//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Knuckle Couplings // Story: The End Of The Line // by autobotfan15 //------------------------------// [Canterlot - Trainyard] The yards of Canterlot only had a water tower, a coal chute, a few small tracks for storing rolling stock and a shed for engine maintenance. Inside the shed were Connie and Andrew, the latter of whom was sitting at a table with his face in his hands. Connie, despite having no eyes and in her locomotive form, could sense Andrew was there and could sense how upset he was. “Andrew, you can’t blame yourself for what happened to him,” she said in a reassuring tone. “How could I not? I could’ve done more but he…” he trailed off as he choked back a sob. The door to the shed opened, letting in light from an outside lantern. Gregory stood in the doorway, arms at his side and a calm demeanor surrounding him. “Jesus, dude, I could sense your emotions from the medical ward,” he said as he came in and closed the door behind him.  “Oh hey… What is it? Did Howard send off another threat?” Andrew asked as he lifted up his face to reveal his red tear soaked eyes. “No, I’m here to check on you, my young padawan,” Gregory said as he approached. He took a seat on a nearby small barrel. “We can’t be falling apart at a time like this.” “I know, I just wasn’t expecting a blast from my past to rear its head here. If anything, it's more like a link to my own demon.” “Well, it’s not my business to ask what’s going on or what happened,” Gregory said, “but it is my job to make sure your head’s in the game completely. So, you don’t have to tell me anything, but here’s some tough love incoming.” His tone softened a bit as he continued, “Find someone to talk to about this. Someone who can understand and empathize with you. Doesn’t have to be me. You can talk to someone like Stacy, Rainbow Dash, hell, even Celestia if you want. Clearly this issue is gonna impact your performance in the upcoming battle.” “Stacy already knows what’s going on in my head, in fact me, Stacy, and Robbie were a witness to something that happened in the days following the incident,” Andrew said, his mind deep in thought. “I’m afraid I haven’t been completely one hundred percent honest with you.” “I know,” Gregory said, “but is this gonna affect the mission to stop Howard and his insanity?” “I don’t know but I think maybe you of all people should know because if Jason finds out about this I don’t know how he would react.” Gregory frowned a bit, then crossed his arms. “If you wanna tell me, then tell me.” Andrew sighed after taking a deep breath. “Well, it would be easier to show you with the Gjallahorn but I'll describe it as best as I can.” “Sure, go ahead,” Gregory said. [Strasburg Railroad - Summer 2023] The early morning passenger train left the station pulling its first tourist train of the day. As it passed the engine workshop, two humans watched it go by. “So what, he just assumes nothing would happen?” Andrew asked. “Yeah,” the other guy said. “You’d think one could easily tell the difference between kerosene and diesel fuel. Now he has quite a huge bill to pay to fix the engine of that truck.”  The two guys chuckled for a bit before the other guy sighed as he continued to watch the train pull away into the distance. “You know, I ought to get back to content creating soon, I mean pony videos were nice while they lasted, but I ought to get back in the saddle, as they say.” “But I thought you didn’t like G5,” Andrew said. “Yeah, but I mean make content about another show like Thomas and friends,” the guy said. “Oh, like Jasper Pie and Thespio used to do? I can see you doing that,” Andrew said. “Oh, then how about you join me?” Markus, the other guy, asked. Andrew gave him a perplexed look before Markus continued. “I can see you voice acting a few characters, you do a nice impression of James and Thomas.” “Guilty as charged,” Andrew replied with a chuckle. “It would be nice to work with you in entertainment again.” “Yeah. Back in the pony days people would call us AJ and Dash, but maybe now we can be called Henry and Gordon.” That got both of them laughing up a storm. [Somewhere Along The Northeast Corridor - Late Autumn 2023] A car raced along the road as three occupants were inside, all three of them looking worried. “Robbie, are you absolutely sure he went this way?” Andrew asked after a while. “Yeah. I recognized the background in that selfie,” Robbie said. “I did some trainspotting there a few times.” The car continued to speed on the road until it reached its destination, a roadway bridge that overlooked the high speed rail lines and there standing on the edge was Markus. The car screeched to a stop as all three jumped out. “Markus! Don’t do it!” Stacy shouted desperately. Markus remained silent as he just stared down the tracks beneath him. Andrew stepped closer to him. “Markus, please think about this!” Markus didn’t even turn back, just continued looking down at the rails. “This world… this world will never be happy like Equestria…” he said in a dull tone. “Everything we knew was not magical.” “Markus, please don’t!” Andrew begged. “This world can be happy! For all we know those episodes were made by haters or hackers!” “No, I saw it all. It was so real. There is no harmony. Maybe there is in the next life,” Markus said as he took a step forward as a distant horn sounded. A horn that was quickly approaching.  “Markus, NO!” Andrew ran up and tried to grab him but unfortunately all he could do was look over the ledge and see his best friend smiling one last time. [Present] Gregory took in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry for your loss, I really am,” he said in an empathetic tone, “but you need to understand something. His death is not your fault. This Markus guy clearly had bigger issues on his mind than just those new episodes. Sure, they didn’t help his mental state, but that is not the main reason he took his life. Don’t put all of that guilt on your shoulders. You did what you could, and nobody can ask more of you than that.” “He wasn’t the only one,” Andrew began. “There were so many suicides by people who saw those episodes.” “My point still stands,” Gregory said. “It wasn’t just those episodes that drove them to taking their lives. They all more than likely had something more going on in their lives for them to take that path. I know that makes it sound like I don’t care, but I do. It’s not something I take lightly, especially since Jason tried to kill himself too.” “You’re right,” Andrew said after a few seconds of contemplative silence. “It wasn't those episodes if anything those episodes gave the media fuel to label bronies as more dangerous than the toxic side of the furry community. You should’ve seen the memes and the amount of bullying everyone got.” “Pff, the media,” Gregory said with a scoff. “Every bit of media has an agenda. Most of them are heartless bastards who only care about scaring the population and getting good ratings. That happened here too, especially when Cozy was ousted as the leader of the CFE movement.” His tone softened again. “Don’t put the weight of the multiverse on your shoulders. Your friend’s death wasn’t your fault. Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs. My counselor back on my Earth helped me out and taught me that the past happened, and there’s nothing we can do to change it. Mourn your friend’s passing, and learn to accept that it’s not your fault. That sounds hard, and I understand that it can be, but you’ll forever be stuck in a rut if you keep looking backwards.” Andrew was silent but then much to their surprise Connie spoke up. “You know, he’s right. If anything, you did far more good, and I’m sure Markus would appreciate it. Remember when you found me in that scrapyard? There were so many other broken diesels ready to become rust, but you insisted that a lone SD40 could help you. You did more than give me a new lease on life, you saved me.” “Connietron here is right,” Gregory said without missing a beat, which caused Andrew to smirk involuntarily. “Like I said, it’s not your fault that those events happened, and it’s certainly not Jason’s fault. We’re all responsible for our own actions, not those of others.” Andrew looked down at his hands on the table. After a moment he smiled. He got up and hugged Gregory. “Thank you.” This surprised the other human, who hugged back after a bit. “Never really pegged you for the hugging type,” he said with a small chuckle after he let Andrew go.  Andrew grew serious after they broke the hug. “Right, as happy as I am for the comfort, I’m afraid I got a bit of bad news about Connie’s fuel tank.” “Lemme guess, no diesel refueling,” Gregory said. “We had two tankers that were meant to last us a while. We spent one in Haven City and the other one blew up in Ponyville. We only have a couple gallons left in her.” Gregory stroked his chin. “The human world has diesel,” he said, “so I could call Sunset and ask her to look up how to make it so we could recreate it here. Or…” he paused and thought. “Do you have any idea how complex the formula is and are you aware how much a machine likes this drink? Getting it from that world will take forever.” “I did download all of Wikipedia with me, so I could look it up,” Gregory said. “However, there is another idea that might work, and with your new magic, it could be possible.” “I just tried that with water,” Andrew replied, “but it turns out I can only convert whatever is solid.” “Maybe we can convert her into a steam engine,” Gregory suggested. “They have steam engines here, so it’s not like we can’t provide fuel for her.” “So I saw, but that could take a while.” “Again, like I said, you can convert solid objects,” Gregory said, “so you could convert what’s inside Connie here with your magic.” “But something this complex could take-” Connie interrupted them. “Ahem.” Both men turned to the converted engine. “He’s right, Gregory. Both steam and diesel are complex designs. Look, all I have left is what's in my tank and we may not have time. Let’s make it count. I should have enough for a journey to Manehattan and back.” “You should stay here,” Gregory said. “What you’re doing isn’t expending any fuel, and I’m not comfortable with letting a new form of life sacrifice themselves when we can fly.” “Well there's that. So what’s our next move?” Andrew asked. “First, we go back to the castle and there we come up with a plan of action there,” Gregory said. “Very well. Maybe Robbie will find out where Howard is having his wedding and tell us,” Andrew thought. “I can think of a couple places where he might do it,” Gregory said. “For all we know, he might want to do it in Canterlot itself.”  “With all this activity?  That’s as fat chance as Garfield.” “Hmm, well then maybe in Ponyville,” Gregory said. “But it seems like Howard loves showing off his superiority. It’ll be a big party.” [Changeling Hive Ruins- Same Time] “This will be a big party,” Howard said as he watched his clones work throughout the bright starry night. “Yes, it will,” Twilight said in the same infuriating monotone she’d been using ever since the spell had been cast on her. “I should work on your tone, you're sounding like Siri.” Twilight just stood there, not saying anything. Instead, she stared out at the scene before her while the clones worked underneath the stars. Howard then snapped his fingers which revealed a big glowing sword in his hand. He waved it when it suddenly shot a lightning bolt at a random clone that turned it into ashes instantly. He looked down at it. “Best thing ever since the lightsaber. Wouldn’t you agree, Twilight?” “Yes, it is,” she replied in her normal monotone demeanor. “I thought so. Now what can we do about our security? Or what can I do about Gregory and my traitors?” Twilight didn’t respond for a bit, and there was a slight twitch in her left eye. However, after a few seconds, she replied in a slower tone, “Whatever…you want…” “I’m glad you think so, my dear,” Howard said as he waved the sword again. In the distance, several strange cannons emerged from the ground. “Those might keep some pests away, but what do I do if…? Hey Twilight, do you know if Gregory's magic will be a match for my Sword of Eris?” There was another eye twitch, then silence for a bit. Finally, Twilight replied, “I don’t know.” Howard rolled his eyes. “Well, so much for that. Not everyone can be an Albert Einstein.” Howard then lowered his face to Twilight and snapped his fingers, making a dress appear on her. “Tomorrow morning will be our hour of love. You will become something far greater, my dear.” “Yes, Howard,” Twilight said after yet another eye twitch and a few seconds of silence. “Perfecto, sleep well Twilight,” Howard said as he waved her off. Twilight turned and walked to the tent where she was sleeping. She lay down and closed her eyes. As she was about to fall asleep, a small tear fell down her cheek onto the pillow. Four words escaped her lips before she passed out. “Help me…my friends…” [Canterlot Castle - The Same Time] Celestia, Luna and Blueblood waited patiently in the throne room. They were hoping to speak to Jason before he went to sleep. A few moments later Jason entered being escorted by two drones. “Ah, Jason, thank you for coming, we won’t make this long.” “Please don’t,” Jason said with a yawn as he took a seat, “I’ve had a long day and bed is calling. What’s on your mind?” “We’ve come to ask a small request of you,” Celestia said. “What’s that?” he asked. “We understood you temporarily removed the punishments for the former bearers.” “Yeah, and then they asked for them back earlier this evening,” Jason said. “Yes, we know. We wanted to have your permission for something. You see, with all the growing problems, it’s becoming harder for both me and Blueblood to handle the concerned citizens.” “And we can’t exactly trust any elites to help us anymore since the purge,” added Blueblood.  “What about Noblesse Oblige? Or Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis?” Jason asked. “Those three are some of the good nobles, and they have a lot of influence.” “Yes, but even they have their own problems,” Luna said. “We wanted to get your permission if my sister could rejoin us and help us until the crisis has subsided.” “Not as a princess,” Celestia quickly added, “I know I don’t deserve that anymore.” She then turned to Luna. “Also, the three ponies Jason mentioned are more than able to help. They are free of the foolish elitist ways of the other nobles.” “I did say you couldn’t have a say in the ways of nobility anymore,” Jason said, “but advisors technically don’t have a say. They can just give suggestions.” He was tired and looking more annoyed. “Tell me you thought about this before you called me here.” Luna and Blueblood looked at each other, then Luna sheepishly turned back to Jason. “We…we did,” she admitted, “but we wanted to be sure of the intent.” He took a deep breath, then stood. “Well, you have your answer. If there’s nothing else, I need a long bath before bed.” “Jason, I know you said my sister can’t be a princess anymore,” Luna said, “but in truth I really miss working alongside her. Ever since she left for Haven City this castle has never been the same.” “Lulu, we will be working alongside one another,” Celestia said. “I just won’t be a princess. You know I was planning to retire, remember? Besides, you have been doing an amazing job at filling my shoes. You can come to me for advice anytime, you know?” “I know, but I’ve been so busy I barely have much time for myself, everyone looks up to us more than a unicorn stallion.” Celestia chuckled. “I know how that feels,” she said, “but don’t forget that you have our nephew, and he’s grown a lot.” Blueblood smiled at this. “Thank you, auntie.” Celestia smiled back at him, then looked back at Luna. “Back in ye olden days, nobles were, well, noble. They helped a lot to take some of the workload. If I know Noblesse, Fancy and Fleur, they’re eager to help. You’re taking too much on yourselves, both of you.” Jason just watched the scene a little while longer before turning and walking away. On the way back to his room, however, he entered the wrong door. He saw a familiar looking mare brushing her mane. Said mare turned, and her eyes widened. “Oh my, Mr Wright!” Fleur De Lis said in alarm. “Oh, my bad, sorry,” Jason said as he turned away apologetically. “I meant to go into the room across from you.” Fleur chuckled a bit. “No need to apologize, sir,” she said kindly, “I can see you’re exhausted.” “Dear, who is it?” a male voice called out. “Mr. Jason Wright accidentally walked into our room, love!” Fleur called out. Fancy Pants stepped out of a nearby room, mane wet and wearing a light blue bathrobe. “Mr. Wright! A pleasure to see you again.” Jason turned. He liked Fancy Pants and his wife. They treated him with kindness and respect, so he smiled a bit at them. “Again, pardon the intrusion.” “Not at all,” Fancy said, “it’s good to see you.” “You’re lucky you stumbled in here and not the room next to you. I saw something quite interesting in there,” Fleur said with a smirk. “Do I want to know?” Jason asked a bit worriedly. “Only if you’re curious about your new human acquaintances,” Fluer said. “Lemme guess, a young man and a certain blue rainbow pegasus?” Jason asked. “No, why don’t you look if you're curious?” Fleur asked. “Dear, please don’t,” Fancy said. “I’m not the type to snoop,” Jason said with a neutral expression and turned to leave, only to stop. He turned back. “Hey, you two, this isn’t my place to say, but I think that Princess Luna and Prince Blueblood could use your help on something.” “We’re aware of the situation, Mr. Wright,” Fancy said, “but even we have issues we must face. Someone has to try and help keep the civilians calm in these trying times.” “Even so,” Fleur said as she turned to her husband, “we are nobles of the crown. We can and should step up and do a bit more. I can handle it.” Fancy looked at his wife, then a slow smile crept onto his face. “Yes, you’re right. We can certainly do more to help ease the burden on the Prince and Princess. It’s our duty as nobles.” “I’ll leave you to it, then,” Jason said as he slowly walked across the hall to his real room. As he reached for the doorknob, he heard some sounds and noticed the door next to his was left ajar. He heard what sounded like whispering, but not being the type to snoop, he simply turned the doorknob to his room and walked inside. There was a candle lit on the windowsill and he saw Chrysalis stretched out on the bed, already fast asleep. He closed the door behind him, walked up, and crawled into bed next to her. She immediately snuggled up to him, making him relax. “Finally, I was starting to think I was gonna have to feed off the love of the new couple next door,” Chrysalis said seductively. Jason rolled his eyes and smirked. “Sorry, but Luna and Blueblood wanted to talk to me. Seems as if they’re resolving their own issues, though.” He buried his face into her chest and hugged her close. “I am exhausted…” “Oh? Not as exhausted as the two next door I hope.” It was then Jason saw a small hole in the wall. “I actually gave a couple ponies a special present, courtesy of one of the other changelings here.” Jason chuckled. “Of course you did.” He used his magic to cover the hole with a nearby chair, then grabbed Chrysalis’ wrists, pinning her onto the bed. “Miss Chrysalis, are you trying to seduce me?” he asked in a husky tone. “Oho? Now we’re talking,” Chrysalis said as she removed the t-shirt she was wearing. “Take me, stud. Right now!” Meanwhile, next door a human girl and pegasus could only blush as they heard the sounds of the human and changeling next door. “You think he saw us?” Stacy asked. “I don’t know,” Flash said with uncertainty. “I thought these walls were stronger and soundproof.” “Let’s worry about that later and take advantage of the noise they’re making next door.” Flash looked a bit nervous as he slowly pulled out something he’d actually gotten from a changeling friend he’d made. It was a golden bracelet with a green gem encrusted onto it. Apparently, it was similar to the rings that Gregory wore to enhance his magic. “Let’s hope this works,” he said as he placed the bracelet over his right hoof. His body was immediately encased in changeling fire. Instead of a normal pegasus pony standing in front of him, there now stood a humanoid version of the young pegasus guard, all naked and all blushing as he used his new hands to cover certain areas. This, of course, made the new bipedal anthropomorphic pony stumble and fall onto his back onto the bed. “Whoa!” he said before holding up his new right hand. The bracelet had shrunk to become a ring that was on his middle finger. “Huh…she was right. It did work.” “Eh, I would've preferred either way but you do look awesome,” Stacy said with a grin. A grin that turned saucy as she approached. Flash looked even more nervous as she walked up. “A-Are we really doing this?” he asked. Stacy shushed him as she climbed in bed before reaching over to a candle and blowing it out. “Shhh, big boy, Stacy’s here to make you feel good.” With that, she leaned down, and kissed him deeply. Meanwhile, Andrew was walking with Rainbow and Gregory to their rooms when he stopped and felt something, like a jolt of electricity. “Whoa, something wrong there, engineer?” Rainbow asked. “Why do I get a feeling we missed something amazing?” Andrew asked. Gregory closed his eyes, then stumbled back a bit. He had a grin on his face. “Ho ho ho, noice,” he said. “And actually, I have something I got from a changeling earlier. She told me to give it to Rainbow Dash, but only if she promised to use it in private.” Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a gold bracelet with a slightly glowing green crystal encrusted onto it.  “What is it?” Rainbow asked curiously. “Try it on in private, and you’ll see,” Gregory said as he reached his room. “Well, this is my stop. You two have a good night.” With that, he entered his room, only to see Ember sprawled on their bed, looking at him with the all-too familiar bedroom eyes. “You could smell it, couldn’t you?” he asked as he closed the door. “Get in here,” Ember demanded, “and lose the clothes!” “You don’t have to tell me twice.” Rainbow and Andrew just looked at the door hearing the sounds of those two. They both stared at the bracelet and shrugged as they went to their room. When they entered, Rainbow looked at the bracelet with curiosity. “What do you think it is?” she asked. “No idea,” Andrew said. “Welp, best way to find out is to use it!” Before Andrew could object, she slipped it onto her right forehoof. Before either could react, she was engulfed in green changeling flames, only to reappear as a slender, slightly athletic, but very attractive anthropomorphic pegasus pony. A pegasus pony who was completely naked. “Whoa…whoa!” she shouted as she began to fall, not used to her new form. She fell back onto her ass, wincing in pain. “Ow…” Andrew shielded his eyes. “Why couldn’t that give you clothes like the human portal?!” “A little help here, please?” Rainbow asked. “Sure, just cover your chest first,” he said as he handed her a blanket. Not used to her new fingers, she used her wings to wrap herself up with the blanket. “Okay, all done.” “Great, now why would a changeling want to give you something like that?” Andrew asked. “Who knows?” Rainbow said as Andrew helped her up. However, this only caused her to fall forward, wrapping her new arms around him. “Whoa whoa!” “Whoa, easy there Dashie.” She clung to him, looking a bit scared. “H-Help me to the bed?” she asked. He helped her to the bed. He looked over her new form, of course avoiding looking at her private bits. “Do I look like a human mare?” she asked curiously. “Somewhat,” Andrew replied. “Some of the features are like human women, but you still have your fur, your head, mane and tail. And your cutie mark, too. You’re what humans call anthropomorphic, or a furry.” “Well, do I look okay?” she asked, looking a bit worried. “Actually, yeah, let's hope the pain strikes don’t become stronger in this form.” “I don’t feel any more pain than normal,” she said, “and I just experienced the lightning strike pain ten or so minutes ago.” “Still doesn’t answer why would a changeling give you this. But I will admit you do look awesome,” She smirked a bit. “I always look awesome,” she said. “So, what do we do now?” She looked at her right hand and saw that the bracelet was now a ring on her middle finger. “Should I take this off?”  “No, let's see how well you can sleep in this form tonight,” Andrew said, getting in bed. She nodded and slowly lay down, pressing herself against him like she normally would with someone she would sleep with. “Am I bigger than normal?” “You’re roughly my size, maybe a couple inches shorter,” Andrew said. “I guess I’m not a little pony anymore, eh?” she said with a chuckle. “No, but you’re still an awesome one,” Andrew said, holding her close. She blushed slightly before she lifted her blanket and covered both her and him. Her fur was soft and warm against him and she wrapped an arm and leg around him. “This is…oddly comfy,” she said. “Agreed,” Andrew said, blushing as he felt her soft fur against him as they both snuggled together until they fell asleep.