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// Chapter 8: The Grand Galloping Gala Part 3-Meeting Patchwork 
// Story: Universe Mishap of the Magical Kind 
// by Zeprto678 
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Chapter 8: Grand Galloping Gala Part 3-Meeting Patchwork

I was standing a few feet away from a rift in time and space. Luckily, the rift itself was weak enough to not pull anyone nearby through.

I sighed in relief. “Phew. For a minute there, I thought there was going to be trouble,” I said. I decided to take a closer look at the rift. Once I was close enough, I looked into it and saw something.

The rift led to the inside of a cell room. Inside the room was a stallion, who didn’t look like a normal pony at all. He had stitches on different parts of his body. Also, 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, and his mane was short and was in four different colors: purple, red, green, and blue. Also, around his neck was some sort of a sophisticated, electronic metal collar. The stallion looked miserable. 

I decided to get his attention. “Hey, you okay?” I asked.

The stallion’s eyes widened in surprise. He got up quickly and looked around. “Hello? Who’s there?!” he asked. 

It seems that he also had a yellow dragon’s tail with a green spade at the end, two blue and one red-colored dragon spine on his back and three different colored ones on his tail too, and no Cutie Mark.

“Looks like he can hear me through the rift,” he thought. “Interesting.”,

The stallion saw that there was no one around except him. “Must’ve been hearing things.” He was about to lay down on the floor again.

I decided to get his attention again. “Hey. Over here,” I called out.

The stallion’s ears shot up, and then he quickly turned and looked in the direction of where my voice was coming from, which was to his right, but was also the back wall of his cell.

“Yeah, this way,” I called out again.

It seems that the stallion was now weirded out. He thinks he has gone crazy. “Uh, is anyone there?” he asked.

“Yes, but also no,” I responded. “You’re not hearing things. I’m contacting you from another universe through a rift in time and space.”

He was confused. “Another universe?” repeated the stallion. “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,” I 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,” I said. Then, my tone became serious. I wanted to help him out no matter what. “So, my question to you is this: Do you need help?”

The stallion was silent for a moment before he made a decision. “Yes, I need your help,” he said. “Will you help me?”

I looked around to see if there were any ponies, or Fluttershy, nearby. Once there was no one nearby, I quickly returned back to the rift. Since Fluttershy wasn’t around, that means that she went inside the castle, and Amber did her part of the plan.

The stallion looked worried. “H-Hello? Are you still there, voice?” he asked.

“Yeah, sorry,” I 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?” the stallion asked.

“It’s some kind of a fancy party that the ponies hold in Canterlot Castle once a year,” I explained.

The Gala sounded even more interesting to him. “Wow. Sounds like a good 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,” I complained. “It needs more excitement or else it’ll be dull for my first time attending.”

He noticed frustration in the tone of my voice. “Never mind then,” he said.

I looked back at the castle where Twilight and her friends were having fun at their first Gala, and then I chuckled. “Actually, right now it’s a little more exciting since all of my friends are having fun,” I said. “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.”

The stallion then smiled. “Wish I was there to see it,” he said. He 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.”

I then remembered our original conversation. “Oh, right. Like I said before, I’ll help you,” I said.

He 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,” he informed.

I chuckled. “Don’t underestimate me,” I said. “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.”

The stallion 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, I decided a snack might help. My horn glowed as it emitted my magic aura, which then went into the air and swirled around as it headed for my outstretched right hoof. Once it was on my hoof, the magic aura itself started shaping and becoming solid. A few seconds later, it became a bunch of gummy worms.

“Mmm, gummy worms,” I thought. I snacked on a few. “Too bad I can’t turn the collar into gummy. He could just remove it soon after, freeing him.” I then had an idea. “I’ve got it. I’ll just temporarily transform the collar into some kind of elastic gummy.” There was another kind of magic, other than magic involving food, that my character could use.

The stallion was confused again, this time with my idea. “Elastic gummy?” He repeated. “Do you want me to eat it?”

I shook my head, but then I remembered that he can’t see me. “No, it’s so you could pull it up from around your neck,” I explained.

He thought about it. “What if it doesn’t work?” he asked.

I had a serious look on my face. “Then I’ll come over there and force whoever's holding you captive to free you,” I said with a serious tone. “But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

The stallion smiled a little. “Thanks, whoever you are,” he said. “You’re way nicer than Doctor Honey Skull.”

I smiled. “No problem,” I replied. “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 that collar. Once the time limit is over, I’ll turn it back to normal.”

“I understand,” he said. “How much time will I have?”

I thought about it while looking at him. “Fifteen seconds might do it,” I guessed. “Think you could do it?”

He looked down but was also determined. “Let’s hope so. This is my only hope at freedom,” he muttered.

I started to concentrate hard as I focused on the other magic deep within me. After a minute or two, my horn glowed with a yellow-colored aura. Now that I was able to access the other type of magic, I then began collecting the magic into my horn as I stored it away for the spells I was going to use. 

“Can’t be too little yet not too much,” I thought. If it’s too little, it’ll take too long to gather up magic again, but if it’s too much, my magic will go out of control.

After a few more minutes, I had enough magic ready to cast four spells. “I’ve built up enough magic for the spell,” I called out. “Ready?”

Patchwork nodded. “Go for it,” he responded.

Once I had my horn aimed perfectly, I then fired out a beam of magic, which traveled through the rift and hit his metal collar. After a few seconds, his collar started to transform into a gummy version of itself. I then stopped the beam.

I started a mental timer. “Now!” I 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. 

I was worried, but I knew Patchwork would make it. “You can do it,” I 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.

I then fired out a beam of magic, which traveled through the rift and hit his metal collar again. After a few seconds, it turned back to normal.

Patchwork was smiling, but then he had an angry look on his face as he looked at the collar. He 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,” I said. I then became curious about something. “So, where will you go now after this?” I asked. It was because I was also concerned about him. 

Even if he escapes outside the lab, it’s only a matter of time until he’s found again by his imprisoner. She might have some way to track him down even if he was somewhere in his Equestria.

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.

I felt bad for him and was silent until I had another idea. “Well...Why not come with me?” I asked. “I could use a guard.”

He seemed interested. “A guard? Like a bodyguard you mean?” asked Patchwork.

“Something like that, but more important,” I said. 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,” I said. “Once you do, let me know.”

It was a while until Patchwork made his decision. “How much time would you need to open the rift?” he asked.

I thought about it. “I guess it would take four or five minutes to focus my magic onto the rift instead of through it,” I 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.

I answered quickly without thinking it over. “Of course I would,” I said. “I wouldn’t let her get her hooves on you. Even if she does, I’d rescue you without a single thought.” I was serious about it all. I wouldn’t let this Doctor Honey Skull get her hooves on him.

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,” I greeted. “Welcome aboard…” 

I was silent for a few seconds when I realized that we never introduced ourselves to each other. I then started laughing.

Patchwork was a little confused about why I was laughing. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

I then cleared my throat after I 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. He chuckled a little. “I guess it is funny,” he commented. “The name’s Patchwork. What’s yours?”

“Well, my real name’s Foodie Love,” I said. “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,” I said. But then I realized something. “Hey!”

Patchwork smiled. “Kidding,” he said.

“Oh, ha-ha. Very funny,” I said sarcastically. “Now, wait for me to open the rift.”

He chuckled. “Fine, I can wait,” said Patchwork.

I began to concentrate as I emitted the magic aura from my horn as more of a wave at the rift.

After less than five minutes, the rift fully opened as a portal in front of me. 

I panted. “I did it,” I thought. My left 

Patchwork was shocked when he saw it.

“Hurry up!” I shouted. 

He snapped out of his shock. “Coming!” announced Patchwork. Before he walked through, he looked behind him with a face full of disdain. “I hope your life becomes much worse than the life you put me through, Doctor. Goodbye.” 

Patchwork ran through the portal and landed on the ground. I was relieved that he made it. “Get out of the way so I can close this thing,” I ordered. 

He quickly got out of the way. I then released a wave of magic aura from my horn again. It came into contact with the portal, and after a few seconds, the portal closed as it was reverted back to its initial state.

I gave off a tired sigh as I felt drained from using a lot of my magic. “Hello, Patchwork,” I greeted. “It’s nice to talk to you face-to-face instead of through the rift.” I held out a hoof for him to shake.

There was one thing on Patchwork’s mind that he was confused about. “Why are you dressed up like a mare?” he asked.

“I decided to crossdress for the Gala is all,” I explained. “Why?”

“Well, you look good dressed up like a mare,” complimented Patchwork.

I blushed. “Thanks,” I muttered. “Follow me. It’s time I introduced you to everyone at the Gala as one of my Royal Guards.”

He was confused. “Royal?” he questioned. Then Patchwork quickly realized that I was an alicorn. “Right, you’re an alicorn. I was told that alicorns are royalty.”

I was a little weirded out by his comment. It was like someone drilled that information into him. “Uh, yeah. We are,” I said. I then noticed that Patchwork acted a bit odd. “Nervous?”

He rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. “Well...it's not everyday that I’ve gone from a prisoner to a Royal Guard in just a day,” said Patchwork.

“Don’t worry, Patchwork. You’ll do just fine,” I assured.

The two of us headed towards the castle. While we were walking away, we didn’t notice that the color of the rings of my pupils turned into a golden yellow color, while the pupils themselves turned into slits like they belonged to a beast. Meanwhile, cracks had started to appear on Discord’s statue right where I had placed my hoof earlier. Then, evil laughter came from the statue itself.