An Alternate Track

[Seeds of Yggdrasil - Present]

Within the Seeds of Yggdrasil school, two demonic monsters could hear the distant sounds of explosions. “You mean to tell me you didn’t place much security on the rails?” Grogar snapped.

“I thought they would assume even the tracks would be heavily guarded and too dangerous to use,” Howard responded.

“And now we have multiple targets within our walls! Some are armed and dangerous,” Grogar snarled. “And, to add insult to injury, the grandchild of Star Swirl was found alive and well! I hope you have something that will turn the tide back in our favor.”

Howard just grinned as he pulled out a long case. “Don’t worry, just keep him distracted and I’ll drop my surprise. After all...” he trailed off as he looked at the case he was holding. “Earth beats Gaia.”

Ember and the Mane Six minus Rainbow were sneaking through the streets of Haven City. They were hiding in an alleyway as a tall bipedal beast wandered past them. Twilight watched the monster walk by before gesturing to her friends to follow her out.

As they entered the town square they saw a strange looking glowing device made of metal. “That must be one of the devices Jason was talking about,” Twilight said as her horn glowed. She then fired a beam at the device causing it to explode. When the smoke cleared they all looked around.

“Nothing’s happening,” Pinkie said.

“Maybe it did something small,” Rarity suggested.

“Or maybe it alerted them!” Ember exclaimed as she pointed up the street where there were zombie ponies, changelings, and other species heading straight for them. Ember hovered above the ground. “Find the others, I’ll hold them off.”

“We can't just leave you!” Fluttershy shouted.

“I’ll be fine. Go!”

The ponies dispersed. Ember just stared at the oncoming horde. She knew she couldn’t take them all in one fiery breath. She just closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. But then just as she was about to blow there was suddenly a huge gust of cold air surrounding her. She opened her eyes only for her jaw to drop. The horde of zombies were frozen in a block of ice. “...Please don’t say hello there if that's really you.”

“Alright, I won’t,” came a voice from above. Gregory landed beside her and smirked. “But next time don’t go racing into danger alone.”

“This coming from the guy who tried to reason with Grogar alone and got sent across the world?”

He snickered. “Touché.”

Suddenly from the smoky ruins of a building a creature, resembling a mutated grasshopper, leapt out. But just as Gregory was about to turn and kill it a black blur flew by and struck the creature and soon it landed hard on the ground. The human and dragon watched as a zombie pony began pounding the creature hard. Gregory, recognizing Thunderlane, proceeded to raise his staff when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and a familiar voice which said, “Relax, he’s on our side now.”

When Gregory turned, he saw Stacy standing there. “That asswipe?”

Thunderlane gave one last pound before turning to Gregory. “I’m only doing this to save my brother’s soul.”

“Fucking good enough for me,” Gregory snapped back as he spread his wings. “Everyone, cover your eyes!” He shot up into the mists above them, disappearing. A few seconds later, a second sun appeared, this one twice as bright as the normal sun. All of the mist that surrounded the town began to dissolve, the thick snowdrifts began melting fast, and monster upon monster began to evaporate in screams of pain. However, for those who were on Gregory’s side, they felt a soothing warmth spread through them along with increased strength. The bright light even caused the natural clouds to part, revealing the actual sun.

As the second sun began to dim, they all could see that the source of said sun was Gregory. He floated down, looking a bit weary now, but with determination forming on his brow. “There are still monsters out there,” he said, gesturing to the stronger ones.

“Then let’s get them,” Ember grinned.

“Ponies, roll out!” Gregory shouted, holding up his staff and shouting a loud war cry.

From the school a large gate opened and an army of giant and stronger monsters of many kinds came rushing out like a swarm of angry wasps. “Go forth my children!” Grogar shouted from the top of the wall. “Leave no target alive!” He then looked through a telescope to scan the city. First, he saw an army of tanks destroying a smaller group of monsters that the cleansing light had missed. “Not my target.” He then saw Reckless blasting a giant golem. “Not her either.” He then saw a middle finger being raised up at him from a particularly troublesome human. “There you are.” He grinned as he used his bell and teleported.

Meanwhile Ember and Gregory were running through the streets. “Where do you think this next pillar is?” she asked.

“Not sure, but-” Gregory was interrupted as a teleportation flash appeared in front of the two, causing them to halt. “But I have a more pressing matter,” he concluded. “This bug right here wants to play.”

“Nice job dissipating the mist but it will slowly come back,” Grogar chuckled darkly. “What do you think those magic devices are for? Decorations?”

“Worst Christmas decorations ever, to be honest,” Gregory snarked. “Thanks for the robes, by the way. Very stylish. No curses, I’m afraid, though.” He whipped his staff around in his hands. “Ready to play, sheep man?”

“Enough! You have meddled in my plans for far too long, but I would be forced to agree with you,” he said as an axe materialised in his hoof. “Let's end this right here and now.”

Gregory brought out his hilt, forming a blade made of the six elements he now wielded: ice, fire, water, air, darkness, and light. “Time to put this sheep down,” he snarked. “Ember, go!”

Ember seethed a bit but took off anyway. All she could do was fly and she could now hear the sounds of enchanting blades clashing. But as she rounded a corner she bumped into someone. “What are you doing here!? Where’s Gregory?” Andrew asked as he shot another monster with a shotgun.

“He’s battling Grogar,” Ember replied.

“Alone!?” Andrew exclaimed. “That stubborn little- now who looks who's being an idiot!”

Andrew ran past Ember but as he turned a corner he saw what looked like a mere flash of light out of the corner of his eye and a bright shine came from the old clock tower. “What the? Is that Howard?”

Howard looked through the scope of a sniper rifle as he carefully aimed it. “Come on Greg, make my day and quit moving so much.”

Meanwhile Grogar wasn’t doing so well; he was lying flat on his back after a devastating blow. “I take it back you really have gained far better control but do you think Faust would ever allow a Demi like you to wander freely?”

Gregory stood over him. “I’ll be sure to ask when I see her,” he said as he raised his staff.

Howard grinned as his aim was dead center of his head. “Goodnight sweetheart you little-“

“NO!” someone shouted followed by a shove and his finger slipped.

BANG

Gregory then felt something as the hand that held his staff suddenly flared up in pain. “AUUUGH! GOD DAMN IT!” He screamed as he dropped his staff only to see his hand oozing blood. “What?”

Grogar grinned. “What’s the matter? Need a…hand?” He slowly got up and levitated his axe. “It’s like what you and many others have been saying: Earth beats Gaia.”

“At least I still have more!” Gregory hissed as he swung his other hand. Only for it to bounce off a shield made of light.

He looked over the shield emitting from Grogar’s bell. “Tsk Tsk,” Grogar smirked as the bell and his horns glowed brighter. “Now it’s my turn to be pushy,” he smirked as he thrusted his body and rammed him so hard he went flying into a building.

“Ow… right ram.”

Howard was taken aback at this surprise as Andrew stood in front of him, his face full of anger. “You mess with my friends, you mess with me.”

Howard slowly got up. “You really are a useless pawn. We could’ve rebuilt the world as it was, maybe even better. What about your wish? Didn’t you want to undo what Jason did to you and Markus’s fav-”

Howard was cut off as he was suddenly struck in the face by a bat. “Keep his name out of your mouth!” Andrew snapped. “And my wish has come true. All we had to do was be there and wait. Good things come to those who do.”

“Oh spare me the cliché. I thought that was Gregory’s schtick. Why are you even on his side? He's been nothing but an absolute asshole to you bashing your passion for rails.”

“Well you got me there, but that's not a good enough reason,” he said as he raised a weapon. “Let's end this once and for all.”

“Gladly,” Howard smirked.

Meanwhile it was a battle scene everywhere, especially at the train yard where Raven and Connie were pushing and pulling flatcars that had creatures operating canons. Another wolf made of rock exploded. “Take that you pebble puppers!” Connie yelled.

“If I didn’t know better Connie,” Flash said, reloading a cannon. “I’d say you were enjoying this.”

“Then you do know better,” Connie responded.

Another cyclops came barreling out of nowhere and the cannons began firing but just as the giant got shot it fell forward and crashed on a crate labeled gunpowder. The crate exploded in fiery inferno. A spark fluttered through an opening in the side of a boxcar. Flash then noticed something. “Oh no!”

“What is it?” a guard asked.

“The cars full of munitions Georgie bought! They’re catching a blaze!”

Connie saw the boxcars not too far from her and true to Flash’s word they were smoking. “And they’re fully loaded! I gotta get them out of here!” she shouted as she detached herself from the car of cannons and got behind the boxcars with the red Xs on them.

“Don’t do it! If they blow they'll take you with them! Wait for the storm clouds!” shouted a soldier.

“It’ll be too late!” Connie shouted as she began shoving the cars out. She rolled by Raven who was with another platoon of guards with cannons on flat cars. “I’m taking these away Raven. Take care.”

Raven couldn’t believe her non-existent eyes. “Hey! What you have there is more dangerous than dragon fire! Just leave them will you!”

“I’ll be okay!” Connie shouted as she disappeared through the fog.

“Cut the chat!” Shining Armor shouted. “Raven, move this cannon car back, we need to reposition and fortify our position!”

Raven did as she was told but was now more worried for Connie than herself.

Andrew and Howard’s battle still waged on; they went from dodging bullets to fighting with their bare fist. “Who taught you this kung fu? Rainbow?”

“And Gregory. Ready to surrender? I’ll get you a good lawyer.”

Howard just growled and tried to launch himself at him only for him to be struck again this time over the edge of the clocktower sending him falling. Andrew looked over the edge only to see Howard sprawled out but still alive. Andrew quickly went down the stairs and exited the tower. “You think this will stop me?”

Andrew then gave the tower a kick and just like magic a ton of rubble came crashing down the tower and covered Howard from tail to neck.

Meanwhile Grogar and Gregory were still brawling but due to his hand injury and bleeding. Gregory was finding it more difficult. His reformed windigo could barely heal a wound from an earth made weapon. Grogar noticed his stance and smirked. “What's the matter? Out of breath?” he sneered. “Get a hold of yourself. You can breathe when you’re dead.”

[Outside the city]

Connie pushed the cars as fast as she could. “This is getting dangerous.”

Suddenly she heard a hissing sound and noticed through the cracks on the car there was a light glowing brighter. ”Oh no, it's making contact with the gunpowder! I gotta get out of here!” she said as she started reversing away.

[Town Square]

“Any last words?”

Gregory slowly got up and held his staff with his uninjured hand. “Yeah how about-”

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The two stopped and looked at what looked like a huge explosion in the distance. The giant inferno looked like it was outside the city.

“Was that yours?” Gregory asked with a mixture of worry and confusion.

Grogar looked at him with a similar face. “I thought that was yours.”

All over the city everyone heard the explosion. Andrew looked at it. To him it was in the same direction as where Gregory was assumed to be fighting. “Oh no Gregory!” he exclaimed as he ran off leaving Howard buried under the rubble.

From around a corner Twilight emerged after destroying another pillar. She then saw Howard attempting to dig himself out and was succeeding. She looked at the fiery cloud in the distance then back to Howard. She slowly approached him. “Twi what are you doing?” Applejack asked from behind.

Twilight didn't respond as she trotted over to the demon who looked down at her. “Hello there. Come to lay all your love on me?”

“Was it worth it?” she asked with a scowl.

“Mostly,” Howard responded as he freed his arms.

“Here you are giving Grogar everything he wanted and leaving you the scraps. You honestly think he’ll stop at just this city?”

“Maybe, maybe not but soon when he gives me his share. I’ll give it to you, the one true princess.”

“Even if Jason never showed up I would never take Celestia’s throne.”

“It will be you! It will always be yours!” Howard snapped as he got down to Twilight’s level and stared deep into her eyes.

“Yeah? Do you think so? Will in a few minutes we’ll be nothing but Grogar’s toys.”

Howard reached out to grab her but stopped. He soon recoiled as her words sank in.

Andrew rounded a corner and there standing nearby was Jason holding a weapon. He was peeking out from another corner. He then turned to see Andrew. “Better be quiet or you’ll blow our cover.”

They both peeked around to see Gregory still battling Grogar albeit looking more exhausted, his injured hand showing a trickle trail of blood.

“You should lay down and give up,” Grogar said. “Only a fool will continue on in this condition.”

Gregory snarled and growled like a dragon. “Piss off, bitch!” he shouted as he attempted to breathe fire only for it to be blocked by a shield.

“Honestly you are not fit anymore,” Grogar said as he raised his axe with his magic.

“No but we still are,” said a voice. “Incoming!”

They both looked and saw Celestia and Luna barreling down from the sky. “Stick the landing!” Luna shouted as both she and her sister started blasting Grogar.

Grogar raised his axe “You meddling pest-“

He was cut off as something struck him in the head. He turned to see Jason and Andrew running towards him. “Two heads may be better than one,” Andrew began.

“It’s why a hydra lasts longer,” Jason said as his hands glowed.

Next thing Gregory knew, four of his friends were now battling the ram. He pulled back, grabbing an inner shirt and tearing it, tying up his injured hand to staunch the graze. However, as he did so, he could hear the sound of two alicorns crash landing followed by Jason’s grunt and the next thing he saw was Andrew’s body flying over him before tumbling to the ground.

Grogar’s shadow loomed over him. “Now if there are no more interruptions…” he trailed off as he raised his axe. “There were demigods that wandered this planet but now there will only be one.” Gregory could only look up and attempted to make a shield but with his wound and blood loss he knew he couldn’t block off the full force. “Whatever deity you believe in, prepare to meet them,” Grogar grinned as he raised up on his hind legs with a glowing axe ready to strike.

Suddenly there was a bang followed by the sound of a bullet hitting flesh. Grogar howled in pain as his axe dropped behind him. Gregory grinned as he slowly got up. At first he thought it was Stacy or someone else with a gun only for his mood to turn into shock as he saw a half centipede demon race towards Grogar with a fierce look. “This is my battle!” Howard yelled as he began throwing the surprised Grogar around like a ragdoll.

Gregory looked back and saw Celestia in front of him. “How did you get out of your castle?”

“I believe one of the control pillars might have been the cause,” Celestia said. “One moment I felt bored the next my tiara slid off my head and just like that I knew I had to come down here.”

“Right,” Gregory said as he reached into his robes. “Time to end this.”

As he got up he looked to see Howard on the floor panting and had numerous wounds all over him. “Now where was I before I was rudely interrupted?” Grogar said as he turned around to see Gregory standing up using Celestia as a crutch. “You think you can stop me now? I am inevitable,” he grinned as his bell glowed brighter and a shield surrounded him. He slowly trotted closer to him. “And I have plenty of fail safes and not just this bell.” Celestia attempted to fire but the beam bounced off his shield. With each step the two started getting more worried and Grogar’s grin became wider.

Meanwhile, Twilight and her friends saw a pillar in the distance near the sweets shoppe. “That has to be the last one,” Twilight said as her friends began running towards it.

Grogar raised his axe with his magic. “Really is a shame, you two would’ve made fine students for me.”

Twilight and her friends got closer but then all of a sudden a blue blur raced by them and soon crashed into the pillar like a football player and a tackling dummy. The pillar practically shattered on the ground.

Just as Grogar was about to bring the axe down his shield flickered. “What?”

Gregory saw this and grabbed onto the object he’d held in reserve. “You know, there’s something that you were right about,” he said slowly.

“And what’s that?” Grogar asked.

“MY Earth beats Gaia.” With that, he pulled out his own pistol, took careful aim, and fired.

BANG!

Grogar’s eyes widened, but only briefly, before the bullet completely ignored all of the enchantments around him, including any shields he might have. Time slowed for the ancient ram as the bullet tore through his horn, snapping it off, then it went through his brain before scrambling his brain matter. His last coherent thought was, Damned humans… before everything went black.

The battlefield went silent as everyone stared at the ram who now had a hole in his head. Blood leaked from the head wound and Grogar’s eyes lost all life before he fell, eyes never to see anything again. Nobody moved, and nobody seemed to dare breathe. Then, they heard the sound of someone blowing. They turned to see Gregory blowing on the exit barrel of his pistol. “One down,” he said before he turned to Howard, eyes dark, “and one to go.” He walked up, single pistol in hand.

Howard was crawling away but Andrew was standing in front of him. Andrew quickly picked up the gun Howard was about to grab. “Andrew, all I ever wanted was to revert everything before Jason’s corruption. You must see why I had to betray you.”

“You didn’t betray us,” he said darkly as he raised the gun at Howard. “You betrayed the one that suffered on the cross.” His finger gently pulled the trigger.

Howard’s eyes widened in horror. “Wait Don't!”

“Stop, Andrew,” Gregory said evenly as he let go of Celestia and walked up to stand next to his fellow human. “Don’t do it.”

“Exactly, old pal,” Howard said. “Listen to your other pal.”

Gregory, however, didn’t let Andrew reply. Instead, he raised his own gun. “I’ll do it..” And before Howard or anyone else could say another word, he pulled the trigger again, the bullet tearing through Howard’s own skull. He let out a sigh. “And thus, my third life is claimed.” He pushed off of Andrew and began walking away, alone, shoulders slumped.

Slowly, the town square started to fill. Ember and Twilight bursted through the crowd and raced towards Gregory. They both crashed into him. Gregory immediately felt his clothes dampen with pony tears. However, he couldn’t speak. His eyes were haunted, sunken, and the look there would have only been known to those who had taken a life. Such as Ember, or even Celestia and Luna. “We love you,” Twilight said through her sobs.

Slowly, he raised his gun, put the safety on, and put it back into his robes. He avoided eye contact with his wife and lover. A third presence made itself known, this one a familiar, and sometimes flirtatious, pink party pony who pressed herself against him. “We did it, Greggy,” Pinkie said, “we did it!”

He closed his eyes and exhaled, and everyone could hear the tremor in it. He fell to his knees, eyes unfocused, and the temporary bandage he’d wrapped around his grazed hand now leaking blood onto the ground.

“Eeyup…that last pillar we took down did the trick, or rather one pony took it down fast,” Applejack explained as a certain blue pegasus made her way out towards her husband.

Andrew immediately turned to Gregory. “You brought my fiancée into battle?!”

Gregory didn’t respond. He couldn’t. He didn’t even look like he’d heard anything. Rainbow approached sheepishly. “Actually, I stowed away inside Connie’s tender and jumped out,” Rainbow explained as she rubbed the back of her head.

“Seriously, Dashie?” Andrew groaned as he patted her head. “Don't scare me like that.”

Luna took one look at Gregory, then back at her sister. “You and I know that look in his eyes,” she whispered softly. “The poor human is in shock. And he is wounded. He must be tended to immediately.”

The two sisters got close to Gregory and began whispering into both his ears. Whatever was being said made Gregory flinch a bit but slowly his body began showing a more relaxed state. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he fell forward, eyes closed as he fell into a deep sleep, all while still being hugged by Pinkie, Twilight and Ember..

“What did you do?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight,” Celestia said, “this man has taken two lives in moments. He needs sleep and to be tended to. He was in shock. He may very well have taken his own life if we hadn’t intervened.”

“Let me through please!” came a voice. Raven charged out of the crowd and approached the group in her human form. “Someone please help!”

“Raven? What happened?!” Andrew asked.

“It's Connie! That explosion was from the munition cars!”

There was a brief silence until Andrew spoke up. “Get emergency crews, we're going on a rescue!”

The tell tale sounds of a heart monitor played softly in the darkness that surrounded Gregory. All he could hear was the beeping that was a sign he was still alive. In the darkness he saw some lights forming. The lights grew bright for a moment and there standing in front of him was his reformed windigo and Fauxgory. Both of them held expressions that were unreadable. “Quite a fight you had there,” Faux said. “Wish I had popcorn.”

Gregory scoffed. “You’re in my head,” he said. “You can create it like so.” He snapped and a popcorn bucket appeared in Fauxgory’s hands.

“Maybe, but we don’t have a full access to your imagination,” he said but then felt the tapping of a hoof on his shoulder.

“Hush now, for you lost the bet,” she said with a grin. “Now show him.”

Fauxgory just rolled his eyes. “Good grief…” Suddenly in a flash the fake human was replaced by another windigo in a different color. This one looked grey with a mane made of fire.

Gregory raised an eyebrow. “Okay…and…?”

Fauxgory sighed. “Thanks to you killing Grogar, I was freed from his slavery contract. He forced me to act in all of those dreams.”

“Wait, I thought it was Clark’s doing and that parasite,” Gregory said with a raised brow.

“What do you think they latched onto?” the new windigo asked. “Gregory, you’re the only demigod in this world, now. Only a fellow demigod can affect you. Clark got help from Grogar.”

Gregory sat down on whatever ground was in this mindscape. “So…what now?” he asked.

“Now?” the new windigo said. “Now, I can finally die, but not without giving you a final gift.” The windigo raised a hoof and a large ball of light formed above it. He tossed the ball of light towards Gregory and it sunk into the human’s chest. “I have been tainted by evil, so I am dying,” he said, his voice filled with regret, “but the power I have given you is all that wasn’t tainted by that damned ram’s touch. Keep it well.” With that, the windigo began to lift into the air, his form fading.

Gregory and the female windigo watched as the other windigo who had been forced to masquerade as Fauxgory completely faded away. With his departure, the world around seemed to grow brighter. He looked over at the remaining windigo. “What about you?” he asked. “Are you going to disappear?”

“Nay,” she said, “for I am your inner healer. In fact, it is long past time for you to awaken, my friend. You have slept for days.”

“Shit,” he said.

The world grew brighter until the sounds of beeping became more clearer. The next thing Gregory was seeing was a strange green tarp with a small lantern. He then saw medical devices to his left. It didn't take him long to realize he was in some large tent. “Look he’s waking up,” said a voice.

He looked down to see two ponies lying on his chest. It didn’t take him long to recognize Twilight and Pinkie, oddly enough. He looked up to see Ember sitting next to the bed. “Nng…morning…” he groaned.

“Alright you two please move,” a pony doctor said, ushering the ponies off him. “How are you feeling, son?”

He reached out and put one hand on the heads of the ponies lying on his chest. “Eh…better than before,” he admitted before he raised the hand that had been shot. It looked nearly healed already. “How long was I out?”

“Three days, these two ponies and that dragon stood by you the whole time while your children and other friends frequently visited,” the doctor explained.

He nodded, then realized his mouth was dry as a bone. “Water,” he croaked.

Pinkie shot up, suddenly awake, and was quick to give him a bottle. Ember sighed and looked at him. “Glad you’re still with us even after everything,” she said while looking down in near shame.

He drank greedily, then gasped. “Everything? Ember, what’s with that look?” he asked, trying to sound a bit more chipper than he felt.

“You were right, about feeling fear directed at you. You were hurt and we didn’t do enough. We failed you as a mate. It was a miracle we all made it,” she said as her teeth clenched and tears started forming.

“We can…talk about that later,” he said soothingly, reaching out to grab her hand.

At that moment the tent flaps opened to reveal Andrew and Rainbow Dash. The former was holding something in his arms. “Well look who's still here and kicking.”

When Gregory spotted the bundle, he groaned. “Don’t tell me I missed the birth,” he groaned.

“It happened a few hours after you blacked out.”

He shook his head. “Shi-I mean, shoot,” he amended.

“You want to see her?” Rainbow asked. “You're in for a surprise.”

“If none of you are afraid of me anymore,” he said before he could stop himself.

Andrew walked over and kneeled down and slowly uncovered the blanket. First thing Gregory saw was a human face with brown eyes. A small tuft of hair on her head had the faint colors of red, yellow, and blue. Andrew continued to unwrap her until Gregory saw blue feathers sprouting from the infant's back. “Hey missy, this here is your Uncle Gregory,” Andrew cooed.

He raised an eyebrow. “‘Uncle Gregory’, huh?” He reached out a finger towards her, wiggling it in the air. “What’s her name?”

“Evangeline,” Andrew said. “Named after the messenger angel.”

“Hey, Evey,” Gregory cooed as he wiggled his finger in front of her face, “you’re just da cutest wittle thing ever, yes you are. Yes you are!”

“Speaking of kids,” Rainbow said as she turned her head to see three more figures walk in. “Daddy!” Cozy shouted as she jumped in the air and landed on Gregory. Spike and Raven ran over and joined her.

He winced a bit, but more in surprise than pain. He hugged her close as he heard Twilight stirring as well. “Hello, my little angel,” he said to Cozy.

Cozy then gave off a cute pout. “Don’t ever scare us like that again!”

“Yeah, you better listen to her, dad,” Spike added. “She wouldn’t stop asking about your condition.”

“Weren’t you just as impatient too?” Raven asked.

“No I wasn’t,” Spike said nervously.

“Then why were you sneaking out of our room attempting to look in the tent?”

He rubbed Spike’s spines. “Sorry for worrying you, kiddo.”

“Well anyway the damage to the city is severe but Luna is promising to send aid in the coming days,” Andrew explained, “but the financial loss will be a challenge but I did hear Luna might have an idea she is planning to announce later.”

“Tell me about it all later, yeah?” Gregory said, his face falling. “I’ve got a lot on my mind as it is.” He turned and saw that the single pistol he’d taken into battle three days ago was lying on a table next to his bed.

Suddenly there was a strange sound from outside. “Attention all citizens, standby for a live crystal transmission from Princess Luna.”

“Come on Gregory, let's at least get you some air and see what the blue one has to say,” Ember said as she began hoisting him out of the bed.

He slowly sat up and was led into a wheelchair. “Sure,” he nodded.

Outside, creatures were gathering around one of many strange crystal tables. There was static until a holographic image of Luna appeared. “It is on?...Okay thank you,” she said before clearing her throat. “Hello, my friends, hello Haven City, and to our saviors the many soldiers, miners, factory workers, engines, and farmers that kept our nation and neighboring nations strong. I celebrate you.”

There was cheering especially from Celestia who was standing among the crowd. “Humility and leadership, no one can do it better than my sister.”

“Heh, fair enough,” Gregory said, which caught the attention of the ancient alicorn. He waved at her. “Hey, sunbutt.”

“It has been a long process to start the recovery process our world has gone through,” Luna continued. “We have suffered losses but through all the hardships we remained strong. The time for healing has come and for that I say its time for some fun and make it double.”

There was slight snickering from the crowd mostly from the few humans. “In one month we hold a special event to raise money to help the hardest hit cities. I present to you all THE WINGOPOLIS 500!” Even from a crystal everyone could feel the strength of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “A new event like the Equestria Games. Flying creatures will come together and race across the Canterhorn mountain range. Let's see what it takes for you to be more than your wings worth. More information will be coming soon, but for now let us all start the healing journey together.”

Later that night Andrew was looking over his sleeping fiance. “Psst Rainbow… Rainbow,” he began poking her head. “Dashie.” The pegasus then groaned and woke up. “Oh good you’re up.”

“What is it?” a groggy Rainbow asked.

“Come on, I have an idea.” He then led her outside towards a pole that had a poster on it. “Okay honey hear me out. What if…what if you participated in the Wingopolis 500? Huh.”

Rainbow looked at the poster for a bit before turning to Andrew with a deadpan look. “What if I zapped you for waking me up?”

“No no wait, hear me out. You don't even have to win.”

She glared at him. “You are this close to sleeping on the couch,” she said, “so choose your next words carefully.”

“First of all, our home is destroyed along with the couch. Secondly, just think about it, if you beat just one flier it would prove you come a long way. The flying rainbow makes her big return.”

“Andrew…”

“Come on”

“Andy! I said goodbye to that life already and I'm not risking an inflation of my ego again.”

Andrew grinned. “Well, I thought I heard that Gregory might join in,” he said, “and he said he would beat any records you made.”

Rainbow winced slightly. “Don’t try that reverse psychology on me.”

“Come on, Rainbow, what are you afraid of? You think this will make you go back to being what you were with Jason?”

Rainbow was silent for a long moment. She inhaled before letting out a long sigh. “We’re both parents now. I’d rather focus on that. Look I’m grateful Jason decided to let us all off but I don’t want to risk going back to what I was. What if I zap you or Eve with a lightning cloud?”

“Rainbow…you’re not like that. You’re better than that and getting better,” he said, patting her.

“...I’ll think about it,” she said as she trotted off back to the tent she was sleeping in.

Andrew was about to follow when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Next to the medical tent Gregory was sleeping in he saw a human silhouette. He looked like he was sitting on the cot looking down at something. He went over and peeked his head to see Gregory staring at his pistol in his hands.

Andrew stared at the scene and wondered. “What is he doing?” he muttered quietly. “Wait, he’s not going to-”

“Relax,” Gregory said from the darkness, “I’m not that stupid.”

Andrew approached him. “Sorry, that way you were sitting nearly reminded me of a few movies I saw that didn’t have much of a happy ending.”

Gregory scoffed, then lowered the gun. “I bet,” he said softly.

“Buddy be honest with me, how are you really feeling? I felt as if you were hiding something from the others.”

Gregory looked up. “Do you want to know why I stopped you from killing Howard?” he asked.

“That's something that did strike me as odd,” Andrew said. “At first I thought for a split second you were trying to hog all the honor to yourself.”

Gregory scoffed at that again. “You don’t want to know how it feels to kill. Not just once, but three times. Two times I did it deliberately, but that doesn’t matter. The fewer who know the feeling, the better. Besides, you’re a brand new parent. You don’t need that hanging over your marriage and parenthood.”

“I’m not the one raising three kids, one of them a young adult,” Andrew stated.

“That’s my problem to deal with,” Gregory sighed heavily. “I already knew what it was like to kill someone long before I killed Grogar and Howard. If I can spare another person that feeling, then all the better.”

“As far as I can tell, your deliberate kills were for monsters. I killed monsters today too. We all did.”

“You killed monsters that weren’t sapient,” Gregory said. “I killed sapient people.”

“Like you said, they were irredeemable. Did you honestly think they would be like Chrysalis, Cozy, or even Tirek?”

“The fact of the matter is that I killed them,” he said. “I know I did what needed to be done, but do you think that makes me feel any better? I don’t want to enjoy it. What would that make me?”

“A hero that did what he did,” Andrew said. “I may not know much about killing in war but maybe you can talk to Reckless or some of her platoon members. They’ve been to our world and seen many wars.”

“Later,” he said as he looked over at his bed. Two ponies, both in an anthro form now, lay there. There was a spot between them that was empty, and next to the bed Ember sat, also asleep. He smiled. “Did you know that ponies run hotter than we do?”

“Trust me, my moments with Rainbow have cemented that fact,” he said as he got up.

“Not to mention that Pinkie is…shall we say, pretty damned sexy as an anthro,” he chuckled a bit.

“You’re not adding more are you? I’m pretty sure Cheese Sandwich has a thing for her.”

“I didn’t ask her to lie down there, she just did it,” Gregory said.

At that moment another pony entered the tent. He approached the two humans and looked up to Andrew. “Thank goodness I found you. We have an update about Connie.”

Andrew’s face immediately went to worry. Gregory, who was informed about Connie’s actions, looked down at him. “Just give it to him straight. Is she on the railway to heaven or is she-”

He was cut off as the pony raised his hoof and smiled. “Despite her battered state…She’s alive.”

Gregory and Andrew both breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief. “But will she be ready to return to work?” Andrew asked.

“She’s going to need a lot of repairs. A lot more than what was needed after her post train accident.”

“Hmm,” Gregory said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“What?” Andrew asked. “You have an idea?”

“You think you can travel back to your Earth again?” Gregory asked.

“Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. Thanks to the war ponies magic the portal is now two way. Wait, why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Gregory asked. “You can get parts for her on Earth. And you can get me more of this.” He held up his now empty McDonald’s bag.

“We don’t have to go to get parts,” Andrew said. “We can easily manufacture them here. Besides me and Stacy can't go back. We’re now fugitives for stealing from a war museum.”

Gregory looked down but then he remembered something else. “Do you by any chance have an archive of locomotives that were once in service?”

“Not all of them but if we were on Earth we could use the internet but I would have to be sneaky why?”

“You do realize I can go there without any issues, right?” Gregory asked.

“Yes, but why are you now curious about an archive?” Andrew asked.

“A while ago I found myself in Connie’s dreams” Gregory replied. “It turns out she had a best friend and now I’m wondering if maybe if that engine is decommissioned we can not only give an engine a second chance but maybe award Connie for her near sacrifice.”

“That might work, but you might need some help especially with a bit of chaos magic,” Andrew said. “As long as we keep out of the public eye we should be good. We’ll leave later this week.”

“Again, you’re forgetting that I’m not a wanted person there,” Gregory said. “I can go there and actually blend in. That is, assuming that episodes featuring me haven’t aired.”

“Fine, sure, but for now…” he trailed off and pointed to the spot between Twilight and Pinkie. To Gregory it was a welcome sign.

He chuckled and stood, put his gun in the drawer beside his bed, then crawled between the ponies. “Night,” he said.

Andrew returned the gesture and went off. He soon got back to his tent and snuggled up to Rainbow Dash. “Heh, you took your sweet time,” she said.

“Had some last minute things to do with Gregory,” he said as he kissed her head.

She stiffened. “Is he okay? His eyes…I’ve never seen them like that before.”

“He’s fine but he will need a lot of help soon. Luckily he has medicine in the form of Pinkie and Twilight.”

Rainbow chuckled. “I knew Twilight liked him, and I suspected that Pinkie had some sort of feelings for him, too. I’ve seen her sitting in his lap whenever he visits her store. She calls it getting her ‘ear scratching tax’ or something like that.”

Andrew chuckled and scratched her ear. “Like this?” he asked.

Her leg twitched and her eyes fluttered at that. “Mmm…just like that, baby,” she cooed. “Now then, why don’t we go to sleep. From what mom and dad told me after the birth, we’re gonna need all the sleep we can get.”

“You gave birth two days ago but yeah. Let’s sleep now. Sorry I woke you up to look at a poster.”

She nodded and the two went back to bed. Soon, the two were fast asleep.