Dr. Robotnik attempts to conquer Equestria

by SgtRatapus

Fail with flying colors

Twilight and Spike had spent the remainder of the day easing the minds of the Ponyville citizens and cleaning up the aftermath; which considering the crazy events that happened actually wasn't much. Once Ponyville was sedated to hopefully prevent mob panic, Twilight and Spike cast a glance out where the still smoking remains of Doctor Robotnik's fortress lay; Twilight finally getting her first chance to see it.

"If the explosions were enough to cause that much damage it doesn't sound good for our... mysterious visitor." Twilight said. "You mentioned there was no sign of him anywhere?"

Spike nodded. "Yeah. Most of the rubble was too big for me to handle so he must've been crushed somewhere underneath all that. Poor guy. He was a bit of a jerk, but he didn't deserve this." Spike sighed; the sorrow evident on his face.

"Spike you know it's not your fault, right? If he was capable of making such dangerous objects then he should have put some sort of fail-safe in to prevent all this. And who knows? Maybe he managed to get out too. Either way it's too late in the day now so let's head home for now. Tomorrow I'll get some volunteers around Ponyville and see about exploring the area." Twilight said.

Spike nodded, having overheard her talks with other ponies earlier. "And we can't go now anyway because this Robotnik guy is potentially aggressive and it might put other ponies at risk?"

"Right."

They paused for a moment to let it all sink in then headed home for the library. Spike still felt responsible for what happened and would insist on helping tomorrow. Spike paused before nesting in his basket for the night; he had almost forgot about the shoes and gloves Rarity gave him. He decided to take them off while he slept, but intended to wear them again next morning. The shoes were comfortable and the gloves he was indifferent to, but he wasn't about to shun a gift from Rarity.

---

As Ponyville slept for the night, one rainbow-maned pegasus tossed and turned. Normally sleep came easy for Rainbow Dash, but tonight was different. Somehow, after everything that happened today, she came home to find (or not find) that something very personal to her went missing. There was no way she mislocated it oh no, it was always kept there and she suspected that this Doctor Rofatneck or whatever managed to nab it; if the eggy mustached-shaped hole in her cloud-wall was any clue.

"That's it!" she suddenly yelled. Too bothered to sleep at this point she made a fast dash out of her home towards Robotnik's lair. She had to make an effort to find it before anyone else spotted it for she did not want to face the humiliation that might ensue if others found it first.

Moments later and Rainbow was at her destination. Her jaw dropped upon seeing it. She had seen the damage earlier and knew it was bad which made seeing what was there now unbelievable.

Robotnik's fortress stood strong like it hadn't ever been scratched, or exploded. Somehow in two hours or less it had been reconstructed to look exactly as it did before it blew up. Rainbow actually didn't know what that looked like though, so she got to experience her first basking in Robotnik's creative glory. Or just extended disbelief. At the top of the statue a lit square opening could be seen as she finished scanning the place from the outside. Shaking off her shock she flew into the window to take a look around.

Strange gadgets lined the walls as Rainbow explored. Even with the dim lighting everything looked foreign and unusual to her. She was having second thoughts about this when around the next machine her prize conspicuously rested on a pedestal. Conspicuously because a light shining from the ceiling made it obviously stand out from everything else, not including the sign with a arrow pointed at it reading "This way".

Rainbow took a quick look left then right. Then she looked left again. She raised an eyebrow then walked up to it casually. After pausing a moment she scooped up her prize and tucked it under her wing. She turned around and shrugged before taking a step away from the pedestal.

A huge cage dropped from the ceiling, trapping her.

"H-hey! What's the big idea!?" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Ahh Rrrrainbow Dash is it? How nice of you to come in unannounced." Robotnik said, unnecessarily rolling his R's, as he appeared from the shadows with a remote in his hand. I had to rewind a bit on that one to make sure he did just appear out of nowhere, for he wasn't in the room until the cage dropped.

"You better let me out. It won't be long until my friends see your fortress and whoop your big butt!"

"That's what you think, but totally irrelevant none-the-less! For you are going to help me capture Sonic and your friends will be none-the-wiser." Robotnik said as he walked up to a large console with various buttons and levers. Two button presses and a lever pull later a video of Spike, still painted blue, showed up on screen with him sleeping in his basket.

Rainbow gawked at the screen, confused. She recognized Spike on the screen but what Robotnik said seemed unrelated. Something about 'Sonic'? She understood one part of what he said though. "There's no way I'd help you in whatever slimy scheme you're doing!"

"No YOU aren't going to help me, but YOU." On Robotnik's remote containing one button and a dial to measure something, he pressed the button numerous times as a robot replica of Rainbow Dash flew into the room in front of the cage the real Rainbow Dash was in.

"Say hello to the Rainbot." Close examination would reveal a few bolts that attached to flexible joints and a metallic skin instead of fur and feathers. You could say anyone with a little common sense could tell it wasn't the real one. If inspecting it didn't work then hopefully the loud jets connected to it's hooves used to fly around would be enough of a hint.

"So long as no one knows you're here they won't know the difference!" Robotnik said.

"Pfft. There's no way they would fall for that."

The identical robot's eyes lit up and repeated in a similar yet mechanical voice. "Pfft. There's no way they would fall for that."

Rainbow reared slightly for a moment, then angrily squinted. The Rainbot did the same. Rainbow trotted up to the edge of the cage as the metal doppelganger did the same from the outside. Rainbow twisted her neck and made a few silly faces that the Rainbot mirrored rather accurately. Rainbow brought a hoof to her chin and pondered for a moment as she watched the Rainbot do the same.

"Well it may imitate me decently, but there's no pegasus faster than myself. I bet that thing could barely fly!"

The Rainbot crouched slightly and extended it's wings. The floor underneath it's hooves lit up a dim blue, gradually becoming brighter. After a moment it blasted off and proceeded to do a few laps around the room with a few loops and corkscrews scattered about. It's demonstration completed, the Rainbot landed in front of the cage Rainbow Dash was in and went idle; the light showing from it's hooves and eyes gradually dimmed until no light shown from it at all.

Rainbow gawked at the display. She could've done much better herself, but this robot was giving her cause for concern.

"Well... I bet- I bet it can't lick it's own back!" Rainbow said as she started straining her neck as her head twisted with her tongue out.

"Now you're just being ridiculous." Robotnik said. Robotnik walked to his ego-matic hovercraft, remote in hand, and got in. "Now to set off and conquer Mobius! And it was all thanks to that little item of yours. It was key to the creation of Rainbot!"

A few button presses on his remote and the Rainbot activated; flying out into the middle of the night with Robotnik leaving shortly after. Rainbow watched them leave. With apparently no option for escape she had to wait until she was freed. No wait stop. Rainbow Dash, seriously? The bars on that cage are spread apart farther than the width of your body, including if your wings were extended. Whatever. She started inspecting the item she ventured here for to make sure it was still in good condition. Satisfied, she closed it back up and asked noone in particular.

"He had made the Rainbot using only my stamp collection...?"

---

Celestia's morning rays peaked the horizon as Spike laid blissfully asleep in his basket next to Twilight's bed. His internal clock was ticking however, and in a few minutes he slowly blinked his eyes open. He was eager to start the day and hopefully discover some positive news regarding Robotnik. Noticing that Twilight was still asleep, he decided he'd carefully and quietly go down into the kitchen and get breakfast started so they would be ready to leave sooner. With a well practiced leap of his legs and a push from his arms, he proceeded to get out of the basket and slam incredibly hard into a bookcase on the opposite wall. On top of the loud collision, all the books managed to bump and smack into or near him as they fell off the shelves.

"Aahee!" Twilight squeaked as her covers flew off the bed while she leapt onto her nightstand. Her front hooves scrambled backwards to meet her hind ones as her back arched at an intense angle. With her eyes going from pin pricks to dilated she quickly scanned the room for the cause of all this commotion.

"Spike!?" Twilight said as her posture relaxed a little. "What was that for!?"

Spike groaned, still recovering from his collision. Being a dragon with scales though he was made of stern stuff and was able to shake it off, or so I assume. "Urgh. If I had to guess, I'd say the super speedy spell you used on me still hasn't worn off."

Twilight quickly took on a puzzled expression as she cautiously made her way off the nightstand.

She helped get the books on and around him with levitation and re-shelved as she explained. "Hmm. Yes, normally the spell would have faded in time; probably an hour or two after I cast it. It seems, however, that this paint somehow contained it."

Twilight's eyes lit up as she pondered on it more. "Oh my gosh! This could have so many applications! I need to talk to Mr. Cake and find out which paint he used so I can run some experiments!"

Spike gave both his legs a glance before he asked. "So... I'll have to be fast until the scales shed? Would you be able to apply some sort of slowing spell to neutralize it?"

Twilight shook her head. "No. Any slowing spell would be temporary and that's assuming it did work. Combining multiple spells layered like that could be unsafe. We could try to scrape your scales clean but that could be uncomfortable..."

Spike did think that sounded uncomfortable. Terrible, even. Between Twilight's expert opinion and Spike unsuccessfully removing any of the paint during his one hour bubble bath the previous night he decided not to dwell on it for now. "Eh, I can get used to it." Spike said.

Spike continued. "Your plans to test this paint idea will have to wait though, remember? We still have to deal with the remains of Doctor Robotnik's lair."

Before Twilight could respond there was a knock at the door. "Spike could you get that? I'll finish tidying up around here. And be careful!"

Spike saluted and was at the door a moment later. He thought it a bit weird that a pony would be here this early since the library would be open publicly in thirty minutes. When Spike opened the door his weirdness detector skyrocketed along with his right eyebrow seeing as how this pony was rarely up this early; especially to check out a book.

Beyond the threshold stood what appeared to be Rainbow Dash. This, of course, was the Rainbot which Spike was slowly noticing as the various screws and the metal reflective coating it had as the sun easily bounced off it. Unsure at the moment, he thought he'd ask a relatively safe question. "Hey Rainbow Dash are you... alright?"

The Rainbot's eyes lit up unnaturally and looked down at Spike. "Oh hey Sonic! You're just the hedgehog I was hoping to see! I was just stopping by to invite you to the big race the glorious Doctor Robotnik is hosting!"

If it wasn't obvious to Spike before, the blatantly incorrect name and species label gave it away along with the praise of Robotnik. Which caused Spike some confusion. "Robotnik is alive somewhere??"

Some curious expression showed on the Rainbot's facial features. "Of course he is, and you could win a chance to meet him exclusively and make one request! Here's a flyer with details; I'll see you at the race, 'kay?"

So many questions were on Spike's mind, but he never got a chance to ask as the Rainbot swiftly turned around and blasted off into the sky. After coughing a bit from the dust and smoke caused by the propulsion he deadpanned at the obvious display of a fake Rainbow Dash. Determined, however, to answer a question of his own he quickly made a trip to the outskirts of Ponyville and did indeed see that Robotnik's fortress was standing the same as it was yesterday. Quite shocked with the results, Spike went back to the library to deliver the news to Twilight.

Twilight read the pamphlet and pondered this new update. "So very strange. And you're saying Rainbow Dash already made friends with Doctor Robotnik and also plans to participate in this race?"

"I don't know how, but the thing that delivered that pamphlet wasn't Rainbow Dash. It seemed like some sort of advanced robot which had a metal exterior and somehow flies around expelling explosive gas out of it's hooves." Spike said.

Twilight gave a sad yet slightly smug smile as she said "Oh Spike, there's no technology known in Equestria to be that advanced. Perhaps you were still waking up and missed some details. Either way this race sounds like a fun idea; perhaps Doctor Robotnik is trying to make new friends and Rainbow Dash is already one of them. Although I will have to ask him to refrain from conquering any Mobius'... whatever they are, because that doesn't sound nice."

Spike raised one claw and opened his mouth as if to defend what he saw, but his words died in his mouth. Just one of those things she'll have to see to believe, right Spike? He decided to wait for now, surely this imposter would be revealed to everyone in due time right?

---

Spike couldn't believe it. Sure it was a huge gathering of ponies with plenty of contestants for such a rushed event, but what was unbelievable was the huge cheering section for 'Rainbow Dash'. The imposter did some minor tricks with it's loud thrusters as it flew around basking in the praise.

"You can't be serious..." Spike said.

"Oh come now, Spike, you know she likes to show off." Twilight said. "Listen just be safe, okay? I know you're probably eager to win, but just one mistake could be very painful!"

Disregarding the second comment, Spike insisted on his point from before. "Oh come on Twilight! Isn't it so obvious this Rainbow Dash is a fake? I mean the sun is reflecting off of it so much that it practically looks like a sky blue disco ball!"

"Spike! Not so loud! You might hurt her feelings. Look, how about after the race I help you get to the bottom of this okay? I'll scan her for metals or anything you think she might be hiding. It'll be fine, Spike! Just have fun and don't be reckless!" Twilight said.

Spike wondered why she couldn't just do a scan now if she was able to, but that possibility was interrupted as somewhere Robotnik was about to make an announcement.

"All contestants report to the starting line for Rrrrobotnik's Rrrrounceval Race!" Robotnik proclaimed as he floated around in his hovercraft. Rounceval meaning 'obsolete' incase you readers were wondering.

"Good luck, Spike!" Twilight said as she made her way back into the crowd.

Spike waved goodbye as he made his way to the starting line. Upon approaching it some unsuspecting faces appeared amongst his other competitors. He saw Big Mac, Pinkie Pie, Snips and Snails in some sort of hamster wheel-like contraption and lastly Rarity.

"Rarity?" Spike mumbled in disbelief. He would have gotten her attention, but she seemed so focused sorting through her saddlebags. Robotnik was approaching the start line presumably to start the race soon anyway.

Instead, however, Robotnik came right up to Spike. "Ahh if it isn't Sonic. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist a race!"

Unsure if he should try to correct Robotnik right now, Spike narrowed his eyes and went with the more important topic. "I'm onto you... I know the Rainbow Dash here is fake and when I win this race I'll make sure you release her!"

"Tsk Tsk Tsk. You'll have to win this race first which will be impossible!" Robotnik said.

Robotnik started floating towards the other competitors as he started monologuing his plan. "With all the traps I have set there's no way he'll win. Soon Sonic will experience overpronation while I go for domination! Of Mobius!"

With his distinct and rather clamorous voice, however, Spike had no problem overhearing all of that. More determined than ever, he took his place at the starting line; weary of that warning and waiting for Robotnik to proceed with the race.

Robotnik hovered next to his creation and angrily said "You better win this race, or else I'll melt you down and use you as a paperweight!"

The Rainbot nodded and whipped out a visor from somewhere that covered it's robotic eyes.

"So it seems we have six contestants competing in this race in honor of me! Be ready to go on my word." Robotnik said.

"Let's win this buddy! With any request there's no limit to the possible things we could get!" Snips said.

"Dahh, Yah! With that request we could get a shovel. No... We could request two shovels! That's something we could do, right?" Snails said as he lifted a hoof up to his partner.

"Uhh, yeah sure I suppose that's one possibility..." Snips said as he hesitantly brought his hoof up to bump it with Snails.

"On your mark."

"I'm going to win this and make sure Robotnik accepts his party invitation this time!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"When I win I'll make sure his attire never sees the light of day again! Who could insist on wearing something so outlandish??" Rarity said.

"Get set."

Between the determined contestants and trying to keep some dignity by declining to race against fillies and kids, he decided to say "Nope" and walked away from the starting line. He was just here to demand compensation for the apples this Robotnik fellow stole, but that was something he could do some time without winning some race anyway.

"Go!"

The five contestants were off. Spike and the Rainbot got a significant lead with Rarity and Pinkie a ways behind them neck and neck. Snips and Snails had barely passed the starting line due to some difficulties.

"Snails! Your legs are too long, I can't keep up! If you go too fast I might start-" Snips tried to say but couldn't finish. Snails was too focused on the race to comprehend on what Snips was saying and proceeded to push their wheeled contraption forward by himself. Snips, unable to keep up, started spinning around and around as Snails finally got them some distance from the starting line.

Spike and the Rainbot were at a near tie, neither of them quite going full speed. Spike maintained focus on what was ahead, and the Rainbot used this chance to execute one of it's dastardly plans. Using a boost of propulsion, it got ahead of Spike and a panel under it's tail opened up as some black slippery substance started covering the dirt road ahead of Spike.

Spike, unable to react in time, started slipping out of control as his legs couldn't gain any traction. With some quick thinking he regained his balance and started sliding on it like one might when using skiis on a snowy surface. It worked for a few seconds until the oil slick dried out and the sudden increase in friction caused him to faceplant into the ground, causing a small ditch as his momentum kept him moving forward.

Spike was not pleased. Not angry, maybe a bit upset, but this little diversion was cheap! He knew Robotnik was up to no good but now he got to see what kind of low Robotnik was going to sink to. Spike was about to get up when white and pink hooves entered his peripherals. He reached one of his arms up where Rarity and Pinkie could lift him up and out of this little ditch.

"Thanks guys." Spike said. He felt a little bashful receiving help from Rarity like this; he would've preferred that the roles were switched. Not that he wished Rarity ate a face full of dirt while traveling at high speeds, but you know what he means.

"No problem, Spike!" Pinkie said as she continued to hop down the race track.

Rarity paused as she inspected Spike further. "Are you feeling fine Spike? That looked like a dastardly fall." She said.

Spike quickly brushed himself off and puffed up his chest. "All fine here! I wish I could stay and chat, but I have a race to win. You should get going too."

"Alright if you insist, just try to be more careful Spikey Wikey!" Rarity said as she started up her trot.

Determined to show that Rainbow imposter who's boss Spike took off as fast as he could and quickly passed Rarity and Pinkie.

---

The Rainbot snickered as it looked behind itself to see the effect it's trap had. "Trap one is a success. Sonic tripped and fell as planned!"

Although the plan had worked, the sudden impact the Rainbot had, while not paying attention to what's ahead, with a tree did not. With such tremendous speed, the Rainbot's head ended up going through the tree and out the other end. The Rainbot shook it's head a bit to regain it's bearings then tried to pry itself out of the tree. A few errors showed up in it's visor briefly before vanishing back to a normal state.

"You Nincombot!" Robotnik said as the speakers in the Rainbot's ears vibrated. "If you lose this race I'll make sure your paperweight ends up being used on the letters sent from my mother!"

Right, no more screwups thought the Rainbot. Using it's thrusters as extra leverage it broke free of the tree after a few tries and continued the race. With the error made, Spike had nearly caught back up to the Rainbot hereby removing any lead that trap helped gain.

"There's not much time left." Robotnik said. "On this turn up ahead I need you to lead Sonic to the right spot for this next trap."

The Rainbot gave a salute and deposited numerous smokebombs ahead and around itself.

A thick cloud suddenly blocked Spike's vision up ahead. The only detail he could really make out was the Rainbot's thrusters as it continued to fly forward.

"Forget this, if Robotnik wants to play dirty then I'll just pound his butt the next time I see him and demand to see the real Rainbow Dash!" Spike said as he slowed to a stop and crossed his arms.

Through some astronomically low odds, a hidden cage below him sprung up and closed Spike in, hereby trapping him. Spike was briefly surprised, but still maintained a serious arm crossing as he waited for the smoke to clear.

"Surpriiiiise!" Robotnik said as he appeared in front of Spike inside his ego-matic hovercraft. He brought his hands together and started rubbing them menacingly. "With Sonic out of the way soon Mobius will be mine!"

Spike didn't move from his posture as he glared at Robotnik. A brief look around the cage showed once again that the bars were spaced far enough apart that he could probably squeeze through them. If not then his fire should be able to melt the cage. Or send it to Princess Celestia, he wasn't sure.

Spike didn't have to take any action though, as soon Pinkie and Rarity caught up to them and took action.

"You brute! It's not enough that your taste in fashion is simply awful but now you're being mean to poor Spikey Wikey!?" Rarity seethed.

"Yeah you big meanie! Not only that but you rejected your party invite! No, worse! You left the invite unanswered! Do you know how much time it takes to organize and arrange these things??" Pinkie said.

"Take this you heathen!" Rarity said as suddenly multiple unusual and wacky wigs floated out of her saddlebags and speedily made their way to Robotnik.

"Doww! Dohh!" Robotnik grunted as various wigs slapped him in the face. The last one, a rainbow wig, managed to stick to his head and make him look ridiculous.

"And this and this!" Pinkie said as she pulled a party cannon out of nowhere and fired two shots. The first one had some facial paint on it that landed squarely on Robotnik's face which made him look like a clown. The second shot blew a bunch of confetti that also managed to stick to Robotnik's face and all over his hovercraft.

Some of the confetti made it into Spike's cage though and dangerously tickled his nose. With a unsuspecting and mighty sneeze he released a massive wave of green fire. With it all coming out he regained his bearings and took aim at the whole cage, causing it to disappear into the air in a plume of smoke.

---

Princess Celestia was having a meeting with two ambassadors of the Griffon and Minotaur kingdoms respectively. As they walked through her gardens they came upon her animal sanctuary area.

"This is where we allow various animals to enjoy co-existing together peacefully in a free-range environment. With your help we can expand this further and add even more wonderful creatures to this mini paradise." Celestia said as she finished her selling point.

The ambassadors nodded in approval while a little raccoon scampered it's way across the grass to investigate these newcomers. It tilted it's head for a bit then started licking it's paws and grooming it's head.

"Daww!" The ambassadors said in unison as they started making cutesy noises; enjoying the adorable display this raccoon was showing.

Suddenly Celestia's horn lit up and a cage popped into existence around the raccoon. Surprised by the sudden small environment it was in, it scurried around the cage squeaking frantically. Eventually after nibbling on the bars and jumping around a bit, the scared raccoon dashed through the bars of the cage too big to contain it and disappeared into the sanctuary.

The minotaur gasped and covered his mouth while the griffon's jaw was open in disbelief. They both slowly turned their heads and glared at Celestia who was now sweating.

"I can explain."

---

After recovering from his sneeze, Spike got into a determined stance and was finally ready for action. Rarity and Pinkie were still distracting Robotnik with various fashion statements and party supplies so Spike took this chance to charge forward. Once he got enough momentum and was in the right spot he jumped and started spinning in midair. At high speed, his spinning body made contact with Robotnik's hovercraft and sent Robotnik flying.

"AHHHHHHHHHh! I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!!" Robotnik yelled as he disappeared off into the distance.

"Hurray you did it Spike!" Rarity said as she jumped into him and gave a hug. Spike blushed at the praise and affection.

"You know what this calls for? A party!" Pinkie excitedly said.

"Not yet Pinkie. We still need to find the real Rainbow Dash and put an end to this imposter business." Spike said.

"But if I don't host a party soon I think I'm going to explode!" Pinkie said, accentuated with a tiny hop and a mini explosion of confetti and streamers coming out of her mane. Pinkie didn't appear to be kidding either; her face was super serious and one of her eyes twitched.

"Wait did you say there was an imposter?" Rarity asked, apparently not concerned with Pinkie's current mental state.

"Yeah! Let's go find this imposter and get some answers!" Spike said.

---

The Rainbot was closing in on the finish line. Although there was a slip up, both traps had worked and the Rainbot would be winning the race as well. Once this race is finished Doctor Robotnik will definitely give me a promotion! It thought. The crowds in Ponyville cheered as they saw the soon-to-be victor.

Moments before the finish line a different sky-blue blur collided with the Rainbot. Rainbow Dash and the Rainbot went off course and spiraled through the air until Rainbow Dash got in control.

"Maybe it's time you saw how awesome you have to be to be the real Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow said.

Higher and higher they flew as their speed increasing dramatically. The Rainbot struggled to escape but Rainbow's grip was too strong. Once at a extreme height, they suddenly made a steep decline as their speed continued to increase.

Rainbow knew she was close, but she wouldn't be able to break the sound barrier while holding onto the Rainbot. Sticking her tongue out and hoping her timing was just right, she let go of the Rainbot and sped up to the last distance she would need.

"This is for my stamp collection!" Rainbow said as a sonic rainboom went off behind her.

The Rainbot, rendered speechless, had experienced the full effect of it right in it's face.

"Too awesome..." The Rainbot said as various error messages and awesomeness warnings went off in it's visor. Losing motor control, it simply plummeted from it's current position down into the waiting forest below.

---

Zecora was just finishing up cleaning everywhere around her hut. She had spent all of the previous night, needing to forego sleep, trying her best to be rid of this horrid applesauce smell. Not that apples smell bad, but something about the concoction inside that missile combined with her pot of brew at the time really made her hut smell like one giant fart.

With a huff Zecora said "All of this cleaning has made my back feel uneasy. At least breathing no longer makes me queasy. After a rest I'll fix this roof, unless something decides to go aloof." You just had to jinx it, didn't you Zecora?

At that moment, the Rainbot crashed through the trees and collided with the ground in front of Zecora's hut. She nearly jumped out of her skin and hastily made her way outside to see what the commotion was. With Zecora's face exposed, the Rainbot exploded; sending out a big black smokescreen that stained the outside of Zecora's face and her hut.

A piece of the Rainbot landed in front of Zecora as she read the smooth printing on it: 'Manufactured by Doctor Ivo Robotnik'. Having a name for the face she saw on the logo of the missile from yesterday, her face twitched.

---

Rainbow Dash glided around as her speed from the sonic rainboom tapered off. She eventually made her way back to Ponyville to reunite with some familiar faces. The crowds were currently cheering which she thought meant they were happy to see her. She would tell them about her great and daring feat about how she threw her stamp collection across the room to hit a button that unlocked her cage. Well, I might make some alterations and add more explosions to make it sound cooler Rainbow thought. Once Rainbow got closer however, she could hear them cheering 'Snips and Snails!' which confused her a bit, but she had to show herself sooner or later. She landed by a starting line. Were they having a race without her?

The cheering stopped and Rainbow was about to reintroduce herself when suddenly "Imposter!" "It's a changeling!" "The horror!" amongst various other comments came out of the crowd. With one ear cocked and the other bent downward, Rainbow had a very confused expression showing.

"Get her!" Someone from the crowd yelled as suddenly a whole mob of ponies poured out of the stands and nearby homes and windows as Rainbow suddenly found herself fleeing in terror.

"Wait it's really me! It's the other Rainbow Dash that was the fake!" Rainbow said as she ran away.

"Yeah right! That's something a fake would say!"

"Yeah!"

"Go back to derby you overglorified spectrum!"

Rainbow's running speed was easily faster than the mob's, but she was still about to take off in flight until Twilight who was in front of her, teleported behind her with a shout.

"Stop right there!"

The mob and Rainbow Dash stopped as Twilight and soon Spike, Rarity and Pinkie appeared between them.

"I think I have a solution." Twilight said.

---

After scanning the real Rainbow Dash for metal and changeling shifting powers, the crowd seemed unpleased, but willing to accept the results. The residents made their way back to their homes and Ponyville eased back into a peaceful state even with Pinkie throwing a sudden party for everyone. It was thanks to Spike's earlier warning that Twilight knew something was wrong when the real Rainbow Dash had come out of nowhere and took down the Rainbot. Twilight tried to follow them at the time, but they were too fast. It was a bit of lucky coincidence that she ran into Spike, Rarity and Pinkie.

Off in the distance however, back in this lair, Robotnik continued to scheme and plot. He was busy vigorously typing away on a keyboard only using one finger from both of his hands when suddenly the door bell went off and interupted his train of thought.

"Who dares interrupt the great Doctor Rrrrobotnik??" He said as he made his way to the entrance of his fortress. He opened the door abruptly and shocked the two foals outside out of their conversation.

"What do you want!?" Robotnik said.

Snips and Snails were caught a bit off guard, but Snips took the initiative. "Well, uh, we were just here about that request you said you'd give to the winner of the race!"

"Yah. Only thing is we still haven't decided on what to request yet..." Snails finished.

Robotnik started pondering and looked up. A literal thought bubble appeared above his head as he started thinking. Hmm, perhaps I could make use of these two. With these two bozos to order around I should be able to capture sonic for sure! He thought as his thought bubble showed Snips and Snails dancing around a caged blue painted Spike with Robotnik cackling above it all.

"How about this. In exchange for winning the race I'll let you two be my new lackeys-err I mean assistants." Robotnik said as he tried to innocently smile.

"Whoa so kind of like your sidekicks?" Snips said.

"No!" Robotnik yelled as he leaned into the two colts who recoiled. Robotnik tried to recompose himself. "That is to say, if you prove yourself worthy by capturing Sonic then I'll consider thinking about you two nincompoops-err I mean delightful dolts as my sidekicks."

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, both colts grinned and gave a nod as they entered Robotnik's fortress to help enact whatever scheme Robotnik had planned next.