The Experiments

Chapters

1) Waking Up
2) Rescue Mission
3) The Chase
4) It's a Trap!
5) Torture
6) Jailbreak
8) Who Can I Trust?
9) Unknown Motives
10) On the Run Again
11) Journey
12) Fear Shock
13) The In Between Explained
14) Fights the Training
15) God Challenge Complete!
16) The Gods of the In Between have arrived!
17) Henry gets his voice back
18) Why In Between was Built
19) Discord the Pest
20) Pestcord
21) Taking Action
22) The Fight
23) Wedding Wreckers
24) Family Reunion
25) Story Time
7) Arrival at Inter Inn

1) Waking Up

I woke up to the feeling of rain on my hat. I had no idea where I was or who I was. I looked down to see that I wore blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a blue jacket that had the word Henry on it. I had no idea how I knew what these things were at the moment. I looked down at my hand to see a round box in it. Somehow I knew I needed to open it. Before I could open it, I heard a voice coming from my backpack.

“Experiment Henry!” A voice said.”Experiment Henry! If you’re awake, open the bag and take out the small Tv in it!”

I did as I was told and saw that there was a woman on the screen.

“My name is Cora,” said Cora, “and if you’re watching this that means you’re awake. I work in a place called Lab 14. You might not remember me but I created you. In your left pocket is your ID card in a black wallet. It also tells you that you’re a human named Henry. You’re classified as what is called a Unicorn. All you have to do to transform into a Unicorn is say the word ‘Unicorn” ! When you want to change back into a human just say the word ‘human!' Those transformations will be useful in your many adventures to come! Oh and there’s a small shack ten feet in front of you. There’s a mirror there so you can see what you look like as a human and as a unicorn. That’s all I can tell, keep this small Tv for future messages. Good luck Experiment Henry and I’m signing off until next time!”

“Well,” I said, “I think that’s all I need to know for now. I guess Experiment Henry is my name. Although I don’t like the first word attached to my name. So I think I’ll just go by Henry.”

I looked in front of me and sure enough, the shack that Cora told me about was right there. I went up to the shack and I didn’t even have to knock because the door lit up and opened for me.

Okay, weird and creepy! I wonder what this round box is for?

I finally opened the box and a weird tune played. There was nothing in the box except the weird tune that was playing. I couldn’t place what the tune was, but I knew I had heard it before.

I then saw a small table in front of me and on it was a book and the title was: Experiment Henry How to be a Unicorn.

I really don’t like the word experiment attached to my name! I don’t know why though. Well, it’s time to see what I look like!

In front of me was a mirror and I looked at it to see a young guy of what age I have no idea. I had brown hair and black eyes. I wore a stetson hat on my head, how I knew what it was I had no idea. Somehow, I knew the things that I had were very important to me and I should keep them on me at all times, especially the hat for some reason.

I looked in the manual and it said that as a unicorn I can do magic with my horn.

Well, let’s see what I look like as this so-called unicorn thing.

I took a deep breath and shouted the word ‘unicorn’ and I found myself on all fours. My body was covered in white fur and a white horn came out of my head. I shrieked and backed up when I saw myself in the mirror.

I also saw that I had no clothes on and somehow I knew this was natural as a unicorn. Once I had calmed down I noticed there was a necklace with a red ring on it around my neck.

What’s this? I didn’t think I saw it when I was human! Or maybe I did and I just didn’t notice it?

I saw that my hat had fallen on the ground when I had transformed. I panicked again and picked it up with my horn and flipped it onto my head. Once my hat was back on, I let out a sigh of relief. I said the word ‘human’ and changed back into a human.

Yup, now I’m complete! I need to keep this hat on me at all times! And I have no idea why.

I put the music box on the table and it popped open and played that weird tune. I panicked again when I saw that and put it in my right pocket. When I made sure that it was secured I smiled.

That was a close one! I guess I need the music box too!

I looked in the mirror and saw the necklace that I had when I was a unicorn.

Maybe I didn’t notice it before after all! Okay, it's time for me to figure out where I am. I probably should take this book with me too. And I really don’t like the word ‘Experiment’ on it!

I went outside and saw that there were only trees surrounding the shack.

That’s weird. Why would I be put in a place where there are no unicorns or humans around? It doesn’t make any sense!

“The experiment is over there!” I heard a voice say. “We capture it and take it hostage! We’ll get a good price for it, don’t you think?”

Something tells me that those people are not on my side! Yeah, I’m out of here!

I took off running through the forest not knowing where I was going. I suddenly found myself backed up to a tree with two people standing right in front of me!

“Hi there experiment,” said the first person, “my name is Ada and you probably just woke up didn’t you? Just to let you know, I’m a woman and you’ll probably run into more of us later!”

“And I’m a woman too,” said the next person, “my name is Willow!”

“And I care that you’re a woman because?” I said.

“That’s because you’re a young man,” said Ada, “I’d say you’re in your early 20’s and Lab 14 couldn’t have made you cuter!”

“Okay,” I said, “something tells me that you two are creepy weirdos!”

“Did you hear that sis?” Willow said. “He called us creepy weirdos! And he’s the experiment!”

Out of nowhere the biggest unicorn that I had ever seen came around the corner. The unicorn also had wings and I could tell that she was very different from the other unicorns. She also had a gold crown on her head. I somehow knew who this pony was but I couldn’t place her name.

“Princess Celestia,” said Willow, “you’re not taking this experiment away this time!”

“He’s not an experiment,” said Princess Celestia, “and you’re not taking him anywhere!”

“And I thought,” said Willow, “that you were working for Lab 14 the last time I checked!”

“Not anymore,” said Princess Celestia, “and I’m getting these kids home to their rightful parents! Henry, run!”

Okay I have no idea who this pony is but if she says to run, I’m running!

I kept running through the forest and I finally made it out to the other side.

* * *

When I got out of the forest I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. I took out my manual and under the category cities it had a picture of what I was seeing and there were many of them just like the trees. The manual said that what I was seeing was a city and the nearest one that I had been dropped by was called Nightdale. The reason I knew that was because there was a sign that said: You are heading to Nightdale.

Well that was easy to figure out! Could it be any simpler?

As soon as I entered the city, I was greeted by a pony that had no wings and no horn.

“Well hello kid!” The pony said. “Looks like you’re the first experiment to wake up. I’m the welcoming party for Lab 14. My name is Jade Summers and I’m a stallion just like you!”

“I thought that I was a guy?” I said.

“Oh yes you are,” said Jade, “but when you’re transformed into a unicorn you’re a stallion. Which you might want to do before you enter the city. This city is made up of mostly ponies and they don’t take too kindly to humans.Yes there are humans here too but very little. Now hurry up and transform will you?”

“Fine,” I said, “Unicorn!”

Just like before I was on all fours and that horn was coming out of my head.

I really don’t like being a unicorn, I don’t like being on all fours and somehow walking just comes naturally.

“I know what you’re thinking,” said Jade, “how long are you going to stay a unicorn. In a couple of days I can get you to a human city but only if you trust me!”

“I don’t think I’m going to trust someone that I just met,” I said, “and on top of that, I’m only going to know you for a couple of days! You’re kidding right?”

“Nope,” said Jade, “I’m not kidding! At least they programmed You with basic vocabulary!”

Okay this just keeps getting weirder and weirder!

* * *

As soon as I was shown my room in the hideout, I sat down and took my music box. Once again it played that weird tune and I still couldn’t place where I had heard it. A memory came to me. It was with voices and I couldn’t see faces attached to them. Let’s just call the voices, voice one and voice two. Voice one had some weird accent to it and Voice two was just plain weird.

“How’s he doing?” Voice two said.

“He just woke up,” Voice one said, “and he’s having a power surge and it looks painful! We need to get him to Twilight or Princess Celestia and soon! We’ll have to get protection rings to help. I hope that works! Not to mention Crimson and Stars' gotcha days are coming up soon. Do you have any idea of what you’re going to give them? That’s because I have the perfect gift for them!”

“So do I,” said voice two, “and I can’t wait to give it to them!”

“You and me both!” Voice one said. That was the end of the memory. I sat down trying to figure out who was in the memory but I still couldn’t place faces to the voices.

What’s weird I could hear the voices but I couldn't see any faces!

I then had a feeling that I needed to take out the manual again. There was a topic on the table of contents that was titled 'Using Magic Responsibly is Fun!'

I rolled my eyes and thought, they must think I’m a baby or something!

I flipped to the page that talked about magic. The book said that if I felt something strange in my forehead then I should let it out of my horn. It also said that eventually I would be able to do certain magic like teleportation and being able to pick stuff up with my horn and float it in the air with my horn.

It also said that I would be able to do something as simple as light up a room with my horn. I started to notice a strange sensation that I felt in my forehead so I let it out through my horn. I then found myself outside of the hideout. I had my hat and my backpack on my back.

At least I still have my music box and I’m going to assume that this is my ID card. But for some reason I still feel I need to have this hat on at all times! I still have no idea why!

I then felt a strange sensation in my forehead and let out. I then found myself inside of the hideout back in my room.

I think this teleportation spell might come in handy when I’m running from unfriendly people and ponies!

I started to feel very tired and went to sleep.

* * *

The next time I woke up, I heard voices outside my room.

“Ah yes,” said Jade, “Experiment Henry is in this room over here! You said that you needed to put a new tracker in him? Didn’t you already give him one?”

I then heard another voice say, “That tracker was only to see if he was awake or not. Now that he’s awake, we need to update it so we can keep an eye on him at all times!”

“Well,” said Jade, “I drugged him in his food like you requested. He should be asleep now.”

“Thank you Agent Jade,” said the other voice, “Experiment Sarah and Experiment Martin have just woken up. When you have all of the experiments keep them here as long as possible! We will transport them to a different hideout until they’re back to Lab 14! Then they will all be eliminated and that will be the end of this experiment! The data from this will come in handy for other experiments down the road! Now lead me to Experiment Henry so I can put the new tracker in!”

“I don’t care what you do with them!” Jade said. “As long as I get paid!”

“Sure thing!” The other voice said.

Hell no! This is bad! I’m out of here!

I then put my bag on my back and made sure that I had my music box and my ID card were in it. I also made sure that I had my hat on.

I then had that strange sensation in my forehead again and I pushed it out of my horn. After that, I found myself out of the hideout and ran like the wind.

* * *

I kept running as fast as I could and before I knew it, I was out of the city. I saw a trail that led into a forest and I took it.

Great, there must be a pattern to this, let me guess city, forest, city and then another forest! This must be a running joke!

I then figured that it was safe to be a human again for some reason, even though being a unicorn was natural for me, I preferred to be human.

“Human!” I said and turned back into a human.

No sooner had I gotten into the forest I saw a young man about my age sleeping by a tree.

Huh, I wonder if he’s an experiment too? Wait a second, there is something on the back of my right hand. I think it's permanent but it said Ex-Henry. I should look at both hands to see where the writing is.

I looked on the left hand and there was nothing on it. Sure enough, on the right hand was Ex- Milton on it.

Yup he’s an experiment too!

As soon as I thought that, Milton started to wake up and his eyes opened slowly just like mine did.

Well at least it’s not raining!

When Milton opened his eyes, he looked over to see me.

“Where am I?” Milton said.

“You’re in some sort of forest,” I said, “I know, because I woke up in one too.”

Milton then looked over to see a backpack lying next to him.

Milton said, “I'm going to guess I'm wearing blue jeans, white t-shirt, black gym shoes, and a blue jacket with the word Milton on it. That's what you're wearing except your jacket says 'Henry.' I take it, that's your name?”

“Yes,” I said.

I showed my right hand that said Ex-Henry on it.

I pointed, “There’s a shack ten feet in front of you. I had the same thing happen to me.”

Milton couldn’t respond because a voice came from his backpack.

“Experiment Milton,” said Cora, “Experiment Milton, if you’re watching this that means you’re awake…”

The message that Cora said played out the same way it happened to me. Only this time Milton had to say the word pegasus to transform into whatever pony he was. Of course, all Milton had to do was say the word ‘human’ to transform back into a human.

“Wait a minute,” Milton said, “I feel like there’s a couple of important things on me that I need to keep at all times!”

“How do you know that?” I said.

“Don’t know,” said Milton, “I just do. It looks like you have a hat. I take it that’s one of your most important things?”

“Yeah,” I said, “for some reason I don’t feel complete without it.”

“I see,” said Milton, “let me look into my pocket and see what I have.”

Milton looked into his pockets and he took out a pocket knife and a gold watch and inside was a picture of a pony that looked alot like Princess Celestia but this time the pony was purple.

“Do you know who that pony is?” I said.

“Nope,” said Milton, “not a clue.”

“I know one thing is,” I said, “that a couple other experiments have yet to wake up. I do believe that their names are Sarah and Martin. Something tells me that we should save them from that Jade Summer pony. they're going to put a tracker in and I'm not about to let that happen! Anyway, let’s see what you look like in the mirror!”

“O...Kay?” Milton said.

2) Rescue Mission

Sure enough ten feet in front of us, was a shack that I could only assume that was designed for Milton.

“I don’t think you'll have to open the door,” I said, “it will open for you.”

“How do you know?” Milton said.

“The same thing happened to me!” I said.

Milton stood in front of the door to the shack. Just like with me he didn’t even have to knock, the door just lit up and opened.

“Okay,” said Milton, “is it just me, or is this weird and creepy?”

“My thoughts exactly,” I said, “the same happened with my shack!”

“Well,” said Milton, “whatever this is I definitely don’t like the word ‘Experiment’ attached to my name!”

“That’s exactly what I thought!” I said.

“Well,” said Milton, “just call me Milton from now on!”

“And just call me Henry!” I said. “It’s nice to meet you!”

“The same goes for me!” Milton said.

Entering the shack there was a small round table and on it was a book with the title: Experiment Milton How to be a Pegasus.

“They must think we’re babies!” I said. “And I know for sure we’re not!”

“You’re telling me!” Milton said. “Let me look in the mirror here.”

Milton looked in the mirror and saw that he had black hair and green eyes. He stood about a foot taller than me and had freckles on his face. Milton smiled at his appearance and was doubled over in laughter.

“What’s so funny?” I said.

“I wonder what those spots on my cheeks are?” Milton said.

“Well,” I said, “the manual probably says something about it.”

“Let’s see…” Milton said.

Milton then flipped to the section in the book on facial features that said what you look like as a human.

“Well,” said Milton, “it looks like those spots on my cheeks are freckles! Interesting!”

“Let’s see what you look like as a pegasus,” I said, “it’s bound to be different from a unicorn!”

“Sure!” Milton said. “Pegasus!”

When Milton turned into a pegasus, his fur was blue and he had no horn but wings. On his butt was a picture of a cloud with a lighting bolt coming from it.

“Hey,” said Milton, “there’s some sort of picture on my butt! I wonder what that’s for? Do you have a picture on your butt when you’re transformed as your type of pony?”

“I have no idea!” I said. “The only way to find out is if I transform.”

“Well,” said Milton, “why don’t you show me what you look like as a pony.”

“Okay,” I said, “unicorn!”

“Whoa!” Milton said.

I looked in the mirror only to see a picture on my butt that looked like a red moon and a black cloud off to the left corner of it.

“Oh,” said Milton, “look at what’s around my neck! It’s a gold chain with a ring on it! You have one too!”

“I know,” I said, “and it stays with me even when I’m human!”

“And,” said Milton, “you’re hats over there by the way!”

“Human!” I said. When I saw my hat laying on the table, I panicked. Then I reached over and put it on.

“Yup,” said Milton, “one of your important items for sure!”

“Yeah,” I said, “I don’t feel complete without it!”

“What’s your other item?” Milton said.

“This music box,” I said, “it plays this weird tune and I know I’ve heard it before, I just don’t know where.”

“Weird,” said Milton, “I wonder what the necklace with the ring on it means?”

“I have no idea,” I said, “but I think your things stay with you when you change back to human.”

“Yeah,” said Milton, “we should probably get started on rescuing Sarah and Martin. And something tells me we have to act fast!”

Milton then turned back into a human and put his things into his pocket and grabbed his bag. Before we could head out, my small Tv started talking.

“Experiment Henry!” Cora said. “Experiment Henry, you do read me? If you do turn on the auto button on the screen.”

“Something tells me,” I said, “that I need to do this but I really don’t want to!”

“You should probably go ahead and talk to her,” said Milton, “or she’ll probably bug me next!”

“The woman’s name is Cora!” I said. “And I don’t think she’s friendly!”

I found the auto button on the Tv and turned it on.

“Hello Cora!” I said.

“Ah,” said Cora, “it’s nice to see you again Experiment Henry!”

“I really don’t like to word Experiment attached to my name!” I said. “Just call me Henry!”

“Nope,” said Cora, “no can do! You’re an Experiment for Lab 14! That’s all you are! Nothing more and nothing less! I was about to say that I couldn’t get a read on your location. We haven’t been able to update your tracker device! It’s necessarily for this Experiment if you don’t do this you will be automatically eliminated!”

“You go ahead and do that Lady!” I said. “There’s no way on earth, I’ll let you put that tracker in me you piece of shit!”

“I’m going to have to figure out,” said Cora, “who planted cuss words into your mind! I suspect it was Princess Celestia out of spite when she left Lab 14! Anyway, are there any more Experiments with you?”

“Like I’d tell you!” I said. “Like I said, I’m not letting you put that tracker inside of me if I got a thing or two to say about it!”

“Then we’ll have no choice,” said Cora, “to track you down and kill you where you stand!”

“Fine by me!” I said. “You’ll have to catch me first!”

“Yup,” said Cora, “It’s definitely Princess Celestia! I’m going to have to send a tracking team to find and kill her!”

“Damn you to Hell Lady!” I said.

“I’m not Lady!” Cora said. “My name’s Cora! And if we can’t get those tracking devices in all six of you then the Experiment will be considered a failure!”

“Good,” I said, “let it be a failure for all I care! I’m done talking to you Lady! Like I said, you’re not going to put that tracking device in me! Over my dead body! So let the elimination process begin! Goodbye for now Lady!”

“My name’s not Lady!” Cora said.

That was the last thing I heard before I turned off the Tv.

* * *

“So,” said Milton, “what do we do now?”

“I don’t know,” I said, “something tells me that we have to rescue the four other Experiments before they get that tracking device put in! I have a feeling that they’ve been dropped off in a forest that’s going to lead back to Nightdale! I really don’t like saying this, but we’re going to have to go to Jade Summer’s hideout.”

“What’s so bad about him?” Milton said.

“He’s an unfriendly pony,” I said, “that works for Lab 14!”

“What’s the plan Henry?” Milton said.

“According to Jade Summer,” I said, “we were only supposed to be at the hideout for two days. However, I heard that person that works for Lab 14, say that we were supposed to stay there until all six of us woke up! Then we were supposed to be transferred to another hideout until we’re brought back to Lab 14! If we hurry, we can rescue Sarah and Martin. And I’m not calling them Experiments either! I just hope we aren’t too late!”

We headed out of the shack and before we could get much further a rope came out of nowhere and was tied around our waist.

“What the hell?” I said. “Oh great! Not this again!”

“Uh… Henry,” said Milton, “I just got a rope tied around my waist too! Looks like we’re stuck!”

“Well hello Experiment Henry!” Willow said. “So nice to see you again!”

“Oh and look!” Ada said. “We’ve got ourselves another fish! I think this is Experiment Milton! I wonder what Lab 14 put in their blood lines? Experiment Milton looks just as adorable as Experiment Henry!”

“Damn you,” I said, “I’m not an Experiment!”

“Awe,” said Willow, “Experiment Henry got cuss words programmed in his mind! I wonder who could’ve done that?”

“Oh cares Willow?” Ada said. “Let’s rope them already! We’ll definitely get a fair price for these two!”

“Milton,” I said, “that pocket knife of yours is gonna come in handy right now!”

“Sure!” Milton said. Milton then took out his pocket knife and cut the rope. He then tossed it to me and I did the same thing.

“Who are these two?” Milton said.

“Their names are Willow and Ada,” I said, “they’re creepy weirdos! And I don’t wanna stick around and find out what they’re going to do!”

“Well,” said Milton, “if you say to run, I’m running!”

“Yup,” I said, “we’re out of here!”

* * *

When we finally reached the sign that said Nightdale, we both changed into ponies. After making sure I had my hat on and my backpack on my back, Milton and I went to Jade Summer’s hideout. Since I knew where it was exactly that’s because of the landmarks that aligned the way so I took the lead in rescuing Sarah and Martin.

We got to Jade’s hideout and I remembered that the room was one the second floor.

“Hey Milton!” I said.

“Yeah?” Milton said.

“You’re a pegasus,” I said, “and it looks like you can fly! Can you fly up to the second story to see if there are any young ponies our age? In there?”

“I can try,” said Milton, “but I don’t know if I can fly yet.”

Milton then flapped his wings a couple of times and he was up in the air. He was able to fly up to the second story window and looked in.

“Do you see anyone?” I said.

“I only see one young pony,” said Milton, “and he’s a pegasus just like me! He’s a male pony just like us!”

“You think you can get his attention?” I said.

“I don’t know,” said Milton, “the window is shut tight and there are bars behind it too!”

“Why didn’t I notice that?” I said.

“You were probably too busy trying to figure things out!” Milton said. “Anyway, there’s someone coming!”

“You’ll be here for a couple of days,” Jade said, “then I’ll get you to the next city but you have to trust me, okay?”

“Yes,” said the mare that was with him, “that’s fine…”

I looked to see that the mare that was with him wore a Stetson hat too and also had a necklace with a ring around her neck.

“Okay Experiment Sarah,” Jade said, “you’re the fourth Experiment to wake up!”

“The fourth Experiment sir?” Sarah said.

“Yes,” said Jade, “Experiment Henry and Experiment Milton have already woken up along with Experiment Martin. As of now, we have no idea where Experiment Henry and Experiment Milton are. We are now waiting for Experiment Jane and Experiment Aria. They should be here in a couple of days. Then we’ll transport you to the next city. Okay?”

“Sure,” Sarah said, “I didn’t think I needed to know all of that information. But, that’s fine I just can’t wait until I can get out of my pony form!”

Jude laughed, “Looks like all you Experiments have been programmed the same way! Don’t like being in your pony forms but prefer being human!”

“O...Kay?” Sarah said.

“Anyway,” Jade said, “let’s go inside shall we?”

“Over my dead body!” I said. I then stepped out of the shadows and stomped my foot a couple of times.

“Ah Experiment Henry,” said Jade, “what luck! Experiment Milton’s with you too! Come with me so I get the updated tracking device in you. The wake up one is about to come out sooner or later!”

“Hell… No!” I said. “And you’re not taking Sarah or Martin either!”

“Looks like you got cuss words programmed into you,” said Jade, “don’t worry, I’ll just have to teach you some manners!”

“Oh really?” I said. “I don’t think so!”

I then charged at Jade and all he did was step aside and I ran into a trash can.

“Um,” said Sarah, “what’s going on Jade sir?”

“Oh nothing,” said Jade, “Experiment Henry is up for elimination!”

“Why?” Sarah said. “What did he do?”

“He won’t get that tracking device put in,” said Jade, “and he’s a lab rat just like you!”

“Excuse me?” Sarah said. “I’m not a damn lab rat! You’re going to pay for that!”

“What is with these Experiments and cuss words!” Jade said.

“We’re not Experiments!” Sarah, Milton and I said.

Jade couldn’t react fast enough, that's because Sarah ran up behind him and kicked him in the chest. He stumbled backwards and fell over.

“Humph,” said Sarah, “serves you right!”

“Okay,” said Milton, “remind me never to get on her bad side!”

I then went up to Jade and stomped him on the chest.

“Dude,” said Milton, “did you have to do that?”

“Yup!” I said. “We don’t know how many men and ponies are in there before we can get to Martin! Now let’s go!”

“Who died and made you leader?” Sarah said.

“I’m the first Experiment that woke up,” I said, “and I know more about what’s going on than you do!”

“Fine!” Sarah said.

I then ran up to the hideout and kicked the door open.

“Gee,” said Sarah, “that’s a way to make a dramatic entrance!”

“I was thinking,” I said, “if we can make enough noise, then we can rescue Martin in the chaos!”

“That’s not a bad idea!” Milton said.

“Fine,” said Sarah, “I agree.”

No sooner had we entered the hideout we had needles being thrown at us. I used the strange sensation in my forehead and let it out through my horn. Out came a bubble that surrounded me, Milton and Sarah. The needles that were being thrown at us just bounced off the bubble.

“Nice one Henry!” Milton said,

“Huh,” said Sarah, “I didn’t know unicorns could do that. I’m a unicorn too!”

“When we get out of this,” I said, “you’ll have to have a look in the manual. You did get one didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” said Sarah, “I did! It’s in my bag!”

“Good,” I said, “the sooner we have Martin the sooner we can help save Jane and Aria from coming to this place!”

“Bravo,” said a woman, “three of the four Experiments that have woken up are working together! This is an interesting change of events. Oh, and I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Eleanor and I work for Lab 14. I was waiting for you to show! We need to get those updated tracking devices in you, shall we?”

“Like I told Cora,” I said, “hell no!”

“We’re definitely going to have to kill Princess Celestia for that one!” Eleanor said. “Speaking of Princess Celestia, she’s right behind you!”

“Hello Eleanor,” said Princess Celestia, “you will not get those tracking devices in any of them!”

“Oh really?” Eleanor said. “Experiment Martin is already here! We’re also waiting for Experiment Jane and Experiment Aria to come too!”

“You won’t get away with this!” Princess Celestia said. “They’re not Experiments, they’re children! And I’m going to return them to their rightful parents!”

“But they are Experiments!” Eleanor said. “Lab 14 created them! So we at Lab 14 are their parents!”

“Yeah,” said Princess Celestia, “and that’s a no!”

“Ha!” Eleanor said. “We’ll see about that!”

Before Eleanor could react Princess Celestia had Martin in her magic and floated him down the stairs. She put him on my back inside my bubble.

“You three run now!” Princess Celetsia said. “And don’t drop Martin!”

“Got it!” I said.

“Where are we going?” Sarah said.

“There’s a shack in the forest,” I said, “where Milton woke up, we should be safe there at least until we wake up Martin!”

“Wait a second,” said Sarah, “you guys woke up in front of a shack too?”

“Yup,” I said, “we need to go now!”

3) The Chase

We went to the shack where Milton had woken up and went inside.

“At least there’s no sign of those creepy weirdos, Ada and Willow!” I said.

“Who are those two creepy weirdos, Ada and Willow?” Sarah said.

“Oh good,” I said, “you haven’t run into them yet and trust me, you don’t want to! Those two women are after us ugh... ‘Experiments’ to trade us for a high pay raise!”

“Is it just me,” said Sarah, “but I don’t like the word ‘Experiment’ attached to my name!”

“You and me both!” Milton and I said.

I looked over to see Martin still sleeping.

“I wonder how long,” I said, “he’s going to be out for?”

“Don’t know,” said Milton, “maybe we should try and wake him?”

“I don’t know if we can!” I said.

“Well,” said Sarah, “we’re still ponies now. So maybe we should give him a little nudge?”

“Well,” I said, “no time like the present!”

Sarah then took her horn and poked Martin hard on the shoulder.

“Easy there,” I said, “you don’t have to be so rough with him!”

“Hey,” said Sarah, “I don’t know how to do magic like you do!”

“Seriously!” I said. Sarah and I started to argue about how to wake Martin up.

“Well,” said Milton, “if shouting doesn’t wake him up, I don’t know what else will!”

We looked to see Martin opening his eyes.

“Where am I?” Martin said.

“Hey there,” said Milton, “my name’s Milton and this is Henry and this is Sarah. We’re all ugh... ‘Experiments’ from Lab 14!”

“You know what,” said Martin, “I had a box that kept saying ‘Experiment Martin!’ I don’t like the word ‘Experiment’ attached to my name!”

“You can do that bubble thing with your horn!” Sarah said.

“Your point?” I said.

“I can’t do magic yet!” Sarah said. “That’s why I poked Martin with my horn!”

“And…” I said.

“Just because you're the leader doesn’t mean you have to be an idiot!” Sarah.

“Excuse me?” I said. “I told you that I was the first one to wake up, and I know more about what’s going on than you do! I think I’m not an idiot on that one!”

“Yeah you are!” Sarah said.

I rolled my eyes, “Do you want to be the leader? Because I would be happy to give you the job! That’s because you seem to think you can do it better! So just go right ahead!”

“The same thing with all three of us!” Milton said. “Henry and Sarah stop shouting already!”

Sara and I didn’t realize that we were still arguing until Milton had told us to stop. Milton did a face palm and groaned.

“Princess Celestia is right,” said Milton, “we’re nothing but children!”

“Hey!” Sarah and I said.

“What’s that picture on your butt?” Martin said. “It looks the same as mine!”

“Huh,” said Milton,”let me see…”

Milton and Martin looked in the mirror at the same time. They both saw that they had the same picture on their butts, a cloud with a lightning bolt coming from it.

“I wonder,” said Martin, “are we twins?”

“I don’t know,” said Milton, “let’s see what we both look like as humans.”

Milton and Martin both shouted the word ‘human’ and turned back into human form. Sure enough they looked exactly like each other. They both ha black hair and green eyes and freckles on their cheeks.

“We are twins!” Milton and Martin said.

Milton and Martin looked in their pockets and each one of them took out a pocket knife and a watch that had a picture of the same pony that looked a lot like Princess Celestia but the pony was purple in it.

“Cool!” Milton and Martin said.

“Okay,” I said, “not following any of this are you Sarah?”

“Well, the only thing I’m getting,” said Sarah, “is that they’re twins!”

“Hey,” I said, “I was wondering, you have a Stetson hat on, do you by any chance have a music box?”

“Yes I do,” said Sarah, “oh and we should turn back into human form now.”

“Okay!” I said.

“Human!” Sarah and I said.

Once Sarah was in her human form I saw that she had red hair and brown eyes. I could see that she was a couple of inches shorter than me. Sarah then opened her music box and it played the same weird tune that mine did.

“Huh,” I said, “do you by chance have the same picture on your butt?”

“Oh no,” said Sarah, “I saw your picture and it was a moon and a black cloud on the left corner of it. My picture is a star with a wavy thing coming out of it. I have no idea what it means though.”

I shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine!”

“Do you have strange memories?” Sarah said. “You know, voices that you can’t place where they come from?”

“Yes I have,” I said, “just one where a voice said that Crimson was having a power surge. They also talked about Crimson and Stars gotcha days coming up. I have no idea what that’s all about.”

“Hum,” said Sarah, “same here! One of the voices had a strange accent and the other one was just plain weird!”

“Uhm Henry?” Milton said.

“What?” I said.

“What’s that thing coming out of your ear?” Milton said.

I didn’t feel the thing coming out of my ear until after Milton mentioned it.

“Ouch!” I said.

It felt like my ear was going to come off my head. Before whatever it was finished coming out of my ear, the pain was so great that I passed out.

* * *

When I woke up I saw Sarah, Milton and Martin were looking at me worried.

“How long was I out?” I said.

“Five minutes,” said Sarah, “it was weird too! Whatever came out started crawling around so we stomped on it!”

Sarah pointed to see a round tube that had legs on it. It also looked like it was a mangled mess. I touched my ear and it felt tender to the touch.

“Your ear is completely red,” said Milton, “does it feel like it’s on fire?”

“No,” I said, “it just hurts when I touch it. I have a feeling the same thing is going to happen to you three.”

“Gee,” said Sarah, “I can’t wait!”

“Maybe we should stay here and wait until our tracking devices come out?” Milton said.

I shook my head, “No, we have to keep Jane and Aria from going to Jade Summers hideout! If you guys pass out, I’ll protect you to the best of my ability. If we have luck on our side, Princess Celestia will step in and help.”

“Let’s hope so,” said Milton, “so when do we head out?”

“We’re heading out now!” I said. “Everyone, grab your two most important things and your backpacks and let’s go!”

* * *

Before we could even leave the shack we heard voices off in the distance.

I rolled my eyes, “That would be the creepy weirdos, Ada and Willow!”

“Oh yeah,” said Sarah, “I ran into those two shortly after I woke up!”

“Same here with Milton and I!” I said. “Did you run into them Martin?”

“Nope,” said Martin, “I have no idea who they are!”

“Well,” said Milton, “at least one of us hasn’t run into them yet!”

“And trust me,” I said, “you don’t want to meet them!”

“Okay,” said Martin, “if you say so…”

“I wonder what... ugh…” Sarah gagged, “Experiment’ they’re after this time?”

“I don’t know,” I said, “but if I were you, I’d keep your things on you as much as possible cause we’re going to have to run when we save whoever it is.”

We didn’t have to go very far when we heard someone shout:

“earth pony!”

We could hear Willow and Ada shouting after whoever it was.

“No you don’t!” Willow said. “You’re not escaping us like the other Experiments did Experiment Jane!”

“No way in hell am I going with you willingly!” Jane said.

“What is with these Experiments and cuss words?” Ada said. “Now I know Lab 14 didn’t program that in them.”

“What am I,” said Jane, “a computer to you?”

“I guess you could say that,” said Willow, “that’s because you’re a lab rat for Lab 14!”

“Oh hell no!” Sarah said. “No she didn’t! We’re not lab rats!”

As soon as Sarah said that, I couldn’t stop her because she charged out of the shack so fast, it was like she was a lightning bolt shooting out of the sky!

“Oh boy,” I said, “she really hates being called a lab rat and I don’t blame her!”

“Unicorn!” Sarah shouted and transformed.

“Well if it isn't Experiment Sarah!” Willow said tauntingly. “So nice to see you again!”

“The feeling is mutual!” Sarah narrowed her eyes and hissed.

“At least they haven’t dropped any F bombs on us yet!” Ada said.

“I have no idea what an F bomb is,” said Sarah, “but I’m pretty sure I’ll figure it out!”

“Let’s hope not!” Willow said.

Willow then threw a rope at Jane and it wrapped around her waist.

“Oh no you don’t!” Sarah said.

Sarah then stomped on the rope and bit it with her teeth, this freed Jane and she head butted Willow as if she were a goat. The head butt knocked Willow out and Ada rushed to her aid.

“Good,” I said, “while they’re distracted, let’s get out of here!”

“If you say run,” said Jane, “I’m running!”

“Same here!” Sarah said.

We ran as fast as we could to the middle of the forest.

* * *

We stopped when we couldn’t run anymore. We stopped by a nearby tree that had a huge branch of leaves hanging out from it.

“This should be good enough cover,” I said.

“Before I turn back human,” said Jane, ”who are you guys?”

“Oh,” I said, “we’re... ugh... ‘Experiments’ from a place called Lab 14. When each of us woke up there was a message that came from a small Tv that was in our backpacks. All of us had a shack ten feet in front of us. Inside the shack was a small table with a manual on it.”

“Not to mention,” said Milton, “when we woke up we all had two most important items with us, that for some reason we feel the need to keep on us at all times. Mine and Martins are a pocket knife and a watch. We can only assume that we’re twins because we look exactly alike when we’re human and we’re exactly the same when we’re pegasus.”

“You wanna see?” Martin said.

“Sure!” Jane said.

“Pegasus!” Milton and Martin said and transformed.

“And Sarah and I wear Stetson hats on us at all times,” I said, “just to show you, ‘unicorn!’”

I changed back into a unicorn and Jane spotted the necklace with a ring on it around my neck.

“You have a necklace with a ring on it!” Jane said. “I have one too! Wanna see?”

Jane pointed at her neck and that’s when I saw the necklace.

“Hey,” said Sarah, “we all have one of those. I wonder what that means?”

“I wonder if Aria will have one too?” I said.

“Who’s Aria?” Jane said.

“She’s one of us too,” I said, “let’s hope we can come across her before Lab 14 along with Willow and Ada do.”

“Oh,” said Jane, “what’s with the goofy clothing?”

“We should probably show you our clothing too.” I said.

“Human!” Everyone said.

We changed back to human and we all showed Jane that we were dressed in the same clothing.

What Jane looked like is that she had sandy blonde hair and of her eyes was green and the other eye was blue.

“I wonder what all of this means?’ Jane said.

“Your guess is as good as mine!” I said.

“Oh,” said Jane, “and did anyone by chance have a small tube with legs come out of their ear?”

“Only Henry has so far,” said Milton, “and he passed out because of it! I am not looking forward to that experience!”

“Let me guess,” I said, “you passed out too?”

“Yup,” said Jane, “and my ear hurts like crap! As soon as I saw the thing, I stomped on it!”

“Great,” I said, “that means three if not four of us if you include Aria, still have yet to have their trackers pop out!”

“Lovely,” said Milton, “not looking forward to that at all!”

“Um… Milton?” Martin said.

“What? Ouch!” Milton said. “Damn it! I have something coming out of my ear don’t I?”

* * *

Just like what happened to me, Milton was out for five minutes. Milton was laying in the fetal position when he woke up.

“Man that hurt!” Milton said. “Why did it have to be me next?”

“Well,” I said, “I’d rather have it happen sooner than later!”

“Oh great,” said Sarah, “that means three of us are left! Hopefully, Aria’s tracker popped out!”

“Maybe we can speed up the process so you can get it over with?” Jane said.

“No way!” Sarah said. “Not gonna happen!”

“Okay then,” said Jane, “have it your way.”

* * *

“Discord!” Princess Celestia said. “What do you want now?”

“I was wondering,” said Discord, “exactly when are you going to tell the children that they have the updated tracker in their ears already when their old ones popped out?”

“Nope,” said Princess Celestia, “not anytime soon! You know it’s kind of funny though.”

“What?” Discord said.

“Lab 14’s technology is very outdated,” said Princess Celestia, “it’s practically obsolete! While we already implanted updated trackers Lab 14 still needs to put their trackers underneath the skin! It’s sad that neither of us were able to wipe their memories! I can only assume that it’s because of their magic!”

“I was wondering about that,” said Discord, “why do you feel the need to experiment on only Equestrian children anyway?”

“We didn’t just steal Equestrian children you know!” Princess Celestia said.

“Oh,” said Discord, ”I haven’t seen them at either lab! Are they imaginary children?”

“Oh no,” said Princess Celestia, “they’re not imaginary! Celestial labs and Lab 14 have split half the Experiments with Celestial Labs and the other half with Lab 14!”

“I hate it when you talk about these children like that!” Discord said. “They’re not property you know!”

“For the time being they are!” Princess Celestia said. “Don’t worry, they’ll be guided back to Celestial Labs in no time!”

“What about returning the children back to their rightful parents?” Discord said.

“Oh that,” said Princess Celestia, “Luna and I are their rightful parents! That’s because we helped create them after all!”

“You didn’t create them!” Discord said. “You stole them from their cribs! They were already created, Princess Celestia!”

“Humph!” Princess Celestia said.

“And when do you think,” said Discord, “when they’re going to figure out that they can do magic in their human form?”

“Probably,” said Princess Celestia, “when their cutie marks appear on their left hand. They already have their names on their right hand. Lab 14 should go ahead and consider their experiment a failure! Their loss is my gain!”

Discord groaned, “It seems that my reasoning goes in one ear and out the other!”

* * *

“So,” said Jane, “what are we going to do for food?”

“Hmm,” I said, “I’m pretty sure the manual says something about it!”

“It says here,” said Milton, “that we forge for food in the forest when we come across one and catch fish in the river.”

“And,” I said, “what about cities?”

“It says,” saiid Martin, “that we can use these bits in our backpacks to get food and work odd jobs to make more.”

Before we could make another move, there was a voice coming from my backpack.

“Henry!” We heard a voice say, “Henry if you’re there, turn on the screen and the auto please I need to talk to you!”

“What’s that voice?” Jane said.

“It doesn’t sound like Cora,” I said, “it sounds more like Princess Celestia.”

“Who’s Princess Celestia?” Sarah said.

“She’s that big white pony that’s popped up to save us quite a few times!” Milton said.

“Oh I remember!” Sarah said. “She did pop up to save us from that Eleanor woman!”

“Yup!” I said.

I turned on the Tv and the auto to speak to Princess Celestia.

“Oh good,” said Princess Celestia, “you’re safe for now.”

“For now?” I said.

“Yes,” said Princess Celestia, “the two sisters Willow and Ada are bound to be after you once again. So you better not stay where you’re at for very long. You should probably just grab some food and keep moving! Oh, and I’ll be sending my assistant Moria. So be on the lookout for a black dog with a pink color around her neck. The color has a gold tag with the name Moria on it! And keep your Tv’s with you at all times! That includes all of the other children that are with you! Many children are there with you?”

“There’s four.” I said.

“Oh good,” said Princess Celestia, “you still have yet to come across Aria!”

“How do you know about this?” I said.

“Well, I did work for Lab 14,” said Princess Celestia, “I left shortly after your creation. So, I know how many of you are there. And you need to know that there’s something different about Aria.”

“What?” I said.

“She wears glasses when she’s in human form,” said Princess Celestia, “don’t worry, her glasses disappear when she’s turned into an earth pony. And the glasses are indescribable, so you won’t have to worry about them breaking! And don’t worry about Cora, I will intercept her messages and replace them with mine. That’s all I have to say for now. Bye Henry until we meet again!”

“Bye Princess Celestia!” I said. The screen went black and I turned the Tv off.

4) It's a Trap!

Before Henry, Sarah, Milton, Marin and Janes adventures continue there is a small story that needs to be told. When the four of them woke up, they didn’t wake up in Equestria and they didn’t wake up on a planet called earth. As a matter of fact they woke up in a place that isn’t a universe at all! The place that they woke up is called In Between. In Between was built by several gods a long time ago.

There were two reasons why the gods built In Between. The first reason was so that the gods could travel to other universes without worrying that there would be too many gods in that universe. Each universe can have only so many gods to rule over it. A universe can be destroyed if there are too many gods in it because there would be too much power in that universe and it would be sucked into something that the gods call a black hole and would disappear forever. So to keep that from happening the gods set up barriers around each universe they rule over. This barrier keeps other gods away from another god’s or gods’ territory, otherwise there would be too much power in one universe.

In Between has different gates that the gods connected to it so other gods could travel into other universes. When a god enters into another universe, they open a special type of portal. This leads them through In Between. The gods travel through this place to get into another universe, bypassing the barrier altogether.

However all of the gods that built In Between agreed that a god that’s from another universe that travels to that universe will only stay in it for no more than two days, because even though In Between was built, the gods still worried about the whole barrier issue.

The other reason that In Between was built was so the gods could share information with each other. The way the gods can share information is through the gates that connect to In Between.

The gods that built In Between and turned their gates that connect their universes to it into forests and in order to keep In Between working properly they put some of their power into the trees in the forest. After the forest they created cities and allowed so of the creatures the different universes that are connected to In Between to take up being a resident in this place. No one knows why the gods created In Between to be that way. So the traveling pattern for In Between is city forest city.

For some reason when In Between was built it became a universe. The rule that the first ever gods that came into that set in stone was that every universe needs a god or lesser beings called demigods to rule over it. The consequences are If there is no one ruling over a universe then that universe dies and it doesn’t get sucked into a black hole with that type of death it just fades away.

None of the gods or demigods that were alive already volunteered to rule over In Between so three centuries ago In Between started to grow weak and the gods worried about In Between fading away. If In Between were to fade away there would be no way for the gods to travel into other universes. Or to share information with each other. That would happen no matter how much power the gods put inside their gates.

Everyone that lived inside In Between or traveled into different universes themselves knew that there are no gods to rule over In Between that’s why labs like lab 14 and other labs set up shop to be able to do whatever they wanted and not have to face the consequences after they did so.

In Between is a universe without a god and there was nothing that the gods could do to stop Lab 14 from doing their evil things. The reason for that is because a god that’s ruling over a universe can only take care of problems that happen in their universe and not in another god’s universe. Because In Between is considered a universe, the gods that built the place could not take care of the problems that pop up with In Between. Since none of the other gods themselves wanted the job of ruling over In Between, there’s nothing any god can do about the labs that have set up shop there.

As Lab 14 did their testing on the children that they stolen from their cribs, figured out that when a creature specifically is next to one of the trees in the gates of In Between when they sit next to a tree for more than a half hour the power mixes with that creature's blood and it makes them stronger. This happens especially if a creature has magic in them. If that creature gets stronger from the magic of the tree they can die after that. However they don’t die permanently, they come back with their powers twice as strong. This cycle of death and life can happen several times. However the limit for how times that can happen is ten. After that the creature's life is extended and they are practically immortal. For some reason a lot of creatures that have become strong because of being beside the trees only die up to three times before they leave the tree. There were two creatures called humans that did reach the tenth death lived for over a million years! Their names are Josephine and Alexander.

Unfortunately once a decision by the gods has been made it can not be taken back, it’s already set in stone. So the gods decided to have the very first God Con by meeting inside In Between and it was at God Con that they decided to issue something that they called The God Challenge it’s for every creature that lived inside In Between to chop down a tree in the forest of this place.

Even though Josephine and Alexander are the two longest living beings to ever live in In Between, it was only because of drawing out the magic from the trees. The only way they were able to do that was because they had magic but very little magic. Not enough magic to be considered a god or demigod for that matter. Even if a creature becomes strong from the magic of the trees doesn't mean that they have enough power to become one of the gods. Josephine and Alexander took on The God Challenge themselves and because they had little magic they failed.

Little did everyone know that at the first God Con all of the gods that were there had seen a vision of two demigods being born. After seeing that vision they also saw another vision of the same demigods chopping down one of the trees in one of the gates. Then the demigods would ascend to full fledged godhood and they would rule over In Between and the gods would not have to worry about In Between being wiped out.

The two gods that would rule In Between would have no idea that they were demigods in the first place. One of the demigods would live inside of In Between gates, and that demigod would have no idea that they died over and over again. The other demigod would be brought from another universe and would die over and over again because of growing up in Lab 14.

The reason why this story is being told so early in the adventures of Henry, Sarah, Milton, Martin and Jane, is that In Between is where all of them woke up as part of one of Lab 14’s experiments. Lab 14 is looking for an answer to their question. What exactly Lab 14 and other labs that are set up are looking for no one knows except for the heads of those labs. Oh and to add onto that, one of the demigods would be in the group that has Henry, Sarah, Milton, Martin and Jane that are going on adventures together. But only the gods know who the demigod is. So until the two demigods came onto the scene to help save In Between the gods would have to sit tight and wait for them to arrive...

* * *

After the conversation with Princess Celestia I had a problem with the fact that Princess Celestia was able to keep track of us and where we were. To me it seemed like it was way too easy for her to pop up and save us like she’s done a couple of times.

“Well,” said Milton, “at least we have somepony on our side!”

“I don’t know,” I said, “Princess Celestia did save us a few times but, it almost seemed way too convenient for her to just pop up.”

“That may be true,” said Milton, “it seems that she’s trying to help out. And she doesn’t call us ‘Experiments’ either! So maybe we should trust her until she gives us a reason not to!”

“Fine,” I said, “I’ll go along with it for now, but I definitely don’t trust Cora and possibly Princess Celestia!”

“Sorry,” said Sarah, “it’s four against one on that!”

* * *

Cora had been pacing back and forth trying to figure a way to get her experiments back.

“Agent, Rarity,” said Cora, “this is bad! This is very bad!”

“What’s wrong Head Cora?” Agent Rarity said.

“Agent Rarity,” said Cora, “I need you to go and bring the Experiments back!”

“How many Experiments have woken up?” Agent Rarity said.

“Five that we know of,” said Cora, “Experiment Aria is supposed to wake up soon. And I should be able to track her with her old tracker until it pops out of her ear.”

“Is that why you’re pacing back and forth?” Agent Rarity said.

This is bad, thought Cora, if I’m this worried!

“Head Cora!” A voice said from the computer screen. “Head Cora come in!”

Cora turned on the main computer to see Jade Summer’s with an evil grin on his face.

I know that smile, Cora thought, Agent Jade is up to something!

“I have captured Experiment Aria just right before she woke up!” Jade said.

“Agent Jade,” said Cora, “I know what that look you’re giving me! What are you up to?”

“Oh nothing,” said Jade, “I have a proposal for you.”

“What is it?” Cora said.

“I think, Experiment Aria,” said Jade, “is the perfect bait for the other experiments don’t you think?”

“Where are you Agent Jade?” Cora said.

“I’m in a hideout that’s behind a waterfall!” Jade said.

“Typical,” said Cora, “you just have to choose that hideout every time didn’t you?”

“In case you didn’t notice,” Jade said, “the last hideout was on the outskirts of Nightdale!”

“That’s because,” said Cora, “we told you to pick that hideout! Because if you didn’t, you wouldn’t get paid!”

“I know, I know,” said Jade, “and I’m going to have a little bit of fun with Experiment Aria just before the experiments get here!”

“Agent Jade,” said Cora, “I’m warning you, if you kill Experiment Aria I’ll have your head!”

“Oh no,” said Jade, “I was just thinking that I’d break her so she doesn’t get the courage to run off with the other Experiments!”

“I guess that could work,” said Cora, “I just want all the experiments back!”

At the end of the call with Jade, Discord popped up floating in the air drinking a soda and after he was done, he threw it behind him and it popped as if someone set off a firecracker.

Cora rolled her eyes, “Agent Discord what do you want?”

“Why does everyone think that I want something every time I show up?” Discord said.

“Because,” said Cora, “that’s part of your MO. If you left something at a crime scene, it would probably be a holographic message talking the police to death!”

Discord was still floating in the air curling up in laughter into the shape of a ball.

“Stop laughing Discord!” Cora said. “This is serious business! The Experiments are our property, and we’re getting them back! Period!”

“They’re not property for crying out loud!” Discord said. “They were stolen from their cribs! You didn’t create them! You just tweaked them! And to add onto that took them here off all places! In Between was not created for that reason!”

Cora waved her hand, “Just go away Agent Discord!”

“Wow,” said Discord, “you say that like I’m a pest or something! Okay fine, I’m going!”

Discord snapped his claw and disappeared.

* * *

We had stayed put where we were to wait for Princess Celestia's dog assistant that she was sending us Moria to come.

“Ow! Hey!” Milton said. “What in the hell is biting me?”

I looked down to see a black nose with teeth biting at Milton’s ankle.

“She wouldn’t by chance be a black dog?” Sarah said.

“Hey there little doggy!” Jane looked at it as if it were a baby.

“It’s not a baby Jane,” I said, “as you in case you didn’t notice, but the thing has teeth!”

“Excuse me?” The black dog said.

All of us except Jane shrieked and jumped back Jane however, just looked at the dog as if it were a toy.

“My name is Moria!” The dog said. “I’m Princess Celestia’s assistant! And I’m not a thing!”

“Sorry about that,” I said, “but you were biting Milton’s leg and we only saw a nose with teeth!”

“And I’m sorry about that!” Moria said. “I just bit Milton so I could make sure that I found the right people!”

“How do you have our scent?” I said.

“Princess Celestia worked for Lab 14!” Moria said. “So of course I would have your scent!”

“Oh,” I said, “well that makes sense!”

“Have you eaten yet?” Moria said. “Cause I can help you track down some food!”

Jane pointed to the pile of berries we had sitting on a leaf.

“We just ate,” said Jane, “so we’re fine.”

“Good!” Moria said. “Because we really need to get going, the sisters Willow and Ada will be hot on your trail very soon!”

“How’d you figure that out?” Sarah said. “I head butted Willow!”

“Well that’s gonna buy us some time!” Moria said. “But we should get moving as soon as possible! I see you haven’t found Aria yet but we will soon! I have her scent right up my nose!”

“Gee, thanks?” I said.

“You’re welcome!” Moria said.

This dog’s going to get on my nerves! I can tell! And if I need to, I’ll kill her and cook her for food!

* * *

Moria sniffed the air for the hundredth time.

“I’m not picking up her scent!” Moria said.

“You already said that for the one hundredth time!” I said. “Obviously, she’s not in this forest so let’s move on to the next city!”

At this point I was starting to get very annoyed with her and really wanted to cook her up for food!

Moria shook her head, “Nope, we have to make sure we look over the whole forest! Those are my instructions from Princess Celestia!”

I did a face plan and ran my hand down to my chin.

“What’s that look for?” Milton said.

“This stupid dog is getting on my last nerve!” I said.

“Hey!” Moria said. “We have to get to Aria before Lab 14 does! If I can’t pick up her scent more than likely Lab 14 already has her!”

“And if that happens,” I said, “we could very well be walking into a trap!”

“That is correct,” said Moria, “chances are that I can’t pick up on her scent she’s probably already run into Jade Summer!”

“Jade Summer!” I said. “But I stomped on his chest! He should be practically dead by now!”

“Sorry,” said Moria, “but he’s an Agent for Lab 14 and they have a tendency to make their Agents to be indestructible!”

“Well that’s a shocker!” Milton said.

“Don’t be sarcastic with me!” Moria barked.

“Okay, okay!” Milton said. He then put up his hands as if to say he surrendered.

Sarah looked like she was ready to punch Milton and I stepped in between them, before they started boxing.

“Don’t you dare Sarah!” I said.

“I wasn’t going to do anything,” Sarah said, “I was just going to get Milton to shut up before he says anything stupid!”

“Stupid?” Milton said.

“Shut up you two!” I said. “It’s bad enough the dog is getting on my nerves!”

“Hey!” Moria barked.

“Okay,” said Milton, “everyone stop arguing! We have to find Aria and quick! Not to mention we have to worry about the two sisters Willow and Ada and we also have to worry about Jade Summers!”

“Milton’s right,” said Jane, “if we just take a deep breath and calm down, we’ll find Aria in no time at all! So what if we’re walking into a trap! We’re still going to save Aria and that’s it!”

“And Moria,” I said, “you’ve sniffed this forest just like you did the other one!”

“Wait a second!” Moria barked.

“What?” Jane said. “Did you pick up on Aria’s scent?”

“Yes,” said Moria, “it’s very faint but I’m smelling it right around this waterfall. It’s probably because of the water.”

“It’s about time!” I said.

“Don’t you talk back to me Henry!” Moria said.

“Why me?” I said and then thumped my head on a nearby tree. Jane put a hand on my shoulder and I stopped.

“It’s okay Henry,” said Jane, “we’re going to save Aria.”

“Somehow,” I said, “Aria’s scent is behind a waterfall and it feels like we’re walking into a trap!”

* * *

Once again, Discord popped back up at Lab 14 to pay Cora another visit.

“I was wondering,” said Discord, “what are you going to do once you have the Experiments back?”

“We’ve done this with the Experiments before,” said Cora, “we’ll gather the data and we’ll shut the Experiment down!”

“And how many times do you plan on doing that?” Discord said.

“This is Experiment #6,” said Cora,” remember what was done with Experiment Henry when we made the first scientific breakthrough with him and we’ll keep doing this until we make another one!”

“Exactly,” said Discord, “what scientific breakthrough are you looking for?”

“The cure for death.” Cora said pointedly.

“I don’t think,” said Discord, “that testing Equestrian children is going to give you that answer. Ponies die too you know! Honestly Cora! In Between was not created for that reason! You just came here and set up shop so you could do whatever you wanted to do! And justifying your actions by saying you're looking for the cure for death doesn't make it right and you know it!”

“We know that Agent Discord!” Cora said. “And since there's no gods that rule this place we can do our testing in peace! We were thinking along the lines of combining a human's and a pony's blood together that should do the trick! And I feel we’re so close to finding the answer!”

“And that’s going to prolong your life, how?” Discord said.

“It’s going to help!” Cora said. “I just know it will!”

“You scientists are all the same!” Discord said. “All you want is data and results!”

“Remember,” said Cora, “we got results when it was just Experiment Henry! Now get out of my sight Agent Discord! Before I shut you down next!”

“Oh a doubt you can do that,” Discord said, “I’m the Lord of Chaos! You haven’t been able to do that to me yet! Good luck figuring that out! Goodbye!”

Discord then snapped his claw and disappeared.

* * *

Moria sniffed, finding Aria’s scent behind the waterfall she pointed as if she were a sign showing where Aria’s scent was.

“Okay,” I said, “what’s that about?”

“She’s right over here!” Moria said.

“Huh?” I said. “But there’s nothing but a brick wall here!”

“Knowing Agent Jade,” said Moria, “he’s probably got some secret code to open the hideout! And I think I know exactly what it is!”

Moria then pressed a paw on the rocks in a zigzag pattern. At the end of the pattern she licked the last rock and that completely grossed me out.

“Did that rock taste good?” Sarah said.

“You just had to say it,” I said, “didn’t you?”

“What?” Sarah said. “I was just saying what everyone else was thinking!”

This time it was Jane who did the face palm and groaned. Before we entered however, Moria put up a paw to stop us.

“Since this could be a trap,” said Moria, “maybe it’s best I enter first?”

“Uh-huh,” I said, “that’s a little bit too convenient, no I’ll go first!”

“You sure you want to do that?” Martin said.

“Yes,” I said, “I’m sure!”

I looked around the corner and it looked like a scientist lab. I didn’t know how I knew this but for some reason I knew what this place was.

“Is it just me,” I said, “or does anyone else recognize this place?”

Sarah followed me and looked around the corner and her eyes went wide.

“Yup,” said Sarah, “I totally recognize this place!”

Everyone else went around the corner and their eyes went wide.

“Definitely familiar!” Martin said.

“I wonder why that is?” I said. Suddenly, I remembered something I remembered that I was always locked in this room and on the door there was a sign that said:

Experiment Henry #1 classification unicorn.

“Does anyone remember a room in a place like this?” Jane said.

Everyone nodded and looked at the place in terror.

“Look!” Sarah said. She pointed at the ceiling and hanging from it was a girl dressed in the same clothing that we were dressed in. She had long black hair covering her face.

“I take it,” said Martin, “that’s Aria?”

“Yup,” I said, “but look what she’s tied to the ceiling with!”

The girls hands were tied with two wires not a rope. I thought the colors of the wires were blue and yellow.

“Is the color of the other wire yellow?” I said.

“No,” said Jane, “the other colors red, do you have some sort of color blindness?”

“I guess so…” I said.

“So,” said Milton, “what do we do now?”

I pointed, “Look at what I says on the box!”

“It says surge projector,” said Milton, “so where exactly are you going with this?”

“I’m starting to get some of my memory back,” I said, “but it’s a little hazy. If I remember correctly, Lab 14 would use that box as a form of correctional purposes.”

“Correctional purposes?” Sarah said.

“It’s a form of discipline,” I said, “it’s used to break an Experiment down so they will bend to Lab 14’s will!”

“How does it work?” Jane said. “Because I don’t remember anything like this!”

“Neither do I!” Martin said.

“I do,” said Sarah, “it’s been awhile since I’ve seen it and that thing was really painful!”

“How many times was it used on you?” I said.

“Five that I can remember.” Sarah said.

“Now that you think about it,” said Milton, “it’s been used on me three times! How many was it used on you Henry?”

I sighed, “I lost count after ten…”

* * *

Princess Celestia was not happy about what she was seeing on her computer screens.

“Oh crap!” Princess Celestia said.

“What is it?” Discord said.

“I’m not getting a signal on any of the children!” Princess Celestia said.

“Are you picking a signal up from Moria?” Discord said.

Princess Celestia shook her head, “Not even from Moria!”

“Then that only means one thing,” said Discord, “they’ve gone into a Lab 14 hideout.”

* * *

As we entered the location where Aria was being held hostage Moria seemed like she was very agitated about something.

“Damn it!” Moria said.

“What now?” I said.

“I can’t get a message to Princess Celestia!” Moria said.

“And you’re worried about this now!” I said. “Now is not the time!”

We heard Jade Summers' laughter from behind us.

“It’s so nice to see you again Moria! Hum, maybe after this, I’ll get a pet dog too!” Jade Summers said.

“I’m not a pet!” Moria barked. “I’m Princess Celestia’s assistant! Why do you think I can talk?”

“Awe,” said Jade, “did I hurt the little dog’s feelings?”

Moria then growled, pulling her lips back and showing her teeth.

“And I thought getting bit by her was bad!” Milton said.

“Shut up Milton!” Moria barked.

“She already bit you?” Jade laughed. “Careful she might have rabies!”

“Okay that’s it!” Moria said.

Oh boy, this is not going to end well!

“Uh,” said Martin, “shouldn’t we stop her?”

“Nope!” I said. “Just follow my lead okay?”

“No you don’t Experiment Henry!” Jade said. “I have a little present for you!”

“I am not a damn experiment!” I said.

“And we’ll have to reprogram your mind too!” Jade said. “Too bad we can’t wipe your memories! That’s mainly because of your magic! Oh well…”

Before we could react, Jade pulled a lever that was behind him and out of it came two wires for each of us. The wires wrapped around our wrists and pulled us up to the ceiling. The only one that didn’t get tied up was Moria.

“No, no doggie!” Jade said. He then pulled another lever and out came an iron chain that came out from underneath Moria and hog tied her.

“I’m going to break you down by the time I’m done,” said Jade, “and you’ll be good little Experiments for Lab 14!”

“Hell no!” I said “You’re not going to break me so easily!”

“I beg to differ,” said Jade, “let’ see, you five should be crying out in pain right about now!”

Jade then pressed a button that was by the lever and electric blot went through all of the wires. Jane, Sarah, Martin and Milton all cried out in pain. But me however, I was determined not to scream. I just growled and spit in Jade’s face, Jade then picked up a towel that was hanging on the railing and wiped his face with it.

“You prepared for this,” I said, “didn’t you?”

“For you yes,” said Jade, “for the others no.”

“I take I’ve done this before?” I said.

“Yup,” said Jade, “just to me especially. Probably because I was the executioner!”

“You’re not killing me that easy!” I said. “No way I’m going to die here! Not if I got a thing or two to say about it!”

“You’re a bad experiment, Experiment Henry,” said Jade, “you know that right? Don’t worry, when I bring you to the Head of Lab 14, you’ll just be some broken toy and I hope they shut you down for good this time!”

“As if I care!” I said.

“Fine,” said Jade, “I’ll just increase the electricity so you can take a nap okay?”

Jade then pressed another button and just as promised the electricity was more intense. I couldn’t bear the pain this time, and just as Jade promised I went to sleep.

5) Torture

Cora walked with Jade down the hallway looking at her reflection on the cold silver walls. They reached a door and Cora typed her access code. They entered the chamber where the experiments were hanging from the ceiling. “Are they asleep like I asked?” Cora asked.

Jade rolled his eyes, “Yes, yes they are! I did have a little bit of trouble with Experiment Henry but I just upped the voltage. It stopped his heart and he flatlined but he’s back now. I can assure you of that, honest!"

Cora stared at the experiments hanging motionlessly and doubted Jade's reassurance.

“He better not be dead!” Cora said. “Or I’ll kill you next! Got it?”

Jade gave her a smug look, "Good luck with that."

Cora snarled at him and then shifted her attention to Agent Rarity.

“Agent Rarity?” Cora said.

“Yes?” Agent Rarity said.

"You have the magic to check and see if someone still has their life force.” Cora said. “Can you see if Experiment Henry is alive and will come to?”

“Yes ma’am!” Agent Rarity said. She then lit up her horn to check Experiment Henry’s life force.

“He’s alive alright!” Agent Rarity said with her horn blinking at Experiment Henry. “Although his life force is very faint, he’ll come around, I think.”

“Agent Jade!” Cora said. “You went overboard this time! Agent Rarity can you check Experiment Aria?”

Agent Rarity lit up her horn and gave her a pissed off look.

“She’s barely alive!” Agent Rarity said. “Just like Experiment Henry! Oh the poor things!”

“I can see with my own eyes,” said Cora, “that the other experiments are fine. Agent Rarity please escort Agent Jade to a holding cell before I decide what to do with him!”

“But Head...“ Agent Rarity said.

“Agent Jade,” said Cora, “you’ve gone way too far this time! If Experiment Henry and Experiment Aria don’t pull through, then your death sentence is sealed! Take him out of my sight!”

“Yes ma’am!” Agent Rarity said.

* * *

The next time I opened my eyes, my heart felt it ready to jump out of my chest. I was laying on a bed and had wires attached to me, and they weren’t a surge projector box but some sort of machine that allowed a person to hear my heartbeat. I could tell because I could hear the machine myself. There was also a mask on my face that had air going in and out of it.

I heard someone press a button and the door slid open. I immediately recognized this person from Lab 14 because it said so on their uniform. I also realized who the person was standing over me, it was Cora.

“Oh good,” said Cora, “Experiment Henry you’re awake. You and Experiment Aria pulled through but just barely! We’ll keep you hooked up to the EKG monitor to see how your heart is doing. That’s until we can release you back into the Experiment. Unless there's other things that need to be done. Don’t worry, we won’t reprogram you or that other Experiments either! That’s not going to be until we shut down the Experiment, so you’re just as you were. And shutting down this Experiment won’t happen yet. You won’t be shut down for good because you’re the most valuable Experiment we have! That means you’re not a sacrificial pawn like the others! Do you understand a word I’m saying?"

I tried to say something and realized I couldn't talk. Cora gave me an sinister smile. "That's right, you can’t talk at the moment. So just shake your head for no and nod your head for yes.”

I nodded yes.

“Oh,” said Cora, “and the reason why you can’t talk right and it’s because we took your voice box out. You can’t even make a sound even if you wanted to! So I wouldn’t try to escape, that is if you want your voice box back!”

I remembered the last time Cora had done this to me. Cora just loves to find creative ways to inflict torture. One thing she loved to do was somehow she was able to take out her victim's voice and turn it into a box. This box could then be removed or put back in at any time. When the box is removed from an experiment then that person couldn't talk or make any type of sound period. Getting the box put back in isn't pleasant either.

I guess Cora thought this was one big joke because she walked away laughing like a psycho.

* * *

As soon as Henry’s friends were released into a forest outside of Lab 14 as part of their continued experiments, Milton and Sarah were the main ones that wanted to go back and save Henry. Martin and Jane weren’t quite so sure on doing that.

“We have to go back to save Henry!” Sarah said.

“No way!” Martin said. “He’s the one who wanted to walk us into a trap! We need to save ourselves and escape from Lab 14.”

“No,” said Sarah, “we all agreed to go save Aria! She’s not a lab rat and neither is Henry!”

“He was there when I first woke up!” Milton said.

“Your point?” Jane said.

“He was the one who wanted to save us from Lab 14!” Milton said. “And given what we just went through I don’t trust Lab 14 at all! Not to mention he helped save me from those two creepy weirdos Willow and Ada!”

Jane pointed behind Milton, “Are those the creepy sisters?” Milton turned to see two women standing in front of him.

“Look at what we have here Ada,” said Willow, “four of the five Experiments working together! Looks like today's our lucky day!”

“Damn it!” Milton said.

"What should we do?" Martin asked.

Milton replied, “I know what Henry would always do when we come across those two…"

"What?" Martin said.

“...run!”

“Oh no you don’t!” Ada said. ”I think it’s time we use our special weapons! Don’t you think Willow?”

Willow gave a menacing laugh.

“Um… Milton?” Sarah said. “Why aren’t we running?”

“There’s something in my leg!” Milton said.

“What the heck?” Sarah said. She looked down to see a wire had shot through her leg and wrapped around her thigh.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Jane said.

“Oh,” said Willow, “but we’re not kidding around are we sis?”

“Nope!” Ada said.

“What do we do now, Milton?” Martin said.

“Me?” Milton said. “Why me?”

“You’re the one who wants to save Henry!” Martin said. “I think you’re the second in command here!”

“What?” Sarah said. “I’m the one that got more shocked than him!”

“Will you shut up!” Jane said. “In case you didn’t notice, we have other problems to worry about right now!”

“Aren’t they adorable!” Ada said. “Lab 14 really made them so cute this time!”

“Hey that’s it!” Milton said. “Martin, do you still have your pocket knife?”

“Yes I do,” said Martin, “oh I see where you’re going with this! But this is going to hurt! What are the chances that a pocket knife would be one of our most important items!”

“I hope Henry still has his hat,” said Sarah, “he’ll probably be freaking right about now!”

“Hello!” Jane said. “We’re getting closer to them!”

“Ouch!” Milton said. “We’d better hurry up and do this, Martin!”

“Okay,” said Martin, “1,2,3 ow!”

Milton and Martin cut their rope and tossed Jane and Sarah the knives and they shrieked because of the pain after they cut their ropes.

“There’s one thing you didn’t know about these ropes,” said Willow, “no matter how many times you cut them, they’ll grow back!”

“Looks like we have them this time,” said Ada, “don't we sis?”

Sarah, Milton, Martin, and Jane couldn’t do anything as Willow and Ada pulled them closer and hog tied each of them with their own ropes. Willow then pulled out a small radio, and pressed the button that was on top of it.

“This is Codename Tree,” said Willow, “reporting to Codename Black Cat, we have four of the lab rats from Lab 14. They are Experiment Milton, Experiment Martin, Experiment Sarah and Experiment Jane we’ll bring them as soon as we can!”

The radio then had three green light blink on it and Willow nodded.

“Looks like we have confirmation to take them back to Star Labs headquarters.” Willow said.

“Then we’d better get them there and soon,” said Ada, “hopefully they won’t drop any f-bombs on us!”

* * *

Cora kept me in a part of Lab 14 that I knew very well. I was in the room that I had grown up in. It looked like a normal young adult room would have. My hat and my music box were sitting on the dresser beside my bed. I couldn’t get to them because I was tied to the bed. Because I refused to cooperate with Lab 14 and any of their stupid tests! I couldn’t care less if I ever got my voice box back and I didn’t give Cora the satisfaction of me showing her fear or any type of pain that I was experiencing. That’s because that psycho Cora decided to cut my arm down the side of it and it was on my right arm! If you ask me I think Cora needs to be reprogrammed herself! She called this her 'data gathering.'

I remembered this all too well because Cora just loved to inflict as much pain as she possibly could on me and other experiments because to her we were nothing but rats. Since we were rats in her eyes then she was a predator and we were the prey. Once Cora had caught her prey then she could do whatever she wanted with it and right now, I was the prey that she had just caught. I knew that none of the coworkers that were standing there helping her wouldn't stand up to her because they were afraid of her. Because everyone that worked at Lab 14 was afraid of Cora, she ruled over Lab 14 with an iron fist.

I guess Cora decided that giving me pain and taking my voice box bad away wasn’t much of an incentive to cooperate with her. For some reason Cora decided to pay me a visit to my room. I can only assume it was to reason with me to cooperate with them. As if I would do that!

“Oh come on Experiment Henry,” said Cora, “the sooner you cooperate, the sooner you get your things back and you get released back into the Experiment and reunited with your friends! Isn’t that what you want? You really should answer me this time!”

I didn’t dare shake my head no or nod for yes. I just gave Cora the dirtiest look I could and stuck out my tongue.

“Fine then!” Cora said. “We’ll get answers from you one way or another! I have my ways and no I won’t flatline you like Agent Jade did. Like I said, you’re too valuable to lose! I think we should step up thee torture a little bit more, won’t that be fun? Thanks to the Experiment guidelines we can’t reprogram you until the Experiment is shut down! Until then, have fun being tied to the bed Experiment Henry!”

Before the door closed I could hear Cora tell her co-worker to start up the torture again in two hours.

* * *

Milton was the first one to wake up. He looked around to see he was in some sort of jail cell. He noticed that he was tied to the ceiling but this time it was by his ankles.

What is with people and tying us up? Milton thought. And to the ceiling! Either way, it’s starting to piss me off!

“Is anyone awake?” Sarah called out.

“I’m awake!” Milton said.

“What about the others?” Sarah said.

“I’m awake!” Martin groaned.

Jane groaned, “I’m awake also!”

“Well,” said Milton, “looks we’re in a real pickle!”

“Yeah think?” Sarah said. “Oh crap! My hat, I can’t reach it!”

“Forget about the hat Sarah!” Milton said. “We need to find a way out of here so we can save Henry!”

“No!” said Sarah. “I’m not complete without it!”

“Okay,” said Milton, “geez, we’ll find a way out of here and then you can have your hat! Just stop freaking out okay?”

“Stop talking!” They heard a voice roar.

Milton, Martin, Jane and Sarah immediately shut up and turned to see who the voice was coming from. In walked a pony that was dark blue and had blue hair and she also had wings and a horn.

“You look a lot like Princess Celestia!” Milton said.

“I thought I told you to stop talking!” The pony hissed.

“Who died and made you God?” Milton snapped.

“You sure got a mouth on you!” The pony said. “If you want to know my name, it’s Princess Luna.”

“Do all you tall ponies have to be Princesses?” Milton said

“We’re classified as Alicorns,” Princess Luna said. “And yes, if you have wings and a horn you’re a Princess! I take it you’re Experiment Milton. Are you the leader of this group?”

There are other groups? “This group?” Milton said.

“Yes, this group,” said Princess Luna,“ there are other Experiments that have been released for other reasons all in the name of science! Your group is classified as group A because you’re the first group of Experiments to be released!”

“Okay,” said Milton, “and where are we?”

“That’s for me to know,” said Princess Luna, “and for you to never find out! Oh in case you didn’t notice, you all have colors around your necks. So you couldn’t escape even if you wanted to! Goodbye for now Experiments!”

“We’re not some damn Experiments!” Milton yelled.

Princess Luna scoffed at Milton and closed the door to the prison that they were in.

“You just had to talk for us!” Sarah said.

“Hey,” said Milton, “you guys are the ones who made me the leader! Unless you want the job? Cause if you do I would be happy to give it to you!”

“No way!” Sarah said.

“Well then shut up and follow my lead!” Milton said.

* * *

Cora was having fun doing her 'data gathering' and laughing like a psycho while doing so.

“You know Experiment Henry,” said Cora, “you don’t have to be a tough guy! Although I wouldn’t expect anything else coming from you. It doesn’t matter, you’ve already given us some good data with one finger cut! So let’s see what we have next!”

I was really getting tired of being tied up to stuff whether it be a ceiling or anything else. I was tied to a medal table this time. Cora seemed like she was having the best of times cutting my fingers one by one, she probably thought that cutting my arm didn’t give her enough of whatever results she wanted.

“Too bad Experiment Aria wasn’t able to give us some good data,” said Cora, “she did just wake up after all. She was released back into the Experiment, she’ll be finding your friends soon, provided the two sisters Willow and Ada didn’t find them first.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

“Oh now you want to respond!” Cora said. “I’m not asking questions now am I?”

Cora then put some of my into a test tube and put it in the machine. While she did this a bright light shone into my eyes, blinding me. Of course my body's response was to close my eyes and there was nothing I could do about it.

“Wow Experiment Henry!” Cora said. “You’ve been through two forest and a city! And the second forest was when you met Experiment Aria! And you’ve been around a black lab. I can only assume that’s Princess Celestia’s assistant! Okay that’s enough 'data gathering' for today! We put stitches on your arm already because that didn’t give us enough data. But I’m glad that didn’t work because this is a lot of fun! So we’ll give you stitches for your fingers for now. We might have to reopen them later! I wonder how much pain you’ll go through to you to cooperate with us! Oh well...”

Once again, the light was shined into my eyes. I then felt the prick of a needle and once again I fell asleep.

* * *

As Milton was trying to figure out a plan to get him and the others out the place that they were in. Sarah snapped him out of his thoughts with a very rude comment.

“So what's the plan,” said Sarah, “your highness!”

“Will you shut up and let me think?” Milton said.

“And don’t call him your highness Sarah!” Jane growled. “I wonder if one of my two most important things would help?”

“For what?” Milton said.

“For getting out of the colors,” said Jane, “the ropes not so much.”

“Great,” said Milton, “Thank you for that useless information!”

“Hey,” said Jane, “I was just trying to help!”

“Will everyone just shut up!” Martin said. “Let Milton think, I’m sure he can figure something out!”

Okay Milton think Milton thought wait a minute, I recall getting out of something like this back at Lab 14! How I remember this, I don’t know!

Milton then pulled on the restraints on his hand as hard as he could. The restraints were starting to budge but not much.

“Hey Sarah!” Milton said.

“Yes, what?” Sarah said.

“Do you remember playing that finger restraint game?” Milton said.

“Yes,” said Sarah, “but I don’t think that’s what it’s called but, yeah I’ve played with them why?”

“Do you remember how we got out of them?” Milton said.

“Hum,” said Sarah, “you push them forward and pull them back! Wait a second, I think I know where you’re going with this!”

“I think we’re going to have to play that game with these restraints!” Milton said. “Because that’s exactly what they feel like!”

“Let’s see here,” said Sarah, “push forward and pull back! Hey, I’m out!“

Milton then did the same thing that Sarah had done, Jane and Martin followed.

“How do we get out of the ankle restraints?” Sarah said.

“I don’t know,” said Milton, “I think it’s going to be just like when we cut that rope. Let’s hope they’re not tied to our thighs!”

“Oh boy,” said Sarah, “I really don’t like that type of pain!”

“Well,” said Milton, “you do want to save Henry don’t you?”

“Okay!” Sarah said.

* * *

Princess Luna was sitting in her computer room watching one of her monitors as the experiments from group A freed themselves.

“I’m impressed with these four!” Princess Luna said. “They broke out of my hand restraints in no time at all! I guess teaching them that Chinese finger trap game came in handy after all!”

“Should we go in there and stop them?” Willow said.

“Oh no,” Princess Luna said, “this test was designed just for them! Who’d thought that Experiment Henry would walk into a trap just to save Experiment Aria! Although I would expect nothing less from him! Princess Celestia did tell me that he is a very special young boy. I hope I get to meet him one day.”

“Oh we didn’t get to know him,” said Willow, “we didn’t even get to capture him!”

“Let’s just say Lab 14 makes their Experiments so adorable!” Ada said. “Especially Experiment Henry! He’s a total hunk! I hope I can get my hands on him again!”

Princess Luna did a face hoof and groaned, “Ada get your head out of the gutter! When it comes down to Experiment Henry, you’ve been obsessed with him ever since he was fifteen! Good lord woman!”

“That’s because we were released on the first Experiment! That was when we were about the same age!” Ada said. “It’s too bad that Lab 14 captured him and reprogramed him! So he probably doesn’t remember me now! I completely regret leaving him behind. That was my fault! My goal right now is to get him and somehow make him fall in love with me! Hopefully that will happen when he remembers me!”

“Uh-Huh, “ said Princess Luna with a raised eyebrow, “that's a nice fantasy to have and all but let’s work on getting the other children away from my sister and Celestia. We’re going to be the ones returning them home!”

“So where exactly are we going to be returning them to?” Willow said.

“This set of Experiments are going back to Equestria,” said Princess Luna, “and the next set are going back to earth, everyone will be returned right back to where they belong!”

6) Jailbreak

Finally Cora decided to take a break from her 'data gathering' which finally let me get some sleep. If I didn't know any better I thought that maybe she had a heart inside of her somewhere, but I was just probably being delusional.

“Henry!” I heard a voice say. “Henry! Wake up!”

I opened my eyes to see a strange creature floating above my bed. It looked like he was made up of a bunch of different animal parts. The only parts that I could tell what they were was he had a bear paw for his left hand and some sort of claw on his other hand.

“I know you don’t know me,” said the creature, “but my name’s Discord! I started working for Lab 14 since I found out that they stole you from your cribs and tweaked you just for their Experiments! I want to return all of the Experiments back home where they belong! Come on, we don’t have much time! I’ll get you out of those restraints!”

As soon as Discord said that, I found that I was instantly out of the restraints. I rubbed my wrists because it felt good to be out of them.

“Here are your original clothes, hurry and put them on!” Discord said.

Discord handed my clothes and I changed out of the hospital gown that Lab 14 had me in.

“Here’s your backpack,” said Discord, “with all of your items. Here’s your music box and you’ll probably want your hat! You were wearing it when you came in! You know, the music box does look familiar... but never mind!”

I pointed at my throat hoping that Discord would be able to get my voice box back.

“Sorry about that,” said Discord, “there’s nothing I can do about that at the moment. But I did put a notebook and pen in your bag! I assume you still know how to read and write. You do remember how to do that right?”

I nodded my head and narrowed my eyes at him.

“Yeah I know you don’t trust me because I work for Lab 14!” Discord said. “But believe me when I say I want to send you home! Your friends should be breaking out of Luna’s maze very soon! So I’ll drop you off right outside it! And for what it’s worth, your friends are very worried about you!”

I pointed to the sign on my door and pointed to the part that said Experiment and the other part that said Henry. Discord looked a little bit puzzled at first but somehow, he picked up on the fact that I was talking about Aria.

“Yes, yes!” Discord said. “Experiment Aria!”

We're not experiments! I narrowed my eyes at Discord and I wished that I could’ve growled at him. But I couldn’t make a sound at the moment.

“Oh yeah sorry,” said Discord, “you don’t like being called an experiment and I don’t blame you! I don’t know where they released her but you might come across her soon!”

I nodded and looked over to see that for some reason there was a figurine that was a black dog on my dresser. I picked it up and pointed at it.

“Oh yeah!” Discord said. “That would be Princess Celestia’s assistant! I know because she used to work for Lab 14 and that dog was always following her around! You’ll probably run into that dog again soon! Anyway, this is a jailbreak and as soon as you leave this room an alarm will sound! So when I get you out of Lab 14, run like the wind! Got it?”

How did he know about Luna’s maze and Celestia’s assistant? I guess I’ll find out another time. I nodded.

Before I knew it, we were out of Lab 14. Of course just like Discord said the alarm sounded.

* * *

Discord had dropped me off by the exit of Luna's maze and it looked like my friends were getting ready to run. Where they were getting ready to run to I had no idea.

“Finally,” said Milton, “we’re out of that maze! I get a feeling that was a test and I don’t care if we passed or failed!”

“I totally agree with you on that one!” Sarah said.

I saw my friends run past me and I ran up to Milton and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Great, now let’s go find-“ Milton said.

Milton turned around to see me.

“Henry!” Milton said. He pulled me close to him and gave me a big hug. This didn't feel like the time for a hug, so I quickly pushed him back and raised an eyebrow at him. I would’ve laughed at something like this, but since my voice box was gone I couldn’t.

“I’m so glad you’re back!” Milton said. “Now I don’t have to be a leader anymore!”

Yeah that’ll be a bit difficult to be a leader without a voice! I shook my head and pointed at Milton. He seemed to understand what I was trying to say.

“I take it, you still want me to be the leader?” Milton said.

I pointed harder--if that were possible--at Milton and nodded.

“You’re joking!” Milton said. “Please tell me you’re joking!”

I shook my head and Sarah’s eyes went wide in anger because she seemed to pick up on the fact that my voice box was gone.

“You’re an idiot Milton!” Sarah snapped.

“What?” Milton said. “What is it? I’m confused.”

Sarah growled, “You can’t tell he doesn’t have his voice box? He can’t even make a sound!”

“And how do you know this?” Milton said. “I’ve never had that done to me before.”

“That makes two!” Martin said.

“Me neither!” Jane said.

“That makes four!” We heard a voice say from behind us. We turned around to see a young woman dressed in the same clothing as us but she had black hair and blue eyes.

“I take it,” said Milton, “you’re ugh... ‘Experiment Aria’?”

“Yes,” said Aria, “and I’m classified as an earth pony! And as you can see I wear glasses when I’m human! I can’t see when I’m human.”

“My name is Milton!” Milton said. “That’s my brother Martin, this is Sarah, this Jane and the handicapped one is Henry!”

At the very mention of the word handicap I stomped on Milton’s foot. My legs aren’t handicapped!

“Okay,” said Milton, “I get it! Calm down Henry! This guy over here that just stomped on my foot, was the original leader of the group but since he doesn’t have his voice box right at the moment, I have to take the job! Unless one of you wants to do it?”

All of us including me shook our heads.

“Great!” Milton said.

“So what are we going to do with Henry?” Aria said.

“I don’t know.” Milton said. “I’m guessing from what he just did that should be enough for him to communicate for now at least! I don’t know what to do about that because he’s handicapped right now!”

Once again Milton just had to say something smart and it really pissed me off so I stomped on his foot again. His legs won’t work if he keeps it up!

“Ow! Hey what was that look for?” Milton said.

“I think,” we heard a voice say, “you provoked him now let’s get a move on!”

We all jumped back when we saw Moria. She was standing there with a smile on her face.

“That’s no ordinary dog isn’t she?” Jane said. “Last time I checked, dogs can’t talk! Usually dogs can communicate through hand signals. It's usually whatever their owner teaches them to do!”

“Well duh!” Moria said. “I’m an assistant, so of course I’m no ordinary dog! And I don’t need hand signals either! Maybe we could teach Henry some hand signals? He doesn’t seem like he wants to talk right at the moment!”

“No Moria,” said Sarah, “it’s not that he doesn’t want to talk it’s-“

We heard a voice come from the Tv that I had in my bag.

“Henry!” Princess Celestia said. “Henry come in! If you can hear me come in!”

I can’t come in when I can’t talk! I still wouldn’t trust you if I could!

“Who’s that?” Aria said.

“That would be Princess Celestia,” said Milton, “she saved us a couple of times. So I’m going to consider her and Ali until she gives us reason not to! Got it Henry?”

I rolled my eyes and handed Milton the small Tv to him. He flipped the screen on and turned on the auto.

“Ah!” Princess Celestia said. “Milton it’s so nice to see you! Where is Henry?”

“Henry’s right here!” Milton said. He then pulled me next to him so that Princess Celestia could see me. When she saw me her eyes went wide in terror.

“Damn it!” Princess Celestia said.

“Let me guess,” said Milton, “you can tell Henry doesn’t have his voice box! How’d you figure that out quickly?”

“I figured it out because,” said Princess Celestia, “he has stitches in the right side of his neck! They are hidden but if you look hard enough you can find them if you just touch the right side of his neck they appear instantly.”

When I realized what Milton was going to do I backed away from him.

“It’s okay Henry,” said Milton, “this won’t hurt a bit!”

I narrowed my eyes at him because that’s what Cora told me before she cut my fingers.

“Someone hold him still!” Milton said.

“Got it!” Sarah said. Sarah then pushed me to the ground and sat on me. I tried to get out from under her, but that was next to impossible.

“Okay,” said Milton, “that’s not the way I would’ve preferred to do that, but this way works too!”

“What,” said Sarah, “he’s favoring his right hand and keeping it in his coat pocket! Why, I have no idea. We’ll figure it out sooner or later, good thing he’s left handed.”

Milton then touched the right side of my neck which didn’t feel gentle at all. I winced at the pain.

“Sorry about that Henry,” said Milton, “I thought I was being gentle! Yup, those stitches lit up like a Christmas tree! Don’t ask why I know that, but okay!”

Princess Celestia laughed, “That’s probably because Lab 14 had something like that in your rooms for the holiday. Anyway is Moria there with you?”

“Yes ma’am!” Moria barked.

Princess Celestia said, “Moria please guide the children to the Inter Inn that’s at the edge of a forest. I’ve spoken to the owner and they should be able to work odd jobs to make some money. Oh and Henry?”

I raised an eyebrow at Princess Celestia.

“Whatever you do,” said Princess Celestia, “don’t let Willow’s sister Ada kiss you! Let’s just say it won’t be pleasant!”

Yup that confirms it, creepy weirdos!

“I can tell,” said Princess Celestia, “that you’re creeped out by them. Good, keep it that way!”

I smiled and nodded at her.

“Well,” said Princess Celestia, “until we meet again Milton and Henry! This is goodbye for now!”

Milton turned off the Tv and had a grin on his face. I gave him a look as if to say ‘what.’

“Looks like Henry already has a girlfriend!” Milton said.

I frowned at him and put up my hands and gave a look as to say ‘what the heck is going on.’

Jane, Aria, Sarah and Martin just started laughing hysterically and I couldn’t do anything but glare at them.

“I’m sorry Henry,” said Sarah, “you’ve got one of the two sisters as a creepy stalker!”

At that moment I was seeing red--although I can’t really see red--but in any case, I was not going to put up with any teasing especially not from Sarah or Milton. I pushed Milton into Sarah, knocking them into each other.

“Ow!” Sarah said.

“Hey!” Milton said. “What was that for?”

“Probably,” said Martin, “because you provoked him again! You guys just love doing that don’t you?”

“Provoked him!” Milton said. “I was just teasing! Lighten up will you Henry?”

I just sat down and I put my head up to show my scoffing at them.

“Okay fine!” Sarah said. “Have it your way!”

“I don’t think it’s time for casual conversation!” Moria said. “In case you didn’t notice, Henry just broke out of Lab 14. How, I don’t know. Maybe he’ll tell us one day! You guys just got out of Luna’s maze. Lab 14 will probably send tracker cats on our tail. Luna will probably send the two sisters Willow and Ada! We definitely want to keep Henry away from them for some reason, but let’s get a move on!”

“Right!” Everyone said. I couldn’t say anything so I just nodded my head, we grabbed our bags and followed her to the Inter Inn.

* * *

Princess Celestia laughed as she knew that Cora would be boiling with anger because Experiment Henry broke out of Lab 14, thanks to Discord. She was sitting in her office at her lab that she called Celestial labs with a silly grin on her face when Discord suddenly appeared.

“Thank you so much,” said Princess Celestia, “for breaking Experiment Henry out of Lab 14! I really appreciate it!”

“It’s a good thing I broke him out too!” Discord said. “It might backfire on us! Provided Ada doesn’t get to him! I'm just mad we couldn’t track her powers ever since she disappeared!”

“Yeah,” said Princess Celestia, ”that’s a bad thing too! Ada ‘plays’ with her victims before she kills them!”

“I know,” said Discord, “she puts her hands inside of her victims and looks her victims in the eye while they bleed out and die a slow painful death! And all she needs is one kiss for that to happen! For some reason Ada decided to leave Experiment Henry alive. Maybe she fell in love with the guy? Yeah, that’s not creepy at all!”

“Hum,” said Princess Celestia, “something about that first Experiment doesn’t add up!”

“What do you mean?” Discord said.

“If Lab 14 knew she could do that,” said Princess Celestia, “then why put her with Experiment Henry?”

At that thought, Princess Celestia's ears went flat against her head in anger.

“I know why!” Princess Celestia said.

“Why?” Discord said.

“It’s because Lab 14 enhanced Experiment Henry’s powers,” said Princess Celestia, “so he’s basically a superhero. I guess Lab 14 wanted to see if Ada could kill him!”

“That’s right,” said Discord, “she didn’t even get an organ from the guy because his wound kept healing up. Which means the torture that Cora put Experiment Henry though will heal right up! Of course there will be some psychical scars but that can’t be helped.”

“It’s a good thing Lab 14 hasn’t decided to eliminate him yet!” Princess Celestia said. “They’re the only ones that can actually kill him!”

“How?” Discord said.

“The surge projector boxes!” Princess Celestia said. “If the box is put on the highest voltage it can stop his heart and then they can take out his brain! Then they can go ahead and take him apart like a robot!”

“That’s not good!” Discord said. “And why haven’t they done that yet?”

“Lab 14 probably thinks,” said Princess Celestia, “that Experiment Henry is their most valuable ‘Experiment’ they have yet! Not to mention he was the first one! Why would they let go of something like that?”

“If I were a scientist,” said Discord, “I wouldn’t want to lose something like that!”

8) Who Can I Trust?

Derek and Milton were inside the barn and Derek was showing Milton how to get Bobo to trust him so he could clean his hoof no problem at all.

“Bobo seems to trust you Milton,” said Derek. “You don't appear to have any trouble cleaning his hoof! Normally only me and dad can do that.”

“I wished Henry would trust us,” said Milton, “he won’t even show us what happened to his hand!”

They didn't realize that Moria had been standing right behind them when she had overheard them talking about Henry.

“My guess,” said Moria, “is that because he’s been through considerable hell at Lab 14.”

“So do you know what happened?” Milton said.

Moria hung her head, “Yes, I do," she says. Then she stomps and looks forward, "trying to get him to tell us was like pulling teeth!”

“Is that why he wears a glove on his hand?” Milton said.

“Yes,” said Moria, “he also has a deep cut on the same arm that wears the glove on his hand. Earnest wrapped it up the best he could but it still bleeds every once and awhile.”

“Now that you think about it,” said Milton, “I did see bandages on his arm why would they do something like that?”

Milton and Derek could tell that Moria did not want to say the answer to that question. Moria was torn between telling them the story of what happened to Henry or not. But in the end she decided that she did want to talk to someone about the troubling information she had just found out.

“Earnest and I looked at the cut and it was an inch deep!” Moria said. “Lab 14 probably did that to get him to cooperate with them! My guess is when he didn’t work with them, they went and took his voice box out next.”

“Why would they do that?” Derek said.

“Probably to give Henry an incentive to work with them,” Moria said, “I’ve seen a lot worse that Henry’s been through before. The abuse happened shortly after he was created. Cora has a nasty habit to flatline her ‘experiments’ and drop them by a tree in the forest of the In Between, to see if they come back. It’s because if they did come back their powers double in strength. When they would flatline Henry his powers come back at triple strength!
“But they didn’t flatline Henry when he broke out of Lab 14 this time. I know because he would’ve had the smell of death on him. They probably didn’t flatline him because they’re still in the middle of this experiment and the guidelines for it say they can’t flatline an experiment until this one is shut down." Moria's ears went flat against her head and she pulled back her lips showing her teeth and snarled. "When they captured Henry my guess is they would’ve kept him there for a little bit, tortured him and then released him back into the experiment whenever they felt like it. Knowing Henry, even though they took his voice box out, he would never work with them! Right now he probably doesn’t trust anyone because of the hell he went through! I don’t blame him either! If I went through that, I wouldn’t trust anyone either!”

Upon hearing Moria’s explanation of what happened to Henry so far, Derek balled his hands into fists.

“There’s got to be something we can do to keep him away from that place!” Derek said. “That place is plain cruel!”

Milton shook his head, “I don’t think that’s possible. Lab 14 has several different locations and they use them to keep their ‘experiments’ in them. If anyone of them tries to leave an alarm will sound and the tracker animals will be on them in no time at all.”

“My question is,” said Moria, “why haven’t they found us yet?”

Derek took a deep breath and calmed down. “It’s because there’s a barrier that surrounds the Inn. If a tracker animal comes near it they’ll be dead and cooked from the inside out and turned to ash so it covers the scent. You should be fine here for now. But you’ll still have to be on the run sooner or later. I just wish there was some way to keep Henry away from Lab 14!”

“I don’t know if anyone can keep him away from Lab 14!” Milton said. “Sooner or later we’ll end up back there. Then the Experiment will be shut down and they’ll do it all over again! I wonder how many they’ll let live the next time? I’d rather be dead then continue than continue on with this circus! I’m pretty sure the other kids feel the same way!”

At this point Moria had enough of talking about this issue and wanted to do something else to take her mind off it.

“I’m done talking about this!” Moria said. “I’m going to go chase those chickens by the barn!”

“Just don’t kill all of them okay?” Derek said.

“I’m not making any promises but okay!” Moria said. After that conversation Moria did exactly what she wanted to do.

* * *

Cora's footsteps pounded through the hallway echoing as she stomped against the metal back and forth through the main building of Lab 14. As she looked at the computer screens that she had set up all through the hall to watch the tracking devices and their traveling patterns that she had laid out for this experiment, ever so often she would fire her gun in the air. Cora loved to fire her gun as a way to help get out her anger. An added bonus to that was the gun fire scared her workers silly.

As Cora was seeing red she often thought about her past and how she was thankful that she got away from wandering the streets of where she came from. Snice no one had looked out for her most of her life she only looked out for herself and only herself. That's why she had no problem doing harm to anyone or anything because in the process of looking out for herself she always seemed to run into people that just wanted to do her harm. So Cora decided that no one in her life wouldn't be free from harm. She felt like she was a tornado leaving as much as damage behind her that she possibly could.

Even though she looked forward to torturing the new experiments that had arrived she couldn’t wait to turn them into strong experiments to be able to release them into the next experiment. The name’s of these new experiments were, Experiment Anna, Experiment Iris, Experiment Lucey, Experiment Levi, Experiment Ethan and Experiment Julian. Every single test that Cora designed involved a lot of pain for them. So far only Experiment Anna and Experiment Iris didn’t scream bloody murder through every test so far. If a Experiment did scream on anyone of the tests then they were not fit to be an Experiment for Lab 14.

Cora remembered after she created the Experiments from Group A. That was the group that Experiment Henry was in. None of those experiments made a peep when all the tests were done. Of all the experiments, she favored Experiment Henry the most. His powers came back triple every time she flatlined him. She especially loved the fact that he didn’t even cry out in pain, even when she performed the final test. It consisted of driving a metal rod through his chest and yanking it out from his side. Not one little peep came from him at all. It was because of Experiment Henry that she was one step closer to finding the cure for death.

Cora hated the fact that Experiment Henry had broken out of her lab thanks to Agent Discord! But he would be gone only for a moment because the tracker cats would find him and bring him back very soon…

* * *

Late at night I laid in bed at the inn, barely sleeping even though everyone should be safe here. I would nod off every once in a while but my brain decided to shut down and I fell asleep.

I had the weirdest dream. I found myself in some sort of tunnel. I didn’t know why, but I knew I had to get out of it and fast! I started running, hoping that I would get to the end of the tunnel. I saw a light up ahead and I thought it signalled the end but instead of going through it, I heard a voice calling out to me. It didn’t say the name Henry, it said the name from my memory.

“Hi there Crimson!” The light said.

“Last time I checked,” I said, “my name is Henry.”

“Sorry about that,” the light said, “I forgot you still don’t remember who you really are. You’ll find out soon enough. But it’s not my place to help you with that.”

“So, who are you?” I said.

“I am a being that is called The Higher,” The Higher said, “think of me as a middle man in between different realms. I need to deliver a message to you! I’ve been waiting a long time to deliver this message. I don’t have time to answer any questions so I have to hurry in telling you this message or you’ll be dead for good!”

“When you say dead,” I said, “you mean I-“

“Flatlined yes,” said The Higher, “but only temporarily. Like I said I have to hurry! The message is that you will be kept away from Lab 14!”

“But if I flatlined that means I’m back at Lab 14!” I said.

“Nope,” said The Higher, “I’m the one that did it! But only to deliver this message! Now pay attention okay? As I was saying, you’ll be kept away from Lab 14. That’s because it’s been decided that you’ll be the one destroying Lab 14 from the inside out. Oh and It’s decided to send someone to help you along the way. He will be your protector, in order to complete your job you will have to kill Cora, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. You’ll find out why later. And your protector is someone that works at the Inn that you are currently staying at and his name is Derek. I understand you don’t trust people right now. But you can trust your protector! Let your wall down around him and show him what Lab 14 has done to you and why it needs to be destroyed. That’s all I can tell you for now! Now it’s time for you to return to living. Goodbye and it was wonderful to finally be able to meet you! I wish you luck, that’s all I can do!”

After The Higher said goodbye, I felt like I was being sucked out of the dream as if being sucked out by a vacuum cleaner.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, Earnest, Derek and Moria were looking at me with concerned looks on their faces. Moria sniffed at me and gagged.

“Yup,” said Moria, “he flatlined!”

“What?” Earnest said. “But how?”

“I don’t know,” said Moria, “my guess is because of all the stress that Lab 14 put him through! I didn’t realize how much worse it was! Sorry Henry! I should’ve sniffed you out more! I really messed up this time!”

I titled my head in confusion and looked at them for an explanation. Derek picked up on that and nodded at Earnest.

“We were worried,” said Derek, “because you stopped breathing when I came to check on you this morning. You were turning blue and I couldn’t get a pulse! I thought you were dead and Moria said to wait for a couple of seconds. Thankfully you came back! Don’t scare us like that Henry!”

“It’s okay Derek,” said Earnest, “I’m sure he can’t help it, after what he’s been through. Unfortunately there’s nothing any of us can do about it.”

“No it’s not okay!” Derek said. “Lab 14 has no right to do what they do to people!”

“What can you do about it?” Earnest said. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do.”

“I know one things for sure,” said Derek, “I’m going to try my best to keep Henry away from Lab 14 as long as I live!”

Even though my protector is Derek, no ones been able to keep me out of Lab 14. I am very curious to see if Derek can.

* * *

Moria went up to Sarah, Martin and Aria and gave them three barks to signal that she had something very important to talk to them about. She had just received an important message from Princess Celestia.

“What is it?” Sarah said.

“It’s come to my attention,” said Moria, “that you three still don’t have your old trackers out, if we don’t get them out it’ll do a lot of damage.”

“And you chose now to tell us because?” Aria said.

“I didn’t know until Princess Celestia told me,” said Moria, “you three come with me to Martin's bedroom and don’t worry I’ve already spoken to Earnest and Derek. No one’s going to bother us at least until I give notice that it’s finished.”

Sarah groaned, “Do we have to?”

“Yup,” said Moria, “although it looks like Aria’s is starting to come out.”

Aria didn’t feel the tracker coming out until Moria had said something about it. Aria shrieked as the tracker came out and she passed out for five minutes.

“Good,” said Moria, “one down and two to go. You two follow me!”

* * *

A couple of days after Sarah, Martin and Aria had gotten their tracking devices out, Sarah was sitting outside the barn and up against a wall playing with a small beam of light coming from her hand. Jane was curious about it and came over and sat down beside her.

“Uh… Sarah?” Jane said.

“What’s up?” Sarah said.

“What’s that light coming from your left hand?” Jane said.

“Oh yeah!” Sarah said. “It happened a couple of days ago. After we took care of La’al and finished our other jobs. I kept thinking about why we can change into different ponies. I also kept wondering what Lab 14’s goal was in doing that to us. As soon as I thought the word ‘unicorn’ I got this light that came from my left hand. I kept closing my fist and then when I opened it a light would disappear. I thought the word ‘unicorn’ again and the same thing happened again. Look what’s on the back of my hand!”

Sarah showed Jane the back of her hand and Jane gasped at it. On the back of Sarah’s hand was the same picture that was on her butt when she was a pony.

“I think,” said Sarah, “all you have to do is think the word of whatever pony you are, and then you can do the same magic that you can do when you’re transformed as a pony!”

Sarah closed her fist and thought the word ‘unicorn’ and when she opened her fist an orange light came out of it.

“Interesting!” Jane said. “What can you do with it?”

“I’m not sure,” said Sarah, “but I did look up what sort of spells we can do and it said can we do quite a bit of them! My favorite one that I’ve done so far is this! Check it out!”

Sarah pointed her index finger in the air and she disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“Sarah,” said Jane, “where did you go?”

“I’m over here!” Sarah said. She then came around from La’al’s stall and took Jane by surprise.

“Cool!” Jane said. “What type of spell was that?”

“Teleportation,” said Sarah, “this might come in handy for Henry!”

“Yeah!” Jane said. “He can’t change into a unicorn by saying it, so with this, he’ll have a way to do it! We should go show him right away!”

* * *

I sat in the back behind the desk in the Lobby area when I heard Sarah's voice from around the corner.

“Hey, Earnest!” Sarah said. “Can Henry take a break for a bit?”

“Sure,” Earnest said. “He should take a break right now. He’s been working non-stop lately I think he might be a workaholic. I’ll make him take a break!”

I heard Sarah say this, and I came around the corner and gave Sarah a confused look.

“I need to show you something that’ll come in handy,” said Sarah, "you can’t talk right now, so this is very important for you to learn! Come with me, I’ll show you!”

Sarah grabbed my hand and led me outside. When we got outside Sarah couldn’t contain her excitement.

“Check this out!” Sarah said. She opened her hand and out came an orange light. I felt nothing but confusion at this point.

“I know sounds and looks strange,” said Sarah, “but all you have to do is think of the word ‘unicorn’ and this will happen. Jane, you should try it too! I Bet if you try it the same thing will happen to you! You probably just have to think of the words ‘earth pony’ and the same thing will happen. Go ahead Henry think the word ‘unicorn’ and see what happens!”

I did as Sarah told me to do and a beam of yellow light came from my left hand. Jane did the same thing and a beam of violet light came from her left hand. When I saw a beam of light from my hand, I felt shocked by it.

“Let me see what’s on the back of your hand!” Sarah said.

I looked at the back of my hand, surprised to see my butt picture on it. Jane did the same thing and her picture appeared too.

“From what the manual says,” said Sarah, “you can do a teleportation spell which means you can go anywhere you want in the blink of an eye, that is if you can think about it or see where you want to go."

I raised an eyebrow at her as she tried to figure out where I could go.

“I know!” Sarah said. “Try to go to that chicken coop over there! You see it?”

I nodded, still very confused about what she wanted me to do.

“All you have to do,” said Sarah, “is point your index finger into the air like this and think of where you want to go!”

I visualized the chicken coop and pointed my finger in the air. I found myself right in front of the chicken coop. I jumped back when I heard the squawk of the chickens and saw Moria stopped chasing them to see what was going on.

“What’s going on?” Moria said.

I smiled at her and put one finger up in the air and went right back to where I started. Moria came running up to the barn and barked frantically. Derek came around the corner to see what Moria was barking about.

“What’s going on?” Derek said. “I heard Moria barking frantically so I came to see if the barrier was still holding up.”

“Henry just disappeared right in front of me!” Moria said.

“I wouldn’t worry about it," Sarah said. “We were just practicing our unicorn magic!”

“But,” said Moria, “don’t you have to be transformed into a unicorn for that?”

“Apparently not,” said Sarah.

“I wonder…” Jane said. “I am an earth pony so my magic must have something to do with earth! Well, here goes!”

Jane pointed one finger to the ground and dirt starting swirling around her. She caught some of the dirt in the light that was coming from her hand. She then pointed the palm of her hand into the air and drew out some of the water from it. After she did that a leaf appeared in her hand and as soon as that happened a chain of leaves wrapped around Jane's wrist. She used the chain like a whip.

“Cool!” Sarah said. “What can you do with it?”

Jane spotted a rock at a nearby pond. She grabbed the big rock with her leaf chain and chucked the rock toward the pond, skipping it along the surface several times before it sank. The splash scared a couple of geese that had been swimming in the pond. Their squawks went from being afraid to being angry that their afternoon swim had been interrupted.

When we saw that we all burst into laughter. Of course, because I didn’t have my voice box I couldn’t make a sound. Derek looked at me and frowned.

“What?” Sarah said. “Oh...Sorry Henry.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I could tell by the look on Jane's face that she wanted to ask about the glove on my hand and the stitches on my arm.

“Are you going to show us what happened at Lab 14?” Jane said.

I balled my hands into fists and looked down at the ground. I really wished that people would stop asking me that question. It looked like Moria knew what I was thinking. She growled and pulled back her lips to show her teeth.

“What’s wrong Moria?” Sarah said.

Moria replied, “It was hard getting him to show us what happened too! Even though we were concerned and wanted to help. Once Earnest showed him what our intentions were then he showed us. But he doesn’t trust anyone right now and I don’t blame him! He seems to trust Derek and I don’t know why. Maybe he’ll tell us one day maybe he won’t! But you have to let that be his decision!

“Just because you’re ‘experiments’ like he is doesn’t mean he has to tell you everything! So if I were you I’d stop asking that question! Yes I know you’re concerned about him but if you force the information out of him, then you’re no better than Lab 14! That’s exactly how they get their information! If you want him to trust you then let him make that choice! Do you understand me?”

Sarah and Jane didn’t say anything because of how angry Moria was and she looked like she could bite their legs off. So Sarah and Jane just nodded their heads slowly in terror. I didn’t do anything except point my finger into the air and I disappeared.

9) Unknown Motives

“Where do you think he went?” Sarah said after Henry disappeared.

“I think I have an idea,” said Derek, “but like Moria said, I would stop asking him that question if I were you.”

Moria nodded satisfied with what she had done with her lecture.

“Okay then,” said Moria, “now that's out of the way, I’m going to go back to chasing chickens. And Derek, since you leave food out for me, I won’t kill any of them! I assume that’s why you leave the food out for me now?”

Derek laughed, “Of course you silly dog!”

“Hey!” Moria barked. “I’m out of here! Just don’t pop up by the chicken coop without warning next time!”

“I can’t say we’ll make any promises,” said Sarah, “but I might just do that as a prank!”

Moria narrowed her eyes and growled.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Moria said.

“If we have magic,” said Sarah, “then we should practice using it. It definitely will help when we’re running from Lab 14! Don’t worry we won’t go outside of the barrier.”

“Good then,” said Derek, “as long you don’t go beyond the barrier you’ll be safe for now.”

* * *

Princess Celestia looked at the screen to see the location of every tracking device. She saw the tracking device for group A through F, aware of the upcoming release of another set of experiments. But probably not until Experiment #6 finished and shut down. Hopefully the experiments that were out now for Experiment #6 would be safe. Unless that the two sisters Willow and Ada get them first. Princess Celestia hoped she could keep them away from Lab 14 and her sister's lab, Star Labs.

Princess Celestia felt happy that group A through 'F' were okay. She could do without Discord popping up constantly and today was no different.

She felt Discord’s presence and groaned.

“What do you want Discord?” Princess Celestia snapped.

“You know,” said Discord, “I always get that disrespect every time I come around. Nobody else gets that treatment, so why should I be any different?”

“Because you call yourself the Lord of Chaos!” Princess Celestia pointed out.

“Yeah so what?" said Discord, “you pop up more than I do! And nobody says ‘what do you want Princess Celestia’ not to mention I have more power than you do! Just because you’re high in the status quo doesn’t give you the right to treat me any way you please!”

“Okay, okay,” said Princess Celestia, “fine then! Anyway, I'm done talking about that. I'm looking at all the experiments that they sent out on Experiment #6. Look at the traveling pattern of these groups. If anyone of them meets up that will be bad news! Just look, Group F is traveling to the same destination as Group A. Group E is traveling to the same destination as Group B. Group D is traveling to the same destination for Group C.”

“Is there a problem with that?” Discord said.

“Oh yeah,” said Princess Celestia, “if any one of these Groups meet up, that would produce bad results. And that doesn’t sit well with me and I’m sure it doesn’t sit well with Lab 14 or Star Labs either! The fact that these groups are traveling to the same destination as each other could only mean one thing…”

“What would that be?” Discord said.

“My sister's up to something!” Princess Celestia growled.

“But I thought,” said Discord, “that it would throw off the results and that wouldn’t sit well with Star Labs either!”

“Now that you think about it,” said Princess Celestia, “even though the groups meeting up would throw the results off, that would be just like Luna to do something like this! It might look like that wouldn’t sit well with Star Labs. But, knowing Luna she always has her own agenda with stuff like this!”

Discord looked at the screen. He had an evil smile on his face that gave Princess Celestia the creeps.

“What’s that look for?” Princess Celestia said.

“That’s for me to know,” said Discord, “and for you to never find out! So if it makes you feel any better I’ll stop bugging you for the moment! This is goodbye for now!”

Discord snapped his claw and disappeared.

* * *

Eleanor looked at her files while she listened to Cora talking to the tracker cats.

“Ezra,” said Cora, “have you come close to finding Experiment Henry?”

“Not even a whiff!” Ezra said. “We’re trying hard to find him but we only caught a whiff of him in Nightdale. And not to mention that we’ve been through a couple of cities but no luck!”

Cora let out a long sigh and bit the inside of her cheek.

“Fine!” Cora said. “Just give me an update on what you find!”

“Yes ma’am!” Ezra said.

“Okay,” said Cora, “I’m signing off now!”

Cora strangled the nearby railing as she heard this information. Eleanor, unphased by Cora's typical anger, cleared her throat to get her attention.

“Yes, Eleanor?” Cora said.

“I was thinking,” said Eleanor, “maybe we should try a different approach?”

“What approach are you thinking about?” Cora said.

“I was thinking Experiment Henry’s a lot older now,” said Eleanor, “he’s bound to become sexually active sooner or later.”

Cora smiled at this and looked like she had a light bulb go off in her head.

“I see,” said Cora, “maybe we should send a sexy experiment after him? That might do the trick!”

Eleanor stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

“So who are you thinking of sending?” Eleanor said.

“I was thinking Experiment Rose would be perfect for this!” Cora said.

"What if he doesn’t prefer women?" Eleanor said.

"In that case, Experiment Sebastian would make good backup! Especially with his powers that he has! He can change into an adorable woodland creature and then pop up as a sexy young man!” Cora said.

Eleanor practically gagged on what Cora had just said.

“There’s one more problem that needs to be figured out.” Eleanor said.

“Yes, yes I know,” said Cora, “we have to figure out where the experiments from group A are. We dropped group F off around the same area that group A was dropped off in. It is unfortunate that Excitement Sebastian wasn’t able to bring Experiment Derek to us. And I hate the fact that his mother stepped in to make a deal so we wouldn’t take him! And due to the guidelines of the experiments, he’s too old for us to take him!”

“How old is he?” Eleanor said.

“He’s Nineteen!” Cora said. “Even though our magic would still work on him the guidelines say he has to be twelve years or younger to be taken! And we almost had him at the age of nine! But no, his mom just had to step in!”

Cora sounded like a schoolyard bully that lost her favorite toy. Eleanor tried not to laugh. It disturbed her to think that in some demented way Cora seemed to view Experiment Henry as if he were her son.

Eleanor assumed Cora's fondness of Experiment Henry came from their incomparable differences in strength. It was funny because Cora came to Lab 14 at the age of 25. Had she come sooner she might’ve been one of the experiments herself. Eleanor often wondered how Cora embraced the previous head of Lab 14's evil ways so fast.

There were rumors going around about Cora's past. People say she used to kill animals for entertainment. The rumor actually made sense to her because Cora didn't have a kind bone in her body. Eleanor had half a mind to interrogate Cora about her story but she was too scared.

The previous Head of Lab 14 was worse than Cora. Eleanor heard plenty of stories of what the previous Head did. Eleanor's coworkers told her the previous Head came up with the technique of taking a person's voice and turning it into a box. That's who Cora learned it from.

The previous Head made himself famous for his sick and evil tests. One of them was to push an iron rod through an experiment's chest and yank the rod from the side. The rod would burst from their side and leave a gaping wound behind. Afterward, he did the same thing to another experiment. He would actually pit the experiments against each other and see who came out alive. No one knew the backstory of the previous Head of Lab 14 and why he was so evil.

When Cora became the head of Lab 14 she kept most of the previous head's standards. All except pitting the experiments against each other. She didn't seem to think that it was the best way to get the results that she wanted. It looked like she was correct on that one. Because of doing that she was one step closer to finding the cure for death that she had told everyone at Lab 14 about. To Eleanor, it was a way for Cora to get a thrill out of harming people.

It was chilling to think of what the Head of Lab 14 would do to get results on their experiments. She crossed her fingers and prayed for the day that the next Head of Lab 14 would be kind. But that was wishful thinking.

Eleanor stared off into space as if Cora were background noise for her thinking about nothing at the moment. A tap on her shoulder by one of her coworkers snapped her out of it. They handed her a file. Eleanor looked at the file, snarled, and shook.

“Head Cora!” Eleanor snapped. “Two of your experiments have died!”

That was enough to snap Cora out of her ranting. That’s because Eleanor threw the file at her. Cora looked at the file and rolled her eyes.

“Oh well,” shrugged Cora, “that means they belong in the trash with other unfit ones!”

“Are you serious?” Eleanor said. She wanted to take a rope, make it into a noose, and hang Cora with it.

“These are the standards that Lab 14 has set!” Cora said. “If you don’t like it you can hang yourself or go in front of the firing squad."

"Why would you say something so extreme?" Eleanor said.

"It’s because of the knowledge you have of Lab 14! Unless you want to die, shut up and do your job!” Cora said.

Eleanor bit her tongue and didn’t say a word. She turned around and went to her office. She hated the testing they put the children under because it often killed them.

* * *

For the last two weeks, I've worked at the Inn as Earnest's assistant while the others worked in the barn. I spent most of my free time with Derek. My life had begun to resemble what one could call normal for once compared to the chaos of Lab 14.

I retired to my bedroom after a long day. I was about to close the door when I heard Discord and Earnest talking through the crack.

“How’s Henry doing?” Discord said.

Earnest sighed, “About as well as he could be doing. He’s only been sleeping a half-hour here and a half-hour there. He’s probably waiting for the day when he has to run from Lab 14. That’s the only thing he can do right now. Getting him to show us what happened at Lab 14 was like pulling teeth!”

“Makes sense,” said Discord, “I broke him out of Lab 14 and he doesn’t trust me either. He doesn’t know who’s friend or enemy. Is Derek finally getting Henry to open up to him?”

“I’m not sure,” said Earnest, “I don’t agree with the fact that The Higher had to flatline him to deliver the message. He did the same thing to me!”

Discord looked concerned about Earnest's anger.

“Calm down before you flatline yourself!” said Discord, “If The Higher has delivered the message then there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Derek tapped Earnest on the shoulder. Earnest turned around startled.

“Um… dad?” Derek said. “You might want to take your argument somewhere else or you might wake up Henry and the rest of the children. Although I doubt Henry’s asleep right now.”

“Sorry Derek,” said Earnest, “we’ll take this somewhere else!”

“But-“ Discord said.

“Discord you’re really a pest you know that?” Earnest said.

“Me?” Discord said. “A pest? Unbelievable!”

“Hey,” said Earnest, “I’m just saying what everyone else is thinking! Come on!”

As soon as Discord and Earnest left, Derek came into the room to see me wide awake.

Derek sighed, “It’s the middle of the night. I knew I'd find you awake."

I shook my head, rolled over, and looked away. Derek sat down on the bed and tapped me on the shoulder. I rolled back over to see what he wanted. He always did this every time he caught me awake when I broke curfew.

As Earnest said, I was waiting for the day that Lab 14 would find me, forcing me to flee the Inn. Knowing Derek he would probably come with me because he was my protector.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say dad's right, you're afraid of the day you have to run from Lab 14 again. Is that why you won't sleep?" Derek said.

I rolled my eyes, nodded, and gave him a look to say 'duh'. Derek laughed, "I knew it! Henry, I think I know what will help. If it doesn't, I won't do it anymore."

Derek pulled me into his arms and I lowered myself onto his lap. It came as no surprise because every day this week Derek had been making excuses to be around me. Earnest would let him do things like help me sort things out as it was all sorted by color. Colorblind remember? Anyway, every time I turned around, I caught Derek gawking at me. Which gave me full permission to gawk at him. I took full advantage of it.

I looked forward to things like this. Derek would even kiss me whenever Earnest wasn't around. Feeling Derek holding me in his lap, I didn't want to move an inch. It calmed me down. I fell asleep.

* * *

The next day Discord wouldn't stop popping up. I felt the same way Earnest did about him. Nothing but a pest. Derek would save me from the pest of Discord by making out with me whenever he popped up. I mean Discord did break me out of Lab 14, but as he said earlier I don't trust him because he worked for Lab 14. To me, anyone that worked for Lab 14 was no friend of mine.

“Oh for goodness sake!” Discord said. “Would you two come up for air long enough to talk to someone? I guess I caught you two at a bad time! And for the third time today. Honestly you two! I guess that’s to be expected since you two can’t seem to keep your hands off each other. At least when I’m around. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you two are doing this to try to get rid of me! I’m not that bad! Fine! I’ll try again later!”

When Discord snapped and disappeared, Derek continued to kiss me. We heard someone clear their throat. I looked to see Sarah grinning at us. Derek let go of me. "What do you want?"

“Wow Derek,” said Sarah, “Moria said Henry trusted you but I didn’t think he trusted you this much!”

“Does it matter Sarah?” Derek said. “You’re just as bad as Discord!”

I pulled Derek back into my arms and glared at Sarah. I did that to keep myself from stomping on her foot like I did to Milton every time he made me angry.

“Why are you glaring at me?” Sarah said.

“I think he wants you to go away,” Derek said.

“I knew you said it was mating season,” said Sarah, “but I didn’t know it was mating season for you two!”

“Excuse me?” Derek snarled at her. Derek let go of me and tackled Sarah. He balled his fist to punch her but he stopped himself. He got to his feet leaving Sarah lying flat on her back.

Sarah got to her feet and growled, "Fine then! I'm gone!"

She then pointed one finger in the air and disappeared.

* * *

Princess Luna stared at her computer screen and smiled. She had a habit of screwing up things in the experiments for shits and giggles. But she was looking for the same thing that Celestial labs and Lab 14 were looking for: the cure for death. She relished the thought of her sister pacing back and forth, staring at her computer screen in fear. She laughed at the thought when Discord popped up.

Princess Luna looked up from her computer screen, “So how’s Experiment Henry doing?”

Discord stroked the hairs of his beard, “Excuse me, I think he goes by Henry! But he’s doing just fine. It seems like he might also have a boyfriend now!”

"Who?" Princess Luna said.

"It's the son of the guy who works at the place where Henry and the others are," Discord said.

“When did that happen?” Princess Luna said.

“I don’t know,” said Discord, “but it reminds me of Fluttershy and I when we were dating! They’re a great couple if you ask me!”

When Princess Luna heard, she fell over on her back laughing.

“What’s so funny about that?” Discord said.

“Oh it’s nothing,” she said, “at least Henry’s found real romance for once in his life! Instead of it being forced! Yes, I want to find the cure for death too but I think there's a better way to go about it. I just haven't figured it out yet. Trust me, once I do I'll give Cora and my sister a suggestion although I doubt they will take it. Even so, that'll probably make me look equally as bad for doing the testing in the first place. But it can't be helped, it has to be done. ”

Discord sighed. He looked as angry with her as he was with Princess Celestia and Cora.

“The fact that I had a hand in the forced relationships disgust me!” Discord said. “Lab 14 is nothing but pure evil! I’m glad I broke the contract with them! I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner!”

“At least you broke Henry out of there first!” Princess Luna said.

“I do have a question but I’m sure if I’m going to like the answer.” Discord said.

“What is it?” Princess Luna said.

“Why do you feel the need to put the children through that maze?” Discord said.

“Oh,” said Princess Luna, “the maze is to see if the different groups of children will work with each other without their leaders.”

“How do you know which ones are the leaders?” Discord said.

Princess Luna pointed a hoof at the computer where she was watching the tracking devices on.

"Look at the screen here. Do you see the biggest red dots in the groups? That is how I can tell who the leader is!” Princess Luna said.

“That’s interesting,” said Discord, “what about the collars? Is that really necessary?”

“Yes,” said Princess Luna, “that’s the gentle way to do the 'data gathering.' Lab 14 and Celestial Labs treat the children like punching bags. They’re not punching bags! They're children and I won’t stand for it!”

“I see,” Discord said. “You have Group D in there now. You should probably go greet them.”

Princess Luna snickered, “This should be fun!”

10) On the Run Again

“Do you know you have exactly 14 scars on your chest?” Derek said as he looked at my chest with concern. I had been staying for six months at the Inn and I was starting to settle into a normal life here. I knew that one day I would have to run from the Inn and away from Lab 14 again. On this night I was having trouble sleeping like every other night. Derek seemed to understand my anxiety, so he laid in bed beside me. That seemed to help because I felt safe with him.

The others were asleep and Derek and I were lying in bed and I took my shirt off for the moment. I finally felt comfortable enough to do something like that with him.

“And this one,” said Derek as he touched the right side of my rib cage, "looks like a branding! Wait a second…”

Derek traced the scar that had the number fourteen on my back and connected to the number fourteen on my chest.

Derek's eyes narrowed in anger. “I think Lab 14 makes it a point to show that you’re their property!”

Property! Last time I checked I’m human or am I a unicorn? I have no idea!

I rolled over so I didn’t face Derek.

Derek tapped me on the shoulder so I rolled back over to see what he wanted. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Did The Higher speak to you when you flatlined a few weeks ago? About you and I going to go destroy Lab 14?" Derek said.

I nodded.
"You know, The Higher spoke to me a week before you arrived at the Inn. When The Higher told me about you and how you were treated it made me want to protect you more than anything else. I know why your voice is gone and I'm going to do everything in my power to get it back for you. I want you to speak again. I guess in wanting to protect you so much, I fell in love with you in the process." Derek said.

I wished that I could've told him that I loved him too. Then I remembered something, Discord gave me a notebook and a pen to help me communicate with people although I really didn't feel the need to use it yet. I think that now would be a good time to use it.

I went over to my bag and took the notebook and pen out. I wrote the words 'I love you' on it and showed it to Derek.

Derek smiled, "Well that confirms what I was going to ask you. I love you too! Don't worry we're going to destroy Lab 14! There's something I want to show you."

I looked at him with uncertainty wondering if I wanted to know what he was going to show me. Derek put two fingers in his left eye and took out his eyeball. I felt weirded out by this. You don't see that every day!

"I have a glass eye that's what this is," Derek said. "According to dad, the trees in this place have some sort of magic in them. It's not safe for a child to touch a tree until after the age of 3. I touched a tree on my third birthday and it burned my eye to a crisp."

I winced when Derek said that. I don't know which is worse, being tortured growing up at Lab 14 or having your eye burned to a crisp. I thought about it, I'd rather have my eye burned to crisp than have to grow up in a place like Lab 14. Derek put his eyeball back into his eye.

"I figured I should tell you this," said Derek, "I thought it might be a deal-breaker for our relationship."

I smiled and kissed him. Derek chuckled, "That settles it, but I still can't tell the others that I know about Lab 14 and why. Unfortunately, I can't tell you that at the moment either. It will have to wait until we have run from the Inn to escape from Lab 14. Yes, I'm coming with you. But you're going to find out how I know about Lab 14 very soon. My dad and Discord just told me a little while ago that we're going to have to leave first thing in the morning. The tracker cats will be here soon."

Although I didn't like the fact we had to run again from Lab 14, I knew this day was coming and that I couldn't stay here forever.

* * *

That morning, I had my backpack sitting next to me at the table and Derek did the same thing. When Sarah was halfway through eating, she looked under the table to see the bags.

“What’s with the backpacks?” Sarah said.

Earnest and Discord stopped eating and looked at us.

“You want to tell them or should I?” Earnest said.

“Tell us what?” Milton said.

Discord sighed, “Lab 14’s tracker cats have finally found where you guys are at. It’ll take them at least a week to get here. I suspect they’re mostly after Henry because I broke him out of Lab 14 recently. I’m just sorry I didn’t break him out of there sooner!”

“Anyway,” said Earnest, “even though it's going to take them a week for them to get here, Discord and I think it would be best that you’re out of here as soon as possible!”

Moria almost choked on her food. She quickly drank some water to get the food down. “Why didn’t Princess Celestia tell me about this?”

“That’s because Princess Celestia doesn’t have the skills to gather intel like I do!” Discord said smugly.

“Why’s Derek coming with us?” Sarah said with an eyebrow raised.

“We decided it would be best for Derek to go with you,” Earnest explained. “He'll help keep Lab 14 from getting Henry! And we’re pretty sure that other labs will be after you guys too.”

“Who wouldn’t be after us?” Milton said. “We’re experiments after all!”

“I hate that word!” Sarah snarled.

“That makes two of us!” Aria agreed.

“So why are we letting Derek into the group?” Sarah asked.

“You’re a knucklehead aren’t you?” Moria said.

“Why’s that?” Sarah said.

“You really need to grow up!” Moria barked. “Remember what I said about forcing answers out of Henry and that he trusts Derek?”

“Yeah so?” Sarah said.

“Why do you think Derek should go with us?” Moria inquired. “The keyword is trust! I’m pretty sure if Derek didn’t go, Henry won’t go either!”

“Just because Henry trusts Derek,” scoffed Sarah, “doesn’t mean he should go with us!”

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re just insecure!” Moria accused.

“And why do you say that?” Sarah said.

Milton rolled his eyes, “Do you want Henry to go back to Lab 14 or not?”

“No, I don’t want him back there!” Sarah said, crossing her arms.

“Think about it this way,” said Milton, “if Henry doesn’t want to go with us, he’ll be back at Lab 14 so quick we won’t even have time to blink! It will happen just because you don’t want to add another member to our group! Derek has done nothing but looked out for us to the best of his ability right along with his dad! Like Moria said, if Derek doesn’t go, Henry won’t go either! So if you don’t want Henry back at Lab 14 then you need to shut up and accept it! The reason why you’re insecure is because you don’t want to let anyone into the group that isn’t an experiment. The funny thing is that you let Moria into the group no problem!”

“Moria’s a dog,” Sarah growled, “she might as well be an experiment just like we are!”

“Hey!” Moria barked.

“Seriously Sarah!” Milton said. “If you don’t want to add another person into the group then maybe you should stay here and get caught by Lab 14 yourself!”

“Okay guys,” said Derek, “break it up! In any case, you guys pack your bags and make sure you have everything because we’re heading out asap!”

“Why does he get to be the leader!” Sarah snapped.

“You are the definition of the word insecure!” Milton said. “Do you want the job as leader?”

“No way!” Sarah quickly answered.

“If you don’t want Henry to go back to Lab 14, then let Derek into the group,” Milton said. “Also, if you don’t want to be leader, then shut up and follow!”

Sarah sat down and pouted. “Fine!”

* * *

As soon as we got ready to leave, Earnest and Discord pulled me and Derek off to the side. Earnest's eyes were full of tears and to my surprise Discord’s eyes were full of tears also. Earnest grabbed Derek and hugged him hard enough to break his rib cage.

“I’m going to miss you so much!” Earnest said. “But I know there’s something you have to do on your own. I can’t hover over you forever! And neither can your mother! The point is we knew you were going to have to leave sooner or later. I just didn’t think it would be this soon!”

“Okay, dad!” Derek said. “I can’t breathe you can let go now!”

I cracked up at the sight but I’m sure if I was a dad I’d choke up too. Without warning, Discord did the same thing to me that Earnest did to Derek.

“I’ve always thought of you as a son!” Discord cried.

I rolled my eyes at the waterworks.

“I wish I could destroy Lab 14 from the inside out! But I found out that’s impossible! I’m really sorry! Believe me when I say that!” Discord said.

Discord finally let go and gave me a kiss on the cheek and patted my head like a loving father. I gave him a look as if to say the word gross. I wiped his kiss off my cheek and glared at him. When Sarah and Milton saw that they fell out laughing. When Derek saw that he joined in.

Discord is probably the strangest creature I had ever had dealings with!

“Okay,” said Earnest, “that’s enough tears! It’s time for you guys to go!”

* * *

We started out running from Lab 14. After a while, we stopped to rest and set up a tent, narrowly escaping the oncoming rain. It reminded me of when I first woke up. The rain didn’t bother me that much but I decided to stay in the company of the others.

I guess my brain decided it was time for me to have another memory, along with a throbbing headache.

The memory was of being back at Lab 14. For some reason Lab 14 just loves to hang a person by their wrists to the ceiling why that is I have no idea. That’s what was happening in this memory. As I dangled from the ceiling, Cora was standing right in front of me looking at a big stack of papers.

She looked up and had a sick twisted smile on her face. “These test results are amazing, Experiment Henry! We actually made a scientific breakthrough because of you! With your blood mixing with the magic of the trees from this place it has boosted your powers triple! And that’s every single time we’ve tested you! I’m very impressed! I would expect nothing less coming from you! That’s because you’re the first experiment Lab 14 has ever created! Mommy’s so proud of you!”

I sneered at her, “If you’re a mother then I’m Santa Clause!”

Cora doubled over in laughter and I rolled my eyes snarling at her.

“You have a sense of humor too!” Cora said. “I’m just sad we can’t reprogram you for stand up comedy night! I have the perfect experiment for bearing your offspring. And she’s special just like you! I think Experiment Rose would be perfect for you!”

“You mean the creepy weirdo with all-white eyes! No thanks!” I said. “Besides I’m going to be busy delivering presents to every kid around the world! After that’s done I’ve checked my schedule, I’m overbooked. Sorry!”

Cora laughed so hard she almost dropped her papers.

“You know you won’t be able to make that decision when we reprogram you!” Cora said. “I have half a mind to make you have a desire for her and only her! I wouldn’t be surprised if you try to resist it! Every time we’ve tried to reprogram you so we can start Experiment 1 you’ve resisted it every time!”

“Yeah no, I wouldn’t fall for that creature even if you make me!” I snapped.

“Oh, you don’t like girls then?” Cora said. “Huh, I haven’t tried boys on you yet. But if we want offspring from you we’ll get offspring!”

“I'm flattered but I'll have to decline!” I growled.

“Oh well,” said Cora, “if you don’t like girls, then boys should give you an incentive to give us kids! Wouldn’t that be fun? More fun for me in any case. Are you scared yet?”

“I’m supposed to be scared because?” I said.

“It’s nothing I’m just teasing,” said Cora, “a mother should be able to tease her son once in a while don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” I said, “like I said before I’m Santa Clause and I’m busy oh well.”

“Tsk, tsk,” said Cora, “there is one more test that needs to be performed. I would think the pain from this one would be so great that you’ll do anything to make it stop!”

“I doubt that,” I said, “but if you must go right ahead!”

“Hmph,” said Cora, “very well then. After this, we won’t put the stitches in until after we reprogram you! And after that, you won’t remember a thing!”

“You’re a witch, you know that?” I snarled at her.

“Moi?” Cora said. “Witch? I’m not a witch, I'm your mother after all.”

I gagged, "Seriously? Yeah, I think you need help."

I almost gave her the satisfaction of showing her my fear when I saw the one-foot iron rod that she had in her hand. The rod that Cora was holding was in the shape of the number 14. Cora's face took on a demonic smile. “It makes me so proud to do this test myself! That’s because you’re my son after all.”

“Your son is so grateful!” I quipped sarcastically.

“Well, you should be!” Cora said. “I’m going to miss you after this is done. We won’t be seeing much of each other afterward. I guess the child has to be kicked out of the nest sooner or later! I’m going to have empty nest syndrome after this! I’ll shed my tears later!”

Cora then pressed a button on the rod and it turned red or maybe it was yellow. I have no idea what color it was and I didn’t care at the moment. Cora then put the iron rod up against my chest on the right side. I wasn’t going to scream if I had a thing or two to say about it. As she pushed the rod into my chest I could feel blood coming up into my mouth. I tried to keep the blood down but it was of no use. After the rod was pushed into my Cora yanked it out from my side.

Cora giggled diabolically after it happened, “Not a peep from you at all. I just ripped a couple of muscles in the process of yanking the rod out but I’m not gonna let you die anytime soon! Oh no, that’s not gonna happen. You must be in horrible pain! I can tell by the look on your face! You and Experiment Rose will be released into Experiment 1 finally! I think we’ll keep you awake for the reprogramming! I’ll have Eleanor, my assistant take you upstairs for that. Goodbye Experiment Henry! Mommy’s going to miss you!”

After Cora left Eleanor took me down from the ceiling. The last thing I remember is being put on a cold metal table.

* * *

I woke up and saw Derek, Sarah, and Milton standing over me with worried looks on their faces. Moria sniffed me and licked my face. Satisfied by whatever results she had got from what she just did.

“Don’t worry,” said Moria, “he’ll be fine. I think he just had a bad dream.”

When I sat up I grabbed my right side where the iron rod had gone in the memory. Although the wound had already healed, the pain of the memory had not. While Sarah breathed a sigh of relief, Derek and Milton did not. I balled my hand into a fist, tightly gripping blades of grass, almost pulling them from the ground.

“It was just a bad dream!” Sarah said.

“That wasn't a dream. That was a memory! I know exactly what memory it was!” Milton said.

I looked up to Milton as he lifted the side of his shirt revealing the same scar that I had. When Martin saw it he looked frustrated.

“How come I don’t remember that yet?” Martin said.

“Do you want to?” Milton snapped. “Seeing that we woke up in different areas I don’t think that they would keep us together even for that!”

“Has anyone else had that memory yet?” Derek said.

Martin, Sarah, Jane, and Aria shook their heads. Derek then put a hand on my right cheek and didn’t make me look at him. He just kept his hand there and the warmth of his hand was enough to keep me calm.

We then heard Princess Celestia’s voice come from Milton’s backpack.

“I forgot I still had the darn thing!” Milton said.

“What is it?" Derek said.

“It’s a stupid small Tv that Lab 14 gave us! It’s to send us messages for some reason!” Milton said. “Somehow, Princess Celestia was able to intercept Lab 14 and give us messages from her instead. Maybe I should let Moria talk to her?”

Moria shook her head, “Nope! She’s specifically asking for you! I have other ways of contacting her!”

Milton rolled his eyes and turned on the Tv.

“Hello Princess Celestia,” Milton said. I could hear the annoyance in Milton's voice.

“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Princess Celestia said.

“I guess you can say that,” Milton said.

“Sorry,” said Princess Celestia, “but I have to be the bearer of bad news. There’s another group of experiments headed in the same direction as you! And that would be thanks to Princess Luna! I beg you, please take a different path!”

“And where should we go?” Milton said.

“There’s a hideout in the next city here," Princess Celestia said. Milton titled the Tv enough so I could see and an address appeared on the display.

“I have a question,” Milton said.

“Yes,” said Princess Celestia, “what is it?”

“You seem to have a lot of hideouts just like Lab 14,” Milton said. “Exactly where are you taking us?”

“Huh,” said Princess Celestia, “you saw right through me didn’t you? Since you want to know, I’m sending you towards Celestial Labs for two reasons. One to fix the trackers in your ears since they’re not working anymore. The second reason is you’ll be safer with us than with Lab 14.”

“How do we know we can trust that?” Derek said.

“Ah!” Princess Celestia said. “Is that Derek the son of Earnest that broke his contract with us? Milton, can you tilt the screen so I can see him?”

“No way!” Milton said. “I can’t trust you anymore! It wasn’t me that saw right through you, it was Henry! And it was from day one of meeting you!”

Milton suddenly jerked his head like he had been shocked. Out of his ear came a tiny box that was small enough to fit in his ear so he wouldn’t notice it. Milton grinned and held up the box for Princess Celestia to see. “Is this your tracking device?”

When Princess Celestia saw it, her ears went flat against her head and she shouted, “Luna!”

Milton didn’t dare hide his laughter. He just laughed to his heart’s content. I suspect to spite Princess Celestia.

“That’s not funny Milton!” Princess Celestia said.

“Yeah, it is!” Milton said. “You people with your labs think you can push us around! But not anymore! We’re done with that!”

“And where do you think you’re going?” Princess Celestia said.

“I have no idea!” Milton snapped. “But as long as it’s away from you, it's good enough for me!”

Milton turned the Tv off and chucked it outside the tent.

“Well,” said Derek, “I know exactly where we can go!”

“What?” Jane said. “Where?”

Derek smiled, “I was going to wait for all of you to wake up to tell you.”

Derek took out a medium-sized box and pressed the button that was on top of it. Out of it came a holographic screen that looked like a map.

“What’s being shown on the map are systems,” Derek said.

“Systems?” Sarah said.

“Think of it as rivers that lead to a central place,” Derek said.

“Where do they lead?” Aria said, adjusting her glasses.

“They lead to a place called The Resistance,” said Derek. “Think of it as a temporary home until you get to your real homes and are returned back to your original parents.”

“You mean we weren’t born in Lab 14?” Sarah said.

“Of course not!” Derek said. "No one was born in the labs. The Resistance is against any lab that takes children from their cribs and does testing on them. The sad thing is that some of the labs every so often will take a child that was born in this place too. I don’t know why they do that but I’m guessing it's for the same reason they took you guys. I almost got taken myself thanks to a kid named Sebastian. Trust me it wasn’t willingly. And no, I don’t want to talk about it!”

Sarah and Jane burst into laughter when they heard this. Everyone else including me was not happy about that. I'd love to slap both of them for doing that.

“Sarah and Jane,” growled Milton, “stop laughing and listen!”

At that time Sarah, Jane, Martin, and Aria flinched at the small electric shock. A tiny box came out of their ears just like Milton’s. I flinched too as I felt an electric shock. Derek watched with excitement. He then motioned for us to step near the holographic box.

“What’s this all about?” Milton said.

“This is a map that detects and ejects any tracking devices that Celestial Labs, Lab 14, and Star Labs put in you,” Derek said. “I don’t know if anyone noticed that the words on your hand when you first woke up was your label. The label probably looked something like this.” Derek pulled out an index card.

We all stared at the label in horror as the index card that Derek showed us had my label on it. Ex-Henry.

“All three of the labs had a part in it,” said Derek, “Lab 14 did the Ex, Star Labs did the dash and Celestial Labs did your names. What all three labs were looking for in this experiment no one knows. The tracking devices that are on your hands are called nano. No one can see them with the naked eye. That’s another reason for the barrier. It zapped all of the nano in you. Did any of you notice that you felt sick when you first got to the Inn?”

Sarah, Jane, Aria, and Martin nodded their heads.

“Good,” said Derek, “now show me your hands.”

They did as told.

“Nice,” said Derek, “they’re all gone.”

“What about Milton and Henry?” Martin said.

“Their labels came out the very first night at the Inn,” said Derek, “that happened through a bad memory. I suspect that Henry had his when he fell asleep. That’s because there was a pile of ash sitting right next to him. The same thing happened to you didn’t it, Milton?”

Milton nodded, “It was the memory of that iron rod going by that psycho Cora!”

Derek sighed, “Let me see your right hands. Henry you can take your glove off, don’t worry I won’t show them.”

I took off my glove and showed Derek my hand. He shielded my hand with his hand so no one could see. I put my glove back on and Milton showed Derek his hand.

“Good!” Derek said. “Now we can really run from those labs!”

Author's Note

From this point on in the story, Henry and Derek are a couple. They will remain together throughout the rest of the series. I say series because there is going to be more than one sequel to this story.

Oh and from this chapter onward the different points of view are all going to be told in 1st person. I might go back and reformat the earlier chapters to fit the same format. I'm not sure yet.

11) Journey

{Discord}

“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me!” Princess Luna said as she paced back and forth in front of her computer screens. I looked at her and smiled because I knew what was wrong with Group A's tracking devices and she didn't.

“What’s wrong?” I said. Trying to act like I didn't know anything. I wasn't sure if I was convincing or not.

“There’s no signal coming from Group A at all!” Princess Luna said. “Not even from Henry!”

I didn't hide my laughter. My laughing was part of the lie and everyone knows that I can lie like it's my job and not even feel sorry about it, that is unless my emotions didn’t get involved. However, my emotions almost came into play when it came down to Henry. That is because I really did view Henry as a son. But I knew Henry would never be my son. Although I felt a connection to another child in Group A. Her name was Jane. She looked very familiar to me but I don't know why.

I remember that me and my wife Fluttershy had adopted an adorable little filly that was an earth pony. We adopted her six months after she was born. We named her Bubblegum and I felt devastated when I came home from work to find her missing from her crib. The broken window to her room was the only evidence of what happened. The police never found where she went. This happened right before her third birthday.

I was furious when I found out that a lot of my friends had similar stories about their kids being stolen. Princess Twilight was depressed when her two twin boys were taken. Even though she had sadness in her heart she pushed on and did her job as ruler of Equestria.

I also found out that Lab 14, Princess Celestia’s lab, and Princess Luna had a hand in stealing children from their cribs and possibly stole my child from me. I decided to start working behind the scenes to help get their children back. Unfortunately, when I first started working for the labs I didn’t have any luck recovering the children.

Once I saw that my laughter had gotten Princess Luna's attention I stopped laughing.

“What’s so funny Discord?” Princess Luna said.

I decided to maintain my smile. “Don’t you get it you fool!”

“Get what?” Princess Luna said.

“There’s no signal coming from Group A,” I fake cried, “because they’re all dead!”

Princess Luna rolled her eyes as I started crying for real. I pulled a handkerchief with my magic out of thin air and blew on it. I was able to bring them out by the memory of when I said goodbye to the children the other day. I knew Derek would protect them to the best of his abilities.

I also knew that Derek was in love with Henry so he would definitely protect Henry with his own life. That’s why I agreed with The Higher’s decision to send Derek to protect him.

“Oh, those poor, poor children!” I sobbed. “They were eaten by those horrible tracker cats! Oh, the shame!”

Princess Luna raised an eyebrow at me because it looked like she didn’t know what to say. I hoped my fake tears looked convincing enough to fool her. Her radio buzzed and we heard Willow’s voice.

“This is, tree to black cat,” said Willow, “please come in! Over!”

Princess Luna pressed the button on her radio to talk to Willow.

“This is black cat to tree,” Princess Luna said, “what’s the status of Group E and Group A? I’m not getting a signal from any of them.”

“Well Group E,” said Willow emphasizing the letter E, “Group E is dead! I had to stand by and watch as Ada killed all of them! And did I hear you correctly? You asked about Group A too?”

“Yes,” said Princess Luna, “I’m not getting a signal from their tracking devices either!”

“You think I care about that?” Willow screamed.

“Calm down seriously!” Princess Luna said.

“Don’t you tell me to calm down black cat!” Willow snarled. “I’m done with Star Labs! I’m breaking my contract! As far as Group A I doubt they’re dead but if they are, may they Rest In Peace! I’m breaking this damn radio and I’m getting this tracking device out if it’s the last thing I do! Goodbye black cat and don’t bother to respond!”

Princess Luna and I didn’t have to turn off the radio to know that Willow was gone because all she heard was static noise.

* * *

{Henry}

It was another day of traveling and we had set up camp again and this time since it wasn’t raining I took a blanket and laid on it outside the tent. I heard Derek’s voice coming from around the corner and he didn’t sound happy.

“Gee I knew you two trusted each other,” said Derek, “but I didn’t know it was that much!”

“And I care about what you think because?” Sarah said.

“If I were you,” said Derek, “I wouldn’t say anything about Henry and me anymore because I could say a lot about you and Aria!"

“Oh yeah?” Sarah said.

Next, I heard Milton’s voice, “Would you guys shut up! And I would like to know what you and Aria were doing!”

“Nothing,” said Sarah, “nothing at all!”

“Gee I knew you said it was mating season for Henry and I,” said Derek, “but I didn’t think it was mating season for you two!”

“Excuse me?” Sarah said.

“How does it feel Sarah?” Derek scoffed. “I’ve said all I need to say. I’m out of here!”

Derek came around the corner and sat down next to me. From Derek's smug expression it looked like he got payback on Sarah.

“You heard that didn’t you?” Derek said.

I rolled my eyes and gave him a look as if to say the word ‘duh.’

"I don't know who Sarah think's she is but I think she needs to grow up," Derek said.

I smiled and nodded because I knew Derek was absolutely correct.

* * *

Derek thought it was best to travel by night for some reason and Milton became curious as to why. I wondered about that too.

“I was wondering,” said Milton, “why are we sleeping during the day and traveling at night? Although it is much cooler at night so I don’t mind.”

“That’s because all of the tracking animals that might be after us are blind!” Derek explained.

“What?” Milton said. “They’re all blind? How do you know?”

“That’s because my dad and I did autopsies on the ones that we killed from each lab. They all have markings on them that show what lab they’re from! That’s what the barrier at the Inn was for! But it only holds up for so long.” Derek said.

“What?” Moria said as Milton examined her looking for a mark.

“How come you didn’t get zapped?” Milton said.

“That’s because I’m not a tracker,” said Moria, “I was an assistant. As you can see I left my collar behind and threw it in the river at our last stop. It was a tracking device given to me in case yours didn’t work. I used it for communicating with Princess Celestia and to update her on the progress of the experiment. It wasn’t until I saw how evil she was with her last conversation with Milton. I vow to never work with another lab as long as I live! If I break this vow Henry can cook me for dinner! I say that because I know that’s what he’s been wanting to do since day one!”

At that comment, Derek and Milton fell over laughing hard. Derek stopped laughing and gave me a look. I raised an eyebrow.

“Did you really want to do that Henry?” Derek said.

I rolled my eyes, nodded, and stuck out my tongue.

“I knew it!” Moria barked. “I swear I’ll never work for another lab ever again! I hope you will all forgive me one day and I will do whatever I can do in my power to get you back home! I swear it!”

* * *

The next night we were traveling, I saw that Derek was looking at his map again.

“What is it?” Milton said.

“We’re supposed to be meeting two Agents from the Resistance right around here!” Derek said. “Oh no.”

“What’s wrong?” Milton said.

“I have a feeling of who they sent!” Derek said.

We looked at the nearby bush and we heard a strange sound coming from it.

“My name is Snips!” Voice one said.

“And my name is Snails!” Voice two said.

“We have no sails so we wave our tails!” Snips said.

“I’m so hungry I could eat an orange!” Snails said.

“Well,” said Snips, “eat an orange yo!”

When we heard this everyone went into a fit of laughter except for Derek who rubbed his temple and groaned.

“Everyone,” said Derek, “meet Agents Snips and Snails. Agents Snips and Snails meet everyone.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Snails said, “that’s not a proper introduction child Derek!”

“I do believe I’ve moved up to Agent status now!” Derek snapped.

“Sorry about that Agent Derek!” Snips said. “Now please give us a proper introduction. We would like to know who we’re escorting.”

Derek growled at Snips and Snails.

“This is Henry,” said Derek, “these are twins Milton and Martin, this is Aria, this is Sarah and this is Jane and the dog here is Moria!”

Snips and Snails looked at me with curious looks on their faces.

“Why are you guys looking at him like that?” Derek said.

“There’s something funny about Henry,” said Snips, “he looks like he’s laughing but there’s no sound coming from him!”

“Don’t you dare Agent Snips!” Derek said. “We already know what’s wrong with him! I wouldn’t do that if I were you or so help me!”

“Huh?” Snips said. “What did you say, Agent Derek? Because I didn’t hear you!”

“Agent Snips don’t-” Derek said.

Derek couldn’t pull me away from Snips fast enough. Snips lit up his horn and a flash of light forced its way into my mouth. It felt like he was trying to pull my throat out. After a moment he stopped his spell and I fell over backward choking.

“Agent Snips I swear when Leader Felix hears about this-“ Derek said.

“Derek stop!” Milton said and he stood between Derek and Snips before they could come to blows.

“I think it’s best that we arrive at The Resistance in one piece!” Snails said. “And don’t you think it would’ve been better to ask everyone what was wrong with Henry first? Agent Derek said he already knew what was wrong with him! That was the most impolite thing I’ve ever seen you do! Now let’s get going! We don’t have much daylight left!”

“Fine by me,” said Derek, “I can kill you later Agent Snips!”

* * *

Once again I was having another memory with just voices but no faces attached to them. It’s funny because every time I remembered something from Lab 14 the memory came back clearly. The other memories that I had were very fuzzy. I wondered if Lab 14 intended it to be that way. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did. I also remembered the strange voices that were in them. There was voice one with the weird accent to it. Voice two was just plain weird. The high pitched voice was definitely female.

“Awe,” said a high pitched voice, “just look at him! He looks so adorable with that hat you gave him darling!”

“Yeah, the hat doesn’t fit him yet,” voice one said, “he’s still a toddler!”

“Yes darling,” voice three said, “but it’s just cute the way it keeps falling off his head! Star looks adorable in that hat too and it keeps falling off her head!”

“You know,” said voice four, “Crimson and Star are about the same age as Yellow Strom and Cloud Sweeper. They might be princes but I'll keep them around Crimson and Star as much as possible. Who knows they might even become friends one day! And the twins might also bear an Element of Harmony!”

Voice one laughed, “Element of Harmony? I wouldn’t go that far! Besides which twin would get the Element of Magic?”

“Hmm,” said voice four, “maybe the element could be split?”

“I’ve never heard of that being done before,” said voice one, “anyway, have you given them their gotcha day presents yet?”

“Oh yes,” said voice four, “a pocket watch with my picture in it so they always know that their mother is always with them. And a pocket knife for protection you know because they’re princes. But the gifts will go with them wherever they go because they both have their names written in pony language on them!”

“Hey!” Voice two said. “No one said anything about my gift yet!”

“Oh yes darling,” voice three said, “excellent choice! The music box with Equestria’s national anthem in it. You know, music boxes like that are very hard to come by! The fact that you were able to get two of them makes them even luckier!”

“Yeah I know,” said voice two, “that means they’ll be able to return home no matter where they are! Let’s hope they grow up here where they belong!”

“Uh-huh!” All four of the voices agreed.

I could hear my voice in the memory.

“Ma-ma!” I said.

“Awe!” All the voices said.

“That’s right kid,” voice one said, “I’m your mother! It might not be by blood, but I adopted you and I’m still going to raise you and protect you with my life!”

“I’ll protect you too!” Voice two said. “I’m awesome and I save anypony who gets in trouble!”

Voice one sounded really annoyed with voice two.

“Fine, fine,” voice one said, “you know you’re really narcissistic sometimes? That gets on my nerves!”

“But your kids are so adorable!” Voice three said.

“You know,” said voice four, “you’ve been gushing over our kids all day! Why don’t you adopt?”

“Oh no darling!” Voice three said. “I’m too busy running my fashion empire! Speaking of that, I have a meeting in Yakyakistan. I’m going to see Prince Rutherford to get a rare blue-dyed fabric. It will go perfectly with my new spring line! I have no idea what I’ll name it. I’m pretty sure Sweetie Belle will give me a good name for it. Well, this gotcha day party has been fun but I must get some sleep so I can catch the next train in the morning! Goodnight to all of you and Pinkie Pie that cake was divine! It was your best one yet!”

The rest of the voices said goodbye to voice three and that was when I snapped back into reality.

Something tells me I thought that this memory is revealing who my family is. But I still can’t put faces to the voices. I hope I get to meet them one day.

12) Fear Shock

{Agent Rarity}

I've had just about enough of the tracker cats. Even though all three of them were hand-picked by Cora and had picked up on Experiment Henry’s scent, their behavior was disgusting. They would sniff around during the day and poop wherever they wanted. Then they would sit down and lick their butts right where they had pooped. I definitely wasn’t happy when Ezra, the leader of the Tracker Cats communicated with Cora.

I could care less if they found Experiment Henry! I actually hoped they didn't find him.

Before I could even think of how to get away from the tracker cats I felt a buzz from my earpiece. That meant that Cora wanted to speak to me personally. I went around the corner of a brick building, well away from the tracker cats, and pressed the button in my ear. Out of my earpiece came a holographic screen with Cora’s face on it. “Yes, Head Cora?”

Cora answered with the same flat look she always gives me when giving me instructions. “I’m sending Group F of the experiments with you.”

I already felt frustrated with those stupid tracker cats and now this? “May I ask why madam?” I hoped that my voice didn't sound frustrated.

“Yes,” Cora replied professionally, “I’m sending them to help track down Experiment Henry. They have better senses than the tracker cats and can track Experiment Henry better than they could. Even though the tracker cats say that they have Experiment Henry’s scent I don’t trust them at all. Be on the lookout for the experiments that I am sending. The first one is Experiment Rose and she has all-white eyes.”

“All white eyes madam?” I asked puzzled.

“Yes,” said Cora, “there are no irises in her eyes whatsoever. And the next one would be Experiment Sebastian. He has red hair and green eyes. They will look completely different from the experiments in Group F. That’s all I have to tell you right now. I’m sending Agent Liza to help track down the experiments.”

When I heard Agent Liza’s name my eyes went wide in horror.

“Agent Liza!” I gasped. “But that’s-“

“That’s right,” said Cora, “Experiment Derek’s mom. I’ve received word from Agent Liza herself that the Experiments from Group A have left the Inn about a week ago. Find Experiment Derek and Experiment Henry will be with him.”

“Why are you calling Agents Liza’s son an Experiment?” I questioned. “He was never taken!”

“Actually he was,” said Cora, “but it was for a short time until his mom Agent Liza stepped in and made a deal with us to keep him away from Lab 14. Anyway, that’s all I have to say, signing off. Good luck!”

I nodded and pressed the button on my earpiece and sighed.

I thought not only do I have to deal with those rude tracker cats, but now I have to deal with a group of brats! This just keeps getting better and better! I’d rather be back in Equestria overseeing my fashion empire! But I’ll have to stay here a little bit longer! I have to remember it’s for the children! That’s the only reason why I’m doing this! As soon I get the children back, I’m stabbing that witch Cora in the back literally!

* * *

{Henry}

The next time we stopped I took a blanket and laid outside the tent. Looking at the morning sky, I really didn’t want to fall asleep because if I did it’s possible that I would have another painful memory of Lab 14. I was hoping that if I didn’t fall asleep I would have a peaceful memory of my family again. I laid there thinking about it when Sarah came and sat down beside me. “Have you had any more memories again?”

I shook my head and I didn’t know what to think about that yet.

“I keep having these memories but I can’t put any faces to the voices I hear,” Sarah said.

I gave her a confused look.

“I’ve had a memory of someone calling herself a Wonderbolt,” said Sarah, “have you had that type of memory yet?”

I raised an eyebrow and nodded.

Sarah looked at me and sighed, “I have a feeling you and me are related! The one that calls herself a Wonderbolt whatever that is is the one who gave us the music box with a weird tune that plays in it. And the one that gave us that hat is also one of our parents! I don’t know if we’re related by blood or not but we’re definitely related! That’s all I have to say about that but I have noticed that you haven’t slept for three days straight! I know the memories that come from Lab 14 are painful but how can you run from Lab 14 if you’re not sleeping! Maybe I should tell Derek about that, he might be able to knock some sense into you and help you sleep.”

Sarah left and I could hear her talking to Derek and he came and sat down beside me. He motioned for me to lay down so I did. I still didn’t want to go to sleep at all.

“You really need to sleep,” said Derek, “I hate to say this, but Sarah’s right. You can’t run from Lab 14 if you’re half-awake. We do have a job that needs to be done, you know that right?”

I nodded. No matter how important sleep was, I didn't want to sleep because I thought I might have another bad memory of Lab 14.

* * *

For the next couple of weeks while we were traveling, every time we stopped Derek made sure I fell asleep.

If someone wanted to call a place hell, Lab 14 was it. One bad memory after another of Lab 14 played in my head. I woke up quickly knowing that everyone was worried about me because they knew that I wasn’t sleeping much.

“Henry doesn’t look so good at all!” Snails said.

“Well Agent Derek,” said Snips, “should we rest a bit longer the next time we stop? Maybe we should find a cave somewhere?”

“I’m not sure about that!” Snails said. “Remember the last time we stopped in a cave? We woke up and Ursa Minor!”

“Oh that was a long time ago!” Snips said. “Besides, Princess Twilight already forgave us for that!”

Without warning the world around me started to spin and I shook my head to make it stop, but it didn’t work. The next thing I knew I fell over and the world went dark.

* * *

{Derek}

I caught Henry before he hit the ground.

“I knew it!” Snails said.

“What’s wrong with him?” I panicked.

“I think he just needs to rest that’s all,” Snips said. “Let me see…”

Snips lit up his horn and examined Henry’s brain. Snips looked horrified.

I felt a pit in my stomach. "What is it?"

“I think you might want to sit down for this one!” Snips said. “Henry’s under something that’s called Fear Shock! I have a suspicion that it’s because of too many bad dreams!”

“I’m not surprised although it wouldn't be bad dreams it would be because of bad memories,” said Sarah. “There’s a place where all of us... ugh... ‘experiments’ grew up and it’s called Lab 14. If you want to call such a place hell, that place would be it! When I woke up I couldn't remember anything! Not even who I was until that witch Cora told me! For some reason Lab 14 does that and why? I don't know. From what I’ve been told, Henry's a famous experiment because Henry was the first one Lab 14 ever created!”

“From what I’ve researched,” said Jane, “there have been five experiments and Lab 14 released a handful of children in them. According to the information Henry was released into every single one of them!”

“What?” Everyone said.

“That’s right,” said Jane, “the fact that Lab 14 kept releasing him and reprogramming him every single time that tells me that Henry’s the most valuable kid they have!”

“But,” said Sarah, “when I got to Jade Summer’s hideout he said Henry was up for elimination because he didn’t get the updated tracking device in him!”

“Oh I doubt Lab 14 would’ve killed him!” Jane said. “They probably would’ve just held him hostage and tortured him until they waited for a chance to shut down the experiment and do the whole thing all over again!”

“That’s horrible!” Snips said.

Jane shrugged, “That’s the way Lab 14 is. Until it gets destroyed, Lab 14 will continue to do this every single time! And more children will have to endure the pain that Henry and the rest of us have to! Although since Henry the most valuable one, he’s had it worse! His body probably gave out because of the stress from it!”

After hearing this Milton balled his hands into fists and grit his teeth. He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to calm himself down but it didn’t work.

“Lab 14 and that witch Cora that runs it!” Milton growled.

“So what do we do now?” I said.

Snips and Snails both put their hoofs under their chins and looked like they were thinking.

“I’ve only seen this happen to a handful of ponies and people,” Snips said, “this could go one of two ways, he could wind up in a coma for at least a month or he could wake up in the next two days. But, the emotional pain would be so great that he wouldn’t be able to move. Me personally, I’d rather have him in a coma because when he wakes up he’ll be completely healed. But…”

It was as if on cue that Snips and Snails looked like they had a light bulb go off in their heads.

“What?” I said. My heart was breaking for Henry at the moment. “I’ll do anything to help Henry and you know it!”

“Calm down Agent Derek!” Snails said. “We know you love Henry! We figured that out when we saw how you act around each other!”

“And don’t forget how you two get lost into each other’s eyes so cute!” Snips said. “The way you're holding him says it all! That’s why we’re going to give you this one option to avoid all of the trauma!”

“What exactly are you talking about Snips?” Sarah said.

Snips and Snails both nodded in agreement and Snails smiled at me.

“The gift that you can give Henry,” Snips said, “to help him avoid stress and trauma and his Fear Shock will possibly not come back. It's the kiss of true love!”

I nodded, I didn't have to think twice about it, I kissed Henry hoping this would wake him up.

* * *

{Henry}

The next time I opened my eyes I was in Derek’s arms and it was daylight. I heard everyone let out a sigh of relief now that I was awake.

“Can he talk again?” Sarah said with her voice full of hope.

Derek shook his head, “I’m not sure.”

Milton came up and tilted my head to show the stitches on my neck. Sarah kicked the ground with disappointment when she saw the stitches and I looked at her with confusion.

“Damn you Lab 14!” Sarah said.

Even though I could see that Sarah, Milton, Martin, Jane, and Aria were angry I wasn’t sure if I could say or do anything to help. So for the moment I just let them stay angry. Derek looked at me curiously. I gave him a look as if to say the word ‘what.’ I wondered what he was going to say next.

Derek brushed some of my hair off on the right side of my forehead. After he saw what he was curious about he looked horrified. Sarah and the others looked clearly confused.

“What is it?” Aria said.

“There’s an outline of a small rectangle going to the right side of Henry’s forehead!” Derek said.

“What is with Lab 14 and our right side!” Milton growled.

Sarah looked like she had a light bulb go off in her head. “I think I know why, it’s because Jane, Henry, and me figured out how to do magic on our left side. I bet you guys can do it too! The fact is that we can do magic on our left side. Our magic would damage their devices! And if that happens their ‘experiment’ would be in ruins! That’s also probably because they wouldn’t get any good results for the data gathering and they don’t make that easy either!”

“So you’re having bad memories of Lab 14 too?” Milton said.

“It’s kind of hazy, but it’s not as bad as Henry. Each time I remember the data gathering being done I remember being cut in different places. I also remember that psycho Cora laughing like she was having the best of times! That woman is the definition of the word witch!” Sarah confirmed.

“Do you guys remember being reprogrammed at all?” Derek asked.

Everyone except me shook their heads when everyone saw that I didn’t have the same reaction that they did.

Sarah gasped. “You don’t mean to tell me that you were awake for that?”

I bit my bottom lip and nodded. Derek had a look on his face that showed nothing but anger and I don’t blame him.

“I suspect,” said Derek, “that the rectangle is your reprogramming device!”

Derek pressed my forehead gently and I didn’t realize that the touch would send an electric shock that went through the right side of my body. There was no way I could’ve hidden that sort of pain. Sarah and the others saw my pain and winced. Derek held me in his arms as if he were trying to protect me from the pain.

“Sorry Henry!” Derek panicked. “I didn’t know that was going to happen!”

Snips did a facehoof and shook his head. “Would you calm down Agent Derek! He’s not a baby!”

“Oh come on Snips,” said Snails, rolling his eyes, “Derek is Henry's lover, leave him alone!”

“I know that Snails!” Snips said. At this point, he seemed to be annoyed with Snails.

Sarah smiled, “I don’t blame him for being so overprotective of Henry! I’d probably do the same thing if Aria was in trouble!”

“That’s nice Sarah,” smiled Aria, “but I think I can fend for myself!”

Moria couldn’t help but laugh at what she was seeing.

Sarah raised an eyebrow, “What’s so funny?”

“I’m not laughing because it’s funny!” Moria answered. “I’m laughing because it’s adorable!”

“Ha, ha,” said Sarah, “very funny!”

Milton cleared his throat, “Come on guys we should probably give them some space! We should probably get some sleep too!”

13) The In Between Explained

{Princess Celestia}

I stared at my computer screens back at Celestial Labs and I was pissed off at the fact that Group A of this experiment had their tracking devices out now and there was no way any lab could track them. “Stupid Milton! Stupid Group A and losing their tracking devices! Even the nanoes are gone! Stupid Earnest and his son Derek working for The Resistance!”

Right on cue, I heard a loud pop and I turned around to see Discord with a stupid smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes, "What's that look for Discord?"

“Oh nothing,” said Discord, “you look upset. Is it because your children have lost their tracking devices? I’ve also seen Sarah and Henry practicing their magic while human now!”

I gasped, "What?"

“Oh yes,” said Discord, “although I saw Sarah do it first. Then she taught Henry and Jane. I don’t know if the others know how to yet. That’s probably why you couldn’t get track devices and reprogramming devices on their left side am I right?”

As I nodded my head with grit teeth, I knew this was more ammunition for Discord to taunt me and get on my nerves again. Much to my surprise Discord said something else, "so I was wondering. Why did you all of the sudden decide to skip out on your ‘royal duties’ and dump them all on Twilight?”

This puzzled me. I gave Twilight the throne, I didn't dump it on her. "Why do you think I did that? I handed the throne to her. I didn't dump it on her!"

“Oh silly me, I guess I didn't get the memo. You dumped the throne on Twilight a lot earlier than you and your sister Luna intended. What did you do that for? I'm gonna take a wild guess and say,” said Discord, “science? I didn’t know you loved the subject that much! I’m almost afraid to ask this, but what are you looking for? A cure perhaps? But what for?”

"If you must know," I snapped, "I'm looking for the cure for death!"

Discord crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "And why do you need a cure for death? You’re an Alicorn so you live over a thousand years! You’re practically ancient right now!”

Discord's provocations were getting to me. I frowned, "true, Alicorns live a long time in Equestria. But I’m doing this mostly because I want my subjects to live just as long! Everypony should be able to live as long as Alicorns!”

“And stealing children from their cribs and tweaking them is the right way to go about getting the answer how?” Discord asked.

“That's because the blood that is in the kids from every universe connected to the In Between is infused with powerful magic,” I answered.

Discord raised an eyebrow, "And why not just experiment on yourself instead?”

“Trust me, we’ve tried that already! And it didn’t work! The magic from the trees here only works on the children that we take!” I said.

“That still doesn’t make it right though!” Discord snapped. “And you know it!”

I rolled my eyes, Discord had no idea what he was talking about to me. He just looked like a nosy pony sticking their snouts in places where it doesn't belong, “I don’t know what it’s like to have kids, so it doesn’t bother me! Just like Lab 14, their loss is my gain!”

“What about Princess Twilight’s kids?” Discord said. “The twin boys she adopted were stolen a couple of decades ago! Her children were stolen by one of your stupid labs!”

Once again I rolled my eyes, "I could care less! What part of their loss is my gain do you not understand?”

Discord's jaw dropped for some reason, “Wow you’re very cold-hearted! Oh and one more thing Princess Celestia.”

I growled, "What?"

“I wouldn’t consider the ponies of Equestria your subjects anymore!” Discord said.

"Seriously? Why would I do that?" I responded.

“Because you stepped down from the throne and handed it over to Princess Twilight!” Discord said. “Duh! And I have a little bit of intel for you, the Group A, the group that Henry's in, isn’t dead by a long shot! But Group E is definitely dead!”

I raised an eyebrow, "How do you know this?"

“Like I’m going to tell you where I get my information from!” Discord laughed. “I have more ways than you know. I just wanted to give you that little bit of information. And get this, Luna thinks the children are dead! That’s because I told her they were! I think I’m a very convincing actor! Maybe I should get into show business! I guess I'll get the last laugh now!”

I was about ready to wring Discord's neck with my magic as he was laughing so hard. After he stopped laughing he snapped his claw and disappeared.

* * *

{Henry}

The next time I fell asleep, I thankfully didn't have any bad memories of Lab 14. I just wished I could have another pleasant memory of my family.

At this point, I had given my heart to Derek and he had given his heart to me. I made a resolve that I wouldn’t go anywhere Derek wasn’t when it came down to having a home. If I stayed where I was I would be happy as long as Derek was with me. That was someone that I could lean on for stability in my life.

“You okay Henry?” I heard Derek say. I was startled out of my thoughts but then I smiled because Derek was holding me in his arms. Once again it felt like Derek was trying to protect me from anything that might harm me even though we were taking a break from traveling for the moment. I don’t blame him though at all. Since we were running from Lab 14, I guess I was a little bit jumpy at the moment.

When Derek put his head on my shoulder I smiled. At first, I tensed up because of being jumpy but then I sort of relaxed. Derek laughed, “You really need to try to relax. Running from Lab 14 isn’t exactly a vacation. But you can’t be on edge all of the time. You’re very jumpy and I suspect that’s part of the reason why you went into Fear Shock. Snips and Snails didn’t explain to me much. Or at least not in a way that would make any sense. I don’t think they know how to explain things. I guess I'll have to ask Leader Felix about that one day.”

That was when I heard Sarah clear her throat, “I think it’s time we get moving now don’t you think? It is nighttime after all.”

Derek seemed not too fond of the idea of letting me go. I don’t blame him either. Sarah picked up on his annoyance and rolled her eyes.

“You can let go of my brother now Derek!” Sarah said.

Derek raised an eyebrow, “Your brother?”

“Yes,” said Sarah, “we have the same two most important things and we’ve been having the same memories.”

“Is this true?” Derek said.

I grabbed my hat, put it on, and nodded.

“Huh,” said Derek, “I hope you get to meet your parents one day."

“Don’t you want to meet them?” Sarah said.

“I’m not sure if I’ll be allowed to,” Derek said. “Did you ever read about what a universe is and how it works back at Lab 14?”

Jane perked up when Derek said that. “I did! A universe is a really big place! That has a bunch of things that are called stars that have planets that circle them. Those planets are where a lot of different creatures live! That’s because no creature can survive outside of a planet! They can’t breathe the air and stuff like that. The books that I’ve studied don’t say why creatures can’t breathe outside of their planet. I’m going to assume that since we can breathe we’re on some sort of planet right?”

“Well,” said Derek, “it's something like that. Did you research what the sky looks like inside those places called planets?”

“Yes, I did!” Jane said. “The sky on most planets if you look at it, there are stars, a moon, a sun and clouds the clouds help with the weather, somehow not sure how that works.”

“Exactly how do you remember all of this?” Milton asked.

“Not sure yet,” said Jane, she shook her head, “I guess my memory is starting to come back. I especially remember reading a lot of books! I guess it was my favorite thing I liked to do growing up! I don’t remember me playing with any toys or anything like that!”

“Do you have any weird memories of who your parents are?” Sarah said.

“Not much,” said Jane, “I just remember this voice telling me to say mama but I would say dada instead! And then some other voice would laugh and say she likes her father better!”

“Are you having any bad memories of Lab 14?” Milton said.

“Nope!” Jane answered. “Not yet! And I hope I don’t! I don’t want to go into Fear Shock anytime soon!”

“What else do you remember?” Derek questioned.

“I remember daydreaming about what the sky looks like. But I never got a chance to see it!” Jane said. “That’s cause I was locked inside that stupid cage that Lab 14 calls a room!”

“Yeah,” said Sarah, “I hated being locked inside that stupid cage room! But now that I’m out for the time being I never thought of looking up at the sky yet! I guess I was too busy trying to figure things out. It wasn’t raining although it might’ve just rained because the grass felt wet when I woke up.”

“It didn’t rain when I woke up,” added Milton, “did it rain with you, Henry? Because when I first met you, it looked like you had taken a shower.”

I nodded my head and smiled at what Milton just said.

“Did you notice what the sky looked like?” Jane said.

I shook my head, I never thought about looking at the sky when I woke up. That was probably because I was too busy thinking about other things.

“Well,” suggested Derek, “why don’t you go look up at the sky and see what it looks like.”

We all went outside the tent and looked up. The sky had no stars or a moon whatsoever. Jane looked disappointed when she looked up. But she noticed that there were no clouds in the sky either.

“Huh,” said Jane, she looked disappointed, “well, I guess I wasn’t missing anything being inside so much. How come it rains here? There aren’t any clouds!”

“The trees in this place cause it to rain,” Derek explained. “I don’t know exactly how it works but my guess is because the trees have some sort of magic in them that causes rain every once and awhile. How many of you were dropped by a tree when you first woke up?”

Everyone including me raised their hands.

“The magic from the trees causes it to rain here,” said Derek, “and I’m guessing since you can change into ponies that you guys have some sort of magic.”

“You just said that there’s magic in the trees,” said Sarah, “wait a second! We have magic when we’re transformed into ponies and now we can do magic as humans too! I guess the trees are attracted to our magic?”

“It’s because you have creature magic. From what I researched a tree’s magic can mix in with any creature that has magic. When the tree's magic mixes with a creature's magic and makes them stronger. The fact that you were dropped by a tree when you first woke up means that Lab 14 wanted to make you stronger for some reason.” Derek said.

“You like to research too?” Milton smirked. “I’m surprised you didn’t choose Jane to be your lover instead of Henry!”

“Seriously Milton!” Jane snapped. “I know you have more in common sense than that! You should know that just because two people are interested in the same things, does not mean they have to be lovers!”

“I totally agree on that one!” Martin said.

“That’s funny,” said Jane, “your twin agrees with me, Milton!”

Before Jane and Milton could argue some more, Sarah quickly asked the next question that everyone was probably thinking about.

“So what is this place?” Sarah said. “And what does Lab 14 want with us?”

“This place is called the In Between,” said Derek, “from what I was told, this place is connected to other universes and is a means for everyone to travel into other creatures' universes. In Between wasn’t a universe at first, but shortly after it was built it became something else. From what I was told it is considered by the gods to be a universe on its own. I'm not sure why the gods would consider In Between a universe because there are no planets built around this place. The Resistance suspects that the labs were set up here by people who chose this place because it is a powerful place. They would be able to do their testing and stuff like that and probably get good results. The main reason is the residents that live here have magic because of traveling around the different forests to get from place to place. It’s because of this the creatures are stronger than anywhere else. There are also children that have been born here too! And they have magic but don’t start developing any signs of it until after the age of five.”

“So how did you get your glass eye?” Jane asked.

“That’s because I touched a tree before the age of five and it burned my eye to a crisp!” Derek explained. “After I turned five, I started developing magic of my own and I’m guessing that’s why Lab 14 wanted to take me in the first place!”

“So how do creatures travel to other universes?” Milton said.

“Did you notice the traveling pattern forest, city, forest?” Derek said. “The forests are what everyone calls a gate they link up to every universe that’s connected to this place. If a creature stays by a tree in the forest for at least an hour or more, the tree's magic mixes in with the magic that the creature has. The forest that you were dropped by had a city next to it. Am I right?”

We nodded.

“Lab 14 probably wanted to get you out of the forest as soon as possible,” said Derek, “probably so they could get test results from their experiments. I don’t know what they’re looking for by making you guys stronger. But I’m pretty sure the answer they want to their question isn’t a good one.”

“But why do they want us to be stronger?” Sarah asked.

Derek shook his head, “I have no idea, but I suspect that whatever Lab 14 is after it’s not just to make you stronger. The side effect of your magic mixing with the tree's magic can also make you live longer.”

“How long does a person live after that?” Jane said.

“I don’t know,” said Derek, “there are two people that lived for millions of years! I don’t know who they are though.”

“Their names are Josephine and Alexander!” Snips said.

When we heard Snips voice we just about jumped a foot in the air.

“Sorry about that!” Snips laughed. “No, they’re not gods, not even close! All we know is that they lived so long because they kept mixing their magic with the tree's magic here! Did you tell them why The Resistance was made? You are an Agent after all!”

“Oh yeah! The Resistance was made a decade after Lab 14 and the other labs came on the scene. The Resistance is against any Lab that takes children just for their tests. The Resistance also has access to every gate that’s connected to it. Lab 14 and other labs go through the same gates. Why we keep missing them I don’t know. The Resistance was hoping to catch them when they steal children.” Derek replied.

“Yeah!” Snails said. “You should show them your badge, Agent Derek!”

Derek bit the inside of his cheek as he went to his bag and brought out a wallet that looked like one of the wallets we used to hold our ID cards in. He flipped it open and in it was a gold star that said Resistance Agent Derek #256. A silver chain dangled from the wallet that could be worn as a necklace. When Snips and Snails saw his badge they started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Derek snapped.

“I’m sorry,” said Snail, “you just look embarrassed to have that thing! The look on your face says it all!”

Derek looked like he wanted to punch the crap out of Snips and Snails and I could give the go ahead to do that, I would have no problem doing it all.

“It’s okay Agent Derek,” said Snail, “we have our badges too!”

Snips and Snails took out their badges and they looked exactly the same as Derek’s badge but their numbers were different. Snails badge number was 120 and Snips badge number was 325.

“I thought you would love to show your badge in front of your friends,” said Snails, “especially around your lover Henry!”

“Did you tell them the reason why you would have to wear the badge?” Snips said.

Derek's angry expression made him look like he wanted to kill Snips and Snails.

“The reason is that if we’re not on missions at The Resistance then we’re supposed to wear them at all times,” Derek said.

“Is that why you didn’t wear your badge when we were at the Inn and now that we’re running from Lab 14?” Sarah said.

“Yup,” said Derek, “that would be it."

Snips and Snails fell on their backs laughing.

“That’s not funny you two!” Derek snapped.

Snips snorted. “I’m sorry Agent Derek!”

“All funny business aside,” said Derek, “let’s hope there are not any experiments tracking us other than the tracking animals.”

“Why’s that?” Sarah said.

"Because sometimes if the labs really want to bring an experiment back to them, they'll use tracking experiments on top of tracker animals to even out the odds of getting that experiment back," Derek said. "It's because the tracker experiments have more power and more experience to track someone down."

Snips nodded, “Derek’s right, Lab 14 won’t let us get away so easily, especially since we have Henry here! Like Jane said, he’s the most valuable one!”

“Let’s hope no other experiments are after us,” said Sarah, “but all we can do is hope.”

Derek sighed but I could see the uncertainty in his face, “Yeah, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”

* * *

{Experiment Rose}

So far so good on tracking down my future husband Experiment Henry and I could tell by the look on his face Experiment Sebastian couldn't wait to get his hands on Experiment Derek again. Experiment Sebastian talked about Experiment Derek enough to make me gag.

“I think we’re on the right track Experiment Rose!” Experiment Sebastian cheered.

I rolled my eyes, “You just can’t wait to get your hands on Experiment Derek, huh?”

Experiment Sebastian smiled with a twinkle in his eye. One of the experiments named Experiment Harper saw this and gagged at Experiment Sebastian's behavior.

“How can you call yourself Experiments?” Experiment Harper gagged. “Last time I checked, we’re children and not Lab rats!”

Experiment Sebastian and I couldn't stop laughing because an experiment would rather be called a child than a lab rat.

“You stupid experiments are all the same!" I said. “You don’t want to work with Lab 14 in the name of science! Experiment Sebastian and I feel differently! We prefer to work with Lab 14 and we helped make the scientific breakthrough with Experiment Henry on Experiment #3! Not to mention Head Cora’s chosen me to bear Experiment Henry’s children! And they will be even more powerful than you!”

Another experiment in the group named Experiment Poppy made a face that looked like she’d rather throw up than listen to me talking.

“What’s that look for, Experiment Poppy?” I snapped.

“Don’t add the word ‘experiment’ to my name!” Experiment Poppy growled. “My name is Poppy! And besides what makes you think Henry will go for the likes of you? Why can’t Lab 14 just leave him alone and let him decide?”

At that remark, me and Experiment Sebastian fell over laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Experiment Harper said.

“If Lab 14 wants children, they’ll get children! I almost had him under my spell the last time I saw him! That’s funny though because he was tied up for that one! Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to try again! And I don’t care if he’s tied to the ceiling this time!” I smirked.

Experiment Harper looked disgusted with me and Experiment Sebastian. The look on her face screamed that Experiment Harper wanted to run away from me as fast as possible. Like that was going to happen.

“That’s enough you guys!” I heard Agent Rarity say.

I looked up and smiled, “Ah! Agent Rarity! It’s so nice to see you again! Why I haven’t seen you on an assignment in ages! How are you, madam?”

Experiment Sebastian perked up when he saw Agent Liza standing right beside Agent Rarity.

“It’s nice to see you, Agent Liza!” Experiment Sebastian said. “Or should I say madam Agent Liza! I should mind my manners especially around future In-Laws!”

Experiment Harper coughed, “ass kisser!”

“What was that Experiment Harper?” Experiment Sebastian growled.

“I wish you wouldn’t call me that!” Experiment Harper snapped. “And it’s nothing! I just had a tickle in my throat that’s all!”

“Okay, kids!” Agent Liza said. “Or should I say Experiments! And as far as you Experiment Sebastian you’re never going to be an In-Law as long as I live! And besides, Derek is already in love with someone! Not to mention he’s an agent for the Resistance now! You won’t get anywhere near him!”

Agent Liza made it a point to snarl every word in her last sentence. I wasn't sure why she did that but okay whatever.

"Who's his lover?" Experiment Sebastian said.

“As if I’d tell you!” Agent Liza snarled.

“Hmph!” Experiment Sebastian said. “No matter, I’ll get my hands on him sooner or later!”

I cleared my throat, “Anyway, you know what we’re after Agent Rarity and Agent Liza and where are the tracking cats?”

I wasn't sure why Head Cora wouldn't send the tracker cats along with Agent Rarity and Agent Liza.

I tilted my head and asked. "So? Where are they?”

“Oh that,” said Agent Rarity, “they got recalled back to HQ!”

I could tell by the look on her face that she was lying.

“I’m not surprised! Considering Head Cora sent us after Experiment Henry instead!” Experiment Sebastian said.

I smiled, “I can’t wait to see my future husband again!”

Agent Liza groaned, “So can you see his trail Experiment Rose?”

I don't see as the other experiments Lab 14 created can. I have another talent that allows me to see an experiment's magic trail. I pointed my finger at the ground and smiled when my finger caught on to Experiment Henry’s trail. I knew Experiment Henry's magic trail very well because I was always able to find him when I was younger. I lifted my finger from the ground to see that the color of Experiments Henry's magic trail was a darker shade of yellow. “I do believe this string is connected to Experiment Henry’s magic.”

I lifted the string of the magic trail to my mouth and licked it. This helped me confirm that this was Experiment Henry's magic trail. It was his. “Yup, this is Experiment Henry’s magic alright! I know that taste from anywhere! This isn’t going to be easy though."

14) Fights the Training

{Henry}

The next time we stopped I was half watching Derek train. I had other things on my mind and I was playing with the light that was my magic in my hand. From the looks of it, Derek had weapons in his arsenal too. One of the weapons that he was training with at the time almost reminded me of the iron rod Cora had put in my chest for her last test so that I could be released into Experiment #1.

But what Derek was training with definitely wasn’t an iron rod. It was safe to say that whatever weapon Derek was using wasn’t going to be put into my chest. The weapon Derek had was a long metal pole that could be used as a complete weapon or it could be broken in half and used as two separate weapons. He was training with Snips and Snails and they were fighting as if they were in an actual battle. I guess they want to be prepared if we ran into trouble while traveling to The Resistance.

“Not bad Agent Derek!” Snips cheered.

“Yup, I’m not surprised! You're pretty good with that weapon!” Snails said in a matter-of-fact way. “No wonder why you reached agent status now!”

“Did you get a chance to train when the others came to the Inn?” Snips said.

When Derek had no answer for him Snips and Snails couldn't contain their laughter.

“I know why he didn’t train!” Snails teased.

“What Snails?” Snips snorted.

“He was too busy being with his lover Henry!” Snails said.

“That’s so not funny!” Derek said.

“Actually,” said Snails, “Agent Derek doesn’t really need to practice. It's only been six months since Henry and the others arrived at the Inn! We've only been traveling for two months now. So I’d say he hasn’t been out of practice!”

“Yeah, he probably wants to show off in front of Henry!” Snips laughed.

“I’m not so sure that this would be considered showing off,” said Snails, “Henry seems to be occupied at the moment.”

I looked up to see Derek, Snips, and Snails watching me with curiosity. That’s because I was still playing with my magic. I found that I was somehow able to bend the light into different shapes. I kept playing with the light wondering if Sarah could do the same thing.

“What are you doing Henry?” Derek asked.

I paid them no attention, I just kept playing with the light and for some reason, I really liked the circle that I was forming with it.

“That’s right!” Derek exclaimed. “I forgot!”

“Forgot what?” Snips said.

“Henry and Sarah figured out how to do magic when they’re human now!” Derek answered.

“How’d that happen?” Snips said.

“I don’t know,” said Derek, “you might want to ask Sarah because Henry can’t talk.”

“Ask me what?” Sarah said.

“We wanted to know what Henry’s doing,” Derek said.

“Oh yeah!” Sarah said. “I figured out how to do magic. Remember when we did teleportation spells? That’s where we can disappear and pop up wherever we want! This is also unicorn magic! I read somewhere in the manual that it’s called light-bending! You can bend the light and make it into whatever you want! It’s mostly used to create weapons and stuff! The manual also said that a unicorn will know the right weapon according to its magic! Check this out!”

Sarah opened her fist and orange light beamed from her hand. She moved her fingers around to make the shape of a triangle. She spread her index finger and thumb apart and one end of the triangle stretched out further than the other two. What resulted was a sword-like shape. Derek, Snips, and Snails looked at Sarah’s weapon in awe.

“Looks like you like the circle shape!” Sarah said. “Can you stretch it out as I did with the triangle?”

I nodded and did the same thing that Sarah did and the circle turned into what looked like a shield. Sarah smiled when she saw what I did.

“Now that we have weapons, I think we should practice with them!” Sarah said. “Don’t you think Henry?”

“Hey,” said Snips, “can we watch?”

Sarah nodded, “Sure! Just don’t get in our way!”

* * *

Sarah and I were under a nearby tree she spotted that stood a good safe distance from where we set up camp.

“Why don’t we do things this way,” instructed Sarah. “We’ll stand back to back and when I say go we start fighting, got it?”

I nodded and Sarah and I stood back to back just like Sarah said to do.

“Ready?” Sarah said. “Go!”

We both turned around and Sarah threw her weapon at me and I jumped out of the way. Sarah called her weapon back and threw it at me again and this time I blocked it with my shield. I threw my weapon at Sarah and she just barely managed to dodge it and it grazed her shoulder.

“Ow!” Sarah said. She growled. “Fine then! It’s your funeral!”

Sarah and I kept throwing our weapons at each other and calling them back and throwing them again.

“What’s going on?” Milton said.

“Henry and Sarah figured out how to turn their magic into weapons!” Derek said.

“Yeah,” said Snips, “just look at how fast they’re going!”

“Are they climbing up the tree?” Milton asked.

“Yup,” said Derek, “looks like it to me!”

I didn’t realize that Sarah and I were climbing up the tree that was nearby as we were fighting. We kept throwing our weapons at each other trying to figure out different attacks to use against each other. We kept climbing up the tree and going back down. The fight ended when Sarah got behind me by doing a cartwheel and landed a kick to my back sending me flying face-first into the ground. Derek, Snips, Snails, and Milton winced when they saw that.

“Did you have to be so rough with him?” Derek snapped.

Sarah rolled her eyes, “Oh brother! He’s not a baby! And by the way Henry, I win!”

Sarah stuck out her tongue at me after that we put our weapons away.

“I’m not surprised that Sarah acts like a brat around you because she’s your sister and all,” Milton said.

“What?” Snips and Snails said.

Derek nodded, “It’s true, they’re both having the same memories so it’s safe to say that they’re related.”

“Anyway, that was an awesome fight!" Snails cheered. "Even if you did lose! You win some, you lose some, isn’t that right Agent Derek?”

“Let me guess,” said Milton, “you’ve lost a couple of fights didn’t you Derek?”

“Yup!” Snips confirmed, “Even though he’s pretty good with his weapon I remember Derek losing a couple of fights. I’m pretty sure you want to tell your lover Henry about that, don’t you Derek?”

I just shook my head and smiled at him.

“I think that means he doesn’t want to know right now,” Milton said.

I nodded as I was walking away. I wished that they could’ve heard me laughing. But because I didn't have my voice, I couldn't make a sound.

* * *

{Earnest}

I stood in the shadows and watched as Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian made their way towards the Inn. I tried to keep my anger down when I saw my wife Liza there and Agent Rarity with them. Stupid Lab 14! They had to set their sights on Derek. Man, I can't wait until Lab 14 is destroyed!

“Hmm,” said Experiment Rose, “Experiment Henry’s magic string ends right here.”

Experiment Sebastian raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Wait a second… Isn’t this the Inn where Experiment Derek lives?”

I saw Liza’s eyes go wide in terror when she saw the Inn. Experiment Sebastian smiled when he saw Liza’s reaction.

Great, Lab 14 had their sights on Derek and now a stupid experiment does too? Yuck! I thought.

“I take it, that's a yes?” Experiment Sebastian smirked.

“I think you hit a nerve Experiment Sebastian!” Experiment Rose said.

“Good!” Experiment Sebastian said. “Since she won’t be my In-Law let Agent Liza be pissed!”

Experiment Rose took a pair of scissors and pressed a button in the middle of it and it glowed the same color that Henry’s magic string was. She snipped the string at the point where it was at the Inn. After she did that, the other part of the string that she had cut disappeared. “Oh well, I’ll reattach this when I pick up Experiment Henry’s trail again!”

I could tell by the look on Liza's face that she was hoping I was here. I would show her my presence but I had to wait until the right time to do so. I heard a pop and I turned around to see Discord behind me and I smiled.

"You ready to go?" Discord said.

I nodded, "Oh yeah, I'm ready to go alright. Let's do this!"

Finally, Discord and I stepped out of the shadows.

“I think,” I said, “that this is as far as you go.”

Discord laughed a wicked laugh, “Yup! I totally agree with Earnest here! I say with my presence included I’d say that makes 12 against the 10 of you!”

Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian doubled over in laughter.

“I don’t think this is funny!” I snapped.

“Oh yes, it is!” Experiment Sebastian said. “That’s because you won’t be fighting the rest of the experiments or the agents here either!”

“Oh really?” Discord taunted.

“Yeah really!” Experiment Sebastian said. “Because you’ll be fighting me and Experiment Rose! This is going to be easy! I’ll have my hands on Experiment Derek very soon!”

“I would appreciate it,” I snarled, “if you wouldn’t call my son an experiment!”

“It doesn’t matter Earnest,” said Discord, “with me here it’ll be five against two!”

Experiment Rose chuckled, “Don’t underestimate your opponent! Let’s get this party started shall we?”

I took out my weapon; it was the same exact one that I gave to Derek. I had trained Derek to use that weapon ever since the age of five. The main reason that I trained Derek with this weapon was that I wanted to give Derek a way to defend himself because he had a glass eye.

Derek even amazed both me and Liza when he figured out how to transfer the owl attack from his real eye over to his glass eye. I figured it was probably because even though he was born in the In Between, that must’ve been what his magic was.

That was probably why Lab 14 wanted to take Derek in the first place and wanted to add him as one of their experiments. There was no way that Liza was going to let that happen. That’s why she stepped in and became an Agent for Lab 14 to keep Derek away from that awful place! It still makes my blood boil to this very day.

“Oh,” said Experiment Sebastian, “that looks like the same weapon that my lover Experiment Derek used to escape from me!”

“Stop calling him an experiment!” I snarled.

I watched as Experiment Rose's eyes went from all-white to all purple and Liza told me about what that attack was. It was an attack that everyone working at Lab 14 called ‘Tell Me You Love Me.’ Experiment Rose would use it to stun her victims and shut down their thinking ability and make them fall madly in love with her. Thanks to my quick thinking, I managed to trigger my owl eye attack to cancel out Experiment Roses attack.

“Now Earnest,” said Experiment Rose, “tell me you love me!”

“No way!” I shouted. The Owl-Eye attack gives me the advantage of turning my head 180 degrees behind me. A bonus is that it creeps Discord out.

“You know you creep me out every time you do that!” Discord said. “And I’ve seen that attack many times!”

“Pipe down Discord!” I said. “Are you going to jump in and fight any time soon?”

“Fine, fine!” Discord said. He snapped his claw and four chickens came out of thin air. The chickens picked at Experiment Sebastian and Experiment Roses heads there were two chickens for each of them. Not to mention the chickens decided to drop eggs on their heads. Discord and everyone else couldn’t help but laugh at the site.

“Okay,” said Experiment Sebastian, “now I’m mad! I didn’t want to have to do this but you’ve earned it!”

What happened next I got a real kick out of it. Experiment Sebastian changed into a garter snake and wasn’t even big enough to eat Discord alone. I tried very hard to bit back my laughter but I failed.

“What’s so funny?” Experiment Rose snapped.

“He’s so cute!” I teased. “He can barely eat Discord alone! You do realize that owls eat snakes like you?”

Experiment Sebastian's response was to hiss at me as loud as he could. I was laughing so hard I forgot I was fighting him and he wasn't an attraction in a zoo. I barely heard what Experiment Sebastian said next because he hissed in between his words. “You won’t be laughing when I hold you still for Experiment Roses magic to take hold of you!”

The only other thing about the Owl-Eye attack is that it gives you the ability to eat your enemies but it depends on how big they are.

“I’m sorry,” I laughed, “what did you say? I didn’t hear it! Can my dinner speak up for me please?”

I did not want to eat Experiment Sebastian, not one little bit. Thankfully Discord had an evil smile on his face, and I had a feeling of what Discord was going to do next. Discord snapped his claw and a boa constrictor dropped out of thin air and wrapped around Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian. When the snake wrapped around them it caused Experiment Sebastian and Experiment Rose to turn back into humans. When I saw this, I let out a sigh of relief because I really didn’t want to eat Experiment Sebastian.

“That’s not fair!” Experiment Sebastian croaked. “You made me turn back into a human!”

“All is fair in love and war!” I laughed. “I’m glad Discord let out his pet snake to eat you! Cause I really didn’t want to eat you! You probably would’ve tasted horrible!”

Discord’s smile was so evil that would make anyone’s blood run cold except for me because I've seen that smile many times and it filled me with joy.

“Fang here is really hungry!” Discord said. “I’m glad I didn’t feed him today!”

“What are you talking about?” Experiment Rose growled.

“Fang here,” answered Discord, “is my pet snake that started following me around recently. I keep him at home in my chaos dimension. I feed him all the dead rats he could ever want until he gets sick of them! He knows not to eat me and Fluttershy because he knows we’re his family. Even though Fang loves to eat dead rats, he also likes to eat his food while they’re alive. I’m not sure why that is. I’ll have to do some more research on that. He definitely wouldn’t mind eating you unlike Earnest over here! I could tell Earnest didn’t want to eat you; he was just stalling until I brought out Fang!”

Fang hissed and was waiting for Discord’s approval to eat Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian. Fang was very eager to eat them probably because he hadn’t been fed yet. Discord scratched Fang affectionately under his chin and he responded by hissing into his ear.

“Aww,” said Discord, “you’re really hungry aren’t you? Well, go ahead eat them! It’s dinner time!”

Fang then swallowed Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian in the blink of an eye. He then curled up and looked very satisfied about what he had just done. The children from Group F smiled as Fang ate his favorite snack.

“Well now children of Group F,” said Discord, “do you want to stay here, or would you rather come with me and go to your original homes?”

A young woman who looked like the leader of the group stepped forward and after looking back at her group she said, "My name is Harper. I think everyone agrees, if it keeps us away from Lab 14, then we'll go with you!"

Discord smiled and snapped his claw and left with the children from Group F and headed to The Resistance HQ.

Liza then came over to me and kissed me. Liza looked over and smiled at Fang because he looked happy and content about eating Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian.

“So honey dear,” said Liza, “what’s going to happen to these two?”

I shrugged “Hopefully, Fang will digest them, but probably because of their magic he’ll have to spit them out within a week.”

“Yuck!” Liza and Agent Rarity said.

“It’s okay you two,” I said, “you can go back to Lab 14 HQ or run to The Resistance HQ.”

Liza shook her head “No Earnest, I’m going back to Lab 14. I have to make sure Derek and Henry stay away from that place!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that so much,” I said.

“Why’s that?” Liza asked.

I sighed, “The Higher sent Derek to protect Henry. He also gave them the job of destroying Lab 14 from the inside out!”

“And how are they going to do that?” Liza said.

“I don’t know,” I said, “but I’m sure they’ll find a way to do it.”

15) God Challenge Complete!

{Henry}

“You okay Henry?” Derek said. There was nothing but concern in his voice. The truth was I was terrified. I really didn’t want to go back to Lab 14 even if it meant destroying it from the inside out. Just the very thought of facing that psycho Cora terrified me. But I tried to keep calm about it by thinking about how wonderful it would be to reprogram her. But I knew it wouldn’t be possible because part of the job was to kill her.

“Did you have any bad memories again?” Derek said. I shook my head and looked away from him. When Derek realized that I was terrified of something his eyes went wide and I could tell that he knew what I was feeling.

“I’m going to take a wild guess here,” said Derek, “you don’t want to go back to Lab 14 even if it means you get a chance to kill her this time. Am I right?”

I nodded and I really didn’t want to look him in the eyes so he could see how terrified I was. Derek sighed and he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. After that, I mustered up the courage to look him in the eye. Ever since we had been together I had been trying so hard to let down the wall that I built up. As I was looking into his eyes I finally let the wall down because I knew he understood how I was feeling.

Derek smiled at me, “You finally let your wall down. I was wondering when you were going to do that. I could tell you were having a hard time doing it. You should feel safe to do that with me because you are safe with me and I love you. You know that right?”

We then heard Martin clear his throat, “Although I might be interrupting an intimate moment, Snips and Snails have something they want to tell you.”

“Yup,” said Snips, “you might want to stay sitting down for this one. We’ve received word from your father that there are experiments from Lab 14 that are indeed tracking us!”

“I knew Lab 14 wouldn’t let us get away so easily!” Derek said.

I tried my best to hide my fear because Derek’s the only one that I felt I could do that with.

“Do you remember Experiment Sebastian, Derek?” Snails said.

Derek snarled when he heard that name, “They sent that guy after us!”

“Wow I know you hated that guy,” said Snips, “but I didn’t know you hated him that bad! Anyway Henry, do you remember Experiment Rose?”

I searched my memories and remembered the creepy weirdo Cora had picked out for me to be with.

“Tell me you love me!” I remembered Experiment Rose saying. How I remembered her voice I have no idea.

When I remembered that weirdo the world started to spin and I leaned up against Derek’s chest hoping that I wouldn’t pass out.

“You just had to tell him about her!” Snails growled.

“Sorry,” said Snips, “but it had to be done!”

“No it didn’t!” snapped Snails. “You know you could have just pulled Agent Derek aside and told him about it! Henry looks like he’s about to go back into Fear Shock again!”

“I don’t think that’s possible Snails!” Snips said. “Fear Shock can not come back if the person under it has been given the kiss of true love!”

“Oh yeah!” Snails said. “That’s right! Sorry, I panicked that’s all.”

Thankfully the world stopped spinning around me.

I still had no idea what Fear Shock was. Derek did say that Snips and Snails didn’t know how to explain things in an understandable way.

“Honestly you two agents are about as dumb as they come!” Derek said. “How you got Agent status is beyond me! What I’m wondering is how long will it take for them to catch up to us?”

“Well,” said Snails, “this is going to sound kind of gross and I don’t know if you know this but Discord has a pet snake named Fang. And the snake swallowed the two experiments whole!”

When Derek and I heard that we gagged on that thought. It’s a good thing I hadn’t eaten anything yet. I guess the looks on our faces said it all because Snips and Snails fell out laughing.

“This should make you feel better,” said Snips, “the fact that Discord’s pet snake swallowed those two experiments it’ll delay them from catching up to us. Don’t worry Earnest left the Inn with the three horses that you have living there. I know it’s only been a half day's rest but we should probably get going!”

* * *

{Cora}

"Oh crap!" I said. “I’m not getting a signal from group F! It’s bad enough that I lost group A but I thought Experiment Sebastian and Experiment Rose would’ve caught up to group A by now. But now I’ve lost group F too? I’m going to track down Discord and kill him where he stands!”

At this point, I was highly pissed off to the highest degree of it. I looked over and I could see Eleanor seemed to be having a field day with how angry I was at the moment. The look on Eleanor's face made me even angrier, so I fired my gun in the air and Eleanor jumped when I did it.

I rolled my eyes as I saw Eleanor was trying so hard not to laugh at my anger. "I don’t see anything funny about this Eleanor!”

“Did I laugh?” Eleanor replied. “Because if I did I’m sorry!”

“Yeah,” I said, “sure. Discord! I can’t believe I couldn’t kill him before he broke his contract! And stealing my experiments on top of that!

Eleanor knew that I was worried because I was pacing back and forth again. I racked my brain to find a way to retrieve the experiments from group A again. My most prized experiment was in that group. Lab 14 was so close to finding the answer that I was looking for but we needed Experiment Henry! Finally, after a while of me racking my brain to bring Experiment Henry back, I got an idea.

“I know what that look is for,” said Eleanor, “you have an idea don’t you?”

I nodded. “Do you think if I gave Experiment Henry a chance to kill me would he fall for it?”

Eleanor gulped. I could tell she wanted to ask if I was joking or not. But for some reason, she didn't say a word.

"I'm not joking Eleanor! I have an idea of how to deliver the message. It means I’ll have to work with Celestial Labs again because I’m sure Discord still pops up there every once in a while! Trust me, once Discord delivers the message Experiment Henry will be sure to come back here! And we’ll capture him and keep him at Lab 14 where he belongs! It’s the perfect plan! Why didn’t I think of it before?” I said.

The look on Eleanor's face said it all. She looked like she had seen a ghost. I laughed wickedly as she walked away from me as fast as possible.

* * *

{Henry}

“Will you two stop fighting already?” Derek growled.

I wiped the sweat off my eyebrow and shook my head.

“This time I agree with Derek,” said Milton, “you and Sarah have been fighting for two hours straight! I know you want to practice with your weapons and I know Sarah wants you to be able to defend yourself from those two experiments tracking us but give it a rest already!”

At this point, Milton was getting on my nerves just as much as Moria was. Instead of stomping on his foot this time I took my shield and threw it at a nearby tree. I didn’t realize how hard I had thrown my shield because it sliced the tree in half.

“Timber!” Snips and Snails yelled as they jumped out of the way when the top half of the tree started to fall.

“Now that wasn’t very nice Henry!” Milton scolded.

Sarah paused with our fighting, “Okay, before we kill anyone I think that’s enough fighting for one day. We’ll go back to this later!”

“Besides,” said Snips, “we’re still on the move and two you should rest!”

Everyone except me nodded in agreement.

“Look I know you want to be strong enough to defend yourself from those two experiments,” said Sarah, “I don’t think you need to be strong. You can outrun them by how fast you’re getting! I can barely keep up with you!”

“Sarah’s right you know,” said Snails, “we’ve watched several of the fights you two have done. And I’ve recorded them too!”

“Yeah!” Snips said. “Wanna see?”

This time I nodded in agreement with everyone else. Snails then pointed his horn, it lit up, and a holographic screen came out of it and showed Sarah and I fighting. Sarah was right I was getting faster. But I didn’t want to be faster, I wanted to be stronger so I could kill Cora when I faced her again. Derek stopped watching the fight and shook his head.

“What’s wrong Derek?” Sarah said.

“It’s not that he wants to be faster,” said Derek, “he wants to be stronger, am I right Henry?”

I nodded my head and bit my bottom lip.

“Actually,” said Snails, “now that you think about it, you are strong enough!”

“What?” Derek and Sarah said.

“Oh boy,” said Snails, “did anyone tell you about the God Challenge, Derek?”

Derek looked like he was racking his memory and trying to figure out if he knew about it. From the looks of it he did.

“Oh yeah!” Derek said. “I was told about it! Dad told me!”

Sarah tilted her head, “What’s the God Challenge, and more importantly what is a god?”

“Remember what I told you about the different universes that are connected to this place?” Derek said.

“Yeah, so?” Sarah said.

“In those different universes are powerful beings called gods. They rule the universes that they come from,” explained Derek. “For some reason the gods of every universe that’s connected to this place issued out a challenge for every creature that is daring enough to try, to chop down a tree at one of the forests here!”

“Yup!” Snails said. “And every year, all of the gods that have their universes connected to this place search their gates to see if there’s any evidence that a tree has been chopped down! So far there’s been no evidence reported of that happening!”

“And why did the gods issue that challenge in the first place?” Milton said.

Derek shrugged, “No one knows, I wonder if it has something to do with the magic in the trees?”

“Possibly,” said Snails, “maybe because the trees have a lot of magic, it’s impossible to chop down a tree here! And trust me over hundreds of creatures have tried to and failed! I’m not so sure that the challenge can be completed! I don’t why the gods would issue such a difficult task! But…”

When Derek heard this his eyes went wide and I don’t know if that meant if he was terrified, excited, or what.

“What is it, Derek?” Milton asked.

“Do you know what this means?” Derek said. Snips and Snails couldn’t contain their excitement; they knew what Derek was thinking.

“The God challenge is complete!” Snips and Snails said.

“That means what exactly,” said Milton, “and I’m not sure if I want to know the answer.”

Derek took a couple of deep breaths, “Henry is the first one to chop down a tree here!”

As soon as Derek said that for some reason one of Derek’s hands glowed red.

“Uh… Derek?” Milton said. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know!” Derek panicked.

It didn’t look like Derek was in pain; he just looked like he was freaked out and I don’t blame him. I would’ve done the same thing if my hand did what Derek’s hand was doing. His hand was in a fist at first but then it was forced open by whatever was forcing it open. It looked like Derek couldn’t control what his hand was doing at the moment because the next thing I knew a small beam of light shot out of his hand and drilled a hole into the tree stump.

“Woe!” Everyone said as we saw what happened but my jaw dropped when I saw it.

Derek just stood there in shock staring at the hole he just drilled into the tree stump. To tell the truth, I was just as shocked about the fact that I just chopped a tree in the In Between.

16) The Gods of the In Between have arrived!

{Henry}

“Hurray, hurray, hurray!” Snips and Snails said as I was still staring at the stump.

“This will go down in the history books!” Snails cheered. “Henry and Agent Derek will be celebrated all over the In Between!”

“Wait until Leader Felix hears of this!” Snips said. “Agent Derek will become the number one agent in The Resistance! Yey!”

“Oh no!” Milton said.

“What’s wrong?” Snails asked.

“Do you know what’s going to happen next?” Milton said. “It’s bad enough Henry’s a famous experiment, and not to mention the fact that he’s the first one Lab 14 ever created!”

“Okay...” Snips tilted his head, “I’m not following you.”

“Were you born yesterday, Agent Snips?” Derek snapped. “Did you not hear a word about what Jane researched?”

“Yup,” said Milton, “not only are they going to go after Henry even more now, they’re going to go after you too Derek! And who knows what type of testing they’ll put you guys under!”

“But Agent Derek’s pretty talented in The Resistance!” Snails said. “I doubt those labs will get a hold of him! The fact that he can drill a hole in a tree in the In Between means he’s more powerful than any of those stupid labs!”

“Either way,” said Snips, “we really must inform Leader Felix about this!”

“And the top half of the tree is starting to die!” Snails said. “But the stump, however…”

For some reason, Snail felt it was necessary to tap on the tree with his hoof. Snips followed suit by putting his hoof inside the hole that Derek had drilled into it. A flash of light came from the tree and Snips quickly withdrew his hoof and fell to the ground cradling his foreleg.

"Yup,” moaned Snips as he lay on the ground, “the tree is definitely sliced and that hole isn’t going to go away either! Considering I almost got killed by it!”

“Yeah just like I said,” said Derek, “you two are about as dumb as they come!”

“But,” said Snails, “we should really inform Leader Felix about this! Hopefully, he'll be able to keep this under wraps! I’m pretty sure he’ll find a way.” Snips pulled out a small box that looked a little bit like the one Derek had that had the map of where to go to get to The Resistance. Before Derek could stop him, Snips pressed the button on the top of it and a holographic screen appeared. A man that looked older than Derek’s dad appeared on the screen, he had white hair and hazel eyes. He wore a red trench coat with a tan shirt underneath it. On his hands were short black gloves. They looked much like the glove that I wore on my right hand.

Leader Felix frowned. Snips took to firm attention.

“Agent Snips,” said Leader Felix, “I thought I told you not to contact me until you got near The Resistance! You’d better have a good reason for calling me because the data on your badge numbers say that you aren’t even close!”

Snips gave a nervous laugh and gulped, “Um, Leader Felix sir, we have something to tell you. It’s very important!”

“Yeah!” Snails cheered. “It’s something that will go down in the history books!”

“And escorting someone safely to The Resistance is an important event because?” Leader Felix said.

Snips said, "well…"

“Henry chopped down a tree!” Snails chimed, cutting Snips off.

Leader Felix did not look like he believed a word Snails just said and I don’t blame him!

“That’s impossible!” Leader Felix said. “No one’s been reported chopping down a tree here! Are you joking?”

“Nope,” said Snails, “it’s not a joke! Look, the top half of the tree is starting to die!”

Snails scanned the tree and sent the information to Leader Felix.

“Who did it?” Leader Felix asked.

“Henry did it!” Snails said. He gripped me in his magic. I struggled as he pulled me in front of the screen.

Leader Felix looked me in the eyes. “You wouldn’t by chance be the famous Experiment Henry are you?”

I grit my teeth and narrowed my eyes at him.

“Sorry, sorry, “ said Leader Felix, “I forgot the children from the labs here don’t like having 'experiment' attached to their names! I don’t blame them! Because they’re not experiments! They're children just like you are Henry!”

Just as Snips and Snails couldn’t contain their excitement, Leader Felix looked at the right side of my neck and frowned. Derek let out a small sigh of relief because Snips and Snails didn’t mention anything about him drilling the hole in the tree stump.

“Agent Snails?” Leader Felix said.

“Yes Leader Felix sir?” Snails said.

“How is it that Henry can chop down a tree in the In Between but lose his voice box?” Leader Felix said.

“Discord broke him out of Lab 14 and didn’t even bother to steal his voice box back for him!” Derek said.

“Agent Snails,” said Leader Felix, “pull Agent Derek into view of the screen for me!”

Derek appeared next to me wrapped in Snails magic glow as I heard him groan. It definitely looked like Derek didn’t want to talk to Leader Felix at all.

“I just had to open up my mouth didn’t I?” Derek said.

Leader Felix smiled, “Agent Derek! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. The last time I saw you was at the Resistance HQ! And my, my you’ve grown up to be a fine young man! I do believe a lot of female agents will be throwing themselves at you when you finally return! You’ll probably get a girlfriend finally!”

At that comment, Snips and Snails fell on their backs laughing.

“What is it?” Leader Felix said.

“Agent Derek’s not into females!” Snails said.

“Well,” said Leader Felix, “then he’ll finally get a boyfriend when he gets back. He’ll be breaking a lot of hearts doing so!”

“That’s not going to be possible!” Snails said.

“Why not?” Leader Felix said.

“Agent Derek’s already chosen his lover!” Snips said. “It’s Henry!”

While Leader Felix was doubled over with laughter I could tell Derek wanted to run for the hills and run Snips and Snails over in the process. I felt the same way.

“I don’t blame Agent Derek for choosing Henry!” Leader Felix said. “Once everyone finds out that Henry’s the one that chopped down a tree in the In Between, everyone will be wanting his attention if you know what I mean. He’ll be breaking a lot of hearts when they find out he’s gay and has chosen a lover already!”

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh at me and Derek. I was biting my bottom lip trying to keep myself from strangling Snips and Snails. After everyone stopped laughing, Leader Felix looked like he was curious about something. "Agent Snails?”

“Yes,” said Snails, “Leader Felix sir?”

“I noticed that there was a hole drilled into the tree stump,” said Leader Felix, “did Henry do that too?”

“Nope!” Snails said. “It was Agent Derek over here that did it!”

“What?” Leader Felix said. “Wow, I knew he was talented but I didn't think he was that talented!”

“Thanks a lot, Snails!” Derek snapped.

“Yup,” said Leader Felix, “judging from that response he did it!”

“What?” Snails said. “I just wanted Leader Felix to know about the two people that completed the god challenge!”

“Seriously!” Derek said. “I think I’ll skin you alive after this!”

“Agent Derek,” said Leader Felix, “you definitely did it alright! You can’t tell a lie to save your own life! Especially if you know you’re guilty! Well then, I’ll have to come over there as soon as possible to do the sealing ritual! I’d never thought I’d have to do it here! Agent Derek and Henry, you two need to stay put for a while. I did talk to The Higher. I know you two have a job to do! Just don’t head out until I get there!”

“Yes sir!” Derek said. The screen went blank and Snips put away the communicator box.

“I’m going to cook you two for dinner when Henry and I get back from completing our job!” Derek snapped.

“Exactly what are you talking about?” Sarah asked.

“Oh boy,” answered Derek, “have you ever heard of an entity called The Higher?”

“Oh yeah!” Snips said. “He’s the guy that delivers messages for the gods!”

“But how do you know about him?” Snails said. “From what I’ve been told no one really sees The Higher unless…”

“You’re flatlined,” Derek said, “yeah I know. The Higher said that we were chosen to complete a job that involves Lab 14.”

“Is this true?” Moria asked.

I nodded my head and looked away. I didn’t have the heart to look everyone in the eye.

“So that’s why you flatlined when you first came to the Inn!” Moria barked. “Why didn’t anybody tell me?”

“Because you didn’t need to know!” Derek snapped.

“So you guys are going to that awful place?” Jane said. “But why?”

Derek sighed, “Because we’re going there to destroy Lab 14 from the inside out…”

* * *

{Discord}

I can't believe Cora had the nerve to summon me after I told her I broke the contract with Lab 14! Yes I did send her a threat of violence but I knew because Agents Snips and Agent Snails had told me that Henry and Derek had completed the God Challenge, it wasn't my place to carry out any threat of violence I issued towards Cora. But even still, I had no idea why Cora summoned me. “Okay Cora! Out with it! What do you want?”

As I said that I smiled, I never thought I’d see the day that I would use the ‘what do you want’ line and on Cora of all people! Talk about karma!

“I’d never thought I’d hear the Lord of Chaos say the words ‘what do you want’ with me!” Cora smirked.

“I don’t care!” I snapped. ”Out with it! I wish I could kill you but it's not my place to do so... unfortunately. I was wondering about something. Did someone tell you about the God Challenge when you came here?”

Cora nodded. “Yes, I do remember. The challenge is to chop down a tree in one of the forests here. And so far no one’s been able to do so.”

“And I do recall,” I said, “you took on the challenge and failed right?”

“I’m going to take a wild guess,” said Cora, “this has something to do with Experiment Henry.”

I smiled. “Oh yes! Another one of your ‘experiments’ that you’ve been going after was never really an experiment in the first place! What do you refer to him as? Oh yes, that’s right, Experiment Derek?”

“Just get to the point Discord!” Cora said, clearly annoyed with me.

“Let me just say the god challenge is complete thanks to those two!” I cheered.

“So they both chopped down a tree?” Cora said in disbelief.

“No,” I replied, “Henry chopped down the tree and Derek drilled a hole into the tree stump!”

Cora’s jaw dropped, “This is a prank isn’t it?”

I shook my head, “Nope, the gods got exactly what they were looking for!”

“And what might that be?” Cora said.

“The two gods that will govern over the In Between have arrived!” I said.

“I thought there weren't any gods in the In Between!” Cora exclaimed.

“There weren’t any gods in the In Between before,” I said. “That’s why you came here in the first place? To do whatever you want to do? Isn’t that what you told me so you could do your testing in peace? Well now that the gods of the In Between are here, you’ll have your day in court! Or after. Whichever happens first!”

“In any case,” said Cora, “I don’t care if you think Experiment Henry’s a god, he will always be an Experiment, nothing more nothing less!”

“Oh I forgot, what exactly did you want from me in the first place?” I asked.

“Oh yes,” said Cora, “I know you know exactly where Experiment Henry and Experiment Derek are. So I want you to deliver a message.”

I rolled my eyes, “What am I? The Higher to you?”

“I have no idea who The Higher is,” said Cora, “and I don’t care.”

“Fine then!” I snapped. “I’ll be your little messenger boy! What’s your message Serpenta?”

“Serpenta?” Cora said. “Listen to me Discord! I want you to deliver a message. Tell Experiment Henry and especially him that if he wants a chance to kill he’ll come back to Lab 14 and get the job done! You got that?”

I laughed and I couldn’t help it because Cora looked like the stupidest person in the In Between!

“Fine by me!” I said with joy. “If you want to speed up your death sentence that’s okay and you won’t be able to steal any more children from their cribs! Goodbye Serpenta!”

“My name is not Serpneta!” Cora snapped.

“Whatever!” Just to taunt Cora even more, I made it a point to turn my tongue into a serpent's tongue and stick it out at her. Then I snapped my claw and slowly faded away while laughing wickedly as I disappeared.

* * *

{Experiment Rose}

Eventually, Discord's pet snake named Fang spit me and Experiment Sebastian out. Experiment Sebastian tried to wipe off the slime that he was covered in. After Fang spit us out, he disappeared back into the chaos realm.

“Well, that was gross!” Experiment Sebastian said.

“No kidding!” I agreed.

“I don’t know about you,” said Experiment Sebastian, “but I’m jumping into that nearby river to wash off.”

Experiment Sebastian and I both jumped into the nearby river and washed the slime off.

“Drat!” I growled. “At this rate, I’ll never find my future husband!”

“Speak for yourself!” Experiment Sebastian said.

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah I know!”

Before we could say or do anything a small black dot appeared on our foreheads. The dot glowed green and took us by surprise. A holographic screen appeared before us with a woman in her late 20’s. She wore a white lab coat that said the name Leader Freya on the right side of it. When Experiment Sebastian and I saw her we gasped.

“Yes, yes,” said the woman, “I know, I know! You two haven’t had a message from me in ages!”

“Leader Freya!” I said.

“Yeah,” said Experiment Sebastian, “if you’re delivering a message something big must be going down!”

Leader Freya nodded. “You guessed it! It concerns Experiment Henry! It’s very possible that Experiment Henry will be coming back to Lab 14 very soon! And it’s also possible that Experiment Derek will be with him.”

“What?” Experiment Sebastian gasped. “You mean my lover Experiment Derek and Experiment Rose's future husband are coming back to Lab 14 willingly?”

“Willingly I’m not so sure about that part,” said Leader Ferya, “But yes, they will be coming back to Lab 14 that is if they want to kill Head Cora!”

My jaw dropped, “Is this a joke?”

“No joke,” said Leader Freya, “but those are Head Cora’s wishes and we must respect them. As far as you two go, you’re being called back to HQ. You’ll be assisting Head Cora in battling Experiment Henry and Experiment Derek! With you two fighting by her side, there’s a good chance we can capture them and have them at Lab 14 where they belong!”

“This just keeps getting better and better!” I said.

“What do you mean by that Experiment Rose?” Leader Ferya asked.

I exhaled slowly, “It was difficult enough to track Experiment Henry to the Inn where Experiment Derek lives, but now the Inn’s deserted and I’ve lost Experiment Henry’s trail!”

“And don’t forget about being eaten by Discord’s pet snake, Fang!” Experiment Sebastian said.

Leader Ferya doubled over in laughter, “That does make sense that Discord would have a pet snake! Why did Discord’s pet snake eat you?”

“Apparently,” said Experiment Sebastian, “Discord hadn’t fed him yet! And that stupid snake likes to eat its food alive sometimes!”

“Yeah and Experiment Sebastian over here,” I teased, “decided to entertain Earnest and Discord by turning into a tiny Garter Snake! At least if you were to put up a good fight, you probably should’ve changed into a bear instead, Experiment Sebastian!”

Once again Leader Ferya doubled over in laughter. “Yeah, Experiment Rose is correct on that one. Why did you change into something so small?”

“You know changing into a bear wouldn’t have helped the situation either!” Experiment Sebastian growled.

“That’s right I forgot!” Leader Ferya said. “Bears are usually pretty shy creatures. It usually works to trap certain experiments so you can take them to Lab 14.”

“And it worked until you got to Experiment Derek, right Experiment Sebastian?” I said.

“And considering we’ll assist Head Cora this time!” Experiment Sebastian said. “I'll have Experiment Derek for sure!”

“One more thing I need to mention,” said Leader Ferya, “Leader Felix has gotten involved in this.”

“Why would Leader Felix get involved?” I asked. “He’s never gotten involved with Experiment Henry before?”

“I can’t tell you the information on that,” said Leader Ferya, “only Head Cora and her assistant Eleanor know that information. The sooner you get back to Lab 14 the sooner you can capture Experiment Henry and Experiment Derek! That’s all I can say right now, I’m signing off.”

“Yes, Leader Freya!” Experiment Sebastian and I said. After that, the green dot disappeared back into our foreheads.

Experiment Sebastian changed into a horse and I couldn't help myself. I laughed because I was just way too funny. “A horse? Really! You know maybe you should try your hand in show business!”

“This is not the time for that!” Experiment Sebastian said. “Maybe I’ll consider it later. Right now we need horsepower and I got that down!”

I had to brace myself on Sebestian to prevent myself from falling over in laughter.

Experiment Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Now hop on and let’s go!”

17) Henry gets his voice back

{Henry}

“Great!” Derek growled. “Now we have to wait for Leader Felix to get here- and I’m not looking forward to that! Thanks a lot, Snips and Snails!”

“I thought I said that Leader Felix needs to know about the two people who completed the God Challenge!” Snails said defensively.

“You’re a pain, you know that!” Derek snapped.

“Would you two stop fighting?” Milton asked. “Honestly, you two are about as bad as Henry and Sarah! I just hope you don’t chop down a tree next, Snails!”

Listening to this, I debated showing everyone what had happened to me back at Lab 14. I finally made up my mind. Now was the time to do it before Derek and I left to do our job. Derek turned around to the others when he saw the look on my face. “Guys? I think Henry has something he wants to tell you.”

I nodded. Nobody was prepared for what I did next. I took my glove off and let it fall to the ground. When everyone saw this, they gasped.

“So, that’s what happened to you at Lab 14!” Milton said with a look of horror. “No wonder you didn’t want to show us!”

Jane looked at my hand and the bandages that I had been trying so desperately to hide from them this entire time. “There’s something else you want to show us, isn’t there?”

I nodded, rolling up my sleeve. I took off the bandages, revealing the cut that Cora had made before she cut my fingers. The cut was starting to heal up but every once in a while it would bleed. When everyone saw that they gasped at it. Moria licked the cut on my arm and the stitches on my hand and I just about wanted to kill her because of the sting from it.

“Sorry about that,” said Moria. “See, I told you guys if you stopped pushing he would tell you! And I don’t think he wants your pity, am I right?”

Before I could respond, Milton came up and kissed me. When Sarah saw this, she laughed.

“Why didn’t you tell Henry you had feelings for him?” Sarah asked after she stopped laughing.

Milton looked down at the ground. “Well, you see…”

“I know why,” said Martin. “When he first met Henry, Milton only saw him as a brother. It wasn’t until Derek gave Henry the kiss of true love to get Henry out of Fear Shock that Milton realized he felt jealous because of it. But, if you ask me, jealousy doesn’t mean love…”

Milton sighed. “Martin’s right. It’s true. I just wanted to be sure before you guys left because I knew you weren’t going to come back anytime soon. And seeing that the kiss didn’t break my heart, that confirmed it.”

“Confirmed what?” Sarah asked.

Jane did a facepalm and shook her head. “You’re a real idiot, Sarah! How did you know you had feelings for Aria?”

“I did…” Sarah paused. “Oh, I get it!”

“Yeah, it’s true,” said Milton. “I don’t have feelings for him like I thought I did.”

Derek raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

Milton laughed, “Yeah I’m sure.”

“Cause if you do, we could…” Derek didn’t finish his sentence because I was shaking my head rapidly.

Milton smiled and then snorted. “Don’t worry, Henry, I’ll find someone sooner or later. Besides, I’m attracted to females too.”

At that comment, I saw Jane smile with a twinkle in her eye. Derek saw it too and elbowed Jane in the shoulder.

Milton titled his head. “Was it something I said?”

“Oh, it’s nothing…” Derek smiled. “It’s nothing at all…”

We were all startled when we heard Leader Felix clear his throat. “What a touching moment! And with a kiss added to it! What a lovely fairytale!”

Leader Felix and Derek started laughing. Derek fell over on his back laughing.

“Okay, all funny business aside,” said Leader Felix, “and seeing that I didn’t embarrass the guy that gave the kiss over here, I can’t pick on him for it. It’s a good thing I told Agent Derek and Henry to stay put because I have something that belongs to Henry that I think he’ll need to get his job done.”

Leader Felix took out a small black box. He held the box in front of me and it glowed yellow. When Sarah saw this she grinned from ear to ear. Leader Felix looked at the box with curiosity. “I’ve never seen that happen before!" He looked at Sarah, who couldn’t contain her excitement.

“I know what’s going on!” Sarah said. “I’m Henry’s sister, Sarah. The reason why the box is glowing yellow is that we figured out how to do magic as humans, too. It’s glowing yellow because that’s Henry’s light color!”

Leader Felix raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

I nodded and, just like many other times before, I opened up my fist and showed my magic to him.

“To add to that,” said Snips, “Henry and Sarah can also use their magic and turn it into weapons! Go ahead, Henry! Show him!”

I moved my fingers around to make the shape of a circle and then stretched it out to create my shield.

“Yeah!” Snails cheered. “That’s how Henry chopped that tree!”

“And then Agent Derek followed through and drilled the hole into it!” Snips said.

Leader Felix looked curious to see how we had been able to do that. “Interesting, From what we know so far, no one’s been able to chop down a tree and drill a hole into it! Henry and Agent Derek, would you mind showing me how you did it?”

“Do I have to?” Derek asked.

Leader Felix nodded. “Oh yes, you do. Sarah, can you hold Henry’s voice box for me?”

“Yes, sir!” Sarah said. Sarah took my voice box from Leader Felix and then Derek and I followed him outside the tent.

“Well,” said Leader Felix, “show me how you two did it.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “The sooner we get this over with the better.”

Just like with the first one I had sliced in half, I threw my shield at a nearby tree, and it did the same thing it had done before. My shield sliced the tree in half and after the top part of the tree fell over, Derek followed suit. Just like last time, his right hand glowed. First, it balled up into a fist, and then his hand was forced open. Next, the small beam of light shot out of his hand and drilled the hole into the stump. When Leader Felix saw this, he practically fell over in shock.

“Well, I’ll be damned, you two!” Leader Felix said after he got to his feet. “That’s two trees chopped down and a hole drilled into them afterward! You guys do know what this means right?”

Derek and I looked at Leader Felix and gulped because we weren’t sure that we wanted to hear what he was going to say next. “First of all, there’s no way I can keep this under wraps! The labs will definitely find out about this and will be chasing after you two big time! Second, if you can slice a tree in half and Agent Derek can follow suit by drilling a hole in the stump, that should make it easier to get your job done! I’m glad Lab 14 will finally be destroyed once and for all! Third, you two WILL- in capital letters will- be the two gods that will govern the In Between!”

“What?” Derek gasped. “Please tell me you’re joking about that!”

Leader Felix shook his head. “Nope, not joking!”

From the look on my face, Derek could tell that I was feeling the same way he was.

Me? I thought. A god? No way! I don’t want the job! No way!

“What’s that look for, Henry?” Leader Felix asked.

“I can tell when Henry’s terrified, Leader Felix,” said Derek. “He really doesn’t want the job and neither do I!”

“Well, too bad!” Leader Felix said. “You guys are the ones that completed The God Challenge! Actually, I already knew what happened right after Snips and Snails told me about it. The Higher told me himself and said all of the gods agree that you two are the gods that will govern the In Between! I just wanted to see what you guys did for myself! Trust me, I didn’t believe what The Higher said. But I guess seeing is believing! And when you two go back to Lab 14 the only way you’ll get captured is if you allow it to happen!”

I thought back to when I walked into a trap just to save Aria. I knew it was a trap before I walked into it and I allowed myself to be captured so I could possibly get her away from Lab 14.

“Judging by that look on your face,” said Leader Felix, tilting his head, “you’ve already done that, haven’t you, Henry?”

I nodded, confirming what Leader Felix had just said.

“Is that why Discord helped you break out of Lab 14?” Derek asked.

I nodded again. After I answered Derek’s question, his jaw dropped. “Why would you do that?”

“My guess,” said Leader Felix, “it was probably to save someone. Because if that wasn’t the case, he would’ve stayed well away from Lab 14 and would still be on the run! And he would have run away from there without stopping or looking back.”

“Is that true?” Derek asked. “Did you walk into Lab 14 to save someone?”

I nodded again, and this time, Derek smiled at me. I tilted my head, looking at him in confusion.

“You know something,” said Derek. “I did the same thing just to save someone.”

“That’s just like you, Agent Derek,” said Leader Felix, “but I’m guessing you did that to keep people away from Lab 14’s Experiments themselves. That’s exactly what you did with Experiment Sebastian, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Derek said, “I traded places to help someone out! I knew it was a trap going into it but I didn’t care because if there was a possibility to save that person that’s why I did it! I am wondering something- I was told that In Between is a universe and I don't know much about why considering this palace doesn't have planets and stuff attached to it. So if that's the case, why is In Between considered a universe and why does it need gods to govern it?”

“Because the universes that are connected to here were built by gods,” explained Leader Felix, “and the In Between was built by several gods. They made it so that creatures from their universes can take up residency in the In Between. Every universe's main core has planets that surround it. It’s basically the home base for where that god lives. The gates are considered the planets that surround the In Between core. Where we are at right now is inside the In Between core. And since this place is considered a universe it needs gods to rule over it. It wasn’t until three centuries ago that the core of this place started to grow weak and it didn’t matter how much magic the gods put into the trees. I’m guessing that’s why the gods issued The God Challenge, hoping that they would find the person that would rule over the In Between. Ever since The God Challenge was issued, many creatures have tried to complete it, but all have failed. Now that you two have completed The God Challenge you will rule over the In Between. And in ruling over the In Between, you will have the power to grant other universes the ability to connect to this place or not.”

“And why would we do that?” Derek asked.

Leader Felix shrugged. “I’m not sure why that would happen. I’m guessing it’s for the same reason that gods continue planets in their universes every century or so.”

“Okay, I guess that makes sense,” said Derek, “but why did Henry get his voice box taken out if he’s a god now?”

“That’s probably because his powers weren’t completely developed,” answered Leader Felix. “If they were, then that wouldn’t have happened unless he allowed it to. And the same goes for whatever the experiments are going to have that the labs will use to chase after you. I think that’s enough of an explanation for now. We should give Henry his voice back- I think he’s tired of not being able to make a sound.”

* * *

When Derek, Leader Felix, and I got back into the tent, Sarah handed my voice box back to Leader Felix. After she did that, it looked like she realized something. Judging by the look of horror on her face, it wasn’t something good. “Oh, no!”

“What is it, Sarah?” Derek asked.

“This is going to be the most extreme thing that any of us, ugh, experiments can go through!” Sarah said. “I’ve had it happen a couple of times, but since Henry’s had it done more than that, I’m surprised it hasn’t fried his brain in the process! And it doesn’t get any easier every time it’s done- of course, nothing’s easy with Lab 14!”

“Well,” said Leader Felix, “someone is going to have to hold him still!”

I backed up and tried to run, but Derek yanked me by the shirt, Milton pushed me to the ground, and Sarah proceeded to sit on me.

“Now,” said Leader Felix, “turn his head over so I can push the box back in!”

“I can’t do that since I’m sitting on him,” said Sarah. “A little help here, please?”

I kept struggling to get out from under Sarah and had half a mind to use my magic to get her off me.

“It’s okay, Henry!” Derek said. “Just calm down, please!”

Derek came over and turned my head so Leader Felix could see my stitches.

“Okay,” said Leader Felix, “I’m going to count to three and push the box back in! Ready, one… Two… Three!”

As soon as Leader Felix pushed the box back in, I instantly felt pain. The pain coursed through my body like I was being electrocuted by a surge projector box, over and over again. First, I felt my body going cold and numb. The next thing I felt was my body getting really hot as if I were being cooked alive. The pain in my body went from cold to hot along with the feeling of being electrocuted. It seemed to go on forever! Finally, the pain stopped, and I didn’t realize that I was laying on the ground because I had passed out before I could even touch it.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again Sarah, Martin, Milton, Jane, and Aria were looking at me in excitement.

“Say something!” Sarah said.

“If I must,” I said, trying so hard not to laugh. “Something! Happy now?”

As soon as I said that, I covered my mouth in surprise. “That comes out of my mouth?”

Sarah couldn’t help herself, she was laughing so hard that she couldn’t breathe, falling over backward in the process.

“Huh,” said Derek. “I didn’t know you had a deep voice!”

“Uh-huh,” I said, “I guess I do. It’s been a while since I’ve heard it!”

“I never paid much attention to your voice, Henry!” Milton said with a small smile.

“I hope this doesn’t mean you have feelings for him again?” Martin asked.

Milton laughed, “No, like I said, the kiss confirmed it. I don’t like him like that. I just view him as a brother.”

Once again, Sarah couldn’t help herself. She just had to laugh along with Leader Felix. “I’m not surprised that a god would have a deep voice!”

“A god?” Sarah repeated.

“Long story…” Derek said. “We’ll explain it to you when we get back from finishing our job.”

“I’m not a god!” I said. “Last time I checked, I’m either a unicorn or a human! I’m not a god! I don’t want the job!”

“I totally agree with Henry on that one,” Derek said.

“Too bad,” said Leader Felix. “When the gods have agreed on something, it’s going to happen! They issued the God Challenge for a reason. And especially if they get The Higher involved in it to make it official!”

“Hmm,” Moria barked, “I’ve never paid attention to your voice before, Henry! We were probably too busy saving people!”

“Your point?” I asked.

There was a twinkle in her eyes as Moria gave me a look that really creeped me out. “Your voice sounds dreamy!”

Derek snorted. “Now a dog has feelings for you! Oh, that’s priceless!”

“Hey!” Moria barked. “Just because I said something sounds dreamy doesn’t mean that I want to be its lover or something! Besides, I don’t date other species!”

I doubled over in laughter and this time everyone could hear it.

“Hey!” Snips said. “There’s laughter coming from your mouth now!”

“Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me, you two,” said Derek. He rolled his eyes. “You guys must be the definition of the word dumb!”

“What?” Snips asked. “I was just pointing it out!”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious!” I growled. “I got my voice box back, so of course I can make sounds now! Idiot! And you just had to tell Leader Felix about Derek and me. I totally agree with Derek- we should cook you two for food when we get done with our job! Maybe we’ll make a tasty stew out of you! We’ll probably have to add some salt to it. You two will probably taste bland because of your stupidity!”

Everyone burst into laughter, and I joined in just to be spiteful. Leader Felix stopped laughing, although he really wanted to continue to do so. “Henry’s right, you know, all you had to do was leave the conversation after you told me that Agent Derek was gay. You just had to mention he had a lover, didn’t you?”

I started to laugh again when Snips and Snails looked down at the ground, their faces turning red.

“So,” said Snips, looking up at Leader Felix, “is Henry going to be an Agent of The Resistance now?”

“Yup,” said Derek. “The definition of the word dumb! And you have a twin to match!”

“What?” Snails asked. “Henry’s perfect for the job!”

“What part of ‘The God Challenge is complete,’ do you not understand?” Derek said. He gave Snails an annoyed look. “And I do believe you two were the ones that said it!”

“Yup,” said Leader Felix. “Henry and Agent Derek will not need The Resistance at all!”

“What?” Everyone except Derek and I gasped.

“Oh yes,” said Leader Felix. “The Higher contacted me too, making it official. The gods have decided Agent Derek and Henry are the two gods who will govern the In Between! Everyone from now on will have to refer to them as God Henry and God Derek. I’d never thought that I would be calling one of my agents god!”

“How many times do I have to say I don’t want the job!” I snapped.

“Too bad,” said Leader Felix. “It was decided as soon as you two took care of that tree! Funny thing is, the gods sent The Higher to tell you that you had been picked to take down Lab 14. It probably took them by surprise that the ones that they assigned for the job would become gods!”

When Sarah heard that, she had a huge grin on her face. “Well, you should feel better about fighting those experiments that are after you now! And I’m glad it was you and not me!”

“And why’s that?” I asked.

“Because I don't want to be a god,” said Sarah, “any more than I want to be the leader of this group! I can tell you two are going to have loads of fun with this!”

“Your brother is grateful for your confidence in him, Sarah!” I said with sarcasm.

Derek rolled his eyes, “Just like Milton said. You’re a brat, Sarah!”

“Hey!” Sarah said. “I was just giving him a pep talk!”

“Just because you’re my sister,” I said, “does not mean I have a problem punching you!”

“And I don’t think that was much of a pep talk!” Derek added.

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

18) Why In Between was Built

{Henry}

“I never thought that chopping down a tree in this place would be such a big deal!” I said. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of being a God. But unfortunately, there's no way I can change it now.

“Yeah,” said Derek, “and I just had to follow by drilling a hole into it!”

“This is just perfect!” I said. I threw my hands up in annoyance. “When everyone finds out about this, they’ll be chasing after us more than ever!”

“You can say that again!” We heard Discord say.

“Discord!” Derek and I said. I narrowed my eyes at Discord.

“Looks like you’ve got your voice box back, Henry,” said Discord. He smiled. “Tell me, however did that happen? I was just curious because I heard everyone talking about how deep your voice is! Moria is obsessed with it the most!”

When Derek heard that he fell over laughing.

“Ha, ha, “ I growled, “that was so funny I forgot to laugh!”

“I wonder,” said Discord, “if Moria actually does have feelings for you! Wouldn’t it be nice to have her as your lover too?”

I gagged. “Yuck! I don’t agree with having a love triangle, thank you very much! And definitely not with another species!”

I don’t think Derek heard me. He was still laughing, and hard, too. We didn’t notice that Leader Felix was standing right behind us. “There is one more thing that needs to be taken care of,” Leader Felix said. “Now that the sealing ritual has been done, I can tell by that wound on your forehead that the reprogramming device on your right side is fried.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“It’s moving like a worm on that side of your head!” Leader Felix said. “I doubt you’ll feel any pain if you touch it. Since you’re a god now and all.”

I did just like Leader Felix said. It felt like something was moving around in my head. “Yeah, that’s creepy.”

When I realized what Leader Felix was going to do next, I once again tried to run away, but Derek yanked me by the shirt and put my arms behind my back this time.

“Let me go, Derek!” I shouted. “I’m done with this crap! I’m not going to be operated on! No way! Not again!”

“Just calm down!” Derek said. “Seriously, Henry, you’re still jumpy and you've just become a god now!”

“Well, with everything that he’s been through,” said Leader Felix, “I don’t blame him. But this isn’t going to hurt this time! Honest, it won’t!”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what Cora told me,” I said, “right before she started cutting me up!”

By this point, Derek was struggling to keep my arms behind my back. "Cora was psycho! Leader Felix isn’t! You can trust him, Henry. If it makes you feel any better you can sit on my lap, if you want?”

“Fine!” I snapped. Derek let me go. I took a deep breath, calmed down, and sat on his lap.

I gulped as Leader Felix took out an instrument that looked like it could have been used for torture by Lab 14. Even if it was the smallest torture device that I had ever seen, I still didn’t want it going anywhere near my forehead- even if it was for a good reason!

Leader Felix frowned. “Judging by the look on your face, you’re uncomfortable with this, but it’ll all be over before you know it!”

“If I had some money for every time someone said that to me,” I said, “I would be rich by now!”

Derek didn’t laugh when I said that, but Discord had no problem doing it.

“Honestly, Discord!” Leader Felix snapped. “If you’re going to laugh, you need to leave! Otherwise, stay quiet!”

I braced myself. Leader Felix put the instrument to my forehead and I immediately noticed that I didn’t feel any pain as he made a small cut. He put two fingers into the cut and pulled out two short pieces of metal that looked like they had been attached at one point. I let out a sigh of relief. Leader Felix was right, it hadn’t hurt at all and it was over so fast, I’d barely had time to blink before it was done. Derek looked at my forehead and smiled.

“What are you smiling about?” I asked.

“The wound healed about as fast as it was made!” Derek exclaimed. “And the other wounds you had are already healed up, too!”

Leader Felix tilted his head. “Other wounds? Oh, that’s right! I did see stitches on your hand. And a cut that went down your arm that looked like it was just starting to heal.”

He looked at my hand and arm and smiled. “God Derek is right, they’re healed.”

“Seriously?” Derek asked. “God Derek? Right off the bat! Really!”

Leader Felix smirked. He looked at me. “Exactly what did you do to earn those cuts, God Henry?"

“Okay I totally agree with Derek on that one. ‘God Henry!’ Yeah, I don’t know if I like that word attached to my name any more than I like the word 'experiment' attached to it!” I replied, before answering Leader Felix’s question. “Honestly, at Lab 14 you don’t have to do anything to earn a cut from psycho Cora! She calls it data gathering. If you ask me, someone needs to reprogram her!”

Leader Felix winced when he heard that and then looked really angry.

“That’s another reason Lab 14 needs to be shut down!” he growled. “Now that God Henry’s powers are fully developed none of those labs will be able to put another device in him again! Not even if he allows it!”

“Not to mention,” I added, “I was kept awake for the reprogramming ritual!”

“What?” Leader Felix and Derek gasped.

“That’s why Lab 14 needs to be destroyed!” Discord said. “Of all the stupid decisions that I’ve made so far, working with Lab 14 was one of them!”

“I wonder what those labs are looking for with their testing on children?” Derek asked. “And only the ones that have magic, for that matter.”

We looked at Discord and could tell that he knew what the labs were looking for. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking about as nervous as Derek does when he’s about to tell me something important.

“You know what those labs are looking for,” Derek prompted, “don’t you, Discord?”

“Well, you see, um…” Discord gulped. I had never seen Discord this nervous about something before.

“Come on, Discord!” Derek snapped. “Out with it!”

“What the labs are looking for…” Discord said, “is the cure for death!”

* * *

“What?” Leader Felix, Derek, and I all gasped.

“You heard me correctly,” answered Discord. “The cure for death. The labs that set up shop here figured they could do all the evil things they wanted to because there weren’t any gods that ruled this place! They tried to test themselves at first but for some reason, their magic didn’t take hold. I wonder if it had something to do with them being too old. Cora and Princess Celestia came up with another idea to find the cure- stealing children from their cribs!”

"The labs had been watching God Henry for six months after he was born. Why the labs were showing so much interest in God Henry in the first place, I have no idea. From what I was told, they were getting ready to snatch him from the orphanage they were in and were hopping mad to find out that two ponies had adopted them before they could get to him. So Lab 14 waited in the shadows for the right time to strike! They took God Henry, and at the time, they weren’t interested in anyone else!”

“But why do I have memories of other experiments?” I asked.

“At one point I was able to break into their information center,” Discord explained, “and discovered that Lab 14 had been posing as an adoption agency! That’s probably how they found other experiments to put with you. But Lab 14 was angry when they found out the same two ponies that adopted you went back to the same orphanage a year later after Sarah was born and adopted her.”

“What?” Derek gasped. “Now, that’s not just cruel, that’s beyond cruel, if there’s even a word for that!”

Discord let out a long sigh. “I would guess that the reason for all of the painful testing is to find the cure for death that they are so desperately after! And from what I’ve discovered, they got one step closer to finding it when they did all of those tests on God Henry while he was growing up there. The main, and stupidest, reason why I started working for Lab 14 in the first place was to rescue God Henry and return him to his home. I wasn’t able to break out of Lab 14 until recently. I was only able to because the gods told me that I could this time!”

“So, The Higher contacted you too?” I asked.

Discord just about choked at my words. “I guess you could say it was something like that! And I’m not telling you at the moment because I have my reasons for doing so! I just feel sorry for you, God Henry, because those tests must’ve been very painful physically, and I see they left some emotional scars on you, too.”

“The physical pain wasn’t all that bad, really,” I said.

“But you acted like you were in pain every time you had a memory!” Derek said.

“True,” I said, “it was sort of emotional pain mostly. Ever since I started getting memories back one by one, the feeling that I remember having was that I couldn’t wait for the day I could actually kill her! Until then I had no other choice but to stay at Lab 14 and be their little pet!”

I looked at Discord to see that he had a huge grin on his face.

“Oh, happy day!” Discord said with excitement.

I looked at him in confusion. “Come again?”

“You want a chance to kill Cora.” Discord smiled. “Or, as I call her, Serpenta. She wanted me to deliver a message to the two of you. She is the stupidest person to ever set foot here! She really wants to speed up her death sentence! Fine by me!” He laughed wickedly.

“Say what now?” I asked.

“Oh, yes,” said Discord. “Serpenta told me if I found Experiment Henry to tell him- and I quote- ‘if he wants the chance to kill me then he’ll have to come back to Lab 14 to do the job.’ That’s her little message from Discord Delivery, at your service!”

My jaw dropped. “Why does Cora want me to kill her? And specifically me, at that? There’s got to be a catch here!”

“My thoughts, exactly,” said Derek. “It looks to me like it’s another trap!”

“Another question I have is why was the In Between built in the first place?” I asked. “Couldn’t the gods travel into other universes on their own?”

“Not really…” Discord said.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Every universe has a barrier, keeping other gods from getting in and out of other universes, and keeping the universe from self-destruction.” Discord replied.

Derek tilted his head. “Self-destruction?”

"Oh, yes,” explained Discord. “If there’s too much power in one universe, the universe collapses in on itself and is sucked into something called a black hole and is wiped out from existence. That’s why this place was built, the gods helped with the barrier thing by putting their power inside of the trees. If the gods don’t put any magic into the trees in their gate, the barrier thing takes place. And even the god that rules over that universe can die along with the universe that they built.”

“I didn’t think that a god could actually die!” Leader Felix said. “What about God Derek and God Henry?”

Discord shook his head. “No, they won’t die, because there’s been a lot of power put into this place! As long as God Derek and God Henry put power into the In Between core, there will be no need to worry about the barrier. That was the main reason that In Between was built in the first place. There’s only one problem. The gods that built this place can’t use their powers to take care of problems that pop up in the In Between.”

“What are you talking about, Discord?” I asked.

“Ever heard of the term ‘don’t shoot the messenger?’" Discord replied.

Derek nodded. “Yeah, so?”

“Another reason that the In Between was built was not just to travel to other universes, but to be able to share information with each other,” Discord continued. “And because this place was built by several gods, all of them agreed that it’s considered a universe. The reason is for the very fact that the In Between has a core to it. I’m guessing that’s a side effect after the gods built this place. And they have no idea what the reason for that was. Seeing that there was a core for the In Between, the universal rule is that if there is a core to a universe there must be a god to govern it and that’s another way a universe can self-destruct. Like I said before a god's power can not be used to stop problems that pop in this place!”

“I’m not following you,” I said.

“When a god builds a universe,” said Discord, “they can only deal with problems that pop up in that universe. And since the In Between is considered a universe on its own, only the god that rules over the In Between can deal with problems that happen in it. However, it’s happened plenty of times before, and no one knows why that is, if there is no god that rules over a universe that place can also self-destruct that way. Those are the only two ways that I know of that a universe or a god can die. That’s why the gods issued The God Challenge! It was to look for the gods that would govern the In Between and could help deal with any problem that popped up.”

“But Derek and I weren’t gods when The Higher contacted us for the job of destroying Lab 14!” I said.

“That’s because you two were considered demigods at the time,” Discord replied.

I choked. It felt like I had something go down the wrong pipe. When Derek saw this, he patted me on the back hard and after that, the feeling went away.

“Demigods?” I asked. “I don’t think there are any gods that run in the family. Although a few weeks ago I had a memory of my family, I still can't put any faces to the voices! But since I don't know who my family is, I guess it might be possible.”

Derek shook his head. “Now, I know for a fact there aren’t any gods in my family!”

“Actually,” said Discord, “someone doesn’t have to be considered a demigod just because a god gave birth to you! It usually goes by how much power you have. Also, you can reach demigod status after you die if you had a lot of magic before your death.”

"Die!" I gasped. "I'm not quite sure if I died at Lab 14. The thing I remember is if I got punished at Lab 14 I just remember being put to sleep under some stupid machine! And how did I even get my voice taken out in the first place? It happened a couple of times when I was younger!”

Discord gave a nervous laugh, then spoke so fast I had trouble keeping up with his reply. "The machine was used to put you to sleep but they dropped you by a tree, and you were killed instantly! And since your demigod powers weren’t fully developed yet, they were able to take out your voice box! The tenth time you were killed was right after you got back to Lab 14 recently when you finally reached demigod status! But before they killed you that was when they took out your voice box. Yes, Cora did say she didn’t flatline you, and it’s true that she didn’t. She just put you to sleep and dropped you by a tree once again and you died your tenth death and came back on your own! I know, I was there. I wasn’t allowed to rescue you. I just wish that I would've stayed away from Lab 14 until I was given the go-ahead"

"What?" I gasped. "I can't wait to kill Cora now and I won't bring her back either!"

"What about me?" Derek questioned. "I'm pretty sure I didn't die until The Higher contacted me to take care of Lab 14!"

"Actually," said Discord, "you did die!"

"And how did that happen?" Derek asked.

"Do you remember falling off your horse when you were younger and hitting your head pretty hard because of it? You were by a tree at the time," Discord said.

"Yes…" Derek said, unsure he wanted to hear what Discord was going to say next.

"You died then," said Discord, "and it always amazed Earnest how fast your cracked skull could heal! You came back to life on your own, just like God Henry!"

"What?" Derek asked. "And how do you know this information?"

"I was watching you at the same time that I was watching God Henry." Discord replied. "Again, there was nothing I could do to help you two out until recently. However, the only thing that I was able to do to help God Henry was to break him out of Lab 14 so he could meet you, God Derek! I bet it took the gods by surprise when you two became lovers! So the whole god situation and ruling over the In Between works out perfectly! Just so you know, you two had more power than back then and now your powers have tripled now that you guys are full-fledged gods!”

“Wait a second!” I said. “I recall you saying ‘don’t shoot the messenger.’ What’s that all about?”

“The reason I said that is because there are beings in every universe called The Higher, that are little errand boys for the gods. If The Higher of a universe doesn’t have a god to deliver messages from, they die. Since The Higher for this universe doesn’t have a god to get messages from he’s slowly starting to die. That’s another reason why the gods issued The God Challenge. Since the gods saw that you two were demigods they were getting ready to appoint you two as gods of this place anyway,” Discord said.

“Seriously?” Derek and I asked.

Discord nodded. “Yup, exactly, but before a god or demigod can take up ruling a universe, they have to put you through a test. And your test was to see if you would accept the responsibility of shutting down Lab 14 once and for all!”

“Why would the gods issue The God Challenge in the first place?” I asked.

Discord laughed wickedly. “That was actually another test for you two specifically, just to make sure you guys were ready for the job!”

“What?” Derek and I gasped.

“You heard me correctly,” said Discord. “After the gods issued The God Challenge, they purposely strengthened the powers they put into the trees, making it impossible for anyone that didn’t have your power to be able to chop down a tree!”

“But how did the gods know we were demigods?” Derek asked.

“At the first God Con that took place over three centuries ago,” explained Discord, “the gods saw a vision of the next god or demigod that would come on the scene! And they were surprised when they saw that two gods would govern In Between. That just happened to be the two of you, though it happened three centuries before either of you were born!”

I tilted my head. “And why did that happen?”

“A god has the ability to see the future also,” Discord said. “And vision goes to every god that’s already in existence and that includes demigods!”

“My question is,” said Derek, “why didn’t one of the gods order a god that’s already alive to rule this place instead?”

“Again,” said Discord, “don’t shoot the messenger.’ Since none of the gods would volunteer themselves for the job, they shot themselves in the foot! But thankfully they saw the vision of you two doing the job. So, it’s safe to say that God Henry would’ve ended up here sooner or later. It just so happened that Lab 14 sped up the process! Oh, and there's a limit on how many times a person can die in this place and become stronger.”

"And that limit is?" Derek asked.

"Ten," answered Discord. "When The Higher contacted you, he didn’t kill you because you had already had your tenth death."

"But The Higher said that I would be dead for good if I stayed dead and that he had only a short amount of time to deliver his message!" I said.

"Yup," said Derek with a nod, "he said the same thing to me, too!"

"Oh, no," said Discord, "that wouldn't have happened. The gods gave him a time limit as to how long he could take to deliver the message! You weren’t dead, you were just in deep sleep. The Higher just made it look like you flatlined a couple of weeks ago to deliver his message!”

“Lovely!” I growled. “Like I said before, I don’t want the job!”

“Aw,” said Discord, “that’s so cute! The little baby demigod doesn’t want to grow up! You do realize that you are going to have to become a man sooner or later, right?”

Leader Felix must’ve gotten a real kick out that he started to laugh and fell over backward in the process.

“That is so not funny at all, Discord!” Derek snapped.

“Yeah, it is!” Discord laughed. “Oh, I forgot, you two didn’t answer my original question in the first place.”

“And what question might that be?” I asked.

“However did you get your voice box back?” Discord asked.

“Oh!” Leader Felix said. “I had one of my double agents at Lab 14 steal it from the vault.”

Derek raised an eyebrow. “Double agent? Is it any one that I know?”

“Oh, yeah,” said Leader Felix. “Your mother, Agent Liza, was the one that did it!”

Derek’s jaw dropped. After a moment, he closed his mouth and didn’t say anything.

“Speaking of voice box,” said Leader Felix, “exactly why didn’t you steal God Henry’s back for him, Discord?”

“I’m still not going to get used to that word attached to my name!” I snapped.

“Oh that,” Discord laughed, “I was just being lazy! My job was to get God Henry out of that awful place and that was it! I’m pretty sure I’ll have to face the music on that one, sooner or later!”

“Good!” I snapped. “I hope you do! And it’ll serve you right! Humph!”

“You should really learn to grow up, God Henry!” Discord laughed.

“Well when you grow up in Lab 14,” I snarled, “and go through hell, then you can tell me how you feel about it!" I was steaming in anger at this point. "As a matter of fact, I would love to see your voice box taken out! I’d like to see if you enjoy not being able to make a sound!”

Derek pulled me into his arms and held me. That helped calm me down a bit.

“What I want to know is,” said Leader Felix, “how do you know all of this information about God Henry and God Derek, Discord?”

“My official title is Lord of Chaos,” Discord replied. “I’m a demigod…”

“Well, this conversation has been fun and all,” said Leader Felix, before turning to look at me. "God Henry, I think God Derek has something in mind for you! I know that look when I see it!”

Derek had me look into his eyes and he kissed me. We broke the kiss after a moment.

Leader Felix smirked. “I think we should leave these two alone right now. If you know what I mean.”

Discord was puzzled by what Leader Felix had just said and then he smiled.

“Oh, yeah!” Discord said. “Right, we're out of here!”

Discord snapped his claw and teleported him and Leader Felix out of the tent.

19) Discord the Pest

{Henry}

“It’s about time you two got done with your ‘mating,’” said Discord. “God Henry, do you even know what the word ‘mating’ means?”

We just had to run into Discord after Derek and I left the tent that we were in.

“Excuse me?” I said.

When Derek heard this, he cracked up. “I think I should leave you two alone for the ‘father and son’ talk!”

“He’s not my dad!” I said. Then paused. “Or at least I hope he’s not!”

I couldn’t grab Derek to strangle him fast enough before he ran away, laughing as he did.

“You’re not my dad, Discord,” I said, “so I really don’t need this right now!”

“Actually, technically I am…” Discord replied.

I backed away from him, a feeling of terror going through me. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m your godfather!” Discord said with joy. “Your parents named me for the job! Hurray!”

“Seriously?” I blinked, not believing a word Discord said.

“Oh, yes, believe me,” said Discord. “Now, how should I explain it… I wish I had Fluttershy with me to tie you to a chair!”

“I think I’ve had enough of being tied up to things! I’m good!” I snarled. “And, yes, I know what the term mating means, you idiot!”

Discord had a grin on his face that was so big that I’m surprised it fit inside In Between. “Who told you?”

“If you must know,” I said, “Derek told me!”

“And why would he do that?” Discord asked.

“Probably because he picked up on how confused I was after the first time!” I said.

Discord snorted. “I never thought Child Derek, who became Agent Derek, and now God Derek, would give someone a lesson on sex education!”

I gritted my teeth. “I’m going to find a way to kill you one day!”

“Nope!” Discord said. He shook his head. “Not possible! I’m a demigod! Duh!”

“Well then,” I said, “I’ll find some way to send myself into the afterlife instead!”

Discord fell over laughing again. “That’s not possible either! Oh well..”

I could feel heat coming from my face. Discord got a real kick out of it. “That’s so cute!” he said. “You’re turning red! Okay, I’ve done my fatherly duties, so I’m out of here!”

I could feel my anger rising to a boil as Discord snapped his claw and disappeared, but not before having a good laugh at my expense.

* * *

{Cora}

After I was given a video of Experiment Henry and Experiment Derek completing the God Challenge, I snickered. “A god? I don’t believe it! Experiment Henry, a god?”

Eleanor looked like she was trying hard not to roll her eyes. “Did you watch the same video I did, Head Cora?”

“Yeah, I watched it!” I snapped. “I still don’t believe it! However, when Experiment Henry and Experiment Derek get here, I have three trump cards up my sleeve to capture them!”

Eleanor raised an eyebrow. “Three?”

“Yes, Eleanor, three!” I snapped. “First of all, Experiment Henry will want his voice box back. Second, the incentive to kill me should be enough for him to come here! Third, I’m going to be fighting side by side with Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian. We should be able to capture them in three minutes, tops!”

Eleanor coughed and I looked at her in annoyance. “What, Eleanor?”

“As far as Experiment Henry wanting his voice box back,” said Eleanor, “that’s not going to be a trump card.”

“And why not?” I demanded.

“His voice box is missing from the vault,” Eleanor answered.

“What?”

“Yeah, I think Experiment Henry might’ve stolen it back,” she said, trying not to laugh.

“Don’t you laugh at me, Eleanor!” I snapped.

She smirked. “I was laughing?” She seemed to be having the best of times. “If I was, I’m sorry, Head Cora!”

“How dare you, Eleanor!” I snarled. “Stop taunting me! You seem to be at odds with what I have planned. What are you thinking?”

“I was thinking,” said Eleanor, “as far as fighting alongside Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian, I have my doubts about how fast you three can capture him.”

“And why do you think that?” I growled.

“Because Henry is a god now.”

“His name is Experiment Henry!” I sneered. “That’s what his name is and that’s what he’ll always be called!”

Eleanor smirked again. “Face it, Head Cora, you don’t like it when anyone has more power than you!”

I fired my gun in the air, as I had done in anger so many times before, and it made her jump at the sound.

“What was that, Eleanor?” I growled.

She had recovered enough to roll her eyes. “Seriously, Head Cora, why did you turn Experiment Henry into the strongest experiment you’ve ever made? Not to mention, you didn’t add anything to make him grow weak enough to catch him? Not even Experiment Ada could kill him!”

I fired my gun in the air and Eleanor jumped again.

“Oh, no way for me to catch Experiment Henry again, huh?” I asked. “Actually, we do have something for that!”

Eleanor rolled her eyes again. “And what might that be?”

“The Surge Projector boxes!” I said, matter of factly.

“And that’s going to help how?” Eleanor asked, raising an eyebrow. “You do realize that it was very difficult to flatline him. Even Agent Jade Summers had a hard time doing so! He just knocked Experiment Henry out and you know it! Not to mention, when you threatened to do that to Experiment Henry’s face, that was a bluff, wasn’t it?”

“If a recall correctly,” I said, “we had no trouble flatlining Experiment Henry when we did Experiment #1!”

Eleanor snapped. “That was right after you stole Experiment Henry from his crib!”

“Don’t you take that tone with me, Eleanor!” I scolded.

“Or you’ll do what? Put me in front of the firing squad? I’d rather be killed than continue this circus!”

“But,” I said, “I need someone to take over for me after I’m dead! And you’re the only person that can do that!”

She snarled at me. “If I take over after you die then mark my words, Head Cora! I will help God Henry and God Derek destroy your precious Lab 14! And release all of your experiments so they finally go back home! The children that have grown up here don’t belong here and you know it!”

Eleanor didn’t say another word. She just stormed off.

* * *

{Princess Luna}

I paced back and forth as I watched the video of Experiment Henry and someone called Derek complete the God Challenge.

“Drat!” I said. I stomped a hoof on the ground. “I wish Willow and Ada were here. I bet Ada is having fun with the other experiments until she gets to Experiment Henry! Now that Experiment Henry’s chopped down a tree here and this Derek person drilled a hole into the stump, it’ll be even more difficult to capture him! I was so hoping I’d get a chance to meet Experiment Henry and pick his brain, so to speak. I doubt Ada will be able to kill him now. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Discord is in heaven right now!”

As if on cue, I heard Discord say, “Well, if it isn’t the lovely Nightmara!”

“Nightmara?” I repeated. "You know I only turned into Nightmare Moon once, right?"

Discord rolled his eyes. “Oh, yes, I know that. I’m coming up with wicked names for you heads of your stupid labs!”

“And why are you doing that?” I asked.

“Because I’m just having fun taunting you until God Henry and God Derek arrive!” Discord cheered. “And it’s so much fun! I was wondering, did you watch God Henry and God Derek’s video of their fifteen minutes of fame?”

I growled at Discord. “Yes, I did! You told me that Group A was eaten by those tracker cats! And now I was given a video of Experiment Henry chopping down a tree- two trees, as a matter of fact, and here of all places! And this Derek guy drilling holes on top of that! You’re a liar!” I practically snarled the last sentence.

Discord laughed wickedly. “Yeah, I am! I think I would make a convincing actor. Maybe I should try my hand in show business? As matter of fact, I was at the first God Con where all the gods saw the vision of the future. In the vision, all of the gods saw the gods that would rule In Between! And they have arrived! Hurray! Oh, happy day! Isn’t there a song about stuff like this? I don’t know if there is and I don’t care!” He paused. “You’re worried now, aren’t you?”

“And why would you think that?” I asked.

“Because you’re watching the video again!” Discord taunted, pointing his eagle claw at the TV on the main computer.

I hadn’t realized that I had rewound the video and was watching it again. I didn’t know how many times I had done that. My ears went flat against my head and I snarled at him. “Discord!”

He started laughing, annoying me, as I rewound the video and played it once again.

“This isn’t stand-up comedy night!” I snapped.

“Oh, it is,” said Discord, still laughing in between his words, “considering it’s nighttime and I’m laughing. And normally people laugh at a joke. I’m glad God Henry doesn’t have to keep his day job anymore! God Henry and God Derek, those are their titles now. The jokes on you this time!” He gave me a wicked smile. “I so wished my powers worked at night, but in any case, God Henry's next show will be when he comes to kill you!”

“That’s not funny!” I growled.

“What are you going to do about it? I’d like to know the answer to that question,” Discord taunted me again.

“Fine! You want me to do something about you? Then take this!” I said. I lit up my and aimed my magic at Discord and all he had to do was step to the side to dodge it. He fell over laughing again but still saw my next attack coming and dodged it the same way.

“Since your powers don’t work at night,” I said, “then I should be able to kill you!”

Discord smiled. “Oh, I’d like to see you try! I’ll stand still for you this time. This will probably tickle at most!”

True to his word, Discord stood still for me to fire my next attack. I smiled. This attack had worked like a charm every time before when dealing with a tricky spirit that will not just go away. I’d had that happen a lot to me back in Equestria. I’d had the duty of watching the night there. The spirits of the dead ponies and other creatures not yet crossed over just loved to come out and play.

Discord smirked, annoyed with me. “Well, Nightmara, I’m waiting! Sometime tonight would be nice!”

“Oh, it’ll be tonight alright!” I growled. I concentrated as I built up my magic for the attack. Once I was ready, I hit Discord with my attack at full power. My attack didn’t even put a scratch on him, let alone send him into the portal that the attack opened meant to send him into the afterlife. My jaw dropped.

“Aww, what’s the matter, Nightmara?” Discord asked, giving me puppy dog eyes. “Did you think that little baby attack would work? I think the feeling from that was nothing! Well, it did tickle, like I said before. The gods that will rule In Between have arrived!”

I knew what Discord was getting ready to do because of the way he was behaving at the moment. I gasped. “Wait, but I thought your powers didn’t work at night!”

“Oh, they don’t,” said Discord. “Just look out the window, it's daylight now!”

I looked out the window only to see that he was correct as the light filled the room. “But how did you know that?”

Discord smirked. “I made it a point to visit you just before dawn, although, there isn’t really a sun, is there? Oh well…”

I stared at Discord in shock as he snapped his claw and faded into the background, laughing.

* * *

{Princess Celestia}

I paced back and forth watching the video for how many times, I didn’t know. Of course, Discord just had to pop in at a time like this. My ears went flat against my head when I heard him. “Discord! What do you want?”

Discord rolled his eyes. “That disrespect again?”

“I mean it, Discord!” I said.

“No,” said Discord. “What do you want? But I should make an introduction- if it isn’t the lovely Daybreaka!”

“Daybreaka? Seriously!” I snarled.

“You look worried about when God Henry and God Derek come to kill you!” Discord said, taunting me.

“And why do you think that?” I asked.

“Because you’re just like Nightmara!” Discord replied. “You keep rewinding and watching that video over and over again! You just did it again!”

I hadn’t realized it but what he said was correct. I rewound the video and watched it again. Discord fell over on the ground laughing at me.

“Discord!” I snarled. “I’m not calling Henry a god! No way in the In Between am I going to call Henry god ever!”

Discord smiled a wicked smile, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My ears went flat against my head again as I snarled.

“You’ll be calling Henry a god, alright! Those will probably be your last words to him, with your last breath! I look forward to it!” Discord snapped his claw, making it a point to laugh as he faded into the background.

* * *

{Henry}

Derek and I were still trying to come up with a plan to take down Lab 14 when we heard Discord clear his throat. I bit the inside of my cheek before exhaling slowly. “You just can’t help yourself, can you, Discord?”

“What?” He asked, crossing his arms. “I just so happened to be in the neighborhood and wanted to say hi!”

“In case you didn’t notice,” Derek snapped, “we’re trying to figure out a way to take down Lab 14! So if you don’t mind…”

“You guys always want to get rid of me, like you did back at the Inn by making out every time I popped up!” Discord fake sobbed.

“You know, you really are a pest!” We heard Leader Felix say. Derek and I snickered. Discord, on the other hand, looked annoyed, probably because we were laughing at him this time.

“I’m not a pest!” Discord pouted as if he were a two-year-old.

“Whatever,” Leader Felix said. “Anyway, I think this might help as far as taking Lab 14.”

Leader Felix then brought out a small box that looked a lot like the one that Derek had used to help lead us to the Resistance. When he pressed the button on the top of it, there was a holographic screen that popped up with different color dots on it. Because of being color blind, the dots looked yellow, white, and blue to me. I looked at the map and tilted my head in confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked.

“Are some of the dots on that screen white?” I said. “I can see them somewhat but it’s not very clear.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” said Derek. “Dad told me that you were color blind!”

“Interesting,” said Leader Felix. “A color-blind god is news to me!”

“Maybe it’ll go away?” Derek suggested.

“Yeah, and maybe the eye that you have the glass eye in will grow back?” I questioned.

“I don’t think so!” Discord said in a sing-song voice.

“What are you talking about, Discord?” I asked.

“Every god that pops up has one limitation to their powers,” said Discord. “No one knows why that happens either. Just like you have color blindness, God Henry, you’ve found a way to deal with it already.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“You ask people what the colors are, stupid!” Discord said.

“Okay, Discord,” I snarled. “Don’t call me stupid!”

“Okay, okay,” said Discord. “And as far as your glass eye, God Derek, you’ve found a way to deal with it too.”

“Huh?” Derek paused.

“Your magic transfer! Duh!” Discord replied.

“Exactly what is he talking about, Derek?” I asked.

“Oh, yeah,” said Derek. “I didn’t want to show you because I didn’t want to send you into Fear Shock again!”

Leader Felix narrowed his eyes. “Did I just hear you correctly? Did you just say God Henry went into Fear Shock at one point?”

“Yes sir…” Derek said, looking down at the ground.

Leader Felix tried not to look pissed when he heard this news. Derek kept looking down at the ground as if he were a bad little kid that disappointed his father.

“When did it happen, God Derek?” Leader Felix asked.

Derek sighed. “It happened a little bit after we met up with Agents Snips and Agent Snails.”

“Do you remember when it happened, God Henry?” Leader Felix asked me.

“Not really,” I said, scratching my head. “I just remember passing out right after we met up with Snips and Snails. I also remember feeling really sick before that. I wasn't sleeping because of the bad memories that I was having about growing up at Lab 14!”

Leader Felix did not look happy at all. “That’s the first sign of someone getting ready to go into Fear Shock,” he said, frowning. “How those two idiots didn’t recognize it is beyond me. I’ll deal with them later when I confirm this with the other kids, just to be sure. It’s not that I don’t trust you two but your word alone doesn’t give me grounds to discipline them. Anyway, what were you saying about God Derek’s magic transfer, Discord?”

“Oh, yeah!” Discord said. “God Derek can transfer his magic from his real eye to his glass eye! You should show God Henry now, the Fear Shock won’t happen again! Go ahead, show him. Why don’t you start with the owl eye first! That’s the creepiest attack that your father taught you!”

“Fine…” Derek said. I could tell he really didn’t want to show me. It always amazes me how overprotective he can be towards me sometimes. Derek closed his eyes and when he opened them again both eyes looked completely different. He then proceeded to turn his head behind him. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

“Dude,” I said. “That’s creepy!”

“Yup!” Discord agreed with a small nod. “I’ve seen Earnest do that plenty of times! It still creeps me out!”

Derek and I couldn’t help ourselves. The fact that the Discord, the Lord of Chaos, is creeped out by something was way too funny.

“Okay, kids,” said Discord. “Stop laughing at me!”

“We’re not kids!” Derek and I snapped. I think Derek had just about enough of Discord for one day and I didn’t blame him at all. He looked like he was about ready to tackle Discord just like he did with Sarah.

Discord smiled an evil smile and took the opportunity to push Derek over the edge.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Discord said, rolling his r’s as if he were speaking in a foreign language. “I forgot you were a demigod before you drilled a hole into a tree stump! My bad!”

That was the last straw for Derek. He charged at Discord at full speed. Leader Felix and I knew Derek was not going to be able to tackle Discord because he would do a teleportation spell and Derek would probably run into the tent. That’s exactly what happened. As soon as Derek even got close, Discord did a teleportation spell and disappeared. Derek ran into the tent, almost collapsing it in the process. Leader Felix and I couldn’t hold our laughter in, even if we had wanted to.

“Okay, guys,” said Leader Felix. “Let’s stop the funny business and get down to the real business. Discord and God Derek, knock it off!”

“Fine!” they said.

Leader Felix then turned our attention to the map, pointing to several areas. “These dots represent the different locations where each lab has set up shop.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask this,” I said, “but how many locations are there for each lab?”

Discord smiled like someone had set up a joke and he couldn’t wait to deliver the punchline.

“Can I say it, please?” he begged.

Leader Felix, sounding annoyed with Discord, allowed it. “Fine, go ahead…”

Discord snapped his claw. Behind him appeared a huge chalkboard, like one that Lab 14 would use to teach the experiments that were growing up there something important. Discord then took a piece of chalk and wrote the number fourteen on it as big as he could.

“As you can see by the number on this chalkboard here,” Discord said, “there are fourteen locations for each of the labs that are set up here! Ta-da!”

Leader Felix facepalmed, groaning., “Yup, that confirms it! You really are the definition of the word 'pest,' Discord!”

20) Pestcord

{Cora}

Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian stood in front of me with confusion on their faces.

“I know what you’re thinking,” I said, “but eventually Experiment Henry and Experiment Derek will be coming here for a chance to kill me. And when I’m gone, my assistant, Eleanor, will be taking my place. Isn’t that right, Eleanor?”

Eleanor nodded. I could tell she really didn’t agree with me, not one little bit.

“Head Cora, may I ask why do you want my future husband to kill you?” Experiment Rose questioned.

“I’m not sure if Experiment Henry will actually be able to kill me. But with you two fighting along with me, we will have Experiment Henry back at Lab 14 where he belongs!” I said.

“O...Kay?” Experiment Rose said. “What plan of action do you have in mind?”

“Do you remember fighting plan C-A?” I asked.

Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian had an evil look on their faces when I said that. They knew that with that fighting plan in place then there was a good chance that they could capture Experiment Henry and Experiment Derek and bring them back to Lab 14.

* * *

{Henry}

Derek and I sat down and tried to figure out which lab we should go after first. As we were trying to come up with a plan of action, I could tell Derek was wondering about something.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

“I was wondering if, maybe, we should go after Cora first?” Derek said. “Or, as Discord calls her, Serpenta!”

“Yeah, I think that’s the perfect pet name for her!” I said. “I wish we could think of a pet name for Discord.”

“What about Pestcord? It definitely suits him!” Derek chuckled.

As Derek and I were laughing, Discord popped up.

Discord growled. “I thought I told you, I’m not a pest! Didn’t I give you that loving goodbye at the Inn? I was doing my fatherly duties!”

“Yeah,” I said. “Just because you’re my godfather doesn’t mean you’re my father! And loving goodbye, my butt!”

“It was kind of comical, though,” Derek said. “A creature like Discord showing someone affection? That was hilarious!”

“No, it wasn’t,” I said. “I really wanted to punch Discord, but since he broke me out of Lab 14, I kept myself from doing so.”

Derek couldn’t help himself. He snickered at the thought.

“I was wondering, though,” said Discord, “did you actually show God Henry your glass eye?”

Derek nodded. “Yeah, I did. Right before Henry went into Fear Shock.”

“Let me get this straight,” said Discord. “You can show God Henry your glass eye but you can’t show him your magic?”

“Your point?” Derek asked.

“I would think that showing someone your glass eye would send them into Fear Shock just by that alone!” Discord said.

“No, it didn’t,” I said, “In case you didn’t know, Fear Shock is from having too many bad memories of something. At least that’s what Leader Felix told me. I’m guessing the Fear Shock happened because of too many bad memories of Lab 14.”

Discord nodded. “Makes sense to me. Lab 14 is an awful place! So memories of that place would definitely send someone into Fear Shock. Actually, I’ve seen it happen with a handful of children that we’ve rescued from Lab 14 and other labs, and some of them didn’t have the true love kiss. From what I was told, if the true love kiss doesn’t happen, Fear Shock will come back over and over again and then the person will die from the stress of it!”

“What!” Derek gasped.

“Oh, yes, definitely!” Discord said. “But I’m not sure that it would happen to God Henry because of, well, being a god now!”

“Now! But I wasn’t a god then!” I exclaimed.

Discord rolled his eyes and pulled on his beard in annoyance. “I’m going to say this again: you were a demigod, hello!”

I tilted my head in confusion. “Then why did it happen?”

“Hum,” said Discord. “Stand still and let me see if Fear Shock is what happened.”

“What are you going to do, Discord?” Derek questioned.

“Just a little test…” he said.

“I don't want you putting anything in my brain, Discord! I think I’ve had enough things being put inside of me even if it’s for a-” I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence. Discord pointed a finger- or claw, in his case- at my forehead and I was sent flying backward into a tree. The funny thing was that when I hit the tree, I didn’t even feel it.

“Discord!” Derek snapped. “Seriously! What did you do?”

Discord nodded. “Oh, yeah, you went into Fear Shock alright!”

“But how?” I asked. I got to my feet and dusted myself off. “I thought you said we were demigods?”

“Even a god needs to rest from ruling,” explained Discord. “Most of the time, gods need to rest for an hour or two and that’s all that’s needed. The same thing goes for demigods! I’ve heard rumors of that happening but I didn’t think that it actually could! It wasn’t so much as just having those bad memories but along with not sleeping for at least an hour! When God Derek did the true love kiss, he lent you some of his magic. That was how you were snapped out of it! If another god sees that one god isn’t resting, that god can use his or her magic to make that god rest! And that’s probably what you’ll be doing a lot, God Derek!”

“Wait a minute,” I said. “You just said that god can be either a him or a her?”

Once again, Discord nodded. “Why, yes! Why does everyone assume that a god has to be a man? As a matter of fact, of the two gods that rule over Equestria’s universe, the female god calls herself Divine and the male god calls himself Levy! Weird names huh?”

“You got that right!” I said. “You said that gods have a limitation; what’s yours?”

“My powers don’t work at night!” Discord replied.

“Wow,” said Derek. “The Lord of Chaos’ powers don’t work at night! That’s interesting. So, how do you deal with it?”

“I have my ways,” said Discord. “But that is my own personal information. Thank you very much! Oh, and another thing, God Henry…”

“What?” I snapped at him.

“Since I’m your godfather,” said Discord, “I love you!”

At this point, I'd had enough of Discord and his pride in being my godfather. Actually, I was just tired of him in general. But I didn’t realize that I was actually angry, in an intense kind of way, until I noticed that Discord, Leader Felix, and Derek were all looking at me, terrified.

“Uh… Discord?” Derek said.

“Yes, God Derek?” Discord squeaked.

“You really pissed him off this time!”

I didn’t realize how angry I was until I heard the sound of lighting behind me. Somehow, I had a lighting bolt in my left hand and was getting ready to aim it at Discord when Derek grabbed my hand and stopped me. I calmed down and the lighting bolt disappeared.

“Discord!” Derek snarled. “No more teasing or I’ll let him throw the lightning bolt that he summons at you next time!”

“What?” Discord said. “I was just…”

“If you say that one more time!” I said through gritted teeth.

“It’s a good thing we’re outside of the tent!” Leader Felix said.

“You know what’s funny?” Derek chuckled. “I think Discord is actually afraid of you, Henry!”

“Welp,” said Leader Felix. “That should help you get your job done!”

Derek and Leader Felix smiled at the thought of Discord being afraid of someone, especially that person being me!

“So, the question is, which of the labs are you going to go after first?” Leader Felix asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “The fact that Cora, or Serpenta, wants me to kill her, as I said before, means it’s a trap! Although I’ve walked into traps before, I don’t know if I want to now! The thing that really ticks me off is that I’m having memories of my family but I can’t put faces to the voices.”

“Why’s that?” Derek said with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t know!” I said.

Leader Felix sighed. “I think I know why that's happening.”

“What is it?” I asked.

Leader Felix then went into the tent and came back with an envelope. He handed it to me. I opened it and my eyes went wide in shock when I saw the birth certificate. On the front of the birth certificate was Crimson, the name that the Higher called me by, and it said that I was born in March 1995. I turned the birth certificate over and was surprised again to see what I looked like when I'm a human. It said that my name was Experiment Henry and it had the same birthday on it.

“Do you know how to calculate your age, God Henry?” Leader Felix asked.

I shook my head, “No, Lab 14 never taught us anything like that!”

“I guess there’s no reason Lab 14 would do that,” said Leader Felix. “But you’re 25 years old now. You were taken at the age of three…”

* * *

When I heard what Leader Felix said, I fell over in shock.

“Okay, God Henry,” said Leader Felix. “Just take a few deep breaths. I hope you don’t summon any more lighting bolts to shoot at us!”

Even Discord looked afraid of me again. His expression made me laugh, which calmed me down. Derek looked at me and smiled.

“Ah, why are you giving me that look, Derek?” I asked.

“No wonder you have a deep voice!” Derek said. “That makes me like you even more!”

Leader Felix snorted. Discord, on the other hand, was still looking at me in fear.

“That’s funny, Discord’s afraid of me!” I teased.

“I’m not afraid of you!” Discord said as if I had dared him to do something and he chickened out on it.

“Uh-huh,” I taunted. “Then I dare you to make me angry again!”

“Yeah, no thank you!” Discord, still giving me a look of horror.

“Then you’re just chicken!” I taunted him again, sticking my tongue out at him.

Derek cleared his throat. “Discord and Leader Felix, I suggest that you two leave so we can figure things out.”

“Yes, God Derek!” Discord and Leader Felix said. I saw Discord run away as fast as he could. It made me laugh again. Leader Felix was pointing and teasing him the whole entire time.

“Now those two are gone,” said Derek, “I’m sorry about you not knowing your family but we still have a job to do.”

“I know but it just gives me more incentive to take down Lab 14!” I growled.

Derek proceeded to point at the different dots on the screen. “It looks like Lab 14’s main location is here, Celestial Lab’s main location is here and Star lab’s main location is here.”

I snarled when Derek pointed at Lab 14’s main location.

“I thought you said going after Lab 14 first would be walking into a trap!” Derek said.

“At this point, I really don’t care! I've changed my mind!” I said. “They’re the reason why I went into Fear Shock in the first place!”

“Okay then,” Derek agreed. “That settles it. We’re going after Lab 14 first!”

* * *

Once we had figured out who we were going after first, Derek and I went to the rest of the group that we had been traveling with to say our goodbyes. I especially wanted to say goodbye to my sister, Sarah.

“Well,” said Sarah, “I guess this is goodbye for now.”

I tilted my head. “For now?”

Sarah nodded. “Yes, for now! You’ll come back to us when you get done with your job, right?”

I sighed. “I’m not sure, I don’t know how long it will take! You might be an old woman before I return to you!”

“What do you mean by that?” Sarah questioned.

“I just found out how old I am…” I said.

“How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-five,” I said. “I don’t know if you’re the same, or older than me, or younger.”

“Actually, I’m younger,” said Sarah. “By a year, too.”

“How’d you figure that out?” I asked.

“Because, in my memories, our parents say that I’m two years old and you're three years old,” she said. “And no, I still can’t put any faces to the voices.”

“It’s still the same thing with me,” I said.

“Well,” said Sarah. “There’s nothing else left to do, but do our special send-off.”

“What is she talking about, Henry?” Derek asked.

As soon as Derek said that, Sarah and I took our hats and tilted them to each other and nodded. Sarah then hugged me and that was it.

Derek smiled at us. “Oh yeah! I remember you two doing that! My dad and I kind of do the same thing!”

When I heard that I tried hard not to laugh.

“Well, go cause some destruction for me!” Sarah said. She clapped me on the back. “Too bad Discord can’t come!”

“Yeah, we’ve come up with a pet name for Discord!” Derek said.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right!” I chuckled.

“What is it?” Sarah asked.

“Pestcord!” Derek and I said.

Sarah fell over laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe. “That’s perfect for him! He is a pest after all!” she said, once she could breathe again.

“Let’s hope he won’t be bugging us anymore!” Derek said. “I don't think he will for a while.”

“Why’s that?” Sarah asked.

“Apparently,” Derek said, “Henry can summon lightning bolts when he’s pissed!”

“Oh, yeah,” said Sarah. “I saw lightning earlier! Henry did that? Wow! That’s so cool!”

I smirked. “Yeah and Discord’s afraid of me now!”

Sarah laughed uncontrollably, just like Leader Felix had. She practically braced herself on a nearby tree to help hold herself up. She stopped laughing and cleared her throat. “Your job should be a piece of cake now! I’m glad I didn’t become a god! Well, have fun with that!”

“You know something, Sarah?” I said and rolled my eyes. “You are a brat!”

“Hey!” Sarah said.

Derek and I nodded at Sarah. There was nothing else we could do after that.

Author's Note

When I finished the rough draft for this story it was actually two months before I started publishing it. So that's why the age is 25. Correct me if I have the wrong calculation for Henry's age.

21) Taking Action

{Princess Luna}

Pacing back and forth in front of the computer screens, I watched the video of Experiment Henry chopping down a tree and someone named Derek drilling a hole into a tree stump.

It’s a good thing Discord isn’t here! I thought. Although, I wouldn’t put it past him to pop up for another visit!

Right on cue, I heard a loud pop. It was almost as if my thoughts had signaled him. Discord floated in the air in front of me. “What’s the matter, Nightmara? Scared of God Derek and God Henry coming?”

My ears flattened. I’d had just about enough of Discord popping up all the time, claiming that Experiment Henry and that person named Derek are gods now.

“I just came to comfort you, that's all I want to do this time!” Discord said with an evil smile. He floated on his stomach, propping up his chin with his lion paw and his eagle claw, looking at me as if he were a gossiping filly at a sleepover.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” I snarled.

“Oh?” Discord said. He floated on his back lazily, still giving me that evil smile. “God Henry and God Derek are going after Lab 14 first! So that gives you more time to live! You’ll never find the cure for death at this rate! And one more thing…”

“Yeah, I know!” I snapped. “The gods of the In Between have arrived!”

“Aww, the puppy dog wants to be an adult!” Discord said. He was having way too much teasing me at the moment and he knew it too. His evil smile was gone, replaced with a puppy look.

“That’s not funny, Discord!” I was seeing red at this point. My anger had hit the boiling point. “Taunt me again and I’m going to-"

“Kill me?” Discord interrupted. “Remember, you already tried that once before! And if I do recall correctly, it just tickled! I wanted to taunt you just so you get the point! I’m going to go taunt your sister next! This is going to be fun!”

Discord snapped his claw and laughed wickedly as he slowly faded away into the background.

* * *

{Discord}

Just like Princess Luna, I saw Princess Celestia was once again pacing back and forth looking at the video footage of Henry and Derek completing the God Challenge.

“What’s the matter, Daybreaka?” I was having so much fun taunting the heads of Lab 14, Star Labs, and Celestial Labs. Of course, I wasn’t going to be taunting God Henry anytime soon. I laughed as I taunted Princess Celestia.

When I saw the look on her face, I laughed so hard it made my stomach hurt. I could tell Princess Celestia really wanted to say the words ‘what do you want, Discord,’ and this time I actually wanted her to say it.

“What’s so funny Discord?” Princess Celestia snarled.

“The look on your face!” I laughed. “I just came to tell you a little bit of intel that I just found out.”

“And what might that be?” she growled.

“God Henry and God Derek have decided to go after Lab 14 first!” I exclaimed. “You’ll have a little bit longer to live!”

“There’s no way,” said Princess Celestia, “that I’m going to die by Henry’s or Derek’s hand! No way!”

“Seriously?” I asked. “You’re not a god like I am! Actually, I should correct myself, I’m a demigod. You’re not even at that status, not even close!”

“But I should be considered a god!” Princess Celestia scoffed. “I have more power than you. I have the power to raise the sun back in Equestria!”

“Back in Equestria! You idiot!” I growled. “If I recall correctly, you can’t have more than one limitation to be considered a god. You not only have to have the power but you can only have one limitation. Am I right? I have another question for you. Can you raise the sun here?”

“Well…” Princess Celestia said. She shifted her gaze.

“Well, can you?” I asked.

Princess Celestia hung her head. She knew the answer to that question. She just didn't want to say it out loud.

“I’m waiting!” I snapped. Princess Celestia is never going to live the answer to this question down, for sure. “I’d like to hear an answer sometime today. You’re just as bad as Nightmara!”

“Well…” Princess Celestia said, not looking at me still. “No, I can’t!”

“Exactly! And I was at the first God Con,” I said. “I didn’t see you there. Or did we miss each other somehow?”

“And you know about this God Con how?” she asked.

“Lord of Chaos, hello!” I replied.

“You’re not a Lord, Discord!” Princess Celestia snapped. “Last time I checked you’re a spirit!”

“By the way,” I said, “did you see that spectacular display of lightning the other day?”

“Yes I did,” said Princess Celestia with a small nod. “How could that possibly happen? There are no clouds here.”

“True,” I said, rolling my eyes. “But that came from God Henry! Apparently, he can summon lightning when he’s mad and I wouldn’t piss him off if I were you!”

“Let me guess,” laughed Princess Celestia, “you were the one that pissed him off?”

“Yes,” I said. “He looked scary when he did it!”

Princess Celestia was laughing so hard she was on her back. “The Lord of Chaos! Afraid of someone? Now, that’s funny!”

“Yeah,” I said, “either way, you’re not a god and he is! And yes I am a demigod like it or not, Daybreaka!”

“I’m getting tired of you calling me that, Discord!” Princess Celestia growled.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” I said. I made sure to roll my r’s as if speaking another language, just like I had with God Derek.

“What was that?” Princess Celestia sneered. She stomped her hoof, lit up her horn, and charged at me. As soon as she could even get close to me, I did a teleportation spell and disappeared, only to pop right back up again. Princess Celestia kept doing the same thing over and over. I laughed when she charged at me. It must’ve looked like we were playing a game of tag like back in school. I could do this with Princess Celestia all day. I wished I could keep going and do it at night! As Princess Celestia was finally running out of energy, I teleported behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Tag!” I mocked her. “You're it! I only have one limitation and no, I’m not telling you what it is. You’ll just have to guess. And since I was at the first God Con and all of us saw a vision of the two gods that will rule In Between I do believe that qualifies me for the title of Lord, you know, with being a demigod. To add to that, I help the two gods that rule over Equestria’s universe. I know something you don’t know!”

Princess Celestia paused. “Wait! I thought Alicorns were the ones that ruled over Equestria’s universe!”

I pulled on my beard. “Universe,” I repeated. “Meaning more than one place and one planet. So, Alicorns are not gods. The only way to be considered a god is if you have one limitation, and one limitation only, as well as the amount of power you have. And you do not have enough power to be considered a god!”

I stuck out my tongue like a spoiled brat. “Did you receive your God Invitation for the first God Con?”

“No,” said Princess Celestia. “I have no idea what a God invitation is! But you could be lying about that. You’ve told so many lies, I don't know what's true and what’s not coming from you!”

I shrugged, giving her an evil smile. “Okay, you got me on that one! I wonder though, do you think I would make a convincing human?”

I snapped my claw and turned into God Henry. Princess Celestia’s jaw dropped.

“Now,” I said, clearing my throat, “let me imitate his deep voice!”

“What?” Princess Celestia gasped. “How do you know he has a deep voice? I thought his voice box was taken out!”

“Oh, it was,” I said. “Someone stole it from Lab 14’s vault and gave it back to him! Oh, and did you notice the signal on Moria’s collar?”

“What?” Princess Celestia demanded She gasped. Looking at the computer screen, she saw that there was nothing. “I didn’t realize I wasn’t getting any messages from her! And it’s been weeks!”

“Oh,” I said, “she’s not ignoring you. She threw her collar in a river somewhere. Where it is, I have no idea! So it’s safe to say, she’s not your assistant anymore! Now, can I do my human act, please?”

At this point, Princess Celestia was seething with rage.

I smirked. “Judging by that look on your face, that would be a no. Oh well, too bad you can’t summon lightning bolts when you’re mad!”

I snapped my claw and laughed as I slowly faded away into the background.

* * *

{Leader Felix}

Once God Henry and God Derek left to start their journey to destroy Lab 14, I could finally deal with Agents Snips and Snails for their stupidity. That was after I confirmed that it happened when Sarah and the others were around. The fact that Agents Snips and Snails didn’t send out a distress signal for that really ticked me off. I knew what Fear Shock could do to a person. Thankfully God Derek had been there to help with the true love kiss. If God Derek had not been there, there was a good possibility God Henry would’ve been in some real trouble before his powers fully developed.

It’s a good thing that the Resistance HQ has cells for Agents that commit such serious mistakes that they don’t deserve to be Agents anymore. After they answered for their mistake, or crime for that matter, they are sent to The Resistance Prison in a secure location, not in the In Between.

It was also a good thing I had a table inside my tent so I could break it just to make this point clear. I had broken many tables in my career as an Agent of The Resistance. Finally, the time came for me to deal with Agents Snips and Snails.

“Agents Snips and Snails!” I roared, as I came out of my tent. “Get your butts inside the main tent, right now!”

Agents Snips and Snails looked at each other in fear. Everyone working for the Resistance knew that if I roared like that, the Agent was in big trouble. Agents Snips and Snails entered the tent, cowering in fear.

“From the looks on your faces,” I said, “you’re scared. Good! You should be for what I’m going to say next!”

Agents Snips and Snails were trembling, so afraid that it looked like their knees were going to give out from under them.

“Do you two want to tell me why you didn’t send out a distress signal for an emergency situation?” I growled.

Agent Snips gulped. “Um... What are you talking about, Leader Felix?”

“Yeah!” Agent Snails stammered. “We don’t know what you’re talking about!”

I rubbed my temple. I wasn't about to break the table in front of them yet but I was coming close to it. “Tell me why you didn’t contact me when God Henry went into Fear Shock?”

Agents Snips and Snails gulped, realizing how angry I was.

“But we solved the situation, sir!” Agent Snips said.

“Yeah,” said Agents Snails. “We let Derek give Henry the kiss of tru-”

“It’s God Derek and God Henry to you!” I snarled. “Did I hear you correctly? You let God Derek give God Henry the true love kiss? You didn’t tell him it was a cure to cancel it out?”

“But we didn't know-" Agent Snips said. He clearly didn't want to look at me and I couldn’t blame him with how pissed I was at the moment.

“You didn’t know about that? Seriously!” I scolded. “Now, I know you’re not that stupid! I mean, you two do stupid things sometimes, but really! You two can inform me that God Henry chopped down a tree here and God Derek drilled a hole in the tree stump but you can’t contact me when something as serious as Fear Shock happens?”

“But, sir, we…” Agent Snips said. That's when I decided to punch the table in front of him so hard that it broke in two.

Agents Snips and Agents Snails ears dropped. “Oh boy…”

“‘Oh boy’ is right!” I roared. “You two really screwed up big time. No Agent gets special treatment because they’re escorting a celebrity. As a matter of fact, God Henry was already famous before he chopped down the tree!”

“Huh?” Agents Snips and Snails said.

“Really!” I snarled. “God Henry was the first experiment ever created by Lab 14! Everyone knows that except for you two idiots! Have you two been hiding under a rock? Do you want to know why I punch tables in front of an Agent? It’s because they’ve made a serious mistake or committed a crime on their mission! You want to know what’s funny?”

Agents Snips and Snails gulped and they looked away.

“I was also informed that you two used the Figure-it-Out spell?” I asked.

“But Henry-” Agent Snails said.

I rolled my eyes. “How many times am I going to have to tell you, it’s God Henry! He’s a god now, and you two need to give him that respect, got it?”

Agents Snips and Snails nodded, looking back at the ground because they were too afraid to look me in the eye.

“Tell me,” I said, “why did you feel the need to do the Figure-it-Out spell?”

“God Henry wasn’t talking or making any noise!” Agent Snips said. “I just wanted to see if there was something wrong with him…”

“Actually, Snips,” said Agent Snails, “God Derek already told you that he knew what was wrong with him! And I told you that you should’ve asked him what was wrong!”

“Way to sell a fellow agent out, Snails!” Agent Snips snapped.

“The fact that God Henry wasn’t making any noise and you were concerned about it was reason alone to send me a distress signal,” I told them. “You know something? God Derek’s mission was a success and not because he’s a god now! You want to know why?”

Agent Snips gulped again and squeaked, “Why… Sir?”

“Because God Derek’s mission was to escort God Henry and the others safely to you. And he was also supposed to get the tracking device out of them. And that’s exactly what he did!” I said. “He was even given special tools to get the tracking devices out if the barrier and other tools set by him specifically, didn’t work to get them out. The funny thing is, he didn’t even need help from his dad, Agent Earnest, to do that.”

"Now, since you two have failed on your assignment with this big mistake, you no longer deserve to be Agents for The Resistance. Hand over your badges and you two will be put in the prisoners’ tent until we get back to HQ.”

Agents Snips and Snails hung their heads as they handed me their badges. I then took out of my pocket a small red box that had a black button on top of it. As soon as I pressed the button, two Agents came into the tent.

“Agent Simon and Agent Sally!” I said.

“Yes, sir?” Agent Simon said.

“Take Agents Snips and Agent Snails to the prisoners’ tent and put the sealing handcuffs on them!” I said. “I’m done looking at these two failures!”

At that, Agents Snips and Snails were taken away.

* * *

{Henry}

As soon as Derek and I got to the main location for Lab 14, I was eager to get inside so I could kill that witch Cora.

“So, how are we going to get in?” I asked.

Derek smiled. “I don’t think it’s necessary to find the front door.”

I looked over at what seemed to be an entrance to Lab 14 and saw three people standing around. I knew they were waiting for us. Derek rolled his eyes and looked at me as if to say ‘it was your bright idea, genius!’

“Welp,” said Derek. “You said it might be a trap and you got your trap. Nice going, genius! I still can’t believe they sent that guy after us.”

Derek pointed at the guy that was standing by Cora, waiting for us to appear. I could only assume that he was Experiment Sebastian. I recognized the creature passing for a woman as Experiment Rose. She still creeped me out and was one of the many female experiments Cora forced me to have a ‘playdate’ with! Of course, the person I wanted to kill the most was standing right in between those two was Cora or, as Discord called her, Serpenta. I totally agree with Discord on that one!

“Well, then,” said Derek. “Do we go greet our victims?”

I had an evil smile on my face because I couldn’t be happier to see Serpenta this time and give her the death sentence she deserved!

“You know what, Derek?” I said. “I say we go greet them! It looks like Serpenta and the other two creatures are eagerly awaiting our arrival!”

22) The Fight

{Henry}

Derek and I came out of the shadows to greet Experiment Rose, Experiment Sebastian, and Cora. Of course, they had expected our arrival and Cora had an amused look on her face. “Well, then, my sons have finally returned home! In case you were wondering, we’re here to welcome you.”

“Gee,” I said. “Thank you? And did you just say sons? As in more than one?”

“Oh yes,” said Cora. “You are first born Experiment Henry. I’m glad to see my other son, Experiment Derek.”

“Last time I checked,” snapped Derek as he narrowed his eyes at Cora, “I already have parents and my mom is definitely not you!”

“Yup,” I said. “I thought I told you I’m Santa Clause and I’m too busy delivering presents! I’m not really sure if it’s that time of year yet, and I don’t care!”

When Cora heard this, she laughed a laugh that I knew all too well. It really annoyed me at this point.

“You’re still funny!” Cora said. “That makes you charming. I’m sure your future wife loves that in the man that she’s going to marry.”

“Yuck!” I gagged. “No, thank you.”

Cora pointed to Experiment Rose who was standing behind her.

“Yup!” I said. “That confirms it, I’m Santa Clause! Do you really think I’m going to marry that creature passing for a woman? That is if that’s what you want to call her.”

“Now, that wasn’t very nice, Experiment Henry!” Cora scolded.

Experiment Rose gave me a creepy look that made my skin crawl. Experiment Sebastian gave the same creepy look to Derek and I could tell that he didn’t like it either.

“Aww!” Experiment Rose said. “I can’t believe my future husband has come back to me. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you and you’ve gotten much stronger than last time. Just look at your muscles!”

I don’t like this creature at all! I thought.

I don’t blame Henry for not liking that creature at all! I heard Derek’s voice in my head and just about fell over backward.

Am I crazy or are you talking inside my head? I asked silently.

That’s just what I was thinking! Derek thought.

This is an interesting change of events! I thought. Hmmm, this is perfect!

What are you talking about? He asked.

Duh, since we can communicate like this, it’ll make it easier for us to come up with a plan when we’re fighting those creatures!

I heard Derek laughing in my head. I laughed with him. We were laughing in each other’s heads when Experiment Rose cleared her throat to get our attention.

“Aren’t you forgetting something? Experiment Henry?” Experiment Rose asked.

“And what might that be, creature?” I sneered.

Good one, Henry! Derek thought.

“I’m not a creature!” Experiment Rose said, reminding me of how Discord would say he’s not a pest.

“Oh?” I said. “You’re not? I’m sorry, my bad!”

“You haven’t proposed to me yet!” Experiment Rose said. “Where’s my engagement ring?”

“Yeah,” I said. “No, thank you! And I’m not letting you tie me down so you can sit on me again, for one of our stupid ‘playdates!’”

Cora nodded. “It’s a shame none of the other girls gave us offspring! Oh well… I guess we’ll have to try again, huh, Experiment Henry?”

“You did what?” Derek demanded.

“You heard that correctly,” I said. “‘Playdate.’ Now I know what it means, that pisses me off even more!”

“You’re not going to do that anymore to my boyfriend if I have something to say about it!” Derek growled at Cora. She looked at him, amused.

“Oh?” Cora said with a smug look. “We won’t? We’ll just see about that!”

Experiment Sebastian scowled at Derek and I smiled when I saw the look on his face.

“Did you call Experiment Henry your boyfriend, Experiment Derek?” Experiment Sebastian asked.

“Yeah, what are you going to do about it?” Derek taunted. “And my name’s not Experiment Derek! Last time I checked, it’s Derek, you idiot! I think you need to get your brain checked out!”

“No, I won’t because you’re my lover, and you know it!” Experiment Sebastian snarled.

“And having a ‘playdate’ with me is a relationship, how?” Derek asked.

Cora rolled her eyes, bored with the conversation. “I’m done talking. It’s time Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian bring you two home where you belong!”

As soon as Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian heard that it was as if it were a signal to step in front of Cora like shields. Without another word, Cora went back into Lab 14.

* * *

After Cora left, Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian had evil smiles on their faces. Derek and I returned the favor by giving them the same look.

Well, then, Derek thought, what do you have in mind for these two creatures?

Let’s just have some fun with them for now! I thought. But, sooner or later, we’re going to have to allow ourselves to get captured by them!

And why would we do that? Derek asked.

Because it’s the easiest way to get into Lab 14 without having to barge in! I thought. You see those ropes they have?

Yeah, I see them, Derek thought, but we have them tied around us right now!

I looked down. Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian had their ropes tied around our waist. I could hear Derek freaking out in my mind.

Calm down, Derek! I thought. I’ve got an idea, just follow my lead, okay!

Fine! he thought.

I didn’t realize that my powers had come out of nowhere again. I was hoping to be able to summon lightning again, but I guess that only happens when I’m mad. Instead, I felt myself rise up into the air a few feet. It was kind of freaky. But I'm a god now, so I guess I should get used to stuff like this happening.

Henry? Derek thought.

Yes, Derek?

What are you doing? He asked silently. Is that part of your magic?

I guess so, I thought. This is going to be interesting…

Experiment Rose looked at me in awe. I got in the air about ten feet and broke the rope that was around my waist in doing so. I flew over and grabbed Derek, breaking the rope around his waist.

Experiment Rose smiled at me. “See? You are going to make a good father for our children!”

“Yeah,” I said. “Yuck!”

Experiment Rose threw her rope at me again and I dodged it by jumping onto the next tree branch. As she kept throwing her rope at me, I kept jumping from one tree branch to another. After a couple of times, I reached up and was able to swing to the next branch as if I were a monkey.

“Stand still, future husband!” Experiment Rose yelled.

“Future husband?” I smirked at her. “I don’t remember proposing to you so I don’t think we’re a future anything! Exactly how many times does a guy have to say no before you take a hike?”

“But Head Cora will give us the wedding ceremony when you come home!” Experiment Rose whined.

“Are you kidding me?” Derek snapped. He was busy dodging Experiment Sebastian's rope and I could tell he was having fun doing so.

I jumped to another tree branch and stuck out my tongue.

“You’re acting like a spoiled brat!” Experiment Rose said.

“So what if I am?” I said, sticking out my tongue again.

You’re just having way too much fun with this, aren’t you? Derek thought.

I kept jumping tree branches to provoke her. The look on her face made me laugh even more.

“Oh, come now, Experiment Henry!” Experiment Rose pleaded. “You would make a fine father, don’t you think?”

“Yuck!” I gagged. As I taunted Experiment Rose, her rope hit me once in the back. I didn’t even lose my balance and it didn’t hurt one little bit. I smiled and paused at what I was getting ready to do. Derek knew that I was getting ready to do something but he didn’t know what.

Are you getting ready to do something stupid? Derek thought.

Maybe, maybe not! I thought. I’d never thought I’d get a chance to use my other form as a unicorn again!

Oh, yeah! I forgot you could do that! Derek thought. Well, have fun with that!

“Unicorn!” I said and transformed after I jumped down from the tree branch. Just like the last time, I was on all fours, and walking just came naturally. I used my magic to summon four shields that looked like the one that I had used to chop down that tree with.

Four of them? Derek thought. Really!

I guess I can’t help myself! I thought. This is going to be fun!

Did you just decide to lose your mind? I thought we were supposed to get captured by them! Not kill them!

Oh no! I thought. I’m not going to kill them, don't worry about that!

Yeah, I think we should get you some help when we get done here! he thought.

I burst out laughing and didn’t realize that I was laughing outside my head.

Experiment Rose must've gotten tired of me dodging her easily, and now that I had summoned my shields, she was very annoyed with me. She put her rope away and placed her hands on her hips. I laughed even harder when I saw the look on her face.

“I don’t think you need those shields,” said Experiment Rose. “I mean, I know couples fight but I didn’t think we were fighting that bad!”

I snarled at her in response. “You and me? A couple? And we’re fighting? Yeah, you’ve lost your mind, creature!”

I looked over to see Derek dodging Experiment Sebastian’s rope again. He couldn't stop laughing and he almost got caught, but I saw Derek standing in front of a tree and somehow dodged Experiment Sebastian's rope again. He looked at Experiment Sebastian with curiosity, who paused when he saw the look Derek started giving him.

“What is that look for, Experiment Derek?” Experiment Sebastian asked.

“Do you see where your rope is?” Derek replied. Experiment Sebastian looked to see that his rope was tied around the tree he stood in front of.

Experiment Sebastian tugged on the rope but it wouldn’t budge.

“I wonder,” said Derek, “can you chop down a tree like Henry can? Or drill a hole into the tree stump like I can?”

“No...You...Didn’t!” Experiment Sebastian growled.

“Oh?” Derek said with the same tone Cora used. “I didn’t? We’ll just see about that!”

Experiment Sebastian tugged on his rope as hard as he could and it did nothing but snap in two. The part of the rope that had wrapped around the tree burned and disappeared as if the tree had absorbed it. Experiment Sebastian pulled the other part of his rope back and did not look happy about it.

“Great!” Experiment Sebastian growled. “At least these ropes grow back!”

“Oh well,” Derek taunted. “It looks like your hopes and dreams have just crashed and burned!”

Derek dodged Experiment Sebastian's rope and stuck out his tongue.

This is fun and all, Derek thought, but when are we going to allow ourselves to get captured by them?

Fine! I thought. I guess I’ll just have to end my fun now! Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

I didn’t want to do what I knew I had to do next. But I used my magic to put my shields and spells away.

“Human!” I said and transformed. I then put my hands up to show Experiment Rose that I surrendered. Of course, she thought I was up to something and narrowed her eyes at me. I really wanted to stick my tongue out at her again but it took a lot of self-control for me not to.

Derek followed suit.

“What are you doing, Experiment Henry?” Experiment Rose asked.

Experiment Sebastian narrowed his eyes at Derek. “What are you doing, Experiment Derek?”

I really wanted to snap at them and say we’re not experiments but once again it took some self-control to keep myself from doing so. Somehow Derek and I knew exactly what we were going to say next and said it at the exact same time.

“What does it look like we’re doing?” Derek and I said. “We surrender! Duh!”

Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian had evil looks on their faces when we said that.

“Well, Experiment Rose,” said Experiment Sebastian, “I think it’s time we take these two back home!”

Experiment Rose nodded at him in agreement. My eyes widened in anger when I saw them- two long needles full of blue liquid.

Great! I thought. I’m not surprised that Cora would go that far to get us back inside Lab 14!

What is that? Derek thought. I could tell he was trying not to panic or get angry like me.

It’s called the Knock-Out drug! I thought. It’s the same drug that Lab 14 used on me over and over again to put me to sleep so they could bring me to the testing area! Then they would wake me up to start their tests!

I didn't know that Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian had thrown the needles and that they had hit their mark until I felt a bolt of electricity go through me.

What’s happening? Derek panicked in his thoughts.

I think it’s our power trying to flush out the drug! I thought. But since we’re allowing ourselves to get captured, I think we should take a nap!

Seriously, Henry! Derek thought. Are you nuts?

That would be a no, I thought. Remember, we’re allowing ourselves to get captured! Goodnight, Derek. I’ll see you inside Lab 14!

Fine, Derek thought. Goodnight, Henry! See you inside the lab!

I let the Knock-Out drug take effect and went to sleep.

23) Wedding Wreckers

{Henry}

Henry! I could hear Derek’s thoughts frantically inside my head.

I also heard myself saying the words ‘will you marry me’ outside of my head but it sounded faint in the distance while Derek’s thoughts were close and very loud.

Henry, wake up! Derek shouted inside my head.

“Okay, okay!” I said outside of my head. “I’m awake, for crying out loud!”

My eyes were still closed but I could hear Experiment Rose laughing in front of me.

Umm... Henry? Derek thought. You might want to take a look at where you’re at.

Why’s that?

I’m guessing that Experiment Rose is standing right in front of you? he thought.

How did you figure that out? I thought.

Experiment Sebastian is standing right in front of me. Derek thought. Oh, and you're probably tied to the ceiling.

Yeah, Lab 14 likes to do that a lot and I have no idea why! I thought.

I opened my eyes. Unsurprisingly, I was indeed tied to the ceiling. I looked in front of me as I heard Experiment Rose’s laughter and once again Derek was correct.

* * *

Experiment Rose stood in front of me, laughing like a psycho. It was the kind of laugh that matched Cora’s.

“Aww,” said Experiment Rose. “You just look so cute in your wedding attire!”

“Wedding… Attire?” I repeated. Experiment Rose put a mirror in front of me and I stared at it in horror.

When I saw what I was wearing, I wished that I was still knocked out. I was dressed in a black wedding tuxedo with a white button-up shirt, a black bow tie, and a red rose attached to the right side of the tuxedo jacket.

Uh...Derek? I thought. It looks like I'm going to a wedding. I hope it’s not mine! Because I don’t recall proposing to that creature. I was asleep a while ago.

Actually, you did! Derek thought.

What! I thought. Now it was my turn to start freaking out. How did I even do that? I was asleep!

Experiment Rose, somehow she made you do it while you were asleep! I think she used some sort of magic on you! I’m not sensing anything just yet. Derek thought.

How do you know that? I thought.

I can hear your thoughts, duh! Derek thought. And somehow I can hear what’s going outside of your head too!

Yeah, it looks like I can do it, too. I thought.

How do you… Derek thought.

He just asked if you were daydreaming about something? I thought. You might want to answer the question. Experiment Sebastian is giving you a creepy look! And Experiment Rose is giving me one too...

I gulped when I saw Experiment Rose in front of me with a look of joy on her face. I went from terrified to feeling queasy. I wanted to throw up and if I did, I would aim it at her.

“I’m almost afraid to ask this,” I said. “Why am I in a wedding tuxedo?”

“Because we’re getting married, silly!” Experiment Rose said joyfully. At the moment I hoped that I would throw up, just to change the look on her face from joy to disgust.

“I don’t recall proposing to you!” I said.

“Oh, you did!” she said with excitement.

“Huh?” I said. “I was asleep a while ago!”

Experiment Rose smiled at me wickedly. “I used the Blue- Capture pill and right before you woke up, I used my magic on top of that! I just love using the Tell-Me-You-Love Me spell. It’s more effective when you’re barely awake! But when it comes down to you I can’t do it for a long period of time. Not to mention you did wake yourself up right after I got you to propose to me! You look so handsome in your tuxedo!”

Derek? I thought. She did use her magic on me, along with the knock out drug!

The next thing I knew, I felt a surge of power go through me. I knew for a fact that wasn’t Experiment Rose’s Tell-Me-You-Love-Me spell. I remembered how it felt the first couple of times it happened.

Now, I know that’s not part of the Tell-Me-You-Love-Me spell! I thought. Or, as I call it, the Tell Me-You’re-My-Hostage spell!

And how does that work? Derek thought.

It shuts down your thinking abilities, I thought, and it makes you do whatever Experiment Rose wants you to do! I know, Cora made me go on one of those stupid ‘playdates’ with her! I don’t think tying me to a chair and doing that thing, that you explained to me what it was, counts as ‘playing,’ if you know what I mean!

Yeah, Derek thought. I still can’t believe Lab 14 would go that far just for children!

If you ask me, someone needs to reprogram Cora! I thought. But I’m not sure if that’s possible!

Oh, and that surge of power you felt earlier, that wasn’t Experiment Roses spell, Derek thought. It’s part of my magic! I call it the Doctor spell. I've been able to detect if any creature has been hurt. I don’t know how I developed that spell but it comes in handy. Especially in a situation like this! And yes, she did use her magic on you! I’m also sensing that she didn’t do anything else to you! I don’t know how I can do that now! But she didn’t do anything to you except make you propose to her! I don’t know why she was only able to do that but nothing else!

“Too bad I could only dress you in your wedding attire!” Experiment Rose growled. “We had a difficult time just doing that alone!”

“Why?” I asked.

“For some reason your skin got hot,” said Experiment Rose. “We couldn’t touch you directly, so thankfully Cora has tools for that. And it almost melted Cora’s tools, too!”

When I heard that, I snickered. I wondered why Cora was able to tie me to the ceiling if that happened.

“In case you’re wondering how Cora was able to tie you to the ceiling,” said Experiment Rose, “you’re tied with metal handcuffs instead of a rope! And it looks like they’re starting to melt!”

I laughed at her again because Experiment Rose had a frustrated look on her face.

“I’m tied to the ceiling,” I said, “so I can’t run away, at least for now.”

“For now?” Experiment Rose said. “I don’t think you could run away even if you wanted to. Now that you’re awake, we’re going to have to put you back to sleep again so you’ll be at the wedding for sure! And I'll be too busy to use my Tell-Me-You-Love Me spell on you. And Head Cora specifically asked me not to because it doesn’t count if you’re not aware of everything.”

“And using it while I’m asleep to make me propose counts because?” I said.

“Because it’s not against the rules!” Experiment Rose said. “Lab 14 and the other labs agreed to certain rules when they were first set up. And they can’t be changed because it’s set in stone but making you propose isn’t against the rules, thankfully. So for now, we’ll just have to use the Blue-Capture drug on you so you’ll take a nap so you’ll be at the wedding for sure!”

“Uh-huh,” I said. “Do you really think that's going to work?”

“I think it will,” said Experiment Rose. “The Blue-Capture drug worked like a charm on you. I think we can use it again.”

I wanted to snap at her and say it’s not going to work unless I allow it to. But I kept my mouth shut.

“Not to mention,” I said, “I don’t recall having a ring for you either! So this wedding shouldn’t happen, period!”

“Actually, you did have a ring for me!” Experiment Rose said. “See?”

Once again, I was terrified as Experiment Rose showed me a silver ring with a purple stone on it.

“I gave you that?” I asked.

Experiment Rose nodded. “I had it on standby for when you proposed to me. And you did propose to me.”

“Once again, making me propose to you when I’m asleep doesn’t count!” I snapped. “And when’s the wedding?”

“Oh, that’s later tonight,” said Experiment Rose, “and Experiment Derek will be your best man! And Experiment Sebastian will be your groomsman!”

“And what about your bridesmaids?” I asked in terror.

“Oh, I already took care of that!” she said. “Everything is already taken care of!”

Uh...Derek? I thought.

Yeah, I know, Derek thought. I heard that alright!

Is this some sort of nightmare? I thought. As soon as I thought that I felt like a bolt of lightning went through me.

No, that wasn’t the Knock-Out drug! Derek thought. That was me!

How did you… I thought.

Do that? Derek thought. It's part of my magic! Duh! Can you summon any lightning bolts yet? Because that would come in handy right about now!

I wish I could! I thought. But I think that only happens when I’m angry! And right now I’m not angry, I'm scared silly, and I still can’t believe Discord is afraid of me now!

I was going to need to think of something else that would take our minds off the impending doom that was about to happen.

Yeah, I don’t blame you! Derek thought. I wouldn’t want to marry that creature either! I still can’t believe it passes for a woman!

I couldn’t think of anything else when Experiment Rose put a hand under my chin and made me look at her.

“You just keep being adorable!” Experiment Rose smiled at me. “You look lost in thought too! I wonder what you’re daydreaming about? What will I look like going down the aisle for the wedding? Or are you daydreaming about the honeymoon? Too bad my powers don’t work for me to see what you’re thinking about!”

“You make me sick!” I said. “If you must know, I was daydreaming about throwing up on you!”

“You’re not being very nice, you know!” Experiment Rose said.

“I care about being nice to you because?” I asked.

“Oh well..” Experiment Rose said. “It’s time for you to take a nap!”

I felt a needle prick on my hand but it didn’t hurt.

Seriously? I thought. This crap again!

I would help you but my hands are tied! Derek thought.

Yeah, I have the same issue! Let me guess, Experiment Sebastian used the Knock-Out drug didn’t he? I thought.

Yup! So what’s the plan, genius? Derek thought.

I think we’re going to have to take a nap! I thought.

Again!

Yup, I thought. There's a good chance Cora will be at the wedding and we can kill her then and this time we’re gonna have to wake ourselves up!

Yeah, I got you beat on that one! Derek thought. You might want to figure out how to do that!

I’ll figure something out! I thought. Once again, goodnight!

* * *

After a while, I decided it was time to wake myself up. I had perfect timing when I did it. I saw Cora standing over me grinning.

“Let me guess,” I said with a small groan. “I’m tied up to something, aren’t I?”

“You know me so well,” Cora said. “Yeah, you’re tied up to something! I am your mother after all! It’s funny though, we didn’t even have to wake up this time! And you have perfect timing too!”

“What exactly am I tied to this time?” I asked.

“One of my torture chairs!” Cora said.

“And I’m going to stay put, why?” I said. “I’m already back at Lab 14, just let me kill you already!”

Cora laughed the way she usually laughs. “Oh, that was a bluff, and I’m not calling you God Henry either! Oh, and Experiment Derek is right next to you! He woke up in record time too! It’s time for your wedding!”

“Hurray!” I said sarcastically. Cora laughed again and had an evil smile on her face.

“I wonder why Experiment Sebastian is knocked out. I didn’t use the Blue-Capture drug on him.” Cora said.

I rolled my eyes. “Maybe you should ask him?”

You just can’t help yourself! But when it comes down to Serpenta, I don’t blame you! I just waited for you to wake up so you could taunt her instead of me! Derek thought. I win by the way! I woke myself up long before this stupid wedding is supposed to take place! I just pretended I was asleep after I knocked Experiment Sebastian out!

And you didn’t think to escape because? I thought.

There’s no way I’m letting you marry a creature like Experiment Rose! Derek thought.

You do care! I thought with sarcasm. My hero!

At least Experiment Rose didn’t do anything to you! Derek thought.

How do you know that? I thought.

Remember what happened earlier? Or did you hit your head on something? Derek thought. I used my magic again! You’re welcome!

Well, at least I got some sleep this time! I thought.

Ha, ha, Derek thought. Very funny!

As Derek and I were having this conversation, we didn’t realize that Experiment Rose had walked down the aisle. I heard Experiment Sebastian snarl into Derek’s ear. “Too bad I can’t touch you! You’re too hot to handle, literally, and Experiment Rose had the same problem with Experiment Henry!”

When I heard this I tried so hard not to laugh. Derek, on the other hand, got a real kick out of it.

“Don’t worry, Experiment Derek,” said Experiment Sebastian. “We’ll have our honeymoon tonight, just like Experiment Rose and Experiment Henry will!”

Derek and I were laughing in each other’s head and I was hoping that I wasn’t laughing outside my head when we heard Cora clear her throat. “Now, can we begin the wedding already? I can’t make you say yes when you’re lost in thought, now pay attention!”

I bit my tongue as hard as I could, thinking this is going to be loads of fun!

That’s not funny, Henry! Derek thought.

Yeah… I’m not laughing! I thought.

I think Cora thinks she’s acting in a play or something, Derek thought. Her speech is comical! It’s about love and marriage as a sign of respect when two experiments marry they are married to Lab 14. Blah, blah…

I was half-listening to what Derek was thinking to me and the wedding speech that Cora had prepared. Actually, I wasn’t really listening at all. Cora's voice just sounded like background noise off in the distance. I didn't care what that witch was saying. It was a bunch of nonsense to me anyway. I heard Cora clear her throat to get my attention again.

Serpenta’s getting to be really annoying! I thought.

Yeah, I totally agree! Derek thought.

“Experiment Henry!” Cora snapped.

“Huh?” I said, snapping back to reality.

“It’s time to exchange your vows and you’d better say yes if you know what’s good for you!” Cora said.

I turned my head away from her because I didn't care if Experiment Rose said yes to me being her husband.

“Experiment Henry!” Cora snapped at me again. “Do you take Experiment Rose to be your wife?”

You do realize you can say no right? Derek thought. But you look scared silly right now! I guess I’ll have to snap you out of it!

I didn't say a word. I didn't think a word. I just stared off into the distance. I didn’t realize that Derek had decided to act for me when he took everybody except me by surprise. His decision snapped me back into reality. Cora had cleared her throat again. I didn’t answer her.

“Experiment…” Cora said.

“Noooooooo!” Derek roared as if he were a lion that someone had woken up so rudely from its nap.

Derek broke the chair that he was in when he stood up. The chair practically shattered into a million pieces when he stood up. “If anyone should be tied to a chair and be forced to go on a stupid ‘playdate’ on a regular basis it should be you!”

“Experiment Sebastian!” Cora snapped. “You might want to calm your boyfriend down!”

“I’m not his boyfriend,” Derek roared, “and I’m not an experiment! In case you didn’t know, Henry chopped down a tree and I drilled a hole into a tree stump! Henry and I were the ones that completed The God Challenge and not you! And, it’s God Henry and God Derek to you!”

Derek looked extremely annoyed when Experiment Sebastian had his rope around Derek’s arms tying him, or so Experiment Sebastian thought.

“Do you really think that’s going to work on me?” Derek asked.

Experiment Sebastian gave an evil smile. “I didn’t just tie a rope around you, I used the Blue -Capture drug on you with the same rope!”

“That’s not going to work this time, you idiot!” Derek screamed.

“It did before!” Experiment Sebastian said.

“That’s because I allowed it to!” Derek said. “Only reason I went to sleep was to get into Lab 14 so I can kill the witch here!”

Before I could even begin to get out of the rope, the vein where the needle went into puffed up. The medicine drained out of the vein and really creeped me out. Derek proceeded to kick the podium that Cora was standing by and it shattered in the same fashion that the chair did. For some reason Derek decided not to kill Cora first; he really wanted to go after Experiment Rose first. I don’t blame him! Cora pulled on a lever that was by the nearby railing and a trap door opened up behind her.

“Well, Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian,” said Cora. “I’m taking my leave now! Maybe I’ll see you later, maybe I won’t! Goodbye!”

She jumped down into the trap door and it closed behind her.

Experiment Sebastian smirked at us. “Experiment Rose, it's time we take those two and make sure they stay here!”

Experiment Rose then went over to the nearby railing and pressed a button. A barrier popped up in front of the stage to shield us from what was going to happen to the audience.

“Good idea!” Experiment Sebastian said. “You called in the firing squad. I totally agree on getting rid of the witnesses first.”

What happened next almost made me confirm that I was having a nightmare and was waiting to wake up from it. Almost, but I knew this wasn't a dream and I wished it was.

Men dressed in green and black clothing marched down the aisle while they opened fire on the audience killing everyone. Even more disturbing, the men that killed the audience turned their guns on themselves! I snapped out of my terror and could feel myself starting to get angry.

Are you angry enough to summon a lightning bolt? Or get out of that chair yet? Derek thought.

I hadn’t realized that I was still tied up to the chair until then. I stood up and the chair broke in the same way that Derek’s hadd when he got up. It was as if I had been turned into some superhero and suddenly gained a lot of power. I guess that’s the perks of being a god now.

“Wow, you’re strong!” Experiment Rose gawked at me.

“I’m getting really tired of you gawking at me like I’m your new toy!” I said. “As a matter of fact, why don’t you go play with an actual toy!”

“And you’re pretty strong too, Experiment Derek!” Experiment Sebastian said, gawking at Derek.

“I’m not an experiment!” Derek gave his lion roar again.

What Derek did next didn’t really disturb me that much but it actually amazed me. Derek’s eyes went from being normal to turning to blood red.

Yeah, I’m dreaming! I thought. I don’t think I’ll be getting away from Lab 14 that easily!

Yeah, you will! Derek thought. Hello! You were sent a protector for a reason! And this is definitely going to be fun!

Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian went back to gawking at us and it was getting really old. I was starting to get angry but unfortunately, not enough to summon a lightning bolt yet. What I saw next kind of terrified me. Experiment Rose’s eyes went from all white to all purple.

“Now, Experiment Derek,” Experiment Rose said, “Tell Me You Love Me!”

“No!” Derek snarled at her. “Tell Me You Hate Me, you witch!”

Derek’s attack canceled Experiment Rose’s with no problem at all. His attack was even scarier. His attack latched onto Experiment Rose as he stared her down like a rampaging bull that was getting ready to charge at her. He didn’t even have to charge at her. He stayed right where he was and gripped her in his magic as if he were a unicorn, bringing Experiment Rose within arms reach.

“I just want you to know something, Experiment Rose,” Derek hissed at her, “touch Henry again and you’re dead! I’ve changed my mind! I know, that was so quick, wasn’t it? You’re dead, have fun in the After!”

He used his magic to throw Experiment Rose over the railing as if she were a rag doll. I didn’t hear her scream but instead, I heard a loud satisfying thud as she hit the ground. I looked over to see Experiment Sebastian watching Derek in horror. I grabbed him and there was a bit of a scuffle and I managed to start pushing him over a nearby railing.

“Let me go, Experiment Henry!” Experiment Sebastian said.

“I thought God Derek said that it’s God Henry now!” I snarled.

“You'll never be acknowledged as a god, Experiment Henry!” Experiment Sebastian snapped.

“Coming from you, yeah, you got me on that one!” I said. “As my sister, Sarah, would probably say in a time like this, ‘it’s your funeral.’ Have fun dying!”

I flew up ten feet in the air and threw Experiment Sebastian underneath me and I heard a thud as he hit the ground. A pool of blood surrounded him and I knew for sure that this time he was dead. I brushed my hands together as if I were dusting some sand off them. I laughed when I saw Derek having a lot of fun tossing Experiment Roses bridesmaids over the railing one by one. I looked down. Experiment Rose and her bridesmaids were definitely dead.

Yeah, even though your display of power just now was awesome, I thought. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of that attack!

Oh no, Henry, Derek thought, I’d never do this attack on you!

Okay, I thought, I’ll take your word for it! Now let’s get out of these stupid wedding tuxedos! I don’t think I’ll wear another one, even for my wedding!

You sure about that? Derek thought. But then again, after today, I agree with you on that one!

* * *

Once Derek and I changed back into our original clothing, we stood where the almost wedding took place.

“Are you ready for this?” Derek asked.

“Oh, yeah!” I said. “One less bad memory coming right up!”

I used my magic to summon my shield and started to cut the building in two, starting at the corner to my right. I pushed my shield to the other side and used it to cut the building in half as if I were cutting it with a can opener. Once that was done, we were somehow able to punch a hole in the roof. We were out of the building in ten seconds flat! We found ourselves hovering fifty feet above the building.

“Looks like we both can fly now!” I said.

"Huh, interesting,” Derek said.

Just like after I chopped down that tree, both of Derek’s hands began to glow.

“Huh,” I said. “Both hands this time?”

Out of Derek’s hands came a small beam of light. The light filled the hole that we had just punched in the roof to escape the building. The building exploded and it looked like a huge campfire had been set up in front of us.

“It’s a shame Moria’s not here!” I laughed.

“Why’s that?” Derek said even though he already knew the answer.

“We could’ve had BBQ for dinner!” I said. “I don’t know, though, Pestcord might make a more satisfying meal!”

Derek and I stop ourselves from laughing at the thought. It was still funny to us that Discord was afraid of someone and that someone was me!

“Well,” said Derek, “although this campfire is nice to watch, we should get out of here!”

We flew about ten feet away from the building when I suddenly stopped flying, feeling like I couldn’t go any farther. The next thing I knew, it felt like I had been yanked out of the air. I had the wind knocked out of me as I crashed from fifty feet in the air. The last thing I heard was Derek screaming as I passed out.

24) Family Reunion

{Henry}

When I came to, I wasn't in the In Between. It looked like the place where I had met The Higher. I looked around trying to figure out what was going on.

“I don’t get it,” I said. “Did I flatline?”

“Looks like that hat finally fits ya, kid!” The voice spoke in a strange accent just like the one I’d heard in my memories. I turned around to see an orange pony with blonde hair. She was wearing a Stetson hat just like the one I wore.

“You're the voice with that strange accent that I hear in my memories!” I said.

“Strange accent!” The pony laughed.

“I don’t get it,” I said. “Did I just tell a joke or something?”

That really made the pony laugh.

“You are a hoot, Crimson!” the pony said. “Where are my manners? I guess I should introduce myself to my son!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Huh? At least you’re not Cora! She’s definitely not a mother, that's for sure!”

The pony cleared her throat. “My name's Applejack and the strange accent in your memories come from me being a farmhand when I was alive.”

“Yeah,” said a voice that was just plain weird to me, “and I used to be a Wonderbolt before I died!”

“Don’t scare us like that, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack said as she jumped back in surprise.

I looked behind Applejack to see a light blue pony with strange-looking hair and I knew it was more than one color but I didn’t know what the colors were because of being color blind. The picture on her butt was a lightning bolt coming out of a cloud. I knew this lightning bolt was different from the ones that Milton and Martin had on their butts but I didn’t know why.

“I’m just curious,” I said, “what do the pictures on your butts mean?”

At that remark, Applejack was laughing so hard she was on her back laughing.

“Butts!” Rainbow Dash growled. “We don’t have butts!”

“He called our flanks butts!” Applejack said, still laughing.

“Flanks?” I said. I tilted my head. “I’m not following you!”

“Who is this guy, Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“This guy,” said Applejack, “is our son, Crimson!”

“That’s Crimson?” Rainbow Dash said. “He sure doesn't look like Crimson!”

“Well, duh!” Applejack said. “Are you forgetting that he was stolen from his crib at three years old? And to add to that, he was tested on! So, of course, he would look different! And I hear he was famous before he even became a god! I’m just wondering, why was that, Crimson?”

“I was the first kid Lab 14 ever took,” I said. “Apparently, I was their most valuable one! I still don’t know why that is!”

“What!” Applejack and Rainbow Dash gasped.

I looked away. “It’s true, that witch Cora calls me Experiment Henry and she wants me to call her mommy! I don’t know why I didn’t kill her when I had the chance!”

Applejack growled when she heard that. “Lab 14! They’re the reason why we’re dead now! It happened right after your sister Star was taken!”

“She goes by Sarah now,” I said. “And Lab 14 calls her Experiment Sarah. None of us like the word experiment attached to our names. Sarah’s a brat around me! I’m just glad I’m away from her now because she was getting on my nerves.”

“I’m not surprised,” Rainbow Dash said. “She would always pick a fight with you when you were toddlers. You two would fight with your horns as if they were swords!”

“And we didn’t dare break it up either.” Applejack chuckled.

“Why not?” I asked.

“It was way too much fun to watch!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Anyway,” said Applejack, “those pictures on our ‘butts’ are called cutie marks. And you’re a pony, your backside isn’t called a ‘butt,’ it's called a ‘flank’."

“I wanna know what you look like as a pony,” Rainbow Dash said. “Can you show us?”

“Sure,” I said. “Unicorn!”

When I changed into a unicorn, Rainbow Dash whistled at me.

“Yup,” said Rainbow Dash, “you’re Crimson alright! You look just as weird as you did when you were a toddler!”

“Hey!” I said.

“Why do you have to say ‘unicorn’ to change into your pony form?” Applejack asked.

I shrugged. “Don’t know, you’ll have to ask Lab 14 about that one!”

Applejack then pointed to my flank. “Look, Rainbow Dash! His cutie mark fits his name! Our little Crimson is all grown up!”

“What is the point of a cutie mark?” I asked. “Is it something you’re born with?”

“Oh, no,” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s something ponies get when they realize what their special talent is!”

“And what might my special talent be?” I asked.

“Hmm,” said Applejack thoughtfully. “Maybe it has something to do with the angry moon that we had back in Equestria!”

“Angry moon?” I repeated.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack laughed again as if I just told a funny joke.

“We called it the angry moon because it happened every time Princess Luna got mad!” Rainbow Dash said. “I wonder what happens when Twilight gets mad?”

“Twilight?” I asked.

“She’s the current ruler of Equestria,” said Applejack. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepped down. Everyone adored those two and they were very kind to their subjects. No one knows why they stepped down or where they are for that matter!”

“Oh, I know where they are, alright!” I said through gritted teeth.

“And where would they be?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“They’re in a place called In Between and they’re one the ones stealing children from their cribs!” I said.

“What!” Applejack and Rainbow Dash said.

“Yup!” I said. “I’m sorry, but I don’t like being a unicorn for very long. Human!”

It felt much better when I changed back into a human. “I go by Henry now. I don’t go by Experiment Henry. I hate that name! One more question, if you’re dead then am I dead? I thought gods in the In Between can’t die after they’ve reached the tenth death!”

Applejack shook her head and smiled. “Nope, you’re not dead! We just asked The Higher if we could put you in a deep sleep so we could meet you! Sorry about you yanking you out of the air! We won’t do that anymore! Honest, we won’t! I am the element of honesty after all. That was when I was alive, at least. I don’t know who is the bearer of it now.”

“Same thing goes for me,” Rainbow Dash said. “Before I died, I was the element of loyalty. We’ve heard of In Between before. We went there to try and save you and we died doing so. I had made a vow to protect you and Star at all costs. We failed on that one!”

“No, you didn’t fail!” I said. “You never broke your vow. You went down protecting me to the very end. That’s practically what I did to save my friend Aria.”

“Now you know where you get it from,” Applejack said. She smiled. “You get it from me!”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash said. “He gets it from me too!”

“Oh, really?” Applejack teased. “Because if I recall correctly Crimson would always go to me and say mama first before he said mama to you.”

“That’s funny,” I said, “because every time I gave Sarah a chance to lead the group we were in, her answer to that always was ‘no way!’ So did Star go to you and say mama before she went to Applejack and say mama too?”

“Now, how did you know that?” Applejack said.

I shrugged. “I just assumed that’s all.”

“I’m surprised by my little ‘Wonderbolt apprentice’, what happened to her?” Rainbow Dash asked with a surprised look on her face.

“I have no idea on that one,” I said. “She felt better when I became a god and not her.”

Applejack couldn’t help herself because she went into uncontrollable laughter.

“That’s so not funny, Applejack!” Rainbow Dash snapped.

“Is Sarah narcissistic like Rainbow Dash?” Applejack said, using her hoof trying to stifle a laugh.

“That would be a no,” I said. “Although there weren’t any mirrors around when we were running from Lab 14. It’s hard to tell on that one!”

This time Applejack snorted as she laughed and Rainbow Dash did not look happy about it. I joined in on Applejack's laughter.

“Well, sometimes when kids grow up they don’t always match their parents’ personalities,” I said. “Or so I don’t think so.”

“Anyway,” Applejack said, “we yanked you out of the air so we could finally meet you, Henry. It's been 22 years! And you’ve grown up to be a fine young Stallion, or Man if that’s what humans are called! No, you don’t have a dad for a parent, just think of me as Mother Number One!”

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said, “that’s supposed to be my spot, Applejack! Since you already took that, I guess I’m Mother Number Two! The other reason we yanked you out of the air was to congratulate you on becoming a ruler yourself!”

“Ruler?” I said. “Oh, yeah! You’re talking about me becoming a god aren’t you?”

“As my brother would always say, Eeyup!” Applejack said.

“So I have two mothers?” I asked. “Well, Discord did say he was my godfather! Why did you two name that creature for the job?”

“Ask Rainbow Dash on that one,” Applejack said, once again trying to control her laughter.

“Hey, it wasn’t just my decision!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Yeah,” said Applejack, “he wouldn’t stop pestering us so we gave him the job so he’d shut up! Actually, we gave someone else the job behind his back.”

“And who might that be?” I questioned.

“We gave it to Princess Twilight’s assistant, Spike!” Rainbow Dash said with excitement. “He’s a dragon. I hope you get to meet him when you go to Equestria and contact your Aunt Apple Bloom for us.”

“Why do I need to meet my Aunt?” I said.

“Because she can explain a lot of things about who your family is and stuff like that!” Applejack said.

“Please do this for us!” Rainbow Dash begged.

“It’s our last request before we crossover and can only watch you from the sky,” said Applejack. “We won’t be able to talk to you after this. I wish we could, but this is the only thing we’re allowed to do.”

“Here’s what she looks like,” Rainbow Dash said.

Applejack stepped to the side to reveal a picture of what my Aunt Apple Bloom looked like. Aunt Apple Bloom was a yellow pony with a strange-looking cutie mark. I couldn’t tell what color it was because of being color blind. She had odd hair, tied up with a ribbon into a bow.

Applejack tilted her head. “What’s wrong, Henry?”

“I’m sorry, Mom Number One,” I said, “but I’m color blind and I can’t tell what her colors are or what the colors are in Mom Number Two’s hair!”

“What!” Rainbow Dash and Applejack said.

I looked away because I didn’t have the heart to look them in the eye. “Yeah, it’s true, and Discord said it won’t go away because, apparently, a god has one limitation and one limitation only. My boyfriend, Derek’s limitation is his glass eye.”

“So you’re not interested in females, huh?” Applejack said.

“Nope,” I said. I shook my head. “Not at all! I guess if me and Derek adopted then that child wouldn’t have a mother.”

“Well you don’t need to have a dad to complete a family,” said Applejack, “and your child wouldn’t have a mother and he or she wouldn’t need one to complete a family!”

“Oh, and apparently I can summon lightning bolts when I’m angry, and Discord’s afraid of me now!” I said.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash's jaws were dropped with looks of disbelief on their faces.

“Discord! Afraid of someone!” Applejack laughed.

“And our son on top of that!” Rainbow Dash laughed along with Applejack.

I smiled. “Yeah, Derek and I came up with a pet name for him!”

“Now I’d like to know what it is,” said Applejack. “That should be very entertaining!”

“It’s Pestcord!” I exclaimed.

We all laughed at Discord’s pet name.

“Yeah, that suits him alright!” Applejack said.

“Oh,” said Rainbow Dash, “and we’ll be putting a black mark on the map you have that will lead you to Equestria's gate!”

“How did you know about the gates?” I said.

“The Higher told us about it!” Rainbow Dash answered.

“Well,” said Applejack, “our time is up. Sorry about that, son, but in any case, we’ll be watching from the sky!”

“And because we’ll be watching you,” said Rainbow Dash, “we’ll always be there with you!”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack hugged me as they started to disappear. I tried to chase after them. When they disappeared completely I stopped running.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I was in Derek’s arms, sitting by a tree. He held me as if he’d been protecting me while I was asleep. He looked at me and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that I had woken up. He then proceeded to kiss me and hug me tighter to the point where I could barely breathe.

“Okay, Derek!” I croaked. “You can let go now! I’m not in Fear Shock, let go!”

I could tell Derek was panicked because he kissed me again and when he looked into my eyes he looked like he was scared silly.

“What happened?” Derek asked. “You crashed so hard, you were knocked for a whole day!”

“What?!” I gasped.

“You heard me,” said Derek. “The whole day! I know gods need to sleep but I didn’t know that a god needed to sleep that long!”

I tried to stand up but Derek held tight. “I’m not letting you get up yet!”

“And why not?” I said.

“Because you were knocked out for an entire day,” Derek said. “You actually got injured! You had a…”

Derek didn’t finish his sentence because he looked at my head in surprise.

“I had a what?” I said.

“Never mind,” said Derek, “it’s healed!”

“Actually, I didn’t crash on my own,” I told him. “I was yanked out of the air! And it was my parents that did it. They wanted to talk to me before they crossed over into the sky. They also had one last request that I go and contact my Aunt Apple Bloom in Equestria!”

“In Equestria?” Derek said.

“Yeah,” I said, “apparently that’s where I’m from! That’s probably why I can change into a pony. A pony is my original form. I need to see the map.”

“Sure,” Derek said. He took out the map and handed it to me.

Just like before, the holographic map showed the different locations of the labs we needed to destroy. But this time there was a black dot with a number beside it.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“I think that’s where the gate to Equestria is,” I said.

“If your parents are dead,” said Derek, “then you flatlined again?”

“No,” I said, “I was just put into a deep sleep. And I have two mothers and no dad. They said you don’t need a dad to complete a family, And I totally agree with them.”

“Why’s that?” Derek said.

“Because it would be the same thing if we adopted a child,” I said. “He or she wouldn’t have a mother. He or she would have two dads. There would be no need to have a mother to complete the family.”

Derek nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. I agree with them, too.”

“Now, I think it’s time we head over to Equestria, don’t you think?” I said.

“We?” Derek said.

“Yes, we!” I said.

“But I was born here!” Derek panicked. “I can’t leave!”

I did a facepalm and groaned. “What part of the word ‘god’ do you not understand?”

“Do you really think that’s an exception?” Derek asked.

“I would say that would be a yes!” I said.

“You can say that again!” We heard Discord say.

“Pestcord!” Derek and I said.

“I’m not a pest!” Discord whined.

“Yeah, you are!” I said.

“But I’m your godfather!” Discord said. “I’m so proud of you. See, I knew you two would save the day.”

“Actually, you’re not my godfather, Pestcord!” I said. “I talked to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They actually gave the job to Spike, Princess Twilight's assistant.”

Derek went into a fit of laughter.

“I can’t believe those two would do that!” Discord sobbed. “I’m perfect for the job! And how did you even talk to Applejack and Rainbow Dash anyway? A god can't be flatlined, you know.”

“I know,” I said. “They yanked me out of the sky and put me in a deep sleep.”

“It’s one surprise after another with you,” Discord said.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“I’ve heard of spirits contacting the living before they crossover to the sky,” answered Discord. “I’ve never had it happen to me. I’ve heard of it happening to gods, too. Most of the time when that happens they are just put in a deep sleep.”

“Yeah, well it happened,” I said. “Hopefully it won’t happen again.”

“Oh,” said Discord, “I’m going to be throwing my daughter her gotcha day party soon. I can’t wait! I got some presents for her that I never got a chance to give her. My little Bubblegum has been rescued from Lab 14 finally!”

“Is Bubblegum anyone we know, by chance?” I said.

“She was traveling in the same group as you, God Henry. She has sandy blonde hair, one of her eyes is green and the other one is blue,” Discord said.

“That’s Jane!” Derek and I said.

“Are you guys ready to head out to Equestrias gate?” Discord asked.

“How did you know about that?” I replied.

“Oh, I overheard you two talking!” Discord said.

“But I can’t leave!” Derek panicked again. “I was…”

Discord rolled his eyes. “What part of the word ‘god’ do you not understand?”

“That’s what I just said!” I said.

“I just wish we had killed Cora when we had a chance to!” Derek said.

“Oh, you’ll get a chance to kill her, alright!” We heard a voice say. We turned around to see Eleanor standing right behind Discord.

“You’re Cora’s assistant,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to give you a little parting gift before I headed to the Resistance HQ,” Eleanor said.

“Oh, yeah,” Discord said. “That’s right! I thought Leader Felix would contact you before you two went on an action-packed adventure.”

“Why?" I said. Eleanor tossed me a small black box that didn’t look anything like the boxes that the Resistance used.

“Cora has a tracking device that was put inside her when she started working for Lab 14,” Eleanor said. “It’s not underneath the skin or in the ear.”

“Then where is it?” Derek asked.

“It’s inside the brain!” Eleanor replied.

Derek and I winced when we heard that.

Eleanor nodded. “Yeah, I know that’s where I had mine!”

“Had yours?” Derek said. He tilted his head.

“Yeah,” said Discord. “I flatlined her and took it out. Thankfully, I was able to revive her! I’ve never seen someone so determined to escape from Lab 14 before. Of course, I knew God Henry was going to escape and become a god sooner or later!”

“Yeah, I doubt Cora would want to do what I did,” Eleanor said. “Right now, she only wants to get a hold of God Henry!”

“Why weren’t you there to stop that stupid wedding?” I asked.

“Because I was getting my tracking device out, and once that happened, I made sure that everything that Lab 14 had for its data gathering and stuff like that was destroyed,” answered Eleanor. “Since I was Cora’s assistant, that was easy. I even used her tools to take everything that was in the vault. Cora can be really stupid sometimes. Like when she made you super strong and without any weaknesses. I can't wait until you kill her. That box isn’t just a tracker for her device but it also contains the tools that you can use to kill her. That is, if you need them, although I doubt you will. You’re gods now, and I couldn’t be happier that Cora’s most valuable child will be doing the job. Also, this tracker shows the thirty-five locations that Lab 14 has.”

“What!” Derek, Discord, and I said.

“Yup,” said Eleanor, “thirty-five! I know, that was a shocker to me, too. Anyway, I’m meeting an Agent right here to lead me to the Resistance HQ.”

“Well, hello there, darlings!” I heard a high-pitched voice say. We turned our heads to see a white unicorn with purple hair.

“Agent Rarity!” Discord said in surprise. “You’re the agent that’s going to escort Eleanor to the Resistance HQ?”

“Oh, yes,” Agent Rarity said. “I was working as a double agent. I only did it so I could save the children. And me and Agent Liza found it very funny when your pet snake, Fang, ate those experiments sent by Lab 14 to track down the two gods that will rule In Between. I bet Agent Liza never thought it would be her own son.”

“You have a pet snake, Discord?” I said.

“Yes, I do!” he said proudly. “I love him so much! Bubblegum does, too!”

“Huh?” Eleanor said. She gave Discord a perplexed look.

“Discord’s adoptive daughter,” I said. “I know, I feel sorry for Jane.”

“I’m not that bad!” Discord scoffed. He smiled at us when he saw our map.

“What is it, Pestcord?” I asked.

Agent Rarity and Eleanor went into hard laughter after hearing Discord's pet name.

“Oh, yeah!” Agent Rarity said, laughing in between her words. “That's the perfect pet name for you, Discord! It suits you.”

“Like I said, I’m not a pest!” Discord said with a whine to his voice. “However, I can transport God Henry and God Derek to Equestria. It'll cut their travel time in half.”

“Fine, fine…” I said. “But after this, don’t hover over us. We’re gods, not babies!”

“Fine!” Discord mumbled. Eleanor and Agent Rarity said their goodbyes and Discord snapped his claw. The next thing we knew, Derek and I were standing in front of the gate that led to Equestria.

25) Story Time

{Henry}

As soon as we got to Equestria’s gate, Discord snapped his claw and disappeared. Standing in front of us was a young woman with white hair and blue eyes. She had a look on her face like she couldn’t contain her excitement.

“Hi there!” the woman said. “My name is Elizabeth. I’m the guardian of gate Twenty-Five, the gate that leads to Equestria. That’s where you’re from, God Henry. When you enter through the gate, you will end up in a place called Ponyville. When you get past the gate, just take the road down to a farm called Sweet Apple Acres.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s just about as easy as finding Nightdale!”

“Nightdale?” Derek asked.

“Long story…” I said.

“Oh, and God Derek,” said Elizabeth, “you can stay in Equestria for as long as you want. Yes, it is another universe, but you guys are new so your power won’t upset the power in that universe. Just keep in mind that you’re a god now, God Derek!”

The look on Derek’s face was priceless.

“That’s not funny, Henry!” he snapped.

I laughed even harder when Derek said that, because I just couldn’t help myself.

“Okay, you two,” said Elizabeth. “God Derek and God Henry, it’s time for you to get going! Have fun in Equestria!”

Elizabeth took out of her pocket what looked like a huge key. She opened up the gate and we walked through to Equestria...

* * *

We didn’t have to go very far to see a tall purple pony with wings and a horn, and a crown on top of her head. She was the one to greet us. Because she looked a lot like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, I was wary of her. As soon as she let down her wings, Milton and Martin took us by surprise when they ran up to us from behind her.

“Henry!” Milton said.

“Derek!” Martin said.

Milton gave me a hug so tight that I thought he was going to break my rib cage and Martin did the same thing to Derek. When Derek and I got hugs from Milton and Martin it was like we knew what each other was going to say next.

“That’s nice, Milton,” I said.

“That’s nice, Martin,” Derek said.

“You can let go now!” we said.

“That’s cute!” Milton chuckled. “You two can say a sentence at the same time now.”

“Okay, you two,” the purple pony said. “Can you let me talk to the two gods from In Between that I’ve heard so much about?”

“Yes, Mom!” Milton said.

“Yes, Mom!” Martin said.

I raised an eyebrow. “Mom?”

“Yes,” said Martin, “this is…”

“I think I can introduce myself,” the purple pony said. “My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. It's so nice to meet you. Milton and Martin speak highly of you two.”

“Uh-huh…” I said. I was definitely wary of her because she had the word ‘princess’ attached to her name.

“Let me guess,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “you think I have a lab, don’t you?”

“How did you…” I said.

“Milton and Martin told me all about what’s going on in the place called In Between.” Princess Twilight Sparkle said.

I didn’t say anything at first, I just looked at Milton and Martin for an answer.

“Yeah, we told Mom about Celestial Labs and Star Labs,” Milton said.

“And I’m not happy with my mentor,” Princess Twilight Sparkle said. She shook her head. “I can’t believe she would do such a thing.”

“Sorry about that, Mom. I hope we don’t have another angry moon tonight,” Milton said.

I laughed. “You know, my mothers, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, told me that Princess Luna would do that when she got angry.”

“Wait.” Princess Twilight Sparkle said. “When did you talk to Rainbow Dash and Applejack? They're dead.”

“They yanked me out of the sky and put me into a deep sleep to talk to me,” I told her.

“Wow!” Princess Twilight Sparkle said.

“So, what happened after you guys left us?” Martin asked.

“One word,” said Derek. “Wedding…”

* * *

When Princess Twilight Sparkle, Milton, and Martin heard what Derek had said, they gasped in horror.

“You married someone?” Milton asked. “Was it Derek?”

“No, I didn’t marry someone,” I said. “I almost married someone and it wasn’t Derek, that’s for sure!”

“Almost married someone?” Princess Twilight Sparkle asked.

I slowly let out a deep breath. “Yup, thankfully Derek wrecked it while I was pretending not to be there! It was like he was a rampaging bull!”

Derek fell out laughing when I said that.

“What’s so funny?” I said.

“That’s what you were doing?” Derek laughed in between his words. “The red eyes that you saw, I call that attack the Rampaging-Bull attack!”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” I said. “Instead of saying ‘tell me you love me’ to activate it, you said ‘tell me you hate me’. Yup, that’s not psychotic at all!”

“Hey,” said Derek, “you were having just as much fun tossing Experiment Sebastian over the railing while I was tossing Experiment Rose and her bridesmaids to their deaths!”

“Are you following any of this conversation, boys?” Princess Twilight Sparkle asked.

Milton shook his head. “Nope!”

“Not at all!” Martin said. “Henry?”

“Yes?” I said.

“Your dinner’s here!” Milton laughed.

“Hey,” Moria said. “I said I’m not working for another lab and I meant it!”

After Moria said that everyone except Princess Twilight Sparkle burst into laughter. “Is this an inside joke?”

“I guess you could say that,” Milton said.

“Let’s just say Henry’s been wanting to cook her food ever since day one of meeting her!” Martin said.

“And why would God Henry do that?” Princess Twilight Sparkle asked.

“Because she’s annoying, and she still is,” I said.

“I just wish she was there when we blew up the main location for Lab 14,” Derek said. “We could’ve had a nice, filling dinner.”

“I’m not that bad,” Moria whined.

“You know,” I said, “you’re about as bad as Pestcord!”

“Oh yeah,” said Milton. “Sarah told me about your pet name for Discord! That suits him, all right!”

“I totally agree with that one,” Princess Twilight Sparkle said. She chuckled. “At least he’s having fun in the In Between and not coming by the castle all the time. He’s the main reason that I would have an angry moon.”

“Discord’s afraid of Henry,” Derek said.

“Why is he afraid of him?” Princess Twilight Sparkle asked.

“Because Henry can summon lightning bolts when he’s angry,” Derek said. “He almost killed Discord because he kept saying he was Henry’s godfather.”

“Yeah, I know about that,” Princess Twilight Sparkle said. “He begged to be Milton and Martin’s godfather too and there’s no way I’m going to let that creature take care of my boys if something happened to me.”

“Thankfully, my parents actually gave the job to Spike,” I said. “By the way, can I meet him? Rainbow Dash said he was a dragon and that he’s huge.”

“Oh, you’ll get a chance to meet him tomorrow,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “He’ll be back at the castle then.”

“I hope I get to do some chicken chasing soon!” Moria said.

“You can’t do it now because?” I asked.

“Because that stupid dog at Sweet Apple Acres keeps following me around!” Moria barked. She gave a look of annoyance.

“Maybe she thinks your voice is dreamy?” I said.

“No way!” Moria barked.

“What?” I said. “She is your species after all!”

“She’s probably following you around to make sure you don’t eat all of the chickens!” I heard another pony say. “And her name is Winona! I do recall setting some food out for you today!”

I looked to see who the voice was coming from and she looked like the picture that Applejack and Rainbow Dash had shown me.

“You must be my nephew, God Henry, who is also Crimson! Or should I call you God Crimson in your pony form?” Aunt Apple Bloom said.

Princess Twilight Sparkle seemed puzzled by this. “That’s Crimson?”

“Yup! I’m pretty sure of it!” Aunt Apple Bloom said. “Can you change into your pony form for me?”

“Sure,” I said. “Unicorn!”

“Yup,” said Aunt Apple Bloom, nodding. “That’s Crimson, all right. He’s just about as goofy looking as he was when he was a toddler. And Applejack and Rainbow Dash flatlined me to show me what you look like now.”

“Hey, I’m not goofy looking!” I said.

“Yes, you are,” Aunt Apple Bloom said. “And I can only assume that’s God Derek standing beside you?”

Derek looked at me and smiled. “I didn’t think you were goofy looking. I love you the way you are!”

“I take it he’s your boyfriend, huh?” Aunt Apple Bloom said.

Derek and everyone else started laughing at me.

“You should see your face right now!” Derek said. “You are turning about as red as a tomato.”

“Ha, ha, Derek!” I said.

“Now, your sister Sarah or Star, whichever one she prefers to go by, should be here in a bit if she stops looking at herself in the mirror for the tenth time today!” Aunt Apple Bloom said.

When Aunt Apple Bloom said that I couldn’t contain my laughter.

“I prefer to go by Sarah, Aunt Apple Bloom!” Sarah said. “I just can’t help myself, I never got a chance to look at myself when we were running from Lab 14!”

“Pffft,” I snorted. “You’re Mother Number Two’s kid all right!”

“Let me guess,” said Aunt Apple Bloom. She rolled her eyes. “You’re talking about Rainbow Dash, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, she was mad when Applejack took the number one spot!” I said.

Aunt Apple Bloom snickered.

“Oh yeah,” said Sarah. “I got flatlined a couple days ago so Mama Applejack and Mama Rainbow Dash could see me before they crossed over into the sky. They said they talked to you first since they couldn’t flatline you because you’re a god now. Mama Rainbow Dash calls me her ‘Wonderbolt Apprentice’. I don’t think I want to be a Wonderbolt but I guess I’ll have to be a leader anyway. Especially since Aria’s a princess.”

“What!” Derek and I said.

“It’s a long story!” Sarah said.

“Yeah, you got flatlined,” I said. “Mama Number One and Mama Number Two yanked me out of the air from about fifty feet and apparently I was knocked out for a day.”

“Yeah, that didn’t sit well with me,” said Derek. “Just like Cora trying to get you to marry the creature, Experiment Rose!”

“Alright, you two come with me,” said Aunt Apple Bloom, “so I can fulfill Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s last request and help them watch you in the sky in peace.”

* * *

When we got to Sweet Apple Acres we went inside the house and Aunt Apple Bloom smiled at me.

“First things first,” said Aunt Apple Bloom. “I’m pretty sure God Henry, or God Crimson, whatever you go by-”

“I just go by Henry, Aunt Apple Bloom,” I said. “You don’t have to call me God Henry. You’re family, it wouldn’t sit well with me if you did.”

“Okay then,” said Aunt Apple Bloom. “I’m pretty sure Henry wants to know why we think he’s so goofy looking.”

“I was wondering about that myself,” said Sarah. “He doesn’t look goofy! I think he’s handsome. If anyone should be admiring himself in the mirror, it definitely should be Henry. Of course, I do it all the time now!”

“You’re definitely Mama Rainbow Dash’s kid, all right,” I said.

“Mama Applejack says you her kid, doesn’t she?” Sarah said.

“Applejack's brother, our uncle, would say, ‘Eeyup!’” I said.

Aunt Apple Bloom laughed when she heard me say that.

“Anyway,” Aunt Apple Bloom said, “there’s a mirror over there. Why don’t take a good look at yourself while you’re still a pony.”

“Sure,” I said.

“You see,” said Aunt Apple Bloom, “the reason why we think you’re so goofy looking is because of your eyes. And being goofy looking is not a limitation unless it becomes a handicap, like Derpy!”

“What is it about my eyes that’s so different?” I asked.

“Most of the time,” said Aunt Apple Bloom, “ponies in Equestria- and that includes- foals have very colorful and lively irises around their pupils. Yours are just plain dark! We’ve never seen a foal with your type of eyes. Never, not at all. And not to mention you have a strange birthmark on your right ear.”

I looked in the mirror and looked at my right ear. There was a very small patch of black fur, standing out against the rest of my ear, which matched the fur on my body. "Huh? Why didn't I notice that before?"

"Probably because we were too busy to look in a mirror while running from Lab 14!" Sarah exclaimed.

“Just like Pestcord said,” said Derek, “there’s one surprise with you after another!”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “So, do I have to be transformed into a pony the whole entire time I’m here?”

“Henry, I’m in my human form,” Sarah said in a matter-of-fact way.

“Yup, Sarah’s right!” Aunt Apple Bloom said, nodding. “You don’t have to be in your pony form the whole time you’re here. Believe it or not, there are some humans that live here, too.”

“Okay, then,” I said. “Human!”

Like always, I felt better changed back to a human.

“There’s something you two need to know about Snips and Snails,” Sarah said.

“What happened?” Derek asked.

“We were told by Leader Felix that you had informed him of Henry going into Fear Shock,” said Sarah. “Let me ask you this, Derek, did Snips and Snails say that the true love kiss was the cure to cancel it out, or did they say it was an option? Because if I recall correctly, they said it was a gift.”

“Yeah, they said it was a gift,” Derek replied.

“Exactly,” Sarah said. “Leader Felix finally dealt with those two and we heard a very loud crash that came from the tent when he called them in there.”

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that he broke a table in front of them,” Derek said.

“How do you know that?” Sarah asked.

“He was my mentor before I even reached child status in the Resistance,” said Derek. “I’ve seen it happen quite a few times. I’m surprised he didn’t call me there too! I think I might’ve failed at my mission.”

Sarah shook her head. “Oh no, you didn’t! Your mission was to get those tracking devices out of us and lead us safely to Snips and Snails. They were supposed to take over by leading us safely to the Resistance. You completed your mission because we weren't back at HQ you couldn’t wear your badge again. And according to Leader Felix, you were the one that set up the barrier around the Inn as your first game plan in taking the tracking devices out, and you had the tools to do it if that didn’t work.

"Like you said, how Snips and Snails ever reached Agent status is beyond you. Snips even did that spell on Henry because he wasn’t talking at the time and all Snips had to do was ask us about it. You told him that we knew what was wrong with Henry. Snips and Snails are the biggest idiots ever. They had the same training you did and you’ve completed all your missions, even up to now. I’m pretty sure you two will do your job at destroying Lab 14 and the other labs in the In Between. Snips and Snails, on the other hand, should have sent a distress signal to HQ when Henry went into Fear Shock!”

“About the Fear Shock thing,” I said. “Apparently that can happen to gods if they don’t get any rest. According to Pestcord, even gods need to take a break from ruling!”

“Makes sense to me,” Sarah said. “You weren’t really sleeping at all before it happened.”

“And,” said Derek, “He’s going to get enough sleep now if I have something to say about it.”

“Ha, ha, ha!” Sarah said. “Yeah, Henry can be a little hard-headed sometimes.”

“And you’re a brat!” I growled. “So, I think we’re even.”

Aunt Apple Bloom smiled and cleared her throat. “I think it’s time I start explaining things to you, but where should I start? That’s the question." She stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. “I guess I should start by saying that Applejack was a really strong pony. She could buck apple trees by the time she was six years old!”

I tilted my head. “Apple bucking?”

“Oh, yeah!” Sarah said. “It’s a lot of fun! It might be a job to keep a roof over our heads, but it sure doesn't feel like a job. Aunt Apple Bloom showed me how to do it. Can we show him, Aunt Apple Bloom, please?”

Aunt Apple Bloom nodded and laughed at Sarah’s reaction at the very thought of apple bucking.

“Sure,” Aunt Apple Bloom said.

We went outside and Sarah stood right underneath an apple tree.

“Unicorn!” Sarah said and transformed.

I watched in amazement as Sarah used her back legs to kick the tree. Every single apple from the tree fell into the basket beneath it.

“See!” Sarah said with excitement. “You wanna try? No shield this time. You just need to use your back legs.”

I shrugged. “Unicorn!”

Sarah showed me how to do it one more time and Aunt Apple Bloom brought out another basket, placing it beneath the tree that I stood under.

“Go ahead,” said Sarah, “do it!”

I kicked the tree just like Sarah had shown me and I was amazed at what happened. Just like when Sarah had kicked her tree, every single apple fell off and into the basket. After I did that, I found that I was having fun doing it. I could see Derek trying so hard not to laugh.

“You look like you did when you were fighting that creature, Experiment Rose,” Derek said. “And I saw you having fun when you picked Experiment Sebastian up and let him fall to his death!”

I realized that what Derek was saying was true, only this time I wasn’t trying to kill someone. I looked over to see Aunt Apple Bloom looking at me and Sarah in wonder.

“Huh,” said Aunt Apple Bloom. “It’s almost as if Applejack gave birth to you two herself. I’m surprised she didn’t rename you two to have something to do with apples. But your name was already on your birth certificate, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack didn’t want to change them. We should go back inside so I can tell you more about things. You can change back into a human now.”

“Human!” Sarah and I said and transformed.

We went back inside the house and Aunt Apple Bloom began to explain. It took her over three days to explain things to us as much as she could. She even had ten different volumes of pictures of my mothers as they were growing up, and when they first got together and married each other, and then adopted me and Sarah.

Aunt Apple Bloom also explained to me what had caused my mothers’ deaths at Lab 14. They had done exactly the same thing I had when I went to go save Aria. They walked right into a trap, knowing it was a trap going in. They just wanted to find out where I was to save me. But they did have things set up in case something like this happened when it came down to my sister Sarah needing to be taken care of. My Aunt Pinkie Pie took Sarah in after Applejack and Rainbow Dash died. Unfortunately, shortly after my parents died, Lab 14 stole Sarah from Aunt Pinkie Pie next. Aunt Pinkie Pie was very upset and it took a long time for her to work on getting past it, and I don’t blame her!

Once Aunt Apple Bloom had finally explained things and showed us those pictures of my parents, Sarah was eager to tell us about her engagement with Aria.

“You said Aria’s a princess,” I said. “How did that happen?”

“She’s Shining Armor and Princess Cadance's adoptive daughter,” Sarah said. “Shortly after Flurry Heart was born, they decided to adopt Aria so she could have a sibling to play with. Or something like that. So I’ll be living in the Crystal Empire. Don’t worry, Aunt Apple Bloom, I’ll stop by for a visit when I can!”

“I’ve told you several times Sarah,” said Aunt Apple Bloom, “although a visit would be nice, you don’t have to worry about us. Oh, Henry and Sarah, your actual godfather, Spike, is coming here right about now.”

Right on cue, we heard thundering footsteps coming up to the house. Spike didn’t even have to knock when Aunt Apple Bloom opened the door. He was really excited when he entered the house.

“Where are Star and Crimson, my two godchildren?” Spike said. “I heard they’ve finally arrived from that awful place, Lab 14!”

Aunt Apple Bloom pointed to me and Sarah. “There they are!”

Spike paused when he saw us. “But they’re human! Why aren’t they ponies?”

Aunt Apple Bloom did a hoof face and groaned. “Are you forgetting that Star and Crimson were taken when they were toddlers and tested on by Lab 14? So they have a human and a pony form now. And they go by Sarah and Henry!" She looked at us. "Would two mind if you changed into your pony form to show Spike?”

Sarah and I nodded. “Unicorn!”

When we transformed into ponies, Spike was overjoyed.

“It is you guys!” Spike said. He then proceeded to pick us and swing us around. He put us down and smiled at us.

“Who’s that guy beside you two?” Spike asked, looking at Derek.

“That would be God Derek, God Henry’s boyfriend!” Aunt Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“Wait…” Spike paused and looked at me. “You’re the God Henry? And your boyfriend is God Derek? The two gods that rule In Between now?”

“Yup! That would be them!” Aunt Apple Bloom said with pride and a twinkle in her eye.

“So, you’re telling me,” said Spike, “that my godson is an actual god!”

I nodded.

“Wow!” Spike said.

“Hey, you two haven’t told us about your action-packed adventure that you two had when you left us before we got back to Equestria!” Sarah said.

“Oh, yeah!” We heard Milton, Martin and Jane say. “We wanna know, too!”

“And I would like to know also!” a deep voice said.

“Oh, hey, Big Mac!” Aunt Apple Bloom said.

I looked over at the doorway to see a pony that was twice as big as Aunt Apple Bloom and I had no idea what color he was. I asked Derek about it and he said that the pony was dark red and his cutie mark was half of a green apple.

Aunt Apple Bloom turned to us and smiled. "In case you're wondering, this is your Uncle Big Mac."

Uncle Big Mac nodded. "Eeyup!"

I looked to see Martin, Milton and Jane standing in the doorway also. Aunt Apple Bloom brought out some extra chairs for everyone to sit on.

"So what happened?" Sarah asked.

“I think we should start at the point where Mr. Genius over here,” said Derek, “made the decision to allow us to go under the Knock-Out drug to get into Lab 14!”

“Hey!” I said. “I didn’t hear you come up with anything, so you should be the one to talk!”

When everyone heard that, they laughed so hard they had tears coming from their eyes. Once everybody calmed down, Derek and I proceeded to tell our story. Derek actually decided to start when we were fighting those creatures, Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian. Everyone got a real kick out of our fight with those two. Especially when Derek taunted Experiment Sebastian by asking if he could chop down a tree like me!

Then Derek just had to tell everybody about my bright idea to go under the knock out drug and Experiment Rose making me propose to her. Everyone gasped when they heard that part of the story. But they laughed when I told them about Derek being a rampaging bull when he wrecked the wedding for me and using that same attack to toss Experiment Rose and her bridesmaids to their deaths. Of course, Derek had to add in the part where somehow I had figured out how to fly first. He saw me dropping Experiment Sebastian to his death.

Everyone even laughed when we told them that I can summon lightning bolts when I’m angry and that Discord is afraid of me now because I almost killed him with it.

Sarah was definitely angry when I told everybody that Experiment Rose had an engagement ring on standby for when I proposed to her.

Derek and I left out the part where we can share each other’s thoughts because we figured that if they didn’t know that it would be easier for us to do it without them asking what we’re doing.

After we finished our story, Aunt Apple Bloom asked me and Sarah if she could see our music boxes that our parents had given us. I took my music box out of my pocket and was surprised to see that it hadn’t been damaged by everything that I went through.

“Why isn’t it damaged?” I asked about the music box.

“They’re indestructible,” Aunt Apple Bloom exclaimed. “So that way when you always carry them with you for good luck! And so when you go away from Equestria, you will always be able to find your way back! You wanna know what tune that music box plays on it?”

She started to sing along with the music box. The tune started with the words ‘Equestria, the land I love’ and ended with the words ‘Equestria, my home!

“If you ask me,” Aunt Apple Bloom said, “you did find your way back. The music box worked like a charm! It’s just sad that you two came back after Applejack and Rainbow Dash died.”

Sarah and I looked away, I guess because we didn’t want to show how heartbroken we were at the thought.

“It’s okay, you two,” Aunt Apple Bloom reassured us. “That wasn’t your fault. True, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were hoping that you two would grow up in Equestria, but not everything goes as planned. Now, I know Sarah’s going to be living in the Crystal Empire and, just like I told Sarah, while a visit would be nice, don’t you and God Derek worry about us.”

“Um, I agree with Henry on the whole family calling us god thing,” said Derek. “You can just call me Derek. Adding god onto my name when it comes down to you guys just doesn’t sit well with me either. And we’ll be popping in for a visit every once and a while. It might be a little bit before we do, you know, because we have a job to complete, and all. And we can’t stay here forever because this universe might self-destruct because of power being added to it.”

“And don’t forget,” I added, “you guys can come visit us too! We’ll send an alert to you where we’re taking a break. I still can’t believe all of you guys that were traveling with me are royalty, except for Jane. I do feel sorry for you because you’re Pestcord’s daughter!”

Jane got a real kick out of that one. “Yeah I know, I still can’t believe that creature is my father!” she said. “Actually Henry, I'm royalty now, too!”

“I didn't have enough time to tell you when you went to Sweet Apple Acres with your Aunt, but Jane and I are married now,” Milton said.

“What!” Derek and I said in surprise.

“Well, that was quick!” Sarah laughed. “But Aria and I only started dating when we were running from Lab 14! When was the wedding?”

“It happened right after we got back to Equestria,” said Milton. “We started dating right after Henry and Derek left!”

“That’s right,” Sarah said. “I forgot Jane told me about that.”

“Sorry we couldn’t invite you guys,” Jane said. “But it was a royal wedding, only the royalty could come. I’m not sure why that is.”

“I wasn’t sure why that was either,” Milton said. “I’m going to assume it has something to do with the laws of Equestria."

Sarah perked up for some reason. “Hey!”

“Yes?” I said.

“We should play a game of sword fighting before you two go back home,” Sarah said.

“Swordfight?” Derek repeated. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

“Apparently it’s something we used to do when we were toddlers!” I groaned. “Do you really want to do this now? Aren’t we a little too old for that?”

“Oh yeah,” said Spike, “I remember you two doing that!”

“Yup!” Aunt Apple Bloom said.

“Eeyup!” Uncle Big Mac said.

“Come on!” Sarah begged. “Please?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Fine!”

As soon as we went outside, Sarah and I changed into unicorns. We then proceeded to charge at each other, horns clashing as if they were swords. Everyone found it really entertaining of course and they couldn’t hold back their laughter even if they wanted to. After a while, I got annoyed, stopped playing, tackled Sarah, and sat on her.

“This,” I said, “is for sitting on me when Milton went to go see my stitches when my voice was taken out.”

I pretended to get up and sat on her again. “This is for sitting on me when my voice box was being put back in!”

“Okay, okay!” Sarah giggled. “I surrender! You win!”

“I think we’ve had enough fun today!” I said.

“Fine!” Sarah said.

“Human!” Sarah and I said.

Once we changed back into humans, Aunt Apple Bloom looked puzzled by what I had just said.

“Did I hear you correctly? Voice box?” Aunt Apple Bloom asked. “What in the hay is that?”

“It’s something evil Lab 14 likes to do with their experiments,” Milton growled, “as a form of punishment.”

“Or, in my case,” I said, “to keep me from running away!”

“Yeah,” said Jane. “They figured out how to take away the way we would normally make sounds and put them into a box!”

“If it gets taken out,” said Sarah, “we can’t make a sound at all! Zip! Zero! Nothing!”

“Is that why Henry couldn’t talk or laugh or anything like that when I first met him?” Derek questioned.

“Yup!” Sarah said. “That’s exactly what happened.”

“I was hoping to tell you what happened when I got it back,” I said, “but with all of the craziness going on I totally forgot. Sorry about that, Derek.”

Without warning, Derek hugged me and kissed me. It was met with a chorus of ‘awwww’s.

“It’s okay,” said Derek. “I totally understand.”

“Well,” said Sarah, “tomorrow I have to take the first train out to the Crystal Empire.”

“And we have to go back to the castle,” Martin said. “But I’m pretty sure we’ll see you two around, Henry and Derek.”

“Yeah, I have to go back too,” Spike said. “I have to go to another country to negotiate a peace treaty with them. I guess this is where we say goodbye.”

Derek and I said our goodbyes and went back to the In Between the next day. When we got back, I was ready to destroy Lab 14 once and for all!

7) Arrival at Inter Inn

As Moria was leading us to where the Inter Inn was Sarah was looking at me with concern because I was still keeping my right hand in my coat pocket.

“You gonna tell us,” said Sarah, “why you’re keeping your hand in your right hand in your coat pocket?”

I shook my head and looked down at the ground.

“I take it, that's a no?” Sarah said.

“At least he’s left-handed. But I don’t know how that’s going to help working odd jobs at the Inter Inn!” Milton said.

Sarah paused and looked like she just had a light bulb go off inside her head.

“Oh no,” said Sarah, “I just realized something!”

“What?” Milton said.

“He won’t be able to change into a unicorn now!” Sarah said.

“I don’t think that matters right now!” Moria said.

“Why?” Martin said.

“Because,” said Moria, “the owner of the Inter Inn is human! He’ll understand our situation.”

“Oh good!” Milton said with relief in his voice.

When we got to Inter Inn the owner was standing outside waving at us.

“Hey Earnest!” Moria said. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going good!” Earnest said. “Are these the children Princess Celestia told me about?”

“Yes,” said Moria, “but we have a problem with Henry!”

“Which one is Henry?” Earnest said.

I gave a little wave to Earnest and he nodded.

“Derek!” Earnest said.

A young boy about our age came out of the inn and smiled at us.

“Yes sir?” Derek said.

“Take these five with you, and show them what they’ll be doing,” said Earnest, “Henry come with me!”

“Yes sir!” Derek said. He then led the rest of the group inside and Earnest motioned for me to follow.

I hesitated and Moria bit on my coat sleeve and led me after Earnest. I followed Earnest into a room that was behind the desk.

“So what happened Henry?” Earnest said.

I didn’t do anything but raise an eyebrow at him and pointed at my throat and shook my head. Earnest responded by giving me a look of confusion. Moria looked at us and spoke for me.
“According to Princess Celestia, Lab 14 took his voice box, and hes been keeping his right hand in his coat pocket, my guess is that they used that hand to torture him!”

“I wish someone,” growled Earnest, “would go into Lab 14 and blow it up from the inside out!”

“You know that’s not possible right?” Moria said.

“Yeah I know,” Earnest said, “but it’s not fair either way you look at it! You want to show me your right hand Henry?”

I backed up to a nearby wall and shook my head rapidly.

“Come on,” said Earnest, “it can’t be that bad can it?”

“Henry!” Moria begged. “Please show us your hand! No one else has to know, honest!”

I bit the inside of my cheek debating about if I should show them or not. I decided to pull my hand out very slowly. When Earnest and Moria saw my hand they gasped at it. Moria licked the stitches and I winced at the pain because it stung.

“Sorry about that Henry,” said Moria. “Cora’s so cruel! Although I’ve seen worse, I guess you got off easy!”

I stared at Moria and wanted to pick her up by her collar and hang her with it.

“I know, I know,” said Moria, “I shouldn’t talk about what happened to you so lightly, my bad!”

I balled my hands into fists and my stitches almost came out.

“Easy there!” Earnest said putting a hand on one of my fists. “You don’t want your stitches to come out. Your hands are already starting to bleed! Just calm down okay?”

I relaxed my hands and looked down to see that my hand was starting to bleed.

“Well,” said Moria, “what are we going to do about it? He obviously doesn’t want anyone to see it. Trust me, I don’t blame him!”

“I have an idea!” Earnest said. He picked up a box off the table behind him, reached in and brought out a black glove.

“If you keep this glove on,” said Earnest, “you’ll be able to work without anyone seeing it. We should probably wrap up those stitches so they don’t bleed. I don’t want you doing any hard labor. So I just think you should be my assistant for now, sound good Henry?”

I nodded and Earnest got to work on wrapping up my stitches.

* * *

After Experiment Henry tripped the alarm outside of his room and Cora saw he was gone she wasn't happy about it. She wondered how Experiment Henry was able to escape so quickly and left no trace behind.

“How on earth did Experiment Henry get out?” Cora said. “I have a feeling of who did it too! Damn it! Agent Discord!”

Discord popped up out of nowhere and didn’t look at Cora as though he were a bad little kid.

“If you have something to do with this Agent Discord,” said Cora, “I swear!”

“What are you going to do about me Cora?” Discord sneered. “It’s not like you can do anything! I’m the Lord of Chaos, and without me, you wouldn’t have the powers to shut down your ‘experiments!’ You could fire bullets at me and I would just sit and drink a cup of tea and not even flinch!”

“Oh really now?” Cora said. “I think we should test that theory!”

“Fine by me!” Discord said. He snapped his claw and he was floating in the air sipping a cup of tea. Cora took out her gun and smiled.

“Let’s see,” said Cora, “if I can empty this gun on you!”

“Fire when ready!” Discord said and made a circle with his hand and made a bullseye appear in front of him.

Cora fired quite a few bullets and some of them hit Discord’s tea cup but he just kept drinking. A couple of the bullets hit Discord’s bullseye and all he did was giggle as if they tickled him. Cora stopped firing her gun and put it away.

“You weren’t kidding,” said Cora, “were you?”

Discord pulled on his beard in annoyance.

“What part of 'Lord of Chaos' do you not understand?” Discord said. “Since my reasoning goes in one ear and out the other, I vow to kill you in one ear and out the other! But I won’t do that. Until I steal all of your experiments and send them back home. So I’m breaking the contract! Goodbye for good!”

Without another word, Discord snapped his claw and disappeared. However, Discord knew that his threat of violence was just an empty threat because it was not his place to do so.

* * *

Willow was standing behind Princess Luna with a confused look. Princess Luna was sitting on her chair looking at her computer with a mischievous grin.

“So your highness,” said Willow, “when are we going after them? They already got through your maze and that was without their leader Experiment Henry!”

“I do have another idea,” said Princess Luna, “I'm thinking of giving them another test to go through. Once they pass this test, they’ll be that much closer to going home! Unfortunately, it involves your sister Ada!”

“What?” Willow said. “Why Ada? And why now?”

"Yes I know,” said Princess Luna, “and you know why it has to be Ada!”

“I know,” said Willow, “to throw the tracker cats off the Experiments trail! I wonder how many she’ll kill this time?”

* * *

Cora rubbed her temple as she was angry with Discord for breaking Experiment Henry out of Lab 14. Once again, she was pacing up and the main hallway while her state-of-the-art computers were trying to come up with a plan to get him back.

“Agent Rarity,” said Cora, “I’m sending you after Experiment Henry! The tracker cats I’m sending under your charge are Ezra, Aaron and Lily they’re the best in the business! Bring Experiment Henry back alive. The rest of the Experiments you can do with what you see fit. You can kill them for all I care! Experiment Henry is the most valuable experiment we have!”

“Why is he so important ma’am?” Agent Rarity said.

“Let’s just say,” said Cora, “he’s the pinnacle of our achievements and there’s nothing that can kill him. He’s been able to survive any stress you put on him. And that includes data gathering! Get Experiment Henry back and then deal with the rest of the trash!”

Agent Rarity gasped at what Cora thought of the other experiments that were traveling with Experiment Henry.

“Is that how you view them ma’am?” Agent Rarity said. “Things to go into the trash?”

“In a sense yes!” Cora said. “If an Experiment doesn’t give us good results then they are no use to Lab 14!”

Agent Rarity looked like she was about to protest that idea but, she chose not to say anything. After that, the tracker cats showed up.

“You want us to go after someone ma’am?” Ezra said.

“Yup,” said Cora, “I want you to go after Experiment Henry! I suspect that Discord broke him out of his room!”

“How are we supposed to track him?” Aaron said. “We don’t have his scent!”

Cora took out one of Experiment Henry's shirts that she had him wear during the data gathering.

“Oh that’s right,” said Cora, “here’s a shirt that he wore when he was under our charge. Remember the scent and get him back alive at all costs!”

Each of the tracker cats sniffed Henry’s shirt and nodded. Even though Agent Rarity had a pet cat herself she was not fond of the tracker cats at all.

“Now go,” said Cora while waving them off, “time is of the essence!”

“Yes ma’am!” All of the tracker cats said.

* * *

“Okay,” said Milton, “let’s get to work!”

Derek showed Milton, Martin, Sarah, Jane and Aria to the barn behind the Inn. They were surprised to see actual horses in the barn. There were three horses in total.

“Are these actual horses?” Jane said.

“Yes,” said Derek, “their names are Bobo, La’al, and Cube. My mom, dad and I go riding on the weekend. I’ve competed in some competitions myself. Now you stallion's Milton and Martin stay away from La’al and you mares Sarah, Jane and Aria stay away from Bobo and Cube.”

“Hey!” Milton and Martin said. “Who are you calling a stallion?”

“Let me see if I can explain this in simple terms,” said Derek, “you’re a male pegasus right?”

“Your point?” Milton said.

“The males,” said Derek, “in the pony world are considered stallions and La’al is a mare. The females in the pony world are considered mares Bobo and Cube are stallions.”

“Okay?” Sarah said. “Why do we have to stay away from them?”

Derek did a face palm and groaned, “That’s because it’s mating season!”

“No thanks!” Milton said. “I don’t need a horse for a girlfriend!”

“And we,” said Sarah, “don’t need horses for boyfriends!”

Derek couldn’t control himself, he laughed so hard, he had tears in his eyes.

“That’s not funny!” Sarah and Milton said.

“Hey,” said Jane, “what about Henry?”

“You mean that kid that went with dad?" Derek said.

“I wonder if Henry’s going to show them his right hand?” Sarah said.

“Oh yeah,” said Derek, “I noticed he was keeping that hand in his coat pocket. What’s up with that?”

“We don’t know,” said Jane, “ever since he got out of Lab 14 he hasn’t showed us yet.”

“What’s Lab 14?” Derek said. His expression appeared oblivious as to what Lab 14 was.
His look made Sarah suspicious but she decided to explain it to him anyway.

“It’s an evil place,” said Sarah, “where they capture kids and experiment on them!”

“Yikes!” Derek said.

“Let’s hope,” said Milton, “that you never get taken. Although you look about as old as we are. So I doubt they will take you.”

“Do you guys even know how old you are?” Derek said.

Sarah shrugged, “It doesn’t say on our ID cards it just says our names and what pony we’re classified as.”

“That’s all kinds of messed up!” Derek said.

“No kidding,” said Aria, “considering the hell that Henry just went through I’m very surprised that they even let him live!”

* * *

The next day that we were staying at the Inn. I was working with Earnest as his assistant when I noticed that he was staring at me with a curious look on his face.

“I’ve noticed something different about you,” said Earnest, “can you see the correct colors of the boxes and the things I've given you?”

I guess I should’ve figured out a way to ask for help because when I was putting things away to the best of my ability I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t tell if I was putting them in the right box because it all went by color. I shook my head at Earnest’s question.

“Hmm, interesting. So your color blind then?” said Earnest.

I nodded my head and looked down at the floor.

“I see,” said Earnest, “I’ll label the boxes as to what color they are for later. We can go back and correct them tomorrow okay? Don’t worry, the items aren’t messed up that bad.”

I nodded and yawned because it was getting late but I couldn’t make a sound with my voice box gone. Earnest then grit his teeth and slammed his fist on a nearby wall.

“You can’t even make noise when you yawn! And I bet Lab 14 is the reason why you’re color blind!” Earnest said. “I’d like to take an M60 and kill every single one of those cursed scientists! Especially Cora! She’s the head of Lab 14. She almost took Derek from me!”

I then titled my head in confusion.

“The only reason my wife is gone all week,” said Earnest, “is because she made a deal with Lab 14 so they didn’t take Derek! She’s an agent for them now because of it!”

I then put a hand on his shoulder and that was enough to make him calm down. I heard Moria when she came from outside.

“Oh no you don’t!” Derek said, pulling Moria by the collar. “You need to wash your muddy feet before you come back into the Inn!”

“Why?” Moria said.

“Because I’m not letting you get muddy footprints on the floor after I just cleaned it!” said Derek.

“Fine!” Moria said.

“Derek?” Earnest said.

“Yes sir?” Derek said.

“After you do that,” said Earnest, “can you show Henry to his room? I think I’m going to turn in for the night.”

“Yes sir!” Derek said.

After Derek took care of Moria he came in and showed me to my room.

* * *

Later that night, I had a nightmare, it was the first one I had ever since I woke up. I was in some sort of cave or at least that’s what it looked like to me. I was tied up to the ceiling by my wrists and the restraints were very tight, so tight that I thought I thought my hands were going to come off. Although I think that whoever was my warden wanted that.

“Now, now,” I heard a voice say, “Experiment Henry it’s time for you to come out and play!”

When I heard that voice, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. When I saw Ada, I felt nothing but terrified.

“Hi Experiment Henry!” Ada said. “Boy you’re getting more and more cute by the day! It’s time for our play date now!”

When Ada came near me to untie I kicked her in the chest.

Ada smiled, “You do that every time! And I think that’s adorable!”

“You’re psycho, you know that?” I said,

“Moi? Psycho?” Ada said. “That makes me love you even more! Which is why I like playing with you a lot! You’re my favorite one, you know that right?”

“I’m not going to play today!” I said. “I’m not in the mood!”

“That’s too bad!” Ada said. “Sorry you’re going to play and you're going to like it!”

Ada then took me down from the ceiling and dragged me to the center of the cave and tied me a pole.

“I’m glad I took your shirt away from you,” said Ada, “it makes your scars more visible! And you’re even more cute without it.”

“Again, you’re a psycho!” I said.

“And you have a sense of humor too!” Ada said. “What girl wouldn’t want to be with you?”

“For the last time Ada,” I said, “we’re not together. You’re not my type!”

Ada slapped me as hard as she could and I felt the sting from it.

“Do I need to take your voice box out again?” Ada said. “I don’t really want to do that you know? Too bad it doesn’t count as an organ! And since I’m not able to kill you yet, I’ll just play with you instead!”

“I don’t think that what you consider play is not “playing”, I said, “I’m surprised Lab 14 doesn’t lock you away in a straight jacket!”

“But I’m special just like you!” Ada said. “So they don’t have the heart to lock me away!”

“And you think Lab 14 has a heart?” I said. “As if!”

Ada smiled at me and she forced me to sit down and sat on me. I wouldn’t allow myself to show how afraid I was at the time.

“Hum,” said Ada, “you continue to fight! That’s okay, this’ll all be over before you know it! Just relax already!”

I couldn’t do anything because of being tied up, when Ada leaned in for a kiss, that was when I woke up.

* * *

When I woke up, I was in a cold sweat.

That almost felt more like a memory than a nightmare! I hope that’s not a memory!

“You okay Henry?” I looked up to see Derek sitting at the edge of my bed.

I just about fell off the bed in surprise when I saw him. Derek grabbed me before I hit the ground and I sat back up.

Derek rolled his eyes, “Dad wanted me in the same bedroom to keep an eye on you.”

Derek pointed and there was a bed across from mine. I rolled my eyes at him and he laughed.

“It’s okay Henry,” said Derek, “I’m not going to do anything. Unless you want me to!”

I scooted away from him and shook my head. Derek then kissed me on the forehead and went back to his bed.

Why am I always running into weirdos? Although Derek's a different kind of weirdo and I'm not sure if I want to find out what kind of weirdo he is...