A Renewed Ending

Saturday, January 15, 1008 A.L., Gryphonia

“This is where he lives?” Jason asked, looking up at the large tree-shaped house with eyes that were a bit wide in surprise.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Nictis replied.

Jason crossed his arms, a flare of anger passing through him. His Gryphonstone human counterpart got to live in a tree mansion?! He shook his head and cleared his throat. Looking over at Chrysalis, who was now in her new anthropomorphic form she’d been experimenting with for the past few months, he gestured to the house. “What are you feeling from there?”

Chrysalis snorted, wrapped the thick black cloak around her more tightly, then closed her eyes. “Hmm…well, I can feel…a Saddle Arabian pegasus…and that’s it.”

Jason nodded. If Gregory was home, then Chrysalis wouldn’t be able to feel his emotions. Just like she could barely detect Jason’s. When Discord placed a sliver of his magic inside Jason to keep him from leaving, it had left him slightly open emotionally to a changeling’s ability to detect emotions. But only slightly. “Well, let’s go.”

The meeting earlier, especially after his own semi-private meeting with Nictis, had been relatively straightforward. The gryphons had focused more on the action in the Southern Badlands at first, and just as Jason had predicted, had demanded reparations for said action. Once more, Jason, and to a greater extent Chrysalis, had argued that the land had been sacred to the changelings, but the gryphons had countered that they had abandoned the land and any land in the Badlands was up for grabs. The settlement that they had reached had made Jason wince, but he had agreed to a hefty sum to be paid out to the gryphons affected, all in former Imperium talons which the changelings had in their possession.

The topic had then shifted to topics that were more general, such as one of the main reasons why Jason had come: a non-aggression pact. Not exactly a trade agreement, but a pact that basically promised that kept each side from interfering in possible future military action against the other. That had nearly been a nonstarter, especially since the gryphons now had newly started alliances with at least the Dragon Lands and Saddle Arabia with three more alliances with the snow leopards, the Crystal Empire, and to Jason’s ire, Equestria, although the latter three were nothing more than trade negotiations. The meeting had ended with no resolution, but with a promise to meet again the next day to discuss things with fresh minds.

“Just a Saddle Arabian pegasus?” Jason asked. “I was under the impression he lived with more than one person.”

“He does,” Nictis said.

“Perhaps he and the others are out,” Elytra, the only other changeling there, suggested.

Jason nodded, careful not to look at the four gryphon city watch assigned to escort them around. He didn’t like them around, but if he had been in the Convocation’s place he would have done the same. He walked up to the door then rapped on it, determined to see if the pegasus knew where everyone else was. He wanted a one on one talk with his fellow human.

The pegasus who answered gave Jason pause. Even though he had seen her from the spy reports Nictis had reported and new her name, Princess Amira, she looked fairly familiar to Jason’s eyes, with her light purple coat and straight, dark purple mane and tail. Her cornflower blue eyes focused on him with a serenity that surprised him. “Greetings,” Amira said in what Jason noted was a very Arabian-like accent. “How may I help you?”

“Hello,” Jason greeted her, “could you tell us if Gregory’s home? I wanted to talk with him.”

She shook her head. “He’s not here, and I don’t know where he is,” she replied with a very horselike shake of her head. “He may be out letting loose, as it were.”

“Do you have any idea where?” Jason asked.

The Saddle Arabian princess seemed to hesitate, considering, then replied, “There could be a few places where he would be. I’m not too sure if I’m at liberty to say where.”

Jason nodded. She was cleverly avoiding telling an outright lie, something that the changelings around him would sense. “Okay, I understand. Do you know when he might be back?”

“Not with any certainty, no,” she replied.

“Very well,” he said. “Thank you for your time.”

“Not at all, Emperor Wright,” she replied. “Have a good evening.”

“Same to you,” he replied.

As the group walked away, Nictis leaned over. “Sir, we know some of his haunts,” he whispered so only Jason could hear. “Why not ask us? They know we’ve been here.”

“There’s something to be said for courtesy, old friend,” Jason replied. He then turned to one of the gryphon toms. “Would one of you gentletoms be able to lead us to the restaurant row area around here? We’d like to eat something.”

The toms exchanged serious looks, then spoke quietly among themselves for a minute or so before the leader stepped forward. “Follow me, please,” he said before he headed to the front of the group and headed down the street.

Soon, the group had reached a larger street which was crowded slightly with not only gryphons, but dragons, ponies, and even a few of the snow leopards he’d heard about but never seen, not even in MLP.

As expected, people gave them a wide berth, especially the ponies, a few of which he recognized from Ponyville. He felt the old surge of anger rising, but pressed it down. Now was not the time to make an international incident, after all. Jason looked around with the others, pretending to look for a place to eat, although he knew just where he would be going. It had amused him when Nictis reported that Garble had opened a tavern and inn named The Green Dragon. It had further surprised him to learn that the bully character had a younger sister. That hadn’t been seen in the show when he’d left back in 2014.

When he ‘spotted’ the dragon owned establishment, he pretended to do a double take, then snorted. “Now that looks like a place where we can eat,” he said. “What say the rest of you?”

Nictis looked at the restaurant, then pursed his lips before nodding in agreement. “As you like, Your Majesty,” he said.

“Looks like as good place as any,” Chrysalis said as she looked at her new fingernails with what Jason thought was a bit of practiced disinterest.

“It certainly has to have some meat,” Elytra added, licking her lips hungrily. Changelings could eat meat if they needed to, and Jaso had learned early on during his campaigns that she was an avid lover of all things meat and animal based.

“The Green Dragon it is, then,” he said as they turned and approached.

They were only a few steps away from the doorway, however, when they heard chanting coming from inside. It sounded like the crowd inside was chanting “Song! Song! Song!” over and over again, then a cheer just as they opened the door.

Jason saw that the interior of this tavern wouldn’t have looked out of place in Skyrim, and none of the tavern’s denizens seemed to pay them any mind as a gryphon hen led them to a corner booth that would be able to fit them.

They were just in time to see a human standing from another booth nearby. Jason looked at the table, recognizing two of the creatures there. Gilda and Trixie sat there, the latter’s face looking a bit flushed and a smile plastered on her face. Another pony looked fairly familiar until he noted that her coloration reminded him of Sunset Shimmer, but as a pony. That confused him, of course, since he thought that because of the lack of Star Swirl’ mirror that she wasn’t a canon character.

The others at the table he didn’t know from the show, but he knew of them.

Starlight Glimmer was apparently a powerful magical unicorn who started her own town according to the reports he got. She was powerful enough to take cutie marks away. She had light heliotrope fur and a purple and aquamarine striped mane giving him the uncomfortable feeling of seeing another Twilight Sparkle.

The other gryphon hen who sat there, named Gabriella or Gabby, was smiling and looking at Gregory as he walked up to the stage. She was a deep purple and had long plumage that was tied back in what could very well be a well groomed ponytail, her turquoise eyes glistening.

A younger gryphon tom named Gallus sat there, with brighter blue fur, grayish amber chest fur, and blue eyes. He held a mug and barely looked over eighteen by gryphons standards.

The dragoness who sat there could have been Lyra Heartstrings' dragon counterpart, for all he knew, at least judging by the human-like clothes she wore and her scale coloration. Her name was Silica, and she was apparently Garble’s half sister.

Jason watched as Gregory was slapped on the back as he walked up the stairs and stood in front of the stage. He reached into his pockets and pulled out, of all things, a smartphone, but one that was bigger than any that Jason had ever seen. Are there more than one camera lenses on the damned thing? he thought. Gregory cleared his throat, then looked at the Twilight lookalike. “Starlight, would you mind?” he asked, pointing to the phone.

The unicorn nodded and cast magic which surrounded the phone. The phone glowed slightly afterwards, and Gregory tapped it. He looked out at the crowd, and then noticed Jason. The two humans locked eyes, and he inclined his head towards Jason in apparent greeting before he completed his scan of the room. “Okay, everyone,” he said, “You wanted a fucking song, you’re getting a fucking song!” He looked down at the phone again, then back at the crowd. “For this song, however, I’m gonna need help from a certain great and powerful unicorn. Beatrix Lulamoon, get your flank up here!”

The pale blue unicorn looked startled, then realization passed over her face as she came up. The crowd roared with applause as Trixie leaned in and whispered something to Gregory. Gregory nodded and grinned. She shook her head and nodded. She then turned to the crowd. “The Great and Powerful Trrrixie will grace the crowd with her singing prowess,” she announced with a flourish and bow, which only garners more applause. It was odd for Jason to see her without her cape and hat, but he suspected that even she needed to decompress.

“Now, I just have to say that, before we start, don’t take anything that I sing in this song as something I agree with,” Gregory said. “Trixie here hasn’t had an easy life until now. She’s gone through a lot, and I’m going to be representing those people, or ponies I should say, who were mean to her.”

“Trixie is pretty much over that stage of her life,” Trixie continued. “She is more than happy to perform for foals and chicks and hatchlings right here in her new home. She is singing this as a final fuck you to that life.” That got a laugh out of the crowd, and some even shouted messages of affirmation.

“The song is a rewrite of a rather obscure song from back home so that it can better fit her circumstances,” Gregory went on to say. “Trixie and I did the rewrite.”

“Yes, Trixie did help,” Trixie acknowledged.

“That was a lie,” Chrysalis whispered in Jason’s ear. “I can’t read Gregory, but that Trixie pony lied.”

Is he going to sing what I think he’s going to sing? Jason thought. No, there’s no way.

His thoughts vanished as she grabbed something seemingly from midair and threw it down onto the stage. An explosion of blue smoke erupted from where the object hit, and the two vanished behind a wall of the smoke. After a few seconds, the smoke vanished, revealing Trixie in her typical purple hat and cloak with yellow and blue stars etched onto both. She grinned, then turned to Gregory. “Trixie is ready whenever you are,” she said.

Gregory nodded, then tapped the phone and put it down. Jason wasn’t sure what song could be sung in a duet with Trixie of all ponies, but then his eyes widened as he recognized the tune that suddenly sounded like it came from everywhere.

After a short, barely a second, introductory beat, Trixie stepped forward, the grin turning into a stage smile as she began singing.

“I’m Trixie, welcome to the show!
”Got magic tricks, so here we go!
“We’re gonna have some fun,
“hold onto your hats!”

Gregory then took on a stern glare as he turned and faced Trixie, crossing his arms as if in disapproval, then sang as well.

“We don’t care who you are anymore!
“Just pack your things, go out the door!
“You claim that you’re performing,
“don’t make us laugh!”

Trixie looked out at the crowd, seemingly ignoring Gregory as she sang out, “I have something moooore!”

Gregory waved a dismissive hand and added, “We’ve seen it befoooore!”

Trixie looked around the crowd and winked as she sang, “It’s much more special.”

Gregory rolled his eyes as he sang, “We’d rather be in hell!”

Trixie, looking fed up, whirled onto Gregory and pointed a hoof at him.

“It might be the same act!
“Be patient, you’ll see!
“You can call it fake, but…this…is…
“REAL MAGIIIIIIC! YEAH YEAH!
"REAL MAGIIIIIIC! YEAH YEAH!”

There was a bit of a beat during which Trixie threw down another smoke bomb which hid her and Gregory behind its screen. When the smoke faded, there were several items there, including a small table with a top hat on it, a rope, a bucket with turnips and a birthday hat inside, and even a second bucket with fireworks in it. She began levitating the bucket with turnips in it.

“Look as I make stuff levitate,
“Making a rope act like a snack,
“And of course the famous bunny from a hat.”

“Got magic cards and so much more,
“I’ve even brought the fireworks
“For all of you to watch and enjoy!”

As she sang, she performed the appropriate actions with remarkable speed. Gregory just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Who cares about that?
“It’s all the same thing!
“All the same tricks
we’ve seen befoooore!”

Trixie turned once more towards Gregory, a glare in her eyes as she sang and pointed at him.

“It might be the same act!
“Be patient, you’ll see!
“You can call it fake, but…this…is…
“REAL MAGIIIIIIC! YEAH YEAH!
“REAL MAGIIIIIIC! YEAH YEAH!”

With the instrumental interlude, Trixie went across the stage, performing simple magic tricks such as making the magic cards change, twirling plates on sticks, making a talon coin appear behind Gregory’s ear, then using a voodoo doll of Gregory, sticking a pin in his ass and making him shriek, causing the crowd to erupt into laughter.

As he was hopping around, Gregory turned back to Trixie, only this time his expression was more confused than angry.

“Why do you still want to perform?
“We tried to tell you all along
“that this act is old!
”You have to face that!”

Trixie shook her head, a small but happy smile gracing her face as she sang.

“I heard all what you all have said,
“but I don’t think I should be mad.
“The most important thing
“is to enjoy what you doooo!”

Gregory sang over her last words with, “But it doesn’t make seeeense!”

Now it was Trixie’s turn to wave a dismissive hoof. “It doesn’t change a thing!”

Gregory faced her, making his face look more confused now. “Even if we say it’s bad?”

Trixie shrugged. “I’m still performing.”

Gregory then shrugged himself, then turned to the crowd. “It might be the same act-”

“Be patient, you’ll see!” Trixie interrupted, also facing the crowd and moving closer to Gregory.

The two looked at each other and joined their voices together. “You can call it fake, but…this…is…” and here Trixie stood on her hind legs and moved to stand back to back to Gregory as they finished harmonizing with, “REAL MAGIIIIIIC! OOOOOH! REAL MAGIIIIIC! OOOHOOOHOO! AAAH!”

The two then joined in a little side by side dance, tapping hooves and feet on the stage, only to end with a bow to the crowd as the song ended.

Nobody moved or spoke for a while, the two panting slightly the only sound heard alongside the fire. Then the crowd erupted into thunderous applause. Jason didn’t join in, not out of anger, but out of sheer shock. He’d sung a MLP fan song with the actual pony in question! That was…he didn’t have the vocabulary to describe it.

As the crowd clapped and applauded, Gregory stepped off the stage, laughing and accepting slaps on the back from gryphons, dragons, and even a couple ponies. He returned to his seat between Gilda and the other gryphon hen. A gryphon waitress came up to them nervously as the crowd settled down. “Hello, and welcome to The Green Dragon,” she said, maintaining an impressive amount of composure, Jason noted. “Can I get you started off with something to drink? Our in house bliss is recommended.”

”I’ll have a glass of bliss,” Jason said, refocusing on the waitress hen.

“Same here,” Nictis added.

“Can I have mine with some ice if you have it?” Elytra asked.

“Sure,” the hen said before looking nervously but without any hesitation at Chrysalis. “And for you, ma’am?”

“Might as well make that four,” the former changeling queen said.

“Alright, sounds good,” the hen said as she wrote that down. “And would you care to eat with us? Our special tonight is a roast beef and rabbit stew, loaded with potatoes, sliced tomatoes, garlic, diced onions, and chicken broth.”

Jason’s stomach betrayed him and it began to rumble. He nodded slowly. “A bowl of that sounds good.”

“Okay, and just so you know, that comes with a side of freshly baked bread,” the hen said.

“Understood,” Jason said.

The others ordered pretty much the same, and the hen left to put the order in. Chrysalis watched her go, then looked a bit amused. “She was almost pissing herself with fear,” she chuckled.

“Well, you are a scary changeling,” Elytra snarked back at her.

The two female changelings exchanged glares before turning away from each other. Nictis held up his hooves. “Let’s not fight here,” he pleaded.

“We are representing the Changeling Empire here,” Jason stated firmly, “so we should all behave.”

“What was with that singing, though?” Chrysalis asked with an incredulous tone and expression. She surreptitiously pointed a thumb at the table where Gregory and his friends sat. “Isn’t he supposed to be a government leader?”

“It’s called ‘mingling with the masses’, My Lady,” Elytra said with a lopsided grin, “something you could stand to learn about, I think.”

“Enough,” Jason ordered before Chrysalis could retort. He turned to the duchess. “Her tone aside, she’s right. Some leaders will mingle with the common folk as a way to relate to them.”

“I do hope you’re not talking about me right now,” a familiar voice said from nearby. Jason turned and saw Gregory standing there, arms crossed with an amused expression on his face. He raised his hand and, in a passable British accent, said, “Hello, there.”

Jason didn’t react, simply sat there and stared up at Gregory as he took the human in. He finally inclined his head. “Hello, yourself,” he replied.

If Gregory was disappointed that Jason didn’t give another response, he didn’t show it. Instead, he pulled a nearby chair and sat down across from Jason and the others, putting his hands on the table and folding them. “Came here to relax after a long day of negotiations, I take it?” he asked.

“What’s it to you?” Chrysalis asked in a testy tone.

Gregory raised his hands defensively. “Just a question, Duchess,” he said.

“We chose this place randomly as a place to eat,” Jason explained. It wasn’t the full truth, but it would suffice.

“Really?” Gregory’s question indicated the possibility that he didn’t believe him, but he didn’t press the issue. Instead, he stood again and nodded. “Well, you chose correctly. Either here or Gobbler’s Groggery are the two best taverns in town.” He turned to the bar where Garble was washing mugs with a towel. “Gar-Gar! The meal at this table is on me!”

“Stop fucking calling me Gar-Gar!” Garble shouted back. “Only Smolder gets to call me that!”

The crowd erupted into laughter as Gregory snorted. “Not unless you want me to tell everyone here about-”

“They already know because of you, so you can’t hold that over my head, smartass!” Garble shot back before flipping him off.

Amidst the roars of amusement from the crowd, Gregory flipped the dragon off right back before he turned back to the three changelings and human emperor. “Enjoy your meal,” he said as he stood and put the chair back where he’d pulled it from. “This is a relaxing place, so my advice is to enjoy it.” He inclined his head politely before he rejoined his companions.

Jason watched him go, trying to get a feeling for this fellow human. He had not once mentioned the Equestria Venture, either during their meeting earlier or just now. But he must have heard about it surely, he mused. He thought for a bit, turning his head away and staring down at the table, exploring its patterns and grooves as he thought. A part of him half expected Gregory to chew him out for that, especially since Gregory was clearly a fan of the show. Still, a lack of any mention of the Equestria Venture was curious in and of itself. He sighed, then looked up at one of the gryphons guarding him. “Would you give Mr. Graystone a message for me?”

The back room of The Green Dragon was surprisingly quiet despite the raucous crowd just outside the doors. A warm fire roared in another fireplace and the lamps cast a warm glow everywhere where the light from the room’s single large window didn’t hit. Jason sat on one end of the table with his entourage sitting on either side of him minus the gryphon guards who stood behind him. Opposite him, Gregory sat, with all of his companions there. That had been the only stipulation Gregory had given upon his response to the message Jason left. “No way am I getting into a room alone with you,” he’d said. Jason had accepted that, and an hour later, and after a surprisingly delicious meal, the two groups had headed to a large back room.

Jason looked at Gregory more closely. Unlike before, he simply wore a pair of thick snow pants and a zipper hoodie had the words I WAS BORN A LONG TIME AGO written in the same script as the Star Wars films. Leaning against his chair was the sword which he had worn during their meeting along with a pistol and holster. On Jason’s side, he had one of the new flintlock rifles leaning against the table as well as a dark curved dagger set on the table. Aside from that, the table was set with a large number of glasses full of either water or bliss.

When everyone was seated, Gregory sat up straighter and leveled his gaze on Jason. “It must be quite important if you want to speak to me in a more private setting,” he said. “What did you wish to talk about, Your Majesty?”

Jason couldn’t detect any sarcasm in his tone, but his last two words still felt like an insult. Not that he could confirm it from Chrysalis or the other two changelings in the room since Gregory was unreadable. “I had a few things to talk to you about,” he said, “but with the presence of the guards behind me, that might be difficult.”

“They won’t be dismissed,” Gregory said. “That would be foolish of me.”

“Then this conversation will be…interesting,” Jason commented. “It had to do with the choice of song.”

“Oh?” Gregory raised a curious eye. “Did you enjoy it?”

“It was certainly a…unique choice, considering who your singing partner was,” Jason replied, glancing at the sky blue unicorn.

“Oy, was that an insult to Trixie?” Trixie asked with a frown.

“Easy, Trixie,” Gregory said, putting a hand over her hoof, “I think he’s referring to MLP.”

And there’s the confirmation, Jason thought. “So they do know about it?” he asked.

”Everyone who lives with me is aware,” Gregory nodded in confirmation. “They have seen proof, too.”

That caught Jason off guard a bit. Did that mean that they’d all watched the show? He kept his expression calm. “That…must have been quite a shock,” he said.

“Eh, we got over it,” Gilda said with a dismissive wave of her claw.

Jason chuckled without amusement. “Is that so?”

“Are you trying to insult us somehow?” Starlight Glimmer asked with a scowl.

Jason shook his head. “Not at all,” he said. “I just wanted to confirm a suspicion, is all. I’m also surprised you told so many.” He jabbed a thumb at Chrysalis, then at Elytra and Nictis. “These three know, but that’s it.”

“I see,” Gregory nodded in acknowledgement. He then leaned forward. “May I ask you something that’s been on my mind since I learned about you?”

Here we go, Jason said, he’s gonna ask about the Equestria Venture. “You may,” he asked.

“What was the date back home when you left?”

That question caught Jason off guard. It wasn’t anything he was really expecting. He thought back. Truth be told, he did remember the exact date, and he decided there was no harm in sharing that. “April 25th, 2014.”

Gregory nodded. “When I left, it was September 23rd, 2027.”

Jason hid his surprise and filed that information away for later review. “Quite interesting,” he said instead. “I’ve been here only five years, and thirteen years have gone by back home?”

“So it would seem,” Gregory acknowledged. “Do you want any news about home?”

Despite himself, Jason had to admit he had some questions. He shrugged. Might as well indulge in his morbid curiosity. “Did Ebola ever become as big as they said?”

“No, but there was a worldwide pandemic called Covid-19 that started in 2020,” Gregory explained.

“What about the Malaysia flight?”

“Went down and they found debris a year later.”

“ISIS?”

“They lost a lot of members but they’re still a threat.”

“Russia and Crimea?”

“Still annexed and Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.”

“Bill Cosby allegations?”

“He went to prison in 2018 and was released in 2021.”

“Who’s the president now?”

“Donald Trump.”

Jason’s eyes went wide. “The guy from The Apprentice?!” he exclaimed.

Gregory nodded. “The same one.”

Jason shook his head incredulously. “Time flies…” he said. There was silence, then finally he couldn’t take it anymore. He turned to Gregory again. “Are you going to say anything about what I did?”

“You mean your invasion of the gryphon colonies in the South Badlands?” Gregory asked calmly. “We’re not in the Convocation, and I’d rather not talk about that now.”

“No, don’t play dumb,” Jason said, some of his control slipping. “What I did in Equestria.”

“Why?”

The question threw Jason for a loop. He leaned forward. “I destroyed the town, the one from MLP. Isn’t that why you came here? To see it and meet them?”

“Do you think I’d be mad about that?” Gregory asked.

“You’re a fan, right?” Jason asked.

“So what?” Gregory asked. “Even if I did admire the Elements of Harmony, why would I feel the need to judge you or be angry about it?” He leaned forward. “The only reason I would think about it would be to see it as an example of changeling aggression and be wary of you and yours in the future. Not to mention that your firearm weaponry-” he gestured to the flintlock rifle, “-represents a clear and present danger to Gryphonia.”

“Not to mention the Dragon Lands,” Silica added.

“My concerns now are for my nation first and foremost,” Gregory said. “If you think I’ll go off on some sort of tirade or have some sort of personal vendetta for burning down a place that I came to see, then think again.” He leaned back. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about, Your Majesty?”

Jason kept his expression neutral, but he couldn’t help but look at Gregory differently. For one, he doubted that even his treatment by the ponies of Ponyville hadn’t reached here, but Gregory hadn’t mentioned anything about it. Secondly, he felt a growing sense of jealousy. Even if he had appeared in Gryphonstone, Gregory had received a far better welcome than Jason had. It infuriated him, but he kept his composure. “No other questions,” he said. “I’ve slaked my thirst for knowledge of home for the time being.”

Gregory nodded. “Alright,” he conceded, “then let’s-”

The door burst open just then. Both humans acted at once. Jason grabbed the flintlock and aimed it while Gregory drew the pistol. However, the latter relaxed slightly when he saw who it was. “Lyra Heartstrings, what are you doing here?” Gregory asked as he lowered the pistol, but not completely.

The mint green unicorn was panting, but she quickly caught her breath and looked at Gregory. “S-Sir,” the unicorn gasped, “It’s B-Bon Bon! She’s fighting with three unicorns! She says they’re here t-to hurt you or Emperor Wright!”

“Are they, now?” Gregory asked, and Jason saw his fellow human, the same human who had been singing only an hour before and enjoying mingling with the crowd in the tavern, snarl as he held up his pistol and gripped his sword hilt. The look in his eyes was of a predator as he asked, “Where?”