An Alternate Track

Gregory walked out of the Las Pegasus police station with his friends and wife in tow. Both Chrysalis and Ember carried looks of annoyance while Andrew carried a concerned expression. “Well, that could’ve ended more horribly,” Andrew stated.

“You mean becoming victims of what you humans call police brutality?” Chrysalis asked. “I now see why many of you humans complain about it.”

“You two ransacked an office and tied up a mare like a hostage,” Gregory deadpanned, “What did you expect-? Ugh, never mind. Did you at least find anything?”

Andrew reached into his backpack and pulled out a small box. “Actually, while Ember and Chrysalis were being taken away by the cops I found this. The ponies in that office claimed they had never seen it before.” The box had a picture of a locomotive emoji and two words written on it that said ‘too late’. “I believe it's from whoever is targeting us,” he said, opening it to reveal two items. Another flash drive and a fish skull. “Shall we view whatever is on this somewhere safe?”

“You bought your laptop?” Gregory asked.

“Sure,” Andrew said.

The group soon found themselves in a cozy café in a far off booth where Andrew was able to boot up his laptop and plug in the new drive. Just like last time only two files appeared, a video and a text file.

The video opened up with what looked like a scene from a scifi movie. The scene showed a beach that was becoming encased with ice. It froze the wave and it froze the people that were trying to flee. Gregory couldn’t recognize it but it looked familiar. “Do you know this movie?” he asked Andrew.

“Geostorm,” Andrew replied as they continued watching. The scene then shifted to Jason who was in a dark room and was tied to a chair. He raised his head as a figure approached him.

“About time you woke up,” the figure said. Its back was facing the camera and his voice sounded hoarse like it was disguised.

Jason groaned and scowled at him. “Oh great, what is it this time? Here to finish me off for good or something? Because you know what will happen and it won’t end well.”

“No,” the voice began, “because it's obvious with the horn you are immune to physical pain so we’re going with the next best thing. Hurting you mentally.” The figure then bought up a piece of paper.

Jason glanced at it. “What is this supposed to be?”

“A guest list,” the voice replied.

“For what?” Jason asked. “The Grand Galloping Gala?”

“This is the guest list for a funeral…”

“For the citizens of Ponyville? I’ve made my peace with it,” Jason growled.

“On our planet Earth. You recognize some of the names?”

Jason looked more closely at the list. His face became less annoyed and more concerned. “Andrew? Stacy? Robbie?”

The video then went static and then it cut to a black screen with white words. Hurry up… He’s learning fast.

“What is all that about?” Chrysalis asked. “And what funeral?”

Andrew didn't answer. Instead he just stared at the screen. His face looked petrified and frozen as if he saw something get hit by a train. “No… he can’t,” he muttered as he quickly opened the text file. The skull you have is rather common in a certain hole in a certain rock. Get to this location or there will be a gamble with curiosity. The horn won’t save him from knowledge.

“The fuck is this mystery douchebag going on about?” Gregory asked with a scowl as he crossed his arms.

“I don’t like this…we need to figure out this next location and fast,” Andrew said with worry.

“I should be getting back to Haven City,” Gregory said. “Before I left, I felt a strange emotional signature coming from inside the school. Stacy went to check it out, but I need to get back there and see what’s going on for myself. I’ll keep a permanent channel open between me and Ember.”

“Alright, but please be on standby,” Andrew pleaded. “Wherever this next location is, I fear something bigger is waiting there.”

Gregory nodded, then touched his ring, vanishing in a flash of light. Moments later, a small three dimensional magical projection of him appeared above Ember’s ring. “Okay, I’m back,” he said and the magic hologram showed that he was running.

“Okay, so where do you think the next hint is leading us?” Ember asked.

“Let’s see… a fish skull commonly found in a certain hole.”

“You all glazed over an important detail,” Gregory said. “The enemy is a human, we know that now.”

“Yes, but if it's those escapees where in the world would they be now?”

“They could be involved, but the way that voice spoke sounds a lot like Howard,” Gregory replied as he skidded to a stop. “Holy shit…”

“What? What’s wrong?” Ember asked.

Gregory’s image didn’t respond. Instead, he walked forward. “Stacy, how the hell is this pony alive?” he asked someone unseen.

“Don’t ask me, I'm just as confused as you are,” Stacy replied off screen.

“You’re all dead so many are coming on your butt!” a new voice screamed.

“Shut the fuck up, Thunderlane,” Gregory said before raising a hand, “before I see just how effective lightning is on a zombie pony.”

“Uh, Gregory?” Andrew asked but then he heard the sound of lightning and a scream that reminded him of the Five Nights at Freddy's scream.

The image of Gregory looked just as confused. “That wasn’t me,” he said with bewilderment.

“It was you! The lightning came from your hands,” Stacy replied in shock.

“No, it came from somewhere else,” Gregory frowned. He put his hands in his pockets as he took a few steps forward. “Thunderlane, who are you working for?” he demanded to know.

All the dragon, changeling, and human could hear next was the sound of violent thrashing and grunting. “You may have stopped me, but you still won't find him!”

“Why do all villains have the same way of speaking?” Gregory asked with a shake of his head and an eyeroll.

“Excuse me, but what about my husband?!” Chrysalis screamed at the projection.

“Ow, my ear!” Ember groaned.

“Fish skull in a certain hole…yeah, my brain’s fried from lack of restful sleep,” Gregory said, stroking his cheeks thoughtfully.

Just then Andrew perked up. “Jason’s old cave in the Everfree Forest!”

Gregory raised an eyebrow. “It’s worth a look. Get there fast.”

It took a while to teleport there, but the group of three soon found themselves in the forest. “Never thought I would come in here,” Andrew said as he glanced at the remains of a dead timberwolf.

“Watch out for the smell,” Gregory, who was now seated, said as the image showed not only him, but Stacy as well. Both sat anxiously as they listened in on current events.

They soon found the cave but nearly stopped and gagged. “Gross, how was your husband able to tolerate this?”

“You try living cleanly when ponies were abusing and neglecting you,” Gregory replied darkly.

Ember picked up a branch and blew fire on it, turning it into a torch. They soon went inside only to find the place was almost completely empty. Except they found a manila envelope taped to the wall. Andrew took it and opened only to find another flash drive but nothing else. “What, no item?” he asked as he took out his laptop. “Dammit, I’m almost out of charge. I think we should head back and watch on your laptop, Gregory.”

“Both of you grab onto Ember so she can teleport you back with ease,” Gregory instructed them.

After a brief flash and quick bearing recovery. The group gathered around Gregory’s desk where his laptop was and plugged the drive in. Just one video file. “I’m scared to open this,” Andrew muttered.

“So am I,” Chrysalis said, “but this is the only way to find him. Now open it!”

The video started with what looked like vintage footage of World War II. It showed images of American bombers over Japan and Russian tanks in Berlin. Suddenly some words appeared in the foreground. His downfall has just begun.

The footage then cut to Jason rubbing his wrist. It looked like he was untied. “Why did you untie me?” he asked as a female figure walked up to him. She held up what looked like a folder. “What's that?”

“A bit of treasure from our world,” the figure replied. “We want you to read it.”

Gregory then noticed Andrew’s hands were shaking. He even noticed Stacy having a look of slight panic. “Guys? What's in that folder?”

The two didn't reply. Instead they continued to watch the video. Jason opened the folder and began flipping through pages. Gregory could’ve sworn that one of the papers had the words Police Report on it. Jason’s face was changing to an expression of many things. Concern, confusion, panic, and a couple others. “No… there's no way… Are you saying my trial caused this!?”

“Honestly it kinda did,” the female voice said. “Those that got friendly with you they just decided to go hush hush on this.”

Gregory paused the video immediately, then closed it, pulled the drive out of his laptop, stood, and looked down at the two humans. “We won’t watch any more until you explain what the FUCK you’re lying about NOW!” he demanded.

“Remember the night before our battle with Howard and I explained about Markus and many others that died?” Andrew asked.

“Yes,” Gregory said as he crossed his arms.

“We wanted to make a memorial for them, but after everything we all agreed to keep quiet because the last thing we now wanted was for Jason to feel as if he had unintentionally played a part in a huge suicide spike,” Andrew explained.

“Wait, you told him?” Stacy asked Andrew.

“You two are complete idiots,” Gregory said darkly. “Hiding this from us was the single most stupid thing you could have ever done.”

“I didn’t hide this from you. You said it happened because those people had their own issues.”

“You hid it from Jason, and that’s even worse,” Gregory said.

“Well how would you feel if you were told you played a part in hurting so many people unintentionally?” Stacy asked, infuriated.

“Initially guilty, but over time I would realize that was not in my control, so why focus on it,” Gregory explained. “Had you told him earlier, he would be in the acceptance phase, but because you both were stupid enough to hide this from him, now he is more vulnerable than ever. So good job there.”

“Hey! Who’s the one who decided to not go help find my husband!” Chrysalis snapped. “If you had helped we would’ve found him by now!”

“You honestly think they want us to find him?” Gregory asked, snapping his head towards her. “They’re toying with us.” He slammed the drive back down on the table. “We’ll be talking more about this when this crisis is over.”

Stacy plugged the flash drive back in and hit play, scrolling to where they had last left off. Jason was staring at the folder in utter disbelief. “My God… This is fake. Where did you find this?!”

“In a safe inside Andrew Wilbert’s office.”

“What? Are you saying…” Jason trailed off as he stared at the ground.

The girl approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You can make this right.”

Jason looked up, a sudden look of defiance in his eyes. “You honestly think I’m responsible for this? I had no control over their actions! This isn’t something I could predict or even influence!”

Gregory smirked. “He’s stronger than I thought.”

“Yeah, well that's just fancy talk for ignorance is bliss,” The female said.

Jason rolled his eyes. “You think you can honestly blame me for the unfortunate suicide of people who didn’t know the whole truth about that trial?”

“Maybe, but let me ask you this, do you honestly think the entire world forgives you and I mean both worlds?”

“I’m not an idiot,” Jason said, “of course I don’t think that, but what matters to me is that I have my friends and family. People and ponies can think all they want about me, and that’s their prerogative.”

“Oh silly me those are just the first couple of suicide reports you want to know how many there were that resulted from your trial?”

“Again, what do you expect to gain from this? You think I’m that weak that something like that will make me crumble? I. Wasn’t. There. I couldn’t have been even if I tried. We’re all stuck in this world.”

“Yeah, me and my two besties are here for a goal we all have in common. You want to know why us three are the only ones left?”

“Not particularly, but I suspect you don’t care what I think anyway, so knock yourself out,” Jason said.

The girl then grabbed Jason by the throat and to the shock of everyone in the room Jason acted like he had no protection at all. “I lost my dear little sister because of you!”

The video then went static until it came to a black screen that said He’s alive. He’s in a warehouse in Fillydelphia.

“You three have your next stop,” Gregory said. “I suggest you gather some extra hands for backup.”

“Why can’t you and Stacy come?”

“I can’t because I have other concerns,” Stacy replied.

“Yeah, like a tight prison!” Thunderlane shouted from inside the tank as Stacy placed a foot on it, silencing him.

“Do I need to go over why I need to stay here again?” Gregory asked.

“Did anything else happen while we were in the Everfree?” Chrysalis asked.

Gregory nodded. “A massive storm just appeared out of nowhere and is barreling down on Haven City and the school. Everyone’s busily battening down the hatches. Nobody knows where it came from, and from what Twilight told me earlier, it’s unnatural. Magically formed.”

The three set off for Fillydelphia. As they traversed the warehouse district all they could hear were the sounds of seagulls and the rumbling of machinery. Then Chrysalis stopped as she noticed something. Jason exiting one of the warehouses and walking towards a dock. He stopped and just stared out into the ocean seeing the few ships and boats.

The group approached him. As they got closer they noticed a few scrapes and bruises on him and his clothes had holes and tears in them. “Jason?” Chrysalis asked.

Jason said nothing as he continued to stare out at the sea. Andrew nervously stepped forward and raised a hand to his shoulder. “Jas-“

“Don’t you dare touch me!” Jason snapped as he turned and slapped Andrew’s hand away. The others gasped at his face. He had a black eye and numerous scratches. They just stared at him as Jason looked down. “Just get me out of here.”

A few moments later they teleported back to Haven city Jason said nothing as he approached Gregory. “You knew this the whole time didn’t you?”

“Yeah but-“

“No excuses! You’re just as guilty as they are for not telling me!” Jason snapped as he stormed off with Chrysalis following him.

Gregory then turned to Andrew who had joined Stacy by his side. “Well I hope you learned something?”

“What?” Andrew asked, annoyed.

“Maybe if you weren’t idiots none of this would’ve happened.”

Suddenly Gregory felt as if a car struck him in the face as he fell down clutching his nose. He looked up to see Andrew, his face full of rage and his fist extended outward. Both Ember and Stacy were shocked. “Stop. Calling. Us. Idiots! And how about YOU take some responsibility!” he growled as he stomped on Gregory’s stomach knocking the air out of him before walking off.

Ember was by his side immediately and helped him up. “Honestly you kinda deserved that and Jason is kinda right. Seriously, what is wrong with you these days?” Ember asked.

“For one, it wasn’t my call to tell them,” Gregory said as he took in a few deep breaths to calm himself. “That’s completely on them.”

“Then why didn’t you tell Jason in secret? Huh?” Ember asked. “Why didn’t you tell me in secret? Why did you insist on keeping this a secret only to get mad at him? Why aren’t you helping them move on from whatever this is? Think about all that and maybe ask yourself who else here is the idiot. It seems even you're becoming possessive of this town like you're the only guardian. Well, look at yourself in the mirror. You're not,” Ember said as she jabbed a finger in his chest before turning to walk out of the room. “Storm looks like it's calming down. I’m gonna help with damage control.”

“So will I,” Stacy said. “And don’t act in denial, you did zap Thunderlane there was no other place the lightning came out of other than your hands. We all saw it.”

Gregory looked down at his hand and saw electricity emitting from it. He didn’t even concentrate enough to make it and shook it out of instinct. “The hell is going on?” he asked himself.

Meanwhile Grogar and Howard watched through a crystal ball at the scene. Grogar grinned as he watched Gregory’s reaction. “It has barely started and already the social circle is tearing itself apart.”

“I don’t get it,” Howard said. “What was the point of this mystery game, the storm, and that zombie?”

“To see how thin Haven City’s forces can be stretched. I combined our plan A and B together and I have so many more to use.”

“So what was supposed to be the distraction? Jason or Thunderlane?”

“Thunderlane, I knew there wouldn’t be much inside that school. I was just testing Gregory’s stubbornness and I only sent an easily disposable storm. Thanks to that pony I now have a tool that will lead to his defeat.”

“You’re more sly than me,” Howard commented. “And what of his powers?”

“Don’t worry, my student. Even without your colleague’s acting in his dreams, his power will become too much. A mortal like him was never meant to harness the powers of monsters without my guidance. When that time comes he’ll have a choice to make.”

Howard nodded in agreement. “Agreed, but now what? Do we make our big move now?”

“Not yet, for this plan to work we need patience and a lot of it. As far as I know this will take a long time.”

“Aww, but my friends got to beat up Jason. Why can’t I do it now?”

“Because as far as the world needs to know, it’s just three angry humans on the loose. And the many walks of life are getting either blessings or curses. It’s all in the gamble,” Grogar explained. “Let's see if they found out where Celestia is.”

Andrew sat in the cafeteria eating a sandwich. It had been a long day and all he wanted to do was to get a bite and get back to Rainbow. He then heard the double doors open and there he saw Jason. He had a few bandages on his face. The two stared at each other with unreadable expressions. Andrew had a mixture of different feelings. Guilt, anxiety, fear, and a few others. Jason on the other hand just stared at him with a look that upon closer inspection would be judgment.

Andrew only watched as Jason walked through the cafeteria and slowly approached him and sat across from him. Andrew placed his sandwich down whatever appetite he had left was gone. After what felt like an eternity of silence he looked at the Changeling King-Consort and spoke. “What do you want me to say?” he asked. “I’m sorry? I should’ve said something a lot sooner? I’m an idiot? I got that BS already from Gregory! So whatever you have, go ahead!”

Jason sighed. “He was right about one thing. It was not his place to tell us the truth. You sat on this bullshit too, what? Spare my feelings? Grow the fuck up. You do not hold this sort of shit back.”

“Well sorry for keeping a lid on something that would’ve spiked up your guilt and probably led you to do the same thing you did on sweet apple acres.”

“You don’t know a goddamned thing about me,” Jason said. “You honestly think I would feel guilty about it? It wasn’t anything I could control. Sure, I feel bad that they died, but it wasn’t my fault, and it certainly wasn’t the fault of anyone here.”

“You keep saying that, but here's the thing. Those people on my Earth, They didn't care about what you went through. They cared about your approach and the fact that the ponies got hurt.”

Jason waved a hand. “I took the legal route. I did that so that nobody could judge me as being a monster. I’m really sorry those people took their lives, but again, that isn’t on anyone here.”

“Then let me ask you this. I should've asked you right after Howard’s defeat. Did you enjoy hurting them?”

“Are you kidding? Of course I did. Anyone would if they were in my place, and don’t try and deny it. I’ve had this conversation with Gregory, and he actually agrees that anyone who went through what I went through would likely have snapped.”

“So you have no regrets? If you don't, why did you undo the punishments this morning? Were you forced to?”

“I offered before I was kidnapped, but they refused,” Jason said. “And regrets? Everybody has regrets. And yes, I was pretty much forced to.”

“Jesus… with how happy Rainbow and AJ looked I would’ve assumed something else happened the night before this shit happened. And those bruises on you. What happened? I thought the horn would have protected you.”

“I honestly have no clue,” Jason said as he stood. “And right now, I’m too exhausted and emotionally drained to care. Later.” He turned and walked away, shoulder slumped.

“Wait,” he said.

But Jason didn’t wait. He sped up and was out the door quickly, leaving Andrew once more alone with his thoughts. Now only one question lingered in his mind. What exactly happened?

Gregory was running through a dimly lit red hallway, doors on either side of him and red exit signs spaced evenly between said doors. An alarm was blaring all around him as he looked behind him. The Backrooms entities had finally appeared and were chasing him relentlessly. Well, this is fun, he thought ruefully as he ran through Level Run For Your Life!

As he ran he saw the end. A door with an exit sign above it. With what adrenaline he had left he sprinted to the door and closed it right when a Party Goer was about to grab his shirt. He turned and kicked the entity hard, sending it sprawling. “Piss off,” he said as he jumped through the door only to find himself in freefall through a blizzard. Man, these dreams are getting repetitive, he thought.

As he fell through the clouds he expected to see Haven City below him but what he saw was not the familiar town with a big school. Hmm, is that Fillydelphia? he thought.

As he got closer to the ground he then spread his wings. He started flying around noticing how almost all of the buildings had no lights on inside. He landed on top of a building that somewhat resembled the One Liberty Place building, sitting on the edge and looking down at the empty and desolate snowy metropolis.

He then noticed two figures running through the snow. A red unicorn with a blue mane and a light gray minotaur. “If we survive a possible encounter. I’m going to kill you.” The minotaur said.

“I accept those terms,” the stallion replied. “Let's hope the Windigo God doesn't leave the steel mill.”

“Oooh! Windigo God!” Gregory chuckled sardonically. “How…boringly original.”

He then looked and saw what looked like black smoke. He decided to fly closer to investigate. Upon a closer look it was a huge industrial chimney. Gregory looked down and saw he was in the industrial part of the city and saw a huge sign that said Fillydelphia Steelworks.

He looked down and saw an opening on the side of one of the buildings that had a red glow and train tracks coming out of it. He then saw a familiar human figure waiting for him. It looked up at him and waved.

Gregory simply waved back, then leaped off of the building, letting his ice wings slow his descent. He could have just willed himself down, but he enjoyed the sensation of falling now. He then landed right smack in front of the human figure. “Hey, Fauxgory,” he said.

“Wassup? I hear you managed to alter the time track a little. Too bad it still won’t stop the inevitable,” he said as he looked out into the snowy abyss.

“Time track, huh? Nice way of putting it,” Gregory said with a roll of his eyes.

“A bit of slang talk I picked up from Andrew as he talked about his own stories about time traveling. Anyway since you’re here I guess you either finally encountered the entities?”

“Well, duh,” Gregory said. “You put me in Level fucking Run For Your Life, so of course I did.”

“Sorry, those Backrooms do have a mind of their own. If I wanted to end you I would’ve placed you in that pipe dream level.”

“Ah, so now you’re not denying that you’re my Id?” Gregory asked with a smirk. “Honesty, that’s refreshing.”

“Oh no, I'm simply telling you how I or rather you, used to have no control over those rooms. We’ll get that power soon and when that happens you'll be able to do something else.”

“Oooh, this oughta be good,” Gregory said, snapping and creating a bowl of popcorn. “Let’s hear, huh?”

Fauxgory pulled out a watch. “Before I show you that, let’s watch an event that might happen. How about a little music for the background?” he asked as he snapped his fingers and a radio appeared before him. He pressed play and a slow but familiar song began playing.

Before Gregory could react, he felt the ground shake a bit. He looked down the track and saw what looked like a caboose come out of the fog followed by a few box cars and then an engine. It was Connie racing backwards into the steel mill. Gregory could feel Connie was in utter terror. He then followed her inside and immediately felt the warmth of the steel mill along with the small smell of sulfur. “Sulfur, huh? Wonder what’s going on then,” Gregory said as he walked in.

“Duh, the smell of sulfur is common in these places.”

“Wouldn’t know. Never been to one,” Gregory said before he reached over and smacked Fauxgory over the back of the head. “Do try and pretend you know me, dumbass.”

“You’ll learn that soon. I had a lot of time to learn many things. A LOT of time.”

Connie slowed to a stop and just stood there motionless. Gregory couldn't tell if they were ghosts to her or if she actually saw them. Then they heard the flapping of wings. Connie began shaking like a leaf. Gregory could hear the many parts rattling as she did. Soon the inside began to cool as a third Gregory with his hood covering his face hovered in. Connie began backing up slowly.

“Oooh, a Magneto entrance. Classy,” Gregory laughed.

“And it only gets better,” Fauxgory says as he takes some popcorn.

“I’m sure it does,” Gregory said, smacking Fauxgory on the back.

Connie continued to back up until the back of her train touched a set of buffers making her stop. “Please…” she said with a voice of fear, “leave me be.”

“You know I didn’t mean to hurt him,” the third Gregory said as he removed his hood, his face looking like it had little regret on it. “You know I love you and so many others.”

“Okay, so becoming evil makes me into a complete creep,” Gregory shuddered. “That’s just wrong on so many levels.”

“I love all of you,” the third Gregory continued. “But you need to understand. What I’m doing is for the best. I am in control.”

“This isn’t you,” Connie said. “Please, whatever is happening to you is taking you. Fight back!”

“That’s just it, Connie. This is me. Now forgive me and let me get this over with.” he said as he raised his hands. The room began freezing as ice coated the walls. The melted slag turned into frozen metal. Connie’s firebox was taken over by the ice causing her fire to die and then to the surprise of the real Gregory, her boiler exploded, pieces of metal bursted everywhere. The third Gregory flew into her wreckage and plucked out a glowing orb before encasing it in ice. “I'm sorry.”

“Well damn, that’s intense,” Gregory said as he and Fauxgory walked out of the building into the snow, only now the scene before them was of the very same ice throne room he had seen before in a previous dream. “Huh, the decor in here got more Gothic,” he observed.

“Interior decorating has become a decent hobby. One that you might pick up on,” Fauxgory said. “Want to still see my other powers in this dream?”

Gregory then smirked, a wicked glint in his eyes as he turned to face Fauxgory. Reaching over, he placed a hand on the shoulder of the false image of him. “Oh, I’d love to, but there’s just one teensy-weensy problem.”

Fauxgory didn't give him enough time as he reached into his robe and pulled out a ball made out of enchanted ice. “Hope you still like Pokemon.”

However, the ball stopped directly in front of Gregory and shattered. “Awww, but you didn’t let me finish my sentence. I was going to say that there’s a problem.” He walked up, then whispered into Fauxgory’s ear. “I’m not really dreaming right now.” He stepped back, pulled out a small vial of glowing water, and just like in the movie Constantine, shattered it onto his chest.

He came out of his magical meditation immediately, looking around the darkened and snow-covered forest around him. It had snowed again and his body was covered in a decent thickness of snowfall. His eyes glistened and even glowed slightly as he grinned. “Fooooound yooooou,” he said, tilting his head a bit as he spread ice wings and flew up into the air, shooting through the trees, then turning and flying as fast as he could towards the magical signature he could now detect clearly.

His trap had worked, and now he would go see if the enemy was equally as smart. If they were, they would be setting a trap. What had Obi-Wan said again?

“Spring the trap.” Gregory giggled in a somewhat maddening way as he sped up.

Meanwhile another human was running through the forest as he picked up a crystal. “I’m compromised!”

“Then drop the distraction I gave you,” came a voice.

However, it was too late. A mass of ice shot up all around the human. The man dropped the crystal and looked up as a humanoid figure with glowing light blue eyes and bright blue glowing ice wings began to descend. He had a grin on his face as he stood on the lip of the barrier, looking down at him. “Well now, isn’t this a pretty sight?” the magical human with the powers of all the windigos said, a look of glee on his face. “Nice to see you again, dipshit.”

Clark looked up at Gregory. “Uh…hi.”

“Damn, that was lame,” Gregory said as he raised a hand and shot out a bolt at the crystal. It didn’t shatter, however. Instead, it seemed to flow up the lightning bolt and was encased in ice. “I know you can do so much better than that, little minion.”

“You're right, I can,” he said as he reached into his pocket. “Think fast!”

Next thing Gregory knew something was launched up and was coming at him like a baseball. Gregory leaped back, the object narrowly missing him as he did a backflip down to the ground. “Interesting, interesting,” he said, “that thing has a lot of deadly and dark magic in it. A very familiar magic. Thanks for the clue!”

Suddenly the ball of dark magic landed on the ground and burst with light and there standing them was what looked like a giant robot scorpion. “Scorponok, attack!”

“Interesting, but let’s get rid of any distractions before that, shall we?” Gregory suggested, which was when he reached out his hand towards Clark. A massive bolt of lightning struck Clark square in the chest, knocking him back into a tree and knocking him out immediately.

The scorpion launched itself like a wildcat and grabbed Gregory with its huge claw. “No one hurts master. You will pay!”

“Hnng…your master is a stubborn dumbass who can’t think for himself,” Gregory laughed.

That riled up the metal scorpion as its claw grip increased tenfold. It then threw Gregory hard through the trees before retrieving Clark and began tunneling underground.

Gregory slowly stood, spitting up blood. “Run, run, run, as fast as you can,” he giggled madly, “you can’t catch me, I’m the Windigo Man!” With that, he spread his wings and leaped into the air, chasing not their magic signature, but another, fainter one. “Now I know who’s really pulling the strings,” he laughed, “and I can bring a fight to them!”

As he continued to pursue the signature got weaker and weaker until it felt like it vanished. That didn’t deter him, though, as now he knew a place to start. “You can run, but you can’t hide…GROGAR!”

“Impossible! That can’t be right!” Twilight exclaimed. Gregory came back and explained the situation to his family along with Andrew and Starlight Glimmer.

“How come?” Gregory asked, arms crossed as he leaned against a wall and stared into the fire. “Tirek came back, so why not Grogar? If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that we have shit luck.”

“That's because Tirek has been locked away for centuries while Grogar was killed by Gusty the Great.”

“Come on, Twilight, do you think Gusty would have actually killed him?” Gregory asked.

“Yes, all the history books and historical texts all say the same thing.”

“Two words: Nightmare Moon.” Gregory looked at her with a serious expression. “You need to understand that history from that far back is bound to have some errors.”

“Nightmare Moon was banished, not killed.”

“Yes I know, but ponies do seem to have a tendency to subtly rewrite history at points,” Gregory replied.

“Even if Grogar is still alive, why would he be here now?” Starlight asked.

“That was going to be my next stop, but Ember teleported to where I was and calmed me back down,” Gregory explained. “Twilight, we know that Grogar is the Father of Monsters. He spent a lot of time up in this part of the continent before he moved to what is now modern Equestria. Gusty stole his bell and supposedly killed him, but what were his motivations for creating monsters? Why try to imitate Faust?”

“That is a good point,” Andrew said. “Still why now? Why not long ago when morality was at its weakest after the trial?”

“Maybe instead of killing him, Gusty sealed Grogar somewhere,” Gregory mused as he began to slowly pace. “Maybe the seals grew weaker because of that morality being low, and it took Grogar until now to break it. The thing is, I know what I felt. Grogar is back, and this time it’s the real Grogar, not Discord pretending.”

“So what are we supposed to do? Send the young six?” Andrew asked. “Thats a suicide mission for sure.”

“Of course it is,” Gregory agreed. “I know where the magic signature was before it vanished. I can fly there quickly and then the rest of you can teleport to where I am by holding onto Ember.”

“Can this wait until morning? Some of us had a long day of running around,”Ember said.

Gregory frowned. “I don’t think it should wait, but Twilight, you said you know a spell that will prevent dreams from forming during our REM cycle, is that true?”

“Well I can cast a spell,” Twilight said, “but we can also use a dream catcher from the buffalo tribe. I actually bought one not too long ago for Cozy.”

Gregory chuckled. “That was thoughtful of you,” he said, “so yeah. Go ahead and do that. I will be in magical meditation until morning.”

At that moment Spike walked in holding a scroll. “Emergency letter from Canterlot. They found Celestia.” He held the scroll out and began to read.

Sir Gregory

I'm sure you're aware by now my sister has disappeared, but do not despair. She is fine but for some reason she is unable to leave the castle. By that I mean she is literally unable to leave. It's like there's a shield preventing her from leaving or teleporting out. And to add further concern her crown and regalia are stuck to her like glue. I know this is late but if you can make a journey to Canterlot tomorrow we will be grateful.

-Princess Luna

Everyone looked around after Spike read the letter out. Nobody spoke for a good long while until Gregory broke the silence. “Well…crap.”