An Alternate Track

[The Cave Near Ponehenge - One Week Later]

Gregory emerged from the cave and stretched his limbs. He had spent nearly another year of subjective time in that cave with the Pillars. He looked down at his hand that still had the ring attached to him. He sighed in frustration, but on the other hand he felt relieved as the months spent training made him so much mentally stronger. Of course it wasn’t easy with one certain elder unicorn stallion.

“So, the current largest output of magic is up in the Crystal Empire?” he asked.

Mistmane approached him. “Yes,” she said. “You said Haven City is close to that area, so it’s possible that’s where everything is happening.”

“Then that's where we’re going. Let's see if the trail leads to a town or something.”

The group started the trek down an old dirt trail. To them it felt quiet. There was only the sound of the breeze but there were no birds chirping. To them it felt almost ominous. To Gregory it reminded him of a movie he once saw but couldn’t remember the name. After a few minutes of walking Star swirl broke the silence. “So what’s the plan after removing the ring? You gonna single handedly take down Grogar yourself?”

Gregory said nothing at first but then responded. “Did someone hear that? It seems the trees have a voice of their own. Or maybe it's a yapping old waste of space.”

“Oh for the love of- can’t you just put aside your pettiness for one single day?”

“I had to put up with you for a year in that cave,” Gregory responded, getting agitated.

“You must do what your friend Jason said and grow up,” Star Swirl responded.

“And you must confess to your crimes,” Gregory replied with hostility.

“I know that already. You’ve been saying that hundreds of times.”

“And I’ll keep saying it until-”

“Will you two stop acting like foals for ten minutes!?” Styx snapped at the two. “You’re even giving me a headache! And coming from me that's saying a lot!” Gregory was about to retort when Styx raised her hoof. “Up bup bup! None of that. No jokes, no remarks, and no Star whatever jokes from you. Don’t you dare. Shut up. Now please can we just- whoa!” She was cut off as she tripped on something.

Stygian helped his sister up while the others looked at what she tripped over. Gregory then saw the long rail along with another one held together by wooden ties. “What the? Train tracks? Here? Must be one of the new lines.”

There was a long silence until a long whistle echoed in the morning air. The group looked down the tracks to see something coming over the horizon towards them. Gregory then smiled as he made out the familiar tell-tale shape of a locomotive, a shining headlight, and steam coming from a smokestack. “It's Connie.”

Indeed it was the first living engine. But as she got closer Gregory started to see something different about her. For one she looked a bit dirty. Had dust and grime on parts of her body. On her tender the words Equestria Greater Railway were replaced by the letters GR. And the last thing he noticed was the emotion of seriousness and determination but it changed as she got closer and started slowing down. Gregory’s jaw then dropped as he saw some of the cars she was carrying had what looked like canons on them. “Connie?”

“Gregory?!” Connie exclaimed as she finally came to a stop right by them. “Is that really you?! Where did you go? Is Andrew with you?”

“Long story, where are you heading?”

“The Crystal Empire, this supply train is heavily needed there,” she replied as she took note of the ponies with him. “Who are these guys?”

“Again, long story. Care to give us a lift?” Gregory asked.

“Sure, but some of you will need to ride in the caboose with the conductor. My cab can only take a few.”

As Stygian, Flash, Somnabula, and Mistmane went to the back of the train, the others climbed into the cab. Gregory then felt Connie’s emotion change. “Gregory, where’s Andrew?”

“I’ll explain later. Let’s just get going.”

Connie was silent for a moment but blew her whistle. “Fine, but whatever happened to him, I hope you can easily break it to a pregnant mare who's about to pop any day now,” she replied as she started rolling.

All was going well as the train rocked and rolled down the tracks. Gregory decided it was best to get an update. “Connie what’s been going on?”

Connie let out a sigh. “Things have gone to hell. I'm sure you saw the big letters on my tender right?”

“Yeah what does GR stand for?” he asked.

“Gaia Rail,” she replied. “Long before the New Year the railroads of the world made a plan to merge the railroads under one name should we be forced to face a serious world conflict like a big war. Throughout the week we’ve been at war with monsters. It turns out Tartarus only housed the weak monsters. These bizarre beasts are even worse. They are the strongest Grogar ever made and Equestria had them locked away in some weird mountain.”

“Jesus…” Gregory muttered. “Anything else you want to add?”

“To make matters worse, both the Changeling Hive and Haven City have become deathtraps. No creature gets in and for any that do they do not come out,” Connie explained. “No soldier of any nation can break through the defenses or even the monsters that prowl and guard the outside of both places.”

“What about Jason?”

Connie was silent for a moment but eventually replied. “We never saw him again.”

Gregory nodded. “Then we have no time to-”

He was cut off as a loud ghost-like whistle echoed throughout the mountain air. Gregory leaned out of the cab and looked around. It wasn’t Connie, it came from somewhere in the mountains. He then felt Connie’s emotion slowly warp into fear. “That wasn’t one of our own.”

Gregory looked around and saw what he assumed was another railroad line in the distance a few feet higher on the hills. There, parked on that line, he saw another locomotive attached to a line of matching passenger cars. What he found strange were the markings on the tender. They didn’t look like letters or numbers or even characters of any foreign language. “Whose that?” he asked, pointing to the train on the upper track.

Suddenly he felt Connie jerk as she picked up speed. “Not one of our own!” she said. The unknown train slowly reversed into a tunnel. A few seconds later an explosion erupted and soon the group saw something shot out of the side of the mountain. At first it looked like a giant snake or worm but upon a second look it was the train they saw. The front plow of the engine warped into some kind of mouth as it let out a menacing roar. “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”

“A titan mimic. HOLD ON!” Connie screamed as her speed increased tenfold.

The strange and monstrous half snake half train was hot on their tail. Soon a crystal in the cab glowed as a voice sounded. “This thing is gaining on us!” came the voice of Flash Magnus.

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Connie yelled.

Then came what sounded like an audible crunch of wood and metal from the crystal. “Now it's eating us!”

“Get out of the caboose NOW!” she called.

In the back the conductor, Stygian, Flash, Somnabula, and Mistmane jumped out of the caboose and onto a flatcar with crates. They got just as the caboose was chomped and devoured by the huge monster chasing them.

Gregory looked down briefly at the rings on his fingers. During the few months that the Pillars had been training him, they had managed to remove them, but the moment they had, he’d had a magical surge too powerful for him to handle. The rings now held him back. “No more mister nice guy,” he snarled as he grasped at the ring on his right middle finger.

“Be careful,” Stygian said. “If you’re going back there, try not to lose your balance. Those surges can leave you dizzy.”

“I’m only going to release half of my stored up magic,” he said. Gregory could use his magic without taking his rings off, but if nobody could destroy these mimics, then he had to assume they were incredibly powerful. “Up and away!” His wings materialized behind him and he removed his ring. The wings spread apart, only now instead of one pair he had three pairs of wings, one made of ice, one made of fire, and one made of lightning. He shot directly at the mimic train, bellowing as he released some of his new magic at the train, a mix of fire, ice, and lightning.

The beam shot the side of the front and the train faltered. It didn’t stop but it sure gave the other ponies time to run and jump to the next car. The mimic looked up at Gregory and its yellow headlight eye became red with rage.

Gregory immediately felt something beside the rage emanating from the train. He felt…pain. Suffering. The mimic was in pain. It was not in control. His own rage slowly vanished as he hovered between both the mimic and the train behind him. In a soft voice, but one that he knew the mimic could hear, he said, “Grogar is controlling you, isn’t he?”

A groaning and a growl emitted from the metal plow jaw. A slow raspy voice replied. “Must…please…father…or….punishment.”

Gregory’s eyes widened in alarm, so he reached down and removed his other ring. The power from the many Windigos inside him caused his body to transfigure itself into a blinding white light. Three more wings emerged from his back, one made of water, one made of light, and one made of darkness. This was the form he had somehow unlocked during his second month. When he’d seen how he’d looked from memories of the others, he’d likened it to a Biblical angel. He reached out with a glowing white hand and touched the mimic train. “Be free of his control,” he said in a soft voice, “let your suffering end.”

The mimic let out a loud ear piercing roar that echoed as the two titans of the rails continued to thunder down the tracks. Soon, fire erupted from the monster’s smokestack like a volcano but the flames were blue and purple. The headlight became white as the creature began to calm down. Then much to their surprise it began slowing down making the distance between the two trains far.

Quickly, Gregory put his rings back on and moved closer to the mimic, which itself began to change shape and form. Soon, a large pony lay on the tracks, one similar in color to the mimic train itself. A stallion, it seemed. Gregory swiftly lifted the stallion in his arms and flew back to the train, noting that the stallion was gaunt and looked like it hadn’t eaten in days. “What did Grogar do to you?” he asked in horror, noting that this pony had no cutie mark.

After Connie stopped the whole group looked over the stallion. Star Swirl soon had a look of judgment. “So, the rumors were true and history wrote it wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Gregory asked, who had the stallion’s head in his lap and was stroking him gently.

“Grogar didn’t create these beasts from nothing. Everyone thought he made them from magic and animals. Now it seems his experiments actually involved live sapient test subjects.”

Gregory’s eyes went wide. He turned to the others. “Get this stallion some food and water, and hurry!”

The conductor luckily had a lunchbox and immediately gave him what was left of it.

The stallion began to stir at the scent of food, but Gregory helped him with water first. “Shhh…drink,” he said gently as he lifted a water bottle to the stallion’s lips. “And don’t talk yet. Gather your strength.”

The stallion coughed. “No…I need to know…has it really been over a thousand years?”

“I’m afraid so,” Gregory said, instantly feeling sorry for the poor stallion. Not only did he not have a cutie mark, but he was displaced from his own time. His family was all long dead.

“Wait, I remember you,” Mistmane said. “You went missing from my village long before we disappeared. Everyone assumed you were eaten by timberwolves.”

“That would explain the curved horn,” Gregory muttered.

“I wasn't. I was captured by timberwolves and dragged to this cave where this ram did something to me.”

“Sir, please rest and conserve your strength,” Gregory insisted before he turned to Mage Meadowbrook. “Do you have something that can help?”

“I barely have much but he would need medical attention soon.”

Gregory nodded in agreement, then turned to the conductor. “Where’s your first aid kit?”

“In his belly after he ate the caboose,” he said pointing to the stallion.

Gregory saw the guilty look on the stallion’s face. “Hey, you weren’t in control so don’t blame yourself. What’s your name?”

“Waning Gibbous,” the unicorn stallion uttered.

“What happened to your cutie mark?” Stygian asked.

“He vanished when he was only a colt,” Mistmane explained, “so he didn’t have one.”

Gregory’s anger returned in full force. “He kidnapped a colt…that’s it. I am going to turn his insides out and roast him over a goddamn VOLCANO!”

“We need to get to the Crystal Empire first,” the conductor said. “Some of us will have to ride in the boxcar for the rest of the trip.”

“Give Waning here some comfortable place to stay,” Mage said. “He needs the rest and food.”

Waning looked up at Gregory. “I do not know who or what you are, but I owe you a life debt that I can never repay.”

“And you’ll never have to,” Gregory said softly as he put a hand to the stallion’s temple. “Rest.”

Soon Connie continued on. It wasn’t long until snow started to appear. Soon a large dome could be seen in the distance. As they got closer Gregory soon saw a familiar face, that being Tempest Shadow who was waving a red flag. “Halt, train! Today’s password?”

“Siren Head,” Connie responded.

Gregory stuck his head out of the window and looked at Tempest. “Hey, Fizzlepop Berrytwist! That was rude! Don’t just call her train! Her name’s Connie!”

Tempest looked up in surprise. “You?! What are you- you know what, forget it.”

“Good call,” Gregory said as he headed back inside.

Tempest’s horn lit up and a hole appeared in the dome. Connie slowly entered a few moments later they appeared at the station where they were greeted by guards. The moment they saw the Pillars and Gregory they were surprised. After a bit of a debrief the word traveled fast and within seconds a group of ponies and two dragons came charging towards Gregory as he chatted with Connie.

He turned and saw them coming, and he grimaced. “Ah, shit-”

A fist launched at him, but he didn’t deflect it although he easily could have. A blast of magic caught him in the chest as well. The attack from Twilight and Ember sent him sprawling. “Why do you keep doing this to us?!” Ember snarled. “Do you like watching us worry?!”

Groaning, Gregory sat up, more for effect than anything. He looked at Ember, then at Twilight. “Don’t you have anything to say?” he asked his marefriend.

“Ember pretty much said it already,” Twilight said glaring at him.

He sighed again, slowly getting to his feet. “Believe me, I may have spent a week away in your time, but I’ve had a year with these eight here. Styx in particular had been drilling into me how stupid I am.”

Twilight looked and her eyes widened. “No way…you found…Star Swirl the bearded!?”

“We could have found the old bastard earlier,” Gregory said, “because in the show we knew where he and the others were. Styx was a wild card, though. And Star Chuckle over there is not as great as you remember. Think of him like a worse version of Dumbledore.”

“What is he talking about?” Twilight asked the stallion.

“I believe I should tell you somewhere a bit more quiet. After all, you are one of my most loyal successors.”

“Oh no, you don’t,” Gregory said, “you’ll be telling everyone, but later. We have a stallion in need of serious medical attention!”

As a few of the ponies left the railroad roundhouse Rainbow Dash looked around and turned to Gregory. “Gregory, where's Andrew?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “He-Look, it’s a long story, and there’s a lot we need to discuss.”

Rainbow just looked back at Gregory. “You’re hiding something. Where is he?”

“Let’s find somewhere where we can talk in private,” Gregory said. “Come on.” With that, he walked past them, not looking forward to the conversation he was going to have.

The inside of the Crystal Empire was like a scene out of a war movie as it was practically crawling with either soldiers or refugees of many species. Inside one of the cafes Rainbow sat across from Gregory who had Pinkie curled up in his lap. “Please,” the pregnant mare pleaded. “You have to know something. I can take it.”

“I honestly don’t know much,” Gregory explained, his hands running through Pinkie’s mane more as a way to help him calm down than anything. “The last I saw of them was when we were going to confront Grogar. I went in first, trash talked the bastard, then he put these on me.” He showed them the magical rings on his fingers. “Then he tried to banish me somewhere, but it must have misfired because I ended up at Ponehenge. I think he was trying to send me to some other place where I couldn’t be a bother.”

“You think that’s what he did to him?” Rainbow asked. “My fiance is in some other dimension?! Please tell me you think or even believe he was sent to the CHS world or even that Pony Life world you mentioned?”

“It’s possible,” he replied, “but it’s also possible he went somewhere else. He and Stacy were with me. If they were stupid and acted on their emotions, they would probably make some desperate attempt to save me despite me telling them not to.”

“You honestly think those two would get back to the border with no train or teleporter?” Rainbow deadpanned.

“They’re smart and resourceful,” Gregory said reassuringly. “Wherever they are, I can guarantee they’re working tirelessly to get back here.”

Rainbow sniffled. “What if they don’t? I asked Fluttershy this once. Is this my price for my wings to be restored and my scar to be removed?”

“Don’t even think that,” Gregory said. “Andrew would never think that, and it would break his heart if he knew you thought that. Remember, Jason has offered to remove your punishments. Seems like he’s done the same to all of you, if Twilight’s magical blast is anything to go off of.” He made a show of rubbing the area where Twilight blasted him.

“Alright…but if I ever find out Grogar, Howard or any of his goons had something to do with his death….Someone will die.”

“I will be the one to kill them both,” Gregory said darkly, and it was as if the whole room dimmed. The lights flickered as well before returning to normal. “Who else here can say that they have killed somebody? Raise your appendages.”

Nearby a gryphon soldier raised his claw. “I don’t think that's what he meant, Gary,” his partner said.

At that moment a Crystal guard entered the cafe and approached Gregory. “Sir, there is an important assembly happening. Apparently your presence is requested.”

“Requested? Or ordered?” Gregory asked, “because I’m not a member of this empire.”

“It's not on the behalf of Princess Cadence. It is on behalf of the Pillars.”

Gregory sighed, then downed his tea. “I’ll be right there.”

Outside, near the crystal heart. Star Swirl the Bearded stood on a makeshift stage as a huge crowd surrounded him and the pillars. The old stallion turned to Stygian. “You still stand by me after everything?”

“We’ve been trapped for centuries. It is unhealthy to hold a grudge for that long old friend. My sister, on the other hoof, is another story.”

After seeing Gregory approach the crowd he cleared his throat. “Fellow creatures of Gaia, while we appreciate you welcoming us back into our world I’m afraid I have some unfortunate news to give. No it’s not regarding the current problems you face but it is an admittance of guilt. We are not the same heroes you have all come to worship.”

The crowd grew quiet and Gregory could sense the ever growing confusion from them. “We understand that there have been rumors about us committing horrible acts but I am speaking to put those rumors to rest. They are true.” The gasp from everyone was so loud one would think all the oxygen in the world was collected by it.

“I sent Magnus to kill a horde of dragons to rescue his colleagues rather than wait for some creature to perform negotiations. I sent Mage to use swamp fever on an early changeling queen who I later performed experiments on,” he explained. “I won’t beg for forgiveness. I don’t deserve it. Whatever you all think of me after this. I’ll embrace it but please spare my friends. They were pawns acting on my orders. Don’t even blame Stygian or Styx. They may have been the Pony of Shadows but they weren't the cause of our disappearance.”

“That honor belongs to me,” Styx said. “Admittedly I share some blame. I was trying to help get rid of the sources of my home’s problem only to learn these ponies were not the biggest source. I let darkness consume my mind and it did nothing in the long run. WE can only ask the world to give us a chance to- OW!” Styx stumbled back as something crashed into her head. Soon the whole crowd was throwing things at the Pillars.

Gregory flew and got between them. Raising his hand, he created a wall, but to the surprise of all, it wasn’t a wall of ice like they were expecting. It was a wall of lightning. “ENOUGH! I’m mad at them too but we can’t let our judgment distract us. We have bigger problems to deal with.”

That seemed to calm the crowd down a little. They all eventually dispersed but were casting looks of either hatred or judgment at the Pillars as they left. As the last of the crowd dispersed Gregory then saw Twilight Sparkle. The poor mare was looking down in disappointment as Ember, Cozy, Spike, and Raven comforted her. He noticed Raven was looking rather dirty and almost exhausted like she charged through a coal mine. Gregory sighed as he realized he had even more fish to fry.

It took a bit of time but Gregory now found himself standing outside an infirmary within the palace. He rubbed his finger from where the rings once were. Apparently, there was a lotion that could help with his magical surges and headaches until he learned to control them better. He could feel the odd sensation of the lotion that was used. He then looked down at the bottle that Mage was holding for him. “So that lotion will do what you said?”

“It’s temporary,” she explained. “I’ll have to make more. Just keep applying the lotion to your forehead every night before you go to sleep. It will take time, but as you grow accustomed to your magic, you’ll need it less and less.” Gregory nodded and placed the bottle in his pocket and turned to leave. “Wait,” she said.

“Yeah?” Gregory said.

“I know you still can’t trust us but…thank you for the save out there.”

“He may have given you all orders, but you all chose to act,” Gregory said, more disappointed than angry at her. “You chose to go against the tenets of harmony. You have a lot to answer for.” With that, he walked out and into the night.

Walking towards an empty field in the city, he looked up at the sky. The stars were blazingly bright, beautiful in their vast array. No moon was out at the moment, which allowed for him to see all of the constellations.

Several minutes later, a small wind began to swirl around him. It grew stronger, then a pillar of ice began forming. It began to orbit him. Opposite the pillar of ice came a pillar of fire. Next to that came a pillar of lightning, then a pillar of water, a pillar of light, and lastly came a pillar of darkness, or rather, dark magic. He held out his hands and the six pillars began orbiting him faster, growing in strength and power. His eyes were glowing a bright icy blue with purple mist emanating from it. Darkness and light swirled around, and all four pillars began to merge, creating a massive tornado of all six elements. He began to float up, his eyes blazing as he raised his head, looking up at the sky before he let loose a mighty roar. A somewhat…draconic roar.

Then an audible gasp was heard behind him followed by a yell. “What in Celestia’s name are you doing now!?”

He looked down at whoever was calling out to him. It was Twilight looking up at him, jaw dropped and eyes as wide as dinner plates. Gregory slowly dispelled the magic as he lowered himself down, a dragonlike growl still coming from his mouth before all of the magic vanished and leaving him alone amid a field that looked like it had been torn through by a tornado. “Letting off some steam,” he said before inhaling and breathing out hot blue fire from his mouth up at the sky.

“All that…power…is that what you and the Pillars have been dealing with?”

Gregory sighed and fell on his ass, leaning back and looking at the sky. “Mostly me,” he said. “My magic has nearly overwhelmed me. They have been training me to control every single bit of it. We found a cave that we could spend months in while only weeks passed out here. It’s helped me greatly.”

Twilight sighed as she placed a hoof on her chest. “I swear one day you’re gonna give me a heart attack.”

He chuckled without mirth as he lay on the grass. “Yeah…” he said, sighing. “I wonder if Ember heard that dragon roar…? That’s new…”

“I think half the empire in this dome did,” Twilight said as she lay on his chest, looking up at him. “Are you ready to go back? Ember probably has our dinner waiting. We have a lot to catch you up on. What Connie told you was the tip of the iceberg.”

“Heh…iceberg,” he said as he slowly sat up. “Yeah, let’s go…”

Dinner was eventful as the family talked about many things but after the meal was finished Ember and Gregory were washing dishes. “So…” Ember began, “you mastered the roar.”

Turning to her, he flashed his teeth at her while releasing a draconic growl. However, unbeknownst to him, this caused his eyes to become temporarily draconic as well before returning to their normal human shape. “So it would seem,” he said as he picked up a plate and began drying it.

Ember actually grinned. “Does all that training mean you can breathe fire too?”

In response, he let loose blue fire from his mouth, blue fire being the hottest fire a dragon could let loose. “Indeed.”

“Heh, as you humans put it noice…” she grinned wider.

He smiled back, then leaned in and kissed her. “Not sure how I got those attributes, but I hope you like it.”

“Maybe windigos have some relations to ancient dragons,” she said. “I don’t know. Either way it's pretty cool.”

He nodded. “I suppose it is,” he chuckled.

Ember chuckled back but then looked at the clock. “Getting late, before you join me and Twi, at least talk to the kids. Cozy has something she's been meaning to tell you, train girl needs some loving and I believe Spike would like a father and son moment.”

He smiled, then wrapped his arms around his wife. “I’ll do all that, and then save the best for last.”

He wandered out of the kitchen of their temporary crystal suite and soon went into one of the bedrooms where Cozy was sitting on one of the beds. The sounds of a shower could be heard from the nearby bathroom which meant Spike was using it. He walked over and sat next to his adopted daughter, putting a hand on her back. “Hello, sweetie,” he said. “Sorry I’ve been gone for so long.” He picked her up and set her in his lap, stroking her mane gently.

Cozy sniffled as she snuggled deeper. “I was afraid you would be gone without me telling you…I'm sorry.”

“Sorry? Sorry for what?” Gregory asked as he held her closer.

“For keeping my penpal’s rehabilitation a secret. He got out because of me. I lobbied for him right after the Howard incident. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you would stop it.”

Gregory sighed then held her close in his arms. From behind him spread a pair of wings. Not ice wings, but wings that seemed to be made of warm white light. He enveloped her in their warmth. “This world isn’t the same as the one from the cartoon,” he said, “so perhaps I misjudged Tirek. Still, you should have told me. His rehabilitation isn’t something I have control over, and if you wanted to have him go through that, then as my daughter, I would support you. No, I will support you.”

Cozy looked up to him. Her eyes soaked in tears. “Would you still support me even now?”

“If he is truly wishing for it, then I will,” he promised. “I know you want him to be better, but it is also up to him whether he wants to change.”

“He has changed, he told us his goal now is to one day find his brother if he is still out there,” Cozy said smiling. “I feel much better now. Thank you Daddy.”

“Of course, anytime,” he said, smiling warmly.

At that moment the water stopped and a few seconds later Spike walked out. He stopped as he saw Gregory and his wings. “Hey, Dad.”

Gregory smiled at him, then opened one wing invitingly, patting his lap. “Hey, kiddo. Come up here.”

Spike smiled and hopped into the hug feeling the embrace of both his adopted father and his sister. “You’ll fix everything right?” he asked.

He wrapped his adopted children up in his warm, soothing wings. “I’ll work to make sure this world is one where my family can be happy,” he promised before he turned to Cozy. “Hey, Cozy, have you taken your bath or shower yet? If not, it’s your turn.”

“I had my turn. Spike told me ladies first.”

Spike smiled sheepishly but as the father and children chuckled they heard the door closed followed by human footsteps. “Guess the iron horse is still up,” Spike said. “You should probably talk to her. I think she’s seen more of the fighting than we had.”

“Well then, you two should get ready for bed,” Gregory said. “I’ll read you the next chapter of the story we were reading before. That is, of course, if Twilight hasn’t been reading it to you.”

The kids chuckled as Gregory left and went to the next bedroom over. Just as he was about to enter he was hit with a hint of a smell of coal and ash. It nearly reminded him of a campfire. He opened the door to see Raven standing near her bed and looking down at a hat. The hat looked like a railway conductor’s cap with the letters EGR written on it. Gregory could feel her emotions of a mixture of negative ones. She then looked towards Gregory. “Oh, uh, evening,” she muttered.

“Hey there, Raven,” he said as he walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. “How are you doing?”

Raven didn’t answer at first but eventually sighed. “I never thought how quickly some things can change. Is it normal for someone like me to witness horrible things?” she asked as her hands began to shake.

He wrapped her in his new ethereal wings and his arms, holding her tightly. “You should never have had to see what you’ve seen,” he said softly, stroking her hair gently.

“Do you have any idea what me, Connie, and so many other engines had to put up with?” she asked. “It wasn’t just tight schedules. Did Connie tell you…I was nearly killed by a giant monster.”

His hug tightened around her. “I’m so sorry,” he said.

“I was scared, not because I was in danger but because I had to see soldiers get hurt! Some died just to save me!”

Gregory looked up at the ceiling, his glare one of anger and determination. “I’ll make sure that he pays…that they all pay,” he promised.

Raven soon calmed down as she cried into Gregory’s shoulder. “Please…if I go back out there can you be with me when it happens?”

“I’ll be there for you,” he promised.

Raven smiled. “Thank you, oh and by the way. A pony in a suit came up to me after my last run. She wanted me to tell you to meet her and another engine at the roundhouse tomorrow morning. Something about classified intel. Whatever that means,” she said.

“It means it’s something secret they want to say that others can’t know,” he said. “Right now, let’s not worry about that, okay? Do you want to join me when I read a bedtime story to Spike and Cozy?”

“What are you reading?” she asked.

“Well, right now I’m reading a fantasy series called The Chronicles of Narnia.”

About half an hour later, and with all three of them asleep, Gregory got into the shower to wash off the dirt and grime he’d accumulated. He hadn’t had a proper shower in months, having used a pool of water in the cave to wash. It felt so good to have hot water washing over him. He was so lost in the sensation that he didn’t notice two others getting in until he felt a talon touching his cheek. “You got stronger,” Ember said.

He jumped and looked back at his dragon wife. “Ember?! And…Twilight?!”

“And for getting stronger you get extra credit,” Twilight said with seduction.

“Whooo boy, I’m not getting any sleep tonight, am I?” he deadpanned.

“Gregory, I just got the biggest shock about one of my idols. I need this right now.” Twilight said.

He smiled and nodded. “Then get over here,” he said.

Howard felt a small jolt of electricity coarse through him. It was as if he could sense someone’s pleasure for miles. He took a deep breath in and let out a roar. “THAT BASTARD!” he yelled. “How is he back?! When I see him I’LL TEAR HIM IN TWO! NO, THREE!”

Nearby Jason was suspended in chains on a wall like a medieval prisoner. His body had more bruises, scratches, and even burn marks on him. Despite his injuries he looked up at his captor with a small grin. “Hell…yeah…” he uttered before he coughed a bit.

“Silence you!” Howard snapped as he snapped his fingers and Jason’s body convulsed as he felt the electrical shock coursing his body. Howard turned to the female demonic figure in the room. “Your turn to watch him. I need to speak to Grogar,” he said before leaving the dungeon.

Jamie simply walked up and hissed while flexing her claws at Jason like a cat. All Jason could do was roll his eyes.