotten up without Celestia noticing, was now standing by Gregory’s side and looking up at the human worriedly.

Gregory looked a bit startled to see him there, but instantly relaxed. “Right now? No, I’m far from okay.” He turned back to the others. “I won’t lie, I’m really more disappointed than angry in everyone but Spike here,” he said. “The fact that the six mares I grew to love from the various stories I heard of you could be capable of this…it breaks my heart, to be honest. I don’t really know how to react right now…” After a few moments, he sighed. “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to be alone to sort out my feelings on these new…revelations.”

“Of course, Chancellor,” Celestia said as she stood. The others followed suite.

“Oh, and before you go,” Gregory said, looking over at Celestia. Standing, he looked at her with a more serious look, “Princess, how long are you and your party staying at The Green Dragon?”

“A week,” Celestia said.

He nodded. “I’ll speak to the council, but I think they’ll agree that if you want, you would be more than welcome to stay at Griffonstone Keep. I would compensate you for the money you spent at The Green Dragon personally if you do. There are rooms there you can stay in free of charge at the keep. You’re welcome to explore the city, but I would ask that you try and stay out of trouble.”

Celestia was stunned by this. She’d expected him to be angrier than this, and she certainly hadn’t expected him to offer another place to stay. She gave him a small but grateful smile. He really did have the markings of a good leader, she said. “You are most generous, Chancellor, but we will be alright where we are.”

He nodded. “If you change your mind, please let me know and I’ll see to it that you’re all set up in comfortable rooms.”

“We will,” Celestia said before raising her head and casting the teleportation spell on everyone there but Gregory. They all appeared on the road just outside The Green Dragon.

Once they were out of the house, Spike let out a long breath. “That was…really tense,” he said.

“You said it,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “I expected him to throw us all in the dungeons.”

Celestia looked at the pegasus. “Now why would he do that? He’s not a fool, Miss Dash. If he arrested us for something that happened in my kingdom, my sister would have grounds to go to war with Griffonia.”

“Is that r-really true?” Twilight asked.

The princess of the day nodded down at her student. “What good would it do for him to arrest us for what we did to Jason? Did it happen in Griffonia? No. Now then, why don’t we all head back inside and check on Miss Belle before we try and look for this friendship problem, shall we?” She headed to the door and opened it only to nearly run into a dark crimson unicorn stallion with a black mane. “Beg pardon,” she said apologetically.

“It’s alright,” he said as he moved past, apparently in a hurry. “Pardon me.”

As he rushed off down the street, Spike watched him go. “Rude much?” he asked as he headed in with the others, closing the inn door behind him.

Five Minutes Earlier, The Green Dragon…

Rarity’s head was splitting open from the alcohol she’d had as she put the towel full of ice to her forehead and groaned in pain. She’d woken only a few minutes ago and saw that Twilight had left her a note explaining that she and the others were heading to talk to the human Chancellor. The note also explained that she’d cast a spell to flush most of the alcohol from her system, but that didn’t stop the mare from suffering from the biggest hangover she’d had in a long time. She hardly ever drank, partly because she knew just what alcohol did to her and partly because she’d always held that drinking alcohol was not a way a lady spent her time. However, she wasn’t really that kind of lady anymore, was she?

“Damn it,” she muttered as she moved the impromptu cold compress to her head, especially to her horn where the pain was the most intense. “This huuurts…I wish the griffons behind me would be quieter…” She moved over to the glass of orange juice at her side and took a sip from the straw like she was some kind of filly. She would have used her magic, but alcohol did crazy things to a unicorn’s magic.

She was so focused on nursing her hangover that she didn’t initially notice the strange pony stallion who took a seat a few swivel bar stools down from her. She only became aware of his presence when he said, in a rather pleasant voice, “What’s your best salad, barkeep?”

“That’d be our carrot salad,” the orange dragoness said as she stood behind the bar cleaning the glasses.

“I’ll take that and another glass of whatever that young mare over there is drinking for her,” the stallion said.

That got Rarity’s attention. She turned and looked over at the crimson stallion who was looking over at her with a warm smile on his lips and in those fiery red eyes of his. She gave him a small nod of gratitude. “Thank you…” she said.

He chuckled. “You look like you could use it,” he said as he jumped off of the seat and took one just one stool between them. “It can’t be easy, being surrounded by all these griffons and dragons.”

Rarity nodded in agreement before saying, “They’re so noisy…rambunctious even…”

“Yeah, well that just how they are,” the stallion said before he offered his hoof. “I’m Stone Chisel,” he said.

Rarity offered him her hoof, which he took in his own before bowing courteously to her. “Rarity Belle,” she replied.

That caught Stone’s attention. “Rarity Belle? As in THE Rarity Belle? The Element of Generosity?”

Rarity could feel a sense of pride in the recognition she was given, smiling a bit more. “Yes, that’s me,” she said.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked.

“It’s…well, my colleagues and I came out here to solve a problem of sorts,” Rarity said.

Stone looked intrigued. “What sort of problem?”

“…Hard to say,” she said. “We’re still looking for it. But with my luck lately, it has to do with that human we just met…”

Stone raised an eyebrow. “Human? There’s a human here?”

Rarity grimaced at the last memory she had of the second human she’d seen in Equestria. He looked so damned happy standing up on that stage or singing in the bar. It pissed her off. “Yes,” she grumbled, “a human. And the da-the Chancellor of this country at that.”

Stone seemed taken aback by that information, but quickly recovered and looked around the room. “Don’t these creatures know just how dangerous a human is?” he asked. “They’d so blindly make him a Chancellor here?”

Rarity took a long sip of her orange juice before a second glass was placed before her and a salad at Stone’s place. Swallowing, she glared at the other end of the bar. “I don’t know what to tell you, my good stallion,” she said. “These griffons seem to like him though, for Celestia knows what reason.”

Stone seemed deep in thought as he lifted a fork with some of the carrot salad to his lips and chewing thoughtfully. The two sat in silence for a bit, then she saw Stone pull out a small card and slid it over to Rarity. “Listen,” he said, “I’m actually a reporter from Canterlot. If you find where he is, please come by where I’m staying and tell me. I’m currently rooming at an inn a few blocks down called Gobbler’s Groggery, room fourteen. I’d love to do an interview with him.”

Rarity looked over the card. It was professional looking with his name, cutie mark (which was a hammer and chisel combo), and his office address written on it in professional ink. She slid it over with her hoof and nodded. “I…I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Chisel.”

“Please, call me Stone,” the stallion said with a warm smile. With that, he quickly finished his meal, paid for it and her second orange juice, then stood. “I’m afraid I must be going, but thank you for this tantalizing talk. It’s rare to find a pony here with any sense of good taste and refinment,” he said.

Rarity smiled at him, blushing ever so slightly as she nodded in gratitude. “Thank you, my good stallion. Have a safe trip back to your inn.”

“I shall, and feel better soon,” he said with a wave of his hoof before he turned and headed towards the door.

Rarity turned back to her drink, smiling a bit more. It did feel good to talk to another pony, especially one as flattering as Stone had been. She looked at the card for a bit, then slowly picked it up, put it in her mouth and climbed off of the stool. Her head still hurt, so she decided it would be a good idea to return to her room and sleep some more. She reached her room, put the card in one of the drawers built into the small endtable, and collapsed into her bed, falling once more into a dreamless sleep.

“Commander! Commander come in! This is Agent O breaking radio silence! We have a Code Red! I repeat, we have a Code Red! The target has made contact with the Elements of Harmony and the Solar Princess! I repeat, the Elements of Harmony and the Solar Princess are in Griffonstone and have made contact with the target! Commander, please advise!”

Author's Note

For those of you wondering why the chapter has a Part 2 in the title when there's no Part 1 in this story, I refer you to A New Ending Chapter XIV: Explanations

20: Revelations Pt. 2

The Green Dragon…

The moment that the ponies and young dragon returned, Gabby could immediately tell something was wrong. Not only were their faces more downtrodden than before except for the one who’d remained behind, but Gregory hadn’t returned with them. In a corner booth where she sat with Gilda and Starlight Glimmer, she watched the ponies re-enter. She also saw the tallest pony walk up to the purple maned one and give her a glare. Words were exchanged between the two before they all headed off to their rooms.

And she wasn’t the only one who was watching. When she slowly turned back, Gilda and Starlight had both been watching as well and now shared a glance with Gabby. Gallus and Gracie, however, were at another table talking with a group of griffon teens, including Gia who’d arrived a while ago. Gracie looked a lot better now and was surreptitiously watching the interaction between Gia and Gallus.

“I know that look, Gabs,” Gilda said, pointing a claw at her, “so don’t lie to me. It’s rare that you don’t smile. What’s going on in that noggin of yours?”

Gabby looked at Gilda for a bit, then sighed and took a large swig of the dragon brandy she’d been nursing ever since Gregory and the Equestrians had left. Taking a deep breath, she put the glass down a bit harder than normal. “I’m worried about Gregory,” she said.

Starlight, who was actually sipping on some ginger ale, just smirked. “When are you not, lover girl?”

Gabby blushed but shook her head quickly. “This is different. Something’s wrong. Whatever Zecora told him outside before he came back and took the Equestrians to his house really shook him up. Couldn’t you tell?”

Gilda shrugged. “Eh, he seemed fine to me,” she said.

“I confess, I haven’t known him as much as you both,” Starlight said, “but he did seem a bit unsettled. And where’s Zecora anyway? It’s her day too.”

“She’s…a solitary creature,” Gabby said, remembering the episode of the show which showed how Ponyville had first reacted to Zecora. And she remembered, quite clearly, just how angry she’d looked when Gregory walked out with her. No, she reasoned, something big just happened. Standing, she finished the rest of her drink, put the empty mug down and practically slammed what she owed down onto the table. It wasn’t loud enough to be heard by the crowd of celebrating griffons, dragons and a couple of ponies, but it was loud and sudden enough to cause Gilda and Starlight to jump in alarm. “I’m going to go find him and make sure he’s okay,” she said as she stood.

Gilda and Starlight both looked at each other. Gabby noticed what looked like a silent message being passed between them, then both imitated her actions, downing their own mugs, putting them down and adding their own bits to the pile to pay for their drinks. “You don’t think you’re going to go alone, are you lover girl?” Starlight asked with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smile.

“That guy still owes me an arm wrestling match,” Gilda added. “I’m not letting him get out of it.”

Gabby inwardly smiled. Gilda had always had a harder time than most griffons in showing her true feelings about anygriffon, even after the Idol’s return, but she knew that the grumpy scone seller cared about Gregory in her own way. “He’s probably back home,” Gabby said. She turned to Smolder and called out, “Hey, we’re gonna head out for a little while! We’ll try and be back soon! Payment’s on the table!”

Smolder nodded and waved at them. “Sure, do what you need to do,” she replied before turning to one of the griffon staff and alerting them to the fact that there was a now empty booth that needed cleaning.

“Where are you guys going?” Gallus asked as the three walked passed the neighboring booth.

“We’re gonna find Gregory and drag him back here kicking and screaming,” Gilda chuckled.

Gracie looked up at that fast. There was a look of worry in her eyes as she said, “Want me to come too?”

Gabby smiled and shook her head. “No, we’ll handle it. If we need some more help, we’ll come back and tell you.”

Gracie didn’t look too happy about that, but she nodded in understanding. Across from her, Gia, a bright yellow furred griffoness with dark green eyes, brown feathers and blue claws, spoke up. “I do hope the Chancellor is okay.”

“So do I, Gia,” Gabby said as she turned away with the others to head for the door. “So do I…”

It was snowing a bit harder by the time Gabby, Gilda and Starlight all arrived back at their house. Gabby put Starlight, who she’d carried, down and landed beside her. Gilda landed a few steps away, but closer to the door. Reaching into her own saddlebag, the aforementioned griffoness pulled out a small keyring with a few sets of keys on them. When she walked up and tried the door, she looked surprised when it opened without a fuss. “He didn’t lock the door?” Gilda muttered as she stepped inside and removed her scarf.

Starlight and Gabby both walked in and removed their own scarves, shaking the snow off onto the part of the front that Gregory had called a genkan. “To be fair, who’d be dumb enough to try and rob or break into the Chancellor’s house?” Starlight asked.

Gabby had to agree. She had yet to hear of anycreature who had a problem with Gregory, but even she wasn’t stupid enough to think that nocreature would have some kind of problem with their new Chancellor. She removed her stocking cap and hung it up after shaking the snow off of it. “Gregory? Are you here?” she asked.

“He’s not stupid enough not to lock up the doors before leaving,” Gilda reasoned before shooting a glance at Starlight. “Not like a certain colorful creature among us who shall remain Starlight.”

Starlight glared up at Gilda. “It was one time!” she snapped. “Ponies don’t normally keep doors locked when they’re in town!”

The two looked at each other with what Gabby knew was a playful glare on each of their parts. They had a playfully antagonistic relationship, ribbing each other and challenging each other to weird bets. Gabby couldn’t help but smile at the memory of the Thanksgiving celebration where the two had gotten into a competition of Truth or Dare, which might as well have been called Dare and Dare. Gilda had gotten her claws painted with what Starlight called hoof polish, while Starlight had jumped into a large mudpit on a neighboring vacant property line, among other bets. She smiled more at the memory of Gregory laughing harder than she’d ever seen him laugh at their antics. Not even after the two both pulled him into said mudpit did he stop laughing.

While the two continued to rib on each other, Gabby headed around the house, looking for and calling out for Gregory. It didn’t take long for the other two to stop their friendly ribbing and searching through the house.

After about ten minutes, they all converged on the last place to look: his bedroom. When Gabby knocked, she was surprised to see that the door wasn’t completely closed. It opened up slowly inwards onto a quiet and empty room. “Did he really leave?” Starlight asked.

“He may be a moron, but he’s not stupid enough to leave the house unlocked,” Gilda said.

Starlight frowned. “Everyone can make mistakes if they’re not completely themselves,” she said.

“…Hey, hey, look at me, I'm what you want to see, I promise I'm for real, not trying to deceive. Won't believe your eyes, you won't believe it's true. Just come with me right now, I'll take and show you,” a soft and slightly trembling male voice sang from the closed bathroom door.

“There he is,” Gilda said, walking up to the bathroom. Knocking on the door, she called out, “Hey, Gregster! Whatcha doing in there?”

“Oooh oooh oooh, oooh oooh oooh. You really thought I was what you were looking for. Oooh oooh oooh, oooh oooh oooh. Guess I got in your head, you just got baited,” Gregory sang again.

Gabby’s heart sank as she heard the tone in his voice. She’d heard him singing before, and he had a lovely singing voice. But the tone of his song now sounded like he was broken. And she wasn’t the only one in the room to notice. Starlight went from concerned to extremely worried. She rubbed her leg with her other hoof. She slowly walked over to the door and knocked gently. “Gregory? It’s Starlight. Are you okay in there?”

There was a sloshing of water from inside, then Gregory sang once more. “Tee hee I'm sorry. Oh wait, no not really. It was my plan, you see, to be so, so tricky. Time for me to run to find another chump. Maybe I'll see you then, we'll do it all again.”

Gabby couldn’t wait anymore. She had only seen him cry once, and that was on the first day they met. Even so, she could hear his voice cracking. Pushing past a surprised Gilda, she opened the door to the bathroom with a slam. The bathroom was warm, the mirror and window were both steamed up, and Gregory sat in a bubble bath, staring ahead at the wall. There was a blank expression in his eyes as he continued singing, “Oooh oooh oooh, oooh oooh oooh. You really thought I was what you were looking for. Oooh oooh oooh, oooh oooh oooh. Guess I got in your head, you just got baited. Hah! I got you!”

Gabby ran forward, immediately pulling his head close to her plumage and stroking his hair gently. “Gregory…what happened?” she asked softly.

He didn’t react at first except to stop singing, but only for a bit. After a while, he did start up once more, and the song he sang was one she knew. “You see I used to hate that I liked My Little Pony…not anymore…and I’m proud to be a Brony…”

“The fuck is that song? Ponies?” Gilda asked as she, took, walked in once she saw that Gregory was covered in bubbles.

Starlight came in behind the gruff griffoness, looking a bit nervous. However, when she saw Gregory, her nervousness reverted back to concern. “Gregory? Are you okay?”

“My little pony, my little pony, what is friendship all about? My little pony, my little pony, friendship is magic,” he sang again.

“Snap out of it!” Gilda shouted, balling her hand into a fist and smacking him, albeit lightly, on the head.

Slowly, his hand reached out of the water, dripping bubbles as he reached out towards Gabby, who immediately took it in her free hand and squeezed gently. “Gregory? What’s wrong?” she asked, hiding her fear at this new state she saw him in while at the same time running her claw gently through his wet hair.

Slowly, the blank look in his eyes began to vanish. He looked up at her with confusion. “Gabs…?”

Her grip on him tightened and her heart went out to him. He responded by burying his face deeper into her chest plumage. Gilda walked up beside her and looked down. “The fuck’s going on?” she asked in a softer tone than Gabby had heard from her. “Did those ponies do something to you?”

Starlight was on the other side of Gabby, looking down at Gregory with her own worried expression. “Gregory, you can talk to us, what’s wrong?” she asked, gently reaching out to put a hoof on his shoulder.

He took a few shaky sounding breaths, then swallowed. Looking up, Gabby could see that he seemed to be coming back to the present. “Hello, Gregory,” she said in relief, “welcome back.”

To her further relief, he smiled ever so slightly. “H-Hi,” he said. Slowly he looked around, pulling back and drinking in the sight of Gilda and Starlight. “What’s with…the looks?”

“We were calling your name for ten minutes, dweeb,” Gilda scowled, glaring down at him, “and we come up and find you acting all insane! What in Tartarus happened?!”

“Gilda, calm down,” Gabby said sternly before turning back to Gregory. “Let’s just give him time to return to us fully.”

Gilda scowled, but nodded in agreement. Gregory looked around once more, then back at the tub. Slowly, he pulled away from Gabby and sank deeper into the tub. “Well…I’m glad you were all concerned,” he said in an embarrassed tone, “but…I’d like some privacy now. I’m just about to get out.”

Gabby blushed, turned and began none too gently pushing the other two females out of the room. She might not have completely understood the human need to be covered with clothing, but she respected it enough. It was also completely intriguing for her, especially after she’d begun to develop feelings for him and began experiencing sexual attraction towards him. Her curiosity at what was going on below was only slowly growing as time went on.

After the three were out, Gabby shut the door again, then called out, “Gregory, we’ll be downstairs in the living room, okay?”

“I’ll be down in a minute or so,” he replied as Gabby heard him pull the plug out of the bath’s drain. She next heard him standing up and getting out.

“A-Alright,” she said, “See you then.” Once more, she turned and began pushing the other two out of the door.

“Slow down, Gabby! Sheesh! I can walk on my own!” Gilda hissed as she moved on her own towards the door.

“Do you gals really think he’s okay?” Starlight asked, looking back once more at the closed bathroom door before Gabby closed the bedroom door behind her after they all exited. “He seemed so…out of it. Like he saw something so horrific that he couldn’t comprehend it.”

“What, like he was in some kind of shock?” Gilda asked.

Starlight nodded as the three walked down the hall, Gabby following the first two as she looked at the carpeted hallway. She remained silent as the two females ahead of her continued talking. “I remember somepony back in my childhood village coming into town with a similar look. She’d seen something so horrific that she found it hard to comprehend. I didn’t really know what it was except that Dad said that it wasn’t something for a little filly to know.”

“That bad, huh?” Gilda asked.

“Yeah, guess so,” Starlight replied with a sigh.

“I swear, if those ponies did something to Gregory, I’ll tear them apart, even that fucking princess of theirs!” Gilda said angrily.

“Calm down there, Gilda,” Starlight said. “If you did that we could start an international incident. And who would have to deal with the aftermath, do you think?”

Gilda growled angrily, but nodded in understanding after they reached the stairs. “Gregory…” she muttered.

As they walked down the stairs towards the living room, Starlight turned back to Gabby. “Gabby, you’ve been awfully quiet. Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Just…trying to figure out what could have happened here,” she said. “I mean, he just met some of the ponies he idolized back where he was from, and he looks like they told him they murdered someone.”

“That’s always bothered me,” Gilda said. “If he’s from a far away place where there’s no magic, how did he hear about griffons, ponies, dragons or anything else in the first place? I mean, I don’t even know what kind of adventures Rainbow Dash and her friends have had, but he’s somehow heard of them? Something’s off about that.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right,” Starlight said as they all reached the living room and sat down on the couches. “Something’s a bit fishy. And I don’t mean your breath,” Starlight grinned.

“Hey! I like eating fish raw! They’re tasty!” Gilda retorted, “and don’t change the subject! He’s hiding something from us, and honestly I don’t like it.” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Look, despite all that I say to him and all he says to me, he’s the first friend I’ve made in years. I thought after I lost Rainbow Dash as a friend I wouldn’t be able to make another friend. Then here comes this weird hairless monkey wearing clothes and who’s able to actually insult me without it going through a pony cleanliness filter. Someone who can keep up with me. I know he hasn’t been telling us everything.”

“Well, what if he has a good reason to keep things hidden from us?” Starlight asked.

“Does he not trust us?” Gilda asked, and Gabby was surprised to hear some semblance of hurt feelings in her tone. It made the younger griffoness feel more guilty for hiding the truth from two of her best friends.

“Maybe he’s afraid of what we might think about him if we knew whatever the truth really is,” Starlight reasoned. “I don’t know, I’m just as hurt as you are, but if what I’ve seen of him is any indication, he’s not a bad man.”

“Gabby, aren’t you as eager to know what he’s hiding, too?” Gilda asked, turning to the quiet griffoness. “You’re the closest out of all of us to him. Surely you’ve wanted to know, too?”

There was silence in the room for a bit as an increasingly guilt-ridden Gabby looked at the floor, trying to think as to what she should say. She knew the whole truth, of course, and knew just what it might mean if word got out that an entire world of humans knew about Gaia and the various races that inhabited its shores. She’d been incredibly tight lipped about it, only talking to Gregory about it and watching a few of the episodes of the show with him. She opened her mouth, then closed it. The silence became deafening as she felt the stares on her. Clenching her claws, she swallowed slowly. Across from her, Gabby heard Starlight gasp in realization before saying, “You know something already, don’t you?” Her voice wasn’t angry. It wasn’t accusatory, it was just curious.

“Wait, you do?!” Gilda asked.

“She does,” a tired sounding male voice said from the stairs. Gabby looked up immediately to see Gregory at the foot of the stairs, looking out wearily at the three of the women in the room. He was wearing dark black jeans, a bright green t-shirt and a bright red unzipped hoodie over it. Underneath his arm, Gabby saw one of the laptops he’d brought from his world to Gaia. “And I think it’s about time I told the two of you, too. However, before I do, I’d like to have you both swear by Maker herself that what I’m about to disclose will remain in this room among us and nowhere else. Is that clear?”

Gilda and Starlight looked stunned. Gabby had only ever had to swear to Gregory by the mythical creator of the planet once, and that was when Gregory had disclosed the truth about Gaia. There was silence for a while before Starlight said, “You’re not joking, are you?”

He pointed to his face as he walked closer to them, taking a seat next to Gabby. “Does this look like my joking face? Am I laughing?” he asked.

Starlight slowly shook her head. Gilda, on the other claw, didn’t look too happy still. “Are we really so untrustworthy that you couldn’t trust us with this secret of yours?” she asked, and Gabby could once more hear the hurt in her voice.

Gregory slowly shook his head. “Once you hear what I have to tell you, you’ll understand why I need this to be kept a secret,” he said seriously.

Gilda crossed her arms, not taking her eyes off of the human. However, when he returned her glare with one of his own, she slowly unfolded her arms. “You really are serious, aren’t you?” When he slowly but deliberately nodded, she let out a sigh. “Alright…I’m still angry that you haven’t told us everything, but I know you wouldn’t be acting like this if it wasn’t something really serious. So…what haven’t you been telling us?”

He put his laptop down, but didn’t open it. “Before I go into that, I’d like to tell you all something. Something about our new pony visitors.” And here his expression darkened, sending shivers down Gabby’s spine. He might not be showing it, but she could tell he was extremely pissed about something.

She wasn’t the only one to notice. Starlight and Gilda both were immediately leaning closer, watching him with their own looks of concern on their faces. “Spill it already,” Gilda said, “what did Rainbow and her pony friends tell you?”

“Is there some kind of invading army spreading through Equestria?” Starlight asked.

“I guess you could say that,” he said, “and its name is xenophobia and speciesism.”

Gabby felt another harder chill go through her. His tone was ice cold. Her feathers ruffled a bit in response, as did Gilda’s. Starlight’s ears were immediately pinned to their sides. Gabby moved closer despite her fear and leaned against him, putting one wing around him to try and comfort him with whatever was bothering him. She felt him relax at her touch. Looking down at her, she was further relieved to see him give her a small smile. “Thanks, Gabs.”

“I’m almost afraid to know now,” Starlight said.

“I wouldn’t blame you,” Gregory said, “but I really need to talk to someone about it.” He held his head. “It’s a lot to take in all at once, and I need someone I trust to talk to. Or three someones. The closest friends I have here.” And here he looked up at all three of them with pleading eyes. “Please…”

“Why do you think we’re here, you dweeb?” Gilda asked, trying to return to her normal detached attitude.

Gregory smiled a bit, then sat up, putting his hands in his lap. His expression became serious. “Okay, so…what they told me goes back five years ago, all the way in Equestria,” he said, and thus he began recounting what he’d been told about the tale of one Jason Wright…

Gilda could hardly believe what she had just heard. Another human, an innocent creature, had suffered for three years at the hooves of not only her old pony friend but her friends and the town of ponies she’d visited all those years ago. She always knew Rainbow had a reckless streak in her. It was one of the things that Gilda had liked about the young filly she knew. However, now she had an extra reason to absolutely hate Discord.

As if griffons needed a reason to utterly despise the being of utter chaos and sadism.

Growing up, Gilda had always heard tales about the monster known as Discord, how he had nearly caused the extinction of griffonkind hundreds of years before the unification of all Griffonia under King Grover. There were plenty of bedtime stories which showed how this monstrous being had nearly caused a massive war among the various griffon tribes. The details had since been lost to time, but there was one thing she knew: the wars stopped almost as suddenly as they began, almost like a spell had been lifted from the leaders heads.

Of course, as much as the griffons hated Discord, she learned that the dragons actively detested the spirit of chaos and cursed his name with many terrible curses anytime he was mentioned. She’d tried to find out why that was, but she was stonewalled every time.

However, to hear that the damned draconequus had been involved in the abuse of a human alongside a pony she’d once called friend made her absolutely livid. It made her want to rush back down to the inn where they were staying and taking back the apology she’d recently given, but when she saw the look in Gregory’s eyes, she had enough sense to banish those thoughts to her mental Tartarus. She’d learned, ever since talking to Gregory, that it was best to be the bigger creature and admit their own mistakes even if the mistakes of the other were infinitely worse.

“How could anypony do that…?” Starlight asked in a stunned and upset tone. “And for three years…what the…what the FUCK!?”

“…I always knew Rainbow was reckless, but I never knew she could be that cruel,” Gilda fumed.

Gilda saw Gabby leaning in closer, stroking his back with her wing. There was a look of understanding in her eyes as she pressed her forehead against his. Gilda wasn’t much of a griffon person so she couldn’t really read expressions, but while she did know about how the young griffoness felt about Gregory, there was an understanding there that only confirmed that she knew something that she and Starlight didn’t.

Gregory nodded. “Apparently so,” he said, putting an arm around Gabby. “She even shot lightning at Jason. I don’t know how that works here, but humans don’t have wings or magic. Lightning can kill us, and if it doesn’t kill us it can cause damage and leave harsh looking scars.”

“I can attest to how cruel ponies can be,” Starlight said with a shudder as she raised her hoof. “It’s…yeah…I just thought what happened with me was an isolated incident.”

“So did I,” Gregory said. “But apparently ponies everywhere can do it. I should have realized this place isn’t the same as what I was thinking and hoping it would be like.”

Gilda couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit badly for Gregory. Having a dream crushed was something she was all-too familiar with. She’d wanted to try and become a part of the Wonderbolts with Rainbow after the filly had talked about it at the camp, but she’d been told that only ponies could become Wonderbolts. That had broken her little heart, but like her parents had told her, she quickly buried those feelings and eventually got over it. Starlight spoke up next. “Gregory, are you really okay?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. On the one hand, I’m absolutely pissed off and disappointed at those ponies, but at the same time I’ve got to take into account that this world is a lot more complex than I first thought. I can’t just keep assuming things are the same as what I’ve seen and heard them be like.”

Gilda frowned. “And now it comes down to it,” she said. “What have you been hiding from us?”

“Gilda! We can’t just ask him to talk about that after all we’ve just heard!” Starlight shouted.

Gilda wanted to retort something, but realized moments before she could say anything stupid that she was right. She let out a loud sigh. “No, you’re right…”

“It’s okay, Starlight,” Gregory said as he slowly reached out for his laptop. “It’s about time I shared this with you and Gilda.” Gregory opened the laptop at that. It was already on, but the screen was black for the most part. The three females knew what the window around the blackness meant. They were about to watch a video. Before anyone else could say anything, Gregory held up his hand. “Just watch, please.”

The two who didn’t know closed their mouths and turned back to the screen. Gregory hit the space bar then another, making the window vanish. The video started, focusing on a strange looking cartoon book with a unicorn head on it. The book opened, and as the scene changed, a very familiar female voice, one they’d heard from the alabaster alicorn pony less than an hour ago, said, “Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land…”

Starlight’s blood had run cold after about half an hour. Gregory had only shown them a few minutes of the first episode before switching to one of the early episodes which showed Gilda’s visit to Ponyville. Then, much to Starlight’s horror, he showed them clips of an episode showing Starlight in her old town. After that, and after making sure he had their complete attention, Gregory continued to explain where he was actually from, how he managed to find a secret means of opening a portal to different fictional worlds, and how he’d arrived on Gaia thanks to that secret portal.

“I can’t believe it…” Starlight said after a few minutes of silence. She stared incomprehensively at the laptop, which was still open and showed his desktop, an image of a grassy field in front of snowcapped peaks with a large thunderstorm on the left half of the screen, a bolt of lightning shooting down and striking a far off tree. “We’re just…we’re not real?” She tried to breathe normally, but it felt like something was standing on her chest.

Gregory immediately shook his head. “Of course you’re fucking real,” he snapped quickly, making the unicorn jump. Standing, her walked over and knelt before his very first pony friend in the world. Reaching out he took her hoof in his hand. “I don’t know how my world got its information about Gaia, Equestria, the Elements of Harmony or everyone in this room, but you’re all real! I can feel you. I can touch you. I can talk to you! And I can do this!” He reached up, throwing his arms around the unicorn, holding her close in a comforting hug.

The stunned unicorn stared at Gregory in shock before she slowly buried her eyes into his shoulders. She wrapped her hooves around him and sniffed. “Aren’t we supposed to be comforting you?” she asked, hiccupping.

“You have been,” he replied, and that warmed the unicorn’s heart. The first time she’d seen him, she’d felt fear and apprehension, but she’d also been in a half crazed state of mind with hunger and paranoia. She’d been on the run through that cave and had gone over the train track bridge that led to Griffonia ages ago and had been wandering through the land, scavenging and trying to find work and a place to sleep. It hadn’t been easy, but she was a survivor. She wanted to get revenge on her village, but after some extensive talks with Gregory and later with Gabby she began to realize that she’d rather be with her new friends than anywhere else.

Now she had a job as the head librarian at the Griffonstone public library, a place to live, a steady supply of food and was learning more about magic despite the lower mana field on Griffonia. Not only that, but she was witnessing one of her best friends help in creating what she’d wanted to make back in Our Town: a land of equality and not just for ponies, but for anycreature.

“Damn, that is really a lot to take in,” Gilda said softly. Starlight looked over at her friend, noticing the look in her eyes that presumably matched her own.

“I know the feeling,” Gabby said. “When he told me, it took me a while to sink in.”

“I’m sorry it took so long for me to tell you all,” Gregory said apologetically, “but please trust me when I say I had good reasons to not tell you both.”

There was something in his tone that told Starlight that he wasn’t lying. She might not have known him the most out of all of his inner circle of friends, but she could tell he was hurting about not telling her and Gilda. She smiled up at him gently. “I trust you,” she said.

“Well, you owe me big time!” Gilda snapped, pointing at him. “Our world being some children’s television program or not, you kept us in the dark! So…” she stopped talking, then bit her beak. After a few seconds of tense silence between them, she sighed. “Look, I get you not wanting to tell someone like maybe Gallus or Gracie. They’re both eighteen. But Gregory Graystone, I’m much older than they are! Do you not trust me like you trust Gabby?”

“Gilda!” Starlight knew that was going too far.

Gilda seemed to notice this when she looked over and saw a hurt expression appear on Gregory’s face. The angry griffoness facepalmed. “Damn it, that came out wrong…” She removed her claw and looked at Gregory again. “I’m sorry. You know me, I’ve always had a bit of a temper.”

“You’re upset, I get it,” Gregory said, “and I can’t blame you for being so. But I hope you believe me when I say I didn’t tell you for good reasons.”

“And those reasons are?” Gilda asked, crossing her arms.

“I wanted to keep this as best of a secret as I possibly could,” Gregory said. “Now just hear me out. With what happened with the changelings, I couldn’t risk this piece of information getting out to them. Who knows what they might do with the information I possess? Sure, the events of the show are useless now, but just the fact that I have some information might be valuable to them. I couldn’t risk the information getting out. I knew everyone in here is trustworthy, but what if one of you were kidnapped and tortured for information?”

“I’d rather die before giving up information!” Gilda quickly replied.

“So would I,” Starlight added, and she meant it. Even if death wasn’t something that most ponies ever talked about much, she realized that if it meant keeping this new secret safe, she would rather lose her own life than break the trust of the very first real friend she’d made since Sunburst. Sunburst…

“Glim Glam? You okay?” Gabby asked with concern.

“Huh, what?” Starlight looked up at the younger griffoness.

“You okay?” Gabby repeated. “You spaced out for a bit.”

“Oh, yeah…sorry.” She sat up. “I was just thinking about an old friend-”

“Sunburst is probably in the Crystal Empire right now,” Gregory said.

Starlight’s eyes widened at that. “Wait…this show has Sunburst in it?!” she asked in astonishment.

Gregory nodded, then reached down and began searching through his computer. Clicking on something, he turned the screen towards her. she saw her animated self, with her current mane style surprisingly enough, sitting at a table in a house, looking offscreen at someone. Just then, a higher pitched male voice said, “Whatever.” She gasped as the screen shifted and she saw, for the first time in years, a depiction of her old friend Sunburst Beam. “I’m sorry I’m not the big, important wizard you were expecting.”

Her cartoon self replied, “Sunburst! I don’t care if you’re a wizard or not. I’m just surprised. You always knew so much about magic.”

She watched the brief scene play out, learning briefly that Sunburst had not gotten through Magic School at all, but what really surprised her was when her onscreen self began ranting and talking about how she traveled through time. Her reaction was identical to the Sunburst on the screen. After Gregory paused the scene, she looked up. “Did…I really travel through time?” she asked.

“With the help of a magical scroll, yes you did,” Gregory said. “In this show, that is. Or I guess I should say this version of your reality where Jason didn’t appear.”

“How could one human change history so drastically?” Starlight pondered.

“A good question for another time,” Gregory replied.

“Yeah…my head hurts just thinking about it,” Gilda said, rubbing her temples. She looked over at Gregory. “I’m not as mad at you now, and I’m sorry for flying off the handles.”

“Again, it’s alright,” Gregory said. “I’m just glad you’re both still my friends.”

“You think something like this would break our friendship?” Gilda asked with a smirk. “Bitch, please, griffons aren’t that weak.”

To Starlight’s relief, an equally wide smirk appeared on Gregory’s face. “Nah, you’re just weak enough that you can’t overpower me as fast as you have been.”

Gilda glowered at him. Standing, she stormed over to him and got in his face. “Is that a challenge there, Chancellor?”

Gregory stood and looked back into Gilda’s eyes, his smirk not falling. “A challenge it is, Gilbert and Sullivan.”

“Well, I do recall you owing me a match back at The Green Dragon,” Gilda said, moving away from him. “Do that, and I’ll forgive you completely.”

Gregory chuckled. “Let me just put my laptop away and we’ll head back.” As he stood and walked back up the stairs with the laptop, Starlight watched him go. She was sure he was still really confused and hurting, but she figured that a good distraction would be helpful for him.

One thing was for sure, though. It was going to be a very rowdy night.

Smolder was just heading back to her spot behind the counter after delivering a large platter of seafood to some newly arrived griffons and dragons when the door to the tavern slammed open. She nearly dropped the platter in her claws and looked to the door. To her delight and surprise, Gregory stood there, with Gabby, Gilda and Starlight Glimmer beside him. The room all turned and watched as the Chancellor walked in. He was grinning from ear to ear as he and Gilda walked to an empty table and sat down. Starlight and Gabby walked to the table they’d been seated at before they left, their regular booth which nocreature dared sit at, then turned to watch. The nearly nightly arm wrestling matches between Gregory and Gilda had become a local legend, mostly because they found it entertaining to see Gregory flying after Gilda inevitably won. “Same stakes as before?” Gilda smirked.

Gregory shook his head. “Today is special. If one of us loses, we have to drink a shot of a special drink.”

“What drink?” Gilda asked curiously and suspiciously.

There was a pause and Smolder saw Gregory grin evilly. Turning to Smolder, he held up his finger. “Smol! I’d like an entire bottle of El Diablo and two shot glasses.”

Smolder’s eyes went wide. That was the strongest drink in the building, even by griffon standards. Tartarus, even by dragon standards it was strong. So strong, in fact, that they didn’t advertise its existence and only kept a clawful in stock. The name had come from Gregory himself since in another language from his homeland it meant The Devil. “Are you sure about that, Chancellor?”

He grinned wider. “Very sure.”

Smolder just shook her head, chuckled and headed down to the basement. Tonight was going to be a very interesting night now…

21: Confessions

“…this is weak sauce! I can barely feel the buzz!”

“Oh, I have all my fingers, the knife goes chop, chop, chop! If I miss the spaces in between, my fingers will come off! And if I hit my fingers, the blood will soon come out, but all the same, I play this game 'cause that's what it's all about!”

“My friend most dear, I think perhaps it’s time to stop. You’re about to collapse.”

“…Twenty nine…thirty! Hah! I win, McGillicudy! Now fork over the bits!”

“Soon may the Wellerman come to bring us sugar and tea and rum! One day, when the tonguing is done we'll take our leave and go! Soon may the Wellerman come to bring us sugar and tea and rum! One day, when the tonguing is done we'll take our leave and go!”

“Who are you tonguing? That metal pole?”

“Nah, Gilda. I’ll be tonguing you!”

“Bite me!”

“Bend over and I will, dick!”

“Oh, be my rainbow girl! Put the colors in my world and baby you can see that we were meant to be! You take the shades of gray and make them fade away! You brighten up my day, oh baby won't you stay?! Hit it, Gabby!”

“I'll be your rainbow girl, la da dee da dee da! La da dee da dee da! La da dee da dee da! I'll be your rainbow girl, la da dee da dee da! La da dee da dee da! La da dee da dee da! I'll be your rainbow girl!”

“Hazzz annnybody evvver toold ya yer the prettiest griffon in za world? Hehe, Za Waruldo…”

“You’re hic! ha-handsome too, Gggre-Gggreggory…”

"Vhhat...? This ugly moonkeyyy?"

"Zizz ugllly munnkeey beat yyyour assszz!"

“Nnng…”

Gregory’s first memory after the wild night was of a massive headache that seemed to fill his entire head. It was as if his entire brain and the skull was on fire. He couldn’t move without the pain doubling or tripling, so he lay there, waiting for the pain to hopefully subside.

When he tried to open his eyes, the ceiling above began to swirl and dance around wildly, making him immediately nauseous. Closing his eyes tightly, he took deep breaths so he wouldn’t vomit everywhere. “Ooow…”

The second thing he noticed as he lay there was that the blanket he had draped over him felt a lot heavier and fluffier than before. It was also very warm. He tried moving his arm, but any movement set off his alcohol induced headache, and he stopped moving.

As he lay there, he tried thinking back to the night before. He’d given that speech in front of the entire city, then had finally met the ponies and the dragon that he’d been hoping to meet for months, only to learn that the Elements of Harmony had been the instruments of torture of one Emperor Jason Wright who had traveled between worlds like he had to, presumably, meet them as well. He had almost had an emotional breakdown before Gabby, Gilda and Starlight had come and talked to him. He’d finally broken down and revealed the truth about what he had heard from the Elements of Harmony as well as where he was from and about how he knew about Gaia and Equestria. Then he had gone back to The Green Dragon at the insistence of his three close friends to take his mind off of the harsh revelation. There, he’d challenged Gilda to a drinking contest with one of the newest drinks in the bar: El Diablo.

The night started to get a bit fuzzy after about the third shot of the dark brown draconic drink. He’d been so drunk that he remembered pulling out his Swiss Army Knife and singing and displaying the Knife Game while at the same time singing the Knife Song. After that, he had the arm wrestling contest with Gilda, once more winning after holding his own after thirty seconds. After that, he was so buzzed that his memory began getting fuzzier. He thought he remembered playing a few games of darts, then sang a few new songs to the gathered crowd before finally heading out with Gabby, Gilda, Starlight, Gallus, Gracie and even Zecora, who’d returned halfway through the rest of the party. Things got even fuzzier, but he did remember holding in what he’d eaten until he reached the bathroom where he emptied his stomach rather violently.

“N…Never…ever again…” he promised as he once again tried to move. “Oooh…my fucking head…”

“Not so loud, dweeb,” a harsh and familair female voice hissed from beside him with the volume of ten thousand loud freight trains. “My head hurts enough without you yelling in my ear.”

“I’m not yelling,” Gregory replied automatically. “You’re…yelling…” He stopped talking once he realized just who had spoken. Pushing through the pain, he slowly opened his eyes and forced himself to look around. He was in his bed, that was for certain. He was still wearing his clothes, which was another plus. Slowly, he lifted the blanket, only to see a very familiar dark gray griffoness snuggled up and lying directly on his chest. Her feathers were a mess, and she curled up when the light hit her eyes. “Wha…Gabby?” he asked, wincing as he spoke and the pain only doubled.

“Turn off the lights, please,” she said, covering her eyes with one claw, “it’s too bright.” Slowly, he put the blanket down and felt the mass on his chest relax. “Mmm…thank you.”

“Holy fucking shit, I always thought I had a higher tolerance than other ponies,” another voice said from his right, “but I guess not…”

Gregory looked to his right, only to see a messy looking Starlight Glimmer curled up extremely close to him, almost touching his shoulders. “Starlight…?”

“Stoop taaalking,” the first voice growled from his left, “it’s too early for this shit…Oooh my head…”

Gregory looked to his left only to see a messy looking Gilda. “Nnng…you look as bad as I feel,” he said.

“Fuck off, dick.”

“Piss off yourself, bitch,” Gregory replied.

“Can we not do this right now,” Starlight asked, her own voice sounding awful. “Oooh, my stomach is all tied up in knots…”

Underneath my blanket, Gregory felt Gabby wrapping her arms tightly around his midsection. “Too bright…” she whispered as he felt her burying her face into his chest. “Mmm…that’s better…”

“What the hell happened last night?” Gregory asked, slowly moving his hand up to his forehead. “I have never gotten that drunk before.” Looking around, he swallowed. “Oh shit…did we…?”

“Not even if I was dead would I fuck you, Greggy,” Gilda snapped angrily, weakly flipping him off.

Starlight looked nervous. “I can’t remember…but I don’t think we did anything…at least, I hope not…not that you’re ugly or anything, Gregory!” she quickly added. “But it’s just…I don’t jump into bed with anycreature, you know?”

He held up his hand and waved it slightly. “I get it, Starlight…but I’m still in my clothes, so unless I got dressed, I don’t think any of us had sex.”

“Not with that pencil dick could you even hope to satisfy me,” Gilda growled.

“No one’s asking you to write with it with those hard brittle hands,” Gregory retorted.

“Come on, you two, not right now, okay?” Starlight said. “It’s way too early for this…”

Gregory reached down and found his phone in his pocket. Slowly pulling it out, he was relieved to see that the screen wasn’t cracked. The time, which he’d reset a few days after he’d arrived on Gaia, said that it was 9:34 A.M. “Nah, it’s only a few minutes past nine thirty,” he said.

“Ugh…I’m not gonna make it to the library today, am I?” Starlight moaned.

“I doubt I’ll be able to focus on my cart, either,” Gilda added.

“Too loud, you two,” Gabby said from under the covers, burying her face deeper into Gregory’s chest.

At that moment, the door to the bedroom opened, and a familiar zebra mare walked in, carrying a large tray with four empty glasses and a glass jug of some opaque green liquid inside it. Zecora looked over at the bed, grinned and set the tray down on the endtable with a clatter. Gregory joined in the groaning as his hands went straight to his head at the sudden loud noise. “I warned you, my friend, that to drink so much would cause you to lose more than dinner and lunch,” she said in an admonishing tone. “However, a hangover cure I have brewed so you four can feel restored and renewed.”

“Looks like you blended up the lawn,” Gilda said as she continued holding her hands over her ears.

“The blend that I made consists of more than just grass. Burnroot and hightail are inside of this glass,” Zecora replied.

“I don’t care how it tastes as long as it can get rid of this damned headache,” Gregory said as he very slowly began sitting up.

To his surprise, Zecora came to his side, gently helping him up into a sitting position. Her deep azure eyes were full of understanding as well as an amused smile. “Be mindful for now, and please heed my advice. I don’t want you falling into such a vice.” She put her hoof against Gregory’s forehead, presumably to feel his temperature before she backed away, poured him one of the glasses, then offered it to him. “I know the taste will not be pleasant, but what matters is what is inside, isn’t it?”

Gregory shakily reached out, took the glass and looked at the mix. It smelled like grass clippings and tree roots. It looked like one of those deep green cleansing beverages he’d seen back on Earth. He swallowed nervously, but reached up, plugged his nose, and said, “Welp, bottoms up!” And with that, he quickly downed the entire glass in only a few seconds, forcing himself not to spit anything out. Once he was done, he gasped and handed the now empty glass back to the waiting Zecora. “So…how long will it take for that to work?” he asked as he slowly lay back down.

“Normally about an hour or two, but it might be a bit sooner for you,” Zecora said.

Gilda looked at the zebra, then at the concoction, then back at the zebra. Groaning, she gestured at one of the clean glasses. “Fork it over. Might as well get it over with.”

“Same here,” Starlight said as she raised her head.

“No magic, my friend, especially now,” Zecora said quickly as she began pouring the other two a glass each, “To cast magic isn’t something I can allow.”

Starlight was about to protest, but looked like she thought better of it and nodded. “Yeah…alright.”

After the griffoness and pony mare both drank the glass, trying not to retch it all up for a minute or two, they both slowly tried getting up, only to collapse once more and holding their heads. “Fucking Tartarus,” Starlight groaned. “Sunburst would have a field day with me.”

“I’m going to crawl to my room and sleep the sleep of the dead,” Gilda said as she began to pull herself to the left side of the bed.

“Right…oooog…right behind you-URP!” Starlight said as she slowly crawled off of the right side of the bed.

As the two slowly made their way out of Gregory’s bedroom, he turned to Zecora. “Hey, thanks for the help, Zecora,” he said gratefully as he held out a hand to her.

She nodded, then leaned in and whispered, “You’re my friend, Gregory.” She pulled away from the now stunned human before she poured the remaining mixture into the last empty glass and set it down on the night stand. “For Gabby,” she said before grabbing the tray and walking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

In the silence, the warm body that was lying on top of Gregory began moving up closer, her face still buried in his hoodie. Slowly, he lay back down on the bed. Lifting the blanket, he took another closer look at the half awake griffoness. Her plumage was a complete mess and he could smell the remnants of the El Diablo on her breath. Smelling that brought back another memory from the previous night…

“Gabby, are you really sure you wanna join in on the drinking game?” Gregory asked as the aforementioned griffoness set a third chair at the table where he and Gilda were having a drinking contest. “I mean, alcohol and you don’t get along as well as it does for me and Gilda.”

She locked eyes with him, then without even looking grabbed one of the shot glasses, held it over towards him, and said, “Fill ‘er up, Gregory. And make it a triple!”

“You do realize this is the hard shit, right Gabs?” Gilda asked.

“A triple. Now!” Gabby shouted, and Gregory could see a look of challenge directed his way.

He smirked, then reached over, grabbed the bottle and the glass in Gabby’s claw. “A triple it is,” he said as he began pouring it for her…

As he absent mindedly stroked Gabby’s plumage, he thought back to the night before. If his memory was any good, Gabby pounded back at least five shots of El Diablo before she had enough and fell asleep at one of the booths.

While lying there, his thoughts went back to the Elements of Harmony and their confession. The very reason why he’d gotten so drunk in the first place was to distract himself from that revelation. He put his arm over his forehead as he tried once more to think about everything that he’d been told. Just the fact that they had done this had made him question everything about them and this world once more. It wasn’t that he hadn’t already accepted that this wasn’t the same world that he’d seen in the show, because he had. The beings here swore, for one thing. If this was the same world from the show, they would have used those toned down curse words like ‘what the hay’ or ‘ponyfeathers’ or something like that. However, hearing the words ‘fucking cunt’ coming out of the last pony’s mouth he ever expected them to had made him question everything once more.

And Applejack’s insistence on blaming Discord and Twilight contradicting her was another major red flag. That, and Fluttershy basically calling Discord a monster when in the show it was implied that the two had a romantic relationship by the end of the series. And in the comics for the crossover between G4 and G5 it showed him as a bitter old man who deeply missed Fluttershy…

What do I believe here? he thought. On the one hand, Applejack is the Element of Honesty, but even so, anyone can succumb to Discord’s attacks. Even if it was a prank, which he might have seen it as, it was anything but that. He might be a monster now, but does that excuse what those Elements did to him? Especially my favorite…?

…

No. No it really doesn’t excuse what they did. It might explain it, but does not excuse it. Not by a fucking long shot! There’s a godddamn massive fucking difference!

Gregory felt the anger he’d tried to dull with alcohol the night before returned in full force. He clenched his fists and began trembling, trying to breathe to calm down. He grit his teeth in sheer anger as he gripped on the bedsheets. He would have screamed had Gabby not been there, but he felt a calm and gentle claw placed on his chest. “Gregory…” his first friend in this world whispered.

He lifted the covers to see the still hungover looking Gabby with her eyes partially open and squinting in the light, looking up at him with a look of concern. He forced himself to relax as he put an arm around her. “Morning, Gabs. How are you feeling?”

“My head hurts…everything’s way too bright and loud, and my throat is dry,” she replied with a raspy voice.

“Zecora made us a hangover remedy,” he replied as he slowly reached over to grab the glass the zebra had left for them. Bringing it over, he held it up for her to see. “It doesn’t taste all that good, but I trust that she knows what she’s doing.”

“I’ll try anything right now,” she replied, taking the glass out of his hand and downing it in only a few seconds. When she finished, she grimaced and handed the now empty glass back to Gregory. He took it and set it back down as Gabby covered her eyes with her arm. “Too bright…”

“Give it an hour,” he said as he, too, lay back down and covered his eyes with his arm. “Zecora told us to just let the medicine do its magic and rest.”

“Okay…I can do that…”

And with that, the two of them just lay there, just resting and recovering. Whatever was in that concoction of Zecora’s really worked fast on him because his headache began to vanish in fifteen or so minutes. However, despite the return of his energy and pep he didn’t move, continuing to stroke Gabby’s plumage and comforting the poor hungover griffoness. She buried her face into his chest as he did that and moved up closer, snuggling close.

As she recovered, he went back further in his memories to the very end of his speech, as well as the kiss that Gabby had given him. He was never the best at reading into actions, so before that kiss he had no idea that Gabby had felt so strongly about him. Mostly because he felt like there was such a difference in their species that it was impossible. However, he immediately mentally slapped himself for that. Especially since he, too, had begun experiencing deeper feelings for the happy-go-lucky griffoness as well as sexual attraction to her.

And the latter only served to confuse and scare him.

His feelings of love towards Gabby was definitely something he could accept in himself. Even if she was a handful to deal with sometimes, he’d definitely grown to love her and want to be more than friends with her. She’d been there for him in all the good times and the bad. She was the first one he’d told about My Little Pony and had accepted him regardless of that. She’d shown him a great deal of kindness even before he found the Idol by saving him from certain death. She’d taken him into her old home and showed a deep interest in his hobbies and life before coming to Gaia. The two of them spent nearly every waking minute together, and lately even some sleeping moments together, especially if Gabby was worried about him or if he was worried about her.

It was the sexual attraction part within himself that worried him. Despite telling himself over and over again that there was nothing wrong with feeling that way about something that was both non-human and sapient, his own upbringing conflicted with his higher brain functions. And that made him feel guilty for even thinking such nonsense. He hadn’t even told Gabby about this yet, mostly because he was trying to work through it.

Gabriella was a very beautiful griffoness, that was for sure. If he had the opportunity, he could very well get lost in her dark aquamarine-esque eyes. He had also caught himself staring at her backside a few times in the past month, which only increased his confusion.

No, I have to talk to her about this today, he thought to himself. But what if she doesn’t feel the same? He banished that thought. He knew Gabby well enough to know that she was pretty obvious about things. He was pretty sure that she wouldn’t just kiss anyone without feeling deeper feelings. Even so, there was that stupid nagging doubt in the back of his head.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice that Gabby had moved up closer so that her head was lying on his upper chest and her arms were wrapped around him, pulling him closer to him. He finally came out of his reverie when she gently shook his shoulders. “Gregory?”

“Hmm? What?” He looked down at her and saw that her face was almost directly in front of his. Her eyes were fully open now and she looked much better. He was still stroking her head gently as he asked, “You’re looking better. How are you feeling now?”

She smiled, and he felt his heart skipping a beat. Her smile was something he couldn’t get enough of, especially the one she seemed to spare only for him. The kind and gentle smile that reached up to her eyes. “Much better, thank you,” she said as she reached up and nuzzled his face, closing her eyes.

“That’s good,” he said with a blush as he wrapped both his arms around her and leaned his head against hers. Even if that gesture from her banished most of the lingering doubts, he still wanted to hear how she felt from her own beak lips. However, he felt nervous. Just like some silly stupid teenager with a massive crush, although he knew that what he felt for her was deeper than a crush. It took about ten minutes for him to finally speak up. “Hey, Gabs? Are you feeling well enough to talk about something serious with me?”

He felt her tense up a bit as she looked up at him with worried eyes. “Well…yes I suppose. Is it about what you told us yesterday?”

Gregory shook his head. “No. Not that. I’m still reeling from that, but I’m talking more about what happened at the speech yesterday.”

Gabby tilted her head a bit in confusion, then a look of realization passed over her face. He caught color coming to her cheeks as she hid her face in her claws. “Oh…you mean…the kiss?” she asked.

Gregory nodded, then realized she couldn’t see him in her current state, so he added. “Yes. Gabs-no, Gabriella-I know it might seem silly for me to ask this, but…please be honest with me…do you have feelings for me deeper than friendship?”

Silence reigned between the two for about a full minute. Then, Gabby quickly buried her face once more in Gregory’s chest, grabbing at his shirt with both her claws. He watched her patiently until she finally moved her head up and down before slowly looking up at him. “I…Yes, Gregory. I’m in love with you,” she said in the sincerest tone he’d ever heard from her.

All the doubts about her feelings for him vanished in that moment as his own heart soared in delight. He felt himself beginning to smile as he pulled her closer. The shock on Gabby’s face quickly changed into a mirror of his own smile as Gregory finally admitted out loud for the first time, “I’m in love with you too, Gabriella.”

She squealed happily and threw her arms around him, pulling him close in a bone crushing hug. One he really didn’t mind as he hugged her back just as tightly. The two hugged for a good five minutes before Gabby pulled away, hovering over him and looking deep into his eyes. He looked at her, reaching up and putting his hands on her cheeks. She did the same as she moved down closer to him slowly, closing her eyes.

As they kissed for the second time since knowing each other, any and all doubts Gregory had about his own sexual desires or anything else were easily banished completely from his mind. He was in love with this griffoness, and that was enough for him.

Gobbler’s Groggery…

Dusky Heart, the leader of the group of three ponies who’d been sent to investigate the rumors of a second human on Equus, sat at the desk in his single bed room at the inn and tavern known as the Gobbler’s Groggery, using his magic to write his initial report on the matter. It was just past ten in the morning and already the desk was covered in papers, a couple neat and tidy pages from Jade Seed and some messy papers from Lady Serenity were spread across the desk so he could get a better look at them.

He had to admit, the inn’s bedroom he was in was a lot nicer than he’d expected from a griffon run establishment. There was a single bed that, while designed for the larger and heavier griffons, was able to fit him and support him perfectly. It was surprisingly comfortable as well. His room also had a primitive bathroom and a wooden tub for baths. While the water wasn’t as warm as he would have preferred, it was enough for him to wash off the dust from the city.

The room also had a desk and a small dresser with a mirror right next to a window that gave a decent view of the city, especially the Griffonstone Keep. From where he was sitting he couldn’t see much out of the window but he could see the snowfall coming down. He frowned at the wildness of the weather in this part of the world. No harmony here, he reasoned as he looked over the reports from his compatriots about the human. All that he’d learned the day before (using his Stone Chisel persona) was that Rarity Belle and some companions of hers had met this human and that he was the brand new Chancellor of the city. However, the others had learned much more.

Jade, as befitting her status as somepony fresh out of training, had reports that were extremely detailed and official. By the book, as it were, which meant that all the pertinent information that really mattered to him was scattered everywhere, meaning he had to read through the small pile of her papers. He’d been up since seven that morning reading through her reports, and from what he could gather, this human, AKA Chancellor Gregory Graystone was extremely well liked among the griffon and new dragon populace of the city. He was a sight seen pretty much everywhere, but especially where there was need for construction and rebuilding in the city. Not only that, but he was frequently seen with a group that were his closest friends: two griffonesses, a griffon and griffoness teen, a zebra and a pony. She even listed their names: Gabriella, Gilda, Gallus, Gracie, Zecora and Starlight Glimmer. None of the names on the list were ones he’d ever heard of, and he hadn’t even seen a zebra before. All he knew was that they were savages from the two small continents of Zebrica and Farasi.

Lady’s report, while rather sparse, did have more information on the human. Apparently, he had made such a good impression on the griffons of the city that everygriffon had donated enough bits for the city to build him a veritable mansion in the upper level. Not only that, but he was apparently on good terms with the Dragon Lord who had gifted him a creature called a drake, a draconic being about as smart as a typical animal. He used it to fly around the city on occasion. Lady also reported that the few ponies she talked to had good things to say about this Graystone. She did go into some details about a particular pony named Sassy Saddles who worked at a clothing store which Graystone visited a good number of times. She described Graystone as a friendly individual. She even described the day where he’d visited and seen her sick, but unable to leave the store because was the least sick of the employees. He’d apparently stopped what he was doing and made her some healthy vegetable soup before he took over the store for the couple of hours it would take for the midshift griffon employee to arrive and take over. And even then, he’d escorted Sassy back to her temporary home and had even gone so far as to ask a friend of his to prepare a few medicinal potions to help treat her sickness.

The more that Dusky learned about this human, the more suspicious he became. He couldn’t help but assume that this Graystone was up to something. Nohuman was that nice without some kind of ulterior motive, at least according to the information his superiors had managed to drag up from ancient archives describing the once mythical race.

He stood up, stretched, then headed to his bags which were set neatly in one corner of the room. Using his magic, he opened it up and lifted out a glowing crimson orb. One of three that had been entrusted to him and his team. He could feel the antiquated power pulsing through its core. A shudder ran through him as he quickly put it away and closed his bag. The time might come where they might have to use it, but it wasn’t going to be that day. They needed more information.

That, and one of them needed to meet this human.

“Agent O, come in Agent O.”

“Agent O here, sir.”

“The Emperor himself has received your report and has expressed great concern for the subject. He’s dispatched Agent T to act as your backup and keep a close eye on the subject.”

“Understood, sir.”

“In the meantime, he has given you specific orders to keep a very close eye on the subject and make sure that the Equestrians do no harm to the subject. If you suspect any of those ponies of attempting anything, you know what to do.”

“Y-Yes sir.”

“And keep an eye out from other newcomer ponies in the town. Who knows who else could be coming in the city?”

“Understood, sir.”

“Long live the Emperor!”

“Long live the Emperor.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay. Writer's block is a bitch.

23: Sun And Stone

Author's Note

Happy New Year, everyone! Sorry this took so long!

23: Sun And Stone

Griffonstone Keep, Early Afternoon…

“Chancellor, if you’re still not feeling well, you don’t need to be here,” Gwendolyn said softly at the meeting later that same day. “I know you drank heavily last night.”

It was cloudy outside, with the newly restored windows in the throne room showing that light snow was falling and creating a new coat of snow on the ground above the already fallen white stuff. After both of them had fully recovered, Gabby and Gregory had parted ways for their jobs after a private breakfast together. The others had decided that they’d take the day off and rest despite the potion working just as well on them. Gabby and Gregory, however, couldn’t exactly get away from their jobs, especially since Gabby was hoping that she might get a promotion from mail delivery griffon to courier, a new branch of the mail service the government was funding that would work directly under the government and deliver official documents and other things for the government all around the country. She hoped for the promotion even more now since it meant she could be closer to Gregory, something that warmed his heart considerably.

Currently, however, Gregory was watching placidly while Geoffrey was arguing with Gael about how to best utilize government funds for relief efforts that The Salvation Army couldn’t cover. Gregory shook his head, leaned over and whispered back, “Miss Gwendolyn, I’m feeling perfectly fine now. Zecora gave me something that banished that hangover to Tartarus. Besides, I need to be here.”

The young griffoness gave him one more concerned look, then nodded, grabbed his empty clay mug and poured water into it before handing it back to him. “Here you are, Chancellor. Maybe this’ll help.”

“Thanks,” he said gratefully as he took the glass and sipped at it, once more returning to focus as best as he could on the argument between Gael and Geoffrey. In truth, he much rather would be spending the entire day with his girlfriend.

His girlfriend…

He could scarcely believe the fact that he had only a few hours ago started a brand-new relationship with Gabby. His very first friend and his savior. More than anything, he was over the moon happy, because unlike his old abusive cheating ex-girlfriend from back on Earth, he knew Gabby was nothing like her. She was sincere, kind, magnanimous, full of joy and would never betray him. That, and she was the most beautiful griffoness he had ever seen. Her smile lit up a room, her eyes were easy to get lost in, her plumage was comfortable, and…her haunches were so tantalizing and so…

He shook his head, clearing away the sudden lustful thoughts he had about Gabby. He knew that those thoughts weren’t wrong anymore since he’d come to terms with the fact that he’d more than likely never see another human again, but now was neither the time nor the place. He refocused his attention once again towards the council table. Geoffrey was currently speaking. “Gael, I know you’re from Shell Falls, but that new Salvation Army organization has sent at least a thousand bits there to help with the rebuilding and reconstruction. We can’t afford to send much there even if we had the means.”

Gael glared at the Griffon ambassador. “Yes, because you spend all of the money improving Griffonstone and Griffonville,” he scoffed.

“And what about Clawsdale?” Ginna interrupted. “It’s getting even less! The town can’t afford to send for wood or coal!”

“Why don’t you ask that new dragon friend of yours to help?” Gael asked snarkily.

“Enough arguing, everyone,” Gregory said sternly, holding up his hand, the same hand where he now wore a simple markless gold ring. The same ring that had appeared when the Idol of Boreas embedded itself in the large tree stump that now served as their table. Everyone turned to him and gave him their full attention. Swallowing his nervousness, he continued. “This bickering is pointless. I know you two are concerned about your towns. So am I, but insulting each other isn’t called for. Ginna, the council is sending less money to Clawsdale because your town is smaller than Shell Falls. Its needs are less. Don’t think that this means we don’t care, because we do! Our coffers are just limited. We can’t neglect one city for another.”

Ginna frowned and clenched her fists. “I understand that…I really do! But Clawsdale needs help now!” With that, she slammed her fists onto the table, making the clay mugs and clay pitcher on the table jump up slightly. She bit her beak and looked down at the table, her tail drooping slightly. “Sorry…”

Gregory felt badly for the poor griffoness. He had seen the reports on the small little town, which could better be described as a hamlet. It had been improving according to the reports flown in from their somewhat new courier system, but transportation throughout the kingdom was something that would need to be addressed soon. All they had now was the courier system, which was good for long distance letter delivery, but for larger scale transportation wasn’t practical unless a really strong griffon were to undertake it or multiple griffons flew. Aside from Griffonstone Station, the entirety of Griffonia had no rail system. He turned to face her fully. “Miss Ginna, I promise that we are doing everything we can to help as many towns and hamlets as possible, but we just don’t have the means. It’s not like we have horses so we can make horse drawn carriages.”

“There are horses in Griffonia, actually,” Gwendolyn corrected, “but they’re all wild and live far east of here. It would take too long to bring them back and train them to be effective in the immediate relief efforts.”

He raised an eyebrow. This was news to him. He figured that the presence of the aforementioned equines in a world where ponies talked and reasoned would be rare. He then remembered, however, that Applejack had once said “Hold your horses” in the Gala episode. That, and he remembered a small scene in an Equestria Girls short which showed horses on a farm, although the latter was on another world. That was, of course, if Equestria Girls was actually accurate in this world. “Maybe you’re right about the immediate part,” he said, “but for the further future it’s worth looking into trying to round up and tame said horses. I think we should consider using trained horses as beasts of burden until our research department can develop our own steam engine.”

“What about that drake pet of yours?” Ginna asked. “Didn’t the dragons who came here say that they were a whole species? Couldn’t we ask to have some sent here?”

“There’s a difference between training drakes and horses,” Gregory replied. “For one, drakes are incredibly more intelligent than your average horse. Daenerys and I have a rather unique bond. It’s almost like I know what she’s thinking even when I’m not looking at her. And Daenerys isn’t a pet. She’s more like a friend and companion. And don’t forget that horses can’t swallow you up in one gulp if they get hangry.”

Ginna swallowed nervously and nodded. “Okay, that’s a good point…”

“Why not ask the Equestrian visitors?” Gael asked. “Rumors are spreading about them visiting your house yesterday. They have access to that railway and its technology. Think we could establish a trade with them?”

He sighed and shook his head. “I was afraid of that. We weren’t discussing trade at my house. They were telling me about something else. Besides, they’re going to be busy searching the city for a so-called ‘Friendship Problem’.” He used air quotation marks for that, still somewhat bitter over what he’d learned. “And while it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try and establish trade with Equestria, I’m not sure now is the best time. You’ve got to remember that they have their own issues to deal with currently, especially with the aftermath of that changeling attack on Canterlot and the destruction of Ponyville, so asking for a trade from a foreign power going through that might not be a good idea.”

“And besides, they closed the borders to anycreature who wasn’t a pony until just recently,” Gruff growled. “Why would we want to trade with a race who elevate themselves above everycreature else?”

Gregory hid his scowl. Ever since the revelation about Jason, he’d been taking a closer look at the world he’d seen in the show. Griffon The Brush Off, Dragonshy, Dragon Quest, and other episodes and even some of the comics indicated that ponies either made assumptions about other races or just flat out insulted them. That, and the way he’d seen Spike be treated in the show he realized now had not been fair to the poor dragon. Not only that, but Gilda had informed him about the massive amount of time her parents had spent trying to get her into the junior flight camp that she’d gone to in Equestria. According to her, it had been quite an ordeal for them and had cost a pretty penny. “Your point is well seen, Grandpa,” he said. “Ponies aren’t perfect, but then again, does that make us better than they are?”

“Do you know the legal hoops a nonpony has to undergo in order to even be allowed to live in Equestria?” Geoffrey asked as if to drive the point home even more. “The Crystal Empire is better at it than Equestria.”

“Yes, but the Empire only came back a few years ago,” Gwendolyn reminded the ambassador. “Their rulers, Empress Cadance and Emperor-Consort Shining Armor have only been ruling there for a clawful of years.”

“Can we return to the matter at hand, please?” Gregory asked, feeling a headache beginning to form. When everyone else settled down, he resumed and said, “Trade with Equestria should be held off until they are in a position to trade anything with us, so no railway help from them at the moment. However, a few of the books I brought with me from my homeland have some details of steam engines we can work off of. I can give them over to our R&D team for study soon. And we’ll need to send some of our best animal trainers out to gather horses.” He’d downloaded plenty of technological books with precise details in them, in the hopes that he could jumpstart another technological revolution in Equestria, but now that he was Chancellor, he had promised himself that he would use everything at his disposal to improve his nation. And it was his nation now. Not as in he owned it, but that he belonged to the nation, and as a member of the Imperial Council, he would do what he could to protect it.

“And what of the ponies reaction to us using horses as beasts of burden?” Geoffrey asked.

“Ambassador, need I remind you that those ponies have talking farm animals?” Gregory retorted, a bit of his anger showing through. “The cows and sheep there can talk and reason just as much as them, but they live as cattle! There, everyone-no, I take that back-everyPONY is equal, but some are more equal than others!” He was clenching his cup harder now, hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. Unbidden, the image of a smiling and tender Gabby flashed before his mind’s eye and he realized that he was perhaps more flummoxed by this whole Jason Wright abuse thing than he thought. He forced himself to relax. “I…I’m sorry,” he said. “Maybe you’re right, Gwendolyn. Maybe I should go.”

“Yeah, go ahead and rest up,” Gruff said with a scowl, but Gregory knew him well enough to know that he was speaking out of genuine concern.

“In fact, why don’t the rest of us take a break and calm ourselves down,” Gwendolyn, who Gregory was beginning to see was more of the peacekeeper in this council. “We’ve been arguing for three hours straight. We’re all tired and hungry.”

“I could go for some of those scones that Gilda makes,” Ginna said as she put on her gloves after standing up from her chair.

“She stayed home today,” Gregory, who had finished his water with a big gulp, replied as he stood and grabbed his holster with the Colt Peacemaker in it. Despite the safety in the city, he’d begun wearing the ancient pistol whenever he went out. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the inhabitants of the city, but something about having it made him feel a bit safer. That, and it was a sign to him that he was still human, something he didn’t want to let go of in this world where the creatures around him weren’t humans. “I think she just wanted a day to recover.”

“Damn, that’s a shame,” Gael said as he grabbed his scarf and wrapped it around his neck. “Her scones are the talk of the city.”

“Who wants to go to that new Grant’s Burger joint that opened last week? It’ll be on me,” Geoffrey asked as the griffons headed towards the door. This got a chorus of agreement from the other griffons.

All aside from Gwendolyn who remained behind as Gregory pulled on his long black overcoat. When he finally noticed that she was still there, looking up at him with furled brows, he frowned in confusion. “Gwendolyn? Aren’t you going to go with the others?”

“I’ll join them later,” Gwendolyn said as she approached him. “Sir, has something else been on your mind today? Yesterday during our early meeting, you were totally focused on everything. Today, though, you seemed a bit out of it.”

Gregory smiled a little bit. He knew she was more observant than most, but had hoped that he would be able to hide his conflicting emotions from her. She seemed to think of herself as his personal secretary and acted as such, keeping things organized not only for him but for the council as well. She kept the minutes and organized them in a room which she had called the Archives. He also knew she was working on organizing the ancient Archives and copying down some that were too damaged to be kept out anymore. She was one of the most hardworking griffons he’d met and had to admit that she felt like the glue that held the council together. “I do have a few things on my mind,” he admitted, “but I can handle it, I promise.”

“Are you sure?” Gwendolyn asked, moving a bit closer to him. “I know how stressful being on the council is, and you have been working very hard with the rest of us, but I haven’t seen you like this. I know we aren’t really that close, but hope you know I don’t mind listening to whatever’s bothering you.”

His smile widened. “I appreciate it, Gwendolyn, and I’ll keep that in mind, but I promise I’ll be alright. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I do have others to talk to.”

“Like that Gabriella griffoness?” Gwendolyn’s features took on a knowing smirk as she gently gave Gregory a playful push. “You two are always together.”

Gregory immediately relaxed at the mention of his new girlfriend, and his smile became a somewhat dreamy one. “Yeah…you’re right.”

Gwendolyn’s eyes widened. “My, my, my,” she said excitedly, “I know that look. Something’s changed.”

Gregory and Gabby had discussed whether or not to keep their relationship a secret or not. Initially, Gregory was a bit nervous about telling anyone save for their closest friends, but Gabby quickly pointed out that she wasn’t embarrassed about it. Gregory said he wasn’t either, but he realized that his reluctance could be misconstrued as being embarrassed. He felt silly for even thinking about not telling anyone. “Yeah, I guess so,” he chuckled.

“It’s about time you two got together,” Gwendolyn chuckled as she held out her claw. “Congratulations, sir.”

He took her claw in his hand and shook it. “Thank you, Gwendolyn.”

“She has always been a happy griffoness, but she’s been extra cheery after meeting you,” Gwendolyn chuckled as the two of them headed to the doors that led to the hallway which itself led to the castle’s exit.

Opening the door for his coworker, Gregory chuckled. “She’s a treasure,” he said.

“One you wish to keep hidden or display?” Gwendolyn asked.

He shook his head. “If you mean are we gonna keep this relationship hidden, then no. We won’t keep it a secret.”

“Just a piece of advice, sir,” she said with a cautious tone, “don’t be overly boastful about it. Even now, we griffons can get a little annoyed when seeing an overly romantic couple.”

“Gabby did tell me about that earlier,” he replied, “but thank you for your concern.”

“Still, congratulations sir!” she said, and to Gregory’s ears, it sounded like she meant it. “I wish you and her a future full of the good fortune of our ancestors.”

“I appreciate you saying so,” he said as they continued walking down the halls. He looked around at the walls and decided to change the subject. Not because he didn’t want to talk about it more, but because he was thoroughly impressed with what he was seeing around him. “Switching gears for a bit, but I’m impressed with how the keep looks now. The repair guys really know their shit.”

Gwendolyn nodded. “They certainly do, sir. And they said that the keep will be finished by the day of the Blue Moon Festival.”

He whistled in appreciation. “They really work fast. Is there anything we can do for them for Christmas?”

She ran her claw through her top plumage thoughtfully. “I’ll see what I can do, sir,” she said. “What are you going to do for the rest of the day?”

Gregory pursed his lips. He wasn’t sure what else he could do since Gabby was still at work, having volunteered to work extra hours at the post office. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind. He chuckled. “I’m gonna let Daenerys get some exercise and go along for the ride.”

When he got home, the snow had stopped, but the temperature had dropped a bit. The sky was just beginning to darken as he pulled out the saddle. Only the one he now owned had been thoroughly improved after he noticed a few things that could be fixed. He’d hired a small griffoness named Gidget who came up with many different improvements to it, such as a way to make the entire thing more comfortable for Daenerys and adding more straps to better keep Gregory from falling off but still leaving plenty of maneuverability for him.

He left a note for Gabby just in case she came home before he did, told the others that he was going for a flight, then changed into something a bit more robust than the dress slacks, button down shirt and tie that he normally wore to the council. He strapped on his goggles and began putting the new and improved saddle on her back. Unlike before, Daenerys didn’t seem to mind the saddle. In fact, she seemed happy to have it on her, even showing her intelligence by helping him put it on. He grabbed the reins after finishing strapping in. He felt her tense up, waiting for the order. Gregory grinned, raised the reins and shouted, “Giddy up!”

Immediately, he felt the familiar rush of his stomach dropping as the excited drake launched up, leaving the land behind in a matter of seconds. He pushed his facemask up further, finding that the aforementioned piece of fabric kept his mouth from drying up fast thanks to the high winds. Not only that, but it kept his face warmer whenever they flew up. Strangely enough, despite his mouth being covered, he’d found that Daenerys always seemed to be able to hear him whenever he said something to her.

They soared over the city, and from this height Gregory saw how many houses were glowing blue, light blue and white along with a few multicolored houses which were mostly around his neighborhood. Blue was the color of the holiday season, after all. The entire city looked like a Christmas tree with blue and white lights decorating every inch of its branches.

He grabbed both reins with one hand and raised his fist to the air, letting out a “WAAHOOOO!” In response, Daenerys roared loudly as they flew down towards the ocean over the vast Evertide Forest. Gregory smiled, since his drake had read his mind. On one of his flights with her, he found a small empty island only a few miles south of the city. He and Daenerys would go there sometimes where he would either think or just walk along the pristine sandy beach. He thought of it as his personal getaway where he could spend some time alone if needed.

He began humming the flight theme from How To Train Your Dragon, and the song seemed to start playing in his head. He smiled as he heard the music crescendo and laughed as in response Daenerys pulled a barrel roll before diving towards the forest. Gregory pulled on the reins at the last minute and she pulled up, roaring and looking back briefly at him with what looked like a smile before facing forward again.

As they flew, Gregory wiped some of the moisture from the front of the goggles and looked ahead. He saw the clouds near the ocean begin to dissipate, and for the first time in a while, he caught a glimpse of the sky. He spotted the waxing gibbous moon in the afternoon sky as well, with the sun moving towards the west. The winds whipping around him picked up slightly and he smelled the sea breeze through his facemask. Taking a deep whiff, he smiled, unable to wait for summer where he and Gabby and his friends could go down and enjoy the normally hot weather and the warm ocean water. That, and Gabby had said she had a few pieces of swimwear. Just imagining her in a bikini made him blush.

He pulled on the reins, sending Daenerys up towards the sky. The heavens were changing from their typical blue to all the typical colors of a winter sunset, and he could already see the unfamiliar constellations coming out. One of the books that he’d found in the old Griffonstone Library was an astronomy book that appeared to have been written only a decade or so ago. It was written by an intelligent griffon astronomer named, ironically enough, Galileo. Unfortunately, his book which he titled Heliocentrism Vs. Magic: A Treatise on the True Nature of the Heavens was never really read. However, Gregory had taken said book and was still reading through it. He was impressed by all of the griffon astronomer’s observations of the night sky and the planetary motions. He had tried asking about the griffon around the city, but all that anyone could tell him was that he’d left the city two or so years prior, leaving behind nothing save for that book. Gregory promised himself that once he’d introduced a printing press to Griffonia, he’d have that book as one of the first to be distributed and endorsed.

He began turning Daenerys down towards a small black speck on the horizon. With a mighty push of her wings, the young drake’s momentum sped up and the black speck began transforming into a small island, with pristine sandy beaches and a small forest of Houseoak trees, each of which had grown wildly but still had hollowed out and livable interiors.

It was here, on the western shores of the as of yet unnamed island, where he landed with Daenerys. He undid the straps on his saddle, turned and climbed off of her back and landed on the beach, his boots kicking up some of the icy sand. He removed his goggles, gloves, facemask and the overcoat he wore more for the coolness factor than anything else. He kept his pistol by his side, however, mostly since despite the island being fairly small he didn’t want to risk being caught without some means to defend himself aside from Daenerys. His now longer hair blew back in the cold winter ocean breeze as he inhaled the salty scent. The same scent that brought back some of the only good memories he had of home.

The few summers he spent at his grandmother’s beach house when he was ten to thirteen were some of the happiest memories of his life. He would play with other children at the beach, eat at the local and old fashioned burger and shake joint, which was so old fashioned that the owner had actually kept his prices similar to the ones he’d started at when he opened it decades earlier. He’d cried for an entire afternoon when his mom coldly told him that his grandma had passed away a month before summer vacation when he was fourteen. Even the small antique Linden Quartz German domed clock she’d willed to him didn’t ease the pain as much as he’d hoped. It had always been his favorite thing to watch, especially the four balls that swung back and forth near the bottom. Said clock was now currently sitting on his mantle back in the mansion in Griffonstone.

He came back out of his memories and looked up at Daenerys, who was facing the setting sun, eyes closed as she took in the little bit of heat of the setting sun. He stroked her underbelly and heard her rumbling in satisfaction as she lay down on her side in the sand, the saddle sitting carefully nearby after she’d removed it with a dexterity and intelligence that even now still surprised him. She curled up, grabbing him with her tail and setting him down near her upper chest which was one of the warmer parts of her body. She made a noise which he came to recognize as an affectionate coo as she put one of her wings around him.

Over the course of the weeks since Gregory and Daenerys had met, the two had developed a bond all their own. Without even saying words to each other, the two could understand each other, and there were even times where he thought he heard the voice of Emilia Clarke saying something to him whenever he was either asleep or dozing, but it was always incoherent and just out of reach. Her purple eyes always seemed to sparkle with excitement whenever she saw him, especially during the times whenever they went flying together. After every flight, it seemed to Gregory that their bond became stronger, and it became especially deeper during their practice flights.

The wing around him tightened a bit and he felt a brief affectionate lick on the side of his face before a rumbling went through her. He closed his eyes, letting the sounds of the surf and the rhythmic breathing of his companion drift him into a relaxing nap…

Celestia had to admit to herself that having sat on her throne for so long had made her slightly out of shape as she flew over the ocean. She had been out among the citizens of Griffonstone all day, traveling with her partner Spike while they searched the city for any sort of friendship problem they could solve. Rainbow Dash had gone out with Fluttershy, the former expressing some concern over the pegasus’ recent behavior, while Pinkie Pie had gone out with Applejack and Twilight had gone out with Rarity. The teams had been picked out by Twilight the night before.

Not only that, but she was mentally drained. She had dressed down Rarity for her more recent behavior. The unicorn had said nothing while Celestia expressed her disappointment, just standing there sullenly. After Celestia had finished, it did seem like she expressed a genuine apology to everypony in the room for her behavior and promised that she would behave more appropriately. Celestia found that she was skeptical of that, and immediately felt guilty over that.

After they’d split into their groups and had left the inn, she and Spike had spent the time searching through the upper levels of the city, asking around about any problems involving friendship. Most of the creatures they spoke to were still griffons, but she was surprised to see some dragons and even a rich pony couple who had managed to find a larger house to live in the richer levels of the city. The pony couple were rather reluctant to speak to Celestia, but they did eventually relay that there wasn’t anything in their lives that could be considered a friendship problem.

Spike, while still being a bit standoffish, was generally polite to Celestia as they talked. They didn’t discuss anything major, however. Mostly about how lovely the city was despite being technologically less advanced than some of the more modern Equestrian cities. Unlike Canterlot, which was opulent and rich, Griffonstone had a rather rustic and natural charm, especially since the entire city was located on the many extremely sturdy branches of a massive tree. She had never visited Griffonstone in her entire life, only ever hearing stories about it from the visits of the griffon ambassadors she had entertained during her time as Equestria’s ruler. In fact, she realized upon thinking back, Celestia had never once visited another nation unless it was absolutely necessary. She’d been to the Crystal Empire of course, and had long ago visited Mt. Aris before the hippogriffs had mysteriously vanished. Other than that, she knew she had failed in establishing better ties with other nations.

However, she vowed by the Maker herself that she would change that in the future. Starting with Griffonstone.

She did learn a bit more about Spike’s own time in Ponyville, and was impressed when she heard about his growing friendships with ponies his own age. She wasn’t the Princess of Love, but she could sense something that passed in front of the young dragon when he spoke of the sister of the Element of Generosity. Despite not having wings yet, Spike was still a teenager by pony years, and having been raised among ponies had found what Celestia presumed was love for the young teenage filly. She was especially happy to hear this, since it seemed as if his time in Ponyville had not especially been as fulfilling as it should have been. Despite not talking about much other than those topics, Celestia felt that she had strengthened her bond with the young dragon and hoped that eventually he could heal from his treatment during his time in Ponyville and even Canterlot.

As she flew over the ocean, she spotted a small black speck in the middle of the water. Curiosity got the better of her as she flew down to investigate. What she thought was at first a large whale was, in fact, an island. She smiled at the pristineness of the small mass of land and flew around it, observing its foliage and pure sandy beaches. She noted that the trees on the island were almost all those same Houseoaks that the Griffonstone Library and even the former Golden Oaks Library had been.

She landed on the northern part of the island and faced the setting sun. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her magic and felt the massive ball of fire with the ancient magic that she had mastered to raise and lower the sun and which she had altered for those thousand years to raise and lower the moon. She let the warmth of the large orb embrace her being and fill her with immeasurable power briefly before she began pushing it towards the horizon. Immediately, the air began cooling even more and she felt the shadows of night fall on her as the sun lowered beneath the horizon.

Immediately after this, she felt the more stalwart magic of her younger sister, Princess Luna, as she took over the ancient spell taught to them both by Star Swirl and the other unicorns who had, at one time, raised and lowered the sun. Opening her eyes, she drank in the now thousands of blazing stars and constellations. The moon above was waxing currently and showered the surroundings with its silvery hue. She saw the now darkened water reflecting said lunar glow along with the stars and the white band above which the ponies knew as Harmony Road. She began walking towards the western shores of the beach, taking in the utter beauty and majesty of the stars above. The sand ran through her hooves as she continued her early night stroll, taking in the utter beauty of the island and the ocean surrounding it.

She turned back towards Griffonstone, which by now was visible since the clouds that had covered the city had cleared away. She saw warm ruddy white and blue lights coming from it with a few patches of multicolored lights from an upper district. In a way, the city reminded her of a blue and white lit Hearth’s Warming tree. But what really stood out to her was Griffonville below. It was lit up brilliantly with white and blue lights. What little she could see from this distance reminded her of her private collection of Hearth’s Warming village models that she’d been collecting for years. Her model town had grown so big, in fact, that she had to have a private room constructed specifically for its use. It might have been a foalish habit, but it was something she looked forward to every year, and especially with Luna’s return as it was something that the two sisters had quickly bonded over. She smiled at the memory as she turned away and resumed her walk.

As she turned a corner near a sand dune, something sitting on the inner edge of the sand caught her eye. Celestia might have been immortal and over a thousand years old, but she was still keen eyed as she had been when she was a young hundred year old. Slowly, cautiously, and on her guard, she peered out and looked at the large creature which slept nearby. Immediately she recognized the drake that belonged to Chancellor Graystone. The same creature which the Chancellor had called Daenerys. She came out slowly and approached the sleeping drake, horn at the ready just in case. She used her brief training in stealth to approach as silently as possible.

After a few steps, however, the young Daenerys’ eyes opened and, turning its head quickly, locked gazes with Celestia, her purple eyes glowed with a bright purple inner light. Celestia stopped and kept her eyes on the massive young creature. The drake’s expression wasn’t hostile, but was more curious at the sight of the ancient alicorn before her. Daenerys stared back at Celestia, unblinking.

Suddenly, from the spot which the drake was curled around there was movement. There was a clicking sound, and then a figure rolled out from the form. A second but smaller pair of glowing purple eyes appeared, but said glow quickly vanished. In the light of the waxing moon and the stars, Celestia saw a gleam of metal that was aimed at her, which was obviously some kind of weapon. Quickly, she raised her hoof as she recognized the being before her. “I mean no harm, Chancellor.”

The human looked at her for a few seconds, and in the moonlight she saw him slowly pull back whatever object he held out towards her. There was another slower clicking noise and he put the metal object away in some kind of carrying case which was at his side after he stood. Daenerys unfurled herself and sat up, stretching her wings and opening her mouth wide as a loud yawn escaped her maw. “Princess Celestia, this is a surprise,” he said as he walked over to the edge of the woods to begin gathering branches and fallen logs. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Neither did I expect to see you here, or for this island to be here either,” she replied as she approached. She watched as he pulled the logs towards the beach.

“I come here whenever I need time to think to myself or to rest away from other people,” the human Chancellor replied. “It’s my own private sanctuary, as it were.” He paused and a thoughtful look appeared on his face. “Sanctuary…yeah, that’s a good name for this island.”

Celestia’s ears flattened a bit at his reasoning. “If it’s any consolation, Chancellor, I can relate.”

He chuckled a bit dryly as he said, “I bet you can.” Looking up at Daenerys, he pointed to a spot on the beach. “Daenerys, could you dig a shallow fire pit?”

As the drake began using her large claws to remove the top sand from the spot where the human had pointed, Celestia began using her own magic to gather wood as well, guessing that he was going to start a fire. “I am well aware that I’m the last being you want to speak to, but I am willing to listen if you wish.” And she meant it. She knew the stresses of being a ruler. With the return of her sister, she realized that there had been so much buried deep that she had to vent. Luna was there to listen as well and even she had her moments to vent. It had helped her to be a better ruler. At least, she thought it had until her utter failure with the first human to set foot on Equus in over a thousand years.

The Chancellor, who now was putting the fallen logs and branches into the quickly dug fire pit, paused at her words. He turned back to her, his hair blowing in the wind along with the long flowing coat he wore. Celestia didn’t know how to read human emotions very well, but if she had to guess, he was debating whether or not to talk to her. In an effort to gain his trust, Celestia revealed something that she had sworn she’d never speak of to anypony or anycreature else. “I am well aware of My Little Pony. Jason Wright told me about it.”

The Chancellor froze, eyes wide in astonishment. The two stared at each other for a while before he slowly turned away, threw more woods into the pit, then looked up at Daenerys, pointed to the fire and said, in what sounded more like an order, “Dracarys.” Celestia watched an inner rumbling come from the drake’s upper chest and saw the areas around the underscales near her mouth light up with an inner fire. Opening her maw, the drake breathed a bright yellow flame onto the logs, igniting them instantly. Smiling up at the drake, he reached up, rubbed her belly, and said “Good girl, Daenerys.” The drake made a pleased rumbling sound before she lay back down and curled up nearby. The Chancellor walked over to the fire and sat in the pristine sand, holding out his hands to bask in the warmth. Without turning to her, he held up his hand and beckoned towards her. “Come join me, Princess,” he said, “the night air gets really chilly out here.”

Celestia did as he said, sitting down in the cool sand and spreading her wings to allow for the heat to catch in her wings. It wasn’t the sun by any means, but it did its job in warming her up. She held up her hooves and rubbed them together, breathing out to help them warm up as well. She heard the human stand up, walk over behind her and drape something over her. Looking up, she saw the placid faced human as he put his coat over her before walking back to his side of the fire and sitting back down on a large log he was using as a seat. Behind him, his drake had already fallen back asleep and was breathing steadily and peacefully. She folded her wings back and put them under the offered coat. “Thank you, Chancellor.”

“You’re welcome, Princess,” he replied automatically as he rubbed his own hands before folding them in front of him, staring into the fire, its warm ruddy glow reflected in his blue eyes.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, Celestia’s eyes locked on him while his were in the fire. The only sounds that were audible were the crackling of the logs in the fire, the wind and the waves breaking on the shore behind the Princess. Celestia held her tongue, not wanting to pressure the human before her into spilling anything he didn’t want to. After a while, however, she wasn’t able to stand the tension and said, “Chancellor, I hope you’ll be completely honest with me about what you’re feeling right now. I know I might not deserve it, but I want to hear your thoughts. I need to hear them.”

The human nodded in response. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said as he continued looking at the fire, blinking rapidly to keep his eyes from being overwhelmed by the heat. He went silent again, and Celestia saw his face take on what she assumed was a thoughtful look. She recognized the look, mostly when somepony back in Canterlot was chewing on their words and forming the next sentence carefully. Inwardly, she approved. A good ruler, at least in her opinion, never was rash in their words or deeds.

Finally, though, he opened his mouth again, but instead of words, he began singing. “Ponies voices fill the night; Hearth’s Warming Eve is here once again. Happy hearts so full and bright; Hearth’s Warming Eve is here once again. Oh, what a sight, look at the light, all for tonight. Hearth’s Warming Eve is here once again.” He paused for a bit, then his expression changed into what she assumed was a wistful look. “You know, I always liked that song from the show and a lot of the others. I always really loved how you ponies randomly break out into song and dance routines. I loved the episode where the Cutie Mark Crusaders got their cutie marks. That, and the Winter Wrap-Up episode too. Everyone was all smiles and joy.” The look in his eyes vanished only to be replaced with a frown. “It’s a shame it was all based on a lie.”

Celestia’s ears flattened at that, but she didn’t look away. He at least deserved that respect as a fellow ruler of a nation, even if he wasn’t at the same level as a monarch. She ran through a number of things she could say in response, but nothing seemed appropriate. However, he was clearly waiting for a response from her. Finally, with a shudder, she nodded. “Yes…it was a lie,” she admitted.

He sighed and then continued, still not looking up at her. “I’ve been thinking long and hard about what I’ve seen on the show, including the finale and the movie and the bits of the next generation show. I’ve been looking at the events from the perspective of an adult instead of a child, and do you know what I’ve found? Speciesism, a herd mentality, a superiority complex, hypocrisy at the highest level and more. Hell, you even keep cows and sheep as farm animals despite their ability to talk. Sounds like slavery if you ask me. But then again, maybe that last part is just me and there’s more to it. Maybe they’re employees, who knows?”

Despite his calm tone, each accusation stung Celestia at her core. It took all of her strength not to look away from him. “Yes. Yes you’re right about the former.”

“Is that all you have to say to me? That I’m right?” he asked her with an incredulous tone as he finally locked eyes with her. Instead of the angry look she expected, she was met with one of confusion. Pointing at her, he continued. “Are you and those ponies going to wallow in your despair and grief all this time or get your heads out of your asses and DO something about it?!” He inhaled deeply, then exhaled. Celestia could sense he was building up to tell her something, and remained silent.

Finally, he stood and began pacing, never once taking his eyes off of her. “Let me tell you a story. A story about a unicorn pony filly. She lived in a small town in the middle of Equestria. She had a childhood colt friend who she loved to spend time with. However, one day said childhood friend received his cutie mark, and everyone was happy for him. However, he was immediately shipped off to Canterlot to study at the unicorn magical school there. Your school. The one that caters only to unicorns. She never saw him again. She blamed it all on him earning his cutie mark and never made another friend because of that experience because she was so afraid of losing another friend that she reasoned that if she never made one again she wouldn’t be hurt again. Solid reasoning, right?” Celestia could tell the remark was dripping with sarcasm.

He continued on. “She hated cutie marks so much because in her mind they stole her friend from her. She began to believe that cutie marks were to blame. This belief eventually led her to create a town and gather ponies around her, teaching them things that which could very well be considered cultish in this world. She used a spell to remove the cutie marks of the ponies in said town. Then, some outsider ponies arrived and discovered this plot. Before they could expose the leader mare’s deception, all of their cutie marks were stolen by her. However, they managed to escape and reveal the truth to the town. They chased this leader pony, who had lied to her followers, out of the town, only for said mare to escape. Months later, this pony discovered a time travel scroll made by Star Swirl and figured out how to use it in order to stop a pivotal moment in the outsider ponies lives, altering the flow of historical events a good number of times. One of these ponies chased the mare through time and space to try and stop her, and eventually managed to stop her through words instead of fighting.”

After that, he took a deep breath, walked over to what looked like a saddle large enough for Daenerys. He reached into a pocket, pulled out a leather pouch, popped the cork and downed some liquid. To Celestia’s surprise, he walked over and offered some to her. As she took it and drank the water within, he continued. “I don’t think I need to say who this mare was, do I?”

After she swallowed the water and returned the pouch to the Chancellor, Celestia simply said, “Starlight Glimmer.”

“Correct,” he replied as he caught the pouch and, without hesitation, took another swig from it before plugging the cork and putting it down beside him on the log where he sat. Staring back into the fire, he continued, but this time with a small smile, the first she’d seen on his face since their first meeting in the tavern the day prior. “Starlight is an exceptional mage. Even here, where magic is less abundant than your country, she has been able to help grow the library and a few other Houseoaks. In the show, Twilight said that during the time travel debacle her magic wasn’t enough to stop Starlight. She had to use her words. And Twilight was an alicorn in the episode. But somehow, in this timeline, Starlight was beaten for her betrayal and ran here. Twilight and the others never met her. When I found her that night in the alleyway, she was starving and eating out of the garbage, half crazed from hunger and abuse.”

“She looks much better now,” Celestia said.

“She is,” Gregory said, and his smile widened a bit. She had to admit to herself that he had a really nice smile. “She’s surrounded by a group of friends who care for her in their own way. Even Gracie, who really has a grudge against ponies, is starting to open up to her.” The smile slowly faded as he added, “I’ve learned something about you ponies from not only that depiction of Starlight’s story, but from what I’m seeing right now. You ponies sometimes have a tendency to let one incident in your life define you. For Starlight it was losing her friend. For you and your companions, it’s this thing with Jason Wright. And for Sunset Shimmer, if she even exists, it was seeing herself as an alicorn in that Star Swirl’s mirror.”

Celestia looked at him in alarm now. She never knew that her old student had seen herself as an alicorn when she’d introduced her to the mirror to other worlds. “You know of my old student?”

“That answers that question,” Gregory muttered to himself before looking back up at her. “I know that she’s gone through a lot ever since she went to that human world. If she was a hidden element of harmony, I suspect she’d be the Element of Redemption or Empathy based off of the magic powers she possesses in that world.”

“She sees the past of whoever she touches,” Celestia confirmed. She had learned of the effect of the introduction of magic into said human world five years prior, mere months before Jason Wright’s arrival.

“Correct,” he replied. “How long has it been since you saw her last?” he asked.

“It has been more than fifteen years,” Celestia said, “and more than five since she attempted to steal Twilight’s crown.”

“She’s probably graduated with her friends by now,” Gregory muttered as he grabbed some logs he’d collected and threw them onto the fire. The flames sprang back to life and the light increased. “But enough of that. We’ve both gotten sidetracked.”

Celestia almost nodded in agreement, and she did agree with him, but her experience told her not to make that move. Instead, she looked at the human in front of her and tried to think of what best to say next. Neither spoke once more, and the alicorn Princess began wishing that there was someone else there with the two of them. She wasn’t sure why, but she had never felt so tense before. Maybe it was the obvious anger from the human. Maybe it was the massive creature behind him. Maybe, maybe, maybe…

She steeled herself when Gregory spoke again. “Back to the topic at hand, though. You ponies seem to get so stuck in your own heads that you fail to realize that you don’t have to stay there forever.” He pointed a finger at the Princess. “Your kind are, with some exceptions, more reactive than proactive. This isn’t an accusation, it’s a rule of nature. Your kind are herbivores and lower on the proverbial food chain.” Lowering his finger, he added, “I know this sounds like I’m just saying ‘Get over it, you bunch of pansies’, but it’s not that at all. I can see that you all feel badly about it. Well, almost all of you, I suppose, but there’s a saying back where I’m from: actions speak louder than words. And from what I’ve seen, you’re only half sorry.”

She winced at the accusation. Her actions after the destruction of Ponyville and invasion of Canterlot had been contradictory. She had caved where she shouldn’t have caved. She was a massive hypocrite. However, she was grateful that she was hearing this from him. It was a slap in the face that she needed. “What would you suggest I do to prove that I am truly repentant?” she asked, genuinely curious.

Leaning back, he folded his hands and looked at her stoically. “Back where I’m from, I read about a concept called the Five Languages of Apology. Ironically enough, I read about it in a fan written story about My Little Pony.”

“Could you explain it further?” Celestia asked.

“Of course,” he said as he took another swallow from the water pouch before offering it to her again. She took it and swallowed some more as he continued. “Everybody has a way of apologizing truly, and it can boil down to five basic types.” He held up his fist and began counting them out. “Number one is expressing regret, something like ‘I feel awful for doing such and such, and I’m sorry.’ Number two is accepting responsibility, something like ‘I’m sorry for such and such. It was wrong and I have no excuse for it.’ There’s nothing worse than saying ‘I’m sorry, but…’ because in that case, anything before the word BUT is complete horseshit. Number three is genuinely repenting, something like ‘I’m truly sorry for such and such. Next time I’ll do this and thus instead so that it won’t happen again.’ Number four is making restitution, something like ‘I’m sorry for such and such. To make up for it, I’ll do this and thus.’ Number five is requesting forgiveness, something like ‘I’m sorry for such and such, and I hope you can forgive me, but I understand if it’ll take some time for you to do so.’”

Celestia pondered his words. She had been around long enough to have experienced each type of those apologies from either her staff or past students at the School for Gifted Unicorns. She could see where he was coming from, of course. “What language do you subscribe to?” she asked curiously.

“I like to think that I would use each of them if I needed to, but everyone tends to lean towards one language or the other,” he replied. “Like I said, actions speak louder than words, but even so, words can also say a lot if they’re genuine. Meaning no excuses, Princess. No saying it was Discord’s fault and trying to pin the blame on him like Applejack was trying to do yesterday. Like I said earlier, anything before the word BUT is horseshit.”

Celestia heard a snort coming from behind the Chancellor. She turned and saw the purple eyed drake looking at the human and nodding slightly. As the drake closed her eyes again, Celestia looked back at the Chancellor, who hadn’t taken his eyes off of her despite her momentary distraction. “I did fail Jason,” she admitted, “and I’ve failed so many more, like young Spike.” She looked deeper into the Chancellor’s eyes as she continued with new conviction in her voice. “I will do something about it, though.” As if to emphasize her point, she stamped her hoof into the sand, sending the light beige substance exploding out from the impact.

Celestia then saw the human’s eyes flash a brief purple, his pupils briefly becoming reptilian slits before returning to their normal blue. He nodded, and a small smile formed on his lips again as he said, “Making restitution. That’s good. But don’t just tell me this. Tell your people. Change begins with a single step, after all.” Once more, he held out the leather bound water pouch. She took it thankfully, swallowed a healthy amount then floated it back to him. He took a swallow of the remaining water himself and stood. “Well, I should probably head back home. It’s late, and I’ve had a long day.” He walked over and gently touched Daenerys’ stomach. “Wakey wakey, eggs and bacey,” he said softly to his drake companion. “Wake up, Dany. We need to get home, and I’m sure you’re eager to go hunting for dinner.”

The large but still juvenile drake opened her eyes blearily, then stood, yawned, stretched and smacked her lips. As Daenerys and the Chancellor began reattaching the saddle, Celestia stood and walked over. “Please allow me to help,” she said, her horn igniting its signature golden hue as she hoofed the human’s coat back to him with her magic.

He turned and looked at her, his face a blank. However, after a few seconds, he smiled, grabbed his coat and put it back on. Then, pointing to the back of the saddle, he said, “Could you tie that around Daenerys’ waist, then?”

For the next few minutes, Celestia helped the human and drake tie the saddle to the latter’s back. It took about ten minutes, and the alicorn listened to the Chancellor’s instructions with care. Finally, the saddle was firmly attached. As the human began climbing up, Celestia once more saw a gleam of metal from the strangely shaped leather holster at his right side. Curious, she spoke up. “Forgive me for asking, but what is that object on your hip there?”

The human turned and looked at where Celestia was pointing. With practiced ease, he reached down and slung out the object from its holster and held it up. “This? It’s called a Colt Single Action Army revolver, more commonly known as a Colt Peacemaker. It’s a pistol used by humans back on Earth over a hundred years ago and was very popular in my home country during the colonization and expansion towards the west.”

“Why did you bring it with you from your world?” Celestia asked, now recognizing it as being a more advanced form of weapon similar to the type that had killed Discord.

He twirled it in his fingers before slipping it into the holster once more. “I didn’t. The new Dragon Lord gave it to me a month or so ago as a sign of hopeful good relationship between our two nations. That, and she brought me and Daenerys together. Isn’t that right, Dany?” He reached up and rubbed her underbelly affectionately. The drake snorted, rolled her eyes and began slowly wagging her tail. “Tsundere,” he snickered as he began climbing on the saddle once more.

Something inside her stirred. Something between them seemed unsaid. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but she knew she didn’t want this to be the last time they spoke. So, as a head of government, she approached the desire as such as she held out a hoof. “Wait! Before you go, could I ask a favor?”

It was a good thing that she’d called out, because he’d just begun putting on a few extra items on his face to better protect it. He’d just put on a facemask and was just about to put on a pair of goggles before she called out. He turned back and pulled his facemask down. “What is it, Princess?” he asked with more of a curious tone.

She paused, suddenly aware of the gravity of what she was about to ask. She was even more aware of the subtle biases bubbling to the surface once more. However, with a great force of will, she stamped them back down, promising herself that she would deal with them personally very soon. Standing tall and proud, she addressed the Chancellor as Princess of Equestria. “Chancellor Gregory Graystone, I would formally request that the Kingdom of Equestria and the Empire of Griffonia open official relations with each other.”

The Chancellor looked down at her for a few seconds, his face once more unreadable for said seconds. However, after that, he replied, “I will bring your request to the Imperial Council tomorrow morning and give you your answer as soon as possible, Princess Celestia Solaris.”

She nodded in appreciation. “Thank you.”

He nodded back and as he put his mask back over his mouth, Celestia saw another small smile beginning to form. “You’re welcome.” As he strapped the goggles over his eyes, he grabbed the reins. “Have a good rest of your night, Princess. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.”

“I will, and same to you, Chancellor,” she replied.

He gave her a courteous nod, then looked back up into the sky. “Giddyup,” he said, gently pulling back on the reins. Celestia watched in awe as the magnificent creature spread her massive wings and leaped into the air with her hind legs, her eyes glowing a bright purple as she flew up into the night. The wind almost blew Celestia back, but she stood her ground. As the drake and human duo made their way into the cold winter night, she thought she saw, once more, a second pair of glowing purple eyes coming from where the Chancellor sat.

She returned to the fire, lifting a few of the nearby logs and setting them on top of the blaze. She had a lot to think about…

Griffonstone’s Wealthier District, That Same Night…

Lady Serenity was bored. Like, super bored. This assignment was already just growing boring for her. She wanted some kind of excitement, and it wasn’t like there were any ponies who worked in the Griffonstone’s Red Light District for her to seduce. She sat outside one of the last types of shops she’d ever expect to find in Griffonstone: a tea shop named the Jasmine Dragon which was run by a teal colored dragoness. Despite the cold night, she much preferred the outside to being inside the shop. She lifted her teacup and took a sip of the surprisingly delicious sweet orange tea she'd ordered.

She hadn’t joined this group to sit around and do nothing, however. She’d joined for the action, and not just getting into fights and such. Smiling, she remembered some of her greatest conquests during the many other jobs she’d taken around Equestria. She remembered bumping hooves, as it were, with that inexperienced nurse who worked at the Mareami Beach orphanage. She remembered the married stallion she’d seduced in Manehattan. She continued remembering all of this as she sipped on her tea.

She’d never even been outside of her own country before, and the ponies who lived here were few and far between. She’d tried to slide into the graces of a light brown earth pony stallion with an hourglass for a cutie mark, but a cream colored earth pony mare with a rose for a cutie mark had quickly called him away. None of the ponies in town seemed interested in a night of fun with her, and that left her feeling frustrated. Tea always seemed to calm her down, and she’d been surprised when she’d been directed to the Jasmine Dragon by a passing griffon when he caught her muttering about needing tea.

The clouds that had covered the town all day had finally vanished, and Lady stared up at the sky which was full of stars and the waxing moon. She’d always loved to get lost in the beauty of the night sky as a filly, and as an adult staring up at it always made her feel like her name: serene. As a mare, it also took a lot of the edge off of her libido whenever she got lost in the night sky.

As she took another sip, something large and winged blotted out the sky for a brief moment. Startled, she nearly dropped her teacup as she turned and watched a large draconic figure flying up towards the richer section of Griffonstone. Curious now, she used a spell that heightened the light all around her, only to gasp when she saw a massive dragon being ridden by a bipedal creature. A creature she immediately recognized as the human they’d been hired to spy on. She watched as the human and dragon flew down towards a rich section of the city before disappearing behind a number of trees.

“Impressive beast, isn’t it?” a rich female voice asked from nearby. “Not as impressive as her master, though.”

Lady dispelled the magic and turned to face the owner of the Jasmine Dragon, who stood before her with a steaming tea kettle. Lady lifted her teacup up and as the dragon poured the drink, Lady asked, “I didn’t know dragons allowed other creatures to ride on their backs.”

The owner chuckled and shook her head. “That’s not a dragon. It’s a drake.”

“What’s a drake?” Lady asked curiously.

“They’re majestic creatures who live in the Dragon Lands,” the dragoness said. “They live mostly around the shores of the Nova America Sea. Dragon Lord Ember brought that drakeling here as a gift to Chancellor Graystone.”

“Drakeling? That thing’s a baby?!” Lady asked incredulously. “How big do those drakes grow?!”

The dragoness chuckled and replied, “The largest I’ve seen them grow is nearly the size of our former Dragon Lord Torch, but I doubt that drakeling is going to get that big. Well, enjoy your tea, and once again it’s alright to come inside. It’s warm in there and empty.”

Lady was about to reply in the negative when a sudden breeze blew over her. She shivered and wrapped her coat around her tightly, but it only helped a little. She looked up at the dragoness. “Only if you tell me more about that Chancellor of yours,” she said as she pulled out her forged card. A card which read RED PRINT: CANTERLOT NEWS DAILY. “I’m curious about him.”

The dragoness looked over the card, then back at Lady. “Well I’ll be…never pegged you for a newspony,” she said as she stepped aside. “I don’t know much, but I can tell you what I do know.”

“That’ll be much appreciated,” Lady said, slipping into her fake newspony persona as she stood and grabbed her teacup and the few teacakes with her magic.

“Here, let me get the door for you,” the dragoness said as she opened the door to the inside of the tea shop.

“Thank you,” Lady said as she walked past and entered the room. Unknown to the dragoness, a smirk appeared on the unicorn’s face. It was time to gather information…

24: Shine On, Twilight Sparkle

Author's Note

I decided to color code the journal entry to help better distinguish between people. Lemme know what you think! Enjoy the chapter!

24: Shine On, Twilight Sparkle

The Green Dragon, The Day After…

Hey Sunset, it’s Spike. Are you awake?

Yeah, I just woke up.

Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you.

No no, it’s alright, I was already up when you wrote. It’s Summer Break for us at Canterlot High, after all, but I just woke up early today, I guess. How are things going over there? I haven’t heard from you in a couple of days. Everything okay?

Yeah, things are about the same as ever. Spending time with the CMC and a couple other fillies. Helping as best we can to rebuild Ponyville.

You normally write every day, Spike.

I know, and I’m sorry. I’m actually in Griffonstone right now.

What?! Griffonstone!? What are you doing all the way over there?

The Cutie Map called me and the others here.

The others?

Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle and the rest.

Oh.

Sunset? Are you okay?

Sunset?

Sorry, Spike. I just have a hard time thinking about them without getting really pissed.

I know. But I think Princess Celestia’s trying.

She is? What did she do? Grant amnesty for that Jason Wright?

I think she tried that, but that didn’t work. No, I mean she undid the spell she cast on me that lets me send and receive messages to her.

She cast that kind of spell on a child?! Why?!

I asked her yesterday while we were looking around the city. She told me it was because it was a more convenient means of communication.

Sunset? You still there?

Yeah, sorry Spike. I was just trying to wrap my head around her logic. More convenient? Is she serious? She was just using you as a means of communication?!

I was angry too.

What the fuck was her reasoning?!

She said, and these are her exact words: “This isn’t an excuse, but that spell used up less magic than teleportation. I honestly thought that it didn’t do any harm. It doesn’t hurt ponies, and so I thought it wouldn’t hurt you. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Seriously, that’s horseshitapples.

Yeah, but I think she’s really trying.

Well, that’s something, I guess.

She talked about you yesterday a bit. Said she missed you and all that.

Sunset?

Sunset? You still there?

I should hate her for what she did. I really should. And I am angry at her for what she did to that human, but

But what? What is it?

A part of me still misses her. She raised me for a good chunk of my life. Is that weird?

No, it’s not weird. I know how you feel. I feel the same about Twilight.

Spike, I’m sorry. It must be hard being so close to her and yet so far away.

What are you going to do?

I want things to be okay, but it’s really hard not to be angry at her, you know? After what she did to him and me, it really feels like I was never her friend. Not like you and I are.

Of course we’re friends, Spike. You helped me with Juniper Montage, and even before that you talked to me more than Sparkle.

Everyone needs a friend, Sunset.

Heh, when did you get so smart?

Spend enough time with Twilight and see how smart you get.

She has that intelligence thing going for her, at least. Just not where it counts.

So, Griffonstone, huh? What’s it like?

It’s really cool! The entire city is just sitting on a huge tree! A HUGE TREE, SUNSET! I don’t know how that works, but it does!

Lol, I had heard that. I’m glad you’re getting to see it. I’m jealous.

Maybe someday we can see it together?

I don’t know, Spike. That would mean I’d have to come back and turn into a pony. I actually kinda like having hands. And being able to eat meat? It’s delicious, by the way!

Whoa! You’re eating meat now?

Yeah, humans can eat a lot more than ponies can. Sure, they can eat vegetables and dairy, but they eat beef, chicken, pork, bacon and more.

That’s right, I forgot that the animals over there don’t talk. Still really weird to think about sometimes.

Different world, different rules, Spike.

Guess so. By the way, got some pretty interesting news. There’s another human on Equus!

Sunset?

Another human?

Yep! Some man named Gregory Graystone.

Tell me about him!

Well, I don’t know much. I guess he’s a chance cellar. Did I spell that right?

Chancellor. And really? That’s second in command to the griffon emperor or empress!

There isn’t an emperor right now.

Then that makes him the leader of Griffonia!

What? Really?

Spike, Griffonia doesn’t have the same type of government Equestria does. There’s an emperor, sure, and that makes him or her a lot like the princess, but after that there’s a Chancellor. He is the head of the Griffonian Imperial Council. The council helps the emperor make decisions but it’s ultimately the emperor who makes those decisions. The Chancellor is basically the second in command of the empire.

Wow…

Wow indeed.

How did he become a Chancellor?

Like I said, I don’t know much about him. I’ve only said hi to him.

Does he know about Jason?

Spike?

Hang on, Twilight just woke up.

Alright.

Twilight Sparkle groaned as she tried to cover her eyes with the covers in her bed. The light from the sun was coming in rather brightly through the window in the suite that the dragon siblings had given to her and the others, and after wandering through the city for the entire day the day before, she was exhausted. She might have the strength of an earth pony since she’d become an alicorn, but even then she still got tired when walking and flying around all day. Not only that, but she was mentally tired out from interacting with so many different creatures. She was an introvert, after all, and it took time for her to mentally recover from so many social interactions.

But, she was a princess now, even if she knew she didn’t deserve the title. Slowly, and holding back groans, she sat up and rubbed sleep from her eyes. Looking around, she saw the other ponies in the room still sleeping in their large beds. Only Princess Celestia wasn’t there anymore, presumably having gotten up early to raise the sun. Spike was sitting up in bed, a pen in his hand as he wrote in the journal that Twilight had once used to communicate with Sunset Shimmer. Seeing the journal reminded her once more about her last interactions with the former unicorn.

As Spike wrote, she slowly and quietly got out of the surprisingly comfortable bed and placed her hooves on the floor. The young teenage dragon looked up briefly, nodded in acknowledgement in her direction, before turning back and saying a simple, “Morning.”

“Good morning, Spike,” she said softly so as not to disturb the other ponies in the room. She walked over to the window and looked out. She guessed that one of the reasons for this room being so normally expensive was due to the view, as Room 204’s main window faced the Griffonstone Keep. In the clear winter sky, she saw its massive white spires reaching up into the heavens above the clouds. Portions of it were covered with the snow that had fallen the night before. The massive golden crescent moon atop the tallest spire gleamed brightly in the morning sun. Much like the rest of the city, the keep looked recently refurbished and her pegasus vision, which she had been learning to hone with Rainbow’s help before Jason’s invasion, revealed a large group of griffons hard at work repairing portions of the keep or painting it in spots.

Turning away, she faced Spike once more, seeing that he was still writing in the journal. Taking a deep breath, she asked the question she’d been too afraid to speak for months. “Spike?”

“Hmm?” he replied, not even slowing down.

“How’s Sunset doing?”

He paused, eyes still locked onto the pages of the book. After a while, he wrote something else down, then put the book on the side of the bed and the quill into a quill holder. Slowly, he turned back to Twilight. “Don’t you mean, how are Sunset and her friends doing?” he asked.

Her ears flattened at his tone and the glare in his green eyes. She’d encountered humans five years ago, a couple of months before Jason Wright had appeared in Ponyville. She had been friendly enough with them on her visits out of necessity, but she was well aware of how, in the back of her mind, she had judged them too quickly. She had once thought them worse than any other race on Equus, and even that thought had sent guilt coursing through her. They were way too different from ponies, and that incredibly racist and speciesist thought had been the downfall of Ponyville and Canterlot. One stray thought. One instinctive thought. A thought full of fear. But could she really say that she was any better than the humans she’d judged? Could she say her species wouldn’t be as bad as she thought the human race was?

Realizing that Spike was looking at her expectant for an answer, Twilight snapped out of her increasingly self loathing thoughts and nodded. “Y-Yes. Are they alright? Has there been any sort of magical disturbance in their world?”

Spike continued keeping his gaze locked on her for a few agonizing seconds before he nodded. “Yeah, they’re fine. Canterlot High is out for the summer, so Sunset and her friends are going on a cruise.”

“Oh? I’m glad they’re enjoying themselves,” Twilight said.

“Are you? Or are you just saying that to be nice?” Spike retorted.

Twilight held up her hooves in defense. “I mean it, I promise!” she replied hastily.

Spike didn’t move his gaze, but eventually just nodded at her slowly. “All of them are enjoying themselves. Including the other Twilight and Spike.”

Twilight noted the bitterness in his voice as he mentioned their counterparts in the other world. Truth be told, Twilight didn’t know anything about the other version of her. Or rather, she didn’t know too much. Only that this other Twilight was a transferee from another school to Canterlot High and that she owned a dog named Spike that could talk thanks to magic. Twilight watched as Spike grabbed the journal again and resumed writing in it. She wanted to reach out. She wanted to hug him close and apologize for how she had treated him in the more recent years of his life, especially since she’d made pony friends. Her hoof lifted up, but stopped, returning back to the floor. She felt unworthy of that bond with Spike. The one she had been increasingly taking for granted over the years. The one she had been abusing.

Turning back to her bed, she retrieved her saddlebags, strapped them onto her back, and slowly walked towards the door. As she reached the doorknob, she heard a familiar southern drawl as Applejack called out, “Where are yah goin’, Twilight?”

She paused, then turned to see the sleepy looking orange earth pony mare looking at her, a look of curiosity in her eyes as she looked at the alicorn.

“I’m…going to get some breakfast than get an early start on looking for the friendship problem,” she replied. “And I’ll be going alone.”

The city was bustling despite the early hour. She ate a quick omelet, which was incredibly delicious, and then headed out into the streets. Griffons were everywhere, with her spotting a dragon or two every few minutes. Most of the time the inhabitants of the city were decorating their houses with blue and gold garlands and glass globe ornaments of blue, white and gold. Small evergreen boughs were decorated as well, and she even saw a few snowgriffons decorated with the same red and white getup that a few of the griffons at the gondola were wearing.

Griffon cubs were playing and she even saw a couple dragon hatchlings joining in with snowball fights and making snow forts. Griffon and dragon adults were busy buying food, toys and other items that were wrapped in a remarkably festive manner. She even saw the occasional pony partaking in such preparations for the Griffonian holiday, but none seemed to want to talk to Twilight, retreating from her whenever she approached them to talk. Dragons and griffons, on the other hoof, were easier to talk to. However, everywhere it was the same.

“Friendship problem? I don’t know of anyone having one. How ‘bout you, Gary?”

“The only problem I have is trying to get everything I want to get for my cubs before the Festival.”

“Dragons haven’t really done friendship for ages, but we haven’t run into any problems with our own journey into friendship yet. Maybe try those new dragons down in the Projects?”

“A couple ponies asked me yesterday. I’ll tell you what I told them: nothing that I know of.”

Everywhere she went, it was more of the same. She had been throughout the more upper levels of the town with Rarity the day before, but had found nothing. Hardly a word had been spoken between both ponies, but Twilight had seen that the unicorn looked miserable, especially when they had once again passed by the clothing store they’d seen on their first day in the city. Looking in, Twilight had seen a taller and thinner pony that she recognized as Sassy Saddles, the manager of one of Rarity’s former boutique. The taller unicorn hadn’t seen the two since Rarity quickly retreated from the establishment, Twilight in tow. The only thing that Rarity had asked about was how Spike was doing, and looked relieved to hear that the young dragon was doing well.

As Twilight turned a corner just around noon to head to a lower level of the city, she spotted two familiar figures speaking to a third. The first figure sent guilty shivers down her spine. It was Roseluck, and the former flower mare of Ponyville was standing outside of Gardenia’s shop. The other figure was the young griffoness who had spoken harshly to them the day before along with Zecora. The third creature, another griffon, looked older. He had dark green fur, light green and orange feathers which seemed to spike up slightly on either side of his head, making it look like he had horns.

When she saw them, Twilight froze. Her knees locked up and she just stared at the three figures. More specifically, the two she knew. She could still remember the look of accusation that Roseluck had given to her at Jason’s trial of them. The same look that had crumbled into remorse when Discord’s spell on said earth pony mare failed and she’d broken down.

However, she knew that the map had called her and the others to Griffonstone for a good reason. If there was a friendship problem, she needed to talk to everycreature in town. Even if it meant opening up those wounds she’d been too ashamed to tend to.

Approaching the three, she made her presence known by calling out, “Excuse me? Can I talk to you three for a bit?”

Roseluck immediately stiffened and turned her head slowly to face Twilight, her expression one of shock at first. Shock which immediately turned to anger which she quickly tried to repress. The griffoness, who she knew to be called Gracie, could only glare at her with barely restrained disdain. The older griffon male, however, just looked at her with some curiosity and a hint of trepidation. He was the one who spoke. “Yes? What is it?”

Twilight was a bit caught off guard by the way the griffon’s voice sounded. It was youthful, sure, but it was slightly higher pitched than any other male griffon she’d heard. However, before she could say anything, Roseluck stepped in. “And be quick about it.” Her tone was less than friendly.

Ears flattening and tail drooping, Twilight steeled herself and asked, “Do you know of a friendship problem that you or anycreature else might need solving?”

Gracie was about to snap something, but she took a deep breath and held her tongue. Roseluck had more control, and she replied, “The Cutie Map sent you here, huh?” Her tone was cold, detached, something which didn’t match her normal overreactive personality. In truth, it sent shivers down Twilight’s spine. Without waiting for an answer from Twilight, Roseluck shook her head. “Nothing that I know of. My coltfriend and I are doing fine. How about you, Miss Gracie?” she turned to the younger griffoness.

It looked like it took a lot of effort on her part to answer, but eventually all she could say, in a low and hate filled voice, was “No.”

“I just got here this morning, heh,” the slightly older griffon said in a noticeably kinder tone, although any tone would be kinder when compared to Roseluck’s and Gracie’s tones. “So…I can’t help you.”

She nodded politely to the older griffon male. “Well, thanks for letting me know.” Relieved, she tried to head off quickly but not quickly enough to look rude.

However, it seemed that Roseluck wasn’t done with her. “What are you really doing here, Princess Sparkle? Here to rile up the citizens here against the Chancellor? Get them to do what we did? Throw rocks and garbage at him and throw him into the Abysmal Abyss?”

Twilight froze, eyes wide. She felt her heartbeat increase as white noise began filling her ears while Roseluck continued her tirade. She tried taking quiet but deep breaths to calm herself, but she knew what was coming. She was about to have another episode. One where she would collapse into a ball of tears and whimpering apologies. Not only that, but there was a good chance she’d see him again. The creature who she had neglected and abused with her words to Ponyville. Her words about the human which had spread to the entire town. She might not have been the worst, but she was the first.

Suddenly a large shadow crossed over them, startling Twilight. She looked up only to feel the ground shake beneath her hooves. Stumbling a bit, she spread her wings and caught her balance as a massive leathery winged creature landed in front of all of them. The sounds of the world came back to her as her shock overwrote her oncoming episode. She couldn’t even hear Roseluck speaking anymore.

A familiar but muffled sounding male voice called out, “Hey! What’s going on over here?” Seconds later, a goggled and masked human jumped out of a saddle on the back of the draconic creature. Twilight backed away instinctively, the features of the second human on Equus quickly being replaced with the mask wearing face that Jason had taken to wearing during most of his time in Canterlot and Ponyville. The fear must have shown on her face because Gregory quickly removed the goggles and the mask along with the cap that covered his head.

For an instant, Twilight thought she saw his eyes take on a purple hue that matched the drake’s own eyes behind him, but when she looked next, they were back to their normal blue.

Gregory locked eyes with Twilight, then looked over at the other three standing behind her. “What’s going on over here?” he repeated, in a calmer but stern tone.

“No-nothing, it’s nothing,” Twilight quickly replied, looking up into the human’s eyes with what she hoped was a disarming smile. “I’m just looking around for the friendship problem, but these three didn’t have anything, so I was about to move on.”

“That’s not what I saw,” Gregory said as he turned to the pony and two griffons. “Miss Roseluck, is it?”

“Yes, Chancellor,” she replied with a nervous smile.

“Miss Roseluck, Gracie, and you, mister…?”

“Oh! I’m Gideon, Chancellor sir,” the griffon said.

Gregory looked at Gideon briefly, then smiled, holding out his hand. “Are you new here?”

“Just arrived today, Chancellor,” Gideon replied, holding out his own claw to shake Gregory’s outstretched hand. “Visiting my niece Gracie here, is all.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow. “Niece, huh? Nice. I’d love to get to know you a bit more later and swap embarrassing stories about Gracie here, if there are any.”

“Hey!” Gracie gave the two males a pout.

Gideon’s eyes widened in astonishment and his smile returned. “I’d be honored, Chancellor,” Gideon replied, and to Twilight it sounded like he meant it.

“We’ll set something up sometime, then,” Gregory said with a smile before it vanished and his expression became more serious. “However, I’d like to talk to you, your cousin and Miss Roseluck in private for a bit.” Turning to Twilight, he said, “Princess Twilight, do you mind waiting there for a little while? I’d like to talk to you afterwards.”

“Sure…” Twilight said.

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” he replied. Turning to Daenerys, he pointed at her and said, “Now stay here, and keep out of trouble. Watch over that pony there for me, too.” Daenerys seemed to roll her eyes and snorted some smoke from her nostrils as Gregory ushered the pony mare and two griffons into Gardenia’s store, closing the door behind them.

Twilight walked over to the wall of a nearby store, leaned against it, and sighed heavily. Her episodes where she saw Jason and the nightmares only seemed to be getting worse for her. She’d tried everything she knew of which could stop nightmares. Dreamroot tea, warm baths, reading something calming, even meditation like Zecora had once taught her during the incident with Trixie and the Alicorn Amulet. It had helped at first, but it didn’t last. She was seeing him within a few weeks more and more often. Distracting herself with work could only do so much. She’d even begun sleeping with her recovered Smarty Pants doll and a few others, trying to find comfort in them.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice the presence of the drake called Daenerys until she was almost on top of her. Startled, Twilight jumped, making the drakeling pull back. The black scaled and pale cream colored spined and horned young drake looked back at Twilight with curiosity in her purple eyes. Instinctively, Twilight felt the urge to run. This creature was taller than most of the other dragons she’d seen in the city, and according to Princess Celestia, was not as intelligent or sapient as a pony, griffon, dragon or even human. Still, she fought her instincts to run, mostly because she reasoned that if Gregory didn’t trust this creature not to harm a princess of Equestria, he wouldn’t have left her alone with the alicorn. And he had told Daenerys to guard Twilight, which the drake had apparently understood.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she looked over the drake more closely, drinking in as many details about her as she could. Much like how the wild animal the horse and the sapient pony were related, she thought she could see similar subtle differences between the drake and a typical dragon. For one, it seemed as if this drake walked more on four legs whereas dragons tended to walk more on two legs. Their teeth were definitely sharper and larger than dragon’s teeth, easily capable of tearing her apart with a single lunge.

Suppressing her fears more, she focused on Daenerys’ purple eyes. The eyes of a predator, but which were only full of a mild curiosity as the two kept looking at each other. Suddenly, she remembered that many predatory species could take long gazes without blinking or looking away as a sign of hostility. Not wanting to show that, she slowly blinked, then looked slightly away, taking in the buildings around her with as calm of a gaze as she could. Daenerys didn’t take her eyes off of Twilight for a while, making the princess nervous. However eventually, the drakeling turned away, reaching one of her foreclaws up to scratch at her ear.

That was when Twilight caught a clearer glimpse of the saddle which Gregory had been sitting in minutes earlier. She saw a pair of thick leather reins and what was basically a chair strapped to the young drake’s back. She saw straps and restraints which could hold Gregory in place as he flew at, presumably, extremely high speeds. Not only that, but she remembered that he had been wearing very protective clothing. Thick gloves, goggles, a face mask over his mouth and nose and thick warm clothes. The overcoat she wasn’t completely sure about, however, but it did look comfortable for him.

Just then, the door to the flower shop opened. Gregory walked out with a guilty looking Roseluck walking out close behind. Gracie was quiet, eyes averted, and Gideon had a sorrowful look in his eyes which he turned onto Twilight. Bowing to her, he began leading Gracie away. Roseluck, however, didn’t leave. All she could do was lower her head, muttering, “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have said those things…”

“I-It’s okay,” Twilight stammered. “I understand.”

Roseluck nodded, then looked over towards Gregory. “What…what can I do to make it right? To him, I mean?”

Twilight held her breath as she, too, looked at Gregory for the answer. It was obvious now that Gregory had told Roseluck what he knew about Jason. To her surprise, Gregory knelt and put a hand on Roseluck’s withers gently. “Learn from the harsh lessons of Ponyville’s destruction. Be a better pony. And if you do see him again, make a proper apology.”

“I…I tried at the trial,” she whispered.

“If you see him again, try once more,” Gregory repeated. “That’s what all of you ponies should do. Remember the five languages of apology I just mentioned. But just make sure that it’s sincere. That’s all the advice I can give.”

“…Yes…I understand, Chancellor.”

Standing, he looked down at her. “I will take my leave for now.”

“Have a good day, Chancellor,” Roseluck said before turning and heading back into the flower shop.

Gregory then turned to Twilight. “They told me what happened just now,” he said plainly. “Your Highness, might I have some of your time today?” Pulling out a device that Twilight recognized as a human designed smartphone from a zipped up pocket, he looked at it, then put it back into his pocket. “It’s a little past noon already. Let me treat you to lunch.”

“Oh no, I’ll be fine,” she began with a wave of her hoof, but a grumbling from her stomach was more honest than her denial. She looked away, embarrassed.

Gregory, however, didn’t make mention of the grumbling. Instead, he began returning to the saddle, putting his goggles and facemask back on. “Come on, I know just the place where we can go,” he said in an insistent tone.

“Um…alright, if you insist,” Twilight replied, waiting for him to strap into the saddle.

She watched as he grabbed the reins, then patted Daenerys’ side. Smiling down at her with a warmth that she’d never seen on Jason’s face ever, he said, “Giddyup.”

The young drake spread her wings and shot up into the air. Twilight took a moment to recover before spreading her own wings, lowering the inner eyelids that pegasi had to protect their eyes from the wind, and shot up into the air after him. The ground fell away, and she took in the entirety of the city below her, something she hadn’t really done since arriving. There were some sections that looked run down, but for the most part the city was undergoing vast repairs and she could even see griffons, dragons and a couple ponies working to reconstruct many of the buildings that had become run down.

As they flew down towards a section of the city that was mostly restaurants and food carts, she kept her gaze locked on Gregory. Along with trying to look for friendship problems the day before, she had asked citizens about this human. She knew now that he had retrieved the Idol of Boreas and had given it back to Griffonia without technically ever needing to do so. After two weeks of not seeing him much, the human had begun, on his own time, repairing buildings. Others saw this and their newly restored pride struck at their hearts to follow his example. They had their pride as a race, after all.

Everycreature she’d talked to admired him immensely. He was a down to Equus type of creature, knowing how to work hard but also how to party hard. It was also because of his proclivity to break out into song that the law forbidding singing in the city was repealed. Not only that, but many other restrictive laws were lifted thanks to his influence. And all of this before he became the Chancellor.

She’d seen just how this city had repaid him with the mansion he lived in along with friends who made him smile. She even heard from a couple of griffons that they got the impression Gregory might have had deeper feelings towards one of his close circle of friends, who she learned later were Gilda, Gabriella, Gracie, Starlight Glimmer and Zecora.

She was so lost in thought that she noticed too late that they had passed the section of the city where she had expected Gregory to take her. Instead, he just kept on flying, heading down towards the base of the mountain where Griffonstone sat. Confused, she flew up to him and called out “Where are we going?!”

Gregory turned, then motioned for her to fly closer. She did so and he shouted back, “We’re heading to a town at the bottom of the mountain!”

“What town?!” she called back.

“Griffonville! Follow me!” With that, he turned back towards the base of the mountain.

Twilight had never heard of Griffonville before, but as they continued flying down, she began to see glimpses of a small village nestled around a large evergreen forest. She could see farmland on the outskirts and a stone wall surrounding the bulk of the town itself. Much like with what she’d seen in Griffonstone, the architecture of the buildings town was similar to the Griffonian capital itself, but she also saw a number of those large Houseoak trees scattered throughout the town.

They reached the town and landed in front of the tallest Houseoak. As Gregory began unstrapping himself, Twilight walked slowly forward, looking up at the massive bare tree. There were no leaves on said tree currently, and the branches were covered in snow, glistening in the afternoon sun. It stood taller than any other building in the town, with large windows around it and a light gray set of double doors with a set of wooden stairs leading up to said doors. Written directly above the doors were the words Town Hall.

“From what I’ve been told, this town is a few hundred years old,” Gregory said as he walked over to her side. “The founders of this town knew the secrets of growing Houseoaks so that they could grow how they would want, but didn’t have the magic to make it grow immediately, so they had to wait a year for them to grow properly. However, thanks to Starlight and Zecora, there are some plans for more to be grown to help with the incoming population boom.”

“Population boom?” Twilight asked, finally turning to face Gregory.

Gregory, who was still looking at the Town Hall, nodded. “Before the Idol was returned, the population was in a state of decline,” he explained as he turned and gestured for her to follow. She walked alongside him as he continued. “I mean, think about it. If you lived in a decaying city where the life expectancy was low, would you want to bring a child into the world? Oh sure, some of the richer griffons would have cubs, but the poorer couples or the griffon prides would actively try not to have many, if any, cubs. But three months ago, things changed. The Idol was returned, the griffons regained their pride, Griffonia began to rebuild, and…well, let’s just say the general libido went up. We’re expecting a major population increase at the beginning of the year.”

Twilight could only nod in understanding. It made sense that a population that lived in a declining civilization would not want to bring children into the world. “I see,” she replied.

Gregory finally looked down at her, one eyebrow raised. However, he just pointed towards a nearby smaller Houseoak. “That’s the spot I was thinking of,” he said as he and Daenerys walked towards the tree. “One of the more recent buildings in the town. The owners are rather friendly and they serve every species they can.”

As they approached, Twilight saw a rather colorful looking sign hanging from above the door which read Sweet ‘N Savory. Gregory walked forward pulled the door open and stepped aside. “After you.”

“Oh, thanks,” she said as she stepped in. Looking around, she saw that she was standing in a well-lit restaurant with gas lamps at each table, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, circular windows all around the massive domed room, and a counter with stools in front of it. Behind said counter, she could see plenty of bottles full of what she assumed was alcoholic beverages. There was an older griffon male standing behind the counter, washing a glass. More than half of the tables and booths were occupied, mostly by griffons but she did see a couple of dragons along with a number of ponies sitting in a corner, the latter eating what could only be hay burgers. Seeing her favorite food only made her stomach growl even more.

“Welcome to SNS,” the griffon behind the counter said politely. “Find a seat any-well look what the cat dragged in!”

Twilight noticed that the griffon was now looking behind Twilight. Turning, she saw Gregory looking over at the griffon behind the bar with a grin. Raising his hands, he waved in a friendly manner. “Gordon, what’s good, bro!?” he said as he walked towards the counter. Not wanting to be left behind, Twilight followed close behind. As he approached, Gregory added, “Business is booming, I see.”

“It’ll get even better now that you’re here,” Gordon said with a chuckle. “You gonna get the usual?”

“Actually, I was thinking I’d change it up for today and get one of your three cheese grilled cheese sandwiches,” Gregory said. “And tomato soup. You can’t have grilled cheese without tomato soup! Oh! And some of those salted fried potato cuts.”

“Good choice!” Gordon said.

Gregory then turned and gestured towards Twilight. “This mare is with me today,” he said. “Who’s the herbivore chef working today? Is it Mulia Mild or Blanch Blend?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself, sweet cakes?” a deep but lustrous feminine voice asked. A pale blue unicorn mare stepped out from a door. She had a fiery yellow, orange and red mane and tail, deep blue eyes which she batted at Gregory, and was a head or so taller than Twilight. The mare wore a chef’s hat on her head and looked much more like Sassy Saddles or Fleur De Lis than anypony Twilight had seen before. Twilight tried to think back and remember if she’d seen this particular mare before, but she drew a blank. Blanch continued and said, “What can I do for you today, hun?”

“I have a pony guest with me today,” Gregory said. “Just wanted to make sure the best chef was available for pony cuisine.”

“I’d take offense to that if it wasn’t true,” a young male voice said from behind the door, which opened to reveal an evergreen colored dragon with teal eyes and dark crimson spines and horns.

“Ash! What’s good, my dragon?” Gregory chuckled as he held out a fist, which Ash quickly bumped with his own. “How are you and your hoard doing?”

Ash scratched behind his head a bit sheepishly. “Cinder’s doing alright. She’s trying her best to learn how to herd sheep. And get this: Olivine just laid our first clutch of eggs!”

Gregory’s smile widened and he extended his hand. “Congratulations!”

“He hasn’t really shut up about it,” Blanch chuckled, bumping the younger looking dragon with her rear end in a playful manner.

“Can you blame him?” Gregory asked. “Twenty three years old with a hoard of two wives and already expecting little dragon hatchlings? When are you expecting the eggs to hatch? And how many?”

“Olivine’s staying at home and keeping the eggs as warm as possible,” Ash said, “but since we’re not near the Dragon Hatching Fields it might be a while. Oh, and she laid six.”

“Damn, Ash! You’ve got a big family incoming! But as for the Dragon Hatching Fields, I’ve seen dragons breathing blue fire before,” Gregory replied. “I’d suggest trying that. Blue fire is the hottest fire since it’s closest to plasma. If not, maybe you and Cinder can help?”

“Olivine’s a stubborn dragoness,” Ash said. “She won’t accept help unless things are going wrong.”

Gregory chuckled. “I’ve seen that happen before, and being stubborn never ends up well in the long run. Anyway, could you bring us a pony specific menu?” The human turned to her. “Unless you have something you want already?”

“Um…well, I wouldn’t mind some hayburgers,” she said.

Blanch chuckled. “The ponies here tell me I make some pretty good hayburgers. It’s nice to be making them again after all these years since I moved to Griffonville.”

Twilight’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You mean…you didn’t move here recently?”

Blanch shook her head. “I moved here ten years ago because I wanted to expand my culinary chops. Imagine my surprise when I realized griffons enjoy meat. I’ve since gotten used to making omnivorous meals, but it’s nice to make foods for ponies again. How many hayburgers do you want?”

“Two please,” Twilight said. “And can you add sliced cheese? Oh, and do you make hayfries, too?”

“Of course. Anything to drink for you two?”

“Got any root beer or butterbeer left?” Gregory asked.

“I knew you’d like some, sweetie,” Blanch grinned, “but unfortunately, we’re out of butterbeer for the moment. There is a barrel of root beer in the back that I made special just for you,” she added with a playful wink.

“My mare,” he grinned. “I’ll take a chilled glass of that, no ice please.”

“You’re drinking alcoholic beverages in the middle of the day?” Twilight asked incredulously.

Gregory chuckled. “There’s absolutely no alcohol in either of them,” he explained, “Root beer is a soda, and while butterbeer is technically made with real beer the recipe I gave her and others makes it so that the alcohol is boiled away during the brewing process. I don’t do day drinking.”

“Oh, I see,” Twilight said. Curiosity got the better of her and without thinking, she asked while raising her hoof. “Could you make that two?”

Blanch nodded. “I can, sweetie, but fair warning, it’s an acquired taste for ponies. It took me a month to get used to the smell and taste,” she said. “I’ll bring a glass of ice water just in case.”

“Thank you,” Twilight replied, nodding gratefully at Blanch.

“Now then, what do I owe you,” Gregory asked, pulling out a leather pouch from one of his large zipper pockets, “and you know the drill, no ‘Oh, it’s on the house’ shit with me.”

“We know better now,” Gordon chuckled as he grabbed a pen and quickly began writing on a piece of paper. After a half minute, he looked up. “That’ll be fifteen bits.”

“You got it, buddy,” Gregory said as he pulled out said bits and put them on the table.

Gordon took the bits and set them aside, where a young griffoness waitress gathered them and took them into the back. “Take a seat anywhere and we’ll get those right out for you,” Gordon said.

“What’s this WE you’re talking about, Ram boy?” Ash said with a snark.

“Just get back and make sure those fresh cuts aren’t fucking raw this time,” Gordon replied immediately.

“One time, Ram, it was one time!” Ash groaned.

As Gregory snickered and turned towards a two-creature booth near one of the windows, Twilight followed, listening to the banter between the dragon, pony and griffon. Twilight watched as Gregory took a seat and leaned back, stretching and sighing contentedly. She sat opposite him, wondering just what his intentions were in bringing her out here. Was he trying to rub it in her face that a town so similarly named to her hometown was more accepting?

However, the moment she thought that, she lowered her head and her ears flattened. She’d done it again, and this time without Discord’s help. She’d immediately assumed the worst about this human. She took a deep breath and sighed. Some supposed Princess of Friendship she was…

“She was right, you know,” Gregory said suddenly, snapping Twilight out of her brief reverie.

She looked up at him quickly. “Um…who was?” she asked hesitantly, suppressing any thoughts she had about what he might have meant.

“Blanch. She was right about the root beer thing,” he replied, which caused Twilight to relax. “Starlight spat it in my face when she first tried it,” he continued with a laugh, “but eventually she got used to it. Now she loves root beer floats.”

“That’s good to hear,” Twilight said. All that she knew about Starlight was the reports she’d gotten from the inhabitants of Freetown, which was what the inhabitants had renamed it after Starlight left and after they regained their cutie marks. She knew that Starlight had the philosophy that a real friendship came from true equality, which meant getting rid of cutie marks. However, when a mare named Sugar Belle had accidentally discovered that Starlight had not removed her cutie mark like the rest, the town rose up and raided her house, smashing the glass bottles that housed their cutie marks. What happened next, however, had appalled Twilight and her friends when they’d arrived. The inhabitants had hoofed over five ponies who had savagely beaten Starlight before kicking her into a cave to die. At the time, she hadn’t thought anypony capable of such cruelty, but now she knew anypony was capable of that. Herself included.

Coming out of her reverie, she noticed that a chilled glass with a handle had been placed in front of both of them along with some ice water for them as well. The former was full of a fizzing dark brown drink. Taking a tentative sniff, she lifted the glass with her magic and took an experimental sip. She put the mug down as she first experienced the familiar fizzing sensation she got whenever she tasted soda, then a rather unique blend of flavors. However, most of it was sarsaparilla. She actually found the taste rather pleasant. Taking a deeper sip, she put the glass down and decided to try and make some conversation with the human across from her. “How is she doing, by the way?”

“Hmm? How’s who doing?” Gregory, who had been sitting patiently across from her, asked.

“Miss Starlight Glimmer,” Twilight clarified.

“Ah! Yes, her.” He took a sip of his own root beer, dabbed at his upper lip to clean off the excess foam that had gotten stuck there, then continued. “She’s doing rather well for herself, actually. She’s pretty much recovered from her injuries and has been eating much better. She loves her new job, too.”

“New job? What’s that?” Twilight asked.

“She’s the head librarian at the Griffonstone Public Library,” Gregory replied with a proud smile. “She’s a really powerful unicorn despite the lower concentration of magic here. She helped with growing the library, this restaurant and a few other Houseoaks, too.”

“I see.” Twilight looked at the drink before her, watching as bubbles came up from the bottom. It was a bit mesmerizing, she had to admit, but she forced herself to look away. She wanted to try and make the most out of this one-on-one discussion with Gregory. “Chancellor Graystone, while we’re here, is it okay if we talk?”

“We already are,” he replied, raising a confused eyebrow towards her. “But what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, is it okay to ask about you?” Twilight asked.

Gregory pursed his lips thoughtfully, then nodded. “I don’t see why not, just as long as I can ask you some questions too.”

“That’s fair,” Twilight agreed, just as a griffon waiter flew up with two trays in his claws.

“Here we are,” the griffon said. “Grilled cheese, tomato soup and fried potatoes for the Chancellor, and two hay burgers and hayfries for the Princess of Equestria.” He put them down, then landed. “Would either of you care for some sauces?”

“Ketchup, please,” Gregory said before turning to Twilight. “What about you?”

“Ketchup sounds good,” she replied.

Nodding, the waiter flew over to behind the counter, grabbed a glass bottle full of ketchup, and flew back, placing it on the table. “Here you two are. Enjoy.” With that, he flew off to check on other tables.

“Well, dig in,” Gregory encouraged as he took his sandwich and began tearing it into halves before dipping one into the tomato soup and taking a bite. “Ooooh yesss,” he said.

“Don’t you dare do what you do every time again!” one of the patrons, a pony, called out with a snarky grin.

“Nah, not this time,” he replied as he grabbed the provided cloth napkin and dabbed at the soup that remained. “I’ll probably stop doing it so often anyway. Remember that lecture Zecora gave me?”

The majority of the crowd laughed and nodded. “She really let you have it,” a random griffon said with a chuckle.

“No shit,” he laughed before taking another bite. “Still, this is one of the best grilled cheeses I’ve ever had, and I guarantee that those hayburgers are equally as good. At least, if what I’ve heard are true,” he added.

“Right,” she nodded, lifted the hayburger with her magic and taking a bite. Her eyes widened at the explosion of flavor that she experienced in that moment. The hay was tantalizingly warm, crisp and salted to perfection. The vegetables, which consisted of what tasted like freshly cut lettuce, ripe tomato slices and slightly sweetened pickles, only added to the flavor. The cheese, which was perfectly melted across the top of the hay patty, only added to the saltiness of the flavor. And then the hayburger sauce, which she hadn’t tasted before, brought it all together. Finally realizing just how much she missed hayburgers, she began taking bigger bites, making sure to savor each and every taste that crossed her taste buds.

“So, what is it you wanted to know?” Gregory asked after a few minutes, putting down his sandwich and grabbing the ketchup bottle, unscrewing the lid and beginning to pour some onto the plate with his fried potato slices before offering it to her. “I suggest we take turns. You ask me a question, and then I’ll ask on in return.”

She took the bottle with her magic and began pouring some out onto her hay fries plate. After she was done, she set it down, put the lid back on and cleared her throat. “Well…let’s start at the beginning, I guess.”

“A very good place to start,” Gregory said, “but I’d prefer it if you cast a shield around us so that we can’t be heard.”

“But won’t that be suspicious?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“You’re a Princess of Equestria, I’m the Griffonian Chancellor. If anyone asks, I’ll say we were discussing official government business,” he replied.

“Oh, I suppose that makes sense,” she said as she raised her horn. A dim purple dome surrounded them, erasing all sound from the surrounding area.

“Perfect! Let the questions begin,” Gregory said, taking a sip of his root beer before setting it down and folding his hands in front of him. “What would you like to know?”

Slowly clearing her throat, she began with one of the simplest questions that was used to get to know somecreature better. “How old are you?”

Half an hour had passed, and Twilight had learned more about Gregory than she’d ever learned about Jason. She learned that he was twenty-nine years old, had lived in a nation called the United States of America, had worked for many years in a grocery store, and had a variety of interests ranging from singing to video games, movies and television shows, the latter of which she knew about from her time in the other world. She also learned about what had happened the moment he’d arrived on Equus, which he referred to as Gaia. She was stunned that he was still alive and that the first griffon he had met had saved him from a very grizzly fate.

He didn’t hide anything from her, not how he felt when he learned about Jason Wright initially, how he’d begun trying to help rebuild the city and how others had, in his words, ‘selflessly helped him’. She got the impression that he didn’t want to take credit for anything that had happened, only ever saying that he just gave them a gentle nudge in the right direction.

She also learned about how poorly his family had treated him along with a former lover who had cheated on him. She’d immediately apologized for bringing up painful memories, but he assured her that he’d been learning to properly deal with it with a little help from his friends.

He asked her similar questions, and she told him her age (twenty-eight), how many members of her family she had, her interests and more. To her surprise, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, she found a small smile passing over her muzzle. Her spirits began somewhat lifting. Before she knew it, she’d actually finished her entire meal, something she hadn’t done in a while. The guilt was still there, but for a few moments at least she felt something stir within her. Something she hadn’t felt in years.

Was she making a friend?

The moment she realized this, what she had been saying caught in her throat. Gregory must have immediately caught on, because he leaned forward and asked, “Princess? What’s wrong?”

Twilight shook her head, tears in her eyes as she said, “I don’t deserve the title of Princess.”

The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them. The thoughts had been ongoing for months. She’d been haunted by her failures night and day, in the day by the guilty looks and angry stares and glares of the ponies, and in the night by frequent nightmares, mostly of her repeating memories of her encounters with Jason Wright. She couldn’t stop herself from tossing him out in each scenario. It was as if her body and mind were out of her control, but at the same time she knew that was a lie.

Gregory didn’t react at first, until finally he put his fingers on his forehead, shook his head and sighed. “You ponies…always letting one incident get to you and changing you forever, or until someone smacks some sense into you. Seriously!” He threw his hands up in the air before leaning down towards her, hands folded and a patient expression on his face. His dishes were all cleaned and set to the side and his root beer was all gone. His water was half gone.

He pointed at her and calmly said, “You aren’t the only ones who have acted like this, you know? Trixie experiences one loss and utter humiliation because of the Ursa Minor rampaging through Ponyville. What does she do next? She goes and finds the Alicorn Amulet, making Ponyville into her own personal playground as revenge against you. Let’s see…what else…Sunset Shimmer! She let the thought of revenge against Celestia consume and overwhelm her until she stole your crown and became a demoness. A side effect being she introduced magic to an entire new world. And let’s not forget Starlight Glimmer. Her childhood friend Sunburst gets his cutie mark and she suddenly has a lifelong vendetta against them, going so far as to find a way to erase them from ponies flanks.”

Throughout everything, Twilight was surprised by how collected he was. The only exception was in his eyes, which would sometimes flare from their normal bright blue to a brief purple, much like the color of his drake’s eyes. When he stopped speaking, Twilight swallowed the saliva in her mouth, grabbed her own water and drank. When she set it down, she slowly nodded. “What should I do?”

“That’s your path to follow,” he said as he sat up straighter. “I can only give advice. It’s up to you what you do with it. The only advice I can give now is this: gather the others and talk to them. You’re all obviously hurting but you’re all holding it in. That’s not healthy at all. Especially for Rarity.”

“I’m really sorry about her,” Twilight immediately began.

“It’s alright, Princess,” he replied. Just then a strange muffled ringing noise came from his pocket. Reaching in, he pulled out his smartphone, and the ringing became clearer. “Ah damn. I’m sorry, Princess, but I’m afraid I need to go. There’s a meeting of the Council and I need to be there. Do you mind dropping the shield?”

“Oh, of course, but before you do, can I ask one more thing?” Twilight asked.

“Shoot,” he replied with a nod.

“Could you ask the Council if Princess Celestia and I, or either one of us, can try and establish better diplomatic relationships between our two nations?” Twilight asked hopefully.

He paused, then stroked his chin thoughtfully for a few long silent seconds. Then, turning back to her, he said, “I can certainly ask them.”

“Thank you, Chancellor,” she said as she raised her horn and lowered the shield. Immediately the sounds of the restaurant around them flooded her ears.

“You’re welcome, Princess,” he replied, standing and gathering all of their dishes in both his hands. He wiped down the table as best he could with his napkin before he nodded his head politely towards her. “Thanks for joining me for lunch. It was a rather…interesting get together, I must say. In a good way.”

“I…I enjoyed myself too,” Twilight replied, nodding back with equal politeness and a small smile.

“You want a ride back to the city, or can you make it on your own?” he asked.

“Oh, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine,” Twilight said.

“See you later, then.” Gregory then walked up to Gordon and placed the dishes on the end of the bar. “Gor! I’ll see you later! Tell the rest of the staff bye for me, would ya?”

“Sure thing!” Gordon said as he poured a dark brown drink into a chilled glass mug, sliding it down to a small minotaur. “See ya!”

As Twilight watched the human walk out of the restaurant, her mind was awhirl. Had she just befriended the Chancellor or not? If she was supposed to be the Princess of Friendship, shouldn’t she know that answer? As she pondered these things, there was a loud whooshing sound and the windows rattled. A shadow briefly passed over the front of the restaurant. There was a distant roaring a few seconds later, something Twilight had heard once or twice since her arrival in Griffonstone. Slowly, she stood and stretched her legs. Turning to Gordon, she bowed. “Thank you for the delicious meal, my good griffon.”

Gordon inclined his head towards her. “Any friend of the Chancellor’s is welcome in here. Name’s Gordon Ram, by the way!”

“O-Of course,” she said as she headed towards the door. As she opened it, she pondered on Gordon’s words. Friend of the Chancellor? Had she just made a friend…? Her very first human friend? She closed the door behind her, spread her wings and flew up, heading back towards Griffonstone. There was something important she needed to do…

Hey, back. Sorry, Twilight just went out to search for the friendship problem.

Oh, no worries, Spikey.

Heh, only you’re allowed to call me that, you know?

Yes, Spikey ;)

Sunset… >:(

Haha, okay I’ll stop.

So back to this other human. Does he know about Jason?

I overheard the girls talking about him last night while they thought I was asleep. I think they did tell him.

Oh dear…

Yeah, well with how Rarity’s been behaving recently, I’m not surprised. She’s been a bitch.

Spike! Wherever did you learn that word!?

Ironically enough, from her.

Wow…I am so sorry about that. Do you want to talk to my Rarity about it?

Thanks for offering, but I’m alright. I am technically a teen by pony years so I was gonna learn those words eventually.

Still, you’re still young by dragon standards and shouldn’t have had to deal with all that.

Sunset, I’m really okay. I’ve had to do a lot of growing up these past few months. I do still play with those friends I mentioned, but I feel like I’m growing more. I bet if I came through the portal I’d be a bigger dog.

Heh, that I’d like to see. I bet you and the other Spike would love to go around playing again.

That was really fun. But enough about me, what have you been up to lately? You said it’s Summer Break over there. Got any plans?

Oh yes! My friends and I are going on an ocean liner cruise soon.

A cruise? Wow, that sounds fun! I’ve never been on one before. There was that one cruise Twilight went on with her family, but I stayed behind.

Wait, she left you behind?!

No! I volunteered to stay behind. She needed a break and I wanted to be helpful.

Oh Spike…

Hey, that one was on me that time, okay?

Even so, that must have hurt.

Not as much as you’d think, actually. But back to this cruise! Who’s going?

Everyone at Canterlot High and even some of the staff, like Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, Mr. Cranky and the Student Counselor.

Student Counselor? Who’s that?

He’s a person who helps students to deal with any personal problems they might be going through. Our counselor is really no nonsense and strict, but he’s really good at his job. Fluttershy speaks really highly of him. He’s helped her through a few things.

Really? Must be a really good human if even Fluttershy says something good about him. What’s his name?

Discord.

25: Talks, Mages, Dreams and Plots

Author's Note

Wow, this chapter took forever to finish and rework. I didn't realize how long it was until I posted it in here. Sorry for the massive chapter, but I wanted to put all of what I had in one chapter.

Enjoy!

25: Talks, Mages, Dreams and Plots

The Green Dragon, That Same Evening…

The sun had just been lowered, and a few stars could be seen from the window in room 204. The fireplace in the room was brightly lit thanks to a certain young dragon and the wood fully stocked thanks to the inn’s staff. There were small lanterns that hung just above the nightstands next to each bed which were also lit, illuminating the entire bedroom.

Everyone in the room was doing their own thing. Spike was reading one of the books he had brought with him which was titled Snow Ponies and Yaks: The Perfect Symbiosis? He was perfectly lost in it as it described the subtribe of earth ponies who lived up north near Yakyakistan. There were drawings that the author had made of the snow ponies, which depicted them as being almost all brown with very thick fur and manes. The author talked about how they lived in warm caves and managed to survive by digging up the grass that existed under the snow and eating that while they drank from large streams and rivers or by breaking the ice on a frozen lake or pond and drinking from that water instead. From what the author described, snow ponies had a very good relationship with the yaks. At least, they had when the book was published. Spike knew now that there had been no news of snow ponies for at least a couple hundred years. He hoped that they hadn’t all gone extinct and hoped that someday he could find out, or better yet, try and find a snow pony in the wild.

Applejack was sitting up in bed, pen in her mouth as she wrote in her journal about her inner thoughts along with the events of the day. Pinkie Pie was simply lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, her mind a thousand miles away as it had been for months. Fluttershy was curled up underneath her blankets, covering her face with the covers. Rainbow Dash was leaning against her headboard, throwing a small ball down on the ground, letting it fly straight up and catching it with her hooves, and Rarity was stubbornly sewing a purple scarf together.

The room was silent save for the constant thump, thump, thump of the ball as it hit the floor, the soft scratching of the pen in Applejack’s mouth as she wrote along with the sound of Rarity’s magic casting as she moved the needle with her magic. Twilight and Princess Celestia were still not there, for some reason, not that anyone seemed to notice too much.

Well, everyone except Spike. He would occasionally look out from his book towards the large door, wondering where the two princesses were. Despite how he felt about Twilight currently, there was always a part of him that was going to worry for her wellbeing. As poor of a caretaker as she had been to him, she had been the one who hatched him after all those years of him being an egg. It was strange, especially since while he lived with the Sparkle family he hadn’t really been treated as a member. Strange as it might have seemed, he still cared about her in some capacity.

He also really cared for Flurry Heart, who would always call her Un, which was her way of calling him Uncle. The cute baby alicorn always melted his heart, especially when he had taken her around the Crystal Empire’s main city with a couple of guards nearby. She had flown around and taken in everything she could. He’d gotten her a little bit of ice cream and a cookie near the end of their day trip through the city.

As for the other members of the Sparkle family? He was more ambivalent about them, but a part of him knew that eventually he would have to confront them about their treatment of him over the years. He just wasn’t ready for it yet.

He came out of his reverie when he heard Applejack put down her journal and say, “Rainbow, that there bouncin’ is getting’ mighty annoyin’. Can yah stop fer now?”

Rainbow did stop, but only gave Applejack a glare. “And why should I, huh? Why don’t you stop that chicken scratching you call writing, huh?”

“Ah got a right tah write, don’t ah?” Applejack retorted.

“And I have a right to do what I'm doing, cowgirl,” Rainbow replied through clenched teeth. Immediately she went back to bouncing the ball, but Spike noticed that it was a lot louder than before. He watched as Rainbow bounced it harder, sending it heading higher into the air. She caught it in her hoof and bounced it again, all while giving Applejack a glare.

Applejack grit her teeth, but went back to her writing, noisily dipping her quill into the ink and writing harder and louder, all while giving Rainbow Dash a look of contempt.

About half a minute passed before Rarity’s magic sound stopped. Spike watched as the now exasperated mare exhaled and looked over at the two. “Would you two kindly cease this ruckus at once!” she said in a calm voice, but Spike knew her well enough that there was barely contained anger behind her tone. “I am trying to thicken my scarf for tomorrow!”

“Back off, Rarity!” Applejack and Rainbow both said simultaneously.

“Well, I never!” Rarity snarled.

“This doesn’t concern yah, so back away,” Applejack clarified.

“It most certainly does concern me, especially when we’re sharing accommodations for the week!” Rarity shouted back.

“Oh yeah, because you totally need that scarf to cover that nose to hide all those so-called nasty smells of griffons around us, right?” Rainbow snarled as she jumped out of bed and stomped up to Rarity’s bed. She lifted her hoof and pointed it accusingly at the purple maned unicorn. “Don’t think I didn’t see you hiding your nose behind your scarf, priss!”

“My nostrils are none of your business!” Rarity replied, jumping out of bed and poking Rainbow’s chest. “Besides, I saw both of you flinch whenever we passed those stands where they were grilling meat! Meat!”

“Yeah, ah did, ah won’t deny that,” Applejack conceded as she got out of bed and stormed over to Rarity as well, “but that was just a reaction tah the smell! Ah couldn’t help mahself! Ah saw yah look disgusted! And don’t think ah didn’t hear yah call griffons ‘Uncultured birds’!”

“Griffons eat meat, accept it!” Rainbow shouted back. “Even Gilda had to eat it when we were at camp!”

“It’s that kind of attitude that got us into this mess,” a surprisingly angry sounding Fluttershy said suddenly. Everyone turned towards her and Spike saw that she was sitting up in bed, glaring at the three ponies, who looked back at her in stunned silence. “We aren’t the only creatures on Equus. Many of my animal friends need meat in their diet to survive.”

“Yes, but those are animals, dear Fluttershy,” Rarity said, “these are creatures that can talk, and they’re eating animals! How can that not bother you!?”

Fluttershy grit her teeth, got out of bed and stormed over to Rarity. Raising her wing, she slapped the unicorn hard, sending her sprawling. The room was silent at that, everyone staring at Fluttershy in complete shock. Even Pinkie Pie had turned her head to look over at the scene before her, eyes wide in alarm.

Fluttershy walked quickly passed Applejack and Rainbow Dash, both of whom were still too shocked to say or do anything. The butter colored pegasus loomed over Rarity. “If it bothered me, would I feed my more carnivorous animal friends?”

The stunned unicorn looked up at the pegasus before her, eyes wide with disbelief. Disbelief which turned to anger. “How dare you strike a lady?!” she said as she stood and brushed herself off.

“Some lady,” Fluttershy scoffed. “You’ve been acting less like a lady and more like a stuck up noble snob! You’re worse than Prince Blueblood!”

Rarity stormed up and got directly into Fluttershy’s face. “Don’t you dare compare me to that ruffian!”

To her credit, Fluttershy didn’t back down, only pressed her face closer to Rarity’s own. “Then stop acting like the biggest horse’s heel in the room!”

“No civilized creature would eat meat!”

Spike slammed his book shut, startling the four ponies who were arguing. They all turned to look at him. Spike was angry now. He’d read in one of the books he’d brought with him that many dragons ate meat and it was the meat that gave them more strength than even gems or plants. Sure, dragons were omnivores, but they needed meat in their diet. There was no other way. He turned to Rarity. “I’ve been eating meat for the past three months, Miss Belle, specifically fish,” he said with a frown. “Does that make me uncivilized in your book? Hmm?”

Rarity’s ears flattened at that, a look of guilt coming over her. “Spikey, I-”

“You don’t get to call me that, MISS BELLE!” Spike bellowed angrily, and his voice cracked slightly at that, briefly going deeper before returning to its normal pitch.

“R-Right, I forgot,” Rarity said, looking away.

“There’s one example of a meat eater who can live peacefully among ponies!” Fluttershy snarled.

Rarity’s anger returned and she whirled on Fluttershy. “Yes, but he was raised by ponies! Who says other dragons won’t want to do something monstrous?”

Fluttershy’s glare only increased, and then she said something nobody expected. “Fuck you.” Everyone in the room gasped. For dear sweet Fluttershy to use any sort of language like that was unheard of. However, before Rarity could answer, Fluttershy pointed at her with her wings and said, “It’s because of behaviors and thinking like that that Ponyville was destroyed! It’s because of that reason alone that Jason became what he is today! It’s because of OUR attitudes that Discord is dead!”

At that moment, the door opened, startling everyone. Standing in the doorway, the ponies and dragon in the room saw a stern looking Celestia and Twilight drinking in the scene before them. It was Twilight who spoke first, however. “What in Equestria is going on here?”

Celestia stepped in and looked around, taking in the scene before her more closely. “We heard the arguing from downstairs,” she said calmly as Twilight followed her in and shut the door behind her. “Fluttershy, I never knew you had that in you.” Fluttershy’s ears flattened and she lowered her head. Celestia then turned to Rarity. “And you, Miss Belle, have behaved quite atrociously throughout this trip. Even my nephew has you beat when it comes to being well behaved.” Rarity bristled, but lowered her head in shame after that.

“Girls, we all need to talk,” Twilight said. She walked over to her bed and sat down in it, then looked at each pony in the room. “Please take a seat.” Turning to Spike, she gestured him over. Confused, Spike did just that. When he was next to her, Twilight lifted a large bag towards him. “Here’s some money, Spike. The dining room’s still open, so you can go have some dinner if you haven’t already. I’d like to talk to the girls alone.”

Spike took the bag of bits, which was surprisingly full and heavy. “Thanks,” was all he said as he headed towards the door.

“May I come with you, Spike?” Princess Celestia said from behind him. Spike turned, looking at Celestia with an unreadable expression. Finally, his face softened and he nodded. Celestia smiled in relief, waited for him to join her, then put a tender wing around the young dragon before walking out and shutting the door behind them with her magic.

Once the two were out of the room, Twilight looked at her former friends. She could see incredibly tension on their faces, all except for the now worryingly thin Pinkie Pie who was now just staring at the ceiling with a blank expression. Twilight thought back briefly to the conversation she’d had with the human Chancellor Graystone earlier in Griffonville. His uncanny knowledge of events in Ponyville aside, he had made good points. She still could feel the overwhelming guilt of what she had done to Jason, but she had grown tired of her attitude towards it. Tired of letting it slowly eat away at her and destroy her from the inside. Her hallucinations of Jason aside, she wanted to try and move on from it, but to never forget the harsh and painful lesson her experiences had taught her. After all, it was because she forgot the lesson with Zecora that this had happened.

Besides, it hurt her immensely to see her former friends so affected by it.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and looked out at the other ponies. “Earlier today, I had a very…enlightening lunch with Chancellor Gregory Graystone down in Griffonville.”

That got everypony’s attention, even Pinkie’s. Their eyes all locked on her. There was silence for a brief moment before Fluttershy spoke up. “What…did you talk about?”

Twilight smiled slightly, which seemed to startle everyone else. “Actually, we mostly got to know each other. He treated me to lunch and we talked about ourselves.”

Twilight had a very good memory, especially when she was completely paying attention. It was how she managed to study so well. However, she had put this skill to good use when talking to Gregory. She’d learned many things about him. For example, she’d learned that he had a casual interest in geology and volcanology and that he could somewhat play the piano. He had a few other hobbies as well, such as hiking, video games from his world and reading certain genres of books.

He’d admitted that he brought many books of varying subjects with him when he traversed between worlds. Books about advanced technology he hoped to introduce to this world at some point in the future. Twilight had noted that his eyes had practically sparkled at the thought of introducing easier means of living to the world.

Snapping back to reality, she looked back out at the other five mares. “He told me about himself and about his world, and I talked about myself to him too. It was a very pleasant lunch.” Her smile faded as she added, “And it was something that we could have had with Jason.”

Just the mention of that name seemed to cast a spell on everypony there. Pinkie whimpered slightly and looked away, Fluttershy looked down at her bed morosely, Rainbow looked away, a self hating look in her eyes, Applejack’s ears flattened, but her expression remained stoic, and Rarity only seemed to glower at the floor like it was a disgusting mess that she refused to step on. When none of them spoke, Twilight sighed. “Girls, it’s been three months since the invasion. Three months since any of us even talked to each other! We can’t go on like this! We screwed up, yes, I’ll be the first to admit that. We betrayed everything we were supposed to stand for, but sitting around and feeling sorry for ourselves won’t do us any good.”

“What would you have us do, Princess Twilight?” Rarity asked through clenched teeth, slowly looking up at her former friend. “Should we go through the entire world searching for Jason and kiss his boots, begging for forgiveness? What would you have us do?”

“I don’t know, but we can’t keep going on like this,” Twilight said. She looked over the room. “Look at us! We used to be the best of friends! Now? Now we’re just six strangers! We’re falling apart!” She made a sweeping gesture with her right hoof. “We’ve barely spoken a single word to each other in three months! We’ve all been wallowing in our misery! Some of us are purposely killing themselves over it!” She turned and gave them all a glance, but her gaze lingered ever so slightly longer on Pinkie.

The night before, Twilight had gotten up late to get herself some water, only to stumble on Pinkie sticking her hoof down her throat. She’d been horrified to learn that her former friend was bulimic, but was also aware that it wasn’t her place to share this with the other. She would, however, take the time to talk to Pinkie about it alone.

Turning back to the others, Twilight continued, “I’m no better, I know. I’ve buried myself in my work and have hardly slept. I keep seeing him in my dreams…and when I’m awake…” She lowered her head solemnly. “I see him everywhere, haunting me…my biggest failure as a princess of anything…”

There was silence for a while as the other mares took in just exactly what she was saying. Finally, Applejack cleared her throat and stood up. “Twilight, we all screwed the pooch on this one,” she said. “Yer not the only one tah blame.”

“I might not have been the worst, but I was the first,” Twilight said as tears formed in her eyes. “I was the one who said, ‘I’ve had quite enough of humans. Go away!’ and slammed the door in Jason’s face.” She looked up at them. “As a ruler, my actions set an example, and everypony else followed it. They all followed my actions and mistreated and abused someone who just wanted to be friends with us. And because of what I said and did, he eked out a miserable existence in a cave in the Everfree Forest.” She looked up. “I’ve seen that cave. I wouldn’t even wish my worst enemy to live in such conditions.”

“I saw it too,” Pinkie whispered.

“I…I found it thanks to some of the creatures leading me there,” Fluttershy said softly.

“I’ve seen it too,” Rainbow said, her wings clamping harder to her side at that.

“Ah’ve taken a look at it a few times mahself,” Applejack said, her head lowered and her hat covering her face. “It ain’t fit fer anycreature tah live in.”

Rarity remained silent, which told Twilight all she needed to know. Her former fashionista friend had not gone out to the cave. It didn’t surprise the purple alicorn, but what did surprise her was that the rest of the group had gone out to Jason’s old cave. He’d even heard that Spike had made the trip, despite the fact that the young dragon had never once been involved in any of the abuse against Jason. Twilight stood up straighter, headed to the front of the room and looked out at her former friends. “Everypo-no, everyone,” she began, “I know how you’re all feeling. I really do. I have been wallowing in my own self pity and self loathing for months. But like I said, I’m getting tired of it. I want us to be friends again. I want us to become better ponies.”

“And what about the town? They all hate us,” Rarity said sullenly. “Half think that we were too weak to stop Jason and his changelings, the other half blame us for what Jason did because of how we treated him.”

“Ain’t yah been listenin’ tah what Twilight’s been sayin’?” Applejack retorted, turning on Rarity sharply. “This whole mess was our fault; Discord’s spell be damned!”

Twilight saw Fluttershy’s face contort with something she’d rarely seen on the pegasus’ face before: rage and hatred. “That monster,” she snarled under her breath. However, when she looked at Twilight, her expression morphed into acceptance. Looking down, she buried her face in her wing. “No…he wasn’t the only monster…”

“We were too,” Rainbow said as she quickly walked over and put a comforting hoof around her oldest friend. Fluttershy turned and threw her hooves around Rainbow, burying her face into Rainbow’s chest and starting to sob.

Twilight said nothing, not wanting to interrupt this moment for Fluttershy, but also because she wanted her to hear everything she needed to say. She could see that Fluttershy was taking this harder than most, and no wonder. Being the Element of Kindness, it was clear to Twilight that when she betrayed her own Element she punished herself by isolating herself from other ponies. She remembered when Pinkie Pie and Rarity had told her about how Fluttershy had taken a class by Iron Will and had taken his lessons too far, yelling at the two mares enough for them to run away crying. When Fluttershy had realized what she’d done, she’d boarded her house up and had Angel tie her up inside the house to keep herself from hurting those she cared about.

This was no different. Fluttershy was punishing herself. She might not have tied herself up, but she was avoiding others around her even more so than usual. Twilight guessed it was because she was afraid of making the same mistakes and so to avoid that she’d taken herself out of the picture.

After about ten minutes of nobody in the room saying anything save for the soft sobs from Fluttershy and Rainbow being unusually sympathetic and stroking her back, telling her to let it all out, the former pegasus finally stopped crying and broke away slowly from Rainbow. After thanking her, Fluttershy returned to her bed and looked back up at everyone in the room. “I’m sorry, everypony,” she said.

“It’s alright, sugarcube,” Applejack said in a surprisingly reassuring voice. “We all need it every now and then.”

Fluttershy nodded, then turned back to Twilight. “Go ahead, Twilight.”

Twilight inclined her head towards Fluttershy with a sympathetic smile before she turned to the others, the smile fading to become a more serious expression. “As much as I want to go find Jason and beg for his forgiveness in any way possible, right now we can’t do it. We don’t know where he is now. That, and I feel like many of the ponies in Ponyville have not learned the lesson from this. Which I claim full responsibility for. I will be rectifying that the moment we get back home.”

“Rectify it how?” Fluttershy asked.

“I will tell the entire town the truth.”

That left the room speechless. Everyone was now looking at Twilight, even Pinkie, with stunned expressions. Twilight waited for that to sink in before she continued. “We should have done it much earlier, but because we didn’t rumors are spreading through the town like wildfire. We need to put those rumors to rest.”

There was silence again as everyone chewed on that revelation. Even Rarity had a thoughtful look on her face as she pondered what Twilight had just said. Then, to nobody’s surprise, Applejack snorted and nodded her head. “Do yah need help talkin’ tah the other ponies? Ah’d be willin’ tah put in mah two bits.”

Twilight let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She looked over at the farm mare and nodded. “I think having you up there would definitely be helpful.”

“I’d like to help too,” Rainbow Dash said, and for the first time since the first day back in Ponyville three months ago, she actually extended her wing and raised it. “You’re right, Twilight…we should have told them. Some Element of Harmony I am…”

“And what’s to stop the town from throwing us out like we did to Jason?” Rarity asked bitterly.

“Nothing,” Twilight said plainly. “And if they wish me to leave, I will. I will take all of the blame for this, as I should have done.”

“No, Twi,” Applejack said, finally using the nickname she’d given the Princess of Friendship all those years ago. “Ah won’t let yah take this blame on yer own. Yer right.” She lifted up the journal that Twilight had seen her writing in every night before bed. “Ah’m sure yah’ve noticed ah’ve been writin’ in this here journal lately.”

“I did,” Twilight said.

“It was Big Mac’s idea, actually,” Applejack said, turning to the others. “Believe it or not, it’s actually helpin’ me. Y’all know that ah don’t particularly like tah talk ‘bout mah feelings. But this? This helps me tah sort out mah thoughts. Ah know we’re all tah blame and ah know ah’ve been feelin’ lower than dirt. Ah broke Jason’s ribs when ah first saw ‘im. Ah doubt ah can really forgive mahself fer that, but ah’ll be damned if ah let mahself go tah pieces anymore. Ah will never forget what happened and ah’ll learn from it. Ah’d love tah make things up with Jason and try and prove how sorry ah am, but fer the moment, ah want to git out of this funk ah’m in.”

“And just ignore what we did?” Rainbow said almost automatically.

“Ah ain’t ever gonna forget what happened and what ah did,” Applejack said, glaring slightly at Rainbow, “but ah can’t be stuck like this no more. It’s hurtin’ me and mah family. Don’t yah ever wanna stop mopin’ around?”

Rainbow looked down, blinking rapidly. “I just…I want…” Twilight saw a single tear fall from her eyes but said nothing as the cyan pegasus struggled to get her words out. When Fluttershy walked over and put her wing against Rainbow’s back, she jumped but leaned in against her friend. “I…I want to find Ja-Jason and apologize too…I want to prove that I’m be-better than what I was…” she stammered out.

“We all do,” Fluttershy said, before she gave Rarity, who was looking at the floor still. “At least, almost all of us,” the pegasus added, but quietly enough that Rarity didn’t hear it.

Twilight, however, with her alicorn hearing, did. “Unfortunately, like I said, we can’t find him. We don’t even know if he got that letter Princess Celestia sent to him.”

“He did…” Pinkie said, looking forlornly up at the ceiling still. “At least, if my Pinkie Sense is right…” she added with a scowl.

“Pinkie…” Twilight said. She could only imagine what the dull pink mare was thinking at that moment. To have something so close to you as a Pinkie Sense betray you like that must have devastated the poor mare. To have something that you considered infallible result in the continued abuse of any creature would have shattered anyone. And especially Pinkie.

“He hates us,” Pinkie added.

“Maybe he does, and maybe he doesn’t,” Twilight acknowledged with a nod, “but Pinkie, we can’t just let that affect us like it has been. I’ve been hated by a few other ponies in my time, and especially now. If we ever meet him again and he never forgives us, we have to be willing to accept that. And…we’ll have to live with that for the rest of our lives. But!” and at that she stood and stamped her hoof on the ground to emphasize her point, “But, I am just so sick and tired of living like this! We can’t just mope around and hate ourselves!” She softened her expression and looked around. “I’m not saying things will get better overnight, but I’d like to try and rebuild things between us.”

Once more, the room went silent. Applejack looked thoughtful, Fluttershy looked down at her bed expressionless, Pinkie and Rainbow still had guilt ridden expressions on their face, but less so than before, and Rarity had a sullen look on her own face. She was the first to speak. “So, you want things to go back to the way they were, huh? Brush everything that happened under the rug, as it were? Make things all hunky-dorey again?” There was a bite to her words, an edge that everybody in the room couldn’t mistake. She looked up quickly and glared at Twilight. “You think things can ever be the same again?!”

Twilight’s ears flattened. She knew that Rarity was taking the loss of Ponyville hard, but she was also taking the loss of her livelihood even harder. She had worked very hard to build up her boutiques, only to have that all taken away from her in only a week. “Rarity, I know things will take time, but if we face this head on instead of just hiding behind our misery-”

“Don’t you dare talk to me about misery!” Rarity shouted angrily. “Did you have your entire life destroyed by this?! You’re still a princess! I’ve lost so…so…” her angry face morphed into one of grief as she grabbed a pillow, shoving it into her face and screaming into it.

Every other pony in the room looked away from the display from the former fashionista. Twilight’s heart reached out to her former friend. Her behavior aside, Rarity had lost so much in the last three months. Both of the out of town boutiques, the ones in Canterlot and Manhattan, had all their employees quit once they learned of the true events in Ponyville. Twilight suspected that Sassy Saddles had spoken to the manager of the Manhattan branch, one Coco Pommel, since Sassy would have been privy to the trial that had taken place. Then again, she couldn’t be absolutely sure until she actually spoke to one or the other. With no employees, both boutiques had quickly been shuttered and sold, their assets quickly liquidated.

Before hearing about this, Rarity had been rather stable and been trying her best to use her skills to prepare Ponyville for the winter by sewing thick blankets and protective coverings for the tents to keep them warmer as the temperatures dropped. Ponyville was rather high above sea level, just above four thousand hooves, but it was located on a large plain, meaning that, pegasi interference aside, the weather was perfect for the farmers around the town, including Sweet Apple Acres. Winters in Ponyville were less severe than they were in Canterlot, but the snowfall was still particularly deep. Even the occasional snow pony who traveled down from the north had commented on the snow.

However, when Rarity learned of the losses of both her boutiques, something she had been counting on to help her buy more materials to help Ponyville, she’d become more bitter than before, at least from what some of the few ponies who talked to Twilight still had told her.

Twilight finally spoke up as Rarity’s crying session finally slowed. “Rarity, I’m sorry. I know you’ve lost a lot, but we can’t just sit around and feel sorry for ourselves.” She pointed to herself. “I know I’ll feel that guilt for a long time, and we all need help in working through what happened.”

“Twi, what made yah realize this?” Applejack asked curiously.

Twilight took a deep breath, then exhaled. “I actually, well, I had lunch with Chancellor Gregory today, and he pointed out a few things to me. And earlier, Princess Celestia told me that she’d talked to him last night. According to her, he made some good points about what we could do going forward.”

“Like what?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight told them about the brief serious conversation she’d had with Gregory near the end of the meal, and then she told them about the conversation that Celestia had with the human the night before. Everyone, even Rarity, listened in as Twilight recounted, nearly word for word, the conversation between Gregory and Princess Celestia. Being an alicorn, she and her mentor had rather good memories. When she finished, Twilight looked out at them. “Jason isn’t the only one we owe an apology to. We owe an apology to Ponyville and many more.”

Everyone in the room looked down at their beds with grim faces. All save for Rarity who was still glaring up at Twilight. “And when the ponies kick us out of town, what will you do then, oh most glorious Princess of Friendship?”

“Is that all yah have tah focus on, Rarity?” Applejack asked, glaring at the fashionista. “Bein’ kicked out of Ponyville?”

Rarity whirled on Applejack. “Don’t pretend that you haven’t thought about this too!” Rarity shouted. “You’re one of the faces of your farm! Ponies bought apples from you because they trusted you and the quality of your work! You and your family! Ponies were willing to spend a bit more on your apples because they trusted you! And what will happen when they learn of what you did to Jason?! All those bucks to the chest, breaking his ribs! How do you think they’ll feel when they learn you’re a hypocrite!?”

“Girls…” Fluttershy said in a soft voice, but neither unicorn nor earth pony heard.

Applejack stood and stomped her hoof on the ground. “Ah know we dun screwed up! We made Jason what he became! Our fears! Our cruelty! We did it! And ah’ll accept any punishment necessary!”

“Um, girls…” Fluttershy called out a bit louder.

Rarity was about to reply, when Twilight stood and stamped her hoof on the ground as well. “Enough, you two! This isn’t what I wanted to happen!”

“And what did you want to happen, darling?” Rarity asked, using her last word like a weapon, much like she had done that day in Ponyville. Turning to Twilight, she stood. “Make things all right with us again? Maybe we can all go out and have a picnic or something like we used to do, or have an animal playdate!?”

Twilight’s ears flattened, but before she could say anything, Fluttershy stood and faced Rarity, her wings spread wide behind her in an instance of pegasi instinct, making her look bigger than she actually was. “Rarity Belle! What is wrong with you?! You think you’re the only one who’s lost anything?!” There was an anger in Fluttershy’s eyes that Twilight had rarely seen before. “We all lost something! Our homes, our livelihoods, and more! How dare you stand there and accuse us of not knowing what loss is like!”

Rarity was seething now, but Twilight could see the wheels turning in her head. Fluttershy had made an extremely valid point, and it looked like the unicorn knew it. She snorted, used her magic to grab her winter gear and quickly wrapped them around her. “I’m going for a walk,” she muttered through clenched teeth.

“Rarity, wait-” Twilight began, but the look of utter rage that the unicorn gave Twilight sent shivers down her back. Maybe it was a good idea for her to take some time to cool off. She clamped her mouth shut and just nodded silently. “I’ll leave the door unlocked,” was all she could muster.

Rarity nodded, strode over to the door, opened it and closed it with a slam. The room was silent as they heard the purple maned pony stomping away from the door and down the stairs. Even when her hoofsteps could no longer be heard, there was silence. Slowly, every other pony in the room exchanged glances of worry and confusion. Finally, Applejack spoke up. “Ah should apologize tah her when she gets back. Ah said some things ah shouldn’t have.”

“AJ, she’s being a stubborn, stupid bitch,” Rainbow said, “if anything, she needs to apologize to you!”

“Girls, enough,” Twilight said firmly. “Rarity aside, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done if we’re ever going to rebuild things between us.”

“What about Spike?” Fluttershy asked suddenly.

Twilight’s ears flattened. That was one of the biggest mistakes and sins of hers that she wanted to fix. “Yes, him too…”

“Is the little guy alright?” Rainbow asked. “I’ve never seen him this upset at us before.”

“Girls…we did a lot to Spike that hurt him,” Twilight admitted. “Me worst of all. I’ve treated him less like a friend and more like a poorly paid employee. Worse than a slave, even. We all have. Remember our first Winter Wrap-Up?”

Everyone in the room immediately nodded. They had laughed at Spike as he’d floated in the water on top of the one remaining ice patch. As they thought back to the young dragon, they remembered other instances that caused them immediate regret. He had hardly ever been included in any of their outings, always left home to do the chores. Being pranked in a rather cruel manner by Rainbow and/or Pinkie, and various other instances throughout the years of all of their mistreatment of him.

“Why didn’t he say anything…?” Rainbow asked with a hoarse voice.

“He…he probably never knew any better,” Twilight said, “and that’s my fault. I…I should have treated him like family. And I want to make it up to him somehow…and talk to the rest of my family about it too…”

“Ah know he’s made friends his own age,” Applejack said. “Apple Bloom tells me that he spends a lot of time with the Crusaders and their friends. Especially Sweetie Belle. Ah reckon the young guy’s got a crush on her, but ah ain’t too sure about it. Just mah observations.”

Twilight was a bit surprised to hear this, but if it was true, she was glad. He deserved to have friends his own age. Not only that, but she really should have sent him to school. She made up her mind that once the winter break for the school was over, she’d ask if he wanted to go. “That’s good to hear,” she said, and a small smile formed on her face. Looking up at the four remaining ponies in the room, she continued, “Girls, I know things will never really quite be the same between us. I kept on trying to deny what happened up to the last. Or rather, I tried making excuses because I didn’t want to face the guilt. But what I want to say first and foremost is this.” She lowered her head and bowed, closing her eyes. “From the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry about everything that’s happened. I have no excuse for it. I mishandled the entire Jason situation from start to finish, and it ended in complete disaster.”

Twilight couldn’t hear anything for a while. Then, one of the ponies walked up to her and put a hoof on her withers. “We all fucked up,” the quiet and raspy voice of Rainbow Dash said. As Twilight looked up, she saw that Rainbow wasn’t just standing before her, but had her wings outstretched, looking at them. “I used these wings to almost kill him. Kill a fan. Kill a potential friend…” They furled back up to her side and she looked down at Twilight. “I…I’ve even thought about having them cut off.”

A gasp went up from the room. Even Pinkie looked horrified at that. Twilight moved closer and put one of her wings over Rainbow’s back. “I…I had no idea…”

“Well, how could you know? We haven’t spoken in months,” Rainbow retorted somewhat harshly before her ears flattened and she looked down regretfully. “No…I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair.”

“No, it was completely fair,” Twilight said. “I’ve been avoiding all of you, but that stops now.”

“We’ve all been avoiding each other,” Fluttershy said as she slowly stood and walked over to where Twilight and Rainbow were, “but I’m glad we’re starting to talk like this.”

“Me too,” Applejack said as she walked over and joined the other three ponies. “Ah’ve missed y’all.”

Pinkie was the only one who hasn’t moved. Twilight looked over at her with concern. If Pinkie truly had been forcing herself to vomit up everything that she’d eaten for weeks on end, she might not have been able to walk too much. Twilight watched in surprise, then, when Pinkie slowly got out of bed and shuffled over to them, her head lowered, ears flat, and her mane matted and tangled, but mostly straight. She saw the patches of fur on Pinkie that had fallen out, a clear sign of malnutrition.

Pinkie sniffed, and Twilight saw a tear fall to the floor. Fluttershy was immediately by her side, letting the former party pony lean against her and placing a wing around her. Pinkie was soon softly crying, tears flowing down her cheeks as Applejack moved to the other side and put a hoof over Pinkie’s back. The worryingly thin pony was led to the nearest bed, which happened to be Twilight’s, and was placed on it. After a while, she sniffed and wiped her eyes with a hoofkerchief. She tried to speak a few times, but each time nothing but whimpering came out. Finally, she seemed to give up and leaned against Fluttershy, eyes clamped shut and teeth clenched as she tried holding back more tears.

“So…how do yah wanna go about doin’ this, Twi?” Applejack asked as she rubbed the broken pink mare’s back.

“We need help, big help,” Twilight admitted. “We need to find someone to sit down with and talk about what’s happened and about our biases. I’m thinking someone who isn’t a pony might be a good idea.”

“Are you talking about a shrink?” Rainbow asked hesitantly.

“No no, not a therapist,” Twilight said, “I mean more like a counselor. We all let our biases and fears get the better of us. I know I did. I let my fear and revulsion of humans get the better of me, and I passed that on to all of Ponyville. Even if Discord hadn’t done anything to us, I can’t say for certain that things would have been any better for Jason or for all of us. We need to start coming to terms with all of our innate biases and attempt to overcome them. If Jason is an example of what a kindhearted human can become after being treated like a monster, then I think Gregory is an example of how a human can become when treated with the respect and kindness anycreature deserves.”

And with that, the room went silent yet again as the other ponies digested her words. Twilight wasn’t sure just who they could talk to in regards to their own issues and biases, but she knew that if they didn’t talk to somecreature, there was a chance they’d be swallowed up by their self loathing and grief.

And she refused to let that happen to those around her who she still cared for and loved.

The Green Dragon Bar…

Spike sat on one end of the corner booth, nibbling carefully on one of the slices of warm bread that the waitress had provided for them before ordering. The bread was warm and soft, and the butter was surprisingly delicious as well. Across from him, sitting serenely and sipping on a glass of ice water with a lemon sitting in the middle, Celestia regarded him with a kindly and warm paternal gaze.

Not many words had been exchanged between the two after they’d left the others upstairs to come down to get something small to eat before bed. While Celestia had ordered a small bowl of pasta and a chocolate cake slice, Spike had ordered something that he would never be able to get in Equestria: a small steak, mashed potatoes, a small bowl of assorted gems and some sweet iced tea to wash it all down with.

Celestia hadn’t flinched when he’d ordered the steak at all. She was well used to serving omnivores in the past in Canterlot, especially the griffons who had visited along with the occasional dragon or hippogriff, both of whom did eat meat, but mostly fish. She knew that everycreature had their own diets, and that with rare exceptions, none of the meat eaters in the world ever ate anything that could reason or talk despite the old pony’s tales about dragons eating ponies. While there were creatures that did eat talking creatures, such as the timberwolves or even sometimes manticores, the vast majority of sapient creatures on Equus were anything but cannibals.

Eventually, their server brought them their meals, bade them enjoy, and rushed off to deal with other customers, of which there were few at the moment considering the lateness of the hour. As Spike took the steak knife and fork and began slowly slicing into his meal, Celestia finally decided that it was time to clear the air and break the silence. As he was chewing, the princess quietly cleared her throat and said, “Spike, is it okay if we talk?”

Spike stopped chewing for a bit, looked up at Celestia with an expression that she could clearly read as being contemplative. He slowly continued chewing, that look never leaving his face as he grabbed his iced sweet tea, took a gulp and swallowed it and the steak. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I want to talk about your relationship with me and the Elements of Harmony.”

Spike let out a long sigh before starting to cut into the steak again. “What’s there to talk about? They’ve treated me like nothing more than a servant these past six years. They stay at home while I get the privilege of cleaning up after Twilight. They get all the fun while I’m all alone.”

Celestia’s ears flattened slightly at this. She couldn’t hear any anger in his voice as he spoke, only sadness. And she couldn’t blame him. Perhaps she should have taken more of an invested interest in the young dragon’s upbringing instead of letting a little filly and her family raise him, because apparently even the family had excluded him. “Spike…”

“I’m sixteen now,” Spike continued. “Sure, I’m still a ‘baby dragon’,” and here he used air quotes with his claws, “but if I was a pony, I’d be a teenager!”

Celestia remained silent as Spike raised his voice a bit louder than he had before. As he stabbed the fork into the steak, picked up a piece and shoved it into his mouth, the princess lowered her voice. “You have not had the best life. Like I did with Jason, I put you into a position where you have suffered and been mistreated by the ponies around you. I have no excuse for it, and I will make things right between you and me, and I hope that someday things will be right between you and the Elements.”

Celestia watched as Spike took a spoonful of mashed potatoes, stuffed them in his mouth and chewed on it and the steak. It took him about a minute before he swallowed everything. “Princess, six years of that treatment isn’t just something I can just brush aside easily.”

“Nobody’s expecting you to,” Celestia said. “I know that there’s a lot of anger buried inside you. But I also know that Twilight has been beating herself up over it.”

Spike looked down at his food, a blank expression on his face. Finally, he began cutting into the small steak again. “I know,” he said softly. “I’ve seen the way she looks at me whenever we pass by each other in the hall. But I’m still angry…”

“And you have every right to be angry,” Celestia said. “Angry at them, and me too.”

“I’m…not as angry at you as I was before,” he admitted.

“Will you ever talk to Twilight about this?” Celestia asked. “And no, I am not asking because I’m trying to get you to. I’m just curious.”

“I…yes, eventually I will,” he said as he took a half bite of the steak on his fork, chewing it slowly and appearing to savor the flavor. “I just don’t want to now because I know I’ll say something I regret.”

“And that’s perfectly understandable,” Celestia said. “Believe it or not, I’ve been angry enough that I’ve said things I regret. Remember at Cadance’s wedding when I told Twilight that she had a lot to think about? I regretted it and have really never apologized for it. Her behavior aside, I should have sat her down and discussed it with her. And then there was my words to Sunset Shimmer…I regret those words so much. I spoke to her in anger and in return she ran away from me.”

Spike’s expression turned into an odd one, and Celestia saw a small smile forming on his face. “Sunset’s actually doing really well in the human world,” he said. “I’ve been talking to her a lot lately.”

Celestia’s ears perked up at that, a hopeful expression on her face. “Is she? What has she been up to lately?”

“Last I heard, she and the girls are going on a sea cruise,” Spike said. “It’s summer over there, so they’re probably trying to escape the heat.”

Celestia smiled. “I’m glad that she’s doing alright.” Her smile faded. “I heard what she did to Twilight and what she said about her and me.”

Spike made a grimace and sighed. “She’s the biggest pony expert on humans, and she’s really attached to her friends. I’m not surprised she was so angry.”

“Neither am I,” Celestia said. “Sunset always had a volatile temper. She once called me a hypocrite for not having any friends when I practically forced her to make some while she was still my student.” She took a bite of pasta and chewed on it thoughtfully. She remembered that day all those years ago when her student had run off. Celestia had found her in the restricted archive studying the mirror portal. There had been two guards beside her, spears aimed at Sunset. Heated words had been exchanged before Sunset had teleported away in anger. “Even if she never forgives me for what happened, I’m really glad she has friends that will be there for her through thick and thin.”

Spike swallowed another portion of his food and nodded. “The human versions of the Elements have been there for her for years. There was one hiccup, but they came out of that stronger than before, from what Sunset said.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Celestia said. Taking a breath, the princess steeled herself. “Spike, could I ask you to do something for me?”

“Um, what is it?” he asked, his mouth open with a piece of steak nearly inside.

“When you next talk to Sunset, could you mention that I’m so sorry about everything. For yelling at her, for failing her, and for what happened to Jason on my watch.”

Spike once more had a thoughtful look on his face, but it didn’t last long. “Yeah, I can tell her,” he said as he took a bite of the steak. She watched as a satisfied look washed over the young dragon as he savored the bit of meat.

“Thank you,” Celestia said.

“Sure,” Spike said as he took a sip of the iced tea.

Looking down at Spike’s plate, Celestia saw that there was less than half of the small slab of beef left. Over the course of her life, a part of her had always been curious as to what animal meat tasted like, but because of her position, she couldn’t just ask any of her staff to make her some meat. She saw this as a golden opportunity as she asked, “Spike, may I try a small piece of that steak?”

Spike’s eyes shot open wide in astonishment. He looked up at her uncomprehendingly as he stammered out “Wh-what?!”

Celestia cast a magical bubble around their table as she nodded at his steak. “I’m curious as to what it tastes like. Non-sapient animal meat, of course,” she added quickly, “but I’ve never had the opportunity to try some until now. But if you don’t want to, that’s alright.” And she meant that. She would abide by whatever Spike said.

Spike was opening his mouth and shutting it, his mind apparently unable to understand just what Celestia was asking. Finally, he regained his voice. “I-I was always told that ponies couldn’t eat meat because it’d make them sick.”

“And that is true, if a pony eats plenty of meat at one time,” Celestia explained. “However, back in times when ponies were much taller and wilder than they are today, there were times when they would have to, by necessity, eat meat. In small doses, of course, but enough that it would fill their stomachs. Back in the cavepony days, proto-ponies could somewhat digest meat, but nowadays we can’t get nutrients from it, and our teeth aren’t really made for tearing into meat like omnivorous races are. A little bit of meat won’t hurt anypony in the long run.”

“Oh, I see,” was all Spike could say. He looked down at his steak thoughtfully. Celestia waited as he made up his mind. With a shrug, he cut through the steak, making a small chunk of it, then moving it away from the rest of it. “Is that enough?”

Surprised at how quickly he’d acquiesced, Celestia nodded. “That will be more than enough, thank you.” With that, she lifted the piece of meat and sniffed at it experimentally. She was well acquainted with the smell of meat, but this piece had a smell that was different than one she’d smelled before. She had always served fish to her omnivorous guests at Canterlot, mostly because there was no other meat available nearby. This piece of meat, however, had a strange smell. She couldn’t exactly describe it. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth and bit down on the meat.

Instantly, she could feel some liquid flowing out of the meat and onto her tongue. It was a very odd taste, to be sure. Since she didn’t have the canines necessary to tear up meat into sizable chunks, she used her magic to cut it up into small slices, and then simply put them in her mouth and swished them around experimentally.

She may have been over a thousand years old, but she didn’t exactly have the right vocabulary to really describe what she’d experienced. She did chew on the meat carefully, not swallowing but just experiencing the taste. It wasn’t like anything she’d tasted before, and she’d had tofu that was said to have been made to mimic the consistency of meat.

If there was anything that she could gain from this, it would be a new word added to her vocabulary: meaty. In the back of her mind, she wondered if the changelings were meat eaters as well, considering they had sharp canine teeth.

Finally, she had managed to grind up the meat into a sort of paste in her mouth which she swallowed with the help of her water. When all the beef that had been in her mouth was gone, she lowered the magical shield around them and let the sounds of the quiet tavern back in. Looking down, she saw Spike gawking at her, eyes wide. She took another drink of water and swallowed the rest of the meat taste out of her mouth before putting the glass down. “That was certainly quite the eye opening experience.”

“You…I can’t believe what I just saw,” Spike said.

Celestia giggled as she went back to her pasta. “Believe it, little dragon,” she said playfully.

“I…did you like it?” he asked.

Celestia pursed her lips. “I…I’m honestly not sure if I liked it or not,” she admitted, “but I’m glad I tried it. It wasn’t unpleasant like I expected, but it’s not something I’d eat on a regular basis. Does that make sense?”

“A little,” Spike said. “Honestly, when I first went fishing to try meat, I was nervous that I wouldn’t like it, but I found a very old cookbook in the Castle of Friendship that taught me how to cook meat properly. And ever since I tried it, I’ve felt a lot better than I have in years. I even think I’m growing.”

Celestia nodded. “You have been growing,” she said. “and you look rather handsome. Especially in the clothes you’ve been wearing.”

Spike looked down at the thin long sleeved shirt he was wearing and actually blushed a bit. Pulling a bit at the fabric, he looked up at Celestia and asked, “Do you think so?”

“Any filly your age would be a fool not to see that,” she said honestly. Spike had grown more in the past three months than he had in the past sixteen years, and Celestia attributed it to the new addition to his diet.

He looked down at his steak and began cutting into it, cheeks red as he muttered, “I hope you’re right…”

Celestia might not have been the Princess of Love, but she’d been around long enough to know the look on Spike’s face. The young dragon had a powerful crush on someone. However, she wisely decided not to ask about it since she was still trying to rebuild the trust between her and him. Instead, she changed subjects. “What do you think of Griffonstone so far?”

“It’s a lot different than Canterlot,” Spike admitted, “or even Ponyville. Not in a bad way,” he added quickly, “I mean, it’s a beautiful city, but I admit I’ve gotten a bit spoiled back in Canterlot and Ponyville. Modern plumbing, electricity, stuff like that.”

Celestia nodded. “True, but that doesn’t mean that this land is any less impressive. Even before the Chancellor came along, Griffonia hung on by a thread. And now look. Their capital city is coming back to life and the griffons are regaining their former glory. Just because they might not have the technological advantage we have doesn’t make them any less than us.” She sighed and began twirling her pasta in her fork. “Something I wish I could share with my ponies…”

“Well, why don’t you?” Spike asked.

Celestia turned back to Spike. “How so?”

“Why don’t you tell the ponies about other cultures and races?” he asked. “Remember when I mentioned sending some ponies out to explore other cultures like they did a thousand years ago? Do that, and then share their findings with Equestria. I don’t know how the school system works, but maybe you could have a required class in schools around the kingdom that talk about other foreign cultures? I’ve been reading about the snow ponies up north and how they have, or had in the past, a good relationship with Yakyakistan.”

Celestia was about to reply and explain why she couldn’t do that thanks to the EEA, when she stopped. She realized that she was quickly falling right back into the same problems that had made her cave to the nobles. She might not have authority over the EEA, but she did have the authority over her own school. As a slight grin formed on her lips, Spike asked, “Princess? What are you smiling for?”

“Just…thinking about what you just said,” Celestia said.

“Oh, alright,” Spike said as he went back to eating.

As they ate in comfortable silence, Celestia made the decision then and their to pull her school right out of the EEA. She didn’t care about their speciesist ways of thinking. All she cared about was the education of her little ponies. Neighsay was in for quite the surprise when they got back home.

She was so deep in thought that neither she nor Spike noticed the heavily bundled up Rarity walking out into the cold winter night…

Gregory’s House, That Same Evening…

The dining room at Gregory’s house that evening was bustling, as per the usual. Dinner, which Gregory and Gabby had made for everyone, consisted of a hearty dish Gregory called fettuccini alfredo. For sides he had bought a long and freshly made baguette from the market on his way home along with butter, cheese, deviled eggs and some sweet berry juice to wash it all down with.

The table was crowded with all manner of creature that evening. Human, pony, a large number of griffons and a zebra all sat around the large oaken table eating and talking. Zecora and Starlight were both discussing something animatedly, Gracie and Gallus were talking about their respective jobs and how much they sucked, just like teenagers were wont to do, and Gilda and Gabby were discussing something quietly, stealing furtive glances at Gregory every so often.

The only two who weren’t really talking at the moment were Gregory and Gideon, the latter of whom Gregory had invited to join them at the last minute. The older than Gracie but still young Gideon slowly ate his meal, looking around a bit nervously. The few times when Gregory had tried to start a conversation with him, he’d only replied in brief sentences. Because of that, Gregory had decided to leave him be so he wouldn’t be so scared.

As he took another bite of his fettuccini, he thought back once more to the events of the day. After a few hours of more work on the council that morning, with some surprising headway made in the ongoing relief efforts to the outermost towns and villages in the empire, he had taken Daenerys on an afternoon flight before he had to return to the meeting, only to find Twilight Sparkle being yelled at by one of Ponyville’s former residents, a young mare named Roseluck. He chewed thoughtfully on his pasta as he thought back to that discussion.

When he had revealed that he knew about Jason Wright and Ponyville’s treatment of him for three years, Roseluck finally broke down and confessed that when she first saw him, she was afraid that he would take revenge on the ponies emigrating from Ponyville if he ever found out. Therefore, an unspoken agreement had been reached to be better than they had been and treat Gregory much better. At first, it had been out of fear, but when the stories of how kind and friendly he was spread among the growing pony community in Griffonstone, more specifically in the lower level community called Ponytown, that fear quickly turned to confusion and even more regret. However, seeing a fellow pony being so friendly with him got many of the ponies to try and be more genuine with him.

To say that Gregory felt disappointment once again would have been an understatement. He was hurt that they feared him, but after a few minutes of reflection, he understood why they would feel that. He had said all of this to her, and the poor mare had nearly broken down, apologizing left and right. However, Gregory knelt down and hugged her, telling her that he did understand, but to pass on a message to the other ponies in town: to learn from what happened and try their best to get along with their non-pony neighbors. She swore she’d tell every pony she knew.

When she’d asked if there was a way to make things right with Jason, it had broken Gregory’s heart to hear the despondency in her voice. But, not wanting to give false hope, he’d given her the most truthful answer that he could.

His lunch with Twilight had been rather eye opening for him. For the first time since meeting her in person, he’d actually seen her spirits lighten, if temporarily. Despite his feelings about her treatment of a fellow human, he had set those feelings aside when she’d wanted to get to know him. He had no reason to hide anything from her, and he actually learned a few things from her that had not been revealed in the show.

For example, he learned that, aside from the relatives he knew from the show, she had many more that hadn’t been mentioned. On her father’s side, she had an aunt who was Night Light’s younger sister. She was named Emerald Sparkle and she was married to her uncle, a pegasus named Comet Flash. Both lived to the very far south of Equestria in a town called Hay Valley, so they weren’t able to meet often enough. Sapphire and Comet had two children, a unicorn stallion and a pegasus mare named Storm Chaser and Crystal Lotus respectively. On her mother’s side, she had two older sisters named Violet Blossom and Amber Twist, neither of whom had married. Both older siblings lived in a small northern town named Shoal Falls.

Both pairs of her grandparents were still alive, of course. Her father’s parents lived in Hay Valley as well and were both named Shining Star and Pearl Drop. Her mother’s parents lived in Shoal’s Falls as well and were named Twilight Song and Summer Breeze. When Gregory had asked why many of the names were reused, Twilight had explained that on her mother’s side, the name Twilight was an old family name that stretched back for longer than any of her mother’s family knew. For her father’s side, Night Light had wanted to honor his father for his service in the Royal Guard, so he had named his son Shining as well.

He also learned more about her personal interests. While she was a lover of books and was proficient in magic, she had another unusual special interest: old keys. She didn’t have much of a collection, but she did have at least seven keys she’d purchased from odd shops in Canterlot during her time as Celestia’s student. She loved pretending to be off on adventures with these keys, which she imagined would open secret vaults full of ancient tomes or something like that. But the one key she had hoped to find despite it being an impossible enterprise was the key to the ancient unicorn fortress where Princess Platinum had once lived. Many had tried to enter the old abandoned castle, but there was a powerful magic at work there that prevented anyone from entering. Even the windows had not shattered despite the many abandoned houses and huts having had their glass shattered in the years since their abandonment. It was the holy grail of key enthusiasts like herself.

When he’d heard about this, he’d almost pulled out a large ring with old keys on it which had been given to him for safekeeping the day he’d become Chancellor, but decided against it since these keys belonged not to him, but to the empire. Instead, he agreed that old keys had a charm about them that modern keys had lost. He’d even pulled out some of the keys he’d brought from Earth, including keys that he technically had no use for, but wanted to keep as keepsakes.

Something that had gained his attention was how Twilight’s eyes had briefly flashed with some determination near the end of their talk in the restaurant. There was something there that he’d only ever seen in the show. Something that made him smile inwardly when he thought back to it.

After his meal with Twilight, he had headed back to the council for his afternoon meeting with them. There, he had finally relayed the message that he had gotten from both Princess Celestia and Twilight about the possibility of opening negotiations between the two nations. Each griffon member of the council had reacted in their own way.

The two most senior members of the council, Grandpa Gruff and Ambassador Geoffrey, had somewhat similar reactions. Grandpa Gruff had been set against it for the most part while Geoffrey was a bit more ambivalent to the idea since he had seen some of the way ponies had treated non-ponies while he had been an ambassador in Canterlot and later in the Crystal Empire. Even crystal ponies, while nicer in general to non-ponies, still held onto the fear of other races.

The younger members of the council, Ginna and Gael, were less opposed to the idea. Gregory got the impression that they had only good interactions with ponies, especially since ponies had begun emigrating to Griffonia. They were well aware of how ponies were skittish to other races, especially a predator race like the griffons or dragons, but they hoped to try and smooth some of those fears.

Gwendolyn had no reaction one way or the other, that is, not until the meeting ended late that evening. She pulled Gregory aside and told him her personal thoughts on the subjects, and what she said and showed him afterwards surprised him to his core…

Earlier That Day In Griffonstone Keep…

“I know about Jason Wright.”

Gregory froze in alarm at those five blunt words. The expression on Gwendolyn’s face was cool but grim as her eyes locked onto his. The two of them were standing in the now empty and now fully restored throne room of the Keep. The windows had been replaced and depicted old griffon history, but a new window had been made, showing the form of Gregory holding the Idol of Boreas in his clutched hands while he put it back on the table, which Gregory now knew was called the Table of Kept Memory. The sun shone through that particular window onto the human and the young and beautiful griffoness.

Opening his mouth to say something, he paused, unsure of what to say. Gwendolyn was altogether a bit of a mystery to him. She acted as the council’s secretary, taking down the meeting notes with incredible speed and accuracy. Her handwriting was always pristine and readable. Whatever magic had been used on Gregory when he came through the portal that allowed him to read the lettering of this world made him recognize that her writing was the equivalent of cursive. She was one of the kindest and gentlest griffons he knew, always seeming to be looking out for Gregory’s wellbeing like she had the night before. She was also the only member of the council who had made a home for herself in the Griffonstone Keep after construction crews had finished their work.

Finally, he spoke. “How?” The words sounded pathetically small coming from his mouth. He had meant for it to be more of a proper question, but his shock was still enough to make his question sound more subdued than he’d meant for it to sound.

Gwendolyn looked around, as if looking to see if anyone was around. Looking back up at him, she put a single talon over her mouth. “First you must swear, by all you hold secret, whether by the Maker or whatever the strongest form of promise you can muster, that what I am about to show you will only be known to you and me. Not even your new henfriend can know about this.”

Gregory stiffened. That was a tall order for him, and it was obvious by the look in Gwendolyn’s eyes that she knew this. But he could tell she wouldn’t budge. She might not have shown it as openly as many other griffons, but she had her own stubborn streak within her, subtle though it might have been. Well, Gregory may have been just as stubborn, but he also knew Gabby well. She was smarter than he initially had thought after the brief glimpses he’d gotten of her in the show. She was also incredibly understanding about him not being able to tell her about some of the things that went on in the council.

So, he did the only thing he could go. He raised his hand. “Even though I don’t believe in this Maker of yours, I will swear by her and hold that promise close to my heart.” Taking a deep breath, he used an ancient bonding promise he’d learned from Gabby. He raised his middle and index finger and held the others closed while he said, “By the great Maker Eurynome Herself, she who was born from the primordial Chaos, Creator of All under sea and sky and she who hatched the Universe Egg from which Gaia, the sea and sky came from, I do swear this oath: that what will be shown to me by the griffoness Gwendolyn before me shall never escape my lips, shall never be recorded in any tome, and will be kept secret until either the day I die or until I am released from this oath by the griffoness Gwendolyn.”

Gwendolyn raised both eyebrows in alarm. Gregory knew that this oath, at least according to those who believed in this Maker, was stronger than any other oath in the world, possibly even more than a Pinkie Promise. From what he had heard in tales, if this oath was broken, woe be to them who broke it. Gwendolyn’s alarm only seemed to grow, but she cleared her throat and forced her expression to become more serious. “I never imagined that you’d know the oath,” she said, “or that you’d even invoke it.”

“My girlfriend, or henfriend as you called her, taught it to me and I’ve memorized it,” Gregory said. “My belief in this Eurynome might be lacking, but I know how highly you regard her, even those of you who don’t believe. I’d be a fool to simply ignore it. I’m a citizen of Griffonia now.”

Gwendolyn sighed softly, then looked up at him. “I…wow, Chancellor, thank you.”

“Call me Gregory, please,” he said with a chuckle.

With a smile, Gwendolyn turned. “Then follow me, Gregory.”

“Right behind you.”

She left the throne room, but not before grabbing an unlit torch from the spare torch sconce near the entrance to the throne room. She lit one and then began heading down the main set of stairs. Gregory had explored a bit of the Keep itself, but had never gone this far down into the keep before. The farther down he had gone, the darker and danker it had gotten, and he’d always had a slight fear of the dark, especially after having watched shows like Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. It was one reason why he liked sleeping with an eye mask.

The further they went down, the less of the glowing crystal sconces they saw. Finally, Gregory noted that while there were sconces on the walls, they were either empty or had dull and dead looking crystals in them, mostly cracked. Gregory pulled out his phone and turned on the light, helping to further illuminate the stairs. There was a musty smell coming up from the bottom, but it wasn’t completely overpowering. Still, he pulled out a facemask and put it over his nose to block the smell and anything else that might be down there.

They went down level after level until they finally reached the bottom. There was a single solitary door down there. Gwendolyn reached into her saddlebag, pulled out a keyring full of varying keys, stuck one older looking key into the lock and turned it. Gregory could hear a creaking noise from the keyhole, then the sound of a door unlocking echoed through the area around them. Pulling out the key, Gwendolyn grabbed the door handle and pushed it open.

As the hinges creaked open, the light from the torch and Gregory’s phone illuminated a small room. There was only a table inside with an unlit candle standing directly at the center of it along with a fully stocked bookshelf against one wall. There were no windows as the room was below the mountain itself, according to Gwendolyn. Lifting up the keyring again, the griffoness turned and closed the door behind her, locking the door from the inside, then putting the bolt on along with a wooden bar against the door. Then she walked up to the bookshelf. Following close behind, Gregory watched as she reached out with her claw to the second highest shelf and pulled a nondescript gray leather bound book from its place, then reached in and pressed the back of the bookshelf in. There was a click, then a dull thud from behind the bookshelf. She gave a push and the bookshelf moved inward, revealing a dull red light behind, and a hallway lit by some sconces with glowing red light within.

“What is this place?” Gregory asked.

“Not here,” Gwendolyn said. “Even the walls have ears. I’ll explain later.”

Gregory nodded and followed her down a low hanging hallway after she pulled a lever on the side of the wall which made the bookshelf slowly move back into position. The hallway itself had many different doors on either side, giving it a creepy dungeon look to it. Each door was closed, but he could see some symbols on each door. They looked, strangely enough, like Nordic runes or something like them.

At the end of the corridor, they came to a large wooden door. Lifting the set of keys again, she put a key in the lock and turned it. Unlike the door at the other end of the hall, this one didn’t creak or groan. All Gregory heard was a soft click as the door was unlocked. She pulled the key out again and pushed the door open into darkness. Lifting the torch in her claw, she headed into the room and lowered it towards a large circular stone table with a large set of crystals sitting on the center of said table. The moment the flame touched the crystal, the torch went out, but the same glow began emanating from the crystal. In fact, the ruddy firelike glow was double in strength.

Gregory turned off the light on his phone and slipped it into his jacket pocket, zipping it up so it didn’t come out. He was standing inside a massive room. It was circular in shape with a domed ceiling. Hanging from the apex of the dome was a large chandelier that resembled an upside down tree with various crystals acting as leaves.

Around the room were various bits of furniture and other objects. There were bookshelves full of ancient looking books and scrolls, a desk with papers strewn about, a large table with vials of different colored liquids inside, a cauldron, a small section of wall with different sized staffs and swords, and various other instruments that might very well belong to a witch or wizard.

Including a very familiar staff that caused Gregory to nearly stumble back in shock. “The Staff of Sacanas,” he muttered before he could stop himself. What’s it doing here, he thought quickly. Shouldn’t the Storm King or Twilight have it?

Gwendolyn immediately looked up at Gregory in alarm, then looked back at the staff. “How do you know what that staff is?” she asked.

Gregory looked down at Gwendolyn. She was giving him a suspicious look now. Clearing his throat, he said, “That is a secret I can’t share with you right now. And yes, I’m aware of the hypocrisy behind what I just said. Here you are, sharing something with me, but I refuse to share my secret with you. At least…at least for the time being.”

Gwendolyn stared at him for a few more seconds before she looked away, sighed, and ran her claw through her plumage. “I get it,” she said softly, looking back up at Gregory with an understanding look in her eyes. “It took many a nearly sleepless night for me to muster up the courage to show you this place.”

“One day, I swear that I’ll tell you exactly how I knew about that staff,” Gregory promised. “You’ve trusted me so much with this room.”

“And when that day comes, I shall swear by the same oath you’ve sworn to me,” Gwendolyn promised. “But that staff isn’t what I wanted to show you. Here.”

Turning, Gwendolyn walked over to one of the work tables against the wall. Sitting in the middle of it, without anything else on it, was an opaque white sphere sitting on a pedestal that resembled a golden tree. Turning, she beckoned him to follow, which he did. When he was standing next to her, she turned back to the sphere. “This is the Eye of Osiris,” she said. “It was found a thousand years ago it in the ancient ruins of a city in Egrypt called Clawbydos.”

“Egrypt? Isn’t that the ancient fallen kingdom east of here in the Sahayra Desert?” Gregory asked. He had been trying to spend at least thirty or so minutes per day learning more about the geography of Gaia, but especially the continent of Griffonia. He learned that ancient griffons once had a powerful kingdom to the east of Griffonstone called Egrypt in the modern tongue, and Clamet in their old tongue. The kingdom had long since been abandoned and only a handful of ruins remained along the shores of the Baḥr Al-Naīl river, or the Naīl River as it was called. Much like its Earth counterpart the Nile, the Naīl flowed south to north with its origins coming from the same inland ocean where Nova America had once existed.

“That’s the one,” she said. “It was found in a hidden chamber in the Temple of Osiris,” she went on to explain. “There was a stone tablet next to it which told that this was a gem which was used by ancient griffons and sphinxes who lived together during those times to look into the past. Well, I say both races used it, but in truth only a sphinx was able to utilize the sphere. It was used in times of great need. Listening in on enemies during wartime in order to learn their plans, looking back at heinous crimes, things like that.”

“That’s a powerful artifact,” Gregory said in awe. “And if it was ever lost or got into the wrong hands, it could be used for nefarious purposes.”

“Correct,” Gwendolyn said. “Which is why my family has kept it and other ancient artifacts from Griffonian history safe down here for the longest time. Only once ever five to seven generations is somegriffon from my family born who can wield this ancient magic and utilize the Eye.”

Gregory looked at her with a stunned expression. “Wait…your family…?” he said.

Gwendolyn looked at him fully before she spoke. “I may look like a griffon, and I am one, but the blood of the ancient sphinxes run through my veins. My ancestors lived in Egrypt ages ago.”

Finally, realization dawned on Gregory as she looked at the orb, then back at her. “And you can use it, can’t you?” Gwendolyn didn’t respond with words. Instead, she only nodded. Curiosity got the better of him. “Can you show me?”

Once more, she didn’t reply. Instead, she turned back to the orb, reached up and put her claw on the orb. The opaqueness vanished, to be replaced with a dark swirling interior almost identical to the way the idol’s gem constantly moved. In a way, both reminded Gregory of those swirling globes full of liquid that looked like gas giant planets he’d seen in places like Spencer’s. A bright light suddenly shot out of the top of the orb, going through Gwendolyn’s claw and stopping about a foot and a half above the orb. A larger orb formed and a scene began to form. He saw a dungeon begin to form, old marble floors and bars rose out of the forming misty orb. And in that dungeon he saw figures.

There were many different cells in the dungeon, but seven had ponies in them. All covered in some sort of gelatinous goop and each had looks of either despondency or guilt on their faces.

And standing above a horrified looking Discord, who lay sprawling on the stone floors outside each cell stood a man.

“Jason Wright…” Gregory gasped. Then the horror hit him because of what he now saw.

Jason had horrific scars all around him. There was a large scar that ran down one of his eyes which was a milky white. He had torn open his tunic, revealing a terrible scar from a lightning bolt that stretched across his chest. There were also larger scars that matched a hoofprint. But what he noticed was the look of pure unadulterated rage on Jason’s face.

“Humans don’t have magic, you fucking moron!” Jason was shouting down at Discord, pointing at his chest and face. “We have nothing! Every single buck, every single strike, every single attack, it’s all here! It’s all still here!”

Gregory’s jaw dropped. It was the first human voice he had heard since arriving on Gaia. He had mixed feelings about hearing it, though. Especially with what had happened to the human, but also with what he’d done to exact his revenge.

Within the mists of the past, he saw Discord’s eyes widening, the draconequus opening his mouth a few times as he stared at the bare chested human. “I…I didn’t know…”

“That’s all you have to say!?” Jason shouted. “Five years! Five years of hell! Of pure agony! Of feeling betrayed by the ponies I thought I loved, of having to build up a place to belong with my own blood and sweat, all because of your stupid, irresponsible bullshit! And that’s all you have to fucking say!? You didn’t know!?”

“I…” Gregory watched as Discord finally just lowered his head. “Yes. That’s all.”

Gregory watched as Jason’s hand went to his head, breathing heavily. He was no medical expert, but Gregory could see the signs of a panic attack coming on. As Jason stumbled backwards, he said, “My God, oh my God, I was going to…I just…oh my God!”

“Just…leave them alone,” Discord replied with his eyes closed, gesturing to the ponies in the cages. “It’s me you wanted all along. They were just…my tools…”

“Wait, no!” Twilight’s voice called out, standing in her cell and looking up at Jason with pleading eyes. “Discord just turned the volume up on what was already there! I’m the Princess of Friendship and I thought nothing of slamming that door in your face! It was all of us, Jason! We all did this to you!”

Jason glared back down at Twilight for a few seconds before shaking his head. “He’s the one who saw the pieces. He could’ve ended it at any time. I’ve settled up with the pawns, now it’s time to take down the king!”

With that last word, Jason slammed his boot into Discord, sending the lord of chaos sprawling back. The ponies around him gasped and began pleading with Jason to stop, but he didn’t. Instead, Jason leapt onto Discord and slammed his fists one after the other into Discord, roaring in absolute rage. “All these years! I spent weeks crying myself to sleep, screaming to God why, why the ponies I loved didn’t return that love, why I was the only one in a land of peace and harmony to know only pain and loneliness!”

“Please,” Discord begged, his paw and claw weakly rising in an attempt to defend himself, only to fall back down.

Jason grabbed Discord’s goatee and pulled him up, slamming his head down on the hard marble floor. As Jason continued unleashing his hatred and anger out on Discord, he screamed, “I’ve done things that can never be taken back! I’ve hurt ponies, changelings! I’ve been beaten, tormented, hated! I had to stand there while the ponies I loved jeered at me, felt my heart crushed with every blow, every hit! Do you have any idea what kinda hell the last five years have been!? I don’t even remember what that love feels like anymore!”

“Enough! I’ve seen enough!” Gregory shouted, backing away in horror.

Gwendolyn slowly removed her claw from the orb. The scene above vanished and the orb returned to its normal state. Slowly, she turned back to him. “I have seen much more than that,” she said. “I have seen how this human was treated by the ponies of Ponyville. I have seen his suicide attempt. I have seen him claw his way to the top to seek revenge.” She looked up at Gregory with an apologetic look in her eyes. “I’m sorry I had to show you such a scene.”

Gregory slowly shook his head. “No, it’s alright…” Looking back at the orb, he walked up and put his hand on it. It was cool and smooth to the touch. “Can I pick it up?”

“Go ahead,” Gwendolyn said.

He did so, slowly lifting the orb in his hands and looking it over. There wasn’t a single blemish on it from what he could see. Placing it back on its pedestal, he took out his phone, turned on the light and got a better look at it. Even in the bright phone’s light, there was nothing there but the milky white surface.

Finally, he put his phone away, turned back to Gwendolyn, and looked at her carefully. “Who are you, Gwendolyn?” he asked. “And what are you?”

She smiled, then turned and gestured to the room around her. “I? I am the only remaining Imperial Mage of the Griffonian Empire.”

Gregory’s House, Present Time…

Gregory had learned a lot about the old Empire’s Imperial Mage division. Apparently, there were rare circumstances where griffons were able to utilize magical artifacts such as the ones she had shown him earlier. They weren’t able to use magic like unicorns did, but they could command magical objects with practice. Most of these griffons had sphinx blood flowing through them which is what granted them these special abilities. These mages, also known as Sphinxborn, used many various magical means to keep their empire safe from outside threats.

However, after the death of the final emperor, the mages seemed to vanish from history. It was only about five years ago when Gwendolyn, once a secretary from the small town of Wing’s End near the former borders of Egrypt, had been told by her grandmother a month after her parents’ deaths about the secret of her family from a book that was written by one of her ancestors from that time. Apparently, that ancestor’s offspring had hidden the fact that their family were part of the mages out of shame at being unable to defend their kingdom or family.

She and her grandmother had moved to Griffonstone where Gwendolyn took a job as a secretary for a small business. During her free time, her grandmother showed her the ancient room and had helped teach her to use her innate talent with the control of magical artifacts. As it turned out, Gwendolyn was one of the most gifted Sphinxborn mages that her grandmother had ever heard about, and quite possibly the last one on Gaia.

Over the next five years, she had spent every hour of her free time studying the ancient magical tomes in the room and learned about the many artifacts she swore to protect. Her grandmother had sadly passed away a year ago, but had left Gaia knowing that her granddaughter was taking on the legacy or her forefathers.

What had surprised him further was that she had offered him copies of the keys that led down to the secret underground mage’s office as a sign of great trust. At first, he’d tried to deny it, saying that he didn’t feel worthy of them, but she had insisted. However, he’d continued to refuse until they’d come to a compromise. Twice a week, she and he would go down and she would teach him about each and every one of the artifacts and what they did and how to either use them properly since some could be more readily used as they were magical items with their own magic, but she would also teach him how to destroy them or at the very least incapacitate them if they ever fell into the wrong hands. According to her, the only other griffon who owned the second set of keys was the Emperor, but she had placed so much trust in Gregory that she was willing to give him the second set of keys that traditionally belonged in the Emperor’s keeping.

He was so lost in thought that he forgot where he was for a bit. That was, until a male voice called out to him. “Mister Chancellor sir?”

Gregory jumped in alarm. Blinking a few times, he turned back to the source of the voice, which happened to be the newcomer Gideon, who was looking up at him with a concerned expression. “Ah, sorry, I was a bit distracted,” Gregory apologized. “Could you repeat that, please?”

“I asked what your old homeland was like,” Gideon repeated.

“Oh, right,” he said as he took a napkin and wiped his mouth. “Well, that depends on what you want to know. It’s extremely different from Griffonia, I’ll tell you that much.”

“How so?” Gideon asked.

“My curiosity of that is great, as well,” Zecora added, putting down her fork and turning to Gregory. “I’d like to hear what you can tell.”

“You gotta admit, you don’t really tell us much about your land, aside from those movies we watched,” Gracie said. “Especially all those Star Wars films, and you claimed those were fiction and not real worlds.”

Gregory chuckled, mostly at the irony of Gracie’s words. He had not only tried the portal on the My Little Pony world, but on a few other worlds as well, taking images and videos of a handful of other worlds just to make sure the proof of concept worked. “Yeah, I guess I do keep my old land’s secrets pretty close to the chest. I mean, it’s so different that you could almost swear it’s another world altogether.”

He saw Starlight, Gabby, and Gilda briefly react to this, but fortunately nobody else noticed. “What do you mean?” Gallus asked.

“Just that,” Gregory replied. “It’s so different that it might as well be another world. Where I’m from, we have technology that far surpasses even that of Equestria. We have means of communicating instantly over long distances, trains that can go hundreds of miles an hour, machines that can fly through the air higher even than the hardiest of dragons, and we have even gone beyond the atmosphere of the planet. Our life expectancy is up thanks to advances in medicine and technology, too.”

“But why leave that and come here?” Gideon asked. “It sounds like a paradise compared to many places here.”

Gregory looked over at the griffon. “Believe it or not, I have more here than I did back where I came from.” He looked around the table. “I have friends who care for my wellbeing, for one,” he said before looking over fondly at Gabby, “a girlfriend who I love dearly, and a beautiful house that the entire city funded for me. Back home, I had pretty much nothing. I was just a cog in a machine, going to work at a job that treated you more like a product than a person. I lived in a really small apartment that was on the verge of falling apart, but since I couldn’t find a better paying job anywhere else I had no choice in where I stayed. But here I have everything I could ever possibly have to make me happy.”

“That’s good to hear,” Gideon said, licking his beak a bit and going back to his food.

Gracie licked her beak a bit as well, smiling at Gregory. “You’re definitely a very happy man,” she said.

Gregory nodded, then turned back to his food. Despite the events of the past couple of days and the inner destruction of his hero worship of the Mane Six, he was truly happy. Incredibly so. He felt like he could take anything on.

Gregory sat against the headboard of his bed a few hours later, wearing his normal pajamas, some thin long sleeved shirt and pants that he’d gotten during winter at his town’s local Costco. He’d packed them, along with the rest of his clothes, in vacuum sealed bags before traveling between dimensions, and he was glad he did. In his hand, he held a book that he’d brought from Earth called The Tower of Geburah by John White. While he had brought a Kindle full of plenty of other books, he preferred the feeling of actual books in his hand. And this particular book, the first in a series of books called The Archives of Anthropos (which were books that were like The Chronicles of Narnia) were unavailable for download no matter how hard he looked.

Beside him, Gabby sat, leaning her head against him, eyes closed as Gregory read the book aloud to her. Ever since they’d become a couple, he had welcomed her into his bedchambers. So much so, in fact, that she’d begun wearing some of his clothes. At least, she would wear them to bed with him. And only his shirts.

“‘Blue light is true light,’ she repeated to herself,” Gregory read, “Yet she felt a strange curiosity to know what lay down this second left-hand passage. Certainly it looked brighter than the one she was already pursuing. The walls were lined with colored jewellike stones. Moreover, a smell of baking bread assailed her nostrils reminding her how very hungry she was. Warm air brushed the skin of her hands and face as she approached the entrance of the purple tunnel.”

Gabby opened one eye. “Lisa’s making a mistake,” she said with a tired sounding voice.

Looking down, he saw just how tired his girlfriend was. The arm that was around her squeezed her and he reached up to stroke her plumage. “You’re tired. We should stop here for the night.”

She shook her head. “Mmm no…at least wait until we finish the chapter,” she said with a pout, giving him the most adorable puppy dog eyes she could muster.

“You said that last chapter, and I’ve had to reread things a half dozen times,” he sighed. “But fine. This is the last chapter.”

“Thanks, love,” she said before moving up and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Gregory blushed, and continued. He was only a couple pages into the chapter, and Gabby did her best to sit up and listen. However, he did have to stop a few times to reread a few passages that she’d missed. Finally, however, the chapter was over and he put a bookmark in it. “Okay, that’s it for the night,” he said as he put the book down on the nightstand before reaching over and turning the oil light at the side of his bed off.

“Mmhmm,” was all she said as she snuggled in closer, putting one arm around his chest as he moved to lie down. In the dark, he could feel her head lying on his chest, nuzzling affectionately into him. “Comfy…”

He blushed and groaned. “Nnng…Gabs, I’m not a pillow,” he said.

“But you’re so comfy,” she whined as she nuzzled in further.

“Oh, I give up,” he sighed as he pulled the covers over them. From the curtained windows, he saw the shadow of the Houseoak tree moving in the early night wind as it moved against the curtains. The thicker winter curtains were not closed yet, but he was unable to move thanks to the griffoness snuggling on top of him. His warm, soft and hoodie stealing griffoness girlfriend. Relaxing, he pulled her closer, caressing the plumage on her head.

As he began to drift off, the revelation of who and what Gwendolyn passed briefly through his mind. However, he made a promise to himself that he would talk to her one on one at length about this.

After all, he was a part of this secret, now. And he wanted what was best for Griffonia.

Canterlot Palace, Later That Night…

The Princess of the Night sat on the secondary throne next to her sister’s larger central throne, eyes closed. If any of the guards were to approach and look closely at her closed eyes, they might notice a bright white glow coming from the brief patch of eyelid that remained ever so slightly open.

However, her consciousness was very far away, looking through the dreams of the many ponies across Equestria. She stood in a large starry lit nighttime sky that surrounded every bit of her, only the stars weren’t stars at all, but small orbs showing glimpses into the dreams of the ponies around her. They swirled around her like gently falling snowflakes, small sounds coming from each of them as they neared her and swirled past.

Her consciousness might have been there, but her mind was elsewhere. The news about another human on Equus had shaken her to her core. Not only that, but what the young mint colored unicorn named Lyra Heartstrings had reported on what she had overheard the three voices discuss. She was horrified to hear that three ponies would beat an innocent zebra to within an inch of her life, but after what had happened with Jason Wright, she could no longer claim to be surprised.

Apparently, the ponies of Equestria had developed a nasty xenophobic habit while she was gone on the moon.

Luna thanked Lyra and her companion Bon Bon for the information, and offered for them to spend the night at Canterlot to rest in something other than a cot in a tent, which Bon Bon gratefully accepted. However, to Luna’s surprise, Lyra instead begged the princess to allow her to travel to Griffonstone that very night in order to attempt to warn the human about the danger he was now in. Bon Bon had attempted to talk Lyra down, but the poor unicorn had become frantic, pleading and begging before finally breaking down and sobbing. Luna could hear the guilt in Lyra’s screams of pain and despair. The poor mare wanted to try and make up for it, and since Jason Wright was no longer anywhere they could find him, Luna suspected that she wanted to make things right with this other human.

Luna had put Lyra into a peaceful sleep at that moment. She was proud of the young unicorn for her determination to try to make things right in any way possible, but from what Bon Bon had told her, she was just a civilian, not any sort of agent like Bon Bon had once been.

That night, Luna had warned her sister about possible rogue agents on their way to Griffonstone. Celestia was alarmed by this, but promised to keep a sharp lookout for anypony suspicious. At the same time, she asked that Luna look into who might have hired the three, as she suspected that there was a noble responsible.

The next morning, after eating breakfast with the princess, Lyra had softly apologized for her actions, for which Luna immediately forgave her. The two had headed back to Ponyville after that, leaving Luna to her duties. The first thing she’d done was to ask Raven to find somepony to investigate the nobles on the story. Raven nodded and set to work. All that day, Luna dealt with increasingly agitated nobles who were going on about unimportant drivel, but for the sake of maintaining the peace, she had to play the negotiator, something she had little practice with. As the day went on, she began to appreciate the hard duty that her sister had to undergo each and every day. For the longest time, she had thought that her sister had it easy, only needing to smile and have fun with dignitary ponies all day, but now she was beginning to realize that her duty as day princess was anything but fun.

As she thought back on the events of the day, she sensed something unusual. Something passed through the air, gently nudging the dream orbs as if they had been underwater and struck by an underground wave. She could see the wave as it passed through her vicinity, a bright violet colored wave of strange magic.

Something had entered her dream realm.

Whirling around, she tried to triangulate the source of the wave. Only to pause and gape at a massive structure that stood below her. From above, it looked like a massive stone doorway, but she needed to fly down in order to get a better look, and what she saw when she arrived stunned her.

She found herself standing in front of a massive set of wooden arched door with a golden keyhole surrounded by a massive stone archway. On either side of the archway on two stone pedestals sat a pair of statues, identical in nature and depicting a massive drake which stood on its hind legs, wings spread, and mouth open in a threatening manner. The archway above the door had words written in an unknown language carved across it. However, as she cautiously approached, the words on the top translated themselves into Equestrian, eventually settling to read GREGORY EUGENE GRAYSTONE DO NOT ENTER.

She jumped back, stunned. She knew the name of the second human in Equestria from her sister, and had hoped to have better luck in finding his dreamscape one of these nights. She had tried for months, when she’d had the free time, to find Jason Wright’s own dreamscape, but despite searching everywhere and using every scrying spell she could find, her search had been fruitless. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that, since Jason was a human without a single shred of magic, his dreamscape would never be accessible.

Seeing this doorway, however, only confused and alarmed the princess of the night. There was a powerful magic at work here, she knew. Straightening, she boldly approached the doors and put her eye up towards the keyhole. However, all she could see was complete blackness. She could also hear nothing when she tried putting her ear to the keyhole.

“No enter friend’s dream,” a booming female voice suddenly. It sounded like it came from one of the statues. Luna jumped back and looked at the aforementioned statue, only to see nothing had changed. Suddenly, a second wave of magic washed over her, only it came from behind. Whirling around, she came face to face with a small orb of a dream, much like the others around her. However, unlike the others, it was standing perfectly still, and the being that was dreaming within was looking out directly at Luna.

Approaching cautiously, Luna peered at the dreamer, and her eyes went wide. She saw a large drake with black scales, blonde spines and piercing purple eyes. Eyes that were definitely those of a predator, but there was no malice within them. Instead, Luna noted a protective glint in the drake’s expression.

Luna was well aware that many animals dreamt, of course. She had made a promise to Fluttershy to keep an eye on the dreams of her animal friends before she and the others had left Canterlot after Jason’s invasion. However, she was unaware of any kind of animal that could lucid dream and was even less aware of anycreature that could peer into the dream realm that was her domain. But this creature, which greatly resembled the drake that was apparently the companion of the Griffonian Chancellor according to the images Celestia had brought up during their dream conversation, was apparently able to do so.

Luna knew very little about drakes, if she was honest with herself. She knew they were like dragons in many ways. If she had to make a comparison, a drake was to a dragon much like a horse was to a pony. Similar in appearance, but the former was less intelligent than the latter. Not to say they weren’t intelligent, but they lacked the ability to speak in real life. In dreams, however, it was another story.

Luna raised her horn and the bubble expanded, as did the image of the drake within. When the bubble was as tall as her, the princess spoke. “Who are you?”

“I am Daenerys. I am friend of owner of the dream door.” The now named Daenerys pointed to the door behind her.

Luna looked back at the door, slowly realizing now what it was now. She had read about this in an ancient tome when she was studying the art of entering the dreams of others. The author, a unicorn who lived in the Pre-Equestrian Era named Dream Walker ironically enough, had written that during a few of his travels into the dream realm, he would come across locked doors similar to this. They varied in design, and he had even drawn a few from memory, but they were all similar in many regards: they had drake statues guarding them on either side and had unusual names written on them. She closed her eyes and the memory of one of the drawings appeared. The drawing showed a large rectangular door with two drakes, both sitting and staring out serenely. It was a double door instead of the single door she saw. Above the door was an inscription written in older Equestrian that read DAVID JOHNSON DO NOT ENTER.

Turning back to the dream version of Daenerys, Luna said, “Tis a pleasure to meet thee, Daenerys. We are Princess Luna.”

“I know. Friend sees you in dreams sometimes, with other cartoon ponies,” Daenerys said.

Luna’s eyes widened. During one of Celestia’s talks with Luna after Jason’s invasion force left Equestria, she had revealed that Jason had come to Equus because, on his world, he had seen the adventures of the Elements of Harmony in something known as a cartoon, a sort of moving comic. He had become enamored by them and wanted to meet them. The thought of an entire world knowing about Equus through a fictional means had thrown her for a loop. And it had arisen so many questions in her mind. She straightened up and refocused her attention on Daenerys. “So, this Gregory Graystone knows about us?”

“Yes.”

“And you are the guardian of his dream realm and won’t let us venture in to speak with him?” Luna asked.

“Yes.”

Luna frowned. She wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. On instinct, she thought about what her sister might do. She sighed as the answer came to her. She was not too proficient in this area, but she at least knew she had to try. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Daenerys. “Can we at least speak with him? We have heard many good things about this Chancellor and wish to enter into a discourse with him.”

“No, you no see friend’s dreams,” Daenerys replied.

“What do you mean by that?” Luna asked.

“No enter friends dream,” the drake repeated. “Dreams private. You interloper. Invader.”

“Invader?” she repeated, now more confused than before. She was the warden of dreams. It was her duty to see that dreams were peaceful so her little ponies would have a restful sleep. “I’m not an invader,” she said.

“Dreams private,” the drake said with a frown forming on her face. “Even nightmares private. I guard.” So saying, the orb moved around Luna and hovered in front of the door. “You may not enter.”

“But what if the dreamer is having a horrible nightmare?” Luna insisted. “I have to help if that’s the case.”

“This not pony. Friend not want anyone seeing dreams,” the drake said.

“Can you speak to him on our behalf?” Luna asked.

“Friend no let me in either,” Daenerys said. “Dreams private.”

Luna could see the stubbornness in the drake’s expression and knew she had failed to convince her. Sighing, she looked back at the drake. “We understand. May we ask something else of thee?”

“What is it?” Daenerys asked.

“Can you show us what this friend of yours looks like?” Luna asked.

Daenerys tilted her head a bit as if considering it. However, finally she stepped back and closed her eyes. Instantly, the image of a bipedal creature appeared in front of the drake’s dreamscape. Luna drank in the form of the human before her. He was unscarred, unlike what she’d seen of Jason in the dreams of her ponies. He had long brown wavy hair, piercing blue eyes, wore a long black overcoat, gray pants, a pair of thick boots, warm looking gloves for his hands, had a pair of goggles strapped over his forehead, and was wearing a kindly smile. Luna nodded in appreciation. This human looked much more peaceful and happy than Jason did, at least the version he saw in the nightmares of the Elements of Harmony, her sister, and the ponies who bore the overwhelming guilt of their treatment of him.

But as she watched the image of the human before her, she saw his features briefly change. Well, two features only changed. His hair became pale blonde similar in color to the spines on Daenerys and his eyes changed from bright blue to a bright purple which matched Daenerys’ own eyes. However, it was only for a moment. Curious, Luna turned back to Daenerys. “Miss Daenerys, does that happen to your friend often?”

“What you mean?” Daenerys asked.

“His mane-er, hair-and his eyes. Do they change color?” Luna asked.

Daenerys shook her head. “They no change color.”

“But we saw them change just now, in thy image of your friend,” Luna insisted.

“They no change color,” Daenerys insisted.

Luna was about to reply when she heard a nearby dreamer screaming in terror. She turned and saw a dream bubble approaching her, one of the ponies from Ponyville within running away from a monstrous bipedal form which was throwing garbage and rocks at the stallion. He was trying to duck from the assault, shouting out “I’m sorry, Jason! I’m so sorry! Please have mercy! Please forgive me!”

Turning back to Daenerys’ dreamscape, she saw that the image of Gregory was gone. Daenerys stood where she had before, looking expectantly at Luna. Knowing she had to act quickly, she nodded towards Daenerys. “We thank thee for thy time and hope to see thee again soon. Please forgive our abrupt departure. We have duties to attend to.” And without waiting for a reply, she turned and flew towards the nightmare.

As she flew into the dream to banish it and speak to the stallion, there was one thought at the back of her mind: Just what manner of man was this Gregory Graystone?

Inside The Gobbler’s Groggery, Near Midnight…

Dusky Heart, Jade Seed and Lady Serenity stood in Dusky’s room, standing in front of the lone table in the room. For the most part, the building they were in was silent and the lights of the buildings outside were all out. The only light in Dusky’s room came from the solitary candle that stood on the center of the table, which illuminated a map of Griffonstone that Jade had bought earlier from one of the shops. The mood in the room was tense, especially since Jade had come to report that she had spotted Princess Celestia herself in the sky above Griffonstone late that afternoon. They had, of course, known that one of the Elements of Harmony was in the city on some kind of Friendship Quest, but they hadn’t counted on the ruler of Equestria herself being there as well. When she had reported this to the others, Dusky had called for a retreat back to the Groggery and to remain in their rooms, pretending to sleep until midnight, when they could be sure the Equestrian Princess of the Sun would be asleep.

“How did they find us already, sir?” Jade asked, looking over at Dusky. “We were careful to disguise our identities.”

“Does that really matter?” Lady asked as she looked at her hoof nonchalantly before looking back at Dusky. “What matters is that she’s here. She could easily identify us if she wanted to. So, what do we do now, sir?”

Dusky frowned. Unlike Jade, who used that word with respect, Lady always wielded that like a weapon, trying to get under his fur. During the beginning, it had gotten under his fur, but he was used to her flirtatious way of things and it hardly bothered him. However, currently, it did. Their client had never mentioned that there would be one of the princesses in the same city that they were in, and especially one who could easily identify them.

His mind was a whirl. Their mission here was in jeopardy now. They would normally have been in town for a couple of weeks to assess things and then act accordingly, but with the Princess of the Day here, he had to make a quick decision. Do they go on with the second part of the plan, or abandon things altogether.

He knew that this human was high up in Griffonian government, but he was confident that once the griffons realized just what a human was capable of that things would be alright. He wasn’t delusional enough to believe that they would be thanking him and his team for what would be done, but the griffons here apparently had no idea what species the changeling emperor really was or what he was capable of.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward and looked at his team. Lifting the large bag from its corner where he’d put it upon first arriving at his room, he set it on the table. This was the biggest decision he’d ever had to make in his life, but somepony had to do it. Steeling his gaze at the two, he said, “Phase Two will be initiated immediately.”

Jade, not surprisingly, immediately saluted, but Lady looked alarmed. “Dusky, is that a good idea? Our client said-”

“He also said that we were to use discretion when using these,” Dusky interrupted, tapping the bag with his hoof. “And I’ve heard and seen enough. Starting tomorrow, we go out as one, not splitting up. We find this human Gregory. And we deal with him.”

“Commander, this is Agent O reporting in.”

“I read you loud and clear, Agent O. Go ahead.”

“Agent T has arrived safely and without complications. He was invited by the subject to dinner at his house earlier this evening. He is currently at our safehouse, settling in and will begin looking for work tomorrow.”

“Excellent work, Agent O. The Emperor himself has heard about your hard work and he sent you a gift with Agent T. Did he give it to you?”

“Yes, Commander. I did receive the gift. How can I repay the Emperor’s kindness?”

“Keep on doing the work you are doing. Is there anything else to report?”

“The subject did seem a bit distracted this evening during the dinner, but perhaps that’s because he is tired? Oh, either that or he has been distracted by his new henfriend.”

“Henfriend? The subject has acquired a lover? When did that happen?”

“A day or two ago.”

“I see. Is the love you’re sensing from them powerful?”

“Sir…I have never felt love like that from anycreature. The subject has a strong love and desire for his new mate. I had to rely on all my training not to revert to form.”

“I see. Be cautious then and make sure that you remember your training, Agent O.”

“Yes sir, I will do just that.”

“Good. Is there anything else you wish to report?”

“Only that I overheard a couple of pegasi in town mention something about feeling a shift in the weather. They said something about a storm possibly coming.”

“Well, then just be on your guard. Griffonstone storms are some of the deadlier types, from what the reports say. Anything else?”

“No sir.”

“Good work then, Agent. I will see you later. Long live the Emperor!”

“Long live the Emperor.”

26: The Nor'wester

Author's Note

Woohoo, 200k words!

This chapter might make or break the story for you all. Hell, I might delete it and rework it at some point, but for now this is what I intend for the story. I tried making things work out realistically and without characters being stupid for the sake of plot, but I'm not sure I succeeded.

Anyway, I'm off to bed now since it's nearly midnight where I am. Enjoy!

I hope, anyway...

26: The Nor'wester

Nor’wester

/nȯr-ˈwe-stər/ noun

A Nor’wester, or a West Griffonian Coastal Storm, is a specific type of powerful cyclonic storm which form over the Southern Celestial Sea off the western coast of the Dragon Lands. They normally make landfall on Griffonia’s western coast. The name comes from the direction in which the storm flows, northwest. Nor’westers typically form between late October to early April, although they can form during other times of the year. They are known for producing heavy precipitation, hurricane-force winds, or blizzard conditions and can cause severe coastal flooding or coastal erosion at sea level.

Gobbler’s Groggery, An Hour Before Sunrise The Next Morning…

Lady Serenity looked out at the whiteout conditions that had arisen during the night around the city. Not even during the brief journey from Equestria to Griffonia had she seen such nasty weather conditions. She was no pegasus, but even she wasn’t sure that anypony could dispatch this storm. Nopony would be able to fly well in this weather or even walk unless they used a unicorn’s magic shield to block out the wind and snow.

Behind her, Dusky Heart and Jade Seed were standing at the table, looking at the map of Griffonia carefully. There was silence in the room, the only sound coming from the wind outside. The window rattled a bit as the wind beat against it. The fireplace was lit brightly and its warmth kept back the icy cold storm outside.

Lady, not able to stand the silence among the three, simply said, “Welp, so much for doing anything today.”

Jade immediately glared up at Lady and was about to say something in defense of her commander but Dusky held up his front hoof to silence her. He looked more frustrated than angry, but there wasn’t much any of them could really do in this blizzard, which the innkeeper had called a Nor’wester. And she was beginning to have doubts about her mission as well as Dusky’s own mental state.

They were just supposed to gather information about the human and only act if they assumed he was a danger to Equestria. Lady hadn’t seen or heard anything about this Gregory Graystone that seemed dangerous. Under her Red Print alias a couple night ago, she’d learned much about the Griffonian Chancellor enough to start casting doubt over their missions secondary objective should they find it necessary. The dragoness she spoke to was a very knowledgeable one, especially since she owned one of the best tea shops in the city. She’d even met this human a few times along with his group of friends, which included a unicorn pony who had rejected her own Equestrian citizenship to become a Griffonian citizen.

What she’d learned put a bit of doubt on her initial assumptions about humans. He was known to be hardworking, kind but firm, friendly and full of life. Apparently there wasn’t a single day that went by where he didn’t travel around the city and find a place where he could help rebuild with the citizens. And his drake was also helpful as well, able to lift bits of debris that nocreature else could lift. While initially Griffonstone citizens were wary of the massive beast, soon the drake, named Daenerys, became known as a symbol of good luck among the creatures inhabiting the city.

However, when she’d told Dusky and Jade about this, the former had quickly suggested that it was an elaborate act. Jade, being the suck up that she was, quickly agreed and made mention of a report she’d gotten about how in the first two weeks that Gregory had been in Griffonstone he had hardly been seen and whenever he was seen, he seemed angry and bitter. His miraculous change in demeanor had to have been an act.

Despite her overly flirtatious nature, Lady was a bit worried about Dusky. He seemed to be taking this mission more and more personally with each passing day. She had no idea why he seemed so dead set on vilifying this human. She’d tried asking about it before they’d gone to sleep the night before, but he’d just said he was doing his job.

Lady knew Dusky better than most other ponies, however. When the three had been a part of S.M.I.L.E., he had always been a professional, never letting his emotions get the better of him and doing the job. However, despite his initial actions being similar upon their arrival to Griffonstone, he’d seemed to become more driven to find reasons to carry out the other portion of this mission just in case. They were to retreat if it was found this human was not a threat, but Dusky kept on finding reasons. Flimsy reasons, Lady thought, but Dusky was their leader. Maybe he saw something that she didn’t.

Still, despite everything, she couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong. This Gregory seemed genuine from what she’d heard. When she suggested that one of them make ‘accidental’ contact with him to get to know him on a more personal level, Dusky and Jade dismissed it outright.

Dusky tapped on the map, breaking Lady out of her reverie. She turned and saw he was tapping the map with a frown. “From what we’ve learned, this Gregory lives in the upper levels in a mansion paid for and built by the city,” he said. “He lives with a few others, too. If we hope to catch him alone and without that beast he keeps, we’ll need to find a way separate them from the others.” He looked at the bags on the floor again and lifted one of them up. It floated over to the table and landed with a heavy thud, the singular object inside responsible for that.

“Dusky, we’ve only been here a few days,” Lady protested, “and we haven’t even met this human. Shouldn’t we-?”

“Last night I explained that we were told to use discretion, Miss Serenity,” Dusky retorted, his mask briefly cracking to show anger before returning to its practiced neutrality. “We’ve all seen how this human has quickly risen through the government. He came here through mysterious means, worked as a postal employee, then the moment he meets a former cult leader he becomes a part of the government? Too much of a coincidence.”

“Dusky, even before this Starlight Glimmer arrived he was helping to improve the city,” Lady protested.

“You and I both know just how devious humans can be,” Dusky said. “Star Swirl’s reports on them are pretty clear. You’ve read them, remember?”

Lady nodded. Thanks to Star Swirl’s mirror, he had been able to traverse a number of different worlds and dimensions, and had found that the realm where humans lived was a dangerous place. They were, according to him, savages who lived off of the blood and sweat of other creatures they had enslaved. Their world lacked magic, which was why Star Swirl had banished anything dangerous to those lands, including the sirens. “Dusky, what if this human is different?” she protested. “Besides, if any of them discover we had anything to do with any harm that befalls this Chancellor, it could start a war between Equestria and Griffonia! Do you honestly think we can fight back!?” She was on the verge of screaming now, but kept her cool so as not to disturb the other guests.

Jade frowned at her. “Miss Serenity, are you saying that Star Swirl was wrong?”

“What? No! I’m sure what he saw was what he recorded,” Lady replied quickly, “but need I remind you that ponies weren’t as harmonious as we are today, and even now those rumors spreading about Ponyville-”

“Those are lies! All of them!” Dusky shouted, stomping the ground. “Nopony would do anything like that to another!”

“How do you know?” Lady replied, glaring at Dusky. “Seriously, how do you know? You saw that trial in Canterlot just like I did.”

“They altered that broadcast,” Jade said.

“If you’re backing out of this mission, then you’d better say so,” Dusky replied darkly.

“Not at all!” Lady replied quickly, “but I’m just saying we haven’t even been here a week and you already want to use those things on him.” She pointed to the bag on the table, then to the other two bags in the corner. “Even if he’s secretly plotting something, if you take him out of the equation, the Griffonian government won’t know that! They’ll cry vengeance!”

“Not once they know what humans are capable of,” Dusky replied quickly. “Jason Wright took over Canterlot with a ragtag group of changelings. Imagine what he could do with a nation of griffons. And he’s made an alliance with dragons? Three predator races together? What happens when he reaches out to Jason Wright and asks to join forces?”

Lady wanted to argue against this. She wanted to contradict his words. However, despite everything, she did see a bit of sense in what he was saying. Still, something about this felt more wrong the more she thought about it. “I don’t like this…” she said softly.

“When this is over, we’ll get paid enough that we won’t have to work for a long time,” Dusky said.

“Sir, how would you like to do this?” Jade asked. “This Chancellor is always surrounded by somecreature or other. We won’t be able to get close enough to take care of this for a while.”

“Not if we do it today,” Dusky said with a small grin that sent shivers down Lady’s spine. And not the good kind of shivers.

“How? How do we do that?” Lady asked with trepidation.

“Oh, I have an idea,” he said and gestured for her to join him at the map. “See, while exploring the town, I found this place…”

The Green Dragon, Before Sunrise The Next Morning…

When Celestia woke, the first thing she heard was a fierce wind blowing just outside their window. That, and she could feel a slight wisp of cold air that was seeping in through the small crack at the bottom of their bedroom door. Slowly sitting up, she looked around at the sleeping forms around her. All were curled up in their blankets in an attempt to stave off the cold. Lighting her horn, she quietly lifted a few of the logs and kindling next to the fireplace, placed them in said fireplace, and lit a spark. The kindling caught and after a few minutes there was a warm blaze in the fire, heating up the room quickly.

She quietly grabbed her copy of the room key and slipped out into the hallway, not wanting to disturb the sleeping ponies and dragon. The hallway itself was dark save for a ruddy glow that came from the staircase at the end of the hall. Celestia walked downstairs to the main tavern only to see Garble breathing fire into the main fireplace. Standing, he nodded in satisfaction before turning and spotting Celestia. “Oh! Hello there,” he said. “Isn’t it a bit early for you to be up?”

“It’s a bit early for anyone to be up,” Celestia replied, “but it’s my duty to raise the sun over the world, so I must be awake early and can only sleep when the sun has set and my sister has taken the reins.”

“Huh, so dad was right about the ponies possessing the mystic art of the world rotation,” Garble said as he made his around the tavern, lighting candles with his fire breath. “How long until sunrise?”

“Oh, there’s half an hour until that,” she said as she walked around, looking at the tavern more closely. Turning back to him, she asked, “What are you doing up so early?”

“Running this tavern and inn is a tough job,” he said. “I’ve got to get up early and get the stoves nice and hot and get the food prepared.”

“Don’t you run this place with your sister and some other griffon staff?” Celestia asked.

“Smolder? Yeah, I do, but I let her sleep in most days. Especially today,” he added, nodding towards one of the windows which had its curtains closed. “It’s a really nasty Nor’wester out there, and us dragons are cold blooded. Being in a storm like this could kill us if we’re out in it too long. We can handle extreme heat just fine and can bear some cold temperatures, but if we’re out in temperatures like this? It’s not good. That’s why most dragons live in the Dragon Lands.”

Celestia raised her eyebrows. “What’s a Nor’wester?” she asked as she walked over to the nearest window to get a closer look at the conditions outside.

“Oh, it’s a common type of storm they get over here,” he said as he put down one lit candle and grabbed another to light. “They’re nasty blizzards that can last for days. There’s at least two every winter up here. I think this is the first one this year.”

Celestia had exceptional eyesight thanks to the side of her that possessed pegasus magic. Even so, the whiteout conditions outside was something she doubted even the windigos could match. She could see the hazy outlines of buildings as her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, but the winds were whipping by and the snow building up against the sides of buildings. None of us can go out there to search for any kind of problem today, and especially Spike, she thought to herself. Blinking, she let her eyes readjust to the light of the fire in the fireplace. Turning back, she watched as Garble walked around, using his fire breath to light lamps hanging on the walls now, brightening up the place even more. “I’m surprised the city’s managed to survive it for so many years,” she admitted.

“I agree,” Garble said as he lit the last of the lamps. “I don’t know if this storm is worse than other Nor’westers, but it’s the worst one I’ve seen.” He walked behind the bar and grabbed a mug, washing it with a damp cloth. “You want anything to eat or drink before you need to do your thing with the sun?”

“Oh, that would be nice,” she said as she took a seat at the bar in one of the stools designed for ponies. “Could I have three scrambled eggs and some buttered toast?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Garble said as he put down the mug. “And to drink?”

“Do you have hot cider? If not, some hot tea would be alright,” Celestia replied.

“I might have some cider left,” he said. “It’ll be out in a bit.” So saying, he headed into the back.

As the sound of pots and pans being moved around carried towards her, Celestia heard the sound of a door opening and closing down a hallway near the other end of the bar. Turning, she saw the shorter orange dragoness teen called Smolder walking in, hand in front of her mouth and yawning. She looked around he room and a frustrated look appeared on her face. “Garble! What did I tell you about not waking me up?!” she shouted towards the kitchen.

“Mother and Father told me to protect you, and that’s exactly what I’m doing!” he shouted back from the kitchen.

Smolder threw her fists in the air in frustration, then finally noticed Celestia. “Nnng…older brothers…always so overprotective,” she grumbled.

Celestia chuckled good naturedly. “Well, I wouldn’t know. I have no older brothers or sisters. Just a younger sister,” she said.

“Lucky you,” Smolder said as she grabbed the same damp rag that Garble had been using earlier and began wiping down the counter Celestia was sitting at. “Getting to tell her what to do must be nice.”

“I’m sure your brother means well,” Celestia said to try and be encouraging.

Smolder growled. “Ever since we moved here, he’s been acting like he’s my keeper, not my brother. I’m nineteen already, practically an adult. I molted when I was sixteen like most other dragons, so why is he acting like a mother hen? Why can’t he treat me like an equal?”

As she muttered to herself, Celestia found herself thinking back to her own sister. After Luna had come back, Celestia had been overprotective of her. Before her banishment, Celestia had been inattentive to her own sister, falling too far to the other side. After all, the two had been rulers of Equestria for hundreds of years prior to her banishment. Now she was realizing that she had fallen to the opposite spectrum once again, being overly protective of her adult sister. There had to be a middle ground she needed to find.

Coming back to reality once more, she looked over and saw that Smolder was now washing some of the dishes that hadn’t been cleaned the night before. Probably some late night diners, she thought.

The silence was broken a half minute later. “Smolder, since you’re up, could you prepare some tea for our guest out there?” Garble asked from the kitchen. “You do it better than anyone else.”

“Yeah, sure,” Smolder said with a sigh before turning to Celestia. “What kind of tea do you want? We have green tea, sweet orange tea, black cherry tea, and black tea.”

“Sweet orange tea sounds lovely,” Celestia said with a smile. “Do you have honey to go with that?”

“Sorry, no. Griffonia doesn’t have bees,” Smolder explained. “We have sugar if that’s alright.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll have it as is,” Celestia replied.

“Suit yourself,” Smolder said as she poured some water into a kettle. After a deep breath, she blew fire onto the bottom of the kettle and immediately steam began rising from the spout. She began mixing the brew. Silence reigned for about a minute before she turned to Celestia and with a raised eyebrow, asked, “So…do you really raise and lower the sun?”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, I do,” she confirmed.

“Wow…that’s pretty terrifying,” Smolder said.

“You just say that because Gregory said it is,” Garble called out from the kitchen.

“It doesn’t mean he’s wrong!” Smolder called back.

“How did he say that it was terrifying?” Celestia asked, curious to hear Gregory’s reasoning.

“Well, no offense to you, Princess,” Smilder said plainly, “but that much power in only one creature’s possession is pretty dangerous. If you wanted you could keep the sun up and roast the world alive or keep it from rising and keep the plants from producing the air we need.”

“I would never do such a thing,” Celestia said, a bit mollified.

“Oh, I’m sure you wouldn’t, and Gregory says you wouldn’t either,” Smolder said in agreement, “but you’ve got to admit it’s a scary concept. Imagine if someone like the Storm King got his claws on that type of magic.”

“The Storm King? Who is that?” Celestia asked.

“You don’t know?” Smolder asked with a raised eyebrow. When Celestia shook her head, Smolder explained, “He’s a satyr who’s conquered some of the southern lands of your continent except the Badlands. Him and his lieutenant Tempest Shadow have taken over many of the southern territories below Equestria, including Klugetown and Mr. Aris.”

Celestia remained calm but inside she was deeply worried. Mt. Aris was the home of the Hippogriffs, and if this Storm King had captured that island, it was possible he had captured her old friend Queen Novo. But hopefully the queen had hidden her kind before that. “This is news to me,” Celestia admitted.

“My father’s been keeping an eye on him and his army,” Smolder said. “Him and the Dragon Lord.”

“I’ve heard that the Imperial Council knows too,” Garble said as he brought out a plate of scrambled eggs and toast for Celestia. He set it down and at the same time Smolder poured the tea. “Then again, that’s just a rumor. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised. That council tries to keep tabs of as much as they can despite their problems.”

“Problems?” Celestia asked.

“You’ve seen this city,” Garble said as he joined his sister in cleaning and preparing for the breakfast rush, “it used to be a shitshow, but now it’s getting better. That doesn’t mean the rest of the country is doing any better. They’ve been trying to figure out ways to help rebuild Griffonia.”

“But if Griffonstone is any indication, others certainly will follow,” Celestia said.

“Griffonia has been in decline for centuries,” a new voice said from the hallway. Turning, everyone saw a young griffoness staff member walking into the room. She had dark purple fur, a deep evergreen plumage including very long and wavy feathers that flowed from her hair much like a long mane would, golden colored claws and deep rose red eyes. Celestia recognized her as Galilea, the griffoness who had shown her and the others to their rooms on that first day. She grabbed another towel and dipped it in some nearby water. “It’s a miracle that we’ve fixed so much in only three months.”

“I’ve heard that other cities and towns are doing their best, but it’s hard without money and assistance,” Garble said.

“I heard a rumor from somewhere that the council is considering sending a group out to round up lots of those wild horses out east and tame them so they can be used as beasts of burden,” Smolder said.

That startled Celestia. Horses no longer existed in Equestria strangely enough, but the breed of equine did live elsewhere on the planet. While ponies had achieved language and reasoning, horses had remained animals according to studies done by many paleontologists, including the foremost expert on horse studies in Equestria, one Horse Whisperer. Nopony knew just what it was about ponies that separated them from their horse cousins, but there were plenty of guesses. “Why would they need horse labor?” she wondered.

“My best guess? Farming and supply transport perhaps,” Galilea said. “My uncle who lives out near Clawstershire owns a dozen horses on his own farm. Trained them since they were foals. They’re the sweetest animals in the world. He uses them for plowing the fields and for transporting his crops to Clawstershire to sell. He loves them very much and they love him.”

“The problem is that it’s too dangerous to capture and tame them right now when they’re needed most,” Garble said. “The council can only do so much with the resources they have now.”

Celestia listened to the conversation as she ate her admittedly simple breakfast. Simple, but delicious and filling. As a leader, she had grown into the habit of occasionally going out into Canterlot and other major cities using a captured changeling necklace. She would disguise herself as a variety of different ponies and call herself various names, with her favorite being a pegasus named Sunshine Gleam. She would use the information she gathered to better rule, but after Jason’s invasion, said necklace had disappeared from its hiding place in Celestia’s room, which she reasoned was probably for the best.

A couple of minutes before the rising of the sun, she finished her meal and stood. “Thank you for the meal,” she said to Garble. “You’re a talented cook.”

Garble, who had been having a polite argument with Galilea, turned to Celestia. “Yeah, no problem,” he said. “Have to be a good cook here or else we won’t get business. Smolder’s a good tea brewer, too, so that helps. And she makes the best alcohol around.”

Smolder, who was making some delicious smelling porridge in a large pot in the back, shouted out “Hey! I heard that!”

“Yeah, yeah, Smolly,” Garble said.

Galilea giggled and held her mouth behind her hand. “It’s cute how much you tease your sister.”

Garble scoffed a bit, but Celestia caught a hint of a blush as he turned back to his employee. “Yeah, yeah…” he grumbled.

Galilea laughed and turned towards the empty main hall. “Well, I’d better put the chairs down,” she said, moving towards the nearest table where the chairs had been stacked upside down on many of the tables.

“I’ll help,” Garble volunteered, heading to the other end of the room and removing and setting the chairs as well.

Celestia watched them briefly, a bemused smile on her face. She could tell there was some kind of spark between the two. She wondered if the feeling of happiness was anything like her niece felt whenever she saw a couple in love. However, her thoughts were interrupted by her sensing the approaching of sunrise. Normally, she would have gone outside to cast the spell but with the Nor’wester being as strong as it was, not eve she would dare leaving, not even a teleportation spell would work since it required more magic during inclement weather, and with the low magic in Griffonia, even a short teleportation would leave her feeling weak, especially after raising the sun.

She approached a large window which had the shades drawn to keep the heat in better then turned to Garble. “Excuse me, but is it alright if I open the shades to this window? The one looking east? I need to raise the sun. I won’t be long.”

Garble looked over at the window, then back at Celestia. “Yeah, that’s fine,” he said nonchalantly.

“Can I watch?” Smolder asked, peering out from her place in the kitchen with an excited look on her face.

Celestia smiled down at her. “Of course you can.”

“Sweet,” she grinned as she ran over and stood near Celestia, watching her expectantly.

“I’ve always wondered just how it works, too,” Galilea said, walking over from where she had been setting the tables. “You mind if I watch too?”

“Not at all,” Celestia replied.

“Mother told me once that raising the sun was nothing to miss if you had the opportunity,” Garble said with a shrug as he approached as well. “I was never really into that, but I just know she’d yell at me if I didn’t watch.”

Celestia chuckled. “I’m afraid with the storm it won’t be as spectacular as your mother would put it, but you might be able to feel the magic coming off of me. And you’ll see some results. Ah, it’s almost time. Might I ask that you three remain silent for this? It requires a great deal of concentration.” With them silently nodding their understanding, Celestia turned to the window and closed her eyes. Reaching out with her magic, she felt the massive flaming orb just below the horizon. The momentum that she put into it the night before was nearly gone as it always was. Its warmth caused her own body to start glowing slightly and her mane and tail blew faster. It was almost as if a wind blew over her entire body.

As she did this, she could feel the magic of her sister relieving some of the pressure off of her, pushing the heavens back into a twelve hour cycle of momentum that would eventually reach a stagnation near sunset. But she also felt another spell being cast. One that could only be cast during the rising or setting of the sun. A two way communication telepathic spell.

When Celestia opened it, time slowed around them as it normally did whenever this spell was cast. Luna, is something wrong? Celestia asked.

Yes, sister, Luna replied in a frantic tone. Plots are ahoof in Equestria!

What kinds of plots? Celestia asked.

Cellie, one of your former agents informed me that a friend of theirs overheard three ponies down near Ponyville. They have discovered a second human in Equestria! One that lives in Griffonstone!

Celestia froze, a chill running down her back and up her wings. How did they find out?

Apparently there is a spy in Griffonstone, Luna quickly explained, but that’s not important. Listen, sister! Whoever these ponies were they have a powerful and rich friend. One who can hire somepony or somponies to investigate the human! Sister, is there a human in Griffonstone?

Celestia took a few seconds to answer. This was bad. If whoever was able to hire sompony to investigate the human was rich like Luna had reported, then it was either a noble or a very wealthy businesspony. Chancellor Gregory Graystone, she replied. He’s the second human to have arrived on Equus. And he knows about Jason.

Dear Maker above… Luna gasped. How did he find out?

He was told by Zecora, and then by us, Celestia replied, but our time is almost up. What else have you to report?

I’ve been having some of our best investigators looking into the nobles since I received this news yesterday afternoon, Luna replied quickly. I’m sorry for not telling you last night, but I was still waking up.

It’s alright, I’m just glad you told me now, Celestia said. Go on.

There’s not much else to tell, sadly, Luna said with a sigh. The investigation has only just started. But with our little ponies prejudice against humans, and especially ponies like our nephew, it’s pretty clear that there are many suspects. Especially among the nobles. Unfortunately, this friend of your former agent could only hear the voices of these conspirators. Conspirators, I am told, who repeatedly assaulted a zebra.

So, we’re dealing with the same three that the Chancellor told me about, Celestia thought darkly. If I ever find them, I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold back my anger… Thank you, Lulu. I don’t suppose you know how many ponies this mysterious ‘friend’ sent?

Only that it was a group, so it could be anywhere from three up, Luna replied.

I see. Well, this group might be in Griffonstone already, Celestia said. I’ll put this friendship mission on hold. We have a rogue group of ponies to find and a chancellor to warn.

Gregory’s House, That Same Morning…

Gregory’s first impression of waking up was of a very warm mass snuggling up on top of him with two arms wrapped around him and a mass of soft feathers against his left cheek. Said mass was breathing in and out quietly, nuzzling him close underneath the warm covers. One of his arms was wrapped around the midsection of his new griffoness lover.

The second impression he had was of the sound of high force winds coming from the window along with the sounds of branches striking the window occasionally. Opening one eye, then the next, he looked up at the high ceiling of his canopy bed. The curtains were drawn as opposed to how they had been open the night before, but the crack let in a bit of early morning blue light. He guessed that Gabby had done so sometime after he’d fallen asleep.

As he listened to what sounded like quite a storm blowing against the house, he thought back briefly to the revelation that Gwendolyn had revealed to him the day before. Just looking around the room at the many different artifacts that could be used by anyone was eye opening for him. Closing his eyes, he tried once more to recall some of the names of the artifacts and the brief explanation he got for their uses. The Eye of Osiris he knew quite well, of course as he knew the Staff of Sacanas. But he didn’t know a few of the others, like the Sword of Igneus, which was apparently a sword that could morph into a blade covered in fire, or the Staff of Circe, a very ancient pre-Equestrian magical staff with the power to change sapient creatures into mindless animals and then back again, the Book of Throth, an Egryptian artifact that contained many different spells that was apparently written by an Egryptian god of the same name, Pan’s Flute, another ancient pre-Equestrian artifact that acted more like the Pied Pipers flute than anything else, Apollo’s Lyre, a large golden lyre whose music can soothe even the angriest creature, sentient or otherwise, the Griffon’s Goblet, which was an antique goblet that had once been stolen by a band of bandit ponies in the pre-Equestrian Era and had been recently returned by an adventurer pony named Daring Do, and the Hydia Broom, an artifact that resembled a large broom which Gwendolyn explained was said to have been used by an ancient witch over two thousand years ago.

And then there was the Gjallarhorn. It was an ancient looking gold coated horn with a golden chain stretching across it to help someone carry it. It seemed to shimmer whenever light passed over it in a certain way. There were unusual ruby red runes carved into it, but not even Gwendolyn could translate them despite her years of research. Gregory had no magic, but anytime he was near it, he remembered feeling similarly to how he’d feel if he moved his hands near something charged with static electricity. Gwendolyn had no idea what that particular artifact was for, but Gregory noted that it sounded Norse in origin. She’d never blown it because of the massive amounts of power it possessed but she also knew better than to take it out of the vault.

His thoughts were derailed by a sudden movement below him. Looking down, he saw Gabby adjusting herself to get more comfortable. He knew she was awake then, and despite not wanting to disturb her, he knew he had to answer the call of nature. He tried to sit up, but Gabby only pressed into him harder. “Nnnoooo…stay heeeere,” she whined. “It’s waaaarm…”

Gregory smiled and reached up to stroke her plumage gently. “Sweetie, I need to get up,” he said. The call of nature was not one to be ignored, after all.

“Nnnnoooooo,” she whimpered again, clinging tighter to him. “Staaaay.”

Using more force, he sat up and pulled the blanket away, revealing his girlfriend still clinging to him. She wrapped her wings around him immediately and began shivering. He rolled his eyes. “It’s not that cold in here, babe.”

“But you’re so waaarm,” she protested as she shifted her position until her rump was hovering slightly above his pelvic region. She pulled her head back and looked at him with a very knowing grin. “Soooo warm,” she said in a softer and surprisingly seductive voice, slightly wiggling her behind suggestively.

Gregory felt blood rushing to his cheeks and another region of his body at that moment, but despite that he had enough self-control to reach up and boop his girlfriend’s nose playfully. “Naughty Gabby,” he grinned. “Now are you going to let me go? I have things to do today.”

“I don’t think you will,” Gabby said, pointing towards the window. “We’re having a Nor’wester today.”

Confused, Gregory walked over towards the nearest window and opened the curtains. Despite the early morning blue glow, it was still enough to see what was going on outside. Snow was piling up on the window eaves extremely fast, and beyond that, snow whipped past the window and the branches of the Houseoak bent back and forth in the particularly strong wind. The entire landscape around him was experiencing whiteout conditions, there was no doubt about that. It was so bad that he could barely see the majority of his Houseoak tree only a few yards away from his window, only the nearest branches. The rest of the tree was a very shadowy outline, barely visible in the early morning light. “Holy shit,” he muttered.

Gabby clung even tighter to him. “Bed again?” she pleaded in his ear.

“Gabby, let go,” he said, gently trying to pry her off. “I’ve gotta use the bathroom.”

“You’ll come back to bed afterwards, right?” she asked hopefully.

“Sweetie, no no. It’s almost seven in the morning,” Gregory said, pointing to the analogue clock in the room. “I’m hungry, I need to wash up for the day, and we need to make sure that the house is warm for the day. It is getting cold in here and the fireplace is dark.”

Gabby gave him a pout, but finally nodded and slid off of him, landing on her feet. “Can I shower with you?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows up at him.

He snorted and smiled down at her. “Since when did you become the sexual type?” he asked.

“Ever since you confessed to me, lover boy,” she returned with a seductive wiggling of her rear and a flick of her tail.

“I bet,” he replied with a slight blush and a grin. “But not right now. I’ll fill up the bath for you, but I need to wash up quickly so I can get the house warm for the day.”

“Oh fine, ruin my fun,” Gabby pouted, before giving him a playful wink. “I’ll go get started and check to see if the basement furnace has enough wood.” So saying, she turned and left the room, but Gregory didn’t miss the extra sway in her hindquarters towards him.

After freshening up for the day with washing up, brushing his teeth and changing into some very warm around the house clothes (there was no way he was going out barring an emergency or checking on Daenerys) he went downstairs and after starting a fire in the main living room’s fireplace and going outside to check on Daenerys (her building was warm enough and he saw that she had a few carcasses lying nearby for food), he began making a warm breakfast for everyone there. Gallus had gone to spend the night with Gia, so it was just Gregory, Starlight, Gabby, Gilda, Gracie and Zecora at the house, the latter because it was too late for her to head down to Griffonville.

The topics of conversation ranged from teasing him and Gabby about their new relationship to things that the others at the table had been up to. Starlight even mentioned that the day prior, Princess Celestia and Spike had stopped by her library again for about ten minutes to chat. It had been tense at first, but the Princess had actually deeply apologized for her treatment from the ponies that had beaten her up in Our Town and had informed her that said ponies had been properly punished. Starlight’s anger towards the Princess had lessened after that. Spike had then mentioned that Sunburst was, indeed, living in the Crystal Empire and when Spike had found him and talked with him he had mentioned Starlight. Celestia had promised to contact Sunburst and mention where she was now.

Gregory noticed how reluctant Starlight was to meet up again with Sunburst, especially after what she’d learned from him about the episode where they first met after all those years. He’d told her that it was alright to go meet with him if she really wanted, but that it was her decision. She said that she’d think about it.

It was just after breakfast when they received the first visitors. Everyone was gathered in the living room about to watch a movie to help pass the time when Starlight straightened and looked towards the door. Gracie did the same and she was the first to speak. “We have company.”

Gregory was about to ask what she meant when there was a frantic knock at the door. He looked at the young griffoness with confusion. “How’d you know-?”

“Chancellor Graystone! Please tell me you’re in there!” a muffled voice called out from the door. A voice he recognized as belonging to the Equestrian solar Princess. Her voice sounded frantic. “Chancellor! P-Please tell me you’re alright!”

Gregory rushed to the door and pulled it open. Princess Celestia stood in the door wrapped up in a light eggshell white cloak and hood pulled over her head. She was alone. Gregory’s eyes widened in alarm. “Holy shit! What the hell are you doing out in this blizzard?!” he shouted in alarm as he stood aside. “Inside hurry!” After she filed in, he closed the door and ushered her over to the fireplace, grabbing a blanket and flinging it over her. “Jesus, get up close to the fire and get warm. I’ll make some tea.”

“N-No t-t-time,” Celestia said as she looked up and, through chattering teeth, continued, “D-d-danger! Y-Your in d-danger!”

He gave her his complete attention. “Danger? What’s happened?”

Celestia looked exhausted and worried at the same time as she forced herself to sit up straight and face Gregory. “I…received a m-message from my s-sister earlier this morning at sunrise,” she explained. “Somepony has sent s-spies from Equestria to s-spy on you.”

Everyone in the room went silent at that, stunned by this revelation. Gregory remained stoic, but his mind was racing. Ponies sent to spy on him? What for? What had he done? He’d never once set food in Equestria save for the first time he opened the portal and taken pictures of Ponyville before the portal closed. What kind of danger did he pose? He had no magic of any kind and-

And then it hit him. Jason. They were afraid of him because of what Jason had done. He fought hard to keep the anger from his face, but his mouth betrayed him as he said, “It seems your little ponies haven’t learned anything from this.”

Instantly, Starlight was by his side, putting a hoof on his knees. She looked up at him hurt and said, “Gregory?”

He felt guilty at that and took a few deep breaths to calm down. He reached over and ran his hand through Starlight’s mane gently, giving her a reassuring smile that made her relax a bit. Still stroking her mane, he looked back over at Celestia, giving her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It was rude.”

“You’re right, though,” Celestia said sorrowfully as she looked down at the floor. “This is my fault. I failed to tell my ponies about the truth of what happened. A failure I plan on rectifying as soon as I return. But we need to find these ponies and stop them before they bring harm to you.”

“Bring harm to him?” Gabby asked, immediately moving protectively over to Gregory and putting a wing around him. Starlight too stiffened and looked towards the door as if it would burst open any second.

“I thought these ponies were only here to spy?” Gracie asked sternly.

“That’s what I was told, but I don’t know if they’ll stop there,” Celestia said. “They were hired by a wealthy pony, presumably a noble or businessstallion. They have expressed their feelings about Jason quite clearly. With some exceptions, they hate him and would see him punished for his actions.” She looked at him pleadingly. “They need to be found as quickly as possible and apprehended.”

“And what should I do with them? They’re spying on me only, right?” Gregory asked. When Celestia nodded, he sighed. “If they came into this country legally, that’s not a crime. If they’re going around asking about me from the citizens, it’s not like that’s a crime either. Would you have me round up every pony in Griffonstone and have them interrogated? That would make me no better than a tyrant!”

Celestia’s ears flattened at that. Slowly, she nodded. “I know…forgive me. I’m worried about your safety.”

“As a political move?” Gregory asked. He didn’t mean it as an insult. Despite only having been a member of the council, he did somewhat understand how things worked. He quickly added, “I don’t blame you. If any of your ponies did something to me, the council might put it to a vote to respond to the attack. Probably not war, but who knows?”

“Not just that,” Celestia admitted, “but I wouldn’t want to lose a potential friend.”

That shocked Gregory. He had wanted to befriend the Mane Six for months, but had always figured that Celestia would be a bit out of his reach. Now he felt foolish for thinking that. “I think…I think I’d like that,” he admitted. “Being friends with you sounds like something that I’d enjoy.”

Celestia was about to reply, when there was a second knock at the door. Gilda threw up her claws. “Who the fuck is that, now?” she sighed.

“If it’s all the same to you, I can go and see who’s who,” Zecora said as she got up from the couch.

“No, it’s alright,” Gregory said as he stood before she had a chance to head to the door. “It’s my house, so I should go see who it is.”

Zecora nodded at that and sat back down. Gregory quickly made his way to the front door and opened it, only to see another hooded figure standing in the doorway. He quickly saw that it was Gwendolyn and ushered the cold looking griffoness inside. He ushered her over to the fire where she removed her snow-covered cloak. Gregory took it and hung it near the door on one of the hooks before rushing over to her and sitting beside her. “Gwendolyn? What’s going on? You look scared.”

And she did. The young griffoness mage was trembling, but not just from the cold. Her eyes were wide as saucers and she had a terrified expression on her face. Looking up at Gregory, he saw a small tear fall down her cheek. “Ch…Chancellor…it’s the…it’s horrible…” she whimpered.

Gregory was immediately on alert. “Gwendolyn, deep breaths,” he encouraged her as he reached back and rubbed her back gently.

As she calmed down and her trembling subsided, she finally got hold of her words and turned to Gregory. The look of fear and worry had morphed with a serious one. “There’s been a collapse, Chancellor,” she said. “One of Griffonstone’s branches snapped in half on the eastern side of the city! Dozens are buried under the snow and debris!”

He was immediately alert at that. “What part of the city?”

“Ponytown District, sir!”

Celestia’s face went whiter than it normally did and she gasped out, “No…”

“Fuck,” Gregory swore. “When did it happen?”

“A half hour ago, sir,” she said. “I saw…I saw some of my friends there through…well…”

Gregory understood. She’d probably watched it through the Eye of Osiris. “I understand,” he said as a blanket floated over towards them with magic. Turning, he saw Celestia had removed her blanket and was hovering it over to them. He nodded gratefully, snatched it out of the air and wrapped it around her, rubbing her body to help heat her up more.

“I told the guards about it and they’re heading there now,” she said as she gave Gregory a grateful look.

“Good call, Gwendolyn,” Gregory said.

Starlight walked up, worry in her own eyes. “The Ponytown District really collapsed?” she asked with a trembling tone.

When Gwendolyn saw Starlight, her eyes widened with hope. “Miss Glimmer, right? You’re one of the most powerful unicorns in the city, right??”

Starlight looked a bit nervous from the tone that Gwendolyn was using. Gregory put his hand on Gwendolyn’s back. “Relax, Gwen. Just warm up. I’ll handle this.” Seeming to realize just how desperate she must have sounded, Gwendolyn took a deep breath and went back to warming herself by the fire. Gregory stood and looked at the group assembled before him. “You all heard what she said, right?” he asked. “There’s been a disaster in the Ponytown District. Apparently a city branch fell and buried dozens of the inhabitants underneath snow and debris.”

“I wondered when that branch would finally go,” Gilda said with a frown.

Gregory frowned as well. He was inwardly cursing himself for not making sure that the branch he assumed she was talking about was properly dealt with, but he also knew the time for beating himself up and dealing with the aftermath would come later. He was the Chancellor, after all. Immediately he knew that this would be his first true test as a ruler. So far, things had been going smoothly for the most part, but now there was a disaster to deal with and no time to waste.

All of this went through his mind in less than a second as he stood from where he was sitting and faced his friends. “I need to go down there,” he said. “It’s my job to make sure everyone’s okay.”

“I hope you don’t think we’re staying behind,” Starlight said as she walked over to the front door and began using her magic to put her winter gear on.

“I’m coming too,” Gabby said as she too began dressing up for the weather outside.

“My anger at ponies is not such that I would leave them in the lurch,” Zecora added.

“I get where you’re coming from,” Gracie said with a frown. “I’m coming too.”

“I can get more help from the Elements of Harmony,” Celestia said, standing and spreading her wings wide. “They can help. We know where Ponytown District is. I’ll teleport back and gather as many supplies as we can get then we’ll meet you there.”

Gregory scarcely had a chance to nod before the alicorn vanished in a flash of white light. He pursed his lips briefly before looking at the rest. “You all want to help? I know better than to argue with you. Let’s get started.”

Gilda watched the other four begin to dress up, but hesitated to move. However, before she could say anything, Gregory spoke up. “Gilda, could you stay here and keep an eye on Gwendolyn and the house? I can tell that you really don’t want to go out, and I don’t blame you.”

Gregory saw her relax slightly. He’d taken to studying body language of griffons a few weeks ago so he wouldn’t be able to be caught off guard during any sort of meeting with any less than reputable griffon. Something on his list of to do’s was to find a few individuals from other races to teach him how to read their body language. “Yeah, you caught me,” Gilda said, “I really don’t like these storms. I hate the cold. But I’ll keep an eye out and watch over her and the house.”

Gregory nodded, turning to Gwendolyn. “Stay here and rest up, okay?” After she nodded, he turned to the others. “I’m going to get dressed into something warmer. I don’t want us going out separately, alright? While I’m dressing, could you collect as much food and medical supplies that you can carry? They might need it.”

“Of course, sweetie,” Gabby promised.

Gregory went upstairs and opened his dresser, grabbing the sturdiest and warmest pair of long johns he had. He slipped two on before pulling on a pair of snow pants. After hastily and automatically attaching his belt around it to keep it secure, he put on some warm shirt undergarments, then a warm hoodie and a thick black overcoat (his snow jacket was being repaired because he’d gotten a big rip in it a few days prior) before grabbing waterproof gloves, a beanie and the face mask he used whenever he flew with Daenerys. Lastly, he grabbed the goggles that he normally used for flying with Daenerys. When he was done, he was sweating, but he knew that wouldn’t last long. He then grabbed a small bag and filled his metal water bottle full with water, then stuffed as many of the remaining energy bars he’d brought from Earth into it as he possibly could to better help feed the injured and homeless. Running downstairs, he saw that the others who were coming were all more clothed than they had been before, each laden down with saddlebags full of supplies. One extra bag, a large backpack that Gregory had brought from Earth, was also ready for use as well “Are you all ready?” he asked as he moved the single strap pack on his back towards the front so he could more easily carry the backpack.

“All set here,” Gabby said as the other two nodded in agreement.

“Good,” Gregory said as he headed to the door. “I’d take Daenerys with me, but it’s too windy and the streets aren’t big enough for her to walk down. And I doubt even she could fly through this storm. She’s not even a year old.”

“Good idea,” Starlight said. “I’ve been reading some of those books the Dragon Lord loaned to our library about them. Drakes can withstand a lot, and they get tougher as they get older, but at Daenerys’ age it would be dangerous for her to leave where she is now.”

“Gilda, could you keep an eye on Daenerys as well?” Gregory asked.

“Sure, sounds good,” she said.

“Thanks. I’ll try and be back before dark,” he said as he turned and opened the door, heading out into the storm with his three companions.

The walk through the whiteout conditions was slow and tedious work, even with Starlight casting a low level shield spell in front of the group to prevent snow from falling onto them. Gregory insisted that she climb onto his back as best a she could as he was taller and could wade more easily through the snow drifts that had formed thanks to the storm. Gabby flew above the snow and Zecora trudged behind him, using his tracks to follow more easily.

As they began approaching the site where the Ponytown District had been established, they ran into a group of griffon guards who were struggling against the snow and wind. Gregory recognized one of them as belonging to one of the lieutenants of the Griffon Guard, Garrison. He put his hands to his lips and called out “Lieutenant Garrison!”

The griffon turned. He was about forty or so years old, had dark gray fur, black feathers, and a pale green right eye. The other eye was covered by an eyepatch because he suffered from a congenital disability where one eye was constantly dilated. When he saw Gregory, he saluted smartly. “Chancellor, sir!”

“Are you heading to the Ponytown District?” Gregory asked.

“When Council Member Gwendolyn ordered us to go, we left immediately,” he explained as he stepped around the half shield to talk to the human. “That was forty five minutes ago. We’ve had a hard time getting through the Nor’wester.”

“Yeah, I can understand that,” Gregory said, then turned and looked at Starlight. “Starlight? Can you expand the shield safely so the guards can follow behind us?”

Starlight got a thoughtful look on her face for a brief moment before her horn brightened a bit. The shield expanded a bit to fill the entire street they were on. “I think I can hold this for about ten minutes,” she said. “After that, I don’t think I should risk it.”

Gregory nodded, then an idea came to mind. Turning to Garrison, he asked, “How many do you have with you right now?”

“About fifty soldiers, sir,” he replied.

“Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do,” he said. “Lieutenant, I want you to carry Starlight here a bit ahead of everyone else, then have two of the others carry me and Zecora. The rest of your soldiers should follow as close behind the shield as possible. We’re gonna fly there.”

“At once, Chancellor,” he replied with another salute before turning and beginning to bark out orders to his soldiers. Not two minutes later, everyone was airborne, heading towards the Ponytown District with a much greater speed than before. Finally, one of the sharper eyed griffon soldiers spotted the part of the branch that had fallen which was still attached to the tree. Despite the nearly whiteout conditions, Zecora’s sharp eyes were useful and she told them where to go. Gregory’s eyesight, having improved ever since he’d received Daenerys, could also see bits and pieces of the devastation before them.

They landed near a large and recently grown Houseoak which had served as a small clinic. There were white tents with a red cross on them that looked like they’d been hastily put up. Griffon and pony nurses, including one that Gregory immediately identified as Nurse Redheart, were rushing around and helping the wounded while other ponies and griffons were bringing in new stragglers.

Gregory walked over to Redheart, who was taking care of a pony with an injured wing. “Nurse? Where’s the doctor in charge here?”

She turned and when she saw him her ears flattened a bit. However, she quickly recovered her professionalism and pointed to the Houseoak. “She’s in there, Chancellor,” she said.

“Thank you,” he said as he headed towards the Houseoak.

“My friend, I think I that I will find a spot to fix some brews for injured ponykind,” Zecora said from beside him.

“Sounds good, Zecora,” Gregory said, watching her head into a nearby tent with her belongings on her back. Turning back to Garrison, he said, “Lieutenant, I want you and your soldiers to start looking for anyone who’s buried and bring them straight here.”

“Chancellor, wait!” Nurse Redheart called out, raising a hoof towards Gregory.

“What is it nurse?” he asked.

She pointed to one of the tents. “Let’s go inside quickly! I can barely hear!”

“Right behind you!” he called out before pointing to Garrison. “Belay that order for a bit and follow me, Lieutenant.” Turning to Gabby and Starlight, he motioned for them to join him as well.

Once they entered the tent which was empty but warmer, and after Gregory removed his beanie, hood and insulated facemask, the nurse turned to him, a worried expression on her face. “Chancellor, we’re swamped here as it is,” she said as she pointed towards the spot where the Houseoak clinic was outside. “Doctor Horse is about to collapse! We need help from the main hospital!” She was getting frantic. “There are too many, and some of them we don’t know how to treat because they’re not ponies!”

Gregory nodded, trying his best to maintain his calm on the outside while on the inside he was frantically trying to think of solutions. “I understand, nurse,” he said. Turning back to Garrison, he added, “We’re going to need to establish some sort of courier system between this clinic and the hospital, Lieutenant. How far away timewise would you say we are from the hospital from here?”

Garrison looked thoughtful, brows furled as he tried to think. “With this weather, sir? Too long. Maybe thirty minutes.”

“Some of these patients won’t last that long, or even the journey,” Redheart said anxiously. “The weather’s gotten really bad, and I doubt if any pegasi we have would be able to fly up and move these clouds away!”

“And we don’t have any vehicles to use,” Gregory said. His mind was in overdrive, trying to come up with a solution that would save as many lives as possible. Turning to Redheart, he asked, “What’s your name, nurse?”

“It’s Redheart, Chancellor,” she said.

“Alright, Redheart, how many medical staff are here right now?” he asked.

“Just five showed up today,” she said. “We normally have fifteen.”

“Who’s here?”

“Myself, Doctor Horse, Nurse Braveheart, Nurse Gina and Healer Scaley,” she said.

“I’m guessing the last two are a griffon and a dragon in that order?” Gregory asked.

“Yes,” Redheart said. “Ponytown District is mostly a pony district, but there are griffons and dragons here as well.”

“Wasn’t there a griffon doctor here as well?” Gregory asked.

“Doctor Gary never showed up,” Redheart said sadly, “but he does live across the city. And he’s sixty seven years old.”

“With the weather being as bad as it is, it’s possible he either decided he couldn’t make it or tried and is injured somewhere,” Starlight said solemnly.

“Probably the former,” Gabby said. “I know Doctor Gary, and he’s not an idiot. Somegriffon his age wouldn’t make it in this weather and he knows that.”

“Let’s hope it’s the former,” Gregory said. “We need Doctor Gabriel over here. She’s not only an expert in griffon biology but she also knows about how to treat ponies. She treated Starlight when she first came to the city.” Turning to Redheart, he said, “How many patients do you have here so far?”

“I lost count,” she said.

“How many are seriously injured?” he asked.

“Um…I’d say maybe a fifth of them?” she said uncertainly.

“And the other four fifths, could they be transported through the storm to the hospital without a risk of injury?”

She shook her head. “I wouldn’t risk it, sir. Anycreature who tried making that trip wouldn’t be able to see.”

“Okay, let’s see…how about this?” Turning to Garrison again, he said, “Lieutenant, I want the majority of your soldiers here searching for anyone who might be buried, but we’re going to need to send some of your soldiers to the main hospital and see if Dr. Gabriel is in. If she is, tell her what’s happening and see how many staff they can spare to come over and help the relief effort.”

“I know just the two to send, sir,” he said.

“And we need medicine and medical supplies too,” Redheart said. “We’re almost out of bandages and gauze and alcohol. We might have to use fabric from the tents.” She held her head. “Maker above…”

“Nurse Redheart,” Gregory said calmly. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “As the Chancellor of Griffonia, it is my duty to ensure the safety of the citizens of this nation. I will do everything in my power to get you the help and supplies you need.” He looked over at Garrison. “Go, Lieutenant. Have those two go to the main hospital and get anything they can spare. Do you have medics in your unit?”

“A couple, sir.”

“Good. Have them help the doctors and nurses around here,” Gregory said.

“I’ll help around here too,” Gabby said.

“I can help Zecora with the potions she’s making,” Starlight said. “Maybe we can make a temporary Houseoak nearby to help keep the injured warm.”

“Just be careful, you two,” Gregory said as they headed out.

“We will, sweetie,” Gabby said before suddenly launching into the air, flying up and wrapping her arms around him, kissing him deeply. Gregory was caught off guard, but he decided to indulge her and kissed her back just as deeply. A few seconds later, the two broke the kiss. Gabby caressed his cheek tenderly. “You be safe too, okay?”

“I will,” he promised as he let her go.

As the two left, Nurse Redheart looked up curiously at Gregory. “You’re dating a griffon, sir?”

He chuckled. “That I am.”

At that moment, the tent flaps opened and a wounded dragon male walked in, carrying an even more wounded pony mare. “Help me, please!”

Redheart steeled herself and pointed to an empty spot where a few blankets had been laid down. “Put her down here.”

“Nurse, tell Doctor Horse and Healer Scaley that I’m here and that I’ll be helping dig out survivors,” Gregory said.

“I will, Chancellor!” she called out as she began helping the injured pony.

Gregory pulled his facemask over his face, put his beanie back on and threw his hood over his face. “Oh, one last thing! Princess Celestia and the Elements of Harmony know what’s happened and are on their way to help now.”

That stunned Redheart. “They are, sir?” she asked in an alarmed voice.

“I’m sure you have some reservations about them now, but we need all the help we can get,” Gregory said.

“U-Understood, Chancellor,” she said before returning to work on the pony mare.

As he bundled back up in anticipation of going back outside, he noticed that Gracie hadn’t left his side. Looking down, he saw that she was standing protectively close to him. “Gracie?”

She looked up at him, a fierce glint in her eyes. To his confusion, her eyes seemed to change from their yellow hue to a moderate cyan briefly before returning to their normal color. “I’m not letting you out of my sight, especially if someone’s after you.”

He was about to object, when he paused. He knew his life wasn’t a story or a book, but he wouldn’t make the mistake of going out there alone. Automatically, his hand went to his right hip before he remembered that he hadn’t grabbed his Colt 45. However, when his hands grazed the pistol in question, his eyes widened. Pulling his coat aside, he saw that in his haste he’d grabbed the pistol belt along with his pistol. Quickly he checked and saw that the pistol was fully loaded and he had a number of spare bullets snuggly in the bullet pouches on the belt. Quickly putting his pistol away, he looked down at Gracie. “Alright, stick with me, but be careful. It’s easy to get separated. I’ll need your help digging.”

“I’m with you,” she said.

Gregory nodded, slipped his goggles back on and quickly headed back out into the snow, Gracie quick to follow.

Ponytown District, Six Hours Later…

Six hours in and the storm had only gotten worse. Celestia and the Elements of Harmony, minus Pinkie and Spike, the latter of whom had stayed behind to look after Pinkie, had arrived and were helping as best they could. Doctor Gabriel had arrived as well with seven nurses and another doctor named Doctor Grissom to help treat the wounded. Twilight had begun to teleport some of the more critically injured patients to Griffonstone’s main hospital, Applejack had used her strength to help lift debris off of houses to look for injured, Fluttershy had volunteered to be a nurse to any foals, cubs or hatchlings that had been injured in the crash, and Rarity and Rainbow Dash had gone off together to help, the former grumbling a bit while the latter kept close to keep an eye on her.

The number of injured kept on growing, but there were no reported deaths as of yet. One thing Gregory had read about was that the first twenty four to forty eight hours of a disaster were the most crucial because anything after that and the likelihood of death began to increase, and with this Nor’wester the timetable only grew smaller.

He was only one voice in a number, calling out and trying to find survivors. He cursed himself for not purchasing a thermal imaging set of goggles, but there wasn’t much he could do about that now. Despite his clothes being warm for the most part, he began feeling water seeping into his gloves and shoes. Half of his food was gone and the water in his cannister was starting to freeze due to him putting snow inside it to replenish it.

Gracie all the while never left his side, helping dig out the victims of this disaster. They weren’t alone either. Lieutenant Garrison had assigned two of his guards, Ginger and Gretel, to help as well. Ginger and Gretel were both griffonesses in their early twenties. Ginger was a light orange griffoness with dark red plumage and green claws and eyes while Gretel was a dark purple griffoness with black plumage, yellow claws and eyes. Both wore light armor and were armed lightly, Ginger with a pair of knives and Gretel with a small crossbow. Both griffonesses would take turns carrying the wounded to the clinic before returning. If there were more than one, Gracie would help, but there seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the three that there needed to be at last one Griffon Guard with Gregory at all times.

Sometime after the second hour, Gideon showed up to help, saying that he’d heard about the disaster from a neighbor who was going to help as well. He too, stuck by Gregory although he claimed he did it to keep a close eye on his cousin.

There was something about Gideon’s voice that sounded familiar to Gregory, but he had little time to think about it as the hours passed. The thick clouds hid the sunlight and the few unicorns who were helping that could cast light or fire magic found that their spells were weaker and less effective.

It was just past two in the afternoon when Gregory heard a cry for help coming from nearby. He and his entourage were passing slowly through a smaller neighborhood when the sounds of a child called out for help from the space between houses. He stopped. “Did you hear that?” he asked the other four with him. The other four lifted their ears and strained to hear past the wind and snow whipping past them. Gregory called out, “Hello! Is anyone there!”

Silence, and then, “…Help…” The voice was clearer now, sounding like it came from near the back of the collapsed house.

“Here, sir!” Ginger pointed towards the house as they all approached and began hastily removing collapsed stones and bricks.

“Can you hear us??” Gregory called out.

“Is somepony there?” the voice called out with renewed hope.

“We’re here!” Gregory shouted as he pulled on one of the stones, lifting it with Gideon’s help and placing it aside.

“Just keep talking,” Gretel added, “we’ll get to you.”

“Please help,” the voice called out, “Mommy’s not looking good. Daddy too.”

“Shit, there’s an entire family down there,” Gregory swore. “What’s your name?”

“C-Cozy G-G-Glow,” she responded, trembling in either fear or from the cold. “Please hurry!”

“Just keep on talking!” he called down, ignoring the astonishment at her name. He could deal with that later. What mattered was rescuing her and her parents. “Maybe sing something if you need to! Sing a Hearth’s Warming song!”

“O-Okay, mister,” Cozy said before she broke out into a trembling version of, “Ponies voices fill the night, Hearth’s Warming Eve is here once again.”

“How far down is she, can anyone tell?” Gideon asked.

“This house might have a basement,” Gretel said, “so she might be down there.”

“Just keep digging,” Gregory said.

The destruction of the house they were at was nothing short of total. Nothing stood on top of the other, meaning the work was slow. The singing foal’s voice trembled and got weaker with each passing minute.

Fortunately, luck was on their side because not five minutes in two unexpected ponies arrived.

When Gregory heard the sound of approaching hoofsteps and looked over, he waved in relief at the approaching Rarity and Rainbow Dash. “Hey! Over here! Help us! We have a buried family down here!”

Rainbow Dash quickly rushed over to where they were and began hurriedly removing stones and debris. Rarity was a bit slower, but she did use her magic to remove some of the smaller pieces of rubble, her excuse being that due to the lower magic it was harder to lift bigger pieces of debris without risking them falling before she had a chance to put them down.

During the rescue, Gregory at one point found himself standing next to Rainbow Dash as they focused on digging up a large rock. She looked up briefly at the guards nearby, then back at him. “Are the guards here to protect you from those ponies after you?” Gregory stopped and looked at Rainbow with a raised eyebrow. She quickly held up one hoof. “I’m not after you, Chancellor. Princess Celestia told us about it before we came here.”

“I didn’t think you were,” he said as he shoved aside a large bit of snow, “but yes. There are some ponies after me.”

“Oh my gosh…who would be stupid enough to do that?” she asked.

“No idea,” he replied, “but that’s what these guards are for.”

“Got it.”

Despite the newly arrived help, thirty minutes passed, and with Cozy starting to get tired, they seemed no closer to getting her and her mother out than before. Ten more minutes later, however, they caught a break. They spotted a light pink horn underneath some rubble. Ten more minutes later and they’d uncovered three ponies. The first one they found had to have been the mother. She was an unconscious pink furred and light aquamarine maned unicorn mare with a teacup for a cutie mark. The father was a dark blue pegasus with slicked back white mane and a bright triple starred cutie mark. Cozy Glow looked similar to her depiction in the show, albeit without any cutie mark yet. She did have a yellow bow around her tail and held another in her hooves, the latter having apparently torn in the crash. She pawed at her unconscious family worriedly. “Are they okay?” she asked.

Gregory reached down and began checking the parents for a pulse. Each of them thankfully were unconscious but alive. However, the father’s wings were bent in an unnatural shape according to Rainbow Dash. Not only that, but the parents and Cozy were bleeding from various cuts and injuries. After confirming that they were alive, he reached over, put a hand on the back of said filly’s head, rubbing her mane reassuringly. She looked up at him with terrified eyes. “They’ll be taken to the clinic and given the best of care,” Gregory said.

“You promise, mister?” the pegasus asked.

Gregory only smiled down at her and nodded. “Yes, Miss Glow. They’ll be looked after.”

The little filly began tearing up and started to sob. He lifted her up and hugged her inside his jacket to try and help warm her up and comfort her. “I don’t want them to die!” she wailed as she buried her face into his chest.

“Just let it all out, sweetie,” he said gently, before looking up at the others. “Can you take them to the clinic as soon as possible?”

“On it,” Rainbow Dash said as she gently lifted the unconscious pegasus stallion, trying her best to be gentle with him.

“We’ll get them there as quickly as we can,” Gideon said as he lifted the unconscious mother up and wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm.

“Here, you can go with Gretel, alright?” Gregory said as he quickly handed the little pegasus filly over to the griffoness guard.

She immediately wrapped the child in her wings. The pegasus looked over at Gregory with worry. He smiled at her and said, “She’ll keep you safe, I promise.”

“O-Okay, mister,” Cozy said as she clung close to Gretel. “Thank you…”

“You’re welcome,” he said with a smile before looking at the three rescuers. “Hurry and get them to the clinic as fast as possible. It’s getting colder. We’ll stay here and wait until you get back.” That had been the way Gregory and his team had operated. Moving in a storm like this was dangerous unless it was done all at once.

“I might not be able to get them there in ten seconds flat anymore,” Rainbow said, “but I’ll get this foal there as fast as I can. Rarity, stay here.”

“What? Rainbow, I need to get back to the shelter,” Rarity said, although her tone indicated it was more of a whine than anything. “My hooves are freezing and my horn is aching!”

Rainbow rolled her magenta eyes and sighed. “We were just there,” she said. “You’ve been doing more complaining than anything lately!”

“I’m not suited for this sort of work,” Rarity huffed.

Gracie and Gregory looked at each other with matching incredulous looks. Gregory knew that in the show at least, Rarity might have been ladylike, but as the song said, even though she’s prim and proper, she could make it in a fight. However, this wasn’t his business so he just said, “Do what you need to do, but hurry! The storm’s getting worse.”

Rainbow and Rarity had a brief but angry conversation. However, it resulted in Rarity walking back over to the destroyed house and heading into the hole where the family had been, sitting there out of the snow and wind. As Rainbow, Gretel and Gideon left, Gregory, Gracie and Ginger headed over to the hole as well, huddling down into it. Thankfully, it did protect the group of four from the majority of the wind and snow.

Gregory looked up at the sky and grimaced. “Mother Nature is a homicidal ho,” he muttered to himself. He turned to Ginger. “Is it really true that these nor’westers can last for days?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I remember one that lasted for a week once.”

Rarity gritted her teeth in frustration. “Don’t you griffons have a way to control the weather?”

“No,” Gracie said through clenched teeth. “All we can do is sit on clouds. That’s it. It’s not like we have the ability to move them!”

“Gracie, calm down,” Gregory warned. Gracie took a few deep breaths and exhaled, moving closer to Gregory and sitting protectively nearby. “Besides, Miss Belle,” Gregory added, “this storm is probably too strong even for a full blown pegasi team. And the magic here is lower.” Rarity grumbled, but didn’t say anything more as the four sat in the hole and waited for the others to return. As they waited, the wind picked up, sending shivers down Gregory’s spine.

However, even as the wind died down slightly, the shivering didn’t stop. The hairs on the back of his neck began standing on end and he had the distinct sense that someone was watching him from nearby.

Remembering the warning he’d received from Celestia earlier that morning, he sat up and whirled around, looking carefully over the edge of the hole around the whiteout blanketed landscape. Gracie, seeing this, quickly moved to his side and looked out with him. “What is it?” she asked, looking around as well.

“I don’t know,” Gregory said, “but I have the feeling someone’s watching us.”

Gracie looked around as well, but with the wind blowing hard and the snow whistling past them, he couldn’t see anything other than damaged houses shrouded in white. Gracie looked around as well, unable to see or sense anything. “I don’t sense anything,” she said. “Do humans have some kind of sixth sense I don’t know about?”

“When your distant ancestors were chased by creatures that could tear you apart with east, you tend to be able to detect these things,” Gregory replied as he removed his beanie so he could hear better. “Now hush, I’m trying to listen.”

Ginger joined them as well, having heard what Gregory had said. She had pulled out her knives, scanning the surrounding area carefully. Rarity was the only one who didn’t move. Everyone was silent.

Five minutes passed, and there was nothing. Only the sound of wind whipping through the destruction. This only raised Gregory’s suspicions. He would have expected to have heard one of the other teams of rescuers nearby talking or moving debris, but there was nothing.

“I’m not seeing anything out there-” Ginger began before a sudden bright fiery red blast of magic came from a dark portion of the street, arcing up and slamming down into the guard, flinging her back into the rubble.

“Ginger!”

The Green Dragon, Ten Minutes Earlier…

Spike lay on the bed directly next to Pinkie’s. Ever since the others had left to help with a disastrous collapse of one of Griffonstone’s branches, he had been looking after Pinkie. He hadn’t been asked to do this since Princess Celestia had almost gone and asked one of the staff at the inn to keep an eye on her. He had quickly volunteered for the job despite Celestia’s and even Twilight’s protests. Their look of guilt was enough for him to realize what they were thinking, so he quickly reassured them that he was alright with staying behind. Besides, he’d learned that dragons didn’t do well in cold, so despite wanting to go and help he knew he’d be pretty much useless.

After Princess Celestia left him with some money to pay for food for the now feverish Pinkie, they had headed out into the storm, even a grumbling Rarity. Throughout the day, he had kept the fire in the room going, had bought some vegetable soup, heavy on the broth, for Pinkie and had ensured that she kept her food down.

He didn’t have to be told what Pinkie was suffering from. He knew. He knew a lot more than Twilight had ever taught him. The way she’d lost too much weight to be healthy. The way she’d barely eaten and then retreated to the bathroom. It was obvious to him that she was forcing herself to starve very slowly.

Despite his anger towards the ponies he’d once thought of as friends, his heart went out to Pinkie. She’d suffered way too much these past three months. Self-punishment it might have been, but her mental state had to have been nearly broken for a pony who had been so full of life to be purposely and slowly draining herself of life.

It hurt to see her like this. It hurt him terribly.

In between helping Pinkie eat the soup and maintaining the fire, he busied himself by reading and even engaging in a brief conversation with Sunset. She told him that the cruise they’d planned was about to begin and that she was so excited to be going. They would be leaving for the cruise in a few days and spending the whole week sailing around a string of islands, sunbathing, swimming, playing games and even shooting a music video for a song titled I’m On A Yacht.

When she learned about what Pinkie Pie was suffering from, she immediately consoled him and told him that he was a magnificent guy for wanting to help Pinkie. She gave some suggestions on how to treat Pinkie, such as smaller but more frequent meals and giving her a variety of foods if possible. He thanked her and then the two talked about more innocuous things before she had to head out.

For the rest of the day, he actually read a bit to Pinkie, mostly fairy tale stories from the books he’d brought in the hopes that they’d cheer her up. After a while, though, she asked that he stop since she was getting tired and wanted to sleep. He did so and read more on his own.

It was getting darker outside when Pinkie shot up out of bed, eyes wide in fright. Startled, Spike put the book down and looked over at her. “Pinkie?”

“Something terrible is going to happen,” she said breathlessly. “Something terrible is going to happen to the Chancellor.”

“What…what is it? Can you tell?” Spike knew better than to question the Pinkie Sense.

“Somepony’s going to attack him,” she whimpered. “Somepony bad.” She turned, her eyes wide with fear. “Spike…I have to go help him. I have to-”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Spike ordered as he stood up and rushed over to her side, pushing her back down into her bed. “You’re sick. You need to recover. I’ll head out instead.”

“But…you’re just a baby dragon-” Pinkie objected.

Spike stomped the floor angrily. “I’m in my teens by pony years! I’m not a baby anymore!” She flinched and whimpered, looking down at the floor. Spike felt guilty at that, so he reached over and put his hand on her trembling hoof. “You need your rest. Dragons are a lot tougher than you know, I promise. I have to go warn that human. His life could be in danger.”

Pinkie frowned, but slowly nodded. “Come back safe, alright?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” he promised, making the signature moves before he pulled the covers over her, put a few more logs on the fire to last until he got back, then began dressing in warm and comfortable clothes, each of which he’d received as gifts from Sweetie Belle.

As he rushed out of the room and down the stairs, he felt the ground rumbling a little bit. Steadying himself, he put his hand on the railing of the staircase and stood still. There was another tremble, then another, and then he guessed who, or what, was making that. He’d only seen that drake once before, but he figured that in this weather she couldn’t fly very well. He ran as best and as fast as he could down the stairs and through the door, immediately blinking away the tears that the wind caused.

Immediately, he was struck by how cold it actually was outside. It had been cold for their entire time here, but this was on another level. The wind chill only made things worse as he quickly looked around. The snow was so deep that it came up to his neck. He took a deep breath and began spewing his now bright yellow fire out towards the snow in an effort to melt a pathway through it.

He didn’t make it three or so feet before he saw a large shadow looming over him.

Spike looked up into the glowing purple eyes of the drake that the human Chancellor had called Daenerys. She was looking down at him with some anxiety and worry evident on her face. Suddenly struck with inspiration, he bellowed, “Are you worried about your friend Gregory too??” There was a quick nod. “Do you know where he is?” Another nod. “Can you take me with you?? I need to warn him about something!”

Before he knew it, Daenerys had grabbed him and placed him on her back in a saddle that was a bit too big for him. He grabbed onto the straps for dear life as she spread her large wings and jumped up into the air. Spike felt himself being slammed into the back of the seat, but held on for dear life as the drake flew as best as she could in the blizzard.

Hang tight, Chancellor sir, we’re coming…

Present Time, Ponytown District…

As Gregory rushed over towards the unconscious Ginger, another blast of magic flew out from another portion of the street, this one bright orange. It fell towards Gracie who ducked out of the way, wings spread wide and a look of pure rage on her face. There was another few blasts which Gracie dodged. However, moments later three blasts of magic, the third one a dark green, flew towards her. Rarity had retreated to the hole where they’d just been.

“Look out, Gracie!” Gregory, who had retreated to the same hole with Ginger, shouted out in fear. Each of the blasts of magic were about to strike Gracie, but then something happened that stunned him into silence. She held out her claw and it began to glow the same color as her eyes, as did the magical shield that formed around them. The magic struck the shield and dispersed, but not without Gracie wincing as she held out her second claw which began to glow as well. “Gracie?!”

Gracie looked back at Gregory, the strain in her eyes clearly visible as red, orange and a few dark green magical barrages struck the shield around them. “I’m sorry…”

Gregory watched in utter astonishment as a very familiar yellowish green fire formed around Gracie in a circle. It moved upwards in a blink of an eye to reveal a young changeling. Rarity screamed and moved away from said changeling. All Gregory could do was stare at her in complete confusion. Gracie, or whoever she really was, aimed her glowing horn up at the shield, which brightened in response. “You need to get out of here, now!” she shouted in a voice that Gregory immediately recognized. “Take Ginger and the pony and get out, now! I’m right behind you!”

The magical attack from two directions only increased and was joined occasionally by the green magic. Gregory knew now who this changeling was despite not having undergone her transformation. She might have looked like a normal changeling, but the voice was unmistakable. It was Ocellus. However, he knew better than to deal with this at the present. She was protecting him, and that was all that mattered at the moment. He turned, grabbed Ginger and lifted her up in his arms as quickly as he could. She was heavy due to her armor so he repositioned her so that she was on his shoulders. He wrapped his hands around her wrists and legs. Turning back to Rarity, he shouted, “Let’s go! Now!”

A massive burst of red magic shot out from the left at that moment, destroying Ocellus’ magical shield and sending the young changeling flying. She landed deep in a snowdrift, some more snow from a nearby half collapsed roof on top of her. “Gracie!” he shouted in horror but with enough sense not to say her real name.

Another blast from behind him slammed into the deep snowdrifts behind him, flinging him forward. His grip on Ginger slipped and she went tumbling off of his back and fell a few feet forward. He quickly recovered and stood, quickly reaching for his pistol when another orange blast struck the ground in front of him, making him freeze. “Stop where you are, human!” a male voice called out from the direction the red magic had been coming from. “Put your claws above your head, now!”

Gregory slowly moved his hand away from the pistol as he saw two pony shapes approaching from the darkening landscape. From behind him, he heard a third set of hoofsteps. Nearby, Rarity was lying down, apparently unconscious from the magic blast. Seeing that he was alone and anyone who could help him was passed out, he raised his hands as he was ordered. “What do you want with me?” he asked.

As the ponies came into view, he saw their features. He’d been around ponies in this world long enough to be able to tell the difference between stallions and mares with some ease. The first pony he saw was a dark crimson unicorn stallion with a black mane and fiery red eyes. The second was a dark yellow unicorn mare with a reddish-white mane and tail and orange eyes. The third, who joined from the back, was a rather attractive (in terms of pony mares) dark blue unicorn mare with a cloudy gray mane and tail and dark green eyes. The first two were glaring at him with stern eyes, but the third just looked resigned and a bit worried. Each of them had a large necklace hanging from their necks, gold chained with a teardrop shaped crimson gem hanging from them. Each one had a deep red inner glow.

The stallion stepped forward, pointing a hoof at Gregory. “We’ve been investigating you on orders from our client,” he said in an even tone, “and we’ve come to the conclusion that you are a threat.”

Gregory felt a stab of fear running through him. He had no magic to speak of, so if they were to even cast some minor offensive spell at him it was highly probable it would do him permanent damage like what had happened to Jason Wright. Still, he kept his outer cool as he replied, “A threat? What kind of threat? Tell me what I’ve done, please.”

“It doesn’t matter,” the stallion said, giving a nod towards the other two. The dark yellow mare nodded and moved away from the stallion while the dark blue mare did the same, albeit hesitantly. “What matters is you’re a threat to Equestria.”

“I’ve never even been to Equestria,” Gregory replied, his mind racing in an attempt to find a way out of this. Despite not having any magic of his own, he still could sense something dark about the necklaces around their necks. “I have no intentions of harming your nation. I’m too busy rebuilding my own.”

“And then when you do, no doubt you plan on invading with your fellow human, that so-called Emperor Jason Wright of the changelings?” the stallion nearly snarled. He pointed to the snowdrift where the unconscious Ocellus was still buried. “You’ve already gotten into contact with him already.”

“I didn’t even know she was a changeling until just now,” Gregory said as calmly as he could. “I’ve never spoken to or even met Jason Wright.”

“But you’ve heard of him, haven’t you?” the yellow mare asked.

“Guys, I think we should stop,” the blue mare said hesitantly. “We don’t know for sure that he’s a threat-”

“Just shut up,” the yellow mare snarled at her companion, “the human is a threat! They all are!”

Gregory wanted to shout at them that they were wrong. He wanted to scream that if they did anything to him, it could sour relations between Equestria and Griffonia. He wanted to run, but he knew better than to do anything. They had him right where he couldn’t escape without being seriously hurt. “What have I done to earn your anger?” he asked simply. “I don’t know you.”

“And after we’re done with you, you won’t know us ever again,” the stallion said calmly. He turned to the others and nodded. “Let’s begin.”

Gregory watched helplessly as the three ponies lifted their horns. There was a brief glow, then a ball of light came out of each of them. Each ball floated towards the crystal teardrops gems around their necks. The three then focused their attention on him as the gems began to glow. A deep crimson triangle of light formed in the air with the gems as their three points. Suddenly, he felt himself floating upwards, surrounded by crimson light. New light came out and formed a tetrahedron around him. He was floating inside it, still surrounded by the glow of magic.

He felt himself starting to panic, but still tried to think of a way to get out of this. All three of them were watching him. As he floated around in a circle, he caught a glimpse of Rarity, still lying in the snow. However, he caught her looking at him with one eye open before she quickly shut it.

The stallion closed his eyes, retrieved an ancient looking parchment from the coat he wore, and said one phrase. “Hunc peccatorem commendamus Tartaro.”

That was when a very familiar roar could be heard from above.

Gregory looked up with hope in his eyes. The storm was still too strong to see anything, but as he looked, he could see a dim shadowy mass approaching through the storm.

He wasn’t the only one to see it, though. The stallion looked up with fear in his eyes. “Celestia damn it! Do it now!”

“Yes, captain!” the yellow mare said, holding her horn up and firing a blast at the tetrahedron shield which caused it to begin glowing brighter.

From above, he heard Daenerys’ roar once more, but not only that. He heard the screams of a very familiar baby dragon as he shouted, “Get away from Gregory, you bastards!”

Gregory’s heart stopped at that. How had Spike gotten there, and on Daenerys?! From behind them, Rarity had jumped up and was looking at the sky in horror. “Spikey, no!”

Things happened too fast for Gregory to really comprehend it until later. What he did remember, however, was that several things seemed to happen at once. The massive form of Daenerys came out of the sky like an avenging demon, her eyes glowing brightly through the gloom. One of the ponies, the dark green one who seemed more hesitant about what they were doing than the others, simultaneously leaped towards Rarity who was also leaping towards Spike and Daenerys. There was the sound of glass shattering and immediately afterwards a blinding red light that forced Gregory to cover his eyes, and then he felt a brief sensation of falling.

A sensation which lasted only a few seconds before he landed hard on solid ground instead of the softness of the snow. Nearby some others landed, including a large mass that could only be Daenerys.

Slowly, after his eyes adjusted to the light around him, he sat up and looked around. And immediately gaped in shock at what he saw.

He was sitting in a large underground cave, larger than any cave he ever thought possible. There was light coming from the ceiling, but it was a dim dark mauve color. They were sitting in the middle of a vast empty wasteland, flat as far as the eye could see save for a few massive stalagmites that seemed to rise up as high as a mountain. The roof of this place was unmarred save for a few massive stalactites which seemed to appear over the stalagmites as well.

Somewhere nearby, Rarity screamed. “No! Not here! Anyplace but here!”

Gregory turned and saw the bundled up fashionista looking around the landscape in horror. Nearby, the unicorn mare who had tried to intercept Rarity was looking down at the ground with a blank expression. Quickly, he stood, pulled out his gun from the holster, stormed over to the pony and put the barrel to her head. She didn’t even react as he said, in a strangely calm voice, “What did you do? Where are we?”

The unicorn mare simply shook her head. “It doesn’t matter…we’ll never be able to get out now…”

“I asked you where we are,” he said angrily.

The pony looked up at him with those deep green eyes of hers, her expression blank. “We’re…we’re in-”

Griffonstone Keep, Gwendolyn’s Secret Artifact Room…

Among the pitch blackness, a brief glow emanated from a golden horn sitting on one of the tables. It flashed brightly, then as it began to dim, it suddenly vanished with a pop of displaced air, leaving the room once more in total darkness…

Ponytown District, A Few Moments Later…

Celestia ran through the streets, eyes wide with fear. She had felt the release of a magic that was all too familiar. Magic that had not been used for over a thousand years. She prayed to the Maker that she was not too late.

She couldn’t help but think about all of the worst-case scenarios that could have occurred. Somepony could have been seriously injured or died, or even worse, sent to the one place in the world worse than death.

When she arrived at the source of the magic, the blood drained from her face as she looked at the destruction around her. Lying on the ground, just starting to come back from unconsciousness, were two ponies. And each of them were wearing two of the three Hades' Teardrops gems, which she had thought were locked securely away in Canterlot. She lifted her horn and cast a spell that brought both ponies back to consciousness faster. The first one, the stallion who she quickly recognized, opened his eyes and looked around blearily until he saw Celestia. His eyes widened in alarm, but before he could do anything, he and his companion were both enveloped in her magic and lifted into the air.

The cold air around her began growing increasingly hot as her anger was kindled against these two ponies. When she spoke, she hardly recognized her voice. “Dusky Heart, what have you done?!”

Dusky’s expression darkened and he sneered at her. “What have I done? Simply what needed to be done, Princess.” He spat the last word as if it tasted like shit. “I disposed of that human! You know where I sent him! I sent him to the one place where he can’t deceive the griffons, dragons and ponies here!”

Celestia felt her mane and tail burst into flames as her anger consumed her like the raging flames of the sun itself. Her horn brightened and the smug expression on Dusky’s face fell as the spell she cast made him pass out. He and his companion, Jade Seed, both went limp.

Weakened by the overextension of her magic, she collapsed onto her rump, releasing the unconscious ponies and letting them fall into the snowdrifts. Her anger was fizzling out, only to be replaced with despair. She should have been more vigilant. She should have insisted on going out with him together. She should have done more.

Now, because of her short-sightedness, a second human had suffered a grave injustice at the hooves of her ponies. Only now it was much worse.

Gregory would suffer and starve to death…in the deepest and darkest pits of-

Tartarus

/ˈtɑrtərəs/ noun

Tartarus is a vast prison created by Eurynome in the late stages of Gaia’s creation as a place where the evilest of creatures are imprisoned. It is guarded by the three headed dog Cerberus and can only be accessed through a portal or the Hades' Teardrops gems which will transport a prisoner there in times of great need. Notable prisoners who reside in Tartarus are Tirek, the Titans and the race of creatures known as the demons.

27: Journey To The Center Of Tartarus Pt. 1

Introduction from Star Swirl the Bearded’s A Treatise On Mankind

The time I spent among the strange primate-like species known as humanity or mankind was a most informative venture. Utilizing the magic of the magic mirror I created with the help of my companions, I have come to find that our world is not the only one. Other versions of Equestria exist where past events have diverged either ever so slightly or so much so that the worlds I saw were unrecognizable to me.

But none were so strange and unusual to me as the world of the humans.

By some strange miracle, if one can call it as such, after I adjusted the mirror to traverse to yet another new world and stepped through it, something happened that had not happened before to me. My body felt as if I was being stretched apart. When I stepped out of the other end of the mirror, I was standing between two wooden buildings with the sun directly over me. Unlike the weather back in Equestria, where it was Spring, in this world it was Autumn. My body had also undergone a strange metamorphosis, which greatly confused me. I was wearing similar clothes to my own and held a staff in what I later learned were called hands.

I was in a town, that was for sure. The houses were relatively simple, with wood for walls and doors, glass for windows, and shingles on the roof. The town was surrounded by a large mountain range. Strangely enough, when I passed through the mirror, I learned an entirely new written language that never left me.

I was captured and taken to a cell the moment a younger human spotted me. My magic failed me. My only thoughts as I fell asleep in the prison cell was of home…

Tartarus, Moments Later…

The moment the words left the unicorn’s mouth, Gregory’s eyes went wide. Instantly, he stumbled backwards and fell onto his ass, stunned. He could barely hear the freak out that came from the fashionista unicorn or the shouts that came from a dragon child nearby.

Tartarus. He was in Tartarus now.

Strangely enough, his first thoughts were of what might happen back home. Home…in Griffonstone. Especially Gabby’s reaction.

Gabby. Gabby! She’ll be devastated! Worse, if she finds out what happened, she might fly into a murderous rage! Not to mention how my other friends will react! Gilda might assault Rainbow Dash and the others! Oh shit, and then the Council! And our allies the dragons! War could easily break out! It will be a bloodbath! Maybe I shouldn’t have taken on the mantle of Chancellor! No, that’s a stupid thing to think. I knew the consequences of this position and took it. Okay, Gregory, just calm down and take deep breaths. There’s nothing you can do about the situation back home. Just focus on the here and now. Breathe in…then breathe out…okay…let’s focus on getting out of here.

“..cellor…Chancellor…Chancellor! Are you alright?!”

Gregory jumped, looking up at the source of the shouting. His heart dropped even more when he saw that it was Spike that was standing in front of him. He was wearing all manner of warm clothes like he was and his eyes were wide and full of concern. Forcing the worries out of his mind, especially since there was currently nothing that could be done about it, he slowly nodded his head, stood up and holstered his gun. “I’ll be alright in a bit,” he told the young dragon as he looked around, brushing the dust off of his pants.

Aside from himself, there were four others with him. The pony who’d been part of the group who’d just managed to banish him to Tartarus, Rarity, Spike, and a still unconscious Daenerys. Seeing the latter gave him a sense of relief and worry. He rushed over to his drake and put his hand on her head. “Dany? Daenerys? Are you okay?”

Slowly, much to his relief, the young drake opened one purple eye, then the other. There was a rumbling sound from her throat as if she was clearing it, then she stood and stretched, shaking the dust and remaining snow off of her before looking around with a confused expression on her face. When she gave Gregory that same look, he couldn’t help it. He chuckled as he said, “We’re in Tartarus, a place for criminals. Just give me a moment and don’t go anywhere, okay? Stand guard.”

“This is Tartarus?” Spike, who’d joined Gregory at his side, looked around in confusion. “This is where Tirek is?”

“Tirek, the Bug Bear, Cerberus and a bunch of other animals and criminals I’m betting,” Gregory said. “Hold on, let’s get some answers from that one over there,” he added, pointing to the strange pony who’d been a part of the group to help banish him. She was still sitting on the ground, looking blankly at the dusty plain with an emotionless expression. Holding back his anger, since it would do little good, he walked over towards her with purpose, Spike by his side. When he stopped in front of her, he looked down at her sternly. “Young mare, what’s your name?”

“…Lady Serenity…” she replied emotionlessly.

Kneeling down, he grabbed the teardrop jewel around her neck. “And this. What is this? It brought us here, can it bring us back?”

“It’s…it’s the Hades Teardrop,” she replied, “and it can’t get anypony back now.” She removed it with her magic and placed it on the ground near Gregory’s feet. “Here…it’s useless.”

“Why not?” Gregory asked, a chill running down his back as he gingerly lifted the Teardrop off of the ground and examined it. It was a simple teardrop shaped gem around a gold chain, hanging through a small hole in said gem. It was heavy but other than that it didn’t seem to be emitting any light or power as it had before.

“It…It needs all three to summon anycreature back,” she said in a trembling whisper.

“Fuck,” Gregory said as he stood and bit his lip, trying to think of ways out of Tartarus. He thought back to the few episodes of the show featuring the dark realm. Looking up at the vast ceiling of rock and from what he saw, the four of them were underground. Looking down at the Hades Teardrop, he slipped the chain over his neck, not sure what to do with it for the moment. He doubted he could shoot it apart with his gun or blast it apart with any of the magic from the unicorns with him. He’d deal with it later, though.

Suddenly, he had an idea in regards to them getting out of Tartarus, or at least getting a message to the outside world. He turned to Spike. “Spike, you can send messages with your fire, right? I think I might have a pen and some paper in my backpack, so-”

“I can’t do that anymore,” Spike said sadly.

Gregory paused. “Wait, what do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean that I can’t,” Spike said. “Princess Celestia broke the spell she cast on me that let me send messages with my fire.”

Gregory’s mouth dropped. “What…it was a spell?!” Spike nodded. “She cast a spell on a baby dragon so that she could use you as a fax machine?!”

“Um, what’s a fax machine?” Spike asked.

“Never mind, not important,” Gregory said. He could now understand Spike’s own anger that was directed at the other ponies, if his actions were any indication. “Damn, Discord’s first release must have been hell…”

“Nothing tasted right for two weeks,” Spike said with a small sigh.

Gregory looked down at the young dragon. He looked older, like he’d aged considerably since Jason’s invasion. Of course, he only knew about the television show version of him, and while physically the young dragon still looked young, there was something in his eyes that spoke of forced maturity. Or perhaps it was heartbreak. Kneeling down, he got at eye level with Spike, reached out and put his hand on Spike’s shoulder. “That should never have happened to you.”

Spike nodded, not taking his eyes off of Gregory’s. A small and sad smile formed on his face. “A lot shouldn’t have happened to me.”

“If you want to talk about it, you can talk to me,” Gregory offered.

Spike took a deep breath. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Gregory said as he stood. “There’s got to be another way-wait, I have it!” Just then, another idea came to him. It was a longshot, but it was worth it. Remembering the Eye of Orisis and how it worked, he decided to try and send Gwendolyn a message. He looked up at nothing, but focused his attention as if he was looking at someone a few feet away. “Gwendolyn! If you can hear this message, listen to me! Call a meeting of the Imperial Council as soon as you see this! Tell them that I am locked in Tartarus with the Element of Generosity Rarity, a unicorn named Lady Serenity, Spike the Dragon and Daenerys! Tell the council not to take any rash actions against Equestria, not until everything is sorted out and answers are found! Do not vilify the ponies in Griffonia! Do not mistreat them! Is that understood?”

“What…are you doing?” Spike asked, looking at Gregory as if he’d grown a third arm.

Gregory looked down at Spike and exhaled. “Something that I hope will be helpful in our escape. But for now, we can’t stay here.” Feeling a renewed sense of hope, one that he swore never to relinquish until the bitter end despite how cliché that sounded, he walked over to where his bag was and opened it up to see what he had inside. He’d given out about a quarter of the food that he’d packed and his water bottle was half full of water and ice, but with the temperature of Tartarus being much warmer than above, he had no doubt that it would warm up and melt. He gathered some of the clean snow that had fallen off of Daenerys and stuffed it into his bottle as full as he could make it then sealed the cap.

He walked over to Daenerys, who he finally realized was wearing his saddle. “How the hell did you put that on without help?” he asked as he removed some of his clothes and put them in the large bags on her back. All he got in response to his question was a small smirk and an affectionate nuzzle and lick. Gregory rolled his eyes, rubbed her cheek affectionately and looked back at the other three beings with him. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found a half full water canteen inside one of the bags along with some pieces of jerky, bread and some dry cheese that he kept inside just in case he went to his private island for a while. He quickly filled the canteen with more of the clean snow and set it back inside. When he finished, he began thinking about their situation a bit more calmly. “All I know about Tartarus is that there’s a gate that leads to the outside and that Tirek and a few other monsters are locked away in here,” he said, then he turned to the others. “Does anyone else here know anything about Tartarus?”

“Only that it’s where the worst prisoners are kept along with the most dangerous creatures,” Spike spoke up. “There’s apparently a race of creatures called demons that live down here.” When Gregory gave Spike a look of surprise about the latter’s knowledge of the place, Spike smiled. “I read a book that said it was a pretty big and barren wasteland with hardly any food or water in it. It wasn’t really explored except for the parts near the sealed entrance.”

“And the only one I know of who’s been down here is Twilight when she returned Cerberus during that time loop incident,” Gregory muttered. He began pacing, thinking to himself about the possibilities. With Cozy Glow surprisingly living in Griffonstone for whatever reason, and with the Storm King having not invaded Equestria if the Staff of Sacanas locked up in Griffonstone Keep was any indication, then it was possible that he’d locked down the time frame in which the world was. It was definitely before the School of Friendship opened, meaning the School Raze episodes hadn’t happened yet, so Rarity wouldn’t know anything.

Still, they couldn’t just stay there. He stopped and looked back at the other four creatures with him. Daenerys was doing a good job of imitating a guard dog, keeping her purple eyes looking towards the horizon around him. Spike was watching Gregory expectantly, while the two ponies were now just sitting as far away from each other as was possible, each staring at the ground despondently.

Sighing, Gregory opened his pack again, grabbing two of the bars he’d packed, opening them and breaking them in half. He took one for himself, gave one to Spike (who took it gratefully and took a few bites before putting the rest in his pocket), then handed the other two to the two unicorns. “Take this and eat,” he said, “we’ve got a long way to go.”

Lady Serenity looked up at him incredulously. “A long way to go? Where are we going?”

“Where else? We’re gonna find a way out of here,” Gregory replied, holding out the bar again.

Slowly, she took it and nibbled on it while Rarity sullenly ignored the offered snack. “Find a way out…you think that’s even possible?” the fashionista asked.

He ignored the biting tone in Rarity’s voice as he continued holding out the bar. “To quote a sci-fi hero back where I’m from, I don’t believe in a no-win scenario. If there’s one thing humans are good at, it’s getting out of seemingly impossible situations.”

She looked up at him with anger filled eyes, then down at the half bar. She looked like she was about to say something, but stopped herself. Slowly, she lifted the half bar in her magic and began to nibble at it. Pleased that she was being at least a little cooperative, he turned back to the others. “Listen up, everyone!” he said louder so he would get their attention. When they were all looking at him, he continued, “I don’t know which direction we’ll be heading, or even how to get out of here,” he said, believing in being honest with people when in dire situations, “but I’m not going to give up because of that. I have food enough for the four of us for a while and some water, too, but we’re gonna need to ration it. We’re gonna make it out of this.”

“Are we…?” he heard Rarity muttering.

He turned to Rarity, a determined expression on his face. “We are.”

“And what if we die?” Rarity asked, glaring at Gregory now. “What happens when we run out of food and water?”

“We have food enough for a little while at least, and since you two haven’t met, allow me to introduce you to Daenerys, drake extraordinaire and capable of flying long distances,” Gregory replied, gesturing to said drake. “She might be less than a year old, but she is strong, can breathe fire, and is more than capable of helping us with escaping. She’s physically the strongest being among us.” Despite the situation, he had to bite his lip to keep from smiling at the reference. Now was not the time for memes, after all.

Rarity grit her teeth. “What, is she supposed to carry us all? I don’t see any other seats on that saddle except for the one Spike sat on.”

“She has two large claws, doesn’t she?” Spike asked before Gregory could say anything in rebuttal.

“Correct,” Gregory said, trying not to lose his temper, “she could carry two of us easily and securely while one of you could sit in my lap. We could switch it up every so often, too, and walk when Daenerys is too tired.”

“You expect us to be carried around like baggage??” Rarity nearly shrieked.

“If it means our survival, we should do anything we can,” Gregory replied calmly, but she was starting to grate on his nerves. There was just something about seeing her acting like this that was getting under his skin. Still, he wanted to be the better man. “We’re in an unknown location and an unknown distance from the only known exit to this place.”

“Stop acting like a hero,” Rarity said, glaring at Gregory and asked, in a taunting tone, “You think you can do what no other creature locked up in here has been able to do for hundreds of years? You think you’re a Maker-damned hero in this? Face it, Chancellor, we’re not getting out!”

Gregory felt something literally snap in his mind. It was like something had tapped his brain, a physical sensation. To his credit, he tried his best not to do what he was doing, but he felt the anger rise quickly to the surface. He’d always had a handle on his emotions and would vent to his friends back home or deal with his frustration and anger in ways he hoped were healthy.

But with his anger came a strange clarity: he realized something immediately: if he didn’t straighten out Rarity’s behavior immediately, her behavior would only become a detriment to their survival. In the outside world he’d only had a brief glimpse of her anger and bitterness and had he seen more, he would have done his best to graciously ignore it. But now, lives were at stake. They were in a dangerous place, and feelings aside, if they wanted to get out of Tartarus, they needed to work together, setting aside their differences for their mutual survival.

And he knew that to do that, he needed to nip Rarity’s behavior in the bud right then and there.

Quickly, he raised his hand and brought it down, impacting Rarity’s cheek with enough force to send her sprawling. Not wasting any time, he rushed over, grabbed her ponytail and lifted her up, glaring down at her with rage in his eyes. He saw her angry look now gone, replaced with utter fear as he shouted, “Rarity, I’m only going to say this once: grow the fuck up! I don’t know why you’re so angry at me and frankly I don’t give a shit! Right now, you’re acting like a first-class bitch! Right now, you either bury that shit you’re feeling far down and help us all to get out of here or you tell me right here and right now what you’re so bitter about!”

Her eyes had been reduced to pinpricks and she was trembling in terror. Spike was beside Gregory now, pulling on his pants leg desperately. “Chancellor, please stop! I know she’s being super rude, but let her go please!”

Having vented some of his frustration at Rarity, he released her, letting her tumble to the dust in a heap, her eyes never leaving him. Slowly, he took a few steps back, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and looked at Rarity with an apologetic look. He did feel terrible for losing his temper at her and he let it show in his tone and posture. “Rarity, I apologize for striking you and for the foul language I used,” he said. “It was rude and wrong of me, and it won’t happen again, I swear to the Maker herself.”

He barely caught a glimpse of Rarity’s eyes widening even more in shock as he slowly turned away and looked around at the surrounding landscape. He took in what he saw more carefully this time. The massive stalactites and stalagmites that came from the floor and ceiling might have been indicators of water seeping through the earth like they had been on Earth or there could be another explanation, but as he looked closer, that seemed to be less likely. He’d wondered for a while where the light had come from, and as it turned out there were massive glowing crystals in the stalactites, all glowing that same mauve color. This cast a number of different shadows around them. There were small black dots on the ceiling, but they were so far away that it was hard to tell what they were. As he looked closer, he saw something odd. While the ceiling did have a mauve glow coming from the massive crystals, there was something different about the way the color looked in one direction. He narrowed his eyes, trying to get a good look at any differences. However, seeing nothing, he turned to Spike. “Spike, look over there, would you? Can you see any difference in color? Your eyes are probably better than mine.”

Spike turned and looked in the direction where Gregory was pointing. Narrowing his eyes, he frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The light in that direction looks different, but only very, very slightly,” Gregory explained. “Almost like it’s a tad bluer than the other light.”

“Ummm…I don’t know if I see it,” Spike admitted after a little while.

“Hmm,” Gregory narrowed his own eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the color change. Sometimes it seemed as if there was a clearer distinction between the bluer color, but then it was gone. “What is going on? What am I seeing…?”

And suddenly, with absolutely no warning, there was a loud noise. Putting his hands to his ears to block out the deafening sound, he looked around, only to see a small light streaking above them, shooting towards the same direction as the slightly different colored ceiling. As the light, which resembled a meteor streaking through the night sky, disappeared over the horizon, the noise went with it. The noise itself was loud, but it was deep and reverberated around his entire being. It reminded him of those videos he’d seen back on Earth of those strange atmospheric sounds that some thought were the horns of the Biblical Apocalypse, but which was more likely some atmospheric phenomenon. Still, to hear it down here was confusing and to have it follow the light was even more confusing. Was it a normal occurrence down here?

As the light reached the horizon, it seemed to strike something. The colors changed drastically, revealing what looked like a dome. Large white bolts of lightning scattered across the blue dome with bright repeating flashes, some of which arced along the large stone ceiling and caused cracks to form there. One even struck a stalactite, causing it to detach from the ceiling. The way he was facing had a light blue tint to it suddenly, as if there was something glowing from the distant land. And he wasn’t the only one to see it. Beside him, Spike gasped. “What in Celestia’s name is that…?” he asked.

However, just as clearly as it appeared, it vanished. A few seconds later, a low rumble spread across the land, followed by sounds of loud thunderclaps and an ear splitting crash seconds later. Gregory stumbled back as the ground shook beneath his feet. He heard Spike shout out something in alarm and Daenerys’ wings spreading so she could hover above the ground. There was a rush of wind that kicked up some dust, but he covered his eyes with his goggles just in the nick of time.

As the rumbling and motion subsided, he realized that the others were not quite so lucky. The two ponies and dragon were on the ground, disoriented and blinking dust from their eyes but not injured thankfully. He made his way over to Lady Serenity and helped her to her feet while Spike did the same with Rarity. The moment everyone was on their feet, he turned back and faced the direction of the crash or whatever had just happened. The dome had vanished, leaving only a dark black cloud that seemed to be dissipating. The dark discolorations on the ceiling where the massive bolts of electricity had struck remained however. “Mr. Gibbs, we have our heading,” he muttered to himself.

Making his decision, he looked back at the others who were still gazing in the direction of the explosion with varying looks of confusion. All save for Daenerys, who just looked expectantly at Gregory. Taking a deep breath, he cleared his throat, getting the attention of the three. Rarity still had a look of trepidation on her face, Lady looked resigned to her fate and Spike had a somewhat expectant look on his face. “We’re going towards that for now,” he said, pointing towards the cloud of smoke and the discolored ceiling. “We all saw that there’s some kind of barrier there, so it’s as good a place to start as any. It could be a barrier between us and the exit.”

“Can that drake carry us that far?” Lady asked.

Gregory turned and looked at the distant vanishing smoke cloud. “I don’t know how far away that dome is,” he admitted, “but Daenerys is a young drake. She has plenty of stamina and strength to burn. Still, she is young…” he turned to her and pointed in that direction. “Dany? You think you can carry all of us for a while in that direction?” Daenerys seemed to understand the question as she looked and peered in the direction of the smoke. Gregory saw her eyes briefly glow before she stood up taller, turning back to him and nodding. “Perfect,” Gregory said, “but do you know how long?” A shake of her head. “Alright, just try and fly for as long as you can. When you get tired, land us alright? I don’t want you overworking yourself.” She nodded. Gregory smiled, gave her a thumbs up and then turned to the others. “Two of you should probably get ready to be carried. It doesn’t matter to me who it is just as long as you’re prepared. Oh, and Dany?” He turned back to her and gained her attention once more. “Let’s not fly too far off the ground. Just far enough that the dust won’t bother any of us.” When she nodded, he turned back to the others. “Who’s gonna fly with me?”

Gregory was surprised by Spike looking over at Rarity, then looking back at him as he pointed to the blank faced mare. “I think she should,” he said. “I don’t mind being carried. Even if I don’t have wings, I’m a dragon. My body can take the height and wind.”

Surprised by this, Rarity turned to the young dragon. “But…are you sure?” she asked. Spike turned, walked over to Rarity and whispered something in her ear. A look of shame came over her face as she took a glance at Gregory. She looked back at Spike and nodded slowly. “I…yes, I think so…you’re right…”

“I don’t mind being carried…even if I don’t deserve it,” Lady Serenity said solemnly.

Gregory frowned at the defeatist attitude that seemed to be creeping into the unicorn’s behavior, but just nodded. “Okay, then let’s get moving.”

Ten minutes later, and with some fenagling, the group was airborne, giving Gregory the chance to look around at the landscape below them. Despite his earlier words, Daenerys had to fly a lot higher than he thought because the sand around them was way too fine to escape the wind that her powerful wing strokes created. It also took a few minutes for Gregory and Rarity to be seated in the saddle. While Spike and Lady Serenity had protection from the wind thanks to Daenerys having webbing around her claws that she could extend, Rarity didn’t, so Gregory used some of the extra clothes he’d taken off to wrap around her while she was seated in his lap. She was facing him with his overcoat wrapped around her to keep her protected from the wind. The straps managed to hold them in.

With an aerial view, Gregory looked around carefully. The direction they were heading towards had a massive mountain range in front of whatever the dome was protecting or keeping in place depending. Still, the look of the roof above where the bolts of electricity had struck began to worry him. A few times he caught glimpses of the ceiling falling away, leaving large gaping holes. He was forced to direct Daenerys towards the left in order to avoid the falling debris as best as he could. A few times, the debris struck the shield, illuminating it once more and showing just where it was.

They flew for about four hours and thankfully they made good time. Eventually, Gregory noticed that the crystals in the stalactites began to dim and become a deep red like a sunset. When the light began to dim faster, he directed Daenerys down towards the bottom of the mountains surrounding the shield. They’d come close enough for him to notice that the mountain peaks seemed to be right at the border of the shield. He caught a glimpse of something gleaming in the light beyond the circular mountain range, but it was too far away to see.

They landed near the bottom of the circular range near a few tall mounds. After everyone was on solid ground again, Daenerys walked over to the nearest mound and began to dig at it. To Gregory’s shock, and Spike’s delight, the dirt below revealed a large number of gemstones of different colors, shapes and sizes. Unlike the ones above, however, these were not faceted or cut. Instead, much like the ones on Earth, they had a more natural look, but that didn’t stop Daenerys and Spike from eating them.

Gregory removed the saddle from Daenerys’ back and lay it down on the ground in a line, intent on using it as their pillow for the night. He also gathered some of the red gems and placed them in a pile near the saddle. Breathing hot flames onto the gems, they melted slightly and began glowing, providing some heat and light against the strangely cooling air around them. Spike and Daenerys ate gems while Gregory passed around some cheese melted over some bread and some water, which had melted completely by that time but was still refreshingly cold.

As the gems began cooling off, Gregory handed the two unicorns some of his spare clothes to use as covers against the cold. Spike said that he would snuggle close up to Daenerys, who had seemed to grow close with Spike. Gregory went out a few meters away from the camp to try and send another message to Gwendolyn before returning. However, he wasn’t tired. Instead, he stared into the glowing gems while the other four slept. Had this been Earth or even the surface of Equestria, he would have expected some blazing stars in the sky. As it was, all he saw was blackness.

He thought back to the events of the day. The massive storm, the collapse of one of the oldest and damaged branches (which still ate away at him), the discovery of Cozy Glow and her mother living in the city itself instead of in Equestria, the ponies who’d sent him to Tartarus, Rarity’s hate filled words and his, admittedly, poor reaction to it despite his intentions, and their flight.

The flight, while uneventful, was weighing more heavily on his mind than any other part of the day, mostly because of Rarity, the mare who had sat in his lap the entire time. Not only had she barely moved, but anytime he’d looked down to make sure she was okay, she would avert her eyes away from him, and anytime he’d ask her if she was okay, all he got was a somber nod. She hadn’t spoken during their meager dinner, but then again none of them had since presumably their minds were elsewhere. Not even Gregory knew what could be said. Even now, he wasn’t sure what he was to do. Some of that hope that he still stubbornly clung to felt like it was seeping out of him. So, in order to try and lift his own spirits, he did what he always did.

He sang. And the moment he began to sing one of his favorite Christmas carols, he felt a small smile form on his lips.

“O come, o come, Emmanuel
“and ransom captive Israel,
“that mourns in lonely exile here
“until the Son of God appear. ”

“Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel
“shall come to thee, or Israel. ”

“Ooooooh…”

“Veni, veni Emmanuel
“captivum solve Israel,
“qui gemit in exilio,
“privatus Dei Filio. ”

“Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel,
“nascetur pro te, Israel…”

Gregory was smiling a bit more now, a small tear forming in his eye. He wasn’t religious by any stretch of the word (not anymore, at any rate), but he’d always loved singing that song. And it seemed like a fitting holiday song to sing. They did need a deliverer in that moment.

“What song is that?” a quiet voice asked from nearby. Gregory turned to find that Rarity, of all ponies, was sitting up and looking at him with a bit of a curious look on her face. “I’ve never heard it before. Is it from your world?”

Gregory nodded. “It’s called O Come O Come Emmanuel. It’s a Christmas song. Oh, and before you ask, Christmas is to humans what Hearth’s Warming is to ponies. It’s celebrated almost the same way, decorations, lit trees, presents, songs, eggnog, and more. The song I was singing is based around the religious beginnings of Christmas.”

“It’s a beautiful song. You have a very handsome singing voice,” Rarity replied to the shock of Gregory, not that he showed it.

“Thanks for saying so,” he replied and meant it.

Rarity nodded in his direction, then slowly pulled off the coat she was lying under, set it down with a surprising amount of respect on the saddle and walked over towards him. She sat a few feet away from him, staring at the slowly dimming gems. Gregory stared at the gems as well. It wasn’t a fire, but he could still trick his mind into finding changing shapes in the gemstones since the insides seemed to move with an inner fire of their own. Finally, Gregory heard Rarity taking a deep but shaky breath. “I…want to apologize…for how I spoke to you earlier and how I’ve treated you since we met.”

Gregory turned and saw a remorseful looking pony looking back at him. Unlike how he’d seen her cry in the show, her tears were somewhat silent as they moved down her eyes, mascara running down with it. “Miss Rarity, I-”

She held up her hoof. “Please let me finish this,” she implored as she turned to face him fully. He did the same and she continued, “I…I need to talk to somepony-well, anycreature, I guess…just to get it out in the open.” She swallowed, cleared her throat, and continued, “When Jason killed Discord three months ago…I was angry at him. Before, during the invasion, I remember the guilt and shame of what I did. I, well, I hated myself for what I did. How could-” her breath caught at that, and her voice began to tremble, “…how could I c-call myself a generous p-pony when I abandoned that very principle with…with J-Jason, and even others?”

She took another deep breath, steadying herself and continued, “But…but when Jason killed Discord with that weapon of his…all I could feel was…was rage. What Discord did to Jason didn’t mean he deserved death!” She was gritting her teeth now, looking down at the ground. “Ever since then, those two emotions have been a part of me. Anger and hatred of Jason for what he did, and the crushing guilt. Lately, that hatred began to win, I admit it. It felt good not to feel that guilt. Especially when I began losing my livelihood. It felt easier to blame Jason for that instead of…myself.”

Licking her lips, she turned and looked back up at Gregory. “When I first saw you that day giving your speech, all I could see was Jason on that day when he tied up Twilight and showed her to Canterlot. I couldn’t separate the two of you…at least until earlier when you slapped me.” She put her hoof to the cheek which Gregory had slapped earlier. “It was the wake-up call I needed, definitely.”

Gregory pursed his lips as he opened his mouth to say something, but Rarity once more held up her hoof. “Please, I’m not finished.” Taking a breath, she moved closer and stared deep into Gregory’s eyes. “My actions against you and Jason and others are my own fault. My anger at Jason for killing Discord may have clouded my senses, but that is no excuse for my atrocious behavior. I realize now I was acting like a complete foolish foal. No, I was being a bitch, as you called me.”

“I shouldn’t have sworn at you, still,” Gregory replied.

She waved her hoof. “Your language aside, I deserved the sentiment behind what you said. My frie-companions have tried to get me to see reason, but none of them struck me like you did.” Gregory saw her lower lip quivering slightly, but she pushed on. “I-I don’t know why I was chosen to b-be the Element of G-Generosity,” she started, “but c-clearly I don’t de-deserve it.” She lowered her eyes to the ground again, holding back what Gregory felt were genuine tears.

Gregory frowned at her. She was falling back into the same pits of despair that ponies seemed to fall into when a negative life changing event took place to them. “Miss Rarity, look at me,” he said. When she didn’t comply, he reached down, took her chin in his thumb and forefinger, and lifted her to face him. “I’m not a counselor,” he said. “I can’t tell you what to do, but I can give you some advice.” Her ears snapped forward at that, focusing entirely on him. Her eyes locked onto his, her bottom lip trembling and more tears flowing. Gregory chose his next words as carefully as he could. In her emotionally fragile state, anything he said would affect her quite thoroughly. “One word: learn. Try your best to learn from this. Learn to be a better individual. Look at the reasons for why you did what you did. Isolate those reasons. Question them and why they exist? Were they an instinctive response or were they taught to you? Then compare them to what harmony is meant to represent. What makes me different from you? We’re both living, breathing creatures. We feel the same emotions. Love, joy, sadness, anger and more. All that’s different between us is our appearance.”

Slowly, he released Rarity’s chin, but he wasn’t done. “Can I tell you a story about my nation?” She nodded quickly, leaning forward slightly. “My nation is called the United States of America. We’re younger than Equestria, but we’re known as being the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. We espouse freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and many other freedoms that many nations hadn’t espoused for thousands of years. However, America is not a perfect nation.” He coughed a bit, a little tickle forming in his throat. “Where I’m from, humans are the only species who can speak and who can think like you and I can. Every other race of creature in my world, including ponies, are basically animals. We are the only sentient and sapient race on our world. Now, humans have their good points and their bad points. One of our bad points is our propensity to look down on others we think of as lesser. For hundreds of years in my old nation, humans of my skin color enslaved humans of a darker skin hue. Just because of their skin color. Something so innocuous and something uncontrollable was the only reason that they became chattel slaves. They were treated as less than animals. A civil war broke out in my nation because of it. Slavery is now illegal in my old nation. It’s a dark part of our history. A part that my people have tried to fix. But even now, in a day and age where people think themselves civilized, there is still racism among certain groups of my people.”

“Why tell me this?” Rarity asked.

“To show that your kind and mine aren’t so different,” Gregory replied. “Don’t forget, before Equestria was formed, the three tribes were at constant odds with each other. The unicorns once looked down on earth ponies. Some still do, such as the elite at Canterlot. The one you aspire to be like.” Gregory saw her ears flatten, but he wasn’t finished. He didn’t know when he’d gone from advice to lecture, but he wanted Rarity to have this lesson stick. “I’ve seen a possible future for this world, a future where the three tribes are split up due to their ingrained speciesism coming to the surface over something stupid. Fortunately, it won’t happen for years, so you can use that time to learn further.”

She looked horrified at the possibility. “I…are you sure?”

“Very sure,” Gregory said. “You played Princess Platinum during that one Hearth’s Warming Eve play. Weren’t you all arguing for real before and after?” She looked stunned at that, but nodded slowly. “How easy was it to slip into her mindset? The mindset that earth ponies and pegasi were beneath you?”

Rarity bit her lip, looking ashamed as she looked down at the ground. “All…too easy,” she finally whispered out.

Gregory reached down once more, lifting Rarity to face him. He softened his features and his voice as he said, “I came to this world because from mine, this one was paradisiacal in nature. The images I saw of Equestria and the stories I’ve heard lead me to want to escape my own world and live the remainder of my days here, in a land where peace and harmony exist. A place where I could be happy. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it wasn’t Equestria where I ended up, but Griffonia. And imagine my reaction when your Princess and your friends told me that you were responsible for the systematic abuse and near torture of a fellow human?”

Rarity’s ears flattened at that and she looked down in shame. “I’m sorry we disappointed you,” she said in a near whisper.

“You’re the second pony to say something like that to me,” Gregory replied, once more lifting Rarity’s chin to face him. Slowly, her ears and eyes refocused on him. “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. But even if he never forgives you, you can become better from this experience. Learn. That is the key word. That is my advice to you, Rarity.”

She sniffed, pulled back from him and nodded. “I…I have a lot of ponies to apologize to,” she admitted. “And some other creatures as well,” she added. Turning to Gregory once more, she continued, “I know I have acted quite atrociously towards you, and I am very sorry. I’ll do my best to prove that, as Celestia is my witness, or rather the Maker herself, that I want to be a better pony. I want to learn from this…I just don’t know where to start.”

“How about that young dragon over there?” Gregory asked, pointing over to Spike, who was sitting up and looking over at the two.

Rarity turned and her eyes widened at the sight. “Spikey-ah, no, I mean Spike! Did we wake you?”

Spike shook his head. “No, I haven’t fallen asleep yet. Guess I’m too used to pillows and mattresses.”

Gregory chuckled. “I am too,” he admitted.

Rarity turned and faced Spike fully. Gregory watched as the suddenly nervous unicorn opened her mouth, then closed it again. She did this a few times while Spike watched her impassively. Finally, she cleared her throat. “Spike, I have a confession to make. I…I knew about your feelings for me for years. I also admit to…” she began shedding tears anew as she sniffed and forced the words out of her mouth, “I admit that I took…a-advantage of those f-feelings…”

Spike crossed his arms and looked at her with a slight scowl. “So I meant nothing to you?”

She almost objected, but stopped herself. Composing herself, she continued after a few more false starts and said, “I am the worst pony alive for u-using you like that,” she admitted. “I-I called you friend, but failed t-to even behave like one…”

Spike stood, slowly walked over to Rarity, who was looking away. He looked down at her with a distrustful look in his eyes. “How do I know this isn’t an act, Miss Belle?” he asked. “You’re a good actress, so how can I believe you?”

She looked up at him suddenly, a determined look in her eyes. “I will work the rest of my life to prove it to you!” she almost shouted. “I want us to start fresh as friends!” She took a deep breath. “I should have apologized to you much sooner, and I apologize for that as well,” she continued in a quieter tone, “and I refuse to take advantage of your own generosity ever again. I swear that by the Maker herself.”

Spike looked at her carefully, keeping his expression stoic for a few seconds. There was tension between the two of them, a tension that Gregory could almost feel. He exhaled slowly as he said, “I…I want to believe you, Miss Belle, I really do. I might not love you like I used to, but I want to be friends with you all again despite how you’ve all treated me.” Rarity winced at the accusation, but didn’t take her eyes off of Spike. He continued, “But! But, it won’t just take honeyed words and an apology. I want to see proof. I want you to prove it, Miss Belle.”

Rarity’s ears flattened at this, but her expression remained stalwart. “I will.”

Spike slowly seemed to relax. “I hope so…Rarity. I really hope so.” He yawned and stretched at that moment. “Now, I’m tired and my throat is sore from breathing all that fire in the snow earlier.”

“I’m about to head to sleep myself,” Gregory said with an apologetic smile. “We all should. There might not be stars or a moon, but this place apparently has a day and night cycle. Let’s try and rest before we head out.”

“Yes…that’s a good idea,” Rarity said, turning and returning back to the spot where she’d been sleeping.

Standing, Gregory brushed off his pants and walked over to where a spot had been left for him between Rarity and Lady Serenity. The saddle wasn’t the most comfortable of pillows, but he had used it before, so it wasn’t like he wasn’t used to it. He had no covers this time, but he was wearing enough layers to remain warm. That, and Daenerys was lying a few feet away from him, blocking any wind that might pick up.

As he looked up at the black inky expanse above him, something caught his eye. A silvery pinprick of light as the last of the crystals finally went dark. He raised an eyebrow as another light blue light appeared, then another, then another. His jaw dropped as what looked like stars began winking into existence above their heads. “My God…” he muttered.

Rarity, who was lying on her back with her eyes closed, stirred and opened one eye. She froze as more of the “stars” began appearing. “Sweet Maker above…what are those?”

“Small gems,” Spike said from his place underneath Daenerys’ wings. “I can see them from here. The rock above us is covered with them.”

“Those black dots,” Gregory realized, “that’s what they must have been. Those gems.”

“Who would have thought a place like this could show so much beauty?” Rarity whispered in awe.

Gregory smiled and nodded in agreement before he took a deep breath, coughed a little bit, and put his hands behind his back. “As beautiful as these gem stars are, we really need to get some sleep.”

“R-right, of course,” Rarity said, curling up underneath my coat and closing her eyes. “Good night.”

“Good night, everyone,” Gregory replied as he closed his eyes as well. A part of him was worried that he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep due to the events of the day, but only a few minutes later, he felt himself drifting off into peaceful slumber.

Unknown Location, Tartarus…

On the side of a large mountain face, two figures stood near the edge of a large cave, looking down at a dull red glow near the bottom of the mountain. They were cloaked in black cloth, save for their eyes, both of which glowed with an inner light, and their dark red leathery wings which were behind their back. Both figures were bipedal in appearance, with large goatlike hooves for feet, clawed handlike appendages, long black hair, goat-like horns growing from their heads, thin forked tails, and the aforementioned glowing eyes. One had deep red irises with slitted pupils, while the other had bright yellow irises with the same slitted pupils.

“Whatcha reckon that light is?” one of them, the yellow eyed one, asked in a light female voice.

“Can’t say fer sure,” the other, an older male voice replied. “Never seen anythin’ like it before.”

“We should go down and look,” the female whispered in a suspicion laden voice. “Could be one of them prisoners.”

“Doubt it,” the older male replied, “they’re too far away. Besides, it’s too late to go look. We’ll go down tomorrow.”

“Whatever’s there might be gone by then!” the female insisted.

“We know where the light is,” the male insisted, “so don’t worry. Come on, let’s go back home. We’ll come back tomorrow mornin’ and see what there is to see.”

The female sighed, then looked up at the taller and older male beside her. “Fine. Let’s go back home. Ma’s probably wonderin’ where we are, anyway.”

The older male chuckled, put his claw on the younger one’s shoulder, and nodded. “Yeah, and the soup’s probably on. Let’s get goin’.”

“After you, Pa.”

And with that, the two turned and headed into the inky blackness of the cave, their hoofsteps echoing down the cavern until there was nothing to be seen or heard.

Badlands, Changeling Main Hive…

Jason Wright, Emperor of all the changelings, stared at himself in the mirror in his personal room. His one good eye drank in the scarred features of his face, including his milky white eye which stared at nothing. The scar that was formed by the falling stone and the scar that ran from his chest to his left foot from when Rainbow Dash had struck him with lightning and nearly killed him.

Taking a deep breath, he exhaled as he buttoned up his coat and grabbed the mask, the same one he’d worn three months ago during the invasion of Equestria. Sliding it onto his face, he took another deep breath before he reached off to the side, grabbing one of the changeling’s newest creations: a bolt action rifle. He slipped it over his back, grabbing a handful of the bullets and stuffing them into his pocket.

Three hours ago, the report had come in. Agent O had not only been discovered, but three ponies had attacked the human Chancellor of Griffonia in the middle of a massive snowstorm that the griffons called a nor’wester. Agent O, according to Agent T, had been taken into Griffonian custody and the Chancellor had vanished. According to the brief mental link between Agent O and Agent T, the ponies who had attacked Gregory Graystone had been wearing some sort of teardrop gems which Chrysalis had quickly identified as an artifact known as the Hades Teardrops, relics that would send anycreature they were used against to Tartarus.

When Jason had heard about this, he felt something stirring within him. Something that he hadn’t felt in three months. Righteous anger. Only this time, there was no spell cast on him by some asshole chaotic being. No, this was pure fury.

However, as much as he wanted to make Equestria pay for this act against a fellow human, the cooler side of his emotions eventually prevailed. Rescue was the bigger priority. He could deal with the ponies once more when the safety of Gregory was assured.

“Going somewhere? And without me by your side?” a familiar voice asked from the direction of his door. “For shame, my Emperor. You think I’d let you go alone?”

Jason turned, only to find himself staring at a human woman with hauntingly green eyes. She was dark skinned, almost impossibly so, possessing dark cerulean hair and wearing a dark green skintight jumpsuit which hugged her curves. Had this been back on Earth, Jason would have been incredibly attracted to her, but he knew who this human really was. She’d been “practicing” her human form, as she put it, for the past two months. “You’re not coming with me, Chrysalis.”

The human formed Chrysalis crossed her arms and gave him a knowing look. “And you think I’m letting you take care of this alone?” Walking up, swaying her hips as she did so, she stopped so she was face to face with him. She poked his chest and frowned at him as she added, “I’m not being left out again. You owe me that much, Emperor.”

Reaching up, Jason grabbed her hand and firmly removed it from him, not looking away from her. “As I recall, I’m the one who defeated you at your old castle. Do I owe you anything?”

Chrysalis scowled at him. “I won’t be left behind, Jason,” she hissed, leaning closer, glaring into his good eye. “I won’t.”

“Eh, why don’t you let her go with you?” another female voice said from his door. Both turned, seeing Cheery leaning against the door with a smirk on her face. “Phary can keep us all in line, I bet. Just as long as he uses that sexy whip of his.”

Jason rolled his eyes. Cheery had been the changeling he’d sent to keep the Crystal Empire from interfering. She was pretty much the textbook definition of horny slut. She couldn’t go one sentence without using some kind of innuendo. However, she was also good at her job, which was why he had made her the head of the foreign affairs department. “Down, girl,” he cautioned with a tired wave of his finger.

“Yes, sir,” she said with a mock serious expression and a very human-like salute with one of her front hooves.

Jason looked back down at Chrysalis, who was now looking back at him. There was a determination in her eyes, along with some of that excitement that he remembered from their campaign in Equestria and from the show during the Canterlot Wedding episode. The two stared at each other before he sighed, his shoulders slumping tiredly. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” he asked.

Chrysalis held out one of her hands towards the desk where a few of the newer weapons were sitting. Two of the pistols were encased in a green glow and floated over to the human Chrysalis. She grabbed them out of the air and, with a surprising amount of skill, twirled them in her fingers like she was some sort of gunslinger. Stopping, she aimed the pistol at a nearby wall and mimed shooting it before she lowered it and looked back up at him. “I can handle this weapon the same as you. My magic is strong. If you think I’m letting you have all the fun this time around, you’re mistaken, your Majesty.” She smirked up at him and winked as she stepped back and bowed slightly.

Jason knew she wasn’t being too sincere about those last words. Even if she was reduced in status to a duchess, she hadn’t lost any of her royal attitude. He let her act like that because he relied on her knowledge of the changelings. He also knew that Chrysalis could be stubborn when she made up her mind. She had been slow to surrender and had fought down to the last before finally giving in. Jason brought his hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling yet another one of his headaches coming on. “You’re not taking no for an answer, are you?” he asked tiredly.

He felt a hand squeeze his shoulder. Opening his eyes, he found himself staring into those deep evergreen eyes which were glaring at him. “Not by a long shot.”

He took a deep breath, exhaled, and nodded. “Fine. You win.” Looking past the now grinning Chrysalis, he locked gazes with Cheery. “Tell Pharynx that until Chrysalis and I return, he is in command. He is not to try any invasion of any nation and is only to use force to defend the Hive. Is that understood?”

“Yes sir,” she grinned with another salute. Turning, she walked away, but not before she lifted her tail in his direction, showing off the goods, as she called them.

Jason ignored that as he looked back at Chrysalis. “Go get ready. Our portal to Tartarus hasn’t been opened in hundreds of years, and I want to be prepared.” Chrysalis’ smile grew more predatory, revealing her sharp and extended canine teeth. With a flash, she vanished, leaving Jason alone once more.

He turned and briefly removed his mask, looking back to the mirror once more, looking at the torn and battered face that he’d seen for years in reflections of water in the Everfree Forest. The same dead eye and living eye, the patches of scars along his body.

And then the mirror became stained, stained by specks of blood that Jason had coughed up thanks to that constant soreness in his throat and the dull pain in his chest. He reached over and grabbed the desk to keep from falling over. He clutched his chest and took deep breaths to calm the pain. Grabbing a small bottle on his desk, he popped the cork and downed it. Eventually, the pain began to recede as did his cough. Not that the contents of the bottle was a cure. It was just a way to relieve the symptoms.

Of course, he knew precisely what he was suffering from. His father and grandfather had suffered from the same deadly disease. And neither of them smoked.

Cancer. At least, if the blood in his urine as of late was of any indication.

Steadying himself, he put his mask back on, grabbed a towel from his private bathroom, cleaned off the blood and set the towel back. He couldn’t worry about his health. He had some time left. Time for him to rescue Gregory.

“I won’t let you go through what I did, Gregory…that’s a promise…”

Chapter One from Star Swirl the Bearded’s A Treatise On Mankind

Humans are a species of contradictions, it seems. If ancient records from pony historian Past Map are accurate, there was once a settlement of them located in the Dragon Lands before the founding of Equestria. Their disappearance is a mystery, although many theories abound as to what happened. However, from Past’s writings, they were a bipedal and omnivorous species. They could be at one time cruel and unfeeling but could also be capable of some of the kindest actions possible.

What surprised me when I first encountered mankind, however, was the fact that I found human counterparts of ponies that I knew very well there.

Including our dear princesses.

Author's Note

Phew, finally! This is gonna be an interesting arc. Look forward to it!

Not sure how well I did with the Rarity/Gregory scene, tbh.

28: Aftermath Pt. 1

Griffonstone Keep, Mere Moments After Gregory’s Banishment…

Gwendolyn walked quickly down the stairs to her hidden room of magical artifacts, a feeling of foreboding rising up inside her. She'd left the house of the Chancellor about an hour after she’d arrived and headed back to the Keep. She was not a particularly physically strong griffon by any means. Her gifts were in her sphinx blood and the gift of magic that griffons hardly ever had during history. She and the other members of the council, upon hearing about the collapse of the branch onto the Ponytown District, had been trying their best to direct relief efforts towards the section. The two younger members of the Council, Ginna and Gael, had gone out to personally assist in relief efforts when they both learned of the Chancellor’s own decision to help. The others, being old, couldn’t help physically, but they had been trying to find others around the city who could help.

Gwendolyn’s normal golden plumage was frazzled and her wings were in desperate need of a preening. She could feel the itch of some of her feathers that needed to fall out, but she’d been too busy for the past six hours to even tend to her most basic needs. She’d been listening to reports that had come back from the griffons they’d sent out to help.

It was not pretty, because the first casualty counts had come in only a few hours after she’d returned to the Keep. And with the casualty count came the death counts, which hadn’t come in until thirty minutes ago. So far, at least ten creatures had been killed in the district. Seven ponies, including two foals, and three dragons. The list of injured had just reached over seventy, with nearly half of those in critical condition. And the nor’wester was making things worse, since both numbers were presumably only going to get worse as the storm persisted. In all her life she’d never seen a storm this bad, meaning that it would most likely continue for days.

But that wasn’t the reason for her present unease. Something had happened, something that had made her light brown fur stand on end and had sent an all-too familiar shiver to go down her back. Some powerful magic had been cast, but the type of magic was dark and foreboding. Something that terrified her to her core.

She reached her mage’s room in record time, closing and locking the door behind her despite her hurry. She placed her lantern down next to the Eye of Orisis and placed her claw on the orb. The opaque sphere began to darken and the interior began to swirl with its internal magic. The orb brightened and a scene appeared above her claw. She saw nothing but blowing snow all around her. She zoomed down closer to the ground. Finally, she caught a glimpse of a familiar bipedal form near a damaged house. He was surrounded by a variety of creatures. She knew the one known as Gracie as being a part of Gregory’s inner circle of friends despite him being nearly thirty and her eighteen. There was a griffon guard holding a pair of knives in her claws. Nearby was a pony she knew as Rarity, the ponies Element of Generosity. She only knew her name because of how she’d seen said pony literally kicking the human known as Jason Wright out of her store in the past.

The events she was seeing had happened seven or so minutes ago. They were in a hole and looking out west in the direction of a few other houses. There was tension in their faces. Despite the sound of blowing snow, Gwendolyn heard Gracie as she spoke. “I don’t sense anything. Do humans have some kind of sixth sense I don’t know about?”

Gregory removed the cap on his head. “When your distant ancestors were chased by creatures that could tear you apart with ease, you tend to be able to detect these things. Now hush, I’m trying to listen.”

Gwendolyn’s nervousness only increased as time passed. She saw the frown on Gregory’s face deepen with each passing minute. Finally, the griffoness guard spoke up and started to say something when a sudden blast of red magic struck the guard, sending her sprawling. Gregory turned in alarm and shouted out the guard’s name, which Gwendolyn learned in that moment was Ginger.

As Gregory rushed towards Ginger, another blast of orange magic came and nearly struck the young Gracie. While Gracie continued to dodge magical attacks from two different assailants, Gregory was attempting to pull Ginger back to the hole. The pony Rarity had retreated to the hole.

“Look out, Gracie!” Gregory shouted as a third blast of magic, this one dark green, flew towards Gracie.

Then Gwendolyn’s eyes widened as she saw Gracie hold out her claw which began to glow a moderate cyan. She created a magical shield. Before Gwendolyn could comprehend this impossibility, a yellow-green fire spread around Gracie in a circle. It shot up to reveal an insectoid equine with dark crimson insect wings, black chitin and cyan eyes. In a different but still a young female voice, the strange creature, which Gwendolyn recognized as a changeling, shouted, “You need to get out of here, now! Take Ginger and the pony and get out, now! I’m right behind you!”

Gregory didn’t hesitate despite the look of recognition in his eyes. He turned back to Rarity and shouted at her that they needed to go. However, the warning came too late as the shield that the changeling had raised to protect the Chancellor was shattered. The young changeling was thrown aside, landing into a snowdrift where more snow collapsed on top of her.

Another blast of magic sent Gregory, who was still carrying Ginger, sprawling. He lost his grip on the guard who fell forward limply, landing in the snow. He stood and reached down to the weapon that the Dragon Lord had given him when a sharp male voice called out from the direction of the red magic, “Stop where you are, human! Put your claws above your head, now!”

Gwendolyn moved the scene to focus on the source of the first voice. She saw a unicorn stallion standing in the snow a few feet away from the Chancellor. He was bundled up to protect him from the snow, but his features were unmistakable. He was a crimson furred pony with a black mane and tail and red eyes which seemed to glisten with hatred. Hatred directed at Gregory. However, there was something around his neck that gave her pause. She froze the image on the screen and scrutinized the red teardrop gem wrapped around his neck. It was fairly simple, but there was something familiar about it.

Releasing the Eye, ending the vision for the moment, she grabbed her lantern and rushed over to her bookshelf. She cleared her desk and began opening book after book, flipping quickly through volume after volume as she searched for an image she had seen years ago during her first time perusing these volumes.

Finally, she found it. The more she read, the more her heartrate increased. Created by the sphinx at the height of the Old Kingdom of Egrypt, the Hades Teardrops were once known as the Hat-ib Iret, or the Eyes of Sadness. They were created as a means of transporting those judged to be the most evil of citizens to Duat, known in modern day as Tartarus. Egryptian sphinx mages were the only ones capable of wielding these gems. Each gem bearer would live in separate cities to prevent them from banishing citizens without cause. Only the Pharaoh could elevate the punishment of criminals to banishment. In all of Egryptian history, the gems had only ever been used a total number of six times.

However, when the Old Kingdom fell due to decades of famine and strife among the nation, the gems were somehow lost. Many theories abound, but the most prevalent one was that the Pharaoh at the time, Gebnef, had the gem bearers removed from Egrypt and sent overseas to a jungle land known as the Tenochtitlan Basin. Most believed this theory as the gems had never been found in their Egryptian resting place. There had been many detailed drawings of the gems, however, which included the image she was looking at.

Bringing the book back to the Eye of Osiris, she placed her claw back on the gem. The scene slowly reformed and she looked back and forth between the drawing and the gem around the pony’s neck. There wasn’t much doubt that this was the same gem.

Swallowing her nervousness, she took a few breaths to calm herself before resuming the scene. She watched as Gregory raised his hand slowly. “What do you want from me?”

Gwendolyn looked at the other two ponies who were approaching. Both had identical gemstones around their neck. The yellow unicorn had a similar look in her eyes as the stallion, but the dark blue pony looked almost resigned. Each of the Teardrops were glowing an ominous red. The stallion pointed a hoof at Gregory. “We’ve been investigating you on orders from our client and we’ve come to the conclusion that you are a threat.”

Gwendolyn saw a brief glimpse of fear pass over Gregory’s eyes. Still, he kept calm as he asked, “A threat? What kind of threat? Tell me what I’ve done, please.”

“It doesn’t matter,” the stallion replied as he gave a nod to the others, who began to move into a triangle pattern around him. Gwendolyn felt sick as she watched the events that had only recently transpired. “What matters is you’re a threat to Equestria.”

“I’ve never even been to Equestria,” Gregory replied. Gwendolyn’s fear began slowly turning to anger as Gregory’s calm voice continued. “I have no intentions of harming your nation. I’m too busy rebuilding my own.”

“And then when you do, no doubt you plan on invading with your fellow human, that so-called Emperor Jason Wright of the changelings?” the stallion said in a hate filled voice. He pointed towards the changeling. “You’ve already gotten into contact with him already.”

“I didn’t even know she was a changeling until just now,” Gregory denied. “I’ve never spoken to or even met Jason Wright.”

“But you’ve heard of him, haven’t you?” the yellow mare asked.

“Guys, I think we should stop,” the blue mare said hesitantly. “We don’t know for sure that he’s a threat-”

“Just shut up,” the yellow mare said angrily, “the human is a threat! They all are!”

Gwendolyn couldn’t watch more of this, but she knew better than to move forward without looking at all of the details. She watched as the ponies cast some sort of spell on the gems which created a barrier in the shape of a tetrahedron. He began to float and she could see the fear in his eyes. He once looked at the pony Rarity, who opened one eye briefly before closing it. Her anger only increased at that, but she forced herself to calm down. Acting out of anger would not be the logical thing for her to do.

Just then, a shadow began passing over the scene and a roar could be heard above the sound of snow and magic being cast. She readjusted the view only to see the Chancellor’s drake flying towards the scene with a small dragon sitting in the saddle. A dragon she recognized as Spike, a The dragon was warmly dressed, but there was anger in his eyes as the ponies panicked. The crimson stallion told his two companions to cast the spell, the dragon on the drake’s back demanded that the three get away from Gregory with quite a mouth for a dragon his age.

Gwendolyn had to slow down the events so she could understand just what it was she was seeing. The drake’s purple eyes were glowing as she collided with the shield around the floating Gregory. Rarity, who had dropped all pretense of unconsciousness, was leaping towards the drake. The dark blue unicorn was trying her best to intercept Rarity. The moment that the drake struck the shield, it shattered, slowly at first, but then more quickly as a whirlpool of bright red energy formed beneath Gregory’s feet. Gregory, Rarity, the drake, Spike, and the dark blue pony were all simultaneously sucked into the vortex of light, which brightened considerably. A bright blast of magic sent the two remaining ponies sprawling across the road.

Time sped up as she watched the two ponies, both sprawled on the ground in undignified heaps. Minutes seemed to pass before the two began to stir, only to be caught in a golden glow. The glow of the magic that belonged to Princess Celestia. She watched as the Princess, who had a look of horror plastered on her face, cast some kind of spell on the two ponies. Gwendolyn felt a stab of fear as the pony Princess’ magenta eyes swiftly change color to a bright red. Her irises morphed and became slitted like those of dragons. When she spoke, the voice sent shivers down Gwendolyn’s spine. “Dusky Heart, what have you done?!”

Despite this transformation, the stallion, Dusky Heart, sneered at Celestia. “What have I done? Simply what needed to be done, Princess. I disposed of that human! You know where I sent him! I sent him to the one place where he can’t deceive the griffons, dragons and ponies here!”

Princess Celestia’s flowing mane erupted into flames and as the Princess barred her teeth in fury, Gwendolyn saw that her normal flat teeth were sharp. Her horn brightened and the two ponies in her grasp quickly went limp. Then, looking completely exhausted, her brief changes were undone and she collapsed, letting the two ponies fall to the ground. A look of utter despair passed over her face as she looked around. Lifting her horn, it glowed and the magic surrounded the two remaining Hades Teardrops. She floated them over to her and placed them around her neck. Then, she seemed to notice the fallen griffon guard and the changeling. Gwendolyn saw her react with alarm to both of them. Lifting them out of the snow, she pulled them close and cast another spell on them.

The changeling youngling was the first to wake up. When she saw the Princess, her eyes widened and she squirmed in the Princess’ magic. “Let me go, you pony monster! Let me out of here!”

“Please be still, miss,” Celestia replied diplomatically. “Your wing is injured.”

Gwendolyn turned the scene around and saw that the changeling’s left wing had a tear in it. The changeling glared at Celestia, but did stop squirming as she was put down.

The griffoness guard was the next to wake up. She looked around, spotted the young changeling, and her eyes widened in alarm. “Grover’s Plumage! A changeling?!”

“Yeah, what about it?” the changeling snapped back.

“There are more important things at stake than you know,” Celestia replied gravely. Turning to the griffon guard, she said, “Can you get a message to the Griffonian Imperial Council? I must inform them of something.”

“I can, but what’s going on?” the griffoness asked as she was released from Celestia’s magical grip.

“The ponies deceived you!” the changeling said, pointing an accusatory hoof at Celestia. “While she has preached peace and friendship to the Empire, she has sent three spies to abduct the Chancellor! And they succeeded!”

“This attack on the Chancellor was done without official clearance from the Kingdom of Equestria,” Celestia replied as the griffon turned her eyes to face the alicorn with an accusatory glance. “However, I am willing to take full responsibility for this action. But first things first.” She raised her horn and lifted the Hades Teardrop gems off from around her neck and floated them over to the guard. “These gemstones are harmless in your claws, but treat them carefully. In the wrong hooves they are dangerous. There is a third one that I can’t detect with my magic. The pony responsible must be found immediately. In the meantime, I must request an emergency audience with the Imperial Council. Me and Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Gwendolyn removed her claw from the Eye and the vision blinked out, leaving the only source of light in the room coming from the lantern. She knew that the two older griffons wouldn’t believe the words of the Equestrian Princess. As much as she disliked the Kingdom of Equestria for their increasingly blatant and systematic xenophobia and speciesism, she knew that Gregory wouldn’t want war. He had a strange fascination with Equestria even after all he’d learned.

She looked down at the Eye, debating her next actions regarding the incoming meeting between Equestria’s Princess and the Council. Slowly, she reached her claw out to the Eye. There was more she needed to look at…

Streets Of Griffonstone, Twenty Minutes Later…

As Twilight cast the shield spell in front of her, she looked at the unicorn mare next to her who was doing the same thing. The purple alicorn was thoroughly impressed by Starlight Glimmer’s talent for magic. Had this been Equestria, she might have surpassed even her, but even here she was keeping up as she was flown above the snow by Gilda. Flying behind them, Gabriella and Gallus weren’t smiling.

The message that the griffons and unicorn had been simple: “Your presence is required at the Keep immediately.” A message that was similar to the one Princess Celestia had told her: “Come to the Griffonstone Keep at once.” Twilight had told Rainbow Dash, the only one of the Elements that she had seen, to pass on the message to the others when she saw them. When Dash had asked what had happened, Twilight had no answer for her.

Twilight flew a bit closer to the group she had run into earlier. “May I help?” she asked. Starlight gave her a small glare, one that Twilight had seen on the faces of many of the Ponyvillians back home. However, a few moments later she looked like she relented and nodded. Twilight raised her horn and spread her shield to better protect the griffons and unicorn. The little bit of snow and wind that was getting through ceased immediately, leaving them in a bubble of calm surrounded by hurricane force winds and flying snow.

“Thank you,” Starlight said.

Twilight looked over at the unicorn. This was the first time she had heard Starlight even speaking to her directly. All she knew about this unicorn was that she had once been a leader of a cult village, one what had cast her out and beaten her severely, although the latter was done by only a small group. What she could infer from the stories she’d been told, however, was that she was an incredibly gifted unicorn, even in a land which had less magic than Equestria. Twilight had no doubt that were Starlight in Equestria she might have even matched the alicorn in terms of magic. “You’re welcome,” was all she said, looking ahead towards the direction of the Keep.

“Turn left at the upcoming intersection,” Twilight heard one of the griffons say tersely.

Turning, she saw that it was Gabriella who had spoken. There was a worried expression on her face mixed with one of anger. And she was looking directly at Twilight. Twilight’s instinct was to run. Prey in the presence of an angry predator would either run or freeze. Thanks to her actions against Jason, she knew what kind she was. The kind who flees. However, reason and logic intervened and she forced herself to calm down. Twilight nodded. “Left at the next intersection, got it,” she replied.

As they took said left and headed up a rather steep road, an uncomfortable silence fell. Now, Twilight might have been an introvert who loved silence to recharge, but that was when she was alone. Silence in a group was incredibly uncomfortable for her and was even more draining than simply talking. But what could she say? She might have once been the Princess of Friendship, but she had long ago lost the right to call herself that.

But then she thought back to her lunch with Gregory the other day. She thought about the brief but memorable conversation with him, how the two had exchanged stories and interests about themselves with each other and how he had given her some very good advice at the end.

As they flew up the hill slowly, she decided to try and initiate a conversation. Turning to Starlight, she said, “So, I understand that you’re the librarian at the Griffonstone Public Library?”

Starlight looked startled by the inquiry, but without looking away from the road, slowly nodded. “Yes, I am.”

“I used to be a librarian myself back in Po-back in my hometown,” Twilight replied. “I saw the library here. It looks practically identical to my old one, before it was destroyed.”

Starlight turned and raised an eyebrow at her. “Destroyed?”

“Yes,” Twilight replied sadly. “Tirek did that when he tried to drain all the magic from Equestria.”

Starlight’s face darkened. “I remember that bastard,” she snarled. “I almost died because of him.”

Twilight felt her blood run cold, and not because of the air. “I…I’m sorry about that,” she said.

“I almost died because of other ponies,” Starlight continued with venom in her tone, “and I don’t mean the ones who beat me to within an inch of my life back in my old village.” She glared at Twilight. “I mean that I almost died because of the instinct we ponies have of ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ We, as a species, are too afraid and mistrustful of every other creature out there, even ones that are like us. Zebras, for instance.” She took a deep breath and continued, somewhat softer now, “I freely admit that I’m not innocent of this prejudice either. I was afraid of griffons when I fled here. I hid from them because I was so scared they would hurt me in some way, but now that I think about it, I couldn’t really think about anything so specific. My fear was more instinctual. A baser instinct that once served our species when we were caveponies. But now?” Here she turned sternly to Twilight. “Now? It has finally come to rear its ugly head and has destroyed an entire town and showed the world just how xenophobic we really are.”

“Starlight, you’re not xenophobic anymore,” Gabriella said from behind.

Starlight sighed, then turned to Gabriella. “Even I’m still working on it. It helps that I have such amazing friends as you all and Gregory.”

“Ugh, don’t get sappy on us now,” Gilda groaned as she gently pecked at Starlight’s head.

Instead of reacting in fear like Twilight thought Starlight would do, the unicorn just laughed and poked at Gilda’s neck with her still glowing horn. “I need to maintain the shield, Gilda. Behave.”

Twilight smiled at this interspecies comradery. It was something that she hadn’t even really seen in Equestria, and she was jealous of Griffonia. In three months, they had gone from a backwater nation that had apparently been dying to a proud and regrowing Empire. One without an Emperor or Empress, sure, but one nonetheless. And it was all thanks to the simple yet meaningful actions of the second human to have arrived on Equus.

“We’re here,” Gallus, the male griffon, said as he pointed ahead.

Turning, Twilight saw the dark and imposing but still mostly hidden form of the massive silver towers that was the Griffonstone Keep. The rest of the walk was in silence. Soon, they reached the gates, where two warmly dressed guards stood, tall and alert. Upon seeing the newcomers, one of them stepped forward. “Halt! Who goes there?”

“We were summoned by the Imperial Council,” Gabriella said, grabbing the message they had received and giving it to the guard.

Said guard took it, examined it carefully in the light of a nearby lamp. He nodded and hoofed it back to Gabriella. “Enter,” he said as he opened a smaller door that was built into the massive double doors of the keep for such situations as this.

Twilight dropped the magical shield as did Starlight. She was the last one inside the Keep before the doors shut. Instantly, she was greeted with the pleasant sensation of warmth from two massive nearby fireplaces on either side of the room itself. Twilight found herself standing in a massive foyer made of the same silvery stone that the Keep itself was made of. There were two stairs heading up towards a large set of iron double doors which were opened and which led to a large staircase. The room also had a few other smaller doors which were closed, but which presumably either led to side stairs or other rooms.

“This way,” Starlight said as she walked towards one of the two staircases which led to the spiral one. Twilight followed behind them, but didn’t neglect the opportunity to drink in all the details of the room itself. It looked like it had been recently refurbished, especially the mural that was spread across the wall. Starting on one side, it seemed to depict Griffonian history, but nearly three quarters of the way around the circular and domed roof, it stopped, showing a scene where a very well painted version of Gregory was placing a golden object on a large wooden stump, which was surrounded by smiling griffons.

The flight up the massive stairs was long. The stairs would head up, then reach a landing where a door would be, then head up to another landing. Twilight counted six levels before they reached an even larger set of doors. Starlight opened the doors and Twilight saw that they were in a large hallway leading to yet another set of doors, only these were golden with gems inlaid in the patterns on the door. There were lanterns hanging on either side of the corridor and a pair of griffon guards standing on either side of the doors.

Once more, they were challenged, but when the guards were given the letter of summons, they relaxed and opened the door, leading into the Imperial Council chambers. Which Twilight soon realized was in actuality the old throne room for the past Griffonian Emperor.

When she entered, she immediately sensed a palpable tension in the air. There were two older and two younger griffons sitting at the massive tree stump which served as a table for the Council. Princess Celestia was already there, her face grim. Twilight noticed at a glance that there were two deep red teardrop gemstones sitting on the table next to what had to be the Idol of Boreas and two other items, a sash and a crown. And lying on a bench nearby, under guard, lay two unconscious unicorns.

The older looking griffon looked over and his expression hardened a bit. “Good, you’re here. Have a seat,” he said tersely, indicating some of the chairs surrounding the council table. “We’re waiting for one more member of the Council to return and then we can get started.”

“Where’s Gregory?” Gabby asked, looking towards an empty larger seat near the head of the table, or what Twilight guessed was the head.

“Before we get to that, introductions are in order,” the second oldest griffon said. He stood and gestured to himself. “I am Geoffrey, Griffon Ambassador to other nations. This is Grandpa Gruff, one of the city’s oldest and most respected elders. These two are Ginna and Gael, two of our newest members. There is another member of the council, but she isn’t here at the moment. She should be back shortly, though. I take it everyone here knows our guests from Equestria, Princesses Celestia Solaris and Twilight Sparkle. And of course, we all know the Chancellor’s closest friends and henfriend.”

“Yes, yes, we all know each other,” Gilda said impatiently, “but what are we doing here? And where’s the Chancellor?”

“That’s what you were called here for,” Ginna said. She turned and pointed to the two restrained unicorns. “Have any of you seen those two ponies before?”

Twilight turned and looked at the unicorns more closely. Both were unicorns, but she didn’t recognize either of them. Apparently, none of the other newcomers did either. “Who are they?” Starlight asked.

When the council turned to Princess Celestia, she took a deep breath. “Their names are Dusky Heart and Jade Seed. They were once members of a secret organization called the Secret Monster Intelligence League of Equestria, or S.M.I.L.E. It was an organization dedicated to the protection of Equestria from monsters. The organization was shut down ten years ago due to a mixture of budgetary restraints and the loss of a Bug Bear which had escaped from Tartarus. Those two, along with a third pony named Lady Serenity, who is still unaccounted for, were a part of S.M.I.L.E. for the last three years of its life, but before that they were a part of another organization called Section 31. Their job was to guard dangerous artifacts that could threaten Equestria. Section 31 was dismantled at the same time S.M.I.L.E. was and all dangerous artifacts were stored in a secure and hidden vault.” She turned to the two gemstones. “These necklaces here were a part of the artifacts that Section 31 guarded. There should be three of them, but one of them is missing still.”

“Princess, what are they?” Twilight asked, her natural curiosity getting the better of her.

“They’re known as Hades Teardrops,” Celestia replied somberly. “They were discovered in the Tenochtitlan Basin ages ago by pony archaeologists. According to the records of the lost civilization there, when used all at once, they are capable of sending anypony to Tartarus. And it seems these two, along with the third, have used it to send Chancellor Gregory there.”

There was silence for a bit. Then, Twilight heard someone breath in deeply and shakily. She turned and saw hatred in the form of a gray furred and blue eyes griffoness staring daggers at Celestia. “You…banished…my Gregory…to TARTARUS!?”

She wasn’t the only one who had looks of utter rage on their faces. Starlight, Gilda and Gallus all looked like they were about to launch themselves at Celestia. Twilight wasn’t sure what to think. She knew that Princess Celestia wouldn’t do anything like this. But then, who would do that? Who would risk all-out war with an increasingly more powerful Griffonia to get rid of Gregory?

No, that was the wrong question, Twilight realized. Who would want to get rid of a human? She could think of a good number of ponies who would love to see a human gone due to the actions of another, and it terrified her. Most of the answers she came up with were rich nobles. She began to panic. “We didn’t do it!” she exclaimed, “Somepony else must have done it without the crown’s permission! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would never allow that!”

“Your recent actions with closing the borders tell us otherwise,” Gael said with a frown.

“I regret those actions,” Princess Celestia said somberly. “I should never have done it.”

“And yet you freely admit to us that your ponies have taken a direct action against us,” Geoffrey said somberly. “Do you realize what this could mean for our two nations?”

Celestia slowly nodded. “War.”

Twilight’s blood froze at the word. Three letters. Noun. A state of conflict between two or more sovereign nations. And thanks to the actions of somepony back home, Equestria was close to becoming involved in a war. Potentially on two fronts, from the griffons and changelings. And perhaps even the dragons since it appeared that the current Dragon Lord was on very good terms with Chancellor Gregory. She could feel her mane start to frizzle from the stress.

Geoffrey continued with a nod. “Yes, Princess. War. Your nation has attacked our own, unprovoked. Regardless of your own word that it wasn’t an official action, your word is all we have. Still, I know you well enough that war isn’t something that either of our nations really want. There are no innocents in war.”

Twilight’s heart began beating a mile a second. She’d read Bygone Griffons of Greatness back to front at least three times, and their army was described as being one of the best armies in history. Even if that era of griffons was over and Griffonia was less powerful, with the return of the Idol of Boreas, their pride had returned. And with how many saw the Chancellor, there would more than likely be no shortage of soldiers who would work hard for Equestria’s destruction.

As her mind went over the worst case scenarios, Grandpa Gruff leaned forward towards Princess Celestia. “Well, Princess? Can you prove that you didn’t send these assassins after our Chancellor?”

“They aren’t assassins,” the solar Princess said hastily.

“They might as well be,” Gruff snarled. “We all know that life down there is way too harsh for anycreature! He’ll be dead in days thanks to you and those Teardrops!”

Twilight was on the verge of a breakdown. She was starting to hyperventilate, but suddenly a side door opened. “The Hades Teardrops are what Equestrian historians know them as,” a female voice said from the door. Twilight turned to see one of the most beautiful looking griffon females she’d ever seen flying into the room. She was carrying a bundle in her arms which she placed in front of her seat as she sat. “They’re actually ancient Egryptian artifacts known as the Hat-ib Iret, or the Eyes of Sadness. They were created by the sphinxes who lived among the Egryptian griffons as a means of punishing the worst of the worst criminals. When used all at once, the three gems could send a condemned criminal to Tartarus.” She looked around the room. “I can guarantee that Princess Celestia here and the official government of Equestia both are not responsible for the banishment of Gregory and the others caught up in the banishment.”

Gabriella whirled on the griffoness. “You’d better have a fucking good explanation, Gwendolyn!” she snarled.

Twilight saw a brief look of indecision pass over the griffoness’ face. Her eyes briefly glanced towards the bundle in front of her. Then, seeming to make a decision, she looked up at everyone. “I am about to show everyone here something that cannot leave this room. In fact, guards? Take those two ponies away and put them in the dungeons immediately. Treat them well, but keep them under heavy guard and with a magical dampening ring around their horns.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the guards replied as they lifted the unconscious ponies and began carrying them away.

Once they were gone, Twilight watched as Gwendolyn began to unravel the bundle. Soon, she revealed an opaque silvery sphere about the size of a buckball. She placed her claw on it, and the sphere darkened. Twilight could sense a strange but powerful magic emanating from the orb itself the moment Gwendolyn touched it. But more importantly, she felt a bit of magic emanating from the griffoness herself at the moment of contact. Then, it projected a three-dimensional scene in the air, frozen. Twilight saw Gregory surrounded by three unicorns, two of which she recognized as the ones who had just been taken away. “What you are all seeing is events that have already passed. This happened nearly a half hour ago. Now please be quiet while I play things back. When it’s finished, I’ll explain everything.”

The scene began. Twilight watched tensely as a clearly terrified Gregory tried to calm the three ponies down while they had him trapped in a tetrahedron shaped shield. She gasped when she saw Spike dive towards the unicorns while flying on the back of the drake, and felt her heartbeat stop when Gregory disappeared along with Spike, the drake, Rarity and the pony named Lady Serenity. Then she felt true fear when she saw her mentor interrogating the one known Dusky Heart while slowly transforming into what she could only assume was her own Nightmare form. After the Princess returned to normal and talked with the guard and the young changeling, the scene ended. She turned to one of the other doors. “Bring her in!” she called out.

The door opened, and the same changeling was led in, flanked on either side by two different griffon guards. Twilight noticed that this changeling didn’t have anything on her horn. This particular changeling locked eyes with Twilight the moment she stepped inside, a look of mistrust in her eyes as she was brought to the table where she took a seat. Gwendolyn looked over at her and continued. “This changeling has been living among us for a long time,” she explained. “She took on the appearance of a young griffoness named Gracie. For the past three months, she has been a silent protector of our Chancellor.”

“So, she has been a spy,” Gilda said with a look of mistrust in her eyes.

The changeling finally spoke. “Yes, I was a spy,” she replied in a very young sounding voice, “but only because our Emperor ordered it. He was worried that other nations might try and attack us, so he sent spies out to keep an eye out just in case. I came here. When Gregory came, I was told to protect him and keep an eye out for…ponies.”

Grandpa Gruff looked more confused than anything. “Ponies? Why would you need to protect him from them?”

“That would be because of how the ponies treated the first human who arrived in Equestria,” Gwendolyn replied. “Everyone here knows the name Emperor Jason Wright, correct?”

Twilight swallowed nervously as the Council members nodded their heads. But it was the reaction of the Chancellor’s friends that confused her. Starlight, Gabriella and Gilda specifically all looked at Twilight and Princess Celestia with a glance that told Twilight all she needed to know. They knew. Gregory had probably told them. “What about him?” Gruff asked.

“He’s a human like our Chancellor,” Gwendolyn said. “He arrived on Gaia five years ago in Equestria.”

“How’d he become the Changeling Emperor?” Geoffrey asked.

“That…is a long story, and one I can show you the beginning of,” Gwendolyn answered. “Let me show you what I have seen. First, let me show you why the Changeling Emperor hates ponies as much as he does.”

With that, she placed her claw on the sphere again. Another scene appeared above the table, showing a young and well dressed human male walking through a small town full of ponies. Twilight immediately recognized it as Ponyville and her ears drooped at the sight of her old hometown. She also recognized the human as Jason. She watched as Jason walked up to the front door of her old library. He had a hopeful smile on his face as he knocked. Finally, the door opened and Twilight saw her old self looking up at Jason. The past version of the human opened his mouth to speak, but the past Twilight held up her hoof. “I've already seen enough of humans,” she said with a frown before slamming the door in Jason’s face.

The scene then shifted. Jason was now walking up the well beaten pathway to Sweet Apple Acres. His hopeful expression was a bit less hopeful than before and more confused than anything. He passed through the gate and looked around. “Hello? Anyone here?” he called out.

From the barn, Applejack poked her head out. Her eyes widened when she saw Jason. Before the human could say anything, Applejack whinnied and charged at Jason. Jason’s expression became completely confused, but before he could react, Applejack had bucked at his chest, sending him flying. Everyone winced at the sound of broken bones. He slammed into the ground, coughing up blood as he looked at Applejack with an expression of hurt and confusion. “What…why?” he asked through painful gasps.

“Git off mah farm, yah freak of nature!” she shouted, “Git goin’, or ah’ll sic Winona on ya!”

“Please, I just want a job-” Jason started, but Applejack wasn’t hearing of it.

“Ah said git!” She walked towards Jason in a threatening manner.

With a terrified look on his face, Jason fled. Once more the scene shifted. He was cradling his broken rips, coughing up blood and trudging along. Any pony he tried to ask for help gave him a wide berth. Finally he reached a familiar looking treehouse. He walked up and knocked on the door. “Fluttershy, are you in there? I need help…please…”

“Oh my, you need help? I’m coming,” said the kindly sounding voice of the pegasus. Jason looked relieved to hear that, but the moment that the door opened and Fluttershy got a first look at the human, her eyes went wide and she completely passed out.

Upon seeing their caretaker’s reaction to Jason, the animals in the house behind her all turned and glared at Jason, who backed away slowly. “I didn’t mean to scare her that bad,” he said in a disarming voice, “I just wanted help. Please!”

A familiar small bunny launched himself at Jason, biting at his face with a ferocity Twilight hadn’t known was possible. Jason yelped and dislodged the bunny, running away and heading towards Ponyville. The scene shifted once more. Jason was now heading towards Rarity’s boutique, the ponies in town still giving him a wide berth. Slowly, painfully, he reached the door and walked inside. There wasn’t anypony there, so Jason called out in a hoarse voice as he clutched his chest, “Hello? Is anyone here?”

“Coming, darling!” Rarity’s voice called from a different room. She opened the door, eyes closed and a smile on her face as she said, “Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique and magnifi-” and that was when she stopped. She opened her eyes and took in Jason’s appearance. Her eyes continued to widen in alarm.

Jason, misinterpreting this as a good sign, spoke. “Can you please help me? I need a job.”

“Get out of my boutique,” Rarity growled, ears flattened and her previous friendly attitude gone.

Looking stunned by this, Jason raised his hands. “Please, all I want is a job! You can put me to work where nobody will see me, but I just need some bits to survive!”

“You think I would employ a filthy disgusting creature like you!?” Rarity shouted as she used her magic to pick up a nearby pair of scissors. She aimed them threateningly at Jason. “I said to get out! I will not have such a boorish, lanky creature in my shop and around my Sweetie Belle!”

“Please, Rarity, I just need some work!” Jason was on his knees pleading now.

“I said to get out!” she shouted, bringing the scissors closer to Jason.

Seeming to realize it was a futile effort, Jason quickly got to his feet and fled the boutique. The scene shifted once again, and this time a tired Jason was looking around Ponyville. Every so often he brought a hand to his lips and was calling out Pinkie’s name. There was a look of pain and despair in his voice. The scene rotated to show said pink pony. She was watching Jason with wide eyed fear. Her tail was twitching, something Twilight recognized as her Pinkie Sense.

Just then, a small cloud began passing over Jason. For a brief instant, Twilight almost called out to the Jason hovering above the table to duck since she saw a brief glimpse of a rainbow tail twitching. A bolt of lightning reached out and struck mere inches away from Jason, who screamed in terror as he was flung off of his feet, landing on his back a few feet away. He looked up and saw Rainbow Dash grinning down at him. “Hah! Gotcha, you freak!”

Jason had a look on his face like he had been betrayed. “Why…?” he asked.

Rainbow’s grin darkened. “Next time, I won’t miss,” she said with glee.

Jason immediately turned and got on his feet as fast as he could. Another bolt of lightning hit the ground, followed by a laugh. A piece of garbage flew after the fleeing Jason as he ran into the Everfree Forest.

As the scene faded, Twilight felt sick to her stomach. All she wanted to do was hide. Gwendolyn released the orb and it returned to its neutral state. “Jason Wright, Emperor of the changelings, endured three years of that treatment from ponies. And worse. He tried to end his life after those three years, but the rope broke and he was found by the ruler of the changelings at the time, Queen Chrysalis. Long story short, he grew in the ranks and overthrew the Queen. She became the duchess instead and Jason became the Emperor. Two years after his suicide attempt, Jason invaded and conquered Canterlot and destroyed the small town you just saw. The town called Ponyville.”

There was silence at the table again. Twilight looked around the room, only to see various looks of shock from the council members. However, when she looked at Gregory’s friends, they were looking disgusted. Starlight was the first to say anything. “When Gregory told us what you did, I guess a part of me wanted not to believe that all ponies were like the ones who beat me…but seeing that? No wonder Gracie hated ponies.” She turned to the changeling. “Was that why, Gracie?”

The changeling named Gracie slowly nodded. “Emperor Wright told us horror stories about the way the ponies treated him,” she said. “We might have invaded Equestria during the royal wedding, but we never intended that kind of harm towards anypony else. We were desperate. Our kind are dying from starvation. Equestria was like an oasis in the desert for us.”

“We’re getting off topic,” Geoffrey said sternly. Turning to Princess Celestia and Twilight, he gave them a glare. “Based off of this new evidence, I can now fully believe that officially, your government isn’t responsible. Still, the fact remains that ponies are responsible. If word of this gets out, the ponies who are living here will begin receiving harsh treatment.”

“Gregory wouldn’t want that,” Gabriella said, “and you know it.”

“She’s right,” Gwendolyn said. “He’s the one who advocated for equality among creatures. Well, him and Miss Glimmer here,” she amended, gesturing politely to Starlight.

Starlight nodded. “I’ve spoken to a lot of the ponies in town. They just want a quiet life away from monsters and enemy attacks. None of the ones I spoke to would want to stir the pot.”

“I was told that somepony here is a spy,” Princess Celestia said.

That brought the mood down. Ginna stood and slammed her fist on the table. “Is it not enough that you shut down your borders, but now you have to spy on us?!”

“Ginna, stop!” Gael said, putting a claw on Ginna’s shoulder.

“Did your source say anything about who the spy could be?” Geoffrey asked.

“No, only that they’re in Griffonstone,” Princess Celestia said with a sigh.

“It could be anypony,” Twilight said with a trembling voice.

“And if this gets out, griffons and dragons will definitely start to mistreat the ponies,” Gwendolyn said.

“We can’t hide the fact that the Chancellor is gone,” Geoffrey said, “but it might be a good idea to hide the fact that there’s a spy from Equestria in our midst. It would make the spy think his cover is still secure.” He turned to the changeling. “And what better way to catch a spy than with another spy?”

The changeling looked startled. “What? Are you serious?”

“It’s either that or we place you under arrest for attempted espionage,” Gwendolyn said. “Your intentions aside, you’re not a griffon named Gracie. You’re a changeling. You’ve broken a lot of laws here and we’re well within our rights to arrest you. But I also saw how Gregory looked at you. There was no hatred there. He looked worried even for you. He might have come from a vastly different place than here, but he was told about you changelings and your abilities. And I’ve seen how he interacts with you. He sees you as a friend.”

“She’s right,” Gabriella said. “Trust me, I know he wouldn’t want you in the dungeons if he could help it. He wants everycreature to live as equals, and I know that would include changelings.”

“Bleeding heart, if you ask me,” Gilda said, “but yeah. Gabby’s right.”

The changeling looked lost in thought. She looked around at the faces all turned her way. Suddenly looking a bit self-conscious, she transformed quickly into a bright yellow earth pony with large front buck teeth, blue eyes, a straight aquamarine mane and tail, bright blue freckles on her cheeks and a cutie mark that resembled a ladybug. Next, she transformed into a skinny beige dragoness with dark orange hair, gray horns, a bright cream colored underbelly and orange eyes. Finally, she changed back into the form everyone was familiar with: that of Gracie. “I might have been sent here to keep watch over Griffonstone, but I was given the duty of watching over Gregory. I failed in that, so I’ll start looking for this spy.”

“I need to contact my sister and have her double her search efforts for those who sent these former agents,” Princess Celestia said.

“We have their two minions here, though,” Gilda said, smacking a fist into her other claw and cracking her knuckles, her expression dark. “Why don’t we beat it out of them?”

“We don’t torture our prisoners,” Gwendolyn said. “But I might be able to get that information without having to ask.” She patted the crystal on the table.

Twilight looked at it, then back at the griffoness. “If that sphere can look into the past, can you find out where Chancellor Gregory is in Tartarus?”

Gwendolyn nodded. “I can certainly try.” Once more, she placed her claw on the crystal. The scene that appeared was one that made Twilight’s chest tighten. There were five figures standing in a barren landscape. Twilight recognized four of them and her heart stopped when it was confirmed that Spike and Rarity had been sent there as well. She had seen the scene earlier, but had hoped they weren’t there despite the evidence.

At the moment the scene formed, Gregory was on one knee, his hand on Spike’s shoulder. There was a look of understanding in his eyes and pity. The two were looking at each other. “That should never have happened to you.”

Spike nodded as a sad smile formed on his face. “A lot shouldn’t have happened to me.”

“If you want to talk about it, you can talk to me,” Gregory replied with a small smile.

Spike took a deep breath. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Gregory stood and looked thoughtful. “There’s got to be another way-wait, I have it!” He looked up at the sky, and Twilight’s eyes widened in alarm. It looked like he was looking directly at her. Gregory opened his mouth and shouted, “Gwendolyn! If you can hear this message, listen to me! Call a meeting of the Imperial Council as soon as you see this! Tell them that I am locked in Tartarus with the Element of Generosity Rarity, a unicorn named Lady Serenity, Spike the Dragon and Daenerys! Tell the council-”

Suddenly, the image went dark. It didn’t fade out like before. Instead it just went dark. Gwendolyn looked at the crystal, then back up at the display. She focused on it, but the image remained black. Finally, she removed her claw and the sphere returned to normal. She waited a bit then put her claw back on it. The same scene played back, but just before the message to the council could be relayed, the same thing happened. The message went dark. As Gwendolyn removed her claw once more and wrapped the sphere back up, Gabriella, who looked simultaneously relieved and worried, asked fearfully, “What does that mean?”

“I can’t see anything else other than what we just saw,” Gwendolyn said. She stood and grabbed the bundle. “I need to go and find out who did this to him.”

“What do you think he was trying to tell us?” Gael asked.

“I don’t know,” Gwendolyn said, “but I know he wasn’t about to call for war. That’s the last thing on his or anyone’s mind. Please excuse me.”

As the griffoness left, the rest of the council looked at each other, then at the others. Finally Geoffrey cleared his throat. “Hmmph, this has been a most…unusual meeting.”

“Ginna, we should get back out and continue helping down at the Ponytown District,” Gael said, spreading his wings.

As the two younger griffons left, Celestia looked at the rest of the council. “The two of us were helping in the relief effort too. Can we go back?”

Grandpa Gruff frowned but nodded. “We could use all the help we can get.”

Twilight followed Princess Celestia out. Once the door was closed behind them, Twilight looked up at her old mentor. “Are…are we in trouble?”

“I don’t know, Twilight,” Princess Celestia replied with a bitter edge to her voice, “but I do know this. When I discover who’s responsible for this, heads will roll. Equestria needs to change, Twilight. We need to change.”

Twilight was nervous at the tone of her old mentor, but she realized that Princess Celestia was right. Equestria needed to change.

Especially if it was to move into the future as a nation that supposedly embodied the tenets of harmony.

Afternoon, Canterlot City...

Principal Celestia Solaris sat on her couch, flipping through the channels. The air conditioning was on full blast, and the sun was coming in through the sliding glass door that led out to the patio and her greenhouse. She was wearing a purple skirt, a dark orange t-shirt with a stylized sun on the chest, and had her hair tied up in a ponytail.

Principal Celestia was bored. There were only a couple of more days until the trip aboard the Luxe Deluxe. The summer vacation was the one time of year where she felt somewhat listless. She didn’t spend much time at work at all since there was nothing much to do, and despite being a principal, she had very few people who were close to her. Only her younger sister Luna, who had moved in with her when she transferred from Selene Academy to Canterlot High, was close with her in any way that mattered.

Celestia had tried to make friends with the teachers, but she could sense that they were always nervous around her. Even the school’s counselor Discord never interacted much with her. He was always too serious with his work and she’d never once seen the gray skinned man smile. Despite that, he was the best student counselor in the district.

She sighed and flipped to a different channel, then another, then another. Finally, she stopped on a show made for children. She smiled a bit at the title: My Lovely Pegasus. She’d heard about the show from overhearing some students talking about it, so she looked it up online. Apparently, it was a multi generational toy and cartoon show. Currently the show was in its fourth incarnation. Curious about it, she had watched a few of the earliest episodes and had found it unusually intriguing. The show was clearly made for kids, but it was made by adults and she’d caught a few subtle adult jokes in the show itself. However, since she knew that a genuine unicorn existed and was going to her school and had come from a world where pegasi actually existed, the show about a race of flying equines seemed to pale in comparison to reality.

Still, at the moment, she wasn’t in the mood to watch it, so she flipped the channel again. Game shows, Canterlot News, and movie stations passed her by as she continued to flip. She was growing increasingly frustrated as there was nothing on to watch. Nothing that caught her interest anyway. It all felt strangely repetitive to her, like she’d seen it all before.

As she was flipping through channels, the garage door opened and Luna, carrying three paper bags in her arms, walked in. “Cellie, a little help?” she asked.

Celestia quickly rushed over, grabbed what looked like the heaviest bag and carried it into house’s kitchen. She and Luna lived in the Maretime Manor community near Crystal Lake. “Is this all, or is there more in the car?” Celestia asked, looking into the bag.

“This is all.” Luna replied, putting the other two bags down on the counter and beginning to remove the items inside. “I bought everything we need for our trip, including some extra cat food for Philomena.”

The flame colored cat walked in at her name being called, meowing and sitting at her food bowl expectantly. Celestia sighed and looked at Luna. “Now look what you’ve done.”

Luna looked at the cat, then back up at Celestia. “Um…my bad.” She sighed. “I’ll get her some treats.”

As Luna grabbed a few treats to give to the cat, Celestia looked back at the contents of the bags. Luna had gotten everything, it seemed. Sunscreen and after-sun lotion for Luna (Celestia never burned), toiletries, a new beach tote, motion sickness medication for them both or for students just in case, and even a back up battery charger along with some cheap wall chargers for their phones and laptops were just some of the items Luna had bought. “Wow, Lulu, you really went overboard,” Celestia said with a chuckle.

Luna looked over at her sister with a frown. “You and I both know that’s how I do things,” she replied with a humph.

Celestia giggled. “I know, I know, but it was your turn for the shopping.”

“Yay, lucky me,” Luna said with a sigh. “Cellie, I’m tired. I’m gonna go write a bit in my journal then go take a nice long nap.”

“Sure thing, Lulu,” Celestia replied. She watched as her sister headed to her room and shut the door. It didn’t take long for Celestia to pack everything in the bags they were slowly preparing. To her embarrassment, she saw that Luna had packed the golden bikini she’d gotten for Celestia for the vacation she’d taken where she’d left Twilight in charge of her greenhouse. She’d never worn it on that vacation, but Luna had been so happy to have gotten it for Celestia that she knew eventually she’d have to wear it.

After she was finished, she walked to Luna’s room to check on her and ask what she wanted for dinner. Knocking, she called out, “Lulu, you still awake?”

“I am,” Luna called back.

Opening the door, Celestia poked her head in. Luna was sitting in the dark, the shades drawn, and a candle lit next to a very old looking journal. She was writing in it with what looked like a quill pen. “Just wondering what you’d like for dinner tonight.”

“Extra cheese pizza delivery,” was all Luna said, not stopping her writing.

“Alright, I’ll order some in a couple of hours,” Celestia said. “Enjoy your nap.”

“Mmhmm, will do,” Luna said, dipping her quill pen into the ink bottle next to the open journal.

As Celestia closed the door, the same question that she’d always asked herself whenever she saw Luna’s very old fashioned way of journaling crossed her mind once again: Why does she write like she’s stuck in the Middle Ages?

29: Journey To The Center Of Tartarus Pt. 2

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay. Writer's block is a bitch. I had to rewrite a few sections multiple times to get what I wanted. Anyway, enjoy!

29: Journey To The Center Of Tartarus Pt. 2

Demons

/dē-mən/ noun

Demons, otherwise known as a daemons in an older Equish dialect, are a race of red skinned bipedal winged creatures which lives in the Tartarus Wilds. Not much is known about them as the Wilds are too far away from the entrance to Tartarus for any expedition to be feasible or even wise. There have been various sightings of them over the centuries, but there has been no interaction between a pony and a demon.

The Dream Realm, Later That Night…

Luna was sweating as she teleported and flew through the vast dream realm, her eyes peeled, searching with a desperation that bordered on terror. The news had come in at sunset: ponies had once again taken hostile action against a human, only this time it was the human known as Chancellor Gregory. Not only that, but as it turned out, there were four other victims. The Element of Generosity Rarity, one of the ponies who had cast the spell, young Spike and Gregory’s drake companion had also been caught in the banishment ritual and were now in Tartarus thanks to those cursed Hades Teardrops. The moment she had heard this, Luna had dispatched a team of her most trusted guards to the old Section 31 vault deep in the caves beneath Canterlot where the artifacts were stored, only to learn that the gems that were supposedly the Teardrops were, in fact, fakes. Judging from the dust around them, they’d been replaced long ago, possibly even at the moment Section 31 was shut down or even before that.

As for her investigation into whoever had sent the spies to Griffonstone, whoever had been responsible knew how to cover their tracks. Sellswords and mercenaries weren’t unheard of in the Equestria of a thousand years ago, but with the rise of the supposed harmony in the kingdom, the need for mercenaries dwindled. Now the only time they were hired were as private guards for anypony traveling in more dangerous parts of the country or even outside the nation. She’d had some former S.M.I.L.E. agents recalled to active duty for the investigation.

As Luna flew through the vast dreamscape, the dreams changed. She had only traveled to this portion of the dreamscape a few times. She had reached the part of the dreamscape where the griffons normally resided. Unlike pony dreams, the viewing orbs that gave brief glimpses into the dreams weren’t orbs at all. Instead, they were in the shape of a truncated icosahedron.

As she flew through the many griffon dreams, she heard a wailing cry of somegriffon in distress. Altering course, she made her way to a gray dream where one look told her all she needed to know. There was a young griffoness sitting in a field, rain pouring down. She was looking up at a statue which depicted a human form, his hands spread in a gesture of peace. The young gray feathered griffoness was looking up, tears in her eyes, as the rain poured over her. Despite the rain, she was covered in blood that didn’t seem to wash away from her, especially on her claws and beak. Behind the griffoness, Luna almost gagged when she saw a large number of pony bodies, torn apart and bleeding. As she leaned in closer, Luna could hear the sound of sobbing as the griffoness said, “I didn’t mean to…I didn’t mean to…Gregory…please come back…I didn’t mean to…I didn’t mean to…”

“You did mean to,” a cacophony of voices said. Luna turned and saw all the pony corpses standing and looking with blank emotionless expressions. Expressions that quickly began to turn accusatory as they pointed towards her. “You murdered us.”

The griffoness turned and faced them, a mixture of fear and rage in her expression. “You murdered the man that I love! You banished Gregory to Tartarus! What else…could I do…?” The griffoness’ anger vanished, and a look of guilt appeared in her eyes. “I…I didn’t mean to…”

“What about me?” a voice said from the crowd of ponies. A unicorn mare of a light purple hue with a wavy dark purple mane and tail, each with a light aquamarine stripe down the center, stepped forward. Her eyes were pure white and blood seeped from a sharp gash on her forehead. “Did you mean to kill me?”

“N-No! I didn’t mean-!”

“We were friends,” the unicorn said as she began leading the other ponies towards the griffoness. “Why did you kill me?”

“I-It was a mistake! I just-!”

“What was a mistake? Killing me? Or being my friend?”

“I-I didn’t mean to!”

Despite her current mission, Luna felt the need to help this particular griffoness out. Entering her dream was unusual, to say the least. It was the first time she’d entered a griffon’s dream, and the transition from the dream realm to dream was strange and unlike any dream crossing she’d ever experienced. It was like she was forcing her way through a wall, but the more she pushed, the less solid the wall became until finally, she was inside the dream.

The moment she was in, she was assaulted by the smell. Luna had been in her fair share of battles, and the smell of blood, feces and mud was all too familiar to her. How this griffoness knew the smells normally associated with battle worried Luna to no end. However, she had a mission. She raised her horn and it glowed. The rain vanished, as did the bloodstained ground and the zombie ponies, and most importantly the smell. The griffoness was standing on a pool of perfectly reflected water, the sky above now a deep nighttime blue. She looked around, confused, then when she saw the approaching alicorn, she stiffened. “You…I know you. You’re Luna.” She grit her teeth in anger, an anger which radiated from her like heat from a powerful oven.

Luna nodded. “I am indeed,” she said solemnly.

“Invader…invader! Get the fuck out of my dream!” the griffoness hissed angrily.

The vast wave of fury emanating from the griffoness his Luna like a magical shield, sending the alicorn Princess back. Luna was surprised by the amount of power in that anger, but she held her ground. “My apologies for interrupting your dream,” Luna said, “but everycreature deserves a peaceful night’s sleep.”

“Does everycreature deserve to have their minds fucked with by somepony who holds the power of night in her dainty little hooves?!” the griffoness sneered at her. “And if you’re supposed to monitor dreams, then where in Tartarus were you when my parents died three years ago!? Those nightmares lasted for weeks!”

Luna’s ears flattened. She wasn’t entirely sure how to answer this young griffoness. On the one hoof, being a Dream Warden alone was a big job when it was just pony dreams she was watching over. Now, though? She had seriously considered not only expanding her territory, but taking on a student of her own in order to teach her the secrets of what it meant to be a Dream Warden. She’d heard about a talented unicorn named Moondancer from young Twilight once. When this crisis was over, she might look into asking the young mare if she wished to become Luna’s student.

On the other hoof, however, griffons, dragons and other predatory species seemed to have more resilient minds when it came to nightmares. Ponies were more susceptible to their psyche’s being damaged by serious nightmares. Still, she knew that was no excuse for not trying to help. “I am sorry for your loss,” Luna finally said.

This only served to infuriate the griffoness further and the landscape began to turn red. Heat began to rise from the ground and cracks formed, revealing bright orange light coming from underneath. “If you’re really sorry, bring my lover back! Bring him back from Tartarus where you ponies banished him! BRING GREGORY BACK TO ME!” Immediately afterwards, the heat vanished, and the griffoness collapsed, covering her head with her claws. The anger was gone and the cracks were now cool but still there. She was sobbing now, whispering the words “I didn’t mean to” over and over.

Luna didn’t approach. Instead, she sat on her haunches. Silence passed. She wasn’t sure how to deal with this level of anger mixed with guilt. However, she knew that she had to at least try. No excuses. Just talking. “I…my sister and I will do everything we can to bring Chancellor Graystone back from Tartarus. The ponies who sent him there will be dealt with severely.” The griffoness looked up at Luna with tear stained eyes. She tried saying something, but couldn’t. When the griffoness closed her mouth, Luna continued. “We will make this right.”

The griffoness turned her mournful and bloodshot eyes towards Luna. “How? How…?”

Luna had no answer. And she hated herself all the more because of it.

Tartarus, The Next Day…

As the first vestiges of consciousness began to return to him, Gregory Graystone stirred. His first impression of consciousness was that he felt warm. Very warm, in fact. The next impression was that he was not in his comfortable bed in Griffonstone. Slowly, he opened his eyes and found himself looking up at the mauve colored ceiling above him. Miles above his head. He quickly remembered the events of the past day. The nor’wester. The collapse of the branch onto the Ponytown District. Tartarus.

Right…he was in Tartarus with a handful of others.

He groaned and sat up, only to feel suddenly dizzy. He also realized that his clothes were somewhat drenched in sweat. Taking deep breaths, he lowered himself back onto makeshift pillow that he, Lady Serenity and Rarity had been sleeping on the previous night. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on breathing normally, which had helped whenever he was dizzy before. After a while, he opened his eyes and slowly sat up once more. Looking around, he saw that the others were still asleep.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, he stood and walked over to his bag. He grabbed the bottle and opened it, finding that there were small pieces of ice still inside. He took one out carefully and placed it on his forehead, letting its cool temperature soothe him. Soon he was feeling more or less back to normal. Probably just the new environment, he thought.

Since he didn’t have a clock, he wasn’t sure how long any of them had slept. He knew that for him, he’d slept rather poorly, waking up once with the feeling that they were being watched, but after a half hour of nothing, he went back to sleep. He’d woken a few more times during whatever passed for night in this underground realm, but only for a few minutes before heading back to sleep.

He walked over to Daenerys and put his hand on her side, rubbing her gently. She stirred and opened one eye. “Morning, sleepyhead,” he said with a smile as she raised her head and yawned. “You sleep well?” She waggled her head side to side, as if to indicate that her sleep was so-so. “Yeah, same here,” he chuckled. He reached up and touched her cheek. “Mmm, your scales feel nice and cool this morning,” he observed as he rubbed her cheek affectionately, letting her scales further comfort him. He heard her rumbling as she nuzzled him ever so gently.

As he leaned against her, he tried to think of what to do next. They had reached the bottom of the circular mountain range where that underground meteor or whatever it had been had crashed just yesterday, and hopefully Daenerys would be able to fly them over it in very little time. He wondered what they would find there. Perhaps some abandoned ruins of some kind? If that was the case, they’d have lost a day in a futile search. Maybe a doorway that would lead out of Tartarus? That’d be too easy. Or maybe nothing at all. But then again, that object that looked like a meteor falling didn’t seem random.

He turned around and felt one of Daenerys’ wings wrapping around him. Just like her scales, her wings were cool to the touch. Daenerys made a satisfied rumbling sound and Gregory smiled a bit at that. However, he soon went back to thinking about a plan. The destruction at the Ponytown District might have been his first leadership trial, but the circumstances he found himself in would be an even bigger one. He’d automatically stepped up when nobody else had said anything, but then again, he realized that none of the others were good for the job. Lady Serenity was a criminal, so she was out. Rarity had been acting like a stuck up and butthurt bitch, but it seemed she was starting to come to her senses. Still, even if she was, he doubted she would be capable of leading even in the best of circumstances. Spike was still a child, after all, and with no other alternative, he’d just stepped up immediately. Almost instinctively.

Gregory felt a surge of new warmth flowing from his heart and all through him, and he felt Daenerys tighten her grip around him at the same time. Looking up at her, he met her purple eyed gaze with a smile. He reached out and cupped her cheek. “We’ll be alright,” he said, hoping that his words would become the truth.

“Mmm…what time is it,” a voice said from beneath the other one of Daenerys’s extended wings. Spike poked his head out of one end of the wing. He looked a bit tired as he yawned, then scratched his cheek.

“I don’t know,” Gregory replied as Spike crawled out from under the wing and began to brush off his clothes. “I don’t have a watch here. It’s back at my house.” Daenerys released him and he arched his back, letting it crack.

“Oh…” Spike stretched and yawned again. His stomach began to growl at that moment. He put his claws on his stomach, looking embarrassed. “Ah, sorry.”

“There are plenty of gems around,” Gregory said. “Go get something to tide you over. And collect as much as you can. Who knows if there will be any more around beyond that mountain range? It’ll also extend our food supply a little longer.”

“What I wouldn’t give for some fish,” Spike sighed. “Still, it’s a good idea.” With that, he began gathering gems that were scattered around the campsite.

Rarity was the next one to wake up. She blearily looked around, her mane an absolute mess. She looked at Gregory and nodded at him before shakily standing up. “…Morning…” she managed to get out.

“Good morning,” Gregory replied. “You look tired.”

“I look like shit, and you know it,” she replied as she shook dust off of her body. “Pardon my Prench.”

“I wasn’t aware the word shit was Prench,” Gregory replied. “I’m pretty sure the correct term is merde.”

Rarity looked at Gregory with astonishment. “How’d you know?”

“Where I’m from, we have an identical language called French,” Gregory replied as he began digging around in his bag for some breakfast. “It’s known as the language of love.”

“It’s the same here,” Rarity replied as she began to attempt to adjust her bedhead. At that moment, her stomach began to rumble. She held it with a blush. “Ah…sorry.”

“We don’t have much for breakfast,” Gregory said, “and some of what I have ponies can’t eat, like the little bits of meat I have with me. I hope you’re alright with some simple cuisine.”

Rarity nodded. “Just as long as it gives me the energy I need,” she said, “I wouldn’t care if I had to eat a field of mushrooms. Not after yesterday.”

As he handed her one of the remaining energy bars, Lady Serenity began stirring as well. She sat up after a few seconds, looking around, then at Gregory. She lowered her eyes and didn’t say anything. He walked up and handed her another opened energy bar. “Eat. You need your strength,” he said.

She looked at the bar, then slowly shook her head. “I’m not really hungry.”

“You need to eat,” he insisted, almost shoving the bar into her mouth. “We might not have much food, but we need the energy.”

Lady Serenity looked at the bar once more, sighed, and lifted it with her magic. She nibbled at it while Gregory grabbed his metal bottle. “After we eat, we can have some water,” he said. “We’re all gonna need a little. I don’t know about dragons or ponies but humans can’t go for long without water. At most, four days. We can’t afford to waste anything. After we’re done eating, we’re going back up on Daenerys. Think you’ve got enough energy in you to fly up there, girl?”

Daenerys walked off a little ways, spread her wings, and launched herself into the air. Only for her to make it a few meters into the air before landing a bit harder than usual. As Gregory rushed over towards her to make sure she was okay, Rarity said, “I take it that means we’re not okay?”

Gregory didn’t reply at first. Instead, he looked deep into Daenerys’ eyes. She was giving him an apologetic look as she clawed at the ground. He nodded. “You’re too tired after yesterday’s flight, aren’t you?” A nod. “I understand. Do you think you have enough strength to climb?” An uncertain look, followed closely by a determined look. She stood up straighter. He smiled. “Just let us know when you get too tired, okay? Now go ahead and get something to eat.” As she grabbed some nearby gems to eat, Gregory turned to Rarity. “We won’t be flying today, so we’ll be hiking.”

Rarity and Spike both nodded, the latter looking up with some sympathy at the drake. He walked over to her and put his claw on her side. Rarity, who was sitting in what could only be described as a ponyloaf as she ate her bar, didn’t look too happy at the notion of walking, but to her credit didn’t say anything. He then looked over at Lady Serenity, and saw that she was simply staring at the ground now, the bar sitting next to her. Gregory noticed this and decided that while they were getting ready for the day, now was as good a time as any for him to get some answers. He walked up and sat in front of her, looking at her with a stern countenance. “Miss Serenity, while I have you here, I’m going to need some answers. First of all, who and what are you exactly? You’re obviously not some random Equestrian citizen.”

This caught the attention of everyone else around the two. Rarity and Spike, who were both now sitting around the gemstones they’d used in lieu of a fire the night before, both looked over. Even Daenerys tilted her head slightly towards the two. Lady Serenity suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable. “I…you’re right, I’m not. My…companions and I…we were once a part of an organization in Equestria that the citizens didn’t and still doesn’t know about. Two organizations, actually. The first was called Section 31, a small organization which guarded dangerous magical artifacts and kept them out of the hooves of the public. The next was the Secret Monster Intelligence League of Equestria, or S.M.I.L.E., which was created to protect Equestria from monsters. Both organizations are gone now, but my companions and I were given generous severance packages, enough to live out our days without needing to work again.”

Section 31? What is this, fucking Star Trek? “But you didn’t want to stop working, did you?” Gregory asked, keeping his incredulity out of his tone.

She shook her head. “No…I found work at a host and hostess club in Manehattan’s Red Light District. It seemed to be the best fit for my…proclivities.”

“Proclivities? Such as?” Gregory asked, raising an eyebrow.

She turned to him. “I have an abnormally high libido, Chancellor. I’ve seduced dozens of stallions and mares since I was a teenager. Many of them were even married. I’m not a good pony.”

Rarity looked stunned and slightly repulsed by this, but said nothing as Gregory leveled his gaze at Lady Serenity. “Keep going,” he said, gesturing for her to continue

She took a deep breath and did so, “I…I was okay with my job at first, but it was…missing something. It was missing a sense of danger that I thrived on. Seducing a married stallion or mare wasn’t enough for me. That was when Dusky contacted me.”

“Dusky?”

“Dusky Heart, the stallion you saw,” she clarified. “He’d found some work that was not only better paying, but was more up our alley. I met up with him and Jade Seed and we formed our little band. We’re called Crimson Dawn, a mercenary group. We didn’t need the money, but we all needed the action and thrill of adventure.”

“You’re thrill seekers. Adrenaline junkies.” Gregory said, feeling a rush of anger passing through him. “Seriously? You took on a spying mission because you couldn’t fuck your way to an adrenaline high?! What, a good gangbang wasn’t enough for you?! The so-called thrill of breaking up a marriage wasn’t enough?!”

“Mr. Graystone! Please! Not in front of Spike!” Rarity hissed.

“No, I’m with the Chancellor on this one,” Spike said, glaring with narrowed eyes at Lady as he scratched his right cheek. “She’s a real bitch.”

Lady winced at this, but didn’t look away. “I won’t make any excuse for my actions, and I know an apology is out of the question-”

“An apology is the least of your concerns,” Gregory said with gritted teeth. “Because of you, not only does it look like Equestria has attacked another sovereign nation at a time of peace, but you have committed high treason against your own nation!” He pointed harshly towards Rarity. “Your actions have left Equestria defenseless against its enemies! She’s an Element of Harmony, for God’s sake! Their first, last, and sometimes only line of defense!”

“Don’t bring me into this, please,” Rarity said with a soft voice.

Lady looked back at Gregory; her face full of regret. “You think I don’t know what I’ve done?!” she shouted with tears in her eyes. “I’ve let my libido think for me ever since I was a teenager! I’m a slave to my damn vagina!” She seemed to deflate and she looked down at the ground. “Just leave me here…I deserve to die…”

Gregory reached up and pulled her to face him. “You don’t get that luxury,” he growled, “and you don’t get the luxury of blaming your body for your actions! You’re a grown mare, and you’re gonna start acting like it until we reach Griffonia! I’m not letting you kill yourself, either. That’s the easy way out. You need proper punishment. And since you took action against Griffonia, you’ll be facing Griffonian justice!” He pointed to the bar in front of her. “Now eat!” With that, he stood and left the stunned unicorn as he headed to Daenerys. He leaned against the large drake and ate some of the jerky sticks he had left over from Earth.

Their breakfast was quiet. Nobody spoke a single word as they ate. Not that the breakfast lasted long. After they all received some of their remaining water, enough to quench their thirst, Gregory walked up to Daenerys. “Are you ready to go, Dany?” When she nodded, he smiled, then turned to everyone else. “Hopefully this flight won’t be as long. Miss Serenity, you’re flying with me today. Spike, Miss Belle, are you two alright with Daenerys carrying you?”

“I was fine yesterday,” Spike said. “It was pretty warm and comfortable.”

When Rarity heard this, she looked back at Gregory and nodded. “If Spike says that it’s alright, then I’ll be okay too.”

“Good. Let’s get ready,” Gregory said as he put his spare clothes away in Daenerys’ saddlebags. After everyone took care of other personal business, i.e., relieving themselves elsewhere, Gregory looked at all of his companions. “Okay, everyone,” he said, arms crossed, “Daenerys is too tired from yesterday’s flight to carry us this time, so we’ll be walking up the mountain. We’ll probably reach the top before the end of the day, if the day and night cycles of these glowing crystals are similar to those on Gaia. Spike, I might be able to carry you on my back if you need-” but before he could say anything further, Daenerys stepped forward and leaned down, gesturing towards Spike. “Or…Dany can carry you. You’re the lightest out of all of us and the youngest.”

“I can walk just fine,” Spike said stubbornly, his own arms crossed.

“I’m sure you can,” Gregory said, “and if you want to walk, I won’t stop you, but if you get tired, Dany or I can carry you on our backs.”

“Don’t forget me,” Rarity said, raising a hoof. “I’d be more than willing to carry you on my back, Spike.”

“Um…alright,” he said.

“If there’s nothing else, let’s begin,” Gregory said, turning and facing the mountain. “Put one foot in front of the other…” he sang to himself as he took the first step up the mountain…

Nobody said anything during the first few hours of the ascent. Gregory did have to remove some more of his clothes until he was wearing just his pants and a light gray t-shirt because soon he was sweating up a storm.

To his credit, Spike actually stuck it out for a few hours before he finally decided that he was too tired to walk anymore. Daenerys was all too willing to carry Spike, so Gregory strapped him into the saddle as they climbed.

No one spoke much, but Gregory did talk to Spike for a while. Apparently, the young dragon had read an older book that gave some context to Tartarus. He learned that Tartarus was apparently created by the main goddess of the world, Eurynome, as a place where the evilest of creatures were to be imprisoned. Apparently, in the earliest stages of creation, Eurynome banished a race of demigod-like creatures called the Titans to one of the Fire Pits common to the underworld for attempting to take control of the world for themselves. However, she was too late to stop the Titans from stopping the motions of the sun and moon in the sky. While the only currently known entrance to Tartarus was one known to the ponies, the book said that there had been, at one point, other entrances to the underground that had apparently been lost to time. This gave Gregory hope that somewhere there might be an exit that would take them back to the surface.

He also learned about a race of creatures known as demons. According to what Spike had read, they were a race of bipedal creatures who lived in a place called the Tartarus Wilds. Spike recalled seeing what a demon could look like when he told of his first encounter with the she-demon version of Sunset Shimmer, but as for other encounters, Spike couldn’t recall reading much.

The only other thing he remembered reading about Tartarus was that it was hypothesized that the underground realm spread out all around the world, miles and miles underneath the surface.

As they continued their long and arduous climb, Gregory looked around at the mountain slopes. It was empty of any vegetation, at least to his untrained eye. However, as they continued to move further up, he started to see some small orange and red moss patches nestled in crevices. Lady was able to determine that the moss was edible, taking a bite before Gregory could stop her. Even so, Gregory told them not to eat any more. When he spotted a crimson red tree sticking up towards the glowing crystals on the ceiling, he moved to intercept it. He found that the tree was coniferous in nature, tall and strong, and aside from the red pine needles instead of green, it resembled a tall Douglas Fir tree. It was there that he found a nice and sturdy fallen branch which he could use as a walking stick. Rarity even used her magic to prune it and peel the bark from it save for a patch of bark that made for a good grip.

As they continued to climb, he noted that the air didn’t seem to thin out like it would have on the surface. He began to speculate that Tartarus, being underground, likely had a much more uniform atmosphere thanks to the ceiling. However, where it got its oxygen remained to be seen. Perhaps there were other openings elsewhere aside from the entrance he’d seen in the show. Perhaps there were more oxygen producing plants somewhere else. There might even be an underground ocean with undersea life that produced oxygen like they did on Earth.

It didn’t take them long to start to reach the top. Despite the uniformity of the air, Gregory could see that everyone, including Daenerys, were starting to struggle. The only exception was Spike, who had somehow fallen asleep in the saddle. He walked over to her and put his hand on her side. “You okay, Dany?” he asked softly. Daenerys looked down at him, leaned in, gave him a small smile and even a small affectionate lick. He smirked and pet her scales before heading back to the front of their little line.

When they began reaching the top, Gregory looked to his left and spotted a large flat patch of the mountain only about a dozen or so meters from the top. He turned and began heading towards it. From behind him, he heard Rarity calling up, “Where are you going?”

“We’re almost there, but we need a break,” Gregory called back, pointing to the flat patch of land. “It’s probably long past lunchtime, so let’s take some time to rest.”

“Okay!” Rarity called back.

When they made it to the patch of earth, Rarity, Lady and Daenerys all laid down, closing their eyes. He sat and leaned against a large rock, facing back the way they’d come. At the height they were at now, the curve of the ground below him seemed more prominent, which reinforced his hunch that they were beneath the surface of the world. As before, the horizon also seemed closer than it would have been on Gaia or even on Earth. Something that surprised him, however, was the fact that near said horizon he saw a couple of flashes coming from what looked like actual storm clouds. The soft rumbling that came later only seemed to confirm that hunch. The colors of the land were fairly uniform with the crystals above illuminating everything.

After about ten or so minutes of resting, Gregory stood and cleared his throat. “Okay, everyone, I’m gonna break out some food for us. After that, I want you all to stay here because I’m going to go to the top and see what there might be to see on the other side. Dany, could you protect them?”

As the drake nodded, Rarity replied, sounding a bit insulted, “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“If your actions against the changelings at Cadance’s wedding are any indication, I believe you,” Gregory said, locking eyes with the marshmallow colored unicorn, “but this is for my own peace of mind. Besides, we’re in Tartarus. A place we know little about. For all we know, there are monsters ten times as deadly as the ones on Gaia lurking somewhere. We’ve been very lucky so far, but caution never hurt.”

Rarity paused at those words, apparently thinking. She looked up at Daenerys after a while, then nodded her head towards the drake. “I am in your capable claws.”

Daenerys snorted at her, blowing a smoke ring in her direction which caused the unicorn to cough. Gregory couldn’t help himself. He laughed at the display as he passed out a half bar to Rarity and Lady. Spike soon joined in, and eventually Rarity did as well as soon as she had finished coughing. As before, only Lady did nothing. When everyone was calm again, Gregory said, “I’ll be right back.”

Turning, he began the short hike up the mountainside. Despite only being about a dozen or so meters from the top, it took him a little longer than he expected due to the steepness of the incline. However, he eventually reached the summit of the mountain they had landed on and looked down.

To his dismay, all he could see was some thick dark blue mist that seemed to reach up to the summits of the circular mountain range. Not only that, but he did confirm that there was some sort of shield in place right at the summit. He pushed at it, prodded it with his stick, and even considered shooting at it with his Peacemaker before he decided against it since he didn’t have many bullets.

As he looked around, he spotted something hovering in the air to the right of where he was. He couldn’t exactly see what it was, but from where he stood it looked like a gold dot just hanging in the air. He could see that it wasn’t too far from where he was, but nevertheless, as he headed towards it, he kept on looking back so he didn’t lose track of the others.

After about ten minutes of carefully walking along the slope, he reached the spot right beneath the golden dot. Despite being closer, he couldn’t see any more details than before.

“Damn it, I wish I had my phone or binoculars,” he sighed. “It’s not like I can say something like skulblakas ven like that Eragon movie and zoom my sight in…”

He crossed his arms and stared at it with a frown. A part of him told him that it wasn’t important to worry about what it was that he was staring at, but there was another growing part of him that somehow couldn’t let this go. Something was telling him that the golden dot was important. Daenerys was probably still too tired for even a quick flight, and he wasn’t sure if the unicorns were able to reach it with their magic.

Suddenly, his view of the object changed. It was brief, but it felt like his eyes had, in fact, zoomed in onto the object. In that instant, he saw that the object was a gold coated horn, much like the horns used by the Norse. It had a gold chain that was stretched across it. The moment he saw the ruby red runes that were carved into the side, he knew exactly what he was looking at. He’d seen it once before, after all.

“The Gjallarhorn…” he gasped as his eyesight returned to normal.

As he stared up at the dot, he saw a bright golden flash emanate from it, only for it to disappear. He was too stunned to notice the extra weight on his shoulder at first, but when he blinked, it broke the spell. He looked down and saw, to his astonishment, that the handheld horn was now slung around his shoulder thanks to the golden chain. Slowly, he reached out to touch it. “How…how the hell did you get over here?” he asked with confusion.

He looked it over carefully. In the light of day, or whatever constituted day in this underground area, the golden sheen that covered the horn was clean, without any blemish. Not even his fingers left any prints. The red writing also reacted similarly, no marks being left on it when he ran his fingers over it. As before, he felt like his hands were coming into contact with something that had static electricity emanating from it.

As he turned the horn around to peer inside, he caught a glint of metal, only the metal wasn’t a part of the horn. His motion seemed to dislodge whatever was in the horn, and a gray object fell out onto the ground. It moved down the slope a little bit before it was stopped by a nearby large protrusion.

Gregory slowly walked down, knelt and picked up the object. It was a large and ancient looking key hanging around a silver chain. Like the Gjallarhorn, it felt like it was emanating some kind of power, but its appearance was much plainer than the horn. The bow was an oval shape and the shaft was simple, but the bit and key wards were both unusually shaped. The bit looked like an outline of teeth with the outermost bits on either side longer and thicker than the inner bits. The star wards looked like two outstretched draconic wings. At the end of the pin, a curved point moved up from the bit instead of downwards.

He was interrupted by a familiar draconic roar. Startled, he quickly hung the key around his neck and ran back to the others. As he approached, he saw that Daenerys was now standing up, wings spread and facing the way they had come. Lady and Rarity were standing and looking in the same direction that Daenerys was looking. Gregory stole a brief glance in the same direction, but couldn’t see anything.

When he reached the others, he shouted, “What’s going on!? What’s coming?!”

Lady looked up at him, wide eyed. “You can’t see them!?” she shouted. “They’re coming up closer!” She pointed towards the same direction that Daenerys was looking.

“Who? Who’s coming closer?!” Gregory demanded.

“Demons!”

Gregory looked back more closely, trying to see whatever Lady was seeing. At first, he saw nothing. Then suddenly, the landscape gained more clarity than before. He would have been fascinated by it had he not seen, approaching at a worrying speed, twenty or so humanoid creatures. Humanoid creatures with wings. Batlike wings. Humanoid creatures with batlike wings that appeared to be armed with what looked like swords and spears. Humanoid creatures that were approaching fast.

Gregory grabbed his pistol and brought it out, checking to see that it was fully loaded. When he was satisfied, he held it up in a defensive position. “Form a defense perimeter!”

Lady reacted first, standing to Gregory’s right, horn lit and ready. Rarity ran up to Gregory’s left while Daenerys stepped forward, wings spread. She roared a challenge at the approaching humanoid creatures. Out of the corner of his eye, Gregory could see that his drake’s eyes were glowing a brighter purple than they ever had before. Spike, who was now out of the saddle seat, rushed up to Rarity’s side, almost protectively. He snorted, and a burst of smoke came out of his nose.

As he watched the creatures flying closer, he ran through the scenarios in his head. If these were demons, they would know Tartarus better than anyone here. And if they were demons, they had been living in Tartarus for who knew how many centuries. Besides that, Daenerys was still in no position to fly alone, much less carry them out of danger. He knew that the shield that surrounded the mountain range would take too long to go around even if they had Daenerys’ help.

As beads of sweat formed on his brow, he finally made a decision. He walked up and put a hand on Daenerys’ side. She was still a bit cool, but thanks to the exertion of climbing she seemed to be warmer than she had been. “Dany, ease up,” he said. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Lady looked over at him incredulously. “Are you insane?! Those are demons! Denizens of Tartarus! They’ll kill us! Can’t this thing breathe fire?! Attack them!”

“Not unless they attack first!” Gregory shouted back, “That’s what you ponies did to me and to Jason, and I won’t make that mistake here!”

Lady’s eyes widened and she got a guilty look in her eyes. A look which slowly morphed into resignation. “No, you’re right…but I’m not letting my guard down.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Gregory replied, “but you just need to maintain yourself. If they attack first, let loose. Until then, hold your fire.”

The next few minutes were tense as the demons approached. When they reached the natural platform, many of them began circling above them while three began a controlled descent towards them. They landed on the slope above them, forcing the group to turn and face upward at the winged creatures. The one in front, who Gregory assumed was the leader, took a step forward, its gloved hands gripping the spear. It was made of some sort of black wood and the spear itself was made of a dark gray metal. The demonic looking creature also had some type of sword at its side as well. It was wearing a pair of goggles and was dressed in warm looking clothes that did indeed resemble Tartarus style camouflage. Gregory’s grip on his pistol only tightened as the being approached. It surveyed the group, seeming to almost stare at the ponies with disdain.

When it looked up at Gregory, however, it paused. Quickly, it flipped the spear and stuck it into the ground. A muffled male voice spoke from the cloth surrounding the creature’s mouth. “Are you a human?”

Gregory raised an eyebrow. Not only had this demon spoken in perfect English, but there was a slight southern drawl to it. Alarm bells began going off in his head as the grip on his pistol tightened. He knew better than to respond with anything like ‘So what if I am?’ because despite the pistol in his hand, he could only get off six shots at best before they would be on him. He forced himself to relax, stood up straighter and replied, “I’m a human, yes.”

The demon paused for a bit, then looked back at the other two demons behind him. Slowly, he turned back and began to remove his mask and gloves. Gregory gripped his pistol warily as the being’s face became visible.

To say that Gregory was stunned to see a human-like face would have been an understatement. There were several differences of course, such as the dark crimson skin, the pointed ears, the batlike wings, the short but black ram-like horns, the forked tail, the more clawlike hands and the red slitted eyes, but other than that, this demon or whatever it, or he, was, it was clear that this creature was the closest thing to a human he’d ever seen in Equestria. He cleared his throat as he stared at the strange demonic looking humanoid in front of him. “What do you want from us?” he asked in as calm a voice as he could muster.

The demon (Gregory didn’t know what else to call this newcomer and the others surrounding them) took one step forward, but at that gesture, Daenerys stepped forward, emitting a low growl of warning at the male demon. He stopped, then took a step back. “Sorry for startlin’ your drake here, mister,” he said, “but it’s our job to keep watch over this area. Lots of nasty little and big critters out here, you know?”

“To be honest, no, I don’t know,” Gregory replied. “We only just arrived in Tartarus yesterday.”

“Is that right?” the demon asked. “And how’d you get out here so fast? The closest exit is way too far away for even a drake to fly in a day.”

“That…is a long story,” Gregory replied, glancing down at Lady who looked away. He looked back up at the demon, “and one I don’t feel comfortable telling to someone I just met who comes at me armed.”

The demon actually looked a bit abashed at that. “Well, I hope you can forgive us for bein’ careful,” he said. “Tartarus ain’t exactly what you might call a friendly place. We can’t be too careful. But we don’t wanna fight you. Especially since you have that.” He then pointed to the pistol at Gregory’s side. Then he turned to the other two demons behind him. “Relax, y’all. And come down! They ain’t enemies yet!”

The demons who had been hovering above them now began to land. Once down, they began to remove their own masks. As they did so, Gregory took in their own appearances. He saw younger faces, but all with the same general features. Black hair, red slitted eyes, clawlike hands, wings, tail, horns and more. In a way, it reminded Gregory somewhat of how Sunset Shimmer appeared at the end of the first Equestria Girls movie, just like Spike had mentioned earlier. As the other demons drank in his features, he looked at them a bit more closely. He saw that, while they all had similar general features, there was enough variety in their faces, height and appearance that they could be distinguished, much like how it would be for humans. There were males and females among them and while most looked rather young and fit, there were a few older and scarred looking demons among them. And all were looking at Gregory with wide eyed astonishment.

Confused, Gregory turned to the first demon. “What’s going on?”

“Ah, sorry ‘bout them,” the first demon said, “it’s just that you’re the first human they’ve seen in a very long time. The first pure human, anyway.”

Gregory furled his eyebrows. “I’ve got a feeling that there’s a long story behind that, as well.”

“It is,” the demon said, “but we can tell y’all about it later.” The demon then looked down at Rarity, Lady and Spike. “Are them ponies and that young dragon your traveling companions?” he asked, looking suspiciously at the ponies. The other demons looked tense as well.

“They are, and they’re under my protection,” Gregory said.

When the demon heard this, he seemed to relax and held up a hand towards the others, who also relaxed a bit more. He then looked at Daenerys. “And this is your drake?”

“Yes.”

The demon nodded. “She’s a gorgeous young drake.”

“Thank you,” Gregory said, not taking his eyes off of the demon.

The demon turned back and looked at Gregory. “Can I look at her up close? I promise I won’t hurt her none.”

“First, I want to know who you are and why you were following us,” Gregory said, eyes focused on the demon in front of him.

“I’m sorry, where are my manners?” the demon said apologetically. “Howdy. It’s nice to meetcha. My name’s Floyd Johnson, and I’m a sergeant in the Tartarus Rangers.”

“I’m Gregory Graystone, Griffonian Chancellor,” Gregory replied, initially confused as to why this demon had a human-like name until he remembered that a few other creatures in Equestria had names that were human-like, like Steven Magnet. Clearing his throat, he gestured to the others. “These are my companions. Miss Rarity, Element of Generosity, Lady Serenity, Spike the dragon and my friend and drake Daenerys.”

Floyd nodded his head politely at everyone, albeit a bit more strained towards the ponies, something Gregory didn’t miss. He then looked back at Gregory. “It’s good to meet you all. Now, I hope you’ll pardon my askin’, but what happened to you?” Floyd asked. “How did y’all get into Tartarus from the surface? I’m guessin’ you’re from the surface.”

“We are,” Gregory replied, “and like I said earlier, it’s a long story.”

“Ah yeah, I get it,” Floyd said. “You’re just lucky you haven’t run into anythin’ dangerous so far.”

“Yeah, guess we have been lucky so far,” he replied.

Floyd nodded. “You can tell us your story later,” Floyd said. “First things first: we need to get you back to where we’ll all be safe. It’s nearly crystalset, and you don’t want to be out after dark.”

Gregory wasn’t too sure if he could trust these demons, but at the moment he saw no choice. They outnumbered the five by almost three to one, and Daenerys was too tired to fly still. He looked at Floyd. “No offense meant, Mr. Johnson, but how do I know you and the others here aren’t leading us into some sort of trap? I don’t know anything about Tartarus.”

“And for all you know, we could be some nasty cannibals, right?” Floyd finished. “I suppose I can’t blame you for being so suspicious, but if we wanted you dead, we would have come up lookin’ like this.”

As Gregory watched, he started to see Floyd become semi-transparent. Even his clothes seemed to become see-through. Soon, Floyd was almost completely invisible. Not entirely so, since Gregory could see a faint outline, but enough that if they had been cloaked like this, nobody would have been able to see them. As Floyd began to reappear, Gregory raised an eyebrow. “Impressive ability,” he said, “but it doesn’t really assuage my concerns.”

“I understand, Mr. Graystone,” Floyd said, “but if you can’t trust me, then perhaps you can trust your drake?”

“Why her?” Gregory asked.

“Let her smell me,” Floyd said.

That gave Gregory pause. “Um, what?”

“Let her get my scent,” Floyd clarified. “She should recognize what I smell like.”

“How so?” Gregory asked. “It’s not like there are beings like you up on the surface.”

“Our ancestors once lived up on the surface,” Floyd explained, “but they ended up here over a thousand years ago. We were good friends with the drakes. Please, let yours smell my scent. If you can’t trust me, then trust her.”

Lady was next to Gregory in a heartbeat. “Don’t listen to them,” she said with a frown as she glared at Floyd. “Demons aren’t to be trusted.”

Gregory then saw a change come over Floyd’s face along with those surrounding them. He looked insulted as she bared her teeth at Lady Serenity. Gregory saw that the canines were slightly more pronounced than his own, almost like those of a vampire. “We ain’t demons, pony,” he almost snarled. “That’s what y’all call us up there, but we ain’t the servants of Lucifer.”

Gregory, trying to head off a confrontation before it started, stepped up and moved between the two ponies/young dragon and Rosa. “Calm down, everyone. You’re only gonna make things worse,” he said to his companions before he turned to Floyd. Choosing his next words carefully, he added, “Please forgive them. You do have an uncanny resemblance to mythical depictions of demons from where I’m originally from. Red skin, wings, horns, stuff like that.”

Floyd took a deep breath, then held up his hands to the others. He then looked at Gregory. “Sorry ‘bout that. We don’t take kindly to bein’ called demons. I know we look like ‘em, but we ain’t demons.”

“I’m sorry for our assumption,” Gregory replied. “What do you call yourselves, then? Just so we don’t accidentally offend anyone?”

Floyd smiled. “We ain’t gonna get offended by ignorance, Mr. Graystone, don’t worry about that. But to answer your question, we’re novans.”

“Novans, huh…?” Gregory said. “Where’d you get that name?”

“Our old homeland on the surface,” Floyd explained.

The pieces began falling into place. Gregory’s eyes widened as he remembered the story that Dragon Lord Ember had told him about the first humans on Gaia. “Nova America,” he said softly. “Are you telling me that your ancestors were once human?”

Floyd nodded. “Yes, we were. Until we were separated from the dragons. But that’s a story for ‘round the campfire later. We need to get somewhere safe.”

“Safe where?” Gregory asked.

Floyd was about to answer, when an animalistic screeching sound was heard from behind them. Everyone looked towards the source of the sound. What Gregory saw made shivers go down his spine.

On the horizon, he saw a large flock of birds approaching their direction. They were too far away to pick out any detail, but they looked like they were fast approaching. Floyd’s wings rustled a bit. “Tartaran eagles,” he growled. Turning to Gregory and the others, he said, “We need to get to the McIntyre Cave immediately!”

“What are Tartaran Eagles?” Gregory asked.

“I’ll explain later,” Floyd said, “but right now we need to get everyone here somewhere safe. Those eagles are larger than your drake here and they’re wicked strong.”

“Can Daenerys travel through the caves?” Gregory asked.

Floyd nodded. “It’ll be a tight squeeze, but she’ll fit.”

Gregory turned to Daenerys. “You good to walk for a bit more?” he asked worriedly. She stood and looked down at him. Gregory could have sworn she was smiling a little bit despite being tired. Gregory smiled despite himself, walked up and put his hand on her front leg. “Just hang on for a little while longer, okay? We’ll hopefully be safe soon.” He turned to Floyd. “Well, guess the choice has been taken from us. After you.”

Floyd nodded and looked at the other novans around him. “Isaac, you and your team stay on the ground to guard us. George, you and your team fly.”

Half of the novans spread their wings and took to the skies, swords and spears in hand. As Floyd began leading them down the mountain towards wherever these McIntyre Cave was, Rarity moved closer to Gregory. “Are you sure we can trust these creatures? I’ve heard stories about demons-er, novans, I mean. And they’re far from pleasant.”

“The same type of stories you heard from Twilight about humans?” Gregory snapped at her.

“I…right,” Rarity said, ears flattened and her face morose.

Feeling guilty, he sighed. “Sorry…that came out wrong.”

“But it’s the truth,” Rarity said. “All I’ve heard about these novans I learned from myth and legends. I’ve learned nothing.”

“Instincts are very hard to unlearn,” Gregory said as they continued walking down towards what looked like an entrance to a rather large cave. The loud screeching of the eagles brought his mind back to the present. “We can talk about it later! Right now, we’ve got to move! You, Lady and Spike get to the cave as fast as you can! Carry Spike on your back if you have to!”

“And what about you?” Lady asked as Rarity knelt low enough for Spike to climb onto her back.

“I’ll be right behind you!” Gregory said, hoping that he hadn’t just jinxed himself. “I’m not leaving Daenerys. Now go!”

Whinnying, Lady and Rarity began galloping towards the cave entrance, being guarded by two nearby novans. Floyd and three other novans stayed behind to stand protectively around Daenerys and Gregory. As they ran as fast as they could towards the cave, Gregory looked up at his drake. “Are you still strong enough to breathe fire if we need to?” Daenerys, not taking her eyes off of the cave, inhaled sharply then opened her mouth. A large burst of flame came from her mouth before she stopped, looked down at Gregory and grinned. Gregory grinned back. “If they get close and start to attack, let ‘em have it!”

Fortunately, luck seemed to be on their side as they reached the caverns before the eagles arrived. Gregory and Floyd were the last to enter. Curiosity got the better of Gregory as he looked out to see these Tartaran eagles. He only caught a small glimpse of them, but it was enough for him to immediately recognize them. He’d seen one in the show, after all.

Tartaran eagles were just another name for rocs, the same creature that had chased the show’s version of Spike when he was going through his molt.

“Come on, we gotta git movin’,” Floyd said as he grabbed Gregory’s arm and pulled him deeper into the cave that was lit with torches made of glowing crystals. Once they were safely in the cave, Floyd pulled a large stone door shut, leaving them in the dimly lit cavern. And it was just in time, too. Gregory could hear loud ear-splitting screeches from outside and loud scratching as one of the rocs attempted to get into the cave. Floyd slammed his fist against the door and shouted, “Git along there! Shoo! Shoo!” Then he opened his mouth and mage a loud screeching noise of his own. It was loud enough that Gregory, Rarity and Lady all had to cover their ears. Oddly enough, Spike and Daenerys didn’t seem to affected.

When he stopped, Gregory removed his hands from his ears, only to hear nothing but silence from behind the door. Floyd turned and grinned at him. “Just a little trick we picked up to get rid of ‘em. Now c’mon. Let’s get you into the city.”

“What city?” Gregory asked.

Floyd chuckled. “You’ll see. I promise you’ll love it.” So saying, he turned and walked past the others, leading them into the cave system.

As they continued deeper into the cave, Gregory noted that it was barely big enough for Daenerys to walk through, but he walked close in front of her, leaning against her as they walked. She nuzzled him affectionately as they continued walking down.

At one point during their journey, he was approached by an admittedly attractive demon woman. She was wearing the same type of clothing as the others. She introduced herself as Rosa Browning, a medic in the Tartarus Rangers. It was then that Gregory finally discovered what Floyd had meant by the scent remark. Daenerys had been initially reluctant to let Rosa approach, but after the medic let the drake sniff her hand, Daenerys’ behavior around the novans changed completely. She was welcoming and even looked a little excited.

Rosa had a stronger southern accent than Floyd, and she was interested to learn more about Gregory and other humans. However, he gently but firmly rebuffed her advances. He did promise, however, that when he was feeling up to it, he’d be glad to talk more with her later.

While they walked, the novan Rangers gave some of their own water supply to them, letting them better quench their thirst. Since the two ponies were vegetarian, most of the bits of food the novans had weren’t palatable to them, so Gregory gave Rarity and Lady each two full bars while a couple novans gave them small bits of hard tack bread. To Gregory, Spike and Daenerys, the novans gave some type of jerky and small sips of soup. That began to help revive everyone, including Daenerys, who looked more awake than before.

By the time he saw a light coming from the end of the tunnel, his shirt was almost drenched in sweat because of the exertion. He drank some of the last of his own water, which was still cold, and poured some into his hand to splash into his face. It cooled him for a bit as they reached the bright entrance. The moment they stepped through, Gregory was temporarily blinded by the sudden onslaught of light that seemed to be brighter than the outside had been. As his eyes adjusted, he could hear Rarity from nearby gasping as she said, “Sweet Celestia…what is that?” She sounded like she was in awe.

“How is it floating like that?” Spike asked.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Lady said.

Finally, Gregory’s eyes adjusted, and as his vision cleared, he found himself standing in a small clearing with a cobblestone road that led out of the cave. On either side of the road, he saw grass. Actual honest to God green grass. He walked out and saw that the road led to a set of stairs which in turn led down to a massive stone bridge that crossed over a massive circular depression in the earth. He saw a few waterfalls falling into the depression

And there, hovering above the depression and connected by a number of massive bridges, Gregory saw a floating island.

The island itself was circular, with a very light slope that lead up to the center of the island, where a large building that looked like a castle was located. Surrounding the castle itself was a circular lake that acted a lot like a moat. There were two larger concentric circles of water around two other circles of land, and beyond that was a verdant and green paradisical landscape dotted with small forests, grassy plains, hills, valleys, small streams, large ponds and lakes, and farmland. Within the concentric circles of land, Gregory could see more buildings that seemed to be several stories high. There were four large roads that lead into the inner city, making the island look like a compass. The roads were connected to the four bridges connected to the slopes of the mountains surrounding the island and the chasm below. On the slopes of the mountains, which on this side seemed to have more vegetation, Gregory saw a number of other buildings, most looking like houses. There were a few waterfalls that fell down into the chasm from the few rivers that led to the edge of the island, which for the most part was protected by a large white wall save for the gates that led in and the rivers that poured out into waterfalls.

When he registered the fact that the light falling on the city seemed to be almost like sunlight, he turned and looked up into the sky, only to see a large blue expanse of sky. And nearing one side of the mountain range, a large yellow sun was almost about to move beyond the mountain range. He was speechless as he looked over at Floyd. He tried to say something, but the words stuck in his throat. “Wh-what…?”

Floyd grinned, then gestured to the island. “Welcome, everyone! Welcome to Atlantis!”

Atlantis

/ət-ˈlan-təs/ noun

Atlantis is a mythical island first mentioned by the ancient pony historian Verity. According to most myths about it, Atlantis is said to be an island oasis located somewhere hidden away from the world. The Atlanteans who lived there were said to possess special magical abilities as well as advanced technological abilities for their time. The island apparently sank due to some unknown disaster.

30: Hello From The Other Side

Canterlot City, Early Evening…

The shower turned on, and the middle aged man stepped in, closing the glass door that kept the water from spilling onto the small single bathroom. The man was a rather lanky amber yellowish gray skinned man with light yellow eyes and crimson pupils. Almost all of his hair was a raven black, but there were signs of aging as the black hair showed spots of white and silver on both sides of his head around the ears. He sported a thin white goatee on his chin that was immediately wet from the shower water running all along his body.

Canterlot High School’s student counselor, one Discord Seed, sighed contentedly as the warm water washed over his body. Despite the school year having been over and the students being out for summer vacation, it had been a rather long day for him. He was normally not so busy, only having a handful of students to see during the year. He’d seen only two students that day. Moondancer, who was a transfer from Crystal Prep and who was seeing Discord for mostly academic help in terms of what possible colleges to go to after graduation, and Fluttershy, who came to see him even during the summer to help with her social anxiety.

Today, however, Discord had listened to Fluttershy relay a story that one of her friends had told her only a few days ago. According to her, the place where Sunset Shimmer had called home, an alternate universe known as Equus, had received a human visitor who managed to retain his normal human form. He’d tried to befriend the ponies there, but had spend three years being abused and neglected to the point where he’d lost sight in one eye and had scars from a lightning strike across his chest. Despite outwardly listening with personal detachment, Discord had been horrified by the abysmal treatment this human had received from ponies.

Discord had met a number of times with their resident pony turned human, Sunset Shimmer, after her defeat at the Fall Formal some five or so years ago. He’d been one of the humans Sunset had temporarily hypnotized during that night, but during their own sessions, he grew to learn that Sunset was just like any other human her age. It had been a cry for attention. She was deeply hurting inside, and until then had no idea how else to deal with her feelings of abandonment mixed with a sense of superiority. But thanks to her new friends and the sessions with Discord, Sunset was growing up and had begun to accept herself for who she was, flaws and all.

During their sessions, Discord had admitted curiosity about her original home, and while initially Sunset had been reluctant to talk about her old world, once she’d grown more accustomed to Discord, she’d begun to open up about her world. She told him about how instead of this world, where humans were the only dominant species, ponies were just one of many races who were capable of thought and wisdom. Some creatures that didn’t talk even on this world, like sheep and cows, could talk in Equestria. She described that world’s version of Canterlot, which unlike in this world, was more like a medieval city nestled in a mountainside. Sunset had even drawn a few images from memory of the Equestrian Canterlot to show to Discord. It had fascinated him to see such an unusual looking castle looking like it was just hanging precariously off of a cliff.

She also described the pony core beliefs, namely the philosophy of the Tenets of Harmony. It all boiled down to six general concepts: Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, and the Magic of Friendship. Ponies of each of the three races, earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns, all swore by these tenets.

When Discord pointed out that these sounded like a religion, Sunset admitted that it did, especially since according to mythology, a being the ponies knew as The Maker, or Eurynome, had created the world thousands of years ago. Unlike religion in the human world, there were no churches or cathedrals. Ponies didn’t do worship like humans did, going to church every Sunday and such. Instead, Sunset said that they mostly just followed the teachings of Harmony in their everyday lives.

A few months ago, however, Sunset had stopped talking about Equus altogether, and had been quite sharp with Discord when the subject somehow came up. She’d apologized for her harsh words, but during their once every two week sessions since, the conversation had steered clear of her old world. Instead, she’d been focusing on more trivial matters, like her gaming channel Shimmer Code or even some academic advice.

Discord had been a school counselor for many years, so he knew when not to push, but he had grown worried about Sunset’s shift in behavior. However, after hearing Fluttershy’s retelling of Sunset’s story and hearing the former’s worry about the latter, Discord had a good idea just what might have happened.

Her core beliefs had been shaken by the abhorrent actions of the pony versions of her friends. She was having a hard time dealing with the emotions, or so he surmised. Fluttershy had told Discord that Sunset had given permission for Fluttershy to tell him. He suspected that during his next session with Sunset, he might need some extra tissues.

Discord put his hand to his chest, running his hand across his own lightning scar, which stretched from his left shoulder down to his right hip, crossing his chest with a slight curve. It was a reminder of his own brush with lightning when he was a boy. Ponies might be able to shake off a lightning strike with ease, but humans had no wings or magic. He remembered the excruciating pain he’d felt along with the sickening smell of burnt flesh. He remembered the time in the hospital and his mother being both scared for him and lecturing him about his reckless actions and pranks having caused the accident. She’d apologized later in life about her lecturing him at that time, but it had been a turning point in Discord’s life. He’d taken her words to heart and had pulled back on his relentless pranking. The doctors had said that it had been a miracle he survived at all.

He realized that he’d just been standing underneath the shower for who knew how long. It was a bad habit of his. Quickly grabbing his shampoo bottle, he lathered up his hair…

When he was finished with his shower, he stepped out and dried off, got dressed in a pair of moderate amaranth shorts and a plain brown t-shirt, and walked over to the living room. He turned his rotating fan on him to help keep him cool, sat down in his recliner and turned on Canterlot News Channel 8.

“-have now confirmed that the unusual fossils located in the Crystal Mountains little less than three weeks ago are in fact genuine,” the newswoman, one Nosy News, was saying as his small flatscreen turned on. “Scientists are unsure whether or not this is a new species of dinosaur or not, but the internet is calling this newly discovered species a dragon.”

Discord raised an eyebrow. Canterlot was a quiet city, so it wasn’t unusual for news stories to remain current for days at a time. He’d heard about this archaeological discovery, of course. An archaeologist named Fossil Rock had made a discovery in the Macintosh Hills near the southern end of the continent about three weeks ago, but the discovery had only been made public a week prior. He and his team, which included famous novelist and amateur archaeologist A. K. Yearling, had discovered a strange fossilized reptilian in a large cave system. The reptilian had large wings. Like many, Discord had initially believed that this was a prank, but as he’d kept an eye on the story, the evidence had apparently been mounting that it was a genuine find.

He continued watching the story as the news displayed images of the fossils as they had been excavated. The head itself was larger than a human, which struck Discord as impossible, but then again, he wasn’t a scientist himself so what did he know? He smirked at the thought that perhaps young Twilight Sparkle, another one of his patients, would be more knowledgeable about this discovery than he would be.

Just then, Discord’s phone began to ring from the endtable beside him. Grabbing the remote, he muted the news before he picked up his phone. Caller ID showed that it was the school’s VP, the younger sister of his old ex-girlfriend, Principal Celestia Solaris. He answered the call and brought the phone to his ear. “Hey, Vippy. What’s up, as the kids would say?”

He heard a sigh from the other end. Discord might be a more serious person now, but he would occasionally mess with Luna Nightingale. “Discord, must I remind you not to call me such an asinine name? Just call me Luna.”

Discord smirked a bit, revealing his perfectly straightened teeth, the one abnormally large canine teeth that he’d referred to as his fang having been pulled out and replaced with an artificial one. “You know I can’t resist sometimes.”

“Why my dear sister ever dated you is beyond my comprehension,” Luna said, sounding exasperated.

Discord shrugged. “Yeah, you and me both,” he said in an amused tone. He no longer loved Celestia like he had when the two of them had gone out, but he still considered her one of the very few friends he had. Luna was another. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

“Ah, yes,” Luna said, clearing her throat on the other line before she continued, “You are ready for tomorrow, I trust? You are all packed for this cruise?”

Discord nodded. “I spent a lot of time today buying things for the trip. I have a couple more things to pack, but I’m practically ready. But you didn’t just call for that, did you?”

There was a pause on the other end, and then Luna spoke again, sounding a bit quieter than before. “Have you noticed Sunset Shimmer acting a bit more unusual as of late? Perhaps more morose?”

Discord raised one of his bushy white eyebrows. “Where’s this coming from?” he asked.

Luna sighed. “Discord, you know how much I’ve worried about that girl ever since the Fall Formal. She reminds me of myself. I have had my run ins with the law, even the time when my sister turned me in and I spent time in jail. I do not want her traveling down a similar path.”

“Aaah, so that’s it,” Discord said in understanding. “You want to make sure she’s a better person than you.”

“We-I am worried about her,” Luna said.

“Lulu, you worry about school admin shit, and let me worry about her mental wellbeing,” Discord said. “That’s what you pay me the not-so-big bucks for, anyway.”

“I know you take pride in your job, and my sister and I have seen the results firsthoo-firsthand, but I just wanted to be sure,” Luna said.

Discord smiled. “Yeah, I get that, but trust me, I have reason to believe things will change for the better soon. This cruise might be a good thing for her and her friends. There have been so many magical mishaps ever since that pony princess came through the portal that they’re bound to need a break away from school and Canterlot altogether.”

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds. Then Luna finally said, “I guess I was foolish to assume that you didn’t have things under control. Do you think that mayhaps you might talk to her on this cruise as the counselor?”

“That’s up to her, Lulu,” Discord said. “If she wants to talk to me about whatever might be bothering her, she can.”

“Truly, Discord, you are a Godsend,” Luna said. “Apologies for calling about this, but I couldn’t help but be worried.”

“Hey, no worries. I’ll see you and old Sunbutt tomorrow.”

As he hung up the phone, he was satisfied to hear Luna sputtering in embarrassment. After all, who would know about Celestia’s sun shaped tattoo on both sides of her behind but those who’d seen her naked?

Canterlot City, Horseshoe Bay Harbor, The Next Morning…

Sunset watched in amusement as Twilight went through her bags for what was probably the hundredth time. Her fellow high schooler was rummaging through her bag, Spike retrieving everything she pulled out and bringing it back to her.

It was ten minutes to nine in the morning, the time when boarding aboard the Luxe Deluxe would begin boarding. Sunset, Twilight, and the other students of Canterlot High were all standing on a large dock in the morning sunlight. The sky was cloudless and the wind blowing in from the ocean had that telltale salty smell that she remembered from her trip to the beach with her friends every past summer since her reformation. Nearby, she saw her other friends waiting for one of the crew to come and begin checking their tickets. Rarity was, unsurprisingly, putting on some sort of cream on her exposed skin. Fluttershy was sitting on her suitcase, fiddling with her hair. Rainbow Dash was using her superspeed to run up and down the dock, looking at the massive multicolored cruise ship. Pinkie Pie was eating one of her signature breakfasts, the same one that Sunset had seen her eat on their glamping trip to the Starswirl Music Festival. Applejack was just staring at the boat with a look of trepidation and a hand on her stomach.

Concerned, Sunset walked over to the Stetson wearing teen. “AJ, are you alright?”

Jumping in alarm, Applejack looked over at Sunset. “Shoot, sugarcube, yah startled me,” she said, taking in a deep breath and releasing it. “Ah’m just fine. Just a mite nervous, is all.”

“Lemme guess, you get seasick,” Sunset said, giving her a wry look as she crossed her arms.

Color came to the cowgirl’s cheeks. She looked around, then moved in and whispered, “It’s a bit embarrasin’. Ah mean, ah can ride me a horse at tip-top speed, ah can ride a bull better than most other folks mah age, hell, ah could even handle that roller coaster at Equestria Land. But ah’ve never been good on boat rides. Ah even get sick inner tubin’.”

Sunset smiled knowingly. “I understand. Hang on, I bet Twilight has something. Twilight!”

Twilight, who was just beginning to pack up her bags again, turned. “Yes?”

“Do you have anything in there for motion sickness?” Sunset asked.

Her eyes brightened and she nodded, once more rummaging through her bag. Spike rolled his eyes as he once again began to bring the items that Twilight was throwing out back to her. A few moments later, Twilight brought out a small medicine bottle. “Here we go! This should help!” She handed it to Sunset.

Sunset looked at the instructions briefly before handing the bottle to Applejack. “Take one pill every twelve hours,” she said.

“Yer a lifesaver, Twilight,” Applejack said as she popped the lid, grabbed a water bottle from her backpack and swallowed the pill. “Ah feel better already!” she said as she handed the bottle back to Twilight.

“Just let me know when you want the next one,” Twilight said, shaking the bottle. “There’s plenty to spare.”

“Guys! Guys!” Rainbow Dash shouted, rushing up to the group with an excited look in her eyes, “They have a swimming pool! And a stage! We can play our new song there!”

“I’m On A Yacht? But darling, it isn’t quite ready yet,” Rarity said, looking over at Sunset. “Is it?”

“No, not yet,” Sunset said. Ever since she’d learned that they would be going on a cruise ship, Sunset had been quietly writing a song she could record in her apartment, but when Rainbow Dash had learned about it, she managed to convince Sunset to make it a song that the entire band could sing. She had kept the original lyrics and notes, and was tweaking them so that they could all sing something. She was about eighty to eighty five percent done, but it was taking a bit longer to finish than she’d anticipated.

“Oh, do you need help with it?” Fluttershy offered.

“If I do, you’ll be the first person I call,” Sunset said.

“Well, well, well, good morning, everyone,” a familiar male voice called from behind them all. They turned to see the school’s counselor Discord walking up along with Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna. All three were wearing more casual clothes than anyone there was used to seeing. “Nice day for a cruise, isn’t it?”

“Hello, Mr. Seed,” Sunset said politely. Unlike the now deceased draconequus, this human Discord was a lot nicer than the Equestrian version. Sunset knew he took his job very seriously, and he hadn’t pushed for Sunset to tell him anything she wasn’t comfortable discussing. He would listen patiently, ask questions to keep the conversation going and sometimes even share bits about his own personal life. He might have a strange physical appearance, but once anyone got past that, they realized that he was genuinely interested in helping out students.

“Good morning, Miss Shimmer,” Discord said with a polite nod and smile. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out an old style gold pocketwatch and opened it. “Ah, we’re right on time.”

Principal Celestia nodded, then turned to the gathered students. “Okay, everyone! It’s almost time to board! Please get out your boarding passes and IDs,” she said.

As Sunset began doing the same, pulling out the ID that she’d managed to con her way into getting when she’d arrived in this world all those years ago, she felt a presence coming up to her. Looking up, she saw that it was Vice Principal Luna. To Sunset’s surprise, the vice principal was looking at Sunset with a worried expression. Confused, Sunset turned to face her. “Is something wrong, Vice Principal?”

Luna was giving Sunset a look of worry and pity. “I was hoping to see if you were alright. I have noticed that lately, you have been, shall we say, distracted.”

Sunset frowned, immediately annoyed. A part of Sunset never really liked it when anyone pitied her. It made her feel like some helpless filly when she wasn’t. She’d managed to make a living for herself here. Granted, she’d managed to melt down and sell the bits that had been on her when she came through the portal for a tidy sum. A sum she’d placed in the bank and had been using for years to pay the rent on her cheap apartment. She’d managed to get identification simply by using her charm. She knew that, when compared to most human women, she was an extremely attractive one. She’d been a great actress back in Equestria and used that to her advantage to get her identification in order. She’d even gotten a part time job recently at the mall’s gaming store to supplement her dwindling funds, although she had some help from beyond the portal. Spike had tossed through some bits for her to replenish her own funds, and that had helped a great deal despite her wanting to toss them back.

Sunset shrugged. “I’m alright,” she said.

Luna’s brow furled and she put a tender hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “If you wish to talk with me about anything that may be troubling you, please do so. My cabin is always open.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. The Vice Principal’s normal speaking cadence was different. It was as if she’d stepped out of some historical novel all of the sudden. And there was something else. Luna’s eyes, those moderate cyan eyes, seemed to radiate something that Sunset had only seen once before. They reminded her of Princess Celestia’s eyes. “I…thank you,” was all that Sunset could say.

Luna smiled. “I don’t know if you will believe this, but I understand how you must have felt after the Fall Formal,” she said. “All that guilt and shame weighing you down? Wanting to make things right only to feel like it will never be enough? It feels like you are unworthy of the love and support given to you by your loved ones, doesn’t it?”

Sunset’s eyebrows both shot up. That was exactly how things had felt for her during those first few months after Princess Twilight and the others had fired the Elements at her. It hadn’t helped that the Elements method of punishing her had been to show her every instance of the suffering she’d caused other students. She’d felt the sheer terror of her and the hatred that many students had of her during her reign of terror. She’d even experienced the pain of her old mentor at having lost Sunset and her guilt over having chased the young unicorn away. Her cleansing might have lasted a few seconds, but to her it felt like a lifetime. “Y-Yes…but how did-?”

Luna held up her other hand. “I have had moments in my life that I am most definitely not proud of,” she said in an understanding tone. “I have had my moments of feeling unworthy of forgiveness, and I still do sometimes. I also have my moments of anger.” Luna looked deeply into Sunset’s eyes. “I have noticed that you have been holding in some anger unlike any I have seen from you, even before Princess Twilight and the others cleansed you. I know because it was the same anger I felt before my arrest.”

Sunset’s jaw dropped. “Arrest? You were arrested?!” she gasped in shock. She thought she’d known everything there was to know about Luna in this world, but apparently not.

“Hush now,” Luna said, putting a finger to her lips. “It was long ago,” she continued, “and to make matters worse, my own sister was the one who turned me in. At the time, I hated her and wanted to see her destroyed. I was not in a good place.”

“But you two are friendly now, aren’t you?” Sunset asked in a quieter tone.

Luna nodded. “We are in a much better place than we were back then,” she replied. “Still, I must ask that you refrain from speaking of this to my sister. It is not something we wish to discuss openly.”

“O-Of course,” Sunset replied, immediately feeling like this was an order much higher above those of a Vice Principal.

Luna smiled and squeezed Sunset’s shoulder before letting go. “My offer still stands, young Miss Shimmer,” she said. “My cabin is open, and if you are uncomfortable speaking to me, perchance you might speak to our school’s counselor about it. Holding onto such anger is not healthy, as he would say.”

Sunset smirked a bit. Discord’s catchphrase, which he used seldom but had become associated with them, was that certain things weren’t healthy. “I’ll keep that in mind, Vice Principal Luna,” she promised.

Luxe Deluxe, Ten Minutes Later…

Principal Celestia opened the door to cabin number 1000, one of the ocean view rooms available on board the Luxe Deluxe. She looked around the room in awe as she set her suitcase down near the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Her room was almost twice as big as her bedroom was. Directly to her right, there was a deep evergreen couch facing the left wall. Opposite that was a desk with a lit up circular mirror hanging just above it. To the right of the couch was a door that led to a small bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower. Opposite that door was a large cabinet which had plenty of storage space for all of her belongings. To the right of that door was a full queen sized bed that was facing the right wall where a large flat screen television hung. It was nestled against the wall where a large rectangular window looked out at the bay. Celestia could see the horizon moving slightly thanks to the ship bobbing in the water.

Not wanting to waste too much time, she began to pull out clothes, toiletries, and other necessities that she figured she would use during the trip. It didn’t take her too long, however, and soon she was unpacked and lying on the bed. The bed itself was surprisingly comfortable and had a floral scent, possibly to match the pink floral patterns on the bed’s comforter. Above the desk, she saw that the room’s air conditioning and heating unit was off. Finding a small remote on the endtable next to her bed, she fiddled with the controls and turned it on at half capacity. Cool air came rushing in and she relaxed.

She’d needed this vacation, and when young Twilight Sparkle had volunteered to organize it and raise funds for it back during the spring three months ago, Celestia had given her permission to use the student parking lot for anything she might need. They’d done car washes, a Saturday sale where students sold things they didn’t need anymore, and so much more. Celestia was surprised at how quickly Twilight had raised. However, during the week where the Luxe Deluxe was meant to set sail, a massive storm of nearly Biblical proportions struck the town, shutting even the school down as it was too dangerous for anyone to leave their homes. Celestia had tried setting up classes online for at least a little while, but when power began going out across the city, she shelved that idea.

What had surprised her during that week, however, was that her ex-boyfriend Discord had gotten sick on the last day of the storm. In all the years she’d known him, Celestia had never known him to even get the cough or even the sniffles. Still, when she’d called him on that last day and heard her voice, she’d been stunned. She knew he’d never lie about being sick since he’d never once called in, but he had sounded terrible over the phone.

Fortunately, when school had opened the following week, he’d shown up at his usual time in his usual clothes, brown dress slacks and blazer, a yellow dress shirt and a blue tie, looking as healthy as a horse. When she’d asked about it, he said that he had been sick and that he had no idea where he’d gotten it or who might have given it to him. It had come upon him suddenly and without warning. He confided in her at one point that, in his delirium, he thought he would die. But when he’d woken the next morning, he was completely better.

Celestia sat up and stretched. She didn’t love Discord anymore, not romantically anyway. Still, she thought of him as one of the few adult friends she had, like her sister and Cranky Doodle. He could make her laugh.

As she leaned against the wall and looked out the window at the ocean, she let her mind wander. It had been a long time since she’d gone to the beach or even on a ship. She tried to think back to the last time she’d been on a ship. As her mind wandered, she slipped into a daydream…

“I don’t know ‘bout you,” Celestia said as she looked up at a massive older style ship with large sails, her hands on her hips as she grinned, “but I dare say the Constitution is ready for sailin’!”

She turned to her companion, an elderly white bearded man, with a proud grin. The man beside her was wearing a dark blue pointed hat with yellow stars and crescent moons sewn onto it along with bells sewn onto the wide brim. He had on a pair of gray boots, dark blue pants, a lighter blue robe which also had bells sewn to it, and a sky blue cloak with a hood. In his hand he held a large brown staff which was curved at the top, looking for all the world like a shepherd’s crook. He, too, was watching as other people walked around on deck of the ship, making final preparations for it to set sail. “Yes indeed,” he said, “I dare say it is. But was it truly necessary to mount those…cannons?”

Celestia looked back up at the ship, pulling her Stetson down to help alleviate the glare of the high noon sun. She saw the portholes where the dark black forms of the cannons now sat. There were three rows of cannons on each side of the ship, forged by their best smith out of the only iron deposits they could find. “You said there are monsters in this ocean,” she said, “and especially in the ocean. I ain’t ‘bout to let my people go out there without some firepower.”

Star Swirl inhaled and exhaled slowly. “I did say that, but you wouldn’t need them if you follow my directions to the other side.”

“I get that you’re worried,” Celestia said, “but we ain’t gonna use ‘em unless something attacks us first.”

The man stroked his beard thoughtfully as he stared at the newly christened Constitution. “I see,” he finally said. Turning to Celestia, he reached up and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m coming with you.”

Celestia looked at him with concern. “But aren’t ya goin’ home? Dontcha need to go soon?”

The man smiled up at Celestia. “If you follow my directions, you should be able to cross the ocean in a week. My way home will be lost to me in a week and a half. If you take that statue on board with you, I’ll be able to head home after I see you all safely across the ocean.”

Celestia was touched by this act of kindness. “You’d be willin’ to do that? Even after we treated you like some common criminal?”

The man chuckled. “Your actions were understandable, trust me. You’ve been stuck in this wasteland for a long time. I’m just glad you were here to help me. You’ve taught me a lot here, and I just hope that back home they can learn from my initial mistakes here.”

“Well, shucks, it was my pleasure,” Celestia said, nodding at him and giving him a tip of her hat. “Happy to help!”

He smiled and tipped his back…

Celestia opened her eyes with a start as a soft tone coming from the ship’s intercom woke her from her sleep. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” a deep male voice said over the speakers, “this is your captain, Iron Will, speaking, and welcome aboard the Luxe Deluxe. In about five minutes, we’ll be departing Horseshoe Bay for our weeklong cruise along the Wizard Islands. If you wish to make your way topside, now’s the time to do so.”

Sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Celestia sat up, stretched, then grabbed her sunhat. As she slipped on her sandals and headed out towards the main deck, she tried to remember more details about the dream she’d just had. However, all she could remember was a male voice, old, gruff, but wise. And even that memory seemed to be slipping away unusually fast.

She eventually found her way onto the deck where she spotted many of her students at the deck railing, looking over the vast ocean expanse. Near the bow, she saw her sister and Discord, leaning against the railing and talking. Smiling, she walked over to them. As she approached, she overheard Luna saying, “…my fault you could not simply keep quiet and tell on me?”

Discord simply smirked and replied, “Mom would have whooped my ass if I hadn’t told your parents.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “She wouldn’t have been that cruel.”

“No, but she’d have taken away some privileges from me for a month-Oh hi, Tia!” Discord said when he saw Celestia approaching.

“And just what were you two discussing when I came up here, hmm?” Celestia asked, crossing her arms and giving them both a playful glare.

“Lulu here was just reliving some old memories with me,” Discord replied, pointing a thumb at Luna.

“And what memory was that?” Celestia asked in amusement.

“Just the time where Luna tried to frame me for a prank on some of the neighborhood kids,” Discord grinned.

“I was a fo-child then!” Luna replied, sounding indignant.

Celestia raised an eyebrow at Luna’s unusual slip of the tongue, but ignored it as she grinned wider at Luna. “You always did love your pranks. Are you still bitter that Discord turned you in to mom and dad?”

Luna looked between Celestia and Discord, sputtering incoherently, causing the other two adults to laugh at her. Finally regaining control of her voice, she crossed her arms. “I had to wash every car I egged by hand! Not even with a hose! It was humiliating…”

Celestia walked over and put an arm around her. “Did you forget that I helped you for a little while before Mom told me not to?”

“Don’t forget moi,” Discord said.

Luna scowled a bit, but the smile that came back to her lips warmed Celestia’s heart. “Yeah, yeah…I know I was well deserving of such punishment, but the foolish part of me still feels bitter from time to time.”

Discord stood up straighter, then walked over to Luna. “Tell you what, then,” he said, “I hear they have triple cheesy nachos here along with a decadent chocolate cheesecake. After the ship starts, how about we go get some?”

Luna’s scowl instantly vanished at the thought of cheese. Celestia’s comfort food had always been cake, but Luna’s was anything cheese related, including cheesecake. Celestia smiled as Luna silently nodded. Discord then turned to Celestia. “What about you? I hear they have a triple choco-berry blasted butter biscuit Bundt cake~!” he sing-songed.

Celestia’s mouth began to water. That did sound delicious, but she’d had a big breakfast only an hour ago. “Mmm…maybe some other time, Discord.”

Just then, there was a loud horn blast from behind them, startling everyone. Celestia felt a slight rumbling from beneath her as the ship’s engines came to life beneath their feet. She instinctively grabbed a hold of the railings as she looked out at the ocean in front of them. “Aah…just smell that salty breeze,” she said after inhaling the sea air, “It’s been too long since I’ve been out to sea.”

Luna looked at Celestia with a raised eyebrow and some slight tension in her voice. “Tia, we’ve never been on a boat before today,” she said.

Celestia nodded. “Yeah, I know, but it reminds me of the times we’d come to the beach with Mom and Dad,” she said. “Good memories. Good memories...”

Luna relaxed at that and smiled. “I do remember those days too, dearest sister,” she said. She stood up straighter. “Well then, enough reminiscing about the past! Mr. Seed, you told me that there were cheese dishes to be had here. Lead me to them, post haste!”

“‘Post haste’? What is this, a Shakespeare play?” Discord asked with a smirk as he was dragged away by an eager looking Luna.

“Have fuuuun!” Celestia called back out as she turned towards the ocean once more. The land behind them was falling away fast, and the ocean in front of them was wide open and waiting to be seen and experienced. She closed her eyes and once more inhaled the salty ocean air. “I’m Princess of the world,” she muttered to herself, giggling like a child as she turned away and headed back to her cabin. She’d spotted some lounge chairs earlier, and now was as good a time as any to catch up on her backlog of novels…

Luxe Deluxe, Luna’s Cabin, Hours Later…

“Curses! Where didst I place that wretched device?!” Luna grumbled to herself later as she dug through her belongings. Her room, a mirror of Celestia’s own, was a mess, full of discarded clothes, toiletries and certain electronics, along with a tightly closed ink bottle, quill and an ancient looking leather bound journal. “I know I packed it! Aha!”

Luna sighed in relief as she pulled out a small golden chain. Hanging from it was a small crystal sphere. Inside the sphere were a number of simple golden circlets, all embedded in the crystal in equidistant locations around the sphere itself. Each circlet was glowing, all save for one. Luna looked at the non-glowing circlet. There was a large crack in the crystal that split the dead gold circlet in half. She sighed. “Well, ‘tis well that I brought this-” and then she stopped. The circlet next to the dead one was still glowing, but there was something wrong with it. Unlike the others that were emitting a steady glow, this one was oscillating. Luna peered closer at each part of the circlet. When she saw the small crack that had bisected the one circlet had spread. It was touching the oscillating circlet. “Oh no…” Luna said, a tremble in her voice as she turned to face the door. “Dear sister…you are about to remember…” She looked back at the crystal. “Not yet, not now,” she almost begged, “let her at least have the restful vacation she deserves…please…”

31: Aftermath Pt. 2

Badlands, The Morning After Gregory’s Banishment…

Jason and the one hundred changeling warriors he had asked Nictis to handpick for this impromptu rescue mission had been on the move all night, following an ancient map of the Badlands that Chrysalis had in her possession that led to an ancient changeling fortress. By the light of the moon, they’d tried to search for the location on said map, but there had been many centuries of change that had either altered or flat out erased the landmarks on the map.

Since Jason had no wings to speak of, certain changelings had taken turns carrying him, but for the most part Chrysalis and General Nictis had been carrying him. Both had attempted to talk to Jason, but he hadn’t really been in a talkative mood. He ignored the slight pain through his body as best he could, and had even accidentally fallen asleep a few times during the night, only to dream. In each dream, he experienced the torture he endured at the hooves of Ponyvillian ponies. Not only that, but he would experience the moment three months prior where he fatally shot Discord. And that nightmare was becoming more and more frequent.

Each time he woke from his nightmares, he would flail about in the grip of whoever had been carrying him. Whenever it was Chrysalis, she would bring him close to her bosom and stroke his graying hair gently. If it was Nictis, the general would ask if he was sure he didn’t want to land and rest for the night. However, Jason was too wound up to even think about resting. At one point, even Chrysalis talked about taking a break, but he’d refused. He reasoned that every moment they spent without searching was a moment that kept Gregory in that God-awful hellish landscape.

Before he came to Equestria back in April of 2014, he’d only ever heard of Tartarus when Twilight had mentioned it in the time travel loop episode. Back then, he’d laughed at how the purple unicorn had mispronounced Tartarus. But now? He’d read up on all of the literature there was to know on the subject from the Hive’s own scant library books. And it sounded like the actual place was a nightmare to be stuck in.

According to the book he’d read, an ancient changeling hive led by a queen named Metamorpha had discovered an ancient gated entryway into the cavernous wastes below their hooves. They had explored it and discovered that it was practically inescapable. Thus, Metamorpha had built a hive in that location. The gate was ancient but anyone caught on the other side would not even be able to teleport out. Metamorpha, who Jason later learned was a relation of Chrysalis, used Tartarus as a prison for any of her hive who broke their laws.

Jason couldn’t find a reason why the old fortress had been abandoned, but judging from the location, he guessed that they had been driven out by old pony settlers who were colonizing the Badlands at that time. Apparently, the now desolate desert had once been green and full of life until some unknown cataclysm had destroyed all life there.

He was broken from his reverie by Nictis, who was currently carrying him, leaning forward to get close enough to Jason’s ear to be heard. “Sir, is that it?” Nictis asked as he nodded his head toward the horizon.

Jason turned and looked in the direction they were heading. Ever since the evening before, they had been heading south, but now that the sun was beginning to rise in the east, the land below was beginning to be easier for his remaining eye to see it below him. Just like most of the Badlands, it almost looked like an analogue of Mars, with red rocks and dust everywhere. But just ahead of them, on the horizon, he saw something out of the ordinary.

At first glance, it looked like a pile of gray stones just sitting haphazardly between two large red hills which looked like a natural forming chair for a giant. However, as he blinked the sleep from his eye and focused as best as he could without any depth perception, he could see some artifice to the stones themselves.

As they got closer, Jason saw more and more details. There were two tall towers, both crumbling, on either side of the former hive. They sat in between what must have been a formally larger ziggurat type building which had fallen into heavy disrepair. There were two large statues of changeling queens situated at the front, each standing up with one hoof out. In a way, it reminded Jason of the Argonath from the Lord of the Rings movies. Each statue, unlike the stones that made up the abandoned hive, seemed to be made of the same material as the current changeling hive’s throne.

Jason looked down at the map and looked over the crude drawing of the ancient hive, then compared it to what he was seeing from above. Turning back to Nictis, he pointed down. “That’s it! Let’s go!”

Nictis nodded, then turned back to the other changelings. Opening his mouth, he released a rapid clicking noise, a form of communication unique to changelings. It was used whenever a group were in flight and normal speech was impossible thanks to the high winds.

At Nictis’ words, the changeling rescue party began to move down in synchronous motion. Beside Nictis and Jason, Chrysalis suddenly appeared and said a few words to Nictis. Nodding, the general passed Jason over into Chrysalis’ waiting arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, leaned in and said, “You found my mother’s old hive.”

Jason looked back into the anthropomorphic version of Chrysalis’ face in shock. He’d known that Metamorpha was in some way related to Chrysalis, but he hadn’t known she was the Duchess’ mother. To his further shock, there was a look of sadness on the former queen’s face. Nodding slowly, not sure how to deal with this new side of Chrysalis, he looked back down at the approaching ruins. “Yes. The old Metamorpha hive. And the location of the changeling’s doorway to Tartarus.”

He felt Chrysalis’ grip on him tighten. “I never thought I would live to see it…”

Jason wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. He was used to the Chrysalis who was snarky and, lately, a bit seductive. The same Chrysalis who had rescued him from the Everfree Forest and who had taken his suggestions on advanced armaments seriously. He wasn’t used to a vulnerable Chrysalis.

They landed in front of what at one point had been the front gates. The wood had rotted away, leaving rusted iron that had once been nailed to said door. Jason turned to Nictis. “Tell your soldiers to fan out,” he ordered with a sweep of his hand. “You’re looking for a massive iron set of double doors these markings on them.” He held up a picture of an arched double door with red markings along it, a circular emblem with waves inside two concentric circles, and a blue square near the bottom with four other squares carved into their edges. “Search everywhere just to be safe, but be cautious. These ruins are crumbling.”

Nictis nodded, turned to the other changelings and began barking out orders, his unusually sparkling wings fluttering in the early morning cool air as he took flight.

Jason took the time to look around. They were in a large courtyard which had, at one point, had a large fountain in the center. Whatever had been the spout had since turned to rubble. The water had dried up and the massive stone circle had large cracks in it. Around the courtyard’s dilapidated walls, he could see other crumbling statues of different changelings. If there were any identifying markers or nameplates, they had long since eroded away thanks to the dusty winds and occasional rains that would sweep through the Badlands.

However, Chrysalis seemed to know them, or at least some of them. In her human-like form, she walked around the courtyard, looking at them and mouthing what must have been their names with an awed expression on her face. She sometimes put her hands on the statues, wings buzzing behind her.

Jason, having nothing to do since he knew better than to go into rickety old ruin, especially since he couldn’t fly. He knelt and looked at the ancient craftsmanship of this old hive. The main tower loomed over them; the eastern portion now bathed in orange morning light as a few cirrus clouds flew by overhead. The wall around the courtyard blocked out the morning sun, but there was still enough light to see details.

He picked up a whole stone that had fallen out of a nearby wall and examined it. There was seemingly nothing special about it. Just a piece of stone that could have come from any type of medieval castle back on Earth. There were two staircases that led up to a landing which itself was connected to the main tower by a larger staircase. At the end of said staircase, a metal door had been apparently blown off its hinges, at least judging from the scar marks on its surface.

Curious, he gently made his way up the first flight of stairs, then up the second flight. He reached the door and knelt to examine it. It was lying on its side, having apparently been blown in by something. He ran his hand along the metal frame, staring at the fractal patterns that ran along the door. Those same types of patterns ran along his own body.

“Lightning strike,” he muttered as he slowly stood. The Badlands were known for their sandstorms which would occasionally produce static electricity in the form of large bolts of lightning. They were also known for their infrequent and violent thunderstorms.

“You find something interesting?” Chrysalis’ voice was close behind him, startling the human.

Turning, he saw that she was standing with her arms behind her back, leaning forward with a curious expression on her face. He stepped aside and pointed at the door. “Just an old lightning strike that blasted this door off of its hinges,” he said.

Chrysalis walked over and knelt down. He watched her motions in that new form of hers. She moved like she’d been humanoid her whole life. Then again, dragons had bipedal locomotion, so it was possible she’d used that as a base for this weird obsession with imitating his species. She touched the dark marks with her hand, then pulled back and hissed. “No…that’s not a natural lightning strike,” she said angrily as she stood and faced Jason. “It was cast there deliberately.”

“How can you tell?” Jason asked, looking back at the markings on the door. “How is lightning that’s cast different than a natural one?”

Chrysalis stroked her chin thoughtfully. “How to explain…?” she muttered, looking up at the sky as Jason saw the wheels in her mind turning. He’d seen that same expression before, especially during their planning of the invasion of Canterlot. Finally, she looked back down at him. “Natural lightning would not leave any patterns in the strike,” she explained, “just like how naturally forming snowflakes are all unique. But lightning that comes out of thunderclouds that pegasi form tend to leave behind trace patterns just like how all their artificial snowflakes look the same. Look here.” She knelt again and pointed to one of the side fractal branches. Jason leaned forward and followed her finger. “A lot of these marks have the appearance of randomness, but if you see this small pattern?” She pointed to a small line and pointed to three separate parts. “The exact same strike pattern.”

Now that Jason looked closer, he could see three identical markings. Something that was pretty much impossible. Morbidly curious, he turned to Chrysalis and asked, “Are there any patterns on me?” Chrysalis hesitated, but eventually nodded. “I’d like you to show me sometime.”

“Are you sure?” Chrysalis asked with a tone that sounded genuinely worried. “I know you don’t like talking about it…”

He shrugged. “They’re a part of me now. No sense in being afraid or embarrassed about them.”

“If you say so,” she said.

At that moment, they both heard a buzzing noise coming from the door. Standing back, Jason watched as Nictis came out, landed and bowed to Jason. “My Emperor, one of my soldiers has discovered a hidden chamber in the lower levels. There’s a door there matching what you told us to look for.”

“Show me,” Jason said as Chrysalis walked up and wrapped her arms around him again.

Once he was airborne with the Duchess’ help, Nictis and Chrysalis both lit their horns to help illuminate the interior and led them down dark passageways. In its heyday, this palace must have been a sight to behold. There were windows that looked like they had been stained glass, but all of them were shattered, their glass scattered on the stone floor below them. Most of the doors were now either rotted away or looked as if they’d been burnt down judging by the dark marks along the stone where they had once been. There were lantern sconces on the wall, and Jason saw that some of the more intact ones had broken crystals inside.

He saw the same lantern sconces on the wall when they reached a large arched entryway with the remains of two double doors having been pushed inward, pieces of ancient wood scattered along the stairs. Jason could smell the stench of rot and decay and could hear, aside from the humming of the changeling’s wings, the sound of water dripping from down the staircase.

Nictis didn’t even hesitate. He headed down the winding staircase with Chrysalis following. As they reached the bottom, Jason could hear the murmurings of the other changelings coming up the stairs. They were too indistinct for him to hear what exactly they were saying, but the tone sounded anticipatory.

When they reached the bottom and entered the door, Jason found himself standing in a massive but empty rectangular room. Cut into the walls on either side were what must have at one time been cages, but many of the metal bars had rusted away. There were small stalactites and stalagmites on the ceiling and floor, and standing opposite the door he’d just come through was a massive set of doors. It was larger than he’d anticipated, about four times as high as he was. The metal itself seemed untouched by age, but the stone archway surrounding it looked like it could come apart at any time.

He walked up to the spot on the door where a key would be put. He knelt and looked inside, but even thanks to Chrysalis’ light next to him, he could see nothing. Standing, he turned to her. “According to that book I found, this gate needs magic to open. Either that, or a key, but since we don’t have one, magic will have to do. Chrysalis? Think you can open this jar of pickles for me?”

Chrysalis bent down and looked at the hole. “Hmm…I think I can manage it,” she said as she lifted her horn, which began to glow its signature sickly green.

Jason stood back as the dark circle began to glow a bright white. From there, the light seemed to travel along what looked like a circuit board until it reached the four smaller squares, each of which rotated a hundred and eighty degrees. There was a rumbling sound as the ground beneath them shook. Once the squares had finished their rotation, the doors opened outward, sending the changelings moving back. A hiss of air came out of the door, and Jason could smell the slight scent of rotten eggs, and unless someone had thrown eggs down there recently, that only meant one thing. Sulfur.

He put his face covering over his mouth and nose as he looked at the empty blackness before him. This was unlike any darkness he’d ever seen before. Even the darkness of his old cave near Ponyville hadn’t matched this. It was like he was staring into the Void itself. A shiver ran down his spine, one of pure fear. However, he reached down, putting his hand on his pistol before reaching back and feeling the barrel of his new bolt action rifle. That and the presence of the other changelings around him reassured him. Turning to the changelings, he said, “Everyone, cast a filtration spell over their mouth and nose. We don’t know what foul gasses are spewing out down there.”

The changelings all complied, raising their horns and casting a spell simultaneously. A mask appeared over their mouths and noses, each one made of their glowing green magic. Before he could say anything else, however, he felt something forming around his own mouth and nose. Turning, he saw Chrysalis lowering her horn, nodding at him. “That piece of cloth won’t do you much good down there,” she said with a playful reproachful tone. “Those atoms you told me about can fit through cloth, right?”

Jason nodded, then returned his attention to the changelings. All of them were facing him and giving him their full attention. At one point, he’d have been severely annoyed by it internally but would have accepted it as a necessary evil of rule. Now? Now he didn’t mind it as much. He straightened as best he could, fighting through the dull ache he felt in certain areas of his body as he said, “Listen up,” he shouted so he could be heard. They straightened and waited. “We’re going into a place no changeling has gone in centuries. Maybe even millennia. Beyond this gate is Tartarus, a massive worldwide underworld. Nobody knows just what is actually down there, although Equestria has used it to lock up dangerous animals and their worst criminals who they want out of sight and out of mind!” This got a murmur of confusion from the changelings. “But we aren’t looking for any animal or criminal! We’re on our way down to search for and rescue the Chancellor of the Griffonian Empire!”

He nodded to Chrysalis who lifted her horn and projected an image. The changelings all seemed astonished by the form of another human. He was standing in what appeared to be an outdoor marketplace. He wore a pair of gray jeans, black boots, a brown leather jacket and a thick evergreen snowcap. He had the same color of skin as Jason and had long wavy brown hair and bright blue eyes. He was looking down at a gray griffoness and held what Jason identified as a taco. He pointed at the human. “This is Gregory Graystone. He arrived on Gaia only three months ago in Griffonstone. He has become the Chancellor there and has made strides in promoting equality for all creatures. He believes in it so much that he made a law that any creature could become a full citizen of the Empire with all the rights and privileges that entails! That man has been most heinously attacked! Someone in Equestria wants him out of the picture and sent him to Tartarus! We are going to go in to bring him back to his home nation. I won’t lie to you. This is a mission that very well may end up with us finding the Chancellor deceased. If one of our teams find his body, we’ll be returning it to Griffonstone so he can be properly buried.” He then turned to Nictis and nodded.

Nictis stood up straighter, put his hoof on his chest in the imperial salute, and turned to the hundred changelings in the room. “Not much is known about it other than myths and legends,” he began, “but in all that one thing is clear: Tartarus is a harsh and unforgiving place. It isn’t for the faint of heart, but I know you are all the best of the best. I’ve seen you in training and how you fought in the Equestria Venture. Once we are deep within Tartarus, I will be assigning you to five teams of twenty. Each team will have at least four receiver class drones along with fourteen warrior class drones and two master class drones. All five teams will be in constant telepathic contact and relaying relevant information back and forth.”

Chrysalis stepped forward. “Make finding this other human your top priority, my children. And watch out for any creatures within. If you are threatened and in danger of being injured, drain them, but don’t make any aggressive moves. We aren’t like those ponies!”

Jason watched as the hundred changelings all placed their right hooves on their chest in salute. He turned back towards the blackness beyond the door. “Soldiers…let’s move out!”

He took his first steps into the Gaian underworld…

Griffonstone Keep, The Morning After Gregory’s Disappearance…

“How in the beaking blue blazes did the news get out that fast?!” Grandpa Gruff shouted, slamming his fist on the table angrily. All around him, the remaining council members sat, all with worried and concerned looks on their faces. Well, concerned in a griffon’s own way. To any outsider, it might look as if the griffons were just looking like they’d eaten a sour piece of lemon, but anygriffon could tell even at a glance how worried the five griffons were. “It’s all over the rumor mill! Everything from a nonaligned terrorist group to an Equestrian invasion force teaming up with Arimaspi’s reincarnation intent on destroying the Empire! How in Tartarus did they find out about the Chancellor’s disappearance!?”

Outside the castle, the nor’wester continued pounding at the windows, covering the bottom portions of the glass with snow and creating whiteout conditions outside. Despite that, rescue operations for the Ponytown District had continued even overnight, with some dragons using their flames to keep the search areas lit during the night. Even some of the ponies who had escaped injury had joined in the search, with unicorns using their magic and earth ponies using their strength to lift debris and snow and pegasi flying the injured through the storm to the clinic and Griffonstone’s main hospital. Some braver pegasi had even tried to dispel the nor’wester with their ability to manipulate the weather, but due to the smaller amount of magic in Griffonia combined with the strength of the storm, they were unsuccessful.

“Did anygriffon here mention anything about the Chancellor being gone? Because I sure didn’t,” Gwendolyn said. She, like everygriffon else at the table, looked exhausted. She had been trying her best to track down whoever had hired the two ponies who had banished Gregory to Tartarus, and so far whoever had hired them had left it very hard to track. Before the meeting, she had been using the Eye of Osiris to follow a carrier who had delivered the letter of hire along with a bag of bits to another carrier, then another before it had reached the recipient. She knew she was close, however. She could feel it.

“I didn’t mention it,” Ambassador Geoffrey said. “I didn’t even tell my pride.”

“I didn’t either,” Gael said.

“Nothing here,” Ginna said.

“And I haven’t left the Keep since yesterday,” Grandpa Gruff said, “so how by Grover’s plumage are we getting griffons asking where the Chancellor is?! Not to mention the reports of other griffons demanding action because of his disappearance!”

Nogriffon at the table had ever seen the older griffon so agitated, and they were used to his grumpy attitude. Not that they could blame him. As early as sunrise that morning, messengers had come from the Ponytown District with some reports about rumors spreading about how the Chancellor had mysteriously vanished during the first few hours of the search, and the details of most of the rumors were scarily accurate to actual events.

Because of these rumors, many ponies were now being looked at with suspicion and mistrust by griffons, dragons and other non-pony species who called Griffonstone their home. There had already been reports of altercations between ponies and non-ponies, although fortunately no violence had been reported as of yet. The Ambassador had sent out more guards to keep the peace, instructing them to tell anycreature they found involved in an altercation that this would not be what the Chancellor would have wanted. Ever since he’d been appointed to the Council, he had advocated for equal rights for every sapient creature. Nocreature was to be excluded. And because the ponies who lived in the Ponytown District were now Griffonian citizens, violence against them would not be tolerated, and any violence they instigated would also not be tolerated.

“You think it could be our Equestrian visitors?” Ginna asked.

“I doubt it,” the Ambassador said. “Princess Celestia isn’t the type to spread rumors like that. I don’t know enough about that other princess of theirs, though. The purple one. I hadn’t met her until this week.”

“What about the Chancellor’s friends?” Ginna added. “That one changeling might have done it to try and destabilize the Empire.”

“It’s possible one of them might have told somecreature, but we can’t go around making baseless accusations without solid evidence,” Gwendolyn replied stoically. She leaned forward and folded her claws on the table. “If we did that, we’d be no better than the ponies who abused and tormented the Changeling Emperor Jason Wright. And I don’t know about anygriffon here, but I know the Chancellor wouldn’t want that.”

There was silence as the councilmembers absorbed that information. She was right, of course. Gregory was a big believer of gathering all the facts before making any sort of judgement or decision, and the council had begun to adopt a similar stance. While they were digesting her words, Gael turned to Gwendolyn. “Why don’t you use that magical sphere thingy of yours?” he asked. “Figure out if one of those ponies spread the news. Or somecreature who knows, that is.”

“I don’t use it to spy on anycreature who hasn’t committed a crime,” Gwendolyn replied harshly, perhaps a bit too harshly. “Besides, I’m currently in the process of trying to track down whoever hired those unicorns to spy on and banish the Chancellor to Tartarus.”

“How’s that going?” Geoffrey asked. “Are you making any progress?”

“Somewhat,” she admitted. “Whoever hired them went to a lot of trouble not to be caught. It looks as if they have a large network of couriers throughout Equestria.”

“Probably some rich bastard,” Grandpa Gruff growled angrily. He grabbed his breakfast fish and took a big bite of it, not even bothering to use the napkin provided to wipe the juices from his face. “Fucking ponies…”

“Is something I’ve never heard a griffon wanted to do,” Gwendolyn said automatically.

The mood in the room suddenly shifted. Gwendolyn had just quoted something that Gregory had said whenever Grandpa Gruff said what he’d just said. He used it to try and diffuse the older griffon’s anger, and it usually worked. The same thing happened in this instance. The older one-eyed griffon’s expression softened and he looked over at Gwendolyn with a grateful look in his one good eye. “Yeah…thanks.”

“Cat’s out of the bag, now,” Gael said, “and unless we make a statement, non-pony on pony violence may be a real possibility.”

“He’s right,” Gwendolyn said. “Lots of griffons are bitter at Equestria for closing their borders until recently. They may make an irrational leap and start looking at the ponies in Griffonstone with hatred. We should make some sort of official statement.”

“And just how do we spread the message?” Gruff asked, gesturing towards the window. “That storm is one of the worst we’ve had in decades. It could last for days!”

“Maybe we can help,” a familiar voice said from the doors.

Turning, the council saw that Gabriella, Gilda, Starlight, and Gallus standing in the doorway. Gabby had bloodshot but determined eyes, Gilda looked more worried than anyone in the room had remembered seeing her, Starlight had an equally determined look in her own eyes, and Gallus was looking between the council members with his own version of worry and determination. Grandpa Gruff stood. “What are you four doing here? And where’s the changeling Gracie?”

“Her real name is Ocellus,” Starlight said, “and she’s still trying to find the pony who wrote that letter. The spy in our midst.”

“We can go out and tell the city what happened,” Gabriella said. “The entire truth.” She looked over at Starlight, and a look of slight guilt passed over her eyes before she turned back to the council. “I know my Gregory wouldn’t want any violence here because of his banishment. Especially when the ponies here had nothing to do with it.”

“Yeah,” Gallus agreed, “they’re just trying to live their lives here. It’s not their fault.”

“If the council makes a statement and writes it down,” Starlight said, “I can make copies of it with my magic and we can deliver it to everyone in town. That way, there’s no confusion and false accusations.”

“And while we’re at it, we should include a statement urging citizens to remain calm,” Gwendolyn added. “Especially with this storm immobilizing our peacekeeping soldiers. I wouldn’t put it past some angry griffons to try to harm ponies out of some misplaced justice.”

“Revenge is more like it,” Gabriella said, sounding tired. “Unfortunately, I understand.”

Gilda put a claw on Gabriella’s back in a reassuring gesture. Starlight came up as well, but Gabriella initially flinched away. When Starlight looked hurt, Gabriella’s wings lowered and she looked at the unicorn. “I-I’m sorry,” she said, “I’m just…I’ve never felt this angry before…and I hate it! I hate that I’m so angry!” She dissolved into angry sobs as she buried her face into Gilda’s plumage. Starlight and Gilda both hugged her, and she wrapped her wings around her close friends. “I just want him back…” she sniffled.

“We should have demanded that the ponies let a search party go through their Tartarus Gate,” Gael said, fists clenched. “It’s closer than the ancient one in Egrypt.”

“Gael, we all know they use Tartarus as their dumping ground,” Ginna retorted. “You think they’d have let us go through and risk potentially releasing their prisoners and their dangerous animals?”

“Enough!” Gwendolyn shouted, slamming her fist down on the table, getting the attention of everyone in the room. “This bickering is pointless,” she continued, using a phrase Gregory would sometimes use whenever the council broke out into arguments. “I suggest we draft a message to the citizens and pass them out as fast as we can. Nor’wester or not, the rumors will continue to spread if we don’t stop them in their tracks.” She pulled out some paper along with a pen that Gregory had given her. One from his land. She pushed down on the top and the metal penpoint emerged. She put pen to paper. “Now then, let’s work fast. What should we say?”

The Dragon Lands, Cave Of The Dragon Lord, The Evening After Gregory's Disappearance…

Princess Ember, now known as the Dragon Lord, was seated at a simple stone table looking over some official Dragon Lands documents. Currently, she was reading one of the reports the latest roc hunt. The roc flocks had been increasing in activity as of late, so she had been assembling some of the best hunting parties in the Dragon Lands to eliminate the dangerous avians. Most had been spotted around the dragon hatching grounds, presumably looking for a quick meal in the form of dragon hatchlings.

If there was one thing she hated about being Dragon Lord, it was the paperwork that came with it. She had no idea how her father had dealt with it when he was the Dragon Lord, and he wasn’t around for her to ask for advice. He and her mother had gone south towards some of the more tropical islands at the edge of Dragon Lands territory for a second honeymoon.

Beside her, an older dragoness sat. Her name was Feldspar. She was about ten years older than the thirty year old Dragon Lord, but was very good at organization skills. She had dark purple scales with a bright red set of spines and two blue horns. Her eyes matched her scales in color and she was about a head taller than Ember.

Ember groaned as she pushed the set of papers in front of her away and hit her head down on the stone table a few times. “Ugh, this is torture!” she moaned. “Why do we need paperwork anyway?”

Feldspar looked up at Ember with a patient look in her purple eyes. “Miss Dragon Lord, the paperwork is important. Our nation might not be as organized as it once was during the time when the dragons and dragonriders were allies, but we aren’t savages.”

Ember rubbed her eyelids, blinking her exhaustion out of her eyes. “I know, I know…it’s just so…boring.”

“To a leader, boring is a good thing,” Feldspar said. “It means things are running well. Our army is growing and General Rhyo is in the process of training new recruits. The dragons have heard of the Chancellor of Griffonia and have taken it as a sign of the return of the dragonriders.”

Ember paused. When she’d been a hatchling, her mother had told her old stories of how the dragonriders might not have been a part of their history for even a lifetime of a normal dragon, but they had left a large impact on the dragon culture. There weren’t many dragons left who could remember them, but they were remembered fondly. Nodragon knew even now how their human friends disappeared. Still, the atmosphere in the Dragon Lands had changed ever since the news spread about how a human was living in the northern nation of Griffonia. There had been reports of some dragons even searching through ancient outpost ruins for anything that might have belonged to a human. “Yeah…it’s become an obsession with a lot of dragons,” Ember said. “With how many went to live in Griffonstone during this first wave, we might as well ask to join Griffonia and become something like the Griffonia Lands.”

Feldspar snorted in amusement. “One step at a time, Dragon Lord. First, these papers need to be looked over.”

Ember groaned, but stopped the moment she heard the door to her cave burst open. Turning, she saw a dragon flying in. She recognized the dragon as Silica. She was about Ember’s age, with bright aquamarine scales, cyan spines with white highlights, golden eyes and a pair of white horns that were similar in shape to Ember’s own. Silica had more of an obsession with humans than anydragon Ember knew. Ever since she’d heard about the human Chancellor she’d been itching at the bit to fly there and meet him, but Ember had kept on stalling her. She didn’t want to overwhelm the human with an obsessed dragoness.

However, unlike before where Silica had a wide smile on her face, now she had a look of pure unadulterated rage on her face. Ember was immediately on her feet, tense. “What’s happened?” the Dragon Lord asked.

Through clenched teeth, and apparently trying very hard to remain calm, Silica said, “I just…received this from my sister in Griffonstone.” She held out a piece of paper.

Princess Ember took the paper, which had been folded a few times. Unfolding it, she read the contents in increasing alarm:

~To all Griffonian citizens from the Griffonian Imperial Council~

It is our unpleasant duty to inform everycreature that on the evening of December 23rd, while in the process of attempting to save lives in the Ponytown District, a rogue group of three individuals attacked our Chancellor and falsely banished him to Tartarus. Two of the three guilty parties have been apprehended and are being detained, while the third is still missing.

Please be assured that we are doing everything in our power to recover the Chancellor and bring him home. He will be brought safety back to us. In the meantime, we urge everyone to remain calm and to not listen to baseless rumors about the Chancellor’s disappearance. He would not want us at each other’s throats.

The Chancellor once said, “United we stand, divided we fall,” and our beloved King Grover also once said something similar when he stated, “Unity is strongest in times of adversity, for if we are divided, then adversity wins the day.” We as the council urge everyone reading this message to remain calm and not to give into fears of the worst or to call for blood. We are Griffonian citizens. We are not barbarians. And we do not just mean griffons. We mean every other creature who has been granted citizenship of our great empire. We also speak to the dragons, ponies, minotaurs and other species with the capacity of reason who have become citizens and implore you to restrain any anger.

We will do everything in our power to return our Chancellor to our beloved empire. Of that, you can rest assured.

~The Imperial Council~

When Ember finished reading the flier, she was trembling with barely restrained rage. She was seeing red, but then she felt a claw on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Feldspar down at her with a stern expression and shaking her head. Ember took a few deep breaths and felt her anger ease, but not fully subside. Turning to Silica, Ember said, “Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Tell your sister that she’ll be receiving a reward for this. You will too.”

“Just let me at whoever did this to the human,” Silica snarled. “I’ll tenderize them!”

“Calm yourself, young dragon,” Feldspar said with an authoritative tone. “Now is not the time for rash actions.” Turning to Ember, she continued, “Miss Dragon Lord, Griffonia had been negotiating with us for the past couple of months. I think it could strengthen our relationship with them if we offered them help.”

Ember nodded. “Yes…a good idea. Get some paper, ink and a pen. I’m gonna dictate a letter to the Griffonian Council. Silica, go find General Rhyo and bring him here.”

Silica nodded, spread her wings and flew out of the cave. Feldspar quickly retrieved the items requested, sat down and looked up expectantly at Ember. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Taking a deep breath, Ember began to dictate what could very well be one of the most important letters in the history of the Dragon Lands. “To the Imperial Council of Griffonia, from Dragon Lord Ember. It has come to my attention that the Chancellor has been abducted. I am willing to assist in the search and rescue of Chancellor Graystone. We have a doorway to Tartarus near Nova Lake which we can use. I am assembling a rescue party of my own and will be personally leading it into Tartarus to search for the Chancellor. If you want to send your own search parties, you’re more than welcome to use our doorway. Together, we can find and bring the Chancellor back. From Dragon Lord Ember.”

As Feldspar finished writing, Ember walked up to the near wall and lifted the helmet of her gold plated armor off from where it hung next to her suit of armor. She saw her reflection in the helmet and saw the face of intense determination.

I will find you, Chancellor Gregory…I will…

Canterlot, Later That Same Night…

In a dark alleyway on the northern edge of Canterlot, two hooded ponies approached each other. The cloaks they wore weren’t dirty like those of peasants. Instead, each one was made of the finest black cloth with fur inner lining to keep the ponies wearing them warm. Above them, the sky was crystal clear, showing the brilliance of Luna’s nighttime. The winter constellations were out in full force, but the two ponies ignored it.

The first one spoke. “Well? Is it done?”

The second one replied. “Yes. The target has been dealt with.”

“And the delivery system?”

“Heh, let’s just say it looks like we can keep the other half of the reward after all.”

“Okay, then why did you call me out here?”

“Princess Luna is trying to find out who was responsible. Her spies are everywhere.”

“Don’t worry about that. We pay good money to keep mouths shut.”

“But that’s not all! One of the Elements of Harmony got in the way and is missing now too.”

“It’s always something…which Element?”

“Does it matter? Now that one of them got in the way, the Princesses will stop at nothing to find us!”

“What good will it do them? Our tracks are covered, the bits unmarked, and as far as the crown knows, we are blameless. Nothing can be traced back to us.”

“I wish I was as sure.”

“Trust me, my brother, we’re in the clear. Nobody can accuse us of anything. The spells we have cast on our servants will keep them quiet, even if they try to betray us.”

“There’s no way we can be traced, right?”

“Trust me. We’re safe. Not even the Princesses can lay a hoof on us. Just relax, okay? Go use those extra bits we won’t need to spend on some mare of the night. I’m sure that cow of a wife of yours won’t care.”

“Hey! That’s my wife you’re talking about!”

“Quiet down, we don’t want a scene, do we? Just relax. Everything’s in the clear. We’re safe.”

With that, the two unicorns parted ways, each heading back towards the center of the city. The nervous one was still unsure. Then again, he had always been a worrier. It was why he left everything to his extremely confident and talented brother.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel like they would be discovered. So, he did whatever he did whenever he felt this level of anxiety.

He went and got blackout drunk.

32: Journey To The Center Of Tartarus Pt. 3

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoy this roller coaster of a chapter!

32: Journey To The Center Of Tartarus Pt. 3

Atlantis, Moments After Their Arrival…

Gregory could only stare at the large floating circular island with a dumbfounded look plastered on his face. His eyes were drinking in the sights before him, but in his shock he couldn’t completely comprehend what he was seeing.

He’d seen floating islands in fantasy pictures and even in fantasy or isekai anime, of course. It was a staple of the fantasy genre that had grown more and more popular over the years. He’d seen it in Fairy Tail, Jobless Reincarnation, hell, even the first arc of Sword Art Online had Aincrad! However, to see them in this world shouldn’t have been as surprising to him as it was. After all, Canterlot was nothing but Minas Tirith on whimsy, so why should this be any different?

Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen a floating island in the show before? he thought as they walked down towards the nearest bridge. The bridge itself was made of solid stone and lined on both sides by solid walls of clear crystal. Right before the cliff, on either side of the railing, he saw two large statues depicting what looked like drakes. Each of them stood on all fours on a massive stone platform with their wings spread wide. Both of their bodies were facing each other and their heads were looking down at the ground with what looked like a welcoming gaze on their faces to all travelers returning. Engraved on the platform were their names. The one on the right was named Scout and the one on the right was named Blaze.

Spike looked over at the novan ranger Floyd. “Um, excuse me, Mr. Johnson, sir? Can I ask something?”

Floyd looked down at the young dragon and chuckled. “Ain’t no need to call me Mr. Johnson, young dragon. Just call me Floyd.”

“Oh, sorry,” Spike said. “Well…you can call me Spike, then.”

“It’s alright, young Spike,” Floyd said with a smile. “You’ve got good manners, and that’ll go far here. What’s your question?”

Spike turned and gestured to the two statues. “Who were they?”

Floyd looked in the direction that Spike pointed, and his eyes brightened. “Ah, yes, Scout and Blaze. They were two of the drakes who arrived in Tartarus with our ancestors after we were sent here. They gave their lives to protect us from the Tartaran Eagles, Orthros, and the other monsters that live here. In their last moments, they gave the humans who rode them a gift. They changed our ancestors’ bodies so they could survive better in Tartarus. Some of us got these bodies, with wings and some magic, but others got different bodies.”

“Different bodies how?” Gregory asked, intrigued by the history he was learning now.

“I don’t rightly know,” Floyd admitted, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. “It’s been a long time since our ancestors split.”

“Split? What do you mean?” Spike asked.

“Again, that’s a story for later,” Floyd answered. He looked back up at Gregory. “You bein’ in Atlantis will definitely be an excuse for people to get their whistles wet,” he said with a grin. Gregory noticed his smile waning a bit as Floyd looked at the group in general. “Y’all are welcome to stay, of course, but just a word of caution to you two ponyfolk.” He turned to Rarity and Lady Serenity with a grim expression. “A lot of folks here don’t take too kindly to ponies. We don’t got good memories of yer kind. But since you two are with Mr. Graystone here, I’m sure that Mayor Cunningham and Father McKay will treat you as guests with all the Atlantean hospitality we can give ya. But most folks here don’t like ponyfolk none. With a handful of exceptions, of course.”

“Trust me, the two of us have a horrid track record with our dealings with humans,” Rarity said morosely as she looked at the ground.

“That sounds like a story the mayor will wanna hear,” Floyd said warily.

“Handful of exceptions? What do you mean?” Gregory asked.

“Well, we actually have a few special ponyfolk livin’ with us right now, and a few others have lived with us in the past,” Floyd explained. “One of those ponies might be a good guide for you ponyfolk here.”

“Where’d they come from?” Spike asked.

“I’ve never heard of anypony being sent to Tartarus in a long time,” Rarity said.

“Well, we’ve been down here a long time,” Floyd said. “The ponies livin’ with us now showed up a few years ago. Most of ‘em don’t like talkin’ ‘bout their past, none, but they do good work here and love to play when they ain’t workin’ on the farms or in the city.”

“Are there any dragons here? Or griffons?” Spike asked. “Or any other creature?”

He then turned to Spike. “We haven’t seen a dragon or a griffon in a looong time. Yer plenty welcome here. You and that drake. We ain’t seen one of them ever since they gave their lives for us.”

“I…have a feeling I’d be learning a lot of history if I stayed here,” Gregory said, remembering the urgency of their new mission, “but I’ve got to get back to the surface as soon as possible.”

Floyd turned to Gregory with confusion. “Why in tarnation would you wanna go back up there? Why not stay with her kin down here?”

“I really need to find a way back,” he insisted. “I’ve actually just been elected the Griffonian Chancellor, and I’m worried that my absence and how it occurred could spark a war.”

Floyd’s expression changed. His features darkened as he looked at Gregory with narrowed eyes. “That ain’t something to joke about,” he said with a serious tone. “We ain’t had a war in a long time, but we still have them old history books. The ones about the War for Independence especially.”

“What’s the War for Independence?” Spike asked.

“That’s another story for another time,” Gregory replied quickly before Floyd could respond. “It’s one I’m familiar with, though. But I’m also familiar with wars from my homeland that you aren’t familiar with. The American Civil War, the War of 1812, World Wars One and Two, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the War on Terror are just a few of the wars humanity has been involved in for the past two hundred years. I know wars are bloody business. They say only the guilty go to Tartarus or hell, but war is much worse. The innocent get involved along with the guilty. You’re right. War isn’t something to joke about. I need to get back as soon as possible to avoid war between Griffonia and Equestria.”

Floyd seemed to take some time to think about that while the group continued walking across the bridge. As they did so, Gregory saw a few of the novans flying overhead, looking at them with varying degrees of curiosity. Most were looking at him with awe. However, they flew well out of the path of the larger drake who shot across the bridge, only to land on the other side of the wall surrounding the island. A few of the other rangers they’d traveled with were with Daenerys, making sure other novans kept away from the still tired drake.

Finally, Floyd spoke. “I don’t know much about these places yer talkin’ ‘bout,” he said, “but it sounds like yer in a big pickle. Y’all wanna get back up to the surface? I don’t know of a way there. But maybe the mayor does. And that’s where I’ll be takin’ you. The mayor’s office.”

“And what about Daenerys?” Gregory asked. He wasn’t quite sure if he could trust these novans yet. And not because they looked like demons, but because he knew nothing about them. Not from the show or even from his time looking up various races on Gaia. Then again, he had only read Griffonian books, and they didn’t have as many as Equestria seemed to have. But, on the other hand, those statues behind them had been of drakes. And their reactions to seeing him and Daenerys had seemed genuine. And even if they wished harm on her, she was bigger and probably stronger than the novans.

To his surprise, Rarity spoke up as well. “I believe the Chancellor is worried about leaving the young drake in your hooves,” she said. “No offense to you, but we don’t exactly know you.”

Floyd nodded. “I understand that, but I swear to God Almighty that we won’t harm yer drake, Mr. Graystone.”

Gregory looked over at Daenerys, and he saw that a few younger novans were carrying large baskets seemingly full of food towards where she’d landed behind the wall. A few others were carrying buckets of hot steaming water her way as well. Turning back to Floyd, he took a deep breath. He hoped he wasn’t making a big mistake as he said, “I’ll hold you to your word, then. Lead on.”

Atlantis was split into three sections, each one as different from one another as was possible. It was as if there were three biomes separated by the two massive rivers that circled the island.

The first section reminded Gregory of wild country. The bridge they crossed led to a large gate surrounded by a thick stone wall. The moment they reached the other side, Gregory went to check on Daenerys while Floyd spoke with a few similarly dressed novans who came out of a large stone building near the gate. He saw that a group of novan rangers were tending to her needs, feeding her while at the same time using the hot water, brushes and some clean smelling soap to wash her off. She was lying on her back, looking very content. She gave Gregory a happy look when he approached her. The novans there promised that they would look after her, each swearing to God that they would bring her to the city when they were finished.

After Gregory was satisfied enough, he returned to the others only to see that a large horse drawn carriage had been summoned. Rarity, Lady and even Spike looked a bit uncomfortable when they saw the larger dumb equines pulling the carriage, but Floyd reassured them that their horses were always well fed and treated well. Since walking through Atlantis would take too long and since none of them could fly, the fastest way to get through the massive floating island would be by horse drawn carriage. Gregory even saw a few novans saddling up and climbing on horseback, which didn’t quite make sense since every novan he saw had wings, but when he asked, Floyd said they rode horses as one way to honor their ancestors who had no wings.

Gregory, however, despite the situation, expressed interest in riding a horse for a little while. He’d ridden a drake on Gaia and had a little experience on Earth riding horses. The novans were all too happy to accommodate, bringing out a light beige furred and black maned American quarter-horse stallion named Arrow.

As they headed through the first section of the island, Gregory drank in the scenery before him with awe. He could easily had mistaken the area around him for some wildlands back on Earth. There were even birds and a few wild animals that he spotted. There were hills, valleys, lakes, forests, and more. They passed through small wooded areas and over a large running stream. They even passed one large lake where he saw a few novans in a boat fishing. They also passed a small waterfall where they spotted a few children playing in what Floyd called one of the more popular swimming holes on the island. He casually thought that this part of the island would be a great place to set up a vacation house just in case he wanted to get away from it all with Gabby.

When they reached the first massive ring shaped lake that separated the outer and middle section, Gregory dismounted Arrow, fed him a few oats given to him by one of the rangers, and climbed into the carriage with the others. A cloud had passed over the sun and it had begun to rain gently. When they passed over the archway bridge and headed through the gate, they saw more green, but unlike the first section, this one was flat.

Once more, if he hadn’t known any better, Gregory would have thought that this section of the island and the fields he was passing through could have been some random farmland on Earth. After his grandma had passed, he spent his summers from fourteen to eighteen working on a farm so he could earn some money. It was this job, which he actually enjoyed since the owners of the farm treated him decently well and the work kept him in shape, that gave him a good work ethic. He had to get up himself and head down to the farm on a couple of local buses. It was why he liked the country more than the city or even the suburbs where he lived. And it was why his all-time favorite of the Mane Six had been Applejack for her southern charm since it reminded him of the farmer’s daughter he’d had a crush on during those years. Hardworking, a southern accent, devoted to her family, and more. Emily had been an amazing girl. It hadn’t worked, but he’d stayed friends with her on Facebook and watched her and her husband’s family grow.

He caught the scent of some of the typical smells associated with a farm. He smelled drying hay, mud, freshly cut grass and cow manure, but he missed the scent of diesel. Despite the rain, which didn’t last long, he saw some novan farmers working in the fields, most of them wearing typical farmer’s clothes like jeans or overalls and straw hats that protected them from the faux sun that shone down above them. He saw farm animals in pens, farm houses and large red barns. When the rain stopped, he joined Floyd who was sitting on the box seat so he could get a better view of the farmland around them. Spike joined him, curious himself. Rarity and Lady, however, stayed in the carriage, presumably to enjoy the comfortable seats and not having to walk.

Gregory watched and listened as Floyd greeted some of the farmers and introduced Gregory and his companions to them. The farmer folk all greeted him and Spike warmly enough, but he noticed some tension on their faces when they saw Rarity and Lady in the carriage windows looking out nervously. However, they greeted the ponies cordially enough and welcomed them to Atlantis. Once more, Gregory thought about how it might be nice to build a house here and move to a small farm with Gabby, Starlight, Gilda, Gallus and even Gracie-no, Ocellus, he reminded himself.

The second inner ring lake, unlike the first, had large boats either docked on the farmland side or sailing through the water either fishing or presumably enjoying the late autumn faux sun before it set behind the distant mountains. Unlike the first bridge across the first ring shaped lake, the second one was taller and allowed for ships to pass underneath without incident. Gregory began imagining sailing or rowing on said lake with Gabby and going fishing there.

As they approached the large metal city gates on the other side of the bridge, however, that was when Gregory saw a bit of a more medieval style pop up in the novan’s clothing. The guards who greeted the party at the gate wore some bright silvery metal armor with a crest on the chest plate. The design of said crest was a crescent moon inside a stylized sun. The same crest was on their heater shield. The group learned from Floyd that the armor had been found in the city’s castle armory when they arrived and had been used by the city guard.

The novans who were in the city itself wore all different kinds of clothes that Gregory could see. Some were that more frontier style while others reminded Gregory of city clothes popular in America during those frontier days back east. However, some other style really stood out to him and reminded him of something he might have seen in a fantasy movie or anime that might have been worn by elves. Floyd explained to him when he asked about it that the frontier style clothes and the city clothes had been crafted by the novans themselves, but the fantasy style clothes had been found by the novans.

This only confused Gregory even more and he began to wonder if there had been humans or at the very least a humanoid civilization living in this city even before the novans appeared. And if that had indeed been the case, why weren’t they here?

Then again, he knew he didn’t have time to go sightseeing or researching the history of this place despite his curiosity. He wished there was, because this city was enormous and full of novans, all of whom would stop and stare at him in wonder and admiration as the carriage passed them in the streets. However, he knew he had to find a way back to the surface as quickly as he could, and the only way to do that was by seeing the mayor of the city.

Floyd led the carriage through the buildings towards what had to have once been a palace. It was a building of glistening white spires, six in a concentric circle with one twice as tall in the center, making seven in total. Each of the outer six were connected by a large circular wall which curved upward as it reached the towers until it blended naturally with the spires themselves. They passed through another gate that led into the interior, the group saw a well-tended garden with trees, bushes, and grass.

“This is a lovely garden,” Rarity admitted as they stepped out of the carriage, which one of the other rangers drove away.

“Agreed,” Gregory said. He looked around and saw that the garden was being tended by a few young looking novan men and women.

And standing near one of the taller bushes, Gregory’s jaw dropped, because there were two very familiar looking pink ponies, each wearing some pony specific farmer clothes with hedge clippers in their hooves. The two were singing something I never thought I’d hear any pony singing:

“Buffalo Gals, won’t you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight. Buffalo Gals, won’t you come out tonight and dance by the light of the moon!”

The pony on the left who was working on a dark red bush sang, “As I was strolling down the street, down the street, down the street, a pretty little gal I chanced to meet. Oh, she was sweet to me!”

Both of them sang the chorus, then the pony who was working on a green bush, sang, “I stopped her and we had a talk, had a talk, had a talk. Her feet took up the whole sidewalk and left no room for me.”

The two then broke out in the chorus, but before they could sing the next verse, Gregory broke in, unable to help himself. That was one of the songs he sang back on the farm back on Earth. “I’d like to make this gal my wife, gal my wife, gal my wife. I’d make her happy all her life if she would marry me!”

The pink ponies, who had been staring at Gregory in awe, broke out into a smile and began singing the chorus along with him. “Buffalo Gals, won’t you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight. Buffalo Gals, won’t you come out tonight and dance by the light of the moon!”

When they’d finished, the two ponies, each one a perfect clone of one Pinkamena Diane Pie, ran up to him. “Hi!” they both said in unison.

“Why, hello there, you two,” Gregory replied with a smile of his own.

“Wow, are you a real human??” the Pinkie clone on the left asked with an excited tone.

“That I am, ma’am,” Gregory replied. “Gregory Graystone at your service,” he said by means of introduction as he nodded his head to the two.

“It can’t be…” Rarity said in shock. She turned to Spike. “Spike, are these…the Pinkie clones?”

Spike didn’t answer. His jaw was almost down at his chest, his expression one of stunned silence.

The Pinkie clones turned to the voice. “Rarity! Spike!” the two shouted happily, rushing over and flinging their hooves around the two for a tight hug before they switched and hugged the other.

After breaking the hug, one of them asked, “How’d you two get to Atlantis? Wait, are you clones too??”

“Um, no,” Spike said.

“Wait, how do you know our names?” Rarity asked. “Last time we saw you, you had some difficulty with remembering them.”

“I can explain that,” another voice said from behind the group. When they turned, they saw a third Pinkie Pie, but this one with a more serious look on her face. She wore what looked like a dress made for the 19th century, but one that would fit a pony. Her mane and tail were actually straight, her mane tied back in a professional looking bun much like the one which Cloudy Quartz wore. She also wore a pair of glasses somewhat similar to Cloudy’s as well.

“Rose, Rose, look look look! It’s Rarity and Spike!” one of the Pinkies said to her as she pointed to the two aforementioned Equestrians.

“And a real live honest to Celestia human!” the second Pinkie said.

“I see that. Thank you, you two. But don’t you have work to do?” the clone referred to as Rose asked, gesturing back to the garden with an amused smile. “The sooner you finish, the sooner you can go play with the kids, you know?”

“Okie dokie lokie!” the two clones said as they grabbed their clippers and returned to trimming.

Giggling in the most adorable way to ever come out of any Pinkie’s mouth, Rose then turned to Rarity and Spike. “It’s good to see you two again after all this time. I’m Rose Quartz, and I was the first clone made by Pinkie Pie nearly six years ago.” She extended her hoof to Rarity, who took it with confusion and shook it. Rose then shook Spike’s claw before turning to Gregory. “Who’s this, Floyd?”

“He’s Gregory Graystone, ma’am,” Floyd said with a grin and a very respectful tip of his hat to the clone. “We found him and the others here out on patrol on the southern mountain slopes.”

Rose looked at Gregory with curious blue eyes. Gregory, for one, was even more confused now. How had these clones gotten here? What was the mirror pool anyway? One thing was for sure, however: it was darker than anything he’d seen in the show. But on the plus side at least Twilight hadn’t murdered them. He was interrupted by Rose extending her hoof to him and saying, “Mr. Graystone, it’s nice to meet you,” in a friendly tone and with a genuine smile on her face. “I’m Rose Quartz, the mayor’s personal secretary.”

Gregory grabbed her hoof and shook it, smiling back at her. Even if she was a clone, he hadn’t seen the smile on the real Pinkie’s face. Not that he could blame the real one, of course. Guilt was powerful for ponies. “Nice to meet you too, Miss Quartz. I’m Gregory Graystone, the Chancellor of Griffonia.”

“Just call me Rose,” she chuckled good naturedly as she released his hand. “What brings you here?”

“A long story, I’m afraid,” Gregory said, “and one I’d rather only tell once, if that’s okay. We’ve come traveling a while, and we’re all pretty tired and hungry.”

Rose smiled in understanding. “Heh, that’s fair.” She turned to Floyd. “You taking them to see the mayor?”

“That’s right, ma’am,” Floyd said.

“Mind if I tag along?” Rose asked. “I’d love to hear the story, if that alright with you, Mr. Graystone,” she added, looking at Gregory with a pleading look.

“Just call me Gregory,” he replied, “and I don’t mind you tagging along.”

“I’ll take you to him,” Rose said, turning and heading towards the palace.

Gregory watched her walk, and despite how seriously she did walk, he could still see a bit of a Pinkie-ish hop to her. Curiosity got the better of him, so he walked up beside her. Looking down at her, he said, “I…well, I’m familiar with the story of how you and those other two were created along with the other Pinkie Pie clones,” he admitted, “but you seem different than those two. You’re more serious than they are. I know a bit about the original Pinkie, at least before what happened to her a few months ago. So what changed for you? If I can ask?”

Rose looked up at him with a sad smile. “Tartarus happened to me, Mr. Graystone,” she said with a hint of a tremble in her voice. “After I was banished here by Twilight, we all woke up in a desolate field. Every single one of us. I think since I was the first one to be created, I was the only one who knew something was wrong at the time. The others were still bouncing around and shouting ‘Fun! Fun! Fun!’ It was like…I grew up ten years that day. That’s the only way I can describe it. We all underwent some kind of personality change when we came here. Some of us subtly, some of us more drastically. I’m more of the latter.” She gestured to her tail. “Some of us underwent some physical changes as well. Sure, I love having fun as much as the next Pinkie, but the poof is gone from my mane and tail. A part of me misses it, but I’ve grown to accept it.”

“I think it suits you,” Gregory admitted. “You look very professional and beautiful.”

Rose gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, but I’m a spoken for mare,” she chuckled good naturedly.

“And I’m a spoken for man,” Gregory replied before continuing. “How did you come here?” he asked as they approached the doors to the palace, a pair of evergreen double doors decorated with a massive tree emblazoned on the front. On either side of the gate were four novan guards.

“One second,” Rose said as she stepped forward and spoke to the guards, telling them not only to open the doors but to prepare rooms for the four of them. When Floyd mentioned that a drake was with them, Rose nodded and told the guards to have someone prepare a place for Daenerys as well. As they headed inside, Rose continued. “We were saved by the Tartarus Rangers while we were being attacked by Tartaran Eagles. Floyd here led that expedition.”

Floyd scratched the back of his head. “Shucks, y’all make an old man blush,” he said.

Gregory was about to ask why the novans saved the Pinkie clones, only to have the question die in his mouth as he stepped into a massive room. He stopped at the door and gaped at the massive area around him. He found himself standing in a large rectangular room with large stone pillars that had been carved and painted to look like trees holding up the ceiling. The only reason he knew they were stone was because he touched one and instead of bark it was harder, just like stone. The ceiling itself looked like a forest canopy. In fact, almost everything about this place screamed forest.

On both walls on the left and right of the door were arched cloudy windows that let light in, and a green carpet led the way from the door to a massive pair of thrones that sat on a raised dais. However, nobody was seated in them. Instead, the room was completely empty.

The dragon and ponies beside him looked equally as shocked by the scale of the room. Eventually, Spike said, “Wow…Canterlot’s throne room has nothing on this place…”

“Indeed,” Rarity said breathlessly.

Gregory saw Floyd and Rose exchange a smirk. “Everyone does that,” Rose giggled.

“You and the others did it too, ma’am,” Floyd chuckled good naturedly. “Right before one of y’all almost broke them windows.”

“Hey…does anypony know who built Atlantis?” Lady asked, finally breaking her silence. “No offense to you novans, but I don’t think you built it. The buildings aren’t built with winged bipeds in mind.”

“Actually, nobody knows yet,” Rose said. “There’s another clone named Aurora Night who’s been doing her own research.”

“Wait, a clone doing research?” Rarity asked.

Rose chuckled. “Yepperini. She’s a lot like Twilight Sparkle in that sense. In fact, she was the first clone to get sent here. But enough of that. Let me take you to the mayor. He’ll definitely be interested in meeting you.” So saying, she turned and headed towards a small door in one corner of the room. As they did, Rose looked back at Gregory. “Did you want to ask something else?”

“I did, but it’ll keep for now,” Gregory said. “Honestly, the more I see of this place, the more questions pop into my head, but I have more important things to worry about right now. Like getting back to the surface with my companions here.”

Rose frowned at that. “Why would you want to go back? I can understand you wanting to get Rarity, Spike and this other pony back, but why you? Why not stay here? The novans would treat you well like they’ve treated us.”

“I’ll explain that in more detail when we tell our story to the mayor,” Gregory said.

Rose nodded in understanding. “I understand, Mr. Graystone.”

“Gregory, please,” he said as they reached a large arched door.

Rose reached up and opened the door which led into a smaller room. Gregory found himself in a domed room with a silver tiled floor which was covered by a green circular carpet. There was an arched window on the other side of the room which was open and letting in the late afternoon air. Another door stood in one corner of the room. On both sides of the room were two large wooden desks. Unlike the room and the throne room before, these looked completely out of place with how simple they looked. One desk was empty, but sitting at the other desk was an older novan man. He shared many of the same features as the other novans Gregory had seen. He had long white hair tied back in a ponytail and had a few wrinkles. He wore a suit one might see in a western movie and was looking down at some pieces of paper.

The novan mayor put down a fountain pen and began looking up at the newcomers. “Rose, honey, thank God you’re…back…” The mayor’s eyes widened when he saw Gregory. “Heavens to Betsy…”

Rose giggled and rolled her eyes as she walked up, stood on her hind legs and closed the mayor’s open mouth. “You’ll catch flies that way, sweetie,” she said.

Gregory looked at the nameplate on the table briefly and read the words MAYOR CLIFFORD CUNNINGHAM on it. Taking the lead, he stepped forward and extended his hand. “Mayor Cunningham, I’m Chancellor Gregory Graystone of the Griffonian Empire. It’s nice to meet you.”

The mayor quickly grabbed Gregory’s hand and shook it firmly. “Nice to meet you!” he said with a wide smile. “I’m Clifford Cunningham, mayor of this fine town. It is an honor to meet an honest to God human being after all this time!”

Gregory gave a friendly and polite smile. It was a bit repetitive to have been accepted so readily just because of what he was. He was about to say something but Rose spoke first. “Sweetie, I know you’re excited, but Mr. Graystone needs your help.”

The mayor quickly cleared his throat and straightened his shirt. “Ah, of course. Sorry ‘bout that, Mr. Graystone. We just haven’t seen a human ever since our ancestors were transformed into novans and the flecs.”

Gregory looked at the mayor with confusion. “The flecs?”

“It’s short for reflections,” Rose explained as she looked at the mayor with disapproval. “It’s a slur, anyway.”

“Well, as fascinating as this sounds, we’re in no mood for a history lesson,” Lady said suddenly, stepping forward.

“Sorry to sound rude, Mr. Mayor sir,” Rarity said as she joined in, “but we are in quite a hurry to return to the surface.”

“Is there a way you can help with that?” Spike asked hopefully.

The mayor saw the two ponies and dragon for the first time. There was silence in the room for a while as he processed what he was seeing. Finally, he looked at Rose and said, “Rose, could you get some chairs? I have a feelin’ our guests have a lot to tell us. Floyd, would you mind getting’ Father McKay over here? He might be interested as well.”

“Oh it, Mr. Mayor,” Floyd said as he walked over to the window, opened it, and shot out into the air.

Rose nodded and headed into the other room. There was the sound of something being moved, and Rose came back out pulling a stack of six chairs. She set five of them down in front of the mayor’s desk, then grabbed the chair from the second desk and set it next to the mayor’s own along with the sixth chair. Gregory noted that the chairs were made for human sized beings and were made of stone that had been painted green. Whatever else might have happened to this Pinkie clone, she had not lost any of her earth pony strength, Gregory mused as he took a seat. Rarity sat to his left, Spike to his right, and Lady next to Rarity, leaving an empty chair next to Spike and another next to the mayor.

Rose left the room for a bit to get something for everyone to drink. While she was gone, the door opened, revealing Floyd and another novan. This novan was the first Gregory had seen with facial hair, which was a short cut beard. He had no hair on his scalp, but it looked as if he had shaven it. The novan looked fairly young, younger even than Gregory’s own twenty-nine years of age. He held a black brimmed hat in his hand that reminded Gregory of the types of hats pastors might wear in the old west. He also wore a black suit with a white button-down shirt and a black tie. In the vest pocket he saw a red handkerchief sticking out. There was a gold chain attached to his belt which led into his other pocket. And in his other hand, he held a leather bound book which had inscribed the words HOLY BIBLE in gold lettering. Now I’ve seen everything, Gregory thought. A demonic looking humanoid who’s a pastor. What are the odds?

When he saw Gregory, his eyes widened in astonishment, then smiled warmly at him. He hung his hat on a nearby coat and hat rack, set his Bible down on the chair next to the mayor, and walked up, extending a hand to Gregory. “I never thought God would bless me this much,” he said as Gregory stood to grasp the father’s hand in a firm handshake. “Welcome, my son. Welcome to Atlantis. I’m Father Peter McKay. It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

“It’s good to meet you too, Father,” Gregory said. “I’m Chancellor Gregory Graystone of the Griffonian Empire. You can call me Gregory.”

Father McKay nodded, then turned to the others. Unlike the other reactions to ponies, the pastor’s greeting was just as warm and friendly as the one he gave Gregory. “Welcome to you three as well,” he said. “We don’t receive many outside visitors to our fair city.”

Rarity looked a bit confused by the Father’s smile, but took the extended hand and shook it. “It’s…a pleasure to meet you too, um…Mr. McKay. Or is it Father?”

“You can call me whatever you want,” the pastor said. “Everyone is equal in God’s eyes.”

“Why do you call yourself Father?” Spike asked as he shook the pastor’s hand.

“It’s a title used for a religious and spiritual leader in a community,” Gregory explained. “Father McKay here is what’s called a pastor. If we have time, I’ll explain more, but unfortunately time is a commodity I don’t have.”

“Floyd did tell me you had somethin’ you wanted to talk to the mayor about, but why am I here?” the pastor asked.

“Because he wants to get to the surface,” the mayor explained.

To Gregory’s confusion, the pastor suddenly adopted a look of complete understanding. He silently walked to the empty chair next to the mayor, picked up his Bible and placed it on the desk before sitting down. He nodded at Gregory and the rest. “I’m listening.”

Just then, Rose came back a few minutes later with a tray of glasses and two large corked green bottles. She poured a glass of the liquid for everyone there, and instead of water Gregory saw a brown and somewhat cloudy liquid being poured into it. She passed them around the group. Gregory took a sip, and was surprised by the taste of spiced pear.

Rose must have noticed his reaction because she giggled. “This is pear cider, one of the most common of non-alcoholic drinks,” she said.

Gregory nodded and took another sip. He swirled the liquid around, getting a feel for the taste. “It’s really good,” he admitted.

“So, might I ask what’s important enough that you need to get back to the surface?” the mayor asked.

“We…might be here a while,” Gregory said.

“Don’t worry, I’m not too terribly busy today,” the mayor said. “What’s on your mind?”

Rose sat next to the mayor, puttin her hoof on the mayor’s hand in an affectionate manner. Gregory paid it no mind. Interspecies relationships didn’t bother him anyway, especially since he was in one. He took a deep breath, and the explanations began.

To Gregory’s surprise, Rarity had actually started the explanations, saying that things had started with the arrival of Jason Wright in Ponyville five years ago. She didn’t seem to hold anything back in her explanation. While she did mention Discord’s involvement (his name gaining a reaction of pure loathing from the mayor) she prefaced the involvement by stating that his involvement was minor and that he had simply removed the barriers between general politeness and their knee-jerk reactions to anything different.

By the end of the explanation, the mayor, pastor and Rose looked stunned. Even Lady was in pure shock. After taking a long drink from his own glass of pear cider, the mayor asked Gregory for his story. Gregory began by finally admitting that he wasn’t from another continent, but another world altogether, and presumably the same one as the human Jason Wright. He said how he had arrived by a secret method that allowed for him to travel to worlds unknown. He mentioned that he had heard about the adventures of the ponies in Ponyville and had admired them from his own world. He described his three months in Griffonstone as best he could, starting with his discovery of the Idol of Boreas up until his banishment by three ponies.

Lady was reluctant to tell her story, but she did. She told of how she and the other two of her companions had been hired by an unknown party to travel to Griffonstone and observe its resident human, and if necessary deal with him if he became a problem. She talked about her leader’s slow descent into paranoia and eventual use of the artifacts that banished him, but admitted when the mayor asked that she had no idea why the leader of her group was so angry at humans.

Floyd then told his side of the story, which wasn’t as long as the others. How he and the Tartarus Rangers had been out on a regular patrol when one of his best spotters saw a group of creatures climbing their mountains. Then he described how they had been chased by Tartaran Eagles back to the entrance to their city paradise.

When all the stories had been told, there was silence in the office. Enough time had passed outside that the sky had darkened. As the room had lost the natural light from the faux sun, small egg-shaped bulbs began forming on the walls, illuminating the room in a silvery glow. Everyone was silent as they digested the stories. Gregory was at a loss as to why Dusky Heart had such a hatred of humans, but it wasn’t important at the moment.

Finally, the mayor spoke. “I…that’s quite the tale y’all are tellin’,” he said, slipping into a more country accent before he straightened up, cleared his throat, and looked over at Father McKay. “Father, think we can trust everyone here with…it?”

The pastor frowned, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Mr. Mayor, you do realize once we use it, we won’t be able to use it again.”

“But would we want to, Father?” the mayor asked. “We’re all here, we’re a happy community, and hell, we’ve survived for a long time down here.”

“My son,” the pastor said softly, “there are a few among the congregation who want to leave and find their way to the surface, regardless of the circumstances.”

“I did hear that rumor, yes,” the mayor replied, “but can you honestly say that a war isn’t a good reason to use it? You’re a man of faith, Father. What does it say in the good book? Do to others?”

“‘If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets’,” the pastor quoted.

“And besides,” Rose added as she scooted over, stood on her hind legs and nuzzled the mayor’s face reassuringly, “I’m sure they’d understand once you told them the situation. Right?”

The mayor turned, smiled warmly at Rose, then turned back to the pastor. “Whatcha think?”

The pastor bit his lower lip, then turned to Gregory. “I think…that it’s a bit late to be using it now, but if it helps our guests, we should use it.”

“Could you be any more cryptic?” Lady asked with a frown.

The mayor and pastor chuckled. “Sorry,” the mayor said, turning to the group. “We do have a way to send you to the surface, at least, that’s what we think anyway. It hasn’t been used since the fle-I mean, since the other group of humans left through it,” he corrected when Rose gave him the stink eye.

“But it is too late to use it, and judging from your clothes and how tired you all look, you need time to recover,” Rose said. “There are plenty of rooms in this old palace that you can use. We have a large bath and we can get you all some food.”

“Um, do the rooms have beds?” Rarity asked hesitantly.

“Big ones,” Rose chuckled. “And we can get you all food according to your dietary needs.”

This clone is a loooot more articulate than the original, Gregory said. As much as he wanted to keep on going, the fact that he could see stars starting to appear in the sky out the window told him all he needed to know. He sighed. “If it isn’t too much trouble, we’ll gladly take you up on that offer,” he said as he wiped a little bit of sweat from his brow. “We could use at least one night of comfortable sleep before we go on. It’ll definitely help. And I could definitely use a good bath.” He gave the mayor a sheepish look. “I’m pretty sure I’m a bit…ripe.”

Rarity looked up at him. “I…wasn’t going to say anything, but…”

“You ain’t no picnic yourself, sister,” Gregory retorted with a grin.

She froze a bit, then smiled, giggling cutely. “I imagine not,” she said.

“We can even have your clothes washed for you,” Rose said. “There are some we can give to you that were found when the novans first moved here.”

“I’d appreciate that, thank you very much,” Gregory said.

“Floyd, could you show our guests to the men’s and women’s bathhouses?” the mayor asked.

“Of course!” Floyd said as he stood, placing his now empty glass down on the tray before turning to the group. “Come along, y’all. Let’s get you washed up!”

The day was over. The faux sun had long since set, only to reveal a nighttime full of brilliant stars. Stars of surprisingly familiar constellations, unlike the ones Gregory had seen in Gaia’s night skies. They twinkled in the night above just like the real thing, but he knew they couldn’t be real stars. He didn’t know just how it worked, but he figured that the Pinkie clone named Aurora, who had also somehow undergone an entire species change and had become a unicorn, would figure it out eventually.

Gregory stood outside on the balcony to his room which overlooked the city below, just thinking about the events of the day. He, Spike and Floyd had all taken a bath in what could only amount to a pool sized steaming tub, washing away the dirt and grime of the day. The soap they were given had a floral scent and made him feel alive and refreshed. He was then given a pair of boxer-like undergarments, light green pants, some wooden sandals, a loose white long sleeved shirt and a light brown vest to complete the look. Each article of clothing was incredibly comfortable to wear, even more so than the clothes he normally wore. They were cool enough as well, alleviating how warm he felt.

And if that hadn’t been enough, the mayor, pastor and Rose had joined them in a vast dining room for dinner. The ponies were served salads, bread rolls, baked beans, corn, and some kind of pasta dish that Rose said was something new the Pinkie clones had brought. For everyone else, they were served juicy steaks along with the other dishes. Gregory had to admit, novans knew how to cook a nice delicious steak.

Afterwards, the rest were all shown to their rooms while Gregory insisted on seeing Daenerys. Floyd took him down to a large empty room near the eastern side of the palace with two massive doors leading outside. There, he saw a well fed and cleaned looking Daenerys, her saddle off and stored neatly to the side. She was happy to see Gregory and licked him affectionately before giving his face a reassuring nuzzle. The room was full of soft hay and even a large number of pillows where she could lay her head. There was a large wide barrel of water for her nearby. Two women, one a light purple Pinkie Pie clone with pegasus wings named Amethyst Sky and the other a novan who wore a ranger outfit, had been assigned as temporary caretakers for the drake. They told Gregory that aside from being a bit tired, Daenerys was fine. To him, however, she did seem a bit cool to the touch still, but he hoped that a good night’s rest would help.

When he was satisfied with what he saw, and after he’d gotten over the shock of seeing a pegasus version of Pinkie Pie, Floyd brought him to his room. The room itself was almost as large as his old studio apartment back on Earth. It had what looked like a king sized bed, a dresser with a large oval shaped mirror, a glass door that led to a balcony that looked out over the city itself, a private lavatory and the same oval lamps that had popped up everywhere else. In each corner of the room there stood a quarter of a large tree styled column which went up to the ceiling, arching outwards and creating the illusion that he was in a forest, just like most of the other rooms in the palace. There was even a slight silvery light coming through the painted stone canopy.

Gregory had been told that if they wanted to turn the lamps off, all they needed to do was touch them and they’d sink back into the wall. If they wanted to turn them back on, they needed to touch the same spot again. Unfortunately, the soft fake light above the false stone canopy couldn’t be turned off, so he was provided with a facemask in case he was bothered by the light.

Gregory inhaled the late night breeze, gazing down at the city below. Many of the houses in the city were dark now, but there were a few that still had lights on. Every light in the city looked like they were lit by the same silvery colored lamps the palace had, while the lights in the farm houses were lit presumably by either oil lamps, fires or candles. Above them, a waxing gibbous faux moon which matched the moon from Earth hung high in the sky, shining its brilliant light down on Atlantis. From his vantage point, he could see each section of the island itself thanks to the moonlight. He even saw the band of the Milky Way despite the moon.

In that moment, he found himself actually considering staying in this place, or at the very least going back to get his friends and coming back to live here instead. The temptation was a surprising one, if he was honest with himself. He had a good thing on the surface. He had a girlfriend, good friends, a job, and more. So why was the temptation to stay down so strong? Was it because things here, despite being different, reminded him of Earth so much? Was it because these novans were physically altered descendants of the humans who were transported from the old frontier days in America to Gaia? Was it because he was growing tired of the stresses of ruling and just wanted to relax and not have to deal with the headaches?

He shook his head. No…he had to go back. There was no other choice. He accepted the duty of being Chancellor, and that included his responsibility to the country. As beautiful and inviting as this floating island was, he couldn’t just abandon Griffonia. Not when they had been so welcoming and kind to him.

Walking back inside, he took off his clothes, placing the Gjallarhorn and the key he placed securely on the endtable next to his bed. He changed into a pair of soft linen shorts, a t-shirt, and after turning off the lights got into bed. He left the door open to let the fresh breeze in since he was still a tad warm. The bed had a pair of thin sheets and a large purple comforter that had stylized flowers sewn into the pattern. He covered himself with the thin sheet and closed his eyes, marveling at how comfortable the bed itself was.

He slowly drifted off to sleep…

Gregory found himself standing in a wooded area. Immediately, he knew he was dreaming. It wasn’t often that he knew he was dreaming, but it had happened to him before. Looking around, he saw Ponyville just beyond a clearing. He also saw Fluttershy’s tree cottage in the distance and in the foreground he saw a group of ponies standing and watching something behind him. He saw Lyra Heartstrings, Bon Bon, Cheerlie, Derpy, Time Turner/Doctor Whooves, Granny Smith, Big Mac and even Cranky Doodle. All of them had looks of confusion on their faces as they watched.

Before he could turn, he heard a very familiar voice calling out from behind him. “Watch all you want! You won’t see more of me later anyway.”

Gregory turned and saw Jason Wright tying a noose around a sturdy tree branch. “Wait, Jason! What the fuck are you doing!?” he called out, but it didn’t seem like he could hear Gregory’s cries. When Gregory rushed over to try and help, he ran right through the badly scarred and clearly emotionally distraught fellow human.

Gregory watched helplessly as Jason on the branch. He saw a serene look passing over Jason’s face as he sighed, closed his eyes and wrapped the noose around his neck, tightening it with a simple tug. Gregory heard some gasps from behind him, but when he turned to look, none of the ponies or even Cranky moved to help.

And that was when he heard a familiar southern drawl. “Jason! Stop!” Gregory watched as Jason slowly opened his eyes, scanning the crowd only to see a slowly approaching Applejack. Behind her Gregory watched Twilight and Spike approaching. Applejack removed her Stetson and looked over at Jason with a pleading look in her eyes. “Please…Not like this, Jason. Ah—we can still solve this. Give us another chance.”

Gregory turned back to Jason, only to see tears falling down his face. “I won’t Applejack… I can’t even if I’d want to.” He began sobbing as he added, “It is not just about you anymore.” Applejack began crying too as she shook her head hard, but before she could say anything, Jason concluded, “It’s all about me now…” And then, to Gregory’s horror, Jason let go.

“JASON!”

The scene changed, and he was standing in a hallway of what looked like some kind of medical facility. He watched as Princess Celestia walked towards him, Applejack by her side. The latter had a morose look on her face, while Celestia looked like she was holding back anger. Gregory could feel heat emanating from the Princess of the Sun.

The two stopped a few feet away from him, only for Celestia to turn and face Applejack. “You saw this happen? You saw Jason hanging himself? And only you?” Her voice was even, but there was a hint of fury behind it that scared Gregory.

Applejack nodded slowly, “Eeyup.”

"Then you seem to be the best pony for me to tell this,” Celestia replied. “I am beyond disappointed. I sent Jason to Ponyville to have you all make friends with him. And what did you do?”

It took a few seconds beore Applejack answered, “We alienated ‘im.”

Celestia’s eyes flashed with anger as she stamped the ground, gaining the earth pony’s attention. “This was beyond alienation, Applejack. This was hatred, pure and simple! Are you happy with how things turned out?”

Applejack started to cry, looking down at the ground with a look of shame on her face. “N-no…”

“Really? With how you treated him, I'm surprised to see you say otherwise.” Celestia turned and looked out of the window. Gregory followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at the distant Canterlot. She turned back and continued in as calm a voice as she could muster. “Did you know he couldn't go back to his home? He left his friends and family for what he thought was a better life. They had a show about us, the humans. It was about you girls and all your adventures. Understandably Luna and I didn't believe him at first. But then he told us about your adventures, adventures he couldn't possibly have known about. He was so eager to be your friends. And you turned him away in the worst way possible.”

Celestia then sighed as he lifted Applejack up to face her none too gently before concluding, “I don't want to hear from you or your friends ever again. Don't try to contact me or my sister; I'm cutting off all ties to you girls. Don't worry about your reputation, I won't say anything. It'll be like Jason never came here. You can tell your friends,” Celestia spat that last word, "of my judgement. If any of you try to come to Canterlot, you will be arrested and sent back home. Goodbye, Applejack.”

As Celestia passed by, Gregory watched her go and frowned. “Kinda fucking harsh there, dontcha think?” he called out. But just like before, he wasn’t heard.

When he turned back, he saw the other Mane Six walking up, Twilight looking at Applejack with confusion as she asked, “Applejack? What did Celestia want to talk to you about? Where is she?”

Applejack took a deep breath, then slowly replied, “She don't want tah see us none…and neither do ah.” She then walked out, leaving behind five confused pony mares.

Once more the scene changed, only now Gregory was floating in the air overlooking a destroyed Ponyville. It looked as if the town had been struck by a massive F5 tornado directly in the center. The only buildings standing were on the outskirts of the town itself.

Gregory looked down, only to see Princess Celestia standing in the center of the chaos, looking around with a stunned expression on her face. The Mane Six were huddled together, terrified at whatever they were looking at.

Looking around, Gregory saw, to his astonishment, that all around the devastation were now standing perfect copies of the mirror portal to the human world just popping out of nowhere all around. Nearby, he saw the mismatched form of Discord, claw and paw raised to the heavens with a grin on his face. Beside him, Jason Wright stood, looking around with his jaw dropped.

Princess Celestia was the first one to speak. “Is that the mirror portal from the Crystal Empire? How did you get ahold of that? What is this sorcery?”

“My dears, it’s time to test the limits of your friendship!” Discord replied, his arms still spread wide.

Directly after that, Gregory watched in astonishment as humans walk out of the mirrors. Not the multicolored ones from the Equestria Girls universe, but real honest to God humans. One out of each.

“What…? How…? Who…?” Jason spoke, sounding utterly baffled by what he was seeing.

Ignoring Jason’s question, Discord turned to him and held out his paw towards him. "Alas, it appears our time together is ending, Jason Wright. A parting gift for you too.” Gregory began to lower and watched as Discord put a small fishing hook in Jason’s outstretched hand. “That is yours, no? You sent it here before your arrival, and who should it happen to hit on the head out of nowhere but little old moi? I probably wouldn't have even known about you had I not endeavored to find out where that came from. Funny how we are drawn to chaos, wouldn't you say?”

Jason remained silent for a bit before closing his hand over it. “Yeah…this is mine…”

“Splendid. You need not thank me for saving your life! You have given me more than enough amusement for a lifetime. How fun you humans are! Now if you don’t mind, my new friends and I have some introductions to get through. Toodle-oo, Mr. Wright! Don’t forget to…write!” With that, Discord put his paw on Jason’s chest. Before Jason could say anything, Discord pushed him with a mighty shove, sending him flying towards the nearest portal. The human who had just stumbled out, a younger man, tried to grab at him but Jason’s trajectory was too fast. He sailed through the portal.

“Jason!” Celestia shouted, watching helplessly as the human passed through the portal. She turned to Discord angrily. “Where did you send him!?”

“Why, I sent him to a world with humans, of course,” Discord said with a wide grin. “But that’s neither here nor there. Come! Let’s introduce you to your new guests!” With that, he turned and put a claw on the nearest human, a young teenage girl. “This here's Beatrix Millbrook…”

The scene changed one more time, and Gregory was standing in a vast open aired arena. There were a large number of ponies sitting in the stands looking down and a few non-ponies staring down as well. In the audience he saw some notable characters, specifically Cozy Glow, Cranky Doodle, Spike, and especially Gabby. Seeing her left an ache in Gregory’s heart as he reached out to her, but he was unable to move from where he stood.

Looking around, he saw that there was a raised platform in the center of the arena where he saw a number of creatures standing there. He recognized Princesses Luna and Cadance along with Queen Novo, Grandpa Gruff, Dragon Lord Ember and Prince Rutherford, but he saw some other creatures he didn’t recognize. A zebra stallion sat among them along with a Saddle Arabian.

In what looked like a booth meant for defendants in a trial, Gregory saw the Mane Six (minus Pinkie who was sitting in the stands with her family) along with Celestia standing, all looking very miserable. Celestia was standing tall, but there was sadness and misery in her eyes. Rarity’s mane and tail were a mess and there was mascara running down her bloodshot eyes. Applejack was missing her Stetson and had a forlorn look on her face. Fluttershy was holding back tears, and Gregory noticed that her cutie mark was missing. Twilight Sparkle seemed to be emulating her mentor, but not looking up as a look of shame covered her face. Rainbow Dash looked the worst. There were bandages covering her body, and one of her eyes looked identical to Jason’s own blind eye. She looked like she was in serious pain and her wings hung limp by her side.

Jason was standing nearby, with Chrysalis standing close to him. In the middle, Gregory saw Discord standing and looking around the arena nervously as the crowd and the leaders on the platform all looked down on him with an angry glare. He listened as Discord started to admit to some actions he’d taken against other nations, like how he placed all griffon’s positive aspects into the idol or how he changed dragons so their bodies reacted to their own emotions.

Afterwards, he watched as Jason seemed to pass down punishments down on Discord, Celestia, the Mane Six (minus Pinkie), and lastly Ponyville itself. With each punishment, Gregory saw a nearby unfamiliar horn brighten and work its magic in accordance to what Jason had said. Whatever that horn was, it was powerful, presumably an even more powerful artifact than the Elements of Harmony.

After the punishments were over, Gregory couldn’t take it anymore. He shouted, “WHAT THE FUCK AM I SEEING?! WHY AM I DREAMING THIS?!”

“This is no mere dream, Gregory Graystone,” a familiar voice that seemed to echo said from behind him. “These are visions of other worlds.”

Suddenly, the scene went gray and he found that he could walk again. He whirled around only to see a very familiar human woman. She was a half head shorter than he was, had short wavy white hair, wore a yellow dress and had a white apron with flowers sewn onto it. She wore a blue rimmed pair of glasses over dark brown eyes. She was glowing and there were sparks of light emanating from her. He immediately knew not only who this form was meant to be, but who she was. Slowly, he took a step forward. “So…why is the Tree of Harmony taking the form of my grandma and showing me these visions?” Gregory asked, crossing his arms.

With a dexterity his grandma hadn’t had in life, she walked around the nearby arena. With a sorrowful look on her face, she gazed at the frozen faces of those in the defendant booth. “The visions you have experienced are a handful of the worlds where the man called Jason Wright lived and experienced abuse and torment. It is unfortunate that this has happened, but harmony has not won the day in those worlds. But there are other worlds. Others in which Jason found the harmony and happiness he so desired.”

With a wave of her hand, the scene before him dissolved and changed. Gregory looked around and saw Jason leaning against an apple tree overlooking Sweet Apple Acres near sunset. Unlike the variations he’d seen that had all been scarred and beaten down, this Jason looked healthy and younger than the others. He had an apple in one hand and a bottle of apple cider in the other.

Sitting next to him, her Stetson sitting in her lap and snoring up a storm with an empty bottle in her hoof, Applejack leaned against the tree as well, sitting next to Jason. Gregory walked over with the manifestation of the Tree of Harmony and looked down at the pair. Jason was wearing a pair of work overalls, thick brown boots coated in mud and hay, a flannel t-shirt and a straw hat on his head to block out the sunlight.

Gregory saw that Jason was reaching down and scratching behind one of Applejack’s ears. The tired looking earth pony smiled in her sleep and moved unconsciously closer to Jason, leaning against him.

From above, Gregory heard the flapping of gentle wings. Turning, he saw Fluttershy coming over with a basket of apples in her hooves. She landed and looked at the two with a warm smile. “Awww, she looks adorable,” the pegasus said.

“Don’t let her hear you,” an amused Jason said as he ran his hand through Applejack’s blonde mane. “Or actually, let her hear you. She’s so cute when she blushes.”

Fluttershy giggled cutely and walked over to him, placing her basket down. “I do hope she hasn’t been working you too hard,” she said as she sat next to Jason.

“Not any more than usual,” Jason said. “Besides, I’m in better shape now than when I was back on Earth. I’m healthier now, too. Sure, I miss a few meat products, but I’ll gladly give them up if it means I can spend time with my friends.”

Fluttershy gave him a sympathetic look. “Why don’t you ask Twilight to order you some from overseas? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

“I wouldn’t want to trouble my friends over something like that,” Jason said. “Besides, with the mirror portal open to the human world all the time now, I could easily go through and get stuff there if I wanted to or ask Sunset to get me something and pay her back. Remember when we all went there last year?”

Fluttershy nodded. “That was quite an adventure.”

“Especially that funny mirror routine both Rainbow Dash’s did when they met,” Jason laughed as he remembered something.

“That was funny,” Fluttershy replied. She then stood, walked over, and to Jason’s apparent surprise, hugged him.

Jason put his remaining arm around the butter colored pegasus and asked, “Flutters? Are you okay? Where’s this coming from?”

She only tightened her grip on him and whispered, “I just felt like it,” she said. Slowly releasing him, she backed away. “By the way, when’s the anniversary of when you came to Ponyville?”

Jason stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Oh, I think two weeks from now is the third anniversary,” he said. “Tomorrow is the anniversary of when I arrived in Canterlot escorted by Princess Celestia herself. I bet Pinkie knows already.”

Fluttershy nodded. “She’s good at parties like that. Remember her party cave we found during that Yak fiasco?”

Jason nodded. “Her file on me was enormous! I still can’t believe she learned all that about me. And I really can’t believe she actually went through the mirror portal and bought me all my favorite meat snacks with the other Pinkie’s help just for a Welcome to Equestria party.”

“That mare takes her parties pretty darn seriously,” Applejack said suddenly, turning her head and looking up at Jason with a grin.

Jason looked back down at her, slowly removing his hand from behind her ear. “Ah…heh, sorry, AJ.”

“Ah never told yah tah stop,” she replied, craning her neck closer to him. “Git to it. That felt mighty good.”

“Slave driver,” Jason snorted good naturedly as he resumed his ear scratching.

Applejack sighed contentedly and lay her front hooves on Jason’s legs, placing her head on top of them. “Yah gotta try this, Flutters. It feels amazin’.”

Fluttershy looked a bit nervous, but Gregory saw Jason turn to her, smile, and hold out his hand. “You wanna know what it’s like to be pet too? I don’t mind if you don’t.”

After a few moments of contemplation, Fluttershy nodded. When Jason’s hands began stroking her mane, her eyes widened and she smiled. “Oh…my…that does feel amazing,” she said as she lay down on Jason’s other leg. “I can see why the critters like your petting.”

“Speakin’ of pets, how’s yer pet critter, Jason?” Applejack asked curiously.

“Oh, the baby manticore I saved, Paulina?” Jason asked. “She’s not really my pet, you know? I only see her like once or twice a week.”

“She’s the friendliest manticore I know,” Fluttershy said. “Especially after you found her in that cave in the Everfree and helped nurse her back to full health.”

“Winona likes her,” Applejack said, “and she normally don’t like manticores.”

“Last time I saw her, I think I saw her stomach bulging a bit,” Jason said, “so either she’s eating a lot more than normal, or she’s pregnant.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she looked up excitedly at Jason. “Awww, you’re going to be a baby grandpa!”

Applejack grinned and looked up at him. “How’s it feel, gramps?”

“I’m in my thirties still,” Jason said with a grumble as the two mares laughed. Soon, his frown dissolved and he too was laughing along.

The scene froze with the two ponies and lone human frozen in mid laughter. The Tree of Harmony turned to Gregory. “This is one of the worlds where harmony did not fail Jason Wright or anyone else. In fact, another version of you will appear in this world shortly after this event.”

“So…how do you know all of this, and why are you showing me this anyway?” Gregory asked as he turned and looked at the sunset and Sweet Apple Acres. He knew this would be the only time he would get to see any part of the Ponyville he’d seen in the show, so he was taking the opportunity.

“The mares in your world who were chosen by the Elements have turned against harmony,” the representation of his grandmother said. “I can sense their resolve to change, but it is not just those six that need to learn. Many ponies have begun to turn away from harmony and have lapsed into what you would call xenophobia, bigotry, and speciesism.”

“And…what do you want me to do about it? Preach to them?” Gregory asked with an incredulous look.

“No, of course I do not want that. I have looked through your time in Griffonstone. You have shown that you embody the tenets of harmony quite well. You spread laughter through the city and the land, you are honest up to a point, kind to those you see, loyal to your new friends and nation, are generous with your time as you donate it to the city even during most of your free time, and you have spread friendship among not just the griffons, but among the other creatures populating the city and the nation. Your example is a shining beacon to those in your city and the world.”

“Oh dear God…I’m not a messiah!” Gregory moaned as he facepalmed. “I’m just a human who got really lucky! Almost too lucky!”

He felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw the image of his grandmother smiling warmly up at him, just like she had when he was a boy. Only now, he was taller and older. It was strange seeing her shorter than he was now, but even if she wasn’t really his grandma, it was nice to see her again. “Yes, you have indeed been blessed, and you have spread that blessing on to others. I am also aware of how your world sees ours, and while I am saddened to see that future will not come to pass here, there is a chance for an even brighter future here. I am not here to ask you to go on some grand adventure for the sake of the magic of friendship. I showed you these alternate worlds to encourage you not to leave your current location and position. I am aware of your current plight. I am also aware of your temptation to stay where you are. After all you have been through, I am not surprised you would feel this way. Atlantis is a paradise, but it is not perfect. No place on Gaia is. But while it was not my doing that led you to be transported to Griffonstone, your placement there is no mistake. You claim not to be a messiah, but you have done much to make this world a much better place. You might not be able to do anything in those other worlds, but your presence in this world already has had lasting positive consequences.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow. “I was just doing the right thing,” he said. “How does that make me some big shot?”

“That is all it takes,” the Tree said. “Doing the right thing and abiding to the tenets of harmony is all anyone can ask of you. It is simple acts like what you have undertaken in your time here that can move mountains. It is even possible that you would be instrumental in the beginning of the healing of the heart of your fellow human.”

Gregory looked back at the frozen image of Jason, Fluttershy and Applejack laughing happily. He frowned as he looked back at the Tree. “Looky here, um…Harmony,” he said, unsure what else to call her, “I’m not a counselor. I’ve got my own issues to deal with. I’ve come from a messed up background and horrible relationships back on Earth. Even if I wanted to help Jason, which I’m not sure would be the best idea anyway, I wouldn’t know where to start.”

The scene began to fade away, but the last words he heard were his granny’s words. Ones she’d said to him whenever he felt down about how his immediate family treated him. “Just be kind. You never know who’ll need it…”

Gregory woke slowly to sunlight pouring into his room from the still open door to the outside. He was suddenly aware that he was drenched in sweat. His hair was soaked and his body felt like it was on fire. He reached over, grabbed the pitcher of water that was on one end table, rushed out to the balcony, and after taking a long drink, splashed the remainder of it all over himself, soaking his sleepwear.

In the early morning air, the cool breeze on his wet body felt amazing. He was just deciding to head out to take a bath when a pair of familiar blue eyes appeared in his vision. “Gah Jesus H. Christ!” he shouted as he fell back at the sudden appearance of Amethyst Sky, the purple pegasus Pinkie Pie clone. However, he forgot his frustration at being startled when he saw the fear in the pegasus’ eyes. “What…what’s wrong?” he asked, his heart sinking.

“It’s your drake!” Amethyst said loudly and with a tremble in her voice. “She’s ice cold!”

33: Rescue(s)

Ancient Changeling Hive, Lower Level Entrance To Tartarus, Moments After Changeling Rescue Party Enters…

Chrysalis’ first impression of Tartarus after passing through the Changeling gates under her mother’s old abandoned hive was that it was dark. Darker than anything she’d ever seen before. To her it was like the cave was wrapped in a black blanket that permeated everything.

Her second impression, when she briefly let her shield down, was the smell of rotten eggs. She knew what that smelled like from her days posing as Princess Cadance in Canterlot. She immediately put up her shield again, wrinkling her nose in disgust. She looked back over at Jason, whose mask-covered face was illuminated by the nearby green glow of General Nictis’ horn as well as the torch he held in his hand. All she could see were his brown eyes which focused ahead at whatever was ahead of them. She could taste slight apprehension coming from him, along with a plethora of other conflicting emotions. Determination, resignation, anger and more flowed from him like a mighty torrent.

Walking over, she put her hand on Jason’s shoulders. She could tell how much it meant to him to keep this other human safe from harm. It was so important that he seemed to be pushing through some sort of pain just to do it. Chrysalis was no fool. She could tell something was causing him pain, but any attempt by her to get him to see the changeling’s own healer had resulted in increasingly stern rebuffs from him. It was one reason why she had been practicing her magic and trying to emulate a form more suitable to his own form. It was why she was attempting to learn an ancient changeling spell that would allow for the form she currently possessed to become her permanent natural one. A part of her hoped she would gain enough of the stalwart human’s trust to get him to see their healer.

Of course, that was only part of the reason why. She moved slowly closer to him, almost protectively so as they continued heading deeper into the depths of Gaia. On the other side, Nictis hovered as well. Chrysalis could sense feelings of worry from the general directed at Jason as well, and the two kept him company the deeper down they went.

After about half an hour in the darkness, five scouts which Nictis had sent forward came back and knelt before Jason. He looked down at them. “Report.”

“My Emperor, this passage expands the further down it goes,” one of them replied. “It also begins sloping more until nocreature can walk down, only fly.”

“Then we’re flying the rest of the way,” Jason said.

Chrysalis walked behind him, wrapping her arms around him and lifting him up. Beside the two, Nictis turned to the other changelings behind them. “All changelings on me!” With that, the convoy continued to head downwards at a faster pace.

Ten minutes later, the ground below them fell away sharply as the group of changelings entered a massive domed cavern with a large hole that sloped downwards into a deep abyss. In a way, this chamber reminded Chrysalis of the throne room back at the hive where they had first retreated to before finding the newer hive. Upon their arrival, the changelings who had gone forward flew down the hole. As they flew down, Chrysalis looked at the walls briefly. They were smooth with hardly any damage done to them. Chrysalis could sense ancient changeling magic at work within the stone chasm, but couldn’t tell what kind of magic was in use. The changelings of old had been said to have mastered many different types of magic, even supposedly rivaling those of ponies, but as time went on, those secrets had been lost. A part of her hoped that when this rescue was complete, they could search through the ruins and rediscover at least some of those secrets. At about the halfway mark, she felt a slight chill go down her back, but it was brief.

The chasm below began to grow smaller until the cavern shifted ninety degrees, making it possible for everyone to walk again. The changeling scouts said that the rest of the way was straight. Chrysalis put Jason down, only to catch him in her arms as he stumbled slightly. Jason reached out and placed his hand on the wall, pulling down his mask and beginning to cough. Chrysalis had heard this cough a few times before, and every time she did, it sounded like it was getting worse. She reached down to her satchel, bringing out a large bulb of water and holding it up to his lips. Jason took a long drink, but after about five seconds, he began coughing again, spitting out water all over the wall and floor. She ran her hand along her back, frowning. “Medic!” she called out to one of the changeling medical staff they’d brought along. “Attend to the Emperor!”

Jason stiffened and stood up, and Chrysalis felt a wave of anger mixed with pain wafting off of him. “Belay that order,” he said sternly to the three approaching changeling medics, all of whom paused in their tracks.

Chrysalis, unable to hold back her own feelings anymore, grasped his shoulders and turned him towards her. “Emperor, you’ve obviously unwell,” she whispered so no one else could hear her.

“I’m fine,” he hissed through clenched teeth before she felt him masterfully suppressing his emotions once again. He’d gotten quite good at it during his time as her subordinate. It had been one of the key reasons why he had managed to betray her under her nose. He stood up straighter as he added, “Trust me, I’m alright now. It’s just a cough.”

“You’re a poor liar,” she replied brazenly, gripping his shoulders harder. “You’re in pain, I can sense it! You should have stayed back home and let me deal with finding this other human.”

“If he’s anything like me, he wouldn’t be quick to trust a changeling, especially if he’s a fan of the show as much as I was,” Jason replied.

Chrysalis’ frown deepened. She was the only changeling who knew the truth of how Jason’s kind saw their world. He’d had knowledge of Chrysalis’ attack on Canterlot that he couldn’t have had unless he was there or if he had seen it through some magical means. While she scoffed at the very idea of her singing (she hadn’t broken into song), the other parts of that story had been accurate. He said that he’d left his world after a movie called Equestria Girls had been released, and it was because of that movie that he thought he’d be accepted by ponies. She took a deep breath and replied, “You still should have stayed home. We could have brought our communication stones to talk with him if we found him alive.”

Jason stood up taller and faced the cavern behind him. There was a greenish blue light shining on the turn which headed directly left. “I needed to do this, Chrysalis,” he said stalwartly as he put his mask back over his mouth.

She wanted to argue. She wanted to put her hoof, or foot in her current case, down and tell him he was making a mistake, but she knew him well enough to know that his mind was made up. She sighed. “I still think we can handle this on our own,” she said, “but you’re the boss.”

Chrysalis detected a small wave of amusement coming from him despite the lack of apparent change in his eyes. He nodded and turned, pointing to the cavern ahead. “Let’s go.”

Chrysalis turned and followed Jason towards the exit, the changelings around them following suit. Nictis took point along with a select few of the best soldiers. They turned right and Nictis motioned for the rest to stop. He pointed a hoof at two of his soldiers, then headed down the cavern. The two soldiers followed. She could hear their hoofsteps echoing through the cavern as they headed down to what she assumed was the exit. Their hoofsteps paused and she could hear whispers coming from the three soldiers, but she couldn’t understand just what they were saying. Finally, their hoofsteps resumed, returning to the turn in the cave. Nictis was the first to return and he placed his hoof on his chest, bowing to Jason and Chrysalis. “My Emperor and my Lady,” he said, “there is an exit, and we can’t detect any creatures nearby. But there is some vegetation unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”

Jason raised an eyebrow and Chrysalis could feel the waves of curiosity from him. “Show me,” he said.

Nictis nodded, turning back and heading once more down the cavern. Chrysalis followed close beside Jason, curious herself. They turned left and Chrysalis saw a large domed entrance. As they approached, Chrysalis saw the vegetation. However, that wasn’t quite what caught her eye. Out of nowhere, a glowing purple orb of light floated into the cave and meandered around until it reached the group. Nictis immediately encased it in his magic and moved it away. “What is that?” Chrysalis asked.

“I don’t know, my Lady,” he said. “We saw a few other of these orbs floating around the forest. I believe they are some form of floating plant.”

“Let’s not make any assumptions,” Jason said. “Don’t let them touch you just in case. This is Tartarus we’re entering. They could be dangerous.” He turned to Nictis. “You said we’re about to enter a forest?”

“Yes, your Majesty,” he said, “but it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before.”

“Then let’s see,” Jason said, moving forward.

To say that Chrysalis was blown away by what she saw was an understatement. The cave’s entrance was smack in front of a set of black stone stairs that led down a few meters until they reached a stopping point where grass began to grow. All around them, Chrysalis saw massive trees reaching up towards a light green light. There was a mist forming all around them, and she could hear the distant sound of a stream. The trees themselves were all of various types she had never seen before. One type seemed to be made of large brown spheres with branches coming out of them every third sphere. Another type seemed to possess leaves that drooped down like a weeping willow, but the leaves themselves were dark purple. Yet another type didn’t look like a tree at all, but instead resembled massive mushrooms. One other type seemed to be a fruit tree of some kind with many different types of fruit, all glowing, hanging from its branches. Yet one more seemed to have roots that rose above the ground, creating a dome of roots.

The undergrowth was covered with green grass and large bushes. One type of bush caught Chrysalis’ eye, as she saw that the top of each bush was covered with multicolored orbs of light. Some seemed to be blowing off in a slight breeze, floating around the forest and latching onto the bark of other trees or landing on the grass. There was a green light emanating from above the forest canopy.

Chrysalis could feel confusion pouring off of everyone else, Jason included. He knelt beside the ancient looking stairs and pulled up some grass, looking at it. “How is this possible?” he muttered to himself before reeling in his emotions and standing. He turned to Nictis. “General, I need a view of the landscape above the canopy. Use the communication stones.”

Nictis nodded and took out a small black stone. “First Squad, with me,” he ordered as he buzzed up into the trees. Ten other changelings followed close behind, all armed with the new and old firearms.

Chrysalis reached into her satchel and pulled out a similar black stone. Her horn glowed and the stone did so as well. A floating image appeared in front of them which showed a first person view of what Nictis’ own stone was recording. Chrysalis projected the image higher so everyone else could see it. Nictis was still flying through the canopy as she projected it. However, about a minute later, he and the other changelings broke through the canopy. “Can you see this, my Emperor?” he asked, his voice sounding a bit muffled.

“I can,” Jason said. “Rotate the view slowly so we can see the surrounding area. And zoom out if you can.”

“At once, your Majesty.” He began doing so. And what they saw made Chrysalis frown in even more confusion.

They were definitely underground, that was for certain. The view showed an extremely high ceiling of stone. However, the ceiling itself was studded with gems that seemed to glow with bright green light that shone down. The forest canopy seemed to stretch on as far as the eye could see. She saw other different types of strange trees as well as mountains in the distance that appeared to be covered in snow. There were clouds in the air as well and she thought she spotted a small rainstorm at one point. The ceiling itself seemed to be higher above them than seemed possible, judging from her reckoning of how far they’d flown, but it had been dark, so it was possible they had gone down deeper than she’d realized.

Still, there had been that strange brief shiver she’d felt when they had been around the halfway point…

Just then, Chrysalis heard a distant rustling sound. Jason heard it to, because he grasped his gun. “Get back down here, General. We’re not alone in this forest.”

Chrysalis felt it then. A new emotional source in the distance approaching quickly. Unlike those of animals, which were simpler, this belonged to a sentient creature. No, she corrected herself. Three sentient creatures. All of whom were converging on their position. She pulled out her two pistols and stood between the forest and Jason. Nictis soon joined in. “Soldiers, protect the Emperor,” she ordered. “Possible hostiles incoming at ten, twelve and two o’clock.”

She heard Jason slip his rifle from his back and begin loading it quickly before aiming it at the forest undergrowth itself. “Weapons and magic ready,” he ordered.

The other changelings flew into the air, some taking out their own firearms while others who were better at offensive magic raised their horns. Chrysalis clenched the two pistols in her hands, aiming forward at the one coming in the center. Whatever was approaching in that direction was the closest.

Just then, the creature shot out of the forest. Whatever it was had a very familiar shape. It was a pony who was wearing some sort of blue cloak and cowel around its entire form save for the head. A very familiar pink pony head. In one of the pony’s hooves was a blade which the pink pony held up in a defensive position. On either side, two more pony shaped creatures appeared, and to Chrysalis’ utter shock, both were perfect clones of the pink one. The one on the right held a makeshift bow in both hooves and was aiming at Chrysalis while the other on the left held an old looking pair of spiked maces in her hooves.

Jason frowned and Chrysalis felt the familiar surge of anger at the pink one, the one who had ignored him during his three years in Ponyville. However, before he could say anything, the pink pony in the center glared at the group. “What are you doing here, Chrysalis?”

Chrysalis felt the amount of suspicion from this strange copy of the pink pony and it stunned her. She hadn’t even felt this level of suspicion from the purple pony princess during her failed invasion of Canterlot. Just then, she sensed a feeling of recognition from Jason, but it wasn’t the same as the recognition he felt whenever he thought about the ponies he once admired. He stepped forward, past Chrysalis and aimed one pistol at the pink copy. “You three are some of the clones Pinkie Pie made a few years ago, correct?”

The pink one in the center focused her attention on Jason, as did the other two. Nictis moved to stand in between the pink one and Jason, his gun pointed at the center pink one. Nobody moved for a good few seconds until finally the center pink one nodded. “Yes, we are. How did you know that? Who and what are you?”

“Watch who you’re speaking to, pony!” Nictis shouted. “This is Emperor Jason Wright of the changelings!”

The pink copy on the right narrowed her eyes at Jason now. “Emperor? And what are you doing in Tartarus?”

“That is our business, pony,” Chrysalis said, stepping forward now and aiming her pistols at two of the three pony copies.

“We aren’t here to hurt you, if that’s what you mean,” Jason added. “We didn’t even know you were down here.”

“Then what are you down here for?” the pink copy on the left demanded again.

“We’re here to rescue someone,” Jason explained.

That seemed to catch the three ponies off guard, if their feelings of confusion were anything to go by. Not that Chrysalis needed her empathic abilities to sense that. Their shocked expressions were more than enough to go off of. The one in the center looked at the other two, nodded at them, then faced Jason again. She began walking forward and Nictis moved in response to block her, but Jason put a hand on his withers. Nictis looked up in confusion at the human, but a single look was all it took for the changeling general to move aside. The other changelings moved to block her path, but Jason said, “Let her pass.”

Chrysalis didn’t take her eyes off of the pink pony and kept her weapons trained on the pony. However, she didn’t detect any killing intent from her. Once the pink pony was a few steps away from Jason, she looked up at the human. Chrysalis felt like whatever this pony copy was, she was sizing Jason up. She looked him up and down slowly, drinking in his entire figure. She nodded and stepped back, removing her own cowel to reveal her own face. She pulled her hood back to reveal that she had her mane tied back tightly in a ponytail. “He isn’t lying. Stand down. We can’t defeat them anyway.”

As the other two began lowering their weapons and removing their own cowels and hoods to reveal that they looked identical to the first pony in terms of mane style, the one with the bow and arrow in her hooves asked as she put the bow on her back and the arrow back in her quiver, “Who are you looking for?” she asked suspiciously. “And be honest.”

Chrysalis leaned closer to Jason. “We don’t have to tell these pony copies anything,” she whispered. “It’s none of their business.”

Jason leaned back. “These Pinkie Pie clones have been living down here for years, even longer than I’ve been in this world,” he replied in a whisper as well. “They didn’t do anything to us yet. Let me do the talking.” He turned back to the copies. “We’re looking for someone who looks like me,” he began. “Not exactly, but he will have my same general type of appearance. Stands on two legs, has skin instead of fur, hair on his head, you get the idea. Have you seen anyone like that?”

The first pink copy looked at him more closely, then shook her head. “Nope, I’ve never seen or heard of anycreature like you, especially down here.”

“Why are you looking for a creature like you?” the copy on the left asked.

Jason took a deep breath and said, “The person like me was sent here maliciously and without provocation,” he said. “He was banished to Tartarus and we intend to rescue him, or if we can’t, we’ll bring him back for a…proper burial.”

The copy in the center stiffened, then sighed. “We’ll lead you to the exit to this forest.” She put away her weapons and turned. “No flying and follow the path. This forest is large and full of dangerous animals but they know better than to mess with us.”

Jason looked back at the others and nodded. “Let’s go. Be on guard, however.”

As the entire changeling rescue force fell into line and followed the three towards a previously unseen overgrown cobblestone pathway, Chrysalis extended her empathic senses out further into the forest. Of course, this meant that the effectiveness of her senses diminished, but even then she would be able to feel the emotions of larger animals at least. She didn’t feel anything hostile nearby, but near the edge of her range, about five or so miles away she felt three massive emotional sources. They weren’t moving their way, however, but despite that she reported this to Jason.

“How big?” Jason asked.

“Physically I don’t know,” she replied, “but they’re definitely massive emotionally, so that most likely means they’re big monsters.”

Jason nodded, then lowered his voice. “What do you sense from those clones?”

Chrysalis focused her abilities on the three pink ponies ahead of them. Even during the invasion of Canterlot, the pink one had something different than these three copies. There had been some form of entertainment wafting from her. But from these three all she felt was intense suspicion, alertness, and a deep seated and burning hatred. However, the latter was not directed at them. The feeling was buried deep down and was directed at someone else. “They’re suspicious of us and on high alert,” she said. “And they hate someone, but not us.”

Jason nodded in understanding. “Let’s just keep following them. And don’t antagonize them. There may be three of them, but in the show there were more. There may be others out here.”

“I can’t sense any others,” Chrysalis said, “but this is a big forest. I’ll keep my senses open.”

With that, they fell into silence for the next few hours as they followed the three pink pony copies through the massive forest. They walked deeper into the strange forest and it grew darker, prompting the ponies to reach into their hoofmade satchels and pull out some strange sticks with a glowing crystal on top of them to illuminate the path. The changelings lit up their horns to light up the path since they had to walk in pairs down the road. Chrysalis kept close to Jason, looking around at the increasingly strange foliage. She saw many different trees and even a few ancient looking stone tower ruins in the distance on either side of the path. In fact, the pathway they were on seemed to branch off a few times and even whenever she saw a small ruin.

Nothing was said during the entire walk, and Chrysalis couldn’t sense any approaching monsters. She had sensed five other animals passing in range of her empathic web, but that was it. She also felt smaller animals around them as she tightened her empathic senses.

She even saw a small group of creatures she’d never seen before or even heard of. What she’d seen were strange blue blobs that looked like massive water droplets with some sort of glowing core inside. Jason had muttered the term slime when he saw the creatures. Chrysalis determined that the slimes or whatever they were weren’t of any harm and only had a simple one-track mind judging from their near lack of emotion.

This confused her even more. All she knew about Tartarus was that it was a desolate but dangerous place, but despite the dangerous feeling animals, this part of Tartarus was strangely beautiful. They’d even walked over an ancient looking bridge that had been built over a damn babbling brook which itself had surprisingly clean water. She’d suggested to Jason that they refill their water in said brook just in case they found no other sources of water and he’d agreed. When he asked one of the copies about the water, they confirmed that it was clean. Chrysalis had not detected any deception from them, so they spent some time restocking their water pouches.

Eventually, however, after what must have been twelve hours of walking minus a thirty minute meal break and the time refilling their pouches, the forest around them began to shift and change. The trees became more uniform, almost as if they’d been part of some old orchard once upon a time. There were various strange fruits hanging from the branches. When Jason reached out and took one to examine it, the pink copies didn’t react. Nictis spoke up. “Hey, do you three mind if we take some of these fruits? Assuming they’re edible?”

The leader pony turned back. “Not too much,” she said, “but yeah, go ahead. And they’re edible.”

Nictis began pulling blue hourglass shaped fruits off of the nearby tree and stuffing them into his own satchel. Chrysalis, knowing Jason needed actual food to survive, did the same with a purple pear shaped fruit on another tree. Soon, both their satchels were stuffed. When other changelings behind them started doing the same, however, Jason turned and shook his head. “We have enough. Leave the rest for these ponies.”

Finally, the pink copies led them to a clearing in front of a massive and ancient looking stone archway which itself led down a pathway towards a distant exit where she could see some ruddy red light. The three pink pony copies led them through the cavern, which Chrysalis noticed had some glowing vines coming out of some cracks in the otherwise smooth arched pathway.

Finally, they reached the exit, where the land land sloped away onto a barren and hostile looking landscape. She saw stalactites hanging from the ceiling of the cavern ahead. Glowing reddish purple crystals were embedded on the ceiling and the stalactites which helped illuminate the surrounding area. There were massive columns of stone that supported the cave and she even saw massive mountain ranges in the distance along with what appeared to be moving clouds.

Turning to look back at the wall she assumed was behind her, she was startled to see a massive column that looked too smooth to be natural. It headed up until it connected with the ceiling. Its circumference seemed way too small to have held that massive forest.

Before she could think too hard about it, she heard one of the copies say “There you are.” Chrysalis turned back and saw that the lead pink copy was pointing out at the landscape. “That’s Tartarus proper.”

Jason nodded, turning back to the three pink copies. “Thanks for the help. We may be coming back this way again to get back to the surface.”

“If you survive out there,” the lead pink pony said dismissively, “and if you do come back, just know that you owe us a big favor.”

Jason frowned, but nodded. “You’re right. We owe you one.”

“Damn right you do,” one of the other pink ponies said before she and the other two turned and headed back down the pathway and were quickly gone from sight.

Chrysalis grit her teeth in anger and was about to shout something back at them before Jason put a hand on her arm, shaking his head. She relaxed before turning to Nictis. “Assign your teams, General.”

Nictis nodded, then turned back to the gathering crowd of changeling soldiers. “Okay, everyling! I’m going to be assigning you into your groups, now!”

As Nictis began doing so, Chrysalis waited impatiently. She would be going with Jason, there was no arguing that point. And Nictis would definitely be coming with them as well. Besides, it would give her plenty of opportunity to keep an eye on the changeling general.

Especially since his wings had begun to change.

Dragon Lands, The Morning Two Days After Gregory’s Disappearance…

Silica, the bright aquamarine and golden eyed dragon known to have a practical obsession with the dragonrider race, stood on the shores of Lake Nova with about fifty other dragon volunteers early that morning, pacing the sands anxiously. Ever since her sister had sent her that pamphlet from Griffonstone, she’d been incredibly gung-ho about the rescue mission to Tartarus that the Dragon Lord had announced the night prior through the Bloodstone Scepter’s telepathic communication. She’d been one of the first out near the ancient tower ruin which was rumored to house the legendary entrance to Tartarus. Not knowing what else to pack and worried that the human was injured, she grabbed everything she could think of that she owned that was related to the ancient dragonrider race, including a perfectly preserved leather coat that was said to have been worn by one of the humans who had been caught outside of the barrier surrounding Nova America. In fact, the coat had been passed down from her grandmother who had, according to legend, taken the former owner of said coat as a lover before he passed away and she had remarried her grandfather.

She watched as the other dragons came and landed near the shore, all packed with supplies and even weapons from their hoards. Silica was similarly armed, although she really wished she owned one of the dragonrider weapons she’d heard so much about and had seen once during the Christmas holiday ten or so years ago when Dragon Lord Torch had displayed ancient human relics for all to see, Christmas being one of the human holidays dragons celebrated to honors their lost friends.

She was so lost in thought that she almost didn’t hear the sound of another dragon shouting an alarm. She jumped and looked towards where the voice had come from only to see said dragon pointing towards the northwest. Silica turned and narrowed her eyes, trying to see whatever her fellow dragon was seeing. At first, she saw nothing, but in the morning light she managed to spot a number of approaching flying creatures. They were too small to be drakes, she realized, and only when they were closer a few minutes later did she realize what they were. Griffons.

By her reckoning, she could see about twenty to twenty five of them flying in at a rapid pace. She even saw one larger griffon with what looked like a pony flying on its back.

“Who do you think those are?” a random dragon nearby asked.

“Probably a group of griffon volunteers from Griffonstone,” Silica replied. “It is their chancellor who’s missing, you know?”

“Why not send more?” another dragon asked.

“They’re in the middle of a storm over there and one of their branches fell,” Silica said.

“How do you know?” the same dragon asked again.

“My sister lives in Griffonstone and I visited her a couple days ago.”

With that, the dragons went silent and continued watching the incoming griffons. As they flew closer, Silica saw that there were two in the lead, but one of the leaders wasn’t a griffon. It was Dragon Lord Ember herself. She was wearing ancient dragon armor which she had used to defeat all other comers in the quest to become the next Dragon Lord. The second one in the lead beside the Dragon Lord was a gray furred and blue eyed griffoness with a look of fierce determination on her face.

She and Ember landed first and looked around at the gathered dragons. As the others landed, the griffoness looked up at the tower. Silica saw a wave of worry pass over her face as the other griffons landed. Many were armed as well in griffon style armor. Even the gray griffoness was wearing armor and a sword attached to her side.

When all the griffons had landed, Ember raised her scepter and struck the ground with it. “Listen up!” she shouted across the beach to all gathered dragon volunteers. “These thirty griffon volunteers have come to help aid in the search and rescue operation of Chancellor Gregory Graystone! For the duration of this expedition down into the depths, they are our allies. We will be protecting each other from any hostile force that tries to attack us!” She gestured to the gray griffoness. “This is Gabriella, the leader of the griffon rescue team. When we get down to Tartarus, we will be spreading out into groups. Six griffons and ten dragons to a group. You will be spreading across Tartarus, but you are NOT to lose sight of the nearest groups on either side of you. We don’t have a way to communicate across long distances instantly, so if one group finds Gregory or one of his companions, the entire rescue group will halt while two of the fastest fliers rush to catch up to the nearest groups. As we fly, I don’t want us to fly too fast because we might miss something. Most of you keep your eyes on the ground for anything while the rest keep an eye out in the air for any kind of flying monsters that might attack out of nowhere. I will now begin assigning dragon groups.”

Silica waited eagerly as the Dragon Lord began assigning the dragons into groups. To her astonishment and delight, she was in the Dragon Lord’s group. Including her and Ember, the group had eleven dragons in it. As she looked around at her fellow dragons, she heard footsteps approaching. Turning, she saw that the one called Gabriella was approaching with two other griffoness, a young male griffon, the same pony she’d seen flying in, and a zebra mare.

Silica had never seen a zebra before, but she’d heard about them. She’d read a brief passage about them when she was researching humans in some of the few remaining books from the dragon Golden Age. They were a race little known to even past dragons. All she knew was that they were a race of nomads who had an affinity for speaking in rhyme no matter what language they spoke. Judging from the gold jewelry she wore, Silica assumed she was some kind of high ranking zebra noblemare or something.

As she was the closest to the newcomers, she wanted to make them feel welcome, and perhaps learn a thing or two about the human Chancellor while she was at it. She walked up to Gabriella first and held out a claw. “Hello, and welcome to the Dragon Lands. I’m Silica, one of the members of this group.”

Gabriella looked up at her with a stony expression which sent a chill down Silica’s spine. However, her expression slowly softened and she held out her own claw. “I’m Gabriella,” she began, “and these are the members of my group. This is Gilda, Gallus, Gia, Starlight Glimmer and Zecora.” She indicated each member in turn, who gave a brief acknowledgment to Silica.

“Nice to meet you all,” Silica said with as pleasant a tone as she could muster. All of them had frowns on their faces of varying degrees, although none more so than Gabriella. To Silica, it looked like this banishment to Tartarus was incredibly personal to her. “Um…I’m sure you all know Dragon Lord Ember,” she said, turning and indicating said dragon. “The others are…well, I haven’t quite learned their names yet,” she added, chuckling a bit nervously.

Ember stepped forward then, walking past Silica and looking down at the group in front of her. She had a serious expression on her face as she said, “I know you’re all close with the Chancellor, but I swear as Dragon Lord we will do everything to bring him back-”

“I’m going to stop you right there, Dragon Lord,” Gabriella said as she held her claw up. As Ember closed her mouth, the griffoness continued. “I’m Gregory’s henfriend, and I’ll be damned if we don’t find him and bring him back alive.”

Silica couldn’t believe what she’d heard. The human already had a lover?! She immediately was super jealous. It had always been a fantasy of hers to find a human and be swept off of her feet by him. She’d always wondered what it would be like to ride tandem on the back of a horse, too. Sure, she could fly, but riding a horse? All the stories she’d read and heard about made the experience sound very romantic.

Silica shook her head hard, smacking her cheeks. No, she thought, this isn’t about you! This is about the human! He needs to be saved! She stepped forward and stood a bit beside the Dragon Lord. “We’ll get the Chancellor back,” she added. “We will.”

The pony named Starlight Glimmer walked up and put her hoof on Gabriella’s back. “Please forgive her,” she said, “she’s worried.”

“Worried is what we all are, Starlight Glimmer,” the zebra said, “since everything for her happened in a blur.”

The one named Gilda pursed her beak and grit her teeth as she said, “I wish I could lay my claws on the fuckers who did this to him.”

Silica looked at her and nodded in understanding. “You’re not the only one…” She muttered. Silica could relate. Ever since she’d heard about Chancellor Graystone, she had wanted to meet him and pick his brain about everything about his species. It was a dream come true for the light aquamarine dragon fanatic. She had to take some deep breaths to quell her rising rage. She’d burn whoever did this to a crisp if she was ever alone in a locked cell with them.

“The day’s passing quickly,” the Dragon Lord said as she turned towards the ancient tower ruin. It stood just slightly off the shore, constantly being hammered by the light waves that had been hitting it for more than a thousand years. Silica knew that it had once been one of many such towers along the coast of the Nova Sea, but this was the only one she knew of that remained. “Let’s head inside.”

Silica watched as Ember removed a strange looking key from a satchel hanging from her shoulder. It was gold with red, blue and yellow gems encrusted into the grip. She turned to the tower. “Follow me, and we will bring back Chancellor Graystone and his companions!”

Silica was among the many who cheered.

Silica knew she was not as in shape as she should have been when they reached the bottom of the cavern which everyone had to fly down in order to reach the bottom cavern. If it hadn’t been for their own fire breath and the pony’s horn lighting up, they might not have made it down the vertical shaft they had to fly down.

When they reached the bottom of said shaft, they found themselves in a massive cavern with one exit where a light purple light shone from. The pathway was too far away to see what was outside at the moment, but that didn’t last long. Lead by Ember and Gabriella, the hastily assembled rescue team walked towards the exit.

Silica had read bits and pieces on the underground realm of Tartarus, but there hadn’t been much to find about it thanks to the majority of records from the dragon’s Golden Age being destroyed during the Time of Strife. Still, there were mentions of it in various scrolls and books. The general sense she got from the description was that it was a place made by the goddess of creation herself as a place where wicked criminals were to be sent. The worst of the worst, as it were. Even as a hatchling before her wings came, she was taught about it by her father had told her children’s bedtime stories about valiant heroes of ages long gone by who had gone into the pits of Tartarus to rescue their loved ones or to do battle with mythical monsters

She’d not been the only one surprised, then, when they exited the cavern and stepped out into what for all intents and purposes looked like a cloudy day. A light and warm rain was falling over the landscape, which was covered in grass and massive but different varieties of mushrooms that stretched up into the air as high as trees. Some even reached up and vanished into the clouds. There were also tall trees that stretched high into the sky, higher than anything Silica had ever seen. Most appeared to be tropical in nature, but she did see some large evergreens as well. The air itself was thick, hot and humid despite the gentle precipitation. In fact, the air provided better lift for dragons and griffons alike.

And there was more than just plant life. Silica heard the buzzing of insects, the call of some type of bird she couldn’t identify and the distant roar of some strange creatures probably fighting over a meal.

But the ruins were what caught her attention the most. Because when they stepped out of the cavern and looked back, they found that they’d come out of a large stone dome which was built around a large natural column which stretched into the sky. There were towers that lined the edge of the dome. There were windows in the dome and the tops of the towers that looked out at the lush alien landscape around them.

If it hadn’t been for the large stalactites and towers of stone, both covered in foliage and rising up into the clouds, Silica would have guessed they were outside.

As fascinated as Silica was by this strange discovery, she refocused on the task at hand and prepared to start flying with her group. One of her group, a large red dragon, volunteered to carry the pony and zebra on his back as they flew. Ember and Gabriella conferred with each other on how best to spread their groups, and it was decided that since none of them had any form of telecommunication, they were to fly so that one individual was within sight of at least two of their comrades. The creature on the outside of the group had to be not only the fastest flier but had to have good eyesight so that they could report any finds the group reported to neighboring groups.

The goddess’ blessing must have been with them at the start, because only about five minutes after they started flying, the clouds started to clear up, revealing a vast green landscape. There were large columns, stalactites and stalagmites from the ceiling and ground. There were large glowing yellow crystals embedded in the cavern’s tall ceiling that illuminated the surrounding area, which seemed to be studded with large blue lakes. She saw more animals during their flight, mostly some form of small winged reptile with a very sharp beak which chased some form of floating airbags that not only had large finned tendrils to help it move, but which also glowed with an inner light despite the glow from the crystals above. She also saw a variety of small reptilian creatures, some of which had feathers instead of scales, which were either running in packs, chasing prey or drinking from one of the small lakes.

Silica couldn’t tell from this height, but it seemed as if all the animals she saw below didn’t quite have the spark of intelligence that animals from Equestria had. The flying ones, thankfully, seemed smart enough to avoid the rescue parties. If some did come close and seemed to be hostile, it took one bit of fire breath or a blast of magic from Starlight Glimmer to send them hightailing it out of there.

Aside from the large domed ruin they’d come from, the only other signs of intelligent life came halfway through the flight when their group flew over a set of ruins in the form of an ancient stone ruin that resembled rings of massive stone archways, each arch made of two blocks with a third lying across the first two.

During their stop for lunch, the group sat around in a circle in the shade of one particularly giant mushroom. Silica still couldn’t believe that the light from above was from glowing yellow crystals embedded in the ceiling and stalactites. If she didn’t know any better she might have guessed the light was the same hue as the sun.

Silica watched as the group from Griffonstone sat apart from the dragons. All of them wore no smiles, especially not Gabriella. Both groups ate in silence. Silica hated silence unless it was during her research, and even then she could tune others out with relative ease.

Unable to take it anymore, she stood, walked over to the group, and asked, “Hey, you mind if I join you guys?”

They all looked up at her, and then at each other. Gabriella finally nodded, and Starlight and Zecora, who were sitting next to each other, moved over to allow her to sit between them. Silica gave them a grateful nod and took a seat quietly. She took out her tack bread and chewed on it thoughtfully as she looked at the group. Never in her life had she ever imagined that griffons, ponies and zebras would be sitting side by side in the pursuit of the rescue of a legendary race from another world. A part of her was jealous that the human hadn’t appeared in the Dragon Lands, but from what her sister had told her upon her brief visit to the city, the citizens had spoken highly of him. For some reason, however, her sister mentioned that ponies seemed to be walking on eggshells around him.

Wanting to ease the tension and try and start a conversation to pass the time, she turned first to Starlight Glimmer. Said unicorn was eating a sandwich with lettuce, tomato and some sort of hard beige strip that looked like bacon. She could smell the scent of hay coming from the sandwich. “So…um…your name is Starlight Glimmer, right?” she began.

Starlight looked up at her, appearing startled, but slowly swallowed the bite of her sandwich and nodded. “Yes…that’s me,” she said.

Silica extended her claw to her. “I’m Silica. It’s nice to meet you.”

With some apparent hesitation, Starlight reached out and wrapped her hoof around Silica’s extended claw. Silica wrapped her claw around it and the two shook appendages. “Same to you,” she said.

Smiling at the success of a first handshake, she turned next to the zebra. “And you’re Zecora? I’ve never seen or met a zebra before. Nice to meet you too.” She held out her claw again.

Zecora slowly smiled politely at her and shook her claw. “The pleasure is mine, my traveling comrade.” She then turned to look at the other dragon groups. Turning back to Silica, she frowned and asked, “How come, like the others, you aren’t armorclad?”

Silica chuckled a bit. Most of the dragons who had come wore some form of armor, but she’d only come with a necklace that had a small golden star hanging from it. There had once been words written on it, but they had since been rubbed away through wear and tear. It was an ancient family heirloom that had supposedly come from one of the humans who had been outside of the bubble when Nova America and its citizens had vanished. “I don’t own any armor,” she explained. “The armor they’re wearing probably came from their hoards.”

“You don’t have one in your hoard?” the younger griffoness, Gia, asked curiously.

“Most of my hoard is of books and scrolls from long ago,” Silica explained. “Most of them are about our ancient human allies.”

That seemed to get their attention. They all focused on her as the older griffoness, Gilda, asked, “Gregory told us about what Ember told him about that time,” she said, “but it wasn’t much.”

Silica nodded in understanding. “Well, we don’t have much from that era left, only bits and pieces,” she said sadly. “The Dragon Lord probably knows about as much as I do. Maybe a little less, but still. I’ve been fascinated by humans ever since my parents told me stories about them.” She began growing more and more excited despite the situation. “We dragons hold them in pretty high regard since they were responsible for helping us into a brief but amazing golden age.”

“That’s new,” Gallus, the blue griffon who was sitting suspiciously close to Gia, muttered.

“Oh yes,” Silica said. “They gave us a lot of knowledge about their world and its history which we tried to apply-”

“Did you say world?” Gallus asked suddenly, sitting up straighter and looking at Silica in shock. Gia looked similarly, but the other older beings around the circle looked a bit wary.

“He said he came from a distant land, not another world,” Gia said.

Silica froze, confused. “Um…well yeah,” she said. “Humans have no magic within them, so it’s impossible for them to have originated in this world.”

The mood suddenly changed, and Silica felt an overwhelming urge to stand up and walk away. Gabriella, Gilda, Starlight and Zecora seemed to be tensing up while Gallus and Gia were looking at the other four with frowns. “…Did you know?” Gallus asked in a low voice.

Gabriella took a bite of her small piece of jerky, swallowed it, then turned to the blue griffon. “Does it matter where he came from?” she asked.

“What matters is he said he was from our world, not another one!” Gia shouted suddenly.

“Hey, calm down, everycreature, please?” Starlight asked in a placating tone of voice. “Shouldn’t we be focusing on rescuing our friend?”

“Is he our friend, though?” Gallus asked, glaring daggers at the light purple unicorn who shrank back. “And are you? What, were we too young to know the truth? Were we not trustworthy enough?”

“And if I told you that the emperor of the changelings was another human, what would you have said then?” Gabriella snapped back at the younger griffon.

Silica raised an eyebrow at this. News had reached the Dragon Lands about a new ruler of the changelings across the ocean. This Jason Wright had apparently invaded and done some serious damage to Equestria three months prior. But to be told he was a human? She was all sorts of confused, now. However, as much as she wanted to ask, she knew she wasn’t a part of this group’s dynamic.

Just then, Gabriella stood and stomped the ground with her fist. “Enough!” she shouted. Everyone in the group froze to turn towards her. There was a fierce blaze in her eyes as she continued, “Gregory wished to hide that fact until the time was right to tell the others! Not only that, but he was worried he’d be looked at differently if everyone knew about Jason Wright being another human! We kept his secret because he asked us to!”

Gallus and Gia looked properly scolded as they looked down at their food. “Does he not trust us as much?” he asked.

“When we find him, you can ask,” Gabriella said.

Silica, feeling like she’d stepped on some major issue she hadn’t meant to, slowly moved out of the circle. “Please excuse me, I can see you’re having a moment.” With that, she stood and made herself scarce.

When she rejoined the others, the Dragon Lord moved over. “What was that about?”

“I think I accidentally brought up a subject that’s a sore spot for them,” Silica said sheepishly as she took a small swallow of her water. “And I learned something new.”

Ember looked over at them, then back at Silica. “What did you learn?” she asked.

“Apparently, the new changeling emperor we’ve heard about is another human,” Silica said.

Ember’s jaw dropped at this revelation. The other dragons nearby who’d overheard also turned and looked at her. After a while, Ember cleared her throat. “Well, that’s…I don’t know what to do with that new information. It’s not like the changelings have any diplomatic ties with the dragons. And they did just invade Equestria.”

“Still, another dragonrider in our world?” a nearby dragon said, “Shouldn’t we go and greet him?”

“He rules the changelings,” Ember repeated. “I don’t know…”

“Hey, excuse me?”

Silica, Ember and the other dragons looked up to see Starlight Glimmer walking up to them. Silica looked back and saw that the group from Griffonstone had apparently calmed down. Ember looked up at the pony. “What is it?”

She turned first to Silica. “Listen, I’m really sorry for earlier,” she said. “It’s not your fault.”

“It’s alright,” Silica said.

Starlight smiled a bit before she turned to Ember. “Also, I overheard you talking about Jason Wright.”

“The changeling emperor? What about him?” Ember asked.

Before Starlight could continue, she was joined suddenly by the zebra of the group. “If it ‘s a tale about Jason you seek, beware. His story is not for the meek.”

Silica looked at Zecora. “You know about that other human?” she asked.

Zecora nodded, then dropped her rhyming scheme completely. The Griffonstone group came over mere moments into her story. Silica’s first reaction was disbelief at all she was hearing. Then she felt horrified. Lastly, she felt unbridled rage directed at the ponies, but also at Discord. The hated draconnequus had been reviled by dragons for over a millennia ever since he permanently altered dragon physiology so their bodies had certain physical reaction to emotions. It was because of him that greed-induced bigness was a thing. She inwardly cheered when Zecora reached the part of the story where Jason and the changelings invaded Canterlot and burned Ponyville to the ground.

When the story was finished, the dragons and even the two younger members in the group from Griffonstone were stunned into horrified and angry silence. Dragon Lord Ember was the first to speak. “I always knew ponies were xenophobes, but to take it thighs far? Perhaps it’s time I reconsidered any sort of diplomatic or trade deals with them…”

“Not all ponies are like that,” Starlight said weakly.

Silica, not wanting the party to dissolve into arguments, nodded and looked at Ember. “I agree,” she said, “but you have to admit that some ponies have problems with other races, if that story is any example. And of course it was that bastard Discord who started things.” She added the last part with a hateful tone, sparks of flame coming from her mouth.

“I, for one, am glad he’s finally dead,” General Rhyo, who had joined the lead team, said as he took a large bite of meat. “That monster is responsible for the permanent alteration of our bodies so it reacts to our emotions.”

Starlight looked stunned by this revelation. Zecora also nodded. “For me and my kind, he was quite a scourge. Because of him, our early history was purged. Not only that, but our rhyming speech emerged.”

“…Wow…the more I hear about this Discord, the less I like him,” Starlight said. “He sounds like a real monster.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was responsible for the disappearance of Nova America,” Ember said as she finished her meal. She stood, grabbed her scepter and struck the ground with it. “Now then, we leave in five minutes. We’ve spent too much time here already.”

Five minutes later, as promised, the group resumed their flight. As time went by and they continued searching, Silica noticed that the gemstones in the ceiling began to change colors until they seemed to match the colors of sunset. Soon, the gems began to dim as if mimicking the approach of night.

Fortunately, a scout from one of the neighboring groups to their left came flying and reporting that they’d found what looked like some sort of exit. Both Ember and Gabriella ordered the group to change course. As they flew, Silica noticed that the ceiling began sloping slowly downwards until finally they reached a spot where it took a sharp dive down, forming a large wall with massive mushrooms growing out of it. Silica saw that the majority of the other groups appeared to have gathered in front of a clearly artificial archway built into the side of the wall.

When they landed, Silica took in the shape and size of the archway and surmised that it was large enough for even the largest dragon she knew of, the former Dragon Lord, to enter with ease. The archway led into a tunnel and she could see a musky red light at the end of the tunnel.

Ember, on the other hand, seemed to be looking at the increasingly darkening ceiling above them. “I think we should make camp for the night,” she said. “I doubt we’ll be able to see anything on the ground unless we want to go walking instead.”

Silica saw Gabriella’s face fall at that, but after speaking to Starlight and Zecora, she nodded. “Which side of the cave should we stay on?”

“That depends on what the other side is like,” Ember replied. “I’ve gotten reports of massive monsters from the other groups, but there were also large plant eaters too.”

“The creatures I saw looked like ones I’ve seen in an ancient zoology book,” Starlight mentioned. “I’m no expert, though, so I can’t say for certain.”

“While there’s still light, we should go and see what’s on the other side of this passageway,” General Rhyo said. “Then we can determine where to set up a campfire and sleep for the night. Any volunteers to come with me to see the other side?”

“I will,” Silica said, her curiosity burning.

Rhyo chose her and three other dragons, the latter all armored. The cavern they passed through had to have been at least a mile long and had small mushrooms and a few phosphorous vines growing out of cracks in the walls.

When they reached the other side, Silica noted immediately that the difference between where they had been and where the cave lead was like night and day. Because unlike the strange tropical landscape they’d appeared in, what she saw before her wasn’t some tropical landscape full of tall mushrooms, large trees and reptiles. Instead, she found herself looking at a desolate arid landscape with absolutely no vegetation. In the distance, she saw mountain ranges and even some clouds. Just like the cave they’d just come through, there were large crystals in the ceiling that seemed to be emulating the sun at late sunset.

When they flew out to get a look at where they’d come from, however, Silica and the others were confused to see that they appeared to have come out of a large column about five miles in diameter, much smaller than the landscape they had flown through. Unlike the natural forming columns in the place before and in this place, the column they’d come out of was smooth and had an artificial look to it. Far in the distance, one of them spotted see yet another column of similar proportions.

As they headed back to report their findings to the others, Silica couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of place Tartarus really was.

Canterlot, Evening, Two Days After Gregory’s Banishment…

December 25th. A day normally set aside for the celebration of Hearth’s Warming among Equestrian citizens. But for one Princess Luna Nightingale, there had been no celebration. No presents exchanged with her sister as they had done in the years before. The castle even looked the same. The city had a slight festive look to it, but not nearly as much as it had in the past. The mood was a somber one.

Luna was sitting at Celestia’s desk, using her pair of magically enhanced glasses to speedily over various reports and requests from citizens of Canterlot, Ponyville and a few other nearby settlements. She was exhausted, she was frustrated and not even her daily cheese snacks did anything to abate her mood.

Nearby, sitting at her own desk, Raven Inkwell looked over other reports, reading them with her own pair magically enhanced glasses. She was sorting them into two piles, one being very important and the other being of less importance. When Luna had asked why she did it like this, Raven replied that it had been Celestia’s wish to respond one way or another to each and every request. Luna sighed, remembering just how things had been done back before her banishment. Back then, things had been so much simpler. The two had more power over events and how things were run, but with a thousand years difference, it seemed as if the nobleponies had grown more powerful.

She sighed and rubbed her head with her hoof. She was getting yet another headache. She wondered just how Cellie did all of this. She’d only been at this for a hoofful of days and already she wanted to pull her mane out. But she had promised that she’d take are of things while her sister and the Elements were in Griffonstone, so she grit her teeth and looked at the next scroll.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Grateful for the reprieve, Luna looked up to see a gray unicorn stallion with black mane and tail walking in. His cutie mark was a set of glasses similar to the ones he wore. Luna immediately recognized who he was, and a small smile formed on her lips. She looked at Raven. “Miss Inkwell, we believe the time has come for the day’s work to cease. You may go now.”

Raven looked up with confusion at that. “But Your Highness, there’s still a lot to do-”

“It’s Hearth’s Warming, Miss Inkwell,” Luna interrupted her. “Go out, have some spiced egg nog, eat some sugar cookies, and just relax for the evening.”

Raven looked quickly at the newcomer stallion, then back at Luna. Finally, she nodded, removed her glasses, slipped them into her desk, put her normal black rimmed glasses on, then packed her belongings and headed out. When she was gone, the stallion used his magic to lock the door before turning back to Luna. The alicorn smiled wider as she stood, cast a sound suppression and anti-scrying spell around the room, then looked at the stallion. “This is an unexpected pleasure, my dear nephew.”

The stallion smiled back, raising his horn and casting a spell. The masterful disguise spell began to dissolve. He grew taller, his fur turned white, his mane a straw color, and whereas he hadn’t been wearing anything with the disguise, he was now wearing a white dress shirt with a black blazer and a light blue cravat. The disguised stallion was none other than her nephew Prince Blueblood. “Aunt Luna, it’s nice to see you too,” he said. He gestured to the couch on the wall opposite Raven’s desk. “May I?”

Luna nodded, and as Blueblood walked over to take a seat, she walked over to a nearby small icebox. Opening it, she grabbed a glass bottle of egg nog and poured two glasses. She gave one to Blueblood who accepted it gratefully. She took a seat back at her desk as Blueblood drank. “Are we to assume you didn’t come just to wish us a Happy Hearth’s Warming?”

Blueblood’s smile faded a bit, but he nodded. “Well, before I do get to the point of my visit, I do wish you a Happy Hearth’s Warming,” he said. He lifted his horn and it glowed its signature greenish blue. A small decorative box floated out of his inner blazer pocket and landed on the desk. “It’s not much, but I made you a present. I would give Aunt Celestia hers, but she isn’t here.”

Luna smiled and began opening her package. Inside was a small amethyst carving of herself, one frontleg lifted, wings spread wide and her head looking up. The carving stood on a marble stand. She looked at it carefully and saw a gold plate with the words Princess Of The Night engraved on it. She placed it back in the box and closed it. “We know just where to put this, Blueblood. Thank you. But what else has thee coming to us?”

Blueblood took a small sip of his egg nog, set it down, then straightened. “I just came from a secret meeting of the nobles. I’ve narrowed down which noble house might have been responsible for the attack on the Griffonian Chancellor.”

Luna sat up straighter, heart pounding in anticipation. Finally, a breakthrough! “Tell us,” she said darkly, “so that we may have their heads!”

Blueblood took a deep breath, then looked at Luna with a piercing gaze. “It was somepony or someponies from either House Avarice or House Shade.”

34: Reflections

Ponyville, Morning, Day Three After Gregory’s Banishment…

Octavia Melody was sitting on the small hill where her home had once stood, a cello in her hooves. Where there had once been a small cottage split down the middle to accommodate both her and Vinyl Scratch’s tastes, now there was only a large white tent. Even the bush that had been cut in the shape of a musical note had been burned to the ground. The fence overlooking the town had been reduced to cinders. The only thing remaining was the brown cobblestone pathway that led up to the only part of the house that was still around: the front steps, their light blue and light orange paint split evenly down the middle just where the house’s exterior and interior had been split.

She continued to play her cello, trying to compose something to take her mind off of everything that had happened in the past three months, but all she could compose in her current state of mind was a melancholic melody. As she continued playing, her lips opened and she began to sing:

“From worlds unknown, a stranger appeared,
“a smile across his heart.
“But in Ponyville fair, he was shunned and feared,
“And his warm smile did depart.”

“In Everfree cruel was he forced to abide.
“Abandoned by harmony’s race.
“The years went past, and his gentleness died,
“and hatred he did chase.”

“One day in the fields of once fertile trees,
“the stranger did try to die,
“but fate stepped in, and from there he did flee,
“but that wasn’t his final goodbye.”

“Two years had passed, and once more he did meet
“all those who’d abandoned his calls.
“With all his revenge and destruction complete,
“the stranger left Canterlot’s halls.”

“Oh where, oh where, has that stranger now gone?
“Absconded to lands unsung?
“Will he return, or will he prolong
“his hatred against those now shunned?”

Octavia took a deep breath and exhaled shakily as she slowly put her cello in its stand. Ahead of her, she could see the sun rising over a snow covered landscape. What had once been thatched rooftops and a quaint idyllic township was now a sprawling wasteland full of nearly identical white tents that blended into the snow so that it looked like there were no signs of civilization around. If it weren’t for the ponies trudging through the streets and the partially ruined Castle of Friendship, it might have been mistaken for uninhabited territory on the edge of the Everfree.

“That was a nice song,” a familiar voice said from behind her.

Octavia turned and saw her roommate approaching, a small smile on her face. Behind her, she saw two other ponies she knew fairly well. Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon were standing a few trots behind Vinyl Scratch, both looking about as tired and exhausted as Octavia felt. Vinyl held some cheap looking tea set in her magic and she set it down on a nearby tree stump. Octavia smiled a bit as she joined the others who were sitting around the stump. “I’ve been writing it for a while…” she said as she took one of the cups in her hooves and sipped at the steaming beverage, one of the few luxuries still available. It wasn’t brewed in the way she was used to, but she wasn’t about to complain. Especially when Jason had nothing for three years.

“I’ve been writing one, too,” Lyra admitted solemnly as she lifted the plain white cup to her lips. “Although I don’t have as good a singing voice as you.”

Bon Bon put her hoof on Lyra’s back and rubbed it affectionately. “You have a lovely singing voice, Ly,” she said.

“Thank you,” Lyra said with a sad smile.

Vinyl looked around at the group. “So…how’s everypony doing? Hanging in there alright?”

Bon Bon nodded. “Mmm…more or less,” she said. “Today’s my day off, so I thought it’d be nice to visit you two.”

Octavia smiled a bit. The four of them had gotten together once or twice a week as friends for years, but for the past three months, they had not met up like this. Octavia had been helping to teach the young foals so as to supplement Cheerilee’s own overworked schedule. Vinyl had been going through the country doing gigs and earning money which she would mostly donate to the Ponyville Restoration Fund, keeping enough for food and supplies for herself. It was rare nowadays for her to be in Ponyville. Octavia had heard that Bon Bon was volunteering at one of the few soup kitchens in the camp, and Lyra was doing various odd jobs around town to help. Still, even Octavia could sense the varying moods in town. The town itself seemed to be divided on what to think about Jason. She knew a few ponies who were still in denial despite the evidence that they were responsible for what had happened to Jason.

“It is lovely to see you two again,” Octavia said with as much of a smile as she could muster. “I have missed our get togethers.”

“Me too, Tavi,” Bon Bon said.

Octavia smiled more genuinely now. She only allowed her closest of friends to call her that, and while Vinyl was her closest friend, the other two were definitely close enough to use her nickname. “And what about you, Lyra? How have things been with you?” she asked the aquamarine unicorn.

Lyra shrugged noncommittally. “Oh, I guess it hasn’t been too bad,” she said. “Right now I’m working as a street cleaner. I want to try and earn enough for a ticket to Manehattan where I’d like to try and find a better paying job and put most of my earnings towards the PRF.”

“You ever wanna job in a club, I’m your mare,” Vinyl said as she raised her hoof. “Besides, Bonny’s right. You have a great singing voice. With the right amount of remixing and reverb you’d be a star.”

“It’s a shame I only used it for shouting at…at him,” Lyra said as she lowered her head in shame.

Bon Bon moved closer and put her foreleg around her, pulling her close. “Sweets…you’ve got to stop doing this to yourself…we all fucked up.”

Octavia winced at the use of foul language, but she didn’t say anything. Crude or not, it was an accurate assessment of the situation. She, too, had actively participated in the abuse of the human by throwing stones and refuse at him whenever she saw him coming into town from the Everfree. And that had resulted in him taking his revenge by destroying everything and anything she had ever owned.

Vinyl, who had actually never met Jason Wright since every time he’d come into town she had been either out of town or not in the same part of town, looked at the three other ponies. She frowned and removed her shades, revealing her reddish purple eyes. In her deeper but feminine voice, she said, “Girls, come on. It’s been three months already. Shouldn’t we all try and move past this?”

“How can we forget this!?” Lyra asked suddenly, looking up and glaring at the former DJ.

“Whoa, I never said anything about forgetting this, so chill there, Ly,” Vinyl said, holding her hooves up in a placating manner. “I just said move past this. Nopony should forget what happened and what we did.”

“Vinyl, you never participated in Jason’s cruel treatment,” Octavia said with some confusion. “Why are you saying ‘we’?”

Vinyl reached over and put a hoof on Octavia’s foreleg. “Because you’re my friend, Tavi,” she said. “Because I think that if I’d seen him I’d probably have done the same.”

“I sincerely doubt that,” Octavia said. “You’re one of the sweetest ponies I know. You’re always smiling, and you might not talk much to others, but you say more with your mannerisms than your words.”

“Tavs, even I have my prejudices,” Vinyl said as she took a sip of tea, which she’d added milk to. “I’ve had my head in my music for a long time. I never took off my headset. I’d have probably ignored him. I’m not as nice as you think.”

“Don’t say that,” Octavia said, looking at her best friend with a frown. “You’re a really nice pony.”

She sighed. “Thanks for saying so, but back to what I was saying earlier.” She gestured down to Ponyville. “We really should, as Tavi says, address the elephant in the room. And not just with the four of us. I mean the entire town.”

Bon Bon looked at Vinyl with an arched eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Vinyl looked down at the town, eyes narrowed. “What I mean is that we need a town meeting and everypony needs to attend. And I mean everypony.” She turned back to the other three ponies. Octavia shuddered. Her normally reddish purple eyes seemed now to be a dark blood red. “It’s long past time the town faced our sins.”

Griffonstone, The Green Dragon, Day Three After Gregory’s Banishment…

Twilight Sparkle woke up an hour before everypony else in the room except for Princess Celestia, who had already gotten up to raise the sun. Truth be told, however, Twilight hadn’t slept too well ever since the day when Spike had been caught up in the banishing ritual that sent Gregory, Rarity, Spike and Lady Serenity (the third pony responsible for the banishing ritual) into Tartarus. That had been all she thought about when she and her friends sans Pinkie worked to rescue everycreature buried during the collapse of one of Griffonstone’s branches. She was scared and worried about Spike and worried for Rarity. And, she realized, she was worried about Gregory too, meaning that to her, Gregory was now a friend. A new friend she had hardly gotten to know, to be sure, but a friend.

However, thanks in part to the massive multiple day storm they’d found themselves in, there was nothing they could do but focus on the task at hoof. They’d worked their tails off. Fluttershy had remained behind with Pinkie to look after her during her recovery.

Twilight had finally gotten around to talking with Pinkie about her condition, and what she learned horrified her. Not only had Pinkie been starving herself as a punishment, but she’d been sleeping outside whenever she had the chance. Twilight had held the frail dull pink pony in her wings and forelegs when she’d finally broken down hard. Twilight then begged Pinkie to try and keep food down. It wouldn’t be much, since she was malnourished, but it would be a good step to recovery.

Twilight had even convinced a griffon doctor who specialized in non-griffon medicine, specifically pony medicine, to take a look at Pinkie. The doctor had basically confirmed everything that Twilight had guessed and gotten out of Pinkie. The doctor prescribed warm but not hot vegetable broth soup to start along with cool, but not ice cold, water. Any kind of extreme temperature might cause more harm than good.

Rainbow had been attempting to get her wings back into shape, but in the stormy weather that was easier said than done. She still had some self-loathing issues, but she was putting them aside to try and use her wings to help redirect the storm. Some of the pegasi who had moved from Equestria to Griffonia who hadn’t been injured volunteered to try and help. Rainbow might have not been able to fly very well at the moment, but that hadn’t stopped her from giving a few of the pegasi volunteers a crash course in cloud maneuvering. Some had already sustained injuries while trying to alter the course of the storm, but for the most part the impromptu weather team was doing their best to move the storm out towards uninhabited portions of Griffonia.

Applejack had volunteered not only to help move the snow off of collapsed houses, but to break up the massive branches with her powerful bucks. She’d also taken some of her spare time to make hastily prepared meals in the kitchen of The Green Dragon. Twilight had heard that the council had decided to store as much of the useable wood in the Griffonstone Keep, but as for why she could only speculate.

Princess Celestia had used her substantial magical power to help keep the storm over the disaster site as gentle as was possible. However, just like the storm up in the Crystal Empire during the Crystalling, she was having difficulties. Her magic helped a bit, but the storm was incredibly powerful. She worked with Rainbow Dash and the prototype weather team.

Twilight had even seen Garble and Smolder, along with other employees in their tavern, working exhaustively in their kitchen to make food for as many displaced ponies as was possible. The tavern floor was practically empty of tables as they had been pushed to the side to provide ponies with temporary places to sleep. The floor was covered with blankets and pillows most of the time with a small pathway from the door to the bar.

Twilight had never seen her mentor this exhausted before, or any of her friends. She was exhausted herself from trying to use her various skills in magic to lift heavy snowbanks or damaged buildings with her magic. However, due to the amount of magic being about twenty five percent or so less than in Equestria, it was hard going. She felt like she had when she’d been a unicorn, so she was having to relearn how to think like a unicorn. Even the pony Starlight Glimmer seemed to have less of an issue than she had. Then again, Starlight had a few months to get used to the amount of magic in this place, Twilight reasoned.

Twilight stood up and stretched her legs and wings, craning her neck side to side and hearing the popping it made when she cracked her neck. She’d gotten into that habit after Jason had left Ponyville after his invasion. Walking over to the window, she looked out only to see the storm continuing to ravage the landscape. However, it seemed as if it wasn’t as bad as it had been. The wind was blowing a little less and the snowfall had diminished.

She walked over to the bed that had been Spike’s. Looking down at it, she felt tears forming in her eyes. Too little, too late she realized how much she missed him. She’d taken him for granted for years and now she was afraid she’d never get the chance to properly apologize and repair their relationship.

She reached up to the pillow with her wing and pulled it back, revealing the journal that Spike used to write to Sunset Shimmer. Only to see that it was glowing slightly and vibrating. Her eyes widened and she grabbed a pen and ink quill. She opened it and turned to the last page with writing.

Hey, Spike, I’m just checking in. I’m already with my friends on board our cruise ship. It’s amazing! The sunny clear skies, the ocean breeze, the games we’re playing-

Oh, I probably shouldn’t bug you about it. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging. Anyway, how’s things over in Griffonstone?

Spike? You there?

Helloooo?

Twilight winced and grabbed the pen in her magic. Not wanting to lose contact with Sunset, she hastily scribbled:

Spike’s not here. He was sent to Tartarus by a rogue group of ponies.

It crushed her heart to even write those words, but Sunset was one of Spike’s friends. She deserved to know.

To Twilight’s surprise, the response was immediate.

What do you mean, Sparkle?!

Twilight took a deep breath.

Spike was caught up in a banishment ritual meant to banish the Griffonian Chancellor to Tartarus. He was trying to save the Chancellor. Rarity and another pony were caught up in it.

There was a short pause, and then:

Are you heading to the Tartarus gate now?

We’re stuck in Griffonstone. There’s a large blizzard and the train is out of commission. We’re trying to help rescue a bunch of ponies and other creatures who moved here who were caught underneath a collapsed city branch.

…Okay, I can understand that, but what about the Griffonian gateway?

I don’t know where it is. Besides, Princess Celestia wants us to stay here and help the injured.

Okay, fine fine. But has Celestia sent a message back to Luna so she can assemble a team to enter Tartarus?

I…I’m not sure. Oh wait! She just came in. I’ll go ask.

You do that.

Twilight put the pen down and turned to Celestia. The solar princess looked tired despite having had a full nights rest just like the others. Twilight couldn’t blame her, though. This trip to Griffonstone had gone from bad to worse it seemed. She hesitantly approached. “Princess…um…does Princess Luna know about what happened to the Chancellor and the others?”

Celestia turned to face her former student, and Twilight was struck by how suddenly old the princess looked. She still looked young, but there was something in her eyes that screamed older than her appearance. Twilight couldn’t quite describe it. However, Celestia straightened, and the leader who she had looked up to for the longest time was back. The exhaustion was still there, but the age in her eyes seemed to be gone for the moment. “She’s aware of the situation, yes. She told me just now that she’s assembling the best soldiers and magic users to lead an expedition down there. She says they’ll be leaving later this afternoon.”

Twilight felt a wave of relief washing over her. Trust Princess Luna to take action like that, she thought to herself. She was a product of an earlier time, after all. “Sunset will be happy to hear that.”

Princess Celestia’s ears twitched at the name. “You’re speaking with Sunset Shimmer?”

Twilight gestured over to the still open journal sitting on Spike’s bed. “She and Spike are good friends.”

Princess Celestia slowly nodded, a brief smile passing over her lips. “I’m glad to hear he’s making new friends.”

Twilight nodded as she grabbed the pen.

Princess Celestia says there’s a group of ponies heading to the gate today.

Good to know good old Sunbutt is good for something.

Twilight blanched at the casual nickname. However, from behind her, she heard snickering. Turning, Twilight saw the Princess giggling behind one of her wings. Before Twilight could say or do anything, Princess Celestia picked up the pen and approached the journal without hesitation.

Despite her earlier giggling, Celestia herself was nervous. It had been many years since Sunset Shimmer had left through the portal which she now knew was the human world. She had waited for Sunset to write, but after a while she’d sent the journal to Twilight. When she’d heard about how Sunset had attacked Twilight in anger after the former had heard about Jason Wright, Celestia had all but given up on ever trying to reconcile with her former student, especially after hearing what Sunset had said about her from an injured Twilight.

Judging from what Twilight had told her about their brief interaction two months ago, Sunset had probably taken this personally, especially when she’d heard about the fact that Jason was a human like her friends. Celestia knew she had a fiery personality and was quick to anger, and it seemed that hadn’t changed. Steeling herself, she lifted the pen, dipped it in the ink bottle, and began:

Some things never change, do they?

…Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I send a message to a dragon, and lo! I catch two princesses! To what do I owe this favor, Sunbutt? Here to lecture me on the crimes of attacking Equestrian royalty? Like that purple book horse deserves the title.

I wanted to talk with you. If you have the time and the inclination to hear what I have to say.

Sure, I’m good for a laugh.

I’m not surprised you’re angry at me, and I deserve it. Losing my temper with you was the wrong thing to do. I know that now and acknowledge that. I also apologize for my own actions. They were both unbecoming of a princess and a pony.

Sunset?

Yeah, I’m here. What are you getting at? Aren’t you angry at me for hurting Twilight? Don’t you hate me now?

Sunset, I could never hate you. Even after all these years apart, I’ve never stopped loving you.

How?! How can you?! After everything I did!

Someponyone once asked me ‘Are you and those ponies going to wallow in your despair and grief all this time or get your heads out of your asses and DO something about it?!’ I should have written to you much sooner. It’s been fifteen years since you left, Sunset Shimmer. At least on this side of the portal.

Did the new human tell you that? I could have told you that, Sunbutt. But how can you love me?

Celestia suddenly saw some of the ink on part of Sunset’s message smearing a bit. Then another part of the paper darkened. When Celestia touched it, she found it wet. Worried, she continued:

Sunset? Are you okay!?

I said such horrible things to you! How are you okay with it?!

Sunset, you think some harsh words is enough to get me to stop caring about you? Yes, I was angry at you for disobeying me, but I took it too far. I’ve wanted to apologize for a while, but I’ve been too much of a coward to do it. I hate that it took the circumstances over here to do it. It seems even I never stop learning.

…Is Twilight still there?

She is.

Could you tell her I’m sorry for hitting her? I’m still angry at her, but I realize now I went too far too when I hit her. And I’m sorry for everything I said and did before I ran away.

I forgive you, and I’m pretty sure Twilight does too.

I’m still angry at her, but I’m trying to jump that hurdle.

That’s understandable. But we shouldn’t be bothering you while you’re busy.

It’s alright. I was just worried about Spike is all. You’d better find him. He’s a great friend of mine, and I like his counterpart over here too.

We’ll bring him and everyone else back, Sunset.

Good. Well, I’m off to bed. Catch you later.

Sleep well, Sunset Shimmer.

When there was no reply, Celestia put the quill pen down once again and looked over at Twilight. The younger alicorn was looking at her with worry in those purple eyes of hers. Celestia drank in her appearance more closely now. Twilight looked as if she had aged greatly since the events of the invasion. She still looked young, but there was something in her manner that spoke of her own experiences with Jason affecting her. There was uncertainty in her eyes now, more so than Celestia had seen in them before the invasion three months ago.

She hated to do what she was about to do to her former student, but things had to happen this way. She stood taller. “Twilight, I’m afraid I have to return to Canterlot today.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in alarm. “Return? But why??”

“Luna contacted me this morning,” Celestia said. “One of the noble houses seems to be responsible for the mercenary attack on the Chancellor. I need to return and deal with them once satisfactory evidence had been gathered.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’ve been too lenient with them. It’s time they remembered the reason why I was once known as Daybreaker.” She began to pack her things. The nobles had long since earned a harsh reminder of what their jobs really entailed. And Daybreaker was the one to show them the way.

Atlantis, Day After Gregory And Company Arrived…

Spike had never slept in a bed as big as the one he’d slept in the night before. Even the bed he had in the Castle of Friendship couldn’t compare to the size of the bed he’d slept in. And the comfort? It was majorly better than any bed he’d slept in ever. Even when he slept in a basket in the old library and when he was being raised by Twilight’s family, the cushioned basket wasn’t nearly as comfortable as this bed.

He sat up and stretched, looking around the room as well. Even his room back in Ponyville hadn’t had a private bathroom like this.

Climbing over the side of the bed, he jumped down and walked over to the small table next to the dresser. Sitting on the chair were a set of clothes the novans had left for him since his old clothes had not exactly survived the fall. All except the scarf Sweetie Belle had knitted for him. Despite the tears in it, he refused to give up that particular piece of fabric. He headed to the bathroom first to wash and relieve himself. To his great relief, the toilet he used seemed to be better suited to his body type. Pony toilets were ones he had to squat over unfortunately, but the ones the novans used were much more convenient.

After taking care of business, which included a scrub down with a soapy washcloth and brushing his teeth, he pulled off the pajamas he’d worn to bed and got dressed. The novans had generously provided him with brown trousers, a cream colored undershirt, a button down long sleeved shirt and a black leather vest. He also had a brimmed hat which one of the novans had altered so he could wear it. They’d done the same with the trousers, which now had a larger hole for his tail. They had apologized for not being able to make shoes for him, but his feet were tougher than any kind of shoes so he was fine.

When he was finished and after he’d tied the scarf around his neck, he opened his door and looked out. Coincidentally, one of the neighboring doors was also open and a certain purple maned pony was sticking her own head out. The two locked eyes, and Rarity slowly raised a hoof, smiling a bit nervously at him. “Good morning, Spike. You look quite handsome in that.”

He resisted the urge to say something snarky to her. After all, after Gregory had snapped at her earlier, she seemed to have made a complete turn around in personality. He was still angry with her and hurt, but he was sick and tired of feeling that way. Despite everything, a part of him wanted to try and really become friends with Twilight and the others. He adjusted his scarf. “Thank you,” he said with sincerity.

Rarity seemed surprised that Spike had spoken to him in such a genuine manner. She left her room and for the first time Spike noticed that her mane had returned to its former glory for the most part. It was still wet, though. She smelled of the same type of soap Spike had used earlier, meaning she’d probably washed up the same way he had. His room had a tub, but he hadn’t felt the need to use it since he’d taken a long soak the night before. Rarity stopped in front of him and lit up her magic. Spike felt his clothes slightly adjusting. Inwardly, he smiled. Despite everything, some things never changed.

As she adjusted his clothes, she said, “Did you sleep well? You look well rested, at least.”

Spike nodded. “Slept like a foal. Or hatchling in my case,” he replied.

Rarity nodded with a relieved expression. “I’m glad to hear it.” She finished her minor adjustments. “There.”

Spike looked at himself in a nearby wall mirror. He did look much better than before despite Rarity not seeming to do much. She’d even made his scarf into something like a cravat. He smiled as he turned and looked at himself from as many angles as he could. Turning back, he nodded gratefully at her. “Thanks.”

She nodded. “You’re welcome.” She lapsed into silence, and Spike saw she was working her jaw ever so slightly. A minute of increasingly uncomfortable silence passed before she asked, “Spike…I want to apologize to you for a number of things.”

“Like what?” he asked in a tone that sounded much harsher than he meant it to be. Clearing his throat, he calmed his beating heart with a few deep breaths before repeating, in a calmer tone, “Like what?”

Rarity pursed her lips and replied, “For the way I’ve treated you ever since you and Twilight arrived in Ponyville. For purposely leading you on…for…” Spike saw tears coming to Rarity’s eyes, but not the melodramatic type of tears she was known for. “F-For using you as a pincushion and manual labor…for lying to you…and for all other actions I took unbecoming of a lady-no, unbecoming of a pony…” she was holding back tears as best she could, but one single tear fell to the floor. “I’ve been a horrible pony to you…and I want to make it right somehow…”

Spike was blown away. He’d seen Rarity crying before, but unlike the many other times she’d collapse onto her fainting couch with dramatics, this time she was weeping. No dramatics. No wailing. Just sniffling and tears forming in her eyes. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond. One the one hoof, he was still angry at her for what she had done, and not just to him, but to Jason as well. However, he remembered his conversation with Princess Celestia back in the Green Dragon’s tavern. He wanted to move past this anger, especially since it seemed to be causing him to lose control of his flames every so often. But more importantly than that, he wanted to be happy again.

It took him a moment to search for the right words. Finally, he started. “You really hurt me, you know. You and the others. I was just your lap dog. Twilight’s assistant. I was even used during that competition between Rainbow Dash and Applejack.”

“I can assure you they all feel as badly as I do now-”

He held up his claw to silence her. “I’m not done.” She clamped her mouth shut as Spike continued. “I don’t hate you all. I really don’t. But I’m still not ready to forgive you. Maybe someday I will. I hope I will. You girls really hurt me.”

“Spike, I promise that I will do anything I can to mend the broken friendship between us,” Rarity said.

Spike shook his head. “We weren’t really friends,” he said. “Not like you girls were.”

“Then I want to become that kind of friend with you,” Rarity said through sniffles. “I know things will be a bit…rocky at first, but I want to re-earn your trust. If that’s even possible.”

“Never say never,” Spike said with a sigh. He took a slight step closer to her. “I loved you with all my heart. I wanted to be your very special somepony someday. Right now, though? I’m still upset at how you treated not just me, but Jason Wright too.”

Rarity’s ears flattened even more and she looked at the ground. “My…my actions were beyond atrocious…” she said, “and not just these past three months, but the past five years and more. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jason never forgave me and the others…I’ll have to live with that…Maybe someday I’ll get the chance to apologize to him and try and make things up with him as well. But until then, I want to start with you.” She stood up straighter and looked at him square in the eyes despite her tears. “If you’ll let me.”

Despite himself, Spike was touched by her words. There was a sincerity within that voice he’d never heard from her before. Sure, she’d had moments where she’d realized the error of her ways and apologized, but this was on a whole other level. Not only that, but she was looking at him with respect. He took another step forward. “It’ll take a while for me to forgive you, you know?” he said.

Rarity took a step forward as well. “I’m prepared to spend the rest of my life atoning if that’s what it takes.”

“Dragons can hold grudges for a while,” Spike said again as he took another step forward.

“I can endure whatever time you require,” she replied, mirroring his movements.

“I’d like to forgive you,” he admitted as he took one more step forward, “but it still hurts.”

“I’ll do whatever I can to mend that wound I placed on you,” Rarity promised, taking one more step forward, making it so the two were close enough to touch.

The two stared at each other for a bit before Spike, overwhelmed with emotion, slowly wrapped his arms around Rarity. He felt her return his hug. She began to cry softly, and Spike himself began shedding a few tears of his own. His crush on Rarity might have evaporated, but parts of him still missed spending time with her. Of course, things wouldn’t be quite the same between them, but he hoped that someday he could forgive her. He could hear her whispering, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry Spike,” over and over again.

After a few minutes, the two broke apart. Rarity looked a bit more refreshed than she had before despite her bloodshot eyes. Spike felt like some of the weight of his anger had lifted. There was still plenty there, but it felt more manageable. He promised himself that when he returned, he would confront everyone who he felt had done him wrong, including his so-called parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light.

Rarity chose that moment to speak up again. “By the way, Spike, my sister tells me you two have been spending a lot of time together.” There was a hint of sisterly protectiveness in her tone now, but in a playful way.

Spike nodded. “I’ve spent a lot of time with foals my own age,” he replied.

Rarity nodded. “I’m glad to hear it,” she said. “I think, however, that you’ve taken quite a liking to my sister.”

“Is this one of those ‘hurt her and they won’t find your body’ type of speeches I’ve heard about?” Spike asked with a raised eyebrow. “Because if so, I promise I won’t hurt her.”

Rarity giggled a bit, covering her mouth behind her hoof. “Spike, I know you well enough to know you would never do anything to deliberately harm Sweetie Belle or any of your new friends,” she said in a reassuring tone. “I just wanted you to know I’m happy you’ve found somepony to make you happy the way I never did. Yes, I’m worried about her, but she’d a teenager now. She’s becoming a mare.”

Spike nodded with a small smile. “She definitely is,” he said, “and I’m still a baby dragon.”

Rarity shook her head. “You may still be young, but I can tell you’ve matured a great deal over these past three months. I know right now it doesn’t mean much, but you have my blessing to date her if that is what she wants.”

“I’m glad you approve,” Spike said as he scratched his cheek.

Rarity was about to say something else, but just then they heard someone running down the hall. Both turned and saw a small number of novans, some flying and others running. Both moved out of the way. Spike noted their sense of urgency and the worry in their eyes. “Is something wrong?” he asked as they passed.

“Mr. Graystone’s drake collapsed,” one of the novans, a younger male, replied. “She’s still breathing, but she’s ice cold!”

That got his attention. He turned to Rarity and saw that she had a look of concern on her face as well. As one, the two ran after the novans. He felt himself be lifted up by magic and placed on Rarity’s back as she galloped after them faster than his short legs would be able to do. “Hold on!”

Spike smiled a bit despite himself. It had been a while since he’d ridden on Twilight’s back. He was taller now, so riding on her back was a bit harder, but since Rarity had no wings, it was easier for him than it would be if it had been Twilight.

Rarity followed the novans down a few flights of steps and out into the morning sunlight. Spike was still confused as to how there was sunlight down in a cave. He thought back to some of his comics. There were otherworldly dimensions in them, different planets, and more. But he couldn’t well focus on that mystery. At the moment, it wasn’t as important as getting back to the surface with everyone else.

They were led to a large arched set of doors at the side of the large palace. A few other novans and even a few of the Pinkie Pie clones were standing near the door looking in, worry spread across their faces. Spike jumped off of Rarity once they entered through the doors. They were standing in what was probably a place where animals could sleep. A stable or something like it. A few novans stood near the drake who was lying in soft looking grass. And right by her head, a worried looking Gregory had his arms wrapped as much as possible around the massive head of his drake companion.

As Spike approached, the light from the morning sun reflected off of his face. Spike saw that his face was red, and his skin and hair were almost drenched with sweat. He was pressing himself close to the drake. Spike could see her large wings quivering as a few novans covered the young creature with thick blankets. There was even an extremely fluffy and puffy version of Pinkie Pie with no mane or tail snuggling up to the drake, making raspberry noises with her mouth in what might have been an attempt to comfort the young drake.

Spike walked up hesitantly to the drake’s side and reached out. When he touched her scales, he pulled back in alarm. He didn’t know anything about drakes, but if they were anything like a dragon, having ice cold scales was never good. He looked around at the straw and began gathering some in front of the drake. Using his fire, he started a small blaze.

“What are you doing?!” a familiar voice asked in alarm as a blue magical aura surrounded the blaze, putting it out immediately.

Spike turned and saw one of the Pinkie clones, only this one had a unicorn’s horn. She was casting a spell using her magic which was the same color as the aura that had put the blaze out.

“Trying to warm her up, what does it look like?” Spike asked.

“By lighting a fire so close she’d burn?!” the unicorn Pinkie demanded.

Spike made a fist and smacked his chest. “If dragons can bathe in lava, a little bit of fire won’t hurt a drake. She can’t be this cold.”

The unicorn looked at the drake, then back at Spike. She pursed her lips, then nodded. “We need to move her out into the sun and start a fire near her,” she said. Turning to a few of the other novans, she said, “We need more blankets, too.”

“On it, Aurora,” one of the novans said. He pointed to a couple other novans and a pegasus version of Pinkie. “Jacob! Carol Ann! Amethyst Sky! Come with me and let’s get some more blankets! The rest of you try and get the drake out into the open air underneath the sun!”

It took a little while, but eventually Daenerys was lying out in the middle of the palace gardens, covered with thick blankets. The fluffy version of Pinkie Pie was snuggling up closer to the drake, still making those strange raspberry noises with her tongue. Gregory was sitting next to Daenerys’ head, running his hands over her cheek gently and whispering to her.

After creating a large fire near the dragon’s midsection, Spike walked up to Gregory. Despite the cool morning air, the human looked like he was sweating more than before. He had removed his shirt and was pressing his bare body against Daenerys’ head. She seemed to be leaning in against him, perhaps in an attempt to get warm from Gregory’s own body heat. When he was within speaking distance, he asked, “Mr. Graystone, are you doing okay?”

He turned to face Spike. There was a look of worry in his eyes, but even so he still smiled at the young dragon. “Ah, I’ve…been better, to be honest,” he admitted. He turned back to Daenerys and ran his hand along her cheek. “If I’d known it would get this bad, I’d have spent the night trying to keep her warm.”

“You do look like you’re burning up,” Spike said with concern.

“I have been feeling a bit warmer since coming here, but I can manage,” he said. “I ran all the way down here, so that’s why I’m all sweaty still.” He wiped at his face with a damp towel he’d been given, then leaned back against his drake. “Nobody here knows what the matter is with her,” he continued.

“Nobody’s heard of a drake being this cold before,” the fluffy Pinkie clone said, stopping her raspberry noises for a bit and opening her eyes to look at them. Spike noticed she had a pair of darker cyan eyes as opposed to Pinkie’s normal lighter cerulean. Even her fur was a slightly different shade of pink. She stood and walked over to the two. “I heard Aurora saying that she couldn’t even find anything even in their ancient historical records from when Esther and Helen Starr helped lead the humans across a vast ocean when they first appeared in Tartarus.”

“It has been a while, so records were probably lost,” Gregory said. He looked at the new pony. “Thanks for trying to keep her warm.”

The clone smiled widely at him. Spike had never seen Pinkie smile quite like that. There was a hint of childlike innocence there, but it wasn’t quite the same as Pinkie’s. “Well, I’m all fluffy now, so why not put my fur to good use.” She then turned to Spike, walked over and hugged the young dragon. “It’s good to see you again.”

The pony’s fur was incredibly soft and warm, and Spike hugged the clone back. “I’m sorry about what we did to you all,” Spike said apologetically. “If we had known-”

“Don’t worry about that,” the Pinkie clone said as she broke the hug and looked at Spike with that same childlike innocent smile. “All of the clones who made it here now know why you had to do that. I mean, come on! We’re all Pinkie Pie deep down somewhere. We can’t really keep a grudge to save our lives.” Her smile faltered a bit. “I can’t really say the same for those who were separated from us.”

“Wait, separated?” Spike asked.

The fluffy Pinkie nodded. “We were attacked and most of us ran in one direction. I was with the group who came here. But when we were rescued by the novans and counted, there were only thirty-nine of us. Eleven others got separated. Search parties have found nothing yet, but a group of clones still go out and search.”

Gregory frowned. “I hope they’re all okay. Clones or not, I would hate to see any Pinkie Pie be killed.”

Spike looked back at the fluffy Pinkie. “Hey, by the way, what’s your name? I’ve noticed that the Pinkies around here got new names.”

The clone gasped. “I’m sorry! I didn’t introduce myself!” She took a step back and smiled again. “My new name is Fluffle Puff.”

Spike thought he heard Gregory say something to the effect that he’d already known her name, but that seemed impossible. “Well, I know you know me, but I’m Spike the Dragon.”

Fluffle giggled, then seemed to prance over and hugged him again. “Nice to meet you again!” Turning back to look at Daenerys, she gasped again. “Poor girl’s getting cold. Back at it!” She bounded over, snuggled up close to the drake, and resumed making her raspberry noises.

“Why’s she making those noises?” Spike asked himself.

Apparently, he hadn’t been quiet enough because Gregory replied, “She says it’s because the sounds are soothing for the young drake. Or maybe it’s her way of comforting someone.” He wiped his brow again. “Hah…is it summer down here? The sun really feels hot on my skin.”

Spike looked at the bare-chested human and frowned. “Um, Mr. Graystone? You’re not in any sunlight,” he observed.

Gregory looked down at himself, then back up at the source of the shadow he was in, a large tree. “Oh…” he said. He wiped his brow again, then looked over at Spike. “Hey, Spike?”

“Yes?” Spike asked.

“I think…I think I’m in trouble…” was all he managed to get out before the arm that was raised with the damp towel went limp, falling to his side. His eyes became unfocused as at the same time, Daenerys also seemed to go limp, passing out.

Spike approached him unsteadily. “Mr. Graystone? Are you okay?” The young dragon put his claw to the human’s forehead. Now, while dragons had scales that could survive a dive into lava, they could still detect heat. And it seemed as if the human was burning up. He turned and shouted, “Help! He’s burning up!”

Two novans in nearly identical light blue clothes came rushing over and knelt beside him. One of them, an older female, put her hand to his forehead. “Dear God…we need to get ‘im cooled down now!”

“Spike? What’s going on?” Rarity asked, appearing beside Spike and looking over at the now delirious human who was mumbling somewhat incoherently.

“He’s got a really bad fever!” Spike said worriedly.

Rarity looked back over at the human in alarm. “I did notice he seemed to be perspiring lately, but I assumed it was due to us all walking,” she said.

“A stretcher! Git me a stretcher!” the younger female novan shouted at a group of nearby novans.

“You think they’ll know what to do?” Spike asked Rarity uncertainly.

“I’m sure they do,” Rarity said reassuringly.

“If Applejack were here, do you think she’d say you were lying?” Spike asked.

Rarity didn’t answer. Instead, she approached the human. All of his clothes had been stripped off, leaving him bare. His entire body was drenched in sweat and his skin was red. Spike followed behind, worried for Gregory and Rarity as well. He didn’t know if whatever Gregory had was contagious, but he didn’t want anyone else to get sick. Rarity grabbed a nearby damp towel with her magic, wringed out the excess water, and placed it on Gregory’s forehead. “You should try and sleep, Chancellor,” she said softly. “You’re in good hoov-I mean, hands now.”

Gregory’s eyes were even more unfocused now. Spike couldn’t tell if he was conscious of anything around him or not. At that moment, two novans flew down with a stretcher in their arms. They gently lifted the human up and placed him on top of it. Aurora came running up again and pointed at the two. “No flying,” she said. “Take him back to his room and put him in a cold bath! Hurry!”

“Can I come and help?” Rarity asked, stepping forward. “I can use magic, and no offense to you, darling, but I’ve had it my whole life. I know more spells than you probably do.”

Aurora looked at Rarity, then quickly nodded. “Alright, go with the others. I have enough of Pinkie’s memories to know about your generosity, at least.”

Rarity winced slightly, but nodded as she turned back to Spike. “Spike? Can I ask for your help?”

Spike nodded without hesitation. Rarity lifted him back onto her back and she followed close behind the two novans as they rushed back into the palace. All the while, Spike could hear the human mumbling incoherently, laughing and singing some strange tunes.

Once they reached Gregory’s room, the novans placed him in the bath before beginning to fill it with tepid water. Rarity used what magic she knew to create small ice cubes that she placed in a nearby container which the novans, who identified themselves as nurses, filled with water, dipped small towels in it and placed said ice cold towels on his forehead. When the water in the tub began to actually heat up too much, Rarity would create more ice for the tub and Spike would pour the ice in to bring the temperature back to tepid. All the while, Gregory was half delirious with whatever fever he had.

“Is the bath helping?” Spike asked after about fifteen or so minutes.

One of the novans, the older female who’d identified herself as Abigail or Abby, placed one of her hands on his forehead, then placed two fingers on his neck. “It might be helping,” she said, “but I’m not sure. His heartrate is a bit higher than I’d like.”

“Rubber ducky, you’re the one…” Gregory said in one of his more coherent moments. “You make bathtime so much fun!” He lifted his hands up and splashed.

“He’d definitely delirious,” the younger novan, named Rosalee, said worriedly. “The fever isn’t going away, but Abby’s right. We can’t tell if the bath is helping.”

“You want more ice in the bath itself?” Rarity asked.

“Better not,” Abigail said. “Ice cold baths ain’t good fer a fever.”

“Abby, we should get ‘im to bed,” Rosalee said as she removed one of the towels from Gregory’s forehead.

“Git him some new clothes,” Abigail ordered.

Rosalee nodded, spread her wings and flew out of the door. A few moments later she returned with some long sleeved and warm looking silk clothes. The two novans lifted him out of the bed, wiped him dry, then dressed him. They carried him gently back to the bed and lay him down. Spike then saw Rarity jump into bed beside him and press herself against him. “Rarity, what-?”

“Whenever Sweetie Belle or I had a fever, my mother would do the same for me, and I’ve done it whenever Sweetie Belle had a fever when she moved in with me,” Rarity replied. “After all I’ve done to him, it’s the least I can do.”

Abigail nodded sagely. “He will need that sort of body heat,” she said. “I’ll brew up some medicine to give ‘im when he wakes from the nap he’s ‘bout to take.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Spike asked worriedly.

“I think they might need your help with his drake, if you really want to help,” Rosalee said kindly, “but you don’t have to. Yer our guests.”

“She’s right, Spike,” Rarity said as she moved closer to Gregory’s body. “You’ve been very helpful today, but you should take the time to relax.”

Spike frowned. “I still want to help.”

“Then we won’t stop you,” Abigail said.

Spike looked back at Rarity, who was now pulling the covers over the two of them. “It’s time to sleep now, Chancellor. You need a nice long nap to heal your body.”

He did seem to have heard what Rarity had said, however, because he shook his head and waved his hand. “Ah, ah! No sleeping yet! You have to sing the Sleep Song before you go to sleep!”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “The Sleep Song?”

Gregory looked in the general direction of where Rarity was. “Come oooon! You know the words!” Clearing his throat, he launched into a slurred vocalized song as he jostled around in bed. “I am not messing up the covers. Sliding in, so as not to wrinkle all the sheets making sure the quilt stays nice and clean. Have you ever seen a bed so neat? I'm getting into bed. Sleep, sleep, sleep, time to go to sleep now. It is night and I need to sleep while it is dark. I am really tired, time for sleep now. Tired, tired, tired, sleep, sleep, sleep. I'm getting into bed. Biscuits and gravy!”

With that, Gregory took a deep breath. Rarity and Spike looked at each other with incredulous expressions before they heard Gregory exhale. Spike turned back and saw the human’s eyes locking onto Rarity. “God, you’re beautiful,” he said.

Despite the situation, Rarity blushed a bit, but not for long as his eyes began to flutters shut. However, before they were completely shut, Spike could have sworn he saw the human’s eyes change color from their sky blue to a light purple.

Unknown Place, Unknown Time…

Gregory was floating in a warm abyss. That was all he knew. He was formless, shapeless, purposeless. He could see nothing, smell nothing, taste nothing, and feel nothing other than the warmth that enclosed him. All he could hear was a soft thrum, thrum, thrum of a steady beat that kept time. Like the constant thrumming noise of some massive starship engine.

He let himself hover or float there, wherever there was for him. Had he always been in this place? It didn’t matter now. It was comfortable. Here, he didn’t have to think. He didn’t have to worry. Here was true peace. True contentment. It was so tempting to get lost in the aether. To just let go. The stresses of leadership had done a number on him already…

Wait, leadership? What leadership? Hadn’t he been there for an eternity already? What kind of leadership had he endured thus far? For the first time in what felt like forever, Gregory allowed coherent thought to pass through him. Well…his name was Gregory Graystone, that much he knew now. He was a…what was he again…what species? Oh yes! Human. He was a member of the human race. A species that had just reached a total of eight billion strong on Earth less than a year ago.

The temptation to succumb to the oblivion returned, and initially he started to give in, but a still, soft, female voice called out from a great distance and startled him back into coherency, “Come to light, friend…”

Friend…yes. He had friends back where he came from. He had a girlfriend…and a job. Job as…what? What kind of job did he have again?

President? No.

Emperor? Nope.

Chancellor?

Yes, that word had a familiar ring to it. What was a chancellor? Some kind of leader, right? Chancellor…chancellor…was it Palpatine? No, wrong chancellor. Chancellor…oh! Yes! He remembered now! He’d taken on the job of a chancellor.

But why had he? And for whom? It definitely wasn’t the chancellor in the Star Wars universe. So which one was it?

Wait…why would he assume he was a chancellor in a fictitious universe? He furled his brows and concentrated harder. He felt his head begin to hurt. Wait, head? He had a body now? Nnng…it hurt…would the pain stop?

He took a breath. Yes…he had a head now. He reached up and felt his returning body. Torso. Stomach. Hips. Legs! He still had legs! Arms, hands, fingers! Lots of fingers! Mouth, two eyes, nose…he’d had worse. Hair…he was a girl! No, no…not a girl! Ah! And still not ginger!

He looked around, confused. He tried to remember what had happened before he’d come to this place, wherever he was. He had been talking to someone…or a couple of someones. Who? He concentrated, ignoring the pain. Two faces popped up in his memory. One was of the young but clothed version of Spike the Dragon. The other was a pony who shouldn’t have been in that world, mostly because she was only a fan-based character.

How the hell had one of the biggest and most well-loved fan based characters of the My Little Pony fandom been created from an altered Pinkie Pie clone, anyway?

Memories came pouring back in at an alarming rate. He endured the pain they brought, both physical and mental. He heard some more indistinct voices as the memories continued to re-emerge from wherever they had been buried.

He remembered his childhood, growing up with parents who just didn’t seem to care about him. Never really praised him, put him down in subtle ways. He remembered finally gaining financial independence only to fall victim to a woman so manipulative he couldn’t see it.

He remembered their loud fight when he decided to step up and break things off with her after he learned of her infidelity. He remembered the subsequent depression he’d fallen into before he found a non-profit counseling place where he could see a counselor for free. He remembered his counselor, David, gently helping him through his shortcomings and helped him set small goals, which Gregory accomplished with flying colors. He remembered his discovery of My Little Pony while it was airing its last season. He remembered devouring every piece of media devoted to the show and how it had actually been a huge help in his recovery. David had even said that if MLP helped, then it wasn’t embarrassing to watch. He apparently had twin girls who loved the show and had watched it ever since it started airing.

Gregory then remembered finding a secret website on the Dark Web when he was exploring it one Saturday afternoon. The website described a procedure which could enable anyone to be transported to any fictitious universe. Ironically, the name of the website on the Dark Web where he’d found the instructions was RealZombo.com. Figuring it might be kind of cool to pretend, he made preparations and managed to open a portal to Equestria. Not wanting to go through without preparations, he stuck a camera through with the video recording. He remembered seeing a vast swathe of trees in the recording, and then when he’d turned the camera, the recording had seen a familiar looking array of thatched roofed and colorful buildings. However, unlike the show everything looked just as realistic as if it were in the real world.

As the memories returned to him slowly, he saw screens appear in the void. He saw his other brief attempts at creating portals, and not just to Equestria. He had taken images and videos of places like Coruscant, London with an old style blue police box sitting nearby and zeppelins in the sky, a certain empty classroom with a single desk sitting in the center, a certain keep made of red bricks and other various places that were fictitious.

Finally, he began remembering how he had begun stocking up provisions for a permanent trip through a portal to Equestria. He’d bought all sorts of advanced electronics, such as solar panel powered chargers that could help keep his electronics charged in case Equestrian tech was incompatible with his tech. He’d bought e-readers and filled them with many different types of books, fiction, history, technical diagrams for advanced human technology he hoped to introduce to Equestria, and much more. He’d bought the latest iPhone and downloaded each and every episode of MLP onto it. He’d also downloaded as many fandom MLP material as he could, from fan animation by ForgaLorga and AgrolChannel videos, to Magpiepony comic dubs to Friendship Is Witchcraft and everything in between. He’d bought the latest gaming laptop and put all manner of video games on external hard drives so he could play them whenever he was feeling homesick along with entire TV shows, some of which he hadn’t yet watched that he’d meant to in his spare time. He bought some spare parts for said laptops. He refurbished his two older laptops as well just in case his new one broke. He’d vacuum sealed some meat products he’d never be able to eat again, like steaks, hamburgers, and bacon.

He’d liquidated nearly everything of his, then made his way to an empty field after he’d sold his car and had one last major fast food meal. There, he’d initiated the procedure, and with his hands full of many fully packed bags of clothes, vacuum sealed food, electronics, and even a few actual paper books, he’d stepped through the portal with all his bags, and had promptly nearly died thanks to his stepping out a few steps away from the Abysmal Abyss.

“Wake up, friend…” the same female voice from before said.

Gregory looked around, the screens from before which had shown his various memories of his new life on Gaia vanished, leaving him once more in a dark and empty void. Looking around, he thought he saw a pinprick of light in the distance. The same voice called out “Friend come! Come to light!”

Gregory frowned. The voice sounded familiar, but a part of Gregory felt like it didn’t belong in this world. Still, he felt like he should heed the calls of the woman.

Or should he?

Going towards the light? Wasn’t there a stigma about that in stories? Shouldn’t he go back towards the darkness? Or was the light the way back to where he’d been. Wait, where had he been again? Oh! Tartarus! And Atlantis, no less! Which would be the better choice here…?

Fortunately, the choice seemed to have been made for him when a light purple mist appeared suddenly in front of him. The mist was studded with multicolored points of light that seemed to resemble twinkling stars. He felt something wrap around his waist and before he could do anything, it tightened. In the distance, he heard the familiar voice say something in a tone of triumph. He felt himself being pulled at an incredible speed towards the light. He screamed in fear as he was pulled closer to the light. He closed his eyes…

…only to find found sitting in cool water. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked down at the ground. He was indeed sitting in water about a foot above the ground. However, when he stood up, he found that he was completely dry. He looked up and saw that he was underneath a large night sky full of stars. The water seemed to go on forever. The horizon he faced had a large column of what looked like the Milky Way and whatever galaxy Gaia was a part of, but which had a different shape than the two galaxies he was now familiar with. About thirty degrees above the horizon he saw a large star that was brighter than the rest. It illuminated the water around him which was mostly still save for the area around him that was disturbed by his motions.

And the area that was disturbed by whatever was behind him. Gregory turned to find himself looking up at his drake. In the night, her eyes seemed to glow their signature color, their bright purple luminescence briefly startling him before he realized who it was. “Dany? Where are we? You have any idea?”

Daenerys shook her head, then to his confusion, she actually spoke. “Don’t know where we are, friend.”

The shock of hearing a clear adult feminine voice coming out of a massive but young drake’s mouth made Gregory pause. He knew the voice was the same as the one he’d heard earlier, but he also knew that he’d heard it even earlier. At the moment, he couldn’t determine just where he’d heard it, so he decided to forget it. “I…had no idea you could talk,” he said. Then he had a realization and he chuckled. “Oh wait…this is a dream. Duh.”

“No, not dream,” Daenerys rumbled as she stood and spread her massive wings. “This not dream. Not sure what water place is.”

Gregory had some experience in lucid dreaming, so he attempted to perform the normal test he did whenever he was dreaming. He’d been inspired by a similar trick from the movie Inception. However, when he tried to create a small metal top to spin on the end, nothing happened. Frowning, he tried it again, then one more time. When he failed all three times, he reached down and pinched himself to try and shock himself awake. When nothing happened again, he looked around the sky once more. The alien galactic arc reached across the sky directly above them and sank into the body of water behind Daenerys. The light of the single star behind him along with the sea of stars in the heavens was the only light he could see by. He reached down, scooped up some water and splashed his face with it. The water was cool to the touch, but like before it didn’t leave him wet. It did leave behind a cool sensation, however. The ground below the water was smooth like marble, but in the light provided by the two stars he couldn’t see what it was made of at all.

Standing back up, he looked back at Daenerys. “I don’t know where we are either.”

“Water feel warm,” Daenerys replied, slowly lying down and splashing herself with it.

“Really? It feels cool to me,” he said as he splashed himself again, letting the cool sensation wash over him. “But that’s not important right now. If this isn’t a dream and you’re really Daenerys, how are you talking? And are you feeling okay now?”

Daenerys looked at him and tilted her head. “I talk in dream place. I talk with blue pony who wanted to see friend’s dreams. Tell her to stay away.”

“Blue pony? Are you talking about Princess Luna?” Gregory asked.

“Yes. I do okay? Telling her to stay away?”

Gregory nodded. “Yes, Dany. Thanks for telling her to stay out of my dreams.”

Daenerys looked proud of herself. “I do okay,” she said.

Gregory nodded, then stroked his chin. “So, you can talk in your dreams, but not in the real world. So, we’re either in some sort of shared dream or in some weird dream realm altogether.”

“What we do now, friend?” Daenerys asked with an expectant tone.

Gregory was about to answer when there was a sound all around them. A sound like a horn which echoed everywhere for what must have been a good half minute before the reverberations ceased.

However, despite that, Gregory could narrow down the direction which the sound came. He turned towards the bright star which he’d first seen when he’d looked up at the sky. Turning back to Daenerys, he pointed. “I think we go that way. Can you fly?”

Daenerys spread her wings and shot up into the air. She circled around him a few times before landing and splashing him with the water. “Yes,” was her simple response.

Gregory approached, and as he did so he was surprised to see the custom built saddle start to appear on her back. As he approached, he felt himself becoming more and more clothed until he was wearing the gear he normally wore whenever he flew on her back. He climbed up after she lay down so he could get up to the saddle. After strapping himself in and putting his goggles on, he grabbed the reins. “You ready, Dany?”

“Ready, friend,” she replied.

“Alright then. Giddy up.”

And with that, the drake leaped up into the air as Gregory steered her towards the direction of the star. He couldn’t be sure why, but there was just something about that direction that seemed right. At the very least, he hoped that he’d wake up whenever he reached his destination.

This shared dream bullshit was cutting into his time to return home and help avert a war.

35: Beginning of Change?

Ponyville Town Square, Afternoon, Day Three After Gregory’s Banishment…

“Vinyl, are you sure we should be doing this now?” Octavia asked as the DJ pony began setting up her equipment in the center of town. Beside her, Bon Bon and Lyra were watching the blue maned unicorn work her magic like it was second nature to her. Nearby, a few ponies were walking by, looking at the group with a look of confusion. “The weather ponies said that there’s snow coming in an hour.”

“I know what I’m doing, girls,” Vinyl said. At the moment, her shades were on her forehead being held in place by her horn. She had a fiercely determined look on her face as she placed a large speaker on the temporary raised platform that had served as a place where ponies would congregate during town meetings held by the mayor and sometimes Princess Twilight, although the latter hadn’t made her presence known as much lately. “I’m sick and tired of the obstinance of the ponies in town.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Obstinance, Vinyl? When did you become so articulate?” she asked in a teasing tone.

The unicorn DJ rolled her eyes and smirked. “We’re roommates, Tavi. I pick up a lot from you. More than you know.”

“Bitchin,” Octavia replied with a grin and a wink.

Vinyl chuckled. “Touché,” she said as she finally plugged the last cord in. “And that’s the last of them.” She stood in front of the microphone and performed a few tests. “Check, check, one two three, one two three.” She adjusted a few dials on a mixer panel until she was satisfied. “Girls, cover your ears.” Octavia flattened her ears as Vinyl used her magic to move a few of the dials once again. A piercing screech came out of the speakers, catching the attention of a few of the nearby ponies who winced at the sound, covering their ears with their hooves. Finally, the screeching stopped. Vinyl walked backed over to the mic and took a deep breath. “Ponyville! Impromptu town meeting! Everypony who can hear me come to the town square and pass on the message!”

When Vinyl stepped back, she gestured towards Octavia, Lyra and Bon Bon to join her. There were small stools on the raised platform which they all sat in. Lyra looked up at Vinyl. “I know we keep asking, but are you really sure this is a good idea?” she asked.

Vinyl turned back to face the bright green unicorn. Octavia saw her eyes flashing with a dangerous blood red glow before returning to their purple hue. She looked angry now. “It’s time we all grew up.”

Slowly, the large patch of frozen snowy ground began to become filled with other ponies. One of the first was a familiar pony made with larger hints of pink in her gray mane. “What in the wide, wide world of Equestria is going on here?” Mayor Mare asked as she stepped onto the stage and looked at Vinyl with a disapproving frown. “I never called for a town meeting.”

“No, but I did,” Vinyl replied, startling the mayor by actually talking. “I didn’t have time to talk to you, but we need this right now.”

Mayor Mare looked at the equipment that had been set up, then back at the unicorn DJ. “Alright, so what is it about?”

“About the attitudes of ponies in town regarding one Jason Wright,” Octavia said, stepping forward and facing the mayor herself.

At the mention of his name, the mayor’s expression faltered. Rumors had been going around town that the mayor had been one of the first to turn Jason away five years ago when it was learned that Twilight had turned the human away. The earth pony mare’s ears flattened a bit as she looked out at the crowd then back at Octavia. “What do you mean?”

Bon Bon was the next pony to step forward. “Miss Mare,” she started, “you know how attitudes against Jason have been divided for the past three months. We really need to hammer it in that we’re the ones who started this. His actions aside, can we say we wouldn’t do the same if we had been in his position? I’m not saying what he did was right, but it was understandable.”

Lyra stepped forward next. “Besides, there’s another human in this world now. Not here, but somewhere else on Equus and he’s in danger from ponies out for blood. What if he decides he wants to come here to visit, like Jason did?”

Mayor Mare’s eyes widened in alarm at the news of another human. “Where is this human now?” she asked worriedly.

“Griffonstone, but that’s not the point,” Lyra said. “We really need to get our act together here. We can’t really claim to stand for harmony if we can easily chase out somecreature for just being different, can we?”

Mayor Mare seemed to deflate at this, but she slowly nodded. “I understand what you’re trying to do,” she said. Octavia saw a light flash in her eyes as she looked down at the ground. “I’m pretty sure I know the answer, but if you need my help, I’ll gladly do so.”

“You can sit up here and if you have anything to say, please say it,” Vinyl said, pulling another stool out from behind her equipment and placed it on the stage next to the others. “We’re going first, though.”

The mayor nodded as Octavia walked over and took her seat. Lyra sat on her left, Bon Bon next to Lyra, and the mayor on Octavia’s right. As more and more ponies began arriving, the mayor leaned over towards Octavia. “Is this some sort of concert?”

Octavia was about as confused as the mayor was. Vinyl had only mentioned setting up a little bit of her sound equipment so she could better talk to the others in town. She hadn’t mentioned setting up as much as she had. She shook her head and shrugged as Vinyl stood at the microphone, staring out at the gathering crowd. Nopony else might have noticed it, but Octavia could see Vinyl’s legs trembling a little bit. She might have been a DJ, but Vinyl didn’t particularly like using her voice if she could help it. She preferred to express herself by her music. Octavia gained a whole new respect for Vinyl at that moment.

When the trickling of ponies began to ebb, Vinyl took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and straightened herself. “Citizens of Ponyville!” she shouted into the mic, causing the crowd to flinch in alarm at the loud noise. “You all know me. I don’t do a whole lot of talking. But I asked you here because I have a few things to say that a lot of you really have got to hear. First, I’ve heard a lot of you talking about what happened to the town and throwing shade at the Princess of Friendship and her friends and especially Jason Wright! Their part in what happened is none of our business! But OUR part is!”

“What are you talking about?” a familiar voice shouted out. Octavia scanned the crowd only to see the former owner of Sugarcube Corner, Carrot Cake, looking up at Vinyl.

Vinyl shook her head. “That right there!” she pointed at him with her hoof, “that’s what I mean! We keep on blaming everypony else! Their guilt isn’t our business! Do I really need to remind you what happened during those three years, Mr. Cake?? I’ve heard stories about what you did to Jason that would piss anybody off!” The crowd shrank back from her language. Mr. Cake looked around, his bottom lip trembling. Vinyl turned to the crowd again. “Who was it that would hurl abuse and garbage at Jason whenever he came into town to try and get help or food or raid our garbages just for a morsel we could have easily given him?! Do I really need to remind everypony what happened!? Do we really have memory loss!? We’re equally as responsible for this! We destroyed our town just as much as Jason and the changelings did! We let petty judgements rule our actions! Who here remembers Zecora? Didn’t we learn from this? Did you know that she left the Everfree after some ponies attacked her and beat her nearly to death not once, not twice, but three times?!”

The crowd all gasped at that. Octavia still couldn’t believe that anypony could be so cruel. Then again, she had to remind herself of all the times she’d been equally cruel to Jason Wright. She and Vinyl had heard about the attack on Zecora from Lyra earlier that morning before Vinyl had gathered her things to call this meeting. “Is that why her house is empty now?” a random pony asked.

“Who’d stick around after that?!” Vinyl shouted. Octavia felt concern for her friend. She hadn’t seen Vinyl this angry in years, and it frightened her. “Would you?!” She stepped back, took a deep breath, exhaled, and continued in a calmer tone. “Lots of ponies here are looking for somepony to blame, and I can’t blame you. It’s easier to hate outwards than inwards for many ponies.”

“Are you saying what that Jason freak did was right?!” a very familiar mare’s voice shouted from the crowd. Octavia groaned inwardly. Spoiled Rich, one of the cruelest ponies in town, stepped forward. She pointed up at Vinyl and grit her teeth. “Freak defending freak! We all know you have a soft spot for them! Especially since your ancestor was a bigger freak!”

Vinyl looked at Spoiled with narrowed eyes. “Choose your next words very, very carefully,” she said darkly.

“Why, because you won’t like what I have to say?” Spoiled said with a victorious grin.

“Because you might not know of what you speak,” Vinyl replied.

Spoiled grinned wider and turned to the crowd. Pointing up at the unicorn, she shouted, “She’s got vampire blood in her!”

Octavia frowned. Vinyl had shared this with her once a few years ago. Apparently, some time about eight hundred years ago she had a distant ancestor of hers named Countess Scarlet Fury. She governed over a portion of land where Manehattan would eventually be founded. She was known throughout her own domain as a harsh ruler, raising taxes and using the profits to make her castle, now supposedly a haunted a ruin, a castle of opulence and riches while the common ponies suffered. One of the darker rumors was that she had made a pact with some demons to gain eternal life, but only if a sacrifice was made. During the latter ten years of her reign twenty young mares would vanish in the middle of the night every six months and eventually rumors spread that the countess was taking them as her sacrifices.

In the end, the common peasants revolted and stormed the castle, dragging the countess out and in an act of brutal revenge beheaded her. It was discovered that she had a number of foals hidden away, all looking similar to her. Many of the common ponies, still high off of revenge, almost executed the young foals but at that moment Princess Celestia and her royal guards arrived. They rescued the young foals and took them away, giving them to loving families. Vinyl was one of her descendants. As the years passed, Scarlet became known as a vampire.

Vinyl glared down at Spoiled Rich. “Yes, my ancestor was known as a vampire,” she said, “but if you’re judging anypony by their past and their blood, why stop there? Why don’t we judge Princess Luna for her past actions? Or perhaps you want to blame Princess Celestia for her neglect against her sister! Or perhaps we should look at your past, too? Wasn’t your great grandfather responsible for one of the worst mistreatment of cows on his milk farm, huh?! Didn’t he treat them like less than slaves and do unspeakable things to the cows? Things I’ll gladly share with everypony else here!”

Spoiled clamped her mouth shut, face red with barely repressed rage as Vinyl faced the crowd. “We are all responsible for the destruction of our town! We turned our backs on harmony! We let our fears and xenophobic behavior dictate our behavior towards Jason! It’s time we grew up!”

Octavia then felt something flashing over her. Quickly, she turned to the crowd and a large majority of them looked unsure of themselves now. One after another, their eyes seemed to flash with something that the cello playing mare couldn’t really explain. She’d seen it a couple of times, the first time during the broadcasted trial when the same type of eye flash had appeared in Roseluck’s eyes, and subsequently a few other times afterwards in town during arguments she’d been unfortunate enough to witness. She’d seen it most notably in Cheerilee when the teacher had a breakdown two months back and she’d finally come to realize that she had not been the pony she’d hoped to be. Feeling emboldened, Octavia stood and walked over to the microphone. Vinyl saw her approaching and stepped aside. The gray mare took the mic in her hoof and took a deep breath. “She’d right,” Octavia said. “I, for one, am growing tired of all of the arguments sprouting up. It’s time we actually did something about it.”

“What can we do?” a younger teenage filly asked. Octavia looked down and saw that it was Diamond Tiara looking up with a pleading expression.

Beside her, Filthy Rich also looked contrite. He had been particularly cruel when it came to the abuse thrown against Jason. He’d used his money to hire bodyguards to protect his home during a period when Jason had been more commonly spotted earlier on. Said bodyguards had done a great deal of bodily harm to Jason during those early days. Now, the guilt on his face was telling. “My daughter raises a good point. What do we do?”

“Learn from this tragedy,” Lyra said, stepping forward with Bon Bon by her side. “We can’t keep on wallowing in self pity. Yes, we lost our homes and all stuff, but we’re lucky that’s ALL we lost! We can rebuild the town, but we should also rebuild ourselves. Yeah, that sounds corny, but it’s true. We’ve learned to fear anything other than ponykind.”

“Who here remembers Cranky Doodle?” Bon Bon asked. Everyone nodded and raised their hooves at that. “His wife almost died because of our treatment of other races here. Thankfully, an anonymous pony donated the funds necessary for her to buy her medication to help. Still, she and Cranky left after Ponyville was destroyed. The two lived on the edge of town near the Everfree. It’s still there if you want to see how ruined it is.”

Vinyl stepped forward again. “If we want to change, that change has to come from within. I’m surprised Windigos haven’t come here yet after what happened.” She reached up and touched her chest. “Equestria shouldn’t just be a haven for ponies, but for all creatures. Let’s rebuild our town and ourselves along with it!”

The crowd all began cheering and applauding. For the first time in three months, Octavia felt like things would get better for the ponies in town. She looked at her roommate proudly, only to once again catch her eyes appearing to be dark red for a brief moment before returning to their natural hue. Despite everything, the brown earth pony mare wondered if there was indeed any truth to the rumors of Vinyl’s ancestor really being a vampire.

Island of Atlantis, Gregory’s Bedroom, The Afternoon After Their Arrival…

Rarity woke a few hours later to the feeling of warmth wrapped all around her. She had no idea when she’d fallen asleep, but she found a small book lying open where she’d dropped it during her time trying to help keep Gregory from getting too cold.

Slowly, she turned around to see what the human’s current state was. Or tried to at any rate. She found that he had wrapped his arms around her after she’d fallen asleep and had pulled her close like some stuffed animal. His grip was secure, but not too tight. Blushing a bit, she used her magic to gently remove his arms from her barrel so she could turn and get a better look at him. She saw that he was lying on his side facing her, still fast asleep. Reaching up a hoof, she felt his forehead. He was still very warm to the touch, but it didn’t seem like he was as warm as before.

Earlier, before the demons-or novans as she had to keep reminding herself-left, they had given him some sort of medication that seemed to have eased his slight tossing and turning that had started five minutes after he’d passed out. Back then, Gregory had been extremely hot. One of the novans had explained that, according to old stories, humans had a lower normal body temperature than horses, which they had assumed passed over to ponies. If what the novan doctor had said was true, then Gregory was still feverish.

Rarity slipped into her caretaker mode; the same one she fell into whenever Sweetie Belle had gotten sick over the years since she’d moved in with her at her old boutique. Slowly, she moved out of the bed. She tucked him in with her magic, which unlike in Griffonstone felt much stronger here. In fact, she felt like her magic was even stronger here than in Equestria.

Brushing the thought aside, as she wasn’t the magical genius Twilight was, she walked into the nearby bathroom and got a towel from a rack. She got it wet with water from a nearby bucket, chilled it a bit with some of her magic. After that, she walked back into the bedroom and placed the towel on his forehead. She saw him wincing a bit, but soon his body relaxed a bit. Grabbing another towel, she began dabbing at the sweat on what little bits of his skin were exposed.

As she was doing that, there was a knock at the door. She almost called out at them to come in, but stopped as she didn’t want to wake up Gregory. Slowly, she climbed off of the bed, walked over to the door and slowly opened it. There, she saw two figures standing outside in the hall. One of them was one of the Pinkie Pie clones dressed in the same light blue shade of clothes that many of the medical staff here wore. This Pinkie seemed to have the same type of body style as a certain Fleur De Lis she’d seen, albeit with curlier hair. Beside her, an older novan male in the same light blue clothes stood. “Miss Belle? Sorry to disturb you and the patient. My name’s Doctor Kenneth Riley. This is Nurse Diane Pie.”

Rarity looked at the Pinkie clone. “You’re…a nurse?”

Diane giggled and nodded. “Sure am,” she said in that same Pinkie voice that she remembered from before the events with Jason. “Dr. Riley trained me himself!” Her smile slowly disappeared as she looked inside. “Is he okay?”

Rarity brushed aside the absurdity of any kind of Pinkie becoming a doctor and stepped aside. “I believe his fever went down a bit, but he’s still very warm.”

The two walked in and over to the bed. Dr. Riley put his hand to Gregory’s cheek since his forehead was still covered with a cool towel. He frowned. “Even for a novan, he’d be very warm.” He turned to Diane. “Now listen closely, nurse.”

Diane nodded and pulled out a pen and paper pad from her mane. Rarity giggled slightly at that. Even for a clone, she was still a lot like the Pinkie she knew. “Righty-Tighty, Doc!”

Dr. Riley grinned and turned back to Gregory. “I studied some medicine from ancient human medical books. I also studied a journal of a human turned novan. He discovered that after his transformation, his body temperature had gone up. He thought he had a fever at first, but when he began giving others medical examinations, he found their temperatures were more or less the same. So normally, if I were to touch this human here, my hands should feel cool. And the same for you, since your body temperature is more or less the same as ours.”

“Got it!” Diane said as she wrote down on the pad.

Dr. Riley chuckled as he put two fingers on Gregory’s neck. “Hmm…his pulse is pretty stable for now. You brought the fever suppressant?”

“Right here!” Diane pulled a small vial full of red liquid out from her mane and gave it to Dr. Riley. “Here you are!”

The novan doctor took it and nodded. “Thank you. Could you help me sit him up.”

Rarity watched as novan and pony propped the sleeping Gregory to a sitting position. She was surprised he didn’t wake up for it. The novan popped the cork, gently opened the human’s mouth, and poured the liquid into his mouth. He did it slowly so that Gregory would unconsciously register the liquid in his mouth and swallow. It took a while, but eventually the medicine was down. He looked at the vial in astonishment then turned back to Diane. “Wow, who knew adding flavor would make an unconscious patient receptive to drinking it in their sleep?”

“I told you, doc, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!” Diane giggled.

“Duly noted,” the doctor said with a chuckle. He turned back to Rarity. “One of my other nurses said that you have been staying here to keep him warm, Miss Belle?”

Rarity smiled a bit sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck. “I’ve been…a real cad to him lately,” she said, “and I wanted to make things right with him. Besides, I’ve done this with my sister whenever she was sick.”

“Thanks for helping, Miss Belle,” he said with a smile. “If you want, you can go and spend time in the city. The two others who arrived with you are receiving a grand tour.”

“As delightful as that sounds, I would like to try and help here, if I can,” Rarity replied. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

The novan doctor looked down at Gregory, then back at Rarity. “For the moment, what he needs is rest. Nobody ever went wrong with rest.”

“Whatever does he have, doctor? Do you have any idea?” she asked.

Dr. Riley shook his head. “I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this before,” he admitted. “It appears to be a typical fever, but at the same time, not. If the medicine I gave him works, we’ll know soon. If it doesn’t, I have a few other ideas I can try to bring down the fever.”

Rarity nodded in understanding. “If it’s quite alright with you, Doctor, I would much like to stay with him. I believe I was a comforting presence to him.” She blushed a bit, remembering how he’d held her in his arms like some sort of plush toy. It had made her feel strangely secure, especially when he had run his hands through her mane right before she’d fallen asleep. It had felt amazing and nothing else could really compare to it.

The doctor looked back at Gregory, appearing to mull things over, then turned back to Rarity. “Are you sure? You can go exploring the city with your companions, you know?”

“I’m quite sure,” Rarity said. “As much as I would be honored to explore this magnificent city, I want to make sure he’s looked after.”

“I can leave Diane here, if that’d make you feel better,” he replied.

“I don’t mind looking after him!” Diane said with a smile.

Rarity smiled. “Having somepony to talk to might not be so bad, but I insist.”

The doctor smiled kindly down at her. “Well, if you’re sure, then I guess it’s alright. Diane, you want to stay behind anyway?”

“Roger, roger!” the clone nurse said with a salute before she put down her bag on a nearby table and began pulling out a few objects.

Dr. Riley chuckled at her antics, then looked down at Gregory once more. He performed some other examinations, such as looking into his mouth, nose, ears and eyes. While he was doing that, Diane continued preparing some of the objects that Rarity assumed were medicinal in nature. Finally, Dr. Riley finished his examination, stood back up, and looked over at Diane. “Nurse, be sure to keep an eye on the patient. If he wakes up, give him as much fluids as he can stomach. I can have the staff chefs make him some chicken soup broth.”

“I’ll look after him, Doc! Me and Rarity here!” Diane said with a salute.

“I know I can count on you, Di,” he said as he began gathering up the things he brought. “If anything changes, the two guards outside know where I am. Have one of them fetch me immediately.”

“Okie dokie lokie!”

As the doctor left, Rarity felt her heart sink a bit. Hearing Pinkie Pie’s signature catchphrase again after so many months had brought back happier times to her mind. Times she missed dreadfully. Times that would likely never come back due to the actions of her and her friends. With her tail and ears drooping a bit, she walked back over to the bed and climbed back up into it. She pressed her back against Gregory’s chest, hoping that this sensation brought him more comfort than she was feeling emotionally.

Diane, meanwhile, was watching this with a glowing smile. “You look like a plush toy next to him,” she said with a giggle.

Rarity felt color come to her cheeks, but she said nothing to rebut the clone of her friend. “I-It’s the least I could do after all I’ve done to him…”

Diane’s smile faltered at Rarity’s tone. “What you’ve done to him? What are you talking about?”

Rarity looked away. Despite everything, she still found it hard to face what she’d done. It had gone against everything she stood for as a pony. Still, she knew she had to face it. She looked back at Diane. “I…I did something awful to another human who came to Equestria…and to Spike as well…”

Diane’s expression softened a bit, much to Rarity’s surprise. She approached and sat next to the bed where Rarity now lay. “I might not be Pinkie Pie anymore,” she said in a surprisingly more mature sounding tone which reminded her slightly of Nurse Redheart, “but I hate seeing my friend’s upset. You’re still my friend, Rarity, even if we never interacted before we came here. I have all of her memories of the fun times we had together. So, for now, you can talk to me about it.”

With that, the floodgates opened. Rarity softly cried as she told Diane, in halting tones, just what she had done to Jason upon his arrival to her store. How she had not only shunned him, but had actively participated in a few of the times when he had come into town desperate for help.

Next, she told of how she’d been incredibly rude to Gregory from day one of meeting him. She recalled every insult and the inevitable confrontation between him and her.

She finally told of her actions against Spike, how she had used him for her own personal benefit, even going so far as to use him as a pin cushion a few times or as manual labor for carrying gems back from the caves just outside of Ponyville. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing as she lamented her actions and how much she wished she could make it up to Jason, Rarity, and everyone else she’d wronged over the years.

Diane listened quietly, not interrupting her at all. Finally, Rarity finished by saying, “…I’m a damn mess, Pink-Diane. I don’t know how to make things right. I want to apologize properly to Jason. I’ve done it with Spike and Gregory already, but I feel that those were still not enough.”

With that, she stopped. Diane looked at Rarity with an unreadable expression, something that seemed a bit out of place on a face that looked like Pinkie Pie’s but wasn’t quite the same. Slowly, Diane reached out her hoof and touched Rarity’s cheek gently. A small, but reassuring smile formed on her lips. “Dr. Riley has a saying,” she began. “Every journey starts with a single step. You’ve already apologized to Gregory and Spike, and that’s a good start. But now, you should regain their trust. How you do that is up to you, but it’s not impossible. I don’t know what to say about this Jason character, but if he doesn’t forgive you, then you’ll have to accept that.”

Rarity nodded solemnly. “I…I’m beginning to realize that,” she said. “I want things to become better. I want things back to the way they were.”

“Change happens all the time,” Diane said. “I mean, look at me! I look like some fancy-schmancy Canterlot pony now! I’m all slim and I could get all the stallions I wanted if I were back in Equestria! And then there’s Pinkie Pie.” She tapped her head. “I remember clearly what happened on the day she got her cutie mark. Change can be a good thing. I dunno if things will be the same, but that’s not a bad thing.”

Rarity smiled. “Pinkie Pie clone or not, when did you get so smart?”

“By hanging around with Dr. Riley,” Diane giggled as she stood. “He has a lot of nice smart things to say. I just wish I could get him to notice me…”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Darling…do you fancy him?”

Diane smiled nervously, and Rarity could have sworn she saw some color come to those cheeks of hers. “Ahaha…I guess I do like him.”

Rarity looked back at Gregory. At the moment, he was sleeping and looked peaceful. Slowly, she turned back to Diane. “Well…why don’t I help with that?”

“Help? How?” Diane looked puzzled.

Rarity came out of the bed. “First, I think you should think about restyling your mane. May I try some things and you can tell me what you like?”

Diane looked a bit uncertain, but then she brightened. “Just as long as I’m watching Greggy over there, go ahead!”

Rarity grabbed a nearby stool with her magic, set it down next to the bed, gestured for Diane to sit, and then she began giving Diane a perfect makeover. “Novan or pony, he won’t know what hit him when he sees you next, darling…”

Tartarus, That Same Time…

Nictis was growing tired. He and the rest of the group he’d been with had been flying for hours, scouring the landscape below them after exiting whatever forest they had come out of. However, as far as the eye and magic senses could see, all he and others could see was barren wasteland with the occasional plant or animal. But they hadn’t seen any sign of Gregory or the others who had been with him. They had to land at one point to avoid a brief rainstorm that drenched them, something that had really confused the changeling general. They used the opportunity to replenish their water supply from the storm before heading out again.

As they continued to fly, Nictis began detecting something unusual with his horn. At first, he wasn’t sure if he was experiencing magical hallucinations, so he kept it to himself since whatever he was detecting would appear briefly for a few seconds before disappearing, although it always seemed to come from the same direction they were heading. However, as they continued flying, the sensation he was detecting would start lasting for longer periods of time until it lasted for a full minute.

Unable to put this off for any longer, he flew over to where Chrysalis, in her female human form, was still carrying Jason as they flew. “My emperor,” he began, “I’ve been detecting some strange magic coming from ahead of us for a while now.”

Jason looked back at him, his eyes narrowing behind the goggles he wore. “And you’re just now telling me this?”

“This is Tartarus, my Emperor,” he replied. “Everything feels strange to my magical detection. It’s as if we’re not even on Gaia anymore.”

“What is it you have to report?” Chrysalis asked.

“Just this, my lady,” he replied. He turned and pointed ahead. “I’ve been feeling some unusual but very constant magic from ahead of us. It’s massive. I don’t know what it is, but we’re getting closer to it.”

Jason looked ahead. There wasn’t much to see, just a range of mountains approaching them. They’d probably reach the mountains in an hour or so at their current speed. “Can you describe this magic with any more detail?” he asked.

Nictis shook his head. “I wish I could. It has a strange familiarity to it, though. Nothing in this place feels familiar, but that magic does.”

Jason nodded. “It could be a focal point for the magic that banished the Chancellor. Since we’re already heading there, we’ll keep our present course and speed. Let me or Chrysalis know if anything changes.”

Nictis saluted and returned to his place in the search pattern. He continued scanning the ground below, keeping a particular eye out for a bipedal shaped creature. However, the only creatures he saw were small animals of unusual configurations and magical signatures.

As they began approaching the large mountain range, Nictis stole a few glances upwards, noticing that same magical signature now blazing from a massive formation of mountains laid out in a circle. It was on his third glance upward that he began detecting a second familiar magical aura. Only this was one he immediately recognized as belonging to creatures from Gaia. He flew over to Jason and Chrysalis once more. “My Emperor, I’m detecting several different species of creatures approaching. I’m sensing a group of dragons and griffons…and a couple of others I can’t pin down.”

“Where are they?” Jason asked.

Nictis pointed to the right. “They’re coming up towards that circular mountain range same as us, but from that direction.”

Jason frowned. “Whoever they are might have the same idea as we did: trying to rescue Gregory. Raise our alert status to yellow.”

Nodding, Nictis raised his horn and shot off a yellow flare of magic. It was brighter and lasted longer than he’d anticipated, something else that he’d noticed since coming to this strange underground land. The magic might have been strange, but it was still compatible with the changelings’ own spellcasting. He returned to his place in formation. Soon, they reached the first line of mountains. Once they crossed over, they continued heading towards the large circular mountain range, with Nictis observing that the land below them just seemed to be more of the same.

A few minutes later, a red flare went up at the right end of the formation, meaning contact with an enemy had been made. Nictis flew immediately to Jason’s side, taking on a guard formation and holding out his rifle with his magic. He waited as a few other changelings joined him while others made their way towards the direction of the flare, their own weapons and magic at the ready.

However, Jason had other plans. “General, go with the others and see who and what we made contact with,” he ordered.

Nictis was about to protest, but thought better of it as he saluted, spread his wings and flew over in the same direction as the others. As he flew, he spotted multiple multicolored dots in the sky, so he was especially on his guard, especially when he realized due to their proximity that they were dragons and griffons. However, when he saw one particular blue dragon, he grew confused. He flew ahead of the other changelings and faced the group of assorted creatures from Gaia. He opened a telepathic link through the hive mind back to Duchess Chrysalis so that she could see and hear everything that he saw and heard.

As the Dragon Lord hovered within shouting distance of the changeling general, he raised his voice and shouted, “What are you doing here??”

The Dragon Lord raised her scepter and pointed it at Nictis. A frown formed on her face as she replied, “What’s it to you, changeling?! It’s none of your business!”

Nictis was about to reply when a griffoness flew up to the Dragon Lord’s side. “Hold on,” she said, looking at Nictis with a discerning eye. She looked like she was trying to figure something out as she stared at him. Finally, a look of realization passed over her. “Hey, are you General Nictis?”

Nictis narrowed his eyes at the griffoness. He recognized her from the broadcasts sent back to headquarters by Agent O. She was one of the closest friends to the Chancellor and had feelings for the human. Her name was Gabriella. “I am,” he finally replied, “why do you ask?”

“You’re probably here for the same thing we are, then,” another female voice called out. Nictis turned and saw a pony, of all creatures, floating up to Gabriella’s side. Nictis recognized this mare as Starlight Glimmer, the librarian at Griffonstone’s library. She was another close friend of Gregory’s. “I doubt you’d come here for anything else. I’m talking about the rescue of Gregory Graystone.”

Nictis took a few seconds to digest this. Agent O had said that dragons had a high respect for humans, so it would make sense that they would launch a rescue mission of their own, although teaming up with griffons was something he hadn’t heard about from his network. “We are under orders to search for and rescue the Chancellor if possible.”

Dragon Lord Ember glared suspiciously at Nictis as she, too, digested this new information. “If that’s true, I take it you did so under the orders of your new emperor? Another dragonrider?”

Nictis had heard about this dragon nickname for humans as well. He’d considered suggesting to the Emperor that the changelings attempt to enter into a non-aggression pact with the dragons at some point, but hadn’t gotten the chance to tell Jason. “If you mean if our Emperor is a human, then yes he is.”

“He’s the same human who was abused by Ponyville for three years?” Starlight Glimmer asked. Nictis could only nod at this. “Then maybe we can work together.”

Dragon Lord Ember turned on Starlight with a flash of anger in her eyes. “You can’t be serious!”

Starlight turned to Ember. “What wouldn’t we? We could combine our forces and we’d have a better chance of finding Gregory.”

Nictis was about to speak, when a voice from behind him silenced him. “You said you’re here to find the Chancellor, too?” Jason’s voice called out.

Nictis bowed out of the conversation and cut off the telepathic link as Jason and Chrysalis flew up to look at the group of miscellaneous creatures hovering above the desolate landscape. There was silence as the other creatures took in Jason’s sudden appearance. Ember’s eyes were wide with shock as she drank in Jason’s facial features. She quickly recovered, flew forward slowly, and nodded. “That’s right,” she said. “We’re here to find the Chancellor and bring him home.”

Jason looked at the varied assortment of creatures. He seemed to pause as he saw a zebra who Nictis recognized as Zecora, another of Gregory’s best friends. She was being carried by a younger griffon named Gallus, yet another of Gregory’s inner circle. Nictis felt a sense of recognition come from Jason upon seeing the zebra shamaness. Finally, he spoke. “In the interest of finding Chancellor Graystone, perhaps we should join forces. Many hands make light work, after all.”

“Our friend is in danger, yes that is quite true. It’s a good idea to join forces with you,” Zecora added, looking at Jason with a look and emotions full of sympathy mixed with remorse and guilt.

Nictis felt a surge of familiarity emanating from Jason directed towards the zebra, but unlike his feelings towards ponies, there wasn’t any hostility mixed in. Nictis then remembered that Jason had mentioned a zebra who had once lived in the Everfree Forest. Jason nodded and pointed down to the land below. “We shouldn’t waste too much time, but let’s talk strategy on how we’re going to do this.”

The Dragon Lord looked at the others around her, then back at Jason. Nictis didn’t need to read her emotions to know she was debating whether or not she could trust the group. Finally, she nodded. “Alright, we’ll at least listen to what you have to say, dragonrider,” she said. “See that strange tree down in that valley?” she asked as she pointed down at the ground.

Nictis followed her finger and saw a large red tree sitting seemingly out in the open with nothing else standing around it. From his vantage point, it was massive and could provide shade for a good number of creatures. Jason looked as well, then nodded. “That’s where you want to meet?”

“Yes, and the fruits on those trees are quite delicious,” she said.

Jason looked up at Chrysalis, who nodded in agreement. He then looked over at Nictis expectantly. The changeling general looked down at the tree once again. He hadn’t seen any large predator-like animals during their flight, but even now he wasn’t too sure. Still, the prospect of help even if from other races who the changelings were on neutral terms with at the best of times was tempting.

Nictis turned to a few nearby changeling drones. “Set up a perimeter around that tree and raise the alarm if you see any creature approaching that might be dangerous.”

Jason nodded in approval, then turned back to Ember. “Alright then, Dragon Lord. Let’s talk.”

Atlantis, Two Hours Later…

Spike, who along with Lady Serenity was being shown around the city by the Pinkie Pie clone named Fluffle Puff and a novan named Jeremy Grayson, still couldn’t believe how much this fantastical city put Griffonstone and even Canterlot to shame. Everything was made of seemingly seamless stone, even the houses.

According to Jeremy, a younger novan male, novans didn’t build this city but instead inhabited it once they found it in this protected mountain haven. There were no signs that anyone had lived in the city for a very long time. Any statues or depictions of whoever or whatever had lived in this city were nonexistent. There weren’t even places where statues might have been placed. Many theories had sprung up over the years about the nature of the beings who built this city but all that remained of their legacy aside from the city itself was a vast library with magically enchanted books that would automatically translate for anyone reading it. It was from these books that the novans had learned how to use the magic their transformation had granted them.

They were heading down a larger street at that moment, the sun shining high in the western portion of the sky. Spike could smell the delicious scent of roasting meat and various fruits and vegetables mixed together. His stomach rumbled at that and he held it, blushing. Fluffle Puff, who had let him ride on her back, turned back and smiled. “Somepony’s hungryyy,” she said. “You want to stop and get something to eat? Either of you?”

“But I don’t have any money to spend,” Spike said, pulling his pants pockets inside out to emphasize his point.

“We can cover you,” Jeremy said, pulling out a brown leather sack that jingled with the sound of coins. “You’re our guests, after all?”

“Are you sure?” Spike asked.

“Of course, silly boy,” Fluffle said. “Now, you’re a dragon, so you probably have to eat meat. Jeremy? What would you say he should get?”

The novan looked around thoughtfully, then pointed at one particular stand. “Roast meat and potatoes on a stick,” he said, “and then some greens to go along with it. To drink, we can get you some delicious cherry juice. And for Miss Serenity, there’s a roast corn on the cob you might enjoy.”

“Whatever you think will work,” Lady Serenity said softly. She’d hardly talked during their grand tour and hadn’t really looked around much.

Jeremy, however, always seemed to take this in stride, much like Fluffle did. “Alright, I’ll go get everything for us.”

“Oh no, you don’t,” Fluffle said with a grin. She reached into her fluff and pulled out a small green change purse made of some sort of fabric. “I’m helping, and don’t say no.”

Jeremy shook his head and smiled back. “I know better,” he said. “I’ll get the meat, you get the greens?”

“Deal!” Fluffle looked back at Spike. “Why don’t you and Lady head over to those picnic tables in the town green and grab us some seats? We won’t take long, but those seats go fast!”

Spike jumped off of Fluffle. “Thanks for getting us lunch,” he said gratefully.

“Anything for a friend!” Fluffle said as she turned and began bounding away, mouth open in a happy-go-lucky smile. Jeremy headed off after her.

Spike turned and headed to the town green with Lady in tow. She didn’t say anything or move her head much as they took a seat at the cool wood benches. Spike stretched a bit and looked up at the sky. If he didn’t know any better, he’d have guessed that they were back above ground and the sunshine was from a real sun and not from some strange magical illusion or whatever it was.

For the moment, though, the sun felt real. It felt like a warm summer sun which Spike thoroughly enjoyed. He hated winter, even more so ever since he got a cold during his first winter in Ponyville thanks to the neglect of the ponies around him. He always felt extra sleepy during those months. Here, however, his sleepiness felt like it had evaporated. The summer-like sun above felt amazing on his scales and made him sleepy for an entirely different reason.

Just then, he heard Lady Serenity sigh heavily. He looked up and saw the unicorn staring off into space with a blank expression on her face. She’d been like this for their entire tour, and it was getting a bit grating. Still, he took a breath and tried to be diplomatic and kind about this. He had no idea what was going through her mind, after all. “Miss Serenity? Are you alright? You haven’t really said much.”

The unicorn sighed. “It’s…nothing you’d understand, young one,” she said in a tone that sounded like she’d lost a game badly.

Spike frowned. “Try me,” he said.

Spike suddenly found himself under an intense stare from the unicorn mare. “You asked for it,” she growled. “Be me. Be somepony who has to follow her damn baser instincts all her life. Be a part of not one, but two secret organizations for Equestria, both of which shut down! Go and become an exotic dancer. Finally rejoin up with two agents you worked with and become mercenaries to scratch that itch you can’t scratch. Then get assigned to keep an eye on this second human on Equus by some anonymous client, then slowly realize he isn’t a monster like other ponies are saying humans are, then get ordered to blast him to Tartarus, only to have an attack of conscience and get sent here for your trouble. And the worst part is, your conscience is working overtime to tell you what a fucking slutty bitch you’ve been like it’s trying to make up for the last few years of slutty bitchiness! Aaagh!”

Spike was speechless as he watched her slam her head against the table and cover her eyes with her front hooves. He honestly had no idea how to deal with something like this. Sure, she was responsible for them being in Tartarus, but for the entire trip, she had appeared to be pretty remorseful. He was a teenager in pony years, so he knew what a slut was, but he had no idea what to say. He scratched the slight itch that had been bugging him on the side of his face for the past few days now, trying to look thoughtful. What could he say to someone as distraught as this mare? He sat up straighter. “Um, alright…I don’t know what that’s like,” he admitted.

She sat up and glared at him. “I’ve spent my whole adult life as a mare fucking or getting fucked! And not always in the fun way! I’ve suppressed that still small voice telling me what I was doing was wrong! I’ve broken apart families because I was too busy thinking with my marehood! Maker above, what kind of whore does that make me?!”

“Nopony’s perfect,” a third voice said from behind Spike. He turned and saw Fluffle carrying a large tray of various vegetable dishes on her back. Beside her Jeremy had a platter in his hands full of different types of meat products which caused Spike to begin salivating. As the two placed the trays on the table, Fluffle took a seat next to Spike while Jeremy took one next to the unicorn.

“I’m the farthest thing from perfect as they come,” Lady said bitterly as she looked down at the table. “I deserve to be in the deepest pits of Tartarus for what I’ve done…”

“That’s not for you to decide, is it?” Jeremy asked. “Whatever you’ve done, I’m sure you can turn yourself around and be a better person.”

“It’s really too late for me,” Lady said somberly.

Jeremy was about to say something, but Fluffle looked at him and shook her head. He nodded and began serving up the late lunch for them. He gave Spike a few of the skewers along with what looked like some kind of deep fried fish on a stick. Spike also took a little bit of the salad and a half bit of grilled corn on the cob that was drenched in what smelled like butter.

As they ate, the topic changed to the subject of the Pinkie Pie clones. Spike learned that there were a total of fifty three clones. Fluffle mentioned that each of them had undergone some sort of change after being banished through the mirror pool. Some were very small, such as one Pinkie having a different set of rules for her Pinkie Sense, while others were like Fluffle Puff, who had her entire mane and tail disappear and her fur replaced with thick fluffy coat. Her voice had also changed as well. In the case of Aurora Night and a few others, it had even changed their species. There was even a dragon Pinkie. Spike almost snorted at the thought of a bright pink dragoness with Pinkie’s old attitude.

When he asked how that was possible, Fluffle shrugged. “Aurora’s the magical expert here, and even she doesn’t know. I’ve asked, believe me.”

“I wonder if Twilight would be able to figure that out?” Spike said.

Fluffle’s eyes brightened. “If she’s the magical genius that I have from Pinkie’s memories, then yes. Aurora tries, but there’s still a decent chunk of Pinkie still inside her. We’ve had to tell her to take breaks to have fun.”

“Sounds a lot like Twilight,” Spike said.

Fluffle giggled as she took another bite of her vegetable soup. “Well, she wants to make everyone here happy in her own way, and I think she views learning about magic and making everyone’s lives easier.”

“Sounds like she’s a blend of Twilight and Pinkie then,” Spike replied.

“She was the first Twilight blasted,” Fluffle said.

Spike winced. He’d been the one who’d found the book that had helped Twilight banish the Pinkie clones. “Hey, I’m sorry about-”

“Stop right there,” Fluffle said with a gentle tone. She put a hoof on his back and rubbed it gently. “We don’t blame you. None of us do. We’ve made our peace with it, believe me.” Leaning in, she closed her eyes, nuzzled his cheek and began making a cute raspberry noise with her tongue.

Spike felt a lot of his worry soothed away by the noise. It had been the same noise she’d used when she was with Daenerys. He took a bite of the juicy meat as he let Fluttle pamper him.

The pampering didn’t last long, however. Spike heard some sounds of alarm coming from nearby. He looked towards the sounds where he saw a few novans who were sitting on blankets on the green. They were pointing up at the sky. Spike followed their gaze and his jaw dropped.

His draconic vision picked up a number of flying creatures overhead, all heading towards the castle. His eyes widened when he saw not only novans, but dragons and griffons and even changelings.

And being carried by a strange looking bipedal being, Spike saw the unmistakable form of one Jason Wright.

Canterlot Palace, A Half Hour Before Sunrise Of Day Four After Gregory’s Banishment…

Luna was sitting at the private table where she and her sister would sit and enjoy breakfast/dinner whenever the two of them met during the morning and evening before one or the other would go to bed. She was eating three cheese omelets, heavy on the cheese, along with some buttered toast and a cup of the best coffee she could get her hooves on. Outside, the sun had yet to rise, but there was still thirty-two minutes before her sister was set to raise the sun.

She took a bite of the omelet and enjoyed the salty goodness that was the delectable mixture of egg and cheese before lifting the coffee to her lips and swallowing the black bitter but bracing beverage. Ever since she’d come back to the modern world, she had fallen in love with the bitter drink. It was a gift from the Maker herself, she decided.

As her brain continued to start, she thought back to what her nephew had brought to her the day before. Adopted or not, Blueblood was a much better actor than her sister was. She remembered the first time Celestia had introduced him to her about six months after her initial return. She’d been honored to meet his true self, a smart young man who could maneuver the political world with a practiced ease. He cared about the nation, and despite his name being pretty much honorary, he had used it to his advantage. He had developed a persona to perfectly fit in with the aristocracy of Canterlot. A persona that he’d had to use on one Rarity Belle at the Grand Galloping Gala. She’d spoken with him afterwards about it, and while he had regretted his actions, he stood by them because, in his own words, “She could do a whole lot better than some spoiled rich brat like me.”

Who would have guessed from the way he acted in public that Prince Blueblood thought so little of himself?

The aforementioned unicorn stallion sat on her right, looking at her with a bemused expression on his admittedly handsome face. He definitely had his looks going for him, at least according to all the magazines. He’d been in the top ten most eligible bachelor list for years. “Slow down, Auntie,” he said with amusement. “Coffee can go right through you. It wouldn’t do for the current Princess at court to spend half her morning in the lavatory.”

Luna, still only about half awake, swatted him with her wings. “It is unbecoming of a stallion to discuss a princess’ bodily functions in such a crude manner,” she chastised him with a frown.

He laughed as he took a bite of his own breakfast, a healthy spread of many different foods. He had toast with strawberry jam, hay bacon, a small helping of beans prepared in the same way as a traditional Great Britmane breakfast, sunny side up eggs, and, to Luna’s continued confusion, a bowl of gruel. He had a cup of coffee beside that and some water, the former not black but with cream and sugar. “I still cannot fathom why you insist on eating that,” she said, pointing to the bowl of gruel. “I, for one, am glad never to touch the stuff ever again.”

“I guess I’m just the odd pony out,” he said as he took a bite of the gruel. “Besides,” he added after swallowing his own coffee, “it makes me feel like I’m back in time. At a simpler time.”

Luna reached over and put a gentle wing on his back. “There is much to appreciate in this day and age, dear nephew,” she said with a smile. “Indoor plumbing, modern medicine, higher standard of living, and more.”

“I know,” he said as he took a sip of his water, “but you both have told me a lot about the past. Makes me yearn for it, and I wasn’t even there.”

“Mayhaps sometime soon, I can show you what it was really like in the dream realm,” Luna suggested. “My memories of that time are much more recent than your Aunt Cellie’s.”

“Oh, that would be nice, but aren’t you busy with the nightmares of the ponies from Ponyville?” Blueblood asked. Luna’s ears drooped, and Blueblood winced. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said-”

She wrapped her wing tighter around her nephew. “Hush now, dear nephew,” she said, “it’s not your fault. True, these past three months have been taxing for me and your Aunt Cellie, but even we need a break. We’re just as much a pony as the next one.”

“Don’t let anypony else hear you say that,” Blueblood said with a small smirk.

And with that, the mood lifted again as Luna swatted the back of her nephew’s head. “Silence,” she ordered without any bite to it. She returned to her omelet and took yet another bite. “So…what plans have you made for today?”

“Well, some more investigation into the matter from last night,” he replied quietly. “Something about it just rubs me the wrong way. Yes, those two houses have some disreputable history behind them, but it seems way too convenient. I want to be absolutely sure they’re behind this.”

Luna nodded. “A wise precaution, dear nephew.”

“Quite wise indeed,” a new voice said from behind Luna. “You’ve grown a lot, Bluey.”

Luna’s eyes widened as she turned around in her chair. There, looking tired and with a number of bags by her side, stood Celestia. She had a smile on her radiant face as Luna jumped out of her chair and rushed over to hug her sister. “Tia!”

“Lulu,” Celestia said warmly as she put her forelegs around Luna and hugged her close. “I’m home.”

“It’s good to see you again, Auntie,” Blueblood said as he stood and walked over to her, “We’ve both missed you terribly.”

Celestia opened the hug, grabbing Blueblood in her wings and pulling him in for a group hug between her and Luna. “I missed you two as well,” she said as she gave both of them an affectionate nuzzle. The three stood like that for a minute before they broke the hug. Celestia looked down at Luna with an amused expression. “I see you’ve been getting comfortable in my dining room chair,” she smirked. “Are you getting comfy in my throne, too?”

“What can I say?” Luna retorted, “yours is bigger and much more comfortable than the one you made for me.”

Celestia’s smile faltered a bit, and slowly she nodded. “Yes…I’ve actually been thinking about having the thrones from our old castle brought back and refurbished. Those were much better for sitting. But that can wait.” She turned to Blueblood. “Nephew, your aunt told me about your endeavors. I’m really proud of you.”

Luna saw Blueblood smile warmly up at Celestia. “I-It was nothing, really,” he said, somewhat slipping into the royal persona he’d developed. “I did it for my princess and my nation, after all.”

Celestia rolled her eyes and smirked. “Oh, Bluey, what am I gonna do with you?” she asked. She walked over to one of the spare seats, pulled it out and sat down with a heavy thud. “Phew…I am exhausted.” When Luna moved to pull out the chair she herself had been sitting in, Celestia waved her hoof. “No no, stay there. I’ll be fine here.”

Luna nodded. “Sister, have you been traveling all night long?”

Celestia nodded. “Flying and teleporting all night is really taxing on somepony who hasn’t flown for so long in ages,” she said. Luna then saw Celestia’s eyes flash a dangerous bright yellow before returning to their normal magenta hue. That didn’t stop the expression on her face to darken with barely restrained rage. “But I still have more than enough magic to raise the sun and rip those fucking nobles a new one.”

Blueblood looked at Luna with a look of fear. Luna gave her nephew a reassuring look, but inside she was about as scared as he felt, perhaps more so. The eyes reminded her of the eyes of another pony she’d seen once upon a time. Before Celestia could say anything else, Luna picked up the breakfast bell and rang it. Immediately, one of the servant ponies rushed in, a young pegasus maid whose jaw dropped at the sight of a tired Celestia sitting at the table. “P-Princess?! You’re back?”

“Please bring my sister a stack of your fluffiest pancakes,” Luna said. “Dripping with syrup and whipped cream and topped with fruit. Oh, and another pot of coffee, please.”

“I…yes, of course,” the maid said as she flew into the kitchen to tell the staff about the new order.

Luna looked down at Celestia. “We were not expecting you back so soon, if I’m honest,” she said. “Was there not a fierce storm in Griffonstone at the moment?”

“This was too important to leave alone,” Celestia said. “If we don’t root out the weeds infesting our kingdom, things will begin going to Tartarus in a hoofbasket. Even worse than they are now.” She looked over at Luna and scowled. “I’ve been far too lenient with them. I’ve let them become too powerful.”

“But don’t we need the aristocracy?” Blueblood asked.

“Not as much as they need the crown,” Celestia said darkly.

Luna had never seen her sister this angry before, and it worried her. Celestia had always been the more rational of the two. She would think things out before doing them. Of course, that being her greatest strength could also become her greatest flaw. Celestia was always the type who tried to work more from behind the scenes for the betterment of Equestria. She put her hoof over Celestia’s own. “Tia…what’s going on? What happened over there?”

Celestia took a deep breath and exhaled. Luna waited as she collected her thoughts. Finally, Celestia looked at both Luna and Blueblood. “I had an encounter with the griffon’s new chancellor. We spoke one on one, and he made some poignant points. And when he was attacked by members of my own kingdom, I suppose I just…”

“Snapped? I know that feeling all too well, sister,” Luna replied.

Blueblood, looking between the two sisters, slowly stood. “Um…I think I’ll finish my breakfast in the sunroom,” he said. “Sounds like you need a moment.”

Luna nodded, not taking her eyes off of Celestia. She heard the sound of magic being cast as well as plates being lifted up. A few moments later, Blueblood’s retreating steps were followed by the closing of a door, leaving the two alone in the private dining room. Luna focused all of her attention on Celestia, who was still staring at the table, her bare hooves touching as she sat in a contemplative position. Luna waited patiently for Celestia to finish whatever thought gathering she was doing. The maid brought her pancakes and the freshly brewed pot of coffee in and left, but not before Luna ordered that the two of them be left alone until called upon.

Finally, a few minutes after the maid and Blueblood left, Celestia sighed. “I feel a bit better now. But you’re right. I’ve never felt this angry before. And I’m angry at myself mostly for letting things get this bad.”

“Tia…”

“No, Luna, this is my fault,” Celestia said, looking up sharply at her sister. “I made too many compromises. I made too many mistakes. I suppose a part of me always knew that, and I was considering retiring, but now…?” A determined look appeared on her face, but thankfully lacking any more trace of Daybreaker. “Now it’s time I stopped acting like a mother to my little ponies-no, to my subjects,” she corrected herself. “It’s high time I act like a princess.”

Canterlot Palace, Celestia’s Private Quarters, Later That Same Morning…

Celestia was lying in her bed an hour later. After raising the sun, she and Luna had a long heart to heart before Luna insisted she take time to clean herself up and get some rest before appearing in day court. Now that Celestia was clean and refreshed, she had gotten into her bed to catch some sleep. After setting an alarm for some time in the afternoon, she lay down and closed her eyes.

She thought back to the heart to heart she’d had with Luna at breakfast. As it turned out, there was a reason that both of them had been chosen to rule over Equestria. The more they discussed things, the more they realized that they were two sides of the same coin. Sure, they’d been chosen to rule partly because of their ability to move the sun and moon, but Star Swirl had told them once that there was more to it than that. At the time, he and the other Pillars had been going out to deal with some vague threat.

With that last thought in her mind, she fell asleep. And dreamed…

Celestia was seated in her throne as she looked down at the pillars of Old Equestria. Beside her, Luna’s throne remained empty as she was currently asleep. Rockhoof was sharpening his battle axe on one of the stone pillars of the newly built throne room of the Castle of the Two Sisters while Flash Magus tried to stop him. Mistmane, who had regained her youthful appearance only recently, was sitting next to Stygian and fussing over the young pillar who wore a golden necklace around his neck with six gemstones attached to it. She couldn’t be sure, but Celestia was half sure that the two were becoming closer than just friends. Mage Meadowbrook and Somnambula were standing near the door talking about something while Star Swirl was standing in front of the two princesses of Equestria.

“Dost thou have to depart so suddenly?” Celestia asked worriedly. “Thee and thine hast only just traversed the northern wastes. Why take on yet another perilous journey into the unknown?”

Star Swirl looked at Celestia with amusement in those old but still strong blue eyes. “Oh, my dear Sunspot, your worry is most appreciated, but my friends and I have to do this.” He looked at her with a warm smile. “We have much to deal with to protect our new nation and its citizens. Stygian thinks that he’s found evidence of a new threat and we must investigate.”

“Art thou all prepared? Food, bedding, weaponry, a map?” Celestia tried thinking more about what they might need.

“Sunspot, take a deep breath,” Star Swirl said with a smile. “Stygian and I went over everything we could hope to need already. We leave as soon as I say what I came here to say.”

Celestia tried not to lean forward too anxiously, but at that point in time she hadn’t quite mastered the art of hiding one’s emotions. Star Swirl looked at her and laughed hard. “You are a pretty anxious pony, aren’t you? Alright, I’ll say what I have to say.” Clearing his throat, he stepped back and gave them a stern look, the same look he had when he was in his professorial persona. “Princess Celestia, you and your sister are the best leaders Equestria could have ever hoped for. The two of you together are what Equestria has needed. I don’t say this to put undue pressure on you. But Equestria has prospered a great deal under your rule. I’m very proud of you and all you’ve accomplished and I can’t wait to see what great things you’ll do in the future. When I get back, I want to sit down with the two of you and talk about this more in detail, but I just wanted to let you know this.”

Celestia felt her jaw tighten. “Dost thou expect to never return?”

Star Swirl shook his head. “No, I just wanted to tell you this before I left. I do have more to say, but I want to say it when I come back. But…just in case I don’t come back, I would ask a boon of you.”

“Name it, and it shall be thine!” Celestia replied immediately.

“Everything in my study I want to donate for the betterment of ponykind, but everything in my personal room I would like to have stored in a secure location where nop-nobody can get at any of what’s in there. Especially the mirror.”

“What lies beyond that mirror of thine?” Celestia asked. “Thou hast been traversing through it for many moons.”

He smiled a bit. “Tell you what, when my friends and I come back, I’ll tell you and Lu all about it. Oh, and promise me one more thing?”

“Anything.”

He sighed, reached into his nearby bag with his magic and retrieved a small box and a letter. “If I don’t make it back, the next time the mirror opens I would ask that you put these through.”

Celestia took them in her magic and looked them over. The box was a bit hefty in her magic. “What is this?” she asked.

“Oh…they’re gifts I created…for some new friends on the other side.”

At that moment, her alarm she’d set went off and she opened her eyes blearily. The beds at The Green Dragon might have been comfortable enough, but there was no place like ones own bed to make one feel refreshed.

As she sat up, she thought back to the dream she had. That had been the last time that she had seen the Pillars of Equestria before they had mysteriously vanished. The conversation had also been the starting point of Celestia’s rising pride. She had taken Star Swirl’s words to heart a bit too well to the detriment of her sister’s involvement. She had not remembered that it took two of them to rule the most effectively. Now she realized that her sister had qualities that she was lacking in. But that was all about to change.

She stood and walked over to the mirror. As she used her magic to place her royal regalia on her person, she stood up straighter. Her eyebrows narrowed. Princess Celestia, mother to her ponies, was on vacation. Princess Celestia, monarch of Equestria, was now here.

It was time to take off the training horseshoes.

36: Long-Awaited Meetings

Author's Note

Sorry for making you wait.

36: Long-Awaited Meetings

Canterlot Throne Room, Thirty Minutes Later…

Count Fancy Pants stood in the main hall of the throne room, waiting patiently to speak to the Princess. He wasn’t the only noble there, of course. Others, like Viscount Cash King, Marchioness High Life, Baron Jet Set, Baroness Upper Crust, and other members of the House of Lords stood in the hall waiting for Princess Celestia. Rumor had spread of her return and many nobles had migrated to the throne room.

He inwardly sighed. He could already hear the group of aristocrats squabbling even among themselves, discussing things of no great importance to Equestria. His wife, Fleur De Lis, stood beside him and watched the bickering with him. She slightly shook her head and turned to him. “Dear, do we really need to be here?” she asked with a whisper, “I mean, you’re so much better than every other noblepony here.”

“It’s my duty to be here, love,” Fancy Pants replied softly. “I know you’d rather be out doing some shopping or something, but you agreed to this when you married me.”

Fleur gave him a frown. “I’m not the same spoiled mare I was when you first started officially courting me,” she said in a slightly hurt tone, “I know the value of a bit more than I did back then.”

Fancy’s muzzle broke out into a small smile. “I was just teasing you, Fleury,” he said with some amusement.

Fleur’s frown slowly morphed into a smile of her own and she nuzzled his cheek affectionately with her own. “I’m sorry, dearest. You know how sensitive I am about my old self.”

“You’re getting better with it, though,” Fancy replied, nuzzling her back.

He thought back to the past few years of his relationship with her. Back then, part of him knew she was hanging out with him mostly because of her desire to marry into wealth and prestige, but her dedication to the pursuit had impressed him. That, and the part of her that was actually really good with foals. He’d seen her in disguise visiting Canterlot’s orphanage a few times. He knew that there was some decency in her, more so than the flank kisser mares who were trying to get into his nonexistent pants. So, when he decided to give her a chance and pursue a relationship with her some time after he and Fleur first met Rarity, he took things slow and limited his exposure to some of the high life experiences his vast fortune could afford.

At the time, she was a bit more used to the finer things in life, but thanks to Fancy’s influence, she began seeing things from the more common side of life. The two had quaint picnics in some of Canterlot’s parks and even a few down in the White Tail Forest near Ponyville. They shopped at more local and cheap places when they were down in Ponyville as well. It had opened Fleur’s eyes and had made her more open in her kind-heartedness. While she wasn’t poor by any means (she had inherited a large sum of money from her great-uncle High Stakes after his death) she didn’t have the fortune that Fancy had.

When he heard that Fleur De Lis had secretly sunk the vast majority of her inheritance into founding an orphanage of her own, he finally revealed that he knew about her own visits to Canterlot orphanages. She revealed then that she visited because she knew orphanages in the city were not well maintained or staffed fully. Funds had been cut for them mostly by greedy nobles and by those who had bastard foals in the orphanages. The latter wasn’t as commonplace now, but it still happened.

Fancy put some of his own vast wealth towards the orphanage as well, hiring qualified ponies and didn’t only pay them a livable wage, but built free to live in dorms for them as well if they wanted. Soon, the Happy Acres Orphanage became known as a place where foals without parents wouldn’t go hungry or be abused by their caretakers.

Fancy smiled down at his wife. She might have been nearly twenty years younger than he was (he was pushing fifty and she was around thirty now) but he knew that she was the mare for him. Sure, she still had some tendencies to go on a shopping spree, but anytime she did that, she would sell some of her other belongings and donate the money to local charities or would use it to improve her orphanage. “I’m sorry you have to come to these events,” he apologized sincerely.

Fleur looked up at him with a warm smile that melted his old heart. “I’ll endure it. I married you and promised to be there in good times and in bad.” Her expression turned flirtations as she gave him a subtle affectionate lick. “But you’d better make it up to me later, my big, strong stallion.”

Fancy felt some color rising to his cheeks. It still felt strange to him that she found him desirable like that, but she kept insisting he had the physique of someone her age. “Yes, dear,” he said, pretending to bow his head in supplication.

Fleur giggled and gently nudged him. “Oh, stop it you,” she said as he raised his head and gave her a grin. “We’re equals here, remember?”

“Just like teasing you, is all,” he replied.

Just then, the door to the inner chambers opened. Princess Celestia strode in, followed closely by Luna. Fancy immediately knew something had changed about the both diarchs.

It wasn’t just Princess Celestia’s royal regalia that had changed, although those certainly had undergone some radical changes. She was wearing purple boots with golden flames painted on near the top, her mane had been combed back and curled, showing both of her eyes, her tail was tied back near the end with a band which had a golden flame tip coming out of the end which simultaneously resembled a scorpion tail, and her chest plate had a fiercer, fierier look to it. It was gold with the edges resembling stylized flames. Her cutie mark was emblazoned on the front instead of the purple gem while a purple collar came out of the top of the chest plate itself, a collar that was neatly pressed. The only part of her that seemed remotely familiar was her crown, but even that had changed slightly. The gem on her crown was no longer purple, but a fiery red. It was further held in place by a gold ring with a small red gem that had been placed around her horn.

No, Count Fanciful “Fancy” Pants the Fourth saw something in the eyes of the diarch. There was no smile there, not the motherly smile he was so used to seeing. There were only the eyes of a ruler. She looked down on the nobles with a placid but stern expression. The same expression that was now on Princess Luna’s face. The lunar diarch had changed her appearance as well.

Unlike before, she wore longer shaped hoofshoes which to Fancy were more reminiscent of those she wore as Nightmare Moon in shape, but not in color. The ones she now wore were black with dark red outlines along the edges. The same had happened with her chest plate. It was similar in shape to that worn by Nightmare Moon, but for the most part it was black with red outlines on the edge and surrounding the cutie mark recreation emblazoned in the center. As with her sister, her tail and mane had been tied back with red bands, her mane having been brushed back. On her head, instead of her usual crown was one of similar shape, only this one was pure red with a red ring around the front which was wrapped around her horn to hold it in place like Princess Celestia’s.

Fancy knew then that these two were not to be underestimated, so he immediately bowed low in reverence, Fleur following suite. She might not have been as adept at reading faces as he was, but it seemed even she knew that this Celestia, whoever she had turned into, was NOT to be messed with.

The same could not be said of the other nobles nearby, however. Fancy heard someone stepping forward. “Your Highness,” Fancy heard Cash King speaking in that haughty tone that was disguised as reverence, “It’s good to see you back home. I do hope your sudden trip to Griffonstone was pleasant despite the inevitable unpleasantness.”

Fancy winced. He’d heard rumors of Griffonstone’s poverty and how low the life expectancy was, but that wasn’t why he had winced. It had been Cash King’s tone. Like he was looking down on the griffons and where they lived. However, Princess Celestia’s first words were, “Count Fancy Pants, Countess Fleur De Lis, you may raise your heads.” When he did so, Fancy saw that she was looking down at Cash King with the same unreadable expression. She then continued in a more regal tone than Fancy had known her to use. “My journey to Griffonstone would have lasted longer, Viscount, but for an issue which has arisen which requires my immediate attention. And it started here.”

Cash King tilted his head in confusion at her tone. “Your Highness? I’m not aware of any issues here that would require your attention.”

“Then the House of Lords’ network of information gathering ponies is less competent than you believe,” Celestia replied without missing a beat.

Cash’s eyes went wide, his jaw went slack. “Y-Your Highness? W-We have no network of-”

“Do not insult my intelligence, Viscount,” Celestia replied with narrowed eyes at the now trembling noble before she turned to the others. “I’m well aware that the House of Lords gathers information throughout all of Equestria to keep tabs on the market so you can better line your pockets with bits and protect your investments. No, I called them information gathering ponies earlier, but I should have called them spies. I never said where I was going when I left, and it seems your spy network reaches outside of Equestria now. How else would one of you know that Griffonstone’s new Chancellor was human? And I know it was one of you who made an assassination attempt on the Chancellor.”

Everypony was slack jawed. This was NOT the same Celestia they’d come to know. Fancy’s first thoughts as they came back to him was that both princesses had been replaced with changeling spies, but he immediately dismissed the idea. Changelings were not stupid, he knew. If they wanted to replace the Princesses, they wouldn’t have given both of them makeovers like this. He stepped forward, his curiosity getting the better of him as he asked, “Your Highnesses, I’m afraid I’m out of the loop. Could you tell me what’s happened?”

The Princess turned to him, and a shudder went down his back. She didn’t spare him from her gaze, either. Still, he stood his ground as she replied, “As I told everypony here before I left, I was summoned by the Cutie Map in the Castle of Friendship. It led me and the others who were summoned alongside me to Griffonstone. We discovered the city being rebuilt and revived, with many different species living there aside from griffons. Even ponies were living there. They have an Imperial Council led by a Chancellor, a human. Recently, some ponies infiltrated Griffonstone and used three stolen ancient magical relics to banish the Chancellor to Tartarus. They did so on the orders of somepony else. Somepony rich enough to hire these assassins.”

“With all due respect, your Highness,” Jet Set said, “why are you suspecting one of us of an attack on this Chancellor?”

“Because I am well aware of the House’s general disdain for those of other races, Baron,” she replied without hesitation, “and especially humanity because of the actions of one. Not only that, but I know about ponies general fear of other races not their own. The Maker made us all equal in her eyes, and yet non-ponies in our kingdom suffer much more than anypony else. And no, she did not make anycreature more equal than others.” She stood and towered over the nobles gathered. “Make no mistake. The Princess Celestia you knew isn’t here anymore, so expect some changes around here. Some big changes.”

As he watched, he saw a change come over her mane. While it was tied down, it hadn’t been moving like it had before, but suddenly there was a slight disturbance, as if there was a wind coming from her. No, he realized, not a wind, a flame. Her entire being seemed to glow like the sun itself and a slight wave of heat seemed to emanate from her, causing Fancy to wince. Beside him, his wife pressed herself slightly against him and he could feel her trembling a bit. Not that he could blame her. He had never felt such intensity before. This wasn’t the motherly Celestia he knew. No, this was the real Princess Celestia in all her royal glory. Once again, he bowed his head in reverence and Fleur did the same. He glimpsed over at the others, who were still staring at the princess in awe and fear. Finally, High Life lowered her head. The others did the same swiftly.

“For the time being, you are all dismissed,” Princess Luna said, and Fancy felt a chill like that of standing next to ice.

“B-But what of our requests-?” Cash King stammered.

“My sister said you were dismissed, so you are dismissed,” Princess Celestia said with finality. “We will hear your requests and concerns tomorrow. They can wait one more day.”

Cash was about to say something, but Marchioness High Life interrupted him before he could by bowing and saying, “We hear and obey, your Highnesses.”

“At least somepony remembers the old manners,” Princess Luna said as the nobles headed out.

Once the doors were shut behind them and when they were out of earshot of the now four guards stationed at the door to the throne room, Jet Set immediately spoke out. “What in Equestria was that all about? What sort of madness has come over the Princess??”

“Indeed, I’m in agreement with you,” Cash King said with a frown as he looked back at the door. “The Princess isn’t quite acting like herself.”

“You don’t think she was replaced by a changeling, do you?” Upper Crust asked with a hint of fear mixed with revulsion.

“Oh, don’t be so daft,” High Life said, looking at the three gathered nobles, “changelings might be the lowest form of life out there, but they aren’t fools. If they were successful in replacing the Princess, which is impossible with our new anti-changeling measures to begin with, they wouldn’t be so blatantly obvious about it.”

Fancy Pants looked at High Life. She was a young unicorn mare of ancient ancestry. Her ancestor, Handy Ford, had built the ancient mansion High Elm near the palace itself. She was a tall picturesque unicorn mare with a cream white coat, a bright red curly mane and tail, bright green eyes and a wine glass as a cutie mark. Currently, she wore a bright red dress and a light blue jacket. She was one of the richest ponies in Equestria and had been nominated as one of the top five most desirable mares for the past four years. Fancy nodded. “I do agree, Marchioness,” he said, “it does seem quite impossible for a changeling infiltrator to behave in such a way even if they did get passed our screening.”

“Even so, it is quite curious that she suspects one of us to be behind this plot against this apparent new human on Equus,” High Life said. She turned to the others in the House of Lords. “I do believe it’s time we meet with our beloved Prince Blueblood once again. Perhaps he, too, will have something to say about this.”

Atlantis, One Day After Rescue Party Arrival…

Jason stood at the window of his guest room in Atlantis, looking over the city from the vantage point of the palace as the sun set below the horizon, leaving the sky full of the colors of sunset. He had to admit that this place was an impressive feat of magical and technical engineering, especially if it was as old as the town’s mayor, a man named Clifford Cunningham, claimed.

They had all arrived around the mountain only to be greeted by a group calling themselves the Tartarus Rangers. After explanations were given, they were welcomed into the city after they learned that the human they’d come to find had already made it there and was in their company.

The pony named Starlight was in immediate awe of the place and began spouting random hypotheses about how things might have worked in the city. In a way, it reminded Jason of his memories of Twilight from the show. The others, himself included, were more interested in meeting with Gregory and returning him to the surface unharmed. However, when they learned that he had collapsed and was unconscious, they’d all reluctantly accepted the doctor’s recommendation that they stay away from him until he recovered, especially Jason.

His treatment by the remarkably demonic looking novans was the complete opposite of how Ponyville had treated him. It was almost as if he was royalty. Well, technically he was, but the novans, despite their appearance, were very welcoming to each and every one of them. Even the Pinkie Pie clones he saw were welcoming and kind. The more Jason learned about the novans, the angrier he grew. It even seemed that the dragons would have treated him much better than the ponies would have. Something that made him angrier than he’d felt in a long while.

He was further surprised, however, when he found they were descendants of humanity who had found themselves banished to Tartarus by unknown means many generations ago. Humans who had become friends with the dragons of their time. The story he was told of their transformation into novans was definitely one he hadn’t expected to hear, but now a part of Celestia’s letter to him made sense. The part about humans being a myth even in this world, that is.

While Jason had wanted to see Gregory right away, the mayor along with the physician who had been attending to his fellow human had asked that he wait until whatever disease he had contracted had run its course. For the time being, they were given rooms in the large palace to stay in for the time being. Many of them had to double up since there weren’t many inns available, but nobody had any complaints about that. Chrysalis had insisted her room be near to Jason’s own, which he also had no issues with.

He looked up at the fake sky above the city next. Despite everything, the fact that the false sky above apparently utilized some form of ancient magic astounded him. Magic was truly a wonderful thing when it wasn’t used to beat him down. The stars that were beginning to come out looked extremely realistic. He could see them twinkling in the evening sky along with some passing clouds, one of which was covering the rising moon. It was hard to believe that they were underground in some vast cavern made for the worst of the worst criminals. From what he’d seen of this land, the entire floating island was like a paradise in a desert. Eden, for lack of a better word.

He hoped that tomorrow he’d have the opportunity to at least see Gregory, and not just to make sure that he was safe and cared for, but also because he hadn’t seen another human face in the past five years. He had a hard time admitting it to himself, but he really wanted to talk to someone of his own species. He had left his world in 2014, and if time between worlds moved back to back, he’d love to have been able to hear about the passing of time and current events on Earth. Sure, there were the novans, and it felt strangely nice to talk to them, but it wasn’t quite the same.

He was brought out of his musings by a small knock at the door. It was just past eight according to the local clock hanging from the wall, so it wasn’t too late. Still, he had just about to head to bed before the knock. Walking over to the door, he peered out at the hallway. “What is it?” he asked in a tone a bit more tersely than he’d meant it to be.

Standing at the door, looking a bit nervous, stood one of the novan guards. “Uh, beg pardon fer disturnin’ ya, Mr. Wright,” the guard said in a heavy southern accent, “but somebody wanted ta met ya.”

He sighed. “Can it wait until tomorrow?”

“It can,” a second voice said behind the guard, the owner of said voice stepping aside to reveal himself, “but I felt called to be here at this moment.”

Jason raised an eyebrow. He was staring at Father Peter McKay, one of Atlantis’ lead religious leaders. He was young, younger than Jason’s thirty-eight years, but he had a warmth and kindness in his eyes that Jason knew was long gone from his own. “Felt a calling?” Jason repeated.

Father McKay nodded. “Correct,” he said, “but if you wish to speak at a later time, we can. I just felt like I needed to be here at this moment.”

Jason looked at the younger man. Sure, he had almost ten years on the priest, but he had a warmth and kindness in his remarkably human-like eyes. He pulled the door open. “I have some time before I was about to head to bed. Sure, come on in.”

The guard excused himself as Father McKay came walking in. Jason shut the door behind the two. He watched as the novan pastor walked over to the window and looked out at the city below. A breeze blew through just then, causing his robes to billow slightly before he turned and looked around at the room Jason was staying in. “This is a lovely room,” he said. “It’s slightly smaller than my entire house down in the city. Not that I need much anyway.”

Jason inwardly sighed. He seemed to be the type of pastor who would espouse the benefits of spiritual riches instead of physical belongings. Still, he just nodded. “It’s a decent enough room.”

Father McKay turned to him, then reached into the bag that was slung over his shoulder. He pulled out a dark green glass bottle with a cork on it. “I brought some of our local wine for you if you want a small drink before bed.” Jason looked at the wine, then back at Father McKay. He was watching Jason with expectant patience. Slowly, Jason nodded, causing the pastor to smile. “Perfect!” He set the wine down on the room’s desk, then pulled out two small shot glasses from his bag, set both of them down, popped the cork and filled both of them halfway with a dark red liquid. The pastor handed one to Jason and held up his own glass. “Cheers, as the old Brits would say,” he said as he moved his glass forward to clink with Jason’s own.

“Cheers,” Jason said as he took the glass and took a small sip. He wasn’t an alcohol expert by any means, but he could tell that this was an excellent wine. He could still somewhat taste the grapes that the wine was made from. It went down rather smoothly and was surprisingly sweet.

“Oh! I almost forgot about one of the best ways to enjoy this wine,” the pastor said as he reached into his bag and pulled out a small loaf of bread. He broke it into two and handed the larger half to Jason. “I know it might sound strange, but pour some of the wine onto the bread and eat it quickly before it gets too soggy.”

Jason wasn’t too sure what was going on, but he obliged, pouring a few splashes onto the bread and taking a bite. The bread was warm and soft, probably freshly made, and the wine that he’d splashed onto it only seemed to enhance the taste. He took a bite of purely bread, and it tasted quite delectable. He looked up at the pastor. “Thank you for this,” he said, “it’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed something as simple as freshly baked bread.”

The pastor smiled sympathetically. “You certainly look like you haven’t had a kind life,” he said with an empathetic tone.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Jason sighed as he took a bite of the bread again and downed it with the rest of the wine.

“More?” the pastor asked, holding up the bottle.

“One more, please,” Jason said as the pastor poured another half glass.

“I know we just met,” Father McKay said, “but I want you to know that, as a man of God, I’m more than willing to listen to what’s troubling you. Nobody will know, since my lips are sealed.”

Jason looked up at the pastor. He wasn’t a religious man by any means. His old family back on Earth were what he called soft religious. They went to church on days like Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas Eve. Jason went with them until he was thirteen, then his parents gave him the choice to come with them or stay. He chose to stay home most of the time except on the Christmas Eve services. One thing he did know, however, was that pastors in the modern day at least could be trusted to keep a secret like a counselor or therapist. He wasn’t too sure about how it was back during the time of the Old West, though. “It’s a pretty long story,” he said as he took a small gulp of the wine again.

“I’m willing to listen if you want,” Father McKay repeated. “I won’t force you, though.”

The two stood in silence for a couple of minutes, simply eating bread and drinking wine. The irony of what they were doing wasn’t lost on Jason. He knew right away that he’d just been offered Communion. He did so mostly for the nostalgia factor that it brought back. Out of all of the unfamiliar things in this world, having someone offer him a Communion was the last thing he’d expected. Still, it was a nice gesture from the pastor. He took a deep breath, then gestured to the small table near the window. “Why don’t you have a seat? It’s a really long story.”

The pastor nodded and took a seat at one of the two chairs at the table. Jason took the other seat and faced him. With Father McKay’s attention focused solely on Jason, the latter began his tale. He started with his discovery of My Little Pony, then how four years after he started watching it, he found a strange website that could take him to other fictional lands. He described his meeting with Princess Celestia, and then his trip to Ponyville, and then his subsequent three years of torment and abuse from said ponies. Finally, he described his suicide attempt, his joining up with the changelings, his ascendency to changeling emperor, and his invasion of Canterlot and destruction of Ponyville as well as the aftermath, minus his having cancer.

All the while, the pastor listened, giving Jason his full attention. When Jason finished, there was silence in the room. Jason himself was holding back his angry tears and clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles were a pure white. The pastor leaned forward after a while, folding his hands on the table and looking deeply but kindly at Jason. “You’re right. My words were putting what you have gone through mildly. You’ve suffered for so long and it seems you’re still suffering. I can’t say I understand everything completely, but I know one thing for sure. The one you called Rarity is here with us. I’ve heard that she’s been doing her best to help treat Gregory in her own way. I know forgiveness is between you, God and those who have done you wrong, but may I give you some advice?”

Jason exhaled slowly and looked out at the setting sun. It illuminated the rooftops of the city. He could see a couple of stars in the faux sky, shimmering with atmospheric disturbance. “I have a feeling it has to do with the seventy times seven verse in the Bible,” Jason said tiredly.

The pastor didn’t respond for a bit. Finally, he said, “Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Matthew 18:22. It’s a favorite verse of mine. I can’t tell you to forgive these ponies for what they did to you. That’s your decision. However, from what I’ve heard about Miss Rarity, it seems as if she is truly repentant. I can’t say for certain, though, but I advise you to take that into account if you see her or any of these other ponies again.”

Jason turned and glared at the pastor. “You expect me to forgive them just because they feel guilty?”

“Not at all,” the pastor replied patiently, “you’re within your rights to not forgive them for what they did to you.”

Jason let out a long sigh. He still couldn’t just forgive and forget. He found it hard to even think about them without getting upset and angry. Still, lately he’d been feeling more and more tired whenever they came into his mind. The anger was still there, but it was slowly being replaced with exhaustion. The pastor noticed this, and his face softened. He leaned back, gesturing to the window. “You know, I believe that, if you want to stay here, the mayor won’t object. God has blessed Atlantis greatly ever since we came here. Our harvests are plentiful, the land is peaceful and whatever power that surrounds us has protected us from the ravages of Tartarus outside. You would be more than welcome to make a life here.”

Jason looked at him. He found the offer sorely tempting. Just the thought of having a simple and quiet life on a farm out in the country sounded very peaceful. Still, the obligations he had to the changelings came crashing back down on him. He looked down at the now empty glass and the bread that was nearly gone. To his mind, duty came before pleasure. Days after the invasion was called off, he wasn’t too sure about how he felt leading the changelings. However, as time went by, he began to accept the role he’d chosen for himself. It might have started out as a means to an end, but he knew that it wouldn’t be the right thing if he just gave up after all he did. He’d been the same back on Earth. He had a strong sense of responsibility which he used in his job. Unfortunately, it meant others would take advantage of him. It was one of the many reasons he wanted to come to Equestria. With a heavy sigh, he shook his head. “I wish I could say yes, but I can’t,” he replied. “I’m the changeling’s emperor. I can’t just abandon them out of a selfish desire.”

The pastor nodded in understanding. “I understand,” he said, “and I hope God goes with you in your endeavors.” He placed the wine bottle down and put the cork back in. “A gift for you, Jason,” he said. “I hope you won’t mind if I add you to my prayers.”

Jason shook his head. “I don’t mind,” he said.

“Thank you,” he said. Standing, he gave Jason a small smile. “I should get going. I’ve imposed on you long enough. I’m sure you’re tired still after your search for Mr. Graystone. It’s getting late, after all.”

Jason stood, extending his hand towards the novan pastor. “Thanks for stopping by,” he said.

Father McKay shook the offered hand. Jason noted that his grip was strong and firm, and rather warm in more than one sense of the word. “It was a pleasure to speak to you, my son. I pray that your days going forward are blessed.”

Jason nodded in gratitude, then walked the pastor to the door. As he opened it, however, he saw the last person he’d expected to see standing at the door. Her hoof was raised as if she was about to knock. Her azure eyes widened when she saw Jason looking down at her. She backed away to let the pastor through. “I…I’m dreadfully sorry for disturbing you,” she said in a quiet voice. “If this is a bad time-”

“Not at all,” the pastor said as he walked out past her, “I was just about to head home.” The pastor then looked up at Jason, who was feeling the old anger rising inside him at the sight of one of his chief tormentors. Father McKay then said before leaving, “May God’s light shine upon the two of you.” So saying, he turned and began walking towards a nearby open window. He spread his wings and flew through.

Jason slowly looked back down at a nervous looking Rarity. Unlike before, she had more or less returned to the look he was most familiar with. Her mane was mostly the same as before, albeit with less of the lift that it normally had. Her ears were flattened and her eyes were brimming with tears. The same sort of tears she had during the time he’d forced them to watch their town burn. The two of them stood there for a while in the darkening hallway, the torchlight on either side of the corridors dancing on the walls around them.

Jason maintained his angry glare down at the unicorn mare, but inside he was conflicted. He kept on replaying the words that she’d shouted at him when they’d last seen each other. Are you happy now, Jason!? she’d shouted, Do you finally feel better about all these years!? Or do you need to burn down another village!?

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of the two of them standing in the hallway just staring at each other, Rarity lowered her head and looked at the ground before she opened her mouth. “J-Jason…I…I know you p-probably won’t believe me, and I don’t blame you…but I wanted to say how sorry I am for everything I did to you.” She looked back up at him. “I’m sorry for turning you away when I could have helped you…for being part of the ponies who chased you out of town all those times…and for my last words to you before you left. I said them in anger and I shouldn’t have said them.” She took a deep breath. “I know you hate me, and I understand that won’t ever change. I just wanted to properly apologize.”

The two stared at each other for a while. Finally, Rarity lowered her head. “I understand…I can’t blame you for not wanting to forgive us…I’m sorry I bothered you. Have a good night.”

As she turned to walk away, Jason watched her go. That old anger came flooding back with a vengeance. How dare she? How dare she try and apologize for three long years of torment and hell?! How dare she think that those simple words would make everything all better?! It sure as hell couldn’t bring back his eye. It couldn’t undo the lightning scars on him. It couldn’t erase the memory of hanging from that tree two years ago, and it certainly couldn’t heal him of the life-threatening disease that was eating away at him. After she’d taken a few steps, though, he felt that anger replaced with exhaustion. He knew he wasn’t the only one suffering from this. She and her friends had definitely suffered. He’d had months to think about it in bed. That is, when he wasn’t trying to stop Chrysalis from sneaking into his room. He watched Rarity as she plodded away sadly. She might not have been his favorite pony, far from it, but there was always a part of him that still loved the characters from the show. Before he could stop himself, he called out, “Hey, Rarity?”

She paused, then slowly turned towards him with eyes wide. “Y-Yes?”

Jason and Rarity stared at each other for a while. Jason wasn’t sure what he wanted to say to her. He finally latched onto something that Father McKay had said earlier. “…How’s Gregory holding up?”

Rarity’s ears twitched a bit. “H-He was still asleep when I left to come here,” she replied.

“Someone told me you were looking after him?” Jason asked.

Rarity’s ears perked up ever so slightly. “Yes…”

Jason nodded, then turned back to his door. He paused as he grabbed the door handle. “Good. Keep doing that,” he said as he opened the door.

As he walked in, he thought he could hear Rarity saying something like “I will” but he didn’t quite catch it. He closed the door, trudged over to the bed and collapsed onto it. His head hadn’t even hit the pillow before he fell into a deep slumber.

Unknown Place, Unknown Time…

The star ahead of him and Daenerys had grown larger and the little bit of light on the horizon had grown brighter as well. The light turned the sky from its normal dark blue to the beginning colors of dawn. The temperature remained constant, however, and excluding the feeling of wind on his face, the actual breeze was nonexistent. The two had been flying for what seemed like an eternity. The water below them also remained constant, perfectly reflecting the stars above and giving the illusion that they were flying through space.

All through that, it seemed as if neither of them grew tired, which made sense to Gregory, since this was some kind of shared fever dream or something akin to it. They continued to fly, not really saying a word to each other. That didn’t mean the silence was uncomfortable. Gregory could tell that she was comfortable not speaking, and he was as well. The two just enjoyed the presence of the other.

Finally, Gregory began noticing a strange shimmering in the night sky, almost like some rainbow-colored version of the Aurora Borealis. He kept an eye on it while at the same time keeping his eyes ahead of him.

About ten or so minutes after he spotted the strange colors in the sky, Daenerys began descending. Confused, Gregory was about to lean down and ask what she was doing, when a sudden impulse came over him. The impulse to get out of the air and land. He wasn’t sure where it came from, but the impulse was strong and seemed too powerful for him to resist. As they continued to land, he tried to determine what might happen if he resisted the urge. However, when he tried to gently lead Daenerys up again, a sudden sharp pain made him cry out in pain. Daenerys roared at the same time, so he decided to listen to this impulse for the time being. When he did that, the pain subsided.

The two landed and Gregory dismounted, landing in the same foot of water he’d experienced before. The light on the horizon seemed to now match the colors of a sunrise. The stars in the sky, however, remained in the brightening sky above and behind them, brilliant and shimmering. The strange rainbow light moved around slowly.

“What do we do now, I wonder?” Gregory wondered aloud.

“Walk?” Daenerys suggested.

“We can try to walk,” he replied. However, after a few steps, he fell to his knees, holding his head as he felt that same pain returning. He gasped in pain, and from behind him Daenerys roared in pain again. He felt something strong wrapping around his waist and he was pulled back. Immediately, the headache stopped. He slowly got to his feet, looking around in worry, looking for Daenerys. She was lying on her stomach, one claw on her head as she made a rumbling noise of pain. However, that didn’t last long as she stood, looking visibly better.

She turned back to the light on the horizon. “Why does it hurt?” she asked, turning back to Gregory with a questioning look in her eye.

Gregory gave a shrug, then turned back to the light. “I don’t know, but maybe we were going the wrong way all along?”

“Go other way?” Daenerys suggested, looking back.

“I guess that’s our only other option,” Gregory replied with a shrug. He was more than frustrated now. He’d hoped that he’d have woken up from this stupid shared dream or whatever it was just by reaching whatever destination they were supposed to reach. “Let’s go the other way.”

However, after climbing back into the saddle and launching back into the air, they didn’t get far before they were assailed by the same pain. They landed and Gregory climbed off, swearing left and right. After calming down, he sat down in the strangely dry water, staring down at the rippling liquid that was both wet and dry. He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Daenerys came and lay down, placing her cheek gently against his, licking his face a couple times in an effort to reassure him. “Friend, what do we do now?” she asked.

Before he could answer, the rainbow colored lights in the sky suddenly brightened. Brightened and came down fast towards them. Even before either of them could react, they were encased in a large circular wall of multicolored light. The lights had a firelike quality to them, flames licking up and roaring like a fire. Strangely enough, there was no heat from the flames themselves, just light. As contradictory as it was, while there wasn’t a heat from the flames, there was a strange warmth that swept over him. Even so, they couldn’t pass through it since it caused both of them great pain. The flames reached up and formed a dome above the two of them the moment they tried flying up and over.

Gregory paced the water below, thinking hard. They couldn’t move in any direction. They’d even tried going down, but Daenerys’ claws couldn’t penetrate whatever smooth surface they were walking on. Still, he tried his best to maintain some sense of calm. He went through several scenarios in his head. He didn’t want to put Daenerys through the pain of trying to just push through the pain to escape. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he jumped off of Daenerys when she was flying and allowing himself to just fall into one feet of water, and he didn’t want to become a pancake even in a dream.

Daenerys, on the other hand, was simply lying in the water, her head resting on her claws as she watched the flames. The rainbow colors reflected in her reptilian eyes, giving off the illusion that her eyes themselves were the ones changing colors. She had a strangely contented look on her face, which only increased when she spread her wings and placed them in the water. Gregory figured he’d do the worrying for both of them.

He sat down in the water, letting the comforting pressure of the water against his skin calm his mind. Slowly, he lowered himself into it, looking up high at the fiery dome that surrounded them. As he lay there, floating on the water, he realized that the fire was calming in a way. Almost hypnotic. He closed his eyes and focused all of his thoughts on his current predicament. He took a few deep breaths. Panicking wouldn’t do him any good, he knew, so he focused more on the task at hand.

The more he focused, the clearer his mind became. He realized that to worry about what was happening outside wasn’t important in the present. He had to focus on one problem at a time before dealing with the next. If he was indeed trapped in this place, he had to focus all of his mental powers, such as they were, on the task at hand. The only problem was, he had no idea what was happening. Many different scenarios went through his mind, but none really seemed to be the right answer.

At one point, he felt a weight pressing down on him. Opening his eyes in alarm, he saw that Daenerys had placed her claw on his chest. She was looking at him with a look of concern on her face. He reached down and touched one of her digits. “It’s alright,” he said as he sat up, “we’ll find a way out of this place.”

Daenerys reached up and with one of her claws, touched his forehead. Her claw was coarse and rough, but it was warm. He put his hand on said digit, leaning into it and closing his eyes. However, instead of the normal back of his eyelids, he saw a bright white light in his mind’s eye. Opening his eyes, the light vanished. Frowning in confusion, he slowly closed his eyes once more. The light reappeared.

“Friend? What’s wrong?” Daenerys’ voice asked, but it sounded far away.

Gregory opened his eyes. The light vanished, but this time leaving the imprint that any light would make on his eyes. It quickly faded as he looked up at his drake companion. “I’m seeing something when I close my eyes,” he said.

Daenerys tilted her head in confusion, then slowly closed her eyes. He saw her jaw drop instantly, then her eyes opened. “I see light,” she said. “White light.”

A sudden inspiration struck him. He grabbed onto Daenerys’ claw tighter. “Don’t let go of me and close your eyes at the same time as me,” he instructed her.

Daenerys didn’t argue, but wrapped one of her claws around Gregory’s hand. The two of them closed their eyes. Gregory saw the light once more, but it had doubled. There were now two lights. As he watched, their hue began to change. One became a sky blue, the other a light indigo. Their forms became clearer and he fancied that they looked like two strangely colored stars in a black void.

As he watched, he saw what looked like stellar prominences begin to reach out of both. A purple one lanced outward and wrapped around the blue one. A warmth spread through his body at the same time. Moments later, the same thing happened, but in the opposite direction. He felt Daenerys’ grip on him tightening. He reached up and put his remaining hand over the other claw. Another prominence leapt out of the blue light and enveloped the purple. He felt another claw placed onto his other hand, and in accordance with said action, something shot out of the purple light and enveloped the blue. He felt an inner and outer warmth enveloping him.

It didn’t take a genius to understand that the two lights he was seeing were some sort of metaphysical representations of himself and Daenerys. Still, he wasn’t entirely sure just what was happening. He looked between the two and noticed that there were smaller prominences and beams being shot outwards towards each of them. Each was small, but Gregory could feel like there was a strength there.

Deciding to experiment a little, he thought about his relationship with Daenerys and how much he cared for her and trusted her with his life whenever they flew. A small strand lit up in reaction. Next, he squeezed onto Daenerys’ claws again. Another strand lit up.

As he watched, however, he noticed that the two lights seemed to be moving closer together. He was aware in that he was beginning to float on the outside. Daenerys seemed to have noticed this too, because she put another claw around Gregory’s back. He felt himself being pulled forward closer to him. Daenerys’ claws were trembling a bit, and in response the purple light in their mind’s eye dimmed and brightened. “Friend, what’s happening?” he heard her say.

“I don’t know,” Gregory replied, “but don’t panic yet. Take deep breaths and calm down.”

He heard her taking a few deep rumbling breaths. Slowly, the light that represented her began to calm. The dark void that surrounded the two lights began to brighten, and soon he realized that at some point he’d opened his eyes. He was looking now at a floating and nervous looking Daenerys. Between them, two small orbs now hovered, and around them a sphere of multicolored fire surrounded them. In front of him was the purple orb, while the blue one was in front of Daenerys.

The young drakeling looked at Gregory with a pleading expression in her purple eyes. “Friend? What do we do?”

Gregory didn’t reply right away. He was looking at the purple orb in front of him. Slowly, he reached out and placed his hand near it. He didn’t feel any burning heat as he had expected. Instead, the prominences reached out and surrounded his hand. Pulling away, the prominences retreated. Once more, he reached out and placed his hand around the orb of light. Looking up at Daenerys, he said, “I think…I think we’re supposed to touch them.”

Daenerys looked at the orb in front of her with uncertainty, but then looked back at Gregory with a look of determination on her face. She didn’t look away as she reached out towards the light. “I trust you.”

Without looking away from each other, both drake and human reached out and grabbed the orbs in front of them. The world around them dissolved in light…

Atlantis, Palace Stables…

In the stables, Fluffle Puff was snuggling up to the still sleeping drake. She’d taken it on herself to try and comfort and keep the poor drake warm. There were large blankets wrapped around the drake and a fire which two of the novan guards, who were assigned to the drake, kept burning, but that seemed to do little to keep the cold away. Still, she persisted. She might have been a Pinkie Pie clone, but she always had a soft spot for those who were sick and injured, and especially children. She loved spending time with the novan children whenever she had the time because they were innocent and carefree. Many adults in the city knew of this and trusted her with their children.

She pressed herself up against Daenerys more, trying in vain to warm her even one degree. One of the novan guards looked over at her and gave a small smile. “Thank you for staying and helping,” he said.

Fluffle smiled and said, “This little drake needs as much warmth as she can get, and I’m plenty warm.”

The novan, named Timothy Baker, chuckled. “Plenty warm and plenty fluffy,” he said.

Fluffle giggled and made a raspberry noise, something she often did. “Yes, why do you think I picked my new name?”

Timothy was about to reply when a sound caught both of their attention. It sounded like a slight rolling of thunder from a great distance. He and Fluffle turned towards the entrance. “Did you hear that?” the novan asked.

Fluffle nodded. Thunderstorms weren’t unheard of, but they were rare, and the weather hadn’t seemed like it was preparing for a storm. There weren’t many pegasi clones, but they had gained the abilities of normal pegasi. They’d been able to help their food production by creating rainclouds to water plants.

Paul Abbot, the other novan guard, suddenly came in. He looked confused and a bit worried. “Somethin’s a’happenin’ up in them their clouds,” he said, turning and pointing up into the sky. “I ain’t seen anythin’ like it before.”

Fluffle, ever curious, stood and followed Paul and Timothy out of the stables. In the sky directly above the Atlantean palace, a large cloud had suddenly formed, blocking out the stars above. The moon was also hidden. There were flashes of light coming from the cloud itself, followed swiftly by rolls of thunder. Fluffle noticed that the frequent flashes were of every color of the rainbow. Fluffle and the guards weren’t the only ones to notice. She saw lights in houses turning on and novans looking up at the sky in confusion. Some were even flying up to their rooves to get a better view.

From behind her, a bright light began shining out of the stables. Momentarily forgetting the strange storm above, Fluffle turned and ran back in, worry for the drakeling overpowering her curiosity. When she reached the stables, she saw that the young drake was still lying there.

However, her entire body was glowing.

Atlantis, Gregory’s Bedroom…

Rarity was sitting up in the bed next to Gregory, who was still unconscious and sweating. She had a candle lit beside the bed and was writing on some pieces of paper she’d been given by the novan guards. Nearby, Diane was curled up fast asleep, her medical kit nearby in case of some emergency.

Rarity took the pen she’d been given, dipped it in the nearby ink, and began to write:

Dear Diary,

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything in here, but since my real diary is back in Ponyville, these papers will be more than sufficient to get my thoughts out.

I don’t remember precisely when I last wrote in this book, but I know it was before the destruction of Ponyville. I’ve been too stubborn and prideful to admit when I was wrong. I thought I had during that time when I was Jason’s prisoner. Even then, there was something in the back of my mind that was so full of hubris that my apology wasn’t quite genuine. A great deal has happened since I last wrote in this book, but I wanted to focus more on the chief event currently on my mind.

I saw Jason again today. He looked more or less the same as when I last saw him. Maybe a bit paler, but I can’t judge because I know nothing about humans. I tried to apologize to him, more sincerely this time. I don’t know if he will ever forgive me for what I did, but I will have to live with that.

Now, I don’t want to make it sound like I apologized for my own sake. I did some horrible things to him, Discord’s influence be damned. Things I wish I could take back with all my heart. Even so, the words are out there, and if he chooses not to forgive me, I have resolved in me to accept that. I can’t imagine him ever wanting to forgive me or the others. I can’t blame him for that. Even if he doesn’t, I promise to the Maker herself that never again will I do the things I did, and not just to Jason, but to others in my life, with Spike being one of the chief beings I’ve wronged.

Rarity was about to write something more, but she paused. There was a slight rolling of thunder coming from outside the window. She placed the papers down on the nightstand next to her, softly climbed out of bed and made her way over to the window. Opening it, she looked up at the sky. There, she gaped at the strange looking cloud that flashed with frequent multicolored lights.

From behind her, Rarity heard Diane stirring as a particularly loud rumble passed through the air. “Nnng…is that a thunderstorm I'm hearing?” the half sleepy pony asked.

“If it is, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” Rarity replied.

The sleepy pony walked over and looked up at the sky. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “Um…I’ve never seen anything like that. I know Pinkie hasn’t, either. At least, the memories I have of hers don’t have anything like this.”

Rarity was about to say something, but a bright light caught her attention. She whirled and saw that Gregory was now glowing slightly. “Diane!”

The nurse turned, saw what Rarity was seeing, and rushed forward. She placed her hoof on his forehead, but drew back as if in pain. She tried again, but the same thing happened. She stepped back as the light surrounding Gregory increased. She rushed to the door and opened it, looking out and saying, “Go get the doctor, hurry!”

One of the guards outside the room nodded and flew off to do as Diane ordered. The pink pony nurse came back in and looked at Rarity. “You’ve got magic. I know you’re no Twilight Sparkle, but you’re a unicorn. What kind of magic is being used on Gregory?”

Rarity frowned, turned, and lit her horn up. She tried to reach out with her magic and touch Gregory, but the moment her magic touched him, she recoiled. She’d felt some sort of pain in the magic surrounding him, if magic it was. “I…have no idea,” she admitted. “I can’t touch him with magic. Whatever’s making him glow won’t let us touch him,” she concluded.

Diane nodded, looking more nervous now. “I just hope it’s nothing bad…”

There was a knock at the door. From behind it, Rarity heard the last voice she’d expected to hear calling out, “Hey, everything okay in there?!”

Rarity opened the door with her magic, letting Jason run inside. Behind her, Rarity saw Chrysalis running in, although the former changeling queen had a more human look about her than before. Chrysalis took one look at Gregory and frowned. “Well…that’s different.”

Jason turned to Rarity with a glare. “What’s going on here?” he asked with a hint of suspicion.

Rarity raised a hoof in defense. “I don’t know! I was just writing a diary entry when this started!”

“She’s telling the truth,” Chrysalis said, putting one of her hands on Jason’s shoulder.

He frowned deeper, but sighed and looked back at Gregory. “What the fuck is going on, then?” he asked.

There was a bright flash from outside, followed immediately afterwards by a sharp clap of thunder which shook the room. At the same time, the light around Gregory flashed brightly, then dimmed, leaving the room in darkness as the candle had been blown out. Immediately Rarity raised her horn and cast a light spell. Chrysalis did the same, bathing the room in a mixture of purple and sickly green. Gregory lay in bed, a more peaceful look on his face. There was still a sheen of sweat on his brow, but something told Rarity that he wasn’t producing fresh sweat.

Nobody moved for a while. Nobody spoke, either. Slowly, Diane moved forward, climbed onto the bed, and felt his temperature. This time, she didn’t recoil. Instead, she placed her hoof on Gregory’s forehead. When she turned back, there was a look of relief on her face. “The fever’s broken,” she said.

At that moment, Gregory took a sudden deep breath, causing Diane to leap off of the bed. His body arched up, and his eyelids fluttered. As that was happening, Rarity noticed that something was off about him. Something about Gregory had changed. She used her magic to relight the candle and the other lights in the room.

Those who had seen him before gasped in alarm when the light was cast on him. His once brown hair had undergone some sort of transformation because it was now a bright blonde. The same bright blonde as the spines on Daenerys.

Before anyone could speak, Gregory’s eyes shot open and he sat up, taking in great gulps of air as if he was surprised. Rarity’s own eyes widened even further. His eyes were glowing a bright purple color. He took in great gulps of air. The glow behind his eyes lessened and it eventually went away, leaving him with the same purple eye color as that of Daenerys as well. He looked around the room, eyeing everyone in turn. “Um…not to sound rude,” he began, “but why are you all in my room?”

Rarity felt a bit of relief pass through her. He sounded the same at the very least. When nobody else spoke, she walked up and put her front hooves on the side of his bed. “It’s a long story,” she said.

“How are you feeling?” Diane asked as she approached.

Gregory put his hands on his body, looking down at himself. “Well…I feel fine now,” he said. “Better than fine, actually.” Looking around, he spotted Jason and Chrysalis for the first time. He froze when he looked at the changeling. “Wait…are you…Chrysalis?”

She glared at him. “Don’t make my name sound like an insult,” she snapped at him.

“Okay, okay, sorry,” he said as he looked at the human beside him. Unlike most times before, Jason was unmasked. Everyone could see the scars on his face and the lightning mark from when Rainbow had struck him. There was silence in the room. Finally, he said, “…Jason Wright…?”

Jason nodded. “I see you’ve heard of me, Gregory Graystone,” he said.

“I’d ask how you know about me, but I think I already know,” he replied, looking briefly at Chrysalis. Suddenly, he stiffened and looked back at Rarity. “Daenerys…is she okay?”

“When I last heard, she was still unconscious,” Rarity said, “but I can ask someone to check.”

“Could you, please?” he asked.

At that moment, Dr. Riley came rushing in, skidding to a halt when he looked at Gregory. His eyes widened in alarm as he stared at the human. Gregory seemed to notice this, and his expression became grim. “Um…is something wrong?” he asked.

Dr. Riley walked up and looked at him warily. Guessing what he must have been thinking, Diane spoke up. “Doc, he really is Gregory. He’s just undergone some cosmetic changes, that’s all.”

Gregory’s face paled when he heard that. “Um…cosmetic changes?” he asked worriedly.

Rarity spoke up immediately. “Nothing bad! It’s just….well, does anypony have a mirror?”

Riley grabbed a small hand-held mirror from the desk and handed it to Gregory. He grabbed it and looked at his reflection. Rarity wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he would have, but she hadn’t expected him to shout out, “Okay, who gave me a fucking Targaryen makeover?!”

38: Departure

Griffonstone – Early The Next Morning…

Twilight woke to bright light blinding her eyes. Groaning, she instinctively covered her eyes with her blankets to block the light. She lay there, warm and snug underneath her blanket for a few more precious seconds of rest before her brain began to recognize the strangeness of the light that had shone in her eye. Quickly, she sat up, flinging her blankets off and galloping to the window. It was covered in frost, so she cast a warming spell that began to melt said frost slowly. As the view became clearer, she gasped as she saw blue sky for the first time in days. There was a large mass of dark clouds in the east, moving slowly away. The entire cityscape was coated in thick blankets of white snow. She saw a nearby tree moving in a slight breeze.

For the first time in a while, a wave of immense relief came to her. Even if there was still a lot of work to do, it would go a lot more smoothly now thanks to the lack of stormy weather. She was so giddy that she began flying around the room, which woke up the others. Applejack was the first to sit up, rubbing her eyes with her hooves. “Twi…what in tarnation is up with yah now?” she asked.

Twilight landed next to Applejack’s bed, bouncing on all fours while pointing towards the window with her wing. “Look! Look! Look!” she exclaimed happily.

When Applejack looked, her eyes widened. “Well ah’ll be…storm’s finally over!” she exclaimed before falling back on to her bed with a relieved look in her eyes. “Thank the Maker…”

Fluttershy was the next to wake up, and the smile Twilight saw on the face of the young pegasus was the biggest one that she had seen on her friend in a long time. “Now we can help all of those ponies and other creatures in Ponytown District,” she said, a tear of happiness falling.

Pinkie was the next to sit up, and she too was smiling, albeit not as much. “It’s a beautiful day,” she said quietly.

Rainbow was the last to wake up. She sat up, groaning. “Ugh…what’s all the racket?” she asked before she looked at the prancing Twilight. “Uuuh…Equus to Twilight?” She turned to Pinkie and nodded in the alicorn’s direction. “What’s up with her?”

“She’s happy that the storm’s gone, duh,” Pinkie said, and to those that heard her, she sounded most like her old self in that moment than she had in months.

Rainbow looked back, a look of realization on her face. “Fucking finally!” she shouted, jumping out of bed.

Fluttershy gave the prismatic pegasus a reproachful look, but when she saw her old friend looking much relieved, decided not to call her out on her vulgar language. Instead, she stood and walked over to Rainbow. “The work should be easier now,” she said.

“No kidding,” Rainbow said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I don’t know if I would have lasted much longer if I had to fight off that wind and snow.”

Twilight landed and began looking through her belongings. “Come on, everypony! Let’s get something to eat!” She zoomed off after grabbing a few things.

After she left, the other ponies looked at each other. They simply chuckled before the followed Twilight downstairs. They all felt more hopeful now that the weather was in their favor, and were looking forward to being more useful in the recovery efforts.

High Elm Estate - Late The Next Morning…

Marchioness High Life sat on one of the couches in the drawing room in her mansion, drinking some late morning wine. She stared out at the view of the landscape just over the edge of the Canterhorn. The morning was cold but clear, and the sun displayed the snow-covered landscape below, save for a small blight south of the mountain. There, where there had once been primitive huts where simple minded ponies lived was now a dark stain. Ponyville it had once been called. High Life hadn’t even known what the town’s name was until the invasion. It now marred her view, which frustrated her to no end.

She looked back down at the ancient book she had managed to get her hooves on, Star Swirl the Bearded’s A Treatise On Mankind. Ever since she had received the news from her spy network about this second human. Thanks to her connections, she managed to get a hold of one of the few books that hadn’t been locked away for Maker knew what reason. Currently, she was reading a chapter about Star Swirl’s experience with a large community of humans who had apparently been displaced from their home and had ended up in some desolate wasteland. She had just reached the end, the part where the ancient wizard spoke about his last encounter with them.

What is there to say about the Constitution that hasn’t already been said? It was a large naval vessel, to be sure. It carried armaments against the monsters of the unnamed sea surrounding the island. Celeste had spearheaded the expedition while Selene remained behind to look after the rest of the displaced humans.

Ah, Celeste…she was so happy to see the ship built. So proud of the accomplishment she and her kind had built in those desolate wastelands. I insisted on going with her, taking the mirror portal on board just in case I was needed back in Equestria in a hurry. Even while we boarded the ship, she kept on thanking me for bringing some of the magically fast-growing trees from Equestria. Even as the ship was leaving, the temporary forest built around their small town was being cut down and made the materials for the ships that would head out towards the continent.

The first few days at sea were calm and I used the magic I had stored up in my staff and the orb to keep storm clouds at bay. Spirits were high and I was regaled with stories and songs from Nova America’s brief but memorable time on Equus. Unfortunately, four days into our journey, I received an urgent message from Stygian through the journal. There had apparently been some mysterious new threat that had appeared near Equestria’s borders. Celeste was understanding when I told her I needed to leave but was quite distraught as well.

I returned to Equestria and received the report from Stygian. It was very vague, but he couldn’t tell me more as his information came from a small contingent of soldiers who had escaped peril and were half mad with terror.

(Editor’s Note: Star Swirl had a tendency to write rough draft notes after his chapters just in case he never finished. The other chapter ending notes in this book were removed, but as this is the last chapter, these remain.)

I sit here writing this entry the day before my compatriots and I depart for the Southlands. My magic is currently exhausted from all the writing I have done, but I’m struggling on. I don’t know what this new threat to Equestria is, but I hope that my friends and I can deal with it quickly. I anticipate that Celeste and her crew will reach land before I return, and I hope to go through again and check in on them. If not, though, I plan to ask Sunspot (Editor’s Note: His nickname for Princess Celestia) to pass along a few gifts through the mirror when it opens next.

“Fool,” High Life scoffed as she closed the book, leaning back and sipping on her wine again. Star Swirl had some interesting experiences with humans, and if this book was true, it explained his nearly three-year absence during the early days of Equestria. “Humans are nothing but trouble and shouldn’t be here.”

There was a knock at the door behind her. High Life sat up straighter and called out, “Enter!”

The door opened, and one of her servants announced, “Prince Blueblood of Canterlot Castle, my Lady.”

“Aah, Your Highness,” High Life said, standing and batting her eyelashes at him with a smile, “so glad you could make it.”

Blueblood gave her a grin as he turned to the maid. “Bring me some wine and cake as well,” he said.

The maid bowed and scurried off. High Life gave Blueblood a smirk. “Cake, my dear prince? Why, you know that will go straight to your flanks.”

“Like they do yours?” Blueblood replied without hesitation, leering at the Marchioness’ own.

She gasped and wiggled her flanks gently. “You cad,” she scolded him, but with amusement in her eyes, “staring at a mare’s flanks without her permission.”

“You make it too easy,” Blueblood said as he took a seat in the couch next to hers.

“Don’t all stallions love an easy mare?” High Life asked as she took her own seat and faced him with a grin on her face.

“At least make the chase challenging for me,” Blueblood chuckled before his features slowly turned serious. “So, Marchioness, I hear you’ve been a busy, busy mare.”

High Life raised an eyebrow at his tone. It was unlike Blueblood to be serious in much of anything. “What do you mean?” she asked, careful not to give anything away.

As the maid returned with another wine glass and a plate of soft looking cake, Blueblood grinned. “Don’t be coy with me, my dear,” he said as he took the glass and poured a healthy amount of wine into it with his magic. The maid left and Blueblood continued. “I’ve had quite a long talk with members of House Avarice and House Shade. Have you heard about the attack on the Griffonian Chancellor?”

High Life put down her glass and faced Blueblood, her face a mask of confusion. “Chancellor? The griffons don’t have a Chancellor,” she said. “They haven’t had one since they lost their Idol of…well, I can’t remember the name, but their Idol that gave them pride or something.”

“It was called the Idol of Boreas,” Blueblood said, “and it seems your information gathering network is a bit slower than mine. The griffons do have a chancellor. He was recently elected by their Imperial Council and has been spearheading a few reforms. No no no, I’m talking about the attack made against the new human living there.”

“I did hear about that,” she replied, “but why are you saying that this Chancellor was attacked? Unless…are you suggesting that this Chancellor and this human are one and the same?”

Blueblood nodded. “He is.”

“How unfortunate for the griffons, then,” High Life said as she took her glass and sipped on her wine, “but why tell me?”

“It was ponies who attacked him.”

High Life paused, then slowly put her glass back down. “Well…so what if they did attack him? It was probably just some foolish peasants who were angry and bitter about what that other human did. You know how stupid the common pony can be.”

Blueblood chuckled briefly. “No, of course you’re right,” he said, looking out of the window and looking down his nose at the ruined stain that had been Ponyville. “Common ponies are such fools and easy to rashness. Not like us.” He turned back to High Life. “Unfortunately, it seems as if this attack wasn’t just some random act of violence. An ancient trio of artifacts was stolen. Artifacts that were once used to banish the worst of the worst to Tartarus in Egrypt.”

“That ancient griffon kingdom that fell ages ago?” High Life asked.

“Exactly,” Blueblood said, “somepony managed to get their hooves on the Hades Teardrops.”

High Life looked more carefully at Blueblood. “Are you saying somepony in the House of Lords had something to do with this?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at the prince.

“I’m saying that it’s a possibility,” Blueblood said, “and if one of us did do it, then my aunts will likely find out. We might even go to war with the empire!”

“Bluey, Bluey, Bluey, you really need to relax,” the young mare said, standing and walking over to the couch where he sat. She moved close and leaned against him, looking at him with amusement in her expression, “The griffons won’t attack us,” she purred as she nuzzled him gently, “they don’t have the strength to resist the Royal Guard.”

“Don’t speak pretty words about them to me,” Blueblood said, looking down at the affectionate mare, “you and I both know just how inept the Guard has become. It was reviving slightly when Captain Armor was in command, but now? They are simply a token presence. In the past few years, the Elements have been the ones who have saved Equestria from danger, but now the Elements have been shown for what they really are: hypocritical wannabe heroes who lust for attention while degrading others as lesser than themselves.”

“Oh hush,” High Life said reassuringly as she rubbed her hooves around his barrel, “we won’t fall that easily. Equestria is a great and powerful nation.”

“And I agree,” Blueblood said, “but you saw how my aunts have changed. You saw that they’ve become much different. They won’t be easily duped like we were able to do in the past. They’re going to second guess everything we do now. I’ll try and smooth things over, of course, but they may even second guess and question me.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” High Life giggled as she sat up and looked at them. “Princess Celestia always had a soft spot for you, my handsome stallion,” she added, “and she’ll eat up anything you say.”

“Here’s hoping,” Blueblood said, raising his glass and drinking.

“Now just relax and enjoy yourself while you’re here,” she whispered in his ear, rubbing his back gently, “just enjoy the time together, like we used to enjoy our time together before the invasion.” She moved closer to him, batting her eyelashes at him.

He breathed out, smirking down at him. “Insatiable mare,” he chuckled, “but as much as I’d love to indulge, I’m afraid I could only spare a short amount of time for this meeting.”

“No fun,” she pouted, but moved away from him, letting him stand up, “I was looking forward to some alone time with my favorite stallion.”

“We’ll have time when things settle down,” he said, “just be patient.” He stood and stretched. “See you later, Lifey.”

“Come see me again, Bluey,” she called out as he headed out. Once she was alone, her smile instantly vanished and she stood, shuddering. She walked towards the window, looking down at the landscape once more, focusing on Ponyville. She narrowed her eyes at the town. “Even before, you were a blight on the world,” she scowled. She headed to her desk, then opened a drawer. She reached in with her magic, removing the false bottom and pulling out one of the small crystals inside. She looked at three in particular, thinking long and hard. “Hmm…not yet,” she said, putting them back and hiding them once more, “let’s see what happens…”

Atlantis Garden, That Same Time…

Atlantis’ garden was one of extreme magnificence. It held many different plants and trees within its confines, plants that were unlike any other that anyone had ever seen on Gaia for many long generations. It was maintained now by an ancient magic and by a few of the Pinkie Pie clones and novans. From the outside, it looked small, but once anyone passed through the arched stone gate, it seemed to stretch on for miles. There were paths where anyone could walk and enjoy the day. It was normally open to the public, but there were certain times where it was closed, as it was currently.

A large number of various creatures sat in a large circle on a stone platform located near the entrance to the garden. There had been four statues on each corner of the platform, but they had all been destroyed, leaving only stumps. There was unreadable writing carved into the stone platform, a beautiful and flowing script that seemed to evoke a feeling of peace from anyone who looked at them for long periods of time. Aside from that, the stone platform was featureless save for a small circle of green stone in the exact center. It looked as if it had been freshly carved, showing no signs of wear and tear even though Cunningham had said that the platform had existed when the novans came to live in the city.

The platform was surrounded by a grove of large trees of varying type, but ones which were recognizable. Oak, pine, acorn, and more lay within the grove. The platform was currently occupied with a circle of miscellaneous creatures, all seated in chairs made of a tough but comfortable green wood which would shrink or grow depending on who sat in it. There was a large circle of these chairs. Each chair was occupied. Sitting in the circle were Gregory, Jason, Mayor Cunningham, Father McKay, Floyd Johnson, Rose Quartz, Duchess Chrysalis, a changeling general named Nictis, Rarity, Spike, Gabby, Starlight Glimmer, Zecora, Gilda, Gallus, Gia, Ember, Lady Serenity, and lastly the Pinkie Pie unicorn clone Aurora Night. There was a small wooden table in the center which was currently empty of anything.

Mayor Cunningham, who sat at the exact northern point of the circle, cleared his throat. “Alright, y’all, thanks fer comin’,” he said, looking around the circle of various creatures. “I know everyone here is ichin’ to get back to the surface, but I wanted to talk to y’all before that. There’s a lot that needs explainin’.” He turned to the two humans, who were actually sitting next to each other. Gabby was next to Gregory while the humanoid Chrysalis sat next to Jason. “Now, we ain’t seen a human here in a long time. Yeah, I know our past kin were humans, but we ain’t humans anymore. Now, I’d like to know just how you two came here and how you came into positions of power.”

Gregory looked over at Jason, who returned the look. Gregory then motioned towards him. “I think you should start,” he said, “after all, you’ve been here a lot longer than I have. The story starts with you.”

Jason looked at the gathered assortment of creatures, then sighed. “Yeah, I guess that’s reasonable,” he said, “but before I start, I should probably explain just how my world perceives this one.” Before he could continue, however, he fell into a coughing fit.

Chrysalis was by his side in an instant, rubbing his back with her hand and wing. “Easy there, my Emperor,” she said, taking one of the glasses of water on the small tables between each chair and bringing it to his lips. As he drank, she looked up with mistrust at Cunningham. “He’s still way too tired to talk,” she insisted.

“I’ll be fine,” Jason insisted.

However, Gregory sat up straighter and faced his fellow human. “Let me tell them about MLP,” he said, “I can at least do that much.”

Jason looked up and locked eyes with the younger man. Slowly, he nodded. “Sure,” he said before sitting up straighter again.

Gregory turned back to the gathering of creatures. “Okay, so a couple of you already know this, but I’ll explain it again for those of you not in the know.” So, he began. He told them all about how, in his world, the world of Gaia, or a very small portion of it, was a mere story to the humans. He explained that his world viewed many species on Gaia as mythical, like unicorns, pegasi, dragons, griffons and more. He explained that he and Jason had become fans of the MLP show after explaining as best he could what television was. Everyone was listening in rapt attention as he told how the show followed the adventures of the Elements of Harmony in Ponyville, including Rarity, who was now more shocked than Gregory had ever seen her before, even in the show. After that, he told about how he had found a means to travel between worlds that matched those depicted in literature. Jason confirmed that he had found the same method and had used it to travel to Equestria.

Now more recovered, Jason took the story. He explained how he had come to Canterlot and had wanted to meet the Elements of Harmony to befriend them. Those who hadn’t known the story listened as he told how he had gone right to the Golden Oaks Library to try and make friends with Twilight only to be harshly turned away. He described many incidents during his first few days in Ponyville, including his first meeting with the Elements of Harmony. Gregory saw Rarity looking down in shame and guilt when he got to that part, especially her cruelty. Everyone was aghast at the actions of the ponies, especially Rose Quartz and Aurora Night who looked at each other in shock when Jason told of how he had never even met Pinkie Pie.

Finally, he told of his suicide attempt, which made the ponies almost sick. He told how he had fled and had been found by the changeling queen. Then he told how he had risen in the ranks of her armed forces before leading a rebellion and becoming the emperor by conquest. Then he described the attack on Equestria and how he had captured the Elements and destroyed Ponyville entirely. This seemed to break the hearts of the two Pinkie clones, but they remained quiet as he continued speaking. Finally, he told of how he had discovered that it was Discord who had affected the ponies and him, but only very subtly. He told of how he had killed the draconequus.

It was during this part of the story that Ember spoke for the first time. “Good riddance to that piece of filth,” she spat, a small burst of flame coming from her mouth, “It’s because of him that we have Greed Induced Bigness!”

Spike looked at Ember in alarm. “Greed Induced Bigness? So, me getting big on my birthday isn’t something I can control?”

Ember looked at Spike and nodded. “It’s not really something dragons can control,” she said, “I’ve gone through it a couple times. It takes a lot of effort to come back down from it, and it took a week for me both times.”

“It only took me a day,” Spike said.

“Really? How?” Ember asked, alarmed.

“Um…I’ll tell you later,” Spike said, glancing briefly over at a guilt-stricken Rarity who looked away as soon as the two made eye contact.

“Sounds like this Discord fella was a real piece of work,” Cunningham said.

“He’s actually the reason changelings have to feed on love or die,” Chrysalis snarled angrily.

“Let me guess: it was his idea of a prank,” Gregory said, turning to the bipedal changeling.

Chrysalis turned to Gregory and slowly nodded. “Yeah. We used to be different, but that bastard permanently altered us!”

“Language, Chrysalis,” Jason said, frowning slightly at the former changeling queen, “there’s a kid here.” As Chrysalis gave him an apologetic look, Jason turned back to Cunningham. “Anyway, that’s my story. Discord was killed three months ago, and I’ve been ruling the changelings ever since.” He turned to Gregory. “You’re up.”

Gregory nodded, then turned back to the others. He began his story about how he had discovered the show and grown enamored by it. Then he discovered the method by which someone could travel to worlds of television shows, movies, books, and any other fiction created by humans, even old myths like Gilgamesh. He told about how he had experimented with said method, sending cameras through to take video or pictures of various fictional worlds that turned out to be real. Next, he explained how he had gathered up a large assortment of his belongings and came through the portal, only to fall over a cliff and be saved by Gabby. Finally, he quickly summarized his three months in Griffonstone and how he was attacked by three ponies who sent him, Rarity, Spike, Daenerys and Lady Serenity to Tartarus using the Hades Teardrops. When he explained that, he pulled out the Teardrop that Serenity had given him.

Quickly, Aurora Night came up and took it in her magic, turning it around and examining it. Cunningham watched her do so, and after a bit, he asked, “Well? Anythin’ interestin’ ‘bout that there gem?”

Aurora looked at the mayor, a serious look in her eyes. “I can’t be sure,” she said, “but I’m picking up some very ancient magic coming from it. It’s like the magic from here, but I’d need to study it more.”

“That’s up to Mister Graystone,” Cunningham said, turning to Gregory.

Gregory looked at the stone, then at Aurora. Slowly, he shook his head and held his hand out. “Right now, it’s not mine to give,” he said, “so I’d like to take it back.”

Aurora nodded and floated it back to him. After he slipped it back over his neck, Cunningham asked, “Is there anythin’ else to your story?”

“A few things,” he admitted before continuing. He told about how after they had gotten to the summit of the mountain range which held Atlantis within, he had gone off to try and see what was across the mountain range, but had found nothing. Then he explained how he had found the Gjallarhorn and a strange key inside the horn before he met with the Tartarus Rangers.

After that, Cunningham stopped him and then turned to Lady Serenity. “Now, I do believe you’ve got a tale to tell as well, dontcha miss?”

Lady Serenity’s ears flattened, but she nodded. Sitting up, she explained to everyone there how she had been a part of two Equestrian government agencies before her time as a mercenary. She said how Dusky Heart and Jade Seed were a part of those agencies and how after S.M.I.L.E. had been shut down that the three had temporarily parted but eventually gotten back together as mercenaries for hire. She told about how she and the other two had been hired by an anonymous source to take the three gemstones to Griffonstone and to use them on Gregory in case they deemed him a threat. She explained how Dusky had initially been professional as he was with other jobs. She told about how eventually Dusky took the job more and more personally until he ordered the other two to capture and banish Gregory.

When she finished with that story, Gregory took over once more and explained how they had flown on Daenerys until she grew too weak to fly. Finally, the meeting with the Tartarus Rangers was discussed by Floyd, who explained that a hunter who lived on the outmost edge of the city had gone through one of the caverns leading to the outside only to see lights at the bottom of the mountain. The hunter, an older novan named Marshall, had contacted the Tartarus Rangers the next morning who then sent out a patrol to find out what could have caused the light. Floyd recounted the meeting with Gregory’s group before fleeing through the tunnel to Atlantis.

Next, Chrysalis spoke up about how Jason, having heard about the attack, had assembled a group of elite changeling warriors and gone to an old changeling hive where an entrance to Tartarus was. She told about the meeting with three Pinkie clones in the forest that their entrance had led them to. Rose and Aurora were especially interested when they heard about these clones and began asking questions but Cunningham stopped them, gesturing for Chrysalis to continue, which she did. After she had gotten to the point where the changelings had met the other group led by Ember and Gabby.

After that, Ember told her story, about how she had received word about Gregory’s banishment from Griffonstone thanks to a dragon who had visited there. She explained that she had selected a group of dragons to go down to Tartarus using the Dragon Lands’ own doorway to the underworld, and how they had been joined by the group from Griffonstone coming to the Dragon Lands since the Griffon Empire’s own portal was too far away to travel to, especially during the storm that was assailing the continent. Gregory was intrigued when she and the others who went down the tunnel to Tartarus described what to him sounded like dinosaur-like creatures and a prehistoric landscape. He put his questions on the back burner, however, as he continued listening.

When Ember had finished her story, Gabby told hers. Gregory had heard this story already, but he listened attentively anyway. In short, Gabby had been distraught when she’d heard about Gregory’s banishment, then furious. It was this fury that led her to gathering as many of Gregory’s friends to help in the search. When others had heard about the impromptu search party, many had volunteered, but Gabby and the others had only chosen a handful of griffons as there was still work to be done in helping the ponies who had been hurt during the nor’wester.

Finally, Cunningham had asked Gregory to share anything he could remember about the strange dream he had shared with Daenerys. He told them everything, about waking up in an endless pool of water, flying towards the light, then being surrounded by flames and waking up. After that, all were silent. Everyone was slowly digesting the things that had been revealed. It was now noon, and Gregory was becoming hungry, but he knew there were more important things to deal with. Unfortunately, Spike’s stomach was louder and made a growling noise. He held his stomach and blushed. “Um…sorry,” he said sheepishly.

Cunningham chuckled. “Ain’t nothin’ to worry ‘bout,” he said as he turned to Aurora. “Miss Night, could you go ask the cooks to prepare a meal for everyone here. Make sure they know that we have a good number of ponies here.”

“Sure thing,” she said, raising her horn and vanishing in a flash of teleportation light.

“My word,” Rarity said in alarm, “even if she is a Pinkie Pie clone, I didn’t expect her to be able to teleport. That’s high level unicorn magic.”

“The magic down here is much richer than in Equestria,” Rose explained, “I’ve even seen Amethyst perform something like a Sonic Rainboom multiple times here.”

“I did wonder why I felt like my magic was stronger here,” Rarity pondered.

“Same here,” Starlight added.

“Far underground, it is said, the source of magic makes its bed,” Zecora said, “for magic comes up from the ground and spreads its influence all around.”

“I’ve read similar stories,” Starlight said, “and I guess it makes sense now that we’re so far underground.” She then turned to Gregory. “Gregory, did you bring the Gjallarhorn and that key with you here?”

He reached into the bag he’d brought with him, bringing out the golden plated horn with ruby runes and the strange key. Everyone went silent as they looked at the two artifacts. Starlight stood and slowly made her way over to him, her horn glowing as she approached. The two artifacts glowed in response, but she didn’t take them. Instead, she closed her eyes and seemed to be concentrating. Slowly, she stopped casting her magic and she opened her eyes. “I’m not detecting any extra magic in either of those objects,” she said, “but that might not mean much. I don’t know anything about the Gjallarhorn since I’ve never heard of it, and that key doesn’t look familiar either.”

Just then, Aurora teleported back, looking at Cunningham. “Mr. Mayor, the kitchen staff says the meal should be here in half an hour.”

“Sounds mighty good,” Cunningham said.

Aurora nodded, then turned to Gregory. Her eyes widened and she rushed forward, looking at both the horn and the key. “Are these…those two objects you found?” she asked. When Gregory nodded, she raised her horn and surrounded both objects with her magic as Starlight had done. The aforementioned unicorn watched Aurora with interest. Finally, Aurora stopped and looked at the key. “I don’t know about this horn, but the key your holding looks like it was made in Atlantis. There’s a trace hint of Atlantean magic inside.”

“What’s Atlantean magic?” Starlight asked.

Aurora turned to her fellow unicorn. “Everything inside the shield protecting this paradise from Tartarus has a hint of a strange magic in it. The rocks, the grass, the trees, the buildings, everything here has a trace amount of magic. I’m not a magical expert though. I’ve only been a unicorn for a few years, but it’s definitely something I can detect.” She turned to Cunningham. “Sir, I think this might be the key. You know which one I mean.”

His eyes widened. “The one that might fit through that door?” When she nodded, he leaned back. “Well, I’ll be…God is good.”

“Can someone fill us in?” Gregory asked.

“Does this have to do with that route to the surface you mentioned our first day here?” Spike asked.

Cunningham nodded. “What I’m about to mention here is known only to myself, Father McKay, my lovely Rose, and Aurora. Please don’t tell anybody else what I’m about to say.” He looked around the circle of chairs with a stern glare. After he’d gotten everyone’s word, he sighed and leaned back again. “There’s a large door underneath the castle. It’s right underneath the center of the castle.” He turned to Aurora. “You mind showin’ them?”

Nodding, the unicorn raised her horn. A large three dimensional image appeared in the center of the platform for everyone to see. The scene showed a darkened arched roofed room with a number of ancient looking torches lit on either side of said room. In the center stood a large white wooden door with two metal rings meant for pulling it open. The right door had a large keyhole in it, and the wall to the left had a large stone panel attached to it. The panel had ten carved out spots in the shape of keys, nine of which were empty of any keys. The tenth held a silver key inside the grooves. She pointed to the door and the image zoomed in to it. “This door is magically sealed,” she explained, “and the only way to open it is with one of the keys here.” The image zoomed in on the one remaining key on the stone. “This key is the last one. There were more, but unfortunately the keys seem to only be useful once. After they unlock the door, they shatter.”

“Eight were used when our ancestors found this place,” Cunningham said, “and that was before we became novans. One of them was used by a small splinter group we called the flecs, or the reflections.”

“Why do you call them reflections?” Gregory asked.

“It’s been over a thousand years, and I wasn’t around that long ago,” Cunningham said, “but some of the journals from that time explained that some of our kin began having dreams of being strange creatures up above the surface. They started to become different colors over time. Finally, the first two to change, two sisters, led the flecs-er, reflections-down to the door. I’ve gotta admit, from what the journals that they left, our human ancestors didn’t treat them very well. They used one of the two keys and went through it. The people who watched them go wrote that they simply vanished.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow. “Two sisters?”

Cunningham nodded. “Yeah. We know ‘em as the Star Sisters. Celeste was one, and Selene was the other. They left behind their own journal which included a portrait someone painted of them before and after their transformation.”

“Do you have this journal?” Jason asked, looking more alert now.

Aurora raised her horn and an ancient leather-bound book appeared in front of her. She floated it over to the two humans. Gregory took it and opened it, eyes widening at the image that he saw. Jason leaned over in his chair, and Gregory showed him the portraits. The first one was of two frontier style women wearing clothes that wouldn’t be uncommon in the Old West. Both were Caucasian women. One was a light blonde and the other had raven black hair. The blonde had light brown eyes and the black haired woman had deep blue pair of eyes. However, it was the second portrait that caught their eyes. Their general facial features remained the same physically speaking, but all colors had changed. The blonde woman had a light magenta skin and hair the color of the rainbow. The woman beside her had light greyish blue skin, opal colored eyes, and deep blue hair. Gregory and Jason turned to each other in alarm. “Celestia and Luna?!” they both said simultaneously.

Rarity was immediately by their side in a flash of light, but the fact that the fashionista had just teleported wasn’t on the forefront of anyone’s minds as she looked at the image near the front of the book. Her eyes widened as she drank in the image of the two humans. “What…but how?” she asked.

“I wish I knew,” Gregory said, unable to look away from the images.

Gabby looked over his shoulder at the pictures, then at Gregory. She gently tapped his shoulder. “Gregory? You okay?”

He turned to his henfriend to see the worried look in her eyes. He reached up and put one hand on her plumage and gave his best reassuring smile. “I’m alright, just a bit confused,” he said, looking back at the page. “If these two really are who I think they are, then there’s a hell of a lot to digest.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jason said softly.

Chrysalis looked over Jason’s shoulder now at the picture. She whistled. “So that’s what a human female looks like,” she said, “and those two do look a lot like those pony princesses.”

A few others started coming over, but Gregory held out his hand. “Hold on,” he said, turning to Aurora. “Can you project this picture?”

Aurora nodded, took the book back and projected the portrait of the two sisters into the air. Everyone stared in awe at the image of the two human women. Spike, Lady Serenity and Starlight were more alarmed than anyone else. “That’s Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna!” Spike shouted.

Rarity turned to Spike. “What do you mean? Are you speaking about the human world?”

Spike nodded. “When Sunset Shimmer stole Twilight’s crown, those two humans were the rulers of the school where Sunset was. They look exactly the same.”

“That’s…unnerving,” Jason said as he continued looking at them.

“How come?” Starlight asked.

Gregory answered before Jason could, “Humans live about sixty to eighty years,” he explained, “so if these two have been living for more than a thousand years? Well…”

“They didn’t act like they were over a thousand when Twilight and I saw them,” Spike said.

Gregory turned to Cunningham. “Are you absolutely sure that these two went through that door?” he asked.

“Lots of our ancestors wrote about it,” he said, “so yes. We’re sure.”

“Then I think I know where it leads,” Gregory said, looking back at Jason.

Jason sighed and nodded. “This universe’s version of the human world,” he said.

Cunningham looked at the two of them with a curious expression. “What do you mean?”

Gregory turned back to the mayor. “In the story I told you about Equestria, there were a series of stories where Twilight Sparkle and Spike traveled through a large mirror and entered into a realm where there were human versions of ponies and other races on Gaia. These two were somehow transformed into human versions of the two princesses I mentioned.”

“The ones you say raise the sun and moon up above?” Cunningham asked. When Gregory nodded, the novan mayor frowned deeper and looked at Aurora.

Said unicorn pointed at herself questioningly, and when Cunningham nodded, she sighed and turned to Jason and Gregory. “The nearest exit out of Tartarus from here is twelve to thirteen hours away by flight, but the problem is that no matter how you try, you can’t go up it. There’s something blocking the pillar. I’ve seen it myself, just a large stone ceiling that resists any kind of attack. We tried magic, we tried brute force, but nothing. We’ve tried finding other ways out of Tartarus without any success.”

“We came down through a portal of our own,” Jason reminded them, “so we should be able to go up and out the other end.”

Aurora shook her head. “We’ve found a couple other exits, but when we tried flying up, we were blocked by some sort of magical barrier halfway up,” she explained. “I think the only exception is the Equestrian exit, but even that’s too dangerous since it’s still being used by Equestria. There are dangerous prisoners there and getting too close to them could be dangerous. Especially Tirek and Grogar.”

“Grogar’s locked up there too!?” Gregory asked in alarm.

“Who’s Grogar?” Jason asked.

Gregory turned to his fellow human. “Think of him as the Dark Lord of this world,” he explained, “and by that I mean he’s thought to be responsible for the creation of many dangerous creatures in this world. He’s pretty much the textbook definition of a Dark Lord.”

“He is,” Aurora nodded in agreement, “and he was finally captured and locked away by Gusty the Great and his companions in ancient times after they managed to steal his Bewitching Bell. We can’t go that way, because he and Tirek are too dangerous to even walk past at a distance. Also, the Equestrian exit is three days away by flight.”

“Three days…I’d rather not wait that long,” Gregory said, “and if the only way out of Tartarus is through that door you showed us, it might be the best option we have.”

This brought a dead silence on the group and everyone retreated back into their own thoughts. Gregory was trying his best to think, but it was hard since he was desperate to get back to the surface before a war broke out between his nation and Equestria. He looked down at the Gjallarhorn and the strange key in his lap, wondering just why he had these and why the horn had appeared to him. Things were happening so fast for him it seemed, and he was so confused. He tried to calm down and think rationally, however. He’d only been on Gaia for three months and had no idea just how magic really worked in this world. He tugged on his ear again to relieve the pain once more so he could think more clearly. A lot of what he’d heard today was new information to him, even some of the examples of pony cruelty thrown at Jason. He wasn’t too happy about Jason sending changeling spies into his city, but circumstances aside, he couldn’t be too mad about it. He was surprised that his banishment had elicited such a response from the Dragon Lord, however, although as he thought about it, he realized he shouldn’t have been.

It was Jason who spoke up first after a few minutes of silence. “We will go through the door,” he said.

Cunningham and McKay looked at each other for a while, then both stood. “Pardon us,” Cunningham said, “but the Father and I wanna talk ‘bout this in private.”

“Not without me,” Rose said as she quickly stood, followed swiftly by Aurora.

As the four walked to one corner of the platform to talk quietly among themselves, Gregory heard the flapping of wings from nearby. Turning, he saw about five novans flying down slowly, each carrying a large tray full of food. They landed and began setting plates on the small tables next to each chair before serving up food for everyone before flying away. The sun reached its zenith and began heading west. As they ate, everyone broke into small groups and talked with each other quietly about various things. Gregory simply sat with Gabby on his lap, eating quietly while Gabby did the same, leaning against him and eating in silence.

As their meal was winding down, other four came back and took their seats. Everyone paused what they were doing and looked at the four. Cunningham took a sip of water that had been left on his table and sighed. “We only have one more key left that can lead through that door,” he began, “but I reckon that we’re all plenty happy here so we won’t need to go to this other place anymore. Still, I’m just the mayor. It’s not like I’m a governor.”

“My son, we have no governor here,” Father McKay said, putting a reassuring hand on the mayor’s shoulder, “and I know that once word gets out about the reasons behind why we sacrificed the last key, the people will understand.”

Rose stood on her hind legs and nuzzled Cunningham reassuringly. “We’ll tell them all together,” she said with a smile. Aurora nodded quickly in agreement.

Cunningham looked at the three and smiled. Turning to Gregory and Jason, he took a deep breath. “When would you like to leave?”

About two hours later, everyone who had come down from the surface was gathered in the massive underground room where the massive door was. Gregory noted that it was much larger than he’d anticipated. It was probably about the size of a four-story building and looked like it hadn’t aged a day since it was constructed. The wood was solid to the touch and when he touched it, Gregory felt as if there was some sort of field surrounding it. Starlight confirmed that there was some kind of magic coming from the door, but again it was one she hadn’t felt before.

The room was full of all the people who had come to rescue Gregory. Changelings, dragons, griffons, Gregory’s closest friends, and Jason and Gregory themselves were all gathered in front of the massive gates, as were Mayor Cunningham, Father McKay, Rose Quartz and Aurora Night, the latter holding a silver key in her magic. Cunningham stepped forward to the two humans. “I reckon I ain’t the only one to be thinkin’ this, but I wish y’all could stay. Atlantis is a beautiful city. You could be happy here. But I know you both got duties back where you’re from. Still, I hope you’ll let us give you both somethin’ before you go.”

Gregory held up his hands. “You’ve helped us plenty already,” he said, “there’s no need to give us anything else.” He pointed to the satchel he now wore on his side along with his small earth backpack. “You gave us plenty of food that’ll last us for a while and water, and that’s more than enough.” Which was true. The novans, in their utmost generosity, had provided each and every creature who was going to travel back to Gaia with a pack of fresh food and water. Even Daenerys, who sat nearby watching, had a few sacks of extra food she was carrying.

“Nonsense,” Cunningham said with a smile, “y’all were guests, and it’s a tradition hereabouts that we give guests a gift before they leave.”

Rose came up and lifted two long objects up towards Jason and Gregory. “Here,” she said kindly, separating them and holding one out to each of the humans, “Clif picked these out for you.”

Gregory and Jason looked at each other in confusion for a few seconds before both turned, reached out and took the objects. They were long and heavy, wrapped up with a purple silken cloth and a green rope. Both men slowly undid the cord and pulled the purple cloth away. To Gregory’s surprise, and apparently to Jason’s as well judging from his facial expression, both of them held a sword in their hands. Both had jewel encrusted scabbards as well as a belt looped through it. The sword grips were shimmering gold and the pommel was an emerald carved in the shape of a leaf.

Gregory was the first to respond, looking up at Cunningham. However, before he could refuse, Cunningham raised his hand. “I know you’re thinkin’ y’all can’t take ‘em, but I ain’t gonna take no for an answer,” he said quickly, “these swords were made by whoever really built this place, so don’t worry. They ain’t got any names that we know of, but Aurora says they’re mighty good blades.” Aurora nodded in agreement at that.

Gregory felt really weird taking a sword with him, but he also didn’t want to be rude, so he slowly slung the sword over his shoulder. “Thank you very much, Mr. Cunningham,” he said, walking up and extending his hand to the novan.

The novan mayor shook it and smiled. “Call me Clif,” he said.

Jason was next to step up and shake the mayor’s hand. His thank you was a bit briefer, but Gregory couldn’t detect any less gratitude in it. After that, he slung the sword over his own shoulder. When that was done, the two novans and two Pinkie Pie clones turned towards the door. As they walked closer, Aurora held up the key and began walking towards the door.

At that moment, Gregory felt something moving around in his earth backpack. Confused, he opened it up and looked inside to see what was going on, only to see the key that he’d found earlier glowing slightly and pressed against the side of his bag. He quickly brought it out and felt it being drawn towards the door. Gabby saw this and asked, “Gregory? What’s with that key?”

Aurora stopped and turned, then her eyes caught the glowing sword. Quickly, she galloped up and looked at it in awe. She brought up her own key and placed it against the glowing one. However, neither matched, at least not to Gregory’s eyes. Even so, Aurora must have spotted something because her smile reminded him of what Pinkie’s looked like. She began bouncing up and down in place and grinning happily.

Cunningham saw this and came back to her. “Hey, what’s got you so happy?” he asked.

Aurora didn’t answer at first. Instead, she bounced back over to where the keys had been and placed the silver key back before bounding back. She pointed at the key in Gregory’s hand. “That key will open the door!” she exclaimed.

Gregory looked at the glowing key then back at Aurora. “This one? You sure about that?” he asked.

She nodded. “Absotively posolutely!” she replied with confidence.

Gregory looked at the key again, and this time Jason looked at it with him. “Well, it does look like it matches the architecture here,” Jason said after a minute.

Gregory looked at the excited Aurora. “Well, if you’re sure about this, then I’ll trust you,” he said as he took a step forward towards the massive door, Gabby flying close beside him. As he walked closer, the pull on the key only seemed to grow stronger, but not so much so that it would fly out of his hands. He reached the front of the door with Gabby and Aurora at his side. Slowly, he put the key in the lock. When he did so, the glowing and pulling sensation stopped. He slowly turned it, and here was a loud clanging noise. Finally, the key stopped turning with a final clang. He turned it back and pulled it back out before slipping it back in his backpack, reaching for the metal rings on the door and pulling. To his surprise, the door began to open more easily than he expected. Gabby grabbed the other half of the door and pulled.

The doors silently opened, revealing a cave that led into what looked like complete darkness except for the small pinprick of light coming from the other side. Right in front of the entrance stood what looked like a thin piece of glass that shimmered with a very slight purple light. Gabby, ever curious, flew up and touched it and gasped. “It’s like touching a bubble!” she exclaimed before she could stop herself.

Daenerys came up and looked into the cave before looking down at Gregory. “Do we really have to go in there?” she asked, sounding nervous.

Gregory nodded. “If this leads to the human world, we probably should,” he said.

Jason then stepped forward and walked up to Gregory’s side. Looking down at his fellow human, he nodded. “Together?” he asked.

Gregory nodded back. “Together.”

As the two simultaneously stepped through the threshold with Gabby and Chrysalis close behind, Gregory felt the sensation of passing through a bubble. There was a bit of a shift in gravity it seemed but it was gone moments later. The ground they were on was rough and somewhat uneven, but it was solid. Looking back, Gregory saw the crowd of other creatures on the other side slowly making their way through the doorway and filling the massive cave. When the last of the group made it through the threshold, Gregory watched in awe as the massive doors began closing on their own. The four inhabitants of Atlantis waved in goodbye before the doors finally shut entirely, vanishing in a large flash of light and leaving the area in near complete darkness.

Darkness that was broken by Daenerys breathing a steady stream of fire into the air, illuminating a large cave. Some more lights came from nearby, mostly from the unicorns and changelings, and soon the cave was lit up by a large assortment of floating orbs of magic. Gregory turned to Jason, then pointed to the speck of light ahead. “Let’s get moving,” he said, “who knows where in the human world this cave is.”

Jason nodded, then turned towards the light. “Let’s go,” he told his changelings.

Everyone turned towards the light and headed towards it. The magical lights kept their pathway illuminated, but even so, everyone walked slowly just in case. It took them about ten minutes, but soon they were nearing what had to be the exit to the cave. Slowly, everyone made their way out only to find that they were standing on a large cliff overlooking what had to be the ocean judging from the salty smell. It was a warm day and the sun was high in the sky. The air was rather humid and had a tropical feeling to it. Out in the ocean, they saw a large number of sharp rocks sticking out.

And far in the distance, just floating there, was a multicolored cruise liner. One that Gregory recognized immediately. “What the…the Luxe Deluxe?!”

39: When Worlds Collide

Luxe Deluxe…

Sunset was standing on the upper deck overlooking the pool where many more of her schoolmates were swimming to beat the summer heat or lounging around. Near her were Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and a somewhat lethargic Applejack. The latter had been taking motion sickness pills which definitely seemed to be helping, but it also made her a bit less active than before. She was leaning against the railings while Fluttershy rubbed her back gently and reassuringly. Nearby at a table which was serving all manner of fruit smoothies, Pinkie Pie was getting everyone some of said smoothies.

Applejack looked up at the sky and sighed. “Ah wish God had given me sea legs,” she said after a while, “ah hate havin’ tah take pills…”

Sunset gave her farmer friend an empathetic look. “You sure you don’t want to lie down and rest for a while?” she asked.

Applejack straightened up. “Ah’ll be alright,” she said, “just gotta power through the lazies.”

“I’m sorry, Applejack,” Twilight said from where she stood next to Sunset, “but these were the best ones I could find. I know one of the rare side effects is feeling lethargic, but I didn’t know it’d happen to you.”

“Ain’t nothin’ tah worry about,” Applejack said reassuringly as Pinkie walked back over with her arms full of ice cold smoothies, “ah can handle it.”

“Mmm…smoothies, anyone?” Pinkie asked, looking down at her arms. “My arms are getting really cold here.”

“Thanks, Pinkie,” Sunset said as she took one from Pinkie, a dark purple one. As Pinkie handed them out to everyone, including Applejack who took an apple one, Sunset turned to Twilight. Noticing that her friend looked a little downcast, she smiled and said, “Thank you for organizing this trip, Twilight.”

Out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash appeared, looking at Twilight as well with a grin on her face. “I gotta hand it to you,” she began as she put one arm around the bespectacled girl, “you really have an eye for climatic battle settings!”

This got everyone’s attention, and the group of friends turned towards Rainbow with looks of shock and frown, the latter coming solely from Sunset. “Climactic battle settings? What the hell do you mean?” Sunset asked.

Rainbow grinned. “Imagine, going head to head with a sea monster by the pool!” she began. “Ka-chow! Evil Equestrian magic blows up the diving board! The boat sinking, everyone screaming, and then we save the day!”

Everyone, even Sunset, cringed at this. Sunset was about to say something, but Fluttershy beat her to it. “Oh! Is the sea monster okay in this story?”

“Better than okay! She’s our friend now!” Rainbow Dash finished her own smoothie before placing it nonchalantly on an empty tray which was being carried by a nearby cruise employee, who just sighed and headed away. “Best summer break ever!”

“Or…we could do…not…that…” Sunset said with a smirk after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. The others beside her agreed fervently.

Twilight walked up to Rainbow. “I was hoping we could do something without having to battle Equestrian magic for a change?” she said hopefully.

“Rainbow, ah know yer an adrenaline junkie,” Applejack began, “but we ain’t you. We just want tah enjoy this cruise. Ah, fer one, am gettin’ mighty tired of battlin’. We couldn't even spend the day at Equestria World without creatin' a calamity!”

“Which we then uncalaminated, like literal awesome superheroes!” Rainbow replied.

Sunset noticed that Twilight was looking more downcast at Rainbow’s words, but she didn’t know quite what to say at first. Finally, however, she realized that if she didn’t get to the bottom of this, their entire vacation could be ruined by Rainbow’s antics. She stepped forward and looked at Rainbow. “Dash, come with me for a bit,” she said, gesturing for the athletic girl to follow her.

While Rarity was thanking Twilight for the trip, Rainbow followed Sunset with confusion painted on her face. They reached the starboard side of the cruise ship. There was nothing but ocean as far as the eye could see, save for a nearby island with some spiked rocks just offshore. The sky was clear and the wind was blowing slightly in their faces. Sunset leaned on the deck and looked out at the ocean. Rainbow joined her and looked at the former unicorn with a confused look. Sunset composed herself, wanting to say the right thing to her friend but without hurting her feelings.

Finally, she turned to Rainbow after about ten to fifteen seconds. “Look, I know you like having adventures and things like that,” she began in as gentle a voice as she could, “but Twilight really worked hard on this trip. A lot of time and money went into it, and she’s very proud with it as she should be. But knowing you, you’ll start looking for a problem where there isn’t one. We’ve been on the ocean for a few days already and nothing’s happened.” She paused and tried to think of how best to say it. “I’m trying not to sound mean, but…”

“Sunset, just say it! I can take it!” Rainbow Dash said.

Before she could stop herself, Sunset said, “Please don’t ruin for everyone.”

Rainbow’s face fell. “Ouch…your words just…punched my feelings…”

Frustrated now, Sunset said, “You said you could take it!” She paused, seeing just how upset Rainbow was looking now. She took a few deep breaths before saying, “I could have phrased that better. I’m sorry. But why are you looking for problems anyway? Is there something wrong with just enjoying yourself and relaxing?”

“I don’t really do relaxing,” Rainbow said, “I don’t do lounging around and stuff.”

“I’m not saying you have to do that,” Sunset replied, “I mean, you can relax by doing other things. I know this place has a pool and a tennis court and video arcade and more. Hell, I’ll join you sometimes if you want, and I’m sure the others wouldn’t mind hanging out with you too. Why are you so hell bent on finding something to fight?”

Rainbow frowned and looked out at the ocean. Silence fell for a bit. “I…don’t know,” she finally said. “Maybe I’m just antsy and need to burn some steam.”

“Steam? What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

Rainbow shook her head. “I’ve been feeling frustrated and I don’t know why,” she finally said.

Sunset reached out and put a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “When did this start?” she asked with concern.

The young teen threw her hands up. “I don’t know! I guess…after we met up for lunch last week. I don’t know why!”

“You think it has to do with what I told you guys?” Sunset asked worriedly.

Rainbow put her elbows on the railing and put her head in her hands. “I don’t know…” she said, “I just…I know you told us that we have counterparts in Equestria, and it’s scary that I could become like the other me with just a little push. I guess…I guess I just wanted to prove to myself that I’m not like that other me.”

“By ruining things here?” Sunset asked bluntly. When she saw Rainbow wince, she sighed. “Sorry, bad wording.”

“No, I get it,” Rainbow said with a nod as she stood up and turned to Sunset. “I don’t want to be a party pooper. Pinkie’d never let me live that down. It’s just…for the past few years we’ve been caught up in so many magical stuff that I’m expecting something to happen and I don’t want to be caught with my panties down.”

Sunset chuckled. “Let’s try and relax here, huh? If something does happen, Maker forbid, then we’ll deal with it together.”

Rainbow took a deep breath and exhaled. “Okay, I’ll try,” she said.

At that moment, Pinkie came running up, carrying three plates in her hands. On said plates was a slice of a chocolate confection that looked to Sunset to be a Bundt cake with some dark red cherry frosting on top. “Girls! Girls! Look look look! Triple Choco-Berry Blasted Butter Biscuit Bundt Cake! And it’s freeesh from the oven!”

Sunset took the offered cake slice as did Rainbow. When Sunset took a bite, she experienced an explosion of dark cherry and chocolate the likes of which she’d never tasted before. It was sensational and she almost fell to her knees in bliss. Out of the corner of her awareness, she could see that Rainbow was faring no better than she was. “Holy shit…” Rainbow said after a while, “this is…okay, I’ll be honest, this is the best cake I’ve had before! No offense, Pinkie.”

“None taken!” the happy party girl said as she took a large bite before adding, “I’ve got a wot to wearn!”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Sunset chuckled.

The three girls giggled before Pinkie looked out at the horizon. “Oooh, that’s a pretty looking island over there,” she said, pointing.

Sunset and Rainbow looked out as well. “You know, I think I recognize that island,” Sunset said as she pulled out her phone and did a quick internet search. “Yep! That’s Primos Island. Nobody lives there. It’s one of the biggest of the Wizard Islands chain.”

“Think we could go exploring there sometime?” Rainbow asked, a look of excitement on her face. Sunset gave the young athletic teen a frown. “Hey, not because there’s magic there! It sounds like it’d be fun to go exploring there! Like Daring Do!”

“Well, I doubt they’ll let us go there,” Sunset said.

That blew the air out of Rainbow’s sails and she sighed, taking another bite of cake before saying, “Yeah, that sucks.” She quickly finished the plate and put it on a nearby table. “Well, I’m gonna go find the arcade you mentioned, Sunset. I know they have a Tirek’s Revenge game here, but I wonder if they have some Daring Do games here…?”

At that moment, the three heard some engines running just off the starboard bow. They looked over and saw that there were a few jet skis running up and down the ocean. There were a few Canterlot High students down there as well as a few adults. Sunset saw Rainbow’s eyes light up as she pointed. “Forget video games for now, that looks twenty percent cooler!” She turned and looked eagerly at Sunset. “Come on! Come join me!”

Sunset smirked. “Fine, fine. I’ll go get my bathing suit in a minute and meet you down there.”

“Sick!” And with that, the speedster rushed off, a grin on her face.

“I’m gonna go back to the snack room!” Pinkie said before turning and rushing off.

Sunset simply rolled her eyes and smirked before turning back to face the island briefly. It was a lovely island to be sure, but the article she’d found on it said that nobody really went to the island because of the sharp rocks on the ocean floor surrounding the island. Not only that, but there were instances of ships passing Primos and hearing strange sounds coming from the island, like animals that were otherworldly.

She slipped her phone into her pocket and was just about to walk away when she thought she saw a flash of light coming from the tip of the highest point of the island. She froze as she looked in the direction of the island, wondering if what she saw was real or was in her head. However, when she took out her phone and tried zooming in, she was frustrated to learn that her phone’s camera didn’t have quite the range she needed. Even so, she didn’t see anything on the blurry and shaky camera screen. She chalked it up to her imagination running wild, put her phone away, and headed in the same direction that Rainbow had gone, back down to their cabins.

A ride on a jet ski sounded fun.

Primos Island…

Everyone was looking at the large cruise ship, some in wonder since none had seen a ship quite like that, others in confusion, with one in particular being more confused than before. Gregory knew that in the version of Gaia he’d ended up on the Storm King’s attack hadn’t yet taken place, so the storm that happened in Spring Breakdown wouldn’t happen here, or at least he thought that was the case. Judging from the heat surrounding them and the humidity that was quickly making him sweat they weren’t in the Spring season. It felt more like summer to him than anything.

As he began to take off some of his extra garments, he saw Jason doing the same, revealing a dark gray short sleeved tunic of Atlantean make underneath what he’d been wearing. “You’ve seen this before?” Jason asked his fellow human as he folded his extra clothes and placed them in his pack.

Gregory nodded. “I’ll explain later. For now, we’ve got to try and find a spot where we can set up a rudimentary camp. That ship over there is a human ship, so we have to be in the human world that’s connected to Gaia.”

“We should probably find a place where we can set up a camp and a defense perimeter against anything that could be lurking around.” Jason said, turning to the changeling stallion Nictis. “General, you and a few other changelings change into birds and go scouting for us. Look for any place that’s either naturally shielded or that can be made to be shielded easily. A flat plane or something. Preferably out of sight of that ship. Go in disguise as seagulls. We’ll remain here.”

“Understood, my Emperor,” the changeling said before he was enveloped in green flames only to be replaced with a seagull. The seagull flew up and hovered before turning to his group. “Okay, alpha squadron follow me. The rest of you, protect the Emperor and Duchess.”

After a number of changelings turned into seagulls and flew away, Gregory turned to the group with Jason. “Guess we just sit and wait for them to return,” he said.

“Why don’t we go looking too?” Gilda asked, spreading her wings and pointing at them. “We’ve got wings too.”

“We can’t risk being seen by the humans on those ships,” Gregory replied. “Griffons, dragons, changelings and unicorn ponies don’t exist here. If someone on that ship was looking this way and saw a griffon flying, that could get us some unwanted attention.”

Ember frowned at this. “I don’t just like sitting here and doing nothing,” she said testily. Spreading her wings, she said, “Dragons don’t do sitting around and doing nothing.”

“Yeah, I know,” Gregory said, “but we can’t just go out where there could be witnesses. Once that ship leaves, then we should be alright, but even so we shouldn’t just go announcing our presence in this world. Let’s just wait for the changeling squad to come back. We’re all in this together, people.”

With that, the group split apart. Ember and the dragons went to explore the cave, which Gregory saw was bigger than he’d initially thought. He sat down with his group of friends. Gabby took her rightful spot in his lap while Daenerys surrounded the rest, letting them lean against her as she curled up around them. Using his flame breath, Spike started a fire out of old leaves, bark and a few branches he managed to collect from outside. Soon they were all staring at the fire and letting its light illuminate them. Gregory even brought out some of the bread cakes the novans had given them, all of which were wrapped up in a light blue casing that looked like a closed flower about to bud.

Aurora had explained that the bread was called softtack, a variant of hardtack. She had found the recipe in an ancient book created by whoever had made Atlantis, and despite not yet being able to read the language of Atlantis, the book had many different depictions of it being made. It had the shape of a bread roll and had a somewhat sweet but also savory and salty taste to it, and one didn’t need to eat much to feel their strength returning. It had a fluffy interior as well, and Aurora said that one small roll she’d been testing had lasted a few years without going dry while inside the flower wrap.

As they ate, with Daenerys being the only exception as she didn’t enjoy the taste of softtack, a conversation began. It was started by Rarity, who looked down at her hooves, then over at Spike. “Spike, forgive me if I’m wrong,” she began, “but I thought that when you and Twilight went to the human world you changed shape.”

Spike, with a half-eaten softtack roll in his claws, took a small sip of water to wash the novan bread down before replying, “Yeah, that’s what happened. Twilight became human and I became a dog.”

“But we’re in the human world now and we haven’t changed,” she retorted.

Spike shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t know.”

Starlight spoke up. “I don’t know much about Star Swirl’s mirror, but from what I’ve heard about it, I think the mirror was meant to be a way for anyone going through from our side to be changed into a native so as to better blend in. We didn’t come through the mirror portal, so we stayed the same.”

“So why was I turned into a dog?” Spike asked.

Starlight gave the young dragon an apologetic look. “Sorry, I wish I knew the answer to that.”

“Don’t forget, there was at least one other natural portal between Gaia and the human world,” Gregory said.

“That could explain the magic I’ve been sensing,” Lady Serenity said, speaking up.

Gregory turned to her. “What do you mean?” he asked.

The unicorn mare pointed towards the entrance to the cave. “Ever since we came here, I’ve been detecting trace amounts of a strange magic.”

Starlight quickly stood and her horn brightened. She closed her eyes in concentration. Gregory almost asked what she was doing but stopped himself, not wanting to interrupt. Finally, after a full minute of this, she stopped and turned to Gregory. “She’s right,” Starlight said. “there’s something out there that’s not like the other magic in this world. It’s hard to describe, but there’s both familiar and kinda strange.”

Lady Serenity nodded as she too stood. “It’s coming from outside the cave.”

“A magic strange and true, you say?” Zecora asked as she too stood. “Perhaps it will lead us on our way.”

“If we’re on that same island,” Gregory said, “but it’s worth looking into once the changeling squad returns with their reports. Let’s just wait for them to come back.”

With that, the group returned to eating in silence. When Gregory felt refreshed, he stood and walked over to the edge of the cave, looking down at the ocean once more, more specifically at the Luxe Deluxe as it floated offshore. He leaned against the cave mouth and kept an eye on it. He could somewhat see what looked like jet skis on the water near the ship itself, but that was it. The ship was too far away to distinguish anything else.

After a while, he was joined by Jason. He glanced in the direction where Gregory was looking, then back at his fellow human. “Seeing anything interesting with those new eyes of yours?” he asked.

Gregory shook his head. “They’re too far away,” he said as he looked back at Jason. “It’s definitely the Luxe Deluxe though. Or at least another ship of the same model.”

“Did this show up in an Equestria Girls movie?” Jason asked.

Gregory nodded. “More like a special,” he explained. “There were four Equestria Girls movies in total, a bunch of shorts on YouTube and some specials. One special was called Spring Breakdown and it shows the Humane Seven-”

“Humane Seven? Really?” Jason snorted in derision. “Creative bunch of fans.”

“Anyway,” Gregory continued, “it shows them and the rest of Canterlot High on Spring Break on this cruise, only for some magic from the Storm King’s invasion to disrupt the entire trip and sink the cruise.”

“The Storm King, huh?” Jason took on a thoughtful look.

Gregory looked at him. “Wait, how do you know about the Storm King? He wasn’t mentioned until the My Little Pony movie.”

“Of course there was a movie,” he almost growled, but he restrained himself and shook his head. “I’ve kept an eye on him.”

“Good call,” Gregory said, “especially if he’s planning to attack Equestria. At least, he did in the movie. Now? Who the fuck knows?”

The two humans stood in the cave’s entrance for a few minutes in silence, watching the cruise ship floating there. Finally, Jason looked back at him. “So…is Supernatural still going?”

With that, the two engaged in a discussion that seemed odd considering the circumstances, but one that clearly Jason needed. It was also nice for Gregory, since even though Jason left Earth in 2014, they were both humans and understood much of the other’s culture, much more than anyone else on Gaia or even the human world counterpart would ever be able to. Gregory caught him up on some of the famous happenings back on Earth. He discussed media, world events, politics and more.

Jason seemed to digest everything and in return he helped bring some of Gregory’s limited knowledge of Gaia’s world events up to date. He even brought out a map that showed lands not even Gregory knew about. It turned out that a part of the world map he knew from the fandom which led to the Undiscovered West was actually a land bridge that led to a vastly uninhabited continent. A continent that had some ancient ruins throughout along with a large circular lake in it. Perfectly circular, with a few circular mountain ranges around it. That sparked Gregory’s interest, and he guessed that it could be the result of an ancient meteorite impact. Jason said he’d had the same conclusion.

Gregory listened to some of the more interesting cultural norms in this world. He knew, of course, that griffon’s had prides, but he learned that ponies and dragons seemed to have a similar concept called herds and hoards respectively. He also learned that every culture was a monarchy in one form or another, and that despite even first world countries like Equestria having a technological equivalent to early twentieth century America, there were still some practices that were antiquated, such as political marriages, especially between noble families. Gregory wondered if that could be the reason that Filthy Rich, who was by all accounts a decent pony, stayed with Spoiled Rich.

At some point during the discussion, Jason pointed to the horn which was slung around Gregory’s shoulder. “What is that, anyway?” he asked.

Gregory looked down at it, picked it up and held it up for Jason to inspect more. “It’s called the Gjallarhorn,” he explained.

“What does it do?”

Gregory frowned. “I never got the rundown from the one griffon who might know,” he said. “I found it a few days ago.”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “Found it?” he asked.

Gregory nodded, remembering his promise to Gwendolyn about not revealing too much. “I don’t know why or how it got to where I found it, but there it was. I’m bringing it back with me.”

“You haven’t blown it, have you?”

Gregory immediately shook his head. “Fuck no! Who knows what this little horn can do? Especially with a name like Gjallarhorn.” He paused and took on a thoughtful expression. “Thing is, I’ve heard the name before not that I think about it…I just can’t remember where.”

“The only horn I have is the Hivehorn,” Jason said, “and it calls all changelings to whoever blows it.”

Just then, the sound of flapping wings could be heard from the entrance to the cave. Gregory and the others made their way over to where the changelings were giving their report to their Emperor. Jason stood and listened impassively, leaning against the wall with half his face in shadow and the other half illuminated by the outside light. As they approached, Gregory heard a hint of concern in Nictis’ voice. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he was saying, “it was a massive creature with vines that circumvent this entire island. We also found remains, including this.” With that, Nictis placed something on the ground.

Gregory looked at what the general had found, then looked directly at Jason. They were both looking at a skull inside a helmet. The skull had a human shape to it, but the helmet was what caught their attention the most. It was a deep green color with golden trees wrought into it. There was a deeper green comb running from the nose of the helmet to the back, and to Gregory’s confusion the helmet had two earholes. To top things off, the helmet looked like it was in perfect condition. Kneeling, he examined the helmet and the skull more closely. Jason quickly joined him and without touching either they looked over what Nictis had brought.

Finally, Jason spoke. “A novans, I’m guessing,” he said.

“That seems likely enough,” Chrysalis said.

Jason looked up at the changeling general. “Did you find any other remains?”

Nictis shook his head. “That’s all we found, my Emperor.”

Rarity looked sick to her stomach and had to look away. “How awful,” she said. “Shouldn’t this poor creature be buried?”

Ember looked at the skull. “This skull belonged to a warrior,” she said, “so the remains should be given a proper burial.”

“I’m guessing cremation?” Starlight asked.

Ember nodded, and without another word she took the skull and helmet, pulled the skull out, held it up in both her claws, closed her eyes, then after bowing her head, she said, “May your spirit find rest in the Fields of Valhalla where all warriors are given eternal rest.” She raised her head and breathed out a large burst of purple flame. The skull was instantly cremated and when she stopped, she held a pile of ash in her claws. She walked over to the entrance to the cave, where she flew up a bit and blew a mighty gust out over the island. She landed and walked back in silence, rejoining the group.

There was silence for a while, as if a spell had been cast on the entire group. Finally, however, Gregory stood and took the helmet in his hand. “May he or she rest in peace,” he said.

Jason nodded in agreement before turning to Nictis. “What were you saying about some kind of monster?” he asked.

And with that, the spell was broken. Nictis continued, describing how he and his squad had discovered that the island was more or less full of creatures that wouldn’t pose a threat for changelings except for some massive creature that was seemingly animated by magical means. It was a massive monster made of a mix of various plants which spread across the island. It held a lot of magic inside it from what they could tell and currently had the form of a mass of tendrils surrounding a large eyeless head. When they’d seen it, it had been sleeping.

After Nictis finished, Gregory spoke up. “Okay, I’ve heard of this monster before, at least I think so. If it’s the same monster as before, then there’s possibly a natural portal on this island that leads to Equestria somewhere near Ponyville.”

Jason stiffened at this. “Of course it is,” he growled.

“Right now, that’s our only option,” Gregory countered. “Our homes are back that way.”

“And how are we supposed to deal with the monster?” Rarity asked.

“Kill it,” Chrysalis said, as if it was the most obvious choice in the world. “After all, we have the numbers and the skill. At least, the changelings do.”

Ember seemed to take offense to that. “Hey! Dragons are warriors through and through! We can handle a plant! Dragonfyre is hotter than any magical fire you can create!”

“Chrysalis, don’t antagonize them,” Jason said with a warning tone to the former changeling queen.

“And Ember, don’t take the bait,” Gregory added. He turned to Jason. “If I’m right and we’re on the same island with the portal to Equestria, then our best bet is to find that portal and go through it. We need to work together to do that.”

Jason nodded, then turned to Nictis. “Did you make a map of the island?”

Nictis nodded and his horn began to glow. What could only be described as a holographic image of the island formed in the middle of the group. “We’re here,” he said, pointing to the highest peak, “and the monster, or the part with the head, was here.” He pointed to a large cleft near the bottom of the peak but still pretty much near the center of the island. “The only problem is this.” A bright green mass of tendrils appeared began to glow brightly. Gregory noted that they spread out from the cleft, only stopping near the shores. Fortunately, there weren’t any tendrils that seemed to scale the mountain where the cave was located. “The monster is asleep currently,” Nictis added, “but I don’t think it’s fully asleep.”

“Sort of like how certain animals can be half asleep in case of danger,” Starlight said.

“So, what should we do?” Spike asked worriedly.

“Did you see anything that looks like quicksand?” Gregory asked.

Nictis shook his head. “We didn’t take a detailed enough magical scan of the island.”

“We’ll need to do that soon,” Jason said, “but for now I suggest we stay here.” He pointed to the mountain. “That monster or whatever it is doesn’t seem interested in the mountain.”

“Probably because of the tree line,” Starlight said, illuminating a small magical light green circle around the projected mountain where the vegetation ended. “If it is made of plants, then it won’t be able to stand being this high up.”

“But this mountain isn’t that high up,” Rarity replied. “I’ve seen hills near Ponyville that are taller than this one.”

“This is a tropical locale,” Gregory replied, “so perhaps the plants have a lower tolerance for cold than your town. Ponyville’s more north, right?”

Rarity nodded. “I see your point.”

“We can’t stay here forever,” Chrysalis said, “we don’t have much food left, and us changelings less so. We can’t get the nutrients from food in the same way anycreature else can.”

Gregory almost brought up the changeling ability to evolve, but thought better of it since he didn’t want to open that can of worms at the moment. There were more pressing concerns. Instead, he said, “We have enough food for a week, maybe more if we send out hunting parties to find fruit and game. Still, we shouldn’t just wait it out.”

“We should go on the attack,” Ember declared, standing up straight and facing the cave. “Plants have nothing on dragonfyre!”

“Nothing’s sharper than a griffon’s claws,” Gilda said, displaying hers for emphasis.

“We could suck that creature dry of all its emotions,” Chrysalis added, “even if it’s got nasty tasting hatred and anger.”

“We can’t go out there without a plan,” Jason said with a glare at Chrysalis.

“We need to gather some more intel on the creature first,” Gregory said, “information is key here.”

At that moment, the ground rumbled slightly, causing some dust and debris to fall from the ceiling. There was a slight noise like that of a growling animal which echoed from the island below. Everyone looked out towards the cavern’s entrance simultaneously, but the rumbling and growl slowly stopped. Slowly, everyone walked out and looked down at the tropical island, wondering just what had happened. They stared, but nothing happened. Not until there was another rumbling noise. A few birds flew out of the trees which were shaking thanks to the rumbling. “What in Equestria is going on?” Rarity asked in a trembling whisper.

It was then that Gregory noticed some slight movement in the distance near the Luxe Deluxe. He turned and saw that two of the jet skis had grown closer to the shore than before . He stared at it, narrowing his eyes so he could get a better look. As had happened a few times before, his vision became more clearer and the scene seemed to zoom in. He saw, for the first time, the inhabitants of this world or dimension. They were perfectly human in appearance, all except for the different colored hair, skin and even eyes. They were all indeed riding on jet skis near the starboard side of the boat. And two particular jet ski riders jumped out at him.

One was a rainbow haired and blue skinned girl wearing a pair of dark pink and black shorts and a tank top with a multicolored lightning bolt on it. He could even see a blue necklace around her neck with a gem on the end. The other was a flame haired and orange skinned girl wearing a black bikini and a yellow and white ying-yang styled sun on the top. She, too, had a necklace around her neck but this one was orange. Both were laughing and splashing each other as they passed. Both had life jackets on as well as a helmet. Both were slowly getting closer to the rocks that surrounded the beach.

Gregory blinked, and the scene returned to normal. He shook his head and turned back to the others. “Or…we could have two teenagers basically alerting the monster to their presence and waking it up by getting too close to the island with two loud jet skis,” he grumbled. “I’m seeing Sunset Shimmer and this world’s version of Rainbow Dash getting way too-”

The rumbling returned, followed by a louder growl this time. This made the ground shake even more, sending everyone tumbling to the ground. Even Daenerys was caught off guard. She faced the door and emitted a low growl. Everyone quickly stood back up and made their way to the entrance of the cave. Peering out, they saw a large bright green vine stretching out from a grove of trees, heading towards the shore. “Or we could have no time whatsoever and need to act now to kill that thing before it hurts someone,” Gregory said. He looked down at the helmet he was still holding. If this were any other situation, he’d have placed it down out of respect for the fallen, but he was about to go out there and fight some magical plant monster. He needed all the protection he could get. He turned to Daenerys. “I hope you’re ready for a fight.”

Daenerys had a nervous but determined look on her face as she lowered herself so that Gregory could climb onto her back. “So do I,” she said as Gregory began climbing into the saddle, which the novans had helped to improve and fix up.

Jason, meanwhile, was looking over his own weaponry, as were the other changelings. The dragons were also being prepared by Ember while Gregory’s friends and the griffons who’d come with them were also preparing. Gabby flew up to where Gregory was strapping in and getting his flying gear ready. She landed in front of him and nuzzled his face worriedly. “Please be careful,” she said.

“We will,” Gregory said, putting a hand on Daenerys’ side and rubbing her scales.

“We should try and come up with a plan, you know,” Jason said as he, Chrysalis and Nictis approached.

Gregory nodded. “Better make it quick. We’re gonna need to protect those humans on the cruise ship. I don’t know if even their version of the Elements of Harmony will do much against that monster, so it’s better safe than sorry.”

“What can we do to help?” Rarity asked, coming up closer to the group.

Gregory and Jason looked at each other. “Any ideas?” Gregory asked, “you’re the one who briefly conquered Equestria and became the changeling emperor, after all.”

Jason glared at that, but took on a thoughtful look moments later. He looked around at all of the gathered races in the massive cave. Looking at Chrysalis, he opened his mouth to say something, but just then there was a loud howling noise from outside followed by a roar. He turned back to Gregory. “They definitely heard that,” he said. “We need to form a protective wall between the island and the ship. Anyone who can fly should do that.”

“And for those of us who can’t fly?” Starlight asked.

“You should head to the ship and warn the humans about what’s going on,” Gregory said. “Look for human versions of the Elements of Harmony, specifically Twilight Sparkle. They have magic and they can help.”

“But weren’t we trying to avoid revealing ourselves?” Lady Serenity asked.

“No time to hide now,” Gregory said as he snapped his goggles on and made sure the sword he was given and his pistol was secure. “Humans have no wings or magic, so they’ll be defenseless against this thing.” He turned to Gabby. “You, Gilda, Gia and Gallus carry Starlight, Rarity, Lady and Spike to the ship.” She and the aforementioned griffons nodded. He turned to Spike. “You know what the girls look like, so you should look for them.” Spike gave a salute. He turned to the other griffons who’d come along as well. “As for the rest of you, form a defensive perimeter around the cruise ship.”

“My dragons and I can use our fire against it,” Ember said, grinning and cracking her knuckles.

“And the changelings can use their magic for defense, along with their guns,” Gregory said.

“We can do a lot more than that,” Chrysalis snarked, only to be silenced by a look from Jason.

“And we will,” Jason said before turning to Gregory. “Half of the changelings is more than sufficient to create a magic shield around the ship. The rest of them can change into something to combat the creature.” He turned to Nictis. “Take half of our soldiers and reinforce the defense with the griffons. The rest of us will join the attacking force.”

“Emperor, might I suggest you take charge of the defense instead?” Nictis suggested. “No offense, but you’re physically in no condition to do any attacking.”

Jason whirled on Nictis. “I’ve still got the same amount of fight in me as when we fought against Chrysalis,” he said testily.

“Back then I could feel how strong you were,” Nictis said, “but you’re not that strong now. I don’t want you harmed, my emperor.”

“He’s right,” Chrysalis said quickly before Jason could say anything more. “Don’t think I’m an idiot, my emperor. I can feel that you’re not doing alright.”

Jason looked like he wanted to argue, but then seemed to look closer at Chrysalis. She was still in her human-like form, giving him a glare. Gregory watched this interaction warily. Finally, Jason simply nodded. “I know when I’m beat. Fine, I’ll be on defense.”

“I’ll carry you,” Chrysalis said, switching to her normal changeling form.

Gregory then turned to Spike. The young dragon looked anxious, but also had a determined look on his face. He looked at the others of his group, who all looked nervous as well. He last looked at Gabby, who had a more determined look in her eyes. His instinct was to ask her to be on defense so she would be safe, but he knew her well enough to know that even if she was atypical for a griffon, she still had pride and would never willingly leave him abandoned. He turned to Ember. “Hey, Dragon Lord, can one of your dragons carry Spike to the ship?” he asked.

“I can help here!” Spike insisted.

“You can help more by using your fire to protect the people on that ship,” he said.

“I can carry him,” a female voice said, flying up. He saw that she was an aquamarine colored dragoness, the same color as Lyra Heartstrings. She was about as tall as Ember was as well. She looked down at the young dragon. “You and I can protect the humans on that ship together. I’ve seen your dragonfyre. It’s impressive for somedragon who hasn’t molted yet.”

Spike looked about ready to protest, then thought about it. He nodded. “Alright, I guess that makes sense,” he said.

“Climb on my back then,” the dragoness said as she lowered herself.

“Thanks, Silica,” Spike said as he did so.

“Shouldn’t I go too?” Rarity asked, raising her hoof. “I wouldn’t be that useful to anypony. I’m not much of a fighter.”

“That didn’t stop you when I invaded Canterlot,” Chrysalis snarked.

“I was protecting my friends!” Rarity shot back.

“Was it really that, or did you do it because they were monsters to you?” Jason retorted darkly.

“Hey! This is neither the time nor the place for this!” Gregory shouted. He turned to Rarity. “You can go with Spike if you want.” The unicorn nodded, ears flattened in response to what Jason had said.

“I can take her,” Silica said.

There was another louder roar just then. Gregory strapped the final straps and grabbed the reins. “Alright, no time to talk! Let’s go!” With that, he lowered the helmet onto his head, made sure it was secure, then urged Daenerys forward and they took flight.

Starboard Side Of The Luxe Deluxe, Five Minutes Earlier…

“Yaahooooo!” Rainbow was shouting as she passed Sunset while splashing her fellow Rainboom with seawater from the jet ski. “Take that, Sunset!”

Sunset laughed and revved her engine, grinning as she moved away to get some distance from her friend while at the same time looking for a way to get her back. They’d been on the water for a little while now, luckily having arrived when a group of people were coming back on. They got on and immediately Rainbow had splashed her friend before zooming off, laughing. They’d been warned a few times not to be so reckless, but Sunset knew that Rainbow wouldn’t listen too much. Soon, even she was getting into it and she was splashing her friend back and forth a little ways away from the cruise ship just on the edge of what they were told was the safe area.

“I’m gonna get you!” Sunset shouted as she chased after her friend, laughing as she chased the retreating girl.

“Missed me, missed me! Now you gotta kiss me!” Rainbow taunted with a grin.

Sunset snorted as she revved her engine, speeding up once more. “What are you, twelve?” she shouted with amusement.

Rainbow playfully flipped her off before taking a sharp turn. Sunset did the same. “Gotta go faster than that if you’re gonna catch me, Sunshim!” she shouted.

Sunset gritted her teeth and gunned her engine, causing the front of her jet ski to come out of the water unexpectedly. “Oh shit!” she shouted as she lost her grip on the jet ski, falling back into the water with a splash. Thankfully, since she was wearing a life vest she came quickly back up out of the water. The jet ski was a few feet away from her now, just idling.

“Sunset!” Rainbow came back over to her, her smile replaced with a worried expression, “are you alright?!”

Sunset gave Rainbow a rueful look. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said as she began to swim back towards her jet ski.

“Hehe, sorry,” Rainbow said nervously, “I guess I went a bit overboard. Although not like you did,” she added with a smirk.

“Har har, very funny,” Sunset snarked as she got back to her jet ski. Slowly, she climbed back onto it and regained her seat. “God, that was scary.”

“I’ll say,” Rainbow said, “lucky for us the lifeguard didn’t see it.” She then looked at Sunset more closely. “Did you just say ‘God’ instead of ‘Celestia’?”

Sunset snickered. “Got a problem with that?” she asked.

Rainbow shook her head. “Hey, no problem from me,” she said, “I was just curious. You really don’t talk much about Equestria.”

Sunset shrugged. “You never really asked,” she replied.

Rainbow looked sheepish. “Okay, you got me,” she said, “but come on! Stories where magic and dragons exist is pretty nerdy, dontcha think?”

“This coming from the biggest Daring Do fan I know?” Sunset retorted, “and don’t forget you have magic now, too. Tons of humans would kill to have what you have.”

“Okay, you’re right,” Rainbow said again, before looking more curiously at Sunset. “So…what is Equestria like exactly?”

“It’s…pretty different,” Sunset said, “and not so different at the same time. It’s kinda hard to explain.”

“Well, start with what’s similar,” Rainbow insisted.

“Sure,” Sunset said. “For one, the days are the same length, there’s a sun and moon, we breath the same air, and a lot of the plant and animal life are similar. But where I’m from, humans are relegated to myth. There’s magic that permeates everything, too. There are a lot of different creatures there who can talk, not just ponies and dragons. Some animals that are mythical here exists there and-” she paused when she saw Rainbow looking a bit stunned. “Rainbow?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry,” Rainbow said, shaking her head. “That’s just a lot to take in. It’s a shame we can’t go visit.”

“Well, you’d be a pony if you went through the portal,” Sunset said.

“What kind of pony?” Rainbow asked.

“A pegasus.”

Rainbow grinned. “I could fly there too!? Awesome!” She looked excited, but then paused and looked back at her friend. “I’d look like my pony self, wouldn’t I?” When Sunset nodded, Rainbow sighed. “Yeah…never mind.”

Sunset looked at her friend. “You’re really bothered by what I told you, aren’t you?”

“If this other Rainbow Dash is like me, then what does that make me?” Rainbow asked.

“Not her,” Sunset said reassuringly.

“How can you know that?” Rainbow looked pleadingly at her. “How can you know that for sure?”

Sunset gave her a warm smile. “Because of how you’re reacting now. Because I can tell this is eating you up inside so much that you’d risk everything to try and prove that you’re not the monster that the other you became.”

“But you had to stop me from doing something stupid,” Rainbow said, looking down angrily at the water. “I’m the same…I’m just a fucking moron.”

“No, you’re not,” Sunset insisted. She revved her engine and moved closer. Reaching out, she put her hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “You actually listened to me when I talked to you. You’re also not a fucking moron. You’re smart.”

“Not like you and Twilight…I’m just a dumb impulsive jock…”

“You might not be smart like Twilight or me, but you’re smarter in other ways,” Sunset reassured her. “I get that school stuff is hard for you, but you’re smarter than me when it comes to sports and such. You have a sharp mind, too. I’ve seen how you play video games and how fast your reflexes are. That doesn’t just happen if you’re dumb. And yes, you’re impulsive, but you can work on that by just remembering this one simple thing: there are always two sides to every story. If you don’t want to be like the other pony you, just remember to get both sides of the story if you can.”

“But what if they’re attacking my friends?” Rainbow asked.

“Then you defend them,” Sunset replied. “You’re the Element of Loyalty. It’s in the name. But defense doesn’t excuse cruelty. Just work to disarm whoever is attacking.”

Rainbow looked thoughtful for a few moments. Sunset waited for her to respond, but just then they heard a rumbling noise coming from the island. The water around them seemed to shiver. Both of them turned and looked at the island. “What the hell was that?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset was about to answer when she saw something on the beach. There were large green tendrils that seemed to be moving out from the treeline onto the beach. More and more slithered out, moving towards the water. A loud rumbling sound followed, and Sunset thought she heard a roar. “Um…I think it’s time to go,” Sunset said.

Rainbow was already revving the engine on her jet ski. “Gotta go fast, Sunset!” she shouted as she gave her friend an expectant look.

As one, the two turned and retreated back towards the Luxe Deluxe. The others had already begun their own retreat to the side of the boat where they launched the jet skis from. The people were scrambling to get back on board with help from the staff. Sunset could see the fear in the eyes of the people who were running back towards the main deck. She and Rainbow were two of the last to get there. The staff helped them on the boat. They quickly changed, grabbed their towels and sandals and rushed back upstairs. By the time they got there, everyone was in a panic. The island seemed to be writhing with moving vines and there were strange roaring sounds coming from the island. Sunset saw her friends standing near the starboard side and she rushed up to them, followed quickly by Rainbow.

When Pinkie saw them, her eyes widened and she glomped onto the two. “You two made it out of the water!” she said happily.

“Pinkie…not the time…” Sunset said, tapping her friend’s shoulder.

As Pinkie released them, Twilight came up, looking scared. “Did you see it?” she asked. When Sunset nodded, she further asked, “Do you know what it is?”

Sunset looked over at the island, frowning. When she was Princess Celestia’s student, she sometimes would study books about dangerous animals, especially ones from the Everfree and other forests in Equestria that were remnants of the Old Forests. She tried to identify the type of creature that might be able to do something like this, but nothing she remembered from her studies rang a bell. “No, I don’t,” she said.

“I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it either,” Fluttershy said in a terrified whisper.

“It’s positively dreadful looking!” Rarity added.

Just then, something appeared to fly from the top of the mountain. It looked like a dragon that someone was actually riding. Then, flying creatures began pouring out of the mountain behind the dragon and its rider. Sunset narrowed her eyes and focused on the large swarm of creatures flying out. Some were beginning to fly around the island itself while others were beginning to approach the ship. As the latter came closer, Sunset’s eyes widened. Again. “That’s impossible…” Sunset said in complete disbelief.

“What’s impossible?” Applejack asked, completely on alert.

“What are those things?” Rarity asked in alarm.

“Changelings!” Sunset shouted.

“You mean those bug horse things that eat emotion you told us about?” Rainbow asked. When Sunset nodded, the prismatic young woman turned back, cracking her knuckles. “It’s hero time,” she snarled.

“Hey, now hold on, sugarcube,” Applejack said in a cautioning tone, “remember what Sunset told us about ‘em. They took that human feller in when nobody else would.”

Rainbow flinched, then looked uncertainly at Sunset, who nodded. She sighed and relaxed. “So what do we do then?”

Twilight looked at her and grinned. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Rainbow grinned back. “Oh, yeah!”

Both of them spoke at the same time, but said something completely different. Rainbow said “Rainbow lasers!” while Twilight said, “Pony up!” That caught the two off guard and they looked at each other.

Sunset couldn’t help herself. She too spoke up. “I thought we were going with-”

“Light ‘em up, ladies!” Pinkie shouted, her hairpin beginning to light up.

The seven girls looked at each other, nodded, and took each other’s’ hands. The felt the magic of friendship coursing through them and their bodies undergoing the metamorphosis that they went through whenever they channeled the magic through them. Their ears vanished and became pony ears, their hair extended, some interesting tattoos appeared on their cheeks and three of them grew wings. They floated up in the air, glowing as they did so.

When the metamorphosis was complete, Sunset looked around. She saw, among all of the quadrupedal forms approaching, one who had a bipedal human shape. She turned back to her friends. “Girls, keep an eye on things here. I’m gonna go see what’s going on!”

“Not without me!” Rainbow said, zooming up to Sunset’s side.

“We’ll get everyone else inside then come back out,” Twilight said, “so come on, girls!”

As the other five moved around, urging everyone else inside the ship for shelter, Sunset and Rainbow both flew up towards the approaching changeling who was carrying the human. As they approached, Sunset noticed that this particular changeling seemed taller than most of the others. She knew a bit about what normal changelings looked like from when she would sneak into certain forbidden sections of the Canterlot Library back in Equestria. This one didn’t look familiar to her. It was taller, with a strangely shaped horn, a crown on its head, and wide buzzing wings. Its eyes were more like those of a pony instead of the faceted eyes drawn in the ancient depictions of changelings. The carapace on its back was green. The changeling even had a dark blue mane and tail.

However, it was the being that this changeling was carrying that stood out more to Sunset. He was human, that much was clear. He was wearing a black overcoat over some gray pants and a dark brown tunic. He had some sort of sword strapped to his back, and Sunset could see that he was blind in one eye, with a lightning scar running down the side of his face where the blind eye was. She couldn’t help himself. She blurted out, “Jason Wright?!”

The human looked at her with a look of surprise. “How do you know my name?” he asked, and Sunset winced. He sounded weary, but there was also determination in his voice.

“Sunset?!” a familiar voice called out from nearby.

Sunset turned and saw a large aquamarine dragon flying towards them. On the dragon’s back was a smaller dragon, one with purple scales and green eyes. In the dragon’s hand was a marshmallow white unicorn with a dark purple mane and tail. Sunset’s eyes widened even further. “Spike?! And Rarity?!”

He smiled and waved sheepishly. “Hey…”

“Are you all done reuniting?” the changeling, a female, asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice, “because there’s a lot we need to do and no time to explain.”

Sunset was about to protest, but a roaring sound interrupted her thoughts. Jason looked directly at her. “Sunset Shimmer, you and everyone else on the ship are in danger. Get back down there and let us handle things up here.” He then turned to a nearby changeling. “Tell the other ‘lings to start preparing a magic shield immediately!”

“Yes, my Emperor!” the changeling said.

The changeling female turned as well. “And make it fast!”

“Yes, Duchess!”

As the changelings and Jason flew away, the dragon with Spike on her back approached Sunset and said, “So this is what a human female looks like…you’re all…bumpy.”

“Not the time, Silica,” Spike warned.

The aforementioned Silica caught herself. “Right, right.” She looked sheepishly at Sunset as she added, “It sounds like you know Spike and Miss Rarity here. Could you take them with you? I need to go back there and help my Dragon Lord.”

Sunset was unable to process everything that was happening, but she did nod silently as she reached out and lifted the young dragon off of Silica’s back while Rainbow flew and took the unicorn Rarity in her arms, hoisting the pony onto her back. Sunset noted that Spike was heavier than the dog version of Spike, who was still on the ship, and a bit bigger too, but she wrapped her arms around him and held him close. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” she whispered.

Meanwhile, Rainbow was looking with some curiosity at Silica. “So you’re a real dragon, huh?” Silica grinned and nodded. “Awesome!”

“Not the time, Rainbow,” Sunset warned, “we should get back down and help the others.”

“Ah, yeah, right,” she said, scratching the back of her neck nervously, “Sorry…”

Sunset chuckled and turned to Silica. “Thanks for keeping Spike safe.”

“No problem!” Silica then did something unusual. She put her fingers in front of her head and tipped it like she was wearing some sort of invisible hat. “Ma’am,” she finished in a southern drawl before turning and zooming back towards the island.

“O…kay…that was weird,” Rainbow said, looking at Sunset with confusion. “What’s going on? Why is that Jason Wright guy here?”

“I’ll tell you all later,” Spike said, “but we need to get back down there.”

“That voice…you sound like Rainbow Dash,” the unicorn said, looking up at Rainbow and removing all doubt. Her voice was identical to her fashionista friend.

Rainbow glared at the unicorn. “And you must be one of the bitches who tortured Jason,” she growled. “Well, looks like the tables have turned, haven’t they?”

“Rainbow! Not the fucking time!” Sunset snapped.

Rainbow’s ears drooped. “Sorry…I guess I need more work than I thought.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Sunset said, “but for now, let’s get back down to the ship and fast!”

As the two humans carried the pony and dragon down towards the ship, Sunset took one last look back at the island. She saw the strange dragon breathing fire at a few of the tendrils reaching up towards it. She couldn’t help wondering what was going on, and who was riding on the back of this dragon.

40: The Battle

Author's Note

Writer's block is a bitch. That is all I'll say.

40: The Battle

Luxe Deluxe, That Same Time…

Luna stood at her window, looking out at the island from whence she and her sister had come many years ago. The once quiet home that had once housed the split colony of humans led by her and her sister was now erupting with activity. She could see the many different races of Gaia all swarming around the Swamp Beast, making moves to subjugate it, but with how large it had grown since she had last seen it, Luna could tell that the group of dragons, changelings and griffons were not organized. They were overlapping and their formations were incompatible. The changelings had order, but the dragons had raw power. Half of the island would likely be up in flames by the time they were done. And as for the griffons? Well, they had no sense of order in their ranks.

The changelings who had come to surround the ship with a bright green shield were seemingly more ordered and led by a human, of all things. Luna knew this because he had seen him walking on the deck with a changeling queen by his side giving orders to the other changelings and urging everyone to get inside.

From behind her, the door to her room slowly opened. She turned and saw Discord standing there, a grave expression on his face. She nodded at him. “Kane Fox,” she said, using his real name for the first time in over a thousand years.

“Selene Star,” he replied with a nod, closing the door behind him as he walked up to join her in watching the battle unfold before them, hands behind his back. The two didn’t say a word as they watched the battle unfold. After a while, Discord, now Kane, looked down at the crystal sphere. The cracks had spread now. He looked back up at Luna, or Selene. “How much longer?”

“Days, maybe hours,” Selene said morosely without looking away from the battle. “Celestia-nay, Celeste, is in her room. She refuses to see us.”

“You’re slipping into ye olden Shakespearian,” Kane admonished her, “and using the royal We.”

Selene’s cheeks flushed. “Apologies,” she said, “it would seem our connection to our counterpart is stronger than we-I…realized.” She looked away and at Kane. “We three knew this day would come, Kane. My sister most of all. Star Swirl did say that the magic wouldn’t hold forever.”

Kane nodded. “Yes, I know. This is perhaps the worst possible time to have it happen, though.” He looked at her with concern. “How are you holding up? Having all of those various lifetimes shoved back into you couldn’t have been easy.”

“I had some help, I believe,” Selene said. “My pony counterpart has a mind for these things, and even though she doesn’t know it, her calming presence helped me ease those memories back into place. We are uncertain about our sister, however.”

“You’re the lucky one,” Kane said. “I had no help. There was no counterpart mind for me to grasp. All I saw was darkness. Oblivion. I don’t know what that means. I do remember everything my counterpart did before he was turned into stone, so perhaps he is still a statue.”

Selene frowned. “That is troubling. I’m sorry you had to suffer so.” She put a reassuring hand on his back.

Kane waved a hand dismissively and gave her one of his disarming smiles. “It wasn’t as bad as it could have been,” he said.

Selene could tell this was a lie. She had over a thousand years of experience within her now, so she could spot a lie. Still, she was warmed by his attempt to not worry her so for the moment she let the matter rest. There were more pressing matters at hoof-at foot, she had to correct herself. She turned back to the window. “Glad to hear it.”

There was silence for a time. Finally, Kane spoke again. “Is that…a human riding a drake?”

Selene looked in the direction he was pointing. At first, she saw nothing, or rather she saw too much to be able to discern anything specifically. She wondered offhandedly if her pony counterpart had better eyesight, but her thoughts were cut short when she saw it. A massive winged reptile that looked like a dragon, but larger. Sitting on its back was a diminutive human figure. Her eyes widened. “That is a drake,” she said in awe, “and that is one of our saddles!”

“So he came from Gaia…” Kane said, “but what in God’s name is he doing here?”

“I don’t know,” Selene said, “but I suspect…we will find out sooner or later.” She turned to Kane. “But enough of this standing around. Right now, you and I are staff at Canterlot High. We should be helping our students.”

Kane nodded. “Yes, you’re right. Let’s get moving. Should we try and get Celeste to try and help?”

Selene shook her head. “Leave her be for now. She’s safe for the moment.” She held up a hand and showed that it was glowing a dark blue. “I do not know how,” she said, “but I have gained some of my counterpart’s magic. I have placed a protective barrier around her cabin that will help to protect her.”

Kane looked at her in stunned silence. He slowly looked down at his own hand, then seemed to concentrate on it. Nothing happened. He sighed. “I didn’t think it’d be that easy,” he admitted as he looked back up at Selene. “Later, though. What should we be doing?”

“For one, let’s find Sunset and her friends,” Luna said. “She is the magical expert and an expert on all things Equestria. I may have my counterpart’s memories, but not the firsthand experience.”

Kane nodded. “Yes, you’re right. Let’s go.” With that, the two opened the door and rushed out.

“The last of the lifeboats are ready, Sunset,” Rainbow said as she rejoined Sunset in the ship’s dining area, the agreed upon meeting place after things were taken care of. “Just in case things go wrong and that monster hits the ship.”

Sunset nodded. It hadn’t taken long to convince everyone on deck to head indoors away from the danger. The changelings had been busy casting some kind of massive shield spell around the ship. The changeling queen had transformed into a large strange flying creature that Sunset didn’t recognize and was flying around with Jason on her back. The human was barking orders to the changelings who obeyed without hesitation. The sickly green shield around the ship grew brighter as more magic was cast on it.

“What about the passengers?” Sunset asked.

“They’re all wearing life jackets just in case,” Fluttershy said as she came up behind Rainbow. “So are all the animals.”

Out of the corner of her eye out of a window she saw several changeling drones transforming into large sharks before diving into the water. She forced that out of her mind as she looked at the approaching Rarity. No, the Raritys. Both human and pony variants had gone together to create spare boats just in case. The human Rarity approached, breathless. “We…hah…made twenty…hah…extra lifeboats…” She took a few moments to compose herself, running her hand through her hair. “Ah…all this sweat is ruining my makeup…”

“You look fine, darling,” the pony Rarity replied, looking up at her human counterpart.

The human Twilight reappeared as well, along with Pinkie and Applejack. Sunset first turned to the farmgirl. “You checked to make sure the engines are all ready in case we need to make a run for it?”

“All primed and ready,” she said before she looked up at the shield. “Ah don’t know ‘bout that shield, though.”

“It is a changeling shield, so it should move with us,” a familiar voice said from behind the girls. Everyone turned to see Vice Principal Luna along with Discord.

Sunset looked curiously at the vice principal. “How do you know that?” she asked.

Luna raised her hand and tapped her forehead. It was then that Sunset noticed that Luna’s hair seemed to be slightly moving as if a breeze was blowing through it. This wouldn’t have been unusual except for the fact that they were inside. There was also the fact that she saw slight glistening lights like stars in Luna’s dark blue hair. “Trust us,” she said, “we are remembering things not our own.”

“You sound like Princess Luna,” the pony Rarity said.

“Her hair certainly looks like Princess Luna’s,” the dragon Spike added.

“That is a story for another time, young dragon,” Luna said to Spike before she turned to Sunset. “Discord and I have come to offer our assistance.”

“Where’s Principal Celestia?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“Fret not, young Twilight,” Luna said reassuringly. “She is safe but indisposed at the moment. How can the two of us help?”

“Well, we’ve been preparing just in case we need to abandon ship,” Sunset said. “Everything seems to be ready for that eventuality.”

“I see. Everything then depends on the creatures defending the ship,” Luna said. She held up her hand, and everyone saw it was glowing a deep resonating blue. “We are unsure if our new magic can help, but we will attempt to ensure the safety of everyone on this ship.” Luna turned to Sunset. “Sunset Shimmer, I may have the memories of my counterpart, but not the experience in magic. I can perform some magic, but the other spells I am seeing from my counterpart are beyond my reach to understand. Will you be willing to help me?”

Sunset rushed forward. “I will,” she promised.

Luna nodded gratefully, then turned to the others. “Also, before we go, I should mention that our names are not Luna and Discord.” She pointed to Discord. “His real name is Kane Fox. My name is Selene Star.”

“Real names?” Rainbow asked.

“Tis a long tale, young Rainbow,” Luna said, “and once this crisis is over, we shall explain. However, what can we do to help?”

Celestia’s Room, That Same Time…

Celestia lay in bed, panting heavily as she curled up underneath the comforter and held her head. Outside of her comfortable fortress of thick warm blankets, her entire room, which had once been pristine and orderly like her life, was now in shambles. The evergreen couch cushions had been thrown around the room and torn up, leaving the stuffing laying everywhere like a layer of snow, the mirror above the desk had been shattered, the cabinet drawers had been thrown around, and the TV was lying on the floor, completely wrecked.

Celestia curled up tighter, trying to will herself to forget everything that was coming back to her after one thousand years. A thousand years of having her old body restored to that of an infant and having her memory erased after ‘death’ over and over again. Her and her sister. She didn’t want to remember the dozens of lives she’d lived. Her head felt like it was splitting open.

Not only that, but there were other memories. Memories not her own. She was seeing bits and pieces of a strange palace, but not only that, she was seeing herself not as a human, but as a white horse with wings and a horn. She was also sensing something changing inside her. Something both alien and strangely familiar. One word came to her mind when she allowed herself to think about it: Magic.

She was developing magic.

She grabbed her pillow and screamed into it angrily. As if in response, the ship around her rocked, but she wasn’t paying any attention. She didn’t want to remember everything again. She raised her fist and struck the headboard of her bed over and over again, hoping that the pain would help her forget.

Pain…helping her forget…

She came up out of the blanket and looked up at the wall, a sudden idea forming in her head. Slowly, she uncurled herself, getting onto her knees and placing both hands on the wall, looking at it. She knew that getting his in the head was a good way to develop amnesia. She felt a smile forming on her lips, one that turned into almost demented laughter. That laughter became a harsh screech as she moved her head back. With a jerk, she moved forward without any hesitation.

“Sister! NO!”

Celestia felt her head slow down. Her forehead touched the wall, but it wasn’t enough to hurt. She felt a pair of strong arms being wrapped around her and she turned to find herself staring into the eyes of Discord. Kane Fox. One of her oldest friends and in some lives a lover. His eyes were full of worry, all directed at her. He swallowed a bit and gave her a lopsided grin. “You gave us a bit of a scare, Cellie,” he said, sounding relieved.

She looked at him, and felt herself go weak. She leaned into his chest and burst into tears. She clung to him like a scared little girl seeking comfort from a parent. Kane’s arms wrapped around her and held her close. Another presence made itself known as another pair of arms wrapped around Celestia.

No, not Celestia anymore.

Her name, her real original name. Celeste Star.

With her sister and one of her closest friends with her, she was starting to accept things as they were. She wasn’t just Celestia or Celeste, she had been more. With her acceptance, she felt her headache going away as a simultaneous sense of peace washed over her. A peace that seemed to come from her pony counterpart in Equestria. She still wept, but the crying started feeling therapeutic. Finally, she sat up, wiped her eyes and nose with a handkerchief Kane handed to her. “I…I’m sorry,” she said to Kane, pointing at his now stained shirt.

Kane waved his hand dismissively. “It’s just a shirt, Cellie,” he said, “I can get another one.”

Selene was immediately at Celeste’s side, holding her older sister with a worried expression on her face. “We are sorry you had to endure such sorrow,” she said. “We had hoped you would be able to enjoy this vacation to the fullest.”

Celeste stood back up, smiled, grabbed a tissue and blew her nose before wiping her eyes with another. “I’ll have time to mourn things later,” she said, standing tall. She snorted, almost in a horselike way, and she felt the surge of what she knew now to be magic coursing through her. “What’s the situation?”

As Selene filled her in, Celeste listened carefully, nodding in understanding. She had not only regained her memories from her many past lives, but she’d gained the memories of another. An alicorn, she now knew. Just like the cartoon My Lovely Pegasus her niece Cadance had enjoyed as a kid. Once Selene was finished, Celeste drew on the knowledge of her alicorn counterpart. And saw the memories of recent months pass through her head. A human, tormented by ponies in the other world, his ultimate revenge, the ultimate cause being the chaos lord Discord. Discord’s…

Her eyes shot open and she looked over at Kane, eyes wide in fear. She ran over and grabbed Kane’s shoulders, looking over her oldest friend with worry. Kane, a bit confused, looked at Celeste. “Celeste? What’s wrong?”

Suddenly, Selene was by his side as well, also looking him over, a look of worry that matched her sisters plastered on her face as well. “Kane, I believe I know now why you only have certain knowledge of your counterpart,” she said, her voice trembling.

Kane looked at Selene, his confusion turning to worry. “Do I want to know?” he asked.

Selene was the one who clung to him tightly. Celeste watched this with a sad smile. It would seem that Selene’s old feelings for Kane had come rushing back. Even if Celeste and Kane had once dated, Selene too had once felt strongly about him. She couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to know that in another world, a different version of the man she once loved had been killed. Celeste put a hand on Kane’s shoulder. “Maybe later,” she said, her voice trembling a bit before she straightened and narrowed her eyes. She felt her hair beginning to move as if in the breeze, but she ignored it since it felt strangely familiar. “Right now, we need to try and help our students and keep this ship from sinking.”

“Sister, we felt the magic of the Gjallarhorn nearby,” Selene said after she released Kane and wiped her own tears.

Celeste frowned. “How’d it get here? Last my counterpart knew, it was on Gaia.”

“We’re unsure,” Selene said, “but the power is here. And we believe it comes from the direction of the human who is riding that drake.”

Above Primos Island…

The fight wasn’t going very well. Gregory could see that. He realized belatedly that they’d failed to take into account the different strategies of each race when it came to how they fought or strategized. Changelings had order in their ranks, but they weren’t exactly strong on their own and they relied too heavily on their shapeshifting abilities. Their magic was strong, but it seemed more built for defense and not offense. With their love supply low, they were weak.

The dragons were more of a brawler type race and relied heavily on their fire and strength. Still, the fire didn’t seem to do as much good as they expected especially since the monster they were fighting was surrounded by water which it could use to douse itself.

The griffons? They were weaker and had absolutely no sense of order. They fought valiantly, sure, but there was less order among them than among the dragons and changelings. They used their claws to slice off the vines and peck at them with their beaks, but for every vine they severed, two more took its place.

His group of close friends were flying around close to him. He was trying to go for the head. He reasoned that if it was taken out, the rest would follow. Simple. However, they were only a handful of creatures and the monster was being very protective of the large mass which was presumably its head or brain. Daenerys’ fire was hot, but it wasn’t doing much here to help just like the dragon’s own fire.

Zecora was being carried by Gallus and was throwing small spherical objects down at the larger concentrations of the monster. When they hit something, there was a hissing sound and the spheres broke, letting loose some kind of acidic substance onto the plant. It was a revolting smell, but it did the trick.

Starlight, being the powerful magic user that she was, had surrounded herself with a magical orb which she used to fly. She fired dangerous blasts of magic at the vines, destroying them and slicing them off easily, but just like with other vines, two more would take the place of the ones destroyed.

Gabby and Gilda were amazing. He didn’t know why, but those two seemed to be perfectly in sync with each other, Gabby seemed to have taken the leadership role among them and was fighting with a ferocity he’d never seen from her. Her eyes blazed as she slashed at the creature’s vines with her claws. Gilda was just as fierce. They slashed and dove through the thick moving vines, trying hard to get to the center to end the creature’s life, but nothing seemed to be working. The creature was too powerful.

Gregory had even fired off a few shots with his pistol before realizing that in comparison to the monster, he might as well have been firing peashooters at the thing. He put his pistol away and instead drew his new Atlantean sword. It blazed in the light of the sun as he made sure that the helmet on his head was fastened straight. A part of him knew that the rest of him was thoroughly exposed to attack, especially to the tips of the vines which seemed to be sharp as a blade, but he knew he had to protect his head at all costs.

At that thought, the sword in his hand flashed with a bright blue light. His ears suddenly felt like they were being stretched, and after looking down, he saw that something else had appeared on his body. Or rather, to cover his body. He now wore a suit of gleaming fresh looking armor that protected him everywhere. He didn’t have the time to think about it as he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. He spun around and slashed at the motion with his sword, only to feel his heart stop when he saw that he’d nearly clipped Gilda. “Gilda!?”

She spun away from him, a look of wide eyed fear passing over her face. “Hey! Careful with that thing, dweeb!” she shouted.

“Sorry!” he shouted back, turning back to the monster before them.

“You look sexy in that!” Gabby’s voice said from my left.

Gregory turned, lifted the visor, and gave her a wink before lowering the visor again and looking back down at the monster. Gallus and Zecora joined them soon after, with Starlight coming moments later. Starlight was panting heavily and Gregory could tell she had expended a lot of magic. She landed on Daenerys’ back and clung to Gregory’s back to catch her breath. “That thing’s…indestructible…” she said.

“Nothing’s indestructible,” Gregory replied, pointing his sword down at the center of the mass of vines. It looked like some sort of eldritch horror, writhing vines like nasty tentacles. “See that mass of vines?”

“Seriously gross,” Gilda said with a scowl.

“There’s got to be something those vines are protecting,” Gregory continued, ignoring Gilda’s words. “Cut off the head and the rest will follow. It’s protecting its vulnerable spot.”

Nearby, he saw Chrysalis firing a deadly blast of magic at a large branch of vines, slicing clean through them. However, as the vines fell, more took their place. He looked at his friends. “Follow me,” he said as he turned Daenerys towards Chrysalis. When they were within earshot, he shouted, “Chrysalis!”

She gave him a quick glance before looking back at the monster. “I’m a bit busy here,” she shouted as she fired another blast of magic at another bit of vines.

“This is getting us nowhere!” Gregory shouted back. “We need to have a better plan than just attack it and whittle away at it!”

“Got any ideas then, dragonrider?!” Ember’s voice called from above. She flew down beside the group, breathing fire at the incoming vines every so often.

Gregory’s mind went into overdrive. He knew some changelings were here helping, as were the dragons and griffons. He looked around, looking for ideas and running through the strengths of each race there. Dragonfyre, he’d learned, could definitely be used to burn a path through the vines if concentrated. Changeling magic could aid in that, pushing vines away and keeping shields up. Griffons had ferocity and unpredictability, plus their claws were sharp.

Then, he noticed something. He had been hearing the screeching sounds coming from the griffons all through the fight, some sort of battle cry. He paid more attention to it, then to the creature’s reaction to it. To his surprise, he saw that anytime a griffon shrieked, the nearest vines would retreat.

He turned to Gabby. “I have a plan, but it’s going to involve the help of every race here.” He turned back to Chrysalis, then Ember. “Are you both okay with this?”

Ember scowled over at Chrysalis, baring her teeth at the former queen. Chrysalis’ eyes flashed with a similar rage, but that was all. Gregory watched, likening what he was seeing to two predators sizing each other up before a fight. However, it was Chrysalis who spoke first. “As long as the flying reptile keeps her claws to herself, we’ll be fine.”

“Don’t insult me, bug!” Ember snapped back.

“ENOUGH!” Gregory bellowed, glaring at both leaders. “You can fight each other later!” He pointed to Ember. “Dragon Lord, we need the dragons all in one place so they can use their dragonfyre on the beast all at once.” Next, he pointed to Chrysalis. “Duchess, what changelings that are helping in the fight will need to use their magic to hold back as much of the vines as possible when we press the attack.” He looked to Gabby. “Gabby, what’s that screech I keep hearing you and the other griffons using?”

“It’s a battle cry,” she replied. “Why?”

He didn’t respond directly. Instead, he gestured to Gilda and Gallus as well as Gabby. “You three tell the griffons that they are to wait for my signal, and when I give it, they are to use their battle screech as loud as they can at the exact same time.”

“What about me and Zecora?” Starlight asked.

Gregory turned back to her, then looked at the expectant zebra, the latter of whom still held some orbs full of whatever acidic liquid she had been using. He pointed at Starlight. “You help the changelings hold back the vines. Zecora, is there anything you have with you that’s explosive?”

“A brew I have that ignites, ‘tis true, but what use can it be for you?” she asked.

“Just before the dragons breathe their fire, I want you to drop as much of the stuff as you can,” Gregory replied. “The more fire we have, the more likely we’ll be in hitting the center.”

She nodded, and simply said, “Understood.”

I turned back to Daenerys. “Dany, we’ll be breathing fire with the dragons too. Think you can handle that?”

She looked back at me and gave me a smirk. “I may be young, but I am strong,” she said in a proud tone. “My fire is hot and burns brightly.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Gregory smirked, patting her scales before he turned back to everyone. “Tell your soldiers to pull back for the moment!” he commanded. “We need an opening, and we need to lull this creature into a false sense of security!”

Gabby raised her head and opened her beak. However, instead of a battle screech, he heard a bellowing roar, like that of a lion. As one, the griffons turned from their attack, eyes locked onto her. In a voice that probably would have rivaled the Royal Canterlot Voice, she bellowed, “Fall back! The Chancellor commands it!” There was a tone of command in her voice that passed through everyone there, not just the griffons. However, all griffons did as ordered and retreated back to where they were.

When the changelings and dragons retreated out of the reach of the tentacles, Gregory led them to fly between the monster and the cruise ship. It was at that moment that something new occurred. From below, he saw two brightly glowing forms approaching them, followed by seven more. When they reached him, Gregory gaped. Flying beside him on either side were two human women. One had pale pinkish skin, a multicolored rainbow head of hair which flowed in the breeze, and a pair of wings behind her. On the other side of him flew a dark blue skinned woman with blue hair and a pair of wings. “Celestia? Luna?” he gasped.

“Nay, my good sir,” Luna said. “Our name is Selene Star. This woman is our elder sister, Celeste Star.”

The seven other forms joined as well. He knew who they were without needing to say. Sunset came flying up to him, her glowing phoenix wings behind her spread wide. “How can we help?” was all she could say.

Gregory looked at the others. Seeing the Mane Six in pony form was one thing, but seeing humans, real flesh and blood humans, with varying skin, hair, and eye colors than the norm, was unusual, and it was a relief. He’d only seen Jason since coming here, and now that he knew there were other humans, he somehow felt less alone. He returned his gaze to Sunset. “Sunset, you and the other Elements of Harmony keep everyone on board the Luxe Deluxe safe and protected,” he said. “Also, tell the captain to move the ship further away from the island. There’s gonna be a huge explosion.”

She looked surprised that he knew her name, but he was relieved to see that she knew her priorities when she nodded sharply. She turned back to the others. “Come on, girls! Let’s keep protecting the ship!”

Rainbow Dash, the human one, looked a bit suspiciously at Gregory. “But how’d he know your name-?”

“Later!” Sunset interrupted, grabbing the wings of the prismatic human and dragging her down.

“Ow ow! Not so hard!” Rainbow said in pain as everyone else followed suit.

Celestia, or Celeste, flew up closer to Gregory. “Atlantean armor,” she said in awe before she stopped and became serious. “I don’t know who you are, sir, but my sister and I can be of help.” She turned and pointed to the writhing mass of tentacles that formed a ball around something. “That is a Swamp Beast, a monster created in ancient times by Grogar. Star Swirl and the Pillars of Equestria attempted to destroy it, but it didn’t work, so instead they had to banish it.”

“That seems to be a theme with that old fucker,” Gregory said, “but how do you know-?”

“I’ll explain later,” Celeste said. “They told Princess Celestia that it only had one weakness, and that was the head.”

Gregory nodded, refocusing on the task at hand. “We’re going to attempt to destroy it,” he said.

“Hast thou a plan?” Selene asked.

“The beginnings of one,” Gregory said before he quickly recounted his idea.

Both listened intently, before Celeste nodded and smiled. “A good plan. However, you’re missing one vital thing.”

“And what’s that?” Gregory asked.

She pointed to the writhing mass of vines. “The Swamp Beast’s vines will grow more and more with fresh water contact. There are many plants on this island, and the beast can drain them of their water to strengthen itself. Once it senses it’s in real danger, it’ll do that and grow more. Any fire you use will be useless if the head isn’t exposed completely.”

“That is where the two of us come in,” Selene said, seeming to understand where Celeste was going. “We have the knowledge of our Equestrian counterparts, and it would seem we have the command of their magic, at least an echo of it.”

“I know Celestia and Luna would have the strength to pull the head out from behind those vines,” Celeste added, “but I don’t know if we do. We just got this magic.”

“But we are willing to try,” Selene finished, holding up her hands which began to glow a deep blue.

Gregory felt his confidence rise. He drew the sword he had sheathed before and held it aloft. “Listen to me, everyone!” he shouted so as to be heard. He couldn’t believe he was about to give a rallying speech, but he couldn’t think of anything else to do to give them confidence. “We all want to go home, believe me I know! But before we can do that, this monster must be defeated! There are representatives of many races of Gaia here today! Griffons, dragons, changelings, ponies, zebras, and even humanity! Apart, we are as different as night and day, but if we use our strengths, we can take the day! Who’s ready to kick some disgusting plant ass!?”

The griffons cheered loudly, the dragons roared, the changelings looked a bit confused, but eventually they joined in. Celeste and Selene smiled at him as the latter said, “Thy foul language aside, we are prepared to defeat this nasty creation of Grogar’s.”

“Then let’s do it.”

Hunger. The beast hungered. It lusted for the tender flesh of creatures. It craved the delicious flesh of creatures. It loved to hear their squeals or shrieks of terror, as it made the meal all the sweeter.

And currently, it was looking at a mighty feast, the likes of which it hadn’t seen in ages. Not since those strange creatures encased in metal came from the mountain. Now, however, despite its eyes covered, it could see a number of unusual creatures, including some shaped similarly to the ones it had tortured and devoured ages ago.

The meat creatures were trying to hurt it, which made it angry. It did the hurting! It was the one who took pleasure in the hurting, not these pathetic creatures whose sole purpose was to feed its magnificence.

Suddenly, the creatures retreated, and his almighty Touch could no longer feel them. Could no longer sense their warm, delicious bodies. It felt confusion, feeling around and trying to find its food. It was starving, and the food in its home was not enough to sate its almighty Hunger. How dare they? How dare these insignificant mites challenge and mock it!? It was lord of all! It was the bringer of life and death! Mostly death.

It used the roots to begin soaking up the life of its fellow plants. Plants placed there by providence for his own sustenance. It felt the life drain from his home. It didn’t care. They would return and feed it again. It felt the screams of pain of the animals in its grasp as it crushed them. Other animals fled, but it didn’t care. It was focused on a much bigger prize.

It grew. And grew. Soon, all of the soil on its home island was covered by its countenance. Its divine form. Soon, it would sense everything. It would become stronger thanks to the nutrition it had gained by the unwilling but noble sacrifice of its subjects on his island.

It withdrew into itself, ready for the inevitable. It would shoot out its web of vines in every direction possible. It knew victory was inevitable, and then came the feast. The feast where it could use its eyes to see the terror and screams of its meals before devouring them.

However, mere moments before it could release its might, it felt something restraining against its vines. Annoyed, it pushed against the restraints, but it couldn’t move. It pushed against the restraints once more, its annoyance turning to righteous fury! How dare it be restrained!?

Then it felt the hot sting against its holy orb of vines! It screeched in rage as it tried to pull away, but something stopped it once more. The audacity! The sheer audacity of these pathetic worms! They would pay dearly for their transgressions!

Suddenly, it saw light. Its eyes had been covered for ages upon ages, but it knew light. It was red and it burned. It burned through his protection, and for the first time in many lifetimes of lesser forms of life, saw the life forms for what they were.

The bright light in the sky shone down brightly, temporarily blinding it as it tried to reform its chrysalis of vines around itself. The food creatures were hidden behind the light, but soon it could see them. Varying creatures, some it had not seen in many lifetimes. When its home had been a vast jungle. Others it didn’t recognize, but the power it felt from them was intoxicating. For it didn’t just feed off of flesh and bone, but on magic. And it hadn’t felt the deliciousness of having its magical stomach full for ages upon ages.

And there was a veritable feast waiting. If only it could get to them.

It roared in frustration as it flung itself against the barrier once more. A barrier made of magic, it realized instantly. Suddenly, its frustration turned to glee. It fed off of magic, after all. It just needed to get to the nearest part of the magic and suck on it!

Instinctively, it searched out for the nearest source of magic and discovered that it was behind its head, still covered by the vines that protected part of his head. It felt a sense of satisfaction as it turned its head and dove into the vines, searching for the source of magic. However, when its head came out and jaw opened, it was met with a wall of flame. The magic vanished and it felt the burning sting of the fire.

Angrily, it shot its mouth out, trying to snap at the source of the fire, but another bright flash illuminated its eyes and causing it to go temporarily blind. Its head thrashed about, its rage increasing. It blinked its eyes rapidly, regaining its sight. More creatures flew there, and one among them stood out. A large flying reptile with some small creature on its back hovered close. The beast recognized the shining metal the smaller creature wore, and its anger blazed. The same metal had been worn by the pale skinned creatures that had come from the mountain and by the similarly shaped red skinned flying creatures after them.

The same creatures who it hated the most out of every other creature it had consumed.

The need for revenge welled up inside its being and it howled, but just as it was about to attack, a piercing shriek came from all directions. It retreated, the harsh sound stunning it. A pair of bolts of lightning came down, striking it and stunning it briefly. Another blast of fire shot towards it, along with a small brown bead that exploded the moment the fire touched it.

It flailed about, angrier than it had ever been before. The pain shot through its massive form, but fortunately for it, the head was still secure. It opened its eyes and glared over towards the creatures in the air. Its eyes locked onto the creature encased in metal and it hissed. With a rage unparalleled, it opened its mouth wide and its tongue snapped out towards the creature, wrapping around the distasteful metal and snapping him off of the back of the larger flying creature.

Finally! There would be a delicious meal coming its way, and it would start with the metal creature.

It heard the screams of its victim and felt the rush of enjoyment at the screams. It would make the meal all the sweeter. It heard cries of fear and worry coming from above, and it gave an open mouthed grin. Clearly, this creature had someone to care for it. No matter, that made the meal even better!

It retracted its tongue slowly, pulling it back and wrapping the meal more and more in its tongue. It felt the creature squirming in its grasp and relished in it as it pulled its first bite towards the maw.

It was about to close its jaws around the creature, only to stop when a sharp noise cracked through the air. There was a sharp pain on the roof of its mouth and it hesitated, stunned. Nothing had ever touched the inside of its mouth before to cause pain. Nothing!

There was a second noise, then a third, then a fourth. To its shock, one of its eyes stopped working as pain shot through it as well. It felt liquid pour from the eye. Blood! No food made it bleed its own blood!

With a roar of indignation, it pulled its food closer sharply, intent on swallowing it whole and enjoying the squirming sensation as the food was slowly dissolved. It didn’t expect more pain, but that was what it got as a sharp pain went through its tongue, slashing it apart with intense ferocity.

It lost the grip on its food, only for it to land square into its mouth. Just then, the magic around its many vines holding it back were lifted and it could move. It tried to move them into a protective stance around its head, only to hear a shattering sound all around it. The pain was intense and unlike anything it had felt before, save for the pain that had followed the noises before. It clenched its mouth shut, the first morsel of food still inside.

Trying to get one victory out of the many failures, it tried to use what was left of its tongue to push the food back to its throat. However, the creature inside fought back and it felt the stabbing of more pain than it had ever felt before. Its anger burned hot and it shook its head, trying to knock the food out, but all that did was bring more pain.

Until the food slipped.

With complete satisfaction and a victory cry, the beast felt its food slide down its throat. It wasn’t the best way, but it was still satisfying nonetheless. Unfortunately, the magic holding back the majority of its vines was back in place. Then there were more sharp noises. It felt the pain around its exposed vines near its head. The fire struck at the same time with a ferocity unmatched from the time before.

Then, pain came from its stomach.

It howled and its mouth opened in a roar of immense pain. Its head shot out, looking down with its one good eye at its stomach. A piece of metal stuck out of its exposed main body. It howled louder and reached down, trying to claw at the piece of metal with its teeth. However, another blast of fire from above struck its head. With a final indignant roar, it looked to see another similarly shaped creature sitting on the back of a winged black quadruped. It had a large piece of metal held up. The beast saw the creature’s face. One eye was white and the other full of rage. A noise came from its mouth, and as the piece of metal exploded with light, it also felt a stabbing pain in its chest.

It faded into oblivion…

Jason had arrived just in time to see his fellow human be swallowed by the monster. He’d heard the screams of terror from the Gabby griffon. He’d taken command instantly, bringing out his rifle and commanding his changelings to reload just in case. He’d aimed his gun directly at the monster’s head, when he saw something from below. A small glint of metal sticking out of the beast’s large belly. He smirked. His fellow human wasn’t out of the woods yet, but he had fight in him.

Turning to Gregory’s drake, he shouted, “Daenerys! Use as much fire as you can on its head!”

The drake nodded and did so, releasing a large burst of fire. The creature’s head reared back, and at the same time Jason saw the sword pull back into the wound. The creature looked up directly at Jason, its one good eye locked onto him with a look of pure hatred in its eye. Jason glared back down with his own good eye, then shouldered his rifle. “Not today, you bastard!” With that cry, he pulled the trigger.

He watched in satisfaction as he creature’s head exploded in a mist of blood and brains. At the same time, he saw Gregory’s sword sticking out of the chest of the creature, although higher than before. It slid down, creating an opening through which the human could escape. And he had to do so quickly, since the creature’s new headless neck was thrashing about, as was the rest of its body.

He watched as Gregory slid down the dying Swamp Beast’s belly towards the ground, landing, or rather crashing, onto the ground. The armor that had encased him vanished in a flash of what had to be magic just as the helmet came off, tumbling away. Gregory’s sword fell out of his hand as he lay sprawling on the ground, his body covered in blood and guts.

Looking down to the changeling who he was riding, he ordered, “Bring me down there, quickly!”

“At once, my Emperor!” the changeling shouted, diving as quickly as he could towards the ground.

It seemed, however, that he wasn’t the only one to have that idea. He saw a dark gray shape divebomb the ground, landing first beside the downed human. Daenerys was next, gently lifting her rider in her claws. Gregory’s other friends were instantly there a few seconds later, Zecora by his side and motioning everyone to stand back.

When Jason landed, he got off of the changeling and rushed over as fast as he could. He stopped beside the unicorn pony. “How is he?” he asked Zecora as she was applying some sort of salve to him.

“His skin is full of burns and hurts,” she explained, “Now quiet, and allow me to be his nurse.” There was a tone of command in her voice.

The changeling beside him looked indignant, but before he could say anything Jason put a hand in front of his face, looking down and shaking his head. From behind him, he heard someone else land. A familiar voice said, “Our sister and I know several healing spells that might be of aid.” He turned and saw the human versions of Luna and Celestia approaching.

“Your aid, while kindly extended, may result in his life being prematurely ended,” Zecora replied. “If any healing magic on him is used, the poisons to him will be permanently fused.”

Principal Celestia put a hand on Luna’s shoulder. “She’s right. I just remembered that these creature’s stomachs are filled with poison that dissolves their prey.”

Luna was about to say something when she stiffened, cocking her head. She nodded and stood straighter. Slowly, her eyes settled on Jason. She approached him, looking at him wide eyed. A sense of recognition formed on her face as she said, “Thou art Jason Wright…”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “I am…how do you know my name?” he asked.

“We know it from the memories of our royal counterpart,” she said.

“It’s a long story,” the human Celestia said as she joined her sister, “and hopefully we’ll have time to tell it.” She extended her hand towards him. “Name’s Celeste Star. My real name, that is.”

Jason frowned in confusion, but took the offered hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you, Miss Star.”

“This is my sister Selene Star,” Celeste said, gesturing to the other human. Jason nodded politely to Selene, who smiled and bowed a bit back at him. “We know who you are, but is that man over there really Gregory Graystone?”

A bit unnerved by their knowledge of him and his fellow human, he nodded. “Seems he underwent some minor cosmetic changes somehow,” he said.

“Well, I suspect we’ll get some answers later,” Celeste said, turning back to where Zecora was treating Gregory hastily but thoroughly.

Everyone waited worriedly as Zecora did her magic. Finally, she stepped back and wiped her brow with her hoof. “He is out of danger, that much is addressed. For now what he needs is some food and some rest.”

“Hopefully they have some extra beds on the cruise,” Celeste said, turning to see the retreating vessel. “Is he safe to be moved?”

“I’ll make sure nothing happens to him,” the large drake said, slowly reaching down and lifting the human with her claws. “Lead me where to go.”

Jason looked back at the changeling he’d ridden on before, who nodded and lowered himself so that his emperor could sit on his back. He turned back to Daenerys. “We’ll lead you back.”

As the group flew or were flown towards the still retreating ship, one thought passed through Jason’s mind. When had Gregory gotten pointed ears?

41: A House Divided

Canterlot, Evening

Princess Luna and Princess Celestia both collapsed onto Celestia’s bed with a huge sigh from both of them. Their day had been extremely long and arduous, having dealt with more complaints from the House of Lords about the reopening of the borders. Cash King and Cash Cow had led the charge, but Celestia had sensed that the rhetoric they spat didn’t seem to be their own. It was almost like they had been spoon-fed their words. Even Luna noticed it, and it had infuriated her more. Celestia knew Luna had little patience for politics even back when the nobles had been more…well, noble, but what was done was done, and both royals had to deal with them. Celestia suspected Marchioness High Life of being the true mastermind behind this movement, seeing as she was one of the more well-spoken nobles of the House of Lords, and this suspicion grew when the Marchioness didn’t speak up during the daily arguments and complaints.

Beside her, Luna groaned into the pillow she had her face buried into, then slowly came up and turned to face Celestia. “How in Equus do you manage to deal with this day in and day out?” she asked. “I wanted to blast them to the moon!”

“I’ve had several hundred years of practice in dealing with them,” Celestia replied with a small smirk as she sat up. She trudged over to her changing area and began taking off her new regalia. “The nobles are an entitled bunch, and I’ve had to cater to them for far too long.”

“Can we not simply dissolve the House?” Luna asked as she stood as well, approaching her sister as she brushed her multicolored mane. “What good do they bring to the kingdom?”

“It’s unfortunately not as simple as that,” Celestia said. “The House controls much of Equestria’s wealth. Our economy is in a tailspin because of what happened with Jason and the invasion. My lack of foresight caused this, not just because of what happened to Jason but because ponies like Cash King and Cash Cow hired nonponies at their business and made profits spike by paying them less than the minimum wage. It’s practically slave labor.”

Luna nodded. “So, what can we do to change things? I don’t know much about our current economy, but I do know if we try to change things too fast, our already crumbling economy will just fail epically as the foals say.”

Celestia nodded in agreement. “Unfortunately, there’s not too much we can do at the moment. Or so I want them to believe.” Celestia’s smile returned, and it was incredibly devious.

So much so, in fact, that Luna shivered a bit in fear. “Sister, what are you planning?”

Celestia grinned as she lifted a letter up in her magic. The paper was coarsely made, but Luna recognized it as being similar to the paper received from Griffonstone. “I have a letter here from a certain griffoness named Gwendolyn,” Celestia said. “She’s on the Griffonstone Imperial Council and is an Imperial Mage. She’s written to me about a discovery she made about the illegal use of Sylvalin.”

Luna’s eyes shot open wide. Sylvalin was an illegal substance that had once been used back when pony cults existed. They could be attached to ponies and used to control them. Luna had thought that the entire gemstone supply had been eradicated after Discord’s first rule over a thousand years ago, but it appeared that there was a supply somewhere in Equestria. Luna was glad that she and her sister were immune to its effects, though. “What vile monster would dare use such a despicable means of control?!”

“It would appear that our so-called nobles have an even darker side to them than we have ever thought possible,” Celestia said. “She explains that there is a clandestine network of messengers, many of them under the influence of Sylvalin, who work to send secret illegal orders throughout our kingdom.”

Luna’s irises started to become slits and some of her teeth became sharper, her fury beyond even that of when she had been Nightmare Moon. Her mane’s movements sped up and she growled in utter rage as she spoke. “There hast not been an execution in our kingdom for far too long,” she hissed.

Celestia rushed up beside her, worry creasing her face as she put a wing around Luna. “Shh, Lulu, please calm down. They will be punished, but you must remember that executions are illegal now.”

“We do not care!” Luna bellowed, turning to Celestia with her eyes now fully returned to that of Nightmare Moon’s, only instead of them being the usual bluish green, they were now pure crimson. “Those cretins hath made a mockery of Harmony and must be put down like the ANIMALS they are!”

Celestia immediately slapped Luna with her wings, sending her sprawling. Luna groaned as she hit the wall, then looked up with anger in her eyes, only for them to shift into shock and then fear. Celestia’s own eyes had become demonic in appearance, and her mane had only sped up in the ethereal winds they blew in. “They will be punished, sister,” Celestia’s voice had become slightly warped and deeper, “and it will hurt them more than death. Death is too good for them!” With that, she returned to her normal form, her eyes becoming normal and her mane and tail resuming their normal movements.

Luna’s eyes returned to their normal color and her teeth returned to normal as well. She hesitantly stood, still a bit scared of her sister, but that fear vanished when Celestia got low, looking up at her sister with apologetic eyes. This was a throwback to their more animalistic roots, as it was a sign of subservience. Luna quickly stood and tried to pull her sister up. “Nay, please don’t do that, sister,” she said hastily, “I apologize for my words. You’re correct, we cannot execute anypony. I was lost in the moment.”

As Celestia stood, she nodded. “I understand your feelings, sister,” she said, “and I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“You are correct, though,” Luna said, eyebrows narrowed, “death is too good for them. What ideas do you have?”

“We do have an in with the nobles,” Celestia said with a wicked grin, “and he’s on his way right now.”

No sooner had she said that when there was a flash of teleportation magic. Standing in between them, wearing a pair of glasses, stood Prince Blueblood. He looked between his two aunts, seeming to sense the earlier tension. “Um…I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked.

Luna put a wing around him, smiling down at him warmly. “Nay, your aunt Cellie and I were just expressing a disagreement, but we resolved it before you came.”

Blueblood nodded and removed his glasses with his magic, then as he pulled out a hoofkerchief to clean them, he said, “Well, as long as you’re not fighting again. So, why did you summon me here, Auntie?” He looked up at Celestia.

Celestia smiled, then put her own wing on top of Luna’s. “We have need of your connections to the House of Nobles.”

Blueblood smirked as he put his glasses back on. “And here I thought you were just eager to see me,” he said, putting on a hurt face.

Celestia and Luna both nuzzled his cheek in a familial affectionate manner. “I’m sorry we don’t spend as much time with you as we’d like,” Celestia said.

“Don’t worry, Auntie, I know why we can’t really be seen having fun,” he reassured her as he gave them both cheek kisses before straightening. “So, how can your favorite mole help you?”

High Elm Estate, Later That Night

High Life lay in her bed, snuggling up close to her surprise visitor and smiling seductively at him. Prince Blueblood lay beside her, reaching over and smacking her flank with his tail before he pulled the covers over them. High Life pouted in the firelight. “You’re such a tease, my Prince. You can’t expect me to not want more than just a simple long kiss and a bath together.”

Blueblood chuckled. “Oh, my dear Marchioness, any other day I would be all over you,” he said in a seductive tone that sent shivers down High Life’s spine. Tingles of pleasure and anticipation enveloped her before Blueblood continued. “Sadly, though, tonight I simply needed some pleasant company. I was dealing with my aunts and their crusade to change the status quo.”

“Oh, my dear Blue,” she cooed, wrapping her forelegs around him and holding his face close to her barrel, “tell your Marchioness all about it…” She ran her right forehoof up and down his mane, eagerly awaiting any sort of information this sexy fool of a prince would let slip.

Blueblood nuzzled her barrel affectionately, before relaxing. “Oh, the usual stuff. There’s been talk from them about some new sanctions placed against businesses that use foreign labor.”

“Is that so?” High Life asked, holding him closer. “What else?” She listened as the gorgeous idiot in her forelegs spilled information. She had spent years building a rapport with this Prince, and while some of his information had likely been the result of mishearing or some misunderstanding, most of what he shared had been accurate. She listened carefully, the gears in her mind turning at the new information.

Finally, something caught her attention. It was how Blueblood had paused in his statement, looking a bit unsure. “There is one thing, but I don’t know if they’d actually do it,” Blueblood said.

“Do what, my dearest?” she cooed as she stroked his mane. She was rewarded when she felt the stallion relax.

“Well, they mentioned taking some more…direct…action against the House of Lords,” he said, “but I don’t know exactly what.”

That alarmed her, but she didn’t let it show. Instead, she giggled. “Oh, my dear Blue, your aunts may be oblivious, but even you know they aren’t foolish enough to do something as rash as take action against the House. Hay, with the economy being as it is, they won’t risk it falling further.”

He nodded. “I suppose you’re right,” he said. “They wouldn’t disband the House again.”

Her alarm only grew, but being a consummate actress, she once more didn’t let it show. “Again?”

Blueblood looked up at her. “Well, a few years ago, my Aunt Luna once told me that there was a period where she and my Aunt Celestia enacted some ancient law that took the House temporarily out of power for about twenty years. She didn’t say why and when I asked, she told me that it was ancient history and wasn’t important. I tried looking up the incident, but records from that time are harder to find.”

High Life’s mind was in overdrive now as she held Blueblood closer, reaching down to wrap her tail around his. “It must have been quite the emergency for them to take that kind of action,” she said.

“I guess so,” he replied, nuzzling her closer before yawning. “Ah…thanks for listening, Lifey…it always makes me feel better.”

She smiled down at him then nodded. “Of course, Blue. I’ll always be here to listen. Now, hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head, hush now quiet now, it’s time to go to bed.” In her forelegs, the prince’s eyes began to falter, slowly drooping until his breathing became the regular rhythm that she knew meant he was asleep. She lay there with him for a while in order to be sure before she very cautiously untangled herself from him. She was reluctant to do so, but it needed to be done. She wouldn’t be long.

She stood and walked slowly and quietly into the next room over. She went to her desk, wrote a brief note on a black scroll and placed a blank seal on said scroll. She then went to a nearby cabinet, retrieving a small pouch from a drawer with a false bottom. She opened it briefly, her eyes glistening at the lily shaped white gems within. She grabbed one, put the pouch back, and hid the false bottom again. She poked her head out, took one of the gems in her hooves, and placed it and the letter into the waiting hoof of a pony in a black hood and cloak. “Go and fetch our best messenger,” she ordered quietly, “send this to C2 immediately.”

The pony nodded, turned, and spread a pair of bat-like wings before flying silently down the hall. She quietly closed the door, then returned to bed. Blueblood was still sleeping quietly, his breathing rhythmic and calming. She got back into bed, careful to reclaim the position she had been in, then held the buffoon of a stud close. “Mmm…when this is over, my dear Blue, I will claim you as my stallion,” she purred, giving his horn a gentle lick. This caused the sleeping Prince to shudder slightly, but she only held him closer. “You won’t have a herd with anypony else. You will be mine. Mine forever…” With that, she giggled and fell asleep.

The moment Marchioness High Life was completely asleep, Blueblood stirred, as if he was waking up. Finally, he opened one eye and used the dim light to catch a glimpse of the cream-colored face of the pony lying next to him. He held back a shiver of disgust as he slowly untangled himself from her. He found it especially difficult to untangle her bright red tail from his sandy blonde one. He quietly floated a pillow over to her, which she quickly embraced.

Quickly looking around, he found a quill and a piece of paper. He wrote her a note, explaining that he’d received a magical summons back to the castle for something. He’d used this excuse to get out of bed with her twice before, and the last time had been six months ago. Back then, it had been a legitimate summons, but with things as they were now, he didn’t think she’d suspect anything.

Placing the note on the nightstand, he gathered his cloak and moved through the darkened halls of High Elm. He encountered nopony initially, although that would change when he ran into Ink Blot.

The young pegasus mare was carrying a glass of what smelled like coffee up the stairs when she accidentally ran into Blueblood. It was difficult to see thanks to the candle she held in one of her wings, but the mare in front of him had a dark green coat, a gold mane with a silver streak through it tied back neatly in a bun. She had one gold and one silver eye and wore a pair of black round glasses. She wore a black collar with a red bow tie and had a dark red fountain pen with ink coming from it as a cutie mark. Her expression was always somber, so it was a bit of a welcome change to see Ink Blot’s expression be one of surprise. “Y-Your Highness?” she asked.

“Sorry for that,” he said. He treated Ink Blot kindly enough, mostly because he knew just how poorly High Life treated anypony who wasn’t a unicorn on her staff. “I was summoned back to Canterlot Castle unexpectedly. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

She nodded. “I understand,” she said. “I will let the Mistress know when she wakes.”

“I wrote her a note, but thank you,” Blueblood replied. “Sleep well, and don’t overwork yourself.” With that, he nodded at her, then made his way out into the cold winter night. He began to run through the thick snow, the moonlight above him illuminating the snowy rooftops and streets of Canterlot. He slipped a few times, but brushed off the snow that caught on his cloak as he ran to the now darkened castle. When he reached the main doors, he took a right, heading down a hidden pathway that led to a part of the wall.

When he reached the door, he closed his eyes, then focused his magic. His horn glowed its sky-blue color and a hidden structure of latticework began glowing in the shape of a door. He gently and quietly pushed it open, closed it, then cast the spell to hide the invisible door from prying eyes. He turned and almost ran into two tall cloaked ponies who were waiting in front of him. “Mother of Mothers!” he hissed in shock as he recovered his breath, “you startled me!”

The two ponies removed their hoods, revealing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. “Well, I’m the Princess of the night, after all,” Luna said with a smirk.

Coming up from behind them were two hooded ponies, who pulled back their hoods to reveal a dark green and dark blue member of the hidden race, the chiropteran ponies. Their batlike wings bristled underneath their cloaks. Blueblood had hardly seen them as they were mostly hidden from view from the other pony tribes. The chiropterans were a subspecies of pegasi who had undergone some sort of metamorphosis during Nightmare Moon’s creation. As such, they were more loyal to Luna, although Celestia had earned their respect and loyalty by treating them well as night guards of the palace and as night rangers around Equestria.

Blueblood looked up at his aunts. “Who are these two?” he asked.

“Special Rangers Jinx and Iris,” Celestia said. “I summoned them here to help get us some information for us.”

“What did you see or hear while over there?” Luna asked.

Blueblood straightened and removed his hood. “I managed to trick her into thinking that you would be making a move on the House,” he said, “then when she thought I was asleep, she left the room and wrote some sort of note. She gave it t a chiropteran and said that they were to find a messenger for said message.”

Celestia nodded, then turned to the two chiropterans. “Track them.”

The chiropterans nodded, put their hoods over their heads again, made their way out of the door behind Blueblood, then flew into the sky, soon becoming invisible thanks to their lightbending magic. Blueblood closed the door again, then turned back to his aunts. “What now?”

“Now, my dear nephew, we wait for more concrete evidence to be uncovered so we can convict these corrupt nobles and send them to the dungeons,” Celestia said.

“Not only that,” Luna said with a dark smirk, “but all of their assets shall be seized and liquidated before being spread throughout Equestria. I believe the term our treasurer used was a stimulus package?”

Blueblood’s eyes widened in surprise, but then he nodded. That was just what the regular ponies of this country would need. “And what about any nonponies?” he asked.

“They will be getting a larger package as a means to begin healing the damage done,” Celestia said.

“Come, nephew,” Luna said, putting her wing on his back and gesturing him down the ancient and damp hallway, “‘Tis time to move to the next step, and we may need your assistance.”

Hidden Location, The Next Morning

High Life sat at a round table which sat in a cavern lit by old style torches. Behind her, Ink Blot, her secretary, stood as she held a clipboard in her wing. High Life was a bit frustrated in Blueblood for having left without waking her up for a goodbye kiss or anything, but the note he’d left had been hastily written and the brief interaction he had with her secretary had seemed to indicate he’d left in a hurry. No matter, she had managed to send the message out thanks to her messenger. That gorgeous idiot would be here soon, she knew it.

There were hoofsteps from the ancient stairway of this hidden cavern, and she sat up in anticipation. From the archway, Prince Blueblood strolled in, looking tired as he slowly walked over to a chair next to High Life. When he sat down, she scooted her chair closer, nuzzling him. “It was pretty rude of you to leave in the middle of a lovely snuggle,” she chastised him playfully.

He yawned. “Unfortunately, I had to return to Canterlot Castle. There was some sudden work my aunts needed my assistance with. Something about economics, blah blah blah. Boring stuff.”

High Life gave his ear an affectionate nip before sitting back as another pair of ponies entered the room. “My poor Prince, those two are slave driving you so much lately,” she cooed.

He frowned and nodded. “It’s quite the pain,” he said, “and my hooves are sore from all the running. I haven’t even had the chance to get them clean, so now they’re all filthy!”

The two newcomer ponies, Jet Set and Upper Crust, took a seat nearby. “Is that so?” Jet said, having apparently overheard their conversation, “I feel for you, your Highness.”

“So many of shops have been having troubles thanks to that foul human filth and his bug invasion,” Upper Crust said.

“My business has not been faring well either,” the voice of Cash King said from the archway as he and Cash Cow both entered, finding a seat at the table. “I’m being forced to shut down businesses in order to make any sort of profit!”

“Dear brother, calm yourself,” Cash Cow said.

Cash King nodded, then took a deep breath before turning to High Rise. “This had better be important, Marchioness,” he said with a scowl, “we haven’t had a full meeting in this place in years.”

“I assure you it is, since this isn’t something we want on official record,” High Life said.

That seemed to catch his attention. “That bad?”

“Potentially,” the Marchioness replied, turning to Blueblood. “When everypony gets here, you mind telling them what you told me last night?” she asked.

He looked down at her, clearly not remembering at first. Then his eyes widened and he nodded. “Okay, sure,” he nodded.

“Excellent,” she said, clapping her hooves. “When you’re done, you can go back to Canterlot. We can handle things here.”

Blueblood sighed, sounding relieved. “Good. I could use some more rest.”

“Of course you do,” High Life agreed.

With that, the group sat and broke into their own private discussions while other nobleponies arrived. About ten minutes later, almost every chair was filled. At that moment, High Life looked around and nodded. “Time to start the meeting.”

“Wait, what about Count Fancy Pants, Countess Fleur De Lis, and Countess Noblesse Oblige?” Blueblood asked, turning and looking towards the three empty chairs.

High Life chuckled. Such a fool. “My dear Prince, those three have, shall we say, fallen out of favor with the House,” she said. “As House Speaker, I’ve had my eyes on those three. They have…a sickening sympathy for the common pony and even other creatures in our lands. In fact, I plan on making a motion to have them removed from the House. Unfortunately, that’s all I can do. They have the friendship of the Crown.” She stood and brought her hoof down on the table like a gavel, signaling for silence. The House of Lords all came to attention and looked over at High Rise, Speaker of the House. “Greetings, my fellow nobleponies,” she began, her eloquent voice capturing the minds of everypony in the room. “I’m aware that we haven’t gathered in this secret meeting hall for many moons, but we have a potential crisis on our hands that affects everypony in this room.” She turned to Blueblood. “My Prince, would you please tell them what you told me about your aunt’s remarks?”

Everypony in the crowd listened carefully as Blueblood repeated what he’d heard about the possibility of disbanding the House of Lords. When he was finished, the entire House was in an uproar, their voices clamoring to be heard. Some were demanding that they storm the castle and demand the Princesses step down while other more level headed ponies were demanding that they withhold their support for the crown if such a thing were to occur. Many ideas on how to combat this possibility were put forth, but High Life simply sat and let them get it out of their system. Blueblood watched this in worry, clearly worried that he’d be hurt.

After several minutes of bickering, High Life stood and brought her hoof down on the table again, bringing them back into order. Those who had stood took their seats again as High Life looked over the table. “Listen, this is only a possibility,” she emphasized, “and despite one princess being so out of touch with reality she doesn’t know her flank from her rump and the other being so complacent that her cake flanks are her only selling point anymore I sincerely doubt that they would make such a move on us. We’ve grown too influential, and with the economy taking the hit that it has, they will need us and our influence.”

“So what do we do?” one of the nobles asked.

“We need a plan in place just in case they do decide to attempt to dissolve the house,” High Life said, walking around the table behind each chair, giving many of the single stallions alluring glances. This seemed to make Blueblood upset, which was part of High Life’s plan. “The Solar Princess has ruled for more than ten centuries. Equestria has flourished well under her rule, but we have been slowly accumulating the majority of wealth in this kingdom. We are the greatest nation in the world, or we were. Now, thanks to that pond scum Jason Wright and his insects our economy is spiraling. Now, another human has arrived on our world and has risen to become a powerful politician in the Griffon Empire, their Chancellor.”

This caused another outburst; however, this time High Life was having none of it. She stamped on the stone table immediately. “Don’t worry about him,” she said, “I have personally seen to it that he has been…dealt with.”

“How?” Jet Set asked.

Her grin caused many ponies in the room to shudder in fear and nervousness. “Let’s just say…I had access to some rather fascinating artifacts that sent him to the most dangerous place on Equus: Tartarus. He won’t be coming back from there.”

This seemed to shock many of them. Tartarus was the deadliest place in all of Equus. It wasn’t even connected to Equus in a traditional sense. It was a different dimension altogether and had not even been explored due to the many dangerous creatures said to inhabit it, including demons.

“What if somepony finds out about this?” Blueblood asked. “We could be in a lot of trouble if this gets out.”

“Oh, nopony will find out,” she said, “because everypony here is on my side and if they do tell, well, you know what I’ll do.”

This got everypony else to quiet down and return to their seats. High Life inwardly smirked. She had plenty on everypony here to keep them in line, and that included Prince Blueblood. The poor sexy sap hadn’t been too careful with any of his dealings, especially skimming funds from the royal treasury to fuel some of his own behavior. She turned back to the crowd. “Back to the matter at hoof. We need to work on a way to act against the Crown in case they do move against us. Fortunately, we do have our own in with the Princesses.” Here, she gestured to Blueblood before continuing. “If this is to succeed, we must present a united front. I know of several laws we can utilize against the Crown, but it will take time for us to implement. We need evidence from the Castle, evidence we can’t access. Here, I’ll read the laws out to you all.”

As Ink Blot was giving the clipboard to High Life, the latter noticed Blueblood tugging nervously at his collar, the one he normally wore with his cravat. He looked genuinely nervous, so High Life turned to him. “Relax, my Prince, I won’t put you in any danger. Besides, we can always send in a maid or two and blame them for incompetence.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, his voice a bit uncertain.

Under the table, she caressed his flank with her bright red tail. “Don’t worry about it, your Highness. You’ll be kept safe, I promise.”

He nodded and took a deep breath. “Thanks.”

Smiling briefly at her prey, she turned back to the crowd. “I know many of you are apprehensive about acting against the Crown, but we may have no choice. Equestria won’t survive without us. We control large businesses and a lot of the wealth of this kingdom. There are several options left open to us. We can act on several laws, although the most logical one we can enact is known as the Royal Madness Law.” She looked down at the notes in front of her and continued. “In short, if we deem it worth investigating, we can have a Royal Physician examine the Princesses and deem them unfit to rule at this time. That would be our best bet, considering their rather unorthodox change in behavior and dress. Our Prince here can give the Physician some incentive to see things our way, and then he becomes the monarch.”

“I don’t want to be the ruler,” Blueblood whined.

“We’ll be by your side to help you push Equestria to a better future,” High Life said reassuringly before turning to the others. “We can also call upon the Equestrian Betterment Law. If we feel that the Crown has not been acting in the best interests of ponykind, they can be brought before a Tribunal of impartial ponies. Of course, in this economy, nopony can be that impartial with the proper…incentive.”

“Is there anything else?” a random noble asked.

“There is one more desperate alternative: assassination.”

Unlike before, this brought a stunned silence to the members of the House of Lords as they digested this. A noblemare named Zesty Gourmand spoke up. “And how would we do that? The Princesses have loyal guards surrounding them at all times. Not only that, but they are strong and powerful.”

“And it would be treason if we ever were found out!” another pony said nervously.

“Everypony has a weakness,” High Life said, turning to Blueblood with a smirk. “And besides, I know how to make it so that we can’t be tracked.” She reached into a small bag on the floor and brought out a pouch. She set it on the table and opened it, spilling out several gems. Everypony looked forward, seemingly entranced by them. “Fillies and gentlecolts, this is Sylvalin. I know you’re not aware of this because you won’t remember what I’m about to say.”

She grinned wider as the gems on the table began their hypnotic affect on those looking at them. She had always used this trick on the House before the end of every meeting. “You all will take one of these gems back with you and gift them to your best messenger once more. Tell them that it is a reward for their great service. Have them wear it behind their ears and out of sight, then send them out with messages spread throughout Equestria. You will go home after this meeting and write what I am about to say in your own words.”

She looked around, her smirk triumphant as she watched the nobles all look at her with obedient eyes. However, that smirk faded when Blueblood slowly stood, tugging on his collar again, only this time, the look on his face wasn’t nervous. There was a look of determination and intelligence that she had never seen before. He turned back to her, a small smile on his muzzle. “Well, Marchioness, this has been quite the…enlightening diversion, but I have what I came here for.”

Startled by his sudden shift in tone, she started to say something before the sound of flapping wings and teleportation spells were heard in the room. High Life looked around in alarm only to see a large contingent of Royal Guards appearing from the door and surrounded the still transfixed nobles. She turned back, eyebrows furled at this betrayal. “Blue…?”

Blueblood smirked as his horn lit up. High Life found herself encased in a powerful magical aura, which further surprised the stunned mare. As she was lifted up into the air, he moved forward, looking up at her with a frown. “Non ducor, duco,” he said. “I am not led, I lead.”

In two more flashes, the Diarchs of Equestria, each of them wearing armor and wielding swords on their belts, appeared. Each stood on either side of Blueblood as their eyes flashed with determination. “Marchioness High Life,” Princess Celestia said in a stern tone, “you and the House of Lords gathered in this place today are accused of high treason against the Crown and against Equestria.”

“Evidence of your crimes has been discovered in all of your mansions and from this very meeting hall,” Princess Luna added, “and because of this overwhelming evidence against you, you are to be sent to Canterlot’s dungeons while all of your assets are liquidated for the betterment of this kingdom.”

“Thank you for your donation, and enjoy your new rooms,” Blueblood said with a delighted expression, waving at her as she was placed in cuffs and pulled away.

High Life’s shock turned to rage, and before any of the guards could put a magical suppression ring on her horn, she charged it up and shot her most powerful bolt of offensive magic directly at the Prince. “DIE!” she shouted in utter hatred.

Blueblood, however, raised a magical shield to protect himself, but so did the two Princesses. The bolt never reached him. He simply shook his head as the ring was quickly placed on High Life’s horn. “Add on attempted assassination to the charges,” he said.

The last High Life ever saw of Blueblood and the Princesses before a bag was put over her head was three watching her with stoic expressions on their faces.

When High Life had been taken out of the room, Blueblood’s knees went week and he collapsed, taking in deep breaths of air as his aunts surrounded him, hugging him close. He was breathing heavily, heart pounding as his two aunts knelt quickly by his side. “Nephew??” Celestia held her adopted nephew close, letting him sink into her fur for comfort.

He chuckled a little bit, although it was a nervous one. “Maybe…heh…maybe I’m more spoiled than I think,” he said, “maybe being in the castle all my life affected me more than I thought.”

“You are not weak, nephew,” Luna said reassuringly, “nopony who is weak could have placed himself or herself in the den of lions here and fooled everypony so well.”

“You did so well, and we’re both very proud of you,” Celestia said.

From behind them, a nervous looking Ink Blot stepped forward. She had a look of fear on her face as she stepped in front of the three. “Y-Your Highnesses…?” she asked, her breathing shaky and fearful.

Blueblood quickly stood back up, although the effort made him dizzy. He shook it off and faced the poor terrified looking pegasus. “Miss Ink Blot, your time living in fear is over,” he said. “You’re free of Marchioness High Life’s wickedness. In fact, I have a proposition for you. Would you like to come work for the Crown? You would be given a much higher rate of pay, you would live in the castle and your family would be well taken care of. I know your mother is sick, and we can get her the best medical care available to heal her.”

“My nephew has spoken quite highly of you and your work,” Luna said, “and my sister and I are in agreement that if you wish better work, you can work for him.”

“Regardless, we will give your mother the care she deserves,” Celestia added, “whether you wish to work for the Crown or no.”

Ink Blot’s normally stoic and depressed demeanor was replaced by hope. Tears welled up in her eyes and to the surprise of everypony there she leaped into Blueblood’s embrace, sobbing loudly and thanking him over and over. As the rather surprised prince comforted the young mare, the two sisters watched on with a smile. Neither of them may have been the Princess of Love, but this could be the start of a very lovely relationship between the two of them.

Luna then turned to Celestia. “One problem closer to being dealt with,” she began, “and another one to resolve as quickly as possible.”

Celestia nodded in agreement. “Chancellor Graystone…” she muttered. Looking up at the ceiling, all she could mutter was, “Please be safe, Gregory Graystone…wherever you are…”

Author's Note

Wow, this took a while to figure out how to write, but one aspect of the story is now dealt with. Next chapter, we return to the Luxe Deluxe and see just what happened to our other heroes.

Enjoy!

42: History And Destiny

Hours Later, Luxe Deluxe Sickbay

Gregory’s first memory was of someone chanting something over him in a language he didn’t quite understand. As he continued to come back to consciousness, he could feel a tingling all around his body, and it felt as if he was floating. Listening closer, he thought he could identify the voice as belonging to someone he’d spoken to recently, but he couldn’t quite piece it together. In his delirious state, he wasn’t even entirely sure where he was.

“Looks like it’s working, Cellie,” a very familiar male voice said, “your patient’s starting to wake up.”

“Keep casting the healing spell, sister,” another voice said, “the wounds are nearly healed.”

Gregory lay still and listened closer. The chanting voice was feminine and very soothing. He felt a claw grasping his hand as a voice that filled his heart with warmth and love asked, “He’ll be okay, right?”

“Don’t worry, little griffon,” the male said, “Cellie here knows plenty of healing spells from her pony counterpart. See? Look! All healed.”

A heavy weight was placed on his chest and the same voice asked, “Gregory? Please be okay…”

Slowly, memories began to come back to him. The battle with the massive monster, being eaten alive, slicing his way out with his sword, then collapsing. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into two gorgeous deep aquamarine eyes that were brimming with tears of worry and fear. Tears that became tears of joy as the griffon flung her arms around Gregory’s neck. “Ooof! Nnng…hey there, Gabby,” Gregory croaked out as he weakly put one arm around her back, rubbing affectionately.

Gabby’s grip on him tightened and he could hear her sobbing into his neck. “You had me so worried!” she said through her sobs as he felt her wings spreading around his body. She then sat up, angry tears pouring down her cheeks as she pointed at his chest. “Don’t ever worry me like that again!” She then clung to him once more. “I’ll make you regret it…” she sniffed.

Gregory smiled. “I’ll make it up to you,” he replied as he slowly looked around, only to see three other humans around. Without the impending doom of the fight against the creature, he could get a closer look at the oddly colored humans. Two of them he recognized immediately, that being Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna, although the third one, a skinny middle-aged man with amber yellowish gray skin, stood nearby. He had light yellow eyes and crimson pupils, black hair with a pair of gray streaks on the side of his head around the ears and a thin white goatee. It took him a few seconds to place the voice and the person, but soon he realized that this had to be the human version of Discord. “How long…was I out?” he asked.

The human version of Celestia came up to him, a tired smile on her face. “Just a few hours,” she said. “You had your girlfriend here scared.”

Gregory nodded as he continued rubbing Gabby’s back affectionately, looking down at his griffon lover. “I’m sorry, Gabby,” he said softly.

“Chancellor Gregory Graystone, are you feeling well?” Vice-Principal Luna asked.

Gregory nodded, then paused when he registered just what she’d called him. He looked over at the dark blue skinned woman. “What did you call me?” he asked.

“Oh, our apologies, young human,” Luna said, “‘Tis a long and arduous tale.”

“Selene, you’re doing it again,” Celestia chuckled slightly. Gregory then noticed that this Celestia seemed to have some southern accent. It was subtle, but it was there.

“Long story short, kid,” Discord said, “the three of us are older than we really look.”

Celestia chuckled, then turned back to Gregory. “For example, my name isn’t Celestia Solaris. It’s actually Celeste Star. This is my younger sister Selene Star, and this is our old friend Kane Fox.”

Gregory’s mind was spinning from the sudden onslaught of information. He had no idea what was happening, and he’d just woken up. Discord, or Kane, seemed to notice this and looked at Gregory sympathetically. “Sorry for the infodump,” he said apologetically. “I just gave you the short version. You should rest. The nurse can bring you and your girlfriend something to eat. You feeling up to some food?”

Gregory gave Kane a nod. “I could eat,” he said. “Does this place carry cheeseburgers? I haven’t had one in a while.”

“Verily,” Selene said as she stood. “And for the young griffoness?”

Gregory looked down, but his girlfriend was still unable to speak thanks to her tears, so he looked up. “Make it two, please,” he said.

“I shall inform the chef posthaste.” With that, Selene got up and headed out, followed closely by Kane.

Celeste watched them go, a small smirk on her face. “She’s been like that since she remembered her past lives,” she said, turning back to Gregory. “Are you feeling better now? That magic spell I used is old but it’s effective against internal and external injuries.”

Gregory nodded, trying to sit up, but with Gabby still clinging to him it was hard. Seeing this, Celeste came over and helped Gregory into a sitting position, giving him a better look around the room he was in. It looked like a small hospital room with several other beds separated by white curtains. There were fluorescent lights on the ceiling that illuminated the area as well as a desk nearby with a cabinet full of what he could only guess were pill bottles. There were monitors over each bed and one small window next to his bed that looked out over the ocean. He looked out and saw the island they’d just left. It looked so peaceful that it seemed impossible that there’d been a battle there with a massive monster.

He noted that the light outside looked like a sunset so he turned back to Celeste. “What time is it?”

“Nearly sunset,” Celeste said. “You’ve been out for a few hours.” She moved to grab a nearby chair and sat next to his bedside. “I imagine you have several questions?”

“More like several hundred,” Gregory replied with a small chuckle, “but the first and foremost is how the others are? The griffons, dragons, changelings and my other friends? Zecora, Starlight, Gilda, Gia, Gallus, Daenerys, and Lady. Surely there’s not enough room on this ship for everyone.”

“You’d be surprised, actually,” Celeste chuckled. “Yes, your drake friend can’t exactly fit onboard, but there are rooms available for everyone else. This cruise wasn’t fully booked.”

“Gotcha,” Gregory said, running his hand through Gabby’s plumage. The young griffoness was slowly starting to calm down, but she was not any closer to easing up on her grip. “I’ve gotta say, it’s strange seeing humans with such…unusual skin and hair color.”

“I know,” Celeste agreed. “I wasn’t always like this, either. I used to have a less colorful appearance too.”

That piqued Gregory’s interest. “‘Used to’? What happened?”

“It’s a long story,” Celeste began, “but the short of it is that we were once part of a society of humans from the American Frontier who were magically transported to the…Dragon Lands, that’s what it’s called now. We were called Nova America and for decades we lived in peace with the dragons. Then, for some unknown reason, some ponies arrived and cast a spell, calling us a danger to the world.”

“Do you know who they were?” Gregory asked. “Were they led by someone with a wizard’s hat and cape?”

Celeste closed her eyes and remained still for a bit. After a while, she shook her head. “No, Star Swirl and the other Pillars weren’t there.” She opened her eyes. “I don’t know who those ponies were, and if I don’t know, then it’s a good possibility the Princess doesn’t either.”

“Fair enough,” Gregory said.

“As I was saying,” she continued, “they used three strange crystals to send us to Tartarus. When we showed up there, our villages and cities were with us. We weren’t exactly in the best position to keep living down there. We had no sunlight, so our crops would start to die off quickly, not to mention the fact that there were giant predators. We did have drakes with us, and they and their dragonriders were pretty instrumental in finding us a new home. We actually found a very old looking floating island in the middle of nowhere.”

“Atlantis,” Gregory said.

“You’ve heard of it?” Celeste asked.

“We’ve been there before,” Gabby explained.

Before Celeste could reply, Selene and Kane came back in, each holding a white ceramic plate, each with a steaming cheeseburger and fries along with two glasses of water. Celeste put a tray on the bed and both plates were put on it. Gregory took a bite, and a shiver ran down his body. He hadn’t eaten a burger this good since he’d first left Earth. When Gregory had swallowed his first bite and was wiping his mouth, Celeste took the opportunity to say, “What’s Atlantis like now? My group didn’t stay around for too long after we began to change.”

“It’s an amazing city, from what little I saw of it,” Gregory explained. “There were lots of novans there, and it seems like they’re really self sustained.”

“When we arrived there, the city was abandoned,” Kane said. “but it looked like it hadn’t been empty for long.”

“Indeed,” Selene said without missing a beat. “We were safe there, but not before our beloved drakes sacrificed their lives in order to protect us. Their dragonriders changed into a new form. Red skin, black hair, forked tail, wings, basically demonic.” She looked at Gregory somberly. “Seeing your drake brings me nothing but joy, though. My sister and I would have been dragonriders if those ponies hadn’t cast us into Tartarus.”

“We lived in the city for a few years before some of us began experiencing some sort of mutation,” Celeste said, reaching up and running a hand through her multicolored hair. She looked at the parts in her hand, sighed, and let it fall loose. Gregory couldn’t help but think about how incredibly beautiful Celeste really was. “Those of us who weren’t turned into those demons began experiencing the transformation you see now.” She pulled her sleeve up to reveal her light magenta colored skin.

“There were a few of us who actually started to…see other memories,” Kane said. “Celeste and Selene were two of them. There was another who saw herself as something called a changeling called Chrysalis, but poor Kathleen couldn’t handle it.”

“She…couldn’t take it, and she…” Selene’s breath caught in her throat and she looked down.

Kane came up and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “It wasn’t your fault,” he said in a calm and gentle tone.

“I should have seen the signs of her discontent and fear,” Selene said. “I failed her.”

Kane and Celeste exchanged a look, then Kane gently led the now crying Selene out. Celeste turned to Gregory. “Sorry about that,” she said, “she and Kathleen were close. They were…very similar.”

Kane led Selene out of the room, holding her close and whispering quietly to her. Gregory and Gabby watched them go before Gregory turned back to her. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. Are you okay?”

Celeste nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll be alright.” She began chuckling. “I’m just still trying to get used to having all these memories reintegrated into my mind.”

Gregory looked at the chuckling Principal, then watched as her expression became somber. She looked down at her hands, then sighed. He watched her slumping down in her seat, although in his mind she looked like she was acting very old. Older than whatever age she really was. “You okay?” he asked instinctively.

Celeste jumped a bit, then looked back down at him. “Ah, that remains to be seen,” she said. She held up her hand and Gregory watched as it began glowing. “I’m a lot older than I look, Mr. Graystone. I’m just now beginning to remember my past few lives while living in this world. And I have memories that I believe belong to my pony princess counterpart. Not to mention it seems I have some magic of hers.”

Gregory brushed his hair behind his ear, briefly taking note that his ear felt off, but he was more focused on Celeste. “Are you saying you know everything Princess Celestia knows?”

She nodded. “Princess Celestia Solaris,” she said. “I don’t know how that’s even possible, and that scares me. All of this is terrifying me.” She hugged her body and shivered. “I’m just a damn teacher. This life I’ve lived as Principal Celestia has been the best life I’ve ever lived. I’ve been with my sister, I’ve been shaping young minds and helping them graduate into the real world, and much more.”

Gregory looked up at the worried looking human with concern. He may have hardly known this woman, but she was human, like him. Not that he wouldn’t try and help a non-human who was going through this, but he felt almost called to try and comfort her. Slowly, painfully, he tried to sit up only for Celeste to quickly vacate her seat and place her hands on my shoulders. “Rest, please,” she said in a warm and reassuring tone, “the healing spell I cast will only work best if you don’t move around too much. You need until tomorrow morning to recover.”

Gregory nodded and lay back, but not before reaching out and putting a hand on her arm. “I may not understand what you’re going through,” he said, “but I can listen to you if you want. And if not me, then maybe your sister and Kane?”

Celeste, to his relief, smiled ever so slightly. “Thank you, young man,” she said gratefully, “I appreciate your concern. But right now, I think you should get some more sleep.”

He looked down at the bed, his mind a jumble of questions. He didn’t feel too tired. “I don’t know if I can sleep right now. I’ve got a lot of questions.”

Celeste nodded. “I understand, young man. Perhaps answering some of them will alleviate your tension.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Gregory said, “I wouldn’t mind hearing more about what happened to you. If you’re okay with sharing. I won’t ask if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Celeste shook her head. “I don’t mind. Just let me sift through all this information so I can remember it all.” She leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes and saying nothing for a bit. Finally, she continued. “After we were transformed, we lived in Atlantis for about five more years, but eventually those of us who had changed felt a sudden urge to leave. It was only an inkling at first, but the more it grew the harder it was to fight. We might have stayed longer had the others not started to mistreat us.”

“Mistreat you?” Gregory asked.

Celeste looked at him, a haunted look in her eyes. “We weren’t perfect back then, Gregory. Far from it. We may have had a great relationship with the dragons, but they told us many stories about other races in our new world. Especially the ponies. When we started to begin looking like them in color, the former dragonriders began to become afraid of us. There were some who tried to be friendly with us, but most weren’t.”

“I guess that made the decision to leave easier,” Gregory said.

She nodded. “We left and found a new home in one of the…well, Tartarus is strange. There are these large pillars everywhere with large entryways. We looked in some and found different environments We eventually found one we liked and began building a town. That’s when we met Star Swirl.”

“The Bearded?” Gregory asked.

“Yes,” Celeste said. “He told us he was a pony, which we didn’t exactly take too kindly to, but when he told us about himself, we started to become friends with him. He couldn’t exactly go home for a while, so we put him up with us. He was a bit nervous, but since he was stuck with us until the portal back to Equestria opened again, he got to know us.” She chuckled as she shook her head. “I’ve got to tell you, if I had to describe him, I’d say he initially had a stick up his ass.”

Gregory almost coughed up the food in his mouth from what he heard, but he and Gabby simply kept listening. Celeste smiled a bit, then continued. “He would come back from time to time when the portal opened, bringing us some gifts of food and seeds to help us with our growing town. When the portal was closed, we would talk through some magical journal. Unfortunately, we began to experience raids from some of the local monsters in our new land. When Star Swirl heard about this, he came back with an idea for us. It wasn’t something we all liked, but he suggested that we head across the ocean of the strange land we found ourselves in. He told us he would help, so we began building a large ship with weapons to help us combat any dangerous sea creatures. The plan was that we would take the horse statue with us so Star Swirl could come with us and help, but…he never came.”

“What happened?” Gabby asked.

“His last message to us said that he had to go off with his friends to fight some danger to Equestria,” Celeste said, “but he never wrote back again. Now that I have the memories of Princess Celestia, I think I can put the pieces together. He went on a mission, like he said, but he never returned. He and the others went missing. However, he did leave instructions to send something through the portal. We got that box and inside was…something we could use to apparently help us find a new homeland.”

“What did he give you?” Gregory asked.

She pursed her lips. “A magical artifact that did actually help. When we used it the way Star Swirl told us to, the sky changed and we saw land. That’s where we settled. That was the beginning of our world over one thousand years ago.”

“And you were there for that?” Gabby asked as she took hers and Gregory’s now empty plates away and set them on a nearby table before getting back into bed with her lover.

Celeste nodded tiredly. “Yeah, but Selene, Kane and I were the unlucky ones.”

“What do you mean?” Gregory asked.

Celeste looked wearier now as she continued. “When we were…connected…to our counterparts on Gaia, our lifetimes became longer. Since the three of us were connected to immortal beings, that’s what we got. Ponies and other species on Gaia apparently live longer and age at a slower rate than normal humans do, so they gained a natural lifespan that somewhat mimics theirs.” She turned to the two. “Those high school students who came on this trip with us are all much older than they look. I know what humans their age are meant to look like, and they look younger.”

Celeste began to waver a bit, leaning down and holding her head. Gregory turned to Gabby. “Help her,” he whispered.

Gabby got out of bed and helped Celeste to a nearby bed where she lay down, clearly overwhelmed. “Thanks…” she whispered tiredly.

“Of course,” he said, feeling suddenly exhausted himself. However, before he could do that, there was something on his mind. “Hey, Celeste?”

“Yes?” She looked a bit surprised by Gregory calling out her name.

“Do you have a mirror? I want to see what my face looks like.”

Celeste nodded, then turned to Gabby. “Miss, in that purple purse over there is a small handheld mirror. Could you find it for me?”

“Sure,” Gabby said as she walked over and began rummaging through the purse. She pulled out a handheld mirror from a nearby purple purse with an all-too familiar yin-yang sun on it. She opened it and held it up for him to see. Gregory looked over his new light blonde hair and his bright purple eyes, the Targaryen makeover as he’d called it earlier.

What he didn’t think the Targaryen’s did have were the new pair of elongated pointed ears he now possessed. He reached up and traced their contours, looking very confused. Celeste must have seen this because she said, “When you were brought on board, you already looked like that, minus the green stuff covering you.”

Gregory looked at her, then back at his new ears. He looked slightly slenderer in the face as well, although that could have been something unrelated to his current transformation. “First I become blonde with purple eyes like my drake, then I get elf ears?” he asked nobody in particular. “What’s next, some kind of skin color change?”

Celeste gave him a reassuring but tired smile from her bed. “There is some strange magic within you, but I don’t believe you’re in any danger. The magic is minimal, but it’s there. I don’t think you’ll become like us.”

That was news to him, but before he could say anything, he felt the wave of exhaustion passing over him again. Yawning, he looked up at her again. “Thanks for healing me,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” Celeste said, yawning as well. “Sorry for not…being able to tell you more…I’m so tired…” and with that, she instantly fell asleep, a slightly more peaceful expression forming on her face.

Gregory looked at her, smiling tiredly as Gabby pulled the covers over her body then rejoined Gregory in bed. His view of Celeste was obscured by the worried but relieved face of his girlfriend. “You should sleep,” she said.

“Good idea,” he said, wrapping his arms around her as she buried her face into his chest.

The two lay in silence for a bit, giving Gregory time to look once more at the sleeping Celeste. He felt really bad for her. She had some serious shit thrust upon her and it was stressing her out. He could resonate with that, at least somewhat. Having over two thousand years of memories thrust into your mind would be hard for anyone to handle. After a bit, Gabby said, “Is she pretty for a human?”

Gregory looked down at her, finding that she was looking up at him with curiosity. “Yes, I’d say so.”

“Even with the hair and skin color?”

Gregory smiled a bit, then reached down and stroked her plumage. “Yes, even though she has light pink skin and multicolored hair, she would be considered very pretty.”

Gabby looked over at her, then back at Gregory. “I wish I could look like that…”

“You don’t need to,” Gregory said, “because you’re beautiful already. Incredibly so.” And he meant it.

Gabby smiled, then gave him a kiss before pulling the covers up. “You should get some sleep, sweetie,” she said gently.

Gregory nodded, feeling his eyelids grow heavy. Soon, he too was asleep.

When Gregory fell asleep, Celeste slowly opened her eyes. She sat up, reached over, and put her hand on his forehead to make sure nothing of the small fever he’d had remained. She sighed in relief when she felt nothing but his normal temperature. Removing her hand, she went back and lay back down, keeping her purple eyes on him. She smiled a bit, as in a way she found him handsome. There was a determination in his own purple eyes, a desire to protect those around him. She knew the feeling; she held onto the same desire throughout her entire variety of lives.

The door opened and Selene came back in alone. Seeing Celeste in bed, she rushed over and knelt. “Sister, you are unwell!” the light blue woman said worriedly.

Celeste shook her head. “Just exhausted, Selly,” she said reassuringly. “I’ve never used magic before today. I just need some rest.”

Selene breathed in relief, then looked back at the sleeping Gregory and Gabby. “How are they?”

“Gregory needs the rest more,” Celeste said, “and I assume his companion Gabriella needs it too. She’s never been away from him since he was brought here.”

Selene nodded. “I understand,” she said. “Such an unusual coupling, don’t you think?”

“More unusual than you and Kane?” Celeste teased. Selene’s face went red and she began sputtering denials, but Celeste stopped her. “I’ve seen how you look at him and how he’s been looking at you lately. You two have grown close in this lifetime and in a few others as I recall.”

Selene looked at her sister with a guilty expression. “But…you had a history-”

“Shut up, Selly,” Celeste said with a wave of her finger. “Kane and I ended things on good terms long ago. His sudden stony attitude wasn’t his fault. He and I just sort of...drifted apart. We’re good friends now, nothing more. If you really have feelings for him and he for you, then I say go for it. He clearly has feelings of his own.”

Selene gave her sister a thankful look. “Thank you, sister.” There was a moment of silence before Selene stood, walking over to a nearby table with several of the articles that had been found on Gregory’s person. One of which was covered by a dark blue towel. She removed it, revealing a small horn. Picking it up, she held it up for Celeste to see. “Sister, do you suppose that him having this means anything?”

Celeste yawned and shrugged. “It may,” she said, “and it may mean what Star Swirl told us all those years ago. The ending of our world or worlds as we know it.”

“Should we not confiscate it from him, then?” Selene asked worriedly.

Celeste shook her head. “Put it back down and cover it back up,” she said. “I don’t know why Star Swirl was so cryptic when he talked about the Gjallarhorn when we used it during our crossing to our new land, but I don’t think he meant that our worlds would be destroyed.” She yawned again.

Selene placed the horn down, covered it, and was quickly by Celeste’s side. “Forgive me for disturbing your slumber, sister,” she said.

“Narry an issue,” Celeste said teasingly, “but I could use a nice nap…”

Selene nodded. “I will leave you to it,” she said as she stood. “Sleep well.”

Celeste nodded in response, muttered a “Goodnight…” and soon was truly asleep.

43: Confrontation And New Revelation

Luxe Deluxe, Guest Cabin Corridor

Rarity Belle, teen fashionista, Wondercolt, and member of the Rainbooms, walked down the corridor of the recently filled guest quarters where many of their otherworldly guests had made themselves at home for the moment. She’d never seen so many unusual beings before, only ever having heard about them in stories and folklore. Dragons, griffons, changelings…beings she’d only ever heard mention of from students who played Dungeons and Dragons.

However, she was focused on visiting one particular being. A certain white unicorn mare with purple mane and tail. There was a lot on the troubled teen girls’s mind that she wanted to speak to her pony counterpart about, and she was having trouble organizing her thoughts.

She eventually came to the room where her counterpart was placed. She clenched her fists, trying to psych herself up, as Rainbow Dash would call it, but finding her resolve slipping. She tried smacking her cheeks to get it back, but her mind was getting the better of her, just like it had when she’d assumed that her friends had ditched her when in fact they’d been preparing her surprise birthday party.

She stood at the door, still trying to think about what to do when she heard the clopping of hooves walking down the corridor towards her. She stopped and turned, only to see an unfamiliar pony unicorn standing in front of her. Rarity had seen her a couple of times, and she’d always seemed a bit distant from the rest. She was a dark blue unicorn mare with a cloudy gray mane and tail and dark green eyes. Eyes which were looking at Rarity with a hint of confusion.

The two stared at each other for a long while. Rarity was so completely caught off guard by this sudden encounter that she couldn’t form any words. Finally, the unicorn said, “So…any reason why you’re outside my new room?” There wasn’t any hint of annoyance there or anything that Rarity assumed would come from a race that she assumed had some sort of vendetta against humans.

“Ah, well, truth be told, I was hoping to speak to a Miss Rarity Belle,” Rarity said, still feeling a bit weird saying her own name like it belonged to someone else, which it did.

The unicorn shrugged. “Last I saw her, she was at the bow looking out at the ocean.”

“Got it, thanks,” Rarity said automatically before walking past her. She then stopped, realizing that she had no idea what the bow of a ship was. She turned back to the unicorn who was using her magic to stick the card key into the slot on her door. “Where’s the bow again?”

The unicorn turned back with a neutral expression. “Front of the ship.”

“Thank you again,” Rarity said as she walked down the corridor back the way she came, reaching the deck.

The sun shone down on her as it began its descent towards the west. She walked towards the bow, passing several of her classmates, including Lyra and Bon Bon, the former of whom was talking excitedly to Sunset Shimmer along with a light purple unicorn mare and zebra while Bon Bon sat and listened with a smile on her face. As she came up to the bow, she paused when she caught sight of her pony counterpart. She was standing on her hindlegs, her front hooves grasping the rails. Her ears were flattened, which from Rarity’s time riding horses at Applejack’s farm let her know that this pony version of her was not exactly in the best of moods. She paused, wondering if what she wanted to talk with her about was the right thing to do, but she remembered Sunset’s description of what had happened.

Rarity straightened and approached the other her until she was within speaking distance. The ocean wind blew through her purple hair and through the other Rarity’s purple mane, which Rarity noticed was styled in a way similar to her own. The markings on the pony’s flanks matched the style of gems sewn onto much of her clothing, including the dress she currently wore. “Ahem, pardon me,” Rarity said.

The pony version of her jumped and nickered a bit before turning back towards Rarity. Her eyes widened a bit, then she relaxed. “Ah, hello there,” she replied.

Despite Sunset having already explained that Equestria had copies of themselves everywhere, It was still a bit jarring for Rarity to hear her own voice coming out of the muzzle of a unicorn. Rarity ran through several ways of approaching what she wanted to say, but then noticed an in. She saw that the other Rarity seemed to have some pieces of her mane that were being damaged by the story. Quickly reaching into her purse, she pulled out a brush. “You…have some pieces of your mane out of place. May I?”

The other Rarity looked at the brush, then at her mane. “Well…please.”

Rarity nodded and began to brush the pony’s mane. She’d had a little bit of experience brushing horse manes, but Equestrian pony manes seemed to feel more like human hair than anything. She pulled out a small spray bottle full of untangling liquid and sprayed while she began fixing the loose strands. The two stood there in silence as the cruise ship slowly moved around them. After a while, the unicorn version of her looked good as new. “And there we are,” Rarity said, putting her products away, “good as new.” She handed the pony a handheld mirror.

The unicorn’s horn glowed, and a small bit of magic encased the mirror. The other Rarity looked into the floating mirror, getting a good look at it through every angle. Rarity watched, this being the first time she’d seen a pony use magic. In a way, this telekinesis reminded her of Twilight’s own special magic. “You did a marvelous job,” the pony said as she floated the mirror back to Rarity. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but I just did what I know best,” Rarity said as she grabbed the mirror and put it back in her purse.

“Fashion?” the pony Rarity asked.

“Fashion,” Rarity confirmed.

The two stood in silence for a bit, the human and pony standing next to each other as they looked out at the ocean in front of them. The Luxe Deluxe had moved away from the island, but it was still visible. They were currently anchored while Captain Iron Will and his staff talked with the various other leaders to determine how best to proceed. In the meantime, everyone except for the large dragonlike creature named Daenerys had been given rooms and were being fed. The ship had plenty of food for all, and if not, the dragons and griffons had promised to go hunting on the nearby islands for anything extra to eat.

“So…did you come here to fix my mane?” the other Rarity asked after a while.

Rarity, startled out of her reverie, looked down at her counterpart. She could see some sort of melancholy in the pony’s eyes. She probably missed home, something Rarity could understand. Still, she had to get this out because ever since that time in the diner it was eating her up inside. She took a deep breath, then exhaled. She had thought a lot about how to start this conversation, but in the moment, all she could get out was one word: “Why?” There was no accusation in her tone, nor was there disappointment despite her feeling so after having digested everything Sunset had told her and her friends. She simply wanted to know. It was a grim curiosity that drove the young fashionista.

The pony looked at her in confusion, then her eyes widened in realization. She looked down at the ocean, ears flat and tears forming in her eyes. “Jason Wright, you mean…”

“Of course that’s who I mean,” Rarity said in a tone a bit more snippy than she intended. She took a deep breath, calmed herself, then continued. “Just…why?”

There was silence between the two. The pony was holding back tears, tears which Rarity couldn’t exactly believe at the moment. But the moment soon passed. She knew herself well enough that she could sense the tears from this pony counterpart were more genuine than the various times she had been a bit…dramatic…to say the least. No, these tears were of genuine sorrow, but of what she couldn’t say. “I…have no excuse for what I did to Jason,” the pony finally said.

That surprised Rarity. She wasn’t expecting such maturity from her pony counterpart, especially after what Sunset had told her. She realized then that she’d done the exact same thing the pony version of her had done. Feeling guilty about that, Rarity looked down at the white pony. “I didn’t ask for excuses, I simply wanted an explanation. Sunset told us the excuses. She told us about how some monster named Discord clouded your mind to abuse Jason. All I asked was why? What did humans do to you?”

The pony Rarity looked down at the water again, once more shedding a tear. Rarity, despite herself, pulled a handkerchief out and handed it to the pony. The other Rarity gratefully took it and dabbed at her eyes before floating it back to the young woman. “You…might want to talk with somepony else about the explanations,” she said. “Maybe Twilight. She could have a better idea why we did what we did-”

“I don’t want some general explanation, I want your personal explanation for why you did it,” Rarity interrupted her.

The unicorn Rarity stopped, looking thoughtful. After a bit, she said, “When I…first saw Jason, he was filthy. His clothes were torn and he was covered in sap, dried mud, brambles, you name it. My first thought was ‘He’s going to ruin my shop’ and then I thought ‘Filthy, dangerous beast’. I then just chased him out of my shop without a second thought.” She shuddered.

Rarity looked down in complete shock as she tried to digest what she’d been told. Her mind was in a whirl. How could those thoughts be inside me? How could I have fallen so far?

Rarity paused. Me? I? She realized she’d been subconsciously replacing the pony Rarity with herself. She looked down at the water with her pony counterpart, trying to reflect on how she might have reacted in the same situation. She tried hard to put herself in her counterpart’s shoes. She tried her best to remember everything that Sunset had told her about Equestria, but she realized that aside from Sunset’s discussions about fashion and some other areas, all she knew was that Equestria was a little behind in technology, some sort of strange mix of medieval tech and tech from decades ago. They had no internet, no television, no computers, no smartphones and no cars, just to name a few, but they did have a form of electricity, albeit powered by magic as well as landline phones of a sort and a railway system. Still, they were a monarchy ruled by two immortal versions of Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna.

Shaking her head, she refocused her thoughts. If she had been raised in a place like Equestria as a member of a species that Twilight called a prey species, would she have done the same? She tried to place herself as much in the other Rarity’s shoes, or hooves, as she could. After a bit, she stopped and sighed. It was no use. She couldn’t fully comprehend what it must be like. She finally spoke. “I see.”

The pony Rarity looked down further. “…You don’t understand, do you?” she finally asked.

Rarity sighed and shook her head. “I’m trying hard to see things from your perspective. I really am. But I can’t.”

“I know,” the pony beside her said, “and I’ve tried to imagine what it’s like being a human, but…I don’t know anything about your kind.”

“Because you didn’t think to ask,” Rarity said a bit bitterly, “and neither did your Twilight. Now I know why she seemed so stand-offish…”

“Don’t blame her for our misdeeds,” the pony Rarity said, “she didn’t tell us much about her time in this world. She was very tight-lipped about it.”

“Oh, I’m blaming her for her own misdeeds, as you say,” Rarity said, letting her frustration get the better of her in the moment, “and I’m blaming you for yours. I don’t care if this Discord monster did something to you, you all nearly caused the death of someone.” She paused and cleared her throat, trying to recover her sense of decorum. “Well, um…this has been quite…informative. I’ll…leave you to your musings.”

As Rarity was about to leave, she felt something wrap around her wrist. Looking down, she saw a small bit of glowing magic there in the shape of a hand. Looking down, she saw the other Rarity looking up at her. “Please wait,” she said.

Rarity was about to try pulling away, but something in her counterpart’s expression made her pause. Maybe it was because these ponies had intelligence like humans did here, but despite having an equine face, the unicorn Rarity was more expressive. As if the tears weren’t an indicator of that already. “What is it?” Rarity asked.

The unicorn let go, then turned to face the human. “Do you think there’s anything we can do to make things right with him?”

Rarity frowned a bit, but thought about it. She’d actually met Jason, albeit a bit briefly. She’d been appalled by the state he was in. Putting the nearly all black he wore aside, his face was damaged, a jagged lightning scar running down one side of his face and across a milky white blind eye. His hair was starting to go gray and he had some stubble. Not only that, but he looked…tired. Gaunt. Perhaps even hopeless. Still, she had to admire his status as a leader. Aside from the bitter look she saw him spare Lady Serenity and her pony counterpart, he seemed at least somewhat calm. Then again, if Sunset was correct, this human had launched a successful invasion of the capital of an entire kingdom and razed an entire town to the ground, so she wasn’t sure how to answer.

“Well, if I’m honest,” Rarity began, “I don’t know. I know I’ve forgiven people like Sunset, my Twilight, Wallflower, the Canterlot Movie Club for that whole Anon-A-Miss debacle, and even Gloriosa for what she did at Camp Everfree, but I’m me. I’m not Jason. I don’t know him that well, so I can’t say. I know some people can hold grudges for a long time, so don’t be surprised if this Jason does the same. Do you regret what you did? Are you sorry for it?”

“Every damn day,” her counterpart replied.

Rarity winced to hear such language used with her own voice, but said nothing. “Something Sunset once told me is that forgiveness isn’t necessarily for the one who wronged you, but instead it’s for the one who was wronged. If he doesn’t forgive you, which is his right, then there’s really nothing you can do but accept it.”

Pony Rarity slowly nodded. “I hope it doesn’t come to that…”

“It may have to come to that,” Rarity reiterated. “You ponies did some truly heinous things to him, so he may never forgive you. If that happens, you need to learn and move on.” Rarity felt silly for lecturing her pony self. After all, this version of her actually owned, or had owned, a successful boutique while she simply worked as a part timer at Carousel Boutique back in Canterlot City. She hoped one day she’d be able to own a shop of her own like this Rarity had.

Pony Rarity simply nodded again. “It’s hard to accept…but you’re right.”

“I may still be in high school, but my experiences have taught me that much,” Rarity said as she hoisted her purse over her shoulder. “Well anyway, thanks for talking to me and letting me say what I needed to say. I’ll leave you to your musings.”

Just as Rarity was turning to leave, her counterpart asked, “Did you make your outfit by hoof?”

Rarity paused, then looked over her shoulder. She couldn’t help herself. She gestured to her dress and gave a big smile. “This is a Rarity Belle original,” she said proudly.

The other Rarity looked it over, then nodded. Locking eyes with Rarity, the pony said, with a smile of her own, “It’s simply divine…darling. You do fantastic work.”

Rarity wasn’t sure how to respond initially to this. However, after a few seconds, she nodded and said, “Thank you. Maybe someday I can see some of your work. If that’s possible.”

“I’d be more than happy to show you,” the pony said.

“Yes…well, enjoy the rest of your evening…darling,” Rarity said with a courteous nod before turning and finally walking away. She wasn’t initially conscious of it, but she had a bit more pep in her step.

When she passed by the shade where Lyra, Bon Bon, Sunset, and the pony and zebra were talking, Rarity saw that Sunset had separated from them and was watching her with some curiosity. Sunset pushed herself off of the wall where she’d been leaning and walked up to Rarity. “I won’t ask what you talked to your pony self about,” she said before Rarity could say anything, “but I’ll only ask if you’re feeling alright after what had to be a stressful talk?”

Rarity’s heart swelled. Sunset had been looking out for her, and that made the bond between them only stronger. She was truly an amazing friend. Rarity hugged Sunset, surprising the pony turned human. As she felt Sunset’s arms wrapping around her, Rarity replied, “I’m alright, dear. Thanks for checking up on me.”

Sunset chuckled. “That’s what friends do. You did leagues better than when I confronted Twilight about it.”

Rarity laughed. “I still can’t believe you threw hands at a princess,” she said in amusement.

“Part of me regrets the physical assault,” Sunset said, “but I don’t regret the words. I’ve actually spoken to Twilight and the other Spike through the journal lately.”

“Have you told the other Twilight about what happened today?” Rarity asked.

“I wrote what happened, but we seem to only be able to speak in the morning or evening,” Sunset said. “When it’s evening in our world, it’s morning there, and the reverse is true.”

“Curious…I wonder why that is,” Rarity pondered.

“I’m chalking that up to it just being the way our worlds work,” Sunset said. “Annoying, but something we can’t change.”

Rarity nodded, understanding little about Equestrian magic but trusting that Sunset knew more than enough for both of them. “Well, I’m off to the dining room for a somewhat late dinner. Would you and your new companions care to join me?”

Sunset held her stomach as it rumbled a bit. She smiled. “I could go for some sushi, or for something with even more meat in it. A steak, perhaps. If they still have any left. I’ll get the others.”

“I’ll go save us a table,” Rarity said. And with that, the two split. Rarity went to the galley, a bit more pep in her step. However, she couldn’t help but pause and look back at her pony counterpart. She was still standing at the bow and looking over at the ocean in front of her. She creased her eyebrows. Despite her mixed feelings on her counterpart, she knew that she had to be the better person. While kindness was more Fluttershy’s thing, that didn’t mean she couldn’t try and extend an olive branch to her.

With a sigh, Rarity turned and walked back to the unicorn. Clearing her throat, she said, “Hey…have you eaten any dinner yet? The galley has some divine dishes I’m sure you can eat.”

The pony looked back with some confusion. “No, I haven’t eaten yet,” she admitted.

“Well, I’m inviting you to join me, my friends, and some of your group to eat with us,” Rarity said.

The pony looked a bit shocked by this, but then a small smile formed on her muzzle. She turned away from the bow. “That’s quite a generous offer, but it might be nice to eat with new creatures for a change.”

Rarity inwardly cringed at the use of the word ‘creatures’ but shrugged it off and turned around towards the direction of the dining area. “Then follow me. Delectable food awaits!” And with that, both Raritys walked side by side to the dining area.

Luxe Deluxe Sickbay, The Next Morning

When Gregory woke, the first thing he noticed was that he felt much better and much more rested than he had the night before. He felt lighter as well. The second thing he noticed was the lack of a dark cobalt griffoness next to him. He slowly looked around and saw a note on the table next to him. Slowly, he reached over and picked it up.

Dear Gregory,

I was asked to sit at the captain’s table for breakfast for a meeting with the other leaders. I’ll come back when I’m done. I love you.

Yours, Gabby

He smiled a little bit as he slowly sat up, stretching. Looking to his right, he saw that Celeste was still sleeping. He got out of bed, noticing that he was shirtless. Nearby, he saw that his clothes had been cleaned and some of the damage had been sewn. He wondered which Rarity had done it for him, because he couldn’t tell that there was any damage done. He quickly got dressed, his stomach growling in anticipation. The clothes even felt softer.

He was about to leave when he heard moaning from behind him. Turning, he saw Celeste slowly turning in her sleep. Her brows were furled as if she was having some kind of nightmare. Without thinking, he rushed to her side and tried to wake her, but she wasn’t waking. She was tossing harder now, her arms moving about slowly at first, but as time went on she began saying nonsensical things until she suddenly shot up, eyes wide as she called out “Star Swirl!” Her hand was outstretched, almost as if she was reaching out for something, or someone.

Gregory waited there, tensing up as he wasn’t sure what Celeste was thinking. She was panting heavily for a bit before she fell back into her bed, her arm falling to her side. He took a stool from nearby and sat next to her bed. “Celeste? Are you okay?”

She looked over at him with a wide eyed stare before seeming to recognize him. She took a couple deep gulps of air before relaxing a bit. “Yeah…sorry, just had a nightmare,” she said. “Or a memory…I don’t know yet.”

He pursed his lips. He couldn’t even imagine what having all of those thousand years of memories suddenly being remembered felt like, but he couldn’t imagine it being pleasant. “You gonna be alright?” he asked.

She nodded. “Star Swirl said that when the spell wore off, it would be a painful couple of days, but that we’d pull through.” She chuckled a bit. “At least we won’t need to undergo de-aging again after this, I guess.”

He winced. “Damn…”

“Damn indeed,” Celeste said as she looked over at him. “Could you help me up?”

He nodded and gently helped her up to a sitting position. He looked around and wondered where the nurse was, but figured that perhaps she’d gone to get some breakfast or was in the bathroom or something. He looked back at Celeste, who was looking a bit better. “Well, you certainly look like you’re recovering quickly,” he said.

She chuckled a bit. “I’ll be alright,” she said before looking past him. She lifted her arm and pointed behind him. “Could you bring me that?”

Gregory turned and saw that she was pointing at the Gjallarhorn. Looking back at her, he asked, “What for?”

“I want to look at it a bit more closely,” she said. “I want to test if some of these new memories can help me with…something.”

Sensing that she wouldn’t tell him much more than that, he nodded and retrieved the horn, bringing it back to her. She took it in her slender hands, examining the ruby red runic writing on it. He watched her lips moving, and he caught the occasional vocalization of whatever she was saying. Her fingers traced the letters, and he saw that she was having trouble with half of the words. However, when she was finished, her eyes were wide as saucers.

At that moment, the nurse came back carrying a small tray of food. She was humming a bit, but when she saw the scene before her, she quickly put her tray down at a desk and rushed over to them. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here,” she apologized profusely, “I was getting some breakfast. I didn’t think you two would be waking up so early!”

“It’s alright,” Celeste said with a wave of her hand, “but do you have a piece of paper and a pen we could borrow?”

“Of course!” the nurse said, running back to her desk and grabbing a pen and a yellow paper pad, which she promptly brought back to them. “Here you are,” she said, putting the objects next to Celeste.

“Thanks.” Celeste grabbed pen and paper and began writing on them with intensity. The nurse returned to her desk to eat, sending curious glances their way every so often, but Gregory sat next to Celeste and watched.

As he read what she was writing, his eyes went wide. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. However, he didn’t say a word as Celeste continued writing. He was shocked at how much she was writing down since the number of runes on the horn seemed to only consist of a few sentences. When he looked closer at Celeste, he saw that her purple eyes were glowing a little, her irises moving ever so slightly.

When she finished writing some five or so minutes later, she had seven pages worth of script, and despite the speed at which she wrote it, the handwriting was impeccable. She put the pen and paper down, her eyes stopped glowing, and she looked up at Gregory. The look of realization in her eyes matched his own. They both looked down at the horn, their eyes wide. Neither of them spoke. Slowly, the two reached over and touched the horn, their hands interlocking around it.

They had a possible solution to a few major problems but the question was, would they be able to make the decision for two separate worlds? A decision that would irrevocably change things for both worlds forever…

Captain’s Table, Dining Area

“While I understand your concerns, everyone,” Selene said from her seat while facing the various national rulers sitting at the same table, “you have to understand that the humans of this time have forgotten their origins. We regressed pretty far technologically after we made landfall and found Somnium Vale. They don’t believe in beings like unicorns, dragons, griffons or changelings.”

“Seeing them waltzing through the streets would be…well, I’ll just say it, incredibly chaotic,” Kane added in agreement.

It was nearly nine thirty the next morning. Unlike the day before, the morning started out with heavy fog, but the forecast called for clearer skies later that afternoon. Around the captain’s table sat Selene, Kane, Captain Iron Will, First Officer Strawberry Swirl, Dragon Lord Ember, Emperor Jason Wright, Duchess Chrysalis, and some of the group closest to Chancellor Graystone, which included Gabby, Gilda, Starlight Glimmer and Zecora. The Chancellor wasn’t there because he was still recovering in the medical bay.

“I know you all want to get back to Gaia,” Selene continued, “but there must be another way aside from marching through Canterlot City and going through the portal in front of the high school. For all we know, the moment you step through the portal you could turn into humans. And Emperor Wright, you might even be turned into something else. A pony, perhaps.”

Jason scowled at the thought, but said nothing as Chrysalis leaned forward. “So what do you propose we do then?” the duchess asked. “Should we spend the rest of our lives in this miserable world?”

“We could try and find a way back through the doorway we came through that the novans sent us through,” Gilda mentioned.

“I doubt that’ll work as easily as you think,” Kane said. “That key you mentioned can only be used on one side. We can’t open it the other way.”

“Not to mention the fact that there is no feasible way to escape Tartarus unless you are released through a door,” Selene added.

Captain Iron Will, a burly man wearing a white captain’s uniform that looked like it barely fit him, waved his hands to bring attention back to him. “We can’t keep everyone here forever,” he said. Iron Will was a deep grayish-blue human with a dark cobalt blue fauxhawk underneath his captain’s hat. He stroked his goatee as he added, “We don’t have the food necessary to keep everyone here fed forever.”

“My dragons and I can hunt for game on those islands,” Dragon Lord Ember said.

“And how long will that last us?” Kane asked. “As I recall, there were only a handful of islands, half of which were lifeless when passed by them.”

“Don’t forget that we do have herbivores on board,” Selene added, gesturing to Starlight and Zecora.

“You needn’t worry about me,” Zecora said, “for I can fast for a day or three.”

“I got used to not eating a lot when I was running from my last village,” Starlight added, “so I can eat a little bit less.”

“That aside, I doubt there are fields of grain or anything like that in these islands,” Kane added. “Fruits are either not ripe enough for eating or could be poisoned. There’s a hint of Equestrian magic on those islands, and we don’t know what the effects could be.”

Jason leaned forward and looked at Kane. “You’re Discord’s counterpart, how could you of all people not know?” he asked incredulously.

“I don’t have any of his memories,” Kane said apologetically.

“I may have my pony counterpart’s memories,” Selene said, “but I think because of her thousand-year banishment, I’m only seeing bits and pieces of her memories right now. My sister Celeste may be able to help us more, but she’s currently resting and I don’t wish to wake her yet. Still, what memories I have about this world and Gaia contradict each other. Gaia is geocentric, while our world is heliocentric. Magic, until recently, didn’t exist here, and Gaia is full of magic. I don’t know exactly how magic could have affected the plants there, not to mention the animals.”

“You won’t have to worry about us,” Chrysalis said. “We can eat normal food, but we treat it more like a snack than nutrition. We feed off of love, and we have enough reserves with us to last for a little while at least.”

“Dragons can eat just about anything that other meat eaters can’t,” Ember said, “even something poisonous. We can survive.”

“That leaves you humans, us griffons and a pony and zebra,” Gabby said.

“We still won’t be able to feed even that amount,” the captain said, “not to mention the available water needed for drinking and bathing. We may need to forbid showers or baths. And we won’t be able to wash bedding or anything like that. Too much water.”

“We can use a limited amount of water per person per day for cleaning,” Selene said. “Not to mention that we do have a rather powerful unicorn we can ask to help. Miss Starlight Glimmer here is an accomplished pony from what I’ve been told, and if she is willing to help, we can make do for, how long?” She turned to Iron Will.

He looked over at his first officer, a pink woman with mauve hair. “Strawberry?”

Strawberry Swirl pushed her glasses up and picked up a paper pad. “If we relied on food stores from the cruise alone to feed us and the new arrivals, we have more than enough to last us for, say, a week. If we take away…the…dragons and changelings…” she said, quickly writing down something on the pad, “…we’d get…maybe another two weeks or so…more if we stretched what we have and rationed it.”

“A month at the least,” Selene said.

“I may be able to help,” Starlight said. “Besides, I know that the young Sunset Shimmer is also a pony turned human. We can discuss things to do.”

“Not to mention that six of her friends have magic of their own,” Gabby added.

“Indeed.” Selene leaned back and sighed, looking over at Kane. “I don’t know, Kane, maybe we should try and find help from Canterlot City. I know the mayor personally. Ivory Scroll could be helpful in pushing for some kind of refugee status for everyone here. The continent is large and there are many places where you all can live until we find a way to return you to your world.”

“Or, perhaps, there’s another way,” a new feminine voice called out from the door. Everyone turned to see Celeste and Gregory, the latter holding the former other up, both standing in the doorway. Celeste held a yellow paper pad in her hands.

Gabby was instantly out of her seat, running to their side. “What are you doing up?” she asked Gregory in alarm, “you should be resting.”

He shook his head as he and Celeste walked in with Gabby flying in front of them. Selene and Gabby both grabbed seats for them, placing them next to each other. As they sat, Gregory took a gold chain off from around his neck and placed it on the table. Attached to the chain was a small horn covered in gold plating with a gold chain with ruby red lettering carved into it. Selene’s eyes went wide as she saw the object. “The Gjallarhorn…”

“Correct,” the chancellor said, “the Gjallarhorn.”

“Why did you bring that here, may I ask?” Kane asked.

“Wait a moment, wait a moment,” the changeling emperor asked, looking at the ancient looking relic, “what exactly is this…horn? What does it do?”

Gregory looked over at Celeste, who stood, grabbed the horn, and lifted it up. “It’s a powerful magical artifact,” she explained, “created during an ancient time of war on Gaia. It was meant to separate the warring factions until such a time that they could be brought back together after both sides had cooled off. When that happened, the horn would reappear to one side or another. The horn would be blown, and then the two sides would come together and attempt to make peace.” She sighed, then looked down at the pad on the table in front of her. “It’s what the humans used to get to Somnium Vale, their paradise away from Tartarus.”

“I don’t quite get it,” Iron Will said.

“It’s a long story, Captain,” Selene said, “but suffice to say that your ancestors came here from another world and settled in Somnium Vale before spreading to other cities around the continent.”

Strawberry raised an eyebrow. “Another world? What on God’s green Earth do you mean?”

“Exactly that,” Celeste said. “The horn was only used twice, and we were the second people to use it. Apparently, the first time it was used it wasn’t used to reconnect the two warring factions. But if we use it…”

Selene’s eyes widened in realization, “Then we would…return to Gaia?”

“There’s more,” Celeste explained to the dumbstruck crowd at the table. “When the horn is first blown, it sends one faction from the world into another, but when it’s blown again, both worlds would be connected in some way. It’s very vague on what that means.”

So, if we did blow this horn,” Selene began, “it would help return our otherworldly guests back to Gaia…but…”

“But it would permanently fuse our two worlds together in some way,” Jason finished for her.

“The question is,” Kane said, leaning forward and folding his hands, leaning on them and looking at the leaders at the table, “can we make this decision for everyone here or is there some other way?”

The table went silent as everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Each of them thinking the same thing, more or less: Is this the only solution?

Prologue: Newcomer

Two Weeks After Emperor Jason Wright’s Invasion of Equestria

Griffonstone was in shambles.

The many buildings that had once been pristine and clean were now covered in all manner of filth. Massive trees that had once been spread throughout the city and had once been green with life were dying; the small houses and huts on each branch threatened to fall to the ground below. Some already had, causing serious injury or even death to a few very unlucky griffons The city smelled of rotten sewage, mostly due to the fact that the sewers had not been tended to for far too long. Over half the city was sick with previously preventable diseases thanks to this. Nobody could go five feet without hearing the crying of a young griffon cub, the coughing of a griffon sick or dying, or an argument between two or more griffons about food, money or some other matter of life and death. All throughout the city, buildings were falling apart, mothers were hardly able to feed their young, and the griffons within were miserable, although, in a perverted show of pride, they would never show it to outsiders, or even among themselves.

Ever since the Idol of Boreas, now regarded by most of the griffons as a myth, was stolen and fell into the Abysmal Abyss, Griffonstone and the Griffonian Empire as a whole had been on a steady decline, but nowhere was it worse than in the nominal capital of the Empire itself. All of Griffonia was undergoing an economic depression, even the outermost sea cities where fish was plentiful were experiencing less and less traffic from any neighboring nations.

Among the filth and wretchedness surrounding every griffon, a singular mailgriffon female flew through the skies. She was a rarity among her kind. Friendly, always smiling and eager to try and brighten anygriffon’s day with a kind word or gesture.

Not that it would do any good, of course.

There was just too much underlying despair among them, hidden underneath a thick layer of so-called pride. It had gotten so bad that many griffons had begun saving up enough money to escape to other smaller towns or to unclaimed portions of the Griffon Empire to try and find a better place for a house or nest.

Gabriella, or Gabby as she very much preferred to be called, had tried denying it to herself for years, but there was just no denying that the Griffon Empire was crumbling. And any so-called leadership within the city were doing nothing about it. They were just stuffing their coffers with bits taxed from the griffon populace. Everygriffon knew about it but they were too concerned with themselves to do anything about it.

It was Gabby’s weekend, and having had an extra long week with her boss yelling at her, docking her pay for a few minor mishaps, and being once again ignored and scoffed at for her attempts to brighten the day of anygriffon she saw had taken a heavier toll on her than normal. And the only refuge she could even find in the area was near the edge of the Abysmal Abyss. Nogriffon ever went there because it was too dangerous, but Gabby loved it there. The grass was actually green there, the trees were growing tall and strong, and the strong wind that blew through her wings felt freeing.

It was here where she could let down her feathers and let the smile she kept on her face fade away. Trying to spread griffony sunshine on her rounds as a mail delivery griffon all the time was exhausting, even for her. She would come here whenever she had stress to relieve. And she would do so by screaming into the abyss.

“YAAAAH!” she screamed into the windy chasm before her, her voice being carried away by the winds, forever lost to them. She vented her frustrations. “I was just trying to help you, Griselda! Is it so wrong to buy you some food when you can’t afford it, Gary!? And I was only one minute late that day, Gerald!! You didn’t have to dock my pay for one hour! Stupid, stupid, STUPID!” She continued shouting her varying angry thoughts away, and as she did so, her heavy heart lifted. As she’d had a longer list than normal, she was there for about half an hour, repeating the same things over and over again. Finally, when she was finished, she stood on her two hind legs, spreading her wings and letting the harsh gales that constantly blew through the Abyss wash over her like some sort of cleansing bath of air. She definitely felt a lot better than she had before, and she fell onto her back, wings still spread.

She was still smiling when she heard the scream.

Quickly sitting up, she looked around, trying to figure out where the screams had come from or whether or not it was just her imagination. She tilted her head in a completely ninety-degree angle, trying to find the source of whatever screams she’d heard earlier. She sat there for five long minutes, occasionally tilting her head the other way in a vain attempt to listen.

Finally, she decided it had just been her imagination, and she straightened her head again. She turned and began walking back to Griffonstone when she heard it again. The scream was fainter than it had been, but there was a clear and present fear in it. And her heightened hearing could hear one word:

“…Help…”

To her dismay, the voice was coming from the Abyss itself. She quickly but carefully crawled over to the edge of the cliff, looking down in a vain attempt to see who the voice belonged to. The voice sounded male. If a griffon had fallen into the cliff, their claws would be enough for hold onto the edges, at least for a while. However, it wouldn’t last long. The winds of the Abyss were known for tearing feathers from wings on the worst days, and today was definitely one of those times. She scanned the cliffs below her, but couldn’t see anything.

It was when she surveyed the opposite cliff wall that she saw signs of anyone being there. On the opposite side were a few large bags that were just sitting on the grass unattended. She noticed that a portion of the cliff near the bags had fallen away, and in fear she looked down.

There, clinging for dear life onto a large ledge, sat an unusual creature. It had the look of a minotaur, only it-No, he, Gabby corrected herself-was wearing clothes that were quickly being slightly torn by the winds. He had a small pack slung over his shoulders which matched the bags on the other side of the gorge. It was strapped tightly to him to not let it fall away. The creature didn’t have any claws like any other griffons did. Instead, she recognized what he had as simple hands which were clinging to the sides of the ledge, which had begun to crumble around the being. As she took in the strange creature before her, she realized he looked more like a monkey or an ape than anything else, albeit smaller and with all the wrong proportions.

But it was the eyes of the ape-thing that stuck out to her. They were bright blue, and wide eyed with complete and utter terror. He was looking around wildly, trying to find a means of escaping the horrible position he found himself in.

She stood up quickly and gave a griffon cry, which sounded identical to that of a bald eagle. The creature below flinched, looking up until he saw Gabby. His fear turned to hope as he waved with one of his hands briefly before quickly going back to gripping the ledge. “Help me! Please! I’m begging you!” he called out in a desperate voice.

Gabby quickly looked around for anything that might be used as some kind of makeshift rope. Her heart was racing, and she could hear the ledge slowly giving way to the creature’s weight. Turning back to the strange creature, she called out, “I don’t have any rope! And I can’t fly down there!”

Miraculously, the creature must have heard her cries, because he said, “Get some then, please! And hurry! This ledge isn’t gonna last!”

“Stay still! Don’t move! I’ll be right back!” She spread her wings wide and flew as fast as she could.

The only store in Griffonstone that sold any kind of rope belonged to Goldy, one of the greedier griffons in the city. However, Gabby didn’t have the time or patience to deal with Goldy’s normal money grubbing nature when it came to the current situation. She crashed through Goldy’s door, the beret wearing griffon jumping up in alarm at the sudden intrusion, but she quickly recovered when Gabby began grabbing a large rope and a grappling hook. “Hey! You’d better be paying for that!” she said.

“I’ll pay you later! There’s no time now!” Gabby said as she rushed to the door.

Only to find her way blocked by the shopkeeper, her claw extended. “You don’t leave this store until I get what’s owed to me,” she said plainly. “Cough up the-GAH!”

Gabby, in all her years, had never once been a violent griffon, but so desperate was her task that she had absolutely no qualms in sucker punching Goldy right in the stomach. The shopkeeper fell to the floor, clutching her stomach in pain. Gabby glared down at Goldy. “There! You got what’s owed to you! I’ll give you the fucking bits later!” With that, she zoomed back out into the streets, flying directly towards the Abysmal Abyss again.

She could vaguely hear Goldy calling out the words, “Thief! Thief!” behind her, but she didn’t care at the moment. All that mattered was that there was a creature about to die, and if she didn’t do something about it, she’d never be able to forgive herself. She’d gladly turn herself over to even the most corrupt of griffon authority figures after this, as long as it meant that she’d saved the minotauroid.

She pumped her wings with all her might, straining them with little more than pure adrenaline until finally she reached the cliffs once again. She landed and quickly rushed over, wildly looking around for the creature. Only to go pale when she saw him now clinging to what remained of the ledge that had fallen away, swinging around in the wind as he held on for dear life. She quickly flew high into the air until the windy corridor was tolerable, flew over it, then shot down towards the other side, landing near the strange looking baggage and peering down. “I’m gonna let down some rope!” Gabby shouted, quickly undoing the twine that held the ropes in place.

The creature looked up, the hope that had once been there quickly replaced with despair. “Can’t hold…help…” his voice was softer as he tried to call out, and sounded hoarse.

She worked faster, practically tearing the twine off, then tied the rope to the grappling hook, jammed it into the ground, quickly tied the rope around her midsection and began slowly lowering herself down, gripping the rope with all of her strength as she did her best to move down to where the creature was clinging. Unfortunately, as she did so, some rocks came loose and fell directly towards the creature. “Look out!” Gabby shouted.

Luckily, all that happened was that the rocks glanced off of the being’s shoulders and he temporarily lost his grip on one of his hands, which he quickly pulled back up. His hands were white from tension, save for the deep cuts on his knuckles which were staining the ledge and making it harder for the being to hold on with any semblance of a grip.

Fear overcame Gabby, and the self preservation part of her began to demand that she abandon this strange being, but she quickly suppressed this urge. She wasn’t just any griffon. She was Gabby, and she just couldn’t leave anygriffon, or anycreature for that matter, in need when she knew she could help.

Finally, she reached the ledge where the creature was clinging and held out her claw to him. “Give me your hand!” she shouted, “hurry!”

The being turned, astonishment in his bright blue eyes. He looked back at his hands, then back at Gabby. “If I let go, I’ll fall,” he said wearily.

Gabby frowned, then slowly moved over. Wrapping one of her wings around him, she said, “I’ve got you now. I need you to wrap your arms around me and don’t let go for anything!”

He looked at her fearfully. “I…I can’t…” he whimpered, “I can’t move!”

Gabby tried calming down. She knew that any creature who saw fear could feel that same fear in them. “I promise, by the Idol of Boreas itself, I won’t let you go,” she said, using one of the more ancient pledges of her kind. She tightened her grip around him. “Just hold onto me. Hurry! The wind’s picking up!”

He swallowed hard, then closed his eyes. “God help me…” he said before he slowly opened them again, moving closer to her exposed stomach. In one weakened motion, he wrapped one arm around her stomach, then quickly the other joined in. His grip was tight, but Gabby could feel that it was loosening.

Quickly grabbing the rope again, she began hoisting herself back up towards the surface, her throat quivering with exertion as she began to feel the excess weight around her. She pulled up as fast as she could, but not so fast as to knock her new passenger off of her. For extra support, she wrapped her tail around the creature’s midsection just in case.

It was a good thing she did, too, because not ten seconds later, a large gust of wind blew through the gorge. The rope swayed and Gabby felt a sharp pain in her rear as the creature’s grip on her stomach failed. She screamed in pain and looked down. The creature had lost his grip and was now clinging for dear life to her tail. He was swaying harder in the wind and with each swing, it felt like her tail would tear loose and fall into the ravine with its unwilling passenger. She resisted the instinctive urge to reach down and claw at him while at the same time she tried pulling him up by the tail so he could reach her legs at least, but she was unable to move.

“Climb up my tail!” she shouted. “Grab onto my legs! HURRY!”

Thankfully, he must have either heard or understood the franticness in her expression as she saw him try his best to climb up towards her legs, but just as he was about to reach one of the legs, his grip slipped due to the blood on his hands and he slid back down to the tip of the tail. Once more, however, he tried, and this time he managed to grasp the bottom portion of her left leg. With that grip, he managed to take a hold of her other leg with his remaining hands. “Don’t let go!” she shouted as she now began pulling herself up using only the strength of her arms.

There were a few close calls, but in the end, she managed to grasp the grass, hoisting herself up and clambering farther out onto the grass. When she was sure that the entire creature was out of the ravine, she collapsed onto her stomach, panting heavily. The rush of adrenaline was quickly fading, and she could feel the post adrenaline trembling coming on.

That, and she could hear retching noises coming from behind her.

Weakly she turned, and saw the creature who was holding himself up with two trembling arms, vomiting violently onto the grass. She was too weak to go over and check on him, and could only watch sorrowfully as the being expelled whatever it had eaten last before falling. After an eternity, he collapsed onto his stomach, and eventually she could hear the soft sounds of sobbing coming from him.

Mustering what little strength she had left, Gabby crawled over to the being, placing a comforting wing around him. “Shhh…you’re safe now,” Gabby said gently. Now that she had a clearer view of him, she took in his unusual features without the weight of fear over her mind. The apelike creature was wearing a pair of light blue pants, something over its feet to cover it, and a thick green hoodie, around which still hung the smaller but full looking pack. He had pale skin and a somewhat long head of brown wavy hair. His hands were still bleeding from the cuts, but she hadn’t brought any kind of antiseptic or bandages for him to use.

All she could do was hold the being close to her, trying to warm his freezing body up. He instinctively curled up and continued crying for a little while before finally growing too exhausted to even do that. They stayed like this for a little while until he tried to sit up. Gabby, who by now had recovered more of her strength, sat up with him and helped him into a sitting position. She took his hands in her claws and looked at them carefully. There were three large gashes on the knuckles of his left hand, and two others on his right. His palm was cut open as well and covering his hand in blood. Quickly, she pulled his sleeve up and pressed it against the wound to staunch the flow. “I’m sorry about your shirt,” she said apologetically.

The creature waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve got others,” he said, pointing to the bags nearby. He winced in pain. “Fuck…”

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” Gabby asked.

“Just a few bumps and bruises…” the creature said, feeling himself over a bit with his free hand. He then looked up at Gabby with tear stained eyes. He wiped them, then said, “Listen….thank you for saving me. I owe you my life.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Gabby said. “I just did the right thing.”

“Nevertheless, I still owe you something,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Gabriella, but you can call me Gabby since we’re friends now,” Gabby said with a weakened smile.

The creature smiled back tiredly. “Gabby, huh?” he said, and there was something in his tone that caught Gabby off guard. Almost like he knew her already. However, it was gone when he said, “I’m Gregory. Gregory Graystone.”

Gabby smiled. “Nice to meet you, Gregory,” she said, holding out her claw.

He took it in his free hand and shook it, although it was still weak. “Nice to meet you too, Gabby.”

After the clawshake was over, Gabby decided now was a time to at least get one of her many millions of questions answered. “Um…what exactly are you?” she asked. “No offense, but I’ve never seen a creature like you before.”

Gregory just laughed a bit. “That’s fair,” he said, “I’m not from Equestria or anywhere nearby. I’m a human.”

“Human…human…” Gabby rolled the words around on her tongue, trying to get a feel for it. She’d never heard of a human before, and she doubted that this creature would be lying to her about that. “I’ve never heard of a human before.”

“That makes sense,” Gregory said as he slowly removed his pack and lay on his back, staring up at the sunlit sky above. “Like I said, not from around here.”

She lay beside him, still covering him with her wings. She wanted so badly to ask so much more of him, but she also knew that he was more exhausted than she was. Once they were recovered enough, she would try and take him back into town.

The moment of a new friendship forming between griffon and human was interrupted by the sound of flapping wings approaching from Griffonstone. A very familiar voice called out, “There she is! There’s the griffon who stole from me!”

Gabby quickly sat up, gently untangling herself from Gregory and stepping in front of him protectively, wings spread. Goldy was flying towards them, with two guards of the city watch flying behind her. Gregory slowly sat up, grabbing the pack he’d taken off and clinging to it for dear life as the three newcomers landed nearby. Goldy quickly rushed towards Gabby, but one guard stopped her. The second approached, a bored expression in his face as he asked, “Did you steal some rope and a grappling hook from this other griffon without paying for it?” he asked in a tired tone.

“Yes, but I told her I’d pay it back later,” Gabby said instantly. “There wasn’t time!”

“Wasn’t time for what?” the guard asked.

“To save Gregory,” she said, slowly leaning aside to show her new human friend.

The guard’s eyes went from bored to wide eyed with astonishment. “What…what is that thing?” the guard asked.

“He’s not a thing!” Gabby shouted defiantly, “he’s a human! He was stuck in the Abysmal Abyss and I had to get him out of there!”

The guard’s face became more serious now. “The law is the law,” he said, approaching Gabby. “Stealing is still a crime. I’m going to have to place you under arrest.” He seized Gabby and put her arms behind her back. He then turned to the human. “As for you, you’re not a griffon. You can go wherever. I don’t really care either way.”

“Wait!” Gregory said, holding out his hand to stop them, “I have something that could change things!”

Everyone’s attention was on him now. The guard let Gabby go, sending her sprawling onto the grass. “It’s illegal to bribe a Griffonstone guard, you know,” he said, while at the same time holding out his extended claw, palm upward in invitation. “You could get arrested, even if you’re not a griffon.”

Gabby struggled to get up, and eventually did so. “Gregory, it’s fine! I’ll be fine here, don’t worry about me and just go get your wounds healed up!”

Gregory, however, simply unzipped his backpack and reached into it. The guard’s eyes gleamed with greed, but that greed quickly turned into amazement when the human pulled out not a bag of bits, but a large and very familiar golden idol, a spiral wing surrounding a glowing pink sphere. Gregory held it up to the sunlight, letting it see the light of day once more before he held it out to the guard. “Here. Take it. I don’t have any use for it anyways, and I know you do.”

The second guard and Goldy slowly approached, gaping in wonder at the long lost Idol of Boreas. Even Gabby stared in wide eyed astonishment as she approached. All eyes were locked onto the glowing crystal, which swirled from within with what could only be described as mists of pink and purple clouds. The four griffons all stared at the idol, unblinking and unmoving for the longest time.

Despite having been the last to approach, Gabby was the first to even dare to touch it to make sure it was real. She touched it before anyone else could speak. It was warm to the touch, and she felt a swelling of pride the moment she did touch it. Her wings sprang up and she felt a wave of something wash through her, banishing all of her exhaustion. For the first time in her entire life, she felt like a true griffon, like the griffons of old. The others came forward and could only stare intently at the idol that was still in Gregory’s hand. Gabby could tell that they, too, felt the same power flow through them without even having to touch it.

Gregory looked at them with confusion as he backed away. “Um…you guys okay?”

And with that, the hypnotic spell was broken, but not the results. All four griffons felt new life within them, a new sense of pride and not the foolish pride that had fallen onto all griffonkind throughout Griffonia. Gabby approached him. “Gregory, how’d you find this? The idol fell down there hundreds of years ago!”

“It’s…a really long story,” he said hesitantly. “But for briefness’ sake, I fell down further than that ledge, saw the idol, grabbed it, put it in my backpack and managed to climb up until I couldn’t anymore. That’s when I saw you.”

“We need to get this back to the old palace immediately!” the second guard said.

“Then here you go,” Gregory said, holding it out for the guards to take.

To Gabby’s surprise, both guards actually recoiled from it. “No,” one of them said, then he pointed at Gregory. “You’ll have to come with us, now. No, you’re not under arrest, but you found the idol. It’s your duty to place it back where it belonged.”

Gabby remembered the old tales about the idol now, and one of them did state that if anygriffon were to actually find the idol, they had a duty to bring it back to Griffonstone Keep and place it back on the pedestal. “He’s not a griffon, though,” Goldy said, not with anger, but with confusion.

“Oh yeah…you’re right,” the first guard said, gaining a thoughtful look in his eyes. “And he technically doesn’t have to give it back to us.”

“You can have it back,” Gregory said. “I don’t have use for it.”

“What about for money?” Goldy asked. “Couldn’t you sell it?”

“Yeah, if I wanted to be a greedy bastard about it,” he said plainly. “I’ll take it back to this keep, but I don’t know the way.”

“I’ll take you there,” Gabby said, quickly standing and grabbing all of the bags in the area.

“Are those all his?” the second guard asked.

“Yep,” Gabby said as she put one heavier one over her shoulder.

“We’ll take them and him with us,” the guard said, quickly approaching and taking the bag off of Gabby’s back, slinging it over his own. “I’ll carry these. Gentry, think you can carry the…human, was it?”

Gentry sized Gregory up, then nodded. “I can take him, Garett. What about the thief, though?”

“I’ll just…drop the charges,” Goldy said, making her way over to the mail griffon. “She can pay me back later.”

Gentry and Garett looked at each other. Both shrugged, then Garett picked up the rest of Gregory’s belongings while Gentry walked over to Gregory. “You’d better hold on tight, human,” he said before quickly wrapping his arms around the human’s chest and spreading his wings. Before the human could even protest, they were soaring up into the air, Gregory screaming.

“Careful! He’s wounded!” Gabby shouted worriedly, spreading her wings and making to fly after them.

She was stopped, however, by Goldy. “Hold on, there,” she said with a frown. “I’ll help you fly over.” Without waiting, Goldy grabbed Gabby and flew up, following the two guards and her new human friend, who had by now stopped screaming and was just clutching to the guard and the idol.

When they landed on the other side, Gabby saw that the human had been let go, but was panting heavily with renewed fear. She ran over to check on him the moment Goldy let her down, wrapping her wings around him and glaring back at the other griffons. “You should have waited!” she shouted angrily. “He wasn’t ready to move, yet!”

Both guards looked a bit sheepish at the scolding. “Yeah…sorry about that,” Gentry said.

“But the path to the other side would take hours,” Garret said.

“I-I’m fine, Gabby,” Gregory said, slowly standing on his two feet, very much like a minotaur. His hands were still clutching the idol, but that wasn’t all that Gabby saw.

She pointed to his hands. “Gregory! Look! Your wounds!”

Gregory pulled his more wounded hand away from the idol, looking at it carefully. It was still stained with blood, but there wasn’t any new blood appearing. Quickly, he knelt and wiped his hands on the grass until both hands were clean. Standing, he looked at both only to see no wounds at all. “I…wow…I feel so much better than before,” he said, sounding surprised. He took one step, then another, then jumped up and lifted his knees. After a bit of self examination, he turned back to the guards. “I think I can take those bags from you, now.”

“We’ve got it for now,” Garett said with a wave of his claw.

“Are you sure you want to give it back to us?” Goldy asked. “You’ll have to go through Griffonstone to get it to where it’s supposed to be.”

Gregory nodded. “It belongs to Griffonstone, not me. You’ll just have to lead me there. I’m very new to the area.”

“Follow us,” the guards said, leading him down the well trodden path towards the city.

Gabby, who also felt much better than before, quickly fell into step with Gregory. As Goldy began walking behind them, Gabby looked up at the human. His skin did look a lot healthier than it had, and there was more color in it. “Are you sure you’re okay, there?” she asked.

Gregory looked down at her, smiling. “I’m feeling better, I promise,” he said. “Once I get the idol back where it belongs, I’ll get out of your hair. Or feathers, I guess in your case.”

“But where are you gonna go?” Gabby asked.

“Hopefully the Kingdom of Equestria,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to see it. Especially this one town called Ponyville.”

“Oh…” For reasons she didn’t quite understand, Gabby felt sad. She’d just made a brand new friend, and she didn’t want him to go. Then again, once he saw what Griffonstone looked like, she wouldn’t blame him for wanting to leave. “I know somegriffon who’s been to Ponyville before,” she said, “and I’ve been there too a few times.”

“Really?” Gregory asked eagerly as he turned to her. She was surprised to see the excitement in his eyes. “What’s it like?”

“It’s pretty quiet,” she said. “Clean, very clean, too. The ponies there are pretty nice to me when they see me, although there was that one time Gilda went and they were scared of me for a bit afterwards…”

Gregory’s lips curled into a strangely knowing smile which vanished the moment she saw it. “Well, I’ve wanted to meet the Elements of Harmony for a while, now,” he said. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about them, and I wanted to say hi to them all.”

“Do you have any bits to get there?” Goldy asked.

Gregory’s smile turned into a frown. “No…I don’t,” he sighed sadly. “The only money I have isn’t worth shit here, I’m sure of it.”

“Really? What kind of money?” Goldy asked.

Gregory turned his backpack around, opening it and pulling out a leather bound object, which opened. He took out a few pieces of green paper and some coins from a smaller leather pouch, holding them up. “These.”

Gabby and Gregory both looked at the strange money curiously. There was writing on them and pictures of other strange looking humans on them. When he put them away, Gabby said, “I…could give you some bits.” She couldn’t hide the reluctance from her voice.

Gregory shook his head. “Gabby, as much as I’d love to see Equestria, I’d prefer to earn my way there, not just take advantage of you when we’ve just become friends.”

In response to that, the gem on the idol brightened, then returned to its normal glow. Gabby stared at it with awe once again, only for Goldy to point ahead. “We’re here.”

Once the five of them passed through the Golden Wing Gate that led into Griffonstone, many griffons began to take notice of them at once, especially to what Gregory held in his hands. They all stared at it in wonder, and Gabby saw similar reactions to how she felt the moment she touched it. Soon, the streets that lead to the Keep were crowded with griffons trying to get a glimpse of the idol itself. Gabby hid a smirk when she saw even Gilda, one of the crabbiest of griffons, staring at the idol.

The streets got so crowded that Garett and Gentry had to go get more guards, who helped keep the crowds of griffons at a short distance so as not to crush the human. Gabby heard murmurs among the crowds, calling him the Idol Bearer or just the Bearer, for the most part.

It took them over an hour, but eventually they made it to the dilapidated keep. Gabby never left Gregory’s side. He looked nervous as they walked up a flight of wide but winding stairs that lead towards the old and abandoned throne room at the top of the keep itself. After a while, the guards, Gregory, Gabby and a large crowd of griffons were in the room. The latter piled around, forming a circle around the purple tree stump where the idol had once sat.

When the crowd had settled down, all eyes turned to the human. Gabby could tell that even he felt very out of place and fearful, so she stood on her hind legs and put a comforting claw on his shoulder. “You’ll be fine,” she said reassuringly. “Go ahead.”

“This is all happening way too fast,” he said, but swallowed and straightened his back. Turning to Gabby, he gave her a warm smile. “Thanks, Gabby.” With that, he turned back to the idol’s stand, walked over to it, and knelt before it. He brushed away the few fungi that were growing out of it, wiping it clean with his sleeve before he placed it back on its pedestal. Standing, he took a step back and watched with the rest.

For about ten seconds, nothing happened. The idol’s pink gem kept on glowing, the inner clouds moving in a spherical motion. Then, there was a bright flash of light from the idol. It illuminated all the room, and later Gabby would learn that the light shone out of the keep across all of Griffonia. Anygriffon who saw it or was even bathed in its light felt renewed sense of pride. That day, every griffon in the crumbling empire stood just a little bit taller, regardless of station or how wealthy or poor they were.

The light lasted for about a minute before it slowly dimmed, leaving the idol standing where it was, albeit with a bit of wood having grown around the idol, keeping it in place. Directly next to it, there was a golden crown, a golden sash with a griffon emblazoned on a pin, and a simple gold ring, gemless and markless.

There was silence in the former throne room, griffons looking around at griffons, all wondering what was to be done now that the idol was back and the kingly accoutrements had reappeared after King Guto vanished from Griffonstone with his family across the Hyperborean Mountains.

Everygriffon had one question on their minds: What now?

Among the crowd in the throne room, a single solitary griffon, a dark green with harsh yellow eyes and red claws, watched this go on with a raised eyebrow. She’d watched earlier with some surprise as the human walked through the town, holding up the ancient idol. She followed, not wanting to blow her own cover. She was able to get into the throne room and hid her eyes with her wings as the light of the idol washed over them. Her disguise almost fell, but she kept her control and maintained it.

With everygriffon distracted, she managed to slip away into a nearby empty room. Luckily for her, there was a table. She reached into a saddlebag she carried, took out for large bug-shaped stones and placed them in a square on the table. They all opened, revealing a bright green light from within. The lights joined into a square, and the bug-shaped objects sprouted black roots, moving up into a cone-shaped pile of said roots. A green and black vortex of magic spiraled around them, and it expanded into a vortex of black, green and white. The white was quickly replaced with the scene of a small darkened room, with an evil looking creature looking down. “Agent O, what are you doing?” the being on the other end of the two way communication device asked, “It isn’t your scheduled check-in time.”

“I have urgent news for the Emperor himself,” the griffon said. She was surrounded by green fire which burned up her body, revealing a smaller but nearly identical version of the quadrupedal creature in the communication link. A changeling.

“This had better be important,” the changeling on the other end said.

“I’m reporting a Priority H sighting, commander,” Agent O said.

That got the other changeling’s attention, and he faced the younger changeling with a stern expression. “Say that one more time,” he said.

“I’m reporting a Priority H sighting,” she repeated.

“A human? In Griffonstone?!” the commander said in an incredulous voice. “Where did it come from? How long has it been there?”

“He just arrived, commander,” Agent O said.

“Are you sure it wasn’t a minotaur?”

“Positive, sir. I’ll show you.” She lifted her horn, which glowed and displayed a magical image she’d recorded using one of the changeling’s newest inventions, magical recording devices.

The commander leaned back, frowning. Finally, he said, “I’ll let the Emperor know about this right away. For now, keep an eye on this human until you receive further instructions. Understood?”

She saluted, and quickly changed back into her griffon disguise. “Yes, sir!”

“Long live the Emperor.”

“Long live the Emperor,” she repeated just as the communication was cut, leaving her with four bug shaped communication terminals. She grabbed them, placed them in her saddlebag and slowly made her way back towards the throne room. She had her orders. It was time to fulfill them.

7: Crystal Empire Breakdown

One Day After Leaving Ponyville…

The eight Equestrians sat in their private car as the Friendship Express sat at the Crystal Empire’s train station much as they had the day before. The only difference being that Spike had moved to sit in the booth on the other side of Celestia’s. He still didn’t want to talk to her, but Celestia thought it was a good step in the right direction. She watched as he wrote something in a small journal, concentrating on it with all his might. Celestia looked briefly at all the other ponies in the car with them. They were all by themselves, not saying a word. Applejack was writing something in a journal of her own as was Twilight. Rarity was knitting something, but there was a scowl there as she did so. Fluttershy and Pinkie, the latter of whom looked dangerously malnourished, were both lying on their booths, eyes closed. She couldn’t look too long at Rainbow Dash, especially since she still felt sick to even think about the sadistic pegasus, but Celestia saw her just staring blankly at the window, her wings tight by her side.

Despite everything, she was worried about them and their friendships. And not just because they were the Elements of Harmony. It had been three months, and they were still all stuck in bitter depression and self-loathing. She knew how that felt, however, and part of her couldn’t blame them. She prayed to the Maker above that this trip would be a kick in the flanks they needed to start healing from this.

She looked out at the cheery landscape of the Crystal Empire and sighed, wondering just how Princess Cadance, Prince Consort Shining Armor and young Flurry Heart were doing right about now. Ever since the time when Spike had accidentally stumbled on a young unicorn named Sunburst who had the answer to the problem of the Crystal Heart shattering, earning him and Sunburst the admiration of the Crystal Ponies and earning the latter the title of Royal Crystaller. She wondered how he was doing, too.

She looked at the clock on the side of the train. They’d been stopped at the station for five minutes longer than they should have been, and she was worried. If they delayed any longer, it left her away from Equestria where she felt she could do the most good. Not for the first time, she regretted coming, but she knew her sister was right. If this map called her, it was for a good reason.

Just then, the sound of the private door leading into their coach car opened and a dark orange earth pony with a conductor’s blue hat and suit walked in, a worried expression on his face. “Princess, I’m sorry to disturb you, but I have some bad news.”

She stood, and a few of the others in the car stopped what they were doing to listen in on the current conversation. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Well, the train’s main engine is shot,” the conductor said. “It’s a miracle we arrived as far as we did.”

“Oh my, that’s not good,” Celestia said. “How long will it take to fix? Can it be patched up?”

The conductor shook his head. “The damage is too far gone. We’ll need a new engine installed, and that will take too long. Our only other option is to call for a replacement locomotive, and that has to come all the way from our primary warehouse in Manehattan. It won’t show up until sometime early tomorrow morning. I’m afraid everypony here will have to spend the night in the Crystal Empire until the replacement locomotive arrives.”

Celestia’s heart fell at that. She’d have to try and contact her sister in the dream realm as soon as possible and tell her the news. Phone lines had yet to be laid out to the Crystal Empire connecting them to Equestria’s own lines, so she couldn’t simply pick up a phone and call. She nodded in understanding. “Thank you for telling us,” she said as she began gathering her belongings.

“I’m really sorry,” the conductor said apologetically.

“It’s not your fault,” Celestia said reassuringly before turning to the others in the car. “We’re staying the night in the Empire.”

The mood in the car became even gloomier as the ponies began gathering their belongings and shuffling out towards the exit. Only Spike seemed to be in somewhat decent spirits as he grabbed his backpack and followed the other ponies, but at a distance. Celestia looked through the car once more just in case they’d forgotten anything, but finding nothing, she followed Spike out onto the train station platform. There, she saw dozens of ponies standing around with their luggage, mostly frustrated at the delay. But she also saw, separated from the crowd, a couple of griffons who were standing and talking quietly among themselves.

When she saw them, she felt her heart stop. She looked at the ponies around her and saw, to her utter dismay, a few of them looking suspiciously at the two griffons. She sighed sadly. When the nobility, led by her adopted nephew Prince Blueblood, had insisted on temporarily closing the borders to all non-ponies, she had fought tooth and horseshoe to keep that from happening, because she knew just how suspicious it would make Equestria look. Luna had agreed with Celestia and there had been quite the debate for a couple of weeks after the invasion had ended. However, to her regret, she and her sister had finally had to cave to the nobility or risk more upheaval, but with the caveat that trade between Equestria and foreign nations not be halted and that non-ponies would not be harassed for leaving.

Now she was bitterly regretting it.

She walked over through the crowd directly towards the two griffons. One of them was clearly a female, light gray fur, white feathers, orange eyed and yellow beaked. She had a large bag next to her and was clearly excited. The second one, a male, had dark muted purple fur, white feathers with some blue mixed in, green eyed and gray beaked. Unlike her, he had a frown on his face. As Celestia approached, she heard snippets of the conversation.

“…been so long since we’ve been home!” the female was saying, “and that light we saw three months ago? You know what it had to be, right?”

“For the last time, Genevieve, it couldn’t have been the Idol of Boreas,” the male said.

“Gordon, it had to be! You told me yourself you felt different,” Genevieve said.

“I told you, Gen, I just decided it was time to stop feeling sorry for myself and find some work in Equestria,” he said. “But since I can’t after that damned invasion by the changelings, we’ve got no choice but to go home.”

“Pardon me,” Celestia said softly as she approached, “but is it alright if I ask you a something?”

The two griffons, startled at being interrupted, both turned as one towards Celestia. Genevieve looked stunned, but Gordon just scowled at her. However, before he could say anything, Genevieve said, “Of course, your highness!”

“Have either of you been to Griffonstone?” Celestia asked.

“Who wants to know?” Gordon asked with a glare.

“Ah, well, I’m heading there with a few others,” Celestia explained, “and I was hoping to hear about it.”

“Well, the last time we were there,” Genevieve said with a slight sad frown, “it was in pretty rough shape. Houses were old and falling apart, no sewage, tons of diseases, stuff like that.”

“It’s one of the reasons we came to Equestria,” Gordon added. “My wife and I moved here six months ago and were making more money than back in Griffonstone. Then that changeling invasion happened and that bitch Farsight Runner fired me.” He raised his talons and made quotation marks with them. “‘I’m sorry, Gordon, but the company’s been having some trouble financially, so we’ll have to let you go. Here, have a gift basket.’ Pff! As if some fucking fruits are gonna make things better when the owners are buying large houses with their salaries! My wife’s about to give birth to our first cub any day now, and nopony else will hire me!”

“Gordon! Please!” Genevieve shouted, trying to calm her husband down. She looked at Celestia. “I’m sorry, he’s just frustrated.”

“No, don’t apologize,” Celestia said, heart breaking at the story. She’d heard a few similar stories about the same things happening to griffons, minotaurs and even a few dragons who lived in Equestria. “I understand how you feel.”

“No, I don’t think you do,” Gordon snarled as he grabbed his bags. “Gen, come on! Let’s see if we can find a hotel, although we’ll probably have to sleep outside. AGAIN!”

“Wait, come back!” Celestia begged, only for Gordon to spread his wings and fly off towards the city. Genevieve gave Celestia an apologetic glance before flying after her husband, leaving Celestia alone. The alabaster alicorn just raised her hoof and stomped the ground angrily. “Damn it,” she muttered. She slowly turned back, walking towards the ponies and Spike were waiting for her. She could hear other ponies nearby talking about the two griffons with disparaging remarks. She whirled and said in an angry tone, “Listen up! Equestria is supposed to be the land of friendship and harmony! And not just for ponies, but for everycreature! How can we claim to be a friendly and loving race if we ignore that and berate other races!?”

The crowd went silent at that, all eyes on her with stunned expressions which she promptly turned away from as she walked back to the others. “Alright, let’s go find a place to stay for the night.”

“Excuse me, Princess Celestia?” a male voice called out from the bottom of the stairs.

Turning, Celestia saw two crystal ponies wearing the older armor that belonged to the crystal guard. “Yes?” she asked.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Consort Shining Armor heard that you, the Elements of Harmony and Spike the Brave and Bold were in the Empire,” the first crystal pony said, “and they’re inviting you to spend the night in the palace.”

Twilight looked up a bit at that, but Celestia saw Spike scowl slightly. She wondered what argument he could have with the two of them, but decided to let it be for now and try and ask later. “That’s very gracious of them,” Celestia said. “We’ll gladly accept their hospitality.”

“Please follow us, everypony,” the second guard said as they turned and began walking back towards the main city of the Empire itself. Celestia took the lead, with the Elements following behind. Spike remained at the back and one of the guards moved to join him.

As they walked, Celestia took in the sights around her. The Empire lay before them just as she remembered it, its massive crystalline towers and the large palace in the center gleamed in the sunlight that hung high overhead which shone its light down, an effect of the Crystal Heart in keeping the Frozen North out. The ancient architecture of the houses and business buildings constructed in a long bygone era glistened in the sunlight, although there was a light dusting of snow on the ground and a small mist that was quickly clearing in the ever rising morning sun.

As they walked, Celestia saw the crowd of crystal ponies in the city going to and fro about their day, all smiles and happiness. A major contrasting mood to the ponies currently approaching. Since the Crystal Empire was a foreign nation, the lockdown had applied to them as well, meaning that none of them had seen Shining Armor, Cadance or Flurry Heart since the lockdown. All three had Crystal Empire citizenship instead of Equestrian citizenship now ever since the crystal ponies accepted Cadance as their princess and Shining Armor as their prince. Celestia was a bit worried about how they might react to being kept away from their families and friends. She wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.

“Giiihiii, gah! Ba!”

Prince Consort of the Crystal Empire Shining Armor smiled lovingly down at his daughter Flurry Heart as he used his magic to change her diaper. The pink alicorn baby was smiling up at her father with the innocence that only a young foal could exuded, and it helped relax him greatly. Especially with all that had happened in the past three months. With the invasion of Canterlot, the destruction of Ponyville and the confession of his sister still weighing heavily on his mind, he needed every chance he could get to have his spirits lifted.

“Whoo boy, Flurry,” Shining said as he floated the dirty diaper over to a bin and placed it in, “you’re just the cutest little poop machine.”

“Maa! Maa!” Flurry giggled, either trying to say machine or mama. Either way, he returned and after wiping her clean with a damp and soft towelette, got out a fresh bright blue diaper and began tying it up properly.

“Yes, sweetie,” Shining said, “we’ll go see mama in a bit. She’s getting things ready for…your aunt and her frie-companions.” He continued forcing the smile on his face now so as not to alarm his daughter.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. A muffled female voice called out, “Your Highness? Are you busy?”

“Just changing Flurry, Fauna,” Shining replied.

The door opened and Fauna Spirit, a crystal pony maid who had been working in the palace ever since King Sombra’s tyrannical rule, walked in. She was aquamarine in color with a dark slim auburn mane and tail. In fact, she was the Head Maid. “Your Highness, you really should let me or one of the others tend to your baby like this,” she admonished. Despite having appeared in the modern world over five years ago, the crystal ponies were used to a more archaic living standard even if their language had quickly grown to match the modern Equish.

“It’s okay, Fauna,” he said as he put the pin on, finishing the ensemble. “I prefer doing things by hoof, anyway. It’s what I did when I was captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard, and it’s what I like doing now.” He lifted Flurry in his magic and placed her in the crook of one of his front hooves. “Is there something you came in here for?” he asked, turning to her curiously.

“Your wife has summoned you to the throne room,” she said stoically as she bowed. “The guests from Equestria have arrived and will be there shortly too.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll head there now.”

Fauna bowed as he left the room, and when the door shut behind him, he could hear the maid begin cleaning the nursery up of all the toys he’d been about to clean himself had he not been summoned by his wife.

Hah. Summoned. Like he was some mongrel pup. But he could forgive Fauna for using such archaic terms. More than likely his wife had asked Fauna to get him and the crystal pony maid had used the terms more familiar to her. As he walked down the halls, Flurry spread her wings and began hovering by his side, gabbing and giggling as she normally did. It still surprised him that even when she’d been a younger foal, she’d been an expert on flying. Almost like it was instinctive.

She flew into his field of vision, then tilted her head. “Mama?” she asked in an inquisitive tone. She had begun using simple words for the past few months, saying things like mama, papa, toy, or mine, among other simple words he and Cadance had been teaching her.

“We’re going to see mama now,” he said. “Just be patient, sweetie.”

“Mama! Okay!” Flurry said as she flew ahead towards the main double doors that led to the throne room. There was only one entrance to the throne room for security reasons, so many different corridors lead to it.

And it was from one of these corridors where he saw two guards arrive from, followed by seven mares and one dragon he hadn’t seen since he and Cadance had left Ponyville and come back to the Crystal Empire to better lead relief efforts.

Flurry Heart saw them coming and her smile only widened. She flew towards Twilight. “Aun! Aun!”

Shining followed the direction that Flurry was looking and saw his sister for the first time in months. He gaped at how she looked now. She looked the same physically, but the way she walked made her appear much older. She looked up at Flurry’s call, and gave the little filly a tired smile. A smile that grew a bit wider when her niece landed on Twilight’s back. Twilight looked back and said, “Hey, Flurry.”

Shining approached the group and got a good look at each of them. If he had been startled by his sister, he was appaled at how the others looked by comparison. Rarity wasn’t wearing her normal styled mane. Instead, she had her mane tied back simply and had a melancholy expression on her once jovial face. Applejack looked more or less the same, but there was something in her walk that matched the general mood of the ponies she was with. Rainbow Dash had her wings clamped firmly to her side as she walked around. Her normally messy mane was even messier than usual and more overgrown than it had been. Fluttershy’s mane was completely straight and her eyes were bloodshot, presumably from crying. Pinkie Pie’s mane was straighter than Fluttershy’s, and to his dismay she looked fairly gaunt and underfed. Her eyes looked down at the floor.

When he looked at Spike, however, he was relieved to see the young dragon looked fairly fit, having slowly begun to grow and losing about half of that baby fat he’d had for the years he’d been in Twilight’s care. Why he was wearing clothes, however, Shining couldn’t say.

He turned to Celestia, who looked more or less unchanged, and bowed. “Greetings, Princess Celestia,” he said respectfully.

Celestia nodded at him. “Hello, Prince Armor,” she said. “I’m glad to see you and your daughter are doing alright.”

“Thank you,” he said before he turned to Twilight. “Twily…hello, there.”

Twilight, who was trying to smile reassuringly at an increasingly confused Flurry, turned to face her brother. “Hi, Shining,” she said with the best smile she presumably could muster.

Walking over, he wrapped one hoof around her. Her hug back was weak and trembling a little. As he broke the hug and took Flurry back in his hoof, he looked at them all. “So, I’ve got to ask, but what are you all doing here?”

“We’re just passing through on our way to Griffonstone,” the Princess of the Sun informed him.

“Griffonstone? Why there?” Shining asked.

“Giff?” Flurry asked.

“Well, why don’t we talk in the throne room so I don’t have to repeat myself?” Celestia asked, and finally he saw a small smile on her face. The practiced smile of a princess that he’d come to recognize on Cadance’s face recently as well.

“Right, of course,” he said as he turned to the guards. “You two are dismissed. I’ll take it from here.” They straightened and trotted off back to their posts. Shining turned to the others. “Follow me, everypony.”

“Ugh…” he heard Spike groan. “Everypony…”

Shining turned, looking at Spike confused. He was startled to see the young teen dragon glaring at the unicorn. “Something wrong, Spike?”

Spike sighed and waved his claw. “No. I’m just gonna look around the city for a bit. You don’t need me here for this.”

“Don’t go, Spike, please,” Celestia said in a pleading tone which surprised Shining.

“I’ll be back, I promise,” he said, looking up sincerely at the alabaster princess. “I’d just rather be around ponies who actually appreciate me and don’t treat me like their pack mule right now.”

“Un!” Flurry Heart shouted, flying over to Spike and hugging him from behind as best she could, clinging to him and smiling at him. “Un?”

Spike sighed again, but he smiled gently at her. “You wanna go out, Flurry? I can take you out.” Without another word, he turned and made his way back down the hallway from where he and the others came. It hadn’t escaped Shining’s notice how the other mares deflated at Spike’s harsh words.

Shining watched them go for a bit, and he saw how much Spike had matured. He was obviously angry at Twilight, but he wasn’t too sure why he might be mad at him. He turned and led everypony into the throne room. He used his magic to open the door, leading into the large room where Cadance was sitting on the throne flanked on either side by two crystal guards.

When she saw the ponies, she turned to her guards. “You’re dismissed for now,” she said. “I’d like some time alone with them.”

“Yes, your Highness,” they said in sync before they headed down the long hallway leading up to the throne, passing the seven ponies walking up to the throne.

Shining stepped aside as Cadance stood, walked over to Twilight. Normally, the two would do a special dance and song whenever meeting, but all Cadance could do now was walk down and wrap Twilight in her hooves. He watched as his sister just leaned into her old foalsitter’s embrace. “How are you holding up, Twilight?” she asked tenderly.

“I’m…hanging in there,” Twilight said as she slowly broke the hug. “How about you all?”

“We’re doing alright,” Cadance said. “So, what are you all doing here? What brings you to the Empire? And where’s Spike?”

“Spike took Flurry Heart into the city,” Shining said in response to the last question.

“Oh, I see,” Cadance said. “I was hoping to see him, but maybe later. But back to my other questions, why are you here?”

“We were actually on our way to Griffonstone when the train broke down,” Celestia said by means of explanation. “It’ll take about a day for the replacement locomotive to show up, so we’re stuck here in the meantime.”

“Oh? Why are you going there?” Cadance asked, looking more closely at her fellow princess.

“We were summoned there by the cutie map,” Celestia replied.

That startled not only Cadance, but Shining Armor as well. Ever since Jason Wright’s invasion and ever since Luna had slammed her hoof on it which sent a crack through it, Shining had assumed it had been broken. To hear that it had activated again after so long was completely surprising. Cadance frowned. “Why now, of all times? And why there? Have you heard anything?”

“No, we haven’t had much contact with Griffonia since we closed the borders,” Celestia said.

Cadance’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah…why did you do that, Princess? It’s nothing but trouble.”

Shining was stunned by the sudden shift in tone that came from his wife. It was accusatory and had a hint of an edge to it. He quickly walked over to Cadance and put a hoof on her withers. “Cadance, deep breaths.”

She quickly pushed Shining’s hoof off, letting her anger grow as she stalked up towards the Equestrian Princess. Shining was stunned when he saw Celestia actually take a few steps back. “What in the ever loving TARTARUS were you THINKING?! All the stuff that happened with Emperor Wright was because of our own prejudices against anything non-pony and you just agree to close borders to anything non-pony?! If the outside world didn’t think we were xenophobes then, they sure do now! Do you know how many outsiders in the Empire have had ponies mock them or berate them in the streets?! TOO MANY!”

She exhaled slowly, then looked back up at Shining. He was completely taken aback by her outburst, but at the same time he could hardly blame her. She’d been working hard to try and create a safe place for non-ponies, but there were outcries from them that they were being sequestered like they had some disease, which had struck a nerve with Cadance. Now she was trying to integrate any non-pony into imperial society as best she could. He put his hoof back on her withers, rubbing up and down in an attempt to calm her down. She did relax at that, then turned back to Celestia, who’s ears were flattened like some scolded schoolfilly. In an even tone, Cadance said, “Whatever happened to the land of friendship and harmony? I’ve been receiving an influx of non-pony refugees fleeing the backlash of Emperor Wright’s invasion. Griffons, dragons, minotaurs and more have been coming here after your little ponies have been practically chasing them out. Well? Answer me.”

“I…really had no choice in the matter,” Celestia said after a bit. Her voice was shaking a bit as she finally looked back up. “I tried to fight it, really I did. But the last thing we need is infighting among the nobles. Many of them are trying to get me to overturn Jason’s pardon. They want him dead, Cadance. My ponies are clamoring for the Jason’s death. By public execution. This was the only concession I could really give them. And it’s not a permanent solution.”

That stunned everypony in the room. Even Twilight and the others looked appalled by the very idea of their fellow ponies demanding the death of another. Cadance, however, didn’t look all that impressed. She slowly walked up to Celestia, raised a hoof and jabbed it into the Princess’ chest. “You once taught me, long ago, that a very strong leader does the right thing regardless of popular opinion. I know you have a conscience, Celestia. You and I both know the nobles are using this incident to fuel their own agendas. Fuck the nobles. You should have stood your ground. You and Luna. I’ve wanted to say this for a while, but you baby your citizens too much. It’s probably why things happened the way they did.”

With that, she stepped back. Shining was completely shell shocked at the lecture his wife had just given to the ancient monarch, and even more shocked by her use of language. Celestia lowered her head, her wings falling to the side slightly. “I know…” she whispered after a while, “believe me, I know…”

Shining saw Twilight look up at her former mentor with a worried expression. She reached out with a hoof, paused, then retreated. The others were all looking more and more miserable by the second. Seeing an opportunity to intervene, Shining stepped forward. “If…you want to know a bit more about Griffonstone, I’m pretty sure you could find something at the library. I mean, you’ve seen it, Twily,” he said, turning to his sister. “There are statues of griffons outside the entrance.”

Twilight nodded, seeming to be remembering something if the wistful smile briefly passed over her lips. “Yeah…maybe. Is it okay if I peruse, Cadance?”

Cadance nodded. “Go ahead, but it’s a big library. Are you sure you can find anything there in a day?”

“It’s worth a try,” Twilight replied. “Can I get started now?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Cadance replied. “I do suggest you take your friends with you to help.”

The atmosphere in the room thickened when Cadance used the word ‘friends’. The six ponies behind Celestia all looked away from each other. Shining’s chest tightened at the sight. The walls he’d seen lifting up that day in the cutie map room had not only remained up, but had gotten thicker and stronger. It broke his heart. Those six were once national heroes throughout all of Equestria. They’d saved Princess Luna, purifying her from the evil that possessed her. They were the ones who defeated Discord after his first release and helped to begin his reformation. They were the ones who defeated enemies like Sombra and Tirek.

Now, he heard from some ponies who had visited the Empire about how opinions among the ponies were divided. They had heard conflicting stories about the invasion. Some had heard only about the second changeling invasion lead by some monster on two legs, while others had heard the entire truth, how the six mares before him had started a cycle of abuse and cruelty that lead to the aforementioned victim of said abuse occupying the very capital of Equestria.

He walked forward, leaned closer to his wife, then fell back into the crystalline language which he and his wife had been learning for years. “They still hurt.”

“Yes, love of loves, they do,” Cadance said sorrowfully before she turned back to the Equestrians. “I can tell you this much: for the past few weeks, we’ve had griffons coming through the station, all trying to get back to Griffonia. Specifically, Griffonstone. Something big apparently happened there. I don’t know what it is, but one of the maids overheard a group of griffons talking last week about a light coming from the east and how the moment they saw the light they felt different. I’m not sure what to make of it, either. But if the map summoned you there, and if something big is happening, that can’t be a coincidence.”

“Isn’t there a griffon ambassador here?” Twilight asked. “Wouldn’t they know?”

Cadance shook her head, now back to business. “He was actually one of the first to leave. He left about a week after Jason’s invasion and we haven’t seen him since. He cleaned out his room, too. He’s never done that before.”

“It must have been important,” Celestia said.

“Very important,” Cadance agreed. “But you’re all going to see what’s going on in Griffonstone soon enough. When you do, I’d really like to know. News from Griffonia is sparse at best, and even sparser than usual since our only link is gone. Something big is going on there, and I’m really curious about it. But for now, you’re all more than welcome to stay in guest quarters which I’ve had prepared. Meals will be provided for you all, and I’ll provide you with some supplies and food just in case Griffonstone doesn’t have a pony friendly diet. I don’t know much about them, only that they need to eat imported meat as a part of their diet. The kind of meat that hasn’t been enchanted by Equestria’s natural mana field.”

Shining saw Fluttershy shiver slightly at this despite her depressed exterior. Celestia nodded. “Thank you, Cadance.”

“You’re welcome, Celestia,” Cadance replied. “If any of you wanna talk, I’ll be here all day. Got a busy day ahead of me. Tough being a Princess of a nation, am I right?” Here, Shining was relieved to find his wife smiling knowingly at Celestia.

Celestia, meanwhile, smiled back in understanding. “We’ll stay out of your mane.”

“Don’t be a stranger,” Cadance said, “I could use the distraction from the daily grind. But I hope that whatever the map called you for is easy to fix. I’ve heard a few of the stories about the more dangerous map missions.”

“So do I,” Celestia said. With that, the ponies left, leaving Shining and Cadance alone.

The moment she got up that morning, Cadance knew that it was going to be a very unusual day. It started when she’d got up and nearly fell flat on her face after trying to stand on one of her front hooves which she’d somehow slept on funny and had fallen asleep during the night. Then, she’d wanted to surprise her husband with breakfast in bed that she’d made herself, only to get distracted by two bickering crystal pony maids and burning the eggs and hay bacon strips she’d worked on. And if that hadn’t been enough, she received word that the Friendship Express from Equestria had broken down and that all of the passengers needed a place to stay, including eight individuals she’d not expected to see here. Well, seven since she still hadn’t seen Spike.

Not that she could blame him for not wanting to see her. From what Shining had mentioned, Spike obviously had been told everything about why Jason had done what he did. She couldn’t imagine what must have been going through the young dragon’s mind then or now. She’d been shocked to see the state of the Elements of Harmony, how lifeless and dull they all looked from their depression. She was especially worried about the Element of Laughter, Pinkie Pie. She looked very malnourished. If she didn’t know any better, Cadance might have assumed the former party pony was bulimic.

And that terrified her. She was sorely tempted to order a physical examination for the young Element Bearer, but since she was technically a foreign citizen, she couldn’t order such a thing.

Poor Twilight looked much older than her mid twenties age. Cadance had been severely disappointed in what had happened when she learned the truth, but that never stopped her from worrying about the young Princess of Friendship. In fact, she’d used the harsh lessons learned from the Changeling Invasion to try and push through reforms in her own empire to make non-ponies feel welcome and included.

Of course, her first attempt had been a disaster. She really should have known that trying to create a community of only non-ponies would create outrage among the small non-pony community. She’d reasoned at the time that they should have a safe space away from ponies, but she realized after a few protests that it was a poorly conceived idea. It also taught her that even she had her own prejudices against other species.

There was one thing she was grateful for, however. The Crystal Empire didn’t have the nobility like Canterlot did. In short, she, Shining and Flurry were the only royals in the empire. On the one hoof, it made making decisions easier for the princess. On the other hoof, she knew that the only check she had was her husband. And good nobles would actually be beneficial.

After her meeting with the seven ponies, which hadn’t gone quite how she’d planned it, the rest of her day had gone by in a blur. However, she wasn’t alone. Shining, Maker bless him, had been by her side all through the day. She’d not been at a hundred percent after her blowup at Celestia, so she was extremely grateful that he’d been by her side.

At the end of the day, she stood and stretched, then leaned against her husband tenderly. He put a strong hoof around her as they headed out. While they walked to their private dining area, Shining spoke up. “I never knew you could be so vulgar.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” she asked, looking over at him curiously.

“When you were talking with Princess Celestia,” he explained.

Cadance smirked. “You know very well I’m not as innocent as I appear,” she giggled, bumping his flank with hers. Then her smile died as she faced ahead. “But…it needed to be said. I’m not perfect, Shining. Nopony is. I’ve made mistakes when ruling this empire, and I’ve done my best to take steps to avoid making similar or the same mistakes in the future. But Princess Celestia’s been a ruler for so long, I’m afraid she might be losing her touch.”

“Don’t tell me you believe those rumors they’re saying,” Shining said. “She’s a great ruler!”

“So was Princess Luna, and look what happened to her a thousand years ago,” Cadance pointed out. “Shiny, I’m not saying she’s a terrible ruler. You don’t manage to keep peace for so long without skill. But even she has blind spots. Her love for the ponies is a good thing, sure, but she can’t keep babying them. I’ve not had that problem here since the crystal ponies here all experienced trouble in their recent memory with Sombra, so they’re a lot more mature than other ponies. They’ve had to grow up fast. I’ve seen the same look in Twilight’s eyes. Her, her friends, and even Celestia’s. You have too.”

Shining thought about it for a bit, then Cadance saw his eyes widen. “When the crystal ponies had that collective amnesia,” he gasped.

“Only in their case, it’s not that they’ve forgotten,” Cadance said, “but that they can’t forget. It’s too horrible a memory. And it’s more recent to them than King Sombra is for the crystal ponies.”

“Are you saying they’ll never recover?” Shining asked fearfully.

“I’m saying that even after the Crystal Heart killed Sombra and brought happiness to the empire, there was still trauma there,” Cadance said. “Plenty of crystal ponies needed help. Counseling, therapy, even some needed medication to help sleep. Poor Luna had a lot of work on her plate those first six to eight months.”

Shining nodded. “I remember the letter.”

Cadance chuckled a bit as they walked. “Those six used to be the best of friends. Now? Only Twilight said anything. The others looked completely shattered.”

“Think they need to talk to somepony?” Shining asked.

“I know they do,” Cadance said. “Either that, or do what they’re doing now.”

“You mean getting out of Ponyville for a bit might help them and do them some good?” her husband asked.

“Exactly,” she said with finality. However, in the back of her mind, two words automatically followed her statement: I hope…

22: Meanwhile...

Ponyville, That Same Morning…

Snow fell onto Ponyville in light, small flakes, covering the already snow covered ground with another thin layer of white. Unlike most years, the snowfall around the destroyed town turned refugee camp had been lighter than usual since most of the town was staying in tents with a smaller portion staying in the Castle of Friendship.

Lyra Heartstrings was one of the former. She and her best friend Bon Bon had been staying in one of the two-pony tents that had been rolled out from the Crystal Empire three months ago. The light mint colored unicorn was holding her instrument, an old gold lyre handed down from her family since her great grandfather had commissioned it by one of Canterlot’s lead instrument crafters back in the day. Whenever she’d had a particularly taxing day, she would pull it out and play it. It had been shipped to her from her mother in Canterlot along with a few of her other belongings that she’d left behind in storage when she’d moved to Ponyville. Her mother had sent a note with it explaining its origin and how it was now hers.

She continued playing it, strumming a slow song which filled the tent with the melancholy tune. Across from her, lying on one of the cots, Bon Bon stared up at the ceiling, simply breathing in and out as the music continued to play. Lyra watched her best friend and roommate as she took in a deep breath, then closed her eyes and rolled over, pulling the blanket over her tightly.

Eventually, Lyra finished the song, one she’d written herself but hadn’t come up with lyrics to, yet. She was planning on writing a song about the destruction of Ponyville, but also of the tragedy that had been Jason Wright’s treatment by nearly everypony in Ponyville. Even she’d taken part in it, her and Bon Bon. They’d shouted at the human when he’d come to town, they’d thrown garbage and rocks at him, and Lyra had even shot a beam of magic at the poor human, catching a portion of his already destroyed clothes on fire while he fled.

And now, she, Bon Bon, and the entire town were paying for their transgressions. She put down her lyre on a nearby folding table and lay on her side, leaning on one of her front hooves, closing her eyes and trying to hold back the tears. Not the tears of loss, but the tears of guilt and shame at her behavior. Bon Bon was facing her, eyes still shut. When the two had heard the story about what had happened from Roseluck, her friends and a few other ponies who had been in Canterlot during Jason Wright’s trial of the Elements of Harmony, something inside them changed. They understood at that moment that they had betrayed everything that they claimed they were.

And it was because of this realization that Lyra had been stewing and thinking about an idea. Something she could do other than mope and feel sorry for herself. However, she’d not had the courage to say anything or even ask her friend for her help until now.

Making her decision, she turned to her friend, “Hey…Bon Bon?”

Bon Bon slowly opened her eyes. “Hmm…?”

“I…well…could I…ask a favor?” Lyra asked nervously.

Bon Bon’s eyes widened in concern as she slowly sat up in her cot. “Lyra? What’s wrong? You look like you’re going to throw up.”

In truth, Lyra did feel more nervous than she had in a while. She was about to probably break a few dozen rules that her best friend had to follow by asking, but she still knew she at least had to try. She swallowed, trying to keep herself from upchucking. “It’s just…it’s about your…previous job.”

Bon Bon’s eyes hardened and she immediately sat up, looking Lyra square in her eyes. “Go on,” she said stonily.

Lyra took a deep breath, then exhaled. “I know you said you were part of some…some secret organization, so that means you’ve had access to restricted books and stuff, right?” Lyra waited for a reply in either the affirmative or negative, but Bon Bon, or rather, Special Agent Sweetie Drops, didn’t reply. Lyra gulped and continued. “I…want to do some research. Some research on humans.”

“Why?” Sweetie Drops asked.

Lyra took a now shaky breath. “W-Well, remember how I said that while I was in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns that I dabbled in non-pony biology?” All Sweetie Drops did was nod, so Lyra continued. “Well…I was hoping…I really wanted to try and find out more about humans. Especially with what happened. All I know about them is what Princess-what Twilight said about them. I mean…if she knew about them, then maybe there’s something about them that’s been kept hidden.” There was silence once more as Sweetie Drops continued glaring at Lyra. The mint colored mare grew even more nervous and she almost squawked, “Come on, Bon Bon! Is it really that bad of a request!? I just want to know about them and-!”

“You’re asking a very big favor, Lyra Heartstrings,” Sweetie Drops said with a serious tone. “If there are any records of humans, they’ve been sealed away in some restricted corner of Canterlot. Do you honestly think that I’d have any access to that information? You forget, I’m not an agent anymore. I don’t have the authority or clearance I once did. I’m just Bon Bon now.”

“But you could talk to Princess Celestia!” Lyra said, now feeling a bit bolder since Sweetie Drops namedropped her alias. She jumped up and walked over to her earth pony friend. “You can ask her about this! Bonny, you know me! I wouldn’t ask this just for some sort of personal gain! Everypony in Ponyville fu-screwed up big time.”

“You can say it, you know,” Sweetie Drops said. “We all fucked up. Every single pony did. Even if half the town is still too foolish to see it even now.”

Lyra’s ears flattened and she nodded. “That’s…that’s one other reason why I wanted to…wanted to look up anything on humans…so we don’t make the same mistakes-”

“Don’t sugarcoat it, Ly-Ly,” Sweetie snarled. “It wasn’t a mistake! It was far worse!”

“I-I…yes, you’re right.” Lyra agreed.

Sweetie Drops sighed, then looked up at the mint colored unicorn with tired eyes. “I can’t help you, Lyra. I’m sorry…”

“Are you sure?” Lyra asked, trying once more. She wasn’t sure why she was insisting on this.

“Ly-Ly…” and with that, Sweetie Drops was gone, and Bon Bon was finally back. The earth pony mare walked over and put her hoof on Lyra’s cheek. “I can’t help you like that. Please understand…I’m not able to do that for you.”

Lyra slowly deflated, but nodded. “I…I understand,” she said, “and I’m sorry…sorry for asking such an impossible request.”

“It’s okay,” Bon Bon said softly, giving her best friend a warm nuzzle. “You mean well…but this is just something I can’t do. Please understand that.”

“I do,” Lyra said as she nuzzled back before the two broke apart.

“Thank you. Now, I’m gonna head to my shift early,” Bon Bon said as she slowly walked towards the entrance to the tent. “See you tonight, Ly-Ly.”

“See you then, Bon Bon,” Lyra said. “I’m gonna go out for a little walk.”

“Sure,” Bon Bon said, “you don’t work today, right?”

“Not today.”

“Alright. See you tonight.” And with that, Bon Bon headed out of the tent.

“See you later, Bonny,” Lyra said as she grabbed her scarf and snowcap before she walked out of their two pony tent into the mid morning cloud filled day.

Taking a right, she walked down the street, losing herself in her thoughts. Ever since she’d watched her and Bon Bon’s house (the first level of which had doubled as Bon Bon’s candy shop) being burned down by the changeling army led by the human that the entire town had shunned for the crime of being different. She sighed, watching her breath in the icy cold air as she trudged down the snowy temporary road. She passed a few other ponies and a handful of foals who were playing what looked like a game of tag. She envied them their innocence and youth. Foals always had a way of bouncing back faster than a full grown adult pony. Probably because their mind wasn’t filled with all the shit adults had gone through yet. Or the prejudices and fears which had led to this catastrophe.

She sighed and turned left down a small intersection in the temporary tent town. She knew she couldn’t rely on her best friend for help. Not that she blamed Bon Bon, of course. The two had talked long about the sweet maker’s former occupation after the wedding of the two donkeys who had quickly left Ponyville about a few days after Jason Wright’s invasion force had left the ruined town. In fact, almost all nonponies had left the tow, either out of guilt at how they’d treated Jason or out of fear of the terrified ponies in the town itself.

She found a small tree near a grove of pines which had been missed by the fire that had destroyed her hometown. She sat against it, leaning back and closing her eyes. She let her tears flow once again. She couldn’t believe how cruel she had been to Jason. It was like she was in some kind of hateful fog whenever she saw the human coming into town. Like some kind of switch had been thrown and she’d turned into some kind of monster. And it was because of ponies like her that he’d become so spiteful and destroyed everything she’d known.

She wasn’t sure just how long she’d been there, but something behind her snapped. Stiffening, she froze and listened. She was near the White Tail Woods at the moment, but even so, she couldn’t be sure that those rumors about changelings living in the Everfree weren’t true. A minute passed, and when she heard nothing she was about to stand and walk back to the camp when she heard another rustling of noise. She froze and went prone, listening for any sounds of monsters roaming through the forest.

Instead, what she heard were three sets of voices.

“Were you followed?” the first voice, a deep male voice, asked in a soft whisper.

“You know I’m the stealthiest pegasus around,” a female voice whispered back a bit louder.

Lyra heard somepony smack another pony upside the head. “Hush,” the third voice, another female, whispered, “For the stealthiest pegasus around, you’re really loud.”

“Enough, both of you,” the male said in a stern voice. “Well, what do you have to report now?”

The second voice spoke again. “One of the ponies in Griffonstone wrote to me about a week ago. You know that zebra that was living in the Everfree Forest? The one we chased away? Well, she’s apparently living in a small town near there now.”

Lyra was confused. Who would want to chase a zebra-?

She froze in realization. Zecora…she hadn’t been in town ever since the changeling invasion. She felt sick that anypony would chase her out of her home. She strained to listen.

“So what? At least that enchantress is out of our manes,” the third voice said dismissively.

“Well, that’s not all. Get this, there’s another human on Equus. And it’s living in Griffonstone. Close to that zebra. Get the picture now?”

Lyra froze. Had she heard right? Was there really another human on Equus? And how did they know this?

“Another one of those things? How did it get here?” the third voice asked in alarm.

“My contact didn’t say, but apparently this human is now a member of the Griffonian government,” the second voice said.

“Is that so?” the male voice asked. “And you got this a week ago? You couldn’t get away from your cushy home in the clouds to get down here and tell us this?”

“It’s not my fault. I couldn’t get out here because I was ordered to help the Appleloosan weather team take care of their winter snows that same day.”

The male voice sighed, then said “Fine, whatever. But what does that have to do with us? If they’re in Griffonia, why should we care?”

“Yeah, what’s the big deal?” the third voice asked. “Just as long as the humans stays far away from us, I say let it.”

“And what if that zebra tells the human about that Jason Wright? And if he is in the Griffonian government, what if he tries the same thing that Jason did to us?”

There was silence now. Lyra strained more to listen. About ten seconds later, the male voice said, “You’ve got a good point…”

“We should have been more permanent with that zebra…” the third voice said in a snarl, sending shivers down Lyra’s back.

“It’s too late to think about that now,” the male said. “You need to write back to your contact and have them try and find a way to get close to the human.”

“I already asked a group to go investigate the human,” the second voice said.

“And just how did you pay for that?” the first voice asked in a warning tone.

“That’s the thing! I didn’t! I told my uncle in Canterlot about this and HE hired them to go investigate. He promised me he’d get me the details of their report first.”

“Your uncle? Really?” the third voice groaned. “We already owe him thirteen hundred bits as it is!”

“Shush,” the male voice said again.

“Hey, he promised to extend the deadline for our debt by another three months for this information,” the second voice exclaimed. “I didn’t have time to come down here and ask. He said it was a take it or leave it deal.”

There was silence for a bit, then the male sighed. “Fine, I guess that’s worth telling him about it…”

“Do you think we should go there now that the travel ban has been lifted?” the second voice asked.

“No, we’ll let whoever your uncle hired deal with it,” the male said. “Who did he hire?”

“He didn’t say, only that they were the best at their job,” the second voice replied. “That’s all I needed to know. But I really have to go. My break is almost over and I could get fired.”

“Yeah, I need to go too,” the third voice said. “When should we meet next and where?”

“I’ll let you know. Dismissed,” the male voice said.

Lyra tried to get a look at whoever had been talking, but whoever was leaving had gone the other way to avoid being spotted. That, and she heard the casting of a teleportation spell and a white flash from the grove. She didn’t more, didn’t even dare to breathe as the two remaining ponies left the grove. She heard the flutter of wings asa pony lifted off and headed into the sky. The last pony continued walking away until she could no longer hear them. She waited an agonizing ten more minutes, silently counting the seconds before she finally slowly stood. Lifting her horn, she cast her own teleportation spell. In a golden flash she was back in her tent, dizzy from the use of her magic. She’d never been the best when she’d been at Princess Celestia’s school, but she hadn’t been a slouch. Teleportation had never come easy to her, not even after she knew how to do it. Not like…well, not like Twilight Sparkle.

Despite Lyra’s conflicted feelings towards her former friend, even she had to admit that she was proficient at magic. She remembered the few study sessions she and her old friends from Canterlot had when they were fillies. Twilight was always glued to a book with a very serious expression on her face.

She brushed aside those memories as she ran out of her tent and rushed towards the place where Bon Bon was working. She needed to tell her friend about this.

For the first time, she felt a bit of hope rising in her. Maybe she couldn’t fix what had happened to Jason, but she could help this apparent second human.

And for that, she’d need Bon Bon’s help.

Canterlot Palace, Late That Same Morning…

Luna sat on her sister’s throne, listening for what felt like the thousandth time to complaints from the Canterlot nobility. She maintained her regal demeanor as she tried her best not to tune out the drone of whiney spoiled bitches below her as well as the sounds of pencil on paper as Raven Inkwell, her sister’s personal secretary, hastily scribbled down everything that the noble, a green and white furred unicorn with an ugly orange combover named Cash King, went on and on about the reversal of the border closure which Luna, with Celestia’s authorization, had reversed a day prior.

For the past day and a half, she had been hearing the same story over and over again from the nobles. She’d listened as they told her how bad of an idea it was to reopen the borders so soon after the invasion of the Changeling hoard. After all, who knew what kind of dangerous creatures could come spying out the land for their rich resources or even, perhaps, to enslave ponykind.

“I’m telling you, Your Highness,” the snooty noblestallion was saying as he held up his hoof to accentuate his point, “reopening the borders at such a time is not a good idea, especially with other creatures looking to take jobs from good, hardworking ponies. Equestria is at the peak of civilization, and other creatures would absolutely love to move in and benefit from the work us ponies have put into the land.”

“Equestria is meant to be a place of harmony and friendship,” another pony, who Luna quickly identified as Fancy Pants, said as he stepped forward from the side, stamping his hoof to accentuate his words. The tall and well dressed stallion glared at Cash King as he continued: “Have you forgotten the admissions of that Roseluck mare?”

Cash just scoffed at that. “So a few ponies bullied that human. He went completely overboard by destroying an entire town!”

“Bullied? Mister King, that was not bullying, it was full on abuse! And it wasn’t just a few ponies. It was the entire town!” Fancy shouted angrily.

Cash grit his teeth and was about to retort when Luna, having had enough of this bickering, stood, spread her wings, and bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice “ENOUGH OF THIS POINTLESS BICKERING!” Both ponies who had nearly been ready to exchange blows stopped, backed away from each other and bowed to Luna, trembling just like nobles of old had trembled whenever Luna or Celestia had used the Voice on them back before Luna’s banishment. After the sound of the echoes died away, she returned her wings to their normal state, then spoke in her new normal voice. “Cash King, I have heard the same arguments for the past day. Your points have been taken into consideration, but this is a decision that my sister and I have hoofed down. It was a mistake to close the borders. Do you know how other nations view Equestria now because of it?” She glared at Cash King, waiting for an answer. However, the now nervous unicorn was now tongue tied, which satisfied Luna quite well as she answered her own question. “Other nations are putting us under a looking glass, nonponies are leaving the nation in droves, and there has been a steady decline of exports of Equestrian products to foreign nations. Any imports are becoming more expensive. Our economy might not last too much longer because of what your short sightedness has wrought! Mr. Fancy Pants is correct! We are meant to be a nation of peace and love and harmony, and yet the more I learn about our treatment of nonponies, the more I wonder how true that is!”

Luna just then felt a hoof on her leg. Looking down, the furious alicorn saw a worried Raven looking up at the lunar princess. “Your Highness, please take a few deep breaths,” she whispered. “Perhaps it’s time for an early lunch break?”

At the mention of lunch, Luna realized that she hadn’t eaten anything since seven in the morning. She took Raven’s advice and took a deep breath, returning to face the nervous unicorn. “The decision to reopen the borders is final. My sister and I won’t hear another word about it. Is that understood?”

There was a flash of anger in Cash King’s eyes, but he simply bowed in acknowledgement. “Understood, Princess.”

“Good. Everypony is dismissed until one o’clock this afternoon,” Luna said. “I will hear the rest of you then.”

As the pony nobles filed out, Luna stood from the throne and headed down towards the door at the lefthoof side of the room, followed close behind by Raven. Luna was tired. She was really tired. It hadn’t been too long since Celestia and the Elements of Harmony, along with Spike, had left the kingdom to head to Griffonstone, of all places, but Luna was already exhausted from having to deal with the petty desires of the nobility. She would much prefer to not deal with them at all.

She missed the old times. Things were simpler then. Yes, she could appreciate some of the modern wonders of this day and age. Indoor plumbing and the modern power systems were something she now knew she couldn’t really live without. However, Luna missed the times when her sister and her could make decisions alone. There were nobles in her time, of course, but they actually knew what they were doing and had the interests of the ponies in mind. She did, however, like Fancy Pants, who could only be a descendent of Duke Smarty Pants, the pony who had helped to found the first city aside from the city around the Castle of the Two Sisters. The founder of Manehattan.

She’d always been fond of Smarty Pants. True to his name, he’d been one of the most intelligent nobles, and according to modern day historians he’d been ahead of his time. He built his fortune on imports from other nations, such as lumber and metal from the metal rich countries around Equestria. She would have given anything to go back in time and watch her old friend pioneer the now modern metropolis.

“Princess Luna? Where are you going?” Raven Inkwell’s voice snapped Luna out of her reverie. “Aren’t you going the wrong way?”

Luna stopped and looked around. She was, indeed, heading the wrong direction, automatically heading back to her private quarters. She cleared her throat. “Ah, yes. Apologies, Miss Inkwell,” she said as she turned and headed back down the hall towards the private dining area that was reserved only for her, her sister and any guests they wished. As she did so, she looked down at Raven, noticing that the unicorn was looking a bit nervous. “Is there something on your mind, Miss Inkwell?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow at the light gray furred and brown maned unicorn.

Raven jumped a bit, but then exhaled deeply before she looked up at Luna. “Your Highness, I know that taking your sister’s job is stressful, but I hope I can make some suggestions.”

“I’m all ears,” Luna said, turning both of her ears towards the unicorn to emphasize her point.

Looking surprised, Raven relaxed as she continued. “I know the nobleponies are a pain to deal with, but they control a lot of the nation’s wealth. Cash King and his twin Cash Cow both own the Maremart franchise store.”

Luna thought back to some of her early lessons with some of the castle ponies in her early days after her return from the moon. She recalled Maremart being a large company that had stores in Detrot, Las Pegasus, Sea Saddle, Manehattan and Mareami Beach along with other smaller stores in smaller cities throughout Equestria. It was a major retail center where ponies could buy more for less, according to the Maremart logo: Get More. For Less. “What are you suggesting, Miss Inkwell?” Luna asked, more curiously than before.

Raven pulled out a few pieces of paper from her saddlebags and floated them in front of both of them. As Luna looked at the papers with a confused expression, Raven pointed to them. “You said it earlier, princess. The Equestrian economy is in trouble. Even if less than half of our money comes from exports, with less foreigners buying Equestrian goods those bits won’t be flowing through the economy. This means less for tax revenue, and less to help improve Equestria or rebuild Ponyville. And if we lose the support of the rich nobles, that could very well be another blow to the economy.”

Luna groaned. She hated dealing with monetary matters. She never had the mind for it, anyway. But she knew that Raven was better suited to understand it. “Forgive me, Miss Inkwell, but I am not accustomed to dealing with monetary issues. I am afraid I can only understand some of what you say.”

Raven nodded as they reached a set of double doors, each guarded by two gray pegasi guards, who opened the doors for them. They entered the private dining area where she and her sister would share some of Celestia’s famous pancakes with faces on them for breakfast and where Luna would prepare some of her famous three cheese gratin for dinner for her and her sister. Now, it seemed empty without Celestia sitting at one head of the table.

As they walked in, the unicorn explained, “The kingdom needs money to survive, that’s economics 101. We tax the populace a small amount and businesses a bit more according to a percentage decided by our Economists. We put those tax bits to work on improving infrastructure around the country, paying government officials like the Royal Guard and so on. Are you with me so far?”

“That I am,” Luna said as she sat down at the head of the table where Celestia normally sat. Turning to one of the mare maids, she said, “Tell the chef that I require a most nutritious meal. With extra cheese. And to drink, some of the apple wine from the cellar. Miss Inkwell? What will you be having?”

Raven, who had sat on Luna’s right, looked up. “Huh? Oh, just a garden salad for me and water.”

“At once, your Highness,” the maid said as she spread her wings and flew into the kitchen.

“Now then, you were telling me, Miss Inkwell?” Luna asked. Before Raven could say anything, however, there was a knock at the door. Luna cursed herself mentally for not instructing the Royal Guards to insist on no interruptions, but she straightened and called out. “Enter!”

The guards opened the door, and a third pony, this one a dark blue earth pony wearing a well pressed black suit and tie, quickly trotted in with a strangely black scroll in his magical grasp. He placed it down in front of the princess, then bowed. “Apologies for interrupting, your Highness, but this was a matter that could not wait.”

Luna looked at the unusually dressed pony briefly before shaking her head. “Thank you.” She lifted up the scroll and opened it. And what she saw stunned her completely.

Dear Princess Celestia,

You might not know me, but I was once known as Special Agent Sweetie Drops. I was a part of the Secret Monster Intelligence League of Equestria many years ago before we were shut down. Please forgive me for using this old channel to reach you, but I felt like this couldn’t wait.

A friend of mine overheard three individuals who they believed to be ponies talking about a letter they received from a pony who is now living in Griffonstone. According to what this friend told me, these three are aware of a second human on Equus, and apparently this human is a high ranking member of the Griffonian government. Not only that, but these apparent ponies were responsible for chasing out a zebra who had, for years, lived in the Everfree Forest and lent her aid to the ponies of Ponyville.

My friend also overheard some plot of theirs to have this human investigated by an as of yet unknown group of individuals. From what this friend of mine described, it is unlikely this group has any noble intentions in regards to this human.

I just wished to let you know, Princess.

Bon Bon, formerly Agent Sweetie Drops

Luna reeled at the massive amount of information that she was still trying to process. Another human on Equus was news to her. She suspected that Celestia already knew about this already, but since Luna had no time to check in with her sister after her brief message to Luna, A.K.A. Reopen the fucking borders!

She wasn’t trying to dismiss the other parts of the message, since she knew about said zebra from Celestia. From what she’d been told, said zebra was a very kind and caring creature who had been sadly initially feared by the ponies of Ponyville before it was revealed she was just a potion crafter who lived in the Everfree because it provided her with access to free ingredients for her brews. But it seemed as if the paranoia had returned. Something was telling Luna that there was more to this letter. Turning to the well dressed pony, she said, “I take it you know what this letter says?”

The pony saluted. “Yes, your highness,” he said.

“Then I wish to submit a reply to this pony who wrote this,” Luna said. “Instruct whoever this pony is to bring their friend with them to Canterlot immediately.”

"I’ll have them here within the hour." With a professional salute, the suited pony rushed out.

When the door closed, Raven looked up at Luna. “What was that all about, your highness?”

“A matter that is far more important than any of the petty noble complaints in that court,” Luna said. “Miss Inkwell, cancel the meetings for today. I fear I will be indisposed for the rest of the day.”

Raven nodded and pulled out a pen and paper to write it down. Luna leaned back in her sister’s chair and sighed. Today just got a whole lot more complicated…

Canterlot City, Late Morning in the Suburb Business District…

Summer vacation was in full swing the students in Canterlot City. The weather forecast from Canterlot News Channel 8 was nothing but sunny skies and warm temperatures for the foreseeable future, meaning that places like local pools and water parks would be packed with students out to beat the heat. Either that, or they were heading to local ice cream shops or restaurants to enjoy a cool beverage or ice cream.

The former was where a group of seven friends were currently headed. Sweet Snacks Café was one of the more popular hangouts for modern day teens in Canterlot City. It’s older theme and cheaper prices than most other places, minus The Sweet Shoppe run by the Cake family, was a huge plus for students who wanted to get more bang for their buck. That, and the large portions were major pluses for teens who were still growing.

Among the seven teens was a fiery haired teenage girl who was walking a bit behind everyone else. She was smiling in anticipation, looking forward to eating her favorite dish there since she had never tasted anything like the food in Canterlot City back where she was from.

Which so happened to be Equestria. Or at least it used to be.

The former unicorn turned human Sunset Shimmer slowly lost her smile as she remembered her old home. No, her former home, she reminded herself. The only link back to Equestria that she had was the portal that was somehow still journal that she used to talk to the young dragon Spike, the only one in that world who she really thought was a decent person. Especially since it was him who had told her, albeit accidentally at first, about what had happened to that human who’d come to Equestria and his abysmal treatment by her friend’s pony equivalents.

She also knew she needed a day like this especially since the thought of what Spike had told her brought those feelings of utter rage and betrayal from a pony who she had once thought of as a friend back up to the surface. Feelings she’d tried very hard to work through on her own. She hated to bother her friends about this, but there was always that fear inside of her that they might leave her if they ever learned the truth. She hated herself for thinking that as it felt like she was betraying them by even thinking so little of them, but that fear was still there. She sighed and shoved her hands in her jacket pockets, looking down at the asphalt sidewalk.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t hear or see the person walking up next to her and tap her lightly on her shoulder. “Sunset?”

Sunset jumped a bit, then turned to see Twilight Sparkle walking on her right now, a concerned look on her face. Sunset smiled a bit “Oh, hey Twilight. Sorry, I was just thinking about some stuff.”

“Like what?” Pinkie asked, bouncing back over to her.

Automatically, she lied and said, “Oh, just about that weird archaeological discovery in the papers a few days ago. You know the one I’m talking about? The one in the mountains?”

Twilight’s eyes brightened. “Those weird winged dinosaurs, you mean? That’s so exciting! A new species of dinosaurs!”

“Ah know that ain’t what’s bothering yah, Sunset,” Applejack, the Stetson wearing cowgirl, walked up to Sunset’s left, putting a concerned hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

“Ever since you got back from Equestria a couple months ago, you’ve been really super duper sad,” Pinkie Pie said, her poofy curly hair bouncing as she walked over to her side as well along with everyone else. “I should know. That smile hasn’t really reached your eyes in weeks anymore. Come on, Sunset! Share your troubles! It just might help soothe those stressed nerves.”

“What happened over there?” Fluttershy asked, her look of worry bigger than the others. “You’ve been acting more nervous than usual.”

“Darling, you’re our friend,” Rarity said reassuringly. “Let us help you.”

“Out with it, SunShim,” Rainbow Dash said, smacking Sunset on the back a bit too hard, earning her a glare from Sunset. The prismatic teen removed her hand and gave a sheepish smile. “Oops, sorry.”

Sunset’s glare slowly vanished and she sighed. “It’s really nothing I can’t handle, I promise,” she said.

Out of Twilight’s backpack, Spike the dog came up and looked over at Sunset. “Have you thought about asking that Princess Twilight?”

Just the mention of her former friend made Sunset pause and tense up before she could say or do anything about her reaction. However, it was too late to hide it since Applejack’s grip on her shoulder only got a bit harder. “Ah know that look, sugarcube,” the human Element of Honesty said before putting her arm around Sunset. “Somethin’ happened over there.”

“You haven’t mentioned my counterpart much since you got back,” Twilight said, “and you keep avoiding the subject, and me sometimes…”

Sunset’s heart sank when she saw how hurt the bespectacled Element of Magic looked. She looked down at the ground guiltily before she took a deep breath and sighed. “Have I really been that bad?” she asked, looking up at her friends guiltily.

“You haaave been kinda bad, yeah,” Rainbow said, arms crossed. This earned her a smack on the back of her head from Applejack. “Ow! Well, she has!”

“There this thing called tact, Rainbow,” Applejack said with a frown. “Use it.”

“Is it something you can’t trust us with?” Fluttershy asked.

Those words hurt Sunset even more as she swallowed the lump in her throat. She held her arm with her other hand. “It’s…it’s not that,” she said hesitantly. “It’s really complicated.”

“How complicated?” Rarity asked.

“Complicated enough that I’m afraid to talk about it,” Sunset finally admitted, holding her arm with her hand nervously.

That stunned the six teens surrounding the former unicorn. After a few seconds, Fluttershy came up and said, “Sunset, you taught me that it’s okay to be afraid, but not to let it get me down from talking to my friends about it.”

“Whatever’s bothering you, we’re willing to talk to you about it,” Rarity said.

“Yeah, you just need some ice cream in your belly!” Pinkie said with a wide grin before grabbing Sunset’s wrist and pulling her towards their destination which was only a block away.

Sunset couldn’t help it. She smiled as she let herself be pulled there by the happy-go-lucky pink haired teen. She quickly fell into step with the fellow lover of PostCrush. “Alright, alright, you convinced me Pinkie, but you don’t have to hold me that hard, you know?”

Pinkie released Sunset and smiled wide, squeeing at the same time. “Come on! I know just what you need! A triple decker grilled cheese should really help!”

“Actually, Pinkie, I think I’d like something else this time,” Sunset said. “Something I rarely eat, but I really could use one today.”

“Oooh! Changing things up, huh? Kinky! What do you want?” Pinkie asked expectantly.

Sunset grinned. “A triple bacon cheeseburger with the works.”

That stunned the other girls. They knew that Sunset was a vegetarian, especially since she’d explained that many sources of meat in the human world were actually able to talk and reason back on Equestria. Even though the animals on this side of the portal were not sapient, just the thought about eating one had initially made Sunset queasy. She had tried some meat products, like bacon, a few pieces of popcorn chicken, and a few bites of a cheeseburger that Rainbow Dash hadn’t been able to finish a while ago. Fluttershy walked up to her side and put a hand on her shoulder. “Sunset…are you sure you’re okay? You hardly ever eat meat.”

“Yeah…I know,” Sunset said, “but I’ve noticed lately that taking supplements to maintain this human body just doesn’t really do the same thing as actual meat does. I really need this right now.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Fluttershy said with a reassuring smile.

“Then let’s get going! I’m starving!” Rainbow exclaimed, rushing to the diner and leaving a rainbow in her wake as she opened the door and waved at them. “Hurry up, slowpokes!”

An hour later, the teens were all sitting around a booth eating their dessert. As promised, Sunset had gotten the triple cheeseburger with the works and had eaten it with surprising gusto. Now, after finishing it, the fries and her soda, she and her friends had all pitched in for the massive Ice Cream Extravaganza. Even though it was her day off that day, Pinkie still had convinced her boss to let her make the I.C.E. for her friends.

She was eating some of the mint chocolate chip when Applejack, who was sitting next to her, put a hand on her shoulder. “Are yah feeling ready tah tell us now?” she asked.

Sunset slowly put down the cone in one of the metal ice cream cone holders provided for them. She grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth before taking a sup of the water she’d ordered along with the ice cream. “Yeah…I guess so.”

“Take your time, Sunset,” Twilight said reassuringly. “We’re here for you.”

Sunset nodded, then reached into her backpack, pulling out the journal to Equestria. This was the second one she owned, one that had been delivered to her by Spike the dragon when she’d gone back through the portal during the incident with Juniper Montage. He’d been the one who’d saved her and the other girls while they’d been stuck in that mirror dimension and had convinced Juniper to release them. Seeing him meet his dog counterpart had been amusing, and Sunset had taken the Equestrian Spike in for the next couple of days. She’d even snuck him into the premier of the new Daring Do movie.

Opening the book, she reached the page where Spike had accidentally written into it about what Twilight had told him about the human Jason Wright. She began turning it towards the girls, but hesitated. Doubts began seeping into her mind. What if they thought less of her because of this? Frowning, she pushed those doubts aside. Despite their rocky instances in the earlier stages of their friendship, like Anon-A-Miss and how they kept her at arms length for a while until after the incident with the Dazzlings, she knew that they were true friends to her. Slowly, she turned the journal around. “A couple of months ago, I was streaming some video games at home when the journal began glowing. I thought Princess Twilight was contacting me about some new magic that was loose in our world. But this was what I got instead.”

The girls went silent as they all read the initial journal entry by Spike then the conversation that followed between him and Sunset. Thanks to their access to Equestrian magic, all six human girls and Spike the dog could actually read Equestrian along with English. Sunset watched their faces for their reactions. Their initial curiosity turned into confusion, which quickly turned into horror (and in Rainbow Dash’s case, disgust especially when she learned about what her counterpart had done). Spike reacted by whining and snuggling closer to Twilight, who held her pet and friend close.

The conversation between Spike and Sunset had been a long one. Not only had Spike told Sunset about what had happened with Jason Wright, but he’d also begun venting about how he had been treated by the ponies who claimed to be his friends. He’d described how Twilight would always leave him behind to do chores while she and her friends went off on adventures, how he had pined for the pony Rarity only for her to use him nearly quite literally as a pincushion, how Rainbow Dash would play pranks on him that were more abusive than anything, how Pinkie Pie had forgotten him many times whenever there was a party, and how Fluttershy had treated him more like another animal. That, and she was only nice to him because he was a baby dragon. There were even patches of the ink that looked smeared as if by water, or more likely tears.

Finally, everyone had finished reading the practically five pages of conversation between Sunset and Spike. When Fluttershy finished reading last, everyone turned to Sunset. Taking a deep breath, Sunset explained what she’d done after the conversation, how she had let her anger take control of her. How she’d headed through the portal and pretty much punched Princess Twilight out of pure rage. That, and how she’d pretty much cut all ties with her and her friends. “But, I still talk to the other Spike over there,” she finished as she closed the journal and put it back in her backpack.

“…That’s…awful!” Twilight said, clinging tightly to her Spike.

“I know I can be reckless and all, but I didn’t think my pony self could be cruel!” Rainbow Dash said, a fire of anger in her eyes. “I have half a mind to go through the portal and punch that bitch!”

“Simmer down there, Sally,” Applejack said, kicking Rainbow Dash’s leg gently under the table, “Ah’m madder than a puffed toad here too, but we can’t just go flyin’ off the handles here.”

“Are all ponies like that?” Fluttershy asked, looking uncharacteristically angry herself.

Sunset sank back into her seat, looking up at the corner where ceiling and wall met. The wavy neon lights in one corner were surreptitiously flickering, possibly meaning that they needed to be replaced. The other teens in the café were all talking and/or dancing to the song currently playing in the jukebox. Ironically enough, they were playing a Rainbooms song that Pinkie Pie wrote called Coinky Dink World. She looked back at her friends and sighed. “Ponies…well, I’ll admit, they’re more nervous around anything non-pony for the most part. They are lower on the food chain, metaphorically speaking. I’m not saying this to defend what happened to Jason Wright, but ponies do tend to be scared of other races. When I first came here all those years ago, I was terrified of humans before I began my research into this world. With a few differences, I realized that humans and ponies aren’t all that different. I guess that so called Princess Twilight didn’t see that when she came here.” Sunset clenched her fists angrily. “At least I know why she never visited this world unless absolutely necessary…”

“This is really botherin’ ya, ain’t it?” Applejack asked.

Sunset sat forward and put her head in her hands. “How could it not?!” she shouted bitterly. So loud, in fact, that a few neighboring teens paused what they were doing to look over at the corner booth with concern. Sunset realized how loud she must have been and held up a hand. “Sorry, everyone.”

“Well, I can certainly understand your anger, darling,” Rarity said, arms crossed and a scowl on her face. “I certainly can’t imagine doing anything so cruel.”

“I can,” Fluttershy said with a soft voice. “Remember Anon-A-Miss, girls?”

The mood at the table darkened and five of the six teens looked down at their ice cream in shame. Only Twilight looked confused as she looked at them, then back at Sunset. “What’s that? Anon-A-Miss?”

Sunset looked around at the girls and raised her hands. “Girls, girls, it’s alright. You more than made it up to me by buying me that Torque T-150 truck, remember? And you apologized so much I had ‘I’m sorry’ coming out of my ears. It’s really okay. I forgave you.”

“Ah appreciate yah sayin’ so,” Applejack said as she looked up at Sunset. “It’s still somethin’ that bothers me from time tah time.”

“Yeah, same here,” Rainbow Dash said. “I mean, I know we’re cool and all, but there are some days where I remember what we did…”

“What’s Anon-A-Miss?” Twilight repeated.

“Oh, it was a MyStable account,” Sunset said before she proceeded to explain the entire story to a stunned Twilight. “But that’s all in the past,” she finished. “Things are better between all of us now, and I’ve worked hard to make sure people know I’m not the same girl I was when I came here.”

“Boy have you!” Pinkie giggled.

“Wow…that’s quite a story,” Spike said. “Well, all of them are. That other me is probably super depressed.”

Twilight hugged her Spike close to her, looking down at him with a warm and tender smile. “I won’t let that happen to you, Spike,” she promised.

“Actually, the dragon Spike told me recently that he’s begun hanging out with foals his own age,” Sunset said with a smile. “He’s spending more time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and a couple other fillies. In fact, I think I’ve been getting hints that he’s got a crush on the pony version of Sweetie Belle.”

The girls, save for a stunned Rarity, all went “Ooooo!”

“Really? The dragon me is crushing on a pony?” Spike asked curiously.

“Don’t be getting any ideas, Spikey Wikey,” Rarity said with a frown on her face.

“Um, I’m a dog,” Spike said.

Rarity’s frown turned into a playful grin before she reached over and ruffled his fur. “I’m just teasing, darling,” she said.

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay, Sunset?” Twilight asked with concern.

Sunset took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Yeah…I feel a lot better after having told you girls. I’m sorry it took so long.”

“Aw shucks, yah ain’t gotta apologize tah us,” Applejack said. “Ah know how yah feel, not wantin’ tah burden yer friends. But it’s okay tah be honest with us.” With that, her human ears vanished, replaced with pony ears and her hair extended.

“We’re always here if you want to talk about whatever’s bothering you,” Fluttershy said. Her own ears transformed into pony ears and a pair of wings spread from her back while her hair extended.

“We wanna see you smiling again!” Pinkie Pie said, and her hair and ears changed as well.

“I’ll give up any time for you, darling,” Rarity said as her hair and ears changed into her pony up form.

“You’re our friend, SunShim! We won’t leave you hanging!” Rainbow said, her wings spreading as she hovered above the table while her ears and hair changed to match the others.

Twilight leaned forward, taking Sunset’s hand in hers. Her ears changed and the alicorn wings spread from her back as she smiled sincerely at the former unicorn. “Sunset, you’re not alone. Please let us in.”

Sunset could only stare in awe at the ponied up versions of her friends. She smiled after a while, feeling herself too pony up as she wrapped her hand around Twilight’s own. “Thanks, Twilight. Thank you, everyone.”

Pinkie then gasped loudly as she pointed to Sunset. “Your smile reached your eyes! YAY! You’re back to your old self again!”

Sunset chuckled, putting a hand to her mouth. “I do feel a lot better.” She smiled gratefully at all of her friends before she cleared her throat and clapped her hands. “Well, why don’t we change topics for a bit, huh? Who’s ready for that cruise next week?”

“I am! It’s gonna be sooo much fun!” Pinkie said excitedly.

“It better be,” Rainbow said. “We couldn’t go that one Spring Break because we didn’t get the funding to pay for it.”

“Well we got it now thanks tah Twilight here,” Applejack said, patting her on the back with a grin.

Twilight blushed before she pulled out a pamphlet and opened it. “I got this pamphlet from the company who runs the cruise. Listen to this: ‘Welcome aboard the Luxe Deluxe, where you’ll set sail for a full week of luxurious luxuriating on our most deluxe luxury liner’!”

Fluttershy looked over. “Oooh, sounds…luxurious,” she said as she gave Twilight a knowing look.

“The Luxe Deluxe has everything,” Twilight said, turning the pages of the pamphlet. “A petting zoo, an all you can eat dessert buffet you can eat all you can eat…at…hehe…”

As the girls continued talking about the upcoming cruise, Sunset watched them with a smile on her face. She didn’t know just how she’d gotten so lucky to have so many amazing friends in this world, but she was grateful to have them. She wouldn’t give them up for the world.

The Badlands, the Changeling’s Main Location…

General Nictis, the changeling in charge of the spy network that was continually spreading across the world, rushed through the new changeling location with purpose, a report in his magical grasp from their spy network. All around him, the walls moved and holes opened and shut in random locations. At least, they would be random to anycreature who wasn’t a changeling. The massive fluidic spires of the once abandoned fortress were busily being restored and regrown on the orders of the Emperor himself. He had placed Duchess Chrysalis in charge of everything regarding the construction. When the Emperor had received that letter from their enemy while they had been positioned in the Duchess’ former castle closer to Equestria, he ordered the best changeling historians, under the supervision of the Emperor’s personal secretary with that annoying nasally voice Histus, to scour all of the records for references to the old fortress of the changeling hoard before it had to be abandoned. It was Histus himself who found the ancient scrolls with the location of the fortress. The emperor then ordered fliers to scout the location. This included Nictis. He was the one who first spotted the old ruins and reported it back to the Emperor.

With the exception of the majority of the Empire’s spy network (which had remained behind in their former headquarters on the orders of their Emperor), Emperor Wright and Duchess Chrysalis led the changelings to the old fortress and began to rebuild the ancient structure. The builder drones were still at work around Nictis as he walked towards the throne room. Some were patching up holes in the interior while others were creating defenses on the outside, such as a deep moat and spikes that could be launched into the air at incoming aerial assaults.

Nictis reached the throne room and rushed in, looking up at the throne. Unlike how it had appeared when they’d first got there, now it had been reshaped to better fit the Emperor’s unusual bipedal form. Only the Emperor himself wasn’t sitting in it. Instead, he saw that two guards were standing in front of the meeting room’s location. He galloped over and nodded at the two guards who saluted. Nictis held up the piece of paper and said “I have a report from our Griffonstone agent that need to be hoof delivered to the Emperor himself. Is he in there?”

Both guards looked nervously at each other before turning back to him. The guard on the left held out a hoof. “I will deliver it to the Emperor himself,” he said. “He is in a strategy meeting.”

Nictis shook his head. “No, Private. I have to hoof deliver this to the Emperor personally. His orders.”

The private retracted his hoof and straightened, grasping his musket and facing ahead. “Understood, General.”

Nictis nodded then walked closer to the portion of the wall which led to the large new meeting room. The wall opened up as he approached and he stepped through, catching the back end of his fellow General Pharynx as he said, “…telling you, my liege, Zebrica and Farasi are ripe for the taking! We can swoop in and topple their tribal leaders with ease!” Pharynx was in charge of the changeling army and had always possessed a more militaristic mind, unlike his soft hearted brother Thorax who was on the stealth team.

Cheery, the seductress changeling who had kept the Crystal Empire from interfering in the Equestria Venture, only glowered at Pharynx. She was sitting next to the empty chair where the Emperor normally sat. Nictis knew that she was actually a skilled enough negotiator that the Emperor had given her special status as head of the foreign affairs department. In fact, there were rumors that she had shared the Emperor’s bed, but Nictis was a practical changeling and didn’t accept rumors as fact unless there was cold hard evidence to back it up. “Phary, Phary, Phary,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hoof, “You’re missing the point! We can’t just invade any country we feel like! Besides, Farasi and Zebrica are way too far away!”

“We should really focus on domestic affairs first,” Minister Proboscis, the changeling in charge of the changeling empire’s internal affairs, insisted, putting his hoof down hard on the table. “The love we received from the Equestria Venture will not last forever.”

“Why do you think we’ve rescheduled the feeding schedule, Minister,” Chrysalis, who sat close to the Emperor’s empty chair, leaned forward and stomped on the table. “We have at least another month or two if we stretch.”

Nictis stepped closer in and the wall behind him closed. This earned him the attention of the council, who all turned to face him. He straightened and held out the report from the agent in Griffonstone. “Forgive me for interrupting, but I have a report from Griffonstone for the Emperor.”

“It couldn’t wait, General?” Chrysalis asked with narrowed eyes.

“I was told to report to the Emperor personally,” he replied, standing up more defiantly. It was no secret that Chrysalis strongly disliked Nictis, especially since during Emperor Wright’s rebellion against Chrysalis, Nictis had been there with him as his second in command. He’d been rewarded by becoming one of his generals and being placed in charge of their new stealth force, a job he took seriously. Especially ever since the junior Agent O in Griffonstone had discovered the presence of a second human in the world.

“Duchess, enough,” the deep, gravely voice of the Emperor said from deep in the shadows. Walking out of the shadows, Nictis caught a brief glimpse of his Emperor before he bowed in respect. He was clad in brown slacks, a black tunic and cape, and was wearing his gas mask, making him a formidable figure who seemed to tower above the changelings there except perhaps Duchess Chrysalis.

The aforementioned of which immediately bowed to him. “My apologies, my liege.”

“What do you have to report?” the Emperor asked, and Nictis was surprised to hear the fatigue in his voice. He was used to the fire in his Emperor’s voice. It was what made him so loyal to him. The determination in the strange otherworldly being’s attitude. His drive too. Now, the Emperor just seemed to be growing more and more tired, making him concerned. He resolved to at some point talk to the Emperor about it.

“Sir, our agent in Griffonstone delivered this comprehensive report to her captain just a few hours ago,” he said as he floated the piece of paper over to the Emperor.

Emperor Wright took it in his hands, then slowly opened it up and looked down at it. He couldn’t see his eyes behind the two thick and tinted eyeholes, but he could tell that he was drinking in the words on the page. While this was going on, Nictis took the time to open his senses to detect what the human was feeling. There was a hint of jealousy at first, but that was quickly overshadowed with a feeling of worry. Worry directed to the new Chancellor of Griffonia, he knew. Nictis could also feel a sense of rage mixed with what tasted like guilt.

Ever since the Emperor had heard about this second human who had arrived in the world, he’d taken a special interest in his fellow human. He’d actually almost wanted to send a squad of changeling infiltrators to keep a protective eye on the human, but had chosen instead, on Nictis’ suggestion, to leave everything to the prodigy who had kept an eye on the city ever since he’d taken over the changeling empire.

Young Ocellus, now known as Agent O, was one of the best agents who Nictis had ever trained, after all.

“General Nictis,” the Emperor said, and Nictis could taste something he hadn’t tasted from his Emperor in a while: that same drive to protect those important to him, only now he suspected it was directed at this new Chancellor.

“Sir?”

“Have you dispatched another more experienced agent to Griffonstone?”

Nictis nodded. “Yes, sir. I sent Agent T.”

Pharynx stiffened and glared at Nictis. “Seriously?! All those top notch agents, and you send that weakling!?”

Nictis whirled on Pharynx. “Agent T is one of my best,” he retorted angrily. He hated Pharynx, especially since during Emperor Wright’s rebellion, they had been on opposite sides. However, he had to admit that Pharynx was definitely a better general of an army than he was. Nictis was always more for stealth than full on assault, something Pharynx excelled at.

“Enough, you two,” the Emperor commanded. Right after both generals straightened and saluted, Emperor Wright faced Nictis. “Do you trust this Agent T to keep a close watch on the new Griffonian Chancellor with Agent O?”

Nictis nodded. “Agent T is perfectly capable, sir. I trained him myself over these past few months.”

Emperor Wright nodded as he took a seat at the front of the table once more. Nictis didn’t miss the slight movement from Chrysalis and Cheery as both females scooted ever so slightly closer to him in their chairs. Both females had their own emotions closed off, so he couldn’t sense what they were feeling. He could guess, however. He suppressed his suspicions as the Emperor continued, “Then I trust you to keep a close eye on him. If the Equestrian Solar Princess and the Elements of Harmony are there, danger normally follows them.”

“Understood, my liege,” Nictis said. “Is there anything else?”

“Keep your best agents on standby just in case events in Griffonstone change,” the Emperor said, a wave of protective rage flowing out of him despite the calmness in his voice.

“Understood, my liege,” he repeated.

“You’re dismissed, General,” the Emperor said.

With a salute, Nictis turned and headed to the wall, which opened. Spreading his wings, he flew out towards the exit. For the first time in months, he felt somewhat relieved. The Emperor he’d gotten to know when he was only High General was still there, he was sure of it.

His old friend.

Unnoticed by him, Nictis’ wings seemed to glow slightly before returning to their normal hue. With one exception: a single spark of light at both tips of his wings.

37: Long-Awaited Talks

Griffonstone, The Night Before…

Twilight sat in a corner booth in The Green Dragon, nursing a mug of something she’d never expected herself to ever be drinking: ale. On both sides of the same booth, four other ponies sat doing pretty much the same thing. Even Pinkie Pie, who had been laid up in bed for most of the day, had managed to come down to join them. Those who had been working all day to try and help the injured creatures looked exhausted. While Pinkie hadn’t done anything, she still looked weak thanks to her three months of refusing to eat. In front of them were a couple plates of bread, cheese and salad which a few of them were nibbling on quietly. Outside, the storm continued to rage on, buffeting at the windows and piling snow up around the buildings.

There were others in the tavern area, but they were mostly refugees from Ponytown who’s houses had been destroyed. The owners of The Green Dragon and the employees there were busy giving the refugees food and drinks and providing them with as much bedding as they could spare. A couple of foals were crying and asking their parents when they could go home, but for the most part it was pretty quiet.

Eventually, the silence grew unbearable for Twilight. Normally, she would have preferred the sound of silence since it relaxed her, but lately it hadn’t. Raising her horn, she cast a spell that surrounded them in a soundproof shield. None of the others seemed to notice or even look up, at least until she spoke. “H-Hey…um, girls? Can we talk?”

They all stirred and looked over at her, and Twilight almost felt herself shrink back into her chair. Despite their conversation before Rarity’s disappearance, the other ponies still looked fairly miserable, although right at that moment their exhaustion was what was more prevalent in their faces. Twilight hadn’t seen Applejack so tired since the incident at Apple Bucking Season years before. Rainbow’s wings, which were still useless from lack of exercise, hung loosely down and she had an equal amount of bags under her eyes that matched Applejack’s. Fluttershy was lying her head on the table, one hoof around her own mug, and Pinkie was sitting against a couple of extra pillows. “What is it, Twi?” Applejack finally asked, her voice hoarse from the yelling she’d done that day through the storm.

“I just…I guess I wanted to check in with you all and see how you’re doing,” she finally got out, knowing that it was probably a stupid thing to ask.

“We’re…we’re doing alright,” Fluttershy whispered.

“Tired as Tartarus, though,” Rainbow said, and Twilight heard a twinge of hopelessness in her voice. She looked at her wings. “I’m such a moron…”

“Hey now, don’t go spoutin’ that talk,” Applejack said, turning to Rainbow Dash.

“I am, though,” Rainbow said, sitting up straighter and holding up one of her wings. Twilight saw that it was vastly underpreened and there were feathers missing. “I didn’t take care of my wings like I should have, and now even if I had all of them, they’re too weak to do any good!” She looked down at her mug, glaring at it with self-loathing before she took a large swig and slammed it back down. “I can’t even help try to move this storm away…”

“That’s not true,” Pinkie replied in a weak but reassuring tone. Everypony turned to her. She was focused on the miserable looking Rainbow Dash as she continued, “You’ve been teaching other pegasi to help, right?”

Rainbow nodded. “Well…yeah, but-”

“No buts about it,” Pinkie interrupted, sounding a bit stronger in tone. “Sure, you can’t fly right now, but you’re doing your best to help all the same.” She turned to the rest. “You all are. Applejack, you’ve been helping to find survivors using that earth pony strength of yours. Fluttershy’s been helping with taking care of the children. Twilight, you’ve been using your magic to help lift debris off of other survivors and more. Everyone’s been working so hard…but I’ve been useless.”

Twilight shook her head. “That’s not true,” she said. “I saw you earlier talking to a lot of the foals, telling them old adventure stories. If anything, it was a good distraction for them.”

“But that’s all I’m ever good for, a distraction,” Pinkie said mournfully.

“It’s still important,” Rainbow said, surprising the alicorn princess. “Honestly, I kind of wish I had a mom like you instead of the parents I got.”

“Rainbow! How could yah say such a thing?” Applejack said in alarm.

Rainbow turned to the earth pony farmer. “My parents…I love them, I really do, but I realize they never ever punished me. They were always praising me. Always.”

“Ain’t that a good thing?” Applejack asked.

She shook her head. “No…they did it for every little thing. Even when I lost at something, they would praise me. I wasn’t ever punished as a foal. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking these past months. I know it sounds like I’m pinning the blame on them, but I think part of the reason I was always boasting is because of them.” She held up her hoof. “Before you say anything else, I know I shouldn’t put all the blame on them. I’m the one who maimed Jason. I’m the one who did all that bragging and boasting. As a grown mare, I should have known better. Even so, I wish my parents had punished me before.”

“Is that why you asked us to keep your parents away from you?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow nodded. “I didn’t want to see them.”

“Yer gonna have tah sometime, Rainbow,” Applejack said.

Rainbow looked at her ale miserably, but slowly nodded. “I know,” she whispered.

“You want us all there when you do?” Fluttershy offered.

“Yeah…we don’t mind bein’ there, right girls?” Applejack asked, looking around.

Twilight felt a bit unsure, but seeing the slightly pleading look on Rainbow’s facehelped her with her decision. She nodded. “If you want us there, Rainbow Dash, I’ll gladly be there.”

“Same with me,” Pinkie said.

The look of relief on Rainbow’s face was immediate. A small smile formed on her face. “Girls…thank you.” She sat up and steeled herself. “Thanks for offering, but when this is all over, I need to do this alone.”

The other mares nodded in understanding. “That’s alright, Rainbow,” Applejack said, “ah git it.”

“We all do,” Fluttershy said. “No family’s perfect. Remember my brother?”

Rainbow smiled slightly. “Yeah…point taken. But he’s doing pretty well as a mane stylist now, isn’t he?”

“Last I heard he’d opened a shop in Manehattan,” the shy pegasus replied.

“That’s not cheap,” Twilight said, impressed. “Manehattan’s a pretty expensive place to live and work.”

“Well…having his sister be his first customer certainly helped,” Fluttershy said, a small smirk on her face.

Twilight and the other girls gasped. “You didn’t…” Pinkie gasped.

“What? Can’t a sister help her brother out by going there as an Element of Harmony?” Fluttershy asked, an innocent look on her face.

As the other mares chuckled and chided her, Twilight couldn’t help but smile. She took a sip of her ale, savoring the taste as it was actually quite good. Her smile froze on her face as the face of an angry Rarity and a disappointed Spike popped into her head. Rarity might have been acting horribly before, but she was still Twilight’s friend and she still cared for her. She just hoped that wherever those two were that they were safe. She then saw the bright blue eyes that belonged to the second human to appear on Equus, Gregory Graystone. She remembered how that Gwendolyn griffoness had shown them his first few moments in Tartarus. She hoped that he, too, would be safe.

Applejack noticed her somber expression and gently nudged the alicorn. “Yer still worried ‘bout Gregory, Spike, and Rarity, aintcha sugarcube?”

Twilight nodded and she looked around the table. She received looks of worry and concern now. “Oh, I’m sorry girls, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down.”

“We’re all worried about Spike, egghead,” Rainbow said in a presumable attempt to be reassuring. This, of course, earned her a gentle but firm under the table kick from Applejack. “Ow! Well, we are!”

“I’m worried about poor Rarity, too,” Fluttershy said.

“Hey, don’t forget Gregory,” Pinkie said with a slight frown. “After all, he’s been attacked by ponies, and these weren’t affected by Discord. Not that that’s an excuse anyway.”

“No, it isn’t,” Rainbow said in agreement, her wings lowering slightly.

“Ah hope that Gregory fella comes back, too,” Applejack said, “because ah’d like tah try and git tah know ‘im better. There’s something’ ‘bout ‘im that reminds me a little bit of Big Mac. Ah don’t know what, though.”

“I would like to try and get to know him, too,” Fluttershy admitted.

Rainbow shrugged. “I mean, he seems like a cool stallion…I mean, he’s a freaking Chancellor! I don’t know what that means exactly, but it sounds important.”

“He has a nice smile,” Pinkie said, “and he seemed really happy with that Gabby griffon.”

“Well, let’s just hope we get the opportunity, girls,” Twilight said. In truth, she wanted to get to know more about humans, and Gregory specifically. She didn’t want to make the same mistakes she made with Jason, but he knew about Jason, so she wasn’t sure if he wanted to befriend any of them. If he didn’t, she’d have to accept that, she knew.

“Hold on, didn’t ya tell us that Spike was ridin’ that there large dragon creature of his when he was caught up in all that magical hoo haw?” Applejack asked.

Twilight nodded. “A drake, and yes. They’re strong and powerful and can fly really fast, at least that’s what I heard from Princess Celestia.”

“Well, then that drake can kick the butt of anycreature down there,” Rainbow Dash said, thrusting her hoof in the air like a punch.

“I hope that drake can help protect them all, too,” Twilight murmured. “I hope they all come back…”

Griffonstone Keep, Gwendolyn’s Secret Room…

The young mage griffoness stared intently into the Eye of Osiris, still tracing back the message that had led to the attack on the Chancellor. She was growing tired. She’d been staring into the Eye for a full thirteen hours without any food or rest. She was growing quickly more and more frustrated. This pony network was incredibly complex. Messenger went to messenger with notes and such, and it seemed that whoever was behind this didn’t want anycreature discovering their involvement.

Currently, she was watching a dark gray earth pony stallion walking through the streets of Canterlot. This had occurred only a few days before the attack. He looked ordinary enough, acting like a typical pony just going about his business, but Gwendolyn had clearly seen him gently bump into another pony earlier, a unicorn mare, and he had placed the note into her saddlebag, so now he was walking backwards, just minding his own business. She was watching him at a somewhat sped up pace. Her griffon eyes could see details even at higher speeds. Currently, she was watching as his earlier self was looking at a flower stand with some interest and speaking with the owner.

As she watched the reverse conversation, she suddenly caught a glint of something metallic in the stallion’s left ear as he flicked away a small insect. Pausing, she slowly moved the scene forward, zooming in and peering closer. The ear moved back, and in that moment, she stopped the scene entirely. There, sitting inside the ear, was a very small white gemstone in the shape of a lily. She frowned, wondering if there was anything significant about it. Grabbing a pen, one that she’d gotten from Gregory, she wrote down the detail on a nearby piece of paper:

Object of note: lily shaped white gem embedded in pony stallion’s left ear. Probably unable to be seen by anyone else at eye level.

She put the pen down and stared at it. There was something about the gem that just felt off. She moved in the view as close as she could get it without harming herself. Despite being the only Imperial Mage left, she knew that even now she was still a novice when it came to dealing with the Eye. However, she noticed that while everything else in the scene she saw was completely frozen, this gem she looked at seemed to move.

She found herself staring at it, unable to look away. There was just something about it that felt intoxicating to look at. She felt a warmth spread over her body as she continued to look at it. The image began to dim, and the gem started to be the only thing she could focus on. Slowly, she reached her claw out towards it, her head tilting slowly.

A wave of pain arced through her arm as she touched the floating scene. She shouted in alarm and pulled her claw back. The feeling of warmth was gone, replaced only with a chill that was running down her spine. A chill which had nothing to do with the storm outside. She looked at the gem in the scene before her again and felt a revulsion she hadn’t felt before. She moved the scene back a second and with the gem gone the revulsion vanished.

Confused, she stood and walked towards the bookshelf, looking among the titles for anything that might be worthwhile to read. She found one she hadn’t read yet (she tended to read in the order that most mages were meant to read the magical tomes) titled Magical Gemstones And Their Properties. She opened the book to the table of contents. Among the gemstones listed, she saw not just one, but two that caught her interest. The first one was talked about in the third chapter of the book, the Aedstones. They were a type of magic crystal that appeared red and were found mostly in the Dragon Lands. Apparently they were like plants in that if you took a piece and planted it somewhere else, it would grow into the ground, spreading more and more magical power elsewhere. She filed that bit of knowledge away for later.

The second type, however, gave her pause. There was a small drawing of an eerily similar flower shaped gem near the end of the chapter. It was known as simply as the Sylvalin. It was a rare type of gemstone that naturally formed and grew like flowers in magically rich areas. They could ensnare the minds of any who stared at them, but that for the most part they were invisible to the naked eye. The author of the book admitted that there were probably other ways Sylvalin gems could be used, but they had no idea and weren’t about to go studying them because of their inherently dangerous nature. However, there was one caveat to them. If anyone were to look at them indirectly, whether through a mirror or something like that then disrupted the image, they would become immune to its effects. In fact, the very sight of a Sylvalin gemstone would repulse those immune.

She slowly turned and looked back at the still floating image. Swallowing hard, she put the book gently on her work table, then went back to the Eye of Osiris. Grabbing the pen, she wrote an addendum to her previous note.

Addendum: Sylvalin gemstone attached to a pony courier. Keep an eye out for these gems on other couriers.

After putting the pen back down, she resumed her research with renewed vigor.

Canterlot, That Same Time, Celestia’s Private Chambers…

Celestia stood staring at herself in the mirror. She had undergone quite the physical transformation for her return to her throne. The new crown she wore wasn’t new at all, but was in fact an ancient relic she’d worn in the early days of her rule, in times when she had been a bit harsher with her ponies. Not only that, but she felt like she was looking at somepony she didn’t recognize. Her new regalia had been specifically chosen from her wardrobe in an attempt to show the ponies under her rule that Mommy Celestia was gone for a while and that Princess Celestia Solaris, ruler of Equestria, had come back to whip her nation into shape.

Beside her, Luna watched her sister with interest in her eyes. “Is everything alright, Cellie? You look distressed,” she said with some concern.

Celestia turned and took in Luna’s new appearance as well. Like Celestia, all of Luna’s regalia was from various times during their earlier rule, and some were even partially like her Nightmare Moon regalia. “Distressed? Maybe.” She looked down at herself, then held up one hoof. “I feel really ridiculous in these, but at the same time I feel…powerful. Does that make sense?”

Luna walked forward and put a hoof on Celestia’s breastplate, looking up at her older sister with a smile. “You look fierce and powerful,” she said.

Celestia smirked and put her hoof down. “What’s so fierce and powerful about looking over ancient laws and documents?” she asked.

“Come on now, sister,” Luna chuckled, putting her hoof around Celestia’s withers, “you told me after I returned from the moon that every part of ruling is a battle. Even if it was exhausting for you, I could see that you had that fire in your eyes. The fire of Daybreaker.”

Celestia sighed and began to remove her crown and other regalia with her magic. “I always hated that name…”

Luna frowned. “And I always hated Nightmare Moon. The name, not my other persona.”

Celestia looked quickly over at her sister. “Luna, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

Luna’s frown turned into a smirk and she began removing her own regalia. “I know you called me that when we were foals, but I don’t hold it against you anymore. We were young and foolish. But now? Now we are fully grown mares and can face our problems like adults…Fat Flanks.”

Celestia’s face broke out into a smile and she threw back her head and laughed hard. “Hah! Is that all you have to say, Twinkle Hooves?”

“You take that back!” Luna said, glaring at Celestia playfully.

“Or what, Cheese Breath?” Celestia replied with a smirk, “are you gonna tell mommy on me?”

“Yep! Mommy! Moooommmmyyyy!” Luna said, holding her hoof as if she was calling someone.

Celestia pretended to look scared and put her hoof over Luna’s mouth. “Hey hey! No telling,” she said. “I’ll get you some cheese covered bread as an apology.”

The two looked at each other, then their faces broke into laughter. They hugged each other, roaring in laughter with tears streaming down their cheeks as they slowly calmed down. Finally, Luna looked over at Celestia. “There’s that smile.”

Celestia was indeed smiling. She looked down at her sister and leaned in, nuzzling her cheek affectionately. “Thanks, Lulu,” she said, “you always know how to make me smile.”

“That’s what little sisters are for,” Luna said, “we are the goofy ones of the family, after all.”

Celestia snorted and lightly hit her sister on the side of the head with her hoof. “Come on, let’s get ready for bed. We have a lot to do tomorrow. Plenty of meetings which I’m really not looking forward to. Especially with Marchioness High Life.”

“But what about Count Fanciful Pants and his wife?” Luna asked.

Celestia nodded. “Why do you think I saved him and her for last. Those two really embody what it means to be a noble.”

Luna and Celestia separated, then stood. Celestia stood there, not as a princess anymore, but just as a pony. Luna still had her regalia on since this wasn’t her bedroom, but she had a smile on her face just as Celestia did. “I’m glad that Count Silky Pants managed to find a new lover and produce an heir after I was banished,” Luna said, “because I did miss him.”

“He was angry with me at first, but after a few years he apologized and forgave me,” Celestia said. “He married a Prench noblemare and had three foals, two fillies and a colt. He loved his wife, but he still missed you. I remember his wife was initially jealous, but she eventually understood and never held it against him that Silky missed you.”

Luna smiled a bit in remembrance. “I miss him too, but I am glad he found a mare to love.”

Celestia smiled. “Same here.” She leaned back and yawned. “Well, I need to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Luna nodded. “Bright and early. Goodnight, Cellie.”

“Night, Lulu,” Celestia said as she put a few more logs on the fire. After Luna left, she curled up in bed and stared into the flames for a little while longer. Normally, she’d read before heading to sleep, but after the day she’d had, she was completely confident that she would fall asleep fast. And she did.

The Luxe Deluxe, That Same Time…

Sunset shot awake with a start. She’d been having the strangest dream, and it had something to do with the Old West, but with her now being awake, the details of the dream were quickly slipping away, more so than most of her dream details did. Quickly, she sat up and scrambled for her dream journal, something she’d started keeping after she was first reformed by Twilight Sparkle. The pony, not the human. She put pen to paper and began to write as many details as she could:

Principal Celestia in Stetson and looking like someone out of a cowboy movie.

Old man in Star Swirl cosplay.

Big ship.

She frowned as the remnants of the dream left her mind before she could write them down. “Shit!” She tossed the pen on the ground in anger. It hit the floor with a clatter and rolled around, moving with the very slight motion of the ship.

She lay back down and sighed. It was still early, and the continental breakfast that was scheduled for the Luxe Deluxe didn’t start until eight. It was just around seven. She put her hands behind her head and stared up at the ceiling, letting the ship’s gentle rocking lull her into a doze. It was very relaxing and it somehow reminded her of when she was a foal back in Equestria. Her mother would rock her to sleep in her cradle and sing her favorite lullaby every night to her.

Without knowing just why, she began to sing said lullaby.

Hush my darling, hush my darling,
close your sweet little eyes.
For today is all over
Hear my sweet lullaby.

Sleep my darling, sleep my darling,
let the night watch thee oe’r.
Moonlight shining, starlight gleaming
as through dreamland you soar.

Dream my darling, dream my darling,
of the cool summer breeze.
Of the grass and of the meadows
and the rivers and trees.

When you wake, my little darling
all the night will have gone.
Sun will rise and bring the morning
and all will greet the dawn.

Hush my darling, hush my darling,
close your sweet little eyes.
For today is all over
Hear my sweet lullaby.

Sunset smiled, a tear in her eyes as she wiped said tear away. If there was one thing she missed about Equestria, it was her parents. They lived in a small hamlet north of Canterlot and were both farmers despite both being unicorns. When she’d asked them once why they wanted to be farmers despite them being reasonably skilled with magic, her father had said, “We want to get our hooves dirty, even if we use our magic to farm.”

Shame came over her as she remembered some of her last words to her parents. They had been cruel and she’d talked about farming as if it was a lowbrow job. The look of hurt on her parents’ faces at that time hadn’t fazed her, but now she was completely ashamed. She had wanted to return to Equestria many times, but she hadn’t been able to muster the courage to do so. Every time she tried, the looks on their faces came back to her and she couldn’t go through with it.

Just then, she heard the sound of buzzing going off from the nightstand next to her bed. Startled, she looked over and saw the journal to Equestria going off. Sniffing, she sat up and wiped her eyes and blew her nose before opening the journal. Judging by the impeccable hoofwriting, she knew it was Twilight.

Sunset? Are you there?

Sunset stared at the page, a mixture of emotions running through her. She was still angry at Twilight for what she’d done to Jason, but at the same time she was deeply worried about Spike. She’d grown really fond of the little guy and had subconsciously begun treating him like the little brother she’d never had. While she tried thinking about whether to respond or not, Twilight began writing again.

Sunset, I’m sure you don’t want to talk to me right now, but I want to make things right with you. I never checked in on your world. I never checked in on you. And…I never checked in on the other girls. I know I was a real jerk, but I’m going to make things right. If you’ll let me. If you don’t want to, I’ll understand.

Sunset slowly clambered out of bed, reached down and grabbed the pen before climbing back into bed and grabbing the journal. She began to write.

Sparkle, you really hurt me back then. You left me without any regards for my future here. Yes, I know I deserved my fall. I was a spoiled and selfish little bitch who wanted revenge, but you used the girls to punish me and get your precious crown back. Again, I’m not saying I’m blameless in this. I know what I did and I’ve accepted my punishment for what I did. But when I heard what you did to Jason just because he was a human, I knew you hadn’t learned a damned thing. You obviously let your gut instinct rule over you and-

Sunset stopped. What was she writing? She was just venting and not really saying anything worthwhile. She took a deep breath and tried again.

Let me try this again. It will take a while for you to earn back any trust I might have had in you. One of the only reasons I’m talking is that you’re the only way I can get information about Equestria and about Spike. I really care about the little guy.

That’s perfectly fair, and I really do want to try and earn your trust and become friends. I know that will take a while, and I’m in it for the long haul.

As long as you understand that, then that’s a good first step. So, any news on Spike?

None. The griffons have this magical sphere that they can use to look at anyplace in the past, but when they try and look at Tartarus, something blocks them.

Huh, I see.

You said that Gregory was there as well, so basically Spike and anyone else caught up in it was just collateral.

Yeah, the two culprits we captured didn’t seem to care about what they did to Spike. They called him a monstrous dragon tartarus-spawn. At least, the stallion did.

What?! Wait until I get my hands on them! I’ll rip their fucking throats out!

Sunset, I know how you’re feeling. I’m just as angry.

I don’t think you are!

That’s not fair…

Sunset stopped. She looked at what she’d written and a feeling of guilt came over her. She sighed and continued to write…

Yeah, that really wasn’t fair. Sorry. I just really miss him. He’s like the little brother I never had.

I’m glad he has somepony like you to talk to. I know he’s still angry with me, but I’m just happy you’re there to talk with him.

Yeah, he’s a sweet kid. I have a feeling he’s growing up more now.

He really is.

Sunset, how are things over there? How are the others? Your friends, I mean?

They’re doing alright. We’re on a cruise for the summer school break. Our Twilight helped organized it with our school and helped raise funds for it. Fluttershy’s been spending a lot of time with the onboard petting zoo, Pinkie Pie’s been having the time of her life, especially the sweets buffet, Rainbow’s been convinced some sort of magical event will happen and has been trying to find out where this supposed magical event will happen at, Applejack’s been trying to have fun, but she’s been somewhat seasick, Rarity’s been spending time with this cute guy she met in a small clothing store, and I’ve just been relaxing and enjoying time with my friends.

A cruise, huh? That sounds fun. I know I’m not deserving of it, but part of me wishes I could be there, if only to try and make amends to your friends.

I’m not sure they’d want to see you right now. I told them about what happened and they weren’t too happy.

I understand.

And how are things over there? What’s been going on? Spike mentioned that you were in Griffonstone.

We are. There’s a massive storm that’s hitting the coast and one of Griffonstone’s branches collapsed.

Shit…was anyone hurt?

The branch collapsed on top of a place called Ponytown. It is, or I guess was, a place where most of Griffonstone’s ponies moved after Jason’s invasion. There are a lot of injured ponies and a few other creatures. I don’t think anycreature’s died yet, but there are some injured ones. The storm’s making it hard for rescue attempts.

Wow…that sounds tough. Good luck with that, Sparkle.

Thanks. We’ll need it.

Anyway, it’s late over here and everypony else is gonna need some rest. I’m the only one with the light still on.

Oh yeah, sure. Night.

You have a good day over there too.

Will do.

With that, the messages stopped coming in. Sunset put the book back on the end table and lay back down. It was now seven thirty-two in the morning. She stared up at the ceiling again, letting her mind wander. She let it wander back to Equestria, and mostly to her parents. She felt that gripping fear and shame coming back to her. She’d been so close to messaging Twilight three months ago and asking her to relay a message to her parents, but then Spike had let slip the incident with Jason. A part of her felt somewhat relieved she didn’t have to deal with it, but the guilt came back again. She knew she was using her anger at Twilight as an excuse to keep holding things off.

Quickly, she reached over, grabbed the journal and opened it.

Hey, one last thing before you sleep. Can I ask you a favor?

Sunset wasn’t expecting a quick reply, but only a few seconds later she saw Twilight’s hoofwriting.

What is it?

When you get a chance, could you relay a message to my parents for me?

Of course! Just write on one of the blank pages and I’ll tear it out and mail it to them when I get back to Equestria.

Thank you.

You’re welcome, Sunset.

Sunset turned the page to a blank one after she wrote down her parent’s address on the previous page. She held out her hand to the tip of the page, and froze. Her heart was racing wildly and she was sweating nervously. What could she say to her parents? What words could she use to express her regret and sorrow?

After a few minutes, she took a deep breath, then began to write:

Dear Mom and Dad,

Hi, it’s Sunset Shimmer. Your awful and wayward daughter. I’m sorry for not contacting you both sooner, but I wanted to write to you.

First, please let me apologize for what I last said to you. I was a rude and selfish mare and shouldn’t have said any of those things. I offer no excuses for my behavior, because there isn’t any. I’m a horrible daughter for what I said and did to you, and I am so very sorry. If you don’t want to forgive me, I’ll understand.

Second, I want to tell you what I’ve been doing since I disappeared. After I ran away from Princess Celestia, I ran through a magic mirror and ended up in another world. That’s right, another world. It’s a world full of humans, the same species as Jason Wright. I’ve made new friends and have been learning a lot here. There’s a lot that’s happened, but it’s a lot to write down.

You have every right not to believe me, but I learned a lot. I hope that you can forgive me and that we can see each other again. I have so much I want to tell you, but if you don’t want to see me then I’ll understand.

I love you both, and I miss you, and I’m very sorry.

Love,

Sunset Shimmer

Sunset turned the page once more to the previous page.

Thanks, Sparkle. And goodnight.

Have a good day, Sunset.

Just as Sunset put the book down, she felt a slight shiver running down her back. She pulled her blanket up as the shivering passed. Soon, it was gone. She looked out at the ocean, smiling a bit as she watched the waves moving in the cloudy morning skies. Letting out a deep exhale, she swung her legs out of bed. It was still early, but she knew now she wouldn’t get back to bed. She was too awake now. Her stomach grumbled, and she blushed a bit.

“Welp…time to get up,” she said, heading to grab a change of clothes before her morning shower.

Atlantis, Early The Next Morning…

Gregory sat on a bench that was on the balcony of the palace’s tallest tower, thinking about the events of the past night. Gabby was there as well, her arms and wings wrapped around him tightly as she slept peacefully with her face buried in the crook of his neck. His own arms were around her as he looked out at the scene before him.

After he’d woken up, he’d taken a few minutes to calm down. The strange change in his hair and eye color was something that had taken him by surprise, and even now he wasn’t too sure how he felt about them. But he hadn’t had much time to think about it as Rarity had been all over him after he’d woken up, concerned for his wellbeing and asking if he needed anything. He’d reassured her that he was alright and that she should get some sleep, especially if they would be leaving the city soon.

Despite it being so late, Gabby must have not been sleeping because when she’d heard the commotion, she’d flown to him and hugged the stuffing out of him, kissing him all over with worry and relief. She’d actually found his new hair and eye color attractive and complimented him on it constantly. The others who had appeared, like Zecora, Starlight, Gilda, Gallus, and even Gia. Dragon Lord Ember had also showed up, expressing her own relief that he had woken up. They, too, were amazed by his physical changes, but when Starlight used her magic to perform some sort of magical scan on him, she said she couldn’t find anything noticeably different about him. She did admit, however, that she had no basis for that and could very well be wrong.

He'd thanked them all, but asked that he be given some time to himself to recover. He promised to speak to them all the next morning. This seemed to satisfy them all except for Gabby, who refused to leave his side. He knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer, and he honestly didn’t want her to go, either.

After that, he and Gabby both went to Daenerys to check on her. To his relief, Gregory discovered that, while the young drake was still asleep, she was warmer than before. Fluffle Puff was still there and snuggling up to the young drake, helping her to recover her body heat faster. The blanket was still over her and the two guards had rekindled the fire that kept her warm. He’d stayed with her for a while, dozing with Gabby beside him, the latter stroking his hair gently and commenting how handsome he looked. Finally, he’d gotten back up and headed back upstairs with her, wandering aimlessly while Gabby flew beside him. They found the stairs to the tower about ten to fifteen minutes into their meanderings. As they climbed up the dark tower steps, he noticed that his eyesight was now much better in the dark than it had been before, almost as if he was seeing through the eyes of a cat or something.

His ears ached slightly, as if they were being stretched at the tip, but they didn’t look any different at the moment. The ache would lessen when he pulled at the tips of his ears, however, but would return after a while.

He looked at the alien starscape above him, drinking in the cool early morning air. The sun hadn’t yet begun to rise, and the tower he was on was tall enough that it looked over the entire island. He could see a few lights in the farmlands below and more in the city, but for the most part the novan island hadn’t woken up yet. There were no clouds in the sky, just the bright twinkling stars. The breeze felt cool on his brow, a welcome change from the fever he had suffered for the past day.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door that they’d come through opened. Quietly, Gregory turned. He saw, to his complete astonishment, Jason Wright standing there. Behind him, he saw Chrysalis, still in the same bipedal shape he’d seen her in when he’d first woken several hours ago. Jason and Chrysalis were both wearing Atlantean clothes now, with Jason wearing a pair of gray trousers, thick leather boots, a dark red shirt and his black cloak. Chrysalis wore a long green silk dress and had a white scarf around her neck. “I told you he was here,” Chrysalis said, elbowing Jason with a smirk.

“Yeah, I know you did,” Jason said.

At the sound of the voices, Gabby stirred and lifted her head. She looked around, and when she saw Jason and Chrysalis standing there, she tensed up. Chrysalis held up her hands. “Easy there, little birdy,” she said, “we’re not here to fight. Jason here just wanted to talk to your boyfriend.”

Gregory looked at Jason. His fellow human had the scars of his injuries plainly visible on his face. A scar ran down one eye, the blind one. There was a lightning shaped scar pattern running down one cheek. Despite all of this, he seemed to stand tall and proud. Still, there was something strange about him. Gregory couldn’t be too sure, but he…smelled wrong. Looking down at Gabby, he ran his hand through her plumage gently and lovingly. “Why don’t you head back to our room and get a bit more sleep? I’ll be along.”

She turned back and faced Gregory with worry. “Are you sure?” she asked.

“I’ll be alright,” he said reassuringly. “Go ahead.”

Gabby slowly nodded after a few seconds of contemplation, stood, stretched, and spread her wings. She gave one last warning look at Chrysalis before spreading her wings and flying down. Chrysalis looked at Jason then. “I’ll head back to our room, too,” she said, smiling at Jason before turning and walking away. Gregory could see the humanoid changeling even swaying her hips.

Once the two of them were alone, Gregory stood and faced Jason. There was silence between the two of them. The breeze picked up slightly, blowing through their hair and rustling Jason’s cloak slightly. Finally, Gregory stepped aside and walked over to the balcony, leaning against it and looking out at the dark city. After a little bit, Jason’s heavy footfalls were heard approaching. Soon, Jason was leaning on the balcony just like Gregory. The two didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Finally, Gregory took a deep breath. “You know I used to hate that I liked My Little Pony. Not anymore, and I’m proud to be a brony,” he sang softly.

“Forever,” Jason replied hoarsely.

Gregory smirked a bit. “You know the song, then,” he muttered.

“I left Earth two years after it came out,” Jason said, “so of course I know the song.”

“Two years? When did you leave?” Gregory asked.

“Sometime in 2014,” Jason replied.

“September 2023 for me,” Gregory replied, “and the world’s gone even more to shit then. Hell, MLP ended back in 2019 and that led to G5 MLP set like a few centuries or so after the events of the G4 finale. But I have a feeling you’re not here to talk to me about all that, are you?”

Jason nodded. “There’s a lot we should talk about,” he said as he looked over the city below.

“Like what you did to Ponyville?” Gregory asked.

Gregory saw Jason stiffen at that, but nothing more. He took a deep breath. “If that’s what you want to talk about first, then go ahead,” he said.

Gregory turned, facing Jason, who to his credit had turned to face Gregory in turn. The two looked at each other until finally Gregory spoke. “I’m not going to lecture you about what you did,” he said. “I can understand your need for revenge, even if I haven’t gone through the three years of torment and hell you’ve been through, and I honestly have no room to judge you on your actions. I wasn’t there. I would have probably done the same thing, if not worse. If anything, though, I can safely say we’re both idiots.”

That caught Jason’s attention. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean that we both came here with the expectation that this was the exact same type of world that we knew from the cartoon,” Gregory explained, “but we were wrong. Hell, I should have realized it too. There are a couple examples of xenophobia in the later seasons that I just ignored. Rose tinted glasses, I guess. Naïve thinking at its finest, I suppose.”

Jason chuckled dryly. “You’re not wrong,” he said, “I mean, the changelings were the first to show me any form of kindness or even help. The motherfucking changelings! And all Discord did was remove the filters around the ponies’ reactions.”

Gregory nodded. “I was told that,” he said.

“Is that all you have to say about what I did?” Jason asked.

“What else is there to say?” Gregory replied. “If you were expecting me to yell and scream at you for what you did, then you’re wrong. What’s been done is done. It would do no good for me to yell at you.”

“Very well, then there’s something I’d like to ask of you, one ruler to another,” Jason said.

Gregory felt the seriousness in Jason’s tone, and he straightened. “What is it?” he asked.

Jason took a deep breath, then exhaled. “Before I ask, I want you to swear that you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to say. Not even Chrysalis. If she knew what I was planning, she’d be pissed and would probably do something stupid.”

That caught Gregory’s attention even more, but he just nodded and said, “Alright, you have my attention. What is it?”

Jason exhaled. “I have cancer,” he began, and before Gregory could say anything, he held his hand up. “Please wait, I’m not done.” Gregory held his tongue as Jason continued, “I don’t think I’ll live to see next year. I’ve been trying to fix it so that my subjects live in peace and safety, but we live in the Badlands. It’s not an easy life for them even if they never tell me. I’ve been keeping an eye on you just in case someone tried to hurt you. I’ll be honest, I was jealous of you at first. You got the welcome I never got. Still, I was worried about you so I asked one of my agents to look you over.”

“Ocellus, yeah,” Gregory replied.

“You know her?” Jason asked, sounding surprised.

“She’s a character in the last two seasons of the show,” Gregory replied, “but we’re getting off topic. Continue, please.”

Jason nodded. “I’m dying, and I want my subjects to have their future assured. They might have been the villains in the show, but they’re the only ones who ever gave me any real help in this godforsaken world. I want to repay them if I can. When I’m gone, would you and the Griffon Empire take them in?”

Gregory’s jaw dropped. This was all way too sudden. The only other human dying of cancer and asking him to take in an entire species? “You’re asking a lot of someone who just got the Targaryen makeover,” he said.

“Yes, I know I am,” Jason said, “but I’ve seen what you’ve accomplished in only three months. I know that Chrysalis would simply keep the changelings doing what they have been doing in the past. I don’t want that for them, or for her. I don’t know how long I have left…”

Gregory could see something in Jason’s expression, a pain that wasn’t physical, but emotional. A pain and a worry. “Oh my God…you love her, don’t you?” he asked softly.

Jason looked at Gregory with a completely serious expression. “Please look after them when I’m gone,” he repeated, “your empire is large and there’s plenty of land where they can settle and make a colony.”

Gregory heard a slight hint of desperation in his voice, and his heart went out to his fellow man. Jason might have committed acts of war against Equestria, but he was first and foremost a victim in this circumstance. He obviously cared for those under him, and Gregory could relate. He might have had the job of Chancellor thrust upon him without asking for it, but he knew that a leader had to take things seriously. He had to think of his people first and foremost. Gregory stood straighter. “In the event of your death, I will speak to the Imperial Council and extend an invitation to the changelings,” he said. “That’s all I really can do. I’m not an Emperor, Jason. I’m just a chancellor.”

“So was Palpatine,” Jason said with a smirk.

Gregory rolled his eyes. “I don’t have that kind of power,” he said, “but I’ll do what I can.”

Jason sighed, nodding slowly. “I suppose that’s all anyone can ask of you,” he said, turning and looking towards the east.

Gregory watched him for a bit, but when he didn’t move, he turned and looked in the same direction. What little horizon they saw was growing brighter as the faux sun began to rise. Gregory noticed that he was now able to see a bit farther than before. He watched a group of bats heading towards the mountains surrounding the floating island. He spotted a small herd of cattle in the farmlands lying in the grass, perfectly content. He even observed a young novan couple sitting in a tree and kissing, saying something to one another. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. “You know,” he began, “before I took the plunge and came here, I pushed a camera through the portal I made. I took pictures of Ponyville from a distance, but that’s not all. I took pictures of Coruscant, Minas Tirith, the Red Keep, even the planet Vulcan from orbit. That last one almost destroyed my camera,” he said with a smirk.

Jason snorted. “You tried that spell out on all those fictional worlds and they were real?”

“What? It’s not like what we used to get here is limited to just the My Little Pony universe,” Gregory replied. “Sure, that Dark Web website said we could never go back to Earth, but it also said we could enter into any fictional universe we chose. Makes you think just how many people who went missing back on Earth found this website and went off to explore, say, the world of Futurama or the world of Supernatural.”

“Supernatural would be a stupid place to go,” Jason said. “Too many monsters.”

“Yeah, with God being the big baddie of the last season,” Gregory said.

“Shit, really?” Jason asked.

“I have all the seasons of Supernatural back on my laptop back home,” Gregory said, “but yeah, I doubt you’d have as much fun in Supernatural.” Jason nodded silently. He stared back out at the rising sun. They watched in silence as the sun slowly continued to rise. Just as the city was beginning to wake up, Gregory turned away and faced the door, leaning against the balcony with both elbows. “Have you considered some kind of magical means of curing your cancer?”

Jason glared at him. “You’d better not be talking about fucking ponies,” he snapped.

“Not at all,” Gregory said, “but there are other species in this world. You’re forgetting people like Zecora. And there’s a possibility that one unicorn Pinkie Pie clone might have found something in the Atlantean archives during her search. There are magical artifacts elsewhere that might be able to help cure you. And there’s the human world, too. The one from Equestria Girls.”

Jason turned away and shook his head. “Don’t…don’t give me false hope,” he said with a shaky voice.

Gregory went silent for a bit. “Sorry, I suppose that really isn’t any of my business,” he admitted. “You’re an adult, and you’re probably older than I am. I shouldn’t have said anything.” Jason didn’t reply for a while. The sun continued rising, and Gregory figured that the conversation was over. “I’m gonna head back down and get a few hours sleep,” he said softly, pushing off of the balcony and walking towards the door.

“…Thanks for the concern,” he heard Jason muttering, although to Gregory’s ears it sounded more like a whisper than anything, “but there’s nothing you can do…”

Gregory pursed his lips, pausing midstride. He opened his mouth, closed it, and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, then headed out, leaving Jason to watch the sun rise.

Five minutes later, he was under the covers in his room, with the still awake Gabby clinging to him as he closed his eyes. Despite his mind being in turmoil, he was still exhausted enough to fall asleep.

Atlantis Stables, Three Hours Later…

Fluffle Puff was dreaming about sailing on a sea of strawberries and cream on a licorice boat when she was woken quite suddenly to a small rumbling noise. Slowly, she opened her eyes only to see that the drake Daenerys had one eye open and was looking at the fluffy Pinkie Pie clone with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. Immediately, Fluffle got off of where she’d been lying on top of the drake and rushed over to her. “Well, good morning,” she said, “you gave us a big scare last night, but you look like you’re feeling better now. Are you feeling any better? Hungry, maybe?”

The drake turned her head curiously, then opened her mouth. “Yes, some food would be nice, please,” she said in a young female voice.

Fluffle nodded and smiled. “Sure! I’ll tell the guards!” With that, she bounded off to the outside where the two novans were still standing. “Hey hey hey, guys! The drake’s awake and she’s asking for food.”

Paul nodded tiredly, then paused. He turned and looked at Fluffle wide eyed. “Did you say…she’s asking for food?”

“Yep! She said some food would be nice,” Fluffle said matter-of-factly. “Oh, and she did say please!”

Timothy turned and looked at Fluffle now. “Fluff, listen to yourself. You’re telling us that a drake talked?”

“Well, yeah,” Fluffle said with a giggle, “I mean, how else is she suppose to-?” Just then, it hit her. Her eyes widened and she turned and rushed back in to find Daenerys sitting on her haunches, brushing herself off with her claws. Timothy and Paul followed close behind and were quickly standing on either side of her. Fluffle stepped forward slowly, looking up at the tall drake with wide eyes. Clearing her throat, she said, “Um…did you say you wanted food?”

“Yes,” the drake said, “and if you have any, some raw meat would be nice, please.”

The two novans and pony looked at each other in awe and wonder. “So…um…somepony’s gonna have to tell Gregory about this,” Fluffle said as she looked at both guards. “Which one of us is it gonna be?”