Chapter 19 - The Sessions
[Seeds of Yggdrasil - One Month Later - Trixie’s Office]
“Trixie has to admit that she was not expecting you of all creatures to come see her,” Trixie stated to her new guest.
“Oh? I’m shocked,” the guest said, placing a paw on his chest. “You didn’t expect moi to come and visit this prestigious facility? Fluttershy won’t stop talking about it ever since she started working part time. Honestly, it makes me feel a bit left out.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow at her new guest/patient. “Oh? Is that the reason you’re here, Discord? Trixie is detecting feelings of abandonment.”
Discord turned away in a huff. “Please,” he said with a dismissive wave of his claw, “I am the Spirit of Chaos. I don’t feel abandoned. But my visit to your office was based more as a suggestion by Fluttershy.” Discord looked down in thought as a small smile appeared on his face. “She’s been doing a lot better now since visiting you, so you’re doing something right.”
“Naturally, Trixie excels at any endeavor,” the blue unicorn said proudly, “and Trixie believes that you are here for your issues as well. So, since Fluttershy is doing better, I take it she is no longer smothering you and using you as a replacement for her pets?”
Discord shook his head. “She’s slowed down on the mother hen act significantly since her last few visits. In fact, she plans on opening an orphanage in that new town over there.” Discord pointed toward the window at the newly constructed village down the road.
“In Haven City?” Trixie asked. When Discord nodded, Trixie continued. “Yes, Trixie can see it. It would do wonders for her other issues. But Trixie must ask about your other problems. How has a life without your magic treated you?”
Discord leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and looked out of the window. “It has been an adjustment to say the least,” he admitted. “I can thoroughly say now that I admire any creature that goes through life without a snap of magic to make things more convenient.”
“And what of the pain aspect? Has that constant discomfort made adjusting difficult as well?” Trixie asked tentatively.
“Fluttershy has helped with a decent work around for whatever the pain flares up. Some tea with muscle relaxers has been doing wonders for my back pain.”
“Hmm, and have you spoken to Jason about removing his punishments?”
Discord rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled ruefully. “Funny you should mention Jason. We, uh, met again not too long ago…”
“Really? And how did that go?”
“Well…”
[One Week Ago - Haven City - Fluttershy’s New House]
“Why are we here?” Jason asked in an annoyed tone. They were standing in the brand new town, or rather on the edge near the Briarwood. Fluttershy’s new house wasn’t like her old house. This one was a bit smaller and was mostly a temporary one until more permanent housing could be constructed.
“Quit your pouting,” Chrysalis admonished him gently. “We’re here because I’ve felt your emotions lately and you’ve been making good improvements with your former tormentors. So it’s only fair that you meet all of them. I mean, you were able to reconnect with Celestia.”
“That was Celestia. I doubt she couldn’t make friends on her worst day.” Jason looked down in thought. “I might’ve been unfair to her. Hell, I almost made her punishment worse by making her reviled for three years.”
“Of course, if you’re still not ready to see him, we won’t force you,” Fluttershy said, walking up to Jason’s left side.
“I must say, your old place looked a lot nicer,” Chrysalis quipped. “This is more…common.”
“I didn’t want anything extravagant or a reminder of what I lost. It’s better if we move on from everything.” Fluttershy said while opening the door to her home. “Discord? We’re here.”
“Coming Fluttershy.” Discord said from a distance. He approached the trio in full cleaning gear complete with an apron, gloves and a fishnet cap for his bare skull. “I was just getting some spring cleaning done to make the new place more presentable.”
Chrysalis took a look around to see that the new house was indeed spotless. “Discord as a house maid? I never thought I would see the day.”
“Everyone needs a hobby,” Discord said. “Cleaning just happens to be a new passion in my life now.”
“...” Jason said nothing as his body tensed up. He adopted the same emotionless stare he held at the Trial as he merely stared at Discord.
Noticing this, Chrysalis and Fluttershy shared a worried glance. “How about I make some tea and we have a simple talk about our day?” Fluttershy suggested.
“That sounds good. I have loads of stories to keep us entertained,” Discord said.
“I suspect I have a few of my own,” Chrysalis said with a smirk.
“I don’t doubt it,” Discord replied.
As the three moved further inside, Jason remained rooted in place. Chrysalis turned back in concern as the swell of emotions emanating from her partner made her come to his side. Jason spared her a brief glance and shook his head. “...Sorry, I can’t do this…”
“A-Are you sure?” Discord asked in an uncertain tone. “I know a good joke involving a walrus and a can opener. I heard it’s all the rage in the human world– Ompf!” Discord clamps his hand against his mouth as that was the wrong thing to say.
Jason turned to him sharply. “You honestly think a fucking joke is enough to make me say, ‘Oh, everything’s all hunky-dory now’, huh, dipshit?!” He took a harsh step forward, then stopped, took a deep breath, and took the step back. “Yeah, I’m not ready for this…”
Without another word, Jason turned back and left the cottage. Chrysalis sighed dejectedly as she followed him. Briefly, she turned and looked at Fluttershy and Discord. “Thanks for having us. All things considered, it was amazing we got him this far.”
“I know. We’ll get there eventually. Baby trots,” Fluttershy said.
[Present Day]
“...Yeah, we’re still a work in progress…” Discord said with a sigh.
“Hmm, Trixie will schedule another session with Jason. Until then, Trixie suggests that you keep working on yourself but also try and branch out with others in the village. You want to show every creature that you are changing for the better. You can’t do that while hiding away in the cottage. Now shoo, Trixie’s three o'clock is here.”
Discord nodded in appreciation as he left. Moments later, Rainbow Dash walked in. “Hey, Trixie.”
“Good day, Rainbow. How are you feeling?”
“I'm doing better than I have in a while. I finally worked up the nerve to chat with my parents.”
Trixie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Indeed? Trixie is impressed.” She gestured to the chair that Discord had been occupying not a minute before. “Tell Trixie how that went.”
“Well, I finally sent a letter to them and invited them to my new place. They came by a few days later,” Rainbow said bashfully.
“Trixie is surprised by their swiftness,” Trixie said, “but it is to be expected if evident by how long you took to write to them. It’s about time, by the way.” Trixie sent a soft glare at the prismatic mare.
“Yeah, but they didn’t hold it against me. It was just nice to hear from me apparently.”
“Well? Don’t keep Trixie in suspense. How did the meeting go? Did you tell them of your concerns?”
“Obviously, but my parents can be pretty stubborn with their support.” With that, Rainbow settled in and began her story…
[One Week Ago - Haven City - Rainbow’s New House]
Rainbow sat calmly on her new couch as she looked constantly at her clock. The small analogue hoofwound device hanging on her wall read 2:45 PM. She was wringing her hooves nervously. “Almost three o’clock. You can do this!” The waiting was completely nerve wrecking and she found herself almost biting her hooves. She got up to straighten some things up in the living room. She didn’t have much yet, seeing as she lived in a two bedroom house in the middle of town and had the bare essentials for the moment, minus what she’d managed to get from her old house which included her entire Daring Do book collection. She went to swipe before there was a knocking at the door that made her stumble. “Ah! Coming!” Rainbow walked up to the door and stood in front of it for a few moments. “Alright, here we go,” she said in a whisper.
Rainbow opened the door and was immediately assaulted by two bone crushing hugs from both sides. “Rainbow! It’s so good to see you again, sweetie!” Windy Whistles said.
Bow Hothoof held his daughter close. His normal five o’clock shadow had become a full grown beard, and his mane and tail were longer than normal. “When we heard about Ponyville, we feared the worst,” he said in a trembling voice.
“Mom…dad…you’re crushing me…” Rainbow winced as the pain from her year old lightning injury flared up.
Rainbow’s parents immediately released her as Rainbow took in precious gasps of air. “Sorry about that, sweetie,” Windy said.
“Ah, but it’s nothing our little wonderbolt can’t handle,” Bow Hothoof said with a jovial laugh.
“Dad, you know I’m not a Wonderbolt anymore,” Rainbow reminded him.
“Oh, pish-posh dearie. You’ll always be one to us. Why, I bet they’re sorely missing you on the team,” Windy said.
“Bah, some teammates,” Bow said hotly. “I remember them leaving you high and dry at that stupid trial. If anything, you’re worth a hundred of any of those ponies. All they did was try and save face.”
“Yeah, about that…Mom, Dad, that’s part of the reason I called you both here,” Rainbow said with uncertainty.
“Oh! Did they offer your spot back?” Windy asked with a hopeful smile.
“Oh no! You’re not settling for anything less than commander of the outfit!” Bow said sternly.
Rainbow shook her head. “No, that’s not it. I’m–”
“Well, that’s for the best. You can do better with your talents. Maybe you can start a group of your own in this town?” Windy offered, cutting Rainbow off.
“No, that’s not what I–”
Bow spoke up again before Rainbow could finish. “Maybe you could join that daredevil squad. They use all kinds of machinery besides flying.” Bow said. “What were they called again? The Washouts?”
“I’m not working with Lightning Dust!” Rainbow declined vehemently.
“Oh, right. She was that jealous mare you helped get dismissed from the Bolts,” Windy nodded. “Good riddance to her. Maybe–”
“Will you both just shut up and listen to me for once?!” Rainbow hollered, causing her parents to flinch.
“Sweetie–”
“No!” Rainbow said sharply, not allowing anymore interruptions. “I talk. You listen, got it?!” Both her parents shared a look before nodding. Rainbow sighed in relief as steeling herself. “From the moment I tried to do anything, you guys have always supported me. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that more than you could ever know. But you both have taken that support way too far.”
“What do you mean?” Windy asked.
“Remember that time the flight school principal called you in about a fight between me and Hoops?”
“You mean that troublesome colt that always bullied you? Yeah,. I remember giving that teacher a piece of my mind for insinuating you were involved in their delinquency,” Bow said proudly.
“That’s just it, I started that fight with some mean pranks,” Rainbow explained, not really wanting to remember that incident. “Yeah, they were bullies, but I wasn’t any better. Then there was the time you paid for my loan on my old house that one month. I was the one that lost the bits in a gambling ring, but you hoofed the bill anyway.”
“I don’t understand, Sweetie. Why are you upset about us helping you?” Windy asked in confusion.
“I’m upset because no matter what I did - even when I was dead wrong - you guys never saw fault in my actions!” Rainbow threw her hooves up in exasperation. “You always thought I was Faust’s gift to the world– that I could do no wrong. But all that did was give me this false sense of entitlement.” She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “I love you guys. You’re the best parents I can ask for. But you can’t just always be supportive. You should’ve chastised me more. Punished me when I did something stupid. Twilight told me that I was acting like a socio-something when I would use lightning to prank others even though it was dangerous!”
“So, you want us to not support you anymore?” Windy asked.
“No, I just want more of a balance from both of you. If I had that, then maybe I wouldn’t be like this right now.” Rainbow gestured to her injuries to emphasize her point.
“Sweetie, you can’t possibly mean you’re okay with what that human did to you,” Bow said.
“And what about what I did to him?! I can tell you it’s far worse than this. And don’t forget that I did this to myself when I decided to throw another tantrum instead of taking my licks like a mare!” Rainbow panted heavily while trying to catch her breath. “I can’t keep doing stuff like that. I have to own up to any mistakes that I make if I want to be a better pony. Do you guys understand?”
Bow and Windy shared another glance before embracing their daughter in another hug. One that was much softer. “Alright, dear. We get it. It’s just that you are our pride and joy and we never wanted you to feel like you were not good enough for anything.” Bow said.
“But I guess we took things too far like you said. I guess stubbornness is a trait we all share.” Windy said.
“So, if I do something bad again, please don’t be afraid to call me out on it.” Rainbow said.
“We’ll try, sweetie,” Windy said, “but I’ll be honest, that’s going to be hard to do at first.” She reached over and took her husband’s hoof.
“Well, maybe not that hard. I mean, have you seen this place?” Bow gestured to the living room. “I love you, pumpkin, but even I can see a rush cleaning job like this. We gave you plenty of time to get ready before we came here.”
“What?!” Rainbow shrieked in disbelief.
“Yes, it’s true dear.” Windy agreed. “I can see that you didn’t bother to dust anything off. And, the dirt is still in the dust pan over there. If you leave it like that, you’re liable to spill it. And then there’s the decor. It’s a bit bland.”
Rainbow stared at both of her parents blankly before pulling them into a another hug. “Thanks, you guys.”
[Present]
“Hehe, only your parents would be so backwards like that. So, I take it they’ve been more stern with you now?” Trixie inquired.
“Yeah, they have. Sure, they still slip from time to time, but they’re making the effort to call out my horse manure.”
“And what about your relationship with young Scootaloo? Trixie remembers you telling her about how that young filly can fly a bit, now.”
“Yeah, we’re speaking again. We’re not on that same level of hero worship like before, but it’s more like being real sisters to each other now.”
“Have you been helping her with her flying?” Trixie asked.
“I’ve just been giving her some pointers like every other creature. She’s a natural like I always thought she would be.”
“And what about your relationship with the two humans?”
“Gregory’s pretty cool. We get along well. As for Jason, we’re just talking for now. Casual conversation for a few minutes a day. You know, foal steps.”
Trixie nodded. “Understandable. So, is there anything you’d like to talk about specifically for this session?”
“Eh, nothing I can think of off the top of my head. Things have been a lot better since the girls and I reconnected. And being a coach here is something I didn’t think I would like so much, but here I am. Anyways, I should get back to it. Little Crow Feet asked for some supervision on her tricks for pratice. See Ya Trixie.” Rainbow said as she walked out the door.
[The Next Day - Applejack’s Session]
“Good morning, Applejack,” Trixie said, looking at the earth pony mare across from her. “How are you doing today?”
“Right as rain, all things considered.” Applejack said.
“That’s good to hear,” Trixie said. “Trixie has to admit, she was there when you and your family helped raise that new barn on your new farm. What’s the farm called again?”
“New Acres. Something a little different but still has that Apple flare to it.”
“It does look a lot like the old farm,” Trixie said. “Can Trixie assume this is because of you and both of your siblings discovering your brand new earth pony magic?”
Applejack lifts her hoof as a pulse of green magic flows around it. “It certainly makes tending the farm a lot easier nowadays. We ain’t ever been this productive in years. Ah don’t even need to buck the apple trees now. All ah gotta do is simply tap it, and the apples fall right down.”
Trixie chuckled at that. “Trixie has seen some other earth ponies using their new magic here. What are you growing on the farm besides apple trees?”
“Whatcha talking about? Ain’t nothing changed about our produce. We’re still the best darn apple farmers you’ll ever know. Why fix what ain’t broke?”
Trixie chuckled. “Trixie has seen other farms around Haven City,” she said, “but whatever floats your boat. Trixie has to admit she enjoys your cider.”
“Darn tootin’. But we recently started bringing in the other farmers during cider season. Having more variety in different flavors helps with sales and customer satisfaction.” Applejack beamed.
“Pretty smart idea,” Trixie said. “Trixie hopes you haven’t been in competition with the other farms around town.”
“Oh, it ain’t like that,” Applejack said. “We work with the other farms to help keep Haven City fed. We get ingredients from other farmers and in turn we give them fresh apples.”
Trixie nodded, then sat up straighter. “Well, is there anything you’d like to talk about today?”
“Ah was wondering if you spoke with Jason yet? Ah wanted to invite him to dinner sometime.”
“Trixie hasn’t seen him yet, but he is scheduled to be here after you,” Trixie replied.
“Well then, ah’ll keep an ear out for him. Ah want to give him the real Apple family experience since we made up. Ah just hope he’ll remember to eat light.”
“Trixie’s sure he’ll remember,” Trixie said. “You said you made up. What do you mean?”
“Well, maybe not made up in the sense that we’re friends that had a spat,” Applejack conceded. “But more like we are now on amicable terms. And ah want to show him that Apple family hospitality we’re known for. Besides, the family is looking forward to talking with him.”
Trixie nodded. “Well, Trixie wishes you luck. Is there anyone else you’d like to invite over?”
Applejack chuckled at her tone. “Yer welcome to the shindig. But, we’re keeping it small as not to overwhelm any creature.”
Trixie smirked. “Trixie believes the term you’d use is ‘much obliged’. But Trixie was actually referring to another. Perhaps another creature who might make things a little less tense for him. A certain changeling perhaps.”
Applejack tipped her hat as she smiled. “Ah’ll talk to Spike about sending a letter.”
Trixie nodded. “Is there anything you’d like to talk about today aside from that? Anything that might be worrying you? Trixie notices that you have your famous hat back. How’d you manage that?”
“Chrysalis brought Jason by the farm one time when we were pickin’ apples on the south side. The three of us spent the afternoon just enjoying each other's company and pickin’ apples. Ah started hummin’ the family tune and - to my shock - Jason did the same. It turned into a little singalong that Granny caught wind of and joined us along with Mac and Applebloom. After that, Granny came by my room and just plopped it on mah head. She left with a smile and ah managed only one tear in gratitude.” She stood up just then. “That about covers it. Ah need to be heading for class now.”
“Teaching or going to class?” Trixie asked. “Trixie has heard that you and your friends are all attending the human studies class.”
“Yeah, but we’re sitting near the board so as not to embarrass the other students. Rarity is looking forward to the fashion line. But, today’s lesson is about agriculture.”
“Ah, then Trixie won’t keep you. Have a good class.”
“See ya, Trixie.” Applejack said as she left.
[Later That Day - Twilight’s Session]
“Trixie sees that you have a wider smile on your face than normal,” Trixie chuckled as Twilight almost floated into the room. “Let Trixie guess: either the human studies class was better than most, or you spent some time helping Professor Graystone with that strange new magic of his.”
“Oh, a little from column A and a little from column B.” Twilight said giddily. “It’s so rare that a topic no creature has heard of just pops into your hooves like this! Human culture is similar to ours in so many ways, yet it differs so much from the norm. It’s almost mind boggling.”
“Really? Human agriculture is that interesting? Tell Trixie about it.”
Twilight looked bashful at the question. “Well, I know how I was about human eating habits before, but knowing what I know now as opposed to back then has helped put things in perspective. For instance, did you know that since humans are omnivores, they can have a strictly plant-based diet? It’s called being a vegan. It’s all about getting the proper nourishment from the right plants. There are even some vegetables that pack more protein than meat.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Really? Now that is interesting.”
“Oh! That’s not the best part! He even brought in samples of human food for us to try! Replicas of human meals that he made himself! Meals that herbivores can eat or meals that carnivores can eat!”
Trixie’s stomach rumbled at that, and now it was her turn to look bashful. “Sorry,” she said. “What kind of meals did he bring in?”
Twilight giggled as she said, “He brought in a few meat dishes. One was called a cheeseburger which he made using ground up hydra meat that he flattened into a patty. Imagine a hayburger but instead of a hay patty it’s made of meat! He also brought in shrimp salad, something called sushi, and he even made plant based meals that look like meat but aren’t! There were some really good salads and desserts, too! Pinkie went nuts for the last part.”
Trixie raised both eyebrows. “Note to self: find Professor Graystone and ask for some of these foods,” she muttered to herself. “What about column B?”
Twilight clapped her hooves like a school filly at that question. “Oh, learning new magic is always a joy. At first I was worried that utilizing all of the power of those Windigos would have negative effects on him, but it turns out that the mana cores on his staff and his two rings have the Windigos magic completely contained. My studies show that just about any magic can be filled into them and then used by other nonponies. Gregory has taken to calling anyone who uses this kind of magic a mage. I think it holds merit if any creature can wield this magic. We’ll be going on an expedition to get more cores to see if there are any other applications.”
“Trixie has seen him using his magic several times. He reminds Trixie of a foal having fun with a shiny new toy.”
“I’d imagine that a species that’s never wielded magic before would be excited about it as well.”
“You should have seen him during our latest session,” Twilight said. “He’s done some really inventive things with his magic, too.”
“Trixie has seen him use magic, and she has to admit he’s become quite good,” she said. “You must be proud to have him as a pupil.”
“I’m hardly his teacher,” Twilight said with a wave of her hoof. “Ice magic isn’t a forte of mine. That’s more Princess Luna’s department, but I have been giving him the basics of magic safety and supervision. There are a few spells that he can do that I do know and I’ve given some pointers for those. Although today’s practice session was interesting…”
[Training Grounds - Earlier That Morning]
Twilight reached the training grounds a few minutes ahead of schedule. These were grounds that had been recently constructed a couple of miles away from Yggdrasil. Newcomers to magic needed that sort of space. She looked around and saw that Gregory’s horse, who had been named Theophilus by his human companion, was grazing nearby. Upon hearing Twilight’s approach, he looked up quizzically, looking at the alicorn. Upon recognizing Twilight, Theophilus approached in a nonthreatening manner and began rubbing noses with the purple pony.
“Hey there, Theophilus. Nice to see you too,” Twilight said.
Theophilus blew air into Twilight’s nostrils, then stood up and whinnied. Just then, he froze and looked up. Just as he did that, Twilight heard a voice coming from above. “Look out below!”
Upon turning, Twilight saw Gregory in the air, coming down for a hard landing. To her surprise, he had a pair of what looked like wings spreading from behind him. Wings made entirely of blue glowing ice. He was struggling to maintain his balance and before she could say anything, he landed in a nearby patch of grass. He grunted as he landed hard, spinning until he came to a stop. He lay on his back, panting heavily. Theophilus galloped over and began looking over his companion.
“The wings are new,” Twilight stated.
Gregory sat up and turned to her. He grinned, then waved his hand as the wings vanished. “Well, on my way here I got to thinking,” he said as he slowly stood up. “Technically, any winged sapient creature on Gaia shouldn’t be able to fly because the laws of physics wouldn’t allow it. If that were the case, your wings would be massive. I did some research about how each winged race has some level of magic here to help with that, so I decided to try and create some wings to see if I could fly.” He brushed himself off. “Sorry for almost hitting you. I’m new to flying. Like brand new.”
“That’s amazing ingenuity, Gregory,” Twilight said in awe.
He smiled. “Thank you. Humans are known to be ingenious. We’ve had to be, as I’m sure you remember learning about during our Industrial Revolution lesson.”
“Oh, that lesson was invigorating,” Twilight said with a grin before her expression became more serious. “However, right now I’m more curious on how you handle magical channeling. Does your new staff and those two rings make it easier for you to craft the magic to your back or is it your mind projecting an idea of what to do and the mana cores acting on that impulse?”
He held out his hand palm down. The ring on his middle finger began glowing and a small swirling mist appeared on the ground, revealing what looked like a black hole in the center. Suddenly, his staff shot out of the mist into his outstretched hand. He spun it around before placing it on the ground. “We know now that I have internal magic that can recharge on its own,” he said, “but from all the practice I’ve done, it seems that the rings and staff not only speed up that recharging process, but can enhance and make my magic more powerful. I used my rings to help me make the wings you saw earlier. I imagined some bird wings as best as I could. Next thing I know, it felt like there was some kind of tugging on my mind and the wings appeared.”
“Hmm, if that’s the case, then I suggest taking breaks every now and then,” Twilight cautioned. “Mana exhaustion is a real and serious thing, so be careful.”
“I will,” Gregory nodded before his smile faded a bit. “Anyway, there’s something new that I wanted to show you, and it wasn’t the wings.”
“What’s that?”
He took a few steps back from her, then held out his thumb and forefinger. He spread both apart, and Twilight saw a small spark of electricity arcing from thumb to forefinger. There were a few snaps of electricity before he stopped, lowering his hand. “Electrokinesis.”
“You can channel other elements?” Twilight asked in awe before regaining a professional demeanor. “No, that does make sense. Especially if you can mimic all the Windigos abilities.”
“That was my guess,” Gregory agreed. “It explains a few things. Like why I can roar like a Windigo. But the ice part of these new abilities seems to be the strongest so far. The next thing I want to try is to see if I can actually create a rainstorm or snowstorm.”
“Do you have their sensory powers such as sensing malice and hatred?”
Gregory nodded. “I can sense emotions somewhat,” he explained. “I’ve been able to sense whenever Cozy is hiding something from me, like when she did something naughty. I can feel your emotions somewhat too. Curiosity, a small sense of pride, and what feels like excitement.”
“Hmm, we should do a field test to get a full range of these abilities. Good thing I brought extra quills!” Twilight beamed.
“Did you forget I gave you all of those pens from my world?” Gregory asked with a smirk.
“Well, no, but I ran out of ink for them. You wouldn’t happen to know how to refill them, would you?”
“Wow, used them already? I’m impressed.” Gregory chuckled and said, “I’ll ask Sunset to buy you some more pens from the human world and some refills. I think I may have downloaded some instructions on how to refill pens, but I’d have to look. Anyway, back to the magic lesson. What are we working on today?”
Twilight smiled. “Well, let’s have you run through the course again to see how you’ve improved since last time.”
He gave a salute, then began preparing.
[Present Time]
“Very impressive.” Trixie hummed in thought. “Trixie is curious about your standing with Jason? From what she can gleam from the sessions with the others, all of you are in more or less better standing with Jason than they were before. So Trixie must ask if you asked him to lift the punishments yet?”
“Things are better between us,” Twilight said, “but by no means are we at that level of trust yet. Besides, the girls and I agreed that we should keep going until the three years are up. We did a lot of harm and we shouldn’t get off after only a year even if we helped save Jason. It’s only fair. Maybe when our term is up and our relationship is stronger, but not before.”
“That’s a noble sentiment,” Trixie said. “Have you had any one-on-one conversations with him?”
“Nothing face to face. But, we’ve kept a correspondence in letters. He’s doing well and he says he may have time to visit later in the week.” Twilight’s cheerful demeanor fell a bit as she brought up another topic. “Speaking of letters, I sent one to my parents…”
Trixie’s ears perked up at this and she leaned forward. “Really? What happened with that?”
Twilight sighed as she elaborated. “It didn’t go over well. The topic was about Spike. I wanted to know if there was any chance that we could all start over and be a real family. But all I got from them as a response was all of Spike’s old belongings sent to our new home. I told Spike that I picked them up for him, but he’s always been smarter than most gave him credit for and called me out on it. I haven’t written them back after that…”
Trixie gave Twilight a sympathetic look. “You and Spike live together again, is that right? In that brand new town library that was built into a tree that some earth ponies grew?”
“Yeah, we were able to talk things out and move back in together, but there’s no more of Spike acting like a servant or a pet. We’re equal in running the library and everything else. He even has his own bedroom now. Plus, the new place feels just like my old home before that Tirek business. A big gaudy castle was never us.”
“Trixie is glad to hear it. Speaking of family, how has your relationship with your brother and his wife been?” Trixie asked.
“Nothing’s changed on that front. In fact, Shining’s closer to Spike than ever and Cadance is still the best sister in law I could want. We have a meeting with them later in the week too.”
“Good to hear,” Trixie said. “Trixie has been pondering on the punishments. Are you really okay with not having your alicorn magic?”
“As strange as this may sound, yes I am,” Twilight said. “Truth be told, I never wanted to be an alicorn in the first place. It was just something that was sort of thrust on me.”
“And have you talked with Celestia about these feelings? Trixie understands that she is the one that wanted you to take over her duties as the reigning Princess while she and Princess Luna were to retire.
“We talked and she understands my feelings. She never wanted to force any undue strain on me. Besides, I think she understands now that Luna would be the better choice to be acting ruler. Celestia had her term as a millenia long ruler. Who's to say Princess Luna can’t do the same? Anyway, I have to get back home. It’s reshelving day!”
Trixie noted Twilight’s cheerful demeanor at reorganizing books and deadpanned, “You need a new hobby.”
[Trixie’s Office - Cozy Glow’s Session]
“Well hello there, Miss Glow,” Trixie greeted as the little filly flew into the room, shutting the door behind her politely before flying over to the couch. “Trixie is pleased to see you. She’s glad you answered her request for a session. How are you feeling?”
“Golly, it seems rude to just turn you down. I’m feeling amazing! Today, Headmistress Starlight is planning a trip to New Hoofshire for all the students this weekend!”
“Really? That’s quite a round trip journey,” Trixie said. “You’ll be spending a few hours on the train all the way there. What are you planning to do there?”
“They have this new attraction of zapper bees in their zoo,” Cozy said excitedly. “If you feed them some zap apple jam, their sparks flash in different rainbow colors!”
“That sounds pretty fun,” Trixie said, “but Trixie also called you in to see how you are adjusting after some time away from CFE. Do you still feel down that you didn’t go back or have you been able to patch things up with them?”
“I was sad for a little bit,” Cozy admitted, “but then I remembered why I made the CFE in the first place. It’s always been about helping other creatures. It doesn’t matter if I’m not the spokesperson for it anymore. But, I did make up with all the branches. My daddy got Princess Luna to hold a meeting about that show about us and he was able to explain everything, so the branch leaders and the other creatures aren’t mad at me anymore.”
“Trixie is glad to hear that,” the blue unicorn said. “How has it been here at the school? Have you made plenty of friends yet?”
Cozy buzzed in excitement. “Golly, I sure have. I made friends with a hippogriff named Slipper, a Yak named Brune, two pony twins called Mabel and Dipper and, of course, the CMC.”
“Yes, Trixie remembers those little fillies. She is happy that they finally found their cutie marks. Trixie doubts she can take another apple sap incident.” Trixie chuckled a bit, then gave Cozy a more serious look. “Trixie has heard what your parents tried to do to you and is wondering how you feel about them now? Have you heard anything from them lately? You don’t have to talk about them if you don’t want to.”
Cozy rubbed the back of her curly maned head. “To be honest, I haven’t heard anything from them. And I don’t care much. I mean, why would I? I have a new Daddy now. One that’s kind, funny, and actually cares about me. So I wouldn’t go back even if they did come to get me.”
Trixie nodded. “How has life been living with Professor Graystone?”
“Every day is filled with love and adventure. The stories from his world when he reads them to me are so bizarre and wonderful. Like, the story of Cinderella. She’s a mare that finds true love because a stallion found her slipper. Oh, oh! Then, there’s the one about two dogs going on a date and sharing spaghetti.”
Trixie chuckled at that. “Sounds very unique,” she said. “Trixie is glad to see you’re happy.”
Cozy buzzed and smiled with pure joy. “I couldn’t be happier! In fact, Daddy’s letting my friends have a sleepover at our place tonight before we leave on our weekend field trip tomorrow! It’s gonna be so much fun!”
Trixie grinned. “Sounds fun. Is there anything else you want to talk about?”
She shook her head. “Nothing I can think of.”
Trixie nodded. “Well, feel free to come back to see Trixie if you need to.”
She lifted off of the ground. “I will!” And with that, she buzzed out of the room, a giddy and happy smile on her face.
Trixie shook her head and smirked. “Fillies…always so full of energy…”
[Trixie’s Office - Pinkie’s Session]
Pinkie came humming into Trixie’s office as she took a seat. Trixie herself shot the mare an incredulous look. “Trixie will never get used to you not bouncing everywhere you go.”
“Well, that mode of travel is a little foalish,” Pinkie explained, “but I tend to do it when I’m really feeling happy. So, what’s up doc?’
“Trixie believes she is supposed to ask you that, but Trixie is fine nonetheless.”
“Then, I’m fine too. In fact, I’m better than fine. Jason agreed to help prepare deserts for the party we’re having later in the week.”
“You and Jason have made remarkable progress. It’s hard to believe that during The Trial, he pretended you didn’t exist.”
Pinkie looks down sheepishly at that. “Yeah, I was a big mess back then, huh? But now things couldn’t be better.”
“What kind of party are you planning this time?” Trixie asked.
Pinkie leaned in as if to whisper to Trixie. “To tell you the truth, I’m just handling the decorations. This party was Ember’s idea.”
“Dragon Lord Ember? What kind of party is it?” Trixie repeated.
“A celebration and confession party for beating the Windigos. She’s finally decided to tackle her feelings for Gregory head on.”
“And she felt like a party was the way to go?” Trixie asked.
“You don’t think so? She wanted it to be like something humans would do because the dragon version of it is a bit intense.”
“Trixie is a bit confused, but she admits she knows only a bit about dragons, and about humans even less,” Trixie said, “so maybe it will work. Who all will be there and where is it taking place?”
“Just about everyone we know and right here in the cafeteria.”
“This is the first Trixie’s heard about this,” the unicorn said, “but a celebration is certainly long overdue.”
“You betcha. It’ll have Pinkie’s stamp of approval.”
“Well, Trixie hopes you have a good time,” she said.
“You mean we’ll have a good time. You’re invited too, you silly filly. Honestly, I thought Twilight was the workaholic.”
Trixie brightened. “Trixie wasn’t sure she’d be wanted there, to be honest.”
“With all the help you've been doing for the school, the students and us? Trixie, you really should know better by now.” Pinkie ducked underneath Trixie’s desk and appeared at her side. “You’re part of the group as well. Now, may I request a hug?”
Trixie looked a bit embarrassed, but sighed. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will oblige,” she said as she opened up for a hug.
The two hugged each other.
[Human Studies Class - The Following Monday]
Human Studies class was almost ready to begin. The students in the classroom were excitedly talking about not only their recent weekend trip to New Hoofshire, but about the party during the upcoming weekend. It was supposed to be a party of special magnificence, one celebrating the defeat of the Windigos. Everyone in the school and town was invited, and it was rumored that several national leaders had been invited, including Princess Luna and Prince Blueblood of Canterlot.
Twilight and her friends were all seated in the front, waiting for Gregory to show up. Twilight especially was eager to learn, especially since now she could put her misconceptions about humans away and learn from an actual human. Beside her, Rainbow was leaning back in her chair and groaning. “I hate being back in school,” she grumbled. “I’m too old for it.”
“Now now, Rainbow,” Applejack said in an admonishing tone, “that’s exactly what got us in that Trial mess in the first place, remember? Yer never too old tah learn a new trick.”
“I don’t mind learning something new, especially when it comes to human fashion,” Rarity chuckled. “I made some new clothes for Gregory out of those fabrics he gave me. Such fascinating material!”
“I like the subject of learning about different animals from the human world. Chinchillas sound adorable.” Fluttershy said.
“Okay, some of the lessons are pretty cool,” Rainbow conceded, “like when he told us about human powered flight.” She stretched her forelegs. “I’m really trying to learn, but I’ve never been one for studying. You know that.”
“Well, consider this a learning experience for you, Dashie,” Pinkie joked. “I can’t wait to learn what body shots are. Jason told me that they’re all the rage at human parties.”
The door burst open at that moment, and Gregory strode in. He wore his typical suit and tie from Earth along with a couple of bags. As he walked in, he said in a strange inflection, “There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class.” At the last word, he turned to the students and gave them a glare.
The class went silent, a bit confused. There were several murmurs among the students. That was, until Cozy Glow snorted. “Daddy, you’re not Professor Snape,” she giggled.
Gregory burst out into a grin, then put his bag down. “That’s Professor Graystone to you, Miss Glow,” he said as he turned to the class. “Good morning, everyone. I trust everyone had a good time in New Hoofshire this past weekend?” There were several murmurs of approval and the tension in the classroom at Gregory’s unusual entrance subsided. “Good.” He began to unpack as he continued. “All this week, I am going to be going over a specific part of human culture. Human holidays and how they are celebrated.” He gestured to Pinkie Pie. “Since our resident party planner here is busy with a long overdue celebration, I figured it was time we all took a look at several popular human holidays. Some will be eerily familiar to some holidays celebrated on Gaia, while others will be new.”
Gallus raised his claw for a question as Gregory pointed to him. “By similar, are you talking about that creepy show about our world?”
Gregory nodded. “Yes. In fact, I will be talking about two popular holidays in Equestria that are celebrated almost identically to two famous holidays from Earth at some point this week. Any other questions before I begin?”
“Can we watch the show about us?” Silverstream asked.
“I plan on showing two episodes at least,” he said, “both being about Equestrian holidays with human analogue holidays.”
Pinkie Pie raised her hoof next. “Is mayonnaise an instrument?”
“I take it Jason told you about that Spongebob meme,” Gregory said with a sigh. “No, Pinkie. Mayonnaise is not an instrument. Horseradish isn't an instrument either. Now are there any serious questions?”
Pinkie sent him a fake pout. “You’re no fun. Anyway, continue.”
“Yeah, I got one,” Rainbow asked. “What’s this I hear about humans being able to fly? Do you have invisible wings?”
“No, normal humans do not have invisible wings,” Gregory said. “I’ll be going more into detail about human flight in a future lesson.”
“Will we be going over fashion trends in the early 2000’s of your yearly calendar?” Rarity asked.
“I’m pretty sure the syllabus mentions the general directions our lessons will go,” Gregory said, “but yes, I will be going over fashion. However, I could probably teach that for a year alone since there are thousands of human cultures.”
Smolder raises her hand nex. “Can we start now? So far, we’ve been here talking and haven’t learned anything,”
“Of course.” Gregory turned to the whiteboard, grabbed a marker, and began to write the words HALLOWEEN and CHRISTMAS on the board. “Today we will be talking about two of the most popular global holidays known as Halloween and Christmas. Now for the ponies here, think of them as the human equivalent of Nightmare Night and Hearth’s Warming.”
“What’s with the one that’s supposed to be like Nightmare Night?” Sandbar asked. “Why call it Halloween?”
“Good question,” Gregory said as he turned on his projector, then went to his computer. A Powerpoint presentation slide appeared on the whiteboard. “You all remember when I taught about human religions, correct? Halloween began because of a religious holiday that took place on November 1st called All Saints Day or All Hallows’ Day. October 31st was originally called All Hallows’ Eve. In fact, before I go on, both Halloween and Christmas started as Christian holidays but have since become what many have called secularized. The original purpose of All Hallows’ Eve was the beginning of the observance of Allhallowtide which was a period of time dedicated to the remembrance of the dead, including saints, martyrs, and Christians who had died.”
He hit the clicker in his hand and the slide changed, revealing an image of a jack-o’-lantern along with several human children in costumes standing in front of an open door with an adult handing out candy. “In modern times, Halloween is celebrated by children in costumes going door to door and asking for candy. This practice is called Trick Or Treating. Children will knock on the doors, and when the doors open children will say ‘Trick or Treat!’ That’s one way to celebrate, of course. Other ways to celebrate are lighting bonfires, visiting a haunted house, lighting a bonfire, or even bobbing for apples.”
“Are you saying that foals don’t have a figure to offer tribute?” Twilight said, thinking of Nightmare Moon’s tribute statue.
Gregory shook his head. “Nope. No statue of Nightmare Moon to dump candy by. Any candy they get, they keep.”
“I wanna start a petition to start celebrating Halloween now!” Pinkie blurted out.
“That’s your prerogative,” Gregory said. “Any other questions?”
“You got any cool costumes to show us?” Smolder asked.
“Yes I do,” Gregory said. “Before I left Earth, I bought several adult sized costumes. Ironically, one of them is a wizard costume and a fake beard. And I can see Miss Belle’s gears turning already.” He gave the unicorn a wink as he reached down towards a cardboard box that had been there before class started. He opened it and pulled out a gray robe, a pointed wizard hat of the same gray color, a gray cloak and a false gray beard and wig which he lay on the desk. “This costume is a replica of an outfit worn by a fictional wizard in a human story. Some of you might be familiar with Gandalf the Gray from when I read The Hobbit and from Lord of the Rings. This costume was worn by the movie counterpart.” He then pulled out a few others, which he described as being that of a devil, an astronaut, and a nurse.
“Oh, what about the human Hearth’s Warming? Tell us about that!” Silverstream said after he was finished.
Gregory began folding the costumes carefully as he said, “Christmas is a worldwide holiday that takes place on December 25th. It started out as a religious holiday which celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ.” He hit the clicker and the slide changed to show a picture of a Christmas tree with presents underneath, stockings with candy and presents in it, a table full of a Christmas meal and a house decorated with Christmas lights that was also covered in snow. “Now, I love Halloween, don’t get me wrong, but Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. It’s got so many traditions and means of celebrating it across the world that it’s hard to keep track. But the basic premise of the holiday is the same. Gift giving, good food, spending time with friends and family, and peace on Earth, goodwill toward men.”
“How is that different from Hearths Warming?” Twilight asked.
“Like I said, Christmas has a lot of religious connotations in many countries,” Gregory said. “Millions of humans celebrate Christmas in a religious way. They go to church on Christmas Eve, the day before Christmas Day and they celebrate something called Advent which I’ll talk about later. And there’s another more secular difference between Christmas and Hearth’s Warming.” He hit the clicker. An image of a white bearded man holding a glass in his hand appeared. “This is a fictional character called Santa Claus. He is very loosely based off of a real human called Saint Nicholas. The myth surrounding him is that he lives at Earth’s north pole with a group of small creatures called elves. Throughout the entire year, he, Mrs. Claus, and all of the elves make presents for good girls and boys all around the world. On Christmas Eve night, he gets into a sleigh pulled by twelve flying reindeer.” He then took a look at the flying reindeer sitting in his class. “You heard that right. Flying reindeer.”
The group of five flying reindeer looked a bit stunned by this, and they listened more intently as Gregory continued. “The myth goes that Santa Claus takes all of those toys and, in one night, delivers each and every present to good girls and boys all across the planet. He travels down chimneys and places the presents under the Christmas tree and in the stockings hanging on the mantle. Kids will sometimes leave out milk and cookies for Santa to eat, too.”
“Ain’t that breakin’ and enterin’?” Applejack asked.
“Don’t be silly, Applejack. It’s fine if they leave presents,” Pinkie said.
“Millions of children on Earth believe in Santa Claus,” Gregory said. “It adds to the magic of Christmas. And no, Twilight, I don’t mean literal magic, I mean that figuratively.” He gave Twilight a wink before continuing. “Think about this, Applejack. When you were a filly, didn’t you believe in something you know now to be a myth?” He was referring to the Great Seedling, but since Applebloom was in class, he didn’t want to ruin the magic for that young filly.
“And yer sure this Santy Claus ain’t doing nothin’ nefarious? He’s just leavin’ gifts? How does he know what somepony would want?” Applejack asked.
“All he does is leave presents behind and eat the milk and cookies left out for him, and he knows what each kid wants because children write letters to him,” Gregory explained. “He also has a list of every good girl and boy on Earth, according to the story.”
“So how does this Claus human know who’s been good or bad?” Gallus asked.
Gregory cleared his throat, then began to sing, “He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good, for goodness sake.”
“So he spies on us?” Rainbow asked, a little creeped out.
“Listen, you’re missing the point here,” Gregory said. “You’re looking way too much into this. It’s a children's story. Human children find absolute joy in Santa Claus even if he isn’t real. It’s an extra level of magic they can experience. Who doesn’t love getting presents? Yes, if you look at it from an adult perspective, Santa Claus’s methods are extremely creepy and unnerving, but is that any less terrifying than Nightmare Moon actually eating foals on Nightmare Night if she doesn’t get candy? You know, cannibalism?”
All the ponies look at each other in thought before conceding to the point. “Yeah, that’s true. So, how does the rest of that song go?” Rainbow asked.
“I can actually play it for you,” he said as he pulled out his smartphone and tapped it for a bit. After a bit, music played from the speaker on his desk. A lively and strangely festive sounding song began to play. It lasted for a few minutes before ending. He tapped his phone again, facing the students with an expectant look.
“Hold up, what does he give the naughty foals? Nothing?” Spike asked.
“Naughty children get lumps of coal in their stockings,” Gregory explained.
Everyone present started to laugh. “Ha, that’s a riot,” Rainbow snorted.
“Oh, isn’t that a little mean?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well, it’s still a present, so I see no harm in it,” Twilight said.
“Again, look at it from a child’s perspective,” Gregory said. “What would you rather have? A toy train you can play with, or a lump of coal that makes you all dirty and isn’t fun at all? Yes, coal is useful for adults, but children wouldn’t want it. They would want toys.”
“Ah like it. It makes certain foals behave if they want somethin’ nice,'' Applejack said.
Gregory snapped and pointed at Applejack with a grin. “Exactly!” Gregory said. “It’s a method parents use to help keep children in line! Positive reinforcement goes a long way with children.” He paused. “Aaanyway, we’re getting a little bit off topic. Next, I think we should watch the episodes of the show featuring Nightmare Night and Hearth’s Warming Eve.”
[Yggdrasil Cafeteria - Friday Evening]
The party was in full swing. The cafeteria was crowded, not only with students, but with guests from all around the known world. Princess Luna and Prince Blueblood had indeed shown up, as had Empress Cadance and Emperor Consort Shining Armor. Other world leaders had arrived as well and were mingling with the crowd. Almost all of them had been fascinated to meet not only the new Elements of Harmony and Jason, but Gregory as well. He was wearing some more casual clothes as per the invitation. He had on a pair of black jeans, a sky blue t-shirt and an unzipped dark blue hoodie. He had spent hours of time at the party talking with national rulers like Queen Novo, Grandpa Gruff, and even Prince Rutherford. He’d even spoken quite a while with Prince Blueblood. His conversation with Princess Luna had been most interesting, especially since she had promised to send him several copies of rare tomes about ice magic to help.
Eventually, however, he began feeling a little bit overwhelmed. No, scratch that, he felt completely overwhelmed. He made his way to the door to the outside to get some fresh air after grabbing a glass of punch. He eventually found himself sitting on a bench that sat against the wall of the school, looking up at the myriad of stars. He sighed, taking a sip of punch and enjoying the peace and quiet. Until he was interrupted by the last creature he hadn’t expected to meet.
“So, you’re the other human my sister-in-law has been training in magic.”
Gregory turned to see Empress Cadance standing nearby, giving him a friendly smile. In one of her hooves she held a babbling Flurry Heart. He held up his hand and waved while at the same time he inclined his head toward her. “Hey there, Your Majesty,” he said with a polite smile.
To his complete surprise, Flurry Heart jumped out of Cadance’s grasp and flew up to Gregory, sitting in his lap and getting right in his face. He almost dropped his punch as the adorable filly began poking him curiously. “He…Hewwo!” she said in the most adorable childish voice.
Gregory grinned, put his punch down on the bench next to him, then reached out to take Flurry in his arms. “Well hello there, little Princess,” he said, “what’s your name?”
“Fwuwwy Haawt!” she said.
Gregory reached down and began scratching the adorable filly behind her ears. Flurry Heart’s eyes widened a bit, then she relaxed, snuggling up in his arms and closing her eyes. “She is…so adorable,” he said with a smile on his face. He felt himself tearing up, although he didn’t quite know why.
‘Geez, it’s enough to give you diabetes, isn’t it?” Jason said, approaching the group.
“Then I’ll die of adorabetes,” Gregory replied, giving Flurry a small tickle which made her giggle.
“Yes, happy and loved,” Chrysalis said, scooping the foal in her forelegs. “You’re just a little bundle of love, aren't you~?”
Gregory watched as Chrysalis played with the smiling adorable foal, amazed by what he was seeing. He then turned to Cadance. “So, when are you and Shining gonna have another foal?”
She smiled. “Can you three keep a secret?” she asked in a whisper.
“I mean, I can,” Gregory said, “but I don’t know about queen bug horse and her royal consort over here.” He gave both of them a smirk.
“You’re pregnant again, right?” Jason said in a deadpan stare.
Cadance smiled wider and nodded. “Twins this time,” she said.
Gregory looked at her a bit more closely, then he smiled wide along with her. “Congratulations!” he said. “Do you know if you’re having two fillies, two colts, or one of each?”
“It’s too early to tell yet,” Cadence said, “but we’re already coming up with names.” She looked at Gregory and Jason. “Any suggestions from you two?”
“Mike and Sully.” Jason said.
“Oh hell no,” Gregory said. “One of them should have the name Skyla Heart Sparkle.”
“Oh sure, pander to the obvious fan names,” Jason said, rolling his eyes.
“What, do you want me to suggest the name Sunny Starscout?” Gregory replied. “Or how about Izzy Moonbow? Hitch Trailblazer? Oh wait! Opaline Arcana!”
“I will hurt you.”
Gregory held out his hand, creating a small piece of ice in it. “I’m not playing these games,” he said. “You wanna go, your majesty?” He grinned at him.
“Bring it on, popsicle.”
“Oh trust me, I don’t just have ice magic anymore,” Gregory said, his smirk growing.
“What? Too scared to fight without magic now?” A green glow encompassed both of them as the two humans and lifted them in the air. “Chrysalis!”
“Shush. The little one is sleeping and your testosterone might wake her.” Chrysalis said without taking her eyes off of the sleeping foal.
Gregory smirked as they were both put down. He took his seat again, grabbed his punch and took a sip. “So what brought you all out? Needed fresh air like me too?”
“Something to that effect,” Jason said.
“Oh? What brings you all out here then?” he asked.
“We were invited. It would be rude not to show up. There’s no deeper meaning than that.” Chrysalis said.
“No, I mean why aren’t you inside?” Gregory asked. “I saw you three inside already. Did you follow me out here for something or just decide to get away from the party for a bit?”
“Oh, yeah. A certain blue dragon is looking for you. She wanted to meet you by the dance floor. You better hop to it. Dragons don’t do waiting, apparently,” Jason informed him.
“No shit,” Gregory sighed, leaning back. An intense feeling of apprehension and nervousness washed over him and out of him.
Cadance noticed this and slowly approached, gesturing to the bench. “May I sit down?” she asked. He nodded, so she did so. There was silence for a bit before she continued, “Is something wrong between you and Ember?”
“Wrong?” Gregory looked at her, then slowly shook his head. “No, nothing’s wrong.”
Cadence tilted her head as she studied Gregory. After a moment, a smile broke out as she let out a happy squeal. “Well? Are you going to keep the dragon lord waiting? Go, shoo shoo.” Cadence said, pushing Gregory to the door leading back inside.
Gregory turned to her. “I can’t just go up and say ‘Hi Ember, how’s the party been? By the way, I have feelings for you.’ It wouldn’t work.”
“If you both feel the same, then the rest comes naturally. But, if you get cold hooves now, you’ll always wonder what if.”
“No, no it doesn’t!” Gregory said, a wave of fear blasting out of him, hard enough for Chrysalis to feel it. “You don’t get it,” he added. “Dragons live for centuries. I’ll be lucky if I get forty more years of life. Not only that, but what about other issues?”
“Take it from the Princess of Love,” Cadance replied, “I get it. I wrote the book on it. My crown is based on it. Now get out there and quit overthinking things!”
With one last shove, Gregory stumbled through the door to the inside and onto the dance floor until he lightly bumped into something. “Sorry. A certain princess can be a little–” Gregory’s words died in his throat as he beheld Ember standing in front of him. She was out of her armor and wearing a sparkling red dress that brought attention to her surprisingly curvy figure. “--Pushy. Ember? What…what are you wearing?” he asked, stunned by what he saw. It just didn’t fit the image he had of her.
Ember smiled smugly at his reaction. “It’s a dress I had the dressmaker pony make. Spike gave me the idea from one of your human classes.” Ember smugness fell when she saw Gregory still gawking at her. “Well?! Say something!”
Gregory’s mouth was dry and he stood there stunned for a few moments before he regained his words. “...Sexy beyond anything I could have ever imagined…” was all he could say.
The fire died immediately as Ember blushed and looked away. “...I didn’t mean say something like that. You dork.”
He quickly recovered his wits, then took Ember’s claw and began pulling her away from the crowd, heading her outside. “I need to talk to you,” he said, “and I want to do it in private.”
“Oh no. I didn’t call you out here just to go somewhere else. We’re going to dance. You can say what you want right here.”
As Ember said this, the music started. Gregory looks over to the sound to see Pinkie and Vinyl Scratch at a mixing board. Gregory gave both ponies a playful dirty look before he turned to Ember. “Alright, that’s fair.” The music was a slow moving one, something he hadn’t expected the famous DJ Pon3 to play. He took one of her claws and put the other around her waist in typical human dancing fashion. As other couples formed and began to dance, he looked into Ember’s red eyes. “I thought dragons didn’t dance?” he asked, trying to tease and regain control of the situation.
“I never said that,” Ember retorted. “There are things dragons do just as well, if not better than others.”
He nodded and went silent for a bit. The music continued and he led the dance as they moved around the floor. The lights were dimmed a bit, which gave him the courage to pull her closer to him, letting her body press against his. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Finally, he said, “You know, our first meeting was pretty…well, what’s the word I’m looking for…? Unique?”
“Volcanic is a word I’d use.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, having a dragon fall on you would be volcanic, I suppose,” he said. “And we didn’t exactly get along well at first. At least, that’s how I saw it.”
“And how do you see things now?” Ember responded, moving closer.
He tightened his grip around her and ran his hand up her back gently. “Right now, I’d like to think we’re incredibly good friends. You’ve visited me more often than I would have thought. You’ve been training me in how to fight without using magic. You’ve been-MMPH!?”
Ember, getting tired of the emotional spiel, shot forward and captures Gregory lips with her own, effectively silencing him. The two held that position for a while before Ember pulled away with a breathless sigh. “Sorry, you were taking too long,” she said.
It took him yet another few moments to respond. Then, with a wide and happy smile, he grabbed her, pulled her back, flung his arms around her and kissed her again, harder and with more passion behind it. The crowd noticed this and began cheering. “Let’s give a big shout out to the new couple!” Pinkie shouted.
After a good ten seconds, Gregory slowly released Ember, breaking the kiss and looking at her with a wide smile. The two didn’t say anything for a while as the crowd went nuts. He leaned closer and, with a smirk, said, “Tastes like roasted almonds.”
In the background, Chrysalis and Jason watched the display with mixed emotions between the two. For Chrysalis, she smirked at the clear love Gregory and Ember had for each other and fed off the energy. For Jason, he stood with a more resolute expression. “That’s sweet of them, huh?”
“Yes, I was getting tired of them dragging their hooves about their feelings. Although, Gregory is out of her league.”
Jason snorted at the comment before turning to the changeling monarch. “You want to steal their thunder?”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Chrysalis asked as she turned to Jason. However, her voice died in her throat as Jason had gotten down to one knee and presented Chrysalis with a ring. “...W-What is that?”
“It’s a little something I picked up from the hive,” Jason said. “I hear it's made of a malleable material that changes with the wearer. Something that’s a tradition with your people, right?”
“J-Jason. I don’t know what to say,” Chrysalis said, stammering.
“I do. You’ve been there at my worst. You helped me even if you had goals of your own. You saved me at my weakest and brought a feeling I never thought I would have again. So…” Jason opened the case to reveal and onyx ring with gold trimming along the frame and a jade colored gem in the center. “Wanna get hitched?”
Overcome with emotion, Chrysalis morphed to her human form and took the ring, sliding it on her finger. “Yes, you droll little man! A thousand times YES!!!” Chrysalis ignited her magic and pulled Jason to his feet to embrace him in a deep passionate kiss.
Gregory noticed this happening, smirked, then nudged Ember. “Hey, look at those two lovebugs,” he said, indicating the human and changeling queen.
“LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE NEWLYWEDS!!!” Pinkie shouted even louder this time as more cheering erupted.
Gregory clapped hard along with the rest, his mouth hurting a bit from the smiling. “Those two are made for each other, one literally,” he chuckled.
Just as the music ended, Gregory felt something stirring inside of him. There was some sort of warmth passing through his chest. He put his hand on his chest, and at that moment he heard something. It sounded like drums being beaten. Then, a very familiar tune began playing, only the music wasn’t coming from the speakers. It came from all around them. He turned back to Ember. “Oh, I’ve got a couple of surprises for you,” he grinned as he stepped back. “First things first.” He clapped and a pair of icy draconic wings spread from behind his back. “Surprise!”
He flew up to the stage, landing rather gracefully. Vinyl gave him a nod and a grin before she and Pinkie took some steps back. He faced the crowd before he began to sing.
He jumped off of the stage and landed slowly thanks to his wings and pointed at Ember.
“Woah, oh! I shouldn’t try to deny that she’s the one, my dragon waifu! Woah, oh! Yeah, I’ll fight you if you stand between me, and my dragon-if you stand between me and my dragon waifu!”
He began walking up towards her, standing tall and giving her a warm smile as he sang more.
“Alright, now, there she is, this could be my one chance! I’ll smile wide and walk up with a taller stance! You might think, what could go wrong? I bet she’s cool! Wait 'til she raises up her fist, oh she can be cruel! How ‘bout it? I’ll say hi again when she’s in town! I’ll say a word, then she’ll beat me right back to the ground! She said it herself; dragons don’t do friends! Maybe you and I can be so much more 'til the end!Until the end! My head’s in a whirl for my dragon girl!”
He took her in his arms and both began flying in the air above the crowd.
“Woah, oh! I shouldn’t try to deny that she’s the one, my dragon waifu! Woah, oh! Yeah, I’ll fight you if you stand between me, and my dragon-if you stand between me and my dragon waifu!”
As the song ended, he landed and looked into Ember’s completely blushing face, leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I love you, Dragon Lord Ember,” he said.
She looked down, embarrassed, but above the cheering, he heard her say, “I love you too, Gregory Graystone…”
As the cheering continued, Jason couldn’t help but to get in one last dig. “Boo, that was corny,” he said with a smirk.
“Hey! We like corn!” Pinkie said.
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Its a slow process, but things are getting better for all of them. Fantastic work and I can't wait to see what's next!
Nice reference.
Lighting DOUBLE the bonfires?
I honestly thought rainbow parents would be more stubborn about facing that their kid isn't perfect and can do bad things. Being indulged like that must have turned into a entitled brat.
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And I thought they had a reason for doing what they supposedly did for Rainbow, like some dark event traumatizing them and using a coping mechanism the wrong way, but that's just me.
Ah, yes. Those old Disney stories from the 50s. The old school Disney stories are what we will all cherish, unlike the nonsense the company's been dishing out these last few years.
Nice to see that the rest of the Mane Six have gotten better, and having that win some lose some thing happening, like Twilight not being able to contact her parents yet managed to talk with Celestia about her alicorn status. It could've gone more differently to produce more drama, but that's just me.
There is one thing though, what about Thunderlane and Rumble? Surely they haven't kicked the frozen bucket, have they?
Sweet chapter! It's good to see all of them are making amends progressively
Aww.
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They dead. Not many survived the destruction.
HAH, HAHAhaaa, haaahhh.. oh man that's quite the joke
Things are getting better, but things aren’t going to go back to normal. One thing I like about this series is that it shows how thoughtless actions can lead to life altering consequences. The part with Rainbows parents felt a little rushed, but I do like that she’s found a new purpose. While she’ll never be an athlete again, both because of her injuries (physical and neurological). and possibly the curse, she can at least train the next generation. Fluttershy was also sweet, glad she’s running an orphanage, but now I keep imagining her as a chibi pony nun… which is adorable. Discord seems like he has a long way to go, and I feel like part of him has accepting his powers might be go forever now. But he’s found purpose in helping Fluttershy, which shows he’s growing beyond his selfish childishness. Applejack certainly has adapted, but it’s nice she’s keeping some of the old Sweet Apple Acres charm with her new home. I still get the feeling though that she’s no longer the “poster pony” for the farm.
The Twilight part was a little hard to read, not because it was poorly written though. She wants to fix her family, which is understandable. But you have to wonder if the rest of the family “wants” it fixed. Cadance wasn’t exactly happy to learn her in-laws were speciesist. Shining, while he didn’t show it outwardly, I think learning the truth about his parents hurt him a lot, especially when he made some realizations about how Spike was treated. He’s implied to be trying to make up for lost time by spending more time with his “little brother” now. I definitely sense some guilt right there, and I doubt he’s interested in mending fences with both his wife and Spike feelings so well known. Spike seems have moved on, accepting they aren’t, and will never be his parents, he was just seen as an unwanted houseguest… at the very best. That hurt him a lot, but he’s grown a lot since then. He arguably doesn’t need parents now, so why bother trying to “fix” things, they are just bad memories at this point.
As for Twilights parents? I think being called out by their son and daughter in law, Princess Luna and Prince Blueblood (though more indirectly in his case), and then having the entirety (or at least most) of Equestria reject their world view probably humiliated them beyond imagining. What’s left for them? To pretend theirs no hard feelings, that everything can go back to normal? That’s not how this works… reputation wise they probably aren’t doing well either, even if there’s some holdouts for the old ways, I’m sure they aren’t happy with them either. They are avoiding the problem, which obviously isn’t healthy, but at this point, it’s all they have left, some misplaced pride. They could also realize too much has happened, and that reaching out to Twilight would just cause more fighting with the rest of the family.
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I don't know if twilight parents will ever face they were wrong or not. Ponies didn't love the idea that hating other species was stupid and mean and just plain wrong. Hopefully spike and twilight can make peace. I don't think she meant to be bad she just wasn't taught the right things about how to treat others. She never understood that she was being bad to others until it was shoved in her face. The elements didn't think anything of her behavior because if it didn't affect them personally then who cares and unfortunately forgive and forget was a little too literal when it came to the mistakes that did affect each other. They never had to learn anything from the mistakes.
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Even if they became better ponies, you also have to wonder if the other members of the family would even be interested in rebuilding bridges with them. Just because you eventually get better, doesn’t entitle you to forgiveness and relationships with your kids. I get the feeling with the exception of Twilight, the rest of the Sparkle family (yes including Spike) have moved on. They have their own lives to worry about, why would they bother rebuilding those ruined relationships if they have new ones they have to focus on? It takes a lot of time and effort to fix the consequences of bad parental relationships, and that can come with the price of hurting other relationships. Best they might get is a “I forgive you” and then radio silence for their efforts. So why bother with even trying? Alternatively bringing them back in might judge drudge up more bad feelings and memories, so why would they go through that either?
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I don't know. I know shining and twilight want them to be better though whether those bonds can be rebuilt is anyone guess. Only the author knows. Spike I don't think he will want anything to do with them if he can help it.
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Well, hot damn
So good, love how you depicted each session. And I really love how Jason doesnt forgive discord right away.
One question I do have is can we get a little hint on what's gonna be over the river-bend? Cuz things have been going a bit too good recently.
And from I own experience, once life has been going too good as of late is when lifes gonna throw you a right hook out of nowhere.
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I tried to convey to Twilight's parents that they said what they said and decided to wash their hands of Spike's situation by sending all his belongings to Twilight and, effectively, cutting the little drake out. Everything else you got on point.
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I'm sorry, river-bend?
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I’m guessing he means what’s coming after this, the spanner in the works that smashes the brief peace? And he is right, it’s when things start going well that the excrement hits the spinning rotors once again.
What could be the thing we missed that fucks everything up I wonder?
Nobility attempting a failed, or worse, successful assassination on Jason or Gregory?
Jason getting cancer like in Endings and Beginnings?
The Pillars of Equestria somehow showing up again and it being revealed that the villains they defeated were actually victims like how we found out about the Sirens back in the trial (maybe that’s why Stygian was cast out, he started questioning the morality of what they were doing or maybe went against the Pillars to help the innocent)
Or, I dunno, Grogars Bell somehow making an appearance?
You’d mentioned in an earlier comment not many survived the destruction. Those who froze, are their bodies still preserved in the ice? If so, maybe that ice should be rendered unable to melt, let the frozen corpses serve as a reminder as to what happens when Ponies get xenophobic. Sorta reminds me of the corpses on Everest that serve as a lesson to other mountaineers of the folly of pride.
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Indeed. Reminds me of this saying:
Hard times create strong people, strong people create peaceful times,
peaceful times create weak people, and weak people create hard times.
That's one of the many cycles of life that can't be grounded to a halt, it is what's needed to keep the world spinning on its figurative axis.
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I would just like to add, though that cycle is generally sound in principle, it is not always the case in reality and can go wrong, often with catastrophic consequences.
Sometimes, the hard times can be a bit too harsh and produce men who, given the opportunity, will create even harder times. An example of this would be Joseph Stalin. I’m not going to make excuses for him or try to overlook the atrocities he committed but the horrific experiences of his developing years definitely played a part in determining what he’d go on to do. He was considered a monster and treated like a monster so he became a monster and did what monsters do.
On the flip side, sometimes those peaceful and soft times don’t create weak men but competent and capable men, men unfettered by hardship and capable of administering a golden era. Take the Roman Emperor Trajan, grew up in a period of relative peace and stability in the Roman Empire, minus that one Year of the Four Emperors, yet is still considered to have been one of the greatest leaders Rome ever had, second only to Augustus himself.
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Now I’m wondering if this action is something they are gonna look back on someday and realize was their last chance? After they tried to use Spike as a pawn, that would have been my cut off point. But Twilight still wanted to believe there was something there to salvage, but now it feels like she’s letting go. Not saying it doesn’t hurt, but I have to wonder if things were really so healthy just between Shining, Twilight, and their parents… wouldn’t surprise me if they screwed up with them too honestly.
It would be sad but also satisfying if years later all Night Light and Velvet have is a house full of memories and regrets. Only learning about their kids happenings through a long grapevine of acquaintances. Would be interesting to see them before this story ends, I’m curious what they are up too, good or bad.
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Well I meant if for some reason they got some sense in their heads. Right now they refuse to see how wrong they were. Though I doubt even if that happens spike will want anything to do with them. It was hard for him to see that his parents didn't care. Twilight and shining didn't realize how bad he was treated. My guess shining between girl chasing and training didn't have much spare time to realize how bad things were. Twilight of course couldn't see the wrongfulness of how spike was treated because one its is hard to see your parents flaws and two she was a child and growing up in that environment made her think that it was okay. Though the fact she took so long to learn about dragons was all on her.
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So it works half the time averagely. We'll just make the most out of it.
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How come it’s easier for a warlike species such as ours to combat racism but a peaceful species like theirs doesn’t even want to try for the most part as those like Starlight and the CFE are the exception not the norm
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While Rumble was innocent I think Thunderlane had it coming to be honest
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Well we haven't won that war completely yet. We are better than we once were but haters got hate and they can be sneaky about it.
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Good points man and I love how you brought up the pillars and stygian.
If the pillars did return what do you think would happen? We only know for sure that starswirl tortured chrysalis's mother but what about the others? Does Flash Magnus need to elaborate about his time in the dragon lands?
But one that has been bugging me for a while was when Twilight Velvet talked about the dragon raids how they would burn whole towns and eat the populus. On it's own it doesnt seem like much but with all info we have it really doesn't.
Let me explain,
If the dragons lord ordered the raid then not only would it spark a war but it wouldn't make much since for them to target civilians unless they had an incentive or vendetta to complete.
But if it was small individual group of dragons, then it still wouldn't make much since as they would have little to gain from such raids.
Or it could be that canterlot times was exaggerating the raids, rarity did say they had a spotty reputation.
Beautiful chapter! I love how everyone is slowly coming to terms with the last few months, rather than suddenly being ok with it.
I also love how Twilight, Shining, and Cadence are working to make up for their indifference to Spike by becoming the parental figures that Velvet and Night weren't.
As I've said, if I live to be 100, I'll still never understand how on earth the MLP staff thought that Ep200 was in any way heartwarming to Spike's story. All it did was raise concerning questions about his childhood that, as usual, the crew didn't seem important enough to have a big character episode for him. Even though Starlight, Daring Do, and even Quibble Pants had episodes like that. Not to mention the Zeppelin and Father Knows Beast adding to the pile. I know I'm preaching to the choir commenting on this fic about it, but the crew's seemingly personal vendetta against Spike bothers me more than any other thing about the show.
So I guess next is the epilogue. I can imagine wedding bells and maybe some answers to a question I’ve been wanting to know. Has Jason removed the pain from AJ and Rainbow or is he still holding on to a small grudge for a while? Or maybe we’ll go a few years into the future and maybe see Jason finnaly say “I fully forgive you all.” To be honest either way this story is wrapping up nicely.
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I dont know it feels kinda wierd just to end this story right now. Plus it feels like the story with the nobles isnt done yet, I mean all that build up of them being the next villain and then just having that already be resolved feels rushed and kinda a waste.
Plus what about the staff Gregory got or the horse where did that even come from.
But the thing I'm looking forward too is seeing what will happen with twilight velvet and night light; I really, really hope they dont get off easily.
Cuz they are just scummy, they only saw spike at best, as a stepping stone to the high life that comes with being the parents of the princess, and a literal monster at worst.
I really hope the author doesnt try and give them the same scenario as rainbows, as not only would that be repetitive but it'd feel way too rushed. As much as I love this story that is something that would just be too much for me to really believe.
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When you're spoiled by the status quo, do you even want to change? Likewise, when you've gotten crap and war, you want a change of pace. You learn to appreciate what you have and don't have. Does that make sense?
To me, it does.
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Discord deserved worse, quite frankly. He's the center point for most of the things wrong in Gaia's societies.
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I for one am glad that the Mane 6 will not escape their punishments early. I would have called foul if the author removed that. I figured Twilight's parents would be that way. They are a product of Canterlot culture.
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Means, around the corner or what will happen next because you can't see what's around the river bend.
Uh oh, let’s hope these twin don’t try to “solve mystery”
Now that I think about it after reading this story a lot, this song mostly fits.