Naomi sighed out of complete exhaustion. She had been in the Royal Archives with Mike for the past three days. Normally back home, she would crank out work easily, quickly, and efficiently.

However, she did so with the aid of caffeine. Coffee, energy drinks, energy shots, even straight sugar gave her the energy needed to actually get things accomplished.

The unfortunate thing was, there were very few sources of the stimulant in Equestria.

Sure, they have tea, but it tastes like mud. Naomi thought. Looks like it too.

Naomi closed her eyes for a moment to think of the past week.

Apparently, the past week was supposed to be Mare Heat Season. Naomi was only vaguely familiar with the concept. She, along with every other mare in Ponyville (including areas throughout Equestria), had turned crazy and started hunting down males for… unmentionable reasons.

Naomi shuddered. She hadn't remembered very much from her welcoming party, much less the following day.

Canterlot was somehow shielded from the heat, which meant the mares didn't go crazy. Naomi suspected that was the Princesses' doing.

I guess it would be pretty weird if the princesses suddenly started hunting down random guys in the streets. She silently laughed at the thought.

The four had agreed to stay out of Ponyville until the temperature went down a few dozen degrees.

The boys had proceeded to tell Naomi about their encounter with the being that called himself Keeper. Naomi at first had been skeptical at the tale, but they three seemed to be telling the truth. She immediately had grabbed Mike and went to the Archives to find any clue as to how they could get back home.

Much to her dismay, the books that filled the shelves numbered in the thousands. Another downside was that each book had at least five hundred pages. There were even some colossal ones that had over two thousand each.

Each one was less helpful than the last. In truth, all of the books were interesting, just not helpful.

She decided to look into some of the books that Mike had already read, ranging from energy projection to changeling detection spells.

What had caught her interest the most was the Time Distortion Spell.

"C'mon! Just let me read it!" she pleaded to Mike as he snatched the book from her grasp.

"No way! This spell could destroy reality if you use it wrong. Even I'm not going to ever use it." Mike shot back.

"But it'd be fun! Freezing time, going to the future, going to the past, it sounds so cool! Where's your sense of adventure?" Naomi asked.

"I have a sense of adventure!" Mike said quickly. "I just don't want reality to destroy itself."

"You're no fun." Naomi said.

"Why don't you go take a walk and practice some magic? Take one of the spell books with you." Mike said as he threw a random book towards Naomi who caught it with her magic.

"What? You're kicking me out?" Naomi asked.

"Heck yeah I am!" Mike said as he pushed Naomi towards the hall and closed the door behind her.

"Killjoy." Naomi muttered as she walked through and out of the castle.

As she walked out of the courtyard and into the actual city, she stole a peek at the title of the book.

101 Need-to-Know Advanced Spells. Let's see here…

She flipped through the book, briefly skimming the miscellaneous spells. Most were spells that Mike had already showed her.

She was about to give up on the book when she stumbled upon number sixty-seven: Spell Deflection.

Though it drains one's reserves of magic considerably and quickly, this spell not only deflects a spell, but redirects it at the caster. Known to cause severe headaches and tooth decay if handled improperly. Use at the exact moment an unfriendly spell is cast for maximum effectiveness.

As Naomi finished reading the description, she stumbled upon a crowd of ponies.

"Wonder what this is about." Naomi said to herself as she closed her book. Like the rest of the ponies, she directed her attention to the wagon in the middle of the street. The wagon unfolded, revealing a large stage and large props.

In a flash, smoke and sparkles erupted from the stage. When it cleared, a royal blue pony dressed as a magician had appeared. Naomi facehoofed as she realized who it was.

"Witness amazing magic and stupefying tricks from the Great and Powerful Trixie!" the mare announced. A she said that, small fireworks appeared over head, causing some ponies to gaze in awe.

Nothing to do here. Naomi thought as she rolled her eyes and continued reading about the Deflection spell.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is the most intelligent, cunning, and skilled pony in all of Equestria!" Trixie continued. "Only the Great and Powerful Trixie could defeat the dreaded Ursa Major and keep it from destroying Hoofington!"

At this, many ponies in the group began to murmur. Some cheered while some gasped at the feat.

"Pfft. Please." Naomi said, her eyes still trained on the book.

Trixie scowled and looked into the crowd, looking for the pony that dared to question her power.

"Does somepony doubt my magical prowess? Does one of you require a demonstration of my power." Trixie questioned.

"Sure, why not?" Naomi said as she closed her book and walked to the front of the crowd and onto the stage. She had an obvious bored expression on her face. "Show me what you've got, Weak and Pitiful Trixie."

In her mind, Naomi was going into a troll-mode quite similar to Mike's.

A wild Trixie appeared!

"Insolence! Perhaps you will appreciate The Great and Powerful Trixie's power now!" Trixie said. With her magic, she took off her hat and set it next to her. Then she used her magic to bring a rope out of a vase and sent it slithering towards Naomi.

Wild Trixie used Wimpy Rope!

The rope was unbelievably slow and slithered towards Naomi. As it reached her front hoof, she stepped on it. The rope struggled to escape.

It's not very effective…

Trixie stuggled to move the rope, but Naomi wouldn't budge. She gave up on the trick and used her magic to create a miniature storm cloud over Naomi.

Wild Trixie used Thunder Bolt!

As the cloud unleashed its lightning, Naomi used the new deflection spell. The lighting changed course from Naomi and headed straight towards Trixie. She wobbled, tying to keep her balance.

It's super effective!

Naomi walked over to a dazed Trixie and said, "Try to tone down the bragging next time."

She walked off the stage rather dramatically and the crowd began to disperse, as if nothing had happened.

"I think you might have over done it." Jake said as he landed close by to Naomi.

"Nah. She'll be fine." Naomi said as she looked back at a now unconscious Trixie.

"That's not really what I meant. You might've altered the plot line of the show." Jake said.

"Well, apparently that's not such a new thing with you three guys. Worst comes to worst, she stays out of Ponyville and Twilight doesn't learn anything new about friendship." Naomi said.

"You really should fix this." Jake said.

"Ugh, fine." Naomi sighed. She walked back over to Trixie and continuously poked her until she woke up.

"What do you want?" Trixie said spitefully.

Naomi muttered something unintelligible.

"What?" Trixie said, trying to hear.

"Sorry." Naomi finally said. Every fiber of her being screamed at her not to apologize. "You should go to Ponyville and try again."

"Ponyville, eh? I'll bet none of the unicorns there have the power to best the Great and Powerful Trixie." Trixie said, a cocky smile coming across her lips.

Through clenched teeth, Naomi said, "I'm sure they'll love you there."

"Don't think this is the last you will see of the Great and Powerful Trixie, for she will be back to redeem herself." Trixie said.

"Greatcan'twaitseeyoulaterbye." Naomi said quickly as she teleported away. She appeared next to Jake.

"How'd it go?" Jake asked with a smile.

"She didn't seem discouraged at all. She's still cocky as ever." Naomi said. "What did you do today?"

At the Archives…

Mike smiled over his latest achievement. Before him was what looked like an apple. However, on the inside, there was an orange.

Now I can bite into an orange without having to peel it! And there's no annoying core!

He smiled ear to ear at his creation. The spell he used was a type of fusion magic.

I shall call it the apple-orange. Or should it be orange-apple?

He shook his head and decided to call it the apple-orange. He took a cautious bite into the fruit. His eyes lit up in delight as he tasted both the flavors of an apple and an orange.

"Mike, you in here?" Cameron said as he walked through the door. Mike took a slice of the apple-orange and handed it to Cameron. "What is-?"

"Shut up. Eat it." Mike said.

Cameron took the slice and ate it, his eyes widening.

"Is this an orpple?" Cameron asked after he swallowed.

"A what?" Mike asked quizzically.

"You know, an orange and apple, but together. An orpple."

"I actually just call it the apple-orange, but yeah. Is it good?" Mike asked.

"It's an apple and an orange in a single fruit, of course it's good." Cameron said. "As cool as it is, is this really what you've been working on all day?"

"Pretty much. It was more for fun than anything else."

"What else can you make?"

"So far just the orpple." Mike answered. "I used something called fusion on the two."

"Like Dragonball Z kind of fusion?" Cameron asked.

Mike's mouth went open as he stared at Cameron in surprise and disbelief.

"Something wrong?" Cameron asked, confused.

"No… it's just that… well, I never really thought that you watched that stuff." Mike said.

"You watch a show about colorful ponies and magic." Cameron retorted.

"Touché." Mike said.

"Anyway, do you think you can fuse different things if you tried? How about ponies?" Cameron asked, rather intrigued by Mike's new magic.

"The fusing might be permanent, so I'd rather not use it on someone. Besides, I don't know if it would work." Mike said.

"You're no fun." Cameron said with a sigh.

"You're the second to say that today! I'm fun. I just don't want to risk my life." Mike huffed.

"C'mon Mike. Just try." Cameron said.

"Who, pray tell, would I fuse?" Mike asked.

"Try it with us." Cameron said.

"There is so much wrong with this conversation, Cam, it isn't even funny. For the last time, no." Mike said with obvious irritation.

"Wimp." Cameron jeered.

Oops, must've hit a nerve. He thought. Really, he had been kidding about the fusing, but he saw that it was too late now.

Mike's horn glowed a bright crimson and that was the last Cameron saw before blacking out.

Courtyard to the Royal Castle…

"Time Distortion?" Jake asked on the way towards the Archives.

"Sounds cool, right? Mike won't let me anywhere near the book though." Naomi said.

"Maybe he has good reason." Jake said neutrally.

"Probably." Naomi said. "But he could at least let me know what it does. I'm going crazy from guessing."

"It probably distorts time." Jake joked.

"No dur. But how does it distort time? Does it stop time and erase it? Does it simply slow time down?"

"When we get in there, just ask him. He'll get annoyed and just tell you. It usually works for Cameron." Jake said.

As they went through the garden, a unicorn walked up to the two. He had a hazel body and green eyes. His mane was dirty blonde with streaks of black. He had a purple circle as his cutie mark.

"Hey guys." The mystery pony said, his voice a combination of two others.

"Uh, hi. Who are you?" Naomi asked.

The stallion smiled and facehoofed. "Silly me. Forgot to tell you who I am."

Jake thought the pony's voice sounded familiar, yet it seemed meshed with another, making it unidentifiable.

"My name is Mickam, but please call me Mick. Or Mickey. Whichever you prefer." The pony said.

"And how do we know you?" Jake asked, confused.

"You knew what I used to be. For simplicity, I was Mike and Cameron. Surprise!" Mick said cheerfully.

Both Naomi's and Jake's mouths dropped. Naomi was the first to recover from the shock.

"So… who are we talking to right now? Mike or Cameron?" she asked.

"Well, you're talking to Mickam. It's somewhat difficult to explain." Mick said with sigh. "Mike used a fusion spell on himself and Cameron. Therefore, I am now here."

"What the hell do you mean by fusion?" Jake asked.

"I mean that the spell caused their bodies, minds, and powers to fuse into one. Their personalities probably mixed too, but I can't tell as of yet." Mick said.

"And the personalities aren't conflicting at all?" Naomi asked, intrigued.

"Not as far as I can tell." He replied with a smile.

"This is weird." Jake said.

"Really? I thought this was all quite normal." Mick said sarcastically.

"Yep. Definitely Cameron." Jake sighed.

"The only problem with this fusion is the jumbled memories, but I'm sorting through them." Mick said.

"What's Cameron's favorite color?" Jake asked.

"Lime green."

"What's Mike's favorite app?"

"Angry Birds."

"How much money does Cameron owe me?" Jake asked.

"I'm not telling." Mick replied.

"Darn it." Jake said.

"As interesting as this is, we really should get Mike and Cameron back." Naomi said.

"That's just the thing, isn't it?" Mick said with a small chuckle. "I have absolutely no idea how to reverse this."

Next Chapter: Fission! Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 3 Minutes