“…this is weak sauce! I can barely feel the buzz!”

“Oh, I have all my fingers, the knife goes chop, chop, chop! If I miss the spaces in between, my fingers will come off! And if I hit my fingers, the blood will soon come out, but all the same, I play this game 'cause that's what it's all about!”

“My friend most dear, I think perhaps it’s time to stop. You’re about to collapse.”

“…Twenty nine…thirty! Hah! I win, McGillicudy! Now fork over the bits!”

“Soon may the Wellerman come to bring us sugar and tea and rum! One day, when the tonguing is done we'll take our leave and go! Soon may the Wellerman come to bring us sugar and tea and rum! One day, when the tonguing is done we'll take our leave and go!”

“Who are you tonguing? That metal pole?”

“Nah, Gilda. I’ll be tonguing you!”

“Bite me!”

“Bend over and I will, dick!”

“Oh, be my rainbow girl! Put the colors in my world and baby you can see that we were meant to be! You take the shades of gray and make them fade away! You brighten up my day, oh baby won't you stay?! Hit it, Gabby!”

“I'll be your rainbow girl, la da dee da dee da! La da dee da dee da! La da dee da dee da! I'll be your rainbow girl, la da dee da dee da! La da dee da dee da! La da dee da dee da! I'll be your rainbow girl!”

“Hazzz annnybody evvver toold ya yer the prettiest griffon in za world? Hehe, Za Waruldo…”

“You’re hic! ha-handsome too, Gggre-Gggreggory…”

"Vhhat...? This ugly moonkeyyy?"

"Zizz ugllly munnkeey beat yyyour assszz!"

“Nnng…”

Gregory’s first memory after the wild night was of a massive headache that seemed to fill his entire head. It was as if his entire brain and the skull was on fire. He couldn’t move without the pain doubling or tripling, so he lay there, waiting for the pain to hopefully subside.

When he tried to open his eyes, the ceiling above began to swirl and dance around wildly, making him immediately nauseous. Closing his eyes tightly, he took deep breaths so he wouldn’t vomit everywhere. “Ooow…”

The second thing he noticed as he lay there was that the blanket he had draped over him felt a lot heavier and fluffier than before. It was also very warm. He tried moving his arm, but any movement set off his alcohol induced headache, and he stopped moving.

As he lay there, he tried thinking back to the night before. He’d given that speech in front of the entire city, then had finally met the ponies and the dragon that he’d been hoping to meet for months, only to learn that the Elements of Harmony had been the instruments of torture of one Emperor Jason Wright who had traveled between worlds like he had to, presumably, meet them as well. He had almost had an emotional breakdown before Gabby, Gilda and Starlight had come and talked to him. He’d finally broken down and revealed the truth about what he had heard from the Elements of Harmony as well as where he was from and about how he knew about Gaia and Equestria. Then he had gone back to The Green Dragon at the insistence of his three close friends to take his mind off of the harsh revelation. There, he’d challenged Gilda to a drinking contest with one of the newest drinks in the bar: El Diablo.

The night started to get a bit fuzzy after about the third shot of the dark brown draconic drink. He’d been so drunk that he remembered pulling out his Swiss Army Knife and singing and displaying the Knife Game while at the same time singing the Knife Song. After that, he had the arm wrestling contest with Gilda, once more winning after holding his own after thirty seconds. After that, he was so buzzed that his memory began getting fuzzier. He thought he remembered playing a few games of darts, then sang a few new songs to the gathered crowd before finally heading out with Gabby, Gilda, Starlight, Gallus, Gracie and even Zecora, who’d returned halfway through the rest of the party. Things got even fuzzier, but he did remember holding in what he’d eaten until he reached the bathroom where he emptied his stomach rather violently.

“N…Never…ever again…” he promised as he once again tried to move. “Oooh…my fucking head…”

“Not so loud, dweeb,” a harsh and familair female voice hissed from beside him with the volume of ten thousand loud freight trains. “My head hurts enough without you yelling in my ear.”

“I’m not yelling,” Gregory replied automatically. “You’re…yelling…” He stopped talking once he realized just who had spoken. Pushing through the pain, he slowly opened his eyes and forced himself to look around. He was in his bed, that was for certain. He was still wearing his clothes, which was another plus. Slowly, he lifted the blanket, only to see a very familiar dark gray griffoness snuggled up and lying directly on his chest. Her feathers were a mess, and she curled up when the light hit her eyes. “Wha…Gabby?” he asked, wincing as he spoke and the pain only doubled.

“Turn off the lights, please,” she said, covering her eyes with one claw, “it’s too bright.” Slowly, he put the blanket down and felt the mass on his chest relax. “Mmm…thank you.”

“Holy fucking shit, I always thought I had a higher tolerance than other ponies,” another voice said from his right, “but I guess not…”

Gregory looked to his right, only to see a messy looking Starlight Glimmer curled up extremely close to him, almost touching his shoulders. “Starlight…?”

“Stoop taaalking,” the first voice growled from his left, “it’s too early for this shit…Oooh my head…”

Gregory looked to his left only to see a messy looking Gilda. “Nnng…you look as bad as I feel,” he said.

“Fuck off, dick.”

“Piss off yourself, bitch,” Gregory replied.

“Can we not do this right now,” Starlight asked, her own voice sounding awful. “Oooh, my stomach is all tied up in knots…”

Underneath my blanket, Gregory felt Gabby wrapping her arms tightly around his midsection. “Too bright…” she whispered as he felt her burying her face into his chest. “Mmm…that’s better…”

“What the hell happened last night?” Gregory asked, slowly moving his hand up to his forehead. “I have never gotten that drunk before.” Looking around, he swallowed. “Oh shit…did we…?”

“Not even if I was dead would I fuck you, Greggy,” Gilda snapped angrily, weakly flipping him off.

Starlight looked nervous. “I can’t remember…but I don’t think we did anything…at least, I hope not…not that you’re ugly or anything, Gregory!” she quickly added. “But it’s just…I don’t jump into bed with anycreature, you know?”

He held up his hand and waved it slightly. “I get it, Starlight…but I’m still in my clothes, so unless I got dressed, I don’t think any of us had sex.”

“Not with that pencil dick could you even hope to satisfy me,” Gilda growled.

“No one’s asking you to write with it with those hard brittle hands,” Gregory retorted.

“Come on, you two, not right now, okay?” Starlight said. “It’s way too early for this…”

Gregory reached down and found his phone in his pocket. Slowly pulling it out, he was relieved to see that the screen wasn’t cracked. The time, which he’d reset a few days after he’d arrived on Gaia, said that it was 9:34 A.M. “Nah, it’s only a few minutes past nine thirty,” he said.

“Ugh…I’m not gonna make it to the library today, am I?” Starlight moaned.

“I doubt I’ll be able to focus on my cart, either,” Gilda added.

“Too loud, you two,” Gabby said from under the covers, burying her face deeper into Gregory’s chest.

At that moment, the door to the bedroom opened, and a familiar zebra mare walked in, carrying a large tray with four empty glasses and a glass jug of some opaque green liquid inside it. Zecora looked over at the bed, grinned and set the tray down on the endtable with a clatter. Gregory joined in the groaning as his hands went straight to his head at the sudden loud noise. “I warned you, my friend, that to drink so much would cause you to lose more than dinner and lunch,” she said in an admonishing tone. “However, a hangover cure I have brewed so you four can feel restored and renewed.”

“Looks like you blended up the lawn,” Gilda said as she continued holding her hands over her ears.

“The blend that I made consists of more than just grass. Burnroot and hightail are inside of this glass,” Zecora replied.

“I don’t care how it tastes as long as it can get rid of this damned headache,” Gregory said as he very slowly began sitting up.

To his surprise, Zecora came to his side, gently helping him up into a sitting position. Her deep azure eyes were full of understanding as well as an amused smile. “Be mindful for now, and please heed my advice. I don’t want you falling into such a vice.” She put her hoof against Gregory’s forehead, presumably to feel his temperature before she backed away, poured him one of the glasses, then offered it to him. “I know the taste will not be pleasant, but what matters is what is inside, isn’t it?”

Gregory shakily reached out, took the glass and looked at the mix. It smelled like grass clippings and tree roots. It looked like one of those deep green cleansing beverages he’d seen back on Earth. He swallowed nervously, but reached up, plugged his nose, and said, “Welp, bottoms up!” And with that, he quickly downed the entire glass in only a few seconds, forcing himself not to spit anything out. Once he was done, he gasped and handed the now empty glass back to the waiting Zecora. “So…how long will it take for that to work?” he asked as he slowly lay back down.

“Normally about an hour or two, but it might be a bit sooner for you,” Zecora said.

Gilda looked at the zebra, then at the concoction, then back at the zebra. Groaning, she gestured at one of the clean glasses. “Fork it over. Might as well get it over with.”

“Same here,” Starlight said as she raised her head.

“No magic, my friend, especially now,” Zecora said quickly as she began pouring the other two a glass each, “To cast magic isn’t something I can allow.”

Starlight was about to protest, but looked like she thought better of it and nodded. “Yeah…alright.”

After the griffoness and pony mare both drank the glass, trying not to retch it all up for a minute or two, they both slowly tried getting up, only to collapse once more and holding their heads. “Fucking Tartarus,” Starlight groaned. “Sunburst would have a field day with me.”

“I’m going to crawl to my room and sleep the sleep of the dead,” Gilda said as she began to pull herself to the left side of the bed.

“Right…oooog…right behind you-URP!” Starlight said as she slowly crawled off of the right side of the bed.

As the two slowly made their way out of Gregory’s bedroom, he turned to Zecora. “Hey, thanks for the help, Zecora,” he said gratefully as he held out a hand to her.

She nodded, then leaned in and whispered, “You’re my friend, Gregory.” She pulled away from the now stunned human before she poured the remaining mixture into the last empty glass and set it down on the night stand. “For Gabby,” she said before grabbing the tray and walking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

In the silence, the warm body that was lying on top of Gregory began moving up closer, her face still buried in his hoodie. Slowly, he lay back down on the bed. Lifting the blanket, he took another closer look at the half awake griffoness. Her plumage was a complete mess and he could smell the remnants of the El Diablo on her breath. Smelling that brought back another memory from the previous night…

“Gabby, are you really sure you wanna join in on the drinking game?” Gregory asked as the aforementioned griffoness set a third chair at the table where he and Gilda were having a drinking contest. “I mean, alcohol and you don’t get along as well as it does for me and Gilda.”

She locked eyes with him, then without even looking grabbed one of the shot glasses, held it over towards him, and said, “Fill ‘er up, Gregory. And make it a triple!”

“You do realize this is the hard shit, right Gabs?” Gilda asked.

“A triple. Now!” Gabby shouted, and Gregory could see a look of challenge directed his way.

He smirked, then reached over, grabbed the bottle and the glass in Gabby’s claw. “A triple it is,” he said as he began pouring it for her…

As he absent mindedly stroked Gabby’s plumage, he thought back to the night before. If his memory was any good, Gabby pounded back at least five shots of El Diablo before she had enough and fell asleep at one of the booths.

While lying there, his thoughts went back to the Elements of Harmony and their confession. The very reason why he’d gotten so drunk in the first place was to distract himself from that revelation. He put his arm over his forehead as he tried once more to think about everything that he’d been told. Just the fact that they had done this had made him question everything about them and this world once more. It wasn’t that he hadn’t already accepted that this wasn’t the same world that he’d seen in the show, because he had. The beings here swore, for one thing. If this was the same world from the show, they would have used those toned down curse words like ‘what the hay’ or ‘ponyfeathers’ or something like that. However, hearing the words ‘fucking cunt’ coming out of the last pony’s mouth he ever expected them to had made him question everything once more.

And Applejack’s insistence on blaming Discord and Twilight contradicting her was another major red flag. That, and Fluttershy basically calling Discord a monster when in the show it was implied that the two had a romantic relationship by the end of the series. And in the comics for the crossover between G4 and G5 it showed him as a bitter old man who deeply missed Fluttershy…

What do I believe here? he thought. On the one hand, Applejack is the Element of Honesty, but even so, anyone can succumb to Discord’s attacks. Even if it was a prank, which he might have seen it as, it was anything but that. He might be a monster now, but does that excuse what those Elements did to him? Especially my favorite…?

…

No. No it really doesn’t excuse what they did. It might explain it, but does not excuse it. Not by a fucking long shot! There’s a godddamn massive fucking difference!

Gregory felt the anger he’d tried to dull with alcohol the night before returned in full force. He clenched his fists and began trembling, trying to breathe to calm down. He grit his teeth in sheer anger as he gripped on the bedsheets. He would have screamed had Gabby not been there, but he felt a calm and gentle claw placed on his chest. “Gregory…” his first friend in this world whispered.

He lifted the covers to see the still hungover looking Gabby with her eyes partially open and squinting in the light, looking up at him with a look of concern. He forced himself to relax as he put an arm around her. “Morning, Gabs. How are you feeling?”

“My head hurts…everything’s way too bright and loud, and my throat is dry,” she replied with a raspy voice.

“Zecora made us a hangover remedy,” he replied as he slowly reached over to grab the glass the zebra had left for them. Bringing it over, he held it up for her to see. “It doesn’t taste all that good, but I trust that she knows what she’s doing.”

“I’ll try anything right now,” she replied, taking the glass out of his hand and downing it in only a few seconds. When she finished, she grimaced and handed the now empty glass back to Gregory. He took it and set it back down as Gabby covered her eyes with her arm. “Too bright…”

“Give it an hour,” he said as he, too, lay back down and covered his eyes with his arm. “Zecora told us to just let the medicine do its magic and rest.”

“Okay…I can do that…”

And with that, the two of them just lay there, just resting and recovering. Whatever was in that concoction of Zecora’s really worked fast on him because his headache began to vanish in fifteen or so minutes. However, despite the return of his energy and pep he didn’t move, continuing to stroke Gabby’s plumage and comforting the poor hungover griffoness. She buried her face into his chest as he did that and moved up closer, snuggling close.

As she recovered, he went back further in his memories to the very end of his speech, as well as the kiss that Gabby had given him. He was never the best at reading into actions, so before that kiss he had no idea that Gabby had felt so strongly about him. Mostly because he felt like there was such a difference in their species that it was impossible. However, he immediately mentally slapped himself for that. Especially since he, too, had begun experiencing deeper feelings for the happy-go-lucky griffoness as well as sexual attraction to her.

And the latter only served to confuse and scare him.

His feelings of love towards Gabby was definitely something he could accept in himself. Even if she was a handful to deal with sometimes, he’d definitely grown to love her and want to be more than friends with her. She’d been there for him in all the good times and the bad. She was the first one he’d told about My Little Pony and had accepted him regardless of that. She’d shown him a great deal of kindness even before he found the Idol by saving him from certain death. She’d taken him into her old home and showed a deep interest in his hobbies and life before coming to Gaia. The two of them spent nearly every waking minute together, and lately even some sleeping moments together, especially if Gabby was worried about him or if he was worried about her.

It was the sexual attraction part within himself that worried him. Despite telling himself over and over again that there was nothing wrong with feeling that way about something that was both non-human and sapient, his own upbringing conflicted with his higher brain functions. And that made him feel guilty for even thinking such nonsense. He hadn’t even told Gabby about this yet, mostly because he was trying to work through it.

Gabriella was a very beautiful griffoness, that was for sure. If he had the opportunity, he could very well get lost in her dark aquamarine-esque eyes. He had also caught himself staring at her backside a few times in the past month, which only increased his confusion.

No, I have to talk to her about this today, he thought to himself. But what if she doesn’t feel the same? He banished that thought. He knew Gabby well enough to know that she was pretty obvious about things. He was pretty sure that she wouldn’t just kiss anyone without feeling deeper feelings. Even so, there was that stupid nagging doubt in the back of his head.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice that Gabby had moved up closer so that her head was lying on his upper chest and her arms were wrapped around him, pulling him closer to him. He finally came out of his reverie when she gently shook his shoulders. “Gregory?”

“Hmm? What?” He looked down at her and saw that her face was almost directly in front of his. Her eyes were fully open now and she looked much better. He was still stroking her head gently as he asked, “You’re looking better. How are you feeling now?”

She smiled, and he felt his heart skipping a beat. Her smile was something he couldn’t get enough of, especially the one she seemed to spare only for him. The kind and gentle smile that reached up to her eyes. “Much better, thank you,” she said as she reached up and nuzzled his face, closing her eyes.

“That’s good,” he said with a blush as he wrapped both his arms around her and leaned his head against hers. Even if that gesture from her banished most of the lingering doubts, he still wanted to hear how she felt from her own beak lips. However, he felt nervous. Just like some silly stupid teenager with a massive crush, although he knew that what he felt for her was deeper than a crush. It took about ten minutes for him to finally speak up. “Hey, Gabs? Are you feeling well enough to talk about something serious with me?”

He felt her tense up a bit as she looked up at him with worried eyes. “Well…yes I suppose. Is it about what you told us yesterday?”

Gregory shook his head. “No. Not that. I’m still reeling from that, but I’m talking more about what happened at the speech yesterday.”

Gabby tilted her head a bit in confusion, then a look of realization passed over her face. He caught color coming to her cheeks as she hid her face in her claws. “Oh…you mean…the kiss?” she asked.

Gregory nodded, then realized she couldn’t see him in her current state, so he added. “Yes. Gabs-no, Gabriella-I know it might seem silly for me to ask this, but…please be honest with me…do you have feelings for me deeper than friendship?”

Silence reigned between the two for about a full minute. Then, Gabby quickly buried her face once more in Gregory’s chest, grabbing at his shirt with both her claws. He watched her patiently until she finally moved her head up and down before slowly looking up at him. “I…Yes, Gregory. I’m in love with you,” she said in the sincerest tone he’d ever heard from her.

All the doubts about her feelings for him vanished in that moment as his own heart soared in delight. He felt himself beginning to smile as he pulled her closer. The shock on Gabby’s face quickly changed into a mirror of his own smile as Gregory finally admitted out loud for the first time, “I’m in love with you too, Gabriella.”

She squealed happily and threw her arms around him, pulling him close in a bone crushing hug. One he really didn’t mind as he hugged her back just as tightly. The two hugged for a good five minutes before Gabby pulled away, hovering over him and looking deep into his eyes. He looked at her, reaching up and putting his hands on her cheeks. She did the same as she moved down closer to him slowly, closing her eyes.

As they kissed for the second time since knowing each other, any and all doubts Gregory had about his own sexual desires or anything else were easily banished completely from his mind. He was in love with this griffoness, and that was enough for him.

Dusky Heart, the leader of the group of three ponies who’d been sent to investigate the rumors of a second human on Equus, sat at the desk in his single bed room at the inn and tavern known as the Gobbler’s Groggery, using his magic to write his initial report on the matter. It was just past ten in the morning and already the desk was covered in papers, a couple neat and tidy pages from Jade Seed and some messy papers from Lady Serenity were spread across the desk so he could get a better look at them.

He had to admit, the inn’s bedroom he was in was a lot nicer than he’d expected from a griffon run establishment. There was a single bed that, while designed for the larger and heavier griffons, was able to fit him and support him perfectly. It was surprisingly comfortable as well. His room also had a primitive bathroom and a wooden tub for baths. While the water wasn’t as warm as he would have preferred, it was enough for him to wash off the dust from the city.

The room also had a desk and a small dresser with a mirror right next to a window that gave a decent view of the city, especially the Griffonstone Keep. From where he was sitting he couldn’t see much out of the window but he could see the snowfall coming down. He frowned at the wildness of the weather in this part of the world. No harmony here, he reasoned as he looked over the reports from his compatriots about the human. All that he’d learned the day before (using his Stone Chisel persona) was that Rarity Belle and some companions of hers had met this human and that he was the brand new Chancellor of the city. However, the others had learned much more.

Jade, as befitting her status as somepony fresh out of training, had reports that were extremely detailed and official. By the book, as it were, which meant that all the pertinent information that really mattered to him was scattered everywhere, meaning he had to read through the small pile of her papers. He’d been up since seven that morning reading through her reports, and from what he could gather, this human, AKA Chancellor Gregory Graystone was extremely well liked among the griffon and new dragon populace of the city. He was a sight seen pretty much everywhere, but especially where there was need for construction and rebuilding in the city. Not only that, but he was frequently seen with a group that were his closest friends: two griffonesses, a griffon and griffoness teen, a zebra and a pony. She even listed their names: Gabriella, Gilda, Gallus, Gracie, Zecora and Starlight Glimmer. None of the names on the list were ones he’d ever heard of, and he hadn’t even seen a zebra before. All he knew was that they were savages from the two small continents of Zebrica and Farasi.

Lady’s report, while rather sparse, did have more information on the human. Apparently, he had made such a good impression on the griffons of the city that everygriffon had donated enough bits for the city to build him a veritable mansion in the upper level. Not only that, but he was apparently on good terms with the Dragon Lord who had gifted him a creature called a drake, a draconic being about as smart as a typical animal. He used it to fly around the city on occasion. Lady also reported that the few ponies she talked to had good things to say about this Graystone. She did go into some details about a particular pony named Sassy Saddles who worked at a clothing store which Graystone visited a good number of times. She described Graystone as a friendly individual. She even described the day where he’d visited and seen her sick, but unable to leave the store because was the least sick of the employees. He’d apparently stopped what he was doing and made her some healthy vegetable soup before he took over the store for the couple of hours it would take for the midshift griffon employee to arrive and take over. And even then, he’d escorted Sassy back to her temporary home and had even gone so far as to ask a friend of his to prepare a few medicinal potions to help treat her sickness.

The more that Dusky learned about this human, the more suspicious he became. He couldn’t help but assume that this Graystone was up to something. Nohuman was that nice without some kind of ulterior motive, at least according to the information his superiors had managed to drag up from ancient archives describing the once mythical race.

He stood up, stretched, then headed to his bags which were set neatly in one corner of the room. Using his magic, he opened it up and lifted out a glowing crimson orb. One of three that had been entrusted to him and his team. He could feel the antiquated power pulsing through its core. A shudder ran through him as he quickly put it away and closed his bag. The time might come where they might have to use it, but it wasn’t going to be that day. They needed more information.

That, and one of them needed to meet this human.

“Agent O, come in Agent O.”

“Agent O here, sir.”

“The Emperor himself has received your report and has expressed great concern for the subject. He’s dispatched Agent T to act as your backup and keep a close eye on the subject.”

“Understood, sir.”

“In the meantime, he has given you specific orders to keep a very close eye on the subject and make sure that the Equestrians do no harm to the subject. If you suspect any of those ponies of attempting anything, you know what to do.”

“Y-Yes sir.”

“And keep an eye out from other newcomer ponies in the town. Who knows who else could be coming in the city?”

“Understood, sir.”

“Long live the Emperor!”

“Long live the Emperor.”

Sorry for the delay. Writer's block is a bitch.