My Little Dream Becomes Reality

by Tilltheafterlife

Chapter 16: Change in Perspectives (Part 1)

☜︎☠︎❄︎☼︎✡︎ ☠︎🕆︎💣︎👌︎☜︎☼︎ ❄🕈⚐

Curious.

In all of the years I spent studying in the greatness of magic and the mythical arts; I have never invested into this power, until now.

To be honest, it's one of the most unbelievable forces in existence. But even though it lacks belief by the intellect, it manages to overcome anything that stands in its way.

There is no complex reason or any elegant explanation to this power. It is only said to be a passive feeling from one who chooses to form bonds with other entities. And some may ask: "why is this the case?"

The answer is friendly emotions; though this answer also leaves another set of questions that are... incapable of being answered. The only thing that my mind can comprehend about them is that they just exist and are feelings that come out of nowhere during or after an event in one's life.

This power known as friendship is: bliss, exquisite, loyal, amusing, kind, honest, and successful in any situation.

It makes me question the point of suffering for the profit of knowledge and potency, only to sacrifice your spirit in the end. If a man with a great heart can live a better life than a man such as me with the greatest of minds then... that alone is another reason why I strive to continue this experiment. I feel as empty as the void I currently reside in.

Maybe, if my plans turn out the way I expect them to; this everlasting world will become a place of eternal peace and friendship. But there are still possibilities of failure that concern me.

For one, I cannot allow Subject 9 (Samuel) to fall or give up. His existence and ambition is incredibly vital in restoring balance to this world. And secondly, I must have faith in Subject 9 to make the right choice in the end. His choices will matter much once he is in control.

---

*CHS's Gymnasium*

The teleportation spell responsible for transporting the five surviving ponies to the gym had taken a toll on Lyra's horn. She wasn't used to using her teleport spell on multiple ponies at once except herself. Additionally, she was not anywhere near being one of the greatest ponies in the magic arts or into spell casting for that matter. As her poor horn left a stream of smoke, the others: Rainbow Dash, Sunburst, Sunset, and Sticker Picker were staring off into multiple light sources distributed across the ginormous room.

Apparently, the students secured in the gym had found a set of stacked crates, containing battery powered lamps. With each of those lamps, the majority of the gym was lit up. And it wasn't long before every student had their eyes on the group that had just appeared in a blink of an eye.

"How's it gliding with you girls?" Flash Sentry came up to them and asked politely with care, as the students encircled them to listen out for any important news.

"Correction, Flashy Flap, I'm not a mare- !?" Sunburst's nerve wracked mouth was silenced by the hoof of Lyra.

"No time for pleasant greetings or pointless arguments. Have any of you seen Vice Principle Luna?" Lyra said to every student, hoping for a nice answer.

"I don't think anyone's seen her. We thought she was with you guys," Flash replied.

Lyra sighed, knowing she would have to reveal the horrific bad news. And just by the looks on everybody's faces, she knew the news will bring fear upon the crowd. "She put herself in harms way in order to give us time to gallop away from that skeletal thing of a creature!" she shouted aloud.

Reactions quickly echoed from all around. As expected, the majority of the reactions were panicky, while a few were rather curious as to what happened to Luna after. Then, there were of course many whispering back and forth to their friends.

"We don't know if she is alive or not, but we do know that monster is wandering the halls," Sunset added to Lyra's earlier statement. "If we keep questioning and panicking like the pathetic students I used to think you all were in the past then... we're all dead meat. Literally, his dead meat! So, if you don't want that to happen I suggest we all band together and put an end to these monsters for good!"

The students then began mumbling things that utterly didn't come out in a confident clear tone. However, their mouths were cut off, the moment Rainbow Dash started speaking.

"Listen up! There isn't much time before that bone freak makes it over here! If we don't prepare ourselves for a fight, then how are we gonna win?! Do you guys just wanna take it and die? Because, I'm pretty sure I'm seeing faces of hopelessness all around me."

Silence filled the room. Half of the student's negative expressions and thoughts were immediately departing as Rainbow Dash continued.

"Think about it! All of us together outnumber that bone head and his other monster freaks. We can totally crush that skull of his!"

"But what if one of us gets hurt in the process?" Flash intervened.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow as she turned to Flash. "So, what? If we do nothing about it, then all of us are going to get hurt!"

"She does have a point there," Sunburst said, as the other students nodded in understanding. "Those barricaded doors won't keep us safe permanently. They will only provide us with enough time to prepare."

*Bang*

Right after Sunburst finished that sentence is when the disturbance occurred. At the far right corner of the room; one of the barricaded doors received an intense blow, and became damaged. It wasn't long before the obvious individual peaking through one of the ruined cracks was acknowledged as a present threat.

There was no time for them to think about their situation, as the doors were quickly chopped away from the skeleton's way to carnage.

"you were saying?" Horror Sans kept a grin as he undauntedly took a step inside, ignoring the dusty particles he left behind. After he took a moment to understand the area he trespassed, his eyes glued onto every innocent pony in front of him. Darkened saliva was forming inside of his mouth and leaking out of his teeth beyond his control. Just by the sight of those ponies, he could already feel his absurd hunger kicking in.

With all of them in a group, his hungry mind replaced his current thoughts of them being sentient ponies to a buffet of delicious horse flesh. And with those thoughts forming, Horror Sans didn't hesitate to take the first step.

Rainbow Dash immediately caught on to what the freak was thinking and flew in front of the herd. "Oh no you don't!" she huffed aggressively at Horror, catching him off guard.

"what the? you again?" Horror created bloodied sharp bone projectiles that would soon be launched. "weren't you dead?"

"I never was. But I would've been if it wasn't for my friends," her tone grew serious. "And I'm here to protect them from you! So how about it, bone head? Are you ready for round two?"

He laughed. "uh, duh! do you own the brain of a horse? oh, right. you are literally an ignorant little horse!" he insulted her, as the bones were aggressively launched towards Dash.

Rainbow Dash focused and began to effectively dodge and deflect each homing bone with her wings. To Horror's surprise, his bones didn't create a wound on Dash's wings or any sort of minimal damage at all.

"what the hell? that's not possible. my bones were sharpened just enough for the sole purpose of impaling through all flesh!"

"Think about that again, because my feathery wings are made of steel this time," the confident pegasus charged forwards, carefully preparing for any counter attack the skeleton may have in store. This time, she would make sure not to fall for any potential trap that would make her vulnerable for a horrifying combo attack like before.

Rainbow Dash, somewhat had the upper hoof in this battle out of her knowledge. Even though Horror's attacks held much more lethality than hers, the skeleton was unable to keep up with Dash's enhanced speed. For some reason, Rainbow Dash's speed had tripled after her recovery. And because of her speed, Horror Sans found it nearly impossible to even land a single projectile bone or cleaver on his flying target. Bone zones and bear(pony) traps became useless for Horror after he realized that the pegasus was not going to ever retreat on ground level. Finally, to worsen his situation, the students were not watching the fight in anxiety. For the most part, Horror caught many glares from the surrounding distance; as if anything were to happen to Rainbow Dash, the students would be ready for a fight.

Suddenly, Horror was hit hard by his right side, and he felt a part of his rib cage crack. Rainbow Dash inevitably landed a hit with one of her four hooves. A bit of his saliva was forced out, and his vision became slightly blurred. But even so, Horror quickly countered with an elbow to Dash's face and then a heavy swing from his primary weapon. Luckily, Rainbow Dash reacted fast and used her steel-like wings to cover her front. She was heavily pushed back and a few feathers were plucked off after the impact of Horror's ax. However, the rest of her was left unharmed.

"You still aren't going to go down that easy, aren't you?" she slightly twisted her neck and popped a bone before returning to her fighting stance.

"no. i don't think- URGH!" Horror Sans was flung to the ground thanks to a heavy magical attack from behind. Rainbow Dash smiled at her opportunity for an extra attack, as she flew up to later make a hefty dive down to her bone enemy and hopefully finish him off with a driven hoof to the skull.

She failed after she hit nothing but the gym's flooring. Horror Sans had used his limited teleportation ability to reposition himself elsewhere within a blink of a pony's eye. The skeleton also managed to catch a glance at the ones who deliberately blasted his backside. The principal of the school: Celestia, and the previous pony who he fought earlier but got away: Vice Principal Luna.

"tch! this is stupid," Horror Sans laughed horrifically for a few seconds and then let out a roar. The roar echoed across the school and Horror Sans instantly did a dirty move and destroyed each battery powered lamp with a singular rising bone for each. Since the power outage remained unfixed, the gym became pitch black for everypony's eyes in absence of the lighting. "hehehehe...try and speed your way out of this one ya rainbow tomboy."

"Hey! Enough of your insults! Come on out and face me coward!"

P. Celestia and V.P. Luna including all the unicorn students who knew the spell, made their horns illuminate the darkness with their magic. Unfortunately for them, the idea didn't illuminate the gym completely enough as their magical light only managed to light 40% of the entire gym. While their spots were clearly visible to one another, Horror Sans remained in the darkness that still was.

"Stop this madness at once! Do you really think hiding in the dark is going to give you a better chance of your rabid goal to slaughter us all?" V.P. Luna reasoned, but to no avail.

It was then, that the other barricaded doors were falling apart. Banging, scratching, and screeching came along before the doors were torn down. And with that, came two groups of monsters, both coming from their own set of doors and at their own pace to help Horror Sans.

"say hello to my backup fellow minions. but, maybe there's no need for introductions since I know they've already caused mayhem to this school the previous day."

Horror's backup enclosed everypony on both sides in rows.

"go get em boys."

******

"WOULD YOU ALL HURRY IT UP! My daughter's life is on the line all thanks to this school's insecurities!" General Dan yelled at the poor electricians who were just doing their job. "I swear, one day I'm going to sue this whole school!"

"Did you guys ever think about bringing a flashlight?" asked one of the electricians.

"We left our light sources at our top secret base. And what is that supposed to mean? Are you calling us stupid?"

"Oh, no sir. We... were just curious." 'Of course I'm calling him stupid. What kind of disciplined task force comes unprepared in the face of rescuing others?' the electrician continued his work and ignored the general's attitude.

"Well, how about you guys stop asking questions AND DO YOUR DAM JOB ALREADY!"

The electrician paused for a moment,, but shook it off and focused on the wiring part needed to restore the power to CHS. 'That @$$#0!3. If he were the one doing this, I highly doubt he'd do any better. I really wish to say something in his face but... it ain't worth taking a bullet to the skull afterwards.'

"By the way. Do you know who cut off the power? I'd like to know, because if we find out who's responsible, we'll take care of them real nice with pleasure," said the general as he happily kissed his own gun as if it were his baby.

The electrician, still having to endure past the general's presence and desires as he worked, responded irritably. "I believe we saw a monster destroy the electric appliances with an ax before we were assigned this repair task."

"Believe?! You're not completely sure?! Where did you even see the dam monster!"

"On one of the resting benches just several hoof steps from here. We were on a lunch break."

"..."

"Don't worry. The lights will be on within minutes, Mr. General." the electrician assured Dan, while plugging in a set of wires.

"It better be," General Dan turned to his soldiers who were all bruised up from fighting each other under the Dazzlings songs. "Hmph. I believe y'all have seen days worse than this. How about all you quit winning and walk it off before I make you."

******

"butcher them all my minions!" Horror commanded the monsters as they switched to a ravaging mode.

After a brief second had passed, a barrage of magic beams were blasted on the undead horde, and a third of them fell dead with a busted head or vital organs. P. Celestia took one side while V.P. Luna took the other. And both alicorns charged their horns for another set of beams.

Horror's minions went silent and withdrew their attack temporarily. Apparently, even with rotten brains, they still had some form of an intellectual, knowing charging in right away would lead to their death.

Horror growled at the sight, seeing how much of a pathetic use his minions really were. He needed to use them as a distraction, but with their fear in the way, Horror wouldn't get a chance to land any killing blows without being noticed. He gritted his teeth and growled a second time before his broken heart sank and his eyes stung in surprise.

To his disadvantage, the power to CHS had reconnected, and the primary lights had returned. The pitch darkness he used to hide himself in was gone. It was his greatest chance of victory, but it diminished too fast. Now, he and his minions were utterly vulnerable.

"Looks like the electricians did their job quite nicely," V.P. Luna said behind her students. A few of them smiled at her as a thanks.

Horror Sans held his guard as P. Celestia, V.P. Luna, and their students took advantage of the light, and began the attack. The skeleton remained silent as he watched the gradual defeat of his minions, and for a moment he thought nopony could see him, but within the next few seconds an annoying pegasus came flying and glared in his face after making the landing. Once again, it was him and Rainbow Dash; a one against one fight.

"Give it up already! You know this isn't going to end well!"

"yes, you are right," he said without any dread and with a straight smile. Out of pure hunger and rage, Horror focused two fingers and aggressively snapped them, creating an enormous amount of sharp bone projectiles. "this won't end well for you, little pony."

Rainbow Dash instinctively gasped over the unavoidable attack in front of her. She saw no way of flying clear from the deadly bone field without taking a hit.

"let's end this," Horror pointed a finger and his bone attacks shot in the direction he wanted. There were at least a hundred sharp bones aiming at Dash, but she held her own and used her wings to endure through each bone that made it to its target. When Horror noticed his bones were failing to tear the pegasus away, he decided to use one last resort and throw his ax, plunging the weapon right towards Dash at an insane speed.

When the ax's sharp edges met Rainbow Dash's defensive steel wings, both her and the ax were inconveniently launched away. Rainbow Dash fell to the floor, and she quickly got up and flew away before a zone of rising spikes could impact her. Finally, as Dash kept a steady height in the air, she had enough of the skeleton.

"Hey! Rainbow Dash!" Flash Sentry called out.

She faced Flash wondering what he could've possibly wanted during a time like now. "What?!"

"Cover your ears, now!"

Rainbow Dash didn't understand, but she did so anyway while keeping an eye on Horror. The skeleton was weaponless, but that didn't mean he was completely out of flying bones. She stayed in her position for a moment until Flash and his crew stirred up their LOUD music through the gym's speakers. What happened after was nothing short of a surprise.

The monsters stopped what they were doing, screaming in agony as the music violently burrowed into their heads. It was then, that the monsters would become headless after reaching a certain point. Similar to how Boyfriend took care of them, another high, constant, and intense sound was the cause of their exploding heads and their end. And as the last remaining monsters fell down lifelessly, so would their leader. Even though Horror kept his ears covered, he clearly was not immune to the sounds. He relentlessly jolted his body left and right in pain, forgetting about the battle against Rainbow Dash entirely.

"I got you now," Rainbow Dash murmured to herself, preparing her final move. "Eat this!" she yelled, as she dove down at high speeds in hopes of ending the last monster standing. The highly intense sonic rainboom that exploded across the school and outside of it was a great sign of how destructive Dash's attack turned out to be.

Since the monsters were eliminated, courtesy of Flash Sentry, everypony had a chance to gaze upon what happened.

"She...did it," Sunset blinked and rubbed her eyes, seeing something she couldn't believe. The skeleton's chest was in shambles, his whole body helplessly falling into a dead laying position.

"Sunny Celestia!" Sunburst spoke up with excitement and levitated out his journal.

"What's the matter? Do you need me for anything?" P. Celestia asked the unicorn, walking over to him.

"Oh, no, not at all. It's just that in the world I come from, your counterpart is a princess. And because of that, we ponies from Equestria tend to use Celestia's name over occurring topics like fear and astonishment!"

"I see..." P. Celestia looked over to Rainbow Dash and Horror Sans; both of them laid flat on the gym floor in a motionless state. "Is your friend okay?"

Sunburst nodded. "More than likely. Whenever somepony such as our athletic friend, is prone to the CRYSTEM process, it...becomes much more difficult for them to die to anything. At most, the said pony would only be weakened for a period of time, before they recover back to full strength."

Surely enough, Rainbow Dash was alive as she slowly brought herself back up on all four hooves. Everypony became glad to see her still among the living, and praised her for her heroic act. She smiled over the gratitude, but groaned in pain after noticing her struggle to even take a few hoof steps.

"O-ow. I'm...tired," Rainbow Dash nearly tripped and fell, but her tuckered wings barely supported her stand.

Sunset and Sticker quickly galloped to aid Dash, but a sudden thick barrier of bones surrounded her.

"Rainbow! Are you alright! Answer us!" Sunset attempted to teleport inside the barrier and meet Dash on the other end, but her spell was quickly dismissed by a dark essence. "Crud! Magic proof, of course."

Rainbow Dash couldn't find it in her current strength to fly, figuring it was her special rainboom attack that had dragged her energy nearly to zero.

"ehehehe."

Dash's head had an upsurge of energy as she turned to the horror behind her. It couldn't be true. But it was. The skeleton was getting back on his feet and had created himself another sharp ax, made of thick bones instead.

"N-no way! How?!" she yelled, carefully backing away as far as she could while Horror Sans gradually grew closer. "This isn't fair!"

Horror Sans chuckled wickedly. "oh, little pony. you have no idea what unfairness is," his right eye formed a purple pupil in place of the emptiness, and his left eye remained red as a blood moon. "How can you call this unfair when you're talking to a monster that's already dead?"

The walking corpse continued it's dreadful walk and when he stood only inches from a helpless Rainbow Dash, the corpse held his secondary ax high for a few seconds and swung it down towards the pegasus with the intent to kill.

Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes and prepared for the worst.

*Chop*

............................

............................

............................

While there was the sound of an ax swing, there wasn't a disturbing sound of a head being chopped off violently. Rather than feeling a sharp cutting edge upon her neck, Rainbow Dash felt a pleasant and soft moisture landing on her muzzle. That soft feeling definitely wasn't what she expected. Being the brave pony that she is, Rainbow Dash dared to open her eyes.

Horror Sans/Nightmare became confused until they took a second to examine their ax. It wasn't made of bone anymore. Furthermore, they poked their finger into whatever substance the ax currently became, and almost disposed of its uselessness before realizing the ax was sticking on their hand like white glue.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and raised herself up to swiftly take a bite out of the ax as if it were food rather than a weapon.

The skeleton panicked over the sudden unnatural action and his inability to cause harm, then leaped away from the weapon munching pegasus. She continued to chew without much of a worry before swallowing a part of the ax. With a few smacks of her tongue, she diagnosed the substance just by the taste of it. "Marshmallow?" she believed.

"what?/What?!" they were at a loss of understanding.

Then, the bone wall which was purposely created to block Rainbow Dash from her friends started going through a transition as well. But, instead of marshmallows, the surrounding bone wall splattered onto the floor like nothing. And with it gone, Rainbow Dash had her aid right behind her.

"Uh. Is this a bad time, or?" Sam asked, his gauntlet containing another stone glowing red as an indication of its reality bending ability.

"Nah," Rainbow Dash trotted over to him. "You came just in the nick of time to save my flank...partner."

"..." Sam scratched his head in a shy manner as a slight blush passively formed upon his cheeks.

"Ah, Samuel. Still valiant in playing the hero, aren't you?" Nightmare spoke directly through his servant's body. "I was just about to get the accomplished murder my servant was mean't to achieve."

Sam showed off his angry face and glared into the skeleton's right eye. "Shut your medieval crap mouth up and screw off already. Seriously, how many freaking forms do you even have?"

"Actually, it's how many vessels I have, not how many forms, numbskull."

Sam shook his head, now gritting his teeth and clenching a fist over the bitter talk. His heart, legs, and feet carried him furiously forward and refused to stop even if a few more hurtful bone attacks were to come. He didn't back down from testing the new stone's capabilities as he quickly used its power to morph the incoming bones into merely harmless bubbles.

"Hmm. What a shame. This vessel could have done much more than this pathetic display," Nightmare then took notice of the red stone in Sam's possession, believing the stone was giving Sam the current ability to neutralize Horror's attacks. Then, he eyed the other holes of the gauntlet. "Those stones...you have two of them now. What is it that you are planning, Samuel?"

Sam gripped the skeleton's face tightly. "None of your business," he said, making the skeleton's entire skull turn into a fragile piece of crystal, then smashed Horror's skull into crystal shards. With the rest of the body having no head, the body collapsed onto the floor for good. "I may be a numbskull in your eyes, but at least I'm not a dead headless corpse like Horror Sans."

*Horror Sans eliminated; 950 pp earned.*

"Wow! That was so cool!" Rainbow Dash said enthusiastically. "Normally, I'd say magic is for the weak unicorn eggheads. But..." she stared carefully at the lightning bolt shaped red stone in Sam's gauntlet. "Whatever you did, that bonehead totally had it coming!"

A smile slightly formed on Sam's straight lips. "Thanks Dash."

"Uh, excuse me. I owe you a thanks too. I would've been a roasted horse if you didn't come in for the rescue."

"Yea..." Sam later spotted a red aura surrounding the pegasus in front of him. And while it was clearly visible to everypony in the room including Dash herself, she didn't seem to mind at all. "Um, Dash..."

"Heh. It feels great to remember what being loyal is all about," her gaze fell onto the red stone and then her expression quickly blasted into excitement. "I don't know what exactly it is you're going through, but you helped me remember something I held in my heart. I think I should return the favor!"

Sam could feel a connection occurring between the stone and Dash.

"From the bottom of my heart, I swear loyalty to you, Sam, till the very end!"

"..."

Just like Rarity from the Crystal Empire incidents, Rainbow Dash's body evaporated into a red mist of steam; her essence was later transferred into the reality stone to awaken the stone's true nature.

"ERGH!" Sam grunted as he fell to his knees. For some reason, the gauntlet suddenly felt like a heavy load on his body. And worse, an uneasy burning pain began to torment his arm before spreading across his body. "What the heck is this pain?!"

Sunburst became unsteady over his fascination and trotted over to Sam for observational purposes. "Ooooooh! Is this the result of what occurs when two CRYSTEM experiments combine with one another?"

"You're not helping me, dang it." Sam muttered, watching as the two current stones in his gauntlet lit up and caused a combustion reaction. "FRICK!" he shouted because of the increasing burn sensation.

Sunset Shimmer and a few other ponies came galloping to help Sam by any means, but Sunburst stopped them. "No, no, no. It's all part of the process. He must endure through it completely or he won't ever have control of those stones.

"What do you mean?! He's in danger!" Sunset watched Sam's suffering and regretted even taking a longer look.

"He's not exactly in danger..."

******

*???*

Rainbow Dash stood somewhere, her eyes wandering around a mysterious place. A flat area of land with foggy grey skies to be specific. "Wha- where am I?"

"That is exactly what I desire to know as well, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash gasped and instantly turned around to find Rarity staring from behind. "H-hey! Don't scare me like that! At least make sounds with your hooves to let me know you're comin- *GASP* Rarity?!"

"In the spirit- oh!" Rarity received a tight hug from Dash.

"It's so great to see you again!!!" a tear of joy fell from Dash's eye as Rarity understandably smiled in turn.

"Oh, yes of course. Where are my manners? It's quite a pleasure to see you once again, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash slowly released the unicorn from her hooves and wings, taking into consideration that Rarity wasn't the type to get dirty over physical contact. "Geez, it feels so long since we've last met. Where'd you even come from anyway? I'll admit you scared me half to death."

"My apologies, but do you think there is anyway I can make any hoof step sounds with this...sand, we're standing on?"

"...What?" the pegasus glanced down, stomping one of her front hooves on the sand below. Silence came afterwards. It became unclear what was going on.

"Do you see my point now?" Rarity asked, admiring the fog maneuvering around them.

"Yea, yea. I get it. Do you have any idea where we are?" she looked around. There was nothing else in sight other than sand, sand, and more sand.

"Again. I am unsure. I can at least assume we are in a sacred realm related to my stone and yours. I'd say, this place could really use a bit of color and fashion don't you think? Since it is going to be our new home for a while."

"What do you mean by our new home? We can find our way out of here, can't we?"

"We can't," Rarity answered.

"WHAT?!" Rainbow Dash broke into a panic.

"Well, at least as if now. I have been here for quite some time. I can assure you I haven't seen a way out in sight yet." her statement managed to calm Dash down to a suitable level. "I believe once Samuel finds us all, we can band together and find the way out."

"Us?"

Rarity sighed. "Our friends, Rainbow Dash. He's on a quest to find and save the six of us."

"Is that so? Then...where exactly are the others then?"

"That, I am also unsure of. I say, that creature is full of secrets. Even if he tries to hide his guilt behind a blank face, I can tell he's hiding something from us. And he's nervous about it all."

Rainbow Dash kept silent, not knowing what else she could say.

"While me and him are somewhat friends, I still don't completely know everything about him," she said.

A frown presented itself on Dash. "Really? When did you first see him?"

"Hard to believe, but it was an empire made of crystals. When I first saw him approaching me, I was quick to lash out my unreasonable side, thinking of him as a sort of beast. He continued his approach either way and...peacefully offered his help in exchange for mine."

"But, why?"

"Because...he knew my identity. Well, he knew my name to be exact, even if I myself had no knowledge of him personally. For some reason, he needed me to find that blue gem he now carries in that magnificent gauntlet."

"And you trusted him, just like that?"

Rarity snorted. "Oh, dearest Celestia no. I held a high suspicion over him when I first agreed to follow him. However, there wasn't a better option as far as I knew, but to place my trust in him for a time. A lady like me has no way of making it through an abandoned area on her own, especially when she's lost."

"Eh, makes sense."

"Additionally, outside of the empire rested a freezing blizzard! Even if I managed to find my way out without encountering harm, I'd more likely be a frozen lady if I were to step hoof into such hazardous weather. That's why I stayed and made the decision to tidy things up around the empire with him since I knew I would be staying there for quite some time."

Rainbow Dash looked at her befuddled for a bit. "So...how exactly do we get to this point from there?"

"*SIGH* It is quite a long book Rainbow Dash," she admitted, explaining everything to Rainbow Dash in a place she knew worked differently when it came to time and place.

******

After a minute, Sam's suffering came to an end. In relief, he got up on his feet, gently pressing his right hand on his sore left arm. Sunburst, who was standing in front of his personal face, looked Sam in the eyes with interest.

"Soooooooo. How do you feel?" Sunburst asked, both for caring reasons and for the satisfaction of his uncontrollable curiosity.

"I don't know," Sam noticed Nurse Redheart and a few others standing near his personal space bubble. He heavily sighed before giving an actual answer. "I'm fine, I guess. The pain is gone and I'm relieved and stuff." he said, not wanting to have any medical attention at the moment. While the pain he had gone through was without a doubt excruciating, he didn't want to waste any more time on a restoration period over his left arm only. "Wait a minute. What happened to Rainbow Dash?!"

"You don't remember?"

Sam muttered out his words. "Not after that burning pain. The only thing I could recall was saving her head from a bone ax."

"Her very essence was transmitted into one of your stones. Similar to the previous one back in the Crystal Empire. What was her name? Rarity? Well, besides the circumstances, the same transitioning event will happen to the other four stones and ponies you seek."

"Uh huh," Sam rubbed his head in thought. He was really at a loss of ideas.

A journal and quill now floated below Sunburst's face as he began asking Sam random questions to add in his notes. "On a scale of 1 to a 100, how painful was your experience with two stones uniting together with you as one?"

'Are we seriously doing this right now? -_-'

Sam quickly put aside his annoyed feelings and showed his honesty. "I'd say like...27."

Sunburst instantly jotted it down. "Twenty...seven...okay. Now, how is your arm? Are you feeling any weaknesses or any sickness as a side effect?"

"Uh, everything's fine for the most part. Except my arm's a little sore," Sam rubbed his arm with care.

"Well, don't you worry about a thing," Redheart finally butted in. "I'll have that arm of yours examined and taken care-"

"I don't want any medical support right now," he interrupted.

"Wh-what? But your arm was literally on fire and if I could just-"

"No. I'm just...I feel like I'm running out of time. And another checkup will destroy even more of the time I have remaining. I'm sorry."

"Oh..." Redheart's expression was saddened, giving Sam a bit of regret. "Well...if you're feeling fine, I guess I'll be in my...office whenever you need me," Redheart slowly exited the gym through the doorway that Horror Sans demolished. Many including Sam watched as she departed.

The bitter silence came, and Sam scratched the back of his head with a worried look. "Dang. I didn't mean to hurt her feelings like that..." his head lowered in guilt. "Words really do hurt like a son of a gun, don't they? Shoot."

Sam recalled his objectives and ignored everypony staring at him. As soon as his mind came with a decision on what could be best, he went for a walk to the outside of the school. He didn't want to use a portal since he knew a few ponies would like to follow his footsteps.

"H-hey! I'm not finished, wait for me," Sunburst followed Sam with a slight trotting motion, his notebook still floating in his magical grasp. After a few minutes of walking he started talking again. "So, what exactly is the plan now? I can make at least one prediction that you're currently searching for a third stone. Do you really think your body can manage with three or more of those stones?"

Sam shrugged as they came close to the school's primary entrance/exit. "Once again, I don't know. But there has to be a way for me to stop this madness. I ain't just gonna accept the destructive future," he used his actual arms to push open the double doors and was met with fresh air and the rising sun. "Speaking of the future; I wonder how Equestria's holding up right now. With Discord and Chrysalis on the loose that is."

"Hmmm. I guess we'll have to see the results when we get there."

"Yea. Woah, check that out," Sam ran up to the mirror portal he planned on using to return. Sunburst quickly realized what Sam was astonished about and followed behind to observe a shattered mirror.

"It's broken?!" Sunburst yelled, anxiety taking control of his emotions. His eyes grew wide and he trotted around the area as Sam took a closer look at the damage.

"Crap. All the soundwaves from me and BF's previous rap battle against The Sirens must've shattered the mirror; apparently the school's windows are not the only things affected by highly intense rap."

"Which means we're all trapped here!" Sunburst unnecessarily added.

Sam shook his head. "Not exactly. I was actually thinking of an alternate way out of here." he said, facing the crowd that had followed him outside.

"Sam!" a familiar voice in Sam's memory called out from the crowd of pony students.

"Yea?" he returned, looking at the mare who came breaching through in a gallop. Once she came to a stop in front of Sam, she was breathing heavily and a few drips of sweat ran through her face. Finally, with a pleasant and loving smile, Lyra Heartstings levitated what she held in her magic over to Sam's hands.

"There you are. I know how forgetful you can be so I did you a favor," she giggled, noticing a blissful grin on the boy's face.

"Ay, my favorite drink of all," Sam tossed the Coke bottle in his right hand and clenched his left fist to manipulate space and reality. When the two stones glowed their color, a small portal appeared next to Sam's right. The portal appeared much different and more detailed than the previous portals Sam used to create for transportation purposes. "And in ya go," lastly, Sam gently tossed the bottle of Coke right through the floating hole.

All eyes, especially Lyra's and Sunburst's were on him.

Sam gave a puzzled look in return. "What's the matter? The portal does not lead anywhere bad. It just leads to my infinite storage area I created several minutes ago," he demonstrated it again by pulling out a microphone he took from the performance stage. Their concern diminished after he explained but they were left a little confused.

Sounds from a writing quill came from Sunburst's actions before he questioned Sam's new abilities. "Wait a second. Sam, how did you figure out how to use the reality bending part of your second stone so quickly? Doesn't it take practice to use that much power?"

Sam shrugged. "I just did. All I do is focus on my surroundings, use my imagination, and close my fist to execute my thoughts through the stones' abilities," he was about to do just that. "Like this," he focused and commanded the reality stone.

As the stone glowed, a red wave of mist washed over the school, passing through everypony in the vicinity. When the wave fulfilled its purpose, everypony or...everybody to say the least were standing on twos once again. Each student became astonished over their appearances.

"What?" P. Celestia's mind began questioning reality which was the reality stone's entire purpose of course. "Our humanity has returned?" she moved her fingers which were no longer hooves.

Sunset Shimmer was the next to respond, using her human legs to walk but fell face down in failure. She and her recent time as a pony had reminded her of the usefulness of unicorn magic, but made her lose a bit of experience in the simplicity of walking only on two legs. She then groaned over the stupid pain as she sat up with her legs crossed.

"Chill. It's only a temporary illusion," Sam released his grip and allowed the recent reality shift to reverse. Now, they were ponies again.

"Fascinating," Sunburst said. "You have multiple stones you wish to obtain. And each stone has its own unique abilities! Boy, can this get any more crazier within the next hours?"

"I don't know, Sunburst. Can it?!" Sunset Shimmer uses her magic and teleports to Sam. "What are you, really? Who really are you, Sam?"

"Huh? What are you saying? I am Sam. Who else would I-"

"No, I mean-" she shook her head. "Why are you out of your way to obtain more of those stones? Isn't two or even one enough?"

Sam paused for a second, disliking where Sunset was going. "Sadly, not. I need all six of them."

"For what, exactly? You never did tell us those stones contained such magic. And you're just going to leave us in a hasty search for the next stone? Did our time together as friends didn't matter to you at all?"

Sam grew worried. "No Sunset, it's not that! I was actually planning on waiting for any pony like you to come join me before I head back to Equestria, but unfortunately it appears the connection between this world and Equestria is broken."

"The reason for why your departure from CHS is delayed or canceled isn't my concern!" the sunny unicorn growled. "The point is, you owe me and every pony else an explanation! One explanation I'd like to hear is what happened to Rainbow Dash?"

"She..." he sighed. 'Great, way to keep things in control Sam. Now, everypony here desires to have the blindfold lifted from their eyes. Shesh, I'm getting real tired of explaining my whole situation again and again. Hopefully I won't have to explain so many things to everypony else I meet in the future after this.'

Feeling bad for keeping secrets, Sam took a deep breath and spilled whatever information that he thought was necessary to spill. His bond between Sunset Shimmer and the others felt too precious to lose over not complying to give away the truth. After all they've been through, he wasn't about to let the whole friendship thing go for Sunset. And as for Sunburst, Boyfriend, and even Lyra, they too deserved an explanation on the actual situation at hoof.

Sam said to them that the whole world was in danger, revealing that a demon would soon break free from the harmony seal and destroy Equestria including its separate alternate worlds. The students conveniently kept a closed mouth as they grew extremely anxious from inside, Sam noticing it just by their face. A few, however, didn't have much of a reaction to it all, meaning they weren't buying into it. But, it was to be expected that some may not believe such a story.

Then, he explained to them his purpose, knowing it is what they wanted to know since his first arrival. Gather all six of the stones and eradicate the demon. Very simply spoken, but is done with many complications and hardships.

At the end of his explanation the majority were satisfied, but at the same time in shock knowing that the end was near. However, Lyra Heartstrings and Sunset Shimmer were one of the few who believed there was more to it than what had been said. While they did believe him, there had to be a reason as to why this was all happening. Sunset believed Sam must've avoided the topic of his personal life, and avoided speaking of who had motivated him on such a quest. Her beliefs were true out of her knowledge. Sam was keeping his personal life away. For what reason? He didn't know. He also didn't speak of the past crimes he committed in Canterlot, and he most certainly didn't tell them about the world being nothing but a dream.

"Sam...what will you do now?" P. Celestia asked, her bandaged wound visible.

"I'm going to depart from this world and search for the next stone in line," he turned around, gauntlet and fingers pointed towards the mirror portal shards. First, he used the space stone to collect each piece and re-position each one in a certain position like a jigsaw puzzle. Secondly, he used the reality stone to attach each positioned shard together, and seal away any cracks. The mirror was fully repaired. But once Sam put a hand on the transporting glass, it was nonfunctional. "Hmmm," his finger and thumb rested below his chin, eyes closed in thought.

"What's wrong Sam? Did you forget to add a little missing shard?"

"No, I don't think so. It ain't working the way it should be, Lyra. I think I know why though," Sam remembered what took place in the Crystal Empire before he and Sunburst were left with no better option. "I think I'll have to do this the messy way," he turned to all the students. "Any of you ponies wanna come with and help?"

A show of hooves blew up into the air as Sam began counting each hoof in shock. Apparently, all of them wanted to be involved. He understood their fear of the world ending if nothing is done about it, but he wasn't expecting all of them to put their care into it. That is, unless many of them were just looking for a great excuse to skip school for the coming days.

"Then...I'll have to make a major readjustment if we're all planning to depart from this world."

"And what readjustment would that be, Sam?" P. Celestia trotted over to him. "I sure pray that it's safe for all my students."

Sam nodded in understanding. "It is safe, but... I need your permission on something."

"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow, cautious of his suggestion.

"If I'm going to transport every student to the Equestrian world, then I'll have to transport the entire school grounds as well. Every brick, wood, glass, wire, soil, grass, and school supplies in CHS's area must be transported."

P. Celestia eyed him. "Explain."

"Creating a portal to simply walk through isn't going to cut it. While I am capable of conjuring something like that with my two stones combined, there could however be great consequences."

"Like what exactly?" Sunburst intervened.

"Like a magical malfunction or imbalance. A magical malfunction could occur since we aren't using the actual magic mirror. The mirror's magic is needed to safely ensure the pony is a part of Equestria. So, instead of making sure they're a part of Equestria, I'll make sure they can be in Equestria while still being a part of this world by bringing a good chunk of this world to Equestria."

"What about the imbalance?"

"Well, if you haven't noticed there's hundreds of students willing to go. Many of them, will almost be identical to other ponies in Equestria; much like seeing clones of themselves. If that happens, then I fear the world will mistake the students as impostors or a similar unwelcoming entity and might resort to...elimination," Sam's mind trailed back to the Too Many Pinkie Pies episode. "Transporting the school to an empty plot on the Equestrian land could suffice well as a safe place to hide whenever the going gets rough."

"..." P. Celestia slightly frowned, but she understood the penalty of every choice available. "Well, if it's true that the fight isn't over. And the lives of my students depend on your success, then the school is all yours, Samuel."

An upraise of joy and excitement exploded in the crowd as many jumped up and down upon hearing the principal's agreement. Even Sam was a little thrilled to hear the good news.

"Alright. If nopony here is against what I'm about to do, then-"

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" a loud and obnoxious voice came into play. Sam gave his attention and saw a group of military folk galloping towards him, guns pointed in his direction. And Sam couldn't help but to tilt his head.

"WE HAVE YOU NOW, BOY! PUT YOUR HANDS OVER YOUR HEAD, NOW!" General Dan shouted.

'What in the world? Who are these hostiles?'

"Bleh. They're probably a bunch of violent fools. I think it would be best for us to find someplace more...quieter for our plans."

'Agreed.'

"Nah. I think we should deal with them first. If we show them our stuff, then they'll never think about bothering us again."

'...Rainbow Dash? Oh, phew. What a relief. You're still among the living. Well spiritually in actuality.'

"Uh, DUH! I don't go down so easily you know," Rainbow Dash claimed through the stone of reality.

For the sake of Sam's defense, Lyra Heartstrings, stepped in front of Sam and glared at the general. "Don't you dare think about hurting my future husband, Dan!"

'What?'

"Oh, I will if I have to, little mare! And I will hurt you too if you dare waste my time!" his hoof was right on the trigger of his gun.

"Oh yeah? Try me!" her horn sparkled and burned in rage. "You aren't going to hurt my lover until you get through with me."

'Lover? Me? Is she for real?'

"I believe she speaks the truth, Sam."

"Ew! Romance in the air is not helpful when it comes to flying."

The general gave a toothy grin towards the aggressive mare and her lover. "Okay. You want to act all tough. Then show me how tough you really are, little girly!" he wasted only a second to force the tip of his hoof to pull the trigger. Lyra closed her eyes and flinched as the general and his comrades began firing...bubbles?

"What the?!" the general caught the glowing red stone responsible for his unwanted bullet bubbles, his face growing vicious at the same time. "There it is! Do you see it, men?!" he asked his soldiers, then receiving several strict nods in response. "HA! I KNEW IT WAS YOU! YOU'RE THE ONE TO BLAME FOR THIS PONY CURSE! I SAW IT ALL WITH MY VERY EYES! THOSE STONES YOU CARRY ARE THE REASON FOR ALL OF THIS!"

Sam cringed lowering his left arm peacefully. "Uh, actually the reason why you're all ponies isn't because of-"

"Blah! Blah! Blah! BLAH! Shut your dam hole! I saw it all! You used that red one to change all these poor students back into their humanity, only to crush their desperate hopes by changing them back into pathetic ponies! What a monster you are!"

Sam stood still without a word as he took notice that the general was having a ridiculous persistence on false accusation.

'Oh, gosh. Why am I still here? Just to suffer through his crappy mouth? I already turned all of their ammo into soap bubbles for crying out loud.'

"AHEM!" Rarity exclaimed in Sam's head. "What happened to my idea?"

'Huh? Uhhh? Oh, yea! Find someplace quiet.'

The moment Sam stared off into space is when General Dan believed Sam wasn't taking him seriously. But before Dan could say or do anything, a portal similar to the one that had transported his truck to CHS a few hours ago, engulfed Sam and disappeared out of the general's sight. The boy had gotten away, and Lyra Heartstrings was still glaring at Dan.

"Now listen here you stubborn head. We don't need to put the blame on others. Nopony actually knows who or what is responsible for the pony transition that you deem a curse," Lyra said calmly, hoping to ease the general.

"Well, SOMEBODY out here needs to take responsibility for such an action. And I decide that the one who takes the blame is...that tall uneducated teenage boy," Dan stated firmly.

Sunburst eyed the general questionably. "Why? What proof do you have saying Sam's the one who did it?"

"PROOF?! Are you numskulls not going to even talk about what he did to all of you?! He reversed the curse that kept you as ponies, but then decided to reapply it after several seconds to destroy your spirits!"

V.P. Luna saw P. Celestia hesitating to act, so she decided to join the 'arguing at the general club' in Celestia's place. "Not true, general. The young boy was merely casting an illusion. He claims to have no way of truly reversing us back to our humanity, yet."

"You really believe that kind of lie from that liar?"

"Hey. Don't you dare start calling him names. Sam would never lie," Sunset Shimmer said to start backing up her friends. Her face grew stern after the general and his lackeys all faced her, ridicule written all over their faces.

The mare took a deep breath to build up the courage to speak up. "Listen. None of us really understand why you're here, but whatever the reason...no pony here cares. And additionally, I highly doubt someone as incompetent as you has any good reason to be harassing CHS and its students over something so old by now. It's final, we're ponies, and we should accept our fate rather than go insane trying to reverse the unchangeable. If you came here for the monsters, they've all been slain. And now it looks like you are here to shoot down good people instead."

"Exactly! It's your job to serve and protect! But your doing the opposite of that!" Lyra added.

"Baloney! I'm here to serve and protect you from that young, ignorant, and savage warlock! And I'll do whatever is needed to catch that son of a witch! And he will pay for what he's done to my truck when I catch him."

"General..." P. Celestia finally spoke up.

"WHAT?!" Dan shouted.

"While we are unfamiliar with these...horse appearances, we are happy no matter how we look in CHS. And accusing an innocent boy for such a crime is an incorrect behavior. I think it's best for everypony that you depart from this school right away."

The general's mood instantly grew sour. He saw the faces of disapproval and the dramatic head turns of disgust towards his presence, not realizing that he and his crew were never given a warm welcoming invitation to the school at all. But there was one mare of the entire crowd who's face appeared concerned. "Sticker..." his eyes pinned onto hers as he deeply admired her regards for him. Though, there was something he was willing to question. Was his own daughter on the right side?

"H-hey, dad," Sticker Picker said to her father timidly. She didn't know what to say, but she gave her full respectful attention.

Instantly, Dan dropped his empty rifle and ordered his troops to do the same. As many ponies began putting their intrigued attention on the father and daughter bond, Dan started questioning his daughter. "What are you doing hanging around with those low life suckers?"

Sticker gave him an uneasy glance and mumbled her words. "D-dad...they're my friends."

The general froze for a moment. And when he opened his mouth to respond, his words sounded calm but dangerously disturbing. "Excuse me? I thought you told me a tough girl like you doesn't require friends in her life. Oh, please don't tell me. Don't tell me you favor their side over me."

"I..." Sticker Picker froze for a moment as well, but it wasn't due to shock or disappointment. It was because she was scared out of her mind and she couldn't come up with anything else suitable to say other than the truth. "I do."

After that sentence, the general snapped into an intense rage, screaming and ranting like a mad man. "AH, #!%$! WHY?! JUST %!&#!@$ WHY?! FIRST, I LOSE MY TRUCK! THEN I END UP WASTING HALF AN HOUR OF MY TIME FOR NO DAM GOOD REASON! AND NOW MY DAUGHTER WHO I HAD JUST HOPED WOULD BE HAPPY TO SEE ME IS NOW AGAINST ME ON MY PERSONAL IMPORTANT MISSION!" Dan angrily stomped the ground with a hoof before he attempted to manage his rage. He breathed heavily as silence drew itself across the area and he couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt. "Dam...I'm pissed."

"D-dad. I'm sorry. Please, let's just go home." Sticker begged and trotted forward to offer him a loving hug. And while Dan's temper had cooled, he was still stressed and angered over the things that had occurred.

"Why do you have to be on their side? Why defend that magic abusing criminal?"

"He isn't a criminal dad! He's just...doing what needs to be done. And trying to hunt him down isn't going to work out. Did you see the way he disarmed you? If he was really a bad guy, then he would've killed you without any hesitation over such a threat," she coaxed.

"..." the general didn't say anything back.

---

Sam found himself standing on the school roof after the portal fulfilled its purpose. As the portal disappeared, he gazed around and admired the forest trees far far away from his reach. The roof, however, was quite bland in both cleanliness and structure wise, which made it difficult to admire over the forest. As much as Sam wanted to portal over to the forest, he couldn't. Not when time is almost at its limit. And while the roof was unpleasant, Sam knew the roof was the most convenient area to do what he was going to do.

With an inhale and exhale of oxygen, Sam focused his will and energy into the stones to manipulate the spatial area of the school and its existing matter.

"Here we go," Sam said to himself, unexpectedly getting a response by the two friendly mares connected to the stones.

"Do we have to go now?" Rainbow Dash grumbled in Sam's head. "A nice little break would've been nice you know."

'I know. But like I said, time isn't exactly on my side.'

"Sam is right Rainbow Dash. Our time is quite limited. And I'm sure as you and I recovered our memories, you have seen it as a vision. Am I correct?"

A mental gasp and nod is what Rainbow Dash could muster. She too saw it all; the absurd chaos, destruction, suffering, and darkness all combined was too much. And it all was going to happen because of one wicked being's ambition to inflict such a catastrophe. Though, while it did terrify her, the whole time she refrained from speaking about it. Mainly because, she feared being seen as a moron or a crazed lunatic.

'Ah, so you've seen the nightmare too. Hmm, good. That just tells me I'll have less explaining to do in the future.'

Energy radiated from Sam's gauntlet and he instantly planted a fist on the roof's surface. He felt a sort of pressure hit both the outside and inside of his well being as the earth began to quake. "You girls ready for this? Because I know this is going to be a real pain," Sam muttered, aware that the two mares will split and share the pain.

"Born ready!"

Rarity let out a quick sigh. "Yes. As long as it doesn't ruin my outside appearance, I'll endure."

With the consent from the two mares Sam couldn't help but nod and smile over the approval. "Then, les do dis!" he started raising his arm. Rarity and Rainbow Dash could now feel the hard pressure being applied on them, but it wasn't half as bad as they expected. After a few moments of nothing, CHS and its surrounding land rumbled and cracked.

It was like an earthquake for a few seconds until the supporting ground rose into the air and floated upwards, carrying the entire school along with it. And with his fist raised, Sam knowingly moved his fingers to open up his hand like a blooming flower, ready for a bee to collect its pollen. The bee in this case would be the giant portal that expanded high above into existence within a second after Sam's command.

There after, the portal did what it was supposed to do. The entire piece of land holding the school instantly got sucked up like juice and was transported out of the E.G. world and into the actual main world, Equestria. There the land remained infinitely floating somewhere above the badlands.

Sam gazed around as far as his eyes could look, hoping to find some use in doing so. Unfortunately, he saw nothing but cactus, sand, cactus, tumbleweed, dead trees, cactus, lifeless rocky mountains, more sand, and even more freaking cactus. Though despite the climate conditions and their lack of navigation, Sam still felt he had it in him for another journey of suffering. Thus, his optimism was kept in a stable condition.

"Job well done girls; I know y'all are tired after that."

"It indeed was unpleasant. Do you think you could've done it more...um, how do I say it?"

"More gentle?" Sam assumed.

"Yes! That would be the word! Right on it!" Rarity giggled. "And maybe try to avoid digging much of the earth from underneath. I must say the various foundation below the school is nothing but a mess with all of those crumbling rocks falling down one by one. It very much reminds me of my uncomfortable time with those smelly dogs who dig rocks for a living," she deadpanned.

"Oh come onnnnn, Rarity! Can't you see how awesome this is! We are standing on an entire floating island that isn't supported by clouds! And we're the ones who made it possible!"

"Yes, well. There are many dangers when it comes to a floating island such as this. One being that this island is filled with a potential risk of collapsing at any moment."

"Psh! Yea, right. Since when did a floating island like Cloudsdale ever crumble down?"

"Maybe during the incident with Discord."

"Okay, yea, but it's DISCORD. He can do basically almost anything. But I doubt that an abomination like Discord will have any business at this floating place."

"Heh, you may wanna think about that twice, Dash. He's been looking for me for a while now. And I don't think he can afford to wait any longer," Sam claimed, continuing his walk down the stairs as the two of them continued their gossip over the Lord of chaos.

As he took the last set of steps down to reach the first floor of CHS, something buzzed and vibrated in his pocket.

*Familiar ringtone music*

Sam paused, stared off into space, and remembered what it was. With an 'oh' and finger pointed upward, he reached into his pockets and took out the chaos phone for the second time.

"Hello?" Sam didn't know what to say at this point. He could only hope that Discord wasn't going to be shoving away some steam on the other end of the line.

"No need for greetings or apologies, there isn't any time for those," Discord said in a weak tone. "Where are you?"

What? He's not mad at me?

"Uhhhhh, I'm on a floating island somewhere in the middle of Equestria's wasteland," Sam answered.

"Does the island by any chance have a school?"

Sam's eyes grew wide, realizing Discord may have already found him. "Uh, yes it does!"

"Hmmm," he hummed mischievously with an added cackle before saying one word. "Perfect."

"Perfect? What do you mean?" Sam asked with his confusion building up. "Aren't you mad at me for taking so long to get back in Equestria?"

"Oh, forget about that," the Lord of chaos took a hard breath as if his lungs were in need of treatment. "I'd like to speak to you about your...ehm, nemesis. I will be waiting for you below your floating isle. You can take all the time you need up there and give a nice goodbye to any pony you care about," he let out an incredulous cough before finishing the call. "See you, Samuel."

*Call Ended*

Sam put the phone in his left pocket. And after he did that he quickly sprinted across the halls and followed every helpful sign to reach the main doors. The two mares inside of the stones were chatting to themselves in a whispered voice to prevent Sam from hearing the conversation. But did Sam care at his point in time? No.

When he made it to the main entrance/exit, hesitation filled his heart to open the doors to the outside, because if he remembered correctly there was an aggressive pony with an army after his tail. Now the only question Sam could focus on was why he was being hunted.

He stood nervously still for a moment but decided to be brave and go out. The sudden attention upon his exit out of the school caught him off guard. His uncomfortable levels were on the rise as many ponies stared at him in almost every degree angle he faced. But even so, he kept his cool and spoke up in a way he thought was best.

"Hello every pony," Sam waved to them. "How was the ride? None of y'all got hurt during it did you?"

Good gosh. Playing the nice guy sure is tough when your talking to a crowd of strangers like you're some control freak.

'I honestly would feel the same if I were in your shoes, heh.'

'...What?' Sam searched around the crowd for the mysterious voice in his head. 'Who's saying that to me?'

"Hey you, Sam is it?" a deep voice came interrupting Sam's curiousity as he turned to the general who had previously pointed a gun at his head.

"Uh, yea that's me. What do you want?"

"I want to...apologize."

Sam raised an eyebrow in surprise and stood there patiently for the general's explanation. He was willing to hear out the reason why all of the general's hate was pressured on him specifically. By any chance, the reason could be because of one of Nightmare's terrible doings in terms of manipulation on others. At least that is what Sam had in mind at first.

"Look, today really has not been my day. And to witness all of these magical myths which came to life is...something. I'm not saying I'm impressed, but I am saying that I'll stay out of it for now."

"Uh, so you're saying you'll stay out of my way? Well that's cool. After all, the more enemies that decide to stop being my enemy; the less bull crap I'll have to deal with, haha," Sam put a finger under his chin and then his mind wandered to a negative way of thinking. "Ah, but now that I think about it. If I have less enemies to deal with, then I'll have less strength to gain for my own potential."

General Dan blinked and awkwardly cleared his throat. "Ehem, anyways my name's general Dan. I originally came here to eliminate the monsters and rescue any survivors. Of course because of your 'magic' I started to get a little carried away, especially since it involved the end of my truck. And I guess my anger led to me hunting you down even though you weren't part of the objective," he then received a hoof bump by the shoulder and he turned his attention to his daughter. She glared at him eerily before quietly pointing at Sam in a certain way. Dan caught on and sighed before pity crossed his face as he looked Sam in the eyes. "I'm sorry."

'Wait, did he say something about a truck? What truck?' Sam couldn't remember until Rarity gave away the past info.

"Sam, I believe he's referring to the truck that we used to subdue that hideous skeleton several hours ago."

'Oh, yea! I remember now. Thanks Rarity.'

She chuckled at his nice attitude. "No need to thank me all the time. I think I'm starting to understand your forgetful side quite well, darling."

The interesting company was making Sam smile to say the least. There really wasn't any reason to frown or get angry since many of them were putting their trust in him. Even though he knew there were still many more enemies to come, he wanted to savor this moment of peace.

"Well um, apology accepted. But shouldn't I be the one who should be sorry? I am the one who ruined your truck."

"That may be true, but..." Sticker Picker interfered and trotted next to her Dad's side. "I believe you had your reasons for doing it."

Sam turned to the mare and interestingly enough remembered her from the medical room.

Ah, it's her again.

"Wasn't it because of that ax wielding skeleton?" she murmured.

"Well, yes, actually. I had to find some way to put him down. And there honestly weren't any better things to throw at that tough pile of nonliving bones."

Sticker smirked and hugged Dan by his side. "See dad. He didn't mean any harm. Plus, just because a lot of crazy stuff happened last night, it doesn't mean we can't be together."

Dan took a heavy breath and calmly released the air out of his lungs. "I...guess you're right. Maybe I do need to control my temper more."

As the father and daughter hugged it out, things started to become peaceful and agreeing. Many who watched the two lovers couldn't stop themselves from at least letting out a tear.

Welp, looks like I'm free from any liability from the military or whatever they are. Though there's no time to celebrate, sadly. I better pick up the pace otherwise I'll be keeping my man Discord waiting.

The boy slowly and gently walked his way through the crowd. He had been through many crowds where no one was thinking about him, but this time...every pony was thinking about him. And he couldn't exactly describe the feeling of being noticed by hundreds of individuals. Feeling proud, uncomfortable, envied, or loved were in a mix of his present emotions as he tried to keep focus.

To his own amusement, he could sense Rarity and Rainbow Dash having utter positive thoughts of being noticed and respected by so many ponies at once. It was strange to Sam. Being able to feel others feelings that aren't even his. But their connection through the stones which were connected to his very being only made sense.

'Alright you happy mares. How do y'all wanna do this?'

"Do what exactly?"

'You know. Make a way down to the surface.'

"Well, we should refrain from using portals for that," Rarity suggested. "They will only be a temporary solution, and I personally had enough casting portals for the day."

Sam nodded his head with a tightened closed lip to show his understanding. "If we aren't going to use portals then I guess we'll have to.......UHHHH.......!"

Facing directly towards the unusable mirror, Sam locked a gaze on a familiar red manned alicorn, who stood motionless in the sudden eyes of everypony that noticed her presence. In P. Celestia's awareness, it would seem the same pony responsible for the pony transition spell had made a return.

The tall alicorn focused on Sam and looked at him with lifeless eyes.

"You have certainly made quite a mess since you arrived, Samuel. But you have also made a great amount of progress in your quest."

"You..."

The alicorn nodded. "Yes. It is me."

"Who are you?"

"You still don't remember me? Hmph. That's twice in a row."

"No I do; back in the Crystal Empire. I saw you. You used a highly advanced magic spell and sealed away the whole empire in a matter of minutes," he claimed trying to recall other memories of her appearance. "And...while I was sleeping in a changeling pod, I believe I dreamed of you. So I know you based on appearance. But who you are to me personally is what I want to know about you."

"Who am I to you?" the alicorn giggled. "I was the Tree of Harmony."

---

☜☠❄☼✡ ☠🕆💣👌☜☼ ❄☟☼☜☜

Apparently while I was not on watch, Subject 9 formed a friendly relationship with Subject 3 (Boyfriend) and Subject 5 (CopyCat). It was completely out of my predictions, but I highly doubt their ridiculous bonds will have any negative outcomes later on. However, I do believe I should take precaution over their unknown future choices and their current status.

By observing the files stolen from her, I can see that Subject 9 has been gaining a stat known as PP, A.K.A. Power Points. Similar to what you would expect in those virtual childish games, these points determine an individual's level of power, control, and destructive or creative capabilities.

In truth, Power Points are only obtainable by eliminating foes who pose a threat. Depending on how strong an opponent is, will result in the fair amount of PP given to the chosen one.

Currently, throughout 9's quest these files also show he had formed a friendly circle consisting of ponies. Conveniently, their identities are even shown. I can look at their names, appearances, origins, talents, and even goals. My personal favorite out of 9's friends would have to be Sunburst.

Interestingly enough, this unicorn possesses an excessive amount of knowledge, ranging in magic spells, historical events, and even the CRYSTEM process I have been using to aid Subject 9.

But all of that aside, I'm impressed at 9's growth. Though, he is still far from becoming the being I desire him to become. Concerning, Subject 2, Subject 5, and ESPECIALLY Subject 6, I might want to consider coming up with a plan B in case Subject 9 fails to comply with his objectives. After all, I fear that this friendship, Subject 9 is getting a little attached to, might lead to many problems and great disobedience. And with great disobedience, may come great recklessness with the power he will earn.