---

Twilight woke to bright light blinding her eyes. Groaning, she instinctively covered her eyes with her blankets to block the light. She lay there, warm and snug underneath her blanket for a few more precious seconds of rest before her brain began to recognize the strangeness of the light that had shone in her eye. Quickly, she sat up, flinging her blankets off and galloping to the window. It was covered in frost, so she cast a warming spell that began to melt said frost slowly. As the view became clearer, she gasped as she saw blue sky for the first time in days. There was a large mass of dark clouds in the east, moving slowly away. The entire cityscape was coated in thick blankets of white snow. She saw a nearby tree moving in a slight breeze.

For the first time in a while, a wave of immense relief came to her. Even if there was still a lot of work to do, it would go a lot more smoothly now thanks to the lack of stormy weather. She was so giddy that she began flying around the room, which woke up the others. Applejack was the first to sit up, rubbing her eyes with her hooves. “Twi…what in tarnation is up with yah now?” she asked.

Twilight landed next to Applejack’s bed, bouncing on all fours while pointing towards the window with her wing. “Look! Look! Look!” she exclaimed happily.

When Applejack looked, her eyes widened. “Well ah’ll be…storm’s finally over!” she exclaimed before falling back on to her bed with a relieved look in her eyes. “Thank the Maker…”

Fluttershy was the next to wake up, and the smile Twilight saw on the face of the young pegasus was the biggest one that she had seen on her friend in a long time. “Now we can help all of those ponies and other creatures in Ponytown District,” she said, a tear of happiness falling.

Pinkie was the next to sit up, and she too was smiling, albeit not as much. “It’s a beautiful day,” she said quietly.

Rainbow was the last to wake up. She sat up, groaning. “Ugh…what’s all the racket?” she asked before she looked at the prancing Twilight. “Uuuh…Equus to Twilight?” She turned to Pinkie and nodded in the alicorn’s direction. “What’s up with her?”

“She’s happy that the storm’s gone, duh,” Pinkie said, and to those that heard her, she sounded most like her old self in that moment than she had in months.

Rainbow looked back, a look of realization on her face. “Fucking finally!” she shouted, jumping out of bed.

Fluttershy gave the prismatic pegasus a reproachful look, but when she saw her old friend looking much relieved, decided not to call her out on her vulgar language. Instead, she stood and walked over to Rainbow. “The work should be easier now,” she said.

“No kidding,” Rainbow said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I don’t know if I would have lasted much longer if I had to fight off that wind and snow.”

Twilight landed and began looking through her belongings. “Come on, everypony! Let’s get something to eat!” She zoomed off after grabbing a few things.

After she left, the other ponies looked at each other. They simply chuckled before the followed Twilight downstairs. They all felt more hopeful now that the weather was in their favor, and were looking forward to being more useful in the recovery efforts.

---

---

Marchioness High Life sat on one of the couches in the drawing room in her mansion, drinking some late morning wine. She stared out at the view of the landscape just over the edge of the Canterhorn. The morning was cold but clear, and the sun displayed the snow-covered landscape below, save for a small blight south of the mountain. There, where there had once been primitive huts where simple minded ponies lived was now a dark stain. Ponyville it had once been called. High Life hadn’t even known what the town’s name was until the invasion. It now marred her view, which frustrated her to no end.

She looked back down at the ancient book she had managed to get her hooves on, Star Swirl the Bearded’s A Treatise On Mankind. Ever since she had received the news from her spy network about this second human. Thanks to her connections, she managed to get a hold of one of the few books that hadn’t been locked away for Maker knew what reason. Currently, she was reading a chapter about Star Swirl’s experience with a large community of humans who had apparently been displaced from their home and had ended up in some desolate wasteland. She had just reached the end, the part where the ancient wizard spoke about his last encounter with them.

What is there to say about the Constitution that hasn’t already been said? It was a large naval vessel, to be sure. It carried armaments against the monsters of the unnamed sea surrounding the island. Celeste had spearheaded the expedition while Selene remained behind to look after the rest of the displaced humans.

Ah, Celeste…she was so happy to see the ship built. So proud of the accomplishment she and her kind had built in those desolate wastelands. I insisted on going with her, taking the mirror portal on board just in case I was needed back in Equestria in a hurry. Even while we boarded the ship, she kept on thanking me for bringing some of the magically fast-growing trees from Equestria. Even as the ship was leaving, the temporary forest built around their small town was being cut down and made the materials for the ships that would head out towards the continent.

The first few days at sea were calm and I used the magic I had stored up in my staff and the orb to keep storm clouds at bay. Spirits were high and I was regaled with stories and songs from Nova America’s brief but memorable time on Equus. Unfortunately, four days into our journey, I received an urgent message from Stygian through the journal. There had apparently been some mysterious new threat that had appeared near Equestria’s borders. Celeste was understanding when I told her I needed to leave but was quite distraught as well.

I returned to Equestria and received the report from Stygian. It was very vague, but he couldn’t tell me more as his information came from a small contingent of soldiers who had escaped peril and were half mad with terror.

(Editor’s Note: Star Swirl had a tendency to write rough draft notes after his chapters just in case he never finished. The other chapter ending notes in this book were removed, but as this is the last chapter, these remain.)

I sit here writing this entry the day before my compatriots and I depart for the Southlands. My magic is currently exhausted from all the writing I have done, but I’m struggling on. I don’t know what this new threat to Equestria is, but I hope that my friends and I can deal with it quickly. I anticipate that Celeste and her crew will reach land before I return, and I hope to go through again and check in on them. If not, though, I plan to ask Sunspot (Editor’s Note: His nickname for Princess Celestia) to pass along a few gifts through the mirror when it opens next.

“Fool,” High Life scoffed as she closed the book, leaning back and sipping on her wine again. Star Swirl had some interesting experiences with humans, and if this book was true, it explained his nearly three-year absence during the early days of Equestria. “Humans are nothing but trouble and shouldn’t be here.”

There was a knock at the door behind her. High Life sat up straighter and called out, “Enter!”

The door opened, and one of her servants announced, “Prince Blueblood of Canterlot Castle, my Lady.”

“Aah, Your Highness,” High Life said, standing and batting her eyelashes at him with a smile, “so glad you could make it.”

Blueblood gave her a grin as he turned to the maid. “Bring me some wine and cake as well,” he said.

The maid bowed and scurried off. High Life gave Blueblood a smirk. “Cake, my dear prince? Why, you know that will go straight to your flanks.”

“Like they do yours?” Blueblood replied without hesitation, leering at the Marchioness’ own.

She gasped and wiggled her flanks gently. “You cad,” she scolded him, but with amusement in her eyes, “staring at a mare’s flanks without her permission.”

“You make it too easy,” Blueblood said as he took a seat in the couch next to hers.

“Don’t all stallions love an easy mare?” High Life asked as she took her own seat and faced him with a grin on her face.

“At least make the chase challenging for me,” Blueblood chuckled before his features slowly turned serious. “So, Marchioness, I hear you’ve been a busy, busy mare.”

High Life raised an eyebrow at his tone. It was unlike Blueblood to be serious in much of anything. “What do you mean?” she asked, careful not to give anything away.

As the maid returned with another wine glass and a plate of soft looking cake, Blueblood grinned. “Don’t be coy with me, my dear,” he said as he took the glass and poured a healthy amount of wine into it with his magic. The maid left and Blueblood continued. “I’ve had quite a long talk with members of House Avarice and House Shade. Have you heard about the attack on the Griffonian Chancellor?”

High Life put down her glass and faced Blueblood, her face a mask of confusion. “Chancellor? The griffons don’t have a Chancellor,” she said. “They haven’t had one since they lost their Idol of…well, I can’t remember the name, but their Idol that gave them pride or something.”

“It was called the Idol of Boreas,” Blueblood said, “and it seems your information gathering network is a bit slower than mine. The griffons do have a chancellor. He was recently elected by their Imperial Council and has been spearheading a few reforms. No no no, I’m talking about the attack made against the new human living there.”

“I did hear about that,” she replied, “but why are you saying that this Chancellor was attacked? Unless…are you suggesting that this Chancellor and this human are one and the same?”

Blueblood nodded. “He is.”

“How unfortunate for the griffons, then,” High Life said as she took her glass and sipped on her wine, “but why tell me?”

“It was ponies who attacked him.”

High Life paused, then slowly put her glass back down. “Well…so what if they did attack him? It was probably just some foolish peasants who were angry and bitter about what that other human did. You know how stupid the common pony can be.”

Blueblood chuckled briefly. “No, of course you’re right,” he said, looking out of the window and looking down his nose at the ruined stain that had been Ponyville. “Common ponies are such fools and easy to rashness. Not like us.” He turned back to High Life. “Unfortunately, it seems as if this attack wasn’t just some random act of violence. An ancient trio of artifacts was stolen. Artifacts that were once used to banish the worst of the worst to Tartarus in Egrypt.”

“That ancient griffon kingdom that fell ages ago?” High Life asked.

“Exactly,” Blueblood said, “somepony managed to get their hooves on the Hades Teardrops.”

High Life looked more carefully at Blueblood. “Are you saying somepony in the House of Lords had something to do with this?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at the prince.

“I’m saying that it’s a possibility,” Blueblood said, “and if one of us did do it, then my aunts will likely find out. We might even go to war with the empire!”

“Bluey, Bluey, Bluey, you really need to relax,” the young mare said, standing and walking over to the couch where he sat. She moved close and leaned against him, looking at him with amusement in her expression, “The griffons won’t attack us,” she purred as she nuzzled him gently, “they don’t have the strength to resist the Royal Guard.”

“Don’t speak pretty words about them to me,” Blueblood said, looking down at the affectionate mare, “you and I both know just how inept the Guard has become. It was reviving slightly when Captain Armor was in command, but now? They are simply a token presence. In the past few years, the Elements have been the ones who have saved Equestria from danger, but now the Elements have been shown for what they really are: hypocritical wannabe heroes who lust for attention while degrading others as lesser than themselves.”

“Oh hush,” High Life said reassuringly as she rubbed her hooves around his barrel, “we won’t fall that easily. Equestria is a great and powerful nation.”

“And I agree,” Blueblood said, “but you saw how my aunts have changed. You saw that they’ve become much different. They won’t be easily duped like we were able to do in the past. They’re going to second guess everything we do now. I’ll try and smooth things over, of course, but they may even second guess and question me.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” High Life giggled as she sat up and looked at them. “Princess Celestia always had a soft spot for you, my handsome stallion,” she added, “and she’ll eat up anything you say.”

“Here’s hoping,” Blueblood said, raising his glass and drinking.

“Now just relax and enjoy yourself while you’re here,” she whispered in his ear, rubbing his back gently, “just enjoy the time together, like we used to enjoy our time together before the invasion.” She moved closer to him, batting her eyelashes at him.

He breathed out, smirking down at him. “Insatiable mare,” he chuckled, “but as much as I’d love to indulge, I’m afraid I could only spare a short amount of time for this meeting.”

“No fun,” she pouted, but moved away from him, letting him stand up, “I was looking forward to some alone time with my favorite stallion.”

“We’ll have time when things settle down,” he said, “just be patient.” He stood and stretched. “See you later, Lifey.”

“Come see me again, Bluey,” she called out as he headed out. Once she was alone, her smile instantly vanished and she stood, shuddering. She walked towards the window, looking down at the landscape once more, focusing on Ponyville. She narrowed her eyes at the town. “Even before, you were a blight on the world,” she scowled. She headed to her desk, then opened a drawer. She reached in with her magic, removing the false bottom and pulling out one of the small crystals inside. She looked at three in particular, thinking long and hard. “Hmm…not yet,” she said, putting them back and hiding them once more, “let’s see what happens…”

---

---

Atlantis’ garden was one of extreme magnificence. It held many different plants and trees within its confines, plants that were unlike any other that anyone had ever seen on Gaia for many long generations. It was maintained now by an ancient magic and by a few of the Pinkie Pie clones and novans. From the outside, it looked small, but once anyone passed through the arched stone gate, it seemed to stretch on for miles. There were paths where anyone could walk and enjoy the day. It was normally open to the public, but there were certain times where it was closed, as it was currently.

A large number of various creatures sat in a large circle on a stone platform located near the entrance to the garden. There had been four statues on each corner of the platform, but they had all been destroyed, leaving only stumps. There was unreadable writing carved into the stone platform, a beautiful and flowing script that seemed to evoke a feeling of peace from anyone who looked at them for long periods of time. Aside from that, the stone platform was featureless save for a small circle of green stone in the exact center. It looked as if it had been freshly carved, showing no signs of wear and tear even though Cunningham had said that the platform had existed when the novans came to live in the city.

The platform was surrounded by a grove of large trees of varying type, but ones which were recognizable. Oak, pine, acorn, and more lay within the grove. The platform was currently occupied with a circle of miscellaneous creatures, all seated in chairs made of a tough but comfortable green wood which would shrink or grow depending on who sat in it. There was a large circle of these chairs. Each chair was occupied. Sitting in the circle were Gregory, Jason, Mayor Cunningham, Father McKay, Floyd Johnson, Rose Quartz, Duchess Chrysalis, a changeling general named Nictis, Rarity, Spike, Gabby, Starlight Glimmer, Zecora, Gilda, Gallus, Gia, Ember, Lady Serenity, and lastly the Pinkie Pie unicorn clone Aurora Night. There was a small wooden table in the center which was currently empty of anything.

Mayor Cunningham, who sat at the exact northern point of the circle, cleared his throat. “Alright, y’all, thanks fer comin’,” he said, looking around the circle of various creatures. “I know everyone here is ichin’ to get back to the surface, but I wanted to talk to y’all before that. There’s a lot that needs explainin’.” He turned to the two humans, who were actually sitting next to each other. Gabby was next to Gregory while the humanoid Chrysalis sat next to Jason. “Now, we ain’t seen a human here in a long time. Yeah, I know our past kin were humans, but we ain’t humans anymore. Now, I’d like to know just how you two came here and how you came into positions of power.”

Gregory looked over at Jason, who returned the look. Gregory then motioned towards him. “I think you should start,” he said, “after all, you’ve been here a lot longer than I have. The story starts with you.”

Jason looked at the gathered assortment of creatures, then sighed. “Yeah, I guess that’s reasonable,” he said, “but before I start, I should probably explain just how my world perceives this one.” Before he could continue, however, he fell into a coughing fit.

Chrysalis was by his side in an instant, rubbing his back with her hand and wing. “Easy there, my Emperor,” she said, taking one of the glasses of water on the small tables between each chair and bringing it to his lips. As he drank, she looked up with mistrust at Cunningham. “He’s still way too tired to talk,” she insisted.

“I’ll be fine,” Jason insisted.

However, Gregory sat up straighter and faced his fellow human. “Let me tell them about MLP,” he said, “I can at least do that much.”

Jason looked up and locked eyes with the younger man. Slowly, he nodded. “Sure,” he said before sitting up straighter again.

Gregory turned back to the gathering of creatures. “Okay, so a couple of you already know this, but I’ll explain it again for those of you not in the know.” So, he began. He told them all about how, in his world, the world of Gaia, or a very small portion of it, was a mere story to the humans. He explained that his world viewed many species on Gaia as mythical, like unicorns, pegasi, dragons, griffons and more. He explained that he and Jason had become fans of the MLP show after explaining as best he could what television was. Everyone was listening in rapt attention as he told how the show followed the adventures of the Elements of Harmony in Ponyville, including Rarity, who was now more shocked than Gregory had ever seen her before, even in the show. After that, he told about how he had found a means to travel between worlds that matched those depicted in literature. Jason confirmed that he had found the same method and had used it to travel to Equestria.

Now more recovered, Jason took the story. He explained how he had come to Canterlot and had wanted to meet the Elements of Harmony to befriend them. Those who hadn’t known the story listened as he told how he had gone right to the Golden Oaks Library to try and make friends with Twilight only to be harshly turned away. He described many incidents during his first few days in Ponyville, including his first meeting with the Elements of Harmony. Gregory saw Rarity looking down in shame and guilt when he got to that part, especially her cruelty. Everyone was aghast at the actions of the ponies, especially Rose Quartz and Aurora Night who looked at each other in shock when Jason told of how he had never even met Pinkie Pie.

Finally, he told of his suicide attempt, which made the ponies almost sick. He told how he had fled and had been found by the changeling queen. Then he told how he had risen in the ranks of her armed forces before leading a rebellion and becoming the emperor by conquest. Then he described the attack on Equestria and how he had captured the Elements and destroyed Ponyville entirely. This seemed to break the hearts of the two Pinkie clones, but they remained quiet as he continued speaking. Finally, he told of how he had discovered that it was Discord who had affected the ponies and him, but only very subtly. He told of how he had killed the draconequus.

It was during this part of the story that Ember spoke for the first time. “Good riddance to that piece of filth,” she spat, a small burst of flame coming from her mouth, “It’s because of him that we have Greed Induced Bigness!”

Spike looked at Ember in alarm. “Greed Induced Bigness? So, me getting big on my birthday isn’t something I can control?”

Ember looked at Spike and nodded. “It’s not really something dragons can control,” she said, “I’ve gone through it a couple times. It takes a lot of effort to come back down from it, and it took a week for me both times.”

“It only took me a day,” Spike said.

“Really? How?” Ember asked, alarmed.

“Um…I’ll tell you later,” Spike said, glancing briefly over at a guilt-stricken Rarity who looked away as soon as the two made eye contact.

“Sounds like this Discord fella was a real piece of work,” Cunningham said.

“He’s actually the reason changelings have to feed on love or die,” Chrysalis snarled angrily.

“Let me guess: it was his idea of a prank,” Gregory said, turning to the bipedal changeling.

Chrysalis turned to Gregory and slowly nodded. “Yeah. We used to be different, but that bastard permanently altered us!”

“Language, Chrysalis,” Jason said, frowning slightly at the former changeling queen, “there’s a kid here.” As Chrysalis gave him an apologetic look, Jason turned back to Cunningham. “Anyway, that’s my story. Discord was killed three months ago, and I’ve been ruling the changelings ever since.” He turned to Gregory. “You’re up.”

Gregory nodded, then turned back to the others. He began his story about how he had discovered the show and grown enamored by it. Then he discovered the method by which someone could travel to worlds of television shows, movies, books, and any other fiction created by humans, even old myths like Gilgamesh. He told about how he had experimented with said method, sending cameras through to take video or pictures of various fictional worlds that turned out to be real. Next, he explained how he had gathered up a large assortment of his belongings and came through the portal, only to fall over a cliff and be saved by Gabby. Finally, he quickly summarized his three months in Griffonstone and how he was attacked by three ponies who sent him, Rarity, Spike, Daenerys and Lady Serenity to Tartarus using the Hades Teardrops. When he explained that, he pulled out the Teardrop that Serenity had given him.

Quickly, Aurora Night came up and took it in her magic, turning it around and examining it. Cunningham watched her do so, and after a bit, he asked, “Well? Anythin’ interestin’ ‘bout that there gem?”

Aurora looked at the mayor, a serious look in her eyes. “I can’t be sure,” she said, “but I’m picking up some very ancient magic coming from it. It’s like the magic from here, but I’d need to study it more.”

“That’s up to Mister Graystone,” Cunningham said, turning to Gregory.

Gregory looked at the stone, then at Aurora. Slowly, he shook his head and held his hand out. “Right now, it’s not mine to give,” he said, “so I’d like to take it back.”

Aurora nodded and floated it back to him. After he slipped it back over his neck, Cunningham asked, “Is there anythin’ else to your story?”

“A few things,” he admitted before continuing. He told about how after they had gotten to the summit of the mountain range which held Atlantis within, he had gone off to try and see what was across the mountain range, but had found nothing. Then he explained how he had found the Gjallarhorn and a strange key inside the horn before he met with the Tartarus Rangers.

After that, Cunningham stopped him and then turned to Lady Serenity. “Now, I do believe you’ve got a tale to tell as well, dontcha miss?”

Lady Serenity’s ears flattened, but she nodded. Sitting up, she explained to everyone there how she had been a part of two Equestrian government agencies before her time as a mercenary. She said how Dusky Heart and Jade Seed were a part of those agencies and how after S.M.I.L.E. had been shut down that the three had temporarily parted but eventually gotten back together as mercenaries for hire. She told about how she and the other two had been hired by an anonymous source to take the three gemstones to Griffonstone and to use them on Gregory in case they deemed him a threat. She explained how Dusky had initially been professional as he was with other jobs. She told about how eventually Dusky took the job more and more personally until he ordered the other two to capture and banish Gregory.

When she finished with that story, Gregory took over once more and explained how they had flown on Daenerys until she grew too weak to fly. Finally, the meeting with the Tartarus Rangers was discussed by Floyd, who explained that a hunter who lived on the outmost edge of the city had gone through one of the caverns leading to the outside only to see lights at the bottom of the mountain. The hunter, an older novan named Marshall, had contacted the Tartarus Rangers the next morning who then sent out a patrol to find out what could have caused the light. Floyd recounted the meeting with Gregory’s group before fleeing through the tunnel to Atlantis.

Next, Chrysalis spoke up about how Jason, having heard about the attack, had assembled a group of elite changeling warriors and gone to an old changeling hive where an entrance to Tartarus was. She told about the meeting with three Pinkie clones in the forest that their entrance had led them to. Rose and Aurora were especially interested when they heard about these clones and began asking questions but Cunningham stopped them, gesturing for Chrysalis to continue, which she did. After she had gotten to the point where the changelings had met the other group led by Ember and Gabby.

After that, Ember told her story, about how she had received word about Gregory’s banishment from Griffonstone thanks to a dragon who had visited there. She explained that she had selected a group of dragons to go down to Tartarus using the Dragon Lands’ own doorway to the underworld, and how they had been joined by the group from Griffonstone coming to the Dragon Lands since the Griffon Empire’s own portal was too far away to travel to, especially during the storm that was assailing the continent. Gregory was intrigued when she and the others who went down the tunnel to Tartarus described what to him sounded like dinosaur-like creatures and a prehistoric landscape. He put his questions on the back burner, however, as he continued listening.

When Ember had finished her story, Gabby told hers. Gregory had heard this story already, but he listened attentively anyway. In short, Gabby had been distraught when she’d heard about Gregory’s banishment, then furious. It was this fury that led her to gathering as many of Gregory’s friends to help in the search. When others had heard about the impromptu search party, many had volunteered, but Gabby and the others had only chosen a handful of griffons as there was still work to be done in helping the ponies who had been hurt during the nor’wester.

Finally, Cunningham had asked Gregory to share anything he could remember about the strange dream he had shared with Daenerys. He told them everything, about waking up in an endless pool of water, flying towards the light, then being surrounded by flames and waking up. After that, all were silent. Everyone was slowly digesting the things that had been revealed. It was now noon, and Gregory was becoming hungry, but he knew there were more important things to deal with. Unfortunately, Spike’s stomach was louder and made a growling noise. He held his stomach and blushed. “Um…sorry,” he said sheepishly.

Cunningham chuckled. “Ain’t nothin’ to worry ‘bout,” he said as he turned to Aurora. “Miss Night, could you go ask the cooks to prepare a meal for everyone here. Make sure they know that we have a good number of ponies here.”

“Sure thing,” she said, raising her horn and vanishing in a flash of teleportation light.

“My word,” Rarity said in alarm, “even if she is a Pinkie Pie clone, I didn’t expect her to be able to teleport. That’s high level unicorn magic.”

“The magic down here is much richer than in Equestria,” Rose explained, “I’ve even seen Amethyst perform something like a Sonic Rainboom multiple times here.”

“I did wonder why I felt like my magic was stronger here,” Rarity pondered.

“Same here,” Starlight added.

“Far underground, it is said, the source of magic makes its bed,” Zecora said, “for magic comes up from the ground and spreads its influence all around.”

“I’ve read similar stories,” Starlight said, “and I guess it makes sense now that we’re so far underground.” She then turned to Gregory. “Gregory, did you bring the Gjallarhorn and that key with you here?”

He reached into the bag he’d brought with him, bringing out the golden plated horn with ruby runes and the strange key. Everyone went silent as they looked at the two artifacts. Starlight stood and slowly made her way over to him, her horn glowing as she approached. The two artifacts glowed in response, but she didn’t take them. Instead, she closed her eyes and seemed to be concentrating. Slowly, she stopped casting her magic and she opened her eyes. “I’m not detecting any extra magic in either of those objects,” she said, “but that might not mean much. I don’t know anything about the Gjallarhorn since I’ve never heard of it, and that key doesn’t look familiar either.”

Just then, Aurora teleported back, looking at Cunningham. “Mr. Mayor, the kitchen staff says the meal should be here in half an hour.”

“Sounds mighty good,” Cunningham said.

Aurora nodded, then turned to Gregory. Her eyes widened and she rushed forward, looking at both the horn and the key. “Are these…those two objects you found?” she asked. When Gregory nodded, she raised her horn and surrounded both objects with her magic as Starlight had done. The aforementioned unicorn watched Aurora with interest. Finally, Aurora stopped and looked at the key. “I don’t know about this horn, but the key your holding looks like it was made in Atlantis. There’s a trace hint of Atlantean magic inside.”

“What’s Atlantean magic?” Starlight asked.

Aurora turned to her fellow unicorn. “Everything inside the shield protecting this paradise from Tartarus has a hint of a strange magic in it. The rocks, the grass, the trees, the buildings, everything here has a trace amount of magic. I’m not a magical expert though. I’ve only been a unicorn for a few years, but it’s definitely something I can detect.” She turned to Cunningham. “Sir, I think this might be the key. You know which one I mean.”

His eyes widened. “The one that might fit through that door?” When she nodded, he leaned back. “Well, I’ll be…God is good.”

“Can someone fill us in?” Gregory asked.

“Does this have to do with that route to the surface you mentioned our first day here?” Spike asked.

Cunningham nodded. “What I’m about to mention here is known only to myself, Father McKay, my lovely Rose, and Aurora. Please don’t tell anybody else what I’m about to say.” He looked around the circle of chairs with a stern glare. After he’d gotten everyone’s word, he sighed and leaned back again. “There’s a large door underneath the castle. It’s right underneath the center of the castle.” He turned to Aurora. “You mind showin’ them?”

Nodding, the unicorn raised her horn. A large three dimensional image appeared in the center of the platform for everyone to see. The scene showed a darkened arched roofed room with a number of ancient looking torches lit on either side of said room. In the center stood a large white wooden door with two metal rings meant for pulling it open. The right door had a large keyhole in it, and the wall to the left had a large stone panel attached to it. The panel had ten carved out spots in the shape of keys, nine of which were empty of any keys. The tenth held a silver key inside the grooves. She pointed to the door and the image zoomed in to it. “This door is magically sealed,” she explained, “and the only way to open it is with one of the keys here.” The image zoomed in on the one remaining key on the stone. “This key is the last one. There were more, but unfortunately the keys seem to only be useful once. After they unlock the door, they shatter.”

“Eight were used when our ancestors found this place,” Cunningham said, “and that was before we became novans. One of them was used by a small splinter group we called the flecs, or the reflections.”

“Why do you call them reflections?” Gregory asked.

“It’s been over a thousand years, and I wasn’t around that long ago,” Cunningham said, “but some of the journals from that time explained that some of our kin began having dreams of being strange creatures up above the surface. They started to become different colors over time. Finally, the first two to change, two sisters, led the flecs-er, reflections-down to the door. I’ve gotta admit, from what the journals that they left, our human ancestors didn’t treat them very well. They used one of the two keys and went through it. The people who watched them go wrote that they simply vanished.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow. “Two sisters?”

Cunningham nodded. “Yeah. We know ‘em as the Star Sisters. Celeste was one, and Selene was the other. They left behind their own journal which included a portrait someone painted of them before and after their transformation.”

“Do you have this journal?” Jason asked, looking more alert now.

Aurora raised her horn and an ancient leather-bound book appeared in front of her. She floated it over to the two humans. Gregory took it and opened it, eyes widening at the image that he saw. Jason leaned over in his chair, and Gregory showed him the portraits. The first one was of two frontier style women wearing clothes that wouldn’t be uncommon in the Old West. Both were Caucasian women. One was a light blonde and the other had raven black hair. The blonde had light brown eyes and the black haired woman had deep blue pair of eyes. However, it was the second portrait that caught their eyes. Their general facial features remained the same physically speaking, but all colors had changed. The blonde woman had a light magenta skin and hair the color of the rainbow. The woman beside her had light greyish blue skin, opal colored eyes, and deep blue hair. Gregory and Jason turned to each other in alarm. “Celestia and Luna?!” they both said simultaneously.

Rarity was immediately by their side in a flash of light, but the fact that the fashionista had just teleported wasn’t on the forefront of anyone’s minds as she looked at the image near the front of the book. Her eyes widened as she drank in the image of the two humans. “What…but how?” she asked.

“I wish I knew,” Gregory said, unable to look away from the images.

Gabby looked over his shoulder at the pictures, then at Gregory. She gently tapped his shoulder. “Gregory? You okay?”

He turned to his henfriend to see the worried look in her eyes. He reached up and put one hand on her plumage and gave his best reassuring smile. “I’m alright, just a bit confused,” he said, looking back at the page. “If these two really are who I think they are, then there’s a hell of a lot to digest.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jason said softly.

Chrysalis looked over Jason’s shoulder now at the picture. She whistled. “So that’s what a human female looks like,” she said, “and those two do look a lot like those pony princesses.”

A few others started coming over, but Gregory held out his hand. “Hold on,” he said, turning to Aurora. “Can you project this picture?”

Aurora nodded, took the book back and projected the portrait of the two sisters into the air. Everyone stared in awe at the image of the two human women. Spike, Lady Serenity and Starlight were more alarmed than anyone else. “That’s Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna!” Spike shouted.

Rarity turned to Spike. “What do you mean? Are you speaking about the human world?”

Spike nodded. “When Sunset Shimmer stole Twilight’s crown, those two humans were the rulers of the school where Sunset was. They look exactly the same.”

“That’s…unnerving,” Jason said as he continued looking at them.

“How come?” Starlight asked.

Gregory answered before Jason could, “Humans live about sixty to eighty years,” he explained, “so if these two have been living for more than a thousand years? Well…”

“They didn’t act like they were over a thousand when Twilight and I saw them,” Spike said.

Gregory turned to Cunningham. “Are you absolutely sure that these two went through that door?” he asked.

“Lots of our ancestors wrote about it,” he said, “so yes. We’re sure.”

“Then I think I know where it leads,” Gregory said, looking back at Jason.

Jason sighed and nodded. “This universe’s version of the human world,” he said.

Cunningham looked at the two of them with a curious expression. “What do you mean?”

Gregory turned back to the mayor. “In the story I told you about Equestria, there were a series of stories where Twilight Sparkle and Spike traveled through a large mirror and entered into a realm where there were human versions of ponies and other races on Gaia. These two were somehow transformed into human versions of the two princesses I mentioned.”

“The ones you say raise the sun and moon up above?” Cunningham asked. When Gregory nodded, the novan mayor frowned deeper and looked at Aurora.

Said unicorn pointed at herself questioningly, and when Cunningham nodded, she sighed and turned to Jason and Gregory. “The nearest exit out of Tartarus from here is twelve to thirteen hours away by flight, but the problem is that no matter how you try, you can’t go up it. There’s something blocking the pillar. I’ve seen it myself, just a large stone ceiling that resists any kind of attack. We tried magic, we tried brute force, but nothing. We’ve tried finding other ways out of Tartarus without any success.”

“We came down through a portal of our own,” Jason reminded them, “so we should be able to go up and out the other end.”

Aurora shook her head. “We’ve found a couple other exits, but when we tried flying up, we were blocked by some sort of magical barrier halfway up,” she explained. “I think the only exception is the Equestrian exit, but even that’s too dangerous since it’s still being used by Equestria. There are dangerous prisoners there and getting too close to them could be dangerous. Especially Tirek and Grogar.”

“Grogar’s locked up there too!?” Gregory asked in alarm.

“Who’s Grogar?” Jason asked.

Gregory turned to his fellow human. “Think of him as the Dark Lord of this world,” he explained, “and by that I mean he’s thought to be responsible for the creation of many dangerous creatures in this world. He’s pretty much the textbook definition of a Dark Lord.”

“He is,” Aurora nodded in agreement, “and he was finally captured and locked away by Gusty the Great and his companions in ancient times after they managed to steal his Bewitching Bell. We can’t go that way, because he and Tirek are too dangerous to even walk past at a distance. Also, the Equestrian exit is three days away by flight.”

“Three days…I’d rather not wait that long,” Gregory said, “and if the only way out of Tartarus is through that door you showed us, it might be the best option we have.”

This brought a dead silence on the group and everyone retreated back into their own thoughts. Gregory was trying his best to think, but it was hard since he was desperate to get back to the surface before a war broke out between his nation and Equestria. He looked down at the Gjallarhorn and the strange key in his lap, wondering just why he had these and why the horn had appeared to him. Things were happening so fast for him it seemed, and he was so confused. He tried to calm down and think rationally, however. He’d only been on Gaia for three months and had no idea just how magic really worked in this world. He tugged on his ear again to relieve the pain once more so he could think more clearly. A lot of what he’d heard today was new information to him, even some of the examples of pony cruelty thrown at Jason. He wasn’t too happy about Jason sending changeling spies into his city, but circumstances aside, he couldn’t be too mad about it. He was surprised that his banishment had elicited such a response from the Dragon Lord, however, although as he thought about it, he realized he shouldn’t have been.

It was Jason who spoke up first after a few minutes of silence. “We will go through the door,” he said.

Cunningham and McKay looked at each other for a while, then both stood. “Pardon us,” Cunningham said, “but the Father and I wanna talk ‘bout this in private.”

“Not without me,” Rose said as she quickly stood, followed swiftly by Aurora.

As the four walked to one corner of the platform to talk quietly among themselves, Gregory heard the flapping of wings from nearby. Turning, he saw about five novans flying down slowly, each carrying a large tray full of food. They landed and began setting plates on the small tables next to each chair before serving up food for everyone before flying away. The sun reached its zenith and began heading west. As they ate, everyone broke into small groups and talked with each other quietly about various things. Gregory simply sat with Gabby on his lap, eating quietly while Gabby did the same, leaning against him and eating in silence.

As their meal was winding down, other four came back and took their seats. Everyone paused what they were doing and looked at the four. Cunningham took a sip of water that had been left on his table and sighed. “We only have one more key left that can lead through that door,” he began, “but I reckon that we’re all plenty happy here so we won’t need to go to this other place anymore. Still, I’m just the mayor. It’s not like I’m a governor.”

“My son, we have no governor here,” Father McKay said, putting a reassuring hand on the mayor’s shoulder, “and I know that once word gets out about the reasons behind why we sacrificed the last key, the people will understand.”

Rose stood on her hind legs and nuzzled Cunningham reassuringly. “We’ll tell them all together,” she said with a smile. Aurora nodded quickly in agreement.

Cunningham looked at the three and smiled. Turning to Gregory and Jason, he took a deep breath. “When would you like to leave?”

---

About two hours later, everyone who had come down from the surface was gathered in the massive underground room where the massive door was. Gregory noted that it was much larger than he’d anticipated. It was probably about the size of a four-story building and looked like it hadn’t aged a day since it was constructed. The wood was solid to the touch and when he touched it, Gregory felt as if there was some sort of field surrounding it. Starlight confirmed that there was some kind of magic coming from the door, but again it was one she hadn’t felt before.

The room was full of all the people who had come to rescue Gregory. Changelings, dragons, griffons, Gregory’s closest friends, and Jason and Gregory themselves were all gathered in front of the massive gates, as were Mayor Cunningham, Father McKay, Rose Quartz and Aurora Night, the latter holding a silver key in her magic. Cunningham stepped forward to the two humans. “I reckon I ain’t the only one to be thinkin’ this, but I wish y’all could stay. Atlantis is a beautiful city. You could be happy here. But I know you both got duties back where you’re from. Still, I hope you’ll let us give you both somethin’ before you go.”

Gregory held up his hands. “You’ve helped us plenty already,” he said, “there’s no need to give us anything else.” He pointed to the satchel he now wore on his side along with his small earth backpack. “You gave us plenty of food that’ll last us for a while and water, and that’s more than enough.” Which was true. The novans, in their utmost generosity, had provided each and every creature who was going to travel back to Gaia with a pack of fresh food and water. Even Daenerys, who sat nearby watching, had a few sacks of extra food she was carrying.

“Nonsense,” Cunningham said with a smile, “y’all were guests, and it’s a tradition hereabouts that we give guests a gift before they leave.”

Rose came up and lifted two long objects up towards Jason and Gregory. “Here,” she said kindly, separating them and holding one out to each of the humans, “Clif picked these out for you.”

Gregory and Jason looked at each other in confusion for a few seconds before both turned, reached out and took the objects. They were long and heavy, wrapped up with a purple silken cloth and a green rope. Both men slowly undid the cord and pulled the purple cloth away. To Gregory’s surprise, and apparently to Jason’s as well judging from his facial expression, both of them held a sword in their hands. Both had jewel encrusted scabbards as well as a belt looped through it. The sword grips were shimmering gold and the pommel was an emerald carved in the shape of a leaf.

Gregory was the first to respond, looking up at Cunningham. However, before he could refuse, Cunningham raised his hand. “I know you’re thinkin’ y’all can’t take ‘em, but I ain’t gonna take no for an answer,” he said quickly, “these swords were made by whoever really built this place, so don’t worry. They ain’t got any names that we know of, but Aurora says they’re mighty good blades.” Aurora nodded in agreement at that.

Gregory felt really weird taking a sword with him, but he also didn’t want to be rude, so he slowly slung the sword over his shoulder. “Thank you very much, Mr. Cunningham,” he said, walking up and extending his hand to the novan.

The novan mayor shook it and smiled. “Call me Clif,” he said.

Jason was next to step up and shake the mayor’s hand. His thank you was a bit briefer, but Gregory couldn’t detect any less gratitude in it. After that, he slung the sword over his own shoulder. When that was done, the two novans and two Pinkie Pie clones turned towards the door. As they walked closer, Aurora held up the key and began walking towards the door.

At that moment, Gregory felt something moving around in his earth backpack. Confused, he opened it up and looked inside to see what was going on, only to see the key that he’d found earlier glowing slightly and pressed against the side of his bag. He quickly brought it out and felt it being drawn towards the door. Gabby saw this and asked, “Gregory? What’s with that key?”

Aurora stopped and turned, then her eyes caught the glowing sword. Quickly, she galloped up and looked at it in awe. She brought up her own key and placed it against the glowing one. However, neither matched, at least not to Gregory’s eyes. Even so, Aurora must have spotted something because her smile reminded him of what Pinkie’s looked like. She began bouncing up and down in place and grinning happily.

Cunningham saw this and came back to her. “Hey, what’s got you so happy?” he asked.

Aurora didn’t answer at first. Instead, she bounced back over to where the keys had been and placed the silver key back before bounding back. She pointed at the key in Gregory’s hand. “That key will open the door!” she exclaimed.

Gregory looked at the glowing key then back at Aurora. “This one? You sure about that?” he asked.

She nodded. “Absotively posolutely!” she replied with confidence.

Gregory looked at the key again, and this time Jason looked at it with him. “Well, it does look like it matches the architecture here,” Jason said after a minute.

Gregory looked at the excited Aurora. “Well, if you’re sure about this, then I’ll trust you,” he said as he took a step forward towards the massive door, Gabby flying close beside him. As he walked closer, the pull on the key only seemed to grow stronger, but not so much so that it would fly out of his hands. He reached the front of the door with Gabby and Aurora at his side. Slowly, he put the key in the lock. When he did so, the glowing and pulling sensation stopped. He slowly turned it, and here was a loud clanging noise. Finally, the key stopped turning with a final clang. He turned it back and pulled it back out before slipping it back in his backpack, reaching for the metal rings on the door and pulling. To his surprise, the door began to open more easily than he expected. Gabby grabbed the other half of the door and pulled.

The doors silently opened, revealing a cave that led into what looked like complete darkness except for the small pinprick of light coming from the other side. Right in front of the entrance stood what looked like a thin piece of glass that shimmered with a very slight purple light. Gabby, ever curious, flew up and touched it and gasped. “It’s like touching a bubble!” she exclaimed before she could stop herself.

Daenerys came up and looked into the cave before looking down at Gregory. “Do we really have to go in there?” she asked, sounding nervous.

Gregory nodded. “If this leads to the human world, we probably should,” he said.

Jason then stepped forward and walked up to Gregory’s side. Looking down at his fellow human, he nodded. “Together?” he asked.

Gregory nodded back. “Together.”

As the two simultaneously stepped through the threshold with Gabby and Chrysalis close behind, Gregory felt the sensation of passing through a bubble. There was a bit of a shift in gravity it seemed but it was gone moments later. The ground they were on was rough and somewhat uneven, but it was solid. Looking back, Gregory saw the crowd of other creatures on the other side slowly making their way through the doorway and filling the massive cave. When the last of the group made it through the threshold, Gregory watched in awe as the massive doors began closing on their own. The four inhabitants of Atlantis waved in goodbye before the doors finally shut entirely, vanishing in a large flash of light and leaving the area in near complete darkness.

Darkness that was broken by Daenerys breathing a steady stream of fire into the air, illuminating a large cave. Some more lights came from nearby, mostly from the unicorns and changelings, and soon the cave was lit up by a large assortment of floating orbs of magic. Gregory turned to Jason, then pointed to the speck of light ahead. “Let’s get moving,” he said, “who knows where in the human world this cave is.”

Jason nodded, then turned towards the light. “Let’s go,” he told his changelings.

Everyone turned towards the light and headed towards it. The magical lights kept their pathway illuminated, but even so, everyone walked slowly just in case. It took them about ten minutes, but soon they were nearing what had to be the exit to the cave. Slowly, everyone made their way out only to find that they were standing on a large cliff overlooking what had to be the ocean judging from the salty smell. It was a warm day and the sun was high in the sky. The air was rather humid and had a tropical feeling to it. Out in the ocean, they saw a large number of sharp rocks sticking out.

And far in the distance, just floating there, was a multicolored cruise liner. One that Gregory recognized immediately. “What the…the Luxe Deluxe?!”

Next Chapter: 39: When Worlds Collide Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 18 Minutes