A Renewed Ending

Friday, September 24, 1007 A.L. Gryphonstone, Gryphonia

Gregory opened his eyes as he woke to the alarm on his phone. Blearily, he slowly sat up and looked around. The sun was coming in through his now eastern facing window of his trailer. Gregory could only smile as he reached up and turned off the alarm. Pulling the blankets off of him, he swung his legs over the side of his bed and stretched. He’d had a very strange and long day yesterday.

He could remember pretty much everything that happened ever since he’d driven through the portal from Earth to Equestria. The way he’d felt after leaving the truck before nearly tumbling to his death. His finding of the Idol of Boreas. His rescue by the last being he’d expected to see. His returning of the Idol to the Eyrie. The large group of gryphons who had volunteered to carry his truck and trailer to a patch of grassy land near the Eyrie afterwards. Then there was the massive celebration throughout the entire city. Which, to his human ears, sounded like it was still going on.

“When it’s time to party, gryphons party hard,” he sang as he stood and arched his back, hearing some popping as he did so. He went to one of the small cupboards in his trailer and opened it, looking in for something to quickly eat for breakfast. Grabbing a couple slices of bread along with an unopened summer sausage, he put some peanut butter on each slice before slicing up a good portion of sausage. After that, he grabbed a small bottle of water from one of the packs he’d purchased, stepped out of his trailer, then grabbed his camping chair and sat down in the early summer/early autumn morning, eating and drinking his fill. He connected his phone to a speaker and began listening to some light music.

His truck and trailer, now unhitched, were sitting in a large field of grass that sat near the Eyrie. There were several trees surrounding the undeveloped property on which he now lived, and the grass was pretty much dead save for a few weeds here and there. The air was cool, but had the distinctive odor of the city itself. Not a very pleasant smell, but not as bad as he’d anticipated after he’d seen that one episode of the show set in Gryphonstone. A part of it was staked off as it was going to be the site of a new well according to Gabby.

Gregory further recalled the events of the day before as he ate his unusual breakfast in silence. He had spent a few hours the afternoon the day before setting things up, including several powerful solar panels on the roof and ground where they’d receive the most sunlight. To his surprise, they worked better than expected, and he was cautiously optimistic that he would have electrical power for a while.

Gabby was there to help him every step of the way despite not knowing anything about the strange technology he had. Still, she’d been eager to try and help, so he asked her to do some cleaning and dusting inside the trailer despite him already having done that before he opened the portal and stepped through. After he had finished, she’d dragged him to the citywide party that had sprung up thanks to the return of their Idol.

As he was finishing up his breakfast, he heard the flapping of wings from nearby. Looking up, he saw that Gabby was coming down towards him. She looked tired, but still had a happy smile on her face as she landed near him. Looking at the speaker, she pointed at it. “Is that thing playing music?” she asked.

Gregory nodded, then paused said music. “Yeah,” he replied. “I’m just enjoying the morning. How’re you doing?”

Gabby walked over and sat next to Gregory on the ground, then lay down very much like a cat in a loaf position. “Ugh…I am exhausted,” she said. “I’ve never partied so hard in my life.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, sister,” Gregory chuckled as he took a sip of water.

She yawned, stretched in a catlike way, then stood up and looked over at the truck. Looking back at him, she asked, “What’s all in that truck of yours, anyway?”

“Clothes for all weather, plenty of toiletries, my electronics and means to keep them charged, plenty of food that I know is safe for me to eat, and several gifts I was hoping to give to a few individuals I’ve heard about along with a few other things.” Gregory said as he stared at the truck with her. “I wonder if Twilight will be interested in the books I brought on my ebook readers?” he muttered to himself happily. Turning to Gabby, he smiled. He was glad that out of anyone he could have met in Gryphonstone, she’d been the first. “I can’t thank you enough for getting enough gryphons to help move my stuff, Gabby. I was fully prepared to stay out in that field, you know.”

She waved her claws, smiling widely. “Hey, you found and brought back our Idol!” she said happily. “It’s the least I could do!” She then paused, then spoke up again. “Wait, you said food you knew was safe to eat. Was it okay for you to eat food from the party yesterday?” She had a worried look on her face.

Gregory smiled. “Well, I’m an omnivore,” he said, “and we can eat a lot. The foods at the stalls were all hot and prepared well, and they were food products I know I can eat, so I was pretty sure I was safe. The water, though…now that I’m not sure if I could drink some of it without getting sick.” He shuddered. “Some looked clean enough, but I didn’t want to risk catching some disease that I haven’t had before.”

Gabby frowned a bit. “So, what happens when that water you brought with you is gone?” she asked.

He had considered that when he’d packed everything for his trip. “I have a few things with me that can purify water relatively well,” he said, “and I think I saw some faucets that were actually spraying clear-ish water. Then there’s that new well nearby that should have clean enough water I think. Oh, and didn’t I see a lake down below next to a small town?”

“Gryphonville,” Gabby said, “and yes, they do have a nice lake. I’ve gone swimming there in summertime when I have days off. It’s really clear and cold.”

“I’ll have to go down there and test it out to see if I can-wait, you said it was cold?” he asked, interrupting his own thoughts.

“Well, yeah,” Gabby said. “It gets filled up by this ice-cold waterfall.”

“Huh…sounds like it could be snowmelt,” Gregory said, thinking. He looked back at Gabby. “For now, I should be okay with the water and other drinks I have. And you said that it snows here pretty heavily?”

“Yeah?”

“I could collect a lot of that, melt it, and keep it in my discarded water bottles,” he said. “Same with rainwater.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Gabby said.

Gregory gave her a reassuring smile, then turned back to the sounds of the gryphons partying it up still. “Hey, on another note, is that normal?” he asked, pointing towards the party sounds.

Gabby, chuckled and shook her head. “Yeah…no it’s not,” she said. “The only real time we’re ever celebrating anything is the Blue Moon Festival during the winter.”

Gregory nodded. He knew about that episode from season eight, of course. He’d actually thought he’d seen Gallus the night before, but the gryphon had disappeared before he could get a closer look. “Your kind must really care deeply about that Idol,” he said as he stood and stretched.

“We might not have said it to outsiders, but we all reeeeally wanted to see the Idol returned to the Eyrie,” Gabby said as she yawned again. “Excuse me.”

“You said you were off today, right?” Gregory asked.

“I doubt anygryphon’s gonna be able to work today, especially after the hangovers,” Gabby giggled.

Gregory nodded in understanding. Their ale was surprisingly good, and it didn’t have the taste of alcohol he expected. In fact, it had a fruity taste with a spice to it like a Pibb Xtra. It was even fizzy, which further surprised him. “Good thing we didn’t drink too much, then,” he chuckled. He had felt the effects after a mug and a half, so he had cut back, not wanting to get too drunk.

“Hey, speaking of food and drinks again,” Gabby said, “what can you eat?”

“Oh, a good deal,” he said, “although I did notice some things last night that I couldn’t eat.”

She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a pencil and paper. “Could I get a list of things you can or can’t eat?”

A few hours later, the human and gryphon duo were finishing up a conversation inside Gregory’s trailer. Gabby explained that she wanted to know as much as she could about his diet so that she could recommend things to him that wouldn’t make him sick or worse, kill him. He explained as much as he could to her, at least about his own dietary requirements. He thankfully had no allergies and wasn’t much of a picky eater. As long as he got a healthy diet of cooked meat, dairy vegetables, fruits and the other basic food groups, he would be okay.

“So, you’re more like us than I thought,” Gabby said as she closed her notebook after the long discussion had finally come to a close. She slipped it back into her.

“Omnivores, you mean?” Gregory asked.

“Yeah, that!” Gabby said.

“Well, aren’t gryphons a mix of eagle and lion?” he asked.

However, the moment he did, he knew it was the wrong thing to say, because Gabby’s smile quickly vanished and she put her talon to his mouth, startling him. “Don’t go around saying that,” she said in a low voice. “If anygryphon heard that, you’d be thrown back into the Abyss.”

He swallowed nervously. “Is it really that bad?” he asked once she removed her talon from his mouth.

Gabby nodded. “It’s a racial slur around here to call anygryphon either eagle or lion,” she explained. “Back before the Idol appeared, gryphons were greedy and vicious. We hoarded our gold and many various gryphon clans fought for control of the land. It was pretty common for the winners to enslave the losers and treat them like chattel.”

This got Gregory’s attention. “My God…”

She nodded. “They were called cruel names, but calling them eagle and lion was the worst. It basically means that if you were an eagle, all you were good for was hard labor. If you were a lion…well…you were just there to pleasure your masters with your lion half. Male or female.”

“That’s fucking disgusting!” Gregory shouted.

Gabby nodded, looking down at the table with a sigh. “Even after the Idol fell, we never forgot that part of our history. It’s just…too horrible to forget.”

Gregory leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. This may have been his camper, but everything outside of it looked as real to him as if it had been reality itself, unlike the show which only really showed flash animation versions of the characters. “I don’t blame you,” he said. “And it’s a good thing that you didn’t forget. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, anyway. Sorry I said something so insensitive.”

Gabby looked at him with a sad smile. Getting up and putting her claw on his shoulder, she said, in a small voice, “It’s alright. You didn’t know. But now you do.”

“I’m gonna have to learn more about your culture if I’m gonna be living here for a while,” he admitted.

“Then I’m your gryphon!” Gabby said, instantly smiling wide again.

He smiled. “Glad to hear it. So…where should we start, anyway?”

Lunch came and went, consisting of a couple cans of soup that Gregory had shared with Gabby after heating it up on the small flattop stove that came with the camper. She’d been a huge fan of it, but had told him that he shouldn’t give out that food so readily since he might need it. At around one that afternoon, the streets had actually cleared enough that Gabby said they could go out after all.

After they left and while Gregory was locking up his truck and his camper, Gabby’s eyes went wide. “I have an idea where you can work!” she said excitedly.

“Oh yeah? Lead on, then,” Gregory said, following her out into the early afternoon.

The sun was just making its way to the west. The weather was cool and reminded Gregory of early fall. He’d found out the day before that, oddly enough, the day of the week and the date were identical to when he’d left Earth, September 16th. He’d been surprised that the names of the calendar months were identical between worlds, although the year, 1007 Anno Luna, was strange to him. It had been 2027 for him when he’d left Earth. Not only that, but the lunar cycle seemed to match perfectly as well. He had no idea where in the timeline he was, although he suspected it was before The Lost Treasure Of Griffonstone since he’d found the Idol of Boreas.

As he followed Gabby down the street, he went over things in his mind. At the very least, he guessed that he’d arrived before Celestia and Luna both retired and Twilight took over rule of Equestria, especially since Gabby referenced the two as ruling the kingdom during their talk about gryphon cultural. Where in the timeline of the show he was, however, was still a mystery. It was definitely after Twilight moved to Ponyville, however.

Despite the party practically ending around him, many gryphons stopped and stared at him, wide eyed with either astonishment or gratitude. He would wave at them before rejoining Gabby, who couldn’t help but smile at the various interactions between Gregory and other gryphons.

At one point, they passed a small cart full of untouched scones. Gregory stopped and stared in wonder at the gryphon female who was just sitting there, a surprisingly grumpy expression on her face. It was surprising to him since the majority of gryphons he’d seen that day were in lighter spirits. Gabby noticed him staring and came up beside him. “Don’t mind Gilda,” she said softly, “She’s always been one sourpuss.”

Gregory looked around. There were other carts near her own, but they were either nearly empty of products or were completely out. Only Gilda’s was empty. The scones he saw were a bit more than brown, with a few sticks in them. When he saw this, he grew confused. Had he come back farther in time than he thought? Had the Cutie Map not yet sent Pinkie and Rainbow Dash to Gryphonstone? If it had, it would have explained why the Idol of Boreas hadn’t fallen deeper into the ravine.

Too late he realized he’d been staring at Gilda, who had noticed him by now and was glaring back at him. “You got a problem?” she asked in the very same voice he’d remembered.

“Oh, my bad,” Gregory said apologetically, “I just spaced out.”

“Well, now you can peace out,” she said, pointing down the street. It might have been his imagination, but her gruff behavior did seem a bit more subdued than he remembered from the episodes featuring her.

“Yeah, will do,” he said, turning back and following Gabby back down the road. Once they were out of earshot, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “She’s a real ray of sunshine.”

“Don’t let her get you down,” Gabby said. “She doesn’t mean it most of the time. I did see her at least buy some of the grog during the celebration last night.”

“That was some really good shit,” he admitted, “and I normally don’t drink much.”

“If there’s anything that’s kept clean in Gryphonstone, our bars are,” Gabby said. “At least, they always are when I deliver mail to the ones on my route. They also have some of the cleanest water available, for a price though.”

“Hmm, I see,” he said thoughtfully. He’d hardly been in this world, Gaia, an entire day and already he was learning so much more about the world than had ever been shown in the show. He had to remind himself that this world was actually a world, not just some cardboard cutout perfect set piece on a screen for little girls. There was alcohol, there had been darker times in the past, and of course, during the celebration the night before, he could have sworn he saw a few gryphons actually getting frisky in an alleyway. An alleyway he quickly fled from so as not to interrupt.

Of course, the more he did think, the more he realized that even in the show, there had been events shown that would be considered dark. The pre-reunification Equestria, King Sombra, Tirek, Chrysalis, even Cozy Glow and Neighsay were grim reminders of the less than perfect side of the world. Still, he couldn’t help but be excited to be on Gaia. He had nothing back on Earth anymore. He’d left behind a less than stellar family, a cheating ex-girlfriend, his former coworkers who shat all over him because of his work ethic, rising gas prices, a climate disaster, insane world leaders going to war over stupid shit and so much more. Had he not gotten incredibly lucky and been left a large sum of money some years before, he would still be on Earth.

“Hey, we’re here,” Gabby said, interrupting his thoughts as they made their way towards a larger thatched roofed building. Gregory paused and looked up. It was two stories, looked old and a bit unstable, had plenty of windows on all sides he read the words Gryphonstone Post Office.

Turning down to Gabby, he smirked. “You sneaky gryphon. This is where you work, isn’t it?”

She chuckled. “Yep! I know we can use mail sorters and delivery mailgryphons like me. We’re always a bit short staffed.”

“Well, I could probably do sorting well enough,” Gregory admitted, “but delivery? I don’t know if you noticed, but I can’t fly.” He pointed to his back, showing his lack of wings. “Humans don’t have wings or magic.”

“Well, let’s go talk to my supervisor!” Gabby said, quickly heading into the building. Gregory chuckled and followed close behind her. He figured this would get interesting really fast.

“So…you’re the stranger who returned our Idol to us,” the post office supervisor, an older gryphon male named Gus said a few minutes later in his office. Gabby and Gregory were both seated in stools at Gus’ desk, which was a repurposed old stump like most other tables were in Gryphonstone. Gus was a dark gray furred gryphon with white feathers and orange eyes. He had a few scars on his right arm which his fur covered decently enough, but not completely. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Wouldn’t you be off celebrating?”

“Well, even humans need to sleep sometimes,” Gregory said. “And we need work, too. Gabby here was kind enough to suggest I apply for a job here.”

“Is that right?” Gus asked, looking at Gabby with a raised eyebrow.

“He’s hoping to get enough talons to go traveling,” Gabby explained.

“Aaah, so you won’t be here long, then,” Gus said, sounding a bit disappointed.

Gregory felt a bit badly now. At his old job back on Earth, he knew the pain of being short staffed and had most of the time worked longer than his scheduled shifts so the store he worked in wouldn’t be behind. “Well, I’ll probably be here a bit longer than you’re thinking,” he said. “I can’t exactly move all of my stuff with me. My vehicle doesn’t have the fuel needed to get to where I’d like to visit. Plus, it’s not a boat. So, if you did hire me, I’ll be here for a pretty long while.”

“Hmm…I see,” Gus said. “And I take it that you can’t provide any references?”

“Not anymore,” he said. “All my references are permanently out of reach. And they were all dicks anyway.”

Gus threw back his head and roared in laughter. “We’re all dicks here, Mr. Graystone,” he said with clear amusement in his tone. “Well, if you’re really serious about working for the post office, you’re in luck. One of our main sorters just quit a week or so ago and moved out of the city. We’ve been running ragged since then. Can you quickly sort out addresses and place them in their proper slots so our mailgryphons can deliver them to the proper houses?”

“I can learn easily enough,” Gregory said. “I can read pretty fast.”

“Eh, I’m desperate enough, I won’t deny it. That’s good enough for me. When can you start?”

“Can I start, say, in…” Gregory thought for a moment. He did want a job, but he was still coming to terms with coming to this world in the place that he had, so he wanted some time to adjust. “…a week?”

“Ah, need time to adjust to living in Gryphonstone?” he asked. When Gregory nodded, Gus smiled. “That sounds good to me. Does the morning shift work for you? It’s six in the morning to two thirty in the afternoon, with a forty five lunch every fifth hour. You’ll be working in the sorting room, looking through mail and placing them in the proper slots. The pay is thirty talons per shift for the first three months, and after that it goes up to forty.”

Gregory had no idea how much a talon was worth when compared to his old world’s currency, but he counted his blessings. The citizens of Gryphonstone had told him that the plot of land where his camper and truck were wasn’t owned by anyone so he could stay there as long as he needed. He knew he had the time to figure out what money was worth in this world. After all, Ponyville wasn’t going anywhere. “Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal, boss,” Gregory said, extending his hand.

Gus nodded, shaking Gregory’s hand with his claw. “Be here bright eyed and bushy tailed in a week,” he said. “I’ll have Griselda teach you the ropes.”

“I look forward to it,” Gregory said. “Thank you, sir.”

“Hey, you saved our Idol,” he said, “it’s the least I could do. See you in a week!”

“I’ll be here,” Gregory said as he stood along with Gabby. “See you then.”

“See you two later,” he said, then he went back to his desk, reading over a small stack of papers.

“My luck is going through the roof,” Gregory said a few minutes later as he and Gabby walked down the still somewhat crowded main thoroughfares towards the city marketplace to go shopping. “I honestly wasn’t expecting things to go this well so soon.”

Gabby smiled widely. “I’m really happy for you,” she said sincerely as she hovered next to him while they took a turn to head up to one of the upper levels of the city itself.

“Helped Gryphonstone without meaning to, partied harder than I ever have, and now I have a job and a plot of land where I can stay until and unless I need to find something more permanent,” he said with a happy smile. “If I keep on smiling, my face is gonna be stuck like this.”

Gabby giggled. “You’ve got a nice smile! I’d hate to see it go away.”

Gregory chuckled. “Well, I can’t smile all the time, but for this moment, I don’t think I can stop.” He began humming a fast paced song, a pep in his step, then began singing, “Yeah I own this beat! You can call me the king or the ruler, felon on base, getting hoarse at the mic! We’re getting twenty percent cooler! We had a great day out! Calling my name like Ferris Bueller! It’s time to wrap this up! We’re getting twenty percent cooler!”

“What song is that?” Gabby asked. “We don’t sing here. It’s illegal.” She pointed to a sign that had a crossed-out image of a singing gryphon with musical notes coming from their mouth.

“Oh, my bad, sorry,” Gregory said. He’d nearly forgotten about that rule. “How come singing isn’t allowed?”

Gabby shrugged. “You’d have to ask Grandpa Gruff about that. He’s the closest thing we have to a ruler here.”

“I’ll go have a talk with him when I can,” Gregory said. Just then a thought occurred to him. “Wait a moment, I heard some gryphons singing last night!”

Gabby paused for a bit, then she nodded in agreement. “You’re right, so did I,” she said with a grin. “Well, we had reason to sing last night!” The two laughed as Gabby took one more turn into a large wide street. He stopped and gaped at what he saw before him. “Here we are! Welcome to Gryphonstone Marketplace!” Gabby said.

Gregory took in the entire street before him. The streets were cobblestone, much like every other street he’d seen so far. On each side of the street were large and small food carts, each selling various types of foodstuffs and even non-food items. He saw large slabs of raw meat surrounded by a few flies, cheese wheels, various fruits, large bowls of what looked like wriggling worms, baskets of eggs, jugs of what he could only assume was wine or some kind of alcoholic beverage, cooking utensils, pots and pans, and more. If it hadn’t been for the unsanitary conditions he saw, he might have been salivating. Then again, he noticed that a lot of the foodstuffs like the cheese were covered in paper to keep the flies off. That, and a few gryphons were waving their wings to shoo the flies as well. “Wow,” was all he could say.

“Isn’t it?!” Gabby said excitedly. “I’ve never seen it so packed before! Come on! Let’s get the good stuff before they’re sold out!” So saying, she rushed forward, flying towards the meat section.

Gregory followed, not wanting to seem rude. He was still a bit iffy about the food, but he reasoned that if he cooked the meat long enough in the cast iron skillet he had, he could kill off any germs that were in it. He didn’t know how gryphons could their meat, but the way Gabby licked her lips after being handed a thick slab of meat told him that they could eat it raw or cooked if the previous night’s party was any indication. To his surprise, however, she didn’t just stop at that slab. Instead, she added a few other portions as well, stuffing one side of her saddlebags with meat before heading to grab a basket of fresh eggs. She would have carried it in her beak had Gregory not taken the basket from her and insisted on carrying it for her. They continued shopping, purchasing enough food to last her a couple of weeks at least. They stocked up on somewhat fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and more.

Gabby surprised him by saying that half of this food would be for him and would be paid for by her. He tried to deny it, saying that he had plenty of food, but she insisted, reminding him of the rule of gryphon gift giving he’d learned earlier, which in short stated that if a gryphon offered another a gift, it was considered rude to not accept. So, Gregory accepted gratefully, albeit feeling a bit guilty. Part of him, though, was curious to see if he could cook anything with the food here and he decided to experiment a bit later with it.

Just as they were finishing up, Gregory heard a commotion coming from down the street towards the main intersection. He had just lifted a large paper bag full of bread from where Gabby had just purchased it when the heads of a lot of the gryphons turned their attention down to the east where the street started. Gregory could hear someone talking loudly and with panic in his voice. Curious, he turned to Gabby. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

Gabby flew a bit higher up to look towards the commotion. When she came back down, her face was grave. “It’s Ambassador Geoffrey. He looks pretty upset.”

“You guys have an ambassador?” Gregory asked, surprised at this piece of news. He’d guessed that, judging from the previous way gryphons had acted that they wouldn’t really bother themselves with outsiders as much or even with politics.

“Yeah,” she said. “We haven’t had one for long. I’ll explain the details later. Right now, I wanna hear what he’s doing back so soon. He was trying to get the changelings to relinquish their hold on some territory the gryphons colonized in the Southern Badlands. And he looks injured.”

Gregory’s eyes went wide. “Damn, let’s go see what’s happening, then,” he said, hoisting the bread bag over his shoulder and running down the street towards the gathering crowd of gryphons.

Once he reached the edge of the crowd, he could see an older gryphon who was clearly a bit heavier set than the average gryphon he’d seen. He was wearing a fez and had dark gray claws, very dark brown eye feathers and plume, orange eyes, yellow beak, a light beige set of fur and a darker beige set of wings. One of his claws was in a cast and he cradled it. As they approached, he started to overhear what he was saying. “…their new emperor is ruthless! He isn’t giving back the lands and he stole from us in the Southern Badlands! He did allow the gryphon colonials to come back here, but they don’t have any place to go!”

“What gives him the right to steal from us!?” a proud voice called out angrily.

Geoffrey sighed and shook his head. “He has an army to back him up! We don’t! Besides, if he’s powerful enough to conquer their old queen and successfully invade and subjugate Equestria, then voluntarily leave, we shouldn’t mess with him! Not until we’ve gotten stronger ourselves!”

“What’s this new emperor like?” another random voice called out from the crowd.

“I don’t know,” Geoffrey admitted, “but my sources say he’s bipedal, wears a mask to hide his face, and is very cruel to ponies. Even more so than their old queen!”

“Did you just say someone invaded Equestria?” Gregory called out.

The ambassador finally took notice of the lone human and froze. “What are you?” he asked, suddenly sounding a bit scared.

“He’s the Idol Bearer!” one of the gryphons called out. “He found the Idol yesterday and brought it back to us!”

Geoffrey stared Gregory me with narrowed eyes, then seemed to relax. “Well…it’s good to see some creatures have some common decency even when you didn’t need to.”

“It was the right thing to do,” Gregory said, “but please, what happened to Equestria?”

The ambassador sighed. “This emperor and his brood completely blindsighted the ponies by invading with his army of changelings and taking over the capital, at least for a week or so,” he said. “I don’t have all the details, but apparently this happened very recently.”

“What do you know?” Gregory asked, a knot forming in his stomach and a lump forming in his throat simultaneously.

“I don’t know much,” Geoffrey repeated. “Only that a few weeks ago, the changelings invaded Canterlot, captured the city, the princesses and their national heroes, the Elements of something or other. Then their leader, somecreature calling themselves Emperor Jason Wright, burned down a small town near Canterlot. I mean completely destroyed every building! But he left after that, just leaving the ponies alone. We’ve got to prepare just in case he comes for us next. Who knows what…”

The voice of the older gryphon faded away as Gregory stumbled back in complete stunned silence. The name struck a chord with Gregory. Not because he knew who it was, but because the name was one that could only belong to a human. Gabby saw this and rushed to his side, calling out to him with concern, then fear on her face as she couldn’t get a reaction out of him.

His thoughts were all a jumble as Gabby pulled him out of the street, heading back down towards his camper. He barely noticed what was happening around him as he tried to process this new information. Jason Wright…Jason Wright…it was a human name, or the closest thing to one he’d heard of even in the show. The gryphon names were human enough, but they all seemed to start with the letter G. Then again, he thought, Steven Magnet was a name in the show, too, but it belonged to a sea serpent, not some bipedal creature. It was definitely not a diamond dog’s name, since theirs were typical dog names.

That left him with one conclusion, one he very much didn’t want to believe. Even now, he continued to deny it and thought harder and harder about other possible alternatives to the ever-increasing inevitable truth.

Suddenly, he was keenly aware of being shaken hard. He came back to his senses only to realize that they were in front of his camper. “Gah! What…how’d we get back here?” he asked in a daze.

“Thank Grover!” Gabby said, looking incredibly relieved to hear Gregory actually talk. “We got back ten minutes ago! I’ve been trying to talk to you ever since you heard about that Jason Wright!” She approached and cupped his cheeks with her claws. “Are you alright? Do I need to take you to the hospital?”

Gregory shook his head. “No, that’s alright,” he said. “I think I just need to lie down for a bit.” He took out his keys and unlocked the camper door.

“What happened?” she asked worriedly as they walked into the camper. “Why did you space out like that? Do you know something about what Ambassador Geoffrey was saying?”

“I…I don’t really know,” he admitted as he sat on the edge of the bed, “maybe…it’s just the name.”

“What about the name?” Gabby persisted, sitting down on the wooden couch next to him. “Do you know the name?”

“If you’re asking if I know this Jason Wright, no, I don’t know him,” Gregory said. “But it’s just…” He straightened and turned to his new friend. “You know how gryphons have names that start with G and how ponies have names that describe them, like how Princess Luna moves the moon and her name literally means moon?”

“Yeah…I think I do,” Gabby said, then waited for him to speak.

“Well, here’s the thing,” he began, “Jason Wright, the name, wouldn’t seem out of place back where humans exist,” he said. “It sounds like a human name. And…if what Geoffrey is saying is true, then…something terrible must have happened to the ponies I came to see.”

Gabby looked stunned when she heard that the name Jason Wright might belong to a human, but she quickly put a comforting arm around Gregory’s shoulder. “You don’t look so good,” she said softly. “Yeah, good idea to lie down. I’ll be right here if you need anything, okay?” She gently lay him on his bed, then went over to his couch. “Mind if I lie here?”

Gregory nodded silently, and when Gabby lay down on the small couch, he got under the covers, grabbed his sleeping mask, put it on, and shut out the world. Right now, he didn’t want to see anything. Not even the truth.

The truth that he wasn’t the only human in this world.