An Alternate Track

Gregory awoke to find himself lying on a hard surface. Groaning, he sat up and looked around, finding himself sitting on an asphalt road in a concrete tunnel. “Oh great, the Backrooms Hub, Why can’t it be the Arcade? I can at least kill zombies while I wait.”

He stood and stretched, noting that he was once more wearing the mage outfit he’d worn in the past two dreams. Knowing now that he was certainly in a dream, he looked around, seeing the familiar looking signals on the roof. Just then he heard the sound of a car approaching. He turned around and saw a pair of headlights and the shape of a car could be made out. “Huh, my old car,” he said.

Indeed, the car was fast approaching from the dark, its headlights clearly on the bright setting. Gregory stepped aside, waiting to see what was going to happen. When the car reached him, it slowed down and parked on the curb. When Gregory saw the driver, he rolled his eyes. “Oh boy, here we go again,” he said.

“Get in loser, we’re going for a ride back to the future and to your choice,” Fauxgory said.

“I think I’ll take an Uber, thanks,” Gregory snapped back before he began walking away.

As Gregory walked, the car began driving slowly alongside him. “You sure you know where you’re going?” Fauxgory taunted. “You don’t think you'll stand a chance against any of the monsters. I’m surprised you haven’t questioned where they even are.”

“Do you seriously think I’m an idiot to fall for such a cliche and foolish trick like this?” Gregory asked. “If you’re gonna act like my so-called villainous Id, you could be a bit more creative.”

“I would, but some nights I don’t feel like it,” Fauxgory said. “Were you expecting me to come up in a lambo or a cybertruck? Bad lemon by the way.”

Gregory rolled his eyes. “Now I’m more confident you’re not me. I wasn’t talking about the fucking car, you asinine moron.”

“I know, just tugging on your, or rather, my own legs. Sometimes you have to laugh at yourself.”

“That’s just it, I’m not laughing at myself right now, because you’re not me.”

“Funny, that's what I told myself so long ago,” Fauxgory said before a strange roar echoed through the tunnel. “Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that guy.”

Gregory turned and looked at the driver, ignoring the roaring. “You must be really desperate to get me out of the way if you’re insisting on making my Id out to be this monster. Me, Jason, and Andrew were somehow a threat to you, and you’re scared.”

“Listen buddy, I don’t know where you got that but in all seriousness I’m doing this to warn you about an event that will change the course of your life depending on your choice.”

“Oh, I’ve had so many events like that in my life that they don’t faze me as much as you think,” Gregory said.

Suddenly a strange thumping was heard and Fauxgory adjusted the rear view mirror. “You’d rather die than come with me, then suit yourself,” he said as he suddenly sped away as the thumping got louder.

Gregory turned to see what was coming, but with the lights in the tunnel turning off in sequence, he couldn’t really see anything. He leaned against the wall, waiting to see just what could have been approaching. Clearly, his Id didn’t know about the Hub because if he had, he would know that the Hub didn’t allow hostile entities inside. He waited for whatever monster was coming, wondering which Backrooms entity he would be facing.

He smelled it first, the rotten foul stench that assaulted his nostrils. The little bit of light above him dimmed, but didn’t go out. A quadruped walked up to him, eyes glowing a menacing dark red. The outline of said monster was indeterminate, but it was certainly big. The eyes leaned in closer, and he heard the creature snort, which blew a hot breath against his face.

“Buddy, have you ever heard of mouthwash?” Gregory said, covering his nose with a mask he conjured. The creature responded by apparently roaring in his face, almost making Gregory gag. “Guess not.” With a wave of his hand, the creature was encased in ice before Gregory began to run rather fast down the tunnel towards the light.

As he got close to the light he saw the silhouette of a horse standing. He ran faster towards it and saw it was his horse Theophillus. “Whoa, hey Theo,” he said as the horse knelt for him to get up.

Then, Gregory got the shock of his life when his white stallion spoke. “Speed is of the essence, master,” Theophilus said in what sounded like a young but wise voice.

The moment Gregory was in the saddle, Theophilus reared up and ran with great haste down the hall. Gregory reached down and touched the stallion’s head. He was further shocked when he realized that this wasn’t just some dream version of his horse companion. Somehow, Theophilus had done what Luna had trouble doing: joining him in his dream. “How in the blazing saddles did you get in here??” Gregory asked as Theophilus ran with speed that seemed impossible.

“No time to explain, master, because we’re almost there,” the horse responded as he charged straight through a door with a red exit sign on it and an icicle rune on it. The horse kicked it open and they were back in the middle of the Haven City square.

“I swear to God, it seems like all roads lead to Haven City,” Gregory said as Theophilus slowed to a trot. Looking back, he saw that the door had been kicked off of its hinges, the exit to the Hub still visible. “When we wake up, I owe you some sugar cubes.”

The two soon found themselves on the path leading to the school. On the way there, however, many townsfolk either tried to look away or give them a wide berth. Gregory heard some of them whispering something about Cozy, Spike, Twilight, and Ember. “Theo, be ready for anything,” he said to his faithful companion.

As they got closer to the student dorms, the temperature dropped and the number of creatures around dropped to zero. The campus looked like a ghost town. There standing near the stairs was Fauxgory. “About time you showed up, I was starting to think that bug squashed you. Then again, if he did I would cease to exist.”

“Bug?” Gregory raised an eyebrow. “Not a bug. A quadruped. Could’ve sworn I saw horns too,”

“Might’ve been antennas anyway you ready for a sneak peak of the future?”

When Fauxgory looked at Theophilus, however, Gregory saw, rather then felt, a slight look of fear in the false Id’s eyes. He decided to not call the false one out for the time being as it was only a brief look. Gregory dismounted and patted Theophilus’ head. “Thanks for bringing me here, my friend,” he said to the horse, blatantly ignoring his false Id.

“Jesus, how I remember how he was amongst the strongest to rebel against me,” he said.

Theophilus leaned closer towards Gregory, then whispered in a voice only he could hear, “Fear not, master. Thy mind is stronger than most. It is why I chose you as my master. Thy hidden enemy fears this. They wish to destroy thy hope.”

“Thank you,” Gregory whispered back before facing the false Gregory. “This oughta be good for a laugh.”

Fauxgory chuckled “Oh, how wrong you are,” he said as he began walking up the stairs. The three then entered his apartment, finding no one inside. Fauxgory walked over to a corner. “You might want to stand with me here. It’s the best view you'll get of this memory.”

Gregory ignored him, instead going up with Theophilus, who had temporarily transformed into an anthropomorphic horse wearing some normal human clothes, to the loft where his bed was, looking out of the window there instead.

Fauxgory then raised his hand and snapped his fingers. “Remember, you can’t interact with them. Memories here are like ghosts.”

“Alright then, Ghost of Christmas Past,” Gregory rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, the room had glowing transparent figures of many of Gregory’s friends and loved ones. Twilight was looking worried as she spoke. One thing Gregory also noticed was that Rainbow Dash’s belly looked a little bloated. Wait, how could whatever is attacking us know of her pregnancy? he thought. Oh wait, they’re in town already somehow.

“Okay, remember the plan everyone,” Twilight was saying, “we try and convince him one last time, and if it doesn't work?”

“We force him,” Pinkie said nervously.

Robbie looked down at Grogar’s bell “I really don’t want to do this guys. After all, we worked together on-”

“Robbie, you saw what happened,” Rainbow said, “Ember and Twilight are right. We exhausted every plan on his list and the second list they made.”

“Will he even forgive us?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“It’s for his own good,” Ember said, looking down. “He almost accidentally killed a mare he interrogated.”

“This mare most likely is the unusual mare who entered town last night, master,” Theophilus whispered.

“I wasn’t planning on interacting with her unless I had no choice,” Gregory whispered back, noticing that Fauxgory didn’t notice what he and Theophilus were doing.

At that moment, the door opened and a third Gregory walked in. He stopped as he noticed the guests in the room.“What the? What's all this?”

“Gregory, we just want to talk to you,” Twilight said, stepping forward. “It’s about what happened these past few days.”

“Look, if it's about what I did to Dream Star, I’m sorry and I apologized to her, I’m really fine now.”

Now I know this is false, Gregory thought, because I would completely ask for help if I did something to hurt anyone, even an enemy, I bet if I go to her, she’ll set me up.

“Gregory we knew something was wrong but you instantly thought a coincidence was enough to warrant an investigation and you nearly froze a mare to death.”

“I said it was an accident!” the third Gregory snapped.

Even if it was, Gregory thought, I wouldn’t be this defensive. He began to put up more mental barriers around his inner thoughts.

“Gregory,” Ember began, “until you learn much more about your own limits we think it's best for you to temporarily-”

“What?” the third Gregory asked, getting a little annoyed.

“I can’t…” Ember muttered.

“We need to temporarily remove your powers,” Twilight finished. “Robbie will keep them safe in the bell.”

The silence became so tense one could easily hear a pin drop. The third Gregory looked at the bell. “So that's it? We learned so much together…you promised to take me under your wing and now you want me to just give it to you while I'm still learning?” He sounded genuinely hurt.

“It's just for a little while, darling,” Rarity said. “We’ll give it back when we all feel you’re-”

“What? Ready? Safe? Prepared?” This third Gregory was growing more agitated. The room started to get colder and colder. “You all promised to help me. To teach me! Now that all this is happening, you think this is the right path?!”

“Gregory, cool down,” Rainbow said.

“Oh, I’ll cool down, alright,” he said as his eyes started to glow bright pale blue.

“I’m sorry, Gregory, but-NOW!” Twilight said as Andrew, Bubba, and Stacy leapt out of nowhere and tried to pin Gregory to the ground. They were almost successful, but suddenly an explosion erupted and just like dynamite he somehow forced the other humans off him, sending everyone but Gregory flying across the room.

Well, this false me is stupid as all hell, Gregory thought. Such a typical beginning of a villain arc.

The third Gregory slowly got up. “I am in control,” he said darkly, “but if you won’t help me, then I suppose I have all my life to make this world a self tutoring course.”

Who the hell talks like that? Gregory thought. Nobody sane, that’s who.

“Trust me your sanity is slipping somewhat,” Fauxgory said.

That made Gregory raise an eyebrow, looking down at the false Id. Whoever this enemy was, they were definitely a lot stronger. “I see,” he said as he went back to the scene.

“But because all of you are my friends, I’m giving you one last thing,” the third Gregory said.

“And what would that be?” Ember asked, coughing a bit. “A kiss goodbye?”

“No, a five minute head start,” he said darkly.

“Five minutes?!” Pinkie asked in alarm.

“Four minutes fifty five seconds,” the third Gregory said. “Start your engines!”

Gregory chuckled, Even he had to inwardly admit that were he ever in this position, he would have said something similar.

Fauxgory also chuckled. “Now, before you wake up from this would you like to see how the future would look if you picked a different choice?”

Gregory laughed. “And lose the chance to keep me in suspense? You’re not a very good storyteller. You gotta tickle their balls a bit if you want to keep people entertained.”

“Good point,” Fauxgory said, “but then again even if I showed you the alternate ending it might not change the future, or will it?”

The room began to swirl around him. Everything except for Theophilus. He stood tall and proud. “Master, whatever thy decision is, know that I shall never betray thee.” Unlike the swirling scene before him, Theophilus just vanished.

As the sun peeked through the curtains of their home in Haven City, Andrew woke up after hitting the button on his alarm clock. “Huh…odd, no nightmares?” He then looked over to see Rainbow with her back facing him. He then nudged her. “Rainbow? Are you up? I had no nightmare.”

Rainbow turned slowly, groaning as she turned to face him. “Really?” she asked with a small smile. “That's great!”

Suddenly Andrew’s face went from happy to shocked. “What the hell?”

“What? What's wrong? Is there something on my face?” Rainbow asked, sounding a bit worried.

“No, but that's the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rainbow, close your working eye and tell me what you see.”

Rainbow looked confused but did so anyway. “All I see is…wait, see?!” She suddenly shot out of bed and raced into the bathroom, looking in the mirror. “My scar…my scar is gone!” She then spread her wings, eyes wider. “And my wings! They’re back to the way they were! I think…” She came back into the bedroom, tentatively spread them, and began hovering slightly, then when she had lift, she flew slowly around the room. A look of sheer joy passed over her face. “I can fly!”

“Wait, what about the aches? Are they gone too?” Andrew asked.

She landed on the ground, looking down at herself. “Well, I am pregnant,” she said dryly, “so there’s that.”

“I don’t understand this, sure as much as I like how you once were what happened?”

“Maybe Jason did something?” Rainbow suggested with a shrug.

“But we just saw him breaking down last night at the shop,” Andrew said. “Did you say something to him after that?”

She shook her head. “Nope. You know that. We left together and came back here.”

“What about before me, Gregory, and Connie came back?”

“I never saw him before that night,” she replied.

“Maybe we should ask him. Let's get some breakfast and go to the inn where they’re staying,” he suggested.

Rainbow looked at the clock on the wall, then groaned. “It’s still way too early,” she complained.

“Don’t you want to feel the air under your wings again? At least for a while,” Andrew said.

“Babe, I’m pregnant,” she said, “and as much as I really want to fly, pregnant pegasi shouldn’t do that as often. Besides, I’m still tired.”

“Alright,” he conceded, “we cuddle some more then breakfast and find Jason before he leaves town.”

A while later they stepped out and started walking to town. Along the way, some ponies stared at Rainbow. Mostly at her now scarless features. They soon found an inn where Chrysalis was talking to the receptionist. “This can’t be right. Are you certain he hasn’t come back here since last night?” she asked angrily.

The kirin receptionist shivered as she nodded. “I’m sorry ma’am, uh I mean your majesty. The night staff reported no humans entering here at any point last night.”

Both Rainbow and Andrew were both confused and now a little worried. They slowly approached the queen. “What’s going on?” Andrew asked cautiously.

“Jason! He didn't come back at all last night!”

From outside the inn, the sound of approaching hooves stopped. A male voice called out, “Whoa, boy!” After a bit, Gregory stepped in, looking exhausted. When he saw the gathered crowd, he raised an eyebrow “What’s going on here?” he asked.

“Must I repeat myself?!” Chrysalis snapped. “Jason is gone!”

“Maybe he’s out visiting someone and forgot to leave a note?” Andrew thought.

Gregory brushed off some snow from his coat, wiped his boots on the front carpet, then walked forward. “When was the last time anyone saw him?” he asked curiously.

“We all saw him leave the sweet shop. Didn’t we?” Rainbow asked. It was then Gregory noticed Rainbow’s changes. Her hovering and her face with no scars.

“Okay…that’s different,” Gregory said, nodding in her direction. “When did that happen?”

“We discovered it this morning,” Andrew replied. “We’re not sure whether to think this is a blessing or something else.”

Gregory nodded. “I understand,” he said.

“Excuse me but have you now forgotten, My husband is missing!” Chrysalis shouted which caused Susie to cry in her carrier. Chrysalis immediately looked back to her and attempted to calm her. “Oh no, no, I’m sorry my princess.”

Gregory walked up and knelt beside the carrier. “Hey, sweetheart,” he said softly and warmly, “don’t you worry. We’ll find out what happened to your daddy. We’ll find him.” This seemed to settle the infant a bit. Gregory wiped her tears away with a handkerchief before he stood and faced Chrysalis. “Do you have a bond with him that can detect where he is?” he asked.

“Don’t you think I tried that already, you idiot!” Chrysalis snapped. “I can’t find him, it's like he vanished off the face of the world!”

Gregory didn’t react to her hostility. “There’s no limit to those bonds,” he mused, “but there could be a way it’s being blocked.”

“The only reason I can't find him is that he is either off this planet, he is somewhere so deep I can't find him or he’s dead.”

“Hey, you don’t think those three escapees had something to do with this right?” Andrew asked.

“You mean the last Jason haters?” Rainbow asked. “Wouldn’t Jason immediately overpower them?”

“He would be protected by the Gjallarhorn right?” Andrew asked Gregory.

Gregory, however, was thinking hard. When he was addressed, he looked up. “Sorry, could you repeat that?”

“We were discussing if Jason would be protected by the horn from the last three human prisoners who escaped. You think they had something to do with this?”

“There are too many coincidences lately for it not to have some kind of connection,” Gregory said calmly. “Those last humans would do anything to hurt Jason for his perceived crimes. They were broken out of Canterlot Prison, the second best prison in the world.”

“Second best? What's the first? Manehattan Penitentiary?” Andrew asked.

“Tartarus,” Gregory replied somberly. “Not even Princess Luna or Celestia could break out of that.”

“Isn’t that where you sent Howard?” Andrew asked. He received a nod in reply.

Then out of the corner of his eye, Gregory saw Dream Star passing by the inn through a window on the street. He pointed towards her. “Maybe she knows something,” he said.

Chrysalis rushed out before anyone else could react, calling out, “Hey! You!”

Dream Star stopped and turned the changeling queen. “Yes? Can I help you?”

But just as she finished she suddenly felt herself being rushed and shoved against a wall. Both their gazes meeting. Dream Star looked up with a look of terror across her face as the queen was looking at her with utter rage and bloodlust.

Before she could do anything, Gregory came out and put a hand on Chrysalis’ shoulder. “Let her go,” he said softly. “This is not the way to go about it.” Chrysalis slowly lowered herself but kept a predatory look on her as she backed up. “I’m really sorry about that, Miss Star,” Gregory said with what sounded like a genuine apology. “She’s upset because she can’t find her husband. Would you know where he is, by chance? Jason Wright? The man from last night?”

“Oh him?” She nodded. “Yes, in fact I saw him right before I entered the inn I’m staying in. We spoke briefly before I sent him on his way.”

“Did he say where he might be going?” Gregory asked as the others came walking out of the other inn to see what was going on.

“No, but I believed he was going back to where he was staying,” she replied.

Gregory nodded. “Understood. Thanks for your help,” he said with a grateful expression. “And again, sorry for what happened.”

“That’s quite alright, sir, but it's actually convenient I found you. Because I want to give you and your friends a little something,” she said before she reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a small box along with three small cards. ”I know I said I would help you and your friends but this morning I received an emergency letter saying my services are needed back in my hometown. But I feel I should leave you with my business cards. Oh and this package is a small token of friendship to you. After all, everyone keeps talking about the human heroes of Haven City.”

It was Andrew who stepped forward and took the gifts from her. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.

“No problem at all, have a good day and I pray you find Jason safe and sound,” she said before leaving.

When she was out of sight, Gregory looked at the group. “Let’s go back inside and talk about what we should do,” he said.

As they went inside Andrew curiously opened the tiny box only for his face to become that of confusion. “Is this a flashdrive?”

Everyone came over and looked at the device in the box. All except Gregory, who couldn’t get a good view. “Andrew, you have a laptop at your house, right?” he asked.

“Don’t most of us?” Andrew asked almost rhetorically.

“Then let’s go there,” Gregory said, pulling out a pair of goggles and putting them over his eyes. “We need to see what’s on that flashdrive.”

A little while later, they were approaching Andrew and Rainbow’s home when they heard galloping coming from up the road. It was Applejack. She skidded to a stop. “Ah’m glad ah caught yah! Yah won't believe what's goin’ on.”

“You don’t have any more aches and pains,” Gregory stated.

Applejack then noticed Rainbow. “Oh… you too huh?”

“What is this? Mixed luck day?” Andrew asked in an almost rhetorical manner.

“Flashdrive first, discussions later,” Gregory said as he took off his coat, but not the goggles.

Andrew booted up his laptop and plugged in the flashdrive. Once it opened, everyone gathered around and noticed only two files: a video and a text only file. Andrew clicked on the video.

The video opened up with what looked like a VHS recording of a firework show. It reminded both Gregory and Andrew of not only VHS tapes but of analog horror. “Wait, those are the fireworks we saw on New Years Eve,” Andrew said.

Suddenly the footage then showed a scene Andrew and Gregory were both all too familiar with as it showed an image of a railway switch track, followed by the footage of a certain green locomotive passing by with a freight train. “They couldn’t know that the points from the mainline to a siding were frozen and the home signal should’ve been set at danger but snow had forced it down,” came the voice of the narrator.

“What kind of footage is this?” Chrysalis asked.

“An old episode of a childhood memory,” Andrew answered.

“Oh yeah, you showed me some of this,” Rainbow said. “Henry, right?”

Andrew nodded, then the video showed an image of a railroad caboose with a dragon and a unicorn inside drinking from mugs. Then the video went to a black screen with words appearing. The price for revenge is high and is a dish served cold.

The last image that appeared was the silhouette of a man sitting in a chair.

The video ended and Andrew quickly clicked on the text file. The file only had a small message. To find the next clue it can be found on a given tiny map. Better hurry.

By the time he finished reading it nearly everyone had a look of fear on their faces. “Good Lord, Connie was just the start,” Andrew said.

“Forget about that, what’s with that clue about a tiny map?” Chrysalis asked, annoyed.

“A tiny map?” Andrew asked. Then his eyes perked up. “The business cards.” He then pulled out the card and read the address. “412 North Street Las Pegasus.”

“All the way back to Equestria?” Chrysalis groaned. “What is going on here?”

“Something big,” Andrew said.

Gregory had been quiet for the entire video presentation, looking pensive and thoughtful as he stroked his chin. A deep frown had appeared on his face before he slowly slipped out of the room. When he reached the outside, he reached around his neck and brought out a necklace with a small red gem hanging from it. Inside, a swirling vortex of chaos magic could be seen. He grasped it, then thought hard about something. Moments later, there was another swirling vortex of chaos magic, only this came from an alley nearby. When a figure stepped through, Gregory moved in and looked at the hooded figure. “Robbie, things are escalating,” he said.

“What happened? Have your powers given you another migraine?” He asked.

“No,” Gregory shook his head. “Someone is attacking our dreams and preventing Luna from interfering. Not only that, but Jason has gone missing and it seems someone is leading us away from this town. Robbie, you should lay low. As the current bearer of the Bell, you may be targeted too.”

“Understood, but if I may be so bold to suggest, would it be wise to hide somewhere like your school? If someone is after us they might explore my chaotic dimension home.”

“Hide in the last place anyone would find you,” Gregory said. “Don’t tell anyone, not even me. I could be compromised, and not knowing where you are could be a major advantage to us. Andrew, Jason and I are being heavily targeted, and I don’t know by who, but I suspect whoever did it broke the humans in the Canterlot Dungeons out for some sinister purpose.”

“So, hide away, consider it done,” he said as he raised his hand to snap his fingers. “What will you do?”

Gregory sighed. “I’m flying by the seat of my pants here. I’m trying to outthink an enemy who can get in my head. Right now, I’m not sure what I’m gonna do.”

Robbie stared at him for a bit before letting out a sigh. “Good luck then, and remember what we keep telling you: don’t push yourself.”

“I’ll do my best,” Gregory said as Robbie vanished into the vortex again.

He walked back out of the alley and was making his way back to the inn when Andrew came out. “Hey, where’d you go?” he asked.

“Had to get some fresh air to think,” Gregory said.

“So, are we going to Las Pegasus?” Andrew asked.

Gregory bit his lower lip. “I don’t know if we should all go,” he admitted. “This feels like a trap.”

“But if we don’t do something, Jason might be dead by tomorrow,” Andrew replied.

“I’m not saying we don’t go,” Gregory said as others came out to join the conversation, “but I’m saying that some of us, maybe even half of us, stay behind.”

“I think maybe you, me, and Chrysalis should go,” Andrew suggested.

Gregory shook his head immediately. “I’ll be staying here,” he said. “Stacy should go with you instead of me. She’s got a lot of combat experience.”

“True, but she doesn’t have the power of Elsa and Thor combined.”

“No buts about this,” Gregory said calmly. “I’m staying here. Perhaps someone else could go with you. Celestia, for instance. She’s powerful and has plenty of experience.”

“Strange, from what I've heard no one has seen Celestia since yesterday now that I think about it,” Rainbow said.

Gregory’s eyes went wide. “Oh…shit.”

Andrew came to the same thought. “No arguments! We’re going and we’ll have Stacy guard the school with her tanks. I have a feeling something may happen there and we need a strong guard.”

“No, not happening,” Gregory countered. “I’m not leaving. You, Stacy, and Chrysalis are powerful enough. She’s a queen, for God’s sake. She could have her entire army at her disposal.”

“True, but as much as I hate to admit it…you are stronger than me,” Chrysalis said. “And if my husband is getting hurt by some powerful being you are aiding us.”

“Whoever kidnapped Jason wants me out of town,” Gregory replied, remaining calm and thoughtful, “so it would be best for me to remain.”

“So, it’s us against what could be a rampaging beast?” Andrew deadpanned. “Brilliant.”

“There is a potential enemy agent already in town in the form of that pony mare we met last night,” Gregory replied. “If you need my aid, Ember might be able to go with you, and if you run into trouble, I can teleport to within a meter of her location to assist.”

Andrew sighed. “Fine, we’ll go, but for God’s sake be on standby if we need help.”

“You know I will,” Gregory promised,

Later that day Stacy and Gregory were in the school going over the criteria for the Spring Semester. “So Andrew, Chryssi, and Ember are in Las Pegasus?”

“They should be there by now,” Gregory said, “especially if Chrysalis used teleportation magic.” He put the papers down. “We shouldn’t be doing what we’re doing now. Keeping the town safe is much more important.”

“I know,” Stacy said, “but my tanks are reporting zero activity and I think it's best if we kill two birds with one stone. It means less work for when school resumes later,” Stacy explained.

“Then before we continue, time for a phone call,” he said as he brought up the two-way communication ring and placed a magical ‘call’ to Ember. Soon, a small magical image of her appeared above the ring. “Ember, how are things going over there?”

“I was just about to call you,” she replied. “We found the address and Dream Star.”

“What was she doing?”

“She claims she owns this office. When we ran in here she had this look on her face as if she had never seen us before. But I know she's lying.”

Gregory turned to Stacy. “Did you see Dream leave?” he asked.

Stacy closed her eyes and put two fingers to her head. “What does she look like in terms of species and color?” Gregory described her in detail. “Hmmm… One of my tanks saw an earth pony mare with a red coat, orange mane and a cutie mark of a star. She went through town and climbed on a train bound for Maritime Bay.”

“I wonder if that mare ever made it to Maritime Bay?” Gregory wondered.

“Well she’s here in Las Pegasus, so come here you!” Ember said as she dragged a mare tied in ropes to the image for Gregory to see.

Gregory nearly facepalmed, but got a good look at the mare in the image, focusing his empathic abilities on her. “You want to teleport here so you can question her or should we bring her to you?” Ember asked.

“Honey, you jumped the gun,” he sighed, “but there’s so much that could be happening. That could be the real Dream Star, for all we know, and whoever came here took on her form, like some sort of advanced changeling ability. If that’s the case, you three and by extension all of us, could be in some serious trouble.”

“Sorry Gregory, I tried to stop them,” Andrew said off screen.

“Remove her gag,” Gregory said. When that was done, he asked, “Miss, were you up in Haven City recently?”

“I was, but that was because the train had to stop due to a line blocked by some heavy snow drifts. I was there for one night,” she explained.

“See! She was there!” Ember exclaimed.

“Where were you traveling from, Miss?” Gregory asked, taking out a map from his desk.

“The Crystal Empire, I had to transfer trains in another city.”

That did make some sense to Gregory. Haven City was the only stop between the Crystal Empire and Equestria, since the town was in the Neutral Lands. “Hmm, and you’ve never seen any of us before?” he asked.

“Well, I was at the Ceremony of the Rail Connection if that counts,” she said.

“I meant more recently, but alright,” Gregory said. Turning to Ember, he said, “Let her go.”

“What?! Are you serious?”

Before Gregory could reply there was a noise in the background as Ember was suddenly tackled by police ponies. “Freeze! Nobody moves!”

“Ah, shit!” Gregory swore as the connection was lost.

“You should probably go and do damage control,” Stacy suggested. “I doubt Andrew can do it himself.”

He sighed, then went to grab his coat. “What was it that Obi-Wan said? Spring the trap?” Giving her a wry smile, he threw his coat on. Just as he was about to teleport away, he stopped, smile dropping. “There’s something in the school,” he said, “but I can’t go investigate. Look in the storage areas.”

Stacy looked at him stupefied. “Wait, what?”

But Gregory vanished before Stacy could ask again. She got up and went down the hall. She then heard some strange sounds coming from a door. She slowly opened it and saw a weird site. There standing near a safe was what looked like a short anthropomorphic pony. His coat was black, his mane was whitish blue and he had stitches all over his body. He was fiddling with the lock with his ear close to it. “Let’s see…10…87…24.” The pony murmured before he turned to see the human girl now standing behind her. The strange creature started back peddling on his hind legs and tripped. Stacy quickly grabbed him and held him up high with a pair of tongs she managed to grab. “Is that the best you got?!”

“What are you doing here, you little creep?” she asked as she bashed him against the wall.

“OW! That was my back, you crazy bitch!” he screamed.

Stacy got a good look, despite the creature not looking like anything she’s seen. The colors and the voice were familiar. “Thunderlane?”

“I need those artifacts! The father demands it!” Thunderlane said with an almost pleading look.

“What artifacts? And what father?” she demanded.

Thunderlane didn't answer, instead attempting to swipe at her with what looked like hooves with spikes sticking out. “Give me the relics! I need the relics! They're gonna whack me and torture my brother if I don't get them!” Despite Thunderlane putting up a struggle Stacy managed to keep a tight hold of him he then thrusted him against the wall again, making him yelp in pain. “Whoa! Easy there, monkey girl, I’m just a barely functioning necrothingy.”

“And I’m your worst nightmare,” she said as she spawned a German Maus out of nowhere. She opened the turret like a hood and slammed Thunderlane inside before shutting it. “Keep yourself locked,” she said to the tank.

“HEY! LET ME OUT OF HERE! LET ME OUT!” Thunderlane shouted as he attempted to break out but his struggle was fruitless.

Stacy walked out with the tank following behind. Starlight Glimmer walked up to her. She stopped as she saw the tank shaking and heard shouting from within. “Is there someone in there?”

“Just a little intruder I'm taking out,” Stacy replied.