Sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoy this roller coaster of a chapter!

Gregory could only stare at the large floating circular island with a dumbfounded look plastered on his face. His eyes were drinking in the sights before him, but in his shock he couldn’t completely comprehend what he was seeing.

He’d seen floating islands in fantasy pictures and even in fantasy or isekai anime, of course. It was a staple of the fantasy genre that had grown more and more popular over the years. He’d seen it in Fairy Tail, Jobless Reincarnation, hell, even the first arc of Sword Art Online had Aincrad! However, to see them in this world shouldn’t have been as surprising to him as it was. After all, Canterlot was nothing but Minas Tirith on whimsy, so why should this be any different?

Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen a floating island in the show before? he thought as they walked down towards the nearest bridge. The bridge itself was made of solid stone and lined on both sides by solid walls of clear crystal. Right before the cliff, on either side of the railing, he saw two large statues depicting what looked like drakes. Each of them stood on all fours on a massive stone platform with their wings spread wide. Both of their bodies were facing each other and their heads were looking down at the ground with what looked like a welcoming gaze on their faces to all travelers returning. Engraved on the platform were their names. The one on the right was named Scout and the one on the right was named Blaze.

Spike looked over at the novan ranger Floyd. “Um, excuse me, Mr. Johnson, sir? Can I ask something?”

Floyd looked down at the young dragon and chuckled. “Ain’t no need to call me Mr. Johnson, young dragon. Just call me Floyd.”

“Oh, sorry,” Spike said. “Well…you can call me Spike, then.”

“It’s alright, young Spike,” Floyd said with a smile. “You’ve got good manners, and that’ll go far here. What’s your question?”

Spike turned and gestured to the two statues. “Who were they?”

Floyd looked in the direction that Spike pointed, and his eyes brightened. “Ah, yes, Scout and Blaze. They were two of the drakes who arrived in Tartarus with our ancestors after we were sent here. They gave their lives to protect us from the Tartaran Eagles, Orthros, and the other monsters that live here. In their last moments, they gave the humans who rode them a gift. They changed our ancestors’ bodies so they could survive better in Tartarus. Some of us got these bodies, with wings and some magic, but others got different bodies.”

“Different bodies how?” Gregory asked, intrigued by the history he was learning now.

“I don’t rightly know,” Floyd admitted, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. “It’s been a long time since our ancestors split.”

“Split? What do you mean?” Spike asked.

“Again, that’s a story for later,” Floyd answered. He looked back up at Gregory. “You bein’ in Atlantis will definitely be an excuse for people to get their whistles wet,” he said with a grin. Gregory noticed his smile waning a bit as Floyd looked at the group in general. “Y’all are welcome to stay, of course, but just a word of caution to you two ponyfolk.” He turned to Rarity and Lady Serenity with a grim expression. “A lot of folks here don’t take too kindly to ponies. We don’t got good memories of yer kind. But since you two are with Mr. Graystone here, I’m sure that Mayor Cunningham and Father McKay will treat you as guests with all the Atlantean hospitality we can give ya. But most folks here don’t like ponyfolk none. With a handful of exceptions, of course.”

“Trust me, the two of us have a horrid track record with our dealings with humans,” Rarity said morosely as she looked at the ground.

“That sounds like a story the mayor will wanna hear,” Floyd said warily.

“Handful of exceptions? What do you mean?” Gregory asked.

“Well, we actually have a few special ponyfolk livin’ with us right now, and a few others have lived with us in the past,” Floyd explained. “One of those ponies might be a good guide for you ponyfolk here.”

“Where’d they come from?” Spike asked.

“I’ve never heard of anypony being sent to Tartarus in a long time,” Rarity said.

“Well, we’ve been down here a long time,” Floyd said. “The ponies livin’ with us now showed up a few years ago. Most of ‘em don’t like talkin’ ‘bout their past, none, but they do good work here and love to play when they ain’t workin’ on the farms or in the city.”

“Are there any dragons here? Or griffons?” Spike asked. “Or any other creature?”

He then turned to Spike. “We haven’t seen a dragon or a griffon in a looong time. Yer plenty welcome here. You and that drake. We ain’t seen one of them ever since they gave their lives for us.”

“I…have a feeling I’d be learning a lot of history if I stayed here,” Gregory said, remembering the urgency of their new mission, “but I’ve got to get back to the surface as soon as possible.”

Floyd turned to Gregory with confusion. “Why in tarnation would you wanna go back up there? Why not stay with her kin down here?”

“I really need to find a way back,” he insisted. “I’ve actually just been elected the Griffonian Chancellor, and I’m worried that my absence and how it occurred could spark a war.”

Floyd’s expression changed. His features darkened as he looked at Gregory with narrowed eyes. “That ain’t something to joke about,” he said with a serious tone. “We ain’t had a war in a long time, but we still have them old history books. The ones about the War for Independence especially.”

“What’s the War for Independence?” Spike asked.

“That’s another story for another time,” Gregory replied quickly before Floyd could respond. “It’s one I’m familiar with, though. But I’m also familiar with wars from my homeland that you aren’t familiar with. The American Civil War, the War of 1812, World Wars One and Two, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the War on Terror are just a few of the wars humanity has been involved in for the past two hundred years. I know wars are bloody business. They say only the guilty go to Tartarus or hell, but war is much worse. The innocent get involved along with the guilty. You’re right. War isn’t something to joke about. I need to get back as soon as possible to avoid war between Griffonia and Equestria.”

Floyd seemed to take some time to think about that while the group continued walking across the bridge. As they did so, Gregory saw a few of the novans flying overhead, looking at them with varying degrees of curiosity. Most were looking at him with awe. However, they flew well out of the path of the larger drake who shot across the bridge, only to land on the other side of the wall surrounding the island. A few of the other rangers they’d traveled with were with Daenerys, making sure other novans kept away from the still tired drake.

Finally, Floyd spoke. “I don’t know much about these places yer talkin’ ‘bout,” he said, “but it sounds like yer in a big pickle. Y’all wanna get back up to the surface? I don’t know of a way there. But maybe the mayor does. And that’s where I’ll be takin’ you. The mayor’s office.”

“And what about Daenerys?” Gregory asked. He wasn’t quite sure if he could trust these novans yet. And not because they looked like demons, but because he knew nothing about them. Not from the show or even from his time looking up various races on Gaia. Then again, he had only read Griffonian books, and they didn’t have as many as Equestria seemed to have. But, on the other hand, those statues behind them had been of drakes. And their reactions to seeing him and Daenerys had seemed genuine. And even if they wished harm on her, she was bigger and probably stronger than the novans.

To his surprise, Rarity spoke up as well. “I believe the Chancellor is worried about leaving the young drake in your hooves,” she said. “No offense to you, but we don’t exactly know you.”

Floyd nodded. “I understand that, but I swear to God Almighty that we won’t harm yer drake, Mr. Graystone.”

Gregory looked over at Daenerys, and he saw that a few younger novans were carrying large baskets seemingly full of food towards where she’d landed behind the wall. A few others were carrying buckets of hot steaming water her way as well. Turning back to Floyd, he took a deep breath. He hoped he wasn’t making a big mistake as he said, “I’ll hold you to your word, then. Lead on.”

Atlantis was split into three sections, each one as different from one another as was possible. It was as if there were three biomes separated by the two massive rivers that circled the island.

The first section reminded Gregory of wild country. The bridge they crossed led to a large gate surrounded by a thick stone wall. The moment they reached the other side, Gregory went to check on Daenerys while Floyd spoke with a few similarly dressed novans who came out of a large stone building near the gate. He saw that a group of novan rangers were tending to her needs, feeding her while at the same time using the hot water, brushes and some clean smelling soap to wash her off. She was lying on her back, looking very content. She gave Gregory a happy look when he approached her. The novans there promised that they would look after her, each swearing to God that they would bring her to the city when they were finished.

After Gregory was satisfied enough, he returned to the others only to see that a large horse drawn carriage had been summoned. Rarity, Lady and even Spike looked a bit uncomfortable when they saw the larger dumb equines pulling the carriage, but Floyd reassured them that their horses were always well fed and treated well. Since walking through Atlantis would take too long and since none of them could fly, the fastest way to get through the massive floating island would be by horse drawn carriage. Gregory even saw a few novans saddling up and climbing on horseback, which didn’t quite make sense since every novan he saw had wings, but when he asked, Floyd said they rode horses as one way to honor their ancestors who had no wings.

Gregory, however, despite the situation, expressed interest in riding a horse for a little while. He’d ridden a drake on Gaia and had a little experience on Earth riding horses. The novans were all too happy to accommodate, bringing out a light beige furred and black maned American quarter-horse stallion named Arrow.

As they headed through the first section of the island, Gregory drank in the scenery before him with awe. He could easily had mistaken the area around him for some wildlands back on Earth. There were even birds and a few wild animals that he spotted. There were hills, valleys, lakes, forests, and more. They passed through small wooded areas and over a large running stream. They even passed one large lake where he saw a few novans in a boat fishing. They also passed a small waterfall where they spotted a few children playing in what Floyd called one of the more popular swimming holes on the island. He casually thought that this part of the island would be a great place to set up a vacation house just in case he wanted to get away from it all with Gabby.

When they reached the first massive ring shaped lake that separated the outer and middle section, Gregory dismounted Arrow, fed him a few oats given to him by one of the rangers, and climbed into the carriage with the others. A cloud had passed over the sun and it had begun to rain gently. When they passed over the archway bridge and headed through the gate, they saw more green, but unlike the first section, this one was flat.

Once more, if he hadn’t known any better, Gregory would have thought that this section of the island and the fields he was passing through could have been some random farmland on Earth. After his grandma had passed, he spent his summers from fourteen to eighteen working on a farm so he could earn some money. It was this job, which he actually enjoyed since the owners of the farm treated him decently well and the work kept him in shape, that gave him a good work ethic. He had to get up himself and head down to the farm on a couple of local buses. It was why he liked the country more than the city or even the suburbs where he lived. And it was why his all-time favorite of the Mane Six had been Applejack for her southern charm since it reminded him of the farmer’s daughter he’d had a crush on during those years. Hardworking, a southern accent, devoted to her family, and more. Emily had been an amazing girl. It hadn’t worked, but he’d stayed friends with her on Facebook and watched her and her husband’s family grow.

He caught the scent of some of the typical smells associated with a farm. He smelled drying hay, mud, freshly cut grass and cow manure, but he missed the scent of diesel. Despite the rain, which didn’t last long, he saw some novan farmers working in the fields, most of them wearing typical farmer’s clothes like jeans or overalls and straw hats that protected them from the faux sun that shone down above them. He saw farm animals in pens, farm houses and large red barns. When the rain stopped, he joined Floyd who was sitting on the box seat so he could get a better view of the farmland around them. Spike joined him, curious himself. Rarity and Lady, however, stayed in the carriage, presumably to enjoy the comfortable seats and not having to walk.

Gregory watched and listened as Floyd greeted some of the farmers and introduced Gregory and his companions to them. The farmer folk all greeted him and Spike warmly enough, but he noticed some tension on their faces when they saw Rarity and Lady in the carriage windows looking out nervously. However, they greeted the ponies cordially enough and welcomed them to Atlantis. Once more, Gregory thought about how it might be nice to build a house here and move to a small farm with Gabby, Starlight, Gilda, Gallus and even Gracie-no, Ocellus, he reminded himself.

The second inner ring lake, unlike the first, had large boats either docked on the farmland side or sailing through the water either fishing or presumably enjoying the late autumn faux sun before it set behind the distant mountains. Unlike the first bridge across the first ring shaped lake, the second one was taller and allowed for ships to pass underneath without incident. Gregory began imagining sailing or rowing on said lake with Gabby and going fishing there.

As they approached the large metal city gates on the other side of the bridge, however, that was when Gregory saw a bit of a more medieval style pop up in the novan’s clothing. The guards who greeted the party at the gate wore some bright silvery metal armor with a crest on the chest plate. The design of said crest was a crescent moon inside a stylized sun. The same crest was on their heater shield. The group learned from Floyd that the armor had been found in the city’s castle armory when they arrived and had been used by the city guard.

The novans who were in the city itself wore all different kinds of clothes that Gregory could see. Some were that more frontier style while others reminded Gregory of city clothes popular in America during those frontier days back east. However, some other style really stood out to him and reminded him of something he might have seen in a fantasy movie or anime that might have been worn by elves. Floyd explained to him when he asked about it that the frontier style clothes and the city clothes had been crafted by the novans themselves, but the fantasy style clothes had been found by the novans.

This only confused Gregory even more and he began to wonder if there had been humans or at the very least a humanoid civilization living in this city even before the novans appeared. And if that had indeed been the case, why weren’t they here?

Then again, he knew he didn’t have time to go sightseeing or researching the history of this place despite his curiosity. He wished there was, because this city was enormous and full of novans, all of whom would stop and stare at him in wonder and admiration as the carriage passed them in the streets. However, he knew he had to find a way back to the surface as quickly as he could, and the only way to do that was by seeing the mayor of the city.

Floyd led the carriage through the buildings towards what had to have once been a palace. It was a building of glistening white spires, six in a concentric circle with one twice as tall in the center, making seven in total. Each of the outer six were connected by a large circular wall which curved upward as it reached the towers until it blended naturally with the spires themselves. They passed through another gate that led into the interior, the group saw a well-tended garden with trees, bushes, and grass.

“This is a lovely garden,” Rarity admitted as they stepped out of the carriage, which one of the other rangers drove away.

“Agreed,” Gregory said. He looked around and saw that the garden was being tended by a few young looking novan men and women.

And standing near one of the taller bushes, Gregory’s jaw dropped, because there were two very familiar looking pink ponies, each wearing some pony specific farmer clothes with hedge clippers in their hooves. The two were singing something I never thought I’d hear any pony singing:

“Buffalo Gals, won’t you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight. Buffalo Gals, won’t you come out tonight and dance by the light of the moon!”

The pony on the left who was working on a dark red bush sang, “As I was strolling down the street, down the street, down the street, a pretty little gal I chanced to meet. Oh, she was sweet to me!”

Both of them sang the chorus, then the pony who was working on a green bush, sang, “I stopped her and we had a talk, had a talk, had a talk. Her feet took up the whole sidewalk and left no room for me.”

The two then broke out in the chorus, but before they could sing the next verse, Gregory broke in, unable to help himself. That was one of the songs he sang back on the farm back on Earth. “I’d like to make this gal my wife, gal my wife, gal my wife. I’d make her happy all her life if she would marry me!”

The pink ponies, who had been staring at Gregory in awe, broke out into a smile and began singing the chorus along with him. “Buffalo Gals, won’t you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight. Buffalo Gals, won’t you come out tonight and dance by the light of the moon!”

When they’d finished, the two ponies, each one a perfect clone of one Pinkamena Diane Pie, ran up to him. “Hi!” they both said in unison.

“Why, hello there, you two,” Gregory replied with a smile of his own.

“Wow, are you a real human??” the Pinkie clone on the left asked with an excited tone.

“That I am, ma’am,” Gregory replied. “Gregory Graystone at your service,” he said by means of introduction as he nodded his head to the two.

“It can’t be…” Rarity said in shock. She turned to Spike. “Spike, are these…the Pinkie clones?”

Spike didn’t answer. His jaw was almost down at his chest, his expression one of stunned silence.

The Pinkie clones turned to the voice. “Rarity! Spike!” the two shouted happily, rushing over and flinging their hooves around the two for a tight hug before they switched and hugged the other.

After breaking the hug, one of them asked, “How’d you two get to Atlantis? Wait, are you clones too??”

“Um, no,” Spike said.

“Wait, how do you know our names?” Rarity asked. “Last time we saw you, you had some difficulty with remembering them.”

“I can explain that,” another voice said from behind the group. When they turned, they saw a third Pinkie Pie, but this one with a more serious look on her face. She wore what looked like a dress made for the 19^th century, but one that would fit a pony. Her mane and tail were actually straight, her mane tied back in a professional looking bun much like the one which Cloudy Quartz wore. She also wore a pair of glasses somewhat similar to Cloudy’s as well.

“Rose, Rose, look look look! It’s Rarity and Spike!” one of the Pinkies said to her as she pointed to the two aforementioned Equestrians.

“And a real live honest to Celestia human!” the second Pinkie said.

“I see that. Thank you, you two. But don’t you have work to do?” the clone referred to as Rose asked, gesturing back to the garden with an amused smile. “The sooner you finish, the sooner you can go play with the kids, you know?”

“Okie dokie lokie!” the two clones said as they grabbed their clippers and returned to trimming.

Giggling in the most adorable way to ever come out of any Pinkie’s mouth, Rose then turned to Rarity and Spike. “It’s good to see you two again after all this time. I’m Rose Quartz, and I was the first clone made by Pinkie Pie nearly six years ago.” She extended her hoof to Rarity, who took it with confusion and shook it. Rose then shook Spike’s claw before turning to Gregory. “Who’s this, Floyd?”

“He’s Gregory Graystone, ma’am,” Floyd said with a grin and a very respectful tip of his hat to the clone. “We found him and the others here out on patrol on the southern mountain slopes.”

Rose looked at Gregory with curious blue eyes. Gregory, for one, was even more confused now. How had these clones gotten here? What was the mirror pool anyway? One thing was for sure, however: it was darker than anything he’d seen in the show. But on the plus side at least Twilight hadn’t murdered them. He was interrupted by Rose extending her hoof to him and saying, “Mr. Graystone, it’s nice to meet you,” in a friendly tone and with a genuine smile on her face. “I’m Rose Quartz, the mayor’s personal secretary.”

Gregory grabbed her hoof and shook it, smiling back at her. Even if she was a clone, he hadn’t seen the smile on the real Pinkie’s face. Not that he could blame the real one, of course. Guilt was powerful for ponies. “Nice to meet you too, Miss Quartz. I’m Gregory Graystone, the Chancellor of Griffonia.”

“Just call me Rose,” she chuckled good naturedly as she released his hand. “What brings you here?”

“A long story, I’m afraid,” Gregory said, “and one I’d rather only tell once, if that’s okay. We’ve come traveling a while, and we’re all pretty tired and hungry.”

Rose smiled in understanding. “Heh, that’s fair.” She turned to Floyd. “You taking them to see the mayor?”

“That’s right, ma’am,” Floyd said.

“Mind if I tag along?” Rose asked. “I’d love to hear the story, if that alright with you, Mr. Graystone,” she added, looking at Gregory with a pleading look.

“Just call me Gregory,” he replied, “and I don’t mind you tagging along.”

“I’ll take you to him,” Rose said, turning and heading towards the palace.

Gregory watched her walk, and despite how seriously she did walk, he could still see a bit of a Pinkie-ish hop to her. Curiosity got the better of him, so he walked up beside her. Looking down at her, he said, “I…well, I’m familiar with the story of how you and those other two were created along with the other Pinkie Pie clones,” he admitted, “but you seem different than those two. You’re more serious than they are. I know a bit about the original Pinkie, at least before what happened to her a few months ago. So what changed for you? If I can ask?”

Rose looked up at him with a sad smile. “Tartarus happened to me, Mr. Graystone,” she said with a hint of a tremble in her voice. “After I was banished here by Twilight, we all woke up in a desolate field. Every single one of us. I think since I was the first one to be created, I was the only one who knew something was wrong at the time. The others were still bouncing around and shouting ‘Fun! Fun! Fun!’ It was like…I grew up ten years that day. That’s the only way I can describe it. We all underwent some kind of personality change when we came here. Some of us subtly, some of us more drastically. I’m more of the latter.” She gestured to her tail. “Some of us underwent some physical changes as well. Sure, I love having fun as much as the next Pinkie, but the poof is gone from my mane and tail. A part of me misses it, but I’ve grown to accept it.”

“I think it suits you,” Gregory admitted. “You look very professional and beautiful.”

Rose gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, but I’m a spoken for mare,” she chuckled good naturedly.

“And I’m a spoken for man,” Gregory replied before continuing. “How did you come here?” he asked as they approached the doors to the palace, a pair of evergreen double doors decorated with a massive tree emblazoned on the front. On either side of the gate were four novan guards.

“One second,” Rose said as she stepped forward and spoke to the guards, telling them not only to open the doors but to prepare rooms for the four of them. When Floyd mentioned that a drake was with them, Rose nodded and told the guards to have someone prepare a place for Daenerys as well. As they headed inside, Rose continued. “We were saved by the Tartarus Rangers while we were being attacked by Tartaran Eagles. Floyd here led that expedition.”

Floyd scratched the back of his head. “Shucks, y’all make an old man blush,” he said.

Gregory was about to ask why the novans saved the Pinkie clones, only to have the question die in his mouth as he stepped into a massive room. He stopped at the door and gaped at the massive area around him. He found himself standing in a large rectangular room with large stone pillars that had been carved and painted to look like trees holding up the ceiling. The only reason he knew they were stone was because he touched one and instead of bark it was harder, just like stone. The ceiling itself looked like a forest canopy. In fact, almost everything about this place screamed forest.

On both walls on the left and right of the door were arched cloudy windows that let light in, and a green carpet led the way from the door to a massive pair of thrones that sat on a raised dais. However, nobody was seated in them. Instead, the room was completely empty.

The dragon and ponies beside him looked equally as shocked by the scale of the room. Eventually, Spike said, “Wow…Canterlot’s throne room has nothing on this place…”

“Indeed,” Rarity said breathlessly.

Gregory saw Floyd and Rose exchange a smirk. “Everyone does that,” Rose giggled.

“You and the others did it too, ma’am,” Floyd chuckled good naturedly. “Right before one of y’all almost broke them windows.”

“Hey…does anypony know who built Atlantis?” Lady asked, finally breaking her silence. “No offense to you novans, but I don’t think you built it. The buildings aren’t built with winged bipeds in mind.”

“Actually, nobody knows yet,” Rose said. “There’s another clone named Aurora Night who’s been doing her own research.”

“Wait, a clone doing research?” Rarity asked.

Rose chuckled. “Yepperini. She’s a lot like Twilight Sparkle in that sense. In fact, she was the first clone to get sent here. But enough of that. Let me take you to the mayor. He’ll definitely be interested in meeting you.” So saying, she turned and headed towards a small door in one corner of the room. As they did, Rose looked back at Gregory. “Did you want to ask something else?”

“I did, but it’ll keep for now,” Gregory said. “Honestly, the more I see of this place, the more questions pop into my head, but I have more important things to worry about right now. Like getting back to the surface with my companions here.”

Rose frowned at that. “Why would you want to go back? I can understand you wanting to get Rarity, Spike and this other pony back, but why you? Why not stay here? The novans would treat you well like they’ve treated us.”

“I’ll explain that in more detail when we tell our story to the mayor,” Gregory said.

Rose nodded in understanding. “I understand, Mr. Graystone.”

“Gregory, please,” he said as they reached a large arched door.

Rose reached up and opened the door which led into a smaller room. Gregory found himself in a domed room with a silver tiled floor which was covered by a green circular carpet. There was an arched window on the other side of the room which was open and letting in the late afternoon air. Another door stood in one corner of the room. On both sides of the room were two large wooden desks. Unlike the room and the throne room before, these looked completely out of place with how simple they looked. One desk was empty, but sitting at the other desk was an older novan man. He shared many of the same features as the other novans Gregory had seen. He had long white hair tied back in a ponytail and had a few wrinkles. He wore a suit one might see in a western movie and was looking down at some pieces of paper.

The novan mayor put down a fountain pen and began looking up at the newcomers. “Rose, honey, thank God you’re…back…” The mayor’s eyes widened when he saw Gregory. “Heavens to Betsy…”

Rose giggled and rolled her eyes as she walked up, stood on her hind legs and closed the mayor’s open mouth. “You’ll catch flies that way, sweetie,” she said.

Gregory looked at the nameplate on the table briefly and read the words MAYOR CLIFFORD CUNNINGHAM on it. Taking the lead, he stepped forward and extended his hand. “Mayor Cunningham, I’m Chancellor Gregory Graystone of the Griffonian Empire. It’s nice to meet you.”

The mayor quickly grabbed Gregory’s hand and shook it firmly. “Nice to meet you!” he said with a wide smile. “I’m Clifford Cunningham, mayor of this fine town. It is an honor to meet an honest to God human being after all this time!”

Gregory gave a friendly and polite smile. It was a bit repetitive to have been accepted so readily just because of what he was. He was about to say something but Rose spoke first. “Sweetie, I know you’re excited, but Mr. Graystone needs your help.”

The mayor quickly cleared his throat and straightened his shirt. “Ah, of course. Sorry ‘bout that, Mr. Graystone. We just haven’t seen a human ever since our ancestors were transformed into novans and the flecs.”

Gregory looked at the mayor with confusion. “The flecs?”

“It’s short for reflections,” Rose explained as she looked at the mayor with disapproval. “It’s a slur, anyway.”

“Well, as fascinating as this sounds, we’re in no mood for a history lesson,” Lady said suddenly, stepping forward.

“Sorry to sound rude, Mr. Mayor sir,” Rarity said as she joined in, “but we are in quite a hurry to return to the surface.”

“Is there a way you can help with that?” Spike asked hopefully.

The mayor saw the two ponies and dragon for the first time. There was silence in the room for a while as he processed what he was seeing. Finally, he looked at Rose and said, “Rose, could you get some chairs? I have a feelin’ our guests have a lot to tell us. Floyd, would you mind getting’ Father McKay over here? He might be interested as well.”

“Oh it, Mr. Mayor,” Floyd said as he walked over to the window, opened it, and shot out into the air.

Rose nodded and headed into the other room. There was the sound of something being moved, and Rose came back out pulling a stack of six chairs. She set five of them down in front of the mayor’s desk, then grabbed the chair from the second desk and set it next to the mayor’s own along with the sixth chair. Gregory noted that the chairs were made for human sized beings and were made of stone that had been painted green. Whatever else might have happened to this Pinkie clone, she had not lost any of her earth pony strength, Gregory mused as he took a seat. Rarity sat to his left, Spike to his right, and Lady next to Rarity, leaving an empty chair next to Spike and another next to the mayor.

Rose left the room for a bit to get something for everyone to drink. While she was gone, the door opened, revealing Floyd and another novan. This novan was the first Gregory had seen with facial hair, which was a short cut beard. He had no hair on his scalp, but it looked as if he had shaven it. The novan looked fairly young, younger even than Gregory’s own twenty-nine years of age. He held a black brimmed hat in his hand that reminded Gregory of the types of hats pastors might wear in the old west. He also wore a black suit with a white button-down shirt and a black tie. In the vest pocket he saw a red handkerchief sticking out. There was a gold chain attached to his belt which led into his other pocket. And in his other hand, he held a leather bound book which had inscribed the words HOLY BIBLE in gold lettering. Now I’ve seen everything, Gregory thought. A demonic looking humanoid who’s a pastor. What are the odds?

When he saw Gregory, his eyes widened in astonishment, then smiled warmly at him. He hung his hat on a nearby coat and hat rack, set his Bible down on the chair next to the mayor, and walked up, extending a hand to Gregory. “I never thought God would bless me this much,” he said as Gregory stood to grasp the father’s hand in a firm handshake. “Welcome, my son. Welcome to Atlantis. I’m Father Peter McKay. It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

“It’s good to meet you too, Father,” Gregory said. “I’m Chancellor Gregory Graystone of the Griffonian Empire. You can call me Gregory.”

Father McKay nodded, then turned to the others. Unlike the other reactions to ponies, the pastor’s greeting was just as warm and friendly as the one he gave Gregory. “Welcome to you three as well,” he said. “We don’t receive many outside visitors to our fair city.”

Rarity looked a bit confused by the Father’s smile, but took the extended hand and shook it. “It’s…a pleasure to meet you too, um…Mr. McKay. Or is it Father?”

“You can call me whatever you want,” the pastor said. “Everyone is equal in God’s eyes.”

“Why do you call yourself Father?” Spike asked as he shook the pastor’s hand.

“It’s a title used for a religious and spiritual leader in a community,” Gregory explained. “Father McKay here is what’s called a pastor. If we have time, I’ll explain more, but unfortunately time is a commodity I don’t have.”

“Floyd did tell me you had somethin’ you wanted to talk to the mayor about, but why am I here?” the pastor asked.

“Because he wants to get to the surface,” the mayor explained.

To Gregory’s confusion, the pastor suddenly adopted a look of complete understanding. He silently walked to the empty chair next to the mayor, picked up his Bible and placed it on the desk before sitting down. He nodded at Gregory and the rest. “I’m listening.”

Just then, Rose came back a few minutes later with a tray of glasses and two large corked green bottles. She poured a glass of the liquid for everyone there, and instead of water Gregory saw a brown and somewhat cloudy liquid being poured into it. She passed them around the group. Gregory took a sip, and was surprised by the taste of spiced pear.

Rose must have noticed his reaction because she giggled. “This is pear cider, one of the most common of non-alcoholic drinks,” she said.

Gregory nodded and took another sip. He swirled the liquid around, getting a feel for the taste. “It’s really good,” he admitted.

“So, might I ask what’s important enough that you need to get back to the surface?” the mayor asked.

“We…might be here a while,” Gregory said.

“Don’t worry, I’m not too terribly busy today,” the mayor said. “What’s on your mind?”

Rose sat next to the mayor, puttin her hoof on the mayor’s hand in an affectionate manner. Gregory paid it no mind. Interspecies relationships didn’t bother him anyway, especially since he was in one. He took a deep breath, and the explanations began.

To Gregory’s surprise, Rarity had actually started the explanations, saying that things had started with the arrival of Jason Wright in Ponyville five years ago. She didn’t seem to hold anything back in her explanation. While she did mention Discord’s involvement (his name gaining a reaction of pure loathing from the mayor) she prefaced the involvement by stating that his involvement was minor and that he had simply removed the barriers between general politeness and their knee-jerk reactions to anything different.

By the end of the explanation, the mayor, pastor and Rose looked stunned. Even Lady was in pure shock. After taking a long drink from his own glass of pear cider, the mayor asked Gregory for his story. Gregory began by finally admitting that he wasn’t from another continent, but another world altogether, and presumably the same one as the human Jason Wright. He said how he had arrived by a secret method that allowed for him to travel to worlds unknown. He mentioned that he had heard about the adventures of the ponies in Ponyville and had admired them from his own world. He described his three months in Griffonstone as best he could, starting with his discovery of the Idol of Boreas up until his banishment by three ponies.

Lady was reluctant to tell her story, but she did. She told of how she and the other two of her companions had been hired by an unknown party to travel to Griffonstone and observe its resident human, and if necessary deal with him if he became a problem. She talked about her leader’s slow descent into paranoia and eventual use of the artifacts that banished him, but admitted when the mayor asked that she had no idea why the leader of her group was so angry at humans.

Floyd then told his side of the story, which wasn’t as long as the others. How he and the Tartarus Rangers had been out on a regular patrol when one of his best spotters saw a group of creatures climbing their mountains. Then he described how they had been chased by Tartaran Eagles back to the entrance to their city paradise.

When all the stories had been told, there was silence in the office. Enough time had passed outside that the sky had darkened. As the room had lost the natural light from the faux sun, small egg-shaped bulbs began forming on the walls, illuminating the room in a silvery glow. Everyone was silent as they digested the stories. Gregory was at a loss as to why Dusky Heart had such a hatred of humans, but it wasn’t important at the moment.

Finally, the mayor spoke. “I…that’s quite the tale y’all are tellin’,” he said, slipping into a more country accent before he straightened up, cleared his throat, and looked over at Father McKay. “Father, think we can trust everyone here with…it?”

The pastor frowned, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Mr. Mayor, you do realize once we use it, we won’t be able to use it again.”

“But would we want to, Father?” the mayor asked. “We’re all here, we’re a happy community, and hell, we’ve survived for a long time down here.”

“My son,” the pastor said softly, “there are a few among the congregation who want to leave and find their way to the surface, regardless of the circumstances.”

“I did hear that rumor, yes,” the mayor replied, “but can you honestly say that a war isn’t a good reason to use it? You’re a man of faith, Father. What does it say in the good book? Do to others?”

“‘If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets’,” the pastor quoted.

“And besides,” Rose added as she scooted over, stood on her hind legs and nuzzled the mayor’s face reassuringly, “I’m sure they’d understand once you told them the situation. Right?”

The mayor turned, smiled warmly at Rose, then turned back to the pastor. “Whatcha think?”

The pastor bit his lower lip, then turned to Gregory. “I think…that it’s a bit late to be using it now, but if it helps our guests, we should use it.”

“Could you be any more cryptic?” Lady asked with a frown.

The mayor and pastor chuckled. “Sorry,” the mayor said, turning to the group. “We do have a way to send you to the surface, at least, that’s what we think anyway. It hasn’t been used since the fle-I mean, since the other group of humans left through it,” he corrected when Rose gave him the stink eye.

“But it is too late to use it, and judging from your clothes and how tired you all look, you need time to recover,” Rose said. “There are plenty of rooms in this old palace that you can use. We have a large bath and we can get you all some food.”

“Um, do the rooms have beds?” Rarity asked hesitantly.

“Big ones,” Rose chuckled. “And we can get you all food according to your dietary needs.”

This clone is a loooot more articulate than the original, Gregory said. As much as he wanted to keep on going, the fact that he could see stars starting to appear in the sky out the window told him all he needed to know. He sighed. “If it isn’t too much trouble, we’ll gladly take you up on that offer,” he said as he wiped a little bit of sweat from his brow. “We could use at least one night of comfortable sleep before we go on. It’ll definitely help. And I could definitely use a good bath.” He gave the mayor a sheepish look. “I’m pretty sure I’m a bit…ripe.”

Rarity looked up at him. “I…wasn’t going to say anything, but…”

“You ain’t no picnic yourself, sister,” Gregory retorted with a grin.

She froze a bit, then smiled, giggling cutely. “I imagine not,” she said.

“We can even have your clothes washed for you,” Rose said. “There are some we can give to you that were found when the novans first moved here.”

“I’d appreciate that, thank you very much,” Gregory said.

“Floyd, could you show our guests to the men’s and women’s bathhouses?” the mayor asked.

“Of course!” Floyd said as he stood, placing his now empty glass down on the tray before turning to the group. “Come along, y’all. Let’s get you washed up!”

The day was over. The faux sun had long since set, only to reveal a nighttime full of brilliant stars. Stars of surprisingly familiar constellations, unlike the ones Gregory had seen in Gaia’s night skies. They twinkled in the night above just like the real thing, but he knew they couldn’t be real stars. He didn’t know just how it worked, but he figured that the Pinkie clone named Aurora, who had also somehow undergone an entire species change and had become a unicorn, would figure it out eventually.

Gregory stood outside on the balcony to his room which overlooked the city below, just thinking about the events of the day. He, Spike and Floyd had all taken a bath in what could only amount to a pool sized steaming tub, washing away the dirt and grime of the day. The soap they were given had a floral scent and made him feel alive and refreshed. He was then given a pair of boxer-like undergarments, light green pants, some wooden sandals, a loose white long sleeved shirt and a light brown vest to complete the look. Each article of clothing was incredibly comfortable to wear, even more so than the clothes he normally wore. They were cool enough as well, alleviating how warm he felt.

And if that hadn’t been enough, the mayor, pastor and Rose had joined them in a vast dining room for dinner. The ponies were served salads, bread rolls, baked beans, corn, and some kind of pasta dish that Rose said was something new the Pinkie clones had brought. For everyone else, they were served juicy steaks along with the other dishes. Gregory had to admit, novans knew how to cook a nice delicious steak.

Afterwards, the rest were all shown to their rooms while Gregory insisted on seeing Daenerys. Floyd took him down to a large empty room near the eastern side of the palace with two massive doors leading outside. There, he saw a well fed and cleaned looking Daenerys, her saddle off and stored neatly to the side. She was happy to see Gregory and licked him affectionately before giving his face a reassuring nuzzle. The room was full of soft hay and even a large number of pillows where she could lay her head. There was a large wide barrel of water for her nearby. Two women, one a light purple Pinkie Pie clone with pegasus wings named Amethyst Sky and the other a novan who wore a ranger outfit, had been assigned as temporary caretakers for the drake. They told Gregory that aside from being a bit tired, Daenerys was fine. To him, however, she did seem a bit cool to the touch still, but he hoped that a good night’s rest would help.

When he was satisfied with what he saw, and after he’d gotten over the shock of seeing a pegasus version of Pinkie Pie, Floyd brought him to his room. The room itself was almost as large as his old studio apartment back on Earth. It had what looked like a king sized bed, a dresser with a large oval shaped mirror, a glass door that led to a balcony that looked out over the city itself, a private lavatory and the same oval lamps that had popped up everywhere else. In each corner of the room there stood a quarter of a large tree styled column which went up to the ceiling, arching outwards and creating the illusion that he was in a forest, just like most of the other rooms in the palace. There was even a slight silvery light coming through the painted stone canopy.

Gregory had been told that if they wanted to turn the lamps off, all they needed to do was touch them and they’d sink back into the wall. If they wanted to turn them back on, they needed to touch the same spot again. Unfortunately, the soft fake light above the false stone canopy couldn’t be turned off, so he was provided with a facemask in case he was bothered by the light.

Gregory inhaled the late night breeze, gazing down at the city below. Many of the houses in the city were dark now, but there were a few that still had lights on. Every light in the city looked like they were lit by the same silvery colored lamps the palace had, while the lights in the farm houses were lit presumably by either oil lamps, fires or candles. Above them, a waxing gibbous faux moon which matched the moon from Earth hung high in the sky, shining its brilliant light down on Atlantis. From his vantage point, he could see each section of the island itself thanks to the moonlight. He even saw the band of the Milky Way despite the moon.

In that moment, he found himself actually considering staying in this place, or at the very least going back to get his friends and coming back to live here instead. The temptation was a surprising one, if he was honest with himself. He had a good thing on the surface. He had a girlfriend, good friends, a job, and more. So why was the temptation to stay down so strong? Was it because things here, despite being different, reminded him of Earth so much? Was it because these novans were physically altered descendants of the humans who were transported from the old frontier days in America to Gaia? Was it because he was growing tired of the stresses of ruling and just wanted to relax and not have to deal with the headaches?

He shook his head. No…he had to go back. There was no other choice. He accepted the duty of being Chancellor, and that included his responsibility to the country. As beautiful and inviting as this floating island was, he couldn’t just abandon Griffonia. Not when they had been so welcoming and kind to him.

Walking back inside, he took off his clothes, placing the Gjallarhorn and the key he placed securely on the endtable next to his bed. He changed into a pair of soft linen shorts, a t-shirt, and after turning off the lights got into bed. He left the door open to let the fresh breeze in since he was still a tad warm. The bed had a pair of thin sheets and a large purple comforter that had stylized flowers sewn into the pattern. He covered himself with the thin sheet and closed his eyes, marveling at how comfortable the bed itself was.

He slowly drifted off to sleep…

Gregory found himself standing in a wooded area. Immediately, he knew he was dreaming. It wasn’t often that he knew he was dreaming, but it had happened to him before. Looking around, he saw Ponyville just beyond a clearing. He also saw Fluttershy’s tree cottage in the distance and in the foreground he saw a group of ponies standing and watching something behind him. He saw Lyra Heartstrings, Bon Bon, Cheerlie, Derpy, Time Turner/Doctor Whooves, Granny Smith, Big Mac and even Cranky Doodle. All of them had looks of confusion on their faces as they watched.

Before he could turn, he heard a very familiar voice calling out from behind him. “Watch all you want! You won’t see more of me later anyway.”

Gregory turned and saw Jason Wright tying a noose around a sturdy tree branch. “Wait, Jason! What the fuck are you doing!?” he called out, but it didn’t seem like he could hear Gregory’s cries. When Gregory rushed over to try and help, he ran right through the badly scarred and clearly emotionally distraught fellow human.

Gregory watched helplessly as Jason on the branch. He saw a serene look passing over Jason’s face as he sighed, closed his eyes and wrapped the noose around his neck, tightening it with a simple tug. Gregory heard some gasps from behind him, but when he turned to look, none of the ponies or even Cranky moved to help.

And that was when he heard a familiar southern drawl. “Jason! Stop!” Gregory watched as Jason slowly opened his eyes, scanning the crowd only to see a slowly approaching Applejack. Behind her Gregory watched Twilight and Spike approaching. Applejack removed her Stetson and looked over at Jason with a pleading look in her eyes. “Please…Not like this, Jason. Ah—we can still solve this. Give us another chance.”

Gregory turned back to Jason, only to see tears falling down his face. “I won’t Applejack… I can’t even if I’d want to.” He began sobbing as he added, “It is not just about you anymore.” Applejack began crying too as she shook her head hard, but before she could say anything, Jason concluded, “It’s all about me now…” And then, to Gregory’s horror, Jason let go.

“JASON!”

The scene changed, and he was standing in a hallway of what looked like some kind of medical facility. He watched as Princess Celestia walked towards him, Applejack by her side. The latter had a morose look on her face, while Celestia looked like she was holding back anger. Gregory could feel heat emanating from the Princess of the Sun.

The two stopped a few feet away from him, only for Celestia to turn and face Applejack. “You saw this happen? You saw Jason hanging himself? And only you?” Her voice was even, but there was a hint of fury behind it that scared Gregory.

Applejack nodded slowly, “Eeyup.”

"Then you seem to be the best pony for me to tell this,” Celestia replied. “I am beyond disappointed. I sent Jason to Ponyville to have you all make friends with him. And what did you do?”

It took a few seconds beore Applejack answered, “We alienated ‘im.”

Celestia’s eyes flashed with anger as she stamped the ground, gaining the earth pony’s attention. “This was beyond alienation, Applejack. This was hatred, pure and simple! Are you happy with how things turned out?”

Applejack started to cry, looking down at the ground with a look of shame on her face. “N-no…”

“Really? With how you treated him, I'm surprised to see you say otherwise.” Celestia turned and looked out of the window. Gregory followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at the distant Canterlot. She turned back and continued in as calm a voice as she could muster. “Did you know he couldn't go back to his home? He left his friends and family for what he thought was a better life. They had a show about us, the humans. It was about you girls and all your adventures. Understandably Luna and I didn't believe him at first. But then he told us about your adventures, adventures he couldn't possibly have known about. He was so eager to be your friends. And you turned him away in the worst way possible.”

Celestia then sighed as he lifted Applejack up to face her none too gently before concluding, “I don't want to hear from you or your friends ever again. Don't try to contact me or my sister; I'm cutting off all ties to you girls. Don't worry about your reputation, I won't say anything. It'll be like Jason never came here. You can tell your friends,” Celestia spat that last word, "of my judgement. If any of you try to come to Canterlot, you will be arrested and sent back home. Goodbye, Applejack.”

As Celestia passed by, Gregory watched her go and frowned. “Kinda fucking harsh there, dontcha think?” he called out. But just like before, he wasn’t heard.

When he turned back, he saw the other Mane Six walking up, Twilight looking at Applejack with confusion as she asked, “Applejack? What did Celestia want to talk to you about? Where is she?”

Applejack took a deep breath, then slowly replied, “She don't want tah see us none…and neither do ah.” She then walked out, leaving behind five confused pony mares.

Once more the scene changed, only now Gregory was floating in the air overlooking a destroyed Ponyville. It looked as if the town had been struck by a massive F5 tornado directly in the center. The only buildings standing were on the outskirts of the town itself.

Gregory looked down, only to see Princess Celestia standing in the center of the chaos, looking around with a stunned expression on her face. The Mane Six were huddled together, terrified at whatever they were looking at.

Looking around, Gregory saw, to his astonishment, that all around the devastation were now standing perfect copies of the mirror portal to the human world just popping out of nowhere all around. Nearby, he saw the mismatched form of Discord, claw and paw raised to the heavens with a grin on his face. Beside him, Jason Wright stood, looking around with his jaw dropped.

Princess Celestia was the first one to speak. “Is that the mirror portal from the Crystal Empire? How did you get ahold of that? What is this sorcery?”

“My dears, it’s time to test the limits of your friendship!” Discord replied, his arms still spread wide.

Directly after that, Gregory watched in astonishment as humans walk out of the mirrors. Not the multicolored ones from the Equestria Girls universe, but real honest to God humans. One out of each.

“What…? How…? Who…?” Jason spoke, sounding utterly baffled by what he was seeing.

Ignoring Jason’s question, Discord turned to him and held out his paw towards him. "Alas, it appears our time together is ending, Jason Wright. A parting gift for you too.” Gregory began to lower and watched as Discord put a small fishing hook in Jason’s outstretched hand. “That is yours, no? You sent it here before your arrival, and who should it happen to hit on the head out of nowhere but little old moi? I probably wouldn't have even known about you had I not endeavored to find out where that came from. Funny how we are drawn to chaos, wouldn't you say?”

Jason remained silent for a bit before closing his hand over it. “Yeah…this is mine…”

“Splendid. You need not thank me for saving your life! You have given me more than enough amusement for a lifetime. How fun you humans are! Now if you don’t mind, my new friends and I have some introductions to get through. Toodle-oo, Mr. Wright! Don’t forget to…write!” With that, Discord put his paw on Jason’s chest. Before Jason could say anything, Discord pushed him with a mighty shove, sending him flying towards the nearest portal. The human who had just stumbled out, a younger man, tried to grab at him but Jason’s trajectory was too fast. He sailed through the portal.

“Jason!” Celestia shouted, watching helplessly as the human passed through the portal. She turned to Discord angrily. “Where did you send him!?”

“Why, I sent him to a world with humans, of course,” Discord said with a wide grin. “But that’s neither here nor there. Come! Let’s introduce you to your new guests!” With that, he turned and put a claw on the nearest human, a young teenage girl. “This here's Beatrix Millbrook…”

The scene changed one more time, and Gregory was standing in a vast open aired arena. There were a large number of ponies sitting in the stands looking down and a few non-ponies staring down as well. In the audience he saw some notable characters, specifically Cozy Glow, Cranky Doodle, Spike, and especially Gabby. Seeing her left an ache in Gregory’s heart as he reached out to her, but he was unable to move from where he stood.

Looking around, he saw that there was a raised platform in the center of the arena where he saw a number of creatures standing there. He recognized Princesses Luna and Cadance along with Queen Novo, Grandpa Gruff, Dragon Lord Ember and Prince Rutherford, but he saw some other creatures he didn’t recognize. A zebra stallion sat among them along with a Saddle Arabian.

In what looked like a booth meant for defendants in a trial, Gregory saw the Mane Six (minus Pinkie who was sitting in the stands with her family) along with Celestia standing, all looking very miserable. Celestia was standing tall, but there was sadness and misery in her eyes. Rarity’s mane and tail were a mess and there was mascara running down her bloodshot eyes. Applejack was missing her Stetson and had a forlorn look on her face. Fluttershy was holding back tears, and Gregory noticed that her cutie mark was missing. Twilight Sparkle seemed to be emulating her mentor, but not looking up as a look of shame covered her face. Rainbow Dash looked the worst. There were bandages covering her body, and one of her eyes looked identical to Jason’s own blind eye. She looked like she was in serious pain and her wings hung limp by her side.

Jason was standing nearby, with Chrysalis standing close to him. In the middle, Gregory saw Discord standing and looking around the arena nervously as the crowd and the leaders on the platform all looked down on him with an angry glare. He listened as Discord started to admit to some actions he’d taken against other nations, like how he placed all griffon’s positive aspects into the idol or how he changed dragons so their bodies reacted to their own emotions.

Afterwards, he watched as Jason seemed to pass down punishments down on Discord, Celestia, the Mane Six (minus Pinkie), and lastly Ponyville itself. With each punishment, Gregory saw a nearby unfamiliar horn brighten and work its magic in accordance to what Jason had said. Whatever that horn was, it was powerful, presumably an even more powerful artifact than the Elements of Harmony.

After the punishments were over, Gregory couldn’t take it anymore. He shouted, “WHAT THE FUCK AM I SEEING?! WHY AM I DREAMING THIS?!”

“This is no mere dream, Gregory Graystone,” a familiar voice that seemed to echo said from behind him. “These are visions of other worlds.”

Suddenly, the scene went gray and he found that he could walk again. He whirled around only to see a very familiar human woman. She was a half head shorter than he was, had short wavy white hair, wore a yellow dress and had a white apron with flowers sewn onto it. She wore a blue rimmed pair of glasses over dark brown eyes. She was glowing and there were sparks of light emanating from her. He immediately knew not only who this form was meant to be, but who she was. Slowly, he took a step forward. “So…why is the Tree of Harmony taking the form of my grandma and showing me these visions?” Gregory asked, crossing his arms.

With a dexterity his grandma hadn’t had in life, she walked around the nearby arena. With a sorrowful look on her face, she gazed at the frozen faces of those in the defendant booth. “The visions you have experienced are a handful of the worlds where the man called Jason Wright lived and experienced abuse and torment. It is unfortunate that this has happened, but harmony has not won the day in those worlds. But there are other worlds. Others in which Jason found the harmony and happiness he so desired.”

With a wave of her hand, the scene before him dissolved and changed. Gregory looked around and saw Jason leaning against an apple tree overlooking Sweet Apple Acres near sunset. Unlike the variations he’d seen that had all been scarred and beaten down, this Jason looked healthy and younger than the others. He had an apple in one hand and a bottle of apple cider in the other.

Sitting next to him, her Stetson sitting in her lap and snoring up a storm with an empty bottle in her hoof, Applejack leaned against the tree as well, sitting next to Jason. Gregory walked over with the manifestation of the Tree of Harmony and looked down at the pair. Jason was wearing a pair of work overalls, thick brown boots coated in mud and hay, a flannel t-shirt and a straw hat on his head to block out the sunlight.

Gregory saw that Jason was reaching down and scratching behind one of Applejack’s ears. The tired looking earth pony smiled in her sleep and moved unconsciously closer to Jason, leaning against him.

From above, Gregory heard the flapping of gentle wings. Turning, he saw Fluttershy coming over with a basket of apples in her hooves. She landed and looked at the two with a warm smile. “Awww, she looks adorable,” the pegasus said.

“Don’t let her hear you,” an amused Jason said as he ran his hand through Applejack’s blonde mane. “Or actually, let her hear you. She’s so cute when she blushes.”

Fluttershy giggled cutely and walked over to him, placing her basket down. “I do hope she hasn’t been working you too hard,” she said as she sat next to Jason.

“Not any more than usual,” Jason said. “Besides, I’m in better shape now than when I was back on Earth. I’m healthier now, too. Sure, I miss a few meat products, but I’ll gladly give them up if it means I can spend time with my friends.”

Fluttershy gave him a sympathetic look. “Why don’t you ask Twilight to order you some from overseas? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

“I wouldn’t want to trouble my friends over something like that,” Jason said. “Besides, with the mirror portal open to the human world all the time now, I could easily go through and get stuff there if I wanted to or ask Sunset to get me something and pay her back. Remember when we all went there last year?”

Fluttershy nodded. “That was quite an adventure.”

“Especially that funny mirror routine both Rainbow Dash’s did when they met,” Jason laughed as he remembered something.

“That was funny,” Fluttershy replied. She then stood, walked over, and to Jason’s apparent surprise, hugged him.

Jason put his remaining arm around the butter colored pegasus and asked, “Flutters? Are you okay? Where’s this coming from?”

She only tightened her grip on him and whispered, “I just felt like it,” she said. Slowly releasing him, she backed away. “By the way, when’s the anniversary of when you came to Ponyville?”

Jason stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Oh, I think two weeks from now is the third anniversary,” he said. “Tomorrow is the anniversary of when I arrived in Canterlot escorted by Princess Celestia herself. I bet Pinkie knows already.”

Fluttershy nodded. “She’s good at parties like that. Remember her party cave we found during that Yak fiasco?”

Jason nodded. “Her file on me was enormous! I still can’t believe she learned all that about me. And I really can’t believe she actually went through the mirror portal and bought me all my favorite meat snacks with the other Pinkie’s help just for a Welcome to Equestria party.”

“That mare takes her parties pretty darn seriously,” Applejack said suddenly, turning her head and looking up at Jason with a grin.

Jason looked back down at her, slowly removing his hand from behind her ear. “Ah…heh, sorry, AJ.”

“Ah never told yah tah stop,” she replied, craning her neck closer to him. “Git to it. That felt mighty good.”

“Slave driver,” Jason snorted good naturedly as he resumed his ear scratching.

Applejack sighed contentedly and lay her front hooves on Jason’s legs, placing her head on top of them. “Yah gotta try this, Flutters. It feels amazin’.”

Fluttershy looked a bit nervous, but Gregory saw Jason turn to her, smile, and hold out his hand. “You wanna know what it’s like to be pet too? I don’t mind if you don’t.”

After a few moments of contemplation, Fluttershy nodded. When Jason’s hands began stroking her mane, her eyes widened and she smiled. “Oh…my…that does feel amazing,” she said as she lay down on Jason’s other leg. “I can see why the critters like your petting.”

“Speakin’ of pets, how’s yer pet critter, Jason?” Applejack asked curiously.

“Oh, the baby manticore I saved, Paulina?” Jason asked. “She’s not really my pet, you know? I only see her like once or twice a week.”

“She’s the friendliest manticore I know,” Fluttershy said. “Especially after you found her in that cave in the Everfree and helped nurse her back to full health.”

“Winona likes her,” Applejack said, “and she normally don’t like manticores.”

“Last time I saw her, I think I saw her stomach bulging a bit,” Jason said, “so either she’s eating a lot more than normal, or she’s pregnant.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she looked up excitedly at Jason. “Awww, you’re going to be a baby grandpa!”

Applejack grinned and looked up at him. “How’s it feel, gramps?”

“I’m in my thirties still,” Jason said with a grumble as the two mares laughed. Soon, his frown dissolved and he too was laughing along.

The scene froze with the two ponies and lone human frozen in mid laughter. The Tree of Harmony turned to Gregory. “This is one of the worlds where harmony did not fail Jason Wright or anyone else. In fact, another version of you will appear in this world shortly after this event.”

“So…how do you know all of this, and why are you showing me this anyway?” Gregory asked as he turned and looked at the sunset and Sweet Apple Acres. He knew this would be the only time he would get to see any part of the Ponyville he’d seen in the show, so he was taking the opportunity.

“The mares in your world who were chosen by the Elements have turned against harmony,” the representation of his grandmother said. “I can sense their resolve to change, but it is not just those six that need to learn. Many ponies have begun to turn away from harmony and have lapsed into what you would call xenophobia, bigotry, and speciesism.”

“And…what do you want me to do about it? Preach to them?” Gregory asked with an incredulous look.

“No, of course I do not want that. I have looked through your time in Griffonstone. You have shown that you embody the tenets of harmony quite well. You spread laughter through the city and the land, you are honest up to a point, kind to those you see, loyal to your new friends and nation, are generous with your time as you donate it to the city even during most of your free time, and you have spread friendship among not just the griffons, but among the other creatures populating the city and the nation. Your example is a shining beacon to those in your city and the world.”

“Oh dear God…I’m not a messiah!” Gregory moaned as he facepalmed. “I’m just a human who got really lucky! Almost too lucky!”

He felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw the image of his grandmother smiling warmly up at him, just like she had when he was a boy. Only now, he was taller and older. It was strange seeing her shorter than he was now, but even if she wasn’t really his grandma, it was nice to see her again. “Yes, you have indeed been blessed, and you have spread that blessing on to others. I am also aware of how your world sees ours, and while I am saddened to see that future will not come to pass here, there is a chance for an even brighter future here. I am not here to ask you to go on some grand adventure for the sake of the magic of friendship. I showed you these alternate worlds to encourage you not to leave your current location and position. I am aware of your current plight. I am also aware of your temptation to stay where you are. After all you have been through, I am not surprised you would feel this way. Atlantis is a paradise, but it is not perfect. No place on Gaia is. But while it was not my doing that led you to be transported to Griffonstone, your placement there is no mistake. You claim not to be a messiah, but you have done much to make this world a much better place. You might not be able to do anything in those other worlds, but your presence in this world already has had lasting positive consequences.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow. “I was just doing the right thing,” he said. “How does that make me some big shot?”

“That is all it takes,” the Tree said. “Doing the right thing and abiding to the tenets of harmony is all anyone can ask of you. It is simple acts like what you have undertaken in your time here that can move mountains. It is even possible that you would be instrumental in the beginning of the healing of the heart of your fellow human.”

Gregory looked back at the frozen image of Jason, Fluttershy and Applejack laughing happily. He frowned as he looked back at the Tree. “Looky here, um…Harmony,” he said, unsure what else to call her, “I’m not a counselor. I’ve got my own issues to deal with. I’ve come from a messed up background and horrible relationships back on Earth. Even if I wanted to help Jason, which I’m not sure would be the best idea anyway, I wouldn’t know where to start.”

The scene began to fade away, but the last words he heard were his granny’s words. Ones she’d said to him whenever he felt down about how his immediate family treated him. “Just be kind. You never know who’ll need it…”

Gregory woke slowly to sunlight pouring into his room from the still open door to the outside. He was suddenly aware that he was drenched in sweat. His hair was soaked and his body felt like it was on fire. He reached over, grabbed the pitcher of water that was on one end table, rushed out to the balcony, and after taking a long drink, splashed the remainder of it all over himself, soaking his sleepwear.

In the early morning air, the cool breeze on his wet body felt amazing. He was just deciding to head out to take a bath when a pair of familiar blue eyes appeared in his vision. “Gah Jesus H. Christ!” he shouted as he fell back at the sudden appearance of Amethyst Sky, the purple pegasus Pinkie Pie clone. However, he forgot his frustration at being startled when he saw the fear in the pegasus’ eyes. “What…what’s wrong?” he asked, his heart sinking.

“It’s your drake!” Amethyst said loudly and with a tremble in her voice. “She’s ice cold!”