Note: Sorry for posting this so late! I had some things I had to do. Okay, so I got a fairly even amount of "yes" and "no" replies to putting up more "Recollections" chapters... Sooooooo... I suppose I will have to think about it for a bit. In the meantime, enjoy the latest chapter!

Dimension: My Little Pony

Planet: Equestria Earth

Specific Location: Ponyville

Time: A day after the arrival of Doxia

Samuel pressed his ears against his skull and skulked behind Luna as they trotted into Ponyville. Samuel had fully expected to have been accosted by the pink party pony Pinkie Pie when they had entered the town, but nothing had happened. Seeing his surprise and assuming correctly the reason for the said surprise, Luna said, "Pinkie Pie is not here right now. She is off on a mission in the Crystal Empire."

Samuel blinked in acknowledgement and then looked away begrudgingly. He still didn't understand why Luna had taken such an interest in him, and hated her for it.

"Where are we going?" he said irately as they continued through the town. As he said so, he recoiled from an interested glance from Vinyl Scratch as she was passing by as if her vision had been laced with acid.

"We are going to Flaming Star. He should know what to do with you," replied Luna briskly, ignoring the surprised glances that were cast her way.

"Flaming Star? The firstborn… great," snorted Samuel derisively as he continued to skulk behind Luna.

"You know of him?"

"Sort of. I've been trying to avoid him like I've been trying to avoid everyone else."

As they passed by, Sweetie Bell and the Cutie Mark Crusaders passed by.

"Oh wow! Princess Luna!" exclaimed Sweetie Bell, "It's nice to see you here! Thanks for helping me out with those dolphins in that dream!"

Luna smiled and passed on by. Samuel tried to sneak by as well, but was immediately noticed by Scootaloo.

"Woah… Who are you?" she asked enthusiastically.

Samuel winced at the new amount of attention being heaped upon him, but he said, "I'm a no pony. Just ignore me."

Scootaloo then noticed his cutie mark – why must this sound so feminine? – And said, "Cool! You're ANOTHER dimensional traveler! What did I tell you, Apple Bloom? This is practically a hot spot for those guys now ever since that Paradox thingy showed up at the Tree of Harmony!"

Samuel sighed as Apple Bloom exclaimed, "Yeah, I suppose yer right. What are you doin' here, mister?"

"Please, don't call me mister," replied Samuel, "in fact don't call me anything at all. Right now I am being held hostage by Princess Luna here, so I really must be going."

He glanced at Luna, who understood that the attention was making him quite uncomfortable. She nodded and said to the CMC, "We really must be going now, little ones."

She turned tail and trotted off again, with Samuel following.

"What's yer name?!" yelled Apple Bloom in a last ditch attempt to learn something about the mysterious pony.

Samuel sighed and called back, "My few friends in Fillydelphia called me Caustic Rain!"

He then rounded a corner with Luna. The moment the CMC were out of sight, he exhaled deeply and said, "I really hope that doesn't happen again."

"It will not… we're here," said Luna promptly coming to a stop in front of Flaming Star's house. Samuel hadn't been looking where he was going, so he ran head first into her backside. He fell hard to the ground. He then staggered up, mumbling an apology of some sort, and shook his head to clear it. At that moment Twilight trotted out.

"Hello Princess Luna!" she said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"I am here to bring this young pony to see Flaming Star, Princess Twilight Sparkle," replied Luna, indicating Samuel with a glance.

Samuel grimaced but said, "Pleased to meet you."

Twilight gave him a huge smile and called into the house, "Dear! Somepony is here to see you!"

Flaming Star promptly trotted out of the house at the sound of his fiancée's voice. He immediately noticed Luna and Samuel.

"Greetings, Princess Luna," he said, "Who is this?"

"This is Samuel Dellor, or as we called him here before, Caustic Rain."

"Samuel Dellor? That work-crazy traveler? Er… I mean… hi!" said Flaming Star, a little confused.

Samuel just looked away, grumbling.

Flaming Star trotted off the porch of his house and stopped directly in front of Samuel, making it difficult for him to avoid eye-contact. He then said, "Samuel? What are you doing here? What is going on?"

Samuel sighed and sat down, saying, "Well, I lived here myself for a couple of years in Fillydelphia. I kept mostly to myself and hid my infinity-shaped cutie mark. However, after Sunset Shadow showed up and fought Abbadon, I thought the heat was on, so I left with my friend Tiffany. However, we were almost immediately caught in the crossfire of an interdimensional gang war with some demons, and Tiffany was killed. I would have been killed by a group demons myself if I hadn't been saved by Archangel Michael, who showed up out of nowhere. He then told me to come back here. I was then found by Princess Luna and brought here."

Flaming Star took in the information calmly, though his eyes had widened for a spell when Archangel Michael had been mentioned. He then nodded his head, almost sagely, as he said, "I see. Well, do you know where Archangel Michael is as of now? Do you know what he is doing?"

"I don't know where he is, but he did mention something about preparing to wage war against the Paradox or something stupid," snorted Samuel, "Can you believe it? Heaven against the Paradox, our leader? This is crazy. The only reason I did what he said was because he had just saved my life… and… well… because he's a freaking Archangel."

"Samuel," said Twilight Sparkle softly, "The Paradox IS evil. He tried to kill me and destroy everything."

"She speaks the truth," said Flaming Star, "I, Sunset Shadow, and the Brothers in Arms corps are right now staging a rebellion against the Paradox, and are in danger by doing so. Did you check your recent updates on your traveler's database?"

"I rarely check that idiotic and useless thing," said Samuel derisively as he opened it up and projected it front of his face. He then spotted the "wanted" update. He read it quickly and nodded his head.

"That's a valuable prize," he commented airily, actually in no way tempted by the reward for turning against the firstborn and his friends, "Are you worried?"

Flaming Star shook his head. "Not necessarily yet," he said, "We, as of yet, have… backup."

There was then an awkward pause that lasted a couple of minutes. Finally it was broken by Twilight who said, "Samuel… or, er, Caustic Rain… do you have a place to stay?"

"Please, call me Caustic Rain, that is what I respond to more since my time in the My Little Pony dimension," said Samuel, or Caustic Rain. Then he replied to the question by saying, "And… no. I do not have a place to stay, but I don't really expect to be here for long…"

"You could stay with me, Caustic Rain," interjected Flaming Star, quickly warming up to the new name.

Caustic Rain shook his head and said, "Oh, no, I think I will be fine…"

"He will be fine, thank you," interrupted Luna, "He will be staying with me."

There was a long pause.

"He is?" asked Flaming Star.

"He will be?" said Twilight.

"I will?" gaped Caustic Rain.

Luna nodded her head calmly. "You will. Come, we must go."

Caustic Rain immediately thought up a thousand different types of excuses, and was about to tell her to go to hell when he thought about the offer seriously for a moment. After a split-second of really struggling with his emotions, he sighed deeply and said, "Very well. I will go with you."

Luna blinked in acknowledgment, indicating that she had fully expected that response, and beckoned to Caustic Rain. Caustic Rain, a little numb mentally because of the news he had just received, followed her in a state of shock. Naturally he had heard of the great Princesses and their home in Canterlot Castle, and had seen the Princesses' pictures in the newspapers and on the Equestrian Internet, but he had never dreamed of meeting them… or even wanted to. And now he was following Princess Luna to Canterlot where he would be staying… Absolutely ridiculous and unreal.

He shook his head and sped up his canter so that he was soon moving through Ponyville side-by-side with Luna. As he did so, he said, "Why are you doing this? Why do you care so much about my wellbeing?! Why don't you just go bother some pony else?!"

Luna sighed as she said, "I worry about you, Caustic Rain. The things that you have suffered are unnerving, and they have changed you in terrible ways. I want to fix that… before you become something else… before you become something evil."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I became evil once because the seeds of discontent and anger had been sown within me as well. I can see those very sprouts bursting within you… but I can stop it."

"Has it ever occurred to me that I don't want your help?"

"It has, but I will not let it stop me. You are coming to stay with me in Canterlot castle, and I think you will do very little to stop that."

Caustic Rain opened his mouth to retort harshly when he realized that she was right: he was mad, and he hated her for what she was doing, but he probably couldn't stop following her even if he tried. He closed his mouth tightly for a moment, and was about to open it again when a blast of pure light blossomed forth before him and Princess Luna on the road they were trotting towards where she had her chariot parked. It was Archangel Michael. Despite the absolute awe and terror that any angel of the Celestial Heaven inspired, Luna fought her urge to flee and actually placed her defensively between Michael and the absolutely stunned Caustic Rain.

"You are protecting Samuel, young mare… I am deeply impressed by your care and bravery," commented Michael lightly, not even close to being fazed by Luna's weak but heartfelt attempt to protect Caustic Rain.

Caustic Rain recovered from his momentary bout of shock and shook his head vigorously to clear the bright spots blinking in his vision. He trotted up to Luna, who was still eyeing Michael and looked at her. She had literally confronted an angel to protect him, and it touched him more than he had probably been touched before in his life. He put a hoof on her shoulder and whispered, "Thank you."

He then turned to look at Michael and said, "Sorry, I was a little shocked by your sudden arrival. What is it that you need?"

Michael didn't immediately respond. He was still looking at Luna with an air of interest and compassion. "Stay with that young mare, Samuel, she is more wonderful than you yet know, I can see it."

He continued to look at Luna with an interested air as his angelic eyes blazed into her from the shadows of his great gold and silver helmet. He was still looking at her curiously when he said to Caustic Rain, "You go by Caustic Rain now, do you not? It is not relevant, I suppose. I want to let you know that there are about four Elite Phasetroopers running amok on the planet, three of the here in Equestria. The Paradox probably knows by now that I have arrived from the heaven dimension, and will try to perceive my intensions using his agents placed here. I need you to keep a lookout as you continue to dwell here. I will return momentarily to Heaven to report my current findings, but I will most certainly be back. You will be my ambassador between Heaven and the mortals. Do you understand?"

Caustic Rain shook his head as he said, "Why me?"

"Why not you?" said Michael, "You perhaps have your shortcomings, but Heaven has chosen you to do it. I will not slow you any longer…"

Michael suddenly was surrounded by bands of light energy that encompassed his whole body. Then he was gone.

Caustic Rain was about to turn around when a portal opened up and Doxia stepped through. Once again Luna readied herself to protect Caustic Rain. Once again, the entering being was impressed by her heart-felt attempt to defend her ward.

Doxia looked at Luna for a moment, a little surprised that anyone ever would be idiotic enough to try and pose a threat to a Dimensional Lord. Then he said, "Lulu… It's me. Doxia."

Luna's eyes suddenly widened, and she rushed forward to hug him with an exclamation of pure joy. Doxia held the hug for a moment, and then let go.

"Where have you been all these years Doxia?" exclaimed Luna, her eyes wide with joviality, "I have missed the times we explored Equestria!"

"I've been really busy, trying to defeat the Paradox single-handedly and all," Doxia replied, "I'm really glad that some pony is happy to see me. I visited your sister earlier, and she was all like, 'Guards! Stop him!' and stuff like that."

"Well, my sister was never one for your roguish behavior, Doxia," said Luna with a tad of amusement in her tone of voice.

Doxia chuckled, "Yes, I suppose so. But you were ALL about it when you were little, and that's what made you so fun!"

Caustic Rain piped up at that moment. "Um… excuse me?" he interjected, "But… who are you? Are you… the Paradox? No, you don't sound like him."

Doxia turned to Caustic Rain and said, "Oh! Hey! Wassup? My name is Doxia. I am a former member of the Paradox's brotherhood. We're called Dimensional Lords. You are Samuel Dellor are you not? Ah… you were originally called Caustic Rain here, though."

Caustic Rain snorted as he said, "My God… Was EVERYONE watching me when I hid out here a couple of years ago?"

Doxia nodded in mock agreement. "We most certainly were. Your daily life was broadcasted across 153 different radio and TV stations in a reality show. It had higher ratings then Hasbro's… well… you know."

Caustic Rain gaped at Doxia. What had he just said?

Doxia then began to laugh. "I'm just kidding! Sorry. I just wanted to ask you if Michael was just here. He said he needed to talk to you, right?"

Luna answered for Caustic Rain. "He was," she said, "However, he left, saying that he needed to report back to the Celestial Heaven."

Doxia nodded slowly. "Okay. That is fine. It seems that he has chosen you to be something of an ambassador, though, Caustic Rain, so I would appreciate it if you could give me call if he shows up again. We are collaborating on something important right now, and I will need Heaven's full cooperation when the time comes."

Caustic Rain nodded wordlessly. He had only been there for a day, and already he had been visited by two of the most powerful beings in all of the multiverses.

"Thank you my young lad!" exclaimed Doxia dramatically as he opened a portal back to the Crystal Empire a meter away, "I shall now be off!"

With that, he exited. Both Luna and Caustic Rain just stood on all fours in the road for a moment or two. Then Caustic Rain turned to Luna and said, "You… you were protecting me. Thank you… I mean…"

Luna nodded her head gently. "You are my ward now, Caustic Rain, I will not let harm come to you when I am about."

Caustic Rain smiled wordlessly. He decided that he should take Michael's advice and continue to follow her.

"Follow me to the chariot, we will be in Canterlot in a thrice," Luna said as she continued down the road.

Dimension: Amethyst

Planet: Capitol Prime

Specific Location: Summit Meeting room 8, floor 9853171

Time: Unknown

Pictor entered the room with several holographic projections hovering around his helmet. He strolled into the meeting area and sat down in a chair, but was too busy multitasking for a moment to notice that the Paradox, too, was in the room, staring off into space through the large crystal window. After a couple of minutes, Pictor did notice, however, and was about to say something when the Paradox began to talk calmly.

"You know why we're going to win?" said the Paradox calmly, though his voice was obviously laced with deadly intent.

Pictor eyed the Paradox warily. He understood that his leader was absolutely insane, so he was always careful when he discussed anything with him. "Because the Great Plan is so complex and well set?" he said slowly.

"No. It is because we can cut corners."

"What do you mean?"

"When I recruited beings as dimensional travelers, I instilled in them a sense of righteous purpose. I told them that if they did what was good, right, and heroic, they would live to see themselves victorious over the evil that they were destined to fight. To them, it seemed like I was giving them the tools that would pave their way to a gloriously moral victory, but in reality I was dooming them to absolute defeat."

"I still don't understand."

"You see… With principles, you are obligated to take the hard way. You need to do things that easily place you and your mission in jeopardy. For example: I could be confronted by Flaming Star and Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Flaming Star could be a moment away from destroying the Crystal of Harmony. All I would need to do is point a weapon at Twilight's head, and I would be safe. Flaming Star would have to back off, and his mission would end in shambles. And then you know what I would do next? I would shoot both Flaming Star and Twilight viciously, killing them instantly. The Great Plan would proceed as normal, and two potential enemies would be dead in pools of life blood at my feet."

"Why are you talking about this?" snapped Pictor, still unsure of the reason for the Paradox's ramble.

The Paradox ignored him, still looking off into the distance. "Heroes and their principles… damn them all. The only reason they ever won anything was either by sheer luck, or the help of the Celestia Angels… who seem to have some stupid appreciation for such foolish morals. And if it is neither of these, it is because the so called 'heroes' have only won because they have given into their basest and most primitive emotions of fear or desperation. But, nevertheless, in the end they will fail ultimately. In the end, it is pure brutality, pure cunning, and pure immoral objectiveness that wins. And that is what we are, we are the brutal, we are the cunning, we are the objectiveness that adds the cold, heartless steel of the understandings of life and death in this multiverse. We are gods… why should we not determine who lives and who dies? We have the ability and the understanding... We deserve to be able to kill at a moments notice. We should not even have to think twice about it. And that… my friend… is why we will win."

"Is there a reason why you are talking about this, Paradox?" persisted Pictor again.

Finally the Paradox snapped out of his trance. He glanced quickly at Pictor and said, "There is a reason. For my plan to proceed, I need several things to play out just right. However, for now, I need you to do something relatively important, Pictor."

Pictor sighed. He then straightened up and said, "What is it that you need?"

Without looking at Pictor, the Paradox said, "I need you to goad Doxia into fighting you. Nothing terribly huge, but I need you to fight him long enough for footage to be shot. With this, I can brand Doxia as a rogue, and we can sway a couple more Dimensional Lords into mindlessly helping us… which is exactly what we need. Additionally, with Doxia gone fighting you, and Archangel Michael returning to the Celestial Heaven, we will be safe to star relocations and using our Elite Phasetroopers stationed in Equestria.

"Dimensional Lord Mattimeo will see right through the deceptions, Paradox," snapped Pictor harshly, "He's been Doxia's best friend, along with Meadolax, for a trillion years now. It will not work."

"You will find Mattimeo no longer here, Pictor," said the Paradox airily, "He's been sent on an important mission on the other side of the multiverse. We will not be worrying about him for a little longer. However, this is a reason why you must hasten with your task."

Pictor grumbled momentarily as he struggled with himself. It went against literally every nerve to agree to openly combating Doxia, who was pretty much the most powerful Dimensional Lord in existence at the moment, but it seemed the only way to sway more Dimensional Lords to the Paradox's side without raising any suspicions about the Great Plan.

After a long pause, Pictor finally said, "Very well. I will do it immediately."

Note: You know what would be really awesome? If someone decided to take a chunk out of their weekend to read all 55 chapters and do a review per chapter run-through. 55 reviews! Well, I'll stop projecting upon you all my wistful thinking now. Anyways...