Note: Back to Lyric and Summer! These chapters are by far the best... For me at least. Let's go!

Dimension: Rerenhaw

Planet: Rerenhaw

Specific Location: The Council Room

Time: Four days after Lyric found Summer

"… And that is totally how the team is going to find the Inquisitors. Except… there might be more explosions… or less," said Doxia animatedly to the rest of the Rerenhaw Council.

There was a pause that was at least a minute long. Finally, the mouse Martin the Warrior broke the silence.

"Doxia… What in the name of barrel-bottomed toads are you talking about?" he asked incredulously.

This seemed to break the spell over the assembly.

"I thought we were originally talking about this situation with that one Pegasus," stated Firestar calmly.

"We were, then Doxia went off on a tangent," said Martin the Warrior.

"No, I don't think it was a tangent, if you think about it," said Rosalina quietly, "Doxia never does that."

"I agree," piped up Derpy, "Doxia, what were you talking about?"

"A tangent," said Doxia simply.

"See?" exclaimed Martine the Warrior.

"Doxia was JOKING, Martin," interjected Firestar.

"Everyone, please!" said Jiminy Cricket as loud as his cricket-sized voice box could muster.

The entire assembly quieted down (with the exception of Mattimeo, who had said nothing in the first place). The group then looked to Jiminy Cricket.

"Now that we have a bit of peace and quiet, Doxia, would you mind telling us again what happened when you approached that one Pegasus that August reported present in the Coma-Safeguard Dream Sequence?"

Doxia nodded. "I went to her and explained the whole situation. I told her that the multiverse needed her, and what we wanted her to do."

"… And…?" prompted Jiminy Cricket.

"She said no," continued Doxia simply.

Firestar's eyes blinked inexorably. "She said no? Intriguing,"

"I'm sorry, but is that her final answer?" said Martin, a little surprised.

Doxia nodded. Martin glanced at Mattimeo, who finally spoke for himself.

"I do not think we should consider that her final answer," he said, "I understand that one of the staples of the multiversal laws of Amethyst is the honor of free will, but, then again, the Inquisition was never about honor. It was about winning, no matter the cost."

Doxia glanced sharply at Mattimeo. "Matty? Is that your voice I hear? Look here dude, who are you and what have you done with Mattimeo?"

Mattimeo straightened up in his large council room chair. "Doxia, you heard me. We cannot simply take her answer at face value. We need the Inquisition information stored within her."

"I'm sorry Mattimeo," sighed Doxia, "But I have no inclination to force her to be an Inquisitor. Her heart is lovely, innocent, simple, and pure, and I will not corrupt her. God, imagine what would happen to her consciousness if Dark's personality was stored within her. It would rip her apart. However, by an act of providence, those Inquisitor memory-based data packets are locked behind an impenetrable wall caused by her amnesia, and I intend to leave it that way. If she finds a way past it, then that is fine by me, but we have no right to infringe on her own fate."

"I don't mean to sound so aggressive," murmured Rosalina, "But is that not the policy the Angels of the Celestial Heaven so heavily enforce?"

"I must agree with Rosalina," said Firestar, "We were given a task by High Lord Kytax to reinstate the Amethyst Empire to protect the Earth Multiverse. We are unable to do that if we fall into the Heaven Multiverse's practices."

Doxia crossed his arms belligerently and leaned back in his chair. "I still don't like it," he said, his voice disgruntled, "I still do not like it, and, in fact, I am fairly much against it."

"Well?" asked Derpy, her voice soothing, "What should we do as an alternative?"

Doxia cocked his head to one side as he thought. "Hmmmm… I have an idea, but it is risky. First I suggest we try and convince her first. Mattimeo, I think you should talk to her. Your reasoning is always sound, she might listen to you. If not, well, then I have an idea to extract the information we need from her memories. As I said, it is risky, but it is better than taking complete control of her mind and forcing her to become an Inquisitor against her free will."

"I will agree to that," said Mattimeo, standing up, "This council will adjourn until I have a word with this Pegasus. When we have determined where her loyalties lie, we can proceed from there."

Doxia leapt up and opened up a portal. He then gave Derpy a flourishing bow and said, "Madame, may I have the honor of walking you home?"

Derpy gave Doxia a sweet smile and held out a hoof. Doxia took it and led her through the portal.

As it closed, Doxia said, "Righto. I am going to find my team of peeps. They are preparing to begin their search of Dark and Sunflower, whichever of those two are still out there. Huh…"

Doxia's voice trailed off into a troubled silence. Derpy looked at Doxia with her bright (yet misaligned) eyes. "Doxia, is something troubling you?"

Doxia did not say anything for a moment. Instead he scratched the back of his helmet nervously. Finally…

"Yeah," he confessed, "I know that that pony Summer and August are present in the coma-safeguard dream thingy – that is two John 3 Chapter Inquisitors accounted for – but that leaves an important question: where is the third Inquisitor? I mean, this literally leaves a plethora of unanswered questions. What Inquisitor is Summer? Who is the missing Inquisitor? Why has Orion been facilitating August's transformation into Blue? Who is Orion working for?"

Derpy shut Doxia up by lightly planting a kiss on the distraught Dimensional Lord's cheek. Her smile was calm and soothing as she said, "I don't have any of those answers, but I know that, in time, each one will come to light. You just need to wait and see."

Doxia sighed. "I guess you're right. Hey, are we still on for lunch?"

Derpy giggled. "Do I ever say no?"

The two chuckled for a bit. Then, finally, they went their separate ways. Derpy off to her mail delivery route, and Doxia to find Twilight Sparkle and the rest. He found his team assembled with the rest of the Mane 6 at Sugar Cube Corner with Sunset Shadow.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Doxia gleefully, "It is the elements of harmony united! Quick! To the Tree of Harmony to defeat Tirek! Or maybe Discord! Or maybe some other villain that will be immortalized in fanfiction one way or another!"

Flaming Star cocked his head to one side. "Who would right fanfiction about us?"

"Sorry kid," chortled Doxia, "But I am pretty sure you specifically haven't made it into any fanfiction yet. Maybe one or two, but that is it."

"I would rather we never mention the Tree of Harmony again," snorted Rainbow Dash. Even after all these years, she was still extremely ticked off about all her harmony powers being given to her as a diversion by the homicidal maniac, the Paradox. "I mean," she continued, "It's not like it really did any good in the end. It ate our elements of harmony!"

"Which the Paradox also made," interjected Doxia, "But never you fear! You guys have proven to be greater than those silly little elements! Rainbow Dash braved the Stallion Empire! Applejack braved the weapon exchanges of the south! Pinkie Pie worked her way through the traps of the Canterlot Royal Treasury! Twilight masterminded the rebellion against the Paradox! Rarity was a total freaking awesome Dimensional Traveler! And Fluttershy was in the background, being so awesome that it looked like she was doing nothing and yet she was doing everything at the exact same time."

"I still AM a Dimensional Traveler," sniffed Rarity. She clapped her hoofs together lightly, and a fainting couch appeared with loads of ice cream and chocolate stacked beside her. She settled down, and began to levitate hunks of the candy into her mouth. Everyone just ignored her.

"Is it really true that old miss Rarity here is actually going on an… ADVENTURE?" squealed Pinkie Pie, as excitable as ever. "That is Whoopy-Dooper-Loopty-Looper-Alley-Ooper AWESOME!"

Doxia fist pumped. "You bet your rainbow-colored cupcakes they are! Heh. I cannot believe I made that reference. I am glad Mattimeo razed that alternate timeline eons ago."

There was a pause.

"Sooooooo… What are WE going to be doing during all of this?" interrupted Rainbow Dash impatiently, "I hope you don't honestly think we will be sitting on our backsides doing nothing while Twilight goes on a suicidal adventure?"

"Define suicidal," snorted Discord, "YOUR adventure into that cursed land of snow and ice was suicidal. This is nothing but mere child's play. Do not worry your dear old head, Shutterfly, I will protect them!"

"I seriously doubt that," countered Flaming Star irritably, "And the pony you are talking to is Rainbow Dash. The yellow and pink Pegasus is Fluttershy. And don't worry, I will protect us."

"Oh, don't be absurd, dear," added Rarity, "I will protect eveypony! I have the flair to do it! I can and I will!"

"Last time I recall you had such power, it ended up being a disaster. Remember that Inspiration Manifestation incident?" pointed out Discord dryly with a smirk.

Rarity coughed. "I simply have no idea what you are going on about, Discord!"

"Okay! Okay!" interrupted Doxia loudly, "We still have to work out who is protecting whom, and where exactly we lie with respects to having a fully functional trust circle – or is it a triangle? – But now is not the time to discuss that!"

"No pony has answered my question about what we'll be doing!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

"Ummm… Maybe we could all twiddle our hooves peacefully?" offered Fluttershy hopefully.

"Fluttershy, really," snapped Rainbow Dash, "You've raised a foal, and you STILL want nothing to do with adventure? Did your mid-life crisis skip you or something?"

"Maybe she was so calm and tranquil, she lulled it into nonexistence," replied Sunset Shadow sharply, coming to his wife's rescue, "And I still race you now and then. Isn't that excitement enough?"

"Yeah, but you always lose now!" groaned Rainbow Dash, "You are nowhere near as fast as me since Kytax took your powers! You've literally turned into a guy-version of Fluttershy! Flaming Star is the only challenge anymore!"

"Define challenge," replied Flaming Star, "In that case you always lose. And no, the only reason we ever come close it because I make it so, so please spare me your boastful speeches. And since when did Fluttershy become her own category of physical ability?"

"You ain't heard nothin' yet, sugar cube," sighed Applejack, "Rainbow's got it down to somethin' of a science. Fluttershy now can be used to categorize speed, disposition, and color. She's even used it on mah apples."

Doxia snorted back a snigger. "What did Dashie do? Did she picked up an apple and say, 'Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! This apple is sooooo Fluttershy! Now if it could only break Mach Seven, then it would be twenty percent cooler!'"

Applejack opened her mouth to confirm Doxia's extrapolation of Rainbow's attitude, but was stopped by Rainbow's hoof.

Rainbow grinned nervously, "Heh… I said nothing like that!"

The entire room erupted into multiple conversations.

Suddenly the clamor was cut through with a single, extremely loud yelp from Pinkie Pie.

"FROSTING!"

The whole room shut up immediately and looked at Pinkie, who pointed a hoof at Doxia.

"Thank you Pinkie," said Doxia, after clearing his throat, "Now, if I may have your attention, please. Rainbow Dash, I have nothing for you yet, but I do believe Canterlot's secret service is considering bringing in Trixie once again, so at least you will have something to do sooner or later. Anyway, Discord, Twilight, Rarity, and Flaming Star, I want to talk to you about your mission."

The whole room remained silent, prompting the Dimensional Lord to continue.

"The first lead we have is in the Dishonored dimension. We want you guys to search it for any signs of either of the Inquisitors. Are there any questions as of yet?"

Discord raised a lion's paw.

Doxia sighed. "Yes… Discord?"

"If I am not mistaken, the Dishonored dimension is one of the more nasty places in the multiverse. It has steampunk, but other than that it is rather… yucky. Have you decided who is going to protect whom yet?"

"Yes," replied Doxia promptly, "Everyone will protect everyone else. I am not going to appoint a leader, you guys are going to have to do that. Flaming Star has the holopad with the rest of your instructions. I want you guys to begin immediately. We are running out of time. Orion is still wreaking havoc in the Reset Dimension, and we are no closer to catching that terrorist and his mysterious employer than Tom is to catching Jerry."

"I still firmly believe that, one day, Tom will catch Jerry and eat him," sighed Discord dreamily.

Flaming Star gave Discord a disturbed glance. "In your dreams," he replied sharply, "Jerry is totally going to outsmart Tom for all of eternity. I should know, I interviewed them both during a multiverse-wide manhunt."

"Ooooh! Was that the manhunt of 1775?" interjected Rarity.

"I read about that on the database!" exclaimed Twilight, "Flaming Star spearheaded that!"

"I bet you all just made that up," replied Discord airily.

"You know what? That's it," said Doxia sharply, "You guys are leaving now. Keep your head and limbs in at all time, and try not to kill yourself or another universe. The Heaven Multiverse does not take kindly to dimension-exploders. Have fun!"

Doxia snapped a finger and opened a portal. Then with a slight gesture, he commanded the linoleum floor beneath Flaming Star, Discord, Twilight, and Rarity to heave up and toss the group through the portal. The portal slammed shut with a small "pop" and all went quiet.

Rainbow Dash turned to look at Doxia.

"Um, hey, Doxia-nator," she said timidly, "You said I might be called in to retrieve Trixie some time?"

"Yeah," replied Doxia, almost apologetically, "It seems that there is some suspicion that Trixie is the leader of a high-tech terrorist group called Trixie's Hoof that is eating away the insides of the Stallion Empire. The ruler of that land has personally requested Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to aid him in taking them out."

Rainbow Dash's face went dead-straight for a moment. Then she began to sweat.

Doxia facepalmed. "Dashie… You knew about this terrorist organization all along, didn't you?"

"Heh, um… yeah… about that…" chuckled Rainbow nervously, "I knew about it, but Trixie promised to me that she would personally protect the inner valleys of the north. That way all refugees would be safe while she declared war of the Stallion Empire monarchy from the inside. I thought she was doing the right thing! Those Stallion Empire guys are bad, and need to be taken down."

Doxia sighed. "It is a lot more complicated than that. And you do know you could get into a whole boatload of trouble for withholding this information, right?"

Rainbow bit her bottom lip. "You're… you're not going to tell anypony, right?"

Doxia patted her rainbow-colored mane lightly. "This situation is waaaaayyyyy out of my jurisdiction anyway. I did not hear a single thing you just said. Who is Trixie, anyway?"

Dimension: My Little Pony

Planet: Equestria Earth

Specific Location: The Frozen North, the Stallion Empire

Time: Four days after Lyric found Summer

Lyric looked about frantically. "Voices? Already!? This is really, really, really bad…"

Summer let go of Lyric's hoof and began to grope about until she found the edge of the precipice. Then she felt along it until she located the nearest trees. She put an ear to on and rapped it lightly.

Then she turned to Lyric. "It seems most of these trees are tall enough to span the gorge. Is there a way to topple one?"

"No!" exclaimed Lyric worriedly. His eyes raked their surroundings once more, searching for a possible answer to their problem. Sadly, other than the gorge, there was nothing but massive frozen pines and dirty white snow. The sun was now past the east mountain ranges and was illuminating the scene before him in a cold light. Everything was practically frozen solid.

"There is no other way!" snapped Summer, the tension in the air making her short of temper, "We need to find a way to topple one of these trees!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" hissed Lyric through clenched teeth, still looking for another alternative. The tree's trunks were too thick and icy. There was no way his small dagger could cut through one.

"They're getting closer," replied Summer, her voice rising to a frightened squeak, "I think they know we are near!"

Lyric himself could not hear anything yet, but he had learned to trust Summer's senses, if not her judgment.

"We have to head left," he snapped, roughly grabbing one of Summer's hoof, "The mountainous slopes are nearest there, when we've made it, we can make a break for the north. There is a massive icebridge that I know of that spans the ice river and perhaps this gorge."

Summer yanked her hoof free of his grasp. "That is in the opposite direction! We can't detour! That would cost us resources!"

"It's either resources or our lives!" yelled Lyric.

"We run out of resources, and it will be our lives nonetheless!" cried Summer.

Lyric bit down hard on his bottom lip to prevent him from screaming at his friend. Finally he sighed and replied, in a low voice, "I am going to see how close the mountain range is to our left. How close are the voices?"

Summer began to tremble as she picked up more noises too faint for a regular pony to hear.

"I've most certainly picked up the word 'Trixie' now. They have vehicles and weapons too. Lyric… why won't you listen to me? I am sure there is a weakened tree around here somewhere that we can topple!"

Lyric turned around and began to gallop away. As he did so, he called back, "You have no experience. I do."

Summer groaned in dejection. As her friend disappeared into a particularly thick grove of trees, she sighed, "But sometimes I know things too…"

Summer sat there for at least an hour, dejectedly listening to the voices draw nearer, and nearer, and nearer...

Abruptly she stiffened, and then, almost forcefully, she was pulled into a vision. It was like being dragged roughly from a dry pier into an icy-cold lake.

She gasped as she found herself in a tranquil dreamscape expanse. Suddenly she realized something: she was not alone.

A tall being was before her, but she did not know who it was.

"D-D-Doxia?" she stuttered.

"No," replied the voice, "But I am a friend of his. My name is Mattimeo."

"P-please Mattimeo!" cried Summer, "We are being chased down by killers! I can't be immobilized like this!"

"I have scanned your situation through your ears, nose, and eyes," said Mattimeo emotionlessly, "The enemies will not find you for a little while longer."

"B-but I could be finding a solution to our predicament in the time it takes for you to talk to me," pleaded Summer, "Please, kind sir, let me go."

"I already have a solution to your problems, little one," said Mattimeo, "I will trade that information for you agreeing to listen to me."

Summer sighed. "Okay. Are you SURE they won't find my body, or Lyric, while you talk?"

"I am ninety-two percent sure."

"Okay."

Summer cocked her head to one side as she heard Mattimeo beginning to pace back and forth before her. There was a pause, then, finally, he spoke.

"I am sure Doxia has told you of your true destiny?"

"Well, he told me that I had special memories that automatically made me part of a powerful team to save the entire multiverse… But… But I don't see how that makes that my destiny."

"It is, little one. You have been chosen, and now you need to shoulder your responsibilities."

"But… I can't! I have to stay with Lyric!"

"You are casting aside your God-given duty because you want to be close to your lover?"

"He's not my lover! We're just friends. B-but he needs me. I know it. And I need him. I cannot imagine what life would be like without him."

"You cannot imagine life without him because you cannot imagine life past four days ago, when he found you. If we reveal what memories we can salvage from your amnesia, you might just change your mind."

Summer bit her bottom lip. She had never thought about that. But did she really want to do this?

"I don't know," she stuttered, "I want to be with Lyric."

"You don't know that," pressed Mattimeo, "All you know is that a colt found you, and he took it upon himself to protect you and care for you."

"Exactly! He has gone out of his way to protect me, and I now I need him."

"Is this really the life you want to lead? We can offer you and him so much more. For you we can offer power, and for him we can offer protection and comfort. All you need to do is leave him and come to us. We will recover your memories, and a whole new segment of life will begin."

Mattimeo's voice was entirely devoid of emotion, but it still chilled Summer to the bone. But this strange being did make excellent points.

Finally, she spoke up again, "No. I do not want to be separated from him, no matter the cost. If you asked Lyric, he would say the same thing."

There was another pause. Then Mattimeo spoke.

"I have seen what you have seen of him. He is a thief. Do you truly believe he wouldn't give up comfort and wealth for you?"

Summer's throat caught in horror, and she felt a lump forming in her throat. She turned away from his voice.

"Go away," she sobbed.

"Very well," replied Mattimeo, his voice still as calm as a tranquil lake, "But we will be back. We need those memoires. Now, Summer, to your exact left is a tree whose roots have been rotted to nothing by the frost. It is already starting to list, but the snow piled around it makes it look solid. Give it a good, hard shove, and the entire thing will topple-"

"SUMMER WAKE UP!"

Summer gasped and shot up, rubbing her sightless eyes. "I'm awake! What happened?"

It was Lyric, shaking her vigorously. "Oh thank God you're not dead," he sobbed.

Summer blinked. Emotion was heavy in his voice. He had been scared witless.

"I'm okay now," she said softly, "How is the mountain range?"

"It's blocked off by a tank. A freaking tank! They have tanks here! No, we're trapped. But at least you're okay," he sighed. He then sat down next to Summer and said, "How close are they?"

Summer's heart picked up tenfold as she heard the oncoming enemies slowly drawing closer to their position. Soon they would be close enough for them to see. Then they would be dead.

Summer began to cry. It was silent, but the hot tears still rolled down her cheeks, freezing the moment they dripped off her face.

Abruptly she felt a gentle hoof touch her face. She stiffened as Lyric brushed away her tears.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry for yelling," he whispered as the shouts and yells of the oncoming enemies became truly audible.

Summer nodded her head, "And I'm sorry for yelling as well."

Lyric shifted closer to Summer. Then he said, "Well, this is it. It was fun while it lasted. Too bad your special powers aren't working anymore…"

Summer gasped. The whole incident with Mattimeo came rushing back. She jumped up. "I've got it!"

She then dodged off to the left, and began to tap the base of the nearest pine with a hoof.

Lyric got up. "What are you doing?"

"The roots of this tree," Summer explained, "They've rotted away! We can push it over!"

"Impossible," murmured Lyric. He then planted a hoof firmly against the tree and gave it a little push. It shifted with a loud groan.

"By the Emperor, Summer, you are a genius!" exclaimed Lyric, "Quick! Give me room!"

Planting his back hooves against the tree, Lyric shoved backwards with as much force as his starving body could muster. With a roar, the tree toppled, its green-tipped head smashing on the other side of the gorge. Snow exploded in a wave into the gorge as splinters shot out. The old pine had just become a sturdy bridge.

Suddenly gun shots began to sound off. They had been spotted.

"Quick! Summer! Over the bridge!" yelled Lyric.

"Why do I have to go over the bridge first?" asked Summer. Bullets began to whiz by them.

"Because you're blind! I can't have you in the line of fire!" shouted Lyric. A tree beside him exploded into splinters as bullets tore through the bark.

"Being blind is precisely why I should go last!" snapped Summer, "I can grab a hold of your tail, and you can lead me across! I'll be fine!"

"No you won't!"

"Yes I will!"

Lyric clamped his mouth shut. He then put a hoof on the pine bridge. Summer clamped down on his tail with her mouth and then nodded her head, signaling for him to go. Lyric proceeded to gallop across, with Summer in tow. It was an absolute miracle that they were not hit by bullets, as a whole squadron of Trixie's Hoof terrorists lined up and began to shoot.

Unscathed, they made it to the other side. Lyric leapt down, helped Summer get to the other side, and then shoved their end of the pine bridge into the gorge with adrenaline-enhanced strength. Two terrorists fell to their deaths as the pine shattered and splintered as it fell into the depths of the precipice.

However, even though they were now safe from a direct attack, Lyric and Summer were nowhere near being out of danger. Suddenly a large grove of trees were flattened as a massive tank, akin to an FV215b rolled into view. Turning its gun to face the duo, it fired. The shell missed them barely and exploded into the trees behind them, but it was enough for Summer to fall to the earth, screaming in pain from the loud noise. Fire rippled in a red and orange plume of heat and light from the grove as splinters and fiery branches hailed down. Snow scattered everywhere, and dust and earth rose in billows.

Hoisting Summer onto his back, Lyric dashed into the forest before the tank could fire again. Galloping as fast as he could, Lyric dashed away from the scene. Soon the explosions, gunshots, and yells died into silence. Now they were finally safe.

Lyric gently placed Summer on the ground and stroked her face.

"Summer? Summer!"

Summer opened her eyes groggily. "L-Lyric? Are we safe?"

Lyric sighed deep and long. "Yeah. We're safe for now."

Summer jerked forward and clasped one of Lyric's hoofs. With her sightless eyes sweeping over his face, she asked, "Lyric? If you could have me, or a palace full of treasures, what would it be?"

Lyric blinked. Where had this question come from? For a moment, his stomach flipped as the tantalizing temptation of gold and wealth clouded his mind. But then he remembered Summer's kind words and guiding smile. No. He wanted, nay, he needed her, gold was not nearly as important.

"I would choose you, you silly filly," he snorted, "Whatever brought up that question?"

Summer closed her blind eyes and sighed. "Oh… nothing…"

Though she appeared to now be peaceful on the outside, Summer's mind continued to race. He had SAID that he would choose her over gold and riches, but, if truly presented the chance, would he still be thinking the same thing? There was no way for her to know.

Note: This is the last chapter for me this week! Sorry. I will see you all next week! Now give me some reviews (A.K.A. Feedback) please! Thanks!