Note: Hello everyone! By some miracle, I managed to write a whole chapter. I have no idea how I was able to do it, but I did it. Anyway, I really want to thank you all for such amazing reviews! For those who don't know, my happiness is proportionate to the amount of reviews per chapter. To RETheUgly, I would like to thank you especially for that last review. It was absolutely amazing! At this moment I would like to mention that my happiness is also EXPONENTIALLY proportional to the length (and pure awesomeness) of each respective review. Thus, you can most certainly get an idea of how much encouragement I got from that last review. Thank you!

Dimension: Rerenhaw

Planet: Rerenhaw

Specific Location: The Council Room

Time: About a week after Lyric found Summer

Sunflower, Twilight, Rarity, Flaming Star, and Discord walked down a long, brightly lit passageway to the Amethyst Council Room. Silence reigned supreme as they quietly walked. Tension crackled in the air like lightning, and it got to the point where Rarity thought she would scream from the silence when…

"All travel toward the light, but it will do naught but illuminate the land as fire and brimstone raze. This is reality," muttered Sunflower.

Twilight glanced at Sunflower. "What was that?"

Sunflower shrugged. "That is something Blue used to say. He wasn't much for optimism or movie quotes."

"I'll say," said Discord wryly, "That sounds quotable, but it most certainly has the joy of a rock in a mire."

"What… what went wrong with Blue?" asked Rarity all of a sudden, "Was he always like that?"

Sunflower sighed. "He was. I myself do not fully understand, but then, when Arcturus assigned us three as a team, I did not care. However, as we grew closer than brothers, I simply became more understanding as opposed to curious. I just realized that it was who he was."

At that moment, they reached the end of the hall. Two massive white doors with massive blue veins running like a circuit board across it stood before them. The moment they approached it, the doors began to glow brightly, and then they swung open soundlessly. They were now in the Council Room of Rerenhaw.

It was empty except for two beings: Mattimeo and Doxia.

They had their backs to them, staring at a massive holographic map of the Earth Multiverse. However, the moment the doors widened enough for the group to step into the room, the two powerful Dimensional Lords turned about to face them.

"Sunflower!" exclaimed Doxia joyfully, "It is good to see your yellow mug again!"

"Likewise, Doxia," replied Sunflower. He then nodded his head to Mattimeo, "Mattimeo."

Mattimeo bobbed his head back. "Inquisitor Sunflower."

"Well, that's one of two," exclaimed Discord loudly, "I don't suppose you have a treasure map leading to Dark, now, do you? If by some fortune you do, would you be as kind as to toss it over to us. Then we will be on our way."

"If we had a treasure map, I would have found him already, buddy," snorted Doxia, "However, as of now… nope. We have a general idea, but that is it. That is one of the main reasons we have Sunflower here."

Sunflower held up and armored hand. "I beg your pardon? What?"

"Oh! But of course! What else did you think we had you here for?" asked Doxia jovially.

"So… I'm not here to be incarcerated, like I should?" asked Sunflower, sounding honestly incredulous.

"Well, of course not!" replied Doxia, "We are assembling you all! Return of the Inquisitors!"

"But how will that work?" persisted Sunflower, "I gave up my powers."

"We are working out the details as we speak," said Mattimeo emotionlessly.

There was a pause. Then Sunflower said, hoarsely, "May I… may I see her?"

Mattimeo gave Sunflower a side-long glance. "Who?"

"The being that I gave my powers to… Summer, I believe her name was…" answered Sunflower in hushed tones to Mattimeo.

Mattimeo nodded. "Yes. She is alive and well."

As Twilight and Flaming Star turned to Doxia to ask about why they were not incarcerating Sunflower, Mattimeo gently motioned to the map of the Earth Multiverse. It flickered and was replaced with a live video feed of a yellow and purple filly and dark purple and blue colt, sleeping quietly, in a smoking clearing. However, these two ponies were not Summer and Lyric, they were different. However, the only one to notice was Sunflower. He turned to look ask Mattimeo a question about it, but then Mattimeo secretly sent him a PM to his HUD. Sunflower held his peace. He then turned back to the holographic terminal.

"What happened here?" asked Sunflower, looking at the debris of war surrounding them, "What is going on?"

"They were attacked by terrorists. They were destroyed at no cost to them," replied Mattimeo.

"By Summer?" pressed Sunflower.

"Nah. Summer got amnesia shortly after you gave her the powers. Thus, most of them are mentally blocked. She was unable to access many of them. She was, however, able to ammo rack an armored car with a single energy bolt from over two kilometers. But that was about it," answered Doxia for Mattimeo.

Sunflower sighed. "Perhaps that is for the best."

"I would have to agree, darling," interjected Rarity as Mattimeo turned off the terminal, "A young filly such as that should not be able to harness such powers."

"With that I agree," said Mattimeo with a tad of emotion stirring his usually emotionless voice, "Now that she is under our protection, she will not be in need of such dangerous abilities."

"So I will be at full power again," murmured Sunflower. Then he turned to fully face Mattimeo. "Why?" he demanded, "Why are you doing this?"

"Blue is returning," said Doxia, all of his joviality drained out of his voice.

Sunflower stiffened. "What?"

"Just what I said: Blue is returning. August, who has been carrying Blue's abilities, has been drowned out. Blue controls him now. You have Blue back…"

"Waitwaitwait," interrupted Flaming Star sharply, his face the picture of disbelief as he and Twilight trotted over, "You knew that August had become this… thing… and you never thought of telling his family?"

Doxia glanced (almost nervously) to Mattimeo, "Ummmmm… In short, no."

This brisk answer was not what Flaming Star was looking for, and he broke immediately into a rage. "WHAT?!"

"Flaming Star, calm yourself," said Mattimeo.

"NO," hissed Flaming Star, livid with anger, "August is the son of Luna and Caustic Rain… and now he has been lost to that demon Blue? And you never thought of telling us?! YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF TELLING THEM?"

Mattimeo glanced to Doxia, then looked back to Flaming Star. "Blue may control August, but that does not mean that he is gone."

"Then is there some way to reverse this? Can we… can we fix this?" asked Twilight.

Doxia sighed. "We do not know."

Flaming Star looked Doxia straight in the face. It intrigued the Dimensional Lord as to how hostile his friend had become. Perhaps he had grounds to be so, perhaps he did not.

"Fix… this…" hissed Flaming Star. He then turned straight about and stormed out of the room.

Twilight cast Doxia an alarmed glance before rushing after him. She was followed by Discord and Rarity. As the doors slammed shut, Sunflower sighed and said, "It is not my place to judge you, Dimensional Lords. I will await your command."

He then left as well, leaving Doxia and Mattimeo alone.

"Can what has happened to August be reversed?" asked Doxia after a pause.

"No," replied Mattimeo in hushed tones, "But they need not know that."

Doxia groaned. He then said, "Are we really going to do this? Are we really going to lie to them?"

Mattimeo looked to Doxia, "Is there any other course of action? This H.D. being has now quite the profile. Control of Imagination Energy? Not even the most powerful Dimensional Lord can do that, and now we know for certain that the same H.D. being controls Orion. This threat must be dealt with extreme prejudice."

There was a pause.

Then Doxia backed off, shaking his head and hands raised. "No. No, I will not lie to my friends."

Mattimeo turned to Doxia and considered him for a while. After a moment of silence, he said, "Tell me, Doxia, wouldn't it be a greater crime to let the multiverse fall to H.D.?"

Doxia sighed loud and long. Finally he said, "I will consider it, but I am still against lying."

"You always were, but sometimes we must do it for the good of others," continued Mattimeo.

Doxia shook his head, still reluctant. "Yeah, well, I was never a believer in the 'a small evil for a greater good' spiel. There has to be a way to fix this, and I intend to find it."

Mattimeo shook his head. "Very well. I doubt your efforts will yield anything fruitful, but you have your ways."

Doxia tipped his head amiably to Mattimeo. "You are right as rain, old buddy. I am now off to see if I can get Rarity and company to complete their mission and find Dark."

Doxia flicked a wrist slightly and teleported away.

In a second he materialized in the hallway leading away from the Rerenahw Council Room and almost collided with Flaming Star.

"Out of my way, Doxia," growled Flaming Star, seething with righteous wrath.

"Flaming Star, look, I'm not trying to hurt anyone," pleaded Doxia, "We are just trying to secure the future of the multiverse."

"But the cost…" breathed Rarity quietly.

Doxia nodded, "And I am working to reduce or remove the cost. Look, you two need to keep working at what you set out to do. Dark must be found. If you can worry about that, than I can worry about August."

"Why should we help you?" snapped Flaming Star, "You seemed to have been lying an incredible amount recently."

Doxia sighed dramatically. "I may have bent the truth now and again – and I immensely regret that, mind you – but it has all for the best…"

"Then tell us the truth now," asked Twilight quietly, "Do you think there is a chance August will return to control his body?"

Doxia let his hands flop to his sides. There was a pause, then he said, "No. I believe there is almost no chance. Blue is fighting to control the body of a young, innocent 15-year-old child. Blue is a trillion-year-old being with countless eons of experience with mental discipline. Only a miracle could give August back control."

Twilight's eyes fell to the floor. A single tear dropped to the ground.

"We're done helping you," said Flaming Star quietly, "Right everypony?"

There was another pause, then Rarity spoke.

"I… I… No."

Flaming Star glanced at her in surprise. "What?"

Rarity looked Doxia straight in the eyes. "I trust Doxia with every centimeter of my being. He may have stumbled a couple times, but he, like us all, are mortal in one way or another. He makes mistakes and so do we. I am willing to keep pressing on as long as he does. I say we go find Dark to hold up our end of the mission."

Discord actually seized Rarity in a tight hug. "That's the spirit Rarity! Let's go do something heroically heroic. Mayhap we can even cuddle when this is all complete!"

Rarity pulled a face. "Maybe, Discord. Maybe. Put me down."

Discord set her down and straightened his invisible bowtie. "Righto. Now, Doxia, old pal, what is our next move?"

Doxia looked to Flaming Star. "Are you in?"

Flaming Star sighed loud and long. Then he nodded his head. "I'm in, but I never forget, Doxia."

Doxia looked in no way intimidated by this veiled threat. He then motioned toward Sunflower, "I think he might be able to shed some sunlight on where Dark is. Get it? Sunflower? Sunlight? Eh, never mind."

Sunflower nodded. "Yes. I can tell you of his last known location. Just before he and I split up after Blue's death, he said he was going to the land of Nightmares in the Little Nemo dimension."

Flaming Star glanced sharply at Sunflower. "He did what? That place could consume anyone. No Dimensional Traveler was allowed there due to how monstrous it was."

Sunflower actually chuckled a bit. "Dark wasn't a Dimensional Traveler though, was he? No. But either way, he would have gone. Dark is a fighter. The Nightmare Land of the Little Nemo dimension has always held a name for itself. It is the only non-dimensional-empire to have ever claimed the lives of soldiers from interdimensional empires. Dark wanted to die fighting, and so he saw that as the perfect place."

"Is that it then?" cried Rarity, "He's dead?"

Sunflower shook his head. "I doubt it."

"But he wasn't in the Inquisitor Safeguard Dreamscape," persisted Rarity, "Wouldn't the only reason he would not be there was that he was no longer existing?"

"Not really. You could also keep yourself out of it if you broke free. Dark hated that thing so much that he almost immediately destroyed the protocol mentally. Naturally he could always enter it if he needed to, but that was almost never, since none of us has ever entered into an unintentional coma. Thus, he could still be alive easily."

"Oh dear me, I see where this is going," sighed Discord, "We are going to have to go to that Nightmare Land, aren't we. I have been a Dimensional Traveler for some time now as well so I have heard the tales."

"I was only one for a couple of months, and even I heard a few tales!" exclaimed Rarity, "It is supposed to be full of all sorts of horrors."

"If this place is so dangerous, then why hasn't Amethyst dimensionally nuked it out of existence?" asked Flaming Star sharply, still disgruntled by the previously unfolded events.

Doxia chuckled, "We cannot. The land is on the same dimensional plane as Slumberland, which is one of the multiverse's greatest Imagination Energy focus points, alongside the Reset Dimension and the BIONICLE Dimension. Additionally we could not send soldiers into the land to occupy it due to it being discovered and identified as a threat during the Maelstrom War, when our resources were terribly stretched."

"Well, it looks like we will simply have to power through ourselves," replied Flaming Star curtly, "I am sure we are capable of doing so."

He then glanced to Twilight. "Are… are you sure you want to come?"

Twilight – who did look a little bit scared – straightened up and exclaimed, "If you are going, then I am going."

"We best be on our way then," said Sunflower decisively, "However, remember: I will be unable to protect you all. Even though my sharpshooting skills still reside within me, I gave up my Inquisition Powers, thus reducing my effectiveness by quite a bit."

Discord nodded. "No hiding behind your apron then, got it. I think we can all handle that."

Flaming Star turned to stare Doxia straight in the face. "We are upholding our end," he said slowly, "Now find a way to help August. I don't care if it is statistically impossible… you do it."

Doxia sighed dramatically, not at all peeved by Flaming Star's hostility, "But of course, maestro. Whatever you say."

"If my memory serves me well, I say we jump to Slumberland in the Little Nemo Dimension first, then travel to Nightmare Land," said Discord as he mentally searched for the proper dimension.

"I agree," said Rarity, "It seems the most sensible course of action."

"Did you hear that, eveypony?" chortled Discord as he found the dimension and prepared to open a portal, "She called an idea of mine 'sensible!' That is most certainly a first!"

Rarity just rolled her eyes. Seeing that it was probably not a good idea to goad her further, Discord opened a portal. With a wink to Doxia, Discord drifted through, followed by Rarity, Sunflower, Twilight, and Flaming Star.

The portal closed will a soft 'pop,' leaving Doxia all alone in the immaculate hallway.

"Why do I think we are all playing along to H.D.'s tune?" he grumbled, "But perhaps helping August can slow whatever is being planned. A win-win situation for the good guys I must say. It may seem impossible, but… but perhaps the most impossible things are the most worthwhile things to do."

Doxia then turned about and strolled toward the Rerenahw Council Room once more.

Dimension: Once Upon a Time

Planet: Faiy Tale Earth

Specific Location: Snow White and Prince Charming's Castle

Time: About a week after Lyric found Summer

Orion strolled into the hallway for the umpteenth time. In fact, it could have been the hundredth time at least, it seemed.

"Harold? Harold! Where the hell are you?" the deadly Dimensional Lord snapped.

"I'm here, sheesh. What's your problem?" drawled the voice from the shadows.

"My surveillance data informed me that a team of Dimensional Travelers jumped to Nightmare Land in the Little Nemo Dimension," Orion reported.

There was a pause.

"Dark…" murmured Harold.

"Dark? The Inquisitor? What? What are you talking about?" snapped Orion.

"Nothing," replied Harold, "I am not ashamed to say that this was not exactly what I had planned. I thought that the fall of August and the rise of Blue would have been more damaging. It seems that, though, they are proceeding with their hunt for the rest of the John 3 Chapter. My plans do not include them…"

"Well, isn't this a precious sight then!" snorted Orion, almost pleased to see his unseen employer in a quandary, "Harold the Great and Powerful is unsure of himself."

"Nonsense," snorted Harold, "I am in no such state. I simply had no major plans surrounded the lesser cast of that special Inquisitor Chapter. Nonetheless it is of no consequence, but it does make me want to hurt something for fun. I generally do not like things to drift away from my set path, even marginally. What to do…"

"Should I nuke Manehattan?" asked Orion flatly.

"Nah, that's already been done before, in a sense…" said Harold. There was a pause, then…

"Ah. I have an idea. Mattimeo is preparing to transfer that filly Summer's Inquisition Powers back to Sunflower. When that happens, she and her little coltfriend will have only her weak and dormant Dimensional Traveler abilities as their last defense. However, Mattimeo remedied this by assigning a defense drone, a Phantom Hellfire, to protect them. I wonder how tragic it would be if I… 'un-remedied' it?"

"What do you have in mind?" said Orion, though he was not really interested in the slightest.

"Well, the drone is on strict orders of complete radio silence. The only reason Amethyst knows it is operational is because of its unique Imagination Energy signature, something I know how to manipulate quite easily. I think I will simply snuff the drone out of existence, but maintain its signature. With that, Amethyst will think Summer is safe when, in reality, she is not. Then perhaps we will be lucky and a couple of terrorist ponies will put a bullet in her brain. That would most certainly be amusing, if not immoral to boot."

"You are a very odd being, Harold," was all that Orion said.

Harold chuckled. "You're one to talk, twisted Care Bear that you are."

Orion hissed. Then he turned about and said, "I'm through with reporting anything of interest to you. Call me when you actually need me to do real work. And by real work, I mean work that doesn't involve hurting innocent children. I may be a hunter, but I am nowhere near as depraved as Pictor was."

"Yes… 'Was' is the key word here," said Harold, mirth dancing just beneath the surface of his tone of voice, "But okay. If I need the big bad scary stuffed bear with a piture on his belly to explode stuff, I will let him know."

Silence descended on the hall, and the shadows deepened.

Note: Well, that is all for now! I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, so keep a lookout for it. Now please give me some reviews! As stated previously, more reviews means more happiness, which means more writing, which means more chapters! Yeah... Well, if that doesn't motivate you, then I guess we can go back to making trades. Do you want a Harrier Jump Jet? I bought some off EBay for a couple dollars. If you give me a review, I shall give you one of those.