//------------------------------// // Bonus Chapter 1: Patchwork // Story: Universe Mishap of the Magical Kind // by Zeprto678 //------------------------------// Bonus Chapter 1: Patchwork At a house hidden away in the Everfree Forest, there was an underground lab with bloodstains on the floor. In the lab was an adult mare working hard and diligently. She had a dark silver coat, persian blue-colored eyes, swamp green-colored mane and tail with pumpkin orange-colored streaks running through them, and were both tied up into buns. She had a pair of glasses around her face, was wearing a white lab coat that had blood stains and smears of blood on it, and hidden underneath her lab coat was her Cutie Mark, which was a skull with a syringe whose needle was in the cranium. Her name was Honey Skull, and she was a doctor. Right now, she was double-checking her work before she proceeded with the experiment. “He is almost complete,” Honey Skull said to herself. “All that’s missing is just one thing...” She stood a few feet away from a metal table that was in the middle of the room. On the metal table was a dead stallion with stitches on different parts of his body. His body looked a little different from a regular pony’s. His coat was red, his ears and part of his left front leg was blue, his left hind leg was green, and his right was orange, had blue eyes, yellow-colored hooves, his mane was short and was in four different colors: purple, red, green, and blue, a yellow dragon’s tail with a green spade at the end, three different colored spines on his back and three different colored ones on his tail too, and had no Cutie Mark. She had to hunt down a stallion to be the base of the body. Including, certain ponies whose body parts were a perfect size and length to match, two adult ponies who had no Cutie Marks, and a few dragons for the tail and the spines. “The soul,” she continued. Her horn glowed with a gray magic aura.  Underneath the metal table was a circle of weird symbols drawn into the floor in chalk around it in a circle. The symbols glowed with magic. After a few seconds, a whitish-bluish ball with wisps coming from it appeared, floating above the stallion’s body. Then, it drifted down to the stallion’s chest and phased through, entering his body. With the soul added, it was now time for the final step of her experiment. “Now, to bring him to life!” she announced. Her horn glowed again, but this time with more magic.  The symbols glowed brighter than it did before. Then, powerful bursts of electricity came out of the circle, striking the stallion’s body over and over without singing or burning his fur. After a while, the electricity stopped. The stallion’s eyelids slowly opened. Once they were fully open, he looked around, confused. She approached the table. “I did it! I actually did it!” Honey cheered. The stallion groaned. “Who am I? Where am I?” he asked, confused. Honey heard him while she had been cheering. “You’re a pony I created from the body parts of ponies, plus a dragon,” she explained. “As for your other question, you’re inside my lab inside my house inside of the Everfree Forest.” He understood her explanation, but there is just one thing on his mind. “What is my name?” he asked. She was silent as she never thought about that. After looking at the stallion’s stitched up body, she had an idea. “Your name is Patchwork,” she said. The stallion was silent for a few seconds. “...Patchwork?” he asked. “Yes, that is your name,” she confirmed. Her horn glowed with magic. “How do you feel?” Patchwork shrugged. “I don’t know,” he mumbled.  Being levitated over was a sophisticated, electronic metal collar, which was then placed in Honey’s hooves. She used her magic to sit Patchwork up carefully and delicately since she doesn’t want the stitches to come apart. Once she put the collar around his neck, Honey then set him back down onto his back. “If you’re planning on escaping, don’t. That collar will not only let me know where you are, but, if you force remove it without the key, it will sound off an alarm,” she informed with a serious tone.  He thought she was joking, but then Patchwork realized that she was being completely serious as she had a small grin on her face that scared him.  “Time to begin the tests,” Honey said. That was the day that Patchwork’s life became miserable. One Month Later For an entire month, Doctor Honey Skull had been subjecting him through tests and even experiments that involved things like his pain response, strength, mental, etc. If he fails the tests, she would punish him. There were times when she gave him a break to teach him lots of things about Equestria, but she never told him in which direction or the location of where each populated civilization was in case he ever escaped one day. She had him sleep inside of a prison cell that was located in the basement. It made his life even more miserable. Patchwork laid down on the floor of his cell as he was trying to sleep. Tomorrow morning, the experiments and tests will start again.  “Please, someone help me,” he thought. His eyes were closing as he was just about to fall asleep. “Hey, you okay?” a voice asked. The voice sounded like it belonged to a stallion. Patchwork’s eyes widened in surprise when he heard the mysterious voice. He got up quickly, then looked around, searching. “Hello? Who’s there?!” he questioned. Patchwork saw that there was no one except him. “Must’ve been hearing things.” He then became saddened as he had hoped that there was someone and was about to lay down on the floor again. “Hey. Over here,” the voice called out.  Patchwork ears shot up, and then he quickly turned and looked in the direction of where the voice was coming from, which was to his right, but was also the back wall of his cell. “Yeah, this way,” the voice called out again. He was weirded out as he could hear the voice, but not see who it belonged to. He now believes that he has gone crazy from loneliness. “Uh, is anyone there?” asked Patchwork. “Yes, but also no,” the voice responded. “You’re not hearing things. I’m contacting you from another universe through a rift in time and space.” Patchwork was confused. “Another universe?” repeated Patchwork. “Really?” “Yeah. A rift seemed to have opened up in my universe that leads to your cell, or a rift opened up to my universe in your cell, but that doesn’t matter,” the voice explained. “Right now I can see that you need help and I really want to help you. Understand?” He nodded. “Yeah, I do,” he responded. “Good,” said the voice. Then, the voice’s tone became serious. “So, my question to you is this: Do you need help?” He was silent for a moment before he made a decision. “Yes, I need your help,” said Patchwork. “Will you help me?” The voice then went silent.  Patchwork became worried as the voice was saying nothing. “H-Hello? Are you still there, voice?” he asked. “Yeah, sorry,” the voice apologized. “It’s the Grand Galloping Gala, and I was making sure that no one else was around since it’d look weird if some pony came across me talking to nothing but the air.” He then became interested in the Gala. “What is the Grand Galloping Gala?” asked Patchwork. “It’s some kind of a fancy party that the ponies hold in Canterlot Castle once a year,” the voice explained. The Gala sounded even more interesting to attend. “Wow. Sounds like a great party to go to,” he said. “It’s a little good, but it’s a party that doesn’t seem interesting since it’s a party designed with nobles in mind and not the kind of fun lots of others like,” the voice complained. “It needs more excitement or else it’ll be dull for my first time attending.” Patchwork noted the frustration in the voice’s tone. “Never mind then,” said Patchwork. The voice then chuckled. “Actually, right now it’s a little more exciting since all of my friends are having fun,” said the voice. “I had this big plan just so they would have the best night of their lives at their first Gala, and it worked perfectly with the help from my two friends. Everyone’s having fun.” He then noted the happiness in the voice’s tone and smiled. “Wish I was there to see it,” he said. Patchwork then looked down at the floor with a frustrated look on his face. “But right now, I’m stuck in this cell thanks to a mad mare.” The voice then remembered their original conversation. “Oh, right. Like I said before, I’ll help you,” he said. Patchwork was confused. “How? If you remove the collar by force without the key, it’ll let off an alarm. She’ll come running over here the moment she hears it,” informed Patchwork. The voice then chuckled. “Don’t underestimate me,” said the voice. “First, I need to get that collar from around your neck without setting off the alarm. Give me a second to think of a plan.” Patchwork shrugged. “Take all the time you need. I’ve got no place to be,” he said with a frown on his face.  After a while, the mysterious voice had an idea. “I’ve got it. I’ll just temporarily transform the collar into some kind of elastic gummy,” the voice informed. Patchwork was confused again, this time with the mysterious voice’s idea. “Elastic gummy?” He repeated. “Do you want me to eat it?” “No, it’s so you could pull it up from around your neck,” the voice informed. He thought about it, and it seems that the plan sounds like it might work. “What if it doesn’t work?” Patchwork asked. The voice’s tone then became serious. “Then I’ll come over there and force whoever's holding you captive to free you,” the voice said with a serious tone. “But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” He smiled a little. “Thanks, whoever you are,” said Patchwork. “You’re way nicer than Doctor Honey Skull.” “No problem,” replied the voice. It sounded like the voice was smiling from being complimented. “Now, I need to build up enough of my magic for the spell. The moment I transform the collar, you’ll have a time limit. The time limit is just in case that doctor mare has something in place if anything goes wrong with it. Once the time limit is over, I’ll turn it back to normal.” “I understand,” he said. “How much time will I have?” “Fifteen seconds might do it,” said the voice. “Think you could do it?” He looked down but was also determined. “Let’s hope so. This is my only hope at freedom,” muttered Patchwork. He was ready to be free. After waiting a while, the voice talked. “I’ve built up enough magic for the spell,” the voice called out. “Ready?” Patchwork nodded. “Go for it,” he responded. A beam of magic shot out of thin air and hit his collar.  After a few seconds, his collar started to transform into a gummy version of itself. The beam of magic then stopped. “Now!” the voice shouted. Patchwork quickly grabbed and stretched the collar, and started pulling it up from around his neck. He did it carefully fast while it was around his head. He was also making sure not to damage the collar while it was in its gummy state. “Come on, I can do this,” he thought. “Just gotta beat the time limit.” He had only less than ten seconds. The collar was around his eyes as he was pulling it up.  The owner of the voice was worried, but knew Patchwork would make it. “You can do it,” the voice urged. With five seconds left, Patchwork was able to get the collar off. “Done!” announced Patchwork. He then quickly placed the collar on the ground. A beam of magic shot out of thin air and hit the collar again. After a few seconds, it turned back to normal. Patchwork smiled as he was finally free. Then he had an angry look on his face as he looked at the collar that Doctor Honey Skull had bound him to and batted it away with his hoof, hard. It slid across the floor a few feet away from him. “Never again will I wear that. Not for anypony,” he declared. Patchwork then turned towards the direction of the voice. “I thank you, mysterious voice. I am now free.” “You’re welcome,” said the voice. “So, where will you go now?” The owner of the voice was curious. It sounded like a good question to Patchwork as he looked conflicted. Where will he go now? “I don’t know,” he responded. “I’ve never seen the world outside of this lab. I don’t even know how the ponies would respond to something like me.” He turned his head, sad and frustrated. The voice was silent for a few seconds. “Well...Why not come with me?” the voice asked. “I could use a guard.” The job sounded interesting. “A guard? Like a bodyguard you mean?” asked Patchwork. “Something like that, but more important,” said the voice. “You want the job? It’ll be very far away from that mare.” Patchwork thought about it for a moment. “Even if I do become your bodyguard, how will I get to you if you’re in another universe?” he questioned. “You see, I’ve got enough collected magic to open up the rift, allowing you to cross over into mine. Afterwards, I’ll close the rift to your universe with the remaining magic,” the voice explained.  “If I go through that rift I’ll never have to see Doctor Honey Skull again for the rest of my life,” he thought. “And even if she does somehow find me, I’ll be safe from her if he helps me out.” “I’ll give you a while to think it over,” the voice said. “Once you do, let me know.” Patchwork was silent for a while until he made his decision. “How much time would you need to open the rift?” he asked. The owner of the voice thought about it. “I guess it would take four or five minutes to focus my magic onto the rift instead of through it,” the voice calculated. “After that, I should be able to close it back up in less than a minute.” “And if Doctor Honey Skull is able to somehow come to your universe and find me, would you help protect me from her?” questioned Patchwork. The voice answered so quickly without thinking it over. “Of course I would,” the voice said. “I wouldn’t let her get her hooves on you. Even if she does, I’d rescue you without a single thought.” Patchwork smiled a little. He then looked at the rift with a serious expression. “I guess I’ll go with you,” he said. “It’ll be much better being with you than being with her.” “It’ll be great to have you around,” greeted the voice. “Welcome aboard…”  The owner of the voice was silent for a few seconds before they started laughing. Patchwork was a little confused about why the voice was laughing. “What’s so funny?” he asked. The owner of the voice then cleared their throat after they stopped laughing. “The funny thing is that we were both so focused talking, we forgot to introduce our names to each other,” the voice said. “That’s why it’s so funny.” He realized that they were right. They were acting like friends yet they don't know each other's names. Patchwork chuckled a little. “I guess it is funny,” he commented. “The name’s Patchwork. What’s yours?” “Well, my real name’s Foodie Love,” the voice informed. “But since it’s so embarrassing to use, I’m using Lemon Spark as my current name.”  “Nice to meet you-” Patchwork smirked. “-Foodie.” “You too,” the voice said. But then I realized something. “Hey!” Patchwork smiled. “Kidding,” he said. “Oh, ha-ha. Very funny,” the voice said, sarcastically. “Now, wait for me to open the rift.” He chuckled. “Fine, I can wait,” said Patchwork. After less than five minutes, a portal appeared exactly where my voice was coming from. Patchwork was shocked when he saw it. “Hurry up!” the voice shouted. Their voice was coming from the rift itself. He snapped out of his shock. “Coming!” announced Patchwork. Before he walked through, he looked behind him with a face of disdain. “I hope your life becomes much worse than the life you put me through, Doctor. Goodbye.” Patchwork ran through the rift and disappeared.  On the Other Side of the Rift After coming out of the rift, he then landed on the ground. “Get out of the way so I can close this thing,” I said. Patchwork quickly got out of the way. I then released a wave of magic aura from my horn. It came into contact with the portal, and after a few seconds, the portal closed as it was reverted back into a rift, but weakened like it was before. I gave off a tired sigh. “Hello, Patchwork,” I greeted. “It’s nice to talk to you face-to-face instead of through the rift.”