[Canterlot - Exterior]
As the group that had gone to Ponyville returned, Jason ran out to meet them, panting heavily as he did so. There was a lot on his mind and he knew that he needed to tell them everything that had just happened. As they landed, an out of breath Jason said, “Hah…hah…thank God you guys are back…hah…you won’t believe what hap-” He stopped in mid sentence as he noticed a new addition to the group. Standing near the train tracks was a large metallic creature that had some kind of train parts scattered all over its body. He pointed at it, then looked at Gregory, Andrew and Stacy. “Transformer?”
“We’ll explain later,” Gregory said as he turned to the dragons who were carrying the other unconscious humans. “We need to get them inside.”
Princess Luna teleported in at that moment, surveyed the scene, and nodded. “Follow me. I will lead you to the medical wing of the castle.” She then turned to Gregory. “Do you still have Grogar’s Bell in your possession?”
“It’s in my guest bedroom. I’ll go get it.” So saying, he spread his ice wings and flew up towards his room, Ember following close behind.
Luna turned back to the others, then gestured for them to enter.
[Canterlot Medical Facility - Later]
“Aaand…that’s the last of them,” Gregory said as he held Grogar’s Bell over the remaining unconscious human. Despite the Olifant having removed their draconequus forms, it hadn’t removed their new magic, so it had been agreed that their magic should be temporarily taken from them until they could be trusted with it. Gregory hung the bell around the chain he’d placed on it and checked the pulse of the random man. “Yep, still sleeping.” Turning back, he held up the dark green object hanging around his neck. “They’re just powerless humans now, at least until we say so.”
Luna was the first to speak out of all of the others in the room, which included Jason, Chrysalis, Ember, the Mane Six, Celestia, Andrew and Stacy. She turned to the latter two. “Are you confident that you can convince them of the validity of our claims?”
“Well it’s not like I’m talking to Robbie,” Andrew began. “I only managed to convince him because he’s my best friend. We’re kinda like brothers. With the rest however? It will be a challenge. But I think the horn Gregory blew made them see enough.”
“Let’s hope so,” Luna said as she turned back to the sleeping humans. “Do you foresee any of them being an issue?”
“I don’t know. I’ll be surprised if they go from attacking Jason to just giving him the stink eye.”
“I should leave the room just in case,” Jason said, “but before I do, I should warn you all that Howard was here earlier.”
Everyone snapped their heads toward Jason. “He didn’t hurt you or Chrysalis, did he?!” Gregory asked.
“No, although Discord got quite the drop on him with one of your knives,” Jason chuckled.
Gregory grinned, then turned to Discord, hand extended. “I’ll take that back now, by the way.”
“Aww, but it’s so nice and well-made,” Discord pouted before he reached down and pulled the knife out of a belt he wore around his waist, handing it back to Gregory. “Thanks for lending it to me. There’s still some of his blood on it.”
“Good, maybe we can use that somehow,” Gregory said as he took the knife and placed it in a bag before putting it in his small bag.
At that moment Spike walked in. The little dragon was carrying a scared expression along with a scroll in one of his claws. The others noticed this immediately. He looked up to everyone. “I belched this out and I don’t think it’s from a friend.”
Luna thanked Spike and took it in her magic. She opened it up and read aloud, “What the… ‘Connection established’?”
Suddenly the words twisted and formed a mouth. To the humans it looked like another howler. “Testing, testing, is this thing on?” an all too familiar voice said, a voice that most everyone at this point recognized.
“To whom am I speaking,” Luna asked.
“Ah, your majesty Princess Luna. I was expecting someone like Gregory to take this call.”
“As the sole monarch of Equestria, I am the one who deals with terrorist threats,” Luna said with a dark tone, “now, to what do we owe this displeasure?”
“Oh, I just wanted to check in on my traitors, targets, and other favorite people and to remind you about my firework show. I wonder if Jason filled you all in.”
“I assume he was about to before you interrupted,” Luna said, “now state your business immediately.”
“I bet you all thought those rockets in Ponyville were my threats. Well here's the thing: they were all duds. I knew you wouldn’t give in too easily.”
“And what are you threatening now? To kill more of the former citizens of Ponyville?” Luna asked.
“Oh no, those ponies are well known. But for how long? That will be depended on if you give me what I want or I will continue to bomb many places with well hidden explosives.”
“You would kill the very innocents you claim to love in the name of something as foolish as revenge over something that is not your business?” Luna asked.
“When it comes to the fallout of a huge incident that ended a well known icon, then it is my business. Oh listen, I gotta go, my bride is calling me. And just in case you want to know what a bombing sounds like, open a window and look in the direction of the hive.”
Everyone ran to the window, gasping as a massive cloud began erupting from the far off direction of the Badlands. Chrysalis broke down in tears, tears mixed with a rage that even those who couldn’t detect emotions could feel. Jason ran to her side and did his best to comfort her. In the background, Gregory shook his head in disgust and disbelief at how stupid this Howard really was. He felt true empathy for Chrysalis in this moment
Luna’s jaw dropped, then she turned to the still floating piece of paper. “You are irredeemable, you monster.”
“Call me what you want but I can't stay. I have a mare that needs me. Oh, and if Jason wants to surrender all he has to do is stay where he is without anyone nearby.”
Unable to bear listening to him, Gregory reached out his hand and a bolt of electricity impacted the paper, which erupted into flames, destroying the paper and turning it into ash which fell to the floor, disrupting and permanently ending the call. There was silence in the room as everyone processed what had just happened. Finally, Celestia turned to Jason and Chrysalis. “If it means anything, I am truly sorry for what you have lost.”
“Save your apologies,” Chrysalis said, “I know you didn’t do this. It’s that bastard Howard!” She put a protective arm around Jason’s shoulders. “I will NOT let that man have the man who is the father of my child!”
That made everyone else go completely quiet. All save for Gregory, who stepped out of the room. He pulled out a small crystal and poured his magic into it. A magical holographic image appeared, and the human form of Sunset Shimmer appeared in front of him. “Gregory? What’s wrong? You don’t normally call until the weekend.”
“You’re the only one in range,” Gregory whispered. “Listen, there’s a situation back here that I need your help with.”
“What is it?” she asked, all business.
Gregory quickly explained the situation, then concluded with, “I need you to quietly inform Haven City’s citizens and evacuate them to the human world until the crisis is averted.”
Sunset pondered this. “That might be a bit dangerous,” she finally said. “If there are too many on this side, the imbalance between worlds might cause cracks to form, like when Midnight Sparkle tore the fabric of time and space apart at the end of the Friendship Games.”
“Take as many as you can,” Gregory said. “Yggdrasil has very deep cellars where others can hide. Try and do it as quietly as you can.”
Sunset nodded. “I’ll do my best. See you soon, gaming buddy.”
Gregory chuckled. “Same to you. When this is over, it’s a Call of Duty marathon for us!”
“Hope you’re ready to get your ass beat!” Sunset smirked.
“You’re on, Shimmer Code.” The two chuckled at that before they said their goodbyes and cut the connection.
When he returned into the room, everyone was still silent. Luna looked over and asked, “What were you doing?”
“Putting a possible plan into motion to save the citizens of Haven City,” he said.
“You mean an evacuation? I’m pretty sure with all the chariots and the trains we have at our disposal we can make that possible. But we don’t know when he’ll strike.”
“No, I had something else in mind. Evacuation through Starswirl’s mirror to the human world, and anyone who can’t get through will hide in Yggdrasil’s deep cellars. They were made to withstand enormous magical blasts.”
“You mean sending a city population to a world of human counterparts? Won’t that cause confusion?”
“You forget that Haven City is only a city in name,” Gregory explained. “It’s more of a town in terms of population. Besides, flying citizens can fly away fast, but it needs to be as stealthy as possible. Sunset’s smart, and so is Starlight. They can make it work.”
“And what if ponies like Bon Bon see her human counterpart? I’m pretty sure we don't want to cause an interdimensional identity crisis.”
“Twilight met her counterpart once before,” Gregory said, “and besides, Sunset and Starlight are smart. They can do it under cover of darkness if they need to and find a place for them all to hide out. Canterlot High is a safe place and Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna are caring and understanding individuals. Not to mention that their Bearers of Harmony are pretty badass.”
“Well, that's nice for Haven City, but what about the other places Howard is planning to blow? Manehattan? Mount Aris? They could be doomed for all we know,” Andrew stated.
“He did say his next target was Haven City,” Jason said, “but you have a point.”
“We need to call for a worldwide broadcast,” Gregory suggested, “similar to how the entire world saw The Trial. We need to denounce these two as traitors to peace and harmony, but also mention that they are not to be trifled with.”
“Telling the whole truth could cause a worldwide panic,” Luna stated, “and perhaps that’s what he wants.”
“Perhaps,” Gregory acknowledged, “but the public does need to know something.”
“What if we-? Hmmph?!” Spike was about to suggest until he felt his stomach squeeze. “Not again,” he said before belching out another scroll.
“Oh, what now? More threats?” Andrew said as he carefully picked up the scroll. This time it had no mouth, just normal words. “Hey, it’s Robbie’s handwriting.”
“What does it say?” Stacy asked.
“It says Howard has hideouts all over the world but that he managed to find one. Here’s an address,” Andrew read as he squinted at the address detail. “Hmmm… according to this it’s a location in Manehattan.”
“The Big Apple, huh?” Gregory said. “What should we-?” Everyone heard a slight groaning from one of the beds. One of the humans was just about to wake up. Jason and Chrysalis, who was still inconsolable, quickly vacated the room. “Well, this is gonna be fun,” Gregory said as he took a seat nearby and turned to Andrew and Stacy. “You’re up, kids.”
Andrew sighed and looked at Gregory. “You owe me a drink when this is done.”
“Sure. The last big bottle of Jack Daniels in the universe work for you?” he asked.
“Sure…” he said as he and Stacy turned back towards the beds while Luna, Celestia, and Ember all left the room. He then turned back to the Mane Five. “Hey wait, didn’t you girls say you were gonna do this?”
“We can help, but you know ‘em better than we do,” Applejack said.
Outside, Ember, Celestia and Princess Luna watched the scene. They couldn’t hear what was being said as they spoke to the person, a young girl as young as Stacy.
Gregory, sitting inside the medical ward, was of course privy to what was being said. He wasn’t about to leave the room, but he wouldn’t interfere unless absolutely necessary. He sat in a chair, hands in his lap and a patient expression on his face.
The girl sat there in silence as she listened to the two people. Of course, at some point, the Mane Five chipped in and spoke up themselves. The girl’s reaction was almost hard to read but at some point Gregory noticed her face slowly started to shed tears. It wasn’t long before the sounds of sobbing and crying filled the room.
This, of course, woke up another human, this one nearer to where Gregory was sitting. When said human noticed Gregory, his feature twisted into anger and he raised his arm, presumably trying to use his chaos magic, but when he was unable to, he demanded, “What happened to my magic?!”
“You’ll get it back when you’ve all calmed down,” Gregory said patiently before looking over at where Stacy and Andrew were consoling the newly awakened girl. “One of your friends woke up,” he called out.
Stacy went up to him. Andrew sighed. “This is gonna be a long day.”
“But worth it in the end if things work out in the favor of peace,” Gregory said as he placed his hand over Grogar’s Bell which was still hanging around his neck.
“And what about this address in Manehattan? Are we going there tonight or something?”
“We? No, your places are here with your friends,” Gregory said. “They need someone they trust to help them through this process.”
“Actually, I can handle this myself,” Stacy said. “Besides, even it gets tough I got some tanks and pony friends to keep them in line. Also, Andrew’s hardly the comforting type.”
“Still, you two should stay behind,” Gregory said. “You’ll be at least safer here, and you can keep an eye on Jason for me.”
“Is this because you’re afraid I’ll jinx things up again?” Andrew asked, growing a little agitated.
“No, this is more so the fact that Jason needs people here to help protect him,” Gregory said calmly.
“You’re kidding? There are guards everywhere and not just pegasi and unicorns in armor.”
“How good are they against chaos magic?” Gregory asked. “You have Stacy with her tanks, you have Connie, and then there’s you. You have something growing inside you, a magic that is slowly growing.”
“Then let's consider this nightly mission a test drive to see what it is.”
Gregory gestured for him to leave the room with him. Once they were in the halls, he turned on Andrew. “Magic is not a toy,” he explained patiently. “It’s not something that you can just master overnight. I’ve had magic for a while, and I'm still learning about it from Twilight. You can’t just waltz into some potentially dangerous place and expect to get some heroic boost of magic. Sure, that might happen, but more than likely something might happen outside of your control and people could get hurt.”
“Another reason to go with you. If I have something growing inside me, it’ll be best to do it away from my friends.”
“And right in the middle of the most populated city in Equestria?” he asked.
Luna then approached the two hearing everything. “Actually, the address is in an abandoned warehouse far from the metropolitan area,” she explained.
Gregory rubbed his forehead slowly. “If anything goes wrong and we make it back, you’re grounded from doing anything more until you learn more control of whatever magic is growing inside of you. That is non-negotiable.”
“No worries, Donut Lord, this blue devil hedgehog will behave himself.”
Gregory raised an eyebrow, clearly not getting some of the reference. “Be ready to leave before sunset. Ember, another dragon and I will be waiting.”
“Whose the other dragon? Garble?” Andrew asked.
“Nope, someone stealthier,” Gregory said. “But for now, help your friends.”
Andrew nodded as they headed back inside.
[Manehattan Warehouse District - Later That Evening]
A small chariot pulled into the district two dragons, two ponies, and two humans stepped out. The pegasi pulling it saluted and immediately took off.
“It’s nice to be working with you again, Sir Gregory,” Moonlight, Gregory’s former personal unicorn guard, said with a warm smile.
“Damn right,” Swift, the pegasus mare guard, added. The two had been a late addition to the group, both wanting to help their former charge.
“It’s good to have you two by my side, too,” he said with a smile before becoming serious. “Okay, everyone, let’s go over the plan one more time. Andrew, repeat it back to us.”
Andrew nodded and said, “Swift and the other dragon will peer through the windows and see what’s inside. Once it’s safe, we’ll either break the door down or bust up the lock.”
“I still think we should be stealthy about this,” Gregory said.
“Dragons don’t do stealthy,” Ember said, turning to the other dragon with them. The one who had helped to carry Andrew since he was the only one aside from Moonlight who couldn’t fly. “Right, Smolder?”
Smolder grinned. “We kick ass and take names,” the teenage Bearer of Harmony said, throwing punches as she said so.
“Remind me again, what element is she?” Andrew asked.
“Honesty,” Gregory said.
“And she honestly thinks the same thing?” he asked.
“Funny,” Gregory deadpanned before he pointed up towards the nearest window. “Up there.”
Ember nodded, spreading her wings. Smolder and Swift did the same and the three quietly flew up to the window. Peering inside, they saw nothing but crates with no sign of any life whatsoever. Swift saw that the door they were closest to had no guards or any security systems of any kind. But she remembered there was a lock outside.
When they returned and reported their findings, the group moved quietly to the closest door. Ember used her fire breath to melt the lock into slag. Gregory then cautiously opened the door and peered around, trying to detect any emotional hotspots that could indicate someone was there. He closed his eyes to be able to concentrate better.
“Getting anything?” Andrew asked.
Gregory held up his hand to indicate silence as he concentrated. Slowly, he locked onto something, and his eyes opened back up slowly. “Yes. It’s faint, but someone’s here.”
Smolder walked to a nearby crate and opened it up. She peered in. “Wow this Howard guy really likes Twilight. Look at all these stuffed toys.”
Everyone gathered around the crate. Gregory reached down and pulled a random one out. Looking at it, he found a tag and looked it over. “These are toys from Earth,” he murmured as he put it back.
“We did load the train with a lot of stuff. Guess Howard slipped this on board as well,” Andrew explained.
“That’s even creepier than-oh Faust, is that me…?” Smolder asked as she picked up a stuffed animal that looked a lot like her. She dropped it like it was garbage. “Creepy.”
“We need to find out what’s going on in here, and quietly,” Gregory said, putting a finger to his lips.
The group continued to search the place. Andrew then saw a crate in the corner of the room which was occasionally shaking a little by itself. He cautiously approached it with the others close behind. He placed a hand on top and immediately to him the wood on the crate no longer felt like wood but rather paper. “What the? Did I do that?” he asked as he slowly peeled the paper.
“Be very calm about it, but yes you did,” Gregory whispered as the others peered into the crate.
Andrew was the first to speak. “Well, they’re not puppies but they’re cute, I guess. Boy, how I remember these. Hey Gregory, remember that fluffy pony meme from the early days?”
“I became a fan later, but I know the meme. Did he really make them?”
“Not sure but they don’t look as fluffy as Fluffle Puff.”
“If Howard thinks he can create sapient life with chaos magic, he’s an idiot,” Gregory said. “Faust would never allow anyone but her to be able to create true life.”
Andrew picked up one fluffy pony and immediately got bit as he dropped it back in the crate. “Ow! Okay, not cute!”
“I told you to be stealthy,” Gregory sighed. “That means don’t touch anything that could be dangerous.”
The fluffy pony looked down in shame. Andrew immediately looked down. “Awww I can’t stay mad at you. You don’t know any better.”
Gregory pursed his lips thoughtfully. “These are more like golems than anything, but perhaps they have some sentience. If we can save them and find a way to help them become more complete, we will, but just remember that only the creator of this world can bestow true life on these creatures.”
“Fair enough. You know, these six fluffy ones kinda look like-”
But before he could finish another door burst open revealing a huge figure. “What do you think you're doing?! Get away from them!”
Gregory quickly stepped between the open box of now whimpering fluffy pony golems and the figure. “You can fuck right off,” he snapped as he raised a shield around the group and the open crate.
Andrew looked at the figure. “I know that voice. Stay away, Bubba! We’re not gonna allow you to hurt these cute-well maybe cute is not the right word-but we won’t let you hurt them!”
Suddenly, Bubba thrusted a gorilla palm towards the group with an elastic arm, hoping to grab only to be met with an electric shock that he immediately recoiled as his palm hit the shield. The fluffy pony golems all shrieked in alarm and pressed themselves against one another in an attempt to stay safe. Moonlight and Swift were quick to place themselves nearby to protect the fluffy foal sized creations.
“You people don’t understand. I’m not trying to hurt them,” Bubba said as he rubbed his shocked palm.
“And why should we believe you?” Smolder asked.
“Because I found them in a garbage can in Ponyville,” Bubba began. “I assumed they were hiding from those tanks that were prowling the area. So I took them to safety.”
“Huh, he’s not lying about that.” Gregory said, “but he is keeping something from us.”
“Well, anyway, I’ve been taking care of them when I got them here and we soon bonded. I even gave them catchy names, Rainy Bow, Tiny Jack, you know, parodies.”
“If they really bonded with you, then why am I sensing a large amount of fear directed at you?” Gregory asked, pointing at Bubba.
“That’s because they don’t trust intruders. They saw what you and your magic is capable of.”
“No, there’s fear directed at you too,” Gregory said. “Not all of it, sure, but there’s fear of you.” He could sense a slight shift in Bubba’s emotions, and his frown softened. “They’re afraid of you too. I doubt keeping them locked up in a crate does you any favors.”
“I may have attacked another intruder and they may have witnessed it.” Bubba said embarrassingly.
Gregory shook his head. “These golems are like children. They saw a big mean scary looking monster like yourself hurt someone. What’s to stop you from hurting them?”
At that, one of the fluffy ponies, a bright pink one with blue eyes, jumped onto Gregory’s shoulder. The pony reminded the humans of something of a mix between Fluffle Puff and Pinkie. Gregory could feel the terror coming from the pony, and at once he knew. He knew that these ponies were more than just golems. Golems, according to his research, didn’t express emotions. His jaw dropped. “My God…Faust really made you all come to life…” He reached out, touching the fluffy foal sized pony gently. It flinched a bit, but slowly relaxed as it seemed to realize that Gregory wasn’t a threat.
“Well, if you were here earlier, you would’ve seen the relief they had long before the intruder came. Hell, you should’ve seen how little Flutterfly clung to me.”
“You’re still keeping them prisoner,” Gregory insisted. “Ponies, even these types, need more freedom. You can’t restrict them.”
“You may be right, but how would you be protected if your protector is a wanted man? No doubt you guys were already hunting me down.”
“Your so-called protector is an insane megalomaniac who wants to destroy the world,” Ember snarled in anger.
“He’s caused nothing but heartache and misery in this world, including for Twilight’s friends,” Gregory added.
“I wasn’t talking about Howard being my protector. I was talking about myself being their protector,” Bubba said.
At that moment another fluffy pony that was white got out of the crate and walked up to Bubba. Bubba carefully picked her up.
“You want to truly protect them?” Gregory asked as he cradled the pink fluffy filly in his arms, “then join our side. Help us to take Howard down.” He pulled out the Olifant from a bag and held it up. “He’s willing to destroy the entire world to get his foolish revenge and he’s dragging you down with him. He’d slaughter these innocent foals to get his way.”
“Slaughter innocent foals? What are you talking about? I only heard he blew up a hive.”
“He’s going to destroy Haven City,” Moonlight stated.
“Wait what? No he wouldn’t. He maybe insane but not that horrid.”
“No, he would,” Gregory said. “Let me show you,” he added as he brought the horn to his lips and blew a short blast.
Bubba’s eyes went wide as they glowed for a brief second. The glowing then died but his chaos features remained. “Whoa, wait- I don’t understand-” He looked down to the other fluffy ponies that were gathered around him. “What kind of monster would do this to you all?”
Before anyone could say anything a new voice came. “Right? Sounds like something only a horrible person would do.” There, floating in the room was a head with a Cheshire cat style grin. Howard’s head looked down at the group. The fluffy ponies that looked like Rarity and Fluttershy immediately felt fear as they clung to Bubba. Gregory held the pink fluffy pony close as she buried her face into his chest. Other fluffy ponies, who were not close to Bubba, crowded around the newcomers, now not seeing them as a threat but as their protectors as well. Howard grinned as he looked down at his big friend. “You see, Bubba, there's a reason why they look so much like the Mane Six. They’re my prototypes.”
“Your Prototypes?” Bubba asked.
“Yes. You see, I wanted to recreate the cast only cuter and for something for the people who liked that My little Dashie story. However, I ran into some snags. I wasted so much chaos magic into creating these golems that it became a headache the more I tried to perfect them. So instead of continuing this side project I took these supposed lifeless puppets and disposed of them as quietly as I could.”
Bubba was growing angry. “You’d just throw them away?!”
“Pretty much yes.” Howard answered.
“Now you know just how much of a heartless bastard he really is,” Gregory said as he picked up another fluffy pony. This one looked a lot like Twilight Sparkle, and she clung tightly to Gregory’s chest. He didn’t pick at random, however. He made sure Howard saw which one he’d picked up.
Howard saw the tiny one and grinned. “Oh yes, and thinking about it now, I assume Faust wants to pull a fast one over my head. Then again, these fluffy ponies were prone to heavy trauma. You’d be surprised how much people glorified fluffy pony abuse back in the day.”
“This isn’t Earth,” Gregory snapped back, “just like the thestral ponies on Gaia, these will be treated better than you’re treating Twilight, which isn’t saying much considering you’re mindraping her.”
“We’ll see about that,” Howard said as his head disappeared.
Gregory inhaled, then held out his hands. The shield around them grew larger until it enveloped the entire warehouse. He made sure not to let the shield touch Bubba as he detected a switch in allegiance. “We need to get these poor ponies back to Canterlot where they can be taken care of,” he said. He turned to Bubba. “Are you with us now, or no?”
“I don’t know. Will the rest of your clan even accept me?” Bubba asked.
“Actions speak louder than words,” Gregory said as he held up Grogar’s Bell. “If you want to gain trust, I’m afraid we’ll have to take your magic away temporarily. But not before you teleport us all back to Canterlot.”
“Pwease…” said a voice.
Bubba looked over and smiled. “Rainy Bow, your first word.”
“Pwease hewp,” Rainy said in a filly’s voice. However, she then turned to the others. “Hewp Unca Bub.”
Gregory couldn’t help himself. He smiled a bit, but the smile faded as he approached the hulking draconnequus. “You’ve heard my terms. Trust has to be re-earned, and with your chaos magic, there’s a lot of uncertainty. I’ll talk to Princess Luna and recommend that you be a part of the group that helps look after this new tribe of ponies, but you need to surrender your chaos magic after we get back to Canterlot.”
Bubba just looked at the fluffies, their eyes wide and quivering. He sighed and looked at Gregory. “Okay…”
Gregory nodded. “Can you teleport us and these new ponies back to Canterlot?” he asked, “as well as anything else in here that Howard might use against us?”
Bubba chuckled, “Honestly, all I found in here are useless pony merchandise as well as…well, let’s just say it’s better you don’t know. Trust me.”
“I’ll at least take your word on that,” Gregory chuckled.
“Pony ‘toys’ are pretty interesting, aren’t they?” Swift said snarkily.
Andrew opened another crate after turning the wood to paper. “Jesus, I see what Bubba means. Don’t look in here.”
“It’s nothing us mares haven't seen before,” Swift chuckled.
“Let’s just get these poor fluffy ponies somewhere safe,” Gregory said.
[Canterlot - A Few Minutes Later]
“So, it’s agreed. Until further notice you’re to remain in this room until we decide what to do with you,” Luna said to Bubba, who was now human again as his chaos magic had been taken from him. He sat on a bed with the Fluffies around him, all except for the two who were still holding onto Gregory, the Twilight one and the pink one, which he learned was meant to be like Pinkie.
“Understood, now if you all don’t mind I think we would all like to get some rest,” Bubba said as he looked down at the Fluttershy fluffy.
Swift and Moonlight moved in as well, both gently helping to herd the foals into their hastily gathered cradles. They had volunteered to keep an eye on the new foals as well as Bubba. The Twilight and Pinkie fluffy ponies seemed not to want to be separated from Gregory, but he gave them both reassuring scratches as he placed them with their new sisters. “Sleep well, okay?”
They all started to leave but Andrew looked back at Bubba one last time. “Hey, you gonna be okay big guy?”
Bubba looked down at the sleeping ponies with a calm caring smile. “I’ll be okay.”
Andrew left and caught up to Gregory. “So my power is matter manipulation? Interesting.”
“It would seem that way, but that is a very dangerous power,” Gregory said. “You just need time to practice it, but unfortunately we don’t have that kind of time.” He puffed his cheeks and blew out a breath. “You’re like the Ahsoka to my Anakin, having to learn as we fight this damned war.”
“Don’t you mean I'm your Anakin to your Obi Wan? I’m not a girl.”
“Yeah, that works better,” Gregory said with a chuckle, “but it’s time we find Stacy and see how she’s doing with the others.”
“Agree, you know I'm surprised you didn’t pick up on my Sonic the Hedgehog joke hours ago.”
“Oh, I got the Sonic bit, but not the the part about Donut Lord.”
“Well when you say grounded that reminded me of when Sonic called the sheriff his dad and not Donut Lord. I loved those Sonic movies. Hey, since you came from 2027, do you know if Amy Rose appears in the next movie?”
“I downloaded the Sonic movies, but I haven’t watched them yet,” he said. “Was never really into Sonic, but I figured I’d download movies to watch if I ever got bored. When this is over, you can watch them. If my computer isn’t destroyed by nuclear fire.”
“Deal,” Andrew said.
Soon, they arrived back in the medical ward where everyone had woken up and were all sitting and eating a late night snack.
The two guys walked up to Stacy and Celestia who were nearby. “So how’s everyone holding up?”
“Have they accepted the truth?” Gregory asked as he took a seat nearby.
“They mostly did. Jason came by earlier. Most just accepted him, others just glared, and one girl ignored him the same way he did to Pinkie,” Stacy Explained.
“Jesus,” Gregory muttered as he brought the horn out again. “I don’t need to use this again, do I?”
“I doubt it,” she said. “They all saw everything about the destruction and what Ponyville did to Jason and other nonponies, unlike how Andrew saw literally everything about Gaia.”
Andrew turned to Celestia. “There won’t be any serious charges or punishments will there?”
“I’m not a princess anymore,” Celestia reminded him, “so that’s up to Luna. However, were I still princess there would still be disciplinary action taken against them.”
“And did Luna say anything?” Gregory asked.
“No, but she will soon I suspect,” Celestia said.
Gregory stood from his seat and touched Grogar’s Bell. “I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but since you now know all of what Ponyville did to Jason and all it’s done to nonponies, are you still bitter at Jason for seeking justice? Let me remind you that the Gjallarhorn wouldn’t have responded to him were he in the wrong for seeing justice done.”
There was silence for a bit as the humans looked at each other. “Well I guess you can say I’m not that bitter anymore. Like I said, my only goal was to undo the pain punishments,” Andrew stated.
“And what about the rest of you?” Gregory asked, looking at the other humans. “Surely the former Bearers explained their thoughts on the matter of their punishments. You also know the xenophobia of Ponyville, from the zebra slavery up to Jason’s abuse and torment.”
“Twilight’s school would’ve handled those problems peacefully yet Jason’s approach looked pretty dark.”
“No, no it wouldn't have helped,” Gregory said patiently. “Think about it. A school about teaching people to be friends. That sounds pretty condescending, dontcha think? And there were no zebras in the school. There were no minotaurs. There were no centaurs. Starlight’s school is leagues better. It’s a multicultural school.”
Another human stood up and approached Gregory. “And you don’t seem to know about the major fallout we had from Jason’s trial. Then again I don’t blame Andrew and Stacy for not going into the grizzly detail.”
“I came from the same world as Jason, but you came from another Earth,” Gregory said.
“Yeah, an Earth that had the displeasure of watching a big downfall which led to several other events outside the TV,” the man scowled. Andrew and Stacy looked at each other nervously.
Gregory sat down, crossing his arms, and looking up at the man patiently. “Do tell.”
“Trust me bud, it's best you hear from someone else. Hey Andrew, how about you tell Greg here about that friend of yours. What's his name? Markus?”
Andrew flinched as Stacy put a hand on his shoulder to calm him. To Andrew the memory struck him like a train. “You can tell me whenever you want to, or not at all,” Gregory said calmly.
“I-I I need to go. I think I’ll talk to Connie and check on her diesel tank, ” Andrew said as he quietly left the room.
As he fled, Gregory turned back to the man who was still standing over him. “Just because of that, you lost a lot of trust. He’s your companion and you threw him under the bus to make a foolish point. None of you are thinking logically. You’re thinking with your fandom hearts. Your emotions are ruling you right now. You think I wasn’t upset when I realized the truth? I managed to accept things when I heard the entire truth. If you all thought about it, you’d see my point.”
There was silence for a moment before a girl stood up. “I’m not that bitter anymore, and I see things clearly now.”
“Yeah, so do I,” said another man as he stood up.
“Same here,” said another.
“I wasn’t that bitter with Jason anyway, I just wanted him to know what Pinkie went through and now I'm satisfied.” said another girl.
The man who spoke first just scowled harder. “You can’t be serious, guys.”
“The truth is, Howard knew about this and hid it from you all,” Gregory said as he stood.
“I think we all know that now. One pony did fill me in,” said another man.
“Howard is planning to kill thousands with whatever nuclear weapons he has to get his foolish revenge on Jason,” Gregory said, “and not only that, but he’s brainwashed, or rather brainraped, Twilight into being his unwilling toy.”
The humans in the room began murmuring among themselves. Some looked horrified. One of them spoke up after a bit. “What do we do now?” he asked.
“You’ve done a lot of damage already,” Gregory said, “so your judgment has to come from Princess Luna. I don’t know what you’ll be doing, however your companion Bubba’s already been put on house arrest with some newly created ponies as his charges.”
At that moment Luna entered and Celestia stood up, both of them approached Gregory. “We’ll take care of things from here. I believe you should find Andrew. I saw him crying on my way in,” Luna said.
Gregory frowned, but nodded. “I’ll go talk with him.” So saying, he walked over to the window, which was high above the city, then opened it and leaped out, spreading his ice wings and flying towards the train station where Connie was. He wondered what he was about to learn, and figured that it wasn’t going to be pretty.