Chaos and Harmony - Crossing Paths

by ShootingRainbowStar13

Chapter 12: Gems

Sonic slowly opened his eyes, blinking uncharacteristically lazily. He realized that there was still a faint smile on his lips.

The cool, misty air and the cry of the birds told him it was early morning. Above him was a canopy of bright green leaves. At first he didn't know where he was.

He sat up, and a blue quilt fell from his torso. He saw the town through the dense green foliage, like he was sitting in the middle of a giant map, the sun on the way over the mountains to the west. He suddenly remembered where he was.

Sonic was in the branches of the roof of The Golden Oaks Library. He and the rest of his friends had come to the library for the night after the party, which had lasted till midnight. Since all the spare beds and makeshift mattresses were taken, Sonic offered to sleep on the roof. Twilight was appalled, but the tree was in a dense green dome and acted like a room, and Sonic was eager to spend the night there.

But where had this blue quilt come from?

He bundled it up and tucked it under his arm, and maneuvered his way down until he could jump to the ground. He stretched gracefully and sighed, and went into the library to give the quilt back.

A warm, slightly musty smell met his nose as he slid the door shut. He placed the rolled up quilt on the pedestal in the middle of the room, next to the statue of the horse head. Everyone was still asleep, lying scattered all over the room. There was one mattress, where the covers were ruffled up and its owner was missing. After doing a quick tally around the room Sonic was not surprised to find the missing person was Rainbow Dash.

He stepped back outside. He looked at the mountains, where slivers of light were already appearing. The sun was on its way. But he had some time to explore before the proper sunrise came.

He stretched briefly. He took a deep breath. And he broke into a lightning run.

The town flashed by. Anypony who happened to be watching would have only seen a blue trail of light. Sonic dived through the streets effortlessly, dodging obstacles with ease. He laughed as he reveled in the familiar freedom of speed.

Soon he was racing through Sweet Apple Acres. Without slowing down, he reached up and plucked a low hanging apple from a tree. He regarded it uncertainly. "Is this stealing?" He shrugged, and merely left it on the doorstep of the barn as he shot past, which would leave Big Mac scratching his head later on.

Soon Ponyville lay behind him. He didn't stop running until he had reached the top of the highest mountain. Then he finally skidded to a halt and looked across the beautiful landscape stretching out before him. The sun was rising, slowly but surely. It was amazing to know that in the kingdom in the opposite mountains was Celestia, raising the sun he watched now. It was rising quickly, fast enough so Sonic could see it moving.

The shining sphere lifted, lifted until it left line on the horizon and began its ascent into the sky. Sonic turned back to run into the town. He could see ponies trotting out of their homes, reveling in the dawn light. He could see the river winding around the town glittering. He could see the grand library standing like a beacon, where all his friends would be waking.

All this beauty, in danger. He just couldn't let such a place fall into chaos. He had to keep on searching for the Emeralds, and this time he wanted to be with all of his friends, new and old.

He was about to run down again, when rainbow streaked across the sky. He stepped back and watched it with interest. The heavens were packed with clouds, patches of blue peering through. The rainbow went straight into them.

Thomph, thomph, thomph, thomph. The clouds began disappearing at high speeds, poofing into nothingness. The rainbow shot straight through them, and destroyed every single one. Soon there were none left.

Then the rainbow spiralled through the air, towards where Sonic was standing. As it swept down to him, the silhouette leading it became the outline of a pegasus. She flew a couple of times around him before landing.

"Did I forget to mention I'm a weather manager?"

"You just cleared the sky in - like..."

"Ten seconds flat?"

Sonic laughed. "Yeah!"

Rainbow Dash flicked her tail. "Race you back to the library!"

"Oh, you're on!"

They raced off, laughing.

***

Flames lit the landscape. Smoke rose from the ground.

Two bursts of light, high up in the air. Red bursts, woven with colors, smashed against a bright pink light. Two forces were fighting each other, scarring the red sky with light.

Going closer. The fiery red light was actually Rainbow Dash. There were a thousand emotions swirling in her eyes: desperation, determination, fury, pain. Tears streaked down her scuffed cheeks. The red light emitted from the Element locked around her neck, the Element of Loyalty. She was inside a huge blazing lightning bolt of scarlet.

The other light was a blazing pink, but it seemed wrong. The light that shone from it was corrupted with chaos. Beneath the pink layer was a sphere of bubbling darkness. Within that sphere was...

No. It couldn't be her.

The thing had a twisted smile on its face, cold and empty blue eyes showing only one thought: destruction. Rainbow Dash struck repeatedly, but the power she was using, Loyalty, was the same power holding her back. She was going to lose.

The creature reared back, gathering energy. Then it shot forward, towards the red power, towards Rainbow Dash, hooves outstretched for the final blow.

"Twilight, what the hay are you doing?

Twilight gasped and dropped the Element of Loyalty back into the case. She whipped around to find Rainbow Dash at the door, hovering above Sonic.

"Uh, nothing. Nothing at all."

Dash narrowed her eyes, unconvinced. "Was that - "

"What are we gonna do now?" broke in Sonic. "I mean, do we have to bring people from my world back home? Do we split up again?"

"You're right, Sonic." Twilight latched onto the new subject. "We need another meeting. Let's hold one later as soon as everyone gets up."

"Do we need the princesses?" inquired Dash.

Twilight considered. "I'm pretty sure we can do this on our own..."

"The others have to meet Celestia and Luna." Sonic reminded.

"Fine then." Twilight went to wake Spike and get him to send a letter.

Sonic spread his arms. "Breaktime's over, folks." he told the sleeping room.

***

"Go home? GO HOME??? You're suggesting I go HOME???" Amy slammed her hands down on the table. "I wanna be part of this mission! I wanna be with Sonic!!"

Sonic hid his face in his hands. Celestia sighed. "Alright then, Amy Rose. You may stay in Equestria for the time being."

"What about me?" Cream stared up at the alicorn. "Do I go home?"

Celestia smiled down at the sweet little girl. She had the same quiet, kind personality as Fluttershy. "I'm unsure, child. If I return you home, you may still be in danger."

"That's true." said Silver. "Eggman and Discord could just as easily capture them again, and this time they could kill them."

Twilight sighed, rubbing her temples. "As much as I hate to say it, these three girls have to stay in Equestria. It would actually be safer than sending them home. We have the Elements and these seasoned fighters to protect them."

"Well thought, Twilight." Celestia lifted her head high. "Then these three girls will stay with the quest, and help in any way possible."

"Yes!!" Amy threw her arms around Sonic. Dash snorted.

"Then, we all stayin' together?" asked Applejack. "Ah mean, do we have to split up?

"I actually don't think our first choice was so smart anymore." said Twilight. "We were taking a risk, being apart. Discord loves to divide and conquer. No, I think this time we all have to be together. There's safety in numbers."

"That's true." said Dash. "When we were falling out of the sky on Angel Island, I wished that Twilight was here. She could teleport us out of there one at a time. We almost didn't make it... and the Island didn't make it at all." She looked pitifully over at Knuckles, who was stock still, head down.

"What?" Tails gaped at her. "Angel Island? Gone? Then we have to get the Master Emerald back!"

"Nothing will be saved if we don't find the Emeralds first." said Sonic. "Angel Island has almost fallen before. We can save it somehow. We have to find the Emeralds, before none of us can do anything since we'll all be dead."

He looked around the table at his friends. He noticed Rouge looking at him strangely, like she'd never seen him before.

"If that's settled, then we still have to figure out where to go next. Everfree Forest or that other mysterious Emerald that seems to have turned invisible?" said Silver.

Rarity flinched.

"Is there something wrong, Rarity?" asked Twilight.

"No." Rarity's tone was sharp.

"Every time somepony mentions that other Emerald you seem to tense up. Do you know something that we don't?"

"No, no I don't!" snapped Rarity. Her face contorted in anger. "I'm not hiding anything! Stop accusing me!"

Perhaps it was Sonic's imagination, but her eyes seemed to flash as white and as cold as diamonds.

But Twilight noticed too. She gasped. "Rarity, are you alright?"

"I AM FINE!!!"

She tried to storm off, but a golden aura pulled her back. Celestia's eyes were worried.

"What is it, sister?" Luna spoke for the first time since the start of the meeting. She was suddenly sharp and alert.

Celestia narrowed her eyes. "There's something corrupting this pony."

The room seemed to grow colder.

The golden aura around Rarity grew stronger. She shrieked.

"Don't hurt her!" shouted Twilight, alarmed.

"Do not worry, Twilight, I'm not harming her. I am merely trying to remove whatever is poisoning her."

Rarity continued to scream and thrash, but then suddenly grew still. Celestia gently lowered her back onto the floor, where everyone gathered around. "Rarity?" Twilight's voice was tight.

"Oh my..." Rarity shook her head. "I've - I've never felt so selfish..." Her eyes were blue and frightened, nothing like the cruel selfish orbs they had been seconds before.

Twilight stiffened as she connected the dots. She glanced at Tails, and silently they exchanged looks.

"Rarity... is there a Chaos Emerald in the Carousel Boutique?"

The others stifled gasps, but Rarity slowly nodded her head. "Ever since I've had it... I - I don't feel completely in control of myself."

"That's the same thing that happened to Diamond Tiara when she got that red Emerald. Rarity... you're Generosity, right? That must be why you feel selfish." Tails straightened up, ready for business. "We've got to visit the Boutique."

But Knuckles wasn't through with her yet. "You mean to say we've had an Emerald right under our noses the entire time?!" He bellowed at Rarity, who recoiled.

"Hey, lay off her, Applejack." said Rainbow. Then she hurriedly corrected herself. "I - I mean, Knuckles."

Twilight looked between them thoughtfully.

"Righ' then." Applejack tipped her hat. "We better hurry."

"Get going, heroes." said Celestia. "We don't have any time to waste."

The meeting adjourned.

***

The bell tinkled as Twilight opened the door.

The Carousel Boutique glittered in colorful splendor like it always did. Beautiful dresses stood around on display. Chests filled with jewels stood against mirrors and privacy screens. But there was a humming, sinister magic in the air, one that Twilight hadn't noticed before.

"What in the heavens..." Rouge was lost for words as she looked around the room, taking in everything. "How... how... all these jewels..."

Rarity glanced over at her. "Why so shocked? My magic specializes in gems, so there's always plenty in my shop."

"It's like Fort Knox in here! I've never seen so many jewels in my life!" Rouge barely listened to her as she dreamily stroked the sapphires of a gorgeous cream dress. She turned to Rarity. "You mean to say with just a flick of your pretty little horn, you can get a heap of gems?"

"Well, yes!" Rarity went over to a blue chest, opened it, and rummaged inside. She came out levitating a beautiful piece of polished jade, encrusted with gold. She carried it back across the room and put it in a gobsmacked Rouge's hands. "You can keep this one, dear. Just as a present."

Sonic looked around. "I knew there was some sort of chaos aura in here. It's nice to know I'm not completely paranoid!"

Rarity hesitated. Then she disappeared momentarily behind the counter. She came back up with a small, golden chest which she put on the desk. "The Emerald is in h - "

She stiffened, eyes glazing over.

"Rarity?" Twilight's voice was urgent and panicked. "No, not again..."

"Aaagh!" Rarity suddenly clutched her head, shrieking in agony.

"Get the Emerald away from her!" Knuckles rushed forwards to snatch the chest, but a wave of blue magic fended him off. He landed on his butt. "What the - ?!"

Rarity lowered her hooves. She opened her eyes. They were glazed and her irises were narrow and white, as translucent as a diamond's, feverishly darting around the room. Her features were contorted with hate and greed, much stronger and angrier than they were in the library.

"That Emerald... IS MINE!!"

She lunged at Knuckles, who was still on the floor, but was tackled by Silver. He held her down, yelling, "Get the Emerald!"

Rainbow Dash swooped in and grabbed the chest, but Rarity shot a bolt of magic at her. It missed, but it made Dash drop the chest. It landed in Tails' hands, but as Rarity's magic enveloped it he struggled to hold on to it.

"Can't... hold... on..." Just as he let go, a purple aura joined the blue one and Twilight grappled for the chest. She strained, as Rarity's magic was stronger due to the corrupting Chaos magic.

"YOU CAN'T HAVE IT!!" Screeched Rarity. "IT'S MINE!! LET GO!!"

She managed to throw Silver off her and darted for the chest, but Sonic was faster. He snatched it and opened it, grabbing the Emerald and throwing the empty chest at Rarity, making her stumble to a halt.

"Chaos Control!!" he disappeared in a flash of light.

Twilight stared. "What the - "

"He went to the library to put it with the others." Shadow ducked as Rarity threw the chest at his head and shrieked in rage. "Now we just have to get Rarity back to normal."

Twilight thought for a moment, then lowered her horn. "The memory spell I used when they were discordified should work on her." As her horn began to glow, she yelled, "Everyone out of the way!" and with a flying leap pushed Rarity down to the floor.

"Wait!" snarled Shadow.

Magic surged through Twilight, and she let the spell burst out of her horn and into Rarity. A purple aura surrounded the white unicorn, shimmering with the magic of harmony.

And then it died.

"What?! But - " Twilight was cut off as Rarity roughly shoved her backwards. She crashed into a rack of dresses with a scream, and the display toppled over onto her.

"Twilight!!" Rainbow Dash flew down to help.

"Why didn't it work?" growled Knuckles, as everyone still standing backed away from Rarity. "That spell thingy should have worked!"

"The power of the chaos emeralds can't be removed by a simple spell." Shadow gritted his teeth. "Perhaps magic cast by Discord can be manipulated, but the chaos emeralds are powerful enough to bring back someone from the dead. A simple magic spell can't kill its power."

Rarity's eyes darted around, looking for her jewel. She was acting like a wild beast, not the elegant unicorn she was. She narrowed her eyes at Shadow. "What have you done with my emerald?" she hissed.

Then she spotted Rouge, who was flapping in the air and looking stressed. Her eyes locked on the jewel in her hand.

"MINE!!"

She lunged at Rouge and tackled her out of the air. Rouge cried out as she slammed against the marble floor. Rarity grappled for the piece of jade, but Rouge held on.

"Rarity!" she yelled. "It's me, Rouge! You gave this jewel to me! You're Generosity!"

"No!" Rarity struggled against the white bat, but Rouge gripped her shoulders and locked eyes with her.

"Rarity. This isn't you. Stop."

Rarity stopped struggling and stared at her in disbelief.

Then she abruptly clutched her head and writhed in agony, screaming again.

"Rarity!" Twilight was helped out of the wreckage just in time to see her topple. She ran towards her and caught her before she fell backwards.

Then the white unicorn stopped. Slowly she opened her eyes.

They were sapphire blue.

"Twilight? Whatever happened?" She said shakily.

Twilight stared at Rouge in fascination. "Did you..."

Rogue looked back in equal bafflement. "I don't know what happened!"

Silver looked in astonishment. "I think she just fixed her by just telling her! How the - "

The door swung open and Sonic walked in. "Hey guys."

Everybody looked at him.

"What did I miss?"

Comments

[lunarstallion]

HA, the ONE TIME that sonic had to leave immediately, Rarity goes all 'Discorded' on their asses!

[ShootingRainbowStar13]

3758199

That was fast.

Hope you enjoyed!

[lunarstallion]

3758213 Yes I did, and I hope to be able to enjoy more!

Well, when you get around to it, of course.

[Arcing Thunder]

3322953 Can you please make up your mind? There is a romance tag on the story first off, you keep writing romancy things about Sonic and Dash, like when he first saw her, he "her magenta eyes never left his sight" or something. Also, this is under the shipping tag in the Sonic Bronies group. (I came here for Sondash.) Not that I don't like the story. I absolutely love it. I am just really confused on whether or not it is romance.

[ShootingRainbowStar13]

3820194

At first I only intended for them to be friends... but after some urging by my friends, I decided to make it a Sondash story. So yes, there will romance, there will be heroics, there will be bloodshed, and there will be tears.

Oooooh man.

[Arcing Thunder]

3825379 Sorry I didn't get back sooner, I haven't been able to check FiMFiction in a bit. Thanks for clearing that up though, I was just really confused. Also, sorry if that sounded a bit hostile. I didn't mean it like that.

[ShootingRainbowStar13]

3835821 It's okay.

[Arcing Thunder]

3835887 Also: Amazing story. My friend is a giant fan of sonic and mlp, so I will definitely recommend this to him.

[ShootingRainbowStar13]

3835966

Yay!

[ShootingRainbowStar13]

3892357

[ShootingRainbowStar13]

Like ma new cover?

[sonicmlp674]

3893688 Sorry I'm nit picky XD

[ShootingRainbowStar13]

3903367 No, no, I did a RainbowHuh because I had no clue what you were talking about. No offense though.

[sonicmlp674]

3905272 oh nevermind anyway best story like ever!

[ShootingRainbowStar13]

3908111 Not the best story ever but THANK YOU!

[sonicmlp674]

3922773 its the best story to me I darn love it!!

[ShootingRainbowStar13]

3932368 Thanks! Sorry you're waiting for the next chapter for so long... I'm unable to do any work until Valentine's day passes. But don't worry! I've written a fic about Shadow and Pinkie that might make it worthwhile!

[ShootingRainbowStar13]

3949617 Spot on.