---

The moment that the ponies and young dragon returned, Gabby could immediately tell something was wrong. Not only were their faces more downtrodden than before except for the one who’d remained behind, but Gregory hadn’t returned with them. In a corner booth where she sat with Gilda and Starlight Glimmer, she watched the ponies re-enter. She also saw the tallest pony walk up to the purple maned one and give her a glare. Words were exchanged between the two before they all headed off to their rooms.

And she wasn’t the only one who was watching. When she slowly turned back, Gilda and Starlight had both been watching as well and now shared a glance with Gabby. Gallus and Gracie, however, were at another table talking with a group of griffon teens, including Gia who’d arrived a while ago. Gracie looked a lot better now and was surreptitiously watching the interaction between Gia and Gallus.

“I know that look, Gabs,” Gilda said, pointing a claw at her, “so don’t lie to me. It’s rare that you don’t smile. What’s going on in that noggin of yours?”

Gabby looked at Gilda for a bit, then sighed and took a large swig of the dragon brandy she’d been nursing ever since Gregory and the Equestrians had left. Taking a deep breath, she put the glass down a bit harder than normal. “I’m worried about Gregory,” she said.

Starlight, who was actually sipping on some ginger ale, just smirked. “When are you not, lover girl?”

Gabby blushed but shook her head quickly. “This is different. Something’s wrong. Whatever Zecora told him outside before he came back and took the Equestrians to his house really shook him up. Couldn’t you tell?”

Gilda shrugged. “Eh, he seemed fine to me,” she said.

“I confess, I haven’t known him as much as you both,” Starlight said, “but he did seem a bit unsettled. And where’s Zecora anyway? It’s her day too.”

“She’s…a solitary creature,” Gabby said, remembering the episode of the show which showed how Ponyville had first reacted to Zecora. And she remembered, quite clearly, just how angry she’d looked when Gregory walked out with her. No, she reasoned, something big just happened. Standing, she finished the rest of her drink, put the empty mug down and practically slammed what she owed down onto the table. It wasn’t loud enough to be heard by the crowd of celebrating griffons, dragons and a couple of ponies, but it was loud and sudden enough to cause Gilda and Starlight to jump in alarm. “I’m going to go find him and make sure he’s okay,” she said as she stood.

Gilda and Starlight both looked at each other. Gabby noticed what looked like a silent message being passed between them, then both imitated her actions, downing their own mugs, putting them down and adding their own bits to the pile to pay for their drinks. “You don’t think you’re going to go alone, are you lover girl?” Starlight asked with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smile.

“That guy still owes me an arm wrestling match,” Gilda added. “I’m not letting him get out of it.”

Gabby inwardly smiled. Gilda had always had a harder time than most griffons in showing her true feelings about anygriffon, even after the Idol’s return, but she knew that the grumpy scone seller cared about Gregory in her own way. “He’s probably back home,” Gabby said. She turned to Smolder and called out, “Hey, we’re gonna head out for a little while! We’ll try and be back soon! Payment’s on the table!”

Smolder nodded and waved at them. “Sure, do what you need to do,” she replied before turning to one of the griffon staff and alerting them to the fact that there was a now empty booth that needed cleaning.

“Where are you guys going?” Gallus asked as the three walked passed the neighboring booth.

“We’re gonna find Gregory and drag him back here kicking and screaming,” Gilda chuckled.

Gracie looked up at that fast. There was a look of worry in her eyes as she said, “Want me to come too?”

Gabby smiled and shook her head. “No, we’ll handle it. If we need some more help, we’ll come back and tell you.”

Gracie didn’t look too happy about that, but she nodded in understanding. Across from her, Gia, a bright yellow furred griffoness with dark green eyes, brown feathers and blue claws, spoke up. “I do hope the Chancellor is okay.”

“So do I, Gia,” Gabby said as she turned away with the others to head for the door. “So do I…”

---

It was snowing a bit harder by the time Gabby, Gilda and Starlight all arrived back at their house. Gabby put Starlight, who she’d carried, down and landed beside her. Gilda landed a few steps away, but closer to the door. Reaching into her own saddlebag, the aforementioned griffoness pulled out a small keyring with a few sets of keys on them. When she walked up and tried the door, she looked surprised when it opened without a fuss. “He didn’t lock the door?” Gilda muttered as she stepped inside and removed her scarf.

Starlight and Gabby both walked in and removed their own scarves, shaking the snow off onto the part of the front that Gregory had called a genkan. “To be fair, who’d be dumb enough to try and rob or break into the Chancellor’s house?” Starlight asked.

Gabby had to agree. She had yet to hear of anycreature who had a problem with Gregory, but even she wasn’t stupid enough to think that nocreature would have some kind of problem with their new Chancellor. She removed her stocking cap and hung it up after shaking the snow off of it. “Gregory? Are you here?” she asked.

“He’s not stupid enough not to lock up the doors before leaving,” Gilda reasoned before shooting a glance at Starlight. “Not like a certain colorful creature among us who shall remain Starlight.”

Starlight glared up at Gilda. “It was one time!” she snapped. “Ponies don’t normally keep doors locked when they’re in town!”

The two looked at each other with what Gabby knew was a playful glare on each of their parts. They had a playfully antagonistic relationship, ribbing each other and challenging each other to weird bets. Gabby couldn’t help but smile at the memory of the Thanksgiving celebration where the two had gotten into a competition of Truth or Dare, which might as well have been called Dare and Dare. Gilda had gotten her claws painted with what Starlight called hoof polish, while Starlight had jumped into a large mudpit on a neighboring vacant property line, among other bets. She smiled more at the memory of Gregory laughing harder than she’d ever seen him laugh at their antics. Not even after the two both pulled him into said mudpit did he stop laughing.

While the two continued to rib on each other, Gabby headed around the house, looking for and calling out for Gregory. It didn’t take long for the other two to stop their friendly ribbing and searching through the house.

After about ten minutes, they all converged on the last place to look: his bedroom. When Gabby knocked, she was surprised to see that the door wasn’t completely closed. It opened up slowly inwards onto a quiet and empty room. “Did he really leave?” Starlight asked.

“He may be a moron, but he’s not stupid enough to leave the house unlocked,” Gilda said.

Starlight frowned. “Everyone can make mistakes if they’re not completely themselves,” she said.

“…Hey, hey, look at me, I'm what you want to see, I promise I'm for real, not trying to deceive. Won't believe your eyes, you won't believe it's true. Just come with me right now, I'll take and show you,” a soft and slightly trembling male voice sang from the closed bathroom door.

“There he is,” Gilda said, walking up to the bathroom. Knocking on the door, she called out, “Hey, Gregster! Whatcha doing in there?”

“Oooh oooh oooh, oooh oooh oooh. You really thought I was what you were looking for. Oooh oooh oooh, oooh oooh oooh. Guess I got in your head, you just got baited,” Gregory sang again.

Gabby’s heart sank as she heard the tone in his voice. She’d heard him singing before, and he had a lovely singing voice. But the tone of his song now sounded like he was broken. And she wasn’t the only one in the room to notice. Starlight went from concerned to extremely worried. She rubbed her leg with her other hoof. She slowly walked over to the door and knocked gently. “Gregory? It’s Starlight. Are you okay in there?”

There was a sloshing of water from inside, then Gregory sang once more. “Tee hee I'm sorry. Oh wait, no not really. It was my plan, you see, to be so, so tricky. Time for me to run to find another chump. Maybe I'll see you then, we'll do it all again.”

Gabby couldn’t wait anymore. She had only seen him cry once, and that was on the first day they met. Even so, she could hear his voice cracking. Pushing past a surprised Gilda, she opened the door to the bathroom with a slam. The bathroom was warm, the mirror and window were both steamed up, and Gregory sat in a bubble bath, staring ahead at the wall. There was a blank expression in his eyes as he continued singing, “Oooh oooh oooh, oooh oooh oooh. You really thought I was what you were looking for. Oooh oooh oooh, oooh oooh oooh. Guess I got in your head, you just got baited. Hah! I got you!”

Gabby ran forward, immediately pulling his head close to her plumage and stroking his hair gently. “Gregory…what happened?” she asked softly.

He didn’t react at first except to stop singing, but only for a bit. After a while, he did start up once more, and the song he sang was one she knew. “You see I used to hate that I liked My Little Pony…not anymore…and I’m proud to be a Brony…”

“The fuck is that song? Ponies?” Gilda asked as she, took, walked in once she saw that Gregory was covered in bubbles.

Starlight came in behind the gruff griffoness, looking a bit nervous. However, when she saw Gregory, her nervousness reverted back to concern. “Gregory? Are you okay?”

“My little pony, my little pony, what is friendship all about? My little pony, my little pony, friendship is magic,” he sang again.

“Snap out of it!” Gilda shouted, balling her hand into a fist and smacking him, albeit lightly, on the head.

Slowly, his hand reached out of the water, dripping bubbles as he reached out towards Gabby, who immediately took it in her free hand and squeezed gently. “Gregory? What’s wrong?” she asked, hiding her fear at this new state she saw him in while at the same time running her claw gently through his wet hair.

Slowly, the blank look in his eyes began to vanish. He looked up at her with confusion. “Gabs…?”

Her grip on him tightened and her heart went out to him. He responded by burying his face deeper into her chest plumage. Gilda walked up beside her and looked down. “The fuck’s going on?” she asked in a softer tone than Gabby had heard from her. “Did those ponies do something to you?”

Starlight was on the other side of Gabby, looking down at Gregory with her own worried expression. “Gregory, you can talk to us, what’s wrong?” she asked, gently reaching out to put a hoof on his shoulder.

He took a few shaky sounding breaths, then swallowed. Looking up, Gabby could see that he seemed to be coming back to the present. “Hello, Gregory,” she said in relief, “welcome back.”

To her further relief, he smiled ever so slightly. “H-Hi,” he said. Slowly he looked around, pulling back and drinking in the sight of Gilda and Starlight. “What’s with…the looks?”

“We were calling your name for ten minutes, dweeb,” Gilda scowled, glaring down at him, “and we come up and find you acting all insane! What in Tartarus happened?!”

“Gilda, calm down,” Gabby said sternly before turning back to Gregory. “Let’s just give him time to return to us fully.”

Gilda scowled, but nodded in agreement. Gregory looked around once more, then back at the tub. Slowly, he pulled away from Gabby and sank deeper into the tub. “Well…I’m glad you were all concerned,” he said in an embarrassed tone, “but…I’d like some privacy now. I’m just about to get out.”

Gabby blushed, turned and began none too gently pushing the other two females out of the room. She might not have completely understood the human need to be covered with clothing, but she respected it enough. It was also completely intriguing for her, especially after she’d begun to develop feelings for him and began experiencing sexual attraction towards him. Her curiosity at what was going on below was only slowly growing as time went on.

After the three were out, Gabby shut the door again, then called out, “Gregory, we’ll be downstairs in the living room, okay?”

“I’ll be down in a minute or so,” he replied as Gabby heard him pull the plug out of the bath’s drain. She next heard him standing up and getting out.

“A-Alright,” she said, “See you then.” Once more, she turned and began pushing the other two out of the door.

“Slow down, Gabby! Sheesh! I can walk on my own!” Gilda hissed as she moved on her own towards the door.

“Do you gals really think he’s okay?” Starlight asked, looking back once more at the closed bathroom door before Gabby closed the bedroom door behind her after they all exited. “He seemed so…out of it. Like he saw something so horrific that he couldn’t comprehend it.”

“What, like he was in some kind of shock?” Gilda asked.

Starlight nodded as the three walked down the hall, Gabby following the first two as she looked at the carpeted hallway. She remained silent as the two females ahead of her continued talking. “I remember somepony back in my childhood village coming into town with a similar look. She’d seen something so horrific that she found it hard to comprehend. I didn’t really know what it was except that Dad said that it wasn’t something for a little filly to know.”

“That bad, huh?” Gilda asked.

“Yeah, guess so,” Starlight replied with a sigh.

“I swear, if those ponies did something to Gregory, I’ll tear them apart, even that fucking princess of theirs!” Gilda said angrily.

“Calm down there, Gilda,” Starlight said. “If you did that we could start an international incident. And who would have to deal with the aftermath, do you think?”

Gilda growled angrily, but nodded in understanding after they reached the stairs. “Gregory…” she muttered.

As they walked down the stairs towards the living room, Starlight turned back to Gabby. “Gabby, you’ve been awfully quiet. Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Just…trying to figure out what could have happened here,” she said. “I mean, he just met some of the ponies he idolized back where he was from, and he looks like they told him they murdered someone.”

“That’s always bothered me,” Gilda said. “If he’s from a far away place where there’s no magic, how did he hear about griffons, ponies, dragons or anything else in the first place? I mean, I don’t even know what kind of adventures Rainbow Dash and her friends have had, but he’s somehow heard of them? Something’s off about that.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right,” Starlight said as they all reached the living room and sat down on the couches. “Something’s a bit fishy. And I don’t mean your breath,” Starlight grinned.

“Hey! I like eating fish raw! They’re tasty!” Gilda retorted, “and don’t change the subject! He’s hiding something from us, and honestly I don’t like it.” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Look, despite all that I say to him and all he says to me, he’s the first friend I’ve made in years. I thought after I lost Rainbow Dash as a friend I wouldn’t be able to make another friend. Then here comes this weird hairless monkey wearing clothes and who’s able to actually insult me without it going through a pony cleanliness filter. Someone who can keep up with me. I know he hasn’t been telling us everything.”

“Well, what if he has a good reason to keep things hidden from us?” Starlight asked.

“Does he not trust us?” Gilda asked, and Gabby was surprised to hear some semblance of hurt feelings in her tone. It made the younger griffoness feel more guilty for hiding the truth from two of her best friends.

“Maybe he’s afraid of what we might think about him if we knew whatever the truth really is,” Starlight reasoned. “I don’t know, I’m just as hurt as you are, but if what I’ve seen of him is any indication, he’s not a bad man.”

“Gabby, aren’t you as eager to know what he’s hiding, too?” Gilda asked, turning to the quiet griffoness. “You’re the closest out of all of us to him. Surely you’ve wanted to know, too?”

There was silence in the room for a bit as an increasingly guilt-ridden Gabby looked at the floor, trying to think as to what she should say. She knew the whole truth, of course, and knew just what it might mean if word got out that an entire world of humans knew about Gaia and the various races that inhabited its shores. She’d been incredibly tight lipped about it, only talking to Gregory about it and watching a few of the episodes of the show with him. She opened her mouth, then closed it. The silence became deafening as she felt the stares on her. Clenching her claws, she swallowed slowly. Across from her, Gabby heard Starlight gasp in realization before saying, “You know something already, don’t you?” Her voice wasn’t angry. It wasn’t accusatory, it was just curious.

“Wait, you do?!” Gilda asked.

“She does,” a tired sounding male voice said from the stairs. Gabby looked up immediately to see Gregory at the foot of the stairs, looking out wearily at the three of the women in the room. He was wearing dark black jeans, a bright green t-shirt and a bright red unzipped hoodie over it. Underneath his arm, Gabby saw one of the laptops he’d brought from his world to Gaia. “And I think it’s about time I told the two of you, too. However, before I do, I’d like to have you both swear by Maker herself that what I’m about to disclose will remain in this room among us and nowhere else. Is that clear?”

Gilda and Starlight looked stunned. Gabby had only ever had to swear to Gregory by the mythical creator of the planet once, and that was when Gregory had disclosed the truth about Gaia. There was silence for a while before Starlight said, “You’re not joking, are you?”

He pointed to his face as he walked closer to them, taking a seat next to Gabby. “Does this look like my joking face? Am I laughing?” he asked.

Starlight slowly shook her head. Gilda, on the other claw, didn’t look too happy still. “Are we really so untrustworthy that you couldn’t trust us with this secret of yours?” she asked, and Gabby could once more hear the hurt in her voice.

Gregory slowly shook his head. “Once you hear what I have to tell you, you’ll understand why I need this to be kept a secret,” he said seriously.

Gilda crossed her arms, not taking her eyes off of the human. However, when he returned her glare with one of his own, she slowly unfolded her arms. “You really are serious, aren’t you?” When he slowly but deliberately nodded, she let out a sigh. “Alright…I’m still angry that you haven’t told us everything, but I know you wouldn’t be acting like this if it wasn’t something really serious. So…what haven’t you been telling us?”

He put his laptop down, but didn’t open it. “Before I go into that, I’d like to tell you all something. Something about our new pony visitors.” And here his expression darkened, sending shivers down Gabby’s spine. He might not be showing it, but she could tell he was extremely pissed about something.

She wasn’t the only one to notice. Starlight and Gilda both were immediately leaning closer, watching him with their own looks of concern on their faces. “Spill it already,” Gilda said, “what did Rainbow and her pony friends tell you?”

“Is there some kind of invading army spreading through Equestria?” Starlight asked.

“I guess you could say that,” he said, “and its name is xenophobia and speciesism.”

Gabby felt another harder chill go through her. His tone was ice cold. Her feathers ruffled a bit in response, as did Gilda’s. Starlight’s ears were immediately pinned to their sides. Gabby moved closer despite her fear and leaned against him, putting one wing around him to try and comfort him with whatever was bothering him. She felt him relax at her touch. Looking down at her, she was further relieved to see him give her a small smile. “Thanks, Gabs.”

“I’m almost afraid to know now,” Starlight said.

“I wouldn’t blame you,” Gregory said, “but I really need to talk to someone about it.” He held his head. “It’s a lot to take in all at once, and I need someone I trust to talk to. Or three someones. The closest friends I have here.” And here he looked up at all three of them with pleading eyes. “Please…”

“Why do you think we’re here, you dweeb?” Gilda asked, trying to return to her normal detached attitude.

Gregory smiled a bit, then sat up, putting his hands in his lap. His expression became serious. “Okay, so…what they told me goes back five years ago, all the way in Equestria,” he said, and thus he began recounting what he’d been told about the tale of one Jason Wright…

---

Gilda could hardly believe what she had just heard. Another human, an innocent creature, had suffered for three years at the hooves of not only her old pony friend but her friends and the town of ponies she’d visited all those years ago. She always knew Rainbow had a reckless streak in her. It was one of the things that Gilda had liked about the young filly she knew. However, now she had an extra reason to absolutely hate Discord.

As if griffons needed a reason to utterly despise the being of utter chaos and sadism.

Growing up, Gilda had always heard tales about the monster known as Discord, how he had nearly caused the extinction of griffonkind hundreds of years before the unification of all Griffonia under King Grover. There were plenty of bedtime stories which showed how this monstrous being had nearly caused a massive war among the various griffon tribes. The details had since been lost to time, but there was one thing she knew: the wars stopped almost as suddenly as they began, almost like a spell had been lifted from the leaders heads.

Of course, as much as the griffons hated Discord, she learned that the dragons actively detested the spirit of chaos and cursed his name with many terrible curses anytime he was mentioned. She’d tried to find out why that was, but she was stonewalled every time.

However, to hear that the damned draconequus had been involved in the abuse of a human alongside a pony she’d once called friend made her absolutely livid. It made her want to rush back down to the inn where they were staying and taking back the apology she’d recently given, but when she saw the look in Gregory’s eyes, she had enough sense to banish those thoughts to her mental Tartarus. She’d learned, ever since talking to Gregory, that it was best to be the bigger creature and admit their own mistakes even if the mistakes of the other were infinitely worse.

“How could anypony do that…?” Starlight asked in a stunned and upset tone. “And for three years…what the…what the FUCK!?”

“…I always knew Rainbow was reckless, but I never knew she could be that cruel,” Gilda fumed.

Gilda saw Gabby leaning in closer, stroking his back with her wing. There was a look of understanding in her eyes as she pressed her forehead against his. Gilda wasn’t much of a griffon person so she couldn’t really read expressions, but while she did know about how the young griffoness felt about Gregory, there was an understanding there that only confirmed that she knew something that she and Starlight didn’t.

Gregory nodded. “Apparently so,” he said, putting an arm around Gabby. “She even shot lightning at Jason. I don’t know how that works here, but humans don’t have wings or magic. Lightning can kill us, and if it doesn’t kill us it can cause damage and leave harsh looking scars.”

“I can attest to how cruel ponies can be,” Starlight said with a shudder as she raised her hoof. “It’s…yeah…I just thought what happened with me was an isolated incident.”

“So did I,” Gregory said. “But apparently ponies everywhere can do it. I should have realized this place isn’t the same as what I was thinking and hoping it would be like.”

Gilda couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit badly for Gregory. Having a dream crushed was something she was all-too familiar with. She’d wanted to try and become a part of the Wonderbolts with Rainbow after the filly had talked about it at the camp, but she’d been told that only ponies could become Wonderbolts. That had broken her little heart, but like her parents had told her, she quickly buried those feelings and eventually got over it. Starlight spoke up next. “Gregory, are you really okay?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. On the one hand, I’m absolutely pissed off and disappointed at those ponies, but at the same time I’ve got to take into account that this world is a lot more complex than I first thought. I can’t just keep assuming things are the same as what I’ve seen and heard them be like.”

Gilda frowned. “And now it comes down to it,” she said. “What have you been hiding from us?”

“Gilda! We can’t just ask him to talk about that after all we’ve just heard!” Starlight shouted.

Gilda wanted to retort something, but realized moments before she could say anything stupid that she was right. She let out a loud sigh. “No, you’re right…”

“It’s okay, Starlight,” Gregory said as he slowly reached out for his laptop. “It’s about time I shared this with you and Gilda.” Gregory opened the laptop at that. It was already on, but the screen was black for the most part. The three females knew what the window around the blackness meant. They were about to watch a video. Before anyone else could say anything, Gregory held up his hand. “Just watch, please.”

The two who didn’t know closed their mouths and turned back to the screen. Gregory hit the space bar then another, making the window vanish. The video started, focusing on a strange looking cartoon book with a unicorn head on it. The book opened, and as the scene changed, a very familiar female voice, one they’d heard from the alabaster alicorn pony less than an hour ago, said, “Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land…”

---

Starlight’s blood had run cold after about half an hour. Gregory had only shown them a few minutes of the first episode before switching to one of the early episodes which showed Gilda’s visit to Ponyville. Then, much to Starlight’s horror, he showed them clips of an episode showing Starlight in her old town. After that, and after making sure he had their complete attention, Gregory continued to explain where he was actually from, how he managed to find a secret means of opening a portal to different fictional worlds, and how he’d arrived on Gaia thanks to that secret portal.

“I can’t believe it…” Starlight said after a few minutes of silence. She stared incomprehensively at the laptop, which was still open and showed his desktop, an image of a grassy field in front of snowcapped peaks with a large thunderstorm on the left half of the screen, a bolt of lightning shooting down and striking a far off tree. “We’re just…we’re not real?” She tried to breathe normally, but it felt like something was standing on her chest.

Gregory immediately shook his head. “Of course you’re fucking real,” he snapped quickly, making the unicorn jump. Standing, her walked over and knelt before his very first pony friend in the world. Reaching out he took her hoof in his hand. “I don’t know how my world got its information about Gaia, Equestria, the Elements of Harmony or everyone in this room, but you’re all real! I can feel you. I can touch you. I can talk to you! And I can do this!” He reached up, throwing his arms around the unicorn, holding her close in a comforting hug.

The stunned unicorn stared at Gregory in shock before she slowly buried her eyes into his shoulders. She wrapped her hooves around him and sniffed. “Aren’t we supposed to be comforting you?” she asked, hiccupping.

“You have been,” he replied, and that warmed the unicorn’s heart. The first time she’d seen him, she’d felt fear and apprehension, but she’d also been in a half crazed state of mind with hunger and paranoia. She’d been on the run through that cave and had gone over the train track bridge that led to Griffonia ages ago and had been wandering through the land, scavenging and trying to find work and a place to sleep. It hadn’t been easy, but she was a survivor. She wanted to get revenge on her village, but after some extensive talks with Gregory and later with Gabby she began to realize that she’d rather be with her new friends than anywhere else.

Now she had a job as the head librarian at the Griffonstone public library, a place to live, a steady supply of food and was learning more about magic despite the lower mana field on Griffonia. Not only that, but she was witnessing one of her best friends help in creating what she’d wanted to make back in Our Town: a land of equality and not just for ponies, but for anycreature.

“Damn, that is really a lot to take in,” Gilda said softly. Starlight looked over at her friend, noticing the look in her eyes that presumably matched her own.

“I know the feeling,” Gabby said. “When he told me, it took me a while to sink in.”

“I’m sorry it took so long for me to tell you all,” Gregory said apologetically, “but please trust me when I say I had good reasons to not tell you both.”

There was something in his tone that told Starlight that he wasn’t lying. She might not have known him the most out of all of his inner circle of friends, but she could tell he was hurting about not telling her and Gilda. She smiled up at him gently. “I trust you,” she said.

“Well, you owe me big time!” Gilda snapped, pointing at him. “Our world being some children’s television program or not, you kept us in the dark! So…” she stopped talking, then bit her beak. After a few seconds of tense silence between them, she sighed. “Look, I get you not wanting to tell someone like maybe Gallus or Gracie. They’re both eighteen. But Gregory Graystone, I’m much older than they are! Do you not trust me like you trust Gabby?”

“Gilda!” Starlight knew that was going too far.

Gilda seemed to notice this when she looked over and saw a hurt expression appear on Gregory’s face. The angry griffoness facepalmed. “Damn it, that came out wrong…” She removed her claw and looked at Gregory again. “I’m sorry. You know me, I’ve always had a bit of a temper.”

“You’re upset, I get it,” Gregory said, “and I can’t blame you for being so. But I hope you believe me when I say I didn’t tell you for good reasons.”

“And those reasons are?” Gilda asked, crossing her arms.

“I wanted to keep this as best of a secret as I possibly could,” Gregory said. “Now just hear me out. With what happened with the changelings, I couldn’t risk this piece of information getting out to them. Who knows what they might do with the information I possess? Sure, the events of the show are useless now, but just the fact that I have some information might be valuable to them. I couldn’t risk the information getting out. I knew everyone in here is trustworthy, but what if one of you were kidnapped and tortured for information?”

“I’d rather die before giving up information!” Gilda quickly replied.

“So would I,” Starlight added, and she meant it. Even if death wasn’t something that most ponies ever talked about much, she realized that if it meant keeping this new secret safe, she would rather lose her own life than break the trust of the very first real friend she’d made since Sunburst. Sunburst…

“Glim Glam? You okay?” Gabby asked with concern.

“Huh, what?” Starlight looked up at the younger griffoness.

“You okay?” Gabby repeated. “You spaced out for a bit.”

“Oh, yeah…sorry.” She sat up. “I was just thinking about an old friend-”

“Sunburst is probably in the Crystal Empire right now,” Gregory said.

Starlight’s eyes widened at that. “Wait…this show has Sunburst in it?!” she asked in astonishment.

Gregory nodded, then reached down and began searching through his computer. Clicking on something, he turned the screen towards her. she saw her animated self, with her current mane style surprisingly enough, sitting at a table in a house, looking offscreen at someone. Just then, a higher pitched male voice said, “Whatever.” She gasped as the screen shifted and she saw, for the first time in years, a depiction of her old friend Sunburst Beam. “I’m sorry I’m not the big, important wizard you were expecting.”

Her cartoon self replied, “Sunburst! I don’t care if you’re a wizard or not. I’m just surprised. You always knew so much about magic.”

She watched the brief scene play out, learning briefly that Sunburst had not gotten through Magic School at all, but what really surprised her was when her onscreen self began ranting and talking about how she traveled through time. Her reaction was identical to the Sunburst on the screen. After Gregory paused the scene, she looked up. “Did…I really travel through time?” she asked.

“With the help of a magical scroll, yes you did,” Gregory said. “In this show, that is. Or I guess I should say this version of your reality where Jason didn’t appear.”

“How could one human change history so drastically?” Starlight pondered.

“A good question for another time,” Gregory replied.

“Yeah…my head hurts just thinking about it,” Gilda said, rubbing her temples. She looked over at Gregory. “I’m not as mad at you now, and I’m sorry for flying off the handles.”

“Again, it’s alright,” Gregory said. “I’m just glad you’re both still my friends.”

“You think something like this would break our friendship?” Gilda asked with a smirk. “Bitch, please, griffons aren’t that weak.”

To Starlight’s relief, an equally wide smirk appeared on Gregory’s face. “Nah, you’re just weak enough that you can’t overpower me as fast as you have been.”

Gilda glowered at him. Standing, she stormed over to him and got in his face. “Is that a challenge there, Chancellor?”

Gregory stood and looked back into Gilda’s eyes, his smirk not falling. “A challenge it is, Gilbert and Sullivan.”

“Well, I do recall you owing me a match back at The Green Dragon,” Gilda said, moving away from him. “Do that, and I’ll forgive you completely.”

Gregory chuckled. “Let me just put my laptop away and we’ll head back.” As he stood and walked back up the stairs with the laptop, Starlight watched him go. She was sure he was still really confused and hurting, but she figured that a good distraction would be helpful for him.

One thing was for sure, though. It was going to be a very rowdy night.

---

Smolder was just heading back to her spot behind the counter after delivering a large platter of seafood to some newly arrived griffons and dragons when the door to the tavern slammed open. She nearly dropped the platter in her claws and looked to the door. To her delight and surprise, Gregory stood there, with Gabby, Gilda and Starlight Glimmer beside him. The room all turned and watched as the Chancellor walked in. He was grinning from ear to ear as he and Gilda walked to an empty table and sat down. Starlight and Gabby walked to the table they’d been seated at before they left, their regular booth which nocreature dared sit at, then turned to watch. The nearly nightly arm wrestling matches between Gregory and Gilda had become a local legend, mostly because they found it entertaining to see Gregory flying after Gilda inevitably won. “Same stakes as before?” Gilda smirked.

Gregory shook his head. “Today is special. If one of us loses, we have to drink a shot of a special drink.”

“What drink?” Gilda asked curiously and suspiciously.

There was a pause and Smolder saw Gregory grin evilly. Turning to Smolder, he held up his finger. “Smol! I’d like an entire bottle of El Diablo and two shot glasses.”

Smolder’s eyes went wide. That was the strongest drink in the building, even by griffon standards. Tartarus, even by dragon standards it was strong. So strong, in fact, that they didn’t advertise its existence and only kept a clawful in stock. The name had come from Gregory himself since in another language from his homeland it meant The Devil. “Are you sure about that, Chancellor?”

He grinned wider. “Very sure.”

Smolder just shook her head, chuckled and headed down to the basement. Tonight was going to be a very interesting night now…

Next Chapter: 21: Confessions Estimated time remaining: 15 Hours, 4 Minutes