An Alternate Track

[Seeds Of Yggdrasil - Gregory’s Apartment]

Gregory slowly stirred awake, too comfortable to want to move in his half-asleep state. He was surrounded by what felt like a cloud of warmth and a cool smooth surface, both juxtaposing each other perfectly. Both were apparently movable, so he pulled them closer to him, and strangely, both objects seemed to move of their own accord closer to him.

His dream fogged mind began to slowly clear as he finally opened his eyes, looking around and finding himself completely entangled in short but soft warm purple fur and cool, blue scales. He heard the soft breathing of the owners of said fur and scales on either side of him and felt them both pressing against him even more, both of their arms wrapping around him.

The memories of the past evening came flooding back to him and despite himself his face flushed with embarrassment. He couldn’t believe that the three of them had even done what they’d done. He would have attempted to get up, but Ember and Twilight, the latter being in her anthropomorphic form still. Their wings were clinging to him as well. He smirked at the thought of Ember clinging to him. It was a secret known only to him and now Twilight. Ember was a clingy sleeper. Then again, apparently Twilight was too.

Gregory, it seemed, had a type.

He tried to gently pry himself away again, only to find himself staring into the now open eyes of his newer lover. Like him, she was naked but had covered her anthropomorphic dignity with a sheet. The two looked at each other in silence before Twilight looked away, blushing heavily. Gregory smiled, putting a hand on her cheek and turning her back to face her, leaning in and kissing her tenderly. “Morning, Twi,” he whispered.

Twilight blushed deeper as she replied with, “Morning, what time is it?”

Gregory looked over at the nearby grandfather clock he’d purchased a couple months ago. ”Well shit…it’s 10:15.”

Suddenly it was like the bed exploded as Twilight shot out of the bed like a rocket. “We’re running late!”

“Whoa there,” Gregory said, jumping after her and hugging her tightly from behind. Currently he was only wearing a pair of boxers while Twilight wore nothing but a pair of underwear that Sunset had gotten for her from the human world. “Today’s a day off for the students and teachers, remember?” He reached down and kissed her neck.

“I know that but have you forgotten what today it is!?” Twilight exclaimed, pointing to the calendar. It was marked December 31st.

“Yes, today we celebrate the new holiday New Years Eve,” Gregory replied, still holding his girlfriend from behind and kissing her cheek. “We’re already late to the prep work, a few extra minutes isn’t going to hurt us. We shouldn’t rush. And you shouldn’t go around Twilighting again.”

Twilight immediately stopped struggling as her mood switched from panic to annoyance as she suddenly took the ring off and flashed back to her regular pony form. “And just like that, you lost the right to hug my anthro form for the rest of the year,” she said flatly.

Gregory smirked and stretched before he went to his closet. “I’m partly serious, Twilight. You shouldn’t worry so much. Yes, we’re late, but if we rush to get to helping, the greater the chance we have of getting hurt. So just take a few deep breaths and calm down. We’ll be able to help plenty, but knowing that little pink menace, she’s got everything under control.”

“Oooh, you betcha, bub!” Pinkie said from the closet, jumping out and pinning the still half clothed Gregory to the ground. “But you still owe me some pets!”

“Get that pink one out of here!” Ember suddenly roared, flinging a pillow over at Pinkie, “It’s too early for her shit!”

“And I’m pretty much naked,” Gregory said flatly, reaching up and pinching Pinkie’s nose. “Now, off with you. We’re gonna eat breakfast here and then come join you.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said as she jumped back into the closet, vanishing.

“That mare needs to understand boundaries…” Ember said as she slowly got up. “Only the purple one and I get to see you naked!”

The three were soon eating breakfast along with Spike and Cozy Glow who already helped prepare breakfast from being up earlier. Spike was reading over the to do list. “Okay, it says here help with decorations around afternoon, make sure Trixie’s fireworks are in order before sunset and…” he trailed off as he noticed something odd on the list. Twilight, Ember, and Cozy noticed the expression immediately. Spike soon regained his voice and turned to Gregory. “You’re going back to the Canterlot dungeons again?” he asked.

“I’m going to talk to the human prisoners,” he said, “but I won’t be leaving until the second.”

“Then why is it on the list for today?” Spike asked.

“Probably to remind me about it,” Gregory said as he finished his meal, only for Cozy to leap into his lap and snuggle close. “Heya, sweetie,” he said.

Cozy looked up to him. “Do you think they’ll ever change? Last time Jason tried to talk, one nearly pulled what Uncle Andrew calls a Homer to Bart treatment.”

“I need to know that I tried, at least,” Gregory said as he stroked her mane.

“Yeah but after what I heard about Jason’s last attempts, I’m starting to think they might be a lost cause,” Ember said.

“I hate to say it, Gregory, but Ember may be right,” Twilight added.

“Probably, but I want to try one last time,” Gregory said. “If they still refuse, then I won’t go to them anymore.”

Everyone was silent after that. Soon breakfast was done and everyone left Gregory’s apartment, walking down the stairs and eventually stepping out into the cold midday sun. There were already many creatures going about with decorations and some children playing in the snow. There were snow clouds slowly approaching, but they were being gently nudged away by the Haven City’s weather team, at least for the moment. The entire school campus was already heavily decked out for the brand new holiday.

Starlight Glimmer was outside the campus entrance looking over a list on a clipboard when she noticed Gregory and his family. She walked up with a smirk. “Well, look who decided to show up. I thought you were all early birds.”

“Daddy and mommies had a late night!” Cozy said with a giggle.

Starlight smirked harder as she looked at the grown ups. “A late night, you say?”

Gregory facepalmed. “Sometimes I wonder how she learned these things…” he muttered.

“I don’t want to picture it,” Spike said with a shudder.

“Well either way, we got plenty done here already. Hay, we had a little something extra added to the school but it will only be a temporary thing,” Starlight explained as a few construction workers exited the school.

“What thing?” Cozy asked, looking up at the school curiously.

“Well since we’re having the New Years party here, we thought it would be nice to have something to… accommodate another friend who has been feeling left out of the holidays given her limited movements,” she explained pointing to one side of the campus that had crudely built train tracks.

Gregory laughed. “Nice! She’ll love it!”

“Yeah. Andrew told me Connie only celebrated Hearth's Warming with just him, Rainbow, and Golden Spike. But he feels she needs more friends away from the tracks if you get my meaning.”

“Why don’t we set up some tracks around the school so she can give some fun rides to the students throughout the year?” Gregory suggested. “Give her a couple coaches like Annie and Clarabel from Thomas.”

“I offered her that, but she told me, and I quote, ‘I’m a workhorse not a kiddie train from Disney World.’”

Cozy giggled. “I wish I could go to Disney World…”

“And I would if I could,” Gregory said, “but the human world where Sunset lived doesn’t have Disney. Anyway, where do you want us, boss lady?”

“Darn it, Gregory, I told you not to call me that…” Starlight grumbled as she looked over the list. “Well one of you can help Pinkie and Bon Bon get the food ready, another can finish the decorations in the east wing, and the rest can help with whatever needs improving.”

“I’m staying away from the pink one,” Ember said. “She invaded our personal space this morning, and I’m still pissed. I’ll just fly around and help wherever.” She spread her wings and flew off.

“I’ll go see Pinkie and Bon Bon,” Gregory said.

“No sneaking samples, Daddy!” Cozy said.

“I would never!” Gregory replied in an overly dramatic tone.

“You did sneak some of my gingerbread,” said a voice as a human girl with a brown bowl hairstyle strolled up. By her side were two vintage, miniature, american tanks.

“I plead the fifth,” Gregory said as he smiled, walked up, and hugged his newer friend. “Good to see you,” he added.

“Likewise, are you ready for the New Year?” Stacy asked, smiling.

“More than ready,” he said. He brushed his white hair behind his hair as a breeze blew through it. “Alright then, I’m heading off. Twi, see you later, okay?” He leaned down and kissed her.

She kissed back and smiled. “See you later, Gregory.”

After they dispersed it wasn’t long until Gregory came face to face with friends old and new. At one point he saw Rainbow Dash hanging a banner. The rainbow maned pegasus didn’t look upbeat like the others for some reason. It was hard to read her expression. Anxious? Exhausted? What could it be? Gregory walked up to her. “Dash? You doing okay?” He focused his empathic abilities on her, trying to detect her internal emotional state.

Rainbow climbed down from the ladder and turned to Gregory. “I don’t know. It’s Andrew. Ever since Hearth's Warming he’s been working late at that office.”

Gregory nodded. “I see. Has he said anything about it?”

“Only that for some reason Golden Spike has slightly increased his responsibilities in handling something called international rail trade.”

“Ah.” He knelt and put a hand on her mane. “I don’t know much about how railways work, but that does sound intense. I think-” Suddenly he felt something from her and he stumbled backwards, falling flat on his ass.

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Whoa, what did I do?”

Gregory didn’t respond. Instead, he slowly sat back up and approached her. “Stay still for me for a moment,” he said as he knelt beside her and placed his hands on her stomach.

Rainbow was confused and a little scared about what her friend was doing. But she trusted him enough.

Gregory focused inward, more specifically on where he now knew a mare’s womb was located thanks to some medical reading one evening. When he felt it again, his eyes shot open. “Whoa…that’s impos-nope, Andrew has Discord powers, so of course it makes sense.”

“What are you saying?” Rainbow asked, getting scared.

Sensing her fear, he gave her a reassuring smile. “There’s nothing wrong with you, but let me ask, have you been feeling strange lately? Maybe some odd cravings? Tired all the time? Things like that?”

“Now that you mention it, there was yesterday when I poured some alcohol free cider into my cereal. Andrew thought it was too weird.”

“Well, if what I’m feeling is right, then you were right to make it alcohol free,” Gregory said. “Rainbow, I’m not entirely sure if I’m right, but I think you’re pregnant.”

Rainbow’s eyes shot wide open and her wings fell flat against her body. “That’s… it can’t be… he’s human…we’re not…Jason said…”

“Jason is human, and he managed to get Chrysalis pregnant,” Gregory explained.

“But I thought it was because Chrysalis mastered the human body thingie.”

“Don’t forget, Andrew has some chaos magic inside him now,” Gregory said, “so the rules of biology go completely out the door.” He took her hoof. “Look, I don’t know if I’m right, but I would suggest you get tested. It can’t hurt.”

The former Wonderbolt looked deep into Gregory’s eyes and nodded. “Think you can finish up here for me?”

“Of course,” he replied. “Just take it easy for now, okay?”

Rainbow nodded and went on her way.

Later that evening the campus was filled with so much activity. Creatures of all kinds were celebrating in many ways. There were vendors selling items and there was entertainment from singing Griffins to dancing Fluffies. In one room it looked like a small train station with a single track that ended with a buffer.

As the party commenced, a solitary human watched as Rainbow came slowly walking up to him, but the look in her eyes was one of fear, excitement, and nervousness. She clearly wanted to run, but was holding herself back. When she was within speaking distance, Gregory asked, “I take it I was right?”

Rainbow nodded and looked to one side of the room as he saw another human who was seemingly talking to a steam locomotive. “How do you think he will react?”

“He’ll probably be shocked, then happy,” Gregory said.

“We haven’t gotten married yet and I heard something about kids before a wedding is considered taboo in your world. Is it?”

“For religious people, it can be,” Gregory said, “but Andrew doesn’t strike me as the religious type. If he was, he wouldn’t even be having sex before marriage. Come on, let’s go tell him together.”

As they approached they could now hear the conversation between man and machine. “You sure you can handle yourself with someone else?”

“Yeah, it’s not like I haven’t been operated on by someone else before,” the engine known as Connie said.

“Yeah, but back then you were a diesel working for Conrail.”

“If we can interrupt you two talking dirty with each other for a moment,” Gregory said with a smirk, “Andrew, Rainbow here has something she wants to share with you.”

“Oh, hey Rainbow,” Andrew said, looking concerned. “Look, I know I haven’t been home much but Golden is promising less-”

“That’s not the problem. Well, not the biggest one,” Rainbow said, cutting him off.

“Oh, well what is it?” Andrew asked.

“It’s…well, remember how we thought we weren’t compatible?” Rainbow asked nervously.

“Yeah…” Andrew said with a raised brow.

“Um…well…it looks like we’re more compatible than we thought,” Rainbow said, then gave him a weak smile. “Surprise…”

Andrew’s eyes went wide and he nearly dropped his drink. Even Gregory could sense Connie’s shock. Andrew then shook off his shock. “That explains yesterday’s breakfast,” he said with a calm voice but his expression remained.

Rainbow began feeling weak in the knees. “Andrew? Talk to me…please,” she begged.

He then turned to Gregory. “Living lie detector, is she lying?”

“Andrew, I’m the one who detected the little bundle earlier,” he said. “I’m the one who suggested she get tested.”

Andrew was silent but then placed his drink on Connie’s plow. Then took a shaky step towards Rainbow. Then another, and another. He slowly knelt down to her. It was then that both Rainbow and Gregrory noticed the necklace he was wearing. It had a small Christian cross on it. But before Rainbow’s fear could spike, she felt arms around her. She then heard Andrew’s voice as he said, “You’re just too awesome.”

Rainbow fell into his grip, crying now. “I thought you’d leave me…” she whimpered.

“I’m many things, but I’m not a scumbag. I would never leave you with a shattered heart.”

She clung to him tightly, her tears staining his shirt. “I’m scared…” she said. “I didn’t expect this…what are we going to do? You’re already super busy, and I know Starlight will put me on maternity leave. I’m not mother material!” She began to hyperventilate.

“No one is the perfect parent,” Andrew replied with a reassuring tone, “but if Jason and Chrysalis could make it work with their daughter, we can make it work with us together.”

Gregory put a hand on both Rainbow’s and Andrew’s backs and closed his eyes. He then channeled a power he’d recently unlocked, which when used helped to soothe those with fear. It didn’t take it away completely, but it did lessen said fear. “You two will be alright,” he promised, “and besides, you have an entire group of friends willing to help you two raise the little foal.”

“Can I be the godmother?” Connie asked excitedly.

“If he doesn’t make you the godmother, I’ll slap him into the middle of next year,” Gregory smirked.

“The surprises never cease,” said a new voice. Everyone turned to see Jason Wright and his family approaching.

“Ah, Emperor Wright, you decided to join us after all,” Andrew said.

“Eh, we had nothing better to do but these two wanted to get a taste of what these New Year parties offer. Something about the New Years kiss trend I told them about.”

Gregory chuckled, then knelt to face their daughter who’s normal form was an anthropomorphic changeling princess. “Hey there, how are you doing?” he asked the young changeling.

Little Susie just stared with curiosity at Gregory before poking his nose. “Beep,” she said cutely.

“Beep beep, I’m a sheep,” Gregory chuckled, “I said, beep beep, I’m a sheep.”

Jason groaned. “Out of all the first words she utters I thought it came from a car video but now I see you fed her meme culture at just a few months old.”

“Meow meow, I’m a cow, I said meow meow, I’m a cow,” Gregory chuckled as he gently booped Susie’s nose before he looked at Jason. “She loved that video, by the way.”

“Just pray I don’t catch her standing on the tracks saying I like trains.”

“Hello, mine turtle!” Gregory chuckled again before his grin became a smile. “Aside from being a future memelord, how’s Susie doing lately? She looks pretty healthy.”

“Changelings mature to a toddler age much quickly,” explained Chrysalis. “By the time she reaches eighteen she would look like a full grown adult.”

“And with her being a humanoid changeling for some reason, that means she’ll be walking in…what…a month or so? Maybe less?” Gregory pondered.

“Maybe,” Chrysalis said.

“Well, have fun with that,” Gregory chuckled. “With all the pregnancies happening, I wouldn’t be surprised if Stacy gets pregnant here, too.”

“Attention all creatures, we’re just about five minutes away from the new year. Get ready to make noise and plan your resolutions,” Vinyl announced from her DJ stand.

As the group began to gather, Gregory stepped back. He felt something new that he hadn’t felt before. “Two times in one day…?” he muttered. He shook it off and the feeling went away as he went to go join his dragoness wife and alicorn marefriend along with his pegasus daughter. “You ladies ready?”

Everyone in the room was looking out a large open window that had a clear view of the night sky. There was a timer sitting over the window frame. It was slowly ticking. As the crowd went silent, eagerly anticipating the new year, Gregory felt the same feeling he’d just felt. And then the voices began.

“This is such an exciting tradition-”

“-hope I didn’t leave the oven on back home-”

“-focus on this already, not on your math homework-!”

“-twenty eight bottles of beer on the wall-!”

Gregory felt the pressure in his head begin to increase. He tried to calm down, but when he looked around, he saw that nobody was even speaking. Something began to drop from his nose, and when he touched it, his hand came away with some blood. He quickly excused himself and quietly made his way out of the large auditorium into the cold night air. The voices diminished as he left the building, “This is not happening,” he repeated over and over again, feeling the panic rising up until it was too much and he leaned over a railing, vomiting his dinner into the snow. When he finished, he created a small bit of barely melted ice and sucked on it.

Oh, but it is…

Gregory looked around but no one was around. He took a deep breath and continued sucking on his piece of ice. He spat up a bit of blood from his brief nosebleed. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He covered his ears before he fell to his knees in the deep winter snow.

“You okay there?” said a new voice.

Gregory looked up and there standing in front of him was a centaur with chaotic features. “Jesus Christ…was that you who was talking earlier?” he asked.

“What are you talking about? I was just walking up when I heard you cursing like a sailor,” Robbie said.

“Someone just said ‘Oh, but it is’ and then trailed off,” Gregory said. He took a deep breath. “Never mind. No, I’m not alright.”

“You do seem troubled,” Robbie said as he helped him up. “What happened in there?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Everyone was silent, but then I started hearing voices. Nonstop voices.” He took a deep breath. “Robbie, my powers grew again.” Ever since they’d met, Gregory and Robbie had met up at least once in a while to talk about things, and Gregory had confided in him about certain things. “I managed to detect the emotions of Rainbow’s brand new baby, and now?” He sat on the steps and looked up at the winter constellations above. “Now, I don’t know…I don’t want to be a telepath.”

Robbie placed a hand on his shoulder. “You and I both seem to forget we are only human and we have our own limits. We are not gods that just pick up powers.”

“Speak for yourself there, Mr. Centaur,” Gregory quipped. He then sighed. “Sorry, I’m just worried.”

“The only difference between you and me is that I decided the power I have is enough and stunted my own growth. You however are allowing yourself to grow. You’re like a computer taking on too many files.”

“Allowing? No I’m not,” he replied. “I practice with the magic I have, and sometimes I discover new ones related to the Windigos. But lately, I’ve been experiencing these new abilities more and more.” He hugged his knees and let out a breath. “It’s like a parabolic curve. I don’t have the ability that you and the chaotics do. I can’t limit myself. I’ve tried.”

“These new abilities of yours are great and all but you really must try to not take on so much. Like I said, imagine a computer overheating with too many programs. Keep this up and you’ll eventually break down.”

“I’m not doing it on purpose,” he said in desperation. “They just…pop in whenever the fuck they feel like it…”

Robbie was silent for a moment then nodded in understanding. “If only the real father of monsters was here and on our side. But unfortunately we don't have him.”

“Grogar can rot in hell for all I care,” Gregory said despondently. “The chaotics have each other to learn from, Jason has Chrysalis, but me? I’m the only one of my magical abilities in this world. I can’t go on Equestriapedia and search for Windigo abilities because nobody really knows the extent of their true powers and-” He stopped himself. “Sorry, I’m rambling again. Forget I said anything.”

Robbie then stared deep into his eyes. “Andrew told me of a talk you had about miracles in this world. Tell me, where are we?”

Gregory didn’t respond for a bit, then he said, “Gaia, we’re on Gaia. The world of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.”

“And who always wins in the end?” Robbie asked.

“The good guys,” Gregory said, “but that was the show. Robbie, I could become a threat if more and more powers appear. Or worse: I could die.”

“You can be healed,” Robbie replied reassuringly. “You will be healed. We just need to dig a little deeper and find our better control. Besides, you have a family to help you on this quest.”

He nodded. He’d talked a bit about it with Twilight, but she’d been reassuring that everything was fine. “True…still, this terrifies me like nothing in this world has. Not even when I was fighting with Howard was I this scared.”

“We’ll find a way,” Robbie promised. “In fact, let's make that your resolution,” he suggested.

He chuckled a bit at that and grabbed the railing, standing unsteadily. “Nnng…yeah. That sounds good,” he said as he wavered a bit. “Whooo, dizzy…”

“Come on,” Robbie said, helping Gregory balance. “We still have one and a half minutes.”

Gregory nodded and put his hand on Robbie’s horse back to steady himself as they both walked back into the auditorium.

What he didn’t know was that he hadn’t cleaned a bit of the blood from his nosebleed off of his face, so when he entered and spotted his new family, he didn’t realize what his face looked like when he waved at them with as good of a smile as he could.

Ember’s eyes widened and nudged Twilight who turned back and gasped. They both approached him. “What happened to your nose? Did you two spar without me?”

He looked around and, to his relief, he couldn’t hear the voices anymore, just the normal buzz of conversation. “No, but you should tell Starlight that I ralphed up my dinner near the outer entrance,” he said as Robbie led him to a nearby chair where he sat and grabbed a nearby napkin to clean his face.

“Fine, but we’re talking later,” Ember said before turning her attention back to the clock. Ten seconds remaining.

“It’s here, everybody! Countdown time!” Vinyl announced.

The auditorium was now counting down in unison. Excitement was building up so high it could reach the moon. Five, four, three, two, one, zero.

And just like that the room exploded with noise from yelling, noisemakers, and a steam whistle. Fireworks exploded in the night sky. Even Gregory clapped from his seat and whistled, still feeling a bit shaky from before. As the cheering went down, he stood. “I think…I really should get some sleep after a nice long shower.”

“Don’t you want to share your resolutions?” Andrew asked as he and several friends gathered around.

He paused, then bit his lower lip, then looked at Robbie. When he looked back, he sighed. “Figure out whatever’s going on with my magic before something worse happens besides a nosebleed, me hearing the thoughts of everyone, and throwing up my dinner. Anyway, I really gotta get some sleep.” And he turned to leave, leaving everyone stunned.

“What was that about?” Stacy asked.

“Wait, did he say he heard everyone’s thoughts like Sunset Shimmer has?” Spike asked.

Ember looked at Twilight. “He did say that, right?” she asked. “I’m not going deaf?”

“This is a matter he’ll discuss if he feels like it,” Robbie said.

“Okay, so Jason, you and Chrysalis have any resolutions?” Andrew asked.

Gregory stumbled up the stairs, feeling the air around him seeming to feel like it was suffocating him. The world felt like it was spinning as well, which he hoped was due to the little alcohol he’d consumed. He took in deep breaths to try and calm himself, and it worked only a little.

He fortunately made it to his apartment at the school where he unceremoniously stripped off his party clothes. By the time he was done, he was too out of sorts to even risk getting in the shower, so he just pulled the covers off of the bed and fell into it, barely getting the strength to pull it over him. He was asleep in an instant.

[Tartarus - Around the Same Time]

It was considerably cold and damp as the one human sat there in his cell still holding a carved rock of who he lusted after. He was looking dead ahead while stroking the carved rock like a cat. “So they think that centaur is good enough for society? What do I get? I’m forgotten and kept alone in this hell only for the magic to keep me from starving or dehydrated.”

He sighed as he looked down at the rock pony. “One day, I’ll be out of here and when I do, they will all suffer and I will have what was supposed to be my bride and heart.” Just then there was a strange noise that both he and Cerberus perked up. Howard then saw the three headed dog barking at something but he couldn’t tell what. “Who’s there?”

Suddenly the dog was blasted by a beam of powerful looking magic and immediately got sent flying back with a whine. He then heard hoofsteps approaching. “Anypony there?”

“No, not a pony,” said a voice from the darkness. “Just a ram.”

And there, emerging from the darkness, was a fierce, familiar blue ram with yellow eyes. Howard knew who this was but immediately remembered something. “Wait, I know this. It’s you, Discord, isn't it? Did Jason give you back your power to prank me?”

The ram looked at Howard with a stern countenance as he replied, “And just why would you think I am that utter fool and coward?”

“Don’t play that game. If you can do it to fool the big four villains it's obvious you’re trying to do what you did originally.”

The ram spat at the bars of Howard’s cage, and they began to melt as if his saliva was made of acid. “And what, you fool, would that be?”

“You’re trying to get the big villains involved in some friendship building thing so we can teach some big shot about confidence and lead some big assault as a test.”

The ram snarled at him before a rope appeared and wrapped itself around his neck, pulling Howard forward violently, enough to leave rope burns. “You are in no position to speak to your better that way, you little parasite,” he said with a superior sneer.

“Speak to your better? What the hell are you on about?” he asked, now feeling intimidated.

“I didn’t free you for some sort of friendship booster,” he said, his eyes glowing brightly. “In fact, you don’t even register as a real threat to my power, but you do have some uses. And you will be of use to me. For the moment.”

“Use to you? What do you mean? Why did you free me? If you are the real Grogar then you must have some real reason for this.”

Grogar sighed as he began talking. His horns glowing. “I have been a witness to many strange things happening in this world. I have been observing from the shadows. You sir, were quite the interesting little mite. While your use of chaos magic was a bit amateurish, you managed to almost beat the Windigos. That other man has experience but even that almost failed him in the end.”

Howard could only watch the floating images of his battle and the chaos he created. He then looked back down at the ram. “Okay I believe you, what do you want from me?”

“Your complete and utter obedience and nothing less,” he replied without a hint of hesitation. “Not cooperation: obedience. You may have slightly impressed me, but you are still nothing but a worm compared to me. Even so, I can bestow something upon you that can make you of more use to me.”

“You mean I can have the chaos magic back?” Howard asked excitedly.

Grogar grinned with a hint of malevolence. “Not exactly,” he said as his horns began to light up before a blast of magic enveloped Howard. “Just don’t die on me!”

The human’s physical form began to shift as Grogar’s monster making magic began to take its toll on him.

Tartarus was filled with the sound of a scream as a new monster was born.

[Canterlot Dungeon]

A man looked through the iron bars of his cell, trying to catch a glimpse of something. “Man, this sucks! I can hear the fireworks but can’t see them.”

“Quit your whining Benson and help us dig before the guard comes back,” said a woman named Jamie.

“Yeah some of us here are doing all the dirty work,” said another man named Clark.

The three humans resumed digging hoping if the guard comes back they will have time to move and slide the floor stone piece over the hole. It wasn’t much but it was progress for an escape. Suddenly there was a sound and three looked to the wall to see an orb. It hovered then it expanded and became a huge red portal.

The three were shocked by this. Suddenly something or rather someone emerged. It looked demonic and monstrous but to the three, the moment they looked at the monster’s face. They smiled as they recognised him. “Howard, is that you?” Jamie asked.

“In the new flesh,” said Howard.

“We’re so happy to see you boss man,” said Benson, bowing. The other two followed suit.

“Rise my friends, we have much to do,” Howard said, gesturing to the portal.