Church was awoken by a light knock on his door. Knowing it to be Twilight, he yawned loudly to tell her he was awake before turning to look outside. She slowly opened the door and saw him looking towards Ponyville.
"This is a terrible idea." Church muttered disdainfully. "What time is it?"
"Around noon." Twilight said quietly. "Are you ready to go?"
"I guess so." Church said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Think you can just send me by myself? I can just get Delta to send us back, and there is no real reason for you to go too."
"If that's what you want. Are you sure you don't want something to eat before you go?"
"No, I'll just be left to my thoughts again if I do that." Church said with a forced smile. "The longer they stay down there, the more I worry bout what they're going to do to the people who live here."
"I'm sure it will be fine." Twilight said, though she was unable to hide the doubt in her voice.
"I know how you feel." Church coughed. He then smirked to himself and chuckled. "You should send me there before I decide I want to leave them down there."
"Okay." Twilight said as she closed her eyes, thinking about the catacombs.
The room flashed purple and Church found himself standing at the bottom of the steps to the catacombs. He looked ahead and saw the other fragments in separate corners of the room, keeping their distance from each other.
At least they haven't killed each other yet. Church thought to himself. Church then coughed loudly, drawing the attention of the others.
"I thought you would be back sooner." Sigma chuckled. "I was beginning to miss you."
"Shut up Sigma." Church barked.
"Keep that up and you'll hurt my feelings."
"Have you decided on an outcome?" Theta asked as he walked towards Church.
"Yes." Church said with a nod, telling the others to listen. "We're going to let you go and try and live in this world."
"Not like you would be able to stop me from doing so anyways." O'Malley smiled.
"Does that mean you won't torture me?" Sigma asked boringly, already knowing O'Malley's answer.
"In your dreams." O'Malley hissed.
"But there are conditions." Church said loudly, interrupting O'Malley's and Sigma's train of thought.
"Conditions?" Gary asked quietly.
"Yes, conditions. The first one is you are not allowed to hurt anyone." Church said flatly. He turned his eye to O'Malley and narrowed his eyes. "That means you."
"I cannot make any promises." O'Malley sniffed.
"The second condition is that you have to stay near Ponyville."
"Ponyville?" Gary laughed. "And I though shisno's were unoriginal!"
"You... want us to stay near?" Sigma asked curiously.
"You heard what Theta said. He thinks the further you go, the weaker you get. But I'm not telling you to stay near for your own safety. We are going to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't do anything bad."
"What will you do if we do?" O'Malley asked.
"I still haven't decided." Church sighed. His eyes snapped open and he looked around the room.
"What is it?" Tex asked.
"Hang on." Church muttered. He walked up to one of the adjacent rooms that had iron doors with large lock mechanisms near them. "Delta, have you explored any of this place?"
"No, I have not had the time." Delta replied.
"How about you Theta?"
"While I was waiting for you, yes." Theta nodded. "There are no exits to the other rooms."
"Do you think we can lock them in them then?"
"Perhaps." Theta said, then his eyes flickered. "And since the castle has fallen apart on top of the exit-"
"-there is no way for them to get out seeing as none of them have the ability to use magic." Delta nodded slowly. "I suppose that this would be the best course of action."
"Are there any other conditions?" Sigma asked reluctantly, not wanting to accept.
"Only one really. Keep a low profile. Don't draw attention to yourself. When people ask who you are, tell them you're visiting from out of town."
"It will look a bit odd considering they do not have their markings yet." Delta pointed out.
"They didn't seem to care when we went out in public." Church shrugged.
"That is because you very rarely went out. You mostly kept to yourself."
"What about the others? Sarge got his marking when he was in public."
"But he got it very quickly when he harmed that one stallion. The colors of the shield are almost the same as his fur, so the civilians may have thought that they just not had noticed. Simmons got his marking when he was with Rarity in her boutique, and I do not believe he ever really left it during his stay here. Caboose got his marking in front of you and the others."
"What about the Cakes? Wouldn't they have noticed?"
"I am not sure, but perhaps they never really saw him since they spend so much time working."
"Grif was with Zecora when he got his."
"Zecora keeps to herself, and I am sure she has seen a lot stranger than that."
"Tucker got his in a crowd of hundreds. You can't tell me that nobody noticed that."
"That one is a bit harder to explain. When he first entered the stadium that there were many ponies nearby, so maybe none of them had a direct view of him."
"But he flew in front of all of them."
"Perhaps none of them caught a clear view of it since he was flying too fast and was too far away." Delta suggested. "Then when he went through the cloud he was covered in soot, or whatever that black substance is, so any of the nearby pegasi would not have been able to see his flank. But you are asking the others to try to live in the town in plain sight, where they will be walking freely without them."
"There is nothing else we can do." Church grunted.
"There are always alternatives." Delta said quietly, then sighed. "But I am afraid all of them are less beneficial than this one. I am not to keen on allowing them to roam free at the same time."
"What if we release them individually?" Theta asked. "We could allow one out, and once they have adapted, release another."
"And if we do it that way we do not have to worry about keeping an eye on more than one of them." Delta nodded. "I believe that is the best we can hope for."
"Who will go first?" Sigma asked warily.
"I would recommend Allison seeing as she is the most trustworthy of the others. Theta and I are still needed to watch over the others. After Allison is settled she can help watch over the others when it is their turn."
"Who is going to go up after me?" Tex asked.
"I would suggest Gary." Theta answered. "He is the lesser of the three evils."
"Then after Gamma I would suggest either Theta or myself, leaving one of us to make sure Omega does not incapacitate Sigma permanently." Delta continued. "Between Omega and Sigma I would suggest Omega as he is more predictable."
"And after that Sigma and I can come up together."
"Tex, Gary, Delta, O'Malley, then Theta and Sigma. I guess that's the best we can do." Church nodded briefly. He turned to Tex and coughed. "Ready to go?"
"No, I think I want to sit in this dusty, crumbling building some more." Tex said sarcastically.
"I wish you luck Allison." Delta said, closing his eyes.
A green flash filled the room, and Church and Tex vanished. After a few seconds they opened their eyes and found themselves near the library. Tex looked at the creamy blue sky, where there were barely any clouds. She looked off in the distance and saw a castle perched on a mountain, the brightness of it causing her to narrow her eyes. She looked away from it and looked at the nearby town, where she could see dozens of buildings, each one adorning a brightly colored roof. Church looked over to Tex and motioned his head towards the library, before walking towards the entrance.
"This place is too damn colorful." Tex sighed annoyingly.
"Yeah, it is." Church nodded in agreement. "But you get used to it."
"I highly doubt that."