"You couldn't have thought through the whole fusion thing before actually getting stuck together?" Jake asked, annoyed at his friends' lack of foresight.

"To be quite fair, it was Mike who lost his cool and Cameron who proceeded to goad him, not me. This isn't my fault, per say." Mick said calmly.

"Do you even know if this can be reversed?" Naomi asked.

"Nope." Mick answered smiling.

"Was there anything in the book that Mike read that could help?" Jake asked.

"Nope."

"Can we talk to Cameron or Mike?" Naomi asked.

"Not individually, no. Like I said, the spell merged them into a single person, me. One plus one equals one." Mick said. "I would guess that asking the Princesses for help would be a smart idea."

"Then let's get going." Jake said.

On the way to the Throne Room, Naomi asked, "So, Mick. You're basically Cameron and Mike. Are you a Brony or not?"

"Good question." Mick said as he thought about it.

Hell yeah, but I'll be damned if I tell anyone. Mick thought.

"I can't say." Mick finally said with a nervous laugh.

The three entered the throne room, much to Princesses' surprise.

"Sorry, to bother you, Princesses, but we have a tiny problem." Jake said as he motioned to Mick.

"Hi, I'm Mickam, but please call me Mick or Mickey." Mick said.

"Ugh, not another one." Luna sighed as she facehoofed.

"Luna, be polite." Celestia said. "What is the problem? Where are Cameron and Mike?"

"That's just it." Naomi said.

"The fools went and fused themselves. Mickey here is the result of the spell." Jake said.

Luna looked rather amused and surprised, while Celestia looked concerned.

"Are you certain?" she asked.

"Well, the proof is right here, Your Majesty." Mick said.

"Can you please explain this whole situation, please? It's confusing." Jake said.

"Of course. 'Mickam' is the combination of both Mike and Cameron. Instead of two minds in one body, there is only one. This pony is the mixture of all the traits and the personalities of the two. Fusion magic is just that, the fusion of two things to make a single one."

Mick sighed. "I already explained this to you, Jake. I thought I was pretty clear."

"Sorry, but the whole 'my-two-friends-are-in-the-same-body' thing was kind of a bombshell." Jake retorted.

"Fusion magic is not to ever be used on two ponies, however. Usually, if the fusion is a failure, the two fused minds battle over dominance for the body. This causes mental instability." Celestia said, her voice sounding very concerned. "When the fusion is perfect, the minds are no longer two separate ones but rather are a single mix."

"I'm hoping Mike performed the spell well. Did he, Mick?" Naomi asked.

"I dunno." He said. "I feel fine. Definitely no battle going on in my mind for dominance."

"Even when the fusion is correct, the new pony doesn't last for very long. Usually within a few hours does the new mind find difficulty processing the memories and thoughts of the two fusees. They literally think themselves to death."

For the first time in the relatively short period that Jake and Naomi had known him, Mick actually looked concerned. All the cheeriness had left his expression.

"Am… I going to die?" Mick asked softly.

"Are you finding conflicting emotions or thoughts?" Celestia asked.

"No. It's been smooth sailing so far. Rather pleasant, actually."

"How long has it been since the spell was cast?" Celestia questioned.

"About two hours." Mick answered. "I mean, I feel fine. Great, really."

"Is there a way to get Cameron and Mike back, Princess?" Naomi asked.

"I know of one, yes. However, it requires another to go into his mind and separate Mike and Cameron's own minds from his."

"And what would happen to Mick?" Jake asked.

Celestia hesitated. "He would simply be gone. He can only exist when the two are fused. For lack of a better term, he would die."

Jake glanced at Mick. He looked at the floor and seemed sad at the idea at dying.

No shit, Jake. Jake thought as he scolded himself. Dying isn't exactly a happy thought.

"Mick? What's your opinion on this?" Naomi asked.

Mick didn't answer for a few seconds. His expression changed back to his normal smile.

"Serious moment alert." He said. "It's not really for me to decide."

"Actually, it is. This is your life." Naomi said.

"No. It's theirs. Besides, we have no idea how long I'll last even if I do choose to stay." Mick said. He turned to Celestia. "Do what you need to do."

Celestia nodded. "I'll require somepony to go and separate the two."

"I'll go." Naomi said.

"Very well. You need to make a fission between Cameron's and Mike's thoughts large enough so that I can split the two up. Once you're inside, you will be able to bend the reality of his thoughts in anyway you see fit. Once the fission is made, I'll proceed with the spell." Celestia said as she turned to Mick. "I'm sorry for this."

Jake walked up to Mick and held out his hoof, which Mick shook. "For what it's worth, you're much more fun to talk to than Cam."

"You ready?" Naomi asked Mickam. He simply nodded.

Naomi's horn glowed brilliant green. She suddenly found herself falling into a strange black abyss. She tried flying, but nothing happened. She fell to what she thought was the ground and started to feel herself lose consciousness.

With much effort, she kept herself awake. She sat up, her vision blurry. She brushed hair out of her face with her hands.

Wait…

Loading…

Loading…

Done… I have my hands!

She assumed that wherever she was, she wasn't bound to a pony body anymore. This assumption was reinforced when she stood up.

I almost forgot what it felt like to walk on two legs.

She searched the ground for her glasses and found them not too far from where she landed. She proceeded to put them on.

When she saw where she was, she really couldn't help but stare. Around her seemed to be some kind of desert compound. From the looks of the Humvees and armored tanks, she guessed it was some kind of military outpost.

Protruding from the middle of the compound was a large frame that was similar to a sphere, but actually had many facets across it. She was in a wrecked administration building of some sort.

Her observations were put to an abrupt halt when she felt something press into the back of her head.

"Hold it right there, miss." The voice behind her said.

"Stand down, private. She's obviously a civilian." Said another voice, yet this one sounded familiar to Naomi. She turned to face the men and found herself looking down the barrel of an assault rifle.

"Yes, sir." The private sighed as he moved the gun away from Naomi's face, much to her relief.

She had originally thought there were only two men, but she now saw perhaps half a dozen. One ran up to the obvious leader.

"Sir, Spetznaz are barricading themselves inside the Dome." Reported the soldier.

"Gotcha, corporal." The man said before turning to Naomi. "Who are you, miss? What are you doing out here in a combat zone?"

"I-I'm Naomi. Who're you?" she asked.

The soldier took off his helmet and black sunglasses. Naomi saw that his rather short hair was a mixture of black and dirty blonde. He also had astonishingly green eyes.

"I'm Staff Sergeant Mickam. Please address me as Sergeant or sir." He said.

She heard a loud bang come from outside, and she heard one of the Humvee's rear view mirrors break.

"Sir! We need to attack the enemy position before they gain control of communications." The corporal said. Murmurs of agreement came from the other troops.

"I'm not rushing in there without thinking things through, corporal. " Mickam said.

Wait, Naomi thought to herself, Cameron is always talking about Call of Duty. She facepalmed. She was obviously in one of Cameron's thoughts.

She knew that she needed to get Mike and Cameron split up as fast as possible.

Might as well start here.

"Corporal, scout the lot, take the M4A1 with an ACOG scope."

"Yes, sir." The trooper said as he crouched and slowly walked to the front door.

Naomi remembered what Celestia had said earlier about changing the reality of this dream world. She formulated a plan and tried to hold back a smile.

She guided the enemy sniper to the corporal, who until now had gone unnoticed. With a simply nudge with her mind, she made the sniper pull the trigger.

The corporal fell, but left no sign of blood.

"No!" Mickam exclaimed. His eyes flickered blue for a moment, but returned green immediately.

Cameron is the one with blue eyes, so I must be getting to him. Naomi thought. I just need to get him a little angrier.

She made the remaining troops rush outside, only to meet a similar fate as their comrade.

She even sent in a few rounds from a grenade launcher for good measure.

Naomi watched as Mickam's hair went from just black streaks to full black and his eyes change from green to blue.

"Stupid noob tube!" he exclaimed, his voice no longer Mickam's, but Cameron's. "Suck on this camper!"

He pulled out a light machine gun and began firing directly at the sniper. Once he was gone, Cameron rushed to the entrance of the dome building.

The scene shifted immediately to a parking lot outside of a grocery store. Cars pulled into and out of the spaces.

She saw a teenager walk through the parking lot from the store. He looked to be either fifteen or sixteen years of age. He had the same startling green eyes and mismatched hair as Mickam.

Naomi instantly knew what to do. She brought a piece of tin foil into existence and placed under one of the cars that Mickam was going to pass.

She knew that Mike, much like Naomi, had a weakness for shiny things. Naomi had once gone under a truck to get to something that glinted as the sunlight reflected off of it. It had turned out to be a dime. In the process, she had gotten a piece of chewing gum in her hair.

If Mike was anything like her, he probably would do the same.

Mickam looked under the car, curious. However, much to Naomi's dismay, he just walked away.

Naomi decided to walk up to him.

"I wonder what that is under the car." She said.

"It's probably tin foil." Mick replied.

"But what if it isn't?" Naomi asked. "It could be anything."

Mick's hair lost its black streaks for a second, but returned quickly.

"I doubt it's anything worthwhile." Mickam said as he continued his walk.

"It could be a rare coin. Or gold. Maybe a rare gold coin." Naomi suggested. Mick stopped, the black stripes in his hair fading until they were completely gone.

"Which car was it again?" he asked excitedly. His voice was one hundred percent Mike's. "Never mind, I'll just check all of them."

He rushed off and began his search.

"Good work. I'm retrieving you now." Celestia's voice said out of nowhere.

Naomi felt as if she were being sucked into a vortex, but upwards. She fought the urge to vomit as she hit the floor of the castle.

She glanced down at forelimbs and saw that her hands were gone once again. Naomi sighed before standing back up.

In the corner of her eye, she saw a bright white flash. She turned after the light had faded and saw both Cameron and Mike laying on the floor.

Cameron groaned. "Why is my neck so stiff?"

Mike shuddered. "I-I shared a body with Cameron. I shared a mind with Cameron. Oh, God. The horror."

Cameron got up and kicked him. "Shut up."

"Welcome back, bozos." Naomi said.

"Remind me never to do that again." Mike said. "I'm sore practically everywhere."

"I'm going to bed." Naomi said.

She took two steps and fell unconscious from exhaustion.

Next Chapter: The Plot Thickens Estimated time remaining: 55 Minutes