I decided to color code the journal entry to help better distinguish between people. Lemme know what you think! Enjoy the chapter!

Hey Sunset, it’s Spike. Are you awake?

Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you.

Yeah, things are about the same as ever. Spending time with the CMC and a couple other fillies. Helping as best we can to rebuild Ponyville.

I know, and I’m sorry. I’m actually in Griffonstone right now.

The Cutie Map called me and the others here.

Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle and the rest.

Sunset? Are you okay?

Sunset?

I know. But I think Princess Celestia’s trying.

I think she tried that, but that didn’t work. No, I mean she undid the spell she cast on me that lets me send and receive messages to her.

I asked her yesterday while we were looking around the city. She told me it was because it was a more convenient means of communication.

Sunset? You still there?

I was angry too.

She said, and these are her exact words: “This isn’t an excuse, but that spell used up less magic than teleportation. I honestly thought that it didn’t do any harm. It doesn’t hurt ponies, and so I thought it wouldn’t hurt you. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Yeah, but I think she’s really trying.

She talked about you yesterday a bit. Said she missed you and all that.

Sunset?

Sunset? You still there?

But what? What is it?

No, it’s not weird. I know how you feel. I feel the same about Twilight.

I want things to be okay, but it’s really hard not to be angry at her, you know? After what she did to him and me, it really feels like I was never her friend. Not like you and I are.

Everyone needs a friend, Sunset.

Spend enough time with Twilight and see how smart you get.

It’s really cool! The entire city is just sitting on a huge tree! A HUGE TREE, SUNSET! I don’t know how that works, but it does!

Maybe someday we can see it together?

Whoa! You’re eating meat now?

That’s right, I forgot that the animals over there don’t talk. Still really weird to think about sometimes.

Guess so. By the way, got some pretty interesting news. There’s another human on Equus!

Sunset?

Yep! Some man named Gregory Graystone.

Well, I don’t know much. I guess he’s a chance cellar. Did I spell that right?

There isn’t an emperor right now.

What? Really?

Wow…

Like I said, I don’t know much about him. I’ve only said hi to him.

Hang on, Twilight just woke up.

Twilight Sparkle groaned as she tried to cover her eyes with the covers in her bed. The light from the sun was coming in rather brightly through the window in the suite that the dragon siblings had given to her and the others, and after wandering through the city for the entire day the day before, she was exhausted. She might have the strength of an earth pony since she’d become an alicorn, but even then she still got tired when walking and flying around all day. Not only that, but she was mentally tired out from interacting with so many different creatures. She was an introvert, after all, and it took time for her to mentally recover from so many social interactions.

But, she was a princess now, even if she knew she didn’t deserve the title. Slowly, and holding back groans, she sat up and rubbed sleep from her eyes. Looking around, she saw the other ponies in the room still sleeping in their large beds. Only Princess Celestia wasn’t there anymore, presumably having gotten up early to raise the sun. Spike was sitting up in bed, a pen in his hand as he wrote in the journal that Twilight had once used to communicate with Sunset Shimmer. Seeing the journal reminded her once more about her last interactions with the former unicorn.

As Spike wrote, she slowly and quietly got out of the surprisingly comfortable bed and placed her hooves on the floor. The young teenage dragon looked up briefly, nodded in acknowledgement in her direction, before turning back and saying a simple, “Morning.”

“Good morning, Spike,” she said softly so as not to disturb the other ponies in the room. She walked over to the window and looked out. She guessed that one of the reasons for this room being so normally expensive was due to the view, as Room 204’s main window faced the Griffonstone Keep. In the clear winter sky, she saw its massive white spires reaching up into the heavens above the clouds. Portions of it were covered with the snow that had fallen the night before. The massive golden crescent moon atop the tallest spire gleamed brightly in the morning sun. Much like the rest of the city, the keep looked recently refurbished and her pegasus vision, which she had been learning to hone with Rainbow’s help before Jason’s invasion, revealed a large group of griffons hard at work repairing portions of the keep or painting it in spots.

Turning away, she faced Spike once more, seeing that he was still writing in the journal. Taking a deep breath, she asked the question she’d been too afraid to speak for months. “Spike?”

“Hmm?” he replied, not even slowing down.

“How’s Sunset doing?”

He paused, eyes still locked onto the pages of the book. After a while, he wrote something else down, then put the book on the side of the bed and the quill into a quill holder. Slowly, he turned back to Twilight. “Don’t you mean, how are Sunset and her friends doing?” he asked.

Her ears flattened at his tone and the glare in his green eyes. She’d encountered humans five years ago, a couple of months before Jason Wright had appeared in Ponyville. She had been friendly enough with them on her visits out of necessity, but she was well aware of how, in the back of her mind, she had judged them too quickly. She had once thought them worse than any other race on Equus, and even that thought had sent guilt coursing through her. They were way too different from ponies, and that incredibly racist and speciesist thought had been the downfall of Ponyville and Canterlot. One stray thought. One instinctive thought. A thought full of fear. But could she really say that she was any better than the humans she’d judged? Could she say her species wouldn’t be as bad as she thought the human race was?

Realizing that Spike was looking at her expectant for an answer, Twilight snapped out of her increasingly self loathing thoughts and nodded. “Y-Yes. Are they alright? Has there been any sort of magical disturbance in their world?”

Spike continued keeping his gaze locked on her for a few agonizing seconds before he nodded. “Yeah, they’re fine. Canterlot High is out for the summer, so Sunset and her friends are going on a cruise.”

“Oh? I’m glad they’re enjoying themselves,” Twilight said.

“Are you? Or are you just saying that to be nice?” Spike retorted.

Twilight held up her hooves in defense. “I mean it, I promise!” she replied hastily.

Spike didn’t move his gaze, but eventually just nodded at her slowly. “All of them are enjoying themselves. Including the other Twilight and Spike.”

Twilight noted the bitterness in his voice as he mentioned their counterparts in the other world. Truth be told, Twilight didn’t know anything about the other version of her. Or rather, she didn’t know too much. Only that this other Twilight was a transferee from another school to Canterlot High and that she owned a dog named Spike that could talk thanks to magic. Twilight watched as Spike grabbed the journal again and resumed writing in it. She wanted to reach out. She wanted to hug him close and apologize for how she had treated him in the more recent years of his life, especially since she’d made pony friends. Her hoof lifted up, but stopped, returning back to the floor. She felt unworthy of that bond with Spike. The one she had been increasingly taking for granted over the years. The one she had been abusing.

Turning back to her bed, she retrieved her saddlebags, strapped them onto her back, and slowly walked towards the door. As she reached the doorknob, she heard a familiar southern drawl as Applejack called out, “Where are yah goin’, Twilight?”

She paused, then turned to see the sleepy looking orange earth pony mare looking at her, a look of curiosity in her eyes as she looked at the alicorn.

“I’m…going to get some breakfast than get an early start on looking for the friendship problem,” she replied. “And I’ll be going alone.”

The city was bustling despite the early hour. She ate a quick omelet, which was incredibly delicious, and then headed out into the streets. Griffons were everywhere, with her spotting a dragon or two every few minutes. Most of the time the inhabitants of the city were decorating their houses with blue and gold garlands and glass globe ornaments of blue, white and gold. Small evergreen boughs were decorated as well, and she even saw a few snowgriffons decorated with the same red and white getup that a few of the griffons at the gondola were wearing.

Griffon cubs were playing and she even saw a couple dragon hatchlings joining in with snowball fights and making snow forts. Griffon and dragon adults were busy buying food, toys and other items that were wrapped in a remarkably festive manner. She even saw the occasional pony partaking in such preparations for the Griffonian holiday, but none seemed to want to talk to Twilight, retreating from her whenever she approached them to talk. Dragons and griffons, on the other hoof, were easier to talk to. However, everywhere it was the same.

“Friendship problem? I don’t know of anyone having one. How ‘bout you, Gary?”

“The only problem I have is trying to get everything I want to get for my cubs before the Festival.”

“Dragons haven’t really done friendship for ages, but we haven’t run into any problems with our own journey into friendship yet. Maybe try those new dragons down in the Projects?”

“A couple ponies asked me yesterday. I’ll tell you what I told them: nothing that I know of.”

Everywhere she went, it was more of the same. She had been throughout the more upper levels of the town with Rarity the day before, but had found nothing. Hardly a word had been spoken between both ponies, but Twilight had seen that the unicorn looked miserable, especially when they had once again passed by the clothing store they’d seen on their first day in the city. Looking in, Twilight had seen a taller and thinner pony that she recognized as Sassy Saddles, the manager of one of Rarity’s former boutique. The taller unicorn hadn’t seen the two since Rarity quickly retreated from the establishment, Twilight in tow. The only thing that Rarity had asked about was how Spike was doing, and looked relieved to hear that the young dragon was doing well.

As Twilight turned a corner just around noon to head to a lower level of the city, she spotted two familiar figures speaking to a third. The first figure sent guilty shivers down her spine. It was Roseluck, and the former flower mare of Ponyville was standing outside of Gardenia’s shop. The other figure was the young griffoness who had spoken harshly to them the day before along with Zecora. The third creature, another griffon, looked older. He had dark green fur, light green and orange feathers which seemed to spike up slightly on either side of his head, making it look like he had horns.

When she saw them, Twilight froze. Her knees locked up and she just stared at the three figures. More specifically, the two she knew. She could still remember the look of accusation that Roseluck had given to her at Jason’s trial of them. The same look that had crumbled into remorse when Discord’s spell on said earth pony mare failed and she’d broken down.

However, she knew that the map had called her and the others to Griffonstone for a good reason. If there was a friendship problem, she needed to talk to everycreature in town. Even if it meant opening up those wounds she’d been too ashamed to tend to.

Approaching the three, she made her presence known by calling out, “Excuse me? Can I talk to you three for a bit?”

Roseluck immediately stiffened and turned her head slowly to face Twilight, her expression one of shock at first. Shock which immediately turned to anger which she quickly tried to repress. The griffoness, who she knew to be called Gracie, could only glare at her with barely restrained disdain. The older griffon male, however, just looked at her with some curiosity and a hint of trepidation. He was the one who spoke. “Yes? What is it?”

Twilight was a bit caught off guard by the way the griffon’s voice sounded. It was youthful, sure, but it was slightly higher pitched than any other male griffon she’d heard. However, before she could say anything, Roseluck stepped in. “And be quick about it.” Her tone was less than friendly.

Ears flattening and tail drooping, Twilight steeled herself and asked, “Do you know of a friendship problem that you or anycreature else might need solving?”

Gracie was about to snap something, but she took a deep breath and held her tongue. Roseluck had more control, and she replied, “The Cutie Map sent you here, huh?” Her tone was cold, detached, something which didn’t match her normal overreactive personality. In truth, it sent shivers down Twilight’s spine. Without waiting for an answer from Twilight, Roseluck shook her head. “Nothing that I know of. My coltfriend and I are doing fine. How about you, Miss Gracie?” she turned to the younger griffoness.

It looked like it took a lot of effort on her part to answer, but eventually all she could say, in a low and hate filled voice, was “No.”

“I just got here this morning, heh,” the slightly older griffon said in a noticeably kinder tone, although any tone would be kinder when compared to Roseluck’s and Gracie’s tones. “So…I can’t help you.”

She nodded politely to the older griffon male. “Well, thanks for letting me know.” Relieved, she tried to head off quickly but not quickly enough to look rude.

However, it seemed that Roseluck wasn’t done with her. “What are you really doing here, Princess Sparkle? Here to rile up the citizens here against the Chancellor? Get them to do what we did? Throw rocks and garbage at him and throw him into the Abysmal Abyss?”

Twilight froze, eyes wide. She felt her heartbeat increase as white noise began filling her ears while Roseluck continued her tirade. She tried taking quiet but deep breaths to calm herself, but she knew what was coming. She was about to have another episode. One where she would collapse into a ball of tears and whimpering apologies. Not only that, but there was a good chance she’d see him again. The creature who she had neglected and abused with her words to Ponyville. Her words about the human which had spread to the entire town. She might not have been the worst, but she was the first.

Suddenly a large shadow crossed over them, startling Twilight. She looked up only to feel the ground shake beneath her hooves. Stumbling a bit, she spread her wings and caught her balance as a massive leathery winged creature landed in front of all of them. The sounds of the world came back to her as her shock overwrote her oncoming episode. She couldn’t even hear Roseluck speaking anymore.

A familiar but muffled sounding male voice called out, “Hey! What’s going on over here?” Seconds later, a goggled and masked human jumped out of a saddle on the back of the draconic creature. Twilight backed away instinctively, the features of the second human on Equus quickly being replaced with the mask wearing face that Jason had taken to wearing during most of his time in Canterlot and Ponyville. The fear must have shown on her face because Gregory quickly removed the goggles and the mask along with the cap that covered his head.

For an instant, Twilight thought she saw his eyes take on a purple hue that matched the drake’s own eyes behind him, but when she looked next, they were back to their normal blue.

Gregory locked eyes with Twilight, then looked over at the other three standing behind her. “What’s going on over here?” he repeated, in a calmer but stern tone.

“No-nothing, it’s nothing,” Twilight quickly replied, looking up into the human’s eyes with what she hoped was a disarming smile. “I’m just looking around for the friendship problem, but these three didn’t have anything, so I was about to move on.”

“That’s not what I saw,” Gregory said as he turned to the pony and two griffons. “Miss Roseluck, is it?”

“Yes, Chancellor,” she replied with a nervous smile.

“Miss Roseluck, Gracie, and you, mister…?”

“Oh! I’m Gideon, Chancellor sir,” the griffon said.

Gregory looked at Gideon briefly, then smiled, holding out his hand. “Are you new here?”

“Just arrived today, Chancellor,” Gideon replied, holding out his own claw to shake Gregory’s outstretched hand. “Visiting my niece Gracie here, is all.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow. “Niece, huh? Nice. I’d love to get to know you a bit more later and swap embarrassing stories about Gracie here, if there are any.”

“Hey!” Gracie gave the two males a pout.

Gideon’s eyes widened in astonishment and his smile returned. “I’d be honored, Chancellor,” Gideon replied, and to Twilight it sounded like he meant it.

“We’ll set something up sometime, then,” Gregory said with a smile before it vanished and his expression became more serious. “However, I’d like to talk to you, your cousin and Miss Roseluck in private for a bit.” Turning to Twilight, he said, “Princess Twilight, do you mind waiting there for a little while? I’d like to talk to you afterwards.”

“Sure…” Twilight said.

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” he replied. Turning to Daenerys, he pointed at her and said, “Now stay here, and keep out of trouble. Watch over that pony there for me, too.” Daenerys seemed to roll her eyes and snorted some smoke from her nostrils as Gregory ushered the pony mare and two griffons into Gardenia’s store, closing the door behind them.

Twilight walked over to the wall of a nearby store, leaned against it, and sighed heavily. Her episodes where she saw Jason and the nightmares only seemed to be getting worse for her. She’d tried everything she knew of which could stop nightmares. Dreamroot tea, warm baths, reading something calming, even meditation like Zecora had once taught her during the incident with Trixie and the Alicorn Amulet. It had helped at first, but it didn’t last. She was seeing him within a few weeks more and more often. Distracting herself with work could only do so much. She’d even begun sleeping with her recovered Smarty Pants doll and a few others, trying to find comfort in them.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice the presence of the drake called Daenerys until she was almost on top of her. Startled, Twilight jumped, making the drakeling pull back. The black scaled and pale cream colored spined and horned young drake looked back at Twilight with curiosity in her purple eyes. Instinctively, Twilight felt the urge to run. This creature was taller than most of the other dragons she’d seen in the city, and according to Princess Celestia, was not as intelligent or sapient as a pony, griffon, dragon or even human. Still, she fought her instincts to run, mostly because she reasoned that if Gregory didn’t trust this creature not to harm a princess of Equestria, he wouldn’t have left her alone with the alicorn. And he had told Daenerys to guard Twilight, which the drake had apparently understood.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she looked over the drake more closely, drinking in as many details about her as she could. Much like how the wild animal the horse and the sapient pony were related, she thought she could see similar subtle differences between the drake and a typical dragon. For one, it seemed as if this drake walked more on four legs whereas dragons tended to walk more on two legs. Their teeth were definitely sharper and larger than dragon’s teeth, easily capable of tearing her apart with a single lunge.

Suppressing her fears more, she focused on Daenerys’ purple eyes. The eyes of a predator, but which were only full of a mild curiosity as the two kept looking at each other. Suddenly, she remembered that many predatory species could take long gazes without blinking or looking away as a sign of hostility. Not wanting to show that, she slowly blinked, then looked slightly away, taking in the buildings around her with as calm of a gaze as she could. Daenerys didn’t take her eyes off of Twilight for a while, making the princess nervous. However eventually, the drakeling turned away, reaching one of her foreclaws up to scratch at her ear.

That was when Twilight caught a clearer glimpse of the saddle which Gregory had been sitting in minutes earlier. She saw a pair of thick leather reins and what was basically a chair strapped to the young drake’s back. She saw straps and restraints which could hold Gregory in place as he flew at, presumably, extremely high speeds. Not only that, but she remembered that he had been wearing very protective clothing. Thick gloves, goggles, a face mask over his mouth and nose and thick warm clothes. The overcoat she wasn’t completely sure about, however, but it did look comfortable for him.

Just then, the door to the flower shop opened. Gregory walked out with a guilty looking Roseluck walking out close behind. Gracie was quiet, eyes averted, and Gideon had a sorrowful look in his eyes which he turned onto Twilight. Bowing to her, he began leading Gracie away. Roseluck, however, didn’t leave. All she could do was lower her head, muttering, “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have said those things…”

“I-It’s okay,” Twilight stammered. “I understand.”

Roseluck nodded, then looked over towards Gregory. “What…what can I do to make it right? To him, I mean?”

Twilight held her breath as she, too, looked at Gregory for the answer. It was obvious now that Gregory had told Roseluck what he knew about Jason. To her surprise, Gregory knelt and put a hand on Roseluck’s withers gently. “Learn from the harsh lessons of Ponyville’s destruction. Be a better pony. And if you do see him again, make a proper apology.”

“I…I tried at the trial,” she whispered.

“If you see him again, try once more,” Gregory repeated. “That’s what all of you ponies should do. Remember the five languages of apology I just mentioned. But just make sure that it’s sincere. That’s all the advice I can give.”

“…Yes…I understand, Chancellor.”

Standing, he looked down at her. “I will take my leave for now.”

“Have a good day, Chancellor,” Roseluck said before turning and heading back into the flower shop.

Gregory then turned to Twilight. “They told me what happened just now,” he said plainly. “Your Highness, might I have some of your time today?” Pulling out a device that Twilight recognized as a human designed smartphone from a zipped up pocket, he looked at it, then put it back into his pocket. “It’s a little past noon already. Let me treat you to lunch.”

“Oh no, I’ll be fine,” she began with a wave of her hoof, but a grumbling from her stomach was more honest than her denial. She looked away, embarrassed.

Gregory, however, didn’t make mention of the grumbling. Instead, he began returning to the saddle, putting his goggles and facemask back on. “Come on, I know just the place where we can go,” he said in an insistent tone.

“Um…alright, if you insist,” Twilight replied, waiting for him to strap into the saddle.

She watched as he grabbed the reins, then patted Daenerys’ side. Smiling down at her with a warmth that she’d never seen on Jason’s face ever, he said, “Giddyup.”

The young drake spread her wings and shot up into the air. Twilight took a moment to recover before spreading her own wings, lowering the inner eyelids that pegasi had to protect their eyes from the wind, and shot up into the air after him. The ground fell away, and she took in the entirety of the city below her, something she hadn’t really done since arriving. There were some sections that looked run down, but for the most part the city was undergoing vast repairs and she could even see griffons, dragons and a couple ponies working to reconstruct many of the buildings that had become run down.

As they flew down towards a section of the city that was mostly restaurants and food carts, she kept her gaze locked on Gregory. Along with trying to look for friendship problems the day before, she had asked citizens about this human. She knew now that he had retrieved the Idol of Boreas and had given it back to Griffonia without technically ever needing to do so. After two weeks of not seeing him much, the human had begun, on his own time, repairing buildings. Others saw this and their newly restored pride struck at their hearts to follow his example. They had their pride as a race, after all.

Everycreature she’d talked to admired him immensely. He was a down to Equus type of creature, knowing how to work hard but also how to party hard. It was also because of his proclivity to break out into song that the law forbidding singing in the city was repealed. Not only that, but many other restrictive laws were lifted thanks to his influence. And all of this before he became the Chancellor.

She’d seen just how this city had repaid him with the mansion he lived in along with friends who made him smile. She even heard from a couple of griffons that they got the impression Gregory might have had deeper feelings towards one of his close circle of friends, who she learned later were Gilda, Gabriella, Gracie, Starlight Glimmer and Zecora.

She was so lost in thought that she noticed too late that they had passed the section of the city where she had expected Gregory to take her. Instead, he just kept on flying, heading down towards the base of the mountain where Griffonstone sat. Confused, she flew up to him and called out “Where are we going?!”

Gregory turned, then motioned for her to fly closer. She did so and he shouted back, “We’re heading to a town at the bottom of the mountain!”

“What town?!” she called back.

“Griffonville! Follow me!” With that, he turned back towards the base of the mountain.

Twilight had never heard of Griffonville before, but as they continued flying down, she began to see glimpses of a small village nestled around a large evergreen forest. She could see farmland on the outskirts and a stone wall surrounding the bulk of the town itself. Much like with what she’d seen in Griffonstone, the architecture of the buildings town was similar to the Griffonian capital itself, but she also saw a number of those large Houseoak trees scattered throughout the town.

They reached the town and landed in front of the tallest Houseoak. As Gregory began unstrapping himself, Twilight walked slowly forward, looking up at the massive bare tree. There were no leaves on said tree currently, and the branches were covered in snow, glistening in the afternoon sun. It stood taller than any other building in the town, with large windows around it and a light gray set of double doors with a set of wooden stairs leading up to said doors. Written directly above the doors were the words Town Hall.

“From what I’ve been told, this town is a few hundred years old,” Gregory said as he walked over to her side. “The founders of this town knew the secrets of growing Houseoaks so that they could grow how they would want, but didn’t have the magic to make it grow immediately, so they had to wait a year for them to grow properly. However, thanks to Starlight and Zecora, there are some plans for more to be grown to help with the incoming population boom.”

“Population boom?” Twilight asked, finally turning to face Gregory.

Gregory, who was still looking at the Town Hall, nodded. “Before the Idol was returned, the population was in a state of decline,” he explained as he turned and gestured for her to follow. She walked alongside him as he continued. “I mean, think about it. If you lived in a decaying city where the life expectancy was low, would you want to bring a child into the world? Oh sure, some of the richer griffons would have cubs, but the poorer couples or the griffon prides would actively try not to have many, if any, cubs. But three months ago, things changed. The Idol was returned, the griffons regained their pride, Griffonia began to rebuild, and…well, let’s just say the general libido went up. We’re expecting a major population increase at the beginning of the year.”

Twilight could only nod in understanding. It made sense that a population that lived in a declining civilization would not want to bring children into the world. “I see,” she replied.

Gregory finally looked down at her, one eyebrow raised. However, he just pointed towards a nearby smaller Houseoak. “That’s the spot I was thinking of,” he said as he and Daenerys walked towards the tree. “One of the more recent buildings in the town. The owners are rather friendly and they serve every species they can.”

As they approached, Twilight saw a rather colorful looking sign hanging from above the door which read Sweet ‘N Savory. Gregory walked forward pulled the door open and stepped aside. “After you.”

“Oh, thanks,” she said as she stepped in. Looking around, she saw that she was standing in a well-lit restaurant with gas lamps at each table, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, circular windows all around the massive domed room, and a counter with stools in front of it. Behind said counter, she could see plenty of bottles full of what she assumed was alcoholic beverages. There was an older griffon male standing behind the counter, washing a glass. More than half of the tables and booths were occupied, mostly by griffons but she did see a couple of dragons along with a number of ponies sitting in a corner, the latter eating what could only be hay burgers. Seeing her favorite food only made her stomach growl even more.

“Welcome to SNS,” the griffon behind the counter said politely. “Find a seat any-well look what the cat dragged in!”

Twilight noticed that the griffon was now looking behind Twilight. Turning, she saw Gregory looking over at the griffon behind the bar with a grin. Raising his hands, he waved in a friendly manner. “Gordon, what’s good, bro!?” he said as he walked towards the counter. Not wanting to be left behind, Twilight followed close behind. As he approached, Gregory added, “Business is booming, I see.”

“It’ll get even better now that you’re here,” Gordon said with a chuckle. “You gonna get the usual?”

“Actually, I was thinking I’d change it up for today and get one of your three cheese grilled cheese sandwiches,” Gregory said. “And tomato soup. You can’t have grilled cheese without tomato soup! Oh! And some of those salted fried potato cuts.”

“Good choice!” Gordon said.

Gregory then turned and gestured towards Twilight. “This mare is with me today,” he said. “Who’s the herbivore chef working today? Is it Mulia Mild or Blanch Blend?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself, sweet cakes?” a deep but lustrous feminine voice asked. A pale blue unicorn mare stepped out from a door. She had a fiery yellow, orange and red mane and tail, deep blue eyes which she batted at Gregory, and was a head or so taller than Twilight. The mare wore a chef’s hat on her head and looked much more like Sassy Saddles or Fleur De Lis than anypony Twilight had seen before. Twilight tried to think back and remember if she’d seen this particular mare before, but she drew a blank. Blanch continued and said, “What can I do for you today, hun?”

“I have a pony guest with me today,” Gregory said. “Just wanted to make sure the best chef was available for pony cuisine.”

“I’d take offense to that if it wasn’t true,” a young male voice said from behind the door, which opened to reveal an evergreen colored dragon with teal eyes and dark crimson spines and horns.

“Ash! What’s good, my dragon?” Gregory chuckled as he held out a fist, which Ash quickly bumped with his own. “How are you and your hoard doing?”

Ash scratched behind his head a bit sheepishly. “Cinder’s doing alright. She’s trying her best to learn how to herd sheep. And get this: Olivine just laid our first clutch of eggs!”

Gregory’s smile widened and he extended his hand. “Congratulations!”

“He hasn’t really shut up about it,” Blanch chuckled, bumping the younger looking dragon with her rear end in a playful manner.

“Can you blame him?” Gregory asked. “Twenty three years old with a hoard of two wives and already expecting little dragon hatchlings? When are you expecting the eggs to hatch? And how many?”

“Olivine’s staying at home and keeping the eggs as warm as possible,” Ash said, “but since we’re not near the Dragon Hatching Fields it might be a while. Oh, and she laid six.”

“Damn, Ash! You’ve got a big family incoming! But as for the Dragon Hatching Fields, I’ve seen dragons breathing blue fire before,” Gregory replied. “I’d suggest trying that. Blue fire is the hottest fire since it’s closest to plasma. If not, maybe you and Cinder can help?”

“Olivine’s a stubborn dragoness,” Ash said. “She won’t accept help unless things are going wrong.”

Gregory chuckled. “I’ve seen that happen before, and being stubborn never ends up well in the long run. Anyway, could you bring us a pony specific menu?” The human turned to her. “Unless you have something you want already?”

“Um…well, I wouldn’t mind some hayburgers,” she said.

Blanch chuckled. “The ponies here tell me I make some pretty good hayburgers. It’s nice to be making them again after all these years since I moved to Griffonville.”

Twilight’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You mean…you didn’t move here recently?”

Blanch shook her head. “I moved here ten years ago because I wanted to expand my culinary chops. Imagine my surprise when I realized griffons enjoy meat. I’ve since gotten used to making omnivorous meals, but it’s nice to make foods for ponies again. How many hayburgers do you want?”

“Two please,” Twilight said. “And can you add sliced cheese? Oh, and do you make hayfries, too?”

“Of course. Anything to drink for you two?”

“Got any root beer or butterbeer left?” Gregory asked.

“I knew you’d like some, sweetie,” Blanch grinned, “but unfortunately, we’re out of butterbeer for the moment. There is a barrel of root beer in the back that I made special just for you,” she added with a playful wink.

“My mare,” he grinned. “I’ll take a chilled glass of that, no ice please.”

“You’re drinking alcoholic beverages in the middle of the day?” Twilight asked incredulously.

Gregory chuckled. “There’s absolutely no alcohol in either of them,” he explained, “Root beer is a soda, and while butterbeer is technically made with real beer the recipe I gave her and others makes it so that the alcohol is boiled away during the brewing process. I don’t do day drinking.”

“Oh, I see,” Twilight said. Curiosity got the better of her and without thinking, she asked while raising her hoof. “Could you make that two?”

Blanch nodded. “I can, sweetie, but fair warning, it’s an acquired taste for ponies. It took me a month to get used to the smell and taste,” she said. “I’ll bring a glass of ice water just in case.”

“Thank you,” Twilight replied, nodding gratefully at Blanch.

“Now then, what do I owe you,” Gregory asked, pulling out a leather pouch from one of his large zipper pockets, “and you know the drill, no ‘Oh, it’s on the house’ shit with me.”

“We know better now,” Gordon chuckled as he grabbed a pen and quickly began writing on a piece of paper. After a half minute, he looked up. “That’ll be fifteen bits.”

“You got it, buddy,” Gregory said as he pulled out said bits and put them on the table.

Gordon took the bits and set them aside, where a young griffoness waitress gathered them and took them into the back. “Take a seat anywhere and we’ll get those right out for you,” Gordon said.

“What’s this WE you’re talking about, Ram boy?” Ash said with a snark.

“Just get back and make sure those fresh cuts aren’t fucking raw this time,” Gordon replied immediately.

“One time, Ram, it was one time!” Ash groaned.

As Gregory snickered and turned towards a two-creature booth near one of the windows, Twilight followed, listening to the banter between the dragon, pony and griffon. Twilight watched as Gregory took a seat and leaned back, stretching and sighing contentedly. She sat opposite him, wondering just what his intentions were in bringing her out here. Was he trying to rub it in her face that a town so similarly named to her hometown was more accepting?

However, the moment she thought that, she lowered her head and her ears flattened. She’d done it again, and this time without Discord’s help. She’d immediately assumed the worst about this human. She took a deep breath and sighed. Some supposed Princess of Friendship she was…

“She was right, you know,” Gregory said suddenly, snapping Twilight out of her brief reverie.

She looked up at him quickly. “Um…who was?” she asked hesitantly, suppressing any thoughts she had about what he might have meant.

“Blanch. She was right about the root beer thing,” he replied, which caused Twilight to relax. “Starlight spat it in my face when she first tried it,” he continued with a laugh, “but eventually she got used to it. Now she loves root beer floats.”

“That’s good to hear,” Twilight said. All that she knew about Starlight was the reports she’d gotten from the inhabitants of Freetown, which was what the inhabitants had renamed it after Starlight left and after they regained their cutie marks. She knew that Starlight had the philosophy that a real friendship came from true equality, which meant getting rid of cutie marks. However, when a mare named Sugar Belle had accidentally discovered that Starlight had not removed her cutie mark like the rest, the town rose up and raided her house, smashing the glass bottles that housed their cutie marks. What happened next, however, had appalled Twilight and her friends when they’d arrived. The inhabitants had hoofed over five ponies who had savagely beaten Starlight before kicking her into a cave to die. At the time, she hadn’t thought anypony capable of such cruelty, but now she knew anypony was capable of that. Herself included.

Coming out of her reverie, she noticed that a chilled glass with a handle had been placed in front of both of them along with some ice water for them as well. The former was full of a fizzing dark brown drink. Taking a tentative sniff, she lifted the glass with her magic and took an experimental sip. She put the mug down as she first experienced the familiar fizzing sensation she got whenever she tasted soda, then a rather unique blend of flavors. However, most of it was sarsaparilla. She actually found the taste rather pleasant. Taking a deeper sip, she put the glass down and decided to try and make some conversation with the human across from her. “How is she doing, by the way?”

“Hmm? How’s who doing?” Gregory, who had been sitting patiently across from her, asked.

“Miss Starlight Glimmer,” Twilight clarified.

“Ah! Yes, her.” He took a sip of his own root beer, dabbed at his upper lip to clean off the excess foam that had gotten stuck there, then continued. “She’s doing rather well for herself, actually. She’s pretty much recovered from her injuries and has been eating much better. She loves her new job, too.”

“New job? What’s that?” Twilight asked.

“She’s the head librarian at the Griffonstone Public Library,” Gregory replied with a proud smile. “She’s a really powerful unicorn despite the lower concentration of magic here. She helped with growing the library, this restaurant and a few other Houseoaks, too.”

“I see.” Twilight looked at the drink before her, watching as bubbles came up from the bottom. It was a bit mesmerizing, she had to admit, but she forced herself to look away. She wanted to try and make the most out of this one-on-one discussion with Gregory. “Chancellor Graystone, while we’re here, is it okay if we talk?”

“We already are,” he replied, raising a confused eyebrow towards her. “But what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, is it okay to ask about you?” Twilight asked.

Gregory pursed his lips thoughtfully, then nodded. “I don’t see why not, just as long as I can ask you some questions too.”

“That’s fair,” Twilight agreed, just as a griffon waiter flew up with two trays in his claws.

“Here we are,” the griffon said. “Grilled cheese, tomato soup and fried potatoes for the Chancellor, and two hay burgers and hayfries for the Princess of Equestria.” He put them down, then landed. “Would either of you care for some sauces?”

“Ketchup, please,” Gregory said before turning to Twilight. “What about you?”

“Ketchup sounds good,” she replied.

Nodding, the waiter flew over to behind the counter, grabbed a glass bottle full of ketchup, and flew back, placing it on the table. “Here you two are. Enjoy.” With that, he flew off to check on other tables.

“Well, dig in,” Gregory encouraged as he took his sandwich and began tearing it into halves before dipping one into the tomato soup and taking a bite. “Ooooh yesss,” he said.

“Don’t you dare do what you do every time again!” one of the patrons, a pony, called out with a snarky grin.

“Nah, not this time,” he replied as he grabbed the provided cloth napkin and dabbed at the soup that remained. “I’ll probably stop doing it so often anyway. Remember that lecture Zecora gave me?”

The majority of the crowd laughed and nodded. “She really let you have it,” a random griffon said with a chuckle.

“No shit,” he laughed before taking another bite. “Still, this is one of the best grilled cheeses I’ve ever had, and I guarantee that those hayburgers are equally as good. At least, if what I’ve heard are true,” he added.

“Right,” she nodded, lifted the hayburger with her magic and taking a bite. Her eyes widened at the explosion of flavor that she experienced in that moment. The hay was tantalizingly warm, crisp and salted to perfection. The vegetables, which consisted of what tasted like freshly cut lettuce, ripe tomato slices and slightly sweetened pickles, only added to the flavor. The cheese, which was perfectly melted across the top of the hay patty, only added to the saltiness of the flavor. And then the hayburger sauce, which she hadn’t tasted before, brought it all together. Finally realizing just how much she missed hayburgers, she began taking bigger bites, making sure to savor each and every taste that crossed her taste buds.

“So, what is it you wanted to know?” Gregory asked after a few minutes, putting down his sandwich and grabbing the ketchup bottle, unscrewing the lid and beginning to pour some onto the plate with his fried potato slices before offering it to her. “I suggest we take turns. You ask me a question, and then I’ll ask on in return.”

She took the bottle with her magic and began pouring some out onto her hay fries plate. After she was done, she set it down, put the lid back on and cleared her throat. “Well…let’s start at the beginning, I guess.”

“A very good place to start,” Gregory said, “but I’d prefer it if you cast a shield around us so that we can’t be heard.”

“But won’t that be suspicious?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“You’re a Princess of Equestria, I’m the Griffonian Chancellor. If anyone asks, I’ll say we were discussing official government business,” he replied.

“Oh, I suppose that makes sense,” she said as she raised her horn. A dim purple dome surrounded them, erasing all sound from the surrounding area.

“Perfect! Let the questions begin,” Gregory said, taking a sip of his root beer before setting it down and folding his hands in front of him. “What would you like to know?”

Slowly clearing her throat, she began with one of the simplest questions that was used to get to know somecreature better. “How old are you?”

Half an hour had passed, and Twilight had learned more about Gregory than she’d ever learned about Jason. She learned that he was twenty-nine years old, had lived in a nation called the United States of America, had worked for many years in a grocery store, and had a variety of interests ranging from singing to video games, movies and television shows, the latter of which she knew about from her time in the other world. She also learned about what had happened the moment he’d arrived on Equus, which he referred to as Gaia. She was stunned that he was still alive and that the first griffon he had met had saved him from a very grizzly fate.

He didn’t hide anything from her, not how he felt when he learned about Jason Wright initially, how he’d begun trying to help rebuild the city and how others had, in his words, ‘selflessly helped him’. She got the impression that he didn’t want to take credit for anything that had happened, only ever saying that he just gave them a gentle nudge in the right direction.

She also learned about how poorly his family had treated him along with a former lover who had cheated on him. She’d immediately apologized for bringing up painful memories, but he assured her that he’d been learning to properly deal with it with a little help from his friends.

He asked her similar questions, and she told him her age (twenty-eight), how many members of her family she had, her interests and more. To her surprise, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, she found a small smile passing over her muzzle. Her spirits began somewhat lifting. Before she knew it, she’d actually finished her entire meal, something she hadn’t done in a while. The guilt was still there, but for a few moments at least she felt something stir within her. Something she hadn’t felt in years.

Was she making a friend?

The moment she realized this, what she had been saying caught in her throat. Gregory must have immediately caught on, because he leaned forward and asked, “Princess? What’s wrong?”

Twilight shook her head, tears in her eyes as she said, “I don’t deserve the title of Princess.”

The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them. The thoughts had been ongoing for months. She’d been haunted by her failures night and day, in the day by the guilty looks and angry stares and glares of the ponies, and in the night by frequent nightmares, mostly of her repeating memories of her encounters with Jason Wright. She couldn’t stop herself from tossing him out in each scenario. It was as if her body and mind were out of her control, but at the same time she knew that was a lie.

Gregory didn’t react at first, until finally he put his fingers on his forehead, shook his head and sighed. “You ponies…always letting one incident get to you and changing you forever, or until someone smacks some sense into you. Seriously!” He threw his hands up in the air before leaning down towards her, hands folded and a patient expression on his face. His dishes were all cleaned and set to the side and his root beer was all gone. His water was half gone.

He pointed at her and calmly said, “You aren’t the only ones who have acted like this, you know? Trixie experiences one loss and utter humiliation because of the Ursa Minor rampaging through Ponyville. What does she do next? She goes and finds the Alicorn Amulet, making Ponyville into her own personal playground as revenge against you. Let’s see…what else…Sunset Shimmer! She let the thought of revenge against Celestia consume and overwhelm her until she stole your crown and became a demoness. A side effect being she introduced magic to an entire new world. And let’s not forget Starlight Glimmer. Her childhood friend Sunburst gets his cutie mark and she suddenly has a lifelong vendetta against them, going so far as to find a way to erase them from ponies flanks.”

Throughout everything, Twilight was surprised by how collected he was. The only exception was in his eyes, which would sometimes flare from their normal bright blue to a brief purple, much like the color of his drake’s eyes. When he stopped speaking, Twilight swallowed the saliva in her mouth, grabbed her own water and drank. When she set it down, she slowly nodded. “What should I do?”

“That’s your path to follow,” he said as he sat up straighter. “I can only give advice. It’s up to you what you do with it. The only advice I can give now is this: gather the others and talk to them. You’re all obviously hurting but you’re all holding it in. That’s not healthy at all. Especially for Rarity.”

“I’m really sorry about her,” Twilight immediately began.

“It’s alright, Princess,” he replied. Just then a strange muffled ringing noise came from his pocket. Reaching in, he pulled out his smartphone, and the ringing became clearer. “Ah damn. I’m sorry, Princess, but I’m afraid I need to go. There’s a meeting of the Council and I need to be there. Do you mind dropping the shield?”

“Oh, of course, but before you do, can I ask one more thing?” Twilight asked.

“Shoot,” he replied with a nod.

“Could you ask the Council if Princess Celestia and I, or either one of us, can try and establish better diplomatic relationships between our two nations?” Twilight asked hopefully.

He paused, then stroked his chin thoughtfully for a few long silent seconds. Then, turning back to her, he said, “I can certainly ask them.”

“Thank you, Chancellor,” she said as she raised her horn and lowered the shield. Immediately the sounds of the restaurant around them flooded her ears.

“You’re welcome, Princess,” he replied, standing and gathering all of their dishes in both his hands. He wiped down the table as best he could with his napkin before he nodded his head politely towards her. “Thanks for joining me for lunch. It was a rather…interesting get together, I must say. In a good way.”

“I…I enjoyed myself too,” Twilight replied, nodding back with equal politeness and a small smile.

“You want a ride back to the city, or can you make it on your own?” he asked.

“Oh, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine,” Twilight said.

“See you later, then.” Gregory then walked up to Gordon and placed the dishes on the end of the bar. “Gor! I’ll see you later! Tell the rest of the staff bye for me, would ya?”

“Sure thing!” Gordon said as he poured a dark brown drink into a chilled glass mug, sliding it down to a small minotaur. “See ya!”

As Twilight watched the human walk out of the restaurant, her mind was awhirl. Had she just befriended the Chancellor or not? If she was supposed to be the Princess of Friendship, shouldn’t she know that answer? As she pondered these things, there was a loud whooshing sound and the windows rattled. A shadow briefly passed over the front of the restaurant. There was a distant roaring a few seconds later, something Twilight had heard once or twice since her arrival in Griffonstone. Slowly, she stood and stretched her legs. Turning to Gordon, she bowed. “Thank you for the delicious meal, my good griffon.”

Gordon inclined his head towards her. “Any friend of the Chancellor’s is welcome in here. Name’s Gordon Ram, by the way!”

“O-Of course,” she said as she headed towards the door. As she opened it, she pondered on Gordon’s words. Friend of the Chancellor? Had she just made a friend…? Her very first human friend? She closed the door behind her, spread her wings and flew up, heading back towards Griffonstone. There was something important she needed to do…

Hey, back. Sorry, Twilight just went out to search for the friendship problem.

Heh, only you’re allowed to call me that, you know?

Sunset… >:(

I overheard the girls talking about him last night while they thought I was asleep. I think they did tell him.

Yeah, well with how Rarity’s been behaving recently, I’m not surprised. She’s been a bitch.

Ironically enough, from her.

Thanks for offering, but I’m alright. I am technically a teen by pony years so I was gonna learn those words eventually.

Sunset, I’m really okay. I’ve had to do a lot of growing up these past few months. I do still play with those friends I mentioned, but I feel like I’m growing more. I bet if I came through the portal I’d be a bigger dog.

That was really fun. But enough about me, what have you been up to lately? You said it’s Summer Break over there. Got any plans?

A cruise? Wow, that sounds fun! I’ve never been on one before. There was that one cruise Twilight went on with her family, but I stayed behind.

No! I volunteered to stay behind. She needed a break and I wanted to be helpful.

Hey, that one was on me that time, okay?

Not as much as you’d think, actually. But back to this cruise! Who’s going?

Student Counselor? Who’s that?

Really? Must be a really good human if even Fluttershy says something good about him. What’s his name?