Chapter 17
"Another one!" Greg yelled as he slammed his hoof down on the booth's table, staring the booth's owner down.
"One try per soul," the bored game master said, not even looking at Greg.
Greg growled as he slammed his hoof down onto an orb, giving it a single soul from his excess Ego. The lights came back on as a couple tiny clown marionettes came to life, dancing around.
He reached out with his magic and picked up another dart, aiming the dart at one of the dancing puppets.
"Greg," Lance said from behind him.
"I got this, don't worry," Greg responded, eying the one with the stupidest face.
"We don't have time for games, man!"
Paying him no attention, Greg let the dart fly, nailing the stupid clown in the face.
"Fuck yes!" Greg cheered, slamming his hoof over and over again on the table. "Give me my muthafuckin' prize, my man!"
The booth's owner, without looking his way, tossed a key-chain on the table. "A winner, everyone. We have a winner. Enjoy the prize."
Greg floated the key-chain charm to his face, smiling triumphantly at the little charm that had a sad clowns head with a dart in its eye. "Worth it."
"You spent forty souls on that," Calypso said with a look of disbelief and annoyance on her face. "Forty people died just so you could use their souls to win a... is that a key-chain?"
"Yep!" Greg said as he put it away in his pocket dimension. "That's going to my son."
"Jesus, Greg! We literally do not have time for this!" Lance yelled, getting a few stares.
Seeming unfazed, Greg turned to them. "I need to win something for Jelly Beans now."
"Listen to me, Greg," Lance says slowly, like he was talking to a child, "We have a mission; find our friends and family, that way we can find the Watcher. And kill him."
"I know the plan," Greg replied with a calm smile, looking around. "Ah, perfect!"
"God dammit," Lance groaned, facehoofing.
Greg slid up to another booth, the sleazy looking creature behind it barely looking his way.
"Guess how many nuggets in the jar, win the prize," it said, gesturing to a large jar with gold nuggets of equal size.
Leaning forward, Greg looked it over, mouth moving as he did math in his head. He placed his hoof onto the orb, transferring a soul as payment. "Four thousand and eighty two."
The creature slowly turned to him, staring directly into Greg's eyes. "Hmmm."
Greg smiled widely back at him, "It's literally simple math, bro."
Blinking slowly, the booth owner reached under the table and tossed a stuffed eldritch horror onto the table.
"Oh fuck yeah! Jelly Beans is going to love this shit!" He said as he snatched it off the table and threw it into his pocket dimension.
"At least someone's happy," Lance mumbled as he and Calypso stared at Greg in annoyance.
"My man," Greg asked, leaning on the booth next to the creature. "Tell me this; seen any other ponies like us?"
"Yep," the creature said in a bored voice, then nodded its head to the orb.
Greg slapped it, transferring a soul.
"Take the nearest tram to station JL35K23, then head to the circus tent. I heard they have a special show tonight featuring a tall pony."
Kissing his hoof and flicking it towards the creature, Greg sat back, "My man, you are amazing."
"I don't believe it," Lance facehoofed again.
"I have my methods," Greg replied coolly as he began trotting towards the nearest train station.
Calypso looked at Lance as they started to follow, "Is he always so... carefree?"
"When he's high he is," Lance remarked, looking at Greg's back. "Which he probably is, right now."
"You seem to hold a lot of resentment towards Greg," Calypso said slowly. "Which is strange since you two are friends, and he talks so highly of you."
"You don't know him like I do," Lance sighed. "He seems like he's always in control, but when it matters, he crumbles."
She didn't look convinced as she looked towards Greg. "I may not have a history with him, but from what I do know, he's pretty capable. He did stand up to the Queen and overpowered her own magic."
"That's probably due to her being tired from fighting Scamp. Greg never could have taken her on, and just got lucky."
"I think you're a bit biased and casting judgment," Calypso observed, causing Lance to roll his eyes and speed up. "You just don't want to see past the past."
This caused him to look back at her in shock.
"I know what happened," she said to him, causing his shoulders to slump a bit. "Greg showed me the memory."
"Then you know how he fucked it all up and how he killed David," he hissed.
"I saw a stallion at his lowest point in life make a major mistake, causing the loss of a friend. He regrets it, I can tell you that much," she said in a caring voice, which did not seem to fit her usual tone.
He sneered again, resuming his previous mood, "Yeah, I hope he regrets it."
As he turned and walked faster away from her, she sighed. She may be a Doctor, but this was well outside her scope of expertise.
ooo000<^>000ooo
The three ponies approached the large circus tent, a crowd cheering inside. A large sign out front listed the shows for that night.
"Huh, I have to admit, this one was rather easy," Lance remarked, seeing a picture of an annoyed and pissed looking Vinetion and a scared Aaron.
"Two for one!" Greg cheered as he trotted towards the entrance.
A large alien looking creature stood out front, multiple tentacles stretching from its body.
"Three for the show, my weird brother!" Greg said as he held up his hoof to pay admission.
"No equine allowed at tonight's show," the alien thing said in a bubbly voice. "Park rules."
"What?!" Greg asked in shock, looking back at the other two. Then looked back up at the alien, glaring, "Bro, that's racist as fuck!"
"Okay," Calypso said as she stepped up and pushed him back. "May I ask why?" she asked as nicely as she could.
The multi-limbed alien stared back blankly. "I do not question the policies. When we have equine performers, no other equine may enter. Things have gotten... rowdy, in the past."
"I'll get rowdy out here if you don't let us in!" Greg said as Lance pulled him further back.
"Thank you," Lance said as he pulled Greg away, followed by Calypso.
Greg huffed as they were out of view. "Great, now what?!"
"I don't know, let me think," Lance said, sitting down and thinking of their next course of action.
Calypso rubbed her chin, deep in thought.
Pacing around, Greg suddenly stopped, smiling. "So no equine allowed?"
"That's what the creepy thing said," Calypso responded, Lance didn't even acknowledge him.
Greg's horn flared and he stood before them in his human form. "He said nothing about humans!"
"That's... actually a good idea, Greg," Lance conceded, standing up. "Hit me."
With a pop, Greg slapped Lance.
Lance blinked a few times, then sighed, "Okay, that one's on me. Should have been more clear. Hit me, WITH the human spell."
"Ah!" Greg said with a chuckle. "I gotcha, bro."
With two flashes, Calypso and Lance stood before him as humans.
"Ehhh, this feels fucking wrong," Calypso said as she looked herself over, taking note of her slightly darker skin color than the other two.
"Trust me, I get it, I prefer my pony form," Greg commented, pushing his hair out of his eyes.
Walking back to the entrance, the three approach the alien creature.
"Three please," Lance asked, holding up his hand.
The alien barely looked at them this time as it moved a tentacle to point to an orb. "Ten souls each to enter. Enjoy the show."
Once they were inside, they took in the massive size of the place. The outside did not do it justice!
Massive bleachers surrounded four circles, where a group of performers were jumping around the ring.
"I don't see them," Greg said as he looked each of the creatures over.
Calypso took the lead and walked them to one of the front rows, standing at the end of it. "They'll probably be one of the next shows, if we haven't already missed them."
"I hope we haven't, this'll get complicated if we have," Lance said as he crossed his arms.
They stood quietly as they watched the show, not enjoying it at first. But as the next show began, they were treated to some animal taming. This at least got Greg and Lance interested as they laughed along with the crowd, Calypso remained unamused
The Ringmaster, a normal looking human male, stepped out after they removed the animals, taking center stage. “Well now, that was amazing, right folks?!”
Everyone roared in agreement.
He twirled the mic around as he smiled brightly at the crowd around himself, letting them calm down before resuming. “Do we have a treat for you tonight! You saw them last week during their debut, and LOVED them!”
Again, the crowd roared in agreement.
“Now! We will bring them back for their second show!” He yelled into the mic. Lights dimmed and spot lights moved to a tent flap.
“She is a beast who knows no reason! He is a timid young man, wanting to tame the she beast!” he announced as the sounds of chains and roaring could be heard coming from behind the closed tent flaps. “Can true love get through to the beast?”
“Oh fuck,” Greg muttered, already knowing what was coming.
After a few moments, a pony burst through the flaps, running in a panic. “Here comes our young man now!”
“Jesus you fuckers are crazy!” Aaron yelled, breathing heavily, bruises covering his body. The crowd just laughs, treating everything as part of the show.
“Do you hear that?” The Ringmaster asked, cupping a hand to his ear. “I think the she beast isn’t far behind our young lover boy!”
A cart rolled out with a extremely pissed off Vinetion standing atop it, heavy chains connected to her hooves and neck.
“I will kill everyone in this fucking tent! I SWEAR IT!” she roared, only being met with cheers from the crowd.
“Oh boy, they’re using her as a prop for the show,” Lance said, shaking his head.
“Get in there, lover boy! Try and get through her barbarian brain!” The Ringmaster yelled, whipping at Aaron, causing him to yelp and jump towards Vinetion.
She strained against the restraints, eyes flaring in anger. “If this fucking place wasn’t so barren, I’d have killed you all!”
“So dramatic,” Greg chuckled as he opened his pocket dimension and reached in. He pulled out a potted plant, a simple flower with vines around it.
“Oh, that’s great,” Lance said, a smile on his face.
“Yeet!” Greg yelled as he threw the potted plant high into the air. It landed a few feet away from Vinetion, her eyes snapping to it immediately.
“No throwing trash into… IS THAT A PLANT?!” The Ringmaster screamed, the crowd laughing in response.
With a stomp of her front hoof, vines shot from the plant and wrapped around everyone around her, choking them.
“That’s our Vine,” Lance laughed as he jumped over the railing.
Greg’s horn flashed, removing their human forms, then followed after him. Calypso stayed in her spot, taking up a position overlooking the area.
“She’s resisting!” a cat/hippo creature cried out as he hit a button. A vine wrapped around his neck and yanked him down hard to the ground.
Vines shot up and ripped the chains from Vinetion’s body, allowing her to move freely.
“Lance?!” Aaron yelled, seeing them approach.
“Sup, bud,” Lance said with a cheerful smile.
Aaron let out a sigh of relief and ran to hug Lance. “I’m so fucking happy to see you!”
A pokeball slapped him as he neared Lance, causing him to disappear in an instant.
Greg began laughing despite the situation, wiping tears from his eyes. “Dude, that was mean as fuck!”
Lance just shrugged as they approached the raging Vinetion.
A vine snapped towards Lance, but stopped as it touched his neck.
“Lance?” She asked, stopping her rampage, staring at him in confusion.
“Hey, Vine. Having fun?” he asked, gesturing to the struggling people around her.
She blinked, then smirked. “I’m just getting started! These fucks have been asking for this!”
“I’m not going to stand in your way,” he replied, looking around.
The Ringmaster suddenly broke free of the vine holding himself and grabbed a device on his jacket. “He’s here!”
A vine grabbed him again and began to slam him into the ground over and over again.
The two watched as the raging mare went back to throwing the creatures around the area. The crowd, not realizing this wasn’t part of the show, was going ballistic.
“So you must be the little pony my boss wants,” a large demon wearing a cloak said as he floated down from the roof.
Lance looked up at him as he floated down, smiling, “You must be another of Lorenzo’s goons.”
“The very same,” the demon replied as he touched down on the ground, waving his hands out wide. “Except, I prefer the term gentleman. I’m no goon.”
“Shoot him!” Greg yelled, followed by a bullet slamming into the demon's head, causing it to snap back. “Nice.”
“Ego bullets?” the demon exclaimed as he rolled his head back to look at them. “Those hurt, but won’t cut it here.”
“Ah shit,” Greg said as he pulled out his crude club. “Guess we’re beating his ass the old fashion way.”
Lance flashed as he shifted into Holy Dawn mode, a card flashing as he began to exude power.
Vinetion threw away the last of her tormentors before stepping forward, vines shooting up around her.
The demon looked between them, then smirked, “Oh no, I’m out numbered, what could I possibly do?” He threw the cloak off of himself, revealing a body that looked to be nothing but scars and burns, with more muscles and mass than comfortably possible. Slamming his fist together, flames erupted from the impact.
“Careful guys,” Lance warned as they circled the demon.
Catching them off guard, the demon jumped forward first, slamming a fist into Lance. Flames exploded around his fist as Lance was sent flying backwards.
Vines shot up and wrapped around the demon's body, trying to wrap him up. But fire seemed to flare around his body, burning away the vines.
Greg ran in, slamming his club into the lower back of the large demon. The club shattered immediately.
The demon turned to face him, raising an eyebrow at Greg.
“Look, its the best I have!” Greg yelled as his horn flashed and he appeared behind the demon. “Weed blast!”
A torrent of solid mariquina spewed out of Greg’s horn, slamming into the burning back of the demon.
Turning around, the large demon looked at him confused, then stepped forward. He stopped, taking a deep breath.
“Did you just use my body’s natural flames to burn some kind of drug?” he asked, looking to get a bit high.
“Yeahhhhh,” Greg replied, nodding with a dumb smile on his face. “The good shit, bro.”
“Ah fuck, alright, give me a minute,” the demon said as he sat down, picking up a solid mass of burning marijuana and pressed it to his face, taking a deep inhale.
“Like it?” Greg asked as he walked up and sat down on his flank.
“What the fuck is going on?” Lance asked Vinetion as he flew back up, confused by the sight.
“It’s… Greg being Greg,” was her only response.
“Hey man, try this shit. It’s laced with…” Greg looked at the others, then smirked back at the demon, “Laced with some good shit.”
A large rolled blunt appeared before them.
The demon took it and took a hit, coughing loudly. “Oh shit, what is this?!”
“The Greg Special,” he replied, nodding proudly.
After a few more hits, the demon sat back, holding the blunt between two fingers. “Name’s Balgore.”
“Greg Campbell,” Greg said as they bumped fist to hoof. He shook his hoof a bit as Balgore’s fist burned his hoof.
Lance facehoofed at the scene before him.
“We good?” Greg asked, two more blunts appearing between them.
Balgore laughed, taking both of them. “You know what, little pony? We’re good.”
“Fuck yeah,” Greg said, pumping his hoof a bit. “Power of weed and friendship.”
Pulling out a card, Balgore handed it to him. “Ever need help, give me a call.”
“What about your boss?” Greg asked, taking the card.
“What about him?” Balgore laughed, taking another hit. “The worse he’s going to do is yell.” He then leaned forward and smiled slyly. “By the way, my Ego literally prevents me from taking damage. This fight wouldn’t have gone well for you guys.”
“Oh fuck that, I don’t want to fight you for sure now!” Greg laughed, his own blunt appearing between his lips.
The crowd around them had stopped cheering, and looked on in confusion. Then slowly, they started booing.
“Oh shove off,” Balgore said as he stood up and began to float back up into the sky. “I’ll be seeing you later, Greg.”
“See ya, Balgore! I got more weed and shit if you’re ever interested!” He yelled back, waving goodbye.
Once he was gone, Greg turned to his friends, seeing their deadpan stares.
“What?” He asked innocently. “Dude was chill, no need to fight him.”
“God, I don’t even know how to process that,” Lance said with a groan as he started walking away.
Vinetion just chuckled after a second. “That’s the Greg I remember. Never get clean again, please. You were so boring.”
Greg just made a clicking sound as a glyph appeared and he slapped it, causing a little rabbit to appear, giving finger guns.
“Adorable,” she remarked as she followed Lance.
With a flip of his mane, he hit the blunt and tossed it to the side.
As they neared Calypso, she was just rubbing her head like she was in pain.
“The fact that worked is hurting my brain,” she groaned.
“Join the team,” Lance remarked as he hopped over the railing.
“Greg, never change,” Calypso finally said, getting a wink from Greg.