"that looks splendid" Filthy said as he gazed upon the magnificent work of the Chaotix Catering Company.
"you bet it does." Vector said as Filthy handed them the pay for doing such a great job. With that, they left. Filthy smiled, knowing his little girl would love every bit of this.
Guests began to arrive about 2 hours later, at this point Filthy made his way to get his little girl.
In the holding cell
"oh come now Rouge, we still got a chance…" Rarity said, knowing this was rather hopeless.
"I promised Knuckles he'd have it by morning..." Rouge said, disappointed in herself. "I guess being a treasure hunter is just not me anymore" she said
"oh come now. That's not the Rouge I know talking. The Rouge I know would pick herself up and dust herself off and see this through to the end." She said, trying to boost her confidence. Rouge thought on what she said before she could hear a lot of commotion above where the dining hall would be located.
"Rarity, see that?" she asked, referring to the piece of broken glass. Rarity could see it and smiled, using her magic to lift the glass and cut the ropes just as the birthday song for Diamond Tiara began.
"not one to usually crash a party, but this is strictly business" she said before Rarity used her magic to open the door allowing Rouge to take out the guards so they could get up there
As soon as the song ended and everyone applauded, something happened. The cake began to rise before falling onto Filthy. Knuckles had been hiding in the stand the cake was on. immediately he could sense the Master Emerald, jumping out of the stand and quickly snatching the shard from Diamond Tiara before going after the rest.
"guards!" Filthy shouted. "get him!" they saluted and went after Knuckles. Rouge had seen that whole scene with Rarity, smiling at how cunning that was.
"didn't think he'd have it in him" she thought before seeing Guards flying from Knuckles muscling through them. Carrying the now fully restored Master Emerald.
"let's get out of here!" Rouge called out to him. He nodded and ran for her and Rarity, managing to get outside before stopping since Filthy had them at Zapper point. Cake stuck in his coat and mane.
"you 3 aren't leaving here. That Gem is mine I found it" he said. Rouge just glared at him before pulling out a flashbang. Knuckles and Rarity closed their eyes as the flash went off. Rouge then ran up to Filthy, dodging his blind shots and kicking up in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.
"for the record, that gem isn't yours, it belongs to Knuckles. And also, that was payback for earlier." She said before they all escaped the grounds and made a beeline for Ponyville.
Ponyville
Knuckles Rarity and Rouge caught their breath once they stopped running. Knuckles set the Master Emerald down in front of Rouge.
"here, as promised. For the whole day" he said. Rouge looked at it before shaking her head.
"no Knuckles. It's yours. Just make sure no one steals it" she said. Knuckles was surprised by that.
"I'll keep it" Rarity said, completely enticed by it. Knuckles lifted it up away from her.
"thanks Rouge" he said
"don't get all sappy now Echidna" she said.
"who said I was getting sappy you bat?" he asked before leaving, heading to Sweet Apple Acres. Rarity and Rouge just laughed.
"job well done Rouge" Rarity said.
"same to you Rarity"
Sweet Apple Acres
"wow…so that's the Master Emerald?" Applebloom asked as she gazed at it.
"it certainly is a big gem" Applejack said.
"eeyup" Big Macintosh said in agreement.
"well, I might as well put this somewhere safe" he said before realizing it wouldn't fit through the door.
"well Knuckles we got a surprise for you" Applejack said before her and Applebloom led him to a stand for the emerald that they built.
"you've been such good help that we built this for ya." Applejack said. Knuckles smiled and placed the emerald on the stand. A perfect fit.
"thanks a lot" he said happily.
Fluttershy's Cottage
Fluttershy was feeding her animals with a happy smile. Making sure each one was enjoying the meal.
"uh Fluttershy?" Tails asked, covering in bird seed, the birds pecking at his fur to get the seed out. A few grunts and displays of the beaks hitting his skin and hurting.
She giggled at the sight of him in this situation before shooing the birds off of him and taking him to get the bird seed out of his fur.
"so what happened?" she asked.
"well I was carrying the bag, lost my balance, fell down, bag busted open, and now I'm covered in bird seed." He explained. She just smiled at the imagery of that as she got the last of the seed out of his fur.
"there we go. Do try to be more careful next time" she said. Tails smiled.
"yeah, I'll do my best" he said before noticing her eyes looking at his. They both blinked before turning their heads away and blushing. Nervous chuckling and giggling coming from them as they regained their composure.
"so..umm…wanna go listen to the..umm…birds sing?" Fluttershy asked, shyly with a small blush on her cheeks.
"umm…sure" Tails said with a smile. Fluttershy smiled back before leading him to listen to the birds.
Eggman's Base
"tomorrow is their day of reckoning" Trixie said, her sclera almost completely red from the corruption. The rest of her body looking just as corrupted. Eggman smiled at that.
"good, my units are ready to back up yours. We will take Equestria" Eggman said. Gilda started to get excited.
"it's about damn time" she said. Trixie just smiled.
"it'll be a day they'll never forget. The day where Trixie takes Equestria" she said with an evil laugh.
Twilight's house (that night)
Twilight could tell something was going to happen tomorrow. It was evident by how quiet she was being, but that wasn't all. Her mind kept going back to Shadow. Her stomach would get butterflies everytime his black and red fur was in her mind. Her heart would race from seeing his crimson eyes. This made her even quieter for longer. Which got Spike worried.
"what's up Twilight?" he asked. She looked at her assistant and gave him a hug.
"hey! What gives?" he asked.
"I'm afraid Spike. Afraid of what this feeling means." She said, referring to both tomorrow and Shadow. Spike just hugged her back.
"hey now Twilight. It'll all be okay." He said, trying to reassure his friend. She just smiled.
"thank you Spike"
Ponyville (the next morning)
The citizens went about their usual business. Pinkie gathering all her friends together for a nice get together, that is until Sonic looked into the sky and saw something he couldn't believe. The Egg Carrier.
"attention Ponyville!" a voice rang out
"I the Great and Powerful Trixie have arrived to bring you your doom!" she shouted over Eggman's loudspeaker, laughing evilly.
"Trixie?" Twilight said in shock before the Egg Carrier dropped dozens upon dozens of robots. As well as Trixie and her Dogs.
"in the flesh. Twilight Sparkle" Trixie said with a sick grin.