Notes: Hello everyone! I suppose that we will be staying with the post-once-a-week schedule. Anyway, I assume that all of you can see this whole section winding down. What will happen? Read on to find out!

Dimension: My Little Pony

Planet: Equestria Earth

Specific Location: Stallion Empire, The Frozen North

Time: Over a week after Lyric found Summer

Summer desperately felt around with her hoof, looking for a familiar feeling: Lyric. Tears almost immediately exploded from her eyes as she felt the warm feeling of Lyric's mane come in contact with her muzzle. She quickly wrapped her hooves around Lyric and burst into tears. He ears were still ringing from the gunshots, and her nose was clogged with the smell of spilled blood and fevered sweat.

"Lyric!" she sobbed, "I was so scared… I AM so scared!"

Lyric gently stroked her mane. He was absolutely terrified, and was trembling all over like a leaf, but he tried to sound strong all the same, "It's… It's… It's okay…"

Summer tipped her head upward, her sightless eyes scouring Lyric's face. "Will it?"

Lyric suddenly broke down sobbing as well. "No!" he cried, "I killed those two in cold blood! I'm so sorry!"

The two foals broke down in tears, surrounded by dead bodies bleeding out into the once white snow. For a whole hour the two ponies cried their hearts out, releasing their pain and trouble in a constant flow of salty tears. Even after they had cried all that they could, the two foals remained huddled together, hugging each other as if they never wanted to let go. Snowfall began, and drifts of frost began to build up around the two before Summer finally spoke.

"Lyric… I… I hear something."

Lyric would have given a sob out of pure frustration, but he had cried his last. "What is it?"

"It's an engine. I hear rough voices too. I think they might be more terrorists or soldiers," Summer replied meekly. Her voice was drained of strength and joy.

Lyric sighed in resignation, he too was just as tired. "Summer… Do you want to give up? We can just lay here any let them shoot us. I mean, it won't hurt. And even if it does, it will only hurt for a little while. Then we can be happy together in a different life."

Summer nuzzled Lyric's mane even more. "Happy… That word sounds so foreign now. But Lyric… I… I think we should keep fighting."

Lyric opened an eye and looked at Summer curiously. "You want to keep fighting?"

Summer nodded, and though her voice lacked all strength, her words were strong. "Yes. We cannot give up. We are so close. But I think it is all up to you. We can either lay here and wait for death to come to us - I will follow you to death's door - or we can get up and try racing for a haven… one… last… time…"

That last phrase suddenly sent an incredibly powerful jolt of power through Lyric's veins. He struggled to all fours, but then toppled over. However, an instant later he shoved himself up and wobbled over to where the Stallion Empire Military's abandoned armored vehicle lay. He slowly opened one of the heavily dented doors and crawled inside. He gently turned the key (which some idiot had left in the ignition) and was shocked to hear the rumble of the engine sparking to life. A miracle to say the least, since clearly the duo had never known anything related to good luck.

Summer poked her head in, her hooves feeling around the interior so that she could get an idea of what the inside looked like. "Ummm… Lyric? What are you doing?"

Lyric turned to Summer, a new spark of hope in his eyes. "You said there were more ponies coming up behind us in a vehicle, right? Well, we could never hope to outrun them, so why not use this?"

Hope suddenly lit up Summer's face. "You are right! This could work!"

However, the moment the word "work" left Summer's mouth, a gunshot went off, echoing through the wind-chilled sky. Lyric glanced in the vehicle's rear-view mirror and saw the armored car that Summer had heard several minutes ago rushing past the tree line into the snow-covered field where Lyric and Summer were. From the looks of it, the newcomers were Trixie's Hoof terrorists, and the sight of two living ponies sitting inside a Stallion Empire Military car was more than enough cause for them to completely open up fire.

Bullets whizzed around Summer and Lyric, and several thudded (almost harmlessly) into the metal plating that surrounded the duo.

"Go! Go!" cried Summer, adrenaline pumping through her veins once more, "We can take it through the forest and head towards the valley!"

"R-right!" exclaimed Lyric. He slammed a hoof down on the gas pedal, and the care jerked away with a roar of the engine. The vehicle skidded, slipped, and bumped roughly as Lyric attempted (horrendously) to perform a zig-zag maneuver.

"Y-you know how to drive right?" shouted Summer, trying to be heard over the wind that was pouring through the massive shattered windshield.

"Sure! I mean, yes! I mean, maybe! Probably! Not really! No! I don't!" shouted Lyric in return, "The steering wheel and the steering hydraulics system must both be damaged! I cannot hold it straight!"

Summer leaned over until her head was resting against Lyric's exposed chest. She then reached forward with her frontal hooves and seized the steering wheel as well.

"I'll help you hold it!" she cried.

"What?!" roared Lyric, still struggling to be heard as the wind and the gunshots from the enemies increased in decibels, "You're blind!"

"I can see that!" exclaimed Summer, no longer in the mood to stall or argue, "We cannot argue right now! Just tell me what direction to turn and we can force the vehicle to perform as it should!"

Lyric bit his bottom lip hard, but it was practically frozen from the icy wind blowing in his face and kept it from cracking and bleeding too bad. "A-alright! On my count, we are going to turn left, and then right again! One… Two… Three!"

Summer and Lyric wrenched the broken steering wheel left and then right in perfect unison. The armored car they had commandeered skidded past two trees, narrowly missed a third, and shot straight into the forest. The pursuing car shot straight into the tree line as well, not wavering, and firing bullets all the way.

"Hey Summer! I take it back! This is totally how I want to die!" shouted Lyric, "Not lying in the cold waiting to be executed… But here! In a hot care chase! Turn left!"

"I kind of preferred the quiet death myself!" exclaimed Summer, feeling excited for the first time in quite a while, "But I digress… Just make sure you don't get yourself all over me when this car explodes and blows you up! I prefer to be beside you when I die, not covered in you!"

"Thanks for that image, Summer! I could say the exact same about you! I've heard rumors that the passenger seat is the most dangerous seat to be in during a car ride! Turn right!"

"That's hilarious, and I don't believe you! See this face? This is my 'I don't believe a word Lyric says' face!"

"I can't see it! But I bet it looks exactly like your 'my backside is caught in a narrow space and I need Lyric's help to push me out' face! Okay, hold! Now! Turn left!"

"I thought you promised to never bring that one incident up again!"

Summer moved her head back lightly, bopping his chin. Lyric grimaced and said, "Very well! If we don't die within the next ten seconds, I will hereto never mention that one incident ever again."

"That's a very specific number of seconds," said Summer, twisting her head to give Lyric's features a sweep with her blind eyes, "What is straight ahead of us?"

Lyric gritted his teeth. "A huge fallen tree! TURN LEFT! NOW!"

Lyric and Summer wrenched the steering wheel left with all their might. Though they were just foals, their united strength was enough, and the front wheels of their disheveled and bullet-filled car whipped to the left. The car skidded, fish-tailed, and the shot off to their left.

"We're still not out of the red yet!" cried Lyric, "Turn right!"

Lyric and Summer did so, and the car pulled a sharp right, continuing on its original path to the valley that the two foals so desperately sought. Lyric took a moment to glance in his rear-view mirror.

"A missile launcher?" he cried as he saw what was being loaded on to the top of the vehicle that was still in hot pursuit of them, "Where did they get that!? Sharp right!"

Summer shook her head, still too much in the element of the chase to be worried. "I agree. That's cheating." She then wrenched the steering wheel to the right with Lyric just as the terrorists fired a missile.

The projectile struck a tree and exploded into a fiery plume of red and orange. Splinters flew every which way, and the tree toppled to the ground in sparks with a resounding crash. A second earlier and that devastating aftermath would have ended up occurring in the interior of Lyric and Summer's getaway car.

"They have to load the missile manually," reported Lyric, "That buys us time. Their driver sure as heck knows what he is doing… We need to find a way to shake them!"

"I agree!" gasped Summer, her head sore and buzzing from the loud explosion that had occurred behind them, "But how?!"

"If we can get them to think we died… Or cause a distraction… We can get away!" mused Lyric loudly. He then glanced behind him and blanched. "Second missile loaded! We are going to skid around this tree ahead on my mark! Three… Two… One… TURN LEFT!"

The two foals quickly did so, and then just as quickly turned right. The vehicle fish-tailed once more as it shot around the extra-large tree with surprising ease. A moment later the second missile was launched, and it struck the tree that two foals had just skidded around. The explosion blew the trunk of the poor tree clean away in fire and sparks with a resounding bang. The tree began to smoke and then tottered, and then began to fall slowly down in the direction Lyric and Summer were driving. In short, in a few second the getaway car was going to be crushed.

"Lyric! Look behind you!" yelled Summer, "I hear the tree falling and I think it is falling this way!"

Lyric glanced behind him and saw their impending doom moments away. No words were spoken… for they were too late. The tree rumbled in defeating tones as it tumbled earthward to crush the car into a pulp. Then it stopped. Lyric (who was actually still steering their car) opened one eye slowly and saw a miracle: The tree, it was hovering in the air. Still doing his best to drive like a maniac and look behind him, Lyric gasped. "Summer… Are you…?"

He glanced at Summer. Her front hooves had left the steering wheel and were now glowing with power, and her eyes were closed. Her powers had kicked in one more time to prevent their death at the hands of nature. Summer then opened her eyes and let out a long breath just as their car shot out of the range of the huge falling tree. No longer impeded by the powers of Summer, the tree finally did fall… Crushing the entire pursing terrorist vehicle beneath it. The only pony to escape from being crushed to a pulp was the terrorist driver, who shot out of the windshield and smashed into a nearby snow-covered rock. He slid to the ground, dazed. Summer actually gave Lyric a satisfied smile, before going back to assisting him in holding their course steady. Lyric had managed to find a somewhat clear pathway amidst the thick trees, and he was now sending their car careening down it.

Lyric glance behind him and chuckled in relief. "Their car is downed. I can see the driver getting up and scrambling to save some of the weapons from it! Just look at his face! That is most certainly a picture of frustration! I haven't seen such a frustrated face since you were…"

"Um, Lyric?" interrupted Summer, quietly, "I hear water ahead. A lot of it. I think we are heading straight for…"

It was too late. Lyric and Summer had been so caught up in their escape that they did not see they were approaching a small cliff that dropped off into a huge tree-protected lake below.

Lyric had enough time to turn around and see them rapidly running out of ground to drive on.

"Oops."

The car shot straight off the edge and fell a hundred meters through the air before coming to rest with a resounding splash in the icy-cold lake. In an instant Lyric and Summer were tossed through the broken windshield and into the water, with the shock of collision of flesh with water knocking them both out cold. No pony was there to watch as the disheveled ponies floated in the water, unconscious, as their trusty vehicle gave one last bubbling sigh before it was consumed by the freezing depths below.

Dimension: Dreamscape

Planet: Dreamscape

Specific Location: Dreamscape

Time: Unknown

Summer opened her eyes sharply and sat up. She gasped softly as she realized that she was in a dreamscape. She had almost forgotten what one felt and smelled like. Her heart began to beat rapidly as she suddenly remembered that she had to be placed into a dreamscape by another being, and generally that being was…

"Mattimeo?" asked Summer quietly, moving her head side to side as if visually searching for her "imaginary" friend.

There was a pause, then…

"I am here, Summer," came the voice of Mattimeo.

Summer let out a cry of joy. She then rushed towards Mattimeo's voice to nuzzle her friend. She wrapped her hooves around one of his legs and pressed her cheek against the cold metal protecting Mattimeo's limb. Mattimeo gently stroked her mane as he sat down and placed Summer on his lap. The next twelve minutes were spent in complete silence, with Summer hugging Mattimeo, and Mattimeo stroking Summer's mane.

Finally Summer spoke. "Last thing I remember… I was in the water. Then everything went black. Mattimeo? Am I going to be okay? Is Lyric going to be okay?"

Mattimeo patted her head solemnly. "It is indeed. There are ponies rowing out to save you two right now."

Summer gave Mattimeo's hand a gentle lick. "Oh good. I was worried about that. Now that I know I am not going to end up a frozen ice cube at the bottom of some random lake… How are you? I know that the rest of the Rerenhaw Council has been giving you a hard time… but… Mattimeo?"

Summer looked upwards at Mattimeo's face, her blank eyes full of questioning. "Mattimeo? Are you okay?"

Mattimeo sighed loud and long. "I suppose. Summer, I have something to ask of you."

Summer cocked her head to one side. "Okay… What is it?"

"Summer… Your abilities… Inquisitor Sunflower's abilities specifically… I need them," Mattimeo said, his voice tense.

Summer considered what Mattimeo said for a bit, then she said, "Will me losing my powers push me away from Lyric?"

Mattimeo patted her head. "No."

Summer nodded. "Then I do not know why you sound so tense! I do not need these strange things muddling up my life. All I want to do is settle down in peace, preferable really close to Lyric."

Mattimeo began to chuckle lightly, for the first time in several days (since his last dreamscape meeting with Summer, incidentally). "I understand. Then I have your full permission to draw them from your DNA sequences and restore them to their original owner?"

Summer gently tapped Mattimeo's arm. "Of course. But Mattimeo… What happened? When those military ponies were going to rape me, I thought for sure you would come and protect me like last time! What happened?"

Mattimeo sighed again. "I am powerful, but there is an enemy that is just as powerful that wants to stop me. He managed to do just that that time. But it will not happen again. I will be sending you a fleet of the most powerful of my ships, cloaked in invisibility and wrought with power... they will ensure you are never in danger again."

Summer thought about what Mattimeo said for a very long time... and then she looked up and said, "No, Mattimeo. I do not want them."

Mattimeo looked at Summer curiously. "Summer?"

Summer shook her head. "I... I... I don't want any more protection. Just the thought of these invisible flying... things... Looking over my shoulder every second of the day. I... I don't want that."

"Summer, I understand what you are saying, but are you willing to give up this protection in the face of danger?"

"I suppose... I suppose so. Undoubtedly you saves us... and I know if time really calls for it you may save me again... But Lyric and I have proven ourselves capable of protecting ourselves against the worst of the worst. We need to learn to make the best out of what we have been given. Please Mattimeo... This is what I want. Jut Lyric and I working together to survive. It may sound so strange to want this kind of life... But it is the only life I remember, and it is how I want it."

For at least five minutes Mattimeo looked upon Summer in silence. Then, finally, he said, "Very well. I will respect your wishes, but I will never sever my communications from you. And now... I must leave you, for you are about to be awakened in the real world."

Mattimeo set Summer down, ran his fingers through her mane affectionately one last time, and then gently tapped her nose. Summer felt a small part of her mind suddenly jolt, and clear, as if a corner of her mind that had always been shrouded by a heavy veil had been exposed to sunlight. Sunflower's Inquisitor DNA sequences had been drawn out of her very body via a dreamscape transaction. Mattimeo patted her cheek and then got up to leave. However, he only had gone forward a couple steps before he froze, and then slowly turned about to face Summer again.

"Summer," he murmured, "I know where and who your parents are. Do you want to know who they are?"

Summer gasped softly, and her mind began to boil with a multitude of thoughts. Her parents? Who were they? Would they want to meet her again? Did they love her? Would they love her when they saw her…?

Summer looked down at her hooves, then up at Mattimeo. There was a moment of silence…

"No."

Mattimeo slightly cocked his head to one side. "No?"

Summer nodded, and then sighed, her face the picture of confusion. "I mean… I mean… no."

Mattimeo slowly walked up to Summer, got down on one knee, and held Summer's chin in his right palm. "Summer… These are your parents we are talking about… I cannot take you to them because of the sanctions placed on this dimension, but I can give you their identity, and then aid you in returning to them."

Summer sighed once more, loud and long. "No Mattimeo. I don't want to know about them."

"Why?"

Summer looked down at her hooves, her mind muddled. Then a single resolution sparked within her brain. "I don't want them to see me as what I have become. If you were watching me in that car chase, I crushed all those ponies to death with a tree. And before that… I used an energy beam to destroy another group of terrorists. I've killed ponies and never given the ramifications any thought."

Mattimeo shook his head. "It matters not. Your parents will love you no matter what. I have indeed seen the things you have done, but I love you nonetheless."

Summer nodded. "Perhaps, but I do not think I can love myself now, knowing that I have done this. Perhaps they will love me, and perhaps we will be happy together, but it all counts for nothing if I cannot be happy with myself and find forgiveness. I may be interested in finding out who they are… after this is all over. When I have settled down in these northern mountains and found myself, then maybe I will hear what you have to say. But until then… well… this is my home. Lyric is all I need. Let us be happy together for a little bit longer. Together. Just the two of us."

Mattimeo got up. "Your decision is yours. I understand perfectly what you want to do, and I will respect that. Goodbye Summer… I will not return for some time. But remember this: I care for you."

Summer nodded her head. "I know."

Mattimeo turned about and began to walk off, but before he had gone more than a meter he was stopped by something again. This time it was Summer's voice.

"Mattimeo!" she cried.

Mattimeo paused and looked over his shoulder, prompting her to speak.

Summer fidgeted a bit, and then looked up at Mattimeo with huge, round, sightless eyes that sparkled. "Did my parents… did my parents love me?"

Mattimeo chuckled. "More than you can even comprehend. Goodbye."

Mattimeo opened a portal out of the realm of the mind and hopped through. The instant the portal closed the dreamscape was terminated, and Summer was shoved roughly back into the harsh reality that was the northern mountains of the Stallion Empire.

Notes: Personally, the story surrounding Lyric and Summer is my favorite by far. The connection they share, and the personal developments they have been experiencing is the type of quality work I love to churn out. That's not to say that I do not enjoy writing the other parts (especially considering how awesome the August-Jefferson-Gene-Radiance fights are) but Lyric and Summer's adventures is what I like to see in a story currently. Anyway, please leave a review! I would be interested to see what you all have to say about this. And here is something I would like to know: which team was your favorite? Lyric and Summer? August, Gene, Jefferson, and Radiance? Twilight, Flaming Star, Rarity, and Discord? Let me know! And if you do let me know, I shall give you a voucher for a free air-bending lesson, because Heaven knows there are not enough air-benders in this world.