//------------------------------// // Impossible // Story: Way Past Equestria // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Pure chaos clashed with absolute magic, creating an explosion so incredible that if reality wasn't tearing at the seams it would have been the craziest thing the heroes had seen that day. Twilight was hurled back from the explosion, but managed to catch herself in the air and rocketed back towards Sombra. Sombra let out something that was a mix of a laugh and a scream before blasting apart the sky above him. "What's gotten into Twilight?" Pinkie asked. "From what ah heard...the princesses gave her everything," Bunnie answered. Antoine picked her off the ground and cradled her as she shook her head. "They're gone. And they gave her everything they had. To give us a chance." The heroes took a moment to mourn. Eggman took that moment to study the fissure before casting a glance at the battle between Twilight and Sombra. "The fissure is going to shatter the Chaos Source in a matter of minutes. And, poetically, that's about how long I'd wager Twilight can hold out against Sombra." "Which means we've got minutes to save all of reality. Same old," Sonic said. "Alright Eggman, hit me with your best idea." "Sombra's not the only one who managed to carve out a last resort," Robotnik said. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small, emerald emerald that put the green emerald to shame. "You carved an emerald out of the Master Emerald?" Sally asked. "Judge me later, right now it's out best bet," Robotnik said. "This emerald has a direct link to the Chaos Source and is our best bet to fix it. If we can use it to boost the powers of a being that already has incredible amounts of chaos energy, then perhaps we can use that chaos energy to seal up the fissure." "That's your plan?" Tails asked. "What? You don't like it?" Robotnik said, clearly insulted. "That's a one in a million shot, at best." "Then you heroes should have no effort pulling it off," Robotnik jabbed. "Now the only question is who among you is dumb enough to try to seal up the entire force of chaos?" "Me," both Sonic and Discord said at the same time. "Back off Discord, I've done this kind of thing before." "When you had all seven emeralds. Now you're down to one. I'm a god of chaos. I've been messing with chaos magic long before you were even an idea," Discord replied. Eggman tossed the emerald to Discord with a nod. "Besides, I have a feeling that you're going to be needed elsewhere." Twilight crashed through the group as he said this, collapsing into a heap beside them. She spat out blood as she rose to her hooves, but her body was shaking and her breath was ragged. The group turned to face Sombra, who was attacking planets that had gotten too close to the battle. "Twilight?" Rainbow asked. "He's too strong. There's no semblance of his mind left, but Sombra's so unfathomably powerful that it doesn't matter," Twilight weakly said. "It's taking everything I've got to slow him down, but this power isn't going to last much longer." "Then let us back you up," Sonic said. "Yeah, we're all with you Sonic," Fluttershy said. "No you're not. Sonic, back up Twilight. Shadow, help Discord. The rest of you, come with me. There's something else that would be far more productive than all of you hurling yourself to your deaths," Robotnik instructed. Sonic and Twilight took off after Sombra, who paid them little mind until they started to attack him. Discord and Shadow grabbed hold of the emerald and channeled all of their chaos might. "CHAOS CONTROL!" A beam of pure chaos erupted from the emerald and struck the focal point of the fissure, slowly sealing the devastation in the source back up. It took everything the two had to move the emerald along the fissure, slowly repairing the damage done to it. For a moment, it looked as if their combined chaos power, along with the emerald, might be enough. Then the fissure tore itself open where they had fixed it and reopened the entire wound. "No...no dammit, no!" Shadow snarled. "It's not enough! The power isn't enough." "Don't you dare give up on me now," Discord demanded. "We're not going to let everypony die just because the source of all chaos in the multiverse doesn't want to cooperate! Now do what you do best and cause some chaos!" The two poured everything they had into the beam, sealing up the damage once more. This time the two made sure to take extra time to seal the wound up even stronger than before...until a blast of chaos caught the both of them and blasted them out of the sky. "Discord!" Fluttershy screamed. "Shadow!" Rarity called out. "Leave them! We have bigger matters to focus on," Robotnik barked. Fluttershy and Rarity took off towards the pair, getting Eggman to curse under his breath before he started doing the work that Fluttershy and Rarity were supposed to be doing. Fluttershy landed next to Discord, who wasn't moving, while Rarity slid next to Shadow, who was trying to get back up. "I'm...sorry..." Discord weakly said. As he said this, the fissure in the Chaos Source tore itself back open and reality continued to plunge. "We can't...heal it...faster than it can...destroy itself...we're too late. Sombra...damaged the emerald...with his attack. Barely...any power...I'm so sorry..." "You did all you could," Fluttershy whispered softly, brushing her face against Discord's. "Don't you...quit on me...now," Shadow spat. He tried to push himself up, but his body gave out and he fell over. Rarity caught him and gently leaned him against her. "Toss me the emerald and I'll finish this myself." "Shadow, you can barely breathe. Please, don't hurt yourself any further," Rarity begged. "I am...the ultimate lifeform. I can...repair all of the multiverse...with ease," he coughed. "How are they?" Rainbow Dash asked as she appeared next to the four. "Discord and Shadow are down. Sombra took them out," Rarity said. "Yeah, and unfortunately, it looks like Twilight and Sonic are going to join them," Rainbow bitterly said. The four turned to look just in time to see Twilight plummet towards the ground, saved at the last second by Sonic catching her. The two tumbled across the ground and landed in a heap, where Sonic was the only one to get back up. Sombra glared down at the hedgehog before shrieking and started firing off blasts into the multiverse, causing more realities and dimensions to come crumbling down. Sonic grabbed Twilight and raced her over to the heroes, where he fell over himself. "We can't stop him. Speed means nothing and Twilight's magic is starting to fade," Sonic informed the group. "If Sombra hadn't been driving insane by the power, we'd all be done for." "We may all be done for anyway," Fluttershy said. Sonic glanced at her and she pointed up, getting Sonic to look up at the source. "Discord and Shadow couldn't fix it. They couldn't repair it faster than it could tear itself apart." "Faster..." Sonic muttered, looking back up at the Source. "Will you fools get over here?! Every second you waste is another second closer to our imminent annihilation!" Robotnik roared at them. "Go. I'll watch them," Sonic said. Fluttershy, Rainbow and Rarity looked at him before nodding and heading back over to Eggman. Sonic watched them go before turning back to Sombra, who was now battling it out with some interdimensional being that was flicking in and out of reality. "Have to...stop him..." Sonic glanced to his side to see that Twilight had gotten back up and somehow was channeling the power of the four princesses once more as she staggered towards Sombra. Sonic placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her, but she didn't look at him. "You can't win. You know that, right?" Sonic said. "I can't believe that," Twilight replied. "And if you were in my horseshoes, would you quit?" Sonic sighed before he let go of her, watching as Twilight summoned all of her power once more and rocketed back towards Sombra. Sonic was at Discords side a moment later. "Discord, give me the emerald," Sonic said. "What? No, don't be crazy, you know that-" "I may not be able to wield it as effectively as you, but I can do something you can't," Sonic said. "And what's that?" "I can go fast." Discord stared blankly at Sonic for a long moment. "Do you realize what you are implying? The Chaos Source is immeasurable due to its nature. The speed that you would have to achieve in order to do what you're thinking...not to mention with how fast the source is tearing itself apart...and the emerald...only has enough charge...for an instant of chaos power." "That's more than enough time for someone like me," Sonic replied. Discord stared at him before chuckling, handing over the emerald to Sonic. "You're crazy. Crazier than anypony else I've every met. Bet it all on you, huh? Sure. If this is my last act, I'd like to die knowing I died believing," Discord said. "Now run Sonic. Run." Discord snapped his fingers once last time and teleported Sonic to the very center of the Chaos Source. Sonic took just a moment to look around, realized that Discord was right about it being so large it was beyond comprehension and shrugged his shoulders. Then he crouched down and everything came to a stop. The fissure forming in the source. The battle waging between Twilight and Sombra below. Even the shattering of time and space. In that moment, only Sonic was moving. Then his body went golden as he drew on the full power of the emerald and he was off. He streaked across the eternity of the Chaos Source, using the chaos energy within him and the emerald to stitch the Chaos Source back together. There was only an instant until the emerald would run out of power, only a moment before the Chaos Source would start tearing itself back apart, and only a thought before it would all come undone. So Sonic ran faster. Faster than an instant. Faster than a moment. And faster than eternity itself. Sonic was everywhere at once upon the Chaos Source. Across all of its eternity he ran, running so fast that, according to reality, he was at every single point on the fissure at the same time. Using his chaos powers to fix it at every single point at the same time. The Chaos Source couldn't split itself apart, because, according to reality, it had been completely repaired at every single part at the same time. Reality stabilized. Time started to move again. And the multiverse stopped looking like a windshield that had a rock hit it. Sonic could see in the distance things going back to normal, worlds become whole...and he knew that they had done it. And with one last flourish, Sonic sighed his name onto the newly repaired source...before falling into nothingness. "Saving the multiverse...stopping Sombra and Eggman...getting to show off one last time...what a good way to go out," Sonic said. Then he heard the snapping of fingers and next thing he knew, he was back with Discord. "Hey Discord, you look...different?" "Indeed, Sonic. The source is one hundred percent...which means I'm now at one hundred percent," Discord said with a smirk. He then turned to face Sombra, who had Twilight pinned behind a magical barrier that was barely able to keep the king at bay. "And I've sat on the sidelines long enough." Discord thrust his hand forward and snapped Sombra's head upwards, getting him to bark in confusion. Sombra snapped his head back down to glare at Discord, before firing a beam of pure chaos from his mouth. Discord drove his two hands into the beam and split it down the middle. Sombra started to march towards Discord, who smirked at the king. "With you tapping into the source as well, it seems that we're evenly matched," Discord said. Then he stepped to the side to reveal a machine that Eggman and the heroes had made out of the limbs of the Master King. "But I've got friends. NOW!" The machine fired off a beam of energy that pierced through Sombra's chest, getting the king to roar as the emerald was ripped from his body and dragged into the machine. Chaos power flowed through Sombra unchecked, who managed to let out one last scream before he exploded. His smoldering body crashed into the ground, without a sound. "And that is the end of our dear friend Sombra," Robotnik said. "And with the source repaired, it seems...that this is over." The heroes let out a cheer and started to celebrate. Applejack and Rainbow kissed, and Antoine and Bunnie followed their lead. Fluttershy tackled Discord, Rotor fired off his weapons into the air, Tails let out a sigh he had held in for far too long and even Shadow cracked a smile that only Rarity caught. Sally tearfully said some things to Nicole while Pinkie recreated the 1912 overture with her party canon. And even Sonic held up a fist in victory. Twilight collapsed onto the ground, the last of the princesses power finally leaving her. But even she wore a smile. "I only have one question left," Discord asked. "What about the emerald that Sombra made?" "The emerald is safely within the limbs here, which were designed to take on unfathomable chaos," Robotnik said as he patted the machine. "What about my other emerald?" "Gone. Reduced to atoms," Sonic chuckled as he held up the emerald he had been given, which was just dust. "Well, I suppose that's that then," Robotnik shrugged. "Yes, it is," Sally said. "Eggman, while you are the reason that all of this happened in the first place...I do suppose that we owe you. I will remember this when you are being judged for your crimes. Maybe I can help to shorten your sentence." "Oh no, don't go through all that trouble for me. I'll take my favor now," Robotnik replied. Then he pressed a button on the device and tendrils of light shot out of the containment until, striking each of the heroes. They cried out in unison as they were lifted into the air, with Eggman laughing like a madman as he sat upon the device, all the power of the Chaos Force at his fingertips. "You fools never learn, do you? And Sombra, if you can hear me in the afterlife...this is why you don't pump unlimited power directly into your body. Honestly, you called yourself a villain."